We were lucky to catch up with Mike Howren recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

Without a doubt, the single best investment I have made in my life is the time and money I have invested into my mind. Prior to starting my first business in 2012, personal development was just not a part of my life.

It wasn’t until I was introduced to a very successful businessman, who became a huge mentor in my life. A mentor—imagine that. I had never even considered seeking out a mentor before. I was too focused on just getting through the week, paying my bills, and waiting for the weekend. That day, he asked me a question that completely altered my path in life: “Mike, how many wealthy employees have you ever met?” he asked.

Now, at the time, I thought that being wealthy just meant having a lot of money, so I responded rather quickly. “Doctors,” I said.

He looked at me and said, “Doctors are broke.”

I was confused, and I politely asked, “What are you talking about? Doctors make great money,” I said.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “They might make great money, but they’re time-broke. If they don’t show up at the hospital, they don’t get paid. The person who has true wealth is the person who owns the hospital. He makes money whether he lifts his head off his pillow or not.”

He then proceeded to teach me two laws of wealth that have changed my life forever:

Wealth Law #1: You need to have multiple streams of income—not multiple jobs but multiple streams. Today’s average millionaire has seven.

Wealth Law #2: If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will have to keep working for your money, and you’ll end up working until you die.

This was drastically different advice than I’d received growing up. Getting a college education and a good job was all that I’d heard about.

Two things dawned on me that day: one—as long as I was trading time for money, I could never have both; and two—the teachers from whom I’d learned in school didn’t have their own financial freedom. How could they teach me about financial freedom if they didn’t have it themselves? That day, I made a decision to pay attention to that guy because he had the life I wanted, and that has made all the difference in the world.

Through my personal development journey, I have learned that income will always follow your level of personal development; up or down, it will follow. Have you ever heard of someone winning millions in the lottery, only to find themselves broke a few short years later? They did not learn how to become the type of person necessary to earn that kind of money, and it left them almost as quickly as it had arrived. Have you ever seen a millionaire lose all of his money only to become a millionaire again a few short years later? This is due to the self-image these individuals have. A person who is broke views himself as broke, and no matter how much money may fall into his hands, he will spend it until he returns to where his true self-image lies—that of a broke person. On the other hand, a rich person views himself as rich, so no matter what losses he experiences, he will do everything possible to get back to his true self-image—that of a rich person.

We function the same way as a thermostat in our homes. We all have financial thermostats programmed for us, and we aren’t even aware of it. Our thermostats are programmed from years of us believing certain things about ourselves. What you believe about yourself is a byproduct of your environment, the people around whom you spend the most time, and the programming of your brain by you and those around you over the course of your life. I wasn’t trained on this, not in my entire career in corporate America. Instead, I had to learn the skills necessary for completing my job, knowing that I would be fired if I didn’t do my job correctly. My company couldn’t care less how I felt about myself—they wanted only one thing: performance.

In the world of personal development, my self-image changed. I surrounded myself with people who built me up instead of tearing me down. I read books on business and personal development and was surprised to find them interesting. These books were drastically different than those I’d read in school.

Because of that decision to start working harder on myself than I did on my job, I have created countless memories and had invaluable experiences, have traveled the world, and lived life on my own terms. I’ve been introduced to a group of peers who have pushed me and made me better. I’ve had mentorship from some of the most successful people I’ve ever met. I’ve become a better leader, performer, communicator, partner, friend, son, brother, servant, and an overall better person. I’ve learned how to become a successful business owner, and have since founded three businesses. Because of personal development, I’ve expanded my mindset and vision and have created and achieved goals that I previously thought impossible.

Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised in the rustbelt of Northeast Ohio, where I learned to develop a strong work ethic, and an appreciation to travel and escape the 6 months of grey weather.  That passion for travel has led to four businesses that I have founded, and while all four are different, they all focus on helping people see new places and create new experiences.  The most recent of the four, Barhoppin, LLC, initially started off as a print magazine created by Lure Creative Design, a 12 year old publishing company, founded by BarHoppin partners, Mike Howren and Mark Sabino. In that business, we had been publishing Visitors Guides for destinations across the country, and were looking for an idea where we could create our own printed publication.

One weekend, Mark Sabino had a friend visiting from out of town, and together they were looking for places where they could go out and play a game of pool and throw darts. It was then that he realized there was no single resource available to search for amenities in bars like pool tables, dart boards, karaoke, live music, patios, etc..

A few weeks later after a meeting with our good friend Matt Milan (now managing parter and co-founder of BarHoppin, LLC), what started off as a magazine for one business, quickly turned into an entirely new business itself, including a website and app.

Fast forward to today, and Barhoppin is an entirely new way to promote local bars, breweries & wineries across the nation through an app, website and printed magazine. Simply put, we have created the ability for both residents and visitors to plan their night out based on the amenities available at local establishments. Any local bar owner will be able to create a profile and manage their listing for free through our app and website, with the ability to upgrade to different levels of premium subscriptions, with premium features.

We have found a missing piece in the market for being able to specifically source these amenities in bars and restaurants. This feature of Barhoppin is what sets us apart from any other resource out on the market promoting bars and restaurants alike. Customers now more than ever are looking for more local establishments in a market where the big names and corporate entities are all you see being promoted. There are some great apps out there that have different focuses and are succeeding in the hospitality market, however they are missing the data we will be collecting and promoting. Some focus on the food, others focus on what beer the bars have. Until now, no one has focused on the amenities that these establishments have available.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One book stands out above the rest when it comes to the impact it has had on my business, and that is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.

Let’s face it, starting a business is intimidating. It’s downright scary. It’s why most people never even try, and of those that do, 95% fail within 5 years.

The reason I believe, is that people give up entirely too early. If they don’t see results right away, they believe what they’re doing isn’t working. In reality, success comes down to the choice between simple daily disciplines versus simple daily errors in judgement, compounded over time.

For example, say you and I go out to lunch today, and you order chicken, broccoli and water. I have a burger, fries and Coke. For dinner you have salmon, asparagus and water. I have a large pizza and Coke. Now at the end of today, is there a difference in our health and appearance? Not at all. What about a week from now? Not likely. But what if we continued that routine every day for the next 365 days. There would be a huge difference in our appearance and health. And that is The Slight Edge. It’s those little disciplines every day, that if you give enough time, will change everything. It can be applied to every category of your life, and it makes all of the difference in the world.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Mark Sabino and I actually met our freshman year in high school, during art class, which is ironic since we launched Lure Creative Design, Inc., a graphic design and publishing business,16 years later. We have been running Lure Creative together for the last 12 years, and partnered up again to bring BarHoppin, LLC to the public this Spring.  We have remained close friends for 27 years, including being roommates for a time during our twenties.

I first met Matt Milan when I as about 10 years old. Our fathers were friends and we started golfing together, but because we lived in different cities and went to different schools, we never really saw each other outside of that. About 5 years ago, Matt joined our golf league, and we reconnected and ended up becoming great friends.  About a year ago he sold his Jeep dealership, and came on board at Lure Creative Design to help with a few accounts.  Oddly enough, he started talking about a project he wanted to start, which sounded eerily similar to the BarHoppin concept Mark and I were discussing.  A few conversations later, and the three of us decided to team up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gobarhoppin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gobarhoppin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555825303902