Coaching Without Fear: Shmuly Rothman’s 30-Year Playbook

In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, host Pedro sits down with Shmuly Rothman, a fundraising and leadership coach who helps nonprofit leaders raise funds, build trust, and lead without fear. With over 30 years of real-world experience, Shmuly shares powerful lessons on niching with intention, pricing with confidence, and why attraction always beats aggressive marketing.

The conversation explores long-term client vision, the importance of 90-day commitments, sustainable growth (and the cost of scaling too fast), and how coaching rooted in values, boundaries, and relationships creates lasting transformation. From donor-centered fundraising to trusting intuition and cutting through marketing “BS,” this episode is a masterclass in coaching with soul.

Whether you’re an established coach or building your practice, this episode will challenge how you think about impact, pricing, and what it really means to serve.



Connect with

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabbishmuly/
Website: https://www.rothmancoaching.com/

Transcript

Shmuly Rothman: 0:00

Great question. And this comes right off a a very thought-provoking session with my coach yesterday, which was all about how much clarity do I have about where each of my executive coaching clients need to be in 12 months from now? And it's easy for me to get caught up in the, oh, let's meet today, and then you'll get the executive summary notes, and I'll meet you again next week. And if you know if you don't talk to me in between, I'll probably forget what we talked about. Now, part of my setup is I have offline support, you know, in be in between meetings. It's it's the package, mostly through WhatsApp, some through email. So there's usually ongoing conversation of sort, but this discipline of knowing where they need where I want them to be.

Davis Nguyen : 0:39

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career coaches on how they built their success and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is Davis Win, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, and even $100,000 weeks. Before Purple Circle, I've grown several seven and eight-figure career coaching businesses myself and have been a consultant at two career coaching businesses that are doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or building your practice for the first time, you'll discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Pedro: 1:10

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today's guest is Shmuli Rothman, a fundraising and leadership coach who helps nonprofit professionals lead, communicate, and raise funds with clarity and confidence. Through Rothman Coaching, he trains fundraisers to work without fear using a proven approach that prioritizes trust, strong boundaries, and healthy relationships. His work has also supports organizations in improving workplace management, resolving conflict, and creating clear expectations, helping teams perform better while maintaining high standards and strong culture. Welcome to the show, Shmuli. Thank you, Prejudice. It's a pleasure to be here. Hey, great to have you. Um, all right. I like to rewind a bit, you know, kind of a sucker for the origin story. So, you know, every coach has that moment where they look at their life and say, hey, you know what? I guess this is what I'm doing now. So when was that for you?

Shmuly Rothman: 2:12

It started the morning that I fired my lead staff member for a day camp that we my wife and I worked on for 12, almost 12 months of the year to build out the camp, and I hired the wrong person without knowing it. And 12 hours into the operation, I knew this was not gonna work. And the amount of pain that I caused this young person by not knowing that I was hiring the wrong person and having to put them through the fire process, the pain I suffered in the process from the people close to her who took it out on me, and just opened my eyes wide to understand I have no idea what I'm doing here. And it's time to learn. And in the process of learning, I started thinking, well, if if I made this mistake, I know some others who are making it. Why don't we try, why don't we start helping others avoid this one? And that's where it all began.

Pedro: 3:04

And we were talking before the podcast, as has been right?

Shmuly Rothman: 3:07

16 years as a full-time, but it's it's well over 25 to 30 years. I live in a lab called Life. So I'm constantly testing the waters, learning what people respond to, what makes them tick and what ticks them off. And try to try to spend more time with what makes them tick and stay away from the try the tried and proven that will tick them off method. So I have a leaning towards that. So it's been um over over three decades in an official full-time coach position. It's been 16 years.

Pedro: 3:36

And when did it shift, you know, from because at the start, we're like you said, we're testing, right? So when did it shift from I'm helping people to I'm building a real business around this?

Shmuly Rothman: 3:46

Ooh. Credit on that goes to my first coach who he found me on LinkedIn, called me and said, What are you afraid of? I was like, I said, wait a second, people pay me to ask them that question. You don't have the right to go there. He said, No. He said, Really? And when I told them that I was you know working with a maximum of about 20 to 25 people a year, he looked at me square in the eye and he said, You're wasting your life. So you you have the ability to create worldwide impact. And if you don't know how to go there, then it's time to enter that zone.

Pedro: 4:17

So after you got rolling, right, who were the people that kept showing up? Because at the start of coaching, we see a lot of I'm trying to help everyone and all of that. And sometimes the coaches they niche down, right? So what I want to understand is the ones who realize these are my people.

Shmuly Rothman: 4:33

I clearly went through that process of I can be every solution for every person. They just need to know how good I am and give me a call. I certainly went through that overblown ego process that needed a big deflate. And over the year, I've had I've had different coaches who've they've all spoken the same tune. And as I climb higher with different coaches, they fine-tune it even more. Who's your ideal client? What do they have? What do they need? How do they show up? That's one part of it. The other part of it is Shmuli, what's your gift? What's your contribution? And get clearer and clearer on that. So then it really narrows down who I can do my best work with, which was very different from the initial mind frame of what do you mean? Anybody who comes my way, of course, I could do good work with them, which is it's not wrong necessarily. But when you think about here I am, I'm in Florida, you're in South America. Somebody may hear this, who knows where in the world, and might hear a nugget that's gonna change their life for the better. That's the way we need to be playing. Interesting.

Pedro: 5:34

I mean, that you've been through all of it, right? We're talking about 30 years. I know that 16 as a full-time coach, but you've been through so much, right? So you went through that testing the waters, you went through um also niching down. So you could understand what's your you know, your ICP. So yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. I mean, that's the coaching side, right? So now let's talk about the part nobody escapes, Schmole. Marketing. Right? So how do people usually find you?

Shmuly Rothman: 6:02

So that's a good question. I had a mentor when I was living in Chicago, I had a mentor, Mr. Schmool Goodman, who he's in venture capital, and one of the guidelines that he plays by is I don't market. He lives by a certain truth that if I'm relevant, I don't need to market. If I'm not relevant, marketing won't help me. Now, I'm not pulling marketers out of the market. That's not the point in saying that. Rather, he taught me to attract. His message was put your best foot out there, show up the best you, highest standards, highest values, healthy boundaries, and great energy every single day, and you'll see the way I'm gonna use the Hebrew word Hashem. That's the Hebrew for God. Hashem will send you the people who need a touch of Shmuli today. Versus, so it's kind of like we talk about the fishing boat, and then there's the lighthouse. The fishing boat goes out to the sea and they can't see what they're looking to catch. It's a guessing game. So they're they're casting nets and they're hooked all over the place. The lighthouse stands tall on firm ground, shines the light, and attracts the ocean liners, the yachts, the cruises. So by putting good energy out there, helping another person, helping being the go-giver, where else can I add value? That energetically ends up in front of the people who are a great fit, and then they make the phone call. To answer your question from a down-to-earth perspective, I do have a website. I work primarily in the Chabad Lobavic Jewish community. So when there's success, the rabbis I work with, they talk and they'll tell their friends. So it's internal communication. By now, for the most part, by the time I get a phone call or an inquiry, it's somebody knows they want this because they've heard from a colleague of the success they've had.

Pedro: 7:49

Okay, so mainly the network with the rabbis and the referral would say and the website, but basically it's a referral situation when we're talking about marketing, right? Tied up with uh religious intent, if I could say something like that.

Shmuly Rothman: 8:05

Religious intent, not so much. It's more the if I'm having a challenge and I talk to my buddy and he says, Oh, well, I worked with Schmuly, and he he helped me through that one, or you know, give an easy example. Uh, I have to launch a capital campaign. And I have no idea where to start, but I've got to launch it. And I know the money's in the community, and I've no idea where to begin. And just the thought of it's overwhelming. What should I do? You talk to a friend that says, Oh, I worked with Schmuli for three to six months, and he put he and his team mapped out a plan, they gave me the materials that I needed, put me into a healthy donor-centric mindset, created a campaign calendar timeline, and were there to give me high-level strategy for high-level donors, held my hand along the way, kept me in the zone, didn't let me settle for a mortgage, kept me raising till we paid for the entire thing, and put an endowment fund in place, which is the way it ought to be for the upkeep of the building. You hear that from a friend who says, Look, get my reality. Here's the building, and uh and I'm not carrying any debt because of it. So that story speaks on its own. Oh, maybe I should call Schmuly and find out if we'd be a good fit. Got it.

