Interviewer:
Please introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about what you do.
Adam:
Hi, my name is Adam Markel, and I’m the CEO of New Peaks. [Now Success Resources America]
I’m also an author and a recovering attorney.
Interviewer:
Who (if anyone) inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
Adam:
There’s actually no ONE person that inspired me to become an entrepreneur. I knew early on in my life that I wanted to do something that was different, and that I didn’t fit the “mold” of being an employee. And so rather than continuing to buck that feeling, I sought out ways to express my value in the world.
So, I started out selling baseball cards, when I was 15 years old. Later, I became an attorney and practiced law for 18 years. And then I went to my earlier roots of wanting to create things and I started a business that transforms lives all over the world.
Interviewer:
Tell us about some of the driving factors that led you to start your own company?
Adam:
My company started as a result of my own pain. I was in my late thirties and had kind of felt like I was hitting a wall, and I knew I needed to change something. I had a near-death experience. And in that moment I had more clarity, if I continued to do what I was doing, I would probably have had a heart attack or just continued to live in a very unfulfilled way. And it became intolerable for me, so I knew I needed to pivot. I needed to change something and reinvent something in my life.
And what I ultimately did was start to follow that instinct. I started to teach and train people a little bit about following that instinct, because I was doing it myself. And I made a complete shift out of full-time practice of law. I also owned some commercial real estate at the time, and was dabbling in some of those things as well. And, I ultimately took my knowledge and experience, and I started to train and teach and coach and mentor other people to be able to get outside the box of their conventional thinking; their limiting set of beliefs and that type of thing. I helped them by coaching and mentoring them in business, and that turned out to be very successful on
Interviewer:
On a daily basis, what motivates you to keep doing what you do?
Adam:
On a daily basis, what is a burning desire for me is the ability to help people change their lives. In fact, not just change their lives but in some way shape or form be happier, healthier, wealthier; the ability to glimpse and then take action to be able to actualize a higher version of themselves. And the only thing, in my experience, that holds people back no matter what their profession, whether they are an employee, or they own a business, wherever they’re at…the only thing that holds anybody back from actualizing a higher version of themselves is fear.
And so whether I work with CEOs of major corporations or people just starting out in business, it doesn’t matter. Fear is the one thing that keeps us from expressing the highest version of ourselves!
Interviewer:
What is the best advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Adam:
The most important tip that I can give to anybody, whether you have a little bit of money, no money, a lot of money, is to MAKE MORE MISTAKES!
From the time we’re young, we’re taught that mistakes are bad, that there’s a consequence to them and therefore they play small. They in essence try to avoid mistakes. And in my experience as a serial entrepreneur, business owner and all that kind of thing… then only thing that I’ve experienced for myself that has created the best results and the greatest success has been my willingness to step out even after a mistake, learn a lesson and move on.
And now having worked with some billionaires in the industry and in many industries, I find that’s what they all have in common. Every successful person, if you dive into their story (if they’ll share that story with you) you’ll find that they had tons of hardship both physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, in relationships, in health…even in their finances and their business.
And the only thing that they all have in common is this knack, this innate knack to get back up, take the lessons and move forward. So my advice to anybody, especially those who might be struggling even, is to FAIL MORE OFTEN! Find out more. Because failure is NOT failure. Failure is finding out what doesn’t work. And when you know what doesn’t work you have a keener sense of what does work.
Interviewer:
What books have inspired you? And what books (including your own) would you recommend to others?
Adam: There’s several books that I read when I was engaged in my reinvention, my pivot. I read:
Awaken the Giant Within