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63: 2000% Raise w/ John Cerasani · Harder Than Life

• 0:06
  I'm Kelly Siegel, and this is Harder Than Life, a podcast about self-love, self-awareness, business, and health. We tell outrageous stories and boil everything down to simple, practical advice you can start using today. Let's get living.
• 0:21
  All right. It took much to get John Sarasani on the heart of the life podcast. We just spent the last 30 minutes with technical difficulties. My man's a multimillionaire, but the it dude had to help him through it. So he's a busy man. Just look on his social media. I laughed.
• 0:36
  at the back of your book, 2,000% raised, by the way, where it mentioned John Sarasani is now a venture capitalist residing in LA and Chicago. He works with the entrepreneurs on achieving success, hosts a podcast and is very active on social media. So if you don't follow him, look at, look him up at John Sarasani. That's spelled C E R A S A N I.
• 1:01
  You also, I get prepared to you all the time. I only wish I was half as handsome and half at half your money. Buckle up and get your earmuffs because you're about to get a masterclass on how to win and win massively. Welcome to the show, my good friend. It took a lot to get here, but you're here. We are here, my friend. In my defense, in my defense, I had a 2,000% raised event last night. And Kelly, I should watch your social media more often because,
• 1:29
  You talk quite a bit about how you gave up drinking and it's a morning like right now that maybe I wish I followed those footsteps, my friend, all right? Yeah, I'm a little behind the eight ball this morning and on top of it, the computer I usually use for these kinds of podcasts, I was using it for the slideshow in my presentation last night because before we drank, there was no meeting and a presentation and yeah, Kelly, that's still at the restaurant. I left it at the restaurant. So I am using a different computer today.
• 1:58
  than I would normally use. And apparently it didn't have a microphone. So I did not know that until right this moment. So my apologies, my friend. So I'm wondering, um, what else did you leave at the restaurant? Cause I, I tend to leave my car, all my money, my credit cards. Did you bring the girl home with you? Yes. Yes. I brought my, but I, uh, not a girl. I brought the girl. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh,
• 2:23
  I hate to say I probably should have left the car. Now that I'm thinking about it, no, I think she drove us back. So you know what the thing is, man, there was a lot of energy in that room last night. We had people, we sold it out. I mean, it's a smaller venue, but we had 75 people there that were really strangers that had nothing to do with each other, nothing to do with the same industry that showed up for that event. And
• 2:52
  A few people were in Schaumburg, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago. A few people had come in from Indianapolis. A couple people flew in from L.A. A guy from New Jersey came. And then obviously the surrounding suburbs. So, you know, I don't usually go out drinking on a Thursday. But when it was all said and done, I got these people from five hours away, wanted to hang out at the bar. Hey, man, I appreciate you guys coming. So I did just that. Now, whether or not I needed to keep drinking espresso martinis till 2 in the morning, that point is debatable.
• 3:22
  But I'm glad I stayed out and had that camaraderie with them. Well, the life of a rock star, and I will tell you, so I binged your book, 2,000% Raise. I read it two days. And I gotta tell you, from the moment I met you to the moment I read this book to the moment you come on here, I tell you, you get a bad rap. The only person I know that gets killed on social media more than me is you. And I've gotten to know you, we've,
• 3:49
  become brothers in arms and that we get compared to each other all the time. And there's nobody better in the world to be compared to. And, and I want to ask you, like, I believe that you get a bad rep because what you have this gigantic heart, where did all this start from?
• 4:06
  And how does it feel to constantly look at your social media and see people knocking you for, for you actually, you don't need to do, this is what I'm trying to get to. You don't need to do this. And I read this book and there's nothing in this book that isn't trying to help people and you don't need to do this, but yet you're doing it. You're doing it out of love. You're doing it out of fricking support. How does it feel to be, to be yelled at all the time?
• 4:34
  Well, I got to tell you, man, the proof is in the pudding, right? You're doing something right if people are talking about you, number one. And people think I go out of my way to be controversial or whatever, and I don't. I'm trying to be extreme. And sometimes I'll get people DMing me that care about me, that are looking out for me. They go, dude, quit poking the bear. Why did you post that? And I'll go back and look at the post. What the fuck do you mean why did I post that? I'm honestly just fucking talking and trying to get people to see what I saw.
• 5:03
  And that corporate America is a mother effing farce. They are brainwashing you in corporate America as a W2 employee. In many, many industries, if you are good and could bring in revenue as a salesperson, that's the hardest part of the job. You could pivot out and be your own boss and become an entrepreneur and start a company yourself because as a salesperson that could bring in revenue, you're invaluable to an organization.
• 5:30
  So corporate America does everything that they can to, um, to try to convince their employees otherwise, uh, Kelly. And I'm not the only one that sees it. I know other people realize it, but the reason that they can't talk about it like me is because they're not independently wealthy. I'm done, dude. I sold a company. I got, I don't give a fuck. I'm not trying to do this shit to sell some sales training course or to come talk to your,
• 5:58
  You know, people at your freaking president's club conference and you pay me 20 grand one day. I truly could say whatever the fuck I want because there is no connectivity to an end game that results in me needing speaking gigs. So I think that what I'm saying is not necessarily unique. It's unique in it coming actually out of someone's mouth, but it's in people's heads already. And people are fucking gravitating to it.
• 6:26
  Finally, someone said that shit. Finally, someone said what I've been thinking this whole time. He's right. I think the challenge, though, is it's too much for some people because it also takes this whole other subgroup of people, which aren't my target audience, by the way, but they come across my reels because they'll go viral. And even if your followers, you know, it goes to your followers and your followers followers and the algorithm starts hitting and it goes to people that don't like this message because I'm making them.
• 6:56
  Question their freaking life thesis. I'm now 40 years old and you're telling me I made all these bad choices because I'm a W2 lifer. Shit. Not everyone could be an entrepreneur, John. You are special. The best is when the haters have a problem with what I'm saying, but they're really complimenting me. Not everyone could do what you could do. You're special. You're special, John. Quit telling people they could do what you do. You're an idiot, John, because you're smart.
• 7:25
  And then I'll fucking come back at them. No, there's nothing special about me. And then the haters will be like, yes, there is. And I'm like, wait, what are we arguing about right now? Fuck. Are you hating on me or fucking kissing my ass? I can't tell the difference. But it's literally, you know, what happens. And it is a tough pill to swallow, Kelly. It really, truly is a tough pill to swallow for some people. And I think sometimes it just makes too much damn sense. Now, in all that, though, I...
• 7:52
  I will do things that I know are going to get a reaction. Okay. Like I don't wake up in the morning. I do a real right now. Oh, I wake up in the morning and I had pink eye this summer. I put my sunglasses on to cover up my pink eye. And then I put on my hat. You might notice it says legally rich because I am rich and I did it legally. And then I go outside and look at my pool and I pinch myself. Is this real? Is this real life? Like, obviously I know that's going to rub people the wrong way, but the people that are supporting me,
• 8:21
  Fucking love every second, man. They really do. My only complaint is when they start messing about your lisp. It's like, dude, come on. You know, I get it with the steroids. I get it with, I look 60 or what do I get? 57, not 47. And I just hit them with love. So let's talk about, because in your book, again, I'm gonna keep pressing this because I read it. And this.
• 8:46
  Next year, as you're seeing private equity firms make moves on everybody right now, what you are preaching is going to be forefront and people got to listen. So at 27, you quit your job working for an insurance giant with a laptop and $1,500 cash and sold out for millions 10 years later.
• 9:09
  This sounds exactly like what I did, except I haven't sold yet. I love what I'm doing. And I just, I could sell the private equity firms are every day calling. I just love what I'm doing. I don't need anything. I don't want to retire yet. But I started working.
• 9:24
  on a credit card at a, at a fricking big, uh, desktop computer on my, in my, uh, apartment. So it's, it's, that's why we are the 2000%. I'm, I embody it. So what are some of the key lessons and insights you gained during those 10 years? Because that's what this book is all about. Yeah. Yeah. The biggest thing I learned, man, is that, you know, when you're an entrepreneur and you start your business, you're alone, man.
• 9:52
  There's no conference strip you're qualifying for. There's no monthly email coming out showing you where you rank nationally amongst sales leaders. There's no regional vice president calling you up asking you if you need help closing this deal next week. There's no one fucking patting you on the back about, wow, dude, you really have a great closing ratio. Your pipeline looks good. You know, and I'm one of those guys. This is probably why I post so often on Instagram. I.
• 10:19
  I like having people tell me, good job, buddy. Hey, John, good job. And when you're an entrepreneur, that doesn't freaking exist, man. It truly doesn't exist. So what I learned was I got to find it within myself, man. I go, shit. Dude, Kelly, I just told this story last night because someone asked. I almost sold my company year three because I was so flattered. A big corporate giant wanted to buy my company. Holy shit.
• 10:47
  It was just like the company that I left to go work by myself. But like, I didn't realize how good I was doing until this company came out of a clear blue sky and made me an unsolicited offer. Holy shit. This is awesome. I'm sitting here considering it. My mom, who is rest in peace now, was a preschool teacher. She had multiple sclerosis. She has very little business acumen. Business was not her thing. But she goes, John, I'm not.
• 11:15
  I don't think you should sell that thing. And I'm like, Hmm, I think you're right, mom. I needed a third party to tell me how good I'm doing over here. You know what I mean? And, and thank God I didn't because seven years, six and a half years later, really, I ended up selling for much more. But I, you know, I would say that that was one of the biggest learning curves for me, Kelly. And, you know, you talk about your situation, an opportunity to sell to private equity. Um,
• 11:43
  A lot of companies, you know, I probably never would have sold, especially if you're a younger person where you're not at retirement age or, yeah, if you're not at retirement age. And you're building a company and that's your baby.
• 12:14
  You really need to take inventory on yourself. Am I ready to be done with this? And then I gotta go get a job. You know what I mean? Because you built some company doing A, B, and C. You sell that company. A lot of times you can't go start another company doing A, B, and C anymore because there's non-solicitation agreements and other things in place. And even if you're allowed to, you might not have the success you just had there. So a lot of times you're gonna end up
• 12:42
  shit, I still got to make money. I still got to make a living. Are you ready to go back to being a W-2 employee? And you need to take that inventory on your life. If it wasn't for private equity, Kelly, and paying these ridiculous multiples, I never would have sold my company. They made me such an offer, though, where I looked at it. I'm like, uh, these guys smoking fucking crack. I sell fucking insurance. You're gonna pay me this kind of money? Hello. I'm like, all right, take my money and fucking run. I'm just some fucking dude from Schaumburg that
• 13:10
  Before I sold my company, the most I made was 140 grand. Now I'm going to be a fucking dozens of millions of dollars. And my kids don't have to work. My grandkids don't have to fucking work. Shit. Let's have generational wealth up in this motherfucker. So I made that decision to do that. If it was a smaller number, dude, I never would have sold the fucking company. Because A, you know, I wouldn't have been enough to do what I just said. But B, I really enjoyed it.
• 13:40
  That number had to be big enough for me to give up something I loved doing. I love running that business, bro. It was, man, we had a team, dude. We had old school hip hop Fridays, Patrick, Jessica, Jennifer, Anna, Katie. We were the fucking cool kids of insurance, dude. Had a blast. So that number had to be big enough, bro, where it, uh, it made sense to give all that up and, and it was, so now what do I do? I,
• 14:08
  Post on social media. Here we are. So let's talk about those, not necessarily the haters, but they're definitely gonna be the ones, but what keeps these people that are irritating on social media, what keeps them from quitting and going and starting their own business? What's the number one thing that you seen at the people that are at your events? The people that come to the events are on the same track as me already. They get it.
• 14:36
  The interesting is you'll have a guy making a half a million dollars as the top sales rep at some corporate giant. And then you'll have some 22-year-old that has an idea for an app he wants to build and is working at a freaking UPS store right now because he's trying to grind and just be in the room with the right people. And then you got people that already founded a company that hadn't exited or in similar positions as me. The commonality in the room, Kelly, is growth growth.
• 15:05
  mindedness. These are honestly strangers. I had two close friends of mine came last night and they watched my Instagram. They watched my Facebook. They get it, but they didn't really realize the magnitude of it. They go, dude, all these people I'm talking to were having drinks and they keep saying this is their first time meeting you. They just know you from Instagram. I'm like, guys, no shit. This guy drove in from Indianapolis. I go, guys, I'm telling you. And it's at the point now, Kelly, where
• 15:34
  A lot of times this happens at casinos because a lot of gamblers follow me, but it could be at a Notre Dame football game when I'm walking down the street. It could be at Woodfield shopping mall. It happened in the Bahamas where people will come up to me and fist bump me. Say, dude, I fucking follow you on social media. Keep doing what you're doing, bro. And always, Kelly, always they say, by the way, fuck the haters. All right. So me blasting the haters has kind of become my signature thing.
• 16:02
  when it was never really meant to be. I'm starting to see other influencers copy it now too, by the way, which I'm okay. I just wish I could put a patent on that. I guess I asked the question wrong. So on page, on chapter 19, it says here, if you want to kill a big dream, tell it to small minded people. It was a quote that you put from Steve Harvey.
• 16:19
  I was going down the thing that my guess is the reason why most people won't do this, what we did. Like I was working for a technology company making a buck 20 a year and I quit and walked in. It's fear is the answer I was looking for. I, what keeps people from making that switch? So if I'm sitting here and I, I binge on John Sarasani's content and I'm working for the man and I'm a, I'm a successful salesperson and I want to make this fricking jump.
• 16:49
  and I'm scared to death. What's John's advice? Because at your event, I was at the first one, you kind of talked about it after you've made that leap. What can we do to get more people to get out of corporate America and make that 2,000% leap? Well, I want people to do the math, all right? So if you were making $120,000, okay, what is that based on? Work backward into the math and figure out how much your company's making off of you.
• 17:16
  Then ask yourself, okay, where is that excess fat going? For me, I was making $140,000. I had a book of business that was worth $800,000. So you have $660,000 sitting there. Now, of that $660,000 that's going to the company, is it worth it for me to be really paying them $660,000? They ain't paying me $140,000, Kelly. I'm paying them $660,000. So what am I getting for that?
• 17:44
  Well, they have an executive team upstairs that, you know, wears suits every day. They have a human resources department. They have a finance department. They have an accounting department. You have this nice office. Okay. What does any of that shit have to do with my client? What does any of that shit have to do with the deliverable I bring into my client? Because I was in consulting and brokerage. I'm selling my expertise. I'm selling me and my services. Well, we got 20,000 employees. We have 200 offices.
• 18:11
  19,999 of those employees have jack shit to do with my accounts. All right. Those 200 offices. Okay. This is a manufacturing company in Oak Brook, Illinois that I'm servicing. I just don't see how my Honolulu office or Tokyo office is going to be relevant to this again. All right. So this sucks. 660 grand goes to this plethora of resources we have that don't mean anything for the client deliverable.
• 18:38
  And once I started looking at that way and started backing into the numbers, hmm, I could probably go out on my own and make a shitload more money. Not only that, I could better service my clients. Because let's say I'm a guy that's a quarter million dollar guy. That guy should be making $250 a year. Okay, if I'm making $250 a year independently as a business owner versus $250 grand as an employee in corporate America,
• 19:08
  This is going to be a masterclass right here. This is this is a bomb. I know. I know where you're going. Keep going. Thank you. Thank you. That client is going to have a much better experience, a much better deliverable from me as a two hundred fifty thousand dollar guy working for himself versus a two hundred fifty thousand dollar guy in corporate America, because for me to make two hundred fifty thousand dollars in corporate America, I got to be spread thin. I have to work on a number of accounts. I need a fraction of them.
• 19:37
  to get to, uh, to make that same dollar amount as a entrepreneur. If, if you're go back and listen to what he just said, he six, six, he's paying the company six 60. So let's let him run that back. 880 or he's bringing eight, 800 grand in a year and he's taken one 40 for himself and he's paying the company six 60 do the math. So it's very simple. You would go into the book and you, and man, I, John, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
• 20:07
  It was brilliant. It's such a quick and easy read. I highly recommend anybody that's thinking of starting a company going on this. I tell you, many times, I bought and sold many companies, but many times I've ventured off into different businesses other than technology.
• 20:23
  And I've suffered for it. So one of the very huge takeaways, you're like, listen, go to your job and learn everything because it's free on the job training and then go start the business. Doesn't have to be a competitor exactly the same, but it has to be in the similar industry. So talk a little bit about that because that is gold. I wish I would have read this book before because I started side off companies. Everybody goes, oh, I'm in technology. I'm gonna go start a pizza business. What the hell do I know about pizzas? Right. Yeah. Talk about that.
• 20:53
  Yeah, and the concept's paid training, and it's really driven from when I went off on my own and started making a bunch of money. I would, you know, you watch shows like Shark Tank. You just pay attention to people in the entrepreneurial arena. And again, this is going back to 2005 and early on. But my mindset was like, why are all these people encouraging people to go broke?
• 21:20
  It's okay. Eat ramen noodles. Live out of your car. Oh, yeah. And then Mark Cuban will start clapping. Oh, yeah. That's what it takes. That's what it takes. How is losing your grandma's inheritance money a good thing? What the F is wrong with you, bro? Okay? Get a job in corporate America. Learn the industry. Learn the trade. Get paid for it. Know what you don't know.
• 21:46
  All right? Because a lot of people go be entrepreneurs, start their business. They have fucking no idea. They don't know what they don't motherfucking know. Oh, I'm going to open a bar. Why? Because you've been a customer at a bar and you have some crazy awesome idea. You're going to hire hot girls to bartend. Oh, yeah. No one's done that before, asshole. You know what I mean? Or talk about a lawyer. Think about a law firm like this, okay? And this is kind of a loose example. If I were to say to you that I'm going to start a law firm, Kelly, and
• 22:15
  We're only going to go after people that have been injured in car accidents. And we're not going to charge you. Okay, we're not going to fucking charge you unless we win. But if we win, we get 30% of it. And then we're going to hand select. We're going to hand select the cases that we take. Because if we don't think we're going to win, we're not going to take the case. What I just said to you is basic. Accident lawyers, that's how they operate. They all fucking do that. It's super basic. But if you're hearing it for the first time right now, holy shit, that's a good fucking idea.
• 22:45
  Wow, that is a great fucking idea. But now you're in that industry. You're looking around. Oh, wait, everyone's doing that. That's not an actual value proposition. You didn't know what you didn't know about that damn industry. Okay. And by getting paid training, learning the business, working for someone else.
• 23:03
  you gain the knowledge that you need to effectively become a business owner. Again, brilliant. You are genuine and authentic as they come and you tell it like it is, even if it's going to gruffle some feathers. So let's get into some advanced question about where we see the insurance business. I have this theory that AI is going to change insurance tremendously. So how do you see AI impacting the insurance business over time? Yeah, I'm sure there's already AI components. I worked in employee benefits. So
• 23:32
  You know, the big one, and that's employee-sponsored health insurance programs, okay? And I worked in that space in a pretty interesting time. You know, from my first job in that space, I started in 2000, and I guess I was in it for 20 years. I sold my company at the end of 2019 and worked. I only ended the company for nine and a half years, but I had, you know, other experiences working for other people in between that. But, yeah, I think selecting the proper choice in an employee benefit plan
• 24:02
  Hey, cause you would already get modeling before AI existed. So people would go in, okay, here's my situation. I have three kids. Here's my income. I want a more aggressive approach, right? I want a more conservative approach. Okay. This is the plan that makes sense for you. This plan has a lower deductible, but a higher premium, which makes sense because you're taking your kid to the doctor regularly because he has this condition or whatever. So I don't think we're too far from that ideology. Um,
• 24:31
  I think things with the customer experience when it comes to any type of insurance, AI probably will play a substantial role in years ahead. However, health insurance, especially the user experience and AI isn't the problem. Health insurance has an inherent problem in the United States with the way it's funded and just the dichotomy that exists between providers.
• 25:00
  healthcare providers and insurance companies. It's freaking ass backwards the way it's run currently today. And a lot of that, unfortunately, is because of Obamacare, which is the Affordable Care Act. And Obama knew it himself when he put it in. They shoved it through Congress to get passed. And knowing that it had holes in it, but what Obama and the other people that voted for it didn't take into consideration was,
• 25:29
  Oh, over the next 15 years, Republicans and Democrats in Congress aren't going to freaking get along. Actually, they're going to agree to nothing. So all these holes that we shoved this plan through are never going to get fixed. Nobody predicted that. And then to make it even worse, when Trump got into office, they started pulling pieces out of Obamacare that were really the core of Obamacare. There's supposed to be a penalty if you don't have health insurance. All of Obamacare.
• 25:59
  like lives on the idea that young people have to buy health insurance. And if they don't, they are going to be penalized. Well, Trump peeled that out of the legislation. So, so really the way with the way, uh, the affordable care act exists, as we know, it makes zero sense. And unfortunately, um, I don't think any politician is going to take that on probably for the next 15 or 20 years, because it's just such a big thing to tackle. And it's, uh,
• 26:28
  not a pleasant conversation i wasn't really going to go there but if you if if we think that national health care is the plan is the way to go go look at canada you you want to go get a routine thing routine anything 90 days 120 days that's what national health care does
• 26:48
  And we're getting there right now. I called to, I just flew because I'm lucky enough that I can, even though I have the best insurance money I can buy, I still pay for my insurance because I want to, I mean, sorry, pay for my healthcare because I want advanced metrics. I want to go to the next level, the next level. So I just flew to New York and got an MRI with, to use AI to get immediate results so I could see everything and make sure that I, I, um,
• 27:14
  can advance to the next level quickly. And when I did that, I paid you out of pocket. But I just, one of the things came back. I had a little thing going on with my, with something in my body. I want to say it's kind of funny. And I sent it to my doctor and I go, what is this? And he's like, I don't know. He's like, I don't know. Come in. He's like, call and schedule an appointment. This, I know this doctor. We're friends. We're friends.
• 27:37
  Five weeks is when I can get in to see him. I message him. I go, bro, five weeks. He goes, I'll get you in sooner. But it was like, that's what our healthcare is coming. So that's, I digress. Nationalized healthcare. Zach, this is an emergency, Zach. I got green pus coming out of my freaking nose and my other areas. You know me by now. I'm a reformed dirtbag. I don't do any of that stuff anymore. Mine is, I'm just trying to go from this...
• 28:04
  I would like to literally optimize my health so much so I never sleep. And I want to live to 100, maybe 110. So I've partnered with a doctor out of Miami. And since I take so much abuse for steroids and these idiots don't listen to my podcast and realize I tell them I take testosterone. I'm 40 freaking seven. I'll be 40 in a couple weeks. I take testosterone. But the rest of the stuff that they, I don't.
• 28:28
  So I'm going to bring the doctor on and show them and show them my blood tests and go, so everything, you know, this really just was hard work, consistency and discipline over 30 years. I've been with weightlifting for. And also, you know, there's always a backstory. Also, I did this to protect myself. My stepfather beat the crap out of me. He was a big dude.
• 28:49
  So I just got big because I wanted to beat him up. It's that simple. But it's not this, I just eat steroids and get bigger. I just love how people say that. Like, yep, take steroids and you're going to get big. You don't have to go to the gym. You don't have to eat right. And you don't have to fly over God's green earth and meet with doctors to make sure you're optimized. But I digress.
• 29:10
  John, everybody knows who you are from financial. They know you from below deck. I want to dig deep because I've gotten to know you really well. And I just, I do love you. And I do adore you. And right when I met you, I could feel you're a big teddy bear. You opened up everything to me and said, dude, let's rock. So we want to talk about you personally. So share some hobbies and interests outside of irritating people on social media.
• 29:38
  Uh, thanks, man. Thanks. You know, I could tell you something about myself. I, I, uh, you know, as a, I, as a former, I played football in college. And, um, one of the things that I struggled with is, uh, after college, I've always just been built as a football player. And it's a big fricking guy. I'm six foot five right now. I'm about two 60, but my weight has fluctuated over the years between, you know, probably low end two 30 high end two 90, um,
• 30:05
  Um, and, uh, anyway, working out was, was always a big part of my life, Kelly. And, uh, everything's caught up to me, man. I, I, I, I should have listened to my body in my thirties, buddy. I should have listened to my fricking body in my thirties. And this is a long way of telling you that, that I'm looking for a new hobby because I can't work out anymore, man. I, um, I used to play basketball all the fucking time. I used to weight lift and I'll tell you how it unfolded when I was about 37 years old and benching.
• 30:35
  doing like sets of 315 for fricking eight. Like I'm like trying out for the Chicago bears or something. Why the fuck am I this strong still? It makes no sense. Well, I tore something in my arm and I'm like, Oh, that hurt. And couldn't work out for a year. Well, a year later, I finally start working out again, benching again. And, you know, we kept going, we kept going, got chronic tennis elbow. Can't fricking, you know, my tennis elbow won't go away. If I lean it, like if I'm standing like this for too long,
• 31:04
  You know, my elbow shouldn't freaking hurt. And this is combined with heavy weightlifting and also all the banging up I did when I when I played football. It's a as a tight end at Notre Dame. And finally, you know, I ignored that, kept working through it, kept working through it. And then about two and a half years ago, my body said, OK, motherfucker, we tried to warn you. Quit weightlifting like this. We showed you in your shoulder.
• 31:28
  You can't see that your elbow is screwed up every time you run and play basketball. Now your knees hurt. What's wrong with you, John? You're not listening. Okay, motherfucker. I'm going to slip a disc. And all I'm going to tell you is I always thought like people with back problems were kind of like, I don't know. I just never had sympathy for him. Let's put it that way. Okay. I was like, all right. Cause I don't really understand it. You do not want to slip a disc. Okay.
• 31:56
  hey kelly i'm laid out on my ottoman i have an ottoman in my living room and that was the only time i could get relief if i laid the stomach first on the ottoman and put my leg a certain way and kept my head down that was the only position i could be that relieved the pain so for like two and a half months i just laid there in that position and i'd have my phone underneath me on the i'd have my phone underneath me on the floor and
• 32:20
  Um, yeah, yeah. So that was my body. And I, now I finally listened to it. My, my weightlifting and working out days are behind me. Um, and, uh, I've got to look for something new to do, buddy. I'd always been in physical activity. I'd always kind of been the guy out there. And, uh,
• 32:39
  Now I don't do shit. Somebody asked me to go for a jog with him the other day. I am not going for a jog. Like something bad is going to happen. Hold on a second. You look like you've slimmed down since I saw you. When was I? It was July 4th weekend when I saw you. What? Yeah, I did. So an amazing thing kind of came into play here. Back when you saw me, I was still monkeying with it, buddy. I would still kind of work out. I'd maybe do bicep curls. I would do things that wouldn't fuck up my shoulder or my elbow.
• 33:07
  And then just little, like, I just honestly feel like, you know, every time I do something like my twist and ankle randomly or something, I'm almost also in a mess. And I'm like, I shouldn't feel like this. I'm not that old. I shouldn't feel welcome to your 40s. That's, that's what happens when you get older. Bro. And, um, well, and I, if I would have listened at 40, cause I'm 46, if I would have listened at 40, I wouldn't be in the spot. I mean, I ignored all the damn signs, buddy. And, uh, and it sucks. It sucks. So, um,
• 33:36
  Yeah, I lost about 30 pounds. I'm in a pretty good weight right now for me, 258-ish. And what I found is this whole time, you probably know this more than anybody, but this whole time I'm getting on the scale every day the last freaking 25 years, weighing myself, working out harder at the gym, doing everything. And, dude, it's the diet, bro. Fucking diet properly. You want to change the number on your fucking scale? It's the diet.
• 34:05
  So when I finally stopped working out and just control, okay, I'm not going to fucking twist an ankle or hurt my shoulder dieting. I'm not going to do it by not fucking running to the fridge. You know what I mean? Brother, I'm going to, the only time I'm, it's a caloric deficit always, but the only time, and I've known you for about a year now, and I, this is the only time I'm ever going to give you a lecture and I've never done it. You've never asked.
• 34:27
  You know where you're taking on a bunch more calories is the booze. Where? Oh, I bet. And on top of it, the freaking sugar that's in that booze, it's what hurts your elbows. You take 90 days off of the booze, like have none. You're going to call me and go, dude,
• 34:45
  Everything feels good on me. That back, the slip disc will feel better. There's something about the dehydration of alcohol. And I say that it took a year for me to be sober till I started feeling the benefits. Now it's like, oh, I had these aches and pains in my elbows and my knees. I thought it was from the years of working out. Took a year off of the booze, all went away. So I'm not telling you what to do, my brother, but-
• 35:15
  Yeah, I hear you. I'm going to tell you what, man. I got to put you in touch just the way you talk about this stuff. I had a guy on my podcast. I haven't aired it yet because I'm taking a minute in between seasons right now, but I have it taped. A guy named Pat Miletic. He's a UFC MMA guy from the 90s. And I'll put you in touch. You guys will get along good if you want to be on your show. But he talks a lot about it. He wants to live to 150. Not just 100, Cal. He wants to live to 150.
• 35:41
  And he thinks that the reason that Americans or anyone in the world can't right now is because minerals. They don't have the right minerals in their system. So his mission is to educate the world on taking these minerals. And I've been taking this shit. And he has some weird statistic, like the average age and...
• 35:59
  Asia or some shit. I'm probably misquoting it, but they live 20 years longer than people on the Western side because naturally the minimum roles are in their crops or some fucking shit. Anyway, I know all about that. And I did please do so text message. It's green zones and the things that we put it's capitalism.
• 36:15
  We put steroids in our cows and our meat to be able to produce them faster. And it's no coincidence that the rate of cancer has gone up. So that's another whole different story. But I definitely would love to talk to him. After reading your book, I just want to – I knew that you played at Notre Dame, but I didn't know the time, and I should have known because we're similar age. I want to read a quote from the legendary Lou Holtz.
• 36:42
  sarasani i tell you what son don't be a pallbearer at my funeral after the heart attack you're about to give me you'll drop my ass son you'll drop my ass that was uh from you dropping a pass and i just love that kind of and nowadays kids you can't get that heart on them because they'll just wilt so having said that what reaction do people have when you walk into a room um god i gotta tell you man i i
• 37:10
  Lately, my answer now is a lot different than it probably would have been a year ago, man. People have just resonated so well with my damn message on social media. People will like come. I was with my girlfriend. I'm at Hugo's Frog Bar. It's a popular restaurant in Chicago. And I'm sitting here at the bar. There's six people by me that happen to be sitting by me. We're not with them or anything. But somebody comes up to me and goes, John, big fan, man, and takes a selfie with me.
• 37:39
  it now changed the whole dynamic of these other people sitting by me. Now they're all looking at me. Who is that guy? Who is that guy? And it just happens to be somebody that happened to follow me. I'm not a fucking, I'm not famous. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not claiming that maybe on social media I'll pretend like I am or whatever, but the guy wanted to do that because my message resonates with him. Okay. Now, if I'm in a room where people are familiar with my message and,
• 38:05
  Fuck yeah, dude. People are smiling. People are sitting up straight. There's a line of people to talk to me. But if you don't know who the fuck I am and I walk into a fucking room, you know, people look at me like, you know, maybe they draw conclusions because I look like a douchebag to them or, you know, whatever, or just, I'm just some normal guy and you don't think twice about it. You know what I mean? Um, so it, it depends on the audience, bro. Um, I gotta say, I've always been the type that if I'm talking
• 38:34
  I make sure everyone in the room is listening. One of my pet peeves, bro, if we were doing this live in your studio right now, Kelly, and there was people behind the cameras talking or walking back and forth, I would literally just shut the fuck up and not continue the interview until everyone shut the fuck up. And it's not because I'm pompous. I get fucking distracted. If I'm talking to these 10 people and these two people over here are having a side conversation, number one, it's disrespectful. Number fucking two, I can't fucking focus because I'm so fucking annoyed that they're talking over me.
• 39:05
  You know what I mean? So I have naturally kind of just commanded that kind of attention. Not that I always get it, but it's just part of my personality, man. Well, we're very similar and I'm biased and I just I think that I feel positivity coming from you. When we walked into Lou's bar, what was the name of that? Avli?
• 39:30
  I believe Luke Kanellis is a very famous sportscaster in Chicago. He's a very popular Greek restaurant in Lake Shore East. Delicious. When we walked in there, you were kind as can be and made sure everybody felt welcome. Made sure Lou said hi to everybody. It was a good night. It was a good time. So what's your biggest fear? How? What immediately? I mean, there's a few ways to answer that, right? But what immediately comes to mind, bro?
• 40:00
  And, you know, Donald Trump always says he never gives people his weaknesses. He never tells people what his weaknesses are. But I'm fucking claustrophobic, bro. I'm fucking claustrophobic. And it's gotten worse as I've gotten older to the point where I will not fly on a private jet. Maybe it's me mentally justifying saving all that money. Yeah.
• 40:20
  Now the Venetian in Las Vegas flew me out on a private jet and it was a 737 Boeing business jet, which was the fucking coolest thing ever. If you're going to put me on that private jet, I will get on it. But normal private jets, fuck that dude. I can't fucking do it, man. And it's, it's the, it's the headroom. I just, I have claustrophobia, bro. And I got to tell you, I had a hypnotist on my podcast and, uh, he started telling me that, that, uh.
• 40:47
  It's in my mind. There's something bigger that I need to uncover. And I learned a couple of coping skills that have actually helped me now because it got to the point where if I have a window seat on an airplane, bro, I've been flying my whole life. And now I'm in my 40s and all of a sudden I can't be in a window seat. I feel claustrophobic. I have to be in an aisle seat. Jesus. I've literally gotten off planes because I was in a fucking seat that I felt like trapped in.
• 41:17
  kind of in a 737 you're kind of in that corner and the ceiling kind of curves over you like this i've literally got an awful fucking plane because of it and like i with no plan on what plane i'm gonna get on i guess i'm staying in boston another night or you and i are very cut from the same cloud i was on the uh the st louis arch and i could feel it swaying and it's really tiny and i i grabbed my daughter and i went running down the stairs get me out of this thing get me out of this
• 41:47
  So I'm with you. I hate being in the – I just flew back from New York, and I moved my flight, so I had to take whatever they gave me, and I was like, just get me. And it was – I was in all the way against the freaking window, and it was – the guy comes on and says, literally, it's going to be the most turbulent flight because we flew through a storm, and I'm just watching it, and I'm like, this sucks. There's two people next to me just – and I'm a big dude, so it's like –
• 42:15
  Oh, get me out of this. That's awesome, dude. All right. If you could have dinner with one person who's alive or dead, who would it be? And why? Oh, good question, buddy. Good question. You know, what's funny about that question, bro. Um, when I played at Notre Dame, they had a media guide and they'd have funny interview questions that the players would have and put them in the media guide for the fans to read and stuff. And,
• 42:41
  And that was actually the, I've only been asked that question twice. And this was the second time. The first time was then. And everybody would get cute with their answers. They'd be like, I'd want it to be two people at the table. I'd want Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler. And I would see, you know, what comes of that conversation or, or Malcolm X and, you know, David Duke or some shit. You know what I mean? Like, just like they do stuff like to make it an interesting conversation. They're like, dude, you're so smart, bro.
• 43:10
  I wasn't that that smart. Nor are you fake. You have to be genuine, authentic. So that's why I asked this. Yeah, exactly. If I could have dinner with one person, man, I guess I'll go kind of like. The pop culture kind of route. Did you say one person or two? You could say either one. Yeah. One childhood hero that I haven't met yet. All right. That I'd like to before he dies.
• 43:39
  before I die whichever comes first is Hulk Hogan and and that seems like a very attainable thing but I've met Mike Tyson I've met Michael Jordan two weeks ago I met William the Refrigerator Perry it was famous for the Chicago Bears like nostalgia little kid shit I almost fucking started crying when I met the fridge it's the fucking funniest thing is partially because he's also in a wheelchair and
• 44:04
  didn't look too great but but it's like my childhood hero i got to meet man did you hold colgan as did you see what that was how colgan for halloween did you see my post i'll send it to you right dude so funny so let's let's do something because i want to meet him too he's got a bar down in florida let's freaking go down there and we'll walk in and you know to us two walking into a bar it's going to be noticeable
• 44:28
  Bro, I would love to. I'm going to text you the picture right now. You will die. I look just like him because my arms are gigantic. So who was the second person? I think I would go a different direction for the second person. I'm not a big reader. I'm not an academic by any stretch of the imagination. But there was a book that I read in high school that has always kind of stayed with me.
• 44:58
  It was called Walden, Henry David Thoreau. And he talks about this concept of transcendentalism. A lot of your listeners are probably like, no shit, John. They're very familiar with it. Some of your listeners might be like, oh, I remember that. Other people might be like, what the fuck are you talking about? But it's very like not me or how I am. But he has a quote in that book that I've kind of used as my my way of life, if you will. And I'm probably going to fuck it up. But.
• 45:28
  The quote goes something like this. Everybody's busy. So are the ants. The question is, what are you so busy about? And the idea is that even ants could be busy. They're just going back and forth here to here, here to here, here to here, here to here. All right. But what are they actually fucking doing? Nothing. All right. So we could all fucking be busy. What are you actually so busy about?
• 45:53
  And I've kind of used that as my way of life and how I run my business. I would tell it to my employees that have the quote up on the fucking wall. All right. Do something efficient with your day today. Being here is not enough. And if you look at life that way, man, I think you get a lot more out of it.
• 46:11
  I love that quote, but I, I, this is what's great about the world, the universe. I interpret that a totally different way. Oh yeah. I interpret it because if you know an ant farm, they just do a little bit of work over a long period of time and they wear you out.
• 46:26
  So one of my core values at my national technology management IT company is tenacity. Water eventually wears out a rock. So if you keep showing up every day, it may not look like you're making progress, but you must believe in invisible progress. I love that, but I love it for a different reason. That's why the world is just fascinating. You know what? Have you ever been to Cabo? Cabo San Lucas? Yeah, of course. Okay. Okay.
• 46:55
  Like, I always stay at this place, Esperanza, and just as you were saying what that means to you with the water and the rock, I just envisioned where the ocean fucking hits these cliffs at this hotel I always fucking stay at. And you could kind of tell it probably looked like this 70 years ago. It probably looked like that 200 years ago. Oh, shit, where we're standing right now isn't going to be here 100 years from now. I just think it symbolizes exactly what the point you were trying to make there.
• 47:25
  Yeah, when I was in Cabo, I was drinking and partying, so I don't remember much. You weren't looking at the waves hitting the rocks, buddy. You'd be very happy that you met me when I don't drink because we would have been out freaking shooting this podcast still with drinks in our hands. Oh, my God. When you're down, what can you think of that makes you smile? You know, I like to take a step back every once in a while and celebrate, you know, where I'm at in life. You know, I had a moment.
• 47:54
  Um, see, I, when you sell your company, I sold my company in 2015 and I turn around and had to work for the company that bought mine for five years. There was never like that moment to celebrate. And, um, I remember just having a moment with myself and then sitting in the pool, drinking a pina colada at the Beverly Hills hotel. And if you haven't been to that hotel, there's like an iconicness of it. It's just like, you feel like you're on a fucking postcard. And I was just sitting there sipping my pina colada in the pool, looking up at the palm trees. All right. This is back in 2019.
• 48:25
  And I reminded myself, hey, dude, you're just that fucking dude from Schaumburg. And look what you're doing now. You fucking made it. And that moment I had like with myself, no one else was there. I like got choked up thinking about it. And I don't know. I kind of just made a deal with myself to take that step back every once in a while. So when I'm down, that's a great time to remind myself.
• 48:52
  So I forgot that your book started, because it resonated with me. Your book started with you and your daughter being a single father at a year and a half old. And that's about what happened with me. My daughter was two. What happened there? Were you married to her mother? Yeah, me and her mom were married. We got married way too young. I was just fucking stupid. Looking back, it was stupid. I got her pregnant when I was 25. She was 20. By 20 and 26, she's 21. Now we're married.
• 49:22
  neither of us were ready to be married. We thought we were doing everything right. And that was back at a time, Kelly, where, um, it was right at that tail end of it. Like still being like a social, it's not, wasn't socially acceptable almost to have a kid out of wedlock and at least not where I was from and my family. And it's fucking funny. Three years later, it's like people are planning on it. She's 20. She's 20. I mean,
• 49:49
  And if you were in New York or LA, I'm sure people were having kids outside of marriage all the fucking time, but in Schaumburg they weren't. And like, oh, there's gonna be a stigmatism. We better get married, I got you pregnant. Fuck it's stupid. That's one of my, you know. It happens. The reason why I brought that up is because that was the added pressure that you had. And I completely skipped this. So you were leaving, she was a year and a half, to go do your yearly review with your bosses.
• 50:17
  And you went there and you asked for a huge 30% raise. You have a year and a half old daughter at home. You're living paycheck to paycheck. You got to pay fricking alimony and child support and you're fricking taking care of your daughter. And you walk in and they say, no, we're not giving you the raise. And you resign balls of steel, dude, mad props. I did the, I did almost similar thing. I walked in and quit and the guy goes, just stay and give me 50%. And I said, every minute that I work in this company, I am robbing myself.
• 50:47
  that's why we resonate so what gets you out of out of bed in the morning um tell you what man you're gonna be shocked by this buddy it used to be my fucking company it used to be that that that diligence i had with my company that desire to keep building that and when i sold it i didn't realize how much of a piece of me was lost and
• 51:12
  I've struggled in that time to find something that does get me out of bed every morning, Kelly. And really this last year and a half, I think I found it with the social media influencing, bro. I can't tell you, buddy, how much it means to me when I open up my DM and say, man, I didn't tell you this because I want to make sure it worked out for us. But I quit my job six months ago because of your posts and my fucking everything's better. I make triple what I was making.
