An Interview with Jonathan Conneely

Strength Coach, Life Coach, Author and Motivational Speaker


Jonathan Conneely Interview

Jonathan Conneely is a Strength Coach, Life Coach, Author, Speaker and Founder of COACHJC.com. For over 13 years, Coach JC has been empowering people to win by coaching them to overcome obstacles, breakthrough limitations and create “The Winning Mindset.” He has been privileged to train some of the top athletes and corporate leaders in the country through private coaching, consulting and motivational speaking.

In this interview, Coach JC shares his massive passion for helping people take action and win at life. To him, entrepreneurship is just a platform, a ministry, where he could impact the lives of many people in different walks of life. His faith drives him to win and help others win in business, sports, career and in life.

Discover more golden nuggets of wisdom from Coach JC in the following paragraphs. When you're done absorbing up his energy, be sure to give him a shoutout on Twitter!

What ignited the spark in you to start a business? Where did the idea for CoachJC come from?

I grew up with very little and always wanted to be more and achieve more in life. From a very young age, I felt a burning desire to help other people WIN in life. I had a crazy sense of compassion for people and hated to see people suffer. When my goal and dream to play basketball in college was no longer a reality and I was in the fight of my life to be a father, I decided to start my first business.

It was ignited out of a sense of urgency to have to make money to fight to be a father. I then discovered that God had blessed me with a crazy talent and gift combined with a heart to help others WIN. As I was being used to help others create breakthroughs and WINS in life, it became contagious and turned into a movement.

People of all walks of life started to contact me because they heard my story and other victories from the athletes I was coaching. I started as the youngest strength coach at the D1 level in the nation helping athletes perform at a higher level in training them physically…then, I discovered that their performance was dependent on something greater than their physical talent.

I created a game plan to train the MINDSET. We started to WIN more and athletes were winning on the field and in life. This is when I started to study any thing I could get my hands on about mindset, psychology and the connecting between the physical and mental. This is when the COACH JC brand was born.

I went on to become a certified life coach and was blessed to work with athletes of all levels. People started to hear about the results and wanted to perform at a higher level in life: athletes, businessmen, pastors, CEO’s, stay at home moms, millionaires, and people from all walks of life were coming to me to create breakthroughs and WIN physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, professionally and ultimately, in life.

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What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

The greatest part of being an entrepreneur is the PLATFORM I have been given. So many people think being an entrepreneur is sexy and cool. If you have to call yourself an entrepreneur, you probably aren’t one. Its not about a title…it’s not about a position… it’s about how you use the platform you are given.

Being an entrepreneur is a daily grind, baby. Constantly, on the hustle to create more and WIN. It’s not for everyone. Many people are better off with a 9 to 5 job. For me, it’s all about the opportunity to give back. I truly believe that being an entrepreneur has given me the opportunity to give back; to provide the people close to me with opportunity, to put me in front of people that I know at that time in their life needed what I have.

My position as an entrepreneur is a platform. It is a platform that I have been given to help bring HOPE and LOVE to people in need. Through coaching, speaking, my books, products, and interactions with people from all walks of life, I have come to the realization that the calling on my life is bigger than I even believed it to be.

I believe you are blessed to be a blessing and for me, being an entrepreneur is about being able to provide for others and help them WIN more in life. It is about the platform that I have been given to bring HOPE and LOVE ALL DAY, BABY!

How do you generate new ideas for CoachJC to keep growing? Is there a secret that you have figured out over the years?

ALL DAY! COACH JC is a personal brand made up of coaching, speaking, products, books… and everything we do revolves around COACH JC…me! I had to come to the realization that I am the MVP! This was hard for me because my mind is programmed around helping others 24/7.

I realized that for me to give the best that I had to be my best. It’s all about personal development, constant growth. Every single day I take time, my WINNING HOUR, when I work on me.

During this time, I get crazy ideas and visions for my brands. So is there a secret? The secret is don’t get too busy where you don’t take time to work on YOU. Sometimes you have to just shut up and listen. It is during my quiet time that I have been able to get created ideas to help others WIN more in life.

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In your experience, what is the best way to build a successful customer base? Are there any mistakes that our readers can learn from?

STOP SELLING!

My mindset was never about selling anything. I think the biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs make is operating with a desperate mindset. “I have to get another customer!” This desperate, poverty mindset will never bring you success.

I have always and will continue to always build relationships, deliver a great service or product, and over deliver in a genuine sincere way. Provide a crazy, ridiculous service at a crazy, ridiculous value and that satisfied customer will tell everyone they know about you. All of the sudden, you have a built-in marketing funnel and customer base.

Stop focusing so much on external marketing and start focusing on internal marketing. Internal marketing is taking care of those customers that you do have in a crazy, ridiculous, over the top way. Stop operating in the poverty mindset and start operating in the abundance mindset, baby.

As a business owner, what is your greatest fear and how do you keep it under control or harness it?

My greatest fear has always been being average or mediocre. Every single day when I lay my head on the pillow, I ask myself, if I was THE BEST version of me that day and if I truly did make a lasting impact that day. You can only operate in fear or faith. I choose faith. The best way to overcome fear is to challenge it and then replace it with something else… that something else for me is faith.

Faith is believing in those things that may not be real in your life at the moment. I choose every day to operate in faith and believe that I will do bigger and better that day and cast down the fear of being average. I believe in WINNING confessions and utilize them everyday in my own life and in the life of my clients. These WINNING confessions are the things you say everyday to yourself. Faith comes by hearing! You need to assure that you are hearing the right things on a daily basis.

It is time for you to become your greatest fan, your own preacher, your greatest coach…you need to become the best salesman you have ever heard and you have to sell yourself! Tell yourself that those dreams are possible, that you are a WINNER, that you were born with values and worth, that the world needs you, that fear does not control who you are and what you stand for, that YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR and every single day walk in VICTORY. WIN ALL DAY!

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Who has been your greatest influencer along your entrepreneurial journey? How did they shape CoachJC?

I am all about building a GREAT team. There are so many people around me that make me who I am today. No one is self-made, you become who you hang around.

The greatest influence in my journey has been Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins inspired me through his books, videos, etc… to THINK BIGGER and BELIEVE BIGGER. He has been a mentor to me from a distance and still is to this day. I search for mentors and new influencers every single day: influencers in my spiritual life, physical life, mental and emotional life, financial and professional life.

What do you feel is the major difference between you and other entrepreneurs? Is there something that has guided you along the way?

PASSION AND PURPOSE.

So many people walk around in life with no passion. It is impossible to have passion without purpose. Once you have PURPOSE, you will then have PASSION. My purpose and crazy relentless passion to win and help others win is what separates me. I am not running a business, I am running a ministry!

My mindset is the thing that separates me from other coaches and entrepreneurs. I know that my ministry is to empower and coach people to WIN more in life. Just like you train your body, you can and must train your mind. You have got to dig deep and find out your purpose… Once you truly identify your purpose your passion will be strong. Know your “WHAT” and your “WHY” and you will WIN, baby!

My purpose is to serve God and serve others and that is were my passion comes from. My passion and over the top energy and excitement every single day comes from me knowing my PURPOSE. People walk through life without purpose and never feel fulfilled or satisfied in life. Discovering your purpose and knowing your identity is not in what you do, but in WHO YOU ARE.

Have you faced any failures with CoachJC? How did you overcome it?

Come on, baby! Everyone faces failures, obstacles, and adversities in life. The question is not will you face failure in life, it’s about how you choose to handle it. It’s all about your perspective of the situation. You get to choose! You choose how you respond to what happens to you in life.

So like everyone else, yes, I face adversity and obstacles and failures but I choose to utilize those times to build character, learn from it, and WIN more in life. I have been through crazy situations when most people would have folded, but I am only the man I am today because of these situations. What challenges you, will change you. The difference is, I have a game-plan in place on how to WIN through adversity. Most people are not prepared and when adversity hits, they don’t know how to breakthrough and create a WIN.

It starts with your MINDSET which leads to your ATTITUDE which determines your ACTIONS which creates your results and ultimately your life! So if you want to WIN through obstacles and adversity, have a game-plan in place to train and prepare when it comes.

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What was the best piece of advice you have ever gotten from another business owner? The worst?

“TREAT PEOPLE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.” I choose to live my life by principles in The Great book. The greatest principle of all is to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE. Every single day, I choose to not allow the things of life and business take me away from my core values and principles and make sure to bring it back to walking in LOVE with people.

The worst advice I have ever received and we have all heard people say, “I am self-made.” No one is self-made. Someone along the way impacted you with words or actions to help you get to where you are today. So, never allow deception to rule your world in thinking you don’t need others and you are self made. Pride comes before the fall.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs in Oklahoma who have a business idea but don’t know where to get started?

Get a COACH. Get a MENTOR. I have been blessed to coach people from all walks of life in WINNING more in life… physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, professionally, and financially and I am humbled and grateful for the impact that I have been able to have on so many people.

I don’t take this calling on my life lightly, but I know without a doubt, I would not be who I am today if I didn’t have coaches and mentors in my life. THINK BIG! YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES! I BELIEVE IN YOU, BABY!!

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