My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

As the CIO of Spotlight Asset Group, Shana Sissel oversees all aspects of the investment platform ranging from overall strategy, implementation, and communication to clients and prospects. Shana has nearly two decades of industry experience at leading investment firms, primarily in Boston and Chicago. She previously served as Director of Investment Due Diligence & a Senior Portfolio Manager with Orion Advisor Solutions.Shana is a sought-after speaker & media contributor, frequently appearing at industry events and major financial news outlets like CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox Business News.She earned a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from the UMass-Amherst and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Bentley University’s McCallum School of Business. Shana is a proud holder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. “If you have an idea, the knowledge, and you’ve done the work, then don’t be afraid to go out and talk about it or have a differentiated viewpoint.”Shana Sissel Worst investment everLate 2006 or early 2007, Shana was interviewing for an equity research analyst position at a major global asset manager. Part of the interview process was to pitch a stock that you believed in and do the work and have enough conviction. A stock that you would put your own money in.Banking on AppleShana did a write up on Apple. She believed that this was it. It was an excellent choice. Shana’s pitch was based on the fact that Apple was just about to launch the very first iPhone. At the time, the stock was probably trading at $3 a share. She had done her research well and believed that the iPhone was going to be a complete game-changer.Trying to sell a newcomerApple, at the time, had no market share. Blackberry ruled the world when it came to smartphones. Shana’s selling point was that it would develop this ecosystem because Apple had such a brand commitment from the people who used it. A generation of students was coming up that would prefer Apple to the larger brands at the time.Laughed out of the roomSo Shana went in and pitched the iPhone as a game-changer. She projected the stock would grow to $150. She got laughed out of the room and was told to pick a different career.Shana was unable to convince the portfolio manager that she was interviewing with to purchase Apple.Losing confidence in her ideaWhen Shana got laughed at, her confidence completely left her. Shana stopped trusting her instincts, and in all the work she had put into her pitch. She believed the portfolio manager who told her that she was wrong simply because he was in a position of power and had more experience than her.Failing to invest in her ideaThe worst part of it all was not that nobody believed her, but that Shana didn’t believe in herself enough to invest in Apple. This missed opportunity went down to be her worst investment ever because the iPhone went on to be a game-changer just as she had predicted, and she missed out on the returns it has made over the years.Lessons learnedIt’s ok to think differentlyIt’s ok to have different views from other people. Just because others disagree with you doesn’t mean you’re wrong. Thinking differently is a positive thing. When it comes to investing, that’s how you win. Following the crowd is never how you win. You win by being different, thinking different, and seeing things differently.Do your homeworkIf you have an investment opportunity, but you don’t trust your judgment, do your research so that you can be sure it’s worth investing in. You can’t convince somebody else if you can’t convince yourself. As long as you’re making good, thoughtful investments and doing the work, and you are confident in your investment, even if it turns out you were wrong, you win because it’s always about learning something new.Andrew’s takeawaysBeware of shortfall riskPutting your retirement savings in a bank and waiting for retirement day is a bad idea. That money will never grow. Invest it and let it make you good returns.Be confident in your ideasIf you have an idea and have a strong conviction that it’s a good idea and have all the facts to back it up, don’t let anyone tell you it’s a bad idea. Be confident in your opinion and push for it.Don’t be afraid of investingIf you find a stock or company or product that you like, do some research on it. Then if you think it’s good, invest in it. However, go in slow. Don’t invest all your money in it; instead, add to a diversified portfolio.Take actionOne way to take action on your idea is to start small. Just start small but do it.Actionable adviceTake action. If you have an idea or a belief that you think strongly of, and you’ve done the work, then put it into action instead of being paralyzed in the fear that you might be wrong.