The Evolution of a Man | The Winegards Ep. 4

In Episode 4 of The Winegards 🍷,  Alexis Winegard turns the tables and interviews her husband, Eric Winegard, about one of the most important topics facing society today: what it truly means to be a man.

Eric opens up about growing up without a father, the athletes who shaped his understanding of masculinity, and how his perspective on manhood has evolved over the years. He shares his beliefs on leadership, emotional regulation, competition, work ethic, marriage, and what it means to provide both financially and emotionally for your family.

This powerful conversation explores:
• What being a man meant when Eric was younger vs. today
• Why work is one of the greatest tools for self-development
• The mindset of high performers and entrepreneurs
• How competition can fuel extraordinary growth
• Leadership lessons from building a successful company
• Emotional security and conflict resolution in marriage
• Preparing for fatherhood and becoming "Eric 4.0."

Eric also explains one of his most powerful philosophies:
"The work works on you more than you work on the work."

Whether you're a husband, entrepreneur, future father, or someone striving to become a better version of yourself, this episode delivers timeless lessons on discipline, character, and purpose.

Subscribe to The Winegards Podcast for authentic conversations on marriage, business, family, leadership, and personal growth!

Follow Alexis Winegard:
Instagram: @alexiswinegardofficial

Follow Eric Winegard:
Instagram: @ericwinegard

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Instagram: @the_winegards

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Hello, everybody. Welcome to this week's episode of The Wine Guards. And this week I figured we would actually do things a little bit different. So my husband, Eric, actually has another podcast that he hosts called the Gold the Gold Coast Podcast. Essentially, what that podcast about is about is um he asks any business owner, entrepreneur, um all different types of questions, right? So he's usually the interviewer. But I wanted to do things a little bit different just so that you guys, as we move forward in this podcast series, get to know him a little bit better and know more about who he is. So I actually drafted up a series of questions. I figured we would just start with, you know, a few and see where the conversation goes.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

So can we can we start somewhere else first?

SPEAKER_05 0:46

Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

You look beautiful in yellow.

SPEAKER_05 0:48

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

It's a great color for you. I think it's a great color for Paige, too.

SPEAKER_05 0:52

It's her favorite color. Is it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Yeah. Tan Tambies look good in yellow. You look beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 0:56

Yeah, I got dresses are my favorite thing right now, and that's probably all I'll wear for the next three months.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

My belly is busting. Let's go.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

Yeah. So, but thanks. Um so yeah, so a lot of our conversations is um behind our big thing is doing dog walks. And we have two dogs, Harvey and Gigi. Gigi is actually sitting right next to me. You may see her sometimes in the camera. She's little she poo. And then we have Harvey, who's a 70-pound rescue, totally different dogs. They love each other. But needless to say, on our dog walks, that's when Eric and I have our most, you know, I would say reflective conversations. Uh, we usually leave our phones behind at home. And so it's actually just a great time for him and I to reflect on our lives, business, any type of theme that we've been noticing. And there's like a lot of themes around men this week that I felt like we were um, you know, kind of like hearing about and stuff like that. So I'm like, okay, let's talk about the evolving man because you know, you're somebody that I can say just from being with you for six years or so, that you've evolved so much. And I know that it's not always easy to change as a person, right? Because for the most part, I feel like people are who they are. But then there are people who who are receptive and capable of changing. So I want to take this time to just kind of dive in and see, which brings me to my first question. What did you think being a man meant when you were younger versus today?

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Wow, that's that's so deep because this probably isn't the answer you you want to hear, but it wasn't even a thought. And that's that's a problem, right? So, you know, I did this uh social media clip the other day about how there was one time I was, you know, being reckless with a group of my friends, and I remember we were under a bridge, you know, doing stupid stuff, and I remember I looked at all my friends and I said, Oh my God, nobody has a dad here. And it was the first time in my life that I realized and I visualized I'm different because I didn't grow up with a father. And I don't mean different, like less than or less capable or less fortunate. That's not even what I what I mean. What I mean is that I know my life was was for better and for worse in many ways, influenced by not having a dad. And because I didn't have a father, because my mother never brought a man home, and maybe she had some boyfriends that she didn't tell me about, very possible. There could have been nights she said she was working and she was over a boyfriend's house, very possible. I don't think so, but not impossible. So if the question is what I thought a man was was supposed to be, I wasn't even thinking about it. Was it wasn't even on my radar. Um, my radar as a teenager was the only thing I cared about was basketball and girls. That was it. And honestly, girls were second place. All I cared about was basketball. So so now when I hear myself say that, it's it's sad, right? So if I think about a young, unguided man today, yeah, I could see how someone's perception of what a man should be, if just left to your own primal instincts, um, is probably not going to be the best version of a man than if you had someone to model yourself after. See, that's that's that's probably why I started becoming so interested in sports, because I started to model myself after athletes. And that's why that's why I love David Robinson so much. And you should be happy that I love him, I loved him so much. I don't know much about him. He's a sweetie pity. Yeah. You know, he wasn't, you know, uh Charles Barkley was rough and tough. Um, you know, Jim Kelly was tough, but he was also he was known to have drinks and you know, they were known to party pretty wild. The the athlete that I really admired a ton was a Christian. This is me at 11 years old. It's kind of crazy. A Christian, God fearing, never gets over-emotional. Honestly, he was kind of known to be a little soft, and he was a great player, but everybody always kind of said he's not tough enough to win a championship. So it's interesting that I gravitated to that person, a sweetie Petey, because that's actually who I am. Like I really am a Sweetie Petey. Um but I also recognize that you have to kind of pull out the dragon in you a little bit to be successful. And maybe I learned that, oh, David Robinson didn't have enough dragon in him. And it's necessary for me to have kind of a kind of, you gotta have a tough side too, for sure. So unfortunately, I didn't have anybody to model masculinity after.

SPEAKER_05 6:25

Interesting. And I guess you know, when you I've heard people say, like, oh, who do you look up to? Who are your role models? And people have said athletes, right? At least for me as a female, I never had an athlete or anybody like that that I necessarily looked up to. So that was a really nice way to articulate. Not that I didn't have people to look up to, like, if I had someone to look up to, it'd be maybe a teacher or my mom or whomever, but never an uh like a famous figure like that, right? So it's interesting to see here how you articulate how him as a person as an athlete was so influ influential on you. Um but now that you know you're a man today, would you say like I I understand that the the viewpoint is different, but what is your definition today of a man?

SPEAKER_02 7:18

A man, I think a man is a worker, right? So, you know, if if we were living in our primal days, a man has a physically stronger body, can endure pain, can probably endure not eating longer. Yeah, a man is supposed to do work, like like we're supposed to do labor and physical things. So um I I think at the very core, at the very basic fundamental thing, the man's job is to do the work, right? We build houses, we kill animals, you know, excuse me, we go hunting for food. And I think in today's society, you know, me, I take pride and you see me, I get up, I didn't, I was exhausted today, I didn't sleep at all. Got my ass up, had my coffee, you know, had my little protein shake, threw my jacket on, threw some gel in my hair, and came to work with a smile. I think it's my duty to do that every day. And whether whether my whether I'm having a good day or a bad day, my job is to have the best day possible. My my job is to have the most productive day possible, regardless of whatever shit happens that day. So that's why my intensity and determination is always high, because I believe that a man's duty in that work process in the professional world today is you know a lot of shit is going to be thrown at you no matter what, and it's your duty to be able to handle it to the best of your ability. You uh high-five the guys when there's positivity and there's sales and there's momentum and all these sorts of things, or great customer service or great account management. You know what Mackenzie did today with that one client, that's a huge win. You want to celebrate in those. But when the negative things happen, frustrating things with clients, frustrating things with employees, it's my job to manage the situation. I'm the man. Okay. And every day that a man goes to work, I think it's his responsibility to make that the most to make sure that he gets the most out of his day because it's it's his duty to provide for the family. Okay. Now, where I see men do this the wrong way, over and and I've witnessed this over and over and over and over, and I was probably very guilty of it myself, right? Like I feel bad for some of my ex-girlfriends.

SPEAKER_05 10:04

Hey, you're reflecting on it.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

What's that?

SPEAKER_05 10:06

You're reflecting on it.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

For sure.

SPEAKER_05 10:07

Some people aren't able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

For sure. I probably was I probably did come home and I allowed my the negative days at work to influence my relationship. You know, you've never met her, but my ex-girlfriend Erica, who I was with, I think for five years, dude, that was like a tumultuous time in my professional life. I probably was nasty to be around.

SPEAKER_05 10:33

Poor Erica.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_05 10:37

It's evolution, right? I mean, that was the whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Yeah, she knew me 27 to 32.

SPEAKER_05 10:42

You're probably a totally different person.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Oh, God. Yeah, for sure. And uh, you know, and she, I don't want to say saw the worst version of me, but um, you know, I I wasn't handling those bad days the the way I handle them today. Don't get me wrong, I still get flustered when I come home here and there and stuff, but uh, you know, but I I think we're men, this is the these are the blurred lines, and it kills me because a lot of men believe because I'm the provider, because I'm the man, that means you're allowed to come home in like rage, anger, you're allowed to be a bully. Um, you know, it's like it's like because you're the provider, you know. I have one friend that because he's the provider, he makes half a million dollars a year. His wife's not allowed to spend any of it. It's the weirdest thing. It's not their money, it's his money. I think that's weird. Your wife should be able to go, you make half a million dollars a year, you're living okay. If she wants a three or four thousand dollar bag once or twice a year, dude, let her get it. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 11:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

Like that to me, that's crazy. Like, that's like that could that idea of controlling everything to me is wild. So I think it's some what we're what I've evolved into is that I think when the man goes home, now his who is a man today, a man is somebody that has the ability to keep his emotions regulated. And I'm not saying I'm perfect. Let me I'm not I'm not I'm not a saint, but I recognize I'm not a saint. So because I recognize I'm not a saint, I'm even more in tune with how important it is to stay regulated as much as possible. Of course, there's gonna be, you know, things that happen, but but I think a man's job is now to come home, and yeah, he is the stronger one. You should be the stronger one. You had a tough day at work. You're supposed to be stronger, right? Are you just stronger physically or are you also stronger emotionally and cognitively as well? So you should carry that strength when you get back home. Your children should feel safe around you, your children should feel inspired around you, your children should want to model their behavior after your behavior, and your wife should be proud as hell and brag to all her girlfriends about how amazing of a goddamn man she has. And nothing makes me feel better than when some of your friends say to you, God damn, you got it good, right? That's my job.

SPEAKER_05 13:27

I love it. No, I totally agree.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Um I think that was and I'm only intense because you're like interviewing me, so you got me in like a that was the point.

SPEAKER_05 13:37

I wanted to have questions like that because it's important. I think people need to know more about who you are. Um, but I felt like that was a great answer. And just to give you like perspective from like a woman, a woman's perspective, all that a female wants is to have that support, right? Like where they do feel taken care of, at least traditionally speaking, obviously there's the anomaly of the the female in the household that makes more of the money, whatever. I know that there's some situations where it's like that. But from what like what I hear with all my girlfriends, like all that they want is support, appreciation, um mental security and safety. I think a big thing, um, like you said, you touched on it's yes, you have the financial part taken care of, but do they feel um emotionally secure, right? Do they feel safe? Is it is it kind of like a walking on eggshell situation where you just don't know, hey, can I talk to my husband or boyfriend about this or can I not? Is this going to turn into an argument? Um, I think conflict resolution is kind of like a theme outside of that too, because you are you and I have nearly perfected, I think, conflict resolution, which is really cool because we weren't always like that, right? Um, and again, this is not to say that Eric and I are perfect by any means. We've put a lot of work into our relationship because it takes effort on both ends. And it I think it starts from looking within and being able to reflect, right? Because if if somebody's hard-headed, male or female, set in their ways and they don't think I can change or I can grow, that's the personally where I think it the problem starts in the first place.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Um You know, the other day one of the salespeople said something here. They go, hey, how come do you think a couple a couple few people aren't getting it? Right? And you can take that one of two ways. You can say, You guys are dumbasses. Or you can go, okay, maybe I need an S. This is why I've been so SOP focused. It's like, okay, maybe I haven't transferred the knowledge as well. So I'm so I do always think, don't get me wrong, people are not perfect. And but I do always think to myself, I'm like, all right, all right, what can I what can I do better here? How can I, this person is who they are, how can I make this situation better? And when people say something, you know, I take it to heart, man. You know, I I really do. I had a guy tell me, you ready for this? So back when I used to work at uh this other company, this guy, I I was responsible for a lot of the coaching and the sales and the sales training and stuff. And this young guy, his name was Nick, he said to me, and I found out years later he didn't mean it this way, but the way I took it lit lit a fire under me. He said to me, he goes, you know, it's probably about 300 employees in this company. I was the top dog outside of the CEO, but I was the top dog for sure. He said to me, he goes, Eric, he goes, if you're so good, he goes, How come you don't have like your own company?

SPEAKER_05 16:46

How did you take it then?

SPEAKER_02 16:48

I took it like you can't be that good if you don't have your own company. So what you're telling me isn't as good as it gets.

SPEAKER_05 16:58

So that made you want to find out what was is it what is the best thing that you could have for yourself?

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Well, so I was giving him sales training.

SPEAKER_05 17:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

And I was probably on one, like, you know, probably having a lot of bravado and cockiness and you know, confidence. Sure. And my job was to instill or transfer knowledge into this guy, and I was claiming to be an expert in sales. His response was if you're so good at this, why don't you have your own company? And I to what what I heard was what you're telling me can't be the best information because you haven't gone out and done it on your own yet.

SPEAKER_05 17:48

I understand. Yeah, perception's an interesting thing, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

And and uh I don't I've never even told you this. That shit hit me so hard. And you know what I told him? You know what I said to him? I go, you're 100% right. I go, I'm a fraud.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

But that's just different. Like other people would re-cause the way I took it, other people would go, I'm fucking Eric Weingart.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

I got all the sales records.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

I just but but I I listened to it and I don't know, and these are things that I've had to work on, but I listened to it and I know I'm not right about everything. And I looked at him and I said, You're right. I go, I'm a fraud. I go, I'm a total fraud. And and that was one of the first things that instilled, like, no, no, I gotta go do it on my own. Right? I I messaged him on LinkedIn about a year ago and told him, I said, hey, I just want to let you know. I'll show you that I'll show it to you. I go, I took what you said to heart that day. He said, No, no, no, no. He goes, I meant, I thought you were so good. You should go do something on your own. But either way, the reason I say that story is when you hear something negative about yourself or whether you perceive it's negative, what do you do to get to become better?

