Thom Fox is a strategy consultant who helps companies with complex problems. He has created economic empowerment programs that have reached over 3 million people and has conducted 1,200 seminars, workshops and keynotes. But his story wasn’t always one filled with success.

Thom started off in a life of crime and with an addiction to angel dust. He broke into people’s homes and got arrested at the age of 14. It wasn’t until he was 19 years old that he realized he needed to make a change in his life. It was in that moment that clarity was brought into his life, and got him on the path towards success.

Here are three things you can learn from Thom:

You can change your life

Many people believe once you hit a snag in life, you are doomed to failure. That simply isn’t the case.

Thom started off his life as a criminal who was addicted to drugs. Yet, he still found a way to turn his life around.

Once he made the decision to change his life, he took on various customer service jobs. But the real moment of change happened when he took a job at a non-profit.

That job gave him the opportunity to learn and grow. They threw everything they could at him to see if he could figure things out. “They just kept throwing stuff at me and I looked at from that way. It was a great opportunity to just learn. I didn’t know what I was going to do with all that yet, but.. if they ask me to do this, let me understand what it means.”

It was also at this job that Thom learned to absorb information. “I guess what I learned was one of the biggest lessons is be a sponge. If anybody out there right now is trying to do something different in their lives, be a sponge and learn all that you can because you can apply that knowledge in different areas once you finally get the confidence of achieving some of those things, and then from there, it’s using your creativity to just put them in different situations.”

One day, the president of the company told Thom to become the lead of the marketing department. So Thom learned marketing on the fly, and started to do educational work for the company.

If there’s one thing we can learn from Thom, it’s that your life isn’t set for you. You can change who you are and what you do to impact other people and the world.

Relationships are a crucial

In 2005, Thom was working on a non-profit for college scholarships. After one of his pitches, Thom was approached by one of the directors of the board. When the director asked where Thom learned to build one of his programs, Thom told him he learned on the fly. He told him about dropping out of school and not going to college.

The director was shocked and told him he should pursue his degree. That moment convinced Thom to get his GED and pursue a degree in international business.

After graduating, Thom decided to venture out on his own. The biggest reason Thom was able to do this was because he already had good relationships. His work with the local school system and his work on a documentary allowed him to hit the ground running.

Thom’s belief is that relationships are crucial to your success. “Relationship building is probably the most important thing that I’ve seen in business… I mean the relationships that people really get to see you in your element. So I found a lot of success simply donating my time to organizations.”

When people see your involvement and passion, they are more wiling to work with you. “I fount that by serving on these boards and serving in communities and positions, people get to see what you do, and people get to see your passion for it.”

These relationships form the foundation of your reputation. They help you when you need help the most.

The value of a startup mentality

Thom is a huge proponent of the startup mentality. He believes it can teach you many things, even when you find failure.

Startups are often successful because the people who found them are so creative. “You don’t need a 500 person company to generate a billion dollars, you need to have people who are smart and know what they’re doing. People in that capacity are creative. You know, when your innovation takes creativity, that creativity has to come from the ability to have momentum.”

Startup founders also approach problems with an open mind and willingness to learn. “I appreciate entrepreneurs for their ability to be open minded, their ability to learn, to constantly challenge themselves, and their work ethic.”

They are also don’t let their fear of failure prevent them for continuing on. “That’s what I think I appreciate about that failure and that understanding. Just because you fail, doesn’t mean that it’s over. It just means you get to take all that stuff that you learned, and you get to do something else that’s pretty cool with it.”

That ability to learn and that ability to persevere are what make the startups mentality so special. Even if your idea fails, there is something to learn from that. We just need to be open and willing to learn and fail if we want to run a successful business.

Shownotes

• about Thom
  • aided by many mentors
  • was lost for a long time

4:33 “It’s when you connect with other people and get feedback from them in a meaningful way , not when they’re destructive but constructive, and they’re honestly trying to help you make better changes in your life that can breath a little bit and understand that if someone is willing to invest in you, there’s a reason for that, and you have to figure that out. It’s kind of a humbling experience, but it’s also kinda mind-boggling if you were an idiot like I was.”

• getting started with drugs
  • grew up with grandparents in 70’s
  • was a young person with old people raising him
  • got good at taking things apart and putting things back together again
  • kids in neighborhood wanted him to break into alarm system
  • broke into houses
  • they gave him drugs, and eventually got him hooked on angel dust
• his thoughts when they approached him
  • was mostly left alone as a child, so when they approached him, he was glad to be part of a group
  • didn’t know anything about drugs when he took them
  • it didn’t seem malicious to him
  • didn’t see it for what it was until it was already way out of control
• difficulties he encountered
  • has had a long battle with police
  • he has been beaten and shot at
  • was living a life of ignorance
  • life came crashing down at 19
• getting arrested at 14
  • grandparents found out
  • mom died after parents got divorced
  • was walking on highway
    • father and grandfather came to police station
    • next day aunt comes over to house
    • they get help for him
    • when he moved in with mom, he got involved with a different group of people
• falling asleep on woman’s doorstep at 19
  • saw that he had trenchcoat but no pants on
  • found 16 empty grams of angel dust in his coat
  • didn’t know when he smoked it
  • hopped train to NY
  • looked in the mirror and saw that he was ninety six pounds, and he stopped cold turkey
• how he was able to cope with such a massive change
  • had already dropped out of high school, but went to get degree in electronics
  • took on retail and customer service jobs
  • had nervous breakdown after getting married
  • got divorced and lost custody of child
  • got job at a non-profit, and they put him to work
• his new job
  • they didn’t know what they were looking for
  • gave him an opportunity because they could drive him into the ground
  • they kept throwing stuff at him and told him to figure it out
  • was honest with them about his situation and what he could do
  • company helped people repay credit card debt and also had a financial literacy program
  • worked there for 18 years
  • saw job as an opportunity to learn
  • president had Thom start the marketing department because he knew how to write
  • learned marketing on the fly and eventually went on to do educational work for them
  • built educational program on a national scale and produced radio/tv commercials
  • applying what you learn from one area and using it in another area
  • world’s best push-up bra was created by a mechanical engineer

18:22 “So they just kept throwing stuff at me and I looked at from that way. It was a great opportunity to just learn. I didn’t know what I was going to do with all that yet, but.. if they ask me to do this, let me understand what it means.”

18″53 “I guess what I learned was one of the biggest lessons is be a sponge. If anybody out there right now is trying to do something different in their lives, be a sponge and learn all that you can because you can apply that knowledge in different areas once you finally get the confidence of achieving some of those things, and then from there, it’s using your creativity to just put them in different situations.”

20:23 “Take the things that you learn and look elsewhere, and that’s where opportunities sometimes lie. But that’s the gift of the experiences that you go through. They stay with you and the ability to use them in different situations is really, I think, the challenge in life is mastering that and really trying to understand when to do it, and when to shut your mouth sometimes too.”

• where Thom looked for inspiration
  • soaked up everything
  • happened during the advent of the internet
  • he Googled everything from “How do I write a commercial?” to “How do I storyboard a commercial?”
    • he then reached out to people in the industry and asked for their opinions
  • the challenge he had was, his employer didn’t want to listen to other people’s opinions
    • because he didn’t have the background, he to provide support from people in the industry
  • people don’t mind backing you up
• mentors
  • 2005 – worked with Bill Cosby on non-profit for college scholarships
  • increased it by 100%
  • one of the directors on the board asked him what else he was up to
    • told him about financial literacy program he spoke about to USA
    • taught personal finance via the game of basketball
    • put on hour long game shows to give away tickets to games
    • asked where he learned how to do that
    • told him about dropping out
    • was told he needed to go to college
    • got GED even through ADHD and dyslexia
    • went to college for international business
• building his skill set
  • is a natural introvert
  • had a lot of emotional growth to do because of his addiction
  • was on a quest to figure things out
  • dealt with nearly committing suicide and alcoholism
  • didn’t know what the end game was
  • employer didn’t want him to go to college, but he went anyways
  • he focused on college where mentorship helped again
  • mentored at a startup incubator – where he helped startups connect with community and come up with strategies
  • fell in love with startups and their mentalities which was completely different from big corporations
  • brought these ideas to big corporations
• after graduating
  • met up with Angela Lussier
  • had conversations with Angela about his career and she told him to just do it

29:50 “Every time you step up and do something on your own, there’s a lot of nervousness. There’s a lot of unsureity, but it was interesting, and the journey still continues.”

• going into consulting
  • started as co-founders with Angela and they enjoyed working together, but realized they had different goals for what they wanted to do
  • had 3 funds – regular money, uh oh fund, and oh crap fund
  • went out on his own as freelancer
• building up freelancing business
  • even though he dropped out of school, he was able to build rapport with school because he set up mentorship programs
  • got a contract with the local school system because of his connection with them
  • was also working on a documentary on depression
  • already had two great projects when he started off
  • came through hustling, networking, and connecting with the community

31:53 “I understand the importance of investing in people. I understand the importance of giving back.”

• having a strong network and hustling
  • show vs. telling
  • people are more comfortable referring you when you already have a relationship with them
    • they get to see how you do what you do and how much it matters to you

33:11 “Relationship building is probably the most important thing that I’ve seen in business… I mean the relationships that people really get to see you in your element. So I found a lot of success simply donating my time to organizations.”

33:40 “I fount that by serving on these boards and serving in communities and positions, people get to see what you do, and people get to see your passion for it.”

•  getting involved in your local community
  • woman who was on two boards: one for heart and one for wallet , asked what to do
  • volunteering for organizations that matter to you
  • serving on boards involves time and commitment so when people see you giving up your time and expertise, they recognize that
  • people like people who remind them of themselves
  • warm introductions vs. cold introductions

35:07 “If you really want to get involved and actually use it in some capacity to build your notoriety or even build your brand or business, find out something your passionate about. Find out how your skill set can help that organization and just go talk to them.”

• instant gratification and giving up
  • being in an interesting time in history
  • your audience makes your brand what it is

37:41 “A lot of people, most times, the overnight successes are ten years in the making, and the people that actually do make it into instant stardom and things like that, it’s so random. It’s hard to forget. So I think there has to be a default and a default position has to be, ‘You gotta work at something in order to get anywhere.'”

38:10 “If you’re happy at what you’re doing and you’re doing it for the reasons that are good for you and your life. You really can’t go wrong.”

• things that helped grow his influence
  • radio shows
  • had a branding problem at Junior Achievement
    • had a hard time connecting with business owners/funders
    • created a business show with entrepreneurs
    • bring them on to talk about tips/tricks and learn about Junior Achievement
• lessons learned while doing show
  • learned things about himself
  • hates closed minded people and thinks they are destructive
  • the ego can be destructive

“The more supportive that we are towards people and the less that we tear them down, the more we build them up, the more success we create for everybody.”

“Some people, some entrepreneurs especially, are so enamored with their own thought process that they don’t realize that they’re doing something good or doing something bad… One way to look at it is, some people are successful in spite of themselves.”

• being supportive of people
  • there are people who have good ideas, but may not have the confidence
  • every student who doesn’t graduate is a $250k drag on the economy
  • imagining what it would be like if we could provide resources for all those kids

“The world has changed. There’s different ways to do things. So… now more than ever, I think it’s important to be open minded, otherwise you just miss a bunch of opportunities.”

“It’s amazing to see what you can do if you just invest a little bit of time in somebody.”

• examples of people he has helped
  • Suit Up Springfield
    • founder heard from business owners that many kids didn’t come to jobs dressed appropriately, so he started giving away suits to kids going on job interviews
    • big disconnect between kids going on job interviews and business owners
    • kids said they don’t know what it’s like to go on a job interview, so they don’t know they have to dress up
    • you can then take that idea back to the business community to let them know that
    • one of the first kids of the program worked on mayoral campaign
    • he was one of the stories told by Senator Elizabeth Warren when she was in town

“It’s these different investments in different ways that we help these people get these opportunities.”

• seeking mentorship
  • one on one mentorship is often helpful
  • you can start just by asking someone you feel comfortable with
    • they might not be able to help you directly, but they may know someone who can
    • ex: kid asking Thom about animation, Thom didn’t know anything about animation, but he knew someone who did
  • the importance of having a direction and people who want to help you
  • having an advisory board of three people you trust
    • being able to call somebody when you are having a problem
    • bringing those people together once a quarter to help you and connect with each other
  • the importance of having people who know your intentions and motivations
    • they can give you clear advice that you might not be able to see

“Talk to somebody you trust. Start from there.  Tell them what kind of guidance you think you need, and have an open and honest conversation. And they may see it from a completely different perspective, because sometimes we get trapped in our own head. So to get it out there and talk to somebody you trust is really important because they’re giving you information that’s helpful to you, not helpful to them. And that’s the most impactful information, where they really earnestly want to help you out, and then maybe it can make connections to other people in the community… Try to connect with someone you have some level of trust with that you think will steer you in the right direction.”

• startup mentality
  • living in an ever changing world
  • startups are challenged on multiple levels
    • it’s not just about whether people want or don’t want the product
    • they need to think about where to take the company, if they want to license the product, getting funding from angel investors/venture capitalists
  • when you are trying to make a pitch to angel investors, they will try to tear it down
    • you have to justify why you should get funding
    • it forces you take make an argument based on sanity
    • knowing exactly who your customers are and what value you can bring to them
  • knowing what your product will do for people
  • getting feedback from customers
  • having a thick skin, and being able to listen to why your product sucks
  • Lean Launchpad – making assumptions and talking to customers
    • you have to have strong hypotheses
    • it’s about learning
    • company that wanted to build an app that proofreads emails
      • learned that nobody would pay for it
      • they also learned they had a strong skillset for helping kids get into the right college
      • started off with one idea, but shifted into a new one
    • customer development tells you whether or not you have a product
    • finding out where your skills fit
    • Paypal was the fourth or fifth company they worked on
    • Twitter and Slack both started off as different companies
    • your company/idea  has to be something you enjoy, you have to care about it
    • you have to open minded and you have to be able to take ideas and run with them

“You don’t need a 500 person company to generate a billion dollars, you need to have people who are smart and know what they’re doing. People in that capacity are creative. You know, when your innovation takes creativity, that creativity has to come from the ability to have momentum.”

“You have to understand what your value represents to other people. I don’t care who you are and your brand, or anything like that, but what’s in it for me, as a consumer?”

“I appreciate entrepreneurs for their ability to be open minded, their ability to learn, to constantly challenge themselves, and their work ethic… if you’re inside of a startup or building your company, that’s your life. It really is. There’s no on and off. That’s challenging.”

“That’s what’s interesting to go out and learn, because we make a lot of assumptions as entrepreneurs. We have to in a sense. The idea has to be fantastic because it’s ours, but sometimes your ideas suck, and that’s alright.”

“That’s what I think I appreciate about that failure and that understanding. Just because you fail, doesn’t mean that it’s over. It just means you get to take all that stuff that you learned, and you get to do something else that’s pretty cool with it.”

• advice he would give to his younger self
  • doesn’t know because he doesn’t think his younger self would have listened
  • ignorant people are dangerous people
  • related to people who were genuine with him
  • find someone who is genuine with you and may be able to help you out
• the ability for one person to completely change your life
  • being open and willing to listen to others
  • felt like he was always waiting for something
  • act on the things you need to act on
  • listen out for those conversations that can make a difference
  • recognize situations that can build momentum and activate them
• favorite quote
  • represents the foundation of strategy
  • second guessing gets in the way of your agenda
  • find a way to accomplish the things you want to do

 “Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then… find the way.” ― Abraham Lincoln

• morning routine
  • gets up 4:30, gets coffee, smokes cigarette, gets going
• books, documentaries, podcasts
  • Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy by Cindy Alvarez
    • how to interview your customers using an open ended approach
    • helps you get inside customers’ heads
    • it’s never the surface answer that you want
    • ask why until you get to the root cause
    • getting inside the mind of your customer and figuring out how you can get them to buy
• creative people
  • Angela Lussier – using creativity in her business
  • Steve Jobs
    • had faith that you know what people want
• definition of creativity

“Creativity isn’t just artwork. I guess in some capacity, I look at my work that I do in strategy consulting as creativity as well because I have to come up with solutions, and those solutions aren’t always evident. but in order to maximize creativity, I say, always remain a student. Always learn. Always learn about different ways to do things… just continually going out and building your craft or sharpening your saw.”

Thomfox.com  | Twitter