Uncommon Wealth Podcast

Logistics are important, but logistics can kill dreams. Focus on the dream and figure out the logistics as you go. One thing we have learned over the years, there is no one road map to leading an Uncommon Life. But if you stay on the sidelines, dreams will never come true.

In this episode, we’re talking with someone who has figured this out and is living his dreams with a “do and learn” approach that he wants to share. We’re talking with Jesse Cole, who is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the Savannah Bananas. He’s here to talk with us about the huge impact a fans-first approach can have.

Here’s a taste of his story. The previous occupants of the Savanah baseball stadium where the Bananas play were lucky to have a few hundred fans in attendance. Jesse and his wife have built a brand that packs the stadium with a waiting list in the thousands.

His teams have welcomed more than one million fans to their ballparks and have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, ESPN, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Jesse released his first book “Find Your Yellow Tux – How to Be Successful by Standing Out” in January of 2018 with a World Book Tour…at Epcot.

Cole has been featured on over 500 podcasts and is an in-demand keynote speaker all over the country sharing the Fans First Experience on how to stand out, be different and create raving fans of both customers and employees.

Cole is the host of the Business Done Differently Podcast and has interviewed over 100 of some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers.

• Why a focus on attention beats a focus on marketing
• How to take a “do and learn” approach to business and life
• Learning the length of your risk-tolerance “runway”
• Building on capacity as a state of mind
• Focusing on what, not how
• How to build a fan-first business model

We hate, (and we can’t stress this enough: hate!) college debt. We want to help you and your kids avoid it. But college is expensive. One avenue for college savings is through a 529. And while we don’t love an instrument that ties up your money so you can’t use it until sometime in the future, there are some secrets we’d like to share about how to leverage 529s as one part of your college planning.

In this episode, we dig into the nitty-gritty of 529s. The 529 rules and landscape have changed in the past few years, and some challenges and barriers that were in place before have been broken down. That’s great! We want to tell you about those and how you can get the most out of 529s. And what about funding your kids’ and grandkids’ education beyond the 529? We get into that too.

• The three legs of college planning
• Recent changes in 529s you should know about
• How parents AND grandparents can use 529s to help with college (and pre-college) planning
• The importance of researching your state’s specific 529 plan structure
• How to get the tax deduction on 529 education expenses
• Helping with a child’s college expenses without sacrificing your retirement savings
• Some very cool, Uncommon ways to use 529 money for college expenses

“Some recent changes to how 529s are managed and regulated mitigate many of the concerns we have had in the past about 529s.” – Bryan DewhurstCLICK TO TWEET“We had clients who wrote a check to the private school without putting it through a 529 first. We helped them get the money back and get the tax deduction through the 529.” – Phillip RamseyCLICK TO TWEET“Recent changes mean you can use a 529 plan not just for college, but for K-12 expenses as well.” – B

Strategic planning and putting systems together isn’t the most exciting part of running a business for most of us. But these components are essential to building a thriving and profitable business. It’s got to be done, and when it’s done right, the rewards are huge, in time and emotional energy saved and in wealth built. What’s not exciting about that?

Our guest, Josh Dunwoody is an amazing person, and—fun fact—we’ve been each other’s clients. We helped him think through a plan to start his business, and he has helped us tremendously in ours. So this is a fun interview on so many levels. He’s talking with us about the direct through lines for building the right systems and processes directly to a business that is as profitable as it can be.

Josh is the owner and founder of Tactical Advantage Business Solutions. His work is focused on helping business owners and leaders create clarity from the chaos that often comes with owning and operating a business. His experience in strategic planning, holistic business development, and process development are derived from his work with organizations of all kinds and sizes. He holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and when he is not working with business leaders, you might find him serving in the Iowa Army National Guard. Josh is also very active in his church, as a husband and dad, and with the Altoona Chamber of Commerce.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• What it takes to move from a self-employed mindset to a business owner mindset
• How to pay attention to what will make your business sellable when the time comes
• How to kill the chaos in your business
• How to make strategic planning sexy again
• Why you have not set up systems and processes in your business and how to change that
• Building scalable structures into your business from day one
• How to flex systems and processes as needs and situations change
• Building a business with a franchise mindset

“It’s heartbreaking when a person has invested decades and then can’t sell the business, because they didn’t invest in the processes, product, and potential for profit needed to show a business is worth buying.” – Josh DunwoodyCLICK TO TWEET“When a business owner feels they are always just putting out

What do you call a business that got up and running in four days and is still killing it after a year in business? Most people would call that an instant success! But it’s not as instant as it seems.

