Find Your Linchpin with Israel Duran

In This Episode

• [02:11] – Israel Duran recounts his journey from childhood stuttering to becoming a powerful voice for leaders.
• [06:40] – Israel reveals how he channels his intuitive superpower into business, marketing, and public speaking.
• [08:59] – Israel unpacks his “beach of abundance” concepts, illustrating business growth with oceans, tables, and containers.
• [13:43] – Stephan and Israel explore how to uncover hidden blind spots and fix leaks in business.
• [17:28] – Israel outlines his four Cs of content creation: consistency, conviction, charity, and compassion.
• [25:00] – Israel urges entrepreneurs to own their platforms instead of depending solely on social media.
• [31:29] – Israel presents the “law of connection,” where strategic partnerships create business synergy.
• [39:40] – Israel emphasizes stewardship—managing resources wisely for lasting impact.
• [45:47] – Israel champions investing in people and nurturing movements that drive transformation.

Jump to Links and Resources

Israel, it’s so great to have you on the show. 

It’s a great blessing to be on here with you. 

Let’s first all start with your kind of superhero origin story. How did you end up in the world of speaking and doing keynotes and all that sort of stuff? You didn’t wake up as a kid one day deciding to suddenly start doing keynote speeches, I’m guessing. What’s the story here?

For me, it started as a young boy, a young child, and I had a stuttering problem growing up. It was very bad. I couldn’t even say a complete sentence without stuttering over and over again. And people question, Why did I stutter, but I knew why I was stuttering. The reason why I was stuttering is because, at a young age, at around three months, my dad, who’s Domingo Doudon, had an experience where he had a massive heart attack at my home. My mom found him in that condition, unfortunately. Because my mom told him to go to the ER, he waited three and a half hours at the ER, and they didn’t attend to him. So for whatever reason, he went back home, and that’s where he died alone. And I was about three months old when my dad passed. 

Growing up, I had a lot of void; I had a lot of anger. I was introverted, and it would display with stuttering. I would be that young guy, the young boy who would hide from school presentations. You know, I would run away from the class because I was afraid of using my voice. So it’s funny that now, and like now that I’m older, and now that I’ve grown, I’ve dedicated my life to helping leaders and entrepreneurs use their voice to manifest their visions. 

Wow, how did you overcome the stuttering? 

Not to sound religious or anything like that, but it was good for me. I needed clarity on who I was and my identity. I didn’t have an identity. I was trying to find it in my dad, but I never had that opportunity. So, I sought it in all the wrong places, made all the wrong mistakes, and it wasn’t until I came to the end of myself, if I could be fully transparent, and had an encounter with what I believe was God, that things started to shift for me. 

Wow. What was the experience like? Did you have, like, a vision, or some sort of, I don’t know, kind of telepathic message come through or something? 

I actually talk about it in my TEDx talk. I actually, at the age of seven, my mom would have repeated the cycle of having somebody very close to her pass away, because I died at the age of seven. I drowned in the pool in the Dominican Republic, in a place called Monte Cristi, and I jumped into the water because my sister had lost one of her earrings. I tried to dive in and retrieve the earring, much like Superman. And I didn’t know how to swim, and I just drowned. 

And at that moment, my soul came outside of my body. I knew nothing about God, death, the Bible, or Jesus. I didn’t know any, like, any knowledge in my head. My parents weren’t religious. When I died in that transition, my soul was traveling very fast through to what I knew was going to be the throne room of God, like it was, like I knew that I knew that I knew I was about to meet God, but I wasn’t afraid Stephan. I felt peace, I felt love, I felt protected. I felt a warmth, like a gentle heat, but not the kind that’s unpleasant, and I was very calm. And then all of a sudden, I’m back in my body. A man had jumped in. He pulls me out of the water. I’m outside of this water trying to gasp for air, like I’m trying to breathe and like, come back to consciousness, if you will. 

And then, when I turn around and see who it was, I try to say thank you to the guy. There was no one to be found. And it was at that moment that I understood that, okay, I know I shouldn’t be here. Someone just protected me to bring me back. But it bothered me because I knew it was a lie for a purpose, but I didn’t know why. And through that experience, that’s where it’s gonna sound crazy, but I felt like God would speak and I would hear him, and then I felt like when I would speak, he would hear me, and the rest is history. 

Amazing. And does that still happen now?

The four things I wanted as a child—identity, purpose, vision, and a custom plan—are the same four things I now help leaders build into their brands.

Oh yes, all the time.

Okay, all the time, yes,

 Yeah, all the time.

Do you want to know a secret that happens to me? That’s why you’re on this show, because I asked God about everything, and I get lots of pitches. Your pitch came in, and I got a yes for you. Most are a no.

Yeah. Well, I’m glad it’s an honor to be out here with you. And you said to me before the show, “Hey, we’re gonna go with the intuition.” I said, “Let’s do it.” 

Yeah, that’s awesome, amazing. So, how do you apply this superpower, this incredible gift that, by the way, we all possess? We’re all psychic, we’re all intuitive, we’re all able to commune and communicate with God. There is no separation. How do you apply that to business? How do you apply that to marketing? How do you apply that to speaking?

The four things that I wanted as a child, which I didn’t have, are the four things that I value as an adult, and what our clients, partners, and students really benefit from. And those four things are number one, identity. Number two, purpose. And purpose can change. By the way, a lot of people say you’ve got to find your purpose. Yeah, you have to find your purpose. 

However, depending on the season, your purpose may change. Where many people go wrong is that they confuse their purpose with their identity. So they’ll be doing something with a purpose for 20 years, and then God calls them to transition. Still, they don’t want to transition, because their identity was wrapped into what they did, and then they fall into depression and suicidal moments, and I’ve experienced that as well, but there’s a clear distinction that I want to make. Their identity is very different than their purpose.

Identity is about ego, and purpose is about your higher self and your true self, right, 

Your identity is not your purpose. When you confuse the two, you risk losing yourself the moment your role changes.

100%And the way I teach purpose is connected to people. What I didn’t understand when God gave me a second opportunity to live is that the reason He kept me alive was not for me, but for the people I was called to serve with my life and my gift. And that leads me to number three, because the third thing I wanted for my dad was vision. I wanted to know what I was supposed to accomplish and how I was going to do it. 

But the other thing that you get out of vision, which is what we teach, is that you get your voice from your vision, and you get your vision from the voids that you see in the marketplace. We help people find their vision, which in turn leads them to discover their voice. And then, number four is that I wanted a custom plan. I didn’t want to just try anything. I wanted something custom that was tailor-made for me, because a custom suit or a custom plan always fits better than one off the rack. So, those are the four things that we implement and impart to the people we work with through our main brand, called the Service of Speaking.

So, what would be an example of extreme makeover before and after, someone who came in with maybe a mediocre talk, a signature speech, and then it was incredible after the revamp?

Well, just to give you a quick story, to kind of explain a little bit more deeply the whole ecosystem of what we do, because speaking is just part of it, like a vehicle to help people get to where they want to be. But we do so much more. I’d like to discuss what I call the ‘beach of abundance’ for a moment. And this is something that many people are going to love. You’re going to love the beach of abundance. You’re in Israel right now. Are you by the water or near a body of water?

Well, the Mediterranean is about a 15-minute drive. Okay, cool.

So I’m in Connecticut, so I have to drive an hour to get to some water. But let’s imagine, for a second, that there’s an ocean, a huge ocean, and we’re going to call it the Ocean of Abundance. And. And the ocean represents the water represents more abundance, more opportunity, more wealth, more sales, everything that you desire. And then approximately 100 feet from the ocean, we have a table, okay? And there’s some nice sand in between, the most beautiful sand you’ve ever seen. And then, there’s a nice, sturdy table. On this table, we have various-sized containers. We have small containers and some medium-sized containers. We have some extremely large containers. And in between, type containers,

But Stephan, all these containers have one thing in common. They all have a hole inside them that is proportionate to or equivalent in size to the container. So, if it’s a small container with a small hole, and a big container with a big hole, and so on. Now, let’s imagine on the side of the table, there’s this bucket that represents what you can keep. And in this bucket, there’s infinite opportunity, infinite capacity. You can literally store the whole ocean inside this bucket and more. 

Now, let’s imagine someone, and by the way, I’m describing people like entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders who desire to grow. That’s what I’m describing here. People are gonna love this. Let’s say someone grabs a container, like this one, and they walk from the table to the ocean, 100 feet away. Then, they use their container to pick up the water and walk back to the table. When they’re about to transfer the water that they thought was in the container into the bucket, what do they realize? Stephan, that’s empty. It’s empty because of the hole. 

Success in marketing isn’t about trying everything—it’s about building a custom plan that fits like a tailored suit.

But this is what most people do. Well, this container doesn’t work. And they throw the container. Then they return to the table and try to find the best shiny one. What’s the next best shiny thing?  Is it this? Is it that I let myself find the best thing? And then they grab the next container, Stephan. Let’s say it’s a little bit bigger, and they walk down to the beach and do the same thing. They get out of the water, and they walk back up to the table. They’re about to transfer the water that they thought was in the container back into the bucket. And what do they realize there’s no water because there’s a hole. 

So we’ve been sold a narrative in this online space that you just need more, yes, but the most important thing is identifying what I call the leak in the business. There’s a principle I call the law of the leak, and what it teaches Stephan is that every business has at least one leak, sometimes two or three, but often it’s like the linchpin. Other things can be fixed, but if they identify this one thing—the linchpin—and remove it, it’s like exponential growth occurs, right? 

And for some, that could be branding, for others, it could be marketing, for some, it could be sales, for others, it could be operations, but for many, Stephan, it’s mindset and belief. Many times, people want to reach the next level, but they lack the belief to do so. So one of the greatest things that we do for the people we serve is that we give them that belief that they can before they can because you asked the question, well, give me an example of somebody that was before and then after, like, what was their transformation? Like? The transformation is that they’re able to identify what their leak is, what their linchpin is, and pinpoint that thing, which then enables them to capture more opportunities, abundance, and growth.

I think there’s probably one more thing to add, maybe to your model, perhaps, and that might be the blind spot. Because if somebody is not aware that they have a blind spot, then they’re not able to work on it until that is made aware to them, but leaks, I mean, you could probably figure out that your branding sucks. You could probably figure out a number of leaks, and you don’t have to hire an expert to do an audit, but the blind spots, you absolutely would need to have somebody come in who is an expert or who doesn’t have those same blind spots in order to point them out to you.

Everyone’s chasing the next shiny thing, but the truth is your business has a leak, and no container will hold success until you fix it.

100% I love what you shared, because you’re 100% correct. Those leaks are typically blind spots 90% of the time. Because if it’s typically right, nobody wants to leak right. Nobody wants to miss out. But sometimes we can’t see the label war in the jar, as they say, right? We all have blind spots. So there’s also a humility factor. There’s pride that needs to be let go of for us to reach the next level. And we hear it all the time. Humility comes before growth, but pride comes before a fall. 

That’s a really important point. You know, I think, from a spiritual standpoint, pride and error. The sense ego is the thing that will truly destroy or demolish your relationship with your Creator and will significantly set you back in life in many ways, if you are as humble as Moses was. The humble one was how he was referred to, for he possessed the ability, power, wisdom, wealth, and everything at his disposal, and yet he was incredibly humble. If we can aspire to be more humble in everything we do, including our marketing efforts, it will lead to incredible success. That’s my belief.

100%  and I concur with that, because sabotage is the number one thing that is rooted in pride. It’s one thing for people to like, know, and continue to be arrogant, but sometimes even those who are the bottleneck, or those who have a leak or a blind spot, dare to be unaware of it. So it takes that self-awareness of saying, ‘You know what? I don’t know, and it’s okay to seek help.’ 

I feel like we live in a world, Stephan, where a lot of wise people, successful people, they get this, the people that have like, think they reach the level of success, but really haven’t reached the maximum potential, they’ll get stuck and say, “I’ll figure it out on my own. I’ve reached this point; you know, I’m a self-made person. I did everything.” That’s very dangerous talk, in my opinion, because no one is self-made. We all need each other. I don’t know everything. That’s why I have advisors. That’s why I have team members, right? That’s why I learned from you, Stephan, we can learn from each other. 

And I feel like that’s the thing that’s been missing in the Tiktok age 50 years ago, some of the things that I see online now when I talk to my mom or I talk to my uncles and people that I know like they’re telling me the stuff that you guys are going through now in this age 50 even 25 years ago, would be absurd. You know what I mean. But now, today, we see it as the status quo. So it’s like humility and self-awareness are virtues that we cannot afford to go without.

Pride says, ‘I’ll figure it out on my own.’ Wisdom builds systems, gathers data, and listens to divine instruction.

Yeah, so give me an example of something that’s in this TikTok age, and perhaps with the influencers that you typically see on TikTok and Instagram that is not in integrity or not in alignment with how things were 50 years ago, or how things should be, or what would bring about the most benevolent outcome?

Well, I’ll tell you right now, as a man thinketh so is he. And the challenge with this generation is that people have no idea who they are. It goes back to identity. I feel that when you can attack someone’s identity and be crafty in how you plant seeds, you create confusion, and that confusion leads to chaos. And that’s what I’ve seen on TikTok. 

One day, I got comfortable and opened up TikTok. I saw a video of children watching it, specifically 12- to 14-year-olds, and it was something very. I’m not even going to share it on the show. It’s really bad. And I was like, “What is this right now?” And then God had that moment again when God spoke, you know, when God speaks to us, and he was like, “So are you going to stay quiet?” And I said, “No, I’m not going to stay quiet. I’m going to do my part. I’m going to do my piece.” And he says, “Okay, I need you to be consistent.”

And then God gave me a download called the 4Cs of content creation, and I decided from that moment that I was going to be Consistent. That’s number one. Number two, have conviction in what I’m talking about, because people can notice when you have Conviction, or you’re just a talking head. And then number three, have Charity, which is one of my favorite words; charity has to do with representing love, not only towards God, but towards your fellow man. We need to love each other, guys. We’ve to be kind to one another and really show that through our content. And then number four, which is also one of my favorite words, is Compassion.

That’s what happened to me one day. It kind of brought me to my knees, because I saw the damage that was being done out there, and because I was okay, right? I was comfortable with ads and all the other things we know how to do. God said I need you on the front lines of creating content, but I want you to create content again with consistency, with conviction, with charity, and compassion. 

The greatest content you can create is content rooted in the 4 Cs: Consistency, Conviction, Charity, and Compassion.

So, what’s an example of a piece of content recently produced or published that exemplifies this?

One of the things I love to teach is that you’re in Israel, where Jesus of Nazareth lived. And Jesus said these words in Mark 4. He says, ‘Well, it tells a story.’ It talks about how he saw the multitude. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So he saw a group of people. He saw a multitude of people, but they lacked a leader to guide them. So what does it say? It says that he was moved by compassion. Is that word compassion, and he began to teach them many things. 

One of the things I enjoy doing in my content is teaching. I love to use metaphors. I love to use parables. I love to teach people principles, such as laws, so that once they learn these laws, they can implement and integrate them into their business and life, ultimately improving the quality of both. That’s the content I love to create. I also host a number of events. We host numerous in-person and online events where we literally teach the masses. And for those of you listening in, who feel like you see a certain void in the marketplace, like you see something missing in the marketplace, that may be part of what your vision is to fill that void with your voice. 

And when you can create content and create marketing around that, it’s gonna separate you from everybody else out there, because most people are just creating content to make money and to sell products and services. But when you create content with the 4 Cs that I just mentioned, you’re really selling a vision, which is the greatest thing that you can do, because it will pull everybody else who’s just trying to sell products and services. 

If that makes sense, I’ll provide an example that came to my radar today. It was a short or reel. I think it was on YouTube. Yeah, it was on YouTube. It was a short clip of Brian Tracy from decades ago, talking about how to activate this abundance and insight. He discussed the importance of solitude, recommending 30 to 60 minutes a day, and advised being patient, allowing the still, small voice to emerge. And of course, there are no coincidences. Nothing is random in this reality that we’re experiencing.

I had just given this exact advice to a client of mine on a coaching call yesterday, and of course, when we’re coaching others, that same advice is meant for us as well. So I coached him to spend exactly 30 to 60 minutes. That’s what I was telling him to do every day: journaling, talking to God, listening to God, and writing down what he received. 

And there it was in this random short that I wasn’t looking for, and it just came out of nowhere to reinforce this principle that I had shared yesterday. Of course, I forwarded that YouTube short to my client, we can have so much impact on people being that whisper, that still, small voice that works through us, if we have the courage to just get in front of the video, in front of the camera and start talking and not worry about how do we look, and how am I positioned, and all the self doubt, we just do it. 

Marketing with compassion means teaching, guiding, and leading—not just posting to get attention.

And this is a truly pivotal point for humanity, where we must step up, not just because AI is going to put half of the population out of business. But because this is the time, this is the coming of the Messiah, a time when we have to step up. So I’d love to hear another example of a short-form video piece that, let’s say, you or your clients produced that had an impact and conveyed a message that got people, I don’t know, looking introspectively or doing things differently.

Yeah, one of the greatest posts that anyone can do here, that can implement the four Cs that I mentioned, is doing a reaction post with something that moved you, finding something that’s already gone viral, and then setting up a frame where you’re just looking at the video. You may say something up front, or you may say something at the end of it, but you react to that video. 

Here’s the reality in marketing: we leverage the data that’s already working and ride that wave. You could try to reinvent the wheel, but why would you do that? If you want to save time and have something go viral, find something that has already gone viral and aligns with your brand, and create a reaction video with it. And those pieces of content work really well. People want to go to my YouTube channel. They can see some examples. We’ve a few videos that’ve gone viral and have been successful. So that’s a practical example that anyone can use to add to their marketing arsenal.

Let’s talk about a bigger picture here, not just videos or particular campaigns, but really how to run a business in these wild, unpredictable times that we’re living in now. And I’m thinking in particular, how do we partner with God and do this in a way that builds a future-proof business and helps us ride this wave instead of getting drowned by it? 

Our primary focus when working with entrepreneurs and business owners is helping them grow online. Because you remember about five years ago when COVID happened, where everything shut down, right? It was, it was really bad. A lot of people lost their businesses. A lot of people were afraid. A lot of people lost everything. It was almost like an ’08 flashback.

But we actually grew during COVID because God had positioned us beforehand. And the next wave, in my opinion, Stephan, is that we need to build our platform. Gone are the days of relying solely on the media, secular media, to be direct; gone are the days of just relying on others to grow your business through referrals, partnerships, and connections.

All of that’s always going to happen, but you need to build your own following and platform. Stepping into that’s really what’s going to make you marketable, and even work with others, right? I’m sure, Stephan, you have a lot of requests like the ones you shared, because you have your own platform. Number one and number two, it’s going to be the most predictable, sustainable client acquisition system for you when you have your own platform. 

So, really taking the time to learn how to grow a business online and identifying what your leaks are in that process would be the number one thing that God is ministering to me in this season, and also calling me to share that with others. You can’t just say, “You know what the online space is not for me. I’m just gonna depend on brick and mortar. I’m just gonna depend on referrals.” If you’re called to make a true impact, you’ll need resources to do so. If you want to reach millions of people, you will likely need millions of dollars to make that happen. 

Most people create content to sell products, but if you create content to sell a vision, you’ll stand out.

And if you think you’re going to do it without the online space, well, that’s a success. It’s going to be much easier for you to leverage the online space and learning how to do it? 

Well, let’s dive into that a bit more. For instance, let’s say you build a platform on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. Isn’t that building a house on rented lands like can’t they just delete the platform in an instant if they don’t like what you’re posting? 

100% I was just speaking to a known actor the other day. I was at his house for what we call an impact day, and he was deplatformed on Facebook, losing over a million followers. So, what we teach Stephan, and what aligns with you, is building your own platform and database. Now, that may look like having a literal email database and a membership that you control. It may seem like you have a podcast, like what Stephan teaches, to help you get your podcast up and running at the highest level. It may look like having both, right? 

However, it’s not just dependent on the big-box, retail-type platforms. It’s essential to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, depending on your target demographic. However, it’s even more crucial to have your own database that you control and manage. So, whether they choose to deplatform you or not, you still retain your intellectual property and those assets.

So, how do you leverage content that you would normally use for Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, and use that on your own platform, such as for email newsletters, a membership site, or podcasts? How would you use that in novel ways that would perhaps be non-intuitive or non-traditional?

We’ve been sold a lie that you can grow online without owning your platform—build your list, own your database, and take back control.

We also want to leverage these platforms. So, it’s not as if we’re going to be completely disconnected from the mainstream, because that’s where the people are. So, you can go fishing there if you want. You have to, you know, spread your net, so that you have to spread your wisdom there. So that’s guaranteed. We have a Facebook group with about 360,000 members. Currently, we have other platforms as well. We get a lot of traction in our Facebook group, but I have a lot of those people in that group. I also have their emails. So, if I want to send a video, a piece of content, or even this podcast, I could simply send an email blast and get that to them, regardless of the social media platform they found me through, if that makes sense. 

So having simple technology and systems in place is one of the most important things that I would say you need to focus on, rather than like the videos, because when you have the tech and the systems in place that you control again, it just gives you the freedom and the ability to scale and grow without anyone trying to control your growth, and even if they do dismiss you, even if they do blacklist you. Do you still have that as a backup and a way to fortify it, allowing you to continue building your business and presence?

And you know the old adage, which I don’t like the way it’s worded, but the devil’s in the details. I’d like to say instead that God is in the details, so when you look at these little details that can be overlooked. For example, when you create a Facebook group, you can set it up so that users must be invited or approved to enter, and then require them to answer questions to do so. And one of those questions can be, ‘Please provide your email address.’ Is that how you got all those group members to be on your email list as well?

When it comes to Facebook, we have a system in place where we ask questions, and when people enter their email address, that email triggers our CRM, allowing us to manage that contact and reach out to them to nurture the relationship. So, yes, you always want to leverage systems that can benefit from the actual mainstream platform, but you’re also nurturing those relationships off the platform.

Yeah, yeah. Very important. And what CRM are you using? Is it GoHighLevel or something else? 

We operate a SaaS platform. It’s called Leads & Sales.io; that’s a white-label solution with a high-level backend. We also used to use HubSpot a lot, but those are the two that we’ve primarily used. 

Gotcha okay? So, if we go back to this idea of God in the details and how we can kind of set ourselves up for success, or if we miss these details for failure, what would be a few other things that pop to mind in terms of making sure that those I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed? 

Well, I would say, apart from all of that, right, apart from the social media, here’s another angle to look at that can really be exponential growth for the right person. It is looking at what we call the law of connection, or the law of pairing. When you study history, people in today’s age call it by a different name. However, when you examine history and study how these various companies evolved, you will find that most of them grew. I’m thinking of a specific company called Wrigley‘s, right? When you look at that company from the 1900s, here’s a quick story.

There was one day, Wrigley, who was having challenges with his marketing. His business was stuck, right? And then, one day, at a marketing meeting, his sales team decided to show up late, so he checked the time. He’s like,” Okay, where’s my staff? Where are they?” An hour and a half passes, and they come in and remember that there are no cars at the time. There’s like the train system, and that’s what it was. It was any other form of transportation other than the train depot. So they came in and they were like, “Look, boss, we’re not at fault. We were at the train depot, and there was a crowd of people because there was a delay, and then we had to wait 30 minutes. And then we waited 30 minutes. Our transfer took another hour, and several people were waiting at the train depot. They were all upset, and they were all looking for something to do.” 

Humility comes before growth. Pride comes before a fall — in business, life, and your connection to the Creator. Share on X

And the boss was angry at first because they were late, but then he turned his anger into intrigue, and it evolved into “Wait, wait a second. Tell me that again,” because this boss was having challenges selling his product. But then, when they told him about the group of people waiting at the train depot, they had nothing to do, and they were trying to find something to do. What he did was he decided to take a year off and study the train systems. So he took a year off to study the train systems, learned all the routes, ins and outs, and then he got himself a meeting with the executives, and he sat down with the executives and said, “Look, you have a problem. You experience these delays every single day, and you have all your customers, a group of people, waiting, with nothing to do. We have a solution. We have Wrigley’s gum.”

And the executives, to his surprise, were like, “Dude, you’re like an answered prayer. We’ve been praying and we’ve been asking, like, we need ideas, because we’re not able to solve this delay problem, yet, we need ideas to keep our customers busy and happy and doing something collectively.” And then that’s where Wrigley’s got into a partnership with this train depot, and their businesses skyrocketed. This is what we refer to as the law of connection today. People refer to it as joint ventures or partnerships. 

But why am I talking about this? When we examine the online space, including social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, these are well-established brands. Still, in every market, there’s already delivery systems out there of people that have your audience or the ear of your customer, that if you can partner with them or create some type of joint venture, it could literally be the move that can take you to the next level, and that’s called the Law of Connection.

So what’s an example of that kind of connection that you’re for? What’s your train depot or train company? Example, in your life?

I have several of them. Some of them are on the private side, and some of them are on the public side to be fully transparent. However, one of the programs I can discuss is the one we work with. It’s called Prime Profit Partnership, where I work with only 12 entrepreneurs a year. And there’s a reason why I choose the number 12, and there’s a neat reason why it’s called Prime by the way, I get the name from Joseph when he was converted into the prime minister of Egypt, as you’re familiar, in the land of Israel or the land of Egypt, but which is close by to Israel. 

So I built that program because most people want to grow up to be Batman. They want to be like number one, but I’ve been able to find a model where we grow pretty well being Robin, the number two in place. We have partnerships in place where I will enter a business, audit its operations, identify areas of weakness, and work to create a partnership that addresses these gaps. Still, simultaneously, we also allow them to capture more, and then we partner, or we have a delivery system partnership where we both grow. And those have been working very, very well.

Cool. What would be a good tip for our listener or viewer to start forging those kinds of partnerships? 

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The first thing you want to look at is understanding that it’s not about creating a new system. It’s about identifying that there are already delivery systems out there that have the ear of your audience, but it’s not just about what you can get. It’s about creating synergy and really looking at, ‘Okay, what’s going to be of value to the person who has the connection?’ 

The example that I gave this gentleman was the value of the train depot. You guys have this problem. You guys have this leak. It needs to be filled. The train depot. They didn’t see it as a pitch or a sales pitch; they saw it as an answered prayer. So, examining the connections that can be positioned on both sides as an answered prayer, for lack of a better phrase, that’s where the true magic happens, at least that’s what I’ve seen in my life, and I continue to see it. So, being really intentional about praying or thinking through it is the first step and the last step. It’s you’re thinking about the end from the beginning, but it’s really giving you the focus on those partnerships or relationships that you should be focused on,

Right? And, most importantly, to return to something we discussed earlier in the conversation, is partnering with God. Everything you do is done with God, and nothing can exist without Him. So, if you’re going to bring that into your conscious awareness, then you’re going to be co-creating and co-marketing with the Creator of all that is, and there’s no better partner.

I just want to say this. I really enjoy this connection, this call, because I’m on several different platforms, and it’s always refreshing to see someone who’s unashamed about telling people the truth, and you’re 100% right. Stephan, God is my CEO. He’s my partner. He’s my number one. And you say, What’s your secret? Relationship? That’s it.

Yes, I recall hearing this concept for the first time from Kurtis Thomas, whom I interviewed on my other podcast, Get Yourself Optimized. That was an episode about breathwork. He’s an expert in that area, but he made such a profound statement that he is in business with God. And I asked him, “How did you come up with that? How did that come to your consciousness?” And he said, “Well, my former partner, my former business partner, he went off and did his own thing. We parted ways amicably, and he was really going gangbusters with his new business.” And I asked him what his secret was, and he said, “God’s my business partner.” I’m like, “How do you do that? I want to do that too.” And so then when I heard it from Kurtis, I’m like, “I want to do that too. “And I asked God, and God said, “Yes,” you know it’s like, you don’t assume that he’s going to be your business partner, but you have to ask, and really, everything is his. Anyways, you know, it’s not like you’re tithing 10% the whole thing is his, and you’re allocating 10% of his money, which you’re a steward of, to whatever charities. And if you’re a good steward, then you get more.

That’s it. I call it the steward of success. We have this whole identity frame that we show people. And the steward of success teaches people that we don’t own anything. We just manage it. We’re managers, we’re stewards, and it’s all about how we can manage resources for the next generation. I tell people this, too. Stephan, people get upset at me sometimes when I say this. 

If you’re going to co-create and co-market with anyone, it might as well be the Creator of all that is.

But I’m like, “God has a problem.” And people are like, “What do you mean? God has a problem? God doesn’t have any problems. He’s perfect.” And I’m like,” I’m not saying that God’s not perfect on mission, of course, that I’m not taking that from him, but God does have a problem. And they’re like, “Well, what’s God’s problem?” Right? And I’m like, “Well, God’s problem is that he owns every cattle on every hill, all the gold and silver is his. He owns everything. 

But here’s his problem. He has few managers. He’s looking for people that he can entrust to steward his wealth, and there are few of them.” So what does he have to do? He has to give it to the wicked. Because the wicked understand management. So that’s why the word says the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous. But how do you transfer it? A transfer occurs, and that’s through what we’re discussing. It’s through becoming a steward. It’s through looking at the leaks. It’s through being faithful with the little that he can bless you with much. That’s what the beach of abundance teaches, by the way, before you can get more, we first have to be faithful. We have to plug in those leaks, and if we’re not willing to do the hard work or hire the right help, we’re going to be stuck like Chuck in a pickup truck, like people say.

So, how did you end up white labeling and making that one of your offerings? Everything happens miraculously. So I’m guessing there’s a story there, some sort of synchronicity or chance occurrence, or what some would deem as luck, but we know it’s all God.

Well, many of the people we serve and empower, Stephan, are individuals between 40 and 80 years of age. And one of the pain points that is not a pain point, but rather one of the things they don’t want to waste their time on, is understanding all the technology, systems, and other aspects. So, we decided to partner with GoHighLevel to build a SaaS, because one of the things we do is show people how to get their systems in place. 

That’s one of the assets our agency has in place to help people build in record time. This was the reason we aimed to serve our audience and address the pain points they were experiencing more effectively and efficiently. 

Yeah, and what’s the name of your offering? 

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Yes, our size is referred to as Leads & Sales.io, because we’re building a system to generate leads and then convert them into sales. 

Let’s go back to your origin story here. I know we’re getting close to time, so I’m cognizant of that, but I’m really curious about the miraculous occurrence here with you stopping stuttering. Can you describe the day, please? Was it on the day that you drowned and came back that you stopped stuttering, or was it a different day? Or like, help me understand, help my listener understand a bit more about this miraculous turn of events for you.

Yes, it happened in my knowledge, as I grew and my identity developed, and I came to understand who I was after emerging from that cocoon of ignorance. That’s where it started to shed away from me. That’s the best I could describe it. So it wasn’t like this day it happened. It was kind of like a journey, if you will, and a discovery, as I realized who I am: I am not what I do, but I am who God says I am. Right? If someone creates something, the creation can’t tell the Creator who it is. The Creator tells the creation what it is, and what its purpose and identity are. So that was more of that.

Interesting, you know, this seemingly trivial thing that I learned a couple of years ago from Roger Love, whom I interviewed three or four years ago. He’s a voice coach to the stars, to the likes of the biggest pop stars in the world, and he said you can’t stutter if you have a stutter while you’re singing, so someone with a big stutter will have no problem singing a song without stuttering at all.

So he studied, why is that occurring? And how does somebody stop stuttering if they’re not singing? And the answer he came up with was to let everything out that you have to say in one long stream of air every time you stop, rather than just not keeping breathing out. So it’s not even about breathing. It’s about the airflow. He would describe it as imagining a yellow stream of airflow coming out of your mouth. You don’t want to interrupt that. You don’t want to staccato that at all, because then the starter will start. And I just thought, Wow, that’s fascinating. 

That makes perfect sense. 

Yeah. Anyway, I appreciate you sharing all this from your heart, including your personal experiences, the tragedy, and the triumph. And. You know, it’s not a typical marketing episode. I’m going a little off script here, but that’s how I was led to do this episode. And yeah, just in these last couple of minutes that we have left, I’m curious to hear what you want to share in terms of, like, where you think things are headed or how you feel about the future. It’s a wild time here in terms of politics, AI, global threats, and power structures, with numerous issues that might make people feel afraid or want to retreat and stop investing in marketing, perhaps even buying a couple of years’ worth of food.

I believe, Stephan, that the best investment is in people. That’s why I dedicated my life to building our vision, a brand called The Service of Speaking, where our focus is on raising up leaders in every sphere of influence, whether they’re called to business, media, education, arts and entertainment, family, faith and spirituality, government, or politics. 

My goal is to raise up these leaders so they can transform industries, create movements, and provide for their calling. And I do it through helping them grow online and grow their enterprises. And that’s what I’ve been focused on, because there needs to be an army that’s raised up, and that’s what I believe God is doing right now. He’s raising up people like David, those who are unknown, the unknowns, and he’s preparing them so they can be the standard against the evil that’s happening. It’s more of a calling. It’s more of a vision, where you feel like there’s something that you have to share. 

Maybe it’s an area of expertise that you’ve been stewarding for the last 10, 20, 30 years. And you know, you’re called to release that book, create that event, launch that course, launch that nonprofit, launch that business, but you’re just stuck, or you just don’t know how to start, how to get it to the next level. Those are the people that I’m looking for. I have a group of investors who back me. I have a group of known international celebrities who back me as well. And we’re really building this movement that’s going to reach the masses, and that’s what I’m focused on now, because that’s what God has pretty much shown with clarity on what to focus on, and that’s the people that surround that vision, and it’s been very rewarding thus far.

