The Power of Community: How EO Shapes Entrepreneurial Journeys Through Events and Service

John Corcoran: 12:01

Excellent. Thank you so much.

Ashley Richards: 12:02

Thank you.

John Corcoran: 12:03

Okay. Hey, everyone. John Corcoran here. Coming to you live from Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Leadership Conference here in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. 2025. I’m here with Vincent.

And Vincent has been a longtime entrepreneur, longtime EO member. And so you had your first company was a flooring business. You’ve got glass manufacturing, consulting, construction defect, a bunch of other things as well. Let’s start with the flooring business. If you can remember back to the start of that, what were the early, early days?

How do you end up starting that company?

Vincent Moiso: 12:32

Yeah. So going back to that, I actually bought into that business. And so it was they needed growth and scaling at that time. And even honestly, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I just knew I needed to get into a business, I needed to have ownership.

And I had already been in that industry for several years, and I knew that I could be a major part in growing and scaling that business. So I was part of that business for 15 years before I broke off on my own completely.

John Corcoran: 12:59

Okay. And so that you were part owner in that one?

Vincent Moiso: 13:02

I was, yeah. So I had two partners, two partners in that business. There was one original founder and then two other guys that, like myself, that had come in later into the business.

John Corcoran: 13:11

And when you broke off on your own, became your own boss running your own business. What were some of the challenges around that one?

Vincent Moiso: 13:18

Yeah, super challenging because well, okay, I’ll tell the I’ll tell the story because there’s a story behind that. And I sold my shares. So I wanted to grow that business to a point where we could resell the business. Those my two partners in the flooring business wanted to continue to run a lifestyle business. We were at odds.

Something had to give. I was the one that gave and I said, no problem. So we we worked out an equitable deal and I moved on and my new business started organically because I was looking for my next investment, maybe jumping into a business. And instead I had a couple companies that I had been doing business with for 15 years said, hey, would you be willing to come help us grow and scale like you did with with your previous company? And I thought, okay, yeah, maybe I’ll do that.

And I put together at the time what I thought was just a ridiculous proposal to come in and do something like that, and they both said yes. And I said, okay, that’s a business. And so so I started my initial consulting business. But what grew because I had I sat on a lot of boards within the industry. I worked with a lot of industry trade organizations, and so I was heavily involved.

I was certified, I had a contractor’s license since 1998. So I had all this expertise and I started getting drawn into this construction defect. So people that have things that go on where, you know, highly litigated country, right? So people needed help with job problems. And so I was helping businesses.

And at the same time I was doing all this construction defect stuff. And then fast forward more than a decade later, I actually bought a business that that focuses on tile and flooring defect. And I work with attorneys, work with insurance companies, and work with large tile companies as a result.

John Corcoran: 15:01

And you also have a glass manufacturing business as well on the side.

Vincent Moiso: 15:05

I do so interestingly enough, when I was consulting for other businesses that were asking me to come in and help them grow their teams or scale their business, there was a glass manufacturing business that I got really deeply involved in, and I could tell they were in more of a turnaround, and they had an opportunity for acquisition and they needed help. And I said, okay, I’m only willing to do that if I can take an equity position in this business, and I want to be the president of that business, and I’ll help you guys turn that around. And I did that. So I’ve been doing that for a decade, you know, and then and then recently purchased a business. Because what’s great about when you start to figure things out and this is what I love about EO, because you can find EO’s footprint all over my businesses, one of which is making yourself very irrelevant in the business and finding and growing a leadership team that can really run the business.

So if you’re all in for delegating, all in for empowering people, which I am. It has allowed me to do other things.

John Corcoran: 16:06

And so then the glass business. Are you still president of that or have you moved yourself out of that?

Vincent Moiso: 16:11

Yeah, I’m still acting president of that business. But I’m the coach. I’m the the strategist. I’m you know, I know all of our top customers and I’m involved at that level. But I have incredible leadership team that can run the business and do the day to day.

And so I don’t have to do that.

John Corcoran: 16:29

Yeah. So thinking about other challenges that you’ve been through over the years. So Covid obviously is one of them. We’re recording this in spring of 2025. We’ve got tariffs that are causing some disruption right now.

Talk about some of the other challenges you’ve been through and how you’ve gotten through them.

Vincent Moiso: 16:47

Well, Covid is really interesting because the glass business we manufacture out of Mexico and Baja California. So we’re eight miles south of the San Ysidro border. And so Covid was really interesting to navigate because you had two different countries. Plus we’re you know, we’re a California business. And so navigating California, navigating the United States and then navigating Mexico was a challenge in and of itself.

Fast forward to the tariffs, thankfully, which I just found out yesterday, by the way, is we’re Usmca compliant and we’re exempt, which is huge because we were on the precipice of having to charge all of our customers this, this tariff or some sort of surcharge that was going to really impact our business. And then we found out this week that there’s a there’s that extension with us.

John Corcoran: 17:31

Dodged a bullet for now I guess.

Vincent Moiso: 17:32

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, navigating international business is is really challenging. And then, you know, most most entrepreneurs own multiple businesses. A lot do. And so I think the challenge of how I manage my time is the most critical component for me, maximizing my own personal production in both businesses.

John Corcoran: 17:53

Yeah. Vincent, where this has been great. Where can people go to learn more about you and check out your various different businesses?

Vincent Moiso: 17:58

Yeah. Super simple. Visit visbiz.us. You can check that out.

And there’s links to my other businesses as well. So it’s the easiest place to find out about me or just Google me. You’ll find all sorts of interesting, interesting things.

John Corcoran: 18:13

Great. Thanks so much. Hey, everyone. John Corcoran here coming to you live from the Entrepreneur’s Organization Global Leadership Conference in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. 2025 I am the Co-founder of Rise25, which does B2B podcasting and content marketing.

And I’m also a member of EO San Francisco. I’m here with my friend Don Williams, who is a longtime EO member, and you’ve had a number of different companies. Don Williams Global is your primary brand. Yes. And you went through a really rough patch.

You’re in your 30s, you have young kids, you’re going through a divorce and a custody battle, and someone came along and told you about this organization, which is the one we’re standing at now, here today. Can you tell us the story?

Don Williams: 18:52

Yeah, I’d love to. So in my 30s, I’m married, have a lot of kids companies. I’m busiest time of my life. I don’t think a person sleeps in their 30s. 30 years as an entrepreneur.

My marriage fails. I’m going through a divorce. Brutal couple of years. Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. But kind of.

The ironic twist in the story is a couple of years before that, a client had called me one day and said, man, I think you ought to join this organization. I was like, what’s that called? And they told me why EO, which of course is the original name of Entrepreneurs’ Organization. I was like, well, tell me a little bit about it. And they did.

And I was like, look, I’m not a joiner. I don’t necessarily play well with others, so I’m going to pass. But now that I’ve been a member for 11 years, okay, a lot of different positions of leadership. I look back at that day, that time I said, no, okay, I wish I’d said yes. Okay.

And so, you know, I now know that catastrophe is sometimes avoided with a no. But all progress starts with a yes somewhere. And so love, love you. My only regret in EO is that I didn’t join way back when it was. Why EO and I was a young entrepreneur.

John Corcoran: 20:14

And you said yes to lots of things since then, starting with this global leadership conference. So why did you come here and what have you gotten from the last couple of days here?

Don Williams: 20:22

So I’m an 11 year member. This is my 10th or 11th GLC, and I think I went to all of them, but I’m not 100% sure I continue to come. Number one, you know, my the number one thing for me is the connection. Love the learning, love the peer sharing. But people were all in the people business and me especially.

And so then in addition to that, I’ve had the opportunity for the last four years now to train SAP chairs on how to go get the money. And and so we just wrapped that up yesterday and this is our last day. And so I’m seeing people that I haven’t seen since the last GLC or maybe my first GLC, which was in San Diego. Okay. And and so I’m just excited about the connection with my friends.

John Corcoran: 21:11

And you also said yes to chair the XCentric conference, which you did earlier. I think it was maybe last year or something. Months ago. Six months ago. Talk about that experience.

That’s a big, big commitment. And why did you take that on?

Don Williams: 21:26

So my personal mission in life is to help others, help others. And so when the Fort Worth chapter applied for and won the bid, because that’s the process, it’s not just handed out. There’s some competition. And so when we won the bid, the committee was already established and they elected a chair. I didn’t feel the need to be the chair, but said I would serve as selected.

And so the great thing about that event is I had shared with the committee that there’s two caveats. One, you have to accept my mission. If I’m going to be the chair, I get to set the mission. Okay. And the mission was to do the best event ever.

John Corcoran: 22:11

Not a not a small mission.

Don Williams: 22:14

Well, no, but, you know, our.

John Corcoran: 22:16

Everything’s bigger in Texas, right?

Don Williams: 22:17

Well, in our core value, our first core value is think big, be bold. And that’s pretty big and pretty bold. Their reply was, Don, that’s pretty clear. And I was like, I am a clear communicator, that people would say that about me. And so so as we began that it’s about an 18 month process, we went out and all I did was lead the committee, the committee members, the chairs.

They did all the work. Okay. I just led the committee. So I’d have, like one piece in this big, hairy, gnarly event. It’s a two and a half day event.

We raised 1,000,004. Okay. Which I don’t think had ever been done before. And and more importantly, we spent every dollar we put every dollar back into member Remember value, okay, which was our responsibility, and delivered an event that was a wow. And many people have come up even here in Honolulu and said, man, I was an XCentric.

That was the best event ever. And I was like, if you knew how many times we said that, you know, we said that 500 times in our monthly calls, we’re going to do the best event ever.

John Corcoran: 23:26

Even though you had a great committee, I’m sure it was a lot of hours that you had to put in. What did you get from performing that role? Like selfishly, did it help your business? Did it help you personally? Like, like, why does someone take on that large of a commitment?

Don Williams: 23:41

So I wouldn’t say there’s any was any personal benefit to me. Like in terms of more business. The personal benefit would be in growing my leadership ability, which I’m fortunate to have a pretty good inventory there to begin with. Okay, but but this was totally different out of my comfort zone. My wife wouldn’t even trust me with 1,000,004 to spend in two and a half days.

I mean, you know, think about it. And all the moving pieces, like an event like this or a regional event, there’s a lot of moving pieces. There’s a bunch of vendors, contractors, employees, members. There’s all these different pieces. And, you know, we’re trying to deliver the best experience for everybody.

And so our our protocol was this on time be early or on time, on money, on budget, be on or under budget on your plans. Because basically a chair owned half a day okay. And so that that the learning was one person the first night social was somebody else’s responsibility, the second night social somebody else’s. The third night, which we produced a rodeo like a professional rodeo, had Taylor Sheridan from Landman and Yellowstone on horseback in the arena. I mean, like, over the top stuff.

But so big plans. And then to be sure that it was good for everybody. So good for the the Fort Worth chapter. Good for the region. Good for the globe.

Good for the members and good for the world. Yeah. And I think that’s a worthy goal. And everything we do in EO is to be sure it’s good for everybody. We’re not hurting anybody.

You know, when we do that. And so so the committee they totally bought in. They did a great job. They worked their tails off. I don’t think there was any personal benefit to them either in their companies, you know.

Did they do more business? I don’t think so. Did they? You know, learning is a really heavy lift. Jeremy Brandt I don’t know how many hours he had in that, but a lot.

And, you know, from the chair standpoint, your hours kind of geometrically expand as you get closer to the day. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The personal growth is worth more than the dollars.

John Corcoran: 26:04

This has been great. Where can people go to learn more about you? And I didn’t even mention, but you are an expert in contact centers and other forms of outreach, so talk a little bit about what you guys do.

Don Williams: 26:13

So one of my companies, we’re in the contact center space and we do typically outbound. But we can also do inbound telephone calls. Old fashioned okay. Never going to go away. Okay.

As long as people have ears and mouths they’re going to want to talk. And so so that still works. And then we have an insurance brokerage and a real estate company. And I spend most of my time coaching, consulting. Okay.

Helping other people just make more money and so they can reach out to me at don@DonWilliamsGlobal.com or my cell, my personal cell. I don’t answer calls. I will answer texts. Okay. (817) 691-4366.

John Corcoran: 26:48

Don thanks so much.

Don Williams: 26:49

Thank you John. Appreciate it.

Outro: 26:50

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