How to Keep Going in the Face of Adversity with Jonathan McLernon

In this episode, I talk to Coach Jonathan McLernon on
✨  some of the adversities he's faced so far with his 2 failed business
✨  how he overcame his adversities to set up two very successful businesses
✨ the mindset shifts every business owner needs to make to be successful in their business

More about our guest:
Coach Jon runs a highly successful online nutrition coaching business, as well as being an online business mentor. 

From nanotechnology researcher, to Navy marine engineer, to globetrotting nomad, Coach Jon spent most of his life running from his true calling, until one question changed his life.  Now he's on a mission to help others through his coaching and mentorship to create a life they love!

Coach Jon has written 3 mini-courses, and 2 full length courses, showing coaches how to build a scalable online business, starting from zero, as well as written an e-book, called "The 28-Day Coach".

CONNECT WITH COACH JON

NUTRITION: https://www.freedomnutritioncoach.com

MENTORSHIP: https://www.jonmclernon.com

YOUTUBE: https://leanandefficient.business/YouTube 

THE 28-DAY COACH E-BOOK: https://leanandefficient.business/The-28-Day-Coach-Book

PODCAST: https://freedomnutrition.rocks/btba-podcast

TWITCH:   https://www.twitch.tv/freedomnutritioncoach 

TWITTER:   https://twitter.com/noFNdiets  

LINKEDIN:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/freedom-nutrition-coaching/ 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/canadianomad/

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Transcript

Prithvi Madhukar: 0:00

Hey, what's up everyone? Welcome back to the marketing Nomad show. It's your favourite marketer and podcast host. My name is Prit. Today I have with us nutritionist mentor weight loss coach Jonathan with us, John, how are we doing today?

Unknown: 0:17

I'm doing fantastic. I'm excited to be here.

Prithvi Madhukar: 0:19

Thank you so much, John. I'm excited to record this entire podcast episode with you as well. So John, tell us a little bit about yourself so that my listeners can get to know you a little bit.

Jonathan McLernon: 0:31

Yeah, well, I've had this really varied background. I've been a nanotechnology researcher at University of Victoria in Canada. I've been a marine engineer in the Navy, I spent six years doing that. I've travelled the world as a globe, trotting Nomad, an English teacher for three years, I've been a Powerline Technician, a heavy equipment operator, and also have been a serial entrepreneur with. I've had four businesses. I've had two failed businesses. And I have two businesses that are running currently. And so yeah, I've I guess I've done a lot looking back.

Prithvi Madhukar: 1:03

That's a lot of hats to wear. John, I'm so excited to get into all of that, for the most part, guys, what you're going to be listening. Today, we're going to be talking to John about his journey so far. Most importantly, I think we're gonna find out how he reached where he is today. So you know, I just want to give like a behind the scenes update to you guys that this podcast episode is actually not scripted at all. John, and I have you know, we hopped on a call, and then we decided, okay, no, we're not going to go to school with any questions. We're just going to do this freestyle. So I'm excited. And I think I think that this is, you know, some one of the things that John and I wanted to point out as well, you know, having the confidence to speak on spot, and, you know, just having a conversation with a fellow entrepreneur. So I'm super excited to see how this podcast episode will go. And I know that John is gonna give us a so so many tips of being a serial entrepreneur himself. So John, are we ready?

Jonathan McLernon: 2:05

Oh, absolutely. I love this, because you're just talking about one of my favourite topics. Entrepreneurship is very near and dear to my heart. And I just encourage, you know, I think sometimes you overcomplicate business in a sense, and really I want people understand business is really just an exchange of value. And an entrepreneur is someone who sees a problem and thinks up a solution to that problem. You have successful business when people are willing to pay for the solution to that problem.

Prithvi Madhukar: 2:30

Absolutely. I think that's one of the fundamental things. And definitely, when someone asked me for it, how do I know if my idea is viable? I think that's something that I do tell them that if people are willing to pay for the solution that you are providing, at a price point that you know, you can make a profit from, I think that's so important.

Jonathan McLernon: 2:54

Yeah, I think that's really important. And to understand, oftentimes, like the first iteration of an idea you have is also not going to be the final iteration of it. And the, you know, when I mentor people in business, one of the concepts I teach is called Start, learn, evolve. And in a nutshell, it's exactly as it sounds, you have to start with something you have to you have to test it. And if it test, it was real people to figure out what works, what doesn't work. And as you learn from that, you then evolve what your offer is, and your business will grow and evolve and develop.

Prithvi Madhukar: 3:26

I think that's very, very true. And I think that it's also important not to attach yourself to the first idea that you have. What is your experience with? You know, I know that you've had four businesses so far, tell us a little bit first entrepreneurial journey, you know, the idea that you had, where did you start? And where did you end up with that idea?

Jonathan McLernon: 3:49

This was not so currently, I run online businesses. But this was actually like a physical business. Where I live in Alberta and Canada, we have what we call the oil patch. And that's really just in reference to the whole industry surrounding like oil exploration, extraction, transportation and refining and that kind of thing. And so we I had met with another person, an engineer who was developing a kind of a new type of trailer for what we call like light, oilfield hauling or hotshot is a term we use. And so he was gonna provide the trailer I was gonna provide the truck and he was gonna he was new to marketing as into the operation. And so we spent all this money setting up this business. And for me, I was like, Cool, all I have to do is really operate this business he provided me with the clients and the stuff to move and all that but unfortunately, his infant daughter passed away at six months old, and that that it would just put anybody kind of pushed him off the rails. And so all of this money had invested in setting up this business all this time and getting incorporated and getting all their paperwork done and and set up with transportation all of that was lost, because he you know, and I sort of held on to the idea for probably a little bit too long so I continue to pay for the truck I'd purchase and all of that. It It's all tax deductible record. But so that one kind of stuck on cost about 25 grand, which looking back, I mean, that's, that's not a small sum of money, especially just when starting out. But it was not long after that was happening that actually one of my friends had another business that he was he was having difficulties with his business partnership, and he and his business partner were going separate ways. And because it was a friend of mine, I thought, Well, I hate to see this business fail that he's developed. And so in my, in my days off, I would go and I would help them and it says, Now nutrition in a supplement store. And so I have a background in chemistry and in marketing psychology, and it turns out, it was actually a really good pairing for the realm of nutritional supplements. And so in one sense that business works really quite well. However, this individual that I was in business with, who at the time was my, my friend had another life I didn't know about. And this is this is the danger in business partnerships and business partnerships with friends or people you think your friends and so on, right. And it turns out that he was using this business as basically to generate losses for another one of his businesses, and there's this whole accounting thing set up and so on. And I was kind of being set up to be left holding the bag. And ultimately, it was about three years after we started the business. And I invested quite a bit of money into developing this business. And here, I was putting, like, you know, my heart and my soul into this I, I built up the client base and built up a really good reputation, all that. And then like a bailiff shows up one day and says, like, the rent isn't being paid. And I was like, what, that's that's my business partners responsibility, you know, he deals with that, that sort of thing. Things an ideal that you know, and he had been doing that for like, months. And anyways, so he puts a lock on the door, and I have to walk away from everything, everything, I've invested everything all the time, all the years, all the hours or the walkway, all of that. And that was pretty devastating.

Prithvi Madhukar: 7:12

Oh my god, I'm just, I'm just stunned and shocked that that's, I mean, it's it's how to hell of a story over there. But But, um, that must have been devastating, you know, to put in your heart and soul into something, only to realise that things were completely out of your control and not something that I think you could even do anything about that. And then how did you how did you come from there? I mean, you must have been in a position where you were really helpless. You were you've been devastated. also invested money, I'm pretty sure at that point. You know, everything your self confidence, your your esteem, everything, all of that on the low, how did you pick it up back again.

Jonathan McLernon: 7:57

I would say it's a bit of a rocky road. The truth is, it isn't just like, I picked myself up and bootstraps and kept going. But on the other hand, like I, I am an entrepreneur at heart. And it's once if you're, if you're a born entrepreneur, like the thought of being an employee is a really difficult thing. It just doesn't work. Because our brains have too many ideas, too many problems we want to solve, we don't really fit well into necessarily like a company culture, where we just toe the line, and my brain is very analytical. And so I remember walking home, cuz at that point, my wife had her vehicle, and she was at her job. And I was while just walking the bus stop and thinking like, what, how am I gonna explain this to my wife? Like, what am I going to say to her? Like, what do you say, when it's like, well, we've lost everything, we have a mountain of debt. And all this time that it is business that wasn't, you know, where it was taking time away from us and our relationship and our family and things like that, like, all that is lost. And so truthfully, like, there's kind of like a process of mourning and grief that a person needs to go through that I needed to go through. Because even though this wasn't, we often connect grief to something like death, but this was maybe kind of like a metaphorical death, it was it was significant. And really grief can be connected to loss. So to kind of give place to all of this that I was struggling with and grappling with, you know, I mean, failure is an inevitable part of entrepreneurship. There isn't a successful entrepreneur who doesn't have some kind of failure in their background, but and in fact, you'll find there's plenty of entrepreneurs who've lost everything and built back up again. But I didn't know if I was gonna be able to do this story. But I will say this. There's something strangely liberating about losing everything. Because now you have nothing left to lose. And I was left with a decision here. What do I want to do? Do I want to just go back and get a job and just give up on like being entrepreneur even though I have you heard some of my job history like I've done so many different things because I just, I can't stay in a job for very long because I have too many ideas too many things I want to do and So like I said, Mr. Entrepreneur, so I realised No, I have to keep this going. And so I really, I built up a client base within this store. And I was helping people and I've been coaching people with nutrition just as a, as an adjunct to the business of the store, really, it was by offering nutrition coaching services, we could also incorporate sort of a supplement plan and generate some recurring revenue from this, and you know, they get a discount on supplements, and so on and so forth. Like it was a part of the business model. And so I just decided, I'm gonna, I'm gonna launch my nutrition coaching business, but I'm gonna build a virtual business, an online business that somebody can't take away from me. And so no partnerships, anything like that. But so that's what I what I decided to do. And so I started with as Coach John McLernon, and with a Facebook page and Instagram page and started posting content to help people. And that, you know, I truthfully, it wasn't, here's the one thing is it wasn't necessarily starting from zero, because it had I had built up a reputation in my city, I built up a clientele or people that had like, knew liked and trusted me. And I think it's important that I mentioned that because there you know, if something, if I was starting over again, how would I do it and build it from the ground up, there's, there's steps that I've taken might be different than what I did then. But because it had this established client base, and a reputation in the community, I was able to, I was able to start not necessary from from zero, yes, financially, starting from negative A lot, a lot of money. But from a business standpoint, I did have a bit of an audience and bit of a client base that I can work off of.

Prithvi Madhukar: 11:30

Oh, that's fantastic. I have so many questions, running through my head right now. But we'll take one question at a time. First off, I really, really think that what you say is correct. my entrepreneurial journey also started, I wouldn't say in the same way, but started from rock bottom. And as you said, it was absolutely liberating. And I think that I have been at rock bottom twice in my life. It's, it's one to many times for 29 year old, but I've been rock bottom twice in my life. And as you said, there was nothing more that I could lose. And it was very liberating. And for me, I also had that decision whether I would take a full time job, or I was anyway, starting from scratch, and might as well start an online business, see where that goes. So I think that this is one of the things that we connected on when John and I spoke on the first call that we have done together. So I'm really glad that he brought it up. And I think that once you're an entrepreneur, as John said, you will always have these ideas, there will always be something in you that keeps going and I think that is our superpower, I think I really think that is what separates us from everyone else. I think that yes, we do have too many ideas of one too many. And that's probably a condor of a con than it is a pro, because there's so many ideas to go and you don't know which direction to go. But let's let's talk a little bit about, you know, you didn't technically start from scratch for your third business, the third online business, would you consider that to be something positive that came out of it? I mean, I know that everything the first two businesses were absolutely traumatic. And I it's I can't even fathom what you would have been going through. But the third business, do you think it would have been harder for you to start at from scratch or the third business if you didn't have the experience and the exposure from the first two?

Jonathan McLernon: 13:35

Yes. And also, maybe I just want to put some one little little thing in there for those who who do choose to have a job. But this isn't us talking down about those who choose to be employed, and I have been employed. And not only that, for some people, it's actually beneficial to maintain a degree of employment while building up your business as a side hustle. So I just want to make sure that we're not suggesting that people.

Prithvi Madhukar: 13:57

Oh, my God, no, no, no, no, I had a full time job. I was absolutely happy there. But you know, I had that decision. And I took a chance on myself. Yes, that's it's completely different. Absolutely. I didn't mean to I don't know if I came off that way.

Unknown: 14:14

Oh, no, not not at all. I just I always think about like, because I'm a mentor, and I'm a coach. And I have to think about my words and how people receive them. And so in fact, when I'm mentoring, people often say, Look, if you have a job, keep that job until you've built up at least three months worth of savings. Not only that, but that your revenue in your business at least matches the income you're getting from your job for three months. By the time you go into both of those things where you have three months where the Savings Plus Your Business is now at the point where it's generating revenue equivalent to what you're bringing in, in terms of your job, then you're now in a much more stable position, and you're less likely to to make sort of risky or reckless emotional decisions.

Prithvi Madhukar: 14:58

Oh my god, I totally resonate with Because I started my business, I put in all my savings. And this is something that I recommend to every single person that I speak to, like, don't make the mistake that I made. I mean, yes, okay, it paid off. But there was a huge risk that I took, I put in all my savings, I started from zero, my bank balance went to absolute zero when I started my business, and oh my god, that the amount of anxiety that I have been through, it's, it's not recommended. And I always tell people, yes, if you have a full time job, start with a side hustle. And then you know, see if it actually works up long term. And then of course, there are numbers that you need to work out, as you said, but I highly resonate with that. So

Jonathan McLernon: 15:42

yes, yeah. And like we said, it's, you can have an idea, and you can be super passionate with this idea. And go, this is an amazing idea. However, that's not necessarily how other people might feel about it. And you need to create, you know, an opportunity to test it. And don't take it personally. If If not, everybody's just, I mean, in fact, I would say that nobody's ever going to be as passionate about your idea, as you as an entrepreneur. And it's nothing personal, it's that human beings are self interested. Yes. And so being able to sort of disconnect from that emotion. But you'd asked a question that I sort of I didn't quite answer, in terms of because I wanted to put that little little caveat in there. I believe you're asking, if if I had started again, but didn't have an audience? Would that have been more difficult, and I say absolutely would have their you can't help but learn from failure. The thing is a failure is never never complete. In other words, even from like the first business failure, I learned that I went into business, I learned a lot about myself, I went into business kind of for the wrong reason, in one sense, because I saw this, it wasn't necessary, something that I was passionate about, it was just an opportunity to make some money. But what I wanted from that was like a greater degree of independence and control over my income and so on. Ultimately, it's probably a blessing in disguise that that business failed. No, in fact, it is, there's more of the backstory that is that my former business partner in that adventure, turns out was using shipping containers to move guns and drugs. I was aware of this, and he was using a construction company to launder money. And so it was like actually, probably about 18 months after that business had failed. And it was very real. I was at the funeral. This is infant daughter, I mean, drug dealers, still human beings with feelings, not to justify what they do. But at that point, even at his daughter's funeral, I had no idea here, there's this secret double life as well. And like, what is it about me and attracting business partners who have secret double lives. But it was, like 18 months after we'd fold up their business, I hadn't lost all contact with them and whatnot. And a police officer came to my new business at this point, which was an interesting and supplement store. I was like, I want to ask you some questions about this individual. And I was like, Cool. I haven't seen him for like a year and a half what, you know, did something happened to him? Is he okay? And they're like, do you read the news? I'm like, No, you should see the headline of today's newspaper. And there's like this, this cargo van and the mayor and the police chief, a chief of police outside his house, and it's like the largest gun and drug busts they've just seen in the city's history. And I'm like, I've been in that house. Where was he hiding all this stuff, you know, these, you know, people like this, they they have these double lives, and they're really good at concealing them. And so anyways, I share that just because I'm like, it's, it's a bit of a well, it's kind of a bit of a shocker really. But going into business like it's, we can like my perception was coloured by the fact that I liked this individual. He was charismatic, he you know, we actually had a friendship again. Everything about him seemed like he was a good person. And I didn't, I didn't, you know, I didn't realise that I was probably dealing with a narcissist. And narcissism comes with pathological lying. narcissists are very good at, and I'm an empath by nature, as I've learned about myself, and like that makes perfect prey for narcissists. I don't throw that term around lightly, though. I do the background psychology. And and, you know, in today's social media age, sometimes we just oh, so and so is an art No, no, it's actually a personality disorder with specific characteristics. And we look back, I'm like, there, there were warning signs, I just didn't know what to look for. Because I wasn't aware that that was a thing, really. So anyways, all of this to say, when our businesses fail, we learn a lot about ourselves. It's not it really isn't the end of the road. But when my second business failed, you know, again, it turns out I was in business with a narcissist a pathological liar once again, so I was what what was common between the two is I was repeating a pattern of behaviour, where I was getting drawn into these relationships where I was essentially being taken advantage of, and, you know, I could say, well, they're bad people for taking advantage of me, but I also in order to empower myself It sounds strange to put it this way, but I had to take responsibility and say part this is partly my fault for being being it's not that I'm not a trusting person, but for being too open for not standing up for myself for not sending, setting appropriate boundaries. and things like that. And as I had this understanding about my own nature, and how I work with people, again, these really difficult experiences become something that I've learned a lot about myself. And now I have much better boundaries in around the relationships that I formed. And so even though I lost a lot of money in these business failures, I gained a lot of invaluable life experience from going through these things. I

Prithvi Madhukar: 20:29

actually resonate with that a whole lot. I think that when you are an empath, and I am one too, I think that you do attract narcissistic personality disorder. People, I think you call them narcissists. And? Yes, yes, that is very true. And I think that I really liked the fact that you said, at some point, you have to take responsibility of yourself. And I feel that for me, it wasn't business wise. For me, it was relationships, like, human relationships that I have formed with people as friendships, or something more, but it was along the same tone. And it was not until I started my entrepreneurial journey, that I started recognising these things. I think that for me, personally, the entrepreneurial journey is more about getting to know yourself, understanding who you are, fundamentally, what is it that you attract? What is it that you don't attract? How do you get to the point where you attract what you need, and stuff like that, in terms of the people around you, or, you know, even manifestation in its own way, and stuff like that. So I completely resonate with you when you said you understood that it was your responsibility as well, you have to take responsibility, and face the facts. And I'm glad that in a way it helps you with your third online business, which is a huge success. I'm I know, for a fact. And the fact that you didn't have to start from zero and you started somewhere with a solid client base. I think that's commendable. I think that the fact that you got back up and you said, I'm ready. Yes, of course, you know, I'm sure you would have taken your time out, and stuff like that. But you can't back up. I mean, I think that's what's important. I think that is, you know, something that we should focus on. And you know, absolutely clap for as well.

Jonathan McLernon: 22:23

Well, yeah, it was, it was very interesting, because it was May 9 2018. I remember the day exactly when that that business failed. And it was only like, two weeks later that I had this Alaskan cruise booked with my in laws who were coming over from my wife is from Australia. And it was probably the best thing that could have happened, it was already booked and paid for and all of this, you know. And so just put on this cruise and kind of totally forgot about everything for a period of time and came back kind of refreshed and invigorated. And I knew, I knew that I had something, I knew that I had something of value to offer people. And you talk about getting to know ourselves in this entrepreneurial journey. And one of the things that I think a lot of people struggle with is being comfortable with recognising the value we have to offer and charging money for that value that we bring to people. But when you understand that, like the price that somebody's willing to pay for a service is a reflection of how invested they are in the decision that they're making, and how much the perceived value they expect to come back. Like it's a very different way. And this isn't to say, you know, don't let your ego inflate your sense of value, you know, I should charge a million dollars an hour, because I think I'm the most amazing human being to walk the planet. Well, good luck, you might find if you found one customer, okay, maybe you feel like you've struck the jackpot or something. But in reality, remembering that money is a medium, and it's an exchange of value. And so when somebody pays you a higher price for something, they have a higher expectation of value coming back. And so it's important to understand the relationship between you know, ourselves, the value we bring in the price that people are going to pay.

Prithvi Madhukar: 23:53

Absolutely, I think that's 100% True. And as you said, I mean, as a marketer, and I know that you have a marketing background as well, I mean, every decision is emotional at the end of the day, and depending on depending on how invested they are, they are willing to pay and understanding that you're worth it has to convert to their perception of value as well. So there needs to be some sort of an equilibrium over there some sort of a balancing act. And I think okay, wait, first off, I just want to circle back sorry, to the online business that you started out. And I actually want to know, How did you know you know, with the third idea that it was gonna work? Did you do you were you confident, were you not confident? Were you scared? What were your thoughts going on at that point?

Jonathan McLernon: 24:46

Oh, definitely. I was nervous. Because this was now I was putting myself to an even more vulnerable position. So if we go back to patterns of behaviour, part of the reason I was probably going into these partnerships is because I I lacked confidence in my own value and skill set. And so partnership kind of shielded me from that a little bit, it gave me a little bit of security, if you will. And so this time, it's now just me, and I'm putting myself out there, it's a very vulnerable feeling. And not only that, like I really, in one sense, built my business on my store. And I think this is actually a really valuable piece of information for people to realise that who we are as human beings is very close to integrated into the business and value that we bring. It's not to say that you want to air all of your dirty laundry or things like that. But there is a hunger out there. People know the human story behind the business. And so here I was, I was finally going to tell my real story about going through trauma, about gaining over 100 pounds about becoming morbidly obese, about going through mental health struggles, you know, losing 100 pounds, yo yo dieting, coming back, and actually getting to the place where now I've lost the weight and kept it off and that whole journey. And so I was able to take this whole journey that I've been on and really sort of turn that into a path that I can guide people down. And so this business, I work as an as a coach, a nutritionist or a nutritionist, and we can think about like being a tour guide. And I often say to my clients, remember, I'm a tour guide, I'm not a Sherpa, you know, in other words, I am going to take you on a guided path here and help you get to this destination you want to get to, but I can't carry your backpack for you. So yeah, there was there's always there's all these emotions, like spinning through my head. But at a certain point, again, it's that place of like, I don't really have anything to lose. So what's what's going to happen next, you know, so I just, I just put it out there. And what was really cool was, it was not received in the way that I feared. So I was afraid that when I put my story out there, that I'm going to be judged, they're going to be shamed, that I'm gonna be ridiculed and made fun of for being human, for making mistakes for having struggles, like I was, I was feeling like the world's biggest failure, when I had to go home as a husband and say, like this business failed, that cost us our life savings, we have nothing we've lost not only that money, but this time and so on. And here was just putting myself out there again, I but what I was doing is actually I was projecting how I was feeling about myself onto my audience and assuming that they might see me the way that I see myself and, and so on. And when they responded with like a significant amount of support. I was like, Oh my gosh, like this is connecting with people. This is resonating with people. So it was a little bit of a leap of faith in terms of putting my story out there and saying, This is why I can help you not just this is how I can help you help you. Because of my own personal experience with this. Yes, I have the certifications on my name on that, set it to the courses. Again, you mentioned that we make purchasing decisions based on emotion. And our brains are recreate stories to make meaning of our life experience. And when we tell our story. People read themselves.

Prithvi Madhukar: 28:10

I think we're having a little bit of a connection problem. Hold on. Can you hear me?

Jonathan McLernon: 28:15

Yeah, I can. But if you did freeze up there. So did did what I share come through there?

Prithvi Madhukar: 28:20

Yeah, I think it did. But can you say the last sentence again, the one about personal decisions, I'm going to edit this part out and then fit in the one where you said decisions are based on emotions?

Jonathan McLernon: 28:35

Oh, yeah. So we as humans, we make our decisions based on emotion. And then we just find logic. And so what we do is we read ourselves into other people's stories, and we feel a sense of emotional connection. And because of that sense of emotional connection, we're more likely to want to purchase from them.

Prithvi Madhukar: 28:57

Absolutely, I think that is 100%. True. And I think that a very significant difference that I can find by just listening to your story from your first two businesses to the third one is that you actually had a mission like there was something driving you whether it was putting your story out there or using your story to help other people saying, Hey, I've been through this, I know what you're feeling I can help you. I can help you get to where you are. And I think that is one of the most important things for an entrepreneur. I think I was giving like a small like an Instagram story takeover a few days ago. And one of them they asked me this question. They said, what's important for like to be an entrepreneur and I said, This journey is hard. It's really, really hard. You need to find something that you know, you can answer yourself saying, you know, why am I doing this? And I feel that with your third online business, you have an answer to that. Compare it to the first two, and I think that's really powerful in itself.

Jonathan McLernon: 30:00

Absolutely it is because and you're right. Like, having a successful business today isn't a guarantee that it's necessarily going to be a successful business tomorrow. I mean, I can say that I'm, like really proud that like, my business has not only survived but even grown during the pandemic. But that doesn't mean there hasn't been difficult days, long days, heart nights, things like that. I do believe that sometimes there's a misunderstanding around success in business, as though it's kind of like the same thing with like, weight loss, like, yes, I've lost and capped off over 100 pounds, but it doesn't mean that I stopped being vigilant and stop caring and stop doing the things I need to do to maintain that. Just because you have a successful business doesn't mean that now you're sitting in Easy Street doing nothing. Well, money rolls in.

Unknown: 30:41

You still there's still work to be done?

Prithvi Madhukar: 30:43

Absolutely. I think one of the things that I also didn't mention, like very recently, and it's when things are going right, you also need to figure out to keep it going, right. I mean, it's not just Yeah, okay, it's fine. And you're just say, you know, you wash your hands and you run away? No, there's a lot of work. I don't think people realise that there's a lot of work in sustaining that success as well. And the minute you know, you take your eyes off it, it's gone. It's just it just vanishes. And I think you're absolutely right.

Jonathan McLernon: 31:15

Well, it's interesting, because I see a lot of parallels in business and in weight loss. Maybe this is what sort of, well, it's one of the reasons why I ended up becoming a mentor and helping other people build online businesses as well. There's a few other reasons we can dive into if it's if if there's time for it, but it's this idea that there is no like cruise control, there's no like, yes, there are times you take, you take a little bit of a break, you might let off the gas a little bit, or you might take take a little bit of a break away and get sort of get mentally refreshed and recharged. And that kind of thing. I don't mean it's pedal to metal 24/7. But in the same token, there is there isn't really a time coming if you want your business to continue, where you step away from it, and money just rolls in and you don't have any sort of interaction or connection to it.

Prithvi Madhukar: 32:00

Absolutely. I agree with that 1000 person. That's that's absolutely true. I have never thought of it that way. And it's very interesting that you bring that up, I think that's maybe why, as you said, you resonate really well with the two of them, because you can connect it. So that's that's amazing. Is that Is that what you teach your clients as well? Like? Do you tell them the energy? Yes,

Jonathan McLernon: 32:23

very much. So. So I, I say that nutrition is the cover story, when I'm coaching people in that realm, because really what we're doing is, it's human development, it's transformation, it's growth, it's becoming a better version of ourselves, like it's becoming a new person, really, because my goal when I work in the realm of weight loss is not just to help people like lose weight, you could tie some to a tree and starve them, and they're gonna lose weight. But as soon as you untie them, they're gonna run back to their old patterns of behaviour and eat everything in sight and probably regain the weight back and more. So I recognised here, because of my own struggles and journeys, that there needed to be a different solution offered to people, rather than just here's another 30 day diet, or here's another 90 day programme or something like that, we need to go through this process of transformation. So when you're getting off for good now, because you are a transformed individual, you were a better version of yourself with, you know, upgraded habits, mindset, beliefs, behaviours, that kind of thing. And so I call it brain driven weight loss is the term that I use because the brain has the driver behaviour. I like that brain

Prithvi Madhukar: 33:25

driven weight loss. I think that's a really, really nice concept. I have not heard of it personally. And I'm sure that I'm going to take a look at it after we're done with this. But you know, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about, you know, the reaction of your loved ones when you said, Hey, I'm going to start a third business. I know, I know that, you know, yes, it was hard on you. Absolutely. But I think that it would have also been really hard on your loved ones, you know, especially your wife as well. So what what was her first reaction? And you know what happened? Well,

Jonathan McLernon: 34:07

I will say that, like, my wife is my biggest supporter. And I probably wouldn't be where I am today doing what I'm doing if I didn't have her supports. I feel extremely fortunate in that regard. So my wife is often seen in me my potential when I didn't see it in myself. So and this is very natural, we tend to take for granted the things that we think of as normal, because it's our day to day experience. So I have a I have a really incredible brain. And this is not me trying to be arrogant, but I have had this really unique combination of IQ and EQ. In other words, I have very analytical engineering calculating brain, compare with a really high degree of emotional intelligence and awareness as an empath. I can't take the credit. I got it free of charge there nine years ago, you know, but for me, that was my normal. I didn't you know, my wife often asked to remind me like people's brains don't like people don't see the world, the way that you do, your brain is different. And it's a very quick thinking calculating brain like she, she's like, most people hate playing games with you, because you're like, eight steps ahead of me. And for me, that's just been my, like, that's just a normal. I didn't say no, I didn't realise that it was like something like, it's something special and unique. And so, you know, on the one hand, she was like, there was a part of us like, Oh, crap, here we go again. But on the on the other hand, she's like, I know what you're capable of. And so it's hard for me to try, I can't discourage you from doing this, because I know your potential. And so it, you know, shout out to like the partners, the spouses, the wives, the husbands, whoever is supporting the entrepreneur, in a sense, because it's, it's not an easy ride.

Prithvi Madhukar: 35:51

But really, it's warms my heart, it really warms my heart I, I can actually feel how much she's supported you just through your your words. And you're right, I think that we take I mean, I at least for me, it's my parents and my sister, they've just been there unconditionally, you know, just been by my sight. And I think that it's important to have a support system, because like you said, some of the times, you might see what it is that makes you unique, and sometimes you don't see your potential. And it's important to have that constant and consistent support, supporting you. So I mean, that's beautiful. That's so beautiful, John,

Jonathan McLernon: 36:31

you Yeah, and it's why I mentor others as well. So, you know, like, I teach people how to build online businesses. And yes, there's a technical sort, of course type aspect to that, you know, here's how you build it, you know, I have a framework in terms of how I help people develop business from the ground up. But I also mentor people, because I recognise is a very human element to entrepreneurship, there's a very human element, we second guess ourselves, we get impostor syndrome, and so on. And so and not only that, like, it's like when someone gets their first paying client, they're like, oh, my gosh, what to do, somebody paid me money, or they get stuck with a client, because they feel this pressure to like solve every client's problem is trying to have a mentor who has your back in the most human way is incredibly powerful. And so that's, that's why I do what I do in terms of mentorship, I say, I'm kind of an accidental mentor, I didn't necessarily start out with the idea that this was what I was, this is what I was going to do. But again, it's like I saw a need, I saw a problem. And I was like, Well, I have a solution for it. So that's, that's the way the entrepreneurial brain works, I see a need I see a problem, I have a solution, I'm gonna build a solution.

Prithvi Madhukar: 37:37

Absolutely. That's 100%. I really like the fact that you, you also, you know, Coach, and you also mentor, your audience. And I think that, I think that when you are coaching business owners, like I feel this in my in my field as well, like, I'm a consultant. And most of the times, I know, I can sense that, you know, my client is a little scared, because probably is a launch coming up. And part of my job is also to mentor them. And I really like the fact that you think that there is a combination of both that that highly resonates with me as well. So John, I want to circle back to the fourth online business that you said, that you were talking about earlier. And I know that you told me that that was a successful business. And tell us a little bit about that.

Unknown: 38:26

Yeah, it's a business that I kind of stepped into, in a sense accidentally, I didn't, I didn't set out necessarily to become a mentor. And to be fair, there's what I call a guru sphere. And there's sort of this circle of like gurus and mentors out there that are kind of predatory. And I've I have experience having been in that I've been a mentorship client, as well as I've been a coach inside a mentorship programme. And so I understand how that industry kind of operates. And so as an entrepreneur, once again, I kind of saw a problem and recognise that I had some value, and I had a way of saw a valuable way of solving that problem. And so it started out accidentally, where a coach in my city who had previously run a bricks and mortar business came to me and was like, Hey, would you teach me how to build an online business? And of course, my entrepreneurial brain said, Well, if I'm gonna teach one person do this, I might as well develop a course about this. And that's exactly what I started doing. And so it's been it's been almost two years that I've been mentoring coaches as well. And I, I kind of call myself an under the radar mentor, in that I don't I primarily operate that business via word of mouth. And that's if you do a good job with people, they're going to tell other people about what it is that you do. And so I teach people how to build online, like coaching, and consulting businesses, really from the ground up. And the nutshell what I do, I mean, I approach building business in a relatively simple fashion. It's like building a house. So the first thing we would do is we'll build what I call a guest house or granny flat. What that is, is it's a very simple and basic structure. That doesn't really It costs a lot of money to operate, but allows you to start bringing clients into it. The thing is, it's not necessarily scalable. But it allows you to start bringing revenue in right away while you build out your main sort of scalable infrastructure. And then we've got to build a main business, we need a foundation. So we're going to figure out who it is that we serve, and why and what our offer is, what is the promise? The second part is the digital infrastructure itself. That's like the framing of a house. And that is how do you deliver on your promise? What like, and that's from like, sort of a technology perspective? So how do you deliver on that promise that you made? The third part is kind of like the interior design. And that is the client experience. So how do you create a client experience that not only has clients, paying you revenue, but staying with you, and also telling other people what you do? So there's the revenue retention referrals. And the fourth part is what I call the housewarming party. And that is, well, you've built this business, you want to tell people what it is that you do, because people aren't gonna discover you by accident? And how do you do that in a way that isn't, you know, spammy and annoying and things like that. And so and then I guess the, the X factor in all of this is that I, I want one mentor. So what people what I found is that in most sort of mentorship programmes, what these mentors are trying to do is we're just trying to jam as many people as possible into the programme with as little human contact as possible jamming people into group calls with 30, to 60, people and so on. And they're really losing the human element of it, they're doing it because they're trying to hit certain revenue targets, and be able to brag about the money that they made. And for me, I charge a fair price for what I do. But it's not really about being able to brag on social media, but hitting revenue targets, it's about genuinely helping people succeed in terms of building their business, because integrity is a really core part of what I do. And so when I work with somebody, I work with them as a one to one mentor. That means that not only me, helping them with the technical side of things, but with the human side of things. Being an entrepreneur may struggle with things like impostor syndrome, second guessing ourselves, what do I do now the clients pay me money, I have this difficult client, and so on. Well, I've got experience working with hundreds of clients, myself, having built and run successful businesses, I've learned a lot from you know, and so on. So I really bring an intangible human element to our mentorship as well. And I think that's what really sets it apart. I

Prithvi Madhukar: 42:14

think that's amazing. I think that your framework really hits every single aspect, like as you were talking about it, I'm just mentally checking like, yes. Oh, yeah, I did that when I first started. Oh, yeah, then I did this. And I think that you are providing such a solid structure in such clarity as well, I think that, you know, with the framework that you do have one aspect of, you know, your potential business owner client, you know, it's going to probably feel a lot more calm and composed about the whole situation having such a framework in place. So I really liked that I actually wrote it down. It's a good one, it's a really good one.

Jonathan McLernon: 42:56

Yeah, we can we can put the link to my website in the in the show notes, if anybody wants to check it out. Here's the other thing that I do, I backed my mentorship with with a guarantee. And that is that you will earn back your investment. Or I'll work with you until you do up to 12 months now. To be fair, if in 12 months, you couldn't earn back your investment, you didn't really have a viable business. And so my goal is that people will earn back their investment in three months or less. But I will continue to work with someone if they don't for whatever reason. Because as a part of like, integrity is such a core value for me that I recognise that somebody, especially if they're starting a business, it's a it's a really emotional, a difficult, challenging decision and investment. So I want them to know that they're going to make their money back that because that's the biggest thing that I felt burned when I was a mentorship client in mentorship programmes is that I pay this sum of money. And then it's like once they had my credit card, and they charge me this money, they didn't really care. They basically gaslight me and say if I wasn't getting results is because I wasn't working the system or, you know, things like that. It was not it wasn't helpful. It was really just sort of this mental manipulation. And so again, recognising there was this whole problem out there with this industry that's like, and coaches in particular get preyed on because coaches tend to be empaths. And so, you know, I realised I need to be a mentor in the space because we need empathic mentors, who actually treat these coaches like human beings instead of just like dollar signs.

Prithvi Madhukar: 44:24

Absolutely, and, you know, kudos to that for seeing, you know, recognising that their needs their you know, they're gay, there was a gap in the market be. It was something that, you know, you could make a difference to the people around you. I think that that's, that's where we like to find ourselves, you know, something where we're making a difference, but at the same time, yes, it is also fueling our own passion. And it's also, you know, helping us survive as well at the end of the day. I think as an entrepreneur, we would like to strike that balance.

Jonathan McLernon: 44:59

Absolutely. Yeah, it's I find it incredibly fulfilling because really mentorship and coaching in one sense, I'm doing very similar things. I'm looking at human potential. So whether it's somebody who comes to me and says, I want to lose weight, or I want to build a business, in both cases, what we're doing is we're looking at what is the human potential that resides within them? And can I help them unlock that potential. And that's, that's really where the real power of this lie is. And I say that my coaching superpower is X ray vision. So being able to see the potential in people that they can't see in themselves, and then guiding them to that place. And that's why I get so much fulfilment out of what it is that I do.

Prithvi Madhukar: 45:39

Absolutely, I think I really resonate with that. And I think that's why I wanted this episode to be such a freestyle, because I absolutely connect with. And this is something that you know, John and I were talking about during our first call is that there is just so much similarities in our thought processes. And I absolutely resonated with the last one. And I know that we've talked so so much in this podcast episode, and I know that all my listeners have learned so much, you know, from dealing with failure to, you know, recognising when to let go of an idea when to start a new one, how to start a new one, the framework that you've taught, but if we could wrap up this entire podcast episode in three actionable tips for my listeners, what would it be to?

Jonathan McLernon: 46:27

One, don't quit your day job. And what I mean by that, and that's not, that's not sent in a derogatory fashion. But what I mean is, if you have an entrepreneurial idea, make sure like, don't just take a sort of fantasy fueled leap into the abyss going, it's going to work because I love it so much. Rather, it's like, develop it and test it first, because you make better decisions when you're emotionally grounded. And so if you know that you have a secure income coming in, you can now take some risks as you as you grow and develop your business. Number two would be the principle that I call start, learn, evolve. And that is that you, you could spend, you could just spend like months, turning an idea over in your head, and procrastinating and trying to make everything perfect, and it's an impossible task. Rather just start with something, figure out what's working, what's not ask your clients for feedback, that's okay. You're allowed to ask them for feedback, because you say I want to make this better. And then as they give you that feedback, don't take it personally, be grateful, because their feedback is gold. They're telling you what they want, and how they want you to better serve them. You figure that out, you make an incredible business. And, you know, I'm trying to think what would be the best third one, reach out to me and have a conversation. Now, that sounds like this sounds like a bold thing to say. Because you think, Oh, you're just going to pitch me and like, no, actually I'm not, we're just going to have a human conversation, you can test your idea. And you can share your idea with you can tell me where you're struggling. And I'm just going to show up in this call, I'm going to serve you and give you as much value as I possibly can. Now, if in that in the giving a value and serving you and helping you move forward with your business, you decide, hey, I'd like to work more with you. Awesome, we can talk about that. But, you know, I think people are afraid, you know, I'm gonna jump on this call and you're gonna manipulate me and get my credit card number and charge me and gaslight me and stuff like that. And I'm gonna put it in those words. But that's essentially what what has happened to me in the past. So I understand those fears. And that's why I open myself up and say, Let's just have a conversation like two human beings. It's, there's so much value in bouncing your ideas off someone who's experienced in business, who's done it successfully, who's failed in business, like, I can bring such a unique perspective. And so you know, we'll put it we'll put a link in the notes where you can book a call with me free of charge, no charge, no pitch, we're just going to talk about your offer your business and how we can make it better.

Prithvi Madhukar: 48:57

I think that's amazing. I really like as a business owner and entrepreneur myself, I think that sometimes all I just need is, you know, someone listening, you know, just not, you know, you just listen, and you know, help me get all those thoughts that are running inside my mind the move, you know, one of them just out there and, you know, bounce the idea off. So I really, really respect what you are doing. And I think that it is a it's I think it's an undervalued service that you are offering over here. Truly, I really think that men not many people would think that, you know, it's something that they can take advantage of, but I really think that people should I think that, you know, they, as you said are hesitant because they feel they were going to be manipulated or whatnot and you know, it's their experience. I can't really judge that but if you are listening to this podcast, definitely do you know try to reach out to John, you know, talk to him. I personally have spoken to him on two different occasions and one being this podcast episode and I You know that he genuinely is invested in, you know, helping people grow their business. And I think that's a really nice, nice thought,

Unknown: 50:07

John, thank you.

Jonathan McLernon: 50:10

Well, thank you so much. And I just I love the space that you're holding here. For conversations like this, it's been, this has been one of my most interesting conversations around business and business development, because so many people want to talk about like tactics and strategies. And believe me, I have plenty of those I wrote, like, I wrote four courses on this. But what I really think gets missed and doesn't get talked about enough is like the human and the emotional journey and the personal growth and personal development that would go on as entrepreneurs and making it okay to struggle, making it okay to fail making it okay to not necessarily like not feel this pressure to constantly have to present yourself as super financially successful just because you have a business, it's okay to have a business that's growing and developing. And so the conversations like this, I really believe open the door to that and give people really just take some of the pressure off of being an entrepreneur.

Prithvi Madhukar: 50:57

Absolutely. I mean, that was my entire aim of this podcast episode, and of course, my podcast as well. Even with me sharing my journey. I think that people have a very common misconception that, you know, the minute you start your business, you're gonna be earning like 10 figures. I mean, I'm just making up. What I mean, you get what I mean? And I'm like, No, I'm still enforcing this guy. So like, I'm slowly figuring out and I tell people, I started at one $50 a month, and I'm slowly creating, and I'm actually like, taking people along the journey, like, Okay, this is one revenue stream I've created, but it's not going to give me anything until maybe a year from now, but I gotta keep working at it. And I think it's, you know, it's these little things that people don't realise, or people don't want to talk about as well. And I think that's why I started this entire podcast.

Jonathan McLernon: 51:50

I love that you're doing that. And I love that you're taking people on this journey journey with you because it's, it's, this is really what coaching and mentoring is, it's taking people down a path that we might just be a little bit further down a path they want to travel and that's all we really need to be able to help somebody along.

Prithvi Madhukar: 52:06

That is so so true. It's been such a pleasure talking to you, John. And honestly, yes, for me, to us all this such a unique episode, where we completely freestyle it and we were talking about real human emotions and you know, the emotions behind starting a business failing, growing up business, sustaining a business and all of those things. It's It's truly been amazing to have you on my podcast and thank you, John, for spending so much time talking to me and my listeners, of course, and sharing your journey with us.

Unknown: 52:39

Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Alrighty, guys,

Prithvi Madhukar: 52:42

that brings us to the end of today's podcast episode. I really hope you enjoyed this podcast episode. If you did, don't forget to share a review. Don't forget to share this with your friends as well. This is John and I signing off today's podcast episode Dubai, you

Unknown: 52:58

guys