Meet Jed Olson | Business Growth Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jed Olson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jed, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Work-life Balance is a lose-lose zero sum game. Before I cofounded my company, I worked for a fast paced entrepreneurial company that went from 2 million to 20 million in revenue in just 3 years from when I became their first employee. A highly mission driven and goals oriented approach from the owner and the team became the V12 engine that drove all that growth.

However, that did, at times, come at the cost of sacrificing personal time with family and friends. I missed  birthdays, holidays, school plays, programs, and sport events that I was out of town for. I can still hear my boys asking me time and time again “Daddy, can you stop working?” 

One of my favorite movies growing up was this film called Hook. If you haven’t seen the film, it is a story that asks the question “What if Peter Pan grew up and forgot about Neverland?” At the beginning of the film we see Peter (played by Robin Williams) constantly on the phone and in business meetings, all the while ignoring his family. In one scene, Peter shows up to an empty baseball field after promising his son he’d be there to watch the game. And I remember while watching that movie at 5 years old that I never wanted to become that dad. Yet here I was, not just missing out on one, but several of my boys precious moments.

I knew I had to make a change, not just with where I worked, but with myself. It’s what drove me to start my own company that strives to help business owners get time back. Now, I work 20-30 hours a week and take more than 10 vacations a year, while still growing my business and helping others.

This is why I personally don’t like using the term Work-life balance. It suggests there can only be trade offs between your work and the rest of your life. That was always the struggle I had with both the prior company I worked for and when I worked in the non-profit sector. What do you picture when the word “balance” is used? If you’re like me, you might visualize an actual scale with two things being balanced. When one load gets heavier, the other has to compensate for that—thus, there’s always a trade off.

Instead, let me introduce a more effective term: Work-Life Maximization. I want to maximize every area of my life. My business, yes, but also my family, friends, physical, mental, and spiritual health. In order to do that, I can’t think about slicing my day up by the hours I have, but by maximizing each hour I’m vested into a task, regardless of what bucket it’s in.

I believe that business owners especially need this perspective shift. How many times has a business owner got into business because they don’t want to work a 9-5, but then instead work 24/7? I’m on a mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners get back the time freedom that got them into business in the first place. Let us start by thinking about maximizing each day, rather than balancing it like walking a tight rope.

What should our readers know about your business?
High Ticket Labs is a business growth consulting firm that helps Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses who struggle to grow to the next level without trading more time for money. We serve these businesses by helping them create systems and new revenue streams in their business that help them transition from Part time Owner, Full Time Operator to Full Time Owner, Part Time Operator.

We’re helping Marketing agencies expand into leadership development, Hair Salons systematize and get ready for franchising, and helping e-commerce businesses diversify with training and coaching to name a few. But what I love the most is that we’re growing this business to help us reach our lifestyle goals vs changing our lives to accommodate the business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being a Colorado Native, I love it when friends and family visit so we can show them all this amazing state has to offer. Starting with where I’m from in northern Colorado, we’d go to Rocky Mountain National Park and then take a stroll in downtown Estes Park. Then we’d go down to Aspen (assuming it’s Fall) to see all the leaves change. While in the area, we can’t forget to take some morning pictures of the Maroon Bells.

Getting to Denver, I’d take them to Nova Coffee to grab the best nitro cold brew in town, followed by a fantastic breakfast at Lucilles for Benedicts or Denver Biscuit Company for biscuits and gravy.Of course, I have to now show them around my current residence of Colorado Springs with the usual trifecta of outdoor sightseeing and adventuring: Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Incline, and the top of Pikes Peak via the Cog Railway. Finally, we can finish the visit out with some camping by lake George, off-roading by 11 mile, and some mountain biking back in Ute Valley. The thing I absolutely love about this state is that this trip is only scratching the surface of what great experiences you can have in Colorado.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to credit my wife and co-founder of our business, Kayla Olson. She always lives life to the fullest and maximizes each moment with those she’s with.

Website: www.highticketlabs.com

Instagram: @jedolson

Other: Tik Tok: @jedolson

Image Credits
Megan Hardre