This week’s Misfit Entrepreneurs are Sania Khiljee. Sania is a serial entrepreneur as well as social media expert. Sania has businesses in everything from children’s private pre-schools to subscription box services.
She is the founder of Losers to Legends, a social media consulting and education company that started out as a motivational movement on social media and has grown to over 1.5 million followers.
The thing that stuck me most about Sania when we met is how humble, down to earth, and willing to help others she is. I knew I had to have her on to share not just her incredible wisdom and advice with you, but her entrepreneurial spirit as well.
@SaniaKhiljee on social
@LoserstoLegends on social
Sania grew up in an entrepreneurial family. But, 10 years ago, Sania was not allowed to be on social media. She had a very possessive ex-fiance that was very dominant over her and would not allow her to be on social media. It took several years to find out why – he was cheating on her using the platforms.
After she got out of that terrible circumstance, she fell in love with social media and its possibilities. She built several brick and mortar businesses alongside her family, but wanted to do something her family had never done before. So, she branched out and created subscription box service using social media and sold it. Since then, she has been teaching others on how to grow their business using social media.
What’s the best advice on entrepreneurship that you got from your father?
At the 11 min mark, Sania talks about work-life balance in a 24/7 world…
What was like going out on your own away from the family business?
What did you do to actually create the conviction you now have as an entrepreneur?
What are your best tips on how to grow a worldwide audience through social media?
Tell us about the 3 hours a day…
What about someone that owns a business and only has 3-5 hours per week? Can they maximize their presence online?
Talk to us about some of the methods you use to grow your account…
What is a paid shoutout and what do they cost?
At the 44 min mark, Sania talks about the types of shoutouts she does and others do…
It is generally best to give something free to potential followers or new subscribers
If you could pick only one social media platform to be on, which one would it be and why?
What are ways to make money online from your social media presence?
Best Quote: “ Do what makes you money. Do what drives cashflow. It is the lifeblood of any business. Get that right and then follow your passions from there.”
Sania's Misfit 3:
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Cameron Brown. Cameron is an award-winning composer, international speaker, and founder of Thriving Collective a world-wide movement dedicated to helping people reach their true potential. Cameron has been featured everything from TEDx to ABC and Millennial Magazine. He was born in the outback of Australia and started playing piano at a young age. His story has a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns which he will share with you today.
In 2016, he sold or donated 99% of the things he owned and embarked on a global initiative called the “Impact diaries” to inspire people to make a greater positive impact in the world. And just this year, he official partnered with National Geographic as a National Geographic Explorer.
Cameron has a developed a very compelling and unique way of speaking and teaching through what he calls Multi-Sensory talks where he speaks to audience while mixing in playing piano and a complete video experience embedded in.
Cameron credits all of his success to the incredible impact that curiosity can have on your life and we break that down with him in this episode.
@AskCameronBrown on social
Cameron says he’s had a number of big defining moments in his life. One of them was in mid-2010 when they heard screaming from his neighbor that her son had just killed himself. He and another went running through the house and found the deceased. Cameron remembers most taking care of the siblings and pretending like nothing was going on, playing with them to keep them occupied, but to then see the father come home with a look of helplessness and the rest of the family. Cameron took away some very important truths from the experience. First, not one should ever have to go through that type of experience. Second, that there are others ways out and that there had to be a way to help people that are going through these tough times.
With a couple months, Cameron had enrolled in his first coaching course on personal development to help people. He learned a lot about himself and started to help people have breakthroughs. This grew and allowed him to start working with businesses to help them overcome their biggest challenges around the country.
Cameron’s work and other experiences lead him to ask 2 really important questions:
The answer to the 2nd question was “no.” He made significant changes to his business to allow him to live more fully and begin to enjoy all aspects of life instead of just being focused on work.
He traveled and had had adventures, tried new things, met new people…and this really made him realize that life really is about experiences and he decided to find a way to blend helping others and companies with doing through a great experience.
