there were about 3,000 people and I got nudged by a fella next to me and he said,

man, I bet you're grateful to be in this room.

And I wasn't.

Someone recently that I really, really respect, she just passed away and she said there's delay

in the doubt. You know, we're going to delay the things that we absolutely need to be doing because

of our doubt.

Change the Real, a podcast with Monique Velasquez and Fiverr Kessler. For over 20

years, we've run a video production business that has achieved what only 3% of women entrepreneurs

have done,

exceed $250,000 in revenue. We want to see business owners that look like us succeed.

That's why we've started this podcast.

Change the Real will drop twice a month.

We'll release two types of episodes.

One is with Piper and I kicking it and talking about using video in business.

And the second features conversations with business owners using media to drive diverse perspectives.

This is Change the Real.

Representation starts here.

Hey, y'all.

I'm Monique Velasquez.

And I'm Piper Kessler.

Today, we're excited to talk to our guest, Dora Rankin.

I met Dora Rankin in the Premier Hello7 Coach Certification Cohort.

She was one of the coaches we all could see was working on making big moves in her business.

Dora's career and life story are amazing.

We're going to hopefully get to a lot of that.

She's held various senior leadership roles in business banking, retail banking, within commercial banks, local community banks, and high-growth fintech startups.

Dora is a seasoned executive leader and strategic growth advisor with exceptional skills growing and creating new businesses.

Her sales leadership focuses on delivering customized and holistic financial solutions to commercial clients with annual revenues ranging from $3 to $50 million across various industries and markets.

Dora's approach challenges norms by extending 25 years of experience, both coaching and consulting founders while blending economic power, human connection, and digital channels into an engaging omni-channel approach.

It is this approach that led her to a new chapter in thought leadership.

She also hosts business retreats in a one-on-one and group settings.

Last year, Dora collaborated to facilitate The Heart Cell in Iceland, and this year she's headed to France to do the same.

Dora actively seeks to work with B2B and B2C companies who need support developing sales and business development in teams and systems.

Some of the professional women she's mentored are inside NASDAQ, Tory Burch Foundation, National Women's Business Centers, and more.

Dora's work has been featured in Forbes, Today, Fast Company, WeRule.

Dora also mentors and coaches women entrepreneurs privately.

And spoiler alert, she loves doing it.

She's famous in our circle for saying she doesn't use media for marketing.

She uses it for connecting.

Let's get Dora to talk about her career in using media.

Dora, thanks for joining us on Change the Real.

Representation starts

here.

How are you doing today?

Hello.

I love the name Change the Real.

So good.

So nice to see

you.

Good to see you, too.

So what we do first, whenever we have a guest on, we ask if you could hand out your flowers today, who would you hand them out to to honor shaping your entrepreneurial journey?

Oh, I love that question.

I think that's the first time I've ever been asked that question on a podcast.

It's brilliant.

Yeah, it's so good.

And my immediate answer without thought would be I'd be handing out flowers to my mother.

And what kind of influence does she have on your journey with your mom?

Yeah, she's it for me.

So she was my first coach, my first mentor, my first cheerleader, my best friend.

She's the reason why I wrote the book.

She's the reason why I do what I do.

She's all of it.

So I lost her about 11 years ago.

But yeah, she's the first instinct on who I would smother in flowers.

Well, that's so nice.

That is so amazing, right, to have that.

And, you know, my condolences.

11 years is a long time to fill that void, right?

But

what an amazing

person that she's given the world.

So thanks to your mother.

Yeah.

Well, a lot of people think the heart cell

is all curriculum, but really it's a love story.

It's woven through there the impact my mom had on me.

Fantastic.

That is fantastic.

Tell us about your business.

What's the heart of what you do and what keeps you motivated to show up and create every day?

So I love that the create word that you just used.

I've never called myself a creator.

Ever.

But people actually say all the time to me what how I've created mosaic puzzles through relationship building and human connection.

but the actual creator of building art, things like that, that's never been my, I've always been

A-type, A-type personality. So my business actually was created and started through years

and years and years of experience inside corporate. And then from corporate, I actually went and studied

empowering women entrepreneurs. So when I studied that at Cornell, that's when I linked arms

with the startup world, the fintech startup world. And I spent three years in the high growth startup

there were about 3,000 people. And I got nudged by a fella next to me. And he said,

man, I bet you're grateful to be in this room.

And I wasn't.

So it was that moment in time that I needed.

I needed that moment of clarity so I could have permission to say,

you know, it's time for me to go.

finance world, and really dug into working with women founders

to build out the roadmap to build their business.

And I did that because of all those years of experience.

So when you use the word create,

I'm like, oh gosh, I'm not the creator, right?

I'm the deliverer of the roadmap,

which I guess is a big mosaic puzzle of creation.

Right, like I love that you're giving the honor

of what proceeded and put all the ingredients in

where you were when you were standing there and that nudge. So like all those things were the

mosaic bits coming together in that moment for you. I love that. I love that. So creating, okay.

Stewing, marinating, however you want to put it together. I love that.

And then you may have

answered this because of what you just said, but can you share a moment when you realize representation

was missing in your industry and how did that put you to create the change you wanted to see

so so my mom never had a filter she was one of those that just shot from the hip and and always

said things that at the wrong time foot in her mouth you know but she didn't even realize it right

so I grew up in that environment to to say what I think when I think it and sometimes that wasn't

always good, especially when you're in senior leadership at a bank and you're surrounded by

stuffy men in suits. But I was that, I was, I would call it. I would, I wouldn't have a filter.

I would call it. I would say those things. And it cost me my job a couple of times.

But I knew that that was, that was me. That was my character. That was, that was my asset of

character. So I say that all to say that representation, it wasn't until I got out of

those environments, being in corporate and being, that I got out of those environments that I even

knew that there was something to represent, that there was an impact to even make. Because there's,

I call it trafficking. There's the types of corporate trafficking and that's happening inside

senior leadership roles where it's like, this is what you do. And this is how you do it. And until

you get out of that environment, you don't even realize how you're going to make an impact or what

you're going to represent. So, and it's, it's the same thing now. So years later, I forget that there's

not, it's not all women run in the world. Like I forget. And I have to be nice. Like I have to sit

next to the guy at the airport when he looks at me and says, what do you mean you don't work for

somebody else, I have to, you know, I have to be nice. Like I can't use my mom's no filter. I don't

know if that answers the question, but that, that's where my representation came about. Again,

a story. I'm always telling a story.

Yeah, no, that's good. That's good. Exactly. And so like,

there are that moments, it's like, what? You know, I think ultimately the question becomes,

you know, there was a moment somewhere where you're like, oh, wait a minute, maybe I don't belong in

this room and maybe I need to make a space for my, where my room, I get to build or invite who I want

into. Was there a moment like that for you?

Yeah, there was a moment where I think it was 42 or 43.

It was, it was around my birthday and my sister, my sister looked at me and she said, enough is enough.

Why don't you take everything you have wrapped around your pinky and just go give it to women?

And I needed that moment of permission and that moment of clarity.

And then I immediately took action.

And so that's where I see people not.

Like they're told, here's the permission.

Here's the moment of clarity.

But then they don't take action.

And then it just becomes a moment that passes.

And that's where the empowerment is, is when you actually take action.

It's an interesting thing because we heard the same type of story where there was this moment where you had a decision in a split moment, like instant.

Like you decided, oh, that's the permission.

I can exhale and keep that action, that activity going.

And I love that you acted on it.

And you are right.

What keeps a lot of folks from, you know, stepping into a new idea for themselves is just that small action of stepping out of the room or stepping up to something, a new challenge.

Right. And and it's sometimes we're prepared for it and sometimes it takes a little more ingredients to get us to be prepared for it.

And I love that you are self-aware enough to go, oh, there's my sister talking to me and I

need to do something

about this.

I mean,

I think we all need a mirror.

And sometimes it's like it can be ourselves looking in the mirror, but sometimes it's somebody else going, hey, I don't know if you see this, but I'm going to tell you.

And it sounds like she had a little bit of your mom, too, so she could say it to you without worry.

And thank goodness she did, because, you know, I was always an overachiever that needed to be pulled out of situations.

I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't quit. I had to be pulled out.

So somewhere along the line, I established doubt, right?

That's why I wouldn't leave situations.

And someone recently that I really, really respect, she just passed away, and she said there's delay in the doubt.

you know, we're going to delay the things that we absolutely need to be doing because of our doubt.

Yeah. That is a good reminder that there is delay in the doubt. But I'm glad that you felt

your power, you've recognized that your mission was on point and you had all the ingredients ready

to go, right? And so we talk about inclusion here, and we talk about why it matters as a business

owner, and what's the most rewarding or the challenging part to weave it in to what you do?

Because you said, let's go give it to women. It's like, oh, yes, let's do that. What was it that,

Like, how hard is that and why does it matter?

Oh, you know, this question, am I allowed to answer it by saying, like, I get to choose who I work with now?

Like, when I was in corporate, I didn't get to choose.

And I had to be nice.

And it was really hard.

It is hard.

Now I

don't have to choose.

That's right.

When you get to choose who you work with, that is the best, funnest,

amazing.

Right.

It'll also repel the people you don't want to have as a client.

What's coming to my mind right now is how often the media says things about me versus me saying about them.

And the words that I hear often are, Dora's so transparent.

She's just going to tell you like it is.

She's confident. She's transparent. She's going to tell you. And I don't really see that so much

in myself, that transparent. But whenever I hire or whenever I'm working with someone,

one of the things that I always ask is I really want to understand your pet peeves,

because I have some of my own. And I'm going to let you know what they are ahead of time.

So when you get annoyed with me, nagging you or, you know, coming off too strong, you know why.

Like, that's just who I am.

So when I look at hiring or people hiring me, it is that give and take that's just so ingrained in me, that give and take.

And one of my very first leaders, she said to me, ingrained in me from the time I was in my early 20s, that it's them first, you second.

It's always them first, you second.

And so no matter who I'm working with, whether it's hiring a vendor or my chief of staff, it's them first, me second.

And what happens, like it blows my mind to this day, that what happens is if you sincerely do that, not just fake it, you sincerely do that, those people around you work harder for you.

It's wild.

Yeah, I mean, it definitely changes, you know, the dynamic and the relationship, the connection that you can have. And we talked about this yesterday about how you close these or you compartmentalize these bits of you.

And if you are honest and open and you are transparent about who you are when you're making these connections, then you can bring all of you.

And in bringing all of you, you can enjoy it to all of you.

All the enjoyment of every aspect of who you are can be there.

And that makes the

connection that

much better.

Right?

Right.

No walking on eggshells.

There you go.

So let's talk a little bit about the book and what you're doing with the book and what inspired,

besides your mom and having this new venture, how did the book come about for you?

I'm sure you talk to a lot of authors and there's like a thousand ways to skin a book.

But what happened with my book and what actually evolved was completely different.

So I thought that I was going to write the book to be a vanity play, a PR play.

You know, I had some friends that had published books within that about a year or so before.

And I was really excited to do what they did, which was a big PR play.

And so that's what I thought I would use the book for is a PR play.

And so when the book came out and I started my book tour, I had two PR agents.

I had national.

I had local.

We were doing the big PR campaigns for the book.

I'm in New York City.

I'm at this big event talking about the book.

And I'm like, I don't like this.

I don't like any of this.

I don't like how it feels.

I love, you know, give me a microphone and I'm not, you can't take it from me.

I love that.

But I didn't like this vanity feel.

Like, I'm like, what's the point?

What is the outcome?

I didn't get it.

So I fired my PR agents that I paid so much money to.

I fired my PR agents and I started teaching the curriculum to small business development centers,

women's business owners, newer founders that couldn't afford the stuff, the $25,000 masterminds.

And I fell in love with teaching the curriculum.

Fell in love with it.

So it ended up becoming a, so far, I mean, it's a year old, right?

It's evolved into teaching the curriculum to women founders that can't afford working with me one-on-one.

And let's go teach it there.

So that's next.

I love that.

I love that.

Like, let's just turn it on its head.

Let's put our own spices in there, this mosaic of experiences, and say, you know what, you can succeed, but you don't have to have just one flavor of that.

It can also be a heart cell.

Right?

And I love hearing, too, that you are taking this to sort of as a blueprint and making a different way to connect and help a different group of people in an unexpected way.

So that is amazing.

At

the end of the day, the foundation of the book is that we don't know, as founders, as business owners in any industry, we don't understand the difference between sales and marketing.

And so I lay that out really simply.

What is that difference and what to really prioritize roadmap strategically so you can grow your business?

That's the foundation of the book.

And you are famous for exactly that.

And the connections, right? And I think, you know, you're right about like give you a microphone and, you know, you are genuine and authentic and people are drawn to what, listen to what you've got going on.

You've got the credentials. You are definitely qualified and experienced. And so I love that.

I'm

blushing.

Yeah.

And so I also see you showing up quite often right there in that chair on LinkedIn or Facebook or wherever you are.

Talk

about how you're

using video right now.

What is it you're doing?

Okay.

So I've always been a fan of restream.

That's like what's the easiest for me to use is restream.

And then it streams in the places.

And I'm also a fan of doing things messy.

So I'll just go on Restream and then I'll just decide to go live and then I'll just teach or coach on a topic.

So that's how I roll.

Now, I have a lot of clients that are like, there is no way.

I need everything professionally done.

My hair has to be done.

I need to batch a full day of reels to give out.

And, you know, everybody, I guess, does it differently.

But I am a very like, let's just do it.

Let's spontaneously just go live.

So that's how I do it on social media platforms.

And I honestly don't use social media as a marketing.

It's so wild.

I don't use like, you're not going to see me posting reels and doing a whole lot on Instagram.

And it's not because I don't want to.

It's just because I don't need to.

I don't need to have 1.5 million followers because I'm not an influencer.

My business model is not an influencer.

But I do have a video, like where I do have videos,

I will spend the time on the book trailer to make sure that that book trailer is,

you know, beautiful.

And then this whole coming out to teach the heart cell in more of a organization,

corporate capacity.

speaking keynotes, things like that required a speaker reel. So that video was it was important.

But

that's, I did see it drop. Yeah, I did. Blue Line did a good job. So we love them.

And, you know, part of this too is, you know, I think when you're saying you don't need to,

I also think a little bit about what you were saying, that it's about the connection.

And I think it's a way for people to really get to know who you are and what your philosophy is and what it is that you really can impart to people.

So I see your showing up on media, social media, as a way to connect and not really a marketing, but it's a different way.

Like you're saying, it's not creating.

It's sort of like, here's the mosaic.

here's some ingredients that we're going to add to everything that is the heart cell and what Dora

Rankin can put together. So I love that it is consistent somehow, because I see quite often

there's lots of videos out there, but it's inconsistent. And like, when does it happen?

I don't know. You did it like a couple mornings there. You were pretty, you know, heavy into the

rotation of being in the morning. I was like, oh, let's see what Dora's talking about today.

It is very unstandard as far as like if you were holding up a marketing plan.

So checkboxes.

Yeah, like the checkboxes to do these things.

But ultimately, I hear what you're saying is not a marketing plan.

It is more of a way to share what you know

and

make the connection,

I

believe.

It is. You're absolutely right.

And so tell me a little bit, you're talking about taking it to the corporate level and maybe not having the, you know, marketing bros or the sales bros way of doing things.

How are you managing to put together that idea?

What are your moves here?

What are you up to?

I am implementing the heart cell.

So it's really just I walk my talk.

It really is the same.

So if I look at marketing and sales, if I was selling a digital product, right, or if

I was selling a course or something evergreen, I'd need to put a ton of ads behind it and

I'd have to be online like crazy, creating, creating, creating.

I'm selling one-on-one business coaching, right?

And I'm selling this enterprise-level corporate curriculum.

That requires relationship building as its anchor, as its arch.

And so the more people can get to know me and how I can get to know them,

that's really it in a nutshell.

But where people get really afraid of doing that

is they really, their intention is not true.

Their intention and their motive is,

let me just get in there and sell something.

And if your intention and your motive is,

let me see if there's really a problem,

and I wonder if I'm the right person to solve it,

and will they let me talk about that with them?

And if you can do it with that intention,

some people are still going to think

that you're trying to sell them something.

But some people are going to say,

oh, you're actually being authentic here.

You've actually researched me a little bit.

Okay, I'll give you 20 minutes.

You can come and talk to me.

So that's really what I'm doing for this next step.

I'm not changing a thing

except getting understanding my audience even more and more and figuring out how I need to build the

relationships with them

and if you were going to put it out into the universe like your

your brass ring where you'd like to see the change in them and who you'd like to speak to

who would it be what corporate entity would you like to to be talking to

Oh, I would really, what I'm working on right now is banks that are led by women and my old stomping ground.

You know that industry,

you know the type of personalities that are coming up through the tracks and the, you know, in those lanes of promotion.

So, you know that.

All right.

All right.

Well, we're, you know, we put it in the air.

let's get the universe putting some norm things together and see what happens maybe there's a

boomerang effect going on so that would be

great so

with the book i love are you gonna

write another book you think you'll you'll get to another book or you have that in mind

oh monique

if if and when it'll be at least another three years now

although there could be some ai workbooks coming out because ai is taking over the world right so

i'm like maybe there'll be some ai things that come out but

yeah how do you feel about that the ai it's that we were talking to somebody and they said

they felt like authenticity is always going to win out that's going to be the the thing with the ai

because it's the separator right it's the separator and it's like using authenticity within the ai but

i was curious of like your overall take on ai

my overall take is take what you need and leave the

rest and that's if any anything that that that shows up on my doorstep i'm going to take what i

need and leave the rest. And what I need when it comes to AI is easier transition for scripting

and how I can literally put my book into AI and say, can you give me a better prospecting script

based off of my prospecting guide? And instead of me having to use my brain to perfect it,

I can use that. And I'm like, oh, look, it's a lot better than what I put in there.

Where in the past, literally six months ago or a year ago, I was sitting there scratching my head

with the client saying, all right, we got to come up with the right words. Like this is it, but we,

it needs to be a little, right, a little bit more. And AI gives me that little bit more.

Yeah,

a little bit faster too.

So better with the

source.

It doesn't replace anything.

For me, it doesn't replace anything.

But I have to figure out what I need and I can just leave the rest.

It's a tool,

basically.

Are you targeting your business growth in a way?

Are you feeling like you're at the right spot in where your evolution is in your business?

At a certain age, and I think I'm there, growth feels like, oh, it's like more work before whatever.

But, you know, maybe you're looking at growing your business in a new way or a different way.

What's happening in your business?

Yeah, growth is like a sun setting retirement.

My husband's 12 years older than me and he's like, I'm just chilling while you go write your books and run around.

But like when I'm not working, we're traveling.

I have a camper.

I love my camper.

So, yeah, growth for me is like, how am I going to sunset and retire within the next 10 years?

Fantastic.

Fantastic.

So I get that.

That's about the clock that I've set for myself.

Piper's not so happy about 10 years.

I don't know.

I need to think about it more, I guess.

So it's a different thing, right?

When you start to ask, hey, you know, is that a project I really want to see through?

like you're saying the book it's like I don't know a book sounds like a good five-year commitment

yeah are you guys campers do you guys travel used to be yes

now I would like to camp the way

I see you with you know and coach T right coach T's got that camper she drives around and like

and just sets up and wheels into her spot and stuff like I would do that but yeah that was

situation that wasn't what we were doing there were too many uh rain storms

on we were doing

like not quite primitive camping but almost almost that's how you know we camped

yeah i'm all about

camping that has camper that has the sewer that has the water that has the air conditioning i'm

actually hosting one of my friends owns a ranch in florida or not in florida in texas and so i'm

hosting like a a summer camp retreat style this beautiful ranch that's like campers and yurts and

yeah I'm all about it I love it

that's but no I

will never go in another tent

yeah and it's like

too too dangerous a prospect in general getting up again was the thing so you you went to Iceland

tell us a little bit about that and then move to France for us yeah so um through connection

I built a lovely relationship with another coach and one of her businesses she has multiple

businesses that one of her businesses is to take women on retreat and show them how to host retreats

and make it a side of their business so last year I went to Iceland with her and I started teaching

workshops around the heart cell and the curriculum and it went really well and so this year we posted

a couple events did france um so i'll continue to do that in a partnership but then i also have my

own retreats that are through my group called camp heart cell um where we'll we go to different places

and retreat for a few days and it's it's obviously good to to refresh yourself on the curriculum but

And it's just really fun to hang out with people in real life.

That is so true, right?

Like having that different connection.

You know, I would love to be in the same room with you so I can hug your neck and, you know, see what's really dazzling you up there when we're talking.

And so being in the same room absolutely makes a difference

and creates

a connection with entrepreneurs and CEOs and just people that are in the biz that want to feel like, oh, we've had a similar shared experience.

Camping.

That sounds awesome, by the way.

It sounds awesome.

Yes.

I

like the luxury part.

Yeah.

There's like fluffy robes inside

the

urch.

Like it's.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Not suffering involved.

Okay.

That I'd be about.

We haven't tried that

part.

Yeah, we haven't tried that part.

No suffering.

I think we should probably rethink that whole campaign.

Yeah.

I was, I was, I heard camping and I had an opinion.

Now I have to reframe everything.

Okay.

So, well,

we love having a chance to introduce our audience to amazing business owners.

that are showing up authentically and making a difference.

If folks want to know more about working with you

and what your next retreat is happening,

how can they get more information?

It's really hard.

You have to go to dorarrankin.com.

So hard.

And where else can they find you?

You want them on LinkedIn or some other place

because that's where I'm pushing folks, LinkedIn.

Yeah.

Well, so I'm not going to give my home address out, but unless you're like a Colombian and

you're really desirable.

Other than that, you can find me on LinkedIn a lot.

I'm on LinkedIn.

The book is everywhere.

So the HeartSell, A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs Seeking Financial Freedom, my website.

And I'm actually really accessible.

So I offer complimentary calls for you, which you can just come into my website and schedule.

I'm going to stop here and say do it because Dora is worth your time and learning new things,

giving yourself a chance to rethink what sales could be and feel like and, you know,

who you are as a person showing up in business.

So I'm going to encourage folks to hit DoraRankin.com.

Well, we want to thank everybody for joining us to change the reel.

I want to thank you for stopping in and listening to our conversation.

We help corporations, businesses, coaches that want to amplify their brands using video and virtual and live events.

If you're planning for Q4, Q1, one of those queues, we can help you get caught up and de-stress your to-do list for the next live event with a video component.

We aren't just technicians for live streaming.

We have 22 years of experience with video production.

And we stream about 80 hours of live content a month.

We've been doing that for the last 10 years.

We know what it takes to get it done with less stress and more confidence.

So please consider booking a consultation call and get ready to hit the record button.

Thank you, Dora.

Thank you, Dora.

Thank you.

This was fun.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change the Real.

If you liked the episode, subscribe, share it, or leave a comment.

And remember, representation starts here.

Hasta pronto. See you soon.