Facing the Lens: Redefining Time and Self | Jacob K Mead

Jacob: [00:00:00] And when I had my first child, her name's Josie. I'm in the hospital and I get a hold of her for the first time and like that was the turning point.

I said, I need to figure out a way to be able to spend as much time as I can with her because I'm not going to get that back. And I knew I didn't want to go and spend 60 hours a week working and missing out on all of her milestones and missing out on all of the things that she's going to learn throughout her life.

I wanted to be there for her. And so in the hospital, I was like, okay, I'm figuring this out. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be tough. And it was tough to figure out. It was tough. It was challenging. I had to Go through a bunch of obstacles to get to that point, but I knew that I had to do something.

And so that's what I did. And that was kind of that turning point. There is when I first got ahold of my daughter, it was, Hey, I want to spend as much time with her as possible.

Matt: Welcome to Push To Be More with me, your host, Matt Edmundson. This [00:01:00] is a show that talks about the stuff that makes life work. And to help us do just that, today I am chatting with Jacob Mead from MobileSpot about where he has had to push through, what he does to recharge his batteries and to be, as well as what more looks like.

Where's he going to grow? What does... The future look like the show notes and transcript from our conversation will be available on our website, which is push to be more. com. And whilst you're there, if you haven't done so already, make sure you sign up for our newsletter. Each week, we email you the links.

And the notes from the show automagically. There's no spam, there's no junk, there's none of that nonsense. It's just useful content. It comes straight to your inbox, uh, magically. So make sure you get that. Now, this episode is brought to you by Aurion Media, which helps entrepreneurs and business leaders set up and run their own successful podcast.

Why would you want to do that? Well, I think it's pretty straightforward for me. [00:02:00] Uh, it is one of the best marketing tools, one of the best networking tools I have. Ever come across. I have found running my own podcast to be insanely rewarding. It opens doors to amazing people like nothing else I have seen.

I have built networks, made friends and had a platform to champion my customers, my team and my suppliers. And I think just about all of us should host our own podcast just because it's had such a huge impact on my own business. Which all sounds great in theory and is all wonderful, but there's a lot of problems associated with setting up a podcast distribution strategy.

That, I mean, who do you have on as guests? There's a whole bunch of stuff to think about. Well, that's where Aurion Media come in and take care of everything. Uh, they give you the strategy, they help you do all the production and all that sort of stuff, so you get to do what you're good at. Which is chatting to people and they brilliantly take care of the rest.

So if you're wondering if podcasting is a good marketing strategy for your [00:03:00] business, do connect with them at aurionmedia. com. That's A U R I O N media. com. We will of course link to them on the website as well, but that's aurionmedia. com. Now, that's the show sponsor. Let's talk about the guest. Meet Jacob, the entrepreneurial maestro, business coach, and fearless CEO of MobileSpot, a tech company shaking up the mobile device repair scene.

In a jaw dropping 36 months, he steered MobileSpot into the million dollar revenue league while bragging, uh, while bagging a trove of Best at Des Moines accolades. Uh, but Jacob's not just a business hotshot, he's a fountain of wisdom, sharing invaluable insights through his podcast, consulting gigs and speaking events, all geared towards helping fellow entrepreneurs like you, like me, maximise their potential, reclaim their time and lead their best lives.

What a [00:04:00] great bio that is. Uh, Jacob, great to have you on the show, man. Thanks for joining us. How you doing?

Jacob: Yeah, I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.

Matt: No problem. No problem. It's great to have you and I love, I was saying to another guest for one of the other podcasts that I do, funnily enough, um, Oliver Spark, we were talking about how I don't ever read the bios before we go live and start the recording because I really like the way the production team at Aurion write these bios.

They're epic, you know, the sort of mini sagas about how, how sort of how you're doing. And I'm just always intrigued by them. And one of the things it said in the bio is you have a podcast, which we were talking about before we hit the record button. Tell us about that.

Jacob: Yeah. So it's called the Buy Time Podcast and it's actually getting ready to launch in July. We just got done having a bunch of hosts on or a bunch of guests, I should say, and it was amazing time. A lot of business owners, great business leaders. They really just talk about all their knowledge and what got them to the point where they were able to buy their time [00:05:00] back.

And so it's something I've been wanting to do for such a long time. Let's get a podcast up and running. But as you know, it's more difficult than what you think it is. And so I finally got to that point and it's It's been a great time. So I'm looking forward to it launching in July.

Matt: So, this is a podcast where you're getting in business leaders to talk about how they buy time back. Now, I want to come back to this, in fact, I'm going to make a little note on my notebook. But the question I like to ask people, and maybe you have already had your ideal guest on your show, but if you could have anybody to talk to. It may be from the past or the present, the only caveat is they've had to have had a big impact on your life. Who would you love to interview on the podcast and why?

Jacob: You know, I've kind of given this a lot of thought and the number one person I would love to interview would be Elon Musk. And the reason why is because I absolutely love his mindset. And especially recently when they had that rocket launch and he's seen his rocket kind of [00:06:00] blow up in midair. And I did a video on this is, you know, he didn't sit there and go up.

We're done. We're not going to do this again. He didn't do any of that. He sat there and he said. We're going to make it, we're going to do this again, and the next time we'll succeed. And I was like, that's, like, that's awesome. It's, it's great mindset. And so I, I think, you know, as far as Elon Musk goes, he spends a lot of his time working, you know, that's what he does.

He, he, he works quite a bit and there's been times where, you know, he sleeps on cots in, in his business. And so I, I would love to have him on so he can talk about, you know, How he could get his time back and how he could purchase some of his time back and how he does that, you know, through leadership, through staffing, and I think he'd be really great podcast guest to have come on.

Matt: I think he would. Oh, there's so many questions I would like to ask Elon. Like, what was it that drove him to buy Twitter? Would be, you know, one of my big questions. Was it because from his point of view, was it getting too, I don't know, too left, too liberal and he wanted to bring it. But I'm just really curious as to, [00:07:00] did he see it as a big business investment?

I don't know. Um,

I'm

Jacob: And that's the same thing. It's like, what does he see it like? Is there something you and I don't see? Is he buying it for the technology to integrate into AI down the road? What is he purchasing it for? It's, I really would love to know that exact

Matt: Yeah, I don't know if he could come onto the show. He might not tell me, but that would be definitely some of the questions I'd like to ask him. Uh, but it's interesting, isn't it? I guess one of my questions is, um, do you think Elon, um, if he works all the hours that he works and he sleeps in cots in his office, which is what he's famous for, isn't he?

He just goes to sleep in his office and all that sort of stuff. Um. Do you think he wants to buy time back or do you think he just loves what he does so much and he's just hyper focused on it?

Jacob: You know, that's actually one of the big things I coach some business owners on is I think he's so hyper focused on it, but I didn't, I also think he may struggle with the feeling of guilt of not being there to support his team. And that's huge. [00:08:00] Cause when I stepped away from my business for two years, it was big for me.

And I, I have a small business compared to what he has, you know, and it was such a hard feeling of. I get guilt cause you're like, I should be there. I should be doing this. I should be right next to my team. I should, you know, be showing them that I'm working these long hours. So I don't really know. I think that he absolutely, he's so passionate about it.

And right now he's so driven and that's what hit, he's seeing a tunnel vision of working, working, working. And, you know, there's so much out there. There's your family. There's loved ones. What you don't want to happen is you let that all slide and be pushed to the sidelines and 20, 30 years down the road, you say, I wish I would have gotten my time back.

Because that's your, that's your most important asset. Out of everything in this world, your time is your most important asset. That's what I like to try and teach is how to get that back. And I don't know what does he want that or is he okay with what he currently has and that's a question I would love to ask him on the podcast.

Matt: [00:09:00] Be a really interesting question, wouldn't it? It would be a really interesting question. So your podcast then, uh, you interviewed a whole bunch of people about how they, uh, buy time back, which I imagine was actually quite an interesting conversation given what you do. Um, what were some of the things that your guests said, um, that maybe surprised you?

Jacob: Yeah, so one of them actually, they are the owners of the WeWash Laundry Co and Des Moines and their co owners. And one of the things that they said is we give each other a week off. We have alternating weeks. And so that way we can keep our mindsets and we can start thinking of ideas without feeling the stress and overwhelming pressure of the everyday business aspect.

And I thought that was intriguing cause I'd never heard co owners doing that where one works one week and then they alternate weeks. And, um, that allowed them to not only spend time with their kids. Their family, but also be able to refresh and then give it them, give 'em, give it it all. They're, they're, they're when they're on for their scheduled week.

And so I thought that was [00:10:00] amazing. And then another one was really talking about staffing and how it was hard to bring someone on at first because you have to learn to relinquish that control, which is one of the steps in the buying time process is relinquishing the control. And she talked about how.

You know, she had to trust her staff to make the decisions when she wasn't there and how she'd step away for a few hours and then she'd eventually just keep building that up and she found that her greatest ideas came to her when she wasn't in her business, but she was working on her business. And that was cool to hear.

Matt: Yeah, yeah, it's really interesting, isn't it? I, I had, um, I had a business partner, uh, until recently, for, for about 10 years. Uh, 10, 11 years, great guy. We're still really good friends. Um, and we sold that business. Uh, so we exited that business, but we were partners for like 10, 12 years. And when I joined that business, he was very much a case of, he.

He, uh, he loved to surf, uh, and he's like, if I don't surf, I'm not going to have any ideas. [00:11:00] And so he was, he was very much to me all the time about what's your equivalent of surfing? Do you know what I mean? How do you, how you don't have to work 60 hours a week, step away, you know, that kind of thing. What we didn't do, and maybe in hindsight, what we should have done is the week on week off thing, because that sounds amazing.

Jacob: Oh, I know. I'm sitting there like, man, this would be nice a week on a week off. I mean, I'm sure you're still thinking something business related, but just to know that you have someone there that can run it for you. And they kind of went into like, it's so important to have. Someone in your team that you can trust or rely on.

Oh, it's so true that, you know, this is going to get stuff done when you're not there.

Matt: Yeah, yeah. I, it's fascinating. Fascinating. So are you going to carry on with the podcast? I mean, I know you've recorded your first few episodes. Is there something, is this a project you're going to

Jacob: Yeah, so, I mean, I've got a lot of money already invested into it, so I think we're going to keep it going, and one of the big things is I got five, um, already guest interviewed, and then I'm working on my next five lineup, and then I already have a whole bunch of solo podcasts, [00:12:00] um, recorded, and so it's something that we're definitely going to keep continuing, because consistency is always the key, and it's something that we're You know, we might not see a lot of followers right off the game, but down the road, we're going to see it.

And that's my goal is to reach as much of an audience as we can.

Matt: Yeah. No, so guys, it's an interesting, my observation when it comes to podcasting for what it's worth, uh, with the team at Orion is you've got to get through the first 10 episodes. And there's, there seems to be this magical sort of tipping point that if you can make it through 10 episodes, you're much more likely to keep going with it.

Um, and so the fact that you've probably got 10 episodes pre recorded already is a healthy sign, uh, Jacob, and just keep going with it, man, because podcasting is just one of those things that I absolutely love as a medium, and you get to meet some

Jacob: I tell you what, it's tougher than I thought it was going to be, but it's so much fun and so rewarding because I get to talk about things that I'm truly passionate about. I'm like, and if someone wants to hear it, they can tune in. And if they don't want to hear it, well, then there's other podcasts out there for them.

Matt: yeah, [00:13:00] yeah, absolutely. And you can be quite polarizing, I think, in a podcast. You can, uh, you can have some good fun with that. So the podcast is called Buy Time, the Buy Time podcast. And so I'm assuming, uh, and correct me if I'm wrong, uh, Jacob, that the podcast then is about, um, how to plan time better, how to do time better as a business leader and entrepreneur.

Would that be correct?

Jacob: yeah, a hundred percent. It's, it's what can you do to get more of your time and freedom back? And. One of the big things is, is building up your business so it's a time asset and not a time liability. Why did I get in there is because I see so many business owners, they're working 40, 60 hours a week, and they do this up until they retire.

And they never figured out a way that they could, you know, buy their time and be able to have their business be a time asset versus a time liability. Instead, it's the other way around. It's taking all of their time and all of their energy up until they go to retire. And that's not [00:14:00] what your business is supposed to be.

At least that's not what you want your business to be.

Matt: unless you're Elon Musk, maybe, I don't know. So

Jacob: Yeah, unless you're Elon Musk, man. Who knows then?

Matt: what does, what, I'm curious as to what drove you into this, you know, why, why is this your passion?

Jacob: Well, it's a great question, and the big reason is I was that guy. I was putting 60 hours, 70 hours a week into my business, and I was doing that constantly. And I did it for, oh, a little over... Two and a half, three years. And then I had my first child. And when I had my first child, her name's Josie. I'm in the hospital and I get a hold of her for the first time and like that was the turning point.

I said, I need to figure out a way to be able to spend as much time as I can with her because I'm not going to get that back. And I knew I didn't want to go and spend 60 hours a week working and missing out on all of her milestones and missing out on all of the things [00:15:00] that she's going to learn throughout her life.

I wanted to be there for her. And so in the hospital, I was like, okay, I'm figuring this out. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be tough. And it was tough to figure out. It was tough. It was challenging. I had to Go through a bunch of obstacles to get to that point, but I knew that I had to do something.

And so that's what I did. And that was kind of that turning point. There is when I first got ahold of my daughter, it was, Hey, I want to spend as much time with her as possible.

Matt: Yeah, I think most dads can resonate with that statement, actually, when they hold their kids for the first time. When was this, by the way? How long ago?

Jacob: So it would have been in 2019, March

Matt: So, four years ago. And so, there you are holding your, and you, you say you, you made this switch, which is always the first thing you've got to make the decision to change. Um, What were some of the obstacles you faced then from going from a 60 hour week to, I don't know how many hours you, in theory, work now, but what was the, what were some of the obstacles that [00:16:00] you faced?

Jacob: 16th. Yeah. So the first obstacle was, I don't want to say this, but almost the feeling of guilt because I. I started to step back and I was feeling so guilty, you know, I stepped back from 60 hours a week down to 50 hours a week and I was feeling guilty and I felt like my team didn't think I was there to support them and, um, I felt like I had to be right there or if I wasn't right there, then I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing.

And so that was the number one obstacle, a huge mindset. Uh, shift is, is overcoming that guilt, and it's, it's so hard to overcome, and I had to, you know, do some mindset, um, classes to try and overcome that, but that was number one obstacle, and I would say the other obstacle was putting trust in my team, putting trust in my staff, and They're looking back at it.

There was some issues that I should have addressed early on. You know, you have those team members that understand that you're the business owner, and there's a reason why you're stepping away and that you could still be working on your business, even though you're not working in it. But then you also have those [00:17:00] team members who may think that you're, you're just not up to anything that why am I working and he's not working.

And so I think. You know, looking back on it, there would have been some changes there in the staffing, but staffing was the hard one. I had to learn that I have to trust my team, I have to make sure that I hold them accountable, but I also have to make sure that I allow them to make mistakes. And I may not like their decisions, but ultimately, if I'm not going to be there, they're going to make decisions on my behalf, and I have to learn to trust those people.

Decisions and, and then guide them in the right direction if they're the correct decision or not. And so those are some of the biggest obstacles when I first started doing this and kind of overcoming all of that.

Matt: So some of these obstacles that you then had to face, one of them is internal. So how you feel about something, the sense of guilt. And the other one is externalised in terms of the team, because they're going to have to pick up some of the slack if you're not working as many hours. Maybe let me ask you, uh, this question, um, Jacob, what, tell me what the business does.[00:18:00]

Jacob: Yeah, so we're a full service electronic repair center, and so we offer electronic repair services for any electronic device you can think of if it has a power on, but, and we can fix it pretty much. Um, so we do everything from circuit boards, uh, mobile devices, uh, computers. Gaming systems, um, the VR headsets.

Now we've seen a couple of those come through the shop and so yeah, anything that, that pretty much can power on, has an electronic to it, we can pretty much fix it in house soldering team. And then we also focus a lot on data recovery, making sure we're retrieving those, um, important photos, videos, and those precious moments that those customers think are lost forever.

So that's kind of what we focus on.

Matt: Wow. And so, um, you've got this business, Mobile Spot, which obviously fix all the, uh, all the electronics. So how, I'm curious, that first week, that first month, you decided to take a step back. What was, what was the plan? How was that executed? Um, and, and I guess, how did you backfill your role when you were [00:19:00] doing less hours?

Jacob: Yeah. So it's actually a process I built out and it's. It's called the 5 Steps to Buying Entitlement. The first thing is there is understanding your value. And so the first thing I did is I said, okay, I need to understand what kind of value I'm providing to my company and what is everything that I'm doing that I'm working in my business versus working on my business.

And I actually wrote. Down a list. And this was a long list. I got done. I was like, there's no way I can step away. Like, this is too much. There's no one can do it. So then I had to look at my staff. Okay, is my staff currently overloaded and would not be able to take on additional tasks and duties? Are they being compensated enough?

And then also, if they did have to take on the additional duties, um, What would that look like for me? Like what kind of compensation would I have to provide them or would I have to hire a new staff? And so I came to the conclusion that I would have to bring someone on board. I would have to increase our staff and that would increase payroll.

Okay, so now I'm going to increase payroll. So what do I have to do to make sure our sales are [00:20:00] going to stay consistent and that we're not going to lose the amount of profit that we're have coming in because I'm increasing the payroll costs. So then I went back and I looked at the sales structure. of my business.

And I've been in sales all my life and kind of, I love sales. It's just something I, I do, and I even teach on it, but I look back on it. I said, okay, these are some areas we can improve in sales. And I would coach that. And so for the first week or two, while I was planning on this is what I want to do, I was gearing up for it.

So I was coaching the sales on how to make sure that we're leveraging sales. I was trying to recruit someone new to come in, to be able to support. me being away. And then I was checking with my team to see who could handle some of the tasks that I currently do and who could I trust to implement those particular tasks that I do.

Matt: So, uh, I love this, understanding your value and then focusing in on your team. Uh, were these the first two things of your five part, uh, uh, what did you call it? Your five part system, uh, that you, you figured out?

Jacob: Yeah, so and it wasn't, it [00:21:00] was something that kind of, so the first one's understanding your value and then the other one is basically having strong leadership and basically understanding that. Your team is going to make mistakes, but through those mistakes, it's going to strengthen your team.

Matt: hmm. Mm hmm. So, how did, um, how did you announce this to the team? I'm kind of curious. Or did you not? Did you, was it just something that you started to implement without talking to them about it first just to see if it was all going to work?

Jacob: So, and then that's a great question. I gave that a lot of thought. I thought to myself, should I mention to them what I'm going to be doing? But then I thought, well, no, because I'm, I'm the business owner and I ultimately leave the business as long as the business is going in the direction that it should, which is forward and up.

Then I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And so I didn't necessarily tell them that I was taking a step back. But what I did is I went to them and said, guys, I think it's time I give you more responsibility. And I think it's time that you guys take more control and what's [00:22:00] going on in this business.

I trust you and I believe that you can make these decisions on your own. And I believe you don't always need me to make them for you. And so. One of the ways that worked is I would take little step backs, like half an hour here, an hour there, when I first was getting started, I would just go to like, somewhere and sit like in the library with my phone out in case they had any questions, and then when they would call, hey what do we do in this scenario, I would say, what would you do?

And I would pause, just wait, and they would be like, uh, I would do this. I said, okay, then do it. And it was hard because a lot of times I would think to myself, that's not what I would do. I, it's not the exact, that's not the exact decision I would do, but I had to remember that I was relinquishing some of the control and giving them the opportunity to make those decisions.

And I could follow up with them on a coaching session if it was something that went completely wrong or the way it wasn't supposed to go. And so that was. That was, that was tough actually to do, but um, it was important, it was

Matt: yeah, [00:23:00] I, I, there's so many people listening to the show now who like, will be in a cold sweat, what do you mean, just let them get on with it. Um, it's one of those things, isn't it, where, um, where it sounds easy when, How can I put this? It sounds pretty straightforward to do when you're just talking about it like this, you know, there's two of us chatting on a podcast.

I'm not convinced it was that straightforward to, to implement, uh, on a, on a, or was it? Am I, am I misunderstanding it? Uh, was it a bit more complicated than you expected it to be?

Jacob: You know, it was a lot more complicated than I expected it to be. I thought, hey, I can just step away here and, you know. And nothing, nothing would be an issue, but I wanted to make sure I did it right, which is why I thought about the process first. And so when I went through the process, I think the biggest thing was the guilt.

The guilt part was, it was so powerful and it just kind of wanted to pull you back in, suck you back in and put you back into working in your business versus working on your business. So overcoming that was the Biggest struggle. [00:24:00] And then once you start overcoming that, you start seeing things more clearly.

You start understanding that, Hey, by giving my employees the opportunity to make decisions, you're giving them the opportunity to make mistakes. And by doing that, you're creating strong leadership, which is one of the steps in the buying time process.

Matt: So the, how did you, um, how did you deal with the guilt? How did you reframe that? You mentioned you went to some mindset classes. Well, how did, I'm just really curious how you reframed that in your, in your thinking, Jacob.

Jacob: Yeah. So I did some mind mindset classes. And one of the things they kind of taught in the mindset class is that you're the one that. Spent the amount of hours building up this business, you're the one that spent the, the sleepless nights and you're the ones that constantly is thinking of the business, even when you go home and whatever you're working on your.

Always thinking of this business and so one thing is you don't have to feel guilty because you're still working even if you're [00:25:00] not inside your business, you know, you're not working inside your business, but you're working on your business and it kind of coached you through what that looks like, okay, where sales numbers at looking at charts, looking at your staffing, looking at turnover, kind of looking at all of that and explaining, Hey, that's still working and you're working on your business and so once you can see it from that point of view, yeah.

And also not feeling guilty with your employees. You know, if you feel like there's a certain employee that's like, Oh, he's not doing anything. It's like, let that roll off your shoulder because they don't understand everything you go through. There's, there's a reason why their employees is because they don't necessarily understand the amount of stress and struggles that you might go through as a business owner.

So that really helped with the mindset and it. It wasn't something that happened overnight. You know, it's still something you struggle with every now and then, but it does help knowing that, Hey, I'm doing this to better my company.

Matt: Okay. So this was a journey you went on four years ago, right? Uh, and so here you are four years later, has it been [00:26:00] successful?

Jacob: It has, it really has. And in fact, it's been a breath of fresh air because I know that, and I've had teams, I've had staffing changes since then. So I know this works. It works, you know, with the team you might have in place, and it could also work with a new team that you bring in, but it's been such a breath, a breath of fresh air that I can take.

I to focus on my business versus working in my business, or I can take this time to spend on my family. If there's a week that I need to spend on my family, I don't have to feel like, oh crap, I can't take this week off because I have X, Y, and Z to do. I know X, Y, and Z will get you. Done even when I'm not there.

Matt: So what does your typical week look like now? I know exactly how you

Jacob: So now I try to limit any for focusing on mobile spot. I try to focus right around 20 hours. And the reason why I do that is because I'm focusing on my business coaching and also my podcast. So I have to split up [00:27:00] my time, um, consistency between these things. And a time so valuable, which is something I teach.

Um, so right now at MobileSpot, what I focus on is connections. Building connections, um, connecting with other local business owners, showing them the services that we can provide, how we can help them, and really doing a lot of networking. And then I also focus a lot on video. And so we're... Focusing more this year because video is so important on building out that video for our business and kind of bringing in more videography crews so they can get more videos and advertisements, things like that going with the videos and social media and TikTok, which is something I'm just now learning is TikTok.

I'm not that great at it, but, um, so we're, uh, that's really what I'm doing is I'm, I'm gearing more towards video. And to kind of help with, you know, marketing, help with revenue, um, cause I think video is very powerful. And then I, my other with the rest of my time, you know, it's either with my family and then it's building my [00:28:00] podcast and building my coding business.

Matt: So, do you feel like, um, your, uh, work life balance is better now, four years later, or is it just different?

Jacob: I would say it's better and different at the same time. So it's better as, as far as if I need to take a week off, I'm not feeling stressed out because I know my team can handle it because they. They've done it before. I've seen them handle things on their own before, and it's different because I'm not working in my business.

I'm working on my business. And so I, I do struggle with that sometimes because I do like to work side by side. You know, I, I do like to do that, but I have to remind myself that, Hey, it's also important that you're working on your business and you're not getting distracted by the everyday tasks that come when you're working inside your business.

So I'd say it's a little bit of both.

Matt: Yeah, it sounds like an interesting journey, Jacob. And I'm curious, um, in the midst of all of this, you know, this sort of this transition period, and you keep using this phrase, working in [00:29:00] your business rather than on your business, um, which if you are, if you've ever read the books by Michael Gerber, you'll be very familiar with these phrases, um, but just for those that aren't, just explain what you mean by those two terms.

Mm hmm.

Jacob: Yeah, so here's a good example. Let's say you had a business and your business was selling snow cones. Are you the person handing out the snow cone to every customer that walks up to you? That's a great question, right? If the answer is yes, that you're the person that's handing out the snow cones to every single person that walks up to you, then you're working in your business.

Matt: hmm.

Jacob: Or are you the person that's going to those marketing events, looking at the website, getting videos, getting, um, ideas, looking how they expand, looking at charts, looking at your, uh, revenue, your profits, your sales structure? And if you're doing all of that, but not handing over that snow cone, then you're working on your business.

And those are two very important things. And so the working on your business is so [00:30:00] important because you're able to focus on more of the things that actually increase revenue and help expand your business versus working in your business. You're stuck with handing over that snow cone every single time a customer comes up to the door.

And so you lose. Focus on everything that's going to take to increase your revenues. You focus on everything that's going to take to build that business and expand that business.

Matt: So the, do you feel like now you've done that, um, you've got like a better, um, you've got What's the phrase I'm looking for? A better grip on the day. Um, as in, do you have like a set structure, like you're always back in time for dinner or you're always back for bath time or whatever it is with the kids?

Is there something you, you now make sure happens, um, on a daily basis because you've freed up the time to do it?

Jacob: It really is. In fact, I did a video on this recently and I said, do you want to be the person that says I will try to make it? Or do you want to be the person that says I will [00:31:00] make it? And for me, I'm that dad, I'm that father that will always say I will make it to my kid's event. And I will, and I'm there.

Um, And that's why I did all this is 'cause I wanted to be that person that said, I will make it to my kid. Not that I will try to make it, because it's, it means so much to them when you show up. It means so much to 'em when, when you're there. And yes, you're giving up something in order to be there. You know, you're either adding an extra employee to be able to do the task that you used to do, uh, which in return costs you money.

So you're buying your time. But it's so rewarding to see, you know, your child light up that you're at every single one of their events. And it's also rewarding to be there to support your spouse and making sure that they know that they're not alone and that they can call on you if they need you to come help them out.

And that's what's so rewarding for me. And that's what's so fulfilling. And I. Love that I took that journey to be able to get to that point now.

Matt: Mm hmm. Yeah, no, super [00:32:00] powerful. And are you one of these guys that will not work weekends? Do you, um, Sabbath is a fairly popular word at the moment, Sabbath rest. Are you a guy that will do that? Or are you, um, I'll, I'll work a few hours of a weekend?

Jacob: Yeah. So I actually have a business model where we're always closed on Sundays. And the reason why my business is closed on Sundays is so all of our employees can get a rest. Um, and we kind of. modeled the same structure, what Chick fil A did, is always being closed on Sundays. And so, every Sunday, we're always closed.

And so, no matter what, all our employees, everyone can have time with their families on Sundays. For me, I typically do take the weekends off, but a lot of times on a Saturday, I will be thinking of business ideas to be able to either help the business, expand the business, and I'll write them down on my notes.

And some of these ideas come to me when I'm out with my family, you know, some of them come to me where I'm at like a, um, apple orchard, for instance, I had a couple ideas come to me. I'm watching my child go down the slide. I'm like, Oh, there's this idea. And so I will pause, write [00:33:00] down this idea and then I'll go back that next week and figure out how I want to implement it.

Or if it's something that was a great idea or something just, you know, came to me and it's not going to go anywhere. And so, yeah, I, I absolutely think it's, it's a good thing that everyone does.

Matt: Yeah, that's a really interesting point, isn't it? And I, having gone through somewhat of a similar shift, Jacob, in my own life, um, I, I tend to find that I, I, I pull back on some of the things I'm doing to create time. Over time, those things sort of slowly creep back, uh, you know, and then I have to sort of reassess them and, and read you.

One of the things that I've found by doing this is because you are away from the office, More, you're not in the business as you would describe it, you're working on the business, you have more ideas. And so what you need to have in this scenario is a really good note taking system, uh, to be able to deal with that and process that and, um, and to, to, to be able to come back to those.

Uh, and so in fact, when I was on the, um, plane, I was just got, I [00:34:00] literally got back from the States recently. Um, one of the things I wanted to do on that trip was finish the book, um, Building Your Second Brain by Tiago Forte, uh, which is a great book on this whole thing and has just really helped me sort of crystallise and solidify some of these things.

Um, how do you, uh, how do you fill your tank? How do you recharge your batteries?

Jacob: Well, there's one thing I love to do and that's skydive. Um, I, I just, I, I, I,

Matt: I need to give you my son's number, he would love to talk to you.

Jacob: I, I love it. I'm not talking a tandem jump either. I'm talking about myself,

Matt: Just straight out of the plane,

Jacob: but yeah, it's, and you know, everyone asks me like, Oh, you're fearless. I go, Oh no, that's not true at all. I I'm scared when I go up there and I'm sitting at the edge of the plane, hold, I'm like by the door and I'm getting ready to, to get, go out of the plane.

It's scary for a split second, and I always do it. I always push myself out of there, and right there, it push to be more, you know? Um, I, I do it because... I know it's going to be scary, but I also [00:35:00] know that if I, that there's something to come and that's that pure bliss of just free falling for a minute or 90 seconds and feeling the wind and it's just, it's, it refreshes the mind and you get done and some, sometimes I have great business ideas afterwards I land and I'm like, Oh man, I gotta go write and write this down.

But I like to do that. And then I also like to recharge, um, with just spending some time outdoors and, and Being an outside person, I love adventures, so whether that's hiking, going for a, going for a drive with the windows down, that's pretty calming. If my mind's always racing, it's always thinking of something.

Sometimes just rolling the windows down, going for a drive kind of clears that mind and helps me recharge. It's important. It's important to recharge because as business owners, you're constantly going, you're constantly thinking of something. So

Matt: yeah. Uh, . I was not expecting the skydiving answer. I'm not gonna lie.

Jacob: I love it. It's great.

Matt: my son did it last year, was it last year. Um, him and his, uh, [00:36:00] friend, um, they'd saved up for a little while and they went and did their first jump. And he's working this summer. He's just finished his first year at uni. Uh, my kids were at a very different life stage.

Uh, Jacob, uh, and he's like, um, he's saving up his money so he can, he can do enough jumps to, to start to jump. Um, Free solo and then I think he actually wants to go do it whereby he jumps with people out of the plane He wants the job where you know, he's a sort of a skydiving dude. I'm like go for it, man But there's no way I'm going up there and jump out of it

Jacob: It's so much fun. It's so rewarding. And I think everyone should skydive at least once, even if it's a tandem jump, just, just go for it because, hey, you're either going to love it or you're going to hate it, but you can say you did it.

Matt: Yeah, that's true. That's true. Whereas I can't say that at the moment, which is, um, which is one of those things. So what does the future look like? Um, are you, uh, are you starting a skydiving business? Is a mobile spot carrying on going? I'm just curious. What does growth look like for you?

Jacob: Yeah. So, I mean, right now with [00:37:00] MobileSpot, we're doing some really good partnerships with Apple and Samsung and, um, being able to offer, you know, more repair services and, um, options to our customers there. And so that's really helping us expand as far as. On the mobile spot side and then on my personal side, I'm really.

Trying to focus a lot on this podcast because I feel like there's a message there for people and they need to hear it and they need to hear early on in their business careers. And so I'm really trying to get that message out there about buying time and that process of that while coaching them on their sales and how to increase sales and how to increase revenue in their business.

And so that's really what My future looks like is it looks like helping other businesses get to a point where they feel comfortable stepping away. But not only do they feel comfortable stepping away, they can step away and they can watch their business succeed and move forward and even, you know, hit numbers that they never thought were possible without them having to work these 60 hour weeks.

Matt: I guess that, you know, is a great question, isn't it? Because one of the things in the back of my head as you've been talking is, [00:38:00] um, has your business grown as you've taken a step back? Have you seen that, that actually as you're, as you're doing what you're doing, the business has actually thrived in the midst of it?

Jacob: And that's actually one of the struggles I struggle with because the answer is yes, it has. But has it grown to the point that, you know, I would like? And the answer maybe to that is no, because I sometimes think to myself, well, if I was there, I could have done this, I could have had bigger numbers, um, I could have done so much more.

And that's something that I struggle with still, even to this day, is I have to remind myself that, well, you might have not been there, but look at everything that you did when you weren't there. And that's, that's tough because I'm a sales guy. Like, I like to look at the numbers and think, okay, well, if I was there, I could have done X, Y, and Z in sales.

And we only did this. Is it growth? Yes. Is it what I want to see? No. But I also have to remind myself that I accomplished so much when I wasn't there, and I have to remind myself of everything that I was able to do [00:39:00] with not being there, and then that was what I used to purchase that time. Okay, so that sales number that I think I could have hit, and that sales number that we actually hit, the difference there is what it cost me to buy my time.

Matt: Yeah, that's a really valid point, really. So how many hours a week are you, uh, I'm going to use my Zoe, my, my daughter's, uh, finger marks here. How many hours a week are you currently working? So you're not working the 60 anymore, what are you doing now?

Jacob: So I do, I do. So in mobile spot, I typically do around 20 hours a week and then, um, on my business coaching side of things right now, it's the last couple of weeks. It's been a little bit tougher cause I just got done launching a pod, uh, interviews for the podcast and, uh, planning out my next moves there.

So I try and keep it right under 35 hours a week. So I have enough time to spend with my family and that's between everything. Uh, this week's going to be a little bit more because I have some, um, Masterminds that I'm doing in Northeast Iowa, but I try [00:40:00] and keep it right around that 35 hours a week, cause I think family is really important and I don't want to be that person that looks back and go, I spent all my time working.

I missed out on so much of my kids. I don't want to be that person. And everyone's told me not to be that person. So I'm willing to give up a lot. So I'm not.

Matt: Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you, I'm with you and you know, having come through the other side now, um, I can look back and go, the fact that I had dinner with our family almost every night, if you know, there are seasons where you travel or there's the odd night where it's a bit busy, but on the whole, I was always back for dinner. Always present around the table, always mucked about with them on the weekends if I could. Occasionally I'd work on a Saturday. Um, I think it's testament to the fact now I'm, I'm sort of through the other side. My kids are older than yours, two of them are in university. Um, I've been married 25 years. My wife is the most incredible person.

Um, I could have worked harder. I [00:41:00] could have had probably more money in the bank account. Um, but very early on in my career, I came across people who were very wealthy, but very unhappy. Um, and I, I just didn't want to be that person. Um, I just, it didn't feel right to me. It didn't feel like it connected with my, you know, the, the reason that God put me on the planet.

It's just, it just didn't make any sense to me, uh, whatsoever. And so, so I, I, I, I'm sitting here listening to you talk and going, this is great. Um, I, I need to rethink my, uh, structure a little bit, you know, cause every now and again, like I say, it gets out of balance, but it's, um,

Jacob: It does. You try and get pulled back in almost, and you have to like reground yourself and say, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? And remind yourself of what's important, because it does try and pull you back in. It's really tough.

Matt: Yeah, it really does. It's, it's like a gravitational pull, isn't it? But, um, and it's also important to recognize that you go through seasons, I think, and sometimes those seasons are busy, but [00:42:00] every season comes to an end. That's my, you know, that's my statement. Right, Jacob, listen, we've got to the time of the show where I am gonna pull out the question box.

Dun, dun, dun, dun. So this is where I take a... A handful of random questions from the box. I'm going to flick through them. You are going to tell me where to stop and where we stop is the question that we talk about.

Jacob: And stop.

Matt: Okay. So, oh, you might've answered this earlier. I'm kind of curious to know the answer to this one. So, if you could only have one medium, which one would you choose? Art, film, literature, or music?

Jacob: Film. 100% film right now. It's so powerful. Everything is moving to film. Um, I think that we're going to start seeing film be the number one out there. It's every platform you look at, they're all gravitating towards film. And it's so powerful. You can get your message across [00:43:00] and people can also see emotions.

They can feel more with that video that you're actually showing them. And that's why we're spending a lot of money, not only in my podcast, not only on my business coaching and, and Mobile spot. We're, we're spending a lot of money on film. It's because I feel like it's the most powerful way to get your message across and to be able to share it with a large group of audience.

Matt: Yeah, I think, I think you're exactly right. And there's, there's, you see, we say this to clients all the time. The reason why we record the video to the podcast rather than just making audio only, bearing in mind that probably 99% of the people that listen to this podcast listen to it on audio only. Um, but the reason why we go to the effort of recording the video is I can take the video, upload it to YouTube.

I get a smaller audience on YouTube, but it's an audience I wouldn't have ordinarily have. I can take the video, I can distill that into smaller clips, which I can put on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and LinkedIn without too much trouble. So there's not really a whole great deal of extra effort from my point of [00:44:00] view.

I can take the audio from the video to create the podcast, I can get the audio transcribed to create the blog post. So from that one piece of video content, as a content creation machine, just purely in marketing, it gives you so many more possibilities. Whereas, if I just was going to write, I am kind of stuck to that one medium, um, and that's why I'd probably agree with you, actually, that video gives you so many more possibilities and so many more options.

Um, you've just got to get used to talking to a camera, is fundamentally the thing you've got to do, right?

Jacob: That can be hard sometimes. It was hard for me when I first got started. I was never that guy. I was like, I'm just gonna, I'm always behind the scenes, never in front of the camera. And then it's like, boom, I just came out and everyone's like, I'm seeing your video across all the platforms. You're on Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram.

I go, yeah, that's not easy for me. They're like, well, you're a natural. I'm like, I don't feel like a natural, but thank you.

Matt: Yeah, it's a bit like skydiving.

Jacob: Yeah, 100%, 100%. You gotta throw yourself out there.

Matt: Yeah, [00:45:00] exactly. That's exactly what it is. Jacob, listen, it's been great talking to you, man. If people want to reach you, if people want to connect with you, find out more either about your coaching, um, about your podcast or even about, you know, your, maybe they want their mobile phone fixed.

I don't know. What's the best way for people to reach you?

Jacob: Just go to my website, jacobkmead. com, and there's an apply button on there if you're looking to work directly with me, you want to be able to buy your time back, you can go there. I'm Want to help you and send me a message on Instagram or Facebook and DM me and if you're in the area, we can grab a cup of coffee or we can connect online, but my ultimate goal is to help as many people as possible.

So if you're looking to connect, jacobkme. com. That's typically the easiest way to get ahold of me.

Matt: Fantastic, fantastic. We will of course link to Jacob's website in the show notes as well. Uh, so if you have the, if you've signed up to the email, you'll get those show notes coming to your inbox. If you haven't, [00:46:00] go do it, uh, because it will come to you automatically. Uh, Jacob, listen, um, What a great conversation, and I love talking about, uh, I'm not a big fan of the phrase work life balance, but I understand the meaning of it, and sometimes it is good just to think about how I spend my time, and how time is the most precious commodity I have been given.

Given and I can only spend it once, right? And so, um, it's just good to talk about it. It's great to think about it. So thank you for, uh, for prompting us to do that. Thank you for sharing some of your insights and thoughts into this. And it's just been great to hear your journey, man. So I appreciate it.

Jacob: Yes. Thank you.

Matt: What a great conversation. Huge thanks again to Jacob for joining me today. Also a big shout out to today's show sponsor Aurion Media. If you're wondering if podcasting is a good marketing strategy for your business, which I think it probably is, do connect with them at aurionmedia. com [00:47:00] A U R I O N M E D I A.

com. That's aurionmedia. com. Now be sure to follow Push To Be More wherever you get your podcasts from because we've got some more great conversations lined up and I don't want you to miss any of them. And in case no one has told you yet today, you are awesome. Yes you are, created awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear.

Jacob has to bear it, I have to bear it. You've got to bear it as well. Push to Be More is produced by Aurion Media. You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app. The team that makes this show possible is Sadaf Beynon, Estella Robin, and Tanya Hutsuliak. Our theme music was written by Josh Edmundson.

And as I mentioned, if you would like to read the transcript or show notes... You can find them for free on our website, PushToBeMore. That is it from me. That is it from Jacob. Thank you so much for joining us. Have a fantastic week, [00:48:00] wherever you are in the world. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.