This week I'm bringing you a solo episode highlighting my recent speaking engagement with undergraduates at American University. Turns out I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. Here are 5 questions they asked me during Q&A that I think could benefit all of you. Enjoy!

This week, I am joined by Jonathan Marques, founder of CDL Driving Academy, one of the most recognized CDL training schools in the country, with over 150,000 subscribers on YouTube and a multi 7-figure business he built from the ground up.

Jonathan recently launched a business consulting firm specifically to help small business owners doing $250,000+ in annual revenue scale up to $1,000,000+ in sales, $1,000,000+ in profit, and structure their companies to scale and sell.

He’s passionate about sharing the exact systems, hiring frameworks, and mindset shifts that help everyday entrepreneurs break free from the “operator trap” and actually grow a business that runs — and sells — without them.

In this conversation, Jonathan and I speak about his early years from starting his first business as a college athlete to building a successful truck driving school. Then we get into the importance of focusing on cash flow, the value of personal development, and innovative marketing strategies like leveraging YouTube to grow his business.

On this week's episode, I am joined by Dr. Lance Bennett - the President and Founder of The People’s Institute for the Common Good, a non-profit organization with a big vision to create spaces where people come together to learn from each other, wrestle with hard questions, and serve their communities for the common good. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity & Justice and Center for Minority Serving Institutions at Rutgers University.

Dr. Bennett is an adjunct faculty member in the Doctor of Education in Leadership and Higher Education Program at St. Edward’s University. In the higher education profession, he serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Liberal Education, the flagship magazine of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. He is also a published author with articles published in the disciplines of higher education, teaching learning, and interpersonal communication.

In this episode - Dr. Bennett and I sat down to chat about how went from being on the track to becoming a university president to an educational entrepreneur. We get into how he's challenging traditional systems with the People's Institute for the Common Good, insights on creating spaces for lifelong learning, the importance of community-focused education, and his vision for a more inclusive and impactful educational landscape.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Lance Bennett and His Vision

12:11 Dr. Bennett's Journey in Education

20:14 Catalyst for Change: The Birth of the People's Institute

26:26 Building the People's Institute for Common Good

28:08 Exploring Community Learning Spaces

32:05 Creating Safe Spaces for Tough Conversations

36:14 Bridging Theory and Real-World Impact

40:26 The Future of Educational Entrepreneurship

45:12 Redefining Higher Education

50:41 Envisioning Success for the People's Institute

Resources

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/instituteforcommongood/

Website: https://instituteforcommongood.org/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-people-s-institute-for-the-common-good/

https://instituteforcommongood.org/