Sequoia Blodgett started out as a commercial music video director for 9 years. She worked with artists from K Michelle to Justin Bieber. In 2014, Sequoia became really sick and was hospitalized. Doctors were trying to figure out what was going on and nobody could tell her what was happening. She was sick to the point where she couldn’t feel her body completely. Turns out that a cold had infected her spinal cord and numbed her entire body. During this time she started doing some reflection and thought if this was it, would she be excited having created just visuals for artists and ad agencies. She asked herself if she was going to be excited if that was her legacy. And she decided she wouldn’t be so it was at that time that she decided to go in a different direction.
She had been immersed in personal development and had been following Tony Robbins. It was at that time, Sequoia decided to take her career in a different direction. She found out about Draper University in Silicon Valley and applied. She received a partial scholarship and was in awe of all the brilliant minds. Once there she wondered, why isn’t this a reality show? “It felt like Real World meets Survivor meets Apprentice meets Shark Tank”, says Sequoia. She received angel investment from Tim Draper himself and then also became the entrepreneur in residence at Draper University. She learned that Silicon Valley is a very connected ecosystem, if you get to a certain place; you help the next person. She loves that failure is praised at Draper University; it’s exciting to them so if you fail, try something else. They don’t let it hold them back.
ABC Family Network picked up “Startup U” and you can catch the Season Finale today Thursday, October 15, at 5pm EST on ABC Family Network.
Check out our interview with Sequoia Blodgett below where she talks about her passion and how she started her personal development website called 7AM.
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What inspired you to become a life coach?
3 years ago I got really hooked to tony Robbins, studied, ate slept and breathed him for 3 years straight. I got so immerged in his teachings and saw how massive the change could be if you followed certain structures and if your perspective is set on a certain pathway. I’m very passionate about being the greatest version of you while on this planet. At the end of it all you die, so while you’re in this process, were you maximizing your potential? Were you the best person that you can be? I am passionate about meeting that height and helping other people meet that height as well. Draper University helped me understand how I could make this a business.
How did it feel to go from being a talent escort taking other artists to their Media to now being on the other side of the red carpet?
We went to TCA, which is the television critics association, and for ABC it’s all of the ABC shows. In the beginning of my career id’ literally walk different talents to their media outlets and make sure they took got all their media taken care of. Now being on the other side and seeing all this amazing talent and being one of them? I’m just thinking to myself I looked to my left and Shonda Rhimes is over there, I looked to the right and Tyra Banks is here, then the cast of Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder and I’m walking this carpet with THEM, and I’m going, when did this happen? It was a really crazy experience, I was in complete aw and it was so surreal.
What life lesson has been most beneficial to you in your entrepreneurship?
Just try it. You have to do it. If you have an idea build on it as much as you can, ask people about it, get feedback, and start a process of execution which doesn’t necessarily mean getting a product out there but start to build traction to see if the product is buyable. So many people talk themselves out of doing it; you just have to go out there and do it.
Do you one day hope to start your own empire?
My empire is 7AM and it started off as an app you could download. It was about relationship advice. Fast forward 2 months down the line I talked to the former CEO of match.com and we both saw a bigger opportunity in the self-paced E-learning platform space so I pivoted and now we’re a personal development platform. So it’s happening, I’m already building my empire, we launched September 15th.
Do you plan to add more courses on the 7am site, are they all self-paced?
So what’s interesting about 7 am and which is our differentiating factor from other platforms is we are all about personal development.
I wanted to start with a small amount of courses first. The thing that I’ve learned about the psychology of the mind, is the less options you give somebody the better. When people feel inundated with options they don’t know what to choose or how to choose it and 9 times out of 10 they’ll back off of the platform. If you give them a small amount of choices, and they see “oh I relate to this” and they’re passionate about changing that factor in their lives then they’re more likely to take that course. Small is key for me right now.
Another differentiating factor that we have is we’re now adding accountability coaches. So while it’s self-paced you can also purchase an accountability coach with your course. Having a life coach would cost you $100 – $300 an hour if they’re substantially good. Now you can purchase an accountability coach with your course who knows that person giving the course, knows the expert, knows the platform and the course material and can check in with you every week and ask you where you’re at, what is going on with you and see if you have questions and literally help you get through the course. I’ve learned that people kind of pacify themselves. Like they’ll say, I want a good relationship, let me sign up for “the bad boy detox course”, purchase a course and then never take it. Although we want to make money, my overarching goal is to help people become the best versions of themselves. I want to see people engage and get the contact and benefit of the material.
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Make sure to check out Startup U on ABC Family Network. Sequoia is to billionaire venture capitalist, Tim Draper, on Startup U what Ivanka Trump is to Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice. Remember to check out her personal Development Company 7AM, an online marketplace funded by Tim Draper. There are some great courses available.
