On this episode of the Encourage Mindset Podcast, host Ethan Van De Hey welcomes Patrick Coggins — an entrepreneur whose career journey took him from studying accounting to getting recruited into sales, excelling beyond expectations, and eventually building his own business. Patrick shares why great leaders listen more than they speak, how an unexpected career pivot changed everything, and the mindset principles that drive him today.
Watch the Full Episode with Patrick Coggins
From Accounting to Sales to Entrepreneurship
Patrick Coggins did not start out as an entrepreneur. He went to school for business with plans to become an accountant. But life had a different path in mind. The company he was working with had an epiphany and told him he would make a great salesman, flipping the script and offering him a role as an account executive. Patrick had never done sales in his life. When he called his father — who had spent years doing door-to-door sales — the advice was blunt: don’t do it. As soon as you underperform, they cut you.
Patrick thought about it and decided to give it a try anyway. He was not married to accounting, and he knew he wanted to make a good living. The gamble paid off. He had tremendous success in his first three years of sales — so much so that the person running the office took notice and his career trajectory shifted permanently. That willingness to say yes to something unfamiliar, despite the warnings, became a defining pattern in Patrick’s life.
Why Great Leaders Listen More Than They Speak
The core insight of this episode is Patrick’s conviction that the best leaders are the ones who listen more than they talk. He explains to Ethan that listening is not passive — it is one of the most active and powerful skills a leader can develop. When you truly listen to the people around you — your team, your customers, your mentors — you gather intelligence that no amount of talking can produce.
Patrick connects this directly to his success in sales. The reason he excelled was not because he was a great talker. It was because he learned to listen to what clients actually needed rather than pitching what he wanted to sell. That same principle applies to leadership: the leaders who listen understand the real problems, see the opportunities others miss, and earn the trust of the people they lead.
Taking Risks When Everyone Says No
Patrick’s story is built on calculated risk-taking. His father told him not to go into sales. The safe path was accounting. But Patrick recognized that the biggest growth opportunities often come disguised as risk. He tells Ethan that the discomfort of trying something new — especially when people you trust advise against it — is often a signal that the opportunity has real upside.
That mindset carried him from sales into entrepreneurship, where the risks are even greater and the safety nets even thinner. Patrick acknowledges that not every risk pays off, but the habit of leaning into uncertainty rather than retreating to safety is what separates entrepreneurs from employees.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset
Ethan and Patrick discuss what it really means to have an entrepreneurial spirit. Patrick is clear that entrepreneurship is not just about starting a business — it is a way of thinking. It means seeing problems as opportunities, taking ownership of outcomes, and being willing to bet on yourself when the odds are unclear. Patrick brings this mindset to everything he does, from building his business to the way he approaches personal growth and relationships.
Why This Episode Matters
Patrick Coggins’s conversation with Ethan Van De Hey is a powerful reminder that the path to success rarely follows the plan you set at 18. If you are someone considering a career pivot, struggling to listen more than you speak, or wondering whether to take a risk that everyone around you is warning against, Patrick’s journey from accountant to salesman to entrepreneur shows what happens when you trust your instincts and stay open to the unexpected.
Connect with the Encourage Mindset Podcast
The Encourage Mindset Podcast is hosted by Ethan Van De Hey and brings together leaders, entrepreneurs, and high-performers who share their real stories and strategies for growth. Subscribe on YouTube to catch every new episode.
Related Episodes You Might Enjoy
If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these related episodes from the Encourage Mindset Podcast:
- Andrew Wolfram: Innovation and Forward Thinking
- John Preston: Purpose-Driven Leadership
- George Paladichuk: Entrepreneurship and Community Impact
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