Leap Academy with Ilana Golan - LeapCon 2025: Ilana Golan on Taking Bold Risks That Lead to Unstoppable Career Growth
Episode Date: April 1, 2025After her first startup collapsed, Ilana Golan lost her job, salary, and investment. Feeling like a failure, she spiraled into doubt and uncertainty. But instead of giving up, she made a promise not t...o be the person who does nothing. That decision led her to reinvent herself and found Leap Academy, a community helping others make bold career shifts. In this 2025 LeapCon, Ilana shares her emotional journey from feeling stuck in her career to becoming an impactful leader. She provides actionable insights for navigating hidden markets, building a personal brand, and growing continuously in your career. Ilana Golan is an entrepreneur, board director, and investor in over 100 companies. As the founder of Leap Academy, she helps professionals navigate career transitions, leadership, and personal branding. In this episode, Ilana will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:27) The Power of Dreaming Big (05:06) Breaking Free From Career Stagnation (09:21) Turning Tragedy into Fuel (11:49) The Collapse of Her First Startup (16:06) How to Reinvent Yourself Again and Again (18:12) The Cycle of Ego, Fear, and Growth (21:35) Handling Critics and Naysayers (22:49) Building True Confidence in Business (25:34) How to Open Doors in Hidden Markets (26:36) The Three Levels of Personal Branding (30:11) Learning From Others to Accelerate Growth (31:41) Inspiring Success Stories From Leap Academy Ilana Golan is an entrepreneur, board director, and investor in over 100 companies. As the founder of Leap Academy, she helps professionals navigate career transitions, leadership, and personal branding. She has been recognized as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, a Top 40 Woman to Watch, and a CEO World Award winner. Ilana is also a sought-after keynote speaker and has been featured on Yahoo Finance, Fox, NBC, and more. Connect with Ilana: Ilana’s Website: ilanagolan.com Ilana’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ilanagolan Resources Mentioned: Leap Academy Website: leapacademy.com Leap Academy: Ready to make the LEAP in your career? There is a NEW way for professionals to Advance Their Careers & Make 5-6 figures of EXTRA INCOME in Record Time. Check out our free training today at leapacademy.com/training
Transcript
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Well, I am so excited about the show today, and I'm sure you're going to have
an amazing time listening.
But I have a favor to ask.
See, I'm on a mission to help millions leap their careers, elevate their careers,
land their dream rules, fast-track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship,
create portfolio careers.
And this podcast is about giving you the map of how some of the biggest leaders of our time
reach success.
So subscribe, download to never miss it.
Plus it really, really helps us continue
to bring amazing guests your way.
So let's dive in.
I'm alive, everything is cool.
I have two kids, things are cool.
But something was wrong.
I could not dream and it drove me nuts.
So I moved from engineering to technical sales to product,
but what I realized is every time I get good at something,
I get stuck.
So when a friend of mine, somebody I knew
for probably two decades, wanted to start a company together,
I was like, oh my God, yes, that's it.
We raised capital.
It was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.
And little did I know that it's going to blow up in my face.
Within 24 hours, I lost my job, I lost my salary, I lost my startup, I lost the investment.
You see me doing and reinventing myself again and again and again.
So there's actually like steps.
So the very first thing is... LeapCon 2025 was absolutely transformative. We brought together over 300 incredible individuals
from around the world for a weekend of growth, inspiration, and powerful connections. Some rooms change you, some moments redefine you,
and this was one of them.
From incredible speakers sharing game-changing insights
to the magical moment when we all stood together,
holding hands, with massive energy in the room,
it was truly unforgettable.
This is where careers take off,
where innovation meets action,
and where you step into your next big leap.
All right, everybody. It is happening.
Are you ready? Are you really, really ready?
How ready are you?
Get up and let's give the biggest, warmest,
most fantastic welcome to the phenomenal Ilana Golan.
Come on down.
Let's give her some love.
A little more.
I love you guys so freaking much.
You're amazing.
I love you.
You're amazing.
Oh my God. Thank you guys so freaking much. You're amazing.
You're amazing.
Oh my god.
I admit this is freaking unbelievable.
And I don't get emotional very easily.
I can't believe you all are here.
And that this is how it started.
What I want you to do for a second now
is I want you to get up for a second.
All of you get up.
I want you to put your hands on your heart.
I want you to close your eyes.
I want you to put aside everything that it took
to get here, the hustle and the flights and the security
and the packing and the logistics with the family and all of this. I want you to put all of it to the side and I want you to close your
Eyes and think why are you here? What is the goal?
What do you want? What do you want for yourself?
What are you creating?
What is the dream and there's no judgment?
Do you want to be on stages? Do you want to be on stages?
Do you want to be in magazines?
Do you want the seat at the table?
And to feel like you make a difference?
Do you want the job of your life?
And to feel incredible?
Or to have that first class or private jet or whatever it is?
So let's go get it this weekend.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we're gonna say yes to that dream.
And I wanna tell you a little bit deeper in the story
of why this was so impactful for me
and why I'm so emotional this weekend.
Mark Twain says, the most important day of your life
is the day you were born and the day you discovered the why.
And if I would have seen this quote probably a decade ago,
I don't think it would resonate
because I didn't really understand,
what do you mean the why?
I'm alive, everything is cool, I have two kids,
things are cool.
But something was wrong. I could not dream. A decade ago, I lost the ability to dream.
And I'm laughing because even my dog has a dream, either the bones or chasing the cat.
But he has a dream. And I didn't because I was in survival. I
Was trying to figure out where on earth the next fake check. Why am I losing relevance at the speed that I can't understand?
Why do I feel like such a freaking failure and it drove me nuts and
The reason this was so important and I want to kind of share a little bit of the journey of leap
Steve Jobs said you can't connect the dots forward, but you can connect them back.
And I wanna kind of reflect a little bit of that journey.
And I wanna also remind you, success leaves clues.
Go look for yours.
They're there.
So when I was a kid, I was a pretty shy kid.
I stepped into my confidence towards age 16, 17, a little more.
And then I think the Air Force, what changed my life, I became an F-16 flight instructor
and the first woman to ever become a commander in my squad.
So that created like a pretty big boost of confidence.
In a classic hidden market way, and usually I think maybe next event I should tell you
some stories about some fuckups in the Air Force.
I think that's going to lighten your day because it sounds all glamorous and it was mostly
scraping my knees.
But fast forward in a classic hidden market way, I was the youngest student they ever
hired in Intel.
The only reason they probably hired me is that their competition will not hire me.
But that's okay because I got my claim for fame there.
But after four years of writing code, I realized this is not my zone of genius.
Am I trapped?
Is this the only thing I know how to do?
And it was 1999.
Don't do so much math, and it was 1999 and if you had any kind of resume
with anything around computers you would get a job. But here I was looking for a
job and looking for my first client facing role and nobody wanted me. It was
devastating. It was like did I lose my relevance? Am I done? Do I have to code all my life?
And it's amazing how fast you get trapped.
Think about it for yourself as well, right?
And at that point, eventually I realized what I've done wrong.
My story, and by the way, some of you are already in Foundation
or Millionaire's Club or President's Club,
so you understand how these dots connect.
Guests, you'll see it in a second.
But at some point I realized, wait, my story,
I'm talking about all these cool algorithms
that I'm running, but if I want a client facing role,
I need to emphasize different points in my story.
So this is when I started to emphasize different points.
I found a job pretty quick, negotiated the worst salary
in the history of Silicon Valley.
Good job, Ilana.
But again, I got a chance at field engineering.
It was the first client facing role.
It was like getting in the arena.
A lot of issues, a lot of the company wanted one thing.
The clients wanted one thing.
You know, you're like, but when you get good, what guess what happens you get stuck again. Right. So there's
like this stuckness. So I moved from engineering to technical sales to product. But what I
realized is every time I get good at something, I get stuck. And the reason why I get stuck
is because I get to be known as the problem solver,
but not according to what I want to be known. How many does that resonate like ways? Like how many of you are getting stuck because you become the person that you don't want to become, right? And
again, you raise your hand to opportunities, but they're not the opportunities you want.
So that's what, you know, and I was just like, okay, so what is happening?
Fast forward, I can tell you, and it took me a few decades to find this out, no pressure.
But what I realized is that this like whole stuckness area right there at the corner,
and it's a circle that every high achiever will go through.
So we work really, really hard, and then we get stuck, and then we work really, really
hard to prove ourselves, and we get stuck again. And what work really, really hard to prove ourselves and we get stuck again.
And what I realized, there's like other people
up the mountain, right?
They're like, they become these impactful leaders,
they come in the room, they command the room,
they have the executive presence,
they become this like indispensable leader,
they have the seat at the table,
they're called to all the coolest meetings
and they have the authority, they have the reputation
and like, why them? And when they do have all of
that, guess what, what's happening to them is that
they're in this kind of a hidden market. And they're getting all
these opportunities, because all of them are in some kind of hidden
market opportunities. I'm not getting them. They co found
companies, they invest in companies, they become
executives, they get on board, they get advisory.
I'm like, what am I missing?
Because I can outwork them.
Why am I not getting the chance?
So that drove me nuts.
Now I wanna take you back also, there was a pivotal moment
and this is a pretty emotional story.
I've never shared it this way.
Is that interesting for you guys?
Do you wanna hear with a pivotal moment? Okay. So meet Lil Yelana, was my mom. When I became a mom, 2007, the first
kid, 2009, the second kid, my mom gave basically all her career and gave up on it for me. And the
first kid, it kind of looked normal, right? Like, I'll
settle on my career. I'll put it to the side because all I'm
trying to do is be a mom. Did it again for the second kid. And
at some point when she was about five months old, it started
nagging me, this can't be it. I love them to the moon and back,
but this can't be all my life.
My mom wasn't feeling well and we flew to Israel.
I had one more week for my maternity leave.
So I figured I'll just hop to Israel and see what's going on.
About three days later, she collapses.
In the hospital, we start realizing that she has a tumor,
and it's actually not just a tumor,
it's a cancer that went from her lungs
all the way to her brain, it's all over the body.
And we're essentially counting the minutes.
And for me, I still remember holding her hand,
and it's basically just me and her, I'm an only child.
And I remember holding her hand,
and I was trying to figure out like,
does she have regrets?
But I didn't have the, you know, I couldn't really ask this and I didn't feel like I could.
And I kind of like regret a little bit not asking some more questions.
But at that point, like I was holding her hand and it felt not enough.
Like I knew she was really appreciating that I love her.
But is this really all there is to her life? And the funeral was really appreciating that I love her, but is this really all there is
to her life?
And the funeral was really small.
I mean, it was just like a few family members and some of my friends that showed up.
But at that point, I made a promise that this can't be all there is to my life.
And losing my mom became the biggest thing, the fuel that I needed to kick myself in the butt and just do more.
And there's this beautiful quote,
I don't even know who this is,
but scariest day of your life is the day you die
when the person you are meets the person
you could have become.
And that to me was, this is not gonna happen to me.
I'm gonna be the best version that I can be.
Okay, so my daughter is five months old,
and I'm zooming up because that was the fuel.
So I founded Israeli companies in the US.
It was an incredible opportunity from buying the printer
and the router to five sites, $15 million in yearly revenue.
We were just taking off. So I was in this uphill trajectory.
But five years after that, I look at myself,
I fly every single week or every two weeks.
My amazing husband, who is right here,
is the most supportive husband on the planet
because he literally had the kids all on his own
for the first five years. I was not around. And at some point I'm catching myself the most supportive husband on the planet because he literally had the kids all on his own
for the first five years.
I was not around.
And at some point I'm catching myself and I'm like,
is this really what I was meant to do?
Like not being present at all.
And Sean here, by the way, he was part of this.
Hey, Seanie boy.
So, and I was like, is this really,
is this what I was meant to do?
Like to just fly all the time and not be with the family?
Did I, you know, the pendulum flew a little too much.
So how do I even it out?
So when a friend of mine, somebody I knew for probably two decades, wanted to start a company together,
I was like, oh my God, yes, that's it.
This is what I was meant to do.
But I worked every second on this startup that we had.
I was so excited.
We raised capital.
It was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.
And I thought, oh my god, how did I get this lucky?
So when I left that VP role, it was like a big party.
I wanted to tell everybody about the money that we raised.
It was really cool.
And little did I know that it's going to blow up in my face.
It was like amazing.
It was like within 24 hours, I lost my job.
I lost my salary.
I lost my startup.
I lost the investment.
And again, I can't tell you, like the ego comes crushing down
in a way that it's like, what the fuck?
And I think for me, it all came about like,
was my promise that I'm not gonna be that person
that does nothing.
And here I am, what I didn't realize is that my identity
was attached to my title.
It was attached to the company that I was with.
I never built my
own identity. It never occurred to me. So suddenly when I didn't have those, I felt
like a complete nobody. And that was a hard realization. And to make it even
worse, I didn't know where I was going. But I'm not the type of person that is
all confused. Like, come on, I get my things together. Like why do I know
where I'm going? Not knowing what I want to do was one of the hardest times in my life. Does anybody
resonate with that, with not knowing what you want to do? Okay. Thank you for being honest. I started
spiraling down. I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't wake up in the morning.
I was snappy at everybody around me.
I had my health deteriorated.
I was like, why can't I figure this out?
I think I'm a smart human being.
Why can't I figure this out?
I Googled everything.
I found either very motivational, who you can do it,
or people that live and inspire me.
I'm like, this can't be it.
So at that point, I did
make a promise that if I ever figure this out, I have to tell the world how.
And I think this is part of why this weekend is so emotionally, because just
seeing all of you in the room is just incredible. So first of all, thank you for
being here.
Eventually, I did leap again and again.
I talked a little bit about it.
You saw it in the video.
I started a company.
I sold the company.
I stood on boards.
I've been on stages.
I've been an advisor.
And again, I realized that I was leaping again and again.
I was just getting a little better at it so I can leap faster and higher.
And at that point, my geeky engineering brain
was just like, oh my God, there's actually a way.
There's actually steps that I'm doing again and again.
By the way, a lot of you that have been following me,
I'm doing it again and again in my podcast.
I'm doing it again and again to grow really big.
You see me doing and reinventing myself
again and again and again.
So there's actually like steps.
And for me, I was like, why is nobody teaching this?
And that's part of why I'm so excited about this weekend
because this is what I want to do,
or at least give you at least some of the map.
And again, it doesn't matter what you want.
So when you put that hand on your heart,
whether you want massive impact or legacy or thought leadership
or the stages or the awards or the medias, like it really doesn't matter.
All we need to do is start getting relentless about it.
But again, it starts with a dream.
And if you're like me, when you couldn't dream, you can't achieve it.
So my commitment to you this weekend, I want all of you to start dreaming big.
Is that a good deal? Is everybody in?
So let me go really quick over the steps.
So the very first thing is to have an unstoppable story and confidence.
Ties into my Intel days why I couldn't find a job.
So the unstoppable story is really, really critical.
A lot of the people that I see,
this is where they're missing out.
Their story is just not clear
or it's told without confidence, we'll talk about it.
Strategically open any door, skyrocket your personal brand.
If you actually do all of these,
you can leap and you can charge your worth.
And you do it again and again and again, so you can leap again and again and again. You can create and you can charge your worth. And you do it again and again and again,
so you can leap again and again and again.
You can create these portfolio careers.
It's amazing, we'll talk about it.
But to change the world, you're gonna have to start
with changing your world and the people around you,
your family, the network, okay?
And I can't tell you how important that is
because when I was slumping, I couldn't change the world.
I was in survival mode.
So make sure that you put your own oxygen mask on.
Without your own oxygen mask on, you cannot help anybody else.
So that's the first thing.
But the truth is that even once you decide on something
and you know it, it's freaking hard.
And I think this is probably the piece that I didn't understand
well enough. So there's a
little bit of a pendulum and I'm curious about you in the room. So when I was this VP feeling like a
big shot, the pendulum was like my ego was my ceiling. I didn't really understand that at that
time, but I didn't think I need anybody's help because like I'm gonna crush it. Being there was actually the lid
that prevented me from doing big things.
So that's probably why I needed to slam down
in order for the pendulum to go all the way
to the other side, but then when it was all the way
to the other side, I was freaking out.
I felt like a failure, I felt like I lost every relevance.
And the interesting thing is to get the pendulum
right back in the middle,
where you're actually coachable and you're actually listening.
Because again, from ego, I wasn't listening.
I was hearing, but I wasn't listening.
I was hearing to argue.
I was listening to say that it's BS.
I wasn't really listening to lean in.
And when the pendulum flew all the way to my fear and my doubt
and my darkest moments, I couldn't really believe anybody
or anything can save me from it.
So I needed the pendulum to be somewhere in the middle.
But if you're in one of those areas,
first of all, just know that I was there
and it's solvable, okay?
But one of the things that people don't share enough
is how hard it is. And Tom Bell? But one of the things that people don't share enough is
how hard it is. And Tom Bilyeu, which by the way was another amazing speaker on
my podcast, an amazing guest, says he sold his Quest Nutrition for a billion dollars
and he says, don't ask what's the least you can do, ask what's the most you can
bear. And I can't tell you how many, I think and they
are something I had a few conversation in my home yesterday. And I said, she's like,
how many times do you ask yourself, can you do this? And I'm saying every goddamn day.
Seriously, my husband is a witness. Every goddamn day, I say this is the hardest fucking thing ever on the planet. But I still go.
So there is no shortcut, there is no easy pill.
That does not exist.
But that's why you want the map, you want the guide by your side, you want the network
to lean on, and you still just continue.
Okay?
And that was really important.
Hey, I'm pausing here for a second.
I hope you're enjoying this amazing conversation.
Don't forget to subscribe and download.
Now, if you're looking to leap your own career, figure out what's next for you,
fast-track your own growth and create portfolio career, check out my free 30-minute
training at leapacademy.com slash training.
That's leapacademy.com slash training.
Now back to the show.
This is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt.
And he basically said, it's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how
the strong person stumbles or where the doer of the deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust
and sweat and blood.
And at best, they'll know at the end the triumph of high achievement and at worst, if they
fail, at least they fail while daring greatly.
And when I listened to Brene Brown talk about this quote, I realized two things and I wanted
to think about it for
yourself.
One, when I held my mom's hand, I promised that I want to be in the arena.
I knew I wanted something bigger in my life.
So that was already decided.
So once you decide that, I want you to know only one thing that is absolutely guaranteed
you will get your ass kicked.
Period.
Is that a good deal?
Okay, good.
The second thing you need to understand is that there's always going to be naysayers,
haters, critics.
Always.
Does that hurt?
Absolutely.
But if they're not in the arena with you,
I don't give a damn, or at least I will try not to.
I will listen, I will listen to all the feedback.
I always wanna get better.
There's always things that we can learn,
but I can already guarantee that the people
that are in the arena are not the people
that will criticize you, because they know what it takes.
They will be the people that will criticize you, because they know what it takes. They will be the people that will hold your hand
or hold on and double check that you're okay.
Okay, so just realize the people in there
that are criticizing you are probably not
where you wanna go, so don't give it a wait.
Okay, that was probably the hardest thing for me.
Again, when you get into the arena, it is really, really hard, but I want you to think of names of
people inspire you. Are they on the sidelines or are they in the arena?
Probably in the arena. So we're gonna go in there with them. This weekend, it's not
about just to change your weekend. I don't give a damn about your weekend, but
I appreciate that you're all here.
We're here to put a line in the sand and to transform the second part of your life.
That's why I'm here.
Are we a good deal with that?
Is that a good deal?
Okay.
And in order to transform the life, we are moving from the sidelines, from the fear,
from the doubt. The sidelines is where everything is the haters the naysayers that doubt the like everything that you can think of that the teacher that hurts
You the failures that you had like everything is in the sidelines
But you're gonna move from the sidelines into the arena because this is where the possibilities are
So we are getting into the arena this weekend. Is everybody a good deal with that?
Is everybody has a yes?
Say yes.
Okay, great.
So in order to get into the arena, there's a really clear map.
