Adrian Carter of ‘Beastly Energy’: How To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur

by Christina Gvaliant
Adrian Carter of ‘Beastly Energy’: How To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur

Being a founder, entrepreneur, or a business owner can have many exciting and thrilling moments. But it is also punctuated with periods of doubt, slump, and anxiety. So how does one successfully and healthily ride the highs and lows of Entrepreneurship? In this series, called “How To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur  we are talking to successful entrepreneurs who can share stories from their experience. I had the pleasure of interviewing Adrian Carter, a natural-born entrepreneur who runs Beastly Energy and other affiliate websites. He has a background in drop-shipping and client services but would prefer to be hiking in the mountains instead of working 9–5 in an office.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Adrian Carter: I’ve been a fan of energy drinks for many years and started dabbling in online marketing in 2016 with some drop-shipping stores and affiliate sites. Beastly Energy is the marriage of my love of energy drinks and my passion for internet marketing.

What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?

Adrian Carter: I was looking for some information on the back of a can of a particular brand of energy drink and I couldn’t find my answer. After doing quite a bit of my own research to find my answer I thought to myself “other people might also be interested in this” and that’s when I realized that I could create a niche blog around energy drinks.

In your opinion, were you a natural born entrepreneur or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?

Adrian Carter: I think I was born with a certain entrepreneurial spirit. I was flipping kitchen products at garage sales as a teenager and hustling to wash cars in the summer. I’ve had a “normal” job, but prefer the risk and reward of going it alone on my own merits.

Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?

Adrian Carter: My father was my hero growing up. Watching him work day after day and never complain was inspiring and I think shaped me to have the same sort of work ethic, even though we do very different jobs.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Adrian Carter: It’s the honesty in my articles that sets us apart. That’s what people appreciate. Some other websites are trying to sell this or that product, but I have nothing to sell. I’m just sharing accurate and unbiased information and people can feel that authenticity.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Adrian Carter: 

Never give up: Guess what, building a business from scratch isn’t easy and it’s going to take years if you ever get there at all. You better have the stomach for at least a couple of very hard years with very little reward before you start seeing any results.

Be honest with yourself: Despite the fact that you really want your business to succeed, sometimes you need to take a step back and have an honest look at things. I know I just said to never give up, but sometimes, figuring out that you’re on the wrong track and quitting is exactly what you should do. Knowing when to quit and when to stay the course is the difficult part.

Get good help: Sure, you might be an expert at something. Perhaps you’re an expert at several things. But you’re not an expert at everything. You need to get good help in the areas that you’re weak. You can either bring on other partners into your business or you can hire people. Either way has its pros and cons.

Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?

Adrian Carter: Oh wow, so many things. The problem with small business and especially anything to do with making money online is that there are a lot of shady characters out there who prey on new people who don’t really know what they’re doing. I remember one person who offered to rebuild my website for me for 30,000 dollars. Fortunately, I figured out that was a bad deal and politely declined the offer.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them create a work culture in which employees thrive and do not “burn out” or get overwhelmed?

Adrian Carter: Don’t be a control freak. Give people space. Let them set their own schedules. Tell people what you want in terms of output for the month and then step back and let them achieve that however works best for them. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you get out of the way.

What would you advise other business leaders to do in order to build trust, credibility, and Authority in their industry?

Adrian Carter: Get involved in your industry. Go to conferences, participate in online forums and on social media. Network. Go on podcasts. It doesn’t all have to be a business angle, you should be trying to make friendships in your industry.

Can you help articulate why doing that is essential today?

Adrian Carter: Relevance and authority in your industry are only becoming more important over time. Besides, it can never hurt to make some more new friends.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Adrian Carter: I think spending too much money before you actually know what you’re doing properly is a significant leak for most founders. Unless you’ve done a particular role or job, hiring someone to do it is probably a mistake.

Ok fantastic. Thank you for those excellent insights, Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about How to Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur. The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy, and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills and celebrations. This might be intuitive, but I think it will be very useful to specifically articulate it. Can you describe to our readers why no matter how successful you are as an entrepreneur, you will always have fairly dramatic highs and lows? Particularly, can you help explain why this is different from someone with a “regular job”?

Adrian Carter: Yep, this is 100% true. Being an entrepreneur means that you’re going to have great days and terrible days, but not many average days. It can be exhausting. I try to keep level-headed and remind myself that when I’m having a good day that things probably aren’t as good as they seem and similarly when I’m having a bad day I also try to remind myself that things probably aren’t as bad as they seem. Not only does this mentality help, but I’ve also actually found it to be correct over time too which only gives me more confidence in the approach.

Do you feel comfortable sharing a story from your own experience about how you felt unusually high and excited as a result of your business? We would love to hear it.

Adrian Carter: I had a radio station contact me for an interview that I assumed would result in a big spike in awareness and website visitors. It turned out to be a total non-event and flop. I’ve realized that there are no quick wins.

Do you feel comfortable sharing a story from your own experience about how you felt unusually low, and vulnerable as a result of your business? We would love to hear it.

Adrian Carter: I remember thinking not so long ago that I only had enough cash to survive 3 more weeks before I would have to can everything. Fortunately, I got some more money come in from some consulting that I was doing and that gave me some more breathing room.

Based on your experience can you tell us what you did to bounce back?

Adrian Carter: You have to find a way to survive. How can you cut costs in your business and personal life? How can you get more cash either through your business or some other way? Do whatever you can to stay afloat.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Things You Need To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur”? Please share a story or an example for each.

Adrian Carter: You need good help: You should get some help from people who have important skills that you lack. You can’t do it all yourself.

You need to be emotionally stable: There are going to be very high highs and probably even more very low lows. It’s exhausting at times. If you’re prone to getting easily emotional, you should probably address that before trying to start a business.

You need to have some cash reserves: Starting a new business is going to cost money. It may also take you away from your normal job, which is also going to cost you money. Make sure that you’ve got enough cash to support your business and your personal cash burn for at least 6–12 months to avoid stress.

You need to have a solid strategy: You need to have the confidence that you’re steering the right course. It really is a leap of faith to invest a lot of time and money into something with the knowledge that you won’t see even the smallest indication that you’re heading in the right direction for many months, if not years. Get the strategy right at the start.

You need to be patient: Results are going to take a lot longer than you hope. That’s just the truth. It’s not going to be easy, but in the end, if you stick it out, it will be worth it.

We are living during challenging times and resilience is critical during times like these. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?

Adrian Carter: I think resilience is never giving up, no matter the roadblocks that you encounter. Resilient people are driven and motivated, which is really important for entrepreneurs.

Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Would you mind sharing a story?

Adrian Carter: I think growing up in a middle-class environment helped to fuel the fire. If you’ve always had it too easy I think you’re less likely to be able to stick it out through the inevitable tough times.

In your opinion, do you tend to keep a positive attitude during difficult situations? What helps you to do so?

Adrian Carter: Yes, I always try to look at the bright side of life. It’s better than the alternative in my opinion.

Can you help articulate why a leader’s positive attitude can have a positive impact both on their clients and their team? Please share a story or example if you can.

Adrian Carter: You need to lead by example and it’s always a good idea to be nice to everyone that you have dealings with. If you expect your team to be nice to people and treat people with respect, you need to do the same.

Ok. Super. We are nearly done. What is your favorite inspirational quote that motivates you to pursue greatness? Can you share a story about how it was relevant to you in your own life?

Adrian Carter: Nothing good comes easy. I think this is especially true of entrepreneurship. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

How can our readers further follow you online?

Adrian Carter: Check out my blog: https://beastlyenergy.com/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with
this. We wish you continued success and good health!

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