As a leading and inspirational business speaker, Russell has delivered training at the highest level through his role at Kissing with Confidence for over 19 years. KWC is a niche sales training agency/company which provides programmes on business growth, leadership and pitching for individuals and teams located around the world.
Russell has travelled the globe extensively, bringing his wealth of knowledge and experience to business leaders in a variety of countries – from the UK to Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Frankfurt, Las Vegas, Munich, New York and Zurich to name but a few.
Russell’s weekly itinerary is jam packed and perhaps not for the faint-hearted, so we caught up with him to find out what life at KWC is really like…
Q: What inspired you to start KWC?
Russell: I guess the concept of being an entrepreneur has always been in my blood - my dad started a business when he was 35 and sold it at 55, at which point it had become the biggest industrial waste business in Scotland.
My dad showed me what can be achieved through steely determination, a clear vision and most importantly, hard work - if you are prepared to work hard, the possibilities are endless.
Q: Describe your role?
Russell: I would describe myself as Chief Disruptor and Creative Hornet-Nest-Kicker. I envision the programmes we have and I’m the catalyst for getting them up and running in the training room.
I’m a huge believer in being as hands on as possible and still deliver a lot of the training – this is really important and necessary if you are going to create what’s delivered.
Q: Describe a typical day for you – is there such a thing?
Russell: A typical day when out on the road will involve travelling with a black suitcase, blue suit and white shirt somewhere in Europe to an audience of anything from one person to potentially hundreds of people.
When I’m back at KWC HQ there will be catch-up meetings/coffees/lunches to keep up with what’s been happening while I was away.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge since founding KWC?
Russell: The financial crash in the late 2000s, where we lost 40% of our business overnight and the phone never rang for six months – a hugely challenging and worrying situation for any business to be in.
However, out of adversity often comes opportunity and it was around this time that I thought we could start delivering sales skills, which led to the launch of our hugely successful Rainmaker programmes.
Q: What has been your biggest professional success/achievement?
Russell: Shifting the business from essentially delivering one day training programmes to offering clients data based long term interventions that show how their businesses are transformed by what we do
Q: What is your favourite thing about leading KWC?
Russell: The joy of receiving client feedback. We recently had five trainers in Marbella for a two day programme and the feedback was incredible. One delegate said “Kissing with Confidence should have done the whole week!”
Q: What’s the best piece of work-related or personal advice you have received?
Russell: Hard work beats natural talent and expert coaching, any day of the week. I shared a platform many years ago with then UK Athletics Head Coach Frank Dick and he opened with this statement.
Q: What do you do to relax/unwind?
Russell: I love to relax by watching sport or making frittata – one of my favourite dishes. You can catch my #fridayfritatta on Instagram.
Q: What would you say to someone who is considering taking part in The Rainmaker course but has doubts?
Russell: Selling is an integral part of all businesses but a lot of people get nervous about the process. Our Rainmaker programme takes the fear out of selling and KWC can guarantee results above and beyond what you might be expecting – on both a personal and professional level.
Interested in finding out more?
Kissing with Confidence creates Rainmakers, Pitchmakers and Teammakers. Why not contact Russell and his team and ask them how they can assist your business:
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about the author
Russell Wardrop is our Chief Executive. If you would like to know more about this subject, drop him an email and we will be in touch.
