WEBVTT 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:11.220 All right. Hey guys, I'm Matt major from growth 00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:14.599 mode content. Welcome to another edition of good 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:18.059 news York I am very excited because next to my 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.359 good buddy Mike. Hi. Good morning. Good morning, 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.859 buddy evening Evening afternoon with a podcast 00:00:22.859 --> 00:00:24.660 people could be listening to this at like 4 a 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.699 .m Just guess what time it is. But if you're 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.260 listening us at 4 a .m. My way better things 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:34.100 Joining us in the studio is one of my most favorite 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:39.159 humans on the planet His name's Dakota He's from 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:44.359 the Oswego area, but doesn't live there anymore. 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:47.259 But he comes and he graces us with his presence, 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:49.380 and we're able to learn so much and have a great 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:51.920 time. So Dakota Malone, welcome to Good News 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.700 York. Dakota Malone, welcome to Good News York, 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:55.299 buddy. Thank you. So pumped to be here. Dude, 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:57.840 listen, I don't want to put the pressure on, 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.039 but these guys, Danny, our great producer Danny 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.219 Tripodi, and Matt have really spoke very highly 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.409 of you, and obviously... In the research process, 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:09.049 I saw a lot of the things you were doing. So 00:01:09.049 --> 00:01:10.549 we're very excited to have you on the phone. 00:01:10.810 --> 00:01:12.890 The bar's been set high. They've talked you up, 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:15.530 man. OK. Well, listen, here's what's interesting 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:17.129 about this, guys. He's got so many different 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:20.150 things going on. We only have so much time, so 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:22.510 I need to be respectful and try to pick the best 00:01:22.510 --> 00:01:25.170 elements of everything. But before, we should 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:26.750 kind of give some people some context. So if 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:28.709 you wouldn't mind, buddy, just give us the general 00:01:28.709 --> 00:01:31.109 pitch of what you do, how you spend most of your 00:01:31.109 --> 00:01:33.359 time, and we can get into it from there. Awesome. 00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:36.120 Yeah. Cool. Well, my name is Dakota. Again, thank 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:37.900 you guys so much for having me. Our pleasure. 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:40.879 I've been a fan of the show since day one. I 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.760 was talking to Matt before we kind of started. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.359 I was like, hey, good luck with everything. I 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:46.599 don't know if you remember our first live broadcast 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:48.900 at the fairgrounds. I told you one of my buddies 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:51.379 texted me out of the blue and said good luck 00:01:51.379 --> 00:01:53.959 and congrats and like how awesome that was. That 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:55.900 was him. That was him. Oh, dude, thank you. That 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:57.819 was me. We were nervous as hell. So that we needed 00:01:57.819 --> 00:02:00.000 that. And even before this, I was thinking about 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.599 this because I just got off my flight here. I 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:05.299 was thinking about why I love you so much, Matt. 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:08.780 And when I first met you, you were talking about 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:11.819 this show before it was a thing. And one of the 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.020 things I admire about entrepreneurship in general 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.800 is the ability to solve problems and actually 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.500 create solutions. And I remember when we first 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:23.240 met, Matt was like, man, I'm so sick of these 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:25.879 bullshit media channels and bad news. And it's 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:27.620 like, I just want to create something that just 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:30.960 talks about good news. And I remember you saying 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:35.009 that. And fast forward, what, maybe three, four 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:38.050 years ago at this point, it's like, here it is. 00:02:38.310 --> 00:02:42.110 The studio's built. You've literally renovated 00:02:42.110 --> 00:02:46.189 your home base for what you're doing in IT and 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:49.150 created the solution. And so first and foremost, 00:02:49.330 --> 00:02:50.789 thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:52.069 bringing things to life. I very much appreciate 00:02:52.069 --> 00:02:56.990 that. I think it's so cool and inspiring. I spend 00:02:56.990 --> 00:02:59.979 most of my time I'm getting married this year. 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:03.520 So yeah, yeah I try to be the best fiance I can 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.740 be and really leaning into such a good guy. No 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:10.379 You know, I might I'm hello Heidi if you're watching 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:16.699 this hi, I love you Yeah, sorry No, so, you know, 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.800 I spent a lot of time with my fiance. I moved 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.659 to st. Louis. I'm originally from Central New 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:22.919 York I always tell people I grew up in between 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.599 two cornfields in the middle of nowhere. I went 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.259 to Hannibal High School. I graduated with you 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:33.439 know, 99 kids in my class. And it was an interesting 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:35.460 upbringing. You know, I went to community college 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:38.580 15 minutes down the road. And it's so funny because 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:40.400 I share with people that was really the first 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.159 time my mind had expanded beyond the cornfields 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.400 where I grew up. But I was like, whoa, diversity. 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:49.340 like different opinions and it really opened 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:53.280 me up and you know then I started my career in 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.659 you know what I now do in the renewable energy 00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:57.979 space but as a door -to -door salesperson and 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:00.139 that brought me all over the country all over 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:03.680 the world and really expanded my vision for what 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.560 was possible for me what I wanted to do with 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:09.919 my life and you know that plus uh an epic journey 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.250 of five -heart surgeries, which Danny knows and 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:16.709 Matt, you know. I do not know. Many deaths in 00:04:16.709 --> 00:04:19.389 between and lots of ceremonies. He's like a cat. 00:04:20.889 --> 00:04:24.149 Sky. Yeah. And that's ultimately how I ended 00:04:24.149 --> 00:04:26.529 up doing what I do now, which I run a company 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:28.949 called Community Solar Authority. We help large 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:31.850 energy users with their sustainability strategies. 00:04:32.350 --> 00:04:35.189 And so in between, I'm hanging out with my fiance, 00:04:35.750 --> 00:04:38.790 exploring and traveling when I can, entrepreneurship. 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:41.860 Yeah, I'd say that's a little two -minute bio. 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:45.160 Beautiful. I met this guy on a boat in Miami. 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:48.319 And I got on the boat. He was already there. 00:04:48.899 --> 00:04:52.339 He was already there. And I got on the boat. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.639 And on the bow of the boat is this guy in a leopard 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:59.040 print, shirt and shorts, sitting cross -legged, 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:01.560 meditating, looking out of the water. And I said, 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:04.519 you know what? This guy's going to be all right. 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:08.839 And it was absolutely true. It was a great time. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.439 Dakota, what I love about you, and again, there's 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:14.120 so many different things that we can talk about, 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.120 but I wanna dig into just a little bit of your 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:23.019 strategy, because for some context, some months 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.199 ago, I don't know, a year ago, time doesn't work 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:27.319 for me anymore, but a while back, you came here, 00:05:27.339 --> 00:05:30.259 you put on a presentation for a bunch of us on 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:32.560 social media and content and things of that nature, 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:35.269 and... A couple of the things that you said in 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:37.089 that particular training has stuck with me, has 00:05:37.089 --> 00:05:38.889 become actually part of our business model here 00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:42.509 at Growth Mode Content. And I wonder if you could 00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:45.110 talk a little bit about that. Specifically, you 00:05:45.110 --> 00:05:48.529 mentioned to us how, as you create and curate 00:05:48.529 --> 00:05:51.230 your content, it's not to go viral, it's not 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:53.629 to get... 10 million views, but it's more to 00:05:53.629 --> 00:05:55.949 build a detailed profile for the folks who are 00:05:55.949 --> 00:05:58.370 already kind of looking into you. And I don't 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:00.490 know if, and forgive me if I'm not saying that 00:06:00.490 --> 00:06:02.529 right, but could you talk about that concept 00:06:02.529 --> 00:06:05.410 a little bit of just kind of your strategy for 00:06:05.410 --> 00:06:08.029 growth and what you've done on social for your 00:06:08.029 --> 00:06:10.230 business? I love this question because it's so 00:06:10.230 --> 00:06:12.629 relevant. I just had a guy reach out to me a 00:06:12.629 --> 00:06:15.089 couple weeks ago and he's like, hey, He did a 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:17.050 whole, and I really appreciated the work that 00:06:17.050 --> 00:06:18.850 he did. He went through and watched every single 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:21.189 podcast I've done, all of my content, all of 00:06:21.189 --> 00:06:23.810 my YouTube shorts, put it into this pretty package, 00:06:23.870 --> 00:06:26.470 and basically said, hey, I want a revenue share. 