Episode 17: Alex Charfen

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Alex Charfen has always found himself at odds with the world. As a child, he found social situations challenging, especially school. Unable to adapt and conform to traditional classroom structure and teaching methodologies, he swung between the honor roll and complete failure, alternately considered “gifted and talented” or needing “special education.” Limited support from the school administration did little to limit the physical and emotional abuse Alex received from his peers, which bordered on torture. So instead of thriving, he focused on attracting minimum attention and staying out of harm’s way. Lucky for Alex, the support of his parents and three sisters allowed him to find his haven of acceptance, logic and truth: business.

Alex’s professional career started at eight years-old, when economic factors forced the emergency sale of his family’s business, making it necessary for Alex to start working. While the rest of the world felt overwhelming and confusing, he immediately understood that money could be an equalizer that leveled the playing field of life. The business environment immediately became a safer space than school, playgrounds or anywhere else outside his immediate family.

Now CEO of CHARFEN, a company that appeared on the Inc. Magazine list of fastest-growing private companies in America three years in a row, Alex and his wife Cadey continue to refine the strategies that were the foundation of their careers and used to overcome financial devastation, build one of the most successful companies in the country, solve the foreclosure crisis and become liquid millionaires within 12 months of declaring bankruptcy.

Today, the company has emerged as a leading training and business consulting organization for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

You can read more about it here: http://www.charfen.com/bios/alex-charfen/

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

01:00 – Meet Alex Charfen, a business consultant, author, speaker. He opens by sharing a bit of his history growing up as someone different; the odd on out. He shares what started his love for business and entrepreneurship. When he saw a beloved business close down, it made him ask the question: what keeps a business from dying. That quickly pivoted to the question: what makes them grow?

02:28 – Alex shares a little more about his organization; what they do, and what they believe in – an overlooked sub-population of people in the world who are the Entrepreneurial Personality Type. He then goes on to point out the differences between these people and the rest of the world, using none other than our host as an example

04:00 – What does it mean to be an Entrepreneurial Personality Type? It means being a momentum-based being

04:55 – When you’re in flow, when you’re in momentum, what does it feel like? To the audience out there, can you relate to Chris’s answer?

05:46 – That flow, or that state of momentum, is when Entrepreneurial Personality Types feel alive. There’s another state they exist in, and this state is when they face resistance. Even when they’re being pushed backwards, they figure out how to move forward. When the world pushes against them, that’s when they show them up.

07:24 – The third state is a state of constraint. This is what drives this type crazy. Things could be going well on the outside – business is going good, money is coming in, etc. – but in reality? The person is actually tortured. When they can’t move forward or when they have no problem to solve, they go insane

08:12 – The feeling these people have when in these three states; is it chemical or physical? Alex demonstrates the difference, and how to find out. These types of people are physically, chemically, and cognitively sensitive to constraint, and they are physically, chemically, and cognitively empowered by momentum

09:23 – The problem with “crazy” for these types of people is that they get labelled. “When you take the person who’s restless,” Alex says, “And can’t sit still, and wants to change things and create new and innovate and change the status quo, and you drive those too hard, it becomes a person who’s ADD and OCD and bipolar and depressed and manic and insane. And the fact is that none of us should ever listen to one of those ridiculous labels ever again.”

10:33 – For the people who aren’t this personality type, how do they tune in to this frequency?

11:25 – Every entrepreneur has experienced a period of momentum. For Chris, it was starting his first successful company. According to Alex, there has always been something present during a period of momentum, which you can replicate to bring momentum again.

13:34 – Every entrepreneur has experienced a period of momentum. For Chris, it was starting his first successful company. In such a period, there has always been three things present: an outcome that compelled you, contribution (such as a mentor), and a scoreboard that kept you in perspective

15:10 – What is the momentum equation?

15:43 – The other equation Alex’s company teaches is the contribution equation. There are four parts.

• 15:53 – Lower Pressure and Noise in your life
• 16:26 – Ask for Protection and Support
• 16:57 – Skills and Abilities you need will just appear in your life
• 17:10 – Your Contribution

18:36 – What if I’m not like that? What if I’m not an entrepreneurial personality type? What do I need to do to start a business?

19:24 – Here is Alex’s message for all those listening who have felt isolated and different and alone

21:27 – The only thing that has consistently, positively evolved humanity are entrepreneurs. And this Alex’s definition of entrepreneurs: “Anyone who’s ever stood up and said they wanted to change things, took the stage, wanted to go over the horizon, said things could be different, or felt like we can make things better. The barrier isn’t “business owner” – the barrier is the need to make a contribution”

22:04 – Chris’s big favour of Alex; what could it be?

22:54 – If you want to hear more from Alex before the second part of this podcast, visit him on Facebook. Simply type in Entrepreneurial Personality Type and you’ll find their Facebook Group. You can also go to www.entrepreneurialpersonalitytype.com for more content, or visit them on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7h9ePRONYnfrPmLWAq2Lw