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Jason Surfrapp is an incredible guest that we were very fortunate to have on Build Your Utopia.

He was able to build a name for himself as an entrepreneur by being sponsored to wearing branded t-shirts.

His motivation for being a successful entrepreneur is to have control and freedom. Who wouldn’t want that for his or her life? Eh?

Like many of you reading this, Jason didn’t start with entrepreneur dreams and didn’t even consider being an entrepreneur feasible for a very long time.

He followed the common path of going to college, finishing his degree, and getting a corporate job.

After joining “corporate America”, he learned fairly quickly that grinding out every day was not for him. He collaborated with a colleague and started up a design company, which allowed him to leave “corporate America”.

This business also quickly grossed up to $250K in revenue.

Shortly after attaining immediate entrepreneurial success, Jason had a thought. With the popularity of social media, he saw an opportunity to create a new type of advertising on social media.

As he was brainstorming this notion, he was staring at his closet and saw about 50 branded shirts and that’s when he had his “Aha!” moment. He realized there could be an opportunity to promote brands on t-shirts on social media.

He even took this idea to Seth Godin (inspired to reach out to him because of Seth’s book Purple Cow), who actually responded (in about an hour after an email sent too). Seth responded that he didn’t feel that the idea would fly, which only fueled Jason’s determination to turn this wild idea into a success.

So, he started it up and he made $84K his first year selling advertising for $1+ per day for Jason to promote companies by wearing their logos on t-shirts and promoting them on social media.

Jason is an advocate for living a life free of.. social media. Yes, although he created a business off social media, he believes in the value of “detoxing” from social media.

If you are reading this, you should consider taking a 30 day social media detox. Jason highly recommends it and when he did it, he was able to come up with a gob of business ideas with the extra time and focus.

Jason has also become an avid reader since picking up Purple Cow. (he even said in our interview that the last book he read before Purple Cow was Go, Dog, Go)

Currently, he’s juggling several books, including:

One wise tip that Jason left with Utopians during our interview was to get advice as early as possible, ask for help, and stop trying to figure everything out on your own. Jason feels that if he would have done that sooner, he could have accomplished more sooner.

However, at the end of the day, at least learn from your decisions, experiences, and mistakes.

Jason’s 3 tips for Utopians include:

  • Take a step back and look at your life’s foundation
  • Understand that you are going to make mistakes and screw things up
  • Be willing to do something different

I highly recommend listening to the show to hear Jason’s in-depth explanations for the above 3 tips.

Don’t miss this show. Thanks again to Jason Surfrapp for being on Build Your Utopia.

Jason would personally love for you to reach out to him at Jason@iwearyourshirt.com or his website (where you can join the action army, check it out).

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 020_Interview_with_Jason_SurfrApp.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Today is boxing day!

That means go out and find someone to box with some padded gloves on, seriously.

Ok, not seriously.

Boxing day is actually when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts.

On today's episode we reflect on this past week. We were honored to have Honoree Corder on the show.  You can listen to her episode here.

This week, Josh was also a featured guest on the podcast StartupDadHQ, which you can check out here.

In this episode, he tells the complete story for the 1st time ever of how he started up his business in early 2013.

Josh then grills Ben about if any of his childhood experiences led to him starting up Build Your Utopia.

Honoree Corder had a lot of influences growing up that led her into entrepreneurship.

This isn't always the case. Upon review, there really isn't a common "type of person" that goes into entrepreneurship.

It doesn't take parents that were entrepreneurs, money, or some of the common beliefs out there in society. In fact, these are all misconceptions.

In today's show, Josh and Ben also discuss how at times in corporate cultures, you have to pick up the slack for others, even if you are not getting paid to do so.

Ben and Josh both share their own individual stories from their corporate experiences related to this.

On a separate note, this past week, Josh was able to complete a certification to become a Certified Funnel Expert with Digital Marketer signed by Ryan Deiss and Frank Kern! (two of the biggest names in digital marketing today)

Ben and Josh then jump into discussing the three takeaways that Honoree left with Utopians towards the end of that show.

Reflecting back on this week's episode with Honoree, Ben and Josh also share their morning routines with Utopians. See, in this past week's show with Honoree, Honoree shares how she just read Hal Elrod's book Miracle Morning (Hal is a registered future guest too) and one subject discussed in the book is having an effective morning routine.

Finally, Ben and Josh wrap up the show discussing alternative diets, specially juicing diets and organic diets. These are diets that both Ben and Josh have participated in and they share their thoughts with Utopians.

Thanks for following us and please leave us a review in iTunes, Stitcher, or by leaving a comment at Build Your Utopia.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 019_Lock_Down_Your_Mornings.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

We have a special, BONUS episode for you today on Build Your Utopia.