Pedro: 9:08

Now I see. Okay. All right. Well, let's talk business for a second, right? So let's say people find you, they connect it through your network, they reached out, they resonate with your work, and eventually they want to know what working with you actually looks like. Hey. So everyone builds their coaching business a bit differently. You already talked a little bit about it, but so when someone actually becomes a client, Schmole, what does that experience look like right now?

Shmuly Rothman: 9:31

For me or for them? For them. I've learned the hard way that I start with a client who's ready to commit to at least 90 days. And that's that's that's been a major game changer for me because less than 90 days, they're not developing a habit in less than 90 days. They're not cracking a negative thought pattern in less than 90 days. So if they're not ready to go there, then I've got lots of free resources on my website. I'm a big fan of that model. Give and give. And I can guide people who are self-learners, come to my website, take the courses, it's there, it's for free. Go grab that. If you want to work with me, there has to be a predetermined commitment on your end, pre-commitment in order for me to put my it's more than anything, it's my brains and my soul into the work. So I can't work with too many at the same time because it's bandwidth on my part, and I become a partner. I usually see about within the first three to four weeks is when I start seeing energy change. So I tell them 90 days, but if they're the right fit, and usually less than the first month, they're coming back to me to tell me where they're seeing greater levels of relaxation, greater levels of happiness, surprising relationships with people, donors who they thought they were tight with, and now they're experiencing for the for, I mean, just right now. I started with a client, he's been a rabbi for 29 years, and he's built a remarkable organization. We worked with him for his high holiday campaign, and he said to me, I never received this type of open warmth and endearment from my closest donors. Well, because he never spoke to them in that language. He spoke to them in a good language, but if you don't know how to go to a place where it brings out that deep relationship, relationship, so you're not going to get it. Learn the language, and it's not rocket science. Okay, I could repeat that. Great. Go ahead. Use it tomorrow, use it next week. So when they start experiencing open mind, open heart, more relaxation, peace, and all the noise about why this won't work starts floating away, they're happy. And then they come back and say, Oh, can we apply this to that part of the organization? So while, you know, in the intro, we talked about fundraising and then other parts that we coach, it's rarely ever about fundraising. Fundraising is a great entry because it's no judgment call if I don't know how to fundraise. Nobody taught me I don't know how to fundraise. But in my leadership skills, I don't know. Maybe there's some uh character judgment over there. I don't want to be, you know. So learn from the principle, it's a relationship communication thing, but learn it in fundraising, which is a safe zone, so to speak, and then apply it to other parts of the organization. You're happier, the people around you are happier, everything around you is elevated, and it didn't take all that long.

Pedro: 12:09

It's like the foot in the door, like the fundraising, and then you get into the real Rudah cause, you know, that oh what people will think about me, should I how do I do this? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And then once the we have the coaching side showing up, right?

Shmuly Rothman: 12:26

And so what once there's a relationship where there's trust and they're seeing that when they follow the steps and it makes sense to them, maybe they didn't think of it on their own, but when they process intellectually, the words sound right. It doesn't sound offensive, it doesn't sound standoffish, it doesn't sound salesy, it sounds caring, vulnerable, and that's a big piece of how do I allow myself into a space of vulnerability without predicting a negative outcome. You do that once or twice and you see how people are drawn to you, the brain starts saying, I can do that again.

Pedro: 12:56

Okay. I mean, Schmole, your work seems pretty hands-on, right? You mentioned a team, obviously, but also mention possibly some one-on-one situations. I'm not sure if it's a group structure or one-on-ones. You mention also your website. So, how do you think about capacity so you don't stretch yourself too thin?

