Wilene Dunn

This transcript has been edited for better readability: Henry Harrison Podcast — Entrepreneurs, Business & Finance Guest: Wilene Dunn Henry Harrison Well hello, Wilene. Thank you for joining our podcast. Wilene Dunn Thanks, Henry. It’s good to be here. Henry Harrison Welcome to Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance. You are an entrepreneur, you’re in business, and you deal with finance, so you’re a very interesting person and a friend. I’m very glad to have you on the show. A little introduction: Wilene has a company called WCD Speakers. I met her through mutual friends when I was looking for development advice, counseling, consulting, and input as I began speaking. She helped me with all of that, and she still helps me bounce ideas around today, even though I’m not doing much speaking right now. She has a very interesting business for many reasons, but one of them is simply thinking about all the people she gets to interact with from all walks of life — experts in their field who go out and educate people. It’s a fun and fascinating entrepreneurial venture, even if it certainly comes with challenges. Would you like to start by sharing how you originally started that business? A lot of people want to start their own business, and they like hearing how others did it. Wilene Dunn It’s a really fun story for me. I was in a 22-year litigation support career that I was ready to leave. One day I was in my car, heading to yet another lunch meeting, and I said out loud, “I want a job I can do from anywhere and not sit in traffic.” At that point, I had no idea people got paid to speak. I ended up in an organization that did staffing, and that gave me the outline for the kind of business I wanted to build. Traditionally, bureaus work one way and agencies work another way. The agency model appealed to me because I could go find a speaker I really liked and wanted to put in front of certain audiences. That moved me into the development side of the business. What was especially meaningful was that my manager in that business gave me a book by a speaker named Dana Steele. I read her book, called her, and then a year later I had the business I said I wanted — something I could do from anywhere and not sit in traffic. It was amazing. I love the way life unfolds when we say clearly what we want. That’s how I ended up in this business. Henry Harrison That’s a great story. I was referred to you, and one thing I discovered quickly is that there is so much involved in being a speaker that many people just don’t realize. People think speaking is simply getting on stage, but in reality it’s running a business. There’s marketing, contracts, payroll — even if that just means paying yourself properly — website development, email marketing, and so much more. I also know you help people publish books, which often goes hand-in-hand with speaking. Without the guidance of someone who has been through it, that learning curve can be a lot harder. Would you talk a little more about that part of what you do? Wilene Dunn Absolutely. We do a lot of consulting on speaker development. There are a couple of models in this business. One is more of a coaching or consulting model, where the speaker wants to do more consulting in-house for companies. That looks very different from someone who wants to be a keynote speaker. The materials, the marketing, and the platform all need to be built differently depending on which direction someone wants to go. Henry, when you and I worked together, we were looking at the keynote perspective — putting you in front of an audience, getting strong video, and starting to build your platform that way. At the time, you were also working on a book. We didn’t end up doing the book together then, but now we have a writing course that helps authors and speakers who want to create a book they can take to audiences with them. That book becomes another source of income and another tool for credibility. We take people through that whole process — from writing all the way to publishing on Amazon and helping them become an Amazon bestseller. That’s been a really fun part of the business for me, especially when I’m working with someone who has the message but needs help figuring out their outline, chapter structure, and how to pull it all together. On the speaker development side, we also help people hone their message and make sure it’s a message that is relevant in the current marketplace — something audiences want to hear and clients will hire for. And like you said, getting your business set up as a speaker is so important. If you are a speaker, you are also an entrepreneur, especially if you’re on the consulting side. Your business has to be structured in a way that supports you, pays you properly, and allows you to grow. Because this is the speaking business. Henry Harrison That’s a really important point. The speaking business really means owning your own business. People don’t always think about it that way, but it absolutely does make you an entrepreneur. And there are so many ways to approach it. I did some keynote speaking in front of larger audiences, but many people do speaking inside companies, with smaller groups, online, through training, through consulting, or through a mix of all of those. There are plenty of people who picture becoming a speaker as stepping on stage in front of thousands of people at a major event. Those opportunities do exist, but they’re usually harder to get, especially at the beginning. There are many other ways to contribute and share expertise in the speaking world. Wilene Dunn Exactly. And having a book helps support you as an expert, especially if you want to do more consulting inside a company with smaller groups or more specialized expertise. That may involve recruiting, stress management, leadership development, team building, or something similar. We work with consultants and trainers who also do speaking in that way, including virtually. Then there are the larger personalities like Mel Robbins or Tony Robbins, who sell tickets and produce major events. That’s not really the arena we work in. We may attend those events, but our focus is more on the budding speaker — the person who wants to step into the speaking industry and begin developing themselves in that world. We absolutely know how to help someone get there, but we’re not producing giant self-ticketed events ourselves. We also have an event coming up called Becoming Bureau Ready. It’s for people who are already speaking and want to increase their fees, visibility, exposure, and engagements. At the end of that program, we’ll put them on a large stage at a sponsored event, and they’ll get professionally recorded video — including a two-camera shoot — so they have the materials they need to start moving toward being a true bureau-ready keynote speaker. That’s something we’re very excited about. Henry Harrison I can speak from experience on how valuable that guidance is. When I first got asked to speak and had to put together a 45-minute presentation, it felt enormous. It really helped to have experts I could go to and ask, “Where do I start?” People may already think you’re an expert, but translating that into speaking on a stage — and then turning that into travel, branding, website content, and a clear message — is a whole different process. Why reinvent the wheel when you have someone who knows how to help you through it? Wilene Dunn That really is my passion — helping people achieve what they want to achieve. And honestly, one reason I’m still in this business after the pandemic, which was a very rough period for our industry, is because I believe people have a message. If someone is being called to be a keynote speaker, I believe they are being called by something greater than themselves to go out and share what they know. We need that right now. We need people speaking truth from their experience — whether that’s in business, recruiting, leadership, motivation, or some other area. Henry, you’ve learned a lot in your life that could help other people. The same is true for so many speakers I work with. I love supporting people who have a great message and helping them bring that message to the world. Henry Harrison I know you do, and I experienced that myself. When you hear someone speak and it makes a major impact on your life, that’s rewarding from the audience side. And I imagine it’s equally rewarding to be the one delivering that message. For you to help guide all these people along that path is really a special thing. I also happen to know that life isn’t only about the speaker agency. You’ve had the chance to travel with your mother, who is very healthy and full of life. Would you like to share a little about that? Wilene Dunn Yes. We had a wonderful trip to France and Italy. My sister has a ministry in France, and we were able to go visit her there. It was especially fun because, like you and I staying connected on Facebook, I had seen her posting pictures for years — her garden, her backyard, the places where she lives — and then I got to actually go see them in person. It was fun to say, “We were there. We sat on that bench. We were on that patio.” My mother had never been overseas before, so it was very special to take that trip with her. She was 85 at the time and will be 86 this year. It was just wonderful to spend that time with her and with my sister, and to see where my sister is living. And if you ever get the chance to go to Paris and see places like the Eiffel Tower, it really is a special trip. I also have five dogs, and they all work for me — or maybe I work for them. We’re all up in the office every day doing our part to support entrepreneurs and speakers around the world. We work with people here in the U.S., in the U.K., in Europe, and in other places as well. Henry Harrison Is there anything else you’d like to share? That was already a great summary, but I know you’ve always got something new going on. Wilene Dunn Yes — one more thing. I just launched my own book. I co-authored it with Dr. Renee Ostag, who is a physical therapist in Colorado. One of the fun parts of that experience is that you don’t have to be in the same place to work together. Dr. Renee and I did all of our writing on Zoom and in a Google Doc, and we produced the book that way. It was published, and she came here this weekend. We did a book signing together and actually met in person for the very first time. So I would say to anyone listening: don’t count yourself out. You can absolutely work with people remotely now. You can write, build your speaker platform, and do your development work from wherever you are. The book is called Getting My Happy Back, and it’s on Amazon. It talks about how our minds and bodies communicate with each other. That has been really exciting for me. Henry Harrison That’s terrific. Congratulations on the book. I also know you have new ideas and new innovations coming because the speaking world and the marketing world are always changing. You were already sharing a preview of some of the things you’re working on, and I’m excited to see them. And since I have you here on a recording, I should mention that you once offered to babysit a dog that we don’t even have yet when we travel. Wilene Dunn I didn’t say that exactly. But I do want y’all to have a dog, and if you do get one and travel, I’m open to helping — just not a really big one. Maybe something in the middle range. Henry Harrison I’m obviously joking, but that really does say something about the kind of person you are. In my experience, Wilene is someone who will be a friend to you, will be loyal, and genuinely wants to work with people she enjoys. That kind of relationship matters. Wilene Dunn It absolutely does. I want to work with people I enjoy working with and who enjoy working with me, because you get further that way. Henry Harrison That’s very true. Congratulations again on your book, and thank you so much for being on the show. Wilene Dunn Thanks for inviting me. It’s good to see you and be with you. Henry Harrison Good to see you too, and we’ll talk soon. Have a great afternoon. Wilene Dunn You too. Bye.