Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in E-Commerce but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kendrick Shope, Founder of Kendrick Shope, LLC., located in Knoxville, TN, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Authentic Selling® has been the #1 sales process online for over a decade for coaches, consultants, and course creators.

Tell us about yourself

After leaving a top-performing corporate sales career spanning nearly 15 years, I turned my unique way of selling with empathy into the #1 sales process online.
Over ten years ago, I was in the corporate world. I was a top-performing pharmaceutical sales rep, and I graduated top in my class from 2 corporate sales schools. My path was laid out. I was going to grow as a superstar in the world of corporate sales. Then, I had my daughter, and my whole world changed.

For two years, I rocked my daughter Halianna to sleep every night. But one evening, it hit me: what I’d been whispering in her ear for two years had actually been a mantra: You can be anything you want to be in this world. All you have to do is believe. I put Halianna down in her bed and walked across our Chicago apartment. I threw open the doors to our bedroom and declared to my husband: “I’m living a lie.”

Now, Blake was used to me being a little dramatic, so he didn’t even look up. But I was dead serious. I’d had a vision of the future with my little girl growing up. One night, she’d hear that mantra, You can be anything you want to be in this world… And she’d ask me, “Mama, did you want to sell drugs for a living?” I said to Blake, “What am I going to tell her? That this belief stuff applies to you but not to me? It’d shatter everything we’ve been building her belief on!” I knew what I had to do. I had to find what I wanted so that I could look her in the eyes and say, You can be anything you want to be in this world. All you have to do is believe. Just look at me. And she’d see it was true. So I did.

Shortly after, I quit my top-performing, six-figure sales job. I went on a quest to figure out my mission. It led me through a lot of yeses and nos, ups and downs, and dollar bills. And it led me to create the Authentic Selling® process. Why am I so passionate about selling? Selling allows you to get just about anything you want in life.

In business, it’s the exchange of money for a product or service. It should NEVER feel icky, sleazy, slimy, or gross. If that’s how it’s been feeling for you, Authentic Selling® is the solution. Learn how to sell in a way that closes 9 out of 10 clients and makes you feel good. In my community, we believe that selling is helping. And you know about the power of belief.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I am most proud of the charity event we created and our partnership with Broadway Cares: Equity Fights Aids. We raised $100k for charity and brought in the world's top entertainers to perform for our Authentic Selling® community.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Dealing with unknowns is one of the hardest things about being a business owner. It starts the day you decide to be a business owner. You don't know when your business will be successful and profitable.

It takes courage to move forward and take action to become a business owner. The unknowns become a way of life because nothing is guaranteed. Understanding how to manage the unknowns and thrive will be a challenge.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Without sales, your business is broken.
  2. Plan for money, lots of money, from day 1.
  3. Don't try to go to 4th gear before you move through gears 1-3.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://kendrickshope.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticSelling
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kendrickshope/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KendrickShope
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendrickshope/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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