Joel Brown: Become a Visionary Leader | E125

**Hala Taha** (0:00)
You're listening to YAP, Young and Profiting Podcast, a place where you can listen, learn and profit. Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Hala Taha, and on Young and Profiting Podcast, we investigate a new topic each week and interview some of the brightest minds in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your everyday life, no matter your age, profession or industry. There's no fluff on this podcast, and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research and asking the right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes of ex-FBI agents, real estate moguls, self-made billionaires, CEOs and bestselling authors. Our subject matter ranges from enhancing productivity, how to gain influence, the art of entrepreneurship and more. If you're smart and like to continually improve yourself, hit the subscribe button because you'll love it here at Young and Profiting Podcast.
This week on Yap, we're chatting with Joel Brown, mentor, coach, podcast host and visionary expert.
Joel founded the number one motivation website, addicted2success.com with hundreds of millions of views worldwide and his popular podcast, Addicted2Success, has secured more than 3 million downloads. Joel has traveled the world teaching thousands of people how to stand in their vision for success so they can turn their dreams into a reality. He's built multiple six-figure online businesses and is skilled in building massive online communities, monetizing online brands and networking. Joel has worked alongside the likes of Tony Robbins, The Dalai Lama, Simon Sinek and more. He's been featured in publications like Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur and The Huffington Post. In this episode, we talk about how Joel started out his career in radio and music, will learn his top tips for networking and the importance of moving past revenue. We'll also chat about how to create a 10-year vision, the importance of being guided by your values and the reason to always focus on inspiration as opposed to motivation. If you're looking to level up your life and get serious about your vision, you do not want to miss this episode.
Hey Joel, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast.

**Joel Brown** (2:17)
Hello, thank you so much for having me. Appreciate you inviting me on this show.

**Hala Taha** (2:21)
I know, I'm so hyped for this conversation because when you speak, you speak from the heart and you're just so inspirational, so motivational.
Everything that I've heard from you, I feel just so connected with you because I feel like we have very, very similar beliefs in terms of like how we attack becoming successful. And I think you're a little bit more planned in terms of like, this is what you do. You teach people how to be motivated, inspired.
And I feel like everything you say, I'm like, yeah, that's what I do. But I just haven't like ever thought about it so clearly or written it down. So I'm really excited to talk to you. So you're an entrepreneur, you're a podcast host, you're many things, but we always like to start from the beginning. So from my understanding in high school, you were bullied and you actually dropped out when you were 16 So talk to us about what you were like as a teenager and then how you ended up being inspired to go on this journey in terms of tackling your dreams and things like that.

**Joel Brown** (3:17)
Awesome. Well, that's a good place to start. Let's look at that. It's interesting because a lot of people will be like, when did you first build your website or when did you first make this much money? I honestly really believe that these type of moments shape your life. And for me, growing up in high school, the first couple of years, I felt like I fit in. I felt like school was pretty normal. I was doing pretty well.
And then there was this popular group, if you want to call it like that, I don't know, in America, maybe call it like the jocks, started to form this group together. And they used to go around just picking on everybody, the Asians, the gothics, the nerds, just anyone that they could class as different to them.
And I was learning capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts, and kickboxing at the time.
And when I was a little kid, even in kindergarten, I remember having a bit of a run in, and I felt like the injustice was not fair. And so it's a double edged sword. It's a gift and a curse, in a sense. It's a driver in me to notice things in the world, where there is that injustice, and to go, well, let's find a solution for this. And on the other side, I got to make sure I don't consume myself in it.