Darrell Vesterfelt is a visionary leader who builds and grows businesses. Since 2015, he has helped creator-entrepreneurs generate over $45 million in core sales. He is a friend, mentor, and founder of the creator agency he helped run, HeyCreator.
As a leader, serial entrepreneur and former head of growth at Kit, Darrell had a track record of success. But a moment of crisis led his partners to ask him to step away from one of the businesses he co-founded. Today, Darrell shares that story publicly for the first time. He unlocks powerful insights as he chronicles his transformative journey from a challenging year shrouded in shame to emerging more resilient and successful than ever.
Key takeaways:
- The consequences of losing his place at a company he co-founded and the lessons he learned.
- Why hiding from difficult situations feels better in the short term, but is a mistake in the long term.
- How you can develop a healthy self-identity that doesn’t rely on ego.
I’ll share some of my favorite Darrell quotes below.
Finding integration between work and personal life:
“What I love about work and life is that everything is so integrated. So I feel like I have deeper friendships than ever before. Work has been challenging, fun and rewarding like never before. And it’s a fun game to play. “I think the most fun game is how to improve your life and yourself, your relationships and your business.”
Embrace feedback and self-reflection:
“And the way you respond to feedback is very important in partnerships, not just at work, but at home as well. When a partner comes to me and gives me feedback, I just want to acknowledge the fact that they are experiencing what is experimenting”. They are telling me that they are experimenting. And I think a lot of times people immediately start telling a story or justifying the behavior or whatever. And I just learned, man, can I just own it? I’m sorry you feel this way. If I were in your place, I’d probably feel the same way.”
Accepting challenges:
“If you just hit a golf ball and it went into the hole every time you hit it, it just wouldn’t be fun. Part of the fun is the contrast between the hard shots and the bunkers, and also the sweet shots you just hit. in the middle of the street. So I’m having fun playing right now. Not everything is perfect, but I’m actually having a lot more fun than ever.”
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Learn more from our guest:
Follow Darrell on LinkedIn.
Partner with Darrell and his team to build your business as a creator.