Bio:
Patty helps Coaches, Consultants and Entrepreneurs/Solopreneurs achieve “Category of One” Status through the power of the P2P Frameworkâ˘
She is an enthusiastic seasoned professional with a successful track record and expertise in business strategy, coaching and consulting. She has worked with Fortune 50 and the SMB market to build a footprint online and offline.
Patty’s superpower is conducting business strategy sessions to help refine your positioning and help you find those “drill sites” of possibility for growth in your business.
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Episode Transcript:
Katie (00:03):
Hi everyone. Thank you for tuning into the Hustlenomics podcast. I’m your host, Katie. I’m so excited to be talking with Patty Domingez. She is the founder of positioning to profit. She helps small businesses establish their category of one status. So Patty, thank you so much for coming on the show today,
Patty (00:18):
Katie. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited. I love podcasting in general because it’s such a great way to just share ideas and have like this conversation as if we’re having a cocktail or a cup of coffee and just kind of talking about life and all this stuff. So I love podcasting.
Katie (00:34):
Oh yeah. I couldn’t agree more. I do too. And I’m so glad that you’re coming on the show today. So I would love to learn a little bit more about you, who you are, your background and really how you got to where you are today.
Patty (00:44):
So the, I could take it a lot of different directions, but pretty much I am from Chicago. So I was raised here in Chicago. I, my parents were very blue collar and the whole idea behind me having a career was like, please go to school to go to college. Do you have a job so that you can have a nice car and a cell phone and an office. Right. So that was like, that’s what I was groomed for. And that’s exactly what I did. I mean, I basically was the first one,upretty much my family tree to go to college. And then I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I climbed the corporate ladder in my thirties and it was really great in terms of, I had this equation in my head where the harder I worked, the more I would go up the ladder and in 2008, like right around Christmas time, I remember I was working with a consulting firm back then and was kind of at the peak of my career and like unceremoniously, when the market crashed, I had got a pink slip or like I received a pink slip and they basically told me, sorry, you’re out of a job.
Patty (01:54):
And in my head that really, it really like messed with my head and I haven’t gone back there. And it was such a long time in terms of the thinking around it. But I thought that I was doing everything right. So in terms of like going to school, doing the corporate thing, like I got my master’s and yet I remember walking out of that job when I was let go. And I had this box with all my trash keys in it. Right? Like your, your things that you put up in your office and picture frames and whatnot. And I literally walked away so defeated because I thought I’m like, there’s no way, how could this happen? I thought everything was the way it was supposed to be. Well, right around that same time after I was like super depressed about what I was doing, I had read a lot of books and stuff.
Patty (02:38):
And I was just thinking about this entrepreneurship journey and long story short, I made a decision when that happened to me that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. It is something that, yes, there are books about it. Yes. Or a podcast about it. But I thought that your comment before we hit the record button, Katie was around this whole fantasy that everyone’s only showing the glory of it. And not the real story, because I believe that entrepreneurship is way more challenging, has more of the hurdles. But the more, however, excuse me, let me backtrack. The most rewarding thing about having a career is when you’re an entrepreneur and you’re literally finding solutions for people. So I’m a huge advocate for it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I believe entrepreneurship is the greatest roller coaster ride ever. I’ve been on my own since.
Patty (03:32):
So I basically worked one day in January of 2013 and I quit my job. I turned down a promotion because I did get another job after I was laid off for 10 months. But even though I got that other job, I knew it was an interim job. I knew it wasn’t going to last forever. I had in my mind, I’m like, I’m gonna find my way out. So long story short, I worked a day in January, 2013, turnout promotion gave back my stock options and walked away. And I said, I just don’t want to do this anymore. So people thought it was nuts. People thought I was absolutely insane because I literally did all this. And I was like, Nope, I’m going to be an entrepreneur. And I learned a lot of things along the way, just about what it means to be an entrepreneurs, as opposed to having an,uan employee mindset.
Patty (04:17):
But through a lot of trials tribulations, a lot of the things that I did, I migrated my coaching from just like marketing at a macro level. Now where I focus on solely on positioning and positioning marketing is really where I live at something I’m super passionate about because having been in the corporate environment for 18 years, there was a lot of rigor around product introductions. And I was really privy to work with some of the biggest brands in the world. And I just remember we would have all of these conversations around like new products and how to launch the products and who would be for, and how to position the products. And I remember one of these Epiphanes that I had was like, wow, we are putting so much work. And so many man hours on this one thing, and it was like a chocolate chip cookie product.
Patty (05:07):
You probably can tell what, who, where I worked. But basically I was like, Oh my God, we’re doing all this work for a chocolate chip cookie. Really? And then I was, went into this entrepreneurial world and nobody talks about positioning. I was like, gosh, y’all need to be focusing on positioning. Cause people want to focus on the tactics and the red shiny objects. And it’s like, as unsexy as it sounds, you need positioning first. And that’s where I kind of carved my space. Right. Like in the entrepreneurial coaching thing is really where I live is positioning, helping people to stand out in their category of once
Katie (05:41):
Status, love that. And I definitely want to dive into more about that a little bit later, but first I would love to hear about what it was like working that one day and then deciding, all right, you know what I’m done? I’m moving on. I’m starting my own business. What were some of those first steps that you took? Well, I will say
Patty (05:58):
Leading up to my day of quitting. I hired a life coach at the time, so I definitely planned my transition out. And to be honest, I don’t even understand how I thought about hiring a life coach because people in corporate don’t necessarily know about those types of things like coaching and just how important it is to have a coach. That’s why I’m such a huge advocate for it. But basically I had hired a coach and he helped me get my head around this whole idea of leaving my job because I had been so indoctrinated in that whole corporate environment. But to lead up in preparation, I mean, I did save up a year of my salary and one of the most poignant moments was when I was an entrepreneur, I did go through these initial stages and I had quit in January. I had this elation about me.
Patty (06:45):
It was almost a rational. I was like, the whole world can suck it. This is going to be amazing. I’m going to be so incredible. I mean, it was like fantasy land, right. Then what happens is it finally sets in like, Oh my God, what did I just do? Right. I turned down a multiple six-figure salary, like Holy cow. And then I went into this like shock and then massive fear and anxiety. And it took me a good, I want to say three to four months for me to wrap my head around this whole notion of that I had quit. I had quit my job. Like what the heck did I just do? And so it wasn’t until I went to this event, this is why I believe events are so important is I was sitting around after the conference where all the really great conversations happen.
Patty (07:31):
And we’re just kind of sitting around the table with some people that I had met. And it was so fun to just meet like fellow entrepreneurs or some people who were like in the online marketing world, internet marketers, all kinds of people. And somebody had said to me like, Hey, we heard you quit your job. That’s so cool. And I’m like, yeah, but I’m really, really worried. I said, and so through conversation they had asked me like, well, what are you worried about? And they said, well, it’s just kinda weird. Like I don’t really have any money coming in and I’m really scared. And then they were like, well, what are you scared about? Like, why can’t you just like find some, some opportunities projects or whatever. And I’m like, yeah, I just, I don’t know. I’m freaking out. So they had asked me, do you have any, like, do you have any money?
Patty (08:16):
Do you have a nest egg? And I said, yeah, I have some money saved up. I had planned my exit and they said, well, how much money do you have? And then I said, Oh, I don’t know. Like I said, about 10 months of living expenses and the two people will never forget. They looked at me like I was nuts. And they’re like, dude, entrepreneurs create new money. Like, get it straight. The difference with, and that was such a pivotal moment for me because I had the employee mindset. I was working in terms of circumstance, not looking at the fact that I didn’t have a paycheck every two weeks. I know it sounds almost ridiculous, but that was at one comment that it took for me to understand the fundamental truth that we have the ability to create, create what we want. There is no ceiling. So if you want to make $2,000 a month, you can, if you want to make $2 million a month, you can like, it literally is up to us. And that was such an empowering moment for me that I don’t know, I share with other people because I just think it’s so important that reframe
Katie (09:15):
Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. I couldn’t agree more like getting out of that employee mindset, like you mentioned, and stepping into this CEO mindset, it’s a transition, but it’s amazing what happens and how much your mind opens when you make that, that move. So, absolutely. And so what were some of those practical first steps that you took? Did you start with your website or your branding or what, what was it that was the first thing that kind of you tackle?
Patty (09:40):
Well, for me, I am big on, I want to invest in myself because I know when I invest in myself, I’ll always get an ROI because it’s, it’s for me to control in the sense that coaching is so fundamentally essential to me. I don’t understand how people can not hire coaches. I literally don’t understand it because that coaches expertise, they can literally time collapse things for you, where you can save so much time, energy, money. I just think it’s so fundamentally important. So I’ve always had a coach, right? That’s something that’s very important to me. The second part of it is really recognizing where is your time and attention going? Like if you’re exerting energy and getting ready to get ready, because this is something I see that’s chronic where people think like, Oh, I’m going to buy this product. I’m just going to go through with it.
