Committed to Showing up: A conversation with Justin Schenck

This week on Shattering Ceilings we are shaking it up with our first male guest in ages -  Justin Schenck self proclaimed bruiser and the driving force behind The Growth Now Movement. From a modest start with a $60 mic, Justin has cultivated a global community of listeners. His journey is a testament to the power of persistence and the impact of genuine connection.

In our conversation, Justin shares invaluable insights on finding purpose through adversity, the importance of consistent action, and the value of building a strong support network. He also reveals the five key relationships that have been instrumental in his success. Don't miss this inspiring episode.


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Season 2 Song Credit: Dimitrex "Stinky Sax"
Season 1 Song credit: Fleece Mob "Will Travel"

Transcript

SC - Episode 115
[00:00:00] Lauren: Hey everyone, welcome back to Shattering Ceilings. It's Lauren.
[00:00:03] Megan: And Megan and today we are here with a special guest that actually is, we're kind of shaking up the energy a little bit because we have had a lot of women on. We have our first male guest in like two years. His name is Justin Shank. So welcome Justin.
[00:00:17] Justin: I didn't, I didn't realize I was like the first male guest in two years. That's
[00:00:21] Lauren: No, it's, it's been a year. Not even a year. Mitch was
[00:00:24] Megan: So we had Mitch and then a year before that we had Adam. So, you know, we're due.
[00:00:29] Lauren: Yeah. We're definitely do. We should have more males on.
[00:00:32] Megan: Yeah, we actually got that feedback.
[00:00:35] Justin: I was just thinking that I need, I need more females on my show cause I have like six interviews scheduled for this month and they're all guys. I'm like, Oh, I gotta, I gotta get a girl in there somehow.
[00:00:43] Lauren: Could get a two for one deal right
[00:00:44] Megan: we're available.
[00:00:45] Lauren: what I mean? And we can up, up, raise that count. Oh,
[00:00:51] Megan: everything, just to give everybody a general idea of who Justin is you started out in an MLM, right? Cutco is an MLM network [00:01:00] marketing
[00:01:00] Justin: It's
[00:01:00] Megan: situation? Direct sales?
[00:01:02] Justin: it's, it's a similar type of thing. So you don't, you don't get people under you.
[00:01:06] Megan: Oh, okay. That's
[00:01:07] Lauren: I thought for some reason that you did.
[00:01:10] Justin: No, it's, it's direct sales. There is some recruiting involved if you're in management, but that's totally different.
[00:01:15] Lauren: Oh,
[00:01:16] Megan: So started with Cutco. We've owned a couple businesses. I think if I heard correctly, you went back into corporate for a little while and now you're a motivational speaker. You lead summits and you have a podcast and a podcast media company. Like now you're just all over the place.
[00:01:32] Justin: Yeah. Yeah. I like to say that it's, it's all an accident. You know, when I started the podcast originally, it was to interview entrepreneurs and figure out how to be a better entrepreneur. Cause I had three felt businesses at that point, but I was obsessed with this idea of like, you know, creating my own schedule, you know, obviously being in charge of my own income, doing all those types of things.
[00:01:50] Justin: And then six months before I launched the show, my mom lost a 20 year battle to opioids and completely changed my thought process about life. Yeah. And the conversations organically became about [00:02:00] how do you find happiness in your rock bottom moment? How do you overcome these things? How do you find self love?
[00:02:04] Justin: And so the show organically kind of me speaking from a vulnerable standpoint, having these conversations. I believe that's what led to the success of the show early on. And then more opportunities started to arise, right? The show grew. I started to get asked to speak and some businesses obviously came from there.
[00:02:20] Justin: But it was, it was all an accident. I bought a 60 microphone. I had no idea what I was doing. And now here we are right now. I get to live this beautiful life that I've built.
[00:02:27] Megan: That's amazing. I mean, okay.
[00:02:29] Lauren: are asking you what microphone you have.
[00:02:32] Justin: My least favorite question. It's a sure mv7 if anybody really cares
[00:02:36] Megan: There you go. I don't think anybody listening to us will know what that means.
[00:02:39] Lauren: Yeah.
[00:02:41] Megan: so you say organically it grew and like, I love this for you. But tell me, like, let's get into that a little bit. So what were you doing outside of just recording? Like, were you recording, editing, putting it out into the world, hoping people listened?
[00:02:55] Megan: Or did you start posting about it on social media? Were you having conversations? How did you help [00:03:00] it grow? Well,
[00:03:01] Justin: good question a number of things happened in in my favor So first of all, I had a co host when I first started so the first 64 episodes or something I had a co host and nobody was really listening at that time when I asked him to take a step back I believe that's when the show kind of came Got its own breath, right?
[00:03:19] Justin: Because it could be a more streamlined conversation. Him and I were just in different places in our life. Cause obviously I went through what I went through and he was going through his type of stuff. By the way, he's still one of my best friends to this day. But you know, when that started to happen, I started to see slow growth.
[00:03:33] Justin: Not really sure why, but people, I guess people started talking about it. And so you went from 40 downloads to an episode to 300 downloads and at four or 500 downloads an episode and kind of grew from that standpoint. And then I was about the thousand downloads standpoint, and this was strictly just through posting on social media, having my guests share it out.
[00:03:49] Justin: And again, like to put it in context, this was eight and a half years ago. Like. I would tell people about a podcast and they'll go, what's a podcast, right? It's a completely different world now. And so if I had a guest on the, and they [00:04:00] shared it out, those people were then, then listening, right? Cause that guest had not been on a thousand podcasts before they came on my podcast.
[00:04:06] Justin: And, and actually about two years in Inc magazine listed me as a top eight podcast. Every entrepreneur should follow 350, 000 people read that article. And obviously that really kind of gave me a bunch of traction. And at that, at that same time I had a run of big name guests on my show. And so as these new people were, were finding my show, they were also recognizing the guests that I had.
[00:04:27] Justin: So not only did they find my show, they started to listen, they hit subscribe and they came along on the journey with me to a point where it was, it grew to about 10, 000 downloads an episode. And you know, it was, it was just really a blessing, but, but to be honest, I think. The key for me was just consistency, showing up every single Tuesday, releasing an episode.
[00:04:44] Justin: I had the mindset of like, if I don't show up on Tuesday, whoever's listening, whether it was a lot of people at the time or a little amount of people at the time, they're going to go find another show. And that show is probably better than mine. So I want to make sure I keep showing up. So they listened to me on that Tuesday at the gym or Tuesday on their commute to work or whatever the case may [00:05:00] be.
[00:05:00] Justin: But I think the consistency was super key even in those times where I was like, what's the point of me doing this? Like nobody's listening. Like, why am I doing this? And I, I remember around episode 40 something you know, at that time we were doing 40, 50 downloads an episode. I was like, I think I'm going to hit 52 episodes and I'm going to stop doing it because I committed to a year.
[00:05:17] Justin: I was like, I'll do a year, see what happens. And somebody actually reached out to me on Facebook from Japan. And they said, because of your show, I decided not to take my life. And it was from that moment on where I was like, I'm going to show up. I'm going to keep doing this, even if it's that one person listening.
[00:05:30] Justin: And now we get played in a hundred countries every single week, which is wild.
[00:05:33] Megan: Wow.
[00:05:33] Lauren: Wow.
[00:05:34] Megan: How many downloads do you have now, like, per episode, would you say?
[00:05:38] Justin: I'm around six to 7, 000 downloads an episode. It's, it dropped. So 2021 was my, my best year. I think a lot of people were really. Tuning into podcast a lot more at that point. The world was still shut down from covid. And then at that same time, a lot of celebrities hopped in the game. So probably lost a couple of people to the celebrity world.
[00:05:55] Justin: But like I said, like, whether 7000 people are listening or 7 people are listening, [00:06:00] I'll show up.
[00:06:01] Megan: That's wild. That's, I mean, I can't imagine having that, someone reach out to you that way and say, like, talk about new invigoration to, you know,
[00:06:11] Lauren: for sure. And I think I remember when we first started to like, that was the one tip that we kept hearing over and over is like, just be consistent. Right. Cause so many, like, I think like the average is what, like three months and then they're, they're done for
[00:06:23] Justin: No, it's actually 78 percent of shows. Don't make it past the first 7 episodes. Yeah. Yeah. It's which is, which is, Which is crazy, right? And I always, I always look at it from a standpoint of like, I think the numbers like 80 percent of the shows do less than a hundred downloads of an episode, but I'm like, even if you're doing a hundred downloads an episode, right, we get caught up in these fake numbers of social media and all these crazy things.
