• Home
  • 360° Digital Marketing™
  • Contact

naijapreneur

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Marketing
    • e-Marketing
  • Start Up
  • Management
  • Strategy
  • Leadership
  • Profitability
  • Interviews
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With AJ Leon Of PursuitOfEverything.com
 
Tito Philips, Jnr.
Monday, 05 November 2012 / Published in Interviews, Thought Bank

Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With AJ Leon Of PursuitOfEverything.com

Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today we have here with us unusual entrepreneur Aj Leon. He is the Chief Trouble Maker of Misfit Inc., a company that is dedicated to traveling the world causing positive trouble wherever necessary.

AJ nomads around the world and makes things happen. He is currently traveling around the world in 1,080 days primarily by land and sea. He is a writer, designer, entrepreneur and humanitarian that has initiated social projects in South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, The Philippines and England. He is the author of The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit and publishes weekly articles at Pursuit of Everything about living with intention, doing work that matters and changing the world.

I’m so excited to have him on the unusual entrepreneur interview series because Aj is one of the few unusual entrepreneurs who walks the talk about changing the world and profiting from purpose. As a couple, he and his high school sweetheart, Melissa gave up a very comfortable life [ AJ left banking and Melissa left teaching] in pursuit of everything. And today, they are one of the most fulfilled couples I know. Seriously, this is one interview you don’t want to miss. Aj is simply an inspiration!

If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.

Take it away Aj!

 

 

Interview Questions Part One

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business

1.       Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?

Primarily, I would say I am a writer. I publish articles, essays and books over at Pursuit of Everything about living with intention, doing work that matters and changing the world. I am also the founder and Creative Director of Misfit, a creative agency that specializes in brand repositioning on the client side. We also have a great deal of federated internal projects that we launch into the world, like the Misfit Quarterly, a creative arts journal.

2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Almost five years ago now, on December 31, 2007, I found myself in my large corner office in Manhattan with tears streaming down my face, wondering where it all went wrong. I was a successful finance executive in New York, but I despised my work and hated the fact that I had traded my life in for a larger paycheck at every turn since leaving university.

It was four days before I was going to be married, I was up for a big promotion and I realized that if I didn’t leave at that precise moment, I was going to be that dude for the rest of my life. A person trapped in a “successfully” average existence mourning the glory of a life that could have been. That was the turning point. I walked out. Left my career. And decided to stop living the life that I was supposed to live, and start living the life I was destined to live.

3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?

For me, business or entrepreneurship, particularly for small businesses, is only a microcosm of the larger question: What do you actually want from life? I started out not with a great vision of what I wanted to accomplish, but with a clear understanding of the life I didn’t want. From there, I started to work on small web-based projects that interested me, and slowly I began to excavate what my path would be. Today, Misfit in general is a federated amalgamation of the things I love to do.

4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?

Well, I believe at the very best you need to love what you do, and at the very best do what you love. If you are not in either of those camps, then I’d suggest seriously reevaluating just exactly why you are doing whatever it is you are doing.

5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?

To answer your question, I want to make a dent in the universe. I want to know for certain at the end of my life, that this world was different because I was in it and that I didn’t squander my opportunity to live a life of purpose.

6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

I think entrepreneurship is just a canvas. It is simply a medium by which to express your creativity, domain knowledge and art. It is more art than science, certainly. Entrepreneurs are the great explorers of our age. They are the Drake’s, the Magellan’s, the individuals with the courage to press into the thick darkness of uncertainty and into the horizon and show us a better or newer way.

Interview Questions Part Two

STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices


7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?

 I usually start with the question, “would I give a shit about this if I saw somebody share it on twitter?” If the idea passes that threshold, then I would start to analyze whether this is an “unmet” or “met” need in the market. In other words, am I swimming into a sea of potential competitors from the onset or is this something, more or less, brand new. The most interesting ideas or projects to launch, of course, are when you create something that is both an “unknown” and an “unmet” need. In those circumstances, it’s not about “their product or mine”, it’s around educating potential customers about a solution to a problem they might not have even recognized they have.

8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?

I get asked this question a great deal. I do not have mentors. I never have. Not sure why, it just didn’t work out for me, I guess. But I do have my team at Misfit and a very special group of friends I call my Jedi’s who I come to from time to time to bounce ideas.

9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?

Most of what I do that helps me as an entrepreneur has nothing to do with business. As a business person, you are only as good as the ideas and solutions you can come up with. As a human, you are quite literally a portfolio of your experiences. Those experiences color and inform every other aspect of your life. I travel, I eat new foods, I attend art shows, I go on photo walks, I write poetry, I read novels and classics and memoirs (basically everything but business books) – I see the world and I ingest every last drop of light I can from it.

These activities naturally permeate into my work. It makes the work I produce more colorful and multi-faceted.

One activity I recommend for every business person, is this: I write one email a day to a member of my community or a customer or a client, thanking them for supporting my work. Because without their attention, I simply could not produce the work that I do.

10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?

I don’t really spend too much time marketing. I write voraciously about the ideology behind the projects I choose to work on and I realize this very important fact: whenever you launch something of any kind – that something is both your product and your best effort at marketing your next product. If it’s fabulous, people will await your next one, if it’s average, you’ll have to churn out a new campaign or gimmick for every launch.

 

11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?

I’ve never taken funding. My focus early on was to build a team of specialists. I taught myself graphic design, my partner taught himself how to code in PHP and Rails, my wife (and also business partner) taught herself about the world of content marketing and video editing. Those three components alone have made it much more affordable and viable to launch any new idea I may come up with.

 

12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?

People that you trust and people that you love to work with. If you are planning on doing anything web-based, make friends with an amazing designer, they make all the difference in the world.

 

13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?

It’s difficult to answer that question because I am involved in quite a few diametrically different projects. It’s a mixture of definitive market research and what you believe it to be worth for your time and energy and effort to produce it.
 

 

Interview Questions Part Three

MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs

14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?

I run the coolest company on the planet, and I travel around the world as I do it.

15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?

Again, a difficult question. One thing I did learn early was to diversify revenue streams. Don’t generate all your revenue from one or two customers without having other revenue generating projects. That is a recipe for disaster.

16. Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here. 

Nope, I think you covered it!

Your Turn

What more would you like to know about the unusual Aj Leon? You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.

Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most?

Aj has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Related

What you can read next

Laziness
Laziness Checklist For Entrepreneurs
Free Website CONTENT Review: Does your website SPEAK the language of your TARGET customers?
business model
The BEST Business Model Ever!

8 Comments to “ Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With AJ Leon Of PursuitOfEverything.com”

  1. Mark says :Log in to Reply
    November 6, 2012 at 12:39 am

    I love the words and vision in you Aj – keeping putting dents in the universe!

    Excellent guest here, Tito – someone many entrepreneurs need to hear.

    The only folks changing the world are those with the vision and belief they can and will.

    Cheers, sir!

    1. Tito Philips, Jnr. says :Log in to Reply
      November 6, 2012 at 7:07 pm

      Thanks Mark for stopping by and sharing your thoughts about AJ.

    2. AJ Leon says :Log in to Reply
      November 9, 2012 at 3:55 pm

      Thank you for the kind words, Mark. 🙂

      1. Mark says :Log in to Reply
        November 9, 2012 at 5:45 pm

        Just received some AJ goodness in my email box… Twice in one day – I’m all jacked up! Haha!

        Your bus is too cool… That bus is going to take you quite an adventure…

        Safe travels, bro : )

  2. Damilare Bakare says :Log in to Reply
    November 8, 2012 at 1:07 am

    tito you are really doing a great job!!! am so happy we(Nigeria) have someone like you… keep it out.. You guest said alot of things that has or will kept me on focus for a long time

    1. Tito Philips, Jnr. says :Log in to Reply
      November 9, 2012 at 5:53 pm

      Thanks Damilare for the encouragement. I’m glad you found the unusual entrepreneur interview with AJ quite useful. Looking forward to seeing more of you around!

  3. Kabenah says :Log in to Reply
    November 10, 2012 at 7:30 am

    This is truly a motivational interview with great insights. You’re certainly doing a great job here.

    1. Tito Philips, Jnr. says :Log in to Reply
      November 11, 2012 at 9:01 pm

      Thanks Kabenah.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Develop Your Business IQ!

Subscribe to naijapreneur and get unusual entrepreneurship and business development tips, strategies and insights to take your business to the NEXT level.

Recent Posts

  • Business slogans

    10 Business Slogans That Totally S(l)ay It

           Source: Pixabay Most startups don’...
  • tito-philips-strategic-business-masterclass-profile

    STRATEGIC BUSINESS MASTERCLASS 2.0

    The organizer of The Strategic Business Masterc...
  • 10 Ds of Entrepreneurship

    The 10 Ds of Entrepreneurship

    Entrepreneurship is like many other things – yo...
  • entrepreneurial vision

    ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION: How to Create a Better Future for Your Startup!

    What’s your entrepreneurial vision? All great c...
  • Bootstrapping to Success

    Bootstrapping to Success: How to Grow Your Business Without VC Funding

    The unending news of one tech startup or the ot...

Archives

  • August 2018
  • May 2017
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010

Recent Articles

  • Business slogans

    10 Business Slogans That Totally S(l)ay It

  • tito-philips-strategic-business-masterclass-profile

    STRATEGIC BUSINESS MASTERCLASS 2.0

  • 10 Ds of Entrepreneurship

    The 10 Ds of Entrepreneurship

Categories

  • e-Marketing
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Interviews
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Profitability
  • Start Up
  • Strategy
  • Thought Bank

Quick Links

  • Home
  • 360° Digital Marketing™
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 MADphilips | Powered by Differentiate Online

TOP