Episode 119
E119: From “Me” to “We”: Scaling Beyond Yourself with Alex Carter
What happens when your brand outgrows you?
Negotiation expert Alex Carter joins Erin Austin to share how she evolved from a one-woman powerhouse to the Ask For More Group expanding her impact while protecting her intellectual property. From hitting the limits of her own time to realizing “me, me, me” isn’t sustainable, Alex opens up about the real decisions behind building a legacy brand.
If you’re still winging it with your contracts or ignoring your IP, Alex’s insights and cautionary tales will have you rethinking how you safeguard your business for long-term success.
Key Takeaways
- From Personal Brand to Group Impact — Alex shares how she moved beyond a solo practice to build the Ask For More Group, expanding her impact while protecting her name and legacy.
- The “Me, Me, Me” Branding Trap — Learn why sticking to a personality-driven brand can limit your reach and why it’s crucial to shift to a scalable business model.
- Think Like a Scientist — Alex explains how adopting a testing mindset helped her experiment with new formats and offerings without fear of failure.
- When Capacity Hits a Wall — Hear the moment Alex realized she couldn’t deliver more without a team and systems to multiply her expertise.
- The Hidden IP Clause That Hurts — Erin and Alex unpack how seemingly small contract clauses — like recording or licensing rights — can cost you control of your work.
- AI & Protecting Your Voice — They discuss the rising threat of AI cloning your content and what steps you need to take now to safeguard your voice and likeness.
- Lessons Even Lawyers Learn the Hard Way — Despite being a negotiation expert and lawyer, Alex admits the missteps she made early on with her IP and contracts.
- Scaling with Integrity — Together, they highlight how to grow your impact without sacrificing your values, your sanity, or the unique value you bring to your clients.
More About Our Guest:
Alexandra Carter is the Everett B. Birch Innovative Teaching Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She is a world-renowned negotiation trainer for the United Nations, Fortune 500 companies, civil rights agencies, and more. In 2019, Professor Carter was awarded the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, Columbia’s highest teaching honor. Her first book, Ask for More: Ten Questions to Negotiate Anything, was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2020 and became an instant Wall Street Journal Business bestseller. Professor Carter is a frequent media commentator on negotiation and pay equity for women, with appearances on Good Morning America, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and MSNBC Live, Hardball with Chris Matthews, the CBS Early Show, and NPR Marketplace. Professor Carter’s TEDx talk, entitled “How to ask for more – and get it,” was released in July 2024, designated as an Editor’s Pick and then promoted to TED.com, where it has been watched by more than a million people worldwide.
Connect with Alex Carter:
Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/
Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos
Music credit: Paphos by Mountaineer
A Team Dklutr production
Transcript
Hello everyone.
Speaker:Welcome to this week's episode of
Speaker:Scaling Expertise, where we talk about
Speaker:scaling our expertise and we talk to
Speaker:experts who have scaled their expertise.
Speaker:This week I am super excited about
Speaker:my guest, Alex Carter, who I've
Speaker:had the pleasure of working with, a
Speaker:phenomenal woman, very successful, we
Speaker:are gonna have a lot to talk about.
Speaker:This could be very, very.
Speaker:applicable to your businesses.
Speaker:So before we dive in, welcome Alex.
Speaker:Thank you, Erin.
Speaker:I'm excited to be here.
Speaker:very impressive bio.
Speaker:We will have the bio with the episode,
Speaker:so I encourage you to go there.
Speaker:But, for here, Alex, would you
Speaker:introduce yourself to the audience?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:So yes, my name's Alex.
Speaker:by day I am a law professor.
Speaker:I teach mediation and negotiation,
Speaker:and in my quote unquote spare time,
Speaker:I also run a training and consulting
Speaker:practice called Ask for More.
Speaker:Where my colleagues and I travel
Speaker:all over the world and we basically
Speaker:help people and companies be heard.
Speaker:So, we help people learn the approach
Speaker:to negotiation that I developed and
Speaker:put in a book called Ask For More.
