Episode: 72 - "Speaking of Success" with Kevin Neff

 In all the episodes I've had, I've yet to hear a guest talk about how easy it was to make their way to the top. In fact, many of them had their greatest epiphanies when staring down a bowl of Ramen noodles. So I faced Kevin Neff's new show, "Speaking of Success," with some trepidation. Is it going to be a sound bite of how Entrepreneur X took their company to $6B in 6 months? His answer is refreshing.

Some of his guests aren't even "famous" at all. Or some tell stories of how they've fallen from grace to build success from the ashes. The best revelations are toward the end when Kevin offers some self-reflection on how he defines success for himself.

On Branding:
You'll find many pearls in this episode in Kevin's notorious in-your-face rapid-fire delivery. How do you not only GRAB their attention but KEEP their attention?

"Your brand should punch people in the face. You're not a grain of sand on the beach, you're a grain of sand on all the beaches of the world."

And thus begins our entry into the world of Kevin Makes Sense.com

How he met Mark Shulman
Kevin's no stranger to punching people in the face with his branding. An 8' tall banner attracted Mark Schulman - drummer for Pink, Beyonce, Cher, Billy Idol (among others,) to Kevin's booth at the National Speakers Association convention. The banner pictured an electric chair with
"Don't Be a Dead Brand Walking - Give Your Marketing a Jolt" emblazoned on the front. He got the gig. Kevin continues,"Your brand should speak for you even if you're not in the room."

His take on C-Suite Network CEO Jeffrey Hayzlett:
We talked about our mutual experience interviewing Jeffrey Hayzlett; yes, you sit up straighter in your seat and you'd better be quick on your feet; Jeffrey doesn't suffer fools. Only Kevin Neff would be able to boldly ask about the gift Jeffrey Hayzlett received from KISS Gene Simmons. Take a listen to learn what it is (and yes, I laughed...)

When did Kevin know when he was successful?
It's easy to assume you gain success by garnering the spotlight, and grabbing it by results. For Kevin, there was a time where success was making it month-to-month. He talks about going from hero to zero overnight and went from 6 figures to nothing. This experience helped him re-define success, "Success is doing biz w/ people you wanna work with, do work you enjoy doing and getting results for clients and knowing they would refer and use us again." He still faults himself on caring TOO much about what others think. "People wear failure like a lapel pin, but failure can sometimes be part of the process. It's what comes out of the failure - Did you pick yourself up by the bootstraps?"

One and Done - do it right the first time.
We talked about setting plans in motion and dealing with doubt. "If this doesn't work, what's Plan B? There is no Plan B... Plan B means there's an iota of failure." For Kevin, he can't have a seed of doubt. He would be so distracted by that grain of sand of doubt, that it would take his time and focus away from Plan A. What you focus on grows - focus on doing it right the first time.

To watch full episodes of "Speaking of Success"
C-Suite TV Full Episode: c-suitenetwork.com/tv/video/because-i-ca...ty-jeffrey-hayzlett/ 


Apply to be a guest -
kevinmakessense.com