Focus + Passion x a Love for Technology = the Architect of E-Learning
Today's Guest: A Bit About Elliott Masie
* Don't focus on the business; focus on yourself.
* Don't say I'm going to start a company. Say I'm going to build my passion.
* Become the leading expert in a field that no one thinks is important
*
So says Elliott Masie, a professed geek, and architect of the term "E-learning" who operates The Learning CONSORTIUM at the Masie Center. It is the only fully dedicated research center, and networking organization focused on e-Learning and learning/technology research. He constructed one of the most successful conferences at Walt Disney that started with a passion for technology, how to use it, and connect people to learn ways to improve their skills. But having passion does not make a successful entrepreneur that starts as a solopreneur then grows to produce shows on Broadway and coin a term that would forever change an industry. Let's dig in.
Brief Background of Host of The Solopreneur Journey Podcast, Ex-pat Entrepreneur Jewel Daniels
Jewel Daniels is the head of Daniels Communications Global, a leadership development firm specializing in executive coaching, cultural competency, and developing leaders. She is also the author of four books, with her latest becoming a bestseller, Three Sides of Every Crisis: Strategies to Sustain Business, Manage Your Career and Take Care of You [https://jeweldaniels.net/new-book-profile]. The book talks about how to find opportunities amid a crisis by learning to adjust your perspective so you can pivot, strategize, and take action to #kickthecrisis.
About The Solopreneur Journey Podcast
The Solopreneur Journey Podcast reaches out solo entrepreneurs, single-shingle, one-person enterprises who are just starting their business or killin' it in business. The show is ripe with information for those transitioning from careers to become entrepreneurs and growing to become larger companies' business owners.
You will glean lessons from everyday solopreneurs. Plus, those who have scaled their business and featured guests who pay it forward to share leadership lessons, the power of collaboration, how to price your goods and services, negotiation, marketing, and practicing excellent EQ (emotional intelligence).
One of the show's strongest offerings is its ability to cover a broad spectrum of industries with people worldwide in a way that appeals to our audience by meeting people where they are along their solopreneur journey.
Show Snapshots
[00:02:39] "Technology is like climate. You know, it's different around the world," is how Elliot Massie describes it while sharing that it will continue to become widely available in third world nations and beyond because the desire for knowledge "makes people hungry and thirsty and curious."
[00:06:27] Opportunities continue to be ripe in how technology can be leveraged even in third world countries like Rwanda, where things are even more advanced because using your phone to buy goods is the norm. It is these times of opportunities that keep Masie, a self-professed geek, intrigued and successful. What is Elliot's secret: "Don't focus on the business, focus on yourself." His passion drove him to seek answers to understand how to use technology to learn, teach things to get smarter, and grow the skills. These factors became the beginning of an E-learning enterprise.
[00:10:49] A solopreneur in his early 20s with an understanding that business grows when you grow your passion and that leads to building a company. The additional building block came in the form of advice from a college friend turned business partner. Learn to become the lead expert in a field that nobody knows is important, yet set the trajectory for a long career in learning and development.
[00:13:51] A love of technology and using it to teach people things in the learning area led to seminars and conferences that gathered learning professionals from around the world. Studying the competition and adding a unique component like world-class entertainment created a niche for the Masie Center's Learning Consortium that pairs learning, technology, and innovation. And, after 47 years in business, the advice of letting your passion lead you remains the driving factor that feeds a love for using technology to bring people together.
[00:18:03] Known as the architect of the term "e-learning," navigating the ebb and flow of business where boredom of facilitating seminars and running conferences at one point meant selling and then re-purchasing the company. Staying the course of success mirrored paying attention to what the industry and customers desire to run the business organically is key and remain true.
[00:21:44] But how do you get people to buy into your concept, your passion? It's all about the story – not money! The better you become at telling a story that interests people, the more they listen. This opened the door to collaborative partnerships where Masie began his journey by teaching people at the YWC in exchange for a participant list. Use the currency that you have at your disposal.
[00:25:09] Building and sustaining a business means learning to be scrappy, and having a willingness to do things your competitor could never dream about doing. Recalling business icons like Steve Jobs, who did not have money when they began; instead, a significant and the guts to figure how best to use it become a formula that gets results.
[00:28:38] And, where do guts come from? Your tribe. The components found in your DNA and the stories of your roots and heritage are the Building of where you authentically come from, form the pillars and drivers that will allow you to build the business and sustain it.
[00:37:39] Growing a business also means finding people the complement the areas in which you are not strong. Also, knowing how to price your goods and services can be challenging until you come to understand not to "let your definition be what you charge, have your definition be by what you contribute" Listen for a great example.
[00:46:08] Masie built a reputation for hosting the largest conference at Walt Disney after making strategic decisions about what he wanted to achieve and how that would allow him to remain faithful to his work style. Good partnerships and connections, innovative conference design, and opening the checkbook to attract notable speakers helped build a strong reputation. This formula produces a quality product that made the brand contagious for learning professionals and corporate sponsors.
[00:49:16] Excelling in business requires acts that protect your reputation because "people are buying your skill, and they're buying your code of life, your code of conduct." Longevity is found in good ethics and giving back.
[00:52:14] From gathering the brightest minds in the learning and development industry to producing Broadway shows and mentoring others, Masie says one of his most significant contributions is possessing the ability ask good questions, not have good answers.
Connect with Elliott Masie Chair, The Learning CONSORTIUM @ The MASIE Center
You can also follow and get in touch with Elliott Masie personally through her LinkedIn. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottmasie/]
We keep it real on The Solopreneur Journey!
Listen to everyday single-shingle stories, owners of one-person enterprises who are new entrants, and those who are blazing new pathways in business! Tune in each week with Ex-pat Entrepreneur Jewel Daniels [https://www.thesolopreneurjourney.net/episode/www.jeweldaniels.net] to hear from business icons and industry tycoons who started as solopreneurs to find great success and are willing to pay-it-forward on our show.
To learn more about resources for Solopreneurs, sponsorship of our special programs, or to become a guest, visit us at www.TheSolopreneurJourney.net [https://player.captivate.fm/show/a46ff5f2-2f39-48fd-888b-c2c45aabf1ec/www.TheSolopreneurJourney.net]. Listen to us on Amazon Music, Deezer, Gaana, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Podchaser, Radio Public, Saavan, Spotify, and Stitcher.