Today, Josh and Ben share with you what they are thankful for in celebration of Christmas.

To Josh and Ben, Christmas is the time to show gratitude.

This has also been a common theme on the show amongst all our guest up to this point.

We also want to give thanks to all of our guests that we have been honored enough to have on the show:

John Allen Mollenhauer

Matt Maszczak

Brandon Epstein

Darieth Chisolm

Michelle Corr

Dominick Sirianni

Jenny Olding

Honoree Corder

In pursuing your Utopia, it's very important to have the work-life balance necessary to give your pursuits your best. With that said, enjoy your Christmas and we wish you a Merry Christmas from us to you.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: Bonus_001_Christmas_2014.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

 

Today's show was awesome with Honoree Corder who has a long list of accomplishments.

She grew up with high-achieving parents whom both had advanced degrees and also had entrepreneurial activities that they participated in.

Seeing this growing up, she immediately knew that that was what she was intended to do for her life's purpose.

However, she didn't start this way. She started like many of you working for "the man".

After several years of grinding away and seeing how others profited from her efforts, she decided to finally embrace her inner purpose.

Years later, she now has several books published, a thriving business, and the balanced life that she has worked hard to achieve.

When she isn't working, she is spending time with her family, reading books, and learning foreign languages.

Building her business and engaging in all the of activities that she loves encompasses her current Utopia.

Here are some books that she highly recommends:

Finally, she also left Utopians with 3 powerful takeaways that you'll have to hear more about in the episode.

  • Master your mindset
  • Have a solid morning routine
  • Outsource as soon as possible

Plus, she left us a bonus takeaway!

  • Be very selective about the 5 closest people to you

Make sure to listen to the show to hear why these are all recommended by Honoree.

We were very honored to have Honoree (that has a ring to it!) and know how much you will love this episode too. Enjoy!

Utopian Quote of the Show

"It's no good to be making really great progress climbing a ladder that is up against the wrong wall" - Honorée Corder

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

 

Direct download: 018_Interview_with_Honoree_Corder.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Hello Utopians! We have a great show for you today!

This past week we spoke with Jenny Olding of Rock Your Lifestyle. She has absolutely accomplished her current Utopia in 2014 with publishing a book, launching her business, and making an impact on the world.

In today's episode we discuss all the value bombs that Jenny dropped on Tuesday.

Early in the show Josh talks about the value of direct response marketing tactics in the online marketing space and the benefits of injecting your own personality into your businesses branding, if you are a business owner.

Ben and Josh also dive into the fears of the risks that pursuing goals feel like, comparing pursuing corporate goals vs. entrepreneurship.

No matter what direction you are going in trying to accomplish your professional Utopia, milestones and goals are necessary.

Your plan doesn't have to be perfect, just functional. If anything, you should learn from our mistakes of over planning. (which you can hear more about in this episode).

During this episode, Josh and Ben also dive into how to choose who you should surround yourself with specific types of people and who you should surround yourself with.

Just a few weeks ago, Josh was in Austin, TX with an event by Digital Marketer. During this event, he was privileged enough to be around other high-achievers and entrepreneurs (some very successful), and uses this experience as an example of how it is great to surround yourself with people that are pursuing similar Utopias.

Ever hear of facetious behavior? Facetious behavior is how you adapt your behavior around certain groups of people.

During the show, Josh and Ben also discuss how people exhibit facetious behavior with different groups of people and different environments.

Another strong point discussed in this episode is the value of being true to yourself and blazing your own, unique trail.

In Tuesday's show Jenny talks about how she chose not to follow her mom's path and tells us a story between her and her mom about how she told her mom she wasn't going to follow the same footsteps.

You also get to find out more about how Ben created his current Utopia, going back to this past week's episode and how creating your own happiness is a product of your decisions.

Finally, Ben and Josh also discuss why everyone needs to pursue their own personal paths so they can achieve their Utopias.

In the show, we asked you Utopians to leave comments below of stories of when you went on one path that you thought you should go on and then pivoted and decided that you should go down a different road. We want to hear from you!

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 017_Are_You_A_Thinker_Or_A_Doer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Jenny Olding is our guest in this episode of Build Your Utopia. She's truly an inspiration!

Jenny is an author, entrepreneur, coach, speaker, and runs Lifestyle Change International.

In 2014, she left her full-time secure sales position where she was making more than 6 figures, became a published author, produced several products, has been a speaker at many events, and is soon to be a reality TV star.

Make sure you listen to this entire episode, it's awesome.

Jenny's Utopia is about living her life to the fullest, which matches one of her brands, Rock Your Lifestyle. She loves to spend time with her family, travel the world, and empower people to get to the next level.

She also believes that a Utopia is up for individual interpretation. In this episode she contrasts her Utopia to her parent's Utopia.

