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Matthew Kimberley
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Matthew Kimberely and the Joy of Selling
Matthew Kimberley first dove into entrepreneurship at the tender age of 13. Having built up his juggling skills, he decided to have a go at street performance Full of trepidation at the concept of asking people for money, he stood on a sidewalk, dropped a coin-collecting hat in front of him, and commenced his act.
In not much time, he heard the "clink" of a coin from his first-ever happy customer, and in that moment, all of his fear disappeared. Then and there, Kimberley became acquainted with the euphoria of selling, which would become his passion and fascination into adult life.
Speaking about sales in his interview with Foundr, Kimberley's enthusiasm shines through:
"When you can sell, you don't need any other skills. You don't need to be a creator. You don't need to be a manager. You don't need to be a writer. You don't need to be a speaker, you don't need to be a talker, you don't have to have a business idea. You don't have to be a particularly good executioner.
"You don't have to be good at doing anything, other than asking, convincing, persuading, giving other people the opportunity to part with their money in exchange for something that you've got that they want."
He makes it sound downright magical, doesn't he? That's just the beginning, as Kimberley shared with us knowledge from many years of honing his technique.
So get your notepad ready, because, in Kimberley's words, "If you don't ever want to be homeless, learn how to sell."
The Reluctant Entrepreneur
There's a certain image of young and successful businesspeople as "unemployables," misfits unable to abide by the rules of the conventional workplace. Not so for Kimberley.
"I was actually a pretty good employee," he says. "The discipline of having to report to a manager was extremely helpful for me."
Nonetheless, a 20-something Kimberley convinced himself that founding and running a company was what he wanted to do. Not only that, he became insanely successful at it. He grew his professional services company, called B2K, selling recruitment for a cool seven-figure yearly revenue. He had chosen a hot market and had the sales skills to match, and he was raking in the rewards. One small hitch: He was totally unhappy.
"I fancied myself as a junior Wolf of Wall Street-type with sharp suits and Italian shoes and heavy drinking on the weekend," says Kimberley. "It was lucrative … and I wanted to put my head through a window every day"
Instead of the exhilaration one would expect running a seven-figure company, Kimberley felt exhausted.
"Is this it? Am i going to be having the same conversations with the same people all of the time?"
He also recalls these internal dissatisfactions expressing themselves physically. "I was seriously sick. I had a bad back, I wasn't sleeping well, drinking too much coffee in the morning."
Kimberley still enjoyed the selling part of his business, but everything else—from dealing with his business partner to employee reviews—was sheer tedium. But instead of grinding through like so many of us might, Kimberley decided to listen to his heart and step away from his company, and into a direction that resonated more closely with what he really loved.
"I realized what I liked to do is sell and teach people how to sell. So what I did was become a self-employed sales trainer, and I haven't looked back since."
How Matthew Kimberley Booked Himself Solid
After selling his interests in his business, Kimberley decided to zone in on his love of teaching others by sharpening up his skills as a sales trainer.
He set himself up with training from the legendary New York Times-bestselling, expert salesperson Michael Port. He took Port's course, Book Yourself Solid, and got to know him in the process. Port became a mentor and friend, and Kimberley soon found himself working for him as head of the Book Yourself Solid school.
The two worked together on a variety of exciting projects and on growing the Book Yourself Solid brand. He certified dozens of other Book Yourself Solid coaches over the years, and got to leverage his exceptional presentation skills all over the world. He caused a stir with his talk at the 2015 Tropical Think Tank event, where he kicked off his presentation with his storied juggling act.
But in early 2016, Kimberley decided to head in a new direction. "I'm not a naturally very ambitious person. I don't worry about money. I never worry I will not have money to sustain my lifestyle and that of my family and children. But I was worried I was getting too comfortable."
As much as he enjoyed his time working for the Book Yourself Solid brand, Kimberley decided after six years to branch out on his own.
"I'm excited about building big things," he says. "I was ready for a new challenge for myself."
So once again, driven by passion and heart, Kimberley started on his new venture of training people to sell better and with more confidence.
Step Up to the Plate
Kimberley opens up his discussion on how to sell with a reminder of just how important mastering this skill can be for entrepreneurs:
"The difference between a business owner with a bad idea who can sell and a business owner with a fantastic idea who can't sell is enormous—it's the health and success of the business. Sales is absolutely critical."
That being said, a lot of us are very hesitant, both about selling and being sold to. This hesitation is one of the prime reasons why many entrepreneurs, perhaps including you, are hesitant to embrace the topic. So how does one get over this constricting fear of selling?
"People don't like to be sold to, but we like to buy! There must be someway of facilitating that," Kimberley says.
The reality is that no one likes being sold to until they need or want something, and at that point, they actively seek out salespeople. So sales isn't only about trying to figure out how to get money out of the hands of other people. Rather, Kimberley suggests a holistic approach that takes into account different perspectives.
It's also important to recognize that sales, for all of its intricacies, is very much a numbers game.
"If you have 100 sales conversations everyday, even the crappiest sales person with the crappiest product will sell something eventually."
Oftentimes, the reason Kimberley's clients aren't making enough sales is because they simply are not engaging in enough conversations. So showing up is step one. But Kimberley has 16 more steps to help you along the way.
The 16 Principles of Professional Persuasion
Qualification: People need to be qualified buyers. Make sure you research your market carefully. "Have they bought something like you're selling, was it recently, have they bought for your competitors, have they visited relevant sites/shops. Any proof they want your stuff?"
Control: "It's critical that we exercise control if we are going to be good salespeople. Lay the groundwork. Lead them. Make me confident that the person I'm buying from has more knowledge, expertise than me," Kimberley says. "It's about moving your prospect along a sales journey, the sales funnel—once they are past one [stage in the] funnel, there is no going back."
Likability: Be the best version of yourself by being yourself. Assert your values strongly. If there are elements of your character/personality that make you more likable, make sure that they are included in your sales process.
Credibility: Credibility is a primary reason why you would be the preferred source for whatever it is that your are selling. Authority lends credibility.
Solution: Your solution must address a real problem in the marketplace you
are targeting. People will always buy a real solution.
Expert Endorsement: If you lack your own credibility (e.g. because you are new), an expert endorsement is the highest form of borrowed credibility. Endorsements should never be ignored or forgotten.
Problem: Present a problem that everybody can relate to. Highlight/acknowledge a problem that already exists. Do not assume that your potential customer has a problem. You must be able to get the "yes I have a problem" answer to ensure your prospect is well-qualified for the sale.
Offer: Make the offer as many times as you possibly can.
Benefits: Introduce the benefits as a supplemental bonus to the solution.
Social Proof: The first form of social proof is showing that other people are already
consuming your product (number of customers, reviews, etc.). Another form is through testimonials. Show examples of how other people have benefited from your product.
Preempt Objections: Come up with a list of common objections and address them in
a document, such as an FAQ.
Urgency: Pre-frame your prospects on the idea that they are going to pay less if they
buy right now.
Sweeten the Deal: Sweeten the deal by stacking bonuses and giving your
prospects more reasons to come on board.
Risk Reversal: Offer a satisfaction guarantee. Eliminate as much risk as you possibly can from the prospect's point of view.
Scarcity: Scarcity is the principle that says there's not many of this product and this might be one of your few chances to get it. Scarcity is a powerful sales tool—use it in your marketing and sales process.
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Key Takeaways
- Kimberley's 16 principles of professional persuasion
- The best place to learn and hone your skills as a salesperson
- Why learning how to sell is the most important skill for an entrepreneur
- How to follow your passion while maximizing your profits
- The importance of having a mentor and where to find one
Full Transcript of the Podcast with Matthew Kimberley
Nathan: Today's episode is proudly brought to you by our sponsor, FreshBooks. FreshBooks is an easy-to-use cloud accounting software that's completely transformed how over 10 million entrepreneurs deal with their day-to-day paperwork. It's an absolutely amazing product and you can start your 30-day trial at freshbooks.com/foundr.
Hey, guys. Welcome to the "Foundr" podcast. My name is Nathan Chan, I am your host and the CEO of "Foundr Magazine." And for all of you guys that are listening for the first time, I just want to say thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this podcast. We interview some of the greatest and most successful entrepreneurs and founders in the world. And I do whatever I can to unpack and pick their brain and just extract a ton of gold and knowledge and experience that they can share with us, so you can learn what it takes to build and grow a successful business.
And today's guest, his name is Matthew Kimberley: super talented guy, very, very funny Englishman. I was…I spoke with him and met him at a conference last year and we really hit it off. We had some–you could say–interesting conversations over beers. And it turned out that he used to run a really successful recruitment agency and now, he's gone off and done his own thing and doing bits and pieces. But what I really want to talk to him about is sales.
Now, if you check out episode [00:02:00] number 92 with Ben Chaib, that's another amazing episode that we talk about sales. And that was such a well-received episode that I had to get another sales expert on here. And same with Gary Tramer from episode number 86. So sales is everything. Sales is the lifeblood of your business and if you can't sell your product or your service, you're in a bit of trouble. And that's why I asked Matthew to come on, because he's got an interesting framework. It's really, really solid as well.
And we're pretty big on understanding sales processes and things like that here at Foundr, because I think it's really, really important. And sales is one of the greatest skills that you can learn that you can take with you wherever you go. And if you've got an amazing product or service, you're doing that person…remember, you're doing that person a disservice if you don't let them know about it. And…yeah. So Matthew goes through his background, it was really interesting. He was…He had a really successful business and he gave it up, because it just wasn't him. And now, he's gone off and done all these other things, so it's really interesting.
