Sell By Being Human

Can you really learn to sell by watching a course, memorizing a script, or practicing with an AI bot? Alex Moses says no, not if you want the skill to stick.

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Alex Moses, CEO of Gravity Learning and one of the first employees at Udemy. Alex shares his journey from scaling a learning marketplace to founding a company built on a contrarian idea: that effective learning isn’t easy, fun, or asynchronous. It’s interactive, challenging, and deeply human.

Drawing on his...

The clock is ticking. You have 30 seconds before someone decides you're not worth their time but there are people you can't stop paying attention to. Every time they post, you read it. When they speak, you listen. When they reach out, you reply. You don't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way, they became impossible to ignore.

They didn't get there by shouting louder or posting more. They got there by being unmistakably themselves.

Alexis Rivera Scott is one of those people.

She's the head of Scott Consulting, founder of...

How do you become the kind of person people trust enough to refer? How much does your reputation influence a sale before you ever have the chance to make your pitch? And in a world where AI can create the perfect sales message, what makes people trust the person behind it?

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, Alex Smith sits down with Stephen Uman, a sales leader, coach, and speaker with more than 25 years of experience at companies including Microsoft, Outreach, and Accenture. Stephen's TEDx Talk on the 5 C's of referability has reached more than 300,000...

What if the biggest leadership advantage isn't experience, strategy, or authority—but your ability to genuinely connect with people?

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Wayne Barrington, founder and CEO of The Jaro Group, executive coach, leadership consultant, and former Boeing executive who transformed one of the company's lowest-performing teams into one of its highest-rated.

Wayne shares the leadership lessons that came from navigating organizational change inside Boeing, why most transformation efforts fail, and how influence always outperforms authority. Through stories from the boardroom, the mountains of Ki...

Do what is hard, and your life will be easy. Do what is easy, and your life will be hard. It's a simple idea, but for Josh Mastel, it became the philosophy that transformed every part of his life.

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Josh Mastel, co-owner of Innovien Solutions, a tech solutions and staffing firm serving onshore and nearshore talent that's approaching $100 million in ARR and has landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for six years running.

Josh's story starts a long...

What if the biggest obstacle standing between you and success isn't a lack of skill, talent, or opportunity but a story you've been telling yourself for years?

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, Alex Smith sits down with Coach Monique DeMonaco, founder of EQ Wize, emotional intelligence expert, executive coach, and author of Most People Don't Need a Therapist, They Just Need Change. With more than two decades of experience helping leaders, teams, and individuals develop emotional intelligence, Monique has built a career around one powerful idea: awareness changes everything.

But her journey...

Could the most powerful sales skill have nothing to do with persuasion and everything to do with seeing someone's potential before they can see it themselves?

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, Alex Smith sits down with Maximos Lih, a former Google recruiter, Google Ventures coach, and founder of Emboldened LLC. Maximos has helped scale everything from early-stage startups (including Uber in its 50-person days) to top executives navigating high-stakes change. But his most powerful lessons in connection didn't come from Silicon Valley. They came from his grandfather, a general in the Chinese army who...

In sales, they always say: stay professional and never rock the boat, right? But think about it. Who do buyers actually remember? The professional who checks all the boxes or the real human with smiles, energy, and personality?

In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with April Palmer, Account Executive at Duckbill, adjunct professor at VCU, and self-described "hot mess boss," to explore why showing up as your authentic self is not just good for your soul, it is good for sales.

April's path started in unexpected places. From...

When was the last time a salesperson helped you make a truly confident decision? In this episode of the Sell by Being Human podcast, Alex Smith sits down with Mark Kosoglow, Chief Revenue Officer at Deutsche Bank and former CRO at Catalyst Software, to talk about what selling actually looks like when you strip away the scripts. From selling shoes as a teenager to helping scale Outreach to $250M, Mark’s journey is anything but typical, but his core idea has stayed the same: great salespeople help others make confident decisions.

They get into what that looks li...

Did you know the idea of closing might be the single worst thing to ever happen to sales? In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Steve Heroux, founder of The Sales Collective, author of The Sales Contrarian, and former #1 Cutco salesperson in the country, to dismantle everything you thought you knew about selling.

Steve’s journey started exactly where you might expect. He was a quiet kid who didn’t speak for the first 17 years of his life, needed to buy $1,600 worth of textbooks, and took the only job that woul...

What if I told you you’re struggling in sales because you’ve been approaching it the wrong way? In this episode of the Sell by Being Human podcast, Alex Smith sits down with sales coach and entrepreneur Natasha Hemmingway to flip the script on everything you think you know about selling. Her message is simple but powerful. Sales is serving. And hustle? It might actually be pushing your dream clients away.

Natasha shares how growing up with a servant leader mom shaped her philosophy of heart over hustle, and why mindset, not strategy, is usually what hold...

Summary:

Today I bring on executive communications coach Amos Balongo, who shares insights on the importance of human connection in sales. I'm always interested when people come from completely different cultures to sell themselves and what they do. They are corced to learn how to see people as individuals and Amos will share how to do that in your own life. It seems unlikely that a boy from Africa that knew no English could go on to being a successful keynote speaker and executive consultant but Amos will explain how he used sales and human connection to...

Summary:

This episode I speak with Mark McDougall, a web designer and developer, about the importance of human connection in sales as a product designer. In Mark's line of work. he has to connect to business owners, marketers, and entrepeneurs on ways to make their websites more effective.

Notice I didn't say, he has to tell people their baby looks ugly?

We talk about how empathy and understanding client needs are crucial for successful selling, especially for solopreneurs. He shares tips on how he consults with people to understand their motivations for their...

Summary:

I'm kicking off 2026 with a conversation with Rick DeLisi, a thought leader in customer service and AI. Rick co-authored "Digital Customer Service: Transforming Customer Experience for An On-Screen World and is a leading researcher on providing world class customer experiences.

If you have ever had to contact any company for a customer service issue - you know what it feels like to get poor customer service versus good customer service. The problem is that most if not all of those companies you've worked with will call themselves "customer centric". This conversation explores what it...

Summary:

What can you learn about sales and connections from a guy on a mission to connect housands of people via cocktail parties?

Today I bring on Eric Melchor, a channel manager at Honeywell, and a Texan at heart living in Bucharest. Those two things may not go together but Eric followed his wife to Europe and he's connected hundreds of people over conversations at local cocktail parties.

We explore the significance of human connection in sales, the power of storytelling, and the importance of authenticity in building trust. Eric shares his unique...

Summary:

Today we bring on Jen Mueller, a seasoned sports broadcaster and communication expert.

Jen Mueller is a business communication expert and the founder of Talk Sporty to Me, where she helps companies level up their communication skills with actionable strategies inspired by her 25-year career as a sports broadcaster.

An Emmy-award-winning producer, Jen is in her 16th season as the Seattle Seahawks sideline radio reporter and has spent 18 years with the Seattle Mariners on ROOT SPORTS. She’s known for building strong relationships, delivering meaningful content in short bursts, and expertly handling po...

Summary:

Today I speak to Jared Cook, a seasoned expert in customer success and sales. Jared has most recently been a SR VP of Customer Experience at Docebo and has held senior roles in Customer Success at companies like Domo and Adobe. He is the founder of Crush Churn Consulting where he helps companies reduce churn by 30%.

Our conversation explores the importance of human connection in sales, the role of customer success in driving retention, and the need for genuine relationships with customers.

Jared shares insights from his childhood about sales, emphasizing the...

Summary:

Today I bring on Kevin Yates, known as the L&D Detective, to explore the intersection of authenticity, resilience, and effective learning and development practices. I knew that I needed to talk to Kevin after seeing him present at our conference. He was able to connect with the crowd in a unique way with his engaging talk and also shared inisghts of how he sold big ideas in previous roles by focusing on business performance and human performance.

Kevin shares insights on how to he sells by being human as a speaker, emphasizing the...

Summary:

Today I sit down with Dr. Miriam Kirmayer, a renowned expert on friendship and human connection, to discuss the importance of building meaningful relationships in the workplace and how we underestimate principles of friendship. As she likes to say, "We overestimate the amount of both energy and discomfort that can come from reaching out, initiating plans, And we underestimate the amount of pleasure, joy, meaning, and impact that can come from both deep conversations and also frankly, casual moments of chit chat, whether that's with strangers or a quick reconnect with an old or long lost...

Summary:

Today's episode is with Stephen Steers, a sales consultant, keynote speaker and author. We explore the art of storytelling in sales. Not how to tell your story but how to help people tell a better version of their own story. When you can help someone better understand themselves and through your interaction you better understand them., that's where magic happens.

Stephen has come through the ranks of sales as a business development rep an account executive, and now owns his own sales consultancy business around how to tell effective stories as part of a...

Summary:

Alot of people reach out to me to inquire about being a guest but this one stood out amongst almost 150 episodes. Dre Baldwin was the first to make me a personalized video and it landed with me.

Dre Baldwin is a former professional athlete turned entrepreneur and performance coach. Dre shares his unique framework for success, emphasizing the importance of discipline, mental toughness, and authentic communication in both personal and professional settings. He discusses his transition from basketball to business, the significance of understanding one's audience, and the common pitfalls that many face in...

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Have you ever wondered if or how human connection happens in the military? For someone that's never been in the military like myself, I've often thought the military is about a chain of command and an order structure. That's it. You follow orders or else. Human connection and order seem to be opposing forces. But today's guest says that's not always the case. People get sold on staying or leaving the military by the people they report to.

Today I interviewed Enrique Acosta Gonzalez, a leadership expert and former Navy veteran. We discuss the...

Summary:

Have you ever wondered what the best people do to build high quality business relationships? Today I talk to a guy that devoted seven years of his lif studying just that. And the insights he's gained from asking exdecutives one simple question.

"Can you think of the best person you've ever worked with from a vendor/partner perspective and what made the so great?"

Today, Dr. Ryan O'Sullivan comes on the podcast. He's originally from Brittain but lives in Spain. His work you can find in the book, "Building B2B Relationships"...

Summary:

We've got a force of nature on the program today. She is a 16 year professional athelete. One of only 270 women in history to wear the jersey of the US Womens National Team. She was the first woman in Washingto Spirit history to have her jersey retired.

Joanna Lohman played at the pinnacle of her sport and now owns stages where she speaks on leadership, performance, courage and resilience.

We speak. Joanna shares her journey from sports to business, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, storytelling, and teamwork. Joanna has a unique perspective on...

Summary:

In this episode, I chat with Francie Jain, founder of Terrawatt, to explore the intersection of sales, human connection, and entrepreneurship.

Francie shares her journey from the hedge fund industry to founding a company that connects individuals with executive coaches. The conversation delves into the importance of relationships in sales, the challenges of career changes, and the role of coaching in personal development.

Whenever people make big career shifts, it always amazes me how well their sales skills can transfer from one role to the next. Francie will show you what that...

Summary:

John Barrows is the CEO of JB Sales, a sales training company focused on elevating the people and profession of Sales. He’s been in Sales his entire life and held every position from making 400 cold calls a week to being the VP of Sales at one of the fastest growing companies in Massachusetts that they eventually sold to Staples and is now the CEO of his own company where he still actively sells every day.

John came on the podcast to talk about how to stand out as a human in sales despite th...

Summary:

This conversation, I invite someone who got to intentionally know me and who I've worked a little harder for because of how he's made an impact on me. In sales, we sometimes overthink the experience we need to give to people and Sean has found ways to simplify that.

Sean met me at a company event and we've developed a great friendship. What I love about how Sean sells is he is constantly thinking about how we can "over index" on his gives. He tells a story about how a tattoed pizza owner taught...

Summary:

Have you ever had someone make a profound impact on your life but you can't really name them? We all have had people that made lasting impacts on us but only for a brief moment in time. We bought into their selflessness so much we even forgot to ask their names.

Maybe it's your barista. Maybe its a flight attendant. For Dan, it was the nurses and doctors who saved is life. To make a point that we're all in sales, this episode reminds us how these people don't do what they do for...

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Today's I talked to Robert Timmons, a successful sales coach and painter known for his unique project of painting millionaires. Robert has this unique way he connects over giving what he's talented at (painting) and we connect the docts on how that applies to sales. He has made unlikely connections with well know people over giving them paintings.

The conversation explores the importance of human connection in sales, the role of mentorship in Robert's life, and how art can serve as a powerful medium for change.

Robert shares his journey from being...

Summary:

Do you think it's possible to meet 10,000 people for a 1 hour conversation? Before you answer that question, as yourself another on - what could you learn about connection if you did take on such a monumental journey? I'm going to answer both questions for you with my guest today, Rob Lawless.

Rob was disillusioned in corporate American back in 2015 when he set out on a quest. He wanted to meet 10,000 people for 1-1 conversations for an hour. Almost 9 yrs later, he's got nearly 2,000 to go! He's since been featured on The Kelly Clarkson show...

