Entrepreneur

Todays guest is an entrepreneur who could quite rightly claims to have had two lives.

And in classic Join Up Dots style, both lives are so closely intertwined that one wouldnt have been possible without the other.As a young man,he was on a path that wasnt good. Getting into trouble with the law and spending time in jail on drug offences his life was heading one way and one way only.But in all our lives we are provided opportunities in the strangest of places that can help us become what we want to be.Its whether we actually spot those opportunities, that is the true issue that faces us all.Well our guest did, and whilst in jail, he discovered computers and set off on an entrepreneurial journey that would instantly lead to failure, and then another failure, until finally gaining traction and success came his way.

He bootstrapped Spheric Technologies, a social enterprise consulting and applications company, which grew by 150%+ each year, raked in many business awards, employed over 30 employees, before selling it in May of 2008.

And now he is on a path that is based around his own passions to support himself and his family, whilst also giving back to the world in the form of several charitable organisations.

So does he look back on his life and thank the dark times, for showing him the way?

And what made him try several times to get going in business, and still keep going when the road got hard?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only, Mr Dan Martell | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/150-dan-martell/

Today's guest is a man who seems a person born to be an entrepreneur, although like many of us he forgot this was the case, and meandered without direction for quite awhile.

As a young boy of nine, he became fascinated by the worldwide web and the possibilities that it offered.

He was stimulated by the constantly changing online landscape, and so went into business creating his first website "Powerdunk"

He had taken entreprenurial action and dived headfirst into the online world.

However he didn't then become a CEO of his own company, hiring and firing adults, webdevelopers and other employees with abandon.

Instead he quickly forgot his blossoming business, and became what we would say "A normal kid".

Fun and mischief was the order of the day, and would have continued if his parents hadn't insisted that he entered the family business to earn a dollar or two, and this parental push turned out to be the making of him.

He learnt so many things, such as sales, invoicing, marketing to name just a few whilst working for his parents, it was a masterclass in entrepreneurial ventures.

But the most important lesson, was not something taught, but something that he discovered deep within himself.

He hated being an employee and working for someone else.

And that realisation took him back to his nine year old self, and the entrepreneur that he was born to be resurfaced and he has never looked back.

And now after creating and selling businesses, and coaching others as to the steps it takes to win online, he has found his true path in life.

So does he look back to Power dunk and think "Man I could have created something astonishing!"

Did he struggle with telling his parents that he didn't want to work with them any more?

Well lets find out as I bring onto the show, to start joining up dots, the one and only Jeet Banerjee. | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/jeet-banerjee-149/

Have you ever been on a school trip to a museum and after the initial “Yayyyy! We’re out of school” wore off, found the whole thing a bit boring.

Loads and loads of statues, stuffed animals, or tiny little plaques to read, which you start off with the best intentions of reading them all and then start gazing at them with blank eyeballs.

As you wonder why you ate your sandwiches so early?

Well I know that I have, and so its with great regret for me personally, but a huge delight for the people of New York, that one man has taken it on himself to bring these institutions to life for the latest generation.

Yep, like Ben Stiller in the “Night of the Museum” films, he alongside his colleagues run daily tours through the The Met and the Museum of Natural History acting scenes, telling stories and generally making it all fun.

As he says on his site “Museum Hacks” he loves nothing more than when someone says to him”That was the most fun I have ever had in a museum”

But like all overnight success stories, his is one of stumbles and falls, successes and failures, not least working for 8 years in his family business, making a film of him and his Dad in Thailand, and even appearing tin he Oscar nominated, record shattering, American Pie 2….ok it might not have won him an a Oscar, and actually his scene didn’t end up in the film either.

So let’s find out how Museum Hack can together.

What it was like working for his parents for 8 years?

And of course can he still remember the famous lines that now only appear on the American Pie 2 directors cut?

Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Mr Nick Gray | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/nick-gray-148/

Todays guest is a man who from the age of 17 has focused his attention on not only developing the skills to obtain income on automatic pilot, but also to teach others how to do the same.

He is a mover and shaker with hustle muscle throughout his body.

From growing up in Kingston Canada he has now found himself living in San Diego California via Japan, with a dream to build a better life for not just himself, but those of his clients, and readers of his Amazon bestselling business books which soared to the top of the bestseller list quickly after release.

He provides tutorship and knowledge on how turn business leads into nuggets of gold, and has seen many of his ideas transform businesses across America.

But that is just part of what he is about, as with a interests in Martial Arts, a love of travel and an openminded entreprenueral spirit he really seems like someone who is just getting going on the road to what he will ultimately achieve.

And that is what makes this show fascinating as we not only connect the dots of a person life, but also take a look at where the dots are heading too.

So lets bring onto the show to start of course joining up the dots, the one and only Mr Daryl Urbanski | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/daryl-urbanski-147/

Todays guest is a lady that from an early age knew that she was driven to prove her talents to the world, and of course prove to herself what she could achieve.

From being born in Bavaria, and then moving to South Africa as a young girl, she recalls her childhood as a time of endless joy and adventure, and it was when she discovered for the first time the inspiring leadership qualities of nature.

But instead of staying in this idyllic situation she made the brave decision to jump across the world and start working for an American corporation that was to be the beginning of the American Dream that she wanted so much.

But the dream didn't last too long, as after two years she realised her true passion was to inspire people across the world, with her focus on leadership, change and excellence.

From creating a company, to selling that company, to becoming the first and youngest ever Female president of the German DMA, to writing seven books and even excelling in television, she learnt, developed and conquered environments across the business spectrum

So when does she feel that her real self was born?

When did she realise that the leap of faith from corporate America was about to happen, and was she scared of the thought or invigorated by the upcoming challenges?

And what would she do differently if she got the chance?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start Joining Up Dots with the one and only Kerstin Plehwe. | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/146-kerstin-plehwe/

Todays guest is a lady who has been showing the businesses of the world how to get unstuck and prosper in a turbulent world.

Since being nominated by the U.S. Small Business Administration this year for outstanding achievement, she was in the perfect position to deliver to the world the book Putting Together the Entrepreneurial Puzzle: The Ten Pieces Every Business Needs to Succeed

As she says “I like putting things together, figuring things out, for me it’s the puzzle aspect that I enjoy most about business,”

But her own life has been a bit of a puzzle too, and isn’t that what makes a life?

Originally she entered business as the manager of a family owned scuba diving shop in Oregon.

She was 23, and had no business training in any shape or form. You might say she was wet to business.

Or she was out of her depth……you see what I did there?

And added to the mix the issues that come when raising children, going through a divorce and struggling for money, she had one thing that pulled her through.

And that was her determination to make her life a success.

So role on 30 years, and with awards, a successful business and a history of helping other do the same, what are the talents that she has which she feels are lacking across the globe?

And how did she keep going on the dark nights when everything seemed to be going in the wrong direction?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only, Mary Marshall. | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/mary-marshall-145/

Todays guest is a man with not just a unusual name, but a fascinating tale of how he has reached a place in his life where he seems totally at ease and loving everyday.

Growing up in a tiny little town called Seven Points in East Texas for the first few years of his adult life he hadn't got into first gear.

Studying Graphic Design at college, he didn't start setting the world alight.

In fact I'm sure the only thing that he considered setting alight was the college.

It didn't suit him, and he hated every minute.

But he did what he had to do, and graduated before getting a job quickly in an advertising agency in Dallas.

And looking back I am assuming he hated college as in many ways it supressed his free spirit.

His desire to do things his own way.

His need to be creative on his own terms.

So fast forward to the evenings and like Bruce Wayne and his alter ego The Dark knight, our guest slipped effortless into his other role. That of guitar strutting rock god.

Yes, he worked hard with his band, toured nationally, playing festivals, getting on the radio, and sharing stage space with some of the biggest bands of the day. And then it came to an end.

His music career was no more.

So what do you do when everything you have worked for comes to an end.

Where do you go when you are at a crossroads in your life, and the dots that have led you to this point stop, and you are left with just your own vision of what life will be?

Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, with todays solopreneur, the one and only AJ Amyx | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/aj-amyx-144/

Most of us on the planet have a desire to be rich, so we can buy a big house, have lovely holidays and generally have a kickass life.

But how would you feel if overnight your family went the opposite way and went from being multi-millionaires to poor.

That is a hard thing to get over.

Well our guest has had a life intertwined with the paths of the rich and not so rich right since the early days, and like we see time and time again on Join Up Dots its the ability to reflect and start asking the right questions at the right time that can lead to finding the path that is right.

The path that our guest was made to live.

Whilst being a financial advisor, he was paid a visit by a client whose business was going under.

The man had worked hard to achieve financial freedom and the results of his efforts had left him with nothing.

He was distressed obviously and didn't know what to do

So what could our guest do to help?

How he could he help him get back on his feet, and most importantly make sure that it didn't happen again?

Well instead of thinking of just helping that single individual, our guest planned to help the world and set off on an odyssey to spend the next five years of his life studying the lives of both rich people and poor people.

He managed to segment out what he calls "rich habits" and "poverty habits," meaning the tendencies of those who fit in each group.

As he explains, everyone has some rich habits and some poverty habits. "The key is to get more than 50% to be rich habits," he says.

And now with his second book Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life just released he is once again showing us the way to prosperity.

Well let's waste no more time as we bring onto the show, not to simply join up the dots of his life, but also to find out more about this 50%, the one and only Mr Tom Corley | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/tom-corley-143/

Todays guest is a man who quite simply knows how to get things done.

The master non-procrastinator.

The king of batching, the prince of the 80/20 principle,and Lord of my favourite law too...Parkinsons Law.He is the owner of the blog and podcast Beyond The To Do List and shows us all how we are wasting so much time doing stuff that quite simply will not push us onto doing the great stuff that we have to do.

Yes, Facebook is fun. Twitter is useful. And Youtube is wildly entertaining.

But none of them should be used when they do not have a need to be used.

If they are keeping us away from what we should be doing, then stop it.

But how do we do that? How do we beat the addiction that checking our emails 50 times a day seems to have on all of us?

And how did he manage to walk boldly into an area that we all struggle with...is he a recovering addict?

Well lets find out and not waste anymore time, you see I'm being productive

Its my pleasure to bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only solopreneur Mr Erik Fisher. | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/142-erik-fisher/

Todays guest is a lady who quite simply is probably the fittest person that we have ever had on the show.

Just reading her bio exhausted me, but wow....she is packing a lot into her day.

As a professional golfer and fitness guru she believes that all of us have a responsibility to develop our fitness programmes into our daily worklife.

It doesn't matter if it means that we do it whilst commuting, walking the dog, or watching the latest edition of "Breaking Bad" she shows us the ways to do it.

By making informative, and slightly unusal videos that have gone viral on the web, she demonstrates that this isn't just a theory its actionable advice.

You can hang on a lamp post, swing on a door frame, or just push againt a wall whilst juggling your daily tasks...there is no excuse.

And this idea has really taken on, and now with numerous appearances on tv shows and other media, she is highly sought after to spread her message.

So did this focus on fitness and the teaching of it come naturally to her, or was she an overweight person who had the apithany to change?

Does she see a desire in the world to take on her advice, or are we all more interested in a night in with Netflix and a huge bag of Doritos?

Well lets find out, as we bring onto the show the creater of the smartest sexiest workout videos ever, the one and only Andia Winslow | Show notes: http://joinupdots.com/podcast/andia-winslow-141/