Bill Rancic on Entrepreneurship, RPM & Life After The Apprentice | Ep. 34

In Episode 34 of The Pat McGann Show, the original Apprentice winner (and future canonized saint) joins Pat to share how a South Side Chicago entrepreneur turned a bold risk into a career spanning television, bestselling books, motivational speaking, and the wildly successful RPM restaurant empire. From launching a cigar-of-the-month club in a tiny apartment to proposing to Giuliana in a helicopter over Chicago, Bill proves that sometimes the best business plan starts with simply saying “yes.”

The conversation dives into life after The Apprentice, building restaurants with the iconic Lettuce Entertain You team, giving back through philanthropy, meeting Neil Armstrong, and embracing the unexpected twists of fame and family life. It’s equal parts inspiration, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and classic Chicago charm—with lots of laughs along the way.

🎧 New episodes every Thursday — filmed at Tiege Hanley Studios in Chicago.

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🎤 Guest: Bill Rancic
Instagram: @billrancic

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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Kelley Thornton
PRODUCER - Paula Thornton
SHOWRUNNER - Tom Bambara
VIDEO AND AUDIO EDITOR - Madeline Curless
AUDIO ENGINEER - Tommy Grant
VIDEO PRODUCER - Eddie Perez
ORGANIC CONTENT MANAGER - George Moster

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's episode 34 of the Pat McGann Show. This week, Pat is joined by entrepreneur Bill Rancick. The Pat McGann Show, as always, is brought to you by Tiege Hanley, Uncomplicated Skincare for Men. And now, here's Pat.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Hey, we're back, guys. What a nice little break. I hope you felt it. We didn't stop with the content though. We had a few episodes drop. Um, but now we're back on track. We're uh what April 14th? What is it? Is it the 14th? And what a guest we had today. We're jumping right in. It doesn't get more. This is an on the nose booking guest. Chicago, you got it all. Uh Bill Rancig is joining us. Bill, great to see you, man.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Good to see you.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Really? I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

No, this is great. Congratulations on the podcast. Oh, thank you, dude.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

This is awesome. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Yeah, Zeus is here. He's our little our la our latest rescue. So for those of you who don't know, my wife's Juliana, she is a dog uh rescue advocate recently in life. Yeah. And now we are And how does she rescue?

SPEAKER_02 0:59

She rescues and then hands them to you?

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Uh well, we have four and a half dogs in our house right now. Yeah. So we have Duke, we have Leonardo DePudle, who is 15. He's three has three legs, no teeth, and he sleeps 22 hours a day. Really? And then we have Fifi, George, and Muffin. Oh my God. It's it's the Humane Society. Yeah, yeah. I like the mix of names there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Leonardo's got a few. Leonardo. Leonardo DePudle. Depoodle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

His tongue hangs out because he doesn't have any teeth. He's the cutest little thing. I'll have to send you a picture of him.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

And he's got three legs.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Three legs gets around, but sleeps most of the day.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

He's old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had a three-legged dog when I was growing up. I would walk to school and there was a you know just a stray? Just a no, it was a family dog that was just trusted. Oh. You know? Yeah. And then one one day it was like, oh, he doesn't have as many legs as he had the other.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

Last time I saw him. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

But still hanging out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

Yeah. This guy gets around pretty good. Zeus is a great name. Zeus is a great dog. So we're fostering dogs, but we're failing at the fostering because we wind up keeping them. Yeah. Um you get attached. I love this guy. He follow he comes with me everywhere. So we had him we're kind of we're training him to be a service dog. Um and he's do you say that just so you could take him everywhere? No, no, no. Because initially I I was going to foster him and then you know, these dogs are so smart, I thought, man, what a great thing to have for a veteran or someone who's suffering, you know, with anxiety. And these dogs are incredible. Like they can sense a panic attack and they'll lay on you at night. I mean, it's what these dogs, these German shepherds can do is phenomenal. So that was my initial intent. Like, let's raise him and we'll give him to a like a veteran.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Do you work with any like programs that are doing that? Like because I know uh Paws in Chicago does some great work.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Paul is amazing. Yeah, the founder of Paws. My wife works really closely with them, and they've been great. They've been helping us place a lot of dogs. So LA has this shelter crisis where I don't know what's going on there, but there's a lot of backyard breeders and they're just abandoning these dogs anymore. So um we've been sponsoring these flights every month and shipping 300 dogs out a month and placing them in homes where they're not gonna get killed. Because in LA they euthanize these dogs. And just it's really sad. Wow, dude. That's incredible. He was gonna be euthanized. Well, we we have a plane we don't have a plane, but there's uh a company that will transport the dogs on planes and drop them off, and it's incredible the amount of volunteers that come out and then place these dogs in great homes. They're beautiful. I mean, they're amazing dogs.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

You know, I was not a dog guy growing up.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

I never had did you have a dog? I had a little dog, but they were my three older sisters, and they were really kind of his dog. Oh, okay. He was their dog.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Yeah, yeah. You know. Now I have a dog. Yeah. Now I'm into dogs a lot more. And uh I actually did a gig for paws. Oh, you did? And it's very like emotional. They were, you know, it has the cigar McLaughlin vibe, you know, these dogs are hidden. It's a whole story. Somebody was up there giving a testimonial about and then this one of these gigs that I you gotta do sometimes. You go from that to all right, who's ready for some comedy? That's a tough audience to turn.

SPEAKER_03 4:08

Yeah, I remember it because of the fact that those are the ones you we were at their event with you this summer, and man, like it was so emotional, and it was it was something, yeah. They they do a great job though. They're amazing.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Yeah, they do good work, yeah. And uh it's great to have Zeus here. It's the first canine we've had on the show. We gotta get a photo with Zeus. We'll put them on the wall. Yeah, I would love that. Um but yeah, we're back. Uh we took a little break. I don't know if you had an Easter, I call it uh Easter break. I'm trying to bring that back.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Spring break.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Now it's spring break.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

We had I grew up, went to St. Michael's. Yeah. So we had Easter break.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Dude, I just saw that, and I think I had heard that back in the day because obviously you've been on my radar a long time, and we've met a few times. We know each other now for going back years. Yeah. Well, with RJ and Jared. Yes. And even I think I first met you in uh Rosemont at uh Sebastian.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Sebastian, yeah, you're right. You did, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

And I saw Juliana meet Sebastian. That should have been.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Can I did someone have footage of that somewhere? That was like a moment. So Juliana's interviewed the biggest stars in the world. Yeah. I mean, Clooney, you name it. Like she did the red carpet for over 20 years. And I surprised her for her birthday. And this was when Sebastian was still kind of he wasn't doing the arenas. This was at the Rosemont Eater. She was so nervous. Like she left her, she's like, What happened to me? I fell apart. Like she was like fangirl, like uh stuttering, and it was hilarious. And it was so great.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

You were great. Well, she doesn't get it doesn't get more Italian than than your wife. No. And then feeling that vibe, like that was uh it was like I remember both of us were kind of like what's going on. We weren't Italian enough to relate.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

