Angela Vassallo (00:02.393)
Hello and welcome to Harmony in the Hustle. We've got such a beautiful guest today that I'm so excited to have on here. And she's one of my friends that I've known for a little while now and she's all the way from Nashville. So her name is, yeah, yeah. Her name is Tonya Stout. She's a powerhouse speaker, master messaging strategist, a professional songwriter whose words have been recorded by Grammy award-winning artists in the heart.
of Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. Antonia is known for turning ordinary ideas into extraordinary business outcomes with her God given gift for communication. She is the co-founder of Conquerpreneur, the Conquer Club podcast and the Conquer Club community, where she and her husband, Kevin, lead a bold movement to help high impact entrepreneurs conquer their life, business, faith, family and financial future.
Their proven Hip message formula framework is helping entrepreneurs craft compelling premium offers, communicate with confidence and cash flow their call on stages in boardrooms and in sales. So get ready to be equipped, inspired and powered by a woman who doesn't just speak to inform but speaks to ignite purpose, profit and faith driven impact.
Welcome my friend Tonya. It's so lovely to have you on Harmony in the Hustle all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. Welcome.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (01:26.446)
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (01:31.082)
Yay! Thank you, Angela. It's so good to be here and just be honestly just hanging out with friends, you know?
Angela Vassallo (01:39.011)
Yeah, absolutely. I know I'll give the audience some context. So you and I met a year ago, maybe over a year ago now in Houston. And we were at a mastermind together and I met you and your husband, Kevin. And yeah, we've just become friends ever since and a lot of the people in the community, we all you know, stay connected. We've all been watching each other build our businesses as entrepreneurs and
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (01:47.022)
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (02:03.343)
you know, just supporting each other and having each other's backs. So, and I've been wanting to interview you on here because you're such a powerhouse woman and you've done so many incredible things. But the first question I wanted to ask you today, which I've been so intrigued about because I remember when you first told me that you were a songwriter and a singer, because I said straight away, do you sing, you know? And you said, yes, I've been a singer and I do songwriting. So I guess my first question to you is,
Where did you start with all of this? Like you're a professional singer and you also became a songwriter, but not only that, you were telling me that some people have actually taken your lyrics and you've written for Grammy award winning artists. I don't know who they are, but I don't know if you'll spill the tea and let us know who they are, but let's start there. Talk to me about where you were right in the beginning as a singer and a songwriter and how that all came about.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (03:01.454)
Well, thank you for that introduction and this question. That's a great question because you think where did this all start? And honestly, when I was nine years old, I knew how many of you know what you want to do when you're that young? I did. I knew I would live in Nashville. I grew up in the Midwest here in the States. And I just knew that I was always a word girl. And honestly, I didn't know until my 20s that
Angela Vassallo (03:06.253)
You
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (03:31.51)
I could actually make money by writing songs for artists. I used to think that artists were the ones who wrote them and sang them. And so I moved to Nashville 25 years ago and just to pursue that passion and wrote with, mean, gosh, while my kids were babies, I would write two times a day with different artists, different uprising, know, upcoming artists that you didn't know who was gonna be.
Angela Vassallo (03:55.503)
Wow.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (04:00.938)
a hit or not, but I loved doing that process of taking a, I always say like a three hour movie in your brain and condensing it down to three minutes. But so yeah, I did that for several years here in Nashville and a couple, you probably, I don't even know if you'd recognize them because it's been a minute since they've been in the, on the radio, if you will. But there was a country duo named Joey and Rory. Joey actually passed away, but
I had a song on one of their albums and then there's a Grammy award-winning artist named Billy Dean. He was huge in the 90s, shows you my age, but he also recorded one of my songs that I co-wrote. And I have several independent artists who have recorded songs that I were a part of writing, the music and the lyrics. as a songwriter for me, I'm not only
Angela Vassallo (04:41.07)
You
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:00.672)
Was I doing lyrics, but also playing the guitar and playing at the Bluebird and all of those things. And it's a little bit of my past, but really that's what melted into what I'm doing right now as a messaging strategist for entrepreneurs. So that's how it started.
Angela Vassallo (05:07.194)
Wow.
Angela Vassallo (05:12.101)
Yeah, yeah, beautiful. It's all a transition, isn't it? And we'll get into all of that how you transition into your new career now. But who is your favourite country music artist? it like, think straight away when I think Dolly Parton, like, I don't know, is it? well, was just gonna say straight away, I thought I bet it's Dolly Parton. Because I think about when I think about songwriting, she was such a fabulous
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:19.35)
It is.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:29.774)
Yeah, is. A zillion. You nailed it. Yeah. Dolly Parton.
It is.
Angela Vassallo (05:40.289)
songwriter and she wrote for so many other people as well and obviously built a big career and a big business out of just you know writing beautiful lyrics and selling them.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:40.302)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:44.238)
yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (05:48.652)
Yeah, she's brilliant. I mean, a brilliant songwriter. I love the heart of what she puts out there. And I also, she's a business woman. I mean, talk about strategy. So she's always been my favorite. And in fact, you know what? I have not met her. I've been in the same circles and I've seen her, but I haven't officially met her. There's a lot of people, you know, living in Nashville, you see people all the time and it's so
Angela Vassallo (05:51.693)
Yeah, she is.
Angela Vassallo (05:59.599)
Sure is, yeah. Yeah.
Have you met her?
Angela Vassallo (06:11.523)
Yep.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (06:19.224)
People are so respectful. You really just don't go up to them. They could be right next to you at the restaurant and you just, don't bother them. But if I saw Dolly, I probably would go up to her. Yeah. Yes. zillion percent.
Angela Vassallo (06:22.191)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (06:30.981)
you'd have to say, darling, can I please get a photo? Can I please get your autograph? Something, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So do you see on the odd occasion Nicole or Keith walking around or Reese with us, but I know they all live in Nashville. Do you see them at all?
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (06:48.551)
I have seen Nicole, I have seen Keith, and I've never seen Reese. I've been into her store, but I haven't seen her.
Angela Vassallo (06:54.959)
Okay.
Angela Vassallo (06:58.445)
She has a store. didn't know she had a store. That's interesting. Yes, we are definitely going to come. And I've mentioned before that my husband has been singing Johnny Cash for a long, long time. And he's been in Johnny Cash band and his goal is to get to Nashville. I can't even believe we haven't been there, but we're coming.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (06:59.884)
Yes, you have to come to Nashville.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (07:11.438)
Can I just tell you?
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (07:17.966)
I can't believe you haven't been there and I just have to say this. My very first concert I ever went to was Johnny Cash. I was country before it was cool. It really was.
Angela Vassallo (07:22.255)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (07:26.659)
No way, was it? Wow. Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah. Now we definitely, yeah, I definitely, we definitely have to get over there and I know that he wants to go and sing a few Johnny Cash songs. And I think there's like a Johnny Cash like memorial like place or like museum. Yeah. So we'll definitely be going to that. that's so cool. Well, there you go. That's that.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (07:41.718)
yeah.
Museum.
Yes. I'll have to hear your heavy words.
Angela Vassallo (07:54.039)
Yeah, for sure. Well, that's our connection with Nashville. We'll definitely be heading over there at some point. So I guess the next question I wanted to ask you is how did you go from being a songwriter and, you know, being somebody that was a singer yourself and a musician, and then you've gone into being an entrepreneur, you guys went into your own business. I know you, your lovely husband, Kevin, and you have the Conquer Club, and you also have a concrepreneur.
Could you talk to me a little bit about, explain a little bit about what that is and how you guys help and serve people?
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (08:31.502)
Sure. I mean, those are great questions, Angela. And you always, how many of you just listening think, how did I get here? But much like you, Angela, I have reinvented just new seasons in my life. And it's been, some people are like, you know, isn't that so sad? I'm like, no, because I always say God uses everything from your past.
Angela Vassallo (08:40.087)
I'm...
Angela Vassallo (08:47.845)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (08:58.094)
to prepare you and position you for what you're doing now. So I've always been an entrepreneurial spirit. I mean, literally since my husband and I've been married for 31 years. And I remember when we first had our first baby, I was like, what could I do to bring in an income? And I created business cards and started tutoring company. so just, entrepreneur is something I think I've always been a creative entrepreneur.
Angela Vassallo (08:58.213)
Absolutely.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (09:26.198)
And I think that's just when you're creative, you figure out how can I generate an income and also impact. It's kind of always been that ebb and flow of those two things. so entrepreneurship, even in my songwriting, I owned my own publishing company. And that basically just means I got the publishing rights and money that I made as well as the songwriter.
Angela Vassallo (09:26.361)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (09:38.063)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (09:55.874)
that can get a little complicated, but all of that to say that turned, so I did my music all these years and loved it. The business changed a lot because of downloads and what you used to be able to make in royalties, selling albums, that didn't exist anymore. And the market started changing and I don't know, there was just a time where I was fine to write or not write. And then about,
Angela Vassallo (10:07.769)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (10:24.162)
Six years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and walked through a very, almost a two year, 18 month healing journey. And when you've been given the, as I say, the death sentence, you really just take a peek at everything. And I always knew there was something more. How many of you realize like, there's something more in you. And so,
Angela Vassallo (10:32.748)
Wow.
Angela Vassallo (10:49.881)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (10:51.352)
When I came out of that, I had an interior design business that was incredible. It was actually very successful. Just organically was going very well, but honestly I was burnt out. I was, I call it so stressful. I was tired, Angela. And, then yeah, you know that feeling. I know you've done a lot of those things. So all of that to say I transitioned out of that and accidentally, truthfully came across
Angela Vassallo (11:06.211)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I that feeling.
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (11:21.25)
this, a consultant, online consultant coaching, just like you are, who you are. And it changed everything. I was like, this is it. so Kevin and I immersed ourselves into learning this skill, really just learning what it's all about, but applying the skills we already know into it. So that's how I'm here with you today. It's been such a joy.
Angela Vassallo (11:26.853)
Yep.
Angela Vassallo (11:44.91)
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (11:48.377)
That's amazing. Yeah. you talk, look, the transition part of it all is so important because I think that we all transition, we all reinvent, we all evolve. mean, a lot of people think that you have to stay in the same career for, you know, certain party, majority of your life. And then there's certain things that will happen in your life, even like, I actually did not know that you had cancer. So, you know, that in itself is such a big thing and a big transition that you go through. And I'm sure
can only imagine the sort of things that you're thinking about and the changes that you would have to make in your life and you figure out what are the most important things, what are the things that matter to me and what are the things I don't want to do anymore I'm going to let go of to be able to you know step into this next chapter and be something that you know it gives me more joy, more purpose, more meaning because I think when you're confronted with something like that no doubt gives you this strength to think that
I'm going to do things differently. If I'm not happy, I'm going to make some big changes in my life and some big steps and big shifts that, you know, would obviously bring things into your life that would bring you more joy. talk to me a little bit about that. How was that for you when you were going through that? Were you thinking along the lines of that's that really is a big transition that I want to make sure that I'm doing things that bring me more joy, more, more, happiness, more, you know, contentment.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (12:49.603)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (13:07.106)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know how when you are in whatever season you are, honestly, I was happy. I was doing my life, doing everything felt felt good. We had gone through a really tough time. We had some financial struggles before that, and we had just walked through some really stressful season of our lives and then diagnosed with cancer and had to have.
Angela Vassallo (13:11.237)
Thank
Angela Vassallo (13:18.894)
Yeah.
Mm.
Angela Vassallo (13:31.14)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (13:34.922)
I actually flew everywhere. got four opinions and had to have 16 rounds of chemo. But even with that, honestly, Angela, I knew that I was going to be okay. I knew that I was healed, but I had to walk it out. And it was 18 months of really hard. I remember just one day literally crawling out of the bathtub. I couldn't even lift my eyelashes.
Angela Vassallo (13:53.423)
course,
Angela Vassallo (13:59.939)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (14:03.43)
And I just, you're not thinking about your future, you're just thinking about your present. And I just remember when I came out of that and my business started really doing amazing, but in the middle of that, I still was able to do some things with my interior design business. But after all of that, it was like, I just wanted to make more impact. And I knew that.
Angela Vassallo (14:09.989)
Mmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (14:28.866)
there was a higher calling for me. And most people like you said, think I gotta be here for 30 years or I'm climbing the ladder of success and then their kids are all grown or they're at the top of that ladder and they look down and they don't like the view. And so I was already happy and obviously not completely fulfilled, if you will. I just knew there was more and just prayed like, what's next?
Angela Vassallo (14:31.545)
Hmm.
Angela Vassallo (14:38.412)
Mm. Mm-mm.
Angela Vassallo (14:44.954)
Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (14:57.996)
And then we were introduced to a online consultant and didn't even really understand what all these, any of it. And to be honest, I thought I'm 50. Like what? I'm going to be on the, I'm going to be on screen of an internet. What? But I had to get myself out of the way, Angela, because it's not about me. It's all the people praying for solutions that you and I have. And
Angela Vassallo (14:58.383)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (15:20.441)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (15:26.564)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (15:27.744)
It's, and when you get yourself out of the way, that's when all the magic happens. It's like, this isn't even about me. This is about all the people who need what I have to offer what you have, you know? So.
Angela Vassallo (15:36.517)
Exactly. Yeah. beautifully said because you're absolutely right. That whole, even going through what you've been through, the strength that that's given you and the, and the, much you can share about that. Because there's so many women going through breast cancer and different types of cancers. And, you know, if you're, you know, you've got so much to offer and to help and serve people. And you mentioned
being 50, you know, it's so interesting you say that because women who do turn, you know, 50 and they think to themselves, okay, this is it, like, I'm kind of like at this point now, but I always say it's not about slowing down in your 50s. It's about speeding up. It's about figuring out what you want to do next. And you know, it's almost like this is your call to action now, because you go through all your challenges, your obstacles and your financial struggles and the
You know, paying the mortgages and the, and the kids and all the dramas and the health issues and all of that. And then you get to this point, it's like, well, what's next? Like you're in this beautiful position where you can take all of your expertise, all of your life lessons and bring them all to the table. And in that little package that you have there is so much wisdom. And once you sort of break out, break it out and you work out exactly how that can help people and you can serve people and can build a business from that.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (16:44.898)
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (16:59.439)
boom, it all starts to evolve from there. So yeah, the more I hear it now, women in their late 40s to 50s and 60s are figuring out their next chapter and understanding that they have more impact and that they can make a big difference in other people's lives as well from all of the wisdom and expertise that they have.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (17:08.782)
Mm-hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (17:13.998)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (17:21.058)
it's so beautiful, really, because I feel like I'm just getting started. My husband does too. We're like, are, I feel young. I feel vibrant. I feel all of those things. And yes, all the wisdom. the way I like to say it, Angela, is do you have a pie in the sky dream? And the P, the I and the E are your past. You know, what's gone?
Angela Vassallo (17:24.119)
Yeah, that's how I feel. Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (17:31.8)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (17:41.859)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (17:46.425)
Mm-hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (17:47.948)
before you, your I is your interest, and then your E is your experiences. You can take that pie in the sky and serve somebody else a piece of it. And that's what's so beautiful. And so that's how conquer, to go back to your question, that's how I had an idea. I was in a mastermind. I joined these masterminds. Listen, I invested in myself. Kevin and I invested in ourselves, just like you have Angela. That's how we met.
Angela Vassallo (17:50.181)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (17:59.961)
Right analogy, yes.
Angela Vassallo (18:14.351)
Mm. Mm. Mm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (18:16.744)
And we invested into high premium ticket offers, premium because we're premium people and we want to absorb and serve others at a premium level. And so we invested in ourselves. I always say it's just like a franchise. You're investing in somebody else's dream. Invest in yourselves, you know, and use that pie. And there's so much. And so that's how at a masterclass.
Angela Vassallo (18:35.525)
Yeah, absolutely. Invest in yourself.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (18:45.932)
I'm sorry, mastermind, had the idea of concrepreneur. I immediately trademarked it. And that was like, that was three years ago. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I knew it felt right. and so thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I tried.
Angela Vassallo (18:55.022)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (19:00.579)
Yeah, I love that name. It's very clever. I saw that it was trademarked as well. Well done. Very important for entrepreneurs if you come up with a great idea is to get that trademark.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (19:10.54)
Yeah, I just, you know, like they say, do it, do it fast, do it now. I knew it was a good idea. I knew it was a God idea. I didn't even try for it. It just like landed. So I trademarked it. Didn't know what I would do with it. Yeah. I think that as entrepreneurs, it's just like, I don't know what's going to happen with that. We just say yes. And then we keep going. And that, that started the company, the overarching brand, and then just kept saying yes, created this consulting business.
Angela Vassallo (19:22.597)
Mm-hmm.
Angela Vassallo (19:26.949)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (19:40.384)
And then, sorry about the dogs. You probably hear them barking. And welcome to doing working at home. So then we started the Conquer Club podcast and just really helping people. Honestly, a lot of people like you, Angela, we're just in our 2.0s. A lot of people we know, they're just pivoting into new seasons, new experiences, and we love it. I mean, it's amazing.
Angela Vassallo (19:43.847)
that's all right. I've got a too, it's all good. Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (20:07.213)
Yeah, it's a very exciting time of our lives because we're free. We're free to be able to figure it out and say, this is what I want to do next and take the time to actually think, what is it that brings me joy? What is it that I'm passionate about? What is it that I can do to serve people? And no, I love that. And I think you and Kevin do that so well. And your podcast is doing very, very well because you're interviewing so many great people and you're doing
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (20:09.966)
Yeah, it is.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (20:24.098)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (20:36.197)
you know, incredible things. And yeah, you're obviously loving everything that you're doing on the podcast too, because you can see that that you two work so well together, you bounce off each other. And it's really, it's really lovely to watch, you know, it's not just the fact that you're out there on your own building this business and being an entrepreneur, you're building this with your husband too. So, you know, it's great to see that partnership there for both of you.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (20:53.784)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (21:00.674)
Yeah, thank you. It's his, I know it's rare and he's still doing his own, he runs a company or co-partners in running a company, but, and we just decided to melt both of our skills together. He knows how to scale, but I have that messaging, hit message thing down with your words. And, you know, there's two things that I wanted to say, Angela, maybe you've heard this quote, it's by,
Angela Vassallo (21:04.984)
Yeah, it is.
Angela Vassallo (21:10.522)
Mm-hmm.
Angela Vassallo (21:21.669)
Mm. Mm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (21:30.114)
Kathy Lee Gifford, she says, if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. And so I think so many people, they retire and then they expire. But they have a whole second act. Their second act. they just, they don't know what to do. But there's so much, so many people for them to serve, for us to serve, for that. We're just a different kind of,
Angela Vassallo (21:35.417)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (21:42.457)
Yeah. Great quote. Yeah.
Yeah?
Angela Vassallo (21:51.162)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (21:56.261)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (22:00.846)
age, if you will. You know, somebody said that the Golden Girls, I don't know if you remember that show, but the Golden Girls, they were like in their 40s or something. And I was like, what? They look like they were 70. we're just... Yeah, it's crazy. for that, and then there's a song, there is one line in a song that Rascal Flatts, actually a friend of mine is a co-writer on it, but it says, don't leave the stage in the middle of a song.
Angela Vassallo (22:05.561)
Yeah, I remember the show.
Angela Vassallo (22:11.241)
Yeah, they made them have gray hair and they had the they sit their hair rollers and yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (22:30.72)
And so I think that we're just, you you're in your 50, you're in the middle of the song. Like, don't leave that stage. Don't leave the stage in the middle of the song. That song, your instrument, we always say, it's your voice and you have to use it until you can't. So that's how all of that has transpired.
Angela Vassallo (22:31.055)
Beautiful.
You're in the middle. We're in the middle. Second act. Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (22:47.621)
Yes. Yes.
Angela Vassallo (22:55.789)
Yeah, and your hit message that you talk about. So you help people create their hit message. And I think that obviously, you're if you talk about your experience of being such a great communicator and being a good writer, and you could really think about a whole story and bring it down to three minutes. And then so you're helping people now work out their absolute hit message and getting very clear on that. Because I think one of the other things is I think in this time of pivoting in a career or changing something, it doesn't
come to you straight away. And that's what I say to women in my program, be patient. Like it might take a little while to figure it out. And, you know, think about what your strengths are. Think about, look at people that, you know, you're, that you're inspired by, that are doing things that you are interested in. And then that might start to help you give the message. And then I think that if you can help people get clarity on that message,
that is where the confidence comes because clarity, if you don't have the clarity on everything, you're just all over the place, but the clarity is the key. But the clarity may take a bit of time to come. So do you find that with your, as an entrepreneur and you're dealing with people in your business, it just takes that bit of time to create that clarity, to get that message very, very clear. Because once you can cut through and your voice is heard, because there's a lot of voices out there,
it's the thing that's it's the key to everything, isn't it? And what you started six months ago can be completely different to where I mean, we know that ourselves as entrepreneurs, you know, things change, you're what you thought was on the right track six months ago completely changes a year later, you know, you're doing something, it's it's evolved into something new. And that's just part of the journey. That's just part of the whole entrepreneurial journey. So
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (24:31.938)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (24:38.862)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (24:46.766)
you
Angela Vassallo (24:48.685)
I'm intrigued to find out how you are with, you know, helping people, you know, clarity on this, this hit message, because I think you'd be someone that'd be able to really suck out the, you know, this message for people to help them, you know, become a lot more clear on that.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (25:03.66)
Yeah, yes, that's such a good question, Angela, because here's what, how many of you, I say this because this has been me, where you're just kind of, they call it the shiny object. Like, I'm gonna try that or you change your offer. You do all these things. I gotta get the funnel and da, da, da, da, da, da. And the truth is, it's your messaging. It's the clarity in the messaging. And when we would write songs years ago, we would,
Angela Vassallo (25:23.119)
Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (25:32.588)
We would say, okay, let's just write it. We gotta put it out, type it, write it down, the song. And then we would say, we gotta cut the fat now. And so we would cut all those extra words, all the stuff that wasn't telling the story, but we had to get it out first. And so just like in business messaging, you gotta put it all out there and then you cut the fat. I don't know if you've ever heard this, but you sell the sizzle, not the steak. It's the sizzle.
