This week, in what might be the funniest episode yet, Molly and Emese are joined by co-stars Amy Schumer and Brianne Howey. They get candid about motherhood, career evolution, and their new film, Kinda Pregnant —which unexpectedly led to Amy’s latest health discovery. Amy opens up about how public criticism led her to uncover her Cushing syndrome diagnosis, what it’s like to navigate comedy and Hollywood as a mom, and the importance of sharing birth stories without shame. Brianne shares how becoming a mother has shifted her perspective on work, how Ginny & Georgia ’s Georgia Miller compares to real-life parenting, and the power of female friendships in the industry. We also go behind the scenes of their new Netflix film, Kinda Pregnant —how Molly first got the script, why Amy and Brianne were drawn to the project, and what it means for women today. Plus, they reflect on their early career struggles, the moment they knew they “made it,” and how motherhood has reshaped their ambitions. From career highs to personal challenges, this episode is raw, funny, and packed with insights. Mentioned in the Episode: Kinda Pregnant Ginny & Georgia Meerkat 30 Rock Last Comic Standing Charlie Sheen Roast Inside Amy Schumer Amy Schumer on the Howard Stern Show Trainwreck Life & Beth Expecting Amy 45RPM Clothing Brand A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us at @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…
On today’s show we welcome Roddy Chong. Roddy is an accomplished Asian American violinist and speaker known for his high energy performances with many of the music industry’s most recognized acts. Roddy has toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Shania Twain and Celine Dion and he has performed for audiences all around the world. He has performed for the President of the United States, the Queen of England, The Pope and Oprah. We’ll get into why Roddy wanted to quit the violin after pressure from his parents and how he actually did quit the violin for a period of his life. Roddy tells us about the importance of following a passion coupled with networking. He also goes into the steps that he took to land an audition and play with Shania Twain and Celine Dion. For all this and more, tune in! Key Points From This Episode: Roddy’s early years playing the violin. Giving up the violin and the college years. Jobs that Roddy did out of college and the importance of MTV. How Roddy picked up the violin again and going on his first tour. Getting fired from The Jars of Clay touring band. The ‘failure vibe’ and what it felt like. Getting back up and finding more work. The power of the library and the books that Roddy loves. Auditioning and going on tour with Shania Twain. Reliability as one of Roddy’s biggest strengths. Starting a career as a speaker and mixing this with music performance. The principles of always promoting yourself and your work. Thinking rich and moving up to major league thinking. Roddy’s Fail On Challenge to our listeners. And much more! Tweetables: “I did want to quit, right around 11 years old, I think that’s very common with all kids and the difference with my parents and other parents is that my parents did not let me quit.” — @roddychong Tweet This [0:05:28] .2] “Right after my junior year, I kind of stopped playing. I thought that I’m not going to do this professionally.” — @roddychong Tweet This [0:09:50] .1] “I was naively positive. Anything that could possibly work, I was like all in, this is going to work. I still am like that a little bit.” — @roddychong Tweet This [0:19:04] .2] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Roddy Chong — http://www.roddychong.com/ Roody Chong on Twitter — https://twitter.com/roddychong?lang=en Todd Herman — http://toddherman.me/ Jars of Clay — http://www.jarsofclay.com/ Boyd Tinsley — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyd_Tinsley Dave Matthews Band — http://www.davematthewsband.com/ Charlie Daniels — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Daniels The Devil Went Down to Georgia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Went_Down_to_Georgia Kansas — http://www.kansasband.com/ Payback — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payback_(1999_film) Rebecca Saint James — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_St._James DC Talk — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Talk Shania Twain — http://www.shaniatwain.com/ Sylvester Stallone — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Stallone What You Say When You Talk to Yourself — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/321982.What_to_Say_When_You_Talk_to_Yourself Think and Grow Rich — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30186948-think-and-grow-rich Blink — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40102.Blink?from_search=true Celine Dion — http://www.celinedion.com/ Trans-Siberian Orchestra — http://www.trans-siberian.com/index/home Rob Kosberg — http://robkosberg.com/ Grant Cardone — https://grantcardone.com/ Kevin Harrington — http://kevinharrington.tv/ What They Don’t Teach You in Harvard Business School — https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/467754.What_They_Don_t_Teach_You_at_Harvard_Business_School Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 042 “RC: I did the best that I could which was I typed the whole thing out. So I had like six pages and I had rehearsed it, I did a lot of things wrong and that’s how I’m able to do what I do now very powerfully because I did so many things wrong the first time. Through that, kind of failing in that first one, a lot of good things happened.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:25.1] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:51.9] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that knows publicly sharing your failures is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom in a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and real entrepreneurs, not the overnight success stories we tend to hear about. And this is a platform for their stories and today’s story is of Roddy Chong. Roddy is an accomplished Asian American violinist and speaker known for his high energy performances with many of the music industry’s most recognized acts. Roddy has toured with The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Shania Twain and Celine Dion and he has performed for audiences all around the world including the President of the United States, the Queen of England, The Pope, Oprah and countless other notable figures and Rob Nunnery of course, actually he performed in San Diego and Todd Herman’s 90 Day Year event and he was amazing. We’ll be discussing why Roddy wanted to quit the violin at the age of 11 after pressure from his parents and how he didn’t see himself doing it professionally. He discusses the importance of following a passion and networking in order to find opportunity and he also goes into the steps that he took to land an audition and play with Shania Twain and Celine Dion. Really cool stories and really powerful. But first, if you’d like to stay up to date on all the fail on podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:30.5] RN: There’s a lot I want to dig in to because your story’s incredibly inspiring but just to take it back and to give everybody some context, why the violin, what got you into playing the violin? [0:02:41.6] RC: You know, I think that’s something that is very common in Asian families and my family growing up was Chinese American and you know, I think my dad was into a – really the pushing for the violin was from my mom. I’ve talked with her about it here and there, she says that I chose the instrument at age two. I have a hard time believing that, I don’t remember choosing it, I have a hard time believing it, I think that I did choose it somehow and I did see my two year old niece also choose the instrument at age two but I think that’s because she saw me playing it. It was kind of something that as a family, an Asian family, that’s something that is very typical, that’s why in my speaking event where we met, people laugh when I say that you have two choices, piano or violin and people laugh, either they knew that nerdy Asian guy in school that had to carry around the violin or even Cello or something. Or Asians in the audience are laughing because either they had that torture done to them or they’re doing it to their kids. I don’t have any kids but if I ever have kids, they are also going to play piano or violin and the idea that my mom said was, if I can get the right side of your brain going, hopefully the left side of your brain will also kind of grow. I think it was good, I think the best thing that happened was just discipline, just the constant practice and having to do it because I know a lot of kids grow up having to go to the piano lesson or having to go to the violin lesson. [0:04:14.9] RN: Back then, it’s like, as a kid, you’re like, for most kids, I want to go outside and play, I want to hang out with my friends. [0:04:19.4] RC: Exactly. [0:04:20.3] RN: is that how you felt as well? [0:04:21.4] RC: Exactly, yeah. They let me do that. But before I could catch fireflies or go fishing or those things, play freebie with my friends, I had to practice and it was about 20 minutes. Any ideas of a tiger mom or six hours or you can’t eat until you’re done practicing, that was not what was going on in my family. I thought it was very good, actually pretty healthy when I was a kid, I thought I was totally wrong because I could see my kids could just play ball right away. I had to practice first and sometimes they were waiting for me to play. Of course now I am thankful for that and my mom did – I talked to her, these are her words. She said, “I did push you but I didn’t force you.” I didn’t like it growing up, there was just more something I had to do, kind of like take out the garbage or brush my teeth. These are things that you do, I did notice the other kids in my neighborhood, didn’t have to do that. But at the same time, there was a feeling, I don’t know if we actually had a conversation but there’s a feeling that they kind of envied that, that I could play an instrument, I still thought it was dorky. That was my lot and life as a two year old, seven year old, 11 year old and I did want to quit, right around 11 years old, I think that’s very common with all kids and the difference with my parents and other parents is that my parents did not let me quit, they never said it but the vibe was you kind of don’t have a choice, maybe later but for now, as any 11 year old, you’re going to keep playing this violin. [0:05:44.9] RN: What did your parents hope to – did they just want you to have that skill because they knew it would serve you? They probably didn’t know you’d go on to be like a rock star, you know what I mean? [0:05:52.2] RC: Correct, they didn’t know I’d go on in either, did I. I think that they were good parent in exposing me to a lot of things. They allowed me to get involved with sports and things with friends, things with photography, stuff with the park district. I liked animals so things with animals, they exposed me to a lot of things and the violin and music, they knew that it was something that would be important for the development of my brain and especially that character quality of discipline. Again, it’s just something that’s very culturally normal for Asian cultures and it’s a developmental thing and then also just that character quality of discipline. I think that’s why they did it, we weren’t really into sports, we watched it but it wasn’t like okay, you’re going to play soccer, I remember most of the kids in my area played soccer and it wasn’t something that was going to be for me. It was more music that was going to be my way and it wasn’t like I had a huge passion for it, it was just something that I did. I’m kind of repeating myself now but that’s how it was. [0:06:59.7] RN: In terms of – in your childhood, skill wise, were you just heads and shoulders above other kids or were you just kind of average but you just kept going, kept getting better and better? [0:07:13.9] RC: Well, I was part of a violin academy so this violin academy was in the suburbs of Chicago and it was called The Haigh Levitan Academy of Performing Arts. This woman Betty Haigh is actually still alive. She taught me and she taught my niece and nephew and she just is instilling fear into these kids to play well and she’s really good actually at making kids play advanced pieces at a very young age. In that school, there were a lot of us that were doing really well, that were playing well. I wasn’t at the top, I was probably right in the middle. My sister and my parents say that I was actually pretty good but I didn’t know that. I could see Carissa or these different people that could play better than me, they could play pieces that were more difficult than me. I did practice and I felt like I couldn’t do what they were doing. I was not the best, I didn’t feel. I could definitely play better than most people at my public school though, I did not go through the public orchestra program, I did go through the band program though in junior high and high school. Played trumpet and that was great and I was – I’m glad I was put in that academy though because it made me work harder and it was normal to be a little bit better at this instrument and not just an average training, it was an above average kind of training. [0:08:38.4] RN: Did you have a competitive nature like in that advanced school? You saw people doing better than you, did that drive you to – [0:08:44.1] RC: That’s a good point. I think that it got instilled into me and I wasn’t the most competitive but yes, in classical music, there is a competitive element placed in there where there’s kind of two types of...…
Our guest on today’s show is the wonderful Shanda Sumpter. Shanda is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and lifestyle specialist and the founder of Heartcore Business, a multimillion dollar enterprise. During our talk, we discuss the tactics Shanda uses to overcome a negative mindset and the importance of mentorship for building a business. Shanda presents a step by step guide to take participants out of the daily grind and into a life that they actually love. Shanda shares what she believes to be the most overlooked area that beginners miss when starting their own company. If you are just starting out, or looking to grow an already established business, Shanda’s contribution is something you have to hear! Key Points From This Episode: Shanda’s redefinition of failure and how its ties into excitement. The journey of this relationship with failure and learning from experiences. Breaking through fear and getting to grips with your own power. Shanda’s lowest point and the stress that characterized that period. Learning how to dream bigger and bigger. Just how selfish is growing your own company? Problem solving as a means to developing yourself and your business. The experience of others believing in and taking a chance on you. Building an email list as the most vital first step to starting a business. Coaches and the help they provide at all points of a journey. How to start building a email list through network and research. And much more! Tweetables: “I get excited when I’m failing on something because I’ve actually done something new” — @shandasumpter Tweet This [0:04:47] .1] “There’s nothing like training for a half marathon. Who you are in the process of training for that shows you who you actually are inside your business or inside your life.” — @shandasumpter Tweet This [0:10:11] .3] “If you can let go of the stress, you can access ideas and you’re just one idea away from success.” — @shandasumpter Tweet This [0:11:24] .2] “The only reason why you haven’t done it yet because there is a part of you that believes that somehow it won’t work out.” - @shandasumpter Tweet This [0:46:31] .2] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Shanda Sumpter on Twitter — https://twitter.com/shandasumpter Heartcore Business — http://www.heartcorebusiness.com/blog/ Tony Robbin’s Date with Destiny — https://www.tonyrobbins.com/events/date-with-destiny/ Unbound Merino — https://unboundmerino.com/ Sara Blakely — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Blakely Infusion Soft — https://www.infusionsoft.com/ A Course in Miracles — https://www.acim.org/ Larry Winget — http://www.larrywinget.com/ Andy Drish — https://andydrish.com/ A Perfect Day Formula — https://perfectdayformula.com/ Jessie Itzler — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Itzler Living With a Navy Seal for 30 days — https://www.amazon.com/Living-SEAL-Training-Toughest-Planet-ebook/dp/B00U6DNZB2 Roddy Chong — http://roddychong.com/ Transcript Below: Read Full Transcript EPISODE 041 “SS: I would spend and hour and a half in the parking lot of our real estate firm and I would be coaching people for $50 an hour while $50 for 90 minutes because I couldn’t stop helping them, I just loved it. Then I had that moment of making a decision to jump and I jumped.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:25.1] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:43.4] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that knows publicly sharing your failures is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom in a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and real entrepreneurs, not the overnight success stories and this is simply a platform for their stories. If you get already, my voice is just completely wrecked after a week at Tony Robbin’s Date with Destiny at Palm Beach Florida. It was an amazing event but the after effect is that I can’t talk very well. Regardless, today’s story is a beautiful one, it is of Shanda Sumpter, Shanda’s a bestselling author, entrepreneur and lifestyle specialist and the founder of Heartcore Business, a multimillion dollar enterprise, through her business coaching book and tailored series of online marketing courses, Shanda presents a step by step system to take participants out of the daily grind and into a life that they actually love. We discuss the tactics and methods Shanda uses to overcome a negative mindset and the importance of mentorship for building a business. She goes into the most overlooked area that beginners miss when starting their own company and Shanda outlines in full detail, her actionable strategy for building a new business if she had lost everything today and started over completely. But first, luckily, all I travel with is a backpack for one reason only it’s clothing from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Merino, they have clothes made out of Merino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can travel with less clothes since they clean themselves. Checkout the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere If you’d like to stay up to date on all the Fail On podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:42.9] RN: All right, welcome to the fail on podcast, I am sitting down with Shanda Sumpter, we have probably the best backdrop of a podcast in podcast history right now. [0:02:52.6] SS: I agree. [0:02:53.6] RN: We’re sitting, you’ll probably hear it in the background and I think there’s a lawnmower going but we are sitting on a bluff in La Hoya which is nice for me because it’s about 200 feet from my house so thanks for coming to me today, I appreciate that. Just to get into it, usually I like to ask this later on but just in context, what does failure actually mean to you? [0:03:17.0] SS: Success, I literally just finished leading a call with a few hundred people and now it’s talking about how your connection with stretching, like your connection with working needs to be one of – I wouldn’t say excitement but obsession in the essence, for instance, right now, I’m building out a new product funnel and the back end of all of everything in my company works really well. We’re working on the front end. Long story short is we got the front end working, the back end stop working. The back end hasn’t stopped working for years. It was like this moment of obsession of, “Wow, when I solve this piece, what’s going to happen?” The ripple effect of what that means for not only, inside my company but the millions of people that we get to serve. I was saying, you know, you talk about routine or comfort zone, comfort zone is just another version for another language for routine. People often don’t realize that they’re in a routine of being frustrated as they’re failing at things but failure is, I mean I’m sure, a lot of people on your podcast have talked about this in the essence of, it’s just a part of it. There’s nothing that we ever do that just works, I mean, it just doesn’t happen like that. That’s how masters get created, right? I get excited when I’m failing on something because I’ve actually done something new and now I actually know what I need to focus on now to fix something, to get to the other side of that thing. [0:04:52.4] RN: Exactly, it’s a good point. On that note, you said, the back end broke first time, it’s happened in forever. That was for you, that was like, it’s almost like – and I could tell just by talking to you, it was a moment of excitement because you get to solve something and you get to figure out and dig in why it was a challenge and what happened. To prevent it from happening again. Has that always been kind of your mindset of looking at challenges and getting excited by them or has it been something you’ve developed? [0:05:20.1] SS: No, I’ve developed. Tony Robbins movie, I thought was, he said something that I thought was brilliant in it and that was that he built himself. I think entrepreneurs have to understand that you build yourself and that’s the cool thing about your podcast is you’re helping people build themselves, right? No, not at all, I mean, I used to fail and think I was a loser, I would fail and wonder, if this is ever going to happen. You know, not just in being an entrepreneur but being in corporate America. I mean, I had such low self-esteem, I mean, now getting up on stages, it’s crazy that I do what I do because I was, I mean, I’m asking for one of my first raises and I cried. Because I felt so unworthy, isn’t that strange? [0:06:01.3] RN: That’s amazing. What was the mindset shift that allowed you to go from then to now? [0:06:07.6] SS: A combination of studying a lot, you know, John Assaraf was just sitting with my new husband and they were just having dinner together and Ash is a seven or eight time iron man and he was sharing with John, how when he cuts videos because he now owns this hydration company called high burst. When he cuts videos, how it takes him so many takes. John said, “Well, how long does it take to do an iron man? How much practice do you really put in,” and it was an aha moment hearing Ash share that conversation with me because I was like, you know, imagine if we actually stopped and realized that if we got obsessed with our thing and we were okay with studying which means there’s going to be – as the helicopter goes by. If you were okay with that, you’d recognize that you just keep getting better. Life doesn’t get easier, business doesn’t get easier, it just doesn’t. You do get better. If you could walk through those stressful moments without getting stressed. I remember when I had nothing, I was losing my house, I was losing my car, it was a really down moment for me and I hadn’t started my business yet but I was in corporate America. Sales commissioned. I had nothing and I remember what got me out of it was not writing what I was grateful for because as grateful for nothing at that moment. I have never been good at pretending you know? Because if you don’t really believe it, the pretend – it just doesn’t have the same strength. I remember just saying, what’s the worst that could happen right now? It was moving back to Canada and move in with my mom. Everything in me didn’t want to do that but I still was okay. [0:07:48.6] RN: You’d have shelter, you’d have food, you weren’t going to die. [0:07:51.5] SS: Exactly. But we act as if somehow, keeping up with the Joneses, if we don’t make it, we’re somehow less than. If you could get out from that thought process then you can win this game. [0:08:05.2] RN: How are you able to do that? Because I know – I hear you, Knows the challenge for me as well. But for somebody listening that’s maybe at that point where they’re at a crossroads, on one hand they know they have more in them, another hand, they’re comfortable in a job. How do you break through that shift of asking yourself that question? What’s the worse that can happen and being okay with downgrading your lifestyle or whatever it may be. [0:08:31.4] SS: Yeah, not everybody’s okay with that but you have to get okay with that. You know, there’s a couple of key thing that I’ve done. First of all, I did get okay with that, I was like – I actually didn’t think I was going to make it anyway so I was like, “What’s the worse that can happen, I’ll move in with my mom, okay, I’m fine then,” it somehow takes the pressure off, if you can get the pressure off you, you stop retracting and you can actually expand. From that moment, I was actually able to start writing down what I was proud of myself for and why. It’s funny because I read the bible every day now, I’m very spiritual but I just started reading the bible about a year and a half ago. In the bible, it tells you, pride is a horrible thing. The truth is that back in that time, I had to get connected with my self-worth. I wrote what I was proud of myself for and why. I would write it for 10 minutes twice a day. I’m not kidding you, on day two, all of a sudden I felt invincible. I felt so powerful and so strong, I started asking people for help which is the same equivalent of asking for a sale at that point in time, right? Whether you’re an entrepreneur or you are in corporate America, I started asking for help or I started asking for the sale. Then somebody ended up lending me money, I was like $5,000, it was enough to pay my mortgage and then just kind of feel the confidence and go after it, there’s things I’ve done in the meanwhile. I’ve started endurance sports, there’s nothing like training for a half marathon. Who you are in the process of training for that shows you who you actually are inside your business or inside your life. When you’re close to let’s say, your money - It’s really easy to work really hard but working hard doesn’t mean that you actually create an end result that you want because most people work hard for a certain amount of time and then they stop. Train for an endurance race and see your pattern. Because you might train while feel good and then not train when you don’t feel good or you get a sprained ankle, you’re like, I can’t run anymore because I have a sprained ankle, I can’t train. Well, a pro would just hit the pool. “But I don’t know how to swim,” it doesn’t matter, just go download something online and just do a workout. Go to a bar class, go lift weights, go jump on a trainer to ride a bike, they’ll keep going, they won’t stop at the thing that gets in their way, they’ll get around it and when you start to learn how to train your brain to be like that, it’s just the same everywhere. [0:10:59.5] RN: I want to go back to what actually got you – when you’re in corporate America, what actually got you down to that lowest point, what was the catalyst that was like, I can’t do this anymore, was that the situation? [0:11:12.0] SS: No, I never let go. I just let go of the stress, right? If you can let go of the stress, you can access ideas and you’re just one idea away from success. I mean, you just are. The only thing that guarantees failure is you stopping. If you just create a habit, so I was a great starter, I was a shitty finisher. You’ve got to become a good finisher to be able to create anything in life. I had this – my only...…
Jordan Axani is a marketing strategist focused on digital authenticity and well-being. He was once the focus of the most viral, human interest story in the history of the internet. More on that in a bit. Jordan is currently a writer and key note speaker addressing marketing strategy and personal development. On today’s show we’ll be talking with Jordan discussing the challenges he suffered with bullying growing up which ultimately led to the development of his current work. We’ll also discuss the darkest times of Jordan’s entrepreneurial journey and the steps he has taken to climb back on top. He now works on a project called What’s Your Big Lie, helping people open up about their fears and problems. Jordan’s story is unique, surprising and inspiring and is definitely one you need to hear! Key Points From This Episode: Jordan’s troubles with bullying from an early age. The long-term affects of this pattern of abuse Jordan’s feelings looking back at the younger version of himself. Relationships and Jordan’s general attitude as an adult. Career mindedness in the wake of trust issue. The break-up that led to a viral internet story. What is was like to be an overnight internet celebrity by accident. Jordan’s most shameful moment and the deep hurt he caused. How a long path of self-destruction and pain led a new beginning Working on What’s Your Biggest Lie as a means to self-love And much more! Tweetables: “It takes people to super vulnerable places” — @jordanaxani Tweet This [0:07:41] .1] “Who am I to work with kids, but then it blew up” — @jordanaxani Tweet This [0:43:56] .1] “I was very deliberate in hindsight about using the term ‘big lie’.” — @jordanaxani Tweet This [1:07:19] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Jordan Axani – @jordanaxani What’s Your Big Lie – disruptt.com/programs/wybl/ Unbound Merino – https://unboundmerino.com/ The New Yorker – https://www.newyorker.com/ Mark Henick https://markhenick.com Why We Choose Suicide – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmCIJj-v3q8 Harper Collins – https://www.harpercollins.com Mental Health Association of Canada – https://cmha.ca/ Danny Iny – https://mirasee.com/about-us/danny-iny/ Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/ BuzzFeed – buzzfeed.com CNN – cnn.com Pan Am Athlete’s Village – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Pan_American_Games_Athletes%27_Village Kimmel – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Kimmel Ellen – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_DeGeneres The Fast and the Furious – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232500/ William Morris Endeavor – wmeentertainment.com The Daily Mail – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html Inside Edition – http://www.insideedition.com/ Sunshine’s Sachs – https://www.sunshinesachs.com/ Good Morning America – http://abcnews.go.com/topics/entertainment/tv/good-morning-america.htm Yik Yak – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yik_Yak Techstars Accelerator – https://www.techstars.com/ Saas – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_service Tom Chi – http://www.tomchi.com/ Google Glass – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass BoJack Horseman – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3398228/ Cameron Herald – https://www.cameronherald.com/ Runa – http://runa.org/ Steve Nash – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Nash Nick Kusmich – http://www.nicholaskusmich.com/ Elon Musk – https://www.tesla.com/elon-musk Brad Feld – https://www.feld.com/ Driven – https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Understanding-Harnessing-Entrepreneurs-Athletes/dp/1619616939 Heart Core Business – http://www.heartcorebusiness.com/about/…
Adrienne Dorison is a business consultant, podcast host and the founder of Good Businesses Do Good and The School of Self- Mastery. Through her work, Adrienne helps entrepreneurs and businesses get profitable while maintaining a commitment to helping others. After paying off a $48,000 student loan in just six months, Adrienne quit her corporate job to pursue her business full-time. A brave choice, but one she feels she had to make. She’ll discuss the pivotal moments in her journey along with the ups and downs she’s faced. Apart from her business life, we hear all about her beloved dog Church, and how home and family life connects to her professional ambitions. Through the episode we’ll get a first-hand glimpse at what motivates, inspires and keeps her working. And how you can model her approach for your own life. Key Points From This Episode: How different cities have different business energy. Brick and mortar business versus online business. Balancing working from home and getting out and about. The practice of self-definition and introduction. Exactly what Adrienne’s job entails. Growing businesses with “baked-in giving”. Intentions of publicly giving versus anonymous donations. Just how important her dog, Church, is to Adrienne. Fulfillment and freedom through business. Matching income with expenses rather replacing salary. How Adrienne paid off her loan so quickly. The familial side of business. Pursuing and helping the causes that you personally care about. The School of Self- Mastery and switching it outward. Possibility of a show or a book in the future. The ripple effect of earning more to give more. And much more! Tweetables: “I help business earn more so that they can give more.” — @adriennedorison Tweet This [0:05:49] .1] “I think as entrepreneurs right now, we have this really incredible opportunity to change the world very quickly.” — @adriennedorison Tweet This [0:06:49] .1] “I usually go in and provide different ideas for how they could give and incorporate it into their business.” — @adriennedorison Tweet This [0:08:30] .1] “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong in terms of baking giving into your business model.” — @adriennedorison Tweet This [0:23:21] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Adrienne Dorison http://adriennedorison.com/ Good Businesses Do Good http://adriennedorison.com/dogood/ Unbound Morino – https://unboundmerino.com/ BNI https://www.bni.com/ EO https://www.eonetwork.org/ Stella – http://www.stellaartois.com/en/home.html Adoption America – http://www.americanadoptions.com/ Jordan Axani – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jordan-axani-the-traveller-who-finally-met-his-ms-right-a6779326.html Transcript Below: Read Full Transcript EPISODE 039 “AD: But for now I don’t know that it’s worth it for me to turn that into, like, higher end consulting service because it does take a lot of time if I were to go in and like – “Here’s the all the selections, here’s how we do that”, so it’s really just typically right now gets tacked on to, like, growing the business because if we can help them grow the business then we can show them, like, you can be giving back right now because I think that’s a big barrier to entry for a lot of people.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:28.9] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail On Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:54.8] RN: Hello there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only shares successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Adrienne Dorison. Adrienne is a business consultant, podcast host and the founder of Good Businesses Do Good. She teaches high achieving entrepreneurs to create the habit of success so that they can achieve their goals and find their personal freedom and fulfillment. We will be discussing how Adrienne helps businesses define their most important social causes and designs a business plan to grow, profit and support these causes at the same time. Very impactful business that she runs, she shares how she paid off $48,000 of debt in just six months through her side hustle, while still in the corporate job and finally, she goes into how a blog post was finally the driving force, the final push that she needed to leave her secure job to work on her own business full time. But first, luckily, nowadays, all I travel with is a backpack for one reason only, it’s clothing form an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Merino, they have clothes made out of merino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can travel with less clothes since the clothes, literally, if you just hang them out at night, they clean themselves because bacteria doesn’t build up, it’s crazy but it’s true. Checkout the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else and of course, if you’d like to stay up to date on all The Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:54.4] RN: We’re in New York right now, what are you doing here? [0:02:56.2] AD: I am here for a mastermind. Here meeting with some peers and mentors and just connecting with people. I live in Florida but being in the city, there’s nothing like being here and taking advantage of where you are and the energy here as well as just like so many amazing people to meet. I’m here for like, three days of nonstop pouring into my business and connecting with other people. [0:03:23.0] RN: Tampa doesn’t have this energy? [0:03:25.1] AD: It’s a little slower. [0:03:26.2] RN: Yeah, I know, totally. [0:03:27.2] AD: We do have very small local business community in saint Pete which I like. Very different though, yeah. [0:03:32.8] RN: Are you pretty involved? Like EO or anything like that. [0:03:35.9] AD: I’m in BNI which is like business networking international and we meet every week. We just moved there about a year ago but trying to get more involved in my local community because I love working with local businesses and brick and mortars and I find that when I market myself online, I do get a lot more online businesses. I don’t know if that’s just the nature of being online that online businesses are attracted to you so when I market myself locally or connect with people locally, I usually end up working with more brick and mortars and those types of businesses and just kind of like being immersed in the local community so I’m trying to do even more of that since we moved there relatively recently. But BNI for me has been like even just the practice of getting out of my house because I work from home. [0:04:21.9] RN: Yeah, no. [0:04:25.2] AD: Meeting people, yeah, like getting dressed, I usually try to get dressed anyways, at least from the waist up because that’s what people are going to see but I come back from a meeting and my husband’s like, “My god, you’re like full of energy, what happened?” “Well I met with people and I had a latte from…” – those are both amazing things that usually don’t happen on a daily basis but you know, practicing introducing yourself, you know, before we started recording, we were talking about that. Introducing yourself in the introductions and now that I’m here in New York, I do that, I don’t know, 150 times in the next three days but as someone who works from home and kind of can be in a little silo or a vacuum, I think it is important to practice that in a pretty low stakes environment, right? Like these people see me every week, get to practice with them. Hey, does this click? Right? If I introduce myself like this or this. That’s been huge in and of itself, you know? [0:05:24.4] RN: Totally. Just in terms of we were talking about Clay Herbert here, he does this six word intro, let’s hear what you’ve got so far. [0:05:32.0] AD: Want to hear my intro? I’ll give you one and then 10 more. No. [0:05:37.7] RN: You probably have them. [0:05:40.2] AD: Well, he says, there is no perfect intro, there are only perfect intros, right? [0:05:45.6] RN: Each for appropriate times with who you’re talking to, that kind of thing. [0:05:49.1] AD: Yes, which is so helpful. So I help business earn more so that they can give more. [0:05:53.7] RN: Awesome. What does that mean? Tell me more. [0:05:56.6] AD: Tell me more, what does that mean? How do you do that, right? These are all the questions that are going to happen. [0:06:02.8] RN: It’s good because it’s intriguing and I’m like, well, that sounds cool. [0:06:08.2] AD: Yeah, I have a background in efficiency and performance improvement so I work with small businesses to help them get better results in way less time so that they can ripple and impact the world in even bigger ways. I want to work with people and businesses who really want to create a social impact so the “give more” is all about what are we then doing with all this money that we’re earning because I’m happy to show you how to earn a lot more money in your business regardless of what that business is. There’s some fine tuning that we can do and create massive improvements but I also want to know that you’re going to do something really amazing with it. Yeah, they care about people and the world because I think as entrepreneurs right now, we have this really incredible opportunity to change the world very quickly with limitless income, with these – the global economy that we’re in, the technology space that we’re in. Where we could reach anyone anywhere and sell them our product or service. But then, what are you going to do with it, right? [0:07:07.6] RN: Totally. [0:07:07.8] AD: Well, also not like martyring yourself. I think that that’s important, right? I think a lot of people are like, I just have to give everything away? No, I think you should absolutely have your desires and needs met and then there should still be a lot more to give away. I think that people think that they’ll do that once they start earning a lot more money. You really need to start right away because it’s really building that habit, you know? I guarantee you, if you’re like, I’ll wait till I’m earning a million dollars, it’s going to be really hard to give away $100,000 of your million. Start when you make $10 and just give away one, see how that goes. [0:07:42.5] RN: Do you help businesses like actually implement like the plan of how to give? [0:07:46.9] AD: Yes. Every business is going to be very different and some businesses like, already have give-back models. Some are you know, fine to do that on their own and they don’t ask for a consulting on that piece of their business but others are like, I don’t really – The most common thing is, it’s like, I don’t have the profit margins to do that yet or I don’t really see how that’s going to work for me in my business model. I’m like, okay, let’s get creative, right? Let’s brainstorm. Typically if I go into a business and consult on what I see are areas of potential improvement for their performance then I already know the structure and the model of their business and I can see what’s going to be an opportunity. I usually go in and like, here’s like three ideas for how you could give. Here’s a – I also want to make sure that it aligns what they care about, right? There’s a lot of things that I care about but there’s only a few things that I care enough about to do something about. Right? I think that that’s really important for everyone to know, you don’t have to also judge yourself around what you care about because I think that’s huge for people there. But I don’t care about the same thing or I don’t care about – I’m sure they care, not enough to do something about. You know, this specific thing in a third world country. [0:09:07.4] RN: Totally. [0:09:08.2] AD: I spoke with someone, one of my clients who was like, I feel bad or selfish that I care about adoption in The United States and I’m like, “That’s amazing, there’s nothing wrong with that”, right? You don’t have to judge yourself about what it is you care about because I think that we all – just like we all have like unique gifts in our businesses. We all have something that for some reason or another in our life, we care about that thing more than other things. [0:09:37.9] RN: It’s okay, right? [0:09:38.4] AD: We need that diversity because that’s how we’re going to help all of these things rise. That’s part of what we do too, is like understanding what do you care enough about to do something about, how is it going to be baked into your business model while also keeping you profitable because long term sustainability of the business is also very important for me because you can’t just give away all your money and then not going to be in business anymore. [0:10:00.6] RN: And you can’t give anymore. [0:10:02.1] AD: Exactly, you can’t give anymore money which is not our goal, right? Making sure that it’s sustainable inside the business and then making sure that you know how to position it for your market, right? Because a lot of people are like, “But this has nothing to do with my clients or what my clients care about”. Okay, there are certain things that we could work into that to communicate that message, right? [0:10:22.0] RN: Do you mind sharing like a real life example? [0:10:23.6] AD: Example? Yeah, one of my clients, she really cares about Rhinoceroses. ...…
Steve Kamb is a fitness instructor, publisher and writer, best known for promoting Superhero Workout Regimes and the paleo diet at his website nerdfitness.com. Nerd Fitness is now a booming business and worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds and desk jockeys level up their lives and their fitness. Steve is also the author of the book, Level Up Your Life: How To Unlock Adventure And Happiness By Becoming The Hero Of Your Own Story . In addition to his writing and coaching, Steve has also guest lectured at Google, Facebook, Ted X Emery and many other places. In this episode, we’ll be discussing Steve’s high school experience that sparked his motivation for working out and led him on his journey to creating Nerd Fitness. He’ll discuss the deciding moment when he was ready to break free from his nine to five and focus solely on creating the business. Steve also shares his advice for growing an audience, managing remote teams and how to transition from a full-time job to your own passion project. Key Points From This Episode: Find out how Steve ended up in New York. Steve reveals the genesis of Nerd Fitness. The 30 days that transformed Steve’s life. Why getting certified didn’t help Steve much. How working at Six Man propelled Steve’s writing. How Steve used his writing to grow Nerd Fitness. What made Steve quit his job and pursue Nerd Fitness. Letting go of ego and doing odd jobs for extra cashflow. How Steve ended up painting a set for Drake’s music video. Don’t wait until your business plan is perfect – just start! Why Steve advises us to start something on the side. Find out why Steve cried on the release of his first ebook. How ebooks sustained Nerd Fitness for four years. Mixing Mr. Robot conspiracy theory with fitness. How Steve manages his remote team of ten. And much more! Tweetables: “I was the skinny, scrawny, small nerd growing up.” — @stevekamb Tweet This [0:10:25] .1] “When I cracked the code, I wanted to help other people like me crack the code as well.” — @stevekamb Tweet This [0:12:13] .1] “I Googled “nerd and fitness” and nothing popped up.” — @stevekamb Tweet This [0:12:45] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: The Rising Heroes – https://www.nerdfitness.com/rising-heroes/ Steve Kamb on Twitter – https://twitter.com/stevekamb Steve Kamb on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekamb/ Nerd Fitness – https://www.nerdfitness.com/ Six Man – https://www.sixthman.net/ The Beginner’s Guide To The Paleo Diet by Steve Kamb – https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/ Level Up Your Life: How To Unlock Adventure And Happiness By Becoming The Hero Of Your Own Story on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Level-Your-Life-Adventure-Happiness/dp/1623365406 Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 038 “SK: I ended up getting a personal trainer certification, not because I wanted to become a trainer but rather I wanted to have a piece of paper that I thought would be really important for some reason to convince people on the internet to take me seriously and it turns out, nobody cares. Like, “Can you get me results? Are somebody that I can trust and somebody that I can believe and you’re real?” I found out very quickly that was more important.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:24.6] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:51.4] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom in a world that only shares successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Steve Kamb, Steve is a fitness instructor publisher and writer, best known for promoting Superhero Workout Regimes and the paleo diet at his website nerdfitness.com which is now a booming business and worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds and desk jockeys level up their lives and their fitness. He’s also the author of the book, Level Up Your Life: How To Unlock Adventure And Happiness By Becoming The Hero Of Your Own Story. In addition to his writing and coaching, Steve has also guest lectured at Google, Facebook, Ted X Emery and many other places. In this chat, we’ll be discussing Steve’s high school experience that sparked his motivation for working out and led him on his journey to actually creating Nerd Fitness. He’ll discuss that a deciding moment when he was ready to break free from his nine to five and focus solely on creating the business and Steve also shares his advice for growing an audience, managing remote teams and how to transition from a full-time job to your own passion project. But first, luckily, all I travel with now is a backpack for one reason only, it’s clothing form an innovative Toronto apparel company called unbound merino, they have clothes made out of merino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to wash it. Yes. This means I can travel with less clothes since the clothes clean themselves but checkout the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else. And of course, if you’d like to stay up to date on all the fail on podcast interviews and key takeaways form each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:03:00.3] RN: So, in New York City, why are you here, why in New York City? [0:03:02.9] SK: If you’ll notice here on the walls, this makes for great radio by the way, I have a Captain America shield hanging on my wall and Captain America hanging above my desk where I work from. The funny official answer is, Steve Rogers AKA captain America is from New York City. Where else should I be for a scrawny guy named Steve that was really trying to get bigger and stronger and become Captain America. No, the reality is. [0:03:31.8] RN: That wasn’t the reality? [0:03:34.1] SK: The reality is that I’ve been running a company called Nerd Fitness for seven years now. Two years ago, I came up to New York City. I was living in Nashville at the time. Came to New York City to meet with my book publisher and I’ve been to New York a whole bunch of times, I was like, “Why would anybody live here? It’s big and expensive and there’s people everywhere.” I decided that week that I was coming up, it’s like, “I’m really going to give New York City a chance.” Instead of coming in and out for a day or two which is what I had done in the past, I gave it a real chance. I rented a place for a week, I setup appointments with friends that I knew, I went out to eat good dinner. I went out to the park, I met up with heroes of mine in the internet business space. I just had the best week ever and I went back to Nashville and I was like – I was only two months into a 12-month lease and I was like, “Crap. I think I need to move to New York.” I think another month went by and I realized I was like, “I’m mentally am already in New York. Physically I’m still in Nashville.” “Mentally I’m there. What am I waiting for?” Within two weeks after I made that decision, I had sold all of my stuff, I had found somebody to rent out my apartment, anything that didn’t fit in my Jeep was gotten rid of, donated or sold and I drove in to New York City and rented an AirBNB for a month and as soon as I found an apartment, sold my car and I’ve been here for two years and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. [0:04:55.7] RN: Was it more so the city or the kind of community like you said, you were here that week and you met with a lot of good people and it was like – [0:05:01.4] SK: Yeah, it was the community, like I said, I was trying to think bigger with Nerd Fitness and I had a few mentors and a lot of college friends actually here in New York City and I knew that anytime I wanted to meet up with somebody, they were always coming to New York City at some point. Anytime you want to meet somebody, at some point in the next 12 months, they’re going to be here and that’s somebody that likes to sit on my butt and read books – I like when I’m here, I like being here. It’s kind of nice that everybody has to come through so I get to see everybody individually instead of only seeing them in a chaotic three day conference that everybody else is at. You get to have those one on one moments with a lot of people that are visiting just for a few days. [0:05:43.4] RN: I feel like, I was talking to Nick Teraso, I know we talked before we got on the air that you know, a mutual friend of ours. I was talking to him because him and I had this in common like socially awkward and like, it kind of social angst and big setting with a lot of people. It sounds like you’re the same but I find it interesting that we all find our little ways to find deep connection like for him, he does this flight adventures, right? Where he takes somebody like his reasoning behind this was beautiful. I can meet whoever I want because it’s very tempting for me to reach out to one of my heroes and say “Hey, do you want to fly to Connecticut today, we’ll be back by the afternoon.” That kind of thing and he’s like, well then they’re stuck in this little cockpit with me, they can’t go anywhere so that’s just like an instant bond. It’s a really deep connection, same kind of reason like I do the podcast because I go talk to people I really admire and like, it’s the same thing. It’s deeper connection. [0:06:30.8] SK: Speaking of Teraso, did you know he is a phenomenal musician? [0:06:34.6] RN: I did. [0:06:35.6] SK: I had no idea, I had met him and hung out with him a few times and then he invited me to this charity event, him and another friend of his, Nick Ganju who is – I showed up to this event and Ganju was on stage in full Prince outfit just crushing Purple Rain and then Teraso comes out and sang U2 and nailed it. I was like, I’d hung out with these guys a handful of times and they were like, “I’m doing this event.” It’s like, “Okay,” you’re like “Ha, ha. Of course you are. You’re going to play Free Falling on your guitar? Wait, you guys are actually good at music? Okay, that was not expected.” Yeah, two really funny guys. [0:07:17.5] RN: What were you doing in Nashville? [0:07:18.8] SK: I went to college in Nashville actually. I went to college at Vanderbelt University and after college, I actually moved to San Diego for about a year and a half and when I was in San Diego, I had the genesis for Nerd Fitness. I was working a crappy job and ended up picking up The Four-Hour Workweek on my lunch break and read it cover to cover in two days and like Neo discovered the Matrix existed. There’s this completely different world out there that I am completely unaware of. [0:07:47.7] RN: What was the crappy job? [0:07:48.8] SK: I worked for a construction equipment sales and rentals company. [0:07:52.9] RN: Pretty crappy. [0:07:54.6] SK: Not to belittle anybody, obviously that does that, it takes a tremendous amount of skill and expertise and knowledge in that area and obviously I was working for this company just before the bottom fell out of the construction market back in 2007/2008. It was tough, it was real cutthroat and sales is not my cup of tea. I very quickly learned that was not for me and started Nerd Fitness on the side and ended up from there, moving to Atlanta and then I traveled a whole bunch and ended up back in Nashville for a few years because I love music. Here in the apartment I have a banjo on the wall, a violin, a guitar, keyboard. I like to make a lot of noise, I’m never good at it but I like to make a lot of noise so that’s how I ended up back in Nashville. [0:08:38.0] RN: I actually saw you on your LinkedIn profile and I saw you worked for Six Man and crazy enough, before I got into what I’m – before my last two businesses advertising companies. I was in this period of trying to figure out what to do and I’m originally from Atlanta so – I saw Six Man, I don’t remember where I found them from but I saw they put on this amazing cruises with all these bands. I can start that business. You just need capital to rent out the cruise ship and then to get this bands and I was like, that’s like – it was a very clear focus for me, I was like, “I can do that” and I obviously didn’t but I just loved the model and I thought like it seemed like a really cool startup company in Atlanta, right? [0:09:19.9] SK: Yeah, Andy Levine, the owner of former owner of Six Man, you know, they were acquired in a kind of like an amazon/Zappos type experience with cruise lines a few years back but Andy has been a mentor to me, really, since the first day I started working there. It’s funny, a lot of other companies have come along to try to do what they do and Six Man just does it in such a way – they care and they have done such an amazing job with community building, that the artists that they work with, when they do this events, you know, most of them refuse to work with other companies trying to do similar things. Just because Six Man actually treats both the artist with respect and the customers and the fans of those bands treats them with respect too. I learned a lot while working at Six Man about community building and taking care of the customer. I applied as much of that – I still applied as much as that as I could to Nerd Fitness. [0:10:16.6] RN: Got you. Give me like the genesis of Nerd Fitness? Where did it come from, what made you interested in that and how did you actually start growing and building it? [0:10:26.6] SK: Sure. I was, as I eluded to earlier, I was the skinny, scrawny, small nerd growing up. I would escape into as many games and books and movies as I could, I went through Accutane twice in high school. Puberty hit me very late. I was five feet tall and 120 pounds or something by the time I think I was like a sophomore in high school. It was tough. Junior year I finally hit a growth spirt and went out for the basketball team and got cut, mostly because I was terrible at basketball. In my head, it was because I was too skinny. I was like, “I’m going to go to the gym and I’m going to start working out.” I went to the gym, I had no idea what I was doing and ended up spending two years of high school, four years of college, training and going to the…
John Romaniello is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the most highly regarded experts in the fitness industry today. He has written for a myriad of publications, ranging from Men’s Health to Fast Company, and is also the author of hundreds of articles and dozens of digital products. He’s also an angel investor and serves as an adviser to nearly a dozen fitness and tech companies. Ever wondered how a first-time author could get a seven-figure book deal? Well, John is that kind of guy. In this episode, we discuss John’s first highly successful product launch and hear how he made $250,000 from a single selfie. John also shares how he builds strong relationships with his audiences through his writing and storytelling process. We discover how John balances writing three books at one time and why talking about butt sex and Harry Potter has helped him grow a loyal following. Lastly, we find out about his plan for a full immersion writing retreat workshop. And John shares why he decided to give up masturbating and buy a stuffed llama (and much more of course). By the end of this entertaining episode, you will have a myriad of helpful tips to lead a more authentic business and life. Key Points From This Episode: The 7-year-old selfie that landed John $250,000 in revenue. How John launched his first product from his mom’s dining room table. The power of the non-pitch and how it propelled John’s business. Why everyone wants a story – even when it’s written in the back of a cab. Learn more about John’s history as a Dungeons & Dragon and writing nerd. Don’t miss John’s upcoming writer’s retreat in the Hamptons. The article John wrote about Tim Ferris, that Tim Ferris loved. John’s secret to successfully building his audience. Butt sex, Harry Potter and the value of just being yourself. Interacting with your customers on the days of normality. Why John believes Voldemort could have crushed it on Tinder. Find out how John recommends keeping track of thoughts. Hear more about John’s upcoming three books. Why John decided to give up masturbation and pornography. Meet Carlos: The stuffed llama John travels with. And much more! Tweetables: “Nobody knows that mama Roman was serving my buddy and I chicken cutlets as we’re about to bring in thousands of dollars.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:14:35] .1] “Storytelling is the thing that I’ve trained to do every single day my entire life.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:18:00] .1] “If there’s one rule you should try to apply to your life, it is to take pleasure in the violent exposure to your own ignorance.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:24:43] .1] “Let me tell you about butt sex and the Game of Thrones.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:36:35] .1] “The most interesting thing is when you zig when everyone else is zagging.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:37:25] .1] “I personally believe that it would be criminal to not share every half clever thing that tumbles into my head.” — @JohnRomaniello Tweet This [0:43:17] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Valentine – https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Day-Formula-Control-Your/dp/1619613557 How A First Time Author Got A Seven Figure Book Deal – https://tim.blog/2013/04/15/how-to-get-a-book-deal/ Neil Strauss’s book The Game – https://www.amazon.com/Game-Penetrating-Secret-Society-Artists/dp/0060554738 Winning The Story Wars by Jonah Sachs – https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Story-Wars-Stories-Future/dp/1422143562 Everything by Joseph Campbell – https://www.amazon.com/joseph-campbell/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ajoseph%20campbell Make Love not Porn by Cindy Gallop – https://blog.ted.com/cindy_gallop_ma/ John Romaniello Website – http://www.johnromaniello.com/ Roman Fitness Systems – http://romanfitnesssystems.com/ John Romaniello on Twitter – https://twitter.com/johnromaniello John Romaniello on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJohnRomaniello Transcript Below: Read Full Transcript EPISODE 037 “JR: I recently got a vape and I have no idea what the dosage is that I should be using and I just got blasted last night. Not realizing that I would not, it’s also like – it’s like a strain that affects your body and I sat and I just – I was glued to the couch watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part two and I just found my mind wandering and for four hours, after the movie ended. I was just like, man, if Voldemort was born like 60 years later, probably wouldn’t have started this cult, probably just would like played a lot of X Box, maybe after high school he would have like gotten in good shape, crush it on Tinder.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:41.3] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:01:06.7] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only shares successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is a platform for their stories. And today’s story is of John Romaniello. John is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the most highly regarded experts in the fitness industry today. He has written for a myriad of publications ranging from Men’s Health to Fast Company and is also the author of hundreds of articles and dozens of digital products. He’s also an angel investor and serves as an adviser to nearly a dozen fitness and tech companies. We’re going to be discussing John’s first highly successful product launch and the $250,000 selfie story that came as a byproduct years later. He’s also going to share how he builds strong relationships with his audiences through his writing and storytelling process. Finally, how John balances writing three books at one time and his plan for a full immersion writing retreat workshop and much more. But first, luckily, all I travel with now is a backpack for one reason only, it’s clothing form an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Merino, they have clothes made out of merino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can travel less since the clothes clean themselves. Check out the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else and if you’d like to stay up to date on all the Fail On podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:59.2] RN: Let’s talk about this $250,000 selfie. [0:03:02.2] JR: Let’s talk about the $250,000 selfie. Okay, this is a story about a story and the story is that, I like money entrepreneurs, I’m not as responsible with certain things as I should be and creating content is one of those things, right? You get in your head and I’ve been really trying to be more diligent with Instagram and building my Instagram and I see what some of my friends are doing. I don’t take a lot of selfies, I’m not good at it. And not because I don’t like – I’ve never met a mirror I didn’t like but for whatever – every time I take a selfie, I look at them, I’m like, my nose can’t be that fucking big. I don’t have the skillset and so there’s a folder in your iPhone titled selfies and it organizes them by date and I just went into that because selfies are like – if you want to build your Instagram, you got to post a lot of selfies, people want to see you. I clicked on it and it brought me to the first selfie I ever took which was on February 20th, super early in the morning, 3:30 in the morning in 2010. I lived my entire life until 2010, never needing to take a selfie and then at some point, I’m being on the cusp of millennialism took over. I’m a story teller by nature and so I thought, “I’m going to post this selfie and tell this story.” The story of the selfie is that it was taken very late at night during the first product launch I ever did. I had been in the internet marketing fitness world for a little while, I had been doing some online coaching and then it was time to launch my product and so the selfie is the frame where I essentially tell the story of this product launch where I had been working on it for months and everything’s coming to fruition. You know, I launch what was then called Final Phase Fat Loss, it was a series of ebooks to help people lose the last 10 to 15 pounds and just right there, you know, it’s a really tight niche and the product had everything it needed. The copy was really great, the hook was good, the story was good, I’d spent a lot of time on it, I was very proud of it. [0:05:08.2] RN: Did you write it? [0:05:08.8] JR: I did, it was the first piece of copy I ever wrote and that was how I learned that I was a good copywriter because I saw what everyone else did, people sent me, my affiliates who were going to promote the product, sent me a lot of information and they’re just – there was a list of these 11 things that one needs to have in this order and I did it and I went in and I killed it. It was a lot of very satisfying moments leading up to the launch where everyone was sort of nervous because I had never done this before and I sent the copy to Craig Ballantyne who was one of my mentors and then he sent it to another one of our affiliates. Mike Garry who – a very successful guy. Had like a 900,000 person list in 2010. The subject line was “Holy shit.” I was CC’d and then the body was just “Read this” and a link to the sales page and I was like, “I guess I did well.” We got all these affiliates promoting, it’s going crazy, you know, I had been running a successful personal training business, blah-blah-blah, I don’t want to tell like the origin story of my business. The launch went very well. And, you know, it’s this moment where your life is changing and you’re checking, you click bank account and it’s like $120,000, you check it again and it’s $125,000. [0:06:19.5] RN: Kind of refresh game. [0:06:20.1] JR: Yeah, the refresh game. But overall, the launch did like $465,000 in revenue, which was the biggest for a fitness ebook launch at that time. That was my goal, I really wanted to just come in and swing my dick around and be like, “I’m fucking here to party guys” and my buddy, Joe Marin who partnered with me on the launch had done the most prior to that like $330,000. We came in and we broke that. At some point, you know, I realized how my life was changing and you know, the fact that – [0:06:50.6] RN: This is a written story that you’ve written out? [0:06:53.5] JR: Yeah, I’m in the cab, I flew to Mexico for my buddy’s wedding, my buddy Joey Persia who is in my Mastermind, he asked me to officiate his wedding. I’m driving to – from the Cancun airport in the back of a cab Tulum which is an hour and a half drive, looking for Instagram content because I don’t want to just start posting Mexico selfies and be an asshole. I find the selfie and now, in the cab on my phone, I’m writing out the story, talking about the selfie which essentially is the story of the launch and how the online business bloomed around that. Yeah, it wound up sort of leading me to talk about how coaching was very valuable and how – I just really want to tell the story because the main part of that story is this: People know the legend of Roman and they know that chubby kid, thick guy, they know, I came out swinging with Final Phase Fat Loss. A lot of people don’t know is that I launched that product and this is the important part from my mother’s dining room table. I had been in a serious relationship, like why I got started in the online business and when it ended, we had lived together, I needed to move out and I was sort of – In that like really crazy grind mode wherein I would get up at five in the morning, train clients at six, you know, I’d be out until nine PM and then I would get home and write content and work on the product. Part of it was like I wanted to save a little bit of money but there was really this thing where I was like – I don’t need to – I’ll just move in with my mother, I moved back in at home and licked my wounds and you know – [0:08:31.6] RN: How old were at this time? [0:08:32.2] JR: I was 27. [0:08:33.1] RN: That’s a tough ego hit, right? [0:08:34.1] JR: It’s a tough ego hit but you know, now, telling everyone – that’s always the part of intentionally left out of...…
Rob Kosberg is a marketing and brand building expert and the founder of Best Selling Publishing. He’s a bestselling author and a syndicated radio show host that has also done over $250 million dollars in negotiated real estate transactions. Rob now specializes in helping his clients become the go-to experts in their respective fields. Through his trademarked Publish. Promote. Profit. Program, Rob helps his clients to create their own professional bestselling book. He then teaches them how to use their book to grow their income via speaking engagements, free publicity and lead generation strategies. In today’s episode, we will be discussing Rob’s rise and fall in the real estate market and how he regained his confidence and totally rebuilt himself after riding the housing market all the way to the ground. Rob also shares the simple, yet effective business model he used to promote his first book and build his initial client list. Finally, Rob discusses the bold guarantee and strategy that he uses to separate himself from publishers and helps his clients become bestselling authors as well. Key Points From This Episode: Rob’s journey into entrepreneurship from a family of entrepreneurs. How Rob got his real estate license at 18 and started selling houses. Why it was all about the money when Rob first started in real estate. The business collapse Rob faced during the financial crash. Going from $100 million in yearly transactions to selling everything on Craigslist. How Rob took the fall from business owner to house hustler. Find out why Rob was encouraged to write his book. How Rob used his book to get his business back off the ground. Why Rob sold his business and got into Best Seller Publishing. Discover what makes Best Seller Publishing unique. Publish. Promote. Profit: The three phases of Best Seller Publishing. How Rob has landed authors on TV shows, elite magazines and radio. Knowing when to quit versus when to carry on. Why we need to be reminded that money comes from people. And much more! Tweetables: “I was the kid, the nine-year-old out in the snow knocking on someone’s door and saying, “Hey, I want my $2.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:02:58] .1] “If you find something that everyone is making money and run, because eventually it’s going to collapse.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:08:33] .1] “It was hard on us. Really hard. We took art off the wall to sell, to have Christmas presents.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:12:23] .1] “I went from owning these companies to now just hustling real estate.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:13:20] .1] “When you get a diversity of smart opinions, it brings clarity. It really does.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:33:00] .1] “So many people, especially in this generation, want a way to extract money without the people.” — @robkosberg Tweet This [0:39:50] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Rob Kosberg — http://robkosberg.com/ Rob on Twitter — https://twitter.com/robkosberg Rob on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/robkosberg/ Unbound Merino — https://unboundmerino.com/\ Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 036 “RK: If you’re decent at marketing and you’ve tried X, Y and Z and you can’t make it work, then the market is telling you that you’re trying to do something that the market just is not interested in.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:17.0] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast, where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:41.1] RN: Hey, there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn, but it’s also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs. This is a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Rob Kosberg. Rob is a marketing and brand building expert, a bestselling author and a syndicated radio show host that has also done over $250 million dollars in negotiated real estate transactions. Rob specializes now in helping his clients become the go-to experts in their respective fields. Through his trademarked Publish. Promote. Profit. Program, Rob helps his clients to create their own professional bestselling book, and then teaches them how to use that book to grow their income via speaking engagements, free publicity and lead gen strategies. We’ll be discussing Rob’s rise and fall in the real estate market and how he regained his confidence and totally rebuilt himself after riding the housing market all the way to the ground. The simple, yet effective business model Rob used to promote his first book and build his initial client list. Finally, Rob discusses the bold guarantee strategy that he uses to separate himself from publishers and helps his clients become bestselling authors. First, luckily all I travel with now is a backpack for one reason only. It’s clothing from innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Merino. They have clothes made out of merino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can literally just travel with less clothes as they stay clean themselves. Channel the show notes page for exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else. If you’d like to stay up to date on all the Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for a newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:34.8] RN: Take us back to the first time that somebody actually handed you money – not necessarily handed you, but sent you money, gave you money in exchange for a product or a service that you created. [0:02:43.5] RK: Yeah. I can think of a couple things. I’ll go back a long way to the roots first. [0:02:48.8] RN: Let’s go. [0:02:50.2] RK: One of my first jobs – I mean, this is going way back, but delivering newspapers. You think, you work for somebody else, but the reality is I was the kid, the nine-year-old out in the snow knocking on someone’s door and saying, “Hey, I want my $2.” You know what I mean? I had an envelope and I had to send the money in to the newspaper. [0:03:12.6] RN: Doing collections too. [0:03:13.3] RK: I was doing collections, dude. That was the first time. My family, I kind of come from a family of entrepreneurs. I got my real estate license at 18. That was really my first experience of being self-employed and making some big checks, because of work that I did. Now that’s, again, more of a service than it is an actual product, but same, I think kind of idea. Because I did that through college, paying my way through college, selling real estate, owning a Corvette, I owned three houses at the time. At 19 years old that was pretty cool. It seem like it anyway. [0:03:55.8] RN: Hustling out of the game. Were you raised in that kind of environment where your parents taught you to be an entrepreneur, or taught you to look for opportunity? [0:04:03.8] RK: It was by osmosis, right? I don’t know that we ever had a time where I was taught that stuff. But my grandparents owned gas stations in Washington DC. So I mean, they got pictures of me as an infant on the hood of the car, with the hood open, with my feet dangling in the engine while they’re working on the car. I also grew up a gear-head and got my first car at 14. I had two cars before I had a driver’s license. I grew up in Central Florida at that time, so in the redneck places. You could drive around without a driver’s license. Anyway, yeah, I mean I think it was by osmosis. I watched them out there hustling with their gas station and bringing people in and growing that business. Then my dad opened up a real estate company when we moved to Florida and the real estate company was a whole other avenue of doing the exact same thing, but now it was more about the service of real estate, rather than the service of pumping gas. [0:05:05.9] RN: Right. Just a different industry. [0:05:08.5] RK: Yeah. [0:05:08.9] RN: Got it. Take us to that journey. 19-years-old, successful already, cars. Where did you go from there? [0:05:15.9] RK: Yeah. I mean, my goal at that time was I wanted to go to law school and be a lawyer. Not because I wanted to be a lawyer, who really wants to be a lawyer? Although maybe there’s someone listening that does. [0:05:28.1] RN: Yeah. Reconsider if you’re listening. Reconsider. [0:05:31.7] RK: I thought this is a great way. I loved aspect of it. I thought this would be a great way to have my own business. It was all about having my own business and making money. I started making so much money in real estate and the mortgages that I was like, “Why am I thinking about doing – going to law school?” At that point, I got my bachelors in a worthless field, a Political Science degree. [0:05:55.0] RN: You’re not using that today? [0:05:56.3] RK: I’m not using it very much. I tried to stay away from politics as much as I can. Then when I decided not to pursue a law degree, I was actually accepted to law school when I had taken the LSAT a couple of times. When I decided not to, I kind of went all in on mortgage and real estate. Look, that was super lucrative and had a great run in that and really enjoyed it. Remember, getting your license at 18 it was all about the money for me at that point, you know what I mean? Just prior to that, I was a bellhop, bellman at a hotel, a nice hotel in South Florida. It was a intercontinental hotel and we had a lot of celebrities come and go. So I made really big tips, but I had never seen a check, like when I sold my first house. I was like, “This is as much money as I would’ve made all summer,” and I made pretty good money as a bellman. In my second month, I sold five homes and I was like, “What? This is great. This is easy.” Yeah, so it was all about the money. As you get a little bit older it’s like, “Okay, I think I can make money in different ways.” It becomes, at least for me maybe I’m a slow learner, but it became more about the meaning also, you know what I mean? Which we were talking about that before. [0:07:17.2] RN: Right, right. So on this real estate journey, did you have that realization while you were running this company, or did this company come to – I mean, where was this company at when you started having the realization that maybe there is more to it than this? [0:07:32.1] RK: We were crushing it. Yeah, we were doing fantastic. It was like golden handcuffs, you know what I mean? I was making too much money – [0:07:40.9] RN: To walk away from. [0:07:41.6] RK: Yeah and of course, I was also living the lifestyle that – [0:07:45.5] RN: So expenses were high. [0:07:46.6] RK: Oh yeah. Expenses were high. I was enjoying the money, I owned real estate all over the place. Had nice cars and a big home and kids in private school and all that, but I was like, “You know, I mean, this is not — I’m pushing through.” It was a grind. I was looking for an exit. Not quite the exit I had, but I was looking for an exit. [0:08:10.6] RN: Sure. We’re only laughing because we talked about this beforehand. But walk us through what that exit look like and what happened? [0:08:18.6] RK: Yeah, I mean it looked like the financial crisis. I was in South Florida and – [0:08:22.6] RN: 2007 and 2008. [0:08:23.7] RK: Yup. Yup. The companies all in the 2000s were crushing it. We did a lot of advertising, but in those days everybody was making money in real estate, which is always a bad sign. If you find something that everyone is making money and run, because eventually it’s going to collapse. Everyone was making money in real estate at that time and our companies were doing over a $100 million a year in transactions. I had three primary businesses: real estate sales, mortgage lending and then the actual title escrow. But of course, they were all wrapped up in a house having to sell. When the financial crisis hit, the kind of real estate that we were doing, which was primarily luxury property, lending mortgages has shut down completely. Home values in Palm Beach County, which is where I lived and worked, that market got hit 50% to 60% drops in values, which who would’ve thought? I mean, that had never happened before in my lifetime and it may never happen again. Certainly not like that. Just totally blindsided by it. We saw maybe a dip coming, but not something to that effect. When lending shut down, then the only houses that we’re selling were cash. That meant that there was a lot of inventory and supply and demand, so the whole thing kind of collapsed on itself. That ended up being my exit. I had 25 employees and 6,000 square foot of office space and desks and phones and computers. There I am sitting in my office by myself, with people coming because I put an ad on Craigslist to come take my stuff away. They’re buying it for 5, 10 cents on the dollar. [0:10:00.4] RN: What was your mindset at this point? [0:10:03.5] RK: Depressed. [0:10:04.3] RN: This is your first real setback, right? Like in terms of your business journey? [0:10:08.3] RK: Absolutely. No doubt. [0:10:11.2] RN: I mean, how low is that low? I mean, were you financially on the personal side fine? Even though – [0:10:16.4] RK: No, I was not because I had held on way too long. I took money, hundreds of thousands of dollars out of my savings to keep the business going thinking that, “This can’t keep going this way.” [0:10:31.1] RN: Right. “It will turn around sometime.” [0:10:31.9] RK: This has to turn around. We rode it all the way to the bottom. Whereas, I had millions of dollars in...…
Steve Sims is the founder of the luxury concierge company, Bluefish. Ever wanted a private underwater submersible tour of the Titanic? Or maybe a private dinner in the Sistine Chapel with a performance by Andrea Bocelli? Or maybe you just wanted to be married in the Vatican by the pope? Steve is known for being able to make the impossible, absolutely possible for his clients. There’s nothing Steve Sims can’t get, including his own book. Steve’s new book is titled Bluefishing: The Art Of Making Things Happen. In this episode, we’ll be discussing how Steve got his start in entrepreneurship by taking on an impossible challenge while working as a doorman in Hong Kong. We’ll also go in to Steve’s “ah-ha” moment after a yacht party in Monaco. We’ll find out the biggest fear that drives Steve forward every single day to take on new challenges and why he continues to create one of a kind experiences for his clients, and himself. Key Points From This Episode: Discover how Blue Fish was born outside a bar in Hong Kong. Why defying how one “should” act with rich people gave Steve the leg up. The client who wanted to get married in the Vatican by the pope. Steve’s ugly “aha” moment that forced him back to being himself. Why entrepreneurs don’t need to become “unique” individuals. Why Steve sold his office, his assets and fired all his staff. The biggest struggle in Steve’s business today. The importance of being able to reset yourself. Find out more about the Blue Fish business model. Learn about Blue Fish’s smaller, more scalable model. Why remaining stagnant is Steve’s biggest fear. Why Microsoft has their own fail-safe garage. And much more! Tweetables: “I get scared when things are going smoothly. I get scared when things are running on track.” — @SteveDSims Tweet This [0:05:33] .1] “Stay you. Because it’s you that people like.” — @SteveDSims Tweet This [0:15:15] .1] “I have never failed in my life… I just learned a million ways not to do stuff.” — @SteveDSims Tweet This [0:30:27] .1] “It’s not a fear of starting a new business. It’s the fear of being in the exact same position you were last week.” — @SteveDSims Tweet This [0:33:33] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Blue Fishing: The Art of Making Things Happen on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Bluefishing-Art-Making-Things-Happen/dp/1501152513 Steve Sims on Twitter – https://twitter.com/stevedsims1 Steve Sims Website – https://www.stevedsims.com/ Steve Sims on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SteveDSims/ Blue Fish Website – https://www.thebluefish.com/ Transcript Below: Read Full Transcript EPISODE 035 “SS: But I had wanted, desired and lusted for growth. I hated being stagnant, I hated – I would hate if as we’re doing this podcast now on Friday, I would hate if I had done nothing from last Friday any different. That terrifies the shit out of me, to know that a month from now, I’m going to have done stuff that’s made me broaden my horizons, spoken to different people and experienced a different experience, had my eyes opened to a new perspective, tried a new meal, tried a new sandwich, whatever. Walked a different path. If I know a month from now, I haven’t gained any of that and I’m in exactly the same spot and even if you fail, even if I take on 10 new projects and every single one of those fail that I’ve learned a million things to do, so that those don’t happen again.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:01:03.9] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:01:29.4] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs. This is a platform for their stories and today’s story is of my buddy Steve Sims. Steve is the founder of the luxury concierge company Blue Fish. He is known for being able to make the impossible, absolutely possible for his clients. From getting a private underwater submersible tour of the titanic to private dinners in the Academia at the feet of Michael Angelo’s David in Florence. To having a private, romantic dinner in the Sistine chapel with a performance by Andrea Bochelli. There’s nothing Steve Sims can’t get and he also just published his book Blue Fishing: The Art Of Making Things Happen. We’ll be discussing how Steve got his start in entrepreneurship by taking on an impossible challenge, while working as a doorman in Hong Kong. We’ll go in to Steve’s aha moment after a yacht party in Monaco that he uses to remind himself of his true value proposition for his business even today and we’ll go into the biggest fear that drives Steve forward every single day to take on new challenges and continue to create one of a kind experiences for his clients and himself. But first, luckily all I travel with now is a backpack and I’m actually packing right now for Peru, going to Machu Pichu but the only reason I only need a backpack is for a simple reason. It’s clothing from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino, they have clothes made out of marino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can travel with less clothes since they clean themselves. They really do clean themselves as long as you hang them up after even if you’re drenched in sweat and you just hang them up, hang there overnight, you can wakeup in the morning, smell that sucker and it will smell brand spanking new. Give it a try, check out the show notes page for an exclusive fail on discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else and if you’d like to stay up to date on all the fail on podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:04:01.6] RN: Take me back to the first time where you kind of entered entrepreneurship. The first time that somebody actually gave you money in exchange for a product or service that you created? [0:04:11.3] SS: Yeah, I think that’s two different questions. As an Irish lad in London, I was always questioning things so without realizing, that’s what a mentality of an entrepreneur is. You know, they see something square and they got something round and they got found out how it fits or they don’t. It’s those that kind of question how it can happen of entrepreneurs. I think before I knew it was a cool thing to be, I always had that kind of inquisitive questionable nature. The first time I actually had that challenge and I remember this very specifically, I was doing parties in Hong Kong and someone said to me, “You’re super connected, I want to go to Monaco.” He said, “You know, can you hook me up?” It was the Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco and I was like, “Absolutely, no problem.” I went back home and tried – well not Google, we didn’t have Google in the 80’s. I went back and tried to work out where the bloody hell Monaco was. I’d accepted the challenge and that was I think another sign that I was an entrepreneur. We jump in and go “Yeah, we can do that!” And “Shit, fuck, how do we do that?” I went back and then tried to work out how to do it and of course, the more I did, the more I was capable of and the more I realized how I was capable and competent in uncomfortable situations. Joe Polish says, you know, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I always found myself uncomfortable. In fact, I get scared when things are going smoothly, I get scared when things are running on track and I think I purposefully try to interrupt that, you know? I’m not one of these guys that can operate on Zen. I want the challenge, you know, I love fast motorcycles, I love race tracks, I love motocross, I like boxing, I like MMA. I like to get into a scenario where I actually don’t know anything. [0:05:58.4] RN: What were you doing – you said you’re doing parties in Hong Kong, what does that even mean? [0:06:03.7] SS: Yeah, I got the job and there be other places you can find the story so I keep it short. I managed to get a job in Hong Kong as a stock broker and I landed on the Saturday and I was fired on a Tuesday. They realized that I was just full of shit, didn’t know what I was doing. Being big and ugly, I got the only job that I was competent to do. I ended up being a doorman on nightclubs in Hong Kong and then I just started throwing some of these parties myself to get more bar money out of it, a cut off the door. Then I started selling the parties sponsored by the banks and the jet shark companies. Because I actually thought of myself, you know, if you’ve got two people, both of them are going to give you 10% commission then work with someone who is spending a million dollars and not someone who is selling 10 bucks. I always went for rich clients because they didn’t need to spend more for it, minimal. That’s what I was doing, I was just trying to get really affluent clients and my delusion was that once I had all those rich clients, I could go back to the bank and get a job. Because as a brick layer from London, I wanted the complete polar opposite of how I’ve been brought up, which was riding the shitty motorcycle, wearing a black T shirt and getting into fights. I wanted to be the complete polar opposite to that. Fast forward now, I’m 51 years old and I’m rolling around in my shitty motorcycles and don’t get into so many fights now but you know, back in the T shirts and stuff like that. I’ve done a full circle. [0:07:28.0] RN: Got it, was that kind of your entry into what is now Blue Fish? [0:07:33.2] SS: Yeah, it was. [0:07:35.0] RN: Not technically Blue Fish, right? Because you were just kind of tussling at that point. [0:07:39.5] SS: I’ve never changed as of yesterday and I don’t think by naming it Blue Fish, I‘d change anything. I tell a lie, I did try to change it in the early 2000’s, screwed it up and then was able to just hit pause and go back. Without realizing it, a lot of people have this misconception of when you’re dealing with someone affluent that they’re incredibly smart. Now, the truth of the fact is, Rich people aren’t necessarily smart just because they’re rich. It means that they’re smart, one thing that got them to that – it could be anything, it could be the best maneuver, it could be shoes, it could be absolutely anything. But for the rest of their life and knowledge, they don’t know. But you get a lot of people that speak to people with money, like “Good afternoon sir.” It’s like the shit don’t stink kind of thing, you know? I didn’t have that. [0:08:30.4] RN: You were able to connect with them. [0:08:32.0] SS: I don’t know if I was – I was able to connect because I didn’t shield who I was and I was very ignorant to the fact that other people were given these fake personas. I was just like, “Yeah, I could do that” and I wasn’t trying to be anything other than me because being me was remarkably easy, you know? Then I suddenly – you know, the whole thing, you know, five years become an overnight success. After like five years and I’m kind of doing this stuff throughout Asia and in Monaco and I’m now living in Switzerland. I’m flying around the world and I’m doing it and I suddenly started looking, seeing – “What, that person looks weird, who is that?” “He sells jets.” “Why is he looking so stand offish, why is he not getting plastered with us in the corner or the rich people are,” you know? Because you didn’t know how to communicate by being him in that scenario. Man, I would just go balls to the wall and I didn’t care and if he resonated with you, great. If you didn’t – [0:09:27.3] RN: Take care. [0:09:28.2] SS: I’m not your person, you know? I think the stupidity factor and the ignorance to how I “should” in air quotes are half acted in that circle, gave me the leg up and as the years went on, I’ve just refused to call – If I introduced a client to another client, I’ll introduce them as Mr. and Mr. Okay? But if I’m speaking to any client, it’s Bob, Bill with Sally, you know, first name terms, every single time. I’m not going to jump on your business card title, I don’t care how many people work for you, if your joke’s not funny, I’m not going to laugh at it, you know. It’s that kind of stuff, it’s very easy just keeping that basic. [0:10:06.0] RN: Got it. What is – what were the biggest struggles getting started? Because it seems like the Monaco thing, you had to go figure it out, right? Was that the case at the beginning? For everything pretty much? They would give you request and you would just, “Okay, I got to figure out how to do this?” [0:10:22.9] SS: Yeah, it’s still the case. [0:10:24.3] RN: Okay. [0:10:25.4] SS: I kind of like it. [0:10:26.6] RN: Much better connected now. [0:10:27.8] SS: I’m much better connected now. It’s a little easier but I do search out those that kind of like make me scratch my head a bit. I had a client that wanted to get married in the Vatican by the pope, you know, that one was kind of – “Well, okay!” You know? [0:10:40.2] RN: You didn’t know the pope at the time? [0:10:41.3] SS: No, I didn’t, I didn’t. I just knew it was a guy in a big white dress but apart from that, it was – were I am now, I’m able to go out to people in certain circles and have them guide me or maybe make a phone call, or something like that. Yes, being connected makes things a lot easier now but in the old days, yes, it was kind of “How the hell do I do it?” And of course every time you’d go and ask someone. They don’t want to help people because it sounds crazy, it sounds stupid but when you’ve got those credentials behind you you’ve already achieved those things and Forbes is writing a seven-page article on you and you’re being seen with everyone. That makes things a lot easier but in the old days, it was a case of, “Well how do I do that?” I just remember my dad, big thick Irish guy, you just say, you know, “How do you eat an elephant?” You know? “Inch by inch,” and that’s how I kind of took it, you know. This guy wants to go to Monaco, alright, first thing’s first, where the fuck’s Monaco? You know? Just working from there, what you want to do there and we would then develop form there. We just really took the big amazing, impossible idea, kind of down into a million easily achievable ones. [0:11:54.8] RN: What’s been the biggest struggle from looking back from where you started? Any major setbacks or failures or things you couldn’t achieve that you’re like, “Why am I doing this?” [0:12:06.2] SS: Yeah, again, you got about three…
James Swanwick has gone from being a celebrity interviewer to an anchor on SportsCenter for ESPN. He is the author of ‘Insider Journalism Secrets’, and has sold millions online through various digital and physical products. James is helping people create amazing habits, sleep better and make money online. He is also the founder of Swanwick Sleep which helps people sleep better through blue light blocking glasses. James is the founder of the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge and also the 47 Day Habit Hacker Program. In this episode, we’ll be discussing how James interviewed Hollywood superstars including Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Matt Damon with absolutely no credentials and no experience. James shares his story of landing a job as an ESPN anchor on SportsCenter after bombing his first audition. AND how he was able to land it without any anchoring experience. He also discusses the resources and mentorship he found to get started in digital publishing and e-commerce. And many other strategies and hacks for navigating entrepreneurial challenges. Key Points From This Episode: Find out how James began interviewing movie stars. How James used the phonebook to access Jack Nicholson. James’ first big business crash and running away to Argentina. Why James decided to quit alcohol and work on his relationships. How James became an ESPN Sports Center anchor with no experience. Why James quit his job at ESPN to become an entrepreneur. How Ty Lopez became James’ friend and paid business mentor. The biggest take away James received from his business coach. Why you shouldn‘t try to make things perfect initially. How he created of the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge. James tells us about his e-commerce projects and successes. Reasons to embrace the chaos and just go! How James breaks his ‘comfort zone’ by meeting women at the gym. And much more! Tweetables: “I was either going to walk out with my tail between my legs or I was just going to keep pushing.” — @jamesswanwick Tweet This [0:15:40] .1] “I quit the ESPN job, threw myself into becoming a full time online entrepreneur and I was crap at it.” — @jamesswanwick Tweet This [0:20:30] .1] “If you pay money for coaching then you really focus and invest 100%. You take it seriously.” — @jamesswanwick Tweet This [0:20:30] .1] “Failure is just another way of getting you closer to success.” — @jamesswanwick Tweet This [0:29:32] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: James Swanwick Website – http://jamesswanwick.com/ James Swanwick on Twitter – https://twitter.com/jamesswanwick James Swanwick on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jamesswanwick/ Swanswick Blue Blockers – https://www.swanwicksleep.com/collections/all-products/ James Swanswick Inner Circle – http://jamesswanwick.com/innercircle/ James Swanwick books on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/James-Swanwick/e/B00L7N8RB8 Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi – https://www.amazon.com/Never-Eat-Alone-Expanded-Updated/dp/0385346654 Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 034 “JS: 2008 I made a stupid decision – well it wasn’t stupid at the time but it was a decision to create a PR company in LA. Started in for six months, I got a swanky office on Sunset Boulevard with a view of palm trees in the Hollywood Hills, I was driving around in a Jaguar. I thought I’d made it. Then I don’t know if you remember 2008, it was like financial Armageddon all of sudden and so these clients that I got, all of a sudden stop paying us and people that ordinarily would have become a client were like, “No, we’re not going to do it” because they’re all cutting cost. Within six months of opening I had to shut the thing down, I lost a lot of money.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:43.8] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:01:09.0] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to grow your business and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs. This is a platform for their stories and today’s story is of James Swanwick. From being an anchor on Sports Center for ESPN, to being the author of Insider Journalism Secrets, to selling millions online through various digital and physical products. James is helping people create amazing habits, sleep better and make money online. He has been a print and TV journalist for over 20 years, writing for newspapers and magazines in the US, UK and Australia. James is also the founder of Swanwick Sleep, which helps people sleep better thorough blue light blocking glasses. He’s the founder of the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge and also the 47 Day Habit Hacker Program. We’ll be discussing how James interviewed Hollywood superstars including Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Matt Damon with absolutely no credentials and no experience, it’s crazy how he was able to do this. We’ll discuss how James was able to land as an ESPN Sports Center anchor after bombing his first audition and again, not having any anchor experience. He’s able to weasel his way into different places and it’s really interesting to see how he does it. Finally, we’ll be discussing the resources and mentorship James found to get started in digital publishing and Ecommerce. But first, luckily, all I travel with now is a backpack for one reason only – it’s clothing from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino. They have clothes made out of marino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. I don’t think they recommend that but technically, it wouldn’t smell, so they claim. This means, I can travel with less clothes since they are self-cleaning. Checkout the shownotes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t get anywhere else. It is amazing stuff, amazing shirts, amazing apparel, check it out. If you like to stay up to date on all the Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways form each guest, simply go to failon.com and just signup for our newsletter, that will be at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:03:31.1] RN: There’s a lot I want to dig into because you have a lot going on. You’ve got the blue blockers product, podcast, 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge and you’ve done a slew of interesting other things including being an anchor on Sports Center for ESPN. We’ll get into all that in a bit but first, just take us back to the first time that somebody actually gave you money in exchange for a product or service you created? [0:03:52.7] JS: Yeah, well my background was always as a journalist. I was a newspaper reporter for many years and I always had a job and then when I went to London, I got a job as a sports journalist and again, I had a job. Then when I moved over to the US in 2003, I’m from Australia, but when I moved over to the US in 2003, I was like, “How am I going to make money? What am I going to do?” I figured out that I could interview movie stars and sell the interviews to magazines and newspapers around the world. I was living in a hostel, the Hermosa Beach Hostel paying $15 a night, living in a bunk bed with a bunch of other snoring backpackers. This is in the first few months that I had come to the states. I persuaded a movie studio publicist to let me interview the Hollywood actor, Jack Nicholson. He was promoting a film called Anger Management with Adam Sandler back around that time. [0:04:48.9] RN: Yup. [0:04:50.4] JS: I ended up interviewing Jack Nicholson at the Amatage Hotel in Beverly Hills and then I sent that story to a magazine in the UK called Loaded Magazine. They published the interview and they gave me money. [0:05:02.1] RN: How much? [0:05:03.4] JS: I think it was 400 pounds at the time which was about $750. It was a pretty good exchange rate at the time. That was my first time selling a product. [0:05:15.6] RN: Which was the interview. [0:05:16.2] JS: Which was the interview. Yeah, it was the first time outside of a job you know, when you apply for a job, you get a job, they pay you a salary. That was the first time someone really paid me for that and then from there, I just repeated the process and then I interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was promoting Terminator Three and then Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller for the movie, Along Came Poly. Then I just kept doing that and money started to come in. [0:05:42.5] RN: The first time, what actually gave you the idea that you could do this, that you could figure out how to get access to these people and actually do this interview? What sparked that idea? [0:05:52.7] JS: Well, my experience was as a journalist and now I’m in this new country where I know no one and I’ve got to try and figure it out from scratch rather. Just go, “What am I going to do? I got to make money, I can’t live in a hostel.” “I’m a 27-year-old man living in a hostel with backpackers.” It was kind of born out of necessity and then from there, I really asked myself, “Well what do I know how to do? I know how to be a journalist, so how can I create money from this?” By the way, I couldn’t get a job in America because I didn’t have the right work visa. I couldn’t just rock up to LA Times and say, “Can you hire me?” Because it just wasn’t like that. I had to do anything I could. I was like, “Well, I’m just going to create a freelance journalism business out of nothing and I’m just going to…” [0:06:36.8] RN: When you reached out to that publicist for the first one, Jack Nicholson, did you have some kind of corporate or business website or anything? [0:06:44.9] JS: No, I had nothing. I mean, I literally phoned Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount from the Hermosa Beach Hostel. [0:06:56.0] RN: That’s awesome. [0:06:57.0] JS: I got the phone numbers from – this is how ancient I’m sounding now. From a phonebook. Not like an online thing, on a phonebook. I just cold called and said, “I want to interview movie stars, how do I do it?” Someone said, “You need to talk to someone in the publicity department,” and so they put me through to the publicity department. Only one publicist from one studio gave me the time of day, it was a woman called Anna Wilan from Sony Pictures. She invited me to go in, I met her at the Sony offices in person and I said, “I don’t know what I’m doing, tell me how can I interview movie stars and get paid for it.” She kind of walked me through the process and you know, two weeks after that, that’s when she reached out and said, “You want to interview Jack Nicholson?” I’m like, “Sweet.” [0:07:39.6] RN: That’s awesome, that’s cool. Going from there, you did a slew of those interviews, when did it actually in your head turn into like, “Okay, I can actually not only make a living off this but like this could spark a business.” [0:07:53.0] JS: I think after I got to interview Arnold Schwarzenegger and then I photocopied those articles as published articles, I literally went to a King Co’s FedEx store on Pacific Coast Highway up there by Hermosa Beach. I went in and I photocopied it like 30 times and then I researched the addresses of Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal and I researched the addresses of newspapers and magazines around the world. Then I bought 30 stamps and you know, some of them were overseas, I bought 30 envelopes. I put the article into the envelopes and I sent them off and said “Hey, look, here’s my interview with Jack Nicholson.” “Reach out to me if you want me to interview movie stars for your publications.” When the Schwarzenegger one was offered to me, I was like, “Damn, my first two interviews ever in LA were Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger” and I’m like, “I think I might…” [0:08:46.8] RN: The bar is set high. [0:08:47.3] JS: Yeah. “I think I’m on to something here now.” It just kind of like flowed from there, you know? All of a sudden instead of me trying to tell people, “Hey, look at me, I interview movie stars now.” Magazines were reaching out to me going, you know, “We saw your Jack Nicholson article, could you interview George Clooney for the movie Siriana, can you interview Matt Damon for the movie Stuck On You?” I remember being in New York City, at the movie studio, I think it was FOX. They flew me from LA to New York to stay at the Regency Hotel on the upper east side of Manhattan and I think it was on November 30th 2003, and the reason I remember that date, because it was the rugby world cup final. I interviewed Matt Damon for Stuck On You. I think that was kind of like the moment where I realized, “I think I’m on to something here, this is like my third interview I’ve done. Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and now Matt Damon.“ [0:09:41.9] RN: Not only that, but the studios are paying a lot of your expenses, right? [0:09:46.0] JS: Yeah, they paid all of those expenses and they sent me over to New York and I was like, “This is pretty cool. This could be fun.” Matt Damon was cool and we were talking about the rugby cup final that night and that was on that night because he seemed to be a rugby enthusiast and yeah, it was cool. I’m trying to find a photo here of me and Matt Damon and I could show you but I can’t find it. [0:10:09.6] RN: Well, if you do find it, we’ll post it on the show notes page. [0:10:12.0] JS: Here it is. This is me, it was the 21st of November 2003. [0:10:17.4] RN: You look so young there. [0:10:18.1] JS: Don’t I? [0:10:19.7] RN: Both of you, I mean, you guys both looked young. [0:10:20.3] JS: Matt Damon looks like a kid. [0:10:22.6] RN: He looks like – yeah, it’s crazy. That’s cool. Just in the hotel room? [0:10:27.7] JS: It was in a hotel room in the Regency Hotel in upper east side, yeah. [0:10:32.9] RN: That’s awesome. Okay, you’re interviewing all the celebrities, where did it go from here? How long did you continue to do that and then what did that transition to? [0:10:41.2] JS: Yeah, I mean, I did…
Craig Clemens is a direct response copywriter with over one billion dollars in sales. Yes, billion with a B. Craig is currently the cofounder of Golden Hippo Media, a media company focused on bringing sustainable health and wellness to people all over the world. C raig got started writing copy for Eben Pagan’s program, Double Your Dating, which grew to over 20 million dollars per year in revenue. Since then, Craig has cofounded three eight-figure businesses in just the last five years in diverse industries ranging from nutrition, to cosmetics, to dating advice. In this episode, we get to hear Craig’s unique entrepreneurial journey; from selling reptiles, shells and magazines door-to-door, to starting his own company with a team of some of the best young writers in the world. We’ll be discussing the value of mentorship. How Craig was able to get a world class education, through a well-known mentor, to launch his copywriting career. Craig also goes into the four-part formula for what it takes to become the best in class at whatever you want to succeed in. And if you’re not sure where to begin, Craig lays down a 60-day challenge to help us make a permanent lifestyle change to improve our lives. Key Points From This Episode: Snakes, shells and magazines: Craig’s first taste of entrepreneurship. Lessons Craig learnt from door to door selling. Find out how Craig got into Google Cash and ebook sales. Why Craig fell in love with copywriting despite failing English. How Craig received a world class education in marketing. The value of good mentorship. Impacts of the 2008 crash on Craig’s business and life. How Craig picked himself back up after retrenchment. Discover how Golden Hippo Media was born. Craig’s business ventures in men’s supplements and skin care. Challenges in the supplement industry today. Copywriting for big books on the market today. Why immersion can be the best education. The four-part formula to become the best in class. Writing great copy and the variables of its success. Accepting that sometimes you’re hot and sometimes you’re not. The power of the 60-day challenge. And much more! Tweetables: “I remember we spent so much money on Google Adwords in our first year that they sent us a refrigerator.” — @craigclemens Tweet This [0:14:05] .1] “If you’re trying to become a copywriter you need that mentor to tell you why your shit sucks.” — @craigclemens Tweet This [0:18:33] .1] “We have created the best team of young copywriters in the world and I get to work with these guys every day.” — @craigclemens Tweet This [0:43:10] .1] “Immerse yourself, do the damn work, have the right mentor and put in the time and you’re guaranteed to become world class.” — @craigclemens Tweet This [0:49:50] .1] “You can be a really strong writer and still just write something that tanks.” — @craigclemens Tweet This [0:53:00] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Golden Hippo Media – http://goldenhippo.com/ Craig Clemens on Twitter – https://twitter.com/craigclemens Unbound Merino – http://unboundmerino.com Promo Code – FailOn Craig Clemens on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigclemens/ The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck by Mark Manson – https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713 The Plant Paradox – https://www.amazon.com/Plant-Paradox-Dangers-Healthy-Disease/dp/006242713X Power Of The 60-Day Challenge by Craig Clemens – https://medium.com/@craigclemens/how-to-change-your-life-in-60-days-787b71b7249a Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 033 “JG: I’ve written letters recently that I’ll go back and look at like a year later so let’s say, something I wrote in like 2015. I’ll read it and I’ll be like, you know what? The reason this tanked is tested advertising methods in the 1970’s. It’s so obvious later, you know? You can be a really strong writer and still just get caught up in your own head and write something that tanks and violate basic principles of marketing and never know it. That’s part of the struggle of being a writer, is that you’re going to have your bombs and sometimes you’re hot and sometimes you’re not.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:43.8] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:01:09.1] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to start a business, quit your job and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only shares successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs. This is a platform for their stories and today’s story is a good one, it’s of Craig Clemens. Craig is a direct response copywriter with over one billion dollars in sales, yes, with a B. He’s currently the cofounder of Gold Hippo Media. He got started writing copy for Evan Pagan’s program, Double Your Dating which grew to over 20 million dollars per year. Since then, Craig has cofounded three eight figure businesses in just the last five years, in diverse industries ranging from nutrition, to cosmetics, to dating advice. We’ll be discussing the value of mentorship and how Craig was able to get a world class education through a well-known mentor, to launch his copywriting career. Craig will go into the four-part formula for what it takes to become the best in the class at whatever you want to succeed in. Craig lays down a 60 day challenge to help us make a lifestyle change that can become permanent and improve our lives. But first, luckily, all I travel with now is a backpack for one reason only, it’s clothing from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino, they have clothes made out of marino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. This means I can travel with less clothes since the clothes apparently clean themselves. Check out the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else and of course, If you’d like to stay up to date on all the fail on podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:03:03.2] RN: Take us back to the first time that somebody gave you money in exchange for a product or service because that’s usually like a big paradigm shift for people that are coming from like working for other people, to actually creating something and somebody gives you money for it? What was that first time? [0:03:17.5] CC: Yeah, well, my first time, I didn’t actually make anything. I made my first dollar in the internet doing affiliate marketing which is as you know, just kind of putting the pixels in the right places. This is back in the days when people were using the method called Google Cash to do – [0:03:40.5] RN: It was before my days. [0:03:41.4] CC: This is before your time? Okay. let me tell you about how it was when I used to market on internet son. Back in the day it was Google Ad Words, that was like the wild, wild west of internet marketing and you could send visitors direct from Google when they’re searching for how to win the slot machines in Vegas. If someone had a book on how to beat the slot machines, you could buy the ad on Google and if you could grab search terms that people were typing in better than the business owner, you could send them to business owners site and get the commission from them. [0:04:20.1] RN: Got it. [0:04:22.1] CC: People came up with all kinds of tools that would allow you to find like a million little search terms, you know, not just how to win at slots but this would be like, how to win at sloth machine S. If they forgot the space between the E and the S, you know? You might get one click a year on that but that person would buy that freaking book man, then you get your commission you know? Which is usually 50% of the purchase price or something like that. That’s a real example, the first thing I ever promoted as an affiliate was a book called Slot Machine Secrets by John Carlo Capucio who is still a friend of mine. John, what’s up if you’re listening to this. Yeah, that was on Click Bank which you know, was a network where you’d go and find these ebooks that people were putting out and you could just sign up for the commission program where you’d get 50% of the commission or whatever the merchant put out. [0:05:20.6] RN: how did you hear about that? How did you hear about the affiliate marketing? “I can make money online.” Where did that come from? Did you have somebody else that told you about it or you just searching online for something? [0:05:29.3] CC: Yeah, at the time I was in the internet marketing space. I was working for Evan Pagan at his company which did dating advice ebooks and we had people who would promote our ebooks as affiliates. I saw that making a little bit of money but then I heard about this Google Cash method and I thought it was total BS. The weird thing about the internet versus reality, right? You know, growing up. I was the kid who would open up the back of the penny saver. Penny saver, there’s all these get rich quick schemes. I’d open up the back of the penny saver, there’s all these get rich quick schemes in the back and I thought they would actually work. I would call or write in to get all of them and I bet, one of these things has to work, right? They were all like MLM’s or like, you know, stuffing envelopes from home, shit like that that was mostly pyramid schemes and bullshit. When the internet came along, there was all these things that were kind of like that, like stuff envelopes at home or like you know, this case was like Google Cash method. But some of them were not bullshit, some of them actually worked. I had a friend and he’s like “Yeah, my little brother is 16 and he’s doing this Google Cash thing and making like 500 to a thousand bucks a month.” I was like, “Wait a second, your little brother? I got to be smarter than this guy. I could probably do this too.” I heard what he was doing and I downloaded the same course that he did. I went through it and I started doing this Slot Machine Secrets ebook, just buying search terms in Google, sending them straight to the ebook webpage. [0:07:18.7] RN: There’s a course you actually took to learn this method? [0:07:22.8] CC: Correct, yeah, I think that was an ebook itself. [0:07:26.9] RN: It was how to do this right? [0:07:28.0] CC: That guy was probably getting rich selling ebooks and how to get rich selling ebooks. Yeah, I did this in my first month. I made $330 and I remember that number because it was the exact amount of my car payment. I was like wow, if I could make this every month, my car payment is done. Then the next month I made $660 and I doubled my money and I was like, now I can make my car payment and I have enough money left over to eat lunch at Baha Fresh every day. Because Baha Fresh was like the baller ship back then, you know? Like Taco Bell was like what I was used to but now I could step it up and get that like burrito with real meat in it, instead of you know, the mystery stuff. [0:08:10.6] RN: Who knows what else, yeah. [0:08:13.1] CC: Does that count? [0:08:14.7] RN: 100%. You didn’t actually – same with me, I got into it the same way. Going back before that though, were you raised around kind of business people entrepreneurs or was that totally foreign to you as you came up through high school, college? [0:08:32.8] CC: Yeah, my parents had traditional jobs, my mom was a school teacher, my dad was a rocket scientist, actually designed parts for the space station and rocket engines. They really wanted all of us brothers, I have two brothers, to go to college. I just never felt like it was for me but they were making that hard push. But I was always getting into entrepreneurial stuff. I remember when I was I think seven or eight, I got all of the neighbor kids to bring their pets over to my yard and we collected reptiles, we had like frogs and toads and snakes. [0:09:07.1] RN: Nice. [0:09:08.8] CC: And lizards and like, I wasn’t joking, it’s true though, there was at no point in my childhood where there wasn’t at least one snake lose in our house. My mom became an expert at like catching snakes and putting them back in their cage. [0:09:25.4] RN: Sounds terrifying. [0:09:25.9] CC: Yeah. I got all the neighbors to bring up their animals as well and put my front yard and I had a zoo. Then we told all the parents in the neighborhood, would like come through and give a dollar to be a part of the zoo. [0:09:38.0] RN: That’s awesome. [0:09:38.6] CC: Everyone came through and walked through and like their golden retriever was there and then there’d be like a turtle and a cat and a snake and the lizards. I was always doing things like that. My brothers and I went to Hawaii and we saw that there’s all these shells in the beach and then we went to the gift shops and they would have...…
Stephen Christopher is the founder of Seequs Digital Marketing. Seequs is a web marketing agency based in Denver that helps companies grow through online marketing. Before Seequs, Stephen also started several financial businesses and today, uses his personal business experience to help other companies and business owners develop through online marketing. Today we’ll be hearing Stephen’s journey; including his first entrepreneurial venture at age 14 and the huge failure he experienced when his mortgage company completely tanked in 2008. Stephen shares why he believes you should not burn the ships and quit your job until you have a profitable side project. And he shares how he’s learned to lean into his fears and why he highly recommends quick action and taking any opportunity to be uncomfortable. Key Points From This Episode: How Stephen got into entrepreneurship at age 14. From engineering to business: Stephen’s college years. How Stephen got into the mortgage industry. How Stephen’s came out of his first business fail. Why a business crash is like a breakup. Assessing risk and turning failure into opportunity. Find out how Seequs was started on a napkin at Chilies. Why you need to act faster than your inner critic. Do your business on the side or burn the 9-5 job ship? Why you should learn everything you can from your current job. How Seequs found its niche and grows without its own marketing. Why clients are the best sales people. Overcoming imposter syndrome and self-sabotage. Why it takes two days to get out of a rut. Looking for any opportunity to be uncomfortable. How Stephen overcame his fear of public speaking. Why journaling is one of the most powerful things you could do. Delegate, duplicate or delete: Stepping away from your business. The three most uncomfortable things that you need to do next. And much more! Tweetables: “Take action before you have time to talk yourself out of it.” — @StephenMChris Tweet This [0:24:12] .1] “Take the time to learn from the place where you’re at, whether it’s great or whether it’s terrible.” — @StephenMChris Tweet This [0:27:43] .1] “Become so good you can’t be ignored.” — @StephenMChris Tweet This [0:38:11] .1] “My internal saying about fear is “Fear is Fake”.” — @StephenMChris Tweet This [0:48:12] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Stephen on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenchristopher/ Stephen on Twitter – https://twitter.com/stephenmchris Seequs Website – https://www.seequs.com/ Power of Focus by Brian Tracy – https://www.amazon.com/Bulls-Eye-Power-Focus-Brian-Tracy/dp/1492630454 The Five Minute Journal by UJ Ramdas – https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minute-Journal-Happier-Minutes/dp/0991846206 The E-Myth by Michael Gerber – https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280 Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 032 “SC: My internal saying about fear is, fear is fake. You know, when you really look back at like okay, what is the emotion of fear, right? Going back to cavemen days, it’s this thing where your brain is trying to save you from basically death, right? That’s why people are afraid of public speaking. Your brain is telling you, if you go up on that stage, you’re going to die so that’s why we’re so afraid of certain things. When I have something that seems fearful, I just remind myself, hey look, fear is fake.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:30.3] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:56.0] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes leveraging failure is not only the fastest way to learn but is also the fastest way to start a business, quit your job and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this show is simply a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Stephen Christopher, a good buddy of mine who also lives in the Denver area. He is the Founder of Seequs Digital Marketing, a web marketing agency that’s absolutely crushing it now, they tend to focus on more of the local service industry markets and help them grow businesses that may have been stagnant for a really long time. Think plumbing, construction, electrical, like those types of businesses that haven’t had a huge online presence. Stephen comes in to the rescue, helps implement online marketing and just helps them grow really rapidly when they haven’t had that a long time. What he’s doing is really cool. Before Seequs, Stephen also started several other financial businesses including a massive failure in 2008, that we’ll go into. But he uses his personal business experience to help other companies and business owners, find growth and development through online marketing. We’ll be discussing a huge failure that he experienced when his mortgage company completely tanked in 2008. Why you should not burn the ships and quit your job until you have a profitable side project. Not sure I always agree, I kind of flip flop on this a little bit but I know for me personally, I like to burn the ships. Lastly, Stephen will discuss how he’s learned to lean into his fears and tackle any obstacle that comes his way and he use the example of overcoming his fear of public speaking in the episode. Make sure to stay tuned. But first, if you travel a lot like I do, you now need to pack less clothes than ever before and it’s for one simple reason only, it’s a shirt from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino. They have clothes made out of Marino wool and this is amazing. You can wear it for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. Talk about a traveler’s absolute dream, never check a bag again, check in the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t get anywhere else and if you like to stay up to date on all the Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:03:22.6] RN: How did you first get into entrepreneurship? Do you actually remember the first time that – you know, for a lot of people this is like a weird shift where you created something and somebody actually gave you money for it? Whether it’s a product or a service. [0:03:34.3] SC: Yeah, I mean, my first kind of stint with entrepreneurship was when I was about 14 and I started a mobile car detailing business. You know, technically I would go to people’s houses, detail their cars and you know, I had become really good at that over the years. So it wasn’t an inexpensive service, it was like 120 bucks and this is what? 20 years ago. Well, the problem with the mobile detailing business is when you’re 14, you can’t drive. Luckily, I was kind of a cute kid, I had to convince people to drive to my house, let me detail their car and t hen they’d come back and pick it up. But yeah, I ran that for practically a few years. [0:04:09.5] RN: Nice. [0:04:10.3] SC: It’s like my first entrepreneurship. [0:04:13.2] RN: it wasn’t like a one off, your parent’s friends would you do you a favor and drop their car off, it’s actually a legitimate thing where you actually made a little money. [0:04:23.2] SC: Yeah, I mean, I made money to buy a car or you know, the half of a car, I had to pay for half of my car when I turned 16 and so yeah. I worked for quite a few years getting ready for that. [0:04:34.9] RN: Was it just you kind of hustling on your own or did you have – you hired an employee? You got your buddies or? [0:04:41.1] SC: I didn’t, when I looked back in a lot of entrepreneur’s stories, right. They figured out how to get their friends to do stuff for them. I didn’t figure that one out until much later in life so it was just me hustling. And the cool thing was I realized that – or it was the first time I realized that I could control my income. If I wanted more money, all I had to do is go sell another car or work on a Saturday or whatever that was. That was really cool [0:05:04.8] RN: Yeah, that’s a good point. In terms of how you’re kind of brought up and raised, were you raised by entrepreneurs or was it something you kind of – is it something they encouraged you to do with the car mobile detailing? Or was it something that you just saw a need for? [0:05:20.4] SC: Yeah, I was not raised in an entrepreneurial family. My parents have had the same jobs for 30 something years and you know, they’re going to be retiring here in the next couple of years. My mom was a principle at a school, my dad was a nurse and eventually started running like a nursing department in the hospital. No, they didn’t know anything about entrepreneurship and they were actually the first two people in both sides of their family to go to college. That was like their big step and then my big step was entrepreneurship. [0:05:50.2] RN: Got it, was it something that they encouraged you to do? Is it something you ran by them or are you just 14 years old and just kind of winging it on your own? [0:05:58.1] SC: Yeah, kind of just happened. I got good at detailing cars and I enjoyed it and then like somebody at church or something, said, “I’ll pay you to do mine” and then that’s how that kind of started. It was never really a plan of any sort and they encouraged it to the extent that it was like, “Hey go make so money so that now you can save up so that when you go to college you have a little bit of cash in the bank and you can buy a car,” and that kind of thing. It was never – they didn’t really understand business so it was never this thing of like, “Okay, well do this and do this and then get some marketing.” Yeah, they had no clue and then when I went to college, they kind of looked at and said okay, “Well shut down your little fun play toy thing and get ready for the real world.” They didn’t even see it as like a real opportunity. [0:06:44.2] RN: Like you said, you were able to make a little money to pay for some things. After you – that was through high school I’m imagining, right? After high school, you do go to college? [0:06:54.7] SC: I did. [0:06:55.6] RN: Okay, from there, what did you study, did you take anything that you used in college into entrepreneurship? Because I know for me, well four years of college is great, actually has zero relevance on anything I do today. [0:07:11.0] SC: Yeah. I went to University of Florida in Gainesville and I studied. [0:07:15.1] RN: I’m a Georgia fan, that’s painful. [0:07:18.4] SC: Both of my parents went to Florida state. You can imagine how they felt. [0:07:22.3] RN: Nice. [0:07:22.8] SC: Yeah, I went to school, I started out as computer electrical engineering so growing up, I would always build stuff like I would take remote control cars, take all the motors out, build other stuff like cordless drills and hook them all together. My parents always told me they’re like “Yeah, you’re going to be a great engineer.” I just, when it came time to go to college, I just assumed, well, I’ve been told all my life I should be an engineer so that’s what I went to school for. Got through about the first two years and realized like one day I looked around in my classes and I was like, these aren’t the people that I want to be around for the rest of my life. I switched to business because it was kind of easy, I was already most of the way there. [0:07:59.5] RN: What was it about the people in the engineering side? [0:08:02.5] SC: It was more of like the social aspect of it, you know? They were very intelligent, really great and nice people but – [0:08:09.0] RN: Hard to connect with? [0:08:10.3] SC: Yeah, there was just no social. I mean, look at us, we’re sitting here talking on a podcast, most of the people in that room would never do something like this. I crave that connection with people and so that just wasn’t there. Graduated with a finance degree and a minor in economics, didn’t really know what I was going to do. I’m kind of the same way, the four years of college, they were a lot of fun, I learned a lot about how to deal with people, you know, a lot of those like real world type skills but I took one – there was one class that I had in college that I still use today and it was Microsoft. I learned like Outlook and Excel and do all kinds of crazy formulas and then Excel Spreadsheet and that was the only class that I actually went to pretty much every class, while I was taking it for that semester. [0:08:54.7] RN: Got it. It’s funny how valuable Excel is, if you know it well, you can save so much time with formulas and pivot tables and all that stuff. Let’s go to what you would actually consider – moving on past college. How did you first get into I guess real world entrepreneurship outside of the small projects that you had done in the past? What was your first real entry into creating a business? [0:09:22.0] SC: I did a couple of things after college, I worked for Meryl Lynch. I despised that, not because of Meryl Lynch but just because of like working a real job and having like seven bosses, it was not for me. Did a couple of things, moved around a little bit and then in 2005, moved to Colorado and that was about the time when the mortgage stuff was happening. Met a guy that did mortgages, he was like, “Hey, I’m going out on my own, you should come join me.” I went to go work for him because I was like, “Alright, this could be really fun.” Then over the course of six or eight months, I slowly just became 50% owner of the company and so we grew that until about 2008 which you know, most people know what happened then. [0:10:02.3] RN: All the stories of everybody I talked to in the podcast, all stories go south to 2008. That’s the common theme. Yeah. [0:10:09.4] SC: The mortgage industry was really...…
Sharí Alexander is a persuasion expert known for bringing the “dark arts” of influence into the light. She’s a speaker, writer and trainer, revealing powerful secrets behind conversational influence. She teaches persuasive triggers and techniques currently used by CIA field agents, hostage negotiators, con artists, trial attorneys and many more. Her mission is to put this powerful skills and techniques into the hands of entrepreneurs and leaders, so they can bring positive influence into their business and lives. We’ll be discussing how Sharí landed her first CEO client at the age of 22 without any proven track record or any previous clients, whatsoever. We’ll be discussing the best coaching advice that Sharí ever received from a mentor. She’ll share the not-so-obvious technique that she uses every single day to create meaningful and highly valuable conversations with others and how you can actually start using this exact same technique today. Key Points From This Episode: How Sharí landed her first coaching job at 22. Asking the right questions and making it about them. Learn more about Sharí’s courses and the people she has helped. How Sharí learnt to fight negativity and trust her own genius. The importance of looking back on your progress and successes. Allowing yourself to feel pain in order to move forward. Recognizing that nobody starts out as their big name brand. Balancing a high standard without being a perfectionist. Sharí shares her own personal book-writing process. Why a good conversationalist listens more than they talk. Why “should” is the most dangerous word in the world. Worrying about what can you ask, not what can you say. Sharí’s challenge: How long can you go without talking about yourself? The invaluable lessons from simply writing things down. And much more! Tweetables: “I don’t talk about myself. I make it about them.” — @sharialexander Tweet This [0:07:19] .1] “Very rarely do other people have the negative demons in their mind that you have about yourself.” — @sharialexander Tweet This [0:21:14] .1] “It’s okay to have people to model after but know at what point in their timeline you should be modeling.” — @sharialexander Tweet This [0:26:38] .1] “You can’t jump out the gate and be Tony Robbins.” — @sharialexander Tweet This [0:27:15] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Sharí Alexander Website – http://www.shari-alexander.com/ Sharí Alexander on Twitter – https://twitter.com/sharialexander?lang=en Sharí Alexander Youtube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/sharialexanderspeaks Learn to Influence Resources – http://www.shari-alexander.com/store-learning-influence/ Transcript Below: Read Full Transcript EPISODE 031 “SA: It’s okay to have people to model after but know at what point in their timeline you should be modeling. You can’t start today and be at Gary V’s end point. You need to start today and look at how did Gary V start.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:17.0] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:41.9] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes micro failing in a hyper focused way is the fastest way to start a business, quit your job and live a life of absolute freedom. In a world that only likes to share successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this show is a platform for their stories. Stories of how they were able to battle through failure after failure to achieve freedom in their lives. Today’s story is of Shari Alexander. Shari is a persuasion expert known for bringing the dark arts of influence into the light. She’s a speaker, writer, trainer, revealing powerful secrets behind conversational influence. She teaches persuasive triggers and techniques currently used by CIA field agents, hostage negotiators, con artists, trial attorneys and many more. Her mission is to put this powerful skills and techniques into the hands of entrepreneurs and leaders, so they can actually bring positive influence into their business and lives. We’ll be discussing how Shari landed her first CEO client at the age of 22 without any proven track record or any previous clients whatsoever, it’s actually in a beautiful lesson for aspiring entrepreneurs, looking to get their first sale. We’ll be discussing the best coaching advice that Shari ever received from a mentor and Shari will go into the not so obvious technique that she uses every single day to create meaningful and highly valuable conversations with others and how you can actually start using this exact same technique today yourself. But first, I just finished three weeks of straight travel and luckily all I needed to travel with was a backpack for one reason only, it’s clothing from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino, they have clothes made out of Marino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. If a company can be a spirit animal, Unbound Marino would be my spirit animal. They’re doing amazing things over there and their clothes are just fantastic. Check in at the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t be able to get anywhere else. If you’d like to stay up to date on all the Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways from each guest, simply go to failon.com and signup for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:58.5] RN: Welcome to the Fail On Podcast. Today I’m sitting down with Shari Alexander, welcome to the show. [0:03:02.8] SA: Thank you for having me here. [0:03:04.7] RN: Just for a little context, we are sitting– and actually, this might be the biggest room I’ve ever done a podcast in. [0:03:10.5] SA: It’s definitely the biggest room I’ve ever done a podcast. [0:03:13.7] RN: It’s the convention center in San Diego, the big hall where they’re actually doing some breakout sessions. We’re both here for Tod Herman’s 90 Day Year event but thanks for taking the time during the event to come chat. [0:03:25.4] SA: Don’t tell them, we’re playing a little nooky. [0:03:29.3] RN: I know. We were just talking before we got on the air. I use headsets right? That actually you have to put on your head, it’s not just a mic. [0:03:36.6] SA: Super cool. [0:03:37.7] RN: It’s like you’re a pilot, it’s so awesome. [0:03:38.8] SA: Yeah, I feel like I’m in NASA. [0:03:40.5] RN: My childhood dream come true. [0:03:42.4] SA: They just want to talk to Houston. You’re like, “Mission control, help us.” [0:03:45.9] RN: It’s awesome but I was just saying, because I interviewed Nicolas Kush he has the same headset on, probably no more than two hours ago and he couldn’t even put the headset on his head because he didn’t want to mess up his beautiful hair. [0:03:57.3] SA: His frock? [0:04:00.0] RN: Exactly. But you, you just threw it on, you’re ready to roll. [0:04:02.5] SA: With the big curls, my hair isn’t as quite close to what they say in the south as “The bigger the hair, the closer you are to Jesus.” [0:04:10.1] RN: I’m from Georgia, so it’s very appropriate. [0:04:12.6] SA: Not quite as close to Jesus right now but I’ll fix it later on. [0:04:15.3] RN: I love that. Obviously I want to go into what you do, with the persuasion and stuff and the coaching and the speaking. But before we get into that, I’d love for you to take us back to – if you can think of it, the first time that actually gave you money? [0:04:29.6] SA: I know exactly when it was. [0:04:30.1] RN: In exchange for a product or service. [0:04:32.0] SA: Yeah, it was nuts. [0:04:33.4] RN: Just in terms of the mindset, you’re like, ‘What are they doing? Why are they paying me?” [0:04:37.9] SA: Yes and no, but that was after the fact, during the meeting itself because I had a face to face meeting with the CEO of a company and his right-hand man assistant. During the meeting, because I am – my previous life I was an actress. From the age of 14, I did a bunch of stage plays and primarily I did a lot of Shakespearian stuff. I think I just tapped in to my acting background, in the room, I totally faked my way through it. I was just like, I’m pretending like I know what the heck I’m doing. [0:05:07.3] RN: Yeah. [0:05:07.7] SA: Can we curse on your podcast? Or not? [0:05:08.8] RN: Yeah, let her rip. [0:05:09.3] SA: Okay, alright, I forgot to ask that before we started. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing and it was a really great meeting. I was helping the CEO with his – he was wanting to do more speeches to get more clients. I said I’d help him through coaching and my first project was $1,500. I was 22 at the time. The fact that my first client was $1,500 and I was 22 years old I was like – still to this day, I still can’t believe it happened. [0:05:38.3] RN: What made you kind of go after that big target at first? Rather than like starting off with the super low hanging fruit or somebody that would just pay lower? [0:05:46.0] SA: Well, I got connected to him through another contact of mine. I didn’t actively pursue that person, just somebody had known of me and had heard him say he’s wanting to do this and say, “You might want to talk to that curly headed chick.” We had the meeting and it was because the meeting went so well and this ties into my whole world of influence which I know we’re getting to. But at the end of it, I remember because I became very good friends with his assistant and she told me afterwards, she said, “Yeah, after the meeting…” because they cut me a check right away, it was like on the spot. [0:06:21.4] RN: This is amazing. [0:06:22.0] SA: This is the best thing ever. It’s always going to be this easy, right? This is the norm. [0:06:27.0] RN: We got to do more of these. [0:06:29.1] SA: I don’t know why people complain all the time. She said, after the meeting, they said, we looked at each other and we said, “We feel really secure in this decision but we were also wondering, why did we make that decision?” Because the whole time and they shared this with me afterwards. The whole time I asked really solid questions. At no point during that meeting did they ask me who my past clients were because I had none. At no point in my meeting did they ask me what my certifications, qualifications, degrees were because I had one in theater. They didn’t ask me anything about me, it’s because I knew what to ask about them and asking questions that they hadn’t thought of and pointing things in a certain direction that they were like, “She’s an expert because she’s clearly – sees a perspective that we haven’t yet.” [0:07:15.7] RN: And it took to focus off you, right? It was all about them. [0:07:18.4] SA: Yeah, well, and honestly, even today, even though I can name drop and say like I’ve worked with such and such and so and so. Even to this day when I’m on calls or meetings, I don’t talk about myself. I make it about them. I do it in a way that they realize that it’s almost, like overt pushing power and then there’s subtle power. It’s like you can try to push people towards something or you can be the magnet. I 100% always choose to be the magnet. [0:07:44.5] RN: Now that you mentioned name dropping, let’s go ahead and name drop. Who are some people you worked with? [0:07:53.2] SA: I’ve worked with a lot of great companies and individuals. I have clients from the NFL, I have clients from the NBA, I’ve got clients from UPS, a client of mine, gosh, announcers from ESPN and HLN network. I mean those are kind of the bigger – not on certain ones of those. [0:08:11.1] RN: Not on the Fail On Podcast? [0:08:13.0] SA: Correct. New York time best sellers and so because in some of the work that I’ve done with them, might have been either speech writings so I ghost wrote their speeches and things like that. I’ve worked in a lot of different capacities with individuals but like for example – [0:08:26.6] RN: Yeah, so what are they hiring you before they come to you because they have some problem. What’s that problem that they’re trying to solve? [0:08:31.4] SA: Well, nowadays, I mean, it’s changed. I’ve been in business for, on my own for a little over 10 years now. I don’t want to think about the number anymore. A good enough long while. Nowadays, I have like basically three verticals in my business. One is I’m a professional speaker so that’s usually like corporate, that’s sales teams, leadership teams and possibly like HR trainers and those type of things. [0:08:56.5] RN: Speaking on persuasion. [0:08:58.0] SA: Speaking on, influence and how to be a positive influence in your company, be the leader that people want to follow. Then the other vertical is specifically focused for entrepreneurs and that’s my online courses. I have one that’s like self-study that’s evergreen and then I have one that I only do twice a year, that’s live. [0:09:16.0] RN: What does that teach stuff the entrepreneur? [0:09:18.2] SA: Yeah, that’s Persuasive Profits and basically, I created that course because I was really sick and tired of seeing so many courses and offerings out there for entrepreneurs about one little slice of the business of like, you know, like a software, saying like, “This software is the solution to everything of like…” “If you just have click funnels, you don’t have to do everything, if you just have infusion software.” There’s nothing wrong with those softwares, I’ve used practically all of them and continued to use a few but they were selling those things as if they’re solutions, they’re not, they’re tools. There’s so many entrepreneurs that have the tool and then throw out their hands and like – but it’s not working and they don’t understand that the reason why it’s not working is because if you don’t understand the fundamentals of creating an influential message. Then all of it is going to fall apart. I created the course to be the base code for no matter what methodology you use in sending out your message, the message you create is always going to be based in persuasive strategies. The modules we cover like webinars, we cover speeches, we cover copy writing. We talk about the methods but I give them the models of how to create the message that goes with that. We’ve had some fantastic successes from the groups and we’re going to tear up possibly right now just because this email came in to me just literally an hour ago. One of our students, he hasn’t been able to...…
Matt Gallant is a serial entrepreneur who has collected over seven million leads in various industries. He has scientifically tested well over 10,000 different marketing ideas, generated tens of millions of dollars online and built his dream international lifestyle. He’s known by his peers as “the mad marketing scientist.” Matt’s constantly testing new radical ideas inside his companies. He’s a serial entrepreneur, a life optimizer and a practical spirituality student. He has rewired his brain into hyper-functioning by actively exploring his trauma experiences. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the darkest time of Matt’s personal and professional life. We discuss the single most valuable skill he has learned to create absolute freedom in his life. And Matt shares his interpretation of failure and how he’s totally transformed his mindset around it. Key Points From This Episode: Being market-centered instead of self-centered. Matt’s first real entrepreneurial gig with College Pro Painters. How MMA events taught Matt the art of hustle. The darkest moment in Matt’s marketing journey. Trusting that you’ve got what it takes to make it. The value of structured experimentation. Why we need to put knowledge into action. Balancing the visionary and the integrator. How Matt overcame his social and spiritual bottom. Are entrepreneurs more prone to addictive habits? Why we need to be aware of our character defects. Karma doesn’t always have to be a bitch. Cleaning house: Matt’s spiritual awakening. The power of neuro feedback and forgiveness. Four things that create trauma, acknowledging and reversing it. Why great data shapes destinies. Does failing just mean stopping? Overcoming fear: Three challenges you can start today. And much more! Tweetables: “To me, it’s just data, it’s just experiences. All of those things lead to bigger wins.” — @mattgallant_tv Tweet This [0:05:35] .1] “All those wins help build belief and momentum. I think momentum is one of the biggest keys to success.” — @mattgallant_tv Tweet This [0:15:00] .1] “The people that are successful are just always action driven.” — @mattgallant_tv Tweet This [0:23:56] .1] “The ultimate edge is to be your market.” — @mattgallant_tv Tweet This [0:30:25] .1] “The only time where I feel I failed, is if I stop.” — @mattgallant_tv Tweet This [0:58:08] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Unbound Merino – http://unboundmerino.com Matt Gallant – http://mattgallant.tv/ Bio Optimizers – https://bioptimizers.com/ Dawson Church – https://dawsonchurch.com/ Infinite Profit Solutions – http://www.infiniteprofitsolutions.com/ Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman – https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Fuel-Essential-Combination-Business/dp/B012HJOBRY Power vs Force by David Hawkins – https://www.amazon.com/Power-Force-David-Hawkins-Ph-D/dp/1401945074 Letting Go by David Hawkins – https://www.amazon.com/Letting-David-Hawkins-M-D-Ph-D/dp/1401945015 Matt Gallant on Hacking Your Brain– http://mattgallant.tv/hacking-brain-5-days/ Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 030 “MG: Even when things don’t work, right? Again, I just locate it as data and I’m a very data driven person because I really feel that great data shapes destinies.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:14.7] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail on Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:39.7] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes that failing in a hyper focused way is the fastest way to quit a job, start a business and live a life of absolute freedom in a world that only shares successes, we dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Matt Gallant. Matt is a serial entrepreneur who has collected over seven million leads in various industries, scientifically tested, well over 10,000 different marketing ideas and generated tens of millions of dollars online and built his dream international lifestyle. He made his first sale in internet in 1996, and since then has built over 39 profitable websites in various sectors in industries selling eight figures worth of products and services online. He’s been called by his peers “the mad marketing scientist” since he’s constantly testing new radical ideas inside his companies. He’s a serial entrepreneur, a life optimizer and a practical spirituality student. We’ll be discussing the darkest time of Matt’s personal and professional life, you definitely don’t want to miss this. The single most valuable skill he has learned to create absolute freedom in his life and how Matt interprets failure and has totally transformed his mindset around it. First, I’ve got a lot of travel I just completed and I’m actually heading to New York on Wednesday and luckily, all I need to travel with is a backpack for one reason only, it’s a shirt from an innovative Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino. They have clothes made out of marino wool that you can wear for months on end without ever needing to have it washed. You should wash it but you don’t have to. It’s a traveler’s absolute dream, check it out at the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t get anywhere else and if you’d like to stay up to date on all the Fail On Podcast interviews and key takeaways form each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com [INTERVIEW] [0:02:50.3] RN: Let’s go back to really the first time somebody give you money in exchange for a product or service that you created? [0:02:57.0] MG: My first product was a service, guitar lessons. I was 16 years old, started playing guitar when I was 12 and really got into Metallica playing every day and it got to the point where I could play most of the solos from Injustice For All. Then I did a show at the school and you know, a lot of people were impressed so then some people started asking me to give them guitar lessons. That was my first ever product. [0:03:21.7] RN: Did you want to be a rock star? [0:03:23.5] MG: Yeah. [0:03:23.8] RN: That was the idea? [0:03:24.5] MG: I wanted to be James Hatfield badly, desperately. Yeah, that was the dream for a while and did the rock band thing, recorded a CD and that was fun. And then online, my first sale ever, I was 19, my first year in university and I was on a news net board and I just sold the training program. I think the guy sent me 50 bucks and I sent him a training program, that was my first online sale which was 20 years ago. [0:03:51.2] RN: What was the training program or was that your whole plan to put this training program together then sell it online? [0:03:56.4] MG: No, it was just kind of organic, you know, it was news net board and I was just sharing about training and then the guy messaged me. [0:04:04.3] RN: You're saying news net, news net is. [0:04:06.6] MG: This is before forums. [0:04:07.6] RN: Exactly. But it’s a same idea as a forum. [0:04:10.0] MG: Yeah, it was kind of the original news board, bold and board forums. [0:04:15.5] RN: Got it. You posted there, he saw it and – [0:04:19.7] MG: Yeah, just organic sale. I didn’t kind of run with it but it definitely gave me a strong dopamine hit and I was like “Okay, this is cool.” [0:04:27.0] RN: You’re like “Wow, why is this dude sending me 50 bucks. I don’t know this guy, he never seen me before.” It had to be a bit of a mindset shift. [0:04:35.5] MG: Yeah, it was a mindblower. [0:04:36.5] RN: Yeah, once you’ve got that you’re like, like you said, it’s like a little dopamine hit, in your mind you’re like, “I got to do this more, I got to get this out there.” What was your thought? [0:04:45.8] MG: Yeah, then my next big marketing experiment was at national inquirer because my aunt had this huge stack and I’d see these weight loss ads, you know? I’m like, “Let’s run a weight loss ad in there” and so we ran a little classified ad. I think we spent like 150 bucks and we got 130 calls. People would leave their address, it was a logistical nightmare. Way before the internet. I had no copywriting training but I whipped together like a four page sales letter for a book that had I had never even created before but I’m like “To hell with it, we’re going to sell it. If it sells, I’ll create the program.” I got one sale and the check bounced. But it was a great experiment, kind of fits to the whole topic of your podcast which is the fail on. To me, it’s just data, it’s just experiences. All of those things lead to bigger wins. [0:05:42.9] RN: That was a cool little experiment because you had enough knowledge to know, you didn’t have to create the product before seeing if there was a market, right? You knew, let’s do a little test, see what kind of data we get back before we actually spend hours and money building the product. [0:05:59.6] MG: Yeah, exactly. I think for a lot of people listening. If your coach or if your thought leader, one of the best strategies which a lot of guys have done is to sell the program and then create it as you go. [0:06:13.4] RN: Based on feedback, right? [0:06:14.8] MG: Yeah. I know one guy, he created this deep, epic program and had no sales. That’s tough. [0:06:24.2] RN: Which is super common, right? Because I think most people, I think it’s changing. People are getting smarter about how to start a business, how to create products without putting the cart before the horse but I think it’s super common for people still to have this huge idea, not validate it, put the product out there and then it just you know, goes to the product graveyard. [0:06:42.1] MG: Absolutely. I think one of the big shift people need to make and it’s a tough one is to be market centered instead of self-centered. That’s really tough because at the end of the day, we all want to do stuff that we’re excited about. We all want to do things that fit our biases but the challenges, sometimes the market doesn’t care about what we love, right? The more we can get back into the mindset of the people we’re trying to serve. Especially if you become really advanced in what you do and something sometimes I struggle with in certain markets. You forget what it was like and you’re completely disconnected from the beginners and a lot of times that’s where the money is. [0:07:24.9] RN: Yeah, it’s so true. Just to continue the journey. You sold that first product and you’re like, okay, there’s something to this. What was your journey from there? [0:07:35.5] MG: Well, I didn’t really go deep down that rabbit hole at that time. The next big journey was College Pro Painters. I saw this ad “Make $10,000 a summer.” That sounds good. I applied and to this day, it was the toughest interview process I’ve ever done, it was very intense and got the gig and to this day, was probably the toughest entrepreneurial test by fire that I’ve done. [0:08:05.5] RN: For those that don’t know, what is college pro painters? [0:08:09.7] MG: Well College Pro Painters is owned by a company that has mastered the franchising process and College Pro Painters is a franchise that they’ve built, every year they recruit new university students, they train them on how to build a painting company. The marketing side, the hiring side, how to paint, how to do estimates, the whole nine yards. Literally, within months, you’re going to take people from zero to a functional painting entrepreneur. [0:08:41.5] RN: What you’re applying for was to actually have your own painting franchise essentially? [0:08:46.2] MG: Correct. [0:08:46.7] RN: Okay, got it. [0:08:49.1] MG: That was my first real entrepreneurial experience. [0:08:53.0] RN: Yeah, toughest part about that was what? [0:08:55.5] MG: There was a lot of things, first, it was February and we had to go on the streets in Canada. Actually knock on doors and say, “Would you like a free estimate to paint your house next summer?” It’s dark, it’s literally minus 20, minus 30 Celsius and you know, you’re getting rejected. I mean, you’re getting like one lead an hour, right? That was just tough on all levels and just facing the fear of cold calling, right? [0:09:27.2] RN: Knocking on doors. [0:09:27.7] MG: Knocking on doors, people I don’t know and there was a lot of fear because I’m selling a product that I’ve literally never delivered. There’s always a part of my, in my thinking saying, “You know, what if I screw this beautiful house up?” That was a legitimate fear because I’ve never painted before. Then… [0:09:49.9] RN: Were you comfortable by the way just going into these cold calls or is that something you had never done before? Go to strangers, trying to sell something that you had. [0:09:57.1] MG: Never done. Yeah. That was again the training. [0:09:59.5] RN: Super – [0:10:00.7] MG: By fire. Yeah. Lot of fear facing there and – but then, the...…
Tim JP Collins is the creator and host of The Anxiety Podcast and is known as “The Breakthrough Anxiety Coach.” His life’s work is dedicated to helping people who struggle with stress, anxiety and panic attacks and he draws from his own personal experiences to help coach others on overcoming their stress and anxiety. In this episode, we will be discussing Tim’s first terrifying anxiety attack that occurred during a business presentation. He shares how that actually led to the business model for his current work. We also dive into some of the strategies and examples he uses for getting out of his comfort zone. He also tells a powerful story that led him to actually starting his business, and what he calls the Superpower of Anxiety; Tim’s concept of turning nervous energy and anxious energy into actual performance energy. Key Points From This Episode: Tim’s first steps in his entrepreneurship journey. The biggest struggles building a business in the baby industry. Why sometimes luck can play a big role in your business. How to transition from a salary job to being a full-time business owner. Experiencing a panic attack; the thoughts and feelings involved. Devastating emotional after effects of Tim’s first panic attack. Finding your own voice instead of simply “fitting in”. Recognizing if your life is creating a situation of anxiety. Using life experiences to “practice” for public speaking. Turning failure into opportunities of growth. Managing your life expenses to diminish the blow of failure. Overcoming the imposter syndrome; the concept of micro-exposure. The importance of speaking your truth versus lying for the benefit of others. A powerful message; don’t wait until you’re perfect to share your message. Uncovering anxiety in the workplace; shifting mindsets. Tim’s vision for his company over the next few years. The challenge: seeking out deeper human connection. And much more! Tweetables: “We kind of never get to know unless we do it. You don’t know until you put your best foot forward.” — @timjpcollins Tweet This [0:07:01] .1] “I defy anyone to say it’s easy to not get a pay raise and spend the money. You just do. You can’t help it.” — @timjpcollins Tweet This [0:09:07] .1] “Why don’t you start changing your life and see what happens.” — @philipmckernan Tweet This [0:20:04] .1] “When you just make a lot of money for the sake of making a lot of money, it doesn’t always feel good.” — @timjpcollins Tweet This [0:22:49] .1] “If you think of what anxiety is, it’s almost like a super power because it’s designed to save your life.” — @timjpcollins Tweet This [0:39:39] .1] “Anxiety is there to serve as a reminder for us to change something.” — @timjpcollins Tweet This [0:46:39] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Tim JP Collins — http://www.timjpcollins.com/ Tim on Twitter — https://twitter.com/timjpcollins The Anxiety Podcast — http://www.timjpcollins.com/podcast/ Unbound Merino — https://unboundmerino.com/ (Promo Code – FAIL ON) Philip McKernan — http://philipmckernan.com/ Philip on Twitter — https://twitter.com/PhilipMcKernan Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss — https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357 Giovanni Marsico — http://www.giftedentrepreneur.com/…
Michael Gebben bypassed college and started his own video production company at the age of 19. Since starting his first business, he has done video production for successful entrepreneurs all over the world including Richard Branson, Tony Robins, Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, Lewis Howes, Derek Halpern and many more. Michael has an inspiring story to tell and today, we’ll be discussing how he was able to get out of a tiny town and a job at a funeral home to overcome all odds and become one of the world’s most renowned videographers. Michael will share how he leverages free work and how he landed his first filming gig for Tim Ferriss. He also shares his simple strategy for creating strong customers relationships and delivering excellent service, through genuine kindness, being yourself and doing your best work for others. Take a listen! Key Points From This Episode: Why lack of execution is often the reason for failure. How Michael made $4,000 in junior high. Funeral homes and beer joints: Michael takes us through his first jobs. How a successful career largely happens by accident. The importance of trying to create new opportunities for success. Learning to become hyper self-aware; owning who you are. Figuring out what to pursue by not following your passion. Learn more about Michael’s Massive Imperfect Action concept. The power of removing expectation. Why Michael believes that success is trying. Learning to be okay with losing; opportunities for self-growth. Why your network is your net worth. The impact of living your values and not just speaking them. Embracing your job and shifting your mindset towards making an impact. Understanding the hard work that is often associated with opportunity. Why friendliness and fun go a long way. Learning to understand the journey behind the person. The reason why authenticity always trumps a copy-cat. The process of discovering your way in life; collaborating advice. Find out why Michael chooses to give and give and give. The honesty factor: we are the ones holding ourselves back. And much more! Tweetables: “All the things that I either have done or do now or I’m excited about doing, were not my passions at all.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [0:11:29] .1] “When people are looking for their passion, they don’t ever find it sometimes because they’re looking for it.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [0:12:20] .1] “For me, when I’ve just removed expectations, it’s incredible.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [0:30:24] .1] “Success is just keeping it simple and you know, just trying.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [0:35:23] .1] “It only takes one thing, one person, one moment, one anything to literary change the trajectory of our life.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [0:56:00] .1] “Everybody is just in 100% consumption mode. They don’t produce, they don’t create and then they don’t learn.” — @mgebbs Tweet This [1:00:00] .1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Unbound Merino – http://unboundmerino.com (PROMO Code – FAIL ON ) Michael Gebben Website – http://michaelgebben.com Michael Gebben Twitter – https://twitter.com/mgebbs/ Michael Gebben’s YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/michaelgebben Michael Gebben’s Jumpstarters – http://jumpstarters.net/ The Fred Factor – https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Factor-Passion-Ordinary-Extraordinary/dp/0385513518 Delivering Happiness – https://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446576220 Book Yourself Solid – https://www.amazon.com/Book-Yourself-Solid-Reliable-Marketing/dp/0470643471 The Four Hour Work Week – https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357 Transcript Below Read Full Transcript EPISODE 028 “MG: I genuinely loved, really, more than anything which is what I still love, making people smile. When I did the same thing at it, they smiled, they laughed, they cried, they hugged, they high-fived, that’s what I lived for.” [INTRODUCTION] [0:00:15.5] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Fail On Podcast where we explore the hardships and obstacles today’s industry leaders face on their journey to the top of their fields, through careful insight and thoughtful conversation. By embracing failure, we’ll show you how to build momentum without being consumed by the result. Now please welcome your host, Rob Nunnery. [INTRO] [0:00:39.8] RN: Hey there and welcome to the show that believes failing in a hyper focused way is the only way to create freedom and quit your job in a world that only shares successes. We dissect the struggle by talking to honest and vulnerable entrepreneurs and this is a platform for their stories. Today’s story is of Michael Gebben. Michael bypassed college and started his own production company, gettv.com at the age of 19 and since starting his first business, he has done video production for successful entrepreneurs all over the world including Richard Branson, Tony Robins, Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, Louis Howes, Derek Halburn and the list just goes on and on. The actual story of how he got started in all this is just absolutely inspiring. We’ll be discussing how Michael was able to get out of a tiny town and overcome all odds to become one of the world’s most renowned videographers. Michael will share how he leverages free work and how he landed his first filming gig for Tim Ferriss and he goes into a simple strategy for creating strong customers relationships and delivering excellent service. Just through genuine kindness and doing your best work for others. But first, I’m on the road a lot nowadays and thankfully I’m traveling wider than I ever have before, can’t say the same about my wife but hey, that’s neither here nor there. All I travel with now is a backpack and just a few pieces of clothing for one reason only. It’s a shirt from a really sweet Toronto apparel company called Unbound Marino, they have clothes made out of marino wool and get this, you can wear it for months on end without ever needing to have it washed and there is science backing behind that, I just don’t know it. Talk about a traveler’s absolute dream, never check a bag again, check in at the show notes page for an exclusive Fail On discount that you won’t get anywhere else and if you’d like to stay up to date on all The Fail On Podcast interviews and key take away from each guest, simply go to failon.com and sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page. That’s failon.com. [INTERVIEW] [0:02:35.1] RN: Hey there and welcome to The Fail On Podcast. Today, I am sitting down with Mr. Michael Gebben and we are going to explore his struggles, failures and how he has been able to work with some of the most influential people on this planet. Michael’s worked with Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins and sir Richard Branson and many more. Michael, welcome to The Fail On Podcast. [0:02:52.2] MG: Rob, thanks for having me buddy. I’m excited. [0:02:54.5] RN: First, some context here, we’re sitting in a co-working space in San Diego, downtown works. We just saw a friend and I had talked to him, Mr. Clay Heber. You get to follow on the footsteps of the legend trader. [0:03:09.6] MG: Greatness, exactly. [0:03:12.1] RN: I want to obviously dig in to how you got started with all the big names and filming for them but first, take us back to the very first time that somebody actually gave you money in exchange for a product or service that you created. [0:03:26.5] MG: You know, it’s interesting. I’ve always kind of been entrepreneurial and this will tie in to, I think some of the questions you’re going to ask me about failure and that’s what this is really about. What’s interesting, we moved in to this house and it had a football field and my parents tell me that I wanted to cut a hole on the fence and sell hotdogs and popcorn to the opposing team. Well, that failed. I was like seven years old, I never executed on that like most people with ideas, we don’t execute. Really, what had happened is, my dad’s always been into film and video and he made these silent films in the 80’s and we made these goofy movies and he works at a cemetery. I had made a slideshow for an aunt that passed away and this funeral home caught wind. [0:04:11.8] RN: How old were you by the way? [0:04:13.1] MG: Yeah, I was probably 17 years old and mind you, I had a candy machine business in high school. I tried all of these different things and you know, none of it ever really went anywhere and I didn’t know whether I was going to go to college or not or what I was going to do. I got asked by this funeral home to make these slideshows and that was kind of my first thing in video. I mean, I had had a paper out. [0:04:37.4] RN: Did they just come to you because it’s such a small town or they just knew that you did this slideshow thing? [0:04:41.0] MG: Well, my dad, again, worked at a cemetery so they were connected and they knew, it was a small town, they had talked. They had known that my dad and we made these little movies and stuff because we had some showings at our local theater and stuff. I mean, I had a paper out which I’d come to find out a lot of these billionaires out had paper out. Alright, I’ve got one trait. No, in video production, that was my first thing that I had made some money when I was about 17. I was a junior in high school and I made I think $4,000 that first year as a junior. Doing these slideshows and then I also filmed some plays and my senior year did even more slide shows, filmed some more plays. I also found a video yearbook for my senior class. I made about $8,000. When I got done and graduated, I have still work in which is another part of my story, the beer distributor because it was right next to the cemetery that my dad works at so I worked there from like 12 to the summer I graduated. I tried to get like a quarter raise. [0:05:42.8] RN: You started working at the beer distributer at 12 years old? [0:05:44.5] MG: Yeah. There’s these little nuances. I got a lot, we need like four hours to get through everything, I’m trying to you know, be succinct here. But I started there when I was 12 which is crazy. I mean, I was literally in a room alone with bottles of beer, cans, everything. I was cleaning them up. I was called the breakage boy. I wanted to get a quarter raise and this is an interesting thing that I think that actually just saw this video in my Facebook feed recently, that was from a couple of years ago where I saw the guy who I went in to, to get this quarter raise and they wouldn’t give it. I’ve been there six, seven years, I mean, cleaning up the trash, I mean, doing anything for these people. They used to get new cars every year and all the stuff and so I always wanted a quarter more and they wouldn’t give it to me. I think I made it through that summer of 2005 right after I graduated in May of 2005 from high school and then I quit. I said, “You know what? This is ridiculous” and I thought, I told my parents, I said, “Just give me one year. Just one year and we’ll see what happens.” Because they weren’t necessarily – “You got to go to college.” I know some people’s parents, like, you got to go to college. Mine were more, that’s the thing I should do. But I think where some people go wrong is they might just say “I’m just not going to college, I’m just not going to do this.” But I had a little momentum already. I made some money and I said, “Just give me one year, let me see what happens with this thing and if it works, great, and if it doesn’t, I can always go back.” [0:07:08.1] RN: Those previous two years, you went from 4,000 to 8,000. Were you like really hustling to get that 4,000, 8,000 or was it kind of just an organically growing snowball? [0:07:17.5] MG: No, I would say, I wasn’t hustling, like really. I was you know, I don’t know that I really controlled the slideshows like that was how many people died and then how many people to – I hate to say it but how many people the funeral home convinced to do the slide show and mind you at the time, I mean, I think it was… For a single one I started as low as maybe $50, got as high at one point in time is maybe $250, $300 but we had a thing where you know, so many...…
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