Cosmos

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. Today’s guest is Mark Aylward, the founder of Seven Pillars LLC, a career and leadership development, coaching, and mentoring company. Mark channels his 35 years of experience into teaching, coaching, speaking, and developing courses aimed at helping others find their purpose in life. 

His unique approach, characterized by humanity, empathetic communication, and kind candor, has helped him change hundreds of lives. The other unique aspect of his approach is turning traditional conventions upside down. How to communicate, negotiate, and find work are prime examples. The process is only created with a practical, reachable goal in mind. He’s leveraging his coaching, listening, and communication experience to help develop the current generation of leaders and begin to prepare the next generation. 

He has 30 years of experience as an owner-operator in technical staffing and has generated over $ 75 million in revenue. Marcus founded, built, and sold two multimillion-dollar companies and has hired and trained hundreds of salespeople. He’s an extraordinary American, and I’m glad and honored to have him on the show. Mark, are you there?

Mark

I am Cosmos. Thank you so much. That was quite a generous introduction. It’s great to be here.

Cosmos

it’s great to have you here as well, Mark.

So, Mark, can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about yourself, your background, and how you got started?

Mark

Yeah, you covered a lot of that right there. But I’ll do my best. So, my entire professional career, since I was 26 years old and now 63, encompasses mostly technical staffing. And so that involves helping people in the technology space, primarily people in the software development life cycle, software engineers and architects and database engineers and anybody who touches the software development life cycle, I suppose, all the way up to a chief information officer. 

So that’s been my world. For 30 of those years, I ran my organization. Of those 35, I ran and sold two of them. The first was as a minority owner with my mentor, and the second was by myself. Then, I brought a partner and a good friend. 

So it’s been a while since I’ve worked for somebody else. How I got into it was more of a personal story, and I’ll try to abridge it a bit because it can go on. My girlfriend and I found out we would be parents when I was 26, so I took it upon myself to say I got to step up, be a dad, and have A family; it’s time to step up. Because I was kind of testing what it was that I wanted to do. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that most people in their early 20s or mid-20s search for something. But very few of those people understand exactly what they want to do because it’s early in life. 

So, I was just tasked with refocusing my energy. 

And so my kind of radar went up, and I started paying more attention to people in various areas I was talking to. My parents, friends, neighbors, aunts, and uncles were gainfully employed as adults. What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? And one day, part of my teaching is paying attention; most of us don’t do that very well. I walked into my parent’s condo one day, and my mom’s best friend was entertaining her and her new husband. And he was an Australian guy, a cool guy. 

And I, among other things, eventually asked him, so do you mind? I’m kind of searching for a career path. What do you do? And he said, no, I’m happy to talk to you about that. I’m a; I recruit petrochemical engineers for Saudi Arabian oil companies. Wow. And I thought, well, you’ll have to unpack that for me, and I don’t know what that means. 

And so he started telling me, and I thought companies found their employees. And he said, well, many of them do. However, when it comes to critical skills, technical skills, engineering skills, medical skills, and scientific skills, When it comes to critically skilled people who most often require advanced degrees but certainly pretty in-depth experience to get to the core and start learning about their craft, companies reach out to independent agencies like mine for those particular skills. And then, on top of that, not a lot of people want to go to work in Saudi Arabia that aren’t, that aren’t from Saudi Arabia, at least at the time. 

So, the packages that were being given to these candidates were luxurious. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary, a free home, a free car, all expenses paid, and they signed three-year contracts. Long story short, when I asked him how you got paid? He said, well, I got a percentage of their starting salary. And I said, well, two things. What are the average starting salaries, and what is the percentage? And he said the average is about $300,000 a year, and the percentage is 25%.

Cosmos

Wow.

Mark

I’m not a math guy, but it was a pretty easy calculation. I went out and looked in the newspapers. That’s how long ago Cosmos was. I also saw a couple of ads for technical recruiters. I answered one, and I went to an interview on Monday, and they offered me the job on the spot. 

I was 26. And so that’s how I got into recruiting. And then again, to try and keep it short, I worked for my mentor for about five or six years, and then I went off and started my own thing. And, yeah, there are a lot of other stories in detail, but that’s my abridged version, so I’ll toss it back to you.

