We were lucky to catch up with Cole Kornell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

The education system is in a terrible state and has been going downhill for decades. We used to be number one in the world for education. The problem is public education has a “monopoly” over learning for most American families. This is because of a lack of competition and affordability. Therefore, just like in the free market, when there’s a lack of competition the popular business’s services and product go down in value overtime, as there’s no incentive for them to get better. The same has happened with our education system. Students are not learning all the life skills they need. In my opinion, public education and colleges are meant to program students to be workers and find a job, not to be a well rounded and learned human being.

In order to fix this system, we must take out federal control over education. The states and parents should have control, not a bureaucrat in Washington, setting policies and standards as a one-fits-all approach (usually filled with an agenda). Introduce competition into education. Give parents and families a choice. I liked Steve Jobs idea, of giving each American family a government check that can only be spent on the school of their choice. Right away, with this simple idea, schools would be competing to offer the best services and education that scream, “PICK ME!”.

If you want students to go on and have a fulfilled life and career, we should introduce better courses for our students. They should be learning about how money actually works, how government works, and how to live on their own and manage taxes. This will create more job creators and smarter employees. Money will be spent in a much smarter way by the average citizen. Americans will know how their local, state, and federal governments work, producing a more attentive voter against bad policies and corruption. They will also know how to live on their own, manage credit/debt, and understand how taxes work and how its absurd we pay them all. Fun fact: we were a tax free nation when the U.S. was founded….Remember what happened in the Boston Harbor after 2% increase in taxes? Well maybe you do, but most American students don’t….Alas, a result of our public education system.

I didn’t have this kind of education growing up. I went to through public education like most and then attended a private art school. I feel with this kind of plan in school I would be in a much better spot as a person and financially. I’ve had to create my own life and learn on my own. From elementary school through college I was programed like most people. We are told to get a job, go to school, get into debt, maybe get married and have a family, retire, and then die. This wasn’t going to work for me. At my last job I had the best salary of my career yet I thought, “How am I not rich yet?” and “Is this really what I’d be doing for years?” Then I read a book that changed my life about money and my mindset called, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. After that, I experimented with investments, bought a rental property as my first house, and then quit my job that was treating me terribly. That led to the creation of my other business and today I’m in real estate investing with 4 rental units and in marketing/consulting for election campaigns and government offices.

Change your mindset. Change your world. Let’s do that for our students.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Cole Kornell and I’m entrepreneur. I’m the business owner of Creative Governmental Outreach (CGO), Kornell Ventures, and Korson Investments. CGO is a marketing/consulting business for election campaigns and government offices. Kornell Ventures and Korson Investments invest in real estate, offering housing opportunities for prospective tenants. The great thing about these industries is that they are never going away. Politics and government will always be around and people will always need a place to live.

Filmmaking and acting are my background. That’s why I went to Ringling College of Art & Design for a B.F.A in Film. I’ve always been a creative guy with big dreams. I wanted to make movies, get rich, and be successful doing what I love. However, after I graduated in 2017 life inevitably changed. I won a Best Director award for my short film, Unending Love, at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards in 2018. I used this as an opportunity to explore LA, unfortunately my fears about this place seemed to be true.

I had seen many fellow students and others move to the most expensive places to live (LA & NY), with the most competition to pursue their dreams and “make it”. I can’t blame them. I almost did it myself and credit anyone to pursue their passions and talents, always. But when I was in LA for the festival I stayed with actor friends and people in the industry that I had met at a previous film festival my film had won an award in. I saw how they were living. Most were splitting the smallest place for an outrageous cost and they worked soul killing jobs most of the time to survive, until they had what little time left to pursue their dreams. I thought this was depressing and not how I wanted to live. I went back to Northeast, OH where I could be a “bigger fish in a smaller pond”.

I worked on Netflix & Amazon movies that came to Cleveland as a production assistant with varies roles and duties. I also worked on videography gigs and my own projects. I did this until I attempted a Kickstarter for a card game I created when I was a kid. This is something else I’ve been pursuing and still working on. I directed and produced the commercial for it and hired a marketing team to help it be successful. Well long story short, I hired the wrong people, the Kickstarter failed, and I went into debt. This forced me into a 9-5 type job. Luckily, it was in my field and I worked for a production company as a Video Editor & Producer. Some would say this was the right direction for me. But I still had this feeling of wanting something more and to finally be out of debt. And what alters my course? Politics and eventually COVID. Should have known, right?

I’m editing videos for the Cleveland Browns video department, when I see a former high school instructor running for State Representative. This was exciting to me and I always had an interest in politics and marketing. So I offered my help. We had a meeting and by the end of it, I was made campaign manager. Without going into too many details, it was like being pushed in the deep end without floaties. I was in a new industry where I knew nothing, but I believe I had a good instinct for things. I was forced to learn and I did. The 2020 election led to my county government job, as Director of Community Outreach for the Auditor’s Office. I used my creative skills to explain their services through video and graphic design for their website and social media, while writing and sharing their press releases.

I realized though I didn’t want to do this forever and wanted to do something bigger. Here I am with the highest paying job of my career, but I didn’t understand why I wasn’t where I wanted to be still. I read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and it changed my mindset forever. I bought my first house, a rental property, and quit my job. Because they treated me terribly towards the end, I was motivated to start a business where I could work on multiple election campaigns and do outreach for multiple government offices. Creative Governmental Outreach (CGO) was born. I started solving problems. I was solving marketing/creative needs for local campaigns, communication and civic education for government offices, and housing for people who need a home.

I know it’s all a long story, but it’s a unique way to get to this point. At least that’s what I see after writing this. What I love about my work is I am on my own time and schedule. I work as much as I need to, when I need to. Otherwise, I get to live life and not have a boss or 9-5 job killing my soul. Financial freedom is the goal and I learned a job wouldn’t get me there. I’m growing my businesses in order to reach it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

With CGO I’m offering services for local campaigns that they need. Most candidates don’t know what they need or how to get it. I’m a one-stop-shop. Not only can I create their video commercial and advertisements, I can also place their media buys and get them on T.V., streaming, social media, etc. Instead of searching through many Googled businesses for different services, they can come to CGO and we can do it all. Happy clients have recommended my services by word of mouth. Because of the reputation built, government offices use CGO for outreach as well. I will continue to build this reputation and then start hiring employees to manage accounts, while I make more deals with new clients.

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

I’ve mentioned this before for other questions (that speaks to its impact on me), but the book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki changed my life forever. It gave me answers to questions I had racing through my head. Why am I still poor? Why am I not rich yet? How do I get on the path to where I want to go? This book changed my mindset to answer those questions.

I learned my problem was mainly my mindset. I had the right goals and ideas, but not an idea of how to get there. You can’t get rich with a poor mindset. Most people stay poor, middle class, or rich because of their mindset and what they’ve learned from their families. You need to change your programing. Our brains are like computers and just like your computer, you need to install a new update. So that’s what I’ve done and constantly work on.

After that book, I was led down a rabbit hole of new ways of thinking and learned about what money is and how it works. I read more books, experimented with some small investments in stocks and crypto, and inevitably made my first property purchase, a multifamily rental. This got me into business and understanding that through offering services or a product your salary has no limits and increases as much as you want. Something you are very limited with at a job. It’s all basic math. Just add it up until you’re financially free. If you don’t believe in working your life away, I recommend reading it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cgoworks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coledamole3/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081345319729
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-k-429b74b6
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cgoworks
• Other: https://www.colekornell.com