Build Your Utopia

We are very pleased to present part one of our interview with Eden Sunshine.  Eden is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author. Eden Sunshine has suffered through every business problem an entrepreneur or small business owner could face.  He had financial issues, employee issues, regulation issues, government issues, and motivational issues.  Through those issues, he realized that work shouldn't be a four letter word, we should make work an enjoyable part of our life.  With that mindset, Eden has decided he doesn't want to retire, he wants to continue to contribute as long as he is able. Eden Sunshine's vision of a Utopia is to live the Woo Hoo moment every day, both in business and in life.  It is important to continue to learn, grow, and move forward.  Once you accomplish your current goal, give yourself a big WooHoo and keep growing. We also learned that both Josh and Eden work out of their homes and they love it.  Eden's worst commute in was bumping into his mother-in-law in the hallway.  Josh, on the other h

We're excited to share with everyone the second half of our interview with Joel and Pei of Relaunch Show! Joel and Pei both firmly believe that taking care of yourself is a priority and must not be overlooked.  It is because of this priority that they do not find it hard to make time to be active. Joel, much like our host Josh, is a runner.  Pei enjoys Yoga.  Sometimes Pei feels selfish with her yoga because she teaches a class and charges for her time.  This is the perfect example of making the most of a situation!  Pei enjoys Yoga, and she knows it well enough to teach.  What better way to stay motivated than by leading a class that people pay for?  Now everyone wins!  Pei's students receive instruction from a knowledgeable person while Pei is motivated to work out and earns some additional income for herself. The Yoga conversation then leads to a surprising revelation between our hosts.  Josh, who is very physically active, is not very limber or flexible.  Ben, who is not physically active at all, can inde

We are excited for today's show, this is part 1 of our interview with Joel Boggess and Dr. Pei Kang, both of which are Radio Hosts, Speakers, and Entrepreneurs. Joel and Pei have a great definition of Utopia, it is the ability to live where you want, contributing how you want in a way that not only adds value to the greater good, but also to yourself.  Josh and Ben dive into that through the lens of Build Your Utopia and how the show started as a way to add value to Utopians, but it is also a way to add value to their own lives. Pei also gives us a glimpse of her inner Texan by giving us an enthusiastic "YEE HAW!!"  Something she says she has never done before.  It also gives us a great transition into Joel and Pei's point of Seasons of Life and living in the moment.  Joel and Pei believe that life, just like a farmer has seasons for planting, tending, harvesting, and resting; there are seasons to life, relationships, and business.  It is best to identify what season you are in so you can best maximize that s

Happy Friday!  We are excited to come back to you, just Josh and Ben!  Part of our 'new format' of the show is to have a monthly recap show and discuss things we've learned from all the guests this month. First Ben and Josh talk about Brianna Wu's interview.  Josh is convinced, though Ben asserts Josh is wrong, that Ben has a crush on Brianna.  Crush is the wrong word, Ben admires what she does and how she does it.  Josh and Ben could agree on Brianna's value-bomb of "be honest with yourself, keep on your 'mission objectives'."  Ben and Josh also discuss what her message means to us. Next, Josh and Ben review their time with Josh's crush, Shannon Hernandez.  Josh clears things up and says Shannon is just a fun guy to hang out with.  We talk about some of the stories Shannon shared and we also agree on his value-bomb "stay persistent and allow yourself to grow in small steps."  This is huge and we talk about how Shannon is living this idea. Then Ben and Josh cover Susan Carlson.  Josh and Ben both enjoyed spea

We have a great show for you today, this is part 2 of our interview with Brett Gajda, coach, speaker, and podcast host. According to Brett, success is being able to live your average perfect day, everyday.  While he isn't there yet, he as built all legs and is fine tuning them to be able to support his utopia.  Brett currently owns his business, which he can operate geography free, and earn passive income. Once Brett Gajda has all the supports built up strong and stable and able to support his utopia, what is he going to do next?  He worded it great by saying he "can't plan for the back side of the mountain until he reaches the top." Planning and building your business is key, and you have to have the vision and followthrough to make it.  Brett told a story of a friend who wants to learn to play the guitar that really brings the point home. Brett Gajda gave us three valuable lessons today: Compromise your lifestyle for what you need, not what you want Breakdown almost always comes before break through Ask fo

We have a great show for you today, this is part 1 of our interview with Brett Gajda, coach, speaker, and podcast host. According to Brett, success is being able to live your average perfect day, everyday.  While he isn't there yet, he as built all legs and is fine tuning them to be able to support his utopia.  Brett currently owns his business, which he can operate geography free, and earn passive income. Once Brett Gajda has all the supports built up strong and stable and able to support his utopia, what is he going to do next?  He worded it great by saying he "can't plan for the back side of the mountain until he reaches the top." Planning and building your business is key, and you have to have the vision and followthrough to make it.  Brett told a story of a friend who wants to learn to play the guitar that really brings the point home. Books and Movies from Brett's interview: Three Feet From Gold on Amazon and iTunes Sliding Doors on Amazon and iTunes Star Wars on Amazon Princess Bride on Amazon and iTu

Today we have part 2 of our interview with Susan Carlson, Educational Leader and Cultural Enthusiast. Susan Carlson sees an opportunity to improve education in Arizona.  Arizona has one of the lowest ratings in the country for engaged youth.  Susan explains that, in a few years, that means the work force in Arizona will be one of the least educated and least motivated in the country.  The economy will suffer and national companies will either move or not even come to Arizona in favor of cities and states with a higher caliber work force.  Susan and Josh discuss how this public education issue will impact even Josh's son, who is at a private school. Susan also shares with us a lesson she learned from her mother.  You are not a victim, if something is wrong, you need to do something to fix it.  This has taught Susan to be proactive in creating a change and making a difference. Susan left us with some valuable lessons today: Commit to an action and do it Keep on Keeping on Networks matter, cultivate and maintai

Today we have part 1 of our interview with Susan Carlson, Educational Leader and Cultural Enthusiast. Most of Susan's professional career has been in education.  With the exception of a stint in real estate, she has taught, administered, and served school boards.  She even chaired the ACT and AMEPAC boards. Susan Carlson's Utopia is a place where people flourish by being able to participate in something you are passionate about. She retired from teaching and with the support of her husband, she has started down the path of her Utopia.  She knows where she wants to end up, but she is not completely sure how she is going to get there. Find more of what Susan Carlson is doing here: Carlson & Affiliates Los Alumnos Immersion Academy As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Today is Part 2 of our interview with Shannon Hernandez, Professional Broadcaster, Podcast Producer, Trainer, and proponent of man buns. Shannon Hernandez's Utopia is freedom.  He has found the path and walking it, but he doesn't know when he'll get there. Speaking of walking, Shannon Hernandez found a ton of answers at the gym while on the treadmill and on the elliptical.  Shannon started working out after making a deal with himself.  He knows he needs to be healthier and lose weight but he didn't want to go to the doctor.  The deal was, if he can't lose weight and feel better on his own after six months, then he would see the doctor. The trick is baby steps.  Any monumental journey starts with a first step.  This is how Shannon started his health plans and it is applicable to any goal you can set for yourself.  Any task is easy when you break it down to baby steps. Shannon left us with great lessons today: You cannot give up Stay persistent and allow yourself to geo in small steps Have fun, you have to hav

Today is Part 1 of our interview with Shannon Hernandez, Professional Broadcaster, Podcast Producer, Trainer, and proponent of man buns. Shannon Hernandez has a masters degree and was a high school english teacher who worked part time at a Phoenix radio station.  Then the station offered him a full time evening shift and he couldn't pass it up.  This led Shannon to working full time at two jobs and in between those finding time to grade papers and sleep. Could you get up at 6:00am and drive into school to teach a zero hour class until 4:00pm.  Then take a nap and head to the radio station to DJ from 7:00 until mid night.  Finally, grade papers until 2:00ish in the morning before taking another nap.  This is what Shannon did for about 4 months before the school semester ended and he resigned so he could work at the radio station full time. He made it happen because he had to.  If you're really passionate, you'll sacrifice for your passion. Shannon Hernandez found inspiration in these: The Go Giver on Amazon a

