In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Gail Davis of GDA Speakers. Gail started out working for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) after college. She had many different jobs over her 20 year career at EDS. The last job she had was as an events manager. On the final night of an inner circle event, the chairman of EDS asked for a new speaker as he was tired of hearing the same speakers over and over. On a friday night, Gail watched a movie with her husband and the rest is history. Today Gail enjoys what she does and is living her freedom day!
Gail and Jeff discuss:
Graduated from the University of Oklahoma and went to work immediately for Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
She did a variety of things at EDS and really enjoyed the experience.
Her last job she had at EDS was manager of corporate events. Which included a sales incentive program where they recognized the top performers.
She loved it; she got to pick the location, the entertainment, the gifts, the excursions and the speakers. 
In 1994 on the final night of the inner circle event, the chairman of the company asked who next year's speaker would be and requested someone new and different.
On a friday night, Gail went to a video store (like Blockbuster) and she chose the movie Alive.
10 mins into the movie her husband said this would be perfect for inner circle and after 2 hours of watching the movie she was sold. 
After pitching the idea to the chairman of EDS and getting his approval Gail went to work to find Nando Parrado.
There was no google at the time so she reached out to her network and received some discouraging feedback. 
Gail persevered anyway and was able to find Nando and talk him into being the speaker for the next year. 
As Nando was leaving he invited her to Uruguay and she took a trip with her entire family and they became great friends.
4 years later the chairman of EDS left, her boss/mentor died and she decided to take a risk and leave EDS. 
Gail started with 1 speaker in 1999 and now has close to 5,000.
Anything new in your world? Close to the 50th year of the plane crash and a prime time special will be filmed next month and a retelling of the movie/book Alive will be coming out. 
 
Fast Five Questions:
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “This may surprise you but I think I might try to become a speaker.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “I think I put an appropriate emphasis on "You have to keep the client happy." I had the appropriate amount of focus on clients and the appropriate amount of focus on speakers but I realized I can't do it without a team.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Personal tool: Captio and business tool: she developed a custom system for her back office.” 
What is your definition of freedom day? “The ability to do what you love.”
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: GDAspeakers.com on the home page you'll find their social sites, follow them there.” 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Debra Chantry - Taylor from New Zealand. Debra started as a biochemist and food technologist because her parents thought it would help her to find a husband. Debra learned that she really liked people and after being frustrated with her corporate job she quit and started her own business. After many setbacks and going back to the corporate world for a few years, she has learned from her mistakes and is now doing what she loves. 
 
Debra and Jeff discuss:
Debra is a Biochemist and food technologist by trade and a business coach by day. 
She found out she didn't like looking at tubes but she liked people.
At age 30, she ran businesses for other people.
Struggled in the corporate world and wanted to run her own business.
She quit and started her own company; that was 16 years ago.
Running a business was a lot harder than working for others. She made some mistakes, and had to go back to corporate for 3 and 1/2 years.
Debra learned from her failures and went back to working on her own business. 
She found out about EOS;  Entrepreneur Operating Systems and became an EOS implementer. 
EOS can work for any size business; it's a framework to get some traction first and some tools in place and then we look at vision later on.
Fast Five Questions:
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “ I’d want to actually understand what really makes my heart sing and what makes me tick. What's your why: why do you exist on this planet?”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Not doing your due diligence and not asking for help.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “The EOS Life: How to Live Your Ideal Entrepreneurial Life (The Traction Library) by Gino Wickman.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Asana and Remarkable tablet.” 
What is your definition of freedom? “Being able to do what you want to do, when you want to do it.”
What is the best way to contact you? “google Debra Chantry-Taylor, LinkedIn and 
Debra.coach (it's a portal where you’ll find free tools, webinars, Debra’s email, and her social sites).” 
 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today's episode, Jeff interviews Rachael Burns of True Worth Financial Planning. Rachael started as a financial manager for a big wealth management firm. She enjoyed her job, but things took a turn when COVID happened, and her family was all at home together. Rachael enjoyed being home more and felt it was better for her family. After doing some research, she left her corporate job and started her firm doing what she enjoyed, divorce analysis and financial planning. Starting her firm has allowed her the freedom to be at home and do what makes her excited every day. 
 
Rachael and Jeff discuss the following:
Rachael came from the big wirehouse world; out of college, she worked for big wealth management firms.
She was very interested in her work at the time but didn't know what it could be like to be an entrepreneur.
Pretty much a generalist, Rachael used the firm's tools for her.
After a while, she made some changes, leaving Morgan Stanley to join a big team at Merril Lynch.
She got her CDFA (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst) designation, which she didn't use much initially.
She had twin babies, her husband, and major health struggles, and then she had health struggles after the kids were born.
Then COVID happened; all of her family members were at home, and she loved being home.
Rachael didn't want to leave her team, but things just took a turn, and she decided to do some research and then step out on her own.
Her husband was concerned that they were still in lockdown and that she was leaving a stable job. 
But leaving would be good for her family and she could focus on the work that gave her the most satisfaction.
It was hard to decide, but she did it anyway and is excited to work.
Rachael shares that each stage of the divorce process needs a CDFA advisor.
She finds her clients by networking.
Anything new? Yes, working on creating online courses.
Fast Five Questions
 
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “I would just get on LinkedIn and start scheduling chats with people.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “The things that happened felt like mistakes but were lessons learned.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection by Jia Jiang.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “ Zoho .”
What’s your definition of freedom? “Doing whatever I want with my time.”
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: https://trueworthfp.com/about and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaelvburns/ .”
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/
 

In today's episode, Jeff interviews Jason Skeesick of the Spear and Clover Podcast. Jason started his journey in the Army. He gained weight in his first year and then, over three years, lost the weight and found an interest in fitness. After the military, Jason returned to school and opened a CrossFit gym with friends. Sitting at work one day, Jason realized building his gym would be more rewarding than staying at his job. Making that decision came with its challenges but led Jason to coaching and a Podcast which he enjoys. Jason is currently living his definition of freedom and is excited about a new tool that's building coming out in early 2023. 
 
Jason and Jeff discuss:
Joined the Army after a brief stint in college and gained a bunch of weight in the first year. 
He spent three years working off the weight and became interested in fitness towards the end of his military career. 
Went back to school for Finance and opened a small Crossfit gym with friends. After graduation, he got one of the best starting jobs in the field.
Sitting at work, he could only think about his Crossfit gym. 
The moment he decided to focus fully on the Crossfit gym, he realized that his two partners were no longer interested in making this their career and they had both gone on to do other things.  
Took 7 years to get 200 members and 6 months to get 300 members.
Became a coach for other Gym owners and fell in love with coaching. 
 He spent the last year in a "year of service"; time with his new baby girl Lucy, kickboxing five days a week and helping entrepreneurs. 
Started a Podcast called Spear and Clover in February. 
Jason talks about the methodology behind owning a CrossFit gym. 
Being in a mastermind group helped him move from working in his business to being less of an operator and more of an owner. 
Jason talks about how his gym survived in 2020 and the importance of core values. 
Having a Podcast has given him the superpower to "shut up" and listen. 
What's the plan for the future? More coaching; helping entrepreneurs build on a bedrock foundation.
Jason explains the difference between core values and missions in business and how important your core value is to your business. 
Fast Five Questions:
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? "Start to have conversations with my entrepreneur friends. I want to become undeniable and I want my passion to fit into something that can have scale."
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? "Operating agreement. Having an operating agreement that's not very, very thorough."
What is a book that you would recommend? "For employees: Rich dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki and For entrepreneurs: Built to sell: Creating a Business that can 
thrive without you by John Warrillow."
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? "A tool he's building called Score Center." 
What is your definition of freedom? "Freedom is having a business that you love that is working towards your vision that does not take from you. And it's having a family you love that you get to spend time with whenever you want. It's not working for money but for pleasure. And it's staying happy, healthy, and fit." 
What is the best way to contact you? "jason@spearandclover.com 
Instagram: Jason Skeesick and Spear and Clover 
Podcast: Spear and Clover 
YouTube: Spear and Clover 
Discord channel: Spear and Clover community (free)." 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started five businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since then, he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation.
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Chris Myles of Blogger Evolution. Chris started 4 years ago when he and his wife were working full-time jobs and his wife got pregnant. His wife wanted to stay home after their son was born and so Chris had to figure out how to replace her income. After searching online for ideas Chris came across blogging and Affiliate Marketing. After several failed attempts Chris made it work and his wife was able to quit her job within 18 months and Chris was able to quit his job 2 years later. Today Chris is getting back to blogging, he also has a podcast as well as a YouTube channel. 
 
