🎙️ The School of Greatness: The Mindset That Took a Shark from Poverty to Millions

From Immigrant Struggles to Shark Tank Success: Robert Herjavec on Building Wealth Through Joy, Sales, and Smart Work

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One-Sentence Takeaway

Robert Herjavec shares his remarkable journey from immigrant poverty to extraordinary wealth, revealing that success comes not just from hard work but from developing an abundance mindset, mastering sales skills, creating genuine value for others, and maintaining joy through life's darkest challenges.

Brief Summary

In this inspiring episode of The School of Greatness, Lewis Howes interviews Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec, who opens up about his extraordinary journey from arriving in Canada as an eight-year-old immigrant with virtually nothing to becoming a successful entrepreneur and investor. Herjavec shares intimate details about his childhood, the mindset shifts that transformed his life, and the lessons he learned from billionaires that shaped his approach to business and wealth.

The conversation explores the critical difference between a poverty mindset and an abundance mindset, with Herjavec explaining that he never saw himself as poor, but only in a poor situation. He reveals how learning sales skills was more crucial to his wealth creation than his technical knowledge, and how he discovered that people pay for value, not time. Herjavec also discusses his period of darkness in 2014 when he contemplated suicide, and how serving at a homeless mission helped him rediscover his faith and joy.

Throughout the episode, Herjavec emphasizes the importance of emotional connection in business, the power of joy as a foundation for sustainable success, and the need to find purpose beyond financial achievement. He shares powerful stories about his experiences with mentors, his appearance on Dancing with the Stars as a promise to his late mother, and the three truths he would leave behind if all his content disappeared.

This episode stands out for its raw honesty, practical wisdom on wealth creation, and profound insights on finding joy and purpose regardless of external circumstances.

Frameworks & Models

Poverty vs. Abundance Mindset:
Herjavec's fundamental distinction that shaped his journey:
- Situation vs. Identity: Poverty is a circumstance, not who you are
- External vs. Internal Control: Believing you can change your situation rather than being defined by it
- Joy Foundation: Building from a place of joy rather than lack
- Honest Self-Assessment: Being brutally honest with yourself about where you are and where you want to be "Poverty wasn't my mindset. My mindset was joy."
The Value Creation Model:
Herjavec's approach to building wealth through creating value:
- Beyond Time Exchange: Moving from selling time to creating value
- Problem-Solving Focus: Identifying and solving problems for others
- Knowledge Application: Leveraging specific knowledge rather than general knowledge
- Emotional Connection: Creating value that resonates emotionally with customers "People will pay for your knowledge, not for how long you've been doing it."
Hard Work vs. Smart Work:
Herjavec's revelation about the difference between working hard and creating wealth:
- Foundation of Hard Work: Hard work prevents poverty but doesn't guarantee wealth
- Pivoting to Smart Work: Knowing when and how to pivot your approach
- Value Creation Focus: Shifting from hours worked to value created
- Leverage and Scale: Finding ways to multiply your impact beyond personal effort "Hard work is absolutely foundational, but smart work is pivoting."
The Three Lessons from Billionaires:
Key patterns Herjavec observed from successful billionaires:
- Obsessive Focus: Developing world-class expertise in a specific narrow area
- Insatiable Curiosity: Maintaining curiosity and love for learning
- Disciplined Application: Applying discipline to what matters most for you "All the billionaires I know would struggle on Jeopardy. General knowledge doesn't get rewarded. You need just a specific knowledge."
The Emotional Connection in Business:
Herjavec's approach to connecting with customers and building businesses:
- Feature to Feeling Evolution: Moving from selling features to selling feelings
- Customer Experience Focus: Making customers feel better as the primary goal
- Trust Building: Creating relationships based on trust and emotional connection
- Long-term Value: Focusing on relationships rather than transactions "People never remember what you say, they remember how you make them feel."
The Purpose-Driven Life Framework:
Herjavec's approach to finding meaning beyond financial success:
- Beyond External Markers: Moving beyond cars, houses, and other status symbols
- Potential Fulfillment: Focusing on fulfilling your unique potential
- Service to Others: Finding purpose in serving and empowering others
- Joy as Foundation: Building life on a foundation of joy rather than achievement "Joy is everlasting."

