The Entrepreneur Ethos

By Blue Wire, Jarie BolanderBusiness Entrepreneurship Education Self-Improvement

The Entrepreneur Ethos episodes

February 02, 2022Finding Her Place with Lucinda Jackson, Author & Scientist
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Lucinda Jackson, a scientist and former corporate executive who has found her calling in writing, speaking, and consulting.
Lucinda has written two books based on lessons she’s learned in life. Her first book, Just a Girl: Growing Up Female and Ambitious, chronicles her experiences as a female scientist and corporate executive when she often found herself the only woman in the room. The book includes advice for women on building self-confidence and how to navigate male-dominated fields, but it also includes her thoughts on raising boys (she has three sons).
Lucinda’s second, forthcoming book, Project Escape, came out of her experiences with her husband building a business in wine-making, joining the Peace Corps in Micronesia and becoming science teachers in Mexico. Lucinda decided then she wanted to have her own business, and her first book was the launching-off point.
Lucinda provides a lot of insight into the various roads she’s traveled, including the importance of figuring out your core values. Now, whenever she’s presented with an opportunity, she asks, “does this meet my core values?” Not one for missing any opportunity to learn, she also credits her success to the skills and discipline she developed working for corporations.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
Lucinda says one of the key moves she made when becoming an entrepreneur was figuring out her core values. Whether it’s for yourself or your company (or even better, both), these values will provide a compass to keep you on track and help get you where you want to go.
Treat everything, bad or good, as a learning experience. Lucinda credits her years in the corporate world as valuable for teaching her a process she now applies to her own business. When bad things happen, she tries to figure out what the lesson is.
Links to Explore Further
Lucinda Jackson
Lucinda Jackson on Facebook
Lucinda Jackson on LinkedIn
Business Basics for Entrepreneurs | 7 PR Secrets All Founders Should Know
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Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

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48 min
January 31, 2022A Brave Space with Jenn Graham
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Jenn Graham of Inclusivv, formerly Civic Dinners.
Jenn trained in design but describes herself as a community organizer at heart. She helped start TedX Atlanta and while she saw a lot of value in the messages the speakers brought, she found herself getting frustrated by the limitations of a model that was speaker-centered. Her search for other models of fostering discourses around significant topics led her to exploring models like salons, Jeffersonian dinners, and focus groups. From here she formulated what became Civic Dinners - a structure to bring a small group of diverse people together to discuss topics of importance in their community. The idea took off, generating interest from local governmental groups and nonprofits that were looking for a way to engage millennials. This is when Jenn realized she needed to start thinking of this project as a business.
Civic Dinners - now Inclusivv - has hosted numerous gatherings, providing the greater Atlanta community ways to talk, offer input, and share stories. It’s given organizations at various levels critical feedback they haven’t been able to get anywhere else. It has been a way to elevate consciousness around social issues, and that has been the most gratifying result for Jenn.
The organization successfully pivoted to going virtual in 2020 and has developed a library of 50 different topic series as well as a structure to ensure a sense of safety, trust, and connection. Jenn reflects on how learning to listen - and how to disagree with empathy - has made an impact on her community, but also on her understanding of how to be a good leader.

Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
Graham recommends that leaders “walk toward” conflict instead of away from it. As your business grows, start to welcome and value a difference of thought.
Recognize that every conversation operates on two levels: the spoken and the unspoken. Graham notes that when a group of people are diverse, the spoken - the content of the conversation - needs to be more explicit.
Graham offers data that points to a heightened sense of belonging after six months of participating in Inclusivv conversations. A sense of belonging can translate to partners and employees who feel more invested and are more productive.
Links to Explore Further
Inclusivv
Jenn Graham on LinkedIn
Inclusivv on Twitter
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55 min
January 26, 2022Creating a Life with Janet Luongo, Writer, Artist, Teacher, Activist
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now, on to my guest for today, Janet Luongo, an artist, educator, speaker, and author of a book on creativity and most recently a memoir, Rebellion, 1967.
Janet grew up with a love for art as well as writing; her mother was an artist. Her father, a New York City police officer, instilled in her a sense of justice cultivated in response to the prejudice he grew up with and saw around him. These three interests - art, writing, and racial justice - form the backbone of Janet’s creative journey.
Janet first found success as an artist after moving to Europe with her husband; at the same time she started her memoir about a seminal year of her life as a young art student, a memoir she would return to again and again. Most of her career has been devoted to teaching and working in museums, but she eventually decided to try speaking, and wrote a book on creativity. Since then she’s focused on writing, publishing, and promoting her memoir. While her journey is not one of a typical entrepreneur, there is much that entrepreneurs can learn from her story about how to create a life from following your passion.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
While Janet doesn’t fit the conventional stereotype of entrepreneur, she exhibits many of the qualities necessary for entrepreneurial - and creative - success. She gets a clear idea of what she wants and takes action toward it, trusting that everything else will fall into place while accepting and learning from any failures along the way.
Janet suggests aspiring entrepreneurs ask why: why do I want to do this? Why am I the person to do it? And also, how will it help the world?
Learn from the lessons but also enjoy the journey - enjoy the successes, the people you meet and the experiences you have.
Links to Explore Further
Janet Luongo (author website)
Janet Luongo on LinkedIn
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Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR or The Story Funnel

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51 min
January 24, 2022Not a One-Size-Fits-All World with Steve Christensen of Neuwly
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now, on to my guest for today, Steve Christensen, cofounder of Neuwly, an app for live-streaming events around the world and a platform for tour guides to connect with travelers.
Steve and his cofounder Greg believe that when people connect with others from around the world, we all become better for it. While Neuwly originally only provided virtual experiences, it’s building out to become a platform for guides and travelers, to help people explore other parts of the world both virtually and in-person. Steve came to really respect what tour guides have to offer when he went on a tour in Lithuania and realized how much can be learned and experienced when you have someone knowledgeable to show you around.
Steve sees Neuwly as becoming a place where guides can start to build a following and deepen relationships in order to grow their businesses in a world where both in-person and virtual experiences are in demand. He also envisions Neuwly being a site where people can connect with their “herd,” where they can find out what their friends have done and seen in order to find out more about places they visit. With Neuwly, like many entrepreneurs we’ve talked to, the founders are finding a way to use tech to bring together the best of both the old and the new.
I also wanted to note that Neuwly is raising a round of funding. This is not investment advice or anything like that but I figured I’d let you know just in case what they are doing interests you. Feel free to email Steve at [email protected].
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
One aspect that stands out when speaking to Steve is the simple clarity of Neuwly’s mission: to help people connect from around the world, because it makes for more compassionate, more empathetic people. The founders are passionate about their belief that learning about other cultures is vital to making the world a better place.
Look ahead. While participating in live-streaming events is one way people can connect and learn while travel is restricted, Steve is also building the platform for what comes next, offering a way for guides to build a following and advertise their events for real-world experiences, too.
Links to Explore Further
Neuwly
Neuwly on Instagram
Steve Christensen on LinkedIn
Get in touch at [email protected]

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54 min
January 19, 2022Direct Mail Marketing with Michael Epstein
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Michael Epstein, principal at PostPilot, a marketing company that’s helping e-commerce use direct mail to scale their businesses.
Michael has years of experience in digital marketing, having worked with a variety of big companies. In many of them, though, direct mail was always part of the equation. What he and the founder of PostPilot realized was that there needed to be a way for e-commerce to use direct mail more efficiently. Currently the company offers postcard campaigns for e-commerce companies to encourage customer retention and loyalty.
Michael explains how direct mail can be part of a company’s strategy to retail customers who are inundated with emails and online advertising. Direct mail allows a brand to reach out in a more personalized way, and it’s an approach that’s been reliably successful. They are now working on developing more tools to help businesses scale while retaining personalized outreach strategies.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
Don’t discount the importance of customers who have already bought from you; be creative in figuring out ways to reach out to them. By developing a strategy to keep customers, not just attract them, you’ll get ahead of the competition.
The advantage of using direct mail? Postal charges are the same, whether it’s holiday season or whether you’re mailing to a specific demographic or not. While direct mail can be more expensive than email, when done right, it can be more effective.
If you’re wondering if you should make the jump into entrepreneurship, ask yourself: If not now, when? Michael says that we can always find an excuse, so in most cases, the time is now. And if you fail? It’s all part of the learning process.
Links to Explore Further
PostPilot
Michael Epstein on LinkedIn
Keep In Touch
Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR or The Story Funnel

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57 min
January 17, 2022 Announcing the Launch of The Story Funnel
Co-founders Ravi and Jarie talk about how they came up with the Story Funnel Framework that hit 7 figures of revenue in ~12 months and then doubled that after 6 months.
You can give the method a try for free at https://thestoryfunnel.co

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33 min
January 12, 2022A Passion for Sales with Dalton Jensen
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Dalton Jensen, author of Sales Genius and host of The Thinking Project.
Growing up, Dalton was the kid who was selling candy on the playground. He sold neckties on the street corner. And while he was voted “Most Likely To Be a Con Artist,” his approach to sales is not about the con, but about establishing relationships.
In this episode Dalton and I talk about misconceptions around salespeople and the importance of checking your ego. Dalton’s mantra is “passion not pressure.” He teaches salespeople to ask questions up front to find out your competition and what reservations the customers have.
He has taken a lot from the book Never Split the Difference by hostage negotiator Chris Voss, who recommends always asking questions first to find out as much as you can to establish a rapport with the person on the other side of the table and learning what concerns they have. Also key is having a lot of possible leads; knowing you have potential customers in the pipeline enables you to walk away and handle inevitable rejection. Dalton further points out how asking potential customers if you can ask questions helps ease the friction, and 99 out of 100 times, they’ll say yes.
Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
Become resilient to inevitable rejections. Dalton uses a Stoic technique of imagining possible rejections before the sale to train yourself to be more resilient.
Ask these two important questions up front: Who is my competition? What would prevent you from buying?
Don’t slam the competitor. Instead, focus on educating the customer about differences your product or service offers over others.
Links to Explore Further
Dalton Jensen
Dalton Jensen on LinkedIn
Dalton Jensen on Twitter
The Thinking Project on YouTube
Sales Genius E-book
Keep In Touch
Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

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45 min
January 10, 2022The Super Power You Give Yourself with Ryan Warriner
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Ryan Warriner, a communications professor, founder of Professional Presentation Services and author of the forthcoming book The Effective Presenter: The Winning Formula for Business Presentations.
Ryan’s pitch to me was so good I used it as an example in a webinar on pitching, so I knew he was someone I needed to have on the show. I share that pitch in the show.

Ryan’s interest in understanding how to better communicate is rooted with his own feelings of frustration when he was a kid with not being understood. He went on to study and try to understand the principles of effective communication, earning a PhD and becoming a professor. While visiting friends who had founded a startup, he helped them prepare their presentation for potential investors. From there the ball got rolling as he realized he had valuable insight to offer. He now offers his services helping entrepreneurs and professionals prepare better presentations. His research and findings are put together in a forthcoming book, The Effective Presenter.

Ryan walks us through the keys to preparing and delivering presentations. Listen to find out how you can prepare a more effective presentation, be it for a potential investor or for colleagues at the office.

Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
One of the most important things to do when preparing a presentation is to think about your audience. What are their values and interests? What are they interested in knowing more about? Do your research and also try to put yourself in their shoes.
Figure out what you want your outcome to be. Do you want investors to ask for that second meeting? Do you want people in your company to better understand a concept? This will help guide your organization of ideas.
Use devices like introductions, providing roadmaps, and talking through transitions to diminish how much effort listeners have to put into it. Listeners have limited capacity to absorb information, so you want to make it as easy as possible. Be sure to check in and assure people that some of the content may be harder to grasp so they get the message that they might need to pay closer attention.
Don’t rely on your presentation slides; use them as aids. Limit how much text you put in each one.
Practice, practice, practice. Warriner also recommends mentally rehearsing your talk, and going back over it to see if there are words that can be cut out.
Links to Explore Further
Ryan Warriner on LinkedIn
Professional Presentation Services
Ryan Warriner on Thrive Global
Book - The Effective Presenter
The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
Keep In Touch
Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

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55 min
January 05, 2022Banking on the Metaverse with Mario Nawfal
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Mario Nawfal, founder of NFT Technologies.

Mario may not have the “Midas touch” but he’s certainly discovered some of the secrets of growing successful businesses. He started out selling blenders by knocking on doors in 2012. There he honed his skills in how to effectively walk potential customers through a sales funnel, from getting their attention, having them try the product, then selling it. His company hit seven figures in the first year, and grew exponentially from there. He believes one of the keys to success is timing. That doesn’t mean everything he’s tried has been a phenomenal success; he’s had some failures too. Four years after launching his first business, Mario started GoGlobal, the precursor to what is now the Athena Group, a consulting services group that helps companies scale and grow.

Mario’s latest venture, NFT Technologies, is now getting ready to go public, the first of its kind to do so. NFT invests in and creates businesses in the metaverse space that specialize in cryptocurrency and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The metaverse, he explains, is an alternate digital reality space, with huge potential for growth. The metaverse now is what the internet was to the 1990s. Mario sees huge potential in this space over the long term.

Now, let’s get better together.

Actionable Insights
Mario advises trying a lot of different things until you find what works.
Good timing is one of the most critical predictors of success. Mario relies a lot on studies and evidence - the facts - when he’s making decisions; this type of research can also help figuring out what might be timely.
When asking for advice, look for people who are self-aware and humble. Mario explains that someone who is self-aware knows the limits of what they know; someone who is humble will acknowledge when they’re wrong.
Links to Explore Further
Mario Nawfal on LInkedIn
NFT Technologies
Athena Group

Keep In Touch
Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

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36 min
January 03, 2022Marketing Is My Jam with Jay Magpantay
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Summary
Hey everyone. Stay tuned to the end of the interview where I’ll give you some actionable insights that I learned from my guest. These insights are also in the show notes. As always, thanks for listening.

Now on to my guest for today, Jay Magpantay, a marketing expert and founder of AuthorJump. Jay came to me through one of the best cold emails I’ve received, and we talk a bit about his process in this episode.

Jay started out in the military, and then a corporate job. His first business as an entrepreneur was in making and selling T-shirts. The company grew bigger than he ever imagined, but he found that what he really enjoyed - and was good at - was marketing. He left the T-shirt business and focused on learning all he could about effective online marketing, even moving to Thailand to live and work with a mentor.

Jay has since developed a marketing campaign strategy based on nonfiction books. He helps experts, coaches, and others to write and then market their books as a way to gain clients and build their business. Himself a lifelong learner, he’s a big believer in experts sharing their knowledge with the world through books and sees them as an ideal lead-generation tool.

Now, let’s get better together.
Actionable Insights
For cold pitching, which Jay excels at, do your research. Do just enough research so your readers know they are not just names, but someone you’ve specifically decided you’re interested in connecting with.
You don’t have to be the ultimate authority to write a book. A book can be a great jumping-off point for starting a dialogue and engaging potential clients.
If you have a book you’re not entirely proud of, see if you can repackage it. Jay also suggests offering add-ons to update it; instead of redoing the book, for example, you can offer a recorded training as a bonus.
Links to Explore Further
AuthorJump.com
Jay Magpantay on LinkedIn
Keep In Touch
Book or Blog or Twitter or LinkedIn or JSYPR

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
52 min

About The Entrepreneur Ethos

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The Entrepreneur Ethos Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur and author Jarie Bolander, will dig deep into the traits, values, and beliefs that drive entrepreneurs to create an independent life that…

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