Hey, it's Luca and welcome to The Luca Savazzi Podcast. Imagine yourself 5 years from now. You're living the life you want. Maybe you own a house. Maybe you found your dream job. Maybe you're creating art, running your own business, traveling more, spending more time with the people you care about, or simply living a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling. But right now, you're spending a lot of time in your head planning, trying to imagine that future, overthinking, perfecting, getting ready, researching, refining. And although there's nothing wrong with a good amount of planning and preparing, at some point you need to start doing because that life you want for yourself, it's not going to happen by accident. And it's not going to happen because one day you suddenly feel ready. And here's the thing. Deep down, you probably already know what you should be doing. You know you're capable of more. You know it's not a lack of ambition. And you know there's a gap between where you are and where you want to be. So, the real question is, what are you waiting for? If this is you, keep listening because today's conversation is all about deciding that it's time to stop waiting for certainty and start building the life you know you're capable of creating for yourself. Today's guest is Paige Evans. Paige is a high energy keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and performance coach who helps revenue teams turn potential into performance. Drawing from more than a decade in the ultra competitive world of enterprise software sales, page builder reputation as a top performer, qualifying for president's club five times, mentoring dozens of sales reps, and winning rookie of the year at multiple companies for outperforming seasoned veterans within just months of being hired. But what truly sets her apart is her ability to make high performance teachable, sustainable, and repeatable for everyone. Please help me welcome to the Luca Savati podcast, Paige Evans. Hey, Paige. How are you? I am doing well. Happy Friday, Luca. Happy Friday to you, too. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you. Likewise. Yes. It's been so good getting to know you over these past few months. I love your energy. I love your passion. And so I'm just excited for the conversation. Same here. Same here. And when we first spoke, Paige, one thing that really stood out to me was how much we both believe that confidence comes from taking action? Yep. And so before we dive in, my question to you, what will become possible when we stop waiting to feel ready and start taking action? Gosh, I love that question because I think there is such a misconception that confidence happens before you act. But when you take action, you give yourself evidence that you survived, you learned something, that it wasn't as bad as you had it played out in your head, right? And so that's actually how we gain confidence through that evidence, through taking action. And so I think for people who say they're not confident or they're waiting to feel confident, the challenge is really just take a little bit of action. It doesn't need to be monumental, right? Sometimes we give ourselves too big of goals that feel daunting and scary, but it's like just what's the one little thing you can do today and the one little thing you can do tomorrow because you're going to gain confidence and momentum. Now you look very confident. Like we're having this conversation. I think you were born with confidence and I'm curious, was that always the case? Gosh, no. It is a muscle that I think we all have to exercise. I've been in a lot of environments where I've been the youngest. I've been the only female. I've been been the least experienced. And so, I've just had to build that muscle where I tell myself I belong in the room. And if I show up sheepishly or like I'm not confident, then that's that's not energy that is attractive, right? Like I want to be somebody who brings out the best in others too. And I think energy is a big part of that. So if I'm able to radiate despite feeling maybe I'm doubting myself a little bit in my head, those those thoughts will always be rolling around unfortunately, right? But if you can if you can show those thoughts who's boss and show up with energy and confidence and enthusiasm and curiosity, I think that goes so far. And you don't have to have all the answers, but being willing to be curious and ask questions and learn. I think that helps you be confident, too. So, take us back to that moment, that page that did feel like having these doubts and these moments of feeling insecure. So, how was that and what was happening? Oh my goodness. Okay, so there there's so many stories I could tell you, but I'll pick one. So, a story that comes to mind is when I first started in software sales and I had just graduated from college. I think I'm 22 years old and I joined a payroll software company and I didn't really want this job, but I had to pay my bills. So, I needed a job, right? And so this company, I had a sales team that I joined that wasn't really performing very well. And so when I joined, I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh, if none of these people are succeeding, how will I succeed? Cuz I'm the girl who just joined. I've no experience doing this." And I started to sort of ruminate on how much I believed I would not succeed. And I kept finding evidence. Well, they're not doing it. They've been here a year. And so I kept finding that evidence of why that would be the story for me. And I several weeks went by and I just remember feeling kind of ick like I don't this isn't me. Like I'm not the girl who's a victim who says I can't. I know that I can figure it out if I just set my mind to it. And so those several weeks were painful. I remember looking at the clock on my laptop every day counting down the minutes until it hit 5:00 where I could just leave because the days were so excruciating because I just didn't believe that I would succeed. And so I'm like I'm just wasting everyone's time including my own. And after several weeks of that I finally was like no this isn't me. I don't identify with all of this ick. What got you to that point? Uh I think the fact that I knew I needed a job. I'm like I don't I don't have an escape ladder. Like this is the reality, right? Like I can choose how I how I show up and I can either show up like this job sucks or I can make lemonade out of lemons, right? And so I just kind of had to make lemonade out of lemons because I was going to be there regardless. I still had to pay my bills. I didn't want to have on my resume that I joined a company for three months and then quit. Like I I knew I was going to do it a couple years. So I'm like, if I'm going to be here, I might as well see what I can make happen instead of just give up before I even try. So, so what did you do? How did you get yourself to, you know, change those those beliefs or at least Sure. shift from that point on? Yeah. So sales is people talking to people, people helping people, and I love people, and so I tried to lean into that strength, right? Um, and so I would go knocking on doors and I remember one of the doors I knocked on, I was knocking on it with a co-orker and we opened the door to a cubicle and she's like, "Oh, that's a waste of time. There's only two people in there. Like that's not going to be a big payroll deal. They just have two employees." And I said to her, "You can keep going, but I view this as an opportunity to see learn something, right? I can still pitch them. They might have a referral for me. They might have a good objection for me." And it turns out those two people were the two corporate people at a company that had 150 employees spread all across the US. Oh wow. Okay. And so that ended up being my first five figure deal. But it wasn't because, you know, I was really good at selling the product. I just The woman told me, she goes, "No one has ever walked in here curious to learn about our business to see how they could help us. You're the only person who has." So she's like, "I'll tell you about our business. What do you want to know?" And we built a really good relationship. And then I kind of had this epiphany like this is how I will succeed just getting to know people and being curious and learning how I can help them. H how did you get yourself to change those beliefs? Mhm. You know, I think I surprised myself that that deal closed and it was almost like how did that I I almost wanted to live back in the like this won't work and when it worked that was evidence like okay like the name of the game is not that I have to be really good at talking about payroll jargon. It's just being good at leaning into building trust and being curious and when you kind of simplify things on the surface like what are your strengths? lean into that, then you can kind of build that muscle of, okay, I'm building evidence here. Um, so when I went back to the office, I remember there was one hangup she had. She's like, the the price to implement this is too much. And I remember being like, oh my gosh, I'm going to lose this deal. And then one of my co-workers, she's like, well, why don't you just tell her you'll cut it in half if they can sign it today? And I'm like, okay, why not? Good idea. You know, I had never done this before. I didn't I didn't have all these solutions. and and so we did that and she was like done deal signed it and uh so I think again building relationships even internally with other people and in who's around you and and your environment that helps you also build your belief um and come up with new ideas instead of just going at things totally alone too. So was it always like that growing up do you come from a family where you know this mindset is normal? Yes, I do. Yes. So, so tell me more about that. Okay. So, my dad did not want to hear it. If you had a complaint, no, that he didn't want to hear it. Um, he was all about, you know, if there's a problem, solve it. And if you want something done right, then you have to do it yourself, right? So, he was very solutionoriented. And that was something that I think has served us really well, my brother and I and I have older half siblings as well where he was no nonsense and uh he had a favorite saying which was onward and upward. So it just really implied to us you're going to hit speed bumps but they're just a speed bump. You keep going and that's it, right? You don't let it set you back. You don't let it trip you up. You just keep going. And so he was very gritty and he was all about taking action and he believed that he could do anything and that he really instilled that in us. So yeah, I'm I'm fortunate. But it was tough love too, right? Like again, if if I had a complaint, it was like there's there's no complaining here. Like just get over it, right? How did it feel to have that tough love? How do you think it shaped you? Yeah, you know, I think looking back, I'm grateful for it, but I think in the midst of it growing up, you're kind of like, gosh, where's the empathy, right? But looking back, I I I can appreciate where it was coming from that as a parent, they were doing their best to figure out, you know, if we can instill these beliefs in them that there's complaining doesn't help. Like my dad has said to my husband, bitching ain't going to fix it, right? So, um, it's just like no nonsense. So, so yeah, it's kind of a funny dynamic where now with my kids, I'm I'm kind of seeing that I'm also like, well, what's the solution, right? Let's not stay stuck in the problem. What's the solution here? So, B, once you you know, you set your mind to something and you you believe in it and then, you know, stuff happens, how do you keep yourself believing? Because, you know, life throws curveballs. Mhm. It does. It It definitely does. One thing I did early in my career, actually, that I still do today is I write a one-page manifesto to myself about who I know I am. And I put that above my computer and it is a daily reminder to me that that's who I am. It doesn't matter what's going on and what self-doubts I have, but I'm Paige Evans and I can do hard things and I figure things out. And being great will never be easy. So, kind of admitting to myself like this is a hard road. Whatever road you're going down, it's going to be hard and that's just the name of the game. And embracing that and not tricking yourself into thinking that it's going to be easy, but just to have that belief and that identity and this is who I am. And that identity really for me is is kind of the foundation of everything for for belief. I think you have other situations where you had a vision for yourself, you you had plans and then life suddenly took a different turn. Oh goodness, definitely. So you know I was in software sales for 12 years, top performer. Um, and I had always had this desire to be a speaker and to help people and to transform lives. And I remember back in high school, I thought I want to kind of be like a Tony Robbins almost, like I just want to help people see what's possible for them. But I knew that that would take time. I knew my parents held me to a very high bar and that I couldn't just the answer would not be acceptable to say I just want to go speak to people like that would not have been something acceptable I could have done and so I did the safe path went to corporate did really well but I always knew at some point I would pivot and so this past year in 2025 I lost my father he was 90 years old and he lived a very full life um but at 90 we lost him and that gave me so much urgency to go do what I've always wanted to do, which now that I'm doing this work, my soul is on fire. And I've never really felt that before in the way that I feel it where I can't get enough of the work I'm doing. And one of the things that I read that really resonated with me was, you know, we all have those things we want to do that maybe we're not we're not doing them yet, but the longer you wait to go towards it, the less time you have in your life to go be doing that thing that you love. So the sooner you start, the more time you get to enjoy and do what you love. And so when you say it so plainly, you're kind of like, gosh, I'm just hurting myself by not taking action. like there's greatness and fun and a fire on the other side of this inaction and we know this but still we wait. So why do you think people wait? What causes this weight? I think people think that they have to feel ready or be ready or do more preparation. I think they feel like that's the responsible thing. And unfortunately feeling ready is never coming. like no one ever really feels ready. And the very first speech I gave was about starting before you're ready and because I just believe so strongly in that and that was my evidence to myself. I'm up here speaking even though I'm not ready. This is the first speech I've ever given. No one knows that. But you just have to start things before you're ready. And then after that I was like, "God, that wasn't as scary as I thought. That was so great." And uh and so that again was kind of evidenced to me like once you take action your confidence gets higher, your evidence gets higher, your belief gets gets higher. And so it really is waiting for people on the other side of action. So stop overthinking and planning and ruminating because that's just procrastination really in disguise. But but how do you know if it's you know if it's just planning and you know making plans and thinking you have to be ready and when it's procrastination or overthinking what's the difference? Yeah. I feel like we kind of know like if you're if you know what you need to be doing to take a step towards what you really want but you keep finding yourself just doing the dishes and the laundry and calling friends and going on a long walk and like that's procrastination. But if you can be honest with yourself and say, "Okay, every day I'm going to do one at least one thing that moves me towards that, then I feel like that is, you know, that's not overthinking. That's taking intentional time to think and plan." And but I just I wouldn't get stuck in that planning cycle because that can be tricky. I think, you know, send an email, read a book, pick up the phone, do a blog post, post something on LinkedIn, anything to kind of move yourself forward, it really does