Turning Events into Client Acquisition Machines!

Cindy Padilla is a woman of faith whose unwavering optimism and hope inspire her both personally and professionally. She finds purpose in helping others see the light in every situation, believing that hope is what keeps us moving forward each day. 

As someone deeply committed to building community, Cindy works alongside her clients to host impactful live events. For her, these gatherings are about so much more than just generating revenue—they are opportunities to create genuine connections and foster a sense of belonging.

Cindy is passionate about the lasting value that live events bring, helping individuals and groups truly understand and leverage the power of partnership and community. Looking ahead to 2025, she sees these elements as essential drivers of success and meaningful change. 

Through her work, Cindy is dedicated to guiding organizations and individuals to embrace the importance of coming together and supporting one another.

Transcript

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Foreign. Hello, everyone. Today. Hello. We have an amazing guest with us, a fellow sister in sales, mass sales, and live event experience, Ms. Cindy Padilla. Hey, Cindy, how are you? Super happy that we're finally making this happen, Shanna. Super excited to be here with you and part of your. Your second season in your TV production. And yeah, just, I love talking all things sales, events, business strategies, being a woman in business, being a woman of God, all kinds of things we can talk about today. I'm so aligned with all of that. All of that, Cindy. So let's just jump into it. I. I met you guys. Oh, my gosh. It was before the pandemic. And I do want to say this because I don't think you really know this. You have made a tremendous impression on me. I love the fact that you are a woman of God and you gave me some resources to read back before I've had this level of success. Florence Scoville Shin. Oh, yeah, I just did a post about her today. She's back with my. My influence in my sphere. I started rereading her. Yes, I loved her, and that really helped me. So I just want to say, first and foremost, thank you for the work that you've done and the impact that you're making in this space. And we're here together in the live event and mass sales space. And so before, you know, I start talking about events and mass sales and how much money we've made for clients. Tell us who you are and, you know, and why you are doing all of this. Yeah. Wow, thanks. And I just love that, you know, we never know the impact we have on people. We just don't. So that's why it's so important. I learned this lesson decades ago. So some of my history is born and raised here in Northern California and started a family very young, married a Navy guy, thought this was like my path. Thought I had security and recognized after about a few years, he was an alcoholic. So I left at nine and a half years with three little girls. They were three, five, and seven. And so that became our journey, you know, and I had a great career in retail leadership. So I worked for Target Corporation for a lot of years, moved into Gap. I worked for Victoria's Secret, all the names, and it supported me and my family. So I learned all about systems, processes, leadership, team, customer service. Like all the stuff I learned about. Shopping mall or in the shopping store. Oh, the good old days of shopping malls. Oh, my God, busted the seams. I learned all about sales there. Unbeknownst to Myself. Right. If you work in retail, you deal with holidays. There's back to school and Black Fridays and all the things. And. And then I remarried, so I married Jim Padilla. We have a company called Gain the Edge. We just celebrated 25 years of marriage. Excited. Yeah. And we were. You know, I did a post or a. An email to our list recently. Like, it's by the grace of God, we made 25 years. Because we were just a bloody hot mess. I mean, we were a blended family. We weren't highly aware people were the Internet, like you just were doing. You were just figuring it out. But by the grace of God, we have made 25 years. We have, really, daughters. We have six grandbabies. The last one just arrived last Monday, and number seven here in May. So, you know, we're loving life. We left California for Tennessee a few years ago. We came back because our family was still growing, and it was the right place for us to be here to provide wisdom and guidance to all these little humans that are being born into our families. So. Yes. Yeah. And in 2013, so we're going on. This was my 11th year that I left corporate, so I did grow up in corporate with Target Gap. Again, big companies, Right. And our youngest graduated university in 2013. And I said, no more Black Fridays and Jump Ship. I didn't even know how people made money if you didn't have a job. I didn't know the coaching industry even existed. Like, I was clueless. Right. How did you get into the coaching industry? Gosh, I. You know, when you look back and you just see God, like, playing chess. Right. Like, it's really magical. You know, Jim's been an entrepreneur the whole time we've been together. But coming together, we actually built a business. Because what he is is a great visionary, a strategist. And I bring System Structure Foundation. Oh, my gosh. Incredible. The yin and the yang. Yes. I'm the. Yeah. Sometimes he says I'm the rock to his balloon. I don't know if I like that all the time. I like my own balloons, too. But we began growing a coaching practice, right? So we were just clipping at $10,000 a month, and I'm like, oh, okay, this is like 2014, and we're figuring it out. And then our mentor came to us and said the real need in the marketplace is sales teams. Yes. That's when live events were really. Back in the day of 2015 to, like, 1819, it was live events, the PLF launches, the, you know, challenges. Like, everything was big and so we did it. I didn't want to do it. I didn't know anything about it, but we went to an event hosted by Bill Baron here in the Bay Area, and we walked in and said, we're Jim and Cindy with Gain the Edge and we are your go to done for you sales teams for live events and launches. Love it. Very next, we had a new. Bill became our first client. Oh, wow. 1.6 million dollar launch in January of 2015. Hold on, wait, hold on. 1.6 men. We love to hear those numbers. 