"Finish what you start"
Jimmy Clare is a motivational speaker, Autism Advocate, author, and founder of CrazyFitnessGuy. But before he started his career as a speaker it was a bumpy road when he was younger.
Jimmy was born on October 9th in Millburn New Jersey United States. After the birth of Jimmy, doctors told Jimmy’s parents that he will not be able to walk without braces or crutches. His family took him home and loved him for who he is.
He was also bullied in school from elementary school all the way up to high school. He then stood up to all the bullies and got some of them expelled. He went through nine ear surgeries, and three surgeries in one day. One for 6 wisdom teeth, 2 moles, and the last ear surgery that made number 9. He just keeps proving people wrong with his persistence time after time again.
On top of those obstacles, he lives with spinal stenosis every day. For those that don’t know what Spinal Stenosis is it’s where the spine is pressing tight on the spinal cord. Which makes it hard for him to turn his head from left to right or up and down.
What Makes Jimmy So Unique? He is Autistic but he likes to refer to it as “slightly Autistic” because he doesn’t have it severe like others. Dedicated And Continues To Better Himself
Every day he continues to better himself by working out 6 to 9 times a week. three days a week he practices kickboxing while on the other days he works out on Beachbody on Demand. That’s why people refer to him as CrazyFitnessGuy.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for accepting my interview invitation! I’d love to know how you ended up becoming an entrepreneur? Tell me your story.
Jimmy Clare: I started my entrepreneurial journey back in 2017 after my first or second English class in college. My professor told me in order to become a better writer I would have to write every single day. I knew I had to set myself something that would have me come back every day and to hold me accountable. One of my classmates had a movie review website and when I took a look at it I thought to myself I would love to set up my own website.
The first mistake I made when starting my website was using WordPress because I didn’t know all the technical stuff that it took to run a website. I come from a family that is very familiar with technology but running a website was a whole different ballpark. After working for 90+ hours a week for almost a whole year I left and went to squarespace and I have been there since.
When I first started college I was majoring in personal training and eventually I was going to upload exercise videos to my website. But because I am Autistic math and science are not easy for me and they are not my strong suits. So I switched my major five times and found a major that I was very passionate about. I am currently in media studies which will lead me to my dream career as motivational speaker and Autism advocate.
Tell our readers what your company does differently than your peers and why that difference is so important to your audience?
Jimmy Clare: What makes CrazyFitnessGuy different from other health and wellness websites is that I share my perspective on healthy living through my Autistic eyes. I also provide speaking services to who need some motivation. The reason why this is important to our audience is because when people think of Autism they think it’s a disease. Autism is just a different way of life. I want to bring hope to the Autism community that we all can still have a life on the Spectrum.
Running a business, your’s or on behalf of someone requires great leadership skills. What are some of the biggest challenges you faced as you took on a leader’s role and what did you learn?
Jimmy Clare: I have learned a lot as an entrepreneur like:
- Time management
- I need to end stuff on time and move on with my schedule.
- Organizing
In order to keep things up to date like all of my social media profiles, podcast listings, etc. I need to keep everything in one place so that’s why I use
- Notion.
- Scheduling
- Consistency is key and having a schedule helps everyone.
Success is not an accident. What are some routines and habits you learned to master that contributed to your current success?
Jimmy Clare: I have set myself a current schedule in Google calendar that has my dates scheduled for my articles on my website, podcasts, and live streams. I also use a digital to-do list to help me get my weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks done. I have also used the pomodoro timer which helps me take breaks after 20 min work increments. I tend to need more breaks as an Autistic individual so I don’t get overwhelmed with work.
Can you share with us defining moments in your journey, please give us details and stories to illustrate?
Jimmy Clare: When I was working 90+ hours a week on my business I knew it was not healthy. I was staying up until 2 to 3 in the morning trying to figure stuff out on WordPress. If I kept at this pace for years to come I would put myself in an early grave. So that’s when I decided to switch to Squarespace. I still had to figure out a few work arounds for a few things that I needed for my website but at least that didn’t take all day.
When I first started I thought everything had to be done a certain way in order to have success. Example I thought I needed to be on WordPress like everyone in order to have success as an entrepreneur but it turns out that I was wrong. Squarespace has helped me focus on content creation then all of the technical stuff on the backend of the website.
What are the five things you wish someone had told you before you became an entrepreneur?
Jimmy Clare: I’d say:
- You don’t need to be on WordPress in order to have a successful website
- Don’t compare to yourself to others
- Make yourself stand out from your competitors
- Finish what you start
- Take breaks when needed
Oftentimes we hear: “Your network is your net worth”, please share your thoughts on that adage and illustrate your experience.
Jimmy Clare: I totally agree that your network is your net worth because your network can help you along your entrepreneurial journey. I have met a lot of people who have helped me get my name out there. Because of my network I was featured in New York City Times Square, 120+ podcast interviews, 14 other publications, and being part of a co-authored book.
What are some professional or even personal goals you plan on tackling during the 2022 year? Share the battles you expect to face.
Jimmy Clare: Work Goals
- Get 100 app downloads
- Get published by another 10 publications
- Get 100 premium podcast subscribers
- Get 1k readers to CrazyFitnessGuy website
- Get 100 newsletter subscribers
- Increase shop saled by 50
Personal Goals
- Read 20 books
- Learn a new skill
- Stay ahead of my projects
With all the social media platforms available, it’s increasingly difficult to be present everywhere. Which ones do you favor for your company and why?
Jimmy Clare: I like Facebook because I have met a lot of my connections through different Facebook groups that I am a part of.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Jimmy Clare 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 Jimmy Clare or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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