compound. So, I think we kind of know when we're avoiding things like we we feel it and that's not a fun feeling, but once you chip away even with a little action, you kind of are like, "Oh, why don't I do that more?" Um, and so it compounds. But for someone who is not used to this feeling of knowing, okay, doing creates evidence and and taking that first step, what would you recommend somebody does? Oo, I would recommend that they put time on their calendar because for me, if it's not on my calendar, it's probably not happening. Um, and that's just something it's you're going to get an alert. It's scheduled. You've that's an intentional action to put it on your calendar. Like, what day will I have the highest propensity to do something, right? And so, you can even set an alarm on your phone, whatever it is that's going to kind of interrupt you. And that's the time that you've devoted to go do a little action. And it doesn't need to be monumental. Again, it can be any little action because then you are building yourself a little bit of evidence at a time. And then you'll start to build that habit and that muscle of like, okay, I should take a little more action instead of 2 minutes, maybe five, maybe 10, maybe an hour. So, I would just be intentional at the end of the day and and schedule it because without it being scheduled, we're all busy, right? It might not happen. It probably won't. So, Paige, the selling payroll uh job wasn't your first sales job. Can you tell us about your first sales job? How was that? Oh my goodness. Sure. So, in college, I did not have a car, so I could not drive somewhere else to go get a job. But there was a job on campus that was selling advertising space in the campus newspaper, and it was 100% commission, but I took the job because it was I could do it. It was flexible. I could do it between classes. And again, I couldn't go drive somewhere without a car. So, it was just easy to pop in and out of the advertising sales office. And that job was I remember being terrified those that first week specifically. Okay. Because I remember being terrified of the telephone. There was a telephone on the desk and it was it was beige and it was plastic and it was really old and clunky. But to me, that represented cold calling. And I was terrified of cold calling because my dad was terrible to cold callers. He would treat them like they were some sort of zombie or something. He'd be like, "Don't ever call me again." Um, and and in fact, you know, the worst the worst uh one was in Mexico. while we were on vacation and a cold caller called him and my dad lost it. He was like, "If you ever call me again, I will come to your house. I will find you. I will drag you out of your bed and I will kill you." Like he he literally just went too far with it. And I remember telling him like, "Dad, you you crossed the line. That was that was a little much." And he's like, "That guy's called me 12 times. I'm sick of him." And so my first sales job was being a cold caller. And so that's why I was scared of that telephone. I thought I was going to be verbally assaulted. Um, how did that make you feel? Like seeing that phone, feeling so terrified. What What happened in your brain? Oh my gosh. I felt silly, honestly. Like I was so paralyzed. I was just looking at that phone like we were having a staring contest almost. And I remember I would just flip through the yellow pages like it was the Bible of doom. Like, oh, who am I going to call? Right. And it felt I Yeah, just kind of ridiculous really, right? Like I knew it was silly that I was so worried about picking up the phone and I would almost go to pick it up to call someone and then I' I'd hesitate and I just want to do it. And that happened several times. And And did you know this job involved cold calling? I did, but I think until you're actually in the position, it it's it's like, "Oh, sure." Right? And then when you're actually in it and it's like, "Oh, okay." Like, "This is happen. Like, I got to do this thing." So, I think in my head, I'm like, "Sure." You know, I can go call businesses. And then when it came down to it, I was like, "This is sort of terrifying. Like, these people don't know I'm calling them. I'm totally interrupting them." And so, that was my mindset, right? Like I thought that I had nothing good to offer and I was going to bug them. But that's if you can change your mindset and realize you have something of value, then people hear that in your voice. And I had to learn that the hard way. How how did you learn that the hard way? What happened? Yeah. Um some people were really curious like, "Oh, what do you mean advertising? You know, can you tell me more?" And I was like, "Oh my gosh, they're interested. What the heck?" And so I think I just sort of fell into it really where people were like, "How much is it?" And I'm like, "I don't even know because I never thought anyone would ask, right?" And so, um, which kind of, you know, I view failure as feedback, right? Like no, no one's ever really failing. They're just getting good feedback. And so I think through that job, I I did fail a ton, but really I learned a ton. And it was through that taking imperfect action that where I was kind of put on the spot where I'm like I will figure out the answer to that. Was it something that you knew at the time that feedback is a failure is feedback? No, definitely. No, I did not know it at the time, but I can look back now and just see so