Speaker: 0:01

Welcome to The Heart-Led Business Show, where compassion meets commerce and leaders lead with love. Join your host, Tom Jackobs, as he delves into the insightful conversations with visionary business leaders who defy the status quo, putting humanity first and profit second. From heartfelt strategies to inspiring stories, this podcast is your compass in the world of conscious capitalism. So buckle up and let your heart guide your business journey.

Tom Jackobs: 0:36

Welcome to the heart-led business show where connections bloom like sunflowers. Today we're diving into a delightful conversation with the inspiring Troy Hadeed, a masterful author, Zen yoga teacher and social entrepreneur with a heart wide open, Troy is on a quest to make the divine more accessible and help humanity realize its intricate web of connection. So grab your yoga mat or your notepad because this episode is a journey you won't wanna miss. Troy, welcome to the show.

Troy Hadeed: 1:10

Yeah. Thanks Tom. Pleasure to be here. You know?

Tom Jackobs: 1:13

Uh.

Troy Hadeed: 1:14

Such an honor to be here. And we don't often talk about what it means to, like this, this, the, the sort of your show. This idea of business led by heart is such a beautiful thing that isn't often spoken of. So I wanna say thank you.

Tom Jackobs: 1:32

Oh, you're very welcome. And, and I, I'm really excited to dive into our conversation, especially with your book, Love. So, I mean that, that's, uh, exactly what we're all about. But the first question I always like to ask is, what's your definition of a heart-led business?

Troy Hadeed: 1:50

Yeah. I'll first say that a book is called, my Name is Love, so it's a little different. A heartd-led business to me is it's a business that at its very priority and agenda, save something bigger than itself, you know, and sure we need to generate profit to do that. But if we ask a question, well, what is the absolute priority of this business? Is it to make profit? Well, that's not a heartd-led business.

Tom Jackobs: 2:25

Right.

Troy Hadeed: 2:26

Is it to have a positive impact on society, any people around us, and save something greater than its own identity, and does it have to make profit to do that? That's a heart-led business, you know?

Tom Jackobs: 2:40

Uh, I like That's that's great. And, and I like that distinction between is it built to make a profit or is it built to be socially, uh, conscious and, and help people. Yeah, and really you can't really help people if you're not making a profit either.

Troy Hadeed: 2:56

Yeah, yeah. And to be honest, sometimes that's my struggle.'cause you can't be, you can't be too much hot and then you don't have sustainability. So you don't have a su sustainability to support a work you want to do anymore. You know? So you really have to find that balance. And it's not, it's not easy, you know, a lot of the time.

Tom Jackobs: 3:20

You know, and, and I think a lot of people think that being a heart-led business makes you kind of a doormat, meaning people can, can take advantage of you. Do you find that to be the case at all?

Troy Hadeed: 3:32

Um, for me, yeah, that's, um, if, if you ask me about my weakness as a, as a entrepreneur, that is my weakness as an entrepreneur. And, um, you know, right now, like we, I'm, I'm running a yoga studio, well, we are running a yoga studio now for over 10 years. And, um, I have now had to step back completely and we just hired, um, uh, general manager to come on board and I, I tell her now she's my boss. Yes. Because I know that, especially in that realm that I don't have what it takes. I'm too much hard, I'm too emotionally invested in this community to, um, have it actually be a profitable business. Um, and my decision has been to step back.

Tom Jackobs: 4:22

Wow.

Troy Hadeed: 4:23

It's not that you removed your heart, but you know, like I once had a business advisor tell me she worked in a corporate world for three decades. And she came to advise us on, on how we move forward. And what she identified was in a corporate world, they have to take this structure that is driven by profit and try and infuse more love, more compassion, more community, more understanding. And in our case, we have a community that is driven by love, compassion, understanding, and community, but it's not sustainable.

Tom Jackobs: 5:05

Right.

Troy Hadeed: 5:05

So we now have to do reverse is we have to take that community and ask, well, how do we infuse the structure, infuse the profitability so that that profit and sustainability can drive the work we want to do anywhere, you know?

Tom Jackobs: 5:20

Yeah. So how did you come up with the, the, or the recognition that you're the bottleneck or you're the problem in, in the business and, and you needed to hire a general manager?

Troy Hadeed: 5:31

Yeah. Um, you know, I, I guess introspection and accountability and, you know, I've had, um, this business that I'm in right now, which I don't even consider business. It's my life, my community, my family. Um, it really hasn't been profitable for quite some time. You know, we, we've just been kind of breaking even and getting by.

Tom Jackobs: 5:55

Sure.

Troy Hadeed: 5:57

But before that, I, I run a recycling business and, um, we collected waste cooking oil and recycled waste cooking oil and exported for biofuel to Europe. And when I first started that business, everyone thought I was absolute lunatic.

