Why Relationships Are the Foundation of Business Success with Joe Novara

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues Podcast, our guest is Joe Novara, executive coach, leadership consultant, speaker, and business advisor who helps leaders strengthen relationships, develop high-performing teams, and create organizations built on trust, accountability, and long-term success. Drawing from his extensive experience working with executives, entrepreneurs, and business owners, Joe shares practical insights on authentic leadership, effective communication, strategic decision-making, and cultivating a culture where people are empowered to perform at their best. We also discuss the importance of emotional intelligence, resilience, coaching, continuous learning, and relationship-building as essential drivers of sustainable business growth and leadership excellence. Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, coach, manager, or aspiring leader, this conversation is packed with actionable strategies to help you lead with confidence, build meaningful connections, and achieve lasting success.

You can find him on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joenovara/
https://www.growthacademycoaching.com/
https://www.instagram.com/joenovara/
https://www.facebook.com/JosephNovara
https://x.com/joe_novara
https://www.growthacademycoaching.com/the-total-business-breakthrough/

Transcript

Joe Novara 0:00

So in that first year, so I hired a coach. I, you know, I did all the things that, you know, I started getting my speech, started getting some, you know, light speaking engagements. And but one of the things early on, somebody had asked me one day, can you coach me on what you're teaching? And I that thought hadn't crossed my mind yet.

Davis Nguyen 0:26

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues, the podcast where we interview business owners on how they built their businesses and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is David Swin, and I'm a business coach and a founder of Purple Circle, where we help business owners achieve their first six-figure, seven-figure, and eight-figure year, all without sacrificing their quality of life. Before becoming a business coach and before founding Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight-figure coaching businesses and have been a consultant at several businesses doing over $100 million each, including some that are publicly listed and doing over a billion dollars each. In every episode of the podcast, you're gonna learn lessons that took our guests years to learn, and you'll be able to learn that in minutes. No matter if you're a new business owner or an established business owner, every episode is gonna give you the clues in order to elevate your business.

Pedro Stein 1:10

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I'm joined by Joe Novara, founder of Growth Academy Coaching, where he helps business owners break through growth plateaus with structure and accountability. Joe brings over 30 years of experience in sales, management, and business ownership and holds certifications in strategic intervention and six human needs from Robbins Madanes training. Welcome to the show, Joe.

Joe Novara 1:39

Thank you so much. It's really uh exciting to be here.

Pedro Stein 1:43

Great to have you. You know, from the day we met, I'm excited to record an episode with you. And I'm kind of a comic book nerd myself, right? So I love the origin stories, the first edition, you know. So let's rewind a bit because there is a moment that every coach has that where they look at their life and say, Yeah, I guess this is what I'm doing now, right, Joe? So when was that for you?

Joe Novara 2:08

Yeah, that's uh a really good question. And uh, you know, so it's I don't I wish that my story was quite as exciting as like Peter Parker's or uh Bruce Banner's, but it's not. Uh it's but it is still to some, it would be very exciting. Now, what I'll share is not to proselytize, okay, but I did I am a person of faith. And in saying that, I had I was in a place, I was closing my business. I had a printing company that I was shutting down. I was in the middle of a really bad divorce, and and the bit and the business was unfortunately one of the, you know, was a victim of that divorce. So I knew I was gonna be shutting down the business, and uh, and I had been trying to think for about a year what it was that I wanted to do if I left the printing industry once and for all. And while I was sitting in the audience of a professional speaker on sales, it was literally like God flipped this light switch inside of my heart. And I and I'm not joking to you, Pedro, it was like all of a sudden I just became overwhelmed with that is what I'm going to do. I'm gonna teach people things about business, I'm gonna teach them about networking, I'm gonna teach them about sales. It was like all of a sudden, this rush went through my head. And so initially, my initial uh commitment that that day was to become a professional speaker. I went home, uh, started doing the research on what it would take to be a professional speaker. I have a very good friend uh who is a professional speaker. I reached out to her and we we met for coffee, and she told me what the first thing I needed to do was write a book. Uh so that day I went home and started writing my first book, which is called Intentional Networking. Uh so in that first year, so I hired a coach. I, you know, I did all the things that you know, I started getting my speech, started getting some you know, light speaking engagements, and but one of the things early on, somebody had asked me one day, can you coach me on what you're teaching? And I that thought hadn't crossed my mind yet. So this was probably I'll say about two to three months in. So I saw my first speaking engagement was July 3rd of 2013. So we're gonna say it was probably around October, November time. And uh, so I reached out to my coach uh and said to him, hey, somebody asked me if I would coach them on what I'm speaking on. Now the the program that I did that my my signature talk at that time was also intentional networking. Uh, I don't remember exactly, but it was like four steps to a steady referral-based business. And and so we created a coaching program around those four steps. And uh, and what it was was really it was a four-week program, which meant, what do you think? That I had to keep filling it over and over and over. But all that being said, that was my introduction to coaching. Uh, Brian at that time, uh, who was my coach for a while, he helped me to develop the first coach, that first coaching program.

