The Real You
1:1 Long-Form Interviews with Interesting People Doing Amazing Things
In-depth discussion of people's journeys to tap into their full potential and find ways to be the truest version of themselves.
The Real You
EP 40: Mindset Mastery for Sales Dads: Adam Halberstadt's Journey
Adam Halberstadt shares his journey from corporate sales to becoming a mindset coach for dads in sales who want to make more money without sacrificing valuable family time.
Adam reveals how understanding salespeople's unique pressures has helped him create an effective coaching program that transforms clients' relationships with work and family.
• Transitioned from corporate to coaching to gain more time and autonomy as a single father
• Recognized that sales professionals often "ghost" their families while believing they're providing what's needed
• Created a 12-week curriculum combining one-on-one coaching with group support sessions
• Uses guided homework and reflection to help clients externalize their thoughts and identify limiting beliefs
• Draws parallels between his coaching model and AA, offering both personalized guidance and community support
• Defines success as having control over his schedule rather than external validation
• Helps clients recognize that waiting until retirement to enjoy life is a dangerous gamble
If you'd like to learn more about Adam's approach, check out his LinkedIn profile. He regularly hosts free workshops that address the challenges of balancing sales success with family life.
Adam's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhalberstadt/
Book a call with Adam: https://calendly.com/halberstadtcoaching/freeconsultation?month=2025-05
David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/
David's Website: https://davidjyoung.me/
Welcome to the Real you Podcast. This is episode number 40. I'm David Young, your host. I'm a LinkedIn content and business coach. I work with new or growing service providing coaches to grow strategically on LinkedIn. I launched this podcast a little over a year ago March of 2024, to spotlight interesting people doing amazing things. And today I'm joined by my friend, adam Halberstadt, a fellow LinkedIn coach, who works with dads in sales to master their mindsets to make more money without sacrificing that valuable family time. He is a sports fan, single dad of two girls. He is based in Toronto and also a fellow Pearl Jam fan. Adam, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Awesome man. Thanks so much for having me. What an intro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:To hear my headline in real life and see if I need to continue to tweak it or not I change mine like every other day.
Speaker 1:So I get you on hearing someone else say it and be like does that sound right? Does that sound good? Should I change that word? Yeah, so no, you're in Toronto. It's my new adopted hometown. I've told I have somewhat I'm a native Torontonian, since I have so many connections there and I've been there once. Um, so some of the people that I talked to uh, give me a hard time about that. So, um, but no, toronto was great. I was there last summer, I'm coming back this summer and, uh, reminded me a lot of chicago.
Speaker 2:But uh, yeah, similar vibes. Yeah, great town. We, uh we didn't know each other last time you were in town, so so this time around we'll make sure we meet up and show you around whatever parts I mean. Obviously, as a Torontonian yourself, you know all about the city Pretty much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, two and a half days there. I think I pretty much covered it all. I don't know if there's too much left for me to see, but yeah, we can hit some of those places again.
Speaker 2:obviously We'll do the sports route if the family gives you some time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just coming by myself. I'm leaving them at home. I need a break. I did go to a Jays game. That was pretty boring. They were terrible. I'm trying to think who they played Not anybody good. They got worked All right.
Speaker 2:Well, depending on timing, I got tfc.
Speaker 1:It's a vibe here in town and there's a game toronto fc major league soccer okay, they're real bad these days, but, uh, it's a first class experience.
Speaker 2:It's the only like true outdoor sporting event we've got in the city because, as you probably saw with the blue jays, like they can open up that dome but you're still not outside.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, it will be early june. The raptors, if they were any good, could technically still be playing, but since they aren't, they won't, so that will be not an option um well yeah, I guess. I mean, how much faith do you have in them?
Speaker 2:you could be in town for the first stanley cup berth, since I don't know if we can afford those tickets. Well, we can talk about it when the time comes.
Speaker 1:Speaking of that, so you're a Bills fan too. You're rocking the Bills hat, Always, always. What happens first Leafs win the Cup or Bills win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2:I got to go with the Bills. I mean, when you've got an MVP quarterback I mean that's the name of the game, right Plus it's only you know. I mean it's hard, but it's four wins as opposed to 16. Hockey's a crazy sport Lots of bounces, lots of luck, lots of everything. So I definitely put my faith in the Bills, but I don't want to have to pick either.
Speaker 1:It's a sad, sad life. I live as a sports fan. The problem for uh josh allen is he might be reliving the patrick ewing experience, whereas the knicks would have won like five championships if it hadn't been for jordan and the bills probably already would have won like two super bowls, if it hasn't been for my home.
Speaker 2:That's. Uh, I know I've talked about that a lot. There was also in the last dance. Wasn't there a whole thing like the Pistons were kind of like similar to that, or was it that Jordan was struggling to get through the Pistons and then finally broke through?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was that. So the Pistons were dominant mid to late 80s. They won back-to-back titles. They were battling the Lakers. As they started to age, they took out the Bulls in those early seasons, but then, as they started to get older and then Jordan was entering like year six, actually, the Pistons are why Jordan started working out with Tim Grover and started putting on muscle and strength, because in those days in the NBA you could just kill people, and so he would drive to the basket and like four guys would tackle him and they wouldn't call it.
Speaker 1:So he was like, all right, I have to get, like I have to go to the weight room. And that's what really caused him to bulk up and start taking weight training a lot more seriously. And then the Pistons were basically done and then once they beat him, I think they swapped him.
Speaker 2:And then that was the end of Detroit. Yeah, there's always that second fiddle team. Good enough, but there's someone else better in that era, right, the Patriots. And Manning probably wins another couple super bowls at least, right, if not for the patriots. So it's just the name of the game man timing?
Speaker 1:yeah, for sure, um awesome. I talk sports all day, so we won't, we won't bore the listeners.
Speaker 2:That's not what your listeners want to hear um.