Tom Jackobs: 6:15

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 6:15

Um, no one believed in anything, but that was the most profitable business. I've ever, um, put my hands on, invested my time in,

Tom Jackobs: 6:25

Wow.

Troy Hadeed: 6:25

And, um, it was the most financially stable me as a individual has ever been. And, um, I decided I had, I was going to sell that business And I did. Um, and, uh, it was a decision I had to make because I realized that I could not take that business where it could possibly go, because for me, as a individual, it was all one big family. I was a doormat. I was too soft. I was too much hot. Um, and not enough of that structure accountability, um, that we need in a, for business to actually be profitable and sustainable. And I think it's just so important for someone to realize, well, what is my strength and what is my weakness?

Tom Jackobs: 7:23

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 7:23

Because we, we all have them. And I think for me, I acknowledge that that structure, rigidity, accountability, that is my weakness. That is not my strong point. And while I, I want to lead businesses that are heart-led and that serve something greater than ourselves, that for business to do that it needs a structure, it needs it profitability. And um, therefore we have to find a balance. And if I can't bring that balance, I have to bring someone else in who can bring that balance.

Tom Jackobs: 8:02

Yeah. Yeah,

Troy Hadeed: 8:02

You know?

Tom Jackobs: 8:03

Absolutely. So how tough, how tough was it to bring somebody in and, and, and hand over your business to somebody else to run?

Troy Hadeed: 8:14

Yeah. Um, for me, for me, it's not, it's not, it wasn't hard and I mean, it's still relatively new, but, um, it's not hard. I know I have to take a completely hands-off approach.

Tom Jackobs: 8:27

Mm-hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 8:28

They know I have a lot to offer. They know I'm in core of it. Um, but at the same time, when it comes to making hard decisions, I have to take a hands off approach if I want to see the business and community, which is what it is to me, right? If I want to see the community grow into what it can be and be profitable and sustainable, I mean, I've tried, clearly, I know I, I was in a, a therapist. My talking to my therapist two days ago and she said, well, do I have grief around it? I was like, no. She's like, am I worried that my community views me as a failure in that aspect? I was like, I'm not because I have failed them. I have, I have failed them. Right? And we're human. We make mistakes. We all have our strong point, our weaknesses, and I have no problem seeing that in that aspect. I have failed. And, um, there needs to be a balance and certain things need to be infused into the operations and the business that I have not been able to bring. So, so it, I, I think there's a big part of it as a entrepreneur is recognizing that there's some things I'm good at and there's some things I can't do.

Tom Jackobs: 9:59

Yeah. Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 10:00

I have to step back and take a hands off approach.

Tom Jackobs: 10:04

Yeah. You know, I think that is a very difficult thing for entrepreneurs to do. I, I know it was very difficult for me too.

Troy Hadeed: 10:12

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs: 10:12

When I, I gave over control to a general manager as well in, in my fitness business. And, but, but when you do that, how freeing did you feel or do you feel now having that responsibility kind of taken off your shoulders?

Troy Hadeed: 10:29

Well, we're, we're still in the, we're still in the space of transition.

Tom Jackobs: 10:38

Okay. Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 10:38

So I think I'm still very much involved trying to bridge gaps and connect those gaps. But I'll tell you how I look at it is that the business had come to a point, the yoga student community as a business had come to a point or is at a point where it could, no, there was no sustainability in this. This was not a life I wanted for myself or our teachers or our community. Right. So it's either it's gonna fold and fail and closed down, or changes have to be made. And if it works out and we find longevity and sustainability and profitability and a community grows to what I know it can be, well then I have to give everything I can for a little while to see that happen. And when it does happen, I will be really, really happy. Um, I will feel that freedom. And if it can't happen and it doesn't happen, well at least I know I give it everything.

Tom Jackobs: 11:51

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 11:52

Um, and in that also, it's a sense of peace.

Tom Jackobs: 11:56

Yeah. You know I can definitely relate to that. That's great. Now, how did you find a general manager that, that has the operational, you know, fortitude, but also the heart as well? Because I'm sure you, you need somebody with, with some heart, right. To still be in a heart-led business.

Troy Hadeed: 12:20

A lot, a lot of heart.

Tom Jackobs: 12:22

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 12:22

Financially we can't, we can't just, if somebody were to come to work here just for financial compensation, we probably couldn't afford that. Right?

Tom Jackobs: 12:33

Right.

Troy Hadeed: 12:34

So at least right now, to be part of our team and our community where we're at, you have to believe in what we do.

Tom Jackobs: 12:41

Hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 12:42

You have to believe in the greater scope, the greater purpose.'cause if you don't. It wouldn't feed you, it wouldn't give you what you need. It won't be able to give you what you need at this point in time. Right. And um, I would say, how did I find that person? Well, we pray, we ask, we have faith and we trust that they're going to show up. And, um, that is exactly what happened.

Tom Jackobs: 13:10

Oh, that's beautiful.

Troy Hadeed: 13:11

That is exactly what happened. Yeah.

Tom Jackobs: 13:14

That's awesome. And now can she fire you?

Troy Hadeed: 13:18

Um, I would, yeah. Yeah. I would like to believe so. Yeah. Yeah, sure, sure. If put it, put it this way, Tom and I say it all the time. If the classes I teach any studio are not bringing people in and the attendance is not there, then I need to be removed.

Tom Jackobs: 13:39

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 13:39

I need to be removed. And I, I'm okay with that, right? I'm 100% okay with, with my, path or my career or my future shifting in whatever ever, whatever way it needs to. And I think what, what often happens in, in regards to entrepreneurs, we see it all the time, is our identity becomes attached to that business or that role or that career. And in that, we hold ourselves back. We take, come attached, the business suffers. We suffer. And I always say, when somebody calls me a yoga teacher, I say, um, actually one of my, one of my books coming out, it's gonna be, I am not a yoga teacher.

Tom Jackobs: 14:25

Hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 14:26

Because I, I know that what I have to serve is so much bigger than teaching yoga. That whether it be writing books or speaking or doing work in a corporate world or coaching that, um, what I serve and what I bring is actually so much bigger than teaching yoga. That if that has to change, well that has to change.

Tom Jackobs: 14:48

Yeah. Oh, that's, that's very cool. Now let's talk a little bit about your book. My name is Love. How did you come across, or how did you develop that book?

Troy Hadeed: 14:59

Um, I first knew I was gonna write a book when I was 19 years old, 19, 20 years old. I never knew what it was gonna be about. I went to university and I told my dad I was gonna study writing and philosophy.

Tom Jackobs: 15:13

Oh, nice.

Troy Hadeed: 15:14

Yeah. And then he, of course, he was paying for my education and he said, absolutely not. You're gonna do business. So I did and, and, um, you know, a few years after graduating, I started teaching yoga and look at that. 20 years later, I pretty much write a book on philosophy. And love and life and, and it's so funny how it comes back around. But um, you know, I tried to write that book several times and I felt like every time I tried, I wasn't ready until the last time I sat down and tried. It felt like I was ready and it just started to come out. Everything came out, you know, it was ready to be born and um the reason I wrote a book, if I have to put it in a nutshell, is that, you know, along a human experience and, and anyone that is, or the spiritual self-realization world, or whatever you wanna call it, personal develop on world, we talk about a lot of things and we repost a lot of things and we read a lot of books and we say a lot of these things that we know we should be saying. But it seems like asking question, how does this apply to my life? And embodying or incorporating these things into our life, um, and acknowledging where we're dropping a ball and where we're not doing that. Seems still elude us. So this, um, this book was an effort to present certain realizations or philosophy to ideas and teachings. Um, user experience it from my life that a reader could relate to, and then invite the reader to ask you a question, how does it apply to me? Where does this apply to me? And it's not, it's not as easy as, you know, when we, when we look at, you know, I didn't wanna call the book self-help. I still don't wanna call the book self-help. Um, but when I look, when we think of those things, we think of, all right, how can I make more money? How can I live a healthy life? How can I make all my dreams come through? Um, but how about how can I get outta my own way and save something bigger than my needs, my wants and my desires? So, in other words, for me it's a, it's a dissolving of the idea of self to serve something bigger, you know?

Tom Jackobs: 17:47

Yeah. I love that. Yeah. That's great. And people, I think people need that as well because we're so focused in, in the personal development. I'm glad that it's not a self-help book, right. Because, because it kind of pigeonholes you then into doing things to help us dream better, better, you know, instead of getting out of our way and being better that way as well. So I think that's, that's a, that's a great way of bringing the love back. Great. So when, when you were starting the yoga studio, what was that transition like from selling the recycling business, which I think was brilliant too, by the way. That's a great business idea. And, and so selling that and then opening up the, the, the studio, what was that transition like for you?

Troy Hadeed: 18:37

Um, it was gradual. So there was a, a, you know, and before that recycling business, I had a hemp store.

Tom Jackobs: 18:46

Okay.

Troy Hadeed: 18:46

You know? And then, um, when I realized I didn't wanna run a retail store, it wasn't really what it was, it wasn't really having the impact I wanted it to have. You see, this wasn't a hemp shop. Or a head shop. It was a hemp shop, not a head shop.

Tom Jackobs: 19:03

Okay.

Troy Hadeed: 19:03

So, it was, it wasn't about hemp in, in the idea of smoking or or CBD or THC. It was about fibers, clothes, cosmetics, and the environmental use or the environmental contribution of cannabis tiva. And then after I ran that for seven years and I began to realize, well, okay, this is no longer having the environmental impact or sustainability impact I wanted to have. It now has just become a retail store.

