But Jeremy, tell me about your vision. What we
have in our civilization right now is a time
when everything is changing. And the world that
you could count on five years ago, it is just
simply not there anymore. And what we're seeing
right now is that federal employees are now even
having to face the music and federal employees
have been relatively insulated through decades
and decades and decades of this kind of real
security from the changing of the world around
there. They've been immune from economic turndowns
and so forth. This major change is making the
job market more fragile. more fast moving. And
it's taking people who have made all of the right
decisions in their lives and it's shaking up
their whole lives. My vision is to help people
who are struggling with what it is that they
want to do and who they want to be. They're conscientious
people, they're hard workers and be able to.
really move into that really fantastic piece
of themselves that is transcendent from just
simply being an employee changing your life changing
your paradigm in a way that holds you accountable
for the goals that you set and helps you with
a greater sense of security for where it is that
you want to go in your life in your profession
in your personal relationships and in your spiritual
journey yeah Thank you for sharing that. Tell
me more about that. You mentioned a few different
things. One of the things that caught my eye
was you mentioned simply by being just an employee.
That's a very specific word that you used. I
want to hear more about that. Also along with
the lines, what do you mean transcendent? in
where they're going i would love to hear your
thoughts on that i want to know more okay and
my adhd brain is going okay there were two questions
there okay so the first the first one being about
you know what what is it that i mean about just
being an employee so when i got out of my corporate
journey and i work myself from being a lobby
security officer to being the ceo of a large
non -profit organization i wanted to start in
the entrepreneurial realm. And I realized that
I had really defined myself by the prestige and
the income of what I had been doing, working
myself up the corporate ladder. I really had
a sense of my identity that was that great CEO,
but that identity, it wasn't me. When that was
over, I had a long time of searching, like, what
is my actual value beyond Jeremy, the CEO? And
I had a long set of discussions with a few mentors
that I had. And I talked about how afraid I was
that I wasn't going to have the level of security
that I had with every two -week paycheck. How
do you deal with that sort of thing? And they
said, you know, you just have to switch the way
that you think about what security is. You have
had one income from that corporation that you
work for, from that nonprofit, okay? But when
you're self -employed, you have many different
streams of income coming to you, have many different
contracts. And so when I was able to switch for
myself, this kind of corporate thinking and this
kind of defining myself by what I was in a big
system into what I am as a creator, what I am
as an inventor. what I am as a service provider
to people and what I can do in this world to
bring my own unique value to people, I started
kind of operating in a different space of consciousness,
a different space of what my value is. The second
part of your question was about transcendence.
For me and for many people, really coming into
what your true value is, it is a transcendent
space. It is a space of really recognizing what
your intrinsic value in this world is. It's not
easy because sometimes you have to confront some
difficult things about yourself. And for me,
it was... My ADHD makes it difficult for me to
focus on a few things without getting distracted
and running in several directions at once. And
so being held accountable for the high achieving
ADHD person is really, really important if you're
going to be able to set those goals, accomplish
those goals, and do those goals in alignment
with the things that you really want to be in
this world beyond having your world. defined
by your relationship with a corporation or a
government entity wow there's so many things
you said in that that i some of them i don't
align with some of them i do um the first thing
about the job side where um i guess you shared
your story about being an employee and being
an entrepreneur at the same time after that and
having multiple streams of income. The job market
and the entrepreneur world are, I think, two
different worlds. When it comes to, and this
is just my opinion, over the decades of data
that people have and the people that we've seen,
Most small businesses are failing within the
first 10 years of their being started. I think
80 % are failing within the first five years.
And then how many are actually getting past the
two -year mark? That number is pretty staggering
counted against a normal entrepreneur. I think
when you mentioned that you being able to focus
on things, I think that's a superpower. I would
say like you being able to focus on things and
being held accountable for things, that's a superpower.
Too many of our entrepreneurs get distracted
by the shiny syndrome and they don't have the
bigger picture in place. And I would say most
people are not made for being an entrepreneur.
I think most people would be happy being... being
in the job market. And I don't say that because
I don't see them as capable or not being capable.
That couldn't be far from the truth. I think
it's a very hard world. It's cutthroat. And I
don't think most people are ready for that. I
think most people, if they knew the truth behind
what entrepreneurship is, and if they knew the
truth about how much... hard work it takes. And
if they saw it in front of them and then they
saw their job and they were like, oh my gosh,
I think most people would choose the job. And
we see the data. The thing is, we see the data
because 96 % of businesses are failing within
the first 10 years. So what are your thoughts
on that, Jeremy? And help me, how does your vision
incorporate that? And if it doesn't, that's awesome
too. I want to hear that as well. No, this is
great. It's a great discussion to be had. What
I am finding just as recently as yesterday in
working with people is that, I mean, it used
to be that you could make all the right decisions,
that you could get into a job, and that you could
keep that job for as long as you needed it to,
as long as you kept yourself working hard and
out of trouble and these kinds of things. move
to the next thing you're finding a lot, particularly
about people who are over 40 is that these companies
are finding ways to let them go. Okay. And so
I have a bunch of people who I am working with.
They're deeply discouraged by, by there. There
can't keep a job now for longer than a year and
a half. You have one. where you're not meeting
your sales deadlines and that corporation will
turn around and let you go, even if you have
several wonderful quarters before that. And so
if you're looking to the corporate world, as
we're kind of talking about here, as your kind
of ticket to where you want to be, you really
want that every two weeks paycheck, that's not
any more secure anymore than going into business
for yourself. And that building an actual personal
brand for yourself is what is going to make you
more valuable when you are looking for, let's
say, another corporate job. Because a lot of
people are looking for those corporate jobs.
They're going through, one gentleman recently
told me that he feels that he's probably been
in close to 100 job interviews and he can't get
a job offer. And he's a hardworking, clean cut.
a guy who has a lot of experience but what he
hadn't done is build an actual kind of personal
brand around him whether or not you're in this
entrepreneurial space that really states what
your real value is this way when let's say you
get laid off you can jump into an entrepreneurial
space a little bit more easily because you've
done some of the work to actually create an identity
around yourself and your work. It used to be
that a resume was enough, but it's just not anymore.
So I think getting back into the spirit of what
it is that you're talking about here, it's some
people feel much, much more confident. in the,
if I get into a corporation and I obey the rules
and I do what I'm supposed to do, I'm going to
be okay. And I, I'm, I'm afraid that that is
not what's really happening out there anymore.
And so you kind of have to be ready to be quick
on your feet and, and be ready for what comes
next. I totally agree with one aspect that you
shared. I think you shared about how people are
getting obsolete faster than, are the things
that people do are getting obsolete faster than
they used to. I don't know how much of that has
to do with AI or not and how much does have to
do with how business is evolving. But I don't
see that as a solution to entrepreneurship. I
see as the solution for that is upgrading your
skills and making yourself valuable. I don't
think entrepreneurship is the answer for that.
And believe me, I'm an entrepreneur myself. And
I am not made for the corporate world. I'm not
made to get the job. And I firmly believe that.
Like, I think if I had to get a job, I think
would be the probably the last case scenario.
And I think it won't be hard for me to get a
job. I think it'd be very easy for me to get
a job. But most people are not privileged with
that way. Most people haven't had the skills
that I have acquired over the years of my life
to be where I'm at, to do what I do. For average
employees, I mean, I guess we have to break it
down to what employee are you talking about and
what field are you talking about? What value
do you bring to that company? What value do you
bring to the people that you serve in that company?
But I for sure do not see entrepreneurship as
the brand, as a solution for it. But building
the personal brand, that's more intriguing and
interesting to me. But what do you mean by that?
What do you mean by... Someone needs to build
a personal brand to stay relevant, I would say.
So a lot of people, and this is the way that
corporate life has gone, is you get your job,
you do the work with great diligence, and you
build the skills that you can put on a resume.
You know, LinkedIn many, many years ago kind
of revolutionized the concept of having your
resume online, which is really fantastic. The
person with the personal brand, though, has a
leg up in whatever industry it is. Let's just
take bookkeeping. okay bookkeeping is a thing
that you can do as a freelancer it's a thing
that you can do for a corporate entity a non
-profit or on your own starting your own business
and so when you have that personal brand and
what kind of bookkeeping that you tend to be
really good at it makes it much more clear for
the world out there. And a lot of the thinking
is done when you're kind of looking for what
the next gig is for you, what it is that your
strengths are and how you can bring value to
the world, whether or not you want that to be
an entrepreneurial pursuit. But it is really
important because say that your company lets
you go from their finance department, you actually
have some of the basis. to start the next thing
and you're not caught flat footed. Another thing
is the way that your brain works. And you said
it yourself, your brain doesn't necessarily work
the way that a corporate kind of brain is supposed
to work. I imagine that you're very creative,
that you think outside the box, that you like
taking risks, that you... when you want to make
a change you really just want to make the change
and you don't want to go through a bunch of red
tape to do it oftentimes people who are neurodivergent
people who have adhd are also like this and they
don't necessarily fit really well into the box
because their brains are moving so quickly so
Entrepreneurship really can be the answer for
somebody who has never quite been able to fit
in the box and do what they're told always in
the way that some people are just more adept
at doing. Thank you for being here today. I'm
really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros
Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions
as these episodes continue to move forward. This
is going to get more and more fun. We'll have
more and more engagement as well. We'll invite
people to participate in the show and thank you
for giving us your time and attention. Have an
excellent time building out your vision and becoming
a vision pro yourself.