https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAkR-Z6lGr0
“No action, no traction,” says Arik Johnson, Founder of Aurora WDC. “Time is the only scarce resource. What difference does your insight really make if you don’t do anything with it?” Arik Johnson started Aurora WDC at the age of 25. At the time, all he knew was that he wanted to dive deeper into the world of Competitive Intelligence (CI). So, rather than overthinking every step of the process, he simply created a website and started helping other companies achieve the insights they needed to move forward with confidence.
Seven years into his entrepreneurial journey, Arik was joined by his brother, Derek Johnson, who is now the CEO of Aurora WDC. At the time, Derek had been working in the world of finance, but was struggling to achieve the mobility he desired. He explains that he was also inspired to make this shift by the memory of his parents, who had passed away when Derek and Arik were relatively young. Derek knew that his parents would have wholeheartedly encouraged him to team up with his brother, and so he did. Now, not only do the brothers run a thriving business, but they are also constantly finding new ways to expand upon their shared goals.
Tune into this week’s episode of Move Forward Anyway for a conversation with Arik and Derek Johnson about overcoming your fears and acting upon your dreams. Learn how Arik and Derek turn companies’ debilitating weaknesses into their largest strengths, why choosing not to decide still constitutes a choice, and how host Jeff Meyer has helped these brothers learn to play catch again, both in business and in life.
Quotes:
• “The competitive intelligence world has always traditionally been driven by…an obsession with competitors and how to get a leg up. And that’s wrong, that’s a broad misconception…. Competitors are important, but competitors are not your enemies. Competitors make you better, competitors are an opportunity for you to elevate your own expectations of your performance so that you suck less.” (4:23-4:57)
• “Losers never figure out what their frailties are, and they end up making very, very predictable mistakes. And it’s just that nobody’s really reduced to practice and articulate what that system really looks like.” (20:16-20:28)
• “God has bigger plans for every one of us! And it’s up to us whether we seek out those plans, notice them when they are found, act on them, respond the way God is leading us to and, then when the results happen, celebrate it with those around us….That is the sequence of missionary discipline that is the true north in my life.” (24:45-25:11)
• “The thing that I love about our space is that we have the opportunity to really deliver impact if we partner with clients and our liaisons at those client organizations who understand what level of humility they need to bring into the equation in order to be able to take that level of insight and then turn it into action.” (30:50-31:18)
• “That is my one prayer: that everybody who hears this podcast will discover what God made them for.” (48:49-48:55)
Links:
Get in touch with Arik and Derek Johnson:
• Phone: 1.800.924.4249
• Email: breakthrough@AuroraWDC.com
• Running Into The Fog Podcast: https://runningintothefog.podbean.com/ or on Apple Podcasts, Audible or Google Play
• Arik Johnson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arikjohnson/
• Derek Johnson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-johnson-cfa-190893/
• Neighboring Life: http://neighboringlife.com/
Get in touch with host Jeff Meyer:
• Schedule a Discovery Call with Jeff: https://go.oncehub.com/DreamAcceleratorDiscoveryCall
Podcast production and show notes provided by FIRESIDE Marketing