Speaker 0

Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I am pumped today to have with us John Feldman of visionary literary. John is the founder CEO of that company. John, how are you doing today?

Speaker 1

I'm good, Jamie. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. This is gonna be a fun one. I think it's gonna be it's gonna be inspirational and practical, which is what we're trying to do here, trying to speak to the entrepreneur out there and and or wanna be entrepreneur you know, budding entrepreneur, and I know you're gonna be able to talk to that that listener. And I know you also offer some very actionable and practical services, that we're gonna get into. So for the listener out there who is not familiar with you, John, who are you and what are you up to today?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So I am the founder and CEO of visionary literary. We are a ghost writing and book publishing company. So based If you, Jamie, for instance, if you, you're extremely busy, but you have a book idea, and you're like, I know I wanna get this book out there. You come to us We have some writers write it on the back end. Your name goes on the cover, and then we help you to publish it, promote it, and, and kinda steer you in the direction to open up new revenue streams from that book.

Speaker 0

Awesome. And I know, I think I heard you on the wealth without Wall Street podcast and, think, came up then that you might have some controversial takes on on some of this stuff, which I am I'm excited to get into. As far as maybe AI and the use of AI and that kind of thing. So we'll we'll we'll put a we'll put a bookmark in that. You like that. You know, unintended. Exactly. Hundred percent intended. But, John, before we get to the, abundance that you're, you know, working toward and experiencing now, we gotta jump back and into your backstory. I know before we hit record, you and I were talking about, your junior year in college being a a pivotal moment for you. And and some, leading up to some adversity that you, unfortunately, went through. So let's dive in. What give us give us some context. What was your life like at that point in time?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So junior in college, like many, you know, undergrads, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Just knew that I needed that, you know, piece of paper, that degree to get out into the world, into the corporate world, but That just that seemed awful to me. So one day, my my late roommate, Greg Menife, and I were sitting outside our college house And he said, we should write a book about our lives. We thought we were more interesting than we really were, but that just sparked something in me. I was like, that's Like, I've always been drawn to to movies and to kinda, you know, storytelling and different plot twist. That's always been engaging to me. So the next couple of days I sat in my classes, and I just started writing a script. It was it I ended up finishing it, printing it. It was awful. It still just collects dust on a on a thumb drive now, but it just it got me it got it got me excited for something finally. Through all the courses that I took, I was finally excited about something. So I really pursued it, went out and and started learning on my own. Started writing screenplays, started, I moved into novels and short stories, just really had a passion for it. But as any writer will tell you, it's nearly impossible to make a living, writing, when you're first starting. So I was doing other side jobs, working in corporate, anything to pay the bills while I, while I wrote. And then all these ideas that I I started moving into ghost writing. Right? So writing for business people, people who were obviously smarter than I was. And I was learning so much from them, and that's when I I kinda took the leap of faith too early into business. So I quit my corporate job. Tried to start a a handyman company.

Speaker 0

Okay.

Speaker 1

We made a six hundred dollar profit over six months. I had my car repossessed. We almost lost our house. My wife and kids looked at me like, alright, dad. And I, you know, what's next? Right. That was a that was a big turning point as well.

Speaker 0

Sure. No. There's a lot to unpack there. So just in college just briefly where you did you when you junior year, did you change your major or anything? Did you what were you studying at that point?

Speaker 1

I didn't. So I was actually studying sociology and marketing. So I wanted to I wanted to be an advertising I wanted to kinda sit around the table and, and come up with commercial ideas. That was that was my goal.

Speaker 0

So Okay. Gotcha. And then And then you you mentioned, obviously, you're you you said you were learning, about writing, you were you were writing and studying that and getting better at that. But then you mentioned a corporate job. What was that what was that corporate job?

Speaker 1

It was, actually working with electronical meta electronic medical record systems. Okay. So this was a a job that I kinda stumbled upon. It was a a one hundred percent travel job And then I eventually just kinda settled down and got a corporate job local. But it was it was all computer stuff sitting behind a desk, sitting in a cubicle. Sure.

Speaker 0

Nothing nothing exciting. And and, you know, much like it sounds like much like my first quote unquote real job. It not that the jobs were similar, but but I took that job because it was it was a job and it paid, you know, paid paid money, right, biweekly paycheck. So sounds like you took the your job for a similar reason. So, okay. So you you what made you you said you went all in too soon on the handyman business. Right? Why did you decide to start that business in the first place?

