Hi, my Reachers.

This is the third ‘Mountain Episode’ in 2020, and I think you would love this amazing series of the Reach Or Miss mountains project; Today, I want to share with you the 6th and newest episode where successful entrepreneurs share their mountains stories.

Listen to these incredible mountain stories I heard from the successful entrepreneurs I recently interviewed on my podcast.

You can then listen to the full interview with each of them and hear about their visions, struggles, and how these entrepreneurs reached their success.

From the entrepreneur that climbed the Kilimanjaro

To the entrepreneur that quoted, “We don’t climb mountains because they are there; we climb mountains because others won’t.” And said it’s the same with entrepreneurship - “I do what I do because others won’t.”

To the entrepreneur whose company’s name is Stone Pick “because, as entrepreneurs, we see our goal at the top of the mountain.”

The one who said that with the acquisition option for entrepreneurs, “it’s like having a helicopter drop me off at the top of the summit instead of climbing by foot.”

And the entrepreneur that went up to the base camp of Mount Everest, and plan to go to Peru for his next mountain.

I hope these mountain stories will encourage you to find out what should you – as an entrepreneur looking for your breakthrough to success – take from their stories to help find the necessary steps to reach your peak?

Many entrepreneurs climb mountains, while others use mountains as a metaphor to describe what is necessary to conquer the peak – including the fatiguing yet rewarding journey to the top. Still other entrepreneurs use mountains as an analogy for a significant goal they wish to achieve – such as becoming a billion-dollar-market-cap company.

For many years, I’ve compared the act of taking possession of your potential customers’ minds and of building awareness, likability, and trust of a leading brand to the act of climbing the highest mountains.

You climb step by step to the peak, reach your position as a market leader and a leading brand, and then start climbing a new mountain with a new product line or another brand.

The idea of mountains as representations of a strong position in the market is mentioned by Al Ries and Jack Trout in the excellent book, Marketing Warfare.

“In military warfare, mountains and higher altitude areas represent strong positions and often are used to present a strong defense. In marketing warfare, the question is one of who holds the mountains in the consumer's mind.”

So, at some point after the launch of my podcast for entrepreneurs, I started to ask the successful entrepreneurs I interviewed about their habits or dreams of climbing one of the highest mountains in the world.

Listen to these new inspiring mountains’ stories, find which entrepreneurs and stories you identify with most, and review your entrepreneurial objectives, market overview, and plan. By making your business as strong as possible, you will be able to quickly and easily achieve entrepreneurial success.

John Jonas: “After a month of working with Philippine Virtual Assistant I realized that there are two of me… I replaced myself in my business…!”

John Jonas has helped thousands of entrepreneurs succeed in their business by doing outsourcing differently. He created and runs OnlineJobs.ph, the largest website for finding Filipino virtual workers, with over 1,000,000 Filipino resumes and over 300,000 employers from around the world using it.

He works about 17 hours per week, choosing to spend his time with his family rather than working.

John’s Mountain

• I love this question because I have a love affair with mountains. My office is at home, and in front of me there is a big window which I stare out at De Long Peak, I climb mountains probably at least twice a week, up to a peak of some source, I mountain bike and love it, and I ski in the backcountry. I’ve seen a quote says: “We don’t climb mountains because they are there; we climb mountains because others won’t.” To me, this is what climbing mountains is, and I think it relates to entrepreneurship as well. For me, there is nothing more exhilarating than standing on top of a peak in the winter, looking down the other side, and knowing that I did it on my own. And it’s the same with entrepreneurship - I do what I do because others won’t.”
• I’ve climbed this difficult mountain of building a business because other people won’t. And I get the reward of it too.

[You can listen to the full episode with John Jonas here…]

Jason Keath key success factor “Having a network even before we needed it has been a huge driver of our success.”

Jason is a social media analyst and speaker and the founder and CEO of Social Fresh that offers insights, training, and education resources to companies that range from the Fortune 50 to small businesses. Jason’s Mountain

• I visited some mountains in the past, though there isn’t necessarily a physical mountain on my goal list. However, it makes me think of the metaphor of business…
• One thing I’ve always wanted to do is build some type of software business. Building a software business is really being able to make money while you’re asleep … A tool that serves your customers without your needing to be there most of the time.
• I think that is a very big challenge, which is similar to the challenge of climbing a mountain, with all the planning you need to do for a new challenge and all the help you need along the way.

[You can listen to the full episode with Jason Keath here…]

Dr. Travis Zigler: “To become an overnight success, you need to be persistent for years and years...”

Dr. Travis Zigler is a recovering optometrist turned e-commerce entrepreneur. He is the founder of Eye Love, whose mission is to heal one million dry eye sufferers naturally.

Due to the success of Eye Love, others have asked if Dr. Travis would help them grow their business online—more specifically with Amazon, which is one of his superpowers. As a specialist in Amazon PPC, Dr. Travis blogs about Amazon PPC and selling on Amazon.

Travis’s Mountain

• I climbed a lot of mountains. I think Mount Kilimanjaro was the highest, but I have a hill in my back yard… I live in the hills of Texas (Yes…, Texas has hills…) and we live on the side of a hill, which is the highest point of our county; It’s a 1.7-mile straight up front, and I climb it at least twice a week.
• And metaphorically, our mission is to heal one million dry-eyes suffers, We haven’t reached that number yet, so I wake up every morning and ask, how can I reach another dry-eye suffer today?

[caption id="attachment_4478" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Mount Kilimanjaro[/caption]

[You can listen to the full episode with Dr. Travis Zigler here…]

Sarah Evans: “I didn’t realize that I had an entrepreneurial spirit. However, I took the risk 11 years ago and haven’t looked back.”

Sarah Evans, founder of Sevans Strategy and Sevans Digital PR, is a digital PR strategist, consultant, global brand correspondent and keynote speaker.

Additionally, Sarah has been a digital correspondent for several companies including Paypal, Cox Communications, MGM International, Cisco, SAP, Wal Mart, Shorty Awards and more...

Sarah’s Mountain

• I would definitely take it metaphorically. That started with my neighbor, who is an athlete and who has climbed three out of seven peaks. I decided that I wanted to become fit, not only for myself but to increase my longevity—to become a healthy mother and, someday, a grandmother.
• So, I started creating little goals for myself. One was to do a headstand, and I can do this now. Currently, I’m working on flexibility and strength training. So, I keep setting those goals. The very strange thing is that every time I accomplish these fitness goals, other things fall into place in my life. I think that’s because I’ve become so focused and motivated—it runs the gamut of every aspect.

[You can listen to the full episode with Sarah Evans here…]

Bart Rupert talks about how entrepreneurs can buy their competitors as part of their growth strategy, without investing their own money!

Bart Rupert has a strong Mergers & Acquisitions background across Fortune 500’s and startups within industries such as technology, software, energy (oil, gas, and solar), healthcare, real estate, managed services, and construction.

He founded nearly 30 companies, negotiated over $500M in contracts & business deals, grew a corporate start-up from inception to $10M, grew a healthcare company from $8M to $75M, and grew an energy company from $22M to $115M+.

Bart’s Mountain

• Mountains have a very personal meaning for me both metaphorically and physically. They represent a challenge and they represent a success as well. I live in Colorado, and we go hiking and climb mountains regularly. From another angle, the name of our M&A company is Stone Pick because, as entrepreneurs, we see our goal at the top of the mountain.
• When I started my entrepreneurial journey, it really felt like climbing a mountain. I’m the guy who just keeps going. There is something so glorious about it.
• But what I would say now is that, with the acquisition option, it’s like having a helicopter drop me off at the top of the summit. So, growing organically is like climbing to the top of the mountain. If you go and buy a company, it’s like having a helicopter drop you off at the top.
• And some people have to feel that’s it has to be a struggle or it doesn't worthwhile, and it’s OK. But for those of us who are thinking maybe there is a better way, we consider the option of buying a business.

[You can listen to the full episode with Bart Rupert here…]

Ryan Coon “We made the classic mistake that most entrepreneurs make. We built a beautiful product and assumed the customers would find us.”

Ryan Coon is an entrepreneur, co-founder & CEO of Avail, an all-in-one software solution designed for do-it-yourself (DIY) landlords that is used by more than 600,000 landlords and tenants across the United States. 

Ryan has a hardworking spirit and together with his co-founder, Laurence Jankelow, they developed the idea for their company Avail on a napkin that now solves the needs of thousands of landlords and renters.

Ryan’s Mountain

• We are in Chicago, which is about as flat as it can get, but I’ve spent a lot of time in Colorado. I’ve climbed numerous 14,000-foot mountains in Colorado.
• The story that I love to share is that in 2011 I had a chance to go up to the base camp of Mount Everest. That was an incredible journey because I was very outside my comfort zone.
• We were on this 14-day incredible journey up to the base camp of the highest mountain in the world. For the next mountain, I plan to go to Peru.

[caption id="attachment_3241" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Mount Everest Base Camp[/caption]

[You can listen to the full episode with Ryan Coon here…]

Jeremy Parker swag.com “I’m never satisfied in terms of customer success. We should go above and beyond to make our customers’ experience great.”

Jeremy Parker is an award winning documentary filmmaker and serial entrepreneur. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Swag.com, the best place for companies to buy quality promotional products that you'll actually want to keep. 

They work with 5,000+ companies including Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and Tik Tok. They are #218 on the 2020 Inc 500 (fastest growing companies in the US). Jeremy was also named by CrainsNY as one of the 40Under40 .

Jeremy’s Mountain 

• My mountain is definitely a physical mountain. I love climbing, I love being outdoors in nature. We are going to Bear Mountain. When you’re outside, you are focusing on your muscles and not on your brain.
• When you climb a mountain and reach the top, you always want to get to a higher top. This the same as entrepreneurship for me; I am never satisfied.

[You can listen to the full episode with Jeremy Parker here…]

If you didn’t listen to the previous “Mountain Episodes” you can find them here

• Climbing mountains and entrepreneurial success – The 5th and newest part – Some of the most amazing mountains’ stories you heard
• Climbing mountains and entrepreneurial success – The 4th and newest part – Some of the most amazing mountains’ stories you heard
• Climbing mountains and entrepreneurial success – The 3rd and last part – Some of the most amazing mountains’ stories you heard
• Climbing mountains and entrepreneurial success – The 2nd part – Listen to a few more of the most amazing mountains’ stories you heard
• Climbing mountains and entrepreneurial success – A few of the most amazing mountains’ stories you heard

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

As I always write after a ‘Mountain Episode’:

Now you can choose whether and what you would like to do next as a reaction to this episode.

As I see it you have 4 options.

First, you can of course do nothing that has to do with this show, go to do whatever you want or planned or just switch to the next podcast.

Second, you can enjoy the stories, be inspired and take the courage and massive strength needed to take your entrepreneurship to a much higher level than you did in the last few months.

Third, you can choose one or more of the inspiring successful interviewees, their stories you love best, or choose me, to connect, ask questions, find what else you can learn from them (they all have plenty of free very professional content on their sites) or even find out if they can be your mentor if they give that service.

And last, but not least, you can download my free guide for the 7 elements of Entrepreneurial Business Success that will help you make the best plan for the coming months and reach your goals of 2020.

I’ll meet you on the next mountain.....

Hayut.