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Do you ever have days or times when you would rather pull the duvet up over your head and let the world just get on with it? You either cant be bothered, or more likely you are doubting yourself and you think that you arent enough for what the world wants from you? I know that I struggle with this a lot and in this podcast episode I share a graduation speech from one of the creators of the global hit movie "Frozen" Jennifer Lee gets up and addresses a bunch of eager graduates as to the daily struggle that she has everyday to believe in herself and bring her talents to the world. As you will hear for years she fought against really putting herself out there, until she got a grip of herself and stopped allowing the doubts to freeze her to the spot. And as we know success came rappidly after that decision was made, ane every small child in the world would walk around singing "Let It Go" as loudly as they could. Its brilliant to see and its also brilliant to hear as without her inner belief increasing we wouldnt get such gifts. That is what we are hoping for from you too. Everyone of you who is reading this, and listening to the podcast has stuff in you that the world is waiting for. Huge sexy, bold, interesting and exciting stuff that will make the world sit up and take notice of you. Best of all your life will go from the humdrum boring world that you are potentially living in, to a world of riches, excitement ad experiences everyday. Enjoy

Introducing Ramesh Dontha Ramesh Dontha is today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is a man who thinks the world is doing things wrong. He is the author of the brand new book "The Agile Entrepreneur, The 60 Minute Startup" - A proven system to start your business in 1 hour a day and get your first paying customers in 30 days or less" Bold and exciting statement, so let's hear what he has to say. As he says "I know you're well aware that would-be entrepreneurs get bombarded with all kinds of business advice all day, every day. It's like all they have to do is add "self-employed" to their Facebook profile, and they start seeing ads for webinars and expensive training that they're told they "must" enroll in to be successful. Not to mention that most of them have never started and grown a business before, and as they try to figure it out, they can't see the forest for the trees! That's why I am publishing a book my book. I think there's a better way for sure" So has he gone through the weeds and clambered out the other-side with this sense of clarity and understanding? As from the point of graduating at the Duke University - The Fuqua School Of Business it seems that he has always had one eye on creating his own future. And what would be the biggest mistake people make, starting the wrong business or simply not starting at all. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ramesh Dontha Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep weighty subjects with Ramesh Dontha such as: Ramesh shares how he was one of the walking dead, and strongly felt that he needed to leave his role to save his sanity, although it wasn't easy to do it. We discuss the early stages of the side hustles that quite often pull us off track from what we should be doing with our businesses. Why it's so important to re-engineer other peoples products and services to find out what is working already. Don't recreate the wheel, use what works. and lastly...... The reasons why people shouldn't do the leap of faith no matter how many people encourage them to do it. There are safer ways to go about things. How To Connect With Ramesh Dontha Website Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Return To The Top Of Ramesh Dontha If you enjoyed this episode with Ramesh Dontha, why not check out other inspirational chat with Clayton Morris, Dorie Clark, and the amazing Niall Doherty You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy Audio Transcription Of Ramesh Dontha Interview Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David Ralph. David Ralph 0:25 Yes, hello. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, my young ones, thank you so much for being here, another episode of Join Up Dots. Now, we've been talking about creating your own businesses and creating our own income streams for about six years now coming up. And a lot of people might think it's really, really easy, and other people might think it's really, really hard. What's the truth in it? Well, today's guest joining us on the show is a man who thinks the world is doing things wrong. Basically, he's the author of the upcoming new book, the Agile entrepreneur, over 60 minutes startup, a proven system them to start your business in one hour a day, and get your first paying customers in 30 days or less bold and exciting statement. So let's hear what he has to say. As he says, I know you're well aware that would be entrepreneurs get bombarded with all kinds of business advice all day, every day. It's like they all have to do is add self employed to their Facebook profile. And they start seeing ads for webinars and expensive training. And they're told they must in load in to be successful. Not to mention that most of them have never started and grown a business before and that's a try to figure it out. They can't see the forest for the trees. And that's why I'm publishing a book, my book, I think there's a better way for sure. So Has he gone through the weeds and clamber down the other side with this sense of clarity and understanding himself? And from the point of graduating at the Duke University of the grass School of Business? And I'm sure I've said that wrong, because it sounds very rude. It seems that he's always had one eye on creating his own future. What would be the biggest mistake people make starting their own business? Or simply not starting at all? Well, let's find out as we bring on to the show, to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Romeo done fine. Good morning. How are you? Romesh Dontha 2:16 Very good. David, thank you for having me. David Ralph 2:19 Start straight away. How do you say the School of Business you went to because I've been practising there? And it just sounds like