WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.459 Hey there, I'm Tal Zlotnitsky from Ignite IT 00:00:04.459 --> 00:00:07.040 Consulting. You know me from the Braving Business 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:10.039 podcast, but when I'm not behind the mic, I'm 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:11.859 helping tech startups and established companies 00:00:11.859 --> 00:00:15.140 ignite their full potential. I also help entrepreneurs 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.000 and businesses in distress reset for success. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:20.739 With over three decades of entrepreneurial success, 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.280 I bring hands -on experience to drive growth, 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:26.480 navigate turnarounds, raise capital, and lead 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.000 to innovation. Whether it's executive coaching 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.660 or strategic transformation, I'm here to turn 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:33.960 your business challenges into success stories. 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:38.159 Visit igniteitconsulting .com and let's spark 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.520 that change together. That's igniteitconsulting 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.119 .com. Your journey to business brilliance starts 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:49.420 now. And one last quick thing. If you enjoyed 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:51.579 this episode, please stay on after the show to 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:53.359 learn more about the Braving Business Podcast 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:55.880 and other great episodes for you to discover. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:12.870 And now, let's get the show started. Well, hello 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:15.709 there. Hey there, buddy. How are you? I'm good, 00:01:15.750 --> 00:01:18.810 man. How are you, world traveler? I'm good. I'm 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:20.810 glad to be home base for a minute. It's been 00:01:20.810 --> 00:01:24.329 hectic. Are you back in Tampa? I am temporarily 00:01:24.329 --> 00:01:26.430 on the road again tomorrow, but I've been here 00:01:26.430 --> 00:01:30.290 for 48 hours. It feels like a real reprieve. 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:32.950 I've been on the road basically 75 % of the time 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:34.590 the last couple of months, so it's been hectic. 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:36.290 Oh, my gosh. Well, you're racking up the miles, 00:01:36.370 --> 00:01:38.969 so that's always good. So I understand. It's 00:01:38.969 --> 00:01:40.450 not as good as it used to be. It's not as good 00:01:40.450 --> 00:01:42.310 as it used to be. You know, the miles used to 00:01:42.310 --> 00:01:44.670 mean a lot more, both on the airline side and 00:01:44.670 --> 00:01:47.230 the hotel side. But I'll get off my soapbox. 00:01:47.430 --> 00:01:50.450 No, no, no, no, no. Actually, I do have a gripe 00:01:50.450 --> 00:01:53.430 about that. I used to have, I used to have like 00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:56.489 almost quarter of a million miles on United. 00:01:57.150 --> 00:02:00.170 And then I changed jobs and I didn't fly for 00:02:00.170 --> 00:02:03.209 like 24 months. Lost them all. Didn't realize. 00:02:03.489 --> 00:02:06.609 Yeah. Yeah. Didn't realize I had to like do something. 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:08.759 And I lost them all. Well, I guess, I guess United 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:10.560 will not be a sponsor of ours, but it's okay. 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:12.900 I, yeah, shoot. Yeah. I should have named, I 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:14.699 should not have named them, I guess. Oh, it's 00:02:14.699 --> 00:02:16.560 all right. It's okay. I'm actually glad you named 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.800 them. I will not name the airline in which I 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.159 have 450 ,000 miles and yet I cannot get upgraded 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:24.120 to anything ever. Oh no, let's call them out. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.539 Let's call them out. Yeah. American. What the 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:29.340 hell? American. Such a great airline when it 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:32.379 was US Air. Tal Zlotnitsky needs to be in first 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:35.240 class every time. Please put him in. Just on 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:38.740 occasion. All right. Anyway. Hey, and today we 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:41.840 have Dustin Portillo on. Dustin, whenever you 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.020 come to Chicago, are you a rock star? Do people 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.580 like just start cheering you as soon as you land? 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.379 Well, if they know what my last name is, but 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:53.240 if they knew the real secret, they probably wouldn't. 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:57.419 Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, pray tell. Pray tell. What 00:02:57.419 --> 00:03:01.340 is the real secret? Well, Portillo on my birth 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:04.659 certificate is Portillo. but it's not a real 00:03:04.659 --> 00:03:08.759 family's last name. My grandfather passed away 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:14.879 in 2001, and the 13 years I spent with him never 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:19.280 once mentioned family. And so years after he 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.620 passed away, we found out that he in fact stole 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:26.060 someone's identity and went to the grave. I mean, 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.439 even my grandmother, his wife didn't even know. 00:03:30.090 --> 00:03:32.969 That he had this deep, dark secret. So it's so 00:03:32.969 --> 00:03:36.110 crazy because as a kid, I used to say I was infatuated 00:03:36.110 --> 00:03:38.310 on some degree with the godfather. And I used 00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:41.530 to tell the kids in my third grade class that 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:44.590 my grandfather used to be in the mafia. Well, 00:03:44.710 --> 00:03:48.210 come to find out, I mean, there is a real potential 00:03:48.210 --> 00:03:51.569 that he might have trying to hide from someone. 00:03:52.289 --> 00:03:55.770 So very interesting. So I'm not really quite 00:03:55.770 --> 00:03:58.090 sure what our real last name is, although we 00:03:58.090 --> 00:04:01.740 are Italian. So we did some blood testing and 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:04.139 we are from the Mediterranean and it was like 00:04:04.139 --> 00:04:08.020 92 % Italian. Oh, wow. Wow. So, and for those 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.900 who are not familiar, Portillo's in Chicago is 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:15.080 probably the best fast food -ish restaurant in 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:18.319 town. Just amazing. Even their napkins are great. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.550 Everything's great at Portillo's. The parking 00:04:21.550 --> 00:04:23.290 lot's pretty fantastic, too, if you're into that 00:04:23.290 --> 00:04:25.290 kind of stuff. They're so efficient, it's not 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:27.149 even funny. It puts In -N -Out to shame. Okay, 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:30.329 guys, this is boring. Come on, carry on. All 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:31.670 right, well, fine. Well, you know what's not 00:04:31.670 --> 00:04:34.889 boring? Mr. Dustin Portillo. So at the tender 00:04:34.889 --> 00:04:37.670 age of 19, Dustin Portillo achieved his childhood 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:40.490 dream, literally a dream that he had had since 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.670 he was four years old, which was joining the 00:04:43.670 --> 00:04:46.910 world -famous Ringling Brothers Circus as a professional 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:50.980 clown. In time... entertaining over 35 million 00:04:50.980 --> 00:04:54.100 people across North America and over 3 ,500 shows. 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:56.939 His comedic talent and showmanship caught the 00:04:56.939 --> 00:04:59.519 attention of McDonald's, where he took on the 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:02.560 high -profile role of Ronald McDonald, making 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.379 appearances at major events like the Macy's Thanksgiving 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:08.459 Day Parade. But Dustin's story isn't just about 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:10.399 making people laugh. It's about resilience and 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:12.959 reinvention. After his corporate position at 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:15.199 Casper's Company, a successful McDonald's franchise, 00:05:16.089 --> 00:05:18.769 He was eliminated during downsizing, and he faced 00:05:18.769 --> 00:05:21.470 a pivotal moment. Take a normal job or carve 00:05:21.470 --> 00:05:24.889 his own path, and he chose the latter. Now, Dustin 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:27.689 is a full -time speaker and author of It's Okay 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:29.970 to Be an Idiot, which probably is named after 00:05:29.970 --> 00:05:33.110 me, a book that blends humor with profound life 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:36.860 lessons on overcoming setbacks. embracing authenticity, 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.899 and finding strength through adversity. His mission 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:43.019 is to take his message global, inspiring audiences 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:46.000 to laugh more, stress less, and embrace their 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.519 inner idiot as a strength. Dustin may be a professional 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.240 clown, but his message is no joke, and we are 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:54.560 thrilled to have him here on the Braving Business 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.639 Podcast. Dustin, welcome. Thank you. And that 00:05:57.639 --> 00:05:59.899 was memorized, wasn't it? Yes. It looks like 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:03.660 it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, totally. Thanks for having 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:07.220 me, guys. No, it's good to have you here. Thank 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:10.160 you. I'm always impressed with the work we do 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:14.060 with the bios. A lot of times our guests listen. 