It was a different world, yeah. And she's right off the boat, like she was born in Italy. So she came to America and she was like eight years old. So that's gotta be does she talk about that a lot, like how challenging that must have been. Yeah, you know, she um they came to America on a vacation and they pulled into her uncle's house. This is when our borders were wide open. Well, no, no, no, no. They came legally. They came legally. That's just a joke. And they uh the uncle had left Italy and came to America and opened up a restaurant in DC and was super successful. Wow. And they get out of the taxi from Dulles Airport, and in the driveway, the uncle has a Rolls Royce in this big home. And her father got out of the taxi and said, We're moving to America, because if this guy can do it, I sure as hell can do it. And then they went back and got their stuff and did all the paperwork, whatever they had to do, and they came to America. And they have done well, they've done well, yeah. That's a that's incredible. That's how they opened up men's clothing stores throughout DC, and it was the American dream.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

You know and what were you doing at this time? Because you are a South Side guy. You're from Orland Park. You mentioned going to St. Mike's. Yeah. Are you still connected to the South Side much?

SPEAKER_03 6:51

I mean a little bit. You know, my mom lives in like the Burr Ridge area. My sisters kind of live southwest, so I still go back. You know, I do some work uh at a food pantry in Summit. So I go down to on Archer Avenue there. Okay, there and help out at the food pantry and stuff. So I get down to the city. Dude, you are helping out so I did I need to do more, trust me. Come on. But stop at El Farol. You ever been to El Farol? No, no, no. You've never been to El Farol burritos? No. Oh my god. Where's it at? 63rd and Archer Avenue in Summit, Illinois. It's open 24 hours a day. Have you any of you guys been to El Farol? Oh my God. It's an institution.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Do you have to be a little banged up to go in there? Uh well when I was younger, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

When I was younger, you'd go there and there was always a fight out in the street. Yeah, yeah. But it's the most incredible burrito you'll ever eat. Oh, yeah. Well check that out.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

All right. Hey guys, quick question. Are you washing your face with the same soap you wash your car with? Do you shower in the driveway too? It's time to step things up. That's why I like Tiege Hanley. It's a super simple skincare system made for guys. Cleanse, moisturize, exfoliate. It's all laid out so you don't have to think about it. Just a few minutes a day, and your skin actually looks better. Head to Tiege.com slash Pat for 40% off and a free gift. Start taking care of your face like an adult. That's Tiege.com slash Pat. So we got um you got St. Michaels. Then you go to Sandberg High School. Go to Sandberg. Loyola. Loyola. University. Yes, sir. And I g remember reading all your backstory because you burst on the scene uh in what, 2004? 2004, yeah. With the apprentice. Yeah. And that kind of like shifted everything. It did. What was how did you find yourself on that show?

SPEAKER_03 8:39

It's funny. So a girl I went to Loyola with, uh, Ileana Romero, um, her married name. Uh her mom was a talent agent in Chicago. Um, Myrna Salazar was her name, God rest her soul. She passed away recently. Incredible woman. But she was a talent agent for children. Um, and she called me up one day and she said, Hey, there's a new show. They're looking for young entrepreneurs, and you know, this could be really good for you. Like, you just sold your company, you're an entrepreneur. And uh I said, And what was the company you just sold? I had sold cigars around the world, so it was a monthly um subscription-based business. I started in 1994, right out of college, where every month you'd get five cigars sent to your home, a newsletter, cigar cutter, gift card, you know, and then every month you'd get these packages sent to their home. Were you a big cigar guy? I wasn't. Really? No, I am now though. Yeah, yeah. So later in life, I kind of enjoy a cigar from time to time.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

What's a good recommend a cigar for us? Like a $20, $25 Arturo Fuente is a good one. That was a good one?

SPEAKER_03 9:38

Yeah, you can there's a lot of good cigar shops in Chicago now, too. There's a great one on Wells.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Right next to Zany's.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Yeah, right next to Zany's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That that's been there forever. Up down. Up down, yeah. Yeah. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Yeah, that's a good spot. I never was b big into cigars other than like, you know, some swish or sweets on the golf course when I was 15.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

I you know why I like it now? Because you can get a bunch of guys together and we have a group of guys, and it's like, when do you have 45 minutes where you're just gonna sit around and shoot the breeze? You know, it kind of forces you. So I like guys will come over to my house and we'll sit out in the the porch and it's 45 minutes, you know. Great group. So like RJ, you know, RJ lives next door to me, so he'll come over. Really? Yeah, he's a big cigar guy. He's a great, great, great hang.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

That's fun, dude. Yeah, but it kind of screws up my voice. That's why it's kind of like a few. Well, the next morning you're your toast. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

I don't care how many times you brush your teeth, it's you're you're done.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Yeah, you get yourself and this kind of ahead of time. The them sending out stuff, yeah, subscription.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

It was very early.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Yeah. I had heard about these guys who did beer across America, and my brother-in-law had done some work with them. They were ex uh Arthur Anderson guys or Anderson Consulting guys, and they started beers across America. They lived up in Barrington, and I thought, damn, what a great idea. And then I was kind of brainstorming, and I took a job out of college that I didn't really enjoy, and I knew I was an entrepreneur because I started small businesses throughout college and stuff like that. And then uh I came up with this idea, and a buddy of mine and I opened up uh our world headquarters in his 400 square foot studio apartment, and uh neighbors were thrilled. Uh-huh. And we got seven one-eight hundred phone lines piped in, and I got some used desks and some used computers for my brother-in-law, and then um we were ready to launch. And I went in and I quit my job at the metals company I was working at, and uh the two owners laughed at me and they said, That's the craziest idea. You're gonna be back here in six weeks because you're gonna run out of money. And I was pissed. And uh I got back to our headquarters and I sat down at my computer and I wrote a letter and I sent this letter explaining the company, and I asked for help. And I sent it to Jonathan Branmeyer's radio show. Remember Johnny B? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And two weeks later, his producer called me up. Uh Carol Harman was her name, and she said, Branmeyer, we'll have you on a show for five minutes. She said, make your five minutes count. And I went to the John Hancock studio the day I was supposed to, and I met Branmeyer and we hit it off. And my five minutes turned into 35 minutes at the heart of morning rush hour, right? When you're everyone was in their car. We didn't have satellite radio at the time. And he was going on and on. He'd said he'd been a member of the Cigar of the Month Club for years. So I'm like, oh my God. Like this is and uh kept giving out the 1-800 number, and I sprinted back to our apartment. It was at Division in Lakeshore, and uh every phone in the the apartment was ringing. And I pick up the first phone I could get my hands on, and this lady ordered a 12-month subscription. And I literally had to stop and I had to say, Lady, are you are you sure? It's like 40 bucks a month.

SPEAKER_04 12:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

And she was sure, and then I hung up the phone and I looked over at my partner. I said, We're gonna be in business for at least a year because we've got a 12-month subscription we need to fulfill. But from that one interview, we did over a hundred thousand dollars in sales. Wow. Yeah, it was incredible. It changed my life, Branmeyer.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

I mean, that is wow because that those days are over. They're all you could go on a morning radio show and move the needle like that. And that speaks to how big Johnny B was at that time. And you've spent reference on here a few times. We had G and Greck go on and talked about like that era of Mankow.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Oh, yeah, I did all the morning shows, and then I went and went to LA and New York and did radio, and it was free. Like I was just hustling, you know, because I my parents were school teachers. I didn't have a trust fund, I didn't have like we muscled together twenty thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

But you must have picked up a work ethic from your family and some kind of drive that you maybe just were born with. Are you the oldest in your family? You're the youngest.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Three older sisters.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Dude.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

And you got the hustle? You got the hustle. You got three older sisters. You could have been coasting.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah, no. My dad worked two jobs. He was the superintendent of schools in Pales Heights. Yeah. And then he was on the weekends, he would teach college courses at Loyola. And then my mom was Oh, that's how you got into Loyola? Uh I got in Oh, I didn't get into Loyola. I went to Bradley my freshman year. Did you really? And then I had to transfer in and I got free tuition. Um, you know, so it was kind of great. Uh and then I, you know, I paid for my room and board and I started a boat cleaning business uh in the summers because I had to pay for you know all the other things that were associated with it because my parents, you know, dude, the hustle in you. So I I had a boat cleaning business in New Buffalo, Michigan, and down here and what was driving you?

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Did you want to make money? Did you wanna yeah?

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Yeah, I wanted to to be in business, I wanted to make money. Um I was infatuated by it. My my dad's brother, my uncle, when I was younger, gave me a subscription to the Rob Report magazine. You know what that is? It's this magazine where they have it's like a lifestyle magazine for the rich. Oh like all these fancy cars and helicopters and and I was just like, damn. You can have that life. And I didn't think I could. And when I started the boat business, I got to meet a lot of wealthy people because they all own the yachts in the different harbors.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

And I realized, well, shoot, if these they're they're not there's nothing different about them than me. And uh it gave me a lot of confidence because I realized if they could do it, I could do it. Because growing up, my parents were educators, so they the only adults that really came into my life were fellow educators. You know, we didn't they weren't hanging out with entrepreneurs or CEOs, you know, that wasn't part of their sphere.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

What was your like early, what was had your attention as a kid? Were you into sports? Were you playing? I was, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Yeah, loved sports. Um, still do. Uh I was on the first ever varsity volleyball team at Carl Sandberg. Nice varsity volleyball team. I wrestled for a couple of years, didn't didn't love that. Um I gotta cut weight and you know it was get the skin disease, get empathy, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:33

Rolling around on the mats.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

Yeah, exactly. That aren't cleaned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So it was it was good, it was fun. You know, great upbringing. I loved growing up on the south side and my parents were amazing, like very normal, you know, which isn't that normal anymore.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah, right. And then you get the uh break on apprentice and seize the moment. Right. And this is another show that you know, to put it in perspective, this is when everybody was watching the same stuff. It was with the water cooler show.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

It was early on in reality TV. Yeah. I mean, this is 24 years ago. This is the second Burnett reality thing Survivor just coming out and then Apprentice.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Apprentice was second.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Yeah. So this my friend's mom, Myrna Salazar, called me up and she goes, This show's great. I said, I I'm not really interested in being in a reality show. Like you know, it's not my thing. And she says, Well, I made you an appointment on Thursday at three o'clock, you better be there.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

So it was in person, you know, to like set a tape in.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

They flew people in, they were interviewing people, and I did this interview, and uh they had uh 215,000 people apply.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Holy cow.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

And they narrowed it down and I got called to be part of the final fifty. And this is interesting because back then they would fly the fifty finalists to LA for a week. You were sequestered in a hotel room, and they would pull you in and out for all these different meetings, and they you had to go through all these tests, an IQ test, psychological test. They had to give me this physical examination, like what what am I? It's not the bachelor, you know, it was weird.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

Um and who was involved in that? It was weird. Everyone's gotta take their clothes off. Bend over and cough, you know, once over.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Right and then um I went through the week of testing, and then I got pulled into a room with a guy named Mark Burnett who created these shows. Yeah. And uh, much to my surprise, I was um the 17th contestant. I was the alternate. So remember when you were a kid and you were the last one picked for the team, it sucked. I was worse than the last one picked. So they were they had sixteen, and if someone failed to be like, And they told you this, yeah. You're the alternate. Wow. So then I guess someone failed the drug test. I don't know what what went on. They called me off the bench and they said, You have two weeks, you gotta be in New York, and you can't tell anyone what you're doing, because this was very secretive. You know, they didn't want the cast to get out, they didn't want anything to get out, and uh I had to come up with a story, and I told all my friends and my family that I was going to Cuba for two months to buy tobacco fields for the cigar business. And I thought I hung out with some sharp guys, these guys believe me. Like it's against the law back then. I couldn't even go to Cuba, you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

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SPEAKER_03 18:45

Put your best face forward. And I go to New York and that was it, man. It was it was the throttle down, it was no sleep for, you know, I don't know, it was like eight weeks, I think, seven or eight weeks of taping. It was pretty intense. And we lived in this uh constructed apartment in Trump Tower, and they would keep the lights on at night intentionally, because they wanted you to have sleep depriv, you know, it was great drama, you know, sleep deprivation.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Oh, so they were trying to agitate you a little bit, get you under pressure, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

It was brilliant, you know. It was great, you know, and it was um it was the first season, and then we uh finished it in late October, and the first episode aired in January. And we had to be under wraps, couldn't tell anyone, couldn't talk to anyone. And at this point you knew that you would I knew I was in the final two. Okay. The final episode was live at the Saturn Life Studio. So I had to wait until mid-April to find out if I won or not. So we finished end of October. I had to wait until mid-April if you know who he was gonna pick. So and it was me and a guy who went to Harvard. So I was this, you know, South Side, you know, small business owner, and this guy had his Bradley transfer? Yeah, Bradley. Yeah, he had his MBA from Harvard. He was smart guy, you know, really sharp guy, and we battled it out. And and then um we had 25 million people watching that show every week. It was crazy. Like it was someone flipped a switch. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

And here, locally, it was like, hey, this guy is from here.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

He's a Tinley dude. We used to do vi viewing parties at Ditka's, you know, um, because I was a fan, obviously. Yeah, right. So it was great for him because he got and he would be there, he would be there. National TV would be there, you know, to these parties. It was great, you know. I wanted to support the local, you know, local businesses.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

What a shift for you. And now you have like a lot of decisions to make.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Yeah, it was uh it was weird because after I won, um, I got ushered away by these handlers and I had to go on a two-week tour of press. I did the Jay Leno show and Ellen and Larry King, and I'll never forget I was ushered through JFK Airport and it was I didn't know it was like sensory overload. Like I didn't expect to have that notoriety and like they were. So everyone recognized. I had a six it would and then when I got off the plane in LA to go do Jay Leno, they'd walk it was paparazzi. I mean, it was just like it was something that was incredible to experience.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

And who were you talking to or sharing this with? Like, is anyone going through this with you? Are you able to- Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

I had to be they I just went by myself, you know. Yeah, that's a lie. You know, went on the Today show with the same suit that I wore for the finale of The Apprentice. Oh, really? Because I I didn't know what I was doing, they didn't tell me I didn't pack properly. So literally, I didn't sleep that night. And uh and I went and did the Jay Leno show, and it was incredible because I grew up watching Carson and Leno, and here I am walking out of the curtains, like, how the hell did this happen? You know, it was just like it was it was amazing. It was true.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Not too many people have had that experience. And what are the what is the thing that you want? You want a a a job, yeah, you gotta you brought on to build Trump Tower. Here in Chicago, right? Right. Yeah. And was there a prize too? Was there like a cash?

SPEAKER_03 22:01

I got a nice salary.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Um, and uh I got to work. Like some people get a million dollar check. I got a job.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

And were you kind of like I gotta work? No, I'm waiting to learn.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

No, I wanted to learn a celebrity. Yeah, no, no, no. I I loved it. It was I like I like the hustle. I like learning. I grew a lot, you know. I mean, to be able to be part of a high-rise building.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

And did this feel like a beginning for you?

SPEAKER_03 22:22

It must have felt like uh this is now I'm on a I'll never forget the night before the finale. Uh I was out in Central Park jogging with my college roommate, guy named Adam Angievsky. Gotta rest his soul. Oh man, sorry. Yeah, he get the calcium heart check. He went to bed one night and didn't wake up because he had blockage and he was an athlete. You know, the guy was a marathon runner.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

But I have a friend who just went through the exact same thing. And it is yeah, that's a PSA. Yeah, no, it's a hundred dollar.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Colonoscopy, get your arteries checked. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But um I went I went running in Central Park and I said, Man, if I could make this last three months, wouldn't that be something? Because I I didn't I didn't know. I'm like, if I can milk this for three months, you know, and I thought that would really be incredible. You know, and then they asked me to come back on the show as a judge, and I did that for five more seasons. Wow. Um and it was like I'm on TV every Thursday night, like friends is our lead-in. Like it was it was wild, man. So it it turned into a T a career in television, you know, which I didn't expect, you know, which was really something.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

And just a career change, life change. What were um what was it like, you know, being you at that time? You would go to dinner, people would just be all over you, you'd be yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

It was I love I love people. Yeah I mean I we still go into the RPMs and me and Juliana and I view it as a privilege. You know, when I see some of these people who are in the public eye and they won't sign an autograph or take a picture, I'm like, well, you don't deserve all the other things that come with it because that's part of the program. I mean, you know, I mean you're opening it in arenas and doing arena gigs, like it's it's a it's a privilege. And I was very grateful. Like I just I kept thinking, all right, 30 more days, 30 more days, you know. This this shit's gonna end. And you know, I'm twenty two, three years into this, you know. Yes. How old were you at that time? Uh I was thirty two, I think, when I won. Thirty-two. So I was one of the older contestants. So a lot of more in their late 30s. That's a good age.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Yeah, yeah, you know, a good head on your shoulders. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

You had the cigar experience. Yep, sold that company right before. Yeah. Um but I was mature enough like to appreciate it, you know. Like I didn't take it for granted. I was never I hope I wasn't an a-hole to anyone, you know, along the way.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

And um, you know, it was You always seem comfortable in this spotlight. You seem comfortable on TV, the interviews. I'm just glad to be here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:51

The fact that you asked me to be on, I I think this is awesome. You know, like uh it's it's really fun to be able to do this and share my story. And you know, we've been able to do a lot of good along the way with it. You know, we uh my wife and I did this show called the Julianne and Bill Show on E. We did eight seasons. Oh, dude, I watched that. But we tackled really important issues like her breast cancer, infertility. We did a bunch of mission trips to Haiti, you know, and even to this day, someone will stop us and they'll say, you know, my wife got a mammogram because she watched the Julianne and Bill show, or my mom and dad now know what we're going through with infertility. Because when we were talking about it, it was taboo. Like people would whisper in the airports, like, I've got infertility too. And now they're shouting, Yeah, I went to the same doctor, Dr. Schoolcraft in Denver, he got us pregnant.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

It's like that is a generational thing, too. Like people talking about like we're trying. Yeah, there was shame in it. Now people yeah, yeah, 20 weeks ago. Very secretive.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Yeah, so it was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

And that's how you got your son. That's how we got my son.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

Yeah. Greatest thing ever. And how old is he now? He's 13. 13. We wear the same shoe size. Do you really? These are his shoes. Like he suckered me into buying these fancy shoes. Bill, you were doing so well just a second ago.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Heard about all this job, salary. Yeah, yeah. And you got your son's shoes on.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

I'm wearing his shoes. They're they're fancy. So he's a big boy then.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

How tall is he? Uh he's five'eight. Wow. Oh, so he's got some more height to go. He's got more height to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's 11 men's shoe already. And his name is Duke. Duke. That's a man's name. Edward Duke. Edward Duke. Edward Duke, yeah. That is very uh that sounds very British. Versatile.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

Very uh He can be a quarterback or a CEO.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

He doesn't have a kingdom.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

He's a quarterback, it'll be Duke Rancick. If he's a CEO, it'll be Edward. Is he named after my dad? Your dad. And Juliana's dad. They're both named my dad's name is Edward Rancick, and my father-in-law is Eduardo Depandy. Oh, wow, that's funny. So we kind of killed two birds with that. And then where'd you come up with Duke? My sister Karen, who lives in Burr Ridge, her middle child is named Luke. And uh I got a Luke. You do? Yeah. Just uh really sharp guy, went to Michigan, and uh we used to call him Luke the Duke.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:54

And uh we just kind of like the name Duke, and we're like, well.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

You call this one Duke the Luke? Uh we should, right? Duke Luke forensic, yeah. Dude, that's fun. I mean and now, you know, this path that you've been on since that that moment, it must have taken you to meet your wife. And I know a lot of people know Juliana and uh you know getting the chance to meet her, she's so sweet. And yeah, I mean, what a uh that must have been, you know, now you're meeting a celebrity, you're meeting someone. Yeah. How did where did you get?

