John Marvin: Navigating Entrepreneurial Pivots with Purpose

Ep. 92: The Power of Pivoting with John Marvin

In episode 92 of The Undiscovered Entrepreneur, host SC He speaks with seasoned entrepreneur John Marvin. John's journey spans across various industries, from marketing and advertising to pharmaceuticals, and finally to the eye care business. As the current president of Texas State Optical, John has transitioned the company from a franchise model to a brand licensing model, helping young optometrists establish independent practices. John shares insights on navigating personal and professional setbacks, emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, adaptability, and maintaining a positive mindset. He also discusses common hurdles new entrepreneurs face and underlines the significance of starting early and embracing growth opportunities.

00:00 Introduction and Gratitude
00:34 Meet John: A Seasoned Entrepreneur
01:42 John's Entrepreneurial Journey
07:02 The Power of Pivoting
09:26 Overcoming Fear in Entrepreneurship
12:08 Franchising vs. Brand Licensing
15:09 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
21:22 John's Personal Reflections
24:44 Making a Difference in Optometry
26:23 Impacting Lives Beyond Optometry
28:57 The Entrepreneurial Mindset
31:10 Overcoming Personal and Professional Challenges
38:01 Adapting to Industry Changes
41:29 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
43:05 Key Takeaways and Conclusion

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Transcript

 John Marvin

John Marvin

[00:00:00] This is an Undiscovered Legacy production.

Hello, school believers, and welcome to episode 93 93 of the undiscovered entrepreneur.

 And it's me sc he coming at you. What different device do you happen to be listening on? First of all, I want to say a great big thank you to anybody that's been listening to my podcast. I really appreciate you.

We're almost to 100 and I just want to dedicate everything to y'all that's been listening so far Thank you so much for taking the time out of your life to listen to the undiscovered entrepreneur And hopefully you learned something from everything that we've talked about today. All right, that being said today's Entrepreneur is john now.

John's not your typical entrepreneur that we normally talk about He is a quite seasoned entrepreneur, but he is amazing , from marketing and advertising industry to the pharmaceutical industry, and eventually finding his passion in the eye care business. John's entrepreneur path [00:01:00] has been marked by many, many pivots and much, much resilience.

Now, as the president of Texas state optical, John has transformed the company from a franchise model to a brand licensing business. And we're going to talk about the differences between those two. So don't worry about that. Helping young optometrists establish their own independent practices.

 John shares insights on how he navigated personal and professional setbacks, emphasizing the importance of self reflection, adaptability, and positive mindset and entrepreneurial success. So ladies and gentlemen, let's listen to John.

Are you ready to unlock your entrepreneur potential? Are you ready to break free from all the barriers holding you back? Then you've come to the right place. Welcome to the Undiscovered Entrepreneur, your first step in getting across the start line.[00:02:00]

I'm your host and guide Scoop, and I'm here with one mission. To help you overcome the obstacles standing between you and the start of your adventure. Whether you're dreaming of launching a startup, creating the next big app, or turning your passion into a thriving business, this podcast is your launchpad.

Together we'll navigate the challenges, Overcome hidden boundaries that stop us from starting and learn how to overcome them with the help of others. Experience them right along with you. So are you ready to take that crucial step to transform from aspiring to inspiring? Then let's get across that start line together right here, right now on the Undiscovered Entrepreneur.

Salutation school believers.

And we are here again with another amazing entrepreneur today. We're here with John. Hey, John, how's it going? [00:03:00] It's going 

right there, Scoob. 

All right. Thank you so much for being on the, on the Undiscovered Entrepreneur getting across the start line. I really appreciate you. 

You bet. It's my pleasure. I've 

been looking 

forward 

to this.

All right. That's awesome. Thank you. All right. So before we do anything, I do have one kind of semi serious question to ask you. Okay. Are you ready? 

I'm ready. 

All right. Here we go. Are you a school believer? I am. I 

am a school believer. 

All right, John. Thank you so much for being a school believer. I super appreciate that.

All right. So right here, the very beginning, what I like to do is get an idea of who you are, what your entrepreneur adventure is, and how you got across the start line in your entrepreneur adventure. 

Okay I, my name is John Marvin and I, I started a career out of college in the marketing and advertising industry and for various reasons, a number of reasons, chose to veer off of that path and go more into marketing [00:04:00] and ended up in a pharmaceutical industry.

and pursuing a marketing career path in that. And ultimately that led to a decision I had to make to move from the Midwest in Kansas to Chicago. And I chose not to do that. So I ended up getting into the eye care business in the early eighties and that kind of led me into an opportunity down in Houston, Texas, and that's where I live today.

And as I got to Houston and was continued in the eye care business I had an opportunity to branch out on my own and start a marketing research, consumer research and marketing management company. And that was really the core of my academic training, as well as my real passion and interest was the consumer and what they [00:05:00] believed or felt about products and, and their reaction to different campaigns and advertising messages.

And so that led me to an organization in Southeast Texas that became a client of mine. Called Texas State Optical, and I worked with them for about 10 years, and mainly with the franchisees of the company. At that time I helped them set up a franchise associate association so that they could work more effectively with the franchise or towards the end of the 90s.

I had an opportunity to help them negotiate the acquisition of that company. So the franchisees were. Negotiating to purchase the franchise or and because I was the business guy and not an optometrist, I got invited to help be a part of that. And as we were closing in on finishing that [00:06:00] deal up, I was given an opportunity to come on board as the new president of the company.

And one of the things that attracted me to it was that it, it really gave me an entrepreneur opportunity within the context of a corporation that because it was the nature of it was such that I pretty much had free reign in terms of decision making. And I reported to a board of directors, but it was largely a board of directors that I got to construct and help identify in those early days.

And I've been president since 2001, and in that we, we reshaped the company away from a franchise, franchisor relationship to a brand license company, given the strength of the Texas State Optical brand, which was started in 1936. So it had a rich [00:07:00] history and legacy in Texas, and so it really gave us a chance to remake it and what appealed to me, Scoob, at the time was that it was the ultimate fixer upper, and I really had a lot of latitude in going about doing that, and so today 23 years later, We have really remade the organization and today it's a, an exciting opportunity for a young optometrist to be able to go out and open their own practice and take advantage of a lot of the structure that might come from a corporate type of organization, but it's really their independent.

Private practice using our brand name for credibility, awareness, familiarity among consumers. And so I spend my day helping young independent optometrists. Run their small business and learn about what's necessary to be a successful entrepreneur. [00:08:00]

That's amazing. If we have any want to be optometrists out there looking to start their own business, John's, John, John's your guy there.

So we'll. I am 

so rich and famous. 

That's awesome. So, you say a lot of things. I think the one thing that really sticks out on my mind most is you did a lot of pivots. There's a lot of pivots from one thing to another thing, to another thing, to another thing that ultimately got you to where you are now, where you are today and being a successful entrepreneur.

Can you give us a little advice about pivoting and what to look out for and know when to pivot? 

I think it starts with the importance of understanding where it is you want to go. And if you understand where it is you want to go, then you can consider different vehicles. To get you there. And so I looked at it like that.

Out of the advertising business, I decided to, to switch vehicles and and pursue the eye care [00:09:00] business, but I always knew where I wanted to end up and that was ultimately running an organization. Myself and being in charge of. And so I was able to switch vehicles when I got into the eye care business.

And then I had an opportunity to really pursue with this client, a the marketing research and consumer vehicle at that time, it brought me closer to where I wanted to be and always with a sense of faith. I think that's extremely important. You got to believe in yourself. You got to believe in it where you want to go, and then you can begin to more effectively evaluate the different vehicles that can take you there and not be afraid to switch and and then your turn pivot.

And I, I never really. Pivoted from the standpoint of I want to be a fireman, but now I want to be a cowboy, and I didn't do that. What I did was I knew [00:10:00] where I wanted to end up. And then I kept looking for the opportunities to prevent themselves that I thought would bring me closer to where I want it to be.

And so I think that that's important. You got to keep your eye open and believe there's always another opportunity. As you go down and also understand when the vehicle you're currently in is running out of gas, stretching this metaphor a little bit, but when it, when you go, okay. I've come to the end of this.

Now, where else can I go? What other opportunity and doors open that I can walk through and, and pursue from that way. 

Fantastic. The one thing that I talk about a lot in my podcast is fear and the different types of fears that we have as entrepreneurs, as we go along and you make a good point, don't fear the pivot, I think is what really stuck out in my mind there.

Yeah, it's hard. It's difficult. It's something that we're not used to. And we're going into something. We don't know 100 percent what we're actually [00:11:00] getting into, but we feel in our heart of hearts. This is the way we need to go. But don't hold back from that because you can be missing out on something that's really important to you in your life.

So make sure if you have that opportunity to pivot and you know it's time to pivot, you feel that it's the right thing to do. 

Yeah, and I, I'm glad you brought up the term fear because this is something I believe deeply in and that is fear is not real fear is imagined, because if you think about it, the only thing you can fear is something that hasn't yet happened and the only way you can perceive that it might happen is to imagine.

It might happen. So fear is really all in your imagination. And if you begin to believe in yourself and believe in the opportunity, you can change the way you think. And I, I'm a big believer in this, that the only thing we have total control over [00:12:00] is the way that we think. And if you can recognize that fear is simply a part of your imagination, then you can change that.

And instead of being fearful, you can become excited. You can anticipate great things happening, not be concerned all the time about something bad happening. And that's totally within our control. 

Yeah, fear and excitement actually come from the same part of our brain. 

That's right. 

So why don't we change the wording of fear into excitement and have it something to be positive for us, something for us to look forward to.

And, and I'm going to, I'm going to ask you this, I always ask this, but I think you're going to get this question, but do you know the acronym for fear? 

You made false evidence appearing real? 

Yay, ladies and gentlemen, we finally got somebody that knows what it is. I've been asking that question for a long time.

What's 

that? I said I 

was a SCU 

believer. 

Yeah, you sure are. [00:13:00] Fantastic. Thank you so much. I feel so validated. So yeah, keep that in mind, ladies and gentlemen. It's not something, it's not a saber toothed tiger that's going to bite you in the rear end. It's, it's something that happens in our head. And what we do with that information.

Makes us who we are and helps us make the decision. So that's amazing. I'm curious. I'm going to go back just a little bit here. And you were talking about franchising and brand licensing. Can you give me a quick synopsis of the difference between the two? Sure. 

First of all, franchising.

Franchising is the opportunity to adopt, pay for, an operational system, a way of doing things. If you think about all of the franchises that you and I've come across, whether they be food or service industries, what the person purchasing the franchise is really purchasing is an operational [00:14:00] system. We buy a subway franchise.

Because they make sandwiches and what we're doing is we don't buy a Subway franchise and decide, you know what, I think pickles and tacos would make a much better menu than Subway sandwiches. What we do is we buy their operational system and for that we pay a royalty. And typically there's an advertising contribution required to help promote the brand.

A brand license company is a company that owns a brand that has intrinsic value in it from a consumer perspective. I think one of the best examples is Disney. Disney makes A large majority of their corporate revenues from licensing the use of the Disney brand, whether it be toys or food products or lunch boxes, things like this, they aren't involved in the [00:15:00] operational.

creation of the product that is using that brand. They're only involved in protecting, building value in the brand, and then licensing to other people. Ferrari is another example. Ferrari makes 80 percent of all the revenue of the corporate Ferrari, not from cars. They established the brain value through the cars, but they licensed the use of it to apparel and accessories and things like this.

And so there's a big difference. A brain license company. Focuses on the value of the brand that they are used licensing to others to use, but we're not involved in the operational control of the, in our case, optometry practices, we can give guidance, we give direction, but if they want to operate a certain way, as long as it's legal and moral, then we're okay with that.

A franchise company [00:16:00] is, is not a franchise company says you've got to be open these hours. You've got to sell these products. You've got to do it in the way that we want it done. And that's, that's the biggest difference. 

Fantastic. I just wanted to get that those definitions out there. I've obviously I've heard of franchise, but I've never heard of how brand licensing actually works.

So I really appreciate you going that over. 

Sure. 

All right. So, since my audience is mainly new entrepreneurs that are just getting started in their entrepreneur adventure, what do you think actually holds most entrepreneurs back from getting across the start line in their entrepreneur adventure? 

I want to make sure I understand the question.

So, if you could elaborate a little bit on holding them back from getting across the start line. 

Absolutely. What do you mean by that? So a lot of us have these ideas. They have these wants to start a business, but there's always that 1 thing that holds them back. Now, normally what I do is I go over the four [00:17:00] hurdles of stop, which is imposter syndrome, perfectionism, failure, and fear.

Now, I know there's other ones out there and that's why I try to get a variety of what most people, most new entrepreneurs, I'm trying to say this right, what most experienced entrepreneurs see in other entrepreneurs that's stopping them from getting across the start line. In other words, starting their business.

So what do you see most commonly when it comes to start a new person, starting a new business. 

I don't have a term for it, but I can describe it. And that is the belief that you have to know everything before you can get started. You've heard things like, you don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to get great.

And I have a friend who, for his profession, what he does is he leads people on expeditions up Mount Everest. And when I first met him and I learned what he did, I found it fascinating because if, [00:18:00] if someone decides I want to climb Mount Everest, then it goes to him for help. They have to in the beginning, they commit to a 2 year training program, 2 years and about 300, 000 is what it's going to cost.

And. Then he takes them on a training process to prepare to climb Mount Everest. And he's got a saying that I just love, and that is, You learn how to climb mountains by climbing mountains. And I think that entrepreneurism the same. You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to get accomplished and what you learn in the doing is what creates the expertise and the idea that I have to be perfect at this, or I have to know everything about it to get started is what holds a lot of people back.

And the [00:19:00] reality is you're going to fail. A tremendous amount of times as you go down this journey, but if you're really committed, then that failing becomes education and learning and you just keep going and you keep every day. You take more steps towards it. And I would just encourage anybody. Get started, get started.

If you think you want to run a business that's in the entertainment industry or entertainment, whether it's a putt putt golf course or, or some other type of local small business, get started because if that turns out, you can always change and do something else. And the one thing you don't have to worry about is money, because as long as you're passionate.

About what you want to do, the money will find you, it's the people that want the money that aren't willing to go through the growth and the personal growth that's [00:20:00] necessary to deliver that expertise and therefore the money, so just get started, get started and. And learn from the mistakes you make. 

And that's the most important thing too.

And I, I just can't reiterate so much about how important is it just to do something to get across the start line, whether it's just read a book, whether it's just to talk to somebody like John here or something, no matter how small it is, it's going to make a difference eventually one way, shape, or form for yourself.

And for your business. And it's so important not to follow the money, but follow the passion, follow what you love, follow your zone of genius, because that's going to be your driving force and, and going forward, but still not making monetary difference, it's going to, the monetary difference will come later.

Right now, concentrate on knowing what you love to do and what your next step is to accomplish [00:21:00] what it is that you love to do. 

That's right. Malcolm Gladwell's got a book called the outliers. And in that he talks about requiring 10, 000 hours of doing anything to develop expertise in it.

And those first 2000 hours are going to be filled with a lot of frustration. And a lot of failure, but having done what I do for as long as I've done it, I can attest to the fact that there comes a point that the, the, the uphill climb seems almost to flip where you get so confident and knowledgeable about what it is you do that that.

Takes you to another level of understanding, which leads you to more confidence to lead you to more action and activity and but you gotta hang in there. You got it. There were a lot of times back in the early 2000s and 90s [00:22:00] where I would go home and I going, what the heck am I doing? I mean, you just question it, but you just, you wake up the next day and you keep pursuing it.

You keep following it. And, and eventually you become an expert, you become, you develop expertise. I don't really like the term expert, but but you develop expertise. I do believe that. 

Absolutely. That's amazing. Thank you so much for that. John. That's some awesome information. Everybody keep that and that book outliers.

We'll have that in the show notes in case anybody wants to take a look at that book. That John's talking about there. It's a great book. It's a great 

book. 

So, when you were first getting started, I know you came a long ways from where you're at, because you pivoted so many different ways, different things, but when you were talking about earlier and, and the problems that other entrepreneurs were having getting started, you find yourself going through that same kind of thing, or would your experience a little bit different when you were just getting started?

Yeah, I mean, there were many times that I probably up [00:23:00] into my late thirties, early forties that I, I was constantly questioning, is this really what I want to do, because I was always very aware of the fact that. You've only got one runway, really, and I, what I didn't want to do is end up in my late 50s and early 60s regretting I hadn't done something I really wanted to do, and, and so that's what kept me focused on constantly one being self aware and always evaluating.

Is this, is this what I want to do? Is this taking me in a direction that I want my career to be? And by having that always in the fourth forefront of my thoughts. Helped me stay on track, but yeah, I mean, I, there was a, I told you I was in the ad business and then I switched to [00:24:00] pharmaceutical and then I was in the eye care business.

So, oftentimes I would say, is this really what I want to do? And I would have to step back and say is it getting you closer to where you want to be? Steven Covey talks about. Starting with the end in mind, and you've got to sit down and figure out what is it. I think the most difficult thing is deciding what it is you want to do, where you want to be, what you want to accomplish and and being true to that a lot of us end up doing things.

Our parents wanted us to do or our spouse wants us to do. And that's, that's, that's nothing but a formula for misery. You got to sit down and figure out what is it I really want. And I, I'm a big one of my mentors that I spend a lot of time with is John Maxwell, John C. Maxwell. And and he talks about [00:25:00] the fact that you've got to be true to your own desire and focus.

And And spending time and understanding what that is, and self reflection is an underrated important activity to build time into your day, into your week, into your month, and into your year for structured self reflection. And I find that to be such a critical. Aspect of achievement, but one of the things he helped me see is I knew I wanted to do something that made a difference.

And I knew then that I thought about it and I said, I want to do something that makes a difference with other people who want to make a difference. Wanted to be surrounded with other people who were like me, were motivated to make a difference. And then the next phase [00:26:00] was for me to understand that I wanted to do something different, excuse me, do something that made a difference with people that wanted to make a difference.

All of us doing something that actually makes a difference. And when I had this opportunity open up to really help young optometrists, Open up their own practice one of the team people that I brought on and hired early on, we were sitting around the conference room one day and he said, what's amazing, john.

And I said, what's that? And he said, we're helping people live their dreams. I mean, our whole focus in what we do is helping that young optometrist live out the dreams that they had when they were setting an optometry class. And they're, we're helping them educate their children, send their children off to good schools, help them to take good vacations, helping them to drive nice cars, helping them to touch the lives of people in their community.[00:27:00]

And we're doing that. I mean, we're not the only ones contributing to it, but that's largely what we do. And when you find somebody who has that sparkle in their eye, that they too want to make a difference in their own community, that's the people that we can help the best and help the most. And so, that's what, is exciting every day, even after doing that all these years, it's exciting to get on the phone and then be in a meeting with a young OD that's just beginning and has their whole career ahead of them.

It's pretty, it's pretty amazing. It's fantastic. And you make a good point where when you touch your life, you're not touching just that one person's life, but you're touching the life of everybody that that person is going to come into contact with because you are a part of getting out there and getting them started, getting them across the start line, giving them the tools that they needed to make a difference in everybody else's life that [00:28:00] they're going to touch.

So that, and that's how we change the world in our own kind of mind and their own kind of way, because it's going to touch their life. Who's going to touch somebody else's life. That's going to touch somebody else's life. So when you're, when you're going through your entrepreneur adventure, think about that, think about what kind of changes you can make, not just in that person's life, but that person's life.

Who's has that person's life. Who has that person's life. 

That's right. I mean, at some point, some optometrists that I've helped is going to turn around and change the life. Of maybe an eight year old who can't see the blackboard in school, I stood up in front of a group of our organization employees one time.

And I said, what is it you do for a living? And I looked out on the group, there was a couple of hundred of them and I said, think about this. What is it you do for a living? And I said, if you're at Sunday school class, or you're at a cocktail party, or you're at a ball game and someone says, [00:29:00] John, what do you do?

What did your answer to those people? And of course, the what you might expect came up about I'm an optician. I sell glasses. I do this. And I said, let me suggest something to you what you do for a living is you help fathers see their daughters on their wedding day. You help parents see their five year old in their first game of t ball.

I said, what you really do for a living is you help people see the most important things in their lives. And if it weren't for you, think of how many of those people might not have that experience. And at some point, someone you help is going to help someone changes their life. And that's a, that's a humbling thing to think about that you're involved on a day to day basis with that kind of impact on [00:30:00] mankind.

I don't think it's hyperbole. I think that if, and certainly if you believe it, you'll make that happen. You will have that kind of impact. 

It goes into an analogy I like to talk to you about the drill in the hole, where when we're going through our entrepreneur venture, We're at first, we want to drill, but the drill, we don't really want the drill.

We want the hole that the drill will drill. That's right. But let's take that one step further. What are we going to use that whole for? 

That's right. Right. 

We're going to hold to hang photos of our family. We're going to use that whole for whatever it is that you want to do to make the memories of whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish.

That's what we want. We don't want so much as the whole, but we want what that holds going to accomplish for us in our lives. And you make a great point in what that was accomplishing for you is being able to see our family is being able to see and accomplish things that we need to accomplish. So you make a great point when it comes to that, John, 

You wear [00:31:00] glasses.

I can tell. So do I. And, and so you, you purchased those glasses. I doubt if you made them yourself, you purchased them from somebody. And I don't know what your vision is, but my guess is you're fairly dependent on those glasses. And, and so that person that you purchased those glasses from, and the person that made those glasses that sold them to the person that sold them to you.

They're what they've done is they've created a podcast. I mean, those glasses are necessary for you to do what you're doing. And so I doubt if the person who made the glasses, who sold them to who you bought them from, were thinking about, I'm making a pair of glasses today that will help change the whole world of podcasting.

Because I'm going to help this person bring that to fruition into an audience around the world. Literally, you [00:32:00] can, your podcast has got an international reach to it. And so I, I think you're right. It's not even the whole that we want. It's what the whole represents to us. 

Exactly. 100%. Yeah. All right. Oh, that felt good.

Okay. So, so you've, you've. Had a lot of accomplishments up to this point in, in your career. Do you have a pitfall that happened to you that you're proud of? This is a stumper for a lot of people where this is like something really bad happened, but I'm glad this bad thing happened because if it wasn't for that bad thing happening, then this positive thing wouldn't happen right after that.

Do you ever have anything like that happened to you? Oh 

yeah. We don't have enough time to go through that, but I will point out a couple. And and two different unrelated one was a divorce. And that's something that a lot of people have experienced. [00:33:00] And I know people that. their lives were destroyed by what happened through a divorce.

But it wasn't the divorce that destroyed the life. It was their reaction to the divorce that destroyed their life. And had I not gone through that, I wouldn't be married to the woman that I'm married to today and have the kind of life that I have with her and what that's led to in terms of our family.

The other, from a career standpoint, is I got fired and I got fired over a disagreement. I'll put it that way. I don't, I don't think what I did merited being fired, but I got fired and on my way home from the job that I had been fired from caused to leave early, I called a couple of clients that I [00:34:00] had been working with to explain to them that I will no longer be working with you because I got fired and both of said to me we'd like to work with you anyway.

Would you be willing to continue to do the work for us, but do it on a contract basis? And, my attitude at the time, my wounded ego was I got to do something, to make some money. And that led to establishing my own business where I started doing consumer research for a large number of clients, but it started with those two and ultimately led me to the group of people at Texas State Optical that I, my first involvement with them is I did a two year large consumer study.

For them and and so, but again, it wasn't the firing. We're not victims of circumstances. James Allen. [00:35:00] Great. Great man wrote a book as a man. Think it's and he talks about. Circumstances don't create a life, but our reaction to the circumstances create the life and and I, I really think that that's true. And 1 of them again, I'll go back to controlling your mind.

1 of the most difficult things is to to go through an experience like that. And instead of being defeated by it to force yourself to think. What is the opportunity in this and and and really look for that opportunity. I'm a big believer. You find what you look for. You find what you look for. And if you look for disaster and negative consequences and so forth, you're going to find it.

But if you force yourself to look for others, things, good things, opportunities, you'll find those as well. 

The brain tends [00:36:00] to find what you're looking for. And that's just, you'll find it, and a good example of that would be if you go out and buy a brand new car and it's red. Suddenly you see all the red cars out there.

That's right. 

Yeah. One that actually happened to me was right after my first son was born and you get that, that dad feel like this is my son. Suddenly I'm seeing babies all over the place. 

Yeah. 

They said, I didn't even think about looking for something. There's babies all over the place. My since I was the thing that's happened to me at that particular moment, my brain sought out these things.

I don't normally look for this. It's the same thing when we're doing our entrepreneur adventure or anything else. As long as we're looking for that positive thing, we're looking for that one thing. The brain will help us find us. But if you are filling your head with these negative thoughts and these, these horrible wise and things like that, it's going to find them for you because that's what you're telling your brain to look for.

That's right. That's right. I'm a, 

I'm a huge believer in that. And it's, and that was molded over the [00:37:00] years. And I was first introduced to that by Napoleon Hill. And think and grow rich. And my first time I read that book, I thought, Oh boy, this is a bunch of, just buzz talk. Frankly, I didn't understand it.

That's what it was. And over time and revisiting it and having others introduced me to similar. Beliefs and philosophies. I went back to it and it, the second time around, it really changed my whole perspective on things. 

Yeah, it's definitely one of those kind of books where you have to listen over.

I listened to my books. I don't read them, but I listened to him a couple of times over to start catching the things that I didn't hear the first time around 

and 

corresponding with the new things that I'm learning, understanding there's a correlation between these 2 things. Then it actually. Whoa, this actually is the thing.

It does click. Now it makes perfect sense. So that's definitely, that one's definitely in my resources website. 

It's the [00:38:00] same thing. You've probably heard the saying, you can't step in the same stream twice because the second time it's a different stream and you're a different person. And that's the same when you read a book the second time, you never really read a book twice.

You read because the book speaks to you differently. And you're different when you listen, in your case, or I read. So, it's the same thing. We're continually learning. And growing. So I, that's another thing I would really encourage entrepreneurs decide at the very beginning, I'm going to be a student of life.

I'm going to be a continual student, a continual learner. I'm going to have a hunger to always learn more and become better. And, and that will serve you extremely well. 

Fantastic. Keep that on mind, school believers. John's been putting out some great points there. Take [00:39:00] notes.

All right. So during the wrap up here, I'd like to do this with all my guests. And in six months, I'd like to know what your goals are for you and your company in the next six months. 

Our company, the industry we're in is facing a lot of challenges because of a very dynamic marketplace. And it, it isn't just optometry, it's really the whole world of healthcare.

And one of the ways I would try to illustrate it for people who aren't really involved in the industry is there was a time back in the seventies, in fact, my very first job was I worked in a drug store. In a small town and that drug store was owned by the pharmacist and pharmacy and drug stores were private owned.

businesses at that time, often and usually by a pharmacist. And today [00:40:00] you don't see those anymore. Now you go to a Walgreens or a CVS, you don't even see a company like Eckerd's anymore, which used to be a big pharmacy chain. And in the same way, your private practitioner, your pediatrician used to be private practice, old Doc Marvin.

