The Entrepreneur Ethos Blue Wire, Jarie Bolander

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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Fred Joyal, cofounder of 1-800-DENTIST and author of the book Superbold: From Under-Confident to Charismatic in 90 Days. 
Fred started out wanting to be a screenwriter in Hollywood, but instead moved into advertising. While he liked the industry, he didn't like the future he saw in it. He also wanted to start his own business, and took up an opportunity presented to him by a friend who had bought the 1-800-DENTIST number and offered to license it to him. Fred and a stockbroker friend decided to start the business in 1986 using the number for dental referrals. They successfully built and ran the business together for over 25 years and became the largest dental referral company in the country. 
After the company took in private equity and Fred stepped down as CEO, he focused on building his own brand, one that had already started as the spokesperson for the brand, having appeared in their TV commercials. He also built up his authority by writing and publishing two books on dental marketing and became a sought-after speaker. His book Superbold draws from his own journey as an introvert to someone who learned to take risks and try, one who embraces failure for the lessons it teaches. 
As the head of a successful business for so many years, Fred has a lot of insight to share, especially about marketing and the importance of being bold. 



Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights

Fred's core advice for advertising anything is that it's all about appealing to people's emotions. Find out why people care and how it makes them feel, and connect with them there. 

To be successful, don't just focus on the money. There were times Fred could have made more money, but he was more interested in having a good life, living with integrity, and serving others. By putting your clients first, you'll be better off in the long run, for both yourself, your employees, and the people you serve. 

Show appreciation for the people who support you and work for you. This was something that Fred made a priority while CEO as well as having fun. He believes 1-800-DENTIST was a great place to work because he and his co-founder believed in these principles. 


 Links to Explore Further

Fred Joyal website

Fred Joyal on LinkedIn

Fred Joyal on Facebook

Fred Joyal on Twitter

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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Diane Primo, CEO of the award-winning public relations and marketing agency Purpose Brand and author of ADAPT: Scaling Purpose in a Divisive World. 
Before opening her own agency, Diane acquired significant experience working as a marketing executive for corporations, including Pepsi and what became AT&T, and was CEO of an e-commerce home-services company. When she decided to strike out on her own, she sought to combine her passion for purpose-led businesses and her experience and love for marketing. 
In addition to working with a variety of companies, both well-established and startups, Diane is passionate about solving problems and helping others using a business process framework. She's used this strategy in helping address homelessness in Chicago, where she's based, as well as being part of a technology board that provides access to capital and mentoring for black and brown entrepreneurs. 
Diane believes articulating and aligning with your purpose is essential for any business - the earlier, the better. 
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights

It's never too soon to start working on your brand. Once you have a good product, start developing your brand and story. "People invest in brands," Diane says. 

To define your purpose, Diane suggests figuring out what it is you do best and then connecting it with making the world a better place. She also advises entrepreneurs, especially those in tech, to sit down and figure out what some unintended consequences of the business might be and plan how to address them. 

When making a pitch for investment as well as when building your brand, be sure to incorporate the dream for the future. Initially, you need to prove that you can do what you say you'll do, but people also buy the vision and the promise of what's to come. 


 Links to Explore Further


Purposebrand.com 

Book: ADAPT by Diane Primo


Diane Primo on LinkedIn



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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Jason Azevedo, Chief Strategy Officer at the Manufacturing Revitalization Corporation of America, a private equity firm that acquires, builds up and modernizes established manufacturing companies, eventually giving all ownership back to the employees. 
Jason's experience with entrepreneurship started when he was 15 and he began a business printing T-shirts. The business did not last long, however, due to the impact of the recession of 2008. Yet Jason didn't give up; he went on to found his own companies and eventually cofounded MRCA.
In this episode, Jason and I talk about how far manufacturing has come and how it's not the picture many people think it is. Companies are finding it more efficient and less expensive to build products in the U.S. The main challenge is finding employees - not because the work isn't fulfilling or well compensated, but because of outworn stereotypes of working in manufacturing. Manufacturing, says Jason, is one of the only industries that allows someone to start without a college degree, be trained, and work their way up into management. The work that MRCA does also seeks to help turn around the devastation wrought on many towns throughout America when companies closed their plants and left. MRCA focuses on helping to grow the company and keeping communities strong while also valuing employee wellness and input.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights

Automation has not eliminated jobs per se, nor does it have to. What it does mean is that people are needed for doing jobs only people can do, involving critical thinking and problem solving. 

The best way to change the perspective on working in manufacturing is by ensuring employees are happy and fulfilled, showing that manufacturing can be a route to a fulfilling work life. 

One early lesson Jason learned was to not listen to others' fears, especially those who haven't been entrepreneurs themselves. Once he started seeking advice from successful business owners, he found a lot more support, encouragement, and help. 


 Links to Explore Further

Jason Azevedo on LinkedIn

MRCA website


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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Chris Clews, author of Raised on the 80s and a speaker who draws on movies from the 80s to illustrate lessons for business and life.
After 20 years working in marketing, Chris was wondering what else life had in store for him. He found inspiration in watching one of his favorite movies from the 80s, The Breakfast Club. He began writing about insights he gained from 80s movies, first finding popularity on LinkedIn. He self-published a book, built a website, and became a speaker. He's since written two more books where he draws on 80s pop culture to relate lessons on work and life. 
Chris shares some examples of these lessons for entrepreneurs and leaders. In Coming to America, Eddie Murphy plays an African king who journeys to Queens, New York. He hides his royal background and takes a job at a fast food restaurant. Chris explains how this is an example of humble leadership over earned leadership and how this can provide a better model for others. Another example he shares is the wisdom of Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid where he reminds his student to "remember to breathe."
Chris and I talk about how these lessons are as apt now as they were when they were made, why 80s movies have an enduring appeal to younger generations, and why the 80s were such an exciting, experimental time in popular culture. 
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights

Chris's advice to entrepreneurs is to take time to breathe. Like Ferris Beuller, it's okay to give yourself a break and take some time off. Stress, he points out, rolls downhill; how you react to stress is going to affect those around you. 

Chris believes 80s movies are appealing to younger generations simply for their great storytelling and relatability. You don't have to have all the special effects, bells and whistles, to make something people like.

Chris notes that he has more memories from his travels than he does from things he's bought. He advises younger people to focus on making experiences, not just acquiring things.  

 Links to Explore Further

Chris Clews website

Chris Clews on LinkedIn

Chris on Twitter

Chris on Facebook

Chris on Instagram 

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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Sunny Han, CEO of Fulcrum, a cloud-based software platform for manufacturers.
Sunny describes his journey into entrepreneurship as more like listening to a "gnawing" rather than experiencing a sudden bolt of lightning. He made the decision to leave his job and strike out as an entrepreneur because he knew he'd regret missing the opportunity. He first thought of it as trying to "do" something; ultimately, he found himself creating something, which he now sees as an important distinction. He did not see where he would end up, but had a strong belief that with hard work he'd get somewhere. Fulcrum was the outcome of an interest and knowledge in the areas of small businesses, manufacturing, technology, and software. Much of his success, Sunny says, is from learning a lot from mistakes and failures. 
Like health care, manufacturing tech is ripe for innovation. The challenge, however, is that you can't just jump in and offer Band-Aid solutions. You need to look at the root, says Sunny. Most people give up, disheartened, when they get halfway there. But what matters in the end is that you ultimately solve a problem. He also cautions against trying too quickly to change something when some aspect isn't working. Sometimes it takes awhile for a change to come fully into effect. It's easy to get caught up in the latest thing, a new strategy or tool, when sometimes you need to just be patient and endure the hardship until things get better, trusting that the decision you made is the right one. In this episode we also talk about the role of luck in the entrepreneurship journey.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
When you're a CEO, it's important to not give in to FOMO and react to every new opportunity or problem. You need to make decisions strategically, and have faith that things will work out. 

We all have limited resources and limited time. It's vital that you figure out the most important thing to focus on first. One thought experiment you might do is to ask, if everyone wanted to hire me/buy my product, who would I work with first? How would I manage it? This can help you prioritize and target your market. 

Use the theory of constraints. Sunny recommends identifying what the constraints are, ranking them, and then directing investment toward decreasing the risks that come with those constraints.
 Links to Explore Further

Sunny Han on LinkedIn

Fulcrum

Sunny Han on Twitter

Fulcrum on Twitter

Sunny Han on Instagram



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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Yaro Starak, cofounder of InboxDone, a virtual assistant service for managing email.   
All Yaro knew when he started university in Queensland, Australia was that he didn't want a traditional job. It was the late 1990s, and the internet was opening up new, exciting opportunities. Yaro created a website on Magic The Gathering, a competitive card game and made a modest income by selling cards, in the days before PayPal even existed. Within a few years, he'd launched another business offering translation and editing services to students whose first language wasn't English. This business grew to the point where Yaro could make a living. From there he tried blogging, eventually also growing that into a business where he offered courses around blogging and ultimately building Blog Mastermind and the Laptop Lifestyle Academy.
As a busy entrepreneur, Yaro was spending a lot of time answering emails. He decided to come up with a way to delegate these tasks, which helped him to build a business while freeing up more time. Eventually, he decided to develop the system he'd set up into a business idea. He invited one of his assistants to cofound this new company, InboxDone, which has since grown to now having 45 team members working for CEOs and managers around the world. In this episode, Yaro and I talk about how to build a service-oriented business, the challenges of scaling, and the power of delegation. 


Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights

Like many of my other guests, Yaro's original idea came from a problem he faced. But, he still spent time trying out and validating the idea to make sure it was marketable before jumping in headfirst into offering it at scale. 

Yaro describes some of the processes he and his cofounder use to scale. They ask what it would look like and what they would need to take on more clients. As the company grows, they know they need to also add managers in order to coordinate and oversee teams. 

InboxDone illustrates the power of delegation in order to grow a successful business. The more you can delegate, the more you can focus on the work that only you can do. While it may take some time up front to put the systems in place, eventually you can free up more of your time for other things. 

 Links to Explore Further

Yaro Starak on LinkedIn

Yaro's Blog (formerly Entrepreneurs Journey)

InboxDone

InboxDone on Facebook

InboxDone on Instagram

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