Sometimes, it takes courage to quit.
“If you want to be you have to do.”-John Lee Dumas
The Cheat Sheet:
- What was his first real train wreck in his life?
- Why quitting isn’t just for quitters.
- Is luck part of the success equation according to John?
- How much of a runway did he give himself when he started his podcast?
- The impostor syndrome: what it is and how it almost crushed John.
- And so much more…
Do you think it takes courage to quit something, or do you believe quitting is never justified? One of the most successful podcasters in the world had to quit time after time after time in order to achieve the level of success he has today.
John Lee Dumas, the mastermind behind Entrepreneur on Fire and Podcaster’s Paradise, joins us to talk about how he found the courage to quit throughout his twenties and the success that brought him in his thirties. Listen in for all of that and so much more on episode 349 of The Art of Charm.
More About This Show:
We live in a culture that glorifies 18-hour workdays, even if you’re in a job or running a business you hate. There is no room at the top for quitters, that’s long been the motto held by many. But is any of that really true or is it ok for you to quit until you find your thing? Turning the “quitting is only for quitters” paradigm on its head is our guest for episode 349, Mr. John Lee Dumas.
If this is the only podcast you listen to then you may not have heard of him. But if you know anything about the podcasting world you know this guy is a phenom. He’s the ringleader of Entrepreneur on Fire (or EOFire for short), a daily podcast getting millions of downloads and today earning him a seven-figure income.
But just a few short years ago, John was struggling…really struggling. He had given up on law school after one semester, quit the corporate finance world after a few short years, and ended a brief run in commercial real estate. And John did not come from a family of quitters, he was not raised to quit anything. He was raised to give it his all and to know he’d succeed.
All of the “quitting” began after John spent four years in the Army. He went to college on an Army ROTC scholarship, part of which required him to serve for four years after. When he originally signed on the dotted line in the late ’90s we were a country at peace.
And then 9/11 happened. The day the US was attacked was the beginning of John’s senior year of college. He was concerned, of course everyone was at the time, but it wasn’t until January of the following year that he understood he’d be going into a full conflict combat zone in Iraq. He was an Army tank leader and lead 16 men on a tour there through some of the bloodiest battles in that war.
Losing four of his men really shifted John’s perspective. He promised himself his life would make a difference and he would fulfill on promises these men would never have the chance to. He vowed to never settle for less than what he thought he was capable of.
That vow and that promise were the reasons John explored and quit so many avenues after finishing in the armed forces. He left law school after one semester, even though he knew on his first day that it wasn’t for him. He tried several other career paths, but nothing was “it” and he knew it. But one day while driving to work he ran out of podcasts to listen to. At the time he was in commercial real estate and was traveling a lot so while in his car he listened to inspirational and educational podcasts.
And then it hit him: he would create and produce a daily podcast! No one else was, so why not him? Feeling like he had found “it,” John went full speed ahead into podcasting creation mode. From there, EOFire was born.
That’s not to say it was all sunshine and roses, not even close. Because he had no college debt, John lived prudently and had saved over $100k. He used that money as his runway, and he needed it. EOFire didn’t make any money for the first nine months. But he stuck it out, he honed his craft, and continued (and still continues) to learn along the way.
As he got better his numbers got bigger and his reach grew. With that, advertisers came calling and opportunities presented themselves, like his mastermind group Podcaster’s Paradise. Today he runs a thriving podcast that garners millions of downloads and is set to earn him well into the seven figure mark in 2015. And his lesson from all of this? Quit until you make it!
We talk about so much on this episode, including how to know when to quit, how to know if your side project can be a full-on business, and how to find a great mentor and mastermind group. John wanted to thank all of you for listening, so he’s given you the gift of his Podcast Launch book for free right here. You don’t even have to give your email address — it’s completely free. John and I both thank you for being here, and we’ll see you next time.
THANKS JOHN LEE DUMAS!
Resources from this episode:
Podcast Launch, John Lee Dumas’ book — free for you!
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