When we were establishing Acton Academy Placer, we actually had our founding students choose our mascot. Groups of students created and gave a pitch for their idea and then everyone voted. Lions won. We refer to all of the young heroes at Acton as Lions to reaffirm in their minds that they are independent thinkers, learners, and doers that are courageously leading their own journeys. Someone who whole-heartedly embodies those qualities is our guest on today's podcast.

Sean Whalen is a father, entrepreneur, public speaker, podcaster, business coach, and the founder of LIONS NOT SHEEP. Sean's viral social media posts have been engaged with over 600,000,000 times, and he speaks at business and marketing events with the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk, sharing his story of success, divorce, suicide, and how telling the truth both personally and in business not only saved his life but gave him the opportunity to build a globally recognized company.

While we get into the Essential 11 questions, our conversation gets into the importance of focusing on what you can control- the present. Anything beyond this present moment, specifically the past, is not worth your time or energy. But using the opportunity that you have in the present to make for a better future for yourself is not only beneficial, it is your obligation. And the best part is that you get to define what a better future for yourself looks like- it doesn't have to be what society says it should be. We also get into how young people can take advantage of knowing what they want to do, and how to discover what that may even be if they don't know right now. It's all about experience and self-awareness.

More places you can find Sean:

Instagram - @seanwhalen | @lionsnotsheep

Website - https://seanwhalen.com/

Book - How to Make Sh*t Happen