Taking the Leap

“Someone said you’re a pyromaniac at heart. I said, it just depends on what we’re burning. We try to take anything creative for clients and burn it up and make it light up the sky for them.” - Mark Sullivan

Mark Sullivan has an interesting bio to say the least. Mark is the founder and Creative Director of Lime Biscuit Creative (@limebiscuit1), one of the Atlanta area’s fastest growing branding and design agencies. Currently, Mark also serves as a Lieutenant with the Douglas County Fire Department, where he has been for over two decades. Mark is also co-owner of Toxic Suppression, a company specializing in post-fire decontamination for firefighters. On top of all that, Mark served as the host and emcee for the Love Worth Fighting For Marriage Tour with actor Kirk Cameron and Warren Barfield. In the past, Mark worked with talent from History Channel, A&E, and other major networks. When not working, which is rare, Mark loves to attend concerts and sporting events. Mark has been married to Sherry for 22 years, and they have two children Zach and Mia. It is easy to see why his co-workers penned him as "The pyromaniac of creativity".

In this episode, Bob and Mark discuss the importance of branding as well as how he decided to brand and name his own design and branding creative agency. Mark teaches that branding isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s easier now more than ever to begin a business today and get your brand out there in front of people. From firefighter by day to entrepreneur by night, Mark discusses the entrepreneurial journey and best branding tips for entrepreneurs everywhere. 

Notes and Quotes: 

-Millennials enjoy going out and seeing who you are and what you do, connecting with your personality and who you are.

-“Education is what remains after you’ve forgotten what you learned in school.” - Albert Einstein.

-Now that time is minimized to start a business, you can maximize your time to market yourself, see clients and customers, and network. It enables you to do that face to face with people and build that relationship with them.

-Doing business with everyone is not your goal. It’s too big. You need to refine your brand to attract a particular audience.

-We developed this idea of entrepreneurs to find your torch. You have to light your ship with something. What’s your torch to light your ship then? What’s your passion and what’s your gift? How to discover that and use it to light the ship and burn it down to get it out of your way to light your path.

-The entrepreneurial journey is fraught with difficulty. There is no such thing as a journey with no risk involved.

Links in this episode include: 

About Mark 

Lime Biscuit Design and Branding Agency 

Toxic Suppression 

The1519 Podcast 

GRIT by Angela Duckworth

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg 

Finish by John Acuff 

The1519 Podcast 

Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire

Storybrand by Donald Miller podcast 

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller 

Storybrand process 

One At a Time with Kyle Idleman podcast

Southeast Christian Church podcasts 

Love Worth Fighting For marriage tour

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“I wasn’t scared to try.” - Nicole Porter 

Nicole Porter is a business owner, entrepreneur, leader, speaker, mother, and wife. She builds teams, builds businesses, and connects with others for a living as a part of Bonvera. She and her husband also run multiple other businesses in the education, technology, and realty sectors. (And they were guests on Episode #9 inside their store, MacDaddy’s). Formerly a dental hygienist, she left that industry to start her own businesses and dictate her own freedoms. Today, with 14 years in the industry, she joins us to talk about how to build a home-based business in a socially distanced world. 

In this episode, Bob and Nicole recount her journey from full-time employee to full-time business owner. They discuss trends in the industry of household purchasers, the part-time gig economy, building communities online, and connecting with others.  

Notes and Quotes: 

-Over 80% of participants in the home-based business are females. In most American households, the CFO is generally the female. She is making the majority of the purchasing decisions. 

-What’s unique about this industry is that you can earn a couple hundred dollars a month or you can earn a career level income. You don’t have to do a 40 hour work week either. I think that’s what is so attractive to women in this industry. 

-With social media, I want to add value to people’s lives by what I post on my social media platforms. I want people to see my life, get to know me, and be genuine. When you do that, people want to be a part of it. 

-People are going to follow you, they aren’t going to follow a product. 

-We’ve seen a huge need for high communication with people right now. We are no longer in the hustle and bustle, but our world is still so noisy. Your voice needs to be a little bit louder and a little more positive than the noise out there in the world. 

