Latest / Authentic Living / Beating the Odds with Resiliency Expert, Kendal Netmaker

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Beating the Odds with Resiliency Expert, Kendal Netmaker · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
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  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
• 0:33
  Hi, everyone.
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  It's Roxanne Derhodge Authentic Living with Roxanne.
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  Thanks for tuning again this week.
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  Today, I have a colleague Kendall, and I I think that about it was about 2 years ago,
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  Kendall.
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  I think About
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  2 years ago.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  We, work with, the same coach who's a phenomenal coach.
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  Her name is, Jane Atkinson, and, she had one of her retreats, and that's where, for the first
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  time I met Kendall, who was Canadian, and I'm Canadian, and we were, in Cape Coral, which was
• 1:04
  a nice place to be.
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  So Kendall is, I'm gonna say an amazing young man, and I I actually had the privilege of
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  meeting a sister who I understand now speaks, which I did not know that Kendall.
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  And, you know, so just recently in London at the, Canadian Association professional
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  speakers.
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  So can I speaks on something that's really dear to my heart, and my background, in mental
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  well-being and beating the odds, and he speaks about resilience?
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  So this is an amazing young man who has done fantastic things, started a business quite a
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  long time ago initially, with a retail and then has gone on to become, just recently won an
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  award, for the 40 under 40, which are leaders and entrepreneurs, in Canada.
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  And I'm gonna have, Kendall tell us a little bit more about anything that I've missed there,
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  Ken.
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  So you you tell me what I've missed that, people should know about you.
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  Well, primarily I speak now.
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  I do a lot notes across the country primarily in Canada from the west of the East Coast on
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  just what you said resilience in leadership in the workplace.
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  And it's been keeping me busier for the last 3 years.
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  You know, I I really went full time into it almost 3 years ago.
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  I went from the, starting my own apparel company, selling hoodies, t shirts, some of my
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  own branded products, having my own stores, and then being a hamster in this wheel for so long
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  and just trying to manage all these stores.
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  So and, you know, I had over 100 staff over the, the term of that of that run with all of
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  our stores and learning a lot of things about different people and, and customers and how to
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  deal with them and how to, to keep people coming back again and again And I transfer that
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  into my keynotes and all the research that I've done up into that point.
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  And we've been able to help a lot of people, organizations across this country to date.
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  I published my own book, driven to succeed on basically my own resilience story of what we've
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  overcome as, as children with myself, my sisters in the book as well, and with her
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  story.
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  And, we're just we're just here to try and to, you know, make the people's lives, their
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  business lives, their their their their relationships better.
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  And if I can do my bet my part in in sharing what I know in my story, my journey, and help
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  ignite something within someone else.
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  I think we've done our job today.
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  So I had the privilege of hearing you tell your story in Florida.
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  And I would love for you to share a bit of that, because I think it's a phenomenal story
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  about how people can make a difference.
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  In in some sometimes your story, I remember being quite touched by it.
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  So share a little bit of that so that people understand kind of the context of of, where
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  you're from.
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  Yeah.
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  So so 1st and foremost, money, I'm from a 1st Nation called Sweetgrass First Nation in
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  Saskatchewan.
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  And, I was raised there single parenting by my mom ever since I was about five years old when
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  we My mother and my father split up.
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  And from right after they split up, we were living in a woman shelters for, for several
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  weeks.
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  And basically homeless shelters for single mothers with their children.
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  And we were bounced around these shelters for, several weeks and eventually made our way back
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  to my mother's home reserve, which was sweetgrass.
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  Or my, my grandma, and we call her Kookum in our language.
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  So we live with our Kookum, and she took us into her home, and we lived there for for
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  several months.
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  And then we finally got a little house on the reserve, a 2 bedroom house.
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  5 of us, my, I'm the oldest in my family.
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  Then there's Kendra, Fair, and Marisha, my mom.
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  And so we all live in that house up until I graduated high school.
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  During that time, we, we had a lot of struggles that I thought were just normal.
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  I was a kid just growing up in this, you know, this lifestyle that I didn't realize where we
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  were going through so much because I was a kid.
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  My mom did a really good job of I've taken on that burden, I guess we'll say, and not letting
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  it affect the kids.
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  And by her doing that, she was able to to sacrifice a lot for us so we can you know, have
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  a chance to succeed today.
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  And, to me, I, I like to say that I'm, I'm a product of her sacrifice for for a lot of us.
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  And so is Kendra.
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  She is a, you know, we're able to speak now because of it.
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  We're I was able to graduate university to, to be just our businesses, you know, with the top
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  40, all the stuff, but because of, we had someone back home that we can rely on.
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  So in grade 5, I was going a little farming community to get and bust there every day.
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  And I had a best friend.
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  His name was Yohan, and Yohan was a kid from South Africa.
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  And we just happened to be going to the same school at the same time.
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  His dad was a doctor at the local clinic, and we happen to be both like soccer.
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  So one day he asked me why I wasn't playing soccer after school.
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  And right when I was gonna jump on my bus to go back home, I had to explain to Yohan that that
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  bus I just pulled up was my only ride tune from my reserve, my community, and we're living on
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  welfare.
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  We're living on social assistance.
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  And I used to, I used to see my mother budget that that welfare check to the right down to
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  the the dollar.
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  So I was watching her on a table and she would be budgeting all this stuff and she had she do
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  was able to develop her own shorthand writing, so I couldn't really understand half of it.
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  So she was very my mom is a very smart person, but she'll never admit it.
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  And so I'd used to watch her do all this and then, I told Johan, I opened up to my best
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  friend.
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  I said, you know what, Johan?
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  Aside from that, we're also collecting cans and bottles.
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  We're we're exchanging them to the recycling plan for change, I I have a bike I like to
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  ride.
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  I only get that for 2 weeks of the month because the other 2 weeks he goes into the pawn
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  shop, I told him about, you know, some of the houses we have mold in our basement, in our
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  houses, a lot of our houses that weren't built to standard, they were just kind of built just
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  enough to live in.
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  Every week.
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  There's a water advisory, so we can't drink our water every week.
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  And I still do I I just did some filming it 2 days ago in in our reserve.
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  I went back a film crew.
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  Wow.
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  With with with video narrative.
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  I don't know if you know video narrative.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  I do.
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  Yes.
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  Well, I hired them to come and do a video for me, and, he brought one of his guys, Brian from
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  Portland, he flew into Saskatoon.
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  We drove 2 hours away to my reserve, and we went there.
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  And what what is the first thing that we see on the the community center door.
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  Do not drink the water.
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  This is a boil, wall of water advisory.
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  So the stuff that we we we are dealing with is was normal to me, I guess.
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  So I told my buddy Johan and him and his family, they they took it upon themselves.
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  It kinda helped me out.
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  They, they pay for my soccer fee.
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  They drove me to games and practices.
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  We became best friends for 2 years.
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  I was at his house almost every single weekend, dad became my role model.
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  He's just used to compliment me all the time, uplift me when I couldn't do that myself.
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  And my, me and my, my own dad, we had a very, I didn't see him a lot.
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  So I never had that.
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  I was saying I wasn't able to bond with him like that where he was able to tell me things
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  where I could really, How can I say that?
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  Where I can really truly, I appreciate the words that were coming out of his mouth, and I
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  can absorb them.
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  So if you, like, you never really said, you know, I'm I'm really, I'm proud of and I know
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  I'm happy that you do.
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  He was he wasn't like that, but that was how he that's all he knew about parenting.
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  So I I get that as as I became an adult.
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  He had his own upbringing that, he had to overcome a lot of things as a kid.
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  So when for the 2 years, I was going to Yohan's house all the time and his, they actually had
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  to move away to Saskatoon, so another 2 hours away.
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  And Before they left, they gave us a 1986 Ford Crown Victoria that was sitting in their yard,
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  and it was a burgundy red car.
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  That, they gave to my mother so we can continue to play sports and, you know, the rest of the
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  story.
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  So so much, good came from that family, but the the the the thing I want people to to hear,
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  they didn't give that vehicle to me.
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  They gave it to my mother because they saw something in my mother.
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  Saw this sacrifice because they're able to under, they're able to, to, you know, get to
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  know my mother and, and what she was doing for us.
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  You know, leaders recognize other hardworking people who are trying to get ahead.
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  Mhmm.
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  When you get to a certain point in your life and your business, you can see, you can pick up
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  people in your organization, your family members even, and you know who's really trying
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  their best to make things work.
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  And they're giving everything that they can.
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  And sometimes all I need is a little push, a little nudge.