What is the most important thing you have learned on your journey to this point?
Pay attention at the 9 min mark as Cameron talks about the benefits of curiosity in our lives and how it serves as the gateway to creativity and innovation.
At the 13 min mark, Cameron answers the question” How did the music side come to be in your life and how does it work with what you do?”
Talk to us about the process of manifestation – how does someone go from visualization to get the real result?
What did growing up in the outback of Australia teach you about how to succeed in life and business?
What should people know about maximizing technology in their lives?
Other advice?
What are the 3 Impacts?
The big insight is that you can be succeeding in your business and taking care of others, but if that is out of alignment with taking care of your environment – then what you are doing in the other 2 areas, you can still have a negative impact.
Tell us about curiosity and being comfortable with being uncomfortable…
Listen at the 44 min mark as Cameron really dives deep on curiosity and curious language and tonality…
What is Meercat Syndrome and why should people understand it?
Best Quote: “Become comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Cameron's Misfit 3:
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Heini Zachariassen. Heini is the creator and founder of the widely popular app, Vivino, which provides users with any wine's rating, review and average price. It is also the world’s largest wine community, claiming more than 31 million users.
Vivino’s been featured, well, just about everywhere and in every publication from Entrepreneur to Forbes to INC and on and on.
The interesting thing is that Heini started Vivino with no experience at all in the wine business. He has a varied background in software development and mobile innovation and as an entrepreneur, had had success in a few other ventures, but as he says he was a total outsider.
And that is one of the major topics I want to discuss with him today – how being an outsider can actually be the best thing for your business and success.
Heini was born in the Farrow Islands in the North Atlantic. Basically in the middle of nowhere. He grew up there and moved to Denmark when it was time for college. Heini says that he was always entrepreneurial, and his father was a “super-nerd,” so the whole family was into technology.
When he left college, he wanted to start a business. He found success after a few small enterprises with a software security company. The company did well and still exists, but he wanted to create something more fun. So, about 10 years ago, he noticed that there was no way to judge wine. There was no rating, no information, etc. He started building something really for himself and the idea was to create a web-database for wine.
One thing Heini notes is timing. They hit it right on for timing with smart phones coming online and giving people the ability to take a picture of a label and get instant info and a rating. A few years earlier and that would not have been possible, so timing was huge in the success of Vivino.
Talk to us about how being an outsider can help you in succeeding as a business…
Talk about launching the product…
Over 30 million users, what can you teach us about how to grow and build an online community?
What ways did you market and gain visibility as you began to grow?
Are there any mediums that you promote through that work better than others?
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned about growing and scaling a business?
Talk about replacing yourself in the business….
At the 24 min mark, Heini talks about what he looked for when he wanted to replace himself and find a CEO to take the company into the future.
What have you learned from raising capital?
Do you have any critical habits that you practice and contribute to your success?
Other advice?
Best Quote: "Always believe in your luck."
Heini's Misfit 3:
Misfit Nation! Welcome to the Misfit Entrepreneur 2018 year in review where each year I attempt to boil down all of the incredible, useful information, strategies, and tips that our guests have given on the show into less than one hour for you…with a few surprises thrown in.
It’s impossible for me to go over every single best piece of advice from these amazing people and that is why I urge you to take some time and go through the Misfit Archives to see which episodes resonate most with you. In doing this episode, my goal is to spur ideas – to give you a lightning strike that propels you down a path of action to better improve yourself, your life, and your business or career in 2019!
But, before listening, I want to tell you something. I want to say “Thank YOU.” Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support of the show and thank you for sharing our message. Without you and the amazing feedback members of this audience give me every week, it would not be half of what it is. Because of you, in just over a year, this show has reached hundreds of thousands of people in over 70 countries. I am truly humbled and in awe OF what we’ve done together and I am excited about having an even bigger impact with your help in 2019.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did creating it for you!
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Marcus Aurelius Anderson. Marcus is best-selling Author, TedX speaker, Entrepreneur, and coach who is best known for teaching people how to harness the gift of adversity.
I have had the chance to meet and spend time with Marcus and I was blown away at his insight about life, business, and how to maximize potential.
And the story of how Marcus came to be who he is and teach what he does is one of the most powerful that I have ever heard and I know that you will learn a tremendous amount from him.
www.MarcusAureliusAnderson.com
Marcus started out going to chiropractor school, was married, and following the typical life path. All at once, he got a divorce and lost a strong male role model in his uncle who was a special forces veteran. This caused Marcus to re-evaluate his life and do something he had always wanted to do deep down, join the special forces.
The only problem the cutoff age was 35 and Marcus was older than that. But the recruiter spoke with him and saw his passion- and how good of shape he was in, so he signed a release to allow him to join.
After the first two weeks of training, he could see that he could do it physically and new his mentality would carry him through. He got placed with the 10th Mountain group.
He was having these symptoms that he was writing off to just the hard work he was doing, but in reality he had a C5 nerve root that was compressed in his spine and the disc exploded while he was sleeping leaving him waking up paralyzed from the neck down in his barrack bunk.
He was bedridden, divorced, and had nothing.
It was at this low point where everything started for him.
To come back from things, Marcus had to be operated on and he flatlined on the operating table twice during the operation. After the surgery, they didn’t expect him to walk unless he could in just a few days or he wouldn’t ever walk. Days turned into weeks, then week’s to months. He was bedridden for 3 months and was full of anger.
How did you recover?
At the 11 min mark, Marcus talks about the realization and understanding of what would have happened had he been deployed with his team and his injury happened and how that gave him a very positive perspective and helped motivate him. In fact, he sees the whole experience as making him lucky.
It was once he saw his adversity as a gift and found joy in his realization, he began to get feeling back in his fingers and toes.
After a year of physical therapy, Marcus was able to walk again.
Besides learning how use your mind and bend adversity to your will, what is the most important thing you learned about yourself and the human spirit?
How does someone push themselves to grow to their next level?
Can you expand on how people can put habits in their lives to push them and stretch them over their adversities?
How does someone get “unstuck?”
What do you see that consistently holds people back from reaching their potential?
How do you teach people to train and program their mind to become who they are meant to be?
At the 31 min mark, Marcus explains what the “Inner Warrior” is and what it means…
What are some topics from your book, the Gift of Adversity, that you don’t usually talk about, but feel are important?
At the 44 min mark, Marcus gives his 3 steps to help someone in their entrepreneurial journey...
Best Quote: “The body doesn’t tell the mind what to do, the mind tells the body what to do…”
Marcus's Misfit 3:
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Chris Krimitsos. For many, Chris needs no introduction as the founder of the Podfest Multimedia expo, the world’s premier conference for all things podcasting and new media.
Chris is also the founder of the Tampa Bay Business Owners organization, CK Media Productions, and is a speaker and consultant. But, more than anything Chris is a master at creating and facilitating successful events. He’s has facilitated over 2000 successful events and recently started a podcast focused on helping people learn the secrets to creating and putting on great events. It’s called the Conference Cashflow Podcast.
I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with Chris and I am amazed how our philosophies and principles are so similar – so there is a lot we can talk on today, but I want to focus first on what you can learn from Chris about how to put on a great, successful event.
Chris grew up in New York and had a lot of inspiration from his uncles. They came as immigrants with nothing in their pockets. They worked hard, got into the restaurant industry, and were very successful. He would learn from them and started his first business at 13 years old selling candy. He was serial entrepreneur ever since. He moved to Florida in the mid 2000’s and invested in real estate. He was fortunate to have exited before the crash.
Chris then got into production and produced two live TV shows. After some success, he started a group known as the Tampa Bay Business Owners. After growing it substantially, he sold it. He then started Podfest and is now its 6th year.
Why should people consider doing events as part of their business strategy?
Putting on over 2000 events – what would you say are the critical elements someone needs to have to create successful event?
