Coach Mark is a successful Jamaican entrepreneur who has no reservations in coaching people into becoming successful. He’s a true motivator, an author, an athletic coach and a public speaker. Who knows his future better than he does, but lets not rule out government office.

Stylz It:    Who is Coach Mark? 
Coach Mark:    That can’t be summed up in one or two sentences, but I will try. I am someone that believes that every human can do some of the most amazing things, and I just try to help people do those very same accomplishments. Coach Mark is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author, & Peak Performance Coach. Coach Mark is a father. There are so many ways to describe Coach Mark, but we will just leave it at that. 

Stylz It:    Did you have a regular 9 to 5 job? And, what made you become your own employer? 
Coach Mark:    No I don’t have a traditional job. I actually own a few different businesses in Atlanta, Georgia. I put a lot of hard work into the first 10-15 years with my businesses, so fortunately I don’t have to work them everyday. I have other people that run them for me. But I still work everyday. I have a 12 to 12. I work all day, everyday. I spend the first half of my day reading and learning, and then the second half applying what I learned. I also train athletes, so I spend a lot of time working with the athletes that I train as well as learning everything I can, to help them perform at their highest level possible. 

Stylz It:    What would you say was your most challenging moment in business? And, how did you get pass this? 
Coach Mark:    To be honest, everyday is challenging in business. When you have your own business, you start from zero every single day, and you’re like a hunter. If you don’t go out and find food for the day, you don’t eat that day. When you get good as a businessperson (just like a hunter), and build your business up, then you know exactly where to go to find the food that you need.  But honestly the most challenging time for me was when I built my business up, and had the responsibility of 12 employees and their families as well as mine. This is when I had plenty of people’s lives were affected by the decisions that I made or didn’t make. For most people, it’s the beginning, when they are just getting started. For me, that was easy. I was dead broke and almost homeless, so I had nothing to lose. It was like, what do you have to lose. You already have nothing, but if you can find some business, at least you will be able to eat and pay some of your bills.

Stylz It:    Looking back at your journey, at what age would you credit to be your catapult moment towards your achievements? Why? 
Coach Mark:    Almost every year of my life. At a young age (maybe like 5 or 6 years old), I only wanted to be rich and I heard that you couldn’t get rich working at a job.  I think I heard my dad say, you had to own a business to get rich. So from that day, I always knew I was going to own a business. So when I was young, I developed the desire to own my own business. While I was in my 20’s, I learned so much because I was continually hitting my head against the concrete wall because I was young and dumb and thought I knew it all. Even though I suffered much, I also learned even more and that helped me get to where I’m at right now. And now, I’m just a learning machine. I read more and study more than any other period of my life. I’ve learned more in the least year, than in the previous 20 years. Next year will be the same thing. So pretty much, every year of my life was critical to get me to the level that I am at today. 

Stylz It:    A lot of persons rather to have their own business than to work for someone, but yet still they end up being an employee. What would you say are the two main reasons for this? 
Coach Mark:    Fear and lack of belief/confidence in themselves.  As humans, we always move towards what we feel is the safe or comfort zone.  Although we want to have our own business, that’s outside of our comfort zone. We would rather have the perceived security of having a job. The reason why I say perceived security is because a job is never secure. Your lively hood and future is controlled by outside forces that you are completely unaware of. If the boss makes a bad decision, you may lose your job. If one of your managers doesn’t like you, you lose your job. If you really want security, owning your own business is actually the safest path that you can take. You are always in control of your own future. If you are unsuccessful, it won’t be anyone else’s fault. Most people are afraid of this because they don’t believe in themselves. Lack of confidence. To be honest, I couldn’t have a job where my entire livelihood depended on that job. That would scare me. I want to be in control of my destiny, not anyone else. 

Stylz It:    What would you consider to be fundamental factors or traits a person should possess to at least have a chance of being successful? 
Coach Mark:    First and foremost, you must have Faith and belief in yourself and your abilities. Without that, it’s extremely difficult to be successful. When things get rough, you will always want to quit. You will never get to the finish line. Second, you must have the right daily habits. You can’t do the same things that broke people do everyday and expect to become rich. It just doesn’t work like that. You have to find people that have experienced the level of success that you want, and figure out what their daily habits are, and then try to emulate them as best as you can. Third, you have to get around the right people, and leave back the wrong people. You will always be the average of the 5 people that you spend the majority of your time with.  So if the people that you are currently around haven’t be able to produce the results that you seek, and aren’t interested in becoming better, that you either have to find new people to spend time with or risk staying in the same place that your in. There are a few other things, but if you can master these 3 things, you will be able to create massive success in your life. 

Stylz It:    Many person’s dreams are not realised due to the lack of funding. Do you believe this is a good enough reason for them not to chase after their dreams? What are the options available? 
Coach Mark:    It’s a good excuse if you want a excuse, but it’s not valid. All the greatest businesses started with no money, every single one of them without failure. Apple, no money; Google, no money; Amazon, no money; Facebook, no money; Microsoft, no money. All together, these 5 businesses are worth over 1.5 trillion US dollars. Most people have no understanding of how much money that is.  If you took the least valuable of these 5 companies, it is still worth more than 15 times all the money that the Jamaican economy makes in a year. There are people starting businesses with no money and within 3 to 5 years, their business is worth more than the entire Jamaican economy. Most people will hear this and say well that’s easy to do in America, but there are people all over the world, and also from very poor countries that are able to create Billion (U.S.) dollar companies. Personally I think the worst your environment, the more opportunity you have to create something massive if you are able to understand certain principles. If you are able to understand that the way you make a lot of money is to solve problems for people. And the poorer the country, the more problems that can be solved. You just have to be able to think differently. And then do differently. 

Stylz It:    Is being the boss easy? 
Coach Mark:    If it were, everyone would successfully be doing it. It definitely isn’t easy, but nothing worth having usually is.

Stylz It:    What do you think the future business environment is going to be like, especially for the upcoming entrepreneurs? 
Coach Mark:    I think there will be more opportunities for those that seek opportunities. I just heard at statistic that said the majority of businesses that are relevant today, won’t be around in the next 10 or 20 years. If you think about it, most of the biggest businesses have been around for less than 20 years. So this is a great thing because any one of us can create the next billion-dollar business if we understand the principals that I shared earlier. 

Stylz It:    You are man that wears many hats, what’s next for Coach Mark? 
Coach Mark:    My focus right now is to continue to spend at least half my day learning as much as I can.  My second priority is with the athletes I’m working with. I want to help them win a Gold medal this summer at the Olympics for Jamaica. I want to continue to find young athletes with big potential and even bigger dreams to do things that they never imagined were possible, and put them in a position to create wealth so they will be able to be a great example for their families and their communities. I work with athletes all over the world, but I am truly passionate about working with Jamaican athletes. After I help Jamaica win many gold medals, maybe in about 12 or 15 years, I would like to move back to Jamaica and run for public office. I believe that it takes someone that’s outside the box, to come and help fix the inside of the box. I know I could bring a fresh perspective, and ideas that most of the current politicians may not be able to see. 

Stylz It:    Give us one quote that you would like to leave us with. 
Coach Mark:    I will share with you one of my quotes. Life Gets Better, When You Get Better. Keep Getting Better. – Coach Mark