Draft:Jeff Hopeck

Jeff Hopcek hails from the lovely town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where he was born and raised. His journey began in Catholic schools, where he spent his formative years from grade school all the way through high school. Those years were filled with memorable experiences, friendships, and lessons that shaped who he is today.

After graduating high school, he decided to take his education a step further and enrolled at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. There, he dove into the fascinating world of marketing and economics. He was eager to learn everything he could about the business world. Little did he know, his time at college would be anything but ordinary. It turned into an incredible entrepreneurial rollercoaster, full of unexpected twists and turns that taught him so much about life and business.

While he was in college, he started dabbling with selling golf equipment on eBay. What began as a simple hobby turned into a lucrative business. As a college student with limited funds, stumbling upon this opportunity felt like winning the lottery! At the same time, he got heavily into trading stocks, specifically riding the wave of Cisco Systems’ stock splits, which resulted in another windfall for him.

But here’s the kicker— he lost it all. He made a risky move by investing on margin in a company that claimed to have a cure for the common cold. The stock surged initially, but he didn’t sell in time. He watched his account plummet from over $100,000 to just $0.24. It was devastating, but it was also one of the most valuable lessons of his life, teaching him resilience and persistence.

After graduating, he took up a six-month sales job with a radio company. It wasn’t for him, mainly because the quality of life it offered was far from what he wanted. He knew there had to be something better out there. During this period, he applied for various federal government positions, and the Secret Service was the first to respond.

He underwent a lengthy interview process and ultimately landed a position with the United States Secret Service Uniform Division. This role was an eye-opener and offered him some incredible travel opportunities. He visited 44 states and some fascinating countries, including Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he was part of the first presidential visit by President George W. Bush in 2005.

Even while working with the Secret Service, his entrepreneurial spirit never waned. During training, he came across a product called the kettlebell. Though it had been around for over a century, it wasn’t widely commercialized. Inspired, he left the Secret Service and started a fitness business in Atlanta, Georgia.

He created his own brand of kettlebells, importing them from India, and started selling them to gyms and households. His fitness business took off, and he even wrote and self-published two books, which opened doors to speaking engagements and further opportunities.

One day, someone asked if they could rent his brain for marketing advice. He agreed, and soon, referrals started pouring in. Within a year, he had a million-dollar marketing services business. At that point, he was juggling his successful fitness brand and a booming marketing business.

However, he made a poor decision to exit the fitness brand too quickly. Looking back, he wishes he had brought in a managing partner and collected royalties from all the hard work he put into developing the brand. Hindsight is 20/20.

From 2008 to the present, he has been running Killer Shark Marketing, initially focusing on dentists and doctors. One of his proudest achievements is that over 90% of his original clients stayed with him for ten years. We’ve generated over $40 million in revenue from referrals, and has never used annual contracts. Clients could leave any time they felt it wasn’t working, which made his business really sticky. His unique approach is connecting marketing efforts directly to the cash register, which has set them apart.

In 2012, he ventured into residential real estate and spent ten years flipping houses, turning it into a multimillion-dollar venture. Around the same time, he rekindled his interest in equity trading. Remember that money he lost in college? Well, he was determined to make it back.

Over the past decade, he has been involved in day trading, short-term trading, and compounding dividends. He even developed his own fund, with the hope of bringing his investing style and model to the marketplace someday. Managing personal portfolios for his family has become a hobby he is incredibly passionate about.

In 2022, he read the book "The Big Leap" that helped him understand his Upper Limit Problem (ULP). This revelation led him to create a brand called "The Jeff Hopeck Show: Conversations with Interesting Humans", a podcast and YouTube show where he interviews some of our world’s most Interesting Humans who share their diverse experiences, rich knowledge, and captivating stories.

His journey has been a blend of highs and lows, successes and failures. From entrepreneurial ventures to the Secret Service, fitness businesses, marketing, real estate, and trading, each chapter has shaped him into who he is today. Above all, family remains his priority, and he strives to balance his professional endeavors with quality time spent with his loved ones.