At the 10 min mark, Chris gives two case study examples on how to pick speakers and find the right ones.
Talk to us about the size event, what do people need to know?
How do you promote and get people to come to an event?
Best secrets to make an event memorable?
Are there any big “don’ts” for events?
If someone would like to speak at an event, what should they do?
What are your feelings on the current state of podcasting and what does the future hold over the next few years?
Any specific things people should watch and follow in podcasting?
What are some critical habits that you believe all entrepreneurs should practice in today’s world?
What is your best advice for an entrepreneur starting out?
At the 33 min mark, Chris talks about how to manifest your future and your why…
Best Quote: "Design a future that is worth living into..."
Chris's Misfit 3:
1. Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars
2. Make sure you have a future that is worth living into
3. Monitor your self-talk and how you are programming your brain
Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!" In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting 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 have learned which 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.
This week’s Lesson for Hannah
I want to talk to you about faith. Faith in god, faith in yourself, and faith in the goodness of others. If you look up faith in the dictionary, you get several different definitions, but the overarching meaning is to believe in something or have confidence in something without necessarily having the proof that it is yet true.
Faith is essential to success in life. Many times, the things we manifest in our minds or the dreams we have are not yet true. We can see them in our imagination so vividly, but yet, they do not exist. It is faith that keeps up going to make them a reality. Now, there are different kinds of faith as I mentioned at the beginning of this message. The first, and I believe most important one, is faith in god. You’ve heard me talk before about the miracle that any of us are even alive. In fact, the chances are 10 to the 2.5 millionth power or about as close to impossible as you can get. Taking that a step further than even the chances of you being alive is the even smaller chance that you were meant to be with your mother and I. When I think about this and think about all the amazing things we get to experience in our lives and the divine works that go into it, it is easy for me to have faith in God.
I know deep within in my soul that there is a creator and that I am blessed by them beyond belief – not because of the accomplishments we’ve had in life and the things we are able to afford and do (although those are incredible blessings too), but because I have you, your mother, our family, and our friends. God has given us a great book of life to live and equipped us with the abilities to write it. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that because of my faith in God things will turn out in the best way they are supposed to, in good times and in bad.
Aside from creating your own faith in God, you must have faith in yourself. You are more capable than you will ever know. I feel one of the most tragic traits of human beings is the incredible ability for many of us NOT to live up to our true potential. We make excuses for it or let things get in the way of our dreams, but the truth is many of us don’t have the faith in ourselves to truly go after what we know we are capable of. It goes beyond fear of failure to more of a fear of what happens if we succeed? Because we know, if we succeed, that we will need and want to continue to operate at those levels and beyond. We know that it would mean holding ourselves to a much higher standard. And it also means that people will judge us more based on actions and/or inaction and this can paralyze people and hold them back from achieving greatness. This is why you must develop faith in yourself to go beyond these things. An undeniable faith in the ability to reach your potential, dreams, goals, and aspirations is what has propelled us throughout time.
Along the way, there are some that just do not back down. Their faith in themselves creates the burning desire, an un-extinguishable flame to achieve greatness. History is riddled with examples of this for us, from Jesus Christ to the founders who wrote the Declaration of Independence and then mustered their faith to fight until they made the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident” ring throughout the world, to the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy and defeated the most evil empire ever in the Nazi regime, to completing the “impossible task” of landing a man on the moon. Behind it all was faith. You too are capable of greatness when you have faith in God combined with an undeniable faith in yourself.
Lastly, have faith in the goodness of others. In the world we live in with media all around us coming from all directions this Is hard. It’s hard mainly because the majority of things reported or shared on a large scale are negative or divisive. I’m here to tell you that that is not reality. The reality is every day, almost 8 billion people, get up and are looking to better their lives with their families. The overwhelming majority of people are good and know right from wrong. And every day, there are far more acts of goodness and greatness than there are of negativity or wrongdoing. Those things just don’t grab attention as much as the shock of something terrible. Let me give you an example to put this in perspective. Every day, there are well over 100,000 plane flights taking place all over the world. Pilots encounter all sorts of things when they fly, many of which the passengers never even know. In fact, every day pilots all over the world, make decisions that save their passengers lives and prevent a disaster – but you never hear about that. You hear about maybe one flight per year or every other year that was a tragedy and it is plastered all over the news for days. Think about that – one flight out of millions upon millions – when all the while heroes are saving others.
