Keith Fraser  

Here we speak to Keith Fraser. Keith is the founder and pioneer of Cojones, the cheeky yet profound code for living successfully and authentically. He is also a Master Practitioner of NLP as well as an exponent of Transactional Analysis (TA) furthering his deep understanding of the art of persuasion and what makes people tick.  

Keith has a wealth of experience in business, sales, and property investing, as well as entertaining and inspiring audiences internationally with his mix of straight-talking theories and hilarious anecdotes. Keith is the host of Cojones TV, where he has interviewed Arsene Wenger, Ross Kemp, Sarah Willingham and Alastair Campbell to name but a few. He is the author of Cojones – Grow A Pair for Success! 

Can you tell us a little bit more about your career journey to date?  

I have professional qualifications, I’m a qualified Chartered Surveyor, i.e. professional member of the RICS, but this is just one of a handful of things I have done or even do. 

I’ve been a telesales man, in which I sold advertising at $10,000 a page to banks around the world, and ended up being their number 1 salesman. 

I have also had my own conference company where I put on conferences for professionals as part of their necessary annual Continuing Professional Development. 

I’m also a property investor in both the commercial and residential sectors.  And of course, speak to audiences on how to be bold, audacious in order to succeed in anything. 

Additionally, I’m an interviewer and podcaster, hosting the number 1 tennis podcast Rock n Roll Tennis with former British Number 1 John Lloyd, and now I am author, of course. 

How did you overcome the biggest challenge in your career?   

The biggest challenge in my career has been my biggest challenge in life itself. Overcoming the naysayers from the outside world, family, peers etc who say you can’t or shouldn’t do this or that. Plus overcoming the naysaying in my own mind.  That has always been half the battle. Except now I know myself well enough to know how to tear off the shackles and go forward, which is what I espouse in my book. 

i.e. It’s your life and no one else’s to tell you want you can’t do! 

Why did you write Cojones and what is the message to the reader?   

Like all of us, experience is something we get after the time when we actually needed it sadly.  My experience, and wealth of skills and knowledge, is such that I feel others could employ.  That is, the cheeky yet profound Cojones. 

The message to the reader is 1) Live your life the way YOU want it, not the way others think you should 2) Be fearless 3) Be authentic 4) Be unapologetic 

We live in a world where we have so much, yet so many people are angry, frustrated and not content.  Much of that is because we have to live according to others’ way, in order to satisfy society, family and peers.  Why?  That’s not living. 

When we are children we have dreams and want to play, but that gets knocked out of us during our life education in order to mix in with society. 

What if you want to do something, be something, say something that will make you feel better, happier?  Why do we need to walk on eggshells so much? 

The book encourages authenticity. This authenticity, if revived in people, will make us happier and if we as individuals are happier, society will be happier as a whole. 

How?  By adopting the Cojones way?  Sticking two fingers up at convention and tearing off those shackles. The external and internal ones. 

What is your life motto? 

I have many, but one that’s in line with the book – “If you don’t ask you don’t get”   

We are all the same flesh and blood, and no one is better than you or me.  So, don’t be afraid for ask. 

This is the heart of the Cojones way, because if you don’t ask, the answer is always no! 

What are three pieces of advice you would give to readers in these uncertain times? 

• It is easy to forget as our own lives always seem more important and harder than others, but remember that everyone is in the same boat.  A problem shared is a problem halved. You are not alone. We are all, apart from the odd privileged few, in a pickle, but we are not in a war, at the threat of being bombed. It could be a lot worse. 

• Like my book says – Grow a Pair.  It’s not rude, it’s a mindset. Be what you want, go for what you want and say what you want. At the same time, remember not to be arrogant, just live the life YOU want to live, and don’t apologise for doing so.  Charity in any case starts at home. Be good to yourself, and you’ll feel more likely to be good to others. 

• We’ve literally lost a year of our lives this year due to Covid.  As the quote says, “The tragedy of life, is not that it ends so soon, but we wait so long to begin it.”  Money comes and goes, but time just passes.  Therefore, now we’ve all lost a year, what better time to begin living, assuming you haven’t already. 

You can find out more information at https://www.cojones.biz/