So, I did what everyone else would do and proposed to my caddie. My former caddie and soon to be bride said yes, and we opened up our first restaurant Wild Bill Texas Smokehouse. I became a college golf coach. We got married, and I had to figure shit out pretty quickly.
Glowgolf brought Brea and me to Nashville from California in 2003 as we opened a location in Opry Mills Mall, which was our #1 location until the 2010 Nashville Flood, which wiped out our store and a significant amount of Nashville, itself.
Before the Flood, I built the 2nd fastest growing ground transportation company and scaled to $8.8M in less than five years in a small market like Nashville. And then I decided to exit. Nashville wasn’t always like it is today.
During the fast growth in the ground transportation industry (limos and buses), I learned internet marketing from a small startup called Hubspot and leveraged inbound marketing, social media, email marketing, and SEO integrated into my sales strategy to grow the company quickly.
This online marketing and social selling experience proved fruitful. I launched Inbound Marketing Agents three days after my exit. I built this marketing agency to over $1M in revenue in under six months, becoming one of the first Hubspot Platinum Partner Agencies in 2013.
As successful as it was, the agency was very stressful and took a toll on my family life and the business’s profitability. It was easy to identify that another pivot was needed, so I bought out my partner whom I had gifted equity. Once this weight was lifted off the company, I could reboot the company into a new era quickly and dramatically increase profitability.
With this new vigor, I launched my first online University in the fall of 2015, consisting of a membership program, courses, boot camps, and a full conference, which is still thriving today.
I have learned many lessons that have shaped the way I run my life and my businesses today. I’ve learned that when I am engulfed too much into my businesses, I am not immersed in my family life. This does two things, and both suck. It brings me down at home, and it brings me down in the business. I had to learn how to prioritize both with equal value so my life at home with my girls could thrive, and my businesses could succeed as well.
One of the critical consistencies I have seen in all of my successful mentors and coaches is that they Plan. Prepare. And Execute. They do this daily, not just when they feel it is needed.
I am happy to say I do as well and believe it leads to success in more ways than you can imagine.