Heroes in Business - Lorenzo Hickey CEO of Shapeshift World, Serial Entrepreneur

Episode Date: March 26, 2021

The tools you need to... Lorenzo Hickey CEO of Shapeshift World is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and host of the Eliances Heroes Show. Broadcast on am and fm network channels, internet radio and online syndication.    

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. Can you believe what an amazing, incredible morning it's been? I got to tell you, I'm so excited always on this day, jumping out of bed because we have incredible people. And I can't wait to introduce you to our next guest today too. And by the way, I just had on the president of Alibaba. So again, make sure that you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com.

Why? Because it's the only place where entrepreneurs align. All right. You know, there's times more than not that your business needs a little shape shifting to get to where you are, to where you want to be. And wouldn't you know it that today we have with us Lorenzo Hickey, the CEO of ShapeShift World.

So where can you find him? At shapeshiftworld.com and of course we'll head on our website, alliances.com. Lorenzo, let's jump right in here. What is this about ShapeShift? Well, David, for a long time, I was doing things that didn't seem to be aligned with my personality and what I needed to do. And always short running into some challenges. So what I realized, I stopped and said, all right, what am I doing wrong? And I realized that the number one thing I was doing wrong

was I wasn't doing what I believe is my sole purpose, my life purpose. And that alignment made me surrender to, all right, to my higher power. What am I doing differently? What am I doing wrong? So what I realized is I had to shift the way I thought to shape my world.

So that spawned ShapeShift World. Change your mindset. Be different because you're doing it on purpose. So talk to us about what people will see when they visit your website, shapeshiftworld.com. Yeah, thank you, David. So first of all, thank you for having me here. The greatest thing about ShapeShift World is we are a company that helps you grow and accelerate your business in whatever way you need to go or grow. So for example, we

provide websites, we provide lead magnet opportunities, we do all kinds of things. In fact, the simplest way to say it is we tell our clients, you do what you do best, and we'll do the rest, kind of like a business general contractor. So when you start a business and you have a series of solopreneur opportunities, you're really looking at who you are and how you show up. But the reality is as soon as you have a product or a service or an opportunity, you need more resources. And so we want to be that resource pool, that relationship for you. We simply want to augment your resources and give you more opportunity to be seen. Lorenzo, give us some examples of clients, current or past clients that have utilized your services, in particular what services you've provided to them.

Yeah, so certainly love to do that. So what's really happening a lot, David, right now is we're working with clients and we build them in a website then we build them a digital business card and then we build them a mobile application so the best of all worlds today is I call it 360 degree views of you 360 degrees view of you or your business and so all three things are important because remembering today people want to see you and consume you wherever they are not wherever you are So that's web-based. That's mobile-based. That's digital-based.

And there's also offline and disconnected. So when we've taken a client, we usually double or triple their opportunity and their revenue and their client base because they stay focused on what they're good at. And then we do the rest. And so it really becomes a great partnership. And the most important message I'll leave you with today is I've helped start 18 companies. Why is that important? I know what not to do. I know what no, we don't want to do again.

But that gives you strategy and techniques that help a client grow their business without paying for large consulting opportunities. And that's my heart showing up for a company, helping them grow their business. company, helping them grow their business. And we have listeners and viewers that are across the board from those that are living in their car, starting their business to those all the way on up to the top pole and stuff. What maybe is the sweet spot of when and who should be contacting you? Yeah. So one of the greatest parts about what we've done and built over the last four years under ShapeShift is we have people that can help you if you're in your car trying to figure it out. You're trying to get clarity. So I won't do that work anymore because that doesn't serve us. Our prices are a little bit higher on the higher end because we do a lot of

things. But that doesn't mean you as a solopreneur, especially in the last year pivoting, that you don't need and somebody can help you get clarity. So I can refer anybody in any situation. I call it business maturation. But our sweet spot definitely is somebody, a company that has a product or service. Maybe they have a radio show, maybe they have a book and they want to extend or expand their business. And that's our perfect client because they need resources on a broad scale in one place. And then we basically are non-disruptive. We help you and then we get out. The goal is to grow your business

and give you transformation. Fantastic. And that's what we try to do here by sharing the incredible knowledge of our heroes to grow your business. Like having Lorenzo Hickey here today, CEO of ShapeShift World. And you can reach him at shapeshiftworld.com

or you may have the lifetime opportunity to see him in person or virtual at one of the many Alliances experiences because Lorenzo is part of the Alliances entrepreneur community. In fact, Lorenzo, share some feedback with you of what it's been like to be part of the Alliances community.

