ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

After twenty-five years of being a professional speaker, productivity enthusiast, and seven-time book author, I’m keenly aware that some of you have never heard of me before reading this book. So by way of introduction, I thought I’d share the answers to the three most common questions I’m asked.

The first question is, “How did you become a speaker?” For me, it was a process of elimination. I always wanted to be a performer. When I was five years old, I used to tape record myself singing “You Are My Sunshine,” “The Rainbow Connection,” and “Wendy.” My mother would play the tapes for me in the car as she drove, which must have made her crazy, but it kept me occupied until we reached our destination. My first public debut was playing “Ngana” in South Pacific when I was eight years old. I sang, danced, and acted my way through school. But then my ballet teacher told me my legs weren’t long or thin enough for me to make it big. My voice coach told me I had a nice voice, but I’d never make it on Broadway. My acting coach told me I was good, but I wasn’t cut out for Hollywood.

Then I saw Zig Ziglar present at a motivational rally when I was fourteen years old. As we were leaving, one of my friends turned to me and said, “You could do that!” From that point forward, I wanted to be Zig Ziglar. I said to myself, “Hey, a little song and dance, a lot of acting, and I get to be in front of an audience. Perfect!” That’s where I first learned about professional speaking.

The second question people ask me is, “How did you pick your topic of productivity?” I grew up on the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My father, USAF Retired Colonel Kenneth Wenker, holds a PhD in Philosophy, which meant you had to develop the gift of gab if you ever wanted to get a word in edgewise at the dinner table.

The military and my father taught me the foundation of my presentations today: discipline, order, planning, structure, accountability, and perseverance. Even as a young girl, I had “systems.” My stuffed animals lived on my bed in a specific order during the day and on my toy box in another specific order at night. I never left the house without making my bed. I actually folded and put my clothes away. I made to-do lists and had files. I had a precise order in which I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and brushed my hair. My mom said I was the kid on the playground in kindergarten looking at my watch and instructing, “Okay everyone … we have fifteen minutes … let’s play!”

Fast forward through an MBA at twenty-one, the youngest ever at the University of Colorado at that time, I was told. People started asking me, “How did you get your MBA at twenty-one?” so I started giving little talks. And the rest, as they say, is history. After several years in corporate America, I started my own business in 1992, taught at several universities, and became a CareerTrack speaker, traveling around the country giving public seminars. Then I started working with my own private clients.

That leads to the third question I’m asked, which is, “How did you create a successful business?” That’s an easy answer: the amazing family, friends, mentors, and partners in my life.

The most important people in my life are my incredible husband, John, and my three children, Meagan, Johnny, and James. Thank you so much for your tolerance of my crazy travel schedule and your undying support. I love you all so much. My gratitude also goes to my mother-in-law, Eileen Stack, who supports our family with her time in countless ways.

I’m grateful for my colleagues in my two mastermind groups, the Expert Speakers Network and the Elite Retreat. I appreciate my professional speaker colleagues, fellow members of the National Speakers Association, who are like an extended family. I fly more than 100,000 miles a year and spend a lot of time in hotels, so this business can get quite lonely. My NSA friendships make life fun and interesting. I was privileged to be NSA’s president in 2011–2012 and am especially honored to have been recently inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame®, of which Zig Ziglar was a member.

Mentors like Dianna Booher (to whom I dedicated my book Execution IS the Strategy), Connie Podesta, and Kathy Cooperman (to whom I dedicated this book) have helped me grow, and I am thankful for your time and caring. Mark Sanborn is also a steadfast friend and mentor, whom I also appreciate for being married to my dear friend Darla.

People always ask me how I stay so organized, given my hectic schedule. The secret is to have an incredible team of people surrounding you. Thank you to Jin Voelkelt, my office manager; Christine Page, my business manager; Becca Fletcher, my marketing manager; and Lance Gibb, my technology manager. They are the grease that keeps the machine running smoothly in my life, and I simply wouldn’t be able to function without them!

Thanks to the entire team at Berrett-Koehler, and especially to my editor Neal Maillet, for his continued enthusiastic support of my work. Another big thanks goes to the independent reviewers whose eagle eyes and creative ideas helped make this book better: Floyd Largent, Barbara McNichol, Simon Blattner, Gauri Reyes, and Pam Gordon.

Last but certainly not least, I thank my clients, my audiences, and YOU, my readers. Your enthusiasm for my work keeps me curious about the world of productivity. I am truly grateful for your support. By sharing the answers to those three questions, I hope you got to know me a bit.

There’s one last question that I always ask myself, which is, “How did I get so blessed?”

I simply thank the Lord.