Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Robert Galinsky, Founder of Galinsky Coaching, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My customers include TEDx and TED Speakers, Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, people who are in prison and jails, scientists, lawyers, and working and up-and-coming actors. I coach and direct mega-stars and powerful clients like 50 Cent, Hall of Fame NFL running back Edgerrin James, actors Josh Peck, Lin Shaye, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Gary Cole, to name a few.

My business is the business of making any person who wants to speak, present or act in front of any kind of audience the best they can be. I work in person one-on-one, in small and large small groups, and also via zoom worldwide. My customers range from incarcerated men and women to C-Suite executives, children in hospitals, and people experiencing homelessness. Everyone deserves love and attention and can grow, and I have seen this over and over.

Tell us about yourself

My motivation is to educate and inspire my clients to understand their goals and the approach to accomplishing them in a way that empowers them to influence and activate audiences. The idea of presenting is to offer information and inspiration to change the world, and with every appearance, the opportunity is there. We dig deep into the meaning of the message and find ways to present it dynamically!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

There are many accomplishments I can point to, like getting the CEO of Chase Bank to pretend he was a tree in one of our exercises, helping Chelsea Clinton feel more comfortable when we co-hosted TEDxTeen together, to coaching 50 Cent to audition with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino (50 got the part!). I would say my biggest accomplishment was developing and producing one of my incarcerated teen's TEDxTalk. She was in jail for over a year, and we worked together over zoom, and when she was released, we continued until she was chosen to be a featured TEDx Speaker!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

My biggest problem is not running overtime sessions. I love the work I do, and often the clock disappears while we work, and I have found that my clients get way more of my time than they are originally quoted. I don't mind it, but it can be a problem.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Have no plan B. Commit to your business and go full on. Plan B is when you die. That's Plan B.
  2. Only start a business that you love. If you don't love it, you'll cause yourself endless stress and pain. If you love the business you are working on; it will grow magically, not painlessly, but magically!
  3. Test ideas with others, listen to feedback, and make hard changes based on valuable feedback.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

The difference maker in MY business of coaching is that I come from a theatrical background, not a corporate background. Most coaching businesses do not understand or even are equipped with the tools to bring out the innate drama or comedy that each speaker has inside. My clients have distinct advantages over other speakers because they do the things that great performers and presenters do to move and shake up their listeners/viewers.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://galinskycoaching.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertgalinsky
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galinskynow/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertgalinsky
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galinskyrobert/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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