I’ve been in the music publishing business for twenty-five years. I own a company in LA that signs and develops popular songwriters and artists. Some of the artists I’ve signed are world class, famous personalities. I am like an angel investor in the music world. As a publisher, I give artists and songwriters seed money and help nurture them. If their music is successful, we get paid royalties whenever that music is played (i.e., in the mall, in an advertisement, when it gets streamed, etc.). I have twenty active songwriters, eight content writers, and three legal people whom I manage.

Before I read Work the System, my business was full of chaos, fire killing, and endless work. I was working eighty to one hundred hours a week trying to do it all. My typical day would start early in the morning dealing with the latest emergency with my team in New York. Then around 6:00 p.m. I’d work with my tech team in India. And around 11:00 p.m. it was time for calls with London before finally “calling it a day” around 2:00 a.m. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Day after day. Week after week. It was exhausting and not fun at all.

Then one day, I was at a business mastermind group when someone suggested I read Work the System. As I read Sam’s story about what his business was like before his systems transformation, I could totally relate. I realized I was too enmeshed within the day-to-day operations and I did not have an “outside and slightly elevated perspective.” I “got it,” and I made the commitment to re-engineer my business systems so I could take control of my life again!

One of the first working procedures I documented was on how to get our blog posts published. I wrote down each step—everything from how to choose which writer gets assigned the piece all the way to the proofreading. It was twenty-five steps in all. Then I delegated this to a project manager. Now something that used to consume hours of my time each week takes only ten minutes.

After applying the WTS principles to my business, my work is fun again. We had our first seven-figure year in over ten years in business. Plus, my workweek has been reduced by 30 percent (soon to be 50 percent!). I’m literally working less and making more. My team is happier, we’re better at what we do now, and I’m more excited about the future than ever before! And now I’m the guy who recommends Work the System to every business owner I know.