Unlocking Potential Through Purpose w/ Mark X. & John Cronin

Following last week's episode on the great work being done by the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, check out the inspiring father-son duo behind John’s Crazy Socks, Mark X. Cronin and his son, John. Together, they share their extraordinary journey of building a multi-million-dollar social enterprise with heart. John, who has Down syndrome, never let it hold him back. From starting their sock venture to now being globally recognized advocates for inclusive hiring, they show us how purpose-driven entrepreneurship changes lives. Get ready for a conversation filled with laughter, touching stories, and powerful insights on why hiring people with differing abilities isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s great for business.

Guest Links:

• Mark’s LinkedIn
• John’s Crazy Socks

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:03
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

Lisa Nichols  00:35
My name is Lisa Nichols, and I have spent the last 24 years as both the CEO of Technology Partners and as the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Lisa Nichols  01:10
Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you like this episode today, please go to Apple podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five star rating. 

Lisa Nichols  01:35
I'm delighted to have John and Mark Cronin on the show today. John and Mark are the co-founders of John's Crazy Socks. Guys, Ally and I are so excited to welcome you to the Something Extra Podcast we have really been looking forward to this time with the two of you. I can't wait for our listeners to hear more of your story, John, yeah, and I know you've already said that in 2016 you created your company that you co-founded with your dad called John's Crazy Socks. So, tell me about the story, one of you, what really inspired you to start the business?

Mark Cronin  02:15
Well, let's go back to the fall of 2016 and our story starts in a small log cabin in the woods. 

John Cronin  02:28
No. 

Mark Cronin  02:28
No. It starts here on suburban Long Island in a town called Huntington. And where were you?

John Cronin  02:36
I was at Huntington High School. And it would be my last year of school.

Mark Cronin  02:41
So John had started his last year of school, and like everybody else, was trying to figure out what comes next. So what were you looking at?

John Cronin  02:51
I looked for a job, programs, and school. I can't find a creative job that I liked.

Mark Cronin  02:59
He couldn't find anything he liked. As you know, this is an unfortunate reality. John has Down syndrome. 

John Cronin  03:08
I do. 

Mark Cronin  03:09
They're just not enough opportunities. Only one in five people with a disability is employed in this country. It's awful. But John here is a natural entrepreneur. 

John Cronin  03:21
Yes, I am. 

Mark Cronin  03:23
If he couldn't find a job, what did you say?

John Cronin  03:25
I said, I want to create one. I want to make one. I told my dad I want to work with him. A nice father and son business together.

Mark Cronin  03:34
So this was very cool. I'm a lucky man. I've got three sons, right? Ally, do you have any siblings?

Lisa Nichols  03:42
Do you have brothers or sisters? Tell them about your siblings. Who do you have? 

Ally Nichols  03:48
Well I have my sister, Paige.

Mark Cronin  03:51
Well, I have, John has two brothers, I have two other sons, and but this is one I could work with. So, okay, well, we were going to start a business, right? 

John Cronin  04:04
Yes. 

Mark Cronin  04:04
And you had a lot of ideas of what we could do. 

John Cronin  04:07
I did. 

Mark Cronin  04:07
What was one of your ideas?

John Cronin  04:09
One was a food truck. I got idea from the movie called Chef. A father and son bonding over a food truck. 

Mark Cronin  04:24
So, food trucks. Everybody loves eating from food trucks. 

Lisa Nichols  04:28
Oh, yeah. 

Mark Cronin  04:29
So we're thinking, What could we make? Where would we put it? You were talking.
John Cronin  04:34
I love barbecue. I love pulled pork. 

Mark Cronin  04:38
And this seemed like a great idea, but we ran into a problem. 

John Cronin  04:41
We can't cook. 

Mark Cronin  04:42
Yeah, we can't.

Lisa Nichols  04:44
That's the problem.

Mark Cronin  04:47
But then, right before Thanksgiving, so just about eight years ago, John had his eureka moment.

