How to Identify Your X Factor So You Can Monetize Your Gifts

Sean D Stewart is the founder and CEO of a coaching and training company called Rock Your Gift. He sat down with Jessica Abo to talk about how you can find your X factor and monetize it.

Jessica Abo: Sean, your story starts with spoken word poetry. Can you tell us more about that?

When I was in college, I was intrigued by the idea of joining a poetry night that was happening at one of the cafes. I jumped up on stage and shared the first poem I'd ever done, and I was super nervous. But it was the beginning of a track that I would follow that would really change my life. So it was only a few months later that I got invited to a poetry slam, and there were three rounds to this contest. I ended up winning all three. So I made a decision at that moment — and after a few more experiences of putting myself out there — that I was going to move to New York City, and I was going to get up on stage with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. I was going to share my gifts there.

How did spoken word poetry evolve into you becoming a rapper and a musician?

At a certain point, I really wanted to create an album and really make a whole push toward my music dreams. The spoken word was fulfilling me, but I knew there was something more. My biggest issue was I had to find a producer. I finally found somebody who became the producer that laid the pathway for me to create the albums, create the band and really get my message out in a bigger way as a musician and a rapper.

When did you decide you wanted to leave the music industry?

I wanted to pursue the goal of helping people. At that time, it was to become a therapist. I ended up applying for schools. When I shared in the interview process (for becoming a therapist) that I wanted to write books and speak on stages, she said, "That's not what therapists do." I realized that what I really wanted to do was become a life coach. From there, I ended up moving to Hawaii, getting trained under Tony Robbins, and putting my focus on helping people change their lives.

What was the path like to becoming a coach?

It was challenging when I realized that it wasn't just about "helping people," but even more so about growing a business. I found myself up against a lot of skills that I didn't have yet. For instance, I didn't know how to sell, and I didn't know how to market myself. So I started to put myself out there and connect with communities that were looking for speakers. From those speaking gigs, I started to attract clients. There was a lot of trial and error in that early phase, but I was so committed to getting this business off the ground that I broke through and ended up figuring it out.

So how do you help people rock their gift today?

I help my clients to identify their ideal customers and clarify their messaging. This includes helping them craft compelling talk titles and presentations from stage. Not only do we help people get booked on stages, but we also help them launch their own workshops and events. Beyond this, we help our clients bring more of their gifts and talents into their business so they can stand out and attract the people they are truly meant to serve.

What can someone do if they don't feel like they know what their gift is? How can they identify it?

When I'm working with people on identifying their gifts, we're looking at their past and defining the things that bring them into that place "where time stands still." That place where things feel effortless. What we call their "genius zone." It's usually something that you could do for an endless amount of time because it fuels you. But to really define your gift, we need to look at a combination of two things: One, there's what I do, and two, there's why they do it. We help our clients define those two pieces, and when they uncover that. It's truly a game-changer.

Once someone knows what their X factor is, what's next?

The question becomes, well, what is the offer? We have to look at what you are selling because this is a business after all, right? We need to know what problems you solve for people. From there, we package that into what we call "an offer." From there we can integrate their gifts into the business and that creates a unique business that stands out in the marketplace. However, if we start with the gift and ignore the offer part, we're not going to have anything to sell, and then the business can't succeed.

And when someone reaches this point where they know what their gift is, they know what their offer is, but they don't have a big list or audience, how do they get the word out to find new clients?

We look at ways in which we can use speaking gigs, events and stages as the main marketing strategy because that is simple marketing. Most marketing is overly complex. And the truth is, most people we connect with simply want to share their message more. And if they get on stage or share on a microphone, with the right audiences, they're going to naturally attract clients. But on top of that, we teach our clients how to use what's called joint venture partners to fill their events. Joint venture partners are people who already have audiences, and we help our clients tap into these audiences so that again, marketing becomes simple. So imagine what it would be like if you didn't have the problem of needing to find people for your events. What if all you needed to do was go out there and just rock your gift?

What do your Rock Your Gift events cover? How do they work?

The Rock Your Gift three-day event is a really groundbreaking experience. It's taking a personal growth seminar and mixing it with a conscious hip-hop concert. At these events, we are helping speakers, coaches and entrepreneurs to define their unique message and then use the power of stages and speaking to grow their platform and visibility so they can attract consistent clients.

Make a decision that you're going to put your message out in a bigger way because the world needs you, and there's people that are waiting for you to share your gifts so that they will be inspired and you can light their paths so they can light others' pathways as well.