Podcast Summary: Dream Driven Leadership — How Jason Vandevere Built Wealth, Alignment, and a Purpose-First Business Ecosystem

The Amazing Authorities Podcast
Host: Mitch Carson
Guest: Jason Vandevere
Date: November 14, 2025

Overview

This episode of the Amazing Authorities Podcast dives into the journey of Jason Vandevere, an entrepreneur, podcaster, real estate investor, and author of the new book Dream Driven: Step by Step Process to Discover Your Perfect Business Idea and Launch It This Year. Host Mitch Carson guides a conversation exploring Jason’s path from stepping away from a lucrative family business to building an aligned, purpose-driven portfolio and brand. Key themes include passion-based entrepreneurship, real estate as a foundation for stability, goal-setting, leveraging publishing for authority, and strategies for scaling a lifestyle-focused business ecosystem.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Leaving the Family Legacy for Alignment & Passion (01:02–02:27)

• Family Business Background: Jason grew up in a successful multigenerational dealership but chose to leave, seeking more personal fulfillment.
• Values-Driven Choice:

  “It just didn’t align with a passion of mine… It was so clear I was not going to have that. I didn’t feel right to do this if it wasn’t going to be something I was passionate about… your business should light a fire inside of you and be an extension of yourself.”
  — Jason Vandevere, 01:44

• Entrepreneurship as Self-Expression: The importance of finding or creating work that resonates deeply on a personal level.

2. Product Creation and Launch: Dream Driven Book (02:27–03:30; 12:32–15:33)

• About the Book:
  • Dream Driven walks readers through finding the right business idea, validating it, and launching—all connected to the reader's core aspirations and dreams.
  • Available in hard copy, paperback, Kindle; audiobook to follow in 2026.
  • Publishing Strategy Tip:

    “The publisher told me… it’ll be helpful if six months or a year later you drop the audiobook. Now you have a reason to talk about it again.”
    — Jason, 03:30

3. The Importance of Goal Setting in Business & Life (04:20–05:42)

• Launch of Goal Crazy Planner and Podcast:
  • Inspired by interviews with other business owners on goal setting.
  • Emphasizes clarity in all life areas to prevent business from overtaking life.

  “Your business should be the means, not the end… Without goals for all the areas, business becomes the end and it overtakes your life.”
  — Jason, 05:22

4. Building Wealth Through Real Estate (05:49–12:03)

• Jason’s Real Estate Portfolio:
  • Owns 34 apartments (3 duplexes, a four-unit, and a 24-unit).
  • Describes real estate income as “semi-passive,” but not completely hands-off (06:28–06:48).
  • Explains conservative financing strategy: 25% down, 20-year loans, aiming to pay off by age 45.

  “Gurus probably tell you not to do [20-year loans], but I actually want to have my real estate paid off… so I can pass something down to our kids that's a really nice asset.”
  — Jason, 08:20

• COVID-19 Impact: Jason’s higher-end rentals were less vulnerable to non-payment during the pandemic (10:17–11:13).
• Choice of Market: Focuses on “luxury” rentals, not Section 8, seeing it as a strategic legacy asset.

5. Dream-Driven Entrepreneurship Process (12:32–15:12)

• Book Structure:
  • Part 1: Discovering a “dream-driven” business idea—rooted in deep desire and dream life vision.
  • Part 2: Validation steps before launching, to avoid common pitfalls.
  • Part 3: Step-by-step launch guidance.
• Dreams vs. Goals:

  “When we set goals, they want to be somewhat realistic. Dreams… don’t have to be realistic. They're simply asking yourself, what would you love to experience in life?... Once we clarify your dreams, then you can set goals that align to those dreams.”
  — Jason, 14:01

• Survival Mode Warning: Without dreams, goals become empty, leading to “survival mode.”

6. Legal Structures & Practical Business Launch Advice (15:33–16:30)

• Legal Advice: Outlines basics like LLC vs. other structures but asserts value comes from building a real business (i.e., getting paying customers), not just forming an entity.

  “Just because you have an LLC, in my opinion—you don’t have a business if you don’t have paying clients. That’s the main goal.”
  — Jason, 16:24

7. Tools & Marketing Tech Stack (20:19–21:34)

• Sales Funnels: Switched from ClickFunnels to Go High Level for email, automations, funnel integration:

  “Go High Level could put it all under one thing. It just made it easy.”
  — Jason, 21:10

8. Marketing Mix: Facebook Ads, List Building & Collaborations (18:17–26:32)

• Growing Authority & Sales:
  • Email list of ~10,000 from planner sales is a core asset.
  • Planned use of podcasts, summits, collaborations, and ads for book launch.
  • Strategic use of Facebook ads for list building, with back-end coaching and products for profitability.

  “My email list of 10,000 people is a really big asset… Once I had their email address, all the doors were open.”
  — Jason, 22:27

• Collaboration Advice:
  • Mitch shares how collaborative summits and list swaps reduce ad spend and boost reach.

  “It’s a way of collective collaboration where the price to acquire a client goes down… ROAS increases… it’s something to look at, Jason.”
  — Mitch, 25:16

9. Platform Building & Ecosystem Vision (19:40–20:19)

• Book as Ecosystem Hub:
  • Book at the entry point, leading to podcasts, planners, and coaching services.

  “The podcast can give them inspiration, the planner can help them break it down, and coaching if they want someone to walk along that journey.”
  — Jason, 19:40

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Purpose-First Entrepreneurship:

  “I could see… with entrepreneurship… I should have a business that—it’s not like it overtakes my life, but it lights a fire inside of me and is an extension of myself, and that’s what I wanted.”
  — Jason, 01:44

• On the Value of Business Structures:

  “The goal is to have a business, not an empty LLC.”
  — Jason, 16:24

• On Goals & Dreams for Business Owners:

  “If you don’t have meaningful goals, people end up in what I call survival mode. But when you have dreams, you can have meaningful goals, you can have a purpose.”
  — Jason, 14:01

• On List-Building as Asset:

  “My email list of 10,000 people is a really big asset.”
  — Jason, 22:27

• On Collaboration & Growth:

  “It’s almost a list swap… it’s a way of collective collaboration where the price to acquire a client goes down.”
  — Mitch, 25:16

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Leaving the family business, choosing passion — 01:02–02:27
• Book launch and author strategy — 02:27–03:30
• Importance of goals & “Goal Crazy” origin — 04:20–05:42
• Real estate as entrepreneurial foundation — 05:49–12:03
• Dream-driven business blueprint — 12:32–15:12
• Legal structure basics & “real business” — 15:33–16:30
• Marketing, tech stack, funnels — 20:19–21:34
• Collaboration and list-building strategies — 22:27–26:32

Episode Tone and Interactions

The episode blends pragmatic business advice with motivational storytelling. Mitch’s style is conversational and validating, offering industry wisdom and camaraderie. Jason is humble, reflective, and transparent about his path, mistakes, and learning processes.

Takeaways for Aspiring Authorities

• Anchor your business in a dream or deep desire for resilience amid setbacks.
• Goal-setting across all life areas provides balance and guides business decisions.
• Real estate or stable investments can enable risk-taking elsewhere.
• Build your customer/audience list as a true wealth asset.
• Use your book (or flagship content) as the hub around which a multi-offer ecosystem grows.
• Collaborate with other creators and communities to fuel cost-effective, exponential growth.

Final Remark

Jason’s journey is a testament to building wealth and authority rooted in personal alignment, thoughtful diversification, and consistent audience value—reminding entrepreneurs to create businesses that light the fire inside, not just the balance sheet.