Mindset Connection
Our mission is to provide a place to explore the journey through change and learn from everyday people doing extraordinary things in the mental health and wellness space. In every episode, we will introduce you to incredible changemakers who are making a difference-one step at a time. Join us and learn about how these amazing people may help you take one small step towards creating a stronger and more resilient version of yourself.
Mindset Connection
Mindset Connection Episode 44: Russell Rogers
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Welcome to the Mindset Connection Podcast! In episode 44, Russ Rogers checked in on an early morning in California to give us the gift of his time and knowledge. Russ is the founder of Move Today-365, and lives by the motto: Move Today-Not Tomorrow! Russ shared his story of running a landscape business to journaling what turned into a series of books for children based on the impact and importance of movement and social connection. Russ lives his life making movement and connection to nature an absolute priority and he wants people everywhere to do the same. Russ talked to us about expanding his Impact Live events into cities that don’t have that beautiful California sun-just to show that moving the body and being in nature with others can be done anywhere! Russ’s energy, humility, and zest for life filled our studio with such positive energy. We left thinking about his book, Imagine If... Imagine if people hearing this episode can connect with even one other person and get outside. Let us know if you do!
The Changemaker for Movement, Connection, and Digital Detox: Russell Rogers
Contact Information for Russell Rogers
Website: impact.russellrogers.net
Social Media: @dualcoastpodcast
LinkedIn: Russell Rogers
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Contact Information for Hosts, Jennifer Clearwaters and Cynthia O’Connell:
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Welcome to the Mindset Connection podcast, and thank you for joining us for our 45th episode. We are your hosts, Jennifer Clearwaters and Cindy O'Connell. And if you are new to us, welcome. In every episode, we are showcasing people who do amazing things in the field of mental health and wellness. And we have a very special guest joining us all the way from California, early morning start here with us today. Welcome to the show, Russell Rogers. So thank you. Yes, thank you for being here. So I'm gonna jump in and just tell you a little bit about Russ. Um, he is another connection from our mutual friend Dan Sikowski. So thank you, Dan, for this beautiful introduction. When when Russ and I first connected, we were like, okay, this is perfect. We were like an instant connection. So Dan definitely knows what he's doing when he's trying to make good partnerships. But Russ is a heart-led visionary, an author, a speaker who's dedicated to sparking personal reinvention through health, wellness, and authentic community connection, which is something we definitely need these days. His work has had a deep focus on family wellness and empowering individuals and high achievers to take their physical, mental, and community well-being to the next level. So Russ is the founder of Move Today 365, which quickly grew into a five-book series that he's going to tell us about and a global conversation about the importance of everyday movement. Russ is also the driving force behind the Impact Today live event series and the Next Gen Visionaries project in cities such as Portland, Santa Cruz, and Pittsburgh. He connects with dynamic speakers, leaders, and everyday people in rooms filled with incredible energy and purpose. He's on a mission to help people step into their full potential and runs on the model move today and not tomorrow, which we love. So thank you for being here, Russ.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for that intro. That was fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Everybody needs to move today. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Don't put it off till tomorrow.
SPEAKER_04Love that.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for the intro. We really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_04So we were just talking before we went on air about what time did you wake up today? Because, you know, obviously Russ is three hours uh behind us. So um he said 4 a.m. So I was like, I was up at 4 a.m. too. So we know we're at the right people. Yeah, we always, you know, make that little connection there. But I do want to figure out how Pittsburgh got into that connection because it is a little different. But here's your real question, and then you can throw Pittsburgh into it for me. Okay. So uh tell us your story. How did you get the idea for Move Today, 365? And what are the issues that you see impact um connection for families today?
SPEAKER_01All right. Big, big questions. So I am a uh I've owned a landscape company for about 25 years. And I've been doing that, but alongside of that, I was I was a coach uh at the collegiate level for women's softball. And because I was a women's collegiate coach, you have that affiliation, you have that notoriety, like, you know, I am a coach collegiate level. So my neighbor actually came to me first and he said, Hey, my daughter, who was about nine at the time, said, uh, I'd like to get some personal lessons. So we started doing these personal training lessons on the side, and then word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth. And then pretty soon I've got this little side business outside of coaching and my other job. And um, it just turned into something that ended up being full, you know, almost full time. So for a good 20 years, I ended up doing personal training for kids in baseball and softball. It was an amazing time because I really was able to connect not just with the kids, but with family. So being a part as an athlete from basically, you know, when I was like five, you know, hitting the ball, bouncing the basketball, shooting a hoop, hanging out with friends, all that kind of stuff. Athletics uh was a part of my life from the very early onset and then got into uh T-ball at like age seven, and then just this was a lifestyle for me. I was one of four kids, and I was seven years younger than my next oldest. So I spent a lot of time on my own. I spent a lot of time with my parents, but really just kind of developing, and then friends would come over. We lived out on a farm, we were out in the middle of nowhere, and so they would come over and we'd play, we'd do all kinds of outside activities. So this led up to where I was at COVID doing landscaping and also personal training. Then when COVID hit in 2020, my dad died two weeks before the shutdown. Uh he died of dementia. So we had this, you know, big, you know, uh memorial service, 500 people. Two weeks later, you couldn't be within uh, you know, a throw from your neighbor's house, right? You couldn't, there was no such thing as six feet at that time. So uh we had to stay indoors and all that kind of stuff. Well, what it did is over those six months, I really started to evaluate in everything because the parks closed, the schools closed, anywhere that I was going to train, I couldn't do it. So I started evaluating the landscaping business continued, but I even had people saying, I don't know if I want you in my yard. I'm like, you're not out here. So it's like, what you're not gonna get it. We've got a wall, we've got a door, we got windows, I'm outside, you're inside. You know what I mean? Yeah. So um, anyway, we got through that. But it was during this process of thinking about like, what am I going to do? Am I gonna just focus on my landscape business or or what? And so that's what I did. So I decided to put aside personal training after 20 years and just focus on my business. And it was about a year and a half later, I was on a flight and I had bought this journal, and I had the journal stuffed in my backpack. It was under the seat in front of me, and I had this download, this download that came in. I didn't know why, but I wrote the word move at the top of the page. As I wrote the word move at the top of the page, story after story after story, I just began to journal. Had no idea why I was journaling. I was just journaling. And this went on for not just on that flight for three and a half hours. This went on for the next three to five months of just writing and journaling. And so that's kind of how the whole process started, even before I even thought about books. Because I never thought about writing books. Even then, I didn't think about being an author, I didn't think about anything like that. I was just journaling everything that had to do with wellness, had to do with movement, had to do with activity, stories, uh, my own kids, you know, uh anything that I'd seen had gone into this journal. But again, I didn't know why. And man, was I blown away over the last three years of what has transpired from that initial download.
SPEAKER_04Crazy. So, you know, and what I'm hearing you say is that you recognized I have to transcend where I am. Correct. And when you, you know, you sat down, you started to write, and you heard this word move, and that's what set it out. So a lot of people don't pay attention to those messages. You obviously paid attention.
SPEAKER_03And so, you know, that's that's something foundational, right? So also, you know, for our our our listeners to know, right before we started filming, we were talking about what did you do for the weekend. Yeah. And Russ is telling us how he was in a volleyball beach volleyball tournament and won was king of the beach. So I think probably movement has just been in it like a foundation of your soul. And so when we went through COVID and you know, you weren't able to to move the way that you were normally moving and also interact with other people and get them to move, it was probably with that, it was probably just waiting for the right time just to come back out. So yeah, because you had moved your whole life. Yes, yes, yeah, move the whole life.
SPEAKER_01You know, the crazy thing, not like during COVID, I don't know what it was like on the East Coast, but here I live right on the beach, and so you know, I I'm used to just walking out and going onto the beach, playing smash ball with my friends, playing cornhole, playing volleyball, whatever. And so you as long from eight, well, anytime in the morning up until 11 a.m., you could walk on the beach, you could run on the beach, you could exercise on the beach, but at 11 o'clock, everything shut down until five o'clock.
SPEAKER_03So strange. And it's like, okay, what? Yeah, who decided that?
SPEAKER_01They have a security up and down the coast in California, keeping people off the beaches between 11 and 5. And then at 5, you could go back out and exercise. You could not sit on the beach, but you could exercise on the beach.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_01But you couldn't you couldn't exercise on the beach between 11 and 5.
SPEAKER_04How crazy is that? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So we, you know, at 459, we're on the beach wall, you know, we're ready. And then boom, five o'clock hit. All right, let's go, you know, let's get active on the beach. And we did.
SPEAKER_04Interesting. You know? Interesting. So let's go back to the the second part of that. So, what are the issues that you see uh that are impacting connection in families today?
SPEAKER_01Well, that that was one of the things that started it, right? That that was one of our the problems in society that we're still rebounding from.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01And that is, you know, uh living a sedentary lifestyle, living in solitary confinement in our own homes. People still are not getting out the way they did prior to COVID.
SPEAKER_03That's 100%.
