Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do

Cory Damon knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but first he went to work for another company, which lasted more than a decade. Now he is a partner in The Change Element, a coaching and consulting firm that is focused on helping others reach success and significance.Known as "The Treasure Hunter", Cory is compelled to help people find their core value.Many chase success, but without significance that achievement can be empty. For Cory, it is key to understand people and know where they want to go. Life is a journey of discovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer was invited to a breakfast with three people who are living their life at a higher level. Halfway through the meal Thom realized that he was not on par with his fellow Breakfast Club Members. Rather than feeling small or intimidated, he decided to grasp this opportunity to learn at the feet of giants.Four days later he is still inspired by the conversation, and has vowed to make this random encounter meaningful. He wishes he could afford to hire them all as his personal coaches, but the cost of that is more than Thom can afford, But he has decided to make them all his teachers. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.... and these three achievers have a ton of IP available online and he want to consume it.Join this episode for a dose of inspiration about learning from others and thinking about how you can take the examples from high achievers to motivate your own success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Entrepreneurship has its ups and downs, and to have a lasting and successful life you have to be fully honest with yourself and the situations you face. Steve Golab had run his own interactive agency for 20 years, but changes in the economy and a major health scare caused him to look closely at how he wanted to live his life. Walking away from your own business to take a job seems scary for many entrepreneurs, but if you get inspired to be the best version of yourself, and if you can let go of ego, the future can be awesome.In this episode Steve Golab is open and candid about the decisions he made and shares his entrepreneurial and now intrapreneurial journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Sigers has been a professional sales person for over 25 years and he does it the old fashioned way.... through relationships. Mike uses social media (he is very active of Twitter), but says that online is not for sales, it is "social" (which is why it is called "social media"). In this episode he shares awesome insights that entrepreneurs need to think about when selling and when hiring sales people.*Don't just "show up and throw up" when talking to prospects. *Do not let HR hire your sales people. *Work to help others get what they want.No matter what industry you are in, sales is the name of the game. Tune into this episode and get advice from a seasoned selling master. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What traits do those who perform at the top levels share? After interviewing over 100 entrepreneurs and meeting tens of thousands of people at conferences each year, Thom Singer has some ideas of what it takes to be at the top of your game.In this episode Thom shares some ideas of what those who in the one percent of their industries have in common. Top performers are confident, seek to learn, are open to new ideas, share their ideas with others, have a focus on what they desire, look to the future, have "Follow Through DNA", network like crazy, are good at sales, and are genuinely nice people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer talks about why he is excited to have had a long career in sales and how sales should be celebrated in a company. "Social Selling" does not work for most companies, and we have to get back to being focused on the human-to-human, belly-to-belly sales skills in order to grow a businesses bottom line. People want to know they matter and a "like", "link", "share" or "follow" is not the same as a business relationship. Thom recommends before every conversation with client or prospects that you ask yourself what it is they want from this interaction. Zig Ziglar said it best.... "You can have anything you want in life, if you help others get what they want in life" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Great entrepreneurs often work inside companies. In this episode Thom chats with Scott Ingram from Certain, Inc. As a Strategic Account Executive Scott is more than a sales person, but someone who is helping drive not only his own visibility but that of his company.Hear how he worked with his employer to launch a book and a podcast ("Making Rain with Events") as a way to drive awareness and revenue for the company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Miller is a middle school teacher who in his 30s realized he had never pursued his dream of becoming an actor. While he was active in high school theater, he followed a traditional career path in education. Now married and the father of three he decided it is not too late to go for it, and with the support of his family, co-workers and his students he has begun a path toward acting. Headshots, acting classes, auditions, and a part in a local play have all begun to happen in just a few months.You MUST listen to Kevin's story. Most listeners will find a way to relate to how he never wants to look back and say "What If". In addition to following his passion, he is trying to show his kids that they need to follow their heart and try for the career they desire. While sometimes trying leads to disappointment, it can also lead to great things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer recently jumped off the 108 story Stratosphere in Las Vegas. He is not a "thrill seeker" and is usually scared of such things, but on this day he decided he was going to try something out of his comfort zone. Thom landed safely, but in business when we try new things we often fail, but that is okay too. It is the doing that leads us to finding ourselves. Hoping and wishing are not a business plan. Be someone who is inspired by attempting to grow and see what happens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"When you do good things - Good things happen" says Eliz Greene. Eliz is an entrepreneur who has made it a habit of saying "YES" to opportunities. From owning a dance studio, to becoming a expert in the women's health industry, to becoming professional speaker, consultant and hybrid meeting host she has grabbed hold of new career paths as they have appeared.In this episode Eliz Greene and Thom Singer share their experiences as the livestream hybrid meeting hosts for the National Speakers Association Annual Conference. By saying yes to helping their trade association they created a an online talk show that was a huge success in making the live meeting and virtual meeting more successful.Now they have created a new business with "Conference Talk Show". As more associations and companies look to simulcast their educational meetings, the idea of having experienced hosts who will engage the virtual audience is becoming key to making the hybrid meeting a more integrated part of the overall conference. Thom and Eliz

Much of our businesses are run from computers and mobile devises, and yet few entrepreneurs and small business owners give much thought to cyber security. Scott Augenbaum is a special agent with the FBI and for 11 years he has been focused on cyber crimes.His goal in being on "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do" is to get people thinking about how they behave online, and be smart about how they are protecting their mission critical information.According to Augenbaum, each person needs to become "their own firewall". Setting up multi-factor authentication, creating "pass phrases" instead of passwords, and using a separate computer for all banking transactions are just a few of his pieces of advice. This episode is an important one, as 95% of the cyber crimes he sees impacting small business could have been prevented. Tags and Keywords: cyber security, cyber crime, FBI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Don't wait for opportunity, go make something happen". This is the lesson Greg Merrill learned from his Uncle Tito. And he has done just that all throughout his eclectic career. The son of a military doctor he moved around a lot as a kid, but his outgoing personality has made it easy for him to network and make serendipitous connections. Greg went from the manager of a Gym to being an entrepreneur in the Green Technologies industry and the fashion footwear world (at the same time).Join in this conversation and hear some awesome advice for anyone who is wanting to be more entrepreneurial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Meadows always had the desire to have his own business. While he worked for others after college, he quickly knew that the entrepreneurship desire was strong. Today he oversees a growing company that touches several different solutions to help people be more productive.Join in for a great conversation as Andy shares his journey and gives great advice and information about learning, sales, and the Entrepreneurs Organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linda Smith was named "The Meanest Woman Alive" by Corporate Board Member Magazine. As a partner in the Los Angeles office of DLA Piper she specializes in "bet the company" and complex litigation. For over 38 years Linda has built a reputation and brand as one of the top women lawyers in the United States. She has represented high profile organizations and fought her way to the top in a traditionally male dominated business. Successful lawyers, even those in top firms, are solopreneurs, as the business requires them to build a solo-practice even as part of a large organization. If they do not bring in business, they do not survive. Linda shares her advice for those in all businesses on how to get ahead.Join the conversation as Thom Singer chats with Linda about her entrepreneurial journey. This episode is longer than most -- as this is what happens when two people who earn their living talking (a professional speaker and a litigator) have an open ended and in-depth conversation about success. Learn more about

Jason Blessing created an eclectic career large companies and growth oriented ventures, and today serves as the CEO at Plex. Along his career path he learned from experience and from mentors.Jason has extensive experience setting corporate strategy and leading sales, marketing, services, product and G&A functions for market leaders. He is and expert at building and leading teams that dramatically increase share holder value in both venture backed and large enterprise software companies.Join in on this conversation as Thom Singer chats with Jason about his entrepreneurial journey, his advice for others, and how he and his company give back to the greater good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Griffin is an expert on men's relationships and how these impact business and career. He is an author and speaker who is transforming the conversation about what it means to be a man in the 21st century.After leaving a government job (and the salary, benefits and pension that went with it) Dan launched out to follow his passion for training and helping others deal with complex issues around relationships. Dan says if you want to start your own company you need to be thoughtful about becoming and entrepreneur, don't just jump, but have a plan. This episode is longer than most, but I think you will agree that Dan Griffin shares from his heart, and will get you to think deeper on the many topics discussed. www.dangriffin.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thom Singer met Jeff Root at a SDSU Alumni Happy Hour in Austin, TX. Within five minutes he knew Jeff had to be a guest on the podcast. Jeff has been working for himself or in 100% commission roles since graduating from college. As a life insurance salesman he converted his agency to being online, and now teaches other agents how to grow their business with the internet.Join the conversation about business, travel, family life and how to create the life you want as an entrepreneur as Thom and Jeff chat about success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Celebrate 100 shows of "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do" with Thom Singer. In this show Thom shares life advice he would give his kids (who are starting college and 8th grade)... but the advice is perfect for all of us who want to live the life of an entrepreneur. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Don't ask for permission, go do it" is the advice from business celebrity Jeffrey Hayzlett. Hayzlett says that business is hard work... yes WORK!! Being an entrepreneur will take more time and money than you think up front... but when you listen to this episode you can tell from his voice that he is excited about growth and success.Hayzlett is the author of the soon to be released book "Think Big, Act Bigger". Listen as he shares all the cool things they are doing to launch this new book (including free chocolate!!).Listen in on this episode and you will be inspired. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Lahey is an executive recruiter and the host of the Small Solo Business Podcast. He has a great head for business and knows a lot about the world of solopreneurs.Tune in for a great interview and high level advice for everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices