Today on the show Jayson is talking with entrepreneur, mentor, podcaster, and philanthropist, Glenn Stearns. Glenn is the founder of Stearns Lending, now founder and CEO at Kind Lending, star of the Discovery channels Undercover Billionaire, and founder of Underdog BBQ in Erie, Pennsylvania.

From underdog in life to starring in Discovery Channel’s Undercover Billionaire. Glenn’s story is about adversity, attitude, and action from humble beginnings and the bumps along the way to achieving his wildest dreams. Glenn opens up to share his life, personally and professionally, to inspire others and to leave a legacy built on kindness.

Many have compared his journey to the fictional character Forrest Gump. Glenn’s adventures range from being in the courtroom the day of the OJ Simpson murder case closing arguments (“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”); traveling with astronauts and Vice Presidents; competing and winning the reality TV show “Gilligan’s Island”; to owning a Montana ranch with John Elway and a private Caribbean island with Sir Richard Branson.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com

Mentioned in the Episode:

Glenn’s Company: https://kindlending.com/

Glenn’s Website: https://www.glennstearns.com/

Glenn’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennstearns/

Glenn’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlennStearns

Glenn’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-3gGP3f-8D93UimKiaBoQ

Glenn’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlennBStearns

Glenn’s Podcast: https://www.glennstearns.com/grithappens

Timestamps:

1:35 – Early Days for Glenn Stearns

3:58 – Glenn’s Early Vision For Himself

6:17 – Glenn’s Parents Growing Up

10:46 – Dealing with Success and Family Members

12:42 – Putting Your People First

17:42 – Undercover Billionaire

22:33 – Being Ok with the Pressure

25:32 – Thinking of Cancer Like a Business

27:17 – Glenn’s Podcast, “Grit Happens”

29:24 – What Does “Don’t Be Held Hostage” Mean to Glenn?

32:11 – Finding Glenn Online

On today’s episode, Jeff welcomes Jayson Waller, founder and CEO of , America’s number one solar company. Waller is also the host of “,” a top five entrepreneurship podcast on Apple.

Waller shares his background and startup story, then delves in to the key moves he made to become one of the fastest-growing solar companies in America.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com

Mentioned in the Episode:

Key Moves Podcast: https://startupnation.com/podcast-radio/key-moves/

Jeff Sloan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsloandetroit/

Startup Nation’s Website: https://startupnation.com/

Today on the show Jayson is talking with Ajay Prakash and James Joun, co-founders of Rinse, a laundry and dry-cleaning app started in 2013. Ajay was COO and CFO of Humble Brands, a consumer product startup. He also had experience at Bonobos, Berkshire Partners, the NBA and Bain & Company. James was a health care investor at Essex Woodlands, a product manager at Genentech, and a consultant with Monitor Group.

The company, founded by Ajay Prakash and James Joun, is headquartered in San Francisco. Rinse is a portfolio company of Green D Ventures and Yard Ventures. Rinse started serving customers in 2013, but it was actually 30 years ago when the story really started. Joun’s parents have owned a dry cleaning storefront for more than three decades, and for years he’d been wondering how to increase sales in a particularly static industry. Ajay Prakash, befriended Joun at Dartmouth university. James Joun has degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard Business School. Joun was schooled in operations, such as running contraptions like the topper, which presses pant tops, and in the finer points of separating dirt and stains from all manner of fabrics. Joun now competes against the people who brought him into the business who also happen to be his parents.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com

Mentioned in the Episode:

Rinse’s Website – https://www.rinse.com/

Rinse’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rinse

James’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesjoun/

Ajay’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprakash03/

Ajay’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/aprakash03

Timestamps:

1:38 – James’s Childhood Experience

3:31 – How James and Ajay Met

6:13 – James and Ajay’s Relationship as Business Partners

7:10 – Bootstrapping the Business From the Start

9:25 – How Rinse Differentiates Itself From Others in the Market

13:46 – 2 Minute Pitch for Rinse

16:33 – Hardest Thing That James and Ajay Have Had to Overcome While Running Rinse

21:11 – Growth Strategy for Rinse Moving Forward

23:08 – ‘Covid Proofing’ Your Company in the Future

26:22 – Cow vs Buffalo

28:17 – What Ajay and James Are Most Proud Of

Today on the show Jayson talks about how you need to try and improve yourself by as small as 1% every single day, it’s like grass growing, you don’t notice it growing, but a week from now it needs to be cut! Improving yourself by 1% every day, that means you’ll have improved 365% in a year!!

Challenge yourself to things with which you’re uncomfortable, that’s the only real way to make improvements. If it was easy then everyone would be successful and the best versions of themselves, but it’s not. Try and set yourself a schedule for things you know you need to improve, that will help keep you accountable, and keep you on track to prove to yourself that you can do it.

Show yourself and show the haters in your life that you can do the hard stuff, that you can improve Every. Single. Day.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com

Timestamps:

1:23 – Giving 1% More Everyday

3:44 – Life is a Competition

4:48 – Two Small Goals Everyday

8:28 – Challenging Yourself Where You’re Not Comfortable

10:09 – Set Yourself a Schedule

12:02 – Show the Haters What You Can Accomplish

Today on the show Jayson is talking with Cheryl Contee, CIO of The Impact Seat, Chair / Founder of Do Big Things, and the Author of Mechanical Bull. Cheryl talks about how devastating it can be to be judged by your appearance in a professional, venture investment setting, how she has dealt with rejection because she’s a minority and what we can do to solve that problem going forward.

There’s a big problem today with minorities not getting the same opportunities as everyone else, and we all need to work together to help move past the situation.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com

Mentioned in the Episode:

Website: https://dobigthings.today
Medium Blog: https://cherylcontee.medium.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylcontee/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherylcontee/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ch3ryl

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Bull-Achieve-Startup-Success-ebook/dp/B07RKY759R

Timestamps:

2:03 – Creating a Better, More Professional Space For Women

3:33 – First Black Female Founder to be Acquired by NASDAQ

5:33 – Dealing with Rejection

9:32 – Being Judged by Your Appearance

12:18 – Being a Woman, and Being the Breadwinner

14:38 – Women vs Men For Job Prospects

17:42 – Take the Moment You’re Given No Matter Who You Are

18:40 – Cheryl’s Book, “Mechanical Bull”

22:50 – Giving Back to People Who Were Like You

24:12 – Why Should We Embrace Failure?

25:42 – Practice Your Pitch on Clubhouse

27:27 – Where to Find Cheryl Online

Jayson Waller’s hustle, heart and toughness allowed him to overcome adversity to become the mogul he is today. Jayson has built three companies from scratch into multimillion-dollar successes; his most recent endeavor, POWERHOME SOLAR, has grown to over 1,600 Employees and Nearly $500 Million in Annual Sales.

This Speaker, Top 5 Apple Podcaster, 4x Entrepreneur of the Year, and future bestselling author stops by P&G to drop some incredible knowledge on entrepreneurs.

Links:

Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdog

Reach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.com

Follow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/

Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbam

Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts:

www.trueunderdog.com