CYLS 185: Project, Set, Achieve: Bringing Success into 2021 with Eric Fondren

Create Your Life Series

Episode Summary

Kevin continues his talks with Eric Fondren on how pivoting has benefited their businesses in 2020 and what other strategies they will use to bring success to 2021 including focusing on yourself to help manifest your goals. Eric talks about how his businesses have been performing and what he’s working on now and Kevin discusses the importance of projection when it comes to creating a stable and growing business. Discover how to create repeatable strategies for success, in this episode of the Create Your Life Series.

Kevin Y. Brown

Kevin Y. Brown is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Center For Public Trust (CPT) “Being A Difference” award recipient, international speaker, entrepreneur, and author. The former MTV Networks host and NYC fashion marketer has created an international following as a speaker on personal excellence, effective communication, and leadership. Kevin has been featured by Black Enterprise magazine as a “Modern Man of Distinction” and highlighted in various publications for his self-help speaking work and helping students graduate college debt-free. Recognized for his commitment to empowering foster care youth and as a foster care system alumnus, he has also delivered the keynote address at the International Foster Care Organizations Conference in Sydney, Australia and Osaka, Japan. Kevin is currently the creator/host of Sirius XM’s “Create Your Life” series, a fellow in the New York Chapter of the Startup Leadership Program, and an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Eric Fondren

Eric Fondren is a mixed bag of skills that includes both hard and soft skills. After obtaining his computer science degree from Morehouse College, Eric spent 3 years on Wall Street learning why it's difficult for large companies to innovate. While working full-time, Eric also went on to obtain his Master's degree in professional counseling.

After his stint on Wall Street, Eric tried his hand with a number of ventures including web design, relationship coaching among other things. All of this experience showed him his true path, which was to build a technology company.

Today, as CEO of ITELLIO (originally branded as FreeATM) Eric has built a large-scale ad network that aggregates 9,000 digital screens into a central buying platform.

Insights from this episode:

• Updates on Eric’s businesses and business development pipeline, as well as how COVID allowed his business to grow.
• Details on how Eric is establishing himself as a brand of information using social media and with his new show, Pivot or Die.
• Updates on Kevin’s businesses, how COVID tested and proved his business model, and his plans to generate more income streams within the same industry.
• Benefits of using projection to predict business growth and trends and scale your business accordingly to meet those projections.
• Benefits of using an accountability partner/coach, goal-setting, and other tools to help you stay on track and meet your goals.

Quotes from the show:

• On Eric’s show: “[Pivot or Die] is all about the mistakes you can make as an entrepreneur and what you need to do to make the decisions that will lead to success.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• On being successful through the pandemic: “If you were selling a product that was ‘nice to have’ maybe you need to pivot into a ‘need to have’ scenario.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• On generating success: “I feel that is our best [asset], that we are really good at customer service.” – Kevin Y. Brown, Episode #185
• On the intangible aspects of running a business: “At the end of the day, money’s cool, it’s one thing, but people want to show up to a place where they actually feel welcome and taken care of.” – Kevin Y. Brown, Episode #185
  
• “You know the model; hire slow, fire fast.” – Kevin Y. Brown, Episode #185
• “I think I’m pretty adept at building an operation, creating a process, just starting the engine, and I’ve always known that I need to hire the right individuals to help me keep it running at full-steam.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• “Success is an ongoing thing.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• On the importance of having a business focus: “There’s only so many new things I can do at once before my creativity is dried up.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• On knowing when to make changes in your business: “It’s okay to not have the perfect answer, just know that you will make the decision when the time is right.” – Eric Fondren, Episode #185
• “You need to take a chance and you need to really gamble on yourself and on the things that you always wanted to do.” – Kevin Y. Brown, Episode #185

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Kevin Y. Brown

Website: www.kevinybrown.com

Instagram: kevinybrown

Twitter: kevinybrown

Facebook: kevinybrown

Eric Fondren

Website: www.itellio.com

Email: [e-mail]

LinkedIn: Eric Fondren

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)