The Five Levels of Building a Successful Speaking Business with Erick Rheam

The Speaker Lab Podcast

The Speaker Lab

Authors, Public Speakers, Public Speaking, How To, Marketing, Smallbusiness, Coaching, Education, Entrepreneurship, Speaking, Business, Side Gig

4.8 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“You have to make sure you don’t lose the vision of what you started, because the team could begin and can take on a personality of its own. And if you don’t manage it, you can get off the vision of what brought you here.”

What does it really take to build a thriving speaking business? In this week’s thought-provoking episode, Grant Baldwin sits down with Erick Rheam to explore the practical strategies and mindset shifts needed for true longevity in this industry.

Erick, an established speaker with years of experience under his belt, opens up about his own journey: the early hustle, the inevitable challenges, and, most importantly, how he’s learned to balance ambition with sustainability. He and Grant get real about the myth of constant grind, explaining that putting in the hard work is necessary at the start, but staying stuck in overdrive isn’t the secret to lasting impact or happiness.

Instead, this conversation dives deep into the habits and boundaries that separate career burnout from long-term success. Erick shares how intentional routines, clear priorities, and strategic rest have shaped his evolution, not just as a speaker, but as a leader, husband, and friend.

If you’re dreaming about building a speaking business with staying power, this episode is packed with practical takeaways. Tune in for a refreshing look at what it takes to sustain your passion and make an impact for years to come. Whether you’re just getting started or already established, Erick and Grant’s discussion is a must-listen for any speaker ready to play the long game. Don’t miss it!

You’ll learn:

The defining characteristics, obstacles, and recommended advancements for the five levels of a professional speaking career
Level 1: The Aspiring Speaker
Level 2: The Amateur Speaker
Level 3: The Professional Speaker
Level 4: The Career Speaker
Level 5: The Legacy Speaker
Not taking the speaking journey for granted
The importance of being coached at every level
And much, much more!

“It’s fun when you do something that you’re really passionate about and aligned with, it’s amazing how every other part of your life starts to align once you figure out what that looks like.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Fran, Graham Baldwin here.
0:01.4	Hey, what if I told you that there was a single marketing asset that you could use to book tens of thousands of dollars in paid speaking gigs before you even have a website?
0:10.2	Well, that tool exists.
0:11.4	And Dan Irvin, one of the speakers on our team, used it to book over $36,000 in speaking gigs without a fancy website or any social media presence.
0:19.6	Even better, we're going to teach you exactly how
0:22.1	to create that tool for your speaking business in under an hour. For a limited time, we're going to
0:26.9	be offering a free live training on how to build and use this marketing asset to start booking
0:31.9	paid gigs in just a few weeks. If you want to hear more, go to thespeakalab.com slash marketing.
0:38.5	That's what you got to do is go to the speaka lab.com slash marketing and we'll see you there. It's a beautiful life that we have as speakers. And I never, I never take it for granted the fact that I get paid to travel to a place and to get on stage and to do something that I love with a group of people that I enjoy being around.
1:13.4	And it allows me to bless my family.
1:17.5	And it's fun that when you do something that you're really passionate about and aligned with,
1:23.4	it's an amazing how every other part of your life just starts to align once you figure out what that looks like.
1:24.7	And it's a beautiful place to be. And anybody that is even thinking about being a speaker, do it because I'm telling
1:30.3	you, it's unbelievable.
1:36.5	Hey, so, friends, Grant Baldwin here.
1:37.9	Welcome back to the Speaker Lab podcast.
1:39.5	Excited for today's conversation with my good friend and yours, Mr. Eric Ream, who has been on the show like a
1:45.5	billion times at this point, like 550, some episodes, and somehow he's managed to be on like
1:52.5	basically all of them in one way or another. So Eric, always good to have you here today. How are you,
1:57.2	my friend? Great. I'm doing fantastic. I was on the speaker trail last few weeks.
2:00.9	I got a chance to go to Nashville. Unfortunately, you were on one of your many trips, so I was unable to hook up with you, but I spent some time in Nashville, which was fantastic. And then from there, I went to D.C. That was fun. I was able to have a nice dinner right next to the White House. It was kind of cool.
2:15.6	I could feel the power.
	...

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