"Focus on your framework, not the daily noise."
Adam Olalde Tweet
Adam Olalde is the CEO & Founder of Xtreme Xperience. After graduating from Miami University, Adam headed back to Chicago to pursue a sales job.
It was during this time that he became interested in starting a luxury car rental and concierge business to service the Chicago market.
From there, Xtreme Xperience was born. Adam is responsible for growth and business development, team leadership, fiscal planning, sales, goal and budget forecasting and strategy execution within the organization. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Adam Olalde: My background is in the luxury car rental and concierge business. It was from that business that I pivoted by listening to our customers.
We realized early on that what most people want is the opportunity to experience exotic vehicles without having to purchase or maintain them!
Xtreme Xperience specializes in automotive and entertainment experiences, allowing people to have fun and enjoy once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to drive their dream cars without the stress of ownership.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Adam Olalde: Xtreme Xperience is the world’s largest provider of supercar, driving, racing and lifestyle experiences.
Xtreme Xperience is unique because it’s the only company of its kind on the market today.
We took a big risk and created a business in an industry that didn’t yet exist, successfully creating what we refer to as the “autotainment” industry (a combination of automation and entertainment).
In other words, we tried something new and it worked out. Then we decided to pack it up and take it to as many people in the United States as we could.
What advice do you wish you had received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Adam Olalde: I’m actually glad I didn’t get a lot of advice during the early days of my business journey.
I was a smart kid with a good idea, and I needed to make some mistakes in order to come up with a solid business plan. With too much advice I think it’s easy to overthink it.
As far as what I intend to improve in the next quarter, I want to figure out how to play offense.
While we’re still looking at an uncertain macroeconomic environment, I want to play offense while the rest of the world plays defense. I want to continue to create a strong company that’s prepared for any environment.
Here is a two-fold question: What is the book that influenced you the most and how? Please share some life lessons you learned. Now what book have you gifted the most and why?
Adam Olalde: Extreme Ownership is the first book I read on my business journey. The book is by two Navy SEALs (Jocko Willink and Leif Babin) and they share the principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish difficult missions in combat.
I give a copy to anyone who is interested and walks into my office.The book talks about how the number one mistake leaders make is to blame anyone other than themselves.
It’s important to take accountability and have extreme ownership over everything that you do.This behavior will ultimately build success because you own your successes just as much as you own your failures.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Adam Olalde: The real challenge right now is macroeconomic uncertainty. People have no idea how much money they have, how much they’re worth, how long their job is secure, etc.
Because of this uncertainty, people are completely changing the way they invest and spend their money which makes it challenging for businesses to target potential customers. Especially in our ‘front lines’ e-commerce and ticket sales marketplace.
Years 2020-2023 threw a lot of curve balls into businesses on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past years, how can businesses thrive in 2024? What lessons have you learned and what advice would you share?
Adam Olalde: The primary lesson I learned over the past few years is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While that’s traditionally a physics lesson, it also applies to business.
During the pandemic, things got bad and then snapped back to better. Everything equalizes in the end, and I think it’s important not to get distracted by your really bad days or really good days. Don’t let the roller coaster define your business, because it will ultimately even back out.
At the end of the day, a company is only as strong as its people, processes and infrastructure. My advice is to shut out the noise of “good day” vs. “bad day” and focus on your framework.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Adam Olalde: My personal superpower would definitely be the ability to fly, but if I had to pick a business superpower, I’d go with understanding customer buying habits.
If I had the power to consistently understand my customers and their buying habits, I could focus more of my time on developing people, which is something I enjoy a lot more.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Adam Olalde for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Adam Olalde or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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