John Maudlin is definitely one of those entrepreneurs who is doing well by doing good. He’s a humanitarian entrepreneur in every way.
He’s one of the co-founders of the co-working space I once belonged to in Boston, Fields Corner Business Lab in Dorchester, MA.
He’s been working for himself for the past few years, but before that he never thought he would work for himself. He was very satisfied with his job at an investment firm in Athens, GA where he worked for a decade.
Then in 2012 he moved to Bangalore, India for a year to help a friend launch a firm teaching entrepreneurship skills to the local population there.
Seems that teaching about entrepreneurship got John thinking of working for himself. I’ll let John explain how he ended up in India by way of Ethiopia, Siberia and Shri Lanka.
Some lessons in this episode include:
- Exploring your purpose. Discover your unique mix of your abilities, values and needs.
- Your financial habits. Reframing your financial mindset to make the transition to self-employment.
- Social entrepreneurship. How to do well, while doing good.
John doesn’t look for new opportunities based solely on how much money he’ll make, but by the opportunity to create wealth for those who need it most.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Self-reflection.
- Reframe your mindset.
- Building community.
- Be a humanitarian entrepreneur.
How John Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: Between 5:30am and 6am
- 3 core work characteristics: Responsiveness, professionalism and relationships.
- Ideal work environment: Depends on the project. Sometimes he prefers complete quiet listening to classical music and sometimes he needs a lot of stimulation.
- Book recommendation: Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas
- Favorite productivity tool: iPhone
- 90-day goal: Starting a new venture in India.
Inspirational Quotes
“When you do more of what you really love, your needs for the little extras in life starts going away.”
“Make your life worth something and make your life count for something.”
“You grow the most when things are uncomfortable.”
Coaching Advice
Here are the three most important life skills John believes are critical to the success of any entrepreneur:
1) Manage your mindset. Appreciate the journey by staying focused on your long-term goals, not your short-term needs. Every success and every failure are both opportunities for growth.
2) Manage your time effectively. When you are spending your time on things that are worth your time, it’s easier to ask yourself whether or not a particular activity is going to make you a better person or help achieve your long-term goals.
3) Embrace discomfort. The simple idea of “not knowing” something or how to do something is uncomfortable. It makes you feel vulnerable. That feeling is the very first step of the learning process for anything. Lean into that feeling. When you feel discomfort, you are learning. As you learn you create value.
Resources + Bonus Materials
22 Awesome Social Enterprise Business Ideas