Where does your entreprenuerial spirit come from? Share your story.
Here at Free Enterprise Warriors we love stories, so we are encouraging each of our members to tell their story as they see fit.
Let us know what drives you to succeed on a daily basis? What was the seed that got you started? What are some of the challenges you have had to face in order to survive? Where does your business fit in the global economy?
Let us know what drives you to succeed on a daily basis? What was the seed that got you started? What are some of the challenges you have had to face in order to survive? Where does your business fit in the global economy?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deborah Ward on -
It’s a game! it’s the hunt, the thrill & the rush when we at Deborah Ward & Associates have a win-win outcome! I am on purpose with my business & have been since going to the Shift Tour in Lakeland, Florida in late 2007. Tony Di Cello was the keynote speaker & he changed my life forever on that very day! All I heard was get a coach & the rest is history! I took a complete leap of faith and sought out a highly successful business coach (Thanks John Dietz) we came up with a business plan, now there is a concept! A business plan, a road map to get to where I wanted to go! We used all sorts of new & unusual terminology like 4-1-1, prospecting, time blocking, database etc, etc, etc. I got to work on a shoestring budget but with a burning fire in my belly!! I more than doubled my income in 2008. I have worked hard, put in long days, talked to hundreds & hundreds of people. I am growing a team with 2 fulltime veteran Buyers Agents, an amazing administrator & me, one hardworking driven business woman who got to grips with where I was at in my business & got real! I still work hard & now have the added piece of managing people, which I absolutely love. We have all enjoyed an amazing journey thus far. I have surrounded myself with very successful likeminded business people. I seek advice from those who have succeeded before me, (Thanks Gary & Nikki Ubaldini) & now I find myself wanting to share with others what this last year has done for me! My business model is 90% prospecting based & 10% marketing enhanced so anyone with a great passion for what they do can achieve what I have achieved over the last year on a tiny budget. Our goal this Year is 15 million & we are on target! We will continue to grow & stretch each & everyday. I have shared my vision with my fantastic team & the best part is that they are all coming with me to the top!
I hope to see you there too!!!
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Permalink Reply by Tara Jacobsen on
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That is why I love you! Everything IS a contest!!!
Deborah Ward said:It’s a game! it’s the hunt, the thrill & the rush when we at Deborah Ward & Associates have a win-win outcome! I am on purpose with my business & have been since going to the Shift Tour in Lakeland, Florida in late 2007. Tony Di Cello was the keynote speaker & he changed my life forever on that very day! All I heard was get a coach & the rest is history! I took a complete leap of faith and sought out a highly successful business coach (Thanks John Dietz) we came up with a business plan, now there is a concept! A business plan, a road map to get to where I wanted to go! We used all sorts of new & unusual terminology like 4-1-1, prospecting, time blocking, database etc, etc, etc. I got to work on a shoestring budget but with a burning fire in my belly!! I more than doubled my income in 2008. I have worked hard, put in long days, talked to hundreds & hundreds of people. I am growing a team with 2 fulltime veteran Buyers Agents, an amazing administrator & me, one hardworking driven business woman who got to grips with where I was at in my business & got real! I still work hard & now have the added piece of managing people, which I absolutely love. We have all enjoyed an amazing journey thus far. I have surrounded myself with very successful likeminded business people. I seek advice from those who have succeeded before me, (Thanks Gary & Nikki Ubaldini) & now I find myself wanting to share with others what this last year has done for me! My business model is 90% prospecting based & 10% marketing enhanced so anyone with a great passion for what they do can achieve what I have achieved over the last year on a tiny budget. Our goal this Year is 15 million & we are on target! We will continue to grow & stretch each & everyday. I have shared my vision with my fantastic team & the best part is that they are all coming with me to the top!
I hope to see you there too!!!
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Permalink Reply by The Log Home Guy on
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Modern Rustic Living - I use to be a Business Process & Information Management Consultant for over 23 years. Specializing in knowledge management and disparate systems integration, I traveled all over the USA and North America helping organizations, companies and governments realize improved business processes, increased productivity, reduced operating costs and improved customer service by leveraging knowledge management as intellectual capital.
While earning a multiple six figure income and successful in the traditional since, I began to realize something was missing. Leaving on Mondays and returning on Fridays almost every week left little time with my family and friends. I began to realize the American dream was missing a critical component; time to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I concluded that working hard for a new car in the driveway and a house just a tad better than my neighbors was not providing the lifestyle I wanted or setting an appropriate example for my family.
Not willing to drop off the face of the earth quite yet and having been cursed with an analytical mind, I began observing my fellow travelers and noticing just how unhappy everyone was. At airports all across the country, there were people busily tapping on their fancy notebook computers, people speaking way too loudly with cell phones glued to their ears and yet others pacing around the airport terminal as if to indicate they were busy, very busy! Then there were those that always had to let everyone else know just how unhappy they were. They were the ones that always shouted at the flight attendants complaining about the delays, the food and even the weather as if to indicate they were either more important than the rest of us or we were just too stupid for not noticing how bad things were.
I began to realize the tension and frustration on the faces of my fellow travelers was more than a temporary discomfort. It was an epidemic of monumental proportions that was infecting almost everyone around me. The worst of it was that no one seemed to recognize the degree in which the epidemic had taken over or that it was spreading like wild fire from one disgruntled traveler to the next. It was at that point I decided enough was enough and I was going to do something about it!
In late 2003, I put a transition plan together I hoped would effectively inoculate myself against this epidemic. I decided a log home in the woods and a new occupation was in order. I stopped taking on new clients and began building a business selling log homes and helping other FABOE’s (Frustrated And Burned Out Executives) find balance in their lives.
In early 2005 I informed my last few business clients that I would no longer be doing IT consulting and today spends most of my time working on my newsletter entitled “On The Mountain”, writing a book which is soon to be published and telling my story of how I escaped the FABOE epidemic while also helping inoculate other FABOE’s with a new log home of their own.
Today I work with both buyers, sellers & developers all over the Southeast helping my fellow Baby Boomer's find that perfect spot in the woods, on the creek or atop the highest mountain. If it's made from natural materials (log, timber or stone), we find it, sell it or build it! To learn more, please visit our web site at http://www.ModernRusticLiving.com.
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Permalink Reply by David Bates on -
So well said Deborah! It's a numbers game and nothing can be more exciting! We just never know where the next piece of business is going to come from, what the client will be like and how we can just consult with them to see a reality in this market we are in. And then to see them begin to see the honesty, caring, and win/win purpose we strive to accomplish - it's just overwhelming at times. It's this kind of purpose that makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning. And its people like Dave that made it so clear for me in the beginning. Thank you Dave for everything but especially Millionaire Mondays when I first got into this business!!
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Permalink Reply by Phil Hutsler on -
What got me started as an entrepreneur? Well it certainly wasn't my upbringing. I was the eldest of 7 children, Dad was a union shop steward and a service technician for Sears. Mom stayed home, not because she could really afford to, but because we would have burned the house down if she hadn't! My first foray into the field of sales was for the Kirby vacuume cleaner company. I knocked on hundreds of doors did a dozen or so demonstrations and sold zero vacuume cleaners! Who wanted a $580 dollar vacuume cleaner in 1978 when 12% of the workforce was idle? In 1980 I met my beautiful wife, dropped out of college and followed in my father's footsteps and became a service technician. Remember IBM selectrics? I think I could still adjust "tilt & rotate" if I had to. We raised our two boys, bought a house in 1985 at 11.5% and we were doing OK but the office machine business was turning and it didn't look like the stable job I thought I was supposed to have as a responsible parent and bread winner. I started night school to get an electronics degree and took extra jobs to pay for it. In the summer I ran a lawn service and in the winter I delivered pizzas. In 1989 after graduating night school, I took a job in the medical equipment business but I was still a technician. The territory I took over had been operating at 38% of objective for a number of years, so my first task was to go out and find customers. By the end of the first year I was well over 80% of objective and never again fell below 98%. I found over the 9 years (I know I'm a slow learner) that I LOVED getting the business, but wasn't excited about fixing the stuff after I got it under contract. Then one day in February 1998 I found myself sitting on the sofa in my living room, my bags were packed (I was on the road 4 nights a week with that job), my truck was idling in the driveway and I was watching a "Little House on The Prairie" re-run I'd seen a dozen times! I couldn't make myself go to work. I knew I needed to do something else. I told my wife I wanted a job where she would have to call me at 7:00 p.m. and ask me if I was coming home, that's how much I wanted to love my job. I got lucky, my brother was in the mortgage business, it was a refi boom year and the company he worked for needed warm bodies just to answer the phone. I had a little money in the bank, the kids were in their Junior and Senior years at school