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Ditch the 9-5 Grind: Discover the Freedom and Challenges of Entrepreneurship
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Aug 5, 2024
#crazyfitnessguy #weeklymotivationwithcrazyfitnessguy #crazyfitnessguyhealthylivingpodcast #jimmyclare Escape the monotony of the 9-5 grind and discover a life beyond traditional work hours. In this eye-opening video, we delve into the world of remote work, entrepreneurship, and unconventional career paths that can set you free. Say goodbye to the daily commute and hello to a flexible lifestyle filled with passion and purpose. Ready to break free from the norm? Watch now! Where To Watch?📺 Watch our show live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch or on our website at https://www.crazyfitnessguy.com/ About The Guest Elona is the Visionary CEO of The Life School , Speaker, Best Selling Author to numerous books, Show and Speaking Events Organizer to an audience of over 30,000 heart driven service based entrepreneurs and corporations. She is both a servant community builder and a people connector. She is a Prior Fortune 500 CEO also Featured in Disrupt, NY Weekly, Business Insider, CEO Weekly, The Business News & Famous Times. She is the CEO of The Life School where they help Visionary Leaders CEOs grow legacy purpose driven businesses through Inner Alignment, Branding, Marketing, Sales and Team so that they can maximize their Impact and Income to do more good in the world.
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0:00
Welcome to another episode of Crazy Fitness Guy, Healthy Living Podcast
0:08
I Shreak Weekly Motivation with Crazy Fitness Guy. I keep forgetting how much of that was a mouthful, but I'm just going to go with it
0:16
And today, before I introduce my guest, I just want to say that there's a new feature
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well, sorry, not a new feature, new service launching at Crazy Fitness Guy
0:30
today at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter to find out because I'm not going to make
0:41
I don't think I'm going to make it public yet until probably Monday
0:46
So first come first served. Ha ha ha. You must subscribe. Oh, I'm sorry
0:53
But anyway, that's my announcement for today. I'll say my usual spiel at the end of the end
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it at the episode, you know, where people can follow me, et cetera
1:05
Let's just dive into this today's episode. So today, my guest, she is a well-known entrepreneur
1:12
She is, I actually took a lot, like a lot of better stuff, and it's very impressive
1:20
She makes me look bad. She makes me look like an amateur
1:25
But I mean that in a sincere good way. but let's welcome my guest out
1:31
Thanks for coming on the show. Well, thank you so much, Jimmy
1:35
There's definitely no need for comparison. We're all on our unique paths and journeys, right
1:40
And as long as we inspire one another, I think that's the goal. So thank you for having me
1:46
So before we got started, can you tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do
1:50
how you got started, and why you got started? Yeah, so I'm the CEO and founder of the Light School
1:56
and I have purpose-driven entrepreneurs and CEOs, a legacy company for branding, marketing, sales systems, and team
2:02
And the whole purpose behind that is that so that they can align their purpose with their profits
2:07
so they can do more good in the world and really solve two main problems that usually people in business have with profit
2:15
lack of consistent cash flow, and also once they want to create more impact
2:20
they don't necessarily know how to scale beyond what they have already built
2:26
So that is what I do. And how I got started is that I've been living in New York for 25 years and moved here natively from Albania with my immigrant parents, I should say
2:40
I was the oldest child that I've seen a lot of struggle. They wanted me to really have the American dream, meaning successful career
2:46
So I did that for many years. I climbed the corporate ladder. However, the company I was working for was acquired by another company and they turned into a profit-driven culture
2:56
So I was no longer aligned with, you know, the culture there. And I was no longer feeling like I was contributing
3:02
So that's where the journey to entrepreneurship showed up for me. And I ventured I was an entrepreneur
3:08
And I've been working on purpose ever since. Awesome. Yeah. A few key takeaways I want to take away from that is from, I know a lot of people in my family
3:24
and outside of my family who climbed the corporate ladder. And for me, just like, just looking at it, I couldn't work for in corporate
3:38
And the reason why I couldn't do is because I see what it does to people
3:44
Like, oh, I hate my job or my boss is being, hypothetically, my boss being
3:54
a tool, et cetera. I mean, I don't have a boss. I'm my own boss, but I'm just saying hypothetically
4:00
Then one could say, oh, they're being a tool, et cetera, put in a PG-13 anyway. And then my brother
4:11
who happens to be an accountant, I mean, he likes his job now because he's at, I think it's a
4:20
smaller firm or a small place medium size I didn't ask him
4:27
all these nicks and crannies and everything but but he he works reasonable hours
4:34
now but beforehand he was like working like 90 plus hours a week
4:38
and he's coming home at like 2 o'clock in the morning I'm like
4:43
geez you might as well just dick an early grave I mean not that I
4:49
don't that I think having to bad to my brother or anything, but it is like, geez, it's like, that's what's corporate
4:54
lives a little bit? And it's like, no, thank you. And it's like, and then I see other people
5:00
who is like, yeah, I'm just, I'm just putting in the hours and that's it. I'm like, just put in the
5:08
hours, geez. And as I had not my, I was like, there's more than life to them, more to life than
5:15
work. And I was like, but I get a big paycheck. And it's like, but I got a big paycheck. And it's like
5:19
say, money, we can't buy you happiness. Yeah, no, I mean, I think what you just said is absolutely very important
5:28
I know many people in my personal experience, I happen to be very happy for all those years that I worked with them because they, I had really good bosses, people that took care of me and the culture is very healthy
5:38
However, I also seen the other side where you just mentioned that, you know, the people that I worked for no longer appreciated the work I was doing
5:48
the environment was not really healthy, a lot of, you know, I guess, toxicity and the way that people
5:55
will manage things. And usually what happens is that you start getting less engaged, meaning that you just go
6:02
show up, your body is there, but your soul is dying daily because you just, you hate going there
6:08
You don't want to wake up in the morning. And I agree with you. There's more to life, you know, more than money, we need money as a tool to live
6:16
but, you know, at what cost are you actually trading your time for that type of money
6:22
while you're compromising health, happiness, quality of life, your time that you could be
6:28
dedicating to other things. So, yeah, I think that's where entrepreneurship is very lucrative for some people, right
6:35
Even though I do, I have to say that at the beginning phases and stages of your journey
6:40
it could feel like more than a full-time job. Because especially if you do work you love, you will have that problem
6:46
of, you know, getting burned out sometimes because you just feel like you just love what you do
6:52
so you can't stop. So you'll have an opposite problem. However, that's where you need to learn boundaries
6:58
And, you know, some days are better than others. There's no perfect day. But I think as long as you just give yourself time
7:05
to understand what is the day you need to do to be a successful entrepreneur
7:10
then you just all of this stuff becomes habits. And then you just forget about, you know
7:15
the way they used to work before. You just see life and work differently
7:22
You know, it's just that saying that you hear all the time about find work you love and you never work a day in your life
7:29
I think when you work for something that you're trying to build and you are passionate about it
7:34
you just, you're willing to put in hours and you're willing to overcome the challenges that will come your way because it matters to you
7:42
It's important to you. So, yeah. Exactly. For me, at the beginning stages of a crazy fitness guy, I was working on healthy hours
7:55
But that was because I started off on a platform that I kind of wrapped my head around, and then I went to another platform
8:05
I had to stay for a couple of years and then I left for that platform because as I wait a third platform that imports my videos and podcasts versus copy and pasting everything
8:19
I was like, this sounds much, much better. And basically my point is, is that, you know, even though that sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff I do
8:31
as I have to be my own boss and have the answer higher up and worry about
8:36
where they get annoyed at my 100 plus questions because I'm artistic and it's like where
8:44
yeah you know yeah I'm I don't have any employees and I'm doing stuff out of my bedroom but you know
8:52
everything's online so it's not like oh I don't I don't need a an official office space I don't
8:59
need all of a building for my business. And it's like, that's hence online business
9:08
So I was like, I don't care. I was like, it's not professional to be live streaming in your bedroom
9:16
And it's like, well, then somebody should put me in a studio and pay me for being in the studio
9:22
And there you go. Yeah, I mean, that's the beauty of building an online business
9:29
have a lot of the overhead that traditional businesses have, like an office space, rent
9:34
boys, you know, processes, all that stuff. I think it's definitely easier. And you start with what
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you have. We all start as solopreneurs. And I say that with, you know, every time you do something
9:46
and you get educated on what are those important activities that you need to focus on, then it starts
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to become easier because then, you know, you start to look at processes or systems that you can
9:57
implement to make your life easier. And then eventually when you have enough cash flow, maybe start hiring your first couple of
10:03
people that you can delegate all the other things that you don't enjoy doing because that's the
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beauty of this journey as well that we get to work on our gifts and talents
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And maybe the beginning doesn't seem like that because you have to do all of the stuff
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on your own because of maybe the lack of the cash flow that's missing
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But eventually, once all that is coming in, then you get to decide, okay, what are
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what am I personally gifted in that I could add the most value with and then figure out other
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systems or hiring other people that can complement those things and delegate the other parts
10:40
that are not so enjoyable for you. And it's a problem happening
10:45
It's a rinse and repeat as you grow. Yeah. Or it could be, or it was like if you don't feel like you need in a play right away, I could always use some different
10:57
automation tools like Zapier or or I forget the other ones but but you know it was like a simple
11:05
uh simply email reply from a calendar event or whatever or no there's that option too because and I'm
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the thing like able to replace somebody like over and over again but if you just like okay you know
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I'm making consistent money, but also I don't have an office space for somebody to hire somebody
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and I don't really feel like hiring somebody virtual. I can do some automation at times as well
11:41
Yeah, absolutely. There's so many free platforms. We all have started there. But I think once you understand the bigger picture of what's needed to build a successful business
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and that's usually what I teach. So the branding, how to position yourself, your audience, your messaging, and then the marketing piece, and then the sales process, then once you have those things plugged in the business and you as the founder, you know, the solepreneur understand, okay, what's the most important thing that I'm always repeating in order to get the right results, meaning enough clients in your container or in your business, then you can, you know
12:20
think of elevating to other tools that have more features and that can, you know
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free up a lot of your time and making those decisions that way
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But yeah, there's absolutely so many more, so many free tools at the beginning, like, you know
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calendar, you can link one calendar for free, MailChimp, and there's even tools for
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well, now we have chap GPD that can support us with a lot of the messaging and the content
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and it's free unless you upgrade. But yeah, I mean, every tool usually gives a free version
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And then as you learn and grow and you understand, you know, your capacity of what you want to do increases
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you also decide to stay with the same tool because you already put in the time to learn it
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That's usually what I do. Or make a strategic decision and say, okay, in the long term, based on where I'm trying to go
13:13
I don't think this no longer serves me. then you might want to jump, you know, to another tool that's better
13:19
It gives you more features based on the rest of the pieces that you're learning that you want to implement
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So, yeah, that's. So before my next question, I wanted to do this piggyback off one more thing
13:31
Like at the end of each year, I actually get through, I actually keep, I have a budget app that basically keep checks of all my bills and everything
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and but then what I also have done, I keep track of all the tools that I pay for in it
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so I know, okay, this is coming due, this is coming due
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and before any of the bills are coming due, I reassess and it's like, am I using this at all anymore
14:00
Like, for instance, let's just say in July of this year, I made a big splurge on a tool
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that I know I realistically, I mean I have the money but I mean it wasn't coming into me
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for me to spend the money and but how I justified it was
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can this one tool replace six different tools for me actually seven recently
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actually sorry eight I just found out another tool that replaced so it's like eight different tools
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some features that aren't or in this one but like but it all had different features
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all just scattered around these different tools and some of those tools
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had locked behind a paywall etc like hashtags and whatnot and so
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I was like really I have to do as like eight different tools
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or this one tool and so I decided okay I know I really don't have the consistent money coming in yet to afford this tool
15:17
but it was on a lifetime deal on App Sumo. I was like, oh, I'm just going to go get it
15:23
And I was like, but I never told anyone else what the price costs
15:27
because I know they were to say, Jimmy, you're nuts. You shouldn't have done that
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And it's like, he was like, save me multiple hours using different tools or one tool to roll them all
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And it's like, I'm going with the one tool that. rule them all and every time when I keep I keep discovering new features in the platform
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and I was like I keep forgetting this tool does this and say I'm an idiot
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yeah I say that I think what you just said there that I also agree with is the other
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the fact that if you understand the insides of your business like the operation side
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meaning like okay this tool is going to help me do that or do that and you're making a
16:08
decision based on your ROI, return on your investment, and that could be time and money, right
16:14
Because we always think of return on investment as money It could also be the time that you get to shorten So I think you know once you have that clarity on how that actually is helping you that how I make my decisions where I invest whether I hire a mentor or a tool
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I hire my next team member, I invest in a project or a contractor that can help me
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with certain things that I'm doing. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, as long as you're clear on the return of your investment
16:45
time and money-wise, they have made it a decision, yeah. Yeah. So my next question is for you. I'm going to come from it as my next question is for you. What can people, if people look into start a business, how can they build a consistent brand with like logos, brain colors, message, etc
17:14
Yeah, I love that question. Because at the beginning, what's important is not those things
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that you would think it's important, which most people think is the website, the colors, the logo
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So here's what I would say. So at the beginning, what's important is your market, your business model, and your messaging
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That's all that's important at the beginning. Because at the beginning, your business, you just want to focus on the one market you want
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to serve, and then the one offer you have. And hopefully your offer is also supporting your income goals
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So that's how you know those three things. If those are in place, then you have everything you need to get started
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And then the other piece about building a brand is the consistency of your messaging
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That's why I said the messaging. So once you have clarity on that market or that audience, then you can strategize on where is that audience hanging out
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You don't have to go, you know, and then be all over the place in all these platforms that are helping you, you know, put yourself out
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there. So, you know, if your audience is on Facebook, then focus on that platform and create
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consistent content, right? And that content will come from the messaging that you already
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have clarity on. So if you know that you, you know, your offer is this and your messaging is
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you know, you have your pillars of what you talk about, then every day create consistent content
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around, you know, serving and helping people around that topic. Or you can start with your
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story, right? Most people, even if you don't have clarity on all those other pieces
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just share your story, share your learning, share your experience, take people on a journey
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with you. And that's how you start building your audience slowly but surely. And then
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you know, eventually, once your content gets more clear and you also hear a lot of feedback
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from your audience, you can also start working on converting your content. So, meaning that in
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Between the nurturing content, you can put some call to actions. You can invite people to your offers, right
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So you slowly build in also your offers with your content, and that's where you should see some traction
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And the other last piece I would suggest is network, build relationships
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I mean, it's not enough that we just have an audience and we're connected with people on a platform
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We need to meet them. We need to build these relationships, right
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because humans buy from other humans and beyond just the content you're putting out there and hopefully you're putting out
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video content that's the best one for people to see you. Beyond that, how do we build
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relationships? We meet and greet people. We chat. We talk about we add value
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We become a resource to one another. So besides all these different pieces, I would
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say definitely build genuine relationships. That's very important. I really like what you said about networking
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is because I'm not going to say I'm going to I'm trying to word this correct
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so then I don't throw the person on the bus because they will probably bite me in the butt later on
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but one of the things I want to say my let's just say somebody I know
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wanted to get to from point A to point B. And in order to do so
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someone told him that he needed, it's good to network. And that person always said
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I don't need a network, I can get to point A to point B. And he eventually got to point B
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but I really feel, the person said that he could have got to point B faster if he went to network with some of the people
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so that if you tell people where you want to go, I mean certain people where you want to go
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you might, those people might open the doors for you. For instance, I went to this one business event in August
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and I never thought I would meet this one, this person that I've been connected to on Facebook for multiple years
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And here he was at the event, and I was meeting for the first time
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And so I told them what I wanted to do. And of course, I told them, like, yeah, I want to make this
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I want to get on a TEDx to share my name. message with everyone in the whole wide world
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And it's funny, after I told him that he's like, yeah, I know the people who run TEDx and Ted
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And it's like, of course you do. And just because he knows a lot of people
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is like, I can get you connected with this. I can get you to connect you with this. And it's like, of course you know the people
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And it's like, and he's been like following me on and off on social media
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We recently exchanged phone numbers. to be more connected. And the funny thing is
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it is, and it's like, you made, it's like you basically waited six years to tell me that you can help me with this
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And it's like, well, all you had to do is ask. And it's like, oh
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come on. Well, those stories I hear all the time and they're
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they're so true in my life as well. But I think the distinction between what you just shared with the example is
23:02
that if you're in this for the transactional types of relationships, meaning that you're looking
23:08
at the other person for what they can do for you. So maybe when you network, you're only thinking
23:13
of, okay, I want Jimmy to be my client. Then you're just thinking very short term, and that's
23:18
very transactional. Versus, if you have more of a long-term commitment to building your network
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and your relationships, that you're more relational, meaning that I'm generally going to listen
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what is it that Jimmy is needing right now, and let me see how I can support Jimmy
23:37
and it's not always the person in front of you. You have to think that all of us have a lot of people
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in our circle of influence that can help, right? So if you have such a short-term view
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you're only thinking of what Jimmy can do for me. But if you are not a resource
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and you're focused on the relational aspect of any relationship building, then you're missing out on all the opportunities
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or all the people Jimmy knows that can connect you with or all the opportunities that you're looking for that, you know, he will connect you with
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And the other last piece is think of how to help. Don't go into a relate
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That's why it's called the relationship, right? You give so you get
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If you're in a transactional relationship, you're only thinking of getting, not giving
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So we got to flip that. We got to go in with giving and helping
24:29
and then as we build reciprocity you will always get But I think it important for us to also ask for support just like you did Right Because unless he asked how is it that he can support you then of course you wouldn have a chance
24:45
or you both wouldn't have discovered that you were looking for the TEDx stage
24:50
And he happened to know people that can help you get there
24:54
So it's just like that, a communication, but it can't be a short-term transactional communication
25:00
and that's why I'm also so much against around all this fan messaging all over the platforms, right
25:07
I mean, if you have bypassed the relational aspect of building trust with me
25:13
even if you have something amazingly you want to offer me, you can help me. I don't know you
25:19
I'm never going to invest in you. I'm never going to buy where you have because I just don't know you, right
25:25
Or even trust you enough yet. So they're just, you know, people that are in the transactional phase, a space of business, do business that way
25:36
They just kind of just see what sticks. Send me, send a million messages and hope that five people will, you know, fall into that and actually buy, right
25:45
But if you were building a business with a strong brand and foundation, you know, you want to take your time to build relationships
25:53
It's important. And you'll always get a lot of ROI on that for sure
25:58
I agree with a lot of what you said because, for instance
26:04
like even though my colleague said to me, all I had to do was ask, I knew after learning networking from
26:16
let's say, some of the people I'm close with, I'm not going to throw anybody on the bus because I just say
26:24
that they're, yeah, let's just say, like, oh, yeah, people, let's just say people
26:34
let's just say people, look that close with, it's like, oh, yeah, you know, I don't want to
26:40
so I basically learn networking the right way and say, okay, you know, it's, it's time to keep
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don't ask and so I'd be right away and so when I met in person
26:55
I had the courage to ask because I built a relationship with the person and
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he was always honest with me so I was like worst case he would say no
27:07
and I took a gamble and I was glad to be able to
27:15
share it and he actually introduce me to some of his contacts at the event too
27:21
That's just really cool. So my next few questions is where can people like learn more about who you are and what you're
27:31
doing and follow you? Yeah, thank you. Just to piggyback of what you just said with the fact that we were talking about building
27:39
genuine relationships, I think you have to earn the right to offer your solution to people
27:44
It's not that everyone you see the first time, if you have to. have missed the build no like and trust steps in the relationship building. For me, it's
27:53
like I haven't earned the right. As soon as I see somebody, I don't want to say, do you want to
27:57
buy my program? Do you want to buy my offer? Do you want to buy my whatever is it that you have
28:03
going on, right? Because that just doesn't work. I mean, we all get turned off by that and you
28:08
are turning people off. So that's transactional. But yeah, I think people can absolutely find out
28:13
more information regarding what I have going on. And I have free, few resources
28:17
actually for people that are wanted to build their first foundations of their business
28:23
meaning they want to start their business. I have a free masterclass on what are some of the most important activities that they can focus on
28:31
So they get that foundation really strong, and then they can build from there
28:35
And it's a free masterclass that they'll find on my website. And I also have more resources on there
28:40
And it's Alona LaPari Coaching.com. and my and my last question for you is who's your favorite podcaster and why and feel free not to say me
28:54
I am actually consuming a lot of Jay Shetty's episodes of his on-purpose podcast so I am enjoying his podcast a lot lately
29:08
so I would say that's my favorite for the moment I never I don't know if you know
29:14
Lewis House, he's from a, he made the brand a school of greatness
29:21
Yeah. I actually interacted with him on social media. I told him, I was like
29:27
I want to be on a guest, be on this podcast one day
29:32
He never said, I was like, good luck with that or whatnot. He's like, I look forward to it
29:37
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, just reaching out and connecting. It's amazing. And yeah, I'm looking forward to having you on my podcast
29:44
My podcast is called The Life School Masterclass Show. And, yeah, I mean, I love podcasting for the community building feature of it
29:52
and also the fact that we get to share our message. But it goes back to our topic today
29:57
You're never known until you ask. So, yeah, I love this podcast as well
30:01
I listen to it occasionally. Thank you. And I hope you can come back on again in the future as well
30:08
I've been more than happy to. Thank you so much, Jimmy. Have a good day. You as well
30:13
Bye for now. Right. So that's all the time we have for today
30:20
Short and sweet, because Fridays tend to be on and off busy
30:27
Well, today is a lot more busier than other Fridays. But if you want to follow me, you can follow me at Jimmy Claire Speaker on Facebook and Instagram
30:40
and Jimmy Claire speak on Twitter. you can follow Crazy Fitness Guy
30:44
at Crazy Fitness Guy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and well, and LinkedIn of course
30:50
but I like Crazy Business Guy and you can and if you want to
30:57
subscribe to the premium podcast you can subscribe to it for $30 a year
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because there's new content posted and stay in the loop with what's happening on the site and behind
31:30
the scenes. And like I said at the beginning of the show, there is a new service coming to you
31:38
at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight. And that's why I am also keeping this
31:45
short because I want to make sure that it gets out to everyone
31:51
So, and obviously it's going to be a time matter, but I just got to make sure
31:57
everything is set up, so I don't feel like I'm dumb. I know I'm not dumb, but
32:04
I know accidents happen and mistakes happen, but I was going to launch it last week
32:11
but now I'm going to launch it this week, and then I'm going to start promoting it
32:15
starting next week. But if you want early access, make sure you subscribe to the monthly newsletter
32:26
So in the meantime, stay healthy, stay safe, and stay motivated, and I'll be back for another brand-new episode
32:33
Crazy Penn, Sky, Help, Love, Podcast, slash weekly motivation with crazy fitness guy
32:39
I'll be back and I'll tell you after this. But in the meantime, peace
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