To Live and Learn | Failure as an Engine on the Road to Success: Omar Zenhom - $100MBA & Webinar Ninja
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Episode Description
What failures have shaped you into the person you are now?
It’s an easy question to ask, but a hard one to answer. Yet for Omar Zenhom, it’s the question behind all of his successes today.
In this episode, we sit down with Omar Zenhom, founder of Webinar Ninja, an online platform that expedites the configuration of large-scale webinars, and host of the award-winning $100 MBA Podcast, which provides aspiring entrepreneurs with free, daily doses of real-world business advice. While Omar may seem like he’s already learned all he needed to succeed, there was a time when he too had a lot to learn about entrepreneurship. And his best teacher at the time? Failure.
Join us as we explore Omar’s entrepreneurial journey, starting from his Long Island roots growing up in an Egyptian-American immigrant family, to his earlier career experiences in Egypt and Dubai, and finally to the momentary reset behind his return to the Big Apple, where his long-lasting passion for teaching fostered his success with Webinar Ninja and The $100 MBA Podcast.
Show Notes
Family ties: Omar discusses his Egyptian-American upbringing: how he dealt with the fusion of two cultures; the close bond he shared with his mother; and how his parents’ immigrant experiences inspired an early mindset of hard work and improvement.
Choose your future: Omar discusses his early career aspirations and how he fell in love with teaching.
Expanding horizons: What motivated Omar to teach English-as-a-second-language?
Destination Dubai: How did Omar’s journey to Dubai elevate his teaching career?
The journey up: What age was Omar when he experienced his first career promotion, and what lessons did he take from this opportunity?
The Internet of Things: What role did the Internet play in giving Omar his first taste of entrepreneurship?
Fashion frenzy: What inspired Omar to start his own clothing line, and how did his business fare?
Letting go: Omar reveals the reason behind his resignation from university-teaching and his next steps towards an alternate career path.
Back to basics: As a former teacher, the classroom had been Omar’s second home. How did this outlook change once he entered Wharton business school?
First take: Omar talks about how he and his wife formed the ultimate dream team in creating $100 MBA, and how it fared in its initial stages.
People who know their shit: What sparked Omar and his wife to form the podcast, “People Who Know Their Shit?” What became of it?
Back to the drawing board: They say failure is the best teacher, and looking at things now, Omar had been its most prized pupil. How did he turn failure into success, and how did this shape the future of the $100 MBA Podcast?
Webinar Ninja: How did Webinar Ninja come about, and how has it grown into what it is today?
Parting thoughts and advice
Relevant Links
Patriot Act w/ Hasan Minhaj | Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80239931
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King | Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80134781
Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table - 57 Real Life Laws on Entrepreneurship | Bobby Hashemi & Sahar Hashemi: https://www.amazon.com/Anyone-Can-Do-Building-Entrepreneurship/dp/1841127655
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! | Robert T. Kiyosaki: https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680194
Coffee Break Language Learning Podcasts: https://radiolingua.com/
John Lee Dumas - Finding Founders episode: https://findingfounders.co/episodes/john-lee-dumas
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers | Ben Horowitz: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205
Shoe Dog | Phil Knight: https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809
Webinar Ninja website: https://webinarninja.com/
$100 MBA Podcast: https://100mba.net/show/
