Chapter 1: Rediscovering the Joy of Selling
When my now adult son, Nathan Shinn, was six years old, he was riding in his booster seat in the back of my car. He wanted to go to Monterey to see the aquarium. It was a place our entire family enjoyed and was about a 90-minute drive from home in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. Nathan was really excited about going to the aquarium.
Nathan: Can we go to the aquarium tomorrow?
Me: No, you have school
Nathan: What about after school?
Me: No. It takes too long to get there after school with traffic
Nathan: What if we went on Saturday
Me: No. Your sister has a soccer tournament
Nathan: How about we pick a day when she doesn’t have soccer and go then?
Me: Let’s talk about it when we get home.
As I was driving, I was thinking to myself, “As a sales trainer, this is an absolute clinic in objection handling and follow up skills! As his mother, he is wearing me down!!”
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When was the last time selling felt joyful? Think back—really back. Maybe you were six years old, running a lemonade stand on a hot summer day. You weren’t thinking about quotas, KPIs, OKP, objection handling or market trends. You were excited every time someone stopped, smiled, and handed over a dollar. Selling was simple. It was fun. It was natural.
That’s the energy we’re going to rediscover together.
Selling like a six-year-old isn’t about abandoning strategy or professionalism. It’s about reconnecting with the childlike qualities that made selling so effortless then and can still now: joy, curiosity, and unfiltered enthusiasm. Kids don’t overthink the “how” of selling. They dive into it. They are driven by the excitement of sharing something they love. Somewhere along the way, many of us lose that spark. The good news? We can get it back.
The Great Candy Bar Hustle
My first experience in sales came as a first-grader selling chocolate peanut butter bars for a Catholic school fundraiser. The grand prize? A trip to Great America amusement park. What could be a better prize for a six year old?I was determined to win. Armed with my St. Agnes school uniform, think blue plaid, a box of candy bars, and my dad as my wingman, I knocked on every door in our neighborhood.
“Would you like to buy a candy bar to help St. Agnes school?” I’d ask, big smile and wide eyes.
And it worked. People couldn’t resist. It wasn’t just the candy; it was my enthusiasm. I wasn’t afraid to ask, I didn’t know enough to be afraid. Selling was just a game, and every “yes” felt like hitting the jackpot.
When I won that trip, I didn’t just gain a love for roller coasters—I learned that selling could be exhilarating. I also learned that people want to help when asked. People were kind, suppotive and always smiled back at me. It’s a lesson I’ve carried with me ever since, even when the stakes got higher and the products more complex.
As adults, we pile so many layers onto selling—fears of rejection, concerns about being pushy, and worries about results. But kids don’t carry that baggage. They approach selling with a beginner’s mind, open to possibility and unburdened by fear.
Throughout this book, we’ll explore how to bring that same joy and energy into your sales process.
You’ll learn:
Embrace curiosity
relax about the perfect pitch
ask more questions
enjoy the discovery process.
Find joy in the “game”
Celebrate every conversation
Enjoy the competition
Learn new strategies
Rekindle your enthusiasm
Be genuinely excited about what you’re offering
Enthusiasm contagious!
Selling like a six-year-old doesn’t mean ignoring professional techniques or strategies. It means infusing them with the kind of energy that draws people in to learn more. Remember: people don’t only buy products or services—they buy the energy and confidence you bring to the table.
Ready to rediscover the joy of selling? Grab your lemonade stand or candy bar, metaphorically speaking, and let’s get started.