Kyle Uhlenkott introduces us to Wes Tankersley who has become quite a social medica presence especially on Linked In where Kyle saw him post every day several times a day.
Wes introduces himself as a window covering salesman with a company called Blind Apparel. He was from California, but he and his family moved to Ontario, Oregon when he was 10 years old. His story of success starts in sports when he got a scholarship to play football at Southern Oregon University.
Instead of college, he went to California to visit his grandmother and there he met the woman that would become his wife. They moved to Idaho where he worked at a tire company for 11 years before badly injuring his knee.
Wes’s story of success took a turn when after his injury he went back to college where he got his Bachelor’s degree in teaching and eventually his Masters degree. He taught Physical Education and coached baseball for 4 years.
Wes talks about how he is drawn to baseball as a game of life. To be a good baseball player, you have to have a .300 batting average. Three times out of ten you fail. You work together to put a bunch of base hits together to win a game.
While teaching, Wes continued his path to success by getting his Masters degree. He left teaching and met his current boss who gave him a job as a salesman which is 100% commission. That means you yourself are the success maker. No one else. He believed in himself as a salesman. Wes found success as a salesman and doubled his pay. He even continued his mindset of success by talking to his boss about social media marketing. He has a Facebook page, Instagram, and Linkd In.
His podcast started when he had a slow month, and he was trying to figure out what to do to get things running again. He ended up talking with his barber who introduced him to the books of Gary Vee who wrote Crush It. In the book, Gary talks about all these people doing things to achieve success. He was creating success for people.
Wes realized that he there are aspects of teaching that he likes, but he doesn’t like the school system. His road to success to his podcast started with wanting to make money. He takes Gary’s life lessons of being consistent and posted all the time on social media to keep his presence relevant. His social media presence then led to networking. People found him and contacted him asking him questions about his posts and what the goal was. He even received job offers which he considered at the time. He realized building success was about the networking helping people find other people and building a brand. Gary says you aren’t selling a product, you are building a brand. Through his networking and selling Wes realized you are finding out who you are. People are buying from YOU as a representative of the company.
Wes talks about how he struck up a conversation with his pest control man who sprayed his house. They talked about the struggles they are having, and Wes said he is staring a podcast to help people expand their business. Wes says the idea for the podcast turned into so much more. He likes talking to people, and his long-term goal is to be a motivational speaker. He wants to make his business and other people successful, but he also wants to grow as a person.
Wes has created a team that includes Kyle and a man named Darius. His team building has led to a great team that uses the strengths of each person to compliment any weaknesses in the group. Wes says he’s not good with technology, but someone on his team might be.
Wes talks about being a traveling salesman with Blind apparel selling window coverings. He travels to people’s homes to measure the windows and discuss what is needed. There happens to be growth in Boise, Idaho that generates competition among the businesses. This is also where Wes wants to market the podcast. Through hard work, Wes has found success by being the best salesman he can be.
Wes’s affirmation for success is getting on social media and getting out of his comfort zone. He stays motivated by posting every day; consistency that Gary Vee talked about in his book. Wes realized that success and happiness go hand in hand. Once he realized that, things took off.
When he was a teacher, he learned about Tik Tok from his students who were constantly posting. He is on Tik Tok trying to navigate his way through it, but his creativity is coming out.
What advice does Wes have to be successful? Realize you have plenty of time in a day. It’s about priorities. Make the time. If you’re not happy in your life, do more work. If you’re not happy, do something! Stop complaining and just do it.
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