1.6 million. It was a wildly successful train wreck of a launch. We said yes, but we were, we, we didn't have the systems. We were recruiting team like crazy and we were just, we're the bad news bears in a Google Doc. But because of who we are and you know, the foundational knowledge we do have, we made it work. And then it just opened the doors. Like the clients just started really coming in. Right. That's how Gain the Edge was born. Love it. Love it. Now, Cindy, I want to ask you this question. You may or may not know, how much money has your teams generated over the past 10 years? Yeah, we keep track. Oh, that's right. Yeah, it's close to half a billion dollars. I mean, it's like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars for our. Right, right, right. Love it. And I, I actually met Jim at an event when I was training and I saw him in action and so that's how I got to work with you guys. I'm like, show me the ropes because you guys are amazing. Definitely on top of your game with ensuring that these events are highly profitable and they convert. So yeah. Awesome. Love it. Love it. So tell me, why do you believe events are so important right now, you know, in this post pandemic era? I love that question. So again, live events is how we grew this business. And so we witnessed it. Right. For years we were at live events like every other month, those big three day events and doing online launches. And it was all about watching people literally transform before our eyes in those three days. Like they come in like this. I'm not buying nothing. I'm gonna sit in the back. I don't want. I'm just here. And then by the end of day one, they're softening. By the end of day two, they're cracked open. And by day three, you know, they're handing us our credit, their credit cards. And they are profoundly grateful. They are profoundly grateful that they found their people, they found their guides, they Found their mentors and they found their community. Right. And then the pandemic hit and we had live events lined up. Right. It was shut down March 17, 2021. Everybody remembers that day. I actually. We were actually going to be together in Long Beach. Yeah. We had our flight scheduled for an event over there, 600 people. And we had to. Yeah, yeah, we had live events lined up. We got like, the last flight. We were at an event of our mentors. We got the last flight out. Or the. It was the last night the restaurant was going to be open. Like, it was March 16th. And then we got like, one of the first flights out on the 17th, and then everything shut down. We got. Oh, my gosh. It was just really very interesting. So then everything, you know, obviously came online. But no, I don't believe we understood the impact of that and the impact of the loss of touch and community. Right. Until now. Absolutely. I think 2024 has been a very interesting year, a very challenging year for a lot of people. Share. Share. Because I hear that a lot. And I'm like, yeah. I mean, it's so possible. It is always possible to be supremely successful. What it required in 2024 to be successful is more time, more touch, and more incentive for people to buy it. It. We just literally hit a peak of this trust recession. I mean, there's just. No one ever put it on. Right. I mean, you just. It's not as if the pandemic ended. There was so much. It was a part of it. And there's always a tale. There's always repercussions that maybe are under the surface and take a while to surface. And then you, you know, this election, like, it was so divisive, so ugly, so full of unkindness. And the economy, like, it's expensive to live life right now. Right, Right. That's why you guys moved. That's why we moved to Tennessee, thinking we're gonna figure this out. And now we're back in California and we're figuring it out. But it you just add all that. People are worn out. There is a trust recession. They don't trust their government. They may not even trust their church. They don't trust family members. They don't trust their own judgment anymore. I think is where we have some real challenges and people are alone. Like, where's our communities? Where do people go to connect? Right. And feel supported. Absolutely. So I love that you mentioned the trust reception recession, because that's exactly what is going on. So with 2025, we have a. We Have a change in the guard. Okay. Trust. Where do you believe the market will go with the trust? And. And how do you build that trust back with entrepreneurs and businesses? Love this question. So the great news is, and as a woman of faith, there's always hope. Like, that's what keeps us going day after day after day is there is the light, there is hope. And that's where I love the work that we do, Shanna, is that we get to work with clients to host live events, to understand the value of live events. And it's beyond the ability to, you know, generate revenue. It is about the ability to create community. And that is going to be. Gosh, partnerships and community are going to be huge