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsShana’s number one goal for the next 12 months is just to continue fighting the good fight. And if she has a differentiated view, she won’t be afraid to articulate it. [spp-transcript] Connect with Shana SisselLinkedInTwitterInstagramWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer®, a pigheaded entrepreneur who rehabilitates salespeople and trains their managers. He’s a reassuringly expensive copywriter, sought-after speaker, and marketing automation expert. He is the author of 2.5 books on sales, marketing, and CRMs, host of The Sales Podcast, host of The CRM Sushi Podcast, and he will help you grow by mastering the overlooked truth in life that to make any sale, you must make every sale. “It’s our job to change how we sell to match how the prospect wants to buy.”Wes Schaeffer Worst investment everWes, though an avid investor, always doubted his ability to invest on his own. He thought that other people had more knowledge, wisdom, insight, and skills to be better stewards of his money than he was.Trusting his boss with his moneyIn 2002, his boss at the time had a lot of real estate properties. He wanted to invest in an apartment complex, and he asked Wes to buy into the investment. Wes just trusted him because he was older, more successful, had made money in the Dotcom run-up in the late 90s, and was a high-flyer salesperson. Wes got his mom and college friend to join in the investment.Investing from a distanceWes had no idea how apartment complexes work as he’d never invested in one before and so he left all the responsibilities of running the investment to his boss.Things then started going sideways, and Wes’s boss was making excuses about why they were losing money in the investment. He then came up with this idea that he made look like it was to Wes’s advantage. He told Wes that he would give him 50% ownership in the apartment to have a bigger write-off and at least maybe recoup some of the losses in taxes.The con game unfoldsOne day Wes got a call from the IRS telling him he owed them $86,000 in late fees. Wes was shocked at how he could be owing money on something that lost money. However, he was informed that the investment had made over $450,000, and now that he was a 50% owner, he had to pay the late fees. His boss had kept all the money and tricked him into taking responsibility for 50% of his taxes.Deal goes sourWes was angry that his boss, a man he respected and trusted, had tricked him into making his worst investment ever. Now he had to reimburse his mom and friend using his own money.Lessons learnedTrust yourselfTrust that you can do it. The only way to truly trust in yourself is to do thorough research to understand your investment entirely. If you don’t know your investment well, don’t invest in it.Trust your gutIf you feel something is not right about the investment you’re making or the person you’re working with, take some time, and investigate the issue. Don’t make excuses; trust your gut, and look into it.Andrew’s takeawaysStart with the simpleDon’t take yourself into complex areas that you don’t understand. There are some simple ways to invest, such as an ETF or a fund that invests in every company. So consider simple investments to kick off your investment venture before you start getting into something complicated.Be wary of misplaced trustFinding people to trust is one of the hardest things in business because trust is only built over time.Monitor your investmentPeople often get busy and put their investment documents in a drawer and not look at them again. But you need to look at your investments once a month. Just pop in and get the necessary numbers of what’s happening with that investment.Actionable adviceInvest in yourself and apply what you learn. Don’t just study for the sake of studying. Make good use of what you learn.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsWes’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to make more money this year. He’s tightening up his website and offers. Wes recently got a lot of clarity on how he wants to structure things, who he wants to work with, and will be hitting hard again, for the first time in years.Parting words “Go sell something.”Wes Schaeffer [spp-transcript] Connect with Wes SchaefferLinkedInTwitterInstagramYouTubeWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

James Jani is a YouTube Expert and Vlogger, who creates thought-provoking documentaries on YouTube about Business, Money, and Life. He’s been running a YouTube channel since January of 2020 that has now grown to 422k+ subscribers, with an average of 2 million views a month!His “The Untold Truth About Money” has had 3.8m views, and he first went down his rabbit hole watching “The Rise of Fake Gurus...”James now wants to share his methods with other people interested in growing their YouTube channel to expand their audience reach and engagement massively. “Just to go in and dive into more stuff. And even if it doesn’t turn out into a career, there are tasks in there that might be useful in finding out what exactly you want to do.”James Jani Worst investment everJames had always had a knack for acting, and he loved the validation that came from acting. Everyone knew him as James the actor. He had built a massive reputation behind his desire to be an actor.Trying to get into drama schoolJames tried to get into drama school, but he didn’t get in. He decided to join his friends for a trip to Portugal during his gap year. He came back home broke.Money for survivalJames had already resigned himself to living the life of a poor actor. He didn’t have so much desire for money because he knew he would only be rich once he made it as an actor. However, now that he had come home broke and didn’t make it into drama school, James decided to make some money to survive.James learned about selling second-hand stuff on eBay and decided to try it. He scouted his room for things he could sell and found some old video games. He sold all of them. James then hit garage sales and got a few more items and sold all of them.The fire of entrepreneurship sparksIt was while selling stuff on eBay that James had this huge desire to become an entrepreneur. After trying and failing to get into drama school for the second time, he realized that he didn’t want to be an actor after all. However, he couldn’t admit this to himself, his friends, or his parents. James had grown to identify himself as an