clearly that that's the truth. Yeah. So I I fumbled my way through that job and then I ended up doing really well well there and making good money and and you know again it wasn't because I necessarily thought I could at the beginning but as I just took action I started to believe I could and then I started to really show up like I have something really good to offer. You're going to want to hear about it. Right? But that wasn't day one. That took time and then I had repeat clients and then they'd refer me. Oh, you got to buy ads, blah, blah, blah. Like, work with Paige. Um, and people would do bigger ads and color ads and two-page spreads, and then they'd do our coupon books. And so, I think again, it kind of went back to the relationships, too, like people trusted me and and liked me and knew I was doing my best, even if it wasn't perfect to begin with. I I was trying and I think that goes a long way. How do you translate this ability to, you know, go and do this action in in other areas of your life? You know, it's not something that I think just will always come natural. I think we all go through seasons where we're sluggish in the morning or we're doubting ourselves or we just need a break, right? But I think that if you can have a good routine or habit or something that really taps into where you do your best work or what works for you, then I would I would lean into that. If if so, for example, you know, I used to struggle to get out of bed in the morning. And now, like, I am waking up on my o on my own at 6:00 a.m. and I'm ready to get after the day. I get my workout in. I read my devotional. I make my kids breakfast. I've accomplished a lot before anyone else is awake. And then I'm just ready to get after it. And it's like, I've done things for myself. I've done things for others. And now it's focus time. And so I think sometimes having a good sort of routine or environment or something that really helps you get into your inner genius. Um I think that helps a lot. Um but you know if I'm ever feeling sluggish, it's like maybe I need a break. Maybe I need to just breathe. Maybe I need to slow down. Um maybe it's because I'm avoiding doing something I know I need to do. And kind of being honest with yourself and reflecting like where is this coming from here? Um because I think there's always a reason. it's it doesn't just, you know, come over you out of nowhere. Um, so I think giving yourself space too to really reflect and think helps a ton. So, this is all making sense. And there's um quite a lot of people that talk action, but then they postpone or they procrastinate. We talked about this. So, how would you encourage them to start doing? Yeah. So, I'm glad you asked that because I actually have a nickname for I think there's two types of people in the world. There's action takers and they take action and unfortunately, it's really easy to also become an action talker that talks about the things you're going to do, but then you just never knew them. And I think we all can think of people who you're like, they're always talking about that thing, but are they actually ever going to do it? Right? Yeah. And um you know, I say that with empathy because it's it's an easy camp to fall into the the action talker camp because I think it's well-intentioned. It you kind of fall into that overplanning and and but really perfectionism is maybe what it is, right? But perfectionism is procrastination in disguise. It's you kind of just stay stuck in this motion of constantly preparing instead of just taking action. So, you know, I'd say, you know, one tip I have is just don't be such a perfectionist. Like lower your own standard of what the first step could look like because that first step is the hardest step of all and but but to a perfectionist that's also very scary because you're used to always how do you lower that standard? So for me, I'm a perfectionist, right? So this is something that I've had to struggle with. When I was pivoting to the speaking world, I was not sure when I should announce it to the world and to my network, right? Because I just felt like that was a really important change and I wanted to position it properly. And I kind of waited too long to let people know this is what I'm doing. And now I look back and I'm like, why did I wait so long? Because now that I people know what I do now, they want to work with me. And I'm like, gosh, you know, I could have done this sooner because if people don't know what you do, they can't help you. They can't hire you, right? Yeah. And so, um, I was taking other action before I announced it on LinkedIn and whatnot, like going out and talking and those things all helped me gain confidence to finally be like, you know what, it is time to do this thing. So, I think that example kind of illustrates that that that was a big action for me in my mind, like letting everyone know this is what I do now. But I still took some other actions in the meantime and those helped me gain the courage to do this bigger thing. So I think that first step, if you're feeling so petrified, if you're a perfectionist, maybe don't take the first step on that specific thing, but something that's going to move you towards that thing, right? And so kind of again lowering your standard for yourself of what that first step has to be towards whatever that thing is, right? So that's the first step. What's the next? Yes. The next is b making a habit of taking action. So essentially just don't wait to feel ready again because like you're never going to feel ready, right? So just if you hear this episode and you're feeling super inspired and you're like, you know what, like I I know I'm falling into the action talker camp, but I want to be an action taker, then capitalize on that feeling and don't wait till tomorrow to do something. Like do something today. Do it right now. It can be little, but then that's evidence that you do what you say you're going to do and you're not just a talker, you're a doer. Right. So, that's that's my second piece of advice, right? Just make it make it a habit. Don't wait to feel ready. What's your practical tip into making it a habit? Yeah, I'd say I mean, if it's on the calendar every day, if you have an alarm every day, if you maybe even have a check checklist um or tick marks where you can say, "Oh, wow. I'm either not taking action or I am." So something kind of vis visual to hold yourself accountable. Maybe even set a date. Like if I haven't done this by this date, then I'm doing it on that date. So like it's okay to give yourself maybe a little time. Doesn't have to be like this crazy action today where you're like I screwed that all up because I just took action, you know, like it is okay to prepare. Um but don't get stuck in the constantly preparing for years, right? So maybe maybe even just putting that date on the calendar that that's that's your deadline because I think once you have a deadline, you kind of are like, "Oh crap." Like every day I lose. Yeah. Right. It's coming. What I do is I make these lists. I have dates. Like for today I had some stuff on the calendar. Uh for next week I have stuff on my calendar with dates. Are those habits? Like would that those qualify or Yeah, I would say so. Like you're knocking out of the park. Yes, 100%. just putting it pen to paper like getting it out of your head too. I think there's something to be said otherwise you just kind of it's easy to stay stuck in there. All right. So, and what's the third step? Just shrinking the step. It doesn't need to be a big one. It can be little like I give you permission, right? for it to be a little step because any step is a step. And again, I think that first step is terrifying and scary, but then after you take it, you're like, why was I so terrified? It wasn't as scary as I thought it was in my head. So, give yourself permission to not take a huge action, just a little one. And then rinse and repeat. Maybe you're someone who does something once a day, once a week, right? Like kind of figure out what is something you can hold yourself to as well, right? If you're setting yourself up to fail, then that's not a good feeling either, right? If you can really only commit to doing one action once a week, like then that works. That's probably better than what you've been doing, right? So, kind of commit to something you know you're actually going to be able to do. So, you're setting yourself up for success and then actually do it. I would love for you to talk to the to the listener directly and you know, the person who feels stuck, who knows he's an action talker instead of an action taker. who knows something needs to change, wants to create this life that is different from what they where they are right now. What is that one thing they should do today after hearing this conversation? Okay, so I would really encourage you to be honest with yourself about the story that you are believing about yourself and how that is determining whether or not you're taking action. I think that the stories we believe really create the results we achieve. Right? If we think we can't, if we think we're not capable, if we think that that's not for us, then that's really going to impact whether or not we take action or how often or how we show up. Um, but if you can kind of again examine that story and probably change the story, like rewrite the story and really buy into that, maybe write that manifesto to yourself and put it somewhere where you can see it and say, "No, this is what I choose to anchor in on." Then I think that is going to help when it comes to taking action because you've just not been a victim to whatever story about why you can't and you've really tapped into no, I can. I just have been telling myself I can't, but I can and I'm gonna choose to believe that story. I think that is a huge unlock for a lot of people that, you know, just re-examine that story you're telling yourself and make it a better story. So, beige, where can people find you? Yes. So, you can find me on Instagram, @thePaigeEvans, or on LinkedIn, uh, the Paige Evans group. And then also my website's being built right now. And so it'll be paige-evans.com. All right. Thanks so much, Paige. I've enjoyed our conversation. I did too. This is great. I was happy to have you here and I look forward to seeing you soon again. I know it. So good to see you, Luca. Thank you. And to you listening, I hope this conversation sparked something for you because it's time to stop waiting to feel ready and start creating the life you know you want. You'll find links to Paige Evans and everything we talked about in the show notes. And if this conversation made you think of someone you care about, share it with them. It's one thing to have to figure these things out on your own, but it's way easier and for sure a whole lot more fun if we're doing it together. I'm Luca and I look forward to seeing you in our next conversation.