-People need to be lifted up right now, and they need to be encouraged and inspired. 

-We need vision casters more than ever. We need leadership more than ever. 

-Everyone is on social media right now, and if we know they’re on there, where do we want them to be? We want them to be getting positive information with a clear vision to see past all of this. 

-If you’re going to be a successful leader, you need to check your attitude and your expectancy.

-If you want to be a successful leader, be hungry to grow and learn.

-What made the biggest difference for me? I just wasn’t scared to try.

-Success is where opportunity and preparedness meet. 

-Before all of this, we used to say, “I just want to be at home.” Now, look at us, we have the most time at home we’ve ever had. Think of the time we have.

Links in this episode include: 

Kirk & Nicole Porter’s bio

Kirk & Nicole Porter’s Taking the Leap Episode #9

The 5 Voices by Jeremie Kubicek

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

“Don’t get weary in well doing. Communicate and think about others. Don’t fall into woe is me. We can’t change what has happened, but we can change our actions towards what is going to happen.” - Jim & Dolores Martin

In part two of this episode, Jim and Dolores note the unique circumstances that COVID-19 and the global pandemic present -- an opportunity to be leaders and inspire hope in others. At the same time, Jim and Dolores talk about how to structure your time and implement daily disciplines into your rhythms. The episode concludes with a few rapid fire questions from this power couple.

Notes and Quotes:  

-I did learn one major thing to set my priorities to be in this order:  my God, my husband, my children, my business. To do that then, I need to structure my time that way. If I have to make phone calls, I have to clear the time before I do it. I communicated that to my kids, so they knew that they mattered. 

-You don’t want to make them feel like you’re putting them on a shelf, and you’re going to come back to them after you’ve become successful in your business. Otherwise, they’ll learn to hate the business. I had to make sure my kids saw that we were running for goals.

-We prioritize our time. I live by what I say I live by, and I write it down.

-Eliminate the distractions and be disciplined. An undisciplined life is rough. 

-The American dream is to own something. I believe it’s security and freedom from depending on someone else. It’s woken people up. Security is from the neck up. It’s how we think that differentiates us. What we do, what we think, and how we act. 

-If we can get a bunch of people together and working together, we will move mountains.

-Attitude and selflessly loving people you are in business with are the two skills they mentioned to being an entrepreneur. 

-Last encouraging words to a global audience? Don’t get weary in well doing. Communicate and think about others. Don’t fall into woe is me. Write down 10 things that are going right in your life before you go to bed at night. It keeps you focused. We can’t change what has happened. We can only change our actions towards what is going to happen. 

-Don’t waste this opportunity to move your business forward. Consistency is what is going to win the day. The power of compounding will take effect. Get into action and don’t stop the action. Adapt, change, and don’t waste this. Stay consistent. 

Links in this episode include: 

Jim & Dolores’s bio

UK Appoints a Minister of Loneliness, an article from the New York Times 

Meet UK’s Minister of Loneliness, an article from TIME magazine

Vertical Marriage by Dave and Ann Wilson

Personality Plus by Florence Littauer

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John Maxwell

The Power of 5 by John Maxwell

The DNA of Relationships by Dr. Gary Smalley

Tribes by Seth Godin

Winning Every Day by Lou Holtz

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“Every reason not to do something is the reason to do it. We have the right opportunity at the right time with the right people, and we want to help people succeed. This quarantine time is just time for real community. Facebook isn’t the same as a phone call. Stay connected to people. Everybody matters.” - Jim & Dolores Martin 

From sunny Florida, Jim and Dolores Martin are top industry leaders in the relationship business. With 18 + years of experience in the industry, they partnered up with a team of men and women to found Bonvera, a business built on entrepreneurship and community. In another life, Jim was a master plumber who owned his own business for many years, but his life was spent working about 70 - 90 hours a week running his business. Dolores was in the banking and insurance industry as well as running an in-home daycare business. After they got past their own excuses, the rest was history. Today as co-founders of Bonvera, they are building teams of authentic community leaders who serve and support one another.

In part one of this episode, Bob joins Jim and Dolores to talk about their story. They recap joining this industry right around 9/11, a time very similar to COVID-19, and why they got started. They also discuss why they founded Bonvera and the gap Bonvera filled in the industry space. With their experience and results, Bob and Jim and Dolores urge listeners to see the unique opportunity this global pandemic presents to support, care for, and communicate with your community.

Notes and Quotes: 

-I wasn’t looking for something more to do, but I wanted the results that others had. Now, I see that if I wanted different results, I’d have to do something different to get them. 

-I wasn’t looking, but I should have been looking. The reason I should have been looking was because someone in my industry as a plumber that had more experience than me was in the exact same predicament as I was in. I kept doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

-Every reason not to do something is the reason to do it. I don’t have money, that’s the reason to do it. I don’t have time, that’s why you should do it. Every excuse is the reason to do something. We have the right opportunity at the right time with the right people, and we want to help people succeed. 

-What it boiled down to was that we didn’t want special deals. It didn’t matter if you just got started or you had been in the industry for years, we wanted everyone to have the same opportunity. We saw that in Bonvera we could be leading the change. 

-Being able to look face to face with people and let them know you care is huge in our industry.

-In this industry, people want to know you care. They know that by looking in your eyes. Now that we have this, it’s still important for people to hear your voice. People need fun and community, and that’s what I love about this business. This is a selfless business. The more you serve others, the more you will win as well. Serving people by being relatable, real, transparent and that you’re in it together.

-You mention how rapidly our business is changing. We are not going to go back to what was prior to COVID-19, and our industry is going to thrive if you do it in the right way and still do it with community.

-You can live 7 days without food, 3 days without water, but 10 minutes without hope.

Links in this episode include: 

Jim & Dolores’s bio

Gig economy, a blog article we’ve written on why the regular 9 to 5 job is declining and the gig or “freelancer” economy is on the rise 

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Why Bonvera got started, a blog article about Bonvera’s history and why it met gaps in the industry   

Bonvera At Home, a product line of household and personal hygiene products 

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“I always start with the basics. Basics of handwashing have been effective. This virus is surrounded by a lipid membrane, which means it’s a fat. That means that anything that cuts grease is going to destroy this virus. Simple soap and handwashing is extremely effective. Practice basic hygiene."

Dr. Jeff Davis is a practicing doctor of family medicine, functional, and integrative health. He’s the owner of Prairie Health and Wellness in Wichita, Kansas, and he serves as Bonvera’s Medical Director of the Phyzix MD product line. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, and he is an advanced fellow in regenerative and functional medicine through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. As for his schooling, he completed his residency in Family Medicine through University of Kansas at Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, Kansas and earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in clinical gerontology from Baylor University. He’s on the leading edge of healthcare as he has been involved in multiple FDA clinical trials, and his clinic has been designated an FDA research site. He and his team do this to provide the best care to their patients. 

In this episode, Bob and Dr. Jeff Davis discuss the current state of our country and our world due to the ramifications of the global pandemic that COVID-19 has caused. In this episode, they speak on everything related to the virus from simple tips to staying hygienic and practical steps you can take to boost your immune system to the future of healthcare and how to sleep well during this time. 

Notes and Quotes: 

-“People go from slightly sick to seriously sick in a matter of hours, and we don’t see that with influenza. Common symptoms are fever and a cough. Because this virus enters through AC2 receptors, which are found predominantly in the lungs those are the common symptoms. However, they are also found in cardiac tissue or the gut, which less reported symptoms could be diarrhea, abdominal cramping, or even nausea and vomiting.”

-“The European Association of Ear Nose and Throat Doctors put out a bulletin that an early symptom is a loss of smell.”

-“SARS-COV-2 is the name of the virus that causes the disease, and the disease named COVID-19, which is short for coronavirus disease and named 19 because it was discovered in 2019. SARS is a severe acute respiratory syndrome.”

-“One research said it looks like drowning or it looks like HAPE, which is high altitude pulmonary edema. That’s where it’s like you’ve gone to sea level to 20,000 elevation and you can’t oxygenate your tissue.”

-We have data that Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc can help support you during this time. “You’ll know if you’ve had too much vitamin C in your system, your body will tell you. You’ll get diarrhea. Making sure that your vitamin D is at a healthy level. Zinc has been effective, you can find that in smoked oysters or a zinc supplement.”

-“I always start with the basics. Basics of handwashing have been effective. This virus is surrounded by a lipid membrane, which means it’s a fat. That means that anything that cuts grease is going to destroy this virus. Simple soap and handwashing is extremely effective. Practice basic hygiene. Don’t touch your face. The mask is a simple effective thing.”

-“I think developing a vaccine in 18 months is too optimistic. The fastest vaccine we’ve ever developed was the mumps vaccine -- it took 3 years to develop a safe vaccine. We had 20 years of research to develop this vaccine, and it still took 3 years to develop. The HPV virus took 15 years, and the rotavirus was close to 20 years in development. The burden of safety on these vaccines has to be much much higher. The problem with vaccines is that you’re giving medication to healthy people who have no problems, so you don’t want to cause a problem in these people.”

-“If you hear that people are saying skip the animal trials and move forward, we can’t do that. We have to follow the safety procedures.”

-“Dan Crenshaw said, “This is akin to having a small military force getting a rain of bullets and getting a hasty retreat in the middle of the night.” Those soldiers would sit in a safe spot, and they would decide how they’re going to re-engage the enemy. They would do that by deciding okay, how much ammunition do we have left, does everybody equipment work, do we know where the enemy is, should we wait for daylight?”

-“Magnesium and vitamin C are two you typically don’t have to be measured for. Magnesium and vitamin C you can dose to bowel tolerance. Your body will let you know when you’ve had too much -- you’ll have loose stools. With vitamin C, a typical dose 250 - 500 mg capsules. It’s easy to take 2.5g of vitamin C 1 - 2 times a day. Vitamin D internationally is 4000 - 6000 IU a day is fine. So a 5000 IU capsule once a day is adequate. For green tea, those antioxidants are great. It has a chemical substance called ECGC, it’s a potent antioxidant. It’s another form of antioxidant like vitamin C.”

-“Sleep is critical to human functioning. You can’t store sleep. You can’t get a sleepless night of 3 - 4 hours of sleep, and then go back and add 3 - 4 hours of sleep to catch up. Brain function is tied to it, cardiovascular health is tied to it, so many things are tied to not getting a good night’s sleep. It’s probably tied to what a lot of people are going through right now. Make sure you’re getting 8 hours of pillow time. Don’t be on your phones when you go to sleep. You shouldn’t have a tv in your bedroom. You should have the room be as dark and cool as possible. Don’t eat late at night, don’t exercise close to bedtime. All of those things are going to disturb your sleep. So anything you can do to keep yourself in a balanced sleep pattern will ultimately make almost all areas of your health better.”

Links in this episode include: 

Dr. Davis’s bio

Immun-C, a vitamin C product in the Phyzix MD product line with Bonvera

Immun-D, a vitamin D product in the Phyzix MD product line with Bonvera 

Immune Boost, a new product Bonvera just launched! 

Why We Sleep by Matt Walker, a book our New Way MBA subscribers are reading

Want to hear content like this? Bob and Dr. Davis gave an exclusive talk to New Way MBA subscribers at the end of March. Subscribe to New Way MBA to listen in.

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

*This Podcast is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment and advice of a qualified licensed professional. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent...

“For me, I wouldn’t go back and change anything. It’s been a great ride. I’ve gotten to do things, learn things, and experience life in a way I don’t think I would have otherwise. ” - Kelly Fletcher 

Kelly Fletcher (@fletcherpr) is a powerhouse leader, CEO, speaker, author, podcast host, marketer, and former Miss North Carolina. She graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina with a degree in Music, Vocal Performance, and Communications. All through her twenties, she was aspiring to be a singer and lived in New York. She’d tell you, “I worked a lot, but I didn’t make a lot of money.” Up until she was 29, she sang with the National Opera Company as a cover, which is similar to an understudy, for two years, she worked odd jobs to make ends meet, and she toured with music companies. When she left New York, she decided to pivot to a career in communications as well as start a family of her own. At age 40, she started her own marketing and PR firm, and let’s just say she’s killing it. She not only reinvented herself, but she created an incredible company, successful career, and community of leaders following in her footsteps.

