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EO 360°, a podcast by Entrepreneurs’ Organization, explores entrepreneurship with a wide perspective, moving beyond business to those insights not often shared by high-profile thought leaders.

Host and serial entrepreneur, Dave Will, leads in-depth interviews, whose featured guests include: Gazelles founder and CEO, Verne Harnish; popular podcast host and founder of Genius Network, Joe Polish; award-winning entrepreneur, Zahra Al-Harazi; and more. Tune into this top podcast made by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.

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May 30, 2017

Erik Kerr graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Advertising. He has worked in sales before creating his own company. Summer Felix graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Communications and Creative Writing. She is a ghost writer and has worked with several notable personalities. Erik and Summer are business partners behind a few initiatives including The Draw Shop, their longest running company, and their passion project, Clear, which is focused on eradicating addiction relapse. The Draw Shop is about creating crystal clear, whiteboard videos as explainer videos. They have worked with a number of prestigious clients including Eric Schmidt, Arianna Huffington, Tim Ferriss, Peter Diamandis and Dave himself.    

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 00:33 – Dave welcomes Erik Kerr and Summer Felix
  • 00:53 – Dave says the secret to success is a Tall Mocha Frappuccino Lite from Starbucks
    • 01:13 – Summer does not agree with Dave as the drink is full of sugar
    • 01:26 – Erik says that the key to success is a phone call to him
  • 01:50 – Dave introduces Erik and Summer
  • 02:40 – Dave has known Erik and Summer for some time and he considers them experts in finding your message and communicating it well
  • 03:21 – Dave invited them to the podcast to talk about their expertise and because they are serial entrepreneurs
  • 04:21 – Summer is a writer who works in creative copy and has written her own novel
    • 04:55 – Summer liked the freedom that being a writer gave her
  • 05:24 – Dave is amazed that Summer never had a “real job” and got into entrepreneurship head-on
    • 05:31 – Summer’s dad is an entrepreneur and she liked that he was able to spend his time the way he wanted to
    • 06:24 – Summer says entrepreneurs don’t do it just for the money, but because they also feel fulfilled and motivated by their work
  • 07:06 – Dave met Erik at American Dream U Talks
    • 07:24 – Erik started his career singing birthday songs in Fiverr in a wooly jock strap
    • 08:02 – Erik shared that story during his presentation to help the military personnel transition back into civilian life and get a picture of to become an entrepreneur
    • 09:10 – There are many freelance sites on the internet that can help you get extra money
  • 10:04 – Erik had a “real job” at Walmart, but his entire career was built on being a salesperson
    • 11:02 – Erik won a watch in a contest that involved getting the most magazine subscriptions and it hooked him into sales
    • 11:26 – Erik also worked at Franklin Covey as the National Director of Executive Coaching
  • 12:02 – Erik’s transition was about getting burned out with the corporate life
    • 12:44 – Erik was also motivated to become an entrepreneur because he was selling entrepreneurial programs
    • 13:01 – Erik focused on the sales funnel and lead culture in his coaching company
  • 14:12 – Summer and Erik met through a mutual client and Erik sent a TedTalk whiteboard video, What Motivates People, to Summer which was the inspiration of their joint project, Draw Shop
    • 15:15 – After making their own video, customers started coming in
    • 15:53 – The idea is to draw out the meaning AND what you are saying, at the same time
    • 16:23 – It makes the message clear and easier to understand and you get excited to take action
  • 16:58 – Their book, The Five Neuro-Psychology Reasons Why Whiteboard Videos Converts So Effectively, is available at The Draw Shop website
  • 17:51 – Prop Fuel is a pulse survey platform for entrepreneurs
  • 18:23 – Erik says it’s not about the wow factor, but in the story you are telling
    • 19:02 – If people are confused with your business, there is a lack of trust in taking the next step with you
    • 19:29 – What is the concise, clear message that I want to give to get them to take that next step with me?
    • 19:58 – Clear and concise communication is the most important
  • 20:16 – The Draw Shop has a methodology that starts with a creative brief
  • 21:08 – Aside from getting people to buy your product, how do you get them to talk about your product?
    • 21:27 – If you have an awesome product, people will talk about it
  • 22:25 – A test determined that a whiteboard video outperformed a talking head video and was three times more likely to be shared on social media
  • 23:16 – People share whiteboard videos because it’s interesting and it gives you a dopamine boost
  • 24:35 – Clear started when Erik got the idea of a technology that can predict relapse before it happens
    • 25:01 – They researched about the indicators that can lead to the relapse and wanted to intervene before it happened
    • 25:26 – Erik and his sister were playing cards with their Dad when his sister who was a nurse said that their father was having a stroke
    • 25:42 – Their Dad was not aware that he was having one
    • 25:57 – Erik realized that if his sister was not there, their father would have died that night
    • 26:06 – Erik knows people who have suffered due to addiction and thinks society is more focused on getting them clean through rehabilitation centers that not all people can afford
    • 26:48 – Relapse is the monster of the many types of addiction
    • 27:11 – The brain or the body gives off early warning signs the same way Erik’s Dad’s body did when he went into a stroke
    • 27:20 – If we can identify that, we can also redirect the body sooner before it reaches the crisis point
  • 27:51 – The goal with Clear Health Technologies is to eradicate addiction relapse in the next 10 years
  • 28:11 – They are currently in research and data gathering mode, but they are planning to launch a contest with a one million dollar prize through Hero X for a technology-based solution to identify and prevent relapse
  • 29:27 – A mini-documentary is currently in the works about a guy named Malcolm
    • 30:08 – Erik was at an Oakland conference and met Verney Gran who just lost Malcolm, her 25-year old son to a heroin overdose
    • 30:24 – Malcolm was a star football player and was prescribed with oxycodone for his knee injury
    • 31:24 – Since oxycodone is expensive and can only be bought with a prescription, people who become addicted to it turn to heroin
    • 32:18 – Malcolm was clean for two years and was doing good but some changes occurred and it was enough to cause him stress—he got back into using heroin and overdosed
  • 33:49 – There is already technology with various indicators, but they are not in one platform
  • 34:14 – What they want to focus on is the physical indicators of the body
  • 34:25 – The mission is to detect the relapse and to come up with the solution for what needs to be done during that time
  • 34:56 – It is also for the loved ones to feel that they can do something and be able to intervene
  • 35:31 – Eden is a challenge-based app
    • 36:07 – Big challenges can be overwhelming, but small challenges are achievable
    • 37:15 – The intention behind Eden is give one rewards for achieving challenges
    • 37:44 – It involves a community that can help you be accountable for a challenge you set for yourself
    • 38:10 – Eden and Prop Fuel are the same in the sense that it starts with little steps to get to the bigger picture
  • 39:11 – Erik does many things now, but when he was doing Draw Shop, he was hyper-focused on building it
    • 39:47 – They got a team that can self-manage and they created a scalable model that can be replicated
    • 40:15 – As the core company, Draw Shop drives the revenue and this has given Erik and Summer time to do their passion projects
    • 40:53 – Erik and Summer have put a structure in place that works for them even if they are located in different states
    • 41:08 – They are more focused on making sure a few critical things get done daily that move them towards their larger goals
  • 42:32 – Summer says that in writing a book for credibility purposes, you need 2-3 years to do it
    • 43:06 – Sitting down to write is hard even though we can verbally communicate it
    • 43:25 – As a ghostwriter, Summer says it’s about making that time commitment and having a professional to guide you
    • 44:14 – Summer recommends Book in a Box and Trevor Crane to help you in your goal of writing a book
    • 45:00 – In anything you do, don’t do it alone
  • 46:44 – Dave closes the episode and encourages you to visit his website 

3 Key Points:

  1. Whiteboard videos work well because they show your message in a clear and concise way.
  2. Addiction relapse can be identified and prevented.
  3. In anything you do, do NOT do it alone.

Resources Mentioned: