From wantrepreneur to real-life success story.
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin
The Cheat Sheet:
- The good and the bad types of wantrepreneurs. (10:00)
- How many views did his first article receive in its first 24 hours online? (24:50)
- He was a bad writer in school: true or false? (28:50)
- Why did he start his podcast? (29:25)
- Who are some of his most notable interviewees on his show? (32:00)
- Why you need to be the author of your own life. (34:20)
- And so much more…
If you’ve ever found yourself feeling stifled, uninspired or even depressed it might be because you’re in the wrong career. You might be an entrepreneur trapped in an employee’s life. Such was the case for our guest for episode 319.
Andrew Ferebee was a manager at a big chain retailer when he realized he was actually an entrepreneur. But it wasn’t one of those epiphanies he had in a nanosecond, instead it was a battle with clinical depression combined with a quest for personal growth that led him to this discovery. In this episode we cover what the experience of depression was like for him, how he moved forward with his life and took an incredible leap of faith that has paid off handsomely with his brand Knowledge For Men.
More About This Show:
Today Andrew is the headmaster at Knowledge For Men, a web site and podcast about helping guys create their best, most fulfilling lives. But this was a business idea born from his disenchantment, loss and depression.
It all began with his first job out of college. He became a manager for a well-known retailer who gave him one of their most high-risk stores in Southern California. By high-risk they meant high problems, like sketchy neighborhood, less than stellar employees, high turnover and just a lot of headaches in general. At the same time, his social network was completely changing post-college and he lost a romantic relationship with a woman he wanted to marry.
He soon found himself dreading the work day and the monotony of it. That monotony led to an episode of clinical depression that was so severe one day while driving over a bridge, he wondered to himself what it would be like if he simply drove off the edge. He wondered if it would take away all the gut-wrenching pain he was struggling with.
Having a level of self-awareness, Andrew understood he needed help and reached out for counseling. He was diagnosed with clinical depression and combined his treatment with massive action and personal growth to pull himself out of his depressive state.
He read tons and tons of books on the subject, in fact he still does. And he listened to hours of podcasts like this one and many others while on his way to and from work. He also made it a goal to attend meet ups and become friends with other “wantrepreneurs” and real-life entrepreneurs. Finally one day he decided he had had enough and it was time to leave his soul-sucking job.
Without a real game plan, he did. He spent the first week celebrating, the second week freaking out and then published an article on a blog called Knowledge For Men. That article, without any push or marketing from him, went viral. In its first 24 hours it was read by 50,000 people. He had so many visitors to his site that it crashed and he had to upgrade! That trend continued with the next batch of content he released and he knew he was on to something.
That was in the spring of 2013 and since then, he has grown his blog to become a web site and a podcast. He leveraged his blog audience to gain an even larger podcast listenership and to land such well-known guests as Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street and Kevin Harrington of TV’s Shark Tank.
Andrew attributes his success to his openness to personal growth and his willingness to take massive action on goals he sets for himself. He was an attendee at our bootcamp and says it not only taught him new tactics but also helped him take action to implement them. He learned how to improve his social life of course, but it all parlayed into him becoming a more solid person and a force to be reckoned with in the business world.
Please join me in thanking Andrew for sharing his stories with us. He’s a shining example of how to overcome any challenge or obstacle put in your path by seeking support, setting goals and applying yourself to the achievement of them. He was a terrific guest and we appreciate him for stopping by. Thanks for being here and we’ll see you next time.
THANKS ANDREW!
Resources from this episode:
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