Sometimes Your Passion Becomes Your Profession: 3 Entrepreneurs Who Turned Their Passion into a Meaningful Business

Joseph Frankie: The Maestro of LinkedIn Profile Optimization

“With every second seeing 2 new people joining LinkedIn and 1 million joining every thirteen days, it’s evident where the future of professional networking is headed.”

Joseph Frankie has worn many hats in his career, and they all converge toward one goal: helping professionals put their best foot forward in the world of LinkedIn. His journey, rooted in an illustrious 34-year army career, has culminated in a mission to unlock the potential within individuals and position them for growth in their careers. In essence, Joseph Frankie is not just a LinkedIn coach. He’s a storyteller, a brand builder, and a guide to the uncharted territories of digital professional branding.

From Army Officer Development to LinkedIn Optimization

During his tenure in the army, Frankie was accustomed to developing officers, preparing them for their next roles, and ensuring they were well-rounded in their experiences. It was his wife who pointed out that his innate talent for this was very much like optimizing LinkedIn profiles, making individuals more marketable by showcasing their holistic capabilities.

This realization ignited a passion in Frankie. He started out on a mission: to assist people in getting what they want, making them realize that they are often underrepresented by their online profiles. To him, LinkedIn is akin to an oil portrait, rich and multifaceted, as opposed to the black-and-white snapshot that many individuals resign themselves to.

Overcoming Challenges with Resilience and Wisdom

Frankie’s path was not devoid of hurdles. One major setback came during a $3–7 billion wastewater infrastructure venture in China, which, despite three years of effort, fell through due to circumstances like the Lehman Brothers crash. But it is from these experiences that Frankie draws wisdom. He firmly believes that failure is one of the best educators.

As he puts it, “Wisdom comes from failure.” This mindset enables him to show clients that they have more to offer than what’s immediately evident on their profiles, teaching them to leverage both their achievements and their learning experiences to their advantage.

Frankie’s Unique Approach

Frankie’s approach to LinkedIn coaching is inspired by his army experience, where developing an officer meant giving them the experiences necessary to rise in rank. Drawing from this, he emphasizes two methods with his clients:

Defining the Goal: Frankie first identifies where his clients are and then helps bridge the gap to where they aspire to be.

Individualized Guidance: Recognizing that each journey is unique, Frankie offers tailored advice. His vast experience enables him to give insights into various career paths, helping clients illuminate their path forward.

One of his valuable pieces of advice is to construct a resume based on the LinkedIn profile. Winning the “content war” on LinkedIn ensures that one’s experiences are clearly visible and articulated to potential employers.

Defining Success

For Frankie, success for his clients is when they can effectively project their skills and experiences on LinkedIn, positioning themselves as solution providers. To date, he has coached over 700 executives, veterans, and students, guiding them to structure their profiles for maximum impact.

In his own life, success is about utilizing the right strategies: “It’s like fishing. Use bologna all day, and you won’t catch a trout. But use the bait they like, and you will.”

Having coached in 14 different countries and having mentored 709 professionals (plus 1,200 as a hobby), Frankie’s next step seems boundless. His reach is extensive, yet the core of his message remains: Be authentic, represent yourself fully, and understand the platform’s power.

To learn more about how Frankie is helping clients reach their goals through LinkedIn, you can visit him on his LinkedIn profile.

Paul Agostinelli: Bridging Buddhism and Business

“Transitions are opportunities for you to deepen your life in the most profound ways. There’s a path to thriving.”

Paul Agostinelli, an entrepreneur and executive coach, is on a mission far from the ordinary. Operating from Boulder, CO, he’s seamlessly integrating Zen teachings into the corporate realm. This unique confluence of spiritual wisdom and professional prowess makes Paul’s approach stand out in an ocean of business coaching.

The Confluence of Zen and Professionalism

Paul’s professional journey is deeply rooted in his personal practices. Throughout his career, whether he was dealing with funders or clients, his Zen teachings remained in the backdrop. They were his guiding light, even if not openly discussed. Realizing the profound benefits of integrating Zen into business, Paul took a bold step in 2017 and launched ‘Zen at Work’. The initiative was more than just a brand; it was a reflection of his dual commitment to spiritual awakening and professional excellence.

Challenges: Imposter Syndrome and Language Barriers

Paul, like many, grappled with the omnipresent ‘imposter syndrome’. Moreover, the challenge was not just to talk about Zen but to translate it into a language that resonates with a largely money-centric professional world. His approach emphasizes three contracts:

Contract with Self: Prioritizing one’s spiritual development and personal growth.

Contract with Others: A deep commitment to partners, family, and friends.

Contract with Work: Ensuring that work is both meaningful and significant.

Drawing from ancient practices, Paul noted that monks often lacked families and significant work, making their spiritual journey different from modern professionals. In today’s world, sidelining spiritual growth in favor of professional accomplishments leaves one incomplete.

Paul’s Unique Approach To Success Coaching

Paul focuses on diagnosing areas where professionals are stuck or inadvertently become their own roadblocks. His sessions are designed to facilitate the following:

Self-awareness: Recognizing where one might be obstructing their own growth.

Skill development: Empowering with the necessary tools to navigate the professional landscape.

Progressive Growth: Elevating professionals to their desired positions.

For Paul, client success is threefold. “Helping others to understand who they are, learning the proper life skills to find balance and success, and then giving them the opportunity to apply these skills in their personal and professional life. That’s success for me.”

What’s on the Horizon?

Paul continues to champion mindfulness principles, advocating for a progressive approach to personal and professional growth. He’s recently launched the ‘Game of Zen’ podcast and introduced ‘The Bardo of Work’, a specialized coaching program for those in transitional work phases.

To learn more about Paul and his work in combining spiritual and professional development, you can visit his website or follow him on LinkedIn.

Lisa Kirkpatrick: Writing with Purpose, Guiding with Passion

“Everyone has a story to tell, I just want to help them get it out to the world.”

Discovering the Pen’s Power

For Lisa, writing has always been an innate passion. But like many talents, it was initially overshadowed by self-doubt and hesitation. Despite her early forays into writing competitions during her school years, the real confidence to wield the pen came much later.

Her journey into the realm of books began as an act of love for her grandchildren. Geographical distances made her yearn for connection, leading to the creation of personalized stories. It was these stories, encouraged by her daughter, that paved the way for Lisa’s first published book in July 2022. Fast forward, and she boasts four international bestsellers, with several others earning the ‘bestseller’ title.

From Storyteller to Guide

Beyond her own narratives, Lisa has been instrumental in helping others birth their tales. The uniqueness of her approach lies in its simplicity and clarity:

• Seek Guidance: finding mentors who have succeed in writing is crucial to finding your own successful journey.
• Speak to One, Reach Many: Lisa encourages writers to envision a single listener and write to them. This intimacy translates into a universally relatable narrative.
• Find Your ‘Why’: Understanding the reason behind your story enriches the writing process. “Don’t just write for the sake of writing or making a living, have a deeper reason.”

Overcoming the Intangible Barriers

Every success story comes with its challenges. For Lisa, it was the crippling fear of the unknown and the haunting “what ifs”. Her advice? Recognize these fears as mere illusions, akin to holograms, seemingly real but intangible. She aptly quotes, “Don’t regret not writing.”

Defining Success

Lisa does not define success by any financial goals or levels of prestige. For her, it’s much simpler than that. “I believe everyone has a story worth sharing and I want to help them do that.” Whether sharing basic guidance for writing to the intricate nuances of publishing, strategizing a marketing plan, or ghostwriting a book, she offers everyone the help they need to see their story come to life. Personally, she is motivated by a desire to inspire others. While she is proud of all of her writing accomplishments, one of her favorite books is “The Giving Book.” A book of stories and wisdom from doctors, teachers, nurses, professors, and others with a heart to give back.

Looking Ahead

With dreams of being a New York Times best-selling author, Lisa isn’t merely chasing sales figures. Her visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas, fueled her desire to create timeless pieces. A heartwarming encounter there, with a receptionist engrossed in “The Murder of Crows,” furthered her aspiration for literary immortality. “I would like to keep writing until I feel I have a book that will have a lasting impact on future generations.”

For more information about Lisa and her work helping others fulfill their dream of being an author, you can follow her on LinkedIn or visit her website.