Nick: Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle Podcast, Episode number one.
Hello and welcome to the Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle Podcast, a show where we help you build a life and a business on your terms. I’m your host, Nick Palkowski, and in each episode we’ll be learning from mentor, speaker, and serial entrepreneur, Peter Voogd.
Peter, thank you so much for joining us on this podcast and congratulations on your very first podcast.
Peter: I’m excited man, thank you for having me and I’m ready to really add value and give it my all, man.
Nick: Awesome. Well, Peter, I think the best thing to do here at this very first episode is to dive in to who you actually are. So how did you become an entrepreneur, who is Peter?
Peter: Great question, and I’m still, to be honest I’m still trying to figure that out, but I consider myself really a serial entrepreneur. I started when I was 14, 15 years old with an Ebay business and I got introduced to Ebay and the fact, Nick, that you could put something online and have the world see it was pretty amazing and I got into that.
And the breakthrough for me – I’m going to kind of simplify – but the breakthrough was my dad had a construction company and a lot of my friends worked for him. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like the hard labor, so he would ask me to work for him and I would do everything I could to get out of it. I just didn’t want to do it.
Well one [inaudible 00:01:39] asked me to work, I worked for about a half hour and I was like, “Yeah, I got something to do.” I was actually going to check my Ebay and put some stuff online. And my friend, after that ended, my friend [inaudible 00:01:52] 60 bucks. He worked eight hours, I think it was $8 an hour back then. $7 or $8 an hour and he made 60, around $60, Nick. And I remember checking my Ebay and on one deal I had made $91. So I’m thinking, “Whoa.”
I put this on, it took me 15 minutes and I didn’t check it, I forgot about it, and I came back seven days later and I made $91. He worked his butt off, like shoveling sand and pulling sand up a hill and doing all this hard labor and he made 60. So at that moment, I’m just thinking, “I don’t ever really want to work a minimum wage job or an hourly job.” So that was my ah-ha moment at a younger age.
But what happened was I got conditioned by everybody around me. I grew up in a small retirement community of seven or eight thousand people. Not a ton of success around me, right? So teachers, students, everyone around me, my friends, everyone was getting normal jobs.
So I really got pushed at age 17, 18, I’m like “well, everyone’s doing it, I guess I should do the average job route because that’s how you start out.” That’s what I heard. So I tried it. I was valeting cars at a casino and it just, something inside me, Nick wasn’t working. I felt like I was unemployable and what happened was I stopped that job because I would add up my paychecks, and I was really hard working. And I would add them up and I would see “Okay, I worked 40 hours this week times, 7.35 an hour, $8 an hour, minus the taxes.”
And I would see that amount and I would ask myself, “Is there anything I can do to increase this based on my potential and my value and my work ethic?” And I’ll never forget that feeling when I added up my paychecks and I wasn’t getting paid based on the value of me as a person and based off my potential or based off my work ethic, I was getting paid based off what they thought I was worth and they were kind of controlling everything about my schedule. So I just didn’t like that.
So I stopped that and that was kind of the end of the normal jobs. So from then on, I actually had another job at the mall, got fired from that pretty quickly. I just felt like I was unemployable, as a lot of entrepreneurs say.
So I got into direct sales, and I wanted a job, Nick, where they would pay me based off my potential and based off what I created versus what they thought I was worth, okay? So I got into sales and I did well. I put some work into it and I was really passionate about creating my own destiny, my own income. So I started seeing a lot of people reaching out to me and my company and asking what I did to get the sales I’m getting.
So I started getting more into the teaching and the leadership side and I wanted to build my own team instead of just do the selling. So what happened was I got into an opportunity where I can become a manager and run my own organization and I was still young, I was 20, 21, and I opened up an office. It was my junior, senior year of college when all of this is happening.
So when my senior year came, I had an opportunity to open my own district with the direct sales company. So I had to move up, I was in Eugene, Oregon and U of O, I had to move up to Seattle area. So this is when all my friends were graduating. It was the May, summertime, everyone’s pumped up, they’re going to go out to the beach, they’re going to go to the pool, they’re going to have fun, they’re going to party, and I’m sitting here and I’m supposed to move, by myself, and start a business.
So I’m getting all these second thoughts and all these doubts, like “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be with my friends having fun.” But then I realized, “No, I want a different lifestyle than most people have.” So I chose the route to do what most people wouldn’t have done, and I left my current circle of friends. I still connected with them, but I moved somewhere else to start my business.
Hardest decision I ever made, but looking back, it was the best decision I could have made and just a quick lesson, usually the tougher decisions are the best ones long term. The ones that hurt in the moment are the best ones long term for your future, for your lifestyle, and for your vision. And I saw that first hand now looking back.
So what happened, Nick, was I failed miserably. I had no business experience, I didn’t get trained very well, and I constantly used the excuse, “Oh, this isn’t for me” “This is the wrong area” “It’s my company” “I didn’t get trained well” “It’s not my fault” And the reality was, I was working 60 or 70 or 80 hours a week and I just went, super stressed out.
I was broke, I was living in a one bedroom apartment that had just a mattress, no furniture, and I got to a point, such a low point, that I couldn’t have money to eat. I was trying to scrounge money just to go to the drive through.
And the one thing I never wanted to do was ask my parents for money. They helped me out with college, they helped me, and I kind of went against everybody by running my own business, everyone said, “It’s too risky, don’t do it, don’t do that,” so I felt like it was my obligation to make it work without trying to ask for all this help.
So what happened was I turned that frustration and I turned that discouragement into motivation and the biggest thing, my breakthrough then was, I was reading through notes that I took at one of the events I was at and the quote that stuck with me that I’ll never forget was, “If you want to be a millionaire, talk to billionaires because you’ll get there quicker.” And I’m like, “Oh my gosh,” it just hit me like a ton of bricks.
I wasn’t connecting with the right people. All of my circle of influence was struggling as well and had average mindsets. I’m not saying they were bad people, they were just very okay with mediocrity and I wasn’t. I got to the point where I was so sick of where I was and being broke, and I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur but I just didn’t know how to do it.
So what I did was I dedicated myself to studying, learning, and reading about personal development and reading about entrepreneurship and studying CEOs and I hired a mentor. Now that mentor, it was not cheap, and I did not have the money, I had to borrow some. I told you I didn’t want to borrow, but I didn’t have any other options. I didn’t know what to do, and that feeling of borrowing really got me to never, ever, ever have money problems every again.
So what happened was I got a mentor and that year I went from broke to a six figure income within 11 months, Nick.
Nick: Oh wow, that’s impressive
Peter: Because of that. But what happened was a year later I was doing well financially but guess what I didn’t have?
Nick: What’s that?
Peter: My freedom. I was working 70, 80 hours a week and I’m like, “Is this really what entrepreneurship’s about? This is not really a lifestyle. Yeah, I have money but I can’t spend it, I can’t enjoy my family.”
So the next year, this was, I believe 2008, I went on a journey to focus on productivity and focus on leverage and focus on how to build this entrepreneurial lifestyle. So I read 40 or 50 of the best books on the CEOs and on entrepreneurship, I reached out to the top people in my company, I asked questions, I was every morning and night studying, I didn’t go out and party. I dedicated that year to myself and figuring out how these big CEOs and these top entrepreneurs were making millions but they also had free time.
So what I did was the next year, I was able to double my sales, and scale back from working 80 hours to about 20 because of all the stuff I learned. So what happened was I started to build a great lifestyle. I was building a sales team, I worked near my people and I just continued to reach out to high level people and I continued to grow and grow and I wanted to make every year bigger than my last year.
And after a couple years of growth and great income and great connections, and I learned so much by running a sales team, I felt like my magnitude of mission was growing and I knew the people I wanted to inspire and work with were the young entrepreneurs. The 5 to 10% of people who are hungry for a better life, that don’t want to take the traditional route. Because when I ran a sales team, those were my favorite people to work with.
And I was in my office one day and the breakthrough here came where I was inspiring about 20 people and I’m like, “Why can’t I do this for more people?” There’s a platform called the internet now where you can inspire people at all ages, all around the world, that really want to be inspired. So what I did was I took that and I’m like, “What could I create, and what could I dedicate my life to that would make a big difference, not only in our society but really, in the world?”
So that same week, it was kind of funny how this happened, that same week, I don’t know if I’m being to detailed, Nick, or is this cool?
Nick: You’re going good, yep. You’re going good. We’re, I think your story really shows, kind of what this podcast is going to be all about. So I love it. So really, what was that big turnaround?
Peter: And I could go on for days, by the way, I love this stuff. I know you don’t have like nine hours, so I’ll keep it short. But the breakthrough was that same week, when I was thinking “I need to expand. I’m making great income, but my mission is growing. I think I need to leave what I’m doing and do something bigger on a bigger scale.”
So that same week I got an article in my email from Forbes and it stated, of Forbes. Forbes didn’t send it to me, that would have been cool. It stated that right now is the toughest time I human history for the young entrepreneur, for the young professional, for the student to succeed because there is constant distractions involving technologies, entitlement mindsets, information overload, and so much being thrown at people.
And here’s what it said: “With all these distractions, it’s the toughest time to succeed and there’s also the least amount of guidance they’ve ever had.” So I’m like, “This is what I’m dedicating myself to, is to be the person that guides the young entrepreneur to the results, to the lifestyle, to the legacy that they want to create.” So what I did was I stopped that company, I quit that company. I don’t say quit, cause I used it as a catalyst to get to my next level. But I left a very consistent, working 15, 20 hours a week, 6 figure job, because my mission was growing.
So that’s where I started realVIPsuccess.com, which is free resources to bring excellence to entrepreneurs worldwide, where I started the game changers movement, and of course, the podcast. So the last couple years, I dedicate myself purely to the young entrepreneur reach their highest potential and their best contributions and really to help them bring out their creative genius. So that’s kind of the breakthrough of my life and how I became where I am now and that’s why I’m so excited to do this podcast.
I know you’re the real deal, you’ve done some amazing stuff. And I have a lot of, not only tactical things to share, but experience, and stories, and perspectives that I think can make a massive difference in a lot of people’s lives that are serious about success and entrepreneurship.
Nick: Oh, that’s awesome, Peter. I’m super excited about this podcast and I think your story, like I said, really kind of, almost summarized what we are trying to do here with this podcast, the Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle, and really show them how to actually go through and be an entrepreneur in this new environment, in this new economy, and really change their game to that next level.
So Peter, why don’t we, before we wrap this up, I know this is going to be a little longer episode than normal, but why don’t we kind of give everyone a breakdown of what the Young entrepreneurial Lifestyle is and what this podcast is going to look like going forward.
Peter: Definitely, no problem. So let me give you, my secret revelations that I had, really throughout all that struggle and through the big successes was to build wealth, to build a great lifestyle, you first must build a wealth of knowledge. You need new information and new knowledge, wisdom, and new ideas that you really haven’t heard before to take your business to the next level.
And I was investing more in entertainment versus education. And that’s why I wasn’t successful. When I started focusing on education and bettering myself and giving myself the knowledge I needed to succeed, I started seeing success very quickly.
And I realized too Nick, the only limitations were in my own mind and when your habits start to match your goals anything is possible. So what this podcast is going to be about is, it’s going to really help people learn the power that they have in themselves if they dedicate themselves to a certain topic.
So for me, I’m going to focus on mastery versus information overload. There’s so much information out there and I’ve done the 100s of hours of research and I have failed. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on high level mastermind seminars, mentors, programs, coaches, and I’ve failed and failed and I’ve also succeeded.
So I’m going to take that information and simplify it into actionable form and tactical advice that people can take right away, put into their business and into their life and see results. Because here’s the reality, a smart person learns from their mistakes, as all successful people do, but those who want to operate at world-class, Nick, they learn from other people’s mistakes, so they can shorten their learning curve by learning from them and not make the same mistakes and waste as much time doing those.
So that’s what it’s going to be about is really giving the tactical advice, the experience, the perspectives, of what it takes to build the ideal lifestyle based on our viewers, based on who they are, what their core values are, what they want, versus taking what’s given and settling like so many of our society does. I want the people that want to differentiate themselves from our society and live a life few ever retain.
Nick: That’s so inspiring. I love that, I love that aspect of it. It’s actually real stuff that we can apply right away in our lives. As soon as you listen to it, you can apply it that day, that is awesome, I love this stuff. I’m actually very excited about the format we are going to be using for this podcast as well because these aren’t going to be once a month or once a week kinds of things, these are going to be short, like ten minute episodes, that are going to be released three days a week – Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
You’re going to get a chance to really get motivated in the morning and it’s going to be perfect for listening to say, on your morning commute to work or on your morning workout. You can just pop in one of these podcasts, get inspired by Peter, and learn some tactics that you can take and get real results from. I love it.
Peter: And let me give you a couple thoughts too. I went to, I studied business in school and almost everything I studied was theory and no practical advice. I’m not saying don’t go to business school. But don’t go to business school. I’m just kidding. Create your own school by experience. That’s the first thing.
Second thing is when you’re listening to these, make sure you’re not in a little quiet area or like a library because I’m going to spit so much fire you’re going to want to freak out and go run through walls, so I wouldn’t be somewhere quiet or driving, I want you to be somewhere where you’re focused and you can take this information and implement it into your life and see results.
Nick: Awesome. So, Peter, as we kind of wrap up this first introductory episode, do you have any final words you have for our listeners?
Peter: Yeah, I mean, get ready, get excited, because I’m really going to give you the tools you need that can enable you to build your ideal lifestyle. And not only that, the best gift you can give those around you is living your best life. So what I will tell you, really, to start out is understand the importance of what you put in your mind, because what you put in your mind is a reflection of how your reality is and how your life turns out.
So I’m just excited, Nick. That’s really what I’m going to give them right now. I don’t want to give them too much. And I’ll tell them the only limitations they’re having right now are in their mind and when you lower your limitations, your potential and your results can skyrocket. So I’m excited.
Nick: Awesome, I’m excited too. So Thank you, again, Peter and I look forward to future episodes with you.
Peter: Take it easy, Nick.
Nick: And thank you for joining us on this first episode of the Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle podcast. I am so glad you could join us. And before we wrap up on our first episode, I just have a few quick announcements. We are now available in iTunes. So if you would, please go to iTunes, find the podcast, subscribe, and please leave review.
You can go directly there by going to . That will take you right there. And like I said, please leave a review because that actually helps us get found by more people in the iTunes directory and it boosts the rankings of the podcast so more people can get the great content that is going to be delivered here in future episodes.
And while you’re doing that, I would highly encourage you to visit the website and you can check out all the show notes, all the resources, by going to youngentrepreneurlifestyle.com/001 for episode number one. And while you’re there, let us know, why do you want to be an entrepreneur? What makes you excited about being an entrepreneur. You can leave that in the comments below. That would be awesome.
So until next episode, please go out, take action, and really work to create the life and business of your dreams.