John Cronin  04:55
I did. I want to sell crazy socks. Why socks? It's fun, it's colorful, it's creative. It always lets me be me. I want crazy socks my whole life. 

Mark Cronin  05:08
We used to drive around looking for these crazy socks for John. So, this is what we figured, if he loved them that much, surely other people would too, and we could find those people. Now, at that point, the typical thing to do is to stop everything and prepare a business plan. That's not what we did. We went the lean startup route. You already had the name. 

John Cronin  05:39
I got a name. And a website and some ideas. 

Mark Cronin  05:42
So we built, we built a simple website. We got some inventory. 

John Cronin  05:48
I did. 

Mark Cronin  05:48
The only marketing we did was to set up a Facebook page. I would take out my cell phone, and we made videos. And Ally, who do you think was in those videos?

Lisa Nichols  05:59
Who do you think was in the videos that they made? John and Mark?

Mark Cronin  06:03
John.

John Cronin  06:06
Yeah, I've talked about socks. It is socks, socks, more socks.

Lisa Nichols  06:12
Socks, socks and more socks. You like socks too. How many times have we have gone on a trip and she'll see crazy socks? And John, it may have been your socks, who knows, but we'll go on a trip, and Ally will see crazy socks in a in a store, and she really loves socks too, right? That's cool. That's cool. So you had the name of the company, John's Crazy Socks. 

Mark Cronin  06:35
We set it up, we opened to test the idea, what day?

John Cronin  06:40
On Friday, December 9, 2016.

Mark Cronin  06:45
And we weren't sure what to expect, but that first day, we got what felt like a flood of orders. We got 42 orders. 

Lisa Nichols  06:54
42 wow. 

Mark Cronin  06:56
And most of them were local, which made sense, right? We lived in Huntington. He's in the high school. Yeah, so how do we deliver those first orders?

John Cronin  07:04
I put them in threes. We get we got red boxes. We put the sock in a box, we put a thank you note I wrote, and the candy, Hershey's Kisses.

Mark Cronin  07:18
And we loaded up the car and drove around and you knocked on doors delivering socks. How did the customers respond?

John Cronin  07:27
Customers loved their socks, and our customers loved me.

Lisa Nichols  07:35
I bet they did.

John Cronin  07:38
And I took pictures to share on social media, so word would get out and spread.

Mark Cronin  07:47
So, you know, we're in New York in December, it gets dark early, and it's cold, and it's just the two of us doing this. So it's night time. We're driving around, we pull up in front of a house. John gets out, knocks on the door. I watch him go inside. Meanwhile, I'm sitting in the car in the dark, getting cold, and I'm wondering, where is he? Well, he's inside drinking hot chocolate, telling jokes and stories, taking pictures. Well, he leaves me in a car freezing. So, by the end of that month, we had shipped 452 orders, really, in two weeks. And we knew we had something.

Lisa Nichols  08:30
That's crazy. Well, let me ask you something now, how many socks, different kinds of socks do you guys have? 

Mark Cronin  08:38
Well, when we started, we had 37, when we first started. How many do we have now?

John Cronin  08:45
Right now we have 4000 different kinds of socks.

Mark Cronin  08:48
Which means John owns the world's largest sock store. I mean, we're not out selling Walmart and Target, but we have more choices than anybody else. So from that little start and John's idea, 4000 socks, we've been able to create 34 jobs. 22 of those are held by people with different abilities. We've shipped 475,000 packages to 89 different countries. Our giving back program, John has now donated over $800,000 to our charity partners, like?

John Cronin  09:30
Like Special Olympics, National Down Syndrome Society, Autism Society of America.

Mark Cronin  09:37
And you like to say.

John Cronin  09:39
We're just getting started.

Mark Cronin  09:41
And John here has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year. The first person with Down syndrome to receive that award. 

Lisa Nichols  09:52
Congratulations, John, I read about that, that's remarkable. Wow. Well, can we share a little something with you guys? 

Mark Cronin  10:03
Yeah. 

Lisa Nichols  10:04
Two weeks ago, Ally's big sister, Paige, and she have been like having this passion about creating jewelry. Ally, can you show John your bracelet? Show him your bracelet. Look at this bracelet, John. 

John Cronin  10:23
Oh my goodness, that’s gorgeous.

Lisa Nichols  10:24
Ally and her sister created. I've got another one of theirs on here, so two weeks ago.

John Cronin  10:31
Wow, that’s lovely.

Lisa Nichols  10:34
I know, so they like Ally really likes art. She's always loved art. And so they decided two weeks ago that they were going to form a jewelry company, right Ally? Your jewelry company. What are you making in your jewelry company?

Ally Nichols  10:51
Well, it's bracelets.

Lisa Nichols  10:53
Bracelets and what else? 

Ally Nichols  10:56
Necklaces. 

Lisa Nichols  10:56
Necklaces, yeah. So that's fun. Their, the name of theirs is Kindred Spirits Designs, because they're sisters. Yeah, you guys are sisters, right?

Ally Nichols  11:12
Okay, I'm doing it every day and night.

Mark Cronin  11:17
We're gonna have to look this up. Kindred Spirits.

Lisa Nichols  11:21
Spirit Designs, we just started. They just decided two weeks ago, Mark, so we may have to, yeah, we may have to get some tips from you guys every day they're working on their business. 

Mark Cronin  11:33
Well, we'd be glad to help. But here's a couple of things. One, John and I have a podcast. What's that podcast?

John Cronin  11:43
It's called a The Spreading Happy Podcast. 

Mark Cronin  11:46
And each week we highlight a business owned by somebody with differing abilities. So, what we should do is highlight Kindred Spirits. Would you like that? 

Lisa Nichols  12:01
That would be awesome. 

Mark Cronin  12:02
Yeah, and it's probably well, it is too late this year, but next year, one of the things we put together every holiday season is a Down syndrome super box that has items from 21 different businesses owned by somebody with Down syndrome, and we sell that through our store. So it's a great way, and we'll buy product from you. We can buy some of your jewelry Ally, and we can introduce you to our customers.

Lisa Nichols  12:38
That would be amazing. Socks and jewelry.

Ally Nichols  12:42
Do you have a question for me?

John Cronin  12:49
Ally, what do you like to do outside of work?

Lisa Nichols  13:00
What do you like to do? I know what you like to do.

Ally Nichols  13:06
I just work on bracelets with Paige day and night. Every day and night before I go to bed.

Lisa Nichols  13:13
Yeah, tell John what you're doing this afternoon. What, what do you really, really love to do? You're a very good what?

Ally Nichols  13:22
I'm a good nurse.

Lisa Nichols  13:23
You're a good nurse. But you're also a good, you know you're going to see Mike this afternoon. What are you doing when you go see Mike?

Ally Nichols  13:33
Dance class. 

Lisa Nichols  13:33
Dance class. Okay, what kind of dancing? 

Ally Nichols  13:37
Cha-cha, Waltz. 

Lisa Nichols  13:38
Cha-cha and what else? The Rumba? Tell John what you did in 2019 you did Dancing With..

Ally Nichols  13:48
Dancing with the Stars, John.

John Cronin  13:53
Wow that's amazing. I have something very exciting for what you just said. Every Tuesday at 3pm, 3pm Eastern time, I host our online dance party every Tuesday at 3pm Eastern time and it's on Zoom.

Ally Nichols  14:16
I like that John.

Lisa Nichols  14:21
That is so cool. You might want to join in the dance party sometime.

Ally Nichols  14:26
Hey, John, when you come with your dad, maybe you guys, can come over my house, and then I would show you guys our apartment. You can come over if you want.

Lisa Nichols  14:43
That'd be fun. They're coming in January, it sounds like.

Mark Cronin  14:47
So this is a dad question for you, Ally, because John's not going to ask. Do you have a boyfriend?

Ally Nichols  14:58
No, not anymore. But.

Mark Cronin  15:02
Oh, John, smiling now.

Ally Nichols  15:04
Oh John. But Paige let me know I have a boyfriend, Dean. Dean is my boyfriend.

Lisa Nichols  15:15
Dean is your boyfriend? On a show. On a show. She used to have a boyfriend. Yeah, she doesn't have a boyfriend right now. She's a single woman.

Mark Cronin  15:25
You used to have a girlfriend and you broke up with her.

John Cronin  15:28
I used to have a girlfriend before. I broke it with her, and I want to find the next girlfriend.

Mark Cronin  15:38
He's on the hunt. How do you usually introduce, frequently introduce yourself now?

John Cronin  15:44
Yeah, I'm 28, I'm single and I'm eligible.

Mark Cronin  15:48
28, single and eligible.

Ally Nichols  15:50
Twenty-eight, John. I didn't know that John.

Mark Cronin  15:54
I joke with John sometimes that some guys learn how to play the guitar so they can meet women. John started the sock company.

Ally Nichols  16:05
Hey I say, I play guitar all the time, Mark. Hey, Mark.

Mark Cronin  16:11
You play guitar?

John Cronin  16:14
Wow. 

Ally Nichols  16:15
I play guitar all the time, and Paige got me my pink guitar, and then I moved downstairs. And my guitar is downstairs, so I moved all my stuff downstairs.

Mark Cronin  16:29
What chords do you play? What music do you like to play? 

Ally Nichols  16:33
Well it's a song called This Is Me.

Lisa Nichols  16:42
This Is Me.

Ally Nichols  16:43
No, I don't know.

Lisa Nichols  16:46
You like Camp Rock. Do you like Camp Rock, John? Do you ever watch that?

John Cronin  16:51
I love that movie.

Ally Nichols  16:53
You do love that movie, John?

John Cronin  16:56
I have a question for you. Do you like talking to your friends at night, every night?

Ally Nichols  17:08
Every night?  So, John, Mitchie's a girl that's singing in a microphone. And so Nick, so Nick is a Jonas Brother and then Joe, Nick, and Kevin are the Jonas Brothers. Mitchie is singing in the microphone. So make sure you watch that at a night, every day and night, okay?


Ally Nichols  17:15
Gotta watch it. Do you like the Jonas brothers, John? She loves the Jonas Brothers.

John Cronin  17:47
I love the Jonas Brothers. I know every song.

Ally Nichols  17:52
And we went to a concert, John.

Lisa Nichols  17:54
Yes, we did. 

Ally Nichols  17:56
Make sure you go out. We could go out to a concert.

Lisa Nichols  18:00
I think she just asked you on a date, John. She said, You guys can go out to a concert.

Ally Nichols  18:06
A Jonas Brothers concert.

Lisa Nichols  18:08
Jonas Brothers, I know you love the Jonas Brothers.

Ally Nichols  18:11
It's really loud, John. It's really loud. So we had to get them, okay? 

Mark Cronin  18:15
Get tickets, and I would love it if the two of you went, because then I wouldn't have to take John to see the Jonas Brothers.

Lisa Nichols  18:25
Yeah, it is very loud, isn't it? Yeah, we kind of have to take our…

Ally Nichols  18:29
It's loud, Mark. 

Lisa Nichols  18:30
It's loud.

Mark Cronin  18:31
Well, that's okay. It's just what music do you like playing loud, right? Ally, you seem to have a lot of fun. 

Ally Nichols  18:47
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm not going back, it's getting loud so I can't go back. 

Lisa Nichols  18:52
You don't go back. Well, if you go back, we'll take our headphones. We had to find some headphones last time because it was so loud. Yeah, and John, guess what? Oh, it's been a couple of weeks, months ago now, but we got to, Ally got to go to an Indy car race. If you ever go to one of those, make sure you take your headphones, because it is very, very loud. It was so fun to watch the race car drivers. 

John Cronin  19:18
I love that.


Lisa Nichols  19:19
It was it was so fun. Well, can I ask you so obviously, you love working with your dad, right? What's the most exciting thing for you working with your dad? Is he your BFF?

John Cronin  19:34
Yeah, he is, he is my BFF, I am very fortunate. I am very fortunate, it's nothing without my partner. And my partner, he always he gives me strength. This man, I know. He proves to me every time, every time we go. He is an amazing father.

Lisa Nichols  20:02
Oh.

Mark Cronin  20:02
I have two other sons that will offer a dissenting opinion, if you would like.

Lisa Nichols  20:10
Ally, John just said he has an amazing father. Do you love your family?

Ally Nichols  20:15
Well, I really love my family now, because I love my mom and my dad today, they get me food tonight, gave me and Paige food and Starbucks and Smoothie King. I really like strawberry banana, it's the best smoothie. 

Lisa Nichols  20:43
Is that your favorite smoothie? Do you like, do you have Smoothie King in New York, John?

John Cronin  20:49
Yes, we have one here in Melville.

Mark Cronin  20:53
Where, what place do you get a lot of your smoothies?

John Cronin  20:57
At Tropical Smoothie.

Mark Cronin  20:58
John's a big smoothie fan.

Lisa Nichols  21:01
Oh, so is Ally. You know what, tell John what you do, a lot of times for your family, in the morning. You make, you make.

Ally Nichols  21:10
Oh, I make smoothies.

Lisa Nichols  21:12
Yes she makes, she knows how to make smoothies.

Ally Nichols  21:14
Mom, we're out of protein.

Lisa Nichols  21:17
I know we're out of the protein We need more protein powder.

Mark Cronin  21:22
That's a difference maybe, between you, Ally, and John. John is not a morning person. So in the morning, he has everything he can do to get himself up and moving. But the Mama Bear, she makes you a smoothie in the morning, right? 

John Cronin  21:39
Yes.

Lisa Nichols  21:42
Well, Ally knows how to make smoothies. She knows she makes everybody coffee in our family, and we have Starbucks Keurig, don't we? 

Ally Nichols  21:53
Oh, hey, Mark, sorry to bother you. My coffee maker for downstairs is coming Thursday. 

Lisa Nichols  22:06
What's coming Thursday? Our coffee maker?

Ally Nichols  22:08
Coffee maker is coming on Thursday.

Lisa Nichols  22:10
Oh, we ordered a new coffee maker.

Ally Nichols  22:14
Mom because I not going to go upstairs, downstairs one more time. Because I need my coffee downstairs and I need to make the coffee downstairs. Because I'm not going upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs. I can't do it one more time.

Mark Cronin  22:32
I'm glad that you came up with a solution there. Ally, that's great. 

Ally Nichols  22:36
Yeah, I need to tell you, I was so tired, Mark, because I'm not going upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, downstairs, upstairs one more time. And mom says from the kitchen, Ally.

Mark Cronin  22:57
Ally, it sounds like you have very loving and kind parents. John would maybe like to have loving and kind parents. His mom is that way. I took the view that the reason we had children was so they could do things for us. He takes good care of me. I'm lucky like that. 

Ally Nichols  23:20
Yeah, this is what happened, Mark, because I was so tired all night. And then I had to go downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, upstairs one more time. And then mom wanted to do my hair, I said mom, let's just to it tomorrow, I'm tired. I had been working on bracelets.

Lisa Nichols  23:38
Yeah, you had to work on your bracelets last night.

Ally Nichols  23:40
I said mom, let's go to bed.

Lisa Nichols  23:44
Where do we go this morning? Dad and I went to what? We got up really early. We went to vote. 


Ally Nichols  23:49
I said mom, please go to bed.

Lisa Nichols  23:53
Go to bed mom. We work a lot, don't we? But you work on your bracelets now. So she didn't even, John, last week, Ally had a hair appointment with our friend Britany at 5:30 at night, and she said, No, Mom, I can't go because I have to work on the business.

Mark Cronin  24:14
Well, if you're gonna have a business, you're gonna work hard. You work hard, right? You work a lot of hours.

Ally Nichols  24:20
Mark, this is what happened. So Paige asked me, I'm not going to be late to get my hair done.

Lisa Nichols  24:30
You don't stay up late, that's right.

Ally Nichols  24:32
Because Paige never, likes me to stay up late. 

Lisa Nichols  24:40
She doesn't. We don't like to stay up too late.

Ally Nichols  24:43
I'm making bracelets and Paige is still having me make them when we get home.

Lisa Nichols  24:48
Well, listen, can I talk to them about speaking? Because I know that you guys go around the country and speak a lot, and I read some of the things that I want to just read a few of the. Things about you guys, this father son duo, going and doing keynote speaking. Here's a few things. This is a person that is the chair of a disability business resource group. She said I would absolutely recommend Mark and John from John's Crazy Socks to present for any employee or public speaking engagement. Here's another one. This is crazy, you guys, public speaking is a lot like riding a horse. Everyone thinks they can, but really, few know how. The Cronins know what they are doing. And it sounds like you're somebody else that talks about this expert speaking duo, and you have perfect comedic timing and sincere delivery on real topics. So it sounds like you guys are kind of a little comedy act when you do your keynote speaking. Is that right? 

Mark Cronin  25:53
We are. I joke that we're like an old time vaudeville routine, but I frequently tell John, stop making people cry, because we get people weeping too. But you would understand this, Ally, yes, we're very fortunate. We do a lot of travel for speaking. John works very hard at it. And it's one of the it's part of what we explain is, when John was very young, he couldn't talk. John, you learned sign language to communicate, and now here he is a paid speaker. But yes, we speak with different types of organizations, but a broad range of them. So I think since the end of September, we have been on the road every week with a different speaking engagement and different types of audiences. You know, we did a virtual one with the Small Business Administration. So that was kind of cool. Last week, we were in Massachusetts for two events, spoke at a fundraising gala. The week before that, Connecticut at a conference, the Do Good Business Conference. The week before that, we're in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Was it Fort Wayne and we spoke with at a fundraising dinner there, and also to the Down Syndrome Association. Week before that, we were in Ripon, Wisconsin, spoke at Ripon College. Right before this phone call, this podcast, we agreed to be the keynote speakers at a conference in Portland, Oregon.

Ally Nichols  27:44
That is so cool.

Mark Cronin  27:45
Next week, where we going?

John Cronin  27:47
Next week, we go to California. 

Lisa Nichols  27:50
California.

Mark Cronin  27:52
The National Down Syndrome Society is having their Adult Summit. If you haven't gone to that, you might like at some point they move it around the country. Last year, it was in Cincinnati, but it's going to be in California, outside LA, and we're actually speaking twice at that event. 

Lisa Nichols  28:10
That's cool. 

Mark Cronin  28:11
We've been very fortunate. We've, you know, big companies, IBM, Microsoft, Keller Williams, the real estate people have had us speak at several of their conferences. They've just retained us again. Colleges and universities around the country. It's all, it depends on the audience.

Lisa Nichols  28:34
That is really cool. So you guys are coming in January to St. Louis to speak at Boost?

Mark Cronin  28:40
No, we, we're coming to meet with them. No, it's, I may have the name of the company wrong. They are, It's a nonprofit that employs people with different abilities. 

Lisa Nichols  28:53
Oh, is it BCI?