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This is a conversation with a woman who found her authentic side of sales by becoming a mom. I interviewed Kelsey Neibel, a successful SaaS sales executive who shares her journey from management consulting to becoming a top seller. If you've ever wanted to know how someone found elite levels of success through finding their authenticity, this is the episode for you.

I've interviewed alot of people around the topic of authenticity but Kelsie approached this through the lens of how she wanted to show up for her new daughter.

Kelsey discusses...

Summary:

This was a 2022 episode of Stories of Selling Human with one of my favorite guests, Rachel Druckenmiller. We're releasing all the goodness again for you on Sell By Being Human!

Rachel is on a mission to humanize the workplace by igniting resilience, connection, engagement and compassion in organizations, associations and their leaders and teams. Recognized by Forbes as a Next1000 honoree in 2021, the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. in 2015, a 40 Under 40 Game Changer in 2019, and one of The Daily Record’s Leading Women of 2020, Rachel is a national thought leader in the fi...

Summary:

Today we bring Casey Jacox, a former #1 seller turned consultant and speaker, who emphasizes the importance of human connection in sales. We dive into "uncommon human skills" in sales.

We discuss how things like vulnerability, curiosity, and humility can transform the sales process into a more authentic and effective experience. Casey shares personal stories and insights from his journey, highlighting the power of asking great questions and building genuine relationships. Casey has a unique perspective being someone that excelled for over a decade as a top seller and shares how he stayed consistent for...

Summary:

Today we engage in a deep conversation with Brian Hicks, exploring the intersection of sales and human connection. Brian shares his journey from jewelry sales to B2B pipeline generation, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and genuine relationships in sales.

Before you jump in, you should be warned that this episode can be triggering for some. Brian shares a deeply personal story of what he learned by being a witness to a mass shooting. It completely changed Brian's life but it also changes how he sells is a profound way.

Our talk...

Summary:

This episode I invite my good friend Rich Bishop to the mic. Rich has had a pretty extensive career in the world of sales and revenue operations. He's currently the CEO of Mind Game Consulting, where he works with venture capital and private equity companies to conslut around key operations strategies.

Part of Rich's role is to come into organizations and uild trust quickly with the C-Suite.

We discuss Rich's definition genuine care, and how you express that in sales. He expresses this through a story of his personal life and it's...

Summary:

This week we're interviewing Samantha Price, a former kayak director turned global account director. Sam is a connection of a connection of a connection that I met through the Sales Success Community.

Sam shares her journey from kayaking to sales, emphasizing the need for passion and creating meaningful experiences in her work. You might not think a tour guide needs to sell you when you're going out to see whales but Sam will tell you how she approached the job that's different from how most tour guides might operate. And how that love for...

Summary:

In this episode of the Sell By Being Human podcast, we bring on Seren Silva, an executive leadership coach, author, former ad sales executive, and Reiki practitioner. For those of you not familiar with Reiki, it's a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being. I've never had a session but I think there's parallels to the transfer of energy in this practice and the transfer of energy in...

Summary:

Helen Wada comes on the podcast from across the pond in the UK to share her journey from being a consultant to becoming an executive coach and the founder of The Human Advantage. She discusses the importance of coaching in understanding oneself and others, the need for long-term perspectives in business, and how coaching skills can enhance commercial success.

She emphasizes the significance of building trust, practicing mindfulness, and engaging in reflective practices to improve personal and professional relationships.

You'll learn to observe some of the best coaches in your life and...

Summary:

Pablo Gonzalez shares his journey of building communities and driving business through community building. He emphasizes the power of human connection and the value of belonging in building relationships and communities. You'll learn the power of creating communities for your own business and how Pablo built them out of learning what worked in his own career.

Pablo's personal experience with his brother's illness and the support of a community during that time inspired him to explore the potential of community building in business. He discovered the power of creating touch points and brokering relationships...

Summary:

We welcome another former teacher turned sales trainer on the podcast. I'm always fascinated about why teachers can go from that profession and find absolute success in sales. This one is no different where we welcome Chris Caldwell. A former teacher, golf coach, and retreat leader who has now turned sales trainer and is CEO of Sell As You Are.

We explore the importance of human connection in sales, the transition from teaching to sales training, and the art of enrollment in guiding prospects. Chris offers some interesting thoughts on how to guide people...