From Mop Factories to Mentorship: Absorbing Life's Lessons

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:38Hey there. Hope you're having a fantastic week. Just want to remind you that the Asheville Business Summit is coming up in September. There are a lot of ways to get involved. First of all, you can get a ticket. They're going on sale. You can get an early bird ticket. They're going on sale July the 4th. You get plenty. You can come. You can attend. You can become a sponsor. I tell you, a great way to take advantage of the summit that a lot of people don't think about is buy a bunch of tickets and invite your customers. Invite your prospects. Make a day of it. Make an event of it. Give them something different than what you're looking for.

1:17So there's my take on that. Hey, today I want to talk to you about learning a little bit. Now, when I was about 16 or 17, a friend of my dad's is also a friend of mine, somewhere sort of between our ages, so he was closer to my age than my dad's. because he had worked for my dad at one point, and then he had gone off, and he was able to buy another business, and he was running that. And I was talking to him about careers and jobs, and I don't even know how it came up. And he said, Bill, it doesn't matter whatever job you get. Even a summer job, you want to be a sponge. You want to learn as much as you can.

2:02You want to take in everything around you so that you can use that later in your career. And I can't tell you how right he was about those things. So I worked, when I was 16, I worked at Greenwood Mop Factory. A man named Henry Bonds owned it, and he was a little bit of a mentor to me. I only worked there one summer, but I have many memories of things that he said. I mean, one of the things, one of the things he had this sign on his desk, it was hilarious. It said, it said, let's compromise and do it my way. So he was a tough negotiator. He wanted to, you know, you just put that out there in front of him.

2:44But there were a lot of things I learned about having people and supervising people. I never had to supervise a person when I was 16, but I could see how some supervisors were better at others. Some were good at it. Some people were enthusiastic employees. Some people were not enthusiastic and why that was and what it took to actually grow and run a business. And when I was 16, I was learning that. So teach your kids to be a sponge and you be a sponge too. Wherever you go, wherever you look, you're going to learn something. There's always something to learn. One of the things I challenge my clients on quite often is, what did you learn on vacation?

3:26When they take a vacation, what did you learn? So, you know, let me know what you've learned recently. Let me know what you've learned. In fact, I'll give you a good habit. A good habit is at the end of every day, sit down with a paper and pen or a notebook or your phone or however you take notes. And just write down, like, what is it that you've learned? What is it that you learned today? What are your learnings? Make a note of it. and you'll be surprised at how well those will stick in your brain, and you'll be able to use them from time to time. Hey, I'd love to have a chat with you about scaling your business.

4:03If you're interested in taking your business to the next level and want to grab a cup of coffee, then just hit me up. Let me know in the comments, or we're all over the internet. You know how to find me. My phone number's out there, my emails. Just let us know somehow, and we'll be glad to sit down. No obligation. Just have a chat and find out if we can give you a couple ideas to grow your business. If it makes sense for us to work together, great. If it doesn't, of course, we'll still be friends. Hey, and until next time, all the best.

4:41Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly.

5:29Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.