This episode is part of the Comeback Series, which features Entrepreneurs who have experienced a major setback and then successfully pivoted to something different, bigger, and more impactful.
Today’s guest is Adam Eidson, an entrepreneur who left his high-paying corporate and took a 50% pay cut to pursue a more purpose-driven life. He is driven by empowering others and making them feel better about themselves so he opened his own gym, RARE Crossfit, and started hosting The Mentee podcast.
Growing up, Adam didn’t have the confidence or self-esteem he has today. There was no consistent father figure for much of his early childhood, being a smaller guy made school a challenge (he graduated high school at 118 pounds), and he was shrouded in limiting beliefs.
Ultimately, it was support from his first mentor and father figure that helped Adam realize his own abilities and grow into a more confident human being.
Later, mentorship from former guest Geoff Woods guided Adam on a transformative journey. He developed clarity about the incredible power of people, relationships, and action. To foster those relationships – and add more value to the people in his life – Adam started practicing greater transparency and vulnerability in every aspect of his life.
Like crossfit, being open and vulnerable requires a lot of strength. But we have to acknowledge our weaknesses to grow beyond them, and we have to be honest to form real connections with other people.
When we support each other, we are all capable of a major Comeback.
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Production & Development for The Impact Entrepreneur Show by Podcast Masters
This episode is part of the Comeback Series, which features Entrepreneurs who have experienced a major setback and then successfully pivoted to something different, bigger, and more impactful.
Today’s guest, Cindi Busenhart, is the Founder & CEO of MERGE4, one of the most exciting action sports sock brands in the world. Before Founding MERGE4, she was President of Sessions and Este, one of the original snowboard brands on the market.
Sessions went through a few difficulties in the ‘00s. The bulk of their snow wear started shipping on September 1st, and the events of 9/11 caused many stores to cancel their shipments. Nobody wanted to get on a plane and fly to a resort. A few years later, the global financial crisis took another toll.
While weathering these challenges, community was hugely important for Cindi and the company. Community is important when we’re thriving, but it’s critical when we’re facing adversity.
“Persistence trumps brilliance almost every time.”
When we experience these moments of adversity, it’s also important to be persistent. Even in the most difficult times, there is opportunity if you’re willing to look for it. If, on top of that, you can continue to believe in yourself and your passion, your positive outlook will reap greater opportunity.
Cindi tries to persistently keep a positive outlook because she believes that if you want to get something, you have to give it. This can be positivity, support, or even health.
Cindi lives this belief. When her brother was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that shut down his kidneys, she persisted to jump through every hoop put in front of her so that she would be allowed to donate a kidney. “It was hard for us, but there was never a moment that I didn’t think I could do it.”
Because of her extreme giving, Cindi got what she wanted: her brother’s health.
Cindi applies this same giving philosophy to MERGE4. In addition to fostering a positive community, they are a B Corp, which means they are a for-profit company certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. They are dedicated to providing cool socks to children, teens, and those receiving extended treatment in hospitals.
“If you want to get something, give it.”
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We are also brought to you by the Lawton Marketing Group, a full service advertising and design agency serving companies and entrepreneurs at all levels. The are your one stop shop for all your website, logo, social media, print, app design and reputable management needs.
Visit LawtonMG.com for more info.
Production & Development for The Impact Entrepreneur Show by Podcast Masters
This episode is part of the Comeback Series, which features Entrepreneurs who have experienced a major setback and then successfully pivoted to something different, bigger, and more impactful.
Today’s guest, Nick DiNardo, had his whole world flipped upside down at age seven. Now he helps entrepreneurs perform at their very best and teaches them to overcome overwhelm… but he had to build resilience to get there.
Nick’s mother experienced her second bipolar episode when he was seven, which led to some time in a hospital, his parent’s divorce, and his father’s bankruptcy. He felt angry, ashamed, misplaced, and like everyone else had a nuclear family that he could not have.
These experiences allowed Nick to develop resilience, and he believes he has thrived off of the adversity he experienced.
But how does someone build resilience if they experience success, instead of adversity? If Nick’s son grows up under better circumstances, how will he develop an awareness of struggle?
“The difference between the high-performers and the average is the ability to identify and use adversity to your opportunity, rather than avoiding it or just letting it pass you by.”
Nick’s book, The Game of Adversity, offers eight practices that will help anyone turn difficulty into opportunity, developed through his years of experience as a practitioner of resilience.
If you have faced adversity or struggle and you haven’t built your resiliency, where should you start? Nick suggests an exercise for identifying how you naturally react to adversity so that you can review the game tape and change your processes.
I appreciate Nick coming on the show and sharing his vulnerability. People don’t think of vulnerability as a strength often enough, but it is incredibly powerful – and Nick is living proof.
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Resources:
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We are also brought to you by the Lawton Marketing Group, a full service advertising and design agency serving companies and entrepreneurs at all levels. The are your one stop shop for all your website, logo, social media, print, app design and reputable management needs.
Visit LawtonMG.com for more info.
Production & Development for The Impact Entrepreneur Show by Podcast Masters
This episode is part of the Comeback Series, which will feature Entrepreneurs who have experienced a major setback and then successfully pivoted to something different, bigger, and more impactful.
There is a narrative pervading our society that we have to be perfect, and we project perfection into the world – but we don’t relate to any single person through their success or their perfection.
We relate to other people through their struggle.
That’s why we’re talking to Geoff Woods, a man who has come up against adversity numerous times in his life only to overcome it, and grow stronger as a result. He’s Vice President of The ONE Thing, the company behind the best-selling book of the same name written by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan, and host of The ONE Thing podcast.
As we discussed last time Geoff was on the show, his entrepreneurial journey began with a tragedy: in just one week, his pay was dramatically slashed and a co-worked died of a heart attack.
He then went on a mission, inspired by Jim Rohn, to surround himself with new people and change his life, and he started The Mentee podcast as a vehicle for this journey. He discovered that people really connected with his struggle, “and it was at that moment that I realized the greatest power that I could possibly have, being the man behind the mic, was vulnerability.”
But he’s not just vulnerable – he’s committed to change, and courageous enough to share it with us. You can hear more of Geoff’s vulnerability on The ONE Thing podcast.
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Don’t be a podcast junkie…
Resources:
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We are also brought to you by the Lawton Marketing Group, a full service advertising and design agency serving companies and entrepreneurs at all levels. The are your one stop shop for all your website, logo, social media, print, app design and reputable management needs.
Visit LawtonMG.com for more info.
Production & Development for The Impact Entrepreneur Show by Podcast Masters
This is the last episode in the Happiness Series. We have been taught to believe that we can not choose to be happy because happiness is something that can only be earned – that’s not true.
We can take hold of happiness any time we choose. Happiness is an attitude, and attitude is a choice.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” –Viktor Frankl
Over the past several weeks, we had leading experts from a wide array of industries share, confirm, and reiterate simple truths about happiness, fulfillment, and impact.
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Resources:
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We are also brought to you by the Lawton Marketing Group, a full service advertising and design agency serving companies and entrepreneurs at all levels. The are your one stop shop for all your website, logo, social media, print, app design and reputable management needs.
Visit LawtonMG.com for more info.
Production & Development for The Impact Entrepreneur Show by Podcast Masters