In this episode, Dave is excited to welcome Nitin Choda. Nitin came to the US as an immigrant in 2002 with zero savings and zero contacts. Through hard work and hustle he transformed into a successful business owner employing 30+ people all over the world and creating several 7-figure businesses.

Even with his first major success, Nitin delayed gratification, and used the success (and capital) of the first business to start his next few businesses instead of 'going out and buying nice things' with his profits. This allowed his businesses to grow even faster and create more wealth.

Nitin is the author of "Total Activation: The 5 Step Fitness Mantra.” It is a dynamic new approach to weight loss and personal wellness. It is a system modeled in three stages of change: Identity, Compare, Integrate (ICI) which has 5 components: Emotional, Physical, Social, Spiritual and Intellectual (EPSSI).

In connection, Nitin has created a skincare and nutrition line - products that work in synergy to activate the best version of you (www.totalactivation.com). Since its launch in April 2014, the products have been purchased by thousands of customers throughout the world – mostly by word of moutn. The company now provides nutrition and skincare products to customers in 7 countries.

Nitin has been featured on CCN, Forbes, the Huffington Post, and a host of other outlets, but the thing that really stood out to Dave when they first met was how humble Nitin was and how much he appreciated and cherished the opportunities given to him.

www.TotalActivation.com

Nitin has a unique and amazing story. He is an immigrant who fought his way to success. He grew up poor in India, but as he says, he has always had an inherent spirit to succeed and was able to network and meet successful people that could help him and that he could learn from. Nitin’s entrepreneurship started an early age by selling coca cola to his class mates and then getting the glass bottles and selling them to be re-used – making less than a penny per bottle. It was during this time that he learned the very important lesson of entrepreneurship in creating value.

How do you create value?

• You have to do something that is unexpected and personalized
• You have to give before you get (The Law of Reciprocity)

What is it about the immigrant edge and the United States that allows people to come with nothing and become successful?

• The US is the most unique country in the world because regardless of who you are, if you are able to demonstrate that you have what it takes and create value for others, you will get rewarded.
• The structure in the US feeds entrepreneurship compared to other countries
  • It is easy to start a business, get credit, and access potential customers
  • For example, in India, it can take months to open up a business
• The gap between the rich and the power is not so large that you can never fill. In other countries, the disparity between the rich in the poor is so vast that they never even have a chance to do something like own a home or gain wealth.
• Immigrants that come from areas like this see this and the abundant opportunity it provides.

At the 18 min mark, Nitin gives a really good example of the differences between countries using currency inflation as an example which leads to a conversation on overall wealth.

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s world?

• It is easier than ever to be an entrepreneur because of technology
• Money is also not that hard to get (Nitin used a 0% credit card to fund his first business)
• The barriers are more internal and are in 5 areas, EPSSI

Nitin’s Total Activation EPSSI Formula

• Emotional: Emotionally, are you ready for the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship?
• Physical: Are you prepared physically and with your health?
• Social: Do you have the right people around you to support and help you?
• Spiritual: Do you know what really matters? Do you have a strong why?
• Intellectual: Are you growing yourself and expanding your thinking and knowledge so that you can continuously improve?

At the 28 min mark, Nitin talks about how he built his first 7-Figure business and what he learned that can help entrepreneurs and startups.

• Getting to $100-200,000 is hard work and marketing (as long you have a good product and value)
• Getting to $1 million and above is all about hiring – you must have a good process and way of finding the best people that fir your culture and needs
• Scaling is also depending on SOP’s (standard operating procedures and documentation)

There are 3 types of activities that you can spend your time on as an entrepreneur:

1. Low dollar: Answering phones, emails, paying bills, laundry, groceries, etc. When you reach certain levels and you know the value of your time, you will want to outsource these.
2. High dollar: Leading your people, hiring, focusing on working on your business, etc. Things that really make a large impact.
3. High lifetime value: Networking and learning from people more successful, personal growth, financial/retirement planning, etc. These things are important, but not essentially urgent.

The “low dollar” things are typically most urgent and we have to stop ourselves from getting sucked in and focus on the high dollar and lifetime value areas. Your business cannot grow if you are focused on low dollar. Use the 80/20 rule.

At the 36 min mark, Nitin gives his unique thoughts on hiring talent.

At the 38 mark, Nitin talks about his business and his business setup including how he had made everything virtual and how he markets the products. ​

At the 47 min mark, Nitin gives his philosophy on money.

Book recommendations:

• Influence by Robert Chialdini
• Outrageous Advertising by Bill Glaser
• Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz

Best Quote: “Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers…”

Nitin's Misfit 3:

Be prepared for the sh$t to hit the fan! Be prepared and accept challenges and failure.

Make sure you build the right networks around you so you always have someone to lean on and depend on.

Always, always focus on hiring the best people. One rockstar employee can do more for your company than 3 average employees and cost you less in the long run.

In this episode, Dave excited to welcome Marcus Boles. Marcus is a 3rd generation entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in creating successful ventures. He is the founder of customized minds, a holding firm with 3 different companies under it. The first is Customized Shopping, an e-commerce retail marketplace connecting customers to innovative products and services. The second is Customized Speaking, a technology learning Management Company focused on professional speaking and digital education by inspiring and empowering the world through informative information and awareness. He also owns CM Investments, a business development and management firm growing startups and established businesses to midsized companies and large organizations.

Marcus has unique ways of challenging conventional norms and how he continues to grow himself. After many years of success, he challenged himself in 2008 to acquire 5 degrees in 6 years. He did this while still growing his business and acquiring companies. Dave and Marcus discuss what it takes to be able to grow in multiple ways at once while continuing to perform at a high level. ​

www.MarcusBoles.com

Marcus grew up with a traditional background, but 80% of his family were entrepreneurs. Everyone from his grandparents to his parents and aunts/uncles owned businesses. He learned at an early age about building organization and pursing the entrepreneurial dream.

His first entry into entrepreneurship was when he started his “cleaning services” to his parents in exchange for money. He then took that to the next step of cleaning job sites for his uncles who owned businesses in the construction trades. His first major business was owning and operating a chain of convenience stores with his father – at the age of 12! Even at the age of 12, he brought digital and technology support to help the businesses grow and find success.

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

Truly understanding the following:

1. Your passion – connecting with what it is that you love
2. Your gifts – maximizing your talents and what has been given to you to create income from what you love.
3. Adding value with your passion and gifts.

What advice do you have to go from idea to execution? What advice would you give people on how to get going and keep themselves going?

• Don’t be afraid – the reason why people don’t get started on their idea is that they don’t want to look foolish
• You won’t get it right the first time or many first tries
• Understand you are going to fail, but learn, and that it takes several iterations to get something going
• You are striving to always improve, so it will never be truly “right”
• It happens to all entrepreneurs and it is a part of the process

At the 18 min mark, Marcus gives tips for succeeding in e-commerce, speaking, and investing?

1. E-commerce: Your marketing strategy makes the difference. Pick the top 5-7 strategies and focus. Most e-commerce businesses try to do too much. Use only 5-7.
2. Speaking/Digital Education: Be humble and willing to share your vulnerabilities. You have to go through the process to success – starting out speaking free, honing your craft, learning what you don’t know, etc.
3. Investing: It should not be 100% about the product or service, it is about the people. If they are cohesive and work well together as a team, then you have a better chance at success. Proving your commitment is key to receiving investment – commitment from time, determination, money, and perseverance.

Productivity hacks?

• Look at life as a game. Understand the rules of the game that you are playing and look for leverage (Marcus using his example of getting 5 degrees in 6 years).
• Make the decision not to leave anything on the field (don’t become lazy or waste precious time – this is decision that has to be made consistently)
• In short innovate to find leverage and give it your all

At the 25 min mark, Marcus talks about how he coaches himself and breakthrough barriers to perform at high levels?

• You must have discipline and commitment as your foundation
• You must have a deep, meaningful why that you came up with (not dictated by someone else)
• Create a personal growth routine
• Plan for your success – weeks and months in advance
• Do a financial review of your business or income/outflow at the end of every month Each
• Sunday, do a mental check on all areas of your life to prepare for the week and cement them for the week.

At the 32 minute mark, Marcus gives advice for entrepreneurs starting out today.

Biggest lesson learned that has helped you the most?

• Things will not turn out how you plan them
• The bigger the goal, expect it to be much harder
• Plan for the unexpected, or be ready for it, because it will happen

How did you find your “why?”

Marcus took himself through a series of questions:

• What do I love?
• What is my gift?
• What are the challenges/obstacles I am facing that I can leverage?
• What can I learn from others and their experience?
• What do I believe about me?

Best Quote: "You live the life you create..."

Marcus' Misfit 3

1. Ask questions. Questions are really problems that are unanswered. They are what if’s…
2. Failure is the predecessor to success. Any success in any industry never worked the first time. It takes failure, mistakes, learning, and growing to succeed.
3. You have what you say now. It if you believe it now, it is yours to have today. What matters is what you believe about yourself.

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

Hannah, honey. I want to talk to you about your personal power. The human spirit is one of the most powerful forces in this world. For thousands of years, this was kept at bay and purposely stamped out by those in power – whether kings, monarchs, or tyrants. And in some places, this still exists today. But throughout time, individuals have found a way. And one of the greatest examples of what happens when you unleash the human spirit and give it the freedom to run is the founding of our great country, the United States. There is an amazing book that I will give you to read when you are older called The 5000 Year Leap. The book shows you in the founder’s words, where they came up with the idea and principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and how they believed in the individual power of people…and as such in just about 250 years since the United States was created, humans have accomplished more than everything they had done in the previous 5000 years.

Why am I telling you this? Sadly, most people will never realize their true potential. They never discover their true talents and seemingly go through life with the brakes on. This happens because it is hard. It’s hard to overcome negative thoughts and emotions. It’s hard to step up and step out of your comfort zone and risk. It’s hard to stand firm in spite of fear, doubt, worry, and to go your own way. But, the human spirit has done it over and over again throughout history. I know that it can be done because I have seen this power and harnessed it in life…and have seen many others do it is as well.

What does it take? It takes unshakable will. The will to step into your fear and push yourself over and over again to go on until you breakthrough. What this is that causes this drive in someone, I cannot say, but I do know that when you are willing to go at it again and again and again until you go through the barrier, whatever it is, something happens for you. It also takes courage – the courage to act and to not be deterred by detractors or those that attempt to squash your dreams. It takes courage to press on when it seems like the world is stacked against you. Two more things it takes are relentlessness and resourcefulness. You must be relentless in the pursuit of your goals and dreams and you must be resourceful because you will have to find a way and make a way to get there.

The last thing it takes is the ability to endure defeat over and over without giving up.

When you know exactly what you want and are determined not to quit until you get it, you will win.

Your biggest critic will be inside you…don’t ever give up on yourself because you are unstoppable.

Decide that you will push yourself and convince yourself, selling yourself every day, and you will see the difference. You will see your spirit grow and your ability grow. You will be able to handle bigger challenges and the bigger the challenges you can handle, the bigger you will grow and closer you will get to reaching your goals and dreams…and true potential.

We don’t have much time in this world. Our lives are a blink of an eye in time. There is greatness in every one of us and to go through life without realizing it is a disservice to the world. You have more personal power than you will ever know. Have the courage and will to tap into it and maximize it every way you can. Be relentless and resourceful – don’t ever give up. You’ll leave an amazing impact on this world and your mother and I cannot wait to see it and feel it…we already are.

I love you, Daddy.

Best Quote: “There is greatness in every one of us and to go through life without realizing it is a disservice to the world."

Misfit 3:

1. The human spirit is one of the most powerful forces in this world. It has the ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges and you can tap into this personal power.
2. When you know exactly what you want and are determined not to quit until you get it, you will win.
3. Your biggest critic will be inside you…don’t ever give up on yourself because you are unstoppable.

In this episode, Dave excited to welcome Louis Bruno. Louis is a guy who makes it happen. Without any formal college education and starting his business, Bruno Air, from his garage with $2500 and a half broken van, he went from nothing to creating an over $25 million a year business in less than 3 years.

Louis has been featured on CNBC’s Blue Collar Millionaires, has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year from the Business Observer, and is a 40 under 40 recipient for Gulfshore Business.

Louis and Bruno Air have received numerous other rewards and the growth of Bruno Air speaks for itself, but how did a guy with no formal education, no entrepreneurial experience, and no money go from a day job to creating a $25 million plus business in less than 3 years? In this episode, Louis shares his blueprint.

@TheLouisBruno on all social media

Bruno Blueprint Youtube Show

www.BrunoAir.com

Louis started his business out of his garage with $2500 and 1 van. His story starts with him coming from a home of addicts. His dad with drugs and his mom with alcohol. He wanted to play professional baseball, but after injury in his senior year in 2006, he had to find a summer job while getting back in shape. He carried the tools and assisted an HVAC company. After 3 months, he showed so much promise, he was offered a full time job. He helped the business grow from $400k to $2.5 million in 4 years and then started Bruno Air. In his first year, he did $2.7 million in sales. He quadrupled it in his 2nd year, tripled it in his 3rd year, and after just 4 years in business has done over $55 million in sales!

At the 7:30 mark, Louis give his best advice for running and building a business.

• The picture is always changing – what you think is “success” today will change at every level you get to. In other words, what you believe is successful today will change because you can raise the bar. It’s subjective.
• What are you associating with success for you? It is worth doing? Are you getting perspective as to what matters?

How did you learn to change your conditioning and your mindset?

• Who you surround yourself with (surround yourself with people that challenge you and are more successful than you)
• Personal growth and self-education (read and learn from the greats)
• When you understand what drives and motivates people it make a huge difference
  • It is about adding value
  • People want to do things that make them feel good – Adding value to them brings them pleasure
  • People don’t want to do things that bring them pain – Adding value to them relieves pain.

How did you create your board of advisors that includes millionaires and billionaires?

• You just do it
• Look for those that you think are highly successful where you live
• Make a list of 15-20 prospects
• Call them – they probably won’t answer
• See if you have mutual friends
• Go to events where they are, charity events where they help, stop in at their offices
• Share your vision – be relentless

What skills do you see that people need to embrace to succeed today and in the future?

• Business is only what people think business is because of what they have been conditioned to think.
• You MUST understand people
• You have to be extremely coachable
• You have to parallel and align yourself with a problem you desperately want to solve
• Adaptability

Advice for entrepreneurs starting out?

• You must have a primal - root understanding of people and how they operate
• You must break things down to the actions needed on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to achieve what you want.
• When you align yourself with what you want to do, break it down, and then act on it consistently – you will win.

At the 33 min mark, Louis talks about the power of your brain, the power of action, and accountability.

Tips to maximize your footprint on social media?

• Don’t get too worried in the moment
• Know your audience
• Create content what you target audience will want – not necessarily what you want
• People want to do business with someone they like or think is fun
• Louis also shares his story in more detail which he has never done before.

Best Quote: "At the end of the day, you never make a wrong decision – you just take one step closer to something that is going to work"

Louis's Misfit 3: 

1. Read the following: a. How to Win Friends and Influence People b. Think and Grow Rich c. Good to Great
2. Understand people – Everyone makes decisions for one of two reasons, to avoid pain or seek pleasure
3.  Create the best model to deliver your value and look for where it has already been done, so you have a blueprint to follow.

In this episode, Dave is excited to welcome Matt Young. Here is just a sampling of some of his accomplishments:

A winner of Canada’s 40 under 40

• An Earnest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist twice
• He has authored and co-authored 7 books
• He’s Founder of over a dozen businesses, 8 of which he still owns
• He’s a TedX speaker
• He’s raised over $5.6 million for charity
• And if that is not enough, he’s a Guinness world record holder
• 2 time iron man finisher
• And has summited everything from Mt. Kilimanjaro to Manchu Picchu

Dave has spent some time with Matt and the thing that impresses him most is his humility and his devotion to helping others, especially young athletes and coaches with his latest business, Personal Sport Record which he describes as a tech disruption company providing support to important aspects of athlete development (beyond the schedule & score).

The first time Matt and Dave spoke, what was to be a 15-20 min call turned into almost an hour and they could have kept going if it weren’t for other commitments. They continue that with you alongside them in this episode.

www.PersonalSportRecord.com ​

Connect with Matt and LinkedIn

Matt has had a very interesting journey, but he knew early on that he want to help improve people’s lives and do it through health and fitness. He started out creating personal training centers, then moved into developing a charitable organization. Along the way, Matt started speaking and consulting with businesses on improving performance. Most recently, he has been disrupting the way people track and develop kids in youth sports. Everything that he and his teams have done is really all about supporting people’s physical and mental journey.

Matt talks about “physical literacy” and the need for people to better understand the full life benefits of physical activity and what it means to integrate it into your life.

At the 9 min mark, Matt and Dave talk about the changes that have happened in the way that kids play and what they are allowed to do in today’s world, especially sports…and the impact and societal shift that has had.

“Sports are a dress rehearsal for real life…”

Best lessons learned that translate to entrepreneurship?

• There is no learning by not doing. When others do it for you – you don’t learn.
• Change is imminent. “Everyone says they want change, but no one wants TO change.”
• Struggle builds character and competence which builds confidence.
• YOU have to figure it out.
• You have to learn to meet people where they are – not everyone, in fact most, will not be at the same level you are. That doesn’t mean they can’t be a part of the journey in some way. The better they get – the better you will get.

Do you have a formula or process for building a successful team or organization?

• It’s like building a house that will stand the test of time.
  • It starts with a rock solid foundation
  • Then you have the frame and structure
  • Then you add the fixtures
• The foundation starts with the vision
  • The vision is the overriding end goal – the why
• The structure is the mission, values, and goals
  • The mission is “the what”
  • Define your core values and make sure that those with you share them as well
  • Set your goals and objectives – how and when specifically

At the 25 min mark, Matt talks about the secrets of harnessing the minds power and the mental game.

At the 32 min mark, Matt talks about his latest business, Personal Sport Record and how it can relate you, your teams, and your business.

The formula for success need not be re-invented, it needs implemented!

Best Quote:  "Great leadership is walking backwards to your goal while bringing people forward toward theirs..."

Matt's Misfit 3:

1. Embrace the process no matter what it is.  Enjoy "the suck", learning, pain, and pleasure - take it all in.
2. Have fun.  Don't take yourself so seriously.  Enjoy the journey alongside the suck.
3. Humility.  Keep it and embody it.  Humility allows you to be grounded and pay it forward by paying it back.

In this episode, we have a special treat for you. Dave is excited to welcome, Moran Chamsi and Issy Livian, the founders of HearMeOut. HearMeOut is fast growing social network and IOS/Android/Web platform that enables users to upload and share short 42 second audio posts to the app's native feed and to various social platforms. The platform has been described as “Audio Twitter.”

HearMeOut’s unique interface enables users to listen to customized feeds based on specific topics and interests. The unique platform brings the consumers a focused, sharp and time efficient content consumption experience. If you listen to the short Misfit Morning Minute that Dave puts out each morning on all Misfit’s social networks, you’ve experienced HearMeOut.

HearMeOut also allows people to interact while driving – Most recently, the company has signed a deal with Ford, integrating with their technology and allowing a hands-free social network for connected cars. Dave, Moran, and Issy explore a lot in this episode, from what it takes to create a social network to taking their company public on the Australian stock exchange.

www.HearMeOutApp.com

Moran and Issy have watched social media grow and change for a number of years and they saw the evolution from just posting updates to media to marketing to how it has become a way of life, but the one thing they were not seeing it a platform specifically for the voice. And with everything being automated these days, the one thing you cannot fake is the voice. People want to hear what others have to say and want to be able to feel the humanness of it from their tone, inflection, emotion, etc. They need a quick way to share their thoughts, jokes, ideas, etc. with the world in a more intimate way. That is why HearMeOut was born.

At the 8 min mark, Issy talks about how they were able to take the company public on the Australian stock exchange, pre-revenue, and some lessons learned.

At the 14 Min mark, Issy and Moran talk about how their original goal was to make things safer and easier when driving, but still allow people to connect with all their social networks and share their thoughts and opinions. This is how they connected with Ford and have created “Social Radio.”

What is it like to pursue your dream and follow through to make it a reality?

• It’s not complicated – you keep doing and keep moving
• Don’t succumb to your fears
• Have a deep purpose – Issy and Moran’s mission is to help people re-connect with their voice and their lives with the natural communication – their voice

Biggest challenge in building the business?

• Remembering to enjoy the process in spite of all the daily challenges you run into every day
• Staying flexible to make sure they are adjusting to the needs of their customers and the business itself as things change and they need to adapt.

What have you learned about yourselves as entrepreneurs going through your journey?

Moran:

• You learn that you have more to give than what you thought. B
• eing open – the power of listening to others and taking their opinions into account.

Issy:

• How to become an extrovert and the joy of meeting people
• Sharing your passion with the world is a gift

Best advice for entrepreneurs starting out today?

Moran:

• Act. Keep moving and be flexible and be willing to adjust as you go, but you must be a “do’er.”
• Be yourself – don’t lose sight of who you are

Issy:

• Take the hill one step at a time – don’t look at everything as one big huge thing you have to do, break it up into steps and just move to the next one and so on.

Biggest lessons you have learned about success?

• Beginning a startup is not an easy task – it’s always harder than you think
• You have to have a lot of mental strength
• You must be patient and keep going
• It is very hard to succeed if you don’t believe in yourself
• Don’t’ be afraid to do it, even if you’ve done nothing like it before

What’s next?

• Voice filtering
• In app communication for private messaging and groups
• Continued improvement of the user experience
• Adding more partnerships with car manufacturers

Best Quote: "You have more to give than what you think..."

Misfit 3:

1. Be a do’er. Don’t be afraid. It is better to try 10 times and succeed once, than trying once and succeeding as you grow a lot more after trying things multiple ways.
2. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. Break things down into small steps – don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Focus on the task right in front of you.
3. Be dynamic and flexible and always be ready for opportunity as it presents itself.

In this episode, Dave is to welcome Shinjini Das. Shinjini is the founder of the Das Media Group, a boutique content marketing agency which builds digital marketing strategies and creates live in-person as well as digital content artifacts to deeply connect your brand with target audiences internationally.

Shinjini has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, C-suite, and is an INC Girls Education Global Hero. At just 24, she has built a person brand with a social media following of over 130,000, is a global millennial influencer, keynote speaker, and is also a contributor to The Better Business Book.

She’s known as the “go Getter girl” and shares a message of empowerment and empowering self which is exactly what she shares with you today.

Shinjini always saw a destiny for herself. She visualized and dreamed about the life she wanted to live. She believed in it so much and made the leap leaving her corporate job. She started building a personal brand by unleashing very positive and useful contact. She became popular very fast to where media agencies contacted her to represent her. As she says, it was not magic, she put in a lot of time and hours and made her vision come true.

At the 6 min mark, Shinjini talks about making the dream a reality, leave her job, and what it took to not only manifest her dream, but make it successful.

• “What you think about, you create.”
•  She had a very clear vision of what she wanted to build. It was not random.
•  It takes courage, confidence, action, and strategy.
•  She had to validate herself which meant setting goals and hitting them.

Specific actions she took:

• Compartmentalizing and sectionalizing things out with metrics for success in each area
• Having specific goals for outreach
  • Social followers
  • Engagement
  • Features in publications and writing
• Understanding how each offering she has fits in and where and then planning for it.
• Setting targets for revenue and growth

What are secrets that work or don’t work for growing, building, and monetizing an audience?

• Have self-respect. You cannot be respected unless you respect yourself first.
• Identify your goals
• Connect deeply with people and your audience
• Have variety in your content – it needs to be fun, engaging, and not stale
• Be authentic and be real

At the 18 min mark, Shinjini talks about empowerment and how important it is the life and success

Belief gives confidence, confidence empowers you, and empowerment grows you and changes your life.

Shinjini’s Recommendations for books and influencers to read and follow:

• Adam Grant – follow and read his work on behavior
• Daniel Goleman – read his work on emotional intelligence
• Her biggest takeaway is that any skill is learned and can be learned

Advice for people just starting out:

• Have a clear direction – take time to plan and know where you want to go
• Start high, the 30,000 foot view and then go down from there

How do you get your message out and get speaking gigs?

• Start speaking for free
• Get some experience
• The first few are most difficult and you will start to find you true area of expertise
• Get on the phone and make calls and ask – many won’t return your call, but some will and you will get your first engagements there
• Show your value and make it easy for them

Biggest lesson?

• Learning empathy and how it allows you to be vulnerable and connect had made such a difference in her success.
• This allows her to better connect What transformation have you had to go through to become who you are today?
• Shinjini was an introvert growing up and in order to attain her dream, she had to become an extrovert.
• She had to learn to be outgoing, happy, engaging, empathetic
• She had to also go through a major physical transformation from getting in shape to how to dress, make-up, carry herself.

Best Quote:  "It is game of resilience and a game of hustle and if you have both, you are golden..."

Misfit 3:

1. Love yourself and love those around you. Love is a very powerful emotion and speaks of happiness and personal power. It also leads to a healthy self-respect.
2. Make sure you have a framework and value proposition in place and that you fully understand it and plan for your success.
3. Empowerment: Believe in yourself and your value. Tap into your power.

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 Hannah

I want to talk to you about the importance of family. As you grow up, you will find that there are more things in life that take your time and commitments you are responsible for. Your work, charity, passions, etcetera. And please be the absolute best you can in all of these areas, but never lose sight of what is really important because in the end, if all of that is stripped away from you – your family will always be there for you. We will always be there to back you up, help you, and love you.

Your family is YOU. We succeed and fail together. We go through the good and hard times together.

No family is perfect, they never will be, but your family is the rock you can always count on to anchor you and give you strength. Never forget that. And never forget that those you interact with have families as well. Celebrate that with them and where you can, encourage them to connect and have the best relationships with their family that they can. Your mother and I, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close relatives will do everything we can to make time for us to come together and celebrate our values and unique family traditions.

And someday, god-willing, you will start your own family and add to ours. And you will have the opportunity to pass along this important lesson to your children and help them to understand how important family is to their life and success. I’ll end with a quote I saw that I think really resonates with this less. “Think of your family today and every day thereafter. Don’t let the busy world of today keep you from showing how much you love and appreciate your family.”

I love you, Daddy.

Best Quote: “Your Family is YOU. We succeed and fail together. We go through the good times and bad together."

Misfit 3:

1. If everything is taken from you, you still have your family.
2. Your family is the rock you can always count on to anchor you and give you strength.
3. No matter how busy life gets – never lose site of the importance and love of your family.

In this episode, Dave is excited to welcome Garret Gunderson. Garrett is Chief Wealth Architect at Wealth Factory and author of the NY Times best-seller, Killing Sacred Cows. Wealth Factory helps entrepreneurs optimize cash flow, streamline their finances and keep more of their hard-earned money so they can make more powerful investments in their best wealth creator: their business. Garrett has appeared multiple times on ABC News Now, Your World with Neil Cavuto on Fox, CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and more — and his first firm made the Inc 500.

Garrett has dedicated his career to making personal finance for entrepreneurs simple, immediately actionable and enjoyable.

Garrett teaches ways to pay off loans much faster and how to safely and legally save more in taxes. Specifically, Garrett is a master at showing you how to recover cash, build sustainable wealth, and take true control over your finances – oh, and he’s not like any financial person you’ve ever met. That is why Dave wanted him on the show. He’s a true entrepreneur, a misfit, who’s chosen to show other entrepreneurs the unique methods to optimize their wealth…not some broker hawking investments for a commission. In fact, make sure you listen through to the end as Garrett is giving you a special gift to help you in your journey.

www.WealthFactory.com

Get a copy of Garrett’s latest book, “What Would the Rockefellers’ Do” FREE. Just text 801-396-7211 and put WWRD in the subject line.

Garret is an entrepreneur who started out by creating a service business to clean trucks at coal mines and detail cars. He won $5000 for being the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Unlike most teenagers, he wanted to invest his money, but his mom didn’t let him. He waited until 18 and put his money in the market and lost. He then started to learn more about finance and investing, and economics. He got an internship at a brokerage and started to bring in accounts, but it was in the late 90’s market boom.

As he says, “He looked like genius, until the market turned.” He then had to face the clients he had sold and tell them he really know what he was doing. He then started on path to figure out how to get “guaranteed returns.” He found this in unique places by learning how people could learn to stop overpaying on taxes, interest, and improper loan or insurance structures. He calls this “financial efficiency.”

He also spent time in a family office modeled after the Rockefeller model, but wanted to find a way for small business owners and entrepreneurs, who weren’t billionaires, to get the same type of benefits and has spent his life over the last decade doing so.

Garrett sites an interesting stat, “At 65 years old, 98% of entrepreneurs are not economically independent – meaning they can’t afford to retire and pay their bills.”

“Great intent and hard work with a bad philosophy still leads to bankruptcy or financial failure”

At the 12 minute mark, Garrett talks about his strategy and top misconceptions people have about wealth. He definitely kills some sacred cows and show you a whole different way of looking at building your wealth.

The 5 Levers to Manufacture Financial Independence:

1. Boost Your Profits: Keep more of what you make. Most businesses overpay on taxes,, overpay on investment fees, insurance costs, and interest.
2. Strategically Engineer Wealth:
   1. Focus don’t diversify.
   2. Build your foundation – Liquidity, corporate structure, umbrella policies
   3. Asset protection
   4. Financial Team
   5. Growth – aligned with your investor DNA – your interests, capabilities
3. Accelerate Investment Income: Any asset that is not producing cash flow, tap into it and make sure it is producing as it should.
4. Scaling Business Revenue: Garret calls this the “game changer.” Giving up things that don’t bring the most value. True delegation.
5. Make it Count: You are your greatest asset. Have a life and live it. Wealth isn’t just the man that has it, but the man that lives it.

One thing You Can do Under Each Lever:

1. When it comes to taxes. Can you reclassify your business income? Does it make sense to set up a corporation for what you do as there are tax advantages in doing so. For example, distribution is taxed at different rates.
2. #1 thing to strategically engineer wealth: Go to your bank and setup a separate account. Every time you pay yourself from your business, take a percentage of that into that account first – automate savings. This builds liquidity and allows you to save on in sequential costs. You can also eliminate budgeting and pinching pennies.
3. If you have a retirement plan, you can move it over to a self-directed plan which takes away restrictions and can help you lower fees. You can also use the rule of 72T.
4. Delegate a role in the right way - make them in charge of it. They own it. You don’t dictate any more. Give up you top 3 time wasters and focus on the top 3 things you are good at.
5. Take more time off from business and your income will go up. Why? You learn to delegate, hire the right people to run things, and are more relaxed and refreshed.

At the 32 minute mark, Garrett talks about the Rockefeller Habits and setting up a family office.

“The more we invest in ideas and people instead of stocks and bonds, the more likely we are to perpetuate wealth.”

Single most important piece of advice for entrepreneurs?

Have a greater vision than any problem. As long as your vision is bigger, you will continue to be resourceful. The way you know your vision is big is if you don’t know how to accomplish it by yourself.

What have you learned about leadership from building businesses?

• Communicating the difficult things is absolutely critical. The sooner you do it, the better and the more trust built.
• Empowering people and finding the right culture makes doing things much easier.

Secrets for putting a rockstar team together?

• Create such an attractive environment that people will do whatever they can to be a part of it.
• Create the expectations and make sure that people are willing to live up to them and go through the “hoops” needed to become a part of your team
• The longer the hiring process the better with specific tasks
• The more you do up front, the better
• Lastly, the wife test. If they meet Garrett’s wife and she says no, then that’s it.

The 3 measures of worth? Distinguishing price vs. cost. Vs. value. Value first, cost second, price third.

Best Quote: "No one shrinks their way to wealth. Production and expanding your means is the best way.”

Misfit 3:

1. Budget differently. Setup a wealth capture account stop borrowing to consume.
2. Increase your efficiency. Are you overpaying on tax, interest fees, investment fees, or insurance?
3. Expand your means. What is one thing you could do today to scale your business? What is one thing you can delegate? And what is the one thing you should do more of?

In this episode, Dave is excited to welcome Hugh Ballou. Hugh is an incredibly interesting guy. He is an award winning conductor that has become a highly sought after Motivational Speaker, Leadership Trainer, and Author.

Hugh teaches leaders around the globe how to build synergy with teams and how to build effective processes that bring success to any organization, He teaches business executives how an orchestra conductor brings out the best skill of the players that have been hired.

He works with organizations throughout the globe, has written 5 books on Transformative Leadership, and is the host of the Orchestrating Success podcast.

This is a little different show in that Hugh and Dave also recorded this live online, so make sure to not only listen here, but check out the show notes to watch the live broadcast.

www.​HughBallou.com

www.Hughballoupodcast.com

www.HughBalloublog.com

Hugh spent his career as a musical conductor working from small to large megachurches and working with top orchestras for almost 40 years. Hugh is an entrepreneur many times over having had many businesses including a small camera store he bought in Florida that was barely surviving and made it into a multi-million dollar enterprise. Hugh talks about what he calls “pull leadership” and how being a conductor is not being a dictator, but being an influence that helps people to perform at a higher level.

How do the principles of conducting an orchestra translate and relate to creating a successful business?

• You must have a clear vision of where you are going and a written plan (strategy) to get there
• The conductor can’t play the instruments, but can only train people and pull them to raise the bar on their own performance. Leading a business requires the same actions. As a leader, you must be willing to train and pull people to raise the bar.

What are things that leaders can do to help people raise their bar?

If you want to transform your results and your team, you begin by transforming yourself. Leadership is about identifying your gaps – what you are and aren’t good at. Attention to detail is critical. Leaders shape the culture, but must have a clear vision to do so.

At the 10 min mark, Hugh discusses his 4 Leadership Principles in detail and how to execute them:

1. Foundation – Where you are going
2. Relationships – Who you are working with (Hire the best people)
3. Systems - Rehearse for success
4. Balance - Strategic rest/making it all work

"How we do anything is how we do everything”

You must be transparent and be willing to be vulnerable. Being vulnerable and transparent is misinterpreted as a weakness. People will know when you are not authentic.

At the 20 minute mark, Hugh talks about the traits of Transformational Leadership.

At the 25 minute mark, Hugh talks about challenges he’s had to overcome as an entrepreneur and the principles used in doing so.

• “None of us is as smart as all of us”
• Compromise is lose-lose, Consensus is win-win
• It is a simple as believing in self, having a system, and then building the relationships.
• In order to succeed, you not only need an idea, you must do something about it, regardless of what people say. Act
• Many people look outside themselves for the answer when the answer is already there within in them. ​

Leadership comes down to 3 things:

• Leaders get things done
• Leaders understand how to get things done
• Leaders influence other people and help them unlock their potential

FOCUS = Free of Clutter and Unnecessary Stuff

Best Quote: "The Ballou Principle: 10% is what you know. 90% is what you don’t know that you don’t know. 90% of the iceberg is underwater that holds up the 10%. Stay humble and keep working on your 90%.”

Hugh's Misfit 3

1. Understand why what you are doing or your vision is important. Spend time on this. Focus on the why before the what.
2. Be able to articulate this why and vision carefully. What does it look like? What is the impact it will have when fully developed? We must think of ROI (return on investment), but we must also think of ROL (return on life). Is what you are providing going to make a lasting impact on other people’s lives?
3. Hire a coach. You must be aware that you there is more you can learn and be guided on. The most dangerous leader is one who thinks they know it all. Look at that 90% that you don’t know.