Ponder With Ashley

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Sales doesn’t have to give you the ick.

If sales feels like the hardest part of running your business, you’re not alone. You probably don’t need another rigid sales script or someone else’s formula. You need to find an approach to selling that actually feels like you.

Joe Hinderstein is the founder of Joe Hinderstein Healthcare Consulting, an independent sales consulting firm primarily serving the healthcare industry. His work sits at the intersection of sales strategy, revenue operations, sales leadership, automation, and data enrichment.

In three years of building his own consulting business, Joe has helped clients transform how they sell, including helping one client go from a 2% close rate to closing six deals in a single week.

In this episode of Ponder With Ashley, Ashley Waddington and Joe talk about founder-led sales, generating leads, getting ghosted by prospects, building an authentic sales process, and what happens when you let the market help shape the business you’re building.

In this conversation:

💭 How Joe went from corporate sales to a failed startup and eventually built his own sales consulting business

💭 How one free client turned into three paying clients, then ten, and eventually a full business 💭 Why prospects ghost and what founders can do differently

💭 Joe’s three service pillars: go-to-market strategy, sales coaching and training, and revenue operations

💭 How commercial strategy, automation, and data enrichment can help businesses generate leads and close deals

💭 Why Joe approaches sales as a cheerleader, detective, and consultant

💭 How he put his sales knowledge into a Claude AI project and built a tool for his clients

💭 Why an authentic sales approach can be more effective than copying someone else’s process

💭 What Joe wishes he knew when he started his entrepreneurial journey

Whether you’re a founder struggling with sales, a consultant trying to generate more leads, a fractional building a pipeline, or someone considering leaving corporate to start a business, this conversation offers a different way to think about selling.

Connect with Joe Hinderstein: Joe Hinderstein Healthcare Consulting: www.joehinderstein.com

Connect with Ashley: Ponder This Consulting: www.ponderthisconsulting.com

Follow Ponder With Ashley for founder interviews, Pondering Prompts, Pondering Lessons, and practical business growth ideas worth pondering. 💭

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

How do you get your first clients when you’re starting a business or consulting practice?

Annia Mercado believes founders need to stop hiding behind their websites and start selling.

Annia is the founder of Unique Blend Consulting, where she helps early-stage founders build sales confidence, land their first clients, and create the systems they need to start generating revenue.

Before entrepreneurship, Annia worked in corporate banking and commercial credit, helping businesses with $10 million to $100 million in revenue secure funding to grow. Starting her own business taught her that understanding business and actually building one are two very different things.

In this episode of Ponder With Ashley, Ashley Waddington and Annia talk about what it really takes to get your first clients, overcome the fear of selling, and stop spending time on activities that feel productive but aren’t generating revenue.

In this conversation:

💭 Why getting your first sale should be a new founder’s priority

💭 Why founders hide behind websites, offers, and networking instead of selling

💭 How to build confidence in sales conversations

💭 The 80/20 rule of selling: 80% listening and 20% talking

💭 How Annia landed her biggest client within six months through her network

💭 Why the business you start is rarely the business you end up building

💭 What founders should consider before spending thousands on courses and programs

💭 Annia’s advice to her earlier founder self: “Get over yourself and stop working on the website.”

Whether you’re trying to get your first consulting clients, grow a service-based business, improve your sales skills, or make the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship, this conversation is packed with practical lessons from someone who has made that transition herself.

Connect with Annia Mercado:

Unique Blend Consulting: www.uniqueblendconsulting.com

Instagram: @uniqueblendconsulting

LinkedIn: Annia Gutierrez Mercado

Connect with Ashley:

Ponder This Consulting: www.ponderthisconsulting.com

Instagram: @ponderthisconsulting

LinkedIn: Ashley Waddington

Follow Ponder With Ashley for weekly founder interviews, Pondering Prompts, Pondering Lessons, and practical business growth ideas worth pondering. 💭

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Welcome to Ponder With Ashley, a podcast dedicated to helping entrepreneurs, founders, consultants, and business owners grow their businesses through practical strategies, authentic leadership, and real-world lessons.

In this introduction, Ashley Waddington, founder of Ponder This Consulting, shares her journey of building a consulting business from the ground up after being laid off. Starting with no referrals, no large network, and no shortcuts, she learned firsthand what it takes to grow a business through persistence, sales, marketing, content creation, operations, and continuous learning.

On this podcast you'll find:

✅ Business growth strategies

✅ Entrepreneurship lessons and founder stories

✅ Sales and marketing insights

✅ Content marketing and personal brand building

✅ Business systems and operations tips

✅ AI and technology for entrepreneurs

✅ Leadership and mindset discussions

✅ Interviews with successful founders and business owners

Whether you're starting a business, growing a consulting practice, scaling a service-based business, or looking for fresh ideas to move your company forward, this podcast is designed to help you think differently and uncover new opportunities.

If you're tired of cookie-cutter business advice and want honest conversations about what entrepreneurship really looks like, you're in the right place. Subscribe/follow for weekly business growth content, founder interviews, marketing insights, and practical ideas worth pondering. 💭