Fuel Referrals & Reviews by Aligning Stakeholder Engagement With Financial Vision: Sonya Corkery

Freddy D: 00:02:21

Hey Superfans superstar Freddy D. Here in this episode 135 we're joined by Sonia Corkery, a seasoned business operations and data management expert who has spent over a decade helping companies streamline their systems and gain clarity in their growth journeys.

With hands on experience building and integrating her family business from the ground up, Sonia brings real life insights and proven strategies to the conversation.

She specializes in helping business owners who are brilliant in their craft, but often struggle with messy operations, scattered data and disconnected systems.

Through practical approaches to data management, reporting and aligning business cultures, Sonia empowers entrepreneurs to simplify, scale and design the businesses and lives they truly want. Get ready for an inspiring and actionable discussion on how to clean up your your business operations and set yourself up for long term success.

Freddy D: 00:03:27

Welcome Sonia to the Business Superfans podcast show. We're super excited to have you here and good morning. It's early morning for you in Brisbane, Australia. We're here.

It's only just 12 o' clock in Arizona time, so afternoon for us, early morning for you.

Sonya Corkery: 00:03:43

Thanks, Freddie. You can see the sun hasn't even come cracked the horizon yet. So yes, it's.

Freddy D: 00:03:48

And then you're a day ahead too.

Sonya Corkery: 00:03:50

We get everything one day ahead. That's the only thing we have ahead.

Freddy D: 00:03:53

Yeah, it's kind of funny. Let's go back to the beginning. What's your story? What's the whole backstory?

Sonya Corkery: 00:03:58

Well, my story is pretty interesting. I came from a very entrepreneurial parent. The two of my parents, one was a serial business owner, loved building things, seeing the success.

But as soon as she reached success, she moved on to the next thing. So I grew up exposed to that, which was amazing. Didn't realise that at the time, what I'd actually been exposed to until I was older.

I fell into a finance career because I was great at sales and I was poached over a large bank in Australia because of my sales capabilities. And through the years working within the finance institution, I actually became the bank manager.

I think by the time I was 23, I was a commercial lender and then I fell into financial planning. And so I excelled with people because I loved people and I loved helping them grow their finances and seeing their outcomes.

And I think I was a few years into my career and my husband came home one day and told me he quit his job and that he was going to own his own business. I think we'd had our middle son for about two weeks, no conversation, just decided to quit his job because he felt he could do it better.

And a few years later he said to me, look, I need you to come into the business full time. I can't do this by myself. So I took a very, very large pay cut from a corporate job to come into a family business.

And that was a trade based business. And essentially over the last nearly two decades we've built that business into quite a successful, multi located business corporation.

And that led me then into a coaching business of my own. So that's where I see myself today. Helping people navigate their own financial wealth creation, utilizing their business as the vehicle.

And we talk a lot about strategy and how to strategize to get not only the business to grow where they want it to be, but also themselves as well, so that they have the freedom to choose. That's where we are in a nutshell. So it's been a journey, Freddie, it's been a journey.

Freddy D: 00:06:02

Wow, what a story. So he believed in himself and he did it.

Sonya Corkery: 00:06:05

He did it. And we have a great working relationship. And I know a lot of people can't be in a relationship and work together.

It is a very interesting dynamic, but we complement each other well and I'm so very grateful that we have that because that's been a key to our success. And I hope that others that are couples can find that too because it's such an amazing thing to have somebody by your side all the time.

Freddy D: 00:06:31

Yeah, my now wife, we started something a few years ago and same thing, we work together and one of the philosophies that I've got is we're both individuals and we have our own perception of things, but we get together for the commonality that we have and then we maximize that commonality and we respect the differences that we have. And that's really the key as you look at what you've bring together and leverage that and the other stuff.

Well, that's them and they're going to be them.

Sonya Corkery: 00:07:01

Yeah. But it's using strengths and having the trust in that person because you trust them in your life, you trust them in your business.

And when things are challenging, I think we always reach out to the closest person and it's so great to be able to shoulder those challenges together because I understand you're both working towards the same goal. You both want success in your own personal life and in your business.

And it's hard to find sometimes people at the very top that can shoulder that with you. And yeah, what an opportunity to be able to spend time together.

Right, Freddie, you go home, they're there, you come to work and then so you gotta love each other.

Freddy D: 00:07:39

But it's important too, because when you have a tough day, you've got the teammate that comes in and says, okay, it was a crappy day, but you know what, we're together, we'll punch through it. And that's what gives you the energy to just get back up.