Today is the second half of Josh Marsden and Ben Thompson's interview with entrepreneur, game developer, podcast host and equality advocate Brianna Wu. Brianna Wu learned a ton from her parents and thanks them for a number of opportunities in her life. As a child, if she ever wanted to learn something, her parents gave her the resources and told her to 'go figure it out.' That mentality taught Brianna to be self sufficient and independent. When Brianna sets her sights on something, she sticks with it until she makes it happen. "The Giant Spacekat Starship should have exploded many times but we pushed through." This attitude is evident not only in her company Giant Spacekat, but also in her actions for equality in the tech industry. Brianna Wu left us with some valuable lessons: Exercise, the mind cannot live without the body Be honest with yourself, keep on your 'mission objectives' Get a support network of friends Here are some additional links: Google Guys on Amazon and iTunes Revolution 60 for the iPhon

Today is the first half of Josh Marsden and Ben Thompson's interview with entrepreneur, game developer, podcast host and equality advocate Brianna Wu. It is difficult for Brianna Wu to build her utopia right now, considering the stand she has taken in the fight for equal rights in the tech industry.  Due to this, she has unfortunately received numerous threats against her person and her life.  This is a deplorable situation and a testament to Brianna's conviction and personality to stand up to the threats and fight for equality. Brianna's commitment to better treatment in the tech industry is evident in her company.  Everyone knows about 'crunch time' in the game development industry and her views on how to handle it comes out in her interview. Part 2 of Brianna Wu's interview will be out later this week. Google Guys on Amazon and iTunes Revolution 60 for the iPhone and iPad Follow Brianna on Twitter or just 'read the news' As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Today Ben & Josh recap this weeks interview with Ben Altman of Charisma on Command, what Josh is up to with CVO Acceleration, and upcoming changes to the format of the show. Josh starts the show by sharing with everyone (Ben included, this was all new information to him) what he is doing with CVO Acceleration.  He outlines his new business plan, offers, and how he came to these decisions.  Josh goes over trip-wire offers, something small to provide some value that also starts the conversation, and how those can turn into a larger relationship with his customers.  This turned into a conversation about Josh presenting at Vetracon 2015 this June at Fort Hood. Ben & Josh then jumped into some of the highlights from Ben Altman's interview.  Our hosts talked about how he 'burned the ships' by cutting his professional ties when he moved, which basically forced him to succeed.  Part of his story was to speak with his audience and and see what they want, then build the product together.  That approach is real

Today we have a great guest and inspirational story with Ben Altman of Charisma on Command. Ben Altman worked on wall street, making great money and working 80+ hours a week. Not satisfied, he decided he wanted a career that has location freedom, geographic freedom, and freedom of time. How did he do it? What was his plan for such an ambitious Utopia? If that isn't tough enough, how do you create a business and a hot product with 90k in student loans and only $300 in the bank? Listen to Ben Altman's interview and learn how he moved from New York to Brazil, "burnt the ships", and created Charisma on Command. Ben Altman didn't just leave us with an inspiring story and 3 value bombs, but he gave us a 4th as a bonus! Money, as a point of fulfillment, is a really hard way to be satisfied Find your North Star Model successful people Bonus: Go talk to the people you are trying to serve Thanks to Ben Altman for joining us and make sure you check out the resources he provided! How to never run out of things to say

Josh and Ben talk this week's interview with Dornubari Vizor from episode 52. Dornubari Vizor start the show discussing company names and the unique way that he came up with his company name, Yazamo.  This ended up being a rabbit hole which led our hosts to Daredevil on Netfilx and one of Ben's favorite movies, Die Hard (on Amazon). Dornubari Vizor's comment from his episode about being careful around meet-ups and masterminds then prompted discussion between Josh and Ben about the comfort levels and openness of meetups, masterminds, and mentors. This then evolved into a discussion about creating a mastermind and what format should the group have. The conversation then moved into a discussion about being focused at work and tips on maintaining that focus with all the distractions we face (such as email, social media, the real world, and cloud based services). Ben and Josh then round out the show with a recap and discussion of Dornubari Vizor's top three lessons: Learn to say 'No' Get as many Mentors as you ca