Patty (10:31):
I’m going to go through this online training. And they’re just like in that learning mode, but they’re not in applying mode. So that is the other thing that I kinda got stuck in for a little bit, because I’m such a learner. I love learning. I got immediately in that mode. I’m like, if I just learn more than I will learn as much as I can so I can get really prepared. And the thing is, is like, you just have to ship it because quite honestly, how many times have you looked around Katie at other people who are just crushing it in business and you’re just looking at them and just saying like, really that guy, well, it’s just because they took action. Do you know what I mean? And sometimes it’s sloppy and ugly and it it’s like the weirdest thing that you see, somebody just crushing it out there. And I’m like, are you serious? That guy or that woman, what? But they took action. And that’s the one thing that as somebody that’s learned and applied and gone through all of it, right. That’s the one thing, if you’re going to learn something, apply something and figure out how fast you can get an ROI.
Katie (11:27):
Yeah, that’s fantastic. And so you mentioned coaching and I’ve spoken to a lot of coaches recently on the podcast. And so how did you kind of decide on the right coach for you? What was that process like
Patty (11:39):
For me, the coaching that I really look for is people that have worked with other people and help them to transform it at like at a super high level. So I’m of the belief and for whatever reason, it’s for me, I went to a T Harv Eker event and he’s a, the author that wrote secrets of the millionaire mind. And this one little tip,ucame up with, I’ve just always practiced it and I’ve practiced it for gosh, a pretty long time is take 10% of your income and invest it in yourself. So what starts to happen is that you recognize that a lot of these big, big players they’re investing heavily because if you’re making say $500,000 a year, right, and you’re taking 10% of that, you have $50,000 that you can play with. You know, so if you’re not in that position and if you’re making $50,000 a year, you still should be technically in my opinion, investing 10% in order to get you to that next level.
Patty (12:37):
So I don’t understand how people think they’re going to do it on their own. It’s just not possible. All of the top athletes have coaches, the top performers have coaches. I just really believe you have to have coaches. And the best way to look at it is like, who else have they coached? What’s their track record. And the other side of it is really from a value system, right? That’s a big one for me because I don’t believe in the super duper hustle thing, like working super hard. That’s something that I had to personally really fine tune about the way I was doing things. Things I think culturally, for me, it was just like, you got to work really hard. And then I came across as coach that I’m still working with to this day. He’s like, that’s nonsense. You don’t have, you don’t have to work harder.
Patty (13:19):
You have to work smarter. It’s about, it’s about creating that right type of environment around yourself about the strategic connections of the return on your energy. And it might be getting a little wound, right. For some people who are hearing this, but it’s been a combination that works as opposed to the work, till your eyes bleed format of operating, which I did for many years. And all I got was adrenal fatigue and burnout. So those are the kinds of things that you just learn over time and through really learning from somebody who has been there and has that experience of helping others.
Katie (13:57):
Yeah, absolutely. I could not agree more. And that’s kind of why I named the podcast, what I did. Cause I kind of want to reframe what hustle means instead of like you mentioned, making it mean that you have to work so hard that you’ve disliked completely burnt out, but actually making it mean that you’re working hard, but working smart at the same time. So I love that perspective. And so your business is all about positioning. So for people who don’t really understand what that means, can you kind of dive in to what that would mean for a business owner?
Patty (14:28):
Sure. So positioning is basically, I can tell when somebody doesn’t have their positioning in place. When I say how many times you’ve gone to a networking event or a cocktail party or at a conference and somebody asks you, okay, what do you do? And most people are like, Oh, I’m a life coach or, Oh, I’m a business coach or I’m a marketing coach or I’m a consultant. Like that’s so general, it doesn’t stand out. You know? And the idea is is that if you are not standing out in your marketing and it’s not about having a list of 5 million people, because yeah, that’d be cool, but I’ve seen people who create a huge income and don’t necessarily have a huge email list. And I think that really just comes as a result of having their positioning in place where you’re capturing specific Mindshare. Right. Mindshare in your ideal prospect’s mind.
Patty (15:15):
And really what that means is that I want to be known for at the end of the day. Yes, I’m a coach. Yes. I can help you with your marketing, but I want to be known for something specifically. So for me, it’s positioning, I work with a lot of different types of people who, who are coaches in their own right or whatever. And I’m like, okay, but how do we niche down and not necessarily creating this like super micro niche where there’s not a whole lot of people there, but what’s the special thing that you have. What’s that super part. How do you highlight more of that in a way that it makes your competition irrelevant, where you’re not even thinking as a prospect of the other options because they is so clearly defined what you do and the value you bring and the benefits of working with you and the proof points and all these things that people are just going to say, what’s next?