Angela Vassallo (25:38.436)
Mm-hmm.
Angela Vassallo (25:48.579)
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (26:00.259)
Yes, I've heard that before. Yes. Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (26:01.686)
Right? It's that spice. It's that that is what you're selling. so because of my history in that space, I was able to take that extracted. And it took a minute for me to even know it's really your unbecoming what all has gotten on you and your it's like the Michelangelo, you know, all the sculpture was in there all along. And it just is part of the process to get to the the
Angela Vassallo (26:15.055)
Mm.
Hmm. Hmm.
Angela Vassallo (26:25.668)
Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (26:30.9)
actual picture, the actual sculpture of who you already are. And so I've created, yes, a hit message masterclass that we have. And also I've created this AI avatar that is a, she is called Melody, the hit message maker where clients can put their information in this whole AI world. don't even have to know how to use AI and find what their
Angela Vassallo (26:35.749)
Hmm.
Angela Vassallo (26:51.621)
I'm not.
Angela Vassallo (26:57.209)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (26:59.988)
we always say, you need a phrase that pays. Just like Nike has just do it. What is your phrase that pays? I mean, they're not talking about the shoe, the phrase that pays. yeah, so we've created this, she's really a character, Melody, the hit message maker. Think of her as a hit songwriter, but for business messaging. And instead of doing all these other things, you can really land the plane.
Angela Vassallo (27:07.151)
I love it. Phrase that pays. So cool.
Angela Vassallo (27:16.719)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (27:25.696)
on what is your message for your program, for your product, for your offer and all that.
Angela Vassallo (27:28.239)
Hmm.
I love that, Tonya. That's great because that's so important. know, so many people you say, what do you do? And it's just hard for people to articulate it or have clarity on what they do. And they might tell you and at the end of it, I've got no idea what they do. And that is like, it's, how many times has that happened? I mean, I'm sure I've probably been like that myself in the past, especially when I, you came out of the restaurants and started my whole new online business. You know, I was trying to figure it all out and
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (27:44.814)
end.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (27:51.16)
total.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (27:54.958)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (27:59.045)
you know, getting clarity on my messaging and who my target market was and what I wanted to do. So I think that that's really, really clever. If you can do that the phrase, what was it the phrase that pays? Is it the phrase that pays? Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (28:10.178)
The phrase that pays every one of every one of our businesses has a phrase that pays. It's it's it's what
Angela Vassallo (28:18.083)
Yeah, yeah. It makes it simple. It simplifies everything. So in the chaos, it brings it down and simplifies everything. And I guess that that's the thing they talk about in in business and messaging is that if you can just speak to somebody almost like they're a two year old, so they get exactly what you're what you offer and what you're selling and who you are, then you'll be able to they're the ones that actually are able to convert faster because it's very, very clear.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (28:23.222)
It simplifies everything. It does.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (28:47.596)
Yes, and anybody can master their message. Anybody. It's just, you know, refining and fine tuning, no pun intended. But really you're just extracting in a whole, have you ever seen those, what is it, the arcades that have the big crane? I don't know if you have those in there. There's a bunch of stuff. Those, you you put the quarter in or how much ever it is now. But there's all these teddy bears in there and one crane is going to go down, grab it and get the
Angela Vassallo (29:04.825)
Yeah, it's my son has been a fortune in those things. Yeah. Yeah.
Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (29:17.068)
get that one and that's the winner. I think that's exactly how your messaging is. It's like all these teddy bears in this arcade and we help you just extract your message. And then once you get that, your marketing, it's not what you sell, it's how you say it that people will resonate. So, there's, like you said, Angela, there's frustration to your destination.
Angela Vassallo (29:19.3)
Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (29:42.498)
but that's part of it. The frustration to your destination is part of the process and most people stop and it's like, man, that crane was right there. You were getting the winning teddy, you know? So yeah, that's what we do.
Angela Vassallo (29:57.293)
Yeah, love it. Frustration to your destination, you are so clever with words and you could see how this cuts through and people remember it. They remember these because they these are clever words that rhyme that have a rhythm that are easy to remember that makes sense and it's easy. Like it's it's I'm yeah really learning a lot here from you. I'm sure that our audience is as well because
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (30:07.032)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (30:13.582)
Yes.
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (30:26.149)
I think if you can come up with something like that, a clever little hit message, a saying that gives you clarity exactly what you do, and then you put that everywhere, and you keep saying the same message all the time, people get it. that's what you're known for. That's what you do.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (30:34.678)
Yes.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (30:40.414)
Mm-hmm. That's exactly. Yes. Because people remember quotes, you know, and it doesn't have it. Also, it doesn't have to be clever. It has to be clear that there's and it can be clever and clear. That's when it really hits, especially if you see a keynote speaker and you're writing the things down. It's those it's those one liners. It's those quotes. It's those things that are so sharp that
Angela Vassallo (30:48.441)
They do.
Angela Vassallo (30:55.045)
It has to be clear, yeah.
Hmm. Hmm.
Angela Vassallo (31:05.861)
The one liners, yeah. Yes, they're so strong. Yep.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (31:10.104)
that take like five words, those, in fact, most business messaging, it's about seven words max that you don't want to go past. So that's what I help people do. It's really already in everybody, but we just distract it.
Angela Vassallo (31:18.285)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (31:26.969)
Yeah. Well, I think you've got a really, you've got a great skill. It's a skill set. I think that it is. And I think it's obviously, it started way back when you were obviously songwriting and you know, very clever with your words to where you are today. So again, you can see how somebody's, you know, their past and everything they've done can actually filter into where they are now. And it's like, you look back, you start to join the dots. okay. So all of that was part of my journey to lead me to where I am now. And that's what
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (31:54.03)
Totally.
Angela Vassallo (31:54.949)
It's a full circle moment for you where it all comes together to be able to use your songwriting in this messaging for your business. Love that.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (31:59.374)
Yeah, not-
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (32:03.542)
It's so true. nothing goes waste. I always say God, He'll use everything. Nothing goes wasted. And like you said, it's like the connected dots, you know, and then the picture shows up. I feel like that's where people stop on certain dots. And it's like, man, the picture was almost done, you know?
Angela Vassallo (32:10.487)
Nothing is a failure. No, it's a list. Yeah. Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (32:20.525)
Yes.
Yes, yes. And I think the other thing was, and I've been listening to this a bit lately on a podcast is that there's no such thing as failure. And I think some people, can be in business and they can be doing what they're doing. And then they either it doesn't work or the business can go under and they look at that as a failure instead of looking at that as lessons that you've learned from that, that you can bring into what you're doing now. I think that's so important because
It's not they're not failures. They're just they're they're what you needed to learn at the time you take what you've got there and you bring it in. Don't ever look at anything that you've done in the past as you know, a negative. Use it. You know, you've created these skills, you've got all these things going on, you use them, you know, you've you've done your hard yards and use that and bring that forward because you'll be so surprised when you reframe it and you bring that in.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (32:58.414)
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (33:03.225)
Use it.
Angela Vassallo (33:17.157)
you'll be so surprised how much you can use that in your business now and create a whole new career around it.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (33:20.75)
it's so true.
So true. always say, Kevin and I always say, failure actually is feedback. It's beautiful. Failure is feedback. It's what we need. it's actually, I always use the word, brutal. That's what I use in my healing journey through cancer. It's brutal and it's beautiful. It's all melted together. And feedback, failure feels, you know, we feel it, of course, but if we can use it to sharpen...
Angela Vassallo (33:28.835)
Of it is. Yeah. Yes. We know that,
Angela Vassallo (33:38.341)
Hmm.
Angela Vassallo (33:48.995)
Hmm. Hmm.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (33:51.981)
the next thing, we have to get to all those negative no's before we can get to, know that's right.
Angela Vassallo (33:58.425)
Yeah. brilliant. it's been so great to have you on here today, Tonya. We've just learnt so much and I see just the power of words. You know, I see how just by, you know, taking the time to think cleverly around these words and get them to be remembered in a way and bring those into your brand or your business with what you do. It can just change everything. So,
Yeah, like I've just really learned a lot from everything you've said today, Tonya. So thank you very much for that. You're a very clever, powerful lady entrepreneur, and you're doing incredible things out there in the world and impacting so many lives. And it's been great to have you on our show today. And before you go, just talk to me one more question. What are you doing in your life to bring harmony into your hustle? What one thing do you do?
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (34:51.79)
Goodness, that's a great question that I wasn't prepared for. I wasn't prepared for any of these. So what do I, how do I bring harmony in my hustle? Honestly, every morning I start my morning in prayer and Kevin and I together as a couple do something called Prayed Up. It's P-R-A-Y-E-D and it stands for praise, repent, ask, yield, envision and declare. It's an acronym that we created.
And we do it together out loud. We envision our future, the things we haven't seen. And we just pray together. that is how, you sometimes it's 10 minutes, because we're both hustling and getting into our day. And sometimes when we have more time to invest together, we do that for an hour. And it's so beautiful. I mean, we pray for our kids and their future and all those things, but...
Angela Vassallo (35:44.644)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (35:47.938)
That's the one thing if I start my day not in the hustle, but in prayer and envisioning and expectant, I'm always like, who can I bless today, Lord? Like order my steps. And he does. And that's how I create harmony in my day. Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (36:08.645)
Beautiful. Love that. Yep. And I can see how that would do that. Just that time in the morning to create that harmony and then start the day. And that is the thing. It will set you up for the dates. Absolutely perfect. And then you will attract all of the things that bring harmony rather than staying, starting in the chaos, which a lot of us have lived our lives in the chaos where we start the day, bring it back to creating that harmony.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (36:28.703)
this
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (36:33.038)
Yes.
Angela Vassallo (36:36.079)
and that harmony and the hustle. So that's beautiful. It's a lovely way to end the episode today and the show. And then thank you again, Tonya. And I hope your listeners all got a lot out of that today. I know I did. I know many of you would as well. And where can we find you Tonya? I'm gonna put everything in the show notes too, but if any of our audiences wanted to get in contact with you and maybe you could help them with some clarity on their messaging and that type of thing and the hit message, where would they be able to find you?
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (36:36.654)
Yeah.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (36:44.152)
Angela.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (37:04.974)
Well, you can find Kevin and I on our podcast, which this girl right here, Angela, is going to be on one of our, I don't know when this will be aired, but check her out. She's coming over on our side as well, but it's called the Conquer Club with Kevin and Tanya. That is our YouTube channel. And we have a lot of people, awesome, just golden nuggets like Angela left for us in our interview.
Angela Vassallo (37:18.657)
Yep, sure am.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (37:33.486)
That's where you can find us there. And we're on all the social media channels. You can find that at our YouTube. And then if you want to know how to create your own hit message, then conquerpreneur.com slash cashflow. I always say cashflow what you know, baby. So conquerpreneur.com slash cashflow is where all of our master classes are in understanding and learning and
Angela Vassallo (37:53.637)
I'll put...
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (38:03.096)
crafting your own hit message. So thank you for having me. We are just, I'm so grateful. You know, when you invest in yourself like this, Angela, you meet people like you. And it's been, that's where the, it's so beautiful. I mean, we're across the world. And yeah.
Angela Vassallo (38:14.936)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (38:18.787)
Yep. On the other side of the world, yeah. And we're, we've met and we are so aligned and so similar. And that's the thing when you do invest in yourself and you are with, I guess, top tier people that had these common interests that are like minded that are wanting to, you know, serve people and do great things in the world, then you'll meet them. That's where you meet them.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (38:38.904)
That's so true. You meet them. There's where the harmony, we all, it creates a beautiful song.
Angela Vassallo (38:43.022)
Yeah.
Angela Vassallo (38:46.709)
It does. Yes, and only you can do that beautifully. So thank you so much today, Tonya. It's been awesome. And yeah, and I will have everything in the show notes where you can connect with Tonya. But thank you for being such a great guest. And we look forward to seeing you next episode in Harmony in the Hustle. Bye for now.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (38:50.254)
Thank you so much Angela.
Tonya Stout, The Conquer Club (39:06.019)
Thanks.
