This week on How Success Happens, I sit down with Forrest Galante, a biologist, TV host, producer, and all-around wildlife maniac who’s been referred to as a modern-day Charles Darwin with a splash of Indiana Jones. (And a splash of some squid slime as nicely.) You’ll see much more of Forrest as a number on the upcoming “Shark Week,” the place his new particular “Alien Sharks: Untamed America” dives into the wildest shark and ray species lurking in U.S. waters. We’ve damaged down Forrest’s success insights that will help you dive into your individual plan for fulfillment in three, two, one!
Listen right here
Subscribe now: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Three Key Insights
1. Don’t Be Scared of Wanting More
Forrest got here out of college like numerous us, fired as much as “change the world” in his chosen subject of biology. Then actuality hit: in his phrases, “I realized very quickly that following the traditional routes of being a biologist, I was not making any real impact.” Yes, he might save a worm or an ant, nevertheless it wasn’t on the size that mattered to him. Instead, he pivoted into wildlife media so “millions and millions and millions of people have fallen in love with wildlife and conservation through some of the media that I have put together.”
Takeaway: If your present path isn’t creating the influence you crave, don’t give up your mission—change the medium you utilize to pursue it.
2. Build the Company That Does What You Want to Do
Forrest didn’t got down to be a manufacturing firm founder; he got down to inform higher wildlife tales. After pitching huge, bold concepts to conventional producers and listening to “I don’t see the vision and I also don’t really know the point,” he realized, “the only way that I can do this is if I do it myself.” He co-founded Phantasticus Pictures, which he says is now “the largest production company in the world for wildlife media outside of the BBC,” all constructed on a easy north star: make extra content material, make it higher, and keep true to the mission.
Takeaway: When gatekeepers don’t consider in your thought, turn out to be your individual gatekeeper and construct the platform that does.
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3. Bring Your Friends and Drink within the Occasional Misery
Forrest’s work is as wild behind the scenes as what you see on “Shark Week”—assume croc poop within the mouth, experiencing “explosive diarrhea” throughout a present open, and 10–12-hour dive days that go away Humboldt squid slime on his physique (and aroma) for weeks. But right here’s the factor: he sees all of that chaos—the lengthy drives, damaged boats, logistical nightmares—as a part of the enjoyable, saying their secret sauce is “a bunch of bros cruising around with a shared passion that have diverse skill sets” and one way or the other turning that into nice TV.
Takeaway: Embrace discomfort and chaos as the price of doing one thing extraordinary—and construct a trusted workforce that may snort, adapt, and maintain pushing with you.
Two Free Resources to Learn More
- You can comply with Forrest’s adventures and watch his weekly wildlife movies on his YouTube channel, the place he shares extinct animal rediscoveries, facility excursions, and really wild adventures. And don’t miss Forrest as a number on the upcoming “Shark Week,” particularly his “Alien Sharks: Untamed America” particular exploring the unimaginable variety of sharks and rays in U.S. waters—from glow-in-the-dark swell sharks to gigantic sawfish and basking sharks off Plymouth Rock.
- Learn extra about Forrest’s backstory in a chat we had with him again in 2020 as he was simply beginning to make his mark in media.
Forrest risked consolation, safety, and a gradual paycheck to construct an organization round his wildest concepts—usually whereas dwelling off his spouse’s part-time instructor wage and never paying himself for years.
What’s one thing you’ve sacrificed — cash, holidays, time spent on a passion — to prioritize your dream?
Email your reply to howsuccesshappens@entrepreneur.com—I’ll learn a few of your responses on a future episode.
About How Success Happens
Each episode of How Success Happens shares the inspiring, entertaining, and sudden journeys that influential leaders in enterprise, the humanities, and sports activities traveled on their approach to turning into family names. It’s a reminder that behind each big-time profession, there’s a one who continued within the face of self-doubt, failure, and anything that bought thrown of their manner.
This week on How Success Happens, I sit down with Forrest Galante, a biologist, TV host, producer, and all-around wildlife maniac who’s been referred to as a modern-day Charles Darwin with a splash of Indiana Jones. (And a splash of some squid slime as nicely.) You’ll see much more of Forrest as a number on the upcoming “Shark Week,” the place his new particular “Alien Sharks: Untamed America” dives into the wildest shark and ray species lurking in U.S. waters. We’ve damaged down Forrest’s success insights that will help you dive into your individual plan for fulfillment in three, two, one!
Listen right here
Subscribe now: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Three Key Insights
1. Don’t Be Scared of Wanting More
Forrest got here out of college like numerous us, fired as much as “change the world” in his chosen subject of biology. Then actuality hit: in his phrases, “I realized very quickly that following the traditional routes of being a biologist, I was not making any real impact.” Yes, he might save a worm or an ant, nevertheless it wasn’t on the size that mattered to him. Instead, he pivoted into wildlife media so “millions and millions and millions of people have fallen in love with wildlife and conservation through some of the media that I have put together.”