Tom Jackobs: 19:34

Hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 19:34

Um, so I think before I closed that story, I started teaching yoga.

Tom Jackobs: 19:40

Okay.

Troy Hadeed: 19:41

And when I started teaching yoga, I, um, I realized that I wanted, that, that was what I wanted to do more of because I recognized that we could not have a world that where we lived in peace and harmony if the individuals of that world are not at peace and harmony with themselves.

Tom Jackobs: 20:01

Right. Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 20:02

So I, I decided that I wanted to shift with that kind of direction. And it's so funny, I remember the, the day I pulled into my driveway and I got out, I tell the story in my book and I got outta my truck and I smell the diesel fuel and, and I decided in that moment, it's almost like I got a download that said I was gonna convert my vehicle to run on waste cooking oil.

Tom Jackobs: 20:29

Hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 20:29

So I went to Colorado. I learned how to convert a truck to run on waste cooking oil and how to make biodiesel.

Tom Jackobs: 20:37

Okay.

Troy Hadeed: 20:37

And then my own, my intention was just to do it for my truck. And when I came back home I realized that all the waste cooking oil with that being poured down a drain. And that people were even being paid to take it to dump. I was like well hold on. There's an opportunity here. So that's when I really got into to expanding and building that business. But that was never my initial intention. Um, I just, as I followed my heart, as I followed my heart, the opportunity presented itself.

Tom Jackobs: 21:16

Yeah.

Troy Hadeed: 21:16

I think after a few years of running that business and being successful, I began to feel a weight of the, because it be, it very much became a corporate life, the weight of that. And I felt very um, strained in the management of, of my staff because they became like family for me and that, that emotional weight on me trying to bridge that gap of heart-led profitability, um, I realized that it was not something I could shoulder, and that if the business needed to go where it needed to go, it needed more of that.

Tom Jackobs: 21:59

Hmm.

Troy Hadeed: 21:59

So I actually started, I was teaching yoga while I built that business. And what happened is when I sold that business, I was able to build a house. And pretty much all that money was gone um, but now I could comfortably direct all my energy into building this yoga studio and community that I knew, at least at first financially, would not really give me what I was hoping for, but at least I had somewhere to live so I could direct my energy to it regardless. So it, it kind of gave me a financial, a sense of somewhat of financial freedom so I could at least give something all my energy and my love without it having to give me back financially right away. So it, it was a transition and it still is a transition.

Tom Jackobs: 22:56

You know, business in, in general is, it's always a new day, right? Never, never the same thing, which is, which is what I lo I love about business. It's, it's always so. Cool. So Troy, how can people learn more about you, your speaking, the books, uh, even the yoga studio.

Troy Hadeed: 23:15

Yeah. Well, they can find me at troyhadeed.com. And of course my book is also available on amazon.com. They could find it there. I am on all social media platforms. Instagram is my most preferred. If they want to support our yoga studio or do yoga online with us from Trinidad, yeah, they could go to beyond the Yoga TV or beyondyogatrinidad.com.

Tom Jackobs: 23:40

Oh, nice. Oh, that's, that's

Troy Hadeed: 23:42

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs: 23:43

Very cool. Yeah. Streaming worldwide.

Troy Hadeed: 23:46

First 30 days is free, so they could sign up and check it out. Join us live in Trinidad.

Tom Jackobs: 23:52

Oh, nice. Yeah. And that, oh, that sounds like a great global community as well.

Troy Hadeed: 23:56

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs: 23:57

Well, Troy, thank you so much for sharing your insights today and sharing your story. I really appreciate you taking that time to do that, and I know our listeners really appreciate you as well.

Troy Hadeed: 24:07

Same. And thanks for having me. And I don't, I don't think, Tom, I think a lot of the time listeners don't always realize the amount of work it takes to have a podcast and cultivate a podcast. And persistence. And a resilience. So I just want to say to you, thank you for having me and what you do.

Tom Jackobs: 24:26

Oh, you're very welcome.

Troy Hadeed: 24:27

Yeah.

Tom Jackobs: 24:28

And thank you listeners for tuning in today as well. I really appreciate it. I know Troy really appreciates you tuning in as well and make sure that you're checking out everything that he's doing. We'll provide all of that down in the show notes, so make sure you're checking that out. Clicking around. And I believe there's even a, uh, a link there to his book, an audio version of his book. So make sure you're downloading that as well. And if you could do me a favor and that is to share the show with a friend or a family member that could use some of that information that we shared today. Until next time, lead with your heart.

Speaker 2: 25:03

You've been listening to The Heart-Led Business Show, hosted by Tom Jackobs. Join us next time for another inspiring journey into the heart of business.