Pedro Stein 5:34

Okay, interesting. Now, I'm curious about one thing um that happens eventually to almost every coach. It's like you have that aha moment, right? You were sitting there, you're looking at that guy, teaching people, like, I want to do that. And in the early days of coaching, sometimes we're like, I'm helping people, this sounds like a calling, you're advice giving, you're testing waters, right? Most coaches aren't. They're like, is this really a thing? But eventually, you launch a business and you realize I'm building a real business around this, right? There's revenue, there is, you know, but uh it's almost like a shift that happened, happens to every coach. And what I would love for you to tell me and our audience is like when did it clicked for you, right? Was it like the first paying customer, the first invoice that you you realize, okay, this is a real thing?

Joe Novara 6:25

So, yeah, that's a great question. So the the first client I had was a woman named Sherry, and I'm not gonna say much more beyond that. And and at first, you know, we went through our four sessions, okay, and at the end, I and at that point I'd already been getting now I'm getting new other clients within very quickly getting other clients. It was probably about a year though into it, Pedro, before I said to myself, this is a real business. This is a real business. Uh, and I and I could definitely uh keep keep this going. Uh, I was at that time, you know, I I had sold my customer list from the printing company, and the commitment that I had with the company that I sold the customer list to was that for three years, well, it was the the contract was a three-year contract, but that I would help them uh over like a year or two, help them transition so that it was a smooth transition. So I was still technically had a foot, two feet in the printing industry and two and uh a foot and a half in the coaching business, the speaking and coaching business. Uh so but when I realized that hey, I'm making real money here doing this, and and this the runway is is getting shorter for this uh contract I have, you know, with the money coming in for the the printing business, it it was like, okay, this could be a real business, and I better take it seriously, like real seriously now, or go go find something else because I don't want to get back. I want it out in the printing industry, and uh yeah, so that was basically how that happened. I don't know if does that answer your question?

Pedro Stein 8:15

It does. I love that. Okay, yeah, we have a saying here in Brazil there is no half-pregnant lady, right? It's either we're in or we're out, buddy. Like uh and and I love the fact that you you would draw a line in the sand and you're like, it's either make it or break it, right? So let's go full gas on this. Now let me ask you this. I mean, you've been a while in the game, right? We're talking about 13 years that you established your business growth academy coaching. And um, there's an evolution of who we in the early day start serving, like you mentioned Shirley and all that, and who you serve now, right? Uh in the early days, at least myself as a coach, I was trying to help everyone, right? Like, yeah, of course I can help you, man. Just talk. Uh, but eventually we sharpen the blade, uh, we attract a certain type of people, and we even sometimes we realize who we can actually help, right? The best. So, can you walk us through that evolution, right? Of who you started serving and who you serve now.

Joe Novara 9:17

Yeah, so when I first started, it was exactly what you just said. I would work with anybody that that wanted to, that just was looking for what I could teach them. And the problem with that, it's just like you know, I joke around where I say, you know, there's the Mary Kay representative. There's a difference. There's the Mary Kay representative who says uh anybody with skin versus the Mary Kay representative who says anybody who wants to look beautiful and can afford the best products. The you know, and that's who that's who I want to work with. Well, that was how I had to look at it from the coaching, is it no longer had to be anybody who could afford the network coaching, coaching about networking. Then, you know, we as we uh started to evolve it, we added as we added more to the coaching, that's how the the client base changed. So initially it was people that they a lot of the folks that I started with, they couldn't afford they if the same person, if they were here in front of me today, can't afford the coaching that I was doing, you know, they they wouldn't be able to afford the coaching we do today. Uh, a lot of the folks that we were working with them. Um so now here we are to 12, 13 years later, the clients we're working with today are certainly at a higher level. The people that I'm working with today, they're already great networkers. They're already, they they know how to develop, you know, grow their business. They know um how to talk to people, uh, you know, whether it's at a networking event or if they, you know, when they're making cold calls, they know how to talk to somebody on the other end of the phone. That's not what they need. What are the people that I'm working with today are are real business owners. These are, you know, these are people that are uh running CPA practices, uh law firms, uh construction companies, but the business owners, and they are in a whole different level than the people when I first started. But you know what, Pedro? I still love every single one of those people when I first started because it taught me a little in each step of the way, just taught me a little more and a little more how to be a better coach and how to be a better human being at in some cases. Uh because some people, it doesn't matter where they are on the coaching journey on their end, and I'm sure you've experienced this many times. People bring their baggage with them. They bring their baggage with them. And so even if I'm just a business coach or a leadership coach or an executive coach, it doesn't matter. I still have to help navigate through some of that stuff that people are going through and how it's impacting their business and uh their life, their stuff in their personal life. And I can't be, I just can't be closed to that. I have to let my heart be open to that. And uh, and that um that has spread has transcended my entire career in coaching. From the, you know, so I learned how to do that early on, and now it's I would say I'm far better today at it than I was uh 12 years ago. But I think if you talked to some of the folks I was working with back then, they would say that I did, I was very caring about that, not just the, you know, how are you gonna learn how to network better, but uh, you know, who they were as people and how they could be better people and have a better life as well.

Pedro Stein 13:16

Okay. Now let's pretend, Joe. I'm one of those guys, right? I'm an established business owner. I'm spinning my wheels, I know my stuff, but I hit a ceiling, as it sounds like. I'm like, what's what's happening? What's the I cannot hit the next level, right? And uh I'm your avatar, your ideal client profile. That could be a CPA uh or a law firm, whatever, okay, business owner on that construction you mentioned too. So, first thing, how would I be able to find you and your business marketing-wise?

Joe Novara 13:50

So there's a few ways. Uh the fastest way to meet me is through networking. Uh, you know, I do a lot of in-person networking, that's for the local market. Okay, so uh, and that is how I get a lot of business is through the in-person networking. Then there is speaking engagements. I get quite a number of clients through speaking engagements, and at the end of the uh when I do speak, I always uh offer a complimentary coaching session. 30 minutes. Uh, another thing is uh when I first started the business, you know, I would say, you know, a speaker wants to speak, so I'll if when I don't have speaking engagements, what I'll do is I'll just create my own events. And so right from the beginning of my business of my career here, I started creating my own events. And so I've been doing my own events uh for almost 13 years now, and they used to be monthly, uh, and then we went down to quarterly, and then uh three time uh three times a year. Right now we're playing with just two times per year. Uh but it's all that being said, uh I do my own events. Okay, and uh and it's a two-day workshop called Total Business Breakthrough. Uh we it's and we do it in different uh spots around North Carolina. We've done it in Greensboro, Raleigh, um, Asheville. I don't know if you ever heard of Asheville. We've done it there a bunch of times. So, you know, and uh we're about to do it in a new area called Pittsburgh, uh, which is just it's an up-and-coming area, and we figure we're gonna give it a shot there in January. So, all of that, you know, with saying all of that, Pedro, um those are three ways. And then, of course, there's uh online, you know, the digital side of it, whether it's through um email marketing, um, social media, doing uh doing podcasts like this, uh, you know, just ways like the digital uh formats to to get people to reach out to me and and engage in coaching.

Pedro Stein 16:10

Very interesting, right? This is what I'm thinking right now. Uh you mention uh that you work heavily in the in-person events, right? That you're a very in-person guide to network and all that. And these days, whenever someone sends me a text or a message, the first filter that pops in my head is like, is this a bot?

Davis Nguyen 16:30

Right.

Pedro Stein 16:30

Right? And uh, whenever you're in person, uh it sounds like we're skipping a filter right now, right? And you and people are more tuned in, and there is a trust factor that is different from talking online. I don't know. Um, I'm not sure if it's AI, too much content out there, if it's the bots, is if the scammers. But it's very interesting that you mentioned like you're heavily doing in person, and I love that, okay? Uh, especially retreats, right? We just came back from our retreat, too. So it's so wild to think uh what I've been through. Like I'm 40 and uh went through in-person, then uh digital and now in person again. It's almost seems like a roller coaster. But still in the game of pretend here, Joe, um, still your avatar, okay? Let's say I met you in one of those events, or even listen to one of the podcasts you went, uh, checked your website, right? And I'm like, hey, Joe seems like a cool guy, right? So I reached out to you, and I'm like, hey, how does it look like to work with you? So we go through the sales process. We can we can skip that a little, you know, just say there is alignment, you can help me. I feel like you can help me. Right. Um can you give me like a rundown, really quick briefing on how does it look like to work with you, right? And the outcomes I can expect.

Joe Novara 17:53

Yeah, so the what it's like to work with me, you know, what we do, I'm gonna just give you this is after we've committed to engaging, is what you're saying, correct? We've committed to engaging to work together. And so the first thing that we do is I I like to do what's called, we call it a fast start day. And uh both myself and the other coach on my team, uh, we both do this same thing. Uh and the fast start day, it's the only thing in Growth Academy coaching that is templated. Okay, uh, everything else is uh is based on you know just using coaching skills, but it's a it's a four-hour coaching session where we uh we go through it's it's a lot of questions. And and the questions are they're very thought-provoking, and they are they're very some of the questions can be very deep, and it's and it's about just trying to get to know who this person is in front of us, who we why are they doing what they're doing, where are they trying to go in their life and their business, and what are they willing to do versus what are they not willing to do? Because I don't want to start wasting time going down a path that turns out this is not something that he or she is ever willing to go down. And so that's when you end up wasting two, three, four coaching sessions and finding out that they they they have no interest in doing that, they're too scared to do that. That's not their, that's just not their thing. So so I had to, that's why I created that session was to cut through all of that garbage, okay, and to really let this person get to know the coach, the person sitting in front of them, and trust them. And that's what that so that's the initial session, and uh we call and again I call it the fast start day, and the tool that I use is called the clarity funnel. And part of that I learned from uh when I was doing the executive coach training uh on Robin's Madonna's training, the when I was getting trained in that program, the he uh the the the leader named Keith, he had put gone a got had one or people go through the clarity funnel, and I took a lot of and I give them credit, you know, that I I took a lot of it from his clarity funnel and created my own. But I still call it a clarity funnel, and I give Keith the credit for it. Um so then after that, then we we meet two times per month. Okay, it's two one-hour sessions, usually either virtual or over the phone. Uh I prefer over the phone so I can get up and walk around if I need to, and things like that. Some people prefer virtual. Uh the if you want to meet me in live and in person, you have to come to me, to where I am. Uh, I am not gonna drive to you. You have to come to if you know we'll meet in a coffee shop or something, but it's got to be within a mile or two from my home. The uh the other thing that we do, and so and so and in that I'm trying to get to all like really give you an understanding of our coaching here. The other thing that we do is we do uh a monthly mastermind uh with you know where all the Growth Academy clients are welcome to come, whether they're in the group coaching or the one-on-one coaching, they're welcome to come. And uh, and it's one hour per month, uh, the first Wednesday of the month, and it's an hour long. And we usually bring we start with a topic that I talk about a topic with my other my uh partner, my other coach talks about a topic. He's not my partner, but he's uh on the team. And he and we just we talk about a topic and uh and then go into. How is this impacting people's business, their lives, and uh and we talk about it, we have discussion about it, and that's really been really effective. And twice a year, we in lieu. So in June and December, we actually do a uh almost a full day retreat uh in lieu of the mastermind. We meet in person uh to do uh a retreat, and it's very similar, but it's a lot more detailed in what we're doing in the uh in that full day. So the what I Pedro, you you've worked with people before as a coach, and you know, I can't make somebody do the work. There are people that hire us that they think it's going to be a done-for-you process. And so that was one that was hard on my heart when I first started coaching, and I struggled with it for a long time when somebody would, especially once we started the it initially was called goal execution coaching before we changed it to growth academy coaching. Uh but uh it was hard on my heart when somebody would stop working with me because they weren't getting the results, but they weren't doing the work. And uh so the I have a lot of business experience. Uh JP, who's on the team, he has a lot of business experience. The business ownership experience, there is a lot that we can share. There's a lot that we can do to help a business owner grow their business. We we meet you where you're at. If you're looking to grow your team, we can help you grow your team. If you're looking to increase revenue, we can help you to increase revenue. If you're looking to uh to expand the company, we can wherever, whatever it is, we've we've all both got a lot of experience in that, and we can help with that. But you as the client have to be willing to do the work. And so that is one of the things, Pedro, and I don't know if we'll get to this at all. That's one of the things that as a coach, I need to be better up front on discerning that. Sometimes I am, sometimes some people are really clear about it, but not all the time. And uh, and that's something I hope to get better as I continue coaching, hopefully for another 50 years. Uh that I can uh be more discerning. This is not this is somebody who's not gonna do the work versus this is somebody who's totally gonna they're gonna kick ass and take names, that kind of thing. So that being said, um the it's it all depends on the individual and what they're gonna get out of it. The getting the right information is not gonna be an issue. Um and uh and the other part, an important part about what we do, and what I'm very much, this is a big thing about Growth Academy coaching, we are very heavy on accountability. Very heavy on accountability. I personally hand I type almost every all of my coaching sessions, I'm constantly typing during the session because I want to be able to go back and look at my notes over and over. Hey, you know, we used three sessions ago, you committed that you were gonna do this and you still haven't done it. What's going on with that? What do we need to adjust? But if I'm just going by by like just trying to do it by memory, that's not gonna happen. That's not gonna happen. Uh, at least not for me. I can only speak for myself. Uh, but the accountability part is really, really strong. That going back and remind, you know, I'll give you a funny example. So I had a client, his name is Sean, and uh, and so Sean and I were working together several years ago, and he uh he said he wanted to take a break. And uh, and I don't remember the specific details, okay, but I can just share you with you what happened. We so it's three years between coaching sessions. He hires me again, three years. I looked back at his notes, that you know, I had been looking at his notes, knowing that we were gonna be starting to work together again, and I just wanted to kind of I I expected that three years later that we were gonna be picking doing we were gonna be that he was gonna be in a whole different place. Pedro, we picked up three years later where we left off on three years ago. There had been no growth, no growth. So it just depends on the individual, if they're you know, and who they are. Yeah, yeah.

Pedro Stein 26:58

You know, something you mentioned that uh I think it's really interesting is how to pick up on a potential client that is not culture. I would say that's the word, right? When they don't want to put in the work, they're not culture. Right. And uh two things pop up to my mind. The first thing is clarity on saying what you are and what you are not, right? Making it very clear on the first point of contact that you're not doing the work. That's one thing. The second thing that pops up to my mind is when, and this is more of a nuanced thing that I got uh eventually was picking up on distant language. Like the team is underperforming, they are not delivering. Right, good leader, buddy. What's up with that? Why do you think they're not delivering? Oh, because they're lazy, because nobody wants to work. That's the wrong answer. The right answer is like, you know what? I am unsure. I don't have all the answers. That's a good one. The second is, at least in my experience, right, is thinking like I'm not being able to inspire them. And I don't know why. I'm spinning my wheels. I have like another one that I don't love is like I they whenever I'm at I'm at the the place, the the the work side or whatever, the performance is higher. Whenever I'm not, it it tends to be lower. Why do you think that is? You know, so it's always trying to peel off the onion so it can get go back to the root cause, which sometimes it's they're like control freaks, right? Nobody uh nobody's else's work is good enough. Uh sometimes they feel like employees don't love the business as much as they do, you know. But well, newsflash, they don't. It's your business. I mean, it's so basic whenever I'm thinking about it, but people like they get offended. Like they're like, oh my god, they don't love the work and all that. Yeah, man. It's like they hit Friday and then Sionara, buddy. They're not even thinking about you. You're spinning your wheels on the Sunday and the Saturday, they don't care. They're thinking about the party, they're thinking about whatever, you know, their kids, they're yeah, their family. So sometimes it's just stating the obvious, but it is what it is, not saying that's uh easy to manage, not at all. Now, I'm curious about and shifting gears for a second, I'm curious about future, right? So, where do you see the business going? Where are you taking all this? Looking ahead, what's to expect next? What are you excited about?