SPEAKER_01I'm not saying everybody, but a lot of people are. They're just there's a disconnect. I I um I recently watched this. Um, I don't know if you've seen it on Netflix. It's called Alone, and it's a show where there's like uh 10 contestants and they send them out into different parts of Alaska. Right. And so they're they're basically in solitary confinement outdoors, and they've got to do everything. They're given some tools and you know, a tarp and some knives and whatever they had to fish, they had to hunt, you know, whatever they they had to do, but they were alone. Key word, alone. And one lady tapped out, she made the call, and she's like, after about 30, 35 days, she's like, I need community, I need people around me. I need to socialize, I need my family, I need people. And so she tapped out. She made the call, they came and picked her up, and off she went. She was done after that time. And you know, I I recognize that as part of our problem in society is that people are so used to being alone, and we are not meant to be alone. No, we are not meant to be locked up in our rooms watching television, and I'm talking about kids as well, watching television, playing video games on our devices, scrolling, you know, and it's okay to scroll, but it's it's like it's when it becomes an addiction to where that's all we do is immediately pick up our phone. Just like, you know, do we need when we wake up in the morning? Do we immediately pick up our phone? Do we start scrolling? Do we start messaging? Do we start emailing? Do we do it right away? Or do we have this disconnect in the morning that says, no, I need to get my feet on the ground. I need to get up, I need to get moving, I need to have breakfast, I need to take a walk outside. Then I maybe pick up my my device. So it's it's those kinds of things that we've got to do in our mind that puts us in this isolation mode that is not healthy for our environment. It's not healthy for our children, it's not healthy for families. And so that's what the books are about. And uh it's about connection, it's about community, and it's not just family, it's about getting people together. So when I think of the title of that show called Alone, that is not what we're supposed to be doing. You know, and just like that lady said, I need community, and that's what we need. We need each other. 100%.
SPEAKER_03So can you come in? Can you come to the east? We have lots of people who probably need to talk to me.
SPEAKER_04And as as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking about all these people that I see. Uh, you know, when Jen and I do workshops, we always say, put your phone down when you go for a walk. Or you, you know, or at least keep it with you if you want to be safe, but put it in your pocket. You don't need to have headphones on, listening to whatever. Listen to the sounds in nature. And it always cracks me up when I see people going for a walk. I'm doing something healthy, like this. And they're holding their phone like this. So they're not interacting with any of the people that they see and they're on the boardwalk, or they're even just like walking through town. It's it is amazing to me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Because they're just missing that vital point of connection.
SPEAKER_03So so when you were talking about the books, so talk to us about the book series and um your other books unplugged, Imagine If. I know I've told you like as soon as I met Russ, I bought these books and they're incredible. And I've been sharing them with my patients in my office, and they are also getting a lot from it. But tell if people are unfamiliar, tell us about the books.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So when I when I uh let me backtrack and just kind of pick up on the uh on the end of the story about like COVID, and we'll go right into the books. The amazing thing is I I had met this lady on the beach. I was with a group of people, my friends, and at the end of the day, it was around three o'clock. This lady sitting on to my right, she came over and she introduced herself and she goes, I just moved here from Florida, and I'm just so excited. And you guys just seem to have a wonderful time. You're laughing and you're just having fun and you're playing games. And so invited her to join us. Well, that was that was like eight years ago. And so then, fast forward another five years, four and a half years, and her and her husband moved in across the street from me, and it was her birthday, so she invited us to come to her birthday. So that night, go to the birthday party. She introduced me to a friend named Indiana. Indiana is a publisher. Now, remember, I had written those, all of those stories and everything. Indiana lived less than a half a mile from me, never met her, lived here three years, never met her, never seen her. And so here we are, eight years prior, meeting Sue, then fast-forwarding, meeting Indiana and talking about timing, yeah, timing and alignment. So that kind of set up everything. So we had coffee a few days later. I shared my my journal with her, and she goes, Rush, you you you've got a book here. Well, then as we continue to talk over the days and days ahead, I decided that I was not going to just do one book, I would do uh, you know, five books. And so it's just five picture books for the first five years of a kid's life. And they're the today series. They're very colorful, they're, you know, big words, easy to read, you know, obviously for parents. But as the kid gets older, they can read it themselves. But it's the idea is that every page is an activity. So from infancy to five years old. And the idea and the psychology behind it is that as the parents read the book, that they are inspired to put the kid in a front pack, a backpack, in the stroller or whatever, and bolt it outside. Let's get outside and let's do activities. Let's get outside and be in nature. Let's get outside and take our family and do more activities outside. And then as the child, you know, gets a little older and a little older, those activities change because now the kid is able to walk. He's not crawling, he's not, you know, sitting in the pack. Now, now they're flying kites. Now they're building sand castles. Now they're walking, taking a stroll in the forest, now they're doing community service in a in a community garden. So it's all of these ideas of getting kids and families connected and getting them outside. And so that's the the today series. And then Up Plugged came a little bit later, uh, which Jen has. And so Unplugged is a reading book, but it's really a detailed type of book that really breaks down like specific ideas that you can do. For instance, I'll give you one. It's just like you go outside and you see it's the fall and you see these giant leaves on the ground. Pick one up. Take a look at it and just look at the infrastructure of this leaf and the pattern of it, right? You know, pick up a pick up a snail and just look at look at the snail. Things that you can do like this that make being outside more interesting, especially if you have children, right? And here we're in uh Santa Cruz, so we have these banana slugs, you know, these giant yellow slugs that are on the trees and on the ground, and you know, taking notice of those kinds of things or walking down. Uh, I was in Henry Cal Park just recently, and you know, walking down about uh it was about a mile and a half down to the river, and and then just taking my shoes off and walking into the river. Like it was just amazing. Couldn't hear a thing, couldn't hear a plane, no cars, no phones, no nothing. And it was just like wow. Yeah. And I this this is what we need.
