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My Life Didn't Follow A Linear Path.
It's been scattered. Volatile. Messy.
With many unexpected twists and turns.
I’ve been rich and I’ve been broke.
I’ve been healthy and I’ve been very ill.
I’ve been in love and I’ve had my heart broken.
I was terrified when I graduated college with $2,000 in savings and $85,000 in student loan debt.
I had no backup plan. No safety net. No trust fund.
Just a burning desire to escape the 600-person Iowa farm town where I grew up.
But, I didn't have the luxury of time, money, or connections.
So every minute mattered. Every cent counted.
Starting From Nothing Forces You To Think Differently.
In hindsight, being broke (and deeply in debt) was an unexpected gift.
It forced me to become obsessed with what *truly* drives results in business.
That obsession led to countless experiments, epic failures, and game changing breakthroughs in multiple domains of my life.
This has also caused my life to unfold as a series of immersive phases, instead of a linear path.
Here are some of the highlights from those periods of obsession and experimentation...
In my “business” phase, I built, invested in and advised some of the fastest growing startups in America. I’m an advisor to Jasper.AI, which grew to $100M/ARR and a $1.5 billion valuation in five years. An angel to Powur.com, which grew from nothing to $300M/year. A partner at RisingWoman.com, which generated millions of followers and sales. And co-founder of TheArtOfLove.com, an Inc5000 company I started with my wife.
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In my “prepper” phase, I trained in close-quarter battle with ex-Special Forces, pistol skills with ex-Army, and emergency medical procedures from an ex-Navy Seal. I studied survival skills under Tom Brown and tested my martial arts capabilities in a submission-only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament.
In my “sex & relationships” phase, my wife and I (together 14 years now) found ourselves in Bali, where we met an old school tantra teacher who we devoted ourselves to intensely studying with for 7 years. Along the way, we got engaged in Thailand, married in Mexico and dove headfirst into workshops on polarity, seduction, NonViolent Communication, trauma healing and whole lot more.
In my “teaching” phase, I led workshops for audiences from 20 to 2,000+ people across the globe, including Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Chile, NYC, SF and Chicago. I was also featured in a documentary alongside visionaries such as Tony Robbins, Richard Branson, The Dalai Lama, Peter Diamandis, Arianna Huffington, and more.
In my “hermit” phase, I completely left the social media world and went fully offline. I moved to Minnesota, purchased 150 acres with a lake and I immersed myself in nature. This is where I discovered how appreciate the beauty, magic and solitude that comes from living a simpler, slower pace of life.
Sex, Death and God are three of the most interesting, universal, and emotionally charged topics of the human experience.
I find them endlessly fascinating.
I've spent countless hours in solitude, staring into the Abyss and contemplating them.
I love going deep down rabbit holes, splunking around and discovering new insights.
Once a month or so, I write a private email to share insights with friends and colleagues whatever latest topic I've been immersing myself in.
Sometimes they're deep. Sometimes they're funny. Sometimes they're highly tactical business stuff.
If you’d like to join my friends on that list, enter your email in the box below.
Much love,
Andrew