Joe Novara 29:26

Yeah, well, so the thank you for asking that. It's a great question. And you know, I really would love to my what we're doing right now is we're working on growing the business, scaling the business. Uh, we'd love to uh we we're trying to follow the Benjamin Hardy model in the uh book The Science of Scaling, which is 10xing your business. And uh so we're following that model that he uh lays out in the book. And uh we're not gonna hire him uh at this time, at least we're not gonna hire him to come on our, you know, to be our coach uh or coach is at this point, but we do uh we're very intentional about following what we've read in that book, and we've gone through the book multiple times. We're uh anything we can get our hands on that that he's putting out, we're following that. He uh and and it's a really great model for 10xing a business. Uh now, Pedro, if I don't, if I 5x the business, I'll be happy with that. But I want to try and shoot for the 10x. That's what we're gonna work on, is 10xing it. So, all that being said, um the goal here, and this is really my goal in my heart, is to help as many business owners as we possibly can to just be better. That's I mean, that's really what and whatever better is, you define better for yourself, but at the end of the day, what is better for you, and that's what we want to help you to do. And uh, and again, it goes back to the fact that we have the skills, we have the experience, we had, you know, uh, and and that I feel very confident that those are things that we can help. You know, I had a I had a coach uh once, and he was first started out as a mentor, then he became a coach, and then he became a mentor again, and uh and he passed away a few years ago. And uh when I had asked him to be my mentor, I took him to this uh, it was called the Leadership Summit. And I had taken him and uh and he had already been retired from corporate America. He owned a uh corporate uh a Fortune 100 consulting firm and he had retired, sold it, and all of that. And uh, and when he was sitting in the audience, he and was why during this leadership summit, he uh they asked, they said, you know, what what is your big hairy audacious goal? And so he said he wanted based on our relationship now. Here's a guy who's in his mid to late 60s already, said to himself, I want to help 10,000 small businesses to, and uh that was his goal. Okay, so here he is, he's already an older man. He's not, I'm not saying he was an old man, but he was older, making that commitment. So he died a couple of years ago, and honestly, Pedro, I feel like I'm still helping him to fulfill that mission. I am helping him with that. And uh he was a wonderful man named Earl Haddon, one of the one of my heroes in life, and uh, and so I hope that I can help him fulfill that goal to to be able to touch and help 10,000 small businesses. And I'm on my way, not there yet, but I'm on my way.

Pedro Stein 32:57

Okay, you know, and whenever we're working towards something like your your goal, right, to help 10,000 small business owners, there's always something that we're refining in the present, right? So, what are you currently trying to improve in your business or tighten up right now?

Joe Novara 33:13

Yeah, well, um so I'm always trying to be better at being a better coach, um, being a better person, being yeah, I I'm always looking for new opportunities. Like I think I've I just recently joined another full-year program uh through Tony Robbins uh in uh a business, it's called Business Accelerator. And uh, and so it was just something I committed to. It's a full-year program, and uh it wasn't terribly expensive, but it was still a commitment. And uh so that's something just to be a better business owner and to be better at my business so that I can help my clients to be better in their businesses. What am I missing? What am I not seeing? Uh, so that I could just learn new things. That's one thing. Another thing is that I'm always committed to my fit physical fitness. Um, somebody said to me once when I was speaking, uh, this was probably about 12 years ago, uh, and I remember his name, and uh, do not hold him in high esteem, but he still said something that I needed to hear. Because I was going through the divorce and you know, was eating my way through the divorce, and he said, Joe, you're a really good speaker, but man, you need to lose weight. And so I won't say the words that came out of, you know, came to mind at that time, but I was uh I took that to heart, and uh, and from that day on, I've tried to take really good care of myself. And I and I have to tell you, Pedro, that that also you can see that in when I'm taking better care of myself physically, it shows in my how I perform. When I'm not, which is not very often, but when I'm not, it shows in how I perform. And I want to be that example for my clients that that I take care of myself so that they take care of themselves. I can't tell them to go out uh when when the poop's hitting the fan. I can't tell them to go out for a walk to uh to change their physiology if I'm sitting on the couch all the time eating potato chips while I'm in my coaching sessions. You know, so I have to be that example. So though that's another area that I'm always working on myself, but part of that, not just because I want to live to over a hundred years old, but also because I want to be a better business owner. And I really feel strongly that the best business owners always take care of themselves physically. I mean, it's just it's become very clear to me, to uh to me. Um I don't know where else to go with this to answer that. I feel like I went on a little bit of a tangent there.

Pedro Stein 36:07

I asked about challenges in this in the business, and you're like, I want to lose weight, and I'm I keep losing weight, I'm like, okay.

Joe Novara 36:14

No, okay, but I get it. But that was so the challenge in the business, yeah. So coming back to that part, you and you were asking me where do I want to go with the business? But the challenge in the business, I'm gonna be very honest with you, Pedro, is uh, you know, I've owned uh a nice size printing company, I've run other people's printing companies. I I uh was a real estate broker in New York City for a period of time. The thing that I would say that I struggle with the most still is other is employees or having team members. I nobody is ever going to do it as well as I do it. They're not gonna do it exactly the way I do want them to do it, and uh, and they're not gonna do it up to the level, the standards that I have. And so I struggle with that internally. And uh and I'm very honest about it. It's something that I'm working on, and uh, and I feel that I am not going to really break through to that next level until I break through that mindset, and I'm very and I'm aware of it, I'm working on it, but uh, but it's still there.

Pedro Stein 37:26

Okay. Love the honesty. Now, let's step in into sci-fi territory here for a second. Let's pretend we have a time machine in front of us, Joe. Okay. You can go back in time when you open shop, right? We're talking about founded in 2013 in your business, a growth academy coaching that had a different name back then. But you can go back in time and you can give yourself one piece of business advice you issued new back then that you know now, right? Why would that be?

Joe Novara 37:58

It would be to to to not be a general uh to not just focus on the uh the network coaching because I I would had a lot of experience already at that point, and there was a lot that I could be working with people on right out the gate, and I was limiting myself, and uh, and it took a long time to get people to see me differently because I had just become known as the networking guy, and I had to work really hard to break free from that once I started uh when I created the program Goal Execution Coaching, I had to break free from that because it was difficult. Uh, I was just that's all people they knew me as two things either the networking guy or the Joe the printer, you know, from when I own my printing company.

Pedro Stein 38:50

Okay. You know, if someone listening wants to connect with you or follow your work, where can people find you and connect with you? And by the way, Joe, we're gonna have all the links in the description, but what's the best way for people to do so?

Joe Novara 39:05

Yeah, uh, I mean, if somebody wants to just follow, you know, check my check me out, they can go to my website, which is growthacademycoaching.com. Uh, if anybody would be interested in learning more about our the signature two-day event, that's total businessbreakthrough.com. And uh, and but in growthacademycoaching.com, you can easily schedule the uh a complimentary coaching call with it'll be with either me or JP, and uh and you'd get an opportunity to just uh see who I am. Um and I'd love to get to meet who some of these people are, is really the truth.

Pedro Stein 39:42

Okay, you know, certain golden nuggets I need to highlight from our conversation today. Okay, so let's start with the origin story. You were your business was a victim of a divorce, a bad divorce, right? And then you had a pivot. And then we were talking about uh that guy giving that speech, right? And teaching people on the sales and management and all that, and how that sparked your your inner self to do something different with your life. And coaching uh stepped in, right? Um, you mentioned something that it was really interesting, that your story was not as interesting as a superhero story. Now I have beg me to differ, okay? Please beg I beg to differ. And the reason I do so it's because I think superheroes are are there to inspire people, turn it the impossible possible. And that guy did that, right? He inspired you in a way to start this journey. So there's that, okay. Then uh the Mary Kay uh example. I love that example. It's almost like I love when we're talking shop, talking business, you know, and uh about the positioning bit, like you compared anyone with skin versus anyone who wants to be more beautiful and afford the best products. So people self-select themselves before even talking with them. They understand they have some standards, and it's not gonna be the cheapest product. So we're avoiding already a conversation of, oh, your rates are too high, you know. So yeah, it they are for a reason, right? It's about the transformation. Yeah, I'm not here to to talk about my value. This is not gonna happen in this conversation. So I love that. Um, other thing um that I that really I really thought it was pretty cool was um the drive, right? You want to help as many business owners to just be better. At the end of the day, so simple, but so impactful too. Because shout out to Earl here, right? In his 60 plus and his making the commitment at that time to help 10,000 business owners. So here's the kicker, right? Earl made it because he created the ripple effect, the legacy that lives in you, in a way, yes, right? Um, and I think whenever people hit a certain age, they're will be tackled with wisdom so they understand it's not about them, it's about the entire world they live in and how they can impact more people and how they can be valuable, you know. And um, kudos to world. So he he realized that and helped you, you know, pick it up on the torch. Now, this is just my long-winded way of saying that I appreciate what you do, and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today. You know, Joe, it was great having you on.

Joe Novara 42:25

Thank you, my friend. I really so enjoyed this.

Davis Nguyen 42:28

That's it for this episode. This episode, as well as this podcast, was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help business owners elevate their business to six, seven, and eight figure years all without burning out. If you're looking to grow your business as well as get the time freedom that you are looking for, visit us at join purplecircle.com and see what we can do to help you and your business.