- CEO Hack: I delegate what I don't do well
- CEO Nugget: (i) You can't succeed if you don't try (ii) Failure is part of success
- CEO Defined: Taking ownership of what you do, listening, evaluating, and making decisions in the best interest of the company.
Website: https://emergencyinfoplan.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emergencyinfoplan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emergencyinfoplan
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Transcription
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00:18 – Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:46 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have John Pastore of the Emergency Info plan. John, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:56 – John Pastore
It's great to be here. I'm really happy to be here.
00:59 – Gresham Harkless
Gresham definitely. I'm happy to have you on and super excited to hear about all the awesome work that you're doing. And before we jump in, I want to read about some of that work so you can hear and learn a little bit more about John. And John is a resident of Boca Raton, Florida. He is a seasoned financial planner, innovative, and advocate for emergency preparedness planning. He is the founder of Emergency Info Plan, a company that helps you and your loved ones be prepared for emergencies, using your smartphone to alert 911 and emergency contacts, plus provide vital medical information to first responders at the scene. A tragic incident in his life inspired him to help others, and his mission is to save lives and help families in Florida and throughout the United States be better prepared for emergencies and life's unexpected and expected and unexpected transitions. John, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:50 – John Pastore
Yes, I am, Gresham.
01:52 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
02:00 – John Pastore
Well, Gresham, I've served the needs of families and businesses concerning their finances for over 50 years. I saw many of my clients experience unexpected changes in their life. And for me, in November 2017, I was on a business trip. My wife called 911 from our home in New York, and I wasn't notified until 40 minutes later when my neighbor called me. Sadly, she passed away that day. If I had been notified when she called 911, I could have done so much more. I could have helped first responders get in the house faster, provided additional information, and more. But I wasn't notified and she passed away that day. Without my help. Later, I learned an Apple software update that occurred two months before her passing could have possibly saved her life. Emergency so's and medical id inspired me to help others be better prepared, so I founded the emergency info plan.
At one of my later conferences, I met Matt Melton, and he brought a new dimension to our business, automation. With his help, we've developed an official emergency app for Android phones, so we now can help all smartphone users. We're positioning ourselves to bring this to millions of Americans, and our free two-minute assessment helps you understand just how prepared you are. Easy-to-follow tutorials teach you how to set up your phone, and our emergency alert stickers for phones show you how to operate the phones, and our stickers for cars and homes. Tell first responders, to check my phone for my vital medical information.
03:52 – Gresham Harkless
Well, I'm definitely, obviously, sorry to hear that, John, and I appreciate you for being, you know, transparent and being able to kind of tell us that. And of course, like, what is the impetus, you know, for you to be able to start something that is so vital and needed, you know, for so many people? Because I think, as I said, you know, when I read your bio, we don't. We often don't and aren't as prepared for when those unexpected things happen. And I think that's why I love, you know, the mission and everything that you've been able to do because it puts at the forefront and kind of reminds us and gets us prepared for that kind of unexpected and unexpected things that sometimes happen in life.
04:28 – John Pastore
That's right. And they happen far too often and we feel we can save lives.
04:35 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. So I love that you're doing that. And I know you touched on, you know, a little bit more on how it works and how you serve clients. So I wanted to see if you had anything additional you wanted to mention about that and what you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique. What I like to call your secret sauce.
04:50 – John Pastore
All right, so my secret sauce. I think what makes us unique is we're passionate at all times. We keep focused on serving the needs of our core business, and that's, in particular, aging seniors and their children who care for them and care about them. We always stay open to new ways we can help others. In other words, I keep an open mind. Mines work best when they're open. We think we can change the way emergencies are handled. This can not only help families, but also businesses, communities, condominiums, high rises, and even cities to be safer places to live. We feel they have the opportunity even help EMS handle emergencies by giving them up-to-date information right at the site. And what makes us unique is we're bringing on board advocates. These are people who share the word with sticker pack discount codes and they receive a little revenue. They might be an agency or a not-for-profit, a church or synagogue, an association, and more. They want to protect their members and then also sponsors who share not only discount codes on social media but also free sticker pack codes for those they serve to gain recognition that they care and they support them.
06:19 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you for sharing that and doing that as well too, because I think so many times people want to be able to help as best as they can and to kind of provide these, I guess, for lack of a better term, community leaders with the tools and the way that they can spread the word and help, of course, save lives during these, these less than ideal times, I guess, is the best way to say it allows people to have some type of power and feel it in power to be able to affect some type of change.
06:49 – John Pastore
Yes. If you ask yourself the question, if I had an emergency, would 911 and my emergency contacts be alerted? Would first responders be able to access my vital medical information? Most people answer no to those questions. That's what we're all about.
07:11 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And having that set up so that when something happens, you know, you have that, those people that are, that are going to be notified, which is absolutely huge, because I think when you're in those times, you obviously aren't thinking about, oh, I have to do this, this, and this. So to be able to have that set up for you is absolutely huge.
07:30 – John Pastore
That's right. Great deal of satisfaction doing that.
07:35 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
07:48 – John Pastore
Okay, well, it's something I've developed over the years. And how do I stay more efficient? I delegate. I delegate what I don't do well, and I surround myself with people who excel in those areas that I'm deficient in or just not as interested in, to stay passionate about. We're small. We contract with others and have expertise in the areas that we need to grow in. A small extra investment can bring large returns. So we work with social media and public relations experts to save time and create efficiencies, and this allows us to stay focused with their guidance.
08:33 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. And like I usually say, so many times I think the beauty of the CEO hack is really providing an opportunity for us to stay in our zone of geniuses. And when we're able to do that and be aware of what that is and what that looks like, it allows us to do that, but also allow so many others that are on our team, whether it be a small and mighty team, you know, as you all have or any type of team, you provide that opportunity to really allow people to kind of, I guess, take action from their zone of genius.
09:04 – John Pastore
That's right. And you have to surround yourself with geniuses. And today when it is technology, sometimes it's younger geniuses.
09:15 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger self.
09:30 – John Pastore
Okay, so I kind of tell myself over and over and over again this, you can't succeed unless you try. And part of trying is to fail. At times, people who don't try never fail. But failure is a part of success. Learn from your failures, pivot, and change. Each mistake brings you closer to the solution and to success.
10:01 – Gresham Harkless
I absolutely love that nugget. And I think so many times that we don't realize the connection between failure and success. And I think that we think that failure means that, you know, you kind of throw in the towel and everything's over. But in reality, sometimes when you fail, you understand and get that data, that information to know how to pivot or know how to change, and you get to take that next step from there. So I think we should, and it's kind of counterintuitive, be able to kind of lean into failing, lean into trying things and seeing what works and doesn't work because the pain is not in failing. The pain is sometimes regretting. So as long as we're taking action towards that, that allows us that opportunity to be successful.
10:41 – John Pastore
Yeah, I agree completely. And so many people will look at failure as failure, and it really isn't. You're just moving down the trail.
10:51 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Failure is definitely not final unless you quit. So definitely appreciate that. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping that different, quote-unquote, CEO's on the show. So, John, what does being a CEO mean to you?
11:06 – John Pastore
Well, actually, the term CEO has a connotation to me. Of big, even though we are small. And I really call myself a founder at this stage, the CEO takes ownership of what they do. A CEO listens, evaluates and then they act. A CEO needs to understand others. CEO still needs to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company. Just like in the finance world. Don't react, get informed and make a decision.
11:43 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I truly appreciate that, John. I think it's so big to kind of understand the holistic part of, you know, being a CEO or even a founder as well. Just all the decisions that you have to make and being able to kind of listen and as you said so well and evaluate and take those actions that are in accordance with what that vision and that strategy is, is absolutely huge. And you kind of have to have a force for the trees, I guess, mentality or perspective as far as how and where you want the business and organization to go, right?
12:13 – John Pastore
A vision is critical. You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you want to arrive.
12:19 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely.
12:20 – John Pastore
Having that vision to look forward and see where you want to be in the future, gets you there.
12:27 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Absolutely. What, John? Truly appreciate that definition and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you have you and your team are working on.
12:44 – John Pastore
Well, thanks so much. So our services can help you and your loved ones, we suggest you visit our site, www.emergencyinfoplan.com. take the free two-minute assessment to see just how prepared you are. Most people think they are prepared, but actually they aren't. I really want to encourage you that if you have an idea you think could help us. If you want to learn more about our preparedness services, or if you want to explore the possibilities of becoming an advocate or a sponsor, please contact me. I can be contacted by email at john emergencyinfoplan.com and we will also put a link here that will allow you to schedule an appointment with me to learn more. We really look forward to helping you. What it's all about is saving lives. I know together we can do that.
13:50 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, John. We will have the links and information just like John mentioned in the show notes so that everybody can click through and follow up and find out how they can be involved and become advocates. So John, truly appreciate your time and your wisdom. I appreciate you even more for all the awesome work that you're doing to kind of help out so many people and for being prepared for the unexpected, which often and sometimes happens. Truly appreciate you again, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
14:19 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:18 - Intro
Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.
