IAM2701 – Putting Your Energy into Building for Yourself

Reclaiming Your Effort for Personal Ownership

The journey to entrepreneurship often begins with a simple, provocative question: whose dreams are you currently building? Gresham Harkless challenges listeners to evaluate whether their hard work and problem-solving skills are being used to secure someone else’s legacy—or even their boss's next luxury car—rather than their own. While entrepreneurship is rarely a linear path and often resembles a “plate of spaghetti,” the shift toward ownership allows individuals to apply their energy toward something they actually own. This episode explores how to stop running someone else's race and start building a meaningful foundation for yourself.

The Strategic Advantage of Franchising

For those who are hesitant to start from scratch, franchising offers a powerful middle ground that balances entrepreneurship with proven structure. Harkless explains that you don’t need to invent a new product to be a successful business owner; instead, you need to decide that your effort deserves ownership and accountability for the final results. Franchising provides a roadmap, a community, and professional guidance, ensuring that while you are in business for yourself, you are never doing it alone. This model allows aspiring CEOs to leverage their existing talents and gifts in a way that directly benefits their own future.

CEO Nuggets for Immediate Success

Drawing from a decade of experience and over 1,600 interviews, Harkless shares “CEO nuggets” designed to strengthen the core principles of any business. Success is guided by a practical equation: visibility plus resources times connections. This episode provides actionable wisdom for those ready to move beyond the 60-hour work week and explore what true ownership looks like. Listeners are encouraged to visit Blue Star Franchise to start a conversation about their next chapter and discover what is possible when you finally choose to build your own dreams.

Previous Episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2700-turning-a-layoff-into-a-new-direction/

• Blue Star Franchise: bluestarfranchise.com
• Browse the Franchise Inventory: bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
• Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
• Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – franchiseceo.co

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Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
What if I put that same energy into building something for myself? Now, franchising can give you that chance. That's all around entrepreneurship. You don't need to invent something new. You need to just decide that your effort deserves ownership in a different way. I mean, you already work hard, you already solve problems. The difference now is that you have a lot more ownership and accountability for the results.

If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. I'm gresh, and for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on.

The show, if you run your own race, you can't lose. Even when we feel the journey should be a straight and linear path, what I've come to find out is success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately. So be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:43
Now, you might have seen or heard this on social media. My boss arrived to work in a brand new Lamborghini. I said, wow, that's an amazing car. And he replied, if you work hard, put all your hours in, and strive for excellence, I'll get another one next year. Now, I'm being a little facetious, but every day you show up, give your all, and make things happen. But here's the question you should ask. Whose dreams are you building? Now, don't get me wrong. Entrepreneurship isn't necessarily for everybody. But I for one, have spent time pouring my talent, my gift, my abilities and my energy into helping other people grow their businesses. And by no means is there anything wrong with that. But sometimes when you ask yourself these questions, it might hit you like it did for me. And I asked myself what if I put that same energy into building something for myself? Now, franchising can give you that chance. That's all around entrepreneurship. You don't need to invent something new. You need to just decide that your effort deserves ownership in a different way. I mean, you already work hard, you already solve problems. The difference now is that you have a lot more ownership and accountability for the results. And here's the best part. You don't actually do it alone.

With franchising, you get the roadmap, you get the community, and you get the guidance. Now, this is definitely an oversimplification, because entrepreneurship can be hard, it can be challenging, and in fact, it actually is. But a lot of times when you're passionate, you're doing something for yourself, when you're putting those hours. And that time in sometimes makes it all worth it, even the worst moments. So the next time you're grinding 60 hours a week, ask yourself this. Is this building my legacy, or is it building someone else's? Am I using my talents, my skills and ability in the way that I really want, or am I using it to get somebody another Lambo? If you're thinking maybe it's time to build your own dreams, or frankly, maybe it's just time to chat around it, I would love to have that conversation with you. Check out Bluestar franchise, explore what ownership could actually look like for you. And I look forward to having that conversation with you and exploring what might be possible.