This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Steve Sims. Steve is the founder of Bluefish, the world’s first luxury concierge that delivers the highest level of personalized travel experience to corporate execs, celebrities, pro-athletes, and those looking to live life to the fullest. Looking to be James Bond for a weekend in Monte Carlo? No problem. Or maybe, you want to have a private dinner in a museum for you and your friends in front of Michaleangelo’s David and have Andrea Boccelli serenade you – Steve and Bluefish have made that happen too.

Steve has been featured in everything from Forbes to the Wall Street journal and is the master at figuring out and creating the perfect experience. But, you wouldn’t be able to tell if you saw him on the street. With his shaved head, body piercings, and imposing frame, Steve looks more like the head of a biker gang.

But, beneath all of that is a driven, what you see is what you get entrepreneur that doesn’t mince words, but at the same time is a remarkably open, engaging, and generous man who has a mission to share everything he has learned about being successful professionally and personally.

www.SteveDSims.com

www.TheBluefish.com

Steve was a bricklayer from east London and left school at 15. He tried a whole bunch of things from a keg delivery man to selling insurance. He then somehow talked himself into a job to be a stock trader in Hong Kong from London. They flew him out and he partied with the group Saturday and Sunday, did one day of orientation and then was fired on the next day.

He didn’t know what to do, but ended up working the door of a club and started to network and get to know influential people. He became somewhat of a fixer creating events and access to parties and other unique experiences for people - someone who could make things happen.

As it grew, requests got bigger and more outlandish and he became the go-to guy. That was 23 years ago and now today, the business is known as the world’s top concierge service, Bluefish.

• How did it all come together and how did you figure out how to make the magic happen?
• Steve says he was both uneducated and ignorant and that was a benefit
• Steve didn’t recognize that he couldn’t do anything – he didn’t have the fear
• He simply started asking and he did it in a way where they couldn’t answer “no.”
• He acted like he was supposed to be there and was brazen
• He would take care of the little guy – the guy at the door, the gatekeepers, etc.

“Never ask a question where they can answer “no.” If they say no, you are asking the wrong question or asking the wrong person.”

• What can entrepreneurs do to set their business apart through the experience of working with them?
• The experience of working with you is critical to success
• You must have a secret sauce in you, the entrepreneur - you will build loyalty.
• Don’t conform to the perceptions of the industry you are in. Be you.
• Staying true to who you are takes zero effort
• Be more interested than you are interesting – pay attention to the little details and show that you care.

At the 14 min mark, Steve talks about how to make things happen and what you can do to create more opportunity in your life.

• It’s only impossible until someone does it
• The biggest obstacle for Entrepreneurs is them – we mess with the wheel when it is going smoothly and then mess things up.
• An entrepreneur can be the best and worst part of the business
• Stop emailing – it’s not how you build a relationship. Video text, call, have coffee, send things like magazines and other items. This fully engages people – not an email.
• Be yourself, stand for value – credibility is king and communicate in ways that really engage and separate you from the masses. 

Advice for getting out your own way and removing your limiting beliefs?

• People have to realize that they are good at only one thing, maybe two
• Look at what you do every day and ask if someone else could do those tasks as good as or better than you, because you need to focus on the one or two things you are absolutely brilliant at.
• You have a gift – focus on it and keep doing it.
• When you find success or have success, be careful not to distance yourself from what really makes you special.
• It should be no surprise that in order to grow to higher levels you will have to outsource and delegate.

What is something that everyone needs to hear, but don’t want to hear?

No one ever drowned by falling in the water. They drowned by staying there.

Wear failure like a badge of honor

Failure doesn’t define you - it refines you

At the 24 min mark, Steve talks about the time he changed to be what he thought people thought he should be and what he learned from it (he changed back to himself pretty quickly).

“Never settle for what is achievable – always stretch yourself.”

At the 28-min mark, Steve talks about the power of building a referral based business and how you can get your first few clients in a business.

• Design your avatar – your ideal client. Know them as well as you know yourself.
• You have to be where the clients are, so make sure you are putting yourself in a position to meet those you want to do business with.
• Don’t market to get likes – market to get clients

What is the most important learned about yourself that has helped you to be consistently successful?

• Steve says he learned early on that “he had a low IQ, but a massive I CAN”
• You need something to drive you. It could be the naysayers. It could be competition. But you need something that keeps you driven
• It's tough to succeed as an entrepreneur if you are not a fighter

At the 37 min mark, Steve talks about what is next for him and Bluefish…

Best Quote: "Screw Bitcoin. Relationships will always give you the best ROI."

Steve's Misfit 3:

1. Forget email for 24 hours. Try every other type of communication to get in touch with your clients. Try it.
2. Fire the vampires. Get rid of all the negative detractors in your life and business. Remove those people.
3. Accept challenges like they are race fuel. Rise to the challenge.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Mitch Russo. Mitch is the president of Mindful Guidance, a company that works with high net worth individuals who want to turn their passion into revenue on the coaching side. Before that, Mitch built and sold a software company for 8 figures and was partners with Tony Robbins and Chet Holmes as the CEO of Business Breakthroughs International - which he guided to over $25 million a year in revenue. He is also the founder and host of the Your First Thousand Clients podcast.

Mitch has won many awards and has been nominated twice for the Entrepreneur of the Year award by INC Magazine. He is also the best selling author of The Invisible Organization.

Mitch knows how to scale a business and build a tribe better than anybody and I’m excited for him to share his best advice with you in this episode.

www.MitchRusso.com

Mitch grew up never really fitting in. He was a smaller kid and didn’t play sports. He was a quiet kid and didn’t get invited to parties. So, he started a rock band to meet girls. He learned a lot about himself and business, especially in how to promote and market – making the band the highest grossing rock band in the area.

Later, he found himself working for others and found jobs to be unsatisfying and would make it tough to reach financial independence. So, he started buying real estate – until his first building caught fire. But, he got up from that, dusted himself off and had great success in real estate. But, he was still working at a job until finally he had his first big idea. The idea was to build a software to solve a problem that everyone had and it became Timeslips Corporation.

At the 6:30 mark, Mitch take us through the process from of how he took Timeslips Corp from idea to success.

• It comes down this – Mitch had a need. He had just bought a computer and he needed away to deduct it from his taxes, so he created a way to track time spent on a computer for business purposes.
• After 9 months of work, on the day of launch, Mitch’s CPA called him to let him know the IRS had just relaxed the rules on timekeeping – which basically made their product obsolete.
• So, they asked the question, “Is there anyone else that can use our product?” At that point they pivoted and turned the product into a time and billing system for attorneys.
• So what they started with became something totally different and that is what became a multi-million dollar company.

How did you build and run a 300-person company from your spare bedroom?

• First, you have to learn how to delegate – once you know how to delegate and leverage others, you can scale.
• Business Breakthroughs was built on unique scalable systems which is what allowed it to grow.
• If you cannot create a system for building a successful infrastructure, then you cannot run a large company.

What should people know about building and creating lasting, scalable systems?

• There are great systems out there today – technology has made it so much easier to scale.
• You have to be smart up front and make the foundation (software platforms, etc.) that you build your business on is one that can grow exponentially and keep up.
• You have to do the most important roles for success in your business first and master them, so you can teach them to others.
  • You have to know how to do it, but you also need to them look for those better than you in those roles and fill yourself.
• You have to know enough about a role, so you know it is being done well or not.

Thoughts on hiring?

• This can depend on the position
• The basic idea is that in the process of hiring, you must infect the recruits with the spirit of the founder and mission of the organization – the why
• The promise of the role must be stronger than the promise of a paycheck.
• For Mitch, no one gets hired in the company unless he speaks to them at some point – he’s looking for something that no one else is looking for, but also infect them with the vision and mission.

Mitch offers two of his articles at www.MitchRusso.com on his blog called “Salesforce 101” and “How to Hire a Sales Superstar”

Talk to us about your new business and how you are getting to your goal of 100,000 clients?

• Mitch automated and patented the process of an accountability system for people who purchase training programs– a “Match.com” of accountability for ensuring that people work together to get the results from any program the purchase or go through.
• The software guides and keeps each individual on track to finish and get results from a success/training program.
• Working with a partner helps to push you is a momentum builder as you reach success milestones. This keeps people going to complete things.

At the 33-min mark, Mitch talks about building out certification programs with 3-5% of your client base and the amazing impact that type business model can have.

• Mitch taught it to the CEO of Intuit and that is now the Quickbooks Advisor Program
• Certification is the ascension strategy
• Competence leads to confidence and confidence leads to success and success leads to earning income.
• From there, it is an upward spiral.

What are the steps of creating a certification program?

• You need 500-1000 clients to do it well
• Planning – Setup the business model and how much you charge, where you consultants fit.
• Build the training program with a culture program and have a solid contract
• Train them and put them in business – but help walk them through their first few engagements to help them experience success.
• Check out www.MyPowerTribe.com

3 keys to proper training:

• Use verbiage and nomenclature that the world is familiar with
• Don’t go too fast. Go at a pace where the majority can follow and learn
• You have to incorporate real experience for people to see what you are teaching in action and do it. They can just hear it or read it.

Always remember that it all comes back to your mission and the systems you build to create it.

Best Quote: “Nothing is impossible, but instead it is probable…”

Mitch's Misfit 3:

1. Accountability partnerships are the key to success. If you can find a partner that you can work with every week to get to your goals, you will reach them faster.
2. Read a book every week. You must be on the hunt to acquire new information. Setup Google alerts for your industry.
3. Network and go to big events. You are there to learn and make connections.

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jay Wong. Jay went from sleeping on his parents couch to running a successful media company and becoming a force of impact in the world. Jay is the host of the top-rated podcast, the Inner Changemaker, which has been ranked as the #1 self-help podcast on Itunes. He is also a top-rated speaker and was just ranked as a Top 40 Millennial influencer to follow in 2018. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on how to have an impact and inspire creativity.

I have had the chance to share the stage with Jay and can say that his emotional intelligence and awareness in the moment is tremendous. He seems to not only know what to say, but how to say it and how to connect with the audience almost immediately.

It is this deep understanding of himself and understanding of how to manifest your vision in life that really made an impact on me. Now, I want him to do it for you…

www.TheInnerChangemaker.com

Jay Wong TV (Youtube)

Jay started on his parent’s couch. Before that he was vagabonding in Asia for about 14 months. When he got back, he had nothing and had to move in with his parents. It was in his parents living room where it all started for Jay. He had no idea how to share his message and had to figure out how to share his vision and mission with the world. Through a lot of work and trial and error, he figured it out and slowly began to gain traction – and The Inner Changemaker was born.

What is a Changemaker and why are they so important in the world today?

• It took Jay a really long time to get to the answer – he didn’t know in the beginning
• Jay has come to realize that a changemaker is someone who is not looking to change to the world, but to become the best version of themselves so they can help and make a difference for those around them.
• Everyone should strive to become the best version of themselves to change the world of those around you.

What did you experience vagabonding through Asia for a year + teach you about life and yourself?

• Jay needed to exit the current world he was in – the corporate life, the partying, etc. It felt like it wasn’t where he needed to be.
• He wanted to figure out who he was without the influence of others.
• Jay did not speak any of the language – he had to learn Mandarin
• Learning Mandarin was the first “impossible” thing he ever did
  • For Jay, it was his Matrix moment
• This taught him that nothing is impossible and it is really self-limiting beliefs that hold us back.
• There are so many days where there is doubt, fear, and anxiety and if you can find an anchor that you can look back to where you’ve overcome something that is seemingly impossible, you can use that to help you overcome and keep going.

At the 14 min mark, Jay and I have a great discussion about my DCP formula and how it weaves through life. How does someone find themselves if they are in a job or have life circumstances where they can’t travel the world for a year? How do they do it in their everyday life?

• Every day, Jay referenced the book called The Artist’s Way each day
• One of the biggest things he learned from the book was doing “stream of consciousness” journaling every single day
• It helped him to de-clutter everything in his head and helped him to get these things out of his head and leave a way to find the pure inspiration

At the 18-min mark, Jay talks about “dating yourself” to learn self-love and spend time with “me”

• In our world, we forget to listen to ourselves
• Understanding yourself helps you better tap into your intuition -into your changemaker
• It is so important to focus and be present to the “1 thing”

Book: The One Thing by Jay Papason

At the 23 min mark, Jay talks about his philosophy of how you feel every moment is more important than what you do or have.

What can people do to take control and put themselves in a state of momentum and winning?

• Sometimes the answer is so simple that we don’t believe that to be the answer
• If you tell your brain that you want to do something, stop and take one step to actually do it.
• We live in world of “what ifs” and take ourselves out of the present moment, when all we need to do when something comes up is to just stop for a minute and just breathe – and stay hydrated. (Jay says this is the worst answer ever, but it is true)

At the 35 min, Jay talks about his 60 min momentum calls and how in just that short amount of time, he can help people get clarity and an a plan to implement and get going.

• Jay talks about how most people wait to get clear and the move. Instead, people need to move and get clear along the way.
• Start with what you know is the first step that you know
• Then see where you get and the next step will reveal itself
• The process will continue to repeat itself.
• A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step

Other advice for entrepreneurs?

• Learn to build teams and find leverage
• How you build your business and your community is very important
  • Be authentic, but don’t use authenticity as a marketing ploy
• People are yearning for intimacy – they want to feel and be understood
• The biggest connector is honesty and your true self

Best Quote: “People need to stop reacting to life and instead focus on the things that they can control and can affect in their life. Be in motion and get in the game. Get going on becoming who you are destined to be.”

Jay's Misfit 3:

1. Always choose love, for yourself and for others
2. Always choose adventure – it will work out
3. Always go for it and play to win

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Tom Ziglar. Tom probably doesn’t need much of an introduction as CEO of Ziglar Inc one of the most renowned training and personal development organizations in the world. I was fortunate to have the opportunity in my youth to study directly with his father. Zig Ziglar. Tom has carried on Zig’s legacy and taken the company to even new heights.

Tom is one of the most sought after thought leaders and speakers by billion dollar companies, smaller business owners, prestigious institutions, and people looking for inspiration, motivation, and hope.

Tom and Ziglar Inc. are focused on success, significance, and legacy, the latter of which I really want to dig into with Tom in the episode…

www.Ziglar.com

Tom@Ziglar.com

Tom and I discuss how the Ziglar firm started as a support mechanism for Zig for his speaking and grew from there. It was a vehicle to meet the needs and solve the problems of people that needed encouragement and promise for success with a plan. It is estimated that the organization has impacted over 250 million people throughout its life.

Over the last 7-8 years, the company has gone through a transformation to maintain its impact and relevance in today’s world. The mission hasn’t changed because it is timeless and that is simply that “You can get what you want if you can just help enough other people get what they want.”

How has Ziglar Inc. navigated the change and transition to stay relevant today?

“It’s more difficult to transition or reinvent a company than it is to start from scratch…”

• The principles can stay the same, but whenever new leadership comes and works to pivot, it is different from the founder and the way they did things.
• You have to maintain the principles at the core and understand that it will not be easy to go through the transition.
• The biggest change has been in how Ziglar provides its services. In the past, everything came from Ziglar Inc., now the focus is on empowering individuals and teaching and equipping them with the tools and support to be able to train and teach the Ziglar principles throughout the world.

People are on a journey and follow a path that looks like this:

• Survival: You don’t how you are or what you are called to do. You take input from others and typically transition from one thing to the next, but are not finding the true calling that you stick with.
• Stability: You move from survival to stability when you determine who you are and who you want to become. You identify the character qualities, skills, traits, and the things that are truly important in your life.
• Success: You move from stability to success is when you start developing the skills and qualities you’ve been gifted with and making an impact.
• Significance: You move from success to significance when you are able to equip someone else to be, do, or have more than they thought possible.
• Legacy: An inheritance is what you leave to someone one, a legacy is what you leave in someone.

What is the most important piece of advice you received from your dad from a fatherly standpoint?

• A lot of things were “caught” more than “taught”
• How Zig lived his life was advice in itself
• You are what you are and where you are because of what’s gone into your mind - and you can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind
• What we choose to accept and believe is who we are – but the #1 lesson is that you can change that – you can choose your input and that will change your life.
• You cannot determine your future, but you can determine your habits, and your habits will determine your future.
• The simple habit of putting the right things into your mind changes EVERYTHING.

It seems so simple that what you put into your mind and the way you think will determine your results, but why do so few actually realize this and take advantage of this power in their lives?

At the 16 min mark, Tom goes into detail in answering this question

• Part of it is the awareness, but part of it also preparation to be prepare yourself for the life you want to have, who you want to be, and to be able to control your inputs into your mind in a situation.
• It also comes down to choice and if you are prepared with a pre-planned response to a circumstance beyond your control determine how your attitude will be. By making it a habit to put the good information and pre-planning in your brain everyday because things will go wrong and you need to be prepared in advance.
• The reason most people don’t do this is that it has to be learned and they don’t know they should learn it. They have been taught or told.

“To get the most out of life, you have to make a habit out of putting the right things in your mind, educational and inspirational to help you get through the challenges when they come up. And something is really a habit when you can recognize when you go through a day and miss it and feel like the day is not complete without it.”

At the 21 minute mark, Tom shares his “Performance Formula”

A x E x S = P

Attitude multiplied by Efforts multiplied by Skill equals Performance

• So many people settle for the middle ground, but the top 5% that outearn the average 5 or 6 times to 1, they have the ownership mentality – they own their own attitude, their effort, and maximizing their skills and learning to hone them.
• A little bit better can make such an exponential difference…
  • Think about if you have an attitude set at 2x2x2 = 8 compared to someone with a 4x4x4 = 64. Now, think about if you have a -2 attitude -2x-2x-2 = -8
• It comes down to choice. You can choose to be great or not.

At the 28 min mark, Tom shares his Live to Win Philosophy

The fastest way to success?

Replace a bad habit with a good habit

Ways to sustain motivation?

• It is more than willpower – it is the why
• What is you why, your purpose, your big goal, or dream? Do you even have one? You need an anchor to keep you going and you need to figure out what it is…
• The why becomes your guiding light that keeps you going to follow through
• Don’t trade what you want most for what you want now

What have you found that truly matters?

• Success is what we do for ourselves, what we achieve, the material things
• Significance is how you help others be, do, and have more than they thought possible
• Legacy is transferring the principles, values, and wisdom, so that people can carry it through eternity
• What matters is equipping people for eternity. It is teaching you family, loved ones, and those that you can the principles, values, and wisdom. It is love
• Legacy and love go hand in hand
• Legacy is by design – you cannot stumble into it. It is purposeful.

At the 43 minute mark, Tom explains how anyone can create a lasting legacy

• Why and How you do it, is more important than what you do…
• The most powerful way to reach our own dream is to help others reach theirs…
• When you have a team of people working for a dream, it is powerful thing…

At the 49 minute mark, Tom goes his through process of Engage, Equip, and Transfer

• Engage: Hope. People need hope to take action. As a leader your job is to give people hope that the better future they hope for is possible and show them the way to it.
• Equip: Never give a promise without a plan. Start with hope, but then put a plan together to get to what you or the people you are working with want.
• Transfer: Empower those around you to teach others what they’ve learned

Best Quote: “To get the most out of life, you have to make a habit out of putting the right things in your mind, educational and inspirational to help you get through the challenges when they come up. And something is really a habit when you can recognize when you go through a day and miss it and feel like the day is not complete without it.”

Tom's Misfit 3:

1. Know the source of your talent. We were created for something more, so understanding our creator and source of our talent is critical.
2. Develop that talent with grit. You must persevere through everything to get where you know you have to go. Own the responsibility to develop your talent to the highest level.
3. Have the humility to teach your talent or gift to other people. Power doesn’t come from keeping the deepest things we’ve learned inside us. It comes from teaching them to others.