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Writer's pictureMandi Graziano

Book Tour--TOLEDO

I am back from events 2 and 3 from the book tour and still, no one has thrown an egg or heckled me yet. Fingers Crossed!

I am humbled by the help, support, interest, and general fun we had on the road.

My mom was my wing lady and the best partner in crime. She even wore her Top Salesperson Sash to each event. She packed us road snacks of sauerkraut balls straight from SIMONS, turkey sandwiches, veggies, and bottles of water. Away we went!

Toledo is 2 hours away from mom and dad's house in Cleveland so it wasn't a big road trip but mother nature had some plans for us. Although it was 70 degrees on Sunday and now snowing as we departed on Tuesday, none of it stuck and we missed most of the bad weather.


Maumee Indoor Theater: book tour event #2.

We pulled up to find my name on the marquee outside the building. It was spectacular to see. This little theater opened in 1946. It's rich with history, character, and cleanliness.


The format of this event was 3:30 - 4:30 I was to give a speech about my favorite topic: Business Bedside Mannerâ„¢. I love this topic so much that I trademarked it back in 2021. After the speech, we'd have some Q/A and then some drinks and light snacks sponsored by Destination Toledo. This event was planned and hosted by the Maumee Chamber of Commerce which is led by Colleen Tankoos .



Fun Fact about Colleen: She was my grand little in our Pi Phi sorority in college.

When Sales Tales came out last year she featured the Olympic Torch chapter release in her newsletter. When it was time to plan the Ohio Book Tour I rang her up and asked if the chamber would want to be involved. She said YES and then brought the event to life by finding a sponsor, inviting members, marketing it, and securing the venue. It was an honor to be there, and so heartwarming to reconnect with my grand little after all these years.


Five college pals from The University of Toledo showed up who I had not seen in almost 30 years. I also made friends with many new people who were engaged in the presentation, feverishly took notes and snapped pics of the slides.


The best moment of the event for me was when my big sister from PiPhi showed up with her adorable 9-year-old daughter. She lives in a community almost 40 minutes away from the venue and she showed up with her girl, listened, took notes and we hugged so hard so many times. I later learned her daughter is exactly one day older than my youngest niece. I wasn't expecting to see her and it was a nice surprise. After the event, mom and I cleaned up and we went to dinner. We met Shawna, Jen, and Colleen for dinner--all college gal pals who I adore. While we were dining at Stella's, we were surprised by our other college friends Jen and Mark Skeldon. I did not expect to see them at all because they had told me they had other commitments. They moved some stuff around, found some sitters, and surprised us at the restaurant.


It was wonderful. I know how hard it is for everyone to make space in their weekday to do this and was honored that they made time to show up. My heart was full.


SWEATworking TriFecta at DrivenFitness. Event #3 on the Book Tour.

I live for this sort of thing. In Sales Tales

I have an entire chapter on Networking.

The premise of the chapter is that networking doesn't have to be boring or about happy hours. It can be a volleyball game, a brisk walk, or a spin class. To put my money where my mouth is, I wanted to do a SWEATworking event while on the book tour to actually show the benefit.

My gal pal Shawna introduced me to Jodi, the owner of Driven Fitness back in December 2019. I emailed Jodi a couple of months ago, explained what I was doing and she said, "Sure, sounds great" Within a couple of weeks she created a registration link, a promo flyer, and away we went. She made the event FREE. She wanted to support a fellow entrepreneur, get people into the studio and bring people together to share our business stories. This is exactly what we did. Half the class started in spin class while the other was in TRX class. After 30 minutes of each, we swapped.

After the workout, we drank wine, had snacks, told stories of being in business,

I shared a couple of stories from the book and gave away some prizes. It was pure magic.



The big award of Toledo goes to my gal pal Shawna Bumpus.



SHAWNA: Toledo Event Winner, Forbes Top Lady, Joke Teller

She attended both events from start to finish. She engaged. She promoted. She brought people to both events and she made my mom laugh her ass off.



She was recently named on the Forbes list as Top Women's Wealth Advisors!

Congrats Shawna! I'll make you a sash just like mom's.


We sold books. We reconnected. We preached the word of Sales, Business Bedside Mannerâ„¢ and truly showed how deep relationships matter.


I was amazed at the commitment and generosity the organizers, owners, and attendees gave for both events.


Takeaways from both Toledo events

--Stay in touch with people you love--Do the work to stay connected

--Lift each other up-Celebrate other entrepreneurs

--Take the question "how are you?" & boring networking events off the table and replace them with clever greetings, events, and interactions.


Next up is Tony K's in Cleveland where we are doing a Break The Internet Audiobook Launch Party to celebrate the official launch of the audiobook version of Sales Tales. The Break The Internet Audiobook launch day lasts all-day April 22 so if you can't attend the event at Tony K's you can still help break the internet by buying the book online. I am so excited to see everyone that will be at the two events in Cleveland and the one event in Columbus. Three Book Tour stops down, Three to Go!!!


Thanks to everyone who has texted, called, shown up, and celebrated this Ohio Book Tour. It has been an honor to be here this long and I can't wait to see what's next...just still hope, no eggs or hecklers!



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