The Bulletproof Entrepreneur™

Stacey Hanke Teaches You How To Become An Influential Leader

Stacey Hanke is author of the book; Influence Redefined…Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday®.

Stacey is founder of Stacey Hanke Inc. She has trained and presented to thousands to rid business leaders of bad body language habits and to choose words wisely in the financial industry to the healthcare industry to government and everyone in between.

Her client list is vast from Coca-Cola, FedEx, Kohl’s, United States Army, Navy and Air Force, Publicis Media, Nationwide, US Cellular, Pfizer, GE, General Mills and Abbvie. Her team works with Directors up to the C-Suite. In addition to her client list, she has been the Emcee for Tedx.
She has inspired thousands as a featured guest on media outlets including; The New York Times, Forbes, SmartMoney magazine, Business Week, Lifetime Network, Chicago WGN and WLS-AM. She is a Certified Speaking Professional—a valuable accreditation earned by less than 10% of speakers worldwide.

Learn More: www.staceyhankeinc.com

Peter J Scott Of Human Cusp Discusses How Artificial Intelligence Will Change The Jobs Of The Future And What You Can Do To Prepare Yourself

Peter J. Scott is a thought leader, author and sought-after keynote speaker. He received a master's degree in Computer Science from Cambridge University and worked for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an employee and contractor for over thirty years.

His role at NASA involved helping advance our exploration of the solar system. Over the years, he branched out into writing technical books and training. At the same time, he developed a parallel career in "soft" fields of human development, getting certifications in NeuroLinguistic Programming from founder John Grinder and in coaching from the International Coaching Federation.

In 2007 he co-created a convention honoring the centennial of the birth of author Robert Heinlein, attended by over 700 science-fiction fans and aerospace experts, a unique fusion of the visionary with the concrete. Bridging these different worlds positions him to envisage a delicate solution to the existential crises facing humanity.

In this episode, we discuss the impending challenges artificial intelligence poses to the survival of humanity. As A.I starts to become more commonly used, many jobs and career options face the risk of being eliminated.

Peter, realized that the world his kids will live in will be fundamentally different from the one he was raised in. Therefore, he decided to create a framework and philosophy to help them navigate the future

He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two daughters, writing the Human Cusp blog on dealing with exponential change.

Resources
Human Cusp - www.humancusp.com

Book - A Crisis Of Control

Gary Morton Teaches You How To Develop A High Performance Culture By Harnessing The Excellence Of Your Team

Gary Morton is a distinguished author, keynote speaker and best selling author. His new book   "Commanding Excellence: Inspiring Purpose, Passion, and Ingenuity through Leadership that Matters."  narrates  his experiences working with high performance teams.

As a distinguished graduate of West Point, Morton learned firsthand how to deliver exceptional results. Then as a platoon leader and tank commander in Army Task Force 4-68 and later, as a young vice president at the medical device manufacturer Stryker, he trained under two legendary leaders who, despite their different styles, followed nearly the same steps to achieve results which most considered unattainable.

In today’s episode Gary is going to teach you how to create a high performance culture in your organization by leveraging time tested and battle hardened principles.

You’ll also learn the following.

Establishing absolute clarity of purpose

Empowering an obsession to achieve a goal

How to unleash creativity, focused on reaching the peak

Transforming the worst performing unit in the U.S. army

The importance of having a clear and specific purpose

Outside-in thinking

Strategies for cracking well-guarded markets

How being different can be your competitive advantage

 

Gary's Commanding Excellence book

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Gary's website - www.igarymorton.com

Gary's book: "Commanding Excellence: Inspiring Purpose, Passion, and Ingenuity through Leadership that Matters"

Stryker.com

Moran Pober Shares The Secrets To Acquiring Profitable Businesses At Discount Prices

Moran Pober's focus is on helping business owner's find success and strengthen their momentum. He is the founder of ABD Assets. He is former IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier and has had extensive dealings with many entrepreneurial projects. Aside from ABD Assets, he has also founded iTips, which was a top 100 app in 100 stores around the world including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. He has carried out extensive consulting assignments with many companies and he is an expert on how to become a major investor, and how to buy and save businesses like Marcus Lemonis

Benny Parihar Of Cryo.com Discusses How To Grow The Fastest Growing Cryotherapy Business In World

Benny Parihar is the co-founder of CRYO, the fastest growing retail cryotherapy business in the world. He and his co-founder Kai Stubbe launched their first facility in the most unlikely location in the world.

Dubai, UAE, known as the crown jewel of the middle east and home to a very thriving economy with a cosmopolitan population, proved to be a formidable testing ground for the concept of using cryotherapy as means of facilitating wellness and recovery from physiological ailments.

Within a few months, the venture took off thanks to some savvy marketing and premium positioning. It turned out that people from the royal family to ordinary citizens loved the idea of being able to experience extreme winter conditions in a country that is known for having temperatures as high as 50C.

In our conversation we discussed how they launched the business within 90 days of coming up with the concept, the many obstacles the faced in getting things right, their launch and positioning strategy, competing with larger companies in the space, creating vertically integrated businesses, international expansion via franchising and much more.

I hope you listen, learn and take plenty of notes. We covered a great deal about the cryotherapy business.

Resources
www.cryo.com
www.cryosc.com
www.linkedin.com/in/bennyparihar

Joe Carlen Shares A History Of Entrepreneurship And Why Everything Old is New Again

Joe Carlen is the co-founder of Value Guards, LLC and a practitioner of business valuation, patent valuation, and market assessment. He has consulted for hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies over the past fifteen years including Westinghouse and Unicom Technology.

 

He has a Masters of Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon, is a Certified Valuation Analyst, and has an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2008, he was asked to co-author From Lifeguard to Sun King, the bestselling biography of Banana Boat founder Robert Bell.

 

Subsequently, he wrote The Einstein of Money, a comprehensive biography of Warren Buffett’s mentor Benjamin Graham – for which he had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Buffett. His newest book, A Brief History of Entrepreneurship: The Pioneers, Profiteers, and Racketeers Who Shaped Our World was published by Columbia University Press in late 2016.

 

Learn more: https://value-guards.com

Vern Oakley Teaches You How To Use Video Marketing To Grow Your Business

Vern Oakley is  an award winning film maker, teacher, speaker and thought leader. He’s the CEO and Creative Director of Tribe Pictures, a leading film production company that helps CEO and top level executives tell their  stories through the awesome power of video.

Vern Oakley has produced and directed films that drive high performance culture for the Global Fortune 1000 for over 30 years. He’s the author of the new book Leadership in Focus: Bringing Out Your Best On Camera, which helps business leaders convey their authenticity on camera.

 

Resources:

• Vern’s Website: VernOakley.com
• Vern’s Book: Leadership in Focus: Bringing Out Your Best on Camera
• Website: TribePictures.com

Chris Dayley Teaches You How To Close More Deals By Optimizing Your Website

Chris Dayley is passionate about helping businesses learn what their users want on their website, through psychology based testing, and analytics. He started his conversion optimization agency, Dayley Conversion, in 2014, which he later merged with Disruptive Advertising, where he currently works as vice president of site testing and optimization.

Joe Kashurba Shows You How To Build A Fast Growing Digital Agency While Dealing With Haters On The Road To Success

Joe Kashurba grew the freelance web design business that he started in high school into a digital agency with a virtual team and clients around the world. He went from building $300 websites to building $30,000 websites and managing 6-figure digital advertising budgets. He now advises and mentors other freelance web designers and agency owners.

Hans Finzel Discusses The Top 10 Ways to Be A Great Leader

Hans Finzel is a successful author, mentor, speaker and trusted authority in the field of leadership. Hans has trained leaders internationally on five continents.

He and his wife Donna founded HDLeaders in 2012 where he serves as President. Before that, Hans completed twenty years as President and CEO of international non-profit WorldVenture. Hans and his wife Donna spent ten years living in Vienna, Austria while training leaders throughout Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain before the fall of communism.

He earned a doctorate in the field of leadership from Fuller School of Intercultural Studies and had served on the Board of Trustees of Columbia International University (CIU.EDU) for twenty years.

He is the author of ten books, including his bestseller The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make(David C Cook) and his newest release Top Ten Ways To Be A Great Leader(David C Cook). His books have been published in over twenty foreign languages.