Speaker:And now that we've taught to
Speaker:many, many hundreds of thousands
Speaker:of people all over the globe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And just to add that, she is a negotiation
Speaker:trainer for the United Nations Fortune
Speaker:500 companies, civil right agencies,
Speaker:and more so she really knows her stuff.
Speaker:Well, thank you for joining us.
Speaker:So of course, this is the
Speaker:Scaling Expertise Podcast.
Speaker:So we will talk about negotiation,
Speaker:but I really wanna talk also about
Speaker:how you have scaled your business now.
Speaker:well, tell me, have you been in corporate
Speaker:or have you always been in academia?
Speaker:No, I have been in corporate.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So early on before law school, I worked
Speaker:for a very large investment bank in one of
Speaker:those, consummate corporate environments.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then after law school,
Speaker:I was a practicing litigator
Speaker:at a very, very large firm.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, very corporate environment.
Speaker:So yes, I, spent.
Speaker:I guess you could say close to 10 years
Speaker:working in a more corporate environment.
Speaker:And since then I've been in
Speaker:academia and became what I describe
Speaker:as an accidental entrepreneur.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well that is, so you understand
Speaker:the challenge of going from
Speaker:kind of selling your time.
Speaker:Certainly lawyers are notorious for that.
Speaker:and like making that shift to, you know
Speaker:what, you know, you're really good at
Speaker:what you do when you get in the room.
Speaker:You can be the genius, I call it, being
Speaker:the genius in the room where you get
Speaker:to the point where, know, if I want to.
Speaker:Grow.
Speaker:I can't always be the genius in the room.
Speaker:And that you need to find other
Speaker:outlets for getting people
Speaker:access to your expertise.
Speaker:And so tell us about, what led up
Speaker:to, how you became, you know, one,
Speaker:an author, two speaker, as well as
Speaker:developing your training programs.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Well, the speaking part came first, Erin,
Speaker:I realize looking back that teaching
Speaker:people and training and being at the
Speaker:front of the room facilitating learning
Speaker:is something that I have always enjoyed.
Speaker:If I go as far back, even as high school,
Speaker:I can see, the types of activities
Speaker:I was engaged in and the things I
Speaker:really liked to do, were in that zone.
Speaker:But it really started
Speaker:even in law practice.
Speaker:I one time gave a presentation to
Speaker:a group of partners on a, matter
Speaker:I was working on, and one of them
Speaker:at the end of that said, you're
Speaker:really great at the front of a room.
Speaker:We should be putting you in front
Speaker:of our associates and our clients.
Speaker:And she did just that, right?
Speaker:She saw something, so I think sometimes.
Speaker:we might be too close to our expertise
Speaker:even to know what we're good at.
Speaker:And so listen to the people around
Speaker:you as a lesson, I would say, that
Speaker:I've taken from my experience.
Speaker:So I started teaching there and that
Speaker:gave me the foundation to apply for
Speaker:a professor position at Columbia
Speaker:Law School where I went to school
Speaker:and got my jd. And I have to tell
Speaker:you, I was really shocked to get it.
Speaker:I remember thinking I have.
Speaker:not as much expertise as some
Speaker:of the people in the pool.
Speaker:but I focused on what I did have.
Speaker:I was young, I had vision.
Speaker:I had energy.
Speaker:I was closer to what the students needed,
Speaker:and I knew more of what they needed than
Speaker:many people who'd been out many years.
Speaker:and I traveled a path similar
Speaker:to the path that, many Columbia
Speaker:Law School students, take.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So I used all of that.
Speaker:And in 2008 moved over from
Speaker:full-time corporate law practice
Speaker:to full-time academia Thereafter.
Speaker:It's interesting, I think it was the
Speaker:next year I started getting calls
Speaker:from local law firms or other people
Speaker:who looked, I think Erin, they were
Speaker:going down the directory of who
Speaker:teaches negotiation related stuff.
Speaker:In New York.
Speaker:And who's a professor and
Speaker:who could we bring in?
Speaker:So I would start to get things here and
Speaker:there, but it was, really in around 2012
Speaker:that I started to notice a serious uptick
Speaker:in the number of inquiries I was getting.
Speaker:more law firms, more in-house
Speaker:departments, and then.
Speaker:The United Nations, they called
Speaker:me because someone canceled.
Speaker:Erin.
Speaker:They had a professor and a speaker who
Speaker:was scheduled to, give a presentation.
Speaker:That person canceled and they called
Speaker:me and I remember thinking, do I really
Speaker:like, I'm not an expert in the un.
Speaker:Can I do this?
Speaker:But, uh.
Speaker:I guess lesson two, I decided
Speaker:to bet on myself and I said,
Speaker:absolutely I can do this.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I gathered a lot of information,
Speaker:did a lot of homework, went
Speaker:in, blew the doors off it.
Speaker:They really loved my presentation.
Speaker:They invited me back over and over again.
Speaker:So it kind of grew organically.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That is amazing.
Speaker:And so from the part that grew
Speaker:organically to the part like, okay, I
Speaker:am intentionally going to the next step.
Speaker:I am going to create, assets
Speaker:that can be exploited without me.
Speaker:Like, was there a point where you
Speaker:kind of just felt, I. I've grown
Speaker:as much as I can in this role, or
Speaker:was there something else happening?
Speaker:I feel that all the time, Erin, I
Speaker:maybe I'm like your audience, but I
Speaker:don't have a super high risk tolerance.
Speaker:I have never been the person who's
Speaker:like, I'm gonna sell everything I
Speaker:have and I'm gonna go west, right.
Speaker:And figure out what I'm doing.
Speaker:I have always preferred to build
Speaker:things step by step, and in some ways.
Speaker:I'm being really honest here.
Speaker:Sometimes I don't take the next step
Speaker:until it's clear that I've hit a wall
Speaker:or that the place I'm at now mm-hmm.
Speaker:Is not working.
Speaker:I've got it.
Speaker:It's time for me to take that next step.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So I was doing a ton of speaking
Speaker:whenever I was not at Columbia, over
Speaker:the summers, over breaks, I was getting
Speaker:lots of calls and every single time
Speaker:I would step off stage, somebody
Speaker:would say to me, this was wonderful.
Speaker:Where can I read more about your work?
Speaker:And I realized that I was
Speaker:recommending other people's books.
Speaker:And so one day I just thought
Speaker:to myself, no, that's it.
Speaker:I'm not doing another event where I
Speaker:have to recommend somebody else's work.
Speaker:I'm gonna bet on myself theme.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And put what I know into a
Speaker:book, because I think there's
Speaker:a hole out there in the market.
Speaker:It turned out there was.
Speaker:I wrote a book proposal.
Speaker:The book sold, a lot of
Speaker:publishers wanted it.
Speaker:And so in 2020 asked for more was
Speaker:launched into the world, and that's
Speaker:when things really started to pick up.
Speaker:And up until that point, I had
Speaker:been completely a solo operation.
Speaker:I was doing speaking, I was
Speaker:invoicing, I was scheduling.
Speaker:And I realized that if I wanted
Speaker:to grow and scale, I had to bet
Speaker:on myself once again and hire.
Speaker:and so I started part-time.
Speaker:I ended up then with a full-time person.
Speaker:Then we needed another person,
Speaker:once again, I started full time.
Speaker:part-time, we scaled that to full-time.
Speaker:So today in Ask For More, we have,
Speaker:two full-time employees and a
Speaker:fleet of contractors and, workshop
Speaker:trainer collaborators and many,
Speaker:many people who contribute to
Speaker:making the enterprise what it is.
Speaker:But I built that all step by step.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:One of the things that many of us
Speaker:have trouble with is delegation.
Speaker:Like, can anyone else,
Speaker:do it as well as I can?
Speaker:And, you know, which is ironic
Speaker:because, part of what you do is help
Speaker:people, kind of grow in that way.
Speaker:But did you have trouble being
Speaker:able to let go and what did you
Speaker:put in place to help you get
Speaker:No, Erin?
Speaker:Not at all.
Speaker:yes, I sure did.
Speaker:I felt like I, built
Speaker:what I had accidentally.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Once again, I'm full-time, law professor,
Speaker:and so this was something that I fit
Speaker:into the corners of my day, my week.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:My month on breaks.
Speaker:And I think I was in denial about
Speaker:how many clients I had until I
Speaker:brought on a part-time person and
Speaker:she said, do you have any idea?
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You're really doing a lot of business.
Speaker:You need help.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I had a student around the
Speaker:time Ask for More came out.
Speaker:I had a very wise student who
Speaker:actually was around my age.
Speaker:He came back for a mid-career, LLMA
Speaker:Master's at my law school, and he
Speaker:shared with me one day his mantra,
Speaker:and he told me that his mantra when it
Speaker:came to delegation, but also thinking
Speaker:about what opportunities to pursue
Speaker:is this only do what only you can do.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I've used that as a
Speaker:yardstick so many times.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:on big projects I got an offer to write
Speaker:a textbook and I realized I really
Speaker:wasn't feeling called to do that.
Speaker:And I thought, is this what only I can do?
Speaker:No, it's not.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I'm gonna let that pass me by.
Speaker:I'm gonna pursue other projects instead.
Speaker:But also when I look at my
Speaker:week, I now thanks to myself.
Speaker:What are the things that only I can do?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And everything else is an
Speaker:opportunity for somebody else.
Speaker:So thinking about back when I was a solo
Speaker:person, I was terrible at invoicing.
Speaker:I really, I'm not great with scheduling.
Speaker:And we now have a wonderful senior
Speaker:executive assistant, Danielle.
Speaker:Who loves to do those things.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And is truly talented at
Speaker:keeping many, many different
Speaker:threads together and organized.
Speaker:She's in her zone of genius, so
Speaker:I can be in my zone of genius.
Speaker:We are partners together.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so I would say,
Speaker:repeat that to yourself.
Speaker:Only do what only you can do.
Speaker:And when you think about that and really
Speaker:drill down on it, you're gonna see that
Speaker:the amount of stuff that only you can do.
Speaker:Is actually pretty small.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And a lot of it is a tremendous
Speaker:opportunity for someone else.
Speaker:That is, I love zone of genius.
Speaker:I'm a huge believer, not only, for
Speaker:the reasons, for added value, but just
Speaker:'cause I'm really lousy at anything else.
Speaker:It's like, why it could take me all
Speaker:day to like, figure out how to program
Speaker:something or put something in a
Speaker:CRM, like, why, why am I doing this?
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:people think about scaling, I
Speaker:think they automatically, which is.
Speaker:you're such an interesting use case
Speaker:because I think, yeah, books like I think,
Speaker:feel like that's the first thing people
Speaker:think like to create some sort of digital
Speaker:or product that they can sell, but they
Speaker:forget that a huge part of scaling is
Speaker:also people having other people who can
Speaker:do something more efficiently or maybe
Speaker:sometimes just less expensively than you.
Speaker:Because we are the most expensive
Speaker:resource in our business.
Speaker:And so anytime.
Speaker:We delegate to another resource
Speaker:that we can stay in our zone of
Speaker:genius and do something with a
Speaker:greater, value than that scaling too.
Speaker:It's not just about, creating
Speaker:products, which I think really
Speaker:trips some people up sometimes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:know, I think there are so many
Speaker:different ways to scale and.
Speaker:If anyone else out there is an
Speaker:accidental entrepreneur like I am, I
Speaker:just wanna say that if, scaling revenue
Speaker:or scaling business feels intimidating
Speaker:to you, think about scaling impact.
Speaker:who is it that you want to help?
Speaker:who do you want to reach?
Speaker:And when I think about that.
Speaker:The fact that now, the most
Speaker:recent milestone in my business
Speaker:is the creation of what we're
Speaker:calling the Ask for More group.
Speaker:it's a recognition that I'm
Speaker:a limited resource, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:There's only so many places I can be
Speaker:at once, and I also have a family.
Speaker:I'm a mother of a teenage girl.
Speaker:I got a lot going on at home as well, you
Speaker:know, and many roles to play and thinking
Speaker:about the people that we want to impact.
Speaker:I knew that, I have many connections
Speaker:to people who are outstanding
Speaker:trainers and facilitators.
