Leading With Heart: Building a Business That Makes Sense with Gary Montalvo

In this episode of Shine On Success, host Dionne Malush sits down with Gary Montalvo, a leadership and business coach who blends strategy with soul. Together, they unpack what it truly means to lead from your values, stay authentic through uncertainty, and build a business that doesn’t just make money, but makes sense.

Gary shares his personal journey from creative director to transformational coach, offering real stories of failure, resilience, and self-discovery. He opens up about finding his voice, leading with authenticity, and helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs move from overwhelm to empowerment.

This episode is a reminder that real leadership isn’t about having it all figured out, it’s about having the courage to keep showing up, even when you don’t know what’s next.

Tune in for an honest, heartfelt conversation that will leave you inspired to step into your own version of leadership, with integrity, intention, and heart.

Connect with Gary here:

Website: https://www.garymontalvo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garymontalvo/

Chapters

• 0:02 Meet Gary Montalvo
• 1:27 Humor As A Leadership Superpower
• 3:03 Defining Work At Leadership’s Intersection
• 5:39 Heart-Led Entrepreneurship And Impact
• 8:17 Avoiding Leadership And Finding Voice
• 13:55 The Line In The Sand Moment
• 16:31 Put Ten People In A Room
• 18:29 Authenticity Beats Polished Pretending
• 19:41 Leadership Myths That Keep You Stuck
• 22:58 From Vision To Action Without Spinning
• 26:34 Growth That Feels Good Versus Looks Good
• 29:43 First Small Step When You Want To Quit
• 31:56 Plans, Integrity, And Systems
• 33:28 Where To Find Gary And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:02

Today's guest brings the perfect mix of no-nonsense strategy and heart-centered leadership. Gary Montalvo is a leadership and business coach who has spent the last two decades helping solopreneurs, startups, and global companies rise with integrity and impact. Most recently, he served as the Chief Growth Officer at Lime Life by El Cone, where he led international sales and recruitment strategy. He's just not a strategist, he's a force. Known for his straight-shooting style, compassionate guidance, and a kind of contagious energy that makes you believe again. Gary specializes in helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs move from overwhelm to sustainable success. And he's not just preaching it, he's living it. Every Tuesday, he drops powerful mindset and business wisdom in his own podcast as a host of the Ownership Podcast. Get ready because today we're going to talk about what it really takes to lead from your values, scale with soul, and build a business that doesn't just make money, but makes sense. Welcome, Gary. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I'm so excited to be with you. Is you know when you have like something on your calendar that you just like keep looking forward to? So this has been it for a few weeks now. So thank you so much. I I know having a podcast myself, I know what it means to have a guest and and the processes that we go through choose the right person in the conversation. So I promise to do everything I can to bring a lot of value to your listeners today.

SPEAKER_03: 1:24

I love it. Thank you. So I always like to start with this one question. What's one thing you want people to know about you that they may not read in your bio?

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

Oh man, I'm kind of a clown.

SPEAKER_03: 1:33

You are?

SPEAKER_00: 1:34

I I am. Like I, so like when I'm on safe speaking and training, it's like half comedy show and like half, you know, like blowing your mind, you know. And I realized that it was, you know, it was something that I developed uh as a defense mechanism. Uh I would say when I was younger, uh, I was teased a lot. And then I I at one point I figured out, oh, if I can make a joke that's funnier than whatever they're making fun of me about, then like I had control, right? So I started to like, I figured this out like in junior high school. Like I remember the day very vividly. And I think my comeback was like, your mama, what? You know, back in the day when, like, are your mama joke? Yeah. And so it, but then in but when I started coaching, I realized that it was a superpower because it allowed me to have very difficult conversations with people. It allowed me to turn the temperature up in the room and get people uncomfortable. But because I had a little wink and because I would, I would soften the edges with a little bit, not enough to break the tension and like and and and really stop them from reflecting, but enough to allow them to take the medicine in, right? So that's probably the one thing that's like not, I'm not really good at like showing that in my social media. It's like, but but on stage, I'm a big clown and and I like to have fun.

SPEAKER_03: 2:56

Well, I have one fun today. So for those who aren't familiar with your work, how do you describe what you do and who you serve?

SPEAKER_00: 3:03

Yeah, so I work in the intersection of leadership and business. So most of us when we start a business, we have a skill, a talent, a passion, something that we really love doing. And then we get in the game and then we realize that, oh, that, you know, making cupcakes is just like 10% of the business, right? Like I have to learn how to market the cupcakes. I have to learn how to sell them. I have to learn how to talk about, you know, money, which makes me really uncomfortable because in my family, we didn't do that. I have to put put myself as a uh, you know, position myself in social media. So there's all these things that come with being an entrepreneur that we're not really prepared for, that we're not really trained in, that, you know, we're just kind of left on our own to figure out. And human beings, if you haven't noticed, Dion, we're really good at avoiding. We're really good at like pretending. And, you know, we have all these things that we will do to try to weasel ourselves out of the uncomfortableness that comes. And so my whole thing is how do you bring your leadership to those areas? How do you bring your leadership to the areas of your business, to the areas of life that make you uncomfortable so that you know how to move through them with power, right? So I really help entrepreneurs lead their business so that their business is not leading them, if that makes sense. In my jam, the people that I love working with are heart-centered entrepreneurs because, you know, we're up to something, we we we care deeply and profoundly. We we want to change the world, we want to make an impact. So selfishly, when I work with those guys, I just amplify my impact because I know that they're not gonna keep it to themselves. I know that when I empower one of my clients, they're gonna go be great leaders to their clients, to their families, to their communities. So that's the, you know, so I just love working with people that that that care deeply. Also, they're kind of the ones that tend to need me the most, you know, because they lead with their hearts first, right? They're we wear our sleeves and our in our in our in our shoulders, our hearts, you know, or their chest. So those are the guys that I'm really passionate about supporting them and empowering them in their self- their authentic self-expression of their leadership, Dion.

SPEAKER_03: 5:20

That makes sense. Yeah, I I feel that too. You know, I lead with my heart and sometimes it gets broken. Yeah, so you need help picking it back up, right? Yes. You're doing everything you can to help somebody, and then just like that, it all shifts. And people aren't there for every season of all of our lives, they're there for one season, maybe, or two, you know. So it's hard, it's hard as a leader that leads with your heart to not have someone. Like it's great that you've coached people like me because we're the ones that need it, because you need sometimes we need pickback up off the ground. Yeah, so you've been behind the scenes of some incredible brands. What drives you to do this kind of work?

SPEAKER_00: 5:54

I mean, I think I started to kind of talk about it earlier. I literally, for me, when I discovered I spent the first part of my life avoiding my leadership. So I was an art director at 22 years old and music, you know. So I went to the School of Visual Arts in New York City and I was a graphic designer, and I got a you went I went to Art Institute of Pittsburgh, yeah. Nice. So I went to, you know, so I my I had this big fancy job at 22, and I thought I made it, and I was like so excited. And then, you know, I very quickly realized that I was really well prepared to make something look beautiful, but I was not prepared to navigate the the complexities of working in a 30-story building, you know, with like thousands of employees. And part of my job was photo shoots, right? I had to hire photographers and stylists and hair and makeup, and then the art and the artists would show up with their entourage and their managers and their friends and and record label and AR. And I was supposed to get all these people to agree and come together and come up with a cohesive vision. And I was 22 years old. Did I mention that? Like I had no idea what I was doing. I was in so over my head. And I started to like feel like, oh, that was the first time that I was like, uh-oh, something, you know, working hard isn't cutting it anymore, right? Like the the strategies that I used before weren't really uh weren't really carrying it. And so I spent a couple of years, like every four years I would leave. I would, you know, I would go, oh, let me go to a smaller company. And then I started doing theater posters for a small ad agency. And I get and I said, okay, this is better. And no, same person showed up. And then so I'm like, oh, let me go work for myself. Right. And then nope, same thing started happening. The the the thing, right? Like, oh, it's not, it's not you, it's me, right? Like it's not, I can keep changing jobs, I can keep changing bosses, I can keep changing, but if I don't start dealing with the things that I'm avoiding, with the things that are scaring me, with the things that are intimidating me, I'm gonna keep bouncing around and doing this. And so I that's when I really started to get passionate about finding my voice and my leadership. And that's when I got into coaching, and that's when I started to really wake up and develop these tools. Along with that, came I discovered that I was a really good coach and I loved it. And I was like, oh, wait, I can have a conversation with somebody, and then that conversation can like literally change the impact of their life in this trajectory. I was like, okay, sign me up, sign me up. I want to do this every day. This this is it, this is it, this is what I'm meant to do. And I love designing. I wasn't like trying to leave my career, but I just discovered this thing that I fell in love with. And so I'm I I'm really passionate about making sure that every human on this planet is just fully self-expressed, fully free and at home. And I'm one of these people that if you're talking to, like I can't stay in my seat. Like I'm like, no, no, no, how are we gonna figure this out? How are we? Okay, but and and we start like hacking the problem, right? Like the thing that you that we're dealing with. And it's just a profound passion, you know? And and selfishly, like I said, I find that when I empower other people like you, like our listeners, they go out and just become leaders in their lives. And it becomes this massive ripple effect. And I really believe that if we just keep empowering each other, then you know, nothing can be. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03: 9:18

I love that. You know, I feel like if I talk about this some words on the show where I'm at a point in my life where I don't even know what I want to do anymore, you know? 57, so I better figure it out, right? I have a real estate brokerage here in Pittsburgh. We have about 200 agents, we're looking to build to 300, but I have this creative streak that's came from well, obviously I had it my whole life, but my dad passed away two years ago, and the grief just I funneled the creativity and that it made me not think about anything, right? So I've been doing that for two years, and now I'm on this side of of creativity that I I haven't seen before. And so yeah, I just I look at that and I think like what I love that what am I gonna do with this now? Like I I love that business. The the design business was amazing. I love real estate, but it's different, right? It's there's just so many things to deal with in the real estate business with 200 people, and it's not easy, but it's to the point where for the last four months I've been helping my husband have a liver transplant. So I help I was able to stay at home and work at home for four months and the company's still rolling.

SPEAKER_00: 10:20

So I mean of course it is, because you did a great job setting it up.

SPEAKER_03: 10:24

We can think we had a lot of Mistaksgiving there, but let me tell you, we are to a point where I feel really good about it. So I can blend in some creativity to it and you know who knows what the next phase of my life is. But thank you for doing that's really cool.

SPEAKER_00: 10:35

Yeah, and I want to acknowledge you because there's just a real beauty in your authenticity and the fact that you're willing to share that because I I think that not a lot of people like our tendency when we're dealing with stuff like that is to hide it because the future is scary. All of a sudden you're like, what am I gonna do? I've built this thing, I get praised. I this thing, this is the thing that makes me successful. This is the thing that that has given me my status, that pays my bills, that you know, all of it, right? And so it's scary to say something like that. So I really acknowledge you for because that takes leadership, right? And that's that's what I mean by authentic leadership. Because so many people would pretend here to have it all figured out. And the fact that you're willing to say, hey, I'm in this new phase of my life and I'm trying to figure it out. Um, I think it's beautiful. And creativity, you're onto something because creativity is fuel and we don't nurture that enough in ourselves, you know, and that creativity is what gives us like passion for life. So I agree.

SPEAKER_03: 11:32

And I think that even for our company, you know, the my creativity has helped a lot of people bounce back and they're, you know, get excited about real estate again. So if I can stay in this role where I'm able to help them without the day-to-day, because the day-to-day is a little insane. And it's kind of where there's a lot of legalities and a lot of negativity for sure. I always used to say, you know, real estate is an industry, they could take a good person to make them bad. So hard. You know, you work and you work and you get to the day before closing, and the buyer decides they don't want to buy the house, and you're like, Yeah, and then you don't get paid. You know, you don't get paid, but you get paid good on some things, but there's many times that you don't. So it takes away. And so I could feel well, I don't want that. Like I have a lot of good. And I think my dad's passing has made me understand that that was one thing he truly loved about me was that goodness. And for me to hide that would be not fair to him. Like he wouldn't want that. So anyway, so thank you for like letting me say that here.

SPEAKER_01: 12:26

Yeah, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03: 12:27

Thanks. So tell me about your life. Was there a moment in your life of adversity, adversity or breakdown that shaped your path to where you are today?

SPEAKER_00: 12:35

Oh, yeah, there's been many. I think, you know, the the one that is sticking out is when I started, you know, I fell in love with coaching. And then figuring out how to have a coaching business was a whole different thing. And it's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about working with entrepreneurs too, because I know what that journey is like. And so the first five years of me trying to figure out the coaching thing. So this is like almost almost 20 years ago now, were a real struggle. Building debt, like, you know, avoiding opening up the credit card, you know, like just life got scary. I would, I was still able to kind of go in design and get like freelance rates and work for a few weeks and you know, come out. And that's kind of how I made made it. And I would, I would, I would fall into this feast or famine sort of uh, oh, I got my big freelance check. Woo-hoo! And then all of a sudden I would run out.

SPEAKER_01: 13:32

I'm like, oh my God, I have to find work.

SPEAKER_00: 13:34

Um, and you know, I always when I tell the story, really, like I was waiting for Oprah to come rescue me and find me. Like Oprah was gonna discover me. And uh now, mind you, I was doing nothing for Oprah to discover me, but she were going to discover me. And the moment the phone rang, then all of a sudden I would be, you know, a well-known coach. And I had to really dig deep and do some inner work. And it got to a point where I was about I was about to quit. And I remember I was like literally, I was uh at the beach and I literally drew a sign, a line in the sand, and it was like, okay, this is it. Like it you either cut this crap out or or and stop avoiding and stop pretending that you know Oprah's gonna come, or you just it's or it's time to go back to work, right? Because this was way too hard and too painful, and my family was like worried about me and all the things. And the thing about those moments is that it the the scary part is that you really don't know how, right? I didn't know how I was gonna do it, but I could start to get responsible for the fact that I have been operating in a way that wasn't going to lead me to it. I I was avoiding, I was hiding. I I I was not putting myself out there. I was not going, you know, simple things like networking events, posting online, little things that that are like one-on-one of like putting yourself out there. I was not doing any of that. I was literally waiting and the shame that had me spiraling in that moment, you know, because what happens in those moments is we start to the shame just starts to eat us up alive. And for me, it was so overwhelming. And so I I thankfully I had that right inspiration in that moment. And and then I started, okay, got a mentor. I cannot stress enough, you know, mentorship is so key to whatever you're up to. It's like this whole idea of you trying to do it by yourself, you know, when somebody can shortchange that for you, it is um shorten that journey for you. It's and you know, I didn't have the money to invest. That was a whole hurdle that I had to get over, you know, because I would, you know, I was like, but in within that year, I had done more business than the last five years combined.

SPEAKER_02: 15:44

Wow.

SPEAKER_00: 15:45

Right. And and it really was my um my mentor at the time called me one day and she was like, Okay, are you ready to be coachable? I'm like, Yeah, put me in, coach. She goes, You're gonna do whatever I say. I'm like, Yep, I'm gonna do whatever you say. She goes, Okay, put 10 people in a room and call me back. I was like, Okay, okay. So I do that. I start calling people and I start inviting them to this event. You know, I don't know what I'm inviting them to. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just literally inviting them. Hey, I'm having an event. Is it you're I want you there? And I was just then I call her back and I'm like, okay, I've got 10 people. She's like, All right, who are they? What do they need? What are they dealing with? And then I'm like, okay, they're all entrepreneurs, they're all, and that's how my signature talk was created because I literally saw who was in the room and what they needed, and you know, and I ended up having like 23, 24 people in that room that night. And that was my first workshop, right? My first sort of event that I put together. But it I literally had no idea what I was inviting them to, and and and it was just like a Hail Mary. But it's it's such a moment because that's how it is sometimes. You have to be willing to just like leap and take the work and figure out the details when you um, you know, when along the way. And I'm so glad that she held my feet to the fire, you know, because that changed everything for me.

SPEAKER_03: 17:01

That is such great advice that if any entrepreneur listening to that, no matter what industry, yeah, that idea of putting 10 people in a room and brilliant idea. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 17:12

It literally is number one advice I give people. Go put 10 people in a room. Like, you know, there's something about a live event that cannot be duplicated virtually, that cannot be duplicated um on Zoom. There's just a chemistry that gets created.

SPEAKER_03: 17:25

What did you say to them?

SPEAKER_00: 17:27

I don't even remember, honestly. I I I don't even I'm I really don't even remember. I can't tell you. I I'm I'm I mean, I had no idea what I was inviting them to, so it really had to be just out of the relationship.

SPEAKER_02: 17:39

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 17:40

You know, I had to it had to just be. I mean, I it was obviously a workshop, but I had no idea what it was about, you know? It's a really great question.

SPEAKER_02: 17:50

It's just so interesting because a lot of people today would think you're inviting them to like an an MLM where you think you're not allowed to don't tell them what it's about. Tell them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 18:02

No, and and it wasn't like uh, I mean, I don't think I I don't advise anyone saying, Oh, I don't I can't tell you what it's about. That's weird.

SPEAKER_02: 18:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 18:10

Um, I you I but I would always say, I'm I'm not sure yet, you know. Listen, one of the things that I learned in my journey is and one of the reasons I'm so passionate about what I do is having people find their own authentic voice. You know, I think social media has created this world where we have to be so polished and we have to have it all together, and we have to have all the, meanwhile, like everybody's struggling in some way, shape, or form. Just start where you are and and be honest about it. Hey, I'm launching a business. You're probably you're my first client, you know? Like, hey, I don't know what this workshop's gonna be, but I'm gonna make it great. Just be honest because people root for that and you will have freedom. The the freedom gets taken out when we're pretending, when we're hiding, when we're avoiding, when we're doing all that, your power gets sucked out of the room. But if you're sitting here going, like, listen, I don't know what this is gonna be. I'm gonna do everything in my power to make this valuable for you. And I'm gonna make sure that, you know, I'm gonna, after I know who who's in the room, I'm gonna create something that's custom for you guys. That's what I would say, tell somebody to say because it's the truth, and you're not sitting there. Now you can really pull put all of yourself forward. Not only that, it's badass, right? Like you're gonna, you're going to inspire other people to go, wow, Gary's just really putting it out there. Like, okay, you know, let's go. And people want to support that.

SPEAKER_03: 19:30

They surely do. I volunteer. That's great advice. So let's talk about what's one of the biggest myths that you see heart-led entrepreneurs believing that keeps them stuck.

SPEAKER_00: 19:41

Yeah. That leadership has to look a certain way, right? That leadership is it, you know, most of us have this idea about what leadership is supposed to be that we learned from TV, from watching our politicians, from our parents, from our church, from our schools, you know. And so mostly when we start to try to step into leadership, we try to do it inside of the examples that we have around us. And that's a recipe for disaster. Leadership is an authentic self-expression of what you care about. No one can tell you what you care about. No one can tell you what matters to you. You know, you doing your work of finding out what matters to you and giving it voice and learning to speak on it because when you speak on it, it gives it power. That is your journey, and no one can do that for you. So, one of the biggest moments for me in my leadership was when I started speaking, I would start sweating because I was so nervous and I don't have any hair. So it would just start like dripping down my forehead, and I would have like these huge sweat stains, and people would get all like uncomfortable and bring me towels. Because the whole time I was sitting there pretending that I wasn't sweating, right? And I was, you know what I mean? I was sitting there like everything's okay. Meanwhile, there's literally a puddle on the floor that I have to be careful that I don't slip on. So I, you know, I started going up on stage and just saying, hey guys, I'm really nervous right now. I'm gonna start sweating. And I have a towel and I'm gonna use it, right? And the moment I did that, I was free. And that's why I did it, because I knew that if I I knew that if I said it, I was gonna be free. But the other part was a surprise. The other part was I immediately had the room. The room immediately connected with me because they were like, oh, this guy's real and and and Gary is doing something hard right now, and who can't relate to that? Now, here's why I'm saying this because I mean, this was we're talking about 2008, so the world has changed a lot. And coaching, you know, authenticity is like a requirement nowadays. But at that time, anybody in my position or coaching or mentor me would have told me to never do that, that it would ruin my credibility, that you you never tell them that you're nervous and you never tell them that you're scared. And you, you know, but for me, that wasn't my truth. And I had to pave my way and go against what the people that were my seniors and might have more experience were telling me. Because in my mind, that's what I had to be. So if you're listening, don't fall for the trap of pretending to be someone else or pretending to do leadership. Do leadership as you want to do it in your authentic expression. And for you, that might look, you know, like what Dion just shared. She just shared a very vulnerable moment about, like, hey, I don't know where I'm going right now. Okay. That's super powerful. Because how many of you didn't just go, I don't know where I'm going either?

SPEAKER_01: 22:31

Yes, thank you, Dion. And Dion has a podcast and she has successful businesses and she's living a successful life and she doesn't know where she's going, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 22:40

So it just really goes to tell you, show you that if you don't have to have all these things figured out, it's live your truth. Now take a step, take action. You gotta, you you know, like saying, I don't know what I'm doing, and just ah, that doesn't work, right?

SPEAKER_03: 22:55

Like I want to ask you this because this was my death, which is go for it. So I want to put myself out there again.

SPEAKER_00: 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 23:02

You're really good at bridging vision and action, right? So, what does this process look like when someone is overwhelmed, overwhelmed or spinning in ideas, which I have an idea at least five times a day, like a new idea. And my husband's like, okay, none of these new ideas are making you money. Like, what are you gonna do here? Like, I don't know. I have all these ideas, I always have a good idea.

SPEAKER_00: 23:23

Yeah, yeah. I mean, so you have to get it out of your head and you have to get it out of, you know, out of paper. Where we get emotional is when we start just living in our head and processing it. You gotta take it out and put it on paper and start working it out. Like, what does this look like? What will you know? Uh what does this vision look like? What do I really want? What really matters to me here, right? Um, from there, because listen, we have a lot of passions, we have a lot of ideas. They have different places. Not all of them have to be a business. Some of them could be a hobby, some of them could just be something you do because it fills you up. Like I knit at night sometimes only because it gives me joy. Like I literally have all these little art projects around the house because they give me joy. I'm not gonna go be an artist. I'm not gonna, you know, but these are the things that I need in order to give me peace of mind, in order to make me calm down, in order to regulate my my nervous system at night. So find where does this live? Now, here's what I will say: there are things that are calling us, that are calling us loudly. And this is where you have to be responsible and get an ownership. Is this thing like you know that it's more than a hobby? You know that this is like a thing that you this meant to be. This is a, you know, those are things that you eventually you have to answer the call in some way, shape, or form. Cause I just believe it comes back and charges interest if you don't, right? It just it will start to mess with your life, with your power, with your health in ways, right? I think everyone knows that when we have these things that are in our hearts that we're not really dealing with, it eventually starts to wear us down, right? And so you don't want to get it to that point. And then it's just you just gotta create a plan. You know, there's no magic to it. It's not gonna be easy. But the plan doesn't have to be, oh, tomorrow. The plan could be in five years. But here's the thing you have to have a plan in place and you have to have actions in place because if you don't, then you're living in the world of one day, maybe if, and that doesn't that that won't settle you, right? It won't create that. But if you know, okay, I got a three-year plan in three years, I'm gonna sell this business, and then from there I'm gonna launch this. Okay, well, now what now you know you got a three-year plan. And so now we gotta start working backwards and planning that. And with that comes a lot of holding yourself to account. Now, here's the part that I will say get yourself whatever support you need to make you feel safe through those things. Again, authenticity. We think that leadership needs to look like this, and all of a sudden I'm gonna be the top person and I'm gonna do the scary things. No, sometimes leadership is like, oh my god, I'm freaking out. Who do I need to help me feel safe right now? What are the things that I need to do to calm me down? What are the things that I what's the support system? Do I need a coach? Do I need to go to a yoga retreat? Do I need to do something? All of that has to be part of your strategy. You can't just dismiss that and and suppress everything that comes up. The moment you declare something new, the thing that happens is the distance between you and that thing smacks you in the face. The moment you say, I'm gonna go climb Mount Everest, immediately the first thing that happens is you go, Holy crap, why did I say that? How could it be? What, oh my god, what you know what I mean? So now the work of you transforming yourself to be someone who can climb Mount Everest begins. And what do you need? What you need and what I need is different. If you're an athlete and you're gonna climb Mount Everest, you're gonna need something completely different than me who only does yoga. We're gonna need different physical training, we're gonna need different emotional training, we're gonna need different support, different equipment. That's great, that's fine, that's beautiful, but own it and have it be okay and include it in the journey. It's the judgment about what we need and how we need it that starts to mess with us. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_03: 27:24

It does make sense. It really does.

SPEAKER_00: 27:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 27:26

Or you're talking, I was thinking about this. Like, what's the difference between growth that actually looks good versus growth that feels good? Because it looks good, right? Social media helps it all look good. And how how do you have that?

SPEAKER_00: 27:39

Yeah, I I mean, I think the growth, so growth doesn't come from growth comes from struggle, right? Growth comes from challenges. And in social media, we often do not share that. It might be there. I'm not saying that they're not going through any struggles, but that's not part of the story. They just want to position the payoff. The truth is that anything worthwhile in life has come, you know, the your biggest lessons have come from some setback, right? You just shared your business.

SPEAKER_01: 28:12

I'm sure a lot of people were like, oh my God, she has 200 agents. That's amazing. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_00: 28:18

But they don't know. Everything you had to go through. Yeah. All the things that you had to go through to get that, right? So I just think that, you know, real growth, you we want to have a relationship with it. Cause what gets us in trouble is that we start to, we don't want the not fun part. And then we start to collapse the not fun part, as in like if it means something about you, or as if this is it. And it's just a moment in time that's here to prepare you for the next thing. I I had a mentor that used to say the moment you climb one step, you're at the bottom of the next.

SPEAKER_03: 28:54

So right?

SPEAKER_00: 28:55

Like you're never done. Like we're always climbing, you know, we're always climbing the next step. And with that is gonna come a new set of challenges. And if you're an entrepreneur, you know this, right? Because the problems that come with a business that's trying to hit six figures are very different from the problems that of a, you know, 250 to 500 to a million. It's like different problems, much more expensive problems, by the way. So yeah, and I think we just have to have a relationship with growth that what we know that it's like, hey, the growth comes with a struggle and a challenge, and you want to honor that.

SPEAKER_03: 29:30

To the other side of it, it's usually unbelievably amazing. It's just some people don't. And so if someone's listening today and they're in a season of uncertainty or they want to give up, what's the first small step you tell them to take right now?

SPEAKER_00: 29:43

So the first thing I say is go take care of yourself, do not try to solve this problem. Go get a massage, go stay in with nature, go sleep. You know what I mean? Because usually when we're in that state of mind, we have not been taking care. Care of ourselves. And so now you're trying to make life decisions and handle things when you're exhausted, when you're tired, when you're, you know, so I always say, okay, I always like schedule like spa days, go get your nails done, go like whatever it is, go take care of you. Okay. Take 24, 48 hours to not worry about this. Put it on the shelf. It's gonna be there. Now, when we're done, right? The first place I have people look is, how can I give this to you the shorthand? Where are the lacks of integrity? And by that I mean, where have you not been keeping your word? To yourself, to others, to your calendar. Where have you not been keeping your word? And sometimes the way that we don't honor our integrity is like we have these deep desires that we're not listening to, right? We have things that we're avoiding. We have things that we, you know, something that happens very often in business is there are things that got you to where you are, and then you plateau, and then somehow you build momentum, but then you stop doing the things that got you there. You stop doing the outreach, you stop doing the networking, you stop doing the things that brought you those new clients. So now all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, it's not working. The business is broken, and you're freaking out. But it's like, okay, we have to go back to putting in the structures and the systems and and and those things that got you to where you are. It's it's not a, you know, it's not uh like you're something's wrong with you, which is where we go, right? We go to what's wrong with me, what's wrong with how did I mess this up, how it's none of that. It really is just a matter of like looking at the data, looking at the information, looking at the plan. I will so also say I cannot stress enough, you need a plan, you need a structure, and a to-do list is not a plan. A to-do list only has you managing things in reaction. You need to actually, if your goal is to make, you know,$100,000, you have to create a plan for how you're gonna do that. If you don't know how to do that, talk to mentors, get a coach, talk to Chat GPT, figure it out. But if you don't have a plan, you're gonna wake up every day and just go, okay, let me go post some stuff online and and wait for Oprah to discover you.

SPEAKER_03: 32:13

Gary, on that note. How do people find you? Where can they follow up with you? Because there's so many pure gold nuggets in your conversation today that I'm sure people are gonna want to find out more. Can you share that with us?

SPEAKER_00: 32:28

Yeah, so I'm very Google. Just Gary Montable.com is my website, Gary Montable and all social media. My podcast is the ownershipgame.com. Um, you can find it uh any platform. Um, yeah, follow me, say hi, give me your thoughts on the episode. I'd love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_03: 32:48

I love that. Thank you so much for sharing. It's been wonderful. And I I was hoping we would clown around a little bit, but we had some serious conversations. Well, maybe next time.

SPEAKER_01: 32:58

Maybe next time, I know. Leadership is serious.

SPEAKER_03: 33:01

Yeah, it's so serious. You know, I'm taking your piece of advice, a couple of your pieces of advice today when I I haven't been taking much good care of myself. I did have a massage last week, but you know, four months of caregiving has taken a little bit of a toll, and I think I've spend more time just sitting in front of the computer learning than I do anything else. Anyways, it's been a pleasure, and everyone, you know, connect with Gary. And if you could like, subscribe, and share this episode, I would really appreciate it because we're trying to help as many people as we possibly can. And Gary is one person that can definitely help. So thank you, Gary.

SPEAKER_00: 33:32

Thank you, DM Pleasure.