actor, and he just couldn’t let it go.James continued to research on making money as the fire to become an entrepreneur kept burning in him as his passion for acting kept waning. However, he still kept trying to become an actor instead of putting more effort into becoming an entrepreneur.Nobody caresEventually, James figured that nobody cared that he didn’t want to become an actor anymore. He stopped worrying about what people would say and finally paid attention to his love for entrepreneurship, and finally made something big out of this passion.Lessons learnedLearn from your failuresYou will make lots of mistakes in life as you try to find your true north. Don’t let these mistakes hold you back. Instead, learn from your failures and let them propel you to greatness.Andrew’s takeawaysLet value be your motivatorBusiness is about bringing value and not about money. Money is just validation.Every job is the sameJust throw yourself into the work in front of you, and learn the tasks involved with that work. That work may not be where you end up, but the tasks and the skills you acquire will be applied elsewhere. Identify the tasks that you love to do the most, and then find a job that allows you to do these tasks.Actionable adviceDo as much as you can, and learn from each of those experiences. The best thing that will happen is that you may learn that you weren’t interested in that job in the first place.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsJames’ number one goal for the next 12 months is to bring in video editors, people to help him with the research side of things, and a manager to run the day to day activities. He hopes that with this team, he will create even better content that he has right now. [spp-transcript] Connect with James JaniLinkedInInstagramYouTubeAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever PodcastFurther reading mentionedEric Ries (2011), The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful BusinessesMJ DeMarco (2011), The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime!

Daniel St-Jean was born and raised in Montreal. Still, he has also lived in Whitehorse Yukon Territory, Vancouver BC, Ottawa, and now home is in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.He is an entrepreneur to the core, and the last time he received a paycheck as an employee was in 1986.Over the 34 years since, he has owned several businesses, including an art gallery and framing shop and a publishing company. As well, he wrote and published two Canadian bestsellers.He started investing in real estate in 2010 with his wife Laurel because they needed a source of income that was not tied to them living in Ottawa, where they were working as consultants.They wanted to move to Ontario’s wine region, so Laurel could pursue a life-long dream of becoming a winemaker.It took them only four years to be in a position to kiss Ottawa goodbye and move to Niagara-on-the-Lake.In their 11 years in the real estate investing business, they have acquired 62 properties worth over $25 million. The fantastic part is that to date; they are yet to invest one dollar in that portfolio—100% financed with OPM–Other People’s Money.How to do that is one of the many things they teach the members of The REITE Club that they co-founded in March 2017. “We are now following our investing system to the letter, no exception for any reason whatsoever. Now we’re successful.”Daniel St-Jean Worst investment everDaniel and his wife kicked off their real estate investing career with the rent-to-own strategy. They built on it slowly and got some real success out of it. In 2012, they went to Nova Scotia to expand their market. They found some cool people who wanted to do a rent-to-own deal, and they decided to get into business with them.Breaking their own rulesDaniel and his wife had a couple of rules that they followed when looking for property to invest in. One was to pick a house that they could quickly sell should the people renting it walk away. The second rule was always to take a deposit. However, they broke these two crucial real estate investing rules.Facing the consequencesAfter two months of renting the house, the people moved out unbeknownst to Daniel and his wife. They were now stuck with a house in the middle of nowhere with snowbanks so high. It wasn’t the easiest house to sell, but they managed to, albeit making a loss of $25,000.Putting in place a reliable investing systemAfter that loss, Daniel spent the next three or four months, setting up an investing system. This system had about 52 points, and this was the system he would always stick to when making investment decisions.Breaking the rules againIn the Fall of 2013, Daniel did a refinancing deal with a family that he felt needed his help. He didn’t like the house much, and he also didn’t take a deposit, but he went ahead and bought the house because he wanted to help this lovely family.The family, however, panicked and moved out just as the purchase was being closed. Now Daniel had this rundown empty massive house in a little town outside of Ottawa. The empty house cost Daniel $2,500 every month to maintain.Finding the elusive buyerIn the Spring of 2014, someone approached Daniel and told him that he’d want to rent the house and turn it into a daycare. He would be paying $4,500 in rent. Daniel got excited about the prospect of finally making some money from this property. However, after a year of waiting for the guy to get approval for his daycare, they found out that the water supply on that side of the street was insufficient for them to run a daycare, and so the client slowly walked away.Finally, Daniel could rent it