Speaker:I've worked with them
Speaker:closely for a decade or more.
Speaker:I know them, I know their values.
Speaker:Again, only do what only I can do is
Speaker:every speaking opportunity, something
Speaker:that I'm going to be best suited to.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Know it's not.
Speaker:So let's expand our resources.
Speaker:And I'll never forget, Erin, the,
Speaker:first time I saw one of my trainers.
Speaker:Delivering, a keynote.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And she comes from a different background
Speaker:than I do, and the way she could
Speaker:speak to people in the room mm-hmm.
Speaker:I could never have done it.
Speaker:I could never have
Speaker:achieved that same impact.
Speaker:And I remember looking at that,
Speaker:feeling so much happiness and pride
Speaker:and saying, this is why we scale.
Speaker:Opportunity for her, it's
Speaker:impact for more people.
Speaker:And frankly it feels like legacy for me.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Like leaving something behind
Speaker:that I hope will survive me.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So that brings up, Alex Carter is a
Speaker:brand and ask for more is a brand.
Speaker:And so how do you balance the
Speaker:two to make sure that you, have
Speaker:legacy honestly, in both places?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:that too has been step by step.
Speaker:Or you could say trial and error.
Speaker:I think sometimes the decisions we
Speaker:make as entrepreneurs, I'll speak for
Speaker:myself, can feel really weighty as
Speaker:though, if it doesn't go exactly the way
Speaker:I want, that I've failed in some way.
Speaker:And I like to tell myself and tell
Speaker:other people that this is all data.
Speaker:It's running an experiment, right?
Speaker:Like think like a scientist as
Speaker:you're running your business.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You're running experiments all the time.
Speaker:You're running experiments on
Speaker:branding, on pricing, right?
Speaker:On mission, on products.
Speaker:And so there's always room to say,
Speaker:well that was interesting here's what
Speaker:we learned, and how do we apply that?
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Initially, yes, the entire
Speaker:brand, was centered around me.
Speaker:the original website is
Speaker:Alex Carter asks a s ks.com.
Speaker:that was.
Speaker:Somewhat by necessity,
Speaker:Erin, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker:Can't get alex
Speaker:carter.com.
Speaker:Well, I could not get alex carter.com.
Speaker:That was taken by a very
Speaker:lovely coach for introverts.
Speaker:She looks fabulous.
Speaker:So, you go Alex and ask for more.com.
Speaker:I'm not sure how explicit we wanna get
Speaker:on your podcast, but it also features
Speaker:a brunette woman asking for more, but
Speaker:she's asking in somewhat of a niche area.
Speaker:that's great if you're catching me right.
Speaker:so I wouldn't recommend typing ask for
Speaker:more.com into the browser unless you're
Speaker:looking for something very specific.
Speaker:so we didn't do that.
Speaker:We ended up doing Alex Carter asks, and.
Speaker:It's so funny how an accidental thing
Speaker:like that almost ends up becoming
Speaker:the center of gravity of the brand.
Speaker:And indeed, a lot of what I was selling
Speaker:were my own keynotes workshops, even
Speaker:some digital courses that I recorded
Speaker:and, made available for purchase.
Speaker:And over time I started to
Speaker:think, there's a limit once
Speaker:again to my capacity as a person.
Speaker:And also, I'll be honest.
Speaker:Me, me, me is actually not my brand.
Speaker:The thing I love most is when I go back
Speaker:to my job at Columbia, it's training and
Speaker:empowering the next generation of people
Speaker:to soar higher than I have and to do more
Speaker:and to have more legacy and more impact.
Speaker:And so I wasn't gonna be
Speaker:satisfied just being Alex Carter.
Speaker:And so over the last year,
Speaker:that's when we decided that the
Speaker:Ask for More group deserved its
Speaker:own branding, its own website.
Speaker:And once again, we're
Speaker:taking that step by step.
Speaker:Initially, people would call for
Speaker:me and I would say, no, I, cannot
Speaker:go to, the far reaches of Europe.
Speaker:In April, I'll be in the classroom.
Speaker:Let me introduce you to someone fabulous.
Speaker:I've worked with for a decade and.
