Photographer-turned-business coach Jeffrey Shaw was a shy and withdrawn youth. But his entrepreneurial determination inspired him to personal growth. Today he’s a public speaker and encourages others to find confidence in overcoming perceived limitations.

Welcome to Making It! This weekly show explores the lives and stories of entrepreneurs as they share their unique perspectives on their success and the path to making it.

Jeffrey Shaw  is an author, speaker, coach and advocate for self-employed business owners. He runs a business called The Self-Employed Business Institute.

“I realized that the benefits of seeing myself grow, and the benefit of being proud of myself stretching outside of my comfort zone were greater than the fear.”

Jeffrey Shaw

Jeffrey Shaw is often described as an authority and advocate for self-employed business owners, valued for his actionable and “in the trenches” approach to achieving business and life success. Why shouldn’t he be? How many people can say they’ve never worked for anyone else?

Selling eggs door-to-door at 14 years old led to a lifetime of self-employment. In his twenties, he built a portrait photography business and became one of the most sought-after portrait photographers for affluent families in the U.S. for more than three decades. His portraits have been on the Oprah Show, CBS News, featured in People and O Magazine and hang at Harvard University.

Today, Jeffrey is the author of LINGO and The Self-Employed Life, host of The Self-Employed Life podcast with nearly two-million downloads, and founder of the Self-Employed Business Institute.

His TEDx Talk is featured on TED.com; he’s a LinkedIn Learning instructor, contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and speaks at association events, entrepreneurial groups, and conferences.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:
Mirasee
Jeffrey’s website
Jeffrey’s  LinkedIn

Credits:
Guest – Jeffrey Shaw
Co-Producers – Danny Bermant & Geoff Govertsen
Supervising Producer – Cynthia Lamb
Executive producer – Danny Iny
Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music and SFX credits: 
Track Title: The Sunniest Kids
Artist Name(s): Rhythm Scott
Writer Name: Scott Roush
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Sweet Loving Waltz
Artist Name(s): Sounds Like Sander
Writer Name: S.L.J. Kalmeijer
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Other music in this episode was graciously supplied by Wicked Cinema & The Dandelions