Bringing Bounce To The World of Non-Fiction Self Development

Owen Sammarone has developed an unquenchable thirst for great reads. Having served as a Graduate Assistant for the University of Connecticut basketball team in 2019 while obtaining his Master’s in Financial Risk Management, Owen is now laser focused on his passion work — cultivating a digital community to promote lifelong learning through non-fiction books.

I talked with Owen recently to learn more about his life journey and how it inspired his love of reading and self-education. Here’s what he had to share: 

You are currently on an ambitious self-development  and entrepreneurial quest. Tell us a little about the inspiration behind this?

Thank you for asking. I spent the last 6 years in the world of Division I college basketball, four at the University of Rhode Island and two at the University of Connecticut. Through these amazingly pivotal years of undergrad and graduate school, I fell in love with the process of being great. I was a sponge around my coach, Dan Hurley, and would consume all the same information that he was. 

How cool. Can you elaborate more? 

If he had books in his office, I would snap a pic and go buy the book later that day. If he was talking about a podcast (usually Tim Ferriss or Lewis Howes) I would go and listen to them after practice. If he asked me to print out an article, I would do two copies: one for me and one for him. This love for personal development, instilling success habits, and becoming a voracious reader all stemmed from these years and directly influenced the creation of Unleash The Knowledge. 

So tell us about Unleash The Knowledge

The main reason I started UTK was to build my own sort of LinkedIn community of readers, learners, and ambitious people who wanted more out of life, beyond a college degree 9-5 job. The brand has fulfilled this goal, delivering to me 10x return in terms of the ability to reach millions of people at the click of a button. The best part of all of this is that it has allowed me to connect with some of the world's greatest thinkers and writers. 

What a cool endeavor! 

Thanks! The funny story behind the brand and everything I have created is that it reflects a complete 180-degree turn in my life. Growing up I was a very poor student, not focused on academics, very social, played sports, and never read a single book other than the classics growing up. It took getting around high performers, champions, and successful athletes, coaches, and leaders to fall in love with books. 

How many books would you say that you’ve read? 

The best part is I have probably read enough books in the last 2-3 years to cover a lifetime of reading. So I believe that I’ve covered those lost years pretty well.

What is the first book you recall reading as a kid?

It had to be The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. My mother has always been an extremely giving person so she made sure my brother and I would read that book almost every night growing up.

Back to Unleash The Knowledge, what is its main value proposition?

Unleash The Knowledge is an online, educational community for lifelong learners and readers. The brand shares all things non-fiction books. This includes offering big ideas from the best books to consume in 5 minutes, which I call Book Bites. The mission of the brand is to create more lifelong learners by inspiring them to understand the wild benefits of reading books by the best thinkers of our world and the best action takers. In other words, people who took their experience and knowledge and placed it into a 300-page book for you and me to consume in a weekend.

And as I understand it, you also work with book authors. 

Yes, we service authors with brand and marketing strategy, optimizing their digital presence and positioning, email list growth, and ultimately getting their books into more hands to earn more money.

Can you share a bit more about how you work with authors on their marketing and brand presence?  

I have worked with over 150 authors in the past 1.5 years. Through this experience, I have learned so many things. 

Here are two of my major takeaways:

One, most authors begin promoting their book AFTER their launch which I think is a mistake. And two, most think they can use just a few marketing tactics and become the next Tony Robbins. Since discovering this, I have put myself in a position to shed loads of knowledge, helping guide authors towards clarifying their target audience (their ideal reader). Achieving this allows the author to curate content towards their ideal reader, establish a strong digital presence, interact with the right communities, develop an enticing email lead magnet to gain subscribers, create back end offers for readers and provide value via email on a daily or weekly basis. 

In your view, what are 2-3 of the biggest mistakes that authors make in their strategic marketing and social media efforts?

I would say that many start far too late  when it comes to beginning the promotional process of their book. They are not clear on who their ideal reader is, often trying to appeal to too many people. You’ll also see these authors spend money without a way to make the money back through a course, speaking engagement, or a backend offer.

What are 2-3 authors and/or books that have had a significant impact on your life? 

Two authors who have the biggest impact on me are Robin Sharma and Tim Ferriss. I have read all of Robin's books and will say The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, The Leader Who Had No Title, and The 5AM Club are 3 of my favorites by him. As far as Tim, I have listened to a good portion of his podcast, read Four Hour Workweek, along with finding myself always going back to his two encyclopedias (as I call them) Tribe of Mentors and Tools of Titans.

Do you prefer hardback/paperback, audio, or digital books?

I will always prefer a physical copy over any other medium.  Given the choice, I’m going to grab the hardcover or paperback book. The main reason for this is that I am a big note taker. I write in margins, I underline, I bracket off sentences. I can’t really do this with digital books and definitely can't with audio books. I also love the act of sitting or lying down with a book. There is pleasure in that for me.

It sounds like you have tried a few of these other  mediums though. 

I have read a few digital books and have listened to two audiobooks. I am really not a fan of audiobooks at all as I believe that reading should be done with deliberate intention. To me, listening makes your mind wander. When you multitask you lose focus. It’s for those reasons that I don't ever listen to audiobooks and usually suggest to others that they shouldn't either. 

One final question, do you have a favorite bookstore in New Jersey? If so, what makes it so special?

Great question and honestly, my response might surprise many. It’s the Barnes & Noble by my grandmother's house in Clifton, NJ. I love it because it’s massive and has 10x the books of any of the stores near me. I love high ceilings filled with books and rows and rows of books. Also, the business section is pretty neat because it is formed in a U shape with the personal growth section on the opposite side.  There’s nothing like having both of my favorite genres in one spot with such a cool design.