I'm swearing. How do you actually say it? Romesh Dontha 2:29 That's the question to start with the David. So it's a Duke University. Of course, the school itself is called Fuqua School of Business. FUQUA. and gentlemen, Mr. Fuqua donated some money to the school and that they named the school after him. Also is more food David Ralph 2:45 and far, I was more than, yeah, I was pronouncing the wrong thing. But few few. So a few. Yeah. That's why I'm now a master. So let's get straight into it, because you are somebody but as I say, you've had one eye on the sort of entrepreneurial journey, I know that you've sort of done your own businesses, and then you work for other people, you've gone back and forth. Do you think most people need to see the back and forth? Because it seems to me most people go into corporate land, and then instantly decide they're going to be an entrepreneur and a businessman? Without having that ability to say no, hang on, I will step back again, and see a different way of operating. What do you think? Romesh Dontha 3:26 I personally think that the going back and forth, having certain corporate experience is important. Does it mean that everybody has to go through that exercise? Not necessarily, you know, I've come across people who have never gone to school, who have never worked in a company, and then they think they're unemployable. But they have built very successful businesses themselves. So there are lots of case studies, but my own personal experience, and then majority of the people that benefit by going into corporate world, and then having the back and forth experience, David Ralph 4:00 because my issue, I've never gone back once I quit that was there. And my issue is the fact that I couldn't bear to be told where to be at certain times. The fact that this morning, my alarm went home got a little lucky. And so I had a little delay. And you can't do that if you're going to work. And I'm very aware of that restriction. Romesh Dontha 4:21 That is true. I mean, myself, right. So when you go back and forth, certain times, you feel you regret for going back to the corporate life. And then that's why you want to quit, I myself, come to a stage where I don't want to be told what I want to do. And then you have this phase of life, where you really want to give something you want to accomplish something. And that is the phase. I said, I'm going to do it. I'd not want to have any regrets. And for good, I'm leaving. David Ralph 4:49 And what did you say when you walked in? Did he did he hang on to your leg in and be dragged across the floor? As you're marching to the door? What actually happened? Romesh Dontha 5:00 Yeah, actually, mind was a gradual evolution of wanting to quit. So just a little bit of timeline here. 2014 was when I was I mean, really, I was like a zombie, I really wanted to quit, and I was like, a walking dead, you know, thinking to myself, what the hell am I doing, but I still did not have the courage and that that time, my boss and friends and and strongly encouraged me not to quit, and then stay on. So maybe that played a role as well. And then by 2016, I said, If I don't do it, now, I will never do it. And then I quit. But by the time some of the people already knew that I was thinking about quitting. So it was an evolution. It's the let me go at the time in the sense that I can find a job with a word of encouragement, because they knew that I was going to quit it someday. Someday, David Ralph 5:54 okay. And don't tell me Don't tell me that you went from that point of being the walking dead, to get to your first customer in 30 days, he is that true? Or have you now seen the path? Romesh Dontha 6:07 I have seen the path Actually, I got a trace back, I started a company back in 1994, an information technology consulting company, so I always had the company. So I mean, I had a paying customer at that time, because I simply switched from I was a contractor, a consultant, and then I was consulting for the same company, as a as my own business owner. So that does not count. But when I actually quit for the first time permanently, by the time I have done a lot of what we call the side gigs, a side hustle, experimenting a lot, figuring out trying to overcome this uncertainties. So for me, the 30 days, customer, I already had it within 30 days after I quit permanently. But it is like, you know what everybody calls an overnight success. It is not an overnight success. I've been experimenting, I've been tweaking the model. So for me to get the customer and first 30 days was a, you know, the experimentation that I was doing for multiple years before I actually finally quit. David Ralph 7:13 So what kind of side hustlers did you do? Because I look back on some of mine. And a lot of them were madness. I look back on it. And I think it had nothing to do with my business. It had nothing to do with my branding, what the hell was I doing? But I think it was a kind of a panic, it was a panic of this, this might this might be the key to solve helped me through to where I want it to be. Romesh Dontha 7:35 Yeah, so I was all over the place. David haven't even believe David Ralph 7:39 this is I do believe me? I do. I totally do believe. Romesh Dontha 7:43 Okay, so I was fully employed. I was in the management side, I was, you know, doing the marketing and business development for a large technology company. And then 2005, I was by myself, my family was visiting India. And then I got this magazine entrepreneurial magazine, I was just flipping through the magazine, I came across this article about domains, you know, flipping domains, buying and selling domains and building websites and flipping them. It was a totally new world for me. They said, it's a virtual real estate, internet real estate, that you buy land, you build a salad, or you buy land, keep it when value improves, you know, you sell it like at the time they give example of a business.com sold for $1 million, just a domain itself nothing. So that whole world fascinated me. Then for the next few days, I was spending literally 18 hours a day, trying to go into this forums and figuring out, and within a month, I bought a website. It's a pet medicines website, from a high school kid, or maybe college kid who built it. And then he sold it to me for about $300. Right? It's actually money making domain, right. So he had an affiliate, kind of a website, I don't know about the listeners how much they knew about the affiliates, but they had a veterinarian who is fulfilling the orders that come through the website for the pet medicines. So I didn't have to do much. It was already search engine optimised to some some extent, at that time, of course, the primitive with all the Google algorithms and all that stuff. So it's a money making website, I bought it for around $300. I bought it just to learn, right. And then lo and behold, I was getting 15% Commission on every sale that goes through and very soon made the money. So that was my first side hustle, David Ralph 9:37 Tosa I'm gonna jump into, I'm gonna jump in there. So why do you think that he because he obviously done the bulk of the work with young lad. Why do you think that he been sold it for such a small amount. $300 is nothing Romesh Dontha 9:49 is nothing actually that it was, is that the only thing that I could get to is that is high school K, the college kid around that age, like around 1718 years, he needed that problem $300 for whatever reason, and then he was about to go to college as well. And he didn't want to manage. So he probably had multiple personal reasons, you know, for him to sell for in a very less money at the time. And then I got into this gold mine gold mine not just from a money perspective, gold mine from learning perspective. David Ralph 10:21 I think what you did was really wise that you literally bought something that you knew was working, and quite effectively, you could rip it apart, but then learn what's happening there. And I see that as a great way of doing it. You're buying an engine that's operating. And then you're actually going, Oh, I can see why that's doing that. And back and forth. Romesh Dontha 10:45 Yeah, exactly. So the other option is I could have learned to build and all that stuff. But I was lucky enough I wanted to know by and then that's probably the I think the best learning that I got is you just want to buy something, you rip it apart, you reverse engineer it. Then I went back and been learned about this content management systems like a WordPress and Juma this all those things, right. So it gave me an opportunity to break it apart and learn the underpinnings of the website. David Ralph 11:17 I have actually spent thousands on things like sales funnels and stuff. And when they started operating, and the guy said to me, I will get it going, you will get a tonne of traffic. And this this was in the early days of Join Up Dots. And I paid him at about $2,000, whatever. And it did, it started working. And I hated it because I didn't understand why it was working. And I literally pulled it apart and killed it to find out what you know what was actually going on behind the scenes. And I think that was the best two grand I've ever spent. Romesh Dontha 11:51 I agree with you 100%. So your original question was what other side hustlers have done. So I've done that. And then then I went into this domain flipping domain names like a at one point, I had 800 domains, in my name, right? Just trying to figure out which of those will become gold mines like a business.com, somebody would buy kind of stuff, right. So that did not pan out too well. Because come one year around, you have to renew all those 800 domains. So I was not willing to renew them for whatever the fee, so I let majority of them go. But that during that one year, it was another learning experience. Just studying that industry of the domain flipping as an example. Now with domains, David Ralph 12:35 I'm always buying domains, I bought one yesterday and I do exactly the same, I got a great idea. I'm going to buy a domain name. And then more often than not, it sits there for a year. And then I just sort of roll off and disappear into the domain graveyard. Now. Is it something now when you look back on all those things that you wouldn't have been able to write about the Agile entrepreneur without those? Or is it the case where literally they have pulled you away from being Alberto? Right, the Agile entrepreneur maybe couple of years earlier? Romesh Dontha 13:09 No, David, I mean, all those experiences of the successes and failures are key ingredients of this agile entrepreneur business, right? Each one of those experiences taught me so much. I think without those experiences, I would not be here talking about building businesses and agile entrepreneurship kind of concept. David Ralph 13:33 Now, so let's get on to your book, we're going to talk about your book because I know our audience will jump out and get it now. I read a lot of business books rubbish, I probably read three a week. And after I'd read the first four chapters, I realised that they're just banging on about the same subject, I get one key idea. And they sprayed maybe 30 pages into 300 pages, and then I struggle to get through them, I think Yeah. All right, donate. Now I understand what you're talking about. Just leave it. Now is yours one that is very much like that, or is it a blueprint for people to follow? Tell us tell us what's in the Agile entrepreneur? Romesh Dontha 14:12 Yeah, if you could, let me just set the context for the book first. Okay. So when I looked at the research, primarily, let me talk it from the US perspective. And then probably global also will apply. So many research studies say that about 70% of the people want to have a business, start a business, it could be a side business, it may not be that that's the main business. But when you look at the actual number of people who go about starting a business, it's less than 15%. Right? So there's a huge gap, you know, 70% want to start, but only 50, less than 15% actually end up doing something about it. So then we looked into why, right, the reasons again, the research says it's primarily about the fear, the fear of uncertainty, fear of unknown risks, and things like that, right. So then I said, Okay, I broke it down. Those were the fears that I was going through myself, right, the uncertainty fear, you cannot take it up. But the unknown fear, you can do something about it. So when