[00:06:44] Justin: Like imagine having a room full of a hundred people that you get to talk to every single week. Would you show up? Yeah, a hundred percent. So why are we not showing up and hitting record every single week? Only because we have a hundred people listening, like those hundred people are dedicated fans who want to hear from you guys.
[00:06:58] Justin: And that's the key. I think [00:07:00] people get too caught up in these. These numbers and, and nine times out of 10, they're fake anyway.
[00:07:04] Lauren: Right. I totally agree. We talk, we talk about that on social media all the time, right? Like if you have people that are viewing your stories and listening to what you're saying and yeah, maybe it's 40, a hundred, whatever it may be like, again, fill the room with those many people. You would, you would feel really good about them showing up for you.
[00:07:20] Lauren: You
[00:07:20] Megan: That's a really good way to put it because it's so easy. It doesn't seem significant when it's just under a heart or, you know, you're looking at your stats for the month. But you know, I think that reminder of every person that you touch is then going out and interacting with other people too. So maybe 50 tuned into your episode, but they went and had a different conversation or responded differently to a situation.
[00:07:40] Megan: And that's where it really hits home. you know, the impact happens.
[00:07:44] Lauren: Mm hmm.
[00:07:45] Megan: Speaking on that, so we know a little bit about, like, what happened right around the time your podcast started blowing up and where you started your journey, but let's talk a little bit about, like, who you are, like, who is Justin today, and [00:08:00] maybe give us, like, three different things that helped you get to where you are.
[00:08:04] Megan: Like, maybe significant situations or, you know, whatever.
[00:08:09] Justin: Yeah. I'm who I am today. I mean, I'm a, I'm a husband and a stepdad. I enjoy a nice cigar every once in a while. And I, you know, I always say like, you know, what I do is, is part of who I am because I live and breathe, you know, everything I talk about on stages and on the podcast and everything else in between.
[00:08:25] Justin: So I'm all, you know, a podcaster and a speaker and an entrepreneur. And I get to help. Entrepreneurs make a bigger, bigger impact in the world. And I feel really, really blessed to be in that position. I mean, obviously, you know, a number of things happened throughout my life. I think the first thing is, you know, I've, you know, when my mom passed away, allowing, allowing myself to have a different perspective of life, right?
[00:08:44] Justin: Because before that I was chasing what society said I should chase, which is money. Recognition, the house, the car, the all the things, right? And when, when my mom passed away, I had two realizations. Well, first of all, I was blackout drunk six nights a week for about three months when she passed away and I knew what I was doing.
[00:08:59] Justin: I [00:09:00] knew I was numbing a pain. I was running from the feelings. I was doing all those things. But when I finally came out of that, I had these two realizations. One was my mom didn't die cause she was an addict. My mom died cause she didn't love herself. The second piece was I didn't love myself either.
[00:09:11] Justin: And so what I did was I doubled down on trying to get the money and the accolades and all those things. And I started to get the money and the accolades were coming in and ink magazine and I, you know, a bunch of other thought leader magazine and all these other places I got, I got featured in. And I hated myself even more.
[00:09:26] Justin: Like there was no sense of like, you know, how do I love myself? And that I believe is when the journey for me really began. That's when I really did the inner work, right? The, the spiritual deep dive, so to say, to figure out who am I, like, who am I supposed to be in this world? And what fills my cup? And you know, that, that in itself was a rather long journey to try and figure that out.
[00:09:46] Justin: But I can honestly say if all of this was stripped away, if the, Podcast and the accolades and all those things were stripped away. I'd be just as happy as if I, you know, did still have it or didn't have it. And I think that moment for [00:10:00] me was a major shifting point into really finding my purpose and leaning into it.
[00:10:06] Justin: That was definitely one. I mean, a second thing is the, the importance of knowing who you surround yourself with is the most important piece, right? We all, we all know the quote, you're the, you're the sum of the five people you spend the most time with or the average of And I used to think that was the biggest BS in the world, right?
[00:10:19] Justin: I remember hearing that when I was 19 and I immediately, I was like, I gotta get rid of all my loser friends and I need to go find five millionaires and go hang out with them. And then very quickly it was like, wait, why would five millionaires want to hang out with the loser? You know, a 19 year old trying to figure it out.
[00:10:31] Justin: But when I was able to kind of create success in my life and look back, I was like, well, who are those five people? And I realized that throughout my life, I always had five people fill five specific roles in my life. And I'll, I'll share them with you here in a minute, but. Without these five people throughout my growth.
[00:10:46] Justin: And again, they're interchangeable, right? As I grew, they change these individuals change. But I always had my cheerleader, right? The person who made me feel like when you get off the phone with them, it's like that person makes you feel like you can run through a brick wall. The second, the second person is your bruiser.
[00:10:58] Justin: That person is willing to question [00:11:00] your motives question. If you're making the right moves, the third person's your softy, right? Because you're gonna have hardships. Things are gonna be tough. Who can you go, you know, cry on their shoulder. And then the important piece with them is they help pick you back up, right?
[00:11:12] Justin: They're not going to allow you to stay in that spot. The fourth person is a mentor. So I look at mentor a little bit differently. So mentor to me is somebody who has something innate inside of them that you want more of in your life. And so for me currently, my, my mentor is a guy named Fabio Viviani.
[00:11:25] Justin: He was on the show, top chef. But he's a mentor to me, not because I want to be a chef, because I certainly don't want to do that. Not because I want to own restaurants or anything like that, but he's a mentor to me because he gives so much. And never ask for anything in return. And that's something that I feel like I do really well, but I want to do more of at a higher level.
[00:11:41] Justin: So he's currently a mentor. And then the fifth person is a coach. I believe at any given time, you should be financially invested in your future, whether it's a coach in your health, in your spirituality, in your relationships, in your, in your business, whatever the case may be. I've had coaches in all those places.
[00:11:53] Justin: I believe that at any given time, you should be financially invested in your future. And so those are the five people that from a young age I was [00:12:00] able to start doing and having those people. And I believe those five people are the reason I'm successful. The reason that when I have a failure, it's a lot easier to recover and bounce back and keep moving forward.
[00:12:10] Justin: And so that realization of like, making sure I purposefully have those people, you know, kind of in my tool belt, so to say to help me move forward is, is definitely an important piece. And the third one is probably meeting my wife. I, I, I thought I was going to be a bachelor forever and I was totally cool with that.
[00:12:26] Justin: Like I didn't, I didn't want, I didn't, I did not want a long term relationship. I certainly. Didn't think I wanted kids. And then I met my wife and obviously all that changed. Right. And it's crazy. Cause on our, on our first date ever, she told me she was moved to Seattle in a couple of months and spoiler alert, she didn't move to Seattle.
[00:12:43] Justin: And so, yeah, I mean, having a partner. To do life with at a high level and to be able to, you know, challenge each other and support each other. I think that is so key to have a healthy relationship. And unfortunately, most people don't. And I was just fortunate enough that I was able to find her and [00:13:00] get to build a beautiful life with her.
[00:13:02] Lauren: I love this so much. I don't think I've ever heard like the five people, like with the roles
[00:13:08] Megan: Broken down that way. Yeah,
[00:13:09] Lauren: Yeah, I did too. I'm
[00:13:13] Megan: so I
[00:13:13] Lauren: gonna, I'm gonna do some investigating and make sure I have that.
[00:13:16] Megan: Right. Who are my five?
[00:13:17] Justin: Well, it's funny because it's, it's one of the keynotes that I give and I always, you know, afterwards, I always go, you know, who has all five and there'd be like two people that raised their hand. And then there's a caveat to it as well, which is one person cannot film more than one role. And, and I always
[00:13:31] Lauren: a good one.
[00:13:32] Justin: and I use the most extreme example because here's, here's the issue.
[00:13:35] Justin: Like, say your spouse is your, Your cheerleader and your bruiser there's a good chance. They're a narcissist, right? Cause they're cheering you on in order to tear you down. And it's this terrible cycle, right? That's obviously a super extreme thing. They're not necessarily a narcissist, but you want to make sure that those people you now keep in mind.
[00:13:52] Justin: I also don't go up to him and go, Hey, just so you know, you're my bruiser. Just so you know, you're my cheerleader. I call on them when I need that more in my life. So when I need a [00:14:00] cheerleader, I'll call my cheerleader. If, when I need my bruiser, I'll call my bruiser and so on and so forth.
[00:14:04] Lauren: Yeah. Oh, I love that so much. I was actually just having a conversation today and it, it really was like, Hey, like, do you think you have these people in your corner that you can really be vulnerable with? And the answer was no. And I think a lot of people, you know, are really missing that. Right. And I think we really do need different people for different reasons to really, again, like get the full picture of just everything, you know, how we're being and how, where we want to go and all the different things.
[00:14:28] Lauren: So I love that. So what about you though? Like what do you do specifically on like a daily basis? That's your non negotiable to help you stay focused on your mission, you know, just in
[00:14:41] Justin: Yeah, that's a great question. I actually have four non negotiables every single day. The one thing that I, so I ask a question on my podcast every single time. It's a two part question. First part is what's your definition, what's your definition of success? The second part is what are three things you do every single day to ensure that success for yourself?
[00:14:57] Justin: I realized that there was a pattern, no matter who I was interviewing, whether it [00:15:00] was Ed Milad or Bert Kreischer, no matter whatever their walks of life was, I realized the three things that it was always to fill their cup in some way, shape, or form. It was to take care of themselves. And that's when I kind of adopted the attitude of like, the most selfless thing you can do is to be selfish.
[00:15:13] Justin: Because if your cup is not full, if you're not operating at a high level, you're not going to be able to serve at the level that you're supposed to be serving at. And so my four non negotiables are, they're fairly simple. The reason I made them simple is because I'm not that person who wakes up at 5 a.
[00:15:27] Justin: m. and does the savers, Hal Elrod style, right? So like, we do this. I have the four are one is I move my body in some way, shape or form, whether it's taking a walk in the morning with my wife, whether it's lifting weights, whatever the case may be, I move my body in some way, shape or form. The second piece is I do some sort of daily visualization practice, whether it's five minutes or 15 minutes where I literally tie my visions to all five of my senses and I put myself into that place that helps me.
[00:15:51] Justin: Obviously, it makes it a lot easier to take the action when you can feel where you're going to be in the future. Right? And sometimes it's. Yeah. I've got this event coming up in April, like how am I visualizing and what kind of [00:16:00] music, what kind of people are going to be there? Who's going to be hugging on me?
[00:16:02] Justin: Who's going to be doing this? And kind of really putting myself in that place. So it makes it easier to reach out to people and say, Hey, you should buy a ticket. Hey, you should do this. Hey, I would love to see you there. Those types of things. The third piece is. I reach out to somebody I care about deeply every single day.
[00:16:15] Justin: And I say, Hey, I'm thinking about you. And I let them know that they're on my mind. And the cool part about that is it's really it's really allowed me to, to build a network of strong supporters that rarely does a day go by where I don't get a text from somebody checking in on me. And, and that's been a really cool, like kind of reciprocal thing that I didn't think about.
[00:16:31] Justin: And then the fourth piece is I learn something new every single day because I believe something that's not growing is dead. And so how can I serve my mastermind? How can I serve my audience? How can I serve the people around me if I'm not continuously learning and growing? And so whether that's reading articles, listening to podcasts, reading a book, whatever the case may be, I'll learn something new every single day.
[00:16:49] Megan: Well,
[00:16:50] Lauren: I love this list. I mean, all your lists are good so far. Mm.
[00:16:54] Megan: So, okay. I have two things. Number one, sticking with what you just said is that something that, I know you said the [00:17:00] piece about doing something for yourself every day has been true across the board for the people that you've interviewed, but as you were saying that. I couldn't help but think of my partner, Aaron, who has always been very high performing, right?
[00:17:11] Megan: And those are things that he does all the time every single day without question, right? Moves his body visualizes. He sees big picture all the time, right? And I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking, like, what is it that we do differently in the world? Because when stuff gets too hard, I kind of fall back, right?
[00:17:27] Megan: When stuff gets hard, he digs in. And that's where the beauty is. But something that I, I love that you just said is that you reach out to somebody important to you every day. And that's something that he does that I really miss. Like that, I don't do that in my life, right? I can go six months without talking to you.
[00:17:41] Megan: I'll think about you, but I'm not going to text you. But he does and the network of people that he has that are always in his corner like we were just talking about before is like beyond anything I've ever experienced in my life. I've never known somebody to operate in the world the way that this man does.
[00:17:55] Megan: Is that something that is true among the people? Because you've, like you said, you've, [00:18:00] Talk to a lot of big hitters, like, are they connected in that way, that like soul level connection, not hey, I need you for this, can you help me with this? Just like, I'm thinking about you. Is that something that they all do?
[00:18:12] Justin: Yeah, you know, it's, it's funny. It's something that I started to do and I said, I share it with people that I do it and then those people start doing it. And it's, and it's just really, really funny to kind of see. I don't know. I mean, nobody's ever said that on my show. I've, I've had experiences.
[00:18:25] Justin: I'm sure that they have their tight circle that they, they check in with and do all those types of things. You know, I'll, I'll tell this story briefly. I was chatting with Ed, my lead on the phone. This is like the first time I ever talked to him and I ended the conversation by saying you know, let me know how I can support you.
[00:18:39] Justin: And it was just like dead silence on the other side of the phone. I checked my phone to make sure he didn't hang up. I was like, what did I do wrong? And he goes, hey, sorry. He goes, nobody ever asked me that. Everybody who reaches out to me wants something, right? And he did mention that, you know, in the back and forth about this.
[00:18:53] Justin: He mentioned that him and Grant Cardone have a symbiotic relationship where they'll check in on each other and just say, hey, I love you and [00:19:00] those types of things. I think, you know, I think people who are high performers, their net, they, they know that their network is their net worth. And so they'll choose purposefully to build relationships with specific people.
[00:19:12] Justin: You know, and obviously my outreach, cause I do it every single day is a little bit larger but there's certainly a small, And small amount of contenders should get it more often. Just because you know, they're, they're on top of mind or the people that I know support me as well. But I mean, it'd be, it'd be interesting to see, I should start asking the people if they do something
[00:19:30] Megan: I would love to know.
[00:19:32] Lauren: Mm hmm.
[00:19:33] Megan: yeah, that's just something that I've noticed. We've been together for almost 15 years now that consistently, he'll be like, you know what? I was thinking about Nick the other day. I'm going to give him a call. Right. No matter what, just to check in and see how they're doing. No, the other question I had for you is going to kind of take us back a little bit to your initial story around when your mom passed.
[00:19:51] Megan: We have interviewed a lot of people on this podcast. We've interviewed a lot of people who have specifically lost their mothers at a young age and talked a lot about the grief around that. [00:20:00] Something that I've noticed coming up for all of them, and I think is true for a lot of people, and we maybe don't touch it, it's like you said that you had to learn how to love yourself, but like what did you hate about yourself at that point in your life with the success that you had?
[00:20:13] Megan: What did you hate?
[00:20:14] Justin: I don't think I was ever taught how to love myself. I don't even know if it was necessarily a hate. I just didn't know that it's an action, like it's an action that you have to take. You know, and, and I look at it from the standpoint of like those four non negotiables are a way that I love myself.
[00:20:27] Justin: Making sure I'm taking care of myself, not pouring from an empty cup. Like I think I was just. drained all the time. There is no sense of like Justin first. And so I don't, it's, it's, I just don't know. I mean, it's a really good question because I don't really have an answer other than like, I just, I was never taught how to love myself.
[00:20:45] Justin: I didn't, obviously my mom not loving herself. That's what I saw. My dad my dad is now gay. Well, he's been gay his whole life, but he was married for 20 years. So there was no sense of him loving himself either. He had to choose a life that Wasn't what was right for him at the [00:21:00] time. And so I watched two parents just struggle through life every single day.
[00:21:03] Justin: And so I, I never had somebody in my corner being like, Hey, like, you got to love on yourself, right? Like you've got to do these things to take care of yourself. And so like, it was more of like an exhaustion 24, 7, just not satisfied. Not, you know, not happy with anything that was going on. And then looking for outside things to try and fill it.
[00:21:22] Justin: And that's the part that was making it worse, right? You get the thing that you say you're going to go get, and then you're still miserable. That's terrible. That's why you see a lot of super successful people taking their lives. They don't know how to love themselves. That's why you see, you know, people that reach a certain success in their life.
[00:21:38] Justin: And all of a sudden they start on this massive spiritual journey. Cause they're like, wait, hold on. I was supposed to be happy with all these things. Right. And they, they start this crazy journey. Because we're programmed, especially as men, we're programmed that it's the outside things, right? It's the, it's the money.
[00:21:51] Justin: It's the being able to put a roof over somebody's head. It's all those things. And that's, that's just not the thing that's going to fill your cup. Those things are necessary. There's nothing wrong with making a lot of money. [00:22:00] But, but on the flip side, don't have that be the thing that you're, that, that fills your cup because you're just going to be miserable.
[00:22:06] Megan: Right. Life is more than just like performance based statistics.
[00:22:10] Justin: Yeah.
[00:22:11] Megan: So I,
[00:22:12] Lauren: can totally relate to that. I feel like that's cause my mom, I don't, I don't know if you know this, Justin, but my mom passed away, it'll be seven years, like in two weeks, three weeks. And she, she, you know, passed away to like. You know, I should say complications of addiction and yeah, like, I feel like I blackout drunk.
[00:22:32] Lauren: Sure. Most of my twenties, you know what I mean? Like, and, and I, it was an escape for sure. But I think that's such a good point that I never really thought of. Like I knew my mom was struggling with, you know, childhood trauma and bullshit, but she didn't think she was pretty. She didn't think she was worthy.
[00:22:50] Lauren: She didn't love herself. And like, Me witnessing that my whole life that I took that upon, you know, I took that onto myself too. So it's funny that you [00:23:00] mentioned the whole spiritual journey too, because I think since I've known Meg, like, you know, and it's only been four years, but like, that's pretty much where I've been to like trying to do that practice because chasing all the shiny objects.
[00:23:13] Lauren: I'd get there and then I'd be like, all right, well, what's next? ? You know, it didn't
[00:23:17] Megan: The accolades don't mean anything.
[00:23:19] Justin: Yeah. And how old was your mom? How old was your mom when you passed when she passed?
[00:23:23] Lauren: She was 53 and so seven years ago I was 31. Mm-Hmm.
[00:23:28] Justin: Wow. Yeah. So I was 31, but my mom was 58. And so, so it's, it's interesting that you're, you're saying this, right? So all of our belief, a majority of our beliefs are programmed in us by time we're seven. And, and it's, it's very easy. It could be very easily like a passive thing, right? Like I talked a lot about limiting beliefs and before I started to talk about them on stages, cause people are like, Hey, will you talk about this on stages?
[00:23:48] Justin: I wanted to do some research and find out where do these limiting beliefs even come from. And they come from four main places, but the number one is, is childhood. And it could literally be as simple as you're walking through the mall with your mom back when malls were a [00:24:00] thing, you're walking through the mall with your mom and she runs into a friend from high school and they're like, Oh my gosh, and they're excited to see each other.
[00:24:05] Justin: And you hide behind your mom's leg and they go, Oh, that's Lauren. She's just shy. That simple statement of your mother trying to protect you has now labeled you as shy and you could own that for the rest of your life. Like It's absolutely crazy. And so when we have, when we're young and we have parents and we see them struggling, we see them not loving themselves and saying, Oh, I know I'm overweight or, you know, I'm, I'm ugly and nobody loves me.
[00:24:25] Justin: All these things. When we see that, even if they're not trying to program us, they're programming us every single second of every single day. And so if you have young kids, congratulations, you're programming your children currently on who they're going to become. And so I say to my stepkids all the time, they're, they're past programming agents, they're 14 and 11.
[00:24:43] Justin: But I say that all the time I go, look, when you're older, you're probably going to end up in therapy and that's okay. And you can talk about me if you want, like, you know, doing the work, getting the therapist, getting the coach, getting the person to help you reprogram those beliefs that were instilled in you is so, so, so important.
[00:24:58] Justin: But most people don't understand [00:25:00] that, like. They don't even understand why they think the way they think,
[00:25:02] Lauren: Right.
[00:25:03] Justin: and you have to figure that piece out first before you then do the work to overcome them.
[00:25:08] Megan: Yeah.
[00:25:09] Lauren: So
[00:25:09] Megan: really sounds like just all the stuff we're talking about, it's not even necessarily that we hate ourselves, right? We just don't have relationship with ourselves. Like, we passively live in these bodies until something brings it to our attention, right? And you have that spiritual journey that you start on or whatever.
[00:25:24] Megan: But well, my mind is reeling now.
[00:25:27] Lauren: Yeah.
[00:25:28] Megan: sorry, getting back on track something that you talked about in a lot of your interviews is taking massive action. So we all have ideas of what we think that means for you as somebody that's a successful entrepreneur, like what does massive action look like for somebody in your position on a daily basis?
[00:25:44] Justin: Yeah, I mean, for me, it's bold leaps, right? Like, it's so I always look at, like, growth is, is incremental, right? When we focus on what can we do today to move the needle? I always say 1%. How can I move the needle 1 percent closer to where I want to be today? But what you find is. When you're able to [00:26:00] take a massive leap or a quantum leap forward, it's when you take those big risks.
[00:26:04] Justin: And so for me, massive action is a big risk, right? Like, okay, I'm going to go rent a theater in Westchester, Pennsylvania. I'm going to, and I'm going to host a live event there and you go, okay, well, that's a, that's a big risk, right? So when you take that big risk, massive action has to follow, which means every single day you're committed to filling that theater.
[00:26:20] Justin: You're committed to getting the perfect speaker lineup. You're committed to making sure that that room is filled with the right energy. So every single person there. fears, feels better when they leave than when they got there, right? And so, for me, it's always like a big, I like the big risk thing, right?
[00:26:34] Justin: I, I believe that we all have like a thermostat tied to our bodies and say it's set at 70 degrees. Well, in order to turn it up to 75, you have to get uncomfortable.
[00:26:43] Lauren: Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm.
[00:26:44] Justin: like, the end of the day is, like, we're all energy, right? Like, literally, like, science says, neutrons, protons, electrons, right?
[00:26:49] Justin: We're vibrating at a certain at a certain level. And in order to change that vibration, we have to get uncomfortable. And that's usually, you know, starting a new business, starting a new partnerships, you know, [00:27:00] saying, Hey, I'm gonna go do this crazy live event, or I'm gonna do this over here. You know, just getting uncomfortable allows you to move the needle even further, because it puts you in a situation where your back's up against the wall, and you have to, you have to move.
[00:27:13] Justin: I have in my own right, like I have become complacent at times. I did a solo episode of my podcast last week where I talked about, like, you know, I've been just super not motivated or driven to do certain things. And, and like. What can I do now to shake that up? And it is about committing. And the, what, the thing that I did was I created a solo episode around it, release it to my audience.
[00:27:38] Justin: So now I'm held accountable to myself and to my audience to say, Hey, like I'm going to do this, this, and this. And so I love doing that kind of stuff because that's the only thing that motivates me, right? Like I said, the Lauren, when we spoke last week, like I work two to three hours a day. It's really easy for me to just be like.
[00:27:54] Justin: Put it on, put it in neutral. Let it glide. Life is good. The income is coming in. Like, everything's good to go. [00:28:00] But that's not, that doesn't lead to a, a, a very fulfilling life. And so I like creating that thing that, what can I do right now to shake this up in order to move the energy in the right direction?
[00:28:10] Justin: And so I did that by releasing that solo episode, you know, and, and obviously now we're moving forward with this event in April, which is an exciting thing. And yeah, so that's the, that's kind of the things that I do to shake things up. Because at the end of the day, like you're not going to go from 0 to 100 overnight.
[00:28:23] Justin: Like it's got to be that 1 percent every single day. That compound effect of that growth is going to be massive. So it's not always huge action. Sometimes it's just huge proclamations which lead to, to a lot of action.
[00:28:35] Megan: Yeah.
[00:28:36] Lauren: So when you have people that you're coaching that are like stuck, is that what you, you encourage them to do is like to take that massive action? Is it something that you encourage them to do like daily, weekly, monthly, like.
[00:28:49] Justin: Yeah, I mean, I think I think everybody's different. So it's funny. I talked about those five people. Everybody thinks I'm a cheerleader just because of what I do. I'm actually a bruiser. And so like, you know,
[00:28:58] Lauren: You were very, I don't know, I didn't [00:29:00] experience the bruiser part. I thought you were very like, you know, very straightforward and lots of great advice, but I didn't feel yeah. Bruised
[00:29:07] Justin: I know I'm definitely a bruiser because So my favorite quote of all time is excuses are the nails that built the house of failure. And so it's that idea of like, okay, well, are you really stuck? Are you just making an excuse? And I think sometimes when you, like, I think about my mastermind often and, you know, the conversations that we have and the excuses that we hear within the mastermind that you have to kind of push back against.
[00:29:29] Justin: And it's just about, sometimes it's just about. Go actually do the thing you claim, you're claiming you're doing because you're not doing it, right? Like I found that to be the case. A lot of times it's like people, people pretend to be busy, right? But it's really, they're just, it's just nonsense. They're just doing nonsense every single day.
[00:29:44] Justin: So we actually have we have a woman in the mastermind who is an amazing entrepreneur. Her name's Lisa. And her whole thing was she came to me and she's like, look, my business is successful. Like, you know, making good money. I just want to spend more time with my daughter, but I feel trapped in my business.
[00:29:58] Justin: And so I was like, okay, well, [00:30:00] let's make it. What are you doing to make a change? And she's like, I'm not doing anything. I just keep working. I just keep, you know, I'm constantly on my computer. And I was like, okay, well, here's what we're going to do. You're going to hire a team that's going to handle the work that you don't need to handle. Number two every single day before you leave your desk, you're going to write a list of the things you have to do tomorrow. And when that list is done, you're done. Cause like as entrepreneurs, there's always more to do. Right. And then, and then from there, it's about holding your feet to the fire.
[00:30:24] Justin: Hey, are you actually doing that? Or are you still stuck at your computer all the time? Because you told me that's not what you want. And so I'm like, it's just about holding people accountable at that point. Right. Especially when, when you're like, You know, you get to talk to them as much as I talk to people on my mastermind.
[00:30:37] Justin: Like, it's just about that accountability and making sure that they're actually doing what they say they're going to do. My least favorite thing is when I talk to you six months from now and you're in the same exact place because you refuse to take action. And so, that's, that's really what it is as far as in the mastermind.
[00:30:52] Justin: It's just about holding their feet to the fire and saying, hey, you said you're going to do this, do it.
[00:30:56] Megan: love that. So speaking of that mastermind, I think I heard this [00:31:00] correctly, so correct me if I'm wrong, because I was listening at like 1. 5 speed.
[00:31:05] Justin: You were listening to me at 1. 5 speed? That's crazy. Probably just sounded like I talk so fast in general. It probably just sounded like jumble. So
[00:31:13] Megan: It does. I talk really quick, too, so that's like the life I live. I'm so
[00:31:17] Lauren: They can't understand her at all in Louisiana,
[00:31:19] Megan: No, I have to repeat myself a lot and like take a deep breath and slow down. But someone mentioned that you don't like to do individual coaching. What is it that you prefer about group coaching as opposed to individuals?
[00:31:31] Megan: What difference does it make for you?
[00:31:33] Justin: Yeah, well, I just said I told you guys I work two to three hours a day Individual coaching is a lot more of a time suck, right? Like if I had ten if I if I have ten clients, that's ten calls if I have ten people in a mastermind That's one call That's number one number two when you are In a collective group of people that are playing at your level or higher.
[00:31:53] Justin: You do, you take more action. Whereas like one on one coaching, we get off that call and nobody's there holding your hand until we're on a, on a call [00:32:00] again. And what I found is it's not that I, I, I despise one on one coaching. It's just the idea of like too often have we done the one on one coaching and we're having the same conversation on our fourth call that we had on our first one.
[00:32:13] Justin: Because there was no action in between when you have a group of people like in a mastermind you have people constantly holding you accountable. Right? You're proclaiming to a group of people. This is what I'm going to do. And so that's why I like that side of things. The, the, the results are 10 times faster, 10 times better.
[00:32:29] Justin: Like, we have one girl in our mastermind who went from 30, 000 a year. She's now making 30, 000 a month. That's within 18 months, like, just absolutely life changing, right? She's now taking your family to, you know, To Disney staying at the Polynesian and bringing her mom and paying for everything. Whereas before she could barely fill a tank of gas in her car.
[00:32:48] Justin: Like,
[00:32:49] Lauren: mm-Hmm.
[00:32:49] Justin: I don't know if those results would have came if we were doing one on one coaching, like, when you're in a group of high performers, the action just become it's it's almost a necessity. That, you know, you [00:33:00] start to you if you want to hang with us, like, you have to do the work.
[00:33:04] Megan: That reminds me a lot of sports, like, team, right? You have a team. You have the coach, you, in this situation. Then you have your teammates that kind of hold each other accountable, as opposed to like, and I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but do you feel like it takes more grit to To do it if you're doing it by yourself like say for individual coaching or somebody that's out here listening I guess this is kind of why I asked this question I know for myself Something that i've always felt as a kid.
[00:33:30] Megan: I was an older kid I was the kid that was expected to do well, you know, I just I always had my shit together So now as an adult I carry that story of like if I can't do it by myself i'm kind of failing So for those that are sitting out there listening that feel like well, you know I don't I don't need a group to push me You It takes a lot more fucking grit to stay focused and do that work, like you said, in between when there's not people checking in on you.
[00:33:52] Megan: Do you think that might be part of it?
[00:33:54] Justin: The first thing I'll say is there, there's no self made anybody, right? Nobody, [00:34:00] nobody is self made. They've, they might not talk about it, but they've had a team. They've had a support system. They had people pushing them. They had investors. They had a business partner. They had you know, a spouse that helped them through the process.
[00:34:10] Justin: So, like, number one, if you're holding on to the story of like, oh, if I can't do it on my own, then I just can't that it can't be done. Yeah. I would have to say, like, you've probably done nothing on your own, right? Like, hey, you're a really good student. Your parents probably were checking to make sure you're doing your homework, right?
[00:34:24] Justin: Like, those are like the things that we kind of forget about through the process. Those, those little nudges that we've had along the way. The second piece is like, I think a lot of times people who don't want to be a part of a group are usually lying to themselves in some way, shape or form. And this is kind of the bruiser in me to be like, you're probably lying to yourself about something, whether you're lying to the public about your, the success that you have, or you don't have or you're lying to yourself about the work you're actually doing every single day to get closer to where you want to be.
[00:34:52] Justin: When you're in a group, like you have to be super vulnerable. The people who go, you know, I'm going to do this on my own. They lack the [00:35:00] vulnerability piece because they're afraid of judgment. And that probably comes from something they went through in their life. And so, like, you have to get over that hurdle and find the right community for you that you feel comfortable enough that you can open up and talk about these things.
[00:35:12] Justin: I mean, I would say, As of late, I mean, 75 percent of the conversations in my mastermind have been personal stuff, people that are going through certain things, right? We've had one woman go through a divorce. We've had another one having issues with their, their marriage currently with some addiction stuff.
[00:35:26] Justin: So like, We get really personal too, but you can't get there unless you're open and vulnerable throughout the process. That's just the reality.
[00:35:35] Megan: I love that. I need that reminder. Because you're right, we don't do it by ourselves. But I know that for people there is that pressure, like, feeling like if I take help, then I'm not, like, I'm failing in some way. You know what I
[00:35:46] Justin: Give me all the help you can give me. That's what I say, like, shit, like, if you have some sort of cheat code, like, give it to me, right? Like, I was the kid who wouldn't play video games without cheat codes when I was a kid, right? Like, let's make the, like, that's how life should be, right?
[00:35:59] Megan: I was the kid that [00:36:00] thought it was cheating to use the cheat codes. Like, if I can't get to level 10 on Spyro without cheat codes, then I'm not there, okay?
[00:36:05] Lauren: was the one for Sims that gave you all the money? I can't even remember what it was, but yeah.
[00:36:10] Justin: I, I forgot about the Sims, but I would use it on like roller coaster tycoon so I
[00:36:14] Lauren: Oh yeah.
[00:36:15] Justin: the killer, the killer park. But like in anything right like if I can get any cheat code right like I take a new tropic before every interview that I do so I can think clear, like any kind of help that I can get in order to give me that little edge of course and if it's a team of people if it's a support system if it's a coach if it's a whatever.
[00:36:35] Justin: Hell yeah, give that to me because it's all about building a better life for myself. And if people can help me do that, give me all the cheat codes.
[00:36:43] Lauren: Yeah. I know. Me too. So. Speaking of cheat codes, I would love to know if there has ever been an interview that completely flipped your perspective on life or business. Like [00:37:00] you basically walked away from the interview and, and basically thought like that changed everything for me. Cause I feel like I have this epiphany, like, I don't know, Meg, what do you think once a week, once a month,
[00:37:09] Megan: least two, three times a month. It's
[00:37:13] Justin: Yeah, it's a really good question, but I've been, I mean, I've had like 540 episodes or
[00:37:18] Lauren: I know you have so many and so many good
[00:37:20] Justin: and it's, you know, it's, it's I think it's a collective, right? It's a collection of all the people that I've had the, the honor to sit down and interview the idea that you're able to create the life that you want and nobody else designs that for you and nobody else, whatever, right?
[00:37:34] Justin: So like, yeah. I think it's those conversations that kind of open my mind to, to a new idea or a new thought or a new whatever I've, I've certainly had moments You know, pinch me moments, right? Like I think, I think for me, like the interviews with like people that were like heroes of mine in some way, shape, or form when I was a kid, right?
[00:37:50] Justin: Like a diamond Dallas page is a WDB hall of famer, Ricky Williams, the running back or one actually Goldberg, the goalie from mighty ducks. Like it was like, Holy crap. Like I was sitting down [00:38:00] and interviewing this guy, right? Like, For me, it's, it's it's just the idea that it's a constant reminder of, like, if I can do this, if I can sit down and have the chance to interview these people and build the business and speak on the stages and, and, and build relationships and friendships with these individuals, like anybody can do it.
[00:38:17] Justin: It's that constant reminder of like, how lucky am I that I did buy that 60 microphone that I made a joke about before. Right. I think for me, like it's, it's just the collective of that. And also the reminder that like these people that you look up to, they're just people. And so if they're able to do things like that, so can you it's, it's really crazy, but like just really cool moments.
[00:38:36] Justin: Like, I interviewed Gabby Bernstein and afterwards my mom came through and she like. Literally told me what my mom was saying to her, like, holy, I just, I just got a reading from Gabby Bernstein and I, you know, that's freaking crazy. And, you know, and she's been on my show twice and she doesn't do podcasts, by the way, like, it's like these weird moments where I'm like, this is, unless it's like the massive, like, you know, Lewis Howe's podcast and so on and so forth, but It's just that constant like [00:39:00] pinch me moment all the time and you know, getting in the rooms and being invited into their rooms and doing those types of things I think for me are really like the mind blowing moments for me.
[00:39:10] Lauren: Yeah, I can see that for sure.
[00:39:12] Megan: Yeah.
[00:39:13] Lauren: Love that. Mm-Hmm?
[00:39:15] Megan: So with all these big names, right? I, something that I've heard coming up a couple of different times is Manifestation. Now our podcast, we're Mindset. We're all sorts of fun things. We're really into human design. I'm not sure if you even know what that is. But Manifestation is a huge topic, and it's a huge, like, buzzword, you know, on social media nowadays. Is manifestation something that you have, like, actively practiced throughout your career, or is it something that you're now, like, using that buzzword and realize that you've been doing it kind of, unconsciously throughout
[00:39:48] Justin: I've done it my whole life without even realizing it. But I think it's like so manifestations this woo word like you think about it, it's going to appear right. You know, I've, I've actually, so I've had clients that were on the secret and so [00:40:00] like, they're the ones who started the whole thing of like, Oh, you think it is going to appear in your mailbox.
[00:40:03] Justin: Like, I remember there's a story in the secret where they're like, Oh, I needed 10, 000 and a check just appeared in my mailbox. Like, I know that's not, it's not how that works. It's just about, again, my daily visualization practice allows me to manifest. The life that I want because it becomes easier to take the action.
[00:40:19] Justin: Right. But I, but I visualize and I see myself there first and I feel myself there and I get all my senses tied to that. And therefore, I manifest, but I have a crazy story about manifesting something subconsciously. So do you remember the show full house?
[00:40:33] Lauren: Yeah.
[00:40:34] Justin: So yeah, how old are you guys if you don't mind?
[00:40:36] Justin: Do you share that with your
[00:40:37] Lauren: 38.
[00:40:39] Justin: Okay, I'm 40. So I just turned 40 in August. So there so there was obviously the show full house grew up watching it and it was an episode or Stephanie Tanner's birthday and there's this pop singer named Tommy page who came and sang happy birthday to her but through the episode he was like hanging out with Uncle Jesse in their house.
[00:40:56] Justin: And I remember even as like eight nine years old watching this go and going man, that'd be [00:41:00] so cool. Cool. To hang out with like a pop star at my house and be friends with them and all this crazy stuff. And every time that episode would come up, I would think the same thing. That'd be so cool to hang out with a pop star, blah, blah, blah, and be friends with them, blah.
[00:41:10] Justin: And I remember being like 16 and seeing it and thinking that. Fast forward, I was about 24 years old, and I was at a house party in North Jersey, and I had a beer in my hand, and I remember looking up and I went, Holy shit, I'm in Tommy Page's house.
[00:41:25] Megan: Wow.
[00:41:25] Justin: friends with Tommy page, the guy who was on that show where I was literally, you know, thinking in my head, like, wow, this would be crazy.
[00:41:33] Justin: Right. Now, unfortunately, Tommy ended up taking his own life a number of years ago but he was such a kind, caring human being. That, you know, grateful that I had time with him in, in his short life. But what I realized was because I had these types of thoughts as a kid, right? We talk about manifest.
[00:41:50] Justin: It didn't just magically happen, but because I had these thoughts that I thought like things like that were realistic and I could actually make those things happen, I, I chose to be friends with [00:42:00] people who were driven, who had goals, who wanted to do big things. And I mentioned earlier, before you record up, my best friend was signed at Warner brother records.
[00:42:07] Justin: In a boy band, Tommy Page was the guy who put that boy band together, but I was friends with this guy. He was the best man at my wedding last year, but like, I was friends with this guy because he was driven and motivated and had goals. And those are the people I wanted to spend time with. That's what led to me being friends with Tommy Page.
[00:42:24] Justin: And so like, it's this, those little things, right? Where if you focus on it long enough, you're going to find yourself in the right situation because you're making the right choices to get you there. Does that make sense?
[00:42:35] Megan: Absolutely. Yeah. I love that. Now, do you teach this to your stepkids?
[00:42:40] Justin: Of course, yeah, we, we talk about those types of things in our life but, you know, they're not listening to it yet. Although, my
[00:42:46] Megan: They hear you, even if they're not
[00:42:48] Justin: stepson's kids think I'm, I'm the man because I have a podcast, so I'll
[00:42:52] Megan: Yeah.
[00:42:53] Lauren: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. I mean, my
[00:42:55] Justin: think the one, I think the one called me a G because my wife got him donuts and, [00:43:00] my wife got him donuts, I guess, for his cross country team for his birthday, for Aiden's birthday, and they thought it was me. I'm like, I'll take it. My wife was so pissed. She's like, I'm the one who bought the donuts.
[00:43:10] Justin: Why is
[00:43:10] Megan: Sounds about right.
[00:43:11] Justin: He goes, you don't have a podcast.
[00:43:15] Lauren: That's awesome.