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  So they saw that in my mom, and that's what they they did for us.
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  And, it obviously, you know, it paid off.
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  Look at me.
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  Like, I'm able to be here today with you.
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  Right?
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  So, it's crazy.
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  It's just crazy.
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  Yeah.
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  It's it's amazing.
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  I wouldn't say crazy, Kendall, because I'm gonna say, and I'm gonna ask you this question
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  as, with my background, resilience is something, that you you emulate, right, as a
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  young child, you must have learned certain things from your mom.
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  And, obviously, you talked about a little bit about from Johan's family to and just from
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  Johan, just that connection.
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  Tell me what you think the key elements are to resilience because you're you're a role model,
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  a young man that I feel privileged to be around you to see you do this out there.
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  And you're speaking to other people out there that have had similar backgrounds.
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  And they they think I'm not good enough.
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  I can't do it.
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  You know, nobody cares about me.
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  All those things.
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  Yeah.
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  The first the first step is is you have to do a mental shift in your mindset.
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  You have to go from stop playing the victim to, to taking control of wherever it is that you
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  can presently take control in your life.
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  And for myself, I, I, I played that victim card for a long time where I I thought that, you
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  know, I was not meant for success.
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  I thought that, I was going to end up like a lot of my people in my community who kinda just
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  hung around and didn't really do a whole lot beyond that.
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  And so when you start to, when you grow up in, in a, in circumstances where they're not as
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  favorable as most people that you look up to or that you wish you were living like.
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  That starts to play with your mind and conditioned you to to not really think big.
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  So when I started to get into sports, especially sports kind of allowed me to, to see
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  the bigger picture because I would get a chance to go and be around different families.
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  So for example, like, if my if if my friends were on the same team as me, and I was always,
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  like, the always first only 1st nations kid on everything in my life.
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  So that was one thing I had to overcome was getting used to being uncomfortable in a
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  situation where I'm the minority all the time.
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  Mhmm.
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  And it that really bothered me so long.
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  So when I got into business, I really wanted to try to create more business owners and try to
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  help people.
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  And we were able to do that, which is really cool.
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  But back then, I was able to have a lot of non indigenous family members around me.
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  Sometimes I go to their house, you know, and I'd be like, wow, this is a beautiful house.
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  So I was expanded by association.
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  And seeing what they did, how they interacted, what they talked about, their conversations,
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  and it expanded my mind to kind of think bigger slowly over time.
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  So by the time I was able to get in university, my mind was already, you know, maybe I can
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  become a teacher.
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  Maybe I can become a phys ed teacher.
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  And then throughout university, then it be it it manifested into maybe I can start a
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  business.
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  Maybe I can start this business.
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  And then when I go out to business, maybe I can actually create a really successful business.
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  And then from there, it went to, wait.
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  I could actually like speaking.
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  I I'm gonna tell my story through this business.
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  I mean, hey.
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  Actually, I like speaking.
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  Right?
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  Man, you know, I I actually want a nice home for my family, you know, and I started to
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  really develop the the vision up here of what I wanted in my life.
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  And it's still growing.
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  Right?
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  I still now it's like, okay.
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  Where do I want to see myself as a speaker?
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  So the the clear you can get on where you want to go in your life.
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  The clear you can see it.
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  You work backwards on what do I need to do to get there?
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  And it sounds It's it's it honestly is is it's it can it can be as simple as you want it to
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  be.
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  A lot of people make things complicated because there's they're so used to be, like, being
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  complicated for them.
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  And if you want things to be simple, it can, but you have to convince yourself up here first
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  to make it simple.
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  So I write my goals down every year.
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  So every year I three goals for, that I wanna achieve for the year.
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  So of this year, I said I wanted to just a second.
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  I wanted to have 40 paid keynote engagements.
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  I was a few shy of that, so we almost hit that goal.
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  What was the next one?
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  Hold on a second.
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  Where was that?
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  I wanted to make the high income earners club head caps.
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  So that was, like, one of them.
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  Because actually in caps, I was there.
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  That was my 3rd year in a Roxanne the 1st year, I was just a new new speaker.
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  So I was able to make that, that group, which is pretty cool.
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  And the next one was I wanted to expand my coaching practice.
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  So I started doing that as well this year.
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  So those were the 3 goals I had for this past 2019, and we've been able to pretty much hit
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  them.
