Keep Up the Fight: Interview with Serial Entrepreneur Jason Reid

I recently went one on one with Jason Reid. Jason is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of National Services Group, which employs 2500 people across three brands nationwide. Jason has also been an owner of several other businesses including Platinum Capital, a national mortgage bank; Codeit Computing, a software firm with offices on the east and west coasts which did business with the likes of Cisco and the United Nations; and New Image, a Home Depot installation partner covering over 900 stores nationwide. Jason started the foundation Chooselife.org with the goal to end teen suicide by 2030, as featured in the new documentary Tell My Story.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Jason: I'll always remember the day I came home from school years ago (I was 18 years old) and my dad was there and it was two in the afternoon – and he'd never been home at two in the afternoon.  He'd told me that he had lost his job. Which was a gut-wrenching moment for me because my dad was a big time executive at a pharmaceutical company. I honestly thought he ran everything.  So that was the moment I realized that my world can actually come to an end if I work for somebody else.  That moment was instrumental in developing my thinking that down the line I'd need to be my own boss one day.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test ideas?

Jason: I've had many different businesses and ideas. I've also had many success stories and failures. But everyone needs to remember that failures are instrumental to growth.  I learned how to take the hits when I was 18 and 19. Those lessons were real. They taught me that I really needed to commit.  Now, I work 12-14 hours a day. That's what it takes.  There's no on and off thing.  The idea that once five o'clock comes, you're not going to answer your phone anymore or Sunday that doesn't work either, etc.  doesn't work for an entrepreneur. No, you have to be on top of things. Always. When it comes to test ideas, give it your all and fight for it. The right idea will eventually land. 

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Jason: Becoming adaptable to change is really important. Case in point, the pandemic ended up changing the entire way I ran my business. At first, I wasn't all that involved in the day-to-day with my business and then I started to become way more involved. I was constantly being in front of people, reminding them that we're living in a new world so we're going to have to start doing things differently. Suddenly, I started to hype up my team and get them to be even more proactive when it comes to continuing the sales despite how different the world had become.  And they came back with all the answers, eventually got on the same page and they've done great! Adapting to change is key when it comes to maintaining and growing your business. 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Jason: Whenever I’m looking at businesses that I coach or might buy, I always ask myself, “What’s the formula?” How do you generate leads? You need to know where the leads come from and what presentation you’ll use to close those deals. If the leads you generate can be closed by a salesperson—not just a senior executive or company owner—you’ve got a formula. Your business can scale. If not, scaling is going to be tough.

Adam: What are the best lessons you’ve learned from leading a nonprofit?

Jason: A nonprofit should be run the same way as a business. You need to have a clear mission and vision. You need to know exactly where you’re going and what specific measurable activities will get you there in that quarter or that year. If you don’t run your nonprofit like a business, you’re not going to accomplish your goal.

When I launched Chooselife.org, I had already spent 20 years running businesses and coaching CEOs. I brought all that experience with me. Our BHAG—big hairy audacious goal—is to end teen suicide by the year 2030. I put that in place because everyone is trying to raise awareness, but the statistics aren’t improving. I knew we had to try something different. 

Ending teen suicide by 2030 might not be possible, but it’s a conversation starter, and we can make tremendous progress toward that goal by owning the mental health of our kids. 

The film ties directly into our BHAG because it helps parents see what kids, families and experts are really thinking when it comes to teen suicide. Its inspiring conversations that wouldn’t have otherwise happened. Everything in mental health starts with a conversation.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Jason: Leaders should always think about the people they work with and to consistently inspire them. Personally, I’m honestly really excited with the team we have. My goal is when I'm talking to someone on my team or people that I coach, because I coach CEO's, is that I want to leave them in a better spot than we had when we started that conversation. I want to make sure that I'm working towards helping to build them. And if I build my people and I create a great team of people, then everything else just works. That's what makes an effective leader. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Jason: Here’s the deal: If you want to truly build a business, you need to focus on building a team of “A Players.” You can’t hold on to the “C Players,” even though 70% of people fall into that category. Focus on putting the best people in the seats and treat them well so that they want to stay there. If you keep holding on to the “C Players”—or can’t retain the “A Players”—you’re not building a real business.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders? 

Jason: Figure out what your highest and best use is, and just do that. Realize that you’re not good at everything; no one is. Figure out the stuff you’re not great at, find people who are amazing at it and delegate those responsibilities to them. And finally, you have to know your numbers. If you’re surprised by your financials when they come out, you’re not running a business. Your business is running you.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Jason: From all of my struggles and past failures, I learned that you have to keep up the fight. Most people give up too easily. Most people don't want to work hard enough. They're going gets a little too tough to continue.  But I've just learned that the harder you work, the more you win. Those that maintain a really positive attitude (despite the setbacks), work hard and really dig in, always end up back on top! Despite how bad things seem to be getting, they always get back on top. And that's the key to it all!

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share? 

Jason: The stories I’ve heard from kids, parents and experts have reaffirmed my approach to ending teen suicide: owning the mental health of our kids. If we wait for doctors, teachers or the government to save our kids, it’s never going to happen. We need to give our kids’ mental health the same attention that we give to their physical health.

The first step is to form real, emotional connections with our kids: asking them how they feel, listening, digging deeper and using vulnerability to help them put their emotions into context. I’m not a psychologist or a mental health expert. I’m a guy who lost his kid and spent the last year and a half trying to figure out why. But I do know that it’s important to make prevention simple for people, and “own your kids’ mental health” accomplishes that. The ones who talk about it are the ones we can save.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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