Shmuly Rothman: 13:14

It's a great question. I used to think that I needed to carry it all on my own. And there were times when I was doing six, seven meetings between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and I was a doormat by the end of the day. I wasn't there for my wife, I wasn't there for my children, I wasn't there for myself, and I thought it was just a race, cramp. When I learned how to identify the higher-level players who are having much greater impact. For example, I could work with a rabbi who's a leader not just of his own chabad house, but rather he's the director of a region of the world. So all of a sudden, he's doing better. 15 rabbis in 15 locations in that region of the world are doing better because of his leadership. And I'm the humble, blessed player who can sit in a backyard in Boynton Beach, Florida, put an hour a week into that rabbi's success, and tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions positively impacted. When I learned how to go there, I learned the value of working with fewer impacting much broader. That was part one. And part two is I've developed a team that will come in to do the technical work for the rabbi. So while he and I will have strategy conversation, my team, known as the donor relationship managers, will carry all the strategy strategy action. And so if I can succeed three to six months working one-on-one with one of these leaders and then graduate them to a maintenance program where maybe once a month they're doing schmuly time, and the rest of the time the team is supporting them, that opens the door for me to work with the next organization that needs assistance, knowing that I've got a process in place for them to continue succeeding without needing so much of my time. Which is why the question when in the registration form for this podcast was, what are your plans for the year for growth? It spoke to me because I had to stop and say, I'm not looking for exponential growth, and I know why I'm not looking for that. Even though there were times when, oh yeah, let's get as big as we can, as fast as we can. That's that's it's where I'm at, and I learned the hard way that right now that would not be sustainable for my model. Okay.

Pedro: 15:18

I like the Schmuly time. I find that cool. Okay. You know, Schmuly, you you've been in the the game so long, you know, and and thing every coach wrestles with at some point is pricing. And I'm not talking about hard numbers here, okay? But it's how to package their work because our audience basically is other career coaches and people that are looking for coaches. So I see a lot of patterns here through coaches, right? Like the pricing structure, sometimes it's like a self-worth path that they're have some imposter syndrome or something like that fleshing out. So, how do you think about it today? And were there any lessons along the way that shaped how you landed where you are right now?

Shmuly Rothman: 15:59

Certainly. Certainly. I'm I'm super indebted to the coaches who guided me along the way. And the day I was introduced to the dentist's model was the day that things changed for the better. I use the dentist model as an analogy. You sit down in the in the dent in the dentist chair, and the dentist works for 20 minutes. 20 minutes, a half hour, and you walk out with a $10,000 bill. Why? Because he's an expert, he has 30, 40 years of experience, he knows exactly what the problem is. He's got God's hands to get rid of the infection or whatever it might be, and you never have to think about it again. So you go back to the dentist and you say to him, 10 grand for 20 minutes? The guy says, You can sit in the chair all day if you want. I did what I had to. Are you paying for the amount of time you sat in the chair? Or are you paying that this is now resolved? So when when I was introduced to that model, suddenly everything started changing. More more what I want or need to get financially out of my company, it's what's going to get my clients, what's going to track the right clients? What what are how does this have to be structured for them to show up and take it seriously? I remember the day I was in a meeting with a rabbi who he was sold before he called. And when we were doing a no obligation intake call, and he said to me, So how much is the fee? And I said, $5,000 a month. And he leans forward and he says, That's obscene. And I said, now he was my senior and somebody I have tremendous respect for. So I said, I I can see how you I said I can I can see how you would see it that way. He started laughing and he said, Teach me how to do that. So in that in that trade-off, he was expecting some sort of, I don't know, an apology or something. And he did it and I was fine with it. I like that you didn't flinch, right? There's not everyone's op entitled to their opinion. I I was at the mechanic yesterday and I saw a fantastic sign on the wall. It was a picture of a sharp image, and then like a sketch of that image. And underneath it, it said, you can always find it cheaper. It's like that's really I'm not don't bother arguing with me about the price. If you came here because you know there's a solution here for you, then the price is not the issue. If you need to negotiate, that's great. Go to the marketplace and negotiate. You're not negotiating in Walmart, you're not haggling over the price of the tomatoes or the potatoes. You're also not telling them, can I go home and make French fries? And if I like them, I'll pay you for the potatoes.

Pedro: 18:18

Yeah.

Shmuly Rothman: 18:19

So that goes back to the attraction piece. When somebody comes to you because they already know you're the solution, don't don't be don't be outrageous. Don't jack up the price. You got to be God fearing. You have to be a man of values. Know your value. Know what you need to support your family, to run your company, to be a uh a member of society and give back. And if they want to play, great.

Pedro: 18:43

Okay. I mean, that's a solid look in how you approach price infrastructure. I I love I love that. No, but he wants to learn and how to do it, right? So that's the part that I really love.

Shmuly Rothman: 18:53

Now I have a $10,000 package also. And what she is, when they say what's the pricing I sell, it depends on what the workload is. I have a $5,000, you're gonna help me determine where you're at. Right. I've got guys that say, you know what, I think I need to start. Let me do three months on the 10, and then we'll reevaluate. I said, Great, is that what you need? This is what it this is what it does for you, and this is why you might need it. But I learned early on, when somebody says to me, Do you offer any discounts? that's usually an early indication that they're not yet committed to the process. It's not a bad question. It's a fair anybody, you have the right to ask. If that's your first question, then you don't yet understand what coaching's about. Because if you come into the gym and say, Can you get me in and out, make you know, build me a six-pack in two hours? And by the way, can I have a discount on top of it? The coach is like, wrong place, buddy. You ready to sweat for eight weeks? Show up consistently? Let's talk.

Pedro: 19:43

Um now I'm curious about where you're taking all this. You told us here that, well, you're kinda in a sweet spot, right? But I want to understand from your point of view. Like like looking ahead, where do you see the business going? Are you thinking about scaling, hiring, or is there a next step you're excited about?

Shmuly Rothman: 19:59

So I'm The timing on your question is is divine. I mean everything's divine. For me, it's particularly divine because last year I took a big jump to scale and it cost me time, energy, sleep, and large amounts of money. Moved it was a great concept, and I moved too fast. I built out a team before I had demand. It was a huge learning experience, difficult, emotionally difficult, and it messed with my focus. And in August, when I became crystal clear, thanks to my coach and some very good business mentors, that I had to trim down, count my losses, and refocus. So I'm I'm in a bit of a rehabilitation mode in that sense, where my virtual team got trimmed down. We're in the process of optimizing every part of it so that we can then build up properly. As there's demand, add in a team player. So there's a big picture of growing exponentially, and it's a much slower process of how we're going to get there now. Okay.

Pedro: 20:59

And of course, you know, whenever we're aiming toward the next chapter, and I understand you're in the rehab phase. My question is we're always something we're refining, right? In the present. You trim down a team and all of that, probably looking into efficiency. So what are you currently trying to improve or tighten up in your business right now? That's a great question.

Shmuly Rothman: 21:18

And this comes right off a very thought-provoking session with my coach yesterday, which was all about how much clarity do I have about where each of my executive coaching clients need to be in 12 months from now? And it's easy for me to get caught up in the, oh, let's meet today, and then you'll get the executive summary notes, and I'll meet you again next week. And if you know if you don't talk to me in between, I'll probably forget what we talked about. Now, part of my setup is I have offline support, you know, in between meetings. It's it's a package, mostly through WhatsApp, some through email. So there's usually ongoing conversation of sorts, but this discipline of knowing where they need where I want them to be is I I did with my coach, I we did it with two clients yesterday, did it for two clients yesterday, and now I'm working on doing that with the rest of my clients. And it opens minds, it opens my my brain, my heart, it it is my passion to help them get there because it it deals with the questions, okay, it's been 12 months, are they continuing? And I re I'm made to realize that's that's I'm asking the question, are they continuing? I'm missing a key component to my leadership in their success path. So I need to be evoking within them and inspiring them to why, you know, this is the this is the this is what we accomplished and this is where we're going. We built the platform, we climbed to a higher level, we're not done. Not because you need schmole, we're not done because there's so much more for you to bring bring to the world. And so either I'm gonna take you to the next place or I'm gonna introduce you to the person who will. So I fell off a bit on that path, and that's my immediate. That's my okay. I like that. I interestingly watching watching the hand in all of that, within an hour of this conversation yesterday, somebody who hired me just for their year-end campaign said to me in the middle of the meeting, without me bringing it up, they said, So what would this look like to carry this into my annual fundraising and possible capital campaign? So it was as soon as I was opened up to thinking that way, it was brought right there.

Pedro: 23:19

Yeah, I mean the universe works in mysterious ways, right? We're talking about we're giving energy and God or whatever you want to believe in is hearing and things that are happening in the motion. I think that's so interesting, right?

Shmuly Rothman: 23:32

And the more I pay attention to my willingness to go there, the more I see that it comes as soon as I open the door. Sometimes talking about is opening the door, right? Absolutely. The earliest edge, see, you know, when when a farmer, why does a farmer put seeds in the ground? Not because he knows which seed belongs and which piece of earth, because the master of the universe who designed the world to work the way it does, said this seed in the ground will decompose and bring you something much greater. If the coaches or anybody who's looking for business would follow with simple faith what the farmer does, they would never stop reaching out and planting seeds and creating goodness, not needing to know which one is gonna pick up and say, sure, let's get started. Got it.

Pedro: 24:15

That makes perfect sense. I love that analogy. Okay. Yeah. I mean, Schmole, I I I it's not that I want, because I need to tap into your experience for a second, you know, because people listening can really benefit from this. You've been so open, you know, and you've been in the lame the game long enough to hear all kinds of business advice. Some that sticks and some that really doesn't. So, what's one piece of business advice you hear all the time that you think is that's overrated or maybe misunderstood?

Shmuly Rothman: 24:43

Good question. It's a very, very good question. I have a strong allergy to BS. And a lot of today's marketing, pardon me for putting it this way, and that's why it's good that you've got an editor, it plays on the stupidity of human beings. And when you play to the intelligence of human beings, you will attract what you're looking for so much faster and in ways you never could have imagined. And so promises a problem. The only word in my intro that irks me is proven method. Now notice it doesn't say guaranteed results. There is no such thing in this world as guaranteed results. God Almighty, master of the universe, whichever word you're gonna use, higher power, I don't control my wealth. I don't control my earnings. I have to make a darn good vessel. I gotta work, I gotta get up early, work hard, trust that I'm doing the right thing. But anytime I have to bring it, anytime I play God in my marketing, in my language, in my thought process, even if I'm gonna make money, it's easy come, easy go. Stay in my lane, recognize that everything I do is is blessed. Every time I have an opportunity to help somebody with my gift, somebody else could benefit, and they benefit. That's a blessing for me to be part of creation. If it's all about what can you do for me and how much of you can I have, and how much what's in your pocket can I have today because that's what's going to be me fulfillment. First of all, it's not true. No man ever went to bed feeling satisfied because he gained something. You go to bed feeling satisfied when you give something. And and and and the world of greed plays right into that. You need the next round of whatever somebody else has that's more expensive than what you have because I think that's gonna give me fulfillment. And the answer is no, no, no. Put a nickel in the charity box. Give a beer to a homeless guy if he's not an alcoholic. Help somebody cross the street, make a mega gift to some campaign somewhere, and you're gonna you're gonna experience something here that you'll only get when you give. So in the marketing of it, there are plenty of people who jump after the next marketing fat, but stop, pause, and say, what am I really saying? Is that really what I'm saying? Is that my true belief? So for the the I mistakes I made early on, trying to put something out there that looked impressive versus putting something out there that's genuinely me? It's it could be in a world that's throwing marketing muck at us faster than we can blink. And yet, when it's my moment of truth, when it's my voice of truth, then it's going to find its way to the one person who needs it. You can be a coach with one client and never have to think about finances for life. It could be. You don't need a scale to hundreds and thousands. It could be.

Pedro: 27:22

I like that. The allergy to bullshit. I love that. And and the other side, you know, what's a piece of advice you wish more people actually took seriously?

Shmuly Rothman: 27:31

Trust, trust your uh the play on words in the Yiddish language, gut is actually Yiddish for God. So where do you get your intuition? Which part of your body does your intuition come from? Through your gut. So when you ask somebody what's your gut feeling, the way I hear it is, what's the godly feeling being put into you now coming to you through your gut? Ask yourself, what's the right thing here? And when a thought comes to mind, honor it as a God-given thought. Don't take credit for it. It's not yours. But recognize it, honor it, and act on it and watch more good things happen. I mean, there are the amount of times I get asked, hey, Shmoole, what should I say to this donor? And I crack up. I'm thinking, okay, so here you are, Mr. Rabbi, in Northern California or wherever you might be in the world, calling me because I'm a prophet. So I know the answer to your question. What should I say to this donor? How should I respond to this text? I know the answer because I'm a prophet. I get visions. It just no. But the fact that I might have a little more experience and I might be a little more in tune with the emotional intelligence of what's going on, and in the question, I can recognize something, and an idea comes to me. Stop and say, Thank you, God, for giving me this idea in this moment, and then say in a humble way, my thought is to respond like this. And when they come back and say, Well, that was magical. They responded with like 10 times as large as they gave last year. Say, what magical? Oh, you asked the question, you gave me the information, I processed. I didn't actively pray in the moment to say, now, God, give me the right information to share her, but staying, staying open to if it's coming to me, it's because I'm given a power, a gift to respond to that, humbly put it out there.