It is the same with people. Heroes are all around us. We are heroes in some way, if not every day, probably every week. Have faith in people. Have faith in the goodness of the human spirit and understand that while there will be failings of it and bad things will happen – there is a lot more good in this world than there is bad.
Hannah, I could go on this topic for hours and hopefully, if you mother and I have done our job somewhat well, you already have these faiths instilled in you. Embrace them, make them yours and use them to help you in reaching your full potential in your spiritual life, your contribution to the world, and with your fellow man. Remember, faith backed by committed action can achieve great things.
I love you,
Daddy
Best Quote: “Faith is essential to success in life. Many times, the things we manifest in our minds or the dreams we have are not yet true. We can see them in our imagination so vividly, but yet, they do not exist. It is faith that keeps up going to make them a reality."
Misfit 3:
121: Tap in to Your "Brave" and Breakthrough to Your Next Level(s) with Jena Rodriquez This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Jena Rodriguez. Jena is a brand, business, and Brave strategist and the founder of Brave Masters – a firm committed to boosting brand clarity, growing profits, and helping business owners capitalize on the natural abilities.
Jena’s personal story is pretty incredible. She went from bankrupt and over 700 thousand in debt to creating a million-dollar business. She’s gone on to help her clients do the same helping increase their revenues by upwards of 800% or more.
And today, I’ve asked to come and share some of her best strategies and secrets of how you can take yourself to your next levels.
As an entrepreneur, over a 12-year period, Jenna went from bankrupt to success. She was in corporate as a controller before starting her business. And as she says, she took a lot of risk in her first business by buying a storefront. She made $300k in her first year but was over $700k in debt. After a year, she ran into the problems of being to pay her rent, her employees. She either had to quit or get back up on the horse.
She had to close the store and file bankruptcy. She was somewhat relieved but was not sure what to do next. She partnered with her husband on a business together and off they went.
She learned some valuable things. First, what she truly wanted and didn’t want which was to be an employee, but to work for herself and create her true freedom. Her big decision was to “stay in the game.”
Nowadays, she runs the business and her husband has his own business. She helps people to unleash their “brave” and help them to succeed in their business.
What does it mean to be “Brave” and be a “Bravemaster?”
What holds people back the most from unleashing their “Bravemaster?”
How did you figure out the secret of self-awareness and control of your thoughts?
Is there a BRAVE framework that you teach others? If so, can you share it?
At the 30 min mark, I ask Jena about her business. You’ve generated 100’s of thousands of dollar speaking from stage. How do you do that?
You teach “3 Simple Steps to Make Money in Your Business Now.” What are those 3 steps?
What are the most important actions that people should be doing with their branding and branding?
Best Quote: “WE make or break us. Not the circumstance.”
Jena's Misfit 3:
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is my good friend, Dov Baron. Dov is considered the leading authority on Authentic leadership and is one of INC Magazines Top 100 Leadership speakers. He’s been featured everywhere from Oprah to the Wall Street Journal and has been consulting, advising, and speaking on leadership for the last 30 years. He has spoken in front of everyone from Fortune 500 companies to the United Nations and the State Department.
Dov is also the founder of Full Monty Leadership and the Authentic Speaker Academy on Leadership. He is a multi-time bestselling author and is the host of the Pursuing Deep Greatness TV show and the number one leadership podcast on Itunes, Dov Baron’s Leadership and Loyalty Show.
What I love most about Dov is that he doesn’t mince words, tells you how it really is, and gets results. So, he is just the person I wanted to speak to you about leadership and life on this show.
Dov’s personal email - Dov@dovbaron.com
Dov was born into abject poverty in London in a ghetto. His mother shipped him off to rabbis because he had “visions” as a kid. He started studying spiritual works with the rabbis and then later traveled the world studying with spiritual masters from all different areas including Buddhism, Hinduism, and others.
He was very interested in psychology, but also studied quantum physics. In the 80’s he started speaking and had a knack for it. He was on TV, radio, newspapers. But, he was an adrenaline addict and In June 1990, while freeclimbing a rock face and fell from 120 ft. up landing on his face…or as he likes to say, he “fell 12 stories and landed on my ego.”
His life as he knew it was over and he went through a very deep, dark depression, had many reconstructive surgeries and came out the other side as what he is today.
Who is Shishu Sharma and what did you learn from him?
• Shishu is his wife’s uncle
• Dov dedicated his last book to him
• One of the chapters of the book is about being a CRO – Chief Relationship Officer
• Dov spent a considerable amount of time with Shishu before he died of cancer discussion what really mattered
• The #1 thing was the realization of how important relationships are and how he missed out on many of the ones in his life.
What is your biggest takeaway from learning this from him?
• It wasn’t any changes as much as what he learned underscored what he believed about how relationships are the most important thing in our lives
• Relationships tie everything together
• Once you realize this, you have to invest in them and ask for help
How did you get out of your depression after your fall and how did it lead to your understanding of authentic leadership?
Dov tells this story at the 14 min mark…
• Authenticity is what you know about yourself
• What we know about ourselves is an evolution
• Many people think they know themselves, but they don’t
• When Dov fell, his identity got smashed to pieces as well
• “There is no back, there is only forward…”
• He would put on the “happy face,” but deep down he struggled to find who he was truly going to be because that person was gone.
• At times he became filled with rage
• He came home one night to find his cat dead and holding the cat, fell to ground weeping, not for the cat, but for the realization that he had hit bottom and had to move forward.
• From there, it became about finding his purpose and how he would serve.
Your identity is not what you do, but your purpose…
At the 17 min mark, Dov answers the question, How do you teach people to find their true identity and purpose?
• People mix up mission statements and purpose – or even passion • Purpose is emotional – it calls to your heart and your soul
• Passion is transitory – when you were 15, your passion was different than it is today
• Your purpose is not transitory. Your purpose is the fuel that goes into the vehicle of your passion.
• Purpose runs through everything
At the 20 min mark, Dov gives an exercise of how you can find your purpose…
• Imagine what your Short statement eulogy would look like – what is that one statement you would want someone to say about you.
• Now imagine what people are whispering in the back of the room – does it echo what is being said in the front? What is it you fear they would whisper in the back of the room?
• Whatever that whisper is tells you your fear and gives you the insight you need to understand who you need to become to live your purpose. •
Your purpose is not your career, but your career can be the best vehicle for your purpose.
What are the characteristics of a notable leader?
• If you want to be a truly outstanding, authentic leader, you must have courage
• You must have courage to be curiosity
• Courage + Curiosity + Love is needed
• Love is critical – great leaders love their people. Because if you don’t, someone else will
• Don’t be afraid to love and truly care (it’s not romantic, it’s platonic)
• You must also be willing to be vulnerable – vulnerability is not a weakness, it is a great strength. You must be willing to show your humanity
What creates loyalty?
• What is the difference between a great friend and an acquaintance? Vulnerability
• When you see people in their faults and love them anyway
• The same goes for you – you’re vulnerability endears people to you
What is the soul of leadership?
• For Dov, the soul of leadership is service. Being there to serve.
• To ask what it within a person is that can be a blind spot or that they need support in overcoming them and then serving them by helping them.
What does purpose matter more than profit?
• From research done between 1991-2001, it was shown that profit changes dramatically when you have purpose.
• 90% of consumers expect companies to act responsibly
• Companies that purpose driven are on average more than 1600% more profitable than companies that are not purpose driven.
• In today’s age, being meaning drive is critical for a company.
• Purpose drives profit.
What is the hero’s journey and how does it relate to this?
• Being a leader is a heroic journey.
• Leadership starts with self and you need to be heroic about it.
• The treasure you most want is hidden in the cave you most fear and you must have the willingness to step into it.
• The treasure is soul – it is your most authentic self, the whole of who you are.
• Many people have everything they want except that “one thing for them…”
• Life is defining you or refining you – that is the choice
• You can’t be a victim and you must be open to life refining you
What are the elements of a great story?
• The answer is the hero’s journey
• Read Joseph Campbell’s, “The Hero’s Journey”
• Read “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”
• Before there was writing, everything was passed on through story
• For a story to work, it has to involve the listener
At the 44 min, Dov tells the story of how he got into speaking…
“If you are going to be the best you possibly you can, you cannot do it by imitating someone else. Your hero’s journey lies in being truly yourself…”
Dov asks you, “What are your taboos? What is it that you don’t think you should talk about? Why? Are those hindering you and not letting you be who you are?
Best Quote: “There is no back, only forward. Life is either defining you or refining you. It is your choice.."
Dov's Misfit 3:
1. Get to know yourself by taking on the heroic journey of self-inquiry. How do you know who you are? Are these principles still true not matter what you are going through?
2. Be deeply curious about everything.
3. Love without limits. Leave the taboos behind.
This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Christopher Lochhead. Chris is a retired, 3-time CMO, entrepreneur, and co-author of Play Bigger and his latest book, Niche Down. He started his first business at 18 and has been called a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company and “Off-putting to some” by The Economist. He is a keynote speaker, a blogger, and is a founding board member of the non-profit, 1 Life Fully Lived. One of the things he is best known for these days is being the host of the highly popular Legends and Losers podcast.
As he says, “I’m a dyslexic paperboy from Montreal with Scottish roots. Over thirty years in business I earned a PhD from the school of hard knocks, drank a lot of whiskey, experienced the bliss of winning, the pain of failure and learned how to laugh about the whole thing.
One thing about Chris is that he doesn’t mince words, he’s direct, and doesn’t put up with any BS, but man can he teach you a lot about how to succeed in business and in life.
Chris grew up in Montreal, Canada in what he calls a “struggling, but loving family.” He got thrown out of school at 18 and found out he is dyslexic as 21. He went on the find out that he has a lot of “learning differences.” At 18 years old, he didn’t have a ton of choices, but one of them was to start his own business – no so much as a way up, but a way out. By the time he 28, he had sold his companies to groups in Silicon Valley and came to live there full time. He went on to become the CMO of 3 publicly traded companies, the last one, Mercury Interactive, which was sold to HP for $4.5 billion.
Since then he has done advisory work for venture back startups, wrote Play Bigger, and for the last few years, he has been focused on the Legends and Losers Podcast and writing his latest book, Niche Down.
Most important lessons about life and business you’ve learned to this point?
How have you learned to unleash your Inner Misfit, your genius, over the years?
“If you can create or design yourself to be the person or entrepreneur you want to be, by definition you are going to be painting your own painting.”
At the 11:40 mark, Chris gives an example of what this means and why niching down is so lucrative in today’s world.
It is the person who designs and ultimately dominates that niche who become successful.
At the 19 min mark, Chris answers the question, What are the most important things you have found about how to niche down?
“We are at the beginning of a niche-nado”
Is there a set of steps that someone can take to find their niche?
Points from Play Bigger that are relevant to entrepreneurs?
Can you go deeper on the Magic Triangle?
What else is important from a marketing standpoint to help businesses standout?
You’ve got a keynote on how to create a Legendary Life. Can you give us a little taste of how to do that?
Who has been the most surprising guest on Legends and Losers and why?
Best Quote: “We become known for the niche that we own…”
Chris's Misfit 3: