April 20, 2024

An Eye-opening Interview with J. Kale Flagg

J. Kale Flagg

J. Kale Flagg

A native of beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii, J. Kale Flagg dreamed of being a successful businessman since he was a child. J. Kale Flagg’s life and career have taken him all around the globe. From childhood travels thru France, England, Morocco, Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Greece; to college at Yale University to jobs on Wall Street to working under the bright lights of Las Vegas, J. Kale Flagg has seen and done it all. His outstanding track record in business and his success in his personal and family lives make J. Kale Flagg a true inspiration to anyone seeking to accomplish their own dreams and goals. Recently, Interviewing Experts had the opportunity to spend a few moments talking with J. Kale Flagg about his formula for success.

Interviewing Experts: Why do you think that many people get stuck in their daily lives?

J. Kale Flagg: A lot of people simply do the exact same thing every day, and then they wonder why nothing is changing in their lives. I’ve heard insanity defined as doing the same thing time and time again and expecting new results – I call that a blueprint for failure.

Interviewing Experts: How does that translate into the business world?

J. Kale Flagg: I look at my sales team and employees and I ask them why every person in the world isn’t happy, or why most people aren’t doing their dream jobs. The answer I get is that they want to accomplish those things, but they don’t think they can. There’s an invisible barrier for most people.

Interviewing Experts: How can people break through that barrier?

J. Kale Flagg: Effort. Just go for it! I haven’t met anyone who put forth the tremendous effort it takes to succeed who didn’t end up achieving his or her dream. Sure, success comes easier for some, but at the end of the day, it is getting started followed by consistent pure hard work that separates the mediocre life from the life you dream of.

Interviewing Experts: Why do you think people are afraid to try?

J. Kale Flagg: It’s a fear of failure. It’s a fear of what other people will think or say. Sometimes it’s even a fear of success. For many people, success is an unknown because they’ve never been there before. And fear of the unknown drives people to stay in their comfort zones.

Interviewing Experts: How would you best describe this fear?

J. Kale Flagg: Think of a boat that has been floating in the same spot of water for years. There are better spots all around it, but starting the boat up also starts waves. It makes the ride uncomfortable, and just like in life, that makes many people resistant to moving or making changes.

Interviewing Experts: What is it about “making waves” that scares people?

J. Kale Flagg: Think about it—if you’ve been stuck in a rut for years, your friends and family know you as that person. They may not want you to change. But when you get on a path toward success, you may become a different person, and often times, there is resistance from those who are closest to us.

Interviewing Experts: What sort of parting advice do you wish to leave us with?

J. Kale Flagg: Don’t be afraid of change. Don’t be afraid of hard work. And don’t be afraid to make a few waves. But perhaps most importantly, don’t be afraid of failure—just keep moving, taking action, and striving ahead. In time, your efforts will pay off.

Kale Flagg Shares how True Belief Can Make it Happen

Kale Flagg

Kale Flagg

Kale Flagg is a longtime developer and businessman in Nevada, where he currently is a General Partner in the American Redevelopment Fund, LP.  A graduate of Yale University, Kale Flagg gained experience in sales and business ownership early in his career. Recently Kale Flagg gave the staff at Interviewing Experts his thoughts on the value of believing in oneself.

Interviewing Experts: You use the analogy of a famous tightrope walker in the 1800s.

Kale Flagg: Yes, Charles Blondin. He wasn’t just a tightrope walker, though.

Interviewing Experts: He crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope, didn’t he?

Kale Flagg: In 1859, he crossed Niagara Falls—1,100 feet across—not just once but several times in a row.

Interviewing Experts: And there was a crowd watching?

Kale Flagg: He’d put an ad in the New York Times that managed to draw a crowd in the thousands.

Interviewing Experts: Each time before he crossed, he asked the crowd if they thought he could do it.

