While the name Branden Hampton may not sound familiar, he is the creator some of the most influential brands on Twitter and is the largest independent social media publisher in the world, with an astonishing 32 Million followers between all of his social accounts. By adopting social media early on, Hampton quickly found out that creating content that highly resonated with people was the key to gaining followers. Leaning on his marketing background and previous sales experience, Hampton has perfected the recipe for branding businesses, celebrities and products online.
Secret Entourage Academy
Secret Academy Episode – Brad Martineau
After spending eight years leading the product development efforts as a key member of the Infusionsoft leadership team as their 6th employee; Brad Martineau ventured into entrepreneurship and co-founded Sixth Division with the purpose of helping businesses unlock the power of what systems and automations can do (with a focus on Infusionsoft), and providing users a better source for education, training, and “done for you” services. On mission to serve the small business community, Brad and his team have focused on making Sixth Division the leading provider of coaching and software tools that help entrepreneurs tap into the power of marketing automation. Brad’s passionate about helping make people’s lives easier by helping them understand difficult concepts and bridging the gap between theory and execution, and remaining true to one of the core principles of entrepreneurship – focusing on building value and helping others.
Secret Academy Episode – Andy Frisella
If you watched our previous Secret Academy episode or have followed him on instagram, it will come as no surprise to you as to why we chose Andy Frisella as our 2014 Secret Entourage Entrepreneur of the Year. CEO and co-founder of 1st Phorm and S2 Supplement Superstores, Andy is the perfect example of what separates the great from the good. From sales lessons he learned as a kid to how and why Andy and his partner Chris didn’t take home a paycheck their first three years in business, Andy shares with us his story which epitomizes what it means to have humble beginnings. Relentlessly displaying an unwavering resilience and commitment to achieving success no matter the cost, Andy is revolutionizing his industry and standing out as a real leader among entrepreneurs. By building a value-driven culture and consistently focusing on putting passion over a paycheck, Andy’s success story is both impressive, inspirational, and definitive of what the true meaning of entrepreneurship really is.
Secret Academy Episode – Silvina Moschini
Better known as “Miss_Internet” on Twitter and social media, Silvina Moschini is a serial entrepreneur and considered an international expert on internet marketing and IT trends. Originally born and raised in Azul, Argentina, Sylvina found that her country had a lot of bureaucracy when it came to entrepreneurship, so she moved to the United States as a young adult to pursue even more opportunity. While she began her career in corporate America maintaining executive level positions at companies like Compaq and Visa International, it wasn’t long before her entrepreneurial spirit led her to break away and start her own PR / Social Media firm called Intuic in 2003, whose client list include household names like Google and Twitter, to name a few. From there, Sylvia’s journey as an entrepreneur has evolved and led to her co-founding Transparent Business, a disruptive web-based application revolutionizing virtual work, as well as becoming a frequent contributor and analyst on CNN.
Secret Academy Episode – Verne Harnish
Often referred to as the “Growth Guy” as a columnist for several publications, Verne Harnish is an internationally renowned author, educator, and entrepreneur with an expertise in scaling businesses to reach higher levels of success. Currently residing in Barcelona, Spain; Verne began his journey back in the ’80’s at Wichita State University, where he founded a small group called ACE (Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs), which later grew into an international organization with members such as Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, and Mark Cuban, to name a few. Being passionate about uniting and empowering young entrepreneurs, Verne recruited 22 other entrepreneurs and founded Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (YEO) in 1987, now known as Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which is the largest entrepreneurs’ organization in the world today with more than 11,000 members globally. A true pioneer of entrepreneurial education, Verne launched and currently chairs the “Birthing of Giants” at MIT, Co-founded Gazelles Growth Institute and serves as CEO of Gazelles, Inc. – a strategic planning and “executive education” company, and additionally he has authored several books including Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t. When it comes to growing your business and learning the keys to more effective marketing, processes, and people – Verne Harnish is the industry expert on what differentiates companies who are failing vs. companies scaling.
Secret Academy Episode – Jason Arasheben
Before he was designing custom jewelry for celebrities, professional athletes and some of the world’s most elite list clientele, Jason Arasheben was broke and sinking in credit card debt as a sophomore at UCLA Law School. Faced with an immediate need to make money fast, he took a chance and spent his last $400 on wholesale silver trinkets from the LA Design District and began to sell them to girls around campus. By the time he was a senior, Jason’s trinket business had spread to six other college campuses and grown to employ multiple other college students working beneath him. With an exceptional ability to “connect the dots” faster than most, Jason realized that he was already making more money than most Harvard Law School grads and living in LA gave him access to very high net-worth people. A true entrepreneur at heart, he decided to forgo a career in law and take a life-changing risk to jump full force into the jewelry design business. Sneaking into every event and party he could just to get his foot in the door, Jason built strong relationships with everyone he met; from the valets to bodyguards, he was savvy enough to recognize the value of leveraging his connections in order to better position himself in the right settings to end up in front of the right people. When he finally landed former New York Knicks player Anthony Mason as his first client for a $40K custom bracelet without having any merchandise, design and nothing more than a good sales pitch and networking ability, Jason’s business took off and he spent the next twelve years working hard to scale his college venture into a worldwide jewelry empire. With four retail outlets and over 70 employees, Jason’s business is now raking in over $20 million a year. With a reputation for building strong relationships and designing some of the most unique custom jewelry on the market, he’s better known today as Jason of Beverly Hills, and has become one of the most sought after and successful jewelers in the industry.
Secret Academy Episode – Greg Reid
The power and influence of those you surround yourself with and the effect they have on your personal growth is one of the most important concepts you can grasp as an entrepreneur. By finding the right mentors and learning the Success Equation that transformed his life, natural born leader and entrepreneur, Greg Reid, was able to grow his small advertising firm into a multi-million dollar business which ultimately changed his life. He learned some of the most valuable success principles by reading books like Think and Grow Rich and seeking counsel from success experts like Brian Tracy, and Tony Robbins, who have now grown to become his personal good friends and powerful alliances in his mission to empower others towards a more successful future. Through founding Secret Knock, filmmaking, becoming a bestselling author, acclaimed motivational speaker, and simply focusing on helping others, Greg has become one of the most impactful leaders in the personal growth industry to date. He was recently hand selected by the Napoleon Hill Foundation to help carry on the teachings of Think and Grow Rich, and spends most of his time focusing on paying it forward by helping others understand the laws of success.