Inspired Evolution with Amrit Sandhu 🙏🏻

Our guest for this week is Stephen Sokoler, the Founder & CEO of ‘Journey Meditation’.

About Stephen

Stephen Sokoler is a serial entrepreneur and he has started numerous businesses from scratch in a career that’s over 10 years long and counting. He’s had major success with taking products global with international expansion throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

On his impressive entrepreneurial resume, you can find companies such as ‘Altrum Honors’, which he co-founded with a mission of helping organizations all over the world give recognition to and celebrate their employees. During a 5 year period he spent working as the company CEO, he led the organization to amazing success reaching $20 million in annual revenue along with a 33% global market share.

In 2015, Stephen founded ‘Journey Meditation’ with a mission to make meditation easier and accessible to people everywhere. Years of reaping benefits from the practice of meditation have inspired him to create a community around the notion. He is currently on a mission to “help all people live healthier, happier, and less stressed lives”. Their app offers a 7-day free trial and you can check it out here!

Connect with Stephen:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephen.sokoler 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensokoler/ 
• Website: https://journeymeditation.com/

In This Episode We Canvas

• The Relationship Between Founder and Company Culture

We’ve had lots of serial entrepreneurs on our show and there seems to be a strong connection between their characteristics and overall company culture. Stephen agrees he has felt this on numerous occasions and argues that a good entrepreneur has to take responsibility for both the good and the bad that they’ve contributed to the culture of their organization.

“I definitely think that the founder and in my case me… My personality, my vision, my dreams, my quirks are all very much embedded into the fabric of the company.” - Stephen Sokoler

• The Genesis of Journey Meditation

Stephen has been a practitioner of meditation for quite some time and he addresses the fact how it helped him better himself on a personal as well as a professional level. Throughout our conversation, we get into the intricate details of the story behind Journey Meditation and the company’s origin. Stephen also shares some exciting news about the current state of his product and business in general.

“When I looked at meditation I thought it was pretty misunderstood as religious, difficult, spiritual, confusing and I thought we could bring it to people in a simple, approachable, secular way.” - Stephen Sokoler

• The Benefits of Having a Support Group

Over the years, Stephen has achieved massive personal growth and transformation. In our conversation, he shares his thoughts about how his friends, family, and coworkers made a crucial contribution to his development. 

“There’s real magic when people come together to meditate… When you have the support of other people to continue to get you to come back… Being a part of that group, or that tribe, or that community makes the difference.” Stephen Sokoler

• Finding Techniques That Work For You

Even though Stephen is a huge advocate of meditation, he is quite aware of the fact that it is just one of the ways we can improve our daily lives. And so, in the context of his entrepreneurial endeavors, meditation is but a mere modality for achieving a goal. The true motivation behind his business is actually about helping people through achieving human connection.

“Maybe morning journaling or guided journaling will inspire me at some particular point in my life… I have a friend where meditation doesn’t feel right for them at this moment but perhaps, laughing therapy is something that really lands for them..” - Stephen Sokoler

• The Trend of Seeking Connection and Waking Up

We address the current state of our society and Stephen’s view is quite optimistic. Through his work, one of the main takeaways he’s acquired is that people are starting to realize that we can an active stance on improving our lives. Whether it’s regarding productivity, or dealing with stress or improving our relationships, we, as a society, are increasingly showing appreciation for the self-care aspect of our lives. We’re waking up and seeking connection.

“People are feeling really unsettled, really scared, people aren’t feeling safe… And people are looking for ways to calm down… And connect… And feel a sense of belonging… We’ve always been very good at coping with our problems via drugs or alcohol or whatever a person’s vice is… But people are starting to wake up around the world to say, ‘There has to be a better way. I have to be able to take care of myself mentally, emotionally, spiritually in a different way.’” - Stephen Sokoler

Stephen’s Message of Inspired Evolution

I’m amazed and inspired by the work Stephen has done up to this point and after our conversation, I can say I also value deeply the purpose of his mission. Finding strength, security, and support in connecting with others is an incredibly important foundation for personal growth and transformation. Whichever path we decide to take, empowered by meditation or by something entirely different, Stephen reminds us that: 

“It’s less about the modality and more about how do we help people all with the idea rooted in human connection.” - Stephen Sokoler