Mark Cronin  28:54
A lot of  the services they provide to companies are, what we call kitting and assembly services, yes, fulfillment services, well, we want to expand our business and do that, so we want to learn from them. 

Lisa Nichols  29:07
That's cool. That may be the Boone Center. So we're very familiar with the Boone Center.

Mark Cronin  29:13
That may be it, the Boone Center. 

Lisa Nichols  29:15
The Boone Center, and they're not too far. You guys let us know when you're going to be here, though, because you're not too far from where we are.

Mark Cronin  29:22
Well, it sounds to me like our partners here will be connecting anyway.

Lisa Nichols  29:29
It sounds like it, yes, that'd be fun. That would be really fun.

Mark Cronin  29:34
Is that why you asked if she speaks, if Ally speaks to friends at night?


John Cronin  29:39
I'm thinking like I'll talk to Ally some night.

Lisa Nichols  29:47
Do you have a question for John? 

Ally Nichols  29:49
Hey John, so your dad asked you if you're ok. So you asked me a question and your dad asked you so that's ok.

Lisa Nichols  30:07
He was just asking a question of you? Yeah, Ally does a lot of stuff John. She's got this business now that she's doing with her sister. She's a ballroom dancer. She is our family assistant, so she helps us a lot. I know you can't go to the barn today. It's raining. Yeah, you don't want me to lay here. Oh, the lady’s here. Okay, gotcha Well, can I ask you guys a couple of other questions, you know, so John, you'd asked Ally, what she does for fun, when you're not working, what do you do for fun?

John Cronin  30:51
I love movies. I like smoothies. I like dancing. 

Mark Cronin  31:02
What about all the sports? 

John Cronin  31:03
I do. I like basketball, track and field, soccer and snow shoe.

Mark Cronin  31:11
So you're busy doing that. Plus you watch your TV shows.

John Cronin  31:16
I watch TV shows, yep.

Lisa Nichols  31:18
Do you like TV shows? You do, yeah. And you love basketball. Ally, you really love basketball too. So it sounds like you guys like a lot of the same things. Well, can I ask you another question? John, this is question for you do. How do you start now, we already know that you're not a morning person. So are you a late night person? Like, what time do you usually go to bed?

John Cronin  31:45
I like it to bed between 8 and.

Mark Cronin  31:54
Well, okay, we, if we're home, we eat dinner together, and then we might watch, you know, a movie or a ball game. But if not, John likes is now one of the shows you like his Friends. 

Mark Cronin  32:16
I do. 

Mark Cronin  32:17
So John has us binge watching Friends, so we'll watch an episode at night, and then John, you usually go off on your own, so he'll go and hang out. But so you're going to your room, but you're really not going to sleep. Yeah, you're watching other shows. You're talking to friends. You're texting at people. What time do you go to sleep? 10 o'clock? 11 o'clock? 

John Cronin  32:45
Yeah, like, like 10 o'clock.

Mark Cronin  32:50
Yeah, around there.

John Cronin  32:52
Only on the weekends.

Mark Cronin  32:54
On weekends you say, up later. 

John Cronin  32:55
Yeah. 

Lisa Nichols  32:56
Oh yeah, for sure.

Mark Cronin  32:57
Unless we go out clubbing.

Lisa Nichols  33:03
Oh, that's funny. 

Ally Nichols  33:04
Mark.

Lisa Nichols  33:05
So let me ask you one other thing, and then I want to ask you guys something extra. That something extra question. This might be a, that might be a question for you, Mark. But you know, so John, you're working, working, working. How do you keep your energy up? How do you keep excited about the business? What do you do to keep excited?

Mark Cronin  33:32
Don't look at me. Well, for some people, work is a grind, and they just get tired, but work seems to energize you. You like working, don't you? 

John Cronin  33:49
I do 

Mark Cronin  33:50
And so I guess it's because it excites you. You like what you're doing. 

John Cronin  33:56
Yeah. 

