Eric Edmeades Interview

Eric Edmeades is a Canadian entrepreneur, author and professional speaker. Eric delivers compelling speeches on a variety of topics including success/achievement, business development, sales/marketing, NLP, inspiration, motivation, health and nutrition.
A self-made millionaire in his early thirties, Eric was the founder of The ITR Group, a wireless integration company. At 35 he decided to sell his company so that he could retire and focus on his true passion of helping people achieve their full potential...

The Interview...

Damien Senn: Eric, most people dream about retiring at the age of 35. What did this experience actually feel like for you?

Eric Edmeades: It was one of the most releasing and exciting experiences of my life. Suddenly, there I was: free to do what I wanted and when I wanted to do it. It’s strange; I had a fairly high degree of freedom when I owned the business, but being totally free to enter the next phase of my life has been one of the great privileges of my life so far.

I will say, also, that I had a few days of something else – a strange sort of emptiness that I suppose comes from going from having an army of staff and assistance to sudden quiet. It was an interesting feeling, which did pass.

Damien Senn: What was your initial inspiration for setting up the ITR Group?

Eric Edmeades: My ultimate reasons for starting ITR related to a longer term goal I had in mind: I wanted to become a top level speaker, trainer and author. The trouble, as I saw it, was that many people become ‘motivational’ speakers, self-help trainers or life coaches as an answer to their own problems, rather than because they have already answered most of their own problems. For instance, I looked around and saw people teaching seminars on how to get rich, but who were not rich. I saw people teaching seminars on how to control your state of mind, but were smoking and overweight. I just saw way too many people using the ‘acting-as-if’ model, rather than the “I have genuine results” model.

I started ITR so that I could put into practice all the principles I had learned and theories I had developed about personal and business development so that, if I succeeded, I would be able to teach them congruently – with results on my side.

Damien Senn: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in buliding up the ITR Group and how was it overcome?

Eric Edmeades: There were so many. Money was a big one in the early days. I had only just cleared my debts when I started the company and had very little to play with. In retrospect, I now see that not as a challenge, but as something to be grateful for – it kept me focused on the business.

The biggest challenge was letting go. Letting go so that others could manage their areas of the business. It required trust and a few learning experiences that I would not wish on any entrepreneur, but without that letting go the business would never have become so self-reliant.

Damien Senn: What makes you most proud about your achievements with the ITR Group?

Eric Edmeades: Again, there are so many things. I always felt proud that our staff retention was so high and that our customer retention was even higher.

I suppose my proudest moment was when the new owners signed the contracts to buy the company and made no request of me to stay on with the company after the acquisition. The company ran so smoothly that there was no handover period at all.

Okay, the first time I appeared in the paper for creating jobs in the local community was kind of nice, too.

Damien Senn: What attributes do you believe make a successful entrepreneur?

Eric Edmeades: Leadership and vision. I started the company with a clear purpose and concept of where I planned to take it. I had an exit strategy before I sold my first product. I also managed to inspire huge loyalty in our staff, clients and suppliers that made it possible for us to compete with companies literally hundreds of times our size.

Damien Senn: You now run personal development seminars to help share some of the wisdom you have accummulated along your life's journey. What personal rewards have you experienced from encouraging and inspiring people to be their best?

Eric Edmeades: This is a very long list – perhaps it is easiest to say that my favourite moments come when people “get it”. You know, there is that moment when they make the shift ... I think the Japanese call it “satori”.

I also really enjoy the letters and emails I get from people about how their lives have changed and improved following our programmes and coaching. The most touching ones for me are when people turn their health around – to return control of a person’s body back to them is one of my favourite things in the world.

Damien Senn: You have an event coming up in London on January 12 - 14 called the 'One Life Worskhop'. The workshop has been designed to help participants to create their best year yet in 2007. What practical tools can people expect to walk away with from this seminar?

Eric Edmeades: One of the most important sections of the program – that always features in the feedback we get for months after the program – is where we examine how people mess up their days, and their lives.

We look at simple behaviours and then teach people how to change them forever. Imagine, for instance, how much it would change some people’s lives to simply stop experiencing road-rage, sleeping in, over eating or procrastinating.
We do this step early in the workshop because it gives people a tremendous increase in the faith they have in themselves and in their lives. This in turn has a huge impact on their ability to set goals and manifest the future they really want.

Damien Senn: What kind of results have previous participants of this seminar enjoyed?

Eric Edmeades: Since we cover, in detail, every area of life, the results are extremely varied. Many people experience radical improvements in their health and energy, others see dramatic improvement in their relationships, while others suddenly turn their financial lives around. Two consistent results we see is that people have massively increased energy and optimism. This is nature though, when you remove negative patterns of behaviour and start living each day with intention, rather than to simply get through it.

Damien Senn: You also run an adventure seminar called 'See You at the Top' which is happening in Tanzania on 26 Feb - 10 March 2007. It sounds amazing. Could you tell me a little more about it?

Eric Edmeades: Of course I am excited about all of our programs – and this one is no exception. This seminar, SYATT, is one of our Adventure Seminars. The concept of these programs is to take education and combine it with experience – creating a lasting lesson.

The idea of adventure seminars was born from my own experience. I looked at what had made the difference in my life and I realised that seminars, books and CD’s had played a major role but that that role was magnified a great deal by my adventures. Sure, going to a firewalk seminar and learning about state management can be a great thing, but driving a van through Java to do relief work after a major earthquake is life changing in a way that a seminar room can never be. So I combined Seminars with Adventures.

See You at the Top includes a climb to the very top of the tallest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro. Unlike a board-break or fire walk, climbing Kili is a metaphor for larger goals in life. We teach people about mental toughness and then get them to practice what they have learned in a very real way: climbing Kili is far more psychological than physiological.

After we come down the mountain, and unpack our lessons, we then begin the contribution phase that each of our Adventure Seminars has. In this case, we are building and establishing a school for a Massai village that does not currently have one.

By the time people have been through this program, they don’t have to worry about changing – they are changed. They are tougher. More compassionate. And more focused. They become unstoppable.

Damien Senn: What memorable mistakes, if any, have you made in business? What did you learn from them and how can they be avoided?

Eric Edmeades: I suppose the biggest mistake I made in business was starting the business in an industry that I was not particularly interested in and certainly not in love with. I often felt that I had I turned my focus toward something I truly loved – like I am doing now – that I would have achieved an even greater level of success. I think people should do what they love!

Damien Senn: What are the best and worst things about being an entrepreneur?

Eric Edmeades: Now that is a loaded question. I suppose, for me, one of my favourite things about being an entrepreneur was creating jobs in the local community. In the area I started my business the employment opportunities were scarce so I really felt like I was making a difference. Okay, and the money was pretty good too.

The worst thing? Sure, there were things I didn’t like – cash flow problems, unreasonable tax inspectors, questionable bank managers – but they were all just part of the package. Being an entrepreneur is a privilege. Perhaps the worst thing about it is that people are too afraid to give it a try.

Damien Senn: Are there any other thoughts, insights, or advice that you would like to offer would be entrepreneurs thinking about setting up their own business?

Eric Edmeades:
My main advice to people about this is simple:
1) Do something you love.2) Delegate the other stuff.3) Start with the exit strategy in mind.
Thanks Damien – this has been fun! Happy New Year!