As the president and CEO of JIMPACT Enterprises, Jim Smith Jr., specializes in leadership, professional and personal development.

Smith has become sought-after trainer and inspirational motivational speaker providing services to businesses, colleges, schools, nonprofits, sales groups and training departments.

Now he’s penned “The No Excuse Guide to Success — No Matter What Your Boss or Life Throws at You,” which aligns with his company’s brand.

“It’s about living an excuse-free life,” says Smith.

In his guide, Smith covers how people can delete excuses from their heart, mind, soul and vocabulary.

“We live with a lot of what I call ‘limitation language.’ We talk about what we can’t do or why we can’t do it. It’s not even about what I can do. It’s about what I will do. You can do it, you just choose not to do it.”

Smith says the book is timely in terms of what is occurring during this economic downturn.

“If you think about our economy and what’s happening in just about everybody’s lives, it’s so easy to make an excuse for why you’re in a dead end job, why you’re in a dead end relationship (or) why you won’t start your own business. Excuses are plentiful.”

Smith’s new book offers advice on how people can make changes in how they approach their career and break down self-created barriers to success.

“The book provides solutions to get you off of your ‘but’ because we would say I would do this ‘but’ or I would do that ‘but.” My book is designed to kick you squarely in your ‘but’ so that you can get up, handle your business and take your goals, your dreams and your life off of layaway and out of the waiting room.”

Smith has spent 16 years working in corporate and consulting leadership positions for a variety of industries. The experience of working in corporate America led Smith to become a motivational speaker.

“When I was doing leadership work, I would interview leaders and ask them, what was the number one challenge you have as a leader? Many of them would say motivating my staff, or keep the momentum going after we did some downsizing or layoff,” said Smith.

Smith started offering motivational sessions while working at The Vanguard Group during the mid-90s. In 2000, he launched JIMPACT Enterprises.

The economic downturn caused Smith to take his own advice to heart and adapt to a changing business landscape.

“The economy is saying reinvent yourself,” Smith pointed out.

Prior to the downturn, Smith focused on providing his services to Fortune 100 companies. He’s since expanded his sales pitches to entities that range from large scale companies to hair salons and schools. He also became a faculty member for the executive MBA program at Rutgers University.

The Literary Café is hosting a book signing event for “The No Excuse Guide to Success” on November 28 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Enterprise Center, 4548 Market Street.

“I’ll be talking about - in an inspirational way - the messages from my book. I want to push you to action. I tell people to go work on their TAN. TAN stands for take action now,” Smith added.

Contact Staff Writer Ayana Jones at (215) 893-5747 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .