Founder's Story - Unlocking Success: The Power of Mentorship, A Founder's Story with Jeff Fenster | S2: E3

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Jeff Fenster is a relationship capital expert, podcast host, best-selling author, and award-winning entrepreneur. He has had great success as an entrepreneur, having founded a digital marketing agency, a construction company, a chain of fast food restaurants, and a payroll and HR company. However, Jeff lives by the idea of putting people first in all he does. Jeff Fenster has profited immensely from his ties with mentors throughout his career, and he urges others to follow suit. Finding a mentor was often considered unmanly, but he contends that modern ways of thinking and doing business have rendered it essential.   Subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss out on exclusive interviews and special content: https://foundersstory.beehiiv.com/subscribe For more info on guests and future episodes visit pix11.com/impact and https://fox5sandiego.com/fox-5-partners/impactful/  Our Sponsors:* Check out PrizePicks and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: www.prizepicks.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to Founders Story, the podcast where trailblazing entrepreneurs share their extraordinary journeys, uncover the passion, grit, and vision that drive the world of business and innovation. This is the Founders Story. I'm Lee O'Brien. In today's business climate, everyone's talking about techniques and tricks, but still the most important part of any business is the human component. And today's guest is a specialist in that. Jeff Fenster is an award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author, and podcast host whose expertise lies in relationship capital. Now he's been duly recognized by Impact 100 Showcase Top 100 Entrepreneurs and the San Diego Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40. And he's the host of the Jeff Fenster Show. But his latest endeavors, he's launched into the food industry by launching Everbowl Craft

Superfoods and the construction industry, We Build the Company. Jeff, welcome. Thank you for having me. It's an honor and privilege to come on today. Hey, we're excited to have you, man. So let's start it off. In your own experience looking back, you were able to build up all of this relationship capital and do a lot of networking. What did you find was the most beneficial way to do that? And what did you focus on to have such a great growth in networking? So I think the mistake we all make, and I used to make it as well, is when we network, we feel like we need to talk about ourselves and almost kind of quickly brag about who we are, what we do and why we're

important. So the person on the other side sees value in us. If you shift that mindset and you immediately shift from trying to be valuable and interesting to being interested in that other human and lead with value, you actually create much deeper, richer relationships, which will support everything you're doing and really provide you the vehicle for that famous cliche of it's not what you know, it's who you know. And so the way I was able to do that was by exactly what I just said, focusing on them, asking good questions, being more interested in who they are, what they do and how I can help versus interesting on meaning what do I do? I would tell them through conversation, but I was more inquisitive asking questions. What do you do? What's important to you?

Why is it important? What are some challenges? Who do I know that can help? What kind of experience do I have that might be able to help? And I immediately look for some issue, challenge, or opportunity with that individual, and then try to solve that problem that they may be dealing with or provide value. So they immediately feel some, not admiration, but connection with me, where they're like, oh, Jeff, help me with this. What a cool human being. And now I have a real relationship foundation to build off of. That's excellent.

And you've, I mean, you've traversed many different industries, you know, as a serial entrepreneur, you know, you're involved in all kinds of different aspects. What do you find crossing so many industries? What are the repeating techniques that seem to work when it comes to relationship capital and when it comes to making those sincere connections with other people? Well, you think about business and so often when I ask people, what do they do? They actually tell me the specific thing they do. So, you know, I own a chain of restaurants. I would say, oh, I'm in the restaurant business. Well, truly, I'm an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship is universal. It's evergreen, whether I'm a plumber, construction, restaurants, marketing,

HRIS platforms, payroll, SaaS based technologies, insurance agent, real estate, whatever you do, if you're the leader and you're running your company, you're an entrepreneur, which means we all struggle with the same basket of problems. We all need more customers. We all need to attract world-class talent. We need to deal with the economics of our business. And so through having great relationship capital, the value of those individuals and those relationships transcend whatever industry I'm in. And so said another way, don't worry about whether or not the person you're talking to has immediate experience in what you do. Get to know them. Because I got my first business was a payroll and HR company. And I started it, you know, with a buddy of mine out of my mom's kitchen many years ago. And the biggest

client I ever got was actually a referral from the checkout clerk at Albertsons. And it was through building a relationship with this woman that over the course of 18 months, we just had a, you know, a nice cordial conversation every time I went to the grocery store once a week. And I didn't value her because I thought she could help my business. I was just making friends with someone. And through that, she introduced me to her brother who had a payroll issue. We were able to solve it. And it was one of our biggest customers we ever got, a six-figure recurring revenue client. And from that moment, I came to the realization, everybody is someone's brother sister aunt uncle mother father friend cousin

so everybody knows somebody who can materially help your business and you create those relationships by not quantifying and saying how does this person help me everybody can help you so make friends with as many people as you can lead with value and help as many people as you can. A, it's great for society and it makes you likable. B, you have a lot of quality relationships, which just makes life more enjoyable. But C, so much opportunity will come from that to where your friends and your peer group will say, man, you're lucky. Like these opportunities fall in your lap, but you've harnessed those opportunities because you've been planting the seeds and building relationships every day. And so as you go through the day-to-day of your life, just realize everybody from the waiter or waitress, the hairstylist, the person at the airport,

the business person that you do know and you do want to connect with, everybody has value to add to your life and to your business. And so I've really focused my effort over the last 15 to 16 years in business, building these relationship network and building this relationship capital and then utilizing it in all of these different industries. Got it. That's some very, very sound advice. Anyone, anyone can be the one or anyone can be part of it. Definitely. That's great. Well, you know, you've started out in, as you mentioned, payroll and moved on to construction. You've been an author. You're a host of your podcast, The Jeff Fenster Show. And now you've moved into superfoods with Everbull Craft Superfoods. What what was it like making that transition from serial entrepreneur into focusing into something such as superfoods? And what was your initial

attraction point like what'd you see that that made you say hey i'm gonna check this out well after i'd sold my digital marketing company and i was kind of trying to figure out what i wanted to do when i grew up my wife and kids i was at home driving them crazy and my wife said go do something you're passionate about and outside of business and outside of my family, I'm really passionate about health and wellness. And I was kind of troubled with what I believe is a crisis in America where we are eating fast food too much. And the average American eats fast food over 3.2 times a week. And you start to look at all of the conditions from heart disease, stroke, obesity, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and all of these conditions that plague us. And the science is showing that about 80% of these are preventable or delayable with lifestyle

change. And so I said, okay, my big mission is going to be how can I help every American make better choices, be a better version of themselves so they can have a healthier, longer life. And I don't know the fitness side as well. Even though I work out personally, I don't know how to teach it. So I figured you can't, I've heard this cliche, you can't outwork a bad diet. So why not help people with that decision they have to make three to four times a day. And so I said, Okay, let me jump into the superfood space, because I eat these things at home. And in 2016, you couldn't get acai bowls anywhere, at least anywhere regularly. So it was just an opportunity. And I, you know, I went out to dinner with my wife, my kids and my parents. I remember saying, you know, hey, I'm going to start a restaurant. And my dad said, are you nuts?

Nine out of 10 restaurants fail. And my wife said, you don't know how to cook. And my mom jokingly said, all you do in the kitchen is eat and make a mess. And you know what? They're true. That's all true. But why do nine out of 10 restaurants fail? Well, they fail because they're started by chefs. And what I mean by that is, is they're thinking about the food, failing to realize that, as I said earlier, all businesses share the same basket of problems and opportunities and issues. And if I'm a good at business and I'm a serial entrepreneur and I'm good at starting from an idea and scaling, I can solve those problems and partner and bring in amazing talent to fill the gaps where maybe I'm not the best. And as a leader and as an entrepreneur, that's how you have to start thinking is what are

the challenges and problems we have and who can I bring into the organization who can make those things from a weakness to a strength and augment my weaknesses as the founder. And I bring what I'm really good at, my relationship capital, my scalability, my business side. And so I was interested because I think it was an untapped opportunity to jump in, bring acai bowls and superfoods to the masses at a time in 2016, when they weren't as prevalent as they are today, disrupt this sector and have some fun in an industry that I wanted to learn and come in. And so I came in with fresh eyes and disruption with that mindset and said, okay, I'm not going to go and seek out all the expertise from restaurateurs. I'm going to take at the time, 2016 thinking and apply it to an industry that may be a couple of years behind simply because everyone's in it so much. And as any industry, when you're in it every

day, you lose sight of the bigger picture sometimes because you're taking and battling those day-to-day challenges. And so that was why I jumped into it. You know, I was excited for the opportunity. And fast forward today, we're, you know, we have, we'll have by the end of the year, about 90 open locations around the country and a couple hundred more coming. And it's been fun challenges. It's been an interesting environment or, you know, through COVID and all the craziness that has occurred, but it's such a great, great industry. It employs so many Americans and it's such a good entry-level opportunity for high school and college kids to get their first job, which is predominantly who we hire. And you get to be involved in communities. You get to really get to know the different

communities around the country and you get to be part of their daily life. And all my other businesses really didn't have that human connection. So it enabled me to do what I love to do, which is make friends and take that to even a higher level. Wow, that's amazing, man. You know, when you're in this superfoods industry, having come in, like you said, with fresh eyes in 2016. So even till today, how are you able to assess and view what is innovation and how to make next steps and move and transcend the business? Well, I mean, now it's been seven years. I'm now guilty of what I was coming in against early on, which is now I'm in it every day. So I have to start to basically go back to where we started and say, how do you come at this with fresh eyes? And we've done that through attracting great,

