Screw the Naysayers

Izzy Lugo is the Co-Founder and COO at Urban Misfit Ventures, Brand & Content Strategist, Public Speaker and co-host of the Strange on Purpose Podcast.

Urban Misfit Ventures is a holding company that owns one of Milwaukee's fastest growing startups. IEEG, a Content Marketing firm as well as an events company called the mkemisfits.

Izzy is also a huge foodie, sneakerhead and sports fan.

In this episode Izzy explains:

• What the term misfits means to him

This is a candid and unvarnished look into the entrepreneurial journey.

You can reach Izzy at:

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

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and stories, or just make a connection.

No business stays constant. A business is growing, plateaued, or declining. Learn why Tim says that a business that has plateaued is actually declining, and why millennial business owners are set to face unprecedented challenges. 

After spending seven years on-air in radio in Salt Lake City, Utah, Damon Burton founded a successful search engine optimization agency, SEO National. Since starting the business in 2007 Damon has grown his agency to 7-digits.

Damon is a frequent public speaker and has been featured on BuzzFeed and USA Weekly. He clients includes an NBA team and businesses featured on Shark Tank. In 2018 Damon joined the Podcast world with his show called Learning From Others.

In this episode we had a candid conversation about the process he used to start his business - it began as a side hustle - how he knew it was time to go all in, the challenges he faced and the key breakthrough that allowed him to scale his business.

Damon also shared his views on work/life balance, the role parents play in preparing their children for the workforce of tomorrow, and teased us with news of an upcoming book which he plans to call “Ways To Rank.” He assures me a non-techy like me won’t fall asleep reading about SEO optimization!

Damon is a smart successful entrepreneur and shares some great wisdom and advice in this episode.

You can reach Damon at:

Website (s): www.Seonational.com www.Damonburton.com www.Waystorank.com

www.Learningfromothers.com

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

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and stories, or just make a connection.

Jennifer A. Garrett is an author, entrepreneur, and a Judge Advocate in the Army National Guard. Along the way she has earned an astonishing 7 College degrees. Pretty amazing, especially knowing that as a teenager Jennifer became a single mom.

Her corporate career includes senior leadership positions with Fortune 50 companies.

Jennifer’s Book is titled Move the Ball: How the Game of American Football Can Help You Achieve Your LifeGoals. How cool is that guys. She came up with the idea for her book while watching her beloved Chicago Bears lose to the hated Green Bay Packers.  

Today Jennifer, together with her organization, Feel the Push, provides lessons on how to play for success and how to step up the game in order to drive results and cross the goal line. She does this through a variety of methods, including using principles from the game of American football. Her organization also works with collegiate and professional athletes and veterans as they transition into new careers.

In this episode Jennifer drops great tips on getting the things you want in life. She also shared her views on public education and the concept that the only path to success lies through a 4 year college program. Her answers may surprise you.

This is a high energy, fun, and thought provoking discussion.

You can reach Jennifer at:

Website: http://jenniferagarrett.com/

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

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and stories, or just make a connection.

The year was 1984. Apple Computer launched the Macintosh Computer line,  Michael Jackson’s hair caught fire while he was filming a Pepsi commercial, and American heavy metal band Twisted Sister’s released the iconic anti-establishment anthem titled “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

The song hit a nerve with people of all generations. Parents and grandparents that wouldn’t be caught dead at a heavy metal concert, belted out the melody at house parties, around campfires, and clubs around the world. There is something so energizing about standing up, and screaming out “we’re not gonna take it”.

Dig a little into the lyrics and you wonder why all those parents and grandparents we’re singing along. We’re Not Gonna Take It is first and foremost an indictment of the American way of life (although the lyrics apply in most developed countries around the globe). You see phrases like

“Your life is trite and jaded, Boring and confiscated, If that's your best, your best won't do”.

I was 25 when this song came out. Lead singer Dee Snider was 27. This song was the voice of an entire generation coming down hard on our parents. It was our way of saying to our parents, we’ve seen your life, and you can have it. No thanks. No way. Not me.

WTF Happened?

A generation that screamed contempt for their parents focus on “keeping up with the Joneses,” turned into a bunch of money driven, workaholics. For most of us success was measured by our ability to purchase expensive toys and the status associated with our job title. Bonus points for being married with kids. This is what life is all about. That life came with a cost. Divorce rates skyrocketed, we spent more and more time stuck in offices, and we saw an explosion in heart related deaths. Still most of us kept the pedal to the metal. We may be tired, worn out, and unhealthy, but that was the price you had to pay if you wanted a better life for your kids. For many this was the ultimate form of keeping up with the Jones. A better life for your kids.

My Kid’s Smarter Than Your Kid  

We’re coming up on the time of the year when young women and men will gather together, put on black robes, and prance across a stage in front of family, friends, and total strangers. The key moment comes when the Chancellor  (another dude or dudette dressed in a robe with all sorts of colours added here and there) gives them a rolled up piece of paper and flips a tassel from one side of an upside down hat to the other. For the rest of the day, parents will rush to take photos of their children. Photos are obligatory because parents can display them prominently at home, the office, and on social media. The latter makes it so much easier to brag about what a great job they’ve done as parents. Many parents consider this moment to be the ultimate proof that they’ve done a great job as parents.

The Big Lie

My guest  on episode 1 of Screw the Naysayers was Don Wettrick. Don spoke about the big lie. That’s the one where we tell our kids that the only path to success is through a four year degree program, preferably at a prestigious College. In most ways that is just a continuation of the systematic brainwashing that we’ve subjected our kids to since the age of 5. Go to school. Sit, down, behave, and wait for instructions. Learn to regurgitate information or processes on demand. These are the keys to good grades and you need good grades to get into college. You’ll have to borrow money for college, but don’t worry about it. When you graduate there will be a great job waiting for you. This great job will pay you so much money the loans will be nothing more than a mosquito bite. Then you can start climbing the corporate ladder, acquiring possessions, and saving money to help your kids go to college. And so the cycle continues.

Except the jobs aren’t there. Student debt in the United States now tops $1.5 Trillion. It’s a tragedy and a national (and international) disgrace. And that’s not even the worst of it. Today’s parents are talking about these issues. Most will speak loudly about the need for changes to our compliance based education system, and laugh at celebrities that are likely to go to jail for using illegal means to buy their kids access to big name universities. But here’s the rub. If you pull them aside and ask them about the plans they have for their own children, almost everyone starts naming off a particular college or degree program. Seth Godin, my guest in episode 100 says this is because parents are afraid to tell friends and family that their kids may not be going the college route.

So at this stage of my life I have one big question. Where’s Twisted Sister when you need them?

Kids, please stand up and raise your voice. The next time your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, driving instructors, and anyone else that asks you what your plans for the future are, tell them this:

“We've got the right to choose and there ain't no way we'll lose it

This is our life, this is our song

We'll fight the powers that be just, don't pick our destiny 'cause

If that's your best, your best won't do”

Twisted Sister- 1984