Hi. I’m Joy Rains, a career sales professional. I like to think that selling is part of my DNA, since both my father and grandfather were professional salesmen. I love the sales profession and the opportunities it brings for creativity, strategy, and connection with customers. In August 2019 my husband Bill and I launched the Mindfulness for Sales Professionals podcast.

With 70+ years of sales experience between us, we wanted to share some of the things we’ve learned along the way. Plus, we found that many of our conversations not only revolved around family matters, world affairs, and where we wanted to go for lunch—but also revolved around sales—so we decided to share those sales conversations in a podcast.

Our podcast focuses on best practices for selling, and how to integrate these techniques with mindfulness skills. Episodes are brief to fit into people’s busy schedules. In each episode, we spend about three minutes focusing on a skill, followed by a short guided meditation or visualization.

When I discovered mindfulness in the mid-1980s, I realized that it made a profound difference in my life. I became less  judgmental. Less stressed. More grounded. More accepting. Mindfulness made a profound difference in my professional life, too, as I easily reached sales goals well beyond my quotas.

After decades of study, I wanted to bring the benefits of mindfulness to others, and teach in a way that was simple, straightforward, and accessible. So I completed an 18-month contemplative leadership course and started offering mindfulness programs in the community and the workplace.

I’ve had the privilege of presenting programs in many diverse settings, including the INBOUND19 Conference in Boston (attended by more than 26,000 people!), Marriott International’s corporate headquarters, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. My intent is to offer people simple ideas and mindfulness exercises to reduce stress, increase focus, achieve goals—and ultimately, transform lives.

One-on-one mindful sales training

Now offering sales training to entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to learn how to capture more business. For information, please visit the training page.

Joy’s Background and Affiliations

  • Professional Speaker and Member of the National Speakers Association
  • Presenter for Key Seminars, a sales training company Joy founded in 1989
  • Facilitator trained in Mindful Schools Curriculum
  • Graduate of 18-month Contemplative Leadership Program at Shalem Institute, Washington D.C.
  • Facilitator trained in the Veriditas (“greening of the human soul”) method for teaching labyrinth walking
  • Certified Life Coach
  • Graduate of American University, Washington D.C.

Interests

  • Bill and I love to walk—in our neighborhood, on the C&O Canal, and on indoor and outdoor labyrinths. As the Latin phase solvitur ambulando says, “It is solved by walking.”
  • We love dogs. Over the years, we shared our home with three standard poodles. Many family pictures include a poodle, but we’re not always sure which one it was!  
  • Now that we’re empty-nesters, Bill and I enjoy binging on the occasional Netflix series.

Playing with Toby