SPEAKER_03 27:20

She interviewed me.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

So in the five seasons I was on as a judge, um, I would do the shows that Trump wouldn't do. So he would do the Ten Aid Show and the Tiddy, and I would do like Axis Hollywood and and E and the Pat McGann show. Pat McGann show, right? But we were promoting the upcoming season of the show, and and I was um I'd done a deal with the folks at Ace Hardware here. Okay. Uh where I was going around renovating boys and girls clubs. So they were funding these renovations.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

And I was you think you'll be canonized eventually.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Oh god, no.

unknown 27:53

Come on.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Uh somebody's rescuing somebody. Yeah, no, no, no. It was fun for me. And and and uh they appeared on an episode of The Apprentice, um, the folks from Ace Hardware. And uh I did 10 uh boys and girls clubs around the country, and we were just finishing the tour renovating these clubs, and Juliana came to interview me. And she always tells the story. Right before she was leaving for the interview, she did what any hard-hitting journalist would do. She Googled Bill Rant's a girlfriend, and a picture of me and this girl popped up. And she wanted to cancel the interview. The boss was like, You gotta go, committed. And then she went and she starts interviewing me, and she says, You know, Donald Trump is getting married. Um, are you and your girlfriend gonna get married anytime soon? And I stopped and I said, Well, we broke up a couple months ago. Like, no. And then her whole demeanor changed. Really? It was the most miraculous transformation I'd ever seen a human being make. Her arms became unfolded. It's all in camera. She starts touching me. But it's a little bit simple on camera. Really? Yeah, oh yeah, no, it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Women want to know, Bill. Like I wanna know here, you know.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Yeah, it's it's been a it's been a good year. We'll see. I'm you know, I'm 33. Maybe those young guys, right? California surfers.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

No, no, no. I'm like a businessman. Really? Oh yeah, no, you're great. We're just very busy. Very busy.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

So and that was and I asked her if she wanted to go for a jog sometime, because I knew she was a runner. And then she said, How about dinner instead of your move? You know, like I grew up with three older sisters and I never wanted to be that cheesy guy. Like, that is a good date, first date.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Like, you want to go for a jog and then just go just start running faster. I'll go left, you go right.

SPEAKER_04 29:37

Yeah. Teege Hanley has changed my life.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

Skin has been amazing. Uh, we're the number one men's skincare routine in America. When I got here, they go, uh, we're just waiting for the podcast guest.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

We know you're here for pictures. You thought you were a model?

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah, you guys, he's glowing. In fact, Ape Burgazzi was like, Your skin's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Just like, I look forward to like I'm washing my face before I go to sleep. I think we haven't had any 40-year-olds on the podcast, and I said, I'm 50. And everyone goes, What?

SPEAKER_03 30:05

T Shanley.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

It's the way we face the day.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

So that was our that was our first date, and it was uh What year is this? 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

Yeah, it was uh oh six, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

And how long were you together before you got married?

SPEAKER_03 30:21

Uh we got engaged after 10 months, and then we got married a year ago.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Was it a special engagement to do anything like I did?

SPEAKER_03 30:27

What'd you do? Um She was flying to we were long distance. She was living in LA, and I I wanted to live here, so we would go see each other on the weekends or whenever we had to do that. I have that going on right now, long distance. Yeah, yeah. That's actually kind of nice. I mean you appreciate each other, right? Exactly. Yeah, yeah. It is and she landed at O'Hare and I said, Hey, I I have to go do a speech in Detroit, but I'll get home later tonight. I said, But I'm gonna send a car to pick you up and take you to the house. And the car picked her up and uh she thought she was getting kidnapped because he veered off the highway, and he took her to the helipad at O'Hare. And uh this was December 15th, and uh I was waiting in the helicopter with Giordano's pizza and champagne, and we went up and looked at the Christmas lights on Michigan Avenue and everything in a helicopter, and I proposed to her in the helicopter overlooking Chicago and lights on Michigan Avenue.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Yeah, dude. Yeah, you're like making up for not being on The Bachelor.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Yeah, well, it was it was fun. Getting in the guy gave me a good deal. The local helicopter guy gave me a good deal. So it's like one hour. That's all right.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

Yeah, above Chicago.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

Yeah, looking at all the lights and everything.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

It was really cool. Do you think that's how you help you know, got her to move here? Was that part of you had to get her to fall in love with this city?

SPEAKER_03 31:40

Yeah, that was pre-negotiated. Like I'm not an LA guy, you know. I mean, it's not my thing. And I wound up living part-time there for, you know, ten years for her career and everything. But then when Duke was born, we're like, we're gonna we're gonna move to Chicago and family and just Midwestern values, you know.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

That's awesome, dude. And uh you now you have so much going on here. You mentioned being uh partners with the Melmans. Now, when your show was on E, the part of the story was you're gonna open a restaurant, right? The Italian place. I know that Giuliana's parents were involved. She actually had the her mom's dish. It's still on the menu, right? It's the number one seller. Is it really?

SPEAKER_03 32:16

Yeah, every night. Yeah, Mama DePandy's uh Bucca Tini Pomodoro.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

And what's the dish?

SPEAKER_03 32:21

It's a pomodoro noodle with this bucottini sauce that she made famous. Um and uh it's incredible. Like the whole reason we wanted to start a restaurant is whenever her mom would come in to visit, everyone would want to come to our house for dinner because she would make these beautiful dishes. So we had all the recipes. And uh I wanted to open a small restaurant up in like Southport. I'm like, this is I knew this was a horrible investment, but like restaurants fail. So I was just trying to kind of kick the can down the road a little bit, and we started looking at spaces. And then I hate to be a name-dropper, but we were out with Greg Olson and his wife Kara. And we're at dinner one night, and uh Julian is going on and on. Oh, Bill and I are opening up a restaurant and it's gonna be written. And I'm like, No, we're not. Like, I'm I'm not a fool. And he says, Well, you should talk to my friend RJ and Jared Amolly. Like, they want to open up an Italian restaurant too. And for those of you who don't know, um, RJ and Jared and Molly Melman are the uh sons and daughters of Rich Melman, who started Let Us Entertain You 54 years ago with RJ Grunts, and now they were kind of going out on their own. And we uh had a meeting and we kind of courted each other for a year, and we opened up RPM Italian on the corner of Illinois and Dearborn 16 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

I remember it well, man. Yeah. I mean, I remember watching it all come to life through the show, and then like knowing RJ and Jared, and um man, that is taking off. Now you have well then it gave birth to RPM stake, yep. Which is uh, you know, now it's all over the country as well.

SPEAKER_03 33:50

We have nine uh we have nine restaurants around the country. We have them in Vegas, so we have RPM Italian in Vegas. We're in the process of building RPM Steak in Vegas. We have I'm sorry, DC. We have RPM Italian and DC, RPM stakes under construction. We have RPM Italian in Vegas at Caesars. Um we have five iterations of RPM here. So we have steak, seafood, Italian, Portofino, and events. Oh, yeah, right. And then we're working on a couple other locations. We're we're working on West Palm Beach and Orlando.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Oh, is that in the works?

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Yeah, we're negotiating. Dude. Yeah, so we're we're blowing up. They've been great partners. I mean, yeah, they're amazing.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

We had RJ and Jared on here. Oh, you didn'to long ago, yeah. I mean, again, like I always say, let us entertain you and Rich Melman. Yeah, it's almost like understated how much of a contribution they've had, not only to the city, but now the whole country, the whole food scene.