Mark Cronin  33:56
You look forward to work, don't you? 

John Cronin  33:58
I do. 

Mark Cronin  33:59
There are days we have off, and John says, let's go to the office.

Lisa Nichols  34:04
I love that. That is so good. You find purpose in your work, right, John? And you're making people happy, and you're spreading happiness to everybody that buys your socks. So that's really cool. Well, let me ask you guys this question, what do you believe is the something extra that every leader needs? Mark that might be a question for you.

Mark Cronin  34:25
Well, it's exactly what you've just said. There has to be some purpose, something that is motivating us, that's bigger than ourselves, and it can't just be we're going to go make money. When you have that, that then differentiates your type of leadership. It helps you set the culture in your organization, and it provides motivation. It's that, you know, what Simon Sinek calls "knowing your why." That's motivating.

Lisa Nichols  35:04
Yes, I love that. That's good.

Mark Cronin  35:08
And when you have that purpose, all the petty stuff falls away, because you don't care. What matters is, are we going to get this done? You know, I know I watch, I'm 66 years old, as you tell me all the time I'm old. Some of my best friends, you know, their friends I've had been we've been close since high school. They're retired, or they're counting the days to retirement. I feel like a 24 year old kid, there's so much I want to do. We're starting a new business. It's, it's kind of an exciting, you know, to a degree, the speaking business is a separate business, but we're starting a publishing company. 

Lisa Nichols  35:57
Oh, that's cool. 

Mark Cronin  35:58
That will be the only, as far as we can tell, the only publishing company that is focused on working with people with different abilities, we're going to publish books by and about people with different abilities. Because, look what we get to do. You've invited us on your podcast. How wonderful is that?

John Cronin  36:21
I'm really excited.

Ally Nichols  36:21
It's the best. It's been an awesome morning.

Lisa Nichols  36:25
It's been awesome.

Mark Cronin  36:26
We hear about you Ally, playing the guitar, starting a jewelry company, dancing. We hear you about Hey Ma, you gotta get me another coffee maker. I'm sick and tired of going up and down, and up and down.

Lisa Nichols  36:41
Yes.

John Cronin  36:46
I have another question. Ally, I know you told me what time I go to bed, I asked you questions that what time you go to bed? 

Ally Nichols  36:58
Well my turn, Paige. I told mom and dad, I'm going by nine, about nine o'clock, early, because I don't want to stay up late at 10pm or 11pm at night so I go to bed at 9:30.

Lisa Nichols  37:16
You don't like to stay up late, but you're kind of like John. You don't go right to sleep. Sometimes you watch a show or read a book, or she works on her bracelets. 

Ally Nichols  37:27
No, I don't want to read a book anymore. 

Lisa Nichols  37:32
You don't want to read a book. 

Ally Nichols  37:33
I just watching, well, I have, John, I was going to ask you, I have a big TV downstairs. Because I have moved there, a few months. So I go to bed at nine, early, after I'm done with my bracelets.

Lisa Nichols  37:57
I know you do after your bracelets you go to bed at nine. Well, guys, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for coming on the show. We got new friends, don't we, Ally? We got new friends that live in New York, which is so cool. All right, can you say thank you for being on the show?

Ally Nichols  38:15
Yep. Thank you, John. Thank you, Mark. Thank you for being John's dad. And by the way, Mark, you're a really good dad.

Mark Cronin  38:29
I don't know about that.

Lisa Nichols  38:31
You're a good dad.

Mark Cronin  38:32
They didn't remove my sons, when they're growing up, they didn't have to remove him from the house. So that was ok.

Lisa Nichols  38:39
That's good. All right. Well, guys, thanks a lot. I can't wait till the next time we get to see you.

Ally Nichols  38:46
Love you guys.

Announcer  38:48
Thank you for listening to today's show Something Extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners, production copyright, Technology Partners Inc, 2019. For show notes, or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen. 

*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.