In part 2 of this episode, Bob and Kelly dive into the power of the female consumer. Additionally, Kelly shares helpful and timely advice for leaders looking to grow in their leadership skills and abilities. Bob and Kelly talk about if this entrepreneurship journey is all worth it, what her pet peeves are, and a few productivity hacks. 

Notes and Quotes: 

-The female is the CFO of American households. They do the majority of household purchasing.

-About 50% of women in this country aren’t married. If you only market to women that are married, you’re leaving market share on the table. You can’t market to all women in the same way. 

-Advice I’d give to young women is that you really can’t have it all. Media portrays that women can, but it’s not that simple. It’s only in certain seasons, and you have to realize how to prioritize.

-There are sacrifices to be made for different choices. We are kind of raised to think we should do it all, and it’s just not possible.

-Prioritize what’s important to you. Make a list. Set goals every year. I found this old journal of mine, and a lot of my goals are still the same as they are now. To find that and look back on it, it was cool to see I’ve been doing the right things. Figure out your process and stick with it over the years. 

-For me, I wouldn’t go back and change anything. It’s been a great ride. I’ve gotten to do things, learn things, and experience life in a way I don’t think I would have otherwise.

-If you really want to find what you’re capable of, you have to push yourself. 

-It’s a pet peeve of mine whenever someone on our team says, “I’m not this or I’m not that. Or I don’t know how to do this.” We don’t ever say that to a client. We deliver solutions. If we don’t know how to do something, we figure that out internally. It’s also a pet peeve when someone asks me how to do something. Be resourceful. Try Googling it. Figure it out.

-Another pet peeve of mine is when people are on their phone in a meeting. Be respectful of people’s time and don’t be on your phone in a meeting. 

-Any productivity hacks? Something that really works for me is calendaring. Blocking off your calendar to do certain projects or tasks. I don’t know about you but if I have a to-do list, I’ll check off the things I want to do and leave the things I don’t want to do. But really I should have done the things I didn’t want to do first.

-Another productivity hack is this -- don’t live on email. It takes you down a rabbit hole, and it causes you to lose focus. Decide. How are you going to respond to email?

Links in this episode include: 

New Way MBA, Bonvera’s education system for any entrepreneur 

Blinkist, an app to that summarizes key takeaways from books in text and audio formats

Fletcher Marketing & PR, Kelly’s marketing and PR agency

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Under the Tuscan Sun, a movie that’s inspired a love for Italy

American Ad Federation Association 

Bonvera Brew, it won Gold at the Addy Awards!

Kutano Refuel, it won a Silver at the Addy Awards!

Luebella, it won a Bronze at the Addy Awards!

Want to hear more with Kelly Fletcher? Subscribe to New Way MBA as we’ll be recording more exclusive content with Kelly and making that available to New Way MBA subscribers. 

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“I would rather take the chance of being able to work harder, put in more time, and push for a different outcome rather than having someone else control my future.” - Kelly Fletcher 

Kelly Fletcher (@fletcherpr) is a powerhouse leader, CEO, speaker, author, podcast host, marketer, and former Miss North Carolina. She graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina with a degree in Music, Vocal Performance, and Communications. All through her twenties, she was aspiring to be a singer and lived in New York. She’d tell you, “I worked a lot, but I didn’t make a lot of money.” Up until she was 29, she sang with the National Opera Company as a cover, which is similar to an understudy, for two years, she worked odd jobs to make ends meet, and she toured with music companies. When she left New York, she decided to pivot to a career in communications as well as start a family of her own. At age 40, she started her own marketing and PR firm, and let’s just say she’s killing it. She not only reinvented herself, but she created an incredible company, successful career, and community of leaders following in her footsteps.