00:06:26.610 --> 00:06:28.949 I can become your content strategist and SEO 00:06:28.949 --> 00:06:31.069 partner. We can do all of this stuff, et cetera. 00:06:31.430 --> 00:06:33.069 And I was like, this is a great presentation, 00:06:33.129 --> 00:06:36.930 but I'm not trying to go viral. And we actually 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:38.990 really flipped the content model on its head, 00:06:38.990 --> 00:06:41.829 because as you just mentioned, Matt, when I think 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:45.779 about building content, Think about showing You 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:47.860 know the four to five people it's going to matter 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:51.180 to so our YouTube shorts They get nine to thirteen 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:54.019 views, but those nine to thirteen people are 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:58.220 some of the you know decision makers at the largest 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:01.560 clients that we can even dream of and Unfortunately, 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:03.459 I'm under NDA at this point so I could just leave 00:07:03.459 --> 00:07:05.259 it at one of the largest companies in the world 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:07.540 But this just happened to us you know three weeks 00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:10.300 ago. I made a maybe maybe a month ago at this 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:13.279 point I post on LinkedIn. I was like I just posted 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.480 episode 65 of my podcast and three people listened 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.920 to it. Like nobody listens to it. And then a 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:22.639 week later I get a DM in the Bahamas and it was 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.839 like, Hey Dakota, I just heard your, you know, 00:07:24.939 --> 00:07:27.620 episode. I want to connect. And it's, you know, 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:29.980 with one of the largest energy users in the United 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:33.560 States. And they're like, we appreciate your 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:36.980 expertise. We appreciate your value first approach 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:40.199 and we want to understand how we can work with 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:42.990 you. And that's always been the method to what 00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:46.649 I do is not trying to go viral or come up with 00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:49.550 the greatest hooks, but really to put the education 00:07:49.550 --> 00:07:52.610 first and build a community around that. And 00:07:52.610 --> 00:07:56.410 I think about if 20 people watch your video for 00:07:56.410 --> 00:07:58.829 people that are just starting or people who have 00:07:58.829 --> 00:08:01.649 a backwards strategy like me, if you have 20 00:08:01.649 --> 00:08:04.110 people watch a YouTube short or a piece of content, 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:07.209 If you imagine this room filled with 20 people, 00:08:07.230 --> 00:08:10.529 that's an audience. That is an audience. It just 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:12.509 comes down to getting it in front of the right 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:15.970 people. And so for me, I make hyper specific 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:18.589 niche content. Our clients right now are essentially 00:08:18.589 --> 00:08:20.649 large energy users in the states of New York 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:23.889 and Illinois. And so that total addressable market 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:26.149 is only so many people. It's not hundreds of 00:08:26.149 --> 00:08:28.600 millions. It's not millions. It's probably not 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:32.080 even tens of thousands. Yeah It is like less 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.860 than a thousand people that we actually want 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:36.740 to connect with and so for us I make the content 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:39.220 first and then I just send it directly to them 00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:40.940 and a lot of the other stuff I taught in that 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:44.000 LinkedIn class or social class was you know, 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.940 like I'll send voice notes to again some of the 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:50.960 biggest decision makers at companies, and to 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:52.679 this day they don't receive voice notes. They 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:56.120 receive a massive block of text the immediate 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:57.899 second you connect with them on LinkedIn, and 00:08:57.899 --> 00:08:59.940 it's like, hey man, let me sell you something. 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:01.779 And it's like, I know you're a huge fan of them. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:05.620 Big old pitch slap, you know? So it's a combination 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:07.879 of doing things differently, but then also like 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:10.419 addressing them with actual value. And again, 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:13.700 they go to the podcast and even though only three 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:16.220 people listen to it, they see, wow, this guy's 00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:19.419 put out 70 plus episodes, 10 minutes each of 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.580 hyper -specific niche content of problems I'm 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:24.200 trying to solve for. So that's kind of how I 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.500 think about strategy. It's so brilliant from 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:29.080 my perspective because when I got hired here, 00:09:29.179 --> 00:09:31.600 I had a... I kind of had the point of view about 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.559 social media that most people do. And what I 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:36.360 learned from Matt, which now I'm learning, I 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:39.659 in turn learned from you, is that I compare everything 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:41.159 to what I've known, which is I've always been 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:43.340 in front of a microphone on stage my whole life. 00:09:43.779 --> 00:09:47.440 And I remember there were times when my band 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.779 would play for, I don't know, hundreds of people. 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:53.620 Maybe 5 % were interested. Then there were times 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:56.059 where we played for 20 people who were fucking 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:59.490 losing their mind. And we were like... That's 00:09:59.490 --> 00:10:03.389 way better. It's almost like what I've learned 00:10:03.389 --> 00:10:05.750 from you and you is that it would be like opening 00:10:05.750 --> 00:10:08.429 a restaurant, but we're marketing to people across 00:10:08.429 --> 00:10:11.110 the country. Why aren't we marketing for around 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:13.929 us? People don't think about it. We think about 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:16.509 viral, we think about views, and it's like, how 00:10:16.509 --> 00:10:20.830 about meaningful views? I love that. I see it 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.049 as like a resume. You know what I mean? Everybody's 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:25.149 got their resume online somewhere, but nobody's 00:10:25.149 --> 00:10:27.409 Googling around and randomly discovering resumes. 00:10:28.309 --> 00:10:30.049 When someone reaches out to me and says hey, 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:31.870 I want to apply now you're looking in and you're 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:35.370 digging deep and that that kind of bank You know 00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:36.929 in one of the things that we talk about what's 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:40.090 interesting is I want to say I got into an argument. 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:41.610 I didn't get an argument. I didn't say anything 00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:44.909 back I I I kind of went off on this guy on LinkedIn 00:10:44.909 --> 00:10:48.570 last week traditional marketing guy traditional 00:10:48.570 --> 00:10:51.960 video marketing guy He puts out this post, video 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:55.539 podcasts are dead. And then he goes into details 00:10:55.539 --> 00:10:58.440 how the reason they're dead is because they're, 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.779 you know, not getting as many millions of views 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:04.720 as they were, you know, whatever. And you can 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:06.240 pick stats in different times than any of those 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:08.340 and make those say any either way you want to 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:11.519 go. But, you know, the whole point of my kind 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.860 of reply there that I posted was exactly what 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:17.500 we're talking about. The reason we do this, it's 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.120 not like really any other medium. And it doesn't 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:22.100 replace those. I think that's the thing that 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:24.580 a lot of people, they think it's in competition. 00:11:25.539 --> 00:11:28.440 This is not taking the place of your billboard 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.740 or your TV ad or your search engine ads and things 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:34.659 like that. This is a different piece. And what 00:11:34.659 --> 00:11:37.500 it does is develop that long -term content of, 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.500 who are you? We can all pitch our product, and 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:42.320 here's a great sale, and here are the features. 00:11:43.040 --> 00:11:45.519 But at the end of the day, especially with something 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.659 like your business, very in -depth, high -ticket, 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:51.559 serious stuff, you want to know who you're working 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:54.799 with. Is this some schmuck fly -by -night who 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.039 got this job yesterday and he'll be moving on 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.460 to the next one tomorrow? No, this guy's a genuine 00:11:59.460 --> 00:12:01.899 industry expert. He's respected by others. And 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:04.139 you can see that just from the conversations 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:06.259 that they have. And that's the piece that I've 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:08.899 tried to get across. And I think, luckily, all 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:12.090 of our growth mode content client creators Get 00:12:12.090 --> 00:12:14.389 that and they understand and have already seen 00:12:14.389 --> 00:12:16.710 the value of of letting people know who they 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:18.649 are Yeah, even sometimes without even mentioning 00:12:18.649 --> 00:12:22.070 the product. Yes. Yeah. Yeah beyond the billboard 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:24.809 beyond the you know, however else you market 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:27.970 Those pieces of content is an integrated approach, 00:12:28.009 --> 00:12:29.769 especially if you're a local business back at 00:12:29.769 --> 00:12:33.330 the restaurant point Yeah, there's a lady in 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:35.909 St. Louis. She's about an hour north. It's called 00:12:35.909 --> 00:12:39.570 Judy's pancakes and her stuff goes viral because 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:44.159 She takes the hook and has and you know, like 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:46.679 whatever those jump cut hooks where like they're 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:48.419 like get water thrown on them. And then she's 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:50.899 like, come get my pancake. Sure. But she sends 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:55.279 all of that traffic through Facebook ads locally 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.580 and then uses that to drive as an integrated 00:12:57.580 --> 00:12:59.919 approach. And then you add things like podcasting 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.259 and content and you do get to see the human behind 00:13:02.259 --> 00:13:05.019 it. So now it's not like. Oh, there's a billboard 00:13:05.019 --> 00:13:07.620 for XYZ. It's like, oh, no, I just saw a clip 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:09.899 of them talking about their family or whatever 00:13:09.899 --> 00:13:12.240 it is. And all of a sudden, I'm way more likely 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.820 to do business with them because I know I know 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.559 them now, even if it's not like a known first 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:20.220 person connection. It's I know that's right. 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:22.340 And that makes a huge difference. Absolutely. 00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:25.299 It absolutely does. What are the other things 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:27.820 I want to ask you about? You have and I don't 00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:29.919 know if you've. still maintain this strategy, 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.200 but I think either last year or the year before, 00:13:32.299 --> 00:13:35.539 you had a goal of being a guest on X number of 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:38.580 podcasts and you had a strategy of creating this 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:40.899 content. I think it's kind of a hack and I really 00:13:40.899 --> 00:13:42.100 don't want to give it away because it's kind 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:44.340 of the opposite of what we're doing here. But 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.279 he's figured out how to leverage other folks 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:50.000 and be a guest exclusively. to grow this. Can 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.519 you talk about that a little bit? It's brilliant. 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:53.799 Yeah, so I learned this from a guy I met in a 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:56.279 coffee shop about a half hour from St. Louis. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.179 His name's Dustin Reikman. And he is a buddy 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:04.539 of mine who ran an accelerator group for podcasting, 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.539 guest podcasting particularly. So he's like, 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.679 hey, it's $10 ,000. And I was like, wow, it's 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.679 a lot of money for an accelerator class. And 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.120 I was like, whatever, I'll do it. Because I was 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.039 really interested in this idea of leveraging 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:17.919 other people's audience to be able to build, 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.080 again, for the sake of becoming known, having 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.870 content created for me. and really being able 00:14:23.870 --> 00:14:26.309 to put the message out there, not so much on 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:28.269 getting the client side, but really partnering 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.549 with people. And so the idea would be, for me, 00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:34.470 I went on a bunch of podcasts for land. There's 00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:37.309 a whole niche of real estate, of land flipping, 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:39.889 where people buy dirt and flip it, and they'll 00:14:39.889 --> 00:14:42.250 make a lot of money from it. No tenants, no toilets, 00:14:42.370 --> 00:14:45.970 no problems. Really interesting space. And there 00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:48.090 are some really large podcasts and communities 00:14:48.090 --> 00:14:51.049 around that. And so my target was, hey, You're 00:14:51.049 --> 00:14:53.549 starting podcasts talking to landowners about 00:14:53.549 --> 00:14:56.289 for people how to get into land flipping or land 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.789 investing. Why don't I come in and talk to them 00:14:58.789 --> 00:15:01.490 about being able to generate passive income with 00:15:01.490 --> 00:15:03.590 solar? So instead of selling the property, you 00:15:03.590 --> 00:15:05.870 buy it dirt cheap, pennies on the dollar for 00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:07.909 a number of different reasons why people sell 00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:10.190 properties, especially raw land for dirt cheap. 00:15:10.750 --> 00:15:12.509 And now you can come in and add a solar component 00:15:12.509 --> 00:15:15.950 to it. And that was just a approach that really 00:15:15.950 --> 00:15:18.169 had not been talked about in that specific niche. 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:20.279 So it was about finding that right market. And 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:22.440 then I went on a podcast circuit and talked on 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:26.779 every single major community podcast on that 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.960 niche. And it works in every industry. And so 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.460 Dustin really taught me the idea that you can 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:34.860 leverage other people's audiences to be able 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:37.399 to come get your message out there. And again, 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.080 I think it's an integrated approach to what you 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.080 were doing. If I were a client at Growth Mode, 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:44.519 which if I lived in New York, I... I would crush 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:48.259 I know I would and what I told what I told you 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:49.740 guys before we started the show is like dude. 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:53.710 It's so possible for you guys You could even 00:15:53.710 --> 00:15:55.830 go on other people's podcasts and talk about 00:15:55.830 --> 00:15:58.929 growing content and use that to fly people in. 00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:01.690 It's like the reverse inception of the strategy. 00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:03.750 In fact, I think that that would be brilliant 00:16:03.750 --> 00:16:05.929 for you guys. It's like you could do the virtual 00:16:05.929 --> 00:16:08.610 podcast from your studio talking about what you 00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:10.750 do on other people's audience. And now they're 00:16:10.750 --> 00:16:13.049 flying in to see you. And it's this whole unique 00:16:13.049 --> 00:16:15.990 offer. I just think that that would crush because 00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:18.429 people would fly in from all over. I know that, 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:20.850 Matt, you in particular, you love talking about 00:16:20.850 --> 00:16:23.240 Upstate, all of the good stuff. 100%. The whole 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.320 point of this podcast, Good News York, is to 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:27.100 talk about the good things going on in central 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:29.259 New York. More people would be exposed to the 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:30.919 central New York region. They would get up here, 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:32.919 and they'd say, wow, I didn't think that there 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:35.379 was anything beyond New York City. Every time 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:36.940 I say, oh, I'm going home to New York, they're 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:38.740 like, oh, what borough do you live in? Exactly. 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:45.070 No. No. Exactly. So. Yeah, you know, it's it's 00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:46.690 it's one of those things where it's a super integrated 00:16:46.690 --> 00:16:49.129 approach I think it's complementary not necessarily 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:51.789 in competition with what you guys are doing and 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:53.929 Anyone thinking about again wanting to leverage 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:55.870 their brand or grow their audience or just get 00:16:55.870 --> 00:16:58.029 more exposure This whole idea of reaching out 00:16:58.029 --> 00:17:00.590 to other people and saying hey Mike Matt I know 00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:03.250 you guys run growth mode content. I talk about 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:06.210 XYZ I think it would be valuable for XYZ reasons 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:08.069 Are you opposed to me coming on or at least sending 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:10.170 you another clip of some stuff I've done? Yeah, 00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:12.650 right. Just a very simple, you know, that's that's 00:17:12.650 --> 00:17:15.089 kind of the windup image to it Yeah, and you 00:17:15.089 --> 00:17:18.289 know again as long as it's not a giant and there's 00:17:18.289 --> 00:17:20.150 even creative ways to do it, right? So like if 00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:21.869 you want to get on top podcasts or you want to 00:17:21.869 --> 00:17:24.410 meet with top people I send voice notes. I saw 00:17:24.410 --> 00:17:27.180 another ridiculous thing today. It was called 00:17:27.180 --> 00:17:32.000 Suno S -U -N -O and it creates AI jingles. And 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.539 this dude copied and pasted people's LinkedIn 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:37.920 information. So name their photo, buy else, created 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.839 a custom AI song and then DMs it to them. And 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:43.339 it's like a jingle singing about them. Wow. It's 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:46.160 how you break in. Yeah. And we do a lot of creative 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.400 direct mail stuff too. I mean, I've sent cartoons 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.720 to people and empty donut boxes saying, hey, 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:55.089 like I wanted to, you know, circle. back with 00:17:55.089 --> 00:17:57.450 you, but I got tired of waiting and ate all these 00:17:57.450 --> 00:17:59.470 donuts. So you just send them a donut box of 00:17:59.470 --> 00:18:03.049 sprinkles. Like there is creativity to getting 00:18:03.049 --> 00:18:05.470 in touch with the right people. And so again, 00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:08.109 it's not only about like identifying which podcast 00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:09.930 you want to go on, but how do you actually reach 00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:12.609 out to them in a way that it's not lost amongst 00:18:12.609 --> 00:18:14.490 all the messages? Because everybody wants to 00:18:14.490 --> 00:18:16.750 be on those shirts. But if you do break the mold 00:18:16.750 --> 00:18:18.630 and you do crack it, I mean, there's amazing 00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:20.589 things that happen. To this day, I have people 00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:22.690 book on my calendar every single week. I haven't 00:18:22.690 --> 00:18:25.619 done a land podcast in I don't know, this year 00:18:25.619 --> 00:18:27.740 at all. I have people book on my calendar every 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:29.880 single week. I have XYZ parcel. I saw you on 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:31.859 the show. I want to talk about solar. And that's 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:34.420 been a consistent lead machine for us. And so 00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:36.000 that's the power of it. And that's what we did. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.000 Haven't done it nearly as much this year. It's 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.019 still a huge focus of ours. But as our business 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:42.099 has kind of evolved, it's changed the direction. 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:44.740 Tell me, just remind me, you had a particular 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:46.599 number goal like last year or something, right? 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.980 Didn't you? Yeah, I did. I wish I could remember. 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:52.680 Definitely a vanity metric. I don't I don't think 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:55.059 I hit it either. Yeah Yeah, I feel like you had 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:57.240 to have come close because I was pushing hard. 00:18:57.240 --> 00:18:59.539 I mean it was every single week I was on at least 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:02.640 two podcasts for you for I was going really hard 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.299 That's almost more than us and we do it for a 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:08.160 living. Yeah No, but you know that and you're 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.779 still you're still applying the method we talked 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:13.480 about earlier, which is You could have went on 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:16.480 a hundred podcasts Like throw a dart at the wall. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:19.339 You went for ones that made sense for what you 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:20.900 do and what you're trying to really dug into 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:22.960 those particulars. Yeah. And those are the little 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.180 details that people overlook. Yeah, 100 percent. 00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:27.259 Yeah, back to the SEO guy. He's like, hey, I 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:29.160 can get you a million views. And I'm like, great, 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:31.579 like, how much money does that generate? Like, 00:19:31.579 --> 00:19:33.579 where's the revenue in that? And it's like, I 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:35.660 don't want 13 -year -olds watching my YouTube 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:37.940 channel on solar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great, but 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:41.059 like, not. And you know, here's the thing. Maybe 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:42.940 that, for different types of businesses, maybe 00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:44.740 that's a better fit, right? Maybe you're selling 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:48.200 a tchotchke to everybody in the country. Right. 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:52.759 That might. But in my experience, that's actually 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:55.059 a very small number of businesses. And it seems 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:58.200 like the majority of even bigger sized businesses 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.119 are at least regional. They're not even necessarily 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.140 national. So I think that mass market number 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:07.440 is definitely there. But as we look at these 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.740 strategies for most businesses, at least the 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:11.660 primarily B2B folks that we're doing business 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:15.619 with. It's no different than the old school model 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:18.599 of, you know, when I was homesick as a kid watching 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:21.700 Price is Right, I'd see all the hand soap commercials 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:25.200 and all the for the stay -at -home parents, right? 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:27.700 You know, so it's no different than knowing your 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:30.720 demographic and trying to reach them. Well, it's 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:32.940 also all about networking. And I think that's 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:34.400 one of the reasons that I've always been drawn 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:37.599 to it. You know, my whole business from the technology 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.420 side and now into content side have been completely 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:42.829 bootstrapped. I never had any... piles of money 00:20:42.829 --> 00:20:47.829 to throw at this and try it. So it's 100 % networking 00:20:47.829 --> 00:20:49.710 though. You know what I mean? And I've tried 00:20:49.710 --> 00:20:52.349 other advertising and things like that. Content 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:55.009 creation is the only one that has even any sort 00:20:55.009 --> 00:20:57.109 of drive. But still, I'll be honest, the majority 00:20:57.109 --> 00:20:58.809 of my business has always been that personal 00:20:58.809 --> 00:21:02.509 networking. Profound has developed I don't know 00:21:02.509 --> 00:21:05.549 how many business relationships. Before that, 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:08.029 I'm a member of a local business club that meets 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:10.789 every Friday. That's brought in well over a million 00:21:10.789 --> 00:21:14.509 dollars a year in revenue. And it's just that 00:21:14.509 --> 00:21:17.559 human piece that There's a hundred guys in town 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:20.539 that can work on your computers. Yep. People 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:23.039 have signed up with me because they like me, 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:25.640 which is weird. But you know what I mean? That's 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.980 that's how it works. Podcasting. It's the whole 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:30.980 model. I talk about this all the time, you know, 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.119 with all this emphasis on AI. And it's amazing 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:36.079 all this technology and digital and and podcasting. 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:39.680 And but for me, I really have a hard time believing 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.609 that guerrilla marketing. Face -to -face interaction 00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:44.970 will ever die and I think it's still the most 00:21:44.970 --> 00:21:47.630 important, you know years ago I was bartending 00:21:47.630 --> 00:21:51.190 on a slow night and like five or six people came 00:21:51.190 --> 00:21:53.849 in and I was making them laugh and pouring them 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:56.859 shots and just just making building a relationship 00:21:56.859 --> 00:21:59.519 with these people. And I happen to mention they 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:01.539 saw a flyer on the bar, my band. I was in a band 00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:03.059 at the time. What kind of music did you play? 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.640 Rock and roll, man. Rock and roll. I was in a 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:08.680 metalcore band. Nice! Growing up in Central New 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:13.059 York. That's awesome. Yeah. I was rock. But yeah, 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:16.339 so they saw the flyer, they're like, oh, you're 00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:17.940 playing here? I said, oh, yeah, yeah. And like 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.039 next week. And they went, dude, we're going to 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:21.339 come. We're going to bring a bunch of people. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.440 I'm like, OK, you know. Well, wouldn't you know, 00:22:23.559 --> 00:22:26.049 fast forward to that show. They all showed up, 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:27.950 dude. I mean, and they brought all their friends, 00:22:28.049 --> 00:22:29.430 and they were up front, and they were going, 00:22:29.509 --> 00:22:32.349 you know, just going nuts. And I truly believe 00:22:32.349 --> 00:22:34.589 if they had walked in and just saw that flyer, 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:36.769 there's no way they would have come. But because 00:22:36.769 --> 00:22:38.890 we made that connection, it's just so important. 00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:43.029 100%. 100%. That's a great segue, actually, to 00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:45.690 one other thing I want to ask Dakota before we 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:49.150 get out of here. You've been talking a lot, and 00:22:49.150 --> 00:22:50.250 I think maybe you have a group or something, 00:22:50.309 --> 00:22:53.029 but you've been talking a lot about kind of men. 00:22:53.230 --> 00:22:56.569 mental health and masculinity and things of that 00:22:56.569 --> 00:22:59.089 nature. Can you tell us about that a little bit? 00:22:59.329 --> 00:23:01.950 Yeah, so my experience with that was I was in 00:23:01.950 --> 00:23:05.950 Costa Rica last year when I got engaged to my 00:23:05.950 --> 00:23:08.170 fiance. We were down there to explore the country. 00:23:08.230 --> 00:23:11.809 We went to a music festival. And at the music 00:23:11.809 --> 00:23:15.509 festival, there was this group under a tent called 00:23:15.509 --> 00:23:20.769 Sacred Sons. And it is really this idea of rebirthing 00:23:20.769 --> 00:23:24.309 masculinity. And I went to a couple of their 00:23:24.309 --> 00:23:28.190 workshops, was really interested in it. And ultimately, 00:23:28.210 --> 00:23:30.589 you know, came back to St. Louis after the festival 00:23:30.589 --> 00:23:34.529 and found a guy who was a part of their leadership 00:23:34.529 --> 00:23:36.869 team, actually in St. Louis, Jeffrey Carver. 00:23:37.259 --> 00:23:39.859 And so, you know, Jeffrey and I have been working 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:43.079 to craft what we call Midwest Men, which is really 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:45.500 very similar idea. It's a masculine embodiment 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:48.920 network. And we have weekly meetups every Tuesdays. 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.640 We are, you know, doing live events. I'm going 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:56.750 on a 12 mile. kayak trip and overnight camping 00:23:56.750 --> 00:23:59.650 where we get men together we put them in the 00:23:59.650 --> 00:24:02.029 same room and you know traditionally when you 00:24:02.029 --> 00:24:06.190 think about Maybe men in a single space together. 00:24:06.190 --> 00:24:09.609 There's maybe drinking or you know other socialing 00:24:09.609 --> 00:24:12.470 But we like to get deep we like to get vulnerable 00:24:12.470 --> 00:24:14.970 and so, you know We essentially put together 00:24:14.970 --> 00:24:18.809 these containers that allow men to really unwind 00:24:18.809 --> 00:24:22.990 get vulnerable and talk about the things that 00:24:22.910 --> 00:24:26.650 light them up and the things that also, you know, 00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:28.910 they're dealing with that they are unable to 00:24:28.910 --> 00:24:31.950 talk about. And so every single week, you know, 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:34.130 keeping keeping everything confidential every 00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:35.809 single week, I'll have guys come in and they're 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:38.990 like, man. I feel like I can't talk about this 00:24:38.990 --> 00:24:41.670 with anybody else. I feel like nobody understands 00:24:41.670 --> 00:24:44.750 me in my daily life. And just this last Tuesday, 00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:47.329 I cried three separate times, and I'm just trying 00:24:47.329 --> 00:24:50.470 to facilitate the conversation. And we never 00:24:50.470 --> 00:24:52.490 really know where we're going to go. We love 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:57.650 the big three themes of just sex, money, and 00:24:57.650 --> 00:25:01.369 death. Those three core topics seem to really... 00:25:01.069 --> 00:25:03.650 resonate with everybody, but especially with 00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:08.009 men as far as shadows or parts of ourselves that 00:25:08.009 --> 00:25:10.950 we don't normally like to see. We're all about 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:13.769 bringing the lantern, bringing the light to those 00:25:13.769 --> 00:25:16.869 conversations. And I always say, inside your 00:25:16.869 --> 00:25:19.049 darkest caves are your deepest treasures. And 00:25:19.049 --> 00:25:22.309 that's just been my personal experience. So through 00:25:22.309 --> 00:25:26.390 my journey having five heart surgeries, When 00:25:26.390 --> 00:25:29.150 I was a kid, of course I don't know if this was 00:25:29.150 --> 00:25:30.869 a past life. I was ripped out of my mother's 00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.309 arms as soon as I was born. I struggled with 00:25:33.309 --> 00:25:35.869 abandonment. That was the real big wound for 00:25:35.869 --> 00:25:40.250 me that I was unconsciously programmed and had 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:43.069 no idea that I was dealing with abandonment until 00:25:43.069 --> 00:25:46.109 I came face to face with it. And it wasn't until 00:25:46.109 --> 00:25:49.809 I was able to move through that in a sacred way, 00:25:49.849 --> 00:25:52.509 which is also a big piece to what we do. So we 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:54.569 don't have any religious ties, but we say, keep 00:25:54.569 --> 00:25:56.990 it sacred. And that's whatever it means to that 00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:00.609 individual man. For me, it's been through many 00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:03.250 ceremonies, many rebirth and death ceremonies, 00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:08.759 that I was able to transform from that. along 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:11.380 with things like internal family systems therapy, 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:14.539 which has also been such a highlight and positive 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:17.599 uplift to my life. So I'm really big into this 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:22.940 idea, one, just as a personal exploration. Maybe 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:24.940 there was a time in my life where I was a seeker 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:27.500 and I was looking for something. Now I just look 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:30.619 at the unconscious mind as the final frontier, 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:33.079 and I'm like, I want to explore this. I think 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:36.279 it's endlessly fascinating. You know, I got really 00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:39.000 big into NLP, neurolinguistic programming, and 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:43.299 hypnosis as a way to work with my own physical 00:26:43.299 --> 00:26:46.240 pain and mental pain from five heart surgeries. 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:48.759 You know, I was wide awake for my third heart 00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:51.279 surgery at the operating table, and I remember 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:54.059 disassociating out of my body. And, you know, 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:56.039 there's a really good book called The Body Keeps 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.579 the Score, and it's all about this idea that... 00:26:58.430 --> 00:27:00.950 We need to revisit the trauma that we experienced 00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:03.910 in our life one last time in order for it to 00:27:03.910 --> 00:27:06.710 heal. So there is this really hard moment that 00:27:06.710 --> 00:27:08.609 you have to go through where you do have to face 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:10.569 the thing that broke you. You do have to face 00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:12.549 the thing that you may have not known was even 00:27:12.549 --> 00:27:14.450 there. And so the point of the men's group is 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:16.829 to put men in a container where there is brotherhood, 00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:19.210 there is camaraderie. You know, I believe that 00:27:19.210 --> 00:27:21.309 this healing is very personal. It's done in the 00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:24.410 privacy of our own hearts. But there is something 00:27:24.410 --> 00:27:26.690 really magical about getting a bunch of men together, 00:27:27.049 --> 00:27:29.740 having the right set to do that work, and then 00:27:29.740 --> 00:27:33.099 just watching it unfold. I love this so much. 00:27:33.099 --> 00:27:34.480 This is something that we've been talking about. 00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:37.799 And we've actually got some content ideas in 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.000 the hopper to sort of address this. But what 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:43.339 we find is everything you're talking about is 00:27:43.339 --> 00:27:47.680 so incredibly necessary and needed. And guys 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:49.619 are, in many cases, neglected in these ways. 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:52.740 Because we think, and oftentimes, it's put on 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.819 us. You can't cry. What are you, a bitch? Yeah. 00:27:57.460 --> 00:28:00.759 Then the other side of that is as much as that's 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:04.019 needed There isn't a whole lot like you're discussing 00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:07.940 that fills that void and instead we get some 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:10.099 of the worst stuff and we get a lot of young 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:14.240 men following some of the most scumbag misogynist 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:17.819 pieces of shit on the planet and and a hundred 00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:21.240 percent, you know guys guys like that that You 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:24.240 know, we're pro men because we hate women sort 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.210 of thing And unfortunately, you get some even 00:28:27.210 --> 00:28:30.910 when you get to single parents and men's rights. 00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:32.930 Men do have rights. And there's a lot of places 00:28:32.930 --> 00:28:36.569 where men are in a very disadvantaged place in 00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:38.390 family court and things like that. The problem 00:28:38.390 --> 00:28:40.130 is the people that talk about that the most are 00:28:40.130 --> 00:28:42.490 the same ones that go, women shouldn't be allowed 00:28:42.490 --> 00:28:44.690 to have a child period. And the men, you know 00:28:44.690 --> 00:28:47.589 what I mean? So it's it's such a challenge. And 00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:49.910 so to hear some folks that just have some, I 00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:54.819 think, genuine values and aren't about. You know 00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:57.400 where our life is rough because of this other 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:00.579 group. Yeah, I love hearing that I'm incredibly 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:04.700 moved by what you just said because I You know 00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:07.539 for the sake of of being true to you our guest. 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:11.769 I'll be vulnerable for a second. I Abandonment 00:29:11.769 --> 00:29:13.829 has been my number one issue. I've been in and 00:29:13.829 --> 00:29:16.289 out of there. I've been in therapy for over 15 00:29:16.289 --> 00:29:20.410 years. I lost my brother to leukemia. I was six 00:29:20.410 --> 00:29:22.529 years old. He was three. I gave him a bone marrow 00:29:22.529 --> 00:29:25.289 transplant. I learned later on in life through 00:29:25.289 --> 00:29:27.710 therapy that I kind of took the blame like it 00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:31.210 didn't work. And so one day he was there and 00:29:31.210 --> 00:29:33.730 one day he was gone, literally gone. Like I never 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:37.980 said goodbye. And so. I think I just stuffed 00:29:37.980 --> 00:29:40.740 it down. And for so many years, I had all these 00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:43.140 issues. And anytime someone said, well, you know, 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:45.019 I think it's obviously because you lost your... 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:46.559 I don't want to talk about that. I'm over that. 00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:49.059 I was never over that. That was the crux of all 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:51.279 of it. And I've had this fear of abandonment. 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:54.039 and people don't understand that fear of abandonment 00:29:54.039 --> 00:29:56.940 doesn't mean like, you know, oh God, I'm afraid 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:00.480 everyone's gonna leave me. Yes, it is, but it 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.880 trickles into every part of your life, into relationships, 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:09.230 into work, into everything. And therapy... is 00:30:09.230 --> 00:30:12.309 one of the most amazing things that I've ever 00:30:12.309 --> 00:30:15.529 experienced, and I'm still working every day 00:30:15.529 --> 00:30:17.710 to get better. And so when I meet people like 00:30:17.710 --> 00:30:19.630 you, I just have to say thank you, because I 00:30:19.630 --> 00:30:22.440 mean, it's so important for not only... people 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:24.859 in general to take their mental health seriously. 00:30:24.940 --> 00:30:26.640 But that's how we're gonna progress as a society. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:31.380 There's no mystery as to why my dad's dad was 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:35.019 a fucking angry asshole. And why sometimes my 00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:37.319 dad was an angry asshole at times. Because they 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:39.359 were dealing with stuff, they didn't have the 00:30:39.359 --> 00:30:41.619 resources we have. They didn't have guys like 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:43.119 you that were out there saying, hey man, come 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:46.680 to this thing. And then what happens, it's generational 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:49.450 trauma. But if you get ahead of it, You know 00:30:49.450 --> 00:30:51.789 we we and we get that whole stigma You know that 00:30:51.789 --> 00:30:53.250 the hot -headed guys because he doesn't know 00:30:53.250 --> 00:30:54.750 how to deal with that and then it finally comes 00:30:54.750 --> 00:30:57.109 to a head and explodes And that's unfortunately 00:30:57.109 --> 00:31:00.690 what we see far too often and far too many good 00:31:00.690 --> 00:31:03.450 dudes You know if you think of an asshole because 00:31:03.450 --> 00:31:05.210 he snapped that day, and that's all you'll ever 00:31:05.210 --> 00:31:07.529 remember But the reality is you know he chooses 00:31:07.529 --> 00:31:10.630 and he got that compassion from others previously 00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:12.740 maybe It's like wouldn't be there. It's like 00:31:12.740 --> 00:31:14.519 I mean, there's so much I could talk about but 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:17.000 it's like if you if you're a barrel right and 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.839 you wake up and your barrels already Three -quarters 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:24.589 full that's gonna choke. It's no it's that It's 00:31:24.589 --> 00:31:26.230 gonna take just a little bit of rain for that 00:31:26.230 --> 00:31:28.470 to spill over and and so the idea is through 00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:30.309 therapy and through self -healing Is that you 00:31:30.309 --> 00:31:32.690 get all that that stuff in your barrel down so 00:31:32.690 --> 00:31:34.710 that you can take more and more and you don't 00:31:34.710 --> 00:31:36.849 explode You know this guy with the metaphors 00:31:36.849 --> 00:31:39.250 no, but that's just that's one thing, but no, 00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:41.230 it's great But that's but that's what therapy 00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:43.490 does it gives you those those those things so 00:31:43.490 --> 00:31:45.769 I think what you do with that group that I'm 00:31:45.769 --> 00:31:49.230 to talk to you about that and and So yeah, and 00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:51.490 and we'll we'll leave it on that. I just out 00:31:51.490 --> 00:31:54.440 of curiosity is that group is it? outside of 00:31:54.440 --> 00:31:56.180 your areas or other places where folks can look 00:31:56.180 --> 00:31:58.319 into that sort of thing? We have men from Costa 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:02.440 Rica, Singapore. We call ourselves Midwest Men 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:05.740 because we have this idea of reviving, you know, 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:08.900 St. Louis especially. Um, there's a revival going 00:32:08.900 --> 00:32:11.680 on and you know, it is this awakening process. 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:14.400 Um, we call ourselves midwest men It's totally, 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:16.619 you know free to jump into our zooms tuesday 00:32:16.619 --> 00:32:20.339 night at 6 30 central 7 30 eastern Uh, so you 00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:22.000 can also people are able to participate from 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:23.980 other areas. That's cool Yeah, they just jump 00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:27.160 in and we do have our you know, um live events 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:29.420 or in -person events where you know People can 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:31.420 fly in or come through and we're going to be 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:33.079 building this a lot more We're doing a couple 00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:35.980 festivals this summer just to have representation 00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:39.059 out in the world So you can find that at Midwest 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:41.359 men. I don't have Instagram, but you can hit 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:45.319 up my buddy Jeffrey Jeffrey Carver 23 Jeffrey's 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:50.299 an amazing dude former world champion motor motocross 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:53.640 racer, and he's really just led the way for brotherhood 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:55.819 and Mike I just also want to acknowledge that 00:32:55.819 --> 00:32:58.119 you know hearing you say all of that and willing 00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:01.380 to be vulnerable Hearing you talk about your 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:04.650 brother You know, I could feel my heart just 00:33:04.650 --> 00:33:07.769 lift and you know, it's that exact container 00:33:07.769 --> 00:33:10.130 just talking about the idea of the container 00:33:10.130 --> 00:33:12.950 Opens the container, right? So it's kind of like 00:33:12.950 --> 00:33:15.210 this self -serving thing which is so beautiful 00:33:15.210 --> 00:33:17.910 about it And that may be you know, that could 00:33:17.910 --> 00:33:19.630 have been a moment that we totally could have 00:33:19.630 --> 00:33:21.289 missed if you didn't ask the question So one 00:33:21.289 --> 00:33:24.130 thank you for asking it is something that's extremely 00:33:24.130 --> 00:33:27.799 close to my heart Growing up, I always wished 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.279 that I could have been a better brother, and 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:32.180 I really didn't even know what that meant. I 00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:34.319 think a part of it was self -blaming for different 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:36.200 things going on at different points in my life 00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:39.049 with my family. But I've really taken that to 00:33:39.049 --> 00:33:42.269 a more human level, humanity for everybody. And 00:33:42.269 --> 00:33:45.329 so I look at every man in my life and the strangers 00:33:45.329 --> 00:33:47.930 I haven't met yet as my brother. And so taking 00:33:47.930 --> 00:33:50.589 on that context and being willing to have those 00:33:50.589 --> 00:33:52.349 conversations is so important. So I just want 00:33:52.349 --> 00:33:54.549 to say thank you for. Buddy, thank you, man. 00:33:54.869 --> 00:33:59.470 I appreciate that very, very much. Yeah, it's. 00:33:59.509 --> 00:34:03.160 Yeah, it's. And it's like, it's one of the like, 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:05.240 I don't talk about it. And it's not because I 00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:07.500 don't want it. When do you talk? Yeah. What am 00:34:07.500 --> 00:34:09.619 I going to do? That's exactly what he's talking 00:34:09.619 --> 00:34:12.219 about. What they facilitate. So here I am on 00:34:12.219 --> 00:34:14.820 this podcast and I feel, you know, I feel like 00:34:14.820 --> 00:34:17.840 I owe it to us to bring it up anyway. But I but 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:21.340 I you gave me. You made me feel comfortable enough 00:34:21.340 --> 00:34:23.820 to bring it up, and it's good. It's good, man 00:34:23.820 --> 00:34:26.280 And hopefully this conversation reaches people 00:34:26.280 --> 00:34:28.360 and it helps them. I told you this guy was awesome. 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:33.780 This is unbelievable. Unfortunately, though, 00:34:33.780 --> 00:34:36.199 we're running out of time. No! We just started. 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:38.780 It's been almost an hour. I want to know about 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:40.639 his heart, and I want to know about his solar 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:44.239 energy. I think that's probably a good reason 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:49.840 to bring him back on a very regular basis. Last 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.159 question, we do have time for that. Out of all 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:54.179 those, let's hit them with a good one, Mike. 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:56.000 Oh, you're making me do it? Yeah, well you had 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.239 a bunch of top of mind. I got a thousand things 00:34:58.239 --> 00:34:59.679 I could, but I figured I'd give you the chance. 00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:02.940 Well, I would like to hear about your experience 00:35:02.940 --> 00:35:04.860 with your heart surgeries, if you're comfortable 00:35:04.860 --> 00:35:07.139 talking about that, and then obviously some plugs 00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:08.539 of what you got going on. Yeah, we'll definitely 00:35:08.539 --> 00:35:11.880 get those in. What's going on in your world. 00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:16.809 Yeah, no. So I was born with a narrow aortic 00:35:16.809 --> 00:35:18.389 valve, which is the main valve in your heart 00:35:18.389 --> 00:35:19.829 that pumps all the blood to the rest of the body. 00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:22.809 And as soon as I was born, I had two emergency 00:35:22.809 --> 00:35:25.429 surgeries that would ultimately save my life. 00:35:25.510 --> 00:35:27.449 So the first one was a balloon surgery where 00:35:27.449 --> 00:35:29.949 they went in and they popped my aortic valve, 00:35:30.429 --> 00:35:34.809 which created a leakage in my heart. And the 00:35:34.809 --> 00:35:37.250 second surgery, they went in through my back. 00:35:38.119 --> 00:35:40.019 I have no idea what they were trying to do to 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:42.619 this day. I think it caused my scoliosis, which 00:35:42.619 --> 00:35:44.360 I'll show you photos of my x -ray. I don't know 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:46.019 if you've seen my x -ray before. It's pretty 00:35:46.019 --> 00:35:50.360 crazy. I've got a spine as well. And so essentially, 00:35:50.500 --> 00:35:52.480 I had two emergency surgeries as soon as I was 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.019 born. I grew up going to the cardiologist actually 00:35:55.019 --> 00:35:57.940 right here at Kraus in Syracuse. And every single 00:35:57.940 --> 00:35:59.659 year, I remember going as a kid, they would basically 00:35:59.659 --> 00:36:01.360 say, OK, you got to come get these tests done 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:04.480 once a year. And when you stop growing, which 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:07.559 was unfortunately five foot seven, you could 00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:09.699 have this replacement surgery and you're gonna 00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:12.119 be okay. And so that was kind of the mindset. 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:14.679 Growing up, I couldn't play sports. I could barely 00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:16.679 run more than 20 yards without my whole chest 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:20.920 heating up. And definitely had a atypical childhood 00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:25.800 compared to the average experience. Junior year 00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:27.579 or senior year of high school, I couldn't play 00:36:27.579 --> 00:36:29.380 sports, so I was actually managing a baseball 00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:35.739 team. Yeah, just managing a base or the kids 00:36:35.739 --> 00:36:37.280 wanted me to be included. I was friends with 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:40.039 everybody and I wanted to do it But I couldn't 00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:41.400 and so they were like, hey, you know, why don't 00:36:41.400 --> 00:36:43.039 you just come that's awesome manage the team? 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:45.260 And so a couple of weeks before that I actually 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:47.340 woke up in the middle of the night It was like 00:36:47.340 --> 00:36:50.219 3 30 a .m And I had a very rapid heartbeat and 00:36:50.219 --> 00:36:53.539 something felt intensely wrong and my mom is 00:36:53.539 --> 00:36:55.519 a home nurse or she wasn't home nursing at the 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:57.619 time I wake her up and she's like, oh it was 00:36:57.619 --> 00:36:59.559 probably just a bad dream and I was like no I 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:03.570 feel terrible and I was 16 years old And my dad 00:37:03.570 --> 00:37:06.250 rushes me to Oswego ER. As soon as we get there, 00:37:06.429 --> 00:37:08.110 my heart rate goes back to normal. And he's like, 00:37:08.190 --> 00:37:11.090 what the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you 00:37:11.090 --> 00:37:13.949 do this? And that would happen leading up to 00:37:13.949 --> 00:37:16.190 that baseball game, five minutes at a time once 00:37:16.190 --> 00:37:17.949 a week. Oh, wow. Three minutes at a time once 00:37:17.949 --> 00:37:21.050 a week. Very come and go. And then I was at the 00:37:21.050 --> 00:37:23.090 baseball game managing it, whatever, bottom of 00:37:23.090 --> 00:37:25.829 the third, two outs. And all of a sudden, I get 00:37:25.829 --> 00:37:28.099 the rapid heartbeat. Five minutes turns into 00:37:28.099 --> 00:37:30.780 10, 10 turns into 20, 20 turns into an hour, 00:37:30.940 --> 00:37:32.599 and by that time I'm being rushed to the ER. 00:37:33.019 --> 00:37:35.420 By the time I get hooked up, my heart rate was 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:39.179 214. Holy shit. For two and a half hours. Wow. 00:37:39.179 --> 00:37:42.019 I was 16 years old. The ER was packed. I had 00:37:42.019 --> 00:37:44.320 to share a room with a guy who was much older 00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:46.760 than me. I watched him have a heart attack and 00:37:46.760 --> 00:37:48.980 die because... Holy shit. Doctors chose to work 00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:51.099 on my life instead just because I was younger. 00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:53.710 Yeah. They pulled the curtain on him. I remember 00:37:53.710 --> 00:37:56.250 them smashing my face into buckets of ice trying 00:37:56.250 --> 00:37:59.369 to slow my heart rate down. And ultimately, you 00:37:59.369 --> 00:38:02.329 know, that was a thing. Yeah. Interesting, right? 00:38:02.329 --> 00:38:04.809 Yeah. This is like before cold plunges. Yeah. 00:38:05.349 --> 00:38:07.550 Yeah. And doctor comes in and he's like, I remember 00:38:07.550 --> 00:38:09.250 my dad and my grandfather are behind him. And 00:38:09.250 --> 00:38:10.630 they're like, Dakota, we have to shut off your 00:38:10.630 --> 00:38:15.809 heart. And 16 years old, I just remembered. And 00:38:15.809 --> 00:38:17.329 by that time, you feel like you're dying because 00:38:17.329 --> 00:38:19.369 your heart rate is just using all of the energy 00:38:19.369 --> 00:38:21.559 in your body. And I just remember looking at 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:23.380 my dad and my grandfather and I was like, wow, 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:26.239 like this... I'm not gonna know anything past 00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:30.159 this story. The men who raised me are going to 00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:33.619 outlive me. And the doctors put what's called 00:38:33.619 --> 00:38:37.480 adenosine in through an IV drip. And it is essentially 00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:39.420 just a way to reset the heart. And so it starts 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:41.320 in your fingers and toes. They go in through 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:43.239 the IV. It happens instantaneously. Your whole 00:38:43.239 --> 00:38:45.199 body heats up and it just sucks into your heart. 00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:47.179 And it went from 214 to my resting heart rate 00:38:47.179 --> 00:38:51.429 of 76, like that. What and I had to happen four 00:38:51.429 --> 00:38:54.349 or five times after that event? Oh shit before 00:38:54.349 --> 00:38:56.809 they figured out that I had tachycardia and what 00:38:56.809 --> 00:38:58.730 which is just rapid heartbeat and what happened 00:38:58.730 --> 00:39:03.050 was my bicuspid valve made an extra pathway on 00:39:03.050 --> 00:39:06.010 my on my bicuspid and so the blood that was leaking 00:39:06.010 --> 00:39:08.610 from my broken aorta was being recycled and then 00:39:08.610 --> 00:39:10.969 it was just beating super super super fast Jesus 00:39:10.969 --> 00:39:13.909 and so my third heart surgery was the one I was 00:39:13.909 --> 00:39:15.730 wide awake for they went in through my arteries 00:39:15.730 --> 00:39:20.079 into my legs and I you know, they burned off 00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:23.320 that extra pathway and then I haven't had tachycardia 00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:25.300 since. But it left me with a lot of physical 00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:29.239 trauma. Yeah. Yeah, I'm traumatized just listening 00:39:29.239 --> 00:39:31.500 to those. Left me with a lot of physical trauma 00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:34.300 from that just from being awake. Just it's such 00:39:34.300 --> 00:39:37.460 a weird feeling to remember that you disassociated 00:39:37.460 --> 00:39:39.840 and you watched yourself being mutilated in that 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:42.340 way. And so that took a lot of work for me to 00:39:42.340 --> 00:39:44.539 get through. But, you know, shortly after my 00:39:44.539 --> 00:39:46.199 fourth and fifth heart surgery came my senior 00:39:46.199 --> 00:39:49.159 year. and ultimately I had open heart a week 00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:53.559 after I graduated high school. You hear that 00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:55.659 cliche of like, you know, I went through such 00:39:55.659 --> 00:39:58.039 and such, but it's made me who I am today. But 00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:01.079 it is 100 % why you are the person you are, and 00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:02.760 it contributes to all the things that you've 00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:04.139 done. I'm not taking away from your drive and 00:40:04.139 --> 00:40:05.840 your talent and anything like that. But when 00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:07.420 you're faced with something like that, when someone 00:40:07.420 --> 00:40:10.179 says... we have to turn your heart off. You're 00:40:10.179 --> 00:40:12.699 facing death. You're coming to the realization 00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:14.480 that I'm not gonna be here in a little while. 00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:17.800 And that will change any man, any human being. 00:40:17.820 --> 00:40:20.239 And it makes you approach things in life differently. 00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:22.760 And that's why I've been able to make relationships 00:40:22.760 --> 00:40:26.420 that I've, you know, easier than maybe others 00:40:26.420 --> 00:40:29.699 and why I've just seen things differently and 00:40:29.699 --> 00:40:31.960 cared about things and noticed things in people 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:36.460 more because I know... what it's like to lose 00:40:36.460 --> 00:40:39.539 it, you know? And I'm not saying I hope that 00:40:39.539 --> 00:40:40.920 everyone should go through some sort of trauma, 00:40:41.659 --> 00:40:45.139 but... I think the really great kind of upside 00:40:45.139 --> 00:40:47.300 to that story is now here you are today, you're 00:40:47.300 --> 00:40:49.179 out here doing these physical activities. You're 00:40:49.179 --> 00:40:53.179 doing hikes, and it seems like it's in good order. 00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:55.639 Are you clear to do all the typical kind of athletic? 00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:57.440 Type of stuff. Yeah, I'm healthier than ever. 00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:59.800 Awesome. And yeah, I'm a big believer in just 00:40:59.800 --> 00:41:01.820 inspiring other people just through the way that 00:41:01.820 --> 00:41:03.880 I live my life. You know, I grew up where my 00:41:03.880 --> 00:41:06.139 doctors are like, don't leave your house. Don't 00:41:06.139 --> 00:41:09.659 move too hard. And I'm just like, dude, I'm going 00:41:09.659 --> 00:41:12.739 to send it. And it's just really been my philosophy 00:41:12.739 --> 00:41:15.019 sense. But you're so right, Mike, like it totally 00:41:15.019 --> 00:41:17.119 reshape my life. You know, even getting into 00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:19.059 my career of door to door sales, I was like, 00:41:19.059 --> 00:41:21.420 I have already experienced what it's like to 00:41:21.420 --> 00:41:23.960 be so close to death. I was like, I want to experience 00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:26.059 more. I remember it was my third day knocking 00:41:26.059 --> 00:41:28.659 doors. I was in Albany, New York. I hadn't ever 00:41:28.659 --> 00:41:31.079 done sales before. I had zero sales. It was the 00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:33.179 middle of winter. I was in a Stewart's gas station 00:41:33.179 --> 00:41:36.219 like this because it was so cold. And my dad 00:41:36.219 --> 00:41:38.420 calls me and he's like, hey, I got you an interview 00:41:38.420 --> 00:41:40.420 at Novellas where he's like been a plant manager 00:41:40.420 --> 00:41:42.840 and he's worked there for 38 years now. And he's 00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:44.280 like, you can come home. You don't have to knock 00:41:44.280 --> 00:41:47.880 doors anymore. And I was like, dad, I think I 00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:49.380 want to knock doors instead and see where this 00:41:49.380 --> 00:41:52.300 goes. And he's like, what the fuck is wrong with 00:41:52.300 --> 00:41:54.900 you? But I wouldn't have made that decision if 00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:58.880 I was programmed for comfort and ease. I could 00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:01.480 have easily turned that into a steady whatever, 00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:04.760 six figure job, raised a family in my hometown, 00:42:05.079 --> 00:42:08.079 never have left. But as a result of approaching 00:42:08.079 --> 00:42:10.139 death, that's the same reason why I welcome these 00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:12.400 like death rebirth ceremonies. I just recently 00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:15.960 did my first. Temescal, which is a sweat lodge 00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:19.059 with, you know, one of my friends from Peru who's 00:42:19.059 --> 00:42:22.280 a shaman and some Lakota, you know, Native Americans. 00:42:22.619 --> 00:42:24.900 They invited us back for the Lakota Sundance 00:42:24.900 --> 00:42:28.300 this summer, which is just such a beautiful initiatic 00:42:28.300 --> 00:42:33.480 principle to be invited to and to sit in, you 00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:36.420 know, the dark with these hot... Fucking rocks 00:42:36.420 --> 00:42:40.079 water on singing songs immediately with as soon 00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:41.619 as that flap of that tent clothes I was like 00:42:41.619 --> 00:42:45.159 I am going to die again Immediately knew it and 00:42:45.159 --> 00:42:47.760 without understanding and getting close to what 00:42:47.760 --> 00:42:49.940 that feels like those big topics sex money and 00:42:49.940 --> 00:42:55.260 death The death one has been a real Honor for 00:42:55.260 --> 00:42:57.420 me to talk to other people about because it's 00:42:57.420 --> 00:42:59.980 been an experience of mine And so it's almost 00:42:59.980 --> 00:43:02.199 like being able to walk people into that so that 00:43:02.199 --> 00:43:04.719 they can find their own experience. Do you Do 00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:08.780 you fear death? I mean I would love to say like 00:43:08.780 --> 00:43:13.179 no I don't uh but every time I touch it I'm like, 00:43:13.219 --> 00:43:15.320 oh my god. I forgot what this was actually like 00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:17.880 to feel You know for me like it started with 00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:21.380 heart surgeries. Then it was I did a 10 -day 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:23.920 ayahuasca initiation and the Jones of Columbia 00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:28.440 Then it was you know Like sweat lodge rituals 00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:30.860 and so again like these death rebirth out and 00:43:30.860 --> 00:43:32.820 even in men's work Like there are certain things 00:43:32.820 --> 00:43:35.119 that Jeffrey will lead on where I'm just like, 00:43:35.119 --> 00:43:37.400 oh my god That is such an edge for me and it 00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:39.039 could be such a simple prompt we could be in 00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:41.840 a completely safe room and it's like My god, 00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:43.639 like I feel like I'm touching that again. And 00:43:43.639 --> 00:43:46.780 so yeah, I mean, it's just it's not something 00:43:46.780 --> 00:43:49.119 I necessarily welcome with open arms But again, 00:43:49.340 --> 00:43:52.480 if the treasure that you're seeking is in those 00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:54.500 darkest caves You have to be willing to go into 00:43:54.500 --> 00:43:57.019 that cave, even if it's scary and that's really 00:43:57.019 --> 00:44:01.460 how I try to live my life Jesus I gotta talk 00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:03.500 to my therapist and make them go in a tent with 00:44:03.500 --> 00:44:06.400 hot rocks Listen, we we have to go in a tent 00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:08.340 with hot rocks. Do you do that? You don't do 00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:10.619 that. All right, you need to find somebody else 00:44:11.130 --> 00:44:15.369 Dude, you are an amazing guy. These guys told 00:44:15.369 --> 00:44:18.449 me that, you know, look, yes, you've accomplished 00:44:18.449 --> 00:44:20.590 a lot, and it is amazing, but you're an amazing 00:44:20.590 --> 00:44:24.110 human being, and you can see that, which... If 00:44:24.110 --> 00:44:26.449 Danny wants to throw this up, I had this prepared 00:44:26.449 --> 00:44:28.429 just in case, because if you really were the 00:44:28.429 --> 00:44:31.789 most interesting man in the world... I told Danny, 00:44:32.369 --> 00:44:34.590 I said, you need to grab the Dos Equis guy and 00:44:34.590 --> 00:44:37.150 put his face over it. But I said, I'm only going 00:44:37.150 --> 00:44:38.869 to show it if he really is the most interesting 00:44:38.869 --> 00:44:41.070 man in the world. And so for whatever that means 00:44:41.070 --> 00:44:44.630 to you, I have donned you the most interesting 00:44:44.630 --> 00:44:47.110 man. You know what? It's kind of the way that 00:44:47.110 --> 00:44:49.190 I've described you a few times. You know, imagine 00:44:49.190 --> 00:44:51.010 this guy, the most interesting man in the world. 00:44:51.110 --> 00:44:52.670 But in the ad campaign, you know, he's in his 00:44:52.670 --> 00:44:55.300 60s. He's had all these experiences. Imagine 00:44:55.300 --> 00:44:57.880 if you could meet that guy while he was still 00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:02.619 young as hell. That's Dakota. And he can be along 00:45:02.619 --> 00:45:05.260 for the wild stories that he will tell to his 00:45:05.260 --> 00:45:08.539 grandkids and the onlookers in the crowd. I could 00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:11.360 talk to you for hours. Tell us. We got to go. 00:45:11.500 --> 00:45:13.579 I know. I'm sorry. What do you got coming up? 00:45:14.199 --> 00:45:15.920 Come on. Yeah, what can we plug? What can we 00:45:15.920 --> 00:45:18.280 plug? What can we talk man? God? I have no idea 00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:21.119 guys Connect with me on LinkedIn. Yep, linkedin 00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:25.280 .com slash in slash Dakota Malone That's about 00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.539 it. Wish me a congratulations when I get married 00:45:27.539 --> 00:45:32.179 in October. Yeah, and 1025. Oh, it's good And 00:45:32.179 --> 00:45:35.230 that's all I got That's awesome. That's all you 00:45:35.230 --> 00:45:37.269 got. I mean, you've given us plenty, my friend. 00:45:37.269 --> 00:45:39.610 Dakota is the man. We will have him back. There's 00:45:39.610 --> 00:45:41.610 so many different things that we can dig into. 00:45:41.929 --> 00:45:43.869 We're also going to invite you. So I started 00:45:43.869 --> 00:45:45.610 this new show. The episode hasn't dropped yet, 00:45:45.610 --> 00:45:47.130 but it's called Where's the Money in That? Oh, 00:45:47.130 --> 00:45:49.630 I saw that. Recorded the first one with our buddy 00:45:49.630 --> 00:45:52.269 Joe Doherty. And the idea is to have more and 00:45:52.269 --> 00:45:54.369 more folks. And it's just a super fun, relaxed 00:45:54.369 --> 00:45:58.190 business. Here's a goofy idea. Is it really a 00:45:58.190 --> 00:46:00.090 goofy idea? How would it play out? Turns into 00:46:00.090 --> 00:46:03.579 a fun conversation. We're going to have, obviously, 00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:06.119 you and a bunch of our kind of profound friends 00:46:06.119 --> 00:46:08.840 in a way that's kind of a neat, just dreaming 00:46:08.840 --> 00:46:11.840 out loud, as many of us do all the time already. 00:46:12.219 --> 00:46:15.119 So. Absolutely. I love it. With that, thank you 00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:18.280 to our man. Danny. Danny Tripod back there running 00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:20.739 the board. Which, by the way, he has sex, money 00:46:20.739 --> 00:46:22.780 and death tattooed on his lower back. That is 00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:25.500 actually. Yeah. Yeah. When you said sex, money 00:46:25.500 --> 00:46:27.039 and death, I was like, that's Danny's tattoo. 00:46:27.059 --> 00:46:30.980 It is ironic. Yeah. With that, folks, join us. 00:46:31.079 --> 00:46:33.579 Next week, we're off tomorrow for Friday, but 00:46:33.579 --> 00:46:37.400 join us next week for an all new week. Yeah, 00:46:37.480 --> 00:46:39.719 Brian Ng's coming on Monday. Oh, yeah. Yeah, 00:46:40.019 --> 00:46:42.239 we've got many other guests. That's awesome. 00:46:42.739 --> 00:46:44.119 Dakota Malone, we love you. Thank you for having 00:46:44.119 --> 00:46:45.739 me, guys. All right. Peace out.