I was going through my own experiences, and by the way, in parallel, I was I also had a podcast. So I was talking to lots of entrepreneurs who have gone through the journey, I was learning tonnes and tonnes of information. So it breaks down to a few things, right. So first thing is people are afraid they don't know where to start, right? So there are certain elements to actually launching the business, the launching of businesses, you have to have an idea, you want to know which customers you want to target, what are their pain points. And then what is the approximate range of price your product or service that you want to offer? So there are certain set things, about 15 of them, I broke them down that any person has to do to start a business, right. And then the second piece is, is actually selling and finding a customer. Right. So I mean, I am a huge, huge fan of Peter Drucker who is a management guru, he broke down the business into only two things. He said, a business should have only, you know, innovative mark, innovative product, or service. Innovation is key. That's the number one thing. The second thing is you need to have a customer. Everything else is noise. That's what he said, right? So as long as you you figured out the product and service, and you figured out, you know, innovative way of marketing the product and service to find a customer and you got the business. So this book breaks down these elements of launching a business into 15 steps. So the first 15 days of the 30 days, in every day, you spend about 60 minutes. Doing that piece, like one day could be just building the website, you're not building the perfect website, you're probably building a website. And another day, you're just incorporating the business. That's it for 60 minutes, you know, just go through the motions of incorporating the business. Another day could be just brand your business, you know, what are the colours? What are the things that you want to pick? Just 60 minutes, right? So first 15 days is all about every day you do something to launch your business. And the next 15 days is all about different sales strategies that you could implement to find the fast paying customers. So this book lays out in a workbook like fashion every day, 60 minutes, hey, know, do this for 15 minutes. Do this for 15 minutes, do this for 30 minutes like that, right? It depending on the task, right? And then it just doesn't leave the reader just to say do this do this. It first goes over a successful entrepreneur storey. So it features 30 entrepreneurs, a successful entrepreneur storey how they have done it, right. And it actually gives the reader their templates where applicable. What are the templates that they use, for example, email, that they might have sent out a cold email they might have sent out to get the first customer, and then it gives the templates to the reader so they can use. David Ralph 18:20 Now AO sounds great VIA all sounds great. But I'm going to play some words. And I'm going to come back to this. This is a good question. This is a good one. He's Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey 18:30 my father could have been a great comedian. But he didn't believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. David Ralph 18:57 Now, the content of your book sounds great, absolutely. But the key thing that I can't understand why people can't grasp this. And actually, I've been training a guy over the last few weeks, and he's been building this business. And when he came to me this morning, he said, Do you know what I'm going to do? And I went penny dropped, penny dropped. And he said, I'm going to start looking at my competitors to see where their traffic's coming from, and start nicking some of it. Now, with people out there, why don't you feel a struggle so much to get a customer? Where we already know where the customers are? The customers are going to the competition? You're not going to start a new business Really? That is anything too unique. Are you is your first one not not many people do they're all going to be similar themes. Mine was a similar theme. Yours is a similar theme, everybody. So why did I struggle so much to find a customer? When we already know where the customers are? The customers are where people are advertising, that where they're going on Facebook? Over data is out there what you reckon. Romesh Dontha 19:58 Okay, so it costs is identifying the right customer, I'll give an example. You know, the the my recent turnaround. So I wanted to start a data strategy consulting company, right? That is what I did. And then I went about the wrong way. So I said, Okay, my customers are this, no small medium, kind of I want to go after a smaller medium, because I don't have a large set of sales people. And I don't want to go through that stuff, right. But those were the wrong set of customers, they were not thinking about the problem. I mean, it's not a big enough problem for them to think because they have other problems to solve. And by the time I figured that out, I said mice, the people, the companies that are actually trying to solve the problem of the large companies, and then I don't have a set up to go after them. I want to go partner with other companies who are actually getting this business from them. So my issue there is not that I could not find the customer in the first get go is I was looking in the wrong place. So it David Ralph 21:01 isn't the same, though. Romesh Dontha 21:04 It's the same as for me to figure out that where I should look itself took me some time. I mean, if I didn't have the sustainability, I could have given up by the time I found my customer. Right. Okay. Okay. So for example, it Yeah, if I didn't, couldn't survive for the three months where I could not get the customer, I would have given up and then gone back to a safe job. David Ralph 21:27 Now with it. And the other thing that you said that was quite interesting was the fact of looking at your branding, and you were mentioning sort of getting your colours right and stop. Branding is so much more than that. And certainly I look at my my business every day now. And I think to myself, yeah, my branding is is is bang on its bang on because it's just bringing clients to me easily. And as soon as I land on my website, and we're still improving it all the time. But you can understand we've been about three seconds what it's all about. How do people in the early stages get that? Because it's very difficult, isn't it? People think branding is colours and logos and stuff, but it's not. It's the promise. It's the it's the lifestyle of that business. It's the belief, it's it's everything into one package. Romesh Dontha 22:17 You got it actually. So I was giving colours as an example for that particular days of the work. Because the other things that what is your minimum, you know, what is your value proposition? Those things I would have gone through the prior days anyway, your hundred percent right, David, because the branding is about the promise of your offer that is consistent with, you know, your value proposition, right. So that is what the brand brand is about to me, right? So I mean, it's a brand incorporates number one in a service or a product, and then what is the value proposition that you want to give to the customer? And then what is your promise, it could be that you're low cost, or you're, you know, high value, it's a combination of all those things, but all of them lead into the brand. And then the mechanics of what colours and all is a last step that you only want to make it consistent with the rest of the stuff that you already decided upon. I'm with you. 100%. David Ralph 23:20 Well, I'm glad I'm glad because I didn't want to fall out with you. So I didn't want to fall out with you. Because I feel there's a friendship to be made here. And you live in California, and it's nice place to go on holiday. Now, if we if we look at it again, the Agile entrepreneur, it's a great name. But entrepreneurs agile, are they just making it up as they go along? I often wonder because because we see this all the time where people say yes, I was a born entrepreneur, and I always been. No, you weren't? No, you weren't you, you you just had the ability to overcome the crap and keep going. Romesh Dontha 23:55 David accurate, the Agile term in this one has a very specific meaning and let may go over that here. So in the technology world, especially in the software development side, there is something called an agile methodology. Right? So in 2001, or so what happened was a bunch of developers got together and said, the the traditional way of developing a software where somebody gives the requirements, and then the developers go and take the requirements, spend a few months or six months developing something. And going back to the person who gave the requirements, this is what you, you told us, and then the guy by the time the market is evolved, and then all the requirements want misunderstood by the developers. And the guy says, No, this is not what I wanted. So again, we go back to the method. So that's called a waterfall methodology of developing software. And that was not working out. So the Agile methodology is a very iterative, right? It's an incremental approach. So the way it works, and right now, this Uber's and Airbnb is another way they they develop the software, a very fast is using agile methodology, what they call a sprint. So they break it down into like a one week or two weeks prints, where you give me certain requirements. Within two weeks, I will come back to the proof of concept. Is this what you told me? And the customer says, No, this is exactly not but 50%, you're right, tweak it here. So I go back and then iterate on that one. So with a full realisation, the requirements will change, right? They're not set in stone. So this print approach of developing software revolutionised the software. So this whole thing called agile methodology, it's a collaborative with the person who's giving the requirements. It's incremental with the tweaking. So I have experienced with this agile methodology, and I said, Why can't I take this approach to building a business? So in this agile methodology, we, David, if you talk to any entrepreneur, successful entrepreneurs, they never ended, where they started, the always pivoted, they adjusted the pricing model, they kind of adjusted the persona of the customer, they thought they adjusted the business model, they improved it iterated, changed, pivoted, whatever word you call it. So the Agile methodology of building a business, you know, that whatever business plan that you have, now, it's going to change, but I'm willing to change. So that is what the Agile entrepreneur methodology is that, that you're willing to, you know, iterate, but you know, you got to do it fast, you know, you pivoted so that's why the Agile has a very specific meaning, not just Agilent a very general sense. David Ralph 26:42 Yeah, you explain that perfectly. So basically, what we're saying to the listeners is, instead of getting hung up on perfection, and trying to make everything look perfect, just get it out here, get it out there and then see what happens. Romesh Dontha 26:56 Exactly, David, that's why I'm saying that 30 days, and then 60 minutes concept, I am a strong believer, because let's say you wanted to start a business, right? Instead of wasting six months or X number of months, you know, crunch it down to one month, right? So I mean, can you give one month of your lifetime to start, you know, just experiment with something for 60 minutes a day that you strongly believe in? Can you David Ralph 27:21 know, release this, there's a lot of stuff on Netflix, there's Netflix and Amazon, they're churning it out, it's going to take up time. Romesh Dontha 27:28 Yeah, so it'

Today's podcast comes to your ears a bit later than usual. This is because I have been away on a five week vacation travelling around America with my family. During that time I learnt so much in regards to peoples desire to "Not have" a business, but how to live a life with no hassle or restrictions. It's not about having the business that excites people, but its about spending time with the family, watching Netflix on a Monday morning and still have the bills paid. So in this episode we talk about the early steps you can take to make this dream come true. We talk about making the bridge to cross to financial freedom as small as possible. Enjoy!!

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is a Husband, Father of 3, Entrepreneurial Businessman, Coach, Consultant and constantly learning how to evolve into the Greatest Man I can be… As he says "I am passionate about helping Men release their Past Limiting Beliefs, Influences and Emotions so they can lift the weight of the World from their Mind and Step into the Man they want to be Mentally, Physically and Spiritually... After 20 years trying to "Have it All" in life, I found myself feeling unfulfilled, unhappy and thinking their was something was wrong with me... I hit rock bottom abusing Alcohol to numb the pain.... End of 2015, Greg and his wife were packing up our lives to move back to Australia. They had just spent two years living in Singapore – where he was stationed to setup a US company in South-East Asia. They made the decision to move to an area where they had never lived before and they had big plans to start my own business after 20+ years in Corporate. How The Dots Joined Up For Greg He says "I decided to go all in and launch my own Consulting and Digital Marketing Agency I had all the skills and knowledge to set up the Business as I had done it before for other companies Although it took a bit of work to set up, it was exciting and fun, and I started getting great clients early on, yet I was not quite ready for the emotional roller-coaster that was about to follow. The business and revenue were growing, and so was my stress, worry, fear and anxiety. I started to see how comfortable I had it in Corporate and starting my own business started exposing years of ignoring and suppressing my emotions. Like most businessmen I wasn't good at dealing with negative emotions and feelings so I used Alcohol to numb the pain and find some happiness on those shitty days! Emotionally things went from bad to worse… Anxiety, Stress and Self Sabotage with Alcohol were taking over my life and I didn't have the comfy corporate gig to hide behind … I still had to keep building, running and maintaining my new business to pay the bills and support my wife and 3 kids. And that is the perfect place to start today's show. So why do people, men in particular feel the need to shoulder such a burden on their own, without saying "Hey, having a wobble here, need a bit of help"? And looking back was there anything that could have made a big difference, or did he need the "heroes journey" to find the real place he should be? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Greg Gillies Show Highlights During the show we discussed such big subjects with Greg Gillies such as: Greg shares the dawning realisation that he didn't have the emotional intelligence to build success in his own life, much to his surprise. Why you should have lived the pain point of your ideal avatar to truly bring strength of your business. Greg shares why he now feels that he needed the approval of others throughout his life, and never focused on what he truly wants. and lastly...... Why people across the world make up stories that keep themselves in place from achieving amazing success. Time to rewrite those stories.

Introducing Kathleen Ann Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast is a lady who for many years worked in the corporate environment. Building someone else's dream wasn't hers and she had to do something about it. So heading into the world of "doing it herself" she became an entrepreneur and well and truly smashed down those corporate walls forever. Kathleen Ann is known as the "Money & Marketing Champion" for heart-centred women entrepreneurs (and enlightened men!). She is the Founder of 'Power Up Your Marketing' and holds multiple Money and Marketing Coach certifications. Niching down tightly she now works with service based women business owners to help them create and grow financially successful businesses based around their passion and unique brilliance. Her marketing expertise and insight have helped women around the world to stand out and position themselves as the expert in their field. But this is just part of her business building strategy as she also helps her clients to move away from charging by the hour and instead package and price their services so they can charge what they're worth and get it. She teaches people to power through to a life they want by using online skills, clear strategies and of course powerful marketing techniques. She has grown to understand that marketing is not just about having a great marketing concept and a good promotional strategy. So does she remember the gradual build up of disenchantment in the corporate world, and potential fear of going for it like she has. And where does she see most people get stuck when first starting? Trying to be too perfect or trying to attract everyone across the world? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Kathleen Ann. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such dreamy subjects with Kathleen Ann such as: We discuss why people fail to understand the true preparation required to make a success of marketing. It all starts with understanding yourself and your offering. Why it is so important to focus on the lifestyle you want more than simply getting the cash through the door at the beginning. Why most of the time we don't get what we want because we don't truly decide on what we truly want and hold firm to that vision. and lastly...... Kathleen talks passionately about the strange ways that the inverse operates if you only relax and allow it to happen.

How To Sleep Better With Christine Hansen If you google "How To Sleep Better" you will see so many search results it is astonishing. People are literally tapping away for solutions to their sleeping problems every second of the day. Now you won't need to struggle or google anymore as today's guest is an expert at teaching you how to sleep better. She first joined me on the show back in 2016 where we discussed her personal journey to building literally her "dream" business. Starting her journey as an English teacher in Luxembourg, she had a pretty standard career for a few years until she got to the point when her interest in corporate coaching and sleep patterns became too much to ignore. And she took the leap of faith, leaving her career in education in 2015 to start something new and inspiring. How The Dots Joined Up For Christine As she says "I understand that sleeping, while on sleep medication isn't really sleeping. I understand that falling asleep, but then having to lie awake for hours in the middle of the night isn't really sleeping, and I understand that waking up just as tired as when you went to bed isn't really sleeping either" Which I think is where most of us find ourselves on a daily basis. Our busy lifestyles needing more and more energy and focus. Our workloads taking us long into the night just to keep up. So how do we know how to sleep better for ourselves? Instead of trying every solution that seems to work for everyone else across the world. Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start sleeping like a baby with Christine Hansen. How To Sleep Better Highlights During the show we discussed such dreamy subjects with Christine Hansen such as: How to sleep better during the summer when it's really hot at night. That is a big problem. Why Christine think that the sleep trackers are such a bad and pointless idea. Christine reveals how she is getting her team together so that she can pivot moving forward. and lastly...... Why social norms around sleeping patterns should be ignored. Do what you have to do to get a good nights sleep.

Welcome to the Join Up Dots Podcast talking about branding subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below: Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed) If you like the show, we would be so grateful if would consider leaving the show a review in iTunes as well as Stitcher Radio. A couple minutes of your time can help the show immensely! Thank YOU! Welcome to today's episode of the Join Up Dots podcast which will be answering a few questions from our listeners. We love receiving these from people across the world as hey it makes us realise that people are listening to the show. Let's start with Question One that has come from Scotland. In this question we are asked why Join Up Dots has changed slightly over the last few years, and the reasons for it. Also as you will see from the heading of this podcast we touch on what makes branding. Question One Hi David and everyone connected with the mercurial Join Up Dots podcast, I am a 22 year old gent, from Carnoustie in Scotland. I love your podcast, as honestly I never know what episode I am going to get into each time. Couple of questions if you could. I started listening a couple of years ago, and your interviews where a lot more cheeky and sarcastic. I loved them massively. The more recent ones, have definitely changed in content style. Was this on purpose as I am interested why the change. Secondly, I hear people talk about branding of a business, and I dont really understand what it is. I think I do, but would like to know your view on this. Keep on delivering as I dont know what I would do to pass the time in my boring boring boring, mind controlling, energy sapping job. Cheers Charlie Question Two Good morning David, where have you been all my life. I listened to a show recently when you said "You don't really do anything online in regards to social media" I have always thought that this was a huge part of growing a business. Why dont you do it too? Evelyn Crowel, Oswego, New York Question Three Hi David, I dont know if you will get to read this so i will do the normal and say "Man you are one sexy and handsome individual for sure" I have been working on an online business over the last few years selling blankets and jackets for terriers across the world. It was a passion project for sure, but now its a business I am losing my passion for it. When an order comes in I used to think "Hurrah, my future is assured" and now I am thinking "Just let the dog freeze" not good. Any suggestions to get the passion back Hannah, North Dakota

Introducing Ariel Garten Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is Ariel Garten. without a doubt this lady is probably one of the most interesting people you will meet. She is a psychotherapist, Neuroscientist, mom, former fashion designer, and the female founder and visionary of an amazing and highly successful tech start-up Muse. Now if you have heard of muse then get this. Muse tracks your brain during meditation to give you real-time feedback on your meditation, guiding you into the "zone" and solving the problem most of us have when starting a meditation practice. Muse lets you know when you are doing it right. How The Dots Joined Up For Ariel When Ariel is not reading brains (literally) or investing in, inspiring and advising other start-ups and women in biz, you can find her on stages across the world, from TED to MIT to SXSW. She inspires people to understand that they can accomplish anything they want by learning what goes on in their own mind. As she says "My MISSION is multi-fold: To support women to be kick ass in business, to mentor start-ups, and to contribute to the cutting edge of neuroscience. My desire is to help you do a deep dive in understanding your brain, how it makes you who you are, and how to help you manage the crazy that resides in all our minds." So how did something which seems so complex go from the thought, to the vision, to the reality? And where can she see this technology heading going forwards? Well lets find out as when bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ariel Garten. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Ariel Garten such as: We talk about the initial factors of finding the cash and struggling when starting your own business what is the point of being the richest person on the planet, if you can't then help others. We discuss how Ariel used to be poor at meditation and found this as he springboard for what has become MUSE And lastly.......... Why the majority of people are unhappy due to their inability to centre themselves in the present moment.

Introducing Steve Farber Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview is Steve Farber He is the president of Extreme Leadership, Incorporated, and the founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute, organizations devoted to the cultivation and development of Extreme Leaders in the business community, non-profits and education. His third book, Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson In Leadership, was a Wall Street Journal® and USA Today® bestseller. His second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, was hailed as "a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit." And his first book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership, is already considered a classic in the leadership field. It received Fast Company magazine's Readers' Choice Award and was recently named one of the 100 Best Business Books of All Time. Farber's much-anticipated new book, Love Is Just Damn Good Business, will be published by McGraw-Hill on September 6, 2019. How The Dots Joined Up For Steve In 1989, after having run his own financial services company, Farber devoted his professional life to the field of leadership development and has been at it ever since. He was director of service programs at TMI, an international training consultancy, and then worked for 6 years as Vice President and Official Mouthpiece (that's what it said on his business card) of The Tom Peters Company where he met several of his mentors including author/gurus Tom Peters, Jim Kouzes, and Terry Pearce. In 2000, Farber established his own company, Extreme Leadership, Inc, where he is president and CEO. He is a member of The Transformational Leadership Council and has served as Vice Chairman on the Board of Directors of the world-renown, Up With People, a global leadership program for students from 18 to 29 years old. Coaching and inspiring Extreme Leadership at all organizational levels is Steve's passion, and he does so with a style that is part strategist, part social commentator and all energy. So is this one of those jobs that energises him to jump out of bed every day, inspired to make a difference to the world? And how do you get these kind of things going, when its just a thought new to the mind, and never before seen in the world? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start join up dots with the one and only Mr. Steve Farber Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weighty subjects with Steve Farber such as: Steve shares how he got the name of Extreme Leadership, and why it is so important to his success. Why we should start with the big question "What can I do to start building something" and then make a difference to others. How we have to all get into habits of finding the passion in our lives to really kick start the life we want. And lastly........ Steve says "It's not his job to convince someone to do something, it's his job to confirm the talent you already have" Profound advice.

Today's guest joining us on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast is a man with knowledge to burn. He can talk passionately about how he created huge success in the entrepreneurial world. Actually bootstrapping a business to the tune of $20,000,000, as well as building a multi-million dollar property portfolio business. But he has also seen it all come crumbling down around him too. Starting his first venture at age 17, he has travelled extensively and lived in more than five countries as a young man. This blend of travel and business means that Derek Gallimore is very familiar with a wide variety of business models, work cultures and methodologies. Heard the phrases digital nomad, online traveller....well he was all of these before anyone knew what to call them. Now, due in no short measures to his travels he has been firmly obsessed by the world of outsourcing and virtual teams. How The Dots Joined Up For Derek He was introduced to outsourcing in 2011 when he needed a solution to a 24/7 staffing requirement, and simply could not afford the high labour costs of the 'West'. He is now one of the industry's biggest advocates and so founded Outsource Accelerator in response to the growing need for an independent source of outsourcing information and education. Outsourcing (otherwise known as offshoring or BPO), is a booming industry. The 'West' is outsourcing many of its roles to the developing countries of the world. This is happening at an increasing rate as technology facilitates faster transfer, with better interface across a broad range of applications. As he says "There is an unstoppable trend of this, as naturally, higher cost functions will seek out lower cost alternatives. This is a natural business imperative. Outsourcing is a positive phenomenon. It greatly benefits the developing countries that it utilises, and it is a huge economic boon for the developed countries that seek cheaper resource." So how do you make this work for your business, without having to micro manage the work you needed done in the first place? And i guess most importantly how do you find the good workers, when you are so detached from ever personally meeting? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start join up dots with the one and only Derek Gallimore. Show Highlights During the show we discussed such subjects with Derek Gallimore such as: Why you should consider the friction points that that can cause an issue when you first outsource abroad. Dont think they wont come. Derek discusses openly the reasons why you have to spend time getting your staff up to speed before you expect to get results. Derek shares the fear of why being ordinary was more scary than going the common path that everybody else goes as a young man. and lastly...... Why you are not going to pull yourself out of the gravitational pull of others without some extreme effort at the beginning of business building.