“You only fail if you stop trying.” – JeVon “JT” McCormick

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, President and CEO of Scribe Media JeVon “JT” McCormick talks ab out how his turbulent upbringing inspired him to pursue business. Listen in as Rich and JeVon discuss outrunning poverty, being black in corporate America, identity, and vulnerability. JeVon also shares some very personal stories about growing up the son of a pimp.

JeVon McCormick is an American author, public speaker, and businessman. In 2016, author Tucker Max hired McCormick as CEO of Scribe Media, formerly known as Book in a Box, an Austin-based book writing and publishing company, after working together on McCormick's book, I Got There: How I Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Achieve the American Dream.

00:08 - Intro

04:23 – Is a formal education overrated?

08:36 – JT’s turbulent upbringing and how it inspired him to pursue business

12:10 – How failure caused JT to reevaluate his character

17:16 – The power of authenticity

19:21 – Being black in corporate America

23:58 – “The Hustle is Real”

28:03 – Outrunning poverty

32:47 – Following through on your promises

35:31 – Identity and vulnerability

42:07 – Closing

Here’s how you can connect with JeVon:

Website: https://jevonmccormick.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtmccormick/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/realjtmccormick

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scribejt

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ScribeMediaCo

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“Don’t look to fail, but you have to be willing to fail.” – Tony Whatley

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, 365 Driven founder, best-selling author, and podcast host Tony Whatley gives his unique perspective on finding and building your side-hustle. Listen in as Rich and Tony discuss side-hustle culture, how to build authority, and the loneliness of entrepreneurship.

Tony Whatley is an entrepreneur, business mentor, best-selling author, podcast host, and speaker. His mission is to positively impact the generational legacy of millions of people, by teaching them confidence and business principles. HIs best-selling book, Sidehustle Millionaire, teaches people how to start and scale their first business. He also hosts The 365 Driven Podcast.

• 00:09 – Intro
• 02:31 – Side-hustle culture
• 04:36 – The leadership challenges of a side-hustle
• 08:49 – Followers vs. a community
• 13:03 – The loneliness of entrepreneurship
• 16:56 – Money, passion and serving others
• 24:02 – Business doesn’t have to be complicated
• 28:59 – How to find the right business coach
• 33:12 – The importance of having a one-on-one relationship with your coach
• 35:58 – Focusing on what’s important as an entrepreneur, and building authority
• 42:39 – 365drive.com and the 365 Driven Podcast
• 45:57 – Rich’s closing remarks

Here’s how you can connect with Tony:

Website: https://365driven.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonywhatley/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/365driven/

Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/groups/365driven/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/365driven

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ynotdv8

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“Choose your medium, know your message, know yourself, and put it out there.” – Rich Cardona

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, Rich livestreams his thoughts on personal branding. Listen in as Rich talks about how to create your own personal brand, being true to yourself, and why you are always building your personal brand whether you like it or not.

• 00:41 – You are always building your personal brand whether you like it or not
• 07:52 – The choices that you make and being true to yourself
• 09:39 – Key takeaways

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“You don’t have to be a lifestyle brand to write copy with a pulse.”  – Camille Trent

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, MarketerHire managing editor Camille Trent talks about the do’s and don’ts of copywriting. Listen in as Rich and Camille discuss copywriting vs. content writing, using data to measure the effectiveness of your content, and why being a good writer doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a good copywriter.

Camille Trent is the managing editor at MarketerHire. A copywriter and marketing nerd, she's passionate about helping freelancers and creatives recognize their value and get the knowledge they need to win long term. When she's not writing, she's hanging out with her pup and two favorite redheads. Or she's trying to coach the Portland Trail Blazers to victory from her couch.

(00:09) – Introduction

02:29 – Camille tells us about herself

03:21 – In-house vs. ad agencies

08:16 – Copywriting vs. content writing

13:49 – How to start writing words that sell

18:24 – The do’s and don’ts of copywriting

22:37 – The different styles of copywriting

26:44 – Being a good writer doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a good copywriter

29:08 – Using data to measure the effectiveness of your content

32:37 – The value of comments vs. likes

35:58 – How to contact Camille

37:18 – Closing statements

Here’s how you can connect with Camille:

Website: https://marketerhire.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillehansentrent/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/camilletrent

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“I’m trying to explain these complex business topics at a level that a seven-year-old child understands it. And you really have to think about how you’re conveying that information. […] Teaching through creating content helps you to become better at what you’re doing.”  – Jeremy Knauff

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, Spartan Media founder Jeremy Knauff talks about the power of expertise, and how creating content to share that expertise makes you better. Listen in as Rich and Jeremy discuss imposter syndrome, the pitfalls of paralysis by analysis, and why you just need to start publishing content and not worry about getting it perfect. Jeremy also shares the personal story of how a health scare changed his approach to doing business.

Jeremy Knauff is the founder of Spartan Media, a digital marketing agency in Tampa, Florida. He's also a proud father, husband, and US Marine Corps veteran. After 18 years in the digital marketing industry, he's learned a thing or two, and today, while still serving his clients, he's working to share his knowledge with the industry to help even more people.

Here’s how you can connect with Jeremy:

Website: https://spartanmedia.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyknauff/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyknauff

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jlknauff/

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“When in doubt, manage like a mother. Mother’s don’t care if you’re happy, they care if you’re successful. They have empathy and they have discipline, and they’ll use both on you.” – Lee Cockerell

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, author and Chief Learning Officer of Cockerell Academy, Lee Cockerell talks about responsibility vs. ability in leadership. Listen in as Rich and Lee discuss how a fear of failure can lead to success, the value of subtlety in leadership, and why you should manage like a mother. Lee also tells us the incredible story of how he went from being a waiter at the Washington Hilton to Executive Vice President of Operations at Walt Disney World.

Lee Cockerell is the retired Exec VP of Walt Disney World. Lee has held management positions with Hilton for 8 years, Marriott for 17 years, and the Walt Disney Company for 16 years. He is the author of four books: Creating Magic, The Customer Rules, Time Management Magic and Career Magic. He is a popular speaker and seminar presenter around the world on Leadership, Management, and Customer Service. Lee and his wife, Priscilla, live in Orlando Florida.

Here’s how you can connect with Lee:

Website: https://www.leecockerell.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecockerell/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createmagic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecockerell

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“It’s much better, in my opinion, to focus on one channel, master it or figure that it’s completely wrong for you, and then move to the next one. I think that when you try to do too many things at once, like ‘Hey, I should be on Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook’, you end up performing poorly on all of them.”  – Maya Grossman

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, author and VP of Marketing at Jumpstart, Maya Grossman talks about the importance of ownership and overdelivering. Listen in as Rich and Maya discuss the different kinds of marketing, understanding your customers’ needs, and having an owner’s mindset. Maya also touches on how her military service helped shape her into the high performer that she is today.

Maya Grossman is a high performing data-driven product marketing leader with more than a decade of experience and a demonstrated track record of taking products to market and driving growth. She has been helping companies grow for almost a decade. She has worked as the Head of Digital Marketing at SodaStream, Head of Global Product Marketing at Microsoft, and Strategic Advisor of Product Marketing at Google. She is also the author of the best-selling book Invaluable.

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Here’s how you can connect with Maya:

Website: https://www.mayagrossman.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayagrossman/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mayagrossman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayagrosmn?lang=en

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On this episode of The Leadership Locker, State Farm agent and former Marine Rob Rens talks with Rich about how to organically build your network. Recorded remotely from a firehouse that now functions as an Airbnb, Rob and Rich discuss how to scale your business, the power of conversation, how useful a college degree really is, and how baseball is a good analogy for small business.

Rob Rens is a former Marine that was deployed to Al Taqqadum, Iraq with Personnel Retrieval & Processing Detachment. He is now a State Farm agent in Wilmington, NC.

Here’s how you can connect with Rob:

Website:  https://www.statefarm.com/agent/us/nc/wilmington/robert-rens-lhx6h99n6ak

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-rens-aab104195/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/my_cape_fear_insurance/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mycapefearinsurance/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mycapefearins

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“Once I was able to take accountability, that opened up the vulnerability door to say okay, let’s really talk about what I’m not good at, let’s talk about how to improve on that.” – Adam Posner

On this episode of The Leadership Locker, host of The POZcast and Managing Director of NHP Talent Group, Adam Posner talks about the importance of accountability and how it radically changed his life.. Listen as Adam and Rich discuss job searching, recruitment, LinkedIn headlines and the importance of betting on yourself. Adam also shares a personal story on the power of ownership. 

Adam Posner is the Founder and Managing Director at NHP Talent Group: A Talent Access Consultancy, specializing in recruitment strategy, talent process and operations for start-ups, agencies and brands, where they focus on experts within Marketing, Performance Media, Creative, Product and Content Creation. His podcast ThePOZcast showcases experts to help people harness their inner tenacity to drive their lives and careers forward.

Here’s how you can connect with Adam:

Website: https://www.nhptalentgroup.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjposner/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thepozcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamjposner?lang=en

Adam’s Podcast: https://thepozcast.com/

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On this episode of The Leadership Locker, State Farm agent and former Marine Rob Rens returns to discuss his approach to a traditional marketing campaign that fell flat. What he discovered was that a different approach would yield much better results. Listening to Rich and Rob to see what they uncover.

Rob Rens is a former Marine that was deployed to Al Taqqadum, Iraq with Personnel Retrieval & Processing Detachment. His responsibilities included recovering the remains of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coasties or Marines that were killed in action.

After returning home, his unit performed funeral services for those same service members that were killed overseas. As he conducted these, he noticed that none of the families ever expected it to be their loved one and yet, it was, and were left trying to figure out what to do next.

And from that experience he realized that it’s impossible to completely eliminate risk from our lives. The most we can do is to manage it as much as possible. So, it is now his mission to protect as many people in his community from going through what they did which is to be completely unprepared for what to do next when “it'll never happen” happens.

Here’s how you can connect with Rob:

Website:  https://www.statefarm.com/agent/us/nc/wilmington/robert-rens-lhx6h99n6ak

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-rens-aab104195/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/my_cape_fear_insurance/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mycapefearinsurance/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mycapefearins

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