so I took the chance. It took me a few months to learn the difference between a mortgage and a tire guage, but I got good at it. I loved that I was able to solve problems for people, help them become homeowners or reduce their monthly expenses. I started going to seminars on finace and business, I learned about business planning and I eventually learned that being "straight commission" wasn't so risky (did I mention I'm a slow learner?) and if I did it right it was actually a safer propostion than being on a salary. If my employers ran the company to the ground, the need for my services would still exist. I could go anywhere I wanted, work for whomever I wanted or even myself if it came to that. It was completely freeing. In 2002 I became aware of Keller Williams, my wife began her real estate practice there. At the time there was only one small office in St. Louis, but we understood enough about business models to realize the innovation KW represented. I also read the Milionaire Real Estate Agent (co-authored by this group's founder). I discovered that I was creating a great deal of wealth for a certain large mortgage company and very little wealth for Phil & Susan Hutsler! In 2003 I left mortgage and became the Team Leader for that office. While that office ultimately left the KW system, Susan & I stayed with KW. What inspired me so much about KW was that I was exposed to writers like Covey, Hill & Maxwell. I hadn't known these people existed. They changed my life! I now run The Hutsler Family Team here in St. Louis. My lovely bride of 28 years has decided that real estate really isn't for her so she has gone back to corporate america and is a great fit there. So why am I an entrepreneur? Every day I have the chance, should I chose, to go find someone to help. Someone who needs my background and expertise to make their life better in some way. It isn't just about real estate, I maintain a network of financial planners, insurance agents, inspectors, engineers, attorneys and consultants of all kinds. When I'm talking to my sphere, I'm not just listening for opportunities for myself, but trying to find a need that I or one of my connections can fulfill. Sure, what I did before had value. When I fixed a typewriter or surgury table, the operator's day got a little better. But now I'm in a position to help someone become a homeowner or avoid foreclosure or begin building wealth through real estate investment. I can now help change lives, I love even the rough days at work, and since I am adding more value by making a greater difference, I can actually make more money. In fact I think that the value added thing is what we mean when we say EARN money!
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Permalink Reply by Susie Tate Morris on -
Phil - this is a compelling story, congratulations for all you have accomplished. Susie Tate Morris
Phil Hutsler said:What got me started as an entrepreneur? Well it certainly wasn't my upbringing. I was the eldest of 7 children, Dad was a union shop steward and a service technician for Sears. Mom stayed home, not because she could really afford to, but because we would have burned the house down if she hadn't! My first foray into the field of sales was for the Kirby vacuume cleaner company. I knocked on hundreds of doors did a dozen or so demonstrations and sold zero vacuume cleaners! Who wanted a $580 dollar vacuume cleaner in 1978 when 12% of the workforce was idle? In 1980 I met my beautiful wife, dropped out of college and followed in my father's footsteps and became a service technician. Remember IBM selectrics? I think I could still adjust "tilt & rotate" if I had to. We raised our two boys, bought a house in 1985 at 11.5% and we were doing OK but the office machine business was turning and it didn't look like the stable job I thought I was supposed to have as a responsible parent and bread winner. I started night school to get an electronics degree and took extra jobs to pay for it. In the summer I ran a lawn service and in the winter I delivered pizzas. In 1989 after graduating night school, I took a job in the medical equipment business but I was still a technician. The territory I took over had been operating at 38% of objective for a number of years, so my first task was to go out and find customers. By the end of the first year I was well over 80% of objective and never again fell below 98%. I found over the 9 years (I know I'm a slow learner) that I LOVED getting the business, but wasn't excited about fixing the stuff after I got it under contract. Then one day in February 1998 I found myself sitting on the sofa in my living room, my bags were packed (I was on the road 4 nights a week with that job), my truck was idling in the driveway and I was watching a "Little House on The Prairie" re-run I'd seen a dozen times! I couldn't make myself go to work. I knew I needed to do something else. I told my wife I wanted a job where she would have to call me at 7:00 p.m. and ask me if I was coming home, that's how much I wanted to love my job. I got lucky, my brother was in the mortgage business, it was a refi boom year and the company he worked for needed warm bodies just to answer the phone. I had a little money in the bank, the kids were in their Junior and Senior years at school so I took the chance. It took me a few months to learn the difference between a mortgage and a tire guage, but I got good at it. I loved that I was able to solve problems for people, help them become homeowners or reduce their monthly expenses. I started going to seminars on finace and business, I learned about business planning and I eventually learned that being "straight commission" wasn't so risky (did I mention I'm a slow learner?) and if I did it right it was actually a safer propostion than being on a salary. If my employers ran the company to the ground, the need for my services would still exist. I could go anywhere I wanted, work for whomever I wanted or even myself if it came to that. It was completely freeing. In 2002 I became aware of Keller Williams, my wife began her real estate practice there. At the time there was only one small office in St. Louis, but we understood enough about business models to realize the innovation KW represented. I also read the Milionaire Real Estate Agent (co-authored by this group's founder). I discovered that I was creating a great deal of wealth for a certain large mortgage company and very little wealth for Phil & Susan Hutsler! In 2003 I left mortgage and became the Team Leader for that office. While that office ultimately left the KW system, Susan & I stayed with KW. What inspired me so much about KW was that I was exposed to writers like Covey, Hill & Maxwell. I hadn't known these people existed. They changed my life! I now run The Hutsler Family Team here in St. Louis. My lovely bride of 28 years has decided that real estate really isn't for her so she has gone back to corporate america and is a great fit there. So why am I an entrepreneur? Every day I have the chance, should I chose, to go find someone to help. Someone who needs my background and expertise to make their life better in some way. It isn't just about real estate, I maintain a network of financial planners, insurance agents, inspectors, engineers, attorneys and consultants of all kinds. When I'm talking to my sphere, I'm not just listening for opportunities for myself, but trying to find a need that I or one of my connections can fulfill. Sure, what I did before had value. When I fixed a typewriter or surgury table, the operator's day got a little better. But now I'm in a position to help someone become a homeowner or avoid foreclosure or begin building wealth through real estate investment. I can now help change lives, I love even the rough days at work, and since I am adding more value by making a greater difference, I can actually make more money. In fact I think that the value added thing is what we mean when we say EARN money!
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Permalink Reply by Phil Fowler on
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This is a great. It reminds me of the scriptures that says "do not despise small beginnings".
Susie Tate Morris said:Phil - this is a compelling story, congratulations for all you have accomplished. Susie Tate Morris
Phil Hutsler said:What got me started as an entrepreneur? Well it certainly wasn't my upbringing. I was the eldest of 7 children, Dad was a union shop steward and a service technician for Sears. Mom stayed home, not because she could really afford to, but because we would have burned the house down if she hadn't! My first foray into the field of sales was for the Kirby vacuume cleaner company. I knocked on hundreds of doors did a dozen or so demonstrations and sold zero vacuume cleaners! Who wanted a $580 dollar vacuume cleaner in 1978 when 12% of the workforce was idle? In 1980 I met my beautiful wife, dropped out of college and followed in my father's footsteps and became a service technician. Remember IBM selectrics? I think I could still adjust "tilt & rotate" if I had to. We raised our two boys, bought a house in 1985 at 11.5% and we were doing OK but the office machine business was turning and it didn't look like the stable job I thought I was supposed to have as a responsible parent and bread winner. I started night school to get an electronics degree and took extra jobs to pay for it. In the summer I ran a lawn service and in the winter I delivered pizzas. In 1989 after graduating night school, I took a job in the medical equipment business but I was still a technician. The territory I took over had been operating at 38% of objective for a number of years, so my first task was to go out and find customers. By the end of the first year I was well over 80% of objective and never again fell below 98%. I found over the 9 years (I know I'm a slow learner) that I LOVED getting the business, but wasn't excited about fixing the stuff after I got it under contract. Then one day in February 1998 I found myself sitting on the sofa in my living room, my bags were packed (I was on the road 4 nights a week with that job), my truck was idling in the driveway and I was watching a "Little House on The Prairie" re-run I'd seen a dozen times! I couldn't make myself go to work. I knew I needed to do something else. I told my wife I wanted a job where she would have to call me at 7:00 p.m. and ask me if I was coming home, that's how much I wanted to love my job. I got lucky, my brother was in the mortgage business, it was a refi boom year and the company he worked for needed warm bodies just to answer the phone. I had a little money in the bank, the kids were in their Junior and Senior years at school so I took the chance. It took me a few months to learn the difference between a mortgage and a tire guage, but I got good at it. I loved that I was able to solve problems for people, help them become homeowners or reduce their monthly expenses. I started going to seminars on finace and business, I learned about business planning and I eventually learned that being "straight commission" wasn't so risky (did I mention I'm a slow learner?) and if I did it right it was actually a safer propostion than being on a salary. If my employers ran the company to the ground, the need for my services would still exist. I could go anywhere I wanted, work for whomever I wanted or even myself if it came to that. It was completely freeing. In 2002 I became aware of Keller Williams, my wife began her real estate practice there. At the time there was only one small office in St. Louis, but we understood enough about business models to realize the innovation KW represented. I also read the Milionaire Real Estate Agent (co-authored by this group's founder). I discovered that I was creating a great deal of wealth for a certain large mortgage company and very little wealth for Phil & Susan Hutsler! In 2003 I left mortgage and became the Team Leader for that office. While that office ultimately left the KW system, Susan & I stayed with KW. What inspired me so much about KW was that I was exposed to writers like Covey, Hill & Maxwell. I hadn't known these people existed. They changed my life! I now run The Hutsler Family Team here in St. Louis. My lovely bride of 28 years has decided that real estate really isn't for her so she has gone back to corporate america and is a great fit there. So why am I an entrepreneur? Every day I have the chance, should I chose, to go find someone to help. Someone who needs my background and expertise to make their life better in some way. It isn't just about real estate, I maintain a network of financial planners, insurance agents, inspectors, engineers, attorneys and consultants of all kinds. When I'm talking to my sphere, I'm not just listening for opportunities for myself, but trying to find a need that I or one of my connections can fulfill. Sure, what I did before had value. When I fixed a typewriter or surgury table, the operator's day got a little better. But now I'm in a position to help someone become a homeowner or avoid foreclosure or begin building wealth through real estate investment. I can now help change lives, I love even the rough days at work, and since I am adding more value by making a greater difference, I can actually make more money. In fact I think that the value added thing is what we mean when we say EARN money!
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Permalink Reply by Laurie Hathorn on -
What drives me every day is an insatiable curiosity. What is around the corner? How can I make a difference? How can I help others succeed? The magnificence of life, our planet and the universe.
What got me started? First I was created. No seriously, that in itself is a miracle. Then I was fortunate to be born into a family of intelligent caring parents. My father was an immigrant’s son. He grew up poor, undernourished, and without a father. He grew up in New York so he was tough. But he was always soft, kind, and introspective. He thought about life. He showed me the meaning of steady work. He started a business with his brother after WWII which grew to be one of the largest office machines businesses in NYC. Then they invested in real estate. I was always by his side; watching him rise before dawn and come home after sunset. I learned the how to think and act like an entrepreneur from him.
From my Mother comes my musical talent. I studied with great teachers including Bob Morris from the NY Philharmonic. He nurtured my talents and with the skill of a great master, imparted his wisdom to me. While my performance skills were "shelved" for many years, my love for and understanding of music never left me. And now, after 30 years of silence, I am once again playing my instruments and unlocking a new kind of creativity.
Challenges! There were many. Perhaps the biggest one was the loss of my husband when I was 48. How quickly one’s perspective changes when you find your dreams all but shattered. But then something else shows up. It is resilience, a life force. For me it was to readjust my focus. I looked at my life considering what I had lost but acknowledging my gifts. I went deeper and chose to confront and strengthen some of the things that I had not yet mastered. It was hard at first, a bit like the lift off from earth of a rocket. Gravity wants to hold on. But over time the momentum shifted in my favor and the last 8 years have been extraordinarily rich. I learned more about my capacity than before, built a wonderful real estate company, formed new and everlasting relationships, and most importantly have made peace with the natural order of life and death.
Are we global? Absolutely! It is not an illusion that things are accelerating and that our world is shrinking. Small is the new big as demonstrated by the powerful impact of innovative organizations like the Grameen Bank, the Acumen Fund and Kiva.org that make micro loans to millions of entrepreneurs who are then empowered to lift themselves out of poverty in one generation. I grew up having to wait for information from teachers, books or parents. Learning was slower and the quality was controlled by who had the information. Now, what I can imagine I can connect with instantly. Conversations are global. Twitter has spread vital news faster than the old wire services. We are on the threshold of global shift and now it is time to let go of old patterns and consider new possibilities. As Patricia Aburdene says in her book Megatrends 2010, "...when changing values meet economic necessity, transformation takes off". Free Enterprise Warriors is all about this SHIFT and those who are answering the call with the spirit of a warrior.
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