Please tell us a little about your magazines. When you have spoken to enough entrepreneurs, one lesson you quickly learn is that every business owner — no matter their industry, revenue, or level of expertise — has both triumphs and failures. They have areas they struggle with and areas they excel in— but maybe they do not know how to direct that success in a professionally beneficial way. SHOTCALLERS gives readers an up-close and personal glimpse at the grit, perseverance and humility that makes an entrepreneur successful. It also provides articles to help business owners and professionals better market, manage employees, create content, deal with customers and build their business. My second magazine, 2Inspire, is driven by my personal battles with tragedies and health issues that I have overcome to maintain my fitness and become a certified personal trainer and health coach. I am in a unique position to truly understand the effort that goes into fitness and the struggles that many people face daily. It does not matter where you are on your fitness journey, whether your goal is weight loss, reducing run time, increasing strength, or making exercise a regular part of your routine. 2Inspire delivers the most up-to-date, motivational, and exciting fitness and health information to readers of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. Each month, it features actionable tips, education, and inspiration for those who are just getting started on their fitness journey and those who are farther down the path of physical wellness. With two already-popular magazines, what made you decide to expand into television networks? Throughout this pandemic, study after study has found 50% or more of participants reporting increased feelings of loneliness. As much as the pandemic closed off some of our opportunities to see friends and loved ones, I found that it actually pushed me to find other ways to make connections. In doing so, I met so many new people and tapped into an incredible wealth of positivity. It was so exciting, I almost felt guilty because every day I met all these inspirational people who were just amazing and I came home completely fulfilled. I would talk to all these entrepreneurs and become a part of all the positive impacts they were making and think, “Sure, I was able to go out and find this. But can everyone? What if they did not have to?” I feel like there is such a positive shift right now in people being receptive to and seeking out motivational resources in different mediums. With television, you get to invite these motivational, smart, creative people into your home. The networks give viewers total control to get information at their pace and ensure a positive message and mentorship are delivered directly to them. You mention mentorship— is that what you see as the purpose of the magazines and networks? I do! I started in business at age 20 and advanced very quickly because I had great mentors. I was so young, I had no idea what I was doing, and one of my mentors helped me understand that I needed to set goalposts for where I wanted to end up. He helped me to consistently get out of my comfort zone and pushed me to keep reaching my goals. But when I had eventually risen to his level, I knew it was time to get a mentor who had done even more. But how do you do that? If your goal is to be the next Steve Jobs, you need to be mentored by Steve Jobs. The only practical way to do that is to absorb the information he freely put out there— in interviews, speaking engagements and books – and let that mentor you. Today, we can all go online and essentially get mentoring from anyone we want simply by consuming the content they put out there. Motivation and Success TV and 2Inspire TV aggregate the content so you can tune into dozens of successful entrepreneurs and fitness experts that are eager to guide you to your next milestone. What motivated you to branch out into sectors as diverse as accounting, nutrition, retirement services and motivation? My chosen career is in financial services. I have been servicing clients in the financial sector for almost two decades. Over time, I have learned just how intertwined people’s financial success is with their physical success, attitudes and philosophies. When I experienced my own health problems, I distinctly saw the difference that a positive attitude and a healthy approach to eating and exercising can make— and it makes that difference in everyone’s lives. I had a client who had inherited acres of land worth millions several years ago. Today, he looks 15 years older than he should. His health is horrible. He is in his fifties and he works for fun. He invests no time or money in his health. He could afford to have a chef prepare the most amazing, healthy meals for him. He could create an extensive home gym and work out every day. He could be living his actual best life, but he does not, and his health and happiness pay the price. Everything in your life is related to your health and attitude. You would not ignore your business and expect to get the most out of it, and you cannot ignore your health or attitude and expect to get the most out of life. What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced while establishing the networks and magazines? Non-validation. We are all surrounded by people telling us no, that we cannot do it. My challenge was to turn that energy around and use it in the right way to drive me. This is something I have to do constantly in my life. Every time I have surgery and the doctor says, “You cannot work out for a few weeks or months,” that is when I want to work out the most. Something in my mind just clicks and I think, “Oh yes, I can!” When I created the magazines and the networks, I simply decided what I wanted to do and then ignored any naysayers and started MISSOURI
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