I remember this like it was yesterday. It was a defining moment.
My family and I were in Tahoe skiing Heavenly Valley. I was 6 years old. It was the end of the day, and I couldn’t wait to see my dad. I saw him at the bottom of the hill packing up my little sister’s skis. I unclipped my skis and ran toward him, “Dad! Dad!” I said proudly, “I skied by myself all day long and didn’t fall down one time!” Without looking up he simply said, “Well, then you didn’t get any better.” I stood there stunned. It was not the response I expected. A few seconds passed, he looked up at me and said, “Look Darren, if you don’t push yourself PAST your current ability, then you can’t grow. You have to fall to improve. Falling is part of getting better.”
I heard this over and over growing up. In fact, on our garage wall, which doubled as my dad’s gym, was painted in big black block letters: NO PAIN, NO GAIN. I owe much of my success to this philosophy.
I became an entrepreneur at 18 years old. I started like every entrepreneur starts—afraid, nervous, and without a clue what to do or what to expect. I had no prior experience, no training and no guidance, except for that mantra: Falling is part of getting better. So, I just kept falling. I got lots of skinned knees, bloodied noses and repeated bruises on my pride and ego… but that is also how I improved, got better and eventually figured out how to do it right.
20+ years ago I FELL into the personal development and success field of sorts. I was the executive producer to a television network called SuccessTV. That is where I met, got to know and eventually be mentored by Jim Rohn… and become friends with most every thought leader you can think of in the success industry.
I’ve been at the center-point of the success industry ever since. I have now led three different television networks in this industry and spent nearly a decade as publisher and editor of SUCCESS magazine. These respected platforms have given me unprecedented access to study, interview, spend time with and publish the stories of the most successful people on the planet. Incredible achievers like Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Schultz, Steve Wynn, Jack Welch and many, many more.
This exceptional 25-year journey puts me in a unique position to be a valuable guide for you. No one has had greater access and spent more time investigating, collecting and curating the best ideas, insights and strategies on success from the most successful people of our lifetime than I have. It has not only been my nearly 24/7/365 obsession; it has been my business. You can say, I’ve put in the 10,000 hours here, so you don’t have to. I can now give you the distillation, the summary notes, of that exceptional 25-year living laboratory, complete with action steps on how to multiply and significantly accelerate YOUR success.
Additionally, I have had to Be The Exception in every endeavor I’ve tackled. Nothing I’ve ever done I had done before. I was never trained or educated to do anything I ended up doing successfully. I had to defy the odds, I HAD to Be The Exception. Through my own experience, I now know how to… and I can show you.
My A-Team and I help business leaders and high-achievers
GROW, go for EXCELLENCE and make an IMPACT.
We exist to be a guide for those who choose to Be The Exception.
For those who want to go beyond and strive to be better.
For those who are willing to learn more, grow more, invest more and go for more… to do what others don’t, so they can live the life others won’t.
We exist to be a guide for those who seek to become all they can with all they have been given.
For those choosing their better future, to live the life they were meant to live.
We exist for you if you choose to… Be The Exception.