Year in Review: The Power of Taking Action, Networking, and Seizing Opportunity

Photo Courtesy @expertinfantry – Flickr

This past year has been a one with some incredible lessons.  It started in January of 2013 when I was thumbing through the apps on my iPhone and came across the Podcasts App. For some reason, I decided to go to the business section and stumbled across Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. I found his podcast genuine, engaging, informative, and entertaining. I was hooked and went back and listened to every episode. I then started to listen to as many podcasts as possible. I also started to build a few niche websites, but never really did much with them.

In May 2013, I started listening to fellow veteran John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur on Fire. Every day he interviews an entrepreneur with an amazing story and some great lessons. A common theme I often heard was Take Action; Connect with People and Seize Opportunity when you have it. In one interview, John talked about the power of Podcasting and how there were less than 1 thousand active Business Podcasts in iTunes. Around the same time, I started seeing many articles about Military Veterans who were becoming entrepreneurs, and that is when the light bulb lit up. I was going to start a podcast focused on interviewing Military Veterans who have successfully started their own businesses with the goal of helping other Vets do the same. TAKE ACTION

I sent an email to John with the idea, and he agreed it was a great opportunity. He then graciously agreed to be my first guest. I then began reaching out to other Veteran Entrepreneurs and was able to interview some amazing Veterans:  Kelly Perdew – Winner of The Apprentice ; Jake Wood – Team Rubicon; Blake Hall – Id.me; Anthony Pompliano – DigaForce; Douglas Burdett – Artillery Marketing; Blake Callens – REAL; Rob Dyer – RuckPack & SharkTank; Antonio Centeno – Real Men Real Style; Jeff Rose – Good Financial Cents; Roger Huffstetler  – Zillabyte; Joseph Kopser – Ride Scout; Andrew Couch – Candy Lab; Kristina Guerrero – Turbo Pup; David Young – Bounce Imaging; Aaron Kletzing – RallyPoint; Zach Iscol – HirePurpose; Dan Brillman – UniteUs; Scott Warren – My Dad Reads to Me; and Angela Cody-Rouget – Major Mom. Two great things came out of these interviews: First I learned a ton just by hearing their stories, Second I was able to connect with some amazing people. NETWORKING

The New Media Expo (NMX) in Las Vegas is one of the premier events in the Podcasting / Blogging / Web-TV / Social Media Marketing space. The event is in early January and I wanted to go but just didn’t pull the trigger. In mid-December, I reached out to Antonio Centeno for some feedback. Antonio was speaking at NMX and was looking for someone to moderate a panel in the Military Track. The event was in two weeks. It would have been very easy to come up with some excuse, but I realized what an opportunity this was. I jumped at the opportunity and quickly booked a ticket. You don’t get opportunities like this every day, so when they come don’t let them slip away. Now I can say that I was a speaker at New Media Expo. Thank you Antonio! (I highly recommend NMX if you are thinking about doing something online. They typically offer free admission to those on Active Duty.) SEIZE OPPORTUNITY

I have no idea where this journey is going to take me, but I do know that if I did not TAKE ACTION, NETWORK, and SEIZE OPPORTUNITY, I would not be where I am today. Here’s to a promising 2014!

-Scott