Maturepreneurial Podcast: Interviews with Older Entrepreneurs | Online Business Tips | Learn From Those Who Have Succeeded

Joel Kessel is an advisor, content creator and speaker on the topics of strategic communications and working with the media.  He helps authors, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, side hustlers, and small businesses understand how to leverage publicity so they can step onto a bigger stage, amplify their message and further fuel their marketing communication and lead-generation efforts.

Professional Background

A native of Ohio, Joel started his career in Chicago where he worked with professionals such as Chris Ruys Communications, Durk Rion Public Relations, and Golin Harris.  He has worked with large and small organizations, such as National Runaway Safeline, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Weber Grills, and Master Lock.  Joel also managed the marketing communications efforts for the Northern Illinois chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Over time, Joel developed a specialization in PR strategy and media relations, which he has leveraged to garner attention for his clients through media outlets such as USA Today, New York Times, Associated Press, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and Columbus Business First, among others.

Joel's Maturepreneurial Endeavors

Today, Joel speaks, advises and writes about public relations and communications for the purpose of helping leaders of organizations that are doing meaningful work share their story in a meaningful way.

1. His company, Kessel Communications, is a strategic communications agency that helps businesses strengthen their credibility, build positive reputations and increase brand awareness through better communications.
2. His blog, JoelKessel.com, provide ideas, tips and advice on how businesses can get their stories in front of those who matter to them, with a focus on working with media reporters to gain consistent coverage and awareness about a product, service or organization.  The blog also reports how others are sharing their stories, how they’re being successful, how social media, advertising, and marketing all play together to increase influence and impact on the people a business serves.
3. His podcast, Conversations on Communications provides listeners with thoughts and insight on how they can strategically and authentically communicate and deliver their message and story with clarity and confidence.

Fun Facts About Joel

• Joel worked for five years in radio
• While living in Chicago, he was a lead singer in a two-man band
• He was a member of an improv group
• He's done commercial voice-over work
• He was a punter at Ohio State

Joel is a member of The Ohio State University’s Varsity “O” Men’s Alumni Association and the Public Relations Society of America.  He is a founding member of the Ohio chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning.  He graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in public relations.

Joel currently lives outside Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Cathy, and their two children.

Happy Birthday, Maturepreneurial!

The photo above is me, looking back with joy and wonder (and a little bit of a squint) at the amazing, blazing first year of my podcast!  Woo hoo! I did it!

I remember when I was first preparing to launch.  I spent months getting the website ready because I had a bit of a set back with my theme.  I joined online communities and groups.  I took online courses to educate myself about the job at hand and, hopefully, come out smart enough to avoid some of the pitfalls.

I remember once reading that many podcasters don't make it past ten episodes.  Gulp!

Was that going to happen to me? "No way!" I thought, "I'm in this for the long haul." "Besides, Christopher will be annoyed if I buy all this equipment and don't make it a success."  Haha!

And many happy returns!

Well, although I intended to succeed, I really didn't anticipate how much fun I would have.  Or, to be honest, how hard I would work at it!  But I have to say that it's worth it.  I'm proud of my guests and their episodes and I'm excited not only for another year of interviews and wonderful stories but also to create my second podcast.

Hopefully, if I stay on track, in late 2017, I'll be launching Dishing with Delishes; a podcast of interviews with food bloggers at the top of their game.  Check out the website and stay tuned for details, which I'll post on this site and on my food blog, Dishes Delish.

Thanks for your support!

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., has been a leader in the fields of relationship transformation and body-mind therapies for more than 45 years.

After earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford University, Gay began teaching at the University of Colorado. For 21 years he served at the university, where he became a full professor in the counseling psychology department. Gay founded The Hendricks Institute with his wife, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks. As part of his work for the institute, Gay hosts seminars worldwide and he has appeared on more than 500 radio and television shows, including Oprah, CNN, CNBC, and 48 HOURS.

In addition to his speaking career, Gay is a prolific author. He has written more than 40 books, including self-help bestsellers such as Five Wishes, The Big Leap and Conscious Loving (co-authored with wife). His books are used as primary texts in universities around the world.

Gay’s book, The Big Leap, was a New York Times bestseller for five years. Published right after the beginning of the “Great Recession,” the book has helped hundreds of thousands of people go beyond a culture of fear and safety to live out their true passions. The results are remarkable on every level; from amazing careers to passionate marriages to vibrant good health.

Gay is also a successful novelist. He wrote a mystery series of five books featuring the emotional and spiritual challenges of ex-Tibetan-Buddhist-monk-turned-private-detective, Tenzing Norbu. In June of 2017, Gay launched a new mystery series featuring Victorian-era London detective, Sir Errol Hyde, a fictional contemporary of Sherlock Holmes. The second book in the series becomes available on September 19, 2017.

In 2003, Gay co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle, which distributes inspirational movies and conscious entertainment to subscribers in 70+ countries.

Gay is a shining example of the benefits of what he teaches. He’s prolifically creative, wildly successful as an entrepreneur, a renowned teacher, and a devoted husband. At age 70, he lives more life in a day than many an exuberant 20-year-old. He’s writing books, teaching courses, playing golf, launching companies and having a delicious time with his wife of more than 35 years, with whom he raised two children and accumulated a million frequent flyer miles!

Martin Pazzani is a global business decathlete, a serial entrepreneur, and a mountaineer. He is also a strategist, marketer, CEO, company founder, speaker, advertising guy, management consultant, and communications architect. His website tagline perhaps says it best: Always seeking another summit.

Corporate achiever

Martin has worked on both on the corporate side and on the ad agency side for large corporations and startups across multiple categories and on six continents. Before he began his career in business, he earned three college degrees in just over five years: a B.A. in Psychology, a B.S. in Marketing, and an M.B.A. He is a "classically trained" chief marketing officer (CMO) who cut his teeth in consumer goods and services businesses.

Martin's career features some extraordinary highlights:

• He spent 13 years at Diageo (fka Heublein), where he rose from an entry-level position to the top marking job at 34 years old to grow global brands like Smirnoff Vodka, Jose Cuervo Tequila, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, and many more.
• He was the first CMO of Bally and Crunch, where his successful turnaround of a very troubled operation produced record setting increases in revenue, new memberships, consumer awareness, and interest; the magnitude and speed of which led to a Harvard Business Review case study.
• He spent seven years heading Foote, Cone and Belding agency's global strategic consulting group, The Chess Team: marketing strategists for Kraft, SC Johnson, American Express, Citibank, US Postal Service, Samsung, Tropicana and many others across a 100-office network, with extensive work in Chicago, San Francisco, Hong Kong, London and South America.
• He served as CEO of bi-coastal Elias Arts (EA), the world's most awarded music agency, where he reunited, transformed and grew a fragmented company against the tide of a declining industry. By pioneering the new discipline of audio brand identity for major clients like American Express, Apple, Audi, Cisco, Citi, Coke, Gatorade, Infiniti, McDonald's, Nike, Yahoo, and by putting the company on a path toward full-service music holding company, EA was able to diversify into Latino music and music licensing and thrive in a very troubled category.

Bold new horizons

Today, Martin is a serial entrepreneur, immersed in three areas that each requires a balance of entrepreneurship, strategic vision, and a penchant for re-imagining the future.

1. Craft Spirits: In 2009, Martin started a craft spirits company, United Craft Distillers, to provide advisory services, world class marketing, and sales expertise to hyper-growing, micro-distilled, small-batch spirits brands. This has evolved into Master Distillers Inc. which handles sales and marketing for T1 Tequila Uno (named 2016's Best Craft Tequila), Tears of Llorona tequila, Mezcal Sacrificio, Varan Mezcal Coffee Liqueur, and others.
2. Fitness: In 2012, Martin joined forces with investors, fitness operators, and healthcare experts to develop the company that became Act!vate Brain & Body, where they are re-inventing fitness as upstream preventive healthcare for the baby boomer generation. (Act!vate will re-launch in 2017-18 with geographic expansion to follow later in the year.)
3. Vaping: In 2014, Martin began to explore the fast growing vaping sector, which is proving to be a powerful anti-smoking enabler and a disruptor to the status quo. This led to the creation of Cloud 10 Brands and Silver City Vapors, a fast-growing venture to build a national retail and e-commerce vaping company.

An oft-published writer and panelist on marketing, branding, competitive strategy, and music, Martin gave a TED University talk at the 2008 TED Conference in Monterrey, CA on The Power of Music. He has led seminars in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, London, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Venezuela, and at the Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx advertising festivals. His articles have been in Advertising Age, Billboard, Brandweek, Marketing Daily, and SHOOT Magazine.

Physical prowess

Martin has always been drawn to overcome difficult challenges. He's climbed to the summits of major mountains on all seven continents. He has explored Antarctica, Easter Island, Ngorongoro Crater, the Equatorial Rain-forests, the deserts of United Arab Emirates, Mexican volcanoes. He is a former F2000 racing driver where he developed a keen appreciation for the value of precision, speed and high performance.

He is the 146th human being to stand on the summit of the very remote Vinson Massif, the highest point in Antarctica. He has climbed both The Matterhorn and Mont Blanc five times each. Showing no sign of slowing down at 61, Martin is currently on a mission to climb all forty-eight 4000-foot peaks of New Hampshire as he trains to climb Mt. Everest in 2019.

Recent medical testing reveals that Martin's lungs are 40% larger than a normal human being’s, which accounts for his being very good at walking uphill for long distances with a heavy pack on his back! After at least 100,000,000 uphill steps, he's been persuaded to turn his transformation from a corporate animal to a serial entrepreneur into a book, The Mountains Made Me An Entrepreneur, on target for publication in early 2018.

The Beginning

Milana’s American dream started in October of 1992, when she stepped off the plane from Kiev, Ukraine to New York. Equipped with a music teaching degree and a 90-day crash course in English, she was ready for whatever she had to do to survive in this new world!

Everything Milana had learned about America came from Soviet newspapers in the 1980s, so she spent her first few years in awe and wonder. But giving piano lessons at $6 an hour wasn’t going to feed her family, so she enrolled in college and graduated with a four-year degree as a computer programmer.

Now, she thought, she had everything she needed to be successful in America.

First Business

With the Internet sweeping the world, thousands of online businesses started emerging and Milana became curious about e-book publishing. After writing and selling her first three e-books, she stumbled onto something that would completely transform her life. She discovered coaching.

A fast-growing field, coaching heavily relied on having online presence, dynamic web sites, and marketing skills. Milana quit her job, became a work-at-home mom of two small children, and began studying marketing, with a focus on copywriting and direct marketing. She was absolutely fascinated by the idea of a single email generating thousands of dollars in sales.

With the birth of online product launches and joint venture partnerships, Milana’s dream of creating a million-dollar business seemed more real than ever.

First Million

Over the next few years Milana published her first print book, “Coaching Millions”, hosted the world’s very first telesummit, created the Recurring Revenue Revolution live event, developed almost 30 various business courses, started and sold a software company, and co-founded JV Insider Circle.

And she made her first million along the way.

When she had imagined building a million-dollar business, she thought it would feel like a “million dollars!”  But when she finally surpassed seven figures, she didn’t even notice it.

She says, “I was too busy working. It didn’t feel like anything special. No more special than making six figures. No more special than getting a $30K job offer right after college.”

Most importantly, it didn’t make Milana feel any happier or more successful. She was always busy, often tired, and even began having panic attacks, which were absolutely scary and debilitating.