Pedro: 29:07

I love that. And sometimes it's about also the framing, right? It's like you use your client, he he'd have a good intention, but sometimes he doesn't know how to explore that. And I wouldn't say exploit, it's explore that into a widened way. So people will be touched and understand the true intention and the true meaning of it, and maybe donate even more. So sometimes it's just about finding that fine tune. I'm not sure if I I get that right, but it feels like it.

Shmuly Rothman: 29:36

I'll I'll tell you what I heard. It's a play on words. What's the difference between soul and soil? Soil is S O I L, soul is S-O-U-L. Take out the I, which makes it about me, that's soil. That's dirty. Put in the U, makes it about you, and that's soul. I'm touching your soul. Thing is a relationship. If Mr. Pedro is a wealthy man and he's known to be philanthropic, and I have no idea if you care about my cause. And I call you and say, Pedro, teach me about the things you care about. Teach me about your passions, teach me where you love creating impact. And then in your story, I hear that, oh, you just said something that's connected with one of the causes I raise money for. And I say, Pedro, would you allow me to share a project that I think you might be very excited about? Versus, Pedro, I hear you have a lot of money, and I'm money for a very worthy cause. And I think you should give a big gift to this cause today because that's why God gave you so much money. You're like, no, really. Interesting. Who are you? Who asked you to call me? Who gave me the right to tell me what to do? And yet, when you think about it, so much of the language around fundraising is me as a solicitor telling the donor what I think they should do. Flip it around, take the eye out, put some soul into it. Whose soul, not my soul, touch the soul of the philanthropist. I don't know. And all of a sudden you see, and I did this with a client who he's a Brooklyn boy, and he's got Manhattan energy, so he can tough his way through anything. And after fundraising for 20 years, he and I had a chat, and he's like, you know, Shmooley, I never thought I could take guidance from anybody, let alone you, you're a friend. And in one conversation, he said to me, Shmooley, for 20 years I've hustled. I've managed to cover the bills of the organization, but I hustled. I didn't care about the donors. I cared about how much money they would give so that I could run my organization. And now I'm understanding that there's a whole new life to fundraising. Two years later, he raises with ease, with joy. The donors love it. The donors ask him, what else can we do? Where else can we get involved? Why? Because it's him making room for them to find themselves. And it's gotten at this point, well, yeah, there's a money component, but it has nothing to do with what he feels he needs that's helping them change the world.

Pedro: 31:48

Yeah. I mean, I love that too. I mean, that's so profound in a way. And schmole, someone is listening, wants to connect with you or follow your work. Where can people find you and connect with you?

Shmuly Rothman: 31:58

Energetically, from anywhere in the world. Just just tap into the schmole energy. I'm on LinkedIn, Schmoly Rothman at LinkedIn. I do have a website, RothmanCoaching.com, that has quite a decent amount of free resources that I'm constantly adding, and my contact info is there.

Pedro: 32:15

Okay. I mean, there were a few things you shared today that really stuck with me. Okay. You're being so upfront about the scaling plan that didn't work out, you know, and having to step back. I mean, that's humble. I love the fact that you shared that. So it's obviously that you're not trying to play an act here. You're just been schmulley, you know? And I like that. I love that. So also the the that you had that pricing mentality, you know, no discounts and understand what you're worth. And I love the interaction with the other rabbi. So that's also a point. And uh the allergy to BS and just trust your gut, right? I like that. I mean, you're all about the soul, so you're so authentic, you know. You're not trying to follow a script or trying to do something you're not that doesn't resonate with you. I really like that. And I appreciate what you do, and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today, Schmole. It was great having you on. Great honor and pleasure, Pedro.

Shmuly Rothman: 33:11

Thank you for bringing it out of me.

Davis Nguyen : 33:13

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This podcast was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, or even $100,000 weeks, all without burning out and making sure that you're making the impact and having the life that you want. To learn more about our community and how we can help you, visit join purplecircle.com.