And those aren't exist anymore. All the family practices are owned by large medical organizations and private practice optometry is going through the same kind of evolution, a consolidation. And so I run an organization that's a brand license organization of independent private practices that that mode of practice is being challenged in its existence.

And so as an organization, we're having to rethink our entire business model. [00:41:00] We're having to think, what is it? How do we need to respond to this? Because we won't, we certainly don't want to be the very best, but last buggy whip maker in the business, and so we're having to constantly reevaluate our business model and what changes.

And that has to really. That's been in development for a couple of years, but like most people, there's a real reluctance to change, and there's a tendency to quickly, immediately, your first response is denial, and that is all caught up with us to the point where, in the next 6 to 12 months, we've got to make some changes, we've got to make some hard decisions, and we have to, as an organization, embrace those as opportunities.

Not threats. And so that's what's happening to us. And I've got a series of meetings over the next 90 [00:42:00] days where those decisions have to be made so that we can begin implementing. So, a year from now. If you're kind enough to invite me back, I'll have a new chapter in this whole story. 

Excuse me. You must've read my mind, John.

Cause that's exactly what the, my next thing is wanted to say was I usually have my guests back within six months to a year to see how they're doing in their business and what's changed in their lives and that thing too. So I'd really like to have you back. Again, in about six months. Is that okay?

I'd be, I'd love that. You bet. All right. Thank you so much. I'm really excited to see where that goes. Especially after the conversation we had today. Yeah. All right, John, this is your time to shine here. This is a time where we want you to advertise yourself. How do we get ahold of you to ask you any questions and all that good stuff?

Okay. Ready, set, go. 

Okay. Probably the easiest way to get ahold of me is my email address. [00:43:00] And my cell phone, and I'll be bold enough here because with the school believer world out there, that my email address is JD Marvin at TSO. com. That's J D as in David, M A R V I N at T as in Tom S as in Sam.

Oh, as an Oscar TSO. com. My cell phone number is 2 8 1 4 3 3. 1 9 2 4 and I would, if you want to get ahold of me, text me and just say, I too am a school believer and I'd like to ask you a couple of questions or I'd like a minute to chat. And if you'll identify yourself as such, then I'll respond.

Otherwise I'll delete your message. 

All right. All right, John, thank you so much. This has been absolutely fantastic and probably the most validating. Conversation I've [00:44:00] had about what I feel about entrepreneurship in any of the podcasts that I've had so far. So thank you so much for your wisdom, John.

It's really a pleasure to be with you. I really do appreciate the opportunity. 

Fantastic. All right. School believers. Make sure you stay tuned for the wrap up. All right, everybody. Thank you. Bye bye. 

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that was John. What fantastic information. I hope all you new entrepreneurs out there got a little piece of something. Because if you got a little piece of that, you're going to go a long ways. But there is a couple of things that I really did take away from talking to John.

Embracing the power of pivoting. John's story demonstrates that pivoting and adapting to new opportunities. It's not a sign of failure, but rather a crucial skill in the entrepreneurial journey, being open to changing paths can lead to unexpected success. So when we're making these changes, you never know where you're going to end up with it.

That's why it's [00:45:00] important not to be scared of these different changes that we experienced in our entrepreneur adventure and cultivating the mindset of growth. , overcoming challenges and maintaining a positive, self reflective mindset is key to entrepreneurial success,

as evidenced by John's approach. Developing the ability to see obstacles as opportunities can help you push through setbacks and reach your goals. So always reach out for those goals, no matter what kind of challenges you have out there. Don't stop! Keep moving forward. You can do it. I can.

I am. I will. And I'm doing it today. Thank you everybody for listening to the Undiscovered Entrepreneur. And I will see you on the next episode. Bye bye!