The Art of Making Things Happen (Bluefishing) Steve Sims

Jeff Madoff, the owner of Madoff Productions, a famous production company that has worked with clients from around the world. He wears many creative hats in his line of work but, above all, Jeff says communication is one of the most important traits that he utilizes in both his personal and professional life.

•  Jeff’s company has worked with Victoria’s Secret, Ralph Lauren, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Harvard University.
• He teaches a course called Creative Careers: Making a living with your ideas.
• Producing his first play about the life of rock and roll Hall of Fame legend, Lloyd Price
• Victoria Secret relies on him for eye catching visuals and meaningful phrasing for their advertising.
• Asking the right questions is the key to getting what you need
• Storytelling creates an emotional bond with audiences use it to market your product or business

Today, Jeff is a very successful storyteller in his own right and uses the power of communication and storytelling to help build brands and connect people to companies around the world. Through his work, he has traveled the globe and been involved in countless projects that have opened his eyes to new horizons. If you want to learn more about him and his company, go to http://madoffproductions.com.

On today's episode Steve talks about the fear of missing out and how you need to stop allowing fear control your life.

Ken Kragen has achieved things many only dream of: managing world-class musicians, raising millions of dollars to fight hunger internationally and at home. How does he do it? Recently he spoke with Steve Sims on “The Art of Making Things Happen Podcast” about his illustrious career and the importance of giving back and living a balanced life. 

• In the 1980s Ken Kragen was responsible for gathering the top musicians to raise $53 million for USA for Africa through its superstar-powered “We Are the World” hit single. 
• Kragen was the personal managers for numerous musicians like, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers for many years.
• His next project raised $34 million by creating a human chain that stretched from New York to Los Angeles, "Hands Across America".
• In addition to this fundraising success, the effort helped release $800 million of government funding that had been held to feed women, children and infants.
• Kragen attributes his success to being in the right place at the right time.
• Now in his 80's, he hasn't slowed down, currently working on 9 projects.

 Anyone looking to achieve a more balanced life could take a page or two from Kragen’s book, "Life is a Contact Sport". He says his parents are his inspiration. They taught him the importance of pursuing what you’re really passionate about, to maximize the likes and minimize the dislikes in life. This balance has enabled him to stay active in consulting, teaching, developing documentaries and working on a project connected to the World’s Fair in Dubai in 2020.

To learn more about Ken Kragen and his projects, visit https://www.kenkragen.com/ 

Andre Norman is one of the most called upon men in situations of crisis. Andre Norman saves lives all around the globe, and quite simply, is darn good at it. It's a far cry from his time in prison.

He grew up in the inner city with a single mom who has six kids, he was on the school to prison pipeline at a very early age.

He joined gangs and hustled the streets while in high school. Before long he was serving over 20 years in prison for his crimes.  

After fighting fellow inmates for the first six years, he had an epiphany. He knew he wasn't supposed to spend his life in prison. 

He dreamed of getting out and going to Harvard. He got his GED and ended up working at Harvard.

Andre proves that change is possible no matter where you start from. Today, the majority of Andre's work focuses on helping people with addiction and recovery. GeniusRecovery.com, is where he directs anyone and everyone who needs help. Whether it is for themselves, a sibling, a friend, or any other scenario they find themselves in, they can get help through his platform.

Stuart Garner is the CEO of Norton Motorcycles in the UK. Prior to acquiring the Norton brands, Garner went from being his family’s “black sheep” to several successful entrepreneurial endeavors. Stuart spoke with Steve Sims on, “The Art of Making Things Happen Podcast” about entrepreneurship, how to get things done, and their shared passion of motorcycles.

• British entrepreneur Garner turned his passion for motorcycles into his profession.
• As his company became more and more successful, Garner invested cash in other businesses, building up a nice portfolio of investments in interesting companies.
• One of his investments was in Spondon Engineering, which makes frames for superbikes and race bikes. A few years after Garner made the investment, Spondon was approached by Olly Curme, who owned Norton, to see if they would be interested in acquiring Norton.
• The timing of the deal was less than ideal – the world was on the verge of economic collapse. However, Garner knew what he needed to do to get the deal done and was on a plane from England to Minnesota the next day.
• Garner’s main efforts have been to position Norton in its own desirable, aspirational and exclusive niche.

Garner’s main efforts have been to position Norton in its own desirable, aspirational and exclusive niche. This brand now resonates throughout the entire company, from the stately Donington Hall where the bikes are manufactured to the evolving design and engineering of the bikes themselves. Although initially there was external resistance to changing the Norton design, Garner continued to push the brand forward and has seen these attitudes shift. From pheasants to fireworks to motorcycles, Garner has shown that there’s no one path to entrepreneurial success.

Steve visits Kern Valley State Prison, a level IV maximum security institution. An experience that changed his life forever. Learn how inmates are training to be entrepreneurs (EIT) and the hardship realities they have lived through. It will be hard for some to listen to this episode, but challenge yourself to get uncomfortable, you'll be glad you did.

Andrew Yang is a serial tech entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America and Democratic presidential candidate for 2020. He’s passionate about helping workers adapt to structural changes in the economy. Venture for America was his way of training recent college grads and young professionals to join startups to help revitalize American cities. The focus of his presidential campaign is to address the threat of new technologies, such as robots and automation, on American workers.

Positioning the ask, is only the beginning, know ahead of time what are you bringing to the table...

Philip McKernan is an inspirational coach who works with people to help them not only align with their life goals but figure out what those goals truly are.

In his work, he pushes people and supports them in a manner that encourages them to figure out for themselves who they are, where they should work, and what they should be doing.

He compels them to discover the relationships and the goals that mark true happiness in their lives, and then he feeds them information back to them and gets them fired up so that they can make the changes they need to make and get truly fired up.

Philip’s purpose in doing so is to prevent any one of the people he helps from having regrets down the line. He says he may seem like a pain the ass sometimes because of the work he must do to bring out people’s passions, but in the end, he admits that he has a substantial amount of compassion for the people he helps.

One thing Philip finds surprising, though, is the fact that many people find him intimidating. He actually recently noticed a person at an event whom he had seen in the past every single year, but never had the chance to connect with.

Philip went over to say hello to this man and received a surprising answer. Matt told him, “I watch everything you do, really respect your work, but you scare the shit out of me.” With that, Philip began laughing, but Matt was being serious.

He addressed this sense of intimidation that people get and says: "I just don't know how to turn it on and off. There's just Philip McKernan. There's just one Philip McKernan and I think what they're really afraid of is facing their own individual truth. They're afraid of facing their own individual pain and having an opportunity to deal with it."

The role that Philip has taken on of being a mirror for other people to learn about themselves has caused them to push him away in some cases. He explains that some people judge him and others outright ignore him. He says a lot of times that happens before they even give him a chance. 

As part of Philip’s work, he has spent a lot of time calling people out. He has what some might call a “strong BS filter” and he’s not afraid to be vocal about it.

He spends a lot of time listening to what people think, and a lot of time replying to them with the facts that he sees. Oftentimes, those views don’t line up.

Interestingly, social media plays a huge part in being dishonest with oneself, and that’s something that Philip is touching on frequently with his clients, new and old. People tend to put their best foot forward, and he says those white lies can have a bigger impact--and meaning.

His work is all about helping people recognize the lies they are telling themselves and then, even more importantly, helping them get down to the honest truth about what they really want in life.

Philip has helped countless clients achieve the life of their dreams. You can learn more at his website, philipmckernan.com.

Steve shows off his comedic skills, while making you realize value is in what you know.