Investing in Yourself as an Entrepreneur with Trey Lewellen
On this week’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I welcome my good friend Trey Lewellen to the show, and it’s safe to say that you are going to be blown away by the insights he shares. Trey is one of the most generous entrepreneurs out there, and also works harder on improving himself and investing in himself than almost anyone I know. Trey has made a huge name for himself as an e-commerce expert, and launched a fantastic podcast called Kommerce Kings. In our chat he talks about some of the mistakes he’s made in business, some of the crucial pivot points when he’s seen his success take off, and he shares a riddle that will have you thinking for days.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, even ones that result in calls from the police
Trey told us some hilarious stories on this week’s episode, two of which (two!) involved the police. One time they discovered their email was on a shared server with a local police station, and the station had to stop taking 911 calls because so many emails were coming in the servers were heating up. Another time a police officer walked into Trey’s office and declared, “You’re under arrest…nah I’m just kidding.” A customer had bought something from Trey online and called the police to make sure it was a real operation. Even if the cops aren’t knocking on your doors, you’ll be able to learn a lot from what Trey says on this episode about overcoming obstacles.
Invest in yourself, be the $30 million racehorse
Trey is such a successful entrepreneur in part because he knows that he needs to continually grow. He told us about a mastermind class he once attended, where the speaker said a fateful sentence to him: “You’re a $30 million racehorse.” In other words: If you bought a racehorse, you would feed it right, train it right, take care of it around the clock to make sure it’s performing. For Trey, the same goes for himself. In this week’s episode of Just the Tips, Trey talks about a variety of life changes that are just little tweaks to how he goes about each day, but have made a huge impact on his life.
The riddle of success
Trey shares so many of his secrets to success in our conversation, from finding motivation to wake up early every morning (hint: treat yo’self) to investing in a proper mentor. But, in the middle of this week’s episode, Trey sprung a brain teaser on us: Without using any of the resources you have now, how would start a million-dollar a year company on just one hour a week. This one stumped both Dean and I, and Trey admitted that he had to take some time to think it through. But once he did, he actually came up with an ingenious plan that is paying dividends for him now. Sorry, you’ll have to listen if you want to hear it.
Trey answers the famous three questions
On his podcast, Trey asks each of his guests three questions: What is one book that changed your life; what is one event that changed your life; and who is one mentor who changed your life. So I flipped the script and posed the questions to Trey, and his answers were surprisingly personal, giving us some great insight into not only how Trey has become so successful, but how he thinks about his own work and the world around him. We’ll tease you a bit and say that his favorite book is Think and Grow Rich, but his reasons for liking that book, along with so much of what he says in this interview, will likely surprise you.
Outline of This Episode
- [3:45] Introduction to Trey
- [9:47] The $30 million racehorse
- [15:41] Trey poses a riddle
- [20:41] How the advice he’s received on Kommerce Kings has changed his life
- [22:02] What book changed Trey’s life?
- [26:37] What event changed his life?
- [35:05] And finally, what mentor changed his life
Resources & People Mentioned
Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
