Preparing for Impact | Ryan Estis

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[00:00:30] We all have that friend who wakes up early to go get everyone McDonald's breakfast for

[00:00:34] the rest of us.

[00:00:35] Sleep in.

[00:00:36] This is your sign to thank them.

[00:00:39] And if you're that friend, this is us saying, thank you.

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[00:00:58] I'm a part of my part.

[00:01:10] Ryan Estes might be the most successful public speaker on the planet.

[00:01:15] Like, I've known him for about a decade.

[00:01:18] We have a really good mutual friend, Scott Cohen, who you might remember has been on this

[00:01:22] podcast a couple times, the ultimate entrepreneur.

[00:01:25] Ryan and I have become good friends along the way, you know, through our friendship with

[00:01:29] Scott.

[00:01:30] And he's always been such a great public speaker.

[00:01:36] And so it's an inspiration speaker because he has so much wisdom and knowledge about business

[00:01:41] and sales in the world.

[00:01:43] And he speaks all over the place.

[00:01:45] But now he's written a book with his brother Chad.

[00:01:47] Chad is an executive at many different sports teams like football teams and the cowboys

[00:01:52] and all that.

[00:01:53] And they have many stories to tell the books called Prepare for Impact.

[00:01:56] It's got a section that I highly encourage people should read the book.

[00:01:59] And I also really encourage read the 30 steps to success and come up with your own 30

[00:02:04] steps.

[00:02:05] That's my one suggestion.

[00:02:08] But I also really wanted to know for Ryan, how does one be the best at public speaking?

[00:02:14] How did he start getting his gigs?

[00:02:16] I didn't know the full story.

[00:02:18] How did he start charging more and more money?

[00:02:20] How did he break out on his own and have the confidence to do it?

[00:02:23] How is he evolving?

[00:02:24] And what's he going to do when he's older and doesn't want to travel all the time to

[00:02:28] do this public speaking?

[00:02:29] These are questions you can ask no matter what industry you're in and what's the direction

[00:02:35] of your career and your wealth and your success and so on.

[00:02:38] How do you transform from one stage to the next and continue that success?

[00:02:44] So here's Ryan Estes, such a pleasure to talk to this friend of mine.

[00:02:49] And I'm sure everyone's going to be impacted by this and again, his book is Prepare for

[00:02:55] Impact.

[00:03:01] This isn't your average business podcast and he's not your average host.

[00:03:05] This is the James Altiger show.

[00:03:11] Ryan, let me ask you this.

[00:03:18] You are a super successful public speaker.

[00:03:21] You went from being a super successful sales guy, you wrote 30 steps for success and it's

[00:03:27] become this book now with your brother, Prepare for Impact, Drive and Growth and serving

[00:03:31] others for the principles of human-centered leadership.

[00:03:34] First off, most of your public speaking has revolved around the topics in this book like

[00:03:39] the 30 steps to success about leadership and management and sales.

[00:03:44] Yeah, it's all about sales and leadership.

[00:03:47] And I would say that today leading through change and leading into the future but my work

[00:03:52] is pretty evenly distributed among those two topics.

[00:03:57] But you know what's interesting is up until recently, I didn't really leverage the 30 steps

[00:04:02] when I was telling you it really for me it was an internal thing.

[00:04:05] I really was just trying to help out Chad and he's the one that took the content and actually

[00:04:10] leveraged it for work.

[00:04:12] I wasn't promoting the 30 steps.

[00:04:14] I'd never shown anybody the 30 steps until we started discussing how he was using them

[00:04:20] in a different way.

[00:04:21] So I never thought they'd be in a book but it was just art.

[00:04:27] Well, what's interesting is that like you wrote this as, and we talked about this before,

[00:04:32] the 30 steps of success in sales and Chad or the team's Chad worked with kind of morphed

[00:04:39] into the 30 steps for success where it's slightly different.

[00:04:42] Although sales and success in general are important, like for me, I feel like I've never read

[00:04:50] a sales book but I've run companies and I had to be the salesman for my companies whether

[00:04:55] you're selling a customer or raising money or selling the company or whatever.

[00:04:59] And there was one point in your steps of success that I really relate to which is enthusiasm.

[00:05:05] If you don't like internalize the message of what you're trying to sell, like if you have

[00:05:11] to become one with what you're trying to sell and be so enthusiastic for it, like it's

[00:05:15] an extension of yourself, that's I have found the key to any sale I've ever done.

[00:05:21] Yeah, I think that's absolutely right.

[00:05:23] I mean in some ways you could think of selling as the transfer of enthusiasm or the transfer

[00:05:28] of belief.

[00:05:29] I mean, ultimately you want to get somebody to believe about the future, what you believe

[00:05:34] that your circumstances, business opportunity is going to be better served if we move forward

[00:05:41] in partnership.

[00:05:42] And so that transferring belief requires a lot of confidence, a lot of enthusiasm and

[00:05:48] a lot of interest in helping somebody else get a great result whether that's a return

[00:05:52] on their investment growth in their business solving a big problem, etc.

[00:05:56] So yeah, I mean that one that I think that's spot on.

[00:06:01] And you make the point in the book.

[00:06:02] You can't just be enthusiastic about anything, you have to truly believe this is the way.

[00:06:06] Yeah, actually I think if you don't believe you're doing yourself an incredible disservice

[00:06:11] and you should probably go find something else to sell because that's all selling it.

[00:06:19] Look, selling in particular today, it's a hard job.

[00:06:22] I mean, you're going to deal with a lot of resistance, a lot of rejection.

[00:06:25] It's incredibly competitive.

[00:06:27] Because many, many categories, customers are fundamentally changing their expectations

[00:06:32] or skyrocketing.

[00:06:33] More people are influencing a decision.

[00:06:36] Technology is altering the landscape.

[00:06:38] I mean, it's a challenging job.

[00:06:41] And so to do that in and around something you're not passionate about or you don't necessarily

[00:06:47] believe in just for a paycheck, I think is a pretty tough way to make a living.

[00:06:53] And so speaking of which and speaking of your living, when did you decide to go from

[00:06:59] sales to public speaking?

[00:07:02] And just a little context.

[00:07:03] I'm sorry to interrupt.

[00:07:04] You're probably out of all the people I've ever met.

[00:07:06] You're probably the most successful public speaker I know.

[00:07:09] You are booked 52 weeks out of the year from what I've seen.

[00:07:14] And I've known you for a long time.

[00:07:16] You work really hard.

[00:07:18] Well thanks.

[00:07:20] And it's changed a little bit since the pandemic, which we can talk about.

[00:07:24] But my foray into it is interesting.

[00:07:27] I had a job.

[00:07:28] I was the chief strategy officer for an ad agency and talked a little bit about that with you.

[00:07:32] But in that job as part of our business development strategy, we're doing a lot of trade

[00:07:39] chosen conferences.

[00:07:40] And I just realized if I was the guy on stage, this whole experience around meeting prospects,

[00:07:46] networking with customers would go a lot better.

[00:07:49] There would probably be a lot more interest than us if I could be that guy.

[00:07:52] I was in a keynote once and I leaned over to one of my sales reps.

[00:07:55] I was like, I could do that.

[00:07:56] You know you could.

[00:07:57] I said, no, I think I could.

[00:07:59] And that was literally sort of the beginning of my journey.

[00:08:02] And it started out.

[00:08:04] We would actually pay to sponsor these breakfasts.

[00:08:07] And I would do a little talk in the industry about trends, maybe present a client case study.

[00:08:14] 20 people would come eat some free scrambled eggs.

[00:08:17] And then we'd have two decent prospects out of that and one would close.

[00:08:22] And so it was working for the business and I was getting reps in.

[00:08:26] And then you know got bigger and better.

[00:08:28] And I remember, we started getting, I remember the time we started getting phone calls.

[00:08:33] You know, go speak it in a vet.

[00:08:35] And then I come back to the work and there'd be six phone calls.

[00:08:39] Hey, can I come and speak here?

[00:08:40] Can I come and speak there?

[00:08:42] What's his rate?

[00:08:43] I was like, what in the hell?

[00:08:46] And so I started researching the business.

[00:08:48] I hired a coach.

[00:08:50] I went to night classes at the National Speakers Association.

[00:08:54] Okay.

[00:08:55] Why did you hire a coach for like what were you studying in these classes?

[00:08:57] Like you already knew how to be a public speaker.

[00:08:59] I mean, you already knew how to give a talk.

[00:09:01] It was, I wanted to, so two things.

[00:09:03] One I wanted to understand if I was good enough to actually make a living.

[00:09:08] So you know, I had a good job.

[00:09:09] I mean, this was to your butt like the risk of giving up my career and sort of reinventing

[00:09:15] myself which is something you know a lot about.

[00:09:19] Versus staying in the course.

[00:09:23] Is it a real thing?

[00:09:24] Like how can you make a living doing this?

[00:09:26] And the second thing was, you know, I wasn't an entrepreneur.

[00:09:31] I worked for a big company full of resources.

[00:09:34] I climbed my way up the ladder.

[00:09:36] You know, the running the business of it.

[00:09:38] How do you structure it?

[00:09:39] Do people have a staff?

[00:09:40] How do you get bookings?

[00:09:42] Is there a marketing plant?

[00:09:43] Like I just, I wanted to learn about it.

[00:09:46] So that was the, there was a coach and she wrote this book called The wealthy speaker

[00:09:50] and somebody recommended the book.

[00:09:53] I read it and I said, you know what?

[00:09:54] I got to find this one when I looked her up on the internet called her and said, I want

[00:09:58] you to watch videos of me and tell me if I'm good enough to make a living.

[00:10:01] And so that's not exactly how the coaching works.

[00:10:04] You know, we can get you down the right path.

[00:10:07] And so that's what I did.

[00:10:08] And I worked with her before I ever quit my job.

[00:10:12] I think that's smart.

[00:10:13] So what did she teach you?

[00:10:15] So I would say that she helped me understand both the distribution opportunities.

[00:10:23] So how speeches get booked and she gave me some sort of line of sight, I think, into,

[00:10:30] you know, the acumen of running the business and actually did watch video and coach me

[00:10:35] on, okay, you're pretty good and pretty raw.

[00:10:39] Here are some things you could do to get better.

[00:10:41] So I would say those are the three things that we spent time on.

[00:10:44] But I realized five or six months into that whatever it was we were meeting once or twice

[00:10:49] a month.

[00:10:50] I was like, this is what I'm going to do.

[00:10:53] She asked me to come to a conference.

[00:10:54] She said there's a national conference for speakers.

[00:10:57] You should come.

[00:10:58] Ironically, it was in New York City.

[00:11:00] I slept on Scotch Scotch.

[00:11:03] This is probably, you know, when is this 2008, 2009?

[00:11:08] Tim Ferris had just published the four-hour work week.

[00:11:11] He was doing a breakout.

[00:11:13] I went to a breakout with Tim Ferris.

[00:11:15] God is book.

[00:11:16] There was probably 30 people in this breakout at this speaker's conference.

[00:11:21] And I was mesmerized with all these people that were in there was like thousands of people

[00:11:25] there.

[00:11:26] Scott and I had a good time, and he was pushing me to do it.

[00:11:29] And on the way on the flight home, I started reading the four-hour work week by the time

[00:11:33] I landed.

[00:11:34] I'm like, this is what I'm doing.

[00:11:36] And you know, that was it now.

[00:11:39] And then what happened?

[00:11:41] And so when was that?

[00:11:43] That was probably July, August.

[00:11:45] So I started mentally preparing myself.

[00:11:48] And then in January, she wasn't, by the way, great time to quit your job.

[00:11:52] January of 2009.

[00:11:53] Or like in the middle of like the fallout.

[00:11:55] No, by the way, I was a public speaker then and it was a, it was a, what was it a lot

[00:12:02] of opportunities?

[00:12:03] No.

[00:12:04] Yeah.

[00:12:05] In my mind, what was going on at the ad agency, like a lot of agencies were going through

[00:12:10] layoffs, right?

[00:12:12] And cutting real deep, and we, I was worked at a division of McCann.

[00:12:16] And I just, Christmas break, I was like this, this thing's falling apart.

[00:12:21] We got back.

[00:12:23] Now I remember on a Wednesday, my boss or CEO called me, so we're going to lay off

[00:12:26] another 30% of our workforce Friday and it's kind of given me my responsibilities

[00:12:30] and who I was going to have to, and I woke up.

[00:12:33] I went to bed that night.

[00:12:34] We went to bed at and sleep.

[00:12:35] And I just thought this is it.

[00:12:37] I got to do it.

[00:12:38] And you know, people told me not to for the reason you just said like there aren't, no

[00:12:42] one's going to hire a consultant or a speaker.

[00:12:44] You're going to ruin your life, ruin your career, all these things.

[00:12:48] And I just, I remember that night, I called my brother and I called Scott.

[00:12:52] And I was like, I think I have to do this.

[00:12:54] And they were both going, go, go, go, you figure it out.

[00:12:57] And I just, I picked up that phone in the morning and I said, can you put me into this

[00:13:01] round of layoffs about?

[00:13:03] And that was it.

[00:13:05] What's your boss upset?

[00:13:06] He was.

[00:13:07] He, he, very disappointed.

[00:13:10] And you know, I think, um, I think he thought I was making a huge mistake.

[00:13:13] I mean, you know, part of, part of his thought was this is a terrible time to do this.

[00:13:19] You know, like you, this is the last thing you should be doing right now.

[00:13:23] Like get if you really want to do this, he's like, you know, give it a couple of years

[00:13:28] and wait till circumstances are better.

[00:13:30] And I just thought, like two, like two years, I'm going to be different than what like,

[00:13:34] I got, I just, I just, I had to do it.

[00:13:37] Like I, I geared up everything I had in me that, by the way, I was terrified while I was

[00:13:42] doing this, make no mistake.

[00:13:44] Like I anxiety couldn't sleep, you know, I, I worked, I'd worked there 15 years, man.

[00:13:49] It was like my whole, my whole adult life.

[00:13:53] So, you know, but, but there's something to be said for when nobody else is doing something

[00:13:59] supply and demand suggests that is the time to do it because there are still people who

[00:14:03] need speakers, like I did give some talk story in that time.

[00:14:07] And if you're wondering the few people out there raising your hands saying, hey, look

[00:14:10] at me, then you're going to get hired for it.

[00:14:13] Well, you know, you're right about that and you know the other thing I think when

[00:14:17] you're starting out, I needed, I needed to build something.

[00:14:23] You know, I needed to build a platform and have videos and go do a bunch of free gigs

[00:14:27] to get reps in.

[00:14:28] And now that I'm not working for this company, what am I really going to talk about

[00:14:32] and, and, and you build myself up?

[00:14:35] And, and so I thought, now's the perfect time to do this.

[00:14:38] There's not a lot going on.

[00:14:40] I don't want to go into that place and run that business into the ground every day.

[00:14:45] That's not great.

[00:14:46] And so what if I worked really hard for two years and then when the market came back,

[00:14:50] I'd be there and I'd have a thing in a story versus just starting when it was good.

[00:14:56] And that that was the, that, that really, that thought really paid off because that is

[00:15:04] what happened.

[00:15:05] The first two years were brutal, man.

[00:15:06] I, yeah, I mean there were a couple of times people called me about jobs and I went on interviews

[00:15:12] and I didn't know what I was going to do.

[00:15:14] And finally, I just said, okay, I have to shut that down and just focus on this.

[00:15:18] And I too, I got picked up two consulting contracts from previous clients and that sort

[00:15:25] of floated me through those two years.

[00:15:27] But, consolting to do what?

[00:15:31] One of the one, I was working with Mayo Clinic on their employment brand.

[00:15:38] They had all kinds of challenges recruiting physicians and recruiting nurses.

[00:15:41] So we did this big research project.

[00:15:43] It was like ethnography.

[00:15:44] We did all these focus groups.

[00:15:46] We interviewed like over 400 employees.

[00:15:48] We interviewed patients and we came up with all these talent drivers in this employment

[00:15:53] brand, life changing careers.

[00:15:55] I still remember it.

[00:15:56] And then I did a similar project for Microsoft for Bing.

[00:15:59] So I was able to pick up these two cool consulting projects and that was work I could actually

[00:16:05] talk about from the stage.

[00:16:07] And it did, I mean it was good and it sounded good.

[00:16:10] Yeah, I'm doing some consulting work with Microsoft at Mayo Clinic and now I'm speaking

[00:16:17] and I took every speech I could get.

[00:16:20] Man, it was the yanked in South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and the Kowanna's breakfast and

[00:16:27] mental north, the kind of like whatever I could get.

[00:16:43] Listening to your favorite podcast?

[00:16:45] That's smart.

[00:16:46] Earning your degree online from Southern New Hampshire University, that's really smart.

[00:16:51] With 24-7 access to coursework, no set class times and dedicated student support you can go

[00:16:56] to school when and where it works for you.

[00:16:58] Low online tuition means you can even do it for less.

[00:17:01] And dedicated student support means we'll be with you from day one to graduation and beyond.

[00:17:06] Join a community of learners just like you go to esnihchu.edu today to start your free

[00:17:10] application.

[00:17:11] We all have that friend who wakes up early to go get everyone McDonald's breakfast for

[00:17:17] the rest of us.

[00:17:18] Sleep in.

[00:17:19] This is your sign to thank them.

[00:17:22] And if you're that friend, this is us saying thank you.

[00:17:26] Just a friendly reminder that right now get any size iced coffee before 11 a.m. for

[00:17:31] just 99 cents and the satisfying sausage McMuffin with egg is just 279.

[00:17:37] Price and participation may vary cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal.

[00:17:43] How would you get the Kowanna's breakfast in Polo, North Dakota?

[00:17:50] Well, I'll tell you what I did.

[00:17:52] I started, sure, which is the Society of Human Resources Management.

[00:17:59] I had a relationship with that association at my old employer because we did HR communications

[00:18:05] that was part of our portfolio of services and so we would attend their conferences.

[00:18:09] Well, it's the eighth largest trade association in the US.

[00:18:13] They have thousands of every city Rochester, Minnesota has a short chapter.

[00:18:19] The Twin Cities has a St. Paul has a certain chapter in Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Duluth.

[00:18:24] They all have chapters and every month the chapter gets together and every month they

[00:18:28] have a speaking.

[00:18:29] And they don't, these aren't all paid opportunities mind you.

[00:18:33] So some are, you know, some you might get $1,000 stipend and some you come and just get

[00:18:38] breakfast.

[00:18:39] But what I got on that circuit, I started speaking for sure and my content got accredited

[00:18:46] by their governing body for continuing education.

[00:18:50] I was rated really high and then I started to rise up.

[00:18:54] And actually ended up, I've been the opening and closing keynote speaker at 41 state

[00:19:00] shurn conferences.

[00:19:01] And at that level when it's the annual state conference they do pay a full proper fee.

[00:19:09] So what were those first talks about?

[00:19:14] The first couple talks about the work I was doing was about employment branding.

[00:19:17] I had a talk called, oh my god this is crazy.

[00:19:20] I hadn't thought of this in a while.

[00:19:22] I had one about employment branding.

[00:19:24] I had one called recruiting his sales which I would go into a recruiting organization

[00:19:30] and teach them sales concepts.

[00:19:32] And then of course I had to talk about sales.

[00:19:34] I think we called it rockstar selling.

[00:19:37] And then I had a fourth talk about leadership level up your leadership or something along

[00:19:42] because those were the two things I had done.

[00:19:44] And I knew I was going to talk about sales and leadership.

[00:19:47] But I had to have some, you know, I had to have good HR content too.

[00:19:50] And then I developed a talk called rethinking HR.

[00:19:53] That was another one I had.

[00:19:54] It was a long time ago but I still, you know what I still get contacted by Shurntrape

[00:20:00] here's to speak.

[00:20:02] I just got contacted to keynote at a state conference and I couldn't do it because of

[00:20:06] my schedule.

[00:20:07] But they still, they still really support by work which is just a beautiful thing.

[00:20:13] It kind of came full circle.

[00:20:15] So you kind of like put the foot in the door and it's a great organization to do that

[00:20:19] with because not only are you talking to their chapters some of which pay particularly

[00:20:24] these state annual conventions but they're all executives at their employers so they could

[00:20:31] hire you with real paying jobs.

[00:20:33] Correct.

[00:20:34] And so, you know, I have this sort of this thesis that every time you speak it should generate

[00:20:40] at least one net new opportunity or you have to or something's not right.

[00:20:45] Well at Shurntrape point I could go do a job for Microsoft but there's 500 executives

[00:20:51] at Microsoft.

[00:20:52] I could go do a job for Shurnt.

[00:20:54] There's 500 potential new clients in the audience.

[00:20:58] And so that started happening and perpetuating too.

[00:21:02] I do a talk at Shurn.

[00:21:04] Three people would reach out and say hey, we're having a leadership conference or Adobe

[00:21:07] reached out.

[00:21:08] We're having our global HR symposium.

[00:21:11] Can you come give that talk that you gave at Shurnt to our global eight?

[00:21:15] So that's how I started AT&T.

[00:21:17] Same thing.

[00:21:18] I did AT&T's global HR conference from those Shurntaks.

[00:21:23] And then every once in a while somebody the Louisiana lottery hired me to do their sales conference

[00:21:29] out of a Shurntaks.

[00:21:30] So the HR people are influencing corporate training and development, leadership development,

[00:21:37] helping plan conferences.

[00:21:39] And so it was just it honestly was the perfect place for me to be right place, right time,

[00:21:46] little bit of luck.

[00:21:48] And it worked.

[00:21:50] And it helped that you did some talks for free in the beginning.

[00:21:52] Like you're talking about 2009 you're doing the Kuwana's Club or the Shurnt Club in

[00:21:58] North Dakota.

[00:21:59] Yeah.

[00:22:00] It helped the whole thing.

[00:22:01] Well, it did and not only was it good to get the reps in but I became a true partner

[00:22:08] to that trade association.

[00:22:10] I had done so much work for them.

[00:22:12] I think was 2011, 2012.

[00:22:16] I got a call from the National Shurnt Office and the woman who book speakers at their

[00:22:20] national conference which I would go do a breakout for free.

[00:22:24] She said I have a surprise for you.

[00:22:27] And I said, yeah.

[00:22:29] And she said we want you to speak at one of our national conferences.

[00:22:33] I said oh yeah, I want to be there every year.

[00:22:35] She said no, not the breakout.

[00:22:39] She said we want you to be our closing keynote.

[00:22:41] Well, I was like what?

[00:22:44] I didn't understand.

[00:22:46] I couldn't.

[00:22:47] Dan Pink was the opener and his book drive had just came out.

[00:22:51] And that was a tidal wave thing.

[00:22:54] And she said Dan's going to open and we want you to close.

[00:22:57] And I mean, what's great about that is they start promoting and marketing this conference

[00:23:05] six months before the conference.

[00:23:07] There's like really bird registration.

[00:23:09] You get a discount.

[00:23:10] They're doing all these e-blasts out and it's Ryan and Dan and Dan and Ryan.

[00:23:14] And I mean, that was my moment.

[00:23:17] I mean, if you ever looked at my website back then when that was going on, you would have

[00:23:22] thought Dan and I were either related or business partners.

[00:23:25] I mean, I took that and I went with it.

[00:23:29] And it started to work.

[00:23:32] And you know where you know what happened then?

[00:23:34] I got on the radar screen as you know the speaker bureaus.

[00:23:37] They're like who is this guy?

[00:23:39] You know, Washington speakers bureau booked that book.

[00:23:42] Dan, they lost the spot to some of the second spots.

[00:23:45] Some guy they never heard of.

[00:23:46] Well, who is that guy?

[00:23:48] We don't know.

[00:23:49] And that got me on their radar screen.

[00:23:52] So that was two, two, three years in and then it started to happen.

[00:23:56] Well, what did someone like Dan get paid for speaking at that?

[00:24:00] It's a great question.

[00:24:01] Roughly.

[00:24:02] Roughly at that time, probably $35,000.

[00:24:06] A lot more than I got paid at that time.

[00:24:10] But then when you get started again, like you say the customers, your future customers

[00:24:15] are sitting there in the audience.

[00:24:17] So when Adobe calls your AT&T calls you, like 30 is trivial for them.

[00:24:22] Yeah, I mean look, that's a progression.

[00:24:25] I mean one of the things about this business is sure them as a, you know, they,

[00:24:30] I mean at their national conferences they book who they want to book.

[00:24:34] Rate isn't an issue.

[00:24:35] I mean, they've had everybody.

[00:24:36] Mark Sputtingham, Jim Collins, you know, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton.

[00:24:41] It doesn't matter.

[00:24:42] And so but my fee was my fee at that point and I maintain the integrity of that.

[00:24:47] I didn't, you know, I didn't get in my head.

[00:24:48] Oh well, I bet he charges this.

[00:24:50] I'm going to quote this.

[00:24:51] I just quoted what I quoted.

[00:24:53] She said, what's your price and my pride?

[00:24:55] I don't even remember what my price was, probably $5 or $10,000, whatever it was.

[00:25:00] And they were like great, you know, that's not a problem.

[00:25:04] And but slowly and criminally, you know, yeah, you create, this is a supply and demand

[00:25:09] business.

[00:25:10] So your, your fees can measure it with your demand in the market.

[00:25:14] But still today, but I maintain, I maintain FIntegrity today.

[00:25:18] I am last year, I got a call from a production company.

[00:25:24] They said our speaker got COVID.

[00:25:26] It was a Wednesday.

[00:25:28] Could you be in Orlando Friday?

[00:25:31] And I could, I was speaking in Orlando, I think Atlanta actually on Thursday.

[00:25:35] I said, I could be there.

[00:25:37] And I said, what is it?

[00:25:38] What's a leadership conference?

[00:25:40] I said, okay.

[00:25:41] What are they focusing on?

[00:25:43] Who was the other speaker?

[00:25:44] Well the other speaker was Deepak Chopra and Deepak got COVID.

[00:25:49] And now they're hiring me.

[00:25:50] Now I'm not stupid, I know his fee is different than my fee.

[00:25:56] But I just, my fees, my fee, I didn't, you know, I'm not trying to use that as an opportunity

[00:26:01] to create something else.

[00:26:03] It's just like this is what I charge everybody.

[00:26:05] This is what the Bureau's book for.

[00:26:08] That's my rate.

[00:26:09] And you build some goodwill that way too.

[00:26:12] Just your integrity and credibility.

[00:26:14] So yeah.

[00:26:15] Do you ever get like imposter syndrome, like you go on stage and they're all looking expecting

[00:26:21] Deepak Chopra or they kind of signed up for this conference hoping for Deepak Chopra?

[00:26:26] And there's you, you might be better, you might be worse, I don't know but you're not

[00:26:29] Deepak Chopra, right?

[00:26:30] And he's like this famous guy in a lot of different ways.

[00:26:35] Like do you ever feel like, oh my gosh, I don't deserve to be here or why are they're

[00:26:39] all going to be disappointed?

[00:26:41] Yes.

[00:26:42] And I'll answer that, I'll answer that in two ways.

[00:26:46] So last year with the Deepak Chopra thing, right?

[00:26:52] Because that was a corporate event.

[00:26:55] They didn't have a choice they had to be there.

[00:26:57] So they may have been disappointed that Deepak got sick.

[00:27:01] They'll rebook him.

[00:27:02] We've got this other guy.

[00:27:03] I mean, I just, I just have to be me in that moment.

[00:27:07] I'm not trying to replicate what he did.

[00:27:10] But yeah, of course, I'll share with you and I've known you for a long time.

[00:27:15] When I sort of made the trans, so sure, that day with Dan Pink, I was terrified.

[00:27:24] I was probably throwing up in the bathroom like an hour before that.

[00:27:28] It's Dan Pink.

[00:27:30] I idolized him.

[00:27:32] I read everything that guy had written.

[00:27:34] I was trying to become him.

[00:27:36] And now I have to follow him.

[00:27:39] And so that was a moment like my career started to shift.

[00:27:42] He was probably, I don't know, 2015, 2016 somewhere around then.

[00:27:49] I don't even know if we had met yet.

[00:27:50] But I, I, I started to break through.

[00:27:52] And I remember that year I spoke with, I spoke with Gary Vannier Chuck, Simon Sinek.

[00:28:02] And that was crazy.

[00:28:03] I, he spoke and then I spoke no break.

[00:28:06] Nine to ten Simon, ten to eleven Ryan.

[00:28:08] And I got there and I remember saying to the agent, why would you have me speak at?

[00:28:15] Like someone screwed this up.

[00:28:17] And that was my, he's like the greatest leadership keynote speaker in the world.

[00:28:23] That I'm just me.

[00:28:25] And so I would torture myself in that way.

[00:28:28] I would go through that and be intimidated and overwhelmed.

[00:28:34] I, you know, there were some experiences that I went through in my life that just helped me recognize

[00:28:41] that he's a person.

[00:28:43] I'm a person.

[00:28:44] I have this experience.

[00:28:46] He has that experience.

[00:28:48] I'm being invited to be here because someone thought it and I just have, I have to remind myself of that

[00:28:53] because it is easy to get, you know, intimidated or star struck when there's a celebrity

[00:29:00] or a famous athlete or somebody you really admire.

[00:29:03] And yeah, I've had to deal with that on this, on this journey and I think I deal with it

[00:29:08] better today than I did then.

[00:29:10] I am able to sleep a few hours, no matter who the other speaker is.

[00:29:15] But yeah, man, I've absolutely been through that.

[00:29:18] There's one time I had to speak at a conference right after Julian Assange.

[00:29:24] So he's the famous WikiLeaks guy.

[00:29:28] And they videoed him in from the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK where he was kind of like a

[00:29:33] prisoner.

[00:29:34] And I had to speak immediately after him.

[00:29:37] And so I was really scared and I had to figure out what to do.

[00:29:43] And so he had said something about how like everybody is listening to your phone all the

[00:29:47] time, like all the three letter agencies are listening to your phone conversations all

[00:29:51] the time.

[00:29:52] So while he was speaking, I was thinking, I needed to kind of break the connection between

[00:29:57] the audience and him or else nobody would, I was afraid nobody would pay attention to

[00:30:01] me.

[00:30:02] So I go out on the stage talking on the phone and as if I was talking to somebody and I

[00:30:07] was saying like, yeah, Julian Assange just said everyone's even listening to this conversation.

[00:30:11] And then I took the phone and I threw it behind me and I smashed it into like a thousand

[00:30:15] pieces.

[00:30:16] And I arranged for the cleanup crew to come in with like this 12 foot long broom to

[00:30:21] like sweep up all the pieces of the phone that I just smashed and everyone started laughing.

[00:30:27] And that's how I said, okay now that's basically the transition.

[00:30:32] And so after that, I kind of got confidence speaking.

[00:30:35] Yeah, well and once you do something like that too, that's kind of an icebreaker.

[00:30:41] And if you can get people sort of dropped in with you and then you just move into your

[00:30:46] spot, it's great.

[00:30:49] So I mean, that's why I always start with a story.

[00:30:51] It's a story I'm comfortable telling that I know is typically going to generate a warm

[00:30:55] response.

[00:30:56] And then we're often running and I can get into my stuff.

[00:30:59] So yeah, but it's a funny business that way though when you meet all these people that

[00:31:06] you idolize.

[00:31:08] Yeah.

[00:31:09] Well, and to that point too, like when things start to slow down which, this seems like

[00:31:14] a hills and valleys kind of business or maybe I'm wrong because I never really did

[00:31:18] it regularly.

[00:31:20] Like do you ever think oh my god, this is it?

[00:31:22] It's like coven what happened?

[00:31:24] Like did you think that's it?

[00:31:25] My whole source of living is gone.

[00:31:27] Yeah, I for sure.

[00:31:31] So two things came out of COVID.

[00:31:36] So first you're riding your assessment.

[00:31:39] It is a peaks and valleys business and you're trading time for money.

[00:31:43] And with very few exceptions, there isn't any value creation in a business like, I mean,

[00:31:51] Tony Robbins and there's a few exceptions but not for Ryan Estes.

[00:31:55] And so COVID, I had my best year ever in 2019.

[00:32:00] And I just, I think I did 84, 85 events and I felt this just incredible.

[00:32:07] Including Scott Sweating where you did this incredible toast.

[00:32:10] Yeah, thank you.

[00:32:11] Yeah, that was great.

[00:32:13] Yeah.

[00:32:14] So Scott's wedding and that was it.

[00:32:16] And so I felt at that point, I, yeah, Supreme confidence.

[00:32:21] This is never going to slow down and then of course COVID happened.

[00:32:25] Everything goes to zero.

[00:32:27] And that was initially a dark moment.

[00:32:31] You know, it's exactly what you said.

[00:32:34] I can't make a living.

[00:32:36] What am I going to do or when am I going to be able to work again?

[00:32:40] And you know, when we didn't really know what it was or how long it was going to be but

[00:32:45] all my contracts were canceling, virtual wasn't a thing yet.

[00:32:50] So it was very unsettling but the next phase of after you know, freaking out a little bit

[00:32:59] was okay, that was a good two year, a 10 year run.

[00:33:02] You know, 2010 to 2020 like I did it.

[00:33:06] I accomplished a lot and made a good living.

[00:33:09] What do I want the next 10 years to look like?

[00:33:11] And to your point, I said one of the things I decided in that moment was I don't want

[00:33:18] to do this alone anymore.

[00:33:19] Not like this.

[00:33:20] Like I love speaking.

[00:33:21] I want to write a book.

[00:33:22] I still want to do this but it's there has to be more than that.

[00:33:28] And that was the genesis of we formed a new business with three partners called Impact

[00:33:33] 11 and it started it during COVID and that business is growing.

[00:33:39] And that's a whole different experience and it's tangential to what we're doing as

[00:33:45] speakers but that is a business with enterprise value and with customers and we've built

[00:33:53] a team around it.

[00:33:56] So I took another big risk and you know, it's funny back to sort of you asked me about

[00:34:01] my start.

[00:34:02] One of the things I think I learned was when these challenges or crisis moment happens,

[00:34:08] there is opportunity in there if you can pay attention to it.

[00:34:11] You know, your to your point go contrarian do what everybody else isn't doing or okay

[00:34:16] and I just remember thinking wow this feels awful and I remember how it felt in 2009

[00:34:23] what did I learn?

[00:34:24] And I'm like there's going to be opportunity and I have to start paying attention and thinking

[00:34:29] about what do I want to do?

[00:34:31] How do I want to do it differently?

[00:34:33] And man, like all the sun you start moving in that direction and people and things like

[00:34:38] things start forming around you and I'm really proud of that both that choice and what

[00:34:43] we're building and it's a cool community.

[00:34:46] It's a cool business.

[00:34:48] Well, and I want you to describe impact 11 not only because it's related to your book,

[00:34:52] the title of the book is prepare for impact but I think for a lot of public speakers particularly

[00:34:58] we have corporate public speaker, you're leaving money on the table if all you do is speak

[00:35:04] because really what you're doing when you're speaking is you're building a relationship between

[00:35:08] yourself, the company and the bridge is the ideas that you're sharing with the company.

[00:35:13] And then to further indoctrinate the company and those ideas requires more relationship

[00:35:18] building and more opportunities for making money and education and so on.

[00:35:22] So describe impact 11.

[00:35:25] Yeah, so impact 11 at its genesis was it's a community of thought leaders.

[00:35:33] A good way to think about it is we're a speaker accelerator.

[00:35:37] So we've just taken the blueprint our knowledge there's four founding partners.

[00:35:42] One of the partners was doing this really on the side wasn't building it or scaling

[00:35:46] it but he would do a weekend workshop just sharing his IP, his approach, his strategy

[00:35:51] his marketing budget kind of opening the communal for a weekend because you know he'd get

[00:35:57] five calls a week I want to be a speaker how did you do this can I pick your brain can

[00:36:01] I take you to coffee yeah that goes and so he sort of put this he said no a few times

[00:36:05] a year my team and I are going to do this weekend and if you want to come it's not it's

[00:36:10] accessible.

[00:36:11] And so he became a friend of mine and he and I and two other speakers we were we got together

[00:36:18] during COVID during the soft period and we started talking about hey could we do something

[00:36:22] together and and so that was the genesis of impact 11 and initially it was a shared services

[00:36:29] model we were combining our back offices but decided to really invest in this in this

[00:36:37] you know business of helping other thought leaders monetize their expertise and develop

[00:36:42] speaking skills.

[00:36:44] And it's a membership business it's a community model so people pay a subscription we have

[00:36:49] live events we have online learning and we support our members with distribution we

[00:36:57] know agents in the bureau community support our events and come out.

[00:37:01] And so we've built this really robust community of experts and thought leaders and part of

[00:37:06] one thing I didn't even anticipate was I just met some of the most fascinating people

[00:37:11] you know retired pro athletes navy seals adventurers entrepreneurs people that I've done

[00:37:19] extraordinary things now are paid to speak about it and we built a whole team one of the

[00:37:24] cool things about the business I have one of the good decisions we made is we don't

[00:37:28] run it we hire a proper CEO he's and we have a team that are building out the business

[00:37:35] and we just launched we just launched phase two which is our corporate product and it's

[00:37:40] executive presence and presentation skills training for executives so we'll do we're doing

[00:37:45] ticket events offering that as a service but will also come into an organization or an enterprise

[00:37:52] that wants to develop that skill and competency it's just evolving our IP and our approach to

[00:37:58] training to fit for the corporate corporate client and so valuable thank you you know what honestly

[00:38:07] I mean I don't know if you have any interest in speaking anymore given or what you're doing

[00:38:12] but yeah like you would love it I mean it's it's four people that have written books because

[00:38:19] there's all this mystery to it you know what do I charge and how do I market and how do I get

[00:38:24] on representation should I hire a manager should I not to mention that the stage craft the actual

[00:38:31] you know the you know the anatomy of an insight is one of our blocks of content and you know

[00:38:36] the essence of storytelling and all of the things that go into both building the practice evolving

[00:38:44] your body of work and ultimately delivering that message in a way that creates impact and then I

[00:38:51] I also what are to your point around leaving money on the table you're absolutely right I mean

[00:38:57] you're trading time for money and so having a service offering around the throughput and

[00:39:03] and I have also introduced that so if you go to my new website there's a tab called the growth lab

[00:39:09] which is my offer call it beyond the keynote which is really consulting or advisory work

[00:39:17] but you know between yeah it's hugely valuable so you know between COVID COVID was a gift for me

[00:39:25] because I got off the tread I never would have done any of this

[00:39:29] delivering 85 events a year I mean but getting pushed off the treadmill having a chance to step back

[00:39:36] and say okay now what do I want to do and I wanted to I wanted to solve some of the problems that

[00:39:42] you talked about but I also you've done enough of it to know speaking in some respects writing a

[00:39:49] book too it's an isolating endeavor you are out yeah look it looks glamorous but you're out there

[00:39:56] by yourself with your laptop and yeah there may be 800 people in a ballroom but you're in the next

[00:40:02] city having you're alone and it was isolating and I I really felt like coming through as I want to

[00:40:08] be part of a team and build something again I um there are a lot of things about working for big company

[00:40:15] I don't miss and I don't know that that's ever for me again I'm fact I'm sure it's not but uh

[00:40:21] being part of something larger than me became something that became it was important I realized that

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[00:41:44] so it's funny the two big catastrophes in the US over the past 16 years were you know in one

[00:41:52] you completely changed careers from being an employee in an agency to being a public speaker

[00:41:57] and and really making a great living at it and then the second crisis you started entire business

[00:42:03] in this business it strikes me this has real valuable in a sense that you could sell this business

[00:42:09] eventually like it's going to live beyond you 100% I mean it's and is the business also a speaker's

[00:42:15] bureau like do you do you help people get booked or you just have relations with the bureau's

[00:42:20] just a development company and that we want to be real clear I mean those speaker bureaus like

[00:42:25] we have such good and long relationships mean there are partners contributors collaborators

[00:42:30] so our our lane is development their lane is booking but it's a partnership you know we're

[00:42:36] we're a big supporter of you know they're they're governing body their association they come

[00:42:43] to our events and we have relationships you know we have a whole sort of universe of constellation

[00:42:49] service providers from content marketers to website designers to videographers we have a

[00:42:54] partnership with amplify publishing so we've really built out it's it's a pretty robust and

[00:43:00] it's grown quickly and and it's you know it is exactly right I don't know that I ever thought

[00:43:05] about the way you sort of said at these two two events these cataclysmic events

[00:43:09] and they were so confronting you know in the sort of in the you know initially as I was making

[00:43:20] what seemed like this decision and I didn't know if I was going to be okay and I was going out

[00:43:25] until the unknown and but man when I think about it there they're probably two the best things

[00:43:31] that ever happened and I don't mean to diminish the you know the carnage or the pain for other people

[00:43:38] like I mean I wouldn't wish but obviously a global pandemic but personally it forced me to confront

[00:43:44] myself in a new way and make a bold decision that maybe otherwise I wouldn't have I wouldn't have

[00:43:52] had the courage to make and there's probably some real learning in that did you get more confidence

[00:44:00] in yourself each time as a result like particularly like with covid you know that was probably a

[00:44:05] point where you were losing confidence in the beginning you come through it and you're able to

[00:44:09] say did you like outwardly say to yourself man I did that I I survived covid and came out better on

[00:44:17] the other side yeah I do I do think I mean you exercise that muscle right I mean it's so I can

[00:44:24] look back and say and I did think about that in covid I remember thinking to myself okay

[00:44:31] you know we haven't seen anything like this the only thing I could compare it to was 2009

[00:44:38] when everything was collapsing and my company was laying everybody off and what did you learn in

[00:44:43] them what mistakes did your company made because they've never really recovered to be honest it's like

[00:44:50] and knowing what you know from that what do you want to do this time and it was funny I started

[00:44:56] writing about it I remember I wrote a blog post about you know who are you becoming and make

[00:45:02] decisions today you can be proud of in six and twelve months and don't succumb to all of the fear

[00:45:08] like be smart but this is this is this is a moment where some opportunities things could look very

[00:45:15] different on the other side of this and I about by the way and let's be fair I wanted them to

[00:45:21] I as I was you know reflecting I realized I want to do the I want to do the next ten years differently

[00:45:28] and yes I am proud to be able to say I navigated I figured out how to I figured out how to be a

[00:45:35] virtual keynote speaker right and then you know what I figured out I'm not a keynote speaker

[00:45:41] I'm an expert who speaks and my expertise is still going to be valuable to my customer and why don't

[00:45:49] you think about packaging that expertise up in a host of different ways beyond just the stage

[00:45:56] and I never would have taken those steps new website one exists the growth lab wouldn't exist

[00:46:02] impact eleven one exists I like that I think I think you just said the title of your next book

[00:46:08] which is who are you becoming because that's an important concept like at any given point

[00:46:14] we we're not finished like I think my big mistake and challenge in life was like after I would sell

[00:46:19] company I would think that's it I'm done I'm done growing as a human because I did what I said

[00:46:25] out to do I made some money and blah blah blah and then I would go broke because you're never done

[00:46:31] and who are you becoming you're always becoming someone at some at every point well you going broke

[00:46:37] because you took outside risks because maybe deep down you wanted to do it all over again or

[00:46:42] like what do you what was the connection you sold a company you could retire you could be done

[00:46:48] but then you go broke like there's probably something I think I would lose the hunger and but I

[00:46:54] would still want to make a lot of money like more money and the combination of no hunger and

[00:47:00] wanting to make money is the exact opposite combination of what you should have the real combination

[00:47:06] is hunger plus wanting to deliver value and so I had no hunger and I just wanted to make more money

[00:47:13] so I would lose all the money but but if I thought about it in the context of listen who am I now

[00:47:19] becoming because nobody wants to become a jerk right we all have this inner nobility that we

[00:47:25] aspire to and so if I always focus on okay well who am I becoming how my next one to deliver value

[00:47:32] that is is powerful what you just said is very powerful thank you you know summary of like all

[00:47:38] these different ideas well I'm you know I take good notes when we talk so and this one's recorded

[00:47:44] so that's good but yeah but you know there is something about sort of this idea of when you cross

[00:47:50] a certain threshold it is easy to sort of lose the drive or hunger that got you to that threshold

[00:47:59] it's just I think it's a natural human response it's like oh I'm I'm safe I can relax and

[00:48:05] it is it's a paradox of you know kind of conditioning yourself to realize there is no relaxing there's

[00:48:13] note now I got to I got to keep becoming more I got to keep creating value when the world changes

[00:48:19] I have to change and keeping yourself in that energy and honestly you know I'm in that energy

[00:48:26] now because you know we just launched a new website I just finished a book I had the impact

[00:48:31] 11 we're launching a new product that impact 11 I'm I mean this is I feel like you know I'm 23

[00:48:38] again just starting my first job in no and and having that energy and being renewed and being

[00:48:44] around other people who have back to the word and that that enthusiasm again it's and now there's AI

[00:48:50] and we just want to try and ask this GPT and people are asking me questions and we're making it smarter

[00:48:56] and there's all these things in the world that are happening and so yeah I do think there's

[00:49:02] something about you know it's confronting yourself man forcing yourself to say who am I becoming

[00:49:09] who would I be proud to be in six months you know or 12 months into the future and then

[00:49:15] then lining up and moving toward that version of yourself because if you don't have that vision

[00:49:21] you kind of can drift that you could start losing money or you know spending too much time in

[00:49:27] Bali at yoga or whatever your version of not being the best version of you is and it's interesting

[00:49:35] because this relates back to the book and the 30 steps to success we talked about how that evolved

[00:49:41] like you talked about 30 steps to success with sales Chad your brother brought it into sports

[00:49:47] teams and it became 30 steps to success but they had their own definition of success

[00:49:52] and it's like a manifesto of sorts I wonder if you were to make your 30 steps now how would be

[00:49:58] different because it's about who you are become the 30 steps are steps to who you are becoming

[00:50:03] so I wonder if if if it would change if your personal manifesto would change now they would it

[00:50:10] would I think when I wrote the 30 steps you know I was sort of you know at base camp of my first

[00:50:20] my first mountain right my first summit so yeah I had a ton of enthusiasm it was all this sort of

[00:50:27] young aggressive I'm going to climb the ladder energy I was naive and what I did figure out to

[00:50:34] my credit through all of that and through some discipline really discipline in self-study I

[00:50:40] figured out how to be a really good sales professional and I was I mean I'm proud of that and

[00:50:46] you know that that skill really gave me an opportunity to have a different life from where I came

[00:50:52] from and the way I grew up and so I'm proud and that meant a lot to me and I was trying to give

[00:50:59] that same pass that on to my brother but in this season of life I think you know yeah I think

[00:51:08] you know going through some of the things that we've been talking about doing some introspection

[00:51:15] I think my definition of success is changing and I think is is markedly different

[00:51:24] and so you know it'd be interesting if the who are you becoming the steps or tactics outlined in

[00:51:29] that book and compare them to this book they'd be different and you know you mentioned earlier like

[00:51:36] when you're a public speaker you're on the road 50 weeks out of the year you're on the road all the time

[00:51:41] had and particularly as you're getting older look our good mutual friends got cohen he's been on

[00:51:46] the podcast two or three times so the listeners know he is you know he at R.A. recently got married

[00:51:53] has a bunch of kids now do you ever think about like you can't go on the road 50 weeks of the year

[00:51:58] like you ever think about that life or you know I think I have I mean you know Scott and I and you

[00:52:06] know our relationship I mean when I met you I mean we're very very close and we went to college

[00:52:11] together and so you know we sort of were we're on that bachelorhood trajectory together and he was

[00:52:17] very clear he wanted to have kids and I I wasn't so sure and so it would have been tough and I

[00:52:24] don't think I would have done that well and I'm I've sort of reconciled that to a degree

[00:52:31] that I'm okay not doing that you know and but I do think I mean it's beautiful to watch him do

[00:52:38] it and I do think it's brought a different kind of a different layer of meaning

[00:52:42] and and and purpose into his life I think it's softened him in the most beautiful way

[00:52:47] and and I do think you have to find those places that imbue your life with a sense of responsibility

[00:52:56] or connect you to things larger than yourself or contribution like like a good way to say it

[00:53:03] you know a good shift is there the way I think about it is when I wrote the 30 steps I had something

[00:53:09] to prove I mean I had I was in that proving energy proved my work proved my value prove I belong

[00:53:16] prove I'm gonna be the number one guy prove I'm good enough to stand on the stage next to that guy

[00:53:22] this season of life I hope I'm evolving into a place where it isn't about proving anything where

[00:53:26] I have something to give and I think Scott is come into that season in a in a beautiful way and

[00:53:33] that that to me I mean that comes with wisdom and you know humility and falling down a bunch of

[00:53:40] times and navigating difficult circumstances but if this next chapter in my life could be

[00:53:47] less proving Ryan and more giving Ryan I think that's a good evolution.

[00:53:54] I I think that is well and that's I was I was talking to Arthur Brooks who he he writes about this

[00:54:01] the different seasons of life and how when you're younger that's when you're you're driven to

[00:54:06] achieve and you have you have this kind of creativity that's very organic and unique and

[00:54:14] you know when you light that up that drives your success but when then you're when you're older

[00:54:18] your creativity is more about kind of connecting ideas and looking at things you did a long time

[00:54:26] ago and rearranging them in different ways and and like you say giving like teaching so the

[00:54:31] that the natural thing is to go from like achieving to teaching others to achieve and I've just

[00:54:38] been thinking about this a lot and also seeing my friends go through this I think it's hard for me

[00:54:43] I think I while I do it I've always been like kind of a natural teacher and I enjoy that I still want

[00:54:51] to have my youthful creativity and you just don't you don't have it in the same way it's just different.

[00:54:58] Yeah I think I think sometimes when you really enjoy something or you're really good at it sort

[00:55:06] of evolving out of that season of life is difficult. I mean I think being aware that wow that's

[00:55:12] hard and I still wish we were I still wish we were running up that hill and you know I I had that sort

[00:55:19] of you know naive enthusiasm to go just attack them with all that bigger versus this sort of

[00:55:27] reflective reflective wise calculating my risk and my family it's just it's a you know it is it's

[00:55:34] a different it's a different season of life but I mean I mean you're a wonderful teacher look at

[00:55:44] look at the act of generosity that you've contributed through this podcast and your body of work

[00:55:51] and you're writing and you know how much of your you sort of life experience and vulnerability

[00:55:59] that you so freely give away and I think it's I mean it's it's helped me it helped me write a book

[00:56:08] that I wasn't sure was a good book to write and I think what what did you just say you know

[00:56:13] and and I mean you you know the cool thing about like doing this kind of work is it has exponential

[00:56:18] impact there's somebody in Sydney Australia that you've never talked to that you've never met

[00:56:23] and you're never going to know but they hung on something you said and then they made a different

[00:56:29] choice and then that has reverberation through their life and their relationships and you are

[00:56:37] doing that in a way and not to diminish your missing or your nostalgia about the other thing but

[00:56:43] I yeah I mean I just to reflect back to you I think I think your your chapter of giving is

[00:56:50] pretty robust yeah no thank you and I I agree it's just like you said I it's interesting how

[00:56:59] you can get better at something through through wisdom through experience through knowledge

[00:57:05] but have worse results just because you don't have that naive

[00:57:10] enthusiasm anymore and that naive enthusiasm plunges you over the abyss time time again as an older

[00:57:17] person you can't do it no you don't want to do it no you don't you don't want to do it because

[00:57:22] you don't want to be in the abyss you've been in the abyss to one too many times like I

[00:57:27] and by the way you don't want to drag other people that you love into the abyss with you

[00:57:32] like those are and I see it I see it in my friends too I mean you're reflecting that I see it in

[00:57:37] Scott and you know I know that's true in me and there is some balance of me if you can sort

[00:57:46] of connect or maintain some of that energy and I have some of it again I mean I wouldn't I don't

[00:57:54] have what I had at that's in the 30 steps going up the hill season of life either but I think

[00:58:01] you know some new partners and a new project and orienting myself in some of those things

[00:58:08] but yeah I mean it's funny like when I was that age I would have moved anywhere taking any job

[00:58:13] done anything but you're almost there's almost a furlessness and I think you get a little more

[00:58:21] calculating in the season of life but yeah I mean I was just with our dear friends Scott you know

[00:58:27] reminiscing and telling stories and you know and with the big big grins because it was like oh

[00:58:33] man it was so great when I did this and drop this and flew there and yeah I mean that's it.

[00:58:38] I mean I remember like this is like 10-15 years ago Scott was just on a dime on a Thursday say okay

[00:58:46] I got to be in China on Friday but back here on Saturday and try to do a business deal that would

[00:58:52] never work out like I don't think he did any successful business with the Chinese but he was

[00:58:57] constantly going back or whatever he kept going that's the best part of the story he did like

[00:59:03] the oh the next one and the next one and then I can be like I don't love him flights over

[00:59:08] yeah he's like I'm in Shanghai like I yeah it's great and he had he had that energy I mean he was

[00:59:14] he was he was relentless yeah well but look everybody is in a good spot and really

[00:59:22] it's making me think this concept of who are you becoming because you're constantly

[00:59:26] becoming something and you're different every day so but you get to set the direction for

[00:59:32] the most part maybe like at least 60% of the direction you get to set and it's an interesting

[00:59:38] food for thought so look Ryan impact 11 great idea great step it's a way to take this public

[00:59:46] speaking gig that you've been so successful at for so many years and make it three-dimensional

[00:59:52] prepare for impact which is the book by you and and Chad great book I learned a lot from it like

[00:59:58] I told you initially I don't even really like business books that much but this one really made me

[01:00:03] think like what's my in a way in a way I kept thinking of the word manifesto what's my personal manifesto

[01:00:08] for the things I'm interested in next succeeding at and what would be the 30 steps for that like

[01:00:13] and great stories from Chad about all these different football teams great stories from you

[01:00:19] really learned a lot from the book and we've been meaning to do this podcast for a long time

[01:00:24] and I'm so glad I'm so glad A you wrote the book but I'm so glad we just did the podcast anyway

[01:00:28] and thanks so much for coming on the show

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