Sabbatical

So instead of celebrating hitting a 7-figure mark, Milana decided to sell her business and take a sabbatical. After 16 years of “playing big”, she began looking more closely at her life and asking questions she had never asked before:

• How much money do I really need to be happy?
• What am I willing and unwilling to do to achieve this goal?
• Who am I when I am not running a business?
• Where does happiness come from?

She discovered that she had been operating a very successful business, but it was the wrong kind of business for her. She was in “misalignment.” She had allowed her business to dominate her life. Now she was ready for a different business and a different way of doing things.

Milana also discovered that she was not alone. She surveyed and had private conversations with over 500 coaches, authors, and speakers. Many of them were going through a similar soul-searching experience. Making money was not enough. They felt drained and trapped by the complexity they’d created. They were re-evaluating their entire business models. They wanted more freedom, meaning, and joy.

Search for Simplicity

Simplicity Circle was born out of seeing how growing a business can cause stress, anxiety, and frustration and take away from happiness and peace. And from profitability.

Milana feels her greatest gift is being able to turn what seems complex into simplicity. When she works with her clients, she transforms the complexity in their businesses into a simplicity-driven growth strategy quickly and efficiently. No more trying every marketing and selling strategy out there. No more adding more ‘stuff’ to an already overloaded list of things to implement.

Milana guides her clients from feeling overwhelmed, drained, and frustrated to feeling confident, energized, and excited about their businesses again.

Jean Haynes helps ambitious professional women sync high performance (and profit) with their purpose and values so they can live and lead as the happiest, most confident and authentic version of themselves.

Jean is a career and leadership speaker, trainer and coach who knows first-hand what it feels like to be driven to succeed, cope with the constant pressure of trying to "do it all" perfectly, and play small when it comes to taking risks. Jean is a recovering "good girl" who has learned the power of owning your abilities, speaking up for yourself and taking bold action. She is on a mission to help other high-achieving women overcome their self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors so they can achieve their greatest success and life satisfaction.

Jean holds an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a BA from the College of the Holy Cross and received her coach training from Dr. Martha Beck. Her deep professional background in marketing, fund development and leadership training spans corporate, entrepreneurial and non-profit sectors, allowing her to seamlessly connect with women across industries.

Cardiff D. Hall has a passion for life and helps individuals transform their self-being so they reach and sustain achievement. He is a coach, author, and public speaker.

Prior to starting his own business, Cardiff spent 25 years as an executive in marketing and sales. His experience, coupled with his strong desire to live life with a purpose, inspired him to have a positive impact on the lives of adults and most recently of children through his Tide Turners Kids Entrepreneurs Program.

His first book, entitled Tide Turners: The Practical Guide To Help You Feel In Control, Experience More Joy and Sustain Achievement In Life earned a # 1 new release on Amazon in January 2017.

Cardiff radiates positivity and coaches individuals by helping them turn the tide in their life to achieve. He also provides weekly inspiration and practical advice in his Tide Turners newsletter.

Business Productivity Coach Teresa McCloy partners with her clients to stop being busy and do what matters.

Teresa is a recovered workaholic who was addicted to all the latest apps, software, and best-selling books on productivity. She continually felt that if she could only find the right system, she’d be so much more productive. After years of this crazy cycle, she finally hit a wall and had to make a change. And her first step to being more productive was to stop worrying about getting everything done!

Today, Teresa is passionate about helping business leaders and entrepreneurs to assess their habits and execute a Personalized Program for doing more of what matters to their success. Teresa is trained to use tools such as the Enneagram, Life Maps, and the 12 Week Year system to serve her clients through one-on-one coaching, webinars, and training to discover their unique talents, values and life mission.

Teresa brings over 30 years of experience to coaching. She has been a solopreneur and a leader in both business and ministry giving her a wide range of experience leading teams, managing multiple projects and juggling systems at the same time. The coaching community is a great group and Teresa is a proud member of CCNI and the International Coaching Federation.

Teresa is on track to complete her coaching certification with both PCCI and the ICF by the end of 2017. Currently, Teresa serves as an Ambassador for her local 2017 CEO Entrepreneur program for high school seniors. Teresa's Certification as a Spiritual Director and Enneagram MOS Trainer serves her well as she works with her clients both personally and professionally to help them reboot their lives and reignite their businesses.

Teresa lives with her husband of 34 years on a 3rd generation family grain farm in Central Illinois. The couple has two adult children, one dog and one grand-dog. When she’s not working with clients, Teresa enjoys cooking, gardening, a great cup of coffee with a friend and traveling as much as possible!

Pauline Durban is the proud founder of Covered Perfectly, a company whose purpose is to provide flattering, comfortable clothing for women over 40.  Originally from England, Pauline moved to the United States in 1992.

The Challenge: What to Wear?

As a middle-aged woman, Pauline grew increasingly frustrated with the desperate and tiresome effort of combing through her closet for something to wear!  She wanted clothing that made her feel attractive and feel confident that she was showing the best parts of herself.  But finding the right tops was becoming a huge challenge.  Most of her tops did not play to her strengths and left her feeling exposed.

Pauline’s Solution

Instead of settling for the limited fashions available to women of a certain age, Pauline decided to take matters into her own hands.  In May of 2012, at the age of 56, Pauline invested her life savings into Covered Perfectly: an online clothing store, dedicated to fashion for women over 50, women over 60 and beyond.  She began designing women’s fashions with a focus on fabrics that feel great against the skin.  She started with tops and eventually branched out into dresses, skirts, and more.  She also chose to use age appropriate models, all of whom are over 40 and most of whom are over 50 and 60.

The MaturePreneurial Journey

Pauline experienced the typical stress and angst that all new entrepreneurs face. On her website, she writes, “Was it scary? You bet it was! As a single woman, I had no one to fall back on. I went through all the ‘what ifs.’ What if I’m wrong? What if no one likes them? What if no one buys them? They went on and on!”

However, Covered Perfectly was launched on May 5th 2013 and mature women of all shapes and sizes love the fashions and have welcomed the concept with open arms. Every week Pauline receives emails from customers who rave about their tops and the company’s excellent customer service, many of whom include photos of themselves in their new purchases.

Today, Pauline says, “Blessed doesn’t even come close to how I feel!”  She is a great role model for those of us starting new ventures after 40.

Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 14. He sold Coca Cola when it was still only available in bottles and returned the bottles to the store to earn back the deposit.

An immigrant who arrived in the U.S. penniless in 2002 in a post 9-11 world, Nitin delivered pizza, slept in his car, and didn't have money for winter clothes. But he was always a hustler.

Eventually, Nitin became a licensed physical therapist, entrepreneur, and author. In 2007, he began public speaking. He now owns and runs several multi-million dollar companies with 30+ employees worldwide. Nitin is living the “American Dream."

As a licensed physical therapist, Nitin is co-owner of an industry-leading electronic medical records software, In Touch EMR, which offers scheduling, clinical documentation, billing, practice management and referral generation modules for physical therapists.

Nitin is also the author of Total Activation: The 5 Step Fitness Mantra (available on Amazon). It is a dynamic new approach to weight loss and personal wellness. It is a system modeled in three stages of change: Identity, Compare, and Integrate (ICI) which has 5 components: Emotional, Physical, Social, Spiritual and Intellectual (EPSSI).

In connection, Nitin has created a skincare and nutrition line - products that work in synergy to activate the best version of you. Since its launch in April 2014, the team has grown and the nutrition and skincare products have been purchased by thousands of customers. Having lived in the east and the west, Total Activation was created out of a need Nitin and his wife, Ritika, had in their own lives, to effectively merge skincare and nutrition for the 'best you'.

From being a penniless immigrant to a licensed physical therapist who earned his millions in just 15 years, mainly through entrepreneurship, Nitin has shown resilience and demonstrated that hard work pays off.