Do you sometimes feel like you’re in the passenger seat of your life?

In this episode of Habits and Hustle, I chat with Jake Steinfeld, aka Body By Jake, about how he used his love and passion for fitness to get into Hollywood and build some of the biggest businesses in the fitness industry ever. For the longest time, Jake felt like life was happening to him - until he didn’t want that to be the case anymore. After he lost a huge opportunity in Hollywood, he decided to venture out on his own and become the king of infomercials in the fitness world. Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, he learned a lot of lessons and got a couple of slaps in the face, but he eventually put himself in the driver’s seat of his own life.

Jake also shares what clients he had when he first started in the fitness industry as a trainer, how he grew his network as he was building his business, and why he considers the infomercial business to be a lot more profitable than the movie industry can ever be.

Jake "Body by Jake" Steinfeld has been an innovator and entrepreneur since creating the personal fitness training industry. He established "Body by Jake" Inc. in 1980 to the benefits of healthy living - and the motivation to get there. Jake also created FiT TV, America's first 24-hour fitness lifestyle television network which he sold to News Corp. He is the founder of Major League Lacrosse and the World Series of Youth Lacrosse. He was also appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as Chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness.

What we discuss:

00:33: About Jake
10:14: How did Jake grow up?
18:40: Why did Jake know he wouldn’t make it as a bodybuilder?
23:48: How did Jake get his first client?
28:30: What happened when Jake got approached by a publisher?
31:56: What happened to Jake’s stutter?
36:16: Who thought Jake the most? 
37:32: For how long did Jake train people?
41:03: What are the slaps in the face that Jake got?
46:18: Did Jake ever think of leveraging the relationships he had developed?
50:08: Who else did Jake train?
59:22: Did Jake always consider himself to be entrepreneurial?
01:04:59: How did Jake grow his network?
01:06:51: What did Jake do with the money he acquired from selling his business?
01:09:21: How did Jake get his first advertisers for his magazine?
01:14:08: How did Jake get started with infomercials?
01:21:26: What’s the greatest thing about the infomercial business?
01:23:43: Did Jake own a piece of every company he promoted?
01:28:10: What are Jake’s workouts like?
01:40:40: How can you learn more about Jake?

Key takeaways:

You shouldn’t be afraid of asking people for favors or chasing any type of business opportunity. Someone telling you “no” is already a good start - it’s halfway towards being a yes. So whenever you are faced with a no, consider yourself to be closer to a “yes” than you’ve ever been and keep pushing.

If you want to take control of your destiny and be in the driver’s seat of your life, you need to go out and build what it is you want for yourself. If you don’t do that, you will forever be in the passenger seat of your life and waiting for opportunities and disappointments to fall into your lap. 

Your network is truly your net worth. When you invest a lot of time and energy into developing a relationship with someone — especially people with power and influence — don’t be afraid to ask for a favor when you need one. Just be sure that you can scratch their back in the future if you’re asking them to scratch yours. 

Thank you to our sponsors:

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To learn more about Jake:

Website: http://bodybyjake.com/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbodybyjake

My links:

Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/
Instagram: @therealjencohen 
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