Some of the people that you've met, and in fact, too, some that you're also working with, as a matter of fact. Yeah, absolutely. So first of all, David, thank you for starting that. Thanks for having the vision and the fortitude to say, get this done. Because two things I really love about alliances. One, it's a group of people that want to give first and work together. So it's collaboration. So I love that about it. And then we've had many people that where we've built out more companies, more opportunities and created both everything from charity and charity opportunities to real life business opportunities in scale. So it's just been a great community. Great people, quality individuals.

I couldn't be happier with the group. Having started 18 companies and learned so much of what various things, I mean, 18, one is starting one is plenty. 18, I couldn't even imagine that. What kind of secrets, though, would you share of what it is to start like so many companies? And is there something that is common with them all? Yeah, absolutely, David. So the number one thing that

I look at both a business entrepreneur, a solopreneur, is have your idea and then really work through a proof of concept and be open to the communication that you're going to receive. So one of the greatest lines I've ever heard is money is feedback, right? So if you're not selling your product or service and you're not making money, there's that's feedback. And so really just being open to how you can create a proof of concept and you start with friends and family, then you kind of branch out to the next layer. So just peel this layer of an opportunity as you go and you build your business on a product or service. Get some feedback, get some get some early advisors, get some people that can give you honest and true feedback. And as a result of that, you change and morph your business to to align with the feedback and basically the the kinds of market studies that you're getting by just doing it. Right. But the proof of concept is the key. Stick to it. Focus on it. Try it. Get that information and then try again. Lorenzo, what are some of the secrets or advice that you would share to high

school students now? You know, they talk about now more than ever is, is that younger and younger are getting involved with businesses and, you know, everything being online and that they're starting younger and younger. What kind of secrets though, would you share with them about, you know, how to stay with it or how to stay on the path of, of working through it? Because, you know, everybody runs into roadblocks and it's like, how do working through it? Because, you know, everybody runs into road blocks and it's like, how do you overcome it? And you've worked with enough clients to know that. Yeah, actually, great question, David. One of the things that I love doing is working with younger individuals, both at the high school level and just at the post-college level

as interns, because they're very tech savvy, which is, of course, we're kind of a tech business. But really, the core advice is believe in yourself, believe in the opportunities that are in front of you, and ask questions. So to me, one of the things I love about you, David, is you'll ask a question, you'll pose a question, but you'll actually take the time to listen to the feedback. And when you listen to the feedback, there's magic in that. And so that's what allows you to adjust. So it's not a brick wall anymore. It's there's information coming to you.

You just have to tap in that. All right, so Lorenzo, I wanna do some snooping now. So we're in your office right now. And there's a variety of things I see. Books, I see some pictures in that, a face there in that. For our viewers now, What's something maybe unique within your office or something that's your favorite that you could share with us?

Well, a couple of things. One is that it's a little hard to see, but the most important thing for me is my family. I've got three daughters. We had a very early challenge with my oldest daughter. She was diagnosed with cancer when she was only 18 months old. So one of the things you'll see is images and pictures of her because every day is a good day. Every day that she's alive is a good day. But one of the greatest parts of that story, David, she's an oncology nurse at the same hospital she was as a patient. So for me every day, I'm blessed. And so what you see these pictures and things behind me is I built this company to make money to give it back. So I have reminders every day of my family, that things are important to me.

And that's what gets me up every day to make a difference in other people's lives so they can improve their lives and their family's lives. So, Lorenzo, what's the secret to raising such incredible children like that? I mean, how surreal was that when she became a nurse at the same? I mean, like, were you just not bawling? I would have been crying. Absolutely, David. I still tear up when I think about it. Those are journeys. That's a three-year journey, a 30-year journey, 33-year journey now. I think that for me, it was understanding, this is probably the greatest message I will leave for your teenagers and others, is that life throws things at you, these curveballs, for a reason. And if you look for

the silver lining, and we use words like fall forward or falling forward or make a difference, but having a positive attitude and figure out what can I learn from this situation. And honestly, that journey that last 33 years ago for me was I had to learn how to be a better person. I built my first million-dollar business from the hospital. And you got to just pivot, right? The pivot was back, but this pivot's not new. You take these challenges and you adjust and you make a difference with a positive. How can I learn from this and be different tomorrow?

Well, Lorenzo, you serve your clients and you help them shape shift to new paths to help them succeed. That's a hero. Lorenzo Hickey, CEO of ShapeShift World. And you can reach him at ShapeShiftWorld.com. This has been David Kogan with the Alliances Hero Show. Go to Alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. Pleasure, David. So great to see you.