Selling from the Soul: Confidence, Grit and Purpose-Driven Success
Host: Julie Riga | Guest: Monique Iacobacci
What does it truly take to show up every day with confidence, resilience, and authentic purpose, even when doors are being slammed in your face? In this heartfelt episode, Julie Riga sits down with her longtime friend and powerhouse sales leader Monique Iacobacci to explore the mindset and soul-driven conviction behind over a decade of transformational selling. From polar-vortex cold calls on the New York City subway to becoming Business Development Manager of the Year, Monique shares the ingredients for success that no sales manual can fully capture.
Selling from the Soul: Confidence, Grit and Purpose-Driven Success
About the Guest
Monique Iacobacci is an Executive Business Development Manager for the number one professional skincare brand in the country, working with plastic surgeons, dermatologists, high-end spas, and aesthetic clinics. With over thirteen years in her field, she has broken sales records, earned Rookie of the Year honors, and helped transform New York City into one of her company's strongest markets. She brings analytical precision and genuine human warmth to everything she does.
Fun Fact: Monique's favorite food is pizza with hot honey pepperoni, a bold and unexpected twist that perfectly mirrors her approach to sales and to life.
The Three Ingredients for Success
1. Confidence in Who You Are and What You Know Walk in knowing your product, your value, and your purpose fully. Confidence is the clarity and conviction that you have something genuinely meaningful to offer. Without it, no strategy will carry you far.
2. A Service-First Mindset Approach every interaction with sincerity and a genuine desire to help. Selling stops feeling like selling when you show up as a trusted partner committed to solving your client's real problems.
3. Intentional Focus and Discipline Conversations drift. The best professionals bring them back. Stay present, stay purposeful, and always return to what moves the relationship and the result forward.
Filling Your Cup and Building Resilience
Monique's secret to sustained performance is a faith-anchored mindset shift: choosing to declare each day will be great, even when every instinct says otherwise. Her core philosophy: you are the brand. If your cup is not full, you have nothing to pour into others. Prioritizing yourself is not selfishness. It is the foundation of authentic leadership, confident presence, lasting impact, and purposeful living. Fill up so you can fully show up.
Key Takeaways for Leaders
- Fill Your Cup First - Self-leadership is the foundation of showing up with the energy and confidence that wins trust.
- Believe in Your Value - Conviction is contagious. When you know you can help someone, that certainty does half the work.
- Rejection Is Redirection - A no is rarely final. Treat every closed door as a not yet and keep nurturing the relationship.
- Ask Better Questions - The most powerful sales tool is a mirror. Ask questions that help your client see their own gap.
- Stay On Course - Keep learning, evolving, and challenging yourself every day. Growth does not stop when you hit your goals.
Memorable Quotes
"If my cup isn't filled, how am I supposed to pour into somebody else?"
"I felt like a doctor knocking on a sick person's door saying, here is medicine that you need and you just don't know it yet."
"Nothing worth it is easy. I will tell you that."
"Keep sewing into yourself and putting yourself first. That is what gives you the energy and the drive to keep going."
Connect with Julie Riga
- Website: julieriga.com/lead
- Social Media: @julieriga
- Coaching: Learn more about leadership coaching and transformation
This episode is a must-share for sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone building a career grounded in authentic growth, self-leadership, and purpose.
#StayOnCourse #PurposeDrivenLeadership #AuthenticGrowth #SalesLeadership #Ingredie