[00:43:16] Megan: Now I want to be conscious of our time. Lauren, I have two more questions that I definitely want to ask. Is there anything Lauren that you want to ask?
[00:43:22] Lauren: I do.
[00:43:23] Megan: Okay. You go for it.
[00:43:25] Lauren: Okay. So if you had to leave just one lesson to the next generation of podcasters or entrepreneurs, what would it be?
[00:43:34] Justin: Yeah, it's a, it's, this is something I share often, but you know, I would say to those individuals, you're exactly where you're supposed to be and exactly where you chose to be. And that second piece of choosing to be can be painful for a lot of people. Cause there'll be like, Oh, well, I didn't, I didn't choose to have a mom.
[00:43:47] Justin: That was an addict. I didn't choose to have a dad that was in jail. I didn't choose these things. But the reality is if you take ownership of where you are, it means you have complete control over where you, where you're going to go. And since you are where you are because of you, [00:44:00] you can go wherever the hell you want on.
[00:44:01] Justin: So that is what I leave with everybody. Because once you take ownership of it, everything begins to change, right? You don't play the victim anymore. You start to take the actions that you need to to create the life that you want or get out of the situation that you're in. Yes. We don't have control over other people and their actions.
[00:44:19] Justin: And there are certain things that are going to happen that you don't have control over, but you do have control over how you react to those things. And I think that that is such a great lesson for people to hear even if it hurts a little bit.
[00:44:29] Megan: That's so true. I mean, you can see that really just in people like, say, somebody that was born into a family with an addict parent, like, how differently those kids grow up
[00:44:41] Lauren: yeah. Like the different siblings, it's just, Yeah. Right.
[00:44:45] Megan: Taking the same upbringing. Now, did you have anything else you wanted to ask, Lar, before I ask this next one?
[00:44:52] Megan: Okay. So, something that you said in one of the podcasts that I listened to that I, it just keeps rolling around in my head. So in your 20s you chase money, [00:45:00] in your 30s you try to solidify your family, and in your 40s you start to live into your purpose. Now, I really love this because I'm in my 30s and that, I hadn't thought about family.
[00:45:11] Megan: In the same way that I do in every decision I make is to be more flexible and more available and more present with my kids. But you just hit 40, so what are you going to be doing differently or what do you find yourself doing differently now that you've hit your 40s and stepping into that purpose that you might have done, you might not have done in the past two decades?
[00:45:30] Megan: Okay.
[00:45:32] Justin: I mean, I would say my thirties were really leading into my purpose as well, which is, you know, why, why I can speak on stages and all those things. I think my forties now it's about, I'm focused more on legacy than anything else. You know, what am I leaving behind? What are me and my wife leaving behind to our step kids building that, that wealth not, not talking about like, you know, how much more money can I put in my bank account?
[00:45:53] Justin: I'm talking about like building wealth beyond just finances, right? Like, what is, what does that look like? And so my [00:46:00] thought in my 40s and slightly before my 40s is definitely more legacy. Like how am I, what legacy am I leaving behind when I'm no longer here? I would love to live to 100. I have the genes, at least on my mom's side.
[00:46:11] Justin: My, my great grandma lived to 97. My grandmother's currently 94, 95 maybe. Yeah, so I would love to be here for another 60 years. But the reality is what is like 73 is the average age for, for men. And so like I'm more than halfway done and based on averages. And so for me, it's really about legacy and doubling down into that.
[00:46:30] Justin: And I guess that is kind of purpose, right? Like what, what, what am I leaving behind is, you know, How important are the conversations I'm having on my podcast after I'm, after I'm dead, right? Part of my will is going to be like, keep my Libsyn account open. And so just to have that there for more people to find it after I'm gone and just focusing more and more into that legacy piece, I think is where I'm at in my 40s.
[00:46:50] Megan: Do you think your perfect purpose has shifted a little because I know you said you didn't expect to be married. You didn't expect to have kids. So since that's such a new part of your life, do you think that purpose has shifted a little [00:47:00] bit?
[00:47:00] Justin: No you know, I, I think for me, I think my purpose is to let people know that like, it doesn't matter where you come from. And it doesn't even matter where you are today. What matters is the choices you make today to create a better world for yourself and others going forward. And I think that, you know, based off of my trajectory, I was a terrible student.
[00:47:16] Justin: College was not in the, in the cards, like all signs point to, you've got no shot. And I believe my purpose is for people to look at me and go, well, if he can do it, I can do it too. I can't tell you how many times people have reached out to me and said, Oh, because of your show. Your podcast. I decided I wanted to start a podcast.
[00:47:30] Justin: And I think it's because people look at me and go, well, if he can do it, I can do it too. And I think that that's, that's such a great purpose for me because I don't need, I don't need the spotlight. I don't need to be the number one go to guy in the space, but I would love to inspire people that I come in contact with that they can take that big leap you know, and entrust in themselves and, and, you know, spreading their purpose, whatever that is.
[00:47:51] Justin: So, yeah, I think my purpose is, is the same. I think my focus is different. Meaning, like, family first. Right? Like, family before [00:48:00] anything. Before it was just me. Like, I could do whatever I want, whenever I want. And it was, you know, it was, it was like the Wild West. And so, and so now it's it's, the focus is different, but the, but the purpose stays the same.
[00:48:12] Megan: Hmm. I love that. And the other question I have for you is like, you've done a lot of podcasts. You've been on several podcasts. Is there any question that you wish somebody would ask you that they haven't yet? Hmm.
[00:48:26] Justin: somebody asks me that question, I'm like, Oh God, I don't know. No, you know, it's, I've been on so many that I think I've gotten asked every question that I expected that, that I would be asked, which means I don't know what that question is. I, I don't, I mean, you guys have asked me some really great questions today.
[00:48:39] Justin: But you know, people have asked me that question before and I'm like, I don't, I'm like, I don't really know. Like I don't, I don't, I don't have that answer because I haven't been asked yet. So how can I, how could I know? I don't know. And a lot of times people will listen to my podcast and they'll ask me questions that I ask my guests just as like a fun, I know you ask every guest this question.
[00:48:58] Justin: I like that. I like when they do that. It [00:49:00] means they did their homework. But at the same time, like I get to then answer my questions that I ask everybody else. So that's fun every once in a while. Yeah.
[00:49:06] Megan: Okay, so on that note, one question that you ask everybody on your podcast is what is the biggest growth moment in your life?
[00:49:15] Justin: Yeah. It was after I came out of that three month bender where I was blackout drunk and I, you know, I forgave my mom and I was able to and I was able to move forward and start to really begin to become the person I am today. And here's the thing, right? Like, I think. I think our biggest growth moments come at our lowest points.
[00:49:31] Justin: And I always say, I always say this, right? Like we all have rock bottom moments in our life, but what I did was I declared my rock bottom moment. I go, I am no longer going to allow outside circumstances to dictate who I become, because that's what I was doing. I was allowing outside circumstances to dictate who I was becoming.
[00:49:47] Justin: And I decided in that moment that I will no longer do that doesn't mean things weren't tough doesn't mean that things didn't go wrong. I lost 75 percent of my income when the world shut down in 2020, like things were bad, but I refuse to allow those [00:50:00] bad things to dictate who I was, who I was becoming.
[00:50:03] Justin: And so that lesson in that moment has allowed me to grow continuously since then. So I would say that moment for sure was my biggest growth moment.
[00:50:15] Megan: I Love what you just said about declaring your rock bottom because that's something like people talk about hitting a rock bottom and I feel like a lot of times you don't Realize you've hit it until you are on the other side of it and we're like
[00:50:25] Lauren: Right.
[00:50:26] Megan: We were in the
[00:50:27] Lauren: And then you don't really talk about it until you've like overcome it too, right?
[00:50:31] Megan: Yes. Yeah. But that declaration, like I decided that this is it, right? We go up from here. We don't sink any deeper. I, I love that sense of like ownership that you can give it by just making that just, Hmm. I really liked that a lot.
[00:50:43] Justin: Well, I mean, I've watched, I think, too, like, I watched my mom have rock bottom moment after rock bottom moment after rock bottom moment because she didn't know when to declare it. She didn't know how to take back her power. She didn't have those tools. And you know, it's wild, and I just, I thought about it earlier today, because I interviewed a psychic medium, so [00:51:00] we talked about my mom a little bit.
[00:51:01] Justin: If my, if I had the tools now that I've learned over the last eight and a half years doing my podcast, I could, I could have probably helped my mom, but that wasn't her purpose. Part of her purpose was to make sure I got these lessons that I'm getting now, which I wouldn't be getting if she didn't pass away.
[00:51:17] Justin: And to me, that's a wild thing to think about, right? Like the success that I've had is based off of my mom passing away. What that's crazy. But a blessing, right? And it's that idea of life is happening for me instead of to me. And getting out of that victim mindset that she found herself in and learning those lessons that I was so curious about because I watched her struggle with it her whole life.
[00:51:39] Justin: And so, yeah just wild. I thank you for letting me ramble on that for a minute
[00:51:43] Lauren: Yeah. Now we call that the, the best worst thing we, one of our, one of our guests came on and, and she was able to really articulate that because I feel the same thing about my mom. Like it was the best worst thing that happened to me because I would not be where I am either if it. If she would still be here probably.
[00:51:59] Lauren: You know, [00:52:00] so
[00:52:00] Megan: you guys could have all made very different choices in those points of loss too, like you didn't have to choose to start. Shifting the way that you live your life, and you did, and that's why all of this has come out of it. I think that's really important to note, too. Like we, we, like you were saying earlier, we do get to make that choice, right?
[00:52:17] Megan: We get to choose how we react to what circumstances we find ourselves in throughout life.
[00:52:22] Justin: true. I mean, you know to bring up another quote that it's so funny I said to lauren if I say a quote on your show i'm probably gonna say it wrong i've thrown out i've thrown out a couple quotes. I don't know if they're right or not
[00:52:32] Lauren: We're really good at that too.
[00:52:34] Megan: Yeah.
[00:52:34] Justin: but it's like life life is 10 percent of what happens to you and 90 percent of how you react to what happens To you and when you take ownership in that stock like that changes the game when I was 19 Somebody handed me a book called who moved my cheese and it was exactly what it was Read it if you haven't it's like Took
[00:52:49] Lauren: I don't have it. I need,
[00:52:50] Megan: It's a good little read.
[00:52:51] Justin: It's a
[00:52:52] Lauren: You write it down. Okay. I'm writing it
[00:52:54] Justin: but it spoke, it spoke to me in that very moment because the book is about how everything's going, everything will [00:53:00] change around you, but that doesn't matter. What matters is how you react to the change. And it's exactly what I needed at that point. And it's still, you know, something that I hold super close to my heart now because change is still happening constantly.
[00:53:11] Lauren: Sure.
[00:53:11] Justin: Things that are out of our control, right? We talked about housing prices earlier. And so like things that are out of our control, but how can you adjust to make it work for you? That's the key to life.
[00:53:21] Lauren: Yeah.
[00:53:22] Megan: Right, because it's going to keep happening, regardless of how we move through it.
[00:53:26] Lauren: Mm-Hmm.
[00:53:27] Megan: Mm. Yeah.
[00:53:28] Lauren: Well, any other questions, Meg? Or
[00:53:30] Megan: I feel satisfied with this. I mean, I would love to have you on again. Let's dig a little deeper and like, find some new things to talk about. But for today, I feel satisfied.
[00:53:39] Lauren: Okay.
[00:53:40] Megan: we do have a question that we ask everybody on our podcast that Lauren's about to give you.
[00:53:44] Megan: So we'll see how, we'll see how you answer this one.
[00:53:47] Lauren: Right. So the name of our podcast is Shattering Ceilings, and we love to hear how just different people in the world are shattering their own ceiling. So what is that ceiling that you are currently shattering for yourself?
[00:53:59] Justin: Oh, no, [00:54:00] this question is so hard for me to answer. And I'll tell you why, you know, how people ask you that, like your whole life, where do you see yourself in five years? The reality is I don't, I don't have a clear picture of where I see myself in five years. Like I just see myself more abundant in five years.
[00:54:13] Justin: What's that look like? Which means I can give more, which means I can serve more, which means I can do all these things. But for me, I have a. have a continued goal of getting on other people's stages more and more. So people that I admire and people that I look up to and all those types of things, I get, you know, I think it was like, Two weeks before my wedding, I spoke in North Carolina, love my wife for, let me do it 
[00:54:35] Justin: I spoke in North Carolina at Amberley Lagos event. And Amberley is somebody who's been on Ed, my let's podcast. She's, you know, she's done all this. And so doing more of that is, is me shattering my own glass ceiling because the point of what I'm doing is to serve others. And it's not about me, but the way I do that is the more stages I can get on, the more people I can impact, the more I can serve, the more abundant that I have.
[00:54:54] Justin: So I would say. I would say that is a way that I'm shattering glass ceilings is, is being the [00:55:00] guy with the least amount of social media followers, speaking on the stages of people with millions of social media followers and me making the biggest impact of that event is always a really cool thing.
[00:55:09] Justin: I remember how intimidated I was speaking at Amberley's event because I was like, Oh my gosh, like these people, these people are like massive, they're huge. And I found out later, there's a bunch of people that came together and they were sharing a house and one of the other speakers was like part of that house and she said like, our house was hands down, said you were the best speaker and I was like, damn, I'll take, I was like, I'll take that, like, that's the, that's the point of all this, not to be the best, but to make the biggest impact and so I would say that is how I'm breaking glass ceilings because that question is really hard for me to answer.
[00:55:40] Justin: That's the best I got,
[00:55:41] Megan: That's okay. And now you, I mean, talk about massive action. You just put that onto our podcast. So now we'll be expecting to see you like standing on stage next to Ed, next to Lewis Howes, all those big names.
[00:55:51] Justin: not Lewis house, but yeah.
[00:55:52] Megan: No, okay, sorry.
[00:55:55] Lauren: We'll have to save the tea. Yeah. After we're done. [00:56:00] Well, this has been so much fun and I mean, I just feel like I'm also going to be on cloud nine all day after this and so much to take in. So yes.
[00:56:11] Megan: for sharing everything.
[00:56:13] Justin: Thank you guys. This is great.
[00:56:15] Megan: And I mean, people are going to want to know how to get in touch with you. So before
[00:56:18] Lauren: Oh yes.
[00:56:19] Megan: let's make sure we cover that. How do
[00:56:21] Justin: Oh yeah.
[00:56:21] Megan: you?
[00:56:22] Lauren: And how can we support you, Justin? We want to support you.
[00:56:26] Justin: That's a great question to end the conversations with. No. So, so, so one, wherever those into the show, they can search growth. Now my show will pop up. I always say, listen to a couple episodes. If you like it, click subscribe and come on the journey with me. Cause that's all of this is.
[00:56:37] Justin: It's just a big journey. The second thing is if they're. If they're an entrepreneur, a forward thinker looking to level up in any area of their life, they can check out my live event called growth now summit live, but they can go to growth now summit. com and get their tickets and come hang out with us in Westchester.
[00:56:50] Lauren: Yeah, I'm gonna be there. So
[00:56:52] Megan: I'm gonna try to get up, up there
[00:56:54] Lauren: I mean, you are due for a bit, you know, Jersey visit. So
[00:56:59] Megan: I am.
[00:56:59] Justin: It'll be, [00:57:00] it'll be worth,
[00:57:00] Megan: new job. So
[00:57:01] Justin: it'll be worth the flight.
[00:57:03] Lauren: yes.
[00:57:03] Megan: I'm sure. Yeah, I think it'll be awesome.
[00:57:06] Lauren: hmm.
[00:57:07] Megan: Well, you didn't answer the second half of that question.
[00:57:09] Lauren: Yeah. How can we
[00:57:10] Justin: Oh, how can you support me? Come to my, come to my event.
[00:57:13] Megan: Okay, we can do it.
[00:57:17] Lauren: Yes. Yes. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again for being on today. It was amazing. I can't wait to have more conversations. This is
[00:57:25] Megan: Yeah. And absolutely wonderful to meet you. You're an awesome person.
[00:57:29] Justin: Thank you.
[00:57:29] Lauren: You're
[00:57:29] Megan: All right, guys.
[00:57:30] Lauren: See you on the other side. Bye. Bye.