Jonathan Fields And The Art Of Building Many Businesses At Once
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In my pursuit to find great career paths for the insanely interested, I talk to friends who I think are doing something exceptional - something we could use as an example to guide us in our day to day choices.
Not every option suits everyone, but I’m sure you’ll find today’s interviewee an extremely inspiring!
Jonathan Fields is an entrepreneur. But unlike many, he doesn’t just run one company focusing to one service or product, but a variety of them. And that makes him a first class example of an entrepreneur insanely interested in everything.
Q: Your list of activities looks impressive: copywriting, yoga, speaking, coaching, and writing posts to many blogs. How did you end up starting so many things rather than concentrating on just one of them?
Funny thing is, to me, they are all just different tentacles of the same, unifying thread, which is a mad-passion to create and to have a positive impact on the world around me.
So, each is just a different way to manifest that master path. It’s a bit like exploring multiple-channels to market a business, really.
The biggest challenge is to continually checking in on what’s working and what’s not and be willing to shelve certain things that I simply don’t have time to do at the level I’d want to do them or allocate energy away from them in order to make sure what’s most treasured is getting the bulk of my energies.
Whether it’s writing my latest book for Random House on career-evolution, running my yoga center, blogging or helping someone craft their marketing message, I am in the business of creating business and lifestyle solutions that improve the way people experience their lives, including me! And, this all seems to be coming together this year under the banner of my newly launched Career Renegade project.
Q: An interesting piece of information is that none of these paths in business are what you studied in the first place. Why did you decide to become a lawyer, and what made you give it up?
I decided to go to law school because, not surprisingly, I spent most of my time in college as an entrepreneur and after kicking around for 2 1/2 years, I felt like I needed to challenge myself to find out what I was really intellectually capable of. And, law school seemed a good option. Plus, I knew that, even if I never practiced, it would be great analytical training for any business I went into.
What inspired me to give it up was an awakening to the realization that I did not aspire to become a partner in a firm, I had little passion or the practice, I had a lot of passion for things I wasn’t doing and I had a health crisis that led to emergency surgery after my body literally rejected my career.
Q: But the big question is how do you find the time to do all this? After all, you are also a guy who believes in having a healthy balance between work and life…
Constant rebalancing and a willingness to pull-back and reallocate whenever necessary to make sure my time and energy reflect my priorities.
Reality is, though, this is likely my greatest challenge.
I tend to push past my breaking point and then have to pull back. It’s something I’m working pretty actively on. Plus, I have learned to find amazing people to surround myself with and be willing to hand-off responsibility and trust that, while things might not be done exactly the way I would’ve done them, they’ll be good enough..and often better than what I would have done.
Nobody succeeds in a vacuum.
Q: If you were forced to rank all your ventures in an order of importance, which one would you put first - why?
Okay, first, the ventures that are public are probably only about half of what I am currently working on. But, of them, my yoga center has an incredible staff that doesn’t take a huge amount of my energy, but I love the people and the community.
The bulk of my energies are moving toward a combination of writing (books, blogging and direct-response copywriting), online ventures and presenting on entrepreneurship and careers.
Q: How do you decide on which project you work on day to day basis?
I have to rebalance this constantly. As I said before, this is likely my greatest challenge and one of my greatest opportunities for growth. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of just responding to whatever is in front of you. But, that always leaves you at the end of a long day wondering what the hell you did all day. Not good.
I try very hard to step back and allocate my time more strategically.
Q: Do you have plans to still start something new, or is this enough?
Dude, you don’t know the half of it!
Q: What is the most difficult part in working on multiple businesses at the same time?
Finding people to trust enough to plant the seed of your vision and let them run with it.
Q: And what about the most rewarding part?
Control and culture. I have ultimate control over my success and failure and I get to literally create my own culture and handpick people I love to be around.
Q: I’m sure there are many people in the audience who would like to follow more than one path at once. Where would you suggest to start from?
Check out Marci Alboher’s book, One Person/Multiple Careers
Launch one and get it as stable and systematic as possible before reallocating some of your energy to another project.
Q: And who would you recommend this kind of business approach to?
Honestly, not too many people. If you can get what you need from a single pursuit, it’ll be much easier.
First stop – find one thing you love to do, get really good at it, earn what you need.
Then, if you enjoy what you do, but keep Jonesing to explore more, do it the way I shared in the above answer.
If you liked what Jonathan had to say, check out his blog for more insight on careers, business life and lifestyle! And if you want to ask him a question, leave a comment.
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11 Responses to “Jonathan Fields And The Art Of Building Many Businesses At Once”
2 mentions in the press
- Interview on “shotgun” entrepreneurship with Jarkko Laine | Awake At The Wheel | Personal Growth | careers | health & happiness
- Joshua Clanton - Design for the WEB » Blog Archive » Linklist:Building Business, Finding Business, Geometry, and Audacity
February 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
This is a great interview, Jarkko and Jonathan! I found it especially interesting because, while web design is my current career path (and I love it), I’m also attempting to develop myself into a novelist.
The thing that I struggle with, though, isn’t so much finding the time to write. It’s deciding to give my writing the attention it needs to grow when there are “more pressing” matters.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Thanks, Joshua! And once more, big thanks to Jonathan for participating in the interview!
Yep, choosing where to target my attention is a big challenge for me as well. That’s why I am so impressed at the fact that Jonathan can pull this thing and keep all his businesses running. Can’t wait to hear what he’s writing on his own blog about this very topic…
February 7th, 2008 at 1:48 am
@ Jarkko - Thanks so much for the opportunity to share a small slice of my journey!
@ Joshua - I think the biggest challenge for me as a brick & mortar/retail entrepreneur and writer and blogger is getting my head into the right place to do each effectively. Because, for me to write, my head needs to be in the right place. So, I keep playing with different schedules to see what works best.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:03 am
great interview. i am sort of the same way, i have my finger in many pies, difference is that i’m not as productive, but that’s all going to change.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:03 am
oh by the way, he is so PRETTY!
February 8th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
@Jonathan: The pleasure is all mine :)
@Michael: Thanks! Yep, I know how you feel - Jonathan is quite an inspiration. And btw, you had some really good productivity tips in your last blog post.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Thanks for this interview Jarkko! I always wondered if Jonathan was some sort of super-human to have become so incredibly successful at so many things. He truly is amazing!
February 13th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
There’s a trick, you know.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
My pleasure. I think the trick might, in fact, be that Jonathan is a super human ;)
Or maybe it’s yoga?
February 25th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I found this really interesting because I feel that I’m the same right now. My homepage lists 5-6 projects that I’ve got happening all at once - and it is difficult to balance them, so I tend to switch between them often. It is good and bad, at least if I’m sick of one I can move to another and back.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I found the key was also having those trusted people around you…
But,… how do you find them?? Do you work with your friends or they just become friends…
This question has been bothering me for long (don’t mind I’m into HR).
I know some people (let’s call them friends) that I’d love to work with! But they are like me, following own passions and things, living at totally different parts of the world, etc. Who knows, we might end up doing something together later on…
So… how do you find your people? Why do they stick with you?