Okay, there's steps.
And again, we're going to go over these steps really, really quick.
Again, unstoppable story and confidence, stretches if you open any doors,
skyrocketing your personal brand.
That is it.
So if I go over these really, really quick,
the very first thing you need to remember,
your story is not about who you are now,
it's about who you wanna become next, right?
We learned that.
And in order to do that,
you're gonna have to build that confidence,
but here's the catch.
You can't fake confidence
when you have no clue where you're going.
Trust me, I tried.
So the very first piece is that bottom of the pyramid is that clarity.
We have to get that clarity of where are we going.
And after that we have to practice it again and again and again because guess what?
We're not used to talking about our story.
And after that then we can fake it.
We can smile and we can stand tall, we can have
our shoulders back. We can fake the core. We can't fake any of the other pieces. So we have to get
that clarity. We have to get that competence. Now, there's a few reasons why you're you it's
probably harder for some of you. First of all, you have no clue what you want to do next. That was
me. So it took about, I remember,
I think I told some of you the story, I met the CEO that can probably have opened any
door for me. He was a venture capitalist, he was a CEO of a big company. And it took
him exactly five minutes to tell me, Ilana, you have no clue where you want to go, right?
Not only that he's not going to open the doors now, I just became a red flag. So I realized
that great tip that I got from people, go network, talk to your network,
see what they think, was actually hurting me.
So I had to get an understanding where I want to go.
Then I wasn't emphasizing the relevant points like I did in Intel.
Impostor syndrome is another one, lack of confidence.
Oh, but I don't want to brag.
I get you.
We'll fix it.
So the big thing is there is a map.
And I want to make sure that we understand that.
Strategically open any door.
I'm not going to go over this too much, but whether it's cold outreach, warm outreach,
get introduced, I can see a lot of you that don't understand the big people pile that
exists.
So you're just thinking somebody will give you
20 minutes of their time.
No, they won't unless there's a reason for it.
Okay, so we'll learn how to do that.
But the reason this is so important
is because every single amazing opportunity
you're ever gonna find is only in the hidden market.
And if you're not playing in that hidden market,
you're missing out on all the possibilities
that this beautiful life has to offer.
So we're gonna have to figure this out, okay?
This is exactly how I landed my executive roles,
the public speaking, the businesses, whatever.
And I think, Lash, who was in San Diego
where I shared how I chased Richard Branson
for a year and a half?
Okay.
Good. Solved. Okay. But seriously,
like there's a people pile. You need to learn how to play the game. Okay. Another thing. Let's talk
about reputation. We are in an era of change. I know you heard me probably say it again, again,
again. The pace of change is something we've never seen before. But I always also say in 2007,
we all became a media company.
You can like it, you can hate it.
It doesn't matter if nobody hears from you.
The assumption is that you don't have anything to say.
On the other hand, it's the best time ever
to control the narrative,
to decide what you wanna reinvent to and tell the world.
So it's an incredible tool if you use it right.
And this is what enables you to be in that hidden market,
to be that impactful leader, to open portfolio career,
to create your wealth.
That's what creates that, but it needs to be done right.
So in branding, there's only one goal.
It's to lead faster and higher. Is that a good deal?
Okay. But here's the thing, there's three types of branding. One is the basics. If you don't have
your crap together on LinkedIn, or you don't have something decent, at least, you're not going to
get a chance, you're not going to get access, you're not going to get a chance at a door, right?
But on the other hand, there's visibility. I want to be top of mind, right?
And there's authority. I want to be paid my worth.
So there's levels. You decide which level you want to be in, and probably you're going to need to mature to the next level.
But all I'm saying, there's three types of levels, and we're going to work on all of them.
There's also three types of levels and we're going to work on all of them. There's also three types of leadership building. Again, the basic one is just, I just don't want to be the
person that sits like this and nobody listens to me. Okay? The second one is the
visibility. It's the people that come in the room and suddenly they command
the room and everybody's quiet. And it's amazing, like you say something, they say
the same thing and everybody's like, oh my God, that was such a great idea. I'm like, I just said that.
That is this, okay?
