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.  In

When Shawn’s biggest competitor copied 200 of his products and offered them for one dollar less, Shawn could have quit business entirely. Instead, he concluded that his business model wasn’t innovative and disruptive enough, and he needed to change the way he did things.

Fortunately, he shares his hard-earned wisdom with his clients and with us on Making It. He teaches us to look at four main areas and create a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for each of them. He also advises us to ask this question: Will your business flinch if you were gone for a month or even three months? He believes that entrepreneurs should build their businesses to sell, even if they don’t end up selling; they have to separate themselves from their business so they can walk away at any time.

In this episode of Making It, Shawn shares that, to him, “making it” means one word: freedom.

“I could probably be gone for a month, two months, maybe even three months, and the business wouldn’t flinch. And to be honest with you, that was the point at which I decided to pursue a new calling. Being able to leave your own business, I think, is the ultimate sign that you’ve made it.”

Shawn Johal

Guest bio: Shawn Johal, the CEO and Business Growth Coach at Elevation Leaders, launched his business growth coaching practice to inspire entrepreneurs and their teams to achieve happiness and success. He has spent the last few years expanding his Scaling Up system to help entrepreneurs and business leaders reach their most audacious goals while finding personal balance.

Shawn is a certified implementer of Scaling Up methodology, working with companies from $5M to $200M in revenue in industries as diverse as tech, manufacturing, marketing, services, and beyond. He also leads numerous leadership-focused workshops and gives talks to amazing organizations across Canada.

Shawn is the best-selling author of The Happy Leader: A Leadership Fable about Transformation in Business and in Life. It’s a life-changing story about human transformation—from the triumph over grief, despair, and frustration to the powerful healing brought on by forgiveness.

He is obsessed with high performance, the pursuit of happiness, and the power of mindset to fuel a successful life, and he’s committed to bringing his message to the world.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

• Mirasee
• Shawn’s website
• Shawn’s  LinkedIn
• Shawn’s book

Credits:

• Guest: Shawn Johal
• Associate producer: Danny Bermant
• Producer: Cynthia Lamb
• Assembled by: Geoff Govertsen
• Executive producer: Danny Iny 
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin 
• Audio Post Production: Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely 

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Music and SFX credits:

• Track Title: Sweet Loving Waltz
  Artist Name(s): Sounds Like Sander
  Writer Name: S.L.J. Kalmeijer
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIO
• Track Title: The Sunniest Kids
  Artist Name(s): Rhythm Scott
  Writer Name: Scott Roush
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
• Track Title: Emeralds
  Artist Name(s): Hale
  Writer Name: Cory Hale Williams
  Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS
• Track Title: Travel The Emerald
  Artist Name(s): Alsever Lake
  Writer Name: Adrian Dominic Walther
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
• Track Title: Happy
  Artist Name(s): Empyreal Glow
  Writer Name: Mike Payne
  Writer Name: Chris Bevins
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION