120: Leonard Kim “How Failure Fueled My Success”

Stop focusing on what does not work, focus on what works for you! Being your true authentic self allows you to reach an audience that appreciates you and you build a personal brand with integrity.

Leonard Kim is a marketer who wins a lot of awards despite being a self-described expert
at failing. But failing can’t be the only thing he is good at since Fortune 500 companies,
NYT bestselling authors and venture capitalists, book publishers like McGraw-Hill
Business, large media publications like Forbes, CMO, Fast Company, Fortune, Adweek,
Entrepreneur, and hundreds of others, and more than 500,000 followers think otherwise.
Leonard was raised by his grandparents, of which his grandfather, Robert L. Landis, was
an all American hero who served in the United States Air Force, fought in three wars and
retired from both the Military and Armco (AK Steel), the biggest steel manufacturer in the
United States.

Leonard’s story began in 2010. He stopped paying his electricity bill for six months, had to
shower in the dark, then was served an eviction notice. He thought he would spend the
rest of his days living under a bridge until he called his mother who then called his
grandmother, about how Leonard was about to be homeless. Surprisingly his grandmother
took him back in (even though she originally disowned him when he was 16).
According to his TEDx Talk, Why You Should Let Your Fears Guide You (recognized as a
top TED Talk by Inc., Forbes and Mashable), by the end of 2011, Leonard was so fed up
with constantly failing year after year, that he wanted to end it all. Luckily for us, that didn’t
happen. That's because sharing these struggles and hardships is what led his content to
being read over 14 million times, while either touching or inspiring the lives of people all
across the world.

One thing Leonard does extremely well is within the niches of marketing people and
professional development, most commonly referred to as personal branding. He holds
workshops at companies, speaks at conferences, works hands-on with executives and
entrepreneurs who run 8 figure+ businesses, provides consulting and teaches his craft
through online courses.

Leonard also co-authored a book with his business partner at InfluenceTree, Ryan Foland,
called Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success and
runs a weekly radio show called Grow Your Influence Tree, where he does free personal
brand consulting live on the air.

What brought Leonard to where he is today is a mixture of transparency, vulnerability and
being his true, authentic self. So many people talk about the importance of these things,
but how many people really know how to implement it, let alone teach others how to do it?
Leonard does, and he shares the steps through two formulas:
Book: The eight-step brand process teaches readers how to own and expose who they
truly are, form meaningful relationships that move the needle and ultimately, uncover the
greatness that already exists from within, to stack success.

Workshops and Courses: The four V’s teach attendees how to claim their vision, discover
their voice, turn up the volume and command validation.