This Entrepreneur Dropped the Balm and Made a U-Turn

In this edition of Entrepreneurs Gone Wild, prepare to be whisked away on a journey where rubber meets the road, and ambition meets action.

• Meet Carey Rouse, a man who’s not just in the driver’s seat of his life but is also shifting gears in the fast lane. Discover how this entrepreneur is steering away from the conventional path, trading in CBD for RPM, and finding his true north amidst the roar of engines and the camaraderie of fellow speed enthusiasts. 🏎️💨

• Plus, ever felt like you’re too ensnared in the unyielding grip of busyness to even think about taking a breather? We’re dismantling the “I’m too busy” myth and showing you how a dalliance with the gentle embrace of the breeze can not only fit into your hectic schedule but supercharge your productivity and creativity. 🍃✨

Get ready, it’s Entrepreneurs Gone Wild - where the untamed spirit of business innovation meets the serene wisdom of the natural world. Buckle up!

He’s Killing His Pain-Killing Business So He Can Go Faster

4:30 a.m.

Carey Rouse is up for the day already. On the road. Nobody’s opened the floodgates of Austin traffic yet, so he can ride without dodging inadequately caffeinated drivers.

Legs pumping, heart drumming, this is Carey’s time. Not a hammer fest this time, just a good ride to clear the mind.

He thinks through his day, reviewing his schedule and to-do list. Rouse Fit was growing, easing his customers’ aches and pains and helping them sleep like babies, one dose of CBD at a time. The product was great. The customers, grateful.

But the marketing. Yeah. Every issue you can imagine.

Given that challenge, it wasn’t entirely surprising that get to had started sliding into got to. Got to make another video. Got to make some social posts. Got to. Got to.

Carey’s mind shifted gears as the miles flew by. The realization that your business puts you in position to fight a perpetual uphill battle stings.

Shift.

Staying means wasting more money, spending more time.

Shift.

What makes me happy?

Shift.

What could I do for the rest of my life? Who do I want to hang out with for the rest of my life?

And there in the early morning quiet, after Carey had ridden long and far enough into the silence, he made a U-turn.

Come for the Cars, Stay for the People (unofficial SCCA slogan)

Carey’s a member of the Sports Car Club of America. It’s a thrill to go fast.

But it’s not just the cars packed with go-fast goodies that makes its fans fanatical. There’s a special kind of camaraderie among motorsports enthusiasts. They will travel great distances to be together at races, sharing unforgettable moments on and off the track.

Drivers, fans - they’re Carey’s people. The ones he’d want to hang out with for the rest of his life.

What if… Carey started interviewing the people he hangs out with, getting them to tell their stories for him to share on his video podcast?

He started with friends he’d raced with and against. It was an easy yes. Carey decided he’d give this a go. He’d drive 2,000 miles to a race where he knew a lot of people, see how many interviews he could do.

His plan: Record one video a week. Publish one video a week. Totally doable.

But the first weekend, he got four. The next, five. It didn’t stop. Before he knew it, there was a five-month deep backlog of episodes for Driven To Compete. So, he started publishing twice a week.

The interviews kept coming. Carey bumped production up to publish four times a week. 145 interviews in six months. Edited. Locked and loaded and scheduled to publish.

A Turn in the Road Leads to a Crick in the Neck

Carey was having the time of his life!

His meat-bag? Not so much. He was headed toward a chiropractic crisis, driving, sleeping, and editing videos in his Mustang all this time. There’s not enough CBD in the world to fix that.

So, Carey sold the ‘stang and bought a pickup truck with an RV trailer. And it was good. He’s a natural at making friends, and has made many across the nation, some that give him a free RV hookup at the track.

Carey’s interviewed everyone from crew to owners and everyone in-between. SCCA, WRL, SRO, MSA… each association has its niche. Each has devoted fans. That’s a lot of stories to tell.

Audience growth is accelerating some. Linear growth. But it’s almost like Carey stuck some duct tape over the speedometer. He’s in it for the long haul. He’ll do it for a year before making assessments and decisions. He knows growth can hockeystick. So, he’s documenting his journey all along the way.

There’s about to be a Whole Lot More to Document

Three months into RV trailer life, Carey was unwittingly becoming a pretty excellent amateur mechanic. Bouncing from one track to another to another took its toll. He’d end up spending an entire day fixing stuff. It wasn’t getting any better.

Carey decided it was time for a smaller, better-built ride. He sold the truck to get a cargo van instead - the kind with the high roof and a refreshing lack of repairs needed.

And so began Carey’s new van life. Life on the road will become part of the podcast. There’s some solid crossover. Racers often live the van life themselves - and the van life community proper is starting to show up in his audience, too.

When he’s not on the road, home is a cabin on a 10-acre farm an hour and a half away from anyone Carey knows. Very few distractions. Lots of miles on the road means lots of time to think.

Going Down a Different Road This Time

With the CBD brand, the product was truly good. But Carey realizes now that he’d jumped the gun, going right to creating a solution for a problem. Thing is, it’s hard to sell even an excellent solution when nobody has shown up to be served.

This time, he’s focused on his audience. The project is morphing. It’s organic. It’s teaching Carey a lot.

He’s having a blast. He knows that if he builds a big enough audience, people will want to pay to get in front of them. And he knows this is going to take some time.

Carey’s pedal to the metal when it comes to action. He’s also patient in a way that would baffle shortcut-seeking entrepreneurs. The work… the journey, it’s gratifying.

“Sometimes it does take a while to figure out the things that you really love. You can like a lot of things. What drives me is being able to do the things that I love. I want to be in a race car racing on a track every weekend, and I can do that for a very long time,” he says.

Gotta Go Fast, Gotta Be Free?

Well, Carey can help with part of that. He’s doing a giveaway that’s going to give someone the best “what I did this weekend” story ever. The winner will spend a day at the track, racing a high-performance car with a private driving coach. None of this “you sit in the passenger side and leave the driving to the pros” stuff… you actually get to drive a race car on a track. Enter here.
HURRY - drawing is on October 15, 2023.

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Too Busy for a Breeze? Think Again!

In our world, time is more precious than gold and busyness is worn as a badge of honor. The idea of stepping outside to, well, simply breathe might seem like a luxury we can ill afford.

“Nature? Pfft. I wish, but I have a business to run!”

But what if I told you that this very busyness, this relentless hustle, is a thief in disguise, pilfering your productivity and creativity with every tick of the clock? And what if the antidote was as simple as stepping outside and letting the breeze play a symphony upon your skin?

Now, before you blow this off, consider the science.

Studies (yes, real ones, with numbers and everything) have shown that spending time outdoors can enhance cognitive abilities, improve focus, and boost overall well-being.

Nature isn’t just a pretty backdrop. It’s a silent partner in your entrepreneurial journey, ready to inject a dose of inspiration when the walls of your office become all too confining.

“But deadlines!” Your brain screams, “Meetings! Emails!”

Ah, the siren song of the perpetually busy. But let’s entertain a radical thought: Could it be that this incessant busyness is a well-disguised treadmill, giving the illusion of progress while keeping us firmly in place?

Enter the breeze.

Unassuming yet powerful, it doesn’t demand a scheduled appointment or a slot in your Google Calendar. A brief sojourn outside, a moment of surrender to the elements, can untangle the most knotted minds. It’s not about abandoning responsibility but about enhancing your capacity to meet them head-on.

So, the next time the walls of your workspace close in, and the glare of the screen becomes a glaring reminder of the monotony… step outside.

Let the breeze, unburdened by the weight of deadlines and devoid of KPIs, remind you of the world that pulses, vibrant and alive, beyond the confines of your to-do list.

You’re not abandoning the ship of enterprise. You’re simply adjusting the sails to catch the wind, to propel you forward with a vigor that the stale air of the indoors could never muster.

Too busy for a breeze? In the immortal words of the wind itself: Whoosh... think again.

Cool Stuff from the Community

• Got a sales team enrolling clients in your high-value program? Or… need one? Or… need them to up their skills? I gotchu. We’ve got a story coming up soon - but if you can’t wait, just reply and I’ll make the introduction to someone who’s got this superpower.
  

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Saving you the smoke-free spot around the campfire,

Sue

P.S. Next Friday, we're diving into the world of a unique entrepreneur who's combined passion and purpose. This founder takes us to a place where feline love meets holistic wellness. Prepare for purrs and insights! 🐱🌿

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