In our latest podcast, we talk with an entrepreneur who has grown up finding creative ways to earn a living and shows no signs of stopping.

We’re talking with Carisah Lee, who is originally from California and found her way from the west coast to Iowa. She is rocking a new business called Rosie and Jean with her best friend, Sam and while Rosie and Jean is doing great, it grew out of some serious business savvy and experience with social media marketing.

If you are looking for instant success, this isn’t that. But if you are looking for a great story of someone who built on their knowledge base to take a hobby and turn it into a business, you will not be disappointed.

• How just starting is sometimes the best way to start a business
• How to use an existing audience to grow a new business
• How to market a story that sells the product or service
• How to create a competitive shopping environment on Instagram
• How to find something you love that will help make money for your family
• Some very unique tips on how to drive business through social media
• Finding your entrepreneurial spirit and encouraging others in that pursuit

Working for someone else, you might ask the question: Is my hard work paying off? The Uncommon Path often involves business ownership in one form or another. We see it over and over again that when you own a business, your hard work is rewarded. There will be ups and downs for sure, but the rewards outweigh the challenges.

In this episode, we are exploring what it takes to buy and sell a business. How do you know—whatever side of the transaction you are on—whether you are getting your money’s worth?

That’s why we wanted to explore different ways of valuation of a company, and also different ways for a buyer to purchase a company. Should you just buy the business with 100% cash? Should you opt for seller financing, or something in between.

We love helping people find the right answers for them, and if you are looking to buy or sell a business, that’s what we want to do for you in this episode.

• Why 2020 might be a great time to buy a business
• Why there are multiple ways to value a business
• How funding a business is like a teeter-totter
• The advantages and restrictions on rolling an IRA into your business 401(k)
• Learning the “net take” method of business valuation
• Why a business seller might not want to take a lump-sum payment for the business
• The double-edged sword as a business owner of protecting your money from taxation and valuation when you go to sell
• Understanding the percentage of revenue model of business valuation
• What types of businesses are the best fit for different valuation methods

Getting through college without crushing debt may seem like an insurmountable task. But it does not have to be. What if you encouraged your child to spend their time applying for scholarships instead of mowing lawns, working at a fast-food joint, or babysitting? The payoff could be 10 fold or even more.

But how would that work? That’s what our guest, Jocelyn Pearson, is going to tell you. It’s pretty amazing. Instead of a summer job earning maybe $4,000 if they are lucky, imagine your kids spending that time learning life skills and getting through college debt-free, basically earning exponentially more per hour for their efforts. It is not impossible, and it’s got nothing to do with test scores.

Our guest, Jocelyn Pearson founded The Scholarship System to share her own experience of graduating from college debt-free. When college looked unaffordable for her, she sprang into action and secured over $126,000 in college scholarships, even receiving an overage check each semester for her expenses. It wasn’t an easy process. It took her years to figure out exactly what to do to be selected for these scholarships. Now, she helps families learn how they can do this themselves. By teaching her six-step system, she has helped families secure multiple millions in scholarships and it just keeps growing.

• How to get through college without debt
• Understanding the two sides of a debt-free degree
• Why having a system is so important for avoiding college debt
• How your kids can get debt-free education without sacrificing your financial future
• The “4 Cs” to a debt-free degree
• Why finding scholarships is just one piece of a debt-free degree strategy
• How to think differently about earning for college
• Common myths about who can qualify for scholarships
• How to keep up the scholarship application process through college

Entrepreneurship is about learning what works—and managing risk. If you can manage and mitigate the risk of failure and keep forging ahead, that can become a real recipe for success. The challenge is to learn and not give up too soon. When it comes to building an audience and making money on the internet, too often, people give up too soon.

In episode #66, we talk with Adrian Brambila, who operates numerous online businesses by asking a simple question: how is this supposed to make money? Adrian went from making less than $30,000 at a desk job, to making 6 figures a year, to making 6 figures a month. This is passive income he can earn from anywhere in the world, which is why he and his wife have been traveling the world for the past year.

Adrian Brambila learned how to do this by learning how to monetize and how to leverage the successes to create even bigger successes. Adrian first learned this lesson as he turned his passion for dance into an online audience of fans, and then turned those fans into customers willing to pay to learn from his expertise. With numerous affiliate marketing platforms and a marketing agency, Adrian is doing the work, gathering the data, and living his Uncommon Life on his terms.

• The networking power of spike ball
• How to make money based on how God has gifted you
• The role of practice and intention in becoming successful
• How to build a tribe of people who love what you do
• What number of conversions you should look for from 100 responses to an online offer
• How to help your audience and yourself through affiliate marketing
• Why small wins can add up in a big way
• How to stick with an audience-building platform until it pays off
• Why understanding money management is such a critical part of entrepreneurship

When you bring a new mindset to something you’ve commonly done, you get uncommon results. Encouraging people to follow their dreams is not new. But how do you put a plan into place to gain traction so you can follow your passion?

That’s what we are exploring in this episode. There is a story about Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker that resonates with our approach to wealth management. We get into the details in this episode, but the crux is this: his passion was financially unsustainable until his advisor helped him with a mindset shift, turning his passion from a financial liability to a financial asset.

That is at the heart of what we help people do. In this episode, we use Walker’s story to talk about the challenges and ultimate rewards of investing in yourself. Whether life is smooth sailing, or you’ve lost your job, or are doing something you don’t like, or you’re living in fear, now is the best time to double down on your gifts and think differently.

And if you need help thinking differently or looking at your situation with a different perspective, that’s our passion. We’re here to share our passion with you and help you find a path forward with your own passion.

• How to move your passion from a liability to an asset
• The mindset shift that can make it possible to build your passion into a business
• Why making money doing what you don’t love is a hard slog
• How to start a plan to move toward monetizing your passion
• The art of feeding that Jumanji drumbeat inside you
• Why entrepreneurship is becoming more and more prevalent
• How to move from a side-hustle mentality to a business mentality
• How COVID-19 is teaching us (once again) that the “safe” job may not be so safe

When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s one of our favorite phrases because it is so true. But how do you pay the bills? You provide something of value people are willing to pay for!

In our latest podcast, we dig into that concept with our guest, Kari Minter. Kari has spent her life mentoring and helping women understand how to live life aware of God’s presence. For years, as a pastor’s spouse, she just did this as a member of the church as a way to give back—which was great!

But what if you could share your gifts beyond your local congregation or social group? That would be amazing. Kari’s gift is writing and speaking about discipleship and understanding the Bible more fully. Now she is using those gifts at Kariminter.com so not just her local church gets the benefit, but the world!

How has God gifted you? How could you share those gifts more fully with the world? Finding answers to those questions is what this episode is all about.

• How to use the gifts God has given you
• Permitting yourself to use those gifts to earn money
• Why a supportive spouse can make all the difference in pursuing your uncommon dreams
• How to set up a plan to step into your Uncommon Life
• Understanding your weaknesses and finding help in building your Uncommon Life
• Finding balance in a relationship when one of you is pursuing an entrepreneurial dream
• How to strategically build a value ladder
• The importance of investing in yourself

There is a lot that happens between following your dreams and living your dreams. It is rarely a straight path, and there will always be challenges along the way.

That’s why we are so glad to share our conversation with Antoine L. Smith in this episode, who talks with us about overcoming adversity and finding the never-ever straight path to success in his field. We’ll ask some big questions, like: How do you do what you love, earn a living, and stay true to yourself? We talk about the big mentors in his life, and how he went from culinary school graduation to performing as Big Bird. There’s a lot to explore here!

Having performed in Broadway shows from Cats to The Color Purple, Antoine L. Smith is just getting started. Antoine went to high school with Phillip, where they performed on the same (championship!!) dance team. Antoine then followed his dream of making it on Broadway. He lives in New York City and is an Emmy award-winning Broadway, television, and voiceover actor.

Find him on Instagram: @antoinelsmith32

• How to draw strength during times of adversity
• Staying true to yourself and your ideals while making money doing what you love
• The real cost of doing business in creative work like theater
• Bringing the same energy to a task day after day
• How to keep going after you’ve made a mistake
• Ways of building residual income in creative work
• Aligning residual income with your gifts
• The importance of just being good to people
• The crucial role of mentorship: being a mentor and paying attention to those who mentor you