On Build Your Utopia today, we have Dornubari Vizor, a 24 year old entrepreneur and co-founder of Yazamo, a Digital Marketing Agency. Dornubar is an Arizona State Sun Devil and graduated with a justice studies degree in 2012 while starting Yazamo. Yazamo specializes in Web traffic and sales generation for small and medium businesses. He attributes his success to his mentor Joe Polish Dornubari moved from Nigeria when he was a baby. At one point, he lived in a refugee camp for 3 years. Growing up he's always dabbled in entrepreneurship, for example he used to sell products on eBay while a teenager. Dornubari's definition of a Utopia is to have free time with his family and have a wealth of opportunities so he can be choosy and pick the ones that he really wants to focus on. Currently, he's at 20% of his utopia...this he attests...because he feels he has a lot more growth individual and professionally before he is truly at his Utopia. Luckily, he's made the wise move to turn to mentors and mastermind groups for

Hello Everyone!  Today on Build Your Utopia our Hosts Josh Marsden and Ben Thompson talk about Pat Flynn's interview and episode 50! They guys might get off on a couple tangents on this episode, but trust them, they do bring it back around. Thanks to Pat Flynn, Ben and Josh spend some time talking about Gamification and how it can benefit multiple parts of your every day life.  Ben admits that he is a sucker for gamification and uses it at least 4 different apps every day.  (Check out Zombies, Run! on the iTunes App Store).  The conversation of gamification naturally leads to talks of the Apple Watch and the type of functionality it will bring to the market. Josh and Ben also reflect on Pat Flynn's point of view on what an "F" grade in school really means.  From Josh's point of view as a father, if his son receives an "F", that doesn't mean he is a bad person or a poor student, it just means that particular subject is something that needs more attention. Our hosts also talk about how Pat Flynn turns both his

Happy Tuesday everyone!  We have a great guest for our 50th show, Pat Flynn, entrepreneur, podcast host, and responsible of Smart Passive Income. Pat Flynn views his utopia as being able to spend most of his time with his growing kids.  He and his wife have been asked by other parents and teachers at their kids' school how they both drop off and pick up his son from school.  Pat has made it a priority to build his work life around his family life, instead of what is typical of fitting in family time around work time. Pat Flynn recently started adjusting to a morning schedule (he self identifies as a night person).  After speaking with Hal Elrod (our guest from Episode 42), Pat decided to move to a morning routine.  He recognizes the difference between setting an alarm and getting up for work verses setting an alarm and getting up for yourself.  It was difficult for Pat at first, but he adjusted and is now on a morning schedule. Pat's experience with moving to a morning schedule reinforced a view he has about

Join us today as Josh and Ben talk about this week's interview with Tim Lawson of Veteran Empire. Tim Lawson not only provided Ben and Josh with a ton of valuable points, but he also inspired a great conversation.  Ben and Josh reflect on what they know and what they've heard from people about life in the military.  (Josh served and Ben has many friends who served). Your hosts also talked about Tim Lawson's viewpoint on honesty versus transparency.  While both honesty and transparency involve telling the truth, when you tell it makes the difference.  That viewpoint has changed the way Ben thinks of himself, considering himself a transparent person.  Now, he sees himself as honest because he doesn't always offer up details, but he doesn't hide them when asked.  Josh also provides an example of when transparency isn't always the best solution according to robots in Interstellar (on Amazon and iTunes). Josh and Ben also talk about the type of life that a small business own lives.  Is it just a pie in the sky, al

We have an amazing guest for you today, Tim Lawson. Tim is a Marine Corps veteran, college student at American University, found and owner of Lawson Entertainment, a company that has 4 weekly podcasts. The Veteran Empire Podcast for example was nominated for a 2013 Podcast Award in the Culture and Arts Category. He's been able to do all this before the age of 30. At 17 he defeated cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, it was an experience that really helped him have determination and perseverance. He actually feels blessed to have cancer at the ripe age of 17 with his immune system able to recover fairly quickly after treatment. He believes that he is the product of his top 5 people in his life, which include his co-host Brandon of Brandon's Bromantic Comedy, his girlfriend, and colleagues in his life. He's working towards true freedom currently with his efforts as an entrepreneur, an internet marketer, a podcast host on several shows, and a full time student at American University. He's driven to control his time and