[FF] Author Gino Wickman on What it Takes to Be an Entrepreneur: The ROI Online Podcast Ep. 115

Is it worth it to have your own business? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? On this Feature Friday episode of the ROI Online Podcast, Steve talks with entrepreneur and author Gino Wickman about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, how to find your true passion, and what the benefits are of owning your business.

Gino has been an entrepreneur since the age of 21. He’s always had an obsession for learning what makes businesses and entrepreneurs thrive. Gino is the founder of EOS Worldwide, an organization that helps thousands of businesses implement EOS(R), the Entrepreneurial Operating System. There are more than 100,000 companies using the EOS tools worldwide. Now, Gino devotes his time and energy toward helping entrepreneurs-in-the-making take their own entrepreneurial leap.

It’s totally normal to have second thoughts about leaving your monthly salary and starting a business of your own. There’s a lot at risk involved, but it is also very rewarding. And in these uncertain times, who better than to trust but yourself to create something incredible?

Among other things, Gino and Steve discussed:

• The essential characteristics of an entrepreneur
• Whether entrepreneurs are born or made
• Strengths and weaknesses of an entrepreneur
• The benefits of an entrepreneur
• How you can find your passion 
• Whether or not entrepreneurs need a strategy
• The main reasons entrepreneurs experience daily stress
• How to stay positive as an entrepreneur

You can learn more about Gino here:

Follow Gino on LinkedIn

Visit https://e-leap.com/ to Take the Free Entrepreneur-in-the-Making Assessment!

Visit and Subscribe to the Entrepreneurial Leap YouTube Channel

Read the books mentioned in this podcast:

The Golden Toilet by Steve Brown

Entrepreneurial Leap by Gino Wickman

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Transcript

Gino Wickman: 0:04

the industry that you're best suited for the type of business or your product or your service are you b2b or b2c are you high price low cost are you someone who's going to build a 10 person company are you someone who's going to build a 10,000 person company every entrepreneur is now not cut out to build every business and so there's there's a genetic encoding you have there's something you're drawn to there's something you're built for and this kind of helps you chisel away you are a block of marble and i'm helping you see the sculpture that you are inside of that block of marble and chip away all the superfluous material so you clearly know what you're billed for the world is preaching and teaching billion dollar tech unicorns is what you know it's the ultimate destination for an entrepreneur and it's just not true

Steve Brown: 0:52

hi everybody welcome to the roi online podcast where we believe you the courageous entrepreneurs of our day are the invisible heroes of our economy you not only improve our world with your ideas your grit and your passion but you make our world better i'm Steve Brown and this is the place where we have great conversations with winners just like you while we laugh and learn together gino wickman welcome to the roi online podcast

Unknown: 1:26

thank you steve

Gino Wickman: 1:27

i'm thrilled to be here and look forward to helping some people today

Steve Brown: 1:31

so i'm excited because i have a little story that that happens to be about your book and where the idea for my book and i'm like you i believe the invisible heroes of our economy or are the entrepreneurs those people that risk everything their future their family's future on some some hope that they're they're going to create a business that provides us the services that change our lives and actually in aggregate employ all these people in the workforce and they're so important so i'm on a plane and i'm flying to san francisco to go to a google conference at google next conference and i'm i'm reading one of your books and you can see right here on my shelf they're there they've been that way for a while but i'm reading what what the heck is he oh s right and eos is for those that don't know what you're not that many people eos is the entrepreneurial operating system and it's a beautiful book that you wrote to help empower an organization to share with their team this is what we're implementing and i was marveling at how simple it was but i was hit with this epiphany that i had a version of the entrepreneurial business marketing and sale system and that was the confirmation that i got on what my book should be about and what i should do i would just wasn't calling it that so gino thank you for helping me work through that yeah that challenge

Gino Wickman: 3:07

yeah my pleasure that's makes my day and music to my ears so happy that that inspired you

Steve Brown: 3:13

so your book entrepreneurial leap i have a right here so this book your mission is to to help a million entrepreneurs figure out whether this gig is what they should be doing or not and i love it but but here's the thing it's so sexy every instagram post that we see is telling us you need to be an entrepreneur because it's what everybody's doing it sexy and you just work hard enough you can make it happen but that's not really the truth

Gino Wickman: 3:50

yeah unfortunately is not and so i've got bad news and the bad news is only 4% of us are entrepreneurs true entrepreneurs and and so i say that to start with because you know this passion project and this book that i wrote is designed to find all of the true entrepreneurs in the world and show them the life that they were born to live and and in provide them that freedom and i say the bad news is you know the subtitle of the book is do you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur and you said it there's so much hype and media and promotion about becoming an entrepreneur and be an entrepreneur in the 70s and 80s everybody wanted to be a rock star you know and now everybody wants to be an entrepreneur and it's dangerous because everybody shouldn't be an entrepreneur 4% i said here's the reality most entrepreneurs die broke okay it is a tough life the the risk is high the odds are slim and it's not for everybody it's a board it's it's borderline crazy becoming an entrepreneur but i would trade it for anything. And what I believe as a true entrepreneur has six essential traits, and we can get into those later, but you're born with them, or you're not. And you either have them or you don't. And so entrepreneurship is not this Pinnacle, this ultimate destination, the only career choice in life, it's one of 1000, and that everyone's cut out for it. And it's not as glamorous as everyone thinks. So for the crazy ones that are I'm showing them a path to become very successful. And for the ones that aren't, I'm providing them clarity and saving them 10 years of hell, because there's some other purpose for you, that's going to be amazing. And this may not be it.

Steve Brown: 5:41

I love it, you have some great stories in your book. But you know, in chapter one, I wanted that. And so these are questions that I get. And so I want, you know, I'm looking for your answers. But what are the essential characteristics of an entrepreneur? It seems like it'd be obvious I'm a risk taker. But there's there several more.

Gino Wickman: 6:01

Yeah. So I actually call them essential traits, but characteristics traits, Potato, potato, I actually do a riff in one of the chapters in the book about all of the characteristics, I believe there's, you know, 20, or 30 characteristics. But there are six essential traits. And like I said, I believe you're born with these, I don't believe they can be taught. And listen, I hope I'm wrong. Hopefully, they can be taught because then we'll have even more entrepreneurs. But let's pretend I'm right, and that you're born with them. I'm going to share them with you right now. And what I love for your listener to do is to just do a checkup on themselves, do they have all six of these things? And so these are the six essential traits. They are visionary, passionate, problem solver, driven, risk taker and responsible. And so those are the six

Steve Brown: 6:51

responsible? That seems like what do you mean by responsible,

Gino Wickman: 6:58

I love it. That's always my favorite one to talk about. Because that one makes the point the best that you're born with these and they can't be taught. So responsible. This trait is a person who blames no one, there are two types of people in the world. And so there's people that when something goes wrong, they blame everyone else. And then there's another type of person that looks to themselves blames themselves take responsibility, they look into the mirror, when something goes wrong, they're willing to take and run with the ball. They don't believe in entitlement. And and so two things. One, as I heard this described best as to a person who takes responsibility and is responsible. If it's an entrepreneur who owns a building, if they're building gets hit with a meteor, they believe that's their fault. They chose the building, they built the building, they chose to move there, they are responsible, where the rest of the world blames everyone else for that happening or blames other things. And the second point is, here's how I know you're born with it. You know, it's pick a family of four children, okay. And so now those of you out there listening, think about your siblings, and brothers and sisters and people you know, in the world. But if you think about each one of them, when something goes wrong for them, you can put them in one of two camps. They either take total responsibility, or they blame it blame everyone else. Well, how is it that in a family of four And so again, think about your family, whatever the number of siblings, some take responsibility, and some don't, same parents, same upbringing, same everything. Why is it so different? And so to me, it's because you're either born with this responsible trait, or you're not?

Steve Brown: 8:40

Yeah, that's tough. And so these are questions that you have to ask yourself and be really honest about because being an entrepreneur is really a serious gig, you have people's their jobs are depending upon you the end, if you just decide one day, this is just too hard. I don't want to do this anymore. It's so well for them,

Gino Wickman: 9:00

you got it in you know, I'm so passionate about this, again, it's a cautionary tale, I'm trying to make sure you have them so you can become an entrepreneur or you don't so to save you those 10 years of hell. So I actually created an assessment that you can take online at the website at E dash lead. com, it's free in 10 minutes, you score 90 or higher odds are you possess these six essential traits, and anything lower, you may be missing some. And again, it's just my caution to you that maybe you shouldn't take the leap at the end of the day. It's a decision that you have to make for yourself.

