Entrepreneur

Todays guest solopreneur has a mantra in life, and one that has been tested time and time again.

“You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can always control how you respond to what happens to you.”

But that's ok, if you have mental strength, but what if you are quote on quote a normal person who gets hit by things in life and allow them to rock them on your heels.

You savour the victim mentality and share the story of hardship and mental strife with friends and colleagues.

You go back to your home and play sad music, until you pull yourself together and go again.

But how do you learn the lessons in life, that can help you realise that like our guests mantra you can really control your life and get the better life that you deserve.

Well over the last ten years, our guest has battled two bouts of chronic illness, a terrible injury that occurred to her daughter, black mold poisoning, financial devastation including the loss of a business and home, and if that isn't bad enough then she also had to deal with post traumatic stress disorder too.

That is at least one whammy every two years.

But instead of letting it stop her progression forward our guest learnt from these life lessons, and developed the "Choose A Better Life" platform and the Amazon best seller "Choose A Better Life: Common sense For Uncommon Living.

So did she always have the mental strength, or did she go through the classic draw the curtains and hide from the world phase?

Or was it an epiphany that made her scream "I can control what happens to me"

Well lets find out, as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Stephanie Hester.

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Todays guest on the show is a man who, ill be honest when I started researching him, I thought "How the hell does he pack everything that he is doing into a day?"

If you think that you are busy, then think again, as not only is he currently the Head of English, Drama and Media Studies at an outstanding Catholic school in Hertfordshire., but he is also juggling the work of a freelance journalist.

Writing articles that regularly appear in ten industry-leading magazines that cover the automotive, aerospace, technology and travel sectors he is a man in demand.

His articles are read by over 12,000 subscribers in print, and more online, but he is even more busy than that as the author of several bestselling books "The Missing", "Life Of Sin" and "On Guard" the last blending his love and expertise of fencing.

Yes, he could challenge me to a dual at dawn, as for seven years he was a Karl was a competitive fencer. Fencing is in his blood.

So how does he pack so much into his life, and still find that urge for consistent creativity?

And if he could choose just one of his talents to do only, which one would he choose?

Well let's find out as we bring onto the show, to start joining up dots, the one and only Mr Karl Vadaszffy!

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Todays guest is a man who states that he is a Christ Follower, CEO of Author Media, Professional Speaker, Podcaster, Wordpress Lover, Marketer, Political Trouble Maker, & Homeschool Graduate.

Which means that the conversations today can literally go anywhere, and he will have an opinion on it....so what shall I start with first...religion or politics?

Well let's start with the fact that since building his first website at the age of thirteen, our guest has been fascinated with communication whether its in the written word or by presenting his message in award winning presentations across America.

He believes in connecting with people across the globe, and so it wasn't too much of a surprise to see that the early party of his career led heavily towards directing people on the political campaign trail.

For several years he assisted political hopefuls to run their campaign at grass roots level by recruiting, training and organising volunteers to knock on doors and convince those voters that they met, that their boss was the way forward.

But it was when he took this love of influencing and communicating, and combined it with his love of wordpress and website building that his career really started gaining speed.

And in 2008 he created Umstattd Media focusing on social media consulting, web design, and helping authors and businesses get the most out of the web.

This later changed to Castle Media Group and the rest as they is history.

So what it is it about communication that really lights him up inside, and helps him explode the potential opportunities all around him?

And does he have any design to go full circle and bring his skills back into the political environment?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show, to start joining up dots, the one and only Thomas Umstattd Jr.

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Todays guest is a man who seems to have an absolute passion for building stuff.

As he says "I have been writing and commercializing software since childhood. My goals are the same now as they were then: to solve difficult, practical problems with software"

With a talent for writing code for computer programmes, and an eye for potential start-ups he has had astonishing success.

Success that quite simply could leave him sitting on a island doing nothing for the rest of his life, due to the $700,000,000 Google paid him for the Cambridge, Mass-based ITA Software Inc.

But that is just a tiny part of what has made him who he is, as he has steadily worked on his life, his career, and projects since leaving University with a bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science.

Even before that he would grab every opportunity he could to develop his skills, and for five years between 1986 and 1991 in every school break he would work as a developer on Xenix and Mach operating systems, and then went on to co-found ITA Software in 1998.

For all you computer game lovers, also know that he was the first employee hired at the video game developer Naughty Dog, where he co-created the first two installments of the Crash Bandicoot games for PlayStation.

But for me, and this is what I want to touch on, as I like this fact very much, is he seems to have a completely opposing view to the overnight success, get rich quick practice that has taken control of the world over the last few decades.

He works slowly and steadily, building his work in almost secrecy until 100% comfortable to release to the world.

And now with his latest venture Inky, an email organising system gaining more and more interest he once again, is giving birth to something that the world is looking for, and will bring even more success.

So, are there similarities between building computer games, and business platforms?

And what does he see in the world today that he wishes that he could have built?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show, to start joining up dots, with the one and only Mr David Baggett.

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Todays guest is a lady who from an air conditioned hotel room in Nicaragua found her path to a future that delights her, inspires her and probably makes her struggle to keep the weight off too.

Whilst whiling away the days watching the Food Network on television, she came up with a plan that would combine her passion for foods with her delight in travel...she would become the Urban Grocer.

Traveling the world she would seek out the kind of exotic foods that each country produces and weave it into a spunky informative and fun tv programme.

But if you think that her history is one that is linked with the media and her delight in discovering and talking about amazing foods, then think again.

Way back in 2004, she worked in a restaurant in Boston prepping hot and cold first courses during and before service, but then amazingly left and became a script writer for the Russian Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

Yeah really, how the hell did that happen?

I can't begin to imagine, but straight after that she jumped back into the food game, and hosted a Food Radio Programme in Switzerland called "Caitlin's Kitchen".

Getting the idea?? This is one of those shows where the dots of her life are quite difficult to tie up, but it seems true to say that even as a small child, working away in her mothers kitchen, she learnt to appreciate the delights of what we can place on our dinner plates.

And that has carried throughout her adult life.

And now with her latest venture, Porter and Sail, she is combining her love of food, and travel, with her passion for helping the discerning travellers to find the best of what is out there.

The hidden gems, that can help us all be world savvy diners.

So it is with huge delight, that I bring onto the show to start joining up dots ,the one and only Caitlin Zaino

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Todays guest is a man who has spent all his life being fascinated by what makes people tick.

And when it comes to working out why some people learn really easily, whilst others struggle then he is your man to go to.

Is it about the style of teaching, or the style of thinking that helps people learn?

Wow that’s a deep question to start with straight away, but hey, what a great question to ask, as todays guest has built his whole success around developing Cognician an interface needed to create discussions and ask insightful questions within the e-learning process.

Along with his brother, Barry he realised that there was a world out there that felt that e-learning lacked engagement, and was simply a platform based around multiple choices.

And I agree with them whole heartedly.

As they say At Cognician, “We believe that anyone is capable of learning something new if they have the right tools. It’s our mission to make such tools and to create the best online learning experience possible, which leads to sustainable behaviour change.

People don’t change easily. And giving them information won’t solve the problem on its own. If you want to change people’s behaviour, you need to start by changing the way they think. One really powerful way to do that is to give them new questions to ask. New questions turn their thinking in new directions. New thinking leads to new revelations. And these aha moments are what lead to genuine shift.”

This man is someone who is speaking my language big time, so its with huge delight that I get to bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Mr Patrick Kayton.

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Todays guest is a fantastic fella who I have wanted to have on the show right from the very first days of Join Up Dots.

But like all new things that you start, I felt I needed a platform and an exposure that was worth his time, as he has a fantastic story that so many of you will resonate with.

He is a chap who grew up in quite a working class part of the United Kingdom, known as Coventry, and was a self confessed sensitive child, who struggled with many parts of being a kid that so many people breeze through.