SPEAKER_03I love this book so much because it it really takes all the excuses out for any activity. So even if it says, you know, you want to go walking with your family, well, I don't know where to go. He's even included names of parks, addresses, like you could do you you have everything listed. So you there you there's no excuse why you can't go do it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. And living in the city too. There's no excuse to that because you know, when I when I go to New York, like I look up parks, and it, you know, it doesn't have to be Central Park. There's parks all over New York that you can go, and there's beautiful trees and grass, and you know, yeah, you got you know, uh skyscrapers all around, but you've got a park right there, and there's community service that you can do that's outdoors, uh, that get your family together, you know, riding bikes and you know, all kinds of things. So we we can we're easily uh of the mindset that we can make all kinds of excuses and we can talk ourselves out of anything, but we need to talk ourselves into doing things and doing things more often outside.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes. Tell our uh our listeners about Imagine If, which I think is just the most beautiful book.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. So there is a on the inside cover of Imagine If, there is a it's a black and white book, but there is a black and white photo of this path. It's a rubber mat. And uh I was in Huntington Beach visiting my son down in Southern California, and it was on a it was on a Saturday morning. I was staying in a hotel and they had you know bikes that you can use down in the lobby for free. So I jumped on the bike, went out to get my exercise, and the paths, the concrete paths in Huntington Beach and in Southern California are just massive. So you got rollerbladers and score uh skateboarders and runners and walkers and you name it, they're on this path and people are moving all the time. So I'm out on this path, 7 a.m. in the morning. I'm I'm out there by myself. And so one of the paths, you know, darted out. So I decided I'm gonna, you know, go down this path, get a little bit close to the water. It was a foggy morning, just like today it is. And I get down there, I straddle in my bike, and I stay there for about five minutes, and I'm just taking in the surf, the surfers, and the stillness of the morning. Then I turn around and I'm immediately met by a mother and three kids. And the kids were all under the age of eight, I would, I would guess. And they all had little plastic bags in their hand. So I rode past them, but out of curiosity, I stopped as I got past them. I look back and they ventured off into the sand. And the mother and the three kids, mind you, at 7 a.m. in the morning on a Saturday, are picking up garbage. Picking up garbage. I went back after my bike ride. I went back to the hotel. You got the little notepads and the pens that are left on the desk, and I wrote down the words, imagine if. Imagine if parents took their kids out and taught them the lesson of what it is to do community service through picking up garbage. Or what if we moved our bodies every day? Imagine if the impact that we can make on ourselves. Imagine if if I do it, then I can train my kids to do the exact same thing. Imagine if I showed kindness. Imagine if I wrote a note to encourage someone. Imagine if that story of that mother and those three kids on a Saturday morning impacted me that day. And so when I wrote those words down, then over the next year, I came up with 100 statements of imagine if we could do these things. Right. And they're so it's just one simple statement that gets you to think. And it's not a book that you just you know thumb through really fast. The idea is to take that and to let it marinate in your mind. Imagine if, and if we imagine the possibilities are endless, yeah, right. I mean, John Lennon sang about it. Disneyland built it. Like, imagine the possibilities. This is a guy that, you know, drew characters when he was a kid and then sold it to newspapers and friends and family, and then all of a sudden goes to art school, and then all of a sudden buys a plot of land in Southern California and builds the happiest place on earth. Like it's amazing, like what you can do if you put your mind and your imagination to it. So that simple morning, that that that beautiful simple morning was like, I never imagined at that moment that it was going to turn into a book. But when I went back and I wrote those two words down, I said, this will be a book one day. Imagine if.
SPEAKER_04So, you know, Russ, what I'm what I'm like, as I'm listening to you, and uh and uh you're so passionate about it, but one of the things that I want people to understand is we can all do this if we pay attention to things. So you pay attention to what is happening around you. You're riding your bike, and if you had headphones on and you were, you know, whatever, you wouldn't have been quite as aware. Well, you know, you Yeah, because you just So I I just think it's a it's a also an important thing to and give yourself credit for that, for paying attention. And part of it is probably you, you know, you've you're an athlete your entire life, you're you still are. So you have good mind-body awareness and mind-body connection. So you continue to do that even as you Get just a little bit older. But anyway.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, the thing about it is is, and and I thank you very much for for making that uh statement there, is that, you know, we all have things that happen around us every day. It's just are we mindful of those things that happen around us every day? Yes. Right? Yeah. And so if we're not mindful to those opportunities, then we're gonna we're gonna miss it. Exactly. You know, people say within them, oh, you know, I I I have started writing a book, but that was 10 years ago, right? And so now that I am an author, like I encourage people to finish it. Yes. Finish it. Finish anything. You have something in your heart because all of us, all three of us that are here, all have something within us. And you both wrote a book together. So like you followed that. You followed that passion, that dream, and you wanted to impact the lives of people. And that's what it's all about. Because our story, if it just touches one, we've done our job.
SPEAKER_04Yes, 100%. We say that all the time. 100%. Yeah. You can tell, like when we speak in front of an audience, I can tell that person gets it.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That person is walking away. And it doesn't matter that the rest of them don't.
SPEAKER_03Because you can't impact sometimes. People aren't also ready to hear the message. They're not ready to receive what we're saying. But again, if you could help one person, it's worth it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, for sure. So tell us about your podcast, Dual Coast Podcast. I still want to hear about Pittsburgh, though. Yeah, we're gonna get to Pittsburgh. You're not getting, you're not getting off the hook there. Um that's the live event. How did you start that? How did you start that? And how did you how do you choose your guests?
SPEAKER_01Great questions. Um, so I was at an event in New York City uh just over two years ago. And it was a very, very small group. I was a part of um with Craig Siegel and CLS, and I I think there was maybe 300 people at the time in his community, online community. And so he opened it up and and it was a very, very small event, maybe 30 people. So I knew not only Craig, but I knew about two or three others that were going to be present at this event. And so it was on the second floor in this building in downtown New York City. And so I go to this event, it's in the wintertime, and the elevator opens up onto the second floor, and there's two gentlemen standing right in front of me, nearly basically blocking access into the room. That's how close to the entrance they were. So I met them immediately, Paul and Dan. And so we talked briefly. And then Renee, who was one of the ones who I've never met in person, she showed up and then, you know, jumped in my arms, we hugged, we talked, you know, and everything. So the day goes on. That night, Renee goes, Hey, let's get together and let's go out and have some dinner. So six of us went to the hotel I was staying in and we had dinner together. Well, Dan was one of those guys. Well, there was somebody between, Allison was between Dan and I. So we really didn't talk that much that night. Then we went up to this, you know, raging music party at the penthouse at the top, you know, with a couple hundred people. I mean, you we were yelling to try to talk, right? But we were just having a good time. So then several months later, we ended up, Dan and I ended up going to another event together. And so we started talking and we we were very like-minded. And so it's like, okay, well, you know, maybe we maybe we should do something together, maybe we should collaborate, but what is it? And podcasting was never in my my world of what I wanted to do. Right? So Dan actually threw the idea out. You ever thought about podcasting, doing a podcast? And I was like, no, I actually, you know, I've been on podcast, but I never thought about doing it because, you know, it seems like a big commitment, a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of effort, you know, not that I'm afraid of all that stuff, but it wasn't just where I wanted to do it. You don't have a lot of energy. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I would definitely have been worried about that.
SPEAKER_01So um in the coming months, um, we were both speaking at an event in Springfield, Missouri. And at that point, podcasting was moving down the road. And so we got together that day uh in the lobby of the hotel in Springfield, and we just uh we started, you know, putting the ideas together. We talked to other podcasters who've been doing it for a while and just really just kind of inundated ourselves with ideas and what we should do and how we're gonna go about it. So basically, over a couple of different uh, you know, conferences that we were at, this really just kind of marinated. And so the the cool thing is that Dan always says, he says, you put yourself into the room and anything can happen, right? Well, we both put ourselves in the room, and here we are, you know, over two years later, and we're doing, we started our podcast in January of 25, and it's just been absolutely amazing. So at that time, we were kind of fit trying to figure out what we're gonna do. So we did guests every other week because nobody knows who we are, and then he and I would just wrap on it, and it's all based around health and wellness. And so we would start to get guests, the people that we knew that were kind of in health and wellness. And then as we're as we're continuing to go to these conferences and stuff, you're meeting people all the time, you know, and you have people that hit you up on LinkedIn or hit you up on an email or hit you up on a DM or whatever it is. And so now that we're doing this, you know, we're two or three months booked out and we're having guests every single week, which is absolutely amazing. Yeah, absolutely. And so, you know, Jen was just with us, and it was an absolutely amazing conversation because it's people of like-mindedness, they're they're doing their thing as a job. And we we have some that are, you know, like um physical trainers that are living it every day, that's their job. Right. But the majority of them, majority of our guests are basically business people, you know, entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, whatever. And then they are then they do fitness, they stay physically fit, and then of course they you know push it out to other people and say, this is what we need to do. So that's kind of how we go about getting our guests, but most of the ones, you know, we just come in contact with, which is absolutely amazing. And then just, you know, really um, you know, hearing people's stories, and uh, you know, just like Jen. And it's just amazing how it just you you have this new connection. Uh and I gotta say, Jen, it's like, you know, our connection is like very authentic.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Like it is amazing. Dan introduces, and you just you're not gonna connect with everyone, right? You're not going to connect with everyone, and it's okay. Um, Jen and I just like boom, we it was like immediate for me. And um, and so we've been on some calls, we had our own podcast. Now I'm on your podcast, and it's like it's amazing. So I know that uh we're lifers.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And we can't like we always say we connect the dots. Yeah, connect the dots. Yeah, so okay, so we're gonna get to Pit Pittsburgh now because I want to talk about the live events. So not so not only like you think about the just the transformation, you were like, I'm gonna just concentrate on my landscaping business, it's COVID, and now you're writing books, you're on a podcast, you're having all these life events and and speaking engagements all over the country. So tell us about that. How did that get started?
SPEAKER_01You know, so as you know, writing the books and you know, putting myself in the room, attending these conferences, it's like my mind is constantly churning of like, how can I continue to make an impact in this world? And so I have been on the stage speaking at other, you know, people's conferences. Um, but in my mind, it's like when I'm sitting there in the room, it's like, well, why can't I do this? Why can't I put on an event? Why can't I put on a conference? And I just kind of put my mind to it and I said, Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna make this happen. So last year in May of 25, put together a conference, Impact Live Events, and just did one. Just did the one in Santa Cruz. Tons and tons of work.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um and so the um so put on this Impact Live event, and it was absolutely amazing. The setting, it was in a museum in downtown Santa Cruz. The feedback that I got from the event is incredible. I brought in speakers to speak at it, not only local people, but a few outside of the area, and they just shared their story on on health and on wellness, and it was it was amazing the impact that that was left and the impression that was left with these people. And it and it was a it was a dialogue that we had in conversation over months and months and months. And so I was like, well, if we can do it in Santa Cruz, we can do it in other places. Well, I had been to several other cities, Portland, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, for various conferences, connecting with people. Each one of these places, I was on television in these, in these, I was on radio, I was speaking at schools, I was making connections in these three other communities, and that is how I chose uh Portland, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh. Minneapolis and Pittsburgh are coming up in September and October of this year. And that's how I did it because I made connections with people at these conferences, and I said, you know what, we can do one of these impact live events in your city. And so I use the local people. So all of my speakers except Dan Sikkowski and myself are from Minneapolis that are going to be there. All the speakers in Pittsburgh are from the Pittsburgh area, except Dan and myself. And so it's really all about community. And I'll and I'll share with you this. The beautiful thing about it is we went to Portland. There was about uh 55, 60 people at this event, and we're there, we're, you know, we're connecting, we get community and everything. The beautiful thing is that after leaving Portland, I'm hearing stories of people that came together to go out and to go snow skiing, to go out and, you know, one of them was a chiropractor, you know, so the other one got went and got adjusted. You know, they're having dinner together, they're making calls, they're emailing each other. Like they connections, a connection, just like mindset connection, right? Right. So it's beautiful because all of these events are all about community, it's about bringing people together.
SPEAKER_03And you did your job. You spoke about community, you left, and now they can take it from there. You achieved the goal.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, achieved the goal.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like they don't need you to come and maybe make them connect, but because you did what you did, yeah, you you just got the ball. Gave them the opportunity. Yeah, yeah. You opened the door.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you know, so we still have two more events this year. We got one in just uh like 59 days, which is Minneapolis. I'm super excited about it. Everybody's pumped up. I've got a meeting with the team tomorrow, and it's like just interjecting, charging them up, just saying, all right, guys, it is go time now. We've got two months until we kick this thing off. And so we've got it at this beautiful, beautiful museum called the Bell Museum. It's just all glass, big old huge lobby. And so we're gonna be right there and um, you know, presenting it and just sharing with people. And the the title of the events or the theme of the event is reinvention. So all four events are all about reinventing yourself in health and wellness. And how can you go apart and be a part of that? How can you reinvent yourself in health and wellness? How can you, if you are have challenges in front of you right now, how can you overcome those challenges? So, reinventing yourself is uh all about impact in 2026. Then the idea is next year we're gonna grow it to Philadelphia, uh Vegas, um, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_03I love that. It's great.
SPEAKER_01In addition to the four that we have this year. So next year we'll grow it to eight.
SPEAKER_03So this is a perfect time to ask: are there still tickets available for your events? And if so, how can people find them? Because I can see somebody listening and being like, you know what? Like, I'm going to one of these events.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I appreciate it. RussellRogers.net. Okay. You can go on there and you can find the links and boom, make it happen.
SPEAKER_03Wonderful. So that's how now we know what happened. Yeah, that's the help. We finally got to Pittsburgh. Yes. What's a what's a takeaway that you would like our listeners to know? It's a little word words of wisdom.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I think the the thing about it is is really look inward at where you are in life right now. Like, am I happy with what I'm doing? Am I happy with my body? Am I happy in my mind? Because mental illness today is at an all-time high. People are being challenged more uh mentally than ever before. And a part of that is what we've already talked about with with devices and television and isolation, being alone. We need community. You know, there was a great uh program that was called um uh Blue Zones. Blue zones, yeah. Blue zones. And it they just went in, they looked at eight communities around the world on wow, why are people living so long? One of the main reasons in all of these communities was connections.
SPEAKER_04Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_01It was about getting people together. So, how do we how do we live longer? How do we live healthier lives? We don't stay on our devices, we don't stay isolated. We get outside, we move our bodies. We've got to have the sunshine vitamin from outdoors, from that beautiful sunshine. We need that in our bodies. We need that uh refreshness in us to liven us up so that we feel better mentally as well as physically. So, I my challenge is to all the listeners is really take a gut check for yourself and for your family and where you're at, and really evaluate and say, what can I do to improve my life? Or maybe, maybe I'm at a good place, but maybe there's some adjustments you can make to add some things into your life that will help you to live a happier, healthier life.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I really love that you know, you're doing some of these events, like you're in California. You just talk about the the impact of sunshine and being outside, but you're also doing these events in places that are not nice a lot of times of the year, just like on the East Coast. It's cold, it's dark, it can be raining, lots of snow, you can't go outside. And so you're removing that excuse because if it's not sunny out, I can't do something. And and I'll go back to Unplugged again, where you literally have every activity possible and places to go do it. So you don't necessarily need to be out on a beautiful beach summer day to move your body and get out there.
SPEAKER_01You got a set of stairs inside, you've got a mat in front of you on the floor, you can walk in place, you can do jumping jacks, you can do push-ups, you can do sit-ups. YouTube is a great thing to do if you can't get outside because it's inclement weather. And I've been in Pittsburgh when it was minus seven. Yeah, so I know exactly what that is. Yes right when it's just freezing cold and nobody is out there, right? So you find different ways of moving your body. You may not get that sunshine, but you can move your body. And the moment that it warms up a little bit, then get outside because you're not meant to be indoors. Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_04So, you know, and I also hear hear what you're saying about self-reflection. And I think that that's, you know, uh something that's lacking in people, like, you know, why not do a quarterly asking check-in? Yeah, how am I doing? You know, so I I think a lot of people ignore that. They just keep going along and they can't figure out why things aren't working.
SPEAKER_03And I really like how you the first thing you said is, do I like what I'm doing? Yeah. Because, you know, in therapy, that it's it's it's actually been like a topic the last couple months. There's so many people who are unhappy with what they're doing. Doesn't necessarily need to be their work, but their activities of daily life they're unhappy with. And and so, like you when you're really saying, like, give yourself like that hard conversation. Like, am I happy with what I'm doing? And if I'm not, what am I gonna do about it?
SPEAKER_01That's right. Yeah, yeah. And oftentimes we don't do anything about it. No, no, no. We just continue living because this is what we do. This is this is what I'm accustomed to doing. You know, I got a nine to five job, and then I go to the garage, I hang out there for a couple of hours, you know, drink beer, watch TV, you know, play with the kids a little bit, put them to bed, and then you know, stay up and watch it. Over again, do it over and over and over again. It becomes a cycle, but it's an unhealthy cycle.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01So it's like really take accountability. And if you're one, if you're the one that is active and you're out doing stuff and you see one of your friends who is inactive or who is not doing it, and we've got to pay attention to that because you know, the mental when we talk about the mental illness, that somebody might be struggling. So ask the hard question, pull them outside, try to get them to go on a walk with you. So and then on that, on that walk, guess what? You have a conversation. And and it's a beautiful thing. And I I tell you, it will brighten up their world.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, 100%. And the research shows that if you do a 12-minute walk, that's all it is. Side by side, it's a whole lot easier to have a conversation too. Yes, it is so and people kind of pour their hearts out. That's why you always get your kid in the car. Yeah, you know, you want to ask them a serious question, sit next to me for car ride. All right. So we're we're moving towards uh yeah. So how do you view failure?
SPEAKER_01How do I view failure? It's a part of life, but I I don't stay there.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I didn't think I didn't think you'll failure is a is a learning experience. Yeah. You know, are are my books number one sellers? No. Does that make me a failure? No. No, you know, because what they are is some when somebody like Jen, you know, she has her people that come in like that read it and see something, and that impact is going on. I don't have to be a number one seller to make an impact in life. So I don't look at myself as failing, but failing is a part of life. And it's how do we how do we adjust when we consider ourselves failing at something?
SPEAKER_04Exactly. Right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, or we fail an exam, right? Well, guess what? We can take that exam again, right? So we don't live, even though we fail, and we and I failed many times, and you think about baseball, think about that. A good, successful batter in the major leagues gets on base three times out of 10. Now, if that's a test score, yeah, that sounds very great.
SPEAKER_03You're failing. Right?
SPEAKER_01But that is high. So, but you know, when we look at life, we're we're we're gonna fail at some point in life, many, many times and many, many things. But how do we rebound from that failure? Is it gonna keep us down? Is it gonna push us down? Is it gonna make, you know, am I a loser? No, I'm a winner. I'm a winner at what I do, and I'm gonna I'm gonna have that inside of me. It's just like like Saturday, man. You mentioned Jen. On Saturday, we played in the volleyball tournament and we were in the first elimination game, and we were losing to a team. It was game point. The game goes to 21. They had 20, we had 17. And it's like, okay, let's go, let's relax and play our game. You know, we're at, you know, and so it's like, are we gonna are we failure? Because we, if we lost, no, we're out here having a good time. We're connecting with these guys and and doing it. But we we came back and you know, and won the game. So it's it's like that mindset of like getting yourself into that place to know that even though there is failing and I hit a bad ball, it's okay. I'm gonna come back and hit a good ball the next time. So if you fail at something, don't stay there. My encouragement is to move past that because everybody, you're all winners. Everybody that's listening, you're a winner at something. So keep trying. Get back on that bicycle, even though you fell off, get back on that bike and ride again.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, perfect.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So, what are your three most important strengths? Don't overthink it. And we know that you have a lot more than three. So just come up with the first three. What's the first three that gut reaction?
SPEAKER_01Ambitious, mm-hmm. Intentional, caring.
SPEAKER_04Love it, beautiful. Yep. So, what's going well in your life?
SPEAKER_01Day-to-day happiness, uh, family. I've got uh three children, 38, 33, and 30. Uh two girls are the oldest son. I've got five grandbabies. I've got two girls that are here, six and seven. And then I've got uh, and then I've got three boys on the east coast who I'm gonna be spending some uh vacation time with next month. Nice on your end of the country. I'll be up in the Hamptons, so that'll be fun. Uh so we'll be there, and then my my podcast partner's getting married, and so I'll be there and I'm actually officiating the wedding. He actually sent me the other day, he would say, Hey Russ, uh, I want to remind you to send in your um your your um your invite. Like your RSVP. Yeah, he said RSVP, and I go, Dan, why do I need to send out I'm officiating the wedding? Of course I'm gonna be there.
SPEAKER_03Because his wife is keeping the fiance is keeping track.
SPEAKER_01But family, family is is uh is everything. And so I'll be with the the boys who are nine, six, and four in a month. That'll be a lot of fun hanging out with them. And so I just enjoying just enjoying life for what it is each and every day. Um being outside, being active, and but family really keeps my happy. It keeps me happy. My mom is 87, works in the yard every single day. Uh she's out there in the Modesto heat. And um, yeah. Very good. Good genes.
SPEAKER_04Yes. So the we ask everybody that comes on these questions in our book. And it really has to do from our book. Yes. So is there something you want to change? It's a yes or no.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_04Okay. So what's holding you back?
SPEAKER_01Nothing. Nothing's holding me back. Um things are already in in process of what I want to do for the next. Things are already happening in the next.
SPEAKER_03We haven't had that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, then the two of us just looked at each other like, whoa. Okay. Okay. All right. So No, because oh, yeah, no, you go. No, no. You can talk because what the next question is, what's one thing that you can do to make a step forward?
SPEAKER_03But obviously you've done we're already working towards that. So that's yeah.
SPEAKER_01A nonprofit is the next next thing that I'm working on right now. My team and I are working on a nonprofit because the impact live events, you know, businesses that want a tax write-off can now donate. Yes. And then I've got something. You know what?
SPEAKER_03So true. Smart. Yep. Very smart.
SPEAKER_01And then I've got something that I'm working on right now in the in the TV works that is going to, I believe is going to really open up um, yeah. It's going to open up a lot of things, not just not for me, not just for me, but for the entire um listening audience.
SPEAKER_03And you know what? I really want to just go back again just to say, like, you look where look what you're just talking about, starting a nonprofit, doing stuff with TV. And you were not doing any of those things when you first started. So for people who are really thinking about, and I really also like what you said about the books, like you didn't publish the books to say, I'm gonna be on the New York Times bestseller list, and just because you're not doesn't mean your books aren't impacting people. So I really feel like people who are hearing your message is really just go with your gut. Try. Try and try to make an impact any way that you can because the next thing will come. You know, Cindy and I are always talking about what's the next thing. What's the next thing? But the next thing is coming to you. And if someone had said to you, Oh, you're gonna be doing something with television years ago, you probably would have been like, I don't think so. Just like we said with being on a podcast, we were like, I don't think so. But here we are. Yeah, yeah. So it's really incredible what you're doing.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Well, we are we are uh our time is up, so we want to thank Russ for joining from California so early in the morning. And it's been a pleasure. People are interested in coming to your events or buying the books. Where can people find the books?
SPEAKER_00On Amazon.
SPEAKER_03They're on Amazon. Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_00They're all on Amazon. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And your your website is also very, very detailed. So we'll send put that all out in the show notes. And we want to thank everyone for joining us for this episode. And as always, Cindy has our final words of wisdom.
SPEAKER_04So remember to pause, breathe, and then respond instead of reacting. And finally, do hard things. You are certainly doing hard things. So doing hard things is is what keeps you alive.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_04And gives you the willpower to keep going. So continue everything you're doing. It's amazing. Yes, you are an inspiration.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01It has been amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yay!