At 19, who would ever think that somebody would go on stage at one of the biggest speaking events in America and teach the older generation about being successful.
In college, an individual publishes a whole book about being successful and even sets up his own podcast. Meet Gen Z entrepreneur Isaiah Swift, who being called “different” never fazed him from chasing his dreams and dabbling in different industries to become a well known established Gen Z entrepreneur.
In recent interview I did with Isaiah Swift this is what he had to say:
1.Why did you decide to shift from motivational speaker, author to podcaster?
I write books, I do podcasts, I’m a hustler. When I started the podcast, I was running a team, and really didn’t know what I was doing. But I did know that I didn’t want to look back and have any regrets, so I’ve just been the type to pretty much jump in, start things and do my best to just be consistent. I think starting is half the battle. I learned how to be consistent, testing the waters, trying things and seeing what works, what doesn’t work. Like I said, I was 19 and at 19 you’re not expected to have everything figured out, you have a whole life ahead of you. Still feel I’m doing motivational speaking, and there’s things that I have forthcoming such as interviews, podcasts and eBooks and hard copy books. I’m just learning as I go.
2. What is your podcast about?
The name “Switch to Success” gave me the way I envisioned it. When you’re walking into a dark room, the first thing that you do is wander and then find the light switch. I thought, well, why not have a podcast where you may not be knowledgeable about certain subject areas such as entrepreneurship, business, you know, balance goals. With dreams, you may not be knowledgeable on where to start. I want my podcast to serve as that switch and whatever area whether that be monetary or not, intangible or tangible. And so that’s what made me start my podcast. People look at it, like, what is the switch, well that’s what the podcast is about, I want the light bulb to go off the light switch in the power line. It’s fairly new. But that’s what I tried.
3. Did you face any challenges through your journey to your success?
Oh, absolutely. Procrastination, mistakes, not knowing where to start, not knowing who to talk to. I did a TEDx talk when I was 19, flew to California, for the first time spoke to a group of high school students, 100 students at 8 am and I was the first speaker. And I talked to them about how they could awaken their greatness within. I never really considered myself to be a motivational speaker. I did the whole TEDx talk off the top of my head. Even though the night before I was literally stressed out and almost panicking, because I was like, wait a minute, are you serious, a TEDx talk at 19?. I went online to watch and see Bill Gates accomplished being on the same stage. Their was a huge amount of pressure but I did that entire 18-minute talk or less, because a lot of the stories that I was able to tell and the message that I was able to convey, were things that were already in me that I knew that I talked about being a high school student. I didn’t have straight A’s and I was able to get a full ride scholarship to college. Not getting straight A’s shouldn’t limit you, at going to college or life beyond high school or beyond your personal growth.
Try and identify what your gift is, when you identify and discover what your gift is, you can work and although you’re working long hours, that doesn’t feel like work, because that gift brings fulfillment.
4. How did you get your Hustler mindset/mentality at that young age?
You have to make a personal decision internally, even if you don’t know all the answers, you have to at least be confident in the direction that you feel you need to go. Like I said, I am at the point where I have so many influences, but my mom is number one. I’m learning to embrace being different, even if people don’t understand or a lot of times people are just chasing and pursuing so much popularity and they feel like they got to put out everything and let you know every detail. Sometimes, just some things are not to be shared. The more different you are the more unique and valuable you become. I just think sometimes it is just good to be confident and secure and knowing that you have a gift that you want to offer to the world. You just have to constantly refine it, get better at what you’re doing, have wisdom, make a personal decision that you want to be great before you leave this earth. And those are some of the key takeaways.
5. Any advice you would give young people to achieve success?
- I encourage people to jump, take a leap of faith.
- When you get an image, capture that imagination, keep it in and don’t forget it, it will happen.
- Always be willing to learn.
- Ask Questions.
- Look for advice, such as a mentor on certain things you want to achieve or pursue.
- Don’t look at being comfortable, look at being uncomfortable.
6. Any tips that you want to give entrepreneurs that are starting off?
Just go for it, be free, be willing to make mistakes and learn along the way. Isaiah Swift Academy is where I have courses that I’ve handled. The courses teach people step by step on how to get your book done in 30 days or less. As some people wonder, how do you write a book, because it seems so far-fetched or out of reach. I used to be like that as well, until somebody presented me with an opportunity to say, let me teach you how to be successful in this area, publish your book, write your book, and they show me X, Y, and Z, not only did I took a risk, but invested in myself because the best investment you can ever make is in yourself, when you make that investment, you’re going to start getting interesting and you can get somebody asking you a question and you can answer it in three seconds versus someone else to solve the problem with the same question that will take them three weeks.
I made an investment, wrote my book, and now I just want to teach other people how to do the same and so, that link is where you know, I have a guide, there are 3 videos of just steps of writing a book and then I’m probably going to do some more courses and videos about speaking and doing podcasts.
Never be afraid to take risks, as Isaiah Swift says; take the jump, don’t be afraid to make mistakes as success never starts without failure.
Check out his recent interview on his podcast Switch to Success and his other interview Podcasts and also check his Book: Unlock your Greatness:8 ways to be Successful from High School and Beyond
