Many years ago, I introduced a new format that alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

Lessons for Hannah are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

To see the full show notes and Misfit 3 for this episode, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is James Wetrich. For over 40 years, Jim has built companies and led teams across 3 continents and has consulted with over 100 companies. Jim built a team at Molnlycke Health Care that grew revenue over 7 times and EBITDA over 20 times creating over $1BN growth in enterprise value and taking the US business from number 5 to number 1 in the market with an employee satisfaction index over 95%.

Jim is a noted expert in leadership and founder of the Wetrich Group of companies where he focuses on coaching, mentorship, and spreading his leadership lessons to help individuals and organizations foster and implement better leadership. Jim is also a best-selling author and his latest book is called Stifled: Where Good Leaders Go Wrong.

Jim has had storied career and his wisdom and lessons learned in building and leading businesses can help any entrepreneur succeed at higher levels, so my goal is to squeeze every bit I can out of him in our time together.

www.JimWetrich.com

To see the full show notes and Misfit 3 for this episode, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Joseph Gissy. Joseph is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Tactive and Gissy Ventures. Tactive is a wealthtech platform that automates investments for investors and connects them with financial advisors across the US. It also helps financial advisors grow and scale their practice through branding, marketing and lead generation. The company was valued at over $50M in just 12 months and ranked a Top 100 company in Wealthtech 3 years in a row in addition to receiving a number of other rewards.

Joseph has had an interesting entrepreneur journey and is still in the early stages of it. When we first spoke, we discussed the successes and challenges of growing his businesses and it reminded me of my journey in a number of ways, so I wanted to have him on as he is a young entrepreneur in the thick of building a fast-growing company and the lessons he can share can help everyone in their own journey.

www.JosephyGissy.com

To see the full show notes page and Misfit 3 for this episode, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Ruben Dua.  Ruben is the Founder and CEO of Dubb, a popular video sales platform that helps businesses grow sales exponentially using video.  He is also the host of Connection Loop, a show that focuses on the stories of leaders, innovators, and friends 

They work with over 65,000 businesses, including well-known organizations like Keller Williams, Grant Cardone, Fannie Mae, and eXp Realty, whose sales teams use the platform to produce personalized video messages that boost connections, conversions, and revenues.

Ruben has 20+ years of marketing experience and is also the author of the best-sellers, Click Record: How Overcoming Fear, Storytelling, and Video Marketing Can Change Your Life and Just Dubb it. 

Communication and connecting is critical to success in business and one of the most important ways to do that in today’s world is through video, so I asked Ruben on to give us his best advice on how to maximize the use of video to grow and connect.  

www.Dubb.com

To see the full show notes and Misfit 3 for this episode, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Meg Casebolt. Meg is the founder of Love at First Search, a unique firm focused on search marketing.

Meg started out as a marketing director for an architecture firm. It didn’t take her long to realize the low pay combined with the unrealistically high expectations was not the life she wanted. She started doing web design and SEO on the side and was able to leave starting her own business. But, as she took maternity leave for the birth of one of her children, she found herself stressed trying to keep up with the marketing and social media promotion for her own business. She took time off to re-evaluate, but much to her surprise, leads continued rolling in.

It was at this point that Meg realized how she could set up her business to market for her and cut her time in half while still producing 6-figures plus.

When I learned this about her, I had to ask her on the show. I mean who wouldn’t want to implement strategies that drive new business to their business allowing them to cut their time down and focus on serving clients? I’m excited for Meg to share how businesses can do just this!

To see the full show notes and Misfit 3 for this episode, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com 

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Hello Misfit Nation!  Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!"

Many years ago, I introduced a new format that alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.”  Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur.  I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone.  If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah,"  I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.

Lessons for Hannah are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives.  Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her.  These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.

To see the full show notes and Misfit 3 for this lesson, go to www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com 

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Kaila O’Connor.  Kaila has had an interesting journey.  Kaila was a shining star climbing the ranks in the PR space – her dream career until it wasn’t.  After a decade in the business, she found herself getting burned out and unfulfilled.  She left her career and focused on herself to discover what her true path should be.  She found Human Design and immersed herself in the topic, even becoming certified. 

Once she had alignment, she founded KMO Consulting because she recognized a niche in affiliate marketing.  In less than two years, KMO generated $5+ million for its clients in affiliate revenue, secured over 1,500 top-tier media placements for its clients, trained 100+ PR professionals in Affiliate PR, and trained the entire Condé Nast editorial team (80+ editors) in affiliate marketing.

By using Human Design to find alignment and focusing on a niche, Kaila found massive success and I’m excited to discuss all of it with her in this episode.

www.KailaOconnor.com

Kaila grew up in the Midwest and both of her parents were music teachers.  A big goal of hers was to expand her perspective.  She went to college to follow in her parents’ footsteps but quickly found she did not want to teach music, so she decided to perform.  She transferred to a music conservatory, but transferred late and needed a minor.  The only thing available was PR101.  She quickly realized how PR was like performing and gravitated to it. 
For the first 10 years, she was in the B2B corporate space.  She learned about the culture and metrics around how things were done in the PR space, but measuring ROI was always hard or not possible. 

After 10 years, Kaila was burned out.  It was then she discovered Human Design which taught her how to use her energy effectively.  It was at this time, that she was recruited to an agency in LA that had a focus on affiliate.  She had a knack for it. 

Talk to us about getting burned out and finding human design…

• How we feel when do something matters.
• Our energy and how use it matters.
• Human Design has 5 energy types.
• At the 9 min mark, Kaila discusses the ins and outs of Human Design, so it’s best to listen.

How can entrepreneurs incorporate human design to start or better run their business?

• The areas where it is applicable are in the areas of scheduling and environment.
• Additionally, aligning how the brain functions for it’s peak times is important.
• Some people work in blocks, others work more free flowing.  Knowing how you best operate is critical to create the environment and schedule to allow you to be most successful.

To find out more about Human Design, you need a few things.

• In some ways, it is similar to astrology.
• Birth date
• Location
• Birth time
• Go to www.MyHumanDesign.com

What are the key elements of a great PR strategy?

• The strategy that is most important is the authentic message for the entrepreneur and for the business.
• You must also serve who you are meant to serve and reaching them.
• PR is 3rd party validation to the customer. 
• It takes the work and research along with testing to figure it out.

​
Talk to us about combining affiliate marketing into their PR…

• Start by joining an affiliate network:
  • Shareasale
  • Impact
  • Rakuten
  • PepperJam
• Once you join, onboard Skimlinks
• Expect to set your commission rate at 20% unless your product is $500 or above.  Then your commission rate can be lower.
• You should combine SEO with affiliate programs.
• Trending content and keywords is important.  This shows intent for their search and buying signals.
• Focus on products always in stock and that are ones people use over and over. 
• Influencers can help.  Quality over quantity.  Consumers are being more considerate with how they are spending. 

 
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned to help you succeed as an entrepreneur?

• Never be afraid of change.
• Trust that you have the right answer within.  Trust your intuition.

Best Quote:  Trust that you have the right answer within.  Trust your intuition.

Kaila's Misfit 3: 

1. The opposite of victim is creativity.  When you feel agitated or irritated, either wait it out – outwait it.  Or use creativity to change your brains pattern.
2. Get to know your feelings.  There are 27 types of emotions to learn, understand, and identify.
3. Trust in yourself.  Don’t be afraid to pave your own path.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Richard Newman.  Richard is the Founder and CEO of Body Talk, the global leader in evidence-based training on the psychology of communication.. Since 2000, Richard and his team have trained over 120,000 people worldwide, with clients ranging from CEOs, Vice-Presidents and leadership teams across many industries, including Virgin, Expedia, NYU, Microsoft and 3M in 46 countries.

Richard is an award-winning author and in-demand speaker with expertise in leadership communication, storytelling, mindset, and personal impact.  His latest book is called Lift Your Impact: Transform Your Mindset, Influence, and Future to Elevate Your Work, Team, and Life, reveals.  The book details the small communication changes that can create a massive difference in the way you are perceived by those around you.

Effective communication is one of the most, if not the most important skills in life and business and Richard can teach us a lot about how to be our best in this area along with how to better tell our stories and improve our presence.  

www.UKBodyTalk.com

www.Liftyourimpact.com

From a very young age, Richard realized he was not great at communication.  He was called a shy child and was introverted.  Many years later, he also found out that he was slightly autistic.  When he was 18, he decided he wanted to something more meaningful and adventurous that did some good.  He got the opportunity to go to a monastery with Tibetan monks and help teach them English.  He thought they would already have some proficiency in English.  He was wrong.  At 18, he flew to Delhi by himself, then had a 2 day train journey to get to the monastery.  He found himself in a little town and the monastery they took him to ended up being the wrong one.  There was actually 7 monasteries in this small town.  It took 5 different monasteries to get to the right one.  But, to his surprise, they did not speak any English and Richard did not speak Nepalese and Indian. 

After sitting with them for a little while, they started to communicate through body language.  He realized that he had to make sure his body language and tone of voice matched, and he could communicate.  By the time his 6 months was up, he had learned some of their language and had gotten them to where they were pretty proficient in English. 

He came back to the UK fascinated with communication and studied acting for 3 years.  He took what he learned and started teaching effective communication as a hobby in local community. 
He started to get referrals and this is how his business was born.

Were they any other unexpected life and/or business lessons that you learned from spending time with monks at 18?

• It was an amazing opportunity.
• Because he was sort of on his own, he found himself spending much more time in thought.
• He would go on the roof of the monastery where he would go and think.  It gave him the opportunity to think about his true place in the universe. 
• First, he spent a great deal of time thinking through his values.  He decided what kind of human he wanted to be. 
• He also decided what life he wanted to live – an extraordinary future.  His true north.
• He decided that by the age of 30, he wanted to be running his own acting skill to teach others how act and express themselves empowering them. 
• And by 30, he was doing it, but instead teaching adults how to use skills of acting to better communicate. 
• He credits his success to the time he spent on that roof thinking through who he truly is and wanted to be. 

What are the pillars of great communication?

• It’s not about others, it is about you.
• You need to work on you and your behavior when it comes to communication so you can work best with others.
• You have to look at your body language, voice, and words.
• Always think about what you target is.  Think of how you want people to feel after leaving the meeting or conversation with you.  Don’t focus on how you feel – focus on how they will feel.
• Think of what the win-win would be for them.
• At the 17 min mark, Richard gives some great examples.  Your tone of voice and body language need to work in tandem.
• You must also ask effective questions to engage appropriately.  You want to listen through multi-levels.  Not just what they say, but how they say it, tone, and their body language as they do.
• You must use the structure of story-telling that resonates with every human being. 

You say most people in business are telling their story wrong.  How do we tell a better story?

At the 25 min market, Richard does a great job explaining this, so it is best to listen.

• The science of story-telling tells us that there is a certain way the human mind wants to receive information.
• There is a structure to it.
• The key thing to know is “who is the hero of the story.”  It’s the same every time.  The Hero of every story is the persona you are speaking to.  That is how people view the world placing themselves at the center of a story.
• Every human being has challenges and every human being has goals.  They go on a journey to overcome challenges and reach goals.
• When speaking to someone, they care about their challenges and goals – not yours.

Tell us more about how to have better presence when speaking or leading others…

• Before you walk into a room, take time to get a present state of mind.
• The first thing you need to work on is to be thoroughly present in your mindset – you have control over this. 
• Remind yourself of what your values are to prime yourself to be the best version of you.
• Don’t seek validation from others or fall prey to this.
• You also must have gravitas.  Don’t ship your weight from one hip to another.  Don’t put yourself in a place of being off balance.  You want to be centered and grounded in how you stand.

Anything else surrounding mindset that you feel is important for us to know?

• Ask, who do I need to be and show up as in life.
• Beware labeling who you are and limiting your potential.
• What you have been is not what you have to be going forward in the future.
• Richard uses an example of how changing a clients way of communicating to present like he is presenting to his daughter, shifted everything and energized his team where they became more engaged. 
• There are also story-telling architypes – we can all tap into them.  A few are common.
• Example:  The sovereign is akin to the king or queen – it’s the part of you that you access when you need to make big decisions and be decisive.  The opposite is the sprite – which is the playful, less serious type.  Again, what part of you needs to show up to go where you need to go?

​
Talk about how you almost lost your business, but brought it back to be even more successful…

• Pre-pandemic, 70% of Richard’s business was done through face to face events, sessions, and meetings.
• When the pandemic hit, everything stopped abruptly, and the revenue was gone.
• Every source of income was gone.  The conversations were around how to handle bankruptcy.
• He looked at all kinds of things from not paying taxes to taking big Govt loans.
• If that wasn’t enough, he had a group hack his systems and start to try and steal his business, so there was big lawsuit.
• There was even a time he got to a dark place and had suicidal thoughts.
• He went back to mindset and his north star.
• At 6am every morning, he would meditate and visualize for 45 mins on how we could change his business to succeed.  He would then exercise. 
• He took decisive action every day pivoting the business.
• As a result, the business came out having it’s best year ever and being even better, providing even better service. 
• Mindset first was the key…

Best Quote:  We don’t get very long on this planet.  Commit to doing something that feels worthwhile to you.  

Richard's Misfit 3:

1. We don’t get very long on this planet.  Commit to doing something that feels worthwhile to you.  Take time to figure this out for yourself.  The most worthwhile things tend to be the things you do for others that have a lasting impact.
2. Eat a plant-based diet.  It helps your health and the planet.
3. Remember to tell people that you love them.  Let people know how much they matter to you.

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This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Wylie McGraw.  Wylie is a former professional baseball player, competitive bull rider, 3-tour combat veteran, founder of Radical Performance Acceleration, and host of the hit podcast Wise Words & Whiskey.  Wylie works with the world’s highest caliber founders and leaders from Fortune 500 CEO’s to Pro Athletes helping them breakthrough and remove their inner demons to help them find deeper meaning, true motivation, and make their impact.

Wylie brings a no-nonsense, navy seal style approach that gets results and then some and I’ve excited to have him on to talk everything entrepreneurship and how his methods work.

www.WylieMcGraw.com
​
Podcast:  Wise Words and Whisky

Wylie grew up in a household of athletes and high performance.  He grew up around pro-athletes and California Angels pitching staff because of his dad and was recognized at a young age for having a great arm.  They started to cultivate him, and his focus became sport.  He loved it.  As he got older, he started put the pieces together of how much of a business the sport was and the stressed brought on by it – he started to rebel and push away.  He sought other outlets and different friends to challenge himself.  As he got into high school, he became friends with a group of rodeo cowboys.  He jumped in feet first and found he really connected with it and loved it.  It unleashed the wild side that he had and how to conquer fear and use it as a catalyst for higher performance. 

The next evolution for Wylie was the US military.  It was an environment to continue pushing his limits.  His time in the military helped to understand what it takes to push people and help them find their true self.

You say “leaders call you when they want their life back.”  Explain that.

• Wylie realized that we have transition moments and periods in our lives. 
• In those moments of change and discomfort that Wylie realized he had gift.  He was the one that people came to expose the darker sides of their lives and would leave him and the discussion being better off.
• After he came out of the military, he knew that he could use this to help people in a much bigger way.
• He could push people, but give them to love, care, and find their path to being truly fulfilled. 
• He started with combat veterans and through world of mouth was introduced to others that needed support and help. 
• He found that many people that had done a lot of work on themselves still were not where they wanted to be. 
• Many people insulate their stress and pain, but don’t eradicate it.  This is why people call him.

With all the work you have done, what have you found is typically the biggest obstacle to people reaching their potential and why?

• Human beings are good at masking what is truly happening internally for them.
• Our mind is the biggest liar that we face, but our bodies – we at the core know the truth.
• Our minds lie to us about the truth and we tell ourselves the lie over and over compounding.
• And when we get to a point later in life, where we have had success and done great things, we personally feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled.  We chalk that to the cost of being human and that’s the way it is – that’s BS.
• Because of this many are disconnected from their own truth. 
• We do things we know we shouldn’t be doing anyway – why?  The people at the top are the biggest culprits of that because they have the means to do so.  And as such, they need the most help live their truly best life.

What is the process you take people through on how to overcome this?

• It starts with the moment they meet Wylie.
• We are dynamic beings with many different facets.
• When we try to approach growth and personal development, we do compartmentalized – trying to find a “step by step” process and that simply doesn’t work since everyone is drastically different.
• The real magic is in the nuance of working specifically on themselves through not hiding the truth inside them.  This is Wylie’s gift to see this and pull it out of people. 
• The real breakthroughs happen through an intimate understanding that is addressed head on. 
• Once this happens, then an individual has to recalibrate and do the work.
• Fear is part of the transformation and is needed as part of the development.

 
3 tours in war zones, talk to us about your experience as a soldier and leader.  What did you learn about to overcome immense challenges and limits?

• Combat will stretch you.  The only other thing close is the wars we fight within ourselves.
• Every man in Wylie’s family served, so it was a time honored tradition, but Wylie was after the structure, discipline, and time honored commitment to excellence.
• You are pushed mentally, physically, and spiritually to the absolute brink and break you down.  You are then built back up and are better for it.  You can keep calm in chaos naturally.
• Kosovo taught him how to be still, focused, and grounded.  It was the first place he got shot at and experienced combat.
• He came back and was in the process of going to Ranger school when 9/11 happened and he was one of the first groups to go into Afghanistan.
• He then went into Iraq which was a different type of combat being in close quarter and in cities. 
• All of this helped him in seeing his limits and go through them and overcome fear after fear and break free from any chains that had bound him.  It helped him create a real, intimate relationship with himself, shed his demons and live truthfully with himself.

At the 30 min mark, Wylie talks about confronting ourselves. 

• We don’t want to face ourselves which is why many times top athletes and high performers essentially hire “yes men” and surround themselves insulating the lie.
• People are scared of what they need to face in themselves and get exposed.
• Instead of just admitting it and going to work, we make excuses to stay where we are and feed their demons.
• This gets reinforced by society.

What are your top lessons from your leadership experience, you feel can help entrepreneurs the most?

• Being a leader is about service outside of yourself. 
• You first have to lead yourself to lead others.
• It is about standards, value, and habits, but it goes beyond that to do the work to master who you are. 
• Admit that you have been lying to yourself about a number of things and decide to confront these things head on – you’ll be amazed at how fast things will change if you do.  Lead yourself first.

What are lessons you learned from your baseball and rodeo days that translate well to entrepreneurship?

• We are always going to experience moments where we are not motivated and hit our limitations.
• This is where we need to become more self-aware and realize you are struggling and being stretched.  This is good and if you push through these times, you will get to a new level.
• You have to learn how surrender your rigid thinking – you have the capacity and the ability.  Don’t let your mind limit your body.
• In bull riding, you cannot fight the bull, you need to relax and literally become one with the bull and it’s movement. 
• When something is really uncomfortable on your path to personal growth, surrender because that is what you really need. 

Wise Words and Whisky, what’s your favorite label?

• Balvenie and Doublewood neat.

Best Quote:  Human beings are good at masking what is truly happening internally for them.  Our mind is the biggest liar that we face.

Wylie's Misfit 3: 

1. You have to be willing to admit to yourself the biggest lie you have been telling yourself and confront it.  Find your truth.
2. It is time to welcome necessary suffering.  Suffering is important for growth. 
3. Find comfort in the ambiguity of live and in fear.  It is an ally for your personal growth and development.

Hello Misfit Nation!  This is Dave Lukas and welcome to another episode of the Misfit Entrepreneur, where it is our job to help you unleash your inner misfit and breakthrough to higher levels of success, wealth, and fulfillment by bringing you the best insight and information from the world’s top entrepreneurs….. with a specific focus on their misfit side…the specific traits, habits, and secrets that have allowed them to thrive and succeed.

This is another one of those special episodes where it is just me and you.  I’ve had a number of emails lately asking my about my thoughts on the current situation in the financial sector and how it might play out as well as how it will affect entrepreneurs. 

First, I think it is important to note that no matter what happens, there are always opportunities for entrepreneurs.  Some of the largest companies you know today such as Allstate Insurance and Hewlett-Packard were started in the midst of the Great Depression. 

Speaking of history, in order to understand where things are today with financial markets and our money and where things might go, we have to take go a little bit back in time. 

Before I do, I want to say that I am in no way a financial advisor or am giving you financial advice.  You should consult with a competent financial professional for your own personal decisions.  You accept that you are responsible for your own financial choices and actions. 

Listen to the episode as the notes are too long to enter here...

Best Quote:  Be on the lookout for the opportunities you can take advantage of and don’t hesitate to act when they do.  Steel your mind and be prepared.  And never, ever quit.

Misfit 3:

Understanding money and how it works and what it truly is, is critical to success in life and business.

Focus on what you can control, not what you cannot.

Mmoney is called currency because to work, it must be moving, otherwise, it is losing value.  One of the best places I believe to keep your money moving is investing in and owning businesses. 

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