Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Dave Burlin talks about his background as a wedding DJ and how it got him interested in business
• How Dave’s company helps organizations scale
• The way the #whynetworking movement is changing how connecting works
• Dave explains why the Zappos core values are at the heart of where he begins conversations
• How the Marines prepared Dave for life and the work he does now
• The most common problems that Dave sees with start-ups
• Dave explains what success means to him and how he measures it
• Why virtual book clubs are a powerful networking tool and some books to check out

In this episode…

Change is inevitable. And a lot of times, people aren’t ready for it. So, how do you prepare? If there are connections out there that could transform your path, where do you find them? Is there a way to take the sales pitch out of networking and turn it into something that builds lasting, authentic relationships?

Join Carl J. Cox in this episode of the Measure Success Podcast as he sits down with Dave Burlin, Veteran Entrepreneur, Founder of Burlin Enterprises, and host of The Dave Means Business Podcast. Listen in as Dave explains how his company helps organizations grow, the most common mistakes he sees start-ups making, and why he’s trying to change the way networking works. Plus, Dave reveals how being a wedding DJ prepared him for his current career and why you shouldn’t start a nonprofit.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Dave Burlin on LinkedIn
• Dave Means Business
• The Dave Means Business Podcast
• Dave Burlin’s book club
• Bunker Labs
• Dr. Jeremy Weisz on LinkedIn
• DJ Carl Cox
• Zappos Core Values
• Dave Burlin on YouTube, “#zapposfamilyorbust”
• Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell
• Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
• Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff
• Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff
• You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
• You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero
• 40 Strategy
• Contact 40 Strategy
• Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is sponsored by 40 Strategy.

40 Strategy provides strategic planning and consulting to help organizations realize and achieve their dreams by creating and measuring KPIs for success.

Unfortunately, most organizations only spend 2% of their time—or about 40 hours per year—on building an effective strategy.

Increasing the success of those 40 hours is what 40 Strategy does because your success is their passion—and that’s why organizations look to them for guidance.

Not only does 40 Strategy help you craft and implement an effective strategy, but they’ll also work to facilitate teams with proven practices and help with your scenario planning.

Harvard research shows that you can triple your success when you use the right Key Performance Indicators. Who doesn’t want that?

If you have questions, you can reach out through their website or email them at catch@40strategy.com.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:03

Welcome to the Measure Success Podcast where we feature top leaders on how they measure success in their business and life. Now, let’s learn from their experiences

Carl J. Cox 0:18

Carl J. Cox here, and I’m the host of the Measure Success Podcast where I talk with top leaders about effective strategies that inspire success. This episode is brought to you by 40 Strategy at 40 Strategy. We provide strategic planning, consulting, to help organizations realize and achieve their dreams all day. Basically, we help companies create strategic plans and measure the right KPIs for success. Unfortunately, most organizations only spend about 2% of their time or about 40 hours a year, building an effective strategy. And Dave, I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty crazy, don’t you think? Oh, yeah, yeah, I thought it’d be a lot a lot different than that. But yeah, 100% it’s, it’s nuts. And, and so at 40 Strategy, your success is our passion. That’s why more good organizations call us to help. Not only do we come up with strategy, but we come up with proven practices to actually get things done. Harvard research shows that when you get the right KPIs, you can actually triple your success. And who would want that date? Don’t you agree? Oh, yeah. 100% Sign me up. That’s right. So email us today at catch@40strategy.com or visit our website at 40strategy.com. And with that, I will before we go to that, I want to do a little shout out to Dr. Jeremy Weisz, Dr. Jeremy Weisz, he actually he’s a podcast guru. He actually connected the both of us. And I just want to thank him for that and is a partner at Rise25. And I just want to appreciate him for connect us today. And so our guests here is Dave Burlin, and he is a Marine Corps Veteran entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host of The Dave Means Business Podcast. And he has he’s been a TEDx speaker, consultant, and you have over 10 years experience in sales and you serve as a sales director for the largest entertainment company privately attended company in the United States. You are a certified sales leadership coach, for extraordinary leaders expanding into 17 different industries, which is quite amazing. on a volunteer basis, you are a city leader in Las Vegas, for Bunker Labs have veteran organization to inspire, equip, and connect veterans and their spouses with resources to start and grow businesses. And more importantly, in that you’re a DJ with an eclectic collection of boom boxes. A phrase you can see in his background there for those who are watching on YouTube. from different areas and a passion for the movie Roadhouse. So Dave. Hey, it’s so great to have you on today. Carl J. Cox, thank you so much for having me on. Man. This is exciting. I’m stoked. This is exciting. And and once again, I appreciate the reciprocation, we had a really fun podcast on your show on The Dave Means Business Podcast. So I appreciate driving it back. And so the first question

that we want to talk about is our connection as DJs. And this is probably what not people expected heading into this day is that you’re a DJ. And Carl Cox is a DJ. He is one of the most famous DJs is the granddaddy, you could argue of DJs based on a London. And if you check out carlcox.com you’ll see I’m nothing like him. Dave was like going are you the Chromecast and so if you’re wondering why I have the J in between crop boxes, try it because I’m trying to be really cool. It’s because if you go to carlcox.com, you will find out that I’m a DJ, and I’m really not so. So Dave, how in the heck did you get into the counting a DJ?

Dave Burlin 3:56

So first off, I gotta tell you, I can remember the other day when we have this conversation. And I was like, I meant to ask you about that. But it’s funny because if you ever interview anybody else on your show that knows who Carl Cox is, please introduce me because I know exactly who he is. I can even tell you the first time I saw him it was on September 29 1999. When I say I remember random things like that, but it was in Oklahoma City. And he’s from Europe. So yeah. So yeah, I’ve always had a passion for music to answer your question. I’ve always had a passion for music way before I went to the military. For those of you that are watching on YouTube, the boombox that’s up on top of my shelf was the first boombox that I purchased in my adult life. I carried it around forever. I’ve always been that person that wanted to set the mood right. I could always just set my boombox down and start playing music when I was in the military. It was up on the Welbeck whenever we would have like a steel beach parties and cook barbecue and have like one beer like somewhere out in the middle of theOcean by boombox was there you know, providing the soundtrack. So I always loved setting the vibe. I always loved that energy. And it was much later in life. And I was I was just about to turn 30 years old. So it was in 2010, somebody introduced me to somebody that owned a wedding DJ business in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And they said, Man, you should meet this guy, I went and I got hooked. And I it wasn’t just that I was gonna get to play music and have a blast and make money. But it was something about the business opportunity and seeing this whole business culture in a room full of people that were, you know, they had the, the the sales floor where they were like talking to brides and just having all this fun. I was like, I definitely want to be a part of this. And so that’s where I became a wedding DJ. And I took that, right there about the same time I turned 30. And here I am. 40. So 10 years later, I’m still DJing weddings. I’ve DJ about 425 weddings and private events all over the Midwest, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Kansas City in Vegas all over.

Carl J. Cox 6:07

Okay, so this is an unplanned question. I had asked it just came to my Wedding Crashers. Is there such a thing? And have you seen it ever before at a wedding?

Dave Burlin 6:16

Yeah, I have seen it. And it not nearly as crazy as they make it out to be in the movie. But that movie is definitely based on some truth. But I’m just gonna leave it at this. And I’ll tell you, do I have some crazy stories? I do. But probably not as crazy as the not one, but two weddings that I’ve actually DJ without a bride and groom. And that’s it. I’m just gonna leave it there. I’m just gonna leave it like let it be a mystery. We’ll do the we’ll do the the screwtape letters somewhere in the background where you know, it’ll just be a little secret file.

Carl J. Cox 6:50

Okay, that is another conversation. Dave, I got to follow up and learn about that one. So tell me a little bit more what what is Dave? Because Dave Means Business about your company? What do you do?

Dave Burlin 7:03

Yeah, so for me, it’s it’s really I love watching things scale. Right. And I’ve always been fascinated by things that scale. I think it came from the challenges to help grow that DJ business in Tulsa, Oklahoma into multiple cities. And all I knew was what I had learned. And I learned things at a global visionary level from being in the military. And from an operational background, after the military, I was a drill instructor for at risk youth. And that was a seven year, seven year title for me. And when I was able to see how to do that in business, and when I first started to see that sort of change management come to life and let the the light bulb turn on for people, we’d get a solid plan together and execute it, and bring it bring it full circle. That’s what what I’ve always been fascinated by. So the whole idea of Dave Means Business is taking what I believe is the three core elements to help an organization of any size and scale for what they can. We talk a lot about company culture. That’s core values, mission statement, vision statement, all the big, warm, fuzzy stuff, which I love, I really do, all that stuff matters. But also, I’m not afraid to roll my sleeves up and really get some strategic planning going on some sales and marketing initiatives that work and that move the needle, and I’m not afraid to jump on the phone and just show people how to do it. So that’s another major part of the engine. And then the magic comes with leadership. And if we have strong leadership development in place, that’s where you can truly step back and let the organization run without you. Right, so trying to teach people how to get to any one of those levels of what scale looks like for them. That’s really what the essence of, of Dave Means Business is. And it was, you know, a funny, I stole that somebody had a Gmail, that was jeffmeansbusiness@gmail.com. And I kind of liked that. And I was like, I’m just gonna go with davemeansbusiness.com. And it’s, it’s kind of stuck ever since.

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