Kale Flagg: Yes, and each time he amazed them! He crossed pushing a wheelbarrow, he crossed blindfolded, and he crossed on stilts. Each time, the audience cheered and by the time he crossed on stilts, they seemed to be convinced. But then…

Interviewing Experts: But then…?

Kale Flagg: He asked the big question. He asked for one volunteer from the crowd to cross the tightrope on his back. None of the onlookers who came because of the ad stepped forward.

Interviewing Experts: But they’d just watched him cross on stilts.

Kale Flagg: They believed he could do it. But they didn’t believe enough to put themselves at personal risk. That would have been true belief.

Interviewing Experts: How does true belief translate into everyday life?

Kale Flagg: With true belief, you not only say you believe but your actions show it.

Interviewing Experts: For the people at Niagara Falls, though, it was a huge risk, even though they saw that the tightrope walker was capable.

Kale Flagg: Yes, but they’d seen him attempt the impossible not once, not twice, but three times. Each time when he asked the crowd if they thought he could do it, they applauded. But when it came down to proving they thought he could do it, nobody was willing. None of the onlookers had true belief.

Interviewing Experts: So, exactly how does this translate to the business world?

Kale Flagg: When I make major business decisions, I do it based on true belief. That blind faith that doesn’t say that I think I’ll succeed…it says I know I will succeed.

Interviewing Experts: You also ask your clients and colleagues to have the same belief, correct?

Kale Flagg: Absolutely. I strive for my clients to have the same belief in me…so that we can cross that tightrope together.

Kale Flagg is a respected entrepreneur who holds business seminars throughout the country. After beginning his career on Wall Street, Kale Flagg built a succession of accomplishments that led him to his current position with the American Redevelopment Fund.

Jeffrey Kale Flagg Gives Straight Talk to Achievers

Jeffrey Kale Flagg is a Yale graduate who has worked on Wall Street, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Orlando, Las Vegas, Honolulu and in Reno, Nevada, where he currently resides. It is through sheer ambition and skill that Jeffrey Kale Flagg has become the successful businessman he is today. Jeffrey Kale Flagg believes it’s important for people to be honest with themselves and own the role they play in their own success. Today, Jeffrey Kale Flagg talks to the staff of Interviewing Experts about what it takes to achieve one’s dreams.

Interviewing Experts: What role do we play in achieving our own dreams?

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: We are all in charge of whether or not we achieve our dreams. No one else. The moment of truth comes when someone has to face this fact and stop making excuses.

Interviewing Experts: You believe people obstruct themselves by judging their successes by what other people think, correct?

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: Yes. We tend to look for others to endorse our ideas, and this takes away our ability to control our own lives and achievements.

Interviewing Experts: How does it do that?

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: People will disagree; it’s a fact of life. When those people disagree, if we lack confidence, we may let that take us down.

Interviewing Experts: So basically, it’s all about having confidence.

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: Right! Confidence to follow your own vision no matter what others say. People who somehow find that confidence are the ones who have the most success.

Interviewing Experts: How does someone find that confidence?

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: The first step is making a commitment to be the captain of your own ship, of your own life and mind. This is crucial.

Interviewing Experts: You mean that I a choose whether or not to do that?

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: Sure. It’s a choice, just as everything in life is. Our choices determine the friends we have and the success we find in life.

Interviewing Experts: I’ve noticed a lot of people just want to complain.

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: This is one of the most frustrating things to me. People complain but never do anything about it.

Interviewing Experts: Some people try to do something but never can quite make it to the next level.

Jeffrey Kale Flagg: I’ve experienced that when I’ve tried to help people along their individual paths. The biggest problem is that some people simply aren’t willing to change. They’re listening to those outside voices too much and not trusting in themselves.

Jeffrey Kale Flagg is an entrepreneur and real estate investor who has led several companies to great success. Because his own mentors taught him how to achieve success, Jeffrey Kale Flagg recommends people find mentors and imitate their formula to find it as well. Jeffrey Kale Flagg lives in Reno with his wife and four children.