Steve Brown: 9:32

So Gina, why do you say that entrepreneurs are born, not made? Well, again, it

Gino Wickman: 9:37

goes back to these six essential traits. I believe you are born with these traits, you know, it's in your makeup, it's in your genes. And so we could go through each one and it would take us 30 minutes to go deep into each one, just like I explained responsible. But when you think about the visionary trait as an example, again, we can pick any one of the people that are visionary have this initiative credible ability to connect the dots, they put things together, they just see things in a way that others don't, they're literally able to see around corners. And then there's some people that just don't, and it's okay. And you're never going to learn that it's, it's it is truly a gift that you are born with. And so that's just another example. And I could keep going with all six, but you just, you know, my experience is you don't learn these things,

Steve Brown: 10:24

the frustration with seeing the things that others is like, it's hard on you. And you're going what I don't understand why you guys are pushing back, or why you're asking all these stupid questions, because Can't you see, it's going them, it's going to happen, but it's hard for them. And it does, it feels like they're being critical or not believing you.

Gino Wickman: 10:46

Yeah. And it's and it's a blessing and a curse. It is a strength and a weakness. Because people with this visionary trait, you know, they typically have ADD, they're hyper, hyperactive, lots of ideas, their brains are always going and so they're distracted. They're seeing things they're trying to focus, it's one of the biggest entrepreneurial challenges is to not get distracted by all the shiny stuff and all the opportunities that you see in the world, because success comes from picking one thing focusing and executing that well. And so it's as much a blessing as it is a curse. The discussion about passion in that chapter really resonated with me. And I love the line in there. It's like your passion is what's going to give you this energy to plow through when it feels like you're losing when you're failing, and you're still going to stick to it. And I always talk about you know, it's it's passion, I believe it's the number one reason entrepreneurs succeed, because having deep passion for something is the only reason you're going to get up every time you get knocked down. And being an entrepreneur and building a business, you get knocked down constantly. And it's borderline insanity to keep getting up and trying to create this thing that you're creating. But that's what we do. And we're we're relentless in wanting to pursue that passion.

Steve Brown: 12:06

We talk about the strengths of a entrepreneur, but there's also these weaknesses. So let's talk a little bit about what what are those that it seems sexy that I'm an entrepreneur, but the there's a flip side of that, that there's a lot of baggage that comes with that.

Gino Wickman: 12:21

Yeah. And so with that, you know, we're glamorizing all of these wonderful traits. But every one of these trades has an equal downside. And I do a riff in the book, and I share all of these downsides. So there are probably 20 of them, but I'm gonna give you some high level ones. Because as I already mentioned, you know, a true entrepreneur almost always has a DD or ADHD, and I believe it's a gift. But it is challenging, because you're always so distracted. A lot of them have OCD, a lot of them have dyslexia. And with this challenge, though, with this driven trait, you're sometimes very dominant, you're off putting to people around you, you're intimidating to people around you, because you're so freaking intense. And people just want you to like back off, slow down, calm down. And so that comes off as as off putting, you know, a true entrepreneur. Ironically, people are surprised by this. But they're actually not great at finances, and bookkeeping and the p&l, I still can't read a p&l and a financial statement. I've been doing this for 30 years. They're great at making money. That's not what we're talking about. It's the keeping the money that they are challenged with. And as I mentioned earlier, all entrepreneur not all most entrepreneurs die broke, because it's a it's a weakness, and I could keep going, but those are some of the high level ones.

Steve Brown: 13:46

Yeah, that's them, keeping an eye on the numbers. And then they they're always justifying that this new thing is going to be the next upgrade the next level. And it puts you at risk every time you do that. You're putting yourself at risk. And yet that's what you don't mind putting things at risk.

Gino Wickman: 14:06

Yeah, exactly. Right. You know, and I can't help but now sudden, my mind's racing because, you know, they're not great at managing people. They're not great at holding people accountable. They're not great with details. They're so I mean, it's, it's not all great, man. It's not all great. But it's I wouldn't trade it for anything. When you

Steve Brown: 14:23

wait. When you're, you're in this decision. Stage like you're deciding, am I am I an entrepreneur, those around you that love you, they're going to point those negative things out to you, which makes you feel like oh, I could be making a big mistake. You're almost never in a position of confidence because everyone around you is seeing all the things from their perspective, which is generally non entrepreneurial.

Gino Wickman: 14:52

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, I talked about Daniel Kennedy's quote, that is we teach what we needed the most and so the reason I created it neuro leap. And the reason for this passion project to impact a million entrepreneurs in the making over the next 10 years is because of my 18 year old self. When I was 18. As an entrepreneur in the making, I didn't know I was an entrepreneur back then. So I was this mislabeled, derelict, insecure kid confused, because I was so different from everybody else. I didn't get what I was. And that's so challenging. And it makes me think of, you know, the entrepreneur in the making, you know, the 13 year old kid, be at a boy or a girl, in a family of, you know, whatever it is doctors, teachers, whatever, but a non entrepreneurial family, that poor kid is an alien, that poor kid is on Mars, and they just feel so out of place. And so yes, absolutely, you can and do feel lost. And this book is designed to give hope to both those parents, so they know what the heck it

Unknown: 15:57

is that they have

Gino Wickman: 15:58

here. And for that kid that realizes, here's what I am. And here's why I'm so different than all of these other career choices.

Steve Brown: 16:07

Yeah, so you're listening to or you're watching the ROI online Podcast, where interviewing Gino Whitman, his book, his entrepreneurial leap, he's written six books sold over a million copies. And he didn't sell all of those out of the back of his car. He's sold it by pure hustle. He's built and sold two companies. One was he took over his dad's company, and then his other his entrepreneurial operating system. And so we're talking about how you can find out whether you have the chops to be an entrepreneur or not with his new book, entrepreneurial leap. So Gino, this passion conversation where we can get tripped up on our passion, and maybe it's not our real passion. But is there a passion test that you can take?

Gino Wickman: 16:59

Yeah, and I wouldn't call it a passion test this I don't know why this topic is so hot. Like in this last 30 days. You I can't tell you, me people I've asked zeroed in on this question as of late. And so I love it. I'm very passionate about the topic of passion. And so I write an entire chapter on this. And so high level context, the book is written in three parts confirm glimpse path. And there's a very important science behind that linear flow. Because first we want to confirm whether you are or aren't. And that entrepreneur in the making assessment on the website will help you determine that glimpse is to show all the possibilities path is to show a path to greatly increase your odds of success. But what I write an entire chapter in path on discovering your passion, because this is so important. And I offer seven tools to discover your passion. So literally seven exercises and tools to help you get there. So it's not so much about a test, as it is a soul searching journey to find your passion. We all have one. And what's interesting about the way this has been asked as of late is, there's confusion out there because there's talk about how you know what if I'm not passionate about my product or service, how can I succeed. And the truth of the matter is, it's not always a passion about the product or service. And I would suggest to you it's rarely passionate about the product or service. And the passion tends to fall in one of four categories. It's either a passion about the end user, the customer, the client, who you're trying to impact. I am passionate about entrepreneurs and impacting their lives, and giving them the ideal life. So that's where my passion lies. The second is a passion for the organization, you're building, you want to build something great a culture, that's incredible. The third is about innovation and ideas and creativity. And then the fourth is about winning, crushing competitors being the best being number one, that's where I find most of the passions lie. So just know that you can build something great. And it doesn't have to be passion for your product. I've got a client that sells lightbulbs, you're not entirely passionate about light bulbs, but they're passionate about building an incredible organization. Again, another client, they sell toner cartridges, so they're not passionate about toner cartridges. for them. It's about building an incredible culture that is second to none. And so those are all the different types of passions. So don't feel like it's, you know, let's see. So maybe it needs to be about you know, window washing. It's not about that. It's something deeper in your passion typically always stems from a wound, or a pain or a past experience or something from your past. That's what's typical. And I give again, a bunch of exercises to help you discover it.

Steve Brown: 19:47

Hey, I wanted to pause right here and tell you about a book that you need to get today. It's the funniest book on marketing. It's called the Golden toilet. Stop flushing your marketing budget into your website. Buy and build a system that grows your business. And guess who wrote it? That's right. I wrote it. And I wrote it just for you. Because I want to help you get past the last hurdles of setting up your business and getting it squared away. I wrote it so that you can avoid time wasting time wasting money, wasting frustration, get the book on Audible. You can get it on Kindle. You can get it on Amazon, but get the book, take advantage of the insights in there. And let me know what you think. And now back to this excellent episode. Yeah, I think that's really important because you think about entrepreneurs getting ready to, to take the leap to step out, hold themselves accountable. But it's like you don't know where to start necessarily. And you're wondering, and you're in this system, or this process, the way to think it through can be so empowering. Here, here. So do you know, do entrepreneurs need a strategy? That's obviously the answer is going to be yes. But what kind of strategy? Gino?

Gino Wickman: 21:13

Yeah. So I don't call it strategy, I call it vision, but potato potahto. Okay, it's all in the same plan, vision, a strategy, call it what you want to call it. And I'm gonna pull a couple things together that we're talking about, because when I talked about confirm glimpse path are the three parts to the book. And each one of those parts of the book, they offer a free tool that's going to help you create crystal clear clarity around what you want to create. And we call it the 123 roadmap. And so in confirm, it's filling out that assessment, and glimpse, it's filling out something called my biz match. Again, each tool is free at the website, he definitely calm and so my biz match is going to help you decide the perfect business for you. The business, you're drawn to the business, you're built for type size industry, all of it. And then the third tool is called my vision clarifier. And this gets to the answer to your question, because my vision clarifier is getting you to think of eight aspects of your vision and get really clear on those things. Who is your customer? What is your message? What is your pricing structure? What is the 10 year goal? What is the three year picture, what is the one year plan in boiling it all the way down to a 90 day actionable plan. And so for me, I call that a vision, not a strategy. But a strategy expert would call that a strategy. But what I teach is that you have to get that vision out of your head, on paper, and into the heads and minds of others if you're going to build something great. And all of that combined. Again, it's called 123 roadmap in that you can do those three exercises in an hour, you go to the website, you'll click on the one to three roadmap button. And out of that will give you a clear plan to start a better startup, as I like to call it.

Steve Brown: 23:09

I didn't have the luxury of having your book, when I began my entrepreneurial journey. And then I'm wasted years because there's this thought process of Can I make money doing this? I need to start a business. And so I was looking at it What can make me money? Not what am I best suited for. So I really enjoyed that. That section of your book that helps you look at different businesses and start to see the categories and then start to figure out where your best use of your time is. You're here. And so that's

Gino Wickman: 23:46

it. I really appreciate you saying that because I'm going to try and articulate the goal because at the end of the day, the goal is clarity. And the clarity is about once you realize you had the six essential trades, I want you to understand that you are genetically encoded to build something. And my biz match helps you decide the industry that you're best suited for the type of business or your product or your service or your b2b or b2c or your high price, low cost. Are you someone who's going to build a 10 person company? Are you someone who's going to build a 10,000 person company, every entrepreneur is now not cut out to build every business. And so there's there's a genetic encoding you have. There's something you're drawn to there's something you're built for. And this kind of helps you chisel away You are a block of marble, and I'm helping you see the sculpture that you are inside of that block of marble and chip away all the superfluous material. So you clearly know what you're built for the world is preaching and teaching billion dollar tech unicorns is what you know, it's the ultimate destination for an entrepreneur and it's just not true. There's no shame in building a $5 million heating and cooling company with 50 people that makes an impact Packed on that community.

Steve Brown: 25:02

That was one part of the book I really liked. Because you're right, everyone's setting up. Steve Jobs, you need to be put a dent in the universe. And that's what everyone's thinks. They're being programmed. That's what you the expectation of your entrepreneurial journey is supposed to be, but it's not theirs. I call them invisible heroes, because there's 1000s of those that are non obvious. And yet they're successful. And you talk about them in your book.

Gino Wickman: 25:28

Yeah. And you know, there's a quote that Jim Collins shares in Good to Great, and it literally gives me chills up my spine, when I read that book for the first time. 20 years ago, I read that quote, and the quote is the greatest company in America, we will never find, because it's some$10 million company that doesn't want to be known. It's this great little company that doesn't care about the recognition and the accolades. They just care about making an impact in their community. And and so when I read that, I said, I want to build that company. And I really believe that I did with EOS worldwide. And then I sold it when it got there. Because it's no fun to me after that, but but to me, that's what it's all about, is you deciding what you want to build, and who gives a shit what anybody else on the planet thinks build your business and no one else's,

Steve Brown: 26:20

I love that you build your business and no one else's. So how do I stay positive as an entrepreneur, you have a great chapter that talks about that.

Gino Wickman: 26:31

So in what I talked about is it's about how to stay motivated, educated, keep learning. And so there are hundreds of ways to do it. And what I offer in the book are all the different ways to do it, because we all have our own formula. And so for some, it's watching YouTube videos, there is now there, you know, there's what a million hours of motivational material, there's a million hours of educational materials for entrepreneurs about building businesses. And so if that's your thing, watching videos, that's a great way for you to stay educated, stay motivated. Reading books, I give a list of my recommended reading, it's also on the website. So you can look at that for free on the website. E dash lead calm, but reading books. So I've always been a book reader what? I'm amazed that when I look back at my last 30 years, and the hundreds and hundreds of books that I read, how they've shaped my thinking, my my philosophies, they keep me motivated, they give me ideas, just like you read my book, and you had an aha moment, you're reading this book about a completely different topic. And you got an aha moment. Well, that's what happens. And so I do it through reading. Mentors can help keep you motivated, masterminds can keep you motivated, taking classes. So again, there's so many different ways listening to motivational speakers, you just have to decide your formula for staying motivated. Then the other thing too, in my 20s. Back then it was cassette tapes to aid to date myself, but you know, it's like, Earl Nightingale was the strangest secret, okay, and les Browns you deserve. I listened to those two cassette tapes hundreds of times, and you can listen to them now for free on YouTube. So I strongly urge every listener to go listen to Earl Nightingale the Strangest Secret. Earl Nightingale is the godfather of motivation. He's the original motivator and that tape the Strangest Secret, which is now that content is being retaught and reproduced many different ways. That's the original source material other than like the Bible or something, but it is so powerful about how we become what we think about. And so there's just so much information out there, you just got to go out and access it.

Steve Brown: 28:41

So one of your books really helped me feel better about what I was feeling. And that's when forgetting them the exact book. Didn't want to say it wrong, but it talks about the visionary. Yeah, the rocket.

Gino Wickman: 28:56

rocket fuel is what you're talking about

Steve Brown: 28:58

rocket fuel. Yeah. And so when I read, it was like, This relief came over me because everyone in the organization felt it was weird. And I was dealing with this. I my Should I try to be more like them. But when I read that as like, Oh, it's okay to be me. Here here. And and

Gino Wickman: 29:17

that, you know, so again, that book is called rocket fuel. And what that book is teaching is this concept that if you score 90 or higher on the entrepreneur in the making assessment, and you take your leap and you start your business, as you build your business as an entrepreneur, I consider your role what I call a visionary, okay? And so I've coined this term, visionary, and integrator, okay. And so as a visionary entrepreneur, you are wild and crazy and you have all those strengths and all those weaknesses we've talked about. Well, in the chapter on the nine stages of building your business in this book, I talk about how every visionary and At some point on their journey of growth needs to find and counterbalance themselves with what I call an integrator. And an integrator is a very different role sometimes known as General Manager, CEO, President. But this is someone who's the Yin to your Yang. And they are basically the person that harmoniously integrates the business and executes the plan for you to free you up to continue to grow the organization. And so you're the visionary. If you score 90 or higher, you need an integrator at some point, your journey, and that's what rocket fuel teaches, is the A to Z and understanding that assessing that how to find that ultimately how to build that. And then I teach a little bit of it in this book, entrepreneurial leap.

Steve Brown: 30:42

Yeah. So that integrator is like one of your most important decisions, it can be a make or break for you. And so it's like something that is so important, but for you to realize it first, then start to position yourself to take advantage of that that's a real key to success. I met those invisible success stories, that in some part of their story that day that they identified their integrator, the right one was one of the days that they really started to take off and get

Gino Wickman: 31:15

going. And you know, we have 100,000 companies running on EOS and we EOS implementers have taken 10,000 companies through the process. I can assure you there's at least 8000 stories like that, and we hear them every single day. It is transformative for a visionary the day they put their integrator in place.

Steve Brown: 31:36

So Gino, this has been an awesome conversation. And so just so everybody knows I have an exclusive that YouTube part where we talked with Gino and we got his answer to how to be taken seriously as a young entrepreneur. That's a big thing. There's a lot going on there. So to learn what Geno's answer is, you need to go to our YouTube channel and hear that so Gino? You've got six books, she's sold over a million copies. Your latest one is entrepreneurial leap. You're helping your mission is to get a million entrepreneurs teed up and heading in the right direction. But what's the one question that in all these interviews you do? You never get asked? But you want to answer?

Unknown: 32:23

Hmm, wow, that's a good one. Um, oh.

Gino Wickman: 32:32

which one to pick, you know, I guess I'll pick something that I'm quite passionate about. And, you know, my wish for everyone is that is as soon as possible in life, you get comfortable in your own skin and let your freak flag fly. Okay, and so it's, it's, it's, I got to come up with the right word here so that I can make sense, but it's, it's palatable. The insecurity that exists in the world. And it's, it's, it's a shame, and it's sad. And it's heartbreaking. Because it's a bunch of people being judged and feeling judged and not truly being themselves. And for me, I mean, it took me to like 42 I'm 53 and I don't give two shits what anybody thinks about me, and it is fucking freeing. So you can edit out all the swearing I love to swear. But But, you know, I think of my insecure self at 18 I think of all these people, but man the day you give yourself the freedom to just be yourself, Know thyself, go on a journey of self discovery, take assessment tools, read books, know who you are top to bottom and just freely be that in the world, you'll be happier, you'll accomplish more, you'll attract more of the people that you want to attract to you. And you'll repel all the ones that you don't want around you. Because what you're doing in most cases is you're trying to be all things to all people and and you're gonna die miserable in that formula. So that's the question. I wish

Steve Brown: 34:18

everybody would ask me. And as you're talking, as you're saying that I'm thinking about, you know, your book is perfect for all these people that have been in a job. They've been doing their best to pay their bills, take care of their family, but they've had this entrepreneur desire lurking in them and then all of a sudden this past year, things change. They lost their job. They they realize that this, the writing's on the wall that they can't continue on in this certain position. And this is a potential solution for them that maybe they've not considered or been avoiding.

Gino Wickman: 34:56

Yeah, and when I save that, you know, let your freak flag fly and be yourself i'm talking to the accountant the police officer the nurse the mom the dad in other words this isn't about entrepreneurship this is about be you and imagine if everyone was just freely 100% themselves i just think it'd be a better world and so you're asking what question do i wish people would ask you know it's like what is the great greatest piece of advice you would give a person you know so if that was the question i would ask if i were asked that's the that's the answer i

Steve Brown: 35:32

would give i love it thank you gino gino you've been an awesome guest on the roi online podcast where where do people need to connect with you what do they need where can they get the book tell us all that information

Gino Wickman: 35:46

please yeah you bet so the epicenter of all things entrepreneurial leap is the website e dash leap calm there you will find that free assessment you can download a free chapter of the book i certainly hope you buy the book but everything is there 123 roadmap the my biz match the my vision clarifier and a whole bunch of other tools and resources we put out a video every single week i write an article every other week but the other thing i would suggest to and offer up is the way i'm building this model it's a passion project and so the mission is to impact a million entrepreneurs in the making and so what i'm doing is i'm joining forces with what i call collaborators and collaborators or anyone out there in the world that are teaching coaching guiding helping mentoring entrepreneurs in the making and what i do is i give them all of my content for free to freely teach in the world no money exchanges hands no content no contracts and all i ask in return is you give credit where credit is due and so if anyone out there is interested in becoming a collaborator click on the click on the become a collaborator button on the website and you'll learn all about what that means if that's something that you know is in your area of passion other than that everything's there at the website

Steve Brown: 37:02

well that's in our area of passion and this is kind of our first little mini reveal we're spinning up what's called the roi university and it's a place for entrepreneurs to come connect with other like minded people and find their resources like the eally material i did fill out the information and become a collaborator and that's some stuff that we would like to share as well so you know we're on the same page brother

Unknown: 37:29

love it steve love it

Steve Brown: 37:31

all right and that's a wrap thanks for listening to another fun episode of the roi online podcast for more be sure to check out the show notes of this episode and feel free to connect with me on linkedin where we can chat and i can help direct you to the resources you're searching for to learn more about how you can grow your business better be sure to pick up your copy of my book the golden toilet at surprise that golden toilet.com i'm Steve Brown and we'll see you next week on another fun episode of the roi online podcast