Speaker 1:So you recently have made the switch. Um, like more and more people are doing, I think, these days. Part of it's due to all the layoffs, part of it is, I think, people wanting to try something different than the standard 9-to-5 corporate experience. So you worked in corporate for a while and you recently, in the last several or so months, have made the leap to full-time online coaching. What has that been like for you?
Speaker 2:Oh, man coaching. What has that been like for you? Oh man, everything that they say it'll be All the highs, all the lows, the days where you think you're the craziest person on the planet. The days where you're like, man, I am a genius, this is so smart, right, you really got to push through those days where the self-talk is really getting to you. But on the other side of that man, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun and you know really what I'm after is time and autonomy. You know you referenced in the intro that. You know I'm a single dad, so I've got my kids 50% of the time and you know, love my kids. They're the best. It's also, you know, pretty demanding. Some of the morning shifts can really get to you and I, you know I was going into work at nine o'clock and there were days where I felt like I had used every ounce of energy I had in the tank just to get the kids to school and then so to just kind of like flip a switch and be able to kind of turn it on.
Speaker 2:As a corporate leader. It was real tough and I thought to myself there's got to be another way I can do this. I've been at it a long time. I know how to sell. I've run businesses myself, whether it was in sports or in the tech world. Even as a sales manager, you're kind of running the business to a certain degree, right. The real question was what can I do? I dabbled a little bit. I'm a massive golf guy when they announced the indoor golf league, tiger and Rory. It sort of got me thinking that perhaps the simulator space is going to blow up. People are going to see it. I started playing around with that. Ultimately, a lot of capital needed in that regard. So just you know, it was just kind of like I want to be an entrepreneur but I don't know what that product is.
Speaker 2:And then there was this light bulb moment when I was getting coaching myself, which was probably April or May of 24, where there was this realization that, like, the business is me and I've been doing a lot of free coaching for pretty much my whole life family, friends, whatever it might be and then obviously doing it professionally as a sales leader that you know I've got the goods, I just got to figure out how to monetize it. And then it was like it just felt like a sprint from that moment forward. It was like full steam ahead. How can I do this?
Speaker 2:I know it's a long winded answer of sort of saying I'm having an absolute blast. Is it where you know I needed to be today relative to what I was earning in tech? No, do I believe there's a wave coming 100%, and I think that belief and that mindset that it's coming is paramount. You probably can relate to it too. Right, you're doing your own thing. There's days where that wavers, but you have to stack together more days where the belief is 100%. This is going to happen or it won't happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a great way to say it. How much do you think you're? Because I think there's more selling involved in this than a lot of people realize, and it isn't just like selling your offer. I think a lot of people are like, oh, you just have to pitch your offer. That's certainly part of it. But they're selling in your content. They're selling free workshops, they're selling a call, they're selling a freebie, they're selling signing up for an email.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of different things to sell which are all part of your ecosystem. So I think a lot of people underestimate the energy it takes to do that, and especially at the beginning. You can get to a point where you don't have to do that as much if you can get established enough and have enough credibility. But at the beginning, when people don't really know who you are and that you exist, and then if you start selling something like what does that sell or what does that offer, it takes a lot more effort, and so I think people underestimate that part. Do you think having such an extensive background in sales makes it easier for you to do that? You don't feel like you're struggling with that as much?
Speaker 2:No question, that was one of the sort of indicators to me that gave me the confidence that I could make this happen when I was signing up for coaching myself, knowing that, you know, to really ramp this up I was going to have to spend some money. You know I came to terms with that Like it was. You know, whether I was going to get a certification in coaching or someone was going to kind of take me on and show me how to do it. It was going to cost me money and you know, going through that process, I booked a call with someone and at the end of that call it turned into a sales pitch which you know I didn't see coming, because I've never been down this path and some people might get sort of caught off guard by that and I know for some people that doesn't land well. I think maybe, given my sales background, I had a deep appreciation for how that call was run and I kind of saw firsthand why that individual was successful. And it was in that moment that not only did I decide to work with that person but that I could do it too, because you know, my career in selling gives me the confidence to be able to kind of close the deal in a way that isn't yucky, for lack of a better term. I think that's the challenge people find right.
Speaker 2:And now to answer your question, I mean, here I am. It's March. You know, I spun this off in November. Getting to a place where I was able to seal the deal in a way that wasn't pushy took a lot of failure, and that's for someone with a you know whatever 12, 13 year career in sales. So you can only imagine someone that's never sold anything before. You know, trying to get people to commit it's one thing to buy a product or service and it's another thing to take out your credit card and spend money on yourself. Like your emotional self, it's probably the scariest thing you'll ever spend money on. And you know, I think what I learned is it takes a really great coach to kind of say to them in that moment hey, we haven't even signed the deal yet, but my first order of business as your newfound coach is to coach you through the fear that you're facing right now of committing, paying and getting started. And that's really helped because I think people appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great point. So two things on that One I think there's a big difference. I've certainly experienced it. I've talked to other people who have pretty extensive sales backgrounds. I started in sales. I would not classify it as extensive, but I did sell for a few different companies, so I do know what it's like.
Speaker 1:But in talking to people like yourself who've done it more, there's a huge difference in selling a company's product and service and then selling your product and service because you're so emotionally tied to it. You created it, whether it's a program or an offer. You priced it, it's yours, it means something to you and you know how valuable it is because you know how good you are and you know how much you can help someone. And so when someone then says no to that, it stings in a way that, like if you're working for a tech company or a sports company, they're like I don't want to renew my season ticket package, or I don't want to buy said sass product or whatever. You're like all right.
Speaker 1:Like I've got 15 more calls to make today. Like five of them will probably say yes, right, whereas you know. So it's a different. Like you have to knock my microphone over, um, you have to recalibrate, like your emotional, uh, stability. That's probably not the right word, but you have to calibrate that because the no is going to hurt, at least at first. It's going to hurt a lot more when someone says no to you because you're like they're saying no to you. They aren't, I mean, isn't you personally?
Speaker 2:it's like the thing I was gonna say is there's other factors, but in that moment you're like.
Speaker 1:They said no to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it feels personal. I, I agree. Um, that's definitely been a part of the journey so far. Um, I think it's imperative that you separate yourself from the outcome and you and you and you, not to say it's easy, but that you take the personal feelings out of it and you know, ultimately, I think, if you operate from an abundance mindset, which is, yes, leads might be slow right now.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know there's a lot on the line, but someone saying no is really more a testament to them not being ready in this moment and you sort of realizing that you do your best work as a coach when you're working people, working with people who are all in and completely ready, right?
Speaker 2:So some people might need a nudge to be coached through the fear. You know, discounts and deadlines are absolutely imperative in this world, like anything, because we're all human beings and that's what we crave. But the last thing you want to do is push someone who isn't ready over the line because, number one, they won't get anything out of it and it won't be enjoyable for you as a coach to have those sessions either. So nobody's winning, right? So, yeah, I mean it feels great to get the money and that's a part of it. But you know, I'm a believer and I think a lot of successful coaches are a believer that if you do great work, the money will follow, and not the other way around. But you're 100% right. It's so easy to take it personally, more so than when you're selling a commodity that isn't you yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's well said. Obviously, as we mentioned at the beginning, you're working now in particular with dads who are also in sales to kind of help them with that aspect, but then also obviously maximizing and prioritizing family. Your offer has changed, I feel like a little bit since you started Talk about kind of that evolution, like what you kind of started and then how you kind of? Landed where you are now.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent, where you are now 100%, I think you know, hitting the market. Initially the idea was, you know, if you're a dad and you've got a job, you're probably struggling right. Like balancing it all is tough and that felt like enough of a niche out of the gates Not just dads, but you know dads with jobs and I mean you could sort of think most dads have jobs. And I went through that a lot in my mind like is this really that niche, to like it's really just talking to dads, because it's rare to find someone who doesn't also have a job. What I was finding at the beginning was I was having great conversations, but it was a conversation with a coach. You know, because I'm always out there talking to people, I'm taking people up. A conversation with a coach, you know cause I'm always out there talking to people. I'm taking people up on all their free workshops. Whether I decide to pay or not, I'm constantly trying to expand my knowledge and challenge my beliefs.
Speaker 2:And there was a conversation that I had that really opened my eyes to this idea that, um, you know what I'm offering. It could be a $10,000 offer. The only thing that prevents it from being a $10,000 offer is not talking to a dad who is more willing to spend $10,000 to solve this problem, and $10,000 represents just like a small piece of that individual's take home, and so the likelihood to separate from the money is more than someone who, let's say, makes $100,000. You know, are they going to pay $10,000? Probably not. At that point it's more of an expense than it is an investment. As much as they want to believe it's an investment like that's pulling away from an actual expense. And that conversation really opened my eyes to this idea where you know you have to talk to people that can afford you in a way right.
Speaker 2:And the thing that makes Dad's in sales unique and I've been there is we earn a phenomenal living, you know one where oftentimes we're not really stressed about, like the mortgage or paying the bills or things of that nature. The stress we carry is our quotas. Feeling like where we are on the leaderboard is a reflection of who we are as human beings, and if we're pacing behind, you know we're probably not shutting down the laptop as early as we should to go upstairs or come home to spend time with our kids. And so this concept started to sort of formulate in my mind that you hear a lot about ghosting in sales, right, when your clients or your prospects ghost you, and I think a lot of us dads in sales are guilty of ghosting our families because we think that what they need is for us to provide, and for us to provide means putting in all the hours to make sure we hit our quota.
Speaker 2:Inherent in all that, though, is a demographic or a segment of dads that can probably more afford to work with a mindset coach to help with the pain they're feeling of being torn in between, and that's kind of where the evolution came from. And then this like if you want to call it more of a niche down came, and the good news for me is, obviously, my professional career was in sales, so it works even more because I know exactly where they're at and what they're going through, and so it helps me to kind of formulate, you know, even in my content, speaking to the pain that they feel. I know it because I've been there, and so it's not a difficult thing to write about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like the evolution and the way that happened for you. I had somebody last week in the DMs. They said they were hesitant to start. They had created some content but not a lot, and they quit kind of entirely. And I was just kind of talking to them and approached them about working together and they said they didn't want to move forward because they didn't have their niche figured out. And so what I told them was the niche does not get figured out in your head, it does not get figured out with you thinking about it or workshopping it. It gets figured out by doing. Get figured out with you thinking about it or workshopping it. It gets figured out by doing. So you still continue to create content. You pick usually some lane or some area that you think works for you, and then you start working with people and then it starts to become clearer. And I think that's a metaphor for a lot of life. We kind of wait to take action so we get more clarity, and then it's the action that actually brings the clarity.
Speaker 2:So we have it backwards um so, so.
Speaker 1:So I'm happy to hear you did that. Like you didn't stay like stuck a, you're just stuck with that initial, like working dads, um, but through, like work, trial and error, talking to people, right. Then it started to reveal itself like, oh, sales, quota, mindset, right, and it will continue to evolve. Like the more people that you continue to work with, you'll start to get more feedback and it can it can niche further or it can deter a little bit. Whatever it can change, but the point is that it will change based upon data and experience, not on like I have this idea, let me see. And then you're not testing something for six months.
Speaker 2:It's like, no, it didn't work totally, um and if you're and if you were, um, yeah, not to interrupt, but like, yeah, you got to be willing to pivot when the time comes. And I've had some people be like how do you know you're gonna if you keep pivoting as much as you've pivoted? How do you know? Right, and it's just, it's a gut feel that as an entrepreneur or a business owner you have, and there's no right and there's no wrong, but you got to just kind of keep iterating until you reach that sweet spot. And you know it's taken me a few pivots.
Speaker 2:There was one moment in time where I thought, you know, I'm 500 and something days sober and it felt as though the pain a lot of dads were feeling that maybe they would spend money to rectify, had to do with some level of sobriety.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, I gave that a whirl for a few weeks and you know it just didn't, it didn't resonate. I think it doesn't resonate in the sense that, like there's a, you know someone said to me, and I think it's true, like there's a you know someone said to me, and I think it's true, like there's a reason alcoholics, anonymous is anonymous. So you know, I think there's a big movement on linkedin of sobriety. You know, sober curious, and I could have stayed on that path, but ultimately I think, like sobriety is just an input that has helped me and, as I talk about in my workshops, like, not everybody needs to go down that path to find the balance that they're looking for. Everyone's brains are wired differently, right, but it just goes to show that, like, there's just been a lot of iterations along the way and, to your point, there will be more, I'm sure, as I continue to do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, also too. I think it's like how you feel, like you recognize pretty quickly in just a few weeks, like even just like talking about it, like in your content I think there's a, there's a, there are signals there Like how do you feel about writing? How do you feel about commenting the comments? You're getting people that are talking about it, like that also is indication. You don't always, it doesn't always have to be assigned a client or two. That lets you know, like cause I've done that a little bit, where you're like I don't really like writing about this, like this is boring or this is not my best work, so I don't. So this is probably the wrong. It's probably not the right lane for me to drive in. So, as your offer has evolved, your program and I know it's relatively new do you have? Is it a consistent program that you put people through? Do you tailor it based on their current circumstance or, like, how do you approach the work that you actually do?
Speaker 2:So I've developed a 12-week curriculum.
Speaker 2:The curriculum is, you know, a series of activities that are done as homework, as I tell my clients. They're designed to kind of force you outside of your comfort zone in between sessions, like literally reviewing the answers and going through it, and other times it won't come up at all because the flavor of the day is something hyper-specific. And you know, I have all my clients fill out a form in the morning of their session, kind of giving me some insight into you know where that, where's their head. You know scale of one to 10, how they do in challenges, opportunities, you name it, and you know what they want to be coached on. And if someone has something very specific they want to be coached on, then it's probably a better use of time to spend 45 minutes on that than to review the homework. But the homework still plays a part, right, like getting outside your comfort zone and asking questions that are insightful and force you to type out answers. For me, that was probably one of the most powerful moments along the journey was when I went through a coaching program that forced me to type out things I had probably been thinking about, ruminating on but never really put out into existence, and so, whether you speak it, handwrite it or type it, there's something very powerful about reading back what's going on in your mind. And so that's what we do over 12 weeks. It is a rolling cohort, so I'll invite anybody to join at any time and they'll just start their journey with me.
Speaker 2:You know, in that first session and then the group coaching sessions because everyone's at different stages of the journey follow more of a formula of everyone kind of getting their you know 10, 15 minutes to kind of talk through their win from the week, what they're, you know what they're being challenged by, what opportunities exist within that challenge, and then you know if there's a question or a comment or something they want to kind of table for the group.
Speaker 2:And you know you've been through group coaching as I buy. The power of that group session is when you have a room full of people that are all kind of in a similar place in life. Some of the things that one person brings up, you know the other person may not have thought for a million years that that's something they're struggling with and then all of a sudden it's so relatable, right, and that's the beauty of the group side. So it's a mix of both. There's a set curriculum that's designed to kind of take you from A to B, but at the same time, if we need to get hyper-specific along the way, obviously we'll do that too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I like that, I like that mix. I think the power of the group I'm not a huge group coaching fan for me personally, I have done it. I prefer the one-on-one. But I think the value in the group is like we're talking about where I think sometimes we live when we're having, we're having an issue or it doesn't matter what it is personal work or otherwise we kind of think we're the only ones that are dealing with it. Uh, even though we know that that's literally, logistically and mathematically impossible. Um, there has to be at least one more, right? We know that there's at least two, but we're like, nope, it's just us.
Speaker 1:But when you get in those groups and you hear someone say like almost like the same thing that you're struggling with, that it like really validates. You're like all right, like it's at least me and this other guy right. So I know there's now, I know there's two of us that are like in this boat and that just feels to get you off the island of man. I'm the only one, I'm the only one, um, and so I think there's a lot of power. I think there's a lot of power in that which, like you mentioned a earlier, I think that's uh anonymous? Yes, but you're, if you're showing up to the meetings and purpose like you're hearing those other stories and then you're hearing.
Speaker 1:You're hearing someone else and you're like, yeah, I thought that same thing, or that same thing happened to me or whatever, it doesn't matter. Then you just I don't know, it takes some weight off.
Speaker 2:I think it's funny I was so my dad is, you know, I think he's nine years sober. I've documented on LinkedIn a big part of my journey and my inspiration is, you know, growing up and kind of understanding what my dad went through from 30 to 50. And how much of that could have probably been avoided if there was community, you know, if there was coaching, if there was, you know, someone to kind of take them and say you're not on your own island here, like, let's work through this. So a lot of the inspiration for what I do is to kind of almost be the coach that you know would have saved my dad 20 years of trials and tribulations and all sorts of things where he looks back and you know, listen, nothing's a waste. But I'm sure he would have loved to have been more healthy and more present for two decades of his life with his young kids and whatever. Then you know I mean he's in a great spot now, but explaining to him what I do, you know he says to me it sounds a lot like AA, like for someone who's getting sober. It's a mix of having a sponsor who's kind of like your one on one coach, holds you accountable, checks in, right. And then there's the group of people that are all kind of in the same spot and we're sharing and we're talking about stories, and it's when he said that it occurred to me that that really is kind of what it is, right, like this concept has existed for decades and only you know, through the invention of the internet and everyone kind of you know having access to the internet and a laptop, and then COVID accelerating this idea that anyone can start a business now with you know, from their own home, with an internet. Like we've just taken a model that has proven to be successful for decades and we've taken it to people that you know maybe haven't hit rock bottom, so to speak, but are feeling that way.
Speaker 2:And yes, this costs money as opposed to being free. But where you spend money is where the transformation really comes into play, right, that extra layer of accountability, the people going to a. They don't need to spend money because at this point it's likely a matter of life or death. That's the pain, right, the people who enroll in coaching. It's probably not life or death, but it's like how much longer do you want to live your life in survival mode? Right, and like what price tag. Are you willing to put on making that change today? Like, no longer like. Let's wait till Monday, let's wait till April 1st, let's wait till January 1st of next year, because this year is a write-off already because I missed the boat on my New Year's resolutions.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. Yeah, no, I hadn't thought about that analogy with a sponsor being the one-on-one kind of the mentor and the coach and then the group being the support. That's a great analogy and a great way to think about it and how long that model obviously has existed and been so beneficial for so many. So I think that's just A just interesting insight and B the way that you've kind of set it up, I think it kind of has that similar feel where they get the one-to-one so they can solve or talk about, like what's personal to them, but then they get to hear the group and, even if it's not super applicable, there's probably at least some part of the story or some part of the issue that they either have thought about or grappled with or maybe they've already solved for themselves previously. So they can either offer insider feedback or they get to hear, uh, something, or maybe it's something where they've never experienced it, but now they hear about, maybe how to avoid it, right, so there's, I think there's a lot of value kind of across the board there.
Speaker 1:Um, what is your like? What is your? What would be like your grand. I don't want to ask you like what your five-year plan is, cause that's the dumbest interview question ever Like what is your? What's funny is, when they asked me that question in an interview, like where do you see yourself, I always wanted to say hopefully not working here. But I never had the guts to say that that's always what I wanted to say Hopefully I've moved past this company and no one will ask me that question. It would be a good answer. What is your longer-term vision for your business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so simple for me and it took a, you know, a lot of coaching, therapy, soul searching, you name it. But you know I want to wake up every day providing a service that positively impacts people's lives. Um, and if I can do that at the level that I know I'm capable of and serve enough clients, the money will follow, and all I'm looking for from a financial return I don't have any grand visions for driving fancy cars or buying a mansion or anything like that. This idea of external validation which I'm human and I've lived in that space for sure, of external validation, which I'm human and I've lived in that space for sure. I'm totally at peace now with not needing to prove anything to anyone by way of what I buy.
Speaker 2:What I'm looking for is enough monthly income to give my children the life that I want, which is, you know, they are enrolled in private school. I'd like to continue that. I love where they're at. I'd like to have enough to, you know, go on vacations with them and give them experiences that will allow us to spend some really quality time together. Have enough to save, you know, to make sure.
Speaker 2:I'm keeping one eye, but you know, ultimately, just like I want to be in complete control of my days. You know, when you you see the Justin Welch's of the world and how a lot of people today are defining success, which is it's not about how much you have in the bank, it's about how much control you have over. If I want to carve aside three hours later this week to go have a lunch with someone that matters to me, me that I can do that and not have to ask for permission, that's so in three years, five years, next year, you know if I can say that I've earned enough on a monthly basis, that I'm not in debt, my kids are taken care of, my own needs are taken care of and you know we're rocking and rolling from that end. To me, that's success and that's what keeps me moving forward on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 1:No, I love that. I think control of the schedule is really. I think it's a real key for a lot of us in this space. Right Like it's. I hated, like, and it got a little better, as maybe the last several years I worked where you didn't necessarily have to ask for time to like go to the doctor or like take a longer lunch, but like I always felt obligated to let them know. Right, totally, it's always just felt so weird. It's like I'm a fucking 40-year-old grown-ass man with kids. I want to go to the doctor. I'll go to the doctor If I want to go to lunch and it's going to take three hours, it's going to be a three-hour lunch. I'll do my work like I don't don't fucking worry about it.
Speaker 2:But but I always did. It's like babysitting really right.
Speaker 1:But I always felt obligated, like I'd always send my boss like a, an instant message, to be like hey, man, like you know, I'm gonna be gone from 11 30 to 2. Doctor sometimes runs, you know, sometimes they're a little behind like fuck off, what am I doing?
Speaker 2:I know I can relate, I like that was it.
Speaker 2:It just it got to a point.
Speaker 2:And then having my kids 50% of the time, you know, I I had two choices I can pay to have them stay later at school which you know they were young and like not really thrilled about that idea or I could disconnect from work at three o'clock and go pick them up.
Speaker 2:And so you know, I had a tremendous support system when I was still in my nine to five where there was this understanding that that's what I was going to do, but the guilt that I felt and the being glued to slack in the car while waiting in the line and putting out fires.
Speaker 2:And then coming home and like if I don't get dinner going, and that whole thing, we're behind, but like I still got a 430 dinner going and that whole thing we're behind, but like I still got a 430 on my calendar, right. So this idea that like my time could be stolen from me by other people to have meetings that would, 95% of the time, not lead in any type of like not drive an outcome, it just started to get, you know, like you almost want to pull your hair out. Not drive an outcome. It just started to get, you know, like you almost want to like pull your hair out and so, like you know, what I needed more than anything was the ability to if I want to call it at three o'clock on the days that I have my kids and that's it for the workday, I need to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's success to me, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, that's that's way, that's worth. That's worth a lot more than I think a lot of people realize. I know you were talking about Justin Wells stuff. I think I see more of his Twitter stuff. I don't see much of his LinkedIn stuff. He's got some kind of tweet. If your calendar is full with a bunch of stuff that you'd rather say no to, then it doesn't actually matter how much money you have, because you're spending your day with all these obligations that you don't even want. What. What's the point if you have 5 million in the bank, if you're just spending your day miserable?
Speaker 2:Right, and it's like this, I think for many years it was you put your head down and you just say nothing, and then one day you'll be 65 or 70. And then you have earned the right to go off on your own and whatever right, and the game's changed, man. So if you're in the 1% or less than that, are able to face the fear in your head telling you you're a psychopath, because that's what happens. But if you can face that and you can show up every day and you know this idea of being just be consistent, this idea that, like every day, that you know this idea of being just be consistent, this idea that, like every day that you do it, it'll get a little bit easier and it'll start to make a little bit more sense and you'll start to get a little bit more efficient with the system you have in place. If you're willing to do all that, you don't have to wait till you're 70 years old. And that's the beauty of a laptop and an internet connection and a belief that you have something of significant value that people will pay for.
Speaker 2:And I, you know, I live from this perspective and I guess a lot of it has to do with watching my dad right and my dad had, you know, three, call them heart attacks, and lucky to still be here in a lot of ways. And when you go through that you realize that, like you're just nothing, nothing's guaranteed. So to say that like, ah, whatever, I'll just grind it out because one day I'll be 70 and we'll be good to go like you're, that's all. You're telling yourself a lie there, that you're guaranteed the next little while, right not to be. I always tell my clients and anyone I work with, like I'm not out here trying to be morbid or scare people, but we're not guaranteed anything.
Speaker 1:So even if you make it to, 70, what is your health going to be like? Are you going to take good enough care of yourself throughout all those years so that when you're 70, you still have energy and you can travel or play sport however you want to spend that time? Yeah, you might make, might make it, but then you're like your health's not very good and you can't really leave the house or you're tired all the time or whatever. Totally, um, yeah, the whole it's a weird.
Speaker 1:It's a weird setup and I mean I bought it hook line and sinker up until a couple years ago, with the whole like grind it out for 40 years and jobs you don't really like just to try to save enough money to fund your life post 65 plus. It doesn't make a ton of sense on paper, but they did a great job of packaging that and selling it because, again, my generation, we didn't even question it. I mean, there wasn't the opportunity to do business online the way there is now. But I think, even if there had been, you just would have been like, well, yeah, okay, that's for the rare few, I'm still going to go grind out these 40-hour weeks.
Speaker 2:But you know what's interesting man is, I think, as abundant as it is and as many examples as there are of people doing it, I think the general consensus remains that's for the select few, and the reality is it's for anyone who's brave enough. Now listen, you've got to have a little bit of like a nest egg or a plan right. This venture I'm on doesn't happen if I don't commit a certain amount of money I had previously saved for when I was 70 to invest in myself today.
Speaker 2:That's scary and that's a decision, so I'm not discrediting. Some people may not have the financial position to do that, and then you know, let's just be real about that. But if you do and you still continue to go to a 9 to 5 because you feel like you're not in the select few that have the ability, that's just the you know that I'm not enough. Mindset that plagues a lot of us, right? Or this imposter syndrome, however you want to call it, and unfortunately that's, I think, where most people land.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I think it is becoming more accepted again, especially, I think, especially post-COVID, and then especially the last two to three years, because of all the tech layoffs. I think it's kind of opened people's eyes to, like you said, they're pretty lucrative jobs and they got rid of so many of them. I don't even know what the current total is, but I know it's a bunch, and so I think, see people seeing that we're like all right, yeah, this might be a great job, but there's no guarantee I'm going to have it tomorrow. Maybe there's another way for me to like take control. So I think I think there is a shift, but it is still very slow, like you said, still not very many people will ever even try this, let alone make it work.
Speaker 1:Um, and I don't know the next, I think the next 10, 10 to 20 years, I think there'll be a big shift, um, as the baby boomers die, uh, gen x ages, and then a majority of the workforce becomes millennials and whatever it is I don't know what the I get my generations mixed up, z or whatever is after that so once the I think when a majority of the workforce are millennials and z, then I think they will have lived long enough and lived through enough shift that then the old model will eventually if still will take a lot of time because you're talking like 100 plus years, but it will slowly evolve into whether it's more remote work or more hybrid type work, but the true traditional, just like you have to be at the office at 9 am and you can't leave until 5. I think eventually, hopefully, will eventually die, because I think so. I think you're right, I think it needs to die.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think the gen z? Um. You know they're inherently creators, right? Like it, just back a hand. Creators Snapchat, TikTok, whatever right. So this idea of using your creator platform to make money, I think will come much more naturally to those individuals than it does, you know, to you or I, which is like it's a lot scarier to start putting yourself out there, as opposed to someone who has grown up and like the only way of communication is through creation, right, yeah?
Speaker 1:My 11-year-old already wants to know when he can monetize his own Twitch channel. There you go, and he's been asking that for like three years. Like once he started playing Fortnite and became pretty good at it. He was like people. Like once he started playing fortnite and became pretty good at it, he was like people just pay me to watch me play this. Right, I was like I don't know about you specifically, but they pay to watch some people do that. He was like when can I start? That's great, get him going. Uh, so funny. Yeah, so now this has been great. I appreciate the insight. Uh, we'll finish up with some pearl jam talk. So I'm a lot older than you, so I my Pearl Jam experience has been quite different, so we would probably differ on what we enjoy and what albums that we like. So I would argue that their last good album was Yield, and that was in 1998. And I think you'll probably disagree with that.
Speaker 2:So I think, when it comes to all musicians, I think, like we, whatever album was in sort of your high school years is probably the one that is. You know, maybe not high school, but like when you're sort of like really finding your musical taste, is the one that lands. And for me which you know, this will date. You know this will put into perspective my age, but I was like dead smack in high school when the Avocado album was released and so, like we just lived on that album.
Speaker 2:There's a group of us I play drums, two of my buddies play guitar, we had a bassist and every Friday after school we would just jam out and you know those were the tracks that we were jamming, you know, and then it just so happened, pearl jam launched their world tour with back-to-back shows in toronto in 2005 and you know that was the album they were promoting. We, we went to both of those shows. So that one, I think, is the one that, to this day, you know, me and my kind of crew continue to uh, kind of go back to as like the one. I mean, you can obviously can't argue against 10 and yield and all the you know the classics, but that's the one for me. That kind of brings you back into those feels of being in high school with your buddies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. I heard Comatose on Sirius XM radio driving home last night. I hadn't heard that song in like 10 years.
Speaker 2:There's just some real good ones Front to Back. That was an album that we all just knew front to back. I remember that's one of the last ones. I can remember like having the cd in the car and like once that cd was done, you would just fire it back up from the first track. Um, but no, I, I think listen, as time has gone on, I can. I can definitely tell you.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, the gigaton one, you know, obviously got sort of derailed by kovu. I didn't really get into that one very much and and it took me a while that this most recent one to like really get into it. And then I was sharing this with you before we got started. But like once we bought tickets to go see them at Wrigley.
Speaker 2:It's just, I guess the way that I operate is you know, you know that the new stuff's coming, so like I just spend two months getting to know it because, like you know it just number one, it hypes you up. But number two, that way when it gets played it's not like I'm gonna go to the washroom now type of song, like you can just sit in it and enjoy it. Yeah, uh, and through that experience, like I really came to, uh, really, it reminded me a lot of the avocado album, which brought back some really good feels, nice, um, but uh, yeah, I mean, that's the beauty of music, right, is some people you know they've got some strong opinions and you can hash it out and debate it at the end of the day. Uh, you know, that sense of community of being at a show is is like nothing else, right, as I know you could probably relate to, especially when you see a band like a, you know pearl jam and how many generations they span yeah, especially now.
Speaker 1:I've been to 15 shows. Uh, first saw the first show in 98, saw my last show this past summer. Um, I've seen them in wrigley, seen a massive square garden. I saw them playing a really small. Uh, I don't even know what that arena was, but it was in 04 when they were doing the kind of anti-bush tour and they put this thing. It was like in a civic center like the Akron Civic Center. There was maybe only 7,000 people there. Neil Young came out and played. That was weird. So, yeah, I've seen them kind of all over in different stages, I feel like their live shows. The first time I saw them they only played for me an hour, 30 hour, 40, and then they got to the point where they were playing like 30 songs a night and you're almost guaranteed like 245 or three. Uh, now they've kind of dropped back down. I think the last summer I think there was like 24, 25 songs, maybe about two hours. So they've kind of kind of they've kind of fluctuated.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, I, there's a point about what I grew up with. I mean, I'm old enough, I grew up with 10. Like I remember, when 10 was released, I didn't really start listening to them, though heavily, until probably no Code. I remember when no Code came out my roommate was really into them and we listened to that album a lot. And then Yield, which I think is underrated. I think Yield is great, but then after that, for me I think Binaural is terrible. I think Binaural is by far their worst album. I don't know if there's a song on there I would voluntarily ever want to hear.
Speaker 2:And, funny enough, there was a Toronto show several years ago where they decided no one saw this coming to play it front to back. Yeah, and everyone was sort of like looking at each other like what are we getting here? I found it interesting. It definitely inspired me to listen to it a little bit more closely. But I know a lot of buddies who you know they were back in Toronto for back-to-backs and I knew a lot of buddies, myself included, we had tickets to night one and then I didn't bother getting. You know, myself included, we had tickets to night one and then I didn't bother doing the double bill and we felt a little cheesed that the next night you're looking at the set list and it's more of the traditional playing all the hits, and I was like where did this come from? That we're getting that album front to back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a weird choice for a front to back album, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think Sleight of Hand is their worst all-time song. I think that song is terrible.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't know why they recorded it. I don't know why it's on an album, I think. I think that song is terrible.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna fire it up right after this. Nice, just blast it and you'll go to sleep, I think, after that for me. So, starting with binaural and to me, every album, since there's usually like two or three songs per album that I like and I'm like all right, like those are pretty good, I would voluntarily listen to that. I'd be cool if they played that with a show, but for the most part, like the rest of the album, like I don't, I just don't have anything like the most recent album, I think dark matter is really good.
Speaker 1:I think react, respond is really good and if I was in a good mood I might tell you that running was okay and other than that I was like I would be, like I don't, I won't listen to any of these songs. Um, on the gigaton album I would say I liked whoever said I like quick escape and I've liked uh, off the top of my head that might be it so like it's pretty consistent like two and then sometimes like three songs. I'm trying to think the avocado album. It's been a while since I've looked at those titles so that was worldwide suicide inside jab unemployable, um inside jobs, an amazing live one oh, uh, so, mark, oh.
Speaker 1:So it's coming back to me now, so marker in the sand, I really liked yep, and uh, there's another song on that album, um is that life wasted?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, life wasted. Yeah, that okay. That album is okay, there's another, there's. I'll, it'll come to me probably once we're done talking, but marker in the sand, there's another one anyway. Um, but yeah, I mean that album is it's good, I mean they're it's a lot better than binaural. I'll say that, uh, and even like the, like the lightning bolt album, like getaway, like I don't know the record, let their records play like I like, uh, I like whichever.
Speaker 2:I forget the name of the album. It was after avocado, but amongst the waves, good track yeah, they, they start to blend.
Speaker 1:But you're right as you think about it, two or three, or four that are like yeah, yeah, they start to blend together.
Speaker 1:I can't even yeah, because you've got the space, the space drummer. What was that one called the logo, I think was like the guy drumming in space. I remember seeing the tattoos at the shows Like 08 or 09. I don't know, but anyway, I mean they're great. I mean what they've done is nothing short of remarkable. The fact they're still together and for the most part, you know, obviously they're rotating drummers, although Cameron's been there for a while but the fact they're all still together and they haven't like broken up a bunch of times and gotten back together and they're still playing and the live show is still good, I don't think it's as good as it was. Uh, from maybe like 2000 to maybe like 2010 or 2014, maybe that stretch. I think they were better live, but maybe that's age or who knows.
Speaker 1:But, um, like I saw creed, who I was always anti-creed for a long time because I felt like they just ripped off all the all the good 90s bands, but then I got older and realized that I was actually genius because they already had. They already had a playbook that worked right. So why were they going to reinvent the wheel? Well, stone Temple, pilots and Alice in Chains and Soundgarden and ProJam were. All people loved them. Why don't we just try to sound just like them? All right, that actually was pretty smart, anyway, but I never really thought they were that good.
Speaker 1:And then I found them a couple years ago. I started listening to more of their stuff. So we saw them. I saw them with my youngest son, I saw Projo, my oldest son. Now they only play 16 songs. Every single one is a hit and I actually enjoyed that show more, simply because I knew all the songs.
Speaker 1:They didn't play any. Well, they don't have any new stuff because they have like two albums. The last one was like 2001. So they're promoting their old stuff, stuff, but I just found that show more, not that they're better musically or a better band they're not but just from a entertainment standpoint that was more enjoyable for me and like my youngest son, because we had been listening. I mean, we knew what songs were coming. Um and pearl, j would never do that, right, they would never just show up and play their 20 best songs. Now they have more than 20, so then you have to start debating which ones they they're playing, but we could all settle on probably the top 40 or 50. They would never just play those songs and nothing else. They just wouldn't do it. But I think that show, maybe before they retire they should do that one time, like all right, fine, we're just going to show up, we're going to play 25, and there are going to be 25 bangers and everybody will go home happy. Just do it once, just one time.
Speaker 2:See how it feels, true or false. Did Creed play higher? Yeah, okay, I heard there was rumblings as they were coming into town here that they don't play that live. That was the rumor going around town. Yeah, no, they played that, it wouldn't make sense, because that's the one everyone would pay for. But that was the rumor that was floating around town.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's what they played to close. So they just do, uh, they do one set 14 songs higher was the last of the 14 short break.
Speaker 2:They come back out and play um. I can't think of the name I don't know.
Speaker 1:Nope, they'd already played that one.
Speaker 2:It's the uh that's all I got yeah, it's the six feet under.
Speaker 1:I don't know the name of the song it's like and it doesn't matter anyway.
Speaker 2:Anyway, and then they am.
Speaker 1:Yeah, six Feet on the Edge and I'm Sinking, yeah that. So they play that one, I just don't know the song title. And then they play my Sacrifice for the last song, of course, and that was it, of course. But, like I said, they are what they are and they don't. The good part, the cool part about them, is they make no bones about it. They're like listen, we came along after we copied the sound. We have a handful of pretty good songs and we made a bunch of money off of it. Like, sue us, like that's basically their stick and it's like whatever, that's fine. For a long time I, I didn't, and then I was like whatever it's kind of like coaching man like you can find a playbook that works right, like you know.
Speaker 2:Reinvent the wheel with your niche or pick one that people want, and just do it your way there's enough people out there that they'll resonate with you and your story or they won't, or right, exactly anyway.
Speaker 1:So we got. I got way off topic there, but I always enjoy. I don't think I've talked Pearl Jam.
Speaker 2:We talked Pulp Fiction, which I know you still haven't seen don't make this about the famous movies I haven't seen, because we're gonna go down a real dark path here anyway, I talked, I talked pop fiction a couple episodes ago and now pearl jam.
Speaker 1:So I'm hitting all of my, all of my, my cultural, pop, uh references.
Speaker 2:So this has been, this has been good, and we've only got maybe like one or two people left listening at this point, correct, yes, yeah everybody has left, like Everybody has left.
Speaker 1:You're like, ah, fucking Pearl Jam, jesus, those guys are so fucking old, anyway. So again, thanks for your time, thanks for coming on. I'll throw it to you. Any final thoughts, anything you want to cover, and then LinkedIn website, any workshops, whatever you're currently working on.
Speaker 2:Feel free to talk about that. First of all, thanks so much for having me. I always enjoy just kind of getting this opportunity to talk a little bit about my journey. Yeah, I don't have a website. At this point Everything's LinkedIn. So, you know, hopefully with some help from some real, you know, good content people, my landing page kind of you know, tells exactly what I do and who I help and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:My new model these days is I run at least one, if not two, free workshops a month. The date of that workshop will always be in the banner, the link to sign up will always be in the profile and you know, from there it's an opportunity to just kind of get in the same virtual room and get a sense of what I'm all about. And you know the themes kind of vary but they're all kind of, you know, relative to what you know a dad in sales might be going through in terms of the trials and tribulations of trying to balance it all. If that speaks to you, you know where to find me. I would love to see you in a workshop and you know then, from there I always talk a little bit about the accelerator program that I've built. You know who it serves, how it helps and what you expect to kind of get on the other side of 90 days together.
Speaker 2:But it all starts with the workshops, right, it's really dipping your toe If you're someone that's stuck, not feeling so great. You know, really feeling like it's all about your quota and your sales results and your family will suffer if you don't bring home the big bucks and, uh, it's just not feeling all that great. Uh, I'm the type of person that you know can kind of help you unlock the fact that there's much more to life than just that, and it just comes with taking the leap and investing in someone and investing in yourself. Really, um, and then uh, really, and then the rest is on you.
Speaker 1:Nice, awesome. Appreciate the insight, appreciate your time and energy. Great seeing you again and thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 2:All right man, all the best, thanks for having me.