Oct 8, 2026 · 46 min · 10 segments
After more than 30 years leading stores for some of America's biggest brands, Ron Thurston realized no one had ever written a book for the 55 million people who work in retail. So he wrote one…
Ron ThurstonGuestTravis StolikerHostAnd obviously, our audience is mostly authors that are looking to propel themselves into a new category or into a new career.
Would you give somebody a playbook or some tips on how do you go from, you know, that great career in retail for you or, you know, the great career in being a physician for, for a lot of our authors, how do you make that transition? How would you recommend somebody does that? What, what is the playbook to do that?
It's such a good question, Travis, and I, it, it, it's so much about trial and error.
And I would say as much as you all want to build it, like, financially, there's also very much a path of I need to get myself out there and, and practice and build an audience.
Maybe you're building an email list, you're building newsletters, you're building content, and there's a lot to be said around having a message that's bigger than just your book of, like, who you are, what you say, w- what you could contribute to an audience, what's your specialty, and why are you the expert in that? And I did.
I, I really just tried to ask as many people as I could, like, "If, if I had this opportunity, would you allow me?" And it, it took, you know, a few years.
It wasn't until I would say the last two, um, where now I've, I've reached this place now where, you know, I, I can- Negotiate rates, and I, I am represented now, and I, I can b- build a, a proper speaking business.
But it, it definitely took some time, and it, it's finding your, your niche of like really like how does it relate likely to your book? But how does it relate to the audience? What do they want to learn? And I've also discovered, I think that there's some misnomers about like you build a keynote, you build 60 minutes of some great content, and you're expert at it, and then you just repeat it.
Every, every single event that I have delivered keynotes or workshops have been fully customized.
And I think that, that it's important in today's world, you know, that you, you can connect with an audience on that particular day, on that particular topic that's relevant today, that may not be relevant in six months.
You've got to move with the energy of what's happening b- inside that company or at that conference that makes you relevant today.
And obviously, our audience is mostly authors that are looking to propel themselves into a new category or into a new career.
Would you give somebody a playbook or some tips on how do you go from, you know, that great career in retail for you or, you know, the great career in being a physician for, for a lot of our authors, how do you make that transition? How would you recommend somebody does that? What, what is the playbook to do that?
It's such a good question, Travis, and I, it, it, it's so much about trial and error.
And I would say as much as you all want to build it, like, financially, there's also very much a path of I need to get myself out there and, and practice and build an audience.
Maybe you're building an email list, you're building newsletters, you're building content, and there's a lot to be said around having a message that's bigger than just your book of, like, who you are, what you say, w- what you could contribute to an audience, what's your specialty, and why are you the expert in that? And I did.
I, I really just tried to ask as many people as I could, like, "If, if I had this opportunity, would you allow me?" And it, it took, you know, a few years.
It wasn't until I would say the last two, um, where now I've, I've reached this place now where, you know, I, I can- Negotiate rates, and I, I am represented now, and I, I can b- build a, a proper speaking business.
But it, it definitely took some time, and it, it's finding your, your niche of like really like how does it relate likely to your book? But how does it relate to the audience? What do they want to learn? And I've also discovered, I think that there's some misnomers about like you build a keynote, you build 60 minutes of some great content, and you're expert at it, and then you just repeat it.
Every, every single event that I have delivered keynotes or workshops have been fully customized.
And I think that, that it's important in today's world, you know, that you, you can connect with an audience on that particular day, on that particular topic that's relevant today, that may not be relevant in six months.
You've got to move with the energy of what's happening b- inside that company or at that conference that makes you relevant today.
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