Welcome to Podcast Suck, a podcast about starting a podcast, where we dive headfirst into the wild, wacky, and sometimes frustrating world of podcasting. If you've ever sat down with a microphone, hit record, and thought, what on earth am I doing? Or if you're just curious about the magic behind your favorite shows, then you're in the right place. Get ready for laughs, insights, and a whole lot of what not to do advice as we embark on this podcasting journey together. Let's dive in. So first of all, thank you, Vanessa and Andy. It is my privilege to be up here. It's been a long journey, and I always get a little choked up when I am able to embrace opportunities like this that are long-term relationships that we've been building for over a decade now. It's kind of wild to say. So it is my absolute privilege to be here, and it is my hope that I not only deliver, but over-deliver, and that you guys walk out of this room with at least one or two things that you came here for. Any gamblers in the room? OK, cool. I'm taking five to one odds, and I'm going to bomb this talk. All right, so we'll settle up in the back, all right?

Sebastian Rusk 

Today, we're going to get vulnerable. Is everybody OK with that?

Sebastian Rusk 

Because we're doing it either way. I'm going to act as a human defibrillator, and I'm going to wake you up to some shit you didn't even know you needed to be woken up to. Is everybody OK with that? Say yes or yes. Yes. OK, good. Because we live in a world right now where I'll sell you my bullshit and you sell me yours. And we'll call it a deal. And I don't know about you and who's reminded you this lately, but there's a clock ticking that none of us can see. And we got one shot, one shot to step into the absolute, complete, best version of ourselves. It is our responsibility. My dear friend and worldwide phenomenon, motivational speaker, in my opinion, the best motivational speaker on the planet, the one and only E.T., the hip hop preacher said, you owe you. Not anybody else. You. So let me ask you a question as we get started here today. And I really want you to think about this question and it's going to really rattle a lot of you to your core. And that's the goal.

Sebastian Rusk 

Who's missing out?

Because you're not showing up. One more time.

Who's missing out?

Because you're not showing up. But Sebastian, I'm in Orlando for three days. I'm here. I spent time with my family. I'm not talking about physically showing up. I'm talking about showing up in the areas of the things that you know you should be doing, but you're not. Because it's safe. Man, the sidelines are safe, aren't they? Comfy. But today I want to challenge your thought process on considering the idea of what's possible by getting off the sidelines and getting in the game. Because I don't know about you, but the very thought that because I am not showing up, someone misses out, that's a problem. And I feel qualified to ask a room of incredible individuals like yourselves that question, because I was posed that question some 15 years ago, when my head was so far up my rear end, I couldn't see straight. And I was introduced to a friend that worked for Tony Robbins as part of his core team, and still works with him to this day. I was grateful to be introduced to this individual one. I'll never forget it. We're on Miami Beach at Friday's on Fifth and Ocean, if you're familiar, like the tourist mecca of Miami Beach. And we're having a drink. It's a Friday afternoon. And she says, so what's next? And I looked her right in the eyes and I said, I don't know. And she immediately looked at me in my eyes Sirius has a heart attack and said, Sebastian, that is a fucking problem. And I'm quoting her. Pardon my French, but not really. So these are my offended days. So I'm thinking, who in the world does this lady think she is telling me what I'm doing with my life is a problem? And I was like, why don't you shut up? Because you got about six bucks to your name. And she travels with Tony. Shh. Stay curious and ask questions. I said, so what do you mean by that? She goes, I'm going to tell you exactly what I mean. Who's missing out? because you're not showing up. When I say there are a few moments in our lives where things change in an instant, that was one of them. That Monday I had a logo mock-up from somebody on Fiverr for my company, Social Buzz TV, and I started running around town with a bow tie, a skateboard, and a bus pass because I didn't have a car or any money. But I knew if you make enough noise, someone's going to come knock on your door. And that includes the police after 10 p.m. But I just knew I've got something here. And shortly after that, I was introduced to an individual by the name of Gary Vaynerchuk. Some of you might know who Gary Vee is, the worldwide phenomenon now. But I was grateful to have met him in 2011, and we became great friends, and he became an incredible mentor, still is to this day, in my life, and really helped me better understand where we were at in this digital transformation on the way things are. I'll never forget I got cast for a reality show, a dating reality show, me and 30 women. There were no roses involved. And I had to fly to New York to meet with the producers that morning. And I had a couple minutes to burn before the meeting. And as I cruised over to Times Square, I'm standing there in the advertising mecca of the world, and everyone's looking down at their phone. So it was this time where I'm like completely convinced that this is where we're going. Then I meet Gary and I'm like sold. And then I end up in New York on a reality show on Fox. What? Huh? What's going on here? Hardest $250 ever into my life and I didn't get a date. So it was a great experience though. Welcome to Hollywood. What's your dream? Not this. But it quickly reminded me that we are in the midst of an incredible shift in the way we communicate. The way things used to be will never be again. And for a long time, I spent 10 years evangelizing the fact that the attention is now in the newsfeed. 2020 helped wake a lot of people up with that because we were all stuck at home and, well, might as well start the thing. Podcast equipment sold out on Amazon in 2020, to give an example. Do you need to grab that? But as I continued to wrap my head around where we're at with all this, and it was very difficult. It's very difficult helping people understand where we're at with technology when they've been in business for 10, 20, 30 years. I've never needed this. Why do I need it now? This is the way we've always done it. The most dangerous phrase you could ever utter within a business. But I'm grateful for those early days. They were humbling. And midway through all of that, In 2016, I had built a great business, and I had finally gotten to a place, I wrote my first book, I became a speaker, things were starting to happen, but I kept getting that nudge. You ever get that nudge, like there's something else? And in 2016, I thought, you know what, I need to get a girlfriend. So I'm gonna join a dating app. And I jumped on Twitter, excuse me, Tinder, and I found a girlfriend, all right. And we met on March 1st, 2016 in downtown Fort Lauderdale off Las Olas at American Social. We met for a beer. We sat down and she said, Sebastian, I'm in this personal development course. And I'm like, huh. Let me tell you about personal development. Tony Robbins walking on fire, two times. Landmark Forum, graduate. What I didn't tell her is that I didn't do shit with any of the education that I got in those rooms. And she was adamant that I get in this room of this program that she was part of. And extreme resistance shows up when this is our natural next step. This is what we're tapped out to do. This is your next step. Do not pass go. Do not collect two and Rs. This is next. The resistance is real. And I was more resistant to that than I've ever been in my entire life. And I kicked and screamed all the way through those doors. But she called me and said, I signed you up to start on Friday, the end. And I went to this course, it was called Gratitude Training. Some of you may be familiar with it. Unfortunately, the program's no longer around anymore, but it is Personal Development 101, which is what actually happened and then your bullshit story of what happened. And we like to marry those two things together and start creating a narrative and a storyline in our life that isn't even true. And then we take it a step further and we start enrolling other people. Imagine into a bullshit made up story and we call it life. So as I entered into this program, the first part of it, it was a part one and a part two that I took part of. Part one was, let's just figure out what's going on. And I just knew that I was mad, I was still angry. I'm like, you've done well, but you're a little angry. We still gotta work some things out. Maybe a few more conversations with dad. Maybe a few more conversations in general with whoever hurt you. And then I went to part two and that was intense. We went in Wednesday at noon and we got out Sunday night on or around midnight. It was intense. But I learned quickly the only way out is through. And I'm so grateful for that course because despite the resistance, I walked out of there learning how to love myself, learning how to be 100% accountable for every area of my life, past, present, and future. I graduated from that course. I called my dad and I said, dad, I got my power back and I forgive you and I love you and you're the only dad I got and we're going to make it work. I'm going to love you from a distance, but we're going to make it work. Most people don't understand that language or conversation, but I did because I got my power back and people kept saying, Sebastian, when you finally step into your power, it's all going to change and you're going to go out in the world and you're going to change lives and you don't see it when you're in it. But once that happened, a light went off and it was like, cue the hallelujah chorus, it's game time. And what I realized after I got out of that was that I didn't hate what I did with my business, I hated myself. And when we hate ourselves, we hate everybody in our path, it's everyone else's fault, and we're a victim. So I got through all of that at the end of the year, and by the way, the girl broke up with me in the middle of the course, as if personal development isn't enough, let's throw a little heartbreak in the mix. So I get out of that, I pick up the pieces of the breakup, and I graduate, and it's like, okay, cool, we've gotta get back into the real world. How I took that whole year off is beyond me. Thank God for lines of credit. But late 2016, I said, okay, we're gonna go rent a desk at a co-working space in downtown Coral Gables, and we're gonna figure this out. We're gonna phase out social buzz TV, and we're going to fill in the blank. I don't know what that is. And the first day that I was there, I run into an old friend, a mutual friend that I met at the Women's Success Summit where I met Marlee and Will Dukes and a bunch of other individuals. And I saw her in the elevator and she said, I have an internet radio show. And I go, what, what is that? And she's like, well, we record once a week and it goes to here and there. And I go, you know, you can just have a podcast and record it from your house. And she's like, I don't know how to do that. Can you help me start a podcast? I was like, Actually, I can. I had had a podcast, I wasn't consistent with it, but how do you leave the digital world but still stay in it? How do you maintain the brand that you've built but still stay in it? Podcasting. And then I started to take a little bit of a closer look at that. I don't know, podcasting, what does that look like? Well, my dad was a DJ for 30 years. I grew up in a radio station. I had zero intentions to follow in the old man's footsteps. But as I shared this story with a buddy on the golf course a few years back, he said, man, our genes sure are powerful, aren't they? I said, I don't know shit about genes, but my grandfather's name was Gene. Maybe that's how it all added up. So things continue to stack and add up and I started to connect the dots and the more dots that we start to connect and the more rooms that we get in and the more people that we get around the right people, the dots start showing up that we didn't even know needed to show up. And the dots start to connect that we didn't even know. So by the end of 2016, under extreme, extreme pressure of nobody wants a podcast. That's all I heard. That was the noise. No one wants a podcast. No one wants a podcast. Resistance, resistance, resistance. But there was something in me. I had that dog back. I had that drive back where I said, you know what? I'm starting a podcast agency because I said that I'm going to do it. 30 years ago, Steve Jobs called you and said, hey, I'm creating this handheld device you're going to carry in your pocket. You're going to be able to send these things called text messages. You're going to be able to call people from all around the world at any given time. It'll be unlimited. You'll pay one flat fee. You would have told him he was out of his tree. But Steve Jobs says, I'm inventing the iPhone because I said that I'm inventing the iPhone. There's something about that personal declaration to the world where it's just you versus you making that distinct decision that creates this desire within you that says, I'm doing this regardless of the noise. I'm doing this regardless of the resistance. I'm doing this because I owe it to myself. That was eight years ago. That's crazy town to even say. I've been able to successfully phase out the business we were doing. I just called the clients that we had left and I said, hey, my heart's just not in it anymore. I'm not gonna run your card and go through the motions. That's not why I'm doing this. I'm doing work to put you into action and I just don't see that that's happening right now. We're pivoting into the world of podcasting. If you wanna take a closer look at that, we can do that too. Some got it, some didn't, but I didn't care. I just knew this is what's next. So if we fast forward eight years, the Podcast Launch Lab, which is a turnkey podcast launch solution to take you from Idea to iTunes in 90 days or less with our proven podcast launch solution, that was scripted out the night that I ran into the friend of mine that said, can you help me start a podcast? I literally went upstairs, I wrote up three pieces of paper, and I put Podcast Launch Lab, Idea to iTunes in 90 days, and when you're flowing, you're never getting that flow and you're just flowing, that was it. So here we are, eight years later, we do multiple six figures a year. I do what I want, when I want, with who I want, where I want. I travel all over the place getting to do this. This is my job. This is how I spend Friday mornings. Yeah, this. And hanging out with incredible human beings just like you, helping you understand. Yeah, it's about podcasting, but podcasting's just a vehicle. It's just a catalyst. I get to see people radically change their life because they said, you know what? I'm starting a podcast. So today I want to invite you to consider the idea of what's possible of walking outside this door and going, you know what? I don't know what's on the other side of it, but I'm starting a podcast. I've seen people get over fear of public speaking, improve their communication skills. I'll tell you right now, you're starting a podcast for two reasons, not to become the next Joe Rogan and have a million downloads. None of that fluff. You're doing it for two reasons. Three. Number one, to network. Yeah, write this down. To network with anybody that you want. That one person you can't get a meeting with, let's get you on the podcast. Love to tell your story. Because at the end, by default, as expected, we're going to figure out some sort of dialogue on We should have another conversation about fill in the blank. I am undefeated with this strategy. I find somebody who wants to start a podcast, doesn't have a podcast, loves what I'm up to. Let's get you on the podcast, Marley. I wanna tell your story. No one says no to that. Why? Because people love their ego stroke, we all do. So why not feed into that in a very transparent and organic way? There's nothing shady about this at all. If I ask you to be on my podcast, you're like, duh, of course he asked me to be on my podcast. And no, I don't have, you may not even know you want to start a podcast, but when I get done with you, you will. Because it's my goal to speak into your life in an area that you didn't, you're like, I didn't even think about it.

You know how many times I hear that on a daily basis?

You know what's special? I didn't even think about that. I said, welcome. Settle in, buckle up, we're just getting started. But I had no idea that, I thought that the agency is going to be one thing, and it's going, we're gonna build this thing into a profitable business, that's great and everything, but I didn't know it was gonna all start, all the roads were gonna start crossing from 2016. I was gonna take what I had learned to unfuck this. and help people get their life on track because of a podcast. I had a client call me a couple years ago. It was a Saturday night at six o'clock. She was bawling her eyes out. I said, oh my God, what's wrong? She goes, she was at a mutual friend of ours event in Tampa, a personal development event. And she goes, remember our conversation on our coaching call last week? When I told you I was scared, I couldn't leave my kids at home with a nanny, that the nanny travels with us. And I was like, what, huh? She's like, yeah, we can't make the trip because the nanny can't come with us. I'm like, so leave the kids at home with the nanny. She goes, I can't do that. I said, how much longer are you gonna live in this story that you can have a responsible individual that's your husband's personal assistant watch your children? I mean, wow. And she's like, well, I never really thought about it like that. So she calls me on Saturday night while at the event on a break and says, you know, I figured it out. My mom died early, my grandmother stepped in, and I had this tremendous amount of guilt that my grandmother had to do a role that she wasn't cut out to do. And I said, well, what if she was, though? What if the story just played out the way it was supposed to? She goes, it did. And it all makes sense now. But the reason for my call is, number one, I tell you, I worked through that tonight. I said, I'm ridiculously proud of you. And she goes, and lastly, what you do has very little to do with podcasting and everything to do with life. And now we're both crying on a Saturday night on the phone of where it's at. but just a subtle reminder that God is constantly at work. And not only business, but in life. And I'm a devout Christian, loud and proud about it. I love Jesus, but I cuss a lot. If the name Jesus offends you, that's your problem. It may be something to take a closer look at. But it is what life is all about. And I grew up in a very conditioned, I'm a recovered Southern Baptist. Am I the only one in here to be able to do that? But I never knew that my faith would start to play out in my life. But then again, I didn't know that the undoing of 35 years of layers I had built back in 2016 would start to apply until I started to get phone calls. like that. Now we look at the business side of things. I talked about interviewing people. I'm an active member of BNI. It's my cross. And it's like a gang you can't get out of. But I'm extremely grateful. It's not a cult. They let you go home after every meeting. And I met a new member that had just moved here on a business visa. I think it called an H-1 visa. You start a business, move to the States, moved here from Trinidad. Great guy. And has a retail point of sale business. So everything up until running the card is him. So the hardware in retail locations. And he's become a great friend and we play a lot of golf together. And we're up in West Palm Beach playing golf a couple of Fridays ago. and we're walking out of the pro shop after having breakfast, and he's like, hey man, I didn't tell you, I had a guy on the podcast last week, closing for $50,000.

I'm sorry, come again?

At this point, he may have spent 12 or 15 grand with us. If that, I'm probably exaggerating there. The guy made $50,000 by interviewing a prospect on his podcast, of which I had no doing of other than what I teach, which is you should be interviewing everyone that's on your hit list and your prospect list and the people that you're meeting and you're out here networking. Leave the business cards at home. Okay, fine, get the business cards so you can follow up about the podcast. But this whole, let's meet for coffee. Everyone wants to meet for coffee. It was, let's meet for coffee. What do you want to meet about? You can click the Zoom link. It works well. 2020 conditioned all of us to be Zoom ready. But I, another, I'm like, there we go. Another clue that I am absolutely living in my purpose on purpose. And there's just not a better feeling than that. There's just not. Thank you, Marlene. Thank you. So as I continue to collect these stories of what I get to do, by the way, you don't have to do anything, just so you know. You ain't gotta do nothing, but you get to do everything. But you need to have a sobering conversation with yourself. And one of those questions that you ask yourself in addition to who's missing out, because I'm not showing up, is are you willing to give up who you've become to be who you are? It's a bit of a riddle for some, so I'll say it again. Are you willing to give up who you've become to be who you are? Because I guarantee you what's on the other side of that is everything. Anything's possible, but only 100% of the time. Nothing is outside the realm of possibility. The only thing that keeps us, holds us back is what's between our two ears. Those limiting beliefs of I can't do it, I'm going to look stupid, sound stupid. Who cares? Do you know that people don't care? They don't. They really, really don't because they're too concerned with what they're doing in their own life. Now, don't get me wrong. Yes, we do have compassion and we do care for one another. But I think it was Simon Sinek said, people don't care what you do. They care why you do it. So first things first, when it comes to starting a podcast, the number one question you wanna ask yourself is why am I doing this? Why am I starting a podcast? I don't know. Why don't you answer the question? Because you're the only one qualified to do it. Sure, you can get feedback. And you can ask your husband or your wife or your friend and watch people roll their eyes or tell you you can't do that. But right now, we're gonna set the record straight real quick, if it's okay with everybody. And I'm gonna remind every single one of you in here that yes, you can. That seems a little woo, a little cheesy. Sometimes we need a little woo, a little cheese to wake us up. So we're setting the record straight. If everybody's all right with that, say yes or yes. Okay good because yes you can. You know why I want to clarify that and set the record straight? Because somewhere along the line someone told you you couldn't do something and you believed it and then you start to live your life according to it. It's a brand new day, brand new opportunity. We need to walk out of these doors right here and create something incredible. If we're brave enough, brave, Brave has been the word all week. It continues to show up for me. Brave. And I'll give you some backstory on how that showed up. I'm reconnecting with my best friend from elementary school this weekend. I haven't seen her in 40 years. She traumatically lost her husband to pancreatic cancer late last year. Fast, completely healthy guy from one day to the next, three months, gone. Two young boys, 10 and 12. And I'd been wanting to reach out, but what the fuck do you say? Sorry for your loss." Sure, she hasn't heard that before. So I just kind of let it ride and I said, God, what are you trying to tell me here? Use me. Provide an opportunity here. And then Andy and Vanessa called and said, can you be in Orlando the first weekend of August? I go, wow. He delivers once again. So that turned into a conversation of, hey, I'm gonna be in Orlando, we totally have to link up, which led to a conversation over the past couple of weeks of starting to really unpack this journey. And I felt qualified enough to be able to at least jump in and say, hey, where are you at with all this? And she said, I'm doing the best that I possibly can do. I said, that's all we're doing. And we're also just making it up. That was the most liberating point of being a single dad for 18 years, was when I admitted to my kid that I don't know shit, I'm just making it up, and I'm doing the best I possibly can do. And she said, my friend said to me, so what is your perception of how I've showed up since we've had a chance to reconnect here? And I quote, I said, You're the bravest motherfucker I know. Cause this is nuts. Like this is unspeakable. Like I can't even begin to wrap my head around it. And yet you and I can have conversations and we can crack jokes and you can find humor in the midst of tragedy. You can find that silver lining in the midst of all of this. You are incredibly brave. And she said, wow. That really landed, because all I've heard for eight months is, you're so strong. I mean, yeah, we all are, but what's it take to be brave? To get up, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and say, I got two boys that need me, regardless of the circumstances. Life goes on, people pass on. So what? What are you gonna do with it? And that's what I said to her. I said, so now what? She said, I don't know. But I'm figuring it out as we go. I go, man, we're making it up too. So I wanted to share that with you to give you some context. The word brave kept showing up to my God, what does this mean? What is, what does the word brave mean? And it also perspective on our lives when stuff like that happens. You tell yourself, like, I ain't got no problems. I'm good. I'm gonna call my mama and tell her I love her. You know what I mean? But it's perspective on where it's at. That was kind of a side note on where I shared it, because that word just started to show up very, very strong in my life last week, and specifically today, and right now, of course, right in the midst, in the middle of the show here. But when we're brave, we've got the opportunity to get off the sidelines and get in the game. When we're brave, we have the opportunity to make sure that if it's within our control, no one's missing out. Because I'm showing up, you know why? Because I said that I was. I owe it to me. You owe you. And we do. When we look through that lens, it's a completely different perspective. Because a lot of us, unfortunately, like I said, we live in autopilot. It's a terrifying place to be, autopilot. We're just going. When's the last time you stopped and caught a sunrise or a sunset? Speaking of that, my friend has, she lives about 45 minutes from here. She has the most incredible sunsets every single night. Something about central Florida and sunsets is just beautiful. But we started talking about the picture she would post in the morning. I said, just so you know, that's him reminding you I'm good. Take care of the boys. I'm good. And she said it 100%. And she sent me one from the next morning. It was way better than any of them I'd ever seen. So it's incredible how life continues to unfold and that God allows us to still get that peace. And if it's to chaos that, you know what, everything's going to be all right. Because I said that it's going to be. So once you start to figure out the why of starting a podcast, once you decide that, you know what, I'm down to be brave, everybody down to be brave today, say yes or yes. Isn't brave a great word? I mean, we're like, we've been using that since God spoke to Moses, but let's bring it back. We're bringing brave back, baby. Justin Timberlake brings sexy back. I'm bringing brave back. Come on now. The next thing we want to do is we want to figure out what kind of format we're looking for for a podcast. What kind of show is it going to be? And I told you one of the reasons that you're starting a podcast, well, one of the three. Number one, to interview people that you can do business with. Everyone agree that's a great strategy? Didn't even think about that. Raise your hand if you've never even thought about that. Starting a podcast, interviewing people you can do business with. Thanks for being brave. The second reason, to get your social media content game in check and consistent. Who posts every single day and has no problem posting on social media or coming up with content? Every single day, no problems. Yeah, all three of us, fantastic. So what if a podcast allowed you to get your social media content game in check because of the podcast? Let me break it down for you. One podcast episode, let's call it 30 or 45 minutes long, recorded via Zoom with a good mic and a good camera and decent lighting. You don't need a studio. You do not need a studio. Did I mention you don't need a studio? You need to look good, you need to sound good, and you need to make sure you're capturing the audio and the video in a quality. I'm not talking about your ear pods on your shitty laptop camera. I'm talking about, you know, let's spend a couple hundred bucks on a webcam and a mic. I have a free podcast equipment guide. If you scan the QR code at my booth outside the doors here, you can download it. It's all my secrets when it comes to podcast equipment. You record a 30 or 45 minute episode, what happens then? Well then you hire a virtual assistant or a freelancer or us or somebody to go and chop up that content. And every podcast episode now becomes multiple pieces of content. For example, we produce four episodes a month for our clients. We do 12 pieces of micro content per month for them. So that's three pieces of micro content per episode. Episode drops Tuesday, first clip, another clip Wednesday, another clip Thursday, Chances are whoever's seeing it on Friday probably didn't see it on Tuesday, post it again, and then what do you know, it's time to post another episode. So what happens 12 months from now? How we started to build a content catalog that we can tap into. How many of you would love to have a Google Drive that at any given time you just tap into it, you're like, I am coming up blank today. Don't know what to post. But if I go back into my archives of my podcast micro content, well, that was a great episode. Let's post something about that today. So when I tell you that starting a podcast solves all of your social media content problems, or a majority of them, it does. Second reason you start a podcast. And third, and this is my favorite, you get to step into a completely different version of yourself. How exciting is that? Some of you are like, that's fucking terrifying. What's more terrifying is staying stagnant and doing nothing. What's more stagnant is continuing that bullshit dialogue of, I can't do that, or I don't like the sound of my voice, or I'm terrified of public speaking, or what is Uncle John going to say, or what is my, I don't know that I can do that. It's focused on what's possible, which is only anything 100% of the time. So once we figure out what kind of show and podcast we have, that's your strategy right there, by the way. We wanna figure out what we're gonna call the podcast. That's coming up with a name. There's a lot of stupid podcast names out there. I'm trying to do something about that. Here's what we're not doing. We're not coming up with names where I've gotta say, get it. Get it? Because guess what? No one gets it at all. They say an average person has a fifth grade reading level and you're asking them, get it? We want to come up with a name that complements your brand. We're not looking for Florida Professionals Association podcasts. We're not looking to do that. We're looking to come up with a name like the Networking Ninjas. that are hosted by Andy and Vanessa. And like the networking ninjas, this is all, yeah, we interview other business owners throughout the entire state of Florida to get to know them and talk about their business and tell their story, and then we recruit them into our organization. That's how we grew to 100,000 members. Does that make sense? It complements what they're doing. And for the love of all things podcasting, please do not include the word podcast in the name. But Sebastian, it's a podcast. I know. And putting the word podcast in the name is extremely redundant and obvious. Everybody clear with that? You don't need a podcast microphone on the cover art. You don't need headphones. You don't need to say get it, get it. You need to come up with a name that complements your business, your brand, who you are as a human being and a business owner. That's what it's all about. Now we've come up with a name, we've come up with a strategy. Now it's time to get to work. How many people in here, I had a lot of conversations last night, so I'm curious to know, how many people in here have a podcast but stopped it? All right, great. And there was a reason that you stopped it, and I'm gonna go ahead and jump to conclusions real quick here and say the reason you probably stop doing it is because it was a lot of work, right? So my challenge to you today is get every single thing off of your plate that pertains to the podcast as soon as possible. That's not a pitch. You're going to hire me if you're going to hire me, and if you're not, you're not. I have one goal. Get the podcast launched, get the work off of your table, and get into the podcasting game so you can take this out into the world and do something great with it, with or without me. It doesn't matter. I have one goal, and that's to see you start a podcast, take it out in the world, and do something great with it. That's it. I hear stories all the time. I read your book. I did exactly what it said. I started my podcast. I heard a bunch of freelancers, a bunch of virtual assistants, and my show's going. I had a guy, I was on a guy's show last week. He had a stutter. And he was still a podcaster and mentioned to me that he has a stutter and apologized for it. I'm like, apologize for it? But that wasn't the real story. The real story was that he had read my book, downloaded my podcast equipment. I'd done everything that I taught him in the book, started the podcast, and then reached out to me and invited me to be a guest. And when we got done, he's like, I don't know if you noticed or not, but I had a slight stutter. I was like, well, now that you brought it up, I kind of remember it. Well, I didn't even bring it up. I ended up sharing a video from Tony Robbins years and years ago where he cured a guy of stuttering, but the friend had been starting for 35 years in eight minutes. It was unbelievable. I sent it to this guy. This guy was over. You would have thought that I had flown to his house and cooked dinner for his family because he was like, that video was amazing. And I'm thinking the entire experience today, Brad, was amazing, because you read my book, and then you went and did something about it, and then you invited me to be a guest on your show, and I didn't even know any of that stuff. You understand? I don't care if it's with me or without me. Use me, leverage my resources, and do something. So if you started a podcast and you've stopped the podcast, it's probably because it was too much work. And you're doing stuff you shouldn't be doing. How many in here by show of hands are working in their business right now and not on their business? Yeah, that's a giant problem too. I hope that triggers you, I really do, to your core. Because when I started delegating things and I started getting things off my plate that I shouldn't be doing, everything started to change. The second thing that happened when I was willing to reach into my pocket where it kind of hurts a little bit, you're like, I was willing to book that plane ticket and I was willing to get in that room. I was willing to get on that stage for not even a nickel. I was down to do it. Everything started to change. I was reading three thinking, grow rich. And one of the principles in there was getting a mastermind group. And I kept hearing about mastermind groups. I've been part of networking groups and chambers, tough crowd, but a mastermind group where we roll up our sleeves and we go through life together and we become the best version of ourselves and we also, by default, build a profitable business. How do I start doing that? I was introduced to an organization based in Dallas, and it cost me $10,000 to join. You talk about wildly uncomfortable. That's just to be a member. That's not travel. We fly in quarterly, travel, dinners, here, there. I probably spend 15, 20 grand a year to be in that. That 15 or $20,000 yields about $225,000 for our company, because I'm willing to show up and get in the room. I just celebrated three years of being part of this mastermind group, I look back and I said, you know, I had the opportunity to emcee our last meetup, which was a real privilege to be on that stage. And I stood there and thought, a lot's changed in three years, but the number one thing I can think of that's changed the most is me. And it's the people that I get to do business with that we get to call our family of choice of where it's at. So why do I share that with you? Well, you've already taken the step in the right direction to get in a room like this. for the incredible human beings like Vanessa and Andy creating the Florida Professionals Association. I remember when it was in South Florida many, many moons ago and what it's grown in today. So you guys understand the power of getting in the room. Continue to do that, double down on that. I'm not talking about more chamber events. I'm talking about getting wildly uncomfortable sponsoring that event, cutting that check, getting real uncomfortable because that's where the magic happens. Nobody wants to get comfortable being uncomfortable. But every single day I do two things that keep me wildly uncomfortable. I turn my shower on cold at the end of it. It is the most miserable part of my day. And I repeat as follows. I am committed to the work. I am a powerful, lovable, authentic leader. I am in service. The work that I do impacts lives and changes people for the better. I am committed to the work. because I said that I am, and I repeat that every day, and some days I don't want to, and some days I have to remind myself, what is the work, Sebastian? The work is constantly staying curious and constantly leaning in and saying, I don't know how it's gonna work out, I just know it's gonna work out. That's all that I do know. The second most miserable part of my day is 20 minutes in a hot sauna, suffocating. I read a stat that said if you spend 20 minutes in a sauna, you decrease your odds of dying by 50%, five zero, 50%. I'll suffocate for 20 minutes, let's ride. Right after the gym, sauna's right there, go right into the sauna, and I kick and scream all the way to the gym. But I was thinking about this the other day. Sebastian, when's the last time you walked out of this gym and said, man, Really not happy that I did that. Never, ever, whatever's on the other side of what we don't want to do, there's always a payoff and that's what we're looking for. It's human designed to avoid pain and seek pleasure and to seek comfort. And all of those things are available if we're willing to lean in enough and stay uncomfortable and get comfortable staying uncomfortable. Pain is usually a choice. a choice of deciding to stay still and stay where you are, because that's the way we've always done it. Some of us are so comfortable in our comfort zones that people are, in fact, missing out because we're not showing up. So if you got anything from today, May it be, I mean, I hope to be a human defibrillator for this entire room to wake everyone up in areas that you didn't know you need to be woken up about. I want to be top of mind for the rest of the weekend, the rest of next week, the rest of the month, the rest of this year. Man, that guy that opened up the Florida Professionals in Paradise in Orlando, wow, I can't stop thinking about what he said, and I don't know what it is. that I said, but there's something you're gonna take home and bring back to your life, and it is my hope and prayer that you integrate it and you start yesterday, because there are, in fact, people missing out because you're not showing up. We dabbled a little bit into the world of podcasting. I'm not here to do a how-to on how to plug a podcast mic in. I've got a YouTube channel for that. I wanted to wake you up and let you know that the podcast can be the catalyst for you stepping in to a completely different version of yourself. The podcast can be the catalyst to you radically. And I do mean radically changing your life and your business for the better because of a podcast. It's who you get to become. It's what's on the other side of it. I believe it was Martin Luther King Jr. that said, you don't need to see the whole staircase. You just need to see the first step. And I'll follow it up with a quote from his father that I just love so much. And that is. How soon, not now, becomes never. Friends, I'm here to tell you right now, the time is right now. There is a clock ticking that we don't even know about. People are missing out because we are not in the game. All we've got to do is make a conscious decision and a declaration to ourselves, because you owe you to be able to get into the game and watch people radically change their life. because you made a decision to step into a completely different version of yourself and change your life. It's all possible. We're all in this game together. We are a link in the chain, but unless we move, no one else moves. If I didn't move eight years ago, no one else would have started to take a move. I wouldn't get the emails and the phone calls and the testimonials of Sebastian. Here's what I did because of the podcast. It gives me chills, and I'm a total sap, so I find myself bawling more times than not, but I'm okay with it, because you've got to feel it, and I do feel it. I feel it to my absolute core. When someone calls me and says, I changed my life, I'm like, it wasn't because of me. I'm not taking credit for any of that. You did the work. You got in the game. You got off the bench. You chose you, and you chose to get uncomfortable. You chose to be comfortable. being uncomfortable, and because you did that, you were able to get out, create something incredible that you didn't even know was possible at all. I spent 18 years raising my daughter. I had a child with a woman, very young, that did not want to be a mother. She checked out. She said, you raised her. I said, not a problem. We moved to Southern California. I became an entrepreneur because, well, they don't let you off sales jobs to go pick your kid up when she's six. I was like, that's not gonna work. Plus, I'm a terrible employee. My daughter's 23 years old, just graduated with a degree in psychology from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. She's currently in the master's program studying mental health counseling. I tell her so she can better understand why her parents are so crazy. But she's 23, she's completely self-sufficient, and she constantly calls and reminds me, Dad, I'm good, and thanks. They don't grade parents, Dad, but if it was a scale of one to 10, you're a 12. And I was like, let's go. You did not tell me that when you were 16. You did not at all. So as we close today, I want you to really consider who's missing out, because you're not showing up. And I also want you to consider what's possible. with getting out of your comfort zone and saying, I'm doing it. I don't know what's on the other side of it, but I'm doing it. Friends, I'm here as living proof that if you make this decision to choose you to step into the game, your life will be radically changed. And so will those that are in your life and will continue to enter your life. And what an incredible feeling that is, isn't it? Thank you so much for your attention today. It's been my absolute extreme pleasure and gift to get up here and share my gifts with you guys. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. That's the way we get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review and share the show with someone you know should start a podcast or may already have one. And remember, podcasts suck if you don't have one. Until next time, friends.