Author: Dan Giordano

In this noisy digital world, you can’t break through the noise, you just add to it. Instead,

you need to get in on the conversation where your ideal customers are already listening.

As a Navy veteran who ran nuclear power plants, and an inbound marketing engineer, Tom Schwab has a refreshingly unique approach. He focuses on time-proven strategy, then supercharges it with today’s technology and podcast interview marketing. An author, speaker, and teacher, Tom helps you get more traffic, leads and raving customer fans by being interviewed on targeted podcasts.

His company, Interview Valet, has been called the category king of podcast guesting. Over the last 6 years, they have gotten over 700 top authors, coaches/consultants, and

companies featured on over 30,000 leading podcasts to grow their brand and their

business. Tom believes we are all “Just One Conversation Away”. Utilizing the power of relationships in a digital age can take your business to the next level but it is also sage advice for life. To him, that’s what legacies are made of how we helped others and made connections to make life better.

Tom sits down with Daniel to talk about his humble beginnings and how is drive for growth propelled him into an entrepreneurial space. His insight is refreshingly positive, giving listeners a new perspective for wherever they find themselves in their journey.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Steve Coombes, a speaker, writer and mentor known as the ‘Solopreneur’ Success Coach.

Growing up, Steve’s parents taught him the value of hard work. It was this entrepreneurial mindset that left him dissatisfied with his corporate job and itching for something more. After a number of businesses failed, he received the opportunity to become a copywriter. It was unexpected, but enjoyable, and Steve began to write on the side as he continued his regular job.

Nothing changed. Steve explains that he was ‘reading the promotional emails and dreaming big, but not taking the action to make it happen.’ He still hadn’t gone all-in. When he was presented with a chance to write full-time, Steve knew that he couldn’t pass it up. The timing would prove to be important.

Eighteen months later, Steve was laid off from his IT position. It was no longer a ‘maybe this could work.’ It had to work. Gradually, it did and Steve built a six-figure business. Then, his mother-in-law went to the hospital and a week-long trip turned into six months.

For Steve, that highlighted exactly why he wanted to become an entrepreneur. The flexibility that his job provided gave him the opportunity to be with his family during a difficult time. Steve decided that he wanted to help as many people as possible find this freedom.

As a business owner, it is easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. It took a heartbreaking comment from Steve’s son for him to realize exactly what this meant. By planning in ‘sprint periods,’ compressing time and prioritizing rest, an entrepreneur can break the cycle of guilt that they sometimes feel.

Steve credits his success to three main things – his reason ‘why,’ a strong vehicle and putting in the work. He encourages others to find what fulfills them and make a difference in the world.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Geoff Nicholson, a performance and mindset coach who overcame a significant health struggle to become a successful entrepreneur.

At age 16, Geoff left school to join the workforce. After bouncing around, he found himself at his future father-in-law’s printing company. It was there he began to see success, as well as an increasing confidence in himself. But things came crashing down.

An untimely illness left him wheelchair-bound and sleeping 20 hours a day. As a young father, he couldn’t imagine becoming a burden to his wife and son. Geoff left the house with the intention to commit suicide. Then, something changed.

It all began with a question – how could he get his life back to the way it was? Geoff realized that he didn’t want that. He wanted it to be better. That’s why he committed to improving himself and helping others. To change, Geoff began to define his life with four unique qualities- fun, freedom, flexibility and service. Like Bob Parr in The Incredibles, he made the decision to reject mediocrity. Support others in a proactive way. Reject limitations and plan for the success he wanted to see.

Geoff refers to the four main parts of this plan as the ‘HITS.’ The first, health, is essential to any type of life. If your body and mind are not right, it is almost impossible to accomplish what you set out to do. The second, income, is a reality of business. Factors such as debt and savings must always be considered. The third, tribe, is also important. These are the people who are not just associates, but cheerleaders. They are constant companions and supporters of what you do.  

Finally, self, is crucial to the way you interact with your business and those around you. While self-development is a lifelong pursuit, Geoff believes that this, perhaps more than anything, matters.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Dr. Kimberley Linert, a behavioral optometrist and host of the Incredible Life Creator Podcast. As a child, Dr. Linert had an aunt who was a doctor. This provided an inspiration for a career in optometry – the best fit for someone who wasn’t a fan of blood.

During her pediatric therapy rotation, Dr. Linert worked with a 9-year old boy who was doing poorly in school. After implementing a series of vision-brain exercises, she discovered that the problem stemmed from the child’s inability to read and the pushback he received from his classmates. As he progressed, the child began to smile and enjoy their sessions together. It helped Dr. Linert see the power of therapy, as well as the importance of what she did. 

Then an untimely divorce and a family emergency led Dr. Linert to reevaluate her career. She realized that she was working too much and needed to adjust her priorities. In response, Dr. Linert rearranged her schedule and left more time for rest and family. That enabled her to better serve herself and her clients.

Dr. Linert’s purpose never changed, but the practical application of her passion did. For many, life does not have a simple trajectory. There will always be challenges. It’s what you do with those obstacles that show who you are. 

As someone who has dedicated her life to ‘vision,’ Dr. Linert encourages everyone to ‘see’ their problems from a different perspective. What are the choices? Which direction is the most beneficial to pursue? Feelings will always change, but it’s important to say focused on what matters. Dr. Linert describes this process as being a ‘fish out of water.’

Unfortunately, stress can derail the most well-intentioned pursuit. By staying in tune with your peripheral and central vision, you can return to a relaxed state and become who you were meant to be.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Daniel speaks with Melanie Galioto, a digital marketing consultant and creator of the ‘Slacker Success Formula.’ After a brief career in sales, Melanie quickly realized that she wanted something more. As she began to experiment with automation, she discovered that she loved the entire process. Unexpectedly, a new career was born.

One of the ways that Melanie helps a business is to get the owner to step back and focus on their expertise. Business owners don’t have the time to fix broken links and deal with an ever-changing platform.  In a vigorous cycle of planting seeds, prospecting and pushing forward, digital marketing makes sure a sales pipeline never runs dry.

Lead generation is key. When the pandemic hit, the business model for many industries changed overnight. Some companies got better. Others grew paralyzed and failed. A competent e-commerce platform is essential to survival. Model what works. Follow the social proof and work hard. Everyone is in this together, and a strategic partnership is a win for everyone involved.

The biggest challenge is finding the right people. An employee’s goals must be similar to that of the employer’s. The goal should also be clear. Once it’s set, all of the focus needs to be in that direction. 

Melanie warns against ‘shiny object syndrome.’ When solving a problem, it’s easy to see another problem and then lose track of your original purpose. Hire an expert, if necessary, and get as much information as you can about the field you are entering. It’s not always enough to just work hard. Work smarter and embrace the ‘slacker’ lifestyle.

In this episode of The All-In Podcast, Sharyn Fitzpatrick shares both insights she’s gained, and challenges she’s faced, throughout her career in marketing communications and virtual event technology. Desiring to spend more time at home with her family, and focus more on projects that she really believed in, Sharyn started her own business in 2000 doing independent marketing communications, and building programs for leads generation, for a variety of clients. She now has a large focus on webinar development and how to transform clients’ virtual events/webinar programs into memorable events. 

One of the biggest lessons that Sharyn has learned through running her own business is that it can often be easier to focus on helping your clients and doing things that will benefit them, rather than remembering to turn that focus around onto your own ventures and doing things that will benefit you personally as well. She stresses the importance of marketing and promoting yourself, and taking the steps required to grow yourself into success, in addition to doing those things for your company or your clients at work.

Daniel and Sharyn also discuss some of the challenges that many people are facing in today’s pandemic world, and how the technical advancements of the last 10 years have made it possible to still stay connected and keep a business running successfully even through these dark times. They both agree on the importance of staying connected with other people, either on an individual level with family/friends, or by being involved in groups or organizations of like-minded people, in order to stay motivated and energized.

In this episode of the All In podcast, Joan Michelson shares wisdom that she’s gained throughout her long and varied career, which has gone back and forth between corporate communications and journalism for the most part, but has been focused in the “green” economy (energy, sustainability, climate, corporate responsibility) for the last 15 years. Joan currently works mostly on career coaching about transitions; both transitions within a career, as well as helping clients with transitioning out of the workforce and into starting their own business. She also does book coaching, helping clients get started with writing books about their areas of expertise.

In her current career coaching endeavours, Joan focuses mainly on mid-career women, particularly in STEM fields (and especially women who are also in the energy/climate/sustainability sector.) Joan is striving to make an impact in the business world by making more space for women to be successful – for example, at her position at Chrysler in the past, she actively worked to get female dealers featured and frequently ran campaigns about female drivers, as women car-buyers were often being ignored.

Joan shares her idea of a “career GPS” and how one can use this idea when planning out ideal career moves by looking broadly at where you want to go, but honoring the tangents that arise. Joan and Daniel discuss the dangers of making career moves based on assumptions; she advises listeners to assess the reasons behind the assumptions they are making and try to figure out why they are doing the things they believe they need to be doing, and not to let themselves get blinded to other possibilities.

In this episode of All-In, Daniel’s guest shares the many ways in which golf (or any serious athletic pursuit) can provide a great metaphor for aspiring entrepreneurs. A former pro, Colin Morgan has traded his career in sports to become a popular podcaster, but it wasn’t a move that came without challenges. For one thing, prior to stepping away from golf, his life had been on a narrowly successful trajectory. Floundering was something entirely new for him. Colin has not found his way as a young businessman without failing and failing again. Fortunately, with the help of some perspective from his dad, Colin understood that it was all time well invested – because a significant investment of time is the defining key to long-term success. Today the Canadian host of the “Daily Grind” podcast has a clearly articulated lifestyle vision that aligns equally with his entrepreneurial vision. Listen as Daniel elicits great advice and very specific steps for developing a foothold of the kind Colin has established, using his podcast with more than 3 million downloads as a vehicle to generate revenue and make a positive impact.