out to a tenant paying $2,500 just enough to break even. But when the people later moved out, it was a total disaster. The house was in a complete mess.Fixing his messDaniel had to fix the mess before putting the house on the market. This cost him $90,000. Then as luck would have it, the weekend before Daniel listed the house, there was a huge storm that left the basement with two feet of water ruining the drywall and doors. Daniel had to spend another $40,000 to do repairs.At the end of it all, Daniel made a loss of $226,000 and change on that deal, making it his worst investment ever just because he failed to stick to his investing system.Lessons learnedDon’t deviate from your investing systemOnce you put an investing system in place, do not deviate from it come hell or high water. There are many ways to invest, but once you’ve figured out what strategy works for you, never deviate from that system.Don’t conduct business with your heartConduct your business transactions with your head to make money, and then you give it away with your heart. Don’t ever try to conduct your business transaction with your heart because, very often, it’s going to end up not benefiting you.Andrew’s takeawaysBusiness is business; leave philanthropy out of itIf you want to help people, make a profit, and give it to them. But don’t confuse business with helping people in that way. If you use your business to help people, it will bring significant conflict into the business.Don’t break your investing processStick to your investing process, especially during the times that you are tempted to break the system. Your system may underperform for some time, and it can be tempting to change your investing strategy. But if you start to change your system midstream, you bring your entire system down.Actionable adviceWhatever strategy you use, put systems in place and follow them. Period.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsDaniel’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to have 20,000 members in his REITE Club community. The goal of that community is to help people experience freedom, whatever freedom means for them.Parting words “Time is finite. So please build a team and use it to save time. Then you can use that nonrenewable resource to do more deals or just to enjoy life.”Daniel St-Jean [spp-transcript] Connect with Daniel St-JeanLinkedInTwitterWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Rhonadale Florentino has been an HR practitioner for around 19 years. She is the CEO and President of UpRush Social Geekers, an HR solutions and services provider located in the Philippines. She has held various director-level positions and has worked on the Gamification Framework to gamify human resources and the Digital 201, which helped her company digitize its human resources operations.She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has been quite active in improving the standards of HR in the Philippines through programs like UpRush’s HR Boot Camp, which provides the necessary competencies for up-and-coming HR practitioners who would like to become professionals someday. “Don’t just start a small business blindly. Do your due diligence first.”Rhonadale Florentino Worst investment everRhonadale got into an accident and was bedridden for about two months. She’s not the type of person who can just sit down and not do anything. So during those two months, she was thinking of how she could earn money as she recuperated.Doing online jobsRhonadale decided to look for online platforms where she could get a job, and then she came across oDesk (currently Upwork). She applied for jobs and got hired. But it was not for HR work but a writing job. Rhonadale wrote articles and blogs, and in the process, she got to understand what SEO is.Starting a small businessRhonadale enjoyed working online, and by the time she was going back to work, she was toying with the idea of doing a consultancy in internet marketing, which at that point, she thought was something that she could manage.Let’s start doing businessRhonadale wasted no time trying to analyze the business idea. Instead, she registered the business, came up with a catchy business name, and just started.Rhonadale felt very proud of herself. She was in her late 20s at the time, enjoying being the president of her own company.Off to a good startRhonadale started tapping into her previous internet marketing clients and subscribed them to her business instead of going through oDesk. She looked for connections from her last bosses and got some excellent referrals. The first few months were the best for her. Money was coming in, and she was getting a lot of clients.Building a teamRhonadale’s clients were too many for her to handle them alone. She decided to hire a team. Rhonadale started looking for people that she had an emotional connection with even though this goes against all of the things she’d learned as an HR professional. Instead of looking into competencies and skills, she was looking at the emotional connection. Rhonadale got people that were part of her life.Not up to the taskSince the team she built didn’t share the same vision as her, nor the skills needed to do the job, she started getting many complaints because the quality of the services that they were putting out was not the same as before.Trying to run the business while training her team put so much strain on Rhonadale. So she reduced the number of clients she was taking in, and so the income decreased.Losing sight of the financesRhonadale did not have anyone monitoring her finances. Her idea of finances at the time was that money coming in was more than what she was spending. But because no one was watching her expenses, Rhonadale spent so much on things that were not important to the business. She was also spending so much of her personal finances as part of the company’s finances.Rhonadale got someone to help her with the finances, and that’s when she figured out that she was losing so much money and had to cut down on costs and let go of some people.So, where was the problem?While going through her finances and trying to get her business back on track, Rhonadale realized that how she started that business was wrong right from the start. Rhonadale didn’t do any research, and she hired the wrong people.Lessons learnedDo your due diligenceDon’t just start a business because you’ve got a good business idea. You have to research first. First, understand how to start the business and understand your own strengths and weaknesses.Pay particular attention to your financesWhatever your background, you must understand basic accounting principles for you to understand what’s happening in your business. Understand what’s credit, debit, assets, liabilities, etc.Andrew’s takeawaysSmall businesses are a trapPeople get into small businesses, but they don’t realize they will get trapped in it. Sometimes it’s hard even to bring it forward, and you find yourself stuck.Think of a startup as a whole entityMost of the people who get into startups focus on the one area that they’re good at. Running a business requires you to be good at everything that pertains to the business. You’ve got to be good in finance, bookkeeping, marketing, administration, management, etc. It’s not about taking one technical skill that you have and building a business around it.Business is an emotional journeyPeople get all excited about starting a business, but they don’t realize that it involves a tremendous amount of emotions that will shake you to the core. It is an emotional roller coaster.Finance adds no valueValue comes from your products and services and your interactions with your customers. Finance is a support function, just like other support functions that give you the tools to assess your decisions’ outcomes.Actionable adviceDo your due diligence. This includes researching everything the business is all about. Ensure that you understand the different types of setups you should have in place before you do your business.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsRhonadale’s goal for the next 12 months is to grow the services she’s currently offering. Right now, she’s focusing on providing training services and webinars. She’s also looking at adding one more service, the managed payroll service, hopefully by quarter two of next year.Parting words “Know your numbers. The numbers will help you realize where you are at your business, and it will also guide you on what should be the next step.”Rhonadale Florentino [spp-transcript] Connect with Rhonadale FlorentinoLinkedInTwitterWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Jim Rembach is a Customer Experience Authority and President of Influence to Action, which operates several entities, including CX Global Media, Call Center Coach Virtual Leadership Academy, Contact Center Virtual Summit, and Customer Service Weekly. He’s the host of the Fast Leader Show, B2B Digital Marketer, and Customer Service Weekly podcasts.Jim is a Certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner, Community Specialist, Employee Retention Specialist, and Digital Marketer. His work as a digital business development expert enables organizations to deliver on the needs of the new digital business development imperative. “Do it again even after losing because there are opportunities existing out there, and you’ve got to make those moves.”Jim Rembach Worst investment everTime for some riskJim had some money that he was willing to risk in a new investment, so he started looking around for risk opportunities.Finding the right fitJim picked about five different companies to look at. He did his research and ensured that he had marked off all the checkboxes. Then he decided on a female apparel company that seemed promising. Even though the company had some short term debt issues, it got refinanced for favorable rates.Staying down underJim had hoped that the company would pick up, and the stock starts performing well. However, they went down further.Jim stayed hopeful. He did more research, and all indications showed that the company would pick up. Jim decided to double his investment in the company.The unavoidable lossRoughly four or five months after he doubled down, the company declared bankruptcy, and just like that, Jim lost his entire investment.Lessons learnedKeep taking risksContinue taking risks even when you lose. Don’t have your emotions tied so profoundly in the loss and make it stop you from trying again.Do your due diligenceDo your due diligence and research, look at fundamental elements before you make a move.Andrew’s takeawaysPlay with money that you can loseInvest money that you can afford to lose to avoid losing all your wealth.Be aware of event riskEvent risk happens very suddenly. It could be bankruptcy, a corporate governance event where the owner did something benefiting themselves and harming others. With event risk, when it is announced, either trading stops immediately, or the stock price falls 30%, and you can’t execute that stop loss.Apply rules of risk managementRisk assessment is critical when getting into investment. Size your position and go into a position slowly.Actionable adviceHave an active pool of funds that you’re looking at doing some speculating with. Also, learn how to become better at your research from a human perspective.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsJim’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to look at the permanent shifts that people think are temporary and make some investments because he believes wealth is made in downturns, not upswings.Parting words “Move forward. Even if you end up taking two steps back from one step forward, it’s just temporary.”Jim Rembach [spp-transcript] Connect with Jim RembachLinkedInTwitterFacebookWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Michelle Connell, CFA, owns Portia Capital Management, LLC, a registered Investment Advisory firm specializing in the investments of foundations, charities, and high net worth individuals. Portia Capital Management is the only investment management firm in the Dallas-Fort Worth area owned by a female CFA charterholder-an important resource in a world where 60% of women retire in poverty.Michelle’s expertise is backed by more than 20 years of financial experience in management positions with large investment boutiques and private banks. She is also one of the highest-rated finance professors in the U.S., currently serving as an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Dallas.She works with her students and clients to understand the value of crafting a portfolio that includes conventional products as well as alternative assets. In addition to her work with students and clients, Michelle teaches the CFA Review through the DFW CFA Society.She also founded “Portia’s Children,” through which up to 10 percent of her company’s profits are donated to the North Texas Charity, Educational First Steps. “The only way that you’re going to have any security is by understanding money and finance.”Michelle Connell Worst investment everMichelle got a job analyzing semiconductor stocks for a private boutique in San Diego in the late 90s. She didn’t have a background in engineering, and because technology stocks can be extremely volatile, it was a struggle for her to handle these stocks.No choice but to learnTo save her job and prevent losing too much on the stocks, Michelle quickly learned how to understand any investment's downside, whether it’s a stock, a bond, a private investment, etc. This way, she could tell when to let go of an investment.Though this was tough, this knowledge worked to Michelle’s advantage as a few years later; she got to use it as the head of the tech sector for Wells Fargo, right before the tech bubble burst.Lessons learnedAlways look at the downsideLook at the downside of your stocks, and if possible, have your analyst hold back on what you own. And if you don’t understand the downside, be willing to sidestep the upside.Actionable adviceYou need to evaluate the upside and downside in the different investments you hold. That doesn’t just mean the individual securities, but also those within a particular style or market cap.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsFor the next 12 months, Michelle's goal is to concentrate on her investment reallocations and take advantage of her portfolio's fixed income side.Parting words “Keep reading and looking at the downside as well as the upside. Think of investing as a long-term game. That’s the way you should approach your retirement and your assets.”Michelle Connell [spp-transcript] Connect with Michelle ConnellLinkedInInstagramWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Jordan Paris is an author, podcast host, and entrepreneur featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Finance, and Market Watch.Jordan’s podcast, Growth Mindset University, was ranked #6 in Apple’s Self-Improvement category, #3 in the Training category, and #5 in the How-to category. In Education, one of Apple’s most competitive categories, the show was ranked #15. The show has also rated highly in 40+ countries worldwide. On the show, Jordan interviews his heroes, including James Altucher, Grant Cardone, Robert Greene, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Ryan Serhant, Dean Graziosi, and Naveen Jain.Jordan is the founder of Trend Up Media, a one-stop podcast agency that produces podcasts to help businesses grow in profit and influence.His life and business approach is simple yet powerful: Don’t make a living, design a life. With this creator’s mentality, Jordan has produced outstanding results for himself and challenges others to rise above circumstances, break the mold of society, and take control of their lives. “If you are thinking of starting a podcast, I say just start because it’s something that you honestly want to and do not because other people are doing it.”Jordan Paris Worst investment everJordan got wrapped up in the fact that he wasn’t cool in high school, and so for the better part of his life, he just wanted to prove everyone wrong. He wanted to prove to everyone that he could be famous.Using his podcast to fuel his desire for validationThe only way Jordan could attain fame and credibility over the past few years was to surround himself with other famous people. And so his podcast, for the most part, has been a show where people can have a front-row seat to his narcissism. A platform where he would talk with famous people, laughing along with them, sucking up to them, and not asking the tough questions.The epiphanyJordan recently had an epiphany where he realized that he’s been doing life the wrong way. Now, if he’s going to be known, he wants to be known for having something important to say and having actually done something. Jordan does not want to be famous just for the sake of being famous.Lessons learnedDo it for you, not othersMany people do things they don’t want to do and buy things they don’t want or need to impress people who don’t care. They’re then forced to do more things that they don’t want to do to keep up that lifestyle and keep up with that image. Don’t join that rat race.Realize it is enoughAwareness is almost always the first step to dealing with every hurdle you face.Andrew’s takeawaysJust do itDo what you want to do, even if it is not necessarily what you’re good at.Don’t get caught up with what people thinkPeople don’t care that much about you, so don’t get caught up with what people think about you.Embrace your problemsWhat is that thing in your life that you’ve been running away from or you haven’t been aware of? Stop running, turn around, and embrace it.Actionable adviceLearn to question yourself and everything. Scrutinize yourself. This leads to good things.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsJordan’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to achieve the revenue goal he set at the beginning of the year. [spp-transcript] Connect with Jordan ParisLinkedInTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTubeWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Luke Fenwick has had a corporate career spanning over 20 years across numerous industries, including luxury goods and professional sports at organizations such as Louis Vuitton Moet, Hennessy, and Melbourne United Basketball Club.He is a father and husband and chose to follow his purpose and become a life impact coach to help people gain awareness of their vision and goals and their deeply held beliefs to create a positive impact in their lives.His official teaching is derived from the Jay Shetty Genius School for Life Coaches; however, his approach with clients has been shaped by coaching and mentoring people over 20 years and studying experts. “If you don’t have a strong handle on your beliefs, the things that shape your life, and what you believe around yourself, then that will impact your goals and your ability to get there.”Luke Fenwick Worst investment everChasing the money Luke was working for the Melbourne United Basketball Club when he got a job opportunity in Australia. The new position offered more money, and even though he found joy in working for the club, he liked the idea of making more money. Luke could now afford to do property development and other investments, so he took the job.Regretting his decisionLuke had thought that the new job was something that he would do for 10 or more years. However, all of a sudden, he started feeling that this was not it for him. Every day, for six months, he would wake up at 4 am dreading to go to work. The job didn’t align with his passion and purpose, and he hated it.Walking awayAfter months of anxiety and hating his job, Luke spoke to his wife about how he felt and why this job would not be long-term. They decided that he should quit and follow his passion. After so much reflection, Luke decided that this was enough, and things needed to change, and he left the job.Lessons learnedSelf-validation is importantMost people look for validation from others and not from within. They look for that praise or that pat on the back from their peers and friends so that they can feel confident. Real confidence, though, comes from self-validation. This is especially important if you’re looking to do challenging things outside of the box.Pause, reflect and ask yourself what is your legacyTake time to understand what’s happening in your life. Ask yourself how your life impacts other people in your life, what your legacy is, and do you like how things are turning out.Enjoy the journeyTake a pause and enjoy the journey. Be grateful for the far that you’ve come no matter what’s going on in your life. Don’t get stuck on always focusing on what was further down the road.No one is perfectFailure is part of life. Don’t dwell on the times life is imperfect.Andrew’s takeawaysBe ready to quit oftenWhen you find something that’s not working for you, don’t be afraid to leave it. Often, people don’t leave things because they fear the unknown, but it’s ok to walk away and say it wasn’t for me.Be gratefulLearn how to step back and count your blessings, especially in times of crisis.Actionable adviceWhether life is good or you’re struggling, take the opportunity to pause, reflect, and look at the legacy and life you’re creating. If you’re not satisfied with what you think life will be in 10, 20, 30, or 40 years from now, then start to make some changes now.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsLuke has a vision that by 2025, he will have impacted one million lives. His goal for the next 12 months is to continue engaging with people, get in front of many businesses, and do as much coaching as he can.Luke also wants to keep learning, growing, getting better every day, being more mindful and aware of what he needs to work on. If he does all of those things, he’ll become a better dad, better husband, and better coach and impact more lives.Parting words “Don’t let those weeks, months, and years pass you by without embracing the conversations going on in your mind, and not giving them the energy to explore and figure out how your life could go from good to amazing.”Luke Fenwick [spp-transcript] Connect with Luke FenwickLinkedInFacebookInstagramWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Josh Steimle is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker, best known for his framework The 7 Systems of Influence and the 300+ articles he’s published in more than two dozen publications like Time, Forbes, Fortune, Mashable, and TechCrunch. Get started on writing your book with Josh at Publishedauthor.com. “Business