Chris and Jeff discuss:
 
In the very beginning it was just him and his wife and they had jobs that were paying the bills.
After his wife got pregnant, she wanted to quit her job.
Motivated to help his wife stay home, Chris did an online google search of how to make money online.
Eventually he stumbled upon blogging and Affiliate Marketing.
After several failed attempts he was finally able to get his blog to work.
Within 18 months, his wife was able to quit her job and 2 years later he quit his job. That was about 4 years ago.
The first site that actually worked was a marketing blog that was doing pretty well.
Blogs are like digital Real Estate and you can buy and sell them.
Early on Chris created all of the content for his blogs, but now he contracts most of the work out.
Your motivation for why you are building the blog is very important.
There is tons of free content out there but paying a mentor or for training will save you time.
There are so many different ways to monetize a blog, you just have to figure out what your audience would be interested in.
There are passive as well as active ways to earn an income; Chris focuses on Display Ads and Affiliate Marketing.
Chris talks a little bit about what drives the traffic to his blog site.
Anything New in your world? Yes, a training program to show other people how to do it.
 
Fast Five Questions
 
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “Basically having a skill to be able to teach other people, a valuable skill and also building your own passive income streams.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “My first website got taken out of the google index because I was borrowing content from someone as the other guy had suggested.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “100M Offers: How to Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Keyword Chef.” 
What is your definition of freedom? “Being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it where you want to do it if you want to do it.”
What is the best way to contact you? “Podcast - Blogger Evolution ; Website - https://bloggerevolution.com/ .” 
 
 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through 
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/
 

In this episode of the Freedom Nation Podcast, Jeff is joined by Levent Yildizgoren, one of the co-founders of TTC WeTranslate and has helped it grow from a single to a multi-language vendor. 
Levent and his wife started their translation business 30 years ago and in this episode Levent  talks to us about how they reached their own "Freedom Day."
 
Jeff and Levent discuss:
 
He is from Turkey but lived longer in the Uk.
In 1995, there was an opportunity with his wife's business to set up a translation company, translating from English into Turkish.
After having their first child she didn't want to go back to full time employment but she wanted to do something so they set up that translation company.
There was an opportunity for larger jobs and so Levent joined his wife in business to be in control of their future.
When people are thinking about starting their own business there is an element of listening to your gut feeling, you can't line up everything.
After 30 yrs, they realized that actually doing the jobs were great but they wanted to grow the business. 
So they built a team and employed full time project managers and quality assurance people so that they could control the process.
At some point he realized no one was calling them and that the training of the team was good so they didn't need him. 
One of the keys to being in business for 30 years was that both him and his wife were healthy enough to continue and being able to move with the times.
Levent has a book: the book is about global growth and it introduces a methodology with (5) steps; starting from market research to going operational. 
https://ttcwetranslate.com/book/claim-free-book/ 
    11. Anything New? In person summits and motion translation. 
 
 
Fast Five Questions
 
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “First gather my thoughts together and work on my strongest point. With $500 and a laptop I can do consultancy or training.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “One of the mistakes I realize in hindsight is not having a niche and micro niche. ”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “A password manager.” 
What is your definition of freedom? “Being healthy and having money that enables me to do what I need/want to do.” 
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: https://ttcwetranslate.com/levent-yildizgoren/ .”
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through 
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/
 

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Victor Manzo Jr. Victor is currently a full-time business mindset coach. He started as a chiropractor in Illinois and after hitting his financial peak and burnout decided to pivot. His new journey started as a pediatric chiropractor where he wanted to help kids. After getting his patients to 50% kids he decided to stop doing things the traditional way and just use what he knew and focus on loving and building relationships with his patients. This method brought him lots of success and he looked at other entrepreneurs and wondered if they knew this strategy; which led him to coaching as a side hustle. Realizing that coaching was much more fulfilling Victor moved with his wife to Nashville and he became a coach full-time. 
Victor and Jeff discuss:
Started his career as a chiropractor, after 5 years he hit his financial peak and was burnt out every 4-6 months.
Feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied, Victor did some soul seeking and reconfigured his whole practice.
His office was now a lifestyle office, this caused his office to take a 40% hit as he looked at patients that no longer fit. 
Started to shift into pediatrics and kids became a main focus of his. 
With all of these changes he took another change and stopped taking all the business advice and decided to go back to what he knew.
As the creator of his life, he should be able to dictate success as he sees fit.
In business we are always trying to figure out the next thing and he wasn't doing anything towards the next thing, he just focused on loving on his patients. 
Looked at entrepreneurs and noticed that they needed this advice too so he started coaching as a side hustle.
In 2018 starting coming out to Nashville TN and fell in love with it.
He and his wife made the move from Illinois and he has been coaching full time since January of 2022 and it's been a blast. 
The whole coaching thing and transforming minds now is like taking things to a whole new level. 
Typical client: entrepreneurs come because 1) they have a struggle or pain they can't break through. 2) or they come to him with a big dream or vision they want to achieve faster but they don't want to follow the standard principles of what's being told.
Vision is the biggest thing that he works on, then the main purpose for why you are here and then work on the (5) M's; mindset, marriage, movement, mission, and money. 
It takes 84 days to rewire the mind; it doesn't happen overnight, it's a process.
He's a business coach too; business principles are never in the beginning, if you have a foundation that isn't solid, nothing you build on that is going to hold.
In life we get stuck in our heads thinking how we have to do things once you let your mind dictate your life creates complexity. 
Anything new? Opening up classes; Money mindset essentials and an Online consciousness school. 
Fast Five Questions:
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “I’m going to start promoting the living heck out of myself.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Not trusting myself enough.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Power vs Force by Dr. David Hawkins and Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl .”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Smartphone.” 
What is your definition of freedom? “Choosing what I want to do every single day and not being told what I have to do and having the financial means to allow me to do that.”
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: https://www.empoweryourreality.com/ 
- Free discovery call (top right corner of the website)
and Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Linkedin (bottom left on the website).” 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Leslie Kuster of Back to Bali. Leslie got robbed back in the earlier 90’s and used her insurance check to go to Bali, Indonesia for 7 months. After coming back home to New York, at the time, she didn’t see anything in the New York Times that interested her for jobs and she didn't want to go back to PR.  So she calculated the cost and returned to Bali to get something she could sell in the United States. With the help of her mom she set up a table and sold out in one day and her business was born. As the internet came out she created a website and found herself on Amazon. To this day, Leslie still sells on Amazon and has made it to a 7 figure business.   
 
Leslie and Jeff discuss:
In the early 90's her house got robbed and she received an insurance check.
Always wanted to travel and at the time was working in corporate PR in New York City.
Decided and went to Indonesia by herself; which was scary, no cell phones or internet. 
After 7 months she decided to go back to New York and find a job.
When she got back to New York she went and got the New York Times and looked for jobs. Nothing looked good and she didn't want to go back to PR.
All of a sudden she had a light bulb moment; I wonder if I went back to Bali, Indonesia if there is stuff I could buy and sell in the US.
After calculating the cost, she decided to go back to Bali and she brought back children’s clothing to sell.
She had no sales experience so she asked her mom for help who had sales experience.
Setup a folding table and women bought everything on the table and this is how she launched her business.
For 18 years she did street fairs and holiday markets in New York City where she sold childrens clothing and also did wholesale.
As the business continued, it was somewhat successful but under a 6 figure gross business.
All of a sudden the internet kicked in and she had the first yahoo website and started to get online.
Found herself on Amazon which was new at the time; Amazon was only doing books at first (mid 2000s).
After a year of being online she changed from children's clothes to women's clothing.
At age 50, living In Switzerland she said to herself there is no way that I am waking up and on her next birthday not making over 6-figures.
Leslie now has a multiple 7-figure business and continues to be on Amazon and she also sells through her own website.
To do what Leslie has done it has to start with your mindset; really get clear on what you really really really want and get to know yourself; understand your deep belief system that has influence over your choices.
Mentors are the next step: hire someone who is where you want to be and was where you are now. 
Leslie has a book coming out soon: 7 Keys to 7 Figures: The Women Entrepreneurs guide to money and freedom. 
Wrote the book to tell people how she did it and her wish is to help women to become the sovereign of their life.
If you have a conversation in your head that starts with “I wonder if…” it is your soul calling you to do something, take action on it. 
Fast Five Questions:
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “This time in my life is pretty perfect, I think I would do what I'm already doing right now. I like to wake up and meditate and this is a good way to start my day and then get outside.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Not hiring someone to help me figure out what to do.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Profit first by Mike Michalowicz.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “icalendar on my Macbook.” 
What is your definition of Freedom? ”Really knowing deeply who you are and what lights your fire and what really motivates you and what your passions and desires are and then creating a life that fulfills those things.” 
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: lesliekuster.com 
For Clothing: amazon or backfrombali.com .” 
 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Roger Williams, the self-proclaimed Crosser off-er of his Bucket List. Roger got his inspiration from the movie “The Bucket List (2007).” He was in his 30s when he watched it and wasn’t in any hurry to start crossing things off his list as the movie implied that you had to be old to get started. Sometime later Roger had a heart attack that opened his eyes and he began to evaluate what he had been defining his self-worth as. After jokingly changing his social media job title to the “Crosser off-er of my bucket list,” he decided to take action. Not only did he take action, he decided to be intentional with his list. This mindset led to him doing the Camino de Santiago and other things he wouldn’t have had the courage to do. 
 