In this podcast, we talk about his about his life's work and his new book on leadership.

http://www.hansfinzel.com/about/

Steven L Blue Of Miller Ingenuity Teaches You How To Transform Your Business And Survive In A Changing World

 

Steve Blue is a pre-eminent business growth & transformation strategist. He has over 40 years of experience helping companies survive and thrive in almost any business environment. He’s the CEO of Miller Ingenuity, a 60-year-old rail safety company he's helped transform into an international technology powerhouse.

In his long and illustrious career, he has seen and solved every single problem there is in business. He notes that most CEOs and entrepreneurs fail because they don’t prepare for bad times when things are going well, and they don’t ruthlessly control operating expenses daily.

In addition to the many activities Steve participates in the business community, he also sits on the board of several nonprofit organizations and shares his wisdom by contributing articles to Entrepreneur, Forbes.com, Inc.com, Fortune.com, Success.com, American business journal, and several industry magazines.

In this episode, he shares actionable business tips that can be implemented right away to see immediate results. We talk about transforming your business, preparing for the impending disruption and competition from A.I, brainstorming, and leadership.

If you're interested in learning from Steve, you can check out his award-winning & bestselling books listed below.

- The Art Of Success which he co-wrote with Jack Canfield
-American Manufacturing 2.0
-The $10 Million Employee
- Burnarounds

Steven L. Blue
Miller Ingenuity

 

Mac Prichard Teaches You The Secret Art Of How To Find Your Dream Job

Mac Prichard is the founder and publisher of Mac’s List, an online job board for people looking for rewarding, creative, and meaningful work. He's also the founder of Prichard Communications, a fast-growing PR firm that helps clients in the non-profit industry. Mac has had a long and illustrious career in the public and private sector, but his passion lies in helping people succeed in finding their dream jobs.

With over 100,000 visiting Mac's list every month it's easy to see why Mac is highly regarded in the business world. Mac also hosts a weekly podcast called, “Find Your Dream Job” which is listened to by listeners from around the world. He is the author of the new book, “Land Your Dream Job Anywhere.”

What you’ll learn about in this episode

Proven strategies for success in every industry
How to decide what to say “yes” and “no” to every day
Habits that will shorten your path to success
How to tap into the hidden job market and much more

How to best connect with Mac:
https://www.macslist.org/bulletproof/
Email: mac@prichardcommunications.com
Twitter: @mac_prichard
Website: www.macslist.org
Book and free book chapter: www.macslist.org/onwardnation
Website: www.prichardcommunications.com

Ace Chapman Teaches You How To Become A Master Of The Universe By Buying Companies For Fun & Profit

Ace Chapman is the founder of Ace Chapman Business Acquisition Consultants. He bought his first business when he was nineteen, a stock market simulator called CoolWallStreet. After selling it, he realized that there were benefits to buying already running businesses as opposed to starting off from scratch and thus began his adventure into the world of private equity.

He dabbled in investing in the markets for a while but began to lose money at an alarming rate. He then decided that he needed to work on honing his skills in the business world before continuing on his own. He took advantage of an opportunity to work in corporate America but gradually realized that the prospects of the future were very limited in a 9 to 5 setting.

He took some time and spent a good bit of money investing in mentors and then jumped back into buying businesses. In his career he has bought and sold over 25 businesses and seen hundreds if not thousands of companies. Ace notes that the key is to find the diamond in the rough. So while he may go through 100 companies just to find the right one, there are other factors that may affect the deal.

In this episode we discuss the strategies he uses to identify winning companies, how to put a deal together and how to pay for a company even if you don't have any money. Ace has taught a lot of his students to replicate his system and now invites you to sit in on our conversation so that you too can learn how to become a “Master  Of The Universe”.

Lyndsay Phillips Shares How Companies Can Improve Their Performance By Working With VA Partners

Lyndsay Phillips is the founder of Smooth Sailing Business Growth. She's a self-confessed organizational freak and appointed task master, project ninja and warrior VA for life & business coaches, accountants, and other online entrepreneurs across North America.

With the help of her amazing team of highly skilled and talented VA's, Smooth Sailing supports emerging entrepreneurs who are seeking fast-paced business growth but have finally realized that they can't-do it alone.

That’s where Smooth Sailing Online support comes in to save the day. They eliminate the stress most business owners hate and keep the business running at a steady pace. In this episode, Lyndsay shares some of her success tips and strategies for helping clients stay on track.

The main advantage of working with Lyndsay is that business owners get to work on their business while Lyndsay and her team keep things running smoothly and efficiently in their business. It's an insightful interview with plenty of actionable points.

Dr. Linda Sharkey Discusses Trends And Opportunities Of The Futureproof Workplace

OVERVIEW

Linda is the Global Managing Director of Achieveblue Inc.. She's  a proven leader with experience in Fortune 10 companies building teams and driving talent development initiatives that support productivity and company growth. She has specific expertise in culture transformation, developing high potential leaders and building scientific and data supported talent processes that yield better leadership capability. She is an internationally recognized expert on global leadership development. Her co- authored book Winning With Transglobal Leadership was named one of the top 30 best business books for 2013. She also co-authored Optimizing Talent with Dr. Paul Eccher. Optimizing Talent is a groundbreaking work spelling out proven steps to build a talent rich organization. This book has been cited as a must read for every leader who knows talent is the real competitive advantage. Her latest book, The Optimizing Talent Workbook, will be out this spring.

Dr. Sharkey is an inspiring keynote speaker at many global events. She is currently leading the Global HR Academy with the Conference Board, and she was a keynote speaker at the World Human Resources Development Conference in Mumbai, India. Linda was honored to be recognized at this conference with the “Super Women Achievement Award” for 2013.

She has a reputation as a no nonsense executive coach that enables those she coaches to show measurable behavior change in the eyes of others.

CURRENT POSITION

Linda currently is Global Managing Director for Achieveblue Inc., a boutique consulting firm specializing in global leadership and talent development and cultural transformation. Linda brings a unique set of tools to Achieveblue and her work focuses primarily on applying scientific methods to human capital strategies that correlate to business outcomes.. Additionally, Dr. Sharkey is a Founding Member of the Marshall Goldsmith Group, a premier executive coaching organization that shows measurable improvements in those they coach.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Most recently Linda was Chief Talent Officer and V.P., People Development at Hewlett Packard, responsible for establishing and driving the company’s talent management initiative, performance management processes, career development, executive staffing, coaching, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion efforts. In this capacity she launched an executive development process that resulted in key actions to drive a high performance culture. She refocused the diversity efforts to be part of the mainline talent management initiatives and embedded them into the core processes of the company.

Prior to HP, Linda was with GE and held numerous Senior Human Resources and Talent Management roles. She established a leadership development effort for GE Capital that became part of the Crotonville offerings and was named a best practice by CEO Jack Welch. She led several key cultural integrations and established a coaching process for executives, developed HR professionals as coaches and personally coached many senior leaders.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND EDUCATION

Linda is widely published in the area of leadership development, culture change and executive coaching. She is frequently a keynote speaker at company events, Linkage, Talent Management Magazine conferences, Conference Board and the Organization Development Network. She holds a PhD in Organization Development from Benedictine University, MPA from Russell Sage College and a BA in History from Nazareth College. She is a past two term member of the Academy of Management Board for OD as the scholar practitioner.

BOARD & PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Distinguished Fellow, Center for Global Leadership Development, The Marshall Goldsmith School of Business, Alliant UniversityAdjunct Professor – Benedictine University, Naperville, IllinoisExecutive Board Member of The Academy of Management Organization Development and Change DivisionFormer Advisory Board Member of CatalystFounding Board Member, Best Practices Institute

Linda Sharkey, Ph.D.Dr. Sharkey is a trusted transformational expert and speaker. She is the co-author of The Future-Proof Workplace and specializes in helping businesses prepare for the future. She is also an HR Executive and Business Strategist with experience in Fortune 10 companies coaching and developing leaders and teams and driving talent development initiatives that support productivity and company growth. She is a founding member of the Marshall Goldsmith Group focused on helping successful executives become even more successful.

Lee Caraher Discusses Millennials, Management, and More. Oh, My!

Lee Caraher Discusses Millennials, Management, and More. Oh, My!

Lee Caraher is the CEO of Double Forte PR & Digital Marketing; She's an acclaimed communication strategist known for her practical solutions to complex problems. Double Forte works with some of the top consumer and technology brands in the USA & around the world.

Lee is the author of “Millennials & Management” and “The Boomerang Principle” both books were written based on her experiences in the marketplace.

Lee has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who have fun together at the same time. She is a straight talker who doesn’t hold too many punches, although she does her best to be pleasant about it. Her big laugh and sense of humor have gotten her out of a lot of trouble.

Lee is active in the community and currently serves on three nonprofit boards.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

Lee’s background and journey
What Lee and Double Forte did to survive the market crash
How that crash forced Double Forte to become exceptional at customer service
Why they changed their model from only hiring people with 10 years of experience to hiring people straight out of college and what their balance of employees under/over 30 looks like today
How Lee’s experiences were failing and then succeeding at retaining Millennials led to her publishing “Millennials & Management.”
Why you have to have millennials in your business if you want to have a future
Why you need to work on creating an environment where your Millennials will thrive
Creating a culture where employees are appreciated
Why you need to explain to Millennials why they need to do things
What “A Players” look like to Lee
How Lee finds her “A Players” and what Double Forte does to use them effectively
Running an alumni program
What Double Forte’s interview process looks like

Ways to contact Lee:

Website: www.leecaraher.com
Twitter: @LeeCaraher

Amy Bruske Of Kolbe Corp Teaches How To Build A Winning Family Business

Amy Bruske is an internationally renowned author, sales trainer and keynote speaker. She's the president of Kolbe Corp, a top level consulting firm that helps family owned businesses around the globe achieve optimal efficiency, increase profitability and enhance corporate and personal success.

Amy rose from humble beginnings at the Jenny Craig corporation to become a divisional supervisor responsible for sales training and operations for different regions in the USA.  She transitioned to Kolbe to help lead the company's sales and sales training efforts. Over the years her responsibilities and profile grew and today she serves as a key member  of the executive team.

She's the co-author of BUSINESS IS BUSINESS: Reality Checks for Family-Owned Companies and is a highly sought after keynote speaker helping business leaders around the world. She was recently named Business Owner of the Year by the Phoenix chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

In this episode we discuss Amy's entrepreneurial journey, the challenges she's overcome, what it's like working in a family owned business (her step-mom, noted entrepreneur and thought leader Kathy Kolbe founded the company) and lots more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ty Crandall Of Credit Suite Shares How Small Business Owners Can Grow Their Businesses Using Business Credit

Ty Crandall is an internationally renowned speaker, author, teacher, coach, and finance mentor/business credit expert. He is the CEO of Credit Suite, a fast growing finance company that helps small business owners and entrepreneurs understand and utilize the untapped power of business credit.

He has over 20+ years of financial experience in business credit building, business credit scoring, and business credit repair. In addition to helping people solve their financial problems, he’s a highly acclaimed author and has written several books including  Perfect Credit and Business Credit Decoded.


When not hosting his popular podcast The Business Credit and Finance Show, Ty is a frequent guest on several nationally syndicated radio shows and TV programs. He’s also a contributor and frequently quoted expert on several publications including Entrepreneur, Inc, and Forbes.

In this episode, we covered Ty’s experience in the USAF, how he got into finance, how to establish and use business credit to grow your business and the appropriate steps to take to repair broken personal and corporate credit.

As always Ty’s high energy personality shines through this episode and you get to learn a lot from the master. Listen and enjoy.

Tom Mulliez Teaches Digital Junkies How To Experience Life Changing Adventures

Tom Mulliez is the Founder and CEO of iTREKKERS. He founded the company in 2014 after realizing that there was a need to create a platform where people can access the wonders of nature and the outdoors without the stress. Tom and his team are bringing together vetted professional captains and guides that make the outdoor adventure experience fun and memorable.

 

iTREKKERS is a combination of Tom’s desires to share his love of nature and to simplify the process of booking guided outdoor activities. His mission is threefold: to get people to experience the outdoors through iTREKKERS; to help people get outdoors, period, by providing useful tips and referrals; and to educate people about the outdoors and ways to be mindful.

 

Resources

www.itrekkers.com

https://twitter.com/iTrekkers

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommulliez/

Barbara Annis Discusses How Companies Can Create Breakthrough Growth Using Gender Intelligence

Barbara Annis, Founding Partner of Gender Intelligence Group (GIG), is a world-renowned expert on Inclusive Leadership through Gender & Cultural Intelligence, advocating the value and practice of this new type of leadership in Fortune 500 companies and numerous organizations worldwide. Her insights and achievements have pioneered a transformational shift in cultural attitudes across the globe on the importance of gender unity to organizational success.

Barbara began her career as the first women in sales at Sony and became the first woman Sales Manager with 14 Outstanding Sales Achievement Awards and Sony’s MVP Award.  Over the past 27 years, Barbara Annis and her 51 global associates have facilitated over 8,000 corporate workshops and conducted thousands of leadership assessments and executive coaching sessions. GIG has introduced breakthrough research on the practice and benefits of inclusive leadership and gender diversity.  Additionally, GIG offers diagnostics, workshops, and coaching sessions both onsite and online.

Barbara Annis is chair emeritus of the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School and was recently conferred the International Alliance for Women, Lifetime Achievement Award. Her extensive studies have included work with exceptional thinkers such as famed psychologist Dr. Virginia Satir, Dr. Fernando Flores, Director of the PhD program in Linguistics at Berkeley University, and Dr. Willis Harman, Founder and President of the Noetic Sciences Foundation.

Barbara has produced four transformational books:

Her latest book, Gender Intelligence: Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line (May 2014) co-authored with Dr. Keith Merron, represents the culmination of twenty-seven years of gender-based research and global practice that uniquely apply cutting-edge brain-based research to the workplace.  It offers leaders the mindset and systemic changes needed to transform their organizations, bridge the gap between men and women at all levels of leadership and management, and in the process, create more inclusive and productive organizations.

 

She is also the co-author of Results At The Top: Using Gender Intelligence To Create Breakthrough Growth.

What if your company could gain a greater profit share of the market simply by promoting more women into its senior management team? Sounds like a no-brainer, and despite nearly every study done in the past three decades proving companies with women leaders deliver superior performance, the number of women in the C-suites of companies all over the world is noticeably low. Results at the Top is written for the men who know the value female leaders bring to the table and need a tangible way to get them there.

Whether you're building your leadership team from scratch or trying to transform long-established norms for a competitive advantage today, the practical guidance inside wastes no space with blame for the current state of women leaders and goes straight to the immediate steps organizations can take to change it. It gives you everything you need to both create the internal systems for promoting gender diversity on every step of the career ladder and motivating employees to celebrate its shared, bottom-line benefits.

Up-to-date viewpoints don't confuse equal with same and go in-depth into the scientific differences between men and women that can complement each other to produce higher performing teams. Along with neurological variances, there are societal behaviors men and women need to recognize and substitute with more productive and advantageous ones. Through eye-opening research and illustrative examples from the real world, both sexes gain a deeper understanding of how we got here and the pioneering systems companies in the highest echelons of their industries are using to evolve leadership development all the way to the top. This everyday guidebook will immediately change the way you approach work with:

• A powerful new evaluation method for assessing the source of gender diversity in a company's leadership
• Concrete strategies men can use to champion greater gender diversity along with ways men and women can improve collaboration in order to run better organizations
• Focused coverage on addressing gender diversity with Millennials—and don't be surprised when you find they're not so different

The most satisfying part of Results at the Top is watching your company's performance soar as gender bias disappears.

 

Stephanie Chung Discusses The Art Of High Ticket Selling & How To Sell 1 Billion Dollars Worth Of Private Jets In A Recession

Stephanie Chung is an executive coach, trainer, speaker, author, and mentor. As the head of Stephanie Chung and Associates, she and her team offer high ticket sales coaching, sales training, and executive mentorship services that help sales executives work smarter.

Growing up in a military family, Stephanie spent her formative years as a professional new kid. Her family moved every two years to a different city, state & country as a result of her Dad’s military deployment. She quickly learned how to adapt to new situations, build relationships fast and blend into her environment. She also acquired a love for airplanes which led her to a career in the aviation industry.

Though she started her career in sales at an early age, Stephanie noted that nothing prepared her for what she would have to do to make sales in the aviation industry. She felt helpless when her boss gave her a sales target of $25 million in her first year in private jet industry.

Not one to back down from a challenge, Stephanie dug deep and found the will to take on the challenge head on. She put herself through a rigorous self-study program and learned from the world’s best masters in sales & marketing. She became so good that she rose quickly within the ranks of her organization and eventually led her team to make $1 Billion worth of sales of private jets during the great recession of 2007 - 2011.

In this episode, cover Stephanie’s entrepreneurial journey, the steps she took to learn the art of high ticket selling, how she came up with a strategy that led to $1 Billion worth of sales and how she helps clients succeed in the industry. You’re going to want to take plenty of notes because this is probably the most action packed interview you’ve heard in a long time.

Stephanie Chung
Tw & IG @CoachStephChung

Books

Profit Like A Girl by Stephanie Chung

Embrace The Suck by Stephanie Chung

 

Peggy Caruso Discusses How You Can Revolutionize Your Life.

Peggy Caruso is the Owner of Life Coaching and Beyond, LLC. She is a Certified Executive & Personal Development Coach, Advanced Relaxation Therapist, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Master Practitioner, author and 8-time entrepreneur with 24 years experience.

Her ‘Revolutionize’ series has been approved as a registered trademark and inclusive of that are her previous books, Revolutionize Your Life and Revolutionize Your Child’s Life. Throughout her professional career, she has helped not only countless professionals but numerous children rid themselves of depression, ADD, and ADHD medication.

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss Peggy's life story and her entrepreneurial journey. We also talk about Peggy's work as a life coach and some of the problems people face in the workplace and how to overcome them.

Resources

www.LifeCoachingandBeyond.com

Felena Hanson Of HeraHub Shares How To Turn Adversity Into Fuel For Success

Felena Hanson is a long-time entrepreneur and marketing maven. She is the founder of Hera Hub, a spa-inspired shared workspace, and community for female entrepreneurs.

With branches across the U.S. and international locations in the works, the company provides a flexible work, and meeting space that fosters a cooperative & productive community where business owners can thrive and succeed.

Felena founded Hera Hub with the belief that women are the future, and they will be responsible for the next wave of prosperity across the globe.

Hanson had her first taste of entrepreneurship when she was just eight years old. Since then her 20-year career has spanned from technology start-ups to digital marketing agencies, and her client list includes DirecTV, Epson, CNN, and Union Bank.

She has been nominated for numerous awards and won the 2012 “Women Business Owner of the Year” award and the 2014 “Women Advocate of the Year” award. In 2014, she also won the “Small Business Champion of the Year” award.

Hanson and Hera Hub have been featured in Inc. Magazine, BBC News, Forbes, and The New York Times. Her new book Flight Club - Rebel, Reinvent, and Thrive: How to Launch Your Dream Business, outlines tools and resources to help women in every stage of starting their business.

In this episode, we discussed her life story, entrepreneurial roots, business, success principles and plans for the future.

 

Resources

 

www.herahub.com

Rex Conner Of Mager Consortium Discusses How Businesses Can Profit From Applying Common Sense In Their Operations

In this episode of The Bulletproof Entrepreneur podcast, we discuss how businesses can profit from applying common sense in their operations with Rex Conner.

Rex is the co-founder and Lead Partner of Mager Consortium, the company which Dr. Mager (a pioneer and thought-leader in the management consulting world) has entrusted with teaching his workshops and managing his publications.

Rex's career started in the US Air Force where he was an Instructor Pilot/Flight Examiner and earned a Masters degree in Curriculum & Instruction and a Doctorate in Flying Instruction from Air University.

He retired from the Air Force and went into management consulting. During an eight-year stint as a corporate trainer in a financial services company, Rex learned the CRI methodology and has since been a practitioner, coach, trainer, consultant, and advocate for it in over 50 businesses in more than a dozen industries during the last 20 years.

As the lead partner in Mager Consortium, Rex and his team help businesses by teaching them how to apply common sense principles in various aspects of their operations. From hiring & onboarding to succession planning and everything in between, Rex shows companies how to use the CRI methodology to get results that drive profitability and reduce costs.

In this conversation, we discuss some common areas where companies fail to apply common sense and what they can do to correct their mistakes. There are a lot of actionable tips in this episode so listen, learn and take plenty of notes.

 

Resources

Mager Consortium

What If Common Sense Was Common Practice In Business?

AJ Wilcox Of B2Linked Discusses How To Grow Your Business Using The Awesome Power Of LinkedIN

AJ Wilcox is a digital marketing master and performance marketing entrepreneur. He's the founder of B2Linked, a company that specializes in helping companies acquire customers from LinkedIn.

He spent the early part of his career learning PPC and working for large enterprises and then transitioned into entrepreneurship.

Though the beginning was rough, AJ persisted, and today his company is one of the leading agencies in customer acquisition. He and his team use proprietary marketing strategies to ensure that their clients get the highest ROI possible for every $1 spent on ads.

When AJ is not helping companies fuel growth, he is a frequent guest/contributor on podcasts, social media conferences, and blogs.

In this episode, we discuss AJ entrepreneurial journey and success habits and discuss practical applications of LinkedIn Advertising.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

Why LinkedIn marketing offers high ROI on advertising for B2B
The best way to craft a LinkedIn marketing campaign
The mindset, strategy, and tactics of a winning campaign

And lots more. I hope you listen, learn and take plenty of notes.

Resources:

Twitter: @WilcoxAJ
Website: www.b2linked.com

Bob Glazer Of Acceleration Partners Discusses Performance Partnerships And The Future Of Affiliate Marketing

Serial entrepreneur Robert “Bob” Glazer is the founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners, and the founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. He has an exceptional track record of helping companies grow their revenues and profits using performance-based affiliate marketing.

In this episode, we talk about how entrepreneurs & businesses can implement performance-based marketing techniques to grow their businesses. Inc. magazine has recognized his company as one of the fastest growing companies in America 5-years in a row.

Mr. Glazer is a highly sought after speaker for business & marketing conferences, and a contributor to many large publications including Success.com, Entrepreneur.com.

Bob is a recipient of numerous accolades including the Boston Business Journal “40 under 40” award, the SmartCEO Boston Future 50 award, and a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in New England.

When he’s not working with clients or writing articles and blog posts, Bob serves as an active member of several non-profit organizations including the Board of Directors for BUILD Boston, Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) and The Fifth Night (www.fifthnight.org).

Every Friday, Bob writes an inspirational post for his friends, family, and employees on his website Friday Forward (www.fridayfwd.com).

Resources
www.accelerationpartners.com (our site)
www.performance-partnerships.com (book website with free chapter download and affiliate grader 5 min test)
www.robertsglazer.com (my site)
www.fridayfwd.com (my weekly inspiration blog)
http://amzn.to/2qUd5QM (book link on Amazon)

Bobby Klinck of Klinck LLC Teaches You How To Protect The Most Valuable Asset In Your Business

Robert "Bobby" Klinck - is an entrepreneur, author and intellectual property attorney, who helps entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators protect their intellectual property. You might be wondering what the big deal is about intellectual property? Consider this, Coca-Cola's secret formula has a value of nine-figures or more. And economists have estimated that sixty-seven percent of the value of Fortune 500 companies has been directly traced to intellectual property (also known as Intangible Assets i.e. Trademarks, Tradenames, Trade Secrets, Patents, and Copyrights).

In this episode, we discuss his life story and the road that led him to entrepreneurship and his work with entrepreneurs. We discuss his experiences working as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting bad guys in Texas, clerkships with famous and illustrious judges and the events that led him to start his law practice despite being on track to make a very comfortable living.

When I asked him about his biggest failure, I was shocked to hear that despite being a highly trained Harvard Lawyer with many years of experience, he still managed to make the same entrepreneurial mistake that Mark Zuckerberg & countless others have done.

This got thinking that as human beings we all make mistakes. Our brain knows what to do, but our heart sometimes doesn't cooperate with our brain. Nevertheless, you should still do everything to ensure that the right thing is done at the right time.

And for many entrepreneurs, the right thing means protecting their number #1 assets even if they are working with friends and family. Bobby helps us break down the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make with their intellectual property and the steps they can take to fix it. The information he shared is so compelling that he put it in a book and made it a free download on his website.

I hope you listen, learn and take plenty of notes. The future of your business could depend on your knowledge of some of the principles you hear today.

Resources
https://www.klinckllc.com
Linkedin.com/in/RobertKlinck

Todd Tresidder Discusses How You Can Achieve Financial Freedom Using An Unconventional Approach

Todd Tresidder is a former hedge fund entrepreneur who figured out a process of how to achieve financial independence fairly quickly. His method worked so well that at the young age of 35, he retired from active work. A little over twenty years ago in his estimation.

He proved that by using math and applying common sense, anyone can achieve financial freedom regardless of their industry, profession, resources, connections or lack thereof.

But he wasn't satisfied with just making money alone. After some self-reflection and soul-searching, he realized that he wanted to leave a legacy when he was gone. At the encouragement of his wife, he took steps to start sharing his wisdom. He got so good at helping people achieve their dream of financial independence, that he had to stop his coaching program because he couldn't meet up with the demand.

That's when he decided to create a platform where people can have access to his teachings and training, and thus FinancialMentor.com was born. FM is a place where you can learn about the three paths to financial freedom, and how you can apply esoteric principles like Expectancy to determine the likelihood of success of any venture. It productizes all of Todd's accumulated wisdom from a lifetime of research and makes it readily available to anyone with a hunger for learning.

In this fast paced episode we discuss everything from his morning routine, success habits, asset allocation, wealth building, product creation & monetization and biggest regret. Todd holds nothing back and gives you concrete steps on how to go out there and achieve your dreams. He's the author of 5 personal finance books and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, IBD and more.

Resources
www.financialmentor.com
How Todd's Worst Investment Made His Rich
The War of Art – Todd’s Favourite Business Book
18 Essential Lessons of a Self-Made Millionaire – Todd’s book

 

 

Greg Edwards Of Thug Notes Teaches How To Be Creative On Demand

Greg Edwards is a fast rising comedian based out of Los Angeles California. Born and raised in Newport News, Virginia, he discovered his comedic talents early and with the support of his family moved West to pursue his ambition of becoming a stand up comedian.

He’s known for his his distinctive voice, one-liners, fearless views and thoughts on the social commentary in America. He currently stars as "Sparky Sweets, PhD" in the critically-acclaimed youtube web series, Thug Notes.

In the show, he uses street language to distill, disect, analyze and summarize classic literature. He’s a fixture on the comedy scene and has worked with comedians like Dave Chappelle, Paul Mooney, Patrice O'Neal, Damon Wayans, Bill Bellamy, W. Kamau Bell and many more. In addition to starring in thug notes, he hosts a weekly free comedy show, "The Workout Room" and "Blame It On Social Media" I'm pleased to have him on the show today to discuss, his life, occupation, social justice issues, UFOs, relationships, and the art of being creative on demand.

In this episode we talk about everything from sports,comedy, dealing with the police, UFO encounters, advice for aspiring comedians and creative artists, the evolution of education  and lots more. So listen intently and take plenty of notes.

 

Thug Notes

053 Change Your Life Using The Power Of Decisions with Jim Palmer

Jim Palmer is a business & marketing expert and an in-demand business coach and consultant. Though he started from humble beginnings and spent many years in corporate, he turned his prior experiences into valuable assets which have helped him build many highly profitable & lucrative businesses including “The Dream Business Coach,” No Hassle Newsletters, Stick Like Glue Radio and lots more.

However, things were not always so good. At one point Jim was unemployed for over a year and spent at least 14 months fighting for his life as a result of a cancer diagnosis. Rather than give up and feel sorry for himself, Jim dug deep and applied his faith and prayed for healing, guidance & direction on what his next move would be.

While recovering from cancer, he launched a newsletter writing business. He noted that the company generated no revenues for over a year. To make ends meet and provide food, clothing, and shelter for his young family, he worked the late night and early morning shifts stocking shelves at Target while spending his afternoons building his fledgling business. It was a humbling experience but necessary because he believed that men and women should do whatever it takes to provide for their families regardless of their situation.

These days Jim spends his time working on his numerous business ventures and helping budding entrepreneurs launch their dream business. He runs the Stick Like Glue Radio podcast where he interviews many experts on various topics and has authored several books including Decide: The Ultimate Success Trigger and Just Say Yes: Create Your Dream Business and Live Your Dream Lifestyle all of which are listed on Amazon.com.

Jim shared a lot of valuable information and insights in this episode. I hope you listen, learn and take lots of notes. For more details on Jim visit www.getjimpalmer.com.

You can also find him on Facebook @facebook.com/newsletterguru
https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Palmer/e/B005VCQJ34/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
http://www.NewsletterGuru.TV
http://www.TheNewsletterGuru.com
http://www.NoHassleNewsletters.com
http://www.NoHassleSocialMedia.com
http://www.JimsNewsletter.com

 

How To Build A Badass Brand That Gives You A Financial Freedom With Pia Silva

 

 

 

In today's episode of The Bulletproof Entrepreneur, we chat with Pia Silva of Worstofall Design. Pia shares the story of how she and her partner went from $40,000 in debt to building a 6-figure business in under six months. Pia notes that when she and her partner started the business, they did everything “the right way.” They charged similarly to their competitors, approached business development and lead generation just like their peers and even hired personnel to achieve the look and feel of a “Big” firm.

Sadly, these tactics hurt their business. They were still losing money and lacked specificity in their actions because they catered to any client willing to sign a check. As a result, they were not nearly as successful they would have liked. It wasn't until she and her partner sat down to thoroughly analyze their business and make tough decisions before they started to make progress and get traction.

After narrowing their focus and only specializing in working with a particular type of customer and offering a limited range of services, Pia and her partner were able to turn around their business from the brink of bankruptcy to profitability within six months. They not only became profitable but were able to create the more free time and generate more money while working less. 

 Pia notes that though the journey has had many ups and downs there's nothing she enjoys more that working on her business and helping her clients succeed. She shared her personal and professional struggles, dealing with the impostor syndrome and advice for young entrepreneurs coming to grips with the challenges of building a new business.

In her new book “Badass Your Brand - The Impatient Entrepreneur’s Guide to Turning Expertise into Profit” she narrates the story of how she and her partner Steve were able to hit upon a winning formula for creating lasting business success and how they were able to apply these lessons to the benefit of their clients. We discuss a few of the strategies she relies on to help customers become Badass Brands and how any small business can tap into their inner Badassery. You will want to listen attentively and take notes because there’s a lot of subtle wisdom shared in this episode. Pia is a featured contributor on Forbes.com and a participant in the Entrepreneurs Organization accelerator.

Resources and People Mentioned

• Worstofall Design
• Pia’s LinkedIn
• Pia’s free 3-part video series: Brandup Crash Course (Code: BADASSBIZ)
• Pia’s free download 5 Ways to Badassify Your Brand Immediately

• forbes.com/sites/piasilva
  7 Habits of Highly Successful People - Stephen Covey
  How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
  Profit First - Mike Michalowicz

051: How To Legally Bulletproof Your Business On The Internet with Richard Chapo

In today’s episode of the Bulletproof Entrepreneur podcast, we chat with Richard Chapo aka The Socal Internet Lawyer. Richard started his entrepreneurial journey around the turn of the century when the Dotcom boom was just hitting its stride. He and a partner worked on several projects helping entrepreneurs navigate the new and exciting challenges that arose as a result of the opportunities created by the internet. Coming from a wrongful death/ healthcare law background, Richard realized that his true calling lay in helping people building things that have lasting impact and value to the society.

These days Richard spends his time working with entrepreneurs and solopreneurs as a trusted advisor and counselor. He consults on issues ranging from business entity formation and incorporation, copyright infringement, DMCA compliance and implementation, legal matters concerning ownership content created by third party providers and lots more.

In this discussion we talked about what led him down the path of entrepreneurship, the five top challenges startups face from a legal perspective, use of equity as payment for service providers like lawyers and consultants, etc.

Richard has come a long way from his early days as a young lawyer trying to climb the corporate ladder and has acquired some battle scars of entrepreneurship that have given him a unique perspective on work, life and finding happiness in your vocation. He’s also experienced some pretty hilarious and scary situations like the time he and a friend went on a road trip in Siberia, Russia and their driver turned out to be a crusty one-eyed man. I had a lot of fun in this episode, and I believe there are many nuggets of wisdom you can learn from Richard. So listen, learn and execute.

How Damion Lupo Bounced Back From Losing $20 Million To Become A Master Of Reinvention

Damion Lupo could be considered a true renaissance man in every sense of the word. The Alaska-born, Austin, Texas-based entrepreneur has shown time and again that the human spirit is only limited by the scale of one’s imagination.

From overcoming bankruptcy and debt to building Total Control Financial, an innovative Fintech startup, Damion has seen it all and done it all. However, he maintains that without having a strong “Why” success in business can be meaningless if it is not channeled towards serving a higher purpose.

Damion’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was barely 11 years old. Like many other entrepreneurs, he started a business trying to solve his problem. He didn’t have access to video games, and so he decided to start buying, selling and trading them with his friends. The venture proved to be quite successful, and pretty soon he was hooked on entrepreneurship.

He parlayed his early success into another profitable venture, selling books from his dorm room in college. His sheer tenacity and instinct for making deals almost put the University’s bookstore out of business. He received an ultimatum from the Dean to either shut down his business or leave the school. But when you’re a bulletproof entrepreneur, and your business generates your entire tuition money in just four days, the decision is pretty much a no-brainer.

After leaving college, he launched a string of businesses and other small enterprises, but his big break didn’t come until around the turn of the millennium. Damion got inspired to go into real estate by watching a late night infomercial. He financed his first investment property purchase with confidence and credit cards. In his words, the situation at the time was just simply “I didn’t know that I couldn’t buy a house with a credit card.”

Mr. Lupo eventually built a real estate portfolio of over 150 homes and was living the jet-setting millionaire lifestyle. But the party didn’t last forever. As a result of the financial crisis in 2008, the music stopped, and our hero found himself in a tight position losing close to twenty million dollars in a few months. A lot of his real estate purchases were financed with debt that was backed and guaranteed by his personal assets. As the cash flow from the rentals failed to cover his debt payments, the banks called in the loans, and he was left with little choice except to file for bankruptcy.

This period was particularly challenging because he lost the money entrusted to him by his friends and family. Amidst the personal and financial crises, Damion decided to go on an introspective quest. He examined his life and his past decisions and realized that despite being successful in material terms, he was unsuccessful regarding his emotional and spiritual well-being. It was this realization that made him decide to make a lasting change concerning his perspective to life.

Today, Damion has translated the wisdom he’s learned over the years into lessons that can be easily applied in any situation. He’s the author of over five books including the Reinvented Life, which details his experiences in the trenches of entrepreneurship. He’s also a noted speaker & teacher and the founder of a unique form of martial arts called Yokido, which blends the teachings of Yoga & Aikido.

His new business Total Control Financial helps people take control of their financial lives to that can have the freedom to create a life of their dreams. And while he doesn’t believe he’s completely mastered the art of the comeback, he’s definitely learned a thing or two about helping you flip that switch that will take you from broke to millions. So listen, learn and take action.

How A Daring Entrepreneur Turned $400 Into $200 Million With Paul Oberschneider

In today's episode, we’re talking to Paul Oberschneider the author of the new book "Why Sell Tacos In Africa" and the Founder of the Ober-Haus Group. Paul turned a little three-week allowance of $400 into a business empire valued at over $200 million over a period of 18 years in Central and Eastern Europe.

His life story is a testament to the spirit of entrepreneurship and capitalism. Using the skills and resources he had available and thanks to a bit of serendipity, Paul met a young Russian named Sergei at the famous square in Tallin, Estonia who made an unusual request. Sergei asked Paul if he could put together a business plan for the purpose of obtaining a bank loan. Paul wrote the business plan, and to their mutual surprise, Sergei got the loan. Word quickly spread, and pretty soon Paul had made over $100,000 over a three month period writing business plans for various people and organizations.

Riding on the back of the success of his business plan writing service, Paul parlayed his capital into other ventures ranging from Real Estate development, Hospitality, Financial Services and Retail and Consumer products. Along the way, he met several interesting characters and had many hair-raising experiences including being held up at gunpoint by a pair of Russian gangsters asking for a piece of his business.

Ever the creative problem solver, Paul was able to resolve many issues simply by applying his creativity and intuition to problems as they arose. Though he’s a firm believer in having a strategic and tactical approach to doing business, he credits a large part of his success to being at the right place at the right time.

After selling his businesses in a presciently shrewd maneuver at the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008, Paul admits to taking his eyes off the ball and not focusing on the important things. He then decided to get back in the game of business by becoming a private investor and mentor to startups founders in the Oxford area of the United Kingdom. He has also written a new book “Why to Sell Tacos In Africa” which chronicles his adventures over the past 25 years and serves as a metaphor for how young entrepreneurs should think about doing business in blue sky markets.

I hope you listen, learn and take lots of notes. If you would like to know more about Paul and keep up with his current work you can reach him at Paul Oberschneider/. Feel free to connect with him on social media and LinkedIN.

3 Money Mindsets

In this episode i talk about the 3 money mindsets you need to internalize to be a successful online entrepreneur.

7 Reasons Why You Must Create And Sell Digital Products

These are the 7 main reasons why you need to create a portfolio of digital products/assets that can generate passive income for you.

ODESHI 038 - The Rise Of The African Super Hero With Roye Okupe

      Ever wondered what it would be like to create a Superhero? Well, wonder no more. Today’s guest had the same questions while growing up as a teenager in Nigeria and finally decided to do something about it. Roye Okupe is the creator of one of the first Africa-centric superheroes “EXO | The Legend Of Wale Williams”. We had a brief chat with him to learn about his story, which has been featured in several international publications including CNN, Ventures Africa, Forbes, BBC Tech Crunch and lots more. He shared how he discovered his passion for comics, animation and fiction, the steps he took to acquire the skills required to bring his creation to life and his collaborative process with the team of creatives that work with him to bring his vision to life. "E.X.O: The Legend of Wale Williams" is an action-packed graphic novel that tells the tale of a reluctant superhero (Wale Williams) in dystopian futuristic African city (Lagoon city ). In the first volume, we meet a young man from a typical African family who suddenly finds himself saddled with the responsibility of protecting his city from nefarious underworld elements. It’s the type of story Roye grew up watching on cable television in Nigeria, but this time told from an African perspective in an African environment. It encompasses a rich narrative backstory, fast paced dialogues and action sequences and familiar themes, morals and motivations that resonate with every lover graphic novels. Although the idea took a long time to come to life, Roye and his team ( Ayodele Elegba the editorial wizard, artist supreme Sunkanmi Akinboye, Godwin Akpan (the cover art design don) and color master Raphael Kazeem ) worked painstakingly to ensure that their story could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any Superhero produced by the fabled Marvel & D.C. publishing houses. And their efforts paid off tremendously; they were able to raise over $10,000 from their Kickstarter campaign which beat their initial target by 185% and helped finance the publishing of the first installment of the series. Like with any heroic story, success did not come quickly for Roye. There were many failures & setbacks along the way, but Roye was relentless in his quest and risked a fair bit of his life savings, and gave up his lucrative full-time job to pursue his passion. Today, Roye’s Youneek Studios is set to release the second volume of the Wale Williams adventure series and is currently developing another graphic novel set for release at the end of 2016 (Malaika The Warrior Queen). So pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea and listen to the fantastic tales of Roye Okupe.

CHI 037 - Thank God They Stole His Bike

In this episode of the Chi Odogwu show i talk about why you need to love everything that happens to you. The trajectory of your life and the course of history can be affected by the seemingly mundane and pedestrian events that occur in daily life.

CHI 036 - 3 Ways To Exponentially Grow Your Business

The 3 Ways To Grow Your Business. 1)Increase the number of clients 2)Increase the transaction size 3)Increase the frequency of the transaction.

ODESHI 035 - The Power Of Becoming An Idea Machine

The Power Of Becoming An Idea Machine explains why being able to come up with many ideas at a moments notice is beneficial to your growth as an individual and entrepreneur.

CHI 034 - The Bulletproof Entrepreneur Show Evolves in 2H 2016

In this episode I talk about the evolution and merger of the bulletproof entrepreneur podcast from a monthly show to a daily 7 -10 minute podcast. With the new format, the show will be rebranded to The Chi Odogwu Show in order to accommodate the expanded scope of the vision. Please let me know your thoughts and feedback.

ODESHI 031- How To Launch A Successful Non-Tech Start-Up With Charles Okeibunor of IRMP

In today's episode, we chat with Charles Okeibunor ( aka "TheWorkplace Transformer") the founder of IRMP, a world-class workplace development program that teaches unique methods on how to manage and resolve conflicts that arise from interpersonal misunderstandings in the workplace. / / A qualified lawyer by profession, he developed a love for Alternative Dispute Resolution and decided to specialize in the field.Upon realizing that there were no firms in Nigeria that specialized in Alternative Dispute Resolution practices, he decided to create a company that specialized in ADR. He enrolled in an internationally recognized training program and became certified as one of the few specialists in Mediation & Negotiation in Nigeria. / / Eager to apply his newly acquired skills, he energetically started a campaign to convince corporations that they could save significant amounts of time and money by resolving their issues through mediation as opposed to litigation. Many firms were resistant to the idea and did not buy into the vision. Frustrated that his ideas did not take hold, he decided to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm a means of getting his point across. While taking a shower, he had a ?eureka moment?. / / Identification, Resolution, Management, and Prevention (IRMP). He figured that if he could stop/reduce the issues that resulted in workplace conflict, then it's highly unlikely that the organization would reach the point of litigation. And thus, the IRMP framework was born as a tool to manage and resolve conflicts between Managers & Employees, Employees & Employees, and the Company & Its Customers. / / But as with all startups, he faced challenges trying to land his first clients. And that's where his hustle and determination came into play. He utilized the ?SUYA method? of offering free training and coaching sessions in exchange for testimonials and referrals. The tactic proved so successful that he landed his first paying client within a few short months. Since landing his first customer, he?s been able to attract blue chip companies and governmental organizations including the Nigeria Police Force as clients. / / In a bid to grow the business and scale up his operations he applied for, and received a $5000 grant from The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program. An astounding achievement considering his startup is primarily focused on soft skills and not in popular fields like technology or agriculture. / / Though still in the early stages of development, he acknowledges that the successes he has experienced thus far are primarily attributable to his absolute faith in God and his determination to passionately pursue his vision regardless of the obstacles he faces. / / A Father, Husband, published author with over ten books, frequent speaker, preacher and teacher Charles maintains his busy schedule by ensuring that his personal life and family time take top priority while his other activities revolve around his meticulously planned schedule. / / So listen, learn and most importantly take action. For further details and questions, Charles can be reached on the following platforms. / / Resources / / Books - The Bible / Bill Hybels - Who You Are When No One is Looking / Cohen - How To Make It Big As A Consultant / John Grisham books / / Books By Charles Okeibunor found on I Am Dynamite Bookstores / Foundation Redemption / Increase / beauty For Ashes / 10 Common Mistakes Managers Make / / CONTACT / Twitter: @Okeibunor11 / Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/okeibunor / Email: charlesokey2000@yahoo.com / Website:www.irmp.com.ng / BBM:335ADB0B / Phone : 08038268649

ODESHI 030 - How To Build An Education Startup in Africa From Scratch with Gossy Ukanwoke.

            In this week’s episode, we sit down with Gossy Ukanwoke to discuss his life as the youngest founder and chancellor of an international University in Africa. Gossy founded the Beni American University in 2012 in Nigeria because he observed that many Nigerian students faced significant barriers in their attempt to access quality higher education at affordable prices.

 

            He also realized that the current university system did not have sufficient capacity to absorb the large numbers of students that sit for the annual college entry exams. His solution was that if he could provide a platform where students could access quality programs at affordable prices, and finish the programs on their own schedule, it would make an impact in lives of the students. Little did he know that his education platform would grow to become one of the most popular resources for online training programs in Nigeria, and would eventually extend its reach to students from other countries across Arica and the rest of the world.

 

            With the demand far exceeding supply, and in a bid to satisfy the requirements of the education policy makers in Nigeria, he quickly switched gears and decided to add a physical campus to support his growing online university. BAU now incorporates a residential campus that is home to state-of- the-art facilities and is on track to become one of the premiere degree granting universities in Nigeria.

 

            Though a remarkably humble individual who shies away from the public spotlight, Gossy has received several awards from numerous international organizations recognizing his significant contributions to the development of human capital, entrepreneurship and education in Africa. He’s been featured in many notable media publications including CNN, FORBES, The Guardian UK , Huffington Post and ITV News Africa to name a few.

 

As one of the youngest university chancellors in history, Gossy notes that education is the great equalizer, and that anyone with an education, determination, passion and focus can succeed at any goal regardless of how unrealistic their ambitions might seem to other people. Though his journey has been fraught with many challenges along the way, he maintains that the obstacles force you to think creatively about solving problems.

 

We’re glad to have him on the show and hope that you takeaway some actionable information from our discussion.

ODESHI 029 - How To Build A Thriving Peak Performance Consulting Practice From Nothing with Emeka Azinge CEO Emedith Consulting

In this episode, we talk with Emeka Azinge aka Mr. Emedith, the founder of Emedith Consulting & Emedith Solicitors. Emeka started his companies after completing his mandatory one year National Youth Service. During his service year, he realized that he was not suited to the regular 9 to 5 routine. Although he was working at a prestigious law firm and was on track to receive a full-time employment offer, he felt that the bureaucratic and structured nature of the role was antithetical to his entrepreneurial ambition.

Upon completion of his service year, armed with little substantive work experience and a lot of faith he decided to launch his law firm and consultancy businesses. His supreme confidence in his abilities and absolute faith in God gave him the courage to pursue his dreams aggressively despite the challenges. He noted that starting out as a young entrepreneur in Nigeria, the primary challenge he faced, and most young entrepreneurs face is “Converse Ageism” - a bias against a person based on their youth and lack of experience. However, he was able to overcome this obstacle by continuously over-delivering, time and again on all his consulting projects and cases. He noted that to overcome converse ageism, a young entrepreneur must be excellent at their job, therefore making it physically and mentally impossible for a potential client or detractor to ignore you.

Though, a passionate lover of Nigeria, Emeka believes that the government has done nothing to help the youth of the country, and this has created a powder keg of problems that has inevitable devastating consequences. In a bid to provide a solution to the youth unemployment problems facing the country, he has come up with the YAE (Youth Affiliate-Entrepreneurship) model as a framework for creating a parallel economy in which young entrepreneurs can create businesses and opportunities for themselves by leveraging on a network of experienced young entrepreneurs. Though the model is still in the conceptualization phase, Emeka has received a tremendous amount of support and positive feedback and is currently making giant strides towards implementing the model.

Today, his businesses have grown significantly, and he is a highly sought after trainer and coach in the entrepreneurship, personal development and peak performance fields in Nigeria. In addition to building his businesses, he spends a significant amount of his time on his two biggest passions, attempting to quench his insatiable thirst for knowledge by pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the University of Liverpool and motivating, mentoring and inspiring teenagers to become high achievers by unleashing their power to shine. As always we hope that you listen, learn and take massive action to achieve your goals.

ODESHI 028 - Seedstars World CEO Alisee De Tonnac shares startup stories from across the globe

In this week’s episode, we chat with Alisee De Tonnac the CEO of Seedstars World, a global startup competition platform and venture builder. Alisee quit her dream job as a product manager for luxury brands at L’oreal to travel around the developing world looking for the best under-the-radar startups.

In the first year of running Seedstars World, she travelled to 20 countries with her co-founder to run the inaugural edition of the competition. Along the way, she admits that the team made every mistake imaginable, but noted that as long as there was an opportunity to learn something then it was worth it. She notes that her lack of startup experience seemed like a disadvantage starting out, but later observed that it proved to be a hidden advantage as she was able to provide useful insights from a consumer's perspective during pitches.

Today, Seedstars runs the competition across 60 countries and considers over 400 companies in 800 pitches. . After learning the ropes and gaining some operational experience with the first edition of Seedstars World, Alisee is now managing the company and taking it to the next level!Today, she shares some of the secrets she uses to evaluate businesses So listen, be inspired and take massive action.

The Rockstar Geek Shares His business Secrets with Yossi Hasson of Synaq

So in life, we find that things may not work as planned. Therefore, it is important that every bulletproof entrepreneur learns to roll with the punches and just keep on chugging. That's the story of this interview with Yossi Hasson serial entrepreneur from South Africa and co-founder of Synaq. We had the interview in March 2015, and it was scheduled to be released in early April. But, I somehow forgot to upload the file but uploaded the profile picture. You can imagine how embarrassing it was for me, to realize nearly nine months later that I had not uploaded the file as scheduled.

Well, I would like to apologize profusely to Yossi personally for that, and I'm glad to say that this error has been fixed, and 2016 is off to a fine start indeed. Yossi's interview seems to be as relevant today as it was a few months ago when I chatted with him.  His heroic story starts off at 11 years old when he started washing cars and doing other odd jobs around his neighborhood for money. He quickly moved up to selling medical equipment and other high-end items in his final year of high school.  He used some of the money he earned to buy a Stallion XT computer for gaming and was from that point hooked on the internet and technology.

He then launched an early social networking site for his graduating class that grew to have over 3000 students on the platform.  However, the idea was too soon for its time, and he regrets that he had to drop the endeavor because he couldn't grasp the potential that was at his fingertips.  In the course of this venture, he met David Jacobson,  a classmate who would end up being a life-long friend and business partner in Synaq. David was one of the dangerous hackers in South Africa at the time and had managed to get his computer confiscated by the police and himself banned from being online for one year.  Their friendship blossomed in the early days but never led to any ventures until they reconnected a few years later.

David went on to have a few successful stints at some internet companies while Yossi decided to forego University and instead went into business importing second-hand mobile phones. They finally got back to talking about building a business together and created the basis for Synaq. The pair created and launched an open source anti-spam solution, Pinpoint SecureMail, the first hosted, cloud-based anti-spam service in SA based on the Linux platform that soon became the industry leader in the market. 

Using some very creative marketing and business development strategies they were able to win significant contracts beating some of the big boys in the industry. With their profile rising in the tech scene they launched many successful other products includingBrandFu, an e-mail branding, and signature e-mail management system.  Some of their large clients included South Africa's largest  Telecom Company MTN. News of their successes led many M&A proposals, with Dimension Data Internet Solutions ending up acquiring 50.1% of Synaq.

After closing the transaction, Yossi decided to take some need much time off to obtain an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. His thesis on the role of Web 2.0  in building a startup's brand in South Africa is very insightful analysis.

So listen, learn and be inspired. Find out about his biggest regrets, the lessons learned from his past failures and the success habits that have helped him stay on top.

 

 

 

ODESHI 026 - How To Come Back From Epic Failure And Win Big With Raindolf Owusu

In this week’s episode, we chat with Raindolf Owusu, a 24-year-old tech wiz kid who’s breaking all the rules and writing some new ones along the way. Raindolf is the founder and CEO of Oasiswebsoft, a web development company based out of Accra, Ghana. Raindolf's foray into the technology space was quite accidental.While growing up in Ghana one fateful day, his dad brought home a computer for his older siblings. However, his fascination with the device would change the trajectory of his life. From his early encounter, he dreamed of the creating many things with the aid of the marvelous device.

Though a visual arts student in high school, he decided to obtain a degree in Computer Science from a private university in his hometown. As a direct result of being bored with the academic curriculum, he and his friends (Kwabena and Aaron) decided to build Africa’s first web browser “Anansi.” They received accolades and publicity for their efforts and then decided to parlay their early success into building their first company.

Though, the brilliant young men were passionate about the work, they had diverging visions of the future, and so each man decided to follow his calling.Raindolf, undaunted decided to follow up with their initial dream and launch Oasis Websoft, a web development company with the sole aim of solving challenging African problems with technology.

But the early success  Raindolf met would soon be replaced by a near crippling failure. He intrepidly decided to build an Operating System based on Linux. After spending many months working, he released the project to the world and was immediately met with an astounding amount of negative feedback.

Though, despondent and dejected by the negative feedback he decides to use the criticism as fuel to power his dreams. He throws himself back into his work and builds two new apps “Bisa” and "Doctor Diabetes", which are healthcare portals that provide a valuable service for young Ghanaian.  In addition to his healthcare apps, Raindolf has also created Anasipedia and Ebola  Ghana Alert.

His prolific abilities in programming, leadership and management has caught the eye of many international organizations and has opened doors for his personal and professional life. Case in point, his recent induction as a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow  and his  ongoing partnership with IBM. With renewed validation and restored confidence Raindolf is now on a quest to raise funds to grow his start up and show the world how to build a world class company from Ghana.

 

Press Links For Raindolf

PRESS

Forbes

NPR

ODESHI 025 - How To Be A Master Of Creativity In Business And Life with Nalini Aubeeluck

 

 

In today's episode, we chat with the an undisputed master of creativity. Nalini Aubeeluck is a serial entrepreneur who has started several successful ventures in her native Mauritius.  A classically trained dancer, Nalini started the Nalini Dance School after spotting a gap in the entertainment sector. She soon grew the business to become the leading dance studio and performance group in Mauritius, inspiring many fans home and abroad. However, after a successful 15 year run her company ran into serious financial trouble as a result of the financial crises. Recognizing the need to diversify her income stream to survive the crises and support her family, she then brainstormed and came up with an idea for a one-stop shop for fashion and beauty. She presented the idea at a business competition and it was green light & subsequently produced. At that moment, Nalini had pivoted herself from creative artist to highly respected  TV producer.  Proving that her concept was viable, she came up with a second TV show centered around men. While developing the TV shows, she noticed another gap in the market and created a fashion label called FAITH. Though a young brand, FAITH is currently gaining publicity as a  brand to watch. As a result of her exploits and various business interests, Nalini has been recognized as the unofficial Ambassador of Entrepreneurship in Mauritius and has been featured on CNN's African Voices. Her philosophy, tenacity, faith, belief in God and willingness to take risks embodies the true spirit of being a "Bulletproof Entrepreneur". 

ODESHI 024 - Helping Busy Entrepreneurs Optimize Their Businesses in Nigeria with Uyai Effiong

This week's entrepreneur is Uyai Effiong. Uyai started her consulting business after she noticed that small business entrepreneurs experienced the same challenges, she had helped solve for large multinationals while working as a consultant with Accenture. She soon quit her job and embarked on her lifelong passion for entrepreneurship. Her knack for social media and innovative value first strategy helped her land her first client on Twitter. After many successful engagements, she initiated a robust referral system that her reduce her marketing spend but increased her customer base. Although, she notes that life as an entrepreneur in Lagos is fraught with challenges, she believes that the sense of satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment is worth it. So sit back, relax and enjoy the podcast as she breaks down important concepts and inspires you to take action. 

ODESHI 023 - How A South African Startup Is Changing The African VOD Industry with Simba Mabasha Part 2

In this week's episode, we chat with Simba Mabasha the co-founder of Wabona, a streaming Video On Demand service based out of South Africa. Simba and his cofounded pioneered the online subscription video streaming service in South Africa with the intention of delivering  African video content to markets in the African diaspora (Africans living outside of their home countries) and Pan Africa. Though a successful venture, today, the road to entrepreneurship was not a cake-walk for the lawyer turned entrepreneur who struggled to raise money to finance his dream. However, he decided to take some imaginative action after spotting an opportunity in the FMCG space and used the proceeds to finance his startup.

Simba noted that he's had to overcome a lot of challenges, think creatively and negotiate his way through major obstacles. In the course of our discussion, he talks about everything from his time at the 88 mph incubator to his biggest regret. He believes that the African entrepreneur needs to develop skills to solve domestic problems and not import external solutions. So listen and learn but more importantly take action and make your dreams happen.