Sonya Corkery: 00:07:53

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:07:54

So it's very important. So before we started recording Sonia, you talked about being poached from a company. Let's go into that story.

What happened there and why were you poached? More importantly, you shared it before. So I'm bringing it back up.

Sonya Corkery: 00:08:08

I was working in sales. I was fresh out of school. I tried university college for about six months and I was into psychology, and that was not for me. I'm a very facts person.

I like numbers. And it just wasn't for me. So I fell into just a job in retail sales working for a very large retailer in Australia.

And I had somebody come in and that I was looking after. And she just said to me, gee, you're just great. You're great at what you do. And I said, oh, thank you.

I really just want you to have what it is that you came in for. I just want to learn what you need and find the product that suits you best. At the end of the day, that's what I'm here for.

And she said, look, I'd really like you to come over and have an interview to work with us. Initially it was a very small. Well, I look back now, it probably wasn't that small.

It was a company that was a financier that was worldwide, that's known for other like medical goods, but branched into finance and loans. And she said to me, look, what I can actually offer you is a Monday to Friday job.

Because retailer, you don't usually get days off on the weekend and you certainly don't get two days off together. She said, but what you have is a skill set that I can't teach.

I need somebody who has the ability to connect with people because what we need to do is exactly what you're doing here. But in for finance, I can teach you the finance. And I said, okay, no problem.

So I went over to there and I was there for probably about three years writing loans for people. And then a job came up for a large bank in Australia, one of the big four, as we call them here.

And essentially I had an interview and they put me not even into a base level role.

They put me into a branch manager training role, essentially where I learned every job Underneath a branch manager job within this training program over a 12 month period and then essentially was escalated from there quite quickly. So I didn't even come in at an entry level role because of my previous experience and all that came.

I attribute all of that to the sales and just my ability to talk and connect with people. And we talked about this before, Freddie. My family background is Italian on my dad's side. And so one thing we got well is the ability to talk.

And I just connect that right with the ability to try to listen and understand people and help them on the pathway to what they need. It's not pushing a product if you're just listening and you're connecting the dots.

That skillset has served me everywhere in my life from working with people, now connecting with my kids. It's the ability to listen and understand.

Freddy D: 00:10:46

And one of the things that I think you had mentioned before we started recording was all the fact that you weren't really looking for those opportunities and, and you probably would have stayed at the second one that pulled you in had they spent time recognizing and appreciating what you were doing.

Sonya Corkery: 00:11:01

I loved being successful in my own right, but when I wasn't being recognized for that, because I need the pat on the head, I'm that person. I just need you to say good job. I don't need you to give me a huge bonus. Although that was always nice, I won't say no to that.

But I just needed that recognition. And what I found in big corporations here in Australia anyway is because they get so large, they lose the connection with people.

And so when the recognition doesn't happen to the frontline people on the ground that are actually bringing in the millions and millions of dollars, billions of dollars to those corporations, people lose interest because they're not having recognition for the work that they're doing. And as we talked before, those frontline people, those corporations don't work, there's nobody there doing the work.

And if you're not recognizing that and rewarding that in the way that suits the person, because everybody's different and everybody has different needs, then they leave because they're just like, well, I'm not feeling it, so I'm out. And the guys coming through now, the younger generation are just so much better at recognizing that early.

Like we were there a few years right before we were like, okay, now I'm really done. These guys, like within six months, if they're not seeing the mutual recognition there, they just leave. And that's what's happening.

Freddy D: 00:12:18

Sure.

Like I Mentioned before we recorded my quote in my book Creating Business Superfans, people will walk through broken glass for appreciation and recognition. And my other quote is the little things are really the big things.

And that little thing of recognizing somebody and saying, hey Sonia, I really appreciate that extra effort on that project or congratulations on that deal. More importantly, hey everybody, I want to take a moment to recognize Sonia for this particular project. She did.

She knocked it out of the ballpark for us. It's one thing if I tell it to you personally, do you feel great? It's another thing if I edify you in front of everybody else.

Because it does two things. It makes you feel like a rock star, but more importantly, gets everybody else goes, wow, they really care. I want to be that person.

And everybody levels up a level.

Sonya Corkery: 00:13:05

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And everyone, it's like a love language, right? Everybody has the way that they need to receive that recognition.