talented people that come in and say, listen, tell us the holes, critique our business. I have zero ego when it comes to that. I want you to point out all the flaws. I want you to help me find the next white space, that next opportunity. There's a saying I use, which is, would you rather be right or would you rather win? And I'd always rather win. So I hope I'm the dumbest guy on the team and surround myself with incredibly talented rock stars. And I hope that together our team gets us there because truthfully, while I might be the founder and I'm sitting here getting the opportunity to talk to you, the success of Everbull has been on the foundational pillars of the team we have and such an incredible group of people. They've shaped where we are and they're going to continue to shape where we're going. And so we are all

looking with as best we can for what are those next opportunities? How do we continue to pivot, innovate and disrupt? How do we stay ahead of the curve, but yet still stay true to who we are as a brand, which is, you know, trying to provide craft superfood and bring healthy, affordable, nutritious and delicious products to communities all across America. Wow, that's amazing, man. You know, Jeff, if you were, if you had the chance to go back to that, to your mother's kitchen, uh, and you saw the original Jeff origin story, Jeff, and you were talking to him, what would you say as, what would your one piece of advice to him be? Um, lose the ego faster. Uh, 24, you know, when I started my first company, I'm 40 now, but

when I started out of law school and started my first company at 24, you know, when I started my first company, I'm 40 now, but when I started out of law school and started my first company at 24, I had this ego, not because I thought I was everything. It was more an insecurity that I was afraid that I was almost an imposter because I started a payroll and HR company. I was working in an industry that was predominantly that my peers were all older than me and they were all experienced. And here I was this fresh out of law school kid with a young family. And I was, I felt like they would see me as a fraud because I didn't have the experience and who am I to be the leader of the company. So I would take their ideas or whatever we were working on. And I would try to put a little Jeffism into it so I could take some credit for it. And I wanted the credit, A, because yes, it feels good, but B, because I

wanted to justify why I was the CEO. And I kept the credit, A, because yes, it feels good, but B, because I wanted to justify why I was the CEO. And I kept running talent away and losing people and not attracting great people. And I kept blaming them because I was young and dumb and 24, 25. And finally, I was brushing my teeth one day and I had that mirror moment when I was in my head blaming another person for leaving the company or not thinking about what we're working on and buying into the vision. And I realized I was the common denominator. And the second I made that pivot and I switched from trying to say, I need to be the leader. I need to have every idea. It has to be my credit. And I said, you know what? Today's the day I'm going to switch. I'm going

to start enabling my team to be great. I'll take credit for the mistakes. They get credit for the wins. I'm going to bring in smart, talented human beings and give them a platform to be great see their ideas flourish and i will support them with whatever they want or need and if i'm the director of high fives and hugs then that's what i'm going to be and when i made that pivot all my businesses since then have been extremely successful as a result of that talent now i've had that not all my businesses have been successful but the ones that were have become the level of success they were because I had the group think of my team to take us there. And I didn't rely on just my ideas and my perspective and my limited thinking and my own insecurities. And so when I remove that barrier, our ceiling went so much higher.

And I'm standing here today as a result, like I said, of the incredible team of people I get to take on the world with every day. And so that was what I would tell my younger self because I think I wasted years and money having to learn that the hard way. Well, Jeff, I think people are going to want a lot more great advice. They're also going to want a lot more superfoods. So how can people find you? Well, obviously, social media is the easiest way to connect personally. You did mention I'm the host of the Jeff Fenster show with entrepreneur.com. So it's syndicated by them. And so I recommend taking a listen. What we do on the show is we talk to extremely successful people and reverse engineer success. I believe success is a formula. And what that means is everybody can achieve success in whatever they're doing if they can figure out that formula.

And so through the show, we bring on great people and provide insight into what are those formulaic things that you can immediately implement. So you don't just get it from me, but you get it from a basket of successful people that have built incredible companies and have done incredible things. So social media through the Jeff Fenster show, and obviously, you know, you can go to Everbull. You're always welcome to give me some feedback on what you think. That's our most customer centric. And if you're ever looking to build and scale any businesses, retail or restaurants, our WeBuild brand, you know, we scale and grow high growth companies. And so we'd love to work with more people, make friends, take me up on it. I truly want to connect and I look forward to meeting all of you one day. Right on. Well, Jeff, thank you for taking the time to share your

wisdom with us today. Well, thank you for having me. Big fan of you in this segment. So like I said, it's an honor to get to be on today. Appreciate it. Thank you for tuning in to Founders Story. Keep exploring, keep dreaming, and join us next time for more inspiring entrepreneurial journeys.