IAM568- Pharmacist Helps Others Lead and Serve Successfully

Corey Jahnke has been a community pharmacist for 30 years and 2-time Wal-Mart Pharmacist Of The Year. In an effort to help others become successful in leading and serving people, Corey launched a side business that threw him deeply into debt and almost lost him everything including his marriage. Today, Corey is here to help our listeners avoid his mistakes and help them find the financial peace and wealth they truly deserve.

• CEO Hack: Kajabi
• CEO Nugget: Rich people are not the people we think they are, manage your expenses well.
• CEO Defined: Responsibility for everything in your business

Website: https://www.coreyjahnke.com/

Instagram: coreywjahnke
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/cwjahnke?_rdc=1&_rdr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwjahnke?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cwjahnke/

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, this is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Corey Jahnke of coreyjahnke.com. Corey, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Corey Jahnke 0:38

Oh, thank you so much for letting me be here. Gresh, it's just an exciting, exciting time to be an entrepreneur and a business person and to meet new friends like yourself.

Gresham Harkless 0:47

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm super excited to have you on the show. This should definitely be an awesome episode. Just so that everybody knows a little bit more about Corey, I want to read a little bit more about you. Corey Jahnke has been a community pharmacist for 30 years and 2-time Wal-Mart Pharmacist Of The Year. In an effort to help others become successful in leading and serving people, Corey launched a side business that threw him deeply into debt and almost lost him everything including his marriage. Today, Corey is here to help our listeners avoid his mistakes and help them find the financial peace and wealth they truly deserve. Corey, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Corey Jahnke 1:20

Oh, absolutely. I am super thankful for the opportunity. How's it going out there, guys?

Gresham Harkless 1:25

Has gone really, really well. So I wanted to kick everything off here a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what let you get started with your business.

Corey Jahnke 1:33

Well, one of the things that happened is when I first got out of pharmacy school, I wanted to do something different than stand there for 40 years and go Gresh take this with food, take this on an empty stomach. I knew that if I had to do that, I would be bored out of my mind. So I made my business about a dude, what did you do to your arm? Or at least the last time you were in here, you were on your way to your daughter's soccer game? How'd that come out? So what I was doing is I was just wanting to have fun and what happened was that all of a sudden, whenever the phone would ring, people were asking for me, and people were assuming that I was the smartest guy in the pharmacy. It took me a long time to figure that out.

But what happened was, I think that this was the beginning of what we now call relationship marketing, right? So when I was talking to people, and I was finding out that they had real-life stories that they wanted to share, I started asking them specific questions about hey, you seem like a really successful guy. What is it that you do when you're not picking up your prescriptions at the pharmacy, and people would tell me their stories of success and their stories of failure, and what would happen is that I would feel really bad for the people who are getting crushed.

I knew this information from the people that were crushing it. So what I wanted to do is I wanted to swap the information and give the information to the people who needed it, right? Well, all of a sudden, I started writing books, because as you and I were just speaking about before the podcast, I live in northern Wisconsin, and it's cold a lot of times a year. So I'm spending time in the library writing books and what I learned is that marketing a book is a whole separate business from writing a book. I fell prey to every single person who could promise me and charge me that they could get these books out there to the entire universe. What happened was, as you have probably heard before, here, I am deeply in debt.

Here I am having great books and products, but nobody knows about them and that, as you said already puts a huge strain on my marriage. So there were a number of things that we figured out along the way that I want to share with your audience that I call mistakes and what I would do over again, but I also want to share with your audience so that those other people who are out there like I know what they can do to get out of that situation. Does that sound fair?

Gresham Harkless 3:53

That sounds very fair.

Corey Jahnke 3:54

All right, cool.

Gresham Harkless 3:55

Well, I wanted to ask you to tell us I guess a little bit more about like, how you're helping your clients do that. So it sounds like you're working with are you just telling us a little bit more about that?

Corey Jahnke 4:04

Yeah, absolutely. So what happens is that when you are first starting out in business, you get to a situation where you're falling in love with all these ideas that are basically false. You have to do X, Y, and Z and everybody's coming along with. If you ever scrolled your Instagram feed, let me help you get customers. Let me help you get clients. Let me help you do this. They seem like boy, these are really nice people that have great business results, and they want to help me, right? But then if everybody's business is helping you grow your business, what are they actually doing in their business? I'm sure as you've already found out, they don't have a business. They have a story and their story is really expensive to people who fall prey to it.

So the first thing I teach my clients is that number one, before you develop a product, develop an audience. That's the number one thing. I wrote a book and then I spent a lot of money developing this book and getting this book together probably like 20, or $30,000, out of our own money, and guess what no one wanted to read the book. Why? Because I did everything backward, I basically made a loud trumpet noise when there was no one around to hear it, I literally was that tree that fell in the forest. I can tell you, that if a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, it doesn't make a noise. But it ends up with a lot of payments and a lot of problems. So one of the things that I want your listeners to know is that, first of all, start slow, start small, and really think through what is it that you're trying to do and why are you trying to do it.

Get with some people that you trust that no, and I'm talking about people who have businesses now like financial planners, and accountants, and find out what, how does the person even run a business? Before you go galavanting off and throwing a bunch of money into your business? Find out how business works. That's part one. Part two is to work on building an audience. When you talk to the people who are really crushing it out there, those are people like you and me who did something remarkable and scary.

They went to their community, and they said, Hey, Gresh, I've got an idea and I want to invite you and three, four other people to the local coffee shop, where they got this little back room, we can close it, and we can kick around these ideas, and let me share these ideas and do you think they got legs. That cost about 38 cents. But don't go higher and somebody who's gonna promise to build you an audience until you've run it by people that you know, and people that you trust? Does that make sense?

Gresham Harkless 6:46

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I think so many sounds like so many times people decide, I guess they don't want to do it definitely correct me if I'm wrong, they don't want to do kind of like I guess, I don't want to call it harder, but maybe the more long term focus things in order to be successful. They want to jump right to what the easy button is, because like you said they saw it on Instagram, or they saw an ad or something like that.

Corey Jahnke 7:06

Yeah, it looks really great, when the people who are out there crushing it are out there with the big websites, and the big banners, and the great videos. But what you don't see is the 18 or 20 years that it took to get there. It doesn't mean to be discouraging to people. What it means is Tony Robbins did not become Tony Robbins overnight. Tony Robbins of today started, just like he says really small, and the hard work is yes, standing there in front of a single person and saying, dude, I've got this idea. What do you think? Because I was hiding on the computer. I was making blogs, I was making podcasts on my own. I was interviewing people just like you and that's easy, right?

Because what am I looking at, really, I'm looking at a little green light. But when I got to actually take and put my idea in front of a living, breathing person, who could say, hey, that's stupid. That's a risk. That's hard work. Calling up a business and asking for their human resources person and saying, Hey, I've got an idea that I think will really help your employees. Will you let me come share that idea with you? I hate to say it, but you have to start out doing it for free. Go into your local men's club your local Women's Club or your local BNI chapter and say, Hey, can I stand in front of your people for free and see if my idea has legs? Because what's amazing, though, is, as much as that may sound a little discouraging to people, one of the things you come to find out is if you have an idea, chances are someone else needs that idea.

But when you put it in front of people, what happens is real living breathing, people can help you frame that idea in a way that makes sense, in a way that maybe is marketable, and in a way that might catch an audience. They can also tell you, you know what, maybe this idea isn't ready now. So one of my favorite books, and one of the things I also believe in, is really reading and educating yourself in areas of business and in ways to market before you pay anybody else. So one of my personal favorites is a guy named Seth Godin if you haven't heard of said.

Gresham Harkless 9:18

Absolutely. This is marketing.

Corey Jahnke 9:19

Yeah, so Seth Godin writes, this idea. He says the only way to find a really good idea is to have lots and lots of bad ideas and to be willing to ship your ideas, and what he means by the shipping is actually pressing go on the Publish button, actually picking up the phone and saying, Hey, Gresh What do you think of my idea? If you skip that step, which I did when I first started, I guarantee you, you're gonna cost yourself 10s of 1000s of dollars, and more importantly, a whole lot of time and a bunch of heartaches. So we start there, we start saying, Okay, what is your idea and what research have you done? Who have you looked at and said this is who I'm talking to, because I think a lot of times, what we tend to do is we tend to think that because we think this way, other people think this way.

One of the things that is really amazing about the technology now, versus when I started trying to market my books 10 or 15 years ago, is it's super easy now to create surveys, online platforms, and Facebook groups, where you can ask questions like, Hey, do you guys even care about this? It's easy to segment into your audience, it's easy to find ways, to find people to say, Hey, this is my idea. What do you think? Ask people, what are their problems.

Gresham Harkless 10:44

No, that makes so much sense and so I know you touched on, I guess, Seth Godin, are there any other kind of I call them hacks, like CEO hacks or whatever, like apps, books, or things that you do to be effective, efficient. Are there any other things that are tangible that you feel would be really great for listeners to adopt or to pick up at the library or whatever that might be?

Corey Jahnke 11:06

Okay, so one of the things that I think is really interesting about technology today is something that they call all-in-one platforms. When I first tried to write my book, I had to bolt together like seven different platforms. So the one that I personally use is called Kajabi. So Kajabi is somebody that's an all-in-one platform, so you can make all of your landing pages, you can make your website, you can send out all of your emails, you can put your emails together, you can do all of it with one platform.

Gresham Harkless 11:36

I definitely appreciate you bringing light to that. I know that you gave us a lot of nuggets, or what I call nuggets, do you have any kind of other additional CEO nuggets, which I think are like words of wisdom or piece of advice, or maybe even something that might tell your younger business self.

Corey Jahnke 11:50

Rich people financially speaking are not the people that we think they are. People who are driving expensive cars, wearing expensive clothes, and buying expensive watches are not rich. These are people who are trying to make an appearance of wealth. So the thing that I want business owners to recognize is that if you want to become successful in your business, you've got to manage your money well, you've got to manage your business operating expense as well and you've got to manage your personal operating expense as well. What that means to me, is really recognizing that when you say yes to any kind of a purchase, you're saying no to any kind of an investment.

So you really want to ask yourself, Am I in the business of making a rich life? Making my business grow for the long term? Investing in my family's financial future? Or am I in the business of trying to show people how successful I am?

Gresham Harkless 12:48

That makes so much sense. I definitely appreciate that. Usually, the last question I ask is just about the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping to have different, like, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So what do I guess being a CEO entrepreneur and business owner means to you, Corey?

Corey Jahnke 13:04

Well, I think really, what it means is that I am responsible for everything that happens in my life, I am responsible for the way other people view me, I am responsible for running my business responsibly, I am responsible for running my family responsibly. When I say running my family, I want to make it clear, I mean that my family is a partnership between me, my wife, and my son. When you have a partnership, you share in decision-making, and you actually have the best interest of the organization, whether it be the family, the business, or the local organizations that you belong to.

What it means is that you're willing to put your ego aside, you're willing to ask for help, you're willing to delay decisions, and you're willing to think logically so that when you're a CEO, you're making decisions that will make your life, your business, your family and your organization successful for the long haul and not just immediate gratification. Is that fair enough?

Gresham Harkless 14:11

That's definitely very fair. I appreciate that. Because I think so many times we forget about all those aspects when we're making decisions. But I appreciate you for putting that in perspective. So I appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I want to do is pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know and then of course, how best they can get ahold of you, and how they can they can reach out to you and find out about all those things you're working on.

Corey Jahnke 14:37

Oh, wonderful. I thank you for doing that. The really big thing that I want to say to people is that I do believe that the best way to become wealthy in America is to own your own business. I really do. But I think it's really important that just what I said is that you just take the time to say okay, who am I? Who am I trying to help? What is their top-of-mind problem and to really do the work? I know it's painful and scary to ask people one-on-one. What is it? What is your problem and what kinds of solutions are you looking for? But when you do that, I promise you, you will not regret it. I have never regretted not spending money in my life. I've never regretted not being kind to people. But I have always regretted when I've overextended myself and laid awake at night especially watching my wife lay awake at night.

So the best way to get a hold of me is to go to Corey, c o r e y Jahnke, j a h n k e .com and download what I'm calling the successful thinkers guide to strategic planning, the simple secret that thought leaders use to create financial freedom in any market. Free download that really lays out what Gresh and I talked about today. How do successful people start a business and what are your top-of-mind concerns before you hire anybody? Thanks so much, Gresh for giving me the opportunity to be here today.

Gresham Harkless 15:56

Yeah, no problem. I truly appreciate you and we will have those links and information in the show notes but definitely appreciate that reminder as well because I think so many times we gloss over the foundational things we do, in need to pay attention to be successful. So I appreciate you for reminding us of that and bringing light to that because it's not done nearly enough. Thank you for using the opportunity to do that as well.

Corey Jahnke 16:19

Oh, anytime I'd love to talk with you anytime.

Gresham Harkless 16:22
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.

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