Bobcats, Bosses and Breakups – Garth Epp
Updated: Feb 23
Welcome to the Tax Talk Podcast and episode #2 of the Bobcats, Bosses and Breakups series.
Before I provide some background for this series of episodes, let me introduce my guest.
Garth’s passion has always been people. He is an engaging and energetic coach who is passionate about helping people press toward and realize their true potential. He has a proven track record of working with and developing people, teams, and businesses.
As a strategic thinker and problem solver, Garth believes that the most successful, fulfilled people have made learning and growth a life-long pursuit.
As an enthusiastic coach with an intuitive and systematic coaching process, Garth helps to spark possibility, ignite creativity, and unleash potential. Using John Maxwell’s proven professional growth and development principles, Garth walks his clients through a process that increases their awareness of the patterns of thinking that have produced their present results.
When he’s not helping people or serving his clients, you can find Garth with his kids or grandkids, on a stream with his fly rod, or on the open road on his motorcycle.
Whether at work or at play, Garth is full of ideas and vision and lives life to the full.
Garth, thank you very much for joining me on today’s episode!
What is Bobcats, Bosses and Breakups?
Breakup, spring 2007. I was 22 years old, with lots of potential but no real direction.
I had just finished another winter season of work in Alberta’s oil and gas industry and was looking for something to keep me busy until the snow returned, and the lease roads froze again.
Luckily, I found a job working as a labourer in a flat work concrete business (mostly prep, place and finish of basements, driveways and garage pads).
It couldn’t have been much more than a few weeks after I started working in this industry and I found myself branching off and starting a flat work concrete company with a business partner.
The business operated for two years and ended in a bitter breakup.
If you’re thinking about starting a business, come along on a journey with me as I look back at these two years of my life and the hard lessons I learned.
We’ll explore three general topics:
- Bobcats: business operation issues
- Bosses: business management issues
- Breakups: business legal and financial issues
Keep an eye out for blog posts and new podcast episodes where I sit down with business professionals to discuss solutions in these unique areas of business.
Who knows, you might be able to avoid some of the same mistakes that I made.
Do I Need to Work Seven Days per Week to be Successful?
As I mentioned in episode #1, during the peak concrete season, I worked seven days per week, most of these days being in excess of 12 hours per day. I felt that if I gave every ounce of effort to my business, it would be successful.
While I think it is important to be dedicated to your business startup, you need to strike a good work-life balance. What does this look like? From my discussions with my business coach, success looks different for everyone. The definition of success for me might be completely different for you.
The result? I didn’t have a definition of success at this point in my life. In my early 20’s, I was 100% focused on making money. This proved to be a hollow goal and in reality, a very difficult one to obtain.
Lesson learned? Life is like a wheel. It is comprised of numerous different areas that make up who we are and what we value, or in other terms spokes of the wheel. There is nothing wrong with placing a high value in seeing your business succeed, but you must consider the other areas of your life as well. If all your time is spent in your business, you have no time for family, friends, recreation or other things that you value. As a result, your ‘life wheel’ is not going to roll down the road very easily.
Discussion Topic #1 – Work/life balance & defining success.
- What is the ‘Wheel of Life’?
- How should we define success in the workplace & in life?
- Why is it important to find balance?
- How to trust the process and enjoy the journey?
Discussion Topic #2 – DISC training in the workplace.
- What are the four personality types outlined in DISC?
- How do I interact with other personalities?
- How do I sell to other personalities?
- Is it better to pursue your strength or work on your weakness?
Closing
Garth I just want to say thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to hop on the podcast with me.
I know that you provided a great deal of value that our listeners can immediately implement within their current business operation or reflect on before they decide to jump into business for the first time.
If the listeners want to touch base with Garth, you can find him through the following links:
Garth Epp
Garth Epp Professional Coach
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garth-epp-843b73130/
Call to Action
There are a significant number of details that a small business owner needs to be aware of in order to ensure that their business is successful.
Having the right professionals on your team will help you meet your business, wealth, retirement and estate planning objectives.
If you’re in need of these services in order to see your business reach the next level of success, I highly recommended the following guests of the series.
Feel free to reach out to them as I know they would be excited to work together with you and help you preserve your legacy!
Bobcats, Bosses and Breakups Guests:
Chelsea Zimmerman - Team Zimmerman Real Estate (Century 21) http://teamzimmerman.c21.ca/
Caleb Henry - Johnston Ming Manning LLP https://johnstonmingmanning.com/team/caleb-t-henry/
Chrystal Saxby - ATB Financial https://www.atb.com/resources/find-a-location/red-deer-north-gaetz-crossing-branch/
Kelly Barber - B^2 Bookkeeping https://www.b2bookkeeping.ca/
Stephen van Santen - Bridgeline Wealth Strategies https://bridgelinewealth.ca/
Garth Epp - Garth Epp Professional Coach https://www.garthepp.com/
Lyneta Grenier - BrokerLink Insurance https://www.brokerlink.ca/locations/alberta/red-deer