In this episode, we discuss the power of focusing on your Circle of Influence. (You'll have to listen to the episode to find out more about it)

Jenny, Ben, and Josh all share their take on focusing on this life strategy throughout the many challenges of life.

Jenny also shares how many people feel that leaving a 6 figure, stable job is crazy. Her story involving her decision to move is truly inspirational.

She was fed up in her job mentally. It was impacting other aspects of her life. She had a runway in the form of a savings account built up over the years. She got sick and tired of hearing others complain about their lives. She believed in herself.

That's all it took for her to take steps into her entrepreneurial journey.

Her boldness was inspired by a childhood story of watching her mother grind it out at a bank, unhappy, as a child. Her mother told her, "you are still young, you will find out", at the time.

Jenny committed herself to never staying in a position where she was unhappy and has stayed true to herself ever since.

The point in the matter is that "your situation is your own making". (Ben's quote of the show)

The power of focusing on gratitude and positivity is unparalleled in poising yourself to achieve your Utopia.

It is also so important to focus on positive outcomes instead of negative outcomes.

Josh, in particular, shares a story about how he parents his son on "not spilling his cup in the living room" that you will hear in the show.

To achieve a Utopia, it takes a lot of work, but you truly do have to focus on having a strong foundation of mind-body fundamentals which consists of diet and exercise. (Taco Bell does not count...listen to the episode to find out what we mean here)

It also requires taking action. You can plan all day but plans and outcomes are never perfect. Come up with a plan and move forward to achieve your Utopia.

To wrap up the show, Jenny's recommendations for you to achieve your Utopia are:

  • Be yourself
  • Be present
  • Love your life and find your Utopia

We were very honored to have Jenny and know that you will truly love this show.

Jenny has a gift for Utopians that you can check out by going here. It's a free 4 part video coaching series to help you Rock Your Lifestyle and take steps towards achieve your Utopia.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 016_Interview_with_Jenny_Olding.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

In today's episode, we discuss whether there is more caffeine in tea vs coffee. Just kidding, that is discussed during the tail end.

Actually, we really deep dive into this past week's episode with the awesome guest that we had this week, Dominick Sirianni, VP of Primavera Online High School and the Internet Marketing Association.

He represents what Build Your Utopia is all about! Focusing on your passion and working towards achieving your Utopia aka your professional goals.

However, when it comes to work-life balance, to Dominick, work is fun. If you hear some of our other successful guest throughout our show, they all share this trait. They all find passion in their work so it is fun, not a chore.

If you are floundering in a career that you are not truly happy in, do something about it. Life is too short not to. Work should not be a chore.

Being an entrepreneur is tough but if you can seize it, commit to it, work hard at it, and enjoy the journey, it can be very rewarding.

In the show, we also discuss how today's culture stresses that everyone has to take the same path that includes graduating high school, graduating from college, and getting a job. There are very little, true, entrepreneurial families that encourage their children to work in your passion and create!

It is not that there is anything wrong with completing your education, in today's world it's almost crucial because of the requirements of a college education in a high percentage of careers out there.

We also discuss the value of having a high emotional quotient. Dominick's story in the last episode really inspired us to talk further about the value of developing a strong EQ.

Finally, we wrap up the show talking about the greatest debate ever that we need your vote on to settle.

Ben believes that tea has less caffeine than coffee.

Josh believes that coffee and tea have the same caffeine content.

Vote in the comments at Build Your Utopia! Ben and Josh have a bet that depends on your vote.

Thanks for listening to Build Your Utopia! Come back next week with an energetic, value-packed episode with Jenny Olding, entrepreneur and author!

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 015_Tea_or_Coffee.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

 

Dominick is the great example of an individual who is high-achieving and working towards building a Utopia by working in both a corporate environment and by working at a startup, Internet Marketing Association.

He is also a proud husband, father, and a MBA graduate from the University of Phoenix.

Formerly he had worked for Chet Holmes and Tony Robbins.

For the Internet Marketing Association, he also leads a podcast that you will want to check out if you want to learn more about internet marketing. You can click here to go and check it out.

Altogether, he has an incredible resume and background.

As a Utopian, the guy is busy! This is why…

“If the stool ever gets completely stable, you go insane” is a phrase that Dominick lives by. By having many professional outlets working out, he is living by this phrase.

In this show, you will learn from Dominick about how to treat a business partnership, from his past experience that didn’t work out. If you are in entrepreneurship or interested in it, there are some great takeaways from this part of the podcast.

Rare to most, Dominick considers his Utopia consisting of less balance and more work. Following Ghandi and other high-achievers, he believes in throwing himself into work. He is well aware that he is 100% not balanced.

And that is totally, 110% ok! It's ok to pour yourself into a goal, pursue it, and work.

Entrepreneurship, like relationships, is a consistent mental challenge. To Dominick's point, you have to have self-awareness on whether or not outside forces are causing you stress or are you doing it to yourself.

In entrepreneurship, you have to take responsibility for the factors in your circle of influence that are impacting your happiness.

This rule applies to relationships as well.

It comes down to you handle your emotions internally or, in other words, what is your Emotional Quotient?

On a final note, the show had a great takeaway for high achievers. Go through the exercise on a consistent basis of what's most important from #1-#3 so you can hone in on what you should be focused on to prevent the feelings of overwhelm, which leads to stress.

Great show with Dominick Sirianni! Listen to it and please leave your comments below.

Utopian Quote of the Show

"I don't look at the time that I'm losing as something that is getting sucked out of me" - Dominick Sirianni 

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 014_Interview_with_Dominick_Sirianni.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

In today's episode of Build Your Utopia, Josh sings throughout the entire episode! ...

Kidding, we wouldn't put you through that pain. Actually, it's a great episode.

This week we hosted Michelle Corr, branding expert, entrepreneur, TV/radio show host, and just all-around awesome person.

During today's episode, we discuss our thoughts on her Utopia, being able to be location independent and live between three exceptional places Hawaii, Alaska, and Arizona.

Also, we talk about the value of having someone in your circle that is a "connector" like Michelle.

Whether you are in corporate or on an entrepreneur path, you want to align yourself with successful people.

Take Joe Montana.. without Jerry Rice, he wouldn't have been one of the greatest Quarterback in NFL history.

Ben, by the way, didn't know who Jerry Rice is! Josh takes some time during this episode to educate him to raise his sports knowledge profile.

From there, Josh and Ben discuss Josh's company ICE Accelerate Marketing Automation Services branding referencing Michelle's tips on how to brand effectively.

Josh admits this is an area that he knows that he needs to work on in his business. His brand doesn't truly show as much as it could about Josh's character and how it is injected into his company, team, and more.

In addition, Josh is in the process of starting a 2nd brand to break off a piece of his company.  This will allow him to sell Digital Marketing Services and Infusionsoft, his two core offerings, from two different brands, which has marketing benefits.

For the 2nd brand, these are some ideas that Ben and Josh came up with:

  • Marsden Marketing (M&M.. Ben's idea)
  • Josh Marsden Marketing
  • Munchkin Marketing (Joke... named after Josh's son)

Listen to the show to find out how these names came up and let us know which is the best!

This is a great show to follow up to an awesome guest that we were honored to have this week. Listen to it, leave us a comment below, and let us know your thoughts on where you would ideally want to live if you worked virtually.

Utopian Quote of the Show

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Direct download: 013_Which_Cities_Am_I_Going_To_Live_In.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

 

Today's episode is an exciting discussion with Michelle Corr of Michelle Corr Media.

Michelle has a very intriguing background. She is formerly a TV and Radio show personality and spent time with such stars as Jerry Rice.

In fact, she didn't even know who Jerry Rice was until she met him! Crazy!

(Ben doesn't know who Jerry Rice is so our radio show partnership has ended as of this writing.... kidding)

She now runs a successful branding company through Michelle Corr Media. Her current Utopia consists of traveling between Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii, rough life.

Michelle has a rich presence about her that you can feel through her interview. She presents a wealth of knowledge and a overflow of genuine kindness.

When it comes to branding, this episode drops a ton of value on how to brand to differentiate you from other businesses. She believes that a businesses' staff's character should be used in a company's branding since customers buy from people, not businesses.

She was also candid enough to share with us how she is able to draw the best out of people but has a hard time reflecting on herself during her path to her current Utopia.

Someone that was instrumental to her development was Bob Proctor of The Proctor Gallagher Institute.

Bob helped Michelle realize that one of her strengths was to connect people and taking it to heart, which she has since brought out in everything she does.

This is a characteristic that she has brought to her brand, Michelle Corr Media.

Throughout this episode, Michelle shares rich tips on enhancing your brand, so if you are an entrepreneur, wanna-preneur, or solo-preneur, take notes!

Like most of you high-achievers, she struggles too with work-life balance and speaks in great detail about how she is able to juggle everything effectively and keep herself at peace.

We were very honored to have her on Build Your Utopia. Please leave your comments below on this content-rich episode.

Utopian Quote of the Show

"Often we don't change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." - Michelle Corr 

You can find out more about Michelle Corr's current work at her website here.

Thanks for listening in. If you haven't yet, go subscribe to our show in iTunes or Stitcher.

As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

 

Direct download: 012_Interview_with_Michelle_Corr_a_Master_of_Connectivity.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

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