leverage points in 2025. Like, you have to be able to pull a lever in your relationships and your partnerships to get some momentum and maybe get access and. And be of support to other communities. And if you have a community, you have levers to pull to, to be of incredible service as well as to, you know, grow your company. But people, they're willing to travel again. They want to be belly to belly, face to face, hugging and touching. Yeah, we want to do that again in our own business. It was this time last year because we have a group program that has been all online for a few years. Right. Like, I want live touches. So we did three live events and people we met, you know, in Northern California and people flew from all over the country. And it was just really cool to witness our own clients be with each other and create deeper bonds and. And just do life and eat meals together. Like, this is how we're designed to be. Absolutely. And what better way to build more trust. Yeah. Have an event. Yeah. Experience together, just as you said, when you can come nose to nose, toes to toes. And I love that. And people are starting to do more of that, growing your community. And we actually have a conversion formula, and I'll put it up here, which is amazing content, amazing community. When they connect, they will convert. I love this. I love this. When they experience your amazing content, they experience your experience, your amazing community. They make that connection, it leads to conversion. So you want to share a little bit more about that, what you've seen in the market? Yeah, you know, I just. I actually did a post yesterday, and I just have mad respect for business owners who never give up. I have mad respect for business owners who understand it's their responsibility and their duty to. To sell and to sell and to sell again and to sell. And the best way to do that. I watch you Know my own mentor who I try and keep up with and this man, he's, he's a beast. And you know, colleagues and peers that I admire and they just, they're just, they're in motion, man. And they're always doing a workshop, a training, they're doing a live event, they're doing a quarterly, whatever, a boardroom. There's, there's no shortage of ideas on how to structure live events to be a value, to be of service. To your point, like, you understand, they don't have to be ginormous. They could be seven people and you can make some good impact as well as some income. Absolutely, absolutely. So whenever you all at GTech, of course I do know. But I want you to share with everyone. When you work on live events, you focus on the sales, correct? We do, we do. But as you know, as an event and sales conversion expert, you can't close sales if everything leading up to it isn't in order. Can you say that? Let's say it louder. Say it, say it one more time, please. You cannot close sales at the event, at any, at the end of any event, if everything before it is not in order and executed well. Doing all the things that you put in your formula, great content, creating the community that people want to be a part of. What was the other seat? Making the connection. The connection? Yeah, like, oh, we have a formula I haven't talked about in a long time. The attendee has to be able to connect with the content, the community and the person that's delivering. It's very, very similar formula. Like that's exactly. Probably similar because I've worked with you guys and trained underneath you. Yeah. I mean, it's not. Yeah. But there has to be a plan and some structure and system so that there is a win. And it's not only a win financially, which I'm all about wins financially, but people are saying yes to giving us or you or our clients. Whether it's a 90 minute masterclass or a three day live event or virtual event, they're giving us time. Right. And we have to honor that with incredible content, the promised outcome. And if the solution is for them to work with us, then that is the best and most honorable thing we can do. Absolutely. Solve their problem long term. Absolutely. And I'm so glad that you, you know, you share that because sometimes the market may believe that any, that you could just put people in the room and you can have a sales event and it's not that easy. It is very strategic. It is a best Practice. And there's a formula that we use that helps optimize the conversion. Because not all events are created you equal. Right? Not all events are created equal. The the types of events that we curate or sell and work with our clients with, they are what we call sales acquisition events or client acquisition event. Sales events, enrollment events. Any other terms that you may utilize? Yeah, conversion events. Yeah, I like client acquisition. Exactly. That's exactly what we work on. And that is because that's the goal. It is to acquire clients. And I love what you're. The way you're phrasing that because when you do it well, nobody's offended. Nobody gets offended because you're selling. Like one of our mastery pieces is that we sell to our clients over and over and over again. So if you enroll in our group program, I'm going to sell you retreats, I'm going to sell you additional coaching. I'm going to sell you a partner program. I'm going to sell you this. And not because I want to, because I know you and I know your client journey and I know when to position these and offer them and invite you to invest. And when we do, we do a monthly workshop. It's part of our curriculum for our group program. And then we invite, you know, other non members in and we make an offer. And we're making an offer to those who are in the community and we're making an offer to those that aren't in the community. And I love watching our clients because they expect it and they're like, what are you selling us today? Like, you know, and it's their choice. They can either say, I'm ready for that or no, it's not the right time for me. Great. You know, I mean, we love when you do this. Well, and it starts at your first event, like Shanna, like you're talking about, you're really setting it up to where sales is part of how we be. And we do it from service, we do it from duty, we do it from responsibility, that people expect it. And nobody ever gets offended, like I said. And we have clients that work with us. You know, we're up to three years now. Our average client is with us for three years because we keep solving bigger and better problems. Exactly. Now let's back up a second because we're both women and we're both sales experts and sometime, and I know that you've heard this over and over, selling feels icky. Selling feels icky. I don't want to sell. Sell. So with that being said, what is your viewpoint on selling? Because there are some businesses and entrepreneurs and individuals out there and they're like, well, I don't want to feel bad by selling. What would you say to that individual who feels like it's kind of icky, like you're pressing upon your program, product or service on individuals. Look at you, you're like, oh yeah, I know. Oh my gosh, this is so good. The reason they feel that way is because they have designed a business to deliver a product, to deliver a service. They didn't design their business to generate revenue. So it's not baked in. It just isn't. And it can easily be baked in. Like if you don't sell, you don't have a business. Right. So many business owners get into this because they have an amazing product, a service, a protocol, a modality, and it really does serve the marketplace. And they build a business and everything is about delivering that. Right. Didn't build the arm of the business that keeps people coming in. And then so they get into themselves into predicaments where they really need the cash and then they have to go and do this thing that they don't like. It's not that they don't like it, they don't understand it. Right, right. And what we, as sales expert, we get the market, we want the market to know is that when you see sell, it is serving at the highest level. Because I promise you, the first program that I got, I was sold to. I. It was a four, let me think. It was a, it's a four figure investment. I made five figures. When I made a five figure investment, I made six figures. And now that I've made a six figure figure investment, there comes my seven. Exactly. And that is where, that is how we get to think about selling. We are serving, we are offering a service that brings upon transformation. Yeah. I mean, to think about it like we're solving a problem. Like again, these people gave us, whether it's 90 minutes, three hours or three days, they're giving you that unreturnable time because they really have a problem. And it's our responsibility to solve that problem in the best way possible and make sure that people get solutions and they don't remain stuck. Absolutely. And when you think of it in that light, that you are here, you are here to serve and you have your goals. We do understand that you realize that it is your service and I love how you said it's your service, your duty and responsibility to sell at that point. So love it. Love it. I mean I love sales. I love what we do. I realize that it is very, very important. At one point, yeah, it was very, very icky. But I got in there, I got the training. I, I figured out how is it that you can sell and not feel icky. And here's the thing. If it feels so icky and you just can't shake it, there are experts that they could come to to either learn how to sell or get it done for you. Absolutely. There, you see how you just got served. Yeah. No, it's like some tennis. I'm just kidding. All right, all right. That was a. Yeah, that's true. But yeah, so that's, you know, and that's probably one of the reasons why you all have exploded back when you started in 2015, because there was a need. Huge need. Huge need. Or like, you'll do my sales for me. You'll find all my sales people. You'll do it all. We'll do it all. Yeah. And that's figure out how. Well, great thing about it, this is not 2015. You all know you had your sales system and it's, it's absolutely amazing. So thank you. So, Cindy, I just wanted to say thank you for coming out today in virtual land on the event tv. Excuse me, you did say that you have some monthly trainings you want to share? We do. So, yes, I will be sharing a page. So again, we believe in events, we walk our talk. And so we do a monthly live training, typically about three hours. Sometimes they're 90 minutes. But it's exactly what the market needs, what our current clients, it's their curriculum, what they require, what they're working through right now. So, you know, we have the whole year planned out. Everything from planning your year end sales to creating your perfect offer to creating a lifetime journey. So clients work with you for three years, to events, to two step sales close. I mean there's about six core events and workshops that we train over the course of the year and we'd love to invite you to that. And we also have a live that we do weekly in our Facebook group. So we'll make sure you have all opportunities to get to know us better and experience us live virtually or maybe eventually in person. Awesome. And I'll make sure that all those links are attached. I'm back here dying. I know the wrong pipe. But anyhow, it was so great having you on. Send Jim my regards and we will talk soon. Yes. Thank you everybody. God bless.