You Could Do Good Work, But…

Seasoned video editor Anthony Marzilli shares the importance of relationship-building in business.

He also dives into balancing a successful career with family life and the value of authenticity and curiosity within his 10-year career. Anthony and host, Kaila Sachse, explore practical insights on networking, client management, and the evolution of professionalism—all tailored for entrepreneurs and creative professionals.

More About Anthony Marzilli

After graduating from Central Michigan University in 2007, Anthony started working in post-production doing audio for commercials. During that time, he started seeing these video programs and started to teach himself with a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials and learning everything he could. 

Anthony Marzilli produced videos for Comcast’s advertising branch, creating commercials for people who wanted to be on their airwaves. 3 years later, an opportunity to work for the Detroit Pistons came up, and growing up always loving sports, he took that chance. The people were amazing in the sports world, but he realized he couldn't keep up with the non-stop pace knowing he wanted more time with his 2-year-old son and a daughter on the way. 

He did side work so he could make it work by editing at home. His first gig was for Ford Performance (Ford Racing), and from there, they referred his name to places like Penske and local car race track, M1 Concourse. The connections he made over the years with all the amazing people kept branching out. He now works with companies like the Detroit Lions, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Athletic Club (#1 Athletic Club in America 6 years in a row), Detroit Tigers, keynote speakers, and ad agencies.

anthonymarzilli.com

@Anthony.Marzilli

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Transcript

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people want to work with friends, So because I get along with so so many people, they feel great passing your name for it. it's just that just being that good person goes so far. that's how your name gets passed around. you can be doing okay work, you could do good work. and being a good person takes you that little bit further. Welcome back to the Bringing Up Business podcast where we talk about business and parenting. This show is brought to you by marketing and creative agency called Yumari Digital. Yumari Digital specializes in websites, email marketing, and branding for small businesses. If this is your first time listening, welcome. We're so happy to have you here. Whether you want to work for yourself or you have a business and you're planning a family, you are in the right place. Our goal on this show is to empower you with strategies so you can confidently work for yourself while raising your family. I am your host, Kaila Sachse. I've been self-employed for the past nine years and I am currently raising a toddler. He's very rambunctious and fun and I'm just loving seeing his personality develop. It's a blast. Today's guest, Anthony Marzilli, has an impressive video editing career. His clients include the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Ford Racing, and a local racetrack, M1 Concourse, as well as many others. He has been self-employed for the past decade, and today we're going to dive into how he's been able to make it all work. Anthony, I'm so glad you could join me today and welcome to the show. I'm loving that you have me here. Thank you so much. Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about your journey. which came first for you? Working for yourself or becoming a dad? it was first a dad. Yeah. I'm trying to do the math. I'm like, yeah, it started. So had, my son and who's now 11. So it's like, I'm right, right with you about the nine, 10 years thing. So we're at the same time. he was an infant. And then at that point, I had an opportunity to work for sport work in sports and I went to work for the Detroit Pistons and he was one or two years old at that time. So I had the son first and then, and then went to the Pistons. So he got to enjoy some of that, but he doesn't remember that he's too young. you started as a side hustle, is that correct? And then branched out into full self-employment? Or what did that look like? Well, once I started actually with the Pistons, that's when I started doing some side work, a uh connection through college. He showed something, showed a video of like a sports illustrated thing on social media and he was like, Hey, can you do something like that? And I'm like, yeah, I absolutely can. And at that point he worked for Ford performance, which I believe now they just switched the name back to Ford racing. and I made these videos and they loved them and So it started with that. it's kind of crazy to think that your first side gig side hustle is with Ford. Like that was just mind blowing. So that really started a lot of it. Yeah, not many people can get to say that. That's kind of a big whale to get to start with. Yeah. just luck of the draw of having friends that wanted to have something made that worked for a place like that. Yeah, yeah. I would say it's not only luck of the draw to get to be around people with connections, right? That is a blessing, that is luck. However, I do believe that there's a component that we can control and that is how we make and build relationships. So it's not just lucky that all of sudden this person dropped into your life and suddenly gave you this opportunity. You had a part to play in that. too. So what does that networking component or if we want to sound less transactional, right? What does that relationship forming component look like for you? You how do you make friends and keep friends? I get with what you just said and the truth is I almost never use the word luck and I said it there, but it's like I use the word fortunate because it is we'll call maybe luck that that one person asked you something. But you're fortunate because then you're ready, prepared, you do a good job. And then because you do a good job, it keeps going. it's that luck might be that very, very first time. But after that, it's being prepared to do a good job and then they will keep coming back. But It's all about relationships. That's how a lot of my career has gone is meeting people through these jobs that I've had and then they need something and then they move on to somewhere else. I know somebody who can help here, here, here. And that's how I've got to do so much that I've done. So I'm a big advocate in saying, be good at what you do, but be a better person because that can take you very far by being a good team member. Yeah, 100%. What does being a good team member look like to you? What does that look like in practice? I do friendly and I talk a lot as in I don't just when I'm in there doing a job, yeah, you can step back and do the camera and sometimes you can read the room that maybe that's what you're supposed to do. But other times, I'm interested in people I'm interested in hearing about their day or their organization. ask a lot of questions when I'm doing these videos because I feel like maybe I get annoying sometimes but I'm asking all these questions to better suit their audience or what they're making it for because yeah, by asking more, you can really find out what they're trying to achieve for who. So yeah, I really think just being friendly talking about anything, it doesn't even have to be about like the topic or whatever, but you can learn so much just from side conversation of what matters to the people where you're at. Yeah, yeah, being curious about other people, asking questions about them, their lives, and more specifically, their businesses. We can better, I'm a firm believer that we can better serve our clientele or our customers if we're in a B2C space by better understanding who they are. What motivates them? What is it that they need, that they want? All of those motivations can factor into how we deliver a final output. Yes. with that said, I work in a different range of we'll call it clients. I hate using the words clients. I always say people I work with because that's just how I view it is like I am I'm part of the team. I I don't view it as like like, yeah, an ownership type thing. It's different. Just asking about what they do and then and some of them it's like it's a private club. I do a lot of videos for this private club. It's like they're not trying to get more members. They're not trying to do this. This is just for their memberships for enjoyment purposes. Same with a lot of sports. It's like you're just kind of doing things to make the fans happy. You're not doing it to be like, hey, let's make this to sell more hot dogs. Like not always, but then I also do stuff for other ones where it is exactly that we want to make this to get a return. So it's, it's fun to be able to try the different things and it does, it takes a few times sometimes to know what they're going for and mold to get what their final outcome is. I love that you brought up how it's important to try different things and understand that it's going to happen where we will fall on our face or the idea will fall on its face, right? I'm knocking on wood with that because so far I have not had a horrible one of those and I feel extremely fortunate because yes, everybody that's how you get better is learning by failure. And I've just been extremely fortunate that I have not had a catastrophic failure because yes, that is how you learn the most. It's true. Yeah. And you know what? I attribute your not having to fall so hard on your face to your listening skills and your investigation skills and your understanding who the person is who you're working with and what it is that they want. I mean, those two go hand in hand, right? When you understand who they are, you're setting yourself up for success or a higher chance of success. Yeah. So as I say, cause there's still that chance with, with all the gear that we use, cameras and all the audio that one thing doesn't work right. And yeah, you kind of can lose the project and or lose the very important thing that only happened once. And I'm very fortunate that that has not happened that I can't believe it on the gear. can only blame it on myself so far. that's very good. Yeah, ooh, my gosh, I can only imagine. Like that would really stink. uh away from weddings. I've been so fortunate to not do wedding. I don't want to do weddings because