In this episode, Bob and Kelly reminisce on the beginnings of her entrepreneurial journey. They recount the fear and courage it took for her to transition careers over the years from music and performance to marketing and communications. She shares her personal journey of growing in confidence and growing into her own, and with such care, she inspires audiences with her empowering spirit and advice.

Notes and Quotes: 

- I really wasn’t that confident, and it didn’t come until much later. I didn’t really come into my own until my mid to late thirties. 

-I got more and more courage, and I got less and less fearful. The fear is still there, and if it’s not, it may be a bit of an issue. Having a little bit of a pit in your stomach when you’re trying to make a decision is a good thing. That little moment of doubt fuels you to push through. 

-Fear isn’t a bad thing unless you let it drive you or control you. Fear helps you perform better. It keeps you from complacency, which is so important as a small business owner or entrepreneur. 

-As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you have to keep working at your business even when you’re in the good times or seasons. It prepares me for harder times in my business. When it gets hard, I’m motivated and I’m on it. It pushes me to work however many hours to get it done because the alternative isn’t looking good. 

-Consistency is so important to any business. If you aren’t consistent, it’s hard to maintain a level of normalcy in business. This helps you weather the storms. 

-I quickly realized that if I wanted to move up and control my own destiny, I needed to get into sales. That’s when I learned a lot about selling and building relationships. That’s all sales really is -- relationship building.

-I wouldn’t be in business today if I hadn’t learned the disciplines of selling, and it is a discipline. 

-Sales drives everything in a business. If you can learn sales, you can work anywhere. 

-I started reading a lot, and that’s the key to reinvention.

Links in this episode include: 

New Way MBA, Bonvera’s education system for any entrepreneur 

Blinkist, an app to that summarizes key takeaways from books in text and audio formats

Fletcher Marketing & PR, Kelly’s marketing and PR agency

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Under the Tuscan Sun, a movie that’s inspired a love for Italy

American Ad Federation Association 

Bonvera Brew, it won Gold at the Addy Awards!

Kutano Refuel, it won a Silver at the Addy Awards!

Luebella, it won a Bronze at the Addy Awards!

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“Everyone has something different and unique to share, but yet there are similarities amongst them all. Everyone has a unique story; everyone has a unique journey. We can learn something from everyone.” - Bob Dickie

In this episode, we walk back through the past few months of podcasting together. We highlight the guests who have been on this show and the guests we’re thinking of having in the future. Additionally, we discuss some of the key learnings and observations we’ve seen in our guests and their insights. Amongst all of the guests, there is a common thread -- we can all learn from mistakes and failures. We set the stage in this recap episode for highlights and insights to come in 2020.

Notes and Quotes: 

-You expect a highlight reel from people, but that’s not often what we actually get when we sit down and connect with people. We get the realness and rawness of lessons learned which were the greatest factors to success for our guests. 

-Be a great questioner. Be someone who genuinely wants to learn and know other people.

-You can do this exact same thing we’ve done via this podcast. Sit down with someone, build that relationship, ask questions, and genuinely invest in one another.

-Social media isn’t where real relationships are built. They’re built eye to eye and face to face.

Links in this episode include: 

The very first introductory podcast episode

Tim & Brandy Jarvinen’s podcast episode

Cody Newton’s podcast episode

Jeremie Kubicek’s podcast episode 

The 100X Leader by Jeremie Kubicek

Bonvera’s NTE, shorthand for National Training Event, these are Bonvera’s big training events held 3 - 4x a year

Tymber Lee’s podcast episode

Grant Webster’s podcast episode

Mark & Raquel Williams’s podcast episode

Drayton Wade’s podcast episode

Kirk & Nicole Porter’s podcast episode 

Dollar Shave Club, a revolutionary business and subscription model for men and women’s razors

Billion Dollar Brand Club by Lawrence Ingrassia

Root of Riches by Chuck Bentley 

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here: The Leap and Love Your Work.

A huge congrats to our host and CEO, Bob Dickie, for graduating from Harvard Business School! We’re so proud of his hard work, and we’re so blessed to have him serve our company and community.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“You get that exhilarating feeling of like, ‘Oh, man, I could get out of this place.’ And that's really where I was. I was very hungry to learn. I was very hungry for different results. And so even though it took time, a lot of people think it's going to be easy too when they take that leap. Like, ‘Oh, I'll just make this decision, everything's going to be easy.’ You got to be willing to stick it out. You've got to be willing to do the hard things to be able to get where you want to go. And so even though we made the decision that we were going to do something different, it took time to begin to work hard and to switch that from being an employee to jumping over into entrepreneurship.” - Kirk & Nicole Porter

Kirk & Nicole Porter (@Kirkporter and @Nicole_insights) hail from Dallas, Texas where they fell in love, started their careers, had their boys, and pivoted to multiple different ventures, including their current venture as Bonvera entrepreneurs. Before becoming entrepreneurs, they were comfortable and keeping up with the Joneses but they wanted so much more. With Nicole as a dental hygienist and Kirk in IT, they were trapped and stuck in the daily grind. But, they weren’t staying stuck. Through battle after battle, they gained more knowledge, got grittier, and learned to stay in the fight. Today, they’re serial entrepreneurs who run multiple businesses in realty, technology, network marketing, and education. They’re passionate about helping others find success as entrepreneurs too.

In this episode with Bob, Kirk & Nicole recount why they decided to pursue entrepreneurship. In this process, they learned how to shift their thinking from an employee mindset to entrepreneurial freedom. They learned how to keep pushing past the challenges, and they learned how to focus so strongly on their dream that nothing stood in their way.

Notes and Quotes:
 

-We basically got into the spot where we bought the American dream, right? Like we had the nice cars, we had corporate jobs, we had the nice house, and we looked good from the outside. But on the inside, we were in debt. Any money we made, we spent it.

-We learned three keys to wealth, which was delayed gratification, long term vision, and the power of compounding.

-But [in this documentary of Pumping Iron], he says, "When I'm competing, if my car gets stolen, I can't even think about my car getting stolen. Because I'm so focused on my goal to get where I'm going, that someone else can't even come and tell me that, they have to handle it for me."

-When you're chasing your dream and you're doing those things, you’re so focused on your goals. Nothing is going to stand in your way. Your car gets smashed on the side of the road. You're like, I don't got no time for that, right?

-I'm in the hunt. I think a lot of times people want to pass that hunt and just talk about the success that they think they've already achieved. But I love the hunt and I think the hunt is the funnest part of the whole thing. The battle being the battle and getting to where you want to go.

-I think there's always a challenge. There's always something that’s being created, there's always something being recreated. I mean if you're a business owner you've got to be okay with that. You know that you’re constantly reinventing yourself, constantly you're on to the next challenge. It's challenge to challenge to challenge to success. Challenge to challenge to challenge to success.

-Man, do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? To me, one of the biggest keys is having that long term vision. You've got to be able to see far ahead, not just what is this going to produce for me in a week. You've got to have that staying power and be able to see things long term.

Links in this episode include: 

Kirk & Nicole Porter’s Leadership Profile

Kirk & Nicole’s website & blog 

Visit their store at Macdaddy’s

Lockheed Martin, an Aerospace and Defense Company 

Define, Learn, Do principle, a method of learning referred to in the New Way MBA program

The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky 

The E - Myth by Michael Gerber

Pumping Iron, a documentary of Arnold Schwarzenegger on his bodybuilding journey

Delayed gratification, a brief overview from Wikipedia

The Power of Compounding, a brief video on this principle 

Long Term Goals, an article from Entrepreneur

Cash Flow Quadrant, a book by Robert Kiyosaki 

Stay Thirsty, My Friends, the famous Dos Equis commercial 

Thrive Farmers coffee

Bonvera, a health, wellness, and lifestyle company

The 100X Leader by Jeremie Kubicek   

Life Is Good, a book about the founders of the company, Life Is Good 

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

To learn more about Bob’s two books, find them on Amazon here:

"If work is going to be that consuming and that integratable into life, it better be something you’re interested in. I keep making these pivots because of A.) self-awareness and B). what I am interested in. If I’m going to put in lots of hours, I want to be interested in it. [So I ask myself,] is it something I’m interested in? Is it something that leads to more opportunities?" -- Drayton Wade 

Drayton Wade (@draytonwade) is a millennial entrepreneur, start-up veteran, Clemson grad, Knoxville Fellow, and graduate of London School of Economics. As one of the youngest delegates at the Christian Economic Forum, Drayton has worked at multiple start-ups and is currently working at a start-up in the area of technology and automation at UiPath. His passions include counterterrorism, economics, automation, artificial intelligence, nonprofit work, and sales.

Drayton joins Bob in this podcast to talk about his unique passions and how they helped him pivot in his atypical career path from his college studies that started out in engineering to his post-grad days working for start-up companies in AI and automation. Together, they banter back and forth over what sales really is, the differences between American education and British education, and the many remarks people make about millennial career men and women. Not to mention, they discuss countless books they’re reading, how they implement education into their life, and the mentors that have authority to speak into their lives. 

Quotes from this episode:

-“People with backgrounds that are atypical can leverage that in sales because they have a good EQ. They have a good understanding of how to communicate precisely and concisely. [At the London School of Economics,] they wanted to know how you thought, how you could structure an argument, and how you could communicate. That’s sales in a nutshell.”

-“We aren’t rational creatures. With sales, it’s the same way. It’s all about the relationship. It’s about understanding the person, it’s about getting to know the person on the other side.”

-“The atypical path has helped me. I don’t know any better. I don’t have this rigid path I have to follow. I jumped around, and I pursued whatever there was.” 

-“I’ve changed jobs almost every 2 years. It’s often viewed as a negative [for millennials]. It’s total crap to me. Think about the expectation you’re setting on them. You’re expecting them to be self-aware enough to know their interests and gifts God has given them [for their lives at the young age of 18 - 22].”

-“If work is going to be that consuming and that integrable into life, it better be something you’re interested in.”

-“I keep making these pivots because of A.) self-awareness and B). what I am interested in. If I’m going to put in lots of hours, I want to be interested in it.”

-“Too little options cause unhappiness and too many options cause unhappiness.” 

-“[With a mentor], there has to be the freedom to just straight up tell you, ‘You’re wrong.’ That’s really valuable in a spouse and in a mentor. Otherwise, you don’t really have a mentor. I’m giving you authority over my life to tell me no or to tell me I’m wrong.” 

-“Every day is running up the score. Every day, [I ask myself] what meaning can I derive from this particular day.” 

-“If you truly believe what you say you believe, it doesn’t matter. You’ve already won. I’ve gotten more than I deserve to begin with, so I’m just running up the score.”

Links in this episode include: 

The Knoxville Fellows, a branch of the Fellows initiative in Knoxville, TN 

The Fellows Initiative, a network of Christian Fellows programs all over the US 

Thinking, Fast and Slow, a book by Daniel Kahneman on Amazon

Force multiplication, a military term to multiply power to have greater effects than without it

Napoleon Hill, a Wikipedia article on his life and work as an author 

MOOCs, these are massive open online courses available to all via the web that are free

Khan Academy and Coursera, both are online learning platforms where you can find lots of courses on various subjects

New Way MBA, an online learning community designed to help entrepreneurs fill the gaps in their education

Wine MOOCs, a list of MOOCs that feature wine specific courses 

AI Superpowers, a book by Kai-Fu Lee on Amazon

Harvard Business School Case Study Method, this is the education method Harvard Business School uses that isn’t based on memorization but experience

London School of Economics and Political Science

Bottom Line Upfront, this is a business principle about saying the conclusion of the argument first 

The Fifth Discipline, a book by Peter Senge 

Cuban Missile Crisis, a brief synopsis on this situation from JFK’s presidency

Groupthink, a psychological phenomenon on the mindset a group takes on

Virtual reality, a brief overview of what virtual reality is

Oculus, the virtual reality (VR) equipment and technology Facebook acquired 

Apple AR glasses, a brief article on the release, price, and specs of these augmented reality glasses 

Augmented reality, a brief overview of what augmented reality is

Microsoft Ho...