Latest / Harder Than Life / 22: D is for Dyslexia w/ Dylan Smith

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22: D is for Dyslexia w/ Dylan Smith · Harder Than Life

• 0:00
  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.
• 0:15
  The story I'm about to tell you, or about to share with you is bananas. If you ever think you're having a tough go at life, wait till you hear what Dylan Smith is about to tell you. He is a remarkable human being, having started a company at 20 years young called D is for Dyslexia, while working a full-time job. He did this to create awareness, motivate, educate, and make an impact on people's lives that are affected by kids with dyslexia. I thought my story of adversity was tough, his was tougher.
• 0:43
  He had to persevere through misdiagnosis, many struggles, and disadvantages. Welcome to the Heart of the Life podcast to the dynamic Dylan Smith. Thank you, Kelly. I really appreciate you having me on here, and thanks for the really welcome intro.
• 1:00
  Dylan, I did all kinds of research on you, and when we met in New York, you are absolutely a remarkable human being, and I cannot wait to share this story with you. I am so excited to get to know you, and you have an event that's going on this weekend. I wish I could be there. I have family commitments here, but the next one I will be at. You're speaking. You're love. Yeah.
• 1:23
  When we connected in New York in the restaurant, I was like, who is this kid? And we're going to share with it. So I'm glad you're here. Dylan, I'm going to fire right off. What's your story and why does your story matter? So my story is I'm a 22-year-old kid who's been adopted twice. I was in an orphanage in Russia for two years. I had an agoholic father for eight. I...
• 1:45
  When I was in New Hampshire, I was diagnosed with ADHD, so they put me on Ritalin and Concerta, and that lasted for about 10 years, where I didn't know how to read, didn't know how many letters were in the alphabet, didn't know what was going on, was getting bullied, was in the small classes until at 16, I was re-
• 2:02
  I was reevaluated and I had severe dyslexia. So they took me off the meds immediately, which had made me balloon up at 16 years old and in high school at 16, you know, that's the most judgmental phase of your life. So now I'm five, three for everybody who's out there. And I was 165 pounds and not a good 165 pounds. And so now I'm the stupid fat kid in high school. So I had to figure out how to make things work. I was going into classes before class started.
• 2:29
  skipping lunch, skipping gym to go to class, staying after and going to a tutor just to get a 50 in school. And then after that, I didn't, I knew college was on my lane. I got an internship at a high school and I turned that internship into a career where now I'm a, uh,
• 2:47
  I'm a customer service engineer, and I service Wall Street's biggest clients in tech. And I fly around the country fixing computers for Wall Street. And then I built my own company where I have a podcast on motivational speakers. So I speak on stages on other podcasts like this. And then I host big ones like I am this weekend to 300-plus people on the red carpet. In a nutshell, that's my story. Wow, that was fast. We only have an hour today, so you blazed right through it. But I got some...
• 3:13
  I have some really well-prepared questions. There are four main types of dyslexia. Boy, I'm having trouble saying dyslexia today. There are four main types of dyslexia. Phonological, surface, rapid naming deficit, and double deficit dyslexia. Which do you have, and would you mind describing it for the audience? Because many people might not know what it is.
• 3:39
  Right. You can actually have a sliver of each, and I have a good sliver of each, which is crazy, which is as severe as it gets, but it makes it that much more exciting. And for the listener, if you look at an open book and there's pictures and a lot of words, it looks like if you stay there for one to two minutes, 90 seconds max, the words. Kelly, you ever watch the Jetsons?
• 4:08
  Of course. The intro, all of everything flying around sentences will start, grab themselves and they'll fly around the page. And then the letters inside the sentences will start like doing circles and flipping up and down around. So then a lot of us dyslexics get very nauseous. We get very dizzy. We get very confusing and dis we don't really want to read anymore. It's not anything. And then usually teachers, the way it works in school is Dylan, why don't you read? I can't, I'm dizzy. They don't understand. So they're like,
• 4:35
  come on, Dylan, read. We're not asking. We're telling you. Everybody else read in the class, and they don't understand that you're dizzy. You don't know what you're seeing, and you can't read. It's like you took some crazy drug that you were born with, and you have no choice. You have to just ride the ride. And you have no idea what's going on. You have to hold on. So what we usually do is take a piece of paper like this, and you put it on a book, and you read sentence by sentence by sentence by sentence, so there's no room for anything to fly around.
• 5:04
  But it takes double as long. You're chopped up and now your friends are still making fun of you, which brings you back to being a stupid kid. Wow. Wow. So is it happening where you can't articulate that, that this is happening? What's the big disconnect there from teachers? And is it that you can't just, I mean, you sit there and you say, I'm tired. It's my, I got a headache. They think you're making it up. Is that what?
• 5:31
  It is.
• 5:56
  Before class, during lunch, during gym, after school, then a tutor. And I didn't go to the skate rink on Friday. I didn't hang out with my friends at lunch. I didn't play gym with my friends. And after school, I didn't play Xbox as a tutor. And you guys who got to do all that are getting 80s, and I'm still getting a 50. That perspective changes a lot. Now, teachers are like, okay, wow, we're wrong. Parents are like, thank God somebody understands. And the kids are now like, okay, so my friends respect me now because I'm doing double the work they are.
• 6:25
  That's why you're on the 100 in Life podcast right there. So you work triple the amount just to get back to level playing field. I will guarantee you that you continue to work less hard. You will pass everybody up. And I always say, he who laughs last, laughs loudest, and you will be laughing loud. The most remarkable thing about you, and I keep saying remarkable, is that
• 6:48
  your vocabulary and your articulation is out of this world. So you, it is on display how much time and energy and effort you have put into this. So I commend you, but we're going to use this as not only to create awareness of dyslexia, but we're going to talk about how hard work, because that's what this is about. Really, truthfully, that's life. Whether you have an affliction or not,
• 7:15
  You know, most people don't have dyslexia and won't put in put in one third the work that you put in. And that's really what the Heart of the Life podcast is all about. It's just doing the hard things and you're doing incredibly hard things. So I want to talk to you about I want to ask you about negative self-talk. I every video I heard you talked about, quote unquote, if the people can see me, I.
• 7:39
  the stupid kid you called yourself the stupid kid how did that serve you and what is your advice to others who don't speak to themselves well oh so i love that question so the thing is you are who you surround yourself with find those five people you surround yourself with what do they do what are they chasing what's their mindset what do they want out of life you are them and they are you that's the end of that um and when you go to the bus stop
• 8:06
  after doing triple the amount of hours of work that, you know, every other kid that bus stop did and the first word out of somebody's mouth, Oh, that's okay. Dylan's just a stupid idiot. Really hurts. It's like, what? Like I just, I worked all night and I know you played Xbox. At the end of the day, know who your support system is and stay close to them and know that,
• 8:26
  what you did. Like if somebody says you're the stupid kid, then you still can go, okay, you're insecure about something. I'm sorry. You're hurting. Cause anybody like, if you ever looked up, has Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant ever commented anything negative on anything on a YouTube video, on an Instagram post, on a Facebook post, have they ever commented or said anything negative? Find a video of it. I doubt you can because winners and those who vibrate at a higher frequency aren't going to come down here to take somebody else down. Cause they have something going on in their life.
• 8:55
  My biggest thing is just always make sure you uplift people around you and you take care of the people and people take care of you. You help enough people get what they want. They'll help you get what you want and just be there for them. Kill them with kindness. And then everything kind of falls into place. That's my experience. I don't know if I'm describing it well, but.
• 9:11
  You're describing, I love you, man. You, you are, you lit your face lit up when you started talking about that. And it made me excited because you know, you're, you're five, three and, and a buck, nothing, and you can't stand up for yourselves except with the words. And I love it. So me, I experienced the same thing, but I am 220 pounds of solid muscle. And somebody says something to me, they better have a,
• 9:36
  They better have something more than words. But no, talk about that a little bit more. We're going to, I'm going to get off my questions for a second, because all too often we try to fit in instead of belonging. And that person that says you're the stupid kid, we try to fit in with them instead of saying, hey, I'm rising above this. And, you know, you said, sorry, you're hurting. But really what you want to do is get that's crabs in a bucket. They're trying to pull you down.
• 10:05
  So I think your advice was, hey, surround yourself with people that wouldn't speak like that. And don't try to fit in with those people and go find your tribe, so to speak, where you belong and people that love you and are trying to lift you up. Is that what you're saying? You want to be around people who want to uplift you and help you accomplish what you want to accomplish without changing who you are and what you want.
• 10:29
  Don't change who you are for somebody. So if you look at a puzzle, there's so many puzzles that you can buy, right? Don't try to fit into a puzzle when you don't know the main picture. And if you look at the main picture at the end of the puzzle, it's not what you want to be a part of. Don't try to fit into it. Make your puzzle piece fit somewhere else where you want it to fit.
• 10:44
  Man, it's a shameless plug for why we joined these masterminds and part of the CLS family, and that's where I met you at. Those are the people that are like-minded. Because it's tough to find your tribe, man. It is. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I do what I say I'm going to do. I work out every single day. And...
• 11:01
  I feel alone a lot. I'm not lonely, but I get alone. All because I do things to try to assist in the world. I get haters saying, stick to your IT job. You're not a personal development guy. I don't care. I just...
• 11:18
  That's them hurting, as you said, and just you follow your feet, and this feels good, and I love it. Society teaches us to want the good, easy life, but you and I both know it only comes by going through tough times and facing hardships and overcoming them. You've overcome...
• 11:40
  Some things that are, it seems insurmountable. I've listened to a few of your speeches. Take the next several minutes and give the audience your best motivational speech. I like that. It's Friday. Are we allowed to swear on here?
• 11:55
  You can swear all you want. Okay. You be you, baby. Okay. It's Friday, motherfuckers. Know who you are. Know what you're about. Know how you're going to get it. Get those people around you to impact, motivate, captivate, and kill it. You got it. The only one who doesn't got it is those who say you don't, and that's because they want to be you, not because they're jealous, not because you're doing something wrong.
• 12:18
  this from the five foot three hundred and nothing pound. I love you, man. You're awesome. I'm going to walk through a wall. I got three, two more podcasts today. And, uh, wow.
• 12:29
  I cannot wait to come see you speak. I just... So you're in IT. You fix computers. You do the same thing I do all day. That's why I think we bonded too. So talk to me about being a customer service rep. So those who don't know, IT is like being in the emergency room. People don't call you because everything's working well. So I'll bet you this serves you very well that everybody calls you, this dang computer. Talk to me about...
• 12:58
  how you check because i know you i guarantee you channel your positivity so somebody calls and they're like this stupid computer and and and i'm in it and i hate to tell this to everybody better than 80 it's really 90 of the issues are user error they are so you got to tell them yeah you have to know when somebody calls they might not even be describing the right issue
• 13:22
  Yeah. So this probably serves you double entendre where where the personal development and the growth is able to really talk to people and let them leave the woodpile proverbial higher. Talk to me about that, how this serves you in your day to day working.
• 13:38
  Oh, it serves me a lot of weight. Both worlds serve – each world serves each world because – so I support Wall Street, which means you have a bunch of miserable stockbrokers and they're like, hey, my shit's down. You got 10 minutes to fix my shit and you're worthless. My watch is worth more than the car you drove here. And I'm like, all right, prick, sit down. You want it fixed or not? And it's like you have to be able – you can't say, OK, prick, sit down. You want it fixed or not? You have to be like –
• 14:03
  I understand your stress. I understand that we have this much money on the line. Let's figure out the best way to solve this. And while you're talking him down, who's the best person to contact a remote in while he's not even focused on what's going on? Or what could be the issue so I can best figure it out and get him up as fast as possible? In IT, at least where I am, it's not about the computer. It's about the customer service, right? You make the customer happy, feel comfortable, and that everything's under control before they even know
• 14:28
  It could be a password reset. It could be an update. It could be a driver or it could be ransom, but you make them feel like, oh, I know exactly what's going on. I'm getting on it. I have people remoting in right now. We're going to figure this out. What can we save in case we don't? We don't. We need to. And it's more of like calming them down. It's the customer service. You don't know what's going on. You're not in IT. That's why you called me. Let me calm you down and figure out what we can do to fix it.
• 14:49
  So I can, it's like a lot of just, we got to figure out what's, what's the problem, how to fix it, how to make everybody happy involved and do it fast and efficiently. And transferring those skills that I learned from building those resources with teachers, getting awards with 50s as grades, student of the month, into IT and transferring those skills into my business has just helped me skyrocket.
• 15:12
  Beautiful you're hired at National Technology Management. I tell everybody, you know, the reason why we're so successful, one of the reasons is because I am not, I'm an end user. I'm not an IT nerd or geek or propeller head. I am an end user and I get it. I want every single time for our customers when they turn on their computer, it works. Yeah.
• 15:33
  And I don't need to know the bits and bites. Why just fix it and get them back to doing what they do. And that's what we do. And I'm super, super fast and super efficient and speak to them like humans. Yeah.
• 15:45
  A lot of issues with techs for me that I see, I always have to explain to them, is they'll walk into a stockbroker or hedge fund. They're like, he's treating me wrong. I'm like, this is not about you. You need to drop the ego. You are not anybody right now. You are just a tech. This is a deal between our CEO and this CEO. And he said, here's our contract. I agreed to pay you $20,000 a month to fix my computer. So when the tech walks in and the stockbroker is stressed, he's not pissed at you. He's pissed that his shit's down. He needs it up.
• 16:11
  Don't like a lot. I have a lot of people who get mad at stockers. I'm like, dude, don't get mad. It's about the computer, not you. And don't start to fight or argue. Just go, okay, I understand that I'm just a tech right now. I've got a fix. Like, that's it. It's not about. It's a great analogy. It's, it's, it's not about you. It's, it's one of the four agreements. Don't take anything personal. And I say that a thousand times. And yeah.
• 16:31
  I still believe that you teach people how to treat you. And I believe one of our core values at National Technology Management is family. So we remind people, don't swear at us. We're a family. I know you're going to get angry with family once in a while. Well, then we're going to hug and kiss after. But, hey, we're in this together. But we also do a lot of teaching. One of the most things, and everybody calls customer service, and they'll understand this. When the customer service rep says, it's not supposed to do that. Or that's weird.
• 17:00
  I'm like, don't say that. You have to comfort the person. It drives me insane when I hear that. And I walk through our call center, and I hear that. I'm like, stop. Empathize with the person. Say, I'm here to fix it. We got it. We're going to make them feel comfortable. We record all our calls, too, so we remind people that, hey, you're going to want to be at your best all the time.
• 17:22
  You know, this, we're not here for a long time. You know, why treat people poorly? And the grand scheme of things, you know, this computer not working and the market going up or down or how much money you have is all irrelevant. Yes. Yes.
• 17:42
  So give us a little background on your family. You started talking about it. I heard you talk about your parents, but then I heard about an orphanage, twice adopted from Russia in 2003, five parents before 15 years old. Ultimately, you ended up with
• 18:03
  someone you talk and call the hero. Speak about this person. Cause I'm a, I didn't grow up with a great family. I love hearing about inspirational heroes that just step up and, and do the amazing things to talk about your ultimate parents.
• 18:20
  So my mother who adopted me from Russia, she's an absolute, I don't think she's human. She quit her high school job. She was a teacher at high school. I wasn't serving our family right financially and opportunity wise. So she quit her job and we weren't in the best financial situation and went to nursing school for two years.
• 18:41
  And then after that, got a job at Yale and, you know, got her stuff together to take care of us and give us better opportunities and moved us to from New Hampshire to Connecticut where there's more opportunities in business and life and schooling, etc. And then our second father who adopted us in seventh grade or third, he –
• 19:00
  Man, he showed me a lot. He grabbed us at the right time. We were 14, so right before we went where we weren't supposed to be as kids without a father. But he's always taught me, show up. It doesn't matter how you feel. It doesn't matter what's going on around your world. Show up always. That comes down to work for me every day. I transfer that. He's made it his mission to make sure that I know that the biggest thing here is to show up.
• 19:26
  And I always challenged him. So I had an event in September that I hosted, and he was in Sweden with my sister for a powerlifting championship. And him and my producer made a podcast that opened up the whole event. Because he said, I said, I don't know, go to the thing with her. Like, it's not the end of the world. I'll be on more stages, like whatever. And –
• 19:46
  motherfucker still showed up. He was, he opened up the pod, the, the event and I didn't even know everybody else knew. And I mean, I broke down in tears and I've always just, every time, like he had a lot of important business stuff. He works in corporate wall street. And when it was my senior night for wrestling, he couldn't make it, but he made it like he caught a meeting and showed up to walk out on the mat with me. So everybody saw us like no matter, he doesn't, he makes time not excuses. Like seriously, he's got five kids. My mom,
• 20:14
  corporate job and he's just, he makes everything happen. I don't know why the math and the time doesn't make any sense. And he also has the knowledge of, of a God. I don't know how he knows everything. He's like an encyclopedia, Google. He's got the perspective, which is crazy. He had a really crazy upbringing. He actually had an alcoholic father too. Um,
• 20:33
  So we do connect very strongly on that level. Yeah, I mean, my goal here is just to figure out where he's wrong because I don't have to never happen. And I'm trying to find where his imperfections are. No, he's done a lot. He's he had three kids and a wife prior and he stood up and he's like, no, I'm gonna take care of you guys. You're part of my tribe. I'm gonna raise these boys to be mine and I'll make sure they're good, put together and taken care of and they're gonna be successful. And he did that.
• 20:57
  That's a man. That's a hero. It warms my heart to hear that because my story of abandonment and betrayal from my family is well documented. To me, it seems so easy and so, I call it the little things, to just show up. Yes. I am always there for my daughter, and it just seems like it's bare bones minimum. But your stories were that's not bare bones minimum. I mean, him being in Sweden and getting connected so that,
• 21:26
  It touches a soft spot in my heart, and I love that. And what's his name? Dan. Dan Jackson. Dan, you're a remarkable human being, and you're raising a remarkable young man. Having said that, I just want to clarify that.
• 21:43
  You said your mom went to Yale or got a job in Yale, and then did she meet your dad or is this another? That's a crazy story. No, they dated in the Army when they were my age, and then they went, got married, had families, got divorced, came back together. So that's a crazy story. And they're still together and happy and everything? Yes. Did they come to these events that you? They do. This weekend they're coming? Oh, man, I can't wait. Make sure that when I come to the next one, I want to meet them.
• 22:11
  Okay. Where are you? Where do you live? New York? New York. Yeah. Westchester. Okay. So yeah, I'll be in, I'll be there more and more often. All right. Tell me about the, your slogan defying all odds. Where did that come from? It's funny. You're talking about my hero. He made it. He made it. Cause mine, I mean, I'm going to out myself. My slogan was, we are smart. He's like, that's stupid. Um,
• 22:39
  Okay, the first shake in his armor, finally. I thought he was superhuman, and then he just knocks you like that. But I tend to agree with him. To final odds, that's what I had to do to get to the point where I had a company. Right? And then if you look back on...
• 22:55
  you know, anybody with dyslexia, anybody who's adopted, anybody who came up in any kind of chapter in my life, they had to defy the odds just to survive like I did. Whether that's in school, whether that's in the orphanage, whether that's with medicine, whether that's with bullying, whether that's with not going to college, whether it's turning your internship into a career, figuring out how you can turn some...
• 23:16
  crazy life experience into a brand to inspire others you have to defy the odds in every chapter of life and it's so relatable and it's you find somebody and ask them if they never defy the odds i doubt that there's anybody out there that has it in some way or form wait i gotta stop okay you're stopping anyways that is fire uh
• 23:36
  we're all batting a thousand. You've overcome every single obstacle in your life and you really think of, that's the definition of gratitude right there. It's just saying measure the gains and not the gap. Most of us that aren't achieving high in life sit there and focus on what they don't have.
• 23:54
  woe is me what so we they gotta pay attention to the to the adversity that they've overcome everybody needs to do that and we've all overcome it everybody even if it's just getting up and getting facing the day like you said it's a friday and and bringing the best you got if the best you have is 80 and you give all 80 you had a good day yeah yourself grace and understand that
• 24:19
  What I say is 1% better every day. I have one win. So when I was in school, the way I got – my dad always asked me. He said, Dad, Dylan, how do you get through school when you don't know what's going on, people are calling you stupid, you're a fat kid, and you can't read? Like how? Why are you getting up early to go to school and figure this out? I said, you know why, Dad? If I go to math at 8 a.m. before all my friends get to school, and I figure out that one math problem that I couldn't figure out last night, I can finish the day because I have that one win under my belt.
• 24:44
  Now everything else is icing on top, right? Everything else is a cherry on top of the ice cream because you can become 1% better every day. That's a win. You know, we can come back tomorrow. You know, we got that math problem done. We can come back tomorrow. And then Tuesday, it's like, oh, I figured out, you know, World War II. You know, we figured out whatever that in social studies. I can come back tomorrow. In science, I figured out this equation or whatever, how to do it in my homework.
• 25:09
  I can come back tomorrow. It's not like, oh, I am going to go from Fs to As today and tomorrow. I'm a winner. It's we figured out one math problem, not the entire equation, just the problem and come back. One, it's 1% better every day. Incremental, not monumental because incremental becomes monumental. And my mindset is somebody always has it worse, no matter if you are Justin Bieber or you are a kid in the orphanage or you're me or Kelly. Somebody always has it worse and know that.
• 25:39
  Wow. I didn't even interrupt you. You just triggered me on something. I realized that my stepfather always called me stupid. Always. And when you're told something enough, you tend to believe it. And you've met me. I am very intelligent. And I'm trying to be humble. I
• 26:03
  very hard at getting 1% better every day. I just want to get better every day. Advance, advance, advance. And I believe in winning every single day. And when you win every single day for 365 days, it's a good year. So, and that positive momentum is addicting and it is perpetuating. So if you can string together several of them, they tend to just keep rolling. So...
• 26:30
  Either way, where I was getting at was that being told you're something doesn't mean it's true. And it takes a lot of work. I mean, I'm 47 years old, Dylan, and it took probably till a few years ago for me to realize, wait a minute. I am none of those things, he said. None of those things. So...
• 26:46
  You know, negative self-talk is not it. And the proof is in the pudding. And really, truthfully, it all starts from within and goes out. And what I love about what you do is what I did, too. I didn't even realize this until you just said it. I was the first person at work. I was the last person to leave. I was the person after work reading books. I worked so much harder because I thought I was stupid.
• 27:10
  And it turns out it turns out I wasn't. So what happened is and this is what happens for you and not to you. It's so by in a weird, sick and twisted way, my stepfather made me work that much harder because I thought I was working with less. So it propelled me that much higher. So everything happens for you, not to you. I love that work ethic. Don't ever stop, which is going to lead me to the next question is you're 22 now. Where do you see yourself at 32? Yeah.
• 27:40
  I've been working. I love that you asked that question. So I've been working since I was 19 for my 29-year-old self. Then I turned 20, I was working for my 30-year-old self. Because I truly believe that...
• 27:54
  yourself in 10 years has got two things he's going to do to your current self. He's either going to go, Dylan, thank you for doing everything you did. You're a badass. I appreciate it. Or he's going to be like, what the hell? You were in a frat house for how many years? You spent how much money? You did nothing. You learned nothing. Easy. I was in a fraternity. Easy. Hey, I'm going to a frat house in a couple of weeks. Are you giving a speech? Is that what you're doing?
• 28:18
  I'm going to party. Ah, that's the, you know, I forget it. 22. I just graduated myself. So yeah, I was still, still rocking it hard. Yeah. I get, I get the good parts of college. The fun parts.
• 28:33
  So again, back to 10 years, what you said, 29. So I will tell you this much. There are life for me. There were major life changing events at the milestone year. So this is what you got to look forward to. And I always say smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from other people's mistakes. So you, you, you are very, very wise. Make. Yeah.
• 28:56
  good hard choices day in and day out and while everybody's partying you work and you you won't have to work for a long time i mean i i when i was 22 i was cold calling knocking on doors beating on doors selling the internet and and that nobody knew what the hell the internet was 25 years ago they're like what do i need this thing for it doesn't make any sense so
• 29:17
  I would, I made myself knock on a hundred doors or a hundred phone calls every day. And to this day, I still 25 years later can still rely on, uh, all those people that I used to talk to. And I still do business with them. So it will pay off, but tell me about what, what's, what's your goal? What's your big hairy audacious goal at 29? If that's your big thing, I want to be in the
• 29:42
  you know, inspiring, motivating, educating, captivating at the highest level possible. That's in schools, arenas, having my own schools, having a program. I want to change the educational system for the better so the educational system understands what a kid with a disability goes through socially, emotionally, physically, mentally, educationally speaking, all of it, so they understand what we need to do and how we can maybe build a system to fix it. And, you know, I wanted to...
• 30:09
  purpose DS vs. Lexia started because I knew what I went through and I knew the pain I knew the struggle I don't want anybody else going through it if so the as much as I can stop I will because I don't want anybody going through that crap it's not it wasn't fun I mean I would do it again because of who I became but it no need for somebody to do it to that extent but somebody always has it worse so if I can soften the blow let's soften the blow
• 30:32
  So many things in this country need to be fixed, but definitely the education system. Nothing was more apparent. I have a 14 year old daughter that I had to basically homeschool during the pandemic because the teachers weren't equipped for that. And nor would I have expected to, but mandated really show our opportunities to get better and our threats of where we are exposed. What would you, what's fixing the education system to you? I have ideas, but what's your ideas?
• 31:00
  I have an idea of just, you know, eliminating the small classes that just kills the social stupid. It's like putting a target on your back when everybody sees you walking out of the class. It's not not cool. I think you separate people for different reasons and also having teachers better equipped to deal with kids. Right. Because the way it's right now is push 20 kids through a class.
• 31:20
  teach them one thing and the kid in the corner doesn't understand it. That's his problem. That's, that was how it was when I was there. I don't know if it's changed in the last three years, but that's how it was. And it's not worse. It doesn't help us. It doesn't help us. It's, it gets everybody through with that one kid who falls. It's a terrible experience. I want it to be built more like,
• 31:38
  structured in a way where if that kid needs help, there's a system where he can go back to the teacher or he can ask questions. He doesn't feel insecure. And, you know, that's the biggest thing. Ask questions. People are afraid to ask questions, but then they don't know the answer. It doesn't make sense to me, but just build it in a way. I got to figure out how I'm going to build it, but build it in a way where it's best for the mix of kids who learn in different ways. They're like, Oh, well you learn a different way. Everybody learns a different way. It's like sick or not.
• 32:07
  There's got to be a way where we can all learn and there's no need for separation or bullying or the teacher's getting frustrated. Because when you ask for, like, a scribe, the teacher's like, oh, or you ask for notes. They're like, oh, like, it's the end of the world. Dude, it's your job. Like, I'm asking for notes of what you're already making. Just send them to me. I have a theory, and it's so simple. It's just stupid. I believe that we need to raise the bar on educators. Yeah.
• 32:35
  but we also need to raise the pay. I believe that every single teacher should be a six-figure employee. But with that six figures comes six-figure expectations. So you will get higher caliber people, but you have to demand higher caliber. I believe the same thing for police officers. I believe you raise the expectations, but you pay them. Those two are the two most important things
• 33:05
  people in society. So think about it. I would say garbage in, garbage out. So if we educate our youth to the nth degree, look at how much we're paying our future forward self. And I'd like to get your take on that, but what I also heard you say was, we got to stress communication, compassion, and kindness. Yeah.
• 33:34
  And that's what this world needs. We just need to be more kind to each other and compassionate. And it all starts with love. You know how much I love love. So I want your opinion on my little six figure and then tell me about the kindness and compassion.
• 33:48
  I agree with you. I think, yeah, I think it's a lot of it. Every time I hear educator complaints about their pay, I do. I hear it all the time. I agree with you completely. And maybe that would change. Hold on. Some of them wouldn't make the cut. A lot of them wouldn't make the cut the way they are now. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't rise to the occasion. But I've seen some educators just mailing it in. And like you said, it's someone can't take a second and ask you why you need something or what they can do to give you more advice.
• 34:17
  They're mailing it in. Yeah. Yeah, I think maybe raising the bar is what we need to do. And better educate them because they do so much schooling and they still don't know how to address certain people in regards to learning disabilities, which is confusing. It doesn't make sense to me, but I didn't go to college and I'm not an educator.
• 34:38
  emotional intelligence and communication need to be taught, you know, to realize that, Hey man, once you walk into that classroom and believe me, I couldn't do it. I, I, I could not, I literally, this is me do as I say, not as I do. I, I,
• 34:55
  if you're a teacher i salute you you're the heart you have the hardest job with no pay and i think it's all backwards and but if if and when i'll start the kelly siegel for president tour now even though i have background that would never get me uh elected but if i did that would be the i would run out of education and uh police reform so
• 35:20
  So what I do in those meetings with those teachers is I say, all right, who has a kid? 99% of them have kids. That's why they're in education. And I say, if this was your kid, here's my first person perspective of a day. If this was your kid, how do you want us to move forward? Think about it. All right. Now put your educator topic. They're not going to put the educator topic on. Because these meetings, the parents and teachers come in like this. But once you say, hold on, you have kids. If this was your kid, how would you want this to be addressed? Now it goes from this to this.
• 35:49
  You read my mind. What I was trying to get to was I was saying that all too often they bring their life into the classroom and they need to separate it. And that's why I said I can't. I couldn't do it. It's hard, man. You know, you got your proverbial stuff, your bag of life going on, and then you got 20 youths coming in with their issues. And it takes...
• 36:14
  patience and understanding that I don't have. And that's why I salute it. But that's why I would say pay them more and expect more. Yes. What reaction do people have when you walk into a room? Who is that kid? Who's that 12 year old running around in a suit?
• 36:34
  That's what I thought when I met you. I'm like, who is this kid? Why is he so educated? You know, you gotta use, and I'm sure you do, because you're so smart. You weaponize that, because people underestimate you. And after I got to talking to you, it took 15 seconds when we realized, whoa, there's something here. And I think 30 seconds into it, we exchanged numbers, and I'm like, we're gonna talk, and here we are.
• 37:02
  Who's the young kid in the suit? I love that you wear a suit, too. I think that one of the – my opinion, I keep throwing it in here because I love you and I love sharing, mind sharing with you. And I think just having a cool conversation is what the listeners like. So I believe, like, if you watch sports and you watch the NBA and since the pandemic, none of the coaches wear suits anymore. And I just –
• 37:24
  I don't like it. There's a couple of guys that are still wearing it. I just think that you have to dress the part. And when you're up in front, you know, you shouldn't look like a schlub and you don't. And I'm proud of you. Oh, I appreciate it. No, I it's as a 12 year old running around. Right. You've you've. How do I have people to pay attention to me and listen to me before I open my mouth? How do I take a 12 year old running around in a T-shirt? Seriously, honestly.
• 37:49
  How are you? So if I come in in a suit, oh, who is this 12-year-old running around in a suit? There's a question. Then he opens his mouth. Oh, I understand now. That's how I, that's my system. I absolutely love it. What do you want your legacy to be?
• 38:05
  I want my legacy to just be impact. You know, I want to leave awareness here, but I also want to leave, I want to inspire as many people as possible. I want to impact as many as possible. I want to change the educational system and I want to change as many lives as possible. Like me being able to bring my friends this weekend,
• 38:21
  I was telling them, I was like, guys, to have all my childhood friends come to this sold out venue where I'm hosting Terry Fader and all these crazy people. I'm like, these celebrities don't matter. It's cool that you guys are here and we get to experience it together. I want to be able to give opportunities to my friends and family. That's honestly what I want to do. Lift up others is everything. You know, it's funny. You're young and it's what's the Snoop Dogg. I didn't know fun if the homies can't have none.
• 38:46
  what's the topic of the uh of the talk or of your get together a to b so point a where you are now to point b where you want to be and how to get there in the fastest route and a bunch of people tell their stories or give their advice i'm telling my story on stage on saturday and then i'm doing a fireside chat interview kind of cls live vibe with craig siegel on stage um so if you're coming i'm excited to see you and let's impact some lives
• 39:15
  That's really awesome. I'm excited for you, and I'm excited for Craig. And he's inspiring and doing his thing real good. I appreciate him taking the chance on me.
• 39:28
  Well, I don't think it's that big of a chance. Let's not blow his horn too much. You're a brilliant, beautiful young man, and you have great things coming your way. And I look forward to sharing the stage with you someday for whatever the heck you call on me. I'm always available for you.
• 39:46
  You have a lifelong friend and family in me. And if you ever need anything, I will be there. Lickety split. Just clear it a little bit with my schedule. We're crazy right now. I literally, you should have seen me trying to maneuver my flights. I tried every which way to get to this thing.
• 40:06
  And I called Craig and I'm like, Craig, I'm going to fly in on this. He's like, Kelly, you are freaking absolutely working too hard. He's like, there'll be other events. He understands. And it's like, okay, you're right. And I tend to do that. I try. I just, I wanted to be there for you guys. I really appreciate you putting the effort. And I appreciate you taking a chance on me on your podcast as well. When you were down.
• 40:30
  Let me receive that, though. Craig's been telling me to be. I receive that. I'm honored. And this is going to help people, so it's going to be fun. When you were down, what can you think of that will make you smile? This is a funny answer. My friends are going to see us and laugh. So when I was down and younger, and you're going to laugh at this too, this song, Justin Bieber, As Long As You Love Me,
• 40:56
  I used to sing that. I used to watch that. I have the rap memorized completely. And every time I do the rap completely, I laugh my butt off because it's so hilarious. Um,
• 41:07
  You know I'm going to ask you to do it. You got to do it for me now. Let's go full-blown embarrassed. Come on. So like when it's fun vibes, like we were in Miami a couple months ago driving a Monzerati. I was with this friend of mine, and we were going to a yacht party with some celebrities. And they're like, they don't put on a song. And I was like, you don't want this. And they're like, oh, we want it.
• 41:27
  So we ended up screaming Justin Bieber all the way to this party. And we had the time of our life and we went to a ski trip. We screamed it and sang it and danced. It's just my, my reset, but also with, with stress, anytime I'm stressful, people think I'm insane because I will burst out laughing. The first thing I do is laugh. When you tell me something crazy, like you're going to Dallas tomorrow for ransomware, or you have to host this event with 300 people at 22 years old. I laugh at first and then I'm like, okay, that's out of my system.
• 41:54
  What were the roads taken? How can we best proceed? Because when you take that energy and you're not using it in stress, which is emotionally, physically, mentally draining you, and now you still have no outcome or plan or resolution or solution, and now you're exhausted, you're actually behind where you were before you got the information. So if you laugh it off, get the energy off your chest, and then figure out what roads have been taken and what the best one to take is, that's what I usually do. So when I was down, I used to just laugh at crazy things and figure out how to get through them.
• 42:23
  Yeah, it's, you know, you think of your, it's better to be blessed than stressed and really truthfully, you know, faith over fear, um, you know, stress ain't going to help you. And if it serves zero purpose, it, when the second I feel anything kind of stress coming out, I know I got to work harder. That's just, it's absolutely a, a red flag for me to go, okay, uh, time to really be Mr. Siegel and get it on. Um.
• 42:48
  I don't know. I mean, you say down. I mean, with my perspective, I don't know if I was ever down because there's people who have it worse than I was. So was I really down? Talk to me about the comparison. The comparison is the thief of joy, but you brought that up several times where you say people have it worse than me. I don't know. It's not computing with me. Talk to me a little bit more about that. Oh.
• 43:10
  When I think about the kids I left in the orphanage when I was adopted, I know they have it worse than me. When I think about the kids that I see in the hood, I know they have it worse than me. I don't fight for my food or sleep in a pillowcase anymore.
• 43:24
  That having a bed is a luxury, like that perspective of having to fight for your food and orphanage, sleep in your pillowcase, get your blanket stolen, always have your guard up. That was a survival mode. And when you realize you have a bed, I'm on here with you. I have a laptop. I have clothing. That's not just one thing for two weeks. I'm not eating porridge this morning and I didn't have to fight for it. Those are all luxuries that we don't even realize we have. So that perspective, maybe that's probably what it is. Um,
• 43:52
  I don't have an eye watch. We take so much for granted. It's not even funny. You're absolutely right. Every single thing you just said describes my childhood. And I don't, obviously, I don't have a lack anymore. I have a house in Florida. I have a house in Michigan. And I wake up every morning and I literally say gratitude for the bed I'm in. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Is there something I haven't asked you today that you feel compelled to share?
• 44:21
  I just want to talk to the audience for a second on whatever you guys are coming here for, know that you're tuning in because one, Kelly's a badass and he's an amazing human. But two, because you're looking for inspiration or motivation and motivation and inspiration will only take you so far, but consistency and determination will carry you through the finish line. And we rest at the end, not the middle.
• 44:42
  And don't be afraid to ask for anything, whether you're in school, business, life. Ask, and you shall receive. And maybe somebody will be like, you have to prove yourself? Prove yourself. Get an internship. I washed cars. I did groceries. I picked people up to the airport to get my job on Wall Street. I didn't care what it took. It's just –
• 45:00
  it's whatever you have now that is not a necessity, which is just literally food is a luxury. Take your family members and those who you love and make sure that you know that they love, you know, let them know you love them. I always text people I care about and just make sure, hey, check it in. Just want to make sure you knew I love you still. Like you don't know how much that stuff means to people, right? Like when you don't, as Kelly knows, as entrepreneurs, we don't get a lot of, man, you inspire me, man, pat on the back. You have a couple of thousand followers, but you have a couple of hundred that engage and those couple of hundred still don't tell you that they're proud of you, you inspire them.
• 45:30
  When that one person goes, Kelly, man, you inspired me. I want to be jacked, handsome, and wealthy one day. It carries far, and you don't have any idea. It goes both worlds. When you buy somebody who's not as fortunate in New York City on the street a coffee, chips, and dinner, it means the world to them. But also when you compliment us like Dylan, you inspire me. This is crazy. That goes just as far. So that's my message.
• 45:53
  microphone drop when I see you next. I will pay you for that monologue. Thank you for all the kind words. I love you very dearly. I just want to know one last question is how can I personally support you going forward? I want to get on more stages. I want to get on more podcasts and I want to impact and inspire at the most highest level and as many as I can. So with that, I have to get on more podcasts. I have to get on more stages to have more people see here and help uplift this movement to change as many lives as possible.
• 46:22
  That's fantastic. Thank you for coming on. I want to wrap up the show with reminding everybody each and every episode is sponsored by National Technology Management, the easiest and best IT company to do business with, delivering peace of mind with technology every day. Until next week, be harder than life. Thanks, Dylan. Thank you, Kevin. 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.