And we talk everything sales, he gives you a great process and framework for you guys to follow, which I think you'll love. So before we jump into today's episode, I just wanted to let you know we are working on many different courses and products at Foundr. And one in particular that I know you guys might be interested in is…it's a "how to start an e-commerce-based business" course, how to start from scratch. It's called "Start and Scale." We actually found from our audience that 30% of you guys…of hundreds of thousands of people that follow the brand on our email list and our newsletter, 30% of you guys haven't even started a business yet. So we want to help solve that problem, so we've found someone who's an absolute superstar.
I won't reveal who that is yet, but this person has built and launched multiple…many different…multiple seven-figure e-commerce businesses and brands and you're in for an absolute treat. So if you'd like to know more about this course and you're interested in entrepreneurship and you haven't started, or you might be saying, "I want to start a business, don't know where to start," or you're not feeling it with your e-commerce business or your online store, just sign up at foundrmag.com/ecommerce. So foundermag.com/ecommerce. And you'll be notified when this course goes live and you can jump in and get an early bird special price, super discounted just for you guys. All right, guys. Now, let's jump into the show.
The first thing I ask every one that comes on is, how'd you get your job?
Matthew: Well, I fell into it. It was a…it's been a series of evolutions. It's been an evolutionary process. Back in 2006, I started a recruitment company. And that was a result of being a recruiter and thinking, "Hey, I'm fed up with the boss making all the money. I think I could probably do this." So I got a partner to invest, opened a company with table football and big bean bags and a comfy sofa, so I knew we were going to be a great success. And actually, the company is still a huge success. None of the original owners or founders are involved in it anymore and I was the first to jump ship, because it was killing me.
And that…you know, becoming a company owner in a sales industry–professional services, recruitment, corporate sales–was a result of discovering sales. When I was much younger, maybe 23 years old, I started working in timeshare and that taught me to fall in love with the psychology of selling. Really, it was an awful, predatory, aggressive, hungry industry full of dodgy characters and dubious tax write-offs. And we sold very hard, we'd use films like "Boiler Room." And I guess that was the precursor to based on the same story, right? We'd use that as our training video: "Glengarry Glen Ross," stuff like this.
And I fell in love with selling, but absolutely hated the industry. I mean, it was an evil industry to be involved in. And I've still got some good friends who work in timeshare, we just don't hang out anymore, right? And prior to that, that had come from when I was a kid. I used to go out and juggle in the street turn pocket money, because I realized if my dad was going to give me if a fiver once a week–which would have been a great week, by the way, it was more like a few cents or a few pence–I could earn multiples of that by taking my hat to the public, performing for them and encouraging them to give me money. So it was really an evolution.
And when I realized that I my sales ability to the limit…which is when I tapped out as sales manager. "Oh, I've put you in the sales manager hold." "Ugh…" I'm tapping out, right? That was when I said, "That's enough. I can't cope with this. I can't cope with sales management." I need to go back to doing the selling, but doing it in a way that meant I wasn't dependent upon a partner or a boss or something like that. So I took what I knew and I became a sales trainer and that's where I am today. And people often have the conversation with me…they're like, "Well, aren't sales trainers just failed salespeople?" If you can't do, teach, right?
I will tell you that in many cases, that's actually true. If you look at…no, not always, but often…if you look at in-house sales trainers–employed sales trainers–they are not likely to be the most competent salespeople in the world. Firstly, I don't think that's a problem. I think you could be a very good teacher, just not a very good doer. It's like the cobbler's kids' shoes or whatever the story is. You know, the guy who makes the most beautiful shoes wears…his kids wear crappy shoes, all right? It doesn't mean he can't make good shoes. Also, if you're a good teacher, you might have a better…you might be more patient, you might have a better way of phrasing things and some people innately gets it.
But I will defend myself by saying that any…and the other self-employed salespeople…I would say if you're a self-employed sales trainer, then you're dependent upon your own sales skills to get your customers.
Nathan: Yeah, no, I can see…for everyone listening, me and Matthew are friends. And we met earlier this year in the Philippines and we had a really good time. And he's a really good sales guy. He's a man of many, many unknown talents, but selling is one of them. So I wanted him to get up…wanted to ask him to here about his journey and talk to us about selling and–you name it–sales, because this is the lifeblood of every business.
And before we talk about that though, I…me and you had a really good conversation over probably a few too many mojitos and beers in the Philippines. And that was around your recruitment agency, because that was a multimillion-dollar company. And you said to me, "Nathan…" even when you were really "crushing it," maybe, it wasn't everything that you maybe dreamed or anticipated or told yourself it would be.
Matthew: Yeah, absolutely right. And a couple of disclaimers that go with that. Yes, we were multimillion revenue from day one. And as you know, revenue doesn't equal profit, right? So we did sell…we sold millions of euros in the first year, doubled it in the second year. Third year, it was on to do even more, but I jumped ship before the end of the year. And there were a couple of issues, but really…but my biggest mistake…I'll tell you the biggest lesson learned is that I didn't employ a general manager. That was the biggest problem.
I thought that because I'm the owner, I also have to be the manager. And I see many of my clients making a similar mistake and I'm happy to jump in and say, "Listen, listen. Why are you killing yourself with the admin, with the recruitment, with the hiring, with the financing? Why are you making decisions about which office to take? Where are you running the lunch run? Why don't you employ a general manager or a series of managers to take care of this?" I believe that if I'd just kept myself as Head of Sales or Head of Head of Business Development, I employed someone to do the general manager role, then I may still be there today.
However, Nathan, and that's really why it was the biggest headache, because I didn't know what I was doing. And the counsel I was getting, either I wasn't listening to or it wasn't correct for me, because everyone's got an opinion, right? And so, I was getting counsel from various individuals and nothing really sounded right. And I felt the only thing left was to jump. Now, do I look back on it and say, "Do I wish that I'd stuck around?" No, not so much. I don't. I see…
Nathan: A little bit?
Matthew: No, absolutely not. I don't regret it a little bit. What I do think is, "Why did I make it difficult on myself by starting all over again," right? "I had a good thing, why didn't I just run with it?" And honestly, Nathan, I think you perhaps know me well enough to say that, "If Kimberley's not interested in doing something, there's very little chance he's going to do it." Not known for getting overly enthusiastic about many things and I just wasn't interested enough.
The prospect of sitting and discussing mainframe infrastructure projects with large banks over endless meetings didn't excite me in the slightest. And the prospect of being responsible…this was a big one for me…managing and being responsible for other people. You know, what I hated more than anything, ever in the world…and it still makes me cringe when I think about it, now…and that's firing underperforming people or firing anybody. Firing people sucks. Anybody who says that firing people doesn't suck is a liar or a psychopath.
And I maybe should have gotten somebody to do it for me, but I was still the owner, I was still the totem head, I was the iconic face of the business. And I said, "Right, that's enough." I was too miserable, I was too unhappy. I don't look back now and say, "I want to run it." And I always swore then that my next venture would be very, very streamlined and very lightweight. And I've remained true to that and probably suffered from…"suffered" is the wrong word…probably experienced less rapid growth than I could have done, had I been prepared to bring more people on board.
Nathan: Interesting. How many people did you have in the company before you'd left, where you think you should have hired a general manager or an operations manager or someone to run that side of the business?
Matthew: I'm thinking. How many people…? We cycled through several. Some people went, came and left. When I left, there were probably eight or nine people in the company.
Nathan: Yeah. It's really interesting, because one of my mentors reckons once you get to about eight to ten, that's when you look to get an operations manager or a general manager, or some sort of manager to…because it makes your life much easier and it kind of justifies it. It's interesting, that number.
Matthew: Yeah, I had trouble from day one. I had trouble from day one, with the first two employees. And what I tell people…I was having a conversation with somebody here in Malta. I live in Malta, somebody in Malta runs a coffee shop here. They just made the decision to close on…they always closed on Mondays and now, they've taken a decision to close on Tuesdays. And this pisses me off, because this is my local coffee shop. So I say, "Why are you closing on Tuesdays as well? Why don't you just hire somebody that can run it for you?"
Because they'd put up a big sign saying, you know, "In the interest of work-life balance and family unity, we've decided we're not going to open on Tuesdays as well as Mondays." Well, this is ludicrous. I said, "Why don't you grow? Why don't you just employ someone?" And they say…and the answer was, "Well, no, we can't do it, because we can't find anyone who can run it like us." And I said…well, we know that it's possible, because other multiple-location food and beverage companies exist, right?
The owner of McDonald's is dead, yet there are thousands of McDonald's all around…sorry, the founder of McDonald's is dead and yet, there are thousands of McDonald's franchises all over the globe. We know that it's possible. And so, what…and so, I would berate my clients or my customers for forgoing profits in the interest of not hiring staff or not believing hiring staff is possible. And yet, perhaps I was guilty of the same thing back in the day.
Nathan: Hmm, interesting. Before we move on to sales, personal brands, all the cool stuff you're doing now, I'm curious: how many people did you fire, man?
Matthew: Too many. Maybe five or six.
Nathan: Why did it feel so bad?
Matthew: I knew it was the right thing to do and I know that no job is guaranteed. You don't have tenure in any job, unless you do. And I think that's a mistake anyway. I felt bad because our hiring policy was very clear. We didn't hire experienced salespeople or recruiters, we hired newbies. There was an exception. We opened a second division of the company where we took an experienced person and put them in charge, but we hired newbies and we trained them up. And I felt that if they didn't manage to produce results in spite of my training, then it was a personal failure.
Also, being fired sucks. You're looking somebody in the eye and saying, "I don't…you are no longer of sufficient value to this organization that the organization is prepared to keep paying for you," which is an awful thing to tell anybody. I'm not saying that people who are…like, we had a guy drinking on the job once. We had a…we hired a girl… And he stuck around, right, until he didn't. That was creative. He just didn't understand. There was beer in the fridge, he didn't understand the beer in the fridge was not for Monday morning, right? He just…I probably should have been more clear about that.
We had a girl who started, who I think…you know, I genuinely think that she had psychological problems, to the extent where we had to close down the office one morning, in case she was waiting for us to execute violence upon us. And I felt bad about that and I fired her by email, right? And…
Nathan: Wow.
Matthew: No, no. I mean, this was a serious thing. We ended up calling the authorities and things at one point with this poor girl. But it's never a pleasant thing to do. I didn't feel a responsibility towards them as a kind of donor or a benevolent, charitable giver towards them. I just felt I had somehow failed them by failing to recruit them properly or train them up properly.
Nathan: Interesting.
Matthew: I wouldn't feel bad if someone was being a douche, but we hired well enough that people weren't a douche and probably not enough. We didn't hire enough, through having 15, 20 hires total. Some stayed, some didn't. We didn't hire enough to experience the full shebang of douche-baggery that I'm sure exists in the world. But if someone had been a complete douche, I would have happily let them go. But it was firing good people who are underperforming on sales targets, that really killed me.
Nathan: Let's switch gears. Can you sell without being slimy?
Matthew: Absolutely, categorically yes, you can. And I think the proof, Nathan, is that you buy stuff, right, probably on a daily basis, as do all of us. The people who are listening to this buy stuff on a daily basis. And how many times do they come away from that feeling, "Yuck, I've got to take a shower," or, "I've got to have a steam wash," or, "I've got to be de-slimed?" Almost never, to the point that when it does happen, it really sticks in our brain. Why? Because it's an irregular occurrence. So if us, as consumers, don't feel like we're covered in ectoplasm after entering into a buyer-purchaser relationship, why is it that so many salespeople have got this hang-up that the minute they encounter prospects, they're going to cover them in ectoplasm?
Nathan: Why? I don't know. Yeah, why is that?
Matthew: Yeah. Yeah, why is that? That's what I'd like to know. When we have a negative experience with a salesperson, then that takes in the craw. It remains stuck in our brain as being an example of what we don't want to do. And so, we start to compensate–we overcompensate–for not being slimy by either never making a sales offer, or by making a weak sales offer, just because we don't want to be that slimeball who once pissed us off, or the kind of traditional car salesman that goes down in folklore and is on every…every TV show, there's always a dodgy, ambulance-chasing lawyer or a slimy salesperson or an ethical train crash of a financial services provider. They make good TV baddies.
They make good TV baddies, so we overcompensate for that and say, "Sales equals slime. Therefore, in order to not be slimy, I'm going to not make sales offers." And this is problematic. So I think the people who very rarely come across or who have the least…let me say…rephrase that. The people…the salespeople who most rarely experience the "Am I a slimy salesperson" doubt are the people who are confident about the value of their product. I think if you have…and I think it genuinely is a confidence issue.
If you are not sure if your product or service is for the person who's in front of you, you're going to have to go out of kilter with what you believe is best for the person in front of you or the humanity–the empathy side of things–by delivering them something that they don't want or need. So if you're a person who…because you don't believe they want or need your product. If you don't believe they will want or need your product, then you will have an ethical quandary, providing that you experience some form of sensitivity towards other people, providing you're not a full psychopath.
So if you're not sure…and this comes with experience, as well. It's easier to sell something that has worked for a dozen other people. It's easier to sell a widget that you use yourself. If you wouldn't sell it to your grandmother, if your grandmother was in your target market, you shouldn't sell it to the person in front of you. If you doubt your ability to provide that service, then then you've got to be upfront about that doubt and even upfront about that doubt with your prospect, if necessary.
But I still think you can follow a systematic process, even if you're not 100% certain, in order to allow that person to make a decision. Sales is not forcing somebody to do something. Sales is encouraging somebody to make an appropriate decision for themselves within a timeframe that suits both of you.
Nathan: Interesting. So when it comes to selling, professional persuasion, where's the first place that people can start? You talk about a system. What does your sales process look like? Can you take us through it?
Matthew: Absolutely right. Yeah. So in order to sell, you can either leave it up to the prospect…so you can say, "Right. Here…I'm going to stick up a sign that says, "You can buy my widget here," and if people are interested in a widget, they'll find out about it. And just in marketing, you can say, "Look, widgets for sale." And people can come and have a look at your widget and you stand there with an order book and those who are ready to buy, buy, right? Or you can make it more likely that they buy, more likely that they have all the information they need by following a system for selling and many large organizations have these systems in place.
They're called pipelines, they're called sales processes, they're called funnels, they're called launches, right, where you make sure that you hit all the likely buttons, that people have the information that they need, in order to…and to build out some excitement and to give them an incentive to do it now instead of later, which is better for everybody, if you believe that they should have it now rather than later. So…or, you can leave it up to chance. And too many people–particularly the solo operators that I tend to work with–leave it up to chance.
So instead of leaving it up to chance, you can lead them through the stages of the pipeline, the steps of the funnel, the process. And what I've done over the last 15 years or so, since I've been studying this off, is take all of the individual elements and piece them together in some kind of order which makes sense to me. And that is my professional persuasion program that begins…it begins with the qualification phase. So who's the person you're talking to and who are you? You qualify themselves and then, you qualify yourself as the vendor of choice.
Then, you enter the clarification phase. The clarification phase is when you actually let them know what they're getting: what it is, how it works, what the numbers are for, how to turn it on and whether or not it's for them, if other people are using it, if it's appropriate, stuff like that. Then, you do…once they know what they're getting, then you can just start to quantify that with prices and sales conditions. So you say, "Now, you've seen what you're going to get. Let's quantify what that means for you in monetary terms today," and then, you close, right? And those are the four big big-picture steps.
So the qualification stage is absolutely critical. And I don't need to torture you or your audience–I believe–about the importance of a niche, the importance of a target market, the importance of making sure that the person in front of you has the financial means, or access to the financial means, in order to become a customer. I don't need to tell your audience, Nathan, that if you want to sell hotdogs, don't sell them to people who are walking out of a restaurant. It's kind of the basis of qualification. Is this person…does this person have the emotional drive, do they have the financial capability, do they have the situational need: if they need it today?
Identifying the last part–which is often neglected, but which I learned from my mentor, Michael Port–is, do they belong in my world? Do I want them…? Maybe if you're selling a widget, it doesn't matter. But if you're selling a service, do you want to work with this person? Do they pass your red velvet rope policy or do they fail the douchebag test? So that's important as well. There's got to be a good deal of qualification. The more you work on qualification up front, the less…and this is after your marketing has done its job of bringing people to your front door, right?
Then, you qualify these people: are you allowed in? Do you belong here? Is it appropriate for you? If you do that hard work and really hard…another one of my mentors, Taki Moore, has a process called application selling. It's like, if people want to work with you, they have to fill in an application. That's great qualification, because they're filling in the application themselves. You're not saying, "Come on, come on, come on, come on. Come in, come in, come in." That makes you a needy salesperson and that's unattractive. That shifts the balance of power to the buyer, where they're dangling the carrot and you, the salesperson, are trying to grab it.
It should be exactly the opposite way around. It's like, "I've got something for you and if you're lucky, you can have it. Oh, and not just lucky, but you've got to qualify." When you go to the doctor, the doctor doesn't say, "Choose me, choose me, choose me." He's like, "You have a verruca on your foot, but I'm definitely the person to do it. Let me show you all the verrucas that I've cured in the past." No. He just goes, "Of course I've got the answer. And if you give me enough money, I'll help you." That's the way I think that we should be approaching things. That's the mind-set shift.
Instead of putting up prospects on a pedestal and kissing their feet, you say, "I am the prize and if you qualify, you can get a piece of me." That's difficult for a lot of people. And that's why people fear being slimy, I think, because they don't see themselves as the prize.
Nathan: Hey, guys. Just want to take a quick second to let you know about our sponsor for today's episode, FreshBooks. FreshBooks makes cloud accounting software for entrepreneurs so ridiculously easy to use, they've now helped over 10 million people save time and get paid faster. What makes them so great? Sending an invoice in under 30 seconds and automating late payment reminders and setting up online payments in just two clicks is a good place to start.
The world is not built for the self-employed, but luckily, we've got FreshBooks. I highly recommend them and now, they're offering our listeners a 30-day free trial. So if you go to freshbooks.com…so freshbooks.com/foundr…and enter F-O-U-N-D-R in the "How did you hear about us" section, because remember, when you're supporting our sponsors, you're supporting the show. Okay, now let's jump back in.
And when it comes to qualification, do you think someone buying, like…? What are your thoughts on the ascension model: having a series of products throughout the sales process or in the funnel, having some sort of level-entry product or service or something to qualify them. So you don't have to pay a nominal fee to be somewhere, or you don't have to pay a nominal fee to fill out the application, or a deposit, or…what are your thoughts on those kinds of things, in terms of qualification?
Matthew: Yeah, I think it's absolutely critical. And you'll know, Nathan–as I know and any other person who's sold more than one thing in their past–that your best customers are your existing customers. Anybody who is a happy customer who has already spent money with you and has gotten what they wanted will be more inclined to spend money with you again, because the element of risk has almost been annihilated. There is no risk if you're going back in…well, there's always some elements of risk, but it's much less.
I've just launched a coaching program, Nathan, and I've asked everybody who's come through…I've said, "Why did you join?" And a lot of them have said, "Well, because it's you and you never fail to deliver." And that's fine, right? "I didn't even know…" like, somebody…one person said, "I didn't even know what it was, but you've never let me down in the past. So let's see what you've got. I generally need it," right? That's the…great. So that's…yeah. So the ascension model, can you…? Yeah. People commit. Commitment creates commitment.
Commitment creates commitment and people commit different things, right? You can commit money, but you can also commit time or energy or attention to something as well. One of the famous qualification tests…I'm trying to think of the name of the guy who told me about it. I can't now. It's like, all these kids are sitting and exam, right?
Nathan: Yeah.
Matthew: And to pass the exam, you need to get 100%. And the first instruction is, "Read through the entire paper before you answer any questions," right? And then, the first one is…point number one, "Take out a pencil and write "X" at the top of this paper." Good. Point number two, "Stand up and shout, "Hi, I am here." And people around the class are doing that. Step number three, "Do five push-ups." And these people go, "Yeah, this is easy. I'm easily going to get 100%." And then, you get down to question number 20 and it says, "Thank you for reading to the end of the paper. Do not do any of these questions. Hand in a blank paper."
So that's a great qualifier. That's a great qualifier. Do you see why that's a qualification? You're getting people to…if you don't do what's expected of you in question number one, the chances are, you're not going to pass the test. It's the same with interview applications. We see this a lot. When you're hiring a VA, I've seen a lot of recommendation would be, "Please follow the application of rules to a letter," to a T. So, "I'm looking for somebody who's going to create"–let's say…I don't know–"curate my Instagram feed. I'm looking for somebody who's going to run my Instagram feed. If you think this is you, please submit an application of no more than 100 words and tell me what your favorite color is."
And the minute you receive an application which is 5000 words and they don't mention their favorite color, then you know that this person doesn't qualify to work on your team. They have disqualified themselves by not answering the right questions. So when it comes to the ascension model, people can invest their time. You can ask them to read…you know, "Read this before you show up." Or I have a friend who introduced me to action-based coaching, where I used to have a problem when I was a coach. I used to do a lot more coaching than I do now.
But the problem was, I would sit down with people and I'd go, "Right. So here's what we agree that you would do before the next session. You'll go out and you'll have 10 sales conversations, then you report to me when you get back. Right? Good. Okay. So let's fix our next meeting for Wednesday next week." And they'd come back Wednesday next week and I'd say, "So how many of those sales conversations did you have?" And they'd say, "Well, you know, I couldn't have any, because the cat was sick," or, "I had an existential crisis," or something like that. And we'd end up having a therapy session and I wasn't good at this. So I said, "I need a better quality of client who qualifies themselves upfront."
And I think it may…it might have been James Shenko, actually. I don't remember. And…it could well have been. He was like, "Well, why not try something else? Why not qualify them for every single call?" Which is, "Okay, here's what you need to do. At the end of our session, you agreed to go away and have 10 sales conversations and try this approach." "Yes." "Good. When you've done that, send me the report and we'll schedule our next call. But you can't have your next call until you've done that." So that's an ascension model. You can ascend to the next call if you have followed through.
I think it's very important to allow people to make investments…and this comes directly from Michael Port, who I worked with for six years at Book yourself Solid. This is directly his quotes. It's not mine, but it stuck with me. "People will make investments that are directly proportionate to the amount of trust that you have earned." So if you're asking somebody to invest $5000 and they've never met you before, then that might be asking too much. If you're asking them to invest 15 minutes to watch a video or to fill in an application form, that might feel right for them.
And here's the thing, trust develops at different times for different people. So I stand up on stage, I give a keynote of 45 minutes to a crowd of people who've never met me before. One person comes up to me and says, "I want you to be my private coach," and I say, "That's $30,000 a year," and they say, "Hmm…" yes or no, right? But some of them say, "Yes." Some of them say, "Okay, that's great. No problem." And I say, "But you've only known me for 45 minutes. How do you know it's right?" And they go, "I just know." We haven't even had a conversation, right? So it took 45 minutes for $30,000 worth of trust to be developed, right?
Then, I've been running a mailing list for probably five or six years as well. I'll have somebody write to me maybe once a month and say, "Hey, Matthew, I've been reading your emails for the last five years. I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate everything that you do and I just bought your book." My book is 99 cents or $3.99 or something on Amazon. So it took five years for three dollars' worth of trust to be developed. So the ascension model is important, yes, but I don't want to stick everybody into a funnel.
If someone walks up to me and says, "I loved your talk, I want you to be my coach," and I say, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That's great. But first, have you taken my survey and bought my $99 course?" I'm not going to say that. That'd be crazy. So yeah, I think the ascension model is really important, but I think we should consider it to be a…you can enter at any point, right? It's a carousel, it's a sales cycle, like Michael Port says, rather than, "You must ascend from one dollar." If you're ready to jump to the $30,000 offer off the bat, then you should do that.
Nathan: Gotcha. So what are some other ways that people can build trust quickly? Because we…I want to work towards closing this loop.
Matthew: Yeah. The other way to build trust quickly comes from…I think the most powerful tool that you have in your arsenal is your client list. Whether you're working in corporate or whether you're working in B2C, whatever that might be, I think the element of…you'll be familiar with social proof from Cialdini…the social proof that comes with your list of existing clients cannot be sniffed out. Let's say you're working in corporate and you walk into a meeting with a purchasing officer–a procurement officer–of a large corporate organization.
And the only question they're asking themselves–and they will probably ask you out front, up early, because they're not…they don't want their time to be wasted–is, "Why should we even think about working with you?" So, "Give me a pitch. Why should we choose your firm?" The most common response is to list all the features and benefits of your organization. So like, "We have a database of 400,000 active professionals who we're currently working for," "We have been in existence since 2001 and we have served X, Y, Z."
I think a much stronger response is to just dangle that social proof, "Well, I don't know why your bank should work with us, but let me show you that Bank A, Bank C, Acme Bank, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Bank of Ethiopia and 400 other world-leading banks in the world currently choose us. I guess you just…I just presumed that you would be interested in finding out more," right? Or, "Why should I run your Facebook ads…why should I let you run my Facebook ads account?" "Well, you shouldn't. But let me show you a list of names of 90 of our existing customers. If it's all right for them, it will probably work out for you. Would you agree?" "Well, yeah, now that you mentioned it like that."
So I think if you can dangle your client list through case studies, testimonials and also just names, that can work…well, that really works like you wouldn't believe, done right. You don't want to be that hungry, needy salesperson. I've said it before. If you can walk into a meeting confident that you have a solution that will benefit them and you just show them–you show them why it will benefit them–then that can build trust a lot quicker. What you say about yourself only goes so far. What other people say about you–and that includes your client list–says a lot more.
Now, what if you don't have any existing clients? Well, then, you need to start to get some clients, right? It's all…it's more difficult in the beginning. But there are other ways of building trust if you don't have more clients. And that's through the voice that you have in the world, or I call them authority signposts. I use somebody who has written a book, I use somebody who's written extensively, I use somebody who has spoken on the "Foundr" podcast, I use somebody who has…yeah, right? I'm going to dangle this.
I'm going to say, "Look, you don't have to trust me. But Nathan and the "Foundr" crew trusted me enough to have me on their podcast to talk about it. So if they think that their audience can learn about selling, maybe you might think that's I can teach you about selling," right? These are the standard credibility builders. It used to be, back in the day, that you could buy a mention on an affiliate website of CNBC News, local affiliates in Durango, New Mexico…I don't know where Durango is. You know, and some kind of tiny little town would mention you on their website and you could say, "As featured on CNBC."
I've got some guy who's still trying to sell me that. Every time I send out an email, he replies with, "Imagine Matthew Kimberley, as seen on CNN, BBC, CNBC, Fox," etc. And he always spells my name wrong, so [inaudible 00:36:20]. But this is the kind of thing…you know, if you can be considered to be a talking head–if you can get a newspaper column, if you can exhibit the facts that other people are vouching for you–then that eliminates a lot of the, "You should trust me, you should trust me." You know, if someone has to tell you that they should trust you, ask yourself why.
What about if you already coming into that knowing that this is a trustworthy kind of person? How do you demonstrate your credibility, how do you demonstrate your experience? Through other people saying things about you. That's much more powerful than you listing off your own reasons to be considered trustworthy.
Nathan: Okay, so we talk about trust-building and rapport. What about the pitch? That's the hardest part, right, for most?
Matthew: No, that's the easiest part. Yeah. But it's actually the easiest part when the rest has been done properly. So it is the hardest part. The pitch is the hardest part if you walk in with no rapport, if you walk in with no connection, if you walk in with no authority signposts, no credibility. It's the hard part if you're not exerting control over the sales process. So if you walk into a meeting and you allow the client or the prospect to bully you into doing everything their way, then it is more difficult.
But if you have set the tone…and I think what I didn't mention earlier is control. The four stages of the qualification section of the sales process are qualification, connection, control and credibility. And control is critical. It's so tiresome to dance to the prospect's tune, a prospect who tells you, "I just need to see three or four different things and then, I'll give you a call when I'm ready." You say, "No, no, no, no, no. That's not the way that we work here. We work this way. If you go to the bank because you want and need a mortgage, you don't tell them, "Yeah, so just throw me some figures and I'll decide whether or…" No.
They tell you, "You've got to fill in this form," then you've got to sit here and wait to speak to somebody. Then, they're going to try and upsell you on homeowner's insurance. This is the way we operate here. You don't get to tell your vendor how you want to do things." I think that's a…as a prospect. And this idea that the customer is always right is not a correct idea. The customer has a right to be listened to, but the customer also has the choice of places where they can make their purchase. So I think…I like to teach a lot of my clients how to control the process.
How many times do you hear, "Thanks, I'll get back to you," or, "Just give me a price," or, "Just give me a ballpark figure, how much would it cost," or, "Look, I only need you to do 10 minutes' work?" And a lot of people drop the ball at that point and they'd be like, "Okay, fine. Well, I'll just do 10 minutes' work. And I'll give you a price and I wait for you to get back to me." Well, that's a waste of time. You're better off not having that conversation at all.
So what was your original question? Oh, what about the pitch, right? So if you do all of this work, where the prospect is qualified and you've got a strong connection with them and you're considered to be credible and you are actually controlling the process, the pitch is the easiest part. The pitch is just like, "Here's what I've got, here's what it does and here's how much it costs." The difficult part is what happens after the pitch, which is getting them to agree, one way or another. But that's what we forget, it's one way or another.
Your job is not to close every person you meet in…to become a customer. Your job is to close every person you meet one way or another, so that you're not chasing your tail, wasting time following up on prospects who are never going to buy. I learned this from the Sandler Training System. I almost hired a guy back in the day called Marcus Cauchi. The reason I didn't is because he was operating in a geographical region that I wasn't able to travel to for his franchise training.
And he told me…he said, "Listen, I'm going to…we're going to have a conversation about it and I just want you to agree to make a decision at the end, okay? That decision can be, "Yes," and that decision can be, "No," but I want you to agree one way or another. Can you do that?" And this is a great way of exercising control. I was like, "Yeah, of course…"
Nathan: Yeah, wow.
Matthew: "…of course, I can agree one way or another. Great." So here's what was so painful. And he said, "The thing happens like this. We meet twice a month in London and it costs £3000 a month." And he did all the other stuff right, "Here are some of the other people that are members, here's why it will benefit you," etc., etc., "but the price is $3000 a month. Now, he created his own urgency with me. He didn't have to say, "And the price goes up on Monday," because I'd already agreed to make a decision by the end of that conversation, right?
Nathan: Yeah, wow.
Matthew: Now, I might have wiggled out and I said, "Ooh, can I have a couple of days to think about it?" And here's what happened at a previous step. He goes, "Right, I need you to complete this application form," so he's starting to get me to commit early on. I'm completing an application form, I'm doing a personality test…
Nathan: So this was before you spoke…
Matthew: …a personality test. This was …
Nathan: …before he said, "I need you to make a decision?"
Matthew: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this was before we spoke and it was before…it was initially…it was before the initial offer, right?
Nathan: Yeah.
Matthew: He was like, "Sure. In order…" It is the qualification phase, right? "In order to have a chat with me about whether or not we can work together, I need you to fill in this personality test and this application form." So I did that. And of course, the application form was designed to heighten my fear and to elucidate to me all of the problems that I had in my business that I thought he might be able to help me with. And the personality test was just that. It was like a desk profile test or something, so that he could actually come back to me and be more relevant when we connected and forge a stronger connection.
But here's what he said. He said, "I need you to complete it by Monday. Can you do that?" And I said, "Yeah, probably." He said, "Well, you said probably, so it sounds like it might be difficult. When would be a good time for you to complete this application?" And I said, "Well, if we say by Friday next week, that would be perfect." He said, "Okay, we've got a deal. And for you to uphold your end of the deal, if you haven't completed it by Friday, we can't work together. Is that okay?" And I said, "Yep." So he doesn't have to do anything, right? He's not chasing anything. He has just…
Nathan: Yeah, wow.
Matthew: …made it crystal clear that this is my qualification. "You said you would do it by Friday. I need a man of his word who…if we're going to work together. So if you haven't done it by Friday, it's off." I worked with recruiters. Still, funnily enough, I've got one single client here in Malta where I live. I might go in maybe every six weeks for a couple of days and I train up their new hires in how to be good recruiters. And one of the biggest sticking points for them is how to get feedback from a proposal.
So they send a proposal–which is a person–they send a resume through, say, "You were looking for a programmer. Here's a programmer, he's available." And then, they hear crickets. They hear nothing. They're waiting for their decision-maker to give them a "yes" or a "no," but they hear crickets. So I taught them that this version of the pre-emptive close–agreement to the next step–is what they should be doing and it's working really well.
So say, "I'm going to send you a copy of the CV and I'll give you a call back in 20 minutes to see what you think," at which point, people either say, "Okay," or they go, "Who, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm going to need a lot longer than 20 minutes, because I'm in a meeting." At which point, you give them the bone and you say, "Great. When can I call you for feedback?" And they'll say, "Oh, well, how about tomorrow morning?" Good, you can then relax. You have no more pressure on your salesperson, you know exactly what their next step is. You're going to call them for feedback Wednesday morning.
If they go…if they still push back and say, "No, no, no, no, no. Well, I need to discuss it with my team, we need to have a meeting about it. I'll give you a call sometime next week," you have a duty to bring it back to you again. "Great. So what…are we talking Wednesday or Thursday next week?" "Well, I don't know. I'll call you when I'm ready." "I'll tell you what. I will call you on Friday next week, if I haven't heard from you. And you can give me a yes or a no at that stage. Does that sound okay?" And nobody says, "No," to that. They just say, "Yes, of course."
So what does the salesperson then do? Relaxes. Doesn't chase feedback, because you know that at the very latest, he's going to get feedback on Friday. The sales manager says, "What's happening with this deal?" He says, "We'll know one way or another on Friday." And if we don't hear on Friday, you send an email saying, "I guess you're not interested at the moment." And you say, "Okay, I'm here if you need me."
So when you make the pitch, Nathan, making the pitch is very straightforward, "Here's the offer, here's how much it costs." And then, you get them to say, "So, is that going to be a "yes" today, or a "no" today?" And if they say they want to think about it, you use exactly that proposal, unless you pre-empted it by saying, "You can't think about it. You have to make a decision," like Marcus did with me. But you say, "Great, I'll tell you what. How long do you need to think about it?" And they say, "Well, a couple of days." You say, "Fantastic. Here's what I'm going to do. I make this offer valid for two more days' time and I will call you on Wednesday, unless I hear from you before. Is that all right? Do you need anything else to help you make that decision?"
Nathan: Wow.
Matthew: That's all I've got.
Nathan: That's crazy, man. So finishing off. When it comes to the pitch, if the person's qualified, you've built rapport, you've built trust, you believe in what you're selling, do you try and make it a no-brainer "yes," "no": "Yes. Yeah, of course," and then, you just ask for the sale?
Matthew: Listen, there are systems for everything, Nathan. There are systems for administration, there are systems for recruitment, there are systems for finance, there are systems for tax, there are systems for allowing employees access to the building. I just think if we have a system for selling–"The 15 Steps of Professional Persuasion," for example–then we eliminate a lot of headaches, right: what do I have to do next? What must happen next? And these fit into the regular pipeline dashboards that people have, which is typically identify opportunity, initial contact, chat, chat, chat, chat, proposal, close.
These all fit into that. Whether you're selling a nuclear reactor to a South American country, these 15 steps are going to apply. You've got to qualify the prospect, you've got to build rapport, you got to present them a solution, you've got to give it a timeframe, you've got to close at some point. Or whether you're writing a sales page or delivering a webinar which might take place over 60 minutes or might be read in five minutes, the same system has to apply, because it helps move towards the close.
I think creativity in sales can be a very dangerous thing. In my experience, we've seen hundreds of employed salespeople. Being smart doesn't always help in sales, because you start to second-guess, you start to think you can read minds, "Oh, this guy is great. He's definitely going to buy. Oh, he didn't." "Why not?" You didn't demonstrate social proof, or you pre-empt his objections, or he doesn't have any money. "Why didn't you qualify him better?" "Because he said he was…" "Yeah, it doesn't matter what he said." When you follow this system, you will find that you close far more consistently than if you try to improvise every time.
Nathan: Love it, awesome. Well, look, dude. You've shared so much knowledge, so much gold, we can see you definitely know how to sell well. Where's the best place people can find you if they want to find out more?
Matthew: Sure. If you go to matthewkimberley.com. And you spell that with two Ts, "Matthew" with two Ts. "Kimberley" is L-E-Y at the end. Matthewkimberley.com. And what you need to do when you get there is just put your email address into one of the boxes that says, "Hey, give me your email address," because all of my best stuff is by email. I mean, all of my best stuff is by email. I rarely blog, I don't have a podcast or a videocast, but I do write killer emails on a regular basis. And they're pretty interactive as well, so if you hit "Reply" to me, I'll typically reply to you. And we could become like pen pals and maybe have a drink together one day.
Nathan: Love it, man. A, B, C, always be closing. Awesome. Well, look, thank you so much for your time, Matthew. Before we finish up, was there one question or any questions that you wanted me to ask you that I didn't ask you?
Matthew: You know, Nathan, not today. I have nothing but respect for your broad-reaching intellectual interests and I never know which way our conversations are going to go. And I've been thoroughly satisfied with the experience that you've given me this morning.
Nathan: Thank you so much.
Key Resources
- Learn more about Matthew on his website
- Explre MatthewKimberley.com
- Check out Matthew's blog page
- Follow Matthew on Twitter
- Check out Matthew's Book: How to Get a Grip
Subscribe to The Podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Spotify


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
This is another recipe from Slow Cooker Favorites Made Healthy. You have to understand, I love olives. Green or black, I don't care. I love 'em. And lucky for me, olives have lots of healthy fats. The two bright green leaves on top are basil leaves fresh from my herb garden. They were there mostly to brighten up the plate. Again, I don't know if I can reproduce the full recipe, so leave a comment if you'd like the full thing.
- Chicken
- Salt and Pepper
- Red pepper (original recipe called for yellow)
- Black and Green olives
- Pasta sauce (original called for spicy, I added red pepper flakes at the end)
- Pasta
Tastiness Factor:
This was very tasty. The heat wasn't too much, just a little tingling feeling around the edges. There wasn't a strong olive taste, either. I'm a sucker for most kinds of pasta and pasta sauce. I don't know if I'd do the chicken again, it didn't seem essential to the flavor profile. It could easily have no meat at all.
Reheat Factor:
This will be edited when I reheat the leftovers and see how they taste.
Overall Impression:
I love the simplicity of the ingredients list. It's all things I tend to have on hand. Again, I don't know if I'd do the chicken. There was nothing in the dish that screamed 'chicken' to me. I think next time I'll try it vegetarian or with something light, like fish. The sauce itself is very heavy, so maybe something lighter would counteract that. EDIT: It appears that the sauce was really salty and gave me a huge headache the next day. Maybe if I cut out the green olives it would be less salty, but I like salty things, and normally am fine. So this monstrous headache means I probably won't try this recipe again soon.


text: Nominations for Maltese Awards take place early each spring semester. Deliberations and decisions are made by the William Paterson Broadcast Network's Board of Directors and the Advisory Board. The award ceremony takes place before finals week each spring semester. The Maltese Awards were started in 1996 to recognize and celebrate Communication students' achievements in media production. They were called the "BMG Awards" initially, because a newly-formed organization of department professors, the "Broadcast Media Group", was awarding them. A few years later, when the Broadcast Media Group became the "William Paterson Broadcast Network," a decision was made to rename the awards after Dr. Tony Maltese, the retiring long-time chairperson of the department, in recognition of his efforts over the years to create sustainable excellence in the Communication Department at William Paterson University. Since the awards began, they have expanded to include more categories representing all aspects of radio and television production. In recent years, new Maltese awards have been added to recognize the efforts of film makers and performers in theatre and comedy. 2015 Maltese Awards Television News and advocacy shows Best Producer Melissa Silvestri Pioneer Update Best Director Ian Martini Pioneer Update Best on-air talent Brooke Rochman Pioneer Update Best Technical Director Jessica Guerriera All WPTV Shows Best Audio Operator Ian Wolsten WP Sports Desk Best Floor Manager Danielle Paton WP Sports Desk Best Graphics Design Luke Walsh All WPTV Shows Best Writer Melissa Silvestri Pioneer Update Best Rookie Vienna Castrignano Pioneer Update Television Entertainment Shows (15 Trophies in 9 categories) Best Producers (4 Trophies) James Nuzzo, Eric Dargis, Ian Wolsten, Dylan Schley Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis Best Director Dylan Schley Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis Best Writers (4 Trophies) James Nuzzo, Eric Dargis, Ian Wolsten, Dylan Schley Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis Best Editor James Nuzzo Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis Best On-Air Talent James Nuzzo Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis Best Audio Operator Shane Keating Pioneer Update & Late Night Best Floor Manager Heather Cook Pioneer Players Presents Best Rookie Joel Carrasquillo Pioneer Players & Late Night Best Show Late Night with James Nuzzo and Eric Dargis News Now (5 Trophies) Outstanding Producer Melissa Silvestri News Now Outstanding Producer Ian Martini News Now Outstanding On-Air Talent Nadia Cruz News Now Outstanding On-Air Talent Katherine Jaimes News Now Outstanding On-Air Talent Eric Dolan News Now The Roundabout (6 Trophies) Outstanding Host Laura Madera The Roundabout Best Episode Director Frank Sheehan Best Guest Segment - for Enki Bello (3 trophies) Joseph Cappa Petra Hammoud Jamie Kurtz Outstanding Technical Performance Rafael Gonzalez Film (9 trophies) Best Film - Film I/Film II "Bearhead" by Ryan Sloan Best Film – Alternative "The Hand in Her Jacket" by Michael Palmesino Best Film - advanced "Flextones II" by Angelo Cirinelli Best Director Michael Bolger for "I Walk with My Brother" Best Cinematography "Flextones II" by Jordan Alazruei Best Editing "Flextones II" by Angelo Cirinelli Best Performances "The Hand in Her Jacket" Viewers' Choice "Flextones II" by Angelo Cirinelli McCaskey Spirit Award Michael Bolger Radio (14 trophies) Best DJ Eric Dolan WPSC Best DJ Corina "Cori" DeJesus WPSC Best Manager Phillip Gorokhovsky WPSC Best New On-Air Talent (2 Trophies) Michelle Meli Zachary Johnson WPSC Best Specialty Music Show Talent "Metal Mixup" Jesse Kurtz WPSC Best Braveology Talent Ryan "Red Sheep" Walsh WPSC Best Talk Show Talent (3 trophies) "Latin Flavors" Sebastian "Seabass" Escobar Corina "Cori" DeJesus Kevin "Chelo" Guerrero WPSC WPSC Spirit Award (2 trophies) Michelle Martinez Geneva "Gee Star" Gamblin Best Radio News Anchor Ian Martini WPSC Best Sportscaster Nicholas Duffy WPSC Theatre & Comedy (9 trophies) Funniest Comic Nicole Boscarino Funniest Comic (2 trophies) Kyle Shaw Max Wrobel Best Actor (2 trophies) Amanda Feliciano When the Rain Stops Falling Best Actor Asha Augustina Moore Ruined Best Actor (2 trophies) Darius Smith Ruined Best Actor Will Wood When the Rain Stops Falling Best Ensemble (2 trophies) Blue Window Best Ensemble Ruined 2012-2013 Maltese Awards: FILM PRODUCTION Best Film - Film I and Film II Karl Fernandez - "In Amore/Ex Amore" Best Film - Alternative Rebecca Lindsay - "Serendipity" Best Film - Film III/Capstone James Toscano - "Heads or Tails" Best Post-Production Rebecca Lindsay - "Serendipity" Best Performances Mike West - "Carousel" Best Cinematography Daniel Dennison Froehner - "Meditations on Sandy" Best Story Rebecca Lindsay - "Serendipity" Viewers' Choice The Brothers Strange/A.J. Saraciniello and Dylan Saraciniello - "The Box" McCaskey Spirit Award A.J. Saraciniello TV PRODUCTION Best Director Connor Lloyd – "The Roundabout" Best Cameraperson Miguel Saenz – "The Roundabout" Best Floor Manager Kayla Galka – "The Roundabout" Best Teleprompter Operator Alexis Thoma – "The Roundabout" Best On Camera Wendy Boche – "The Roundabout" Best Director Andrew Adams – "News Now" Best Technical Director Courtnaey Chelf – "News Now" Best Field Camera Dana Schaeffer and John Chludzinski – "News Now" Best Audio Carlos Zamora – "News Now" Best Video RecordingRyan Walsh – "News Now" RADIO Best Male DJJames Sahanas Best Female DJShauni Ramai Best Braveology TalentJon Paul Rodrigues Best Specialty Music Show TalentAnthony Caiola Best New On Air TalentPatrick Gibbons Best Talk Show TalentStephan Bisaha Best News AnchorPerpetua Romain Best Sports BroadcasterAllan Simon Best ManagerSebastian Escobar WPSC Spirit AwardDan Murphy JOURNALISM Best EditingDanielle Romano Best Layout WorkYujian Sun Newspaper Operations AwardDana Uribe BROADCAST JOURNALISM Best ProducersSteven Patterson and Andrew Shapiro - "News Now" Best Female AnchorMarshay Rice - "News Now" Best Male AnchorPatrick Rutkowski - "News Now" THEATRE & COMEDY Best Male Actor Stephan Bisaha & Anthony Caiola Best Female ActorCelestine Dupree Best EnsembleCast of The Dining Room Best Male ComicChike Onyenso Best Female ComicKaitlyn Masters Previous Maltese WInners


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Now Wash Your Hands Please!
It seems that the latest in a long line of anti-vivisectionist haters has muscled in on the Oxford lab debacle to try to rise above the mediocrity of his worthless, puerile existence in becoming the organiser of a new pro-vivisection lobby called Pro-test. Sadly - for him, that is, not for us - his ego is seriously over-inflated - ironic, since the only way he appears to be able to get his rocks off is through self-abuse and pornography. Evidently that which he has little of in the 'gonad' department, he makes up for with self-aggrandisement. But perhaps pity should be what we should feel for this sad individual, rather than stoop to personal attacks. He is after all, a child of the system, and as such, loyal to it, without the capacity for a single individually generated thought.
Since SPEAK began its campaign two years ago, we have witnessed a string of pro-vivisectionists parading themselves before the media in an increasingly farcical display of what can only be described as buffoonery. The interviewing of this last individual has got to be the most ludicrous of the media's faux-pas. In publishing an article on a pro-vivisection organisation run by a delusional penis-obsessed narcissistic youth with a penchant for guns and pornography and a liberal inhalation of cannabis (on which he seems to be a self-styled expert http://sqrrl101.livejournal.com/142389.html), the Times have shown themselves to be incontrovertibly biased towards the pro-vivisection lobby, preferring to write an article about said sorry cause celebre (above), rather than taking on the REAL challenge of writing the truth about the vivisection industry. The Times have given page space to someone who talks about the violence of the animal rights movement, but who himself advocates the use of guns, and the exploitation of and violence against women in the pornographic industry! Strange bedfellows, these pro-vivisectionists, and stranger still that journalists who are supposed to be impartial appear to be so biased that in their desperation to create news where there is none, they will feed out of an extended hand, which in the case of Sqrrl101, one would very much rather not know where it's been!!! We rather think the Times might have taken a closer look at him before eating out of THAT hand!!!