Yes, you were discussing one of your frameworks earlier. Part of this one framework is belief, and one thing that I was guided to and have used quite a lot is the willing suspension of disbelief. A somewhat different take on belief. When you suspend your disbelief, that’s a lot easier for some people to accept, especially skeptics. It’s like, okay, I guess I can suspend disbelief, but if they have to believe something, then you have to get through their critical faculty and all their logical executive center in their brain. However, if they can only temporarily suspend their disbelief, then that cracks the door open for change to occur. 

I 100% agree with you. This is why one of the things we primarily teach is that, if I were hosting an event, we would start with 60 seconds of what strangers have to say about going, working with us, or learning from us. And what that video does is show real people who are crying emotionally, talking about the breakthroughs they experienced, it suspends disbelief of what you’re saying. So, they can then be open to hearing, and that’s when the belief is cultivated.

Awesome. All right, great. Well, thank you so much, Israel, for sharing from your heart and soul. And if our listener or viewer wants to work with you, perhaps they want to utilize your platform and receive training, as well as other relevant information. Where do we send them?

Yeah, so I want to do something especially special for you, Stephan, because you’ve been a joy here with your transparency. And there’s this gift that we typically charge money for, but I’m not going to charge anybody for this. All you’ve got to do is go. I have two gifts to offer your audience. 

Number one, if you find me on Instagram and type in my name, Israel Duran, you’ll find my Instagram account. If you direct message me the word ‘marketingspeak’ all in one word, by the way, I’ll waive the cost. I’m going to give you my online business blueprint. It’s going to walk you through a simple process, and very easy that you can use to identify where your potential leak is or where your hole is, so you can plug that in, so you can then hit your growth okay, but then simultaneously, most likely, you’re going to have a question going through the guide or the blueprint.

And I may not be there, but what I want to do is I want to open up an opportunity for those of you that may have questions going through the guide, for you to speak to me or a member of my team on those questions and how we can potentially help you create a custom blueprint. Because the guide I created is both in-depth and simple, it’s based on solid principles. When people typically speak to us, we’re able to provide more specific information because we understand their unique situation. So we’re going to give them that guide, but make sure to DM us the word ‘marketingspeak’ (all one word) to avoid paying the front-end cost. Okay, and that’s a gift if you just follow us on Instagram.

Awesome. Well, thank you very much.

Thank you for having me.

And thank you, listener. Now get out there and make the world a better place. We’ll catch up with you in the next episode. In the meantime, have a fantastic week. I’m your host. Stephan Spencer, signing off.

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Your Checklist of Actions to Take

Identify my business leak (in branding, marketing, sales, operations, or mindset) that’s preventing exponential growth using the Beach of Abundance Model. Fixing this linchpin creates the greatest impact.

Apply the 4 C’s of content creation for authentic marketing. Create content with Consistency (show up regularly), Conviction (speak with genuine belief), Charity (demonstrate love for my audience), and Compassion (show empathy for their struggles).

Build my own platform, independent of social media dependencies. Develop an email database and membership site I control, not just social media followers who can disappear if I’m de-platformed.

Leverage the law of connection for exponential growth. Identify existing delivery systems that already have my audience’s attention, then create partnerships that solve their problems while serving my customers. Look for synergistic relationships where I become the solution to someone else’s existing challenge.

Create reaction videos for viral content to drive quick growth. Find content that has already gone viral and aligns with my brand, then film myself reacting to it with commentary before or after.

Establish my identity separate from my purpose. Understand that identity (who I am) is different from purpose (what I do), because purpose can change with seasons while identity remains constant.

Practice daily solitude for 30-60 minutes to access abundance. Set aside uninterrupted time daily for journaling and listening to God’s guidance, allowing the “still, small voice” to provide direction and insights.

Partner with God as my business co-creator. Recognize that everything belongs to God and I’m a steward managing His resources, not an owner trying to build something independently. 

Address blind spots through a humble outside perspective. Acknowledge that my biggest business leaks are often blind spots I can’t see in myself. Seek out advisors, mentors, or consultants who can identify what I’m missing, and approach this with humility rather than pride.

Connect with Israel Duran for a personalized business growth strategy. Follow him on Instagram, and direct message the word “marketingspeak” (all one word) to receive his free Online Business Blueprint, which helps identify specific business leaks.

About Israel Duran

Israel Duran is in high demand as a business growth partner, speaker, and trainer, where he focuses on empowering his students, clients and partners in the areas of business, money and speaking. As an inspirational speaker, Israel has empowered thousands of purpose-driven entrepreneurs all over the world. His vision is to help Purpose-Driven Leaders leverage their expertise and knowledge to create and scale profitable businesses that impact individuals, businesses, and the world.