Cosmos

Well, Mark, there’s so many. There are so many places to go from here, but from then on, what were your strategic goals and vision from that point to where you are right now? And how did it evolve regarding your life and your career?

Mark

In hindsight, I would like to look back at that and say I had a strategy. I think my strategy was to support my family. I’ve got to do everything I can to support my family. And as things were developing, you know, being unmarried with a child on the way from an Irish Catholic family, there’s all kinds of noise in that, you know, as things are developing.

What I decided eventually was what I was going to do. I will try to find an opportunity outside where I grew up, the greater Boston area, because I want to get away and do this. I want to start this with my soon-to-be wife and my new daughter. 

I started asking around, and I played golf with a young lady I had spent three years recruiting next to and explained my circumstances. And she said, well, you should meet Paul. And she introduced me to this gentleman who became my mentor, my second one, but my primary one. The first guy was great, but it was more of an employment arrangement. Paul’s was more of a partnership. He expressed interest in having me help him open up an opportunity and an office in Florida. 

I packed my bags and took him up on the opportunity. I went down to Florida and helped him start two organizations and started to get maybe more strategic. Then, you know, there was about bringing the family down, buying a home, or building a home. And he shared with me my Mentor four or five years in: I’m going to sell this, and I’m going back to Boston. 

Let me know what you’d like to see that look like, and I may be able to accommodate some of your goals. I might not be because some of this is selfish. I want to make some money and get out of here, but at least I want to tell you and ask you your opinion. 

We had some talks. Anyway, he sold the company. Part of the deal was that I was to stay on as the regional vice president of the acquiring company. I wasn’t in that cosmos for three months before I decided I couldn’t work for somebody else. It’s been too long. I have to fulfill this contract. The minimum was 12 months. 

And then I got out of here. So that’s when I started planning to start my own company. So that’s when I would say strategy and planning kicked in. But. But that’s what happened before I got to the strategic place.

Cosmos

So, Mark, from the.

It’s not easy for people to run two companies one after the other, and then make multimillions and then do an exit strategy like that. That is something that very few people can do, like starting from scratch to get to that point. 

So my question to you is, how did you do that? What was your process like when you ran those companies, and how did you get it to the point where you could exit that way?

Mark

Yeah, it’s a big question. I probably would challenge your premise. Very few people can do that. I would say very few people do that, but I think far more people could if they understood how to navigate the risk, mitigate it, and prepare or go off on their own, whatever that might be.

I think I was very fortunate. First of all, Paul, my mentor, was. I got a. I drank through a garden hose regarding knowledge, wisdom, tactics, and strategy. He told me that when we started the consulting firm, I would pay for everything, teach you everything, and then you’d be expected to do everything. 

I was selling, recruiting, running operations, hiring, training, firing, promoting. And he was there. You know, he was my Geppetto, and I was his puppet. But it was a much higher level relationship than that. 

I say that somewhat facetiously, but I learned a ton, not just about selling or recruiting. I learned how to run a business, start a business, and develop a banking relationship—an accounting relationship, a legal relationship, and everything about negotiation. 

I think my foundational education was very unique, which is one of the reasons Cosmos that I tell everyone that that I come in contact with, especially early in life, younger people, you should spend a significant amount of time and energy finding a mentor. 

And what I mean by that is someone who has similar values, perhaps a similar worldview, but more importantly, is willing to give you access to the wisdom that only comes from experience in return for your energy, integrity, and effort. And that’s what I gave Paul. I gave him 150%, and he gave me back 150%. So, yeah, pretty unique, I think.

Cosmos

Well, Mark, what you’re saying is true. And it’s a common theme that I have with many guests on the podcast. For example, when I asked them about the secrets to their success, they mentioned that they found a good mentor. Mentorship combined with a community like this reduced the time, creating a time compression where they could succeed much faster than anyone else. And that’s why it’s so important to have a mentor.

But I think it’s difficult for a lot of people to find the right mentor because, you know, there are a lot of gurus out there, and a lot of them are fake. They’re all talk, but they didn’t go through the trenches. 

From your perspective, how should somebody who’s listening to this podcast and wants to go on the same path of mentorship? How would they go about finding a proper mentor to succeed in business?

Mark

Yeah, to your point, there are a lot of meatheads out there. No, no question about it. And some of them are well-intentioned, but I think the first thing you have to do is, again, I do this with everybody. I don’t care where you are in your career; what I find myself doing with anybody I engage as a prospect who becomes a client, if you will. What’s your story? What are you doing? Why are you doing it? What do you want to do? How’d you choose this path? Have you ever contemplated anything else? I mean, so many of us start moving forward in search of something when we don’t spend enough time thinking about what that search might look like. Like, why? 

On five or six levels deep, why are you doing what you’re doing? Why? Why is that? What does that mean? Dig deeper. Purpose, passion, you know, all the way to why God put you on this earth. Right. Normally, I end up with people at some level who serve others and help others in some capacity. You’re helping people move from one position to another. And one would assume that most of the time that’s a move, that’s a trajectory move up, so you’re helping them get better. 

But before you look for a mentor, you must do some significant self-reflection. Look in the mirror, record yourself, talk into a microphone, talk to people you love and trust, and ask questions that most of us don’t think ever ask—digging deep. 

So once you do that, mentors or potential mentors appear. You begin to attract them, kind of, if you will. But without that work, without that legwork of really pursuing an internal self-reflecting conversation about what you want to do, what you love, and what’ll get you out of bed every day in a cliche way, searching for a mentor is almost impossible. Does that make sense?

Cosmos

Yeah, it does.

I would also like to add that you talked about this with a few other guests in the podcast before, and we came up with the same theme: self-reflection is really important, and digging deep and knowing your why and your purpose because it’s the foundation, right? You have to build a building on a strong foundation. But many people are unwilling to do that work because they’re afraid that they might find something they don’t want to see if they go within themselves. And it’s almost like an ego kind of thing. And it’s an issue of self-esteem. 

So my question to you, Mark, is how somebody who has relatively low self-esteem or fears would find that they’re not good enough or something like that overcomes that during self-reflection?

Mark

Yeah, well, I think we’re kind of venturing into maybe a psychologist and psychiatrist land. I certainly don’t profess to be one of those, but I would say, for what it’s worth, I still struggle, as I believe all of us do with self-worth issues and imposter syndrome. 

I liken things cosmos to team sports because I played many team sports. You get to practice, and then you get into the gym, and you’re doing sit-ups, push-ups, and stretching, and these are all things that you begin, and you don’t see any results for a long time. 

But there are processes in place. Whether entrepreneurship, athletic science, or engineering, there are processes in place that other people have already proven. If you take on these little micro habits and do them every day over a long period, you will build that muscle, whether confidence or self-esteem. Perhaps risk becomes less risky in your mind because you can mitigate it better, but it’s practice. I was talking to a client the other day, a young guy who wants to get better when speaking in public in front of the microphone. 

And I said, you know, dude, there’s only, I mean, I could tell you all kinds of fancy tactics and techniques, but pick up a microphone, hit the record button on whatever device you have in front of a mirror, and start talking and then send me the first one that you’re not so embarrassed you want to vomit from it, right? 

Send me the first one, and I will critique it. And that begins the process of you becoming a really good speaker. There is no shortcut around that. I don’t, I don’t care what the skill is. In my experience, you know, whether you’re trying to build self-esteem, increase your level of confidence, I mean, regardless of who you are or what stage you’re at, the first time you step on a stage, you’re going to be sweating through your shirt, you’re going to be shaking, you’re going to feel like throwing up, and you’re going to think everybody’s going to make fun of you. Then they don’t, and then they don’t. 

And then you get off the stage, and everything’s fine, and you do the second, third, and fourth. So I don’t. I’m not trying to minimize or oversimplify it, but I believe it’s that fundamental.

Cosmos

So, Mark, this reminds me of an analogy, right? So I like jiu-jitsu. I started jiu, and I’ve been doing it for a few months. And, in jiu-jitsu, you realize, or like, like martial arts, you realize that there are these different levels. You start as a white belt; then there are the blue, purple, brown, and black belts. 

Getting better in the entrepreneurship business is also about these different levels and thought processes. You know, you have people at the six-figure and five-figure levels, and then you have those who are asset-rich millionaires. You have the 8-figure, 9-figure, and 10-figure levels, and there are all these different levels, and you require different thought processes or levels for each one. 

But it’s an ongoing process, and you have to take it in a long-term way, so to speak, to get good at this. This is because business is a skill set, and the thoughts and actions are pretty much like somebody learning mixed martial arts, you know?

Mark

1. Yeah. I think to me, I like all of it to exercise, team sports, you know, anything that’s capitalism or meritocracy, anything that rewards effort and progress and achievement. You’re going to see that in all those components of life, you know.

Cosmos

So Mark, while you were mentoring and coaching all these people, what was the biggest lesson or revelation you had regarding, during your time, coaching them?

Mark

Well, I think it’s probably an ah, flavor of what we just talked about, which is, you know, dig into your story, dig the deep story. But when you start doing that, I think one of the things that I encourage people to do when they start to P you is you can see them beginning to go. Oh, I’m having a bit of an epiphany here. My eyes are opening up a little bit. Tell me more. 

The next step for me is, okay, let’s permit ourselves to forget about everything we’ve ever learned, particularly when finding work or advancing professionally. Most people are full of shit when it comes to that. 

Right. Pardon my French. 

We learn a lot of theory in school. One of my friends likes to say that school from K through 12 is socialism, right? We make you memorize stuff; everybody’s treated the same. You know, independence isn’t encouraged. You know, stay in the pack. And then they graduate, you chuck them into capitalism and wonder why they fall flat on their face, right? 

So there’s no segue between socialism in school and capitalism in the US or anywhere else there’s capitalism. So, I spend a lot of time with people saying, dump whatever guardrails you have up, rules you think you have to follow, or processes you think you’ll be restricted by. Let’s start from scratch and go; if I wanted to get from A to B, what’s the best way for me to get from A to B? Is it filling out an application online, putting a resume together, and sending it into a portal that’s probably a black hole? 

And there’s not even a human being at the end of that. That doesn’t sound like a very efficient way to go about things. Well, what is the direct route? Well, the direct route is to have a conversation, per. With the person you would be working with if you were hired. All right, let’s talk about that journey. 

So most people are like, you can do that. I’m like, you can do anything you want. This is America. As long as you’re not hurting somebody else or breaking the law, let’s open up your imagination and start to dream-like way bigger and different than you ever have. So, that’s phase number two, if that makes sense.

Cosmos

So Mark, to continue from your perspective, while you have been coaching and mentoring all these people, what is the biggest challenge or roadblock, do you think? Or the biggest mindset blocks that people have from achieving success in their lives?

Mark

What pops into my head is an unwillingness to take risks and a misunderstanding of what risk is. You know, I used to talk to young people, and this is just one example. My kids are in their late 20s to mid-30s. Right? 

So it’s kind of interesting. They’re your audience, right? And all three of them are entrepreneurs who run their own companies.

Cosmos

Amazing.

Mark

I’d like to think I had something to do with that. I remember coaching them all out of high school and college, trying to find jobs. And they’re like, Dad, what do I do? And they’re like, holy cow, you got to teach more people about this. Nobody’s teaching that. And so they got jobs, more money than they thought they would get, and easier than they thought it would be. And none of their friends had jobs. 

So what happened after that? Causes. It’s kind of funny. Dad, can you help Susie, can you help Annie, can you help Joey? Everyone wanted to talk to me, and I’m like, I got to start the cash register at some point. I can’t just be doing this for free. I got to pay my bills. So. But it was very interesting. And then they also got to a point where they’re like, I don’t, I don’t see any value in working for someone else. I think I can do this on my own. 

And so, I helped them go there. So, I think it’s a misunderstanding of what risk is and how to mitigate it with information, practice, knowledge, and relationships. You know, I wasn’t when I started my first company after my mentor sold his company, which I owned. I didn’t think I was risking anything because my foundational knowledge sounded so sound. It sounds like we are beyond sound. 

So, you can incrementally put yourself with learning experience, research, practice, and consistency over time. My journey was around five years, and I was ready to boom. 

So, I’m not saying you need to take five years. Some people can do it in one, and others might take 10. And honestly, Cosmo, being an entrepreneur is not. Not for everybody. An entrepreneurship journey is not for everybody. 

So, I think you got to find it. You got to dig and dig and dig and try and try and try and risk and risk. And risk and then go. One day is, yep, this is for me, or, you know, maybe I should find a good job with benefits and some security. Because of this, no matter how much I dig into this risk mitigation, it still feels risky and scary. 

So, I can’t. I can’t sleep at night. And don’t put yourself through that. Be. Be realistic, you know, so.

Cosmos

So, Mark, we touched upon the concept of education, right? And how our school system, even up to high school and even many colleges, is almost a socialist kind of thing. 

But to succeed, you must have an entrepreneurial mindset. So my question is, on a national level, how should our education system be set up to promote more entrepreneurship and encourage more people to start businesses?

Mark

Well, I guess the question would be, is that up to our educational system, or is that up to us? You know, and I think there’s probably an argument for a bit of both. When I went to the University of Notre Dame in 1983, education was very different back then. Very, very different. I think my tuition annually was less than $10,000 to one of the best schools in the country. Now it’s 70 or $80,000 a year. That’s absurd. Right. Not only is it more expensive, but they’re also teaching less objectively useful and more ideological, theoretical topics, which don’t translate into income post-graduation.

Cosmos

Exactly.

Mark

You have all these young people with massive debt. No, I mean, I could have taught them in three months more than they learned in four years, and I would have charged them a few thousand dollars instead of a few hundred thousand dollars. 

So I don’t know, that’s a huge gap for me. I’m very skeptical about our education system. I’m very glad my children are out of school, and I no longer have to deal with that. They were just on the cusp of this turn, both ideologically and way too expensive. And so, I don’t think it’s up to the educational institutions; I think it’s up to the consumer. If you’re going to college right now, you’re a customer of the college because you’re paying the college to go there.

So I think you have to start acting like a customer, and you have to start getting expectations about looks. I’m paying for this and not getting what I’m paying for. So I will start complaining about it, and then the parents jump in. Maybe people understand that with all due respect to Notre Dame or Harvard or Stanford or Duke or pick one, you know, an elite school, if I can get online and get a better education with a little bit of self-discipline, I can put you out of business or at least make you start acting more reasonable over time. You know what I’m saying?

Cosmos

Yeah, I honestly believe the purpose of even going to college is to attain financial freedom. But right now, outside of the STEM majors, what I’m noticing is that like a lot of the liberal arts majors and like a lot of these, they, you rack up a lot of debt, and then you don’t, you don’t really get a high paying job even, and you don’t even know how to start a business. Like it’s not, it’s not practical. That’s what I’m trying to get at. 

And so many people are going through these useless four-year college degrees, and it’s not even affecting them positively. And I feel strongly about that because it’s about the right education to help you get on your feet and be financially free.

Mark

Well, I think there’s a stigma still, and I will probably be here for some time, that if you have the means and intellect, you absolutely should go to college, and you should go for four years and get a degree. Again, pardon my French, that’s complete bullshit. And it’s been bullshit for a long time. I started writing about this 10 years ago. 

And then companies, you know, you can Google it after we’re done, but I think companies started dropping the requirement of a four-year degree 10 years ago, five years ago. And I’m talking, I remember this article in the New York Times, I think, or the Post. And it was, they listed 15 companies. There were Goldman Sachs, Google, Home Depot, and Target; Fortune 500 companies no longer require four-year degrees, and I don’t think most of the public knows that. 

So there’s this movement, and it’s going on everywhere now. It’s been highlighted most recently in our political landscape that people are discovering this foundational presumption that we’ve been making about whatever is not true. You know, it’s just not true. 

I think that to all the parents out there who have 17- and 18-year-old kids, my apologies. I didn’t mean to send your children off in a mom, forget it, I’m not going to college type thing. That’s between you and mom and dad. But I’ve seen evidence that you don’t need a. I’ve hired and trained people without college degrees. It’s not whatever’s in your DNA. 

And the way that you were raised and the way that you overcame hardship at a young age, that’s what I care about, and I think that’s what everybody should care about. Maybe again, cosmos, maybe that’s an oversimplification. But I think, and to kind of end that train of thought, if you don’t know whether you want to go to college or you can’t get into college or you can’t afford college, man, pick up a trade. The trades are wonderful. There are millions of opportunities in the trades. And what I mean by trades is working predominantly with your hands. Plumbing, H Vac, carpentry, construction, you know, the list goes on. 

And the thing about that, in my mind, is it’s the same mentor track. If you get an ex, let’s pick carpentry. If you get a job working under the tutelage of a master carpenter who’s a good person and wants to help you because you’re helping them do better work, more work, expand the services, whatever you put in four or five years with a master carpenter. You enjoy building things, you start your own company, you know, and that. You’re probably going to be able to make 40, 50, 60 grand when you start working for this person because those people get well paid. You know, you’ll be making six figures within four or five years, and then, you’ll have enough reserves, knowledge, and probably contacts to say, I’m going to hang up my shingle and operate my own business. That’s a massively interesting professional track for me. And I don’t think many people are even aware of it.

Cosmos

You said it pretty well, Mark. I think the ability to get into a trade that is your passion and monetize it is critical in today’s world.

But the one thing I would have to ask you is that we talked about mitigating risks. So for somebody that wants to follow this path that you suggested, but they’re afraid of taking, ah, they’re afraid of the risk factor. I think. What should their mindset be around mitigating risk and taking a calculated risk for starting their own business?

Mark

Well, I think, first of all, you either have a risk appetite or you don’t. So that would be one. And you know, just for simple math, if we said half the population doesn’t have that appetite and half does, that takes half the population out. 

And I think that’s just a self-awareness exercise. You know, I remember when I told my dad I would quit my full-time job and start my own company. He flew for TWA for 35 years. He never worked for another company, just one company. His whole. He thought that was out of my mind. Like you’re going to leave a big fat salary on the table with benefits as you start a family, build a home, and go off on your own.

Cosmos

That was a big risk.

Mark

Well, it wasn’t for me. Certainly, he perceived it as a huge risk, but I didn’t perceive it as a risk. I was ready. 

I think it’s back to that self-reflection again. Risk mitigation is done through information gathering, relationship building, experience, and investigation experience. And once you start building relationships with people that are in the, in semi-successful or successful entrepreneurial situations, the risk starts to go down because you start to see, with due respect to these people, they’re just like you and me, they’re just human beings, they’re not special. 

The only thing that all of them have in common that I would consider special is they’re willing to work their ass off, you know, and I suppose that is a special gift because, well, that’s a whole, I could, we could do a whole podcast on that. But I’ll, there’s a lot of amazing.

Cosmos

There are entitled people, so you might be right about that.

Mark

If I had to suggest any words of wisdom, I would say, from my experience, as early as you can. You get this through sports, extracurricular activities, your parents, and a neighbor who might own his own company. 

You know, you start and try to figure out how to learn how to work hard. Whether that’s a paper route, pushing a lawnmower, shoveling snow, or, you know, holding two part-time jobs down after school, if you can get comfortable working hard, you’re going to succeed. That’s a given. I would almost guarantee anybody if it’s because giving up is the only way to fail if you work hard. 

And that stops working hard once you get that down, and you’re like, no, I can, I can work just as hard or harder than anyone else. And that becomes the competition. Right. I will always be the hardest or one of the hardest workers. Then, it shifts somewhere. I don’t know. 

Maybe it was at 26 or 40; I can’t recall. But you begin to see opportunities to work smarter, Right? These are things like efficiency, productivity, automation, techno-leveraging technology, leveraging relationships, and leveraging whatever skills you’ve developed up to that point. You can start working smarter on top of a foundation of working harder. Nobody can stop you.

Cosmos

No, I mean, it’s well said, Mark. And you’re right about that.

So, Mark, can you tell the audience more about your coaching and mentoring so they can learn more about them?

Mark

Yeah. So where it is right now, and it’s always been in a state of evolution cosmos. I think the, you know, I went from brick and mortar for 35 years of hiring salespeople and recruiters and teaching them how to place people and develop clients. And you know, and then I, my circumstances, my world kind of blew up with a very contentious divorce, and I ended up needing to raise my children on my own. 

I went to Nomad with a laptop and a phone. I started taking my experience and knowledge and delivering it here and there in consulting gigs and the occasional placement. But I got away from staffing and more into coaching probably 10 years ago. 

And then, a few years ago, I was pretty much done getting pulled around the country by my athletically inclined kids and was faced with a decision: Okay, what does this look like moving forward? I ended up with the idea that I’ve got time to exchange money in the career coaching space so people can get on my calendar. It’s very simple. Funnel 30 minutes on me, and I ask many questions to see if I can help. 

And then, if I can, I’ll tell you how I can and what that looks like. And if you can’t, find a way to move forward with me there because, from that point on, it costs some money; then I’ll give you a couple of pointers that you can take and execute and enough probable information to make some serious progress on your own. But it will take you longer, and it might be a little more frustrating and difficult without my guidance or someone like me guiding you. But that’s a classic formula. 

Do it with me, get there faster, pay me some money, or do it without me, get there slower, no money. So that’s just an economic model that’s everywhere. Because all along, I’ve been focused on leadership, and everything’s about leadership. 

Becoming a better leader is better for everyone. You and everyone around you should lead yourself and lead others. So now I find myself with corporate contracts where I’m taking teams of people inside organizations, particularly technology organizations. 

So, a huge company with its IT department with the CIO is taking some aspiring IT leaders who have potential but lack leadership experience to the next leadership level. And that’s been a lot of fun. So that’s why the corporation pays my tab for that. 

And the teams I’ve been working with are in the area of, you know, 5, 10, 15 people at a time. And that’s a lot of fun. But, to me, it’s all the same kind of knowledge, like how I improve professionally and personally. And what does better mean? Productive, effective, and purposeful, so it’s two closely related prongs, but they’re slightly different models. I hope I explain that. Well, enough.

Cosmos

Yeah, Mark. I appreciate everything you’re doing, and I would advise anybody looking at this to reach out to you if they’re interested in getting coaching and mentoring. Then my follow-up question is how can the audience connect with you and get to know more about you and your work and also like your website and all of that?

Mark

Yeah, if you get the spelling of my name down, my first name is Mark with a K, and the last name is a Y, L, W, A, R, D. So, Mark Aylward. So markelward.com will take you to my website. You asked me earlier about my company, Seven Pillars. It’s still an intact company I own, and I bill through that organization. However, I recently started branding my name instead of that company name for several reasons. 

So, I’m a little bit in transition. But if you can, find Mark aylward.com. It’ll lead you to my LinkedIn profile, some free resources, and a link to my calendar. Ah. Then, there is my LinkedIn profile and my YouTube channel, which you can find with that same name.

And first name, Mark Ilward. I’ve been working a bit on my YouTube channel because there are a lot of short videos there that can be very helpful. They’re all free. If I were young or in transition, I’d go to my YouTube channel and spend a couple of hours just watching the videos. How do you negotiate salary, get a raise, interview, and give feedback? You know, develop your leadership skills, whether related to career development. And then, you know, the ultimate move is to jump on my calendar and give me 30 minutes, and then we go from there, you know, so let’s keep it simple. My LinkedIn profile and my full name.com.

Cosmos

That is amazing, Mark. 

And Mark, I’m so grateful and glad you took the time to come on this podcast and share your knowledge and wisdom because this is what the nation needs: more people who think this way and then take the risks to start businesses, creating more jobs. I appreciate that, and I do hope that you come to the show at a later time.

Mark

Yeah, it was very nice speaking with you, Cosmos. I’m very excited about your audience. I know from experience that the world will be slightly better if I can get it in front of enough people. So, yeah, it’s been a pleasure talking to you. I appreciate your go-get attitude and the nerve you bring; you’re a pretty young guy, so God bless you. Good for you.

Cosmos

Thank you, Mark, and I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that. Hey, look, there’s something extraordinary within every one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it. Until next time. Bye for now.