Speaker 1

I just, I I left corporate and went back to travel work. But at that time, I had a wife and two young kids, And I realized very quickly that, you know, whoops, maybe I shouldn't have left the corporate world, even though it was, you know, mind numbingly boring, But I I came back and I was like, alright. Like, I've doing this ghost writing on the side part time, learned so much. So let me just let me take the leap of faith And that's when, so I I stopped doing the travel work that paid the bills, and I came back and took a little bit of money that I had stashed away and tried to start the the handyman company, tried to do the the owner operator thing, which was As it turns out, not the greatest idea.

Speaker 0

Well, I mean, we're obviously gonna progress and and get into the financial struggles that you did experience, but just pausing briefly right here, where would what would you say to the listener out there who has a corporate job and hates it or just, you know, it's boring or it's too much travel or something. And and there's no the caveat is always there. There's no one size fits all answer. Every situation different. We get that. But what advice would you give them, you know, for should they just quit their job? Should they start a side hustle? Is entrepreneurship for everyone. Talk to the the wannabe slash budding entrepreneur out there who, you know, the grass is greener as a as an entrepreneur.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Well, I think that I think entrepreneurship can be for everyone. It's just, like, if you hit a certain level of success, then you're happy. Everyone's happy. But I feel like the the person who is really in need of that kind of financial security. If you are not comfortable, call on your mortgage company and saying, hey, I need to defer some some payments or, like, just just being in flux in a constant state of, you know, how am I gonna pay the next bill? Maybe entrepreneurship isn't for you or if it is, you should go out and get some investors right away. But I I would suggest if I could go back in time

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 1

I would still have started that company. Because handyman services, there'll always be a need for them. It's true. But I should have planned a little more and and did it as a side hustle at first. Like you said, that's that's kinda difficult to do, with a, you know, in home service company, but there are so many digital companies now online services that you can do nights, weekends. And then once you have proof of concept. You know you have some good projects coming in. You know that you can safely walk away, from your corporate job, then that's a good

Speaker 0

That's that's really really good advice. And and again, there's many ways to skin the cat. Right? Maybe you can save up a bunch of money as you're working your w two and then take the leap. Right. And you've got some cushion there. In my case, I was able to work for the the last seven years, for the Department of Defense part time. And so I was building my business on the side I had a good amount of time to do that. So not everyone has that situation, but I definitely agree with you in some way. You need some kind of proof of concept or some kind of you know, book of business or some some traction before, especially if you have a family that's depending on you before you just kinda go all in. So You didn't do that. And again, we're we're looking back beating you up with and now we have access to to more information than you had at that at that time. So it's kind of unfair, but at the same time, we wanna learn from your story. So take us to rock bottom. You mentioned your car being repossessed, what what did things look like at that point in time?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So that was, that was a very embarrassing time. Again, it was just So I was trying to do the owner operator thing because I started with basically nothing. So I couldn't afford to, you know, pay someone So I went out. I was doing my thing, and I was coming home at night, sending out invoices. Many people weren't paying their invoices. So I was spending time chasing people down. Which made me late to some jobs and some dissatisfied clients. So it was it was kind of, like, an avalanche of bad things taking place. And then I just I remember the the car company. The mortgage company was a little bit easier to deal with. They were okay with me deferring some payments, but the car company was not. It was actually the work truck that I needed. So I, when the tow truck company called and said, like, I'm coming to get it where do you live? I had to ask, can I please meet you somewhere else so my neighbors don't have to watch this? So my kids don't have to watch this. And I I remember that vividly. I remember that. Yeah. That conversation. I can

Speaker 0

tow truck driver. Yeah. I appreciate you being, you know, some of the stuff is you may have mostly put it behind you, but it's probably it's not something you wanna talk about, and it and it's not exciting to talk about. It's it's yeah. I get I mean, it's I appreciate you being vulnerable about that. And so so it sounds like you met the tow truck driver somewhere and he repossessed your car and then you made your way back home and what happened from there?

Speaker 1

Yeah. Well, he he gave me some business, advice, which I thought was, you know, Again, hindsight is twenty twenty, but, he gave me some advice and then I came home and it was just, it was a bad day or two, especially because we were still in a bad spot. There was no immediate fix. That's the really bad thing about having your own business where you don't have where you're not giving yourself a salary where you're, like, out of money is that you can't snap your fingers and make something You can't just make money appear. You have to go out and do something. So, I mean, it it came down to like DoorDash and Uber and doing anything I could to just, like, make some money and then trying to apply to jobs. Luckily, I did get something rather quickly. You know, after a couple weeks, but it's still it took a long time to dig out of that that debt. I didn't have to file bankruptcy luckily. Luckily, I didn't get in too deep because it was a very small company.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 1

So I did avoid. I mean, I I know that there are people that have had way worse circumstances than I had with my small little company going under. But for me, that was that was, you know, rock bottom. And I was like, I can't. I I need to learn more. I need to be better for the next time that I that I try.

Speaker 0

Sure. That makes makes sense. On one hand, service companies like that, you know, can be a good idea to start because they're they're it's a fairly low barrier to entry. Yeah. Fairly low risk in that sense because it it really doesn't, you know, you need a truck and some tools and some basic knowledge. Not not putting you down in any way, but that you know, you you don't really need, true. You don't need to go to medical school for for nine years to become a handyman. Right? So that and so it's kind of a low risk in that sense, but, you know, the flip side is it requires you to be there doing the work. And and as you said, owner operator, you said that a couple times. So, okay, now you're no longer operating, and you're not, you're no longer the owner, and you have no no income. So alright. So you went you did what you had to do side jobs, whatever it is, whatever it took to to get income, and then you you took another job. It sounds like right? Yes. Okay. Alright. So walk us through the next few years of your professional career.

Speaker 1

Yeah. So I did. I was able to go back to the the travel work that I was doing. Which was, again, it was it was the trade off of, like, now I have a wife and two small kids at home and I'm leaving for weeks at a time. Not being home. So that was the dissatisfaction there, but at least we were able to to pay our bills. So I started doing that and then create a I went back into doing some more ghost writing, more learning from people. And I I actually started to focus more on, like, my freelance writing career rather than the travel career because I knew I was learning so much So I wanted to continue doing that and doing it on the side because the freelance career is very, very difficult to It's kinda navigate from a financial standpoint when when payment is so sporadic. You don't know when you're getting paid when the client is going to respond. So but I started just, you know, I was able to go back to the work that I was doing and started writing again more on the side.

Speaker 0

Gotcha. I mean, I don't wanna speak for your wife, but I'm guessing she'd prefer you travel and go make money versus sit around the house and, took up space. Yeah. Yeah. So okay. So, I mean, you you took action. You did what you had to do. And you start making progress. And then on the side, you're working on your your writing, you know, which is really sounds like was always your passion. Speak to that briefly if you would as far as, you know, there's always this tension with you know, following your passion versus, following the opportunity or solving a need serving others, not that you weren't serving others, but speak to, you know, the entrepreneur who maybe they've started a side hustle, but it's not really taking off how would you define, you know, what what would you do differently maybe to, if you had to go back as far as following your passion versus, you're following the opportunity.

Speaker 1

Yeah. I think you just need to keep your eyes open. So I was always trying to pivot even when I went back to, you know, the screenwriting when I was finishing up college and then my first few years after, I kept, you know, trying to find a literary agent, trying to send out scripts to movie studios, and that wasn't working. So I was like, alright, I need to try something different. And that's when I did a little bit of research and realized that novel writing and short story writing maybe that was an easier barrier to entry into the literary market to make a career out

Speaker 0

of it.

Speaker 1

That didn't work. So that's when I looked up ghost writing and started doing that. So for anyone who who might be starting something and it is a passion. If it doesn't work, the first time don't give up. So pivoting is something that any entrepreneur, any business person tell you, like, you have to pivot when things happen. You could be in business for twenty five years and COVID hits, and you've gotta completely pivot, you know, the way that you operate. So

Speaker 0

For sure.

Speaker 1

Pick with it. It doesn't mean if you do something once or even twice, it doesn't mean that it's not going to work. That just means that you have to find a way to where you can make that work within your, you know, you can make it work for other people.

Speaker 0

Yeah. So you're still catering to your own strengths and your own passion. But you find, you know, the the Venn diagram, the middle of Venn diagram where where it actually overlaps with the opportunity and what the market tells you oh, that people will actually pay for this. So that's really good. So when did things start to take off a little bit for you?

Speaker 1

So, just to speak on that on that last part too, on the my fiction writing when I started, like, when you said the Venn diagram of, like, what people will pay for, I couldn't for the life of me get someone to read my five dollar fiction book. But as I started ghost writing, I can find someone who would pay me ten, twenty, thirty thousand dollars just to write their book. So it was wild to see And that's why I completely moved into ghostwriting because I was like, I can actually make a decent career doing this. And then maybe when I'm a little bit older, time opens up, maybe I retire, then I get back into writing novels because I'm not sitting there stressed about money. I'm not forcing family and friends to buy it. So there is That's

Speaker 0

really good.

Speaker 1

Yeah. I mean, that that's a very dramatic, or drastic change from, you know, five dollars to thirty thousand dollars. So for anyone listening, you might not have the luxury of having such a drastic, you know, change in

Speaker 0

--

Speaker 1

Yeah. -- in gaining income, but that is

Speaker 0

But I also like the fact what you just touched on is is and I mentioned this in other episodes, but, you know, life can have seasons. It's okay for you to kind of go back to that non fiction writing in ten, twenty years when you're in a better position or or different position. You're not stressed. So it doesn't mean that this you you whatever decision you make today is just final for the rest of your life. So -- Right. -- pivoting can be temporary as well and just, you know, follow the money a little bit now, and then maybe that'll open up other doors. And I I would guess that you're the ghost writing that you did and continue to do is only gonna benefit any future, fictional writing that you do. Is that fair to say?

Speaker 1

Yeah. For sure. So it's all about storytelling. Whether it's fiction or non fiction, if you gotta draw on the reader, especially today, when attention spans are So small, you have to make sure that you're constantly keeping the reader engaged. I think I read a book by, by Stephen King. It's called On Writing. And he says that you need to when you're writing or when the reader is reading, they have to forget that they're actually reading. So that's something that I really took, and I remembered you know, all these years later is that you have to really draw in the reader if you're writing, you know, textbook style, you're not gonna keep the reader engaged.

Speaker 0

That makes a lot of sense. Alright. So what then keep, you know, what what what happens next in your story?

Speaker 1

So what my another pivotal turning point was, I believe it was two thousand eighteen, maybe two thousand seventeen. I was still doing ghost writing on the side. I was home in between those travel projects. And the one assignment through another agency that I got was for, I'm close to Orlando. So it was a a client that was Orlando based. So I drove to his house, met him there. I was driving this this, you know, crappy car, all the week, all we could afford. And I pulled into this beautiful multimillion dollar home. And I got out, and I looked under the car, and I was so afraid I was gonna leak oil all over this guy's beautiful driveway. But I went and knocked on the door, introduced myself. Very nice guy. He was a business partner of, billionaire banker, Sam Zell. And I went I sat at his kitchen table, and I was just in awe at his house. And as I started talking to him, getting ready to, like, talk about his book idea, what he needed. He just he started talking to me, and he was like, he was just a a regular person, and he told me he's like, look, like, any business can be successful if you run it this way with x, y, and z. He's like, I'm not special. I just this is this is the formula, and this is what I wanna, like, help share with people. And that just that was another pivotal moment. In the years that came, I think I sent because I was like, I have to start another business now. And then the years that came, I think I sent him five or six different pitch decks.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 1

He was nice enough to respond to me and talk to me, but it wasn't. Mhmm. I was nowhere near you know, big enough for for him to invest in. But that moment, just sitting there listening to somebody who's been that successful in life, tell me stories about losing five million dollars in a day and being able to push forward. And just just, again, going through telling me that, like, I'm just I'm just like you. I'm just a normal person. Just money, but if you do this x, y, and z, then, then you can you can benefit. So So

Speaker 0

we obviously don't have time to dive into all of the the wisdom he shared, but do you remember, you know, maybe one thing that he shared that that really you'd actually were able to take action on?

Speaker 1

So it there were there was a lot. And he ended up, like, yeah. So it was a lot. And it was mostly like a story. It was like an internal story for his kids that he wanted. But it was basically just going through, like, his kind of his upbringing.

Speaker 0

Right?

Speaker 1

And now he wasn't anything special, but he he resulted in something great.

Speaker 0

Got it. So I and I probably didn't so but as far as applying to your for your own business, the information that he gave you for your business, did he help you with with that?

Speaker 1

He did very much, especially from, like, from the onset. So, much more planning. Right? Whereas the Andy Man business, I just jumped right in and figured I'll learn. Now I am just talking about planning and operations. This visionary literary now, we have and I I built it all. Like, I'm talking standard operating procedures down to, like, whether you right click or left click and what the page looks like and like, it's it's so so insanely detailed. But, like, one thing that I learned also, which was from someone else writing in the future, was as you're creating a business where you want other people to to work in, you're building the game that you want them to play. That's something that really Yeah. That's why operating procedures are are huge for me. I I operations is my my thing now.

Speaker 0

Well, I think it's it's a different mindset, right, than than ghost writing. Right? You're running a business. It doesn't matter whether it's a writing business, public, you know, book, publishing and marketing business or if it's, a handyman business. You you I I would guess you could probably be a now if you started your handyman business, I I'm thinking you'd do a little better at it than than your last go around. So that's no. That's awesome. And I've definitely found, you know, I don't take advantage of it. I don't take it to an extreme, but it they're People who are successful, they want to share, especially if they're a little bit older. They they wanna give back. And, that's definitely something to to take advantage of. And I've five pitch people and that that, you know, politely turn things down, and that's fine. You know? It's like, but I still get a lot out of that relationship and you know, hopefully I can give them something back as well. But that's that's good advice to just it sounds like you were open to listening to you you see that someone else has done well. Well, let's take some, you know, success leaves clues. Right? So Oh, goodness. Yes. Yeah. Okay. So how has your what has your business blossomed into? What does it look like now? Or, you know, in in a little more detail than we've touched on already?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So so we there are, for anyone listening who has the CEO title or a c level title or founder title inside their LinkedIn profile, Certainly, you've had five to seven different people contact you and say, you you should write a book. There are I would I don't wanna say it's like a low barrier to entry for the publishing, the hybrid publishing market, but anybody can start it. Like, I have spoken with people who have no ready experience, but they know that the process is out there that they can do it, and they'll just, you know, flip a profit for it. But, for me, I've over the past couple of years, especially. I've written for close to fifty now entrepreneurs, business people, very successful people. So I've learned so much, but I also know that most publishing companies, hybrid publishing companies out there, are targeting that that ten million dollar a year, twenty million dollar a year, like the high ticket low volume because they wanna work with a couple clients If you haven't hit this mark yet, you probably don't know enough to help your peers. But I'm I call bananas on that. No way because, like, so I wanna start we at this at this company, like, I wanna start helping lower, like, butting entrepreneurs, like you said kinda earlier on. People who are in their first year two or three that maybe have, you know, they've gone through something that I went through or that some of your guests have gone through. Like, they've hit that rock bottom, and they learned from that rock bottom. Like, you don't have to be a billionaire to know how you can help everyone else. Like, if you make a hundred thousand dollars a year, but the first couple years in business, you were flat broke and you made nothing, you learned something. And that little something can be put into a book that can help the people who are aspiring, who are just about to come onto the path you could help them avoid those couple of years of really tumultuous times.

Speaker 0

For sure. I think sometimes we forget, you know, I I do a little, you know, mentoring of for mortgage note investors on the side, and not that I know it all by any stretch. That's not at all what I'm saying, but I forget how much I have learned in the last six years when I've really been all in on this. And so do some of the basics that I take for granted that's really valuable information for other people who are brand new to this space. So, what what types of I know you've worked with, you know, pro athletes, politicians, a world war two veteran, is there a general theme, the, you know, type of book that or or topic of the books that you've written that seems to kind of keep surfacing.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And so a lot a lot of business business books and business memoirs. So business memoirs are things that I, like, I if I could buy a hundred books right now. Ninety nine will be business memoirs because I absolutely love just reading the stories. It's kinda like the guests that come onto your show. Like, we tell our stories of Yep. Starting out where we came from, all of the tough times, and then, like, where we came out of the end. So Shudog by Phil Knight is one that I

Speaker 0

-- That's really good. I just read that.

Speaker 1

Absolutely. Love it. Like, it just you think that when people look at Phil Knight, they think, oh, he's rich.

Speaker 0

Oh, man. It was he like he was just born that way or something. Like, he just had success dropped in his lap. There yeah. It was really good. I read it a few months ago, and, Yeah. I was telling my wife about it because it's just I mean, they they yeah. They would get together for these, came and save what they called them, but they just their little mastermind, the few guys that were actually running the company back in the day, and There were so many points there that that Nike could have just gone gone under. Yep. And we just take it for granted that, oh, Nike was always this massive successful company, not at all. It's amazing. Yeah. Really good book. And I I I couldn't agree more as far as Yeah. On this show, we just we do. We tell people's real, real life stories, and we try to this is what worked or didn't work for them. It doesn't mean it's everything's gonna work for you, but, people love stories. So and personally, I love non fiction stories, you know, just because it's like, well, that that's that happened. You know? So, that's awesome. Now what is your, like, as far as your team or your business, you know, what does that look like? Do you have virtual assistance, or how does your how's your company set up right now?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So we have virtual assistance and then a lot of freelancers. So, most of our because we try to, like, really cut costs, for the budding entrepreneur who can't afford, you know, twenty, thirty, forty thousand dollars for a traditional book. There's a lot of AI automation. So we're as you're mentioning earlier, we're we're we're diving head first and do AI web three, all of it. Just because, so many writer ninety nine percent of writers and writing companies are fearful of it. But, I mean, it's here and no, it's not going anywhere. So jump on the train now, like, learn, use it to help because they're they're from a human component, like, AI can write, but it writes your first draft. And then you go in, and the first draft is where eight out of ten authors call it quits. Because they start writing their first draft and they're halfway through, and they're like, alright. Everyone does it, even professional writers. This is awful. I've gotta set this aside. Professional writers know, let me set it aside for where we can come back to it. But an amateur writer, an aspiring writer for the first time, they'll be like, this is garbage, this never happens to anyone. So it's gotta be garbage. Let me throw in the trash, and then they stop.

Speaker 0

I love that. And I just hired an operating officer on my team, and he's pushing the AI thing really hard. And I so I've been diving back in to it. And, and, man, it is super helpful, just in general, like, you know, just and and just coming up with whether it's podcast show notes or, yeah, anything else. It's just, like, yes, there's a character limit with chat GPT, but it, it it's hard to put it in words how helpful it's been. And it like you said, it's not going away. So own it. Right? It's it's happening. It's it's it's gonna keep changing, but I think the more you can get out in front of that and incorporate it into your own business. Even if you're five, ten percent of ahead of the next person, I think that's that's huge. And so how do you how do you use it with in your business specifically with with ghost writing?

Speaker 1

So we try to for the the standard projects for some of the the more seasoned individuals who come to us, and they just wanna help. And it's not about getting a book out there so that they can open up you know, new revenue streams. That we have just regular our freelance pool of writers. That's the traditional model. You sit down you have the time to sit down one zero one, talk with your ghostwriter and get your story up. But for those who are still, you know, very much at hustle mode, but they need a book just a short book to get their, you know, an an enhanced business card, to get it out there to showcase their expertise. We walked them through in our guided author programs. We just walked them through how to use AI, how to use the prompts, how to get the first draft done in mean, it could be a day. It could be less than a day if you actually sit down and do it all. But to help you structure the book, and then, you know, to outline it, put it in in good sequential order, and then to get the first draft completed, we we walk clients through that and that can be done in the outline and the first draft can be done in a day or two. And then you take it from there. Make it your own.

Speaker 0

Gotcha. Yeah. So speaking of that, I mean, I know people have concerns about the legal ramifications or copyright issues, what's the what's the insight you can offer there?

Speaker 1

Yeah. So there are there are two things there. One is be very careful. Obviously, so everything that is is chat EBT, for example. Everything has been fed into it. I think Sarah Silverman and a couple other people have lawsuits out now because someone asked someone that Sarah Silverman knows, I guess, asked Chat GBT to tell me a joke, and it told a joke, and it was hers. So she would and comedians, they're very, very close with their jokes. So, she was displeased with that. So basically anything on the internet was scraped. So be careful that you're not stealing someone else's that you're not plagiarizing. So that's why you have to go back and make it your own as well. Second thing is, I forget what the, hallucinating. So AI hallucinating, have you heard of that term before or no?

Speaker 0

No. What

Speaker 1

So it's it makes up its own. So if you say can you send me three examples of, you know, x y z topic, and provide and cite the sources. It will give you three, and it will give you three sources. And if you go back and refer to them, Mhmm. Web sites, like, people have said, the website doesn't exist.

Speaker 0

I see.

Speaker 1

Or there's no source on the website. So don't trust If you're gonna write a very research heavy book, don't put all of your trust into AI. Again, like, this has only been out for, yeah, Like, not very long. Only been widespread for for so long. So, obviously, there are growing pains within it, but as a writer, and if it's something that you are going to put your name on the cover, you've gotta make sure that you do the the the extra work to to make it yours.

Speaker 0

No. I think it's that's good perspective. We're not lying on this a hundred percent, but it's a tool that we can use. Right? Why would why we not use it? Yeah. I've had examples where I've said, hey, chat, GPT, give me three the three takeaways from this. Right? And it gives me four. And, like, I literally said three So and again, the character limit has I've been trying to work with it to take, podcast transcripts unfortunately, my transcripts are a little bit too long to so I've gotta usually piecemeal them. You know, so there are limiting factors in the use of of chat GPT specifically. Yeah. But it's so powerful. And like you said, it's only gonna get better and better and better. So embrace it.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Well, now there's also so if if you are someone listening and you wanna write a book and you wanna utilize AI, but, you know, like, I don't trust chat GPT, you can also there are so we use, Otter, which is a transcription. It's like a audio capture and transcription. So you can literally just or like Google Docs does it too or Microsoft Word, you can just talk your book. But you literally talk just

Speaker 0

-- Mhmm. --

Speaker 1

say it verbally and you'll see it appearing on the screen. Once you're done, you get all your ideas out there. You have your whole entire book on the screen. You've just spoken it into the, whatever writing writer processor you wanna use, and then you can make that your own. So you're not relying on, you know, AI chat GPT. You're not worried about the legal issues. This is all yours but it's easily transcribed for you and on the paper for you to, yeah, just there.

Speaker 0

Makes sense. And to be clear, we're not giving any legal advice neither us, neither John or I or we're not giving legal advice whatsoever. But from what I've seen, there there where there have been rulings or or judicial cases, it seems like this hasn't been a major issue as far as, copyright issues and and things like that. So Yeah. It's amazing. I know you can go the other way with it too. I know, like, Descript was, even this was probably six, eight months ago. Somebody I work with If you upload an audio, you know, file of you of just you speaking for twenty minutes and is I'm sure it's way better now, but it will spit out. It can you can then it will learn your voice and then you can give it the words, written words, you know, a few pages, and it will literally read that back to you in your voice, which is, you know, it's crazy.

Speaker 1

We started using that for, for audiobook narration.

Speaker 0

Okay.

Speaker 1

So we've we've we've, like,

Speaker 0

we're

Speaker 1

just rolling that out, but that is something. It's the same It seems software too. It is absolutely incredible. Instead of spending a couple hours, going through your audio book, reading it, editing out on mistakes, You just you it's your voice, and it's it's -- Yeah.

Speaker 0

--

Speaker 1

generated. So, absolutely I was

Speaker 0

on a I was on a I was a co host of a node investing podcast. My my co host, Chris Seventy, sent me this audio file of him, but it wasn't him. And it sounded really close to the the real deal, but Awesome. Well, I've got some rapid fire questions for you, John. Are you ready?

Speaker 1

I'm ready.

Speaker 0

Awesome. What is one thing that people misunderstand about you? About

Speaker 1

my, my, my title, maybe. So people on LinkedIn tend to think that I'm a whole lot smarter and more successful than I am, but, that's that's just the title. I'll get there, but I have a a ton yet to learn.

Speaker 0

Okay. You're you're speaking it into the universe. So I love that. What's one of your biggest failures, maybe beyond something that we've talked about? Regrets if you, you know, some people don't like the term failure, but one thing that you'd like a a do over with in your in your past life.

Speaker 1

So this is if if I I wish that I would have been more motivated when I was younger. So I was I played ice hockey for a long time, and I absolutely loved it. And I was okay. I played in league where a couple handful of people got drafted into the NHL. If I I would have actually tried, if I would have cared, if I already had the ambition that I have now for business, for hockey back in my teen years, I definitely could have been I could've been something better, maybe a pro hockey player, and that would've been really cool.

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's cool. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, who would it be?

Speaker 1

Hemingway.

Speaker 0

Love it. It's the first time we've had that answer on the on the show. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, John, what would you do with it?

Speaker 1

I would invest about eight million of it and then keep two million to to enjoy enjoy life for a little bit until those the money started coming in from the investments.

Speaker 0

Nice, passive investments, or in your business, or

Speaker 1

Probably passive. I might sell the business and just have just have maybe, passive investments come in.

Speaker 0

Got it. What is one challenge that you're facing right now in your business?

Speaker 1

Trying to stand out from the hundreds of other publishing companies that are not as authentic. They cut they they were started from people that aren't actually writers. So

Speaker 0

Okay. Got it. If, in your opinion, what is one of the most important person personality traits that someone needs to be successful in in your specific industry?

Speaker 1

I think you have to have a patience. Right? So I guess if you're a writer, you've gotta have patience and you've gotta have understanding, If you or someone, if you're a client coming in, trying to write a book, I think you just have to be compassionate and empathetic toward people who, are in in different situations.

Speaker 0

Love it. If you were to start a different business entirely, what would it be in?

Speaker 1

It would not be it would not be a handyman company. I think I might I might try to get into something tech related, even though I'm non tech, I just think that attack in AI and in the future is just something very exciting.

Speaker 0

Love it. How about a book or two that you could recommend for our audience out there?

Speaker 1

Well, I think Shudog by Phil Knight is is great. Zero to one. Is fantastic. Mhmm. What else? The hard thing about hard things. That is a great. I read that. Yeah. Attraction is a good book. Yeah. So Absolutely.

Speaker 0

Four is always is is better than one. What are other podcasts that you listen to? I know you have your own. Right?

Speaker 1

I do. Yeah. I have, my own self published success, so we interview authors on there. I also I I like their, starting greatness by Mike Maples is a good one, even though it's kind of sporadic I do listen to, Joey and Russ, wealth without Wall Street. They're very, very entertaining. And no. I listen to them as well.

Speaker 0

Couple of, Alabama rednecks who make a lot of money. Yeah. I I do as well. They're good good guys. I definitely recommend people listen to that one. They are. How do you they yeah. Don't let them fool you. They are smart. How do you like to serve other people, John?

Speaker 1

Just helping helping in in any way, whatever they they need. I'm not I don't know. I'm not like a pushy salesperson when people come my way, I just wanna help If they have a smile on their face, then I'm helping. So

Speaker 0

I love it. Awesome. What have I not asked you about that you'd like to cover?

Speaker 1

Well, the only thing I can think of is, for the listeners. Right? So there is a free resource that I don't think I've mentioned yet or a site. It's a so visionary literary dot com backslash resources. We've got a bunch of different resources for anyone looking to write their book free resources to get started, whether it's, you know, a free course that we have, a free book, ton of information. So good starting point.

Speaker 0

Yeah. We can we'll put that in the show notes as well link to that. Thank you, Paige. Is that the best place for the listener to reach out to you online is your website or, LinkedIn or where would you recommend people reach out to you?

Speaker 1

Yeah. Website or LinkedIn. John Feldman is a pretty common name, but if you type in visionary literary after it, I should pop up. But that's my most active platform. I admittedly have social channels everywhere, but I am, I'm not on them.

Speaker 0

It's tough to keep up with all of them. It's -- It it really challenge for sure. So Awesome, John. This is really good. I do appreciate you being vulnerable and talking about some embarrassing, you know, an embarrassing period in your life. You know, but, the fact is we've all we all have ups and downs and in a professional career, the the path of, the path to success in your professional career for anyone is not a straight line. So, we appreciate you being vulnerable and allowing us to learn from your your story. So thanks a lot for joining us, John.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate it. And for anyone listening as well. Jamie's podcast, is is fantastic with all of these stories, not just mine. It and say it takes a lot of time and effort. I know going putting into a podcast. So if you're listening to this or if you're watching this, you know, please just scroll down to the bottom, give Jamie a review. He definitely deserves it the the podcast and all the work he puts into it, let everyone listen and and let it help other people.

Speaker 0

I appreciate that. And you are you are correct, John. It is It is a labor of love. I love doing the podcast, but it is a lot of work and it's not free. So if we can grow the downloads, grow the listener base, impact more people. I've gotten a few in the last couple days. I just told my wife, I've gotten some people just reaching out saying, keep it up. This is awesome. And it sounds corny and cheesy, but it it really is like, okay. I I it just energizes you, to try to make an impact and help help more people. So But, yeah, I do appreciate that, John, and thanks for joining us. To the listener out there, thanks for joining us. Thanks for investing your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. Thanks everyone. Take care.