Taking the Leap

"I had a win, and it told me that I could do it. I had that piece of me that kept reminding me of that win saying 'You can do it. Remember?’" -- Mark & Raquel Williams 

Mark and Raquel Williams (@mdub50 and @RRWilliams_) are a couple of entrepreneurs partnered up with Bonvera. Both from different backgrounds, these two are humble but incredibly successful on their own and together in their respective industries. Mark comes to the table with a background in law enforcement, detective work, SWAT team, and kicking butt, while Raquel comes from a background of recruiting, staffing, and sales. Coming together, they’ve brought their expertise and grit to be business partners, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals in their own ventures, including an ice cream shop and a Bonvera business. Mark and Raquel reside in California where they manage a big family, multiple businesses, and several teams of entrepreneurs.

They join Bob in this podcast episode to talk about how to win. Raquel personalizes her story about how she came to believe “I can do it!” Mark shares his training and experience with law enforcement and as a SWAT officer. Together, they share with Bob the lessons they learned from a typical 9-to-5 job and how they applied them in their entrepreneurial pursuits.

Notes on Believing in Yourself: 

-Remind yourself over and over again of your self-belief.

-You can do it. Remember? You’ve done it before. 

-Find a great mentor who will believe in you and push you. 

-A great mentor instills the courage in you to help you develop and grow.

-Oftentimes, we have pain and wounds that hold us back.

-It takes courage to go into our wounds, heal them, and move forward.

-Find tools and resources that help you heal your wounds.

Links in this episode include: 

Mark & Raquel’s Leadership Profile, a bio on their story, why they joined Bonvera, and what their life looks like as entrepreneurs

How to Beat Self-Doubt and Stop Selling Yourself Short, an interesting article from Forbes on the very topics Raquel faced early in her career

SWAT Team process, an article on how you become a SWAT officer

Hair Loss Solutions, a company somewhat similar to what Raquel did in LA early in her career

Hair Club, hair replacement solutions for men and women

Hair Grafting and Restoration Methods, a medical procedure on hair restoration

The Power of the Subconscious Mind, a book by Joseph Murphy on Amazon

Bonvera RTE, it’s a regional training event hosted by Bonvera and powered by the New Way MBA education program

Attitude is Everything, a book by Jeff Kelly on Amazon

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

“It's really just realizing 'look on my own, I don't have what it takes to be successful or perform at a high level.' I need other people to come alongside of me and help me." -- Grant Webster 

Grant Webster (@grantwebster) is the CEO and Founder of Launch Thought, an investor in several startups, Silicon Valley consultant. Grant gravitated toward learning while being homeschooled as a kid, even checking out classic business books from the library. While still in college Grant started his own software and web development firm. The combined busyness of getting married and the growth of his business led him to drop out of school and continue his career without a formal degree. Despite this nontraditional path, Grant’s career has continued to flourish. Today, Grant is able to spend the majority of his time serving other entrepreneurs and leaders who are advancing God-inspired solutions to the world’s greatest challenges through his work in the Christian Economic Forum.

He joins Bob in this podcast episode to talk about what a coach is and why Grant invested in one. He highlights key differences between a friend, mentor, and coach, and he emphasizes the key things to look for in a mentor or coach. Additionally, Grant shares his story on his educational background, how he got started in his entrepreneurial endeavors, and the thoughts he encounters daily as an entrepreneur. Along the way, Bob and Grant discuss how to dispel fear, combat the doubt, and believe in the truth. 

Notes on the difference between a friend, mentor, or coach: 

-A friend is close to you, and they may be biased. 

-A mentor counsels you and gives advice. They’re typically intentionally asked to mentor an individual. 

-A mentor wants to see that their investment in you will be worthwhile. They’re gifting you something, so they want to see you use the gift. 

-A coach can give you unvarnished and unbiased outside perspective. 

-A coach can see things you can’t see.

-One coach can’t help you with everything. It’s not a one-sized all approach.

-A tennis player is so successful because they have a coach for multiple areas of their game -- their nutrition, their technique, their mental health, their strategy, etc.

-If you’re looking for a coach, don’t look for a unicorn that can mentor you or coach you on everything. Those are unfair expectations. Don’t view a mentor or coach as the end all be all. 

-Look for a mentor that’s really good at something you want to learn about or improve upon yourself. However, be careful not to take everything that they are and emulate that. 

-Keep in mind you are a unique individual, and you can’t replicate their whole life. You’re a different person. 

-If you want a mentor, prove you’ll be a good student. Volunteer to help them. Learn as much as you can from them. Be a value-add to them.

-Oftentimes, someone you’re asking to mentor or coach you lives a busier life than you do. They’ll willingly mentor you if you’ll use what they’ve given you. If it falls on deaf ears, the doors will close.

Links in this episode include: 

Executive Coach or Therapist? It’s Getting Harder to Tell the Difference, a WSJ article

Peter Thiel’s Fellowship Program, his program open to students to start their own businesses

Zero to One, a book by Peter Thiel

Launch Thought, Grant’s web development company 

Antifragile, a book by Nassem Taleb

Sunk Cost Fallacy, here’s a Wikipedia page on sunk cost and the sunk cost fallacy

The OODA Loop, a Wikipedia link about the Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act process cycle developed by John Boyd, a military strategist and United States Air Force Colonel 

The Messy Middle, a book by Scott Belsky

Overlap, a book by Sean McCabe

Platform, a book by Michael Hyatt

Blitz Scaling, a book by Reid Hoffman

The Customer-Funded Business, a book by John Mullins

Mailbox Money, an article explaining the concept of mailbox money 

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

"The race you are starting, I've finished. I survived. You can take your life experiences that are personal to you and you can open yourself up. There are people at the starting point of the race you've finished. The social media lens we have into people's lives is unfair. All you see is their best picture on vacation or their perfect cup of coffee with their devotion. You don't see the chaos on either side of the phone. It's the same thing with entrepreneurship. You compare yourself to the highlight reel of all of these companies, and that's not fair. It's not real. If you can peel back the onion, maybe 10 layers back, you'll see they were where you were at at some point too." -- Tymber Lee 

Tymber Lee (@tlee3232) is an investor, board member, former professional baseball pitcher, and commercial real estate investor and developer. Tymber is a get-after-it use every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears kind of entrepreneur and business owner. With entrepreneurialism in his blood, he’s been involved in various business opportunities and endeavors since he was a kid helping in his family business of custom homebuilding and development. His love for competition, teamwork, and winning carried over into his studies as he attended Wichita State University as a student athlete and was selected in the Major League Baseball draft as a pitcher by the Anaheim Angels. His career evolved into specializing in commercial investment property and industrial sales and leasing, which has led to the development of The Lee Companies (TLC). 

He joins Bob in this podcast episode to talk about fear and failure, the lessons from heartbreak, and the grandfather who taught and mentored him growing up. They hash out the journeys they’ve experienced as entrepreneurs, investors, and business executives in this heart-wrenching and thought provoking episode. 

Notes on Fear and Failure: 

-Ask thought leaders, “If you were to go back and do anything differently, would you?” 

-Then, “shut up, and listen.” 

-Action cures fear. 

-Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is where the gems are.

-People want to see how you’re going to fail. How will you handle the failure? How you handle failure determines your success.

-Failure is not a matter of how or if. It’s a matter of when. 

Links in this episode include: 

Tymber’s Board Bio

Tymber’s MiLB Profile, a stat sheet from the Minor Leagues

Tymber’s MLB Profile, a stat sheet from the MLB 

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, a book by Angela Duckworth found here on Amazon

Instagram’s history, a synopsis from Wikipedia 

Bonvera, a business platform that Bob and Tymber are both passionate about 

Audible, Amazon’s audible book platform 

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, a cool story about the creator of Nike 

The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of any Bold Venture, a book by Scott Belsky found here on Amazon 

The American Icon, a book by Alan Mulally found here on Amazon 

Netflix’s History, a synopsis from Wikipedia 

Are you an Entrepreneur or a ‘Wantrepreneur?’, an article by Entrepreneur.com 

The Trillion Dollar Coach, a book by Bill Campbell found here on Amazon 

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

“The best leaders in the world gain influence because people want to be around them not have to be around them.” --Jeremie Kubicek

Jeremie Kubicek (@JeremieKubicek) is the CEO of GiANT TV, Co-Founder of GiANT, speaker, best-selling author of multiple books, husband, and father to three. Jeremie specializes in getting leaders to a higher and healthier level, which he talks about in his books The 100X Leader and 5 Voices: How to Communicate with Everyone You Lead among others. 

In this episode, Jeremie highlights and elaborates on a talk recently given to entrepreneurs from all over the United States about the differences in a dominating and liberating leader. He weaves many themes and principles from his book The 100X Leader into this discussion including the analogy of climbing Mount Everest with the help of a Sherpa. Jeremie teaches audiences what a leader should do in terms of providing support while also providing challenge, what he has learned about being a leader throughout his entrepreneurial journey, and the practices he uses to live out leadership daily.

Notes on a Dominating vs. a Liberating Leader: 

A dominating leader provides high challenge with low support.

A protecting leader provides high support with low challenge. 

A liberating leader brings empowerment and opportunity but also a challenge.

Awesome quotes by Jeremie in this episode: 

“We need leaders who bring unbelievable challenge but provide support.”

“No one can do it without someone helping them along the way. To be a sherpa, I fight for them. I create support for them. And I follow up behind them to challenge them.” 

“The platinum rule is to do unto others as they’d like done unto them.” 

“Credibility and influence is a daily thing. It’s something I’m doing today.” 

“Opportunity comes when you do relational things really well.” 

“Call people up, don’t call them out.”

“My dad always told me this in my 20s. It’s not what you do, it’s who you work for.”

“Circumstances don’t dictate your behavior.”

Links in this episode include:

Zoom, a digital video conferencing tool

New Way MBA, Bonvera’s education platform for entrepreneurs 

GiANT TV, a digital media company for leadership information transformation

The Sherpa people, the group of people who live their lives summiting Mount Everest

Leadercast Conferences, leadership conferences Jeremie was a part of

GiANT Worldwide, a leadership transformation company 

The Prairie at Post, a modern farmhouse community real estate development 

The Change Equation, the equation needed to evaluate and implement change

Jeremie’s Bio & Experience

The 100X Leader, book available on Amazon

Heroic Leadership, by Chris Lowney available on Amazon

5 Voices: How to Communicate with Everyone, book available on Amazon

5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time, book available on Amazon 

This episode mentions books 5 Voices: How to Communicate with Everyone You Lead by Jeremie Kubicek, The 100X Leader by Jeremie Kubicek, and Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney. A principle referenced is the Change Equation, which is as follows: Change = dissatisfaction with the status quo x your future vision x the next steps to get you there to your future vision > resistance. You can learn more about Jeremie at this link. 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

“As a leader, you put yourself in their position, and I think that has been an asset in my entrepreneurial journey. Just being able to feel what they're feeling." -- Cody Newton 

Cody Newton (@newton_cody) is a leading industry professional, serial entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Bonvera, franchiser, and father of 5. Cody is a self-taught, hands-on entrepreneur that has started multiple companies including Bonvera, and has become a leading industry professional building teams of passionate people rooting together toward one goal and vision. 

In this episode, Cody joins Bob to discuss the heart behind his entrepreneurial journey. They chronicle hilarious stories from Cody’s childhood that shaped his educational path and the beginning of his entrepreneurial endeavors. Along the way, Bob highlights the phenomenal speaker Cody is and what good books they’re reading. The continuous thread throughout this episode is what it takes to have the heart of an entrepreneur, to feel the pain and joy, and the heart to learn, grow, and do it even when you’re scared. With these two, there are many laughs, good stories, and sharings from the heart. 

This episode mentions books and leaders including Peter Thiel, The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams by Sam Walker, The Power of Five by John Maxwell, How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People by Les Giblin. Links include Thrive Farmers Coffee, which is a unique partnership with Bonvera to provide customers and entrepreneurs with exceptional coffee from Latin America. Thrive Farmers offers specialty-grade coffee hand-grown by farmers in Latin America that have grown coffee for generations. By partnering with Thrive Farmers, farmers receive 3.5X more in wages than before. This net income increase empowers farmers to then improve access to other needs for a thriving life, including healthcare, education, clean water and more. You can learn more about Cody at this link.

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“Anybody can be what they want to be if they're willing to put in their 10,000 proverbial hours." -- Tim Jarvinen

Tim Jarvinen is an entrepreneur and sales leader at Bonvera, an all-star football and basketball athlete, and a former Delphi automotive engineer. In this episode, Tim joins Bob to rehash what it was like to be an engineer dreaming of a day where he had more time, more money, and more time with his family of six. 

Tim reflects on lessons he learned as a football and basketball athlete and how they carried over into lessons he learned as an entrepreneur. His wife, Brandy, joins him later in the episode to talk about what it was like to set out to build a business together as a couple and team. They share sacrifices, goals, and teachings they carry out in order to do it well, embracing that entrepreneurship is a family affair. It’s something they can do together with their kids.

This episode mentions books including Real World MBA by Jack Welsh. 

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie

“It's so important to us that we connect what we're doing with what matters to us and what we're passionate about. We want more. We want to do something we love and enjoy but also resonates deeply with us." --Casey Roths 

Casey Roths is a millennial career gal, recent University of Tennessee Knoxville college graduate, and Manager of Marketing Operations at Bonvera, a network marketing start-up in Knoxville, Tennessee. In this episode, Casey joins Bob to set the stage for the podcast. In this episode, Casey asks Bob why he wanted to do a podcast, what he’s most excited about, and what content to expect in this podcast. 

Along the way, they discuss what it’s like to be a millennial in this new age economy, what’s important to millennials, and how their values impact their decisions when beginning their career journeys.

They land the episode on the hope this podcast offers to those later on in their career and the bridge that connects these two generations. 

This episode mentions books Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire, Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller, and At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider. 

Follow Bob Dickie on Twitter @RobertDickie
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