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  So So
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  let's let's talk about mindset because you're like, I'm I'm thinking that there's a lot of
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  kids that can relate to your experience either from First Nations.
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  I'm from, I'm from Trinidad Tobago.
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  I don't even know if you know that.
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  I grew up privileged.
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  You know, and so I grew up elsewhere where I saw everybody in authority being a different
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  color from me from my prime minister to my president, to my dentist, all that stuff.
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  So when I came to North America as a foreign student and when I saw how people looked at
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  Mhmm.
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  Difference.
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  I went, wow.
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  Why can't they see that you're capable of things Yeah.
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  That I had seen, right, because I grew up colonialism.
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  Right?
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  I did in the islands, but I grew up being told you can do anything you wanna do.
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  Right.
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  So when I came here, I was like, why do people not think they can go to university?
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  That's kinda why I'm here.
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  Like, so for anybody listening that, you know, is indigenous or Yeah.
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  Maybe foreign or not foreign, just growing up with, you know, underprivileged.
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  And that chatter in your head is I'm not good enough.
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  I don't belong.
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  I can't do.
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  What did you actually do to quiet that voice?
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  And shift it to say this is possible for me, Kendall.
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  There was a few things.
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  You know, one of them was I I got tired of the the pain of it.
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  The pain became too much of not, I've always felt like I was there were so many people that
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  gave me an opportunity to possibly have a chance from coaches to Johan's parents, my own
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  mom, my grandma, so I felt like I was gonna let them down, and I didn't wanna let them down.
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  And so that that kind of played into, okay, I I I need to think bigger.
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  I need to try, actually.
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  Maybe I should go to school.
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  You know, I in in grade 10, I never even thought a university.
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  So my mind was so closed.
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  Right?
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  I never thought of beyond that.
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  And as as, like, using your gift is is so important.
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  Everyone has a gift.
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  And for me, it was sports at them.
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  Time.
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  And I use sports as a gateway to get me into, to, to, you know, to, to play more multiple
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  sports.
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  And I excelled in those sports.
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  I played college volleyball.
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  And that sport allowed me to build confidence in myself to be able to be more vocal.
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  You know, I was always the shyest kid, believe it or not, Brooks.
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  I was the shyest kid in the room all the time.
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  I was like, I
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  Not not I find hard to believe because you did not come across as shy.
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  I I I had to do a whole shift and everything.
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  Like, I'm a new person, but at the same person at the same time, with the same roots, just a
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  different person so I can succeed out here.
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  So everything had to shift.
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  And so the pain the pain was a a point for me where I I wanted to just do what I could live
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  up to what my what I think I can achieve with my life.
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  And then when I finally started to get momentum, it was okay.
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  There's no one that's ever done this from my background.
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  Like, like, I have no role models.
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  I have to be that role model.
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  I have no choice.
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  So it's always been tougher for me.
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  Like, is this the is this the way of my life span?
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  It's been and I just been, you know, I embrace it now.
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  Like, okay.
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  It's gonna be tough, I'm gonna give it everything I can so the next person can take it
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  further further and further.
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  And hopefully, we can I could help more people from my background?
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  So you can create that path because you think I'm 1st and I want, I mean, obviously, you have
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  2 little two little girls.
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  Right?
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  Boy and a girl.
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  Yeah.
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  Boy and a girl.
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  So you have you have those little ones like sponges, watching daddy, and what he's doing.
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  Right?
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  Yeah.
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  And watching their aunt now, creating that space.
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  So for anybody listening, You started your business before you started speaking.
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  Right.
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  What was the kind of the thinking behind the, that maker, gear?
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  Enterprise.
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  Yeah.
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  So the first company was called Nyingchi Gear.
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  So Nyingchi is a slang form of friend in our language.
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  So it's like friend gear.
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  And I started that as a full time student, in education, so I didn't become a teacher.
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  And the the the reason I started it because I got intrigued by business plan competition.
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  And I that's when they were really starting to come out in the prairies.
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  And I was like, I should try this out and see what happens, but I had no idea how to write a
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  business plan.
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  Right?
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  So I'm at I'm so here's another game of a mindset.
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  Most people when they get into my to business, they think I need a business degree.
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  I can't start a business without business training.
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  You know, I think about I'm thinking about going back to school, I guess, all the time.
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  I'm thinking about going back to school to get some business degree or diploma so I can start
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  a business one of the biggest myths out there about business or even becoming a speaker, you
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  know, I need to be polished or whatever.
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  No.
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  You get polished by doing it on the all the time.
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  Like, you grow.
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  I was a horrible speaker when I first started acting role.
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  And, when we were in, in 2000 and, 10.
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  I started my first company, and it was it failed.
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  I ran into some, trademark issues.
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  I couldn't I couldn't trademark the name, and I have to close it down.
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  2011 comes around.
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  I redo my business plan.
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  I take people out for coffee.
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  I didn't know how to write a business plan, so I sit there with a notepad and notes, how to
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  write this business plan.
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  I bought some software.
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  I put the business plan on there.
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  I presented it to all these judges.
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  They picked me as a finalist.
• 19:26
  And when I finally got on the stage, I had to learn how to do a business pitch I was
• 19:30
  terrified.
• 19:30
  I didn't know what I was doing.
• 19:31
  So I had to do, like, research on Reagan's Dan and Shark Tank, and I would sit there in in
• 19:36
  classrooms late at night, and they practice on in an empty classroom until I finally had the
• 19:40
  confidence to step out on stage.
• 19:42
  And when I finally got there, there was one thing that separated us from everyone else.
• 19:45
  We had a unique purpose driven story.
• 19:48
  And the purpose driven story of how Johan impacted me and how we wanted to impact
• 19:53
  thousands of people out there through a clothing brand.
• 19:56
  It ignited something in all those judges.
• 19:58
  We were the only one to do that.
• 19:59
  So we didn't win all those competitions, but we won money in all mostly all of them.
• 20:04
  So we're able to take that money back at the the about 16,000 the 1st year, we we won.
• 20:09
  And when I was able to buy clothing, I was able to buy apparel designs, create a website.
• 20:14
  Started to sell out of my one bedroom apartment in Saskatoon.
• 20:17
  And from department, we went to a little, little office.
• 20:20
  I took a little office outside my apartment.
• 20:22
  Because my son was born now, and, you know, we needed more space in our apartment.
• 20:25
  And I was like, are we really scrambling?
• 20:27
  And then the from the from the office.
• 20:30
  We took a little kiosk in the mall, so we had a little cart there.
• 20:32
  And then the cart, we took it to a a full store in the mall, then we had another store in a
• 20:36
  different city.
• 20:37
  A different city.
• 20:38
  Then we started to wholesale to other retailers, and we opened up a online store, and
• 20:42
  we were selling, Canada wide into North America and so on.
• 20:46
  And then I got into speaking.
• 20:48
  And, so so speaking was a result of me starting Nichig here.
• 20:53
  And, that was again another journey by itself, and it led us here.
• 20:58
  So
• 20:59
  So you know how to build businesses.
• 21:01
  You've
• 21:01
  taught you've taught yourself how to build.
• 21:04
  So you built Nichigir and now you've, you you've you've built your your speaking
• 21:08
  business.
• 21:09
  Right.
• 21:09
  So I would say that you didn't need an MBA to be able to do that.
• 21:13
  No.
• 21:13
  You you gotta be driven.
• 21:15
  Yeah.
• 21:15
  That's the that's the word back there.
• 21:16
  Right?
• 21:17
  You have to be first off, you have to make a decision.
• 21:20
  The decision is the hardest part for some people.
• 21:23
  The reason why most people don't live up to their expectation or their potential is because
• 21:28
  they haven't given a 100% to that decision that they should make.
• 21:31
  They go half in, half foot in, half foot out.
• 21:34
  And if you're gonna do that, then you're only gonna get maximum 50% of your potential into
• 21:39
  that idea.
• 21:40
  So let's pretend you wanted to start a project and maybe you wanted to start your own business
• 21:44
  or a nonprofit, whatever it might be.
• 21:46
  And you do it as a little site gig for a while, you know, put a little bit effort here over the
• 21:50
  years in, but it doesn't really go to where you expect.
• 21:52
  You get discouraged, right?
• 21:54
  Well, you're discouraged because you haven't given every all your energy.
• 21:57
  You're too busy doing project a, b, c, d, and e, e, and f.
• 22:01
  When I got into all my businesses, there was one thing that made it successful.
• 22:06
  I had to commit everything I had in my energy to every business I started, from Nichigir to
• 22:12
  every store, to the speaking business, to writing this book, to creating this coaching
• 22:18
  company and every other project in between, I'm a 100% laser focused into all my energies into
• 22:23
  it.
• 22:24
  So if it fails and hopefully it doesn't, then at least I know I've given it everything I had.
• 22:29
  It's kinda like in sports.
• 22:31
  All you can do is give it everything you have.
• 22:33
  If you if you lose, it's not the same feeling as maybe you lost, but you you know you could
• 22:38
  have did better.
• 22:38
  That's the worst feeling.
• 22:40
  So in business and in life, it's the very much the same thing.
• 22:43
  Give it everything you have.
• 22:44
  What, like, that's the best.
• 22:46
  That's all we can do at the end of the day.
• 22:47
  Give it everything everything that you get.
• 22:49
  So do you have a ritual that you follow to keep laser focused?
• 22:54
  Cause I'm curious about that because I I'm gonna say, and we know that.
• 22:57
  Right?
• 22:57
  We have 60,000 thoughts in a day.
• 23:00
  Yeah.
• 23:00
  And a lot of them could kind of it could sidetrack you.
• 23:03
  Right?
• 23:03
  Oh, I needed to go see that friend or
• 23:05
  Yeah.
• 23:05
  Oh, I'm not gonna make that prospect call or I'm not gonna try to get on that big stage
• 23:10
  because they're gonna say no.
• 23:12
  We always have detractors.
• 23:13
  How do you state laser focused To stay to stay stay driven like you're
• 23:19
  Yeah.
• 23:20
  How do you do it?
• 23:21
  So I write a lot of things out from, like, personally, the everyone's different.
• 23:24
  For me, I like to write things out And on my wall back there, you can't see it.
• 23:29
  It's kind of my own personal.
• 23:31
  I have everything that I'm focusing on in my business.
• 23:34
  I have my daily mantra, right, so that that that that reminds me of what I'm trying to
• 23:38
  achieve.
• 23:39
  I have all of my products that I'm trying sell.
• 23:42
  So if a email comes through, I know what I'm gonna pitch to that person from my speaking to
• 23:47
  my coaching, to my online series, to my online course, and and and all my other products.
• 23:53
  I have my 4 point, coaching question that that converts really well.
• 24:00
  So I have I have I've created systems, I guess, for myself that allow me to to stay focused.
• 24:05
  And every day, that, you know, especially when you're on the road and you're speaking, you
• 24:10
  probably know this, Roxanne, when you're on the road, you're you're very limited to what you
• 24:13
  can accomplish unless you have an assistant to which most people most of us have a really hard
• 24:17
  time finding a really good one.
• 24:19
  You can really only commit to one major thing every day, and you focus on that one thing.
• 24:24
  And that might branch out to maybe 2 or 3 other things below that.
• 24:28
  But the one thing you have to stay laser focused, at least accomplish that thing.
• 24:32
  That's how you keep your momentum going every if you miss that one thing, your momentum
• 24:36
  starts to slip.
• 24:37
  So focus on the one key thing, and it it there's a book that I read.
• 24:41
  It's called the one thing.
• 24:42
  Read that book.
• 24:43
  Yeah.
• 24:43
  It's amazing And it's all boosting laser focus by focusing on one thing a day, and it trains
• 24:49
  your mind that you're achieving all the time.
• 24:51
  And that you're getting there.
• 24:52
  You're getting there.
• 24:52
  Because if you have 3, 5 things in your to do list, it's really easy to miss a couple of
• 24:56
  them.
• 24:56
  It's really easy to get discouraged from that too.
• 24:59
  Subconsciously, you might get discouraged and not even knowing that you're getting
• 25:02
  discouraged.
• 25:03
  But if you're achieving that one major thing every day, you, you know, you have written
• 25:06
  down, Kate, today, I'm gonna make my my podcast with Kendall.
• 25:08
  Right?
• 25:09
  And that's the main thing today.
• 25:10
  We're gonna get going.
• 25:11
  Tomorrow, we're gonna do, I'm gonna make you know, I have to send that email to that client
• 25:15
  or that's just proposal.
• 25:16
  That's the main thing I'm gonna head to tomorrow.
• 25:18
  You're achieving every day, and that momentum starts to build and manifest over time into
• 25:22
  bigger things.
• 25:23
  So that's the key.
• 25:25
  Pretty amazing.
• 25:26
  Right?
• 25:26
  Because, you know, we talk so much, and most of us are split.
• 25:30
  Right?
• 25:30
  We have all these goals and you took one thing and you said, it sounds like this year, you
• 25:36
  decided that keynoting was what you were gonna do, and that's all you you did.
• 25:40
  And you accomplished, like you said, you were 1 or 2 speaking events off, which is amazing
• 25:45
  because you started speaking how long ago?
• 25:48
  Full time about 3 years ago, roughly.
• 25:50
  Okay.
• 25:50
  And the the reality is is I didn't realize this.
• 25:54
  I've always been in the speaking business some in some way because when I first got into it, I
• 25:59
  was already kind of speaking at local schools but I was just trying to sell t shirts.
• 26:03
  I wasn't getting paid ever to speak when I first started.
• 26:05
  I was just trying to, yeah, I'd love to come to your high school and speak to your your your
• 26:09
  youth.
• 26:09
  You know, do you mind if I bring, you know, a couple bins of my clothing?
• 26:12
  And if any of the teachers wanna buy some clothing for your kids or maybe the kids have
• 26:16
  20 bucks to buy a shirt, Can we do that?
• 26:18
  And sometimes I make a thousand bucks, 2000, you know, at per event, and I was happy with
• 26:23
  that.
• 26:23
  I was like, man, I can't believe we're crushing it.
• 26:25
  Right?
• 26:25
  This is amazing.
• 26:26
  So, that's how it all evolved.
• 26:28
  Was in 2012, I started speaking like that, and I would just kind of 2015.
• 26:33
  And I was like, okay.
• 26:33
  Maybe there's something here in 2016.
• 26:35
  I registered my business.
• 26:36
  And then you know, we were 3 years ago.
• 26:39
  And the rest is history.
• 26:40
  And now you're talking some of the on I've seen I often, obviously, I follow you, so I see some
• 26:46
  of the huge stages that you've been on, which, you know, I'm I'm right behind you there, and
• 26:50
  I'm gonna, just listen to everything.
• 26:52
  All the words of wisdom that you've given today and apply So Kendall, for any young person out
• 26:58
  there, that has a dream, what what are some words of wisdom that you could give them and
• 27:06
  something that they can apply.
• 27:08
  Let's say we're ending the year.
• 27:10
  I'm sure we're all sitting down and writing our goals.
• 27:12
  Yep.
• 27:13
  What words of wisdom would you give to these young people out there?
• 27:16
  The words of wisdom I would give to you is if if you wanna really achieve whatever whatever
• 27:20
  goal that you feel that you you want to achieve.
• 27:22
  For example, it has to be an obsession.
• 27:24
  It has to be an obsessive feeling that you have towards that, whatever path that you're going
• 27:29
  to go, you have to actually up and feel like you wanna do it.
• 27:32
  I would not be speaking if I didn't feel like I want what I was meant to do it.
• 27:36
  Okay?
• 27:37
  I would not assert a niche gear if I felt like I wasn't meant do it.
• 27:40
  And I was, you know, everything I saw that I get a rush.
• 27:43
  So it was like, I was always gravitated towards those projects.
• 27:46
  You need to develop that same.
• 27:48
  It has to be the same feeling for you.
• 27:50
  And every single successful leader I've had a chance to research and work with, it's very
• 27:54
  similar.
• 27:55
  They start things based on a obsessive desire to achieve that goal.
• 27:59
  And if you don't that your obsession isn't there, move on to something else because
• 28:03
  there's no point trying to replicate someone else's successes because you get spy you get
• 28:07
  inspired, which happens a lot at 2 of a lot of people, but their emotional connection to that
• 28:11
  is not there as the other person.
• 28:13
  That's why they're not succeeding.
• 28:14
  So it's an obsession.
• 28:16
  Once you're able to to feel that, what you wanna do is you wanna try find people who have
• 28:22
  achieved that already or done something similar and you research them.
• 28:26
  You buy their books.
• 28:27
  You, but, you go, you listen to their, your YouTube videos.
• 28:30
  You listen to their podcast.
• 28:31
  When I first got into it, I was, I was a sponge for all this knowledge.
• 28:35
  And I, I was able to, to learn how to do everything in from a start to finish in the t
• 28:42
  shirt business because of that same hunger for knowledge.
• 28:45
  So I I would I used to do my own screen printing my own apartment.
• 28:48
  That one bedroom apartment had a little factory going on.
• 28:51
  And I realized very quickly after 2 weeks of doing that, what a waste of time, but at least
• 28:54
  I know what to do now.
• 28:56
  Right.
• 28:56
  Right.
• 28:57
  So I was able to understand the whole process from the screens, the ink, the squeegee, the
• 29:02
  heating, the ink, white, how it doesn't crumble in the washer and dry everything.
• 29:06
  Right?
• 29:08
  To design my own stuff.
• 29:09
  I played around on Photoshop and illustrator, and and I've, you know, I was able to create
• 29:12
  our own logo.
• 29:13
  You know?
• 29:13
  And so all this stuff, even in speaking, same thing.
• 29:16
  I hired coaches.
• 29:16
  I I bought their books.
• 29:18
  I went to their seminars.
• 29:18
  You know, we both know Jane, what, and we're both getting what, coaching.
• 29:22
  Right?
• 29:22
  We're always learning.
• 29:23
  You have to have that hunger to learn and you match it with an obsessive desire with the
• 29:28
  goal, I really believe that is one of the major things that'll help get you to where you wanna
• 29:32
  go in your life.
• 29:34
  Well, you're very inspiring.
• 29:35
  I I, you know, I'm I learned so much more again, even though we've been in the same,
• 29:40
  arenas, because we're we're the we're the students when we sit in those rooms, and we we
• 29:44
  we surrounding by amazing people that are doing amazing things and getting their messages out
• 29:50
  there.
• 29:50
  And you're an inspiration to, anyone that's thinking about you can't do it.
• 29:55
  Anything's possible.
• 29:56
  It really, really is.
• 29:58
  And I know that sounds cliche, but if if Kendall is any representation of that that you
• 30:03
  it shows you that it's possible, you know, to be, honored with this big award, and he is
• 30:09
  definitely one of the younger speakers in, the professional association.
• 30:14
  There's not a lot of young pea younger people.
• 30:16
  Most people are pivoting into speaking generally like myself, mid career stepping into
• 30:21
  it.
• 30:21
  So it's it's a it's a blessing to see him out there.
• 30:24
  So what am I taking away from Kendall?
• 30:27
  I'm taking away that, project forward.
• 30:31
  Think about where you wanna be and create that obsession.
• 30:34
  And because and what happens if things start to fall into place, the more you just surround
• 30:39
  yourself.
• 30:40
  So whether it's I want to be the best soccer player or I wanna be the best business person,
• 30:46
  go out there, find people.
• 30:47
  We we are in the information age.
• 30:49
  You can find anybody, and Kendall could probably echo this as When people are
• 30:54
  successful, if you pick up the phone and you ask them to talk to them, I'm amazed how many
• 30:58
  people I've actually spoken to, they said, sure.
• 31:00
  Roxanne, I'll give you you know, half an hour of my time.
• 31:03
  Right.
• 31:03
  Right.
• 31:03
  Reach out reach out.
• 31:04
  Get the wisdom and and and that's inspiring, and then you take the steps Sorry.
• 31:09
  So, again, resilience is something, that you can achieve in any given day, and you never
• 31:15
  know where the messages will come from So followed that path.
• 31:19
  And as you know, with myself, I I'm a mental health and wellness specialist.
• 31:22
  I talk about authenticity and leadership and mental resilience.
• 31:26
  So if you're needing me, you can connect with me at Roxanne.
• 31:29
  And again, Kendall, thanks again for your time.
• 31:32
  It was it's always a a a pleasure.
• 31:34
  And maybe we can connect with your sister at some point because I would love to
• 31:38
  also Absolutely.
• 31:38
  She has an amazing story.
• 31:40
  She she's definitely stay in touch with her.
• 31:42
  I will.
• 31:43
  I'll I'll get her contact.
• 31:44
  Okay, everyone.
• 31:45
  Thank you, and we'll talk to you soon.
• 31:47
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive,
• 31:53
  healthy change.
• 31:54
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
• 32:00
  rocksandirhaj.com/blueprint.
• 32:04
  We'll see you next time.
• 32:06
  An authentic living with Roxanne.