And so some love, love to be taken up in front of people and outwardly announced that they've done this amazing thing. Some people are monetary, some people need extra time with their families.

Some people would appreciate just being able to have a bit of flexibility from working from home. So everybody has their own language as far as appreciation, I think as well.

And when you even onboard that person, it's asking the right questions to gain understanding about how they work and what they need.

From the beginning, it's like, do you need somebody to check in a lot with you in the beginning or do you just want me to give it to you and you run with it and you come to me if you have a question, how do you want to be even trained? Some people can be over managed. They don't like that, so they leave. Some people can't get enough attention, so then they leave. And so it's a journey.

But I think it starts from the very first day of inception of when somebody starts in a business, in a team, they need to feel welcomed in that team, know where their place is in that team, who they can ask for support. And I think communication is paramount in every situation with your team as you're building, especially if you're not always together.

How do you communicate in a way that's efficient and meaningful? Yeah, it's.

Freddy D: 00:14:33

Well, one of the things is you've got to find out how that person also likes to communicate. I remember I had a customer for 10 years, I had a little digital marketing business for a while and he was an email guy.

So you'd send him a text message, nothing. You'd send him A voicemail, nothing. You send him an email, he'd come back, I'm on a tarmac about to fly off someplace.

And you get a response that way. So a lot of times people don't take the time, especially in sales, to what's your preferred method of communication? Because we all have ours.

So let's go into what is it that you do with businesses. Let's go deeper into that area. You mentioned that you help people kind of get their finances in the business aspect and how they leverage it.

But let's go further into that.

Sonya Corkery: 00:15:18

What we always start with when, because 90% of the people who come to me are via referral. So I don't usually actively seek out a lot of clients because people inter refer to me, which is amazing.

And the process can take quite a lot in the beginning. Because what I'm trying to understand is what do you want to achieve in your life? Because you got into this amazing thing called business.

You have this great vehicle that we have the ability to scale and grow, but what is it that you want? And so many people can't articulate what it is that they actually are working for.

So if I say, close your eyes and tell me what you visualize your future looking like, what is that you want? And they can say, I want to have an international holiday every five years with my entire family.

I'd love to live in a beautiful home in the Gold coast hinterland. I would love to have multiple properties overseas. I would like to drive a Maserati. I would like to caravan around Australia with my family, whatever.

I need to have you visualize it. And then ask yourself, is that really what I want or is that what I feel society wants me to want? Have you ever wanted a Maserati before?

Is it like something you thought about growing up as a kid? That's always been a goal. Or do you just want that now because you think that's what you should want?

And so once we articulate exactly what they want out of life or what they're working towards, we essentially set those goals.

We look at where they are currently and how long in timeframe we need to get to those goals and we give them budgets and we say, okay, well, if you had to live on the bare minimum, what would that cost every year? What would it cost if you had a really great lifestyle? And then kind of, what is ridiculous money?

What is the next level lifestyle you could be living? And what I essentially do is help them reverse engineer through the time and the amount of money that they need.

To get those things, basically their KPIs and budgets that the business needs to make to get them where they need to go. So we use that twofold. We strategize in the business to make sure the business is successful and growing in all aspects.

But then we don't want to leave this piece out about them because ultimately, that's what we're working for, is the lifestyle that we choose.

If we're not getting the end result as the owner, if we're not getting the success at the end and having the ability to have a choice, do we sell this business in a decade's time and live the life, or do we have the life and have the business? What is it? And if we're not doing that, we're kind of rowing a boat with one oar in a direction. We have no idea where we're going.

We love business and it's addictive. We love growing this amazing thing and we're being a part of it, but what are we doing it for?

We're shorting ourselves if we don't give our own achievements in life to come into fruition. Those visions need to come to life.

Freddy D: 00:18:06

Oh, absolutely. I use the example of, if you got a business, you need to get everybody in the racing robo. And more importantly, everybody has just one whore.

You got to get everybody to understand what the mission is, and then more importantly, get them in synchronization so the boat actually goes forward. Because just like you said a minute ago, otherwise, if everybody's combobulated, that boat's not even going in a circle.

It's just going like this because everybody's trying all over the place. So what you're doing is not only helping them look at the lifestyle that they're looking to have, and what's it going to take to get that lifestyle.

And so, in turn, you got to get everybody in the business going in the right direction so that that lifestyle can be achieved and the money outcome can be achieved.

Sonya Corkery: 00:18:51

Absolutely.

And that's why it takes so much in the beginning, because we've got to look at it not just from one aspect, from both, and say, okay, well, having a business is amazing. One of the best things about business is you have the ability to pay all your expenses and only pay tax on the profit at the end. Right.

Which is great, as opposed to working in a normal employment.

So, you know what, if there's ways that you can expense money out of your business to help build that lifestyle in another entity or some other structure outside, then it becomes really high level.

When working with the specialist doing the taxation provisions, we're looking at the strategy provisions from the business aspect and this outside wealth creation vehicle, whatever that might look like. Are they interested in things like shares? Are they interested in crypto bullion? Other companies, what are we building here?

And it can go from something that they've never even thought of to this amazing map out of what they want that to look like.

And once we set those steps in place and everybody's rowing in the right direction with their oars in both sides, it can create the most amazing thing. And people always say to me, oh, God, I wish I'd done this earlier.

I wish I'd knew this 10 years ago or started this 10 years ago, because it levels them up as entrepreneurs and business owners and just propels them forward. Because now they're working with this ferocity because they're like, I've got to get this. This has to happen. There is no other for me.

And so it's amazing to see that just enrichment in their life because they're really pushing hard to get there.

Freddy D: 00:20:25

Yeah.

And what you've also done is you transform them from having what I call a glorified job, which is, I'm a business guy, but rats, I'm doing all the work or I've got a team, but yet I'm making sure that they're all doing some micromanaging, making sure that they're doing their jobs and everything else. And so I'm still working in the weeds.

You're helping them create the vision and then start working on the business and getting out of the weeds and really empowering their team, which is something that takes training because most people, they can't do it as good as me. One of the things I've Learned is that 80% as good as me is 100% me not doing it.

Sonya Corkery: 00:21:07

Yeah, absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:21:09

So I'm okay with that. I may work with them to tweak it, but that doesn't matter. I didn't have to do it, I can do something else. So you're absolutely right.

You mentioned you get a lot of referrals. So share us a story of how you transform somebody's business.

In turn, they became a superfan, which is how you're getting all these warm leads, which are most likely probably introductions, not even referrals, because the whole process has collapsed. Because referral is one thing, an introduction is the thing.

Sonya Corkery: 00:21:38

Yeah, I do get a lot of three way emails, introductions, and that's usually how the conversations start. I've Got a company that was just referred to me recently. The gentleman is based, we were just talking about the Northern Territory in Australia.

It's a very kind of remote location. This gentleman's growing this business from nothing and he's turning over between 40 and 80 million dollars a year.

And he takes about $150,000 year wage and pays an exceptional amount of tax. And he basically said, I have nothing outside of this business, I've not created anything.

And I'm worried because I've got all of my assets in my business. And obviously now he understands that's quite risky.

And we basically are now working towards putting him in a position where he's actually having something for himself and his family at the end of it. Because before he'd created this amazing business, but the risk level is extremely high to potentially lose that and everything in it.

So that one was just referred to me quite recently. So that's going to be an absolute game changer for that gentleman.

Because when you're grossing $40 million a year and you're netting 2 and you're taking $150,000 a year wage, it's like 40 million to get 150 grand. Why are you doing that to yourself?

Freddy D: 00:22:59

Something's wrong with that math.

Sonya Corkery: 00:23:00

Something's wrong with the math is not mathing. But another example I have is came into a window tinting shop here in Brisbane and sat down with the gentleman that was running it.

And he'd never even envisioned anything for himself before. So we literally made a vision board. We had himself and his partner and I said, just start with three goals, let's just start with three things.

And he started with three basic things that he wanted. He wanted a home for himself because he never owned a home before and he was in his 30s, a dog and a car. Okay, so we're really simple.

Let's get started on the small things. Within 18 months, I had every single one of those things for him and also had done a full annual strategy session with his whole business team.

And we had basically set KPIs to multi location his business.

Basically let's just sort of almost franchise it, but not in that fact, but let's just keep duplicating and replicating the same amazing thing that you've created. And now he's on track to have multiple locations.

He's achieved all of those things and now we're resetting and going again because once he saw that that was possible to achieve those things and in such a short time frame to go from absolutely no Savings to now investing into multiple different things and having everything that you've set out to achieve. As you said, that enrichment, that feeling of fulfillment from achieving that thing is now driving him to the next level.

g and the car he wanted was a: 1966

It was a classic vehicle that you don't just come across, you had to be sought out and it had to be a particular everything. And the dog, he'd never wanted to invest that kind of money into that kind of pedigree, upper level pet before, but he really wanted one.

And so it was about generating the income in the business to create the money to have those things. The house, same sort of thing.

Didn't really know and understand how to go the pathway, but we went through that and I showed him the pathways for that and it's just a different life. And now he connects me with everyone. He's like, I want more of your cards.

Freddy D: 00:25:12

Yeah, he's your super fan.

Sonya Corkery: 00:25:13

I just bring me more cards to. I want to connect you with people. And it's so great.

If I'm in his business, he will literally walk me to the foyer and connect me with his own clients that come in that are business owners. And I love that because he's like, this is my guru upstairs. I only listen to her. This is the lady you need to talk to.

It's interesting to be able to be that for people because I just say, look, I'm here anytime you need me. If it's not now, it might be in six months.

But every day that you don't look at doing something for yourself is one day that you're missing out on having everything you could have ever wanted. It's on the other side of that decision. It's just to move forward.

Freddy D: 00:25:50

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:25:51

One of the things is that when you're creating those super fans, they're loyal and that's your marketing machine and you're not spending any marketing dollars. More importantly, when you're getting that introduction, they're already sold. They're just saying, john says, I need to talk to you.

Let's make it happen. The sale's done already. Just basically working out the mechanics.

One of my fastest sales, I joke about it, I say it many times, but I want to reemphasize it for listeners is I sold $60,000 worth of computer stuff back in the early 90s. And it was 30 minutes, the whole process was. We drove to the company's shop. And we brought our computer stuff to show a demo.

He goes, I don't need to see it. Jack said, I need to buy this. What's it going to cost me? How fast can you get it here? So the 30 minutes was putting together the order.

I had a Mac with me putting in the order, using his fax machine to print it out, and then using his fax machine to send the order back to corporate. That was it done. And then he took us out to lunch and bought.

Sonya Corkery: 00:26:51

And that's the thing is he had already seen the success achieved in somebody else. So he knew it works. It's like the rest is irrelevant. I know it works. I'm in a business. I know I need this.

And I'm going to take the word of this other trusted person that I know and they're achieving it already. Life is short. We need to achieve the things that we want in the time that we have. And who knows how long that is.

So anytime we take a pause, it's stopping our potential from moving forward. And so some people recognize that really quickly and move really quickly. Some people need a little bit more time to feel comfortable.

But ultimately the choice is theirs. They can either take that direction and move or not.

And so the people who do are usually the people who are the most grateful because they did the thing. They made the choice.

Freddy D: 00:27:37

They made the choice.

And more importantly, they've created a group that believes in them and that creates that energy that propels them because now they feel better about themselves. They've created super fans or they're brand advocates. But I coined the term business super fans because it's a cooler.

And those business super fans are your sales force and they're happy to do it. You think of sports team, they use this example a lot. You've got the fans that got their faces painted. They got the jerseys, they got the banners.

They're die hard fans for that sports team. Well, bottom line is they're promoting the team everywhere.

Sonya Corkery: 00:28:15

Yep.

Freddy D: 00:28:15

Because they're wearing the gear everywhere.

And that's where I kind of came up with the idea is why can't businesses transform all their stakeholders, everybody in the equation, into super fans, AKA sports super fans. But I've turned it into business super fans and promoting the team. Imagine what would happen to your business. It would explode.

Sonya Corkery: 00:28:34

Absolutely, yes.

And it's like people always second guess when somebody works for a corporation and they talk about it in that way because they're like, you're getting paid. But if a client or a User of a product is advocating and promoting everything off their own back. And there's no monetary exchange.

It's just because they believe in it or they believe in the person or the service. That's different. Because there's no monetary gain for them. They're doing it because they're just so excited about this amazing thing that they found.

They want to share it with everybody. And so I feel people are so much more open to take that in. And I think you've just hit it right on the head.

If every business has the ability to change that about their business and have people actively promote, you could see it explode overnight. It would just become a different beast.

Freddy D: 00:29:24

It would be completely different beast. And it begins with the leadership and sends to the team. And the team is the people taking the phone call.

So if I'm energizing and I love the company I'm working at, my tonality is going to come across.

Sonya Corkery: 00:29:37

Yes.

Freddy D: 00:29:38

If I'm there just because I'm collecting a paycheck, because I need the money, my tonality is going to come across just as well, but not necessarily be an inviting one because I'm just there for paycheck and I feel underappreciated. And as your example, you left.

Sonya Corkery: 00:29:54

Yeah.

Freddy D: 00:29:54

People look at contractors as well. They're just a contractor. Yeah. But that's your front line doing the job. Wherever they're at. Change the mindset. That's your front line.

They should be super excited to be working with your company.

Sonya Corkery: 00:30:10

Yeah, absolutely. And I was having a conversation with one of our team here yesterday. And so I like to take the time to talk to them.

And every time he's in the office, I go and I buy him a coffee. I know what he has. And he's just the little things.

We spend some time, we talk about what's happening in his life and his family and when we reward him in a way that we know he would appreciate. So, like the other day, we bought him a Lady Fortuna silver bar because he is in tabooing.

And the Lady Fortuna is seen as something that it's embossed on the bar and it protects your wealth and basically helps you grow your wealth. And he's very spiritually connected and he believes in that as well. So we bought that specifically for him because we knew he would appreciate it.

And his face absolutely lit up. It's like this $56 thing. It's not even an expensive thing, but to him it meant so much more because we'd taken the time to understand.

Freddy D: 00:31:07

Right back to what I just said earlier, the little thing are really the big things. That's a little thing you got for you guys. It's a little bit like you just mentioned, wasn't that expensive. But to that individual, that was huge.

And that for them, they went like, wow, people get me and they care. Complete game changer. And it's not a lot of money. It's just the forethought of doing the unexpected extra.

In my book, what you did is an unexpected extra. That was really a little thing, but to that person, changed their whole dynamics.

Sonya Corkery: 00:31:38

Absolutely. And I tell you what, if Silver keeps going up the way it's going, he'll be very happy, man, in a few months anyway. But that's so true.

It's wanting to take the totem. I think it's not just trying to do it out of obligation because people feel that energetically.

And I think you really need to want to know your people and engage with them in such a way that is fulfilling for you, but fulfilling for them as well. And I know to some people that is a challenge and that's a learned skill set that they need to learn.

But oh, my goodness, it is just the most amazing thing once you can master it, to be able to do.

Freddy D: 00:32:16

That, you're doing that with helping your customers, helping them create their vision for themselves. And then what are the steps that they need to do to get their team, in a sense, help fulfill that vision?

Because you can have the dreams, but you got to do the work to get there. And if you got a team member, you got to get them. Now, they may not be happy that he wants to buy the Maserati or stuff like that.

So you got to package that appropriately. The goal and the growth of the company. Everybody needs to be on that mission.

Sonya Corkery: 00:32:47

Absolutely.

And I think if people want to be a part of something, they want to be a part of something that can grow, that they could have their little piece of saying, I created that, and getting, as you said, the recognition for that. But also in such a way that gives them flexibility in their life.

What we saw out of COVID some of the great things we saw out of COVID were the ability to communicate openly in ways like this. You can be on the other side of the world and be running a business so you can work remotely.

So we're giving people the ability to have more flexibility to be at home when the times they need to be home. But still, they're so grateful for that. They'll still be productive and put in in their job.

And achieve what they need to in a way that gives them both sides of the coin. So if we can do that in the job, let's do it. Why do we need to be stuck in the idea that you must be in an office to be productive?

Freddy D: 00:33:38

My wife is in the other room. She's working. She's been working for the company now for past seven years. She's one of the top salespeople. They sell hearing aids.

She's selling hearing aids over the telephone?

Sonya Corkery: 00:33:50

Yeah. Wow.

Freddy D: 00:33:50

Video over the phone. She's one of the top people in the company. But the company does cool things. They win prizes.

Our whole trip in Hawaii, because we stayed there for a week. When we got married, we were an Airbnb that was paid for by her company because she won. She had choices of what we wanted, so we knew what we wanted.

So we said, yeah, we'll take the Airbnbs 500 Airbnb, another 500 Airbnb. We'll collect those babies. But they were doing that kind of stuff.

And then they fly them in every year down into Florida and they have a whole corporate meeting and bring the team together. So everybody's physically together and creates that energy, and then everybody knows who they are.

And then everybody goes back to remote and they're north of 100 million and still climbing.

Sonya Corkery: 00:34:33

Yep. And that's because they found a framework that works, that suits everybody, and they recognize the people that are doing the most amazing things.

To sell over the phone is a skill set that not many people have mastered. And with the way technology has changed, like, to be able to do that is amazing. So I commend her very highly.

The companies obviously found a formula and a framework that works. Sounds really familiar to the one.

The very first one that I worked in, the finance one, that poached me from the retail, they had this thing called spirit points. And when I was getting married, I had worked so hard that they'd paid for my wedding ring, they'd paid for the cruise, which was our honeymoon.

Like, all of that came through the working recognition that I had done, and we didn't have to contribute a cent. That was all paid for. And so at every stage in my life, I was like, we're leveling up.

I'm working towards this now and just resetting those goals so that I always was moving forward no matter what. And to have two people, especially, that are very much the same minded, to make sure that they're both achieving.

You got two people propelling that relationship, that family forward, and so you upskilling your job roles, upskilling your skillset in those roles, learning.

I couldn't do what I'm doing now if I wasn't in finance and I couldn't have done that without sales and I couldn't have done that without being in an entrepreneurial family. I was just sucking and absorbing as much as I could along the way. And all of the people working in these huge organizations want the same.

They just want to have something to be driving them and working towards, but it's got to be their thing, whatever relates to them personally. And once you crack the code, it's so amazing.

Freddy D: 00:36:20

Yeah. And that's what you're doing with your business, is you're really helping these owners of these companies basically crack the code, unlike the code.

By the way, you're the code cracker.

Sonya Corkery: 00:36:31

Yeah. Sonja Corkery, code cracker. But it's. Anybody could do it if they just took the time.

But the difference is I can bring the skill set, I suppose, from the finance aspect and the business aspect. We've been doing this for over nearly two decades now and I'd like to think that we've got the ability to incorporate both.

In Australia, 85% of businesses fell within the first three years.

When you're lasting decades, I think that speaks volumes because we need businesses in this country in all countries, small to medium enterprise, especially paid bulk of the taxes in these countries. We need them to be successful for, even for the country as well as the people in them.

Freddy D: 00:37:12

Absolutely. So as we get closer to the end here, Sonia, how can people find you?

Sonya Corkery: 00:37:16

I'm across all of the socials at Clearplan Consulting. You can find me on my website, which is www.clearplanconsulting.com. we're here in Oz, but I talk to people all around the world.

I help people all around the world. We're not exclusive to Australia, so I'd love to talk to you if you have any questions.

You've got the ability to have a free consult with me for 20 minutes and we can see how we can help you.

Freddy D: 00:37:40

I will make sure that's in the show notes for our listeners and thank you so much for your time today. You and I could probably talk on this stuff for hours.

Sonya Corkery: 00:37:50

Yes, yes. I really appreciate it and it's so lovely. Thank you so much for having me on.

But I really applaud you for all your successes and as you said, superfans, it's the core of everything in business and I think it's amazing what you're.

Freddy D: 00:38:03

Doing well, thank you much and we'd love to have you on the show down the road so we can continue the conversation.

Sonya Corkery: 00:38:10

Absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:38:11

All right. Thank you, Sonia.

Freddy D: 00:38:14

What a powerful conversation.

This episode ties directly to the R Rally pillar fuel referrals and reviews, systematizing word of mouth marketing to boost credibility and growth without relying on paid ads. Sonja showed us how creating genuine connections and delivering value sparks the kind of stories people want to share. Here's your challenge.

Pick one place in your business where you can make it easier for customers to leave a review or share a referral and implement it this week. When you do, you'll see momentum build as your reputation spreads, your pipeline fills and your superfans do the selling for you.

And remember, one action, one stakeholder, one superfan closer. Until next time, keep building your business. Superfans, thank you for listening. And know this, when you do, freedom follows.

Hey, one more thing before we sign off. What if your employees, your customers and even your partners became your biggest advocates?

Imagine referrals flowing in, clients staying loyal, and a business that scales sustainably, not forcefully. That's what we're building inside the Superfans Growth hub.

The community for service based business owners who want proven strategies, my Superfans framework and a supportive network to accelerate results.

So if you're ready to outpace your competition and build a business powered by superfans, join us today@superfansgrowthub.com Once again, that's superfansgrowthub.com and I'll see you on the inside. We hope you took away some useful knowledge from today's episode of the Business Super Fans Podcast. The path to success relies on taking action.

So go over to businesssuperfans.com and get your hands on the book. If you haven't already, join the accelerator community and take that first step in generating team of passionate supporters for your business.

Join us on the next episode as we continue guiding you on your journey to achieve flourishing success in business.