Meet Will Baggett | Author, Professional Speaker and Serial Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Will Baggett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Will, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting a business was never truly a goal of mine, even though I was fortunate to have a family pedigree of business owners. My late grandfather was a contractor and real estate developer. My eldest uncle owns his own engineering firm. My late uncle owned a media company. My dad is a residential building contractor. My oldest brother is an e-commerce guru, and my middle brother has his own trucking and dispatching service. Then you have me, a now seventh-generation entrepreneur, which I take a great deal of pride in after researching my family history.

I can think back to being as young as six years old, sitting in my father’s work truck writing checks for his employees. Of course, back then, I did not know I was being groomed to be a future business owner. For me, this is just what we did on Friday’s, and I really enjoyed it. Fast forward to third grade, when our class was being “taught” how to write checks, I was extremely bored because I’d been doing it for years by then.

When I was fourteen years old, my dad showed me something that forever changed my perspective about business and finances. He was working on a residential project in North Mississippi (where we’re from), and for some reason, the banker was being extra strict on every little detail despite my father’s impeccable resume. Nevertheless, my dad obliged to his requests, but he was playing chess the whole time. Once my dad passed all the inspections, he went in to see that banker with the inspection receipts and demanded every penny of the money that he was owed.

$30,000, and he wanted it in crisp hundred dollar bills. I’ve never seen someone so mad in his life, but there was nothing he could do but pay my father what he was owed. We get out to the car and my dad sets the money bag containing $30k and looks me in my eye saying, “Son, some people don’t even make this kind of money in a year. We just made it in 15 mins. That’s how money works. The only way to beat the system is to be in business for yourself.”

The rest is history, and I now own a thriving professional speaking business, a real estate development company, a trucking company, a paid podcasting service as well as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have been a professional speaker since February of 2017, thanks to the support of amazing colleagues and friends. In fact, my first real speaking engagement was actually paid ($300), so from the outset I was confident in my service and what it could do to help other people.

I can’t say it was easy, so to speak, but it was so much fun building it from the ground up that it never felt like work. I went from two paid in gigs 2017 to over fifty gigs in calendar year 2021, for which I’m extremely thankful to everyone who has entrusted an audience to me.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned along the way is the problem is not the problem, it’s how you respond to it. Losses will happen. People will come and go. You may even question yourself at times. But the will to press forward in the face of adversity is what separates the good from the elite.

I’ve learned that it is lonely at the proverbial top, but it is even lonelier at the bottom, so to speak. But I’m fortunate to have seen both and I know now who has my back no matter what, and that awareness has made me appreciate them all the more and have joy along the journey.

The reason being is that, you never truly “arrive”, per se. So if you base your happiness off of the acquisition of a person, place or thing, you will never be fulfilled. Once you reach a certain income level, depending on your cost of living calculation, the happiness associated with an amount of money actually starts to level off. So I encourage people to find validation within themselves and define success for yourself, not the way the world wants to define it for you.

I had to learn this the hard way from countless personal and financial hardships, but the lessons I have learned have been lifechanging to say the least. My story isn’t the best or worst story, but it’s mine and I own it, and I hope you will own yours as well and use it to help others.

Finally, I have learned that it is okay not to be okay. But it is also okay to be perfectly fine and content, so if you’re in a good space, don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for the work you have done to get where you are. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, and flourish in favor!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
These are some of my favorite spots:

– Happiest Hour
– Puttery
– White Rock Lake
– Bishop Cidercade
– Sidecar Social
– Another Round
– DFW Gun Range
– The Last Stand (Bishop Arts)
– TexPlex Offroad Riding
– Bowl Games Dallas
– National Video Game Museum
– Texas Archery Academy

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to shoutout my people!

– Mom & Pops for giving me the best childhood I could have ever imagined.
– Krispin Watson, my cousin, who is more like my sister and is always there to remind me of who I am.
– Dr. Jamil Northcutt for helping me in every aspect of my personal and professional career.
– Kelly Brooks for encouraging me daily during one of the hardest times of my life.
– Rijo Walker for holding it down when he didn’t have to and being a real one from day one.
– Cam Fenton for being the little brother I never had and always having my back, right or wrong.
– Dr. Abe Amos for exemplifying what it means to be a real standup person and to never look back.
– Ashier Majok for being a beacon of positive energy who lights up every room he walks into.
– Jeff Daverne for showing me what true servant, spiritual leadership looks like and putting other people first.

Website: www.execimage.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w_baggtalk/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willbaggett/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/W_BaggTalk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chill.will.127

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ZWF9tM8OJCMjImQmBhpcA

Image Credits
Sitting on top of truck – Milton D. Grays of MDG Productions