Roger and Jeff discuss:
How did you get to be the head crosser off-er of your bucket list? Self proclaimed title he gave to himself.
Roger had a heart attack in December 2020 and came out more intently asking where he found his self worth. 
Educator for 30+ years and although he loved it, it was hard work.
With 168 hrs in a week, he sold 40-50 hrs to someone else, slept 40-50 hrs and had 60-80 hrs left in the week for how he wanted to be known.
Decided to go on his social media accounts and change his work title to "crosser off-er of my bucket list” and changed his company to “bucket list” as a joke.
What made you want to create a bucket list? A movie that came out in 2007 called, “The Bucket List.”
Roger saw the movie in his 30’s and thought to himself that he has time as the movie implied that you do the bucket list items when you get old.
Time went by and he had his bucket list only in his head until the heart attack.
First major bucket list item was the Camino de Santiago, a 790 kilometer trek across northern Spain. This was on his bucket list for 10-11 years. 
After taking an Adult gap year (in the book) what other big things did you do? Getting knuckle tattoos and traveling to Europe and to Costa Rica.
One big takeaway from the book was to be intentional with your bucket list; don’t just have a list of things but why do you want to do/experience them. 
What are you doing now? Started a podcast right when he started his Adult gap year called “The Crossing It Off” podcast. To promote it, Roger has been on 30+ podcasts this year.  Also in the process of creating online courses based on the book. 
Setting an intention at the beginning of writing your bucket list is to help you use it as a guide (mission statement) as you do them. 
You’d be surprised at how somethings on your bucket list will just happen or how you are guided towards them; Roger is much more open to what the universe provides.  
 
Fast Five Questions
 
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “I would rebuild the podcast.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Paying to be on someone else's podcast.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Howard Zinn's; A People's History of the United States.”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Calendly.” 
What’s your definition of freedom? “Freedom is the ability to say yes to what I want to and the ability to say No to what I don't want to.” 
What is the best way to contact you? “Website: https://crossingitoffpodcast.com/  ; everything he's into is there."  For the Book: Live Out Your List: Finding Joy through a bucket list lifestyle https://crossingitoffpodcast.com/book  
 
 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since then, he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through 
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/

In today’s episode, Jeff interviews Axel Thibon, the CEO of Wizest in Cleveland, OH. Axel is originally from France, he moved to the US 10 years ago to switch from a career as a Mechanical Engineer to Finance. Here in the US he managed a retail bank and built a bank from scratch on behalf of another institution. Out of frustration in managing the bank and when he was a mechanical engineer, Axel started Wizest to start learning how to invest to build wealth for his future and to help others. 
 
Axel and Jeff discuss:
 
Started in France as a Mechanical Engineer, came to the US 10 years ago and switched to banking / Finance. 
Worked in a couple of large banks in Florida, as the head of strategy.
Managed a retail bank that they acquired directly and also built another retail bank from scratch on behalf of another institution. 
Frustrated in his career and not knowing what to do to start investing to build wealth for his future, he started Wizest to be the solution. 
What makes Wizest different from other apps that are similar? The market has (3) investing solutions: 1) DIY - Do It Yourself, 2) Passive solution - Do it for you and 3) Financial Advisor - Do it with me, have someone to help you.
No investing option for the people who want the “Do it with me” option but don’t have 100-250K to invest with a financial advisor.
Wizest was created to close this gap; in the app you can browse the portfolios of others and follow them. 
Objective not only B2C solutions but partnering with banks/credit unions and employers.
Wizest is the solution for everyone who struggles with wanting to start investing but don’t know what to do. 
Wizest is going live soon, to keep up to date on the latest developments subscribe to their newsletter or sign up to get access at  www.wizest.com 
Fast Five Questions
 
If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “That is funny, that will bring me back to where I was 3 years ago, the story has written itself so I would do it again. Start first by investing in myself a little in the stock market to get some fuel and then let's build a solution that would work for me and for others.”
What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “When working for a retail bank, issues we were having I was wanting to change the system we were using and not pushing as I should have as top management for what I think was the best solution. Now a few years after, this is the direction other players are taking. I should have pushed more.”
What is a book that you would recommend? “Traction by Gino Wickman and to think about something different, The behind (French, Science Fiction from the 19th century).”
What is a tool that you use everyday that you would recommend? “Excel” 
What is your definition of freedom? “Being able to be in full sync in between what is my personal vision or mission and what I’m doing.”
      6. What is the best way to contact you? “
Website: www.wizest.com 
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
Email: Axel@wizest.com ” 
 
 
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
 
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at www.freedomnationpodcast.com
 
You can connect with Jeff through 
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/