Jeremy Choi - Great Business And A Greater Heart

Athletes and Entrepreneurs are alike. Both are competitive individuals chasing a dream. In this episode of the Aww Shift Podcast, our guest is Jeremy Choi, CEO of the LPS Athletic Center. He is an Entrepreneur, Athlete, and bestselling author. He has been in the business space since he was young and has experienced countless successes and failures. Today, he will share with us what to look for in a business partner, what his entrepreneurial journey was like, what you can learn in sports, and how your simple partnerships can go a long way.

[8:16] Why should we listen to you?

I have nothing to hide. I’m transparent and I'm always willing to share. I've already mentored other entrepreneurs that are trying to get to that $1 million mark and all that kind of stuff and I do it on a volunteer basis. I can share my experience and how to grow that kind of business and just live life differently.

[9:01] Journey to Success

I've probably been in business for maybe about 20 to 23 years now. I started when I was really young I sold a few businesses in the past you know and failed a bunch. From retail to online to building seven-figure businesses and now I'm into the third one.

[10:35] I decided to pursue what I really liked which advertising. I applied to probably about 50 agencies but nobody responded so I decided to start my own thing and since then, it was good. I sold that business and it's been good.

[11:55] What are the two businesses you've built to seven figures and the third you're working on now?

One was advertising and the other one is publication.

[12:53] From advertising and publication to fitness and health

It was when I was doing the advertising business. I met my business partner, which is the master coach and I was looking for someone to train me because I was overweight and unhappy with my life and just stressed because I always wanted to be a basketball player and wished to make it to the NBA but I just didn’t have the capacity for it.

[13:36] I decided to leave the world of sports. I stopped working out and stopped playing sports for almost nine years and then start getting overweight to almost close to 30% body fat. I was unhappy about it and I found this guy through a referral and after seeing him in just three months, the amount of education and passion he has, he's kind of like me where he's very driven and he just wants to help people.

[15:23] I was blown away by just a different shift in how an athlete should train. Since then, I liked being around the gym, being around all the other pro athletes and people that are getting success. I realized that he’s truly helping people and removing injuries and all that kind of stuff and it was just so exciting for me.

[16:55] What’s your role in the business?

My business partner is very technical. He’s the person that’s on the floor and he’s passionate about coaching. He doesn’t want to manage finances, sales, and marketing but I know he has a wealth of knowledge and he has this kind of vision which I'm more or less trying to drive that vision. I’m trying to grow it and benefit from what he’s doing and I take care of the sales marketing operations side of things.

[19:07] Do you guys get into conflicts?

Definitely. All the time but in a good way. When we get into conflicts, we express our views. As a result of our arguments, both of us get into a revelation, and then we understand each other better on different levels. And then we just made a better decision as a business.

[21:14] How have you developed as a person?

I'm always doing personal development like meeting new people and helping others. I guess just the relationship along the way. I'm trying to attract myself to people with integrity and transparency. I'm not sure how my personality shaped because of that but I think it’s from the people around me.

[24:07] What excites you about life outside of the business world right now?

I love competing. Competing in golf has been one of those things that I guess has been extremely passionate for me. I try to work so that I can play more golf.

[25:11] Getting into Golf

The reason I got into golf is that my dad actually introduced me to it. I got into it because I was in business and I saw on TV these rich people play golf and all that stuff. So I thought maybe I should play golf and just get to network with people and stuff. What I realized through that was that I didn't actually get business out of it. What I did get was that you get to see how people deal with adversity.

[26:21] Personally, golf has kind of been one of those things for me that is very humbling. When you get really good, it can bring you back down to earth.

[28:15] What promise did God make to the world when He created you?

I guess make a positive impact on the people around me and just get people to become better human beings.

[28:47] When I see other people happy and see other people smile. That's the biggest reward. Not the money, not anything. It's just when you can see them genuinely happy, laughing, and smiling. Those are the moments that mean the most to me.

Key Quotes:

[19:20-19:21] “Iron sharpens Iron.”

[22:44-22:48] “Money is good but reputation is much better.”

[26:43-26:48] “You're playing against yourself, you're not playing against anybody else.”

Learn more about Jeremy Choi on:

WEBSITE: https://jeremychoi.com/

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjeremychoi/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mrjeremychoi/