The Journey to Success: A Conversation with Entrepreneurs & Industry
Leaders
Business Nonfiction
Date Published: July 28, 2023
Publisher: MindStir Media
INTRODUCTION WITH SHARK TANK’S KEVIN HARRINGTON AND WALL STREET JOURNAL
& USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR J. J. HEBERT
Being an entrepreneur can be a challenging path. But what if it didn’t have
to be? What if you could tap into the expertise of a world-renowned
entrepreneurial icon, an award-winning publishing CEO, a celebrity agent,
real estate moguls, and a host of others who have been where you are …
that moment before things took off? What if they were willing to share some
of the most important lessons from their journeys?
Mind-Stirring Business Secrets is a collection of wisdom offered by almost
two dozen business leaders from a wide range of fields, all with one crucial
thing in common–they turned their dreams into reality. And with their help,
you can too.
Inside you’ll find hacks to maximize your business valuation, the magic of
co-creation and why it works, tips on becoming your best self so your
business reaches its full potential, and much more. Give yourself the
advantage of million-dollar mentors and their Mind-Stirring Business
Secrets.
Authors who contributed to this book:
Christen Hagan, Darren Prince, Christopher Masiello, Jesse Haynes, Karl
Yaacoub, Dr. Kathleen McAllister, Ami Mariscal, Ocean Eagle, Mark Paul,
Jason Pliml, Bably Bhasin, Donald Williams, Paul Gunn, Dr. Britney Caruso,
Norm Ashley, Jake Butler, Jack Atkinson, Myrielle Philistin, Carolyn
Watkins, and Youngtae Kim
EXCERPT
I’m sitting on stage next to Shark Tank’s Kevin Harrington at a business event in Tampa, Florida. Inventors are pitching us their products as we deliver feedback. The audience is full of entrepreneurs attentively taking notes, hoping for their turn to present to our panel. As Kevin hands me the microphone and I start to address the room, it’s hard to imagine that twenty-fi ve years ago, my family could barely make ends meet.
How did I arrive here? Perhaps my early years led me to this point. Mom was young, single, and supporting four maniacal children on a $30,000-a-year salary. Life wasn’t easy, but I always had this feeling that the future would be different.
We were always taken care of, with lots of love and food on the ta ble. But adversity was part of our everyday lives, as with many poor families. Where financial struggle exists, so does limitation. I felt the burden of being restricted by never having money, cars breaking down, needing new clothes, turning down social activities. But this limitation unveiled a profound realization for me: freedom was to become my ultimate driver in life.
My definition of freedom encompassed many areas—financial freedom, freedom with your time, freedom to live life the way you truly want. The desire for this freedom was so intrinsic, it is still a part of my very core. It is how I make decisions today, both personally and professionally.
As the oldest, I matured quickly and assumed a managerial identity early on. Leadership, though, came naturally. At the age of seventeen, I started reading books about building wealth and achieving your goals. Stephen Covey, Jim Rohn, Napoleon Hill, and other business writers molded me into the entrepreneur I was meant to become. Inside these pages were the answers to obtaining my freedom.
This leads me to my first “mind-stirring business secret . . .”
