When it comes to mastering both the golf swing and the business game, few can match the journey of Eric Cogorno. A performance golf coach turned online business mogul, Eric has taken his passion for teaching and transformed it into a multimillion-dollar brand with over 500,000 followers worldwide. In this candid conversation, Eric shares the pivotal moments, strategies, and personal habits that powered his incredible growth—from turning his expertise into an online empire to reducing his work hours while maximizing impact. Whether you’re teeing up your startup or aiming for the green in your own business, Eric’s insights are sure to inspire and guide you on your journey to success.
Thank you so much Eric for doing this with us! Before we dive into the deep end, our audience is eager to learn more about your journey. Can you share a bit about how you came to be here?
Hey! Absolutely, thank you!
I grew up playing all different sports but fell in love with golf when I was in 8th grade….I played with my dad and his friends on the weekends just as a way to hang out with them. I looked up to my dad like a lot of kids so I really just wanted to hang out with them you know…..well being someone who played sports and was competitive I didn’t love the fact that I wasn’t any good in the beginning : ) That took me from just wanting to hang out with them to wanting to beat them!
So from there I spent the next 5-6 years of my life obsessed with golf and getting better.
I realized quickly in college that I wasn’t good enough to play professionally like the guys on TV and I needed a back up plan. That led to me coaching….giving lessons when I was about 18-19 range.
When I first started coaching I wasn’t any good…..just like I wasn’t when I played….which AGAIN led me to getting obsessed. Are we sensing a theme here?
So I then spent about 10 years from 18-28 being obsessed with getting better at coaching the same and studying all parts of the game, people, coaching, communication, etc to try and improve.
That leads us to 28 where I felt BURNT OUT! I happen to meet my now business partner, Mary Lengle, at the perfect time when I was looking to scale online as I didn’t think I could keep coaching like I was all day everyday forever. That was in late 2016 and we posted our first YouTube video Jan 1 2017!
Eric, you’ve had an incredible journey from giving one-on-one golf lessons to building a multimillion-dollar online brand. What was the pivotal moment when you realized you could scale your business online?
I was 28 and burnt out…..I had a nice coaching business going but I wasn’t something I thought I could keep up for the next 30-40 years. I knew there has to be another way…..
Around that same time I was seeing guys like Gary Vaynerchuck and Grant Cardone talking about building online brands, social media, etc so they had a huge influence on me and got me interested in that option!
We got lucky with the timing really to be pretty early on with YouTube.
You’ve grown your online audience to over 500,000 followers in just a few years. How did you manage to keep people engaged and coming back for more?
I learned over time the key there is to give the audience the content THEY WANT to watch…..not necessarily what I WANT TO watch. That took me a while to learn 🙂
Any of course consistency. We posted every single Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday at 10am EST without missing a single video.
Then I would also say making sure we kept trying to make constant micro improvements…..watching our videos and seeing how we could improve. How could I present better, how could we make it look better, etc
Little micro improvements over the span of 8 years add up!
Going from 60-hour workweeks to 10-15 hours sounds like every entrepreneur’s dream. What strategies did you use to create that kind of efficiency without sacrificing growth?
Well of course it took a while to get there 🙂
My first 3-4 years I had to work A LOT…..So I still had to work the 60-70 hour weeks to BUILD the online stuff while continue to do the in person coaching.
I would just replace some of the in person with the online….but that takes time. Some people make the mistake of quitting their “main thing” too early to focus on the “side hustle”…..big mistake.
Need to make the SIDE HUSTLE be BIGGER than the main thing before you quit that main thing.
Over time we were able to find WHOS….people….a team….to help. Thats really the key. Not trying to do everything by yourself (because you can’t)
Trying to do everything by yourself LIMITS growth…..building a team of great people EXPLODES growth.
When you first started posting golf videos on YouTube, did you ever imagine it would lead to creating the biggest online golf school? What was your initial vision?
Honestly……and this may not some across great…..but yes.
Because we were pretty early to market and they weren’t a ton of golf coaches with big audiences I thought we could do it…..I didn’t know HOW…..but I had the BEIIEF the whole time.
Your ability to connect with your audience is clearly a big part of your success. How do you maintain that personal touch while managing such a large community?
One of the things that help me most was when someone told me to talk to the camera as if there were a REAL person on the other end.
So when I look at the camera when we film I pretend/imagine I’m talking to a real person…..not the camera.
That helps.
I also feel like I’m the same as the viewer…..I golf, I’m working on my game, I’m trying to get bertter, I take lessons, etc just like they do.
So its easy for me to RELATE to WHERE they are at…..what they struggle with….and what they need to do to get where they want to go.
You’ve mentioned that goal setting is a key part of your success. Can you share how you set your goals, and how they’ve evolved as your business has grown?
Everything for me in terms of setting goals started with Jim Rohn….I watched a “goal setting” workshop from him on YouTube and it CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME.
I learned to take the time to sit and write down my DREAM LIFE VISION…..what would my dream life look like in 10-20 years from now?
No logistics, no limits, dont need to figure out the HOW…..just WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Getting really clear on on that ON PAPER…..and then I spend 10-15 minutes everyday THINKING about that and VISUALIZING myself there in the future with that life that I dream of.
Then you need to chunk those goals down.
Break those 10 year goals into 5 year, 1 year, monthly, weekly, daily, etc
Thats how you figure out what to do DAILY to get to the goals a DECADE away.
Building a brand online can be overwhelming. What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out and looking to build their own online presence?
Patience.
I would consider your first 100 videos/posts as PURE practice.
No one is going to watch. Thats OK. Thats NORMAL.
Take those first 100 to figure out what you’re doing. What content works best and doesn’t. What do people want to see/hear from you? What do you enjoy talking about?
I would look at people in your space doing what you want to do who are having success and see what they are doing. MODEL…..not COPY…..MODEL them.
What do they talk about? What do their titles/thumbnails look like? How long are their videos? How do they start/close? Etc
READ THE COMMENTS on their videos…..then you can see what people WANT/LIKE and you can do YOUR own version of those.
Did I say patience?
Your journey seems to be as much about personal development as it is about business growth. How have your daily habits and personal development practices influenced your entrepreneurial success?
They have been huge.
When I started my personal development journey (thanks Jim Rohn) I looked at a lot of highly successful people I respected and wanted to be like and looked at their DAILY HABITS….
What did they do EVERYDAY that got them where they are?
I like looking at things like that.
I want something SMALL……I can do OVER AND OVER…..DAY AFTER DAY…..for years…..DECADES……to get somewhere. Thats DO ABLE in my mind
I can run a mile everyday for 100 days but I don’t want to run 100 miles in one day.
So some of the things I found that I put on a list for me to do everyday were
- Workout
- Listen to 30 minutes of personal development videos
- Mindfulness/meditation for 20 minutes
- Read 20 pages
- Embrace fead and build discipline
So I write those down and do those daily
I figure if nothing else so long as I do those I have “won the day”
You’ve turned complicated golf concepts into something the average golfer can easily understand. How do you apply this approach to your personal development content?
There are a few keys here
- You need to have a DEEP…..THOROUGH…..understanding about what the heck you are actually talking about. The mechanics, details, etc. You need to know the technical stuff in find detail…….
- Then you need to be about to COMMUNICATE those “complicated” things in the most simple way possible.
John Maxwell says on this that he “puts the cookies on the lower shelf so everyone can have some”
Take the complicated……understand it so deeply….that you can community it so simple.
I try and think 3rd grade words….simple…..to the point.
Another important part for me is to walk the walk…just like I said I’m doing the same work the golfers are to improve….I feel GOOD about talking about this personal development stuff because I have and am currently doing the same work myself as well…..so I can RELATE and talk to them where they are in the process and I have been there as well.
Your success is impressive, but I’m sure there were moments of fear or doubt along the way. How did you push through those times and keep moving forward?
Certainly.
CLARITY……on that dream like I mentioned early ……makes it easy to get through the hard times.
I used to be someone to quit things a lot.
Looking back I think that happening because when I came up to a hard thing or something wasn’t working it was easy to quit because I DID NOT HAVE CLARITY on where I wanted to go and my end goals.
Because I’m so crystal clear on where I want to go in 10 years it makes the day to day battles less relevant….
Like if I’m heading from NY to CA I’m heading west…..I may get off track a little bit but thats OK….I know where I’m going. Just keep heading west and get back on track.
Clarity of end goal has been the key.
You’ve built a strong team around you. What qualities do you look for when bringing someone new onto your team, especially in a remote environment?
I’ve been very lucky frankly.
From my partner Mary, to my executive assistant Mikah…our head editor and creative Danielle…..all of our coaches…..just the best.
Again us being early to market and getting lucky with the timing helped…..people are attracted to people having success.
I look for talent….people who are already great.
Jim Rohn used to say…..if you find someone who needs a lot of training….you probably found the wrong person.
I want talent, reliable, hassle free…..people who see the vision and can help us build that. Fill the holes with the skills and abilities in areas that we dont have or can improve.
Your new personal development brand is all about transforming lives. What inspired you to expand beyond golf and focus on personal development?
Probably more a person that inspired me than a what honestly and thats Jim Rohn.
I’ve never met him but I’ve watched his videos so much over the last 8 years and he has had SUCH an impact on my life……I realize that impact he has had on me…..is EXACTLY the impact I want to have on others.
I want to make a bigger impact.
I love helping people with their GOLF…..but at the end of the day its just a game. I want to help them with their LIFE.
I feel like I’m at the point like I can do that.
Eric, you’ve mentioned the power of manifestation and gratitude in your journey. How have these practices shaped your approach to business and life?
They have helped a ton.
I learned to meditate with things like transcendental meditation which was great to start. Mantras….breath work, etc.
But it was when I found the 6 phase meditation from Vishen Lahkiani from Mindvalley that took me through a guided meditation including breathing, getting present, gratitude, forgiveness. Connectivity and visualizing my perfect day/life that really changed everything for me.
I would recommend everyone checking that out.
That daily mindfulness practice flows into everything else. I’m more present, patient, forgiving, aware, focused…….it has helped EVERYTHING.
It takes time (I have done it daily for 8 years) but it works. The longer you do it for the more you will be amazed how you can change yourself and your perspective with it.
With the pace of online business, how do you stay present and manage anxiety, especially when things get hectic?
Honestly having a great team like I mentioned was a key to building things….its also the key to managing things like this.
Not trying to do everything yourself. Having other people to help.
But until you’re there understanding this state you’re in is only temporary. “This too shall pass”.
You’re in a phase or season of life….it won’t be like this forever. Breathe. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally, for entrepreneurs just getting started, what are the top three things they should focus on to build a successful online brand?
- Post your first 100 things unemotionally just for practice
- Make sure you continue to get GREAT at the thing you are actually doing/talking about (I spent 10 years coaching and studying golf coaching before we started posting)
- Model (dont copy) success. If someone else in your space is doing it then its possible. Tell your own story/version of whats already working for others.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
