(Archive) 21. Budding wellness entrepreneurs, this episode is for you! Samer Hamadeh, founder + CEO of Zeel, the on-demand massage company, shares his many stories of success AND failure.

Samer Hamadeh is the founder of the on-demand massage company, Zeel. As the first and leading on-demand massage company, Zeel delivers wellness benefits to customers nationwide through innovative technology and the power of massage – in as little as an hour. Yes, that means the masseuse comes to YOU – table and all. This game changing wellness-tech company is not Samer’s first rodeo – he is a true entrepreneur who has a long list of successful businesses under his belt. But they weren’t all successful from the beginning. We learn how Samer has navigated some almost-out-of-business moments and why he pivoted when he did. We can all take a few pages from Samer.

Oh, and you’ll get $20 off your first Zeel massage when you have a listen and use the code HTWZEEL at checkout.

You’ll learn how Samer negotiated some very sticky situations while building his business and why he suggests NOT staying married to your original idea. He reassures us that ideas should evolve and that is a good thing – it does not make your fist idea wrong.

It’s Samer on strings! OK, so he studied violin for 12 years and went to school for chemical engineering, but that’s not the only reason we love this self-professed data geek. We love him because his humble nature and lack of ego allowed him to course-correct businesses that were on the verge of failure and get them back on track by letting them evolve into what they were meant to be. Zeel did not start off as an on-demand massage company, but that’s where it is today, and it’s crushing it.

Here's a bit of what we cover with Samer:

• Samer is a true entrepreneur who does not suffer from Imposter Syndrome. Nor should he, with the amount of businesses under his belt.
• His first business was selling marked up candy, which was eventually shut down due to lack of proper permitting -- middle school can be so cruel. In college, while studying chemical engineering and practicing violin, he started a textbook binding business. Um, swipe right, am I right, ladies?
• …oh, and then in the 90s he started Vault.com, a job site for youths -- grew it to a cool $20 mil and sold it for about $75 million dollars. Like ya do.
• The next genius business idea struck while taking a 3-month vacay in Paris with the fam. Must have been super romantic, because he and his wife, Alison, conceived yet another baby: Zeel.
• We talk a lot about the secret to his success, but our favorite piece of advice: Don’t get married to your original idea – LET IT GO if it can grow in a different way. Evolution is good! Spoiler: Zeel did not start off as an on-demand massage concept.
• We also talk about the ID verification system he created to make sure that their lovely masseuses don’t show up at some creepy dude (or dudette)'s house. Can this system be applied to online dating?
• Zeel: Friend or Foe? Uber did not put taxis out of business and Zeel did not put spas out of business. Way to play nice everyone – gold stars all around!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR LISTENERS: Get $20 off your first Zeel massage when you have a listen and use the code HTWZEEL at checkout.

Zeel.com

@GetZeel