And the next level is the authority
where you're a thought leader and you're brought in
to the biggest rooms and the biggest decisions.
Again, you decide what the level that you wanna build.
But it's incredible to see the possibilities
that come with that.
Again, once you master these,
this is where we see people jump one level up,
two levels up, three levels up,
executive level roles, advising boards, et cetera.
So it's incredible to watch what's possible
when you master these.
So I just want to give you some context.
And again, when you do this again and again,
you can leap again and again, charge your worth.
It really is incredible.
And I think again, a lot of you have a front seat
to how I've been reinventing myself to the With This Podcast,
getting some of the biggest names on the planet
on the podcast.
By the way, if you're not signing up for the,
who's listening to the podcast, by the way?
I'm just curious.
Oh my God.
Okay, that's amazing.
Thank you.
And I highly recommend it.
Like it's incredible blueprint
of some of the biggest leaders of our time
and how they build themselves.
So if you're not listening,
pick some names that you like and listen to them.
Like I really think it's just gonna open your mind
to how the biggest leaders achieve their careers.
And by the way, how hard it is for everybody.
So for me, I'm learning from every single one of them, but it also gives me the fuel to continue when it's hard.
So I highly recommend it.
But also this is what I did again and again to speak in front of Richard Branson or whatever, right?
Like I do this all the time.
I'm not teaching this based on theory.
You can watch me walk the walk. But again, many are trying too hard and they're not using the map
or they're not using a guide. And I can't tell you how a map and a guide change my life.
So lean on the map, lean on the guides and hack everything we do. Hack it. I'm not saying steal it, but hack the heck out of it.
Okay, do it for your own.
Translate it to whatever it is that you wanna sell.
When you created these portfolio careers,
when you're creating your thought leadership, hack it.
That's what it's for.
Every big innovator is standing on the shoulders
of somebody else and reaches higher.
I remember being annoyed when I saw, you know,
like one of my coaches kept sending marketing emails
and I'm like, why do I need to see all of this?
This is all what you're,
and then I'm just like, wait, this is incredible.
Like I can actually learn more copy and more emails
and more marketing than I learned in my lifetime
just by reading the freaking emails. So hack everything instead of saying like, I mean, compile
all like think why are we doing this? Why are we doing everything? Why? How can I
apply it to my own leap? Look at every single step. I can't stress how
important it is to look at someone else hack the system. That's what it takes to
leap. Okay. And again, I just we're gonna have an award ceremony in the evening is to look at someone else, hack the system. That's what it takes to leap, okay?
And again, we're gonna have an award ceremony
in the evening and we're gonna have an amazing dance party.
So first of all, I wanna make sure,
is everybody excited for this evening?
Yes, it's gonna be epic.
But I wanna say, what I love about this community
is that this is where you can also get inspired
by other people leaping again and again.
And these are just some of the people in our Melanous Club or our President's Club, like Doron, who is sitting here, who is amazing.
Like he was already an executive, but, you know, he then leaped to another company and he rang the bell in Nasdaq and now he's doing this M&A thing.
And he's incredible.
And I can't wait to do some incredible things with you Doron and Itzyk is right there. I don't know
some of you heard a story but he moved from being a director that was laid off
from his work. The best thing that happened to him because now he's a CEO
of AI company like incredible Itzyk. Yes exactly.
Eran, I don't know if I saw him here, everybody, I think you met him
yesterday in my house, was Doron's accountability partner, by the way, he
raised 22 million dollars to invest in startups that are doing impact. Lior, who
I think some of you met him in San Diego. He literally started, you know, RUE's IT agency and sold it with the help of Doron
for eight figures.
Ghanit, I don't know who met her,
but she became a CEO of a public company.
Mavish, who's seven extra salary.
Mark, I think you're here, right?
That landed, yes.
So he leaps again and again,
like just incredible to watch you mark.
I just want to say welcome to the arena. Are you all in? Okay.
Hey, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. If you did, please leave a 5 star review below.
This really helps us continue to bring amazing guests.
Also, if you're feeling stuck or simply want more from your own career, watch this 30-minute
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Now I will see you in the next episode of the Leap Academy with Zilana Golancho.