Taking a leap of faith and pivot into a new ground can be scary, but it is what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Welcome back to the Micro Empires Podcast! I’m your host, Jennifer Ives Grimson. In this episode, I interview one of the most inspiring native Nashvillian entrepreneurs with a huge heart for the community, Joshua Mundy. His passion and visionary skill set have developed him into a serial entrepreneur with the ability to think of many incredible ideas and quickly take action to set a goal to meet the needs of the community.
Let’s dive right in as we talk about how he took his leap of faith into the entrepreneurial world and pivot with a fresh foundation.
[00:01 – 07:39] Opening Segment
- I introduced Josh to the show and talk about how we met
- I share some of Josh’s amazing current project
- Josh tells us about his background and her money culture he grew up in
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- Grew up in a rather poor family
- Hustling to make money since he was in a very small age
- Savings mindset
- The late encounter of investment and stock exchange
[07:40 – 14:29] Coachable Mentality
- Josh talks about his early entrepreneurial mindset
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- Risk-taker mentality
- The eager to create something out of nothing
- The lack of Mentorship
- Learned everything the hard way
- Josh talks about the importance of gaining and sharing knowledge as fast as possible
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- Especially in the African-American community
- Learn from others mistakes
- Having the Coachable Mentality
- Learn to be coachable
- Even though it is your risk to take
- The solution to helping you move forward
- Josh talks about the Park Center company where we were working for
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- A place that helps the individual with mental illness get skills to get employment
- Starting his own Janitorial company while working for someone else
[14:30 – 28:39] Stepping out on faith
- Josh talks about him stepping out on faith
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- He talks about a sermon he got about Peter walking on water
- He took the pivotal moment to focus on entrepreneurial
- Been 17 years working for himself
- Sold his Janitorial company at 24 and starting a coffee shop
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- Facing a huge mess
- Open for 45 days only
- Lost a huge amount of money
- Spending 2 years to recover
- Trying to create several companies and failing several times
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- Landscape company
- Maintenance business company
- Buying some property
- Josh shares the story about signing a lease when he doesn’t have any money
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- Starting a dry cleaner company in the middle of the recession
- Grew his business
- Struggle in the first 5 years
- Expanding his reach
[28:40 – 49:31] Planting the seed in the community
- Create an organization called “The inner Circle”
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- An entrepreneurial community to share information
- Fighting against the struggling mentality in the community
- Joining an entrepreneurship center
- Open The Lab Nashville in 2017
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- A creative co-working space
- Incubated some of the best company
- Occupied the whole building with 3 different companies
- Josh talks about the Leadership Connect he was a part of
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- Meeting once a week to talk about different issues
- The lack of diversity in the tech field
- Getting the African-American community out of the ‘affordable box’
- Went to Austin to learn about the infrastructure
- Quick shoutout to my Podcast Producers: Streamlined Podcasts
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- Use promo code: jives and get a discount
- Revelation to start a Tech School in 2019
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- The Philosophy of “I Just Go”
- Approached by Juan Clark to mow his brand called ‘hood geek’
- Came out with a name “Pivot Tech School”
- Start to recruit people and instructors
- Helping people to get opportunities by training them with skill sets
- Investment in the education sponsorship
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- Engage with your investment and follow it
- Mentoring program from the sponsor
- Setting people up for success
[49:32 – 01:11:41] Pivoting to a Fresh Foundation
- Josh shares the story when the building got hit by a tornado on March
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- Watching the building got ripped off
- Losing 3 income streams in a second
- Dealing with the shock
- Building a company from a fresh foundation
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- Revelation to pivot
- Spent a month to process the loss
- Starting in the fresh foundation
- Got prepared for COVID19
- Pivoted to the virtual classroom
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- Start the virtual classroom
- Expanded the growth model
- Opening the door for everyone
- Josh shares the story about Deandra, a girl who got the scholarship
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- She did not have the money for a deposit
- Diandra used her talent to fund her pivot and create her way
- The goal to get a thousand minorities to get six figures in 3 years
- What is the one thing that you would need to be a successful entrepreneur?
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- Be willing to take a risk and to fail
- Develop a tough skin
- Be willing to bet on your self
- Innovation is created in the pressure
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- Have the mindset of winning
[01:11:42 – 01:13:08] Closing Segment
- How to get more from Joshua?
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- See links below
- Final words
Tweetable Quotes:
“Public opinion around failure is what paralyzes people from taking that leap into entrepreneurship.” – Joshua Mundy
“You can really achieve what you put your mind into.” – Joshua Mundy
“ If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be willing to take a risk and to fail.” – Joshua Mundy
“You have to conquer your fear of failing because innovation is only created in the pressure.” – Joshua Mundy
Resources Mentioned:
If you’d like to connect with Josh you can find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Learn more about Joshua and his project on his website at https://www.joshuamundy.com/.
You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I’m excited to know more about you. Also, feel free to shoot me an email at https://bethinglish.com/.You can call or text 213-973-7206.
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This podcast is about YOU. We all have a story; whether your story is a lot like mine or totally different. Maybe you have a good job, but you know in your heart that you want more.
What’s your Micro Empire?
To know more, visit our website https://micro-empires.com/ and I’ll see you there!