Speaker:We started booking people.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I mean, it was absolutely tremendous.
Speaker:It was, six figures in revenue on other
Speaker:trainers before the website was launched.
Speaker:So sometimes you just have to take the
Speaker:leap of faith when you run into a wall.
Speaker:Once again, this is how I make decisions.
Speaker:I've hit the wall of my own capacity,
Speaker:my time, my energy, my, devotion
Speaker:to my job at Columbia simply
Speaker:doesn't allow me to do all of this.
Speaker:So it's time to make a change.
Speaker:And we just started.
Speaker:And so now, we're gonna
Speaker:scale that as well.
Speaker:I want to be thoughtful about
Speaker:the people we're bringing in.
Speaker:We're keeping the number small, but
Speaker:we're looking to have a big impact.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So I mean, obviously when I talk
Speaker:about intellectual property, a lot
Speaker:of times when I talk to my guests,
Speaker:you know, intellectual property was
Speaker:always kind of a thing out there.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:But you, as a lawyer, I'm sure it was
Speaker:always top of mind, but how did you
Speaker:think about, as you grew your business,
Speaker:about how important like owning and
Speaker:controlling your own IP would be for you?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I, I grew up Aaron after law school.
Speaker:Every presentation I did, if I came
Speaker:up with new material right, I would
Speaker:put a, copyright at the bottom right.
Speaker:2025. Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Alexandra Carter in the
Speaker:Columbia Mediation Clinic.
Speaker:But you know, it's amazing even for
Speaker:a lawyer, I was told back when I
Speaker:sold my book, you can't, basically
Speaker:copyright the title of your book.
Speaker:But that was as much
Speaker:instruction as I was given.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And, it really took.
Speaker:a couple of years for me to think about.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I think there's more to think about here.
Speaker:And, I am a litigator.
Speaker:I did some intellectual property work,
Speaker:but I didn't do it on this individual
Speaker:level, and I need some help, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So, once again, limits of my
Speaker:own capacity, thinking about.
Speaker:Only doing what only I can do.
Speaker:And that's when through a network of
Speaker:entrepreneurs, I was connected to you.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And so once again, I would say even
Speaker:for lawyers, okay, the first thing they
Speaker:teach you in law school is hire counsel.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I mean, you know, you
Speaker:can't do it all yourself.
Speaker:Yes, you can achieve some synergies, but.
Speaker:I would say I was somewhat attentive,
Speaker:Aaron, but not attentive enough.
Speaker:And if I could go back, I
Speaker:would've hired help earlier.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because I think you, we see
Speaker:it even on TikTok, right?
Speaker:Somebody goes viral for something,
Speaker:one of these content creators,
Speaker:and then somebody comes in, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And trademarks.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then all of a sudden
Speaker:they've lost out on Yes.
Speaker:Tremendous upside.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Really, if you are out
Speaker:there as an entrepreneur.
Speaker:It's never soon enough to make
Speaker:what could be, a reasonable
Speaker:investment toward protecting
Speaker:you and your substantial upside.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, that's a great example, and
Speaker:this is a lawyer example there is a
Speaker:lawyer who, created, templates for
Speaker:online lawyers, for online businesses.
Speaker:And she used this term legally legit.
Speaker:And it was the first time I ever saw
Speaker:it and then suddenly I just started.
Speaker:Seeing it like everywhere.
Speaker:And if you look now, she
Speaker:doesn't use it at all.
Speaker:'cause I suspect she hadn't protected it.
Speaker:It became, she was kind of one of
Speaker:the leaders in the space and everyone
Speaker:started using the term legally legit.
Speaker:And so she had to like, okay,
Speaker:time move onto something new.
Speaker:But, yeah, the cobblers.
Speaker:Shoes.
Speaker:Is that the term?
Speaker:Like that?
Speaker:it's so true.
Speaker:It's so true.
Speaker:I can't tell you.
Speaker:I feel like half of the lawyers I know
Speaker:are the worst at reading the boilerplate.
Speaker:so yes.
Speaker:So higher.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Once again, make the investment.
Speaker:Very few lawyers are generalists.
