Author: Jules Schroeder

Ep94: Millennials, Don’t Make These Mistakes When Starting A Business Online

Starting a business is easier said than done. While 66% of millennials say they want to become entrepreneurs, only 3.6% of all businesses are owned by someone under the age of 30.

Why aren’t millennials walking their talk? For starters, launching a business is notoriously risky. Nine out of ten startups fail, which, for prospective entrepreneurs, is a discouraging outlook. In addition, many of us often don’t feel supported or understood by friends or family.

I remember when I was 22, graduating college and starting my first online business selling feather hair extensions. My dad thought it was too risky and begged me to get a real job.

What most people don’t realize about failed businesses, is that many of them are preventable. The fatal breakdowns in startups are classic—whether it’s a cash flow deficit, an ineffective marketing strategy, or a flawed management team.

I recently spoke with Lena Elkins, a Tel Aviv-based millennial business coach and the host of the Facebook group “Millennial Go Getters,” a community of 15,000+ entrepreneurs learning how to strategize profitable businesses and overcome the common mistakes most millennials make when starting a business online. Elkins is on a mission to empower millennials to build online businesses that afford them a lifestyle of freedom and flexibility.

On the Unconventional Life Podcast, Elkins shares her top success strategies for new entrepreneurs to get started on the path to a promising business right away.

1. You’re Having Trouble Signing Your First Client. Elkins says she was able to sign her first client by joining relevant Facebook groups in the Tel Aviv area related to online marketing. She posted in each of the groups a short description about who she was, what she was offering, why she was qualified, and how anyone interested in her services could reach her. “Essentially I said, ‘I’m new to this community, I’m a freelancer offering social media services, Im looking for my first set of clients, here’s my experience, call me,” Elkins recalls. “I got my first client that same afternoon.”

If you’re unsure of where to start, a powerful first action step is to join Facebook groups related to your niche and post about your offering. Be brief and to the point, and be sure to represent yourself authentically.

2. You Don’t Know How To Enroll Your Ideal Clients. Elkins says sending a short cold email to your ideal clients can be extremely effective in enrolling them to work with you. “Identify your dream clients, find them online, look at their websites. Identify a few problems they’re experiencing, find their contact info and send them an email.” In line one, start with a personalized complement to engage them. In the next line, gently criticize them with something like, “I was looking on your website and saw some things that could use some tweaking.” In line three, give them a free solution to resolve the problem. And finally, tell them if they have any more questions you would love to help. “I’ve probably gotten a 95% response rate,” Elkins says.

3. You Aren’t Befriending Those Who Are Ahead Of You. When you’re first starting out, you don’t yet have the experience to inform high impact decision-making. But luckily, you can turn to others who do to keep you from stumbling and guide you to take effective action. Elkins says, “Identify people who are already a few steps ahead of you in what you’re doing and reach out to them. See how you can help them and build a relationship with them.” Having a guide can be invaluable. If you can create a win-win for someone to play that role for you, you can benefit tremendously. An added bonus of making friends with someone who has influence, is that they may eventually give you the opportunity to speak to their audience, which can help you get more exposure and ultimately sign more clients.

July 25, 2017
Ep93: A Millennial World-Record Holder’s Ultimate Guide To Goal Planning

Goal planning is easier said than done. 70% of people who set out to achieve goals never see those goals to fruition. I can’t count the amount of times I planned to get up early for a morning workout, spend less money on eating out, or bring to life my next big idea, only to come up empty handed.

But while most of us struggle to make our dreams and aspirations a reality, one small sector of the population is exceptionally good at it.

I’m talking about world-record holders. You know, those who set out to accomplish an impossible goal and are able to do it faster and more efficiently than anyone else in the world? These super-humans seem to have an indestructible strategy for making things happen that the rest of us could seriously benefit from, whether it’s in our jobs or personal life.

Meet Colin O’Brady, a pro endurance athlete who holds the world record for completing the Explorers Grand Slam—climbing the tallest mountain on each continent and trekking the last degree of latitude of the North and South Poles—in just 139 days. O’Brady is also a TEDx Speaker and the founder of Beyond 7/2, a project sponsored by Nike, Columbia, Sorel, and Prana, on a mission to inspire kids to lead active and healthy lifestyles.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, O’Brady shares the mindset you need to achieve your goals in the face of life’s trials and setbacks. Here’s what he has to say:

Jules Schroeder: What’s one of the biggest obstacles in your life you’ve had to overcome?

Colin O’Brady: When I graduated from Yale with an economics degree at age 21 I decided to take some time to travel around the world. Unfortunately on that trip, I was severely burned in a fire in Thailand. My entire body caught on fire and I had to jump in the ocean to extinguish the flames, but not before 25% of my body was severely burned. Doctors told me I may never walk again normally.

Jules Schroeder: How did you grapple with that news, and how did you respond to it?

Colin O’Brady: It’s a story of resilience and recovery. My mother came to my bedside and said to me, ‘Your life is not over, you’re gonna do amazing things. What do you want to do?’ And I set the goal of racing a triathlon. Fast forward 18 months, I signed up to race a Chicago triathlon and not only finished the race, which was my goal, but I ended up winning the entire competition and beating 5,000 other participants.

It taught me that you’re gonna face some setbacks but it’s your mentality that determines how you move forward. I think all of us have amazing untapped potential and it’s thriving on the other side of this injury that taught me that.

Jules Schroeder: How do you execute on making your goals a reality?

Colin O’Brady: You’ve got the big idea, the aspirational project. Maybe you want to found a tech app and have a $100M exit. That’s the macro, so then you have to ask yourself, what’s the micro? Because it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the big thing, like how am I ever gonna get there?

I was sitting in a wheelchair and hadn’t taken a single step in three months and my mom said, “Great, you want to race a triathlon, well first you need to figure out how to take one step,” and she grabbed a chair from my kitchen table and put it one step in front of me. And I took that one step and that was my success for that day.

I carry around a small rock that I have from the summit of Mt. Everest. It’s a reminder for me that even that tallest mountain in the world can be broken down to its smallest incremental parts, just small stones stacked on top of one another. Have that big aspirational goal, but then ask yourself what is that tiny rock, what is that first step out of that wheelchair, what is that first thing? If you stack enough of those things against one another, one day you’ll realize you’re at the summit of Mt. Everest.

Jules Schroeder: How against the odds, against the fears, and against the exhaustion, do you keep taking one step in front of the other all the way to the top?

July 20, 2017
Ep92: How To Hustle Your Way To Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur

If you’re working in corporate America, chances are you don’t love your job.

Gallup reports that only 29% of millennials are engaged at work, while the vast majority of workers are disconnected emotionally and behaviorally from their jobs. While 43% of millennials who leave their corporate jobs say it’s because they weren’t following their passion, 42% say the corporate lifestyle wasn’t for them, and 33% say they felt too restricted.

As one former corporate employee puts it, “I was compromising my life and compromising my purpose to achieve success. I was making all this money, but I had no time to spend it, no time to take care of myself, and no time to spend with my friends and family.”

Meet Kelly Roach, a mom and now-entrepreneur who left her behind her life as a Fortune 500 executive with a dream of building a business that would afford her time, purpose, and freedom. Today, she’s the CEO of Kelly Roach Coaching, which helps entrepreneurs build a life they love, the host of the top-rated podcast, Unstoppable Success Radio, and an international bestselling author.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Roach shares how she built a 7-figure business straight out of corporate America that started as a side-hustle.

Follow Kelly’s tips for hustling your way to a job and lifestyle you love below.

1. Listen To Your Gut Instinct. When you’re in a high-paying corporate job, logic can override your emotions and convince you to stay when you aren’t truly happy. Roach says, “If you’re getting a pull deep down that something’s not right, that there has to be more, I can’t be working this hard and getting this little reward for it, you’re absolutely right. I would say listen to this gut instinct and do something about it.”

2. Be Smart And Strategic. The reality is, most of us can’t leave our jobs with nothing else lined up. Half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and paying bills takes precedence over feeling fulfilled. If you want to shift into entrepreneurship, starting your business as a side-hustle may be the most viable option.

“Test yourself first,” says Roach. “Don’t jump all the way into business if you’re having trouble. Be smart. There’s a reason 95% of businesses fail, and that’s because 95% of what’s required to build a successful business is not what you want to do when you want to do it, it’s what’s necessary to do. Most people don’t realize that it’s more responsibility to be a full-time entrepreneur than it is to be an employee with a side-hustle.”

Use your side-hustle as a way to become accustomed to the lifestyle of managing your own time, taking your own initiatives, and being fully responsible for the successes and failures of your business. If you can handle your side hustle, it’s a good sign that you’re ready to take it full-time. But if you’re having trouble, heed the warning and consider that entrepreneurship may not be for you.

3. Shortcut Your Success. If you’re ready to become an entrepreneur, there are things you can do to accelerate your success and avoid mistakes that most inexperienced entrepreneurs make. Roach’s top recommendation is to seek the counsel of those who are already successfully doing what you want to do. Consider listening to entrepreneurial podcasts that feature entrepreneurs in your industry, or investing in a coach who will guide you through the ropes of building a business.

When you become confident in your abilities, it’s a good idea to consider building a team. “When you can start getting results through others, there’s a multiplier effect that keeps expanding what you can do without putting more hours in. Get a team of 15 people together and you’ll be able to accomplish 15 times what you could do on your own,” says Roach.

July 17, 2017
Ep91: 5 Millennial Money Mistakes That Are Keeping Us From Our Dreams

If you ask the average millennial a basic question about their finances, they’ll go blank.

That’s what happened in one college senior’s finance class at Purdue University when the professor asked who knew what the Dow Jones was—only twenty-five of the one hundred students raised their hand.

It’s no secret that the majority of millennials miss the mark when it comes to financial literacy. Terms like “401K” and “ETF” sound like gibberish, at best ringing a vaguely familiar bell.

With millennials now at the age of financial independence, this is a big problem. The average 18-24 year old has less than $1,000 in their savings account, and over $30,000 in student loans.

Quite recently, Lend EDU published a survey of 1,000 people from the U.S between the ages of 23 and 38 to observe the types of debts they carry. The results of the survery were shocking, specifically because no matter how much money someone made they still carried a significant amount of debt!

It’s no wonder that so many millennials experience anxiety about their finances, more so than baby boomers did at the same age. They’re more cautious about spending, and less able to make their dreams like owning a home and saving for retirement a reality.

Meet Rohan Thakkur, the senior in the finance class at Purdue University. Looking around at his classmates, he couldn’t believe that so few knew such a basic financial term. He realized there was a huge need to bring financial awareness to kids his age, and decided to do something about it.

That story was the inspiration for Thakkur’s company Orca Financial, a hub for straightforward, easy-to-digest financial education intended to bridge the disconnect between young people and finance. With article topics like “Emoji Finance Friday,” “How The Dow Jones Is Like Your Favorite Instagram Influencer,” and “Mutual Funds: As Explained Through Dating,” Thakkur is on a mission to break down financial concepts into a language millennials can understand. He’s also a writer for Thrive Global and AOL.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, I picked Thakkur’s brain for financial “hacks” that anyone, no matter their financial literacy, can put into play immediately to save money and begin to make their financial goals a reality.

Make five of Thakkur’s financial fixes below to start seeing improvements in your financial life today.

1. You’re Not Using The 50-20-30 Rule. According to Thakkur, the “50-20-30 Rule” stands for 50% spending, 20% saving, and 30% investing. It’s a guide to keep you on track to compounding your money over time.

With each paycheck you earn, commit to spending just half of it on living expenses like food, rent, bills, Netflix subscriptions, Uber rides, and nights out with friends. Set aside 30% of each paycheck to saving, until you have enough of a cushion to last you 2-3 months worth of pay “for a rainy day.” With the final 20%, consult a financial advisor about making entry-level investments that will help you raise money towards long-term goals like buying a house, starting a business, or attending grad school much quicker.

2. You’re Not Maxing Out Your 401K. Here’s the breakdown: a 401k is a retirement savings plan sponsored by your employer. According to a recent survey, 4 in 10 millennials don’t have a retirement income strategy in place.

Each year, you have the option to put a percentage of your income into your 401k savings account, and the money you put into that account is deducted from your taxable income. So if you make $50,000 a year and put aside $10,000 into your 401k account, your taxable income is only $40,000. Thakkur recommends maxing out your 401k by contributing the upper limit of $18,000 each year. “Why not pay less money in taxes? It’s more money you get to keep,” he says.

3. You’re Not Tracking Your Spending. Do you ever feel like money seems to drain out of your bank account? Chances are you aren’t tracking your spending. 38% of Americans don’t track their spending, and more than half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

When you track your spending, you can bring awareness to nasty habits that are draining your money, and replace them with wiser spending decisions. “Track your expenses,” Thakkur says. “It’s ok if you spend your money. I’m a firm believer about having fun. But we don’t have to be stupid about it. Think about it, if you want to go to Coachella next year, why not invest that money and have that money pay for your Coachella ticket?”

July 10, 2017
Ep90: 7 Surprising Things Ultra Successful People Do Differently

If there were a way for you to multiply your odds of being successful, would you do it?

Experts tell us that if we want to be in the best position to succeed, we need to come at it from all angles: mentally, physically, and emotionally. One will not work without the others, and with all three in conjunction, there is a high probability of success.

I used to believe that in order to become a successful entrepreneur, I needed to work exhaustingly long hours to “out-work” the rest.

The problem with this approach was that it wore down my physical and emotional state. While I managed to build a 7-figure company by age 22, I had grinded my health to the ground and completely neglected my relationships. In the end, my business ended up crumbling and I had to backtrack everything so that I could rebuild my foundation.

Today, my approach to entrepreneurship might seem counterintuitive. I regularly take salt baths, take two hours of “me time” to read, sip chai, and move my body every morning and work a maximum of six hours each day. Ironically, it hasn’t slowed me down—it’s helped me get to the peak of my career.

I talked to one man who’s studied some of the top performers in the world, and he says the same thing. Those at the top practice surprising daily rituals, some of which are the opposite of what we think we should do to be successful.

Meet Dana Cavalea, the former Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees. Cavalea worked worked with the Yankees for 12 seasons, and was an integral player in helping them win many World Series. He’s a recipient of the prestigious Nolan Ryan Top Strength Coach Award, and now runs his own practice as a high performance consultant for professional athletes and C-level executives.

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Cavalea shares the daily habits he observed from some of those who are performing at the top tier, and busts the myths about success that don’t actually work. Adopt some of these practices into your own life to enhance your performance.

1. They Work Smarter, Not Harder. Many of us believe that the hustle is the optimal pathway to success. We are willing to put in long hours of sweat and toil each day to achieve what we want. But Cavalea says this isn’t the way the pros work. “When I was a kid, I was told ‘while you’re being lazy, someone else in the Dominican Republic is practicing,’ so I thought I had to practice all the time. But that’s not true. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are the last guys to the field, and the first to leave. And they’re the best of the best.”

Working long hours is actually less effective because it puts a strain on your body and causes you to burn out. Rest and recovery are essential to success, so go ahead and reduce your workload each day to increase your long-term output. Success is a marathon, not a sprint.

2. They Work At Their Peak. “What are your prime work hours?” says Cavalea. “I function at my best between 5am and 2pm, so I work during those hours. But after that, there’s no high-level thinking or work for me.” Become self-aware of when you feel the most focused, energized, and creative, and structure your work schedule within that time window. “It’s requires a little bit of boundaries and knowing your own tendencies. Too many times we run a reactive schedule and always say yes,” Cavalea says.

3. They’re Consistent. “Jeter was an introvert from the midwest who lived a very simple life. The best players, they keep it so simple. They’re very consistent people. They’re not looking for the new flavor of the week. They know their talent and they become consistent in their training and habits. That’s it,” Cavalea says. If you want to be successful, focus on one discipline and be consistent in developing your proficiency. Show up every single day, for a few hours a day, and you will invariably progress over time.

June 26, 2017