But let's just recap about these strange bedfellows: firstly we had the appointment of Simon Festing to the top position of the main organisation sponsored by the vivisection industry, the Research Defence Society (RDS); a man who played a pivotal role in the campaign to stop the Newbury bypass, a campaign often referred to as 'The Battle of Newbury' because of the often illegal nature of the campaign, and thus hardly a man in a position to condemn others for acting in a manner Governments deem unacceptable.
Then along came Prof J--- S----, whom we are unable to name due to legal restrictions. The professor made comments to a local Oxford newspaper that the laboratory monkeys, which he abuses "lived a Life of Riley" and sat about all day "watching soap operas on TV". As always, the media saw fit to report the distorted truth, thereby revealing a flaw in the professor's account, which led to the embarrassing expose that – contrary to the University's original claims that the lab was not destined for any animal research whatsoever - many primates are indeed to be used at the new facility if it is ever built.
Now they are joined by the recently formed group Pro-Test, 'Students fight back for animal research', on which the Times carried an article today, and which is likely to have an embarrassing backlash with revelations about the closet (sic) activities of the group's founder. A little web search on him throws up (and one could not be blamed for doing the same on reading them) some facts about the true face of the person to whose door the main media outlets seem to be beating a path! Evidently, this character has far too much time on his hands, which appear to be unreasonably preoccupied with assisting another function in his lower anatomy!! For those who'd like to get up close and personal with the group's founder (and we wouldn't recommend it) you can see his log – he goes by the username "sqrrl101". This website allows users to record their masturbation activities for public browsing http://www.kittenhate.com/view.php?n=sqrrl101. Due to the obscene nature of the site, SPEAK have removed the pornographic photos as we are aware these might be offensive to browsers of the SPEAK website and to protect any children viewing our website.
The self-styled leader of Pro-Test (who mustered a counter-demonstration of 3 against 100 SPEAK supporters protesting in Oxford) lists one of his other interests (apart from the obvious one) as Firearms (http://sqrrl101.livejournal.com/profile). Though he may not be a danger to anyone except himself, he may very well fit the Police profile of someone who could become a danger. Looking at links to the chat forums in which he participates, it is clear he has an unhealthy obsession with self abuse, enjoys publicly detailing it and by his own admission clearly spends between 12 and 15 hours a day on the computer, very probably smoking wacky backy. Although he himself disputes the quote on his website which suggests that marijuana can affect the mental health of young users, his delusional self-importance - a clear sign of a disintegrating id – could well prove that theory. He could do worse than offer himself as a statistic to the research team at Oxford University to test it…
It's not for us to judge his state of mental health, his neuroses or psychosis, but maybe all three of his supporters at Pro-test's next Oxford demo should ask him: "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see us"! And as a parting shot, a little well-meaning parental advice to Sqrrl101 from those of us at SPEAK: a bit less wacky backy, and a lot less self-gratification, and you might – just might (if you're lucky) reach 25 without going blind.
Note: Hyperlinked pages provided for the urls listed above have been modified for the protection of minors. Because SPEAK has no control over links to other web sites or resources, SPEAK is not responsible for the availability of or liable for such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. SPEAK shall not be responsible or liable for any damage or loss caused, directly or indirectly, with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.
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Disclaimer: The information on this website is for the purpose of legal protest and information only. It should not be used to commit any criminal acts or harassment.
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Aloe Vera Bubble Bath SANTA BARBARA Collection- No Box - $25
In addition to healing essential oils, this bubble bath combines with nourishing aloe vera to create a healing and luxurious bath experience that will soothe your mind, body and soul.
The SANTA BARBARA Collection contains an essential oil blend that is a unique combination of aromatic lavender from France, bright citrus notes of mandarin (Italy) and sweet orange (USA), and hints of herbaceous rosemary (Spain) and woodsy cedarwood (Morocco).
Lavender: Known for its powerful calming properties and its ability to treat a wide range of skin care ailments, lavender is the "go to" for an all natural skin care regimen.
Mandarin: Known for being an effective stress reducer, mandarin essential oil can be balancing and uplifting. Mandarin helps to calm the nervous system and soothe restlessness.
Rosemary: Beneficial in many ways, rosemary essential oil promotes feelings of clarity while reducing nervous tension and fatigue. With its antimicrobial and antiseptic qualities, rosemary can help alleviate many skin ailments.
To preserve the quality and integrity of these ingredients, this product is packaged in a glass bottle. Please handle with care.
Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, decyl glucoside, cocamidopropyl betainamide MEA chloride, hydroxyethylcellulose, gluconolactone, sodium benzoate Essential oils of lavender, sweet orange, mandarin, rosemary and cedarwood.


text: The story for the screenplay of An Earthy Paradise for the Eyes… depicts the banal yet extraordinary life of an attractive, vital woman, Marta, her two adolescent daughters, Majda and the younger Gábina, and their "fathers". The plot covers a critical decade of our recent history, starting on the eve of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and ending with the persecution of Charter 77 signatories, when a divorced man, the father of both girls, once an actor and later a prominent dissident, emigrates with his young bride, while his outwardly-appearing cowardly and apolotical ex-wife Marta stays behind and faces the adverse era quietly and persisently. We all have had and still have our faults, we all had to live through that period somehow, we all had to face it somehow, we are beautiful and ridiculous, strong and weak, we have our shining moments and we sometimes drown in silly family disputes. All of that in a period that did not desire free decisions and gestures of will. All of that about people who have succesfully defended their freedom – each according to his own.


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Crescent Dragonwagon: It wouldn't be worth the bean if they weren't delicious too. People would never… you know. Food does three things. It nourishes us. It gives us sensual pleasure. And it serves as the medium for benign connection between human beings and other human beings. Between human beings and the earth. Farmers, those who produce it, those who cook it, from the moment a baby takes milk from its mother… It's that triangle of things, and if food is absent, I believe, in any one of those things, we're being shortchanged.
Tom Ashbrook (8 minutes sitting in front of cooked beans): I'm getting very ready for that food.
Tom Ashbrook (hungry, 8 minutes later): Shelley, we appreciate your call. That sounds like a recipe for eternal happiness. And, and… But I can't resist anymore. I appreciate your call Shelley, but the board is spread. I want to dive right in here for how many cents a day I don't know. But when you talk about tasting, we've got to do it right here right now. I'm glad you're getting people into it there in New York Shelley, and thank you for that call.
Crescent Dragonwagon: And grains and beans are a dynamite combination. Cooked in the same pot it simplifies it. Cooked separately you get a whole different range of flavors…
Tom Ashbrook: Deep feast, on the table. What have we got here? Crescent Dragonwagon. Tell us.
Crescent Dragonwagon: Ok, first thing that we have here… I'm sliding the food towards Tom
Tom Ashbrook: And it looks like an enormous pie.
Crescent Dragonwagon: It looks like a pie but it is not a pie.
Tom Ashbrook: With black bean something on the top, or sour cream… I don't know what is it?
Crescent Dragonwagon: No no no! You're way wrong dude. OK take a chip here… This is a pita chip. And dip down. Go down in.
Tom Ashbrook: Oh this is one of those… seven layer
Crescent Dragonwagon: It's seven layer Middle Eastern mountain.
-On Point, February 16, 2012, The World of Beans


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My name is Mikael Sandberg and this is my website where I share some information about who I am and what my interests and experiences are. I currently live in the Old Town of Stockholm in Sweden. My family consists of a daughter and two cats!
I have worked in the technology industry for many years and before that in banking and finance. Some of my passions are of course technology but also cars, books, photography and cooking.
I decided that I should really live as I learn professionally and have my own website as a channel of communication to people I know around the world.


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One of my daughters saw this short video on Facebook and sent it to me.
During this season of line pushing Black Friday's and hectic Cyber Monday's, a little three year old girl reminds us that not everything comes with big price tags or in large packages. Most times it's the smallest things throughout the year that matter most; a hug, a visit, a letter.
A paperclip.


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My name is George and I am a professional Video Producer & Motion Graphics Artist. I have over 19 years of experience creating high quality!......
Tell us what project you need ccompleted, Post your project for FREE!
Browse profiles, reviews, then hire your perfect Character Animation Freelancer.
Use our platform to manage the project every step of the way.
Secure escrow protection, money is paid for work you authorize.


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First of all. This cat. What the?
Ethan says to look into a silver-faced Bassman. They're cheap and you can make anything you want out of them. He also points out that some of them even sound good all by their lonesomes.
The Vintage Amps Forum is a forum about... well you know.
Penn Instrument Company builds Weber and Mojo amp kits.
The Bogner Shiva sounds good clean as well as distorted, so Ethan says. The head is $2400.
Ultra Sound is a rehearsal studio and an amp sales place here in New York. I'm gonna have to pay them a visit.
There's the Bruno Cowtipper. Ethan suggested I check it out. $2200 for the head.
Maven Peal makes the "Zeeta", which Ethan likes quite a bit. $2500 for the "Silver" head.
Here's an interesting article about the difference between Blackface and Silverface (Fender) amplifiers.
This article is "pro" silverface amps and tells a bunch about them.
Little Dawg Amps seem to have a good reputation. Their prices are certainly good. The guy there seems really nice.


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Come and see how the Giles' herd of dairy cows produce most of their milk from grass. Visitors can enter the milking parlour, help to milk some of the cows and see the young calves. Learn how the cows are fed and find out how their four stomachs enable them to digest grass. Samples of dairy products will be provided for tasting and a cheese maker will explain the art and science beneath the rind.
With thanks to Rachel and Andrew Giles
International bestseller Erling Kagge leads a walk exploring his books Silence in the Age of Noise and Walking: One Step at a Time, a life-changing celebration of the love of exploration, the delight of discovery and the equilibrium that can be found in this most simple of activities. "Everything moves more slowly when I walk, the world seems softer."
Please wear appropriate footwear. Numbers are limited. There will be a bus journey to and from the walk location; return to Festival site by 12.30pm.
A little light ridicule, mockery and fun to start the day as the satirists read the tabloids and surf the social media storms for an irreverent look at what's tickling the nation's fancy – and driving it to splenetic fury – today.
One of the great, unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. Baggini sets out to expand our horizons, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia's first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, the philosopher asks: why is the West more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less powerful force in the Islamic world than in Europe? And how has China resisted pressures for greater political freedom?
Award-winning travel writer Nicholas Jubber journeys across Europe, exploring the great epic poems and how they have a startling resonance in contemporary times. Reaching back to the era remembered as 'the Age of Migration', Jubber explores how attitudes to population movement, borders, kin relations, sex, class and political structures are dramatised in the ancient and medieval epics. From Homer's Odyssey through the devastating conflict of the French Song of Roland and the German Nibelungenlied, to the great Viking sagas such as Beowulf and the Icelandic Njal's Saga, these are timeless tales about human nature, but also windows into other societies, with different emphases on matters of honour, kinship, fundamentalism and fate. He talks to the great storyteller Daniel Morden.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston burst to fame when he became the first man ever to complete a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world. Now, fifty years on from that famous voyage, he reveals the true, extraordinary story of his life. Stadlen hosts his own weekend show on LBC.
A lovely walk with panoramic views, starting with a steep climb over Cusop Hill, then through woods and open moorland before descending to the ruined Craswall Priory where we will stop for lunch. Having explored the Grandmontine monastery, we return by contouring around the base of Hay Bluff, and follow the Offa's Dyke Path back down to Hay. Strong boots and all-weather clothing recommended for this strenuous walk. Bring a packed lunch. Distance 11 miles. Ascent 450 metres.
An exploration of the concept of neurodiversity and what it means to society and the public sphere to be genuinely accepting and inclusive of all people. Rhi Lloyd-Williams is Director of the Autact Theatre Company, fresh from a successful tour of her play The Duck, which draws on her own experience as an autistic writer and director. Jon Adams is Director of the Flow Observatorium, a charity campaigning for parity within the arts and society for every neurodivergent person. Guy Shahar is CEO of the Transforming Autism Project, a charity committed to empowering the families and carers of children with autism to optimise their life prospects and unlock their true potential. Matthew Briggs helps to run training and development programmes for the Ruskin Mill Trust. The panel will be chaired by Grainne O'Reilly, Principal of Ruskin Mill College. Grainne and her team provide day and residential places for young people with complex needs, especially autism and ADHD.
"Pants for iguanas and ravenous piranhas, groovy pants for gibbons, with pictures of bananas!" Come and join Nick Sharratt as he introduces his latest hilarious picture book.
Join an action-packed kitchen adventure with catapults, explosions and edible slime. Nanotechnologist Dr Michelle Dickinson shows you how to be a top scientist in your own kitchen. Using everyday equipment such as marshmallows and nuts, string and balloons, her experiments demonstrate principles of science and chemistry the whole family will find fascinating.
Join us in NMiTE's Studio 1, a hi-tech refurbished shipping container, to explore ideas through making. Experience how highly creative and technological engineering can be. NMiTE is located in Hereford and aims to be the city's first university with a focus on engineering.
Sign up at the venue for 10am, 11.30am or 1pm. Ingenuity Studio 1 free drop-in sessions for families take place between 2.30pm and 5pm, Sunday 26 May – Saturday 1 June.
In Sweden, children and young people are recognised as an important part of society. Swedish children's culture is open-minded and doesn't shy away from difficult topics. This has fostered a generation of young people who express their opinions, are listened to and speak up to claim their rights, from Pippi Longstocking to Greta Thunberg. Join us to explore the power and potential of children changing the world. Illustrator, Cecilia Heikkilä, will lead a workshop related to climate change, nature and taking better care of the planet.
Almost seventy-five years have passed since D-Day, the day of the greatest seaborne invasion in history. The outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance on that chill June morning. If Allied forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in northern France, the road to victory would be open. But if the Allies could be driven back into the sea, the invasion would be stalled for years, perhaps forever. An epic battle involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles. The desperate struggle that unfolded on 6 June 1944 was, above all, a story of individual heroics – of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured. Their authentic human story – Allied, German, French – has never fully been told until now.
Ben Jonson famously accused Shakespeare of having "small Latin and less Greek". But he was exaggerating. Shakespeare was steeped in the classics. Shaped by his grammar school education in Roman literature, history and rhetoric, he moved to London, a city that modelled itself on ancient Rome. He worked in a theatrical profession that had inherited the conventions and forms of classical drama, and he read deeply in Ovid, Virgil and Seneca. Revealing in new depth the influence of Cicero and Horace on Shakespeare, Bate offers striking new readings of a wide array of the plays and poems. The heart of the argument is that Shakespeare's supreme valuation of the force of imagination was honed by the classical tradition and designed as a defence of poetry and theatre in a hostile world of emergent Puritanism. Bate is the author of Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare and is co-editor of The RSC Shakespeare: Complete Works.
Matt Morgan is an intensive care doctor; that is to say, a person in whose hands you may find yourself one day – as one in five of us will – when something has gone seriously wrong. It may be down to an accident, following a major operation, or you may have succumbed to serious illness. Being critically ill means that one or more of your vital organs has failed. At such times you'll need faith in the ability of the medical team looking after you to make life-or-death decisions under extreme pressure or to unravel the mysteries of the human body and diagnose unexplainable illnesses urgently. On this day of his book's launch, Morgan draws on his time spent with real patients on the brink of death, and explains how he and his colleagues fight against the odds to help them live. Baroness Finlay is a professor of palliative medicine.
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of this ever-popular character. Join author Francesca Simon to find out what Henry gets up to in his latest mischievous adventure Up, Up and Away – a brand new collection of wickedly funny and totally brilliant stories.
Join the author and illustrator of this gloriously silly story for a fun-filled event packed with songs and games. Laura Hughes and John Dougherty will sing and sketch their way through what happens when little Natalie enlists the help of her classmates after waking up one day with a pig up her nose. The story is the 2018 winner of Oscar's Book Prize, which celebrates the best pre-school book of the year. Named after Oscar Ashton, a book-loving boy who died aged three-and-a-half, it is supported by Amazon and the National Literacy Trust.
Hop into a fantasy adventure with Blue Peter award-winning author Kieran Larwood. Hear about the inspiration behind the fearsome warrior rabbits of the Five Realms series and help Kieran create a new land in an interactive map-making experience.
Have a go at green woodwork, pottery and weaving and find out what our craft-based Practical Skills Therapeutic Education brings to autistic young people. Talk with students, craft tutors and staff. Ruskin Mill Trust is a unique educational charity for learners with complex needs.
2Join the University of Worcester illustration team to make bird masks in response to the Migrations – Open Hearts, Open Borders exhibition. Find out how artists can change attitudes and help us to empathise with people who face dangers in their struggle to find a safer and better place to live. We will provide postcards and colours; please bring kindness and imagination to show that a small gesture can make a difference.


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Sometimes I think surgeons are more like magicians. I'm sure Ginady Sabuco feels that way about the team of 40 doctors, nurses, and assistants who spent 9 hours separating her 2-year-old conjoined twin daughters Angelina and Angelica yesterday at Stanford University's Children's Hospital in California. Or successfully separating, I should say. Because miraculously, long-term prognosis is good! Both girls are expected to make a "full recovery."
It's just mind-blowing. If Angelina and Angelica were born a few hundred years ago, before these miracles of modern medicine were possible, they would have lived a short and extremely difficult life: Conjoined twins often didn't live past infancy; those who did were faced with incredibly limited options, such as being forced to travel with a circus, billed as freaks.
As a parent, this story is a powerful reminder to be grateful for something I usually take for granted ...
We don't think about it every day, but we're all so incredibly lucky to be parents now, at this point in history. Raising kids is hard enough -- can you imagine what it was like before antibiotics were discovered and public hygiene was a concern? Something like the flu could be fatal, never mind more serious illnesses or conditions.
Now, kids like Angelica and Angelina actually have a shot at living a normal life. Handicaps and chronic diseases aren't an automatic death sentence.
Sure, we complain about modern "threats" to childhood like too much technology and an abundance of junk food and the like, but I still think we've got a lot less to worry about than our ancestors did.
Angelina and Angelica are beautiful little girls who deserve every chance of happiness. Just look at the two of them in the video below ... they're beyond precious.
And the surgeons who separated them deserve a huge holiday bonus.
Are you glad that modern medicine is available to you as a parent?
Image via USAToday


text: We are pleased to have you visit our site. MAM foundation is trailblazer full of color and excitement. We reach our to the under deprived communities with a well-coordinated health and education intervention programs, thereby bringing hope and comfort to all. Please free to browse our site and learn more about how we are impacting and changing lives in sub Saharan Africa with our intervention programs.