SPEAKER_03 34:42

They're just good people, they're like family. I mean, they're we vacation together, you know, we've like we they're great people, just honorable, hardworking. You know, and they grew up with a successful father, and a lot of times that doesn't carry over. And they are they are hard workers, you know. I mean, Molly does all the education, and Jerry, they they just they don't stop working.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Yeah, they knock it out and they take care of the people that work for them, which which is huge. We love that. Yes. You guys are uh on the ball with that. So you're working, you're busy all the time, but you're also a dad, and you're you gotta have fun sometimes. Like, what are you doing? Like I met you at a comedy show. Are you a big comedy fan? Love comedy, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You're I mean Who are you watching though? You watching some uh any stand-up, any shows?

SPEAKER_03 35:26

I gotta tell you, I just went and saw uh Zach Bryan at Notre Dame. Oh, okay. And oh yeah, Shane Gillis. Shane Gillis opened up and I'm sitting with a couple of guys who are on the board of trustees at Notre Dame. And his opening act. Oh yeah. We're at it's a Catholic institution. Yeah, yeah. I mean I jokingly said uh you guys are probably gonna be having an emergency board meeting when this is over because he was he is h he was hilarious. Yeah. I mean, he was just irreverent, I mean, to say the least. But uh so he's pretty good. I just watched the Kevin Hart uh I'm sorry, not the Kevin Hart, the Cat Williams special. Oh, yeah. I watched that. That was pretty good. Very funny. Yeah, he was pretty funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

I love that you guys, you know, find time for that and are into, you know, and you guys are flag holders for for the city. Um Do you have some you know, special spots that you guys like to go?

SPEAKER_03 36:19

Yeah, we go all over. Like we like to try new places, you know, but we like our Your RPMs. We look we have a table, you got a spot. I was at RPM last night. We had a a group of folks we took out to dinner, but we go to the RPMs a lot, you know, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

Because it's fun. You think your son will get involved in some of these things that you Yeah, we put him to work a little bit, you know, when he's there.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Like he's he likes to learn how to cook, so you know, he'll come in the kitchen and shadow the guys, or he'll deliver the desserts, you know, sometimes. And you know, we want him to there's no free ride in our house. Right. You know, that's that's not how you raise a good kid.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

And you're taking him on the road as much as you can too. I feel like I do like taking my kids' places because you know, that's a great way to learn and just see things and just to get them out.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

It's get them now.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

And where do you guys like to go?

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Um, we used to go down to Mexico a lot. We go down to Florida because it's easy, you know when he has a break. He he he gets a lot of breaks, you know. He has a very good thing. They don't go to school. The higher the tuition, the less they go to school.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

Right? Do they does he go five days a week? Ever? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously. My kids are like, I'm off Monday. Wednesday we get out at 9 15. Yeah, right. Thursday we get to wear our pajamas. Yeah, yeah, it's just insane.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

Yeah, no, but um he's a traveler. He he's really into you know, kind of learning, and we had him at Pompeii because Julian is from Naples. So we go to Italy, you know, like every other year. She has 40 first cousins that still live there.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Oh, that's huge.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

And her mom and her mom doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

And then you're experiencing it so differently. You got locals taking you.

SPEAKER_03 37:47

Yeah, it's great. So we've we've he's been all over Italy and you know, he he knows a little bit of Italian because of the grandma and the grandpa. You know, they don't is not like her English is limited, you know.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

So he speaks Italian.

SPEAKER_03 38:01

Uh when he wants to. Yeah. You know, but when you ask him to, he says, I don't know it. But then he can talk to them, you know. Yeah, that's a skill.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Yeah. Yeah. I just took my kids. We went to um the Bahamas for uh just a few nights, spring break. Yeah. Did you go to Atlanta? Yeah, we do go to Atlanta. The slides are yeah. Of course you have. The slides are awesome. Did you help build it? Were you involved in that project? But it's awesome. Do you have a restaurant there? Not yet. I hope so.

SPEAKER_03 38:26

One day. Boy, they charge like $30 for a hamburger there. It's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

Oh man, that charge the room thing is it's dangerous for especially for me. You checked out a few drinks, you feel like you know, invincible. Put it on. Go. And then we did the dolphin experience. Did you do that? I didn't do that, no. Uh uh. They have like you can swim with pigs. Oh wow. Oh, I did that. You did do that. Oh, you picked the pig over the dolphin. Yeah, well, it was a choice. I next to someone.

SPEAKER_03 38:52

I took the dolphin. Yeah, I would have probably done the dolphin had I known it was available.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

A lot of the guys already trust Tiege Hanley. They've shipped over three million boxes and have more than 24,000 reviews, averaging 4.7 stars. In fact, 91% of customers say they'd recommend it to a friend. People only talk like that when a product works. If you're ready to upgrade your routine, check out Tiege Handley and face the day with confidence. Head to Tiege.com slash Pat for 40% off and a free gift. That's Tech.com slash Pat. Yeah, it is um that was quite a scene. And we were following um when we left, uh Artemis thing had just started. Kind of like mirrored my spring break, the Artemis. Did you follow this at all?

SPEAKER_03 39:39

I did a little bit, yeah. It's incredible. I mean they're a great team, too.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

There's just so Yeah, is this like a piece of uh a company that you would talk to with NASA bring you in? Because that's something you do too. You go and give out these keynotes. I do. What's your uh do you have like an outline speech that you give every time?

SPEAKER_03 39:55

I've got a handful. I do a lot of like sales teams and motivational speaking, but fire us up right now, Bill. Come on, give us a speaking, I want to get on Artemis because this is something that was remarkable in my life. I got asked to go speak in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at this global leadership conference.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

I did that, gay.

SPEAKER_03 40:11

You did? No, no. Okay, okay. It was I'm like, I'll go. Yeah, right. And uh I went with Neil Armstrong. Holy cow. And I spent five days in Kuala Lumpur with Neil Armstrong. We had dinner every night together. I was dating, I wasn't married at the time. I brought this girl in, she would always be late, and the guy from the lobby would be like, Mr. Armstrong's waiting for you. I'm like, Oh my god. We gotta go. Like, um and who's this girl? Like she's keeping you and Neil Armstrong waiting. Like, but it was I it was weird. Like, I couldn't believe that this was happening to me, right? I'm like from Orland Park.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

And I'm having a And you don't even believe in the Moonlanding, right?

SPEAKER_03 40:49

Oh no, I do. He was awesome. He uh we talked all about it, like yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

There are a lot of people a growing number.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

Great. Yeah, no, I know. I know some people that don't believe in it.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

But wow, dude, did you ever imagine?

SPEAKER_03 41:01

One of the greatest What would you talk to him about? I'm a huge aviation fan. I love aviation, I love all the learning about the rockets and this guy he can fly anything from a 747 to like he was test he told me his whole life. He felt like he was on a skateboard with you, probably. That plane. Yeah, but he was like the nicest, kindest, like just wanted to he was by himself, didn't travel with an entourage, you know. Um you see a lot of these people, they have you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

I was gonna call him a lunar. Instead of a loner. He's a lunar. Alright, I don't know. Yeah. All right, but anyway, yeah, that has got to be like pinch me a little bit. Like, is that one of your do you have a list of I do. Okay, so Neil Armstrong.

SPEAKER_03 41:43

Yep. I got to fly with the Air Force Thunderbirds at the Aaron Water show. I did 9.3 G's. It was like Did you get sick?

SPEAKER_02 41:51

Pass out?

SPEAKER_03 41:52

Uh I didn't pass out. I did fill up the bags and and a glove.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Really?

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Because I ran out of bags, and then I'm like, I can't.

SPEAKER_02 41:59

But are you enjoying it in a way too?

SPEAKER_03 42:01

Like, keep going? I'm like, he's like, How you doing back there? I'm like, I'm great, man. I'm great. I didn't want it to end, you know. Really? Yeah. But I was definitely But don't you have it? You want it to have a mask on? I did. I would rip it off every time.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

Rip it, throw it, and then put it back on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

That's good proof. It was really it was incredible.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

Dude, what a life.

SPEAKER_03 42:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

So I mean what else is on your uh that's high up on there?

SPEAKER_03 42:21

I mean, obviously the birth of my son and getting married, you know. Yeah, yeah. But it was those are given. Yeah, but you know, a a lot of my life wouldn't have happened had I not taken a risk. You know, like this thing could have been a bust, you know, it could have been a horrible show, and I could have been, you know, uh someone was like, What are you doing? Like you're going on a reality show, like this is the dumbest thing you could ever do. You have you're a businessman. And I just had a gut feeling like this is something kind of cool, and why not? You know, my dad had just died. I was kind of in this phase of like I'm gonna live let my dad live vicariously through me, and I yeah, I just said I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

So do you talk about that in your when you are out? Yeah, yeah. That's inspiring, dude.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

That's real stuff too. You gotta take risks in life. Yeah. You know, if you don't, you're you're never gonna get anywhere. You're gonna have regret. You know, like I think that's the worst thing you could do when you look back on the end of your career and you have analysis paralysis, like do I stay on land or do I go to sea? And you you never get anywhere, you know. And I think sometimes a bad decision is better than indecision, you know, because you at least grow from the mistake.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

Yeah, action is always maybe better than inaction. Like you gotta keep moving and and dude, you've done so much that I feel like a lot of people probably have forgotten the origin story in a way. And where did you get your start? Because you've done so much and kind of moved beyond um those original building blocks, which were great and and and huge. Yeah. Uh but to see you keep going, uh It's been fun. Proud to know you, dude. Yeah, no, you too.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

Your career is incredible too. I mean, let's talk about you.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Yeah, no, but that's good. No, but like not on my show. How how nervous do you get? Like I get uh yeah, a little bit. Yeah. I get fired up um for or when I say fired up, I get like I feel it when I'm doing new stuff, or if there's like stakes. Yeah. You know? Like I'm sure when you're going into uh a speaking event, you get juiced up, you get you're you're fired up, you're ready, you're not necessarily nervous because you know what you're gonna do. Right. You're ready for the unexpected, you're more amped than anything. I prefer the bigger crowds than the smaller crowds.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Yes. Like if I do a f a corporate gig and it's 40 people, I'm like, oh man, it's hard. Right. Because if things don't hit, like you know, at least when you have a couple thousand people in the room, chances are you're gonna get a hand, like you're gonna get someone some people, you know. So yeah, but the smaller ones are hard.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

Yeah, I think that it's um always like the preparation part of it. Um, are you still going on like auditions? Do you have anything like that? Like where you want to pursue any not really, you got the presence you wouldn't want to do.

SPEAKER_03 45:03

I mean, I were you done hosting and stuff. Yeah, we we did we hosted me and Julianna hosted a dating show for NBC. It was called Ready for Love, and it got canceled after four episodes. They moved it to streaming. Oh yeah. But it was it was this big live show, and I thought it was gonna be my ticket to retirement. I'm like, this is my American Idol. Oh yeah. We had um they were spending like four million dollars an episode on it. Oh, which is huge. Yeah, we had a live audience of hundreds, we had three matchmakers, me and Joanna were the hosts, we had three bachelors, and we had like there were like 25 girls. And it was just like as hosts, I didn't even know what the hell was going on. It was so confusing, and then I'm like, oh boy. So it was I thought it was gonna be my ticket to you know, like my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you know, like Seacrest, Dick Clark, you know. And then after four episodes, I I watched, I was reading Twitter and it I learned on Twitter that they were canceling the show.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

That's how you found out? Oh my god. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

But I do a show on History Channel now called The Mega Brands That Built America. It's on Sundays. Um I've seen that. Yeah, learn you kind of learn about the different brands that you know from GMs. I love those shows. Yeah. For me, because I have to learn about all these companies.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

So it's kind of in that vein of the uh the products that built America. It's similar to mega brands that built it. Yeah, that's great, too.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

So I get to do that and that's fun.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

And you've written books. You're a New York Times bestseller. I am. Are you still writing?

SPEAKER_03 46:27

No. That business has changed. You know, I know people don't read books anymore.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:31

It's hard. It's hard to get books sold. And you know, back when I wrote my first book, it was How long did it take you to write a book? Uh that one took about five months, you know, to put like on airplanes, and and I had someone help me.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

That's the You're Hired? You're hired, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

Yeah, that was the one that hit the New York Times list, which was that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

Yeah. Crazy. Put that on another thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:56

You know, New York Times bestseller. Yeah. So that was cool. And then you wrote a novel. I wrote a novel. Yeah. Uh it's called First Light. And uh it was about uh a plane crash. Kind of was flying to Alaska for a book signing. I don't know why I was going there, but I went to Alaska for a book signing. We had this really horrible turbulence. And I'm like, damn.

SPEAKER_02 47:15

Like, is it the worst that you've ever had? It was pretty bad.

SPEAKER_03 47:21

Yeah, like bad. Really? And I'm like, shit, we're we're going down. Like scary. So then I kind of had this idea, like, what happened if we survived there? And I wrote this novel called First Light.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

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SPEAKER_03 48:11

Well you guys go private though.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Yeah, and some of them.

SPEAKER_03 48:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

And well, he's always smashing his. Yeah. But I missed two of them. Where I had uh I just for some reason I couldn't fly to the next one. I was driving or had had a head somewhere else, and they had bad experiences. And I missed both. I almost felt bad about missing them. Dang her goodness.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Yeah, you know. My wife is uh she is horrified of flying.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Is she?

SPEAKER_03 48:36

Like that's her biggest fear, and she flies a lot. Yeah, so she just has to you know.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

How is she doing?

SPEAKER_03 48:42

She's doing good. Yeah, she's doing great. She's busy with home shopping network and um you know, she loves just kind of doing the home shopping network gig. It's great.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

It seems like you guys are very happy. You love being parents, you love your spot here in Chicago. And uh you're doing so many great things, dude.

SPEAKER_03 49:00

Yeah, this is a great in the people here. You know, it's like you still if I see someone lost, I'm like, hey, can I like it's just it's a different it's a different feel.

SPEAKER_02 49:10

See, I thought it was all in act, Bill. You're really this guy.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

You really are. It's fun, like people are great here. I I love the people, you know, it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

Yeah, it is, it is. Yeah, we were lucky to to live in this spot. All right, I'm gonna let you get back to Zeus here. Awesome. Thanks for watching. I know you gotta keep training Zeus.

SPEAKER_03 49:24

Oh, I brought you some pasta sauce. Oh, wait, wait, wait, yeah, we got some stuff. Yeah, this is our new our new venture. Um and we came out with this about eight months ago. And people would come into the RPM restaurants and they'd be like, Can I get the sauce in a jar? And uh noodles? That's from Italy. That's from Naples, Italy. That's made about a mile from Juliana's family home. Really? Right there, yeah. So these are the sauces. Pomada pandy. Yep. Pomodoro. Yep, named after Juliana's mom. A tribute to her. Yeah. So we have uh four different types of sauces. We have dried pastas. Dinner tonight. You will love it. I promise.

SPEAKER_02 50:00

Boil up some pasta. Get this going. Yeah. You're gonna love it. Is this one spicy? Yeah. Is this rabiata? Yeah, rabiata.

SPEAKER_03 50:08

We got salamis.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Salamis. Dude, you got you are hooking me off.

SPEAKER_03 50:12

Yeah, so we're um we're in 4,000 stores. So Kroger, Americano's here in Chicago. Um, I mean, this air is nationwide, so Ralph's in California, um, Harris Teeter on the East Coast. So we're we're you know, Fry's in Vegas and Colorado. We've uh uh King Super, so we're all across the country with it. Are you in publics? Working on it, man. You know anyone there. I was just trying to get it. God, I want to get publics. It's a tough one we're working them hard. They're they're sick of hearing from me. When you travel, you get to know the grocery stores. Yeah, the pub subs.

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Dude, this is great. Thank you, man. You're with some rigatoni. Yeah, no, it's hooking me up. Olive oil.

SPEAKER_03 50:49

No sugars, no additives in the sauce, no uh nitrates in the salami. Um all natural stuff. Yeah, it's all clean, healthy, good food you can feed your kids.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

I like this. Slowly made, slowly enjoyed. Yeah. I'm gonna be a spokesperson for you guys.

SPEAKER_03 51:03

Well, mom and baby.com. I have. Who are the brands you've Rogain, uh Ace Hardware. Is was Rogain like a thing for you? Yep. I mean, look at this. Well, I have a hat on, but I was kind of having You had a good head of hair. I was thin, it was thinning. And I use I still use it, even though I'm not their spokesman anymore, but I still use Rogain.

SPEAKER_02 51:21

And it works? Work works great. Dude, I gotta get on board. Yeah, get on. It's and what do you do? You just uh spray. Take a foam. Foam. I'm gonna rub it in at night. And that's all you've ever done. That's all I've ever done. You have buddies that have done other stuff?

SPEAKER_03 51:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Some guys have done like the pills and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

I've tried the pills. I can never remember to take them. Yeah. The uh neutral. I haven't done that. You gotta take four of them a day. Wow. And they're like commitment. It doesn't you we're not gonna see results until six months. Four a day for six months, and then you're like, oh, now it's gonna start kicking in. No, I'm not buying that.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

The ro gains, you just do it before I go to bed, just rub it in and I had a buddy that went to Turkey. Oh, I've seen those on Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

And got the uh how's it look? I mean, uh, I just can't get past the fact that he went to Turkey.

SPEAKER_03 52:08

Yeah, yeah. Do you know people have done that? I've seen it on Instagram. Yeah. Like I I sometimes I'll get hooked when I'm on a flight. I go on the reels, yeah, and these guys, they I mean you can see they're just bleeding out of their skull on the way home. And like it's like, wow, I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

I mean, they say the plane is like you look in the back, it's just bandaged heads. Bandage heads, yeah. You gotta you gotta see it on Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 52:29

It's pretty comical.

SPEAKER_02 52:30

Yeah, I am not, I don't think I could do it, but I love hearing his story about it. So you had to go twice. You he went there, got it done, and then you gotta go back for a follow-up to Turkey? Yes, that's crazy. Exactly, right? I mean, I I feel like we're close in a age, grew up very close to each other. Your buddies would give you endless shit if you did something like that, right?

SPEAKER_03 52:49

Almost like no way, yeah. No, no way, I'm not going to Turkey.

SPEAKER_02 52:53

Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_03 52:54

I actually Although if they pay me a lot of money, I think.

SPEAKER_02 52:56

If it was for free, Pat and I'll be the face of the turkey airs ago. Dude, I saw actually also we have the same birthday. May 16th. May 16th. Wow. There you go. Come on up. I'll be 55. I'm gonna be 50. Man, it's gonna be good.

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Yeah, yeah. You start wearing glasses.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

That's why I'm gonna get that Rogan.

SPEAKER_03 53:14

Yeah, dude, I'm looking at cheaters now, too. Yeah, no, I got it's 50. I gotta get it.

SPEAKER_02 53:17

That's what you need. Oh man. Yeah, it's good times. Take cholesterol medicine now. We're gonna leave everybody with that. We gave medical medical tips throughout. Yes, yes, a lot of tips. All right, you guys. Uh check out Bill on you're very active on socials. You're a great follow. Thank you. Um, you got like something like half a million followers on Instagram, right? Is that where you're most active? Instagram? Yeah, I don't yeah, Instagram. It's pretty straight. It's at Bill at Bill Ransom. At Bill Ransom. Yeah, yeah. Thanks. And then you um you guys gotta check out his stuff on socials and um and also on the History Channel show. I mean, you're still all over the place.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

If you're in Chicago, come to RPM, rpmrestaurants.com. Yeah, Bill will wait on you. I do, I do table. Do you? Of course. Sometimes I'll bartend. Really? Have fun with it. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 53:59

You got like a dog in one hand, spinning drinks in another. I'll do whatever it takes. Who is this guy? I got that Moreland Park mentality. Yeah, right. All right, guys. Um, I would love to have you join us next week, too. We got another great show. Adam Gilbert is gonna be here with Maggie Who's Depollo. Uh also, I got some live shows coming up. I want to mention I'm gonna be in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend. Barrymore Theater. Looking forward to that. And then I got Toledo, Ohio. No, that's why I haven't really mentioned it. Yeah. We got a um can we send an email blast on uh Lettuce Entertainment? Send RJ, he'll get it out there tomorrow. Um that's it. Don't forget to download, subscribe, leave us a review. We'll be back next week. Thanks, guys. Thank you, Bill.

SPEAKER_01 54:41

See you guys, thank you, guys. Thanks, Pat. The Pat McGann Show is brought to you by the Pat McGann Show team. Producer Paula Thornton, showrunner Tom Bambera, audio engineer Tommy Grant, video production Eddie Perez, video and audio editor Madeline Curlis, Organic Content Manager, George Master. Recorded at Tiege Hanley Studios in Chicago, Illinois.