Jackie Lapin is a serial pioneer who has always chosen paths and launched businesses that are innovative and distinct from others. Her journey began at the age of 11, when she declared her intention to become a woman sportswriter in a field devoid of women sportswriters. Through perseverance and vision, she achieved this goal, working for prominent publications such as the Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Associated Press, even co-hosting Dodger Dugout on television by the age of 22.
When she decided to establish a sports-special events PR firm, Jackie faced skepticism as the industry was predominantly male. Nevertheless, her firm became one of the two largest in the United States, boasting a client roster that included Toyota Motorsports, the National Hockey League, Top Rank Boxing, Mazda, Golf Channel, Showtime, Avon, Foot Locker, Inc., Capades, Harlem Globetrotters, and The World Poker Tour.
Jackie’s current companies, SpeakerTunity® and Conscious Media Relations Podcast/Radio Tours, have no competitors because she has created unique offerings that no one else provides.
Outside of her professional life, Jackie is an avid traveler who recently returned from a nine-week exploration of Europe. She is passionate about history and often immerses herself in historic novels or biographies while enjoying her sunny Southern California home, adorned with 300 roses in the yard.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Jackie Lapin:
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company?
You heard a bit of my background in the last section, but let me pick it up from the PR agency. The industry was changing, the media was contracting, and social media was creeping in. I didn’t find it fun any longer, but I was also called to write for two personal growth books, The Art of Conscious Creation: How You Can Transform the World and Practical Conscious Creation: Daily Techniques to Manifest Your Desire. The last was the best spiritual book of the year at the International New Age Trade Show. I realized that my heart lay with the people making the world a better place, and so I rebranded the agency Conscious Media Relations and began doing podcast and radio tours, where we offer leaders and authors to 9000 shows at the same time with a minimum guarantee of 30 interviews. We’ve done 400 of these over 15 years, including for such luminaries as Don Miguel Ruiz, Dr. Joe Vitale, Ariel Ford, Marie Diamond, Maureen St. Germain, and Sandra Yancy (eWomenNetwork).
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
So about seven years after the inception of Conscious Media Relations, some of our clients kept asking if I could book them for speaking gigs. I declined but offered,” But I know where they are. How about I just tell you where those opportunities are?” And that was how SpeakerTunity® was born. We started with one product, and now we have a full array.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
My highest value is integrity. I believe in creating win-wins for everyone. When I say I will do something, I always do it and expect the same from my colleagues and promotional partners. People trust me, and that makes them invest in the products we offer.
I am also a communicator, so my goal is always to create a dialogue that leads to a positive outcome—even if that only results in a greater rapport with someone. I listen carefully, so I can truly hear people. I ask a lot of questions, and I always say, “How can I support you?” at the end of a chat with other colleagues.
But probably the skill that has sustained me since the beginning is writing. It is at the core of everything I do—every business, every endeavor. If I am anything, it is that I am and always will be a writer. It comes easy to me. I often feel as if it’s coming through me, not from me. No writer’s block here!
Which are the major services of the company and how do the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
Our mission at SpeakerTunity®, The Speaker & Leader Resource Company, is to help leaders, experts, coaches, authors, and entrepreneurs get booked for opportunities faster, easier, and in more places. That means we provide subscription services and directories covering podcasts, virtual summits, meetings, venues, associations, conferences, and TEDx events. Our Conference Connections service now offers 5,000 events per month and is currently seeking speakers. We’re really excited to have expanded our TEDx directory from US/CAN to global in July. We also offer 75 regional speaking directories in the US and Canada with all the evergreen opportunities in those markets, along with 60 niche specialty directories (want all the women’s business meetings across North America, or all the meetings of healthcare professionals or parenting meetings… You get the idea! But our goal this year has been to package our programs into a membership program—SpeakerTunity Members Only®—that allows us to offer one product or more as the client grows with us. We also design speaker one-sheets for leaders to market themselves to bookers and other graphic services, as well as training on how to get booked for everything, including the corporate sector. Lastly, we added a virtual assistant partner who can do the outreach for leaders. So, we are fulfilling our vision to be one-stop-shopping for the speaker or leader in either business development or personal transformation. You can explore more at www.speakertunity.com
We are fulfilling a niche that no one has ever offered. We serve everyone, from the newbie speaker to the veteran, with different types of products and resources.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
It shows that people are thinking on their own. You don’t want to have someone just follow you like a lemming. Sometimes your people can actually keep you from going over that cliff! Accept a good idea wherever it comes from, and shower your peers with praise when they innovate. Be gentle when it isn’t right, so they keep trying and don’t shut down. My team is often more on the front lines with the clients than I am, so when they offer up their suggestions, it’s definitely worth hearing.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
I can’t speak for other organizations, but my team keeps asking for more cross-involvement with each other, and it seems to spur them on. They respond to the sense of belonging. So, we foster it through many systems. So, I would go with processes.
What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
When I see new clients signing up for our services—whether that’s one of our SpeakerTunity® products or a podcast or radio tour, it still gives me a little thrill—even if its $47 per month for our basic membership!
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Don’t work to the exclusion of play or self-care. I did that, and I’m now a bit regretful for some of my lost joy. But even now I’m turning that around, hence the recent trip I took for nine weeks in Europe, leaving my team to keep things cooking. You can lose the freshness of life and work if you don’t make time for yourself.
