Moving Forward is also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Gene Petrov is a leadership and management consultant, based out of Atlanta. Today, Gene will share how his family life ties in to his entrepreneurial big why.
Successes at a glance:
Husband, and father of three adopted kids.
Entrepreneur, founder of Petrov LMC Corp.
Leadership and management consulting.
US Air Force Staff Sergeant.
Russian Linguist.
Collection Manager / Coordinator.
Worked in various industries including Control Store Manager at PPG Industries and as a baker at a mom and pop bakery.
Gene’s story:
Gene’s big why starts with his family as his story encompasses more than himself. It’s really a story about the Petrov family. Gene shares that early on, he and his wife knew they would not be able to have kids biologically. After exploring several options, Gene and his wife decided to foster three kids (8-year old triplets!) who they adopted a year and a half ago. It was not an easy road. Gene shares that the adoption process took 6-years which is why they started with foster care. Gene’s career path also aligns with his personal story. Gene has done everything from working in a corporate job to being a baker in a mom and pop bakery. In between, he served for 7 years in the military, as a staff sergeant in the Air Force where he honed his leadership skills. Eventually, Gene decided that the corporate world and working for someone else wasn’t for him. Gene describes himself as a naturally creative person which isn’t always a good fit for a structured corporate job (take it from me!). Gene and his wife worked together so he could leave his job. She decided to transition from being a stay-at-home mom to taking a job in the corporate world, which she loves. Meanwhile, this allowed Gene to launch his leadership consulting practice and assume the primary caregiver responsibility for their three kids during the day.
Gene’s big why:
Gene’s big why is to help kids in need. Gene’s vision was always to have a business where he uses his time, talents, resources and energy to help young people become leaders. Concurrently, as Gene builds his business he wants to use it as a leverage point. Gene’s heart leads him to want to help every kid around the world but he and his wife are just two individuals. Thus, Gene’s wants to grow his reach by scaling his business so that he has the influence and resources to match his heart’s desire; building orphanages across the world. Ultimately, Gene’s grand plan is to see that every kid has a chance to move forward.
Biggest challenge today:
The biggest challenge is getting the balance right between parenting and entrepreneurship. Gene’s kids are at an age and stage where they need him a lot. Gene’s son has special behavioral and emotional needs and there are rough patches sometimes.
Moving forward past that challenge:
Gene shares that being an entrepreneur and fulltime dad will often take him away from putting his all into the business. However, it’s never static. It’s more of a “sliding scale” that you have to learn to roll with to make it work. Gene accepts that there are days when being a dad will be priority one over being an entrepreneur and he’s more than ok with that. Gene also credits his wife for being a true partner in every sense of the word; working with him to help achieve that balance as she believes in and shares his big why.
Knowledge bursts:
Favorite media resource that helped Gene move forward:
The Ziglar Show: The Zig Ziglar podcast has inspired Gene in terms of goal setting and having a positive mindset.
Favorite app, website, or productivity practice for moving forward in your work-life balance:
Tweet chats for engaging in supportive communities:
How Gene is moving forward today:
Create more video content.
Gene’s goal is 250 hours of video in 2018.
Support the Podcast:
The Corporate Cliches Adult Coloring Book: makes the perfect stocking stuffer or white elephant gift.
Try out Audible (affiliate link).
Try out Amazon Prime (affiliate link).
Who is Gene in five years?:
Gene in five years will be the go-to public speaker on servant leadership and social media marketing at events like Social Media Marketing World.
Who is Gene in fifteen years? (bonus question):
Gene will have opened up that first orphanage overseas, collaborating with like-minded people who share his big why.
Parting wisdom:
“The new form of marketing is leadership and leadership is about building and connecting tribes of like-minded people.” (quoting Seth Godin).
“I encourage people to go out there, be a leader, you don’t need a special title. You can just go out there and serve other people, connect people and put your message out into the world and help others.”
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