what have you failed at and what did you learn from it? The best lessons in life come from failure, but remember that failure is only an outcome, not an identity. On the Business Growth Execution Podcast with host Mal McCallion, Darrell Evans discusses key entrepreneurial lessons he’s learned over three decades, how to build a superstar team, and how not to let failure define who you are.
Mal:
Hi, it's Mal McCallion here, lead consultant at Growtion.com, your growth execution podcast host. Here, we obsess not just about what it is that makes businesses grow, but how that's achieved through practical steps rather than pure theory. This week, I'm delighted to be joined by Darrell Evans, the founder of MindShift Business Academy. Darrell experienced bankruptcy in 2008, but didn't let it get the best and has built a hugely successful career from the lessons he learned. We spoke about an entrepreneur's DNA, believing in yourself, and building a superstar team. But first, I started by asking him how he came to launch his business.
Three Decades Of Lessons
Darrell:
That's a great question. So the Maestro Business Academy is actually in pre-launch right now. So at the time that your listeners hear this, it might be launched but the backstory on the MindShift Business Academy really comes off the heels of, you know, this is my 30th year in business. I was fortunate to start entrepreneurship at a ripe old age at 19, while I was in college and still holding down a job. So, I've had a few startups along the way, and things have gone well and things have not gone well at times.
"But I've learned some things over 30 years that I'd have to be an absolute idiot not to be able to pass back down to the next generation of entrepreneur, the transitional entrepreneur, the entrepreneur who is at that startup phase wanting to grow from a solopreneur to that seven-figure or even eight-figure mark."
Darrell Evans
And so, oddly enough, I started the podcast first, called the MindShift Podcast, so that I can begin sharing some messages from other entrepreneurs like yourself and then also begin to mix in my thoughts and ideas and lessons that I've learned. So the MindShift Business Academy is kind of the next step in bringing entrepreneurs closer into the frameworks that I've learned and used over the last 30ish years.
Mal:
Yeah, wow. Yes. It's a big milestone, right? And what would you say over those years is kind of the one, if there is a big lesson that stands out for you, is there one moment in time you really look back on that was formative?
The #1 Thing That Got Darrell To Where He Is Today
Darrell:
You know, so many things in 30 years that I can point to as levers or triggers.
"But I gotta say that for an entrepreneur, the probably the number one thing that I can say has gotten me here, through the setbacks, through the victories, through the thousands and thousands of decisions that you have to navigate as an entrepreneur, I would have to say that it has been a dedicated focus on continuing to grow as an individual leader."
Darrell Evans
And so, what I mean by that is, you come up under enormous pressure and stress as an entrepreneur, and in many cases, some of your closest network, including spouses and significant others and immediate family members and closest friends. don't exactly know what you're going through. They think you're an entrepreneur, you're the business owner, you're the CEO or the founder, the cool title, right? But they have no idea if they're not an entrepreneur, what it means to walk in those shoes, when you're launching and growing an enterprise.
Listen to the rest of the interview to learn more entrepreneurial lessons and advice that may take you 30 or more years to learn yourself.