should never be your highest priority. If it is, you will lose the business along with everything else.”Josh Steimle Worst investment everWanting to be like the greatsJosh was a college student when he made his worst investment ever. At the time, he had what he thought was a great job making $13 an hour. The company Josh was working for was growing like crazy. And so he thought he should leave and start his own business.Josh would look at the company executives flying around, meeting with venture capitalists, having all the fun and making all the money, and think to himself, “I could do that too.” So he quit his job and started his own business.Doing what he knew bestJosh knew how to design websites and hence started a web design business. He thought this would be as easy as launching a business, and then people line up and hire him. But nobody lined up. Soon enough, Josh had no money to pay rent and sold everything he owned on eBay to pay the rent.Things start to looking upAfter a while, Josh got a few clients and was able to survive. The business continued to grow steadily. Then he brought on a partner and then another, and the company grew a little bit more. It was tough, but he made it along.Heading separate waysJosh and the partners kept fighting and disagreeing on how to run the business. Eventually, things got so bad that they had to sell the business.Josh restarted over again in 2003. Things went back to being tough. Because of the bad experience he had with his partners, Josh decided to do this by himself.Giving business his allJosh went out and got a $100,000 loan from the bank. He also borrowed money from family and friends. He invested all the money in his new business, and for the next four years, he drowned himself in work.Josh would work 100 hours a week. He would go to sleep at three am on his office floor, wake up at 6 am and go right back to work six days a week. Josh didn’t take holidays; he worked Christmases and birthdays. He missed weddings and family reunions. Josh thought he was investing in himself, the business, and his family’s future. He believed that everything was going to pay off eventually, someday.Four years of nothingFor the next four years, Josh immersed himself in his business, but he made absolutely no profit. He didn’t pay himself a dime all this while because he couldn’t afford it and was drowning in about $500,000 of debt.Josh’s family had gained nothing from all the time and energy he put into the business. He was now at risk of losing his wife and family if he kept going down this path. It took Josh four years to realize that this was not working; it was not a good investment, and that he was losing everything.Taking it a notch downJosh decided that he would not continue working like this anymore. He started working 40 hours a week, spent more time with his wife, and didn’t work weekends anymore.A funny thing happened once Josh set those boundaries and said no more. Within two months, he was paying himself for the first time in four years. He was able to pay off 10 or 20 grand in debt every month, and his wife could quit her job. She had been supporting the family for the previous four years, and she hated it. Everything turned around as soon as Josh set those boundaries.Lessons learnedSet your own boundariesDon’t let life set the boundaries for you, do it yourself. If you leave it to fate, the boundaries that life gives you are much more painful than the limitations you can set for yourself.Get your priorities straightPrioritizing is very important. Your family and your health have to come before your business. If you don’t take care of your health first, you won’t be very good at work, you don’t think very clearly, and you’ll end up dying because you’re not taking care of yourself. If you put your business ahead of all your other priorities in life, you will lose the company along with everything else. So get your priorities straight.Build a life outside of workHaving something outside of work allows you to focus, ironically, more on the work. When you’re in the business every day, all day, and that’s all that consumes you, you can’t see the forest for the trees, you can’t see the decisions or the choices. But when you step back, and then you come back in, you often see things more clearlyAndrew’s takeawaysSometimes working harder produces lessWorking harder during a crisis does not produce more income or more revenue because nothing is happening. Focus more on your wellbeing.Small businesses are a trapBe careful before investing in a small business. You know, you go into it with all these dreams, and you get down the road and get to a point where you can’t go back, and you can’t go forward.Actionable adviceEvery 90 days, take a break, take a day off and do nothing, no work, disconnect from the internet, disconnect from your phone, and do absolutely nothing. Go somewhere and spend time with your family or exercise or read a book, but not a business book.Do something that’s completely disconnected from your work, your career, and your business. If you do that, you will come back to your career and your business with ideas that will push you ahead. This will save you time and money. It will help you see things more clearly.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsJosh’s goal for the next 12 months is to keep his priorities in life straight. He is continuing to figure out how to step back and make sure he does not get sucked back into crisis mode, where he feels like he has to work all the time. [spp-transcript] Connect with Josh SteimleLinkedInFacebookTwitterYouTubeBlogWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast