We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan Cockerell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
After working 26 years in a large corporation, I realized it was time to move on to a new experience. I had 19 jobs while working at Disney and it was time to get a much more diverse experience. Also, my wife and I discussed two guiding principles that we wanted to follow: number one, freedom and number two, simplicity. This was great timing since all three of our kids were either working or in college. We now had no other responsibilities to take care of as parents, etc. so this window was perfect for us to take a risk. 

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our business, Cockerell Consulting, is based around the leadership and management principles we learned while working for the Walt Disney Company for most of our adult lives internationally and domestically. The key was to get started once to realize what we knew.  

When you work for a large corporation for so many decades you take for granted the knowledge you have. That is why we wrote the book, “How’s the Culture in Your Kingdom?”, in order to tease out all the knowledge and methodology that we had learned to Disney.  

The other big challenge was learning how to become an entrepreneur. Disney was a fantastic experience; however, it certainly did not prepare us for entrepreneurship. When you lose so many resources of working in a large corporation, if you would like to be successful, you must become very resourceful. My learning curve went up very steeply just like at the beginning of my corporate career. I realized that I really had let go of my ego and become a learner again to be successful navigating while building a new business. After 3 1/2 years we have learned to hone the tools and practices into stories to help organizations learn “The Method to the Magic”. 

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My wife and I travel all over the world, it is very hard to answer this question. However, I would say a general mindset to have when you travel would be to become a sponge and go with the flow. Be open to trying foods you’ve never eaten, interact with people you’ve never spoken with, and take lots of pictures so you can share your trip with each other and your family later in life. 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My co-partner of Cockerell Consulting and my life partner of 28 years, Valerie Cockerell. She is the perfect teammate to help us navigate the world together professionally and personally. 

Website: Cockerellconsutling.com

Instagram: @dancockerell

Linkedin: Dan Cockerell

Twitter: @Dancockerell

Facebook: Dancockerell

Image Credits
Dan Cockerell

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