Business of the Month: Lauren LaForge of SouthWestern Consulting
Tell us a little bit about your current business and how it works:
I am a business and sales coach, speaker, and corporate trainer. When someone asks me what I do, I joyfully respond, "I help people make more money." However, that's the brilliant thing with sales coaching- often times making more money is simply the by-product of having more control over your day, implementing new habits & systems, and living intentionally. Coaching is that exciting plunge into getting an outside opinion from an expert on how to best and most efficiently grow your business. It's sharpening your ax rather than just chopping away with a dull blade. It's getting new energy, vision, perspective and strategies for you & your business; Improving how you lead, prospect and close new business. It’s getting ahold on your day with time management, email management and delegation strategies custom tailored for you & how your brain works. No two coaching experiences are the same because everyone is looking to grow in a different way and at different speeds.
How long have you been doing this?
Over the last 16 years I have been in sales and started and sold two businesses. I have been coaching and speaking since 2014.
What made you get into this field? I know you were a business owner and entrepreneur prior to this, how did that lead you to where you are now?
I feel like this career was meant for me. I started out in sales at 18 years old selling educational reference books door to door. At a young age, I learned the art of selling, being resilient through rejection and the importance of being persistent to reach your goals. Thankfully I did well, I started to speak and train others and eventually started my own businesses. I realized that I loved building businesses and solving problems and now I get to do that everyday with business owners and sales people around the world.
What do you enjoy most about what you do? What's your why everyday?
I get such satisfaction over helping people achieve their goals and improve their business. I love to solve problems and bring a positive change into the lives I work with. It is fascinating that by helping people slow down and work on their business they are able to speed up strategically and reach some phenomenal success.
I saw you have a fairly big team on your website, how many coaches and other members do you currently have at Southwestern Consulting?
We have over 150 coaches nationwide and across 7 countries.
Does Southwestern Consulting coach people nationwide or just locally?
We coach people from around the world and obviously lots of great people here in Santa Barbara as well. Clients usually get paired with a coach based on their personality style and the area they want to grow in. That said, I am here locally and am personally involved with everyone who signs up for coaching in Santa Barbara whether I coach them directly or indirectly.
What do you think is the number one reason someone should consider your services?
If you are eager to become an improved, more focused, organized, fulfilled version of yourself, I’d challenge you to check out coaching. Yes, the main thing we do is help people make more money (which is great) but usually in the process there is phenomenal growth in other areas of your life as well like multiplying your time, feeling more purposeful, generating more qualified leads and getting systematized.
How does one hire or begin working with you or someone from your team?
You can set up a one-on-one Business Action Planning Session with me over the phone or in person. From there we can discuss your goals, what obstacles are getting in the way and see if coaching is a good fit for you. I also do complimentary sales training workshops for sales teams so they can experience our style of training and see if we’d be a good addition for their team.
When you are not hard at work helping people achieve their goals, what do you enjoy doing in Santa Barbara? (Could also be i know you live in Santa Barbara, what makes you enjoy it here? Why have you chosen to call this home... )
I don’t know if there is a non-cliché answer to this question! :) I’ve chosen to call Santa Barbara home because of the amazing quality of life and community here. After living in San Diego for college and running a business in LA, being in Santa Barbara is just so peaceful and enjoyable. I love the 5 minute commute anywhere, the easy access to a
