Rueben Wood is a celebrity journalist, media icon, and chef. He graduated from high school and got a taste of the music industry, but through a series of events brought on by bad management, he found himself homeless on the streets of Atlanta. He had a vision to start a media magazine for independent artists and launched the idea with no money in his pocket. Today, only four years later, he is fully supporting himself through his business ventures.
Jan Spence, a professional speaker, sales trainer, one-on-one coach for small businesses, and business consultant, got her first taste of entrepreneurship when she was just 15, but it was after her husband had been laid off for the second time in two years from his "secure" job that they decided it was time to take the risk and make the move fully into owning their own business.
Dre Baldwin, an athlete, entrepreneur, author, publisher, speaker, and marketing and branding expert, played basketball for a division III school, but had a goal of playing professionally. He became an accidental entrepreneur after posting a tryout video on YouTube and people started commenting and asking him questions. Today, he has over 4000 videos posted and a strong fanbase that he has been successful monetizing.
Maura Sweeny, an author, podcaster, international speaker, and Huffington Post contributor, was brought up to be an attorney in New Jersey, but realized that she was on a trajectory for a career path that she had no passion for. It wasn't until she was 50 that she had the courage and confidence to step out on her own and be who she was always meant to be.
In this bonus episode, I talk about how well the podcast is doing in terms of listens, how things will change now that New & Noteworthy has ended, how I am and how I plan to monetize, and my reasons for shifting from three episodes per week to one.
Dean Roberts, author of I'll Fix My Head Before I'm Dead and a serial entrepreneur, was kicked out of school at 16 and went into the Navy. After a short corporate career, he went into the family business, began to find his way, and turned it into the largest doll house manufacturer in the world.
Kelly Mccauley, the owner of Solo Smarts, was a broke, single mother doing desktop publishing for her church office. Her need to make extra money and pay her bills was the beginning of what turned into a successful business around meeting the needs of solopreneurs.