Rishi’s business experience
My sales career started on the hamster wheel when I was a coach, selling low value, high volume services and having lots of customers to work with. Even though I loved the challenge there were quickly too many balls to juggle and it led to me burning out.
The surprising factor that got me off this hamster wheel was my love for martial arts. It reminded me that the way I was living was reactive to my environment, chasing my tail and not being in control of my thoughts and actions. Whenever I was in the Dojang (the training mat) I had intention, focus, alignment, balance and flow – what I now call the Black Belt Mindset. I felt alive and connected as I was teaching our next generation of children the values of confidence, leadership and fearlessness through martial arts.
I could clearly see how many interlinks there were with selling. I’ve crafted, tested, refined and proven a formula which incorporates the principles of the Black Belt Mindset, and ALL the skills required for successful high-end, high-value selling.
Five questions, five answers…
What has been your most pivotal moment in business?
Getting to the point of burnout: SO burnt out I was diagnosed with depression and eventually type 2 diabetes. At this point I completely transformed that situation by reinviting my relationship with nutrition, exercise, stress and sleep. Inside of that EPIC transformation, I was reborn to discover my purpose, which gave me the courage to change directions and do what I do today.
If you could send a text to yourself the day you started out in business what would it say?
This is going to be the toughest thing you EVER do and you are going to LOVE it intensely. Fall in love with the JOURNEY. The journey is more important than the destination. Keep focused on SERVICE, IMPACT and keep asking yourself “Who am I BEING in this moment?”. BE Connection, BE Aligned, BE Empowered, BE Service & BE Leadership.
Who has been your biggest inspiration and why?
Isaac Tigrett: not known by name, but known by his brand, Hard Rock Cafe. He taught me key life lessons, all of which were deeply profound to me, and which I’m still unwrapping today. The first is: “See the divine in everyone”. Isaac said, “When you meet someone take a couple of seconds to look into their eyes and connect with the divinity innate in that person.”.
The second lesson was: “There are only two kinds of people: those that were loved, and those that were unloved”. Isaac mentioned he would find people who were unloved and bring them into the Hard Rock Cafe family as employees, and shower them with kindness.
The final lesson was: “If you can just get one person to realise their true, unlimited potential, their innate divinity, then you have done your job”.
What book should all business owners read?
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
What is your favourite quote?
“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Be water, my friend.” ~ Bruce Lee