It wasn't what I learned was it wasn't so much
that I desperately wanted fame and fortune. I
wanted freedom. I wanted freedom to be myself.
I wanted freedom to pursue the things that I
love. I just didn't know what they were. And
I think I think I tried to carry on parallel
lives that a lot of us do that. And say, you
know, I am an actor. I'm a producer. I'm a this
and that. They don't necessarily know what they
are, right? They just kind of give those things.
They may have done those things, but they don't
have like one solid thing. So what people have
been saying in the past is fake it till you make
it. What do you say about that saying? So I think
though the fake it part I don't like because
fake it suggests that it's not you. Well, to
begin to brand yourself, what does that look
like? Yeah, so the the there's only one starting
point the starting point really is no there's
different ways to help people right there's there's
helping feed people by working in a restaurant
and there's helping people that are going through
trauma and You know and there's creativity and
there you have that's where you have music therapy
art therapy that that tends to Combine itself
quite often creativity and healing you know,
energy healing. So, and I think we have to be
a little easier on ourselves in that. From Hollywood
screenwriter to stand -up comedian, PR strategist
and now holistic brand therapist, Hirsch Rapune
has lived many lives, but it was through burnout,
breakdowns and reinvention that he discovered
his true breakthrough. In this conversation,
Hirsch shares how authentic branding and conscious
entrepreneurship can transform not just your
business, but your life. Hey there. Look, my
hope is that the Thravo journey meets you exactly
where you are and helps you rise into who you're
here to be. It's 2025 and this is your year to
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Now, If you're ready to go beyond the episodes,
come join our private Thrive Wheel Journey discussion
group on Facebook. We're walking through a 22
-week series built to anchor each week in intention,
purpose, and meaningful connection. I do so look
forward to hearing your voice and can't wait
to see you in the group. But for right now, let's
get into it. Thank you, Hersh, for being here.
How are you doing? I'm doing great, Michael.
It's great to be with you. Thank you for being
here. And I know, Yvonne, the producer and I
were looking at your story, and it's a remarkable
story. I mean, you've been through all kind of
niches in the world, and it's extraordinary.
Can you just kind of go back a little bit where
you started and just kind of start there? Yeah,
yeah. I would say that, you know, for as long
as I can remember, I wanted to be creative. I
was a creative kid. I was a funny kid. I entertained
people. And I think at some point around seven
years old, I got in my head that my destiny was
to be an entertainer. But and I don't think it
was an impossible. dream so much as the choices
I made in life were not always consistent with
that pursuit. And so the story is really one
of what happens when, you know, when the things
that you think you want are not necessarily aligned
with who you are. And so, you know, first of
all, I was raised in a very devout Jewish family.
Orthodox Jewish family, so there were a lot of
observances, a lot of limitations in terms of
Sabbath observance, kosher observance, things
that really, you know, if you think about it,
they kind of dictate what job you can have because
you can't work on the Sabbath. There's a number
of different holidays. We're in the holiday Passover
now. There's a number of days where you can't
work. So the commitment to the faith comes with
limitations. And I think that part of my struggle
was equating my desire to not be so constrained
with being free to pursue fame and fortune in
Hollywood, basically. And I think that, you know,
it wasn't what I learned was It wasn't so much
that I desperately wanted fame and fortune. I
wanted freedom. I wanted freedom to be myself.
I wanted freedom to pursue the things that I
love. I just didn't know what they were. And
I think I think I tried to carry on parallel
lives that a lot of us do that. We carry on like
parallel lives. So I was working in advertising.
I was living an orthodox lifestyle. married with
three kids, and then also trying to pursue creativity
in whatever way I could. I did some stand -up
comedy. I wrote screenplays because I felt like,
well, if I couldn't do, if I couldn't work on
the Sabbath, but I wanted to be in the entertainment
business, I could write screenplays and then
eventually put myself in the movies that just
didn't shoot on the Sabbath, you know, or whatever
it might be. I would work around it. Yeah. And
the funniest thing, I think, is that sometimes
the worst thing that can happen to you is that
you succeed a little bit. You know, you succeed
enough where no one tells you don't keep writing.
No one tells you don't keep acting. No one tells
you don't keep doing comedy. But on the one hand,
you have a really restrictive lifestyle. And
on the other hand, you have these really you
know, outrageous dreams. And then in the middle,
you have a kind of a family life and the family
life needs to be supported by the rational, grounded
day to day stuff. And so you're you're serving
a lot of different masters. And and I and I found
that that was very draining. And until even when
I moved from New York to L .A., It was draining
still. You know, Michael, sometimes you fall
into a business you didn't expect. So I fell
into the business of doing PR for commercial
production and post companies and artists, directors,
composers, editors. I like doing that. I still
do that to some extent. But in my mind, that
was not who I was supposed to be, right? I was
supposed to be a comedian, writer, Hollywood
guy. And I think that those two things didn't
quite gel. It's like being an agent, but being
an actor, right? You know, you're going to be
one or the other. You have to be one or the other.
You have to be one or the other. And so, you
know, so I think where the real burnout came
was where I was trying to do everything. And
and really achieving only pieces of of each thing.
Yeah, that was that was challenging. Yeah. So
I hear that actually, because I think many people
these days, they don't necessarily have a direct
track to whatever goal or dream that they're
creating for themselves. And they pull from here
and pull from here and trying to figure it out
and in that in that search, you're doing many
things. And those many things that they might
not get you closer to the direction that you
want to go. But then in that process, you're
feeling you feel the burn the burnout, right?
When you experience what was the moment that
you experienced that burnout? And what was the
shift that said, Okay, we have to go to this
new direction. I think that In about 2011, about
2011, I had a successful PR firm in Los Angeles
with three partners. And we went to interview
for a new client that we were going to possibly
bring on, would have been a transformative client
that would have bought a lot of billings into
the company. And something didn't sit right with
us. And on the drive back to our office, one
of us asked, who wants to take on this client?
Because it would be a majority. If three of us
wanted to, we would do it. And nobody raised
their hand, not one of the four of us. And then
another person said, who wants to go to an open
mic? And we all, four of us, raised our hands.
And we went to an open mic in the valley. Do
stand up. And I had done stand up as a younger
man. My partners had one was a technologist,
one was a CEO, one was a CFO. They didn't have
any experience on stage, but we just felt like
we needed to do this. And I think the burnout
of trying to dance so hard to satisfy a client
and, you know, it's Like I can work. I work probably
12 hours a day easy. And it doesn't bother me.
Yeah, I love it. I'm excited to get up at five
o 'clock in the morning. You know, I hope. Yeah,
it doesn't bother me, but I'm doing it for something
I really feel passionate about. And I think at
the time I was twisting myself into so many directions
and feeling that creative bug being stifled and
that kind of You know, I went in and met with
that prospective client and we were like, you
know, that client has a lot of money and they'll
pay us a lot of money, but they're not that great.
And we just felt like, you know, it wasn't going
to work out. And yet with the comedy, there was
this freedom of you could go up on stage, say
anything you want. And as long as it's funny
and you're not hurting anyone, it was like it
was liberating. Yeah. Only thing is, you know,
how do you make how do you turn that into, you
know, how do you turn that into income? You know,
so so there was this weird snap of like, you
know, it wasn't a typical burnout. I experienced
burnout again later, but it was a typical it
wasn't typical, but it was a it was an epiphany
more than anything, except I think you know,
we took it to the extreme. And if we had just
said, you know what? Once a week, let's go do
standup. I think it would have been probably
a good outlet. But instead we were like, no,
we're going to be standup comedians and we're
going to create a production company around it.
And we're going to just like shift everything.
I mean, we had staff, we had, we had all of a
sudden they're working on, you know, instead
of the, instead of working on a commercial campaign
or an event or something. They're working on
on invites to stand up show or they're like,
what's going on? But it was it was fun and creative.
And that and then I think, you know, was therapeutic.
And I wouldn't I in my book, Selling the Truth,
I talk about this period and I say I wouldn't
really go back and do it over because I wouldn't
change where I am. So I wouldn't really Change
it, but it it was a major shift and and I think
that that that was a moment for sure where I
felt like the creative Personality couldn't be
denied anymore Mm -hmm. Yeah Can you did you
feel like you can connect the creativity? with
a way to Earn from your creativity Yeah, well,
I did. See, I think one of the things I didn't
appreciate was that I was always earning from
my creativity. I just thought that I wasn't using
the right skills because I would watch people
on Broadway, people in movies, and I would feel
like that's where I should be. And I would indeed
be comfortable in those situations. I had done
a couple of little things here and there, and
I was always very comfortable. But I held it
in a kind of a higher esteem, you know? Like
it was the dream, right? To be host the Oscars
or be an actor or whatever it was. And I feel
like, so I looked down on the work I was doing.
And when we were in the COVID, in the throes
of COVID, And all my other work as by that time,
I was a creative director. I was working with
sneaker brands all over the world, traveling
all over the world. But when all of that stopped
and I started podcasting and having conversations
like these and, you know, talking to people from
all kinds of businesses and entrepreneurs and
all this that I realized, well, maybe that gift
of talking to people, listening to their vision
of who their brand should be, their personal
brand, and helping them bring that to life successfully.
Maybe that is my calling. Maybe that is my gift.
And that's when I really leaned into it and I
thought, yeah, instead of doing just a standup
comedy thing, I'm on stage giving a very funny,
hopefully entertaining presentation, but I'm
really helping people who are trying to... make
progress with their brands as opposed to going
into comedy clubbing. You just want to make them
laugh, which is great. But I don't even know
that I could do that now. I did it five years
ago. I would go up in a club in New York, LA,
the Funny Bone in Des Moines. It could be anything.
And I would go up and do it like I was a real
comic. But I felt like When I started leaning
into this this Person that I am now it was all
one person the same person shows up at every
party You know, I don't show up at one party
and I'm a comedian in another party. I'm a creative
director in another party I'm a publicist, you
know, I'm I'm Hirsch and I show up as Hirsch
wherever I go and that's who I am So you reconciled
yourself, right? So you talked about You can't
It's in my notes, but I don't want to look at
you talked about doing parallel. You can't be
two people Talk about that a little bit and how
you reconcile yourself in order to get to your
space of reinvention Yeah, well, you know how
when when we show up at an event a networking
event or a Business event or even as even a wedding
even a family wedding you show up and people
say what do you do? And it's amazing to me, now
that I've been studying it for a few years, how
many of us struggle to answer that simple question.
Now, if you're a neurosurgeon, you would say
I'm a neurosurgeon. If you're a postal worker,
you would say I'm a postal worker. But for people
in the entrepreneurial world, it's more difficult.
It's more complicated. You know, people say,
what do you do? And you could say, you know,
well, I I own it. I took over a a production
company or I and I now run that. But then we
also do this. And then I make this bomb for CBD.
I invented this new bomb that uses, you know,
air to cure wounds. And then I also, you know,
I also sell this microphone or, you know, could
be anything. And by the time you're done, people
don't, you know, know what you do. Right. And
or we go in and and you say, Michael, Oh, Hirsch,
what do you do? And I think to myself, well,
Michael has a podcast. I guess I could say I'm
a I should say I'm a comedian because I am a
comedian. I'll go on and be funny. And and then
you're like, oh, well, you know, do you know
anybody who who helps people with brands? And
I would say, oh, I do that. I do that too. I
also do that. So I realized, you know what? That
you only get one chance to make that first impression.
Right. And and I needed. I did. I didn't wasn't
thinking I was going to do this as my, as my
niche, but I said, I need to solve this problem.
I had a website that was two sides, literally
two sides. You could pick the performance side
or you could pick the PR and creative side. And
I was, and it's, you know, it, it was fun. It
was a fun site, but again, who is he? Who is
this guy? So So I had to solve that problem for
myself. And once I could solve that problem for
myself and I could rebuild my website and I could
say, hey, I call myself a holistic brand therapist
because that really is accurate. I mean, I help
people with their entire 360 view of their business
and I organize it and I help them come up with
strategy and language vocabulary around it. And
it's like therapy, because this is how I am.
I care about who they are. I want to know about
their childhood. I want to know all the different
things that influence them, because in there
are all the amazing things that make them unique.
So that's it. But that's all you're ever going
to get. So when someone meets me at a party,
the person who introduces me will say, oh, this
is her. She's a holistic brand therapist. And
when they ask me what I do, I'll say, I'm Hersha.
I'm a holistic brand therapist. And whatever
the answer is, this is what I, what I love most
and what I, what I teach people is that we try
to memorize those sentences, right? I help, I
have one, I have one on my LinkedIn, but I don't,
I can't remember what, what the, what the, you
know, well, you know what I mean? Like it's,
it's, I don't want to memorize it. I, I help
conscious entrepreneurs, you know, uh, I can
tell you what it is, but it, but the funny thing
is, If you ask me what I do, I can actually tell
you a million different ways what I do. And that
is the important thing. So in other words, if
they say, what do you do? And what is a holistic
brand therapist? I say, well, I'm looking at
your entire brand as a human being, as a professional,
as a business. I'm putting it all together so
that the language makes sense, that you have
a strategy to reach the people you need to reach.
Now, that's not what I said a minute ago, but
it's the same thing because it's better to be
fluent in your brand language than to memorize
one sentence. Yeah. And I think that the reason
we can't memorize that sentence is like you just
said about notes and I experienced as a comedian,
you get stage fright. You get a little bit of
stage fright. You know, people, people want you
to recall a specific sentence and you have to
now search your mind for that sentence or keep
it at the top of your mind, in which case you
sound like a robot. Right. You know, right. So
it's a, for me, it's a challenge. Well, it's
just being present. And I think if I'm more present,
um, with the woman talk, who I'm talking with
and that that thing is real for me. it's easier
to just flow. Yeah. And so that's why before
when we talked, I was like, you know, this is
what this podcast is all about and all that kind
of stuff. Like, you know, I could have looked
it up, but I'm like, okay, yeah, just be what
that is. Right. And I just want to ask, before
we go into my next mental segment, fake, like
you talking about, you know, in in the pursuit,
sometimes you're you're many many things and
you you may not be you know the fullness of what
that thing is right and so people walk around
and say you know I am an actor I am a producer
I'm a this and that um they don't necessarily
know what they are right they just kind of give
those things they may they may have done those
things but they don't have like one solid thing
and so what people have been saying in the past
is fake it till you make it what do you say about
that that saying. That's an interesting saying
because I prefer. I prefer learning on the job,
right? Like, I don't think there's any reason
why you should. You should. You know, not not
be compensated when you're delivering a service,
let's put it that way, you know. Like I, when
I had interns, we always paid interns. It was,
you know, it was like I'm an advocate of the
paid intern. I think that's, that's important.
And if we had ones that weren't, they were really,
really just starting out, you know, like, like
kids that you can't hire. So, um, so I think
though, the fake it part, I don't like because
fake it suggests that it's not you. Right, you
know, and I think that if if you're gonna recognize
that the truth is really all you have so if if
you're If you don't know something don't give
somebody bad advice Right, but what I think is
meant by fake it till you make it in some instances
is act as if right is You know No, you're not
an attorney with 15 years of litigation experience,
but you want to be. And you're going to take
it as seriously as an intern or a first year
associate as you would if you were a veteran
litigator. So you're not presenting yourself.
You're not faking it. You're committing to it.
I get the phrase, but I've always been reluctant
to, to buy into it because I think that, uh,
it just limits you because if you're faking something,
that means you're losing the authenticity of,
of who you are. Right. And one of the greatest
moments in, in my standup experience of watching
people was at an open mic where a comedian got
on the stage and He was, it was like one of his
first times and this or just other comics. You
know, he's not really in front of an audience,
but, but you know, he's nervous and he turns
away from the audience and he laughs to himself
with his face to the curtain. And he's like,
you could just make it. Y 'all making me nervous.
And, and everybody laughed. And it was that release
of anxiety and stress that loosened him up. And
then he started talking. Yeah. All of a sudden,
everything went away. All the tension went away.
And he just, and he was alive on the stage. And
I think that that's, that's what we're looking
for. And if we're worried about, you know, trying
to appear like something, then, you know, it
may, it may, it may be too tall in order. Better
to just take it seriously and work as hard as
you can at something. Here on the Thriveville
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are in the show notes. Now tap in and take your
next step toward thriving. Yeah, I agree. I've
always disliked that that saying. Yeah, because
I think if you even if you're like a novice or
something in whatever feel that you're going
into, like just be whatever that is, or be who
you need to be until you reach the fullness of
who you are going to be in that space. If that
makes sense. Yeah, but okay, good. Which leads
me into branding, right? This is your specialty.
And I know that you call yourself a holistic
brand, holistic personal brand therapist, right?
First of all, I know you kind of talked about
it, but what does it mean to help entrepreneurs
align their personal passions with their brand?
Well, this is a perfect segue because when you
talk about being who you are and not faking it,
you know, till you make it, but rather, you know,
grow in front, grow in real life in front of
the people who you're exposed to. That's what
aligning the vision of who you are with your
personal values. Like if I'm Lay's potato chips,
I don't have to have any personal values. You
know, the people who make Lay's, Lay's as a,
you know, Frito Lay company, commitment to quality,
you know, truth in advertising, production and,
you know, ethical treatment of employees, whatever
it might be. Those are their values. But when
you're a person, even if you're the CEO of a
big corporation, you have a responsibility to
yourself to set a certain standard. And so the
idea is my brand as a person should really align
with who I am so that I don't feel like I'm wearing
a mask. You know, I don't want to get up in front
of 150 people and tell them a bunch of stuff
and then get off stage and sink into some other
personality that has nothing to do with that.
That's acting. Yeah, that's acting, which is
great if you're an actor, but it's not it's not
a personal brand. And Elvis Presley said once
they asked him in a press conference about about
his image, you know, being so huge and amazing
and almost godlike. And he said, the image is
one thing and the man is another, and it's very
hard to live up to an image. And that's very
profound. And I've always thought of that when
I think about this, because I think that it's
hard to live up to an image that is too far away
from us. If you are being your authentic self,
do you think that trying to live up to an image
What kind of the thought of that would kind of
dissipate or release you from actually being
trying to do that? I know what you're I know
what you're what you're getting at the for me
For me the biggest challenge was Was not minimizing
the the relationship between the image and the
man. So in other words, if I could do something
really well or impactful, it was important for
me to own that, just as it's important to own
my limitations. And so while I wasn't thinking,
you know, and I'm not talking about the movie
star stuff, the fame bug stuff. I'm talking about,
you know, like more like now, you know, if I
write a book that I feel has tremendous value,
then playing it down too much is a disservice
to the people who I am doing it for. So what
I used to perceive as modesty was maybe an excess
of humility or a little bit of imposter syndrome
or self -loathing even in some cases where we
just don't think we're good enough. And so I've
experienced more of that than my head getting
too big or thinking that I'm I'm striving to
be something I'm not because number one, I'm
not strong. And maybe that's why I wasn't meant
to be like to to be that typical like stage person,
that comedian or actors who I love the whole
profession, everything. But, you know, it's about
them. It's about it's about them being in the
spotlight. And here what I do is put my clients
in the spotlight and Um, that's really my job.
Yeah. And I think that, that the only, the only
thing with the, with the values is I have to
remember, I tell them respect yourself, you know,
have your, you know, don't, don't minimize your
contributions. I have clients that are very humble
and I think it's to, to their detriment sometimes.
So I'll say, don't be so humble. You don't, you're
not at risk of being an a -hole out. So you know,
you're not, you're, you're not So full of yourself
that if you have confidence, people are going
to think you're a jerk. Right. You know, you
usually the people who proclaim too much of their
greatness are just not that great. And they're
they know it and they're afraid to confront it.
So they they keep trying to convince themselves
that they're awesome. But yeah, they puff themselves
up. You talked about. There was a point when
you. Actually, I don't wanna go there yet. I
was gonna talk about when you said you were getting
rid of the fame book, but I don't wanna go there
yet. I don't wanna go there yet. In the world
of branding and someone who is an entrepreneur
beginning to be an entrepreneur, where did they
begin to begin to brand themselves? Like, what
does that look like? Well, first of all, Michael,
I would say that I am I have failed enough that
I am actually fully an entrepreneur. I've earned
the entrepreneurial rank through failure, even
though we don't really call it failure. We call
it learning. We call it valuable experience.
But it sucks either way when that happens. But
but I have gone through that. But as far as where
where you start, which was your question, your
question was where do you start as an entrepreneur?
Yeah, well, to to begin to brand yourself or
what does that look like? Yeah. So the there's
only one starting point. The starting point really
is who are you? Who are you? And that's why I
said about alignment. Who are you? Because not
what do you do, not who you serve, not how you
do it, not how much you charge or how much you've
made. Who are you? Because that's the center
of everything. Then you're like, okay, what are
my values? Not, what are my values in business?
What are my values in person? Right? Like, what
do I think is important? Then you start to build
it out, almost like circles around circles around
circles, like a bullseye. Right? So in the center
is you, and you start to build out these layers
that, if you think about it, are getting closer
and closer to the outside world. Right? You're
in here protected. This is what you are, what
you value, what's important to you. And as you
kind of build these layers on, you start to create
messages that reach the outside world. They reverberate
in the outside world. Now, the stronger that
core is, the stronger your knowledge of who you
are is, the more resonant the message will be.
And what a lot of people do with branding is
they'll say, oh, I'm creating the the Intel brand,
I need a logo for it. I need a list of specs.
I need a color. I need a scheme. I needed all
this stuff. And then I'm a brand. But they don't
do that part where they say, who am I? Then they
get to the end and then they're like, OK, now
who am I? Now, who are we? I've got this. I've
got that. I've got that. And they're and they're
trying to layer that who who am I on top of this
shell of Nothing inside. And that's where they
falter. So when you say like, where does an entrepreneur
start in building a brand? It really is knowing
yourself. And I say before you brand yourself,
know yourself. And there's a chapter of that
in the book because that's the only way you're
going to figure out, number one, what your brand
is. Period and number two how your brand is completely
unique and not like any other brand in the world
You so you have to do that work and that's that's
where I start with my clients. Okay starting
with yourself in that Creation I know that we
make mistakes, right? So do you think that the
mistakes are? Doing that shell, you know trying
to figure out the colors and the brand logo and
all that kind of stuff. Are those the common
mistakes that entrepreneurs, beginning entrepreneurs
make when trying to create that brand? Some of
them make that mistake of the external first.
So they can make that mistake. And another mistake
that people make is guessing at guessing at what
their audience needs or who their audience is,
and then trying to be that. Right now, I kind
of alluded to it by saying you have to know yourself.
But we were talking more about values and all
that other stuff. But what if what if if I look
at somebody who needs a pen and they just they
don't like click pens? I pull all these examples
from my desk. I guess is why I have stuff on
my desk. They they don't like click pens, so
they want a pen that doesn't click. So they go
they go. Yeah, OK, so we know people need pens
that don't that don't. click. I'm going to make
a pen that doesn't click. But if you don't know
what your skills are, know what your genius is,
know what your superpower is, you may be choosing
the wrong customer and the wrong product to make.
And you're going to think, oh, I have to just
I have to please that person with the pit, with
the click, with the pen, because that's a big
market. That's going to have a, that's a big
market. There's a lot of money in there. Well,
you know, you can match yourself with a market
based on the viability of the market, or you
can know yourself, then start researching markets
that already seem to align to you. You know,
then you're start to realize, okay, now you're
picking something that's very close to your heart.
Uh, you know, I, I spoke to a guy yesterday.
His, his whole passion in life is customer service,
customer loyalty. That's his area that he, he's
kind of like, you know, that's his, that's his
thought leadership area. Now there's a lot of
businesses that he can engage in and a lot of
roles he can play in that regard. But he knows
that core thing. And knowing that core thing
means there's a million jobs he's not gonna do.
There's a million businesses he's not gonna open,
because they don't align with that passion. When
you're in alignment, can you sense that? Is there
a feeling that comes along with that? Yeah. What
does that feel like? Because I'm looking at you
know, here's what I'm looking at. There's someone,
a new entrepreneur, and they're like, you know,
they don't know, necessarily know themselves,
but they're finding themselves along the way,
right? This works, that doesn't work. This works,
that doesn't work. And then, you know, it's almost
like a sense of confusion, you know, kind of
chaotic, trying to figure it out. And then along
the way, maybe something clicks. What, what,
what shows up? And how does one experience that?
Do you know? Well, it's interesting that, you
know, you you use as the examples a lot of stuff
that are more about strategy, because trying
something that works or doesn't work is strategy,
whereas the click is, yeah, strategies click
in a place. This strategy works. This one didn't.
That's fine. But that click, that feeling of
clarity is about where you want to end up or
where you want to go. And in order for it to
click, you don't even need to know everything.
You need to know something deeply. So let's just
use that customer service example. Let's say
that he didn't even have any job experience yet
and he just was in a restaurant and knew, Oh
man, I just love the way they take care of the,
I love the way they take care of people. I love
taking care of people that are, are patronizing
a business. I just love it. There's a lot of
different ways to go and they may have a lot
of trial and error and they may have some job.
They may have a job in hospitality and realize,
no, it's not that I want to be in customer loyalty.
No, it's not that I want to open a nonprofit.
Could be anything, but they have that sense of
doing what they love. And I think it's a, it's
a feeling of the, and I can, you know, I can
describe it as like I said before, if it's something
you want to get up and do. And, and let's say
I got to get up and do taxes and I don't, I don't
love that. That has nothing to do with this and
all that. But what's the big picture, right?
I'm getting up most days and doing this stuff.
Yeah. And a few days a year, I got to go hunker
down, you know, and, and, and put myself through
that. Okay, fine. It's all, you know, it's all
a trade off. It's all part of everything. So
I think, so how do you, how do you, let me turn
on you a little bit. Okay. So do you know what
lights you up? What you feel your passion is.
Yeah, so so anything that when I commit myself
to anything, it's it's really about serving people.
I've always. In some form or fashion, I found
it very rewarding to serve people to see like
whatever their needs are, and I and I can supply
whatever the need is, and it's done and they're
like. this is okay, you know, they feel great
about whatever the outcome is. That's that lights
me up. Right. Yeah. And I know that I'm in a
good space when I'm serving people. And so like,
I've, you know, in customer service, working
as a bartender, all things these things. But
there's also the world of creativity that I'm,
you know, that I enjoy. And so that's how I became
an actor and moved out to L .A. and, you know,
did, you know, did my jobs there. And so it was
a mix of those two that makes me feel like fulfilled.
And so I turned that into what I'm purposed to
do. Right. And so this hence this podcast and
my business and things like that. So yeah. So
I know that I like you waking up early in the
morning, you know, five, I'm 520 click ding ding
ding ding every morning, right? I'm like up walking
a dog and you know, doing things and getting,
you know, kind of excited about the day to make
this work so that I can do what I feel like I'm
purpose to do. Yeah, you know what the dog wants?
The dog wants you to be happy, which is the best
thing. about dogs, because I have two of them.
And when I wake up, I got to get them out, too.
Right. And they got to go out and pee or whatever.
But but I also know they really just want to
make me happy. That's kind of what they want.
They want to make the family happy. They want
everybody to be happy. Now, sometimes they're
a little overzealous. But basically, yes, you
know, they want us to be happy. So it's very
helpful. But back to put back to you, you you
you synthesize. Two things that are really important
to you the Creative aspect and the service aspect
and I kind of did a similar thing I loved engaging
with people and talking to people and sharing
with people but I also enjoyed listening to people
and then helping them so All these little skills
that you could just someone could just write
down those things, right? what are things they
love to do, but don't use any jobs. Just write
it down. I love listening. I love helping people
who are in distress. There's different ways to
help people, right? There's helping feed people
by working in a restaurant, and there's helping
people that are going through trauma. And there's
creativity, and there you have, that's where
you have music therapy, art therapy. That tends
to Combine itself quite often, creativity and
healing, you know, energy healing. So, and I
think we have to be a little easier on ourselves
in that sometimes we think there's one thing.
I also had that with the entertainment business.
You think there's one thing and anything else
you can't, you can't do or anything else is not.
Well, no, that's, that's just nonsense. It just
doesn't make any sense. Yeah. None of us can
only do one thing. Right. Sorry. It's not a thing.
It was so funny because when I started my whole
thing, kind of the thing that flows and that
helps me do what I do is that I like to support
people to connect with their purpose. But what
I've learned is that purpose can be purposes.
You can have one purpose in one moment. then
another purpose, another moment, but then there
could be an overall purpose of who we are as
human beings. And which kind of leads me into
what you talked about with on your journey, which
was quantum consciousness. Oh, yeah. Can you
explain what that concept means and, you know,
how you developed in that world? My understanding
of it is and and it came through. You know doing
podcasting my first podcast that I started was
called is called truth tastes funny it's about
surviving and thriving in a chaotic world and
And one of my guests Janet Elaine Schmidt her
name is it is a quantum consciousness accelerator
That's what she does and she brings people into
I mean awareness is is helpful, but A lot of
people don't even understand the process, but
the goal is to get them in touch with the universe
at large, almost. You know, we could say there
are people who say, oh, well, we can we can have
contact with the beyond or we can have, you know,
past life experiences or we can have. But I think
the notion is basically that or or we could say
from a religious point of view, you know, Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, you know, Hinduism. And
we can say, We want to, we want to connect that
way. But this is like, if you think of the universe
as being so vast and so enormous, but we have
almost this direct line to the source, to the
energy source of it. And it can clear up a lot
of confusion that we may have about certain things.
So there's something that she does called goal
balances where You have certain things that bother
you, that irritate you, that block you, and the
goal is to replace those things with the things
that are more helpful and productive. So there's
a semblance to hypnosis, although you're not
hypnotized or asleep or anything like that, but
you are opening yourself up to really believing
an idea that you want to believe, but haven't
been able to believe. And so the idea is for
the universe to kind of support that notion.
Because let's say that the notion was that I,
I have all these skills and talents, but you
know, I really do want to be championing other
people's, uh, successes, you know, which is what
I have done my whole career, but but I was, you
know, I was kind of like distracted by this other
thing. And when I did the quantum consciousness
stuff, I didn't address that even specifically.
I just addressed things that may have been in
my genetic makeup, things that may have been
in my life that I may have experienced, things
that would have held me back from my true purpose.
And I just wanted to clear those those things
out because they had created all this doubt and
all this doubt in myself. Yeah. And you can succeed
and still be doubting yourself. And that's what
I had done with those other companies, you know,
but like I said, you only, I would only, you
know, achieve maybe a modicum of success or,
or I would self -sabotage in some way, uh, hold
myself back in some way. Um, And I think that
cleared it up was like a way of acknowledging
that there's good news that you're kind of not
listening to. There's stuff that you can do that
you're kind of fighting. And so I think that
part of it is tied to meditation, energy, healing.
And I don't know enough about this stuff to be
an expert on it. I only know that I have really
enjoyed and continue to enjoy the journey of
the unconscious mind and how much power we, we
can wield over our destinies. If we're willing
to, you know, let our mind free a little bit,
set it free. Don't, don't, don't, if we're stuck,
you know, then allow ourselves to get unstuck.
There's enough for us to hold on to that we're
not going to lose our entire grip of reality.
There's enough reality in the world that we're
not going to get away from all of it. So just
free your mind a little bit and think of a world
in which you can align with the universe. Is
that a line? Well, does that connect with the
world of now? This is the group that I started
which is called conscious capitalism long time
ago, but then since then it just kind of I just
Life happened, right? and Will that kind of bridge
the world of conscious? entrepreneurship that
you talk about and How does that how does that
connect? It connects simply from the point of
view of not thinking. And it's funny because,
you know, really it's based on my personality.
It's the kind of people that I attract. I attract
people who care about other people. That's really
it. And the people who don't care about other
people... are very easily bored with anything
that I talk about. They're not interested. They're
really not. They want to hear how they can get
more and they can have more and they can have
more. They're not interested about anybody else.
And so I think that conscious entrepreneurs are
really that. They're aware of others as being
significant. And so they're aware that there's
a greater good. It doesn't mean that they shouldn't
make money. It doesn't mean they shouldn't have
all the things they want or they shouldn't pursue
things that make them happy. It just means they're
aware of more out there than just them. And I
speak to those people because I think I've always
been aware of it, and I don't know how to become
unaware. It's very hard to be unaware of something
you're aware of. Once you become aware. Right?
Right? You know? Yeah. That's why they say ignorance
is bliss, because you can't recapture it. Exactly.
Exactly. Well, I'd rather be aware and woke,
I guess. Yeah. So you took your, yes. Brand and
I found this your line, which is you help conscious
entrepreneurs reposition their personal brand
to command premium fees attract media opportunities
and become the go -to expert in their industry.
This is what you're about. This is what you do
Talk about that a little bit more if you can
Yeah, so it's at first glance given the fact
that I was talking about all this conscious stuff,
right? We would say, oh, well, why would they
care about premium fees? Why would they care
about being paid a certain amount? Because our
businesses that we create should be allowed to
thrive and should be allowed to provide for us.
You know how I said You know to a humble client,
you know, you're not gonna be an a -hole. Don't
worry about it Well the people that I work with
don't really have to worry about being a -holes
what they have to worry about is Asking for the
money they deserve and quite often they are even
if they're successful undervaluing themselves
and So if they're getting those if they bring
themselves to say well, I get this I deserve
this my time is worth this They're already that's
half the battle. So that's why I state that the
premium fees that they should be paid are are
things that they will be positioned for when
they work with me on their brand. OK. And then
there's the fact that they want to be. They want
to have a voice that is worth listening to. So
speaking opportunities, media opportunities.
Not every speaking engagement is an incredible
opportunity. So knowing who they are again, knowing
what their message is, what is their keynote
about? They could get coaching from someone else
on stage presence and things like that. I mean,
I'll do that unofficially, but there are people
who specialize in oratory skills, stage presence,
but none of that means anything if your core
keynote concept isn't fully aligned with who
you are and fully aligned with your brand. And
so I help them do that. And I help them with
their podcasts. I help them with their books.
I help them with any outward facing endeavor
that they might have. And that's where that comes
from. And then being the go to expert is probably
what I would really say is thought leadership
in the sense that we have this idea that thought
leadership means you're changing the way the
world does X. It's not really that. It's that
nobody thinks exactly like you. And if you can
approach your business with that kind of originality
of thought and freedom of thought and confidence,
then you are a leader in that way. And in order
to be that leader, you have to have the right
message. You have to have the right vocabulary.
You have to have everything has to fit. It's
like a finely tailored suit, right? It has to
fit. It has to be that thing where you put that
jacket on and it doesn't need any work. You know,
I've I'm kind of stocky when I would go when
I was younger, I would go shopping. I've never
felt like I could put a jacket on and it wouldn't
need something. And it was a terrible feeling.
You know, yeah, we'd need tailoring. But every
now and then there was something I would put
on and it would just fit like a glove. And that's
the feeling that that I want my clients to have
when they walk out on a stage as. X, you know,
when they do, when they host a podcast, guest
a podcast, write a book, you know, read their
own book. I want that fits like a glove feeling
to be connected to them at all times. And that's
what the go -to expert in your marketplace is
because there's going to be something that you
do, something that you know, some way you go
about it that is really definitive. and really
just really presents for you on your behalf.
Yeah. As you were describing and talking about
that, I was just imagining, you know, just had
that visualization in my head. Um, and then what
that would feel like to me, it would be, um,
just, I don't know, just comfortable and full
of who I am in that just being completely authentically
myself in that, in that space. Um, That's what
that would that feel like a glove feeling yeah
Yeah, yeah and off of off of the back of that
What do you see is the most critical skill an
entrepreneur? Should develop in the coming years
to say come to stay competitive and successful
The the the constant ability to gain knowledge.
There's knowledge that you can gain that that
has not even presented itself yet. And I'm not
saying that everybody needs to be a technological
genius technology. You know, sometimes we love
it. Sometimes we hate it. It's not about that.
There is so much to learn and and and I will
say on a more humanistic level The reason I think
it's so important for us to learn and for us
to learn continuously and for us to teach our
children how to learn Is that we need it to survive?
We cannot rely on anyone else's information to
help us or save us and so the only way we can
we can prevail and succeed, thrive, survive is
to be responsible for gaining knowledge. And
that, that's, that's what will make what I call,
I, you know, on a professional level, I call
it ever evolving achievement. You know, you're
just always evolving. So it's not like I had
10 clients. Now I have 20, now I have 30, I have
40, I have 50. It's I've learned this and I've
applied this. Now I know this. Oh, now I know
this. Now I have this to share. And you have
all this stuff growing, growing, growing, growing
so that you always have more stuff to share.
And that's that's the the most important skill.
Growth of knowledge. I like that. For the last
question, what is as your last words on this
podcast, what's on your heart? What is it? What
is that you want to share? with people. I would
say what I call positronics. Positronics means
it's kind of based on Isaac Asimov, the iRobot
novel, Bicentennial Man, all of that, being a
kind of a sentient robot, a robot that can feel,
right? A brain that can feel, but that cannot
harm anything else. In other words, the impulse
is always to to be kind. And so the positronic
idea is that we have to design ourselves to add.
Yes, the positivity of yes brand, you know, yes.
And the improv idea, you know, we're adding,
we're adding. So my what's on my heart. now more
than ever is add to the goodness in the world.
If it's not adding to happiness, if it's not
adding to self -esteem, if it's not adding to
the overall goodness quotient in the world, then
what is it? What are you doing? You're merely
eliminating things. The world doesn't need to
have elimination. of anything. It just needs
more good. You know, so I wouldn't even tell
people, don't be bad. Don't do this. Don't do
that. No, but just only do good pretty much,
you know, that that covers it. Yeah. So if you
think about it as something you're building and
not taking away from every word out of your mouth,
every gesture, every call you take, every meeting
you make, you do is going to be with the express
purpose. of injecting positronics into this amazing
machine that is the universe. Yes. The universe.
Hirsch, thank you so much for the knowledge that
you shared and your time and being here. I know
you have your own podcast, which is Truth Tastes
Funny, right? Yeah. And then how else can Are
people get in touch with you or connected with
you? Yeah. So truth tastes funny. There's also
the Yes Brand podcast, which is about kind of
adventures in brand building. But they can find
everything at YesBrandBuilders .com. That's the
name of my firm and everything's there. The podcast,
the book, if they want to pre -order the book,
you know, everything's on there. Some comedy
clips for fun. Okay, I like it. I like it. I
like it. So there's a lot of ways to get in touch
with you. Listen to his podcast, one of the other
or both. And the question that I have of the
week for you watching and listening. If you're
struggling with burnout or trying to reinvent
your business, what's one actual step that you
can take today to begin your journey? Leave those
comments down below. And as we always say, let's
make thriving our new normal. And we'll see you
next week. Again, thank you, Hersh. Appreciate
you being here. Thanks, Michael. Before you go,
I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being
a part of the Thrive Bull journey. Every time
you show up here, you're choosing growth, clarity,
and the deeper work of becoming who you're meant
to be in this world. And if you're ready to reconnect
with what truly lights you up, I created something
powerful that can help you. It's called the Empowered
Path. Seven days to reclaim your purpose and
passion. It's a beautifully designed guided workbook
that walks you through a week of powerful prompts,
clarity building tools, and real mindset shifts.
Now you can get instant access to it today. It's
a small investment for a huge return. Your energy,
your clarity, your alignment, and if you want
to take it deeper, check this out. I'm offering
a limited number of free 30 minute purpose coaching
sessions. No pressure, no pitch, just space for
you to reconnect with your direction, your gifts
and what's next. So you can grab the guide and
book your session at the link in the show notes.
Let's not just go through the motions. Let's
really walk this path on purpose. I appreciate
you. And like we always say, let's make thriving
our new normal. And I'll talk to you soon.