Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jim Riley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jim, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Your age can be the perfect motivation to get things done. When I turned 40, I thought to myself how incredible it would be for me to go on and achieve 40 different goals for my 40th birthday. That’s a huge number of goals, but I believed I could do it and went for it. The trick is to figure out how to make the chase fun. Obviously, my life has always been about chasing my goals and seeing them to fruition. Throughout my life, I have set myself goals that many would deam as impossible, and I went on to achieve every single one of them. The idea of achieving 40 goals was both refreshing and motivational for me. Of course, it was going to be challenging, but I was up for it, nonetheless.
One of the goals that I had set for myself was to climb Mt. Rainier. While it may seem like I was pushing my luck a bit too much here, or at least that’s how most would think, I had a good climbing experience because I had been climbing Half Dome in Yosemite with my brother Mark Taylor.
He had a yearly outing with his management team. The idea was to camp in the village at Yosemite. Around 1 AM in the morning, we would leave our tents and we would run to the top of the Half Dome, and be there for the sunrise. Once that was done, we would run back down to the village.
The best part would be to run into people who had just started their ascend. They would often ask where we were coming from. When told that we were on our way back from the top, they would simply not believe us at all because we had already been there and were coming back right about the time where most traditional hikers would start their adventure. It was wild to see the shock in their eyes.
With my climbing experience, I decided Mt. Rainier would be the ideal achievement to accomplish. If you have ever flown across Seattle, Washington, it is a massive, daunting mountain, with a glacier, that overlooks the harbor area. On a clear day, of which they do not get many, it is a sight that can rejuvenate your soul.
I was nervous. A climb of this magnitude can be life or death. While I had the training on how to navigate my way through a glacier, it still seemed intimidating. I had already done Mt. Whitney twice, which happens to be the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. I had also completed an ice climb in Alaska the year prior. Mt Rainier has an elevation of 14,411 feet just under Mt Whitney at 14,505. The difference will be the ice and dangers involved with the cold weather. As it turns out, there are 50-foot crevasses, sheer drops, and the ever-shifting ice, it was no ordinary challenge.
My first move was to hire a professional guide to help my chances of success. I had already been training for months in preparation of this physically demanding task. This was a three day hike up to the top and then down. Guides typically work in groups and bring climbers up the mountain in teams of two climbers to each guide. On day one you climb as a group before the guides separate everyone off into pairs. I am familiar with this process since I have climbed with this service before. Its at this time that I want to become friends with other strong climbers so that we can be seen as a team before officially be put together
While I was sizing up the other climbers, I became friends with an Army Ranger. I felt like I had hit the climbing partner jack-pot.
We were officially paired up together on day two. As the day progressed, we were able to climb to the second big portion of the climb. Right about now, we were literally camping on a glacier above which were massive ice boulders, ready to destroy anything and everything that may lay in their path. These had already rolled down the mountain a few days before we got there, as the guide explained with a smile on his face. On our way, we had to cross multiple crevasses, some as deep as a 10-storied building. The peak was hidden from our view up the steep side of the mountain, but the skies were crystal clear. On these types of climbs, its best to get to bed early since the summit push usually begins in the middle of the night. This ensures that you can bag the peak with plenty of daylight left to get all the way back to the bottom of the mountain. Furthermore, daylight ensures that the weather stays calm. There is nothing like trying to fall asleep at 6pm knowing that some ice boulders the size of a Volkswagen might roll over you while sleeping.
We started at 1am with nothing more than headlights and our visibility was just a couple of feet. Anything beyond that was just impossible to see. It was pitch dark. Several hours into the morning hours, the guide told us that we had to refuel and take a break. Right about now, the snickers in my pocket was calling my name. It’s amazing how much fuel you burn on these steep climbs and what you need to replenish your energy.
We sat there long enough that the sun started coming out. I think the guide had this perfectly planned for us to enjoy the 360-degree view. It was awe-inspiring. Nothing compares to the sheer brilliance and beauty of nature that we were witnessing. Amidst all this beauty and nature’s grandeur came a looming sense of fear and another one of nature’s work. As daylight spread, it exposed thousands of feet of vertical drops waiting just over the edge for anyone that slips and falls. That was a one-way ticket to your demise. We knew we were high above the sea level, but seeing the sheer depth of these falls that we never really expected to find so close to us, was a surprise. It was like staring right into your death that was just inches away from you.
While I admired and respected nature, my army friend was having second thoughts about the entire summiting plan. I didn’t know that. He was backing out of a climb because of the intimidation that had gripped him. It was here that my sense of coaching came into play. I knew I had to be the person to help him push through and climb the last few hours to summit the peak. After all, there was no point in putting your body through so much work just to turn away when you could literally see your destination ahead of you.
I realized that I was the one that had to regain his confidence while maintaining my composure. I felt nervous about the deal, but, it turned into strength and fortitude for my army ranger buddy. I knew I had to push him through because if he was to quit, everyone else would have to. It was as simple as that and that was not in my plans.
For the next few minutes, which seemed like eternity, I encouraged him to have faith in his training and ability. That we were there to achieve our goals and had been given all the tools to accomplish that. He quickly overcame his fear of the cliff and immediate surroundings after re-gaining his composure. I had encouraged him to visualize how things would look like from the top of the mountain, and that actually helped him regain the confidence he needed. An hour and a half later, we were on the summit.
When you focus on your strengths and work with one another, one can go through challenges and help each other to walk through tough situations. It was a great moment for me and one of the best goals I had achieved that year.
Allowing my buddy to visualize the view, to visualize himself in that position, was a major morale booster. What people don’t understand is just how powerful visualizations can be. Just as the name of this chapter suggests, he believed he could do it, and he went on to do it. He just needed a bit of a nudge in the right direction.
Even I was visualizing how we would look at the top of the summit, holding our sign, high fives, hugging, and congratulating each other. I believed in the vision, and I knew we could go on and achieve that. Yes, I had my fears, but I had to either focus on my fears or the opportunity of conquering them that I eventually did.
I know that many might not be hoping to climb a mountain any time soon, but perhaps they may be dreaming of buying their dream car. Whatever model it may be, visualize yourself walking into the dealership. Picture what you are wearing for the big occasion, how it feels to sign the papers, shake the hands of the salesperson, and saying “I’ll take it.” Think and visualize yourself as you walk towards your very own car. Feel the door handle as you grip it, hear the sound of the door unlocking, and feel the cold yet inviting seat of the car as you step inside. Visualize as many details as you can. What you end up doing is creating confidence within you. The more you visualize this consistently, the more you start believing it will happen for you.
People lack the ability to have confidence in themselves. They don’t have much to believe in themselves, or at least that’s what they think. All they can hear is the negativity within them and around them. Others have nothing better to do than to tell us “This is never going to work,” and funnily enough, we believe them.

“Yeah! You’re probably right!”

No! They’re not right. If anything, they are limiting themselves through their limiting beliefs, and then they try and limit you as well. What you say inside your head ultimately comes out as your own truth.

“I’m always going to be overweight.”
“I’ll never be as successful as that guy.”
“I can’t be that good.”
“This isn’t for me because I don’t deserve it.”

The more you feed your mind with negativity, the more it manifests as your reality. You will always be overweight. You will always feel that you are unworthy and miss out on every single opportunity that comes your way.
The point I am trying to make here is that we need to be extremely careful of what we feed our brains. We must know what we say to ourselves because it can alter how we live our lives. In these little private conversations that we have with ourselves, we need to be mindful and careful not to say anything that is negative in nature. Private self-talk is more important than you can imagine. What you believe, what you say to yourself, and what you allow into your brain on a daily basis is exactly who you will become. Choose wisely.

In short, it all starts with yourself. As for when?
There’s no better time than now!

Jim, 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?

For a good part of my life, I have been an active and competitive athlete. I have taken part in wrestling matches and enjoyed every bit of the competition. Furthermore, I have taken part in off-road car races for professional car companies, such as Ford Motors. I am not what you would describe as a traditional sportsman, such as a basketball player, a baseball enthusiast, or any of that. As it turns out, I don’t watch any sports on TV at all. Of course, you have Jack Canfield for that. Quite a few years ago, I heard him speak. He was the co-author for Chicken Soup for the Soul, along with Mark Victor Hansen. He went on to say the following:
“The average person watches enough TV that they can get four master’s degrees in any field of study they want.”
WOW! I was blown away by that. It was such an eye-opener that I turned my TV off for 10 years and have never really turned it back on with a few exceptions. I don’t watch sports, sitcoms, or even the news. It is odd for someone who is in their 50s. You would expect a person of my age to tune into the TV, complain about how the economy has messed up, and how the new guys are continuing to take away our jobs, but that’s not me.
In the first chapter, I spoke about how we should be extremely careful of what we feed our brain, and how we should steer clear of the negativity that we usually find ourselves surrounded with. TV, for all intents and purposes, is the ultimate source of negativity. Since I know I can’t be bothered to feed anything negative to myself, the choice was rather obvious. Either the TV goes, or my brain goes. I chose the former.
Not so long ago, I started a Tequila company called Azunia Tequila. This was in 2007. I was incredibly lucky to have great investors like Peter Jacobson from the PGA Tour, a pro-golfer. We also had Pat Kilkenny, another high net-worth individual as well as the past athletic director for Oregon. He was part of the origination of the Ducks and all the marketing they produced in that area.
One day, Pat came to me and told him how he was considering getting Bill Walton involved in the company. He wanted to know if this was something that would click with me. To be honest, I trusted Pat. He had a lot riding on this company, and so did I. If he thought Bill would be a good fit for the group, I was in. I was told that Bill is one of the best out there, and he is loved by many. Naturally, I looked him up on Google because, embarrassingly enough, I didn’t even know who he was.

Side note: Don’t worry if you don’t know who he is. He is rated as one of the best 100 basketball players of all time.

Bill Walton was also a very close friend of John Wooden, from UCLA, and was a part of the winning team when John Wooden was the coach. Of course, I had no idea, but after a few minutes of research I knew I was looking at a solid partner already.
The initial success we had was based on previous relationships and grinding away selling on the streets. The product sold itself once we got it into the hands of the buyers and consumers. However, we needed a small hook or edge on the competitors. Now that I think back about it, I realize how I was completely unaware of just how incredible of a person Bill Walton was.
Once, we went to the Staples Center to watch a game. Bill was accompanied by a few customers, his son, and I happened to be there too. His son was coaching at the time. It took some time to reach our seats because, unlike me, everyone knew who he was, and he ensured he spoke to everyone before arriving at the seating area. We sat down and had a great game to experience. Later, he introduced me to all the celebrities around us, including Jack Nicholson, who attends every single Lakers game. Jack asked me if Bill worked for me, and Bill answered that he did, which was just hilarious. He went on to say “I do whatever Jim tells me to do.”
The game was over, and it was time to leave the arena. However, I was not at all expecting to witness and experience what was about to happen next. I knew I had strength, but it was about to show its full scale, and needless to say, I was completely taken by surprise. Most people know that Bill happens to be one of the most injured players of all time in basketball, and I didn’t. Due to this fact, we had to leave a little bit early.
We walked across the backend of the court and started to walk up the stairs to take the way out. Just in the first five steps, Bill received a standing ovation from the entire west end of stadium, even though the game was still being played. Bleachers around us showed their respect for the legendary icon, and all I could do was to absorb that moment, feel the sheer energy levels that were tearing the roof apart, and be left in awe. I looked around, and everyone was clapping, cheering him on, and it was just bizarre. At that moment, I turned around towards my customer, who was also at the event with us, and I said “Wow! I have the right partner in this business.”
That moment was what I needed because, at that moment alone, I learned just how incredible of a strength I had that I continued to discount since the start. I realized that sometimes, even the most obvious of strengths take time to manifest, but when they do, they hit you over the head, making you realize “Damn!” I had that moment right there.
The lesson here is simple. Your success and strengths may be there right in front of you, but it is always up to you to recognize what they are. Take the time out to dig them out, figure them out, learn them, and master them. Of course, you can’t do it right now and say “Hey! I’m good with numbers.” It is a process that requires consistency and time. You need to work on figuring out your true strengths and give it time every day.
In my case, I had a team member who was right under my nose, and I failed to identify and recognize his true potential and worth. It took a standing ovation for me to truly understand and appreciate just how incredible of strength and a person he was to me, and to pretty much anyone else he could have chosen to work with.
As leaders, we often have team members on our teams, and if we do not ask the right questions or provide the right amount of attention to figure them out for who they really are, we may end up missing out on a lot of opportunities. It is also possible that this team member may help you enter an arena that you may not have already looked at and, as an entrepreneur, it is just the kind of opportunity we are always looking for.
Realizing the strength in my team, we went on to leverage that to gain national exposure. We started doing public engagements through Q&As, both Bill and I and helped teach leadership skills to others. We went on to teach the importance of consistent pursuit by using our own experience and knowledge to educate people and help them grow as well.

Have you ever had to pivot?

It took me almost an entire lifetime to figure out just how important my values are. These relate to my happiness and where I choose to go in my life. Of course, I did know my values and I was able to figure them out successfully in the early parts of my life, but I never really got around to applying them properly. This means that I couldn’t exactly lead the kind of life that I lead now, and that is simply because I did not prioritize my values or understand just how they can contribute to my success. I did enjoy a very successful career at In N Out Burger. As I mentioned earlier, I ended up as the most successful store manager, selling 1 million burgers in a year. In terms of money, I was making a high six-figure income. Furthermore, my brother was steaming towards becoming the president of the company.

Side note: For anyone who doesn’t know In N Out Burger, they only sell burgers and fries, with drinks. That’s it!

For me, the work was boring and despite making the kind of money I was making, I was very unsatisfied. I wasn’t satisfied because I knew I had a lot more to offer. I knew that I had more skills and talents that I felt were being wasted away. Although that was my lack of maturity looking back at it now.
Around the same time, I was in a downward spiral where all I could think about was making money as my marriage deteriorated. I was being very selfish with what I was earning and how I was using those earnings. To give you an idea, I took a very fancy snowboarding trip to Mammoth Mountain. I ended up spending $5,000. Many would claim that it is a trip of a lifetime, but for me, it was just another weekend.
I never realized just how selfish that trip was until the following weekend. This is where I went on a mission trip with Mariners Church group in Newport Beach. We were going to spend the day visiting a few Orphanages in Baja Mexico. There were around 20 of us, and there were 2 vans in total. The budget for the entire trip was also $5,000. That’s 2 vans worth of people and enough supplies for at least 4 or 5 orphanages. Furthermore, those supplies would last some of those orphanages a couple of months.
Imagine how shocked I was when I realized just how selfishly I spent $5,000 in Mammoth on a single weekend. Seeing people give and receive, was a completely different experience. These orphanages were receiving food and supplies that would help them last for months to come, and while giving those to them, it was an experience that I couldn’t explain in words.
When I got back home, I realized how I was living for the completely wrong reasons. Just 7 or 8 days ago, I ended up blowing $5,000 on myself, selfishly, whereas the very same $5,000 could have supported a couple of orphanages, dozens of kids, have enough supplies to last a month or two. That broke me apart inside. It was there that I decided to change how I lived my life.
No longer was I going to live for me. Instead, I chose to live for others. I decided to be the one to give back to the ones in need. Following that, I ended up quitting my very well-paying job, and my family wasn’t exactly pleased with that decision. They were literally not talking to me for 2 years that followed because to them, I was being a fool for walking away from a career of a lifetime. They also recognized the downward spiral in my marriage and the trouble I was causing in my arrogance.
Facing my family’s dismay and their anger, I decided to move as far away as possible. Turned out, I ended up at Lake Tahoe. At this point, I was willing to make minimum wage, which I did. Soon, I found a job where I was taking pictures of people at Kirkwood Ski Resort for tips. I didn’t do this because I didn’t have any other option, but I did this to reorganize who I was as a person.
Around this time, I was 28 years old. I realized that there is a lot more in life that I can go out, explore, and learn. Already, I had sold everything, moved away from my family, and moved to Lake Tahoe. As fate would have it, I had a DNA that dictated to me what I believed would be what I would go on to achieve. Just a month after, I ended up acquiring a second job as a buffet manager for Harvey’s Casino. I gravitated there to what some would be a dream job, to become a VIP host. There, if I saw the gamblers throwing big money down on the Blackjack table, I would come in to tell them how I could offer them a free meal and a hotel room. I also hosted them for outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, boating, and more. That was my job.
The point of sharing this entire story isn’t to win sympathy. It is to teach everyone just how critically important your values are, and how they can contribute towards your ultimate goals and success. Your core values help you identify the real you and who you can be. It was only recently that I was able to fully utilize my values to their maximum potential.
Of course, I did learn a big reason earlier in life, much earlier than most people do. I learned that I was living for all the wrong reasons. I don’t want to take that away from myself. What I’ve done in the last three years, however, was completely different. A lot of this comes from my work with David Meltzer and him talking about values all the time. I am very proud to say and share what these values are:

1. God
2. Family
3. Health
4. Giving Back
5. Having time
6. Business

What’s critical to note here is that making money is the last of my values. It is literally the least important thing for me. It may sound somewhat ironic, especially considering that I just came out of arguably the most prosperous 3 years of my life. It is simply because I center everything around these values.
Faith, above all, is the most important value for me, followed by my family. When I make decisions about what I am going to do, where I’m going, I always ensure that these decisions are in alignment with my values. This means that if the family is the second-most important thing in my life, next to God, I will align any decisions so that they will not affect my family dynamic. As an example, if I wanted to buy a really expensive car for myself at the expense of my family needing something or spending extra time with my family on a holiday, taking them to places and having quality time together, my values are out of order if I buy the vehicle.
That’s just a simple example. Almost every single day, we entrepreneurs are faced with a barrage of decisions that we have to make. Instead of being impulsive, we choose to ensure we know our values, keep them in our mind, analyze the decision and see if that decision falls in line with these values. If yes is the answer, we go for it, but if something isn’t lining up, it’s a solid no.
If taking a job out of state meant that I would end up making half a million dollars more than I am making right now, I would not do it. The reason is simple because making money is my last priority, and my family comes well above that. I cannot leave my family here and rush towards another state to take on a job that pays me more. That’s going directly against my core values, and that, to me, would be a poor decision to leave and chase a job.
To me, values are significantly critical. Whether you are a business professional, an entrepreneur, or even an employee that works 9 to 5, know what your values are and center all your life’s decisions around your values. Perhaps now, it would make sense to you why I decided to quit that job and restart my entire life from Lake Tahoe at minimum wage.
It was the change of environment that did it for me, and quite often, that is all you need in order to get your priorities and values straight. However, there still remains one big misconception that needs to be addressed.
An alarming number of people, by which I mean the majority of them, consider financial success for happiness. It is a common theme, and regardless of how many times I repeat and reiterate the fact that money cannot buy happiness, people still continue to believe otherwise. To me, it was as black and white as it got. I was already making a high six-figure salary, that too when I was in my mid-20s. This is unheard of even in times like today. I was doing that back in the 80s. However, no amount of money that I was making made me feel happy, fulfilled, or anything close.
Don’t get me wrong because I am not one of those who claim that money is the root of all evil. We need it, whether you like it or not, to do quite a lot of things in life. With money, we can help others, and one of my values happens to give people something back. Making money is what allows me to provide for my family, to give back the community and those who really need the support. It is what helps me to buy myself more time. However, money, at no point in time, helps me buy happiness.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my racing career, I was fortunate. I have raced in more events than the average team owner in a top-level professional class. If that wasn’t enough, I also owned a vintage race car, famous in the 70s. It was the infamous 1957 Chevy that was built to go off-road. In its day, that car won 48 races, 3 Baja 1000 championships, and many others. I was fortunate enough to acquire the vehicle from the original owner, Larry Schwocoffer. I bought the race car to enter it into the NORRA Vintage 1000, a recreation of the original Baja 1000 races. When this car entered, it was instantly one of the main attractions. The off-road community knew the history of this vehicle and appreciated the vintage orange color we had painted it. The Baja locals also loved the car, I think that had to do with the loud pipes and the fact we were a front runner on the course. In fact, whenever I stopped, people would come out of their homes, asking me to sign an autograph for them on Hot Wheels that looked like the iconic 57 Chevy. In one particular year, Marty Fiolka, who was responsible for most of the PR at the events, approached me and said:

“Jim! You’re racing in this race. I would love to put the editor-in-chief of Hot Rod Magazine in your car and integrate her with your race team. Would you mind?”

It took a couple of months to formulate a plan for this to work, but I would never pass up this opportunity. Elana was the editor-in-chief for the famous Hot Rod Magazine, and she was a huge car fanatic. I met her the night before the race. The idea was to follow the car 1,000 miles throughout the region for the next five days. We had, on a whim, decided that on day 3 she would get in the race car with me and help me reach one of the main pitstops a couple hundred miles south.
In the morning, we got her suited up in a race outfit, helmet, walked her through the responsibilities and the car itself. We have been doing this for a long time, but the reality would always be the same for everyone, regardless of their experience. If they can hang on long enough and warn the driver of any impending threat or danger, it should work out just fine. A driver can only concentrate and anticipate what’s about to come, but the assistant is the one who warns the person with pace notes on what’s about to come so that the driver knows full well and prepares accordingly. The hardest part is knowing there left from the right hand, just ask Darryl!
We hit the starting line, took off, and everything was going great. We were in the front of the class for the first two days. The car was running impeccably. Often the course can be treacherous, and you will take some hits and dings. We also got tangled up with a Jeep 4×4, but we managed to continue going strong. About halfway through the day, the oil temperature and pressure started rising. We were losing oil fast. The crew had suggested that we had to stop. We had a bad oil leak coming out of the front seal. We carry spare oil on a rack in the cab of the car, so I poured everything we had into the motor. After careful evaluation, Elana suggested we had a blown motor, and we would have to quit!
About this time, a Canadian husband and wife on vacation stopped by to say hello in their Subaru wagon. They asked if we needed help or a tow. I laughed them off and said we were just fine. There was no way in hell I was going to let a Canadian couple in a Subaru tow me out of the toughest racecourse in North America. They decided to park alongside the course to take pictures and watch us figure out our problems.
Me being the man that I am, and the mechanically inept that I am, I neglected the idea of quitting the race now. Despite my best efforts, we were dead in the water. I had to tuck my tail between my legs and go ask for the Canadians to save the day. The Subaru was going to pull us out of the desert the next 15 miles to the main highway where the team awaits me. I had the pleasure of staring at the tow line in front of me for 2 hours as the vacationers took pictures and drank some cold ones all the way to civilization. While being towed, Elana asked what we going to do next. Well, I wasn’t going to quit that easy, that’s for sure. When we got to the highway, we were greeted with an astounding number of children and race fans, looking for autographs. I went to the team captain and asked where we were. I was told that they we were near Loreto, and he had arranged to buy a motor from a local mechanic when we got there. We could work over night and put the new motor in the car. Since this was a 5-day race, you could have a DNF or time out for a day and continue to race the next day.
The motor was a no-show, but the next morning one of the security personnel explained how his father-in-law had a 1987 chevy pick-up that we could buy and use the motor from. This is how Mexico works, there is always a solution and someone willing to help. We connected with the truck owner at his buddy’s shop that we rented for the day. The cost was $50 dollars and some cerveza to do the work there. The incredible thing was that half the men in this small town showed up to watch us do the motor swap and video live feeds back to Hot Rod magazine in the USA. Halfway through the day a local fisherman showed up with two, five-gallon buckets filled with fresh clams and tortillas. They made a feast to go with the beer and tacos we had bought for everyone. Pause here – these are memories that last a lifetime. We rallied the team and eight hours later, the motor was swapped, and we were ready to get back in the race. Eventually, we were able to finish the iconic Baja 1000 in a 1957 Chevy, something many thought would no longer be possible.
With a podium finish, we ended up getting 7 pages written about us in the Hot Rod Magazine. This was all because of the “Never quit” attitude and willingness to figure out a solution that ensured our victory. And by the way, the magazine coverage helped secure several new sponsors for the following year.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.livelifedriven.com
• Instagram: @jimrileymontana
• Twitter: @jimrileymontana
• Youtube: @jimrileymonatana
• Other: www.youngentrepreneursyndicate.com

Image Credits
Sunday Brunch Agency, Rachel Svoboda