I grew up in Hawaii, North Shore, I really love the beaches the hikes, and the reason why I’m doing this podcasting is I really have that desire to help others grow and help them become inspired. It’s the thing that I really want to do. As a podcaster, it’s really a win win win situation. The first win is I get to help other people learn about the entrepreneur experiences that other people have had. Second win is I get to learn about those things. And the third win is you can earn income from podcasting. So I’m really really excited for this. So the things that you going to expect from this podcast is you are going to be listening to successful entrepreneur guests that are going to come to this show. I’m really excited for the people that I plan to invite, so make sure to come to this show. So I’ve written down a few questions that I’m going to ask these guests but since I’m the first person to be on the show, on the Venture your Adventure.
The first question is, “What made me want to venture into becoming an entrepreneur?”
- So really there are many things. The first person I tried to do a business with is Junior Ale. He actually invited me to join his on his entrepreneurial ventures. We kind of started something but it really didn’t get anywhere, but he kind of gave me the spark to knowing that this is actually possible. While I was in college, I started listening to podcasting from John Lee Dumas Entrepreneur on Fire. I really really enjoyed the guests that he interviewed and I really enjoyed the experiences that they’ve been through, successes, failures, and it gave me that pump up that “I can do the same thing too, this is actually possible.” One thing that directed me to continue this entrepreneur venture is I started to read this “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book from Robert Kiyazaki. Basically, it explained that you can be financially free. There are a lot of things that may happen in the future. If you don’t take your risks now, it’s a bigger risk if you don’t take those risks. Many Thing! And I really enjoyed his book. One of the things that really opened my eyes towards this entrepreneur venture…one of my great friends who is a little bit of a mentor, I ask him a few questions sometimes, if my friend Richie Norton. The author of “The Power of Starting Something Stupid.” Really really loved his book, really opened my eyes that even the stupidest things can be the most miraculous things in the world. I can’t really give any examples right now. But after reading his book, it really gave me the motivation that you can make things happen. Even if the whole world may think it’s a dumb idea. If you keep going at it. You can make it possible. So all the experiences that I have learned from and gathered together, I came to a conclusion that “anything is possible, why not do it.”
The second question is, “What do I enjoy most about what I do?”
- Well, I’m really excited to meet new guests. Successful entrepreneurs that are explaining stories and experiences of how they got from point “A” to point “Z” or point “A” to point “B”. Meeting new people. Building network. Mostly it’s meeting new people and getting to learn how they did it. That’s what I’m really excited about.
The third question is, “What was my greatest achievement or most memorable experience during your entrepreneur adventure?”
- I’m currently with another company called “JIN Bountiful” and one of the greatest successes I had, it’s actually very memorable, is we finally been able to sell the insoles that were selling to individuals and businesses. Really great push. Still going at it, but really excited.
Fourth question is, “What’s the strangest thing that you’ve ever done as an entrepreneur?”
- As a JIN Bountiful representative, I wanted to meet some people in a meeting. They are doctors, foot doctors, and they had us to meet at for example eleven o’clock and then they called us at ten thirty and they asked us to bring lunch to them. So we were like, “ok, how many people?” we asked. And then they said about 20 people. So…that was kind of quick. We had to go to panda express, buy a whole bunch of food, and then when we got there, nobody was there at the meeting, so we had a bunch of stragglers come by for the lunch and ya they were pretty nice. One of the doctors eventually came but he was really the main guy to get permission for the review. Kind of funny story but nothing really happened. We are kind of pushing on the insoles on another thing now but our wives got angry at us because we spent money on food that nobody really ate.
Fifth question is, “As you continue your adventure as an entrepreneur, what kept you motivated to keep going and not give up?”
- My motivation is having that big perspective. You can’t move on without having a big perspective. Like my big dream is being able to move back to Hawaii. Traveling around the world. Having a big family. Taking care of family and spending time with them because that’s what I enjoy the most. It’s really something that you are looking forward too. If you don’t have anything in the future. What’s the purpose of earning all of this money? What’s the purpose of you getting forward? It’s really that perspective that drives you forward and the motivation.
Sixth question is, “What do you consider to be “success” as an entrepreneur?”
- Success to me is achieving your goal even if it took longer than expected. Even though you plan to build a business in one year and it took you three years to do it, hey, you got there. That’s what’s best about it. Some people may have brilliant brilliant ideas, and I’ve met some people that have some really great ideas but they didn’t move forward with it. You can’t really know if your idea works unless you give it a try. So that’s my definition of success. Really achieving that goal.
Seventh question is, “If you could go back to that one moment where you are about to start your entrepreneur adventure, what’s one thing that you would tell yourself to get started on?”
- Start the podcasting now. I’ve kind of held that back a lot and it gets a lot harder once you got more responsibilities coming up especially if your family grows up more uh so I would tell myself just get that podcasting going and start building your audience.
And last question is, “To those entrepreneurs who are struggling or looking for inspiration, what’s one piece of advice you would give to them?”
- I would say, “Surround yourself with uplifting people who encourage you to be successful.” It’s not really a healthy environment if you have people in your atmosphere who are not really uplifting about your successes as an entrepreneur or their motivation is just “live by the paycheck.” No I…the best thing to do is surround yourself with friends who…even if they are not entrepreneurs, they uplift you and they encourage you to be successful in your ventures. The best thing is find the people who are doing the same thing as you are and stick with them. Help each other and you will be successful.