0 (2s):
Light that spark Fire Nation. JLD here with an audio master class. We are calling when you realize life isn't a dress rehearsal is time to start your entrepreneurship journey to drop these value bombs. We have brought Cliff Kennedy on the mic. He is a husband, a dad to three in the CEO of Frios Gourmet Pops. He left their family business to pursue his entrepreneurship dream. Ultra running, fishing and reading are his outlets and Fire Nation. Today. We talking about how to take that entrepreneurial leap, analyze the risk and reward factors. We'll talk about franchising, which can be really key work-life balance and so much more. When we get back from thanking our sponsors, customers want more from brands.

0 (44s):
Delivering more means owning the customer experience, taking control over data acquisition analysis, creative and delivery. Klaviyo calls this owned marketing, and they believe it's the best path to growth for more visit Klaviyo.com/fire. That's KLAVIYO.com/fire. Looking for a business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase your profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee. Schedule your free consultation today with Clay Clark, a former small business administration entrepreneur of the year at ThriveTimeShow.com/fire ThriveTimeShow.com/fire.

0 (1m 26s):
Cliff say what's up to fire nation And what's something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1 (1m 34s):
Well, what's up Fire Nation. The one thing I firmly believe is that you don't have to sacrifice your family to be successful. You read all the books and they say I've sacrificed my family time. I was putting in so many hours, but what I have done is I wake up so much earlier. I stay up later and I still have that time for my family. And I feel like I'm still going to be very successful in what we're doing.

0 (2s):
Fire Nation work, life balance. It's possible. In fact, we're going to be talking about that later in this interview.

0 (2m 3s):
And as you know, from the intro, we're talking about what happens when you realize that life is not a dress rehearsal. It's just not. So it's time to start your entrepreneurship journey today because let's be honest, cliff, being an entrepreneur it's in certain people's blood. We can't get it out of our blood, even if we wanted out of it. We can't. So if that is the case, if Fire Nation's listening to like entrepreneurship, it's in my blood. Good. How do you take the entrepreneurial leap for yourself?

1 (2m 35s):
It's just taking the risk and betting on yourself when it's in your blood, you know, what's right. And you have to do it because if you know you life, isn't a dress rehearsal. As we said, you've got to take your shots. And if you fail, pick yourself back up and keep going. You hear all the stories of the failures that have happened, but all the greats pick themselves back up. They take the risk and they keep moving forward. So it has been ingrained in my brain since I was a kid that my grandfather started his company out of the back of his car, because he felt a need in the industry that our family business was in. And I've always had that. And I just knew that I had to be able to create my own destiny.

1 (3m 15s):
And that's what it took for me,

0 (3m 17s):
Grained in his brain, Fire Nation entrepreneurship was there. It wasn't going to get away from cliff. It just wasn't going to happen. Now I want to move cliff into analyzing the risk reward factors because listen, we've got to analyze these things. We've got to know that when we go forward, the risk and the reward factors, they align. So talk to us about this process

1 (3m 41s):
For me. I don't want to be 50, 60, 70 years old and look back and have the regret that I didn't tap into my entrepreneurship. I loved the family business that I was in, but that wasn't entrepreneurship for me. I was working for my parents and doing, and living out their dreams and growing a company that they wanted to do. So for me, the risk was do I want to be 70 or 80 years old and not taking the shot of doing what I believe that I was on. I am on this world to do. And that's what it was. And so the reward was being older in life and saying, I took the shot.

1 (4m 22s):
I bet on myself. I knew what I needed to do. And I gave it 100% every single day. And I will not have regret no matter what happens when I'm older

0 (2s):
Fire Nation. I think you need to really take a step back and listen to these words that cliff is talking about right now, he was living out their dreams, you know, in this case happened to be his parents, but fill in there for anybody.

0 (4m 42s):
Are you living out your parents' dreams, your spouse's dreams, your significant other's dreams, your friend's dreams, dreams that you've conjectured up for some weird reason to make them your dreams, but you know, in your heart and your gut, their knots, there's a fantastic book cliff. And I recommend all foundational reading it as well. The five biggest regrets of the dying. And it was this hospice nurse for years and years and years, she spent time with people who are in their last few days of life. And the five biggest regrets you heard over and over again were very consistent. One of them was, I wish I lived out my dream, not somebody else's. And it just strikes people to the core because these are people that are on their way out and they spent their lives living out somebody else's dream.

0 (5m 31s):
You know, their parents may have passed when they were 40 or 50 or 60 or whatever, but they spent the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years of their life living out their parents' dreams who are gone. I mean, it was just, it's, it's a crazy, crazy thing. And for whatever reason, it's like innate in us to at least think about doing these things, because I did the same thing. That's why I went to law school. Hated it. Quit finally. I mean, luckily, but man, I almost went down that path too. So just think about that. Now let's talk a little bit about being a franchise or what is it like being a franchise or, and helping others realize their entrepreneurial journey and your experience.

1 (6m 10s):
It goes in right into what you just said of living out your dream. I get to see people live out their dreams through my company. So when we onboard franchisees, we say, what is your idea of success? Where do you want to be in five or 10 years? And being a part of that and seeing these young families, people that are semi-retired living out their dreams and taking the shot and starting a business for themselves, it's amazing to be a part of that. So I'll wake up every day saying, how can I make my franchisees better in what they're doing and how can I help them find their of success? And it's great to be a part of that and hear their stories, the struggles that I'm going through, they're going through, we pick each other up, motivate each other and we're in it together.

1 (6m 56s):
And that's, what's great is seeing so many people start their entrepreneurship journey through my company,

0 (2s):
Fire Nation. There is so much excitement to see the ripple effect, that something that you create, something that you do, some of that you help is now going off and having a bigger and better and more fulfilling life.

0 (7m 11s):
And we talked about the work-life balance. We talked about how, you know, having to learn and to grow is going to improve and better yourself. But we're getting into real deep details. When we get back from thanking our sponsors, looking for a business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase their profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than would cost to hire a full-time at minimum wage employee, Fire Nation meets Clay Clark. Clay has been coaching businesses just like yours since 2006. Yep. Even through the great recession. And he does it for less money than would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee at a time when Inc magazine reports that by default 96% of businesses will fail.

0 (7m 55s):
Within 10 years, clay is helping businesses like yours to grow on average by 104% annually. How's this even possible Clayton only takes on 160 clients. So he personally designed your business plan. Plus Kelly's team helps you execute that plan with access to graphic designers, Google certified search engine, optimizers, web developers, online ad managers, videographers workflow mappers in accounting coaches visit ThriveTimeShow.com/fire, to see thousands of video testimonials from real people, just like you, who clay has helped over the years. That's right. Do your research and view thousands, not hundreds of proven documented in archived video testimonials from real people, just like you at ThriveTimeShow.com/fire, ThriveTimeShow.com/fire. Then schedule your free consultation with clay himself to see how he and his team can help you thrive.

0 (8m 41s):
Are you working around the clock to build the business? You always imagined. Do you want to communicate with your fast growing list of customers in a personalized way, but also in a way that gives you time to work on the rest of your business? Do you ever wonder how companies you, the ones that redefined their categories do it companies like living proof and Chubbies they do it by building relationships with their customers from the very beginning, while also evolving in real time as their customers' needs change, these companies connect quickly with the customers, collect their information and start creating personalized experiences and offers that inspire a rapid purchase. Often within minutes of uploading their customer data, Klaviyo empowers you to own the most important thing to any business, the relationship between you and your customers and the experiences you deliver from the first email to the last promotion.

0 (9m 28s):
So learn more about how Klaviyo helps you own your growth visit klaviyo.com/fire. That's KLAVIYO.com/fire cliff we're back. And one thing that I love in your message that you shared right at the top of the show is that, Hey, you don't have to sacrifice your family, everything for your entrepreneurship journey. What is your work-life balance as a business owner and combine that with your advice for other people who are struggling with work-life balance,

1 (9m 57s):
We all sign up for what we do. We sign up to do the job and be a hundred percent into it, but make sure we love it. And so for me, I'm very passionate about being there for my kids. I wrote the other day on LinkedIn. I said it was, it was Sunday night and I could not sleep. I had a million things I needed to do for work, and I knew that it would always be there, but the next day I was taking my son somewhere because it was a vacation day. And seeing his excitement of being able to have a day with me will always be a memory that I'll never forget that day. If you asked me two years from now, what were you doing on that day?

1 (10m 37s):
I'll be able to tell you vividly everything my son and I did. But if I were to go to work that day and do all the tasks that I needed to do that were there the next day would never, it would just be a blip on the radar. I was going through the motions. So for me, it has always been putting my kids and my wife first and my family first, everything else will fall into place. So how do I do that? I'll wake up at four, four 30 every day before the storm starts of getting the kids ready for school and all the kids going and needing to be fed. So I get up, I read, I put out the emails, I start my day. And so when they get up at six 37 o'clock, I start my day with my family, get them off to school, spend some time with them.

1 (11m 18s):
And then I go and put a hundred percent into my efforts every single minute of the day onward. And then I get home, spend some time with them and if I needed to read or whatever it is, that's my time. But I block out that time because I'll never get it back with my kids.

0 (11m 35s):
And what specific advice can you give for people that are right now, struggling with that? I mean, I love the waking up super early and crushing that part of the day. What's something else that's really worked for you that you think could work for people that are listening to the show.

1 (11m 48s):
I just think it's simply put that you can put a hundred percent of your effort during the day and still Tom, and have that work-life balance. I mean, there's, there's so many distractions now with Facebook and LinkedIn and all of the social media feeds that are coming through that we can listen to or watch and go down the rabbit hole of watching this video. So if you really want to analyze, look at what you're doing and where you're putting your time during the day, that when you should be fully focused on your job and say, am I really putting in a hundred percent? And so for me, one of the things I did was I needed a self-awareness, you know, you only learn being a CEO about being a CEO. And so for me, I hired a coach. It was one of the most important things I've done in the last eight months of my life that can help me guide myself of what I'm doing and an understanding.

1 (12m 33s):
And so that's been a biggest thing. So find a mentor, find a coach that can help you in and understand what you're going through. That there's so many other people doing it as well.

0 (12m 43s):
So many other people are actively doing these things. Fire Nation, believe me, you can too. Let's talk about learning and growing and bettering ourselves. You've been able to do that. You know, despite having a family and running a business and doing all of these things, how can you share with Fire Nation, some tactics that you've picked up and, you know, some specific areas locations, whether it be virtual online, or in person that you've been able to find to again, learn and grow and better yourself as an entrepreneur, as a person

1 (13m 14s):
Into your podcast and listening to the stories of others and getting inspired and finding those bits of information that you might be missing out on that are on topic of what you're doing. It's reading that next book that you can apply to your work life. I just said, I just read the hard things about hard things by Ben Horowitz. And it's great. It's let me understand of what it's like to be CEO and understanding the decisions I have to make. So find what you need and where your weaknesses are, and surround yourself with people that are much smarter than you first and foremost, and learn from them and have that mentor that can guide you in the direction that you need to go. But it's always finding that path, whatever, if you're an audible learner, listened to the podcast, listen to yours, listened to the ones that are out there.

1 (13m 58s):
If you need to read, read the books, that kind of apply to what you're doing and how to better yourself and who you want to be in the years to come

0 (14m 6s):
Surround yourself with people, Fire Nation, that better you. That's one thing that I pulled out of a lot of Austin, things that cliff just shared. And why do you think I, in every single episode, which I'll end this one as well with, by saying you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with and you and hanging out with cliff and JLD today. So keep up the heat because these are true isms cliff, what drives you?

1 (14m 26s):
How's my family every day, giving ourselves alive that they will be happy, inspire them to be the best. And I tell my kids every single day, make someone's day great today. And so seeing my kids, raising them to be the best person, they can be whatever they want to be in life. My kids drive me and my wife drives me every single day. And that's what pushes me. I know when I wake up, I've got to put a hundred percent into. I do to be the best husband, dad, business owner, entrepreneur helper of all these people that are investing in my company to find their journey. That's it. I'm going to give a hundred percent every single day to everyone that comes in contact with me

0 (15m 5s):
100% because Fire Nation, why would you give anything less? I mean, this is the one life you have to live. If this is in your blood, which we talked about on the first topic today, it's a hundred percent or 0% go all in or don't even do it at all. So cliff, you shared a ton of value bobs today. Lots of great takeaways. What's one thing you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from everything that we shared here today.

1 (15m 32s):
It's your life and make sure you're happy. That is it. Once you realize that you have a set amount of time left in life, and if you really start to break it down, you've got so much, so little time left. So make and take advantage of every opportunity, create those memories that will last a lifetime because once you really think about it, life isn't a dress rehearsal. So every single day you get one shot of it, give it a hundred percent.

0 (15m 59s):
Frios Gourmet Pops. This is something that cliff is working on right now, Fire Nation. This is a business that he has with gourmet frozen pops. These are delightful. I mean, he actually fed exed me in this frozen packaged, by the way. I mean, I get like medicine from the VA that has to remain cold the veteran's hospital. And like, they do a terrible job at it. This bro, he sent me like this freeze dried package that like even the Puerto Rican humidity, it was still, every Popsicle was frozen, like a rock. It was amazing. And these are gourmet pops. I mean, I was telling him before the episode, cause I was just going over how much my nine year old niece and my six-year-old nephew loved them and how frankly, I can't keep away from them either.

0 (16m 41s):
I mean, I've gotten I've, I've loved the birthday cake, the cold brew and the coconut flavored one. So cool. So let's give at the end here, cliff, a little shout out to Frios and I love your tagline, which is awesome by the way, the best things in life are Frios. Talk to us quickly about that. How Fire Nation can maybe get a little gourmet frozen pop in their life as well. And then we'll say,

1 (17m 7s):
Yeah, thanks. Frios is a mobile franchise system. So it allows for a lot of flexibility. It's a very simple system, perfect in the environment that we're in right now. And so it's for the startup of the young family that wants to start their entrepreneurship journey early, or it's for the people that are going into similar retirement, but they don't want to fully retire and they want to involve their family. So it's simple. We, we still happiness for a living through popsicles and we do it all across the country. And so you need to go to a Fritos franchise.com and get more information or go to free us pops and see all of our flavors,

0 (2s):
Fire Nation. As I promised, I'm going to share this.

0 (17m 40s):
You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with CK and JLD today. So up that heat head over to EOFire.com type cliff in the search bar has shown us page will pop up with everything we talked about today. Literally the best shownotes in the biz and cliff. I just want to say thank you brother, for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today, for that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by cliff ends. If you've had your big idea, you'd be ready to ignite Fire Nation. But if you don't have your big idea, you're just a fizzle.

0 (18m 21s):
My free training will get you to your big idea in less than an hour. Literally visit your BigIdea.io today, and I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip. The flip side,

2 (18m 33s):
Customers

0 (18m 33s):
Want more from brands delivering more means owning the customer experience, taking control over data acquisition analysis, creative and delivery. Klaviyo calls this owned marketing, and they believe it's the best path to growth for more visit KLaviyo.com/fire that's KLAVIYO.com/fire. Looking for a business coach who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you to increase your profitability by an average of 104% per year, all for less money than would cost to hire a full-time minimum wage employee. Schedule your free consultation today with Clay Clark, a former small business administration entrepreneur of the year at Thrivetimeshow.com/fire Thrivetimeshow.com/fire.