Speaker:We know what we know and when someone
Speaker:ask me to do, I'm like, I don't dabble.
Speaker:I don't know it.
Speaker:I'm out.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:No, no.
Speaker:I got all kinds of calls after law school
Speaker:and I was like, no, I don't do traffic.
Speaker:I don't do criminal.
Speaker:Okay, so.
Speaker:Yeah, it's uh, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't know that anyone
Speaker:can even do that anymore.
Speaker:The law is so diverse and, I can't imagine
Speaker:anyone could be a generalist anymore.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Responsibly, frankly.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So how about contracts?
Speaker:So, oh, that's another thing that
Speaker:people, I. kind of don't worry
Speaker:about until something goes wrong.
Speaker:And I imagine a lot of people,
Speaker:they have corporate clients, they
Speaker:are handed a agreement by their
Speaker:corporate client and then they
Speaker:have to figure it out from there.
Speaker:And it's tough, you know, I mean, I
Speaker:haven't asked to review agreements
Speaker:that are, say, worth $10,000, but.
Speaker:I, you know, they pay me.
Speaker:It's a portion of that, and I know it
Speaker:can be tough, but investing in contracts,
Speaker:how, what are your thoughts about that?
Speaker:Oh, once again, mm-hmm.
Speaker:I wish I had done more sooner again.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because I have a legal background,
Speaker:I. I'm surrounded by lawyers.
Speaker:I did get somebody early on in my career
Speaker:who shared with me a draft contract
Speaker:she had, she had more experience
Speaker:than I did in the speaking space.
Speaker:And so, between that and some research,
Speaker:I had at least, a bare bones contract.
Speaker:Once again, I was a one woman
Speaker:operation, doing it all.
Speaker:and so I had at least
Speaker:some protection again.
Speaker:Also because of my background in
Speaker:litigation and as a mediator, I put a
Speaker:mediation clause in my contracts mm-hmm.
Speaker:That any disputes Right.
Speaker:We agree that we're gonna go
Speaker:to mediation first mm-hmm.
Speaker:Before we do anything else, so, mm-hmm.
Speaker:I, I do think that a dispute resolution
Speaker:clause is really, really, important.
Speaker:But I would say that I was less
Speaker:attentive to other things that
Speaker:would've been really helpful to me.
Speaker:For example, some clients
Speaker:like to record your, content.
Speaker:How long do they have
Speaker:permission to use it?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:At what point do they need
Speaker:to pay a licensing fee?
Speaker:I think now about certain clients that.
Speaker:Have my stuff in perpetuity.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I mean, fortunately I think the fact that
Speaker:I'm very captivating live has helped me.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You know, and sometimes people
Speaker:have called me back even, after
Speaker:having my stuff in their library.
Speaker:But I would say, tap your
Speaker:network as much as possible.
Speaker:I think the more people
Speaker:you can ask, because.
Speaker:I always say this, Aaron,
Speaker:conflict is a testing mechanism.
Speaker:Every issue you have is something that
Speaker:then it tests your contract, right?
Speaker:And how well you've drafted it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And half the time that I've
Speaker:made additions to my contract is
Speaker:because something came up, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So somebody canceled on me a week out.
Speaker:Did I have a deposit clause in there?
Speaker:I did not.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So that type of thing.
Speaker:so I'm very fortunate that I haven't
Speaker:had any major, issues at all.
Speaker:any disputes or problems relating to work.
Speaker:Thank goodness.
Speaker:I also didn't protect myself as
Speaker:well as now I know I could have.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I would say the most frequent
Speaker:mistake that I see in contracts is
Speaker:that the, remember to say that my
Speaker:preexisting materials stay with me.
Speaker:Mm. They got that right.
Speaker:But along with that, preexisting materials
Speaker:carve out will be a license to the client.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And how broad is that license?
Speaker:Is that license, in perpetuity.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Worldwide derivatives,
Speaker:righters of license.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You when I talk about this issue, I'll put
Speaker:up a, a provision, a sample provision that
Speaker:has this very broad, licensing language.
Speaker:And I'm like, if you look here, every
Speaker:single one of these rights are the
Speaker:rights that a copyright owner has.
Speaker:So you have just licensed for no
Speaker:additional fee, all the rights
Speaker:in that material that you have.
Speaker:And I see that, yes.
Speaker:Unfortunately too often.
Speaker:And so that was kind of pre ai,
Speaker:now it's still an issue post ai.
Speaker:But now, I recently just
Speaker:last week spoke to a client.
Speaker:It's like, I want something that
Speaker:says, you'll not put this in ai.
Speaker:It's not gonna be, digested via ai.
Speaker:and at the end of the day, I mean, we can.
Speaker:Take your stuff and make derivatives
Speaker:of it without ai, but people feel very
Speaker:sensitive about the idea that they're
Speaker:gonna take their speech or their writing,
Speaker:whatever it is, and put it into AI
Speaker:and create other materials from it.
Speaker:You, you know, because just
Speaker:the variety of things that
Speaker:can be made with AI instantly.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:so,
Speaker:oh, I mean, it's, unbelievable
Speaker:what people can create now.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So that's really interesting.
Speaker:I do think with ai.
Speaker:Potentially we're gonna have
Speaker:more help in drafting and
Speaker:reviewing our contracts, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because, there are tools that can help.
Speaker:And also you have
Speaker:professionals who can help.
Speaker:but it's gonna bring
Speaker:with it its own issues.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Every day,
Speaker:just the ability to recreate people's.
Speaker:Name and likeness.
Speaker:You know, even the, you and their voice.
Speaker:that technology's getting
Speaker:better every single day.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:People could create a keynote
Speaker:of me, like, put my stuff into
Speaker:ai and it could be bought Alex,
Speaker:That is truly dystopian, Erin.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah, that is true.
Speaker:That's
Speaker:very true.
Speaker:Well, this has been fantastic.
Speaker:Now tell me what is new and
Speaker:exciting happening at, ask for more.
Speaker:Yeah, so I would say, Erin, the
Speaker:thing I'm, most proud of this
Speaker:year is our ask for more group.
Speaker:So, and we were able to
Speaker:secure, ask for more group.com.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So remember, not ask for
Speaker:more, ask for more group.
Speaker:It's wonderful.
Speaker:And there you can see, all of the
Speaker:different areas of expertise, that we
Speaker:have under the Ask for More umbrella.
Speaker:So whether you are looking to speak to
Speaker:people in the legal space, we have folks
Speaker:with substantial big law experience,
Speaker:or people who have spent time in the
Speaker:nonprofit or the education spaces.
Speaker:We have lots of different expertises
Speaker:and backgrounds that mean that.
Speaker:You can have someone coming into your
Speaker:institution at a price that works
Speaker:for you and also with a background
Speaker:and experiences that are going to
Speaker:speak to the people in the room.
Speaker:It's something I'm
Speaker:really, really proud of.
Speaker:So that's the thing that I'm
Speaker:most excited about this year.
Speaker:Just have gotten tremendous feedback, from
Speaker:our, clients and looking forward to more.
Speaker:Fantastic.
Speaker:Well, I know people wanna follow
Speaker:you, find out more about you.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Ask for more groove.com.
Speaker:Where else can people find you online?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:So, you can't escape me, Erin,
Speaker:on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Speaker:I'm there so.
Speaker:Please do write me slip into the dms.
Speaker:Let me know that you listened to this
Speaker:podcast and what you took from it.
Speaker:And of course, I'm there on my
Speaker:website, Alex Carter asks.com.
Speaker:Last thing I would say is that, last
Speaker:year I delivered a, TEDx talk called
Speaker:How to Ask for More and Get it.
Speaker:It was actually promoted to Ted.
Speaker:and it now has more than a million
Speaker:views on, ted.com and related sites.
Speaker:So check it out.
Speaker:Fantastic.
Speaker:We will make sure we put links
Speaker:to that in the share notes.
Speaker:Thank you so much for
Speaker:joining me today, Alex.
Speaker:Very generous of you to share your
Speaker:time and your experience with us.
Speaker:Well, thanks for your expertise,
Speaker:Aaron, and it's been my pleasure.