Insights

Poverty as Situation, Not Identity:
Herjavec's crucial distinction that shaped his entire outlook. He never saw himself as poor, only in a poor situation. This mindset allowed him to believe he could change his circumstances without being defined by them. This insight reveals how our self-perception dramatically impacts our ability to transform our lives.
The Power of Sales Skills:
Despite being a technical expert in cybersecurity, Herjavec attributes his wealth to his sales abilities rather than his technical knowledge. This challenges the conventional wisdom that expertise in your field is the primary driver of financial success, highlighting instead the importance of being able to communicate value and connect with people.
The Mentorship Impact:
Herjavec credits much of his success to the mentors who appeared at crucial moments, particularly Harry Rosen and Warren Avis. His willingness to show up early, learn for free, and absorb wisdom from successful people demonstrates the compound effect of mentorship and being in the right environment.
The Ferrari Moment:
A pivotal moment when Herjavec realized that working harder wasn't the answer to creating more wealth. After working tirelessly to buy a Ferrari, he discovered his neighbor had two Porsches, leading him to understand that hard work alone has limits and that smart work (creating more value) is the key to exponential growth.
The Emotional Connection in Business:
Herjavec's revelation that great salespeople sell feelings, not just features, transformed his business approach. By focusing on making customers feel better and building emotional connections, he created a business that maintained a 97% customer retention rate despite technical shortcomings.
Faith and Joy in Dark Times:
During his period of darkness in 2014, when he contemplated suicide, Herjavec rediscovered his faith and joy through serving at a homeless mission. This experience taught him that perspective and service are powerful tools for overcoming despair, and that joy is essential for sustainable success.
The Three Truths Framework:
Herjavec's reflection on the three truths he would leave behind (family, joy, and empowerment) reveals his evolved understanding of what truly matters. This framework prioritizes relationships and impact over financial achievement, showing how his definition of success has transformed throughout his life.
The Dancing with the Stars Connection:
The powerful story of how Herjavec's promise to his mother led him to appear on Dancing with the Stars years later, where he met his wife. This story illustrates how connecting the dots in life requires both faith and action, and how seemingly unrelated events can lead to profound personal transformations.
The Abundance Mindset Evolution:
Herjavec's journey from wanting a Corvette and a paid-off house to achieving extraordinary wealth reveals how our dreams expand as we grow. His insight that "the scope of my dreams wasn't big enough" shows how our vision of what's possible is often the primary limitation on our success.
The Definition of Greatness:
Herjavec's definition of greatness as "fulfillment of potential" offers a nuanced perspective that accounts for different starting points in life. His belief that "those that are given more need to do more" provides a framework for understanding greatness as relative to one's opportunities and blessings rather than absolute achievement.

Quotes

On Poverty Mindset vs. Abundance Mindset:

"Poverty wasn't my mindset. And I think that's a big difference. I think people that are born into poverty or encompassed in poverty, it's harder to get out of. My mindset was joy."
On the Importance of Sales Skills:

"People always think I'm wealthy because I'm really good at computers. And I am. I'm probably one of a handful of the top cyber people in the world. But I'm not wealthy because of my knowledge of a task. I'm wealthy because of my knowledge of sales and how to get, how to sell what I'm doing to other people."
On Self-Honesty:

"I've always been good at is not lying to myself. I think I've always been brutally honest with myself. There's a saying that the biggest lies in life we tell are the ones we tell ourselves."
On Hard Work vs. Smart Work:

"My dad worked in a factory his whole life, two shifts, paid off his house in his lifetime. Super successful guy in his world. I will never work a day in my life harder than my dad worked, ever. Just because you'll work hard though doesn't mean you'll be rich."
On Creating Value:

"What I learned is markets and people will pay for value, not for time. People will pay you for your knowledge, not for how long you've been doing it, or the amount of hours you're going to spend on it."
On Emotional Connection:

"People never remember what you say, they remember how you make them feel. And when I sold my first company to AT&T... 97% of your customers said they would buy from you again, despite all of these things. And I said, did you ask them why? And they said, yes. And they said, two reasons. One, you made them happy. And two, they believed if they had an issue, you would take care of them."
On Faith and Joy:

"I went there broken and I left there like, whoo. And people have a funny, because I meet a lot of people with faith, who believe in God and other things. And they always think, how can you be so motivated and have so much faith? And people don't understand that faith doesn't mean that you give up control of your life to someone else."
On Advice to His Younger Self:

"The sun always rises tomorrow. I think the reason I went there is you know, and not just personally, but in business, I tended to have these horrific like, oh my gosh, if we get this one deal, the world will change good or bad. So I think that's the first thing I would say is, the sun always rises."
On the Three Truths:

"Number one, my family, because they are, especially my kids, they are the embodiment of, I hope they are the embodiment of what I am. Number two is joy. Without joy, there is no life. Like, there is no misery in, you know, there is no wealth in misery. And I think the third one is empowerment."
On Greatness:

"My definition of greatness would be fulfillment of potential. So my dad never made any real money, but I think considering the pain and life he had, that man wrung every moment of his life. Those that are given more need to do more. Those that have been given more need to find greater purpose."

Habits

Develop an Abundance Mindset:
Shift from seeing limitations to seeing possibilities:
- View poverty as a situation, not an identity
- Focus on what you can control rather than external circumstances
- Build from a foundation of joy rather than lack
- Practice honest self-assessment without judgment
Master Sales Skills:
Develop the ability to communicate value and connect with others:
- Focus on understanding customer needs rather than pushing products
- Learn to sell outcomes and feelings rather than just features
- Practice active listening and emotional connection
- Study successful salespeople and their techniques
Create Value Beyond Time:
Shift from exchanging time for money to creating scalable value:
- Identify problems you can solve for others
- Develop specific expertise in a valuable area
- Find ways to leverage your knowledge beyond personal effort
- Focus on outcomes and results rather than hours worked
Cultivate Curiosity and Continuous Learning:
Maintain a growth mindset and love for learning:
- Ask questions and seek to understand how things work
- Expose yourself to new ideas and perspectives
- Learn from mentors and successful people in your field
- Stay curious about business, technology, and human behavior
Build Emotional Connections in Business:
Focus on making people feel rather than just convincing them:
- Prioritize customer experience and satisfaction
- Build relationships based on trust and emotional connection
- Make customers feel heard, understood, and valued
- Focus on long-term relationships rather than short-term transactions
Practice Gratitude and Service:
Maintain perspective and find purpose in helping others:
- Regularly practice gratitude for what you have
- Look for opportunities to serve and help others
- Volunteer or contribute to causes you care about
- Spend time with people who have different life experiences to gain perspective
Find Joy Beyond External Achievement:
Build a foundation of joy that isn't dependent on external circumstances:
- Identify activities and experiences that bring you genuine joy
- Practice finding joy in small, everyday moments
- Develop relationships and connections that bring you happiness
- Cultivate inner peace regardless of external circumstances
Connect the Dots Through Faith and Action:
Trust that life has a pattern while taking consistent action:
- Reflect on how past experiences have shaped your journey
- Maintain faith that challenges serve a purpose

Take consistent action toward your goals
Look for patterns and connections in your life experiences
Be open to unexpected opportunities and detours

I'll explore how seemingly random events can weave together into a meaningful life journey. By maintaining faith and taking purposeful action, you can begin to see the underlying threads connecting your experiences. This approach allows you to navigate life's uncertainties with greater confidence and trust in the larger picture unfolding.

Recognizing patterns requires both reflection and a willingness to see beyond immediate circumstances. Each step, whether planned or unexpected, contributes to your personal growth and understanding of your unique path.

Sources

Primary Sources

"The School of Greatness" podcast episode with Robert Herjavec
Robert Herjavec's personal experiences and stories shared in the interview

Books and Publications

"You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success" by Robert Herjavec
"The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding" by Robert Herjavec

Business Experiences

Herjavec's journey from immigrant poverty to wealth
Sale of first company to AT&T for $32 million
Building and selling multiple technology companies
Role as investor on Shark Tank

Personal Experiences

Childhood as an immigrant from Eastern Europe
Early jobs working for Harry Rosen and Warren Avis
Period of darkness and contemplation of suicide in 2014
Experience serving at homeless mission in Seattle
Appearance on Dancing with the Stars as a promise to his late mother

Mentors and Influences

Harry Rosen - Men's clothing store owner and mentor
Warren Avis - Founder of Avis Rent-A-Car
Tony Robbins - Transformational seminar experience
John - Priest friend who helped during difficult time

Resources

Core Podcast

The School of Greatness: The Mindset That Took a Shark from Poverty to Millions - Apple Podcasts

Books by Robert Herjavec

You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success - Business and success principles
The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding - Leadership and competition strategies
Driven: How to Succeed in Business and in Life - Personal and professional development

Shark Tank - TV show where Robert Herjavec appears as an investor
Dancing with the Stars - Show where Herjavec appeared as a contestant
Robert Herjavec's Social Media

Business and Success Resources

Sales Training Programs - For developing sales skills
Value Creation Frameworks - For creating scalable value
Emotional Intelligence Training - For building better business relationships
Mindset Development Resources - For cultivating abundance thinking

Personal Development Resources

Faith and Spirituality Resources - For developing deeper faith
Service and Volunteering Opportunities - For gaining perspective through helping others
Mental Health Support - For navigating difficult times
Joy and Gratitude - For building a foundation

Conclusion

"The School of Greatness: The Mindset That Took a Shark from Poverty to Millions" offers a profound exploration of the principles that transformed Robert Herjavec's life from immigrant poverty to extraordinary wealth and success.

The episode challenges conventional wisdom about wealth creation, emphasizing that people pay for value rather than time, that emotional connection is more powerful than technical features, and that joy is the foundation of sustainable success.

This episode serves as both an inspiration and a practical guide for anyone seeking to transform their circumstances and create a life of meaning, joy, and abundance, regardless of where they start.

Crepi il lupo! 🐺

🎙️ The School of Greatness: The Mindset That Took a Shark from Poverty to Millions