Welcome to invest in yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. Join the podcast mogul Phil Better as he interviews successful entrepreneurs that make their living in the digital world. Now let's join your host Phil Beder as your special guest today on Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another amazing episode of Invest in Yourself, the Digital Entrepreneur Podcast. I am, of course, your host with the most feel better, and I am very, very happy to talk about our remarkable individual joining us, someone whose journey embodies the spirit of relentlessness, pursuit of excellence, and mastery in the art of communication. Our guests today didn't let early setbacks deter her. Instead, they ignited a fire within her to pursue greatness in public speaking. And after narrowly missing out on the top prize in a speech contest, Auguste embarked on a transformational journey that would see her emerge as a beacon of inspiration to aspiring speakers and entrepreneurs alike. Armed with her complete Toastmaster certificate and enriched by her experience in the Michigan Speakers Association Professional Track Program, our guest has honed her craft to perfection. She has graced countless stages, captivated audiences of sales professionals and business owners with her insight on leveraging referral marketing to fuel business growth. But that's that's not it.

Her impact extends far beyond the stage. As a seasoned coach, she has dedicated herself to guiding others and on their path to self discovery and success. Through her coaching practice, she empowers her clients to unearth their unique voice and harness the power of storytelling to propel their business forward. What sets our guest apart is her wealth of experience gleaned from over 3 decades, ladies and gentlemen, in corporate environments as a human resource professional. It's this invaluable perspective that infuses her coaching and speaking agents with depth of understanding and practical wisdom that By testament of the by testament of the continued power of continual growth and development. Her impressive aware of certificates and her master's degree, master's degree, ladies and gentlemen, in human resource development underscores her unwavering commitment to excellence. So, dear listeners, prepare to be inspired and enlightened as we delve into the world of communication, entrepreneurship, and personal develop with the one and only Leslie Strap. Leslie, thank you so much for for being here.

Alright. Sorry. Leslie Forrenzo. Sorry.

That's okay. I thought, well, maybe you weren't.

I wasn't done. No. I forgot to put the last so it was Leslie, strap in for exciting episodes. Well, Leslie, thank you so much for, sitting through that floundering, the gracious introduction of you.

You're great, Phil. Thank you so much for, having me on your podcast. I'm thrilled to be here.

It's a it's an incredible pleasure. When I received your request to be on, I was like, yes. I need to have Leslie on. She has over experience. She's overqualified to be on this podcast. That's what I actually said. I am like, I don't know if she's gonna be qualified to be on this. She's overqualified, but I'm glad that you're here, Leslie.

Thank you. So we're gonna jump straight into it. The first question right off the bat, you we know you have 30 years of experience in the corporate world. What made you decide to go, screw that 30 years. I wanna be, I wanna be an entrepreneur and to deal with the headaches of life.

Well, what is it that says somebody said you have to pick your hard. Uh-huh. Being an employee is hard. Being an entrepreneur is hard. So to be truly transparent, Phil, this is my 3rd attempt. I was fired from a job in the early 2000. And at that time, we had a product that was based on the greatest salesman in the world, the book by Og Mandino. It was a training and development product that I wanted to take to market.

I was the person that was qualified. And so the company that discharged me said, sure, you can have that go by. I spent the next 10 years trying to figure that out and wasn't very successful. And so I went back. And then in late the late teens late 20 18, 19, became a certified coach. The person that I partnered with her vision was to create coaches much like John Maxwell has certified coaches and grow her business in that way. I believe I was the her first, then the pandemic. So we that was, you know, and and then I was fortunate that I was offered a job that I currently, am doing.

I'm doing this as a side hustle hoping in the very near future that it will be my full time endeavor. So 3rd time's a charm as they say. Right?