Just One Joey: chasejarvis

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Friday, January 20, 2017

30 Days Of Genius Blog: James Altucher

Perspective is one of the most important things in life. It changes everything. One of the most unique perspectives on life has to belong to James Altucher. He is constantly questioning, learning, reinventing, and taking everything he has experienced to help others (through brutal honesty and insight) with their own experiences. I am a huge fan of his, and was thrilled to be able to write this.

I have taken his interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one they are on.

Please enjoy.

I Am Too Scared To Quit My Job And Follow My Passion. What Do I Do?

That works out great, because you shouldn’t quit your job yet anyways. Honestly, you may not quit your job ever!

The important thing is actually doing the thing you love. Just because you don’t leave your job to pursue your passion doesn’t mean you should use that as an excuse to not pursue it at all.

Get what I am saying?

This is the greatest time ever to be anything you want. Not only are there less gatekeepers because of the internet, efficiency through technology is consuming more jobs every day. You might as well do something you love, because your job will most likely be taken by either a new program, or a robot.

Cheers!

Don’t look at it as a bad thing, because it really isn’t. What do you do with this slightly gloomy outlook on your job security? My suggestion is to write down 10 ideas a day that have to do with your “passion,” whatever that is. I do this in the morning, you can do it when it works for you, but do it. What you will find is the more ideas you have, the more you flex this idea muscle, the better the ideas get, and more frequently. Don’t worry, most of your ideas will be bad, but some will be great. This will speed up the process of getting all the bad ideas out of your head to make room for the good ones.

As you come up with actionable (hopefully good) ideas, you start implementing and experimenting. If you think of anything great that was ever invented, it is really just a series of mini experiments. It’s actually the best way to learn. Experiment, fail, learn, think, experiment, fail, learn, etc.

This is why you don’t quit your job. You need to mitigate the risk of this new endeavor. Having money come in is part of that mitigation. What you need to do is focus on your down time (nights and weekends), or the time when it looks like you are at your desk working (not that any of you do that), and create your passion project then.

The best job to do this? Night security. Why? Because no one is doing anything at night, you are the only one there, and no one is watching you because you are the one watching them. See? Perfect!

The keys are action and repetition. The more you create, the more creative you become. It’s just how it is. Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Why? Because that guy is REALLY good at that one kick. You just need to figure out your kick.

What If I Don’t Have The Equipment To Create The Way You Want To?

That’s just an excuse.

Seriously.

One of the greatest movies of all times, Star Wars, was filmed on a camera worse than the one on my phone, or your phone, or pretty much anyone else with a phone. Try and wrap your head around that.

Star Wars.

Just create.

Tech is better than it was 20 years ago. There are less gatekeepers than there were 20 years ago. There is more information out there than ever. Just create. Tell your story through the medium of your choice. Storytelling is the oldest art form in the world. For the rest of your life, and the rest of everyone’s life, you will always find media for storytelling. It’s been around for 70,000 years. It may look different. It may be on cave walls, then newspapers, then TV, now on your phones, but it’s still storytelling.

Keep your expectations low, achieve them, and then set your expectations a little higher. The goal should be creation, ideas, experimenting, and reinventing. That’s how you develop something great, something you can quit your job over.

Where Should I Start?

Advice is autobiography.

I will tell you what I do, and hopefully you can use some of it for yourself.

I believe that everything compounds. The more you do it, the better (or worse) it gets. I have 4 daily practices that I do, well, daily. They help me immensely in my personal as well as business life.

Here they are:

1. I do something for my health. This could be a walk, a run, as long as it is physical and you get your body moving.

2. I do something creative. For me, it is most likely writing, but it could be painting, singing, whatever you want. Just create.

3. I practice gratitude. Not easy gratitude, like your kids or health. Nope, difficult gratitude. Take the thing that sucked the most yesterday or today and find the goodness in it. It is not always easy, but it can do amazing things for you mentally and emotionally.

4. I do something for my relationships. This can be kids, parents, friends, anything. Do something that builds or reinforces the relationships in your life.

Figure out what you are doing when you are doing well and keep doing that. Then figure out what you are doing when you are doing bad, and figure out how you get back to the “good” faster.

Easier said than done, but remember that we all have ups and downs, the key is to figure them out and stay up as much as possible. It’s better for you and everyone around you.

Quotes

My motto is, “I’m an idiot.”

Almost by definition, you have to have a side gig.

You can constantly find media for storytelling.

You only learn through experiences. I would tell my former self, “go f** yourself.” You need to learn on your own.

James Altucher Links

Website

Choose Yourself

Reinvent Yourself

His phone number (seriously): 1.203.512.2161

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Tina Roth Eisenberg

Looking for the epitome of a creative entrepreneur? Look no further than Tina Roth Eisenberg. She is an artist herself, she brings artists together, and she creates businesses and apps to help other artists. She is an inspirational woman, surrounding herself with inspirational people, and she shares some of her brilliant insights here.

I have taken her interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one there are on.

Please enjoy.

How Do I Become A Professional Creative?

Be self-sufficient. I think that is very important for a professional creative. If you are waiting around for someone to tell you what to do or how to do it, you will be waiting around a lot. For myself, and the people I work with, you need to be self-sufficient. That self-sufficiency comes from a hunger to create, explore, and try new things. Without that, I feel like you will only have a creative hobby.

I work with people with drive, because in the end, that is what is going to allow you to sustain a career. The desire to do good work, that can work well with others, are the people that will make it.

Don’t know if you are a self-starter? A self-motivator? What are your side projects? Self-starters have many interests and side projects. It shows initiative and hustle, two vital things in the creative world. Combine that with humility, and excitement around your craft, and you have a great formula.

Is There A Right Way To Develop A Side Project?

Yes! Don’t look at it as something that needs to develop. Remember, this is your passion. If you look at it as a business right away you will be less willing to experiment, have a greater fear of failure, and will make decisions based on money instead of love. Your decisions should be based around what you want to do, what you want to fix, and what you want to solve. When it comes from an authentic place, it provides a different energy to those that come in contact with it.

That being said, if your side project involves other people, set up a general foundation. For example, if your project involves four people, decide on how to split potential profits. ¼ for each? 20% in to the pot and divide the remaining 80%? Things like that will save headaches down the road, and potentially even relationships.

How Do I Know If It’s The Right Thing To Work On? That I Truly Love It?

That’s easy, you never have to ask yourself that question. If you love something you never have to question if you truly love it.

You need to know what works for you and recognize what you are good at. Once you focus on what you are good at, and love, you will start to develop super-powers around it, and people will react to it differently. There is something about passion and love that changes the way art looks and feels.

An important thing to remember is your passion and love need protection and nourishment. If you are inspired, if you are curious, surround yourself with curious and inspired people. Work with people that are passionate and excited about what they do. You will feed off each other and the product or art will reap the benefits. Enthusiasm is infectious.

Quotes

Enthusiasm is infectious. Confidence is impressive.

Curious people are inspired people.

I want to make something I love for people that love it.

Tina Roth Eisenberg Links

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Monday, January 9, 2017

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Neil Strauss

When you meet someone at a different level in their perspective, it is best to take notice. Neil Strauss has seen a lot, lived a lot, paid attention, and learned. His wisdom on life and creativity pour out in this interview. Limiting it to an hour is a shame. Good thing he is an introspective, share the dirt kind of an author, so we can delve as deep in to his knowledge as we want through his books. A fascinating guy.

Please enjoy.

Forget Zero To One As A Business, How Do I Go Zero To One As An Artist?

If you are struggling even getting started there is a reason. You are allowing your limiting beliefs to keep you at the starting line. I consider “one” being the day you share your art. There are artists that don’t create because they are waiting for everything to be perfect, and there are artists that create, and adjust, and wait, and change, and end up sitting on the project without ever releasing it. If you are in either of those situations, you are allowing your limiting beliefs to get the better of you.

You need to embrace your fears, accept them, and do them anyways.

I think it is extremely important to recognize exactly what your limiting beliefs are, recognize that they are not true and not your voice, accept them, and either deal with them or reprogram yourself to get passed them. That will be vital for you to get to “one.”

Let me address the two different types of “zeros.” I think there is a true zero, an artist that hasn’t really created anything, and there is a 0.9, an artist that just hasn’t shared.

For the true zeros, just create. I love projects where I only know the beginning. Where it goes from there? Who knows? That’s the art. That is creativity. Don’t question it. Whenever you do, you are dampening the actual creativity. Don’t focus on the outcome. Don’t focus on anything outside of the actual creating. Not knowing how something will turn out feels good. It gives you a chance to explore. If you knew the outcome, why would you do it? Give yourself the chance to surprise yourself. Start exploring, go with the path and see where it leads you. Don’t resist where the propulsion is leading you either. You can’t realistically plan out where your art is going to be, who it is going to please, how successful it will be, so don’t focus on it. Everything that takes away from your focus on the creativity is taking away from the creativity.

Now for the 0.9 artists I have a quote, “When you throw a pebble in to the culture you have no idea where the ripples will go.”

Just share.

Please.

When you take too long to release a project you change. When you change, your view on the art changes. It should be a moment in time. It will never be perfect. Do your best, and let it go, see what happens, and start working on the next project.

Your inner critic is a monster, telling you it’s not good enough. Are you strong enough to silence that voice and produce anyways? Don’t fear judgement and criticizing. Do your best and be comfortable with that. Placing yourself in uncertainty is a very confident place to be.

Once you silence the inner dialogue, give yourself a deadline. Nothing crazy, not tomorrow, but a reasonable deadline, and stick with it.

Having that deadline is huge for a creative. You could sit on something for years without one, and how much better would it be? I’ve had stories that I had to write in 2 weeks that were better than stories I had years to write. It pushes you, streamlines your thinking, and will build up your creativity.

Listen, notice, pay attention, and then share.

Don’t plan too much, don’t focus on this style or that style too much. Don’t limit your creativity at all. Just create. Just explore. Then share.

You can spend your whole life trying to get everything just right.

But honestly? What is just right anyways?

Let it go.

Get going.

Quotes

I’m always thinking about the next thing, not where I’ve been.

Storytelling is teaching through metaphor.

The first question in an interview sets the tone: you know something, you are connected, but not too

connected.

Honesty equals a book.

Everything is creative.

If you could just take a helicopter to the top it wouldn’t be as special.

Neil Strauss Links

Website

Books

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Friday, January 6, 2017

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Austin Kleon

A self-described writer who draws, Austin Kleon is an artists’ artist. Assuming he would have to take on the Bruce Wayne/Batman approach to his life as an artist, he surprisingly found that he could do what he loved for a living. This is his advice on how you can too.

Please enjoy.

My Parents Always Told Me That Being An Artist Is Only A Hobby

I would love to tell you how wrong they are, but I had the same outlook when I was younger. My impressions of being an artist were of the “starving” variety. Like Bruce Wayne and Batman, I assumed my life as an artist would be night and day, literally. Doing something I didn’t love during the day in order to support the thing I did love at night.

What I started to realize was it wasn’t as “night” and “day” as I thought. I wanted day jobs that would inform the art. Learn from the day job, taking jobs that would make me better at my craft, then my growth in the craft would help me land the next day job. It turned out to be a beautiful cycle. What was even more beautiful was having the income to create. If you handcuff yourself by having to use your art for money, you may head down a path that you don’t want to be on. Monetary freedom is creative freedom. Keep your day job until you can support yourself with your art. But use your day job to push the art forward.

Don’t assume that because you can’t make money yet that you will never be able to. What do you need to get better at? Start there. There are so many aspects to being an artist besides the art, especially today. Not only do you need to create the art, but you need to market it and manage it. You are your own business.

Doesn’t sound appealing? That’s fine, just find someone who loves your art more than you do, then they can do all the stuff you don’t want to. Where you going to find that person? Exactly, get to work.

My advice is to decrease the tension between creation and self-promotion by combining the two. Make sharing a part of your creating and vice-versa. Sharing should become a daily practice as much as the actual daily practice of your craft. A great thing I have found is the added perspective of an audience helps create the art you are sharing with them in the first place. You will start to build community and networking around your art. The bigger the community, the more likely you can do what you love for a living. Sharing creates an ecosystem of creativity and connecting.

What Do You Feel Is The Foundation Of Creativity?

Everything around you is your foundation.

Too big?

Try this:

Take bits and pieces from everything, and create something completely new. Extract as you go and save it for later. Look for patterns. Create, study, make, study more, create more, etc. You should study as much as you make, and share as much as you study and make.

Got it?

Being a creative is as much about the community as it is the individual artist. The best artists in their respective generations are always products of their environment. Being that person that is connected to many different things allows you to create things that no one else can. The more input, the more output. Look at what you are doing, what other people are doing, and more importantly what they are NOT doing. Once you start recognizing that, you can take it on and create your own niche.

Time is also a huge foundation of creativity. You need to spend time every day sitting in your art. Visit it, listen to it, absorb it, and practice it. Schedules and routines free you. Knowing when you have time for the thing you want to be doing every day is liberating. If this is something you really want to do, you need to make sure you are actually doing it.

Never get caught up in the FOMO (fear of missing out), because you are not missing out. You are doing your thing. Let go of what you think you should be doing, or what everyone else is doing. You are an individual with their own goals and dreams. Following what other people are doing will pull you away from them.

If you need to refocus yourself, if you feel like you are not doing the thing you should be, ask yourself: what would I do if no one was paying attention? Or if no one was looking? That will usually be the thing that seems boring, or not cool, and not what everyone else is doing. That is also the best part. The time you are putting in the effort to reach your goals is the same time that will keep everyone else from reaching theirs.

One day you won’t be here, but you get today. What are you going to do with it?

Quotes

The artist welds their theft in to something completely new.

Don’t flatter through imitation, flatter through transformation.

It’s about content.

Make sharing a part of your daily practice as much as the daily practice on your craft.

Austin Kleon Links

Website

Newspaper Blackout

Books

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Kevin Rose

What do high end watches, coffee, and news aggregation have in common? Kevin Rose, of course. An advocate of trying new things and creating your own path gives some tips on going from zero to one and beyond.

Please enjoy.

How Can I Make Sure My Business Is A Success?

There are no guarantees in life, especially the life of an entrepreneur. But that is part of the fun.

I don’t want to say that there are steps, because each person has their own path, but one thing you should consider as a first step is, are you ready to put in some serious work? Because there is nothing easy about starting a business. Hopefully you are coming from a place of passion, because passionate work does not feel like work. It’s hard, stressful, time consuming and everything in between, but it doesn’t have that 9–5 feel. That makes sense, because you should be running this business from 5–9 until it gets off the ground.

Use you 9–5 as your base salary. Pay the bills, keep a roof over your head, but take all of the extra money and put it in to your side gig. This will be a nights and weekend project until you can build it up enough to see if there is something really there. You may have to do things over and over to make them work. Failing is learning and learning is building a better business or product. Failing can be fun if you are working on the right project.

Remember these three things: try, fail fast, and iterate.

Notice that “try” is the first thing. There are so many people that don’t ever take that leap of faith. At some point, you are going to have to.

Practice looking out 6 months, 9 months, 3 years, and 5 years. If it works, what does it look like? Are there things that you can do now to help reach those goals down the road?

How Will My Business Fail?

1. More money going out than coming in.

People think starting a business is very expensive. Throughout your development from zero to one it may be costly, but not as much as people think. Expenses, lawyers, over production, etc. Launching a business is not that complicated. Keep it small and manageable. Build slowly.

2. Permission.

If you are looking for permission, you may never get it. Keep in mind that if you are doing something really big, it is going to be different. You will be presenting something that is outside the box, and people may not “get it.” If you are relying on permission from your friends, co-workers or investors (watch out for taking too much money), you may never receive the “permission” you are looking for.

The best founders I have ever worked with see something before anyone else. If you think you have that insight, who cares what anyone else thinks? Take the leap!

3. Social pressure.

This is not completely different from #2, but it’s from your loved ones. There are not many people that truly understand what having a great idea is, let alone what to do with it. People are comfortable with structure, and starting a business may be planned out, but it’s not secure in any sense of the word. They are looking out for your best interest, but in a framework that makes sense to them. Unless you come from a family of entrepreneurs, that framework may not include what you are doing. Social pressure is tough. You need to be too.

If you are lucky enough to have a partner, in business or life, that has the same vision as you, that is a true blessing. It is even more of a blessing if they will challenge you along the way. That will bring out your best.

Quotes

Err on the side of saying no.

Be honest without being an asshole.

There is always another story on the other side of things.

When you try to get unstuck is when you will get yourself more stuck.

Kevin Rose Links

Hodinkee

Digg

Blue Bottle

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Daymond John

If you have any preconceived notions about what it takes to be a success, Daymond John may give you an enlightened perspective. Starting from the ground up, the bottom, with zero dollars, leverage and experience, he shows you The Power Of Broke.

Please enjoy.

How Do I Get Started When I Have No Money?

You start with no money.

There is a misconception out there that you need money to make money. The truth is, that is completely false. Would it be easier to start with some capital? Maybe, but then you have to deal with a whole separate set of issues. You need to resign to the fact that starting a business is tough. If you don’t have capital, it probably means that you are not experienced. If you are not experienced it means you need experience. When you don’t have money, when you are broke, you still have your mind, your ideas, and most importantly, you still have that box you can think outside of. Never limit yourself because you don’t have what you think you need. Look at what you have and start with that. If you can’t do it with what you have, you probably will not be able to do it with what you don’t have.

Broke is a great place to be.

I know it doesn’t feel like it, but that’s only because you are not in the right mindset.

This is the place where you find your passion. You have goals, you have ideas, and you are ready to work. Focus on the next 6 months, 12 months, and 5 years. It is going to be an all-out grind for you to build this business up. 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This will be your life.

How does that sound?

If it sounds awful you need to take this opportunity to check yourself.

If you aren’t doing something you love it is going to feel like forever until you “make it.” If a year seems like a long time, you know you are not doing something you love. Looking back over my career, it was the times that I was doing something I was truly passionate about where the biggest opportunities came.

If you are focused on the short game, or that one big moment, you are in for a long ride. The moment is rarely “the” moment. You never get to see it, and no one every talks about it, but it is all the work behind the moment, all the preparation that allows whatever that moment is to be “the” moment. You need to be prepared before you can even have a moment.

You have to have humility when you are working your way up. That comes in many forms. For me, I was working at Red Lobster, making minimum wage instead of selling drugs and making bank. I knew it was important how I made my money, and I knew it was important not to jeopardize my future and goals with legal issues. You need to think big picture. Have that vision for tomorrow that will allow you to make good decisions today.

This is one of those areas where having money can be an issue. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a company receive funding and they quit their jobs the next day. How is this a gross error in judgment? They have created a situation where they need to make the money they have been funded, and the money they would have gotten from their day job. If there are multiple people working for the company, those day jobs can account for a significant amount of capital for the year. If they were thinking long term, they would have kept their jobs to offset costs. So many small companies fail because of OVER funding. Don’t quit your day job. Just remember: Red Lobster, humility, vision.

As you get your business going, you need to surround yourself with like-minded people and find mentors. These two groups of people in your personal and business life will do wonders for your success. Surround yourself with knowledge and vision. Bad seeds need to be pulled out. Contrary visions need to be separated. If you can do that, you will have a better chance of looking at your business and success realistically. You will see when you are not hitting the goals and why. That is invaluable.

Always remember to think outside the box, but not too far. If it’s too different people won’t get it. Look at the analytics, understand your audience, and work like you have never worked before.

No money is no problem.

Quotes

You need money to make money is absolute crap.

You have to visualize your goals. You become what you think about all the time.

Life is a series of mentors.

Fail fast. Learn your mistakes small.

Daymond John Links

Website

The Power Of Broke

FUBU

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Brandon Stanton (Humans Of New York)

Quite possibly one of the best “follow your dream stories” I have ever heard. Humans Of New York creator Brandon Stanton lays out the framework for dreaming wide awake. He may be one of the most selfless artists I have ever come across. He is nothing, the art, and its connection to the audience, is everything. How refreshing is that?

Please enjoy.

Following My Passion Should Be Easy, Right? Because I Love It?

Absolutely not!

In fact, that is the most common misconception I hear. If you are truly passionate about what you are doing it should be extremely hard. Why? Because whatever that “thing” is, you should be doing it all the time. Do not use following your dreams as an excuse to not work. Please. There are so many people out there that do just enough to be able to tell themselves and the people they are close with that they are following their dream, living their passion. Generally, those people are doing a little here, a little there, and getting very little to nothing done.

When I moved to New York, all I did was take pictures. All day, every day. I lived and breathed photography. Why? Because when you follow your passion, you need to completely immerse yourself in to it. It is a sacrifice you need to make in order to make something of your passion. I lived in an apartment with three strangers, in a room that barely fit a mattress, and I loved it. I was never there, so it didn’t matter. I was out and about, taking photos, refining my craft, and making sure I was better when I got home than when I left in the morning.

I never planned on having art that connected with tens of millions of people. If I did, I would never have been able to create Humans Of New York. I wanted to take photographs, and make enough money to be able to take photographs. That’s it. Get better every single day. Produce 4 pieces of content every single day. That’s it.

Forcing myself to create so much, 365 days a year, put me in a situation where I had to bust my ass. Those four pieces of content were not going to create themselves. If I didn’t work, I wasn’t producing, or getting better, or really following my passion.

If you are not working with passion, then you are not likely working on your passion.

In the world of art, that passion, or lack thereof, comes through in the work. It amazes me that on Facebook, basically a medium of stories from millions and millions of people, HONY stands out. I think that is because it is real. There is no bs, no ulterior motive. I tell stories of real people, their real lives, with a caring and attention to detail that they deserve, and people are drawn to it. Without that passion, both for putting in the work and caring about it, I truly believe it wouldn’t connect in the same way.

What Should My Goals Be?

I am assuming that you want to follow your passion because you think it will bring you happiness. I agree that it will make you happy, as long as it truly is your passion, but what that happiness is, is different for everyone. There is no one version of happiness.

My goal was to make enough money to keep doing what I loved.

I, personally, think that is a healthy way to start. That way, you are focused on the craft, the process, and the work. Pressure yourself to work hard, and keep growing. Like I said, come home better than when you left. Each day has the goal of being better than the day before.

Do not pin your values on external measures. I understand that there has to be a certain level of paying attention to money, but if you are not making enough, use that as a challenge to get better at your craft. Be so good they can’t ignore you. Keep pushing. Be competitive with yourself. Not hard on yourself, competitive. Make yourself work every day, all day, in order to get better. It is the one thing you can control. Put in the time, value your work, and constantly get better.

Working with passion, every day, pushing yourself to be better and better every day, will allow you to experiment, and take some risks. When you try something new and different, look back and see if it worked or not. If it did, keep it, if it didn’t, either refine it or trash it. That is the benefit of working with the intensity you are going to work, it is a constant evolution.

Think of it this way: if you get 1% better every day you work, and you only work once a week, that’s only a 52% increase a year. If you work every day, you are able to condense a year’s worth of growth in to a little over a month and a half.

50% better every month and a half?!?! Think about that!!!

What If I’m Scared?

You should be.

It’s a scary thing to do.

How many people truly follow their passion? They talk about it, but rarely do it.

We are paralyzed by the need to make something great, which keeps us from doing anything at all. Having the daily goals made my “goals” small, attainable, but difficult. Don’t think about the final product, the end game. Think about today, tomorrow, and maybe next week. That’s it. It is a growth process. Have you seen the movie Big, with Tom Hanks? What happens when you jump from 13 to 30? You skip all the growth, all the lessons, the skills, then you are just some 30 year old goofball. That’s what happens when you try to go to big too fast. Focus on the craft, the day to day, and bust your ass. Things come from that. Always.

Be better when you go to sleep than when you woke up. Goal accomplished.

Quotes

“It is such a blessing to be the first one bored with your own work.”

“Work without a motive.”

“The more I disappear, the more my work becomes.”

Brandon Stanton Links

Humans Of New York

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Thursday, November 24, 2016

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Sophia Amoruso

Starting from scratch, building through necessity, and growing on EBay, she built Nasty Gal in to a multi-million dollar company. She is an amazing entrepreneur who learned along the way, pivoted, adjusted, and has been a fixture in fashion for over 10 years. Admitting that she stumbled in to becoming Nasty Gal, she is the perfect example of how every entrepreneur should approach work. Look for the opportunities, focus on what is in front of you, and get s*** done.

Please enjoy.

Do I Need To Be Talented To Be Successful?

The obvious answer is yes. There needs to be something there. The not so obvious answer is no. It has been much more important to my business, and ultimately to my success, that I was able to develop a talent rather than have one before I began.

Give yourself the opportunity to develop, grow, and get better.

I started out very small. It was just me, some clothes, and EBay. I found the items, took the pictures, posted them, sold them, and sent them. As that grew, I needed to learn more. The more I learned, the more I needed to do, the better I got, the bigger I got. It was as straightforward of a progression as you can get. I never had a vision of grandeur, some ultimate goal where I was running a multi-million dollar company. I just focused on what was in front of me, how I could improve, and how I could do more.

Do not be discouraged by what you think you have a talent for or not. At this point you are at zero.

Focus on what you can do, and what you need to do. Too many people get caught up in what they think they need to do and miss out on some of the foundational aspects of building a business. If you are at zero and trying to get to one, don’t focus on 1–10. You have to get to one first! Ten will come soon enough.

It is a little embarrassing some of the common business programs I didn’t know how to use 5–6 years in to Nasty Gal. But if I didn’t need them to build the business, why would I waste my time learning them? For looks? For ego? Make sure you focus on the necessities. You will be busy enough with that. There won’t be any time to learn things you don’t need to know!

What Is The Key To Success?

You are going to hate this answer, there isn’t one!

There are different paths and strategies. What worked for me may not work for you. I didn’t go to school, but I could see the benefit of it. I could also see how going to school would have changed everything I did when starting Nasty Gal. I would have seen everything so differently, my whole approach and strategy would have been different. Remember I started micro. I didn’t have a 36 month vision, a ten year plan, or investment rounds. I didn’t take outside money at Nasty Gal for years!

I know what you are going to say, at least give me something! There has to be something that can be used across the board that increases the likelihood of success!

You are right. Here it is: Think and operate at the micro level.

Do what is in front of you, the most important thing for that moment. It is basically the Lean Startup approach. Take baby steps so you don’t over-commit to one thing, or one direction. It allows you to evaluate clearly as you are going, making sure you are making the right move for today, and tomorrow.

When you use this approach you become more resourceful, especially in the beginning when money is tight. You can approach people and offer your services for their services. No money out of pocket. If you can reciprocate value with another person or company you can work around the fact that money is tight. You want to start small, stay out of debt, and build a solid foundation.

This approach allows for thousands of little “breaks,” instead of the Hollywood-style “BIG” break. Each one gets you a step ahead of where you were, and a step closer to where you want to be. These little breaks and moments can be anything: when you get paid more than ever for your service(s), when you realize people are don’t like you because you are successful, or when you have “haters.” Those are all signs that you are doing something good.

As you are building, constantly be evaluating and analyzing how you are doing things. What is working? What can be better? What’s the next step? How can you scale? To be honest, I didn’t even have “scale” in my vocabulary. I saw the potential in making 100 people happy with one type of dress instead of just one. Those 100 turned in to 1000, and so on.

Again, there are so many avenues to success. In my opinion, I think it is best to learn how to do things on your own. You internalize the process and information better, growing in small increments, and building a solid foundation.

Always remember, there is what you have, and what you do with what you have. That can be applied at any phase of any business, small or large, new or old, successful or not. The mindset is up to you.

Quotes

“There is what you have and what you do with what you have.”

“Things get done faster when people like you.”

“I love to over-commit and see what is possible.”

“The greatest change is made through how you treat the person next to you and what you learn from the person next to you. Sharing our stories makes other people feel capable. Telling stories has a ripple effect.”

Sophia Amoruso Links

Nasty Gal

Girl Boss

Nasty Galaxy

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links