89 - Making a Living out of Rock and Roll with Tim Gillette
Tim's story began at the ripe old age of nine years old back in 1975, where he watched his father come home one night after getting laid off from another job. He remembers it like it was yesterday at that moment thinking that no company is going to determine when his family would go on vacation, what types of clothes his kids can wear, what type of house he would live in or what kind of food my family will eat. It was that day that he decided it and it stuck. But also at that moment he realized that the system did not work and he checked himself out. One of the greatest negative things in life that clicked around him was when his parents had him tested in school and the school administrator told his parents that he just needed to pick up a trade because he was not going to do that well in life. That in and of itself is a huge put down for any kid at any moment but in perspective he looks back on it now and that is the driving point that he needed to say, ‘oh yeah let me show you’.
What was your first entrepreneur venture? The first business was selling the Grit Newspaper in a small community. You were suppose to go house to house to sell the paper but Tim went to the local grocery store and gave a portion of his profit to the store so he could stand outside and sell to those that walked into the store. After high school he then started a car detailing business by going around and washing cars and had several business doing car detailing and cleaning. Many job and business in between as he had a family that he was supporting at the time but in 1992 he really had to push hard. He had a medical condition that hindered him from getting a job in the work place so he had to really learn to save and spend. With much saving he was able to build and open a body shop back east, with some added bonus of buying and selling cars.
Where did TimGillette.com come from? In 2004 he had his last car wash business and sold it to a guy out in the DFW Airport area. At the time he had been washing the car of Zig Ziglar and he was very fortunate to get one-on-one time with Zig. He was never a paid coach or never paid for any of his classes but knew him more personally than professionally. One day he was just sitting with Zig and having conversation about what was next for him in his life because he had put a do not compete clause in the sale of the car wash business. At that moment Zig explained to him the concept of coaching and speaking. However, he did not take it right away and run with it. He spent the next five years working for Starbucks, doing side jobs and goofing off. But to have Zig Ziglar tell you that you need to be a motivational speaker is like having Bill Clinton tell you that you need to run for president and that is when it really hit him that he needed to do something with the advice that he received. So he was getting ready to go out and purchase suits and clean up to look professional in the speaking world but the wise voice of Zig spoke again and told Tim that he was real and to make his current appearance work for him.
Where did you begin with your new career at this point? Well he started a blog and a domain name www.rockerlifecoach.com, because he was trying to find something authentic and that was available. On the blog he talked about personal and business growth. And from the blog is where he got into speaking. And one thing leading to another is where he became part of the Craig Duswalt radio show out in California. Before the radio show he met with Craig, attended some of his boot camps and was one of his masterminds who really helped shape the path of direction. One of the points that Craig said to Tim was that he was not a Life Coach and even the domain name sounded cool, it was really not saying who Tim Gillette was and what he does. So the re-branding came into play and he had to brand Tim Gillette because it was the brand. All of what he does today has been built around the authentic Tim Gillette not some brand.
Explain the brand of your business just a bit more. Well the www.rockerlifecoach.com is still active and he still owns all the rights to the name. Tim learned to work and mold his business around what his likes and his interests are as they shape what he is and you incorporate your life into your work. When you realize that what you have built and what you have branded is not going to be sold then you can label it with your name and really put you as a person on the map. Many people have said that he is full of himself for using his name but really it is all about the brand and he really does not care to see his picture on marketing material.
Give some pointers in networking and how you have used it as a tool. Most people think that networking is selling every person that you meet on your product. Networking is NOT selling, networking is marketing. Sales is you have the person in front of you and you are trying to convince them that your product is the answer to their problem. Marketing is getting them to be interested in your product and relies on attraction. The best pointer in networking is you need to be building relationships. A unique way to network is to build a business without business cards, and is a concept that is taught in Tim’s bootcamps. Learning to market is learning how to build relationships. You always have to be helping in business because if you are not helping, soon you will find yourself helpless.
Where do you draw the line when you are networking? You have to determine what is going to be relevant to your and your business. So when you are looking for a networking group, look through the people attending to see if the group is relevant to your needs and the people who you are trying to connect with.
What is one thing that you wish you would have known going into business when you first started? He learned something very late in life from James Malinchak ‘if you are not willing to invest in yourself, nobody else will. Kicking and screaming for three years he realized that he needed to hire a coach and have someone to stand by him through this whole journey.
You can more about Tim Gillette at: www.timgilette.com, and more about his bootcamp coming up in April at http://rockerlifecoach.com/bootcamp/.
More about Tim Gillette: Tim Gillette is the Creator of the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Keys to Business Success – Using Music, Motorcycles and Mentorship to Teach Entrepreneurs to Become Leaders in Their Industry.”
In his presentations, Tim uses lessons learned from his love for Rock ‘n’ Roll music, traveling an average of 30,000 miles annually on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, coaching clients, and speaking to audiences. He shares his passion for mentorship and leadership using examples from his own business experiences as well as his journeys around the country.
Tim teaches and coaches entrepreneurs to use non-traditional ideas, to grow their business and stand out as leaders at his 3-day Rock ‘n’ Roll Entrepreneur BootCamp every April and October in Dallas, TX.
Tim speaks to corporations about thinking like a Rock ‘n’ Roll Entrepreneur to grow your company. He also speaks to colleges, professional seminars, and association meetings about how to stand out in the world as a Rock ‘n’ Roll leader.
Tim’s background has been in creating and recreating small to medium businesses, including spending close to 20 years in the car wash and auto body industry. Tim is also partner in X2 Investments LLC, a Dallas-area real estate investment company which he co-founded in 2009.