Jake Steinfeld Business & Career Coach

by Matt Phelps, Special to AOL Coaches

Not long after Jake Steinfeld gave up his dream to be a professional bodybuilder, this college dropout from Long Island was soon making $200 an hour training Hollywood superstars with little more than a broomstick and a chair. What were Linda Gray and the rest of them paying for? Other than a good knowledge of exercise, it was Steinfeld's magnanimous enthusiasm, which comes through in his book 'I've Seen A Lot of Famous People Naked and They've Got Nothing On You.'

While that title sounds like it has the makings of an illicit e-mail that will wind up in your spam folder, Steinfeld is making the point that he's worked with plenty of successful stars and there really isn't much different between them and anyone else except for a street-smart savvy and undying desire to get ahead.

Jetting around the world with Stephen Spielberg, Steinfeld not only picked up a taste of the Champagne life, but also the confidence to dream big and attain his goals. Personal fitness wasn't a serious business when Jake Steinfeld was growing up, but he had enough vision to turn the Body By Jake line of home exercise equipment, videos, and books into a mega-million-dollar cash cow.

And Steinfeld thinks you have a business idea with just as much potential -- or at least enough to make you happy working for yourself. He challenges the reader to uncover that appropriate line of work and then breaks down the steps of writing up a business plan and creating a distinctive, successful brand. But unlike entrepreneurial how-tos that merely walk you through the nuts and bolds of building a business, Steinfeld underscores the importance of motivation and working beyond failure, drawing on his personal highs and lows.

After initially rejecting the idea of doing infomercials to pitch his exercise equipment, Steinfeld took to the sales medium so well that he used them to turn Body By Jake into an international corporation. On the other hand, Major League Lacrosse has yet to turn a profit several years after startup. Yet Steinfeld knows the importance of never quitting and that ethos has earned him many, many dollars along the way. Not bad for a chunky kid from Long Island.