Patty (16:04):
How do I work with you? Right. Because it’s so clear with how you can help them. And that’s the thing is that most people are doing too much copycat marketing or random acts of marketing that they don’t have their positioning in play. And then, and then they’re like, well, so I’m a personal trainer. And all I could charge is $80 an hour because that’s what the market will bear. I’m completely against that because I know there’s personal trainers out there who are making, I don’t know, let’s be arbitrary $300 an hour, right? So there is a market for everything. And so when you have proper positioning, you can claim a premium position if you want, because if you have a low cost position, the market’s like that’s a fast track to lots of loss and crashing and burning, right? Because in most cases, service providers, you don’t want to come out of dies. You’re, you’re worth pricing low. That’s not a good strategy. So you don’t want to be in the middle. Cause in the middle is just like, you’re more of the same. So really the opportunity is premium positioning, but you got to back it up with the right structure and set up so that you’re standing out uniquely and hen of course it’s validated for the prospect.
Katie (17:15):
Yeah, absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And you on your website, so you I’m helping business owners achieve category of oneness. So what does that mean?
Patty (17:25):
So I the, the whole thing of category one just kind of came up because when I say that traditionally people have understood that they’re like, Oh, okay, cool. Yeah, that makes sense. But I recognize that there’s other people who are using that. I’m like, okay, well, how do I zag? Right when everybody else is zigging. So how do I zag on this whole category of one thing? And when I came to realize, because I’ve done thousands and thousands of hours since 2013 of coaching and different people in different industries is that you can give people a framework for success. So for example, there is a positioning framework that I have, I can give them that framework for success, but I believe positioning has two components to it. It’s external. So it’s that positioning framework that I’m talking about. That’s proven. And then the other side is the internal.
Patty (18:12):
The reason is because we go through these, all these issues of imposter syndrome and inner critic and all these things that keep us stuck. And I believe because it’s true, like your business results will always meet how you feel about yourself. It’ll always meet your who you are right. At an identity level. And that’s something that, interestingly enough, I didn’t really clearly come across until I was really coaching are really significantly in terms of the amount of people. And then I just started recognizing, I’m like, wow, people get really stuck. I’ve gone through a, to, you know what I mean? We all do. Whether somebody says, okay, new level, new devil or somebody saying, who am I to put myself out there in that way? And so it’s just really tapping into a lot of the different coaching that I do to help people to overcome that kind of noise that they have that keeps them stuck. Yeah.
Katie (19:01):
Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And for somebody who’s listening, who kind of w it’s resonating with them, what you’re saying about being stuck, do you have any kind of like simple strategies that you maybe use with your clients or that you use yourself to kind of start getting that, generating some ideas and getting the wheels moving on, getting unstuck?
Patty (19:20):
Yeah, totally. So this is something where is this as simple as thinking about how you would want to be, like, how would you be in that instance, if you were called to do a presentation in front of 500 people, and you’re scared out of your mind to do it right? You instead of being in that mode of complete freak out anxiety, Oh my God, this isn’t going to work. I’m in a fail. What if they talk about me? You know what I mean? Instead of doing that position, like putting yourself in some people call it their like alter ego, who would you be like, who would that person be? If you look at a lot of these athletes or even performers, like when you look at Beyonce, Beyonce used to be definitely afraid of performing. And she tapped into this alter ego that she called Sasha fierce.
Patty (20:10):
So in essence, what that means is that she was finding that persona to be until it became so automatic and until it became ingrained, where she no longer needed that. So that, that persona, that ultra ego is really the bridge to help you overcome now that there is a way to do it, right? There’s this, there’s a way to kind of maneuver that persona. So you’re believing it in the whole nine, but that really is a secret. It’s really asking yourself, well, who do, who would I have to be to be the kind of person that gets in front of those people that publishes that book that does their videos every day, that is putting themselves out there and isn’t afraid of judgment. And that really is just starting to think about it. And, and if you can’t think of that persona for yourself, just kinda name it, some crazy superhero, or find somebody that you really like, and who, how, how would you model them not copying them, but modeling them to say, well, what are the attributes that they have that they, that I admire that I could tap into also, because you have to it’s that it’s, that those are the stepping stones that will help you to get to that level.
Patty (21:18):
And you do it at the beginning. If you do something you’re going to suck, and then you’re going to suck glass until you don’t suck it all until you get really good at it. And then you’re like, Oh my gosh, this is so awesome. I look forward to doing video or being on lives and doing that kind of stuff.
Katie (21:32):
I love that simple and straightforward, but so powerful. Fantastic. And you have a podcast as well. I would love to hear about that.
Patty (21:39):
Sure. It’s just positioning to profit. That’s really the, the, the brand that I’m doing things under position to profit, where I feature coaches, consultants, thought leaders just on their positioning, like, how are they standing out uniquely, or even in the ways of where people are repositioning. Right? So say for example, I have a client that comes to mind really quick. She’s a chiropractor. She’s like, I’m so sick of being a chiropractor. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to reposition what I’m doing, how I’m showing up, you just kind of repositioned her entirely into the pelvic pain arena. Right. So it was creating that subject matter expertise. So those are the kinds of things that I talk about on my podcast. So if people are looking for positioning tips or repositioning stuff, that’s totally my jam. And that is happening over at positioning profit podcast.
Katie (22:29):
That’s fantastic. And so what was the process of starting the podcast? Like, cause I know everybody kind of wants to start one, but there’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t know,
Patty (22:38):
Oh my God, you’re you set them off folder? I, we, I started a podcast with a friend of mine in 2015 and I just naturally love podcasting. It is so much fun for me. I’m an avid listener of podcasts. And I think the thing is if you’re apprehensive, just start practicing by getting on other people’s podcasts first, as long as there’s a really clear value that you’re bringing to that podcast, her and their guests. So it’s not a take energy like, Oh, let me just write context you. And like, I’m going to take from you and this and that. That’s the wrong energy to come with. It is like, what kind of value can you bring to someone? And, and that would be the easiest way to get started is just active outreach and getting on podcasts, other people’s. And then if you realize you’re like, wow, I really like this. Then they have apps like anchor. I don’t have my, I, I don’t have my podcast on anchor, but I know a lot of people are using that one. Uit’s so easy. It’s just an app on your phone that you can like record your podcast and load it and go. So there’s a lot of different tools out there that can help you pretty quickly start a
Katie (23:46):
Yeah. Fantastic. You’re so right. My whole, my whole perspective is like, you can do it and you can do it on a budget. You just have to put the work in. So yeah, absolutely. That’s great. And people can find your podcast on your website, right? Yep.
Patty (24:00):
They can find my podcasts there or of course, iTunes, Stitcher and all the other. Yeah.
Katie (24:06):
Fantastic. Well, I’ll definitely link to that in the show notes. Everybody can check it out. And do you have any recommendations, whether it be books, other podcasts or courses, anything out there that you found helpful that you would recommend to the listeners?
Patty (24:17):
I honestly, I’m a huge listener of podcasts in general. So what I do in my Stitcher app is I, I will do a search on a specific theme. So for example, if I’m interested in Facebook ads, we’ll just do a search on Facebook. And then the, the podcasts that that have that have that focus come up. And I just am very experimental about who I I’m hearing on podcasts. And right now there’s so many different podcasts out there to me, it’s so much fun to just experiment and test things out. So that’s really what I’ve been going to is just on Stitcher, which is my podcast platform that I prefer. And just doing searches. I know that sounds simplistic, but you’d be so surprised how cool it’s been to find just different ideas, different experts, different podcasts to be on different people who have been on my podcast. It’s been so fun to just like literally experiment.
Katie (25:08):
Yeah. You’re so right. And are you accepting guests on your podcast? Yes. And I would love to have you on my podcast. I would love that. And if there’s anybody listening who would love to get in touch about maybe being a guest who could do that, or how could they do that?
Patty (25:20):
Just contact me on my contact form. And I’m, I’m happy to have that that conversation with you around being on my podcast for sure.
Katie (25:28):
Fantastic. That’s great. And I’ll link to that in the show notes, so everybody can check that out. And how can everybody find you online?
Patty (25:35):
Just just through my name positioning to profit as a hashtag, right? I’m using on Instagram on LinkedIn, you could just go through my name. If somebody wants to test out how their positioning is doing, they can go to positioning quiz.com and that’ll be just a free quiz that they can take it on the back end of that. There’s a report that’s super helpful to understand how you can fine tune your positioning. So that’s super helpful. And, and there’s also on the back of that in my emails, you, you get a free mini course. And so it goes, so it’s
Katie (26:06):
Full of value. Fantastic. I’ll link to all of that, so everybody can find it as well. So thank you so much for coming on the show today. It’s been such a pleasure to speak with you.
Patty (26:15):
Thank you so much, Katie. I really appreciate it. And I love what you’re doing and it’s so important and yes, everybody needs to check out hustle, Nomics and work with you and all of that good stuff. So thank you. Yes. So of course, thank you.
