Mark Sephton is a personal mentor to entrepreneurs. His mission to help others has seen him break into global markets while working with startups and millionaire entrepreneurs worldwide. Mark's love for entrepreneurship has been expressed through serving as TV host of the show "One More Round." When not on the big screen, Mark is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and a speaker for corporate events, entrepreneurship summits, and major conferences worldwide. His expertise in personal and professional development has positioned him as an expert in the industry, resulting in transformational experiences for audiences, clients, and businesses alike.
– I am of the belief that our own stories actually say a lot about our future. They give credence to what is to come. We are all an expression of the stories we are apart of, the ones we have experienced, and the ones we tell ourselves. It's a two-fold understanding based on the past stories and the narrative and stories we tell ourselves each and every day. Between these two caveats is where your current state and future lie.
– When I started working with entrepreneurs, it quickly became apparent that there were some key markers and indicators to what indeed inspired an entrepreneur and also what hindered them. After 3 years of working with entrepreneurs, I decided to reflect and trawl over the notes I kept for each and every client. Once I had calculated and evaluated the essence of these notes, the findings for me were very interesting. What I found from these observations is what now has formed my GPS system.
What is your GPS system?
– The essence of my GPS system is what I formalize with a client and use as a framework to engineer and frame our sessions. The GPS helps reveal blindspots, efficiencies and deficiencies, and it's through me detecting and analyzing the health of each of these fundamentals, which helps gauge the focus and shift of our ongoing work. The GPS is made up of 10 key focused fundamental indicators of what I believe makes up a person's basic DNA and how to understand your health and performance within that is where growth and your focus should lay.
– I have now been working with entrepreneurs, creatives and business owners for the best part of 10 years, and I get a huge kick out of seeing others innovate, create, build and outsmart the current problems and challenges we all face. I love the energy of business and I love the creativity and audacity of finding a solution to a problem, which is really the essence of business.
Where did your love of business and people come from?
– My love for business stems from my late grandfather, he showed me at a very early age that having a solid reputation was the bedrock of any lasting business and the business will scale based on one thing and one thing only. The bigger the problem, the bigger the reward, the more people affected by the same problem will always indicate how valuable your solution is. In effect, the more people affected by a problem you solve, the more money and scalable your business becomes.
As for reputation, the best way to grow that is through a combination of being authentic, stop trying to be someone else. Secondly, it's showing up and delivering that which you promise.
– I have now been working for entrepreneurs for over 10 years. I was in the hospitality industry for 12 years, developed brands, increased margins, improved customer experience, improved operations and the list goes on. I have always got a kick out of service-related businesses. I love to give of myself. I received a diploma in coaching and then took my hospitality experience with my love of working with people and formalized my own hospitality consultancy business, and from there, I pivoted to working with entrepreneurs and creatives.
How do you build your brand?
– I started producing content on YouTube, which then was discovered by Entrepreneur magazine, which then gave me the confidence to write my first book “Inside Job”. Whenever you have a book, you seem to get invites for speaking at conferences and summits naturally. Eventually, with all the content I was creating, which coincided with me hosting my own radio show “ Talk Business “ for a local community radio called Radio Plus, I was very much in the sweet spot of what I loved to do.
– Radio then took me to TV where I was headhunted to host my current TV Show “ One More Round “ I joined allegiance with Direct Sales TV and have recently formed a new partnership with Glewed TV Via the Roku and Apple Networks. I went on to write my second book “ Plot Twist, “ and I am currently writing my third book. This third book will be specifically for men, helping men be better men, helping men express their emotions and how to deal with what is expected of them.
What are some key entrepreneurial truths?
– I came from a broken family. There is clear evidence that a high percentage of entrepreneurs had a problematic childhood and the common denominator for this is based on the fact that if you had to problem solve as a child, it actually raised your ability and skill to problem solve more effectively as an adult. Interestingly that then equates to the fact that the majority of businesses are just about solving problems. That's why our future experiences, which I call stories, lead the way for your future.
– I have always taken my experiences both in my personal and business life to actually build something in the future. My 3 keys to the kingdom, which are paramount to ensure you make the right choices and head in the right direction, are doing what you love, doing what you are good at and doing and committing only to the opportunities which will take you to where you want to go.
– The great thing about my GPS system is it will pinpoint exactly the direction you are to take. It will then formalize where you need to focus your energy and crystallize the direction you are to take to make sure you have a fulfilled life and one that creates a legacy where the essence of who you are will outlive this earthy body. I want that for me, and I want that for those I work with.
How do we continue to grow and develop?
– We must continue to become reflective and constantly look at how we can grow and develop within ourselves. Over the past year, I have been working with a psychologist after identifying a number of problems that I have not been able to master. I have been able to identify what the issues are, but unfortunately, I couldn’t mentor myself regardless of my wealth of knowledge and tools I kept to fix the problems, So I practice what I preach and I went and found some support, its been working and my reframing of my thoughts and my ability to soothe myself when those problems arise has been significant.
– I mention this because it's so important that we get help, but more importantly, that we get help from the right person. When it comes to mentoring and coaching or even working with a psychologist, go work with someone who has what you don't have, or has what you want, a piece of your puzzle. Don't just work with anyone. Look at what the person represents, look at what they offer, look at what they have that you would like, and then base your choices on them.
– For example, I have never sold a business in my life, but I have taught and coached thousands of people on what direction they should take, what they were put on earth to do, and how to lead themselves and their choices better. If you come to me wanting someone to help coach you through the process of selling a business, I am not your guy. Go find a coach who has done that.
– It's worth noting that when selecting a coach or mentor, you find one who fires you up, you need a bit of chemistry, you need to be challenged, you need to be able to get real and you need to welcome being told what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
How do you work with entrepreneurs?
– One of my most watched Youtube videos is called “ How to Give Birth “ I would like to say I am a marketing genius with this one, but it kinda just happened. If you go to YouTube and write how to give birth, you will see hundreds of videos and in most cases, you see a woman in extreme pain literally giving birth as a thumbnail. When you come across me and my smiley face, I am sure curiosity gets the better of most or perhaps even hatred if women think how this man can say about childbirth and click and watch my video. The truth is my Youtube video has nothing to do with giving birth naturally. It has everything to do with giving birth metaphorically. We all have a dream, a vision or something within us, which we want to take from a simple thought into reality. We all carry something deep within us which we need to express, you will have to go take a look at the video to get more of what I am saying, but I talk about how we need the pressures of life in order to get what’s within us out of us and giving birth to the dream and desire we have carried within us over the years, if you need help giving birth I am your man.
– I love getting inside peoples heads. I love making people think. I love to work with high energy people. It is a privilege to come alongside someone who clearly has something within them, a solution to a problem, an innovation and idea, or a concept. They want to express what they have and need some directional input, a way of taking what's within them and expressing it in a profitable way and true to who they are. I give all I have in each session in both energy and my stories and experiences, which have served me and helped me build my own brand and circle of influence.
– It's never too late to change your course, regardless of what happened to you in the past, you can write the next chapter on your journey, it's time to write another story. A story that you are proud to be the author of.
Feel free to follow Mark on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, or email Mark at info@marksephton.com
You can buy his book on Amazon!
