Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Kelly.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mary. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was in the 8th class of women who graduated from the Naval Academy. I am currently listed as the 14th Most Influential Economist in the World.
When I retired from a 25-year Navy career, I had experience in operating multi-million dollar budgets, running military bases, operational readiness, and organizational leadership. I was always on the business side of how the military operates. I learned from some of the best military and civilian leaders in the US. I had amazing experiences in the Navy and was fortunate to live all over the world. In 25 years on active duty, I only had one tour on the mainland of the US.
I also love speaking for conferences and did a lot of that both in and out of military events while I was still on active duty. During one event when I spoke for an insurance conference, one of the other keynote speakers told me that I’d be great on the professional speaking circuit, so with that encouragement, I started the company, Productive Leaders when I became a civilian.
I have a Ph.D. in economics, and I grew up in a family-owned business, so it was a natural fit. Out team helps businesses improve profit growth. As a keynote speaker for conferences, I emphasize leadership that increases productivity, effectiveness, and communication, and I tell humorous military stories.
My first book as a civilian, Master Your World: 10 Dog-Inspired Leadership Lessons to Improve Productivity, Profits, and Communication brings in military leadership principles with how those principles work on both people and dogs. The point is, the principles work, and using the dog analogy makes the leadership more accessible.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I started the business in October of 2008, right when the recession started. The great part about that is that when you start a business in a recession, you don’t know anything else until the economy improves.
I made mistakes along the way. I spent money on business coaches who were not the right fit for my business model. I took some wrong advice, early on.
Please tell us about Productive Leaders.
As a business, we usually start as the keynote speaker at a conference, and then companies bring us in to do leadership and team building assessments, more training, and leadership coaching. We become a company’s trusted advisor. We specialize in an organization that deals with numbers, such as real estate, credit unions, banks, insurance, and the medical world. As I said, I have a Ph.D. in economics, and I have taught financial markets and finance and economics at the university level for over 20 years. So I practice my material on 20-year olds, who provide me with instant feedback.
As a conference speaker, which I love to do, we get to connect with audience members and provide them with tools, techniques, and tactics they can use right away that makes their lives better. I am told I am also fun and funny. I love what I get to do, so I think that is part of the fun. If I am not having fun, how can the audience? I do work on my humor. I get coaching from and study people who are really funny, like Jeanne Robertson and Kelli Vrla. I want my audiences to walk away thinking that I was there just for them.
The book that really launched my speaking career was Master Your World. It is on Amazon and it still sells pretty well. The book, 15 Ways to Grow Your Business in Every Economy won all kinds of awards, and I am so grateful to those people because that was so encouraging to me.
My latest book, Why Leaders Fail and the 7 Prescriptions for Success, was co-authored with Peter Stark, also the author of 11 books. In case you have not written a book with someone else, it is like having a baby with someone you aren’t dating or married to. We became better friends throughout that process (thank goodness!) and the end result was a better product than I could have done alone. We really are better when we work together.
What sets me apart from other speakers is there are no other retired military female keynote speakers who graduated from the Naval Academy with an economics Ph.D. who have authored 11 books and who strives to be a comedian.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
1. I would have developed an effective CRM starting the first day. I finally looked at a drawer of a few hundred business cards where people said, “Stay in touch” and I would have started that right away.
2. I would follow-up on leads right away. I kind of thought, “Oh, if they like me, they will call me.” This isn’t dating – this is business. I had to learn that it is my job to stay in touch with my clients. To do that I need to be educational, informative, and entertaining so they want my communications.
3. I would recognize that down times are great times to develop new content and provide more value to clients.
Pricing:
- $12,500 is the daily rate for a conference, plus $1,000 travel and expenses, which includes a professionally produced video promotion, 100 copies of my latest book, pre-event interviews, a keynote and a breakout on the same day, a VIP book signing and photo opportunity, and a follow-on webinar
- $500 is the hourly consulting rate, and I pour as much value into that time as possible.
- Corporate advising includes coaching for a team up to 8 people and it runs about $6,500/month. That includes a half-day session, coaching throughout the month, assessments, and materials.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4823 Ridgeside Drive Dallas, TX 75244
- Website: http://ProductiveLeaders.com
- Phone: 443-995-8663
- Email: Mary@ProductiveLeaders.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrMaryKelly/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/marykellyspeaks
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/#/drmarykelly/
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