04: How Jerry Swain Left High Tech To Build an International Chocolate Company After A life Changing Conversation with His Father

Welcome to 20 Seconds of Insane Courage with Amy Selbach, a brick-and-mortar as well as an online business entrepreneur and an international brand and marketing coach for countries, companies, and entrepreneurs.

 

Here you’ll learn what it takes to build your business, brand, and story, 20 seconds at a time.

 

This podcast interviews entrepreneurs and everyday heroes to uncover the conditions present at the intersection of their bravest actions. From intuition to inspiration to desperation to sheer will, it proves lasting change doesn’t have to take years, months, or even days but often just a single moment.

 

Description

 

In this episode, Amy talks to Jerry Swain, Partner at CEO Coaching International, a company focused on coaching CEOs and entrepreneurs to increase profitability and accelerate growth.

 

Tune in to hear Jerry’s thoughts on how to build a strong brand that resonates with customers, the importance of doing research, the intricacies of the decision-making process, and the sweet side of life that Jerry enjoys today.

 

Key Takeaways

[:49] Amy introduces Jerry Swain, Partner at CEO Coaching International.

[1:05] “Live authentically and impact entrepreneurs”; Jerry tells the story of how he came to do those two things.

[2:30] Jerry shares a conversation he had with his father that shifted the way he thought about how to become an entrepreneur and led him to his 20 seconds of insane courage.

[5:14] In a case like Jerry’s, the first step after deciding to go for it should be research!

[7:45] If you don’t have all the equipment, rent it!

[8:30] Jerry talks about creating a brand story and packaging that reflects your goal: they always meant to be specialty retail.

[9:42] Financial loss and opportunity and time costs are always things on an entrepreneur’s mind. Remember: what’s the worst that can happen and are you willing to live with that?

[14:42] Jerry unpacks the process he uses for decision making: the benefits of understanding the why — the origin of a decision.

[18:30] Advocating for yourself is a key skill to develop. Jerry remembers the time he went out on a limb and faced off with an authority figure and how it still pays off today!

[23:05] The importance of staying true to your brand and the time Jerry ignored his intuition.

[25:20] Jerry goes into detail about how they built the Jer’s Chocolates brand story, where they chose to use it and how it grew into being their most powerful tool to reach new customers.

[30:08] Jerry’s branding tips!

[34:08] For Jerry, a morning routine is the time to get the really important things out so that if the day gets out of control, those things still got done.

[36:44] What would Jerry tell himself as a child?

[37:52] Amy thanks Jerry for sharing his experience on today’s episode and invites listeners to tune in for the next episode.

 

After hearing these amazing stories, you’re probably wondering how to write and tell your own story, and how you can put yours into the world in a bigger way. I’ve got an incredible resource for you! it’s my one-hour brand story planner, and it’s totally free!

 

In under an hour you can have a beautifully crafted brand story to use everywhere: your brand story should be on your website, your packaging, at the beginning of any presentation you give. A brand story is crucial for pitches to the media, brand deals, podcasts, and investor decks. Not only that, this formula can be used for brand case studies, testimonials, and ad copy.

 

Every brand needs a story so be sure to go to amyselbach.com/brandstory to download yours right now.

 

Also, if you loved this episode, don’t forget to share it by clicking the share button just beneath the play bar and don’t forget to subscribe to listen to more episodes.

 

If you want to get more resources on marketing, branding, content strategy and building a business, you can follow me over on Instagram @amyselbach or at amyselbach.com.

 

Highlights

Jerry’s entrepreneurial story shows us that your product needs to be great and niched if possible, but that you should never underestimate the power of an authentic brand story; it can be your most powerful tool to reaching customers.

 

Good decision making is striking a fine balance between intuition and logic. Look for the why of a decision and take your time; sleep on it if you have to. Jerry always remembers what his father told him: ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen? If you can live with that, then jump in and go with your gut!

 

Mentioned in this episode

CEO Coaching International

Jer’s Chocolates

Whole Foods

Nordstrom

Costco

 

More about your host

Amy Selbach’s website

Amy Selbach on Instagram

Amy Selbach on Twitter

Amy Selbach on Facebook

 

More about our guest

Jerry Swain’s bio on CEO Coaching International

Jerry Swain on Tiger 21

Jerry Swain on LinkedIn

Jerry Swain on Facebook