WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Speaking was not my thing, man. I mean, I think 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:06.320 it's the number one most feared thing, uh, second 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.339 to, to dying. Can you believe it? Like people, 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.179 I love, I love Seinfeld's bid on this. He says 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:14.279 that means that the person giving the eulogy 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:17.980 at the funeral more would like to be the guy 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:20.739 in the cast versus giving the eulogy. You need 00:00:20.739 --> 00:00:22.359 a reason to get up every morning. You need a 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:25.570 reason. to not get tempted to just binge Netflix, 00:00:25.570 --> 00:00:28.730 you know, and eat cheesecake and do whatever 00:00:28.730 --> 00:00:31.410 I was doing before, right? Like, because now 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.070 I'm on my own and there's no one here to hold 00:00:34.070 --> 00:00:37.009 me accountable but me. So that was a challenge. 00:00:37.390 --> 00:00:40.429 Break old habits and start new ones. And mission 00:00:40.429 --> 00:00:44.090 and why was always sort of... I'm gonna borrow 00:00:44.090 --> 00:00:47.570 from one of my mentors that I look up to, Sean 00:00:47.570 --> 00:00:49.770 Cannell from Think Media. So anybody who watches 00:00:49.770 --> 00:00:53.820 YouTube, he's great. He always says, you know, 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:57.140 just push record. Started my podcast on my phone. 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:00.000 Like, so my very, very first episode was me walking 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.079 around in my basement, recording into my phone. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:04.920 And then I just uploaded the file directly from 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:07.620 my phone. It's that easy. But yeah, getting started, 00:01:07.819 --> 00:01:10.739 man. It's, it's easy. The hard part is the strategy. 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.140 Like put the time in, start with the end in mind. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.280 Think about like, what's my ultimate goal? What 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:18.840 am I trying to do? And then work backwards. That's 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.030 the strategy. Eric Cabral is the force behind 00:01:22.030 --> 00:01:24.469 some of today's most powerful personal brands. 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:27.390 Founder of OnAir Brands and more, he's helped 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:29.750 six and seven figure entrepreneurs find their 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:32.250 voice, clarify their message, and build brands 00:01:32.250 --> 00:01:35.349 that make money and impact. Trusted by names 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:38.450 like Matt Higgins, Hale Elrod, and VaynerMedia, 00:01:38.989 --> 00:01:41.569 Eric's the secret weapon behind the mic. Now, 00:01:41.670 --> 00:01:44.569 with his new book and podcast, Be Your Brand, 00:01:44.829 --> 00:01:47.069 he's on a mission to help purpose -driven leaders 00:01:47.069 --> 00:02:17.870 rise. This is Eric Cabral. If you're listening 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:20.430 on the podcast platform, download the episode, 00:02:20.449 --> 00:02:23.330 and if you're watching on YouTube, you know what 00:02:23.330 --> 00:02:26.569 to do. Hit that like button, subscribe, and turn 00:02:26.569 --> 00:02:30.069 on those notifications so you never miss an episode. 00:02:30.629 --> 00:02:35.349 And as we always say, let's make thriving our 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:43.009 new normal. And Eric, it's good to have you on. 00:02:43.030 --> 00:02:45.460 How you doing today? Oh, man. So honored. What 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:46.919 a blessing to be here, brother. I appreciate 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:48.539 you and the show and everything you're doing, 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:50.620 man. So thank you for having me. Yeah, thank 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:54.199 you. It's cool to talk to it. I've had a couple 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:58.360 of conversations with other podcasters in this 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:02.979 vein, and it sets me at ease a little bit because 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:05.379 I know that you know the world of podcasting. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.780 And I mean, before you did all that, you talked 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:13.770 about your entrepreneur's revelation. from humble 00:03:13.770 --> 00:03:15.710 local beginnings, and you were helping building 00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:18.689 brands from, you know, the small business and 00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:21.270 real estate investors and things like that. Can 00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:24.710 you just go back just kind of talk about the 00:03:24.710 --> 00:03:27.770 beginning of your journey into this world? Yeah, 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.030 honestly, Michael, I never would have guessed 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:34.159 say 10 years ago that I'd be here with you, you 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:36.580 know, having opportunities to speak on stages 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:39.219 here and there, uh, host podcast, be guests on 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:41.960 podcasts, because speaking was not my thing, 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:45.000 man. I mean, I think it's the number one most 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.099 feared thing, uh, second to, to diet. Can you 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.620 believe it? Like people, I love, I love Seinfeld's 00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:53.900 bit on this. He says that means that the person 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:57.419 given the eulogy at the funeral more would like 00:03:57.419 --> 00:03:59.969 to be the guy in the casket. versus giving the 00:03:59.969 --> 00:04:03.449 eulogy. It's crazy, right? So that was me for 00:04:03.449 --> 00:04:06.490 sure. I remember being in corporate America and 00:04:06.490 --> 00:04:08.110 there would be opportunities where my manager 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:10.229 would be like, hey, I want you to present this 00:04:10.229 --> 00:04:13.349 logo. I want you to present these creative options. 00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:16.129 I would be so nervous, Michael. I would lose 00:04:16.129 --> 00:04:20.310 sleep the night before. I would practice. I would 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.629 say the things over and over and over in my head. 00:04:23.889 --> 00:04:27.550 I remember secretly recording meetings when the 00:04:27.550 --> 00:04:30.220 phones finally came out. Um, and I would listen 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:32.100 to it in the car, like whatever the client was 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:34.800 saying. And then I would, I would highlight words 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.100 and phrases they would say in my mind. I'm like, 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:39.220 Oh, they say that a lot. I say that a lot. So 00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:41.120 it's trying to speak their language. I was trying 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.220 to get all the necessary tools to give me the 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:47.800 confidence, uh, to speak in, you know, in a conference 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.620 room full of like less than a dozen people. Um, 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:52.399 even just one -on -one would make me nervous. 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:55.779 Um, it wasn't honestly truly until I left corporate 00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:59.750 America where I was forced to swim. I had to 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:02.069 figure this out because now it was up to me to 00:05:02.069 --> 00:05:04.990 put food on table you need to provide for my 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:08.009 family wasn't like i work for this huge multi 00:05:08.009 --> 00:05:10.189 million sometimes billion dollar corporations. 00:05:11.329 --> 00:05:15.110 Where wasn't required for me to speak but now 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:18.089 you know just forcing myself getting the reps 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:20.730 in over the years you know getting better and 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:22.430 better not realizing you're actually getting 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:24.529 better just like you know the analogy of being 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:27.250 at the gym when you when you work out. And if 00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:29.110 you're doing it right, you're doing it consistently, 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:31.850 you're going to have some gains like legitimate 00:05:31.850 --> 00:05:33.389 gains. You're going to look in the mirror a year 00:05:33.389 --> 00:05:35.910 later. You're like, oh, who's that? Right. Right. 00:05:35.910 --> 00:05:38.089 Right. I recognize myself. Yeah. And that's how 00:05:38.089 --> 00:05:41.029 it was for me in terms of speaking and confidence. 00:05:41.170 --> 00:05:43.389 And, uh, what I truly learned for anyone out 00:05:43.389 --> 00:05:45.329 there who's like, man, yeah, I can't even imagine 00:05:45.329 --> 00:05:47.850 myself doing this. If you start to do it little 00:05:47.850 --> 00:05:51.829 by little over time consistently, you are guaranteed 00:05:51.829 --> 00:05:54.569 to improve. Like your episode zero, your episode 00:05:54.569 --> 00:05:57.560 one, you're going to look back. after 100 episodes 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.259 and look and go so cringe man I can't believe 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:03.920 how bad I was but it's always great in this day 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:05.839 and age with creating content started YouTube 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.980 channels. Don't delete those like leave those 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:11.060 up there to remind you how much you've grown 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:13.399 and to show others that they can do it like hey 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.319 I started from this you know just like you I 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.300 had nothing I just did it. you know, purely out 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:23.860 of, you know, out of need, no confidence. And 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:26.480 you know, it happens over time. So I would just 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:28.899 encourage people to, to take the step, take the 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:30.459 leap, don't worry about what people are gonna 00:06:30.459 --> 00:06:33.500 think. And it'll work out for you. Take that 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:35.459 leap. Yeah, when you talked about I don't even 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:38.920 have to wait to episode 100. We're ever said, 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:41.740 I think this is gonna be episode 32. When I look 00:06:41.740 --> 00:06:45.540 back at the first one. Yeah. And if you haven't 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:49.199 seen it, it was gracious enough to have, you 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:55.220 know, Denise G Lee, she came on and great conversationalist. 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:59.000 But I was like, almost like a deer in the high, 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.899 you know, headlights. I was like, let me just 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:04.120 kind of do what I think I know, which I was like, 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:05.939 I was in this box, right. And I didn't really 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.019 know how to have a great conversation. And I 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:11.149 asked her after, you know, after the camera had 00:07:11.149 --> 00:07:12.670 turned off. I was like, so how was that? She 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:14.170 was like, it was good. She's like, but I like 00:07:14.170 --> 00:07:16.470 the flow, you know, and she was, she was, let 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:19.009 me know, like, you know, you did have some great 00:07:19.009 --> 00:07:21.750 questions. But, you know, there's some room for 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:25.050 you to grow, right? Yeah. And you want to surround 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:27.209 yourself, you know, surround yourself with people 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:29.250 like that, they're going to give you honest feedback. 00:07:29.329 --> 00:07:32.589 Because if you, I always say, interview your 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:34.490 friends, interview people that you're most comfortable 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:37.600 with. In the beginning. Because then you'll be 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.759 at ease like you said but then they will most 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:44.259 likely not give you the real feedback you know 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:47.420 they're gonna be too nice are you good my car 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:49.439 remember remember when you used to try to do 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:51.600 this stuff we were kidding like they just know 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.180 you as a different person versus if you surround 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:56.399 yourself with people who are doing big things. 00:07:56.779 --> 00:07:58.459 And you ask them for honest feedback, they'll 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:00.579 give it to you. And it's good to be around people 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:02.680 like that. That'll give it to you, give you the 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:05.579 real, uh, the real deal. And then, uh, you can 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.100 grow from that. You know, you can start to really, 00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:10.319 really say, Hey, break it down for me. Like, 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.040 what do you mean by that? And hopefully the more 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.899 and more you do of that, the more and more improvement 00:08:14.899 --> 00:08:16.680 in a shorter amount of time. Cause that's what 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:19.420 we're doing is like, we're trying to Excel or 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:21.740 at least, uh, speed up time so that we don't 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:23.300 make all those mistakes. So if you're surrounding 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:25.240 yourself with someone who's got 20 years of something 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.180 that you're trying to learn, you're gonna leapfrog, 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:32.259 you know, over over the steps that they had to 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:35.639 go through and they had to make. Yeah. So yeah, 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:37.340 yeah, it's it's a big deal. Like I surrounded 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:39.299 myself with people who are really good speakers, 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.360 great on camera. I partnered with a guy who like 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:45.559 he was an actor. So he was very influential in 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:48.200 my delivery of especially when everything went 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.250 virtual. He was so good on camera. I was like, 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:52.649 man, I was just watching him and I was like, 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:54.509 man, just like you, he was an actor. He's in 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:57.730 sag and there's so much stuff from guys like 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:01.269 you that we can learn from as influencers, as 00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:04.190 podcasters, um, that you guys just naturally 00:09:04.190 --> 00:09:06.330 do like looking at the camera or not looking, 00:09:06.429 --> 00:09:10.350 you know, or using gestures and overly animating 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:13.570 because if you record, once you hit record, you 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:18.409 can't step into the, the, the light with 4 % 00:09:18.409 --> 00:09:21.070 energy. You know, you got to take it to 100 % 00:09:21.070 --> 00:09:23.730 because it doesn't translate, you know, and even 00:09:23.730 --> 00:09:25.710 though you feel like I'm crazy, I'm animated, 00:09:25.750 --> 00:09:28.610 I'm overly energetic. No, because the camera 00:09:28.610 --> 00:09:33.429 will pull that down by 20%. Yeah, no, because 00:09:33.429 --> 00:09:36.110 I've had days when I would interview people and 00:09:36.110 --> 00:09:39.070 I'm, you know, I'm there I'm present, but like, 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:40.809 whatever happened before will still be playing 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:42.610 in the back of my mind. And it would definitely 00:09:42.610 --> 00:09:44.879 try I'm like, dude, Why are you looking like 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:49.240 this right now? I'm talking to myself. Like, 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:51.139 maybe the camera shouldn't have been on you at 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:55.679 all today. But yeah, it's important to just really 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:00.100 bring yourself to a pocket podcasting and you 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:04.279 you you do a lot of podcasting right now. And 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:07.539 then can you talk about you talk about mission 00:10:07.539 --> 00:10:09.820 driven entrepreneurs? Can you talk about a little 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:13.289 bit about that? Oh, my goodness. We have a couple 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:17.710 hours on this one. Honestly, Michael, it's been 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:21.730 a long journey. You know, seven, over seven years 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:26.389 after I left corporate about eight plus. And, 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.129 but this company that I've been running has been 00:10:28.129 --> 00:10:29.929 seven years. We're celebrating our seventh year 00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:33.190 anniversary this week. And the person I once 00:10:33.190 --> 00:10:37.210 was versus the person I am now, I understood 00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:40.080 the Simon Sinek. If you haven't read his book, 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.840 you know, why eat or leaders eat last or, you 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.039 know, know your why certain things where it was 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.039 like, Oh, the why you got to know the why when 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:49.080 you step into the entrepreneurial world, because 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:51.019 you need a reason to get up every morning. You 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.980 need a reason to not get tempted to just binge 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:57.179 Netflix, uh, you know, and, and, and any cheesecake 00:10:57.179 --> 00:10:59.820 and do whatever I was doing before, right? Like, 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:02.799 cause now I'm on my own and there's no one here 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.659 to hold me accountable, but me. So that was a 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:07.639 challenge to break old habits and then start 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:10.909 new ones. And mission and why was always sort 00:11:10.909 --> 00:11:14.490 of, it was there. And it was constantly being 00:11:14.490 --> 00:11:16.990 said over and over and over and over in our universe, 00:11:17.450 --> 00:11:22.169 in social media. But the why for me was simple, 00:11:22.169 --> 00:11:23.889 I need to make money, right? I was like, I got 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:25.889 to make money. I got to feed my family. Yeah. 00:11:25.889 --> 00:11:28.110 The other why was I'm doing this from a family, 00:11:28.110 --> 00:11:31.470 right? But after a few years, I started to realize 00:11:31.470 --> 00:11:33.769 that's not enough. Because once I started making 00:11:33.769 --> 00:11:35.309 the money, and once everything was straight, 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:37.450 or everything was in a good place with my family, 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:41.029 I was like, now what? And it was always a challenge 00:11:41.029 --> 00:11:44.450 to get up and realize, what am I doing this for? 00:11:44.909 --> 00:11:47.289 And it wasn't until two things started happening, 00:11:47.389 --> 00:11:49.769 Michael. I was having the opportunities to speak 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:52.970 on these stages in front of hundreds of people. 00:11:52.990 --> 00:11:54.610 And I'm like, how did I even get here, number 00:11:54.610 --> 00:11:58.889 one? And then number two, the accolades, the 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:01.409 pats on the back, the people wanting to do business 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:04.909 with us, all blessings. But still, I felt like 00:12:04.909 --> 00:12:08.210 I wasn't worthy. And also like where's the why 00:12:08.210 --> 00:12:11.590 in this until this is basically my testimony. 00:12:12.330 --> 00:12:14.230 I heard this voice that was like, I'm not going 00:12:14.230 --> 00:12:16.070 to use the profanity that the voice did, but 00:12:16.070 --> 00:12:19.009 it was like, you're the effing man. And that 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:21.370 was in my ear. And I was like, that doesn't seem 00:12:21.370 --> 00:12:24.529 right. So I went home and I was like, at the 00:12:24.529 --> 00:12:27.429 time it was prayer. And I'm sorry, it was meditation 00:12:27.429 --> 00:12:29.610 at the time. And I was doing yoga, like breath 00:12:29.610 --> 00:12:32.250 work and Tony Robbins stuff. And I was like, 00:12:32.959 --> 00:12:35.299 I've been doing this for years, but I still feel 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:36.759 like I don't know what the why and the mission 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.559 is. Yeah. And it wasn't until that when I was 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.659 at my lowest because I was gaining success on 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:46.940 an individual level. But my company was failing. 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:51.500 My company was losing clients. And I thought 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:53.340 that I was going to have to fold the business 00:12:53.340 --> 00:12:55.700 and that my whole identity was wrapped around 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:57.639 the business. So I was like, what am I going 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.259 to do? I got this here where it feels like I'm 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:03.529 on a high But then down here, in reality, behind 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:05.909 the scenes, everything's falling apart. Right. 00:13:06.210 --> 00:13:09.049 So I felt a prayer, bro. Like all of a sudden 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:12.529 I was on my knees and I was getting real messages 00:13:12.529 --> 00:13:16.669 from, from God. And it was like, that's not the 00:13:16.669 --> 00:13:18.590 voice you need to listen to that says you're 00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:22.710 the man. You need to come to me and this is your 00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:25.149 mission and this is your why. And that changed 00:13:25.149 --> 00:13:27.649 everything. or that I'm getting chills because 00:13:27.649 --> 00:13:29.990 it was like that was a three year journey for 00:13:29.990 --> 00:13:32.629 me to realize that I was doing everything for 00:13:32.629 --> 00:13:34.629 everything for the Lord and I was doing everything 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.230 and all my business and everything was designed 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:41.909 to glorify him not me. Not my ego. Not your ego. 00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:45.090 Right. I was gonna say that was like an ego versus 00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:49.409 your like a spiritual spiritual spiritual awakening 00:13:49.409 --> 00:13:52.590 maybe and then some purpose that was found within 00:13:52.590 --> 00:13:56.649 that awakening. For sure. Yeah. yeah what was 00:13:56.649 --> 00:13:58.889 the next step after that i mean like what what 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:03.440 what then kept driving you It was that man. It 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:07.539 was just diving into scripture Praying every 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:09.940 day getting into the habits all I did was I was 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:12.080 already in the good habits of waking up early 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.860 exercising journaling doing all the things that 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:17.440 Hal Elrod would say If you know if anyone's ever 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.240 read the book miracle morning, he's got this 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:21.399 acronym. That's great It's still a part of my 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:25.059 life called savers S A V E R S which stands for 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:27.720 silence every morning. He interviewed and talked 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:30.830 to dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of successful 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:33.529 business owners, and they all did the same things. 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:36.990 And he distilled it into savers, which is S for 00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:39.830 silence, A for affirmations, V for visualization, 00:14:40.690 --> 00:14:44.370 E for exercise, R for reading, and then the last 00:14:44.370 --> 00:14:49.570 S is for scribing, aka writing, journaling. So 00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:52.840 that changed my world. But all I did was replace 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:55.639 visualization, manifestation, all those things 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:59.059 into prayer and, and focusing all that silence 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:01.919 and meditation into prayer. And then the reading 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:04.480 became reading scripture, you know, reading the 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.480 gospel, reading the Bible, things like that were 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:11.399 less business books and more just the book and 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:14.480 starting to understand, man, all these stuff 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.120 that Tony Robbins and all this stuff to add my 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.659 lead and all these influencer are just regurgitating. 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:23.799 scripture, like Jesus's words, that's all they're 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:26.480 doing. It's just repackaged. The Go Giver, one 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:31.960 of my favorite books, John David Mann, he he 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:35.460 everything in there are words from Jesus just 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:38.799 re reimagined, re scripted, repackaged. So yeah, 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.620 I was like, Oh, wait a minute. That's when like 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.559 the aha moment came to me. I was like, Okay, 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:46.879 let me just go to the source. Let me go to the 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.240 real thing that everybody's just pulling from. 00:15:49.629 --> 00:15:53.090 and see what that does. And that was it. It was 00:15:53.090 --> 00:15:57.309 a game changer. That was your game changer. That's, 00:15:57.309 --> 00:15:59.129 that's, that's good when you have that awakening. 00:15:59.649 --> 00:16:03.570 And then, then your life is then led, either 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:07.549 led by or led to whatever what I call a fountain. 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.029 Because I was living in LA. Now I'm here back 00:16:11.029 --> 00:16:14.269 in Atlanta. And I'm here, this is my fountain, 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:18.009 you know, things are thriving and growing and 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:20.149 finding a sense of who I am and my purpose in 00:16:20.149 --> 00:16:22.230 life. And one of the missions that I have in 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:25.429 life is to begin to live my purpose be my purpose 00:16:25.429 --> 00:16:28.210 so that I can help others, you know, support 00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:30.350 others in living their purpose, and so forth 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:33.669 and so on. What is your what is your purpose? 00:16:34.490 --> 00:16:37.490 Yeah. I mean, it's it's it's going back exactly 00:16:37.490 --> 00:16:40.190 to what I was saying, and that, you know, I'm, 00:16:40.190 --> 00:16:43.250 I'm not building for me. Yes, it's definitely 00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:46.350 helpful that I'm able to provide I'm still able 00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:49.190 to provide you know, put a roof over my kids 00:16:49.190 --> 00:16:52.889 heads and and pay all the salaries for my team 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:57.929 members and What's that it feels good doesn't 00:16:57.929 --> 00:17:01.820 it? Yeah. I mean when I I get to know the families 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:04.339 of everyone that works for us. You know, I know 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:06.220 their kids names, you know, I know where they 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:08.160 vacation, you know, I try to support and help 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.240 with that, like all the things. And then now 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:11.779 we're getting to the stage where we want to, 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:13.980 you know, create missions or give to charities, 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:18.160 like things that we just bigger than us. So that 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.019 has become my why is like, how does the company 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:25.599 become a vehicle for the kingdom? How does the 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.740 company begin to build and influence people? 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:32.279 to to to come to the light to to come to Jesus 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.200 and talk about, you know, how do we do this on 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.420 a massive scale? You know, it's been going on 00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:40.400 for centuries, right? But you know, like, over 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.640 the past several years, especially after 2020, 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:46.420 I feel like the nation, even the world got lost, 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.420 you know, like it was crazy what was happening. 00:17:50.420 --> 00:17:53.680 And a lot of us woke up. And that's when I woke 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:58.190 up because I didn't. Dude, I was not a self professed 00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:01.809 Christian. I was just like, doing the thing man 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:05.630 committed drinking smoking, you know, women, 00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:08.589 you name it, you know, I was I was doing all 00:18:08.589 --> 00:18:12.069 the things that that you we necessarily shouldn't 00:18:12.069 --> 00:18:15.309 be doing. And I'm glad I got it out of my system. 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:17.809 Um, I wouldn't be able to do all the things I'm 00:18:17.809 --> 00:18:20.089 doing each and every day if I didn't correct 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:22.569 and course correct. Uh, but yeah, man, that's 00:18:22.569 --> 00:18:24.589 my mission is to continue building for the kingdom, 00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:27.130 to continue pointing to people, uh, pointing 00:18:27.130 --> 00:18:31.089 people in direction. Um, if it's, if it's, if 00:18:31.089 --> 00:18:33.109 it's, if it's relevant to the conversation, you 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.349 know, not, not, I'm not going to knock it on 00:18:35.349 --> 00:18:37.390 doors, you know, like trying to hand people Bibles 00:18:37.390 --> 00:18:40.829 or anything. Um, but yeah, we, we just love, 00:18:41.130 --> 00:18:42.990 man, this mission that we're on collectively 00:18:42.990 --> 00:18:46.690 as a company now, uh, with that clarity. Nice. 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:50.750 Thanks for sharing that. And all that turned 00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:55.890 into your brand building, right? And you built 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.430 powerful brands like for yourself and others. 00:18:58.910 --> 00:19:01.869 And so how did your personal brand journey begin? 00:19:02.089 --> 00:19:04.509 Like you talking about brands and building a 00:19:04.509 --> 00:19:07.049 brand? Yeah, it was an accident. Honestly, Michael, 00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:10.769 I mean, I incorporate I got had 20 over 20 years 00:19:10.769 --> 00:19:14.480 of branding. corporations, companies, a lot of 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.859 these corporations have businesses and companies 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:19.880 and brands within the corporation. So I would 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:22.160 work. So say example, like Big Pharma, I worked 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.880 for the number one and the number two, I was 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.259 always jockeying in the top 10 of all these pharmaceutical 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:30.240 companies. And they own a lot of brands, you 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:34.220 know, like stuff you see on the shelves, you 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:36.180 know, dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of different 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:39.079 types of brands. So I was able to create the 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.380 logos, create the marketing, create the websites, 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:45.140 all the things that, um, I cut my teeth on and 00:19:45.140 --> 00:19:47.160 got really good at, you know, you can imagine 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:51.240 I got way beyond the, uh, uh, um, Malcolm Gladwell, 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:53.720 10 ,000 hours to become an expert at something 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:55.920 probably hundreds of thousands, you know, after 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.440 20 plus years doing so much. Yeah. Yeah. So I 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:00.920 just transfer that knowledge. Um, and that's 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:02.359 what I always recommend to anyone who's starting 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.380 a business. It's what has someone already it's 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:10.240 proven. What is someone? paid you to do you know 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.500 whether you know it's it's it's designing something 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:16.279 whether it's cooking something whether it's whatever 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:20.220 it is you got paid from someone at that level 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:22.039 when now you like i don't want to do that anymore 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:24.119 i wanna work for myself wanna make my own decisions 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:27.220 take my own destiny to my own hands take that 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:29.619 skill set that someone paid you for and then 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.559 apply it to whatever business that you wanna 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:34.640 build so that's what i did at first i'm gonna 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:37.980 start a creative agency so when i did that started 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:42.680 getting a handful of clients and then the podcast 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:45.299 was really just a vehicle for me to have conversations 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:48.640 like this. I would be at meetings, local networking 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.220 meetings, having amazing conversations with guys 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:54.039 like you in the hallway. So inspired. I was like, 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:56.160 man, and I would think to myself and started 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.640 saying out loud eventually, man, if only I had 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.940 a microphone. It'd be so cool. And everybody 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:03.440 would agree. This is 2017. Everybody would be 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:04.920 like, yeah, man, if you recorded this, it'd be 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:07.500 so much fun. Finally, I started doing it. Yeah, 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.579 and then eventually people started pointing to 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:11.599 me at these meetings going. Oh go talk to Eric 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:13.759 He's the podcast guy, but it wasn't a podcast. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.160 I was going live on Facebook. That's all And 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:22.160 then eventually I became known as the podcast 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.559 guy people started listening to my show and saying 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:29.240 man I love your show when can I be on it or the 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.059 people that guested were like How can I start 00:21:32.059 --> 00:21:34.299 a podcast? I was like, Oh, well, I figured it 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:37.200 out systems and teams and you know, because you 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:39.079 got to have all this stuff in place. It's hard 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:42.539 to maintain it without with when it's just you, 00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:45.339 you eventually burn out because it's a lot, you 00:21:45.339 --> 00:21:46.980 know, you know, I eventually started hiring people 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:49.539 to do my show, not others. And then eventually 00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:52.339 123 and I was like, just giving it to my editor. 00:21:52.420 --> 00:21:53.859 I was like, Hey, you mind doing this? You mind 00:21:53.859 --> 00:21:56.400 doing this? I'll pay you this and boom, all of 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.299 a sudden I was like, it's not a creative agency 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:01.599 anymore. It's, it's a podcast agency. And that's 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.519 when everything shifted. Everything shifted. 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:07.119 You know, for anybody, the people that are listening, 00:22:07.619 --> 00:22:10.480 like that are entrepreneurs that want to start 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:12.599 a podcast. I think it's a great, great thing. 00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:14.940 Right. Just, just real quick before the question 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:19.240 I have, um, like when we started, well, I started, 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:23.259 um, I just, I didn't, you know, as an actor, 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:25.759 You know, that's one world. But then as a podcasters 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.559 like, Oh, well, maybe these can go together. 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:30.779 But then as I'm like, I have my business and 00:22:30.779 --> 00:22:33.619 I'm trying to grow my business, I was, I never 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:37.839 put that the business and the acting together 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.460 as being a podcaster. And then just one day I'm 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:43.839 sitting, I'm like, maybe, maybe, uh, maybe I 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:47.140 should podcast. I didn't, I didn't want to do 00:22:47.140 --> 00:22:51.059 it at all. There was no notion, no idea, no inkling 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:54.559 that dropped in my mind to do it. for years until 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:58.299 six, seven months ago. Um, and then I brought 00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:01.180 on a friend of mine who lives in Detroit and 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:05.759 she's that she produces Yvonne and thank goodness 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:09.400 for her because oh my God, if it wasn't for her, 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.980 when you talk about, you know, the burnout, it 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:14.400 could be there like quicker than anything. So 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.740 having people that supports in the podcast world, 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:20.039 um, behind the scenes is great. And like you 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:23.019 said, you started hiring people, you know, Same 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.680 here. I was like, okay, I can, I love editing, 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:29.339 but continually doing it over and over again. 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:32.019 It gets to be a lot. Right. Especially when it's 00:23:32.019 --> 00:23:35.099 your show and you're already there. Yeah. Right. 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:37.779 Exactly. Exactly. Do it all over again. Do it 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:41.140 all over again and over again. And so for her, 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:44.180 for anybody that's like really like in the business 00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:46.859 world, why would you say is important for them 00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:48.920 to start the podcasting and what is the best 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.940 way for them to begin that podcasting journey? 00:23:52.349 --> 00:23:56.009 Yeah, I mean, I'm going to borrow from from one 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:58.890 of my mentors that I look up to Sean Cannell 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:01.289 from Think Media. So anybody who watches YouTube, 00:24:01.769 --> 00:24:04.970 he's great. He he always says, you know, just 00:24:04.970 --> 00:24:08.299 push record. So. That's the easy part, right? 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.680 Is hitting record and just talking. Hopefully 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:13.380 you have some talking points. You don't just 00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:17.460 ramble like I did. Just have some ideas in mind, 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:19.960 even if it's a few bullet points so that you 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.460 can stay on track, especially if you like to 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:24.319 talk, especially if you have a lot of ideas and 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.900 you usually jump on different tangents. It's 00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:30.759 good to have a roadmap for you when you're creating 00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.240 content. But yeah, hitting record is the easy 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:37.099 part. And then when you do that, What you're 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:39.839 going to recognize is all the technical aspects. 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:41.420 People are always asking me like, what camera 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:43.319 do I get? What microphone do I get? What lighting 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:46.339 do I get? Like that doesn't happen. I'm like, 00:24:46.339 --> 00:24:48.700 you're getting caught up in the tactics. You 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.019 need to worry about the strategy. The strategy 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:53.420 is the high level thinking. Anybody can do the 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:55.339 tactics. You can literally hire VA for three 00:24:55.339 --> 00:24:58.099 to $5 an hour. That's going to take all that 00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:00.319 stuff and chop it up. But the thing is what you 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:02.359 need to worry about and what we spend the most 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:05.099 time in is like, what are you talking about? 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:08.359 Is it valuable to someone and if it is, does 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:11.960 it solve a problem? Does it reduce a pain point 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:15.259 in someone's life, right? And then you can start 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.480 to deliver that message. But here's the part 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:20.779 out back of one extra step, Michael, is you've 00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:23.460 got to know who you are. Because if you start 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:25.380 opening and stepping to the mic and the camera 00:25:25.380 --> 00:25:27.619 and you're babbling and talking about all this 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.539 stuff and you're inconsistent with who you are, 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:34.519 people are going to instantly distrust. They're 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:36.500 not going to believe in you because now you're 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:38.559 saying this, you're saying one thing one day 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:39.680 and you're saying another thing the other day 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:41.759 because you never got yourself straight because 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.559 you're always, you know, trying to move towards 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:48.319 a trend or you're trying to appease other people. 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:49.779 You're like, what is someone going to think? 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:52.019 I got to be this. I got to play this character 00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:55.000 when it's not you. So everybody understands and 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:57.880 knows the word's been overused nowadays, but 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:00.730 you know, authenticity, it's still it's it's 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:03.029 it's still a jet like you have to be yourself. 00:26:03.410 --> 00:26:06.049 So if anybody ever met me from this show, like 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:09.529 you say you met me at Michael's event. I'm me 00:26:09.529 --> 00:26:12.390 like this is exactly who you're gonna meet somebody 00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:15.990 like when you're in an acting world. I met so 00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:18.309 many actors when I lived in New York City. A 00:26:18.309 --> 00:26:20.549 lot of them were not nice, you know, because 00:26:20.549 --> 00:26:22.349 I expected them to be a certain way, but they're 00:26:22.349 --> 00:26:25.430 playing a character. That's not this world, thought 00:26:25.430 --> 00:26:28.910 leadership. podcasting youtube is not you playing 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:31.569 a character you have to genuinely be yourself 00:26:31.569 --> 00:26:33.470 in order to do that you gotta figure yourself 00:26:33.470 --> 00:26:35.750 out what are your systems and beliefs what are 00:26:35.750 --> 00:26:38.009 the pillars you stand on that you'll die on what's 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:40.289 the hell you gonna die on and then stand for 00:26:40.289 --> 00:26:42.369 those things don't worry about what people think. 00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:45.309 Yeah that's the first step honestly before doing 00:26:45.309 --> 00:26:47.789 the work instead hitting record and then figuring 00:26:47.789 --> 00:26:50.829 out who do i serve who do i wanna help what pain 00:26:50.829 --> 00:26:53.759 points do they have record. Here on the Thriveville 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.359 journey, we talk a lot about not just surviving, 00:26:56.980 --> 00:26:59.779 but thriving. And a big part of that for me has 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:02.259 been understanding my health on a deeper level. 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:04.880 That's why I partnered with Livegood and brought 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:07.859 it under my company, Orion's Health. Not just 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:09.819 because I believe in the products, but because 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:12.880 I've seen what they can do firsthand. I've walked 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.200 through some hard health chapters in my life, 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:18.630 including cancer, and a kidney transplant. And 00:27:18.630 --> 00:27:21.910 I know what it feels like when your body's working 00:27:21.910 --> 00:27:24.869 against you. That's why we're offering two free 00:27:24.869 --> 00:27:28.089 tools that help me and can help you too. First, 00:27:28.250 --> 00:27:31.390 go to MyFreeHealthReport .com, forward slash, 00:27:31.730 --> 00:27:34.089 Oriane's Health. Take our quick health questionnaire 00:27:34.089 --> 00:27:36.609 and get a personalized report created by Dr. 00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:38.869 Ryan Goodkin, LiveGood's Director of Product 00:27:38.869 --> 00:27:42.150 Development. It's clear, actionable, and totally 00:27:42.150 --> 00:27:45.900 free. Second, visit myfreedetox .com and get 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:48.920 a free chlorophyll and zealot detox bottle with 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:51.819 your first product order. It's a gentle, natural 00:27:51.819 --> 00:27:54.619 way to clear out toxins and start fresh, something 00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:58.240 I personally use and stand behind. This isn't 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:00.480 just a sponsorship. It's part of my mission through 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:03.599 Orion's Health to help people thrive and body, 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:07.160 mind and spirit. Of course, of course, always, 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:09.039 always, always consult your physician before 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:11.099 starting any new supplement or health regimen. 00:28:11.420 --> 00:28:13.660 Your body is unique and your health care provider 00:28:13.660 --> 00:28:16.160 should always be part of the conversation. The 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:18.880 links are in the show notes. Now tap in and take 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.960 your next step toward thriving. Now you're good. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:24.859 Over the long haul, it's gonna work for you. 00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:27.920 Yeah, I found that to be very important. First, 00:28:28.109 --> 00:28:31.250 genuinely authentically being yourself and bringing 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:34.950 you bringing who you are to the camera and what 00:28:34.950 --> 00:28:39.150 reason or reasons you have for being behind the 00:28:39.150 --> 00:28:41.250 camera and what who you're serving. I think it's 00:28:41.250 --> 00:28:45.230 really important. And so in the world of podcasting, 00:28:45.230 --> 00:28:50.269 I know, I started last year 2024 last year to 00:28:50.269 --> 00:28:53.470 do it December, November, I think that maybe 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:54.990 a couple months before that, I think we put the 00:28:54.990 --> 00:28:59.740 first episode out in November. but I would look 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:01.920 at so many different podcasts and I'm like, man, 00:29:02.099 --> 00:29:04.619 there's so many, you know what I mean? And you 00:29:04.619 --> 00:29:09.059 feel like the whole space is like overcrowded. 00:29:09.339 --> 00:29:13.539 But when you have an authentic message that can 00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:16.259 serve people, it will stand out in the crowd. 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:20.000 What do you say about that world of being, the 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:23.099 podcast world being overcrowded? Yeah, I love 00:29:23.099 --> 00:29:26.839 this question because it is a common one. And 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.720 I always say, I liken it to walking into the 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.000 bookstore, you know, you know, thankfully, you 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:35.720 know, they still exist. Amazon for sure was gonna 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:37.819 shut them all down. But say you walking into 00:29:37.819 --> 00:29:39.700 Barnes and Noble, the only one I know of that 00:29:39.700 --> 00:29:44.140 still exists. When you go to go to look for a 00:29:44.140 --> 00:29:45.759 certain type of book, you know, whether it's 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.599 a novel or whether it's a self, you know, improvement 00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:51.470 book, whatever it is, whatever genre. There isn't 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:53.650 just one book on that topic, right? There isn't 00:29:53.650 --> 00:29:57.349 just one book cover. There's hundreds, if not 00:29:57.349 --> 00:30:01.349 thousands in certain categories and niches. The 00:30:01.349 --> 00:30:05.829 same thing applies to podcasting, specifically 00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:09.250 because every time someone's talking about, say, 00:30:09.250 --> 00:30:12.069 finance or faith or fitness, whatever it is, 00:30:12.630 --> 00:30:16.009 there's no one that's telling the story through 00:30:16.009 --> 00:30:19.529 your life experience. There's no one that has 00:30:19.529 --> 00:30:22.859 your experience. and no one that can share those 00:30:22.859 --> 00:30:26.220 things other than you. So of course, like that's 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:29.000 if if if if we apply that same sort of question 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.500 to books, there would be no more books. They 00:30:31.500 --> 00:30:33.519 would have stopped centuries ago. Oh, somebody 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.599 wrote a book on that already. Right. So so think 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:39.460 of it in those terms. And it should hopefully 00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:43.200 inspire you to do it. I like that. I didn't think 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:46.559 about it that way. But I personally I like that. 00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:49.519 I mean, you did it right? What What got you past 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:55.279 that barrier? Um, I think I'm a, I'm a guy that 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:58.940 once I say I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. 00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:03.240 You know what I mean? And it's not unless I choose 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.880 to just stop for whatever reasons. Then I'll 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:12.319 just stop. But because I see possibility in what 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:15.200 we're doing, I see that it is serving an audience. 00:31:15.420 --> 00:31:19.049 I see that it's serving people. I see that. people 00:31:19.049 --> 00:31:22.269 are getting something from this. It's like, okay, 00:31:22.509 --> 00:31:24.430 well, we're doing we're doing a service, we're 00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:28.930 doing something. And it's not just a hobby. It's 00:31:28.930 --> 00:31:32.130 actually a business building kind of thing. Can 00:31:32.130 --> 00:31:36.509 you actually talk about the separation between 00:31:36.509 --> 00:31:39.509 a hobby, a hobby podcast and a business building 00:31:39.509 --> 00:31:42.950 podcast? Yeah, yeah. Well, I want to get into 00:31:42.950 --> 00:31:44.470 that. But I want to address what something you 00:31:44.470 --> 00:31:48.980 said there. And that, you know, podcasting isn't 00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:51.059 an overnight thing. You know, you can't start 00:31:51.059 --> 00:31:53.140 a podcast and think to yourself, I'm going to 00:31:53.140 --> 00:31:55.740 see how this works for two, three months. That's 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:59.700 not how it works. You know, you have to be in 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:02.079 it for the long haul. And the number that I always 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:05.220 put on it is do it for a year. If you're doing 00:32:05.220 --> 00:32:08.220 it once a week, that's 52 episodes. So at least 00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:10.839 50, okay. You got two weeks off, you know, for 00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:14.519 the holidays, give yourself 50 episodes. over 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:16.519 the span of a year and a half, even sometimes 00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:19.839 it takes people that long, uh, and then reflect 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:23.140 on it. You know, look at the numbers, look at 00:32:23.140 --> 00:32:25.960 the relationships. Cause I always say, it's not 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:27.779 about the ROI. People are always like, Hey, Eric, 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:29.839 when I started a podcast, what's the return on 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:31.839 my investment? You know, cause, cause we cost 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.359 30 K a year in order to produce your podcast 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:36.920 every year. So they're like, what, when am I 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:38.319 going to get back? You know, am I going to make 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:40.680 that money back? And this is what I always say. 00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:45.759 It's like, if you reframe ROI, to our return 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:50.099 on your relationships, your ROR, because that's 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:52.200 everyone you mentioned in my bio, working with 00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:54.180 Shark Tank, working with Gary Vee, you know, 00:32:54.220 --> 00:32:56.220 working with Hal Elra, all these people I met 00:32:56.220 --> 00:33:00.299 because of my podcast. Now, can you imagine if 00:33:00.299 --> 00:33:02.920 I didn't have one that I wouldn't even be here 00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:05.039 right now with you, right? It was because of 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:07.579 the podcast that created my business. It was 00:33:07.579 --> 00:33:09.460 because of the podcast that created relationships 00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:12.519 where I text these authors who I know and love 00:33:12.519 --> 00:33:16.029 now, Because that's what happens. It's like you 00:33:16.029 --> 00:33:19.349 get you form a relationship with people. And 00:33:19.349 --> 00:33:22.609 that's what I was in it for, versus like, am 00:33:22.609 --> 00:33:24.509 I going to make money doing this? So if you're 00:33:24.509 --> 00:33:26.069 in it, and your heart's not in it for the right 00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:29.109 things, it's got it's gonna fade, you're not 00:33:29.109 --> 00:33:30.829 going to be able to sustain because you're not 00:33:30.829 --> 00:33:34.500 in it for the real truest reason, which is to 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:36.940 love on people, to pour into people, to build 00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:39.180 relationships and not go in and go, what's in 00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:41.019 it for me? What's in it for me? Me, me, me, me, 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:43.240 me, me, me. As soon as I step into a room, whereas 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:45.480 a bunch of people like that, I get drained, man. 00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:47.720 Like I'm like, Oh, cause I'm, I'm wanting to 00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:50.380 give pour into people. And everybody's like, 00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:52.359 me, me, me, me. Then I'm like, okay, I'm out. 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:53.980 I can't come back to this conference anymore. 00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:59.160 I'm going to suck the life out of me. But yeah, 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:00.700 I forgot your question, but yeah, I'm going to 00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:05.519 stop there. No, it's good. You know, so it's 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:08.019 was it yesterday today? I don't I think was today. 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:12.980 Say again. No, I remember now your question was 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:15.219 hobbies versus Yeah, but go ahead. Oh, good. 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:22.320 Well, I'll talk about the ROI. We have another 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:26.179 show called the grid network with me and another 00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:29.989 brother of mine. We're both fraternity and fraternity 00:34:29.989 --> 00:34:34.849 brothers. And I was telling him about how much 00:34:34.849 --> 00:34:37.010 it costs and everything like that. And he was 00:34:37.010 --> 00:34:39.510 like exclamation marks as a response. And I was 00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:43.989 like, well, it's really a return. I'm getting 00:34:43.989 --> 00:34:46.530 a small return. I'm beginning to get a return 00:34:46.530 --> 00:34:49.869 on an investment. But when you said that, it's 00:34:49.869 --> 00:34:51.849 really not only about the return. It's not really 00:34:51.849 --> 00:34:54.659 about the return on investment itself. but also 00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:56.679 return on relationships. And the relationships 00:34:56.679 --> 00:35:01.159 that I'm building as we move forward, you know, 00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:05.099 is really priceless on how I'm connecting with 00:35:05.099 --> 00:35:08.340 people. And it's a beautiful thing. And I wouldn't 00:35:08.340 --> 00:35:10.159 have those relationships and continue to build 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:12.699 those relationships if it wasn't for this. So 00:35:12.699 --> 00:35:15.460 that's another thing that I know one it could 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:19.059 be, again, going back to your question was, you 00:35:19.059 --> 00:35:20.940 know, what makes the difference between a hobby 00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:26.809 and a business? a business -driven podcast. Yeah. 00:35:27.090 --> 00:35:29.050 There's so many things. I want to answer that, 00:35:29.050 --> 00:35:30.789 but I also want to address something you said. 00:35:32.349 --> 00:35:35.110 I got to come back. Hobby, business versus business. 00:35:36.469 --> 00:35:39.929 If you think about your podcast this way, you 00:35:39.929 --> 00:35:43.690 have a vehicle now, you have a tool that you 00:35:43.690 --> 00:35:48.530 can reach out to people and say, Hey, versus 00:35:48.530 --> 00:35:50.190 back in the day, people go, Hey, would you have 00:35:50.190 --> 00:35:52.929 a cup of coffee with me? maybe somebody will 00:35:52.929 --> 00:35:55.969 go, yeah, but most people will probably say no, 00:35:56.070 --> 00:35:59.909 like, Hey, talk to my my admin. But now if you 00:35:59.909 --> 00:36:02.409 say, I would love to have you on my podcast. 00:36:02.989 --> 00:36:06.150 Most people will say yes, nine out of 10, sometimes 00:36:06.150 --> 00:36:08.570 10 out of 10 people will say yes. And for example, 00:36:08.630 --> 00:36:12.710 and that is the opportunity to be like, ask any 00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:17.070 question that you need answers to, right? from 00:36:17.070 --> 00:36:19.489 the author, from the podcast or from the business 00:36:19.489 --> 00:36:21.789 owner. So for example, I was talking to a friend 00:36:21.789 --> 00:36:24.429 of mine yesterday and he has an opportunity to 00:36:24.429 --> 00:36:27.409 work with the guy who remember chicken soup with 00:36:27.409 --> 00:36:30.150 a soul, how big that was? Yeah. Victor Hansen 00:36:30.150 --> 00:36:33.750 is his name. He created a whole franchise just 00:36:33.750 --> 00:36:36.889 from the book and business empire, multi, multi 00:36:36.889 --> 00:36:41.449 millions, small book. It was on everybody's bathroom. 00:36:42.130 --> 00:36:45.110 I remember that everywhere. I had every version 00:36:45.110 --> 00:36:48.929 of it. So he helps write books, but you know, 00:36:49.010 --> 00:36:51.630 my buddy has an opportunity to spend 30 K with 00:36:51.630 --> 00:36:54.389 him and work with him one -on -one, right? That's 00:36:54.389 --> 00:36:58.190 a lot of money. But say you have a podcast and 00:36:58.190 --> 00:36:59.909 hey, Mark, Victor Hansen, would you be a guest 00:36:59.909 --> 00:37:04.730 on my show an hour? 60 minutes with a man that 00:37:04.730 --> 00:37:07.590 costs $30 ,000. You're going to get for free, 00:37:07.590 --> 00:37:09.670 right? And you're going to be able to ask all 00:37:09.670 --> 00:37:11.510 the questions you need during that period of 00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:15.110 time. And Garner and learn so much, so much as 00:37:15.110 --> 00:37:18.230 a result of you having a vehicle, you having 00:37:18.230 --> 00:37:21.789 a platform for them that also helps them promote 00:37:21.789 --> 00:37:25.050 themselves, share their message and story. So 00:37:25.050 --> 00:37:27.630 there's so many wins, uh, having a podcast. It 00:37:27.630 --> 00:37:30.989 is work for sure. Uh, but you know, it's so worth 00:37:30.989 --> 00:37:33.650 it. If you think about the relationships that 00:37:33.650 --> 00:37:35.670 you're going to make and think about the opportunities 00:37:35.670 --> 00:37:37.909 and potential partnerships, there's a lot of 00:37:37.909 --> 00:37:41.210 people, not a lot, but people that I've partnered 00:37:41.210 --> 00:37:44.170 with on a business level as a result of starting 00:37:44.170 --> 00:37:46.329 the podcast, having a podcast and conversation 00:37:46.329 --> 00:37:49.889 together. So that that's the first level of trust. 00:37:50.090 --> 00:37:53.630 Yeah, you know, so it's powerful. Okay. I'll 00:37:53.630 --> 00:37:55.869 pause there if you have any thoughts in the business 00:37:55.869 --> 00:38:01.750 versus hobby. No, go ahead. Go ahead. Cause you 00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:03.869 say some stuff is brilliant. And I'm like, Oh 00:38:03.869 --> 00:38:06.949 man, that reminds me. I wanted to tell that right 00:38:06.949 --> 00:38:10.590 now. I got notes, man. Cause these guys are expensive 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:12.889 to be around, right? They're cheap. If you want 00:38:12.889 --> 00:38:15.510 to have them as a mentor, you have access. If 00:38:15.510 --> 00:38:17.730 you have the money, you can gain access to anyone. 00:38:18.030 --> 00:38:20.030 So here's another crazy story. I'm just going 00:38:20.030 --> 00:38:23.340 to share. But I'm blessed to have access to these 00:38:23.340 --> 00:38:28.039 people. But I don't always pay the money. But 00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:32.239 my my tribe, a group that I'm in, went to Sir 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:34.760 Richard Branson's island. Oh, man, don't tell 00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:37.880 me that. Don't tell me I didn't go. I didn't 00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:40.119 go. I didn't put the 50k down to hang with him 00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:42.940 for a couple of years. But can you imagine if 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:46.099 you did? How much you will learn by just having 00:38:46.099 --> 00:38:48.539 dinner breaking bread with that guy? You know 00:38:48.539 --> 00:38:51.619 who's a billionaire? billions would adapt capital 00:38:51.619 --> 00:38:55.699 B. How much will you be able to download from 00:38:55.699 --> 00:38:58.219 people like that and gain access? But you got 00:38:58.219 --> 00:39:00.280 a podcast, you can gain access for free to some 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.860 of these guys. You know, it's crazy. Yeah, crazy 00:39:02.860 --> 00:39:06.219 how it works. It's a hack. This is a hack mutual 00:39:06.219 --> 00:39:08.820 mutual give and take there. And you know, you 00:39:08.820 --> 00:39:10.780 mentioned Richard Branson never met the guy, 00:39:10.860 --> 00:39:12.480 but that's my guy. That's my dude. You know, 00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:14.739 I read his book and read his book and everything 00:39:14.739 --> 00:39:17.539 like, you know, that's who that's one of my my 00:39:17.539 --> 00:39:19.400 guys who I want to get on podcasts for sure. 00:39:19.619 --> 00:39:22.059 There you go, man. I'm telling you, we'll talk 00:39:22.059 --> 00:39:24.920 after. Okay, how we can potentially make that 00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:28.320 connection happen. But so I think we've kind 00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:30.280 of covered a little bit of like business versus 00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:33.880 hobby. Yeah, if you think of it as a hobby, because 00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.900 you have a full time job, or you're raising kids 00:39:36.900 --> 00:39:38.860 and you know, you kind of just want to test the 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:43.380 waters. You're I would, for lack of a better 00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:44.880 phrase, you're doing yourself a little bit of 00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:46.940 a disservice because you're never really mentally 00:39:46.940 --> 00:39:49.619 committing to doing this for the long haul. You're 00:39:49.619 --> 00:39:53.039 kind of giving yourself an out, right? And you 00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:54.940 most likely will go, eh, you know, it was a hobby 00:39:54.940 --> 00:39:56.699 anyway, never really feel fully committed to 00:39:56.699 --> 00:39:59.860 it. So whatever, I'm just going to sunset it. 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:02.199 Versus if you do it as a business, you think 00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:05.139 of it as, okay, I'm starting a business and I 00:40:05.139 --> 00:40:07.280 need marketing, but I don't know how to do marketing. 00:40:07.340 --> 00:40:08.880 I'm not a marketer. I don't have the money to 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:12.250 hire a marketer. This is your marketing. Yeah, 00:40:12.250 --> 00:40:15.650 you are the brand. You are the face of the company 00:40:15.650 --> 00:40:19.349 very much like an Elon is to Tesla or, you know, 00:40:19.449 --> 00:40:22.449 like, you know, whoever Bob Iger is to Disney, 00:40:22.489 --> 00:40:25.110 whoever it is. There's always a face to a brand 00:40:25.110 --> 00:40:27.469 like Michael Jordan was to Nike. So you have 00:40:27.469 --> 00:40:31.369 to think of yourself as the face of your company. 00:40:31.369 --> 00:40:33.510 And who better to represent your company than 00:40:33.510 --> 00:40:37.250 you through conversations through stories, through 00:40:37.250 --> 00:40:40.409 showing up and sharing So that people get to 00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:43.409 know and love you, not necessarily what you do 00:40:43.409 --> 00:40:45.789 first, right? Like they want to hear about you, 00:40:45.849 --> 00:40:48.130 your story, your trials, your tribulations, all 00:40:48.130 --> 00:40:50.250 the things that you've done so that now they 00:40:50.250 --> 00:40:52.369 can be like, man, I really, I'm, I'm stand behind 00:40:52.369 --> 00:40:55.050 what, what Michael says. I really love where 00:40:55.050 --> 00:40:57.429 he comes from and, and everything he's learned, 00:40:58.090 --> 00:40:59.670 man, I'm going to find out more. Oh wait, he 00:40:59.670 --> 00:41:03.369 does that. I'm going to hire him, you know, versus 00:41:03.369 --> 00:41:07.130 the other guy, the other CPA or the other attorney 00:41:07.130 --> 00:41:09.739 that doesn't produce content. Nobody knows who 00:41:09.739 --> 00:41:12.460 he is. But they know the guy who's sharing his 00:41:12.460 --> 00:41:14.280 story. I'm like, Hey, yeah, you know, I grew 00:41:14.280 --> 00:41:17.059 up in a crazy household. You know, my dad was 00:41:17.059 --> 00:41:20.920 a workhorse. I was a turnkey, latchkey kid. You 00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:24.139 know, like all that stuff creates a 3d version 00:41:24.139 --> 00:41:26.519 of you. And then when people need your services, 00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:28.519 they're going to go to the person they feel like 00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:31.119 they know versus the guy they don't even know. 00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:34.820 They get connected with the person. because of 00:41:34.820 --> 00:41:38.880 the story. And who's behind that story, or not 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:41.960 the stair, but just the brand. And they get connected 00:41:41.960 --> 00:41:44.679 with that. And I know you so you work in that 00:41:44.679 --> 00:41:48.420 world. Is there like a success story from someone 00:41:48.420 --> 00:41:51.559 who whose brand exploded after starting the show? 00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:54.559 Yeah, well, the first one that comes to mind 00:41:54.559 --> 00:41:58.320 is a good friend of mine, Matt. He was a success 00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:02.489 is a successful real estate investor. uh, real 00:42:02.489 --> 00:42:05.690 estate broker, you know, started out as an agent, 00:42:05.690 --> 00:42:09.309 uh, became the biggest agent in, uh, in, in, 00:42:09.309 --> 00:42:14.909 um, in South Carolina. And he grew a team, massive 00:42:14.909 --> 00:42:16.429 team. And he started getting to the degree where 00:42:16.429 --> 00:42:17.909 he was like, Hey, Eric, I think I need to start 00:42:17.909 --> 00:42:19.969 a podcast. What's it going to be about? He's 00:42:19.969 --> 00:42:23.630 like, ah, I want it to be about positivity, like 00:42:23.630 --> 00:42:26.130 optimism. You know, I'm going to call it, uh, 00:42:26.130 --> 00:42:29.050 the good mood show. And I was like, cool, let's 00:42:29.050 --> 00:42:31.610 start it. So we started as an audio only podcast, 00:42:31.630 --> 00:42:35.309 like three or four years ago. And he, he invested 00:42:35.309 --> 00:42:39.070 a lot of time and money into it, but he didn't 00:42:39.070 --> 00:42:41.269 try to figure it out himself. That's the other 00:42:41.269 --> 00:42:45.389 thing is. If you figure it out yourself, right 00:42:45.389 --> 00:42:47.489 out, write down the systems and processes that 00:42:47.489 --> 00:42:51.199 you do every day as you edit. And with the mindset 00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:53.119 that I'm going to pass this to somebody, I am 00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:56.179 not doing this forever. The only reason I'm documenting 00:42:56.179 --> 00:42:58.780 this is so that I could give the playbook to 00:42:58.780 --> 00:43:01.780 a VA or to someone else so that I can go do things 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:04.199 that will build the business directly versus 00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:06.840 continuing to do this. So anyway, he knew to 00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:08.599 do that. So he hired me and he was like, Eric, 00:43:08.820 --> 00:43:10.599 I don't want to figure out how to start a podcast, 00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:12.940 launch it for me, produce it for me on a weekly 00:43:12.940 --> 00:43:15.360 basis. And then I'm also going to invest in radio 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:16.980 spots. So he started putting in the money in 00:43:16.980 --> 00:43:20.659 the radio. The podcast started blowing up. He 00:43:20.659 --> 00:43:23.260 started growing. That became another arm of his 00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:25.960 marketing for all his whole business ecosystem 00:43:25.960 --> 00:43:30.139 to the degree where he wrote a book with the 00:43:30.139 --> 00:43:32.960 same name. Now we evolved the brand to be called 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:36.699 Good Mood Revolution to match the book. So the 00:43:36.699 --> 00:43:39.780 book is the same, the podcast the same. He's 00:43:39.780 --> 00:43:43.079 building a whole community around it. That's 00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:45.840 like one of the best examples of where your podcast 00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:50.460 can go. If you start to follow the natural progression 00:43:50.460 --> 00:43:53.900 and evolution of a podcast to say, Oh, maybe 00:43:53.900 --> 00:43:56.019 I'll start at this and then this can happen. 00:43:56.039 --> 00:43:58.460 Then this can happen and this can happen. Eventually 00:43:58.460 --> 00:44:03.059 a community can grow into a conference. It can 00:44:03.059 --> 00:44:06.480 grow into local meetups. It could do so many 00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:09.900 things for you. And if you own the stage. man, 00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:11.900 you have so much influence, everybody wants to 00:44:11.900 --> 00:44:14.659 be around you, because they know, you know, so 00:44:14.659 --> 00:44:16.900 many people that can help them in their world. 00:44:17.780 --> 00:44:23.500 Yeah. Just for points of clarity, VA means virtual 00:44:23.500 --> 00:44:28.599 assistant, correct? Yes. Okay. So, um, well, 00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:29.980 I knew that's what you meant, but I just want 00:44:29.980 --> 00:44:32.840 to make sure I don't want to leave anyone behind. 00:44:33.219 --> 00:44:35.619 Right. Don't leave them. Don't leave them behind. 00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:39.179 So that I think one of the other things that 00:44:39.179 --> 00:44:45.260 you had talked about was bringing strategy to 00:44:45.260 --> 00:44:49.860 your plan, right? Just have a strategy. And one 00:44:49.860 --> 00:44:52.980 of the things that we started to work on was 00:44:52.980 --> 00:44:56.340 really creating a playbook. I don't know where 00:44:56.340 --> 00:45:02.500 it is right now, but we need some work on that 00:45:02.500 --> 00:45:08.190 playbook. Ivan, we need to work on that. For 00:45:08.190 --> 00:45:12.050 the people that like that are starting, you know 00:45:12.050 --> 00:45:19.289 in the in the podcast world Why I we talked about 00:45:19.289 --> 00:45:22.070 what's important and why is it important? What 00:45:22.070 --> 00:45:27.090 what is that? Financial part word, you know that 00:45:27.090 --> 00:45:29.110 won't take them too much too far out of the game, 00:45:29.110 --> 00:45:32.969 but get them started, you know In a good space. 00:45:32.969 --> 00:45:35.690 Oh, you mean like what's the investment to to 00:45:35.690 --> 00:45:38.849 start a podcast? Yeah, I know I know other tiers, 00:45:39.010 --> 00:45:41.829 but what's a where where should they start? I 00:45:41.829 --> 00:45:44.389 mean if you're gonna go the VA route the virtual 00:45:44.389 --> 00:45:47.869 assistant route That could be phase two, you 00:45:47.869 --> 00:45:50.150 know, the the phase one approach could simply 00:45:50.150 --> 00:45:54.250 be a platform subscription to like a pod being 00:45:54.250 --> 00:45:57.369 that's gonna Distribute your show to all the 00:45:57.369 --> 00:45:58.929 podcast platforms because there are dozens of 00:45:58.929 --> 00:46:00.809 them I mean everyone knows Apple and Spotify, 00:46:00.889 --> 00:46:05.340 but there are others So we use two tools. We 00:46:05.340 --> 00:46:07.679 use a pod bean, which I think is like maybe 12 00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:10.900 bucks a month. And then used to be called anchor, 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:13.639 but Spotify bought them. So Spotify distributes 00:46:13.639 --> 00:46:17.139 to all the platforms and they take video to YouTube 00:46:17.139 --> 00:46:21.000 is free. You can do platforms where it's free. 00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:24.400 I would even say like, if you don't want to spread 00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:27.960 yourself too thin, focus on YouTube, like video, 00:46:28.059 --> 00:46:31.159 video, video. That's where it's at. Yeah. be 00:46:31.159 --> 00:46:33.780 less concerned with audio only, because audio 00:46:33.780 --> 00:46:38.539 only is really good now, in this stage, as long 00:46:38.539 --> 00:46:41.500 form content, for those that commute, you know, 00:46:41.500 --> 00:46:43.820 like people who are commuting on a half hour 00:46:43.820 --> 00:46:46.420 minimum, want to listen to a show that's the 00:46:46.420 --> 00:46:50.059 length of their commute. But nowadays, people 00:46:50.059 --> 00:46:52.960 listen to podcasts, it's growing every day, they 00:46:52.960 --> 00:46:55.780 say they listen to podcasts on YouTube, not even 00:46:55.780 --> 00:46:58.139 necessarily watching it, you can just listen 00:46:58.139 --> 00:46:59.869 to it. you know, especially if you have the premium 00:46:59.869 --> 00:47:02.710 version of it. So focus on YouTube, that's free. 00:47:03.590 --> 00:47:05.329 Really, it's all your time. You don't have to 00:47:05.329 --> 00:47:08.389 spend any money. The investment would be an equipment. 00:47:08.650 --> 00:47:10.409 You know, I got $100 mic here. You don't have 00:47:10.409 --> 00:47:12.269 to do that route. You know, you get a $20 mic 00:47:12.269 --> 00:47:14.570 on Amazon. Yeah, that's where I started. Just 00:47:14.570 --> 00:47:16.469 read the reviews. If you were like, this sounds 00:47:16.469 --> 00:47:19.289 great. Look for YouTube videos that are featuring 00:47:19.289 --> 00:47:21.070 that mic you're gonna buy if you want to hear 00:47:21.070 --> 00:47:22.949 it. Hopefully they're doing a test in front of 00:47:22.949 --> 00:47:25.800 you. Things like that. Uh, cameras, you know, 00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:27.920 you can get a, you can get a webcam for like, 00:47:27.960 --> 00:47:29.900 you know, less than a hundred dollars, you know, 00:47:30.119 --> 00:47:32.920 uh, Logitech's a great brand, things like that. 00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.960 Um, I recommend getting, uh, you know, I have 00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:39.179 one here clipped on here is, uh, these, these 00:47:39.179 --> 00:47:41.900 lavalier mics. Yeah. Yeah. These are great too, 00:47:41.940 --> 00:47:43.480 you know, because you can just use your phone, 00:47:43.579 --> 00:47:45.599 like put them, put the adapter into your phone, 00:47:45.659 --> 00:47:48.559 use your phone as the camera and just clip, clip 00:47:48.559 --> 00:47:50.820 the microphone onto your chest. There's a lot 00:47:50.820 --> 00:47:52.900 of people I see on YouTube using it now as a 00:47:52.900 --> 00:47:54.869 brand called Holly land. And it looks like a 00:47:54.869 --> 00:47:57.349 little black button. That's my level that I have. 00:47:58.269 --> 00:48:01.530 I mean, you can tell me how much so I think it's 00:48:01.530 --> 00:48:04.929 like 150 bucks or less. So yeah, these things 00:48:04.929 --> 00:48:07.730 are, are nominal, but you know, you could probably 00:48:07.730 --> 00:48:09.710 spend less than a couple hundred dollars and 00:48:09.710 --> 00:48:12.489 get, you know, get going with your podcast. I 00:48:12.489 --> 00:48:15.510 started my podcast on my phone. Like, so my very, 00:48:15.550 --> 00:48:17.969 very first episode was me walking around in my 00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:20.269 basement recording into my phone. And then I 00:48:20.269 --> 00:48:22.829 just uploaded the file. directly from my phone. 00:48:22.909 --> 00:48:26.369 It's that easy. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, that's that's 00:48:26.369 --> 00:48:27.889 what I'm talking about. If you want to go to 00:48:27.889 --> 00:48:29.710 the next level, where's a lot of the clients 00:48:29.710 --> 00:48:33.269 that we serve. Yeah, they spend 2500 to $3 ,000 00:48:33.269 --> 00:48:35.369 a month, but they're not just getting a podcast, 00:48:35.429 --> 00:48:37.190 they're getting marketing, they're getting social 00:48:37.190 --> 00:48:39.829 media clips, stories, real shorts, trailers, 00:48:40.289 --> 00:48:42.090 you know, everything, all the things that you 00:48:42.090 --> 00:48:44.329 see the influencers doing. That's what we do, 00:48:44.530 --> 00:48:47.190 high level clients. But yeah, getting started, 00:48:47.389 --> 00:48:50.300 then it's It's easy. The hard part is the strategy. 00:48:50.599 --> 00:48:53.719 Like put the time in, start with the end in mind. 00:48:53.900 --> 00:48:55.840 Think about like, what's my ultimate goal? What 00:48:55.840 --> 00:48:57.699 am I trying to do? And then work backwards from 00:48:57.699 --> 00:49:00.760 there. That's the strategy. And being consistent. 00:49:01.940 --> 00:49:04.659 Huge. Definitely. In order to be consistent though, 00:49:04.739 --> 00:49:07.659 I recommend this. Block out time on your calendar. 00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:11.460 You start using a calendar for your days, for 00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:13.800 your weeks. So I used to block out and still 00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:16.460 do every Thursday morning to afternoon, late 00:49:16.460 --> 00:49:19.260 afternoon. is podcast time. And then that's when 00:49:19.260 --> 00:49:21.559 people book on my show. That's when I record 00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:24.760 content solo. I just make sure is so I get into 00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:27.880 the cadence and that flow, knowing like, oh, 00:49:28.059 --> 00:49:29.780 you can't book on my calendar, because that's 00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:32.039 when I'm creating content. So that's the only 00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:34.559 way you can get into the rhythm into the to the 00:49:34.559 --> 00:49:37.559 habit. If you block your calendar, let everybody 00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:40.360 know I do not and make sure you record you're 00:49:40.360 --> 00:49:42.400 not you know, you're not eating potato chips 00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:44.840 or doing something else during that time, right? 00:49:45.139 --> 00:49:47.500 You're actually doing the thing that you're saying 00:49:47.500 --> 00:49:50.699 you're going to do. Yeah, yeah, it's key. Well, 00:49:51.019 --> 00:49:54.800 and podcasting is important to your brand, right? 00:49:54.820 --> 00:49:56.400 If you if you really want to start to create 00:49:56.400 --> 00:50:01.719 a brand, I think, but you you talk about your 00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:04.280 branding framework here. And what's the first 00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.679 thing you you you look for when assessing like 00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:10.880 a brand's weakness. And well, before I ask that, 00:50:11.260 --> 00:50:13.000 what do you say to business who are starting 00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:18.300 and don't know how to really start a brand? If 00:50:18.300 --> 00:50:21.739 you're already in business, and you're you're 00:50:21.739 --> 00:50:23.260 you have some clients, right, you're actually 00:50:23.260 --> 00:50:27.619 getting paid. You've already started. You are 00:50:27.619 --> 00:50:30.139 the brand, you know, like, they are now talking 00:50:30.139 --> 00:50:32.099 about you. Because to me, your brand is your 00:50:32.099 --> 00:50:34.940 reputation. Right. And if someone's going, oh, 00:50:34.940 --> 00:50:37.860 hey, you know, I want to go work with, they start 00:50:37.860 --> 00:50:39.739 to say, Hey, I love Michael and what he does, 00:50:39.780 --> 00:50:41.739 you know, he's, he does a great job, you know, 00:50:41.800 --> 00:50:43.599 with, with my books or he does a great job with 00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:46.960 my podcast, whatever it is that you do. If they're 00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:48.780 speaking positively about you, that's your brand 00:50:48.780 --> 00:50:50.780 right there. You're starting to build that reputation. 00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.239 And regardless of people think about a logo, 00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:55.840 right? They think about a website is the brand. 00:50:55.940 --> 00:50:57.860 That's not the brand. The brand is really what 00:50:57.860 --> 00:50:59.900 people are saying when you're not in the room. 00:51:00.059 --> 00:51:03.380 And that's what you need to be very. very precious 00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:06.400 and careful of is like protecting your reputation 00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:11.340 so that you can start to build on that. Over 00:51:11.340 --> 00:51:14.420 time, we'll start to deliver results for you 00:51:14.420 --> 00:51:16.760 because everyone knows you as a good person. 00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:18.659 Everybody knows you to do good work. Everybody 00:51:18.659 --> 00:51:21.619 knows you're reliable. That's the key is like 00:51:21.619 --> 00:51:24.820 I definitely stepped a little bit on top over 00:51:24.820 --> 00:51:27.400 my reputation in the beginning because I wasn't 00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:30.699 protecting and I wasn't being very, very thoughtful 00:51:30.699 --> 00:51:33.579 of it. But putting that out there now so that 00:51:33.579 --> 00:51:35.320 other people don't make the mistakes that I did 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:39.179 is protect that at all costs and ensure that 00:51:39.179 --> 00:51:40.780 you're always doing the right thing. It's called 00:51:40.780 --> 00:51:42.400 integrity, right? He's like doing the right thing 00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:44.900 when nobody's looking. Yeah. Because it will 00:51:44.900 --> 00:51:47.219 go out in the universe. People will sense like, 00:51:47.440 --> 00:51:49.039 oh man, there's something weird happened there. 00:51:49.519 --> 00:51:51.340 Like what did I, they don't see it, but they 00:51:51.340 --> 00:51:54.139 feel it. It's something shady behind the scenes, 00:51:54.199 --> 00:51:57.440 you know? It's a sense. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, 00:51:57.440 --> 00:52:00.400 that's one of the main things that I would recommend. 00:52:01.239 --> 00:52:04.000 Okay. And so the question after that was like, 00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:07.920 how do you assess a brand's weakness? Yeah, so 00:52:07.920 --> 00:52:10.760 so the one of the first things I do when I audit 00:52:10.760 --> 00:52:13.900 a brand is I check out all the socials, right? 00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:17.619 So I look at Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. 00:52:18.179 --> 00:52:21.059 And I try to see and I try to look for the main 00:52:21.059 --> 00:52:24.039 thing is consistency. Are they using the same 00:52:24.039 --> 00:52:26.820 headshot and photo? Are they using the same banners? 00:52:27.199 --> 00:52:29.440 Is their message? You know, their, their, their 00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:31.739 tagline, their slogan, their, their, their mission 00:52:31.739 --> 00:52:34.000 statement. Is it the same or is it all different 00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:36.400 on every different platform? Cause now I'm confused. 00:52:36.699 --> 00:52:41.260 And what happens when a confused buyer is a confused 00:52:41.260 --> 00:52:44.320 buyer never buys because they don't basically 00:52:44.320 --> 00:52:46.320 you're, you're, you're trying to build trust. 00:52:46.840 --> 00:52:48.460 But if somebody's doing one thing and versus 00:52:48.460 --> 00:52:50.739 another thing and you're breaking that trust 00:52:50.739 --> 00:52:53.389 right off the bat, because. They don't know what 00:52:53.389 --> 00:52:55.230 the story is. So they're just going to go on. 00:52:55.409 --> 00:52:57.030 They're confused. They're going to go find somebody 00:52:57.030 --> 00:52:59.429 else. So that's what I always do is make sure 00:52:59.429 --> 00:53:01.610 that, Hey, it looks like you're using different 00:53:01.610 --> 00:53:03.670 photos. Let's get those all the same. Oh, it 00:53:03.670 --> 00:53:05.250 looks like you don't, you have an inconsistent 00:53:05.250 --> 00:53:08.170 message. Make sure that's all the same. And then 00:53:08.170 --> 00:53:11.829 from there, it's really, it's really about figuring 00:53:11.829 --> 00:53:13.989 out who you are. That's the next step is like, 00:53:14.190 --> 00:53:16.409 who am I? And what are my core values? What do 00:53:16.409 --> 00:53:18.869 I stand for? And let me start putting it out 00:53:18.869 --> 00:53:22.449 there with the intention of building trust. Yeah, 00:53:22.989 --> 00:53:25.349 I was trying to find the question I had because 00:53:25.349 --> 00:53:28.329 I was when I do the research, you talked about 00:53:28.329 --> 00:53:30.650 clarity. And that really brought up a question 00:53:30.650 --> 00:53:33.809 for me about clarity. And I'll just use my personal 00:53:33.809 --> 00:53:36.650 story. Is that what you know, starting out, you 00:53:36.650 --> 00:53:40.610 know, you had a sense of what I wanted to do, 00:53:40.610 --> 00:53:44.030 but there was no clarity to what I was doing. 00:53:44.250 --> 00:53:47.469 So I would hodgepodge things, right. And then 00:53:47.469 --> 00:53:49.469 you talked about, you know, being consistent 00:53:49.469 --> 00:53:51.150 with your messaging and your pictures and everything 00:53:51.150 --> 00:53:53.820 that Can you talk about clarity and bringing 00:53:53.820 --> 00:54:00.099 clarity to the brand and the essence of it? Yeah, 00:54:00.099 --> 00:54:02.519 I'll sum it up in this and then I'll expand. 00:54:03.500 --> 00:54:06.679 I always say, if you don't have clarity in your 00:54:06.679 --> 00:54:09.980 message, how do you expect others to have clarity 00:54:09.980 --> 00:54:13.500 in what you do? If you don't get it, if you don't 00:54:13.500 --> 00:54:16.559 know and you communicate in a way that's super 00:54:16.559 --> 00:54:20.420 clear, number one, who you are, and number two, 00:54:20.489 --> 00:54:23.010 who you serve and how you help them. Like, what 00:54:23.010 --> 00:54:25.530 problem do I solve for you? If you don't know 00:54:25.530 --> 00:54:28.949 that, it's going to be really difficult to express 00:54:28.949 --> 00:54:31.630 to others how you can help them. You're not going 00:54:31.630 --> 00:54:34.010 to get them on board. So that's always the first 00:54:34.010 --> 00:54:36.489 thing that I would focus on is like, and I know 00:54:36.489 --> 00:54:38.030 when you're starting a business, it's hard because 00:54:38.030 --> 00:54:40.949 you're kind of trying to figure out which piece 00:54:40.949 --> 00:54:43.409 the market wants. Like you're doing a lot of 00:54:43.409 --> 00:54:44.769 different things. You're testing a lot of different 00:54:44.769 --> 00:54:47.809 waters. So But eventually when you do find a 00:54:47.809 --> 00:54:49.670 thing that people are asking for and you're getting 00:54:49.670 --> 00:54:52.369 paid to do a lot of that versus a lot of what 00:54:52.369 --> 00:54:54.429 you say, you really want to do one thing, but 00:54:54.429 --> 00:54:56.489 people are paying you more to do that. You got 00:54:56.489 --> 00:54:58.050 to focus on the thing that's going to provide 00:54:58.050 --> 00:55:01.349 the money that you need. So that's where even 00:55:01.349 --> 00:55:03.170 if it's not long -term and you're like, man, 00:55:03.170 --> 00:55:06.050 I can't, I can't do spreadsheets or I can't, 00:55:06.349 --> 00:55:08.710 you know, manage people, uh, their accounts all 00:55:08.710 --> 00:55:11.989 for years and years. But if it's working, commit 00:55:11.989 --> 00:55:14.789 to that for a year and say, Hey, I know that 00:55:14.789 --> 00:55:17.070 this is. Get in their head, get in their head 00:55:17.070 --> 00:55:18.929 space and think about what is the problem that 00:55:18.929 --> 00:55:21.809 they have. And how do I communicate that problem 00:55:21.809 --> 00:55:25.170 to the degree where they're like, man, Michael's 00:55:25.170 --> 00:55:28.010 so right. How am I going to, Oh, he knows the 00:55:28.010 --> 00:55:30.090 answers. You're like, this is how I can help 00:55:30.090 --> 00:55:33.010 you. Like, Oh, you feeling this pain? Yeah, let's 00:55:33.010 --> 00:55:35.070 go. Let's go. Let me help you. Like, are you 00:55:35.070 --> 00:55:36.829 disorganized? Like you need somebody to come 00:55:36.829 --> 00:55:39.030 in and help you organize your house. Look at 00:55:39.030 --> 00:55:41.449 me. Like I did all this. I organized it, got 00:55:41.449 --> 00:55:44.190 my files right. You know, committed a, I need 00:55:44.190 --> 00:55:46.809 this by the way. I created a command center in 00:55:46.809 --> 00:55:49.070 the kitchen with the folders and the bills here, 00:55:49.349 --> 00:55:52.150 the junk mail. I'm like, I saw people talking 00:55:52.150 --> 00:55:54.590 about that. I'm like, yeah, that's me. I'm a 00:55:54.590 --> 00:55:56.389 hot mess when it comes to organization. Yeah, 00:55:57.849 --> 00:55:59.809 but if you're speaking about they will show up, 00:55:59.889 --> 00:56:01.429 they'll raise their hand and go, Oh, man, man, 00:56:01.550 --> 00:56:03.909 you're talking. That's me. Me. Thank you. Oh, 00:56:04.030 --> 00:56:06.030 you help with that. Great. Yeah, I'm gonna call 00:56:06.030 --> 00:56:09.099 you. If you have like as a business, you could 00:56:09.099 --> 00:56:11.340 be the like I look at as a you'd be in the paying 00:56:11.340 --> 00:56:13.579 pill You know what I mean? That's their pain 00:56:13.579 --> 00:56:16.719 to their issue I mean, isn't that old -school 00:56:16.719 --> 00:56:18.699 commercials, right? You see like hey you got 00:56:18.699 --> 00:56:20.679 back pain and then they show all the people, 00:56:20.840 --> 00:56:22.860 you know crouched over old people young people 00:56:22.860 --> 00:56:26.219 whatever Okay, we got back Bay and whatever the 00:56:26.219 --> 00:56:30.619 name is for the stupid friend, right? And you're 00:56:30.619 --> 00:56:33.699 like, oh, that's me. Yeah, I need that So we 00:56:33.699 --> 00:56:35.500 just have to do that for ourselves. We are the 00:56:35.500 --> 00:56:37.519 commercial for ourselves. There's nobody that's 00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:38.940 going to be a brand champion. There's nobody 00:56:38.940 --> 00:56:41.380 that's going to promote and sell us the way that 00:56:41.380 --> 00:56:43.820 we can. So we just have to step up to the plate 00:56:43.820 --> 00:56:46.380 and not worry about what people think and just 00:56:46.380 --> 00:56:49.940 go, this is what I do and say it with confidence. 00:56:50.320 --> 00:56:52.639 Say it with authority. Say it with your chest. 00:56:52.920 --> 00:56:56.820 I know I can help you for sure. And if you know 00:56:56.820 --> 00:56:59.059 you can and you're confident in that, one of 00:56:59.059 --> 00:57:00.860 the best tools that I used to use back in the 00:57:00.860 --> 00:57:05.159 day, is, I would still use it, but haven't used 00:57:05.159 --> 00:57:07.219 it lately. He's like, money back guaranteed. 00:57:07.340 --> 00:57:09.780 Like if you're not happy with the services, we 00:57:09.780 --> 00:57:12.480 literally gave back the money to a client. Like 00:57:12.480 --> 00:57:15.099 here, here's a few grand, take it. You're not 00:57:15.099 --> 00:57:19.460 happy? You know, I'd rather you walk away and 00:57:19.460 --> 00:57:24.099 say, I didn't like the service. But they came 00:57:24.099 --> 00:57:26.420 with integrity, and they gave me a full refund. 00:57:27.360 --> 00:57:29.079 There's no way they can bad mouth you and ruin 00:57:29.079 --> 00:57:32.960 your reputation. If you are willing to say, Hey, 00:57:33.119 --> 00:57:35.480 I'm going to eat my own cooking and I'm going 00:57:35.480 --> 00:57:38.079 to show you that I trust in this process. And 00:57:38.079 --> 00:57:39.840 if it doesn't work for you, I'll give you your 00:57:39.840 --> 00:57:42.659 money back. That's good. That's really good. 00:57:42.820 --> 00:57:45.320 And I know that sometimes people like, well, 00:57:45.340 --> 00:57:47.440 how do I find clarity? Where is that? I know 00:57:47.440 --> 00:57:50.239 we talked about earlier, um, sometimes it's in 00:57:50.239 --> 00:57:52.940 the silence, you know, that you'll find that 00:57:52.940 --> 00:57:56.780 and, uh, your prayer meditation or whatever, 00:57:56.960 --> 00:57:59.829 you may find that clarity in that moment. Yeah, 00:58:00.010 --> 00:58:02.449 I have a tool for your audience. Hold on, let 00:58:02.449 --> 00:58:10.010 me grab it. In the silence for sure. Silence 00:58:10.010 --> 00:58:13.510 and prayer I think is great. But to come up with 00:58:13.510 --> 00:58:18.190 the words is challenging. This is something I 00:58:18.190 --> 00:58:21.920 usually give to my paying clients. is these core 00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:23.679 values. If you've never read the book called 00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:25.599 The One Thing by Gary Keller, I highly recommend 00:58:25.599 --> 00:58:29.280 that book, The One Thing. Well, his company produced 00:58:29.280 --> 00:58:31.340 these set of cards, which I think has three or 00:58:31.340 --> 00:58:34.019 400 cards in it. And you can find this on Amazon, 00:58:34.079 --> 00:58:36.980 you can find it on The One Thing's website. But 00:58:36.980 --> 00:58:41.099 it's core values. And in here are words like 00:58:41.099 --> 00:58:47.510 say, hold on, inclusion, or You know, it was 00:58:47.510 --> 00:58:52.170 a balance upside down. Uh, you know, hope, whatever 00:58:52.170 --> 00:58:54.130 it is, it's got hundreds and hundreds of words. 00:58:54.369 --> 00:58:56.349 And what I have my clients do is I say, spread 00:58:56.349 --> 00:58:59.449 this out on the kitchen table or the floor, all 00:58:59.449 --> 00:59:03.550 of the words and then start turning. Cause the 00:59:03.550 --> 00:59:05.610 other side is black. Turn it to the black side 00:59:05.610 --> 00:59:07.710 and say, that's, that doesn't represent me. That 00:59:07.710 --> 00:59:09.190 doesn't represent me. And what you're going to 00:59:09.190 --> 00:59:12.630 find is a dozen to two dozen words that resonate 00:59:12.630 --> 00:59:16.070 with you. And then now you, you've got your. 00:59:17.139 --> 00:59:19.659 roadmap to creating your core values. And I always 00:59:19.659 --> 00:59:22.940 recommend minimum of three to five. Cause if 00:59:22.940 --> 00:59:25.420 you have more than that, it's hard for the human 00:59:25.420 --> 00:59:28.239 brain to memorize a ton of words. And you want 00:59:28.239 --> 00:59:29.800 to just be able to riff like whenever it goes, 00:59:30.139 --> 00:59:32.199 yeah, Hey, oh, this is what I'm about. You know, 00:59:32.260 --> 00:59:34.780 I'm about light and love. I'm about, you know, 00:59:34.980 --> 00:59:37.559 fitness. I'm about whatever it is. You've got 00:59:37.559 --> 00:59:40.139 these words and it's also content for you. You 00:59:40.139 --> 00:59:42.659 can talk about your core values. That's the first 00:59:42.659 --> 00:59:44.480 thing I do with my clients. I'm like figure out 00:59:44.480 --> 00:59:47.099 who you are. and what you stand for. And let's 00:59:47.099 --> 00:59:50.119 talk about it on podcasts. Why does it mean so 00:59:50.119 --> 00:59:53.760 that much to you? Why? Yeah. So we talked about 00:59:53.760 --> 00:59:56.179 podcasts and we talked about brand a little bit. 00:59:56.539 --> 00:59:58.679 How does one, you can take a head take a sip. 00:59:59.579 --> 01:00:04.960 I went for a minute. How do you help your clients 01:00:04.960 --> 01:00:09.840 stand out online? Or somebody's beginning in 01:00:09.840 --> 01:00:12.719 the world of branding their business or podcasting? 01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:15.539 How do you help them stand out online? Yeah, 01:00:15.539 --> 01:00:18.119 it's, it's what you said earlier. Uh, number 01:00:18.119 --> 01:00:20.880 one thing is, is helping them gain clarity. Because 01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:23.519 if you're not clear, others won't be clear and 01:00:23.519 --> 01:00:25.780 they won't work with you. So we have to, that's 01:00:25.780 --> 01:00:27.639 the very first step. And a lot of the people 01:00:27.639 --> 01:00:30.460 think they are clear and then they say all these 01:00:30.460 --> 01:00:33.139 things. And I'm like, I'm confused. Like you're 01:00:33.139 --> 01:00:36.699 saying a lot, right? Let's distill this into 01:00:36.699 --> 01:00:39.440 one phrase. You know, how do we do that? So that's 01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:41.239 really difficult for people. It's becoming easier 01:00:41.239 --> 01:00:44.760 with chat GPT. you know, AI, um, you, you could 01:00:44.760 --> 01:00:47.300 definitely start leaning into that tool to kind 01:00:47.300 --> 01:00:49.739 of gain clarity, just speak to it, you know, 01:00:49.920 --> 01:00:51.880 say, Hey, this is what I'm about. Can you give 01:00:51.880 --> 01:00:53.860 me some core values? That's another great tool. 01:00:53.980 --> 01:00:55.800 A lot of people started using, when I gave them 01:00:55.800 --> 01:00:58.340 these core values, these cards, people would 01:00:58.340 --> 01:01:01.159 take the words and put them into chat GBT. But, 01:01:01.219 --> 01:01:03.539 um, yeah, you gotta gain clarity on who you are, 01:01:03.679 --> 01:01:07.000 uh, which will start to form your message. And 01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:08.860 then from there, you can either create like a 01:01:08.860 --> 01:01:12.909 mission statement, um, Or, you know, you can, 01:01:12.909 --> 01:01:15.510 you know, at least the next step, start to figure 01:01:15.510 --> 01:01:17.989 out who it is you help the most. Like who do 01:01:17.989 --> 01:01:20.469 you serve? How do you help them specifically? 01:01:20.530 --> 01:01:23.570 Like, do you have a tool? Do you have a, you 01:01:23.570 --> 01:01:26.630 know, some sort of course, you know, that, that, 01:01:26.630 --> 01:01:30.010 that they can walk through, uh, that works. It 01:01:30.010 --> 01:01:31.730 worked for you. It worked for others. You got 01:01:31.730 --> 01:01:34.510 case studies. That's the thing too. Get somebody 01:01:34.510 --> 01:01:36.630 to eat your cooking, get somebody to use your 01:01:36.630 --> 01:01:39.250 product, your course, your, your framework so 01:01:39.250 --> 01:01:41.809 that you can get a testimony, like do it for 01:01:41.809 --> 01:01:44.510 free and say, Hey man, all I'm going to do is 01:01:44.510 --> 01:01:47.829 ask you for like a testimony so I can create 01:01:47.829 --> 01:01:50.429 a case study and then start this business, start 01:01:50.429 --> 01:01:53.909 to tell others how it will help you. Yeah. Yeah. 01:01:53.909 --> 01:01:55.690 They need proof, proof of concept. I was going 01:01:55.690 --> 01:01:57.710 to say they need proof. People need proof. They 01:01:57.710 --> 01:01:59.670 need, they can see you, but they, people still 01:01:59.670 --> 01:02:02.269 need the proof of whatever we're delivering. 01:02:03.880 --> 01:02:06.559 One other question is, what do you hope every 01:02:06.559 --> 01:02:09.780 entrepreneur hears in their soul after working 01:02:09.780 --> 01:02:11.739 with you and hearing you here on the podcast 01:02:11.739 --> 01:02:15.179 today? What's the question again, Michael? I 01:02:15.179 --> 01:02:17.980 wrote it down. What do you hope every entrepreneur 01:02:17.980 --> 01:02:22.039 hears in their soul after working with you or 01:02:22.039 --> 01:02:25.679 hearing you on the podcast today? Yeah, I'm going 01:02:25.679 --> 01:02:30.980 to go back to that. It's in your soul, in your 01:02:30.980 --> 01:02:33.449 heart. You know, there's something bigger right 01:02:33.449 --> 01:02:37.510 something bigger than us And those are the people 01:02:37.510 --> 01:02:39.650 I love to work with like people that know there's 01:02:39.650 --> 01:02:42.590 something bigger Now grabbing onto and getting 01:02:42.590 --> 01:02:45.329 clarity on what that is and who that is. That's 01:02:45.329 --> 01:02:49.010 really up to each individual soul but they know 01:02:49.010 --> 01:02:51.849 when they work with me what I believe in and 01:02:51.849 --> 01:02:54.889 What my mission is which is which is great because 01:02:54.889 --> 01:02:56.570 that's what we're talking about here Once you 01:02:56.570 --> 01:02:58.550 gain that clarity you can put it out there without 01:02:58.550 --> 01:03:01.190 fear And let people know because you will begin 01:03:01.190 --> 01:03:03.929 to attract who you are, basically, just like 01:03:03.929 --> 01:03:06.090 anybody who's married, anybody who has a spouse 01:03:06.090 --> 01:03:09.889 or a girlfriend or boyfriend. It's like, everybody 01:03:09.889 --> 01:03:12.550 wants a tent, like you want that, you know, you 01:03:12.550 --> 01:03:14.869 got to become that you want to attract that type 01:03:14.869 --> 01:03:17.269 of person, that type of look, you got to reflect 01:03:17.269 --> 01:03:19.530 that. Right. So it's the same thing in business. 01:03:19.710 --> 01:03:22.630 It's like, you, if you want to attract a certain 01:03:22.630 --> 01:03:25.769 type of client, you have to reflect all the things 01:03:25.769 --> 01:03:28.559 that they want to see. in a business owner in 01:03:28.559 --> 01:03:30.059 someone that's going to solve their problems. 01:03:30.840 --> 01:03:33.960 Uh, so it's not necessarily faking it to make 01:03:33.960 --> 01:03:36.760 it, but there is a degree of that for sure. Because 01:03:36.760 --> 01:03:38.980 if you're just starting, you know, you don't 01:03:38.980 --> 01:03:41.039 have all those things. You gotta kind of still 01:03:41.039 --> 01:03:44.219 have the swag. Um, and, and, and know that you 01:03:44.219 --> 01:03:47.599 can deliver even though you haven't yet. So it's 01:03:47.599 --> 01:03:49.719 a weird, it's, it's a weird transition, but eventually 01:03:49.719 --> 01:03:53.219 you get there for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I had a, 01:03:53.219 --> 01:03:55.619 I'll go with that. I just, I hate it. When people 01:03:55.619 --> 01:03:57.440 told me that growing up, you gotta fake it till 01:03:57.440 --> 01:03:59.960 you make it. And I was like, Oh, that would cringe 01:03:59.960 --> 01:04:02.539 at that. But I get what you're saying. There 01:04:02.539 --> 01:04:05.300 is a transitional space where you're becoming 01:04:05.300 --> 01:04:09.119 this person that you that you're trying to, you 01:04:09.119 --> 01:04:12.679 know, exemplify. And there's a bit of that. So 01:04:12.679 --> 01:04:15.940 yeah, I get it. There's a, I know he's controversial. 01:04:16.119 --> 01:04:19.099 and I was a huge fan up until he lost his mind. 01:04:19.940 --> 01:04:22.960 But Kanye West, I always admired him because 01:04:22.960 --> 01:04:26.280 I knew when he was young, anyone who remembers 01:04:26.280 --> 01:04:28.579 the Dave Chappelle show, when nobody knew who 01:04:28.579 --> 01:04:32.260 Kanye West was, Kanye was still Kanye. Like, 01:04:32.519 --> 01:04:36.280 he acted like the success selling out to millions 01:04:36.280 --> 01:04:40.159 in arenas with multi platinum albums, even when 01:04:40.159 --> 01:04:43.480 he was a nobody. Like I was like, wow, look at 01:04:43.480 --> 01:04:45.320 this guy with the confidence. If you go look 01:04:45.320 --> 01:04:47.639 at the clips when he, I don't even know how young 01:04:47.639 --> 01:04:49.420 he was. Maybe he was still a teenager, but he 01:04:49.420 --> 01:04:51.119 would show up on Chappelle and there would be, 01:04:51.119 --> 01:04:54.119 uh, you know, Erica Badu and there would be, 01:04:54.119 --> 01:04:55.960 uh, you know, uh, a tribe called quest. There 01:04:55.960 --> 01:04:58.820 would be all these successes. He was clearly 01:04:58.820 --> 01:05:02.139 the nobody in the room. Kanye was Kanye. And 01:05:02.139 --> 01:05:05.059 I always admired him for never, for always being 01:05:05.059 --> 01:05:07.980 that, you know, fake it to make it because he 01:05:07.980 --> 01:05:10.769 kind of manifested that he created that. As a 01:05:10.769 --> 01:05:12.750 result of walking the walk and talking to talk 01:05:12.750 --> 01:05:14.489 for years and years and years until finally he 01:05:14.489 --> 01:05:17.750 became that thing. I mean, there is, there is 01:05:17.750 --> 01:05:21.230 proof that it works. Um, I just say like, yeah, 01:05:21.230 --> 01:05:23.750 don't, don't do it where it hurts people. Are 01:05:23.750 --> 01:05:25.570 you doing it where it's really, you're never 01:05:25.570 --> 01:05:27.730 going to become that, you know, don't do that. 01:05:28.489 --> 01:05:32.969 Yeah. Oh man, Eric, everything that you've spoken 01:05:32.969 --> 01:05:34.989 about, there's so much more that we could talk 01:05:34.989 --> 01:05:40.480 about. Um, and, uh, you know, For you, the delivery 01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:42.739 that you have and the experience that you have, 01:05:42.980 --> 01:05:47.280 that you have, we can, again, go for hours. But 01:05:47.280 --> 01:05:49.300 with respect to people's times, and I know when 01:05:49.300 --> 01:05:53.099 people fall off. They'll listen, they'll play 01:05:53.099 --> 01:05:54.760 it and get on the background, whatever, but they're 01:05:54.760 --> 01:05:59.179 not watching. So we're going to wrap up. But 01:05:59.179 --> 01:06:02.380 as your last words here on the Thrive World journey, 01:06:02.800 --> 01:06:05.800 this go -around. Um, what advice would you give 01:06:05.800 --> 01:06:08.320 to someone who, uh, feels like they're late to 01:06:08.320 --> 01:06:11.519 building their brand, um, and too late to the 01:06:11.519 --> 01:06:14.340 game of podcasting? Yeah, I always say it's never 01:06:14.340 --> 01:06:16.739 too late. Uh, even though sometimes it may feel 01:06:16.739 --> 01:06:19.719 like it's too late because if you don't start, 01:06:19.860 --> 01:06:22.480 you know, you'll, you'll, you'll always regret, 01:06:22.679 --> 01:06:24.059 you know, always look back and go, what if I 01:06:24.059 --> 01:06:27.300 did this? What if I did that? Um, versus just 01:06:27.300 --> 01:06:30.179 starting it, like I said, giving it 12 months, 01:06:30.519 --> 01:06:34.309 seeing, um, what What produces, you know, from 01:06:34.309 --> 01:06:38.130 that time and effort and, and, and it will create 01:06:38.130 --> 01:06:39.949 something for you. If you do it consistently, 01:06:40.530 --> 01:06:42.889 if you do it from the heart, if you do it with 01:06:42.889 --> 01:06:45.989 a clear purpose and reason, you know, um, like 01:06:45.989 --> 01:06:48.690 I said, those reasons can at first be money, 01:06:48.909 --> 01:06:51.750 uh, but behind it, if there's something that's 01:06:51.750 --> 01:06:54.170 more meaningful, you know, something with, with 01:06:54.170 --> 01:06:56.849 a higher purpose, it's definitely helpful and 01:06:56.849 --> 01:06:59.329 will become obvious to those who are listening 01:06:59.329 --> 01:07:02.099 to those around you. Uh, but yeah, yeah, that's 01:07:02.099 --> 01:07:04.900 what I would say. Just, just, just start it and, 01:07:05.340 --> 01:07:07.820 and, and, and see where it takes you. See where 01:07:07.820 --> 01:07:10.900 it takes you. Don't be scared. Just get into 01:07:10.900 --> 01:07:15.440 it and, uh, just flow Eric. Um, would you like 01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:17.420 to speak about like your podcast and how people 01:07:17.420 --> 01:07:19.400 can get in touch with you? Yeah, you could find 01:07:19.400 --> 01:07:22.260 me on Eric E. Cabral at YouTube. Uh, you know, 01:07:22.260 --> 01:07:23.980 I'm not at YouTube, but you're on YouTube. I'm 01:07:23.980 --> 01:07:27.300 Eric E. Cabral. Uh, find me there. You saw you 01:07:27.300 --> 01:07:30.659 see my show. Um, I, I, I'm, I'm what they call 01:07:30.659 --> 01:07:34.880 the Cobbler's kids, uh, have no shoes. So I produce 01:07:34.880 --> 01:07:37.900 and create brands for many, many people. Um, 01:07:38.440 --> 01:07:40.639 but we recently started taking our channel seriously, 01:07:40.780 --> 01:07:43.059 my channel seriously. So it's growing. So if 01:07:43.059 --> 01:07:45.320 you could subscribe, that'd be great. Uh, subscribe 01:07:45.320 --> 01:07:48.039 to my YouTube channel, Eric E. Cabral. Uh, yeah. 01:07:48.139 --> 01:07:50.739 And, and, and reach out to me if needed, you 01:07:50.739 --> 01:07:53.800 know, through their comments or my email is eric 01:07:53.800 --> 01:07:56.280 at onairbrands .com. That's an easy way to get 01:07:56.280 --> 01:07:58.420 hold of me. let me know that you you heard me 01:07:58.420 --> 01:08:01.619 on Michael show. Perfect, man. I appreciate you 01:08:01.619 --> 01:08:04.760 being here. Sharing your wisdom, your time, your 01:08:04.760 --> 01:08:09.039 energy. And it was respect, respect for what 01:08:09.039 --> 01:08:11.699 you've done, what you've grown, what you're growing 01:08:11.699 --> 01:08:14.019 and what you're building. And thank you for that. 01:08:14.340 --> 01:08:17.960 And for all you listeners and watchers. The question 01:08:17.960 --> 01:08:21.289 is, what's up? What one word that you want your 01:08:21.289 --> 01:08:23.569 personal business brand to be remembered for? 01:08:24.029 --> 01:08:26.529 Drop those in the comments, you know, leave us 01:08:26.529 --> 01:08:29.810 some messages and speak to Eric, make sure you 01:08:29.810 --> 01:08:33.189 go visit him on his fate, his YouTube page, or 01:08:33.189 --> 01:08:37.430 channel rather, excuse me. And as we say, around 01:08:37.430 --> 01:08:41.550 this time, let's make thriving our new normal. 01:08:41.869 --> 01:08:43.729 Eric, thank you again. Appreciate your brother. 01:08:43.829 --> 01:08:46.789 Thank you. Before you go, I just want to say 01:08:46.789 --> 01:08:48.750 thank you. Thank you for being a part of the 01:08:48.750 --> 01:08:51.390 Thrive Bull journey. Every time you show up here, 01:08:51.609 --> 01:08:54.670 you're choosing growth, clarity, and the deeper 01:08:54.670 --> 01:08:57.130 work of becoming who you're meant to be in this 01:08:57.130 --> 01:08:59.529 world. And if you're ready to reconnect with 01:08:59.529 --> 01:09:02.069 what truly lights you up, I created something 01:09:02.069 --> 01:09:05.689 powerful that can help you. It's called The Empowered 01:09:05.689 --> 01:09:08.289 Path, Seven Days to Reclaim Your Purpose and 01:09:08.289 --> 01:09:11.590 Passion. It's a beautifully designed guided workbook 01:09:11.590 --> 01:09:13.949 that walks you through a week of powerful prompts. 01:09:14.250 --> 01:09:17.949 clarity building tools, and real mindset shifts. 01:09:18.170 --> 01:09:20.989 Now you can get instant access to it today. It's 01:09:20.989 --> 01:09:24.229 a small investment for a huge return. Your energy, 01:09:24.750 --> 01:09:27.989 your clarity, your alignment. And if you want 01:09:27.989 --> 01:09:30.670 to take it deeper, check this out. I'm offering 01:09:30.670 --> 01:09:33.829 a limited number of free 30 minute purpose coaching 01:09:33.829 --> 01:09:36.699 sessions. No pressure. No pitch, just space for 01:09:36.699 --> 01:09:39.380 you to reconnect with your direction, your gifts, 01:09:39.579 --> 01:09:42.300 and what's next. So you can grab the guide and 01:09:42.300 --> 01:09:44.760 book your session at the link in the show notes. 01:09:45.479 --> 01:09:48.100 Let's not just go through the motions. Let's 01:09:48.100 --> 01:09:51.340 really walk this path on purpose. I appreciate 01:09:51.340 --> 01:09:54.119 you. And like we always say, let's make thriving 01:09:54.119 --> 01:09:56.359 our new normal. And I'll talk to you soon.