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:16.279 We get some suggestions from the guests on things 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:18.600 they believe should be included. But generally, 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:23.480 we do our own work. And I met you a few months 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:25.220 ago. You were speaking to students at the University 00:06:25.220 --> 00:06:27.079 of South Florida where I'm on the board of the 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:30.240 business school. And it was incredible to watch 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.379 you at work. And, you know, frankly, I didn't 00:06:33.379 --> 00:06:34.660 I didn't know some of the stuff that was shared 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:38.019 just now. So it's it's interesting to to be able 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:39.680 to dive into those things with you. But let's 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.600 start at the beginning. Like you said, you started 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.180 at four years old and decided you wanted to be 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.100 a clown. I just saw a very funny Bill Maher comedy 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:48.860 special where he said, if the world if people 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:50.540 got to decide what they wanted to be at five 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:52.620 years old, we'd have a lot of princesses and 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:54.939 cowboys. But you actually at four years old. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.519 decided to be a clown and you followed through 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:59.439 with that. So first, what sparked that dream? 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:02.519 And then what caused you to stick with it after 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:06.600 all these years? Sure. I grew up in Kansas City 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.660 and at the age of four, my parents began to take 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:12.139 my brother and I. And there was something about 00:07:12.139 --> 00:07:15.199 the clowns going to specifically Ringling Brothers. 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:17.759 I didn't want to be a clown for any other circus 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.160 besides Ringling Brothers. And there was something 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:24.259 about it. I have never found clowns to be funny. 00:07:25.069 --> 00:07:28.310 um and even comedians i've never found funny 00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:32.209 it's always the mechanics of what they do the 00:07:32.209 --> 00:07:35.029 explosions the lighting effects the music just 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:39.870 kind of everything blended together is just it's 00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:43.990 like an incredible orchestrated classical music 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:46.370 there's just something about it that is just 00:07:46.370 --> 00:07:51.540 so damn good and I was hooked the moment I went 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:54.240 to Ringling Brothers. And from the age of four 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.459 up until I joined Ringling at the age of 19, 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:59.839 that's what I wanted to do. And there was nothing 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:04.300 that was going to stop me. And I don't clown 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:06.639 anymore. It's been quite a few years. It's been, 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:11.180 gosh, 14 years since my Ronald McDonald days. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.660 But I still perform. Whenever I get up in front 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:16.360 of an audience, I'm still performing. I still 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.839 wear a costume, whatever I am. I am dressed in, 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:22.959 uh, is my costume. So there is still a level 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.660 of entertainment and what I do. It's just a different 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:28.959 kind of performance nowadays. That's really cool. 00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:31.740 So you were, you were the Ronald McDonald for 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:34.440 a while. Well, I don't want to boast, but, uh, 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:37.740 yeah, I mean, I was, I was Ronald. Um, I was, 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:41.240 I was based in, in the Tampa Bay, Florida market. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.500 And I did events in this area. And then I did 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:47.940 the McDonald's Worldwide Conventions, which is 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.340 where all of the, I mean, literally every McDonald's 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:55.960 employee franchise supplier converges at the 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:58.899 Orlando, at the Orange County Convention Center, 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:03.759 which is a massive, massive convention. area. 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:06.860 And, uh, so I used to go there and do shows as 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:09.220 Ronald do meet and greets, do some publicity 00:09:09.220 --> 00:09:12.200 stuff and the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:16.019 as well, which was another, uh, gosh, phenomenal 00:09:16.019 --> 00:09:19.779 experience, phenomenal experience. That's so 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:22.700 cool. So, so interesting though. So at 19, you 00:09:22.700 --> 00:09:25.580 joined the circus, which is. Truly incredible. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:29.779 What moment from your four years at the circus 00:09:29.779 --> 00:09:32.000 still sticks with you today, whether it's hilarious 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:37.960 or terrifying or even emotional? Okay, so two 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.679 things stick out. The first is the very first 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:46.000 day that I saw the show when I knew that in a 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.840 couple of hours, my parents were driving back 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.539 to Kansas City because I joined the show in Chicago, 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:56.820 Rosemont. And so watching the show, knowing that 00:09:56.820 --> 00:10:01.320 I was going into that show, there was a moment 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:05.240 of, I have made it. This has been a dream of 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:09.000 mine since four. I finally have arrived at the 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:13.980 entrance to how everything has just kind of crescendoed 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:16.440 to that. Second one is we were playing Madison 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.460 Square Gardens. This would have been in 2007, 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:24.509 I want to say. And the elephants were on stage. 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:26.990 And if you've ever been to Madison Square Garden 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:30.870 or know anything about it, it is several floors. 00:10:31.129 --> 00:10:33.830 And the circus, I believe, played on the seventh 00:10:33.830 --> 00:10:37.590 or eighth floor of the arena. And so you have 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:41.309 to swirl, you have to travel basically the entire 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.409 perimeter of the arena to get downstairs from 00:10:44.409 --> 00:10:47.899 the backstage area. So we're all in the dressing 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:49.940 room, which was called Clown Alley, which no 00:10:49.940 --> 00:10:53.019 one was allowed to go in because we're entering 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:58.620 in as this. And then it's a whole secretive kind 00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:01.159 of society kind of a thing. So one of the clowns 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:04.039 comes in and he goes, guys, we need to go now. 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:07.720 And we're like, why? What's up? And his English 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:09.960 wasn't so great. And he was wearing the High 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:13.600 Wire Act costume. Guys, guys, we need to go. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.600 So finally. We have the show feed backstage so 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.379 we can hear different cues for us to go on stage. 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:24.980 And all of a sudden, the ringmaster, after the 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.720 elephant number was over, says, ladies and gentlemen, 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.159 welcome to Earth. Thank you for coming out to 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:31.340 the greatest show on Earth. And may all your 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:34.679 days be circus days. And we're like, yeah, there's 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:36.720 still about 35, 40 minutes of the show left. 00:11:36.779 --> 00:11:38.980 What's going on? So about that time, management 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:42.230 comes flying backstage. Everyone get out of the 00:11:42.230 --> 00:11:47.090 arena now. Everyone go, go, go. And so we are 00:11:47.090 --> 00:11:49.090 we don't know what's going on. There has been 00:11:49.090 --> 00:11:52.350 no announcement. There was no announcement made 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:55.129 to the audience. Performers were all running. 00:11:55.149 --> 00:11:59.330 We get downstairs and. The audience is trickling 00:11:59.330 --> 00:12:01.730 down and they're asking for autographs. It begins 00:12:01.730 --> 00:12:04.870 to pour down, raining on us. Some of the costumes 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:07.529 we were wearing were anywhere from $8 ,000 to 00:12:07.529 --> 00:12:11.029 $15 ,000, $20 ,000. And a lot of the costumes 00:12:11.029 --> 00:12:15.509 were not able to be washed because it would have 00:12:15.509 --> 00:12:19.990 bled all of the coloring in them. So come to 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:22.350 find out there was a bomb threat at Penn Station, 00:12:22.529 --> 00:12:24.970 which is underneath Madison Square Garden. And 00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:27.389 the initial thought was that it was PETA protesters 00:12:27.389 --> 00:12:30.750 that were trying to disrupt the circus. But in 00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:33.720 fact, it was a disgruntled. Penn Station employee 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.620 who was very upset and wanted to scare everyone 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:42.220 at Penn Station. And unfortunately, it disrupted 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:45.399 the show. And so we weren't allowed back into 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:47.820 Madison Square Garden until around 3 or 4 a .m. 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:50.960 because the police with the dogs had to sweep 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:57.820 that massive, massive building. It was cray -cray. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:01.470 It was cray -cray. Yeah. You know, I was thinking 00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:03.690 at the very front end of that, you talked about, 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:08.090 you know, standing outside at the circus, but 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:10.470 not quite on stage. Your parents are there and 00:13:10.470 --> 00:13:12.210 you're feeling that you've arrived. And what's 00:13:12.210 --> 00:13:13.990 really interesting to me about that moment is 00:13:13.990 --> 00:13:15.950 what you had to have looked like at the moment, 00:13:16.009 --> 00:13:17.710 right? I mean, I'm sure you're wearing a full 00:13:17.710 --> 00:13:20.470 -on clown suit. You had the nose, the face makeup. 00:13:20.870 --> 00:13:24.529 And it's so interesting to me how arriving, you 00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:25.870 know, it doesn't require you to be wearing a 00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:30.340 suit, right? I mean, living your dream. uh, can 00:13:30.340 --> 00:13:32.639 take on absolutely different shapes and sizes 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:36.019 depending on what your dream is. And I think 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:39.840 it's so cool. Yeah. Did you have that? I am, 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:42.740 I am a firm believer in the unconventional, you 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:44.600 know, so many people take that normal nine to 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:47.019 five job. And, and, and for my entire career 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:51.159 has not been someone's normal nine to five jobs. 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:53.919 So I'm, I'm incredibly blessed that, that those 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.419 arrival moments have happened sporadically throughout 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:58.750 my life. That just kind of shows me that there 00:13:58.750 --> 00:14:01.970 is more to what your dream currently is and that 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:05.370 that is a foundation for what's to come. Did 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:07.850 you have a moment like that, Tal? I mean, obviously, 00:14:08.169 --> 00:14:10.210 Dustin's moment's really cool. Yeah, I think 00:14:10.210 --> 00:14:12.710 so. Yeah, what was your - I think my moment has 00:14:12.710 --> 00:14:16.210 to be standing on the west lawn of the White 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:20.309 House, right outside the president's office and 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:22.190 speaking to the White House press on behalf of 00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:24.049 President Obama. I mean, it's the highlight of 00:14:24.049 --> 00:14:28.879 my life. Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah. Let's go back to 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.360 you. Thank you. Going from Ringling Brothers 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:36.940 to Ronald McDonald. Very cool and quite a career 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:39.820 shift. Tell us how that opportunity came about 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:42.419 and maybe what was the most unexpected part of 00:14:42.419 --> 00:14:47.909 portraying that type of a character? So very 00:14:47.909 --> 00:14:50.889 quickly, I left Ringling Brothers Circus in 2012 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:54.370 at the end of 2012. My contract was up. I didn't 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:56.049 want to extend. I was kind of getting burned 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:58.570 out. You know, you're doing a thousand shows 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:02.350 every two years on top of the publicity appointments. 00:15:02.450 --> 00:15:04.370 I was like, yep. you know what? I'm kind of done 00:15:04.370 --> 00:15:06.409 with this. I moved to Los Angeles, thought I 00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:08.289 wanted to be an actor in Hollywood. My heart 00:15:08.289 --> 00:15:11.169 truly wasn't in it. I worked at Chipotle. And 00:15:11.169 --> 00:15:13.330 to this day, I'm the best damn guac maker you're 00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:17.269 ever going to meet. I am just saying. And so 00:15:17.269 --> 00:15:20.029 I moved here to Tampa to fulfill a six -week 00:15:20.029 --> 00:15:22.129 contract at Busch Gardens for a physical comedy 00:15:22.129 --> 00:15:25.730 show. And about a week into that, I get a call 00:15:25.730 --> 00:15:30.019 in between. I pick it up and I'm like, hello, 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:32.779 which I never picked up calls from unidentified 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:35.700 numbers. Well, lo and behold, it was corporate 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:39.559 McDonald's. And they said, hey, Dustin, we received 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:42.820 your resume and we'd like to fly you to Tampa. 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:47.480 I just moved there six weeks prior and we would 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:50.299 like to have you audition for Ronald McDonald. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.879 And I'm like, what? The hell is going on? So 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:58.059 weirdly enough, in what little I packed, I brought 00:15:58.059 --> 00:16:01.159 with me a little blue suitcase. To this day, 00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:04.460 I don't know why. And inside was my clown crap. 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:07.919 I had no ambitions of slapping on the clown makeup 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.360 ever again. And they said, well, the audition 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.559 is in one week and it's going to be at an inner 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:16.360 city school in Tampa in front of 40 kids. You 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.580 have eight minutes now. In the performing world, 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.320 eight minutes is like nothing. If you are a non 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.320 -performer, eight minutes is like the longest 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.740 24 hours of your life. So I was like, eight minutes, 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:31.340 really? That's like nothing. So I auditioned 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:34.659 a week later. The next day, I was summoned to 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:37.639 a local McDonald's in Tampa Bay, and they offered 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.299 me a five -year contract. And I said, listen, 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:44.179 I said, I don't do five -year contracts. On the 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:46.720 circus, we did one -year deals. And I have never 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.500 seen a Ronald. experienced the magic of Ron McDon. 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:54.639 So I, I don't feel comfortable doing it. I want 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:58.559 to do one, one year contract. And they were flabbergasted 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.840 why I wouldn't, why, why I wouldn't accept it. 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:03.539 Um, and I said, I'm just not comfortable because 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:06.619 if I don't like it, I want an out. I don't have 00:17:06.619 --> 00:17:08.039 to be stuck in it for, you know, five years. 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:12.839 So there were some negotiations. I signed a one 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:16.079 year contract and about, uh, three, about two 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:17.519 and a half years. And I was like, gosh, this 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:23.930 is. Kind of cool. Hey, can we get that five -year 00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:26.529 contract, please? Thanks. And they said yes. 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:30.589 And yeah, so that's how I landed the old Ronald 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:33.470 McDonald gig. Nothing fancy, just happenstance. 00:17:33.829 --> 00:17:36.069 The universe kind of guides you to where you 00:17:36.069 --> 00:17:39.730 need to go. And here I am. Wow. I will say to 00:17:39.730 --> 00:17:41.630 that, the universe guides you where you need 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:44.809 to go if you put yourself on, you have to start 00:17:44.809 --> 00:17:48.339 moving in a certain direction. The universe will 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:49.960 not take you there if you're sitting on the couch. 00:17:50.700 --> 00:17:55.700 Because that is called inspired action. And we 00:17:55.700 --> 00:17:57.400 can talk about this more, I guess, later on, 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:03.759 but there is a formula. I guarantee if your listeners 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.339 follow this formula that I have found that has 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:08.119 worked for me throughout my entire life with 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:12.279 visualization, manifestation, how I think you 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:17.079 were in the audience when I gave everyone. that 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.480 equation and it works you don't have to be rich 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.500 you don't have to be poor you don't have to come 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:26.440 from a a well -off family anyone can do it but 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:28.960 you but there are there are certain things that 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.160 takes and and the equation cannot be taken out 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.140 of what out of specific order you have to do 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.799 this to do this to do this equals equals this 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.140 and we'll talk about it for sure when we get 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:45.089 into into your book uh because i i i I thought 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:47.869 your presentation to the students was astonishingly 00:18:47.869 --> 00:18:50.589 astonishing and very effective. Looking forward 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:54.250 to that. Thank you. All right. So you, you performed 00:18:54.250 --> 00:18:58.990 3 ,500 shows, which is remarkable in front of 00:18:58.990 --> 00:19:02.230 35 million people. What's all their names. And 00:19:02.230 --> 00:19:07.029 of course, that's a lot of pressure, obviously. 00:19:08.410 --> 00:19:11.250 how did you like handle the the mental and the 00:19:11.250 --> 00:19:14.170 physical demands of performing at such you know 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:17.450 actually a high level even though people kind 00:19:17.450 --> 00:19:19.829 of poo -poo the clown it's still you you are 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:22.670 performing a role how did how did you like you 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:25.710 perform at such a high level for so long well 00:19:25.710 --> 00:19:29.630 from even going from ringling brothers which 00:19:29.630 --> 00:19:31.730 is owned by feld entertainment which is like 00:19:31.730 --> 00:19:34.509 the biggest uh entertainment company in the entire 00:19:34.509 --> 00:19:39.690 world uh and even going into ronald Those performing 00:19:39.690 --> 00:19:46.029 careers were the golden standard. Whenever you 00:19:46.029 --> 00:19:48.150 hear Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.670 you don't think, ah, the okayest show on earth. 00:19:50.829 --> 00:19:53.690 It is the greatest show on earth. So the golden 00:19:53.690 --> 00:19:57.589 standard has to be there every single show. And 00:19:57.589 --> 00:20:01.750 it isn't easy. You are doing 500 shows a year, 00:20:01.869 --> 00:20:05.329 and each show is roughly three hours and 15 minutes. 00:20:06.710 --> 00:20:09.869 So, and on top of that, you're doing all of the 00:20:09.869 --> 00:20:13.730 publicity, television, newspaper, and radio interviews 00:20:13.730 --> 00:20:17.589 weekly. There is no week off. I mean, you are 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:22.170 in the trenches 24 -7. It is a lifestyle. It 00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:25.329 isn't a nine to five, I'm going to go to my office 00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:27.369 in downtown Tampa and then go back home. No, 00:20:27.410 --> 00:20:30.009 you're living on the circus train. You are traveling. 00:20:32.329 --> 00:20:34.670 gosh, 11 months out of the year. And that one 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:36.829 month is either spent in rehearsals for the new 00:20:36.829 --> 00:20:39.069 show, or you get about two weeks off where you 00:20:39.069 --> 00:20:42.950 have to report back for the second year. So physical 00:20:42.950 --> 00:20:47.130 and mental, you have to take care of yourself. 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:52.390 Because if I'm not mentally there, I can't show 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:55.069 up for my audience. And that's a lot about what 00:20:55.069 --> 00:20:58.390 I talk about now in my work as a keynote speaker 00:20:58.390 --> 00:21:03.440 is the mindset work. If your mindset is in the 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.619 shitter, it is damn near impossible to show up 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:10.460 for your customers, for your employees, for everyone 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:14.359 else. So the mental capacity in the circus is 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:19.920 key to longevity. Can we pause for one second 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.880 and just dig into that? Just for a second, because 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.359 personally, I am at that point right now where 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:31.019 my mindset has been in said shitter. uh for the 00:21:31.019 --> 00:21:35.460 last couple of weeks right and side note um i'm 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:37.759 usually the clown on this show so it's kind of 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.200 refreshing to have another clown here um but 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.380 i'm more of the like base level clown you're 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:48.839 the professional um but like how do please give 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.640 me some give me some insight into like mindset 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:54.880 how to get out of the shitter off the pot please 00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:03.299 you know um Mindset dictates every aspect of 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:06.220 our life, whether it's a good mindset or it's 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:11.880 a bad mindset. When I'm having a bad day and 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:15.980 I'm a human being, Ronald McDonald still gets 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:17.640 bad days, although I'm not Ronald McDonald anymore. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:20.480 Although there might still be some white makeup 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.759 behind my ears. I'm still checking that out. 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:28.579 But you have to realize. The power that is inside 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:32.220 of you. So many people forget who they are. And 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:35.200 weirdly enough, my screensaver on my phone is 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:38.940 remember who you are. And it has helped me so 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:43.700 much of the time as of late with the mindset 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:49.200 piece. And people forget that. Quit looking externally 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.880 for validation of your value, worth and importance. 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:57.069 Because I can tell you. From speaking from someone 00:22:57.069 --> 00:23:00.609 who has done this, when you think so low of yourself, 00:23:00.829 --> 00:23:06.250 you expect everyone to fill you up and it does 00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:09.470 not happen. You have to find it within yourself 00:23:09.470 --> 00:23:13.450 first. Whenever you can pour into yourself and 00:23:13.450 --> 00:23:18.029 you know the strengths and the value that you 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:21.069 bring to a role or to a relationship or whatever 00:23:21.069 --> 00:23:24.579 it is. Then you begin to attract on an energetic 00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:28.019 level other people who begin to validate your 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:32.140 existence. But when your vibration is so low, 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:36.420 I guarantee, as it happened to me, you will begin 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:41.480 to attract people who don't see your value, who 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:47.319 will ghost you. It happens because you are at 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:51.279 a level of vibration and a frequency. Where other, 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:54.579 where it's attracting like, like, like -minded 00:23:54.579 --> 00:23:57.099 people. And it's the old stupid saying, birds 00:23:57.099 --> 00:23:59.700 of a feather flock together. And I'm telling 00:23:59.700 --> 00:24:03.660 you, it is so true. If you think that you are 00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:08.400 a shitty individual, you begin to attract your 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:12.619 circle of influence who begins to show you that 00:24:12.619 --> 00:24:15.039 you are a shitty individual. But whenever you 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:19.619 begin to, to level, to, um, to. raise your level 00:24:19.619 --> 00:24:22.359 of vibration, then you begin to attract a different 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:26.279 kind of people into your life. Um, and it's happened 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:29.559 to me, you know, it's been a rollercoaster, but 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:33.480 finding your worth and value inside of you first, 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:39.519 and then it will reflect on the outside. Let's 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:41.299 talk about that because I think this is a great 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:44.460 segue to what led you to your speaking career 00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:46.660 and to writing your book, which is you had a 00:24:46.660 --> 00:24:48.359 corporate role at Casper's and it was eliminated. 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:53.079 Casper's was a large McDonald's franchise. And 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:56.380 at that point, you faced a very significant crossroad 00:24:56.380 --> 00:25:00.000 in your life. And you talked about that to the 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.819 students. I'd love for you to share what ultimately 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:05.549 convinced you to take a leap into a... uh into 00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:08.450 not playing it safe right into leaning into entrepreneurship 00:25:08.450 --> 00:25:12.529 and doing something bold and risky after you 00:25:12.529 --> 00:25:18.329 did for a minute wallow in feeling like as people 00:25:18.329 --> 00:25:21.130 would and should and do when things don't go 00:25:21.130 --> 00:25:27.390 their way yeah you know for five years with my 00:25:27.390 --> 00:25:30.210 role at casper's i knew that the trajectory was 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:33.150 i would be taking over the vice president role 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:37.920 of community relations. So it oversaw about a 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.539 $1 .9 million budget of year of philanthropic 00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:44.019 giving back to Tampa Bay and the morale of our 00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:47.180 4 ,200 people. All the company events, I loved 00:25:47.180 --> 00:25:50.779 the work I did. I truly drank the Kool -Aid of 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:53.240 the culture. It was just phenomenal. And then 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:56.940 one day I get a call from a Tampa City councilman 00:25:56.940 --> 00:26:00.420 who says, hey, I heard a rumor that Casper's 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:03.269 is selling their 60 restaurants. What can you 00:26:03.269 --> 00:26:07.769 tell me? And I'm like, you know, and so I, so 00:26:07.769 --> 00:26:10.630 long story short about health, 10 minutes later, 00:26:10.710 --> 00:26:13.430 I get called into the CEO's office and he says, 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:15.569 listen, he goes, you're, you're the fifth person 00:26:15.569 --> 00:26:18.670 out of 4 ,200 people to know what's going on. 00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:20.529 So I need you to keep your mouth shut until corporate 00:26:20.529 --> 00:26:25.269 announces it. And so you want to talk about one 00:26:25.269 --> 00:26:28.029 self worth plummeting to, you know, it's almost 00:26:28.029 --> 00:26:30.309 like the stock market as we, as we see it now, 00:26:30.450 --> 00:26:33.650 you want to talk about your, self -worth just 00:26:33.650 --> 00:26:37.789 going and just crashing and burning. It was so 00:26:37.789 --> 00:26:43.289 bad because we as human beings put all of our 00:26:43.289 --> 00:26:46.950 ego and self -worth into the roles and the jobs 00:26:46.950 --> 00:26:50.990 that we have. Outside of it, you don't really 00:26:50.990 --> 00:26:54.910 have that. You are defined by the work that you 00:26:54.910 --> 00:26:57.089 do every single day. And I was defined by the 00:26:57.089 --> 00:27:00.049 work and having a full calendar. So when everything 00:27:00.049 --> 00:27:02.829 was just swiped clean, And I was told that I 00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:04.849 would no longer be with the organization after 00:27:04.849 --> 00:27:09.890 it sells off their 60 restaurants. It was just 00:27:09.890 --> 00:27:13.890 a very bad time in my life. I had a couple of 00:27:13.890 --> 00:27:15.970 jobs afterwards, and they were just jobs. They 00:27:15.970 --> 00:27:19.970 were not careers. And one failed after another, 00:27:20.210 --> 00:27:26.230 and my self -worth just began to go. And finally, 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:29.809 I had some great friends who were like, listen, 00:27:29.950 --> 00:27:34.069 gosh. You are a great speaker. You have a phenomenal 00:27:34.069 --> 00:27:36.869 message. It's so unique and so unconventional. 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:40.490 You really should get out and begin speaking. 00:27:40.690 --> 00:27:47.069 And so that kind of took off. And it wasn't even 00:27:47.069 --> 00:27:51.390 a midlife crisis, but in my wallow in self -pity, 00:27:51.509 --> 00:27:56.210 I wrote a book. And that took about 10 months 00:27:56.210 --> 00:28:00.180 or so to write it. And that was a very spiritual, 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:04.460 very therapeutic journey for me. Sure. So before 00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:07.240 we get to that, though, comedy and public speaking, 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:11.019 two totally different muscles, right? Like I 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:14.200 would assume that the feedback loop is different 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:17.519 the whole deal. So what was the hardest part 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:24.759 between going from clowning to going to keynoting? 00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:30.579 Well, you know, there actually is not much difference. 00:28:30.859 --> 00:28:34.259 You would think on the outside that there is 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:36.900 a huge difference. There's not. Like I had said 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:40.240 before, when I'm in front of an audience now, 00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:44.180 it isn't in front of 17 ,000 at Madison Square 00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:48.200 Garden. It's a different kind of audience. I'm 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.359 still performing. I don't wear makeup except 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.559 on Saturday nights, but that's besides the point. 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:57.220 No, I don't. I don't do that. But I still wear 00:28:57.220 --> 00:29:00.339 a costume. I still perform. I still have to be 00:29:00.339 --> 00:29:03.240 on. I have to give that energy to my audience. 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:06.380 It's a different kind of energetic exchange with 00:29:06.380 --> 00:29:08.220 the audience now, as opposed to being part of 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:12.660 an ensemble of 100 performers, 50 animals, music, 00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:17.579 lighting, pyro, live circus band. It's a one 00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:21.740 -man show now. And so the energy exchange and 00:29:21.740 --> 00:29:24.500 what I do, sure, there are different tactics, 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:28.000 but it's the same thing. And so that's what's 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.339 been beautiful about going from career to career 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:34.619 is that one has laid the foundation to the next, 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:37.839 from Circus Clown to Ronald McDonald to Community 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.759 Relations for a massive McDonald's franchise 00:29:40.759 --> 00:29:44.160 to Hospitality Speaker. It's the same thing. 00:29:44.259 --> 00:29:47.170 It's just different iterations of it. I've never 00:29:47.170 --> 00:29:52.910 been a clown, but I do believe that I can see 00:29:52.910 --> 00:29:56.349 why the muscles might actually be more similar 00:29:56.349 --> 00:29:59.869 than not. But I have this question for you. You 00:29:59.869 --> 00:30:03.589 know, one thing about being a clown is that a 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:07.930 clown is almost, by definition, not you or not 00:30:07.930 --> 00:30:10.829 exactly you, right? Whereas when you're a speaker, 00:30:11.029 --> 00:30:16.819 authenticity is quite crucial. How do you balance 00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:19.259 that, right? Because I saw you, I saw you perform. 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:23.259 You were absolutely performing. It was fun and 00:30:23.259 --> 00:30:28.160 funny. I also thought I saw when you shone through, 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:31.500 like it was possible to see, hey, there's Dustin. 00:30:32.299 --> 00:30:34.960 Talk to me about balancing, you know, authenticity. 00:30:36.339 --> 00:30:40.039 Well, if you go to my website, you are going 00:30:40.039 --> 00:30:43.319 to see time and time again, authenticity throughout. 00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:47.099 Everything I do that is one of my core values 00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:51.099 is authenticity, authenticity, humor, and being 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:57.740 trustworthy. And so it was very eyeopening for 00:30:57.740 --> 00:31:03.240 me that when I got into a corporate gig with 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:06.880 Casper's that I took a look back and I'm like, 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:10.640 Oh my gosh, like, you know, I. We in the circus 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:12.480 would say, well, you don't really hide behind 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:14.799 the makeup. It's an extension of you. And there 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:17.140 is a point and there is a truth to that. But 00:31:17.140 --> 00:31:19.259 looking back, I'm like, oh my gosh, we certainly 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:21.359 did hide behind the makeup because you can get 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:23.519 away with more things as a clown than you can 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:30.079 as Tal or PJ or Dustin. And so now with what 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:36.859 I do, the authenticity has to be even more amplified 00:31:36.859 --> 00:31:41.230 as a clown. With the circus, I still had to be 00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:43.430 authentic because if I didn't believe in the 00:31:43.430 --> 00:31:45.829 material that I was doing, my audience can't 00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:48.150 believe it. As Ronald McDonald, you're in the 00:31:48.150 --> 00:31:51.410 lobbies of McDonald's. You're talking to families 00:31:51.410 --> 00:31:54.769 across North America. If I wasn't authentic and 00:31:54.769 --> 00:31:57.410 in the moment. people would call out BS. And 00:31:57.410 --> 00:32:00.609 so now even more so as a one -man show and going 00:32:00.609 --> 00:32:03.390 into these organizations and instilling humor, 00:32:03.549 --> 00:32:06.289 motivation, inspiration, and making people think 00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:08.650 differently about their roles within their organizations 00:32:08.650 --> 00:32:12.390 and that they can do it and that you can have 00:32:12.390 --> 00:32:16.210 the right mindset. Authenticity is like the number 00:32:16.210 --> 00:32:20.509 one golden key for anyone in a forward -facing 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:24.099 role, especially... Someone who is a keynote 00:32:24.099 --> 00:32:26.900 or workshop facilitator. If you are not authentic 00:32:26.900 --> 00:32:29.099 within 20 seconds, because it's been proven, 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:32.640 people can say, yeah, bullshit. So for me, it 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:36.619 is crucial to be as authentic. How I talk to 00:32:36.619 --> 00:32:39.519 you all today and to all your viewers, this is 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:44.079 who I am. Tal, I think you can probably attest 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:46.559 to that, that there is no mask. And I always 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:49.779 say you need to remove the mask because that's 00:32:49.779 --> 00:32:52.299 when people really get to see who you are. either 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:57.920 good or bad very cool so in your book now now 00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:59.519 we're getting to the book it's okay to be an 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:03.039 idiot uh it's all about as you're saying authenticity 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:06.880 and embracing that as well as imperfection so 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:10.319 can you share a moment where being an idiot actually 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:13.900 led to you know a breakthrough for you absolutely 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:20.900 so uh the the number one The most idiotic moment 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:23.980 that I've ever had was I was Ronald McDonald. 00:33:24.339 --> 00:33:28.720 And the day after my birthday in 2017, which 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:30.740 would have been October 10th, I get a phone call 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:32.819 at nine o 'clock at night. And they said, hey, 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:35.279 the Ronald McDonald program is being discontinued. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:37.039 At the end of the year, you will no longer have 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:40.700 a Ronald gig. Corporate is kind of killing it 00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:46.019 off. So I call up a friend of mine who was the 00:33:46.019 --> 00:33:48.380 vice president of community relations for Casper's, 00:33:48.380 --> 00:33:51.650 who I eventually got. got a role with. And I 00:33:51.650 --> 00:33:53.210 called up and say, hey, I'm not quite sure what's 00:33:53.210 --> 00:33:55.089 going on. He says, calm down. Everything will 00:33:55.089 --> 00:33:56.930 then work out. A couple of weeks later, I get 00:33:56.930 --> 00:34:00.309 called down to their office. I think I'm going 00:34:00.309 --> 00:34:02.230 to get a severance from the organization because 00:34:02.230 --> 00:34:05.109 they were one of my biggest clients through the 00:34:05.109 --> 00:34:07.130 Ronald program because they had so many restaurants. 00:34:08.030 --> 00:34:12.130 And I was summoned to the CEO's office and he 00:34:12.130 --> 00:34:15.349 says, Dustin, he goes, I want to let you know 00:34:15.349 --> 00:34:19.840 something that for four years now, When I would 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:24.239 see you at events, I always kept thinking to 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:27.780 myself, damn, that guy can do more than just 00:34:27.780 --> 00:34:32.760 put on makeup. He's relatable. He can talk to 00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:37.760 anyone from 5 to 95. And I need someone like 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:41.280 that to be a part of my organization. He said, 00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:44.460 you didn't realize it, but for four years, you've 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:51.820 been auditioning. And that was one of the biggest 00:34:51.820 --> 00:34:55.760 defining moments of my life. And I look back 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:59.159 and authenticity played a huge part in that because 00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:03.460 as Ronald, if I was not being authentic to the 00:35:03.460 --> 00:35:06.139 character and to myself, he could have looked 00:35:06.139 --> 00:35:08.400 past that and said, oh, well, every time he sees 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:11.179 me, he knows I'm a big player within the system. 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:14.349 He's trying to impress me. And that's just not 00:35:14.349 --> 00:35:18.150 how I roll. That's just not my MO. And so for 00:35:18.150 --> 00:35:23.489 me, that was a huge defining moment of being 00:35:23.489 --> 00:35:27.510 a real idiot, which idiot does not mean what 00:35:27.510 --> 00:35:32.469 people typically think idiot means. It isn't 00:35:32.469 --> 00:35:38.889 a fool. It isn't a moron. Well, I was, but you 00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:42.360 called me out. Sorry about that. Let's get into 00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:44.460 that because, you know, that was, in fact, my 00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:46.840 next question for you to spell out the idiot 00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:50.440 acronym because idiot is not, you know, a fool. 00:35:50.539 --> 00:35:52.880 It's quite the opposite, quite frankly. Correct. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:54.539 Let me share with the audience what idiot stands 00:35:54.539 --> 00:35:58.820 for. Well, so if you look at the cover of my 00:35:58.820 --> 00:36:00.679 book, which I just happen to have here for those 00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:02.800 people who can see this. I have a signed copy, 00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:05.099 PJ, just for the record. Oh, it's true. Aren't 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:08.420 you? He does. And PJ, if you play your cards 00:36:08.420 --> 00:36:11.369 correctly. You can get one, too, for three easy 00:36:11.369 --> 00:36:15.030 payments. Does that come with a Columbia House 00:36:15.030 --> 00:36:21.550 subscription? So, idiot. If you notice, there 00:36:21.550 --> 00:36:24.289 is a clown nose for the O in the word idiot. 00:36:24.449 --> 00:36:27.250 So, first of all, yes, idiot, clown. People call 00:36:27.250 --> 00:36:30.550 the clown the idiot, the fool, number one. But 00:36:30.550 --> 00:36:33.909 most importantly, idiot. Imagine your potential. 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:41.519 Dream big. Ignite your inner fire. own your this 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:45.920 is my favorite originality and give thanks idiot 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:50.460 i don't care if you're the head of a fortune 00:36:50.460 --> 00:36:53.219 500 organization i don't care if you clean the 00:36:53.219 --> 00:36:56.920 bathrooms and toilets at your local wendy's you 00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:03.119 can be an idiot you you again we go we go back 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.179 to so many people have have limiting beliefs 00:37:06.179 --> 00:37:09.449 about themselves and so this book talks about 00:37:09.449 --> 00:37:14.650 becoming the idiot and and not necessarily embracing 00:37:14.650 --> 00:37:17.989 your your imperfections but embracing who you 00:37:17.989 --> 00:37:22.369 are um finding that inherent talent within you 00:37:22.369 --> 00:37:27.150 uh owning your authenticity your originality 00:37:27.150 --> 00:37:31.250 that stuff plays a major part in people's demise 00:37:31.250 --> 00:37:36.920 or their success And on that very point, I mean, 00:37:36.940 --> 00:37:41.639 it's a theme that I, throughout your event with 00:37:41.639 --> 00:37:44.039 the students, he kept their attention, PJ, like 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:46.679 you would not believe. I can only imagine. And 00:37:46.679 --> 00:37:50.500 it was incredible. And he had gadgets. He was 00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:53.980 throwing clown noses at them. It was great. It 00:37:53.980 --> 00:37:57.460 was a phenomenal show. But they got the message, 00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:00.500 I think. The idiot message, I think, resonated. 00:38:01.179 --> 00:38:06.250 And it's about... Seeing setbacks as setups instead 00:38:06.250 --> 00:38:12.789 of failures. Talk about that, Dustin. So there 00:38:12.789 --> 00:38:18.230 is a term in the medical world. It's called failure 00:38:18.230 --> 00:38:25.230 to thrive. And it deals with when a child of 00:38:25.230 --> 00:38:31.250 a certain age and certain sex. has not developed 00:38:31.250 --> 00:38:34.849 like the other kids of the age and of that sex. 00:38:35.150 --> 00:38:40.230 But we think failure to thrive is that, oh, well, 00:38:40.409 --> 00:38:42.710 I'm not able to go to the next level because 00:38:42.710 --> 00:38:45.489 I have failed. And I just don't believe that. 00:38:45.550 --> 00:38:49.489 Every failure that I have had, failed auditions, 00:38:49.710 --> 00:38:55.010 failed jobs, failed relationships, have always 00:38:55.010 --> 00:38:58.840 propelled me to the next level. And I can't remember 00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:04.539 who said it, but our life should be from mountaintop 00:39:04.539 --> 00:39:08.860 to mountaintop. There should never be any massive 00:39:08.860 --> 00:39:14.059 valleys. Life is meant to be living from mountaintop 00:39:14.059 --> 00:39:18.619 to mountaintop. But often we find ourselves down 00:39:18.619 --> 00:39:25.800 in the shitter. But that, those moments down 00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:30.780 here. Are better than the moments that are up 00:39:30.780 --> 00:39:32.960 here, because this is where that forward momentum 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:37.800 propels you over the next mountain to go to your 00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:42.059 next best self. So I do feel that whenever we 00:39:42.059 --> 00:39:50.159 fail, um, that it can really project you even 00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:52.900 more so than if you, than if you did succeed, 00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:55.840 because you, cause this is where that, this is 00:39:55.840 --> 00:40:00.039 where the learning happens. It isn't up here 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:02.820 from my peak to peak. It's down in the valley. 00:40:02.980 --> 00:40:07.179 That's where we begin to figure out and learn 00:40:07.179 --> 00:40:11.000 and study and get better. And then whenever you 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.519 succeed again, that is propelling you forward. 00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:19.079 So I don't believe in failure. I haven't always 00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:23.559 believed like that. But as of right now, I believe 00:40:23.559 --> 00:40:27.670 that failure is a damn good thing. Don't do it 00:40:27.670 --> 00:40:31.210 again, but it's a damn good thing that will propel 00:40:31.210 --> 00:40:36.010 you to the next best version of yourself. Wow. 00:40:36.329 --> 00:40:39.469 So cool. I like, and I love that, right? Like 00:40:39.469 --> 00:40:41.530 when you're, when you're describing it that way, 00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:44.650 it's, it's easy to see how there's, there's momentum 00:40:44.650 --> 00:40:48.489 shifts all the time. And, and, you know, like 00:40:48.489 --> 00:40:52.909 that, that plummeting towards failure is actually 00:40:52.909 --> 00:40:57.019 your accelerator towards. towards uh prosperity 00:40:57.019 --> 00:41:02.239 there is an incredible um visual aid and i think 00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:04.579 it may have been the myth busters who did this 00:41:04.579 --> 00:41:07.860 years ago but they took a ball and they put it 00:41:07.860 --> 00:41:10.280 here and then there was a ball beneath it now 00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:14.320 the ball beneath it was going to go through a 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:16.780 roller coaster and the ball up here just went 00:41:16.780 --> 00:41:20.260 a straight line and and and the ball that went 00:41:20.260 --> 00:41:26.920 on a uh on a mountaintop kind of a pattern got 00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:29.219 to the end quicker than the ball that just went 00:41:29.219 --> 00:41:33.360 straight down. So that goes to show you just 00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:40.079 how important it is to fail forward, not to fall 00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:43.840 backwards. So I'm a huge proponent of it. Sometimes 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:48.260 it sucks. Most of the time it sucks, but there's 00:41:48.260 --> 00:41:51.679 always an incredible lesson that you learn from 00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:55.679 it. to not repeat it again, but that whenever 00:41:55.679 --> 00:41:59.519 you do fail, something really phenomenal happens 00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:02.519 that wouldn't have been there if you had succeeded 00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:06.860 the first time. Wow. So cool. So cool. So I have 00:42:06.860 --> 00:42:10.239 a question. I didn't, I didn't realize that I 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:12.280 was going to be talking to an actual Ronald McDonald 00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:15.440 today. So one of the things that I, that actually 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:19.699 kind of popped in my head was that I had a, or 00:42:19.699 --> 00:42:23.130 I, i'm in my second marriage my first marriage 00:42:23.130 --> 00:42:26.630 my brother -in -law um was battling leukemia 00:42:26.630 --> 00:42:29.469 and spent a lot of time at the ronald mcdonald 00:42:29.469 --> 00:42:34.610 house and uh fantastic organization like what 00:42:34.610 --> 00:42:39.329 they do for for families and people who are battling 00:42:39.329 --> 00:42:43.150 all kinds of just terrible maladies phenomenal 00:42:43.150 --> 00:42:46.650 yeah did you get a chance to spend time in that 00:42:46.650 --> 00:42:50.500 environment and what was that like often Often, 00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:55.420 every single month, we saw families from all 00:42:55.420 --> 00:42:58.340 over the world. So the Tampa Bay Ronald McDonald 00:42:58.340 --> 00:43:03.380 House, there are four of them. And we got to 00:43:03.380 --> 00:43:09.000 see families that were staying there for a couple 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:10.800 of nights because of kidney and minor surgery 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:13.159 to families that were there for four or five 00:43:13.159 --> 00:43:17.619 years. There was a family. That was from Guatemala. 00:43:17.659 --> 00:43:21.019 And their daughter had a heart condition that 00:43:21.019 --> 00:43:24.079 if she went back home because of the altitude, 00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:27.480 her heart would have literally exploded. Oh, 00:43:27.500 --> 00:43:31.800 God. So they had the heart surgery here in Tampa 00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:35.280 at one of the big children's hospitals. And then 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:38.320 the family lived at the Ronald McDonald house, 00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:42.619 I want to say for six years. And I remember after, 00:43:42.780 --> 00:43:45.420 this was years after I left Ronald, the family. 00:43:46.850 --> 00:43:50.030 They did a big news story on one of the local 00:43:50.030 --> 00:43:52.789 TV stations that the family, after six years, 00:43:52.889 --> 00:43:55.929 was finally going home. The daughter was healthy 00:43:55.929 --> 00:43:59.590 enough to go back home. And so the stories and 00:43:59.590 --> 00:44:05.630 the remarkable resiliency that the Ronald McDonald 00:44:05.630 --> 00:44:09.869 House has just permeating from every crevice, 00:44:09.869 --> 00:44:14.469 every nook. It was remarkable. And even my time 00:44:14.469 --> 00:44:17.309 at Casper's company, we would go there and we 00:44:17.309 --> 00:44:20.989 would make lunch for the families because we 00:44:20.989 --> 00:44:24.429 always wanted to kind of give back. And so spent 00:44:24.429 --> 00:44:26.650 a lot of time with the Ronald McDonald House 00:44:26.650 --> 00:44:28.889 Charities, specifically in Tampa Bay. And they 00:44:28.889 --> 00:44:31.590 do such damn good work. And Lisa Supernand is 00:44:31.590 --> 00:44:36.489 their CEO and has been for the past, gosh, seven 00:44:36.489 --> 00:44:40.980 years or so, eight years. Remarkable lady. true 00:44:40.980 --> 00:44:43.559 heart and passion for the work. You really have 00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:51.420 to. This isn't just a job that is flippant. You 00:44:51.420 --> 00:44:54.239 have to be totally physically and emotionally 00:44:54.239 --> 00:44:57.860 invested in these families and in these strangers. 00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:00.360 And they do such damn good work. So I appreciate 00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:02.420 you bringing that up because as you know, PJ, 00:45:02.659 --> 00:45:06.360 it's a phenomenal charity that not a lot of people 00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:09.559 know about or the mission that they do. I keep 00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:12.380 on saying, The Ronald McDonald House Charities 00:45:12.380 --> 00:45:16.579 as the overall charity, global charity, is the 00:45:16.579 --> 00:45:19.719 best kept secret. It is the best kept secret. 00:45:19.820 --> 00:45:21.840 No one really knows exactly what their mission 00:45:21.840 --> 00:45:25.159 is. And they are not fully funded by McDonald's. 00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:31.679 Only 25 % of their intake of donations is by 00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:36.699 McDonald's. 75 % comes from people like you and 00:45:36.699 --> 00:45:40.840 I. I had no idea. I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. 00:45:40.920 --> 00:45:44.599 Yeah. See, I mean, the best. There you go. So 00:45:44.599 --> 00:45:48.920 what's not a secret to me is that, uh, you want 00:45:48.920 --> 00:45:51.840 to take your message global. Um, and I've met 00:45:51.840 --> 00:45:53.280 you and your husband, you're, you're an inspiring 00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:56.460 couple. Uh, you, you, you have so much fire in 00:45:56.460 --> 00:45:59.659 you and so much interest in reaching people and 00:45:59.659 --> 00:46:02.599 touching lives. What's your ultimate goal? What 00:46:02.599 --> 00:46:04.679 would you like your speaking career to accomplish? 00:46:04.739 --> 00:46:07.780 And what impact do you hope to leave on the audience 00:46:07.780 --> 00:46:12.099 as you reach? You know, whenever someone leaves 00:46:12.099 --> 00:46:16.599 my presentation, whether it's a keynote or a 00:46:16.599 --> 00:46:19.920 workshop or a one -on -one executive coaching, 00:46:20.139 --> 00:46:23.280 I always want them to leave just a little bit 00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:27.440 better because I can, I can help push you. I 00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.800 can help steer you into the right direction, 00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:32.360 but you need to take, as, as we had mentioned 00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:36.219 earlier, that, that inspired action, um, you 00:46:36.219 --> 00:46:39.559 know, words. only go so far, but you know, but 00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:43.239 actions speak louder. And if you can be a catalyst 00:46:43.239 --> 00:46:45.960 for change in someone's life, if you can make 00:46:45.960 --> 00:46:47.380 them think a little bit differently about who 00:46:47.380 --> 00:46:54.420 they are, um, that is so worthwhile to me, um, 00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:56.619 getting messages. I still get messages from people, 00:46:56.719 --> 00:46:59.659 emails, LinkedIn messages. Hey, I saw your, you 00:46:59.659 --> 00:47:04.250 know, your, your presentation and, um, it. It 00:47:04.250 --> 00:47:07.230 made me quit my job. I had a lady who was so 00:47:07.230 --> 00:47:12.630 stuck. She was a general manager for a major 00:47:12.630 --> 00:47:19.329 fitness company. And she read my book and chapter 00:47:19.329 --> 00:47:22.610 nine, which is sustaining happiness, finding 00:47:22.610 --> 00:47:25.909 fulfillment beyond salary and title, which is 00:47:25.909 --> 00:47:29.030 a chapter, which is a lesson from my playbook. 00:47:29.879 --> 00:47:32.420 uh, after I left Casper's, um, she read it and 00:47:32.420 --> 00:47:34.639 she said, you know what? She goes, I have drafted 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:38.980 a resignation letter and I am, uh, I am quitting 00:47:38.980 --> 00:47:42.980 in two weeks because of your chapter, um, on, 00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:46.059 uh, that, you know, this, the money I make here, 00:47:46.119 --> 00:47:48.699 that title doesn't mean anything. And so it's 00:47:48.699 --> 00:47:54.940 like those things that ignites my fire. Um, and 00:47:54.940 --> 00:47:58.980 you know, where I want to go global. I want to 00:47:58.980 --> 00:48:02.300 speak on stages across the world. I want to empower 00:48:02.300 --> 00:48:07.400 people and their mindset that you can do anything 00:48:07.400 --> 00:48:11.340 you want. And the career that I've had and the 00:48:11.340 --> 00:48:15.519 blessings that I've had just doesn't pertain 00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:19.300 to Dustin Portillo. Anyone can have those. Anyone 00:48:19.300 --> 00:48:23.500 can experience life's greatest joys in life. 00:48:24.039 --> 00:48:27.139 But first you have to be empowered to take that 00:48:27.139 --> 00:48:32.840 inspired action and to believe in yourself first 00:48:32.840 --> 00:48:34.719 and foremost, because if you don't believe in 00:48:34.719 --> 00:48:38.739 yourself, no one else will. Very cool. I have 00:48:38.739 --> 00:48:40.780 a, I have a couple of quick questions. I also 00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:44.000 want one really quick comment. I, uh, I literally 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:46.360 was just talking to my son the other day. Um, 00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:48.659 you had mentioned about having the impact on 00:48:48.659 --> 00:48:51.909 the people. Um, I told him that. One of my goals 00:48:51.909 --> 00:48:54.469 ever since growing up is I've always said, if 00:48:54.469 --> 00:48:56.670 I, if I meet someone, if I can make them laugh, 00:48:56.929 --> 00:49:00.710 if I can make them smile, then I've given them 00:49:00.710 --> 00:49:04.110 at least a moment in their lives where they were 00:49:04.110 --> 00:49:06.969 happy or they were not, they were not worried 00:49:06.969 --> 00:49:09.670 or thinking about something negative. And that's, 00:49:09.670 --> 00:49:12.090 that's always been like, kind of like a little 00:49:12.090 --> 00:49:14.630 gift that I've wanted to impart upon people. 00:49:15.050 --> 00:49:18.289 And so I think that in that aspect or in that 00:49:18.289 --> 00:49:21.139 respect, you and I have. somewhat of a same uh 00:49:21.139 --> 00:49:23.199 mentality which i think is pretty cool absolutely 00:49:23.199 --> 00:49:25.199 yeah i'm just trying to tell you what's it what's 00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:26.920 it what's interesting about that is in his uh 00:49:26.920 --> 00:49:29.360 pre -interview questionnaire justin now dustin 00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:32.940 actually provided a quote by churchill yeah that 00:49:32.940 --> 00:49:38.920 says that go ahead and this was a quote that 00:49:38.920 --> 00:49:42.320 i had uh as you walked into my office at casper's 00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:45.619 it was a big decal that that spanned the entire 00:49:45.619 --> 00:49:49.320 length and it says And Winston Churchill, which 00:49:49.320 --> 00:49:51.239 you wouldn't think, said this, if you can make 00:49:51.239 --> 00:49:53.500 someone laugh, you give them a little vacation. 00:49:54.039 --> 00:49:58.659 Oh, perfect. And that is how I have lived my 00:49:58.659 --> 00:50:03.260 life since I was a kid to what I do now. Humor 00:50:03.260 --> 00:50:06.900 and making people forget about their troubles 00:50:06.900 --> 00:50:11.059 has been one of my guiding principles. And if 00:50:11.059 --> 00:50:14.500 I don't have humor in my life, I'm not living 00:50:14.500 --> 00:50:18.119 and there is no point to live. God gave you a 00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:23.000 talent, an inherent talent. Utilize it to your 00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:26.199 ability and to everyone else's ability, and you 00:50:26.199 --> 00:50:28.559 will make the world a better place. Well, you 00:50:28.559 --> 00:50:30.980 certainly went full on into it. I guess I have 00:50:30.980 --> 00:50:33.300 to start living up to my potential. Jeez. Go 00:50:33.300 --> 00:50:37.179 either go big or go home. You know what I mean? 00:50:37.239 --> 00:50:38.679 That's why I'm sitting at home. That has been 00:50:38.679 --> 00:50:43.519 kind of the theme of my life. So I understand 00:50:43.519 --> 00:50:47.579 there was something about. the size of a microphone 00:50:47.579 --> 00:50:51.639 at the interview, like with, with, uh, Oh God. 00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:57.500 Yeah. Yeah. You know, um, I, I have, as opposed 00:50:57.500 --> 00:51:00.519 to having like a little lapel mic, I have a little 00:51:00.519 --> 00:51:03.019 small microphone that, you know, hooks into my, 00:51:03.059 --> 00:51:05.980 into my cell phone and it's an, and it actually, 00:51:06.099 --> 00:51:10.900 it's a pretty phenomenal microphone. Um, I. Tal 00:51:10.900 --> 00:51:13.820 was so fantastic to give me a testimonial afterwards 00:51:13.820 --> 00:51:16.820 with a couple of other folks. And the quality 00:51:16.820 --> 00:51:20.780 of the microphone is so damn good that I have 00:51:20.780 --> 00:51:23.099 not utilized it since then. And I kicked myself 00:51:23.099 --> 00:51:27.579 if my foot could reach my rear, I'd be kicking 00:51:27.579 --> 00:51:31.019 myself because it's so good. And I remember Tal 00:51:31.019 --> 00:51:35.679 saying at one point, and I've got a clip. my, 00:51:35.679 --> 00:51:38.380 my hands, I think he says, my hands aren't this, 00:51:38.380 --> 00:51:40.920 aren't this big. I think what I said, actually, 00:51:41.159 --> 00:51:43.780 I think I forgot about the story, but I think 00:51:43.780 --> 00:51:46.380 what I said, I'm holding a mic. That's maybe, 00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:48.739 I don't know, three inches, right? It looks exactly 00:51:48.739 --> 00:51:51.699 like a full microphone. It's just very small. 00:51:52.409 --> 00:51:54.630 And I said, it's not that the microphone is small, 00:51:54.670 --> 00:51:56.909 it's that my hand is huge. I think that's what 00:51:56.909 --> 00:51:58.530 I said, right? That's right, that's right, that's 00:51:58.530 --> 00:52:02.010 right. I actually haven't seen the clip. That's 00:52:02.010 --> 00:52:03.610 funny. I'd love to see it. I forgot that we did 00:52:03.610 --> 00:52:09.849 that. So part of your client testimonial is on 00:52:09.849 --> 00:52:13.190 my website. So go on there, take a look. Is that 00:52:13.190 --> 00:52:15.570 part in it? I'd love to laugh at that if it is. 00:52:15.789 --> 00:52:18.389 I'll go check it out. No, but I definitely should 00:52:18.389 --> 00:52:20.469 put it there. You should. It's a great segue 00:52:20.469 --> 00:52:22.750 to telling people where they can find you. Where's 00:52:22.750 --> 00:52:24.289 your website and where else can people find you? 00:52:24.670 --> 00:52:27.190 Well, I'm not going to tell them my home address 00:52:27.190 --> 00:52:28.630 because that's where they can find me currently. 00:52:28.690 --> 00:52:35.429 That's weird. But my website is DustinMPortillo 00:52:35.429 --> 00:52:39.750 .com. D -U -S -T -I -N -M -P -O -R -T -I -L -L 00:52:39.750 --> 00:52:43.449 -O .com. And it will be in our show notes for 00:52:43.449 --> 00:52:45.289 everybody listening and watching. You'll be able 00:52:45.289 --> 00:52:48.760 to find that. Perfect. You can find everything 00:52:48.760 --> 00:52:51.780 on there from my keynotes to my workshops to 00:52:51.780 --> 00:52:55.480 the life I've had and to get a copy of my book, 00:52:55.559 --> 00:52:59.219 which whenever you buy from my website, it physically 00:52:59.219 --> 00:53:02.920 comes from me. Actually, this is a book that 00:53:02.920 --> 00:53:05.679 has currently signed and it's going to a McDonald's 00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:08.199 owner operator out of, I want to say, Dallas, 00:53:08.320 --> 00:53:11.880 Fort Worth. So he just bought it. So the books 00:53:11.880 --> 00:53:14.360 purchased from my website come from me. I hand 00:53:14.360 --> 00:53:17.670 sign them. to whoever buys it and put a little 00:53:17.670 --> 00:53:22.190 message in there. This one says, to Jack, you 00:53:22.190 --> 00:53:25.130 are the chief idiot. Wear that badge proudly, 00:53:25.289 --> 00:53:29.090 my friend. Dustin Portillo. And so Jack will 00:53:29.090 --> 00:53:31.929 get a little bit of happiness from that as well. 00:53:31.929 --> 00:53:34.329 I think mine says, Tal, you're a big idiot. Something 00:53:34.329 --> 00:53:38.110 like that. It was memorable. It was good. I actually 00:53:38.110 --> 00:53:41.489 try to make every single inscription completely 00:53:41.489 --> 00:53:45.590 different. I don't want to duplicate. And I've 00:53:45.590 --> 00:53:47.630 sold quite a few. So it's been very difficult 00:53:47.630 --> 00:53:51.610 for me to consistently have a different inscription 00:53:51.610 --> 00:53:56.150 on every single book. Well done. Well, our guest 00:53:56.150 --> 00:53:59.750 today, Dustin Portillo, is not an ordinary clown. 00:53:59.949 --> 00:54:01.530 In fact, he's not a clown at all anymore. Now 00:54:01.530 --> 00:54:03.949 he's someone that inspires people to live their 00:54:03.949 --> 00:54:05.949 best lives, to overcome their challenges, to 00:54:05.949 --> 00:54:08.690 not view setbacks as destiny, but quite to the 00:54:08.690 --> 00:54:11.750 contrary, to view setbacks as a springboard to 00:54:11.750 --> 00:54:14.380 the great life that... They have the opportunity 00:54:14.380 --> 00:54:16.579 to live. Everyone listening to this podcast knows 00:54:16.579 --> 00:54:20.579 that PJ and I strongly believe that life is about 00:54:20.579 --> 00:54:24.139 overcoming those setbacks and that what has united 00:54:24.139 --> 00:54:25.780 the successful people that have been on this 00:54:25.780 --> 00:54:29.460 podcast over now into our fourth season is resilience. 00:54:29.519 --> 00:54:31.900 It's literally refusing to quit when the going 00:54:31.900 --> 00:54:34.440 gets tough. We all have tough moments. Some of 00:54:34.440 --> 00:54:36.920 them are tougher than others. But the fact is 00:54:36.920 --> 00:54:38.840 that as you look at your life, any one of us, 00:54:38.900 --> 00:54:41.340 we've made it through. Yeah, every one of these 00:54:41.340 --> 00:54:43.269 tough moments. We are on the other side of them. 00:54:43.329 --> 00:54:45.829 And if we are in the middle of them, you know, 00:54:45.829 --> 00:54:49.369 to paraphrase something that's on my wall, PJ 00:54:49.369 --> 00:54:53.889 knows this. It's the rom -com speech from Ted 00:54:53.889 --> 00:54:56.809 Lasso, where Ted said, if you're in the middle 00:54:56.809 --> 00:54:58.610 of the forest, you know it's not the end, right? 00:54:58.690 --> 00:55:00.010 So if you're in the dark part of the forest, 00:55:00.210 --> 00:55:02.250 if you've ever seen a rom -com, they always have 00:55:02.250 --> 00:55:04.429 the moment in the middle where everything seems 00:55:04.429 --> 00:55:06.190 doomed and they're not going to fall in love. 00:55:07.070 --> 00:55:08.690 But you know that's not the end of the story. 00:55:08.809 --> 00:55:10.650 You know it's not the end of the story. So if 00:55:10.650 --> 00:55:13.070 you happen to be at a point in your life where 00:55:13.070 --> 00:55:17.690 it's dark, just remember Rom communism, as Ted 00:55:17.690 --> 00:55:21.289 Lasso said, or Dustin's message with his book. 00:55:21.690 --> 00:55:24.809 It's not the end. And oftentimes, it is exactly 00:55:24.809 --> 00:55:27.130 what will spring you to where you want to go. 00:55:27.230 --> 00:55:29.750 I'll get off my soapbox, but I just wanted to 00:55:29.750 --> 00:55:32.449 say that, Dustin, you're inspiring. I'm glad 00:55:32.449 --> 00:55:35.530 you're on. I look forward to... seeing you in 00:55:35.530 --> 00:55:39.809 person and to continuing to have you at USF events, 00:55:39.949 --> 00:55:42.230 hopefully, and continued success to you, sir. 00:55:42.710 --> 00:55:45.230 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you both very much. 00:55:45.449 --> 00:55:48.050 And to all you listening, just to reiterate, 00:55:48.329 --> 00:55:53.889 life can be fantastic and life should be fantastic. 00:55:54.110 --> 00:55:58.530 We are not meant to be in constant failure. I 00:55:58.530 --> 00:56:00.309 have been there numerous times, but there is 00:56:00.309 --> 00:56:02.929 always a bright light at the end of the tunnel. 00:56:03.860 --> 00:56:07.420 guarantee it stick it out and you will be a better 00:56:07.420 --> 00:56:09.739 human being and you'll be a new version level 00:56:09.739 --> 00:56:13.380 2 .0 so i believe in you these guys believe in 00:56:13.380 --> 00:56:16.139 you and we love you and we support you and we 00:56:16.139 --> 00:56:19.719 want the best for you nicely done thank you you're 00:56:19.719 --> 00:56:22.420 welcome and that's a wrap folks like what you 00:56:22.420 --> 00:56:24.460 heard want to support the show please follow 00:56:24.460 --> 00:56:27.400 our page on linkedin and facebook visit us on 00:56:27.400 --> 00:56:29.940 youtube and please like and rate us on all of 00:56:29.940 --> 00:56:32.460 your favorite podcast streaming services You 00:56:32.460 --> 00:56:34.920 can also see exclusive content, subscribe for 00:56:34.920 --> 00:56:37.619 free to our weekly blog, support our sponsors, 00:56:37.719 --> 00:56:42.380 and soon buy our merchandise at www .bravingbusiness 00:56:42.380 --> 00:56:44.679 .com. Thanks for being a part of our production, 00:56:44.820 --> 00:56:47.699 and we'll see you next time on the Braving Business 00:56:47.699 --> 00:56:48.219 Podcast.