00:46 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have John Pastore of the Emergency Info plan. John, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:56 - John Pastore
It's great to be here. I'm really happy to be here.
00:59 - Gresham Harkless
Gresham definitely. I'm happy to have you on and super excited to hear about all the awesome work that you're doing. And before we jump in, I want to read about some of that work so you can hear and learn a little bit more about John. And John is a resident of Boca Raton, Florida. He is a seasoned financial planner, innovative, and advocate for emergency preparedness planning. He is the founder of Emergency Info Plan, a company that helps you and your loved ones be prepared for emergencies, using your smartphone to alert 911 and emergency contacts, plus provide vital medical information to first responders at the scene. A tragic incident in his life inspired him to help others, and his mission is to save lives and help families in Florida and throughout the United States be better prepared for emergencies and life's unexpected and expected and unexpected transitions. John, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:50 - John Pastore
Yes, I am, Gresham.
01:52 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.
02:00 - John Pastore
Well, Gresham, I've served the needs of families and businesses concerning their finances for over 50 years. I saw many of my clients experience unexpected changes in their life. And for me, in November 2017, I was on a business trip. My wife called 911 from our home in New York, and I wasn't notified until 40 minutes later when my neighbor called me. Sadly, she passed away that day. If I had been notified when she called 911, I could have done so much more. I could have helped first responders get in the house faster, provided additional information, and more. But I wasn't notified and she passed away that day. Without my help. Later, I learned an Apple software update that occurred two months before her passing could have possibly saved her life. Emergency so's and medical id inspired me to help others be better prepared, so I founded the emergency info plan.
At one of my later conferences, I met Matt Melton, and he brought a new dimension to our business, automation. With his help, we've developed an official emergency app for Android phones, so we now can help all smartphone users. We're positioning ourselves to bring this to millions of Americans, and our free two-minute assessment helps you understand just how prepared you are. Easy-to-follow tutorials teach you how to set up your phone, and our emergency alert stickers for phones show you how to operate the phones, and our stickers for cars and homes. Tell first responders, to check my phone for my vital medical information.
03:52 - Gresham Harkless
Well, I'm definitely, obviously, sorry to hear that, John, and I appreciate you for being, you know, transparent and being able to kind of tell us that. And of course, like, what is the impetus, you know, for you to be able to start something that is so vital and needed, you know, for so many people? Because I think, as I said, you know, when I read your bio, we don't. We often don't and aren't as prepared for when those unexpected things happen. And I think that's why I love, you know, the mission and everything that you've been able to do because it puts at the forefront and kind of reminds us and gets us prepared for that kind of unexpected and unexpected things that sometimes happen in life.
04:28 - John Pastore
That's right. And they happen far too often and we feel we can save lives.
04:35 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. So I love that you're doing that. And I know you touched on, you know, a little bit more on how it works and how you serve clients. So I wanted to see if you had anything additional you wanted to mention about that and what you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique. What I like to call your secret sauce.
04:50 - John Pastore
All right, so my secret sauce. I think what makes us unique is we're passionate at all times. We keep focused on serving the needs of our core business, and that's, in particular, aging seniors and their children who care for them and care about them. We always stay open to new ways we can help others. In other words, I keep an open mind. Mines work best when they're open. We think we can change the way emergencies are handled. This can not only help families, but also businesses, communities, condominiums, high rises, and even cities to be safer places to live. We feel they have the opportunity even help EMS handle emergencies by giving them up-to-date information right at the site. And what makes us unique is we're bringing on board advocates. These are people who share the word with sticker pack discount codes and they receive a little revenue. They might be an agency or a not-for-profit, a church or synagogue, an association, and more. They want to protect their members and then also sponsors who share not only discount codes on social media but also free sticker pack codes for those they serve to gain recognition that they care and they support them.
06:19 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I appreciate you for sharing that and doing that as well too, because I think so many times people want to be able to help as best as they can and to kind of provide these, I guess, for lack of a better term, community leaders with the tools and the way that they can spread the word and help, of course, save lives during these, these less than ideal times, I guess, is the best way to say it allows people to have some type of power and feel it in power to be able to affect some type of change.
06:49 - John Pastore
Yes. If you ask yourself the question, if I had an emergency, would 911 and my emergency contacts be alerted? Would first responders be able to access my vital medical information? Most people answer no to those questions. That's what we're all about.
07:11 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, absolutely. And having that set up so that when something happens, you know, you have that, those people that are, that are going to be notified, which is absolutely huge, because I think when you're in those times, you obviously aren't thinking about, oh, I have to do this, this, and this. So to be able to have that set up for you is absolutely huge.
07:30 - John Pastore
That's right. Great deal of satisfaction doing that.
07:35 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
07:48 - John Pastore
Okay, well, it's something I've developed over the years. And how do I stay more efficient? I delegate. I delegate what I don't do well, and I surround myself with people who excel in those areas that I'm deficient in or just not as interested in, to stay passionate about. We're small. We contract with others and have expertise in the areas that we need to grow in. A small extra investment can bring large returns. So we work with social media and public relations experts to save time and create efficiencies, and this allows us to stay focused with their guidance.
08:33 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. And like I usually say, so many times I think the beauty of the CEO hack is really providing an opportunity for us to stay in our zone of geniuses. And when we're able to do that and be aware of what that is and what that looks like, it allows us to do that, but also allow so many others that are on our team, whether it be a small and mighty team, you know, as you all have or any type of team, you provide that opportunity to really allow people to kind of, I guess, take action from their zone of genius.
09:04 - John Pastore
That's right. And you have to surround yourself with geniuses. And today when it is technology, sometimes it's younger geniuses.
09:15 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger self.
09:30 - John Pastore
Okay, so I kind of tell myself over and over and over again this, you can't succeed unless you try. And part of trying is to fail. At times, people who don't try never fail. But failure is a part of success. Learn from your failures, pivot, and change. Each mistake brings you closer to the solution and to success.
10:01 - Gresham Harkless
I absolutely love that nugget. And I think so many times that we don't realize the connection between failure and success. And I think that we think that failure means that, you know, you kind of throw in the towel and everything's over. But in reality, sometimes when you fail, you understand and get that data, that information to know how to pivot or know how to change, and you get to take that next step from there. So I think we should, and it's kind of counterintuitive, be able to kind of lean into failing, lean into trying things and seeing what works and doesn't work because the pain is not in failing. The pain is sometimes regretting. So as long as we're taking action towards that, that allows us that opportunity to be successful.
10:41 - John Pastore
Yeah, I agree completely. And so many people will look at failure as failure, and it really isn't. You're just moving down the trail.
10:51 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Failure is definitely not final unless you quit. So definitely appreciate that. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping that different, quote-unquote, CEO's on the show. So, John, what does being a CEO mean to you?
11:06 - John Pastore
Well, actually, the term CEO has a connotation to me. Of big, even though we are small. And I really call myself a founder at this stage, the CEO takes ownership for what they do. A CEO listens, evaluates and then they act. A CEO needs to understand others. CEO still needs to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company. Just like in the finance world. Don't react, get informed and make a decision.
11:43 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I truly appreciate that, John. I think it's so big to kind of understand the holistic part of, you know, being a CEO or even a founder as well. Just all the decisions that you have to make and being able to kind of listen and as you said so well and evaluate and take those actions that are in accordance with what that vision and that strategy is, is absolutely huge. And you kind of have to have a force for the trees, I guess, mentality or perspective as far as how and where you want the business and organization to go, right?
12:13 - John Pastore
A vision is critical. You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you want to arrive.
12:19 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely.
12:20 - John Pastore
Having that vision to look forward and see where you want to be in the future, gets you there.
12:27 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely. Absolutely. What, John? Truly appreciate that definition and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you have you and your team are working on.
12:44 - John Pastore
Well, thanks so much. So our services can help you and your loved ones, we suggest you visit our site, www.emergencyinfoplan.com. take the free two-minute assessment to see just how prepared you are. Most people think they are prepared, but actually they aren't. I really want to encourage you that if you have an idea you think could help us. If you want to learn more about our preparedness services, or if you want to explore the possibilities of becoming an advocate or a sponsor, please contact me. I can be contacted by email at john emergencyinfoplan.com and we will also put a link here that will allow you to schedule an appointment with me to learn more. We really look forward to helping you. What it's all about is saving lives. I know together we can do that.
13:50 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, John. We will have the links and information just like John mentioned in the show notes so that everybody can click through and follow up and find out how they can be involved and become advocates. So John, truly appreciate your time and your wisdom. I appreciate you even more for all the awesome work that you're doing to kind of help out so many people and for being prepared for the unexpected, which often and sometimes happens. Truly appreciate you again, my friend, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
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