Is Your Family Your Rock or Stone?

Family, a term that for some can mean the biggest support system in their life or the exact opposite. As an entrepreneur, our lifestyle and freedom can be difficult to understand and embrace. Now that we just had one of the major holidays with family, did you come away feeling more empowered or more discouraged? If you left feeling more empowered, then use these tips to turn that love meter up. If you left feeling more discouraged, then these tips might change you and your families life positively.

Our mentality is what fuels us and you have to do everything you can to create an atmosphere that is positive, faith-filled, loving, and authentic. We do not chose who our family is, but it is important to be around them no matter if they support you or not. You just have to learn how to protect your mentality and be that beacon of change and financial liberation. We are very fortunate to be an entrepreneur and we have influence whether it is acknowledged positively or not. I know it can be very frustrating at times but we are in a very fortunate position and its our job inspire and share our journey to success. 

It's definitely going to take some practice, but here are my five tips to inspire your family. 

1. Show unconditional love. Love and happiness go hand and hand. That's a common denominator in some of the most creative geniuses in the world. There is so much hate in the world and the last thing you want your family to remember is the hatred they felt after your acts.

2. Find opportunities to admire each person. We all are special in our own way and posses certain gifts. When those gifts are acknowledged by our family, its a feeling that often brings encouragement to explore that gift more.  Who knows, your may end up like Peyton and Eli, Michael and Janet, or Juicy J and Project Pat. 

3.  Be present. When you're with your family, give them your full attention. Avoid being on your phone. If you want to post on Instagram, take the pictures that day and upload on the next day. 

4. When discouraging words arise, use it as a time to share more about your experience through your small wins so they can learn and share your success. Pictures and videos work great too! Often times they simply don't understand or know and may just assume negative things. Or, it could be a case of them not acknowledging your growth and change. In any case, sharing more knowledge about you is what cures the ignorance. 

5.  Be the first one to take out the trash/wash dishes. Leadership is servitude and if your family doesn't see you serve, they may not see you as a leader. Actions speak louder than words and being humble is still one of the greatest traits a leader can have. Be the rock in your family and they'll be discouraged to throw stones. 

These are things that I have been doing and it has truly helped. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, try with your coworkers or friends and see how things change. Mental health is a big part of being and entrepreneur and family can affect it. The countdown to Christmas has begun so you have plenty of time to practice and be ready for the next family gathering.

Holiday Hustle

As we approach the first holiday of the "Holiday" season, this is the time to buckle down and focus more than you ever have. As an entrepreneur, one of greatest challenges to our schedule is that typically it is nothing like the regular "9 to 5". We don't get off on all U.S. holidays, and there is no such thing as vacation time. We do what we have to do and use whatever time we have leftover to go on vacation (which is rare). Then when we do take that trip, many times this leaves us feeling with guilt and our mind wandering of all the things you could be doing right now for your business. This is a sure sign that your business owns you and you don't own it. In this age where mental health is crucial, creating a healthy entrepreneurial lifestyle is key.

Many of us entrepreneurs are your typical A type who have the will and follow through to get the job done. We fail to think about some of the many pleasures in life due to that drive for success. You have to remember as the hustlers we are, our days are typically 12 hours or more. This can feel like we operate at the speed of light and then next thing you know, five months have gone by.
Then we end up getting sick when our body finally shuts down and we become forced to take a "staycation". This is not the way to live. We became entrepreneurs to gain more freedom not captives to the grind. While others work 40 hours a week, we work 60 or more so taking time to review, reflect, and relax is key to continual balance and happiness.

In my experience, what helped me best achieve that healthy balance is to treat your life like you are forever a business. There is a reason why businesses have quarterly reviews. How do you know whether you getting closer to failure or success if you never pause and analyze. Every year, I plan out my schedule starting with all of the pauses and times to relax and reflect on everything I have going on. This has allowed me to work at my optimal level and consistent motivation. Entrepreneurship is a sprint to a marathon. You have to be healthy, happy, and motivated to compete. Success will not come overnight or maybe even over a the first 5 years in operation. Look at Elon's Tesla, Jeff's Amazon, and even Fred's Fedex. Nature has always been survival of the fittest and you need to understand you have to sprint until your business is profitable and stable. I am in my sprint phase now and I'm excited for my scheduled rest stop so I can come back more motivated and rejuvenated than ever. Happy Thanksgiving my fellow hustlers and thanks for stopping by. 

@hustletocreate

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My Journey into Entrepreneurship

Welcome to my blog for Hustle To Create!

My goal is to share my journey into entrepreneurship, what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and how you can turn your passions into a revenue stream. Let’s start with how I got this crazy idea to venture out on my own.

I’ve always had a passion for helping people and that has translated into many forms throughout my life. Ultimately my goal has always been to enter into public service but I always knew that I wanted to be financially independent before going that route. I knew corporate America wasn’t for me so my first career out in California was at a company in their management training program. The whole premise was that you work your tail off and eventually can open your own division (like a franchise). I tell you it was an amazing experience because it was very hands on and I could immediately apply all the skills I had learned in business school. The downside was definitely that it lacked that corporate salary.

I’m an opportunist so I always looked for ways to add value to increase my pay. I eventually solved a major issue affecting the overall performance of the division and this was the first time I realized I truly did have a unique perspective perfect for consulting. This success led to the owner sending me on various trips to other territories as an internal consultant. I jumped at the opportunity for a minimal pay raise. I truly enjoyed analyzing a situation and all the factors and creating a solution and executing it. This experience gave me the confidence I needed so I started to seek out other opportunities.

I eventually found this insurance company that was owned by Torchmark, one of the most stable stocks in Warren Buffet’s portfolio. It was a franchise deal where you could eventually have your own location and become a partner. I remember in my interview the guy said, “The hardest thing I will have to do is take the employee mentality out of you”. I immediately responded with, “Sir, I have never been an employee a day in my life.” He simply smiled and thus began my journey with this new company.

If you have never been an independent contractor before, it is basically like freedom on a leash. You can work as much as you want and do what you want as long as you hit certain benchmarks. I took this as an opportunity to take off the gloves and give it all I had. I remember my first year working six or seven days every week trying to learn as much as I could to get ahead. As I was learning, I started to observe many things about the company that I believed could be improved. Of course, the consultant spirit in me, I started to take copious notes and conduct research on how these changes could be made. I even compiled a research report and sent it to all the executives in the company. They loved the research but wanted to see its success on a small scale before they implemented it company-wide. I was so excited and was also given the permission to implement these changes at the division I was soon to be responsible for.

I spent hours on hours perfecting the materials that would soon become the company standard for their hiring practice. This process also taught me a valuable lesson. Always protect your work. The company decided to rollout the changes and new materials I had created company wide and didn’t give me any credit. Even when I confronted the Vice President of Sales he simply said, “Well I know you did this.” From then on, I knew my work was more valuable than I thought.

Fast forward to working for that company for four years, I was the regional manager for all of Orange County. Our office was recognized as the 5th best Workplace by the OC Register and I was making the most money I had ever made in my life. We’re talking over $12,000 per month. I was living the life….or so I thought.

On my four year anniversary I took some time off to reflect on my happiness and I had to face the honest truth. If I could work those 60 -70 hours a week to build someone else’s company, why couldn’t I do it for myself? Of course like anyone else, I had fears and thoughts of failure but I figured I’m young and can fail 20 more times before I turned forty so it was worth it.

I made the biggest decision of my life up to this point and left that job and began to work full time to pursue my passion for coffee. Because this was such a passion of mine, I had already been doing research the 3 years prior which included: roasting school in Izmir, Turkey, visiting a coffee farm in El Salvador, and attending industry events like CoffeeFest. I remember the day I had the conference call with two executives and my manager. They were in disbelief because I was leaving right after I had been ranked number six out of hundreds of managers across U.S and Canada. When it’s your time to go, follow your heart.

I took that leap of faith and left Orange County and moved to South LA where I now currently work on my new business venture set to launch in January.  Working full time for yourself is truly a liberating experience and it is my goal of to help as many people get to individual prosperity