CREATIVE CHAT CAFE: Transitioning from an Employee to an Entrepreneur

In this week’s episode of Creative Chat Cafe, Zef and Sondra host Jon Schumacher, an entrepreneur who co-created the company Hangouts That Convert. We ask Jon questions about his decision to leave behind his stable job and paycheck to fully commit to Hangouts That Convert and his transition from a “desk job” to an online business. In addition, we ask Jon about his family and father in relation to this large transition in celebration of Father's Day.

About Our Guest:

Jon Schumacher is the co-creator of the company Hangouts That Convert. Hangouts That Convert seeks to help entrepreneurs use online tools such as Google Hangouts, just as major organizations do worldwide. Jon is also an online marketing coach who is well-versed in video marketing, blogging, video SEO, video interviewing, and podcasting. His own podcast is popular on iTunes and has generated thousands of downloads each month in over 50 countries across the world. Jon also has a great sense of energy and loves to "help people share their message."

Some Key Points of Discussion in this Episode:

• Learn how to maximize changes and transitions in our lives to achieve success.
• Get inspiring tips on how to build a part time business while working a full time job.
• Find out what type of traits that can help you become a more successful entrepreneur.
  

Watch the Hangout Here:

Save time and skip ahead to the information that is important to you using the video's table of contents (TOC) in the video description on YouTube!
Table of Contents (click on the minute timeline for the specific content):
00:47 - Greetings & introductions.
01:42 - Jon Schumacher of "Hangouts That Convert"
04:02 - How it all started - the pivot towards entrepreneurship.
07:02 - The importance of being intuitive when starting a business.
08:04 - How to be smart and manage your transition period.
10:51 - The push that lead to the leap of faith in business.
13:39 - Getting the right support and creating balance when starting a business.
18:23 - Transitioning from the employee to entrepreneur requires a strategy.
21:51 - Reaping the rewards and enjoying the freedom.
24:46 - The leap of faith that catapult a spiritual journey.
26:28 - Employee versus entrepreneur mindset - how it will change the way you do business.
29:15 - Show recap
30:07 - 2 things Jon learned from his dad that led to his success.
32:43 - Let's connect and contact info!

The Conversation:

Your Hosts:

SONDRA: We have on our show today Jon Schumacher. He’s an entrepreneur who recently left his job in the health care to fully commit to being a full-time entrepreneur. Welcome to the show, Jon! So tell us about yourself, Jon. What was your journey?

JON: My background is in healthcare. It wasn’t entrepreneurship. I’ve been a healthcare provider for eight years and about two years into the career, I kind of burn out and I started looking at other avenues to kind of set myself free. So I’ve always had this desire, especially after a couple years of hardwork. I looked at my bank account, my energy, and I was kind of like, “yikes! If I’m going to keep doing this over and over again, I’m kinda gonna get the same results. So I really wanted freedom. So I went down this whole journey of trying all kinds of different businesses…I’ve actually started and buried three different brands before I got to this one, which is a success. We have a successful brand online called Hangouts That Convert wheree help coaches, consultants, and online entrepreneurs basically have their own interactive, live TV shows, host webinars, in order to build their following and sell more of their products and services. So that’s kind of where we’re at today.

ZEF: Pretty much similar to what we’re doing here, too, at Entrepreneurs That SOAR! So that’s kind of the reason I wanted you on the show with us. Jon, I know you’ve got a great story and I know that you’re in the period of transition. Today we’re talking about Transitioning from an Employee to an Entrepreneur because that is your story. So I want to start with asking you, how did you get involved in the world of Google Hangouts? How did this all lead to Hangouts That Convert?

JON: One of the previous brands I built was called New Wave Healthcare and I was in the healthcare industry and I actually started a live Google Hangout series in that space. I actually hired an “expert” at that time and paid her $300 to teach me how to use Google Hangouts because I just took to the platform and back in 2013, I just knew it was going to be big. So I actually jumped into it there and started interviewing. I did one live interview a week for about 50 weeks, almost a year. I made some mistakes then that I’m not making now. That’s why I’m able to monetize now, but it got me started. I’ve always wanted to step outside of healthcare and help a wider audience kind of share their message so I kind of pivoted right away from it.

SONDRA: I think that’s one of my favorite parts about being an entrepreneur: kind of allowing the business to guide you through. You start with an idea and you’re like “oh this will work!” but then you start to see well maybe people aren’t understanding what I’m saying or latching onto it and as a business owner myself over the last 15 months or so, I’ve kind of allowed it to guide me through well “I’ll try this and see what happens with that…oh that works!”

Meet Zef Here!

SONDRA FIRESTEIN
 www.PursuitOfSeattle.com
Sondra is the founder of
   PursuitofSeattle.com, which offers concierge, lifestyle management, and personal assistance services. I work hard so I can play harder. When I'm not helping others find balance in their lives, you can find me eating delicious food, paddleboarding, or dancing like nobody is watching.

Our Guest:

JON SCHUMACHER
www.HangoutsThatConvert.com
Jon is an entrepreneur who is transitioning from his long career in healthcare to his new online career by co-creating Hangouts That Convert. He is an online marketing coach who is fluent in video marketing, blogging, podcasting, and more. According to his website, "Jon will help you get clear on what is needed to get your company noticed, build a following, and sell more of your products or services."

Sometimes it does take a little bit longer to get people to bite and that’s fine, but you still have to be intuitive and see what’s clicking for people. So you recently made the incredible decision to leave your job. How scary was that?

JON: Yeah, it was scary. I am more conservative with my personal finances, so I wanted to have enough of an income to replace my previous income more or less. I probably held onto my job longer than other people might have. You hear these stories about people who were down to their last month’s rent and they quit their jobs and they started a webinar and sold or did something that saved them. I think that can happen, but for most people that’s not going to happen. I think you should be smart about it. I took my time and it was a lot of work. I’ve been working online for a little over 4 years and I’ve learned a lot about what doesn’t work and what does work…Take your time, get a part time job.

SONDRA: Was there one monumental thing that happened to you that was like, “okay, now is the time to make the switch. I have enough cash, this is what I have to do?" What was that?

JON: I’m a big believer in hiring coaches and mentors. I’ve always done that along this journey. I’m fortunate that my background is in physical therapy. I made a good living. I was not overly “spendy.” So a coach of mine that I hired was kind of like, “Dude, do it” because I was kind of complaining how I just want to be free and all this stuff that you hear. And he was like, “Well let’s talk about this. You have this much saved and you already have a business that’s making money. You have for a little while now…what are you waiting for?” And I made the jump. That was one of the moments that pushed me over.

SONDRA: One thing I’ve noticed about these young entrepreneurs, they dangle this carrot of happiness in front of them. They go, “I’m gonna grind it out for the next few years and then I’m gonna be a millionaire, and then I get to have a good life. And then I get to go do all this fun stuff.” And so, I do think it’s important that if you’re building something, if you’re not focusing on yourself and having that calm time alone, it doesn’t have to be equal hours that you put into work that you do into yourself, but if you’re not careful especially in those early years to really preserve your own energy source, it’s not gonna work out the way you want cause you’re just not going to have the energy.

ZEF: So Jon, I know you’re pretty new in this transition. How long has it been?

JON: Well I mean, last week was my last official workday. So it’s just been this week.

ZEF: So, since last week, what has been different in your life? Just name one thing that has been different in your life.

JON: Honestly, it’s been a blur. It hasn’t really hit me yet because we just did a book launch on that took about twelve hours of focused effort. I think it was yesterday morning when I got up and I was exhausted from that that I didn’t have to go anywhere. I didn’t have any appointments until like 2 I think. A part of me was just like, “okay, let’s get to work.” Because I’m a big believer in scheduling and being consistent. Even if you’re self-employed I think, I still have a schedule that I follow. I looked at that and said, “I’ve been really exhausted and it’s been four long years. I’ve just had this awesome #1 best-selling book launch yesterday. I’m going to take part of this day to recharge myself” I don’t have to rush off to a job when I’m exhausted.

ZEF: Sondra, quickly one question. I know you too transitioned from a job to owning your own business. And I want to know what are some of the things that have been different in the way you live life now or what has changed?

SONDRA: So much. I’m a totally different person. I think the biggest thing was that, and it’s something I wasn’t totally anticipating, was starting a business also catapulted my spiritual journey. I went from pretty intensely atheist to “we’re all wildly connected.” I had to start trusting in the universe because I am a solo-preneur right now and I know that I am capable of conjuring whatever it is that I want in this life, but I needed to find a way to really, really believe that, not just think it, but to really trust that if I put out the right energy, it will come back to me. I look at the world in a totally, totally different way than I used to.

ZEF: It’s so true. You will not know that experience until you take that leap of faith. When I took a leap of faith into developing my own business, what I noticed is that one of the things I experience when it comes to changes is the mindset because when you are an employee and you change over to being an entrepreneur or owning your own business, your mind totally changes because being an employee, you’re often spoon-fed. But when you transfer to being an entrepreneur, you quickly have to learn there’s no manual for your business unless you coach with somebody. Coaches kept on telling me if you’re not ready to continue to be a lifelong student, you will not grow in your business. 

SONDRA: So it’s still the month of Father’s Day and we’ve been asking all of our guests to share something about their dads. Jon, I would love for you to share a trait you learned from your dad that’s helped you become successful.

JON: My dad was a wonderful example. He taught me two things. One is to always be honest with people and the other is to work hard. He was always a hard worker and those are very simple, but they work so well. Online business is different than offline business, but there’s still a lot of the same things. Getting customers, treating them well, being honest with them, being responsive, giving excellent customer service. Those are all things that anybody can do to niche yourself. You can be your niche: your story and your responsiveness.

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Thoughts and Tips:

You need to be an employee until you have built on your strategy and your part time income overcomes your current full time job. You have to come up with some kind of strategy and a backup plan. Then you can decide if today or last week or next Monday would be the day that you tell your boss, “Hey, today’s my last day.”

It takes some time to build, but it doesn’t take forever. I think people hang on to stuff that doesn’t work for too long. Give it six months, give it a year, but if you’re not building an email following, if you’re not getting where you wanna go with your goals, you might want to pivot a little bit. Sometimes it’s just that 15 degree pivot that’s like, “that’s where you’re at.”

That’s the fun part of being in charge in that way. You’re not given a job description. As a leader, as a business owner, you have to be able to recognize quickly what’s gonna work and what’s gonna take work to make it work.

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