SPEAKER_05 19:14

Well, that's interesting. I think the first I think I think intent is important, but also in that moment, like, you know, maybe now you would be like, Do you do you mind like kind of explaining more what you mean by that? Because this is how I'm taking it. And maybe that person didn't actually take, you know, mean it that way, right? It's interesting though how you internalized it because sometimes, you know, things don't, you know, that guy what a total meant it is a compliment. Yeah, what a total like you took a it was a total 180 from how you perceived what his message was versus what he actually meant, right? But I think that that's for me, just hearing that as like an outsider, it sounds like more of a communication thing, right? Because it's like you already came to this conclusion in your head, but then even if you were just like taking that a step further, like what did you mean by that? I wonder how you would have acted if you in that moment just dove in a little bit deeper into the question, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

I know. Well, so if people want to know more about me though, like I I love shit like that because you know, like I'm motivated through madness, you know, through competitiveness and everything, and it just is who I am. So I like Michael Jordan talks about all those types of things, and he talks about in his Hall of Fame speech how he would make little dots on his board, and that became a dot on my board just mentally. Like, I'll make sure I DM him in a few years. And you did, and I did, and I did, and I did.

SPEAKER_05 20:46

That's not crazy, but like, wow, what a story, full circle.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Yeah, oh I I've emailed and DM'd some people that I haven't even told you about. Great, for sure, for sure, yeah, yeah, for sure. There was this one guy who didn't hire me. I'm still looking for him. Bill Bill Shoop, I'm looking for you.

SPEAKER_05 21:03

What here's another dot. What's the story?

SPEAKER_02 21:07

It was like a $170,000 job. I was trying to leave CGI at the time and I actually didn't get the job. I was heated. Yeah. And he said, Oh, I'm looking for someone with this, this, and this, whatever it was. And uh I tried emailing him recently just to let him know, yeah, you you made the wrong hire, dude.

SPEAKER_05 21:27

He might be retired.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

No, he's actually wildly successful. He made some like product and it's taken off. Yeah, he killed it. He left that company and started his own thing too.

SPEAKER_05 21:38

That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

But Bill Shoop, I'm looking for you.

SPEAKER_05 21:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

That's really funny.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

I think I hit him up on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_05 21:47

Yeah, I mean, everybody has competitiveness, right? And I think that there's two different types of people. Like, I think hearing you share those stories, it makes me think I feel like I can I'm similar, I just am less likely to go back and make Message and be like, ha ha, take that kind of thing. I think that you work in silence and like action shows, but then you have like that little cherry on the top where you're like, hey, by the way, da-da-da-da-da. Which that's fine. That's you. But it's just interesting because I think I operate the same way. Like, of course, everybody has those dots where they're like, yep, I'm coming back at you, I'm coming back at you, gonna prove this point to you. Like that's that's where a lot of competition and competitiveness and you know, a lot of the motivation usually stems from, right? Like those life experiences.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Well, this this is another here's another cool thing about my competitiveness. This is one of the one of the most satisfying things in my life ever.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

Do I know this?

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Yeah, I think so. So, you know, I I had a very frustrating 17-year career with this one company. A lot of ups and downs, mostly ups, though. You know, I I I was paid well. Just an interesting environment to be a part of, okay? Not for me. And in the last year I was at this company, I I knew we were gonna start this company, but I wanted to stay there that one last year, and I wanted to put the cherry on top to my sales career, right? So I texted this gentleman, I won't say who, but I texted him at the very beginning of the year in January. I said, I'm gonna do about these three or four things. I said, number one, I'm gonna be the first person to hit 10 million. Number two, I'm gonna break the monthly, my own monthly sales record. Number three, I'm gonna break the annual sales record. And I and I listed off like these three or four things, right? And I did all of those things. I broke every single record by Halloween that year. Just it would be like somebody in the NBA scoring 150 points in a game, a player. And the CEO of that company, you know, he asked me to come to his house. He wanted to go get like a lunch or something. He wanted to talk about the next year. And I had been waiting 17 years to say this to him. We're in the car, we're driving in the car, and he says to me, he starts telling me all these, oh, hey, Eric, next year I want to get you on the I want to get you on a call with Paul Linton and Frank Buono, and I want them to teach you how to do this, this, and this. He said it to me as I'm driving my escalade, and he's in my passenger seat. I take off my shades, I look at him dead in his eye, and I said, I just broke every single one of your company's sales records. There's not a thing that you can teach me in sales, and certainly Frank and Paul cannot. And I put my shades back on and I watched him get so beta in that vehicle with me, and then I quit the company and I never said a word. I didn't even tell them I was leaving. I just politely walked away. You will not meet another competitive demon like me that I don't talk shit, dude. I just go and do it. That's why I hate when people, you know, that they talk and I see them, they get emotional, and I see them get frustrated, or I see them act irrational. And my thing is, I just go, okay, watch this. And I go and do it. And I work in silence, but then when it comes to let people know, once the silence is over, you're gonna hear from me very politely. You were that dot on my board, and you were some of that firewood that I had to put onto my fire. I'm gonna let you know.

SPEAKER_05 25:44

I'm sure Brady can resonate with that as well. I mean, any I really think that there's a commonality. If if there was a book or a study on like the brain of these people, I'm sure that there's I used, you know, just so you know, I used to kind of be embarrassed about this. Well, I think it's just a matter about how you handle it, right? Like you're saying you move in silence and that's how you handle it, right? I think that's totally different than being an asshole and and being like, ha ha, take that F you, da-da-da-da-da. Like I think it's one thing if you just move in silence and execute what you're saying you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:16

But then I'm sure there's also people out there that are also just like disrespectful along the way. Like that part probably isn't necessary. I don't think you should be embarrassed because you handle it in the way of silence.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah. Thank you. You're getting the competitive juices out of me right now.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

I know that was the goal. That was really the goal.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

This is I feel like I'm ready to go play some baskets.

SPEAKER_05 26:34

Um, and and you know what? Um, I think a big thing that changed for you was when you went 1099 with that company. And this actually um is something that you kind of gave me just like perspective on last night while we were in bed. I think the quote was the work works on you harder than you work on the work. Did I say it all correct? Um can you kind of explain what that means? Because I feel like a lot of young men or men that need to be reinspired should hear what that means. Because I think that that was what reignited you in a way.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Yeah, so the work works on you. No, the work works on you more than you work on the work. If you haven't been through it, you don't understand it. But it means this if you're unmotivated, get to work. If you're depressed, get to work. If you're out of shape, get to work. If you have an unhappy marriage, get to work. And work will be the solution for all these things. Here's why. If you make the decision that you're gonna be great, if you make the decision that you're gonna lead a company, if you make a decision that you're gonna lead people, if you make a decision to go from a salary employee to a 1099 employee where you're completely betting on yourself, all of these decisions will be the best thing that you ever do for yourself because you don't have any other choice than to be a better version of yourself. Because if you're leading people and you go out to watch Monday night football and you go to happy hour, and you end up drinking till 11 o'clock at night, and you wake up the next day with alcohol in your breath, or you're not the best version of yourself, not only will you not perform the best, but your constituents or your employees or your coworkers, whoever it is, are gonna look at you totally different. They're not gonna respect you as much, they're not gonna admire you as much. Therefore, the job or the task at hand is not going to be executed to the highest level interpretation possible. So, therefore, because you have chosen to do the work, the work is gonna work on you more because you're not gonna go out to happy hour that Monday night and you're not gonna do it. So, what ends up happening is you get a better night's sleep and you wake up the next day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, your colleagues respect you, and you feel better because you're not hungover and you're gonna perform better. Another example, if you decide that you're gonna lead people, then you can't lead people being an emotional fucking basket case. It doesn't work, right? So you got to be strong and firm. Okay, and sometimes you gotta make tough decisions too. Sometimes you may have to fire somebody you don't want to, right? Sometimes you may have to keep somebody you dislike, but they're really good for the company, but you have a personal quirk with them, right? So if you're if you choose to go down, if you choose to go down this path of greatness, then you have to work on your emotional regulation. Because if you're the erratic one at the company and everybody's freaking out because of you, or they don't know what to expect, what version of you is coming in today, you have to be more even keeled and emotionally regulated to manage people. So therefore, you become more conscious of your weaknesses. And because you're choosing to do the work, you start working on yourself more. So when you decide to do the work, you are inherently saying to yourself, in these four or five areas of life, I have to get better at to be able to accomplish my goals. So setting that goal of being great is the best thing you can ever do because it's gonna force you to be the best version of yourself. Did I articulate that well?

SPEAKER_05 31:02

No, I I think so. And and not for nothing too. I would say to add on to that, that when you are in a leadership position, nobody respects the leader that hasn't gone in the trenches before or with them, right? Like, and and I can say that all of what you preached, at least to our team, it's something that you currently practice or have practiced extensively. Because there's, you know, we've all had those people where this is nothing, there's nothing worse than this. And I think both you and I can relate to this with other jobs, I'm sure. There's the leader, the CEO, the boss that, you know, is kind of MIA and in the background and they're not fully present with the day-to-day operation, um, what's going on, and so forth, right? They're not in the trenches with their team. They don't know what's happening day to day, right? But then all of a sudden they decide to get reinvolved and they get a little freaking nuts because they're like, why isn't this happening? Why isn't that happening? Da-da-da-da-da-da. They kind of have like a freakout. The problem with that is that the teammates or the other employees do not respect that person at that point because they're thinking, fuck you. You haven't been here in X amount of weeks, you haven't been doing what we're doing. Why the fuck would I listen to what you're saying? So I think that that's also a great point, too. Like, yes, putting in all the work, but like maintaining that you have actually done all of that too in order to lead. And this is all in regards to leadership, right? Because there's nothing worse than when someone preaches something when they're not practicing it. Because there's that instant reaction from people where there's like a quick defensive thing or resentment or whatever, being like, Where have you been? Why why would I take what you're saying and do anything about it? Right. And I'm sure you've seen that. I've seen it.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Yeah, and that's a poor leader. So so hopefully now listen, unless that leader's a total dummy, they have to be aware of it, you know, and somewhat. And they probably are trying to work on themselves a little bit, but maybe they maybe they actually just don't have the capacity to get better. So that's what I believe happened at the my last company. I believe that that leader had kind of pla hit his plateau. Very financially successful. Listen, no one's gonna say that guy was poor.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Right? But but he hit a he hit a he hit his ceiling. Yeah, he's got some great qualities for sure, but some really nasty ones too. And that's his ceiling. He can't get any better. And and I I don't want to be that guy. I never wanted to be that guy. I want to continue. I I know sitting here about to be 46 years old next month. I know in this next decade, I'm gonna hit levels that so you're raising your ceiling. 100%. 100%.

SPEAKER_05 33:53

And and what do you think about people that aren't able to raise the ceiling? Do you think that they should be able to acknowledge that, hey, maybe I I can't take it to this next part?

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Like I think well, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

Um Cause you know, I'm sure there are people who have been in business and let's just say they're 60, 70 years old, however they are, however old they are, right? Is there something mindfully that people should be aware of when maybe they're not that person anymore that, hey, I've done what I can and now I need to either bring someone else in and I'm still involved, I'm just not that person, or I mean, I think it all comes down to hunger, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:35

So um in in professional sports, they talk about a contract year. Do you know what happens during a contract year?

SPEAKER_05 34:48

Usually they ball out, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:50

Yeah. Yeah. Like, so uh take um take uh like Stefan or no, take um, I'm trying to think of an average one, uh Desmond Bain. You know what Desmond Bain is from The Magic? Okay. So he's he's a uh you know a top 30% player in the league, he's a strong player, right? He um, if his contract was up this year, and let's say he's getting paid $10 million, whatever the number is, but he knows he can make as much as 40 million a year, but his contract is up this year. So when players are in their contract finale year, they have the best season of their lives. And one of the things that all fans and owners worry about is is that player gonna keep doing it? So certain guys like Wemby, it feels like yeah, he's gonna keep ascending, he's never gonna like regress, right? Unless there's injuries or something. But I feel like that's just such a human thing. Like, if you're in a if you always act and behave like you're in a contract year, you're gonna be the best, best player you can be. And I think what happens is that people get soft once they become very successful. I think that's one thing I really admire about PBD is he got his big quarter billion dollar check. I mean, imagine that bad boy hitting the account, you know, him and Jenna. I mean, come on, that's gotta feel pretty good when you see that wire come through.

SPEAKER_05 36:25

It's probably pretty, honestly. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

250, right? So, but he is like a Wemby or uh Luka Doncic or whoever, they're not going nowhere, right? So I don't know. Um I I think I think if you can people can kind of trick themselves that they're in their contract year, they'll get a better player or better version of themselves, but it just comes down to hunger. Like how how hungry are you for it? And you know, we've seen people go like this and then go like this too. You just lost your hunger, you know, and and I don't know what drives you, I don't know what drives him, I don't know what drives her. They gotta have an honest conversation with themselves. And guess what? They actually don't have to do anything. Like, let me get that out of the way. You can be a failure. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead and disappoint your kids, disappoint your wife, disappoint your grandkids. Not me, but you can do that. Disappoint all of your employees, create a poor work environment. Go right ahead. It's up to you, but you gotta live with it.

SPEAKER_05 37:39

Yeah, and then I do think that there are the people that are obviously in the gray area, right? Because we're giving both black and white analogies there, and then obviously there's the people in the gray area where, you know, and I actually got some hate on this on my most recent video from one of our episodes where I was talking about how for me, I want to be a great mom, still involved in our business, still in shape, still taking care of whatever social life I might have. And for whatever reason, that video got um hate because it was like I was criticizing the stay-at-home mom. I was talking about me. So, like the point is, is yes, you're talking about you, and there is the gray people. But you're right. If if you talk the big game as if you are great, you you better demonstrate that you're great. I think there's nothing worse than when someone says something and then they don't follow through, no matter what if it's for. You know, you have to be taken seriously and know that your word means something too. Um, you're so you're clearly a man of your word by doing all the things that you said you were gonna do in those texts or whatever, however you communicated.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

Oh, yeah. And and there was now the other thing too is when you send that text, you know why I'm psychologically doing it?

SPEAKER_05 38:52

Yes, so that you do it.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

You have to do it.

SPEAKER_05 38:54

I know.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

I can't be embarrassed at the end of the year and not being a good idea.

SPEAKER_05 38:57

And be like, I said this, but I didn't do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

And you know what else I remember I sent in that text? It was to Frank Buno, by the way. It's not a big this isn't like a negative thing. Um, and I'm not talking negatively about him or Paul. This was just this other dude trying to put them in my uh fire breathing dragon fury.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

No, I think they know that about you.

SPEAKER_02 39:15

Yeah, but um, you know, they uh I I screenshotted that text and I circled it and I sent it to him right before Halloween. I said, Damn, I did this all before Halloween, huh? He he probably didn't even remember the text. He probably was like, Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_05 39:34

Yeah. Um You guys some things make a mark in certain people's heads and you just don't know what that is, and it's different for everybody. So, you know, it's pretty nuts, but you, you know, it's fun to see you follow through and grow. And the next question that I do have is do you feel like no matter the age of a male, right? Do you feel like there's more men that are evolving in today's day and age or more that are weak from your observations?

SPEAKER_02 40:06

You know, that that's a great question. Um I don't want to make a blanket statement. Um I I I think I I think who you are is who you will attract. And you know, I I had uh I had this great conversation with uh Justin Colby, and you know, he said to me, awesome dude, salt to the earth, and said that I introduced him to a new community of people. And he said to me, he goes, Yeah, down in Miami is like, you know, you some people you see him doing drugs in the bathroom, it's a freaking lunchtime, and you know, it's about the cars and the image, and it's just you know, it's just kind of like a you know, and the girls, it's just a different thing. And I go, Oh no, no, that's not that's not this community I'm taking you to. This is I go, if you even start acting like that, I go, the community will self-police. The top dog doesn't even have to tell you that's not cool. The community will self-police it because that's not who they are. You know, they're they're predominantly conservative, Christian, ethical, family type people. I go, that won't even fly. You'll just be escorted out politely. And he's like, What? He's like, Wow, that's so rare in South Florida. And it dawned on me then. I was like, the reason I found them is because that's who I am now. If I was like those people in Miami, that's who I would have found. If I was a raging alcoholic or cocaine or womanizer or whatever, you know, I would have found those people. But you and I have not found those people down here. No, we don't even know who they are. We do we don't even we don't know swingers because we don't swing.

SPEAKER_05 42:02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

You know, right? You see what I'm saying? Yeah, like swingers find swingers. I I don't know any swingers. And maybe I do, and they just don't tell me, but they know not to tell me because that's not who I am. So when you ask me this question, do I think men like what I'm telling you is I'm seeing both. I see dudes that are getting better every day, you know, and and I see men that are drinking less, and I see men that are uh taking fitness more seriously. I see men that are all juiced up on peptides, and I mean that as a compliment, they look amazing. Um, you know, look at look at uh Benji. You know, Benji probably lost 150 pounds. Like I see stories like that, and I'm like, I'm like, wow, like, but no, but then I see plenty of other people that you know they they don't evolve and they just do the same thing. It's like groundhog day every freaking year, same thing, same cycle, same arguments with their wife, same shitty relationships with their friends, same alcoholism, same gambling problem over and over and over and over. And uh, and and no, I just I chose not to be one of those people. So therefore, the people that I find myself gravitating to and connecting with are people like me.

SPEAKER_05 43:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:24

Did I answer the question? I think so.

SPEAKER_05 43:26

Okay, and I didn't think there was one way or the other. Okay, because I I I also agree that I think it's always gonna be split down the middle. Um, but you know, community is a big, a big, big thing for sure. And I I I think it was the same community where somebody asked if they could like bring someone. Yeah, what was that story?

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Well, I know. So, like, and this guy is a nice guy. I'm actually having lunch with him tomorrow. Yeah. He said to a bunch of the guys in this community, he's like, he's like, Can I bring some girls around here? And the guys were like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what what what kind of Girls. They're like, a lady? Yeah, absolutely. You could bring a lady, but girls? Like plural? No, no, like, you know, like like um what's the wrong as the description itself. Like, like you can bring a classy lady, sure.

SPEAKER_05 44:19

Yeah, but you can't just bring anyone in here.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

Yeah, you can't bring abroad. That's what I mean. Like, right? So so yeah, no, and I think that you know that that was uh I I witnessed them self-policing it, which was which was really cool. And and listen, there's nothing, right? You're a single guy out there doing your thing. God bless you. The guy who did this podcast the other day down here, he's single. He has no uh ideas of ever getting married. I got no no qualms about it at all. I just won't hang around you like that. Right, because he may be doing other things that yeah, you're yeah, and you're probably with those that crew. I I'm good. But no, but I no judgment either.

SPEAKER_05 44:59

Wow. Well, I know that we're getting ready to wrap up. Um but what's the next thing that you're focused on working on for yourself currently to take life to the next level for you, for the family, for the business? Like, is there something that you're really focusing on right now?

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Yeah, no, no. This is this is transfer of knowledge that that it is critical, right? So um, you know, I'm I'm really good at taking the basketball and scoring a point whenever we need it. But to get to the levels that I want us to get to, and and we have this wild window of opportunity, it's crazy that it's all opening up like this. I have to do things that I'm not good at. And what I'm not good at are systems, standard operating procedures, and I have to dial those in because if we dial those in, and I believe we are, right? Because we just all have to agree on them. They're they're pretty much established, it's just agreeing on them and implementing them and make sure that they're followed, and there needs to be accountability with them, right? So that's the next step is how are we measuring all of them, making sure that they are being um executed at a standard uh level of consistency. So for me, it's all about taking everything that I have into my brain, my 20, 25 years of sales experience, all digital marketing, and the whole evolution of digital marketing, putting it all into stealing from Hermosy, putting it all into, you know, documents and cutting edge documents, right? Like modern stuff, website links, not just paper, and and having that scale the company because as we do that, that's gonna put us in a wild place. You and I can go on vacation for two weeks and truly not freak out. Whereas on our honeymoon, you know, kind of had to freak out, not freak out, but had to be more available than probably wanted to be.

SPEAKER_05 47:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:22

So that's that's where my head's at. And that's that's that's me having confidence in the sales staff that I can back away a little bit. Like, I don't want to act as the vice president of sales anymore. Like, I gotta get, you know, um my goal is by the end of the year to get away from that. That's the goal. So getting away, and then just being the CEO and a great father to Sophia. And you know what I last thing I do want to tell you is this I've always known that having a child is one of the ways to get the best version of yourself. You know how many entrepreneurs I've talked to here on this podcast that have I've asked them, I said, Hey, when you went from employee or unemployed to entrepreneur, I said, take me back to that moment and and what made you do it? What were what were some of the anxieties around it? Like, how did you feel then? Right? And I love hearing that moment. It all involved the child.

SPEAKER_05 48:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

That is the number one common denominator. And I say it to all of them. I go, Oh, you you just said I go, what made you do it? Like, I don't know. I just felt I go, you just told me your wife was four months pregnant. You just told me you had a two-year-old. Like that was the number one common denominator. So now I'm I'm so excited about Sophia because I've never made eye contact with a relative outside of my mother, really. Yeah, you know, and obviously I met my dad later in life, but that eye contact it's yeah, I can feel it, but it's not gonna be like this, you know. And it's like I didn't grow up making eye contact with a family member. The the day that child comes, Sophia comes, and I'm looking at her, I already know I gotta, I don't think it's gonna be one more level up because I can already feel it. I can already feel my blood boiling a little bit in a good way. And it's like a no non, like I'm feeling like the dad coming out in me, like the no nonsense.

SPEAKER_05 49:35

I'm sure something changes when you know that presence is here.

SPEAKER_02 49:39

Oh, but I know the I know Eric 4.0 is coming. You know, you got to witness 3.0, Eric 4.0 is coming, and I can't wait.

SPEAKER_05 49:49

I can't wait. Awesome. Well, why don't you do the outro?

SPEAKER_02 49:54

Guys, thanks again for tuning into the wine guards. Alexis threw me for a loop here. She just kind of wanted to interview me, and maybe you guys got to feel my intensity. Like, I'm listening I'm naturally uh at my core when I'm at home, you know, 9 30 at night. How am I acting? Crazy, goof, right? Like I'm dying laughing at dork. Like, like, and I'm just making myself laugh. Like I'm super goofy and playful. That is my natural way, but you know, I I do, you know, it's it's a decision to act this way and and intense because I do want it. And I and I know, you know, it's kind of like if you know you want to be a football player, you know you got to go lift weights. So um I want you guys to follow Alexis's journey. If you watch this video, please follow her on Alexis Weingard Official. Go ahead and give me a follow too. But but uh, but I I think I think you're gonna see our journey. Um, you know, and I think it's you know, we don't know what's in store for us. We think great things are in store for us. We think we know there'll be hurdles and challenges, but I know Alexis and I are gonna be together till the day that we die, and I know that we'll be together the day that does happen. We are soulmates, and I know we'll be flying through heaven together and two little uh blue-colored souls. But we're just excited that you're gonna watch our journey and please stay tuned. And uh if you do watch this video, comment below. And if there's anything that you do want us to talk about, we do got a lot of it figured out, but we don't have everything figured out. If there's something you do want us to talk about, comment below. But make sure to like and subscribe. We'll see you again.