• 51:41
  My marriage is better. I have more freedom. I'm living life again, and I'm 48 years old. If it wasn't for your post, I never would have done that. Seems a little fucking dramatic, but I got to tell you, man, I get probably similar DMs, like maybe five to ten of those a week. How much money did you make off of that? Zero. Exactly. So that's what I want to say to haters. That's what I want to rewind. When you're knocking my boy, remember that.
• 52:09
  Because I get the same crap when I get a message a day saying, I quit drinking because of you. I started working out because of you. So we're very similar. And people are like, I hate these influencers that come on here and tell you this and they take stars. I'm like, I'm not asking you for money. I own a successful IT company. I don't need your money. Yep. Well, I'll give you. I've never revealed this, Kelly. I'll give you.
• 52:32
  Part of my secret sauce, anyone that follows my social media, what Kelly's talking about with these haters, I'll highlight them. I get content from them. If a hater comes at me, I'll go to their profile and look at them. And then I'll post their picture and make a little bubble talking above there with a quote that they said in the comments. And I go, look at this guy. He said this about me. And then I'll come at him and usually tie it into some kind of a lesson or whatever. So people are like, God damn, you have a lot of haters, bro. Where are all these people coming from? Because I'm always posting them.
• 53:02
  I will do Kelly. One of the ways I've grown on Instagram is I'll do sponsored ads every once in a while, just purely to get fucking haters to come at me. Because once you do a sponsored ad, if it's me talking about how rich I am and I won't do it like a lot of it, but I'll do like $5 sponsored ad for the next two days and get like maybe 1500 people see it or something like that.
• 53:28
  But when people see that it's a sponsored ad and see a guy talking about his money, they automatically assume that I'm selling some kind of online course or online university. And I'm definitely some kind of a fucking con man. So the haters come out of the woodwork. They don't realize they don't realize that I'm actually reading their comments. They think I can just type whatever the fuck they want. So some guy's like, dude, nice list, steroid boy. I'm not, you know, what kind of university are you selling con man?
• 53:59
  I won't reply, but then they'll get tagged on a reel I put out with their picture. And maybe they're some, some dumb looking picture of them in like, you know, Disney world with their kids with mouse hats on.
• 54:11
  but I'll cut their kids out of the picture. So they just look some fucking idiot. What do you do steroids? And it's a guy in a Mickey mouse. You wrong, you wrong. That is funny. That's some, that's some gangster stuff I would do, but I'm so slammed. But, uh, you know, it's been a minute since we've been, we've been compared to each other. I don't know. There was like a, a couple of months that were like, is this John Sarasani? Is this Kelly Siegel? I now get nothing but liver.
• 54:36
  I've been reaching out to liver King, trying to get them on the show. So people could, could, cause he gets brutalized. So, all right, we got about seven more questions and 10 minutes to do it. So we're going to rip through some things. What do you want your legacy to be? Um, legacy is a great, a great, a great thing. And it's something I've been, been thinking a lot about, you know, um, I know we're going to fly through this, but, but.
• 55:00
  There's a lot of people that make money. There's a lot of people that do good things, you know, to try to leave something behind that they're going to think about you 50 years from now. Okay. I just had Icky Woods talk at my event in Las Vegas and he didn't know what it is. He didn't know his legacy was going to be the Icky Shuffle. But 40 years later, people are still fucking talking about the fucking Icky Shuffle. That's pretty fucking cool. What are you doing today that they're going to say about you 50 to 100 years from now?
• 55:30
  And, uh, you know, I, I, I hope it's that I've influenced people in a positive way and motivated people to, to approach entrepreneurship. I hope that's that crazy guy on fucking social media that actually has a really good heart and did a lot of good for people. That would be, that would be what I want it to be. And I don't know if I'm there yet. John, I see you and I hear you, man. That's, that was a deep answer. Thank you. Um, if you were offered a mulligan in life, what would you do over?
• 55:55
  It's what I alluded to earlier, man. There was no reason for me and my daughter's mom to get married. We should have had our baby and just lived our fucking lives. I conformed to societal conditioning. Oh, we better get married. And we weren't ready to get married. And that was a waste of three years. We should have just had our kid and probably did a better job at raising the kid if we were married in the first place. Because there's a setback those few years. Divorces are not fun, my man.
• 56:24
  Why are divorces so expensive? Because they're worth it. Well, I got to tell you, we were both so excited to get fucking divorced. We both agreed to it. We used the same lawyer. And I'll never forget the advice he goes. He goes, all right, guys, listen. You want to fight over this bullshit? You got to decide if you want to use your money to put your daughter through college or to put my kids through college. What do you want your money to go to? Okay.
• 56:50
  That's good advice. That's a good lawyer. If you could give an 18-year-old one specific piece of advice, what would it be? A lot of kids don't go to college because they don't know what they want to do in life. Well, I'm not going to go to college. I don't even know what I want to do. Well, that's a reason to go to college, to figure out what you want to do. That is great advice. I tell you, I went to college, and it was to avoid...
• 57:16
  death I mean literally most of my friends I I ran into a guy last night I was at I was out and a guy grabs me he's like are you Kelly Siegel and I said yeah you know same thing happens that you have and and he said hey we're friends with a bunch of the same people I watch your morning motivations but did you hear about so-and-so and uh I said no and I said the person's last name he's like oh you really knew them I said yeah I grew up two streets away from him and um it's like yeah she OD'd
• 57:42
  So most of my friends are dead or in jail. And I went far enough way to college to just get away from that. So when I went to school, to college, I became a man and I learned how to work with different walks of life. And I didn't learn much in college other than how to maneuver through life alone. So that's great advice, man.
• 58:06
  The funny thing about it, you went to Notre Dame, I was just a couple of, maybe an hour up the road at Western Michigan, Kalamazoo. Oh, there you go. WMU, baby. The Broncos, right? Real close. Real close. That's funny. So if you could create one law in the universe, what would it be and why? One law in the universe. Let me think about that. What would one law in the universe be?
• 58:32
  I'll say this, I would probably answer it differently for other people, but for your show and your message, Kelly, I would say that the concept of paying it forward, if it was a rule, if somebody fucking pays it forward to you, you got to continue that chain. You know, there's a movie called pay it forward back from the nineties and the little kid trying to change the world, do one big thing for one person. That person is now going to feel obligated to do something similar for someone else and so on and so on.
• 59:00
  unfortunately people don't have the gratitude to uh to do that um i try to do things a lot that i know people can't pay me back with and when they try to pay me back or i don't let them pay it forward a lot of people are like huh and then they fucking feel it wait a minute pay it for oh okay and at least in that moment they get a little excited that they're gonna i have no idea to know if they do or not but
• 59:24
  If that became a universal rule, that'd be pretty cool. I told everybody you were softy, but I tell you, I believe that already is. That's karmic law. You spread out crap, crap comes back to you. You put out good, good comes back to you, man. It just is. But not everybody believes it or even pays attention to see that. Most people, when they have bad luck, they just think they have bad luck. They don't realize that they're actually creating it. So I have great luck.
• 59:51
  Who knows why? Yep. Where are you going to be in 10 years? Ah, good question, man. I would like to, I'd really like to expand my influence, bro, and talk to wider audiences. I think my messaging could be a little bit broader than what it is right now, where I'm really just encouraging people to leave corporate America and become entrepreneurs.
• 1:00:17
  But I think my messaging could still use that same kind of motivational spin to it, but maybe reach a broader audience and start even like speaking in front of large audiences in person, I think would be, you know, pretty cool.
• 1:00:37
  try to be a little nicer to some of these haters. I've turned a few of them around. Like a few people have lit me and I'm like, Hey, you okay? And they're like, you know what? I'm sorry. I was having a bad day and I was lashing out and I was just jealous. And I'm like, Oh, I didn't expect that. So,
• 1:00:53
  I get that. I assume positive intent. I get it that they're coming from a hurt place, hurt people, hurt people. But unfortunately I'm very healed and you're not going to hurt me. And believe me, you could make fun of everything you want about me. Like a lot of times when they call me old, I go, why don't you just make fun of my height too? Cause I'm short. They don't know where to go with that. Right. Exactly. Dude, seriously. That's funny. It is. What's the best and worst advice you've ever received?
• 1:01:19
  The best advice I got from my sales manager at my first fucking job. And it goes like this. All right. You're walking through. And he was saying it in the context of going back to an ex-girlfriend. But I'm saying it in the context of anything in life. Okay. You walk across a field and you step in a pile of dog shit. That's all right. You're some dude that stepped in fucking dog shit. But when you're coming back home and walking through that same field, if you step in that same pile of dog shit, you're a fucking dumbass.
• 1:01:49
  Learn from your mistake. Oh, that's all the way at the end. Did you drop a bob? My producer's dying in the other room.
• 1:02:00
  so man that's anything in life man you want to know what my sales manager said on the company that i started before he said to me said imagine you're the number one sales because imagine how you good you'd be if you didn't use the weekends destroying yourself that's pretty freaking good 20 years later i took his advice 20 years
• 1:02:22
  Well, dude, you know what's so funny? For me, my sales manager, it was about getting back together with my ex. After we got divorced, like, hey, what do you think about, like, still hooking up with your ex, like, you know, a few months later and stuff? And that was the story he told me. What's the worst advice you've ever received? Or is that both? No, that was not – that definitely wasn't bad advice.
• 1:02:53
  I still want it to be misinterpreted, but almost trusting the system and not, and not taking the reins and the driver, the driver's seat yourself. You know, I had a lot of things in life where, you know, it just didn't make any damn sense. And one specific was, was I had an opportunity to go to the NFL before my senior year.
• 1:03:19
  and Gary Burnett, the head coach at Northwestern had just left. Randy Walker had come in and, uh, Randy Walker was busting heads of all the seniors. Okay. I transferred from Notre Dame to Northwestern and he was busting the balls of all the seniors. He was running people out of that program. Like I did, I'm a fucking fifth year senior. I don't fucking need to be here. I, I had a chance to go play in the NFL. No, I trust the system, stick around for another year. You know, you want the coaches behind you and everything. And,
• 1:03:46
  Randy Walker ended up being my guy. He loved me and stuff. And we ended up working it out. So from that aspect, sticking around was a good thing, but I got hurt. I got an injury. And Northwestern that year, there's nobody running around talking about the 1999 Northwestern team. We fucking sucked. So sticking around to get fucking injured on a team that nobody fucking gave a shit about really cost, cost ended up ultimately costing me the opportunity to play in the NFL. And I think, dude,
• 1:04:16
  That kind of helped me though later in life, that experience, because everyone was telling you don't leave corporate America. You're a rising star. You're an up and comer. Don't fucking quit this job. Are you crazy? Fuck that. Fool me once, motherfucker. Shame on you. Shame on you and whatever the line is. Did you ever try out or walk on at an NFL team at all? Oh, I couldn't. I would have. I would have been drafted. I was projected to be drafted in like the fourth or fifth round, which isn't like that high, but it's still fucking drafted. I would have been on a damn team.
• 1:04:46
  Um, and, uh, sticking around that senior year, Randy Walker had run so many damn kids off the damn team. We didn't have a fucking fullback and me and the other tight end were both pretty fucking good. I'm fucking six foot five. They moved me to fullback. So me and the other tight end could both be on the field at the same time. And cause our fullbacks weren't good enough to, to be out there. The ones that were still on the damn roster. And anyone that knows anything about football, you don't play fullback at six foot five because you're not, you're too tall.
• 1:05:13
  You got to get leverage when you're blocking linebackers. What was your injury? Was your injury just? Well, I was running an ISO into linebackers. That was our play. We'd run into each other. And if I'm up here and he's under me, I'm going to lose every time. So to get low, I ended up dropping my head. And as I kept dropping my head, that's rule number one in football, never do it. If there's any gem, any younger listeners are hearing me right now, never drop your head in football because now when you drop your head,
• 1:05:42
  Your spinal cord is now in a straight line. By keeping your head up, you're protecting your spinal cord because you're getting hit in the face. By getting hit on the top of the damn head, it puts your spinal cord in a straight line. And anyway, I ended up with a contusion to my spinal cord, which means it's weakening. And if I keep playing, it's going to be, I mean, I spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. So did not have the opportunity to continue after college because of that.
• 1:06:08
  Well, everything happens the way it's supposed to happen. Now you're, uh, now you're now you're social media genius. Uh, exactly. Say it again. I'm sorry. King agitation. King agitation. Um, I might be number two, so don't feel bad. I'm close. Uh, is there anything I, I haven't asked you that you feel compelled to share? Oh, this was great, man. This was great. I got to tell you, Kelly, you, uh,
• 1:06:35
  I've listened to your show a couple of times, me and you have obviously met in person. You came to my Chicago event. You're very articulate, and this is a well-done podcast, my friend.
• 1:06:44
  Well, it took many times, and we kept trying to. Perseverance, I don't fail. I mean, the first two times you had to reschedule. This one, it was iffy if it was going to happen, but we got it, and I'm glad we did. And, man, John, I love you dearly. There's anything I can ever have. You know, you're a hop, skip, and a jump away. If you ever need anything, I'm right there. I would have been there at the last night's event just to support you because I love Schaumburg, but I'm –
• 1:07:10
  I'm headed out of town today and it's just, things are crazy, but I'm going to hit you up soon. We're launching a fitness health and fitness app, and I'm going to want your opinion on it. I value your business acumen and I want to see if it's, if someone like you would look at it and see this is creating value. Cause that's what I want to do. Give value in the world. So. Awesome brother.
• 1:07:30
  Thank you, my brother. Please rate and share this podcast. Also, I do my best to respond to comments on social platforms. So if you want to see more of something or less of something, leave a comment. Each and every episode is sponsored by my IT company, National Technology Management. The easiest and best IT company to do business with, delivering peace of mind with technology every day. Visit TrustNTM.com for more info. And until next week, be harder than life. Thanks, John. Thank you.
• 1:07:55
  Thank you for listening. Please rate and subscribe to Harder Than Life, and let's take this to the next level. Get connected at the links below.