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A very interesting entrepreneur who I was able to recently have a chat with is Rafael Eliassen. Eliassen dropped out of school and landed a job as a janitor, but his story doesn’t end there. Through the hardships and struggles, he was able to build multiple 7-figure profit businesses from scratch, yes scratch. Eliassen built a brand as a motivational speaker in his early twenties, which quickly reached an audience of over 30 million people with his speeches. He soon realized that he could help and support other entrepreneurs all over the world.
I was able to interview Eliassen and ask him a few questions, here is what he had to say.
Can you tell me the story of your prior successes, challenges, and major responsibilities?
I used to have social anxiety to such an extreme that I could barely leave my home. Getting in front of the camera to speak was one of my greatest fears, yet I committed and made videos every single day for my entire first year of starting my own business. Now I’ve spoken at many big conferences and reached over 30-million people with my work.
The whole way I’ve been using my challenges and obstacles as opportunities to rise up and reach a new level of performance. So many business owners I have worked with were struggling when they came to me, and being able to help them turn a profit, or double their marketing ROI in just a few short months gives me that same incredible feeling as breaking through my own past limiting beliefs.
Being held to the fire of accountability, and living under the pressure of having to create astounding results for my clients have given me an unfair advantage early in my life.
Can you tell me about a time when you almost gave up, how you felt about that, and what you did instead of giving up?
Every single day when I first started my journey was an internal battle, I had very little support and no real proof that I would have any chance at succeeding, and it was horrifying. I dropped out of school and burnt all my bridges as far as safe options were concerned.
However, my utter belief in commitment and following through on your word made me lock myself in with the goals I had set for myself. Although I certainly doubted myself many times, giving up was not an option. I would pivot, or try a different approach, but always find a way.
This is how I was able to thrive early on in my entrepreneurial endeavours.
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