The transition to senior school was particularly difficult for him, and in an attempt to find some courage that he could take back into his school-life, he commenced a martial arts course.

However, the positive idea to empower, unfortunately had quite the opposite effect, as one day the martial arts tutor abused him, and quite simply changed his life over night.

And from that point, his life spiralled into a world of violence and anger.

And for over a decade he built a life based around the punishment he could dish out particularly around his job as a nightclub bouncer.

But then his life changed again, and he realised that he had to take control, and reclaim his own personal power.

And with the publication of his first book detailing this part of his life, he moved into a world of creating, positive reinforcement and inspiring the world to take control of their lives.

He has since written forty books (published in 21 languages), five multi-award-winning films, three stage plays (he was invited into the prestigious Royal Court writers Group) and hundreds of articles, many published in national magazines and broadsheets, and his autobiography ‘Watch My Back‘ has been adapted into a major motion picture Clubbed.

So does he think that he would have become so successful in this arena, if he didn't have something to fight against?

And what is the advice that he would give to himself if he had a chance to go back in time?

Well, we are going to find out, so its with great delight that I bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Mr Geoff Thompson

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Since attending University at South Florida our guest today has literally been capturing the world from in front and now behind the lens of his camera.And although it might have seemed like a hobby, or just something to do at first, it has lead to a career in TV news, video production, broadcast PR, and even teaching.And that is the beauty of joining up the dots, although you can see the path clearly when you look back, at the time its just grabbing opportunities, making connections, and hopefully enjoying yourself.And it seems that our guest who originated from California, has been enjoying himself as he has traveled the length and breadth of the country doing the very thing that he loves.And now with a handful of awards to his name and appearances on NPR, and Forbes.com, he has developed his own resource center at webvideochefs where he teaches us all how to get the best from our cameras.So lets start looking at his life through a lens as we join up dots with the one and only Amani Channel.

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Todays guest is a man who at the age of 25 took on the world at public speaking and came out top.

Yes, he beat 30,000 people to claim the title of the youngest World Champion of Public Speaking in history.

Contestants came from 116 countries and didn't stand chance as they were up against our guy.

They should have seen him and not bothered to even unpack their suitcases.

But what made his speech so powerful?

What made it a world beater?

Well for one he was true to himself, and also spoke about a subject that resonates with the whole world.

He took his grandmother’s advice and created a speech which illustrated that life is limited and why we must push past our fears. Wow he should have called it Join Up Dots

But coming from Humble, Texas a suburb of Houston it was not predestined that he was going to be a world beater.

As he says "I have always felt confident speaking in front of large groups but what I struggle with is making sure I am connecting, engaging and leaving them with something that will make their life better. I don’t just want to speak. I want to connect and leave them with something of value. There are thousands of speakers but very few resonate and connect."

So lets see how we can all improve our skills at connecting, as we start joining up dots with the one and only Ryan Avery.

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Todays guest solopreneur has a fascinating tale that so many people in the world today will resonate with.

Can you end up being too qualified for employment? Can you end up having too much knowledge for a job, any job, so that the hiring employers consider you a risk and wont take you on?

Well the answer is yes, and our guest after demonstrating brilliant and forward thinking ideas whilst studying at Azusa Pacific University in California found himself in such a situation.

Life was looking good. His work was being recognised by institutes such as Harvard and Cambridge and he was on a roll.

But then things changed, and he found himself at the first of many dots that has brought him to where he is today.

Unable to get employed in the USA, he took a job in China that turned out to be a bad move.

Then he contracted e-coli which was even more of a bad move, and at the age 25 found himself sleeping on his parents sofa, recovering from internal bleeding, and a career that was in freefall.

So what did he do to pull himself out of a spiralling depression?

How did he get himself back into the game, when the game quite openly considered him a risk?

Well lets find out as we bring on to the show, to start joining up dots, the co-founder of codeBOX, the one and only Joshua Millage

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