of that pressure. Somebody's going down the aisle and the mic decides not to turn on or it was on mute and didn't realize like, Nope, I don't want to be part of that. I've never wanted to be into weddings. I'm very fortunate that I have not had to and that's not bashing the industry. It's just not something I want to do. Because yes, there's a lot of people that do it and they love it and and there's good money in it and I but I want to stay away and I'm very fortunate that I have. yeah, I completely resonate with that. I used to do photography on the side. That was a side hustle that I picked up in college. And I did photograph a wedding and it was a lot. It was a lot of pressure and it's just not as fun. with the bride and groom, you're dealing with their families. Like, like, that's gonna be hard for the photographer because now they're all demanding things and you know who you're supposed to listen to. But you want to try to listen to everybody. But that's tough. yeah, yeah, you have so many bosses in that regard. But also there's a financial component too. They've laid down so much money into this thing and it's gotta be great. It's gotta be great, yeah. Whereas like a birthday party or a anniversary party, all right. That's a lot more lax. Over the years, I've kind of found that some people where you give your price your your normal price, and they're like, Okay, you do that. I've, through my industry, I've realized the people that sometimes to be that's, that's too much. Can we do it for this? Can we do it for those are the most demanding clients like it's it. So you learn the respect thing. Like, if they respect you, you're gonna do a great job for that. But then when they start to try to nickel and dime every part of it, it gets really hard. And you still want to do the best job you can, like well, we don't want to use this part. And you're like, Yeah, but I really think it would make your stuff look so much better. And it's like, I don't want to lower my quality. Because somebody just doesn't want to pay as much like it's just, yeah, that gets hard is is when people think that they've spent a lot of money. But with your experience, sometimes you're like, that's nothing. You're you're arguing or fighting for something that is so minimal. Yeah. Yes. The clients who either want a nickel and dime or they're like, hey, I need this tomorrow. I need this ASAP. Oh my goodness, yeah, those clients, they do tend to be the most finicky, difficult to, I would say difficult to work with, the most unreasonable. And what I've found over time is that the easiest way around that is to A, respect yourself. respect your work, right? Understand that the quality that you're delivering is fantastic and it deserves to be paid for. And so with the billing process, I would say with that negotiation, instead of saying, hey, okay, fine, I'll lower my rate or I'll lower the overall cost of this project. Yeah, sure. If your budget is lower than what I'm asking you to pay for in this, for this, the entirety of the project, Okay, let's trim out parts of the project that don't need to be done in order to accomplish your goal. And so now I can still charge a fair price. It's just that the output is tweaked, right? So it's kind of an apples to apples instead of let me sacrifice my quality or let me just sacrifice my self-worth. So the value of this project, with that, I'm, I again, feel extremely fortunate that with the bulk of my repeats, because most of them, that's the thing is like, I'll say 80, 80 % of the work I do is with the same people. I work with amazing people. Again, don't want to like clients, like I get to work with these companies, these people, and they respect me in this. And I don't have the people that haggle or question for things. It's like, Thank uh It's fair. It's like, you know what it is going in and this isn't. Yeah, I just I have great people I work with that that are are very good at that. It's only that one rare time in between things where something pops up. But no, I'm extremely fortunate that I have good people. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. So let's talk about your repeat customer or client or people who you work with versus. See, it's a mouthful, but it's like, just, I don't know, client just sometimes feels so business transactional when I'm like, I love to feel like I'm part of a part of an organization. I am there to, so they don't have to hire somebody on full time and pay all these things. I'm like, I still want to be part of your organization. I just not there every day. And you're acting like a team member. That's how you are processing this information and that is what your output is looking like. That's what it is. Yeah, you're a team member. You are in your client's corner. You are part of their team. Yeah. Yeah, that's beautiful. So you have your 80 % repeat clientele. I'm gonna say clientele because it is a little less mouthful. And then you have your 20 % newbies, right? New clients who are coming in. How do you find your new clients? Where do they come from? all word of mouth. It's all word of word of mouth or you start working with one I do a couple things throughout the year. They it's the official car wash of the Detroit Lions and you're like, okay, so the Lions were like, we have this guy that we use and then so that an opening and then next time they had an opening there. The car wash. El car wash is just contacting me and saying, Hey, can you do this one for Yep. Yep. So it's like it started through the network and meeting people and being a good person and they like you. So when somebody brings it up, yeah, this is we got this one. This is the person we use this who we use. That's it's all been word of mouth. There was only one time in these 10 years that I saw a website for this place down the road. And I was like, you guys don't have any videos. Is there? I do this. And then actually like a three years went by, they nothing ever had and then a new person got there. They're like, we saw these emails about this. do you do this? And then that's the only time I've ever like cold called anyone other than that it's it's people I work with that pass the name onto the others. That is how everyone are 98 % Yes, has been that Yeah, you have become "the plug." You have become the go-to guy for video. What are the key factors for becoming the go-to person, either in the video industry or if we can expand out for any industry? How do you become that go-to? What are the key components? I guess a phrase that I've got picked up, I've done a lot of videos for motivational speakers. And one guy that I talk with him every, every time I drive into a Lions game, I call him. Rob Bell. He's awesome. And the thing he used to say in his talk was, people want to work with friends, like you want to work with friends. So because I get along with so so many people, Yeah, they feel great passing your name for it. I really feel it's just that just being that good person goes so far. I really do. I that's, that's what it's easy to work with. You do feel like you're you treat them like you're part of the team and all that like it. Yes, I just I that's how I really feel like that's how your name gets passed around. It's you can be doing okay work, you could do good work. I think I do good but there's some people that do amazing. maybe they're not as easy to deal with or their prices are really high. It's like maybe I'm just in that sweet spot and being a good person takes you that little bit further. Absolutely. I firmly believe in that too. Absolutely. So when that opportunity came to you in the very beginning from your friend from college, obviously that was brought to you because you had some level of preparedness or know-how. What did you do to set yourself up for that? What did that preparation process look like? The preparation for that really was, I graduated college in 07 and I'm pretty positive. If I look it up again, YouTube came out in 2005, which seems like it's been around our whole lives, but it really isn't that long. So when I got out of school, I just started watching all these tutorials and everything on YouTube that was new. And I just found that I really loved it. And by learning everything I could in After Effects prepared me for when a request would come up. You're like, I can try this. I can do this. I can do this. Like even though I'd watch things, I'm like, I never am going to use this. But then you never know how that skill can translate over to something else. So that's how I was like at least prepared for the work. But then posting up just a few things on social media. Again, that was all new too. around like 2004 was Facebook. So it's like, we were early. Yeah, we were early in those days. And it's like, to be able to put up some of those things, you just put something where they would get a glimpse to see that you're capable that you know, that's that's it. I don't post a lot on social media at all. But I try every once in a while to put something just to show that you exist. And that's so it's like, that's not my strong suit of social media at all. But I want people to know that I exist and that I can do things. That's, that's ultimately it. What I'm hearing is two things. First, you have the technical skillset component. You know how to do the work, or at least you know as much as you can to get into the project and then you learn more as you're doing the project. And then, oh yeah. Like, it's weird. I still feel weird calling what we do art, but it is or at least video. I don't call it art. like graphic design, that's art and illustrations. That's art. That's how I view it. But in a way it is, it's like you don't just learn the skill and you're done. You're constantly learning forever, which is, again, blessing and curse of our industry is you never stop learning. So it's some people are like, I know the skill, I can do it forever. And now we're great. That's not us. You have to constantly learn you, you stop you're, you're old and then yeah, there people aren't gonna ever want you anymore because you're not up to date. So yeah, constantly evolving. That's right. Absolutely. Yep. Yep. And especially with all the new, I'll speak specifically to Adobe, they have rollouts. I feel like every day, there's like a new software update every single day. And so, yeah, we do have to stay on top of these new advancements in the technology. And then also there was a second component to what helps set you up and it sounded like marketing. And it's a very basic level of like, hey, you put yourself out there. That is marketing, right? Bringing yourself to market and putting yourselves in front of people. I you're right. Putting that it's like I always thought it would be like sending papers or something to somebody but it's like, no, you're right. It's like yourself is marketing your marketing yourself because yeah, it's like I haven't made. Yes, I have business cards. But other than that, I'm like, I'm not cold calling people or whatever, which I guess I thought my the classic version of marketing but you're right. Every time we we do it ourselves. We're marketing ourselves with ourselves. Yeah. yeah. Marketing is anytime we put ourselves out there or put our business out there for others to see and get to know and eventually over time become loyal to you and understand like, hey, Anthony Marzilli, he is the go-to guy. Kaila Sachse, you go to her if you want graphic design. that is part of branding and branding is like a sub component of marketing. The cold calling, that is... a little more sales department, but they are so intertwined. to we still have to sell ourselves. So that's where I always I use that word is selling ourselves. Like, yes, I'm not selling a physical good. We are selling ourselves every time you you are your you we are our brand. We are our market like our marketing team. That's that's what I can offer is myself to. Yeah, that's the only branding I know how to give is myself for the most part. Yes, yes. I love the way that you're describing it because it's in such an attainable, relaxed way. sometimes when we think about marketing or sales or branding and all these words that can feel heavy, we do think about sending out all the papers and posting on billboards and all these big tasks, but it doesn't have to be. Sales can simply look like putting yourself in front of someone and just saying, hey, how was your day? How was your day building that relationship? That's it. That is sales. I love how you said that because there's so many, a few of the places I go on just always like, I get how work's going, but how are you doing? I do that so many times because like the people I've worked with them for so many years, I'm like, I care more about you. Work can get frustrating, but I want to know how you're doing. And I genuinely do. So when I'm asking those people that, that's not trying to sell my business. That's just me being myself, but I guess it still reflects your business at the same time. But yeah, I love just checking in. people and seeing how they're doing. That is so cool to hear. I held this belief for the longest when I started working for myself that I have to be almost like a robotic version of myself, like take in the client's information, process it, produce an output, and rinse and repeat. You know, it was very transactional. And it wasn't until I met clients who introduced the concept to me of humanity. and saying, hey, there is imperfection in life and we are allowed to talk about it and we are allowed to share what's going on in life. It wasn't until that that I realized, oh, there is a completely different way of doing business that is actually way more enjoyable. So I love how you are practicing that and you are evidence that it works. You're, yeah. have been having these conversations a little bit before this recording and we are doing that to each other the whole time. So it's like we, can tell it's authentic though that none of us forced. We're just having those conversations because that's just who we are. it was so, but it's also nice that that's how either you as a person or as a, as your company or business, that's how you're viewed. And I think That can be very beneficial. Can't help, that's just who we are. Yeah, yeah, I think so too. I think so too. There's definitely this view of professionalism, right? When you think of professionalism, what do you think of? You think of like the suit and tie, showing up, not expressing any emotion, enthusiasm, none of it, right? But in reality, professionalism may be the antithesis to good business. maybe there's something to dive into there and rebrand professionalism in a new way so that it's not the antithesis to business, but instead it works in conjunction with it. there. you're saying that professionalism, that what's interesting about that is I don't there's not a hard definition. So what somebody is also probably thinking is professional isn't like. So when I when somebody is like, oh, we're to shoot at noon, I'll be like, all right, I'll be there at 11 to start setting up. That's the stuff I do. But other people might not always do that. Or you walk in and talk for a minute when others might be like, OK, where do you want me to be? like. But that could be professionalism, just getting right to work. So it all, I think it just depends on the organization that you're with and the people that you're around is just reading the room, I guess we'll put it that way, knowing what is asked and what is requested and desired. Yeah, yeah. Going back to that key concept, understanding your market, understanding your people, who are you working with? One thing I also love about the things I get to do. One, the athletic club. I'm showing up in a suit. Lions, especially in the summertime, shorts and a t shirt that like you dress for the job for who you are. And other times I'm wearing all the pants, long sleeve shirts and steel toes boots to go work for this client like That's just what it is. So it's cool to go different places and like you say, read the room and being like, when I go here, this is this is what I am. When I go here, this is what I am. This is that. mean, still, you're the same person. But yes, again, you're thinking more into the organization of how can I be the most appropriate and look like I belong? Yeah. my gosh. I love that so much. My favorite part of my, we'll call it job, right, of my work is to be able to work with different industries and express myself according to each industry. So it's like you say, like we are still ourselves, but we get to play different roles of ourselves. And it's really fun. It's so fun. And I also love like getting to learn about each industry and dive into it further. best part. I tell those every new one to go into I go this is the best part. I don't know any of this stuff. So I'm going to ask a lot of questions because I just want to learn. I love it. in our career, who gets to do that other people go sit in an office a lot of the time and do the same thing over and over. I'm like, we get to learn so much about so many different things that we didn't even know existed. It's awesome. yeah. And you know what's like extra fun is like you get to learn about all these different topics and now you go out into the world and you can talk to almost anybody about almost anything because you have something to share about that topic. You have some sort of experience or whatever. one of my favorite parts. And I say it out loud when I go to a place that I know nothing about him, like I want to learn this is so cool. Yeah. And I guess that's also good for a client in a way sometimes, sometimes good and bad, but going in with fresh eyes, going the things that they see over and over and over that they might be just glancing over we're going and seeing for the first time going that looks important to me when really they might be like, that's nothing, but I'm from an outsider, you might be like, that's exciting. Yeah. That is the benefit of hiring out, right? And working with other people. And so I would be speaking from your client's point of view right now. That would be the benefit of hiring Anthony because Anthony comes in with his fresh perspective, his point of view, and now we have a more well-rounded conversation about how to strategize on this X, Y, Z, whatever it is. So that's absolutely a benefit And yeah, of course, there is a base level of skill set that is needed, right? And that is what you're coming in with. You're also coming in with that fresh eye on the industry. And it and also being that we'll say the friendly people that we are, then you go, I know, I don't know a lot about your industry or what we're doing. What is is there something that is extremely important that I that I could be overlooking? Or like, so you know, I just have those conversations, like you say, I might sound like I don't know anything, but it's going, point out those things that I could be missing being a new person in here. So it's like, again, it's just being vulnerable to possibly asking dumb questions, but to me they're not dumb because it's just, it's just being vulnerable to ask questions that might seem obvious, just ask. It hasn't hurt me. I don't think so. I can absolutely tell you, because I have people who I hire and who work with me on different client projects. And my favorite trait of someone who works with me is someone who asks me a question that may or may not be "silly." I put that in air quotes, because at the end of the day, there is no dumb question. I would prefer somebody to ask me than to assume and go in a completely different direction than where the goal is. So absolutely okay to ask questions. that's a sign of strength, if anything. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love it, I love it. So let's dive into our lightning round. So for you, Mr. Self-Employed, working with all of these crazy big names, what does your daily schedule look like? How does that all work? uh I take my kids to school and that's a great part of being able to do this. It was daycare at times that was expensive and horrible. I'm glad it was done. Take my kids to school and I'm now back at like 8 30 and get my cup of coffee, sit down, check emails. And then once I get my mind kind of set, I'd start working on whatever project I got, which is a lot of editing. That's that. And then I pick up my kids from school. They now are in two different schools with their ages. two, three o'clock I'm getting one four o'clock I'm getting the other and sometimes still sitting down till like seven, eight o'clock. That's the thing. It's not like an hours. I don't count hours. It's just getting a project done and you just take the time with whatever you have to get done. I like to try to go to bed around 10. That's my thing. How old are your kids again? I have two kids. My son Noah is 11 and my daughter Lucy is eight. Got it, got it. And when they were little, what did childcare look like? You mentioned daycare? Yep. ah So because when Noah was born, when so when he was young, my wife's a teacher, so she's in school and I worked for the Pistons at Comcast and the Pistons. And so yes, we had to use daycare. and it was great for social and all that stuff. And then also to be able to focus at work. you can't sit and work with the little kids around you when you have so many hours of editing you need to get done. then, no, and then when Lucy was born, that was three months after I went on my own. like that was, I knew it was coming and that's just a scary time. but yeah, she was in daycare as early as possible. So it was a lot of daycare. then once they're in school age, I've been driving and picking up as long as we can. And that's why I take a lot of pride in my I always wanted to be a dad as long as I can remember like middle school wanted to be a dad. So I take a lot of pride and dropping my kids and dropping them off picking them up. ah They might find me annoying right now but I'm hoping in 10-20 years they'll look back at me like man my dad was there all the time because right now I'm just the mean guy or the you know because the parents always there. Like I'm the one that's always trying to be there as much as I can. Oh, beautiful. What are some things that you do to set them up for success? know, because as a parent, our role is to help raise kids into eventual adults. What are you implementing now or what have you implemented to help set them up? it's kind of cool that I keep repeating the same thing. Be a good person. That's what I always say be nice to everybody. Be a good person. That that can go a long way. That really is it. Like I'm not usually teaching technical things. My son did want to do a YouTube page for a while and I was like, not against it. I'm like, all right, but if you're going to do it, what is going to make you different than other people? What's going to make you special? What's it like? I'm trying to open their mind a little bit. But yeah, that's I just always am always repeating over and over. Be a good person. Please. Thank you. Kind to everybody. People will notice. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And what is something that you do to nourish your relationship with them so that the three of you are bonded? Soccer takes up a lot of time right now. So they're both in soccer. we have that. um Bonding, it definitely gets more fun as they're older. And how old is yours? Mine is two and a half, so he's like, yeah. it's like when they get a little older, it gets a lot of fun. Like, now my son like he didn't it wasn't into sports when he was like five, but then all of sudden from like six to seven, all of sudden got into it. And I'm like, Oh, well, I know a lot about that. And so it's like, as they get older, you get to share those experiences and the hobbies that you have and all that. But it's also fun that to be interested in what they're doing when it has nothing to do with your knowledge, like I Yeah. And I love like my daughter, she's so good at writing and drawing. And, I just love seeing what she does. And it's just being interested in what they want, even though it has nothing to do with anything I know. And yeah, that's it. I gotta be, I guess, willing to learn and wanting to learn and seeing that and just being in awe and watching and seeing what yeah, that's, that's really it. I just I watched them and just being on and try to play with what they enjoy. I just try to be part of part of their enjoyment. Yeah, you're diving into their worlds. That's really cool. That's very cool. And it sounds like you have a wife, so you have uh a partner. Yeah. So what do you do to nourish your relationship with Lindsay? Because running your own business is a lot and being a dad is a lot. say with that, it's especially with the soccer when they have soccer four days a week, five days a week. It's when I'm home, then she's maybe dropping them off and then she's coming home. I'm dropping them off. And then all three of them are kind of picky eaters. So it's like they're picking something. And I was like, OK, well, that's what I have. it's it we get busy, but we just enjoy each other's time. it's but at the same time, we have our different interests. She likes watching her TV shows. I'm not a big TV person. But I don't think we have to keep doing the exact same thing to enjoy each other and respect each other and know that she's an amazing mom. So yeah, we're just it's a lot of running around just trying to take care of four lives. And just like I feel bad when I have a shoot where I'm like, I'm going to be gone from eight in the morning or nine, I'll be like, I can drop the kids off and then you got to worry about pickup or something like that. So it is. It's just a lot of partner tag teaming to try to get life done. That's it. But she's such an amazing mom and such a patient person. I think we do pretty well together. that's really it. We don't get a ton of time. alone or just with us or going out places because we also love our kids like we love being parents. So we like to do things with our kids. Yeah. like you are recognizing that at this point in your lives, things are just going to be busy. And sometimes you will be passing ships in the night and that just that's what life is looking like right now. And that's okay. you absolutely get I say that to so many like new parents when they're having I'm like, look, this is just a period of time that in two years, three years, all those daycare bills, because you have two in there right now are going to be gone because they're going to be in school and then this and then that like, everything is just a time period, every nothing is forever. So you just take the times for what you have. And then when that phase is done, then the next thing can happen and you find interests. do what you want to do when the next period shows up. Yeah, yeah, it's real. Yeah, and they're all just different phases. So that's the one we're in right now. It's just the and we hear so many parents with that. It's like, yeah, you're or the phrase soccer mom. And it's like, that's any sport, like they you can use that for any sport, but it's like, nope, you're constantly running to practices and games and this and that's just this time of our life right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, very well said. Anthony, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, your words of wisdom. I'm taking that last one with me. That's gonna stick with me. That's a really good one too. Oh man. hard ones right now. One of those hard periods. Those are the hard times. You are telling me, you know, I will say, I will say like newborn phase is not for the weak. Oh my gosh, newborn phase can just go somewhere else. I did not. sit up and entertain themselves for at least a half hour and you can get something done. Like, yeah, when they're young, it's all on you. my gosh, it's so intense. And then I'll say like, yeah, right around like the six month mark, I feel like we rounded a corner. At the one year mark, we rounded another corner. And now like. all just a period, a phase. Yeah. Yes, yes. my gosh. Yeah, yeah. It's like looking. then when you get to like you say two you can put on a TV show and you'd be like okay cool I can get something done for an hour because they can watch Blippi like whatever it's like you get something done because they can now focus on something for a little bit and don't have to be held. Yes, oh my gosh, try doing dishes while carrying a baby in front of you. It's just impossible and backbreaking. It's terrible. So, yeah, that's like a whole thing too. Sorry, baby. We'll just, sorry, baby. uh on the back. I was thinking of the front holders where you have them in front of you. Yeah. yeah, because that's the only way that my son would be carried. He did not want to be on my back. He wanted to be right in the mix. the back. We had the front one. My wife would wear the front one and but no, they went strollers, I guess. But yeah, you can't do dishes with baby in a stroller in your house. That's weird. Right? So basically, moral of the story is get a dishwasher. I don't know, like, is that how we get things done? have to wash the pots and pans. Those aren't gonna fit. Yeah, I still got to do them. Yes. Wow, we're having grown up talk right now. Yes, yes, we are. Thank you. Thank you for the laughs. Thank you for everything. there, where can people find you by the way? Are you on Instagram, LinkedIn? Where are you? Like I say, I'm not huge on social media. When I do post some things, there's some stuff for work. But yes, just my name, Anthony.Marzilli on Instagram. then Anthony Marzilli is my website. And I also have like a company one because it's like sometimes people want more of an agency where they're like, oh, we just want to know we're covered. I'm like, well, I work with all these people. So I made a brand name as well. So it's like I haven't, it's still mainly me, but it still can make it look bigger when you're like, yeah, we can show up with four people easy. It's like, that's just what we do. Yep. But it took me, it took me nine years before I finally did the side other company name. Like I was like, cause I never knew what this was going to be starting out, like call it on your own. thought I'd just be available when people needed edits. not really realizing how it could grow or mold to I had nobody to ask those things to or learn from I just was I've been learning it along the way. And so yeah, it's like I now was the time that a mutual friend of ours helped me make websites and get those those brands up. So so now I at least have that as well. is Richard Dodds. He's amazing. Go look him up. Yeah, yeah. He's amazing. He's helped in so many ways. So yeah, he's he's awesome. I didn't know if you want to name drop, but I'm very okay with that. gonna name drop him all day. He has helped so much with this show and he's just like, he's such a gem. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Amazing. my logos and making my websites and getting them up so I can just maintain them. He does all the legwork so I can do everything. So yes, he helped me make up another brand name as well for More Than Makers is what I was calling it. So that way we can look bigger than what I am. Yeah. Yeah. friends. You can find Anthony on Instagram. You can find him on his website or his agency website. Anthony, thank you for everything. We'll talk soon. Of course.