Lavahot Entrepreneur Podcast - Business, Marketing, and Personal Development

In today’s episode, we have Darren Sugiyama, the Founder and CEO of Lionsmark Capital, a Premium Financing firm that offers clients extremely unique lending parameters such as non-resource financed premium loans, no personal guarantor requirements, among others. Darren has also authored 8 books, including How I Build a $37Million Insurance Agency, The Icon Effect, The Takeo Effect, and Checkmate, just to mention a few. 

I discovered Darren when I got into the insurance industry while reading his book. He’s a very open and easy to communicate with person.  Darren joins us to share some key writings in his recent book, as well as his inspirations and lessons he’s learned throughout his life journey.

His latest book the Takeo Effect is available now at -
 https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Takeo_Effect.html?id=K5VdzgEACAAJ

Key Highlights

[01:37] Darren’s most recent book: The Takeo Effect

[02:48] Diving deep into The Icon Effect book

[04:31] Flexibility and being unbreakable

[07:43] The Takeo Effect

[09:52] Being true to yourself and going above and beyond

[13:35] Men and mental health: Why they suffer in silence

[18:18] Failure is a necessary part of the process

[22:03] Submitting to God’s plan

[30:15] How to connect with Darren

Notable Quotes

● A lot of the stories I use in my fictional writing are very autobiographically inspired. Art has imitated a lot of my life.

● We want people to think of our personal and business lives as being so shiny, perfect, and void of any flaws. And that’s just not the reality.

● There’s nothing more empowering than seeing a very successful person admit that life has not been so perfect.

● The fear for men is that if we admit that we’re unraveling inside, we fear that we’ll be judged. We fear that nobody would want to do business with us.

● Sometimes the hard time is what reconnects you with what’s important.

● There’s a difference between trusting that God is going to make all your dreams come true and truly submitting to God’s will and being okay with that.

Resources

Connect with Darren

Website: https://www.darrensugiyama.com/

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

I was originally introduced to Todd on TikTok after watching several of his videos. He is the host of the Bad Reputation podcast, a Social Media growth strategist for Beamed Media and I have to say he’s really crushing it on Social Media.

He joins us to share some tips you can leverage social media to grow your brand and business, as well as how to manage bad reviews you may get.

Key Highlights

[01:10] Welcoming Todd

[02:28] Which social media platform should you focus on?

[05:32] Making the right videos for different platforms

[08:31] Incorporating different trends into your niche

[10:55] TikTok for Real Estate

[12:59] How TikTok’s 10-minute video introduction will impact the YouTube landscape

[16:13] Dealing with bad reviews

[24:43] How to improve your live-video presentations

[27:57] Joe shares the behind the scenes of how he started podcasting

[29:37] Connect with Todd

Notable Quotes

● Right now, if you’re not on TikTok, it’s a massive loss for your personal brand or the business that you’re operating.

● Facebook Reels is your quickest and your easiest opportunity to grow on Facebook.

● We typically look for tips and tricks, and hacks, which is great. That’s part of the game. But a lot of the time we’re focussing so hard on those things that we lose the understanding of what our followers want from us.

● One of the big mistakes that people make when they get a negative review is they respond immediately. The response is the last step in a mitigation process when it comes to reputation management.

● If you’re trying to build a business or brand, live video is the best possible way to do it.

Resources

Connect with Todd: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddcollinsofficial/

More Links; https://linktr.ee/toddcollins

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

How do you ensure that your client acquisition cost is always less than your lifetime customer value? How do you achieve a loyal customer base? A lot of businesses struggle in establishing a loyal customer base. They try various strategies until they find out what works best for them.

In this episode, we speak to Victor Antonio, a keynote speaker, author, host of the sales influence podcast, and a sales consultant. He has a B.S in Electrical engineering, an MBA and has built over 25 years as a top sales executive and CEO of a high-tech company.

In this session, Victor shares his journey from pursuing his degree in electrical engineering, realizing it wasn’t his thing four years later, to finding his passion in sales and scaling businesses. Besides, he expounds on capitalizing on upselling to increase customer retention, leveraging technology for your upsell, creating a value map for your customers, and client acquisition cost versus lifetime customer value.

Highlights From The Episode

[01:31] About Victor Antonio

[02:47] Victor’s background getting into sales and scaling business

[03:52] Key things to look out for when scaling a business and how to build on them

[06:53] Scaling for B2C

[12:54] Industries Victor excels in

[13:17] Decision fatigue and ensuring that the anxiety goes down

[14:47] Having a follow-up process after the deal closes

[16:18] Leveraging on technology for your upsell

[17:35] Should you offer an upsell while on routine customer service?

[20:41] Creating a value map for your customers

[22:26] To get Victor’s book

[23:00] Victor’s ideal clientele

[24:04] Insights on sales from “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”

[27:16] The transformation in the marketing industry

[29:02] The relationship between the client acquisition cost and lifetime customer value

[30:32] To connect with Victor Antonio

Notable Quotes

● By focusing solely on your existing clients, you can increase your revenue by up to 30%

● When you look at every successful person, sales is involved in every shape, way, or form.

● Everything is commission-based, and your ability to produce for a company will always be the most valuable thing.

● Sales are not the only department that’s a profit center. Everyone else is a cost center.

● As long as your client acquisition cost is less than your lifetime customer value, that’s a good deal.

● The more a customer is buying from you, the stickier they become.

Resources

Mentioned Book

Mastering the Upsell by Victor Antonio

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

To connect with Victor Antonio

Instagram

LinkedIn

Facebook

Youtube

Podcast

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

Building a business to serve the community is what the Hammond family has always been about. They have built great relationships with the community which has been part of their work culture. For some entrepreneurs, community involvement is besides promoting the business. It’s about passion. In this episode, we speak to Bobby Hammond, physical therapist, and the former owner of Atlantic Physical Therapy. In this episode, Bobby shares his beautiful upbringing, love for football, learning entrepreneurship skills from his family, his best mentors, and why you should have one. We dive into his physical therapy career, why he had to sell off Atlantic Physical Therapy to Phoenix but still continue with his physical therapy career, his passion for working with older people, and community involvement.

Highlights From The Episode
[01:00] About Bobby Hammond
[03:55] Bobby’s upbringing and watching his dad build his business
[11:42] How Joe chose the right road despite his background
[13:29] Bobby’s sports aspects
[15:46] Bobby’s top three mentors
[17:28] The impact of having mentors and reading books
[19:08] Bobby’s community involvement
[25:29] The reason behind selling Atlantic Physical Therapy
[31:28] Learning entrepreneurship from his family
[33:22] Importance of teaching Financial IQ in schools
[38:22] Bobby’s physical therapy and his passion for working with older people

Notable Quotes

● You will be successful in life with the fact that you will be able to deal with people.

● Instead of having a lifetime of failure, you could read someone’s book. Figure out what they did right or wrong and save yourself a lot of time for heartbreak.

● When you grow so big, sometimes it starts to take from you. Even though it puts you in a     good monetary situation, it starts to then take from you. All we have is time, and it’s rented.

● Most people don’t have a political problem. They have an income problem.

● Condemn them not because they are only what we could be under similar circumstances.

● If good people don’t run, bad people will run.

● Success is how you treat people.

Resources
Mentioned Books
How To Win People & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Coach by Patrick Mouratoglou 

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

An extra cash flow from your primary cash flow is an added financial security. It’s always smart to have passive income stream(s) from what you are committed to and passionate about.

In this episode, we speak to Branden Hudson, Real-Estate Agent Recruiter at Maryland & Delaware Group of Long & Foster and owner of SBY MMA and Fitness which promotes a healthy lifestyle through a change of mindset. He is also a speaker and coach for businesses and corporations.

In this session, he shares the impact of having one primary flow and then building multiple flows that connect directly to the main flow.  Branden expounds more on his SBY MMA  fitness business,  his journey starting the Chat Talk podcast, how his podcast translated to several business opportunities and having a consistent mindset in what you do. You might not be the most talented, but you can be the most consistent. Besides, he dives deep into creating passive income from your passion, SBM MMA expansion plans, and the real estate scholarship and training available in Maryland and Delaware.

Episode Highlights

[01:02] About the guest Branden Hudson

[02:20] Having multiple streams

[03:05]  The SBY MMA  fitness

[03:53] The inspiration behind starting his chat talk podcast and the various income streams the show created for him

[05:15] Getting better in podcasts and creating relevant content

[08:54] Branden’s consistent mindset in business

[11:14] Working for goals you are passionate about and committed to

[14:27] Why investors looking for instant gratification quickly stick around for long 

[17:49] The  real estate scholarship program opportunities available at Maryland and Delaware group

[21:54] The SBM MMA Expansion plans

[25:14] To connect with Branden Hudson

[26:16] Braden’s podcast

Notable Quotes

● “To be able to figure out these different streams of income, you have to be willing to try and jump out there.”

● “If I worked with every feeling I had with each business, I would probably not be in any of them.”

● “Everything I do, I know I’m not the most talented, but I’m the most consistent. I keep showing up, going and pushing, and it keeps paying off.”

● “A lot of business owners and entrepreneurs can do amazing things when our backs are against the wall. We can suddenly change water into wine and do all the things we could not have done on a normal basis.”

● “Motivation is from within. I can be the best motivational speaker in the world, but I can’t motivate you. I can only say things that strike an emotional code in you.”

Resources

If you’re interested in the scholarship program

https://www.easternshorehomesolutions.com/

To connect with Branden Hudson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branden-hudson-a425326a/

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/sbymmaandfitness/?hl=en

Podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-chat-the-chat-talk-a0ZyoUGSWlq/

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

Most entrepreneurs fail because they do not have the right foundation. It doesn’t matter how many skills you seek to obtain. If the foundation is not built correctly, you will not make the impact you were called to make.

In this episode, we speak to Ryan Blair, a faith-driven entrepreneur, former CEO of ViSalus Science, and the founder of Altar Call. He is also the number-one New York Best-Selling Author, Times magazine's highest-paid under 40 ranked at number five, and Ernst & Young’s 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year.

In this session, Ryan shares his challenging upbringing, moving out at 13 years, facing a four-year sentence at 17, committing to change, and finding financial intervention. Besides, we dive deep into how his adversity propelled his success, shifting from employment, building his first business at twenty-one, and how having your foundation right influences your success in entrepreneurship. Tune in to find more on the inspiration behind his company, Altar Call, breakthrough stories from his program, and his mission to change the entrepreneurship world.

Highlights From The Episode

[01:01] About Ryan Blair

[02:47] Ryan’s challenging upbringing and where he is now

[06:14] Using your adversity to propel you forward

[09:13] The inspiration behind his book title “Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain.”

[10:46] Shifting from employment to entrepreneur

[12:40] Taking ViSalus from 39 million to over a billion in sales

[14:04] Ryan’s rock bottom moments

[18:00] Stepping down as the ViSalus CEO and everything started changing

[22:24] The inspiration behind Altar Call

[25:20] Breakthrough from individuals in the Alter Call program

[29:32] Being growth-oriented but not goal-oriented

[32:12] Watching your tape and working on what you think you could have done better.

[36:38] To connect with Ryan Blair

[37:50] His mission in changing the World

Notable Quotes

● Life is an obstacle course. The greater the challenges you overcome, the greater the leader, father, or citizen you will become.

● Each of us has some suffering. It’s just how we go about overcoming that suffering that makes the difference between a life well-lived and a life filled with failure.

● We are all on a transformational journey. Some of us have just been doing the work a little bit longer than others.

● Most entrepreneurs fail because they don’t have a foundation built. It doesn’t matter how many skills they seek to obtain.

● There is no greater regret than the regret of knowing you could have done it, but you didn’t.

● It’s more fun to spend money than it is to make it.

● When you’re struggling to survive, it’s one-dimensional growth, but when your survival is taken care of, you can grow in multiple dimensions.

● Every good athlete has to watch their tape.

Resources

Mentioned Book

Rock Bottom To Rock Star by Ryan Blair

Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain by Ryan Blair

To connect with Ryan Blair

Website: https://altercall.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realryanblair/

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

How do you cultivate an audience and create an environment that makes it so effortless and easy to share your products and promotions?

In this episode, we speak to Chuck McMillen, the Ocean City, MD photographer who runs a successful online community platform, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021989424581990/. They provide tools to plan your vacation, hotel and restaurant reviews, the ultimate online Ocean City experience with breathtaking photos or live videos, valuable advice and info, and event and activity guides.

In this Chuck shares his journey in photography from doing landscapes using his phone to where he is now, building an online community from Facebook live feeds six years ago, and how authenticity has led to his constant positive reviews. Besides, he shares how he keeps his career afloat in the offseason, his versatility in  photography, and how he keeps people wanting to come back and give without any expectations. 

Highlights From The Episode

[01:06] About the guest

[02:26] His journey in Photography

[03:55] Starting the Ocean City online community

[08:41] How many beach sessions he does do in a day

[10:04] How Chuck keeps his career afloat in the offseason

[10:35] Real estate photography

[12:52] What he loves doing most between weddings and beach photography

[14:00] What it takes to cultivate an audience

[17:53] How long the online group has been around

[19:34] The future of the group in terms of audience cultivation

[20:15] The future of Chuck’s photography journey

[22:58] Reasons why Chuck has been branching

[24:55] To connect with Chuck McMillen

Notable Quotes

● The American dream is to make money out of what you love doing.

● Many people fail because the passion is not there, and they are just trying to do a quick money scheme.

● People buy from people.

● Getting the right people to work with you is one of the most difficult things for business owners.

● When you own a company, you never stop working. You work 24/7.

Resources

To connect with Chuck McMillen

Website: https://www.mcmillenphotography.net/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chuckmcmillenphotography/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EasternShoreExplorer

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/ocfun/

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

You have that inside power to be relentless and achieve what you want. To be unstoppable, you have to extremely push yourself through all the uncomfortable positions till you get comfortable with them. 

In this episode, we have a conversation on being unstoppable with the unstoppable Mike Ciorrocco. Mike is an author, founder of the Blooprinted company, runs the mid-Atlantic region of Nations Lending, featured by Yahoo finance as one of the top business leaders, host of  “What You’re Made Of” podcast, husband and father of two.

In this session, Mike shares his journey from growing up in a broken home, going through abuse as a kid, and how this toxic childhood propelled him to open his mind that he could achieve anything. Besides, he expounds on the inspiration behind his book, podcast and achieving your dreams despite having that haters cycle around you. If you’re looking for tips to be inexorable in your dreams, tune in to this episode.

Highlights From The Episode

[01:09] About Mike Ciorrocco

[02:51] What Mike is made of

[06:08] The big power within us

[08:40] Getting stuck in your dreams 

[10:23] Converting your childhood into fuel

[14:50] Inspiration behind Mike’s book and podcast

[21:16] The hater’s cycle

[23:58] Doin what makes you extremely uncomfortable till you get comfortable doing it

[30:13] About Mike’s company-Blooprinted

[33:16] How long it would take to document other people’s success

[35:31] Implementing a solid culture in Nations Lending that has led to its success

[37:31] Nations Lending core values

[39:57] To connect with Mike

Notable Quotes

● We all have the power inside of us that we are not aware of, or we are scared of the power that we have.

● Some people think that confrontation is bad, and it’s really not. It’s a positive thing.

● When you tell a story of why you are failing, you are telling it so you can justify it. 

● When you believe in something in life, people will try to talk you out of your beliefs to match their own agenda or pull you down to their level.

● The reason that you need core values and mission is that you can filter everything that you do from your thoughts, words, and actions and that your environment and people that you keep in your environment through your mission and core values.

● High emotions lead to low intelligence.

● Leadership starts with you before you can lead other people.

Resources

Mentioned Book

Rocket Fuel by Mike Ciorrocco 

To connect with Mike Ciorrocco

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-ciorrocco/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeycroc/

To tune in to Mike’s podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-are-you-made-of/id1485634005

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

Leadership is immensely important, and most organizations do a terrible job. People usually learn on the job or learn leadership from people with inadequate skills, and that’s how poor leadership perpetuates in organizations.

In this episode, we dive deep into the 11 leadership shields with Earl Breon. He is a leadership coach, marine veteran, and host of the responsible leadership podcast.

In this session, Breon shares his journey in leadership from being a leader at 15years to a group of people in their early 30s, finding out that the idea of command pointing people and telling them what you want them to do doesn’t work for a 30-year-old to figuring out how he can inspire them to listen to him. Besides, he dives deep into the leadership shields and how you can interlock them to be a great leader.

Highlights From The Episode

[01:04] About Earl Breon

[03:35] What inspired Breon’s journey to work with businesses and do coaching for leadership

[04:53] History and Leadership

[08:46] About the book How To Win Friends and Influence People

[09:46]The command and control method

[10:06] Building relationships in leadership

[10:25] The 11 leadership shields

[10:49] Having in mind that people are always watching you

[12:11] Introspection and Improvement

[13:49] Defining success, empowering team members and achieving results

[15:51] Creating the environment for success

[17:47] Working as a team

[18:18] About Breon’s podcast

[21:13] What Breon wishes he was asked but never asked

[23:24] To connect with Earl

Notable Quotes

● When you put these shields together, you interlock and let them work together. It is hard to tear that down, and that is the way the shields work.

● Leadership is just another relationship. Everything that makes a personal relationship work is what’s going to make a leader-follower relationship work.

● You are always on display no matter what you’re doing.

● Never tell people what to do. Tell them what needs to be done, get out of the way, and let them dazzle you with your brilliance.

● Success breeds success

● Stop using I, I and me are out of the door. Everything is we and us. It’s not about taking away your individuality. It’s about enforcing that you work together as a team. That’s how success comes in.

Resources

Mentioned Book

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

To connect with Earl Breon

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/earlbreon/

Website: https://www.leadershipphalanx.com/earl-breon-1

To tune in to Earl Breon’s podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-responsible-leadership-podcast/id1465893283 

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy

You can turn your fitness passion into a business. You do not need to be restricted to brick and mortar where you need a physical gym, but you can run a successful virtual business. 

In this episode, Kimberly Roche joins us to explore cultivating fitness into business.  Kimberly is a certified trainer and nutritionist coach. She owns Sculpt Women's fitness and runs an online fitness and nutrition community. Kimberly is all about helping women achieve their dream bodies.

In this session, Kimberly shares her journey into fitness from her passion for athletics, giving birth to her son, and gaining an extra five pounds, which didn’t sit well with her. She enrolled in a gym to do weight lifting, which lit the fire inside as her body changed. After some time, she realized it was too expensive and decided to cultivate her fitness idea into a business. Kimberly takes us through healthy workouts, embracing healthy recipes, tracking your meals, and her online training program. If you're looking forward to venturing into fitness, tune in for more.

Timestamps

[02:07] Kimberly’s background

[05:33] What does a good body look like

[09:47] Having a support team in your workout

[10:46] Boosting confidence through fitness

[11:45] Kimberly’s training group

[12:29] Healthy recipes

[15:07] Using an App to track your meals

[16:36] The unsustainability of a healthy diet

[20:21] Kimberly’s online training program

[22:13] Kimberly’s future expansion problems

[24:04] Inspiring your clients to be a version of you and impact others

[25:26] To connect with Kimberly

Notable Quotes

●       You do not become this ripped overnight. You really need to have a nutrition program and vigorous training to end up a bogey.

●       Fitness is the FastTrack to boosting some confidence

●       To lose weight, you just have to be on a calorie deficit

●       Anytime you are on a restrictive diet, it just makes life miserable. Like we never want to eat bread or pizza

●       We get it into our heads that everything has to be quick, and really it’s not. It’s not a sprint. It’s a journey.

Resources

To connect with Kimberly Roche

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/kimmie_fit_life/

https://www.instagram.com/sculpt_womens_fitness/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.roche.1671

Website

https://www.kimberlyrochefitness.com/events/virtual-training/

The Lavahot podcast is proudly sponsored by

Rice’s Termite and Pest Control

Matt the Carpet Guy