Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - A Mindset for Success with Sara Blakely & Jesse Itzler Episode 25

Episode Date: October 22, 2019

Heather interviews husband and wife duo Spanx founder Sara Blakely and entrepreneur Jesse Itzler live on stage at Hypergrowth Boston. Sara tracks her career from selling fax machines door-to-door to c...reating a hugely profitable company by manifesting success and letting go of what others think while Jesse speaks on how he turned each of the “fails” in his career into a new opportunity. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:52 Thank you for listening to this podcast one production. Available on Apple Podcasts and podcast one. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO How to show up with Coca-Cola Energy. You're tired and you're thinking of canceling on your friends. Don't do it! Every time you cancel on a friend, a unicorn loses its horn and becomes a regular horse. Do you really want that on your conscience? Instead, grab an ice-cold can of Coca-Cola Energy with delicious Coke taste and reinvigorating energy. Keep the unicorns alive! Show up every day with Coca-Cola Energy.
Starting point is 00:01:27 Energy you want? Taste you love. Each week when you join me, firecast Rione are going to chase down our goals. Overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow. After you've seen me, come on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm excited you're back here with me. Thank you for making it this week. And you are going to flip about this episode.
Starting point is 00:01:58 I am so grateful to everyone at HyperGroes for giving me the opportunity to share this interview with you. It is the interview of a lifetime and I'm so excited for you to hear it. Can't wait to hear what you think. So this week is a really big week for me. Saturday, I am giving my first TED Talk and it's interesting because I'm learning so much about TED Talks because all I do now is obsess over watching every TED Talk in the world and reading about TED Talks
Starting point is 00:02:28 to really immerse myself and figure out if there's any tips or tricks on how to make it better, to connect with the audience and to get this thing to go viral. So I'm really all in on this TED Talk and the challenge is you only get 10 minutes. And I always thought TED Talks were 18 minutes, but apparently you get whatever you are given by the board that you're working with. And for the TED Talks said, we're doing in Boca Raton TEDx,
Starting point is 00:02:59 it is 10 minutes. So it's tough to tell a story, share an idea, and be concise enough in 10 minutes. So it's tough to tell a story, share an idea, and, you know, be concise enough in 10 minutes. It's a lot to accomplish. So I'm hoping that I was able to do just that and I am going big or going home as always. So I'm really trying to focus just on the TED Talk right now, which is crazy because this week is there's a lot going on. I'm actually giving a speech on Wednesday at a media company on Thursday. I'm flying to New York to support the book launch of a good friend of mine standing. Oh, encore, I actually wrote the forward for the book. So I'm flying to New York for that.
Starting point is 00:03:41 And then I'm heading Friday to the Boca Raton TEDx VIP sponsor party, which all the speakers have to attend. And we do some media as well as be there to support the actual event. Then I'll drive home and come back the next morning to actually do my talk after we have our walkthrough. So it's kind of a crazy week. And my son is heading to a marine biology trip for three days. So we've got to get him packed up with all of his gear, sleeping bag, water bottles,
Starting point is 00:04:15 you know, all this crazy stuff. So it's just, I'm trying to just focus primarily on the TED Talk and make sure that I've got things in motion for the other elements that I have going on, but you know really my TED Talk is the big focus. So the following we get spuddy, I'm actually going back to New York and I haven't even booked the flights, I haven't booked the hotel, well I actually haven't booked my hotel for this week either, because that's how laser focused I am on the TED Talk. So, you know, again, just trying to prioritize and let other things go knowing that they will get worked out
Starting point is 00:04:51 in the end. But I'm so excited for you to hear this interview. This again, literally is an interview of a lifetime and I'm going to cut right to it because you're going to be blown away by Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx and her husband, Jesse Itzler, a serial entrepreneur, an unbelievable guy. And I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to interview both of them. If you did not catch hyper growth in Boston, you've got to catch hyper growth in San Francisco. It's an amazing event where you get to meet thought leaders. And I got the opportunity to interview Sarah and Jesse live on stage. And now you get the chance to hear it. Can't wait to hear what you think.
Starting point is 00:05:34 So hey, tight with me. Sarah and Jesse and as was just mentioned you guys have had a lot going on in last week. Yes that's definitely true. It not much sleep, not a lot of sleep. In case some of the people here don't follow you on Instagram can you kind of break down what last man standing was all about? Yeah, so I just, that's the reason why I'm wearing flip flops. I just got back from a race called the last man standing. You guys see any, okay? Cool, okay. So like an operator.
Starting point is 00:06:14 And the format of the race is you run a 4.2 mile loop, you have an hour to do it. And if you finish earlier, you can rest, finish in 50 minutes, you have a 10 minute rest, and then they line you up again at the top of the hour, and you do it again, and you keep going until one person is left. So, my wife, it was in Maine, and when I, the, well, when I Googled it, it said that there was moderate elevation. Yeah, if you live in Maine, it was crazy terrain. So, I ended up, I just got just got back, I did 20 hours, 80 miles,
Starting point is 00:06:49 and I came and said. I think that deserves a round of applause. I think that deserves a round of applause. And my wife was the last wife standing. Yes, I win last wife standing. Yes. I didn't sleep for 35 hours, so I was supporting him. And it's really challenging.
Starting point is 00:07:06 I said at one point I had a breakdown, I think at like four in the morning, where I just started crying because I said, marriage is hard when you have to really support each other's dreams, and especially if you have to watch the person you love suffer. And Jesse had a pep talk with me before, and he said, no matter what, tell me I look good,
Starting point is 00:07:26 tell me I look strong, don't pull me out of the race, don't tell me that you're worried about me. But I didn't say to say it like this. Ooh, you look good. That's true. That's true. But it was really a wild experience of just human spirit. You know what, we all have inside of us that grit and determination
Starting point is 00:07:48 and there were 112 of really intensely impressive ultra runners there. And wow, I was just blown away by mindset really, because I asked Jesse after this. I mean, Jesse's 51, so I said, honey, even though you didn't get the last man standing, you definitely won the oldest man standing because he was 10 to 20 years older than every other racer in this race. And, um, yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:17 So. And so I said to him, I was so curious because I knew mindset, I'm a huge believer in mindset. And I said, what was your mindset and what were you thinking during the race? And he looked at me with laser focus after it and he said, I was saying repeatedly to myself, I push my body and my body responds. And boy did it ever. I mean, because his knees, his ankles, I mean, the rest of his body really, I mean, was shutting down, but his mindset was there.
Starting point is 00:08:51 And that pushed him, I would say, I mean, at mile 47, I thought you were done. I love you, but I really, I was like, she's so worried. And then, you know, you just can't, you can't ever doubt the mindset. It's the mindset of the person's in the right place, then they just go way beyond what you expect.
Starting point is 00:09:08 What's interesting about this race is, you know, you can get lost in how long it's going to be or how, what the distance is. And it's like anything you're doing in your entrepreneurial journey or any challenge, any goal. It's really just being laser focused on what's happening right now, what's the most important thing, and not getting, not patting yourself on your back for all your achievements, like, oh, I got to mile 25 or whatever, and not thinking about how far you want to go.
Starting point is 00:09:35 It was literally just saying, super present, and I always say, be where your feet are. And right here, I'm in this loop, I'm in this loop right now. Let me get back to the chair, get my little rest, and go on the next loop right now. This is my job to get to the loop. And that was the focus. Wow, that's very, very impressive. And if any of you guys want to be super entertained and inspired, it's on my Instagram page at Sarah Blakely. And it's in one of those, you know, I put it in a permanent circle in the bar below the descriptor of my name and it's called the last man standing and it's really, it is very... You have to check it out. Her and the stories are really funny.
Starting point is 00:10:17 So Sarah, you mentioned mindset and the importance and effect that mindset has not only for Jesse but, you know, people look at you and your company today and they think you're enormously successful and it was probably always that way. However, you were a salesperson at one point in time and had a very different life. Do you attribute the things that have happened in your life to mindset or what do you attribute that success to? Yeah, definitely mindset. I mean, I sold facs machines door to door for seven years after graduating from college. And I, you know, for 20 years,
Starting point is 00:10:54 thanks is gonna be 20. I started it in the year 2000. And the sound bite in the media has been Sarah cut the feed out of Penny Hoes and solved an undergarment issue. And, you know, now thanks is here. And while that is true, Sound bite in the media has been Sarah cut the feed out of Penny Hose and solved an undergarment issue and now thanks is here. And while that is true, there was so much more about the
Starting point is 00:11:10 behind the scenes of why this happened. And people have asked me, can I have 10 minutes, 15 minutes of your time? I want to pick your brain on how Sphinx started. But the real answer is it started way before I cut the feed out of my Penny Hose. And it started when I was much younger. And I had a series of kind of tragic events happen to me
Starting point is 00:11:30 when I was in high school. And it led me to Wayne Dyer, who is a motivational, inspirational speaker he passed away about two years ago. But I got exposed to him, and I listened to his cassette tapes over and over and over again. To the point that I had his one series called How to Be a No Limit Person, Memorized, All Ten Cassette Tapes Front and Back. And try living with that.
Starting point is 00:11:56 Well, yeah, that's funny because in high school no one wanted to get stuck in my car. Like after a party, they're like, she's going to make you listen to the shit. And so, but then, you know, I said, I think I would take simple things like, I'm just going to the laundry tomorrow and she'd like, do you know the ramifications of waiting till tomorrow? Like, so, but then fast forward, you know, I think it was 10 to 15 years after high school that I ended up on the cover of Forbes. And the text I got in my phone were so funny.
Starting point is 00:12:28 I mean, literally all my friends were like, damn, should've listened to that shit. So I'm a big believer in it. I learned early on about manifesting law of attraction, not caring what other people think about you, which is a really big one for an entrepreneur, or in life, really. And I'm a work in progress on that.
Starting point is 00:12:48 There are times where I do care and I check myself and say, you know, let's work on this. But it's very freeing to not care what other people think. You'll take more risks, to not really focus on the outcome and be so afraid to fail. So all of that is a big part of my journey and thanks for sure. So I think mindset is I work on it daily. We all need to. I need to get those cassettes.
Starting point is 00:13:13 Jesse, you didn't start out an MTV rapper. You didn't start out owning an MBA team. You were sleeping on couches for quite a while, which people probably find hard to bleed. Do you attribute your success to mindset or what do you attribute it to? I think, well, I definitely have my own version of mindset. When I have a goal, I like to say that's the end of the movie.
Starting point is 00:13:35 I go to the end of the movie first, where I want the outcome today. And that's unwavering. I don't negotiate that. I don't try not to ever negotiate my goals. The script changes, the plot changes, how you get there, you have all kinds of obstacles, but the end of the movie really never changes for me.
Starting point is 00:13:54 So that's my form of visualization and how I kind of attack it. Sorry, you mentioned that you didn't share your invention with anyone for that first year. Why would you take that approach instead of enlisting others to help you or support you through that? I see that really came from a gut feeling I really honor my gut and intuition a lot and still do through the journey that I'm on but I when I Cut the feed out of my pantyhose and started spanks,
Starting point is 00:14:28 I had actually asked for the idea two years prior. So I was selling fax machines. I had one really bad day. I'd been kicked out of an office again. I mean, I got usually business cards ripped up in my face about once or twice a week. I got a squirted out of buildings all the time. And this day was just hard.
Starting point is 00:14:45 I mean, I'm seven years into 100% cold calling to sell people a fax machine. And I pulled over and I said, I'm in the wrong movie. How did this happen? Call the director. Call the producer. This is not my life. Like, I'm redirecting my life.
Starting point is 00:15:01 And I went home and I wrote down a list of what I'm good at in the positive column and strengths and I saw sales and I thought, okay, well, what is it about sales that I'm good at? And it led me to the fact that I like to offer people things that they may not know they need and then really makes a difference for them. And I wrote down in my journal that night, I'm going to invent a product that I can sell to millions of people that will make them feel good. And then I looked up in the air in my apartment and I said, I'm ready for the idea. If you give it to me, I won't squander it. And two years later, I cut the feed out of control top panty-os one night to wear white pants to a party and not have a panty line or anything show because guys, you're out
Starting point is 00:15:42 there in the audience. I don't know how many of you struggle with what to wear under white pants. But it's a legit problem that we have. And so I cut the feed out of my panty. It was one time and I thought this could be the idea because I had already set the intention for the idea to show up. But as soon as I started on the path of it, I thought, okay, I don't want to tell anybody my idea, because I feel that ideas are the most vulnerable
Starting point is 00:16:11 in the moment that you have them. And it is our human nature that the minute we have an idea, we tell our friend, our coworker, our wife, our husband, boyfriend, girlfriend. And in those moments out of love and care and all the right intentions half the time, the person might say something that completely squashes it or makes you not pursue it. So I didn't want to tell my family and friends and I have very supportive family and friends, but I didn't want ego to
Starting point is 00:16:38 have to get involved too early on in the process. I wanted to spend my time pursuing it and not defending it. So at night and on the weekends for two years, I would sell fax machines during the day and then at night I would stay up and I was working on the patent and I was doing all my research and driving, taking vacation days to drive to North Carolina where the manufacturing plants were and begging them to help make the first prototype. But that is really why. And I have to say, I mean, everybody in their life has a million dollar, even a billion dollar idea. I mean, we do. They can't have it. I haven't had mine yet. Well, you do. And I feel like recognizing it is a big one. And then also, you know, holding it sacred for me. And I'm glad I did because I sat my family down
Starting point is 00:17:29 a year later and all they knew was Sarah's working on some crazy idea and a year later, it's not him down and I said, okay guys, are you ready? It's flood less pantyhose. And I mean, they were like so sweetie, if it's such a good idea, why hasn't anybody else created it? And then someone else in my family was like, well, honey, you know, and even if this is
Starting point is 00:17:51 a good idea, the big guys are just going to knock you off in the first six months and you will have spent your savings on this. And if I had heard those things in the moment that I had it, I probably would still be selling fax machines or something like it. So, I really believe that. I believe that you got to really protect it. Now, it didn't mean I didn't tell people that would help me pursue it.
Starting point is 00:18:14 I was telling lawyers, having them help me try to write the patent. I was cold calling manufacturers and talking to them. I just didn't seek out people simply for validation until I knew I'd put enough of my own sweat equity into this idea that no matter what the validation came back as, I wouldn't waver. That was a tweetable moment for me. I'm going to spend my time in energy pursuing it, not defending it. I think that's really powerful. Do you see ideas the same way that they need
Starting point is 00:18:41 to be nurtured and protected, or were you more, I mean because you created a lot of different companies and concepts over your career in life, did you bring people in earlier on or did you take that same approach? Well, I have to agree with everything we're married. So of course I agree. No, I think one of the most important things as an entrepreneur, I found, is figuring out how to get from point A to point B the fastest. And if that is telling someone, or if that in my case maybe it was getting a key investor,
Starting point is 00:19:11 getting a celebrity as part of ZICO, one of our brands, whether it was a key partnership, I think that's a critical part of my journey. Because when I started out, I did sleep on 18 different couches. The one thing I needed that we all need is we need a story. We need momentum. People buy into stories and momentum more than they buy into products like we're the business plan. And when I started out, I started out in the music business. I had a record out on a label called Delicious Final and right when my album came out, I did a club MTV, which was a big show on MTV at the time.
Starting point is 00:19:46 I was 21 years old. And I thought like, wow, man, mom, I made it. I'm on MTV. This is unbelievable. And I did my first show in Pittsburgh. And I got off the airplane in Pittsburgh. And when I got off the airplane, there was a huge news stand. And on the cover of this big magazine called
Starting point is 00:20:01 Rat Pages at the time was my picture. And I'm like, holy shit. I'm gonna cover rap pages. And I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, it's unbelievable. There was like, thinking of four specials, like I'm on rap pages. And I go in and get the magazine. And the cover of the magazine with my picture on it was,
Starting point is 00:20:20 our white rappers ruining hip-hop. Ha ha ha ha ha. I've not heard this story. Well, I want to tell you what the married makes. So, so I need a story. I need a story. So for me, at that age, you know, it wasn't about when I had an idea of telling people, it was about getting momentum.
Starting point is 00:20:40 And I went to the New York Knicks with an idea to do a theme song for the Knicks. I was 22 years old and I said, you know, sports is changing. People sit in seats for three hours in an arena, but the game is only 48 minutes. So you have to entertain them for over two hours. Let's do a song in a video and we'll get all the celebrities in New York. The song was called Go New York Go and the Knicks paid me $4,000 for the song. And by the time I paid, the studio, the engineer, the singer, the producer, the drummer, it cost me $4,800 to do the song. So is that a good business model?
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Starting point is 00:24:01 because I would have paid the next right I would have paid the next $5,000 to do the song for them to help me get the point be faster because now I had a story and I could call up the bulls and be like I did the Nick song and every team that came into Madison Square Garden was like why don't we have a song like that and that was what really jumped start in my career so me, it's like how do you get from A to B the fastest? And then you wrote and produced a song for the NBA that actually won an Emmy. I did. And then you created another company out of this concept, right? So it actually was a good business model losing $5,000. Yeah, well, I mean, we figured out the business model after that.
Starting point is 00:24:45 It wasn't sustainable, but it got me in the door, and it got me momentum. And I always tell people that ask me if they're stuck, if they're overwhelmed, small wins. Just, you know, even in this race I just ran, we all go through this period in any part of our journey where we're overwhelmed with self-doubt. Anybody, no matter what you're doing, even as a parent, as an entrepreneur, as a marketer,
Starting point is 00:25:08 someone's bad, I'm not good enough. I don't have what it takes, whatever. We go through this period of self-doubt. I had it in my race. I started off, I was like, could run four miles. And once you get momentum and you start to believe and you can have something that you can build on, that's super powerful. And that's...
Starting point is 00:25:29 Yeah, I mean, you got to create your own high... Small wins. For sure. That's reminding me. I mean, for the first four years of Spanx, I wore a black t-shirt with SPANX, Iron Dawn to it, that I went to one of those t-shirt shops and took a white letter and Iron Dawn Spanx
Starting point is 00:25:44 and cream pants, but I was the advertisement. So I wore that everywhere I went. And then when I got a chance to sell it in Neman Marcus, I would bring my friends to the store to act like excited customers. And they would stand around my display table and go, oh, every time we'd like queue it,
Starting point is 00:26:01 we'd be like customer coming. And this really fancy lady, you know, perfectly dressed would be walking up and my friends would all go, tell me more, what is this? I can't believe I'm just finding out about this. And it would always cause the customer to go, what's happening?
Starting point is 00:26:15 And then I'd be like, yes, I get an opportunity to explain to her. I love that you brought that story up. Would you mind sharing that story of how you sold it into Neiman Marcus? Because that is such a great face to face. And it just pulls on that past. story of would you mind sharing that story of how you sold it into Neiman Marcus because I love that is such a great face to face and it just pulls on that past track record that you had with the cold calling and how it paid off for you.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Yeah, so when I first landed Neiman Marcus was my first account and two things about that are just something that I reflect back on. One is everybody in the industry after I landed Neemons came up to me and said, how in the world did you land Neem in Marquis? And I would look at them and I'd say, I called them. What do you do? And they'd say, oh my God, we go to trade shows and we set up a booth and we've been doing it for seven years. And everybody says around year six or seven that you get a chance with Neemons.
Starting point is 00:27:04 I didn't even know the retraight shows. So I often say what you don't know can be your greatest asset if you let it. If you're not intimidated by the self-talk of, I have no idea what I'm doing and that shuts you down. So if you can power through the, I have no idea what I'm doing and actually see it as a positive and go, that means I'm going to do it different. And that's where you break real ground. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of willingness
Starting point is 00:27:28 to look stupid and potentially fall on your face, but that's where the magic is. So anyway, I got a chance to go and cold call Neiman Marcus. I flew on a plane from Atlanta where I lived to Dallas and I met with the buyer and she was impeccably dressed. I'm in the intimidating Neemons headquarters. I had my lucky red backpack from college. I had the prototype in a Ziploc bag from my kitchen
Starting point is 00:27:52 and a color copy of the packaging that I had created on my friend's computer. And halfway through my pitch, I was telling her what it is and I could tell I was losing her. You know, after seven years of cold calling and trying to sell things to people, you get really good at reading non-verbals. And I always say non-verbals tell you way more than the verbal.
Starting point is 00:28:09 You know, when people sit there and shake their head and say, I love it, and I'll call you tomorrow. You're like, oh my God, Mayday, you know, that's when you pull the shoes. I've got to like try everything. And so she was kind of doing that. She was like, okay, thanks. And I just stopped and said, you know what, Diane, will you come to the bathroom with me? And she literally was like, excuse me?
Starting point is 00:28:29 I'm like, I know it's a little weird, but can you just follow me to the bathroom? And I'm gonna actually show you what my product can do. I'm gonna go in the stall, and she was like, okay. And she walked down the hall, and I went in the stall, and I put it on under my white pants, and I came out, so I showed her before, and then I showed her with the product on and she just sat there and she goes, I get it, it's brilliant and I'm going to try it in seven stores.
Starting point is 00:28:52 And I was like, that deserves a round of applause. I love that story. Thank you. Woo! So you guys talk a lot about humor and embarrassing yourself, poking fun at yourself in business and in life and have a lot of fun with that. And we mentioned specifically on Instagram, can you talk a little bit about what that looks like?
Starting point is 00:29:16 I just think we both, you know, don't take ourselves super seriously and humor works, humor's fun. I think one thing we've both had in our entrepreneurial journey is we've had fun. And I think a lot of people forget how fun it can be. And, you know, and we work on making it fun. We try to do fun things, incorporate fun things into our household, with our kids, with our cultures, and our companies, and it's an important part of the process. I mean, I would say to add to that,
Starting point is 00:29:51 I recognize that the two biggest fears that we all have as human beings are basically the fear of public speaking and the fear of being embarrassed. And so I want that to lose its power over me. So I will intentionally embarrass myself or I will intentionally find scenarios where I'm not good at something. And then I go through it.
Starting point is 00:30:14 And it usually ends up making me laugh or if something ridiculous happens to me, I immediately wanna share it with people because then I start to find that it loses its power over me. And then you also find that when these things happen, if you can make somebody else laugh or smile, then it wasn't all in vain. And that's where real human vulnerability and connection
Starting point is 00:30:36 happens, especially even with your customers. So I learned that from selling fax machines. I mean, anytime I tried to act perfect or put on the perfect pitch, I got kicked out time and time again. You know, if I walked in and was like, look, I'm, you know, I'm nervous. It's hard for me to walk through your door. I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:30:56 I know there's no soliciting sign. I mean, I would get farther with that. But just calling out the humaneness and the real of what we're all dealing with and not being afraid of it. So we do that at Spanx too. We have oops meetings at Spanx where we have the whole company get together and we stand up and we share what we've failed at or an oops or a mistake that we made and everybody claps and it's just like diffuses it. That's such a great culture. I believe we actually may have a video or two
Starting point is 00:31:25 that we can share. I happen to be a huge fan of this one bird video. If we could cue this video up, the Instagram stories. Lovely. Yeah. Oh, great, okay. I just did go more to the end.
Starting point is 00:31:39 It's my last video. I did a video. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll it. I did it. You see it. I did it. I did it. Thank you. I did it. I did it.
Starting point is 00:31:49 I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it.
Starting point is 00:31:57 I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I see a looking at me. My husband has been running every day on the island and says a bird
Starting point is 00:32:09 attacks him. So I'm on the walk with him where his jog got this because I don't believe him. Honey, where how bad can it be? Come on! How are you going to get past this walking spot? Nothing's attacking me. He's fine. I see him and he's fine. The bird's there. He's not going to bother you, Jess. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Starting point is 00:32:46 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Starting point is 00:32:53 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Starting point is 00:33:01 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! I'm so happy that you shared that video. I had shown it to my son after I'd gone to interview you and I said, you know, Jessie said a great guy and I was showing it to my son. He said, Mom, I thought he was a really strong kind of guy until right now. I ran the same route every day and I would come home and say, I would say, how was the run? I was like, the wrong was great, but I got attacked by a bird.
Starting point is 00:33:21 Every time and she's like, it's impossible. I know you got to come with me and she walked by the bird didn't care. I walked by a bird. Every time, and she's like, it's impossible. I don't know, you got to come with me. And she walked by the bird didn't care. I walked by the bird when bonkers. I was very personal, obviously, for the bird with Jessie. I don't know. I maybe thought your hair was a nest, honey. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:33:40 Fantastic. Fantastic. How to show up with Coca-Cola Energy. You're tired and you're thinking of canceling on your friends. Don't do it! Every time you cancel on a friend, a unicorn loses its horn and becomes a regular horse. Do you really want that on your conscience? Instead, grab an ice cold can of Coca-Cola energy
Starting point is 00:34:08 with delicious Coke taste and reinvigorating energy. Keep the unicorns alive! Show up every day with Coca-Cola energy. Energy you want, tastes you love. So to elaborate on this and you guys are not going to be shocked now, Sarah, you actually spent some time doing stand-up comedy. Were you petrified to do that? Because now it seems natural. I feel like you can just grab a mic and walk around and do it.
Starting point is 00:34:40 I was so petrified. I did it when I was selling facts machines door to door. And I just, I have this thing where I don't, if something terrifies me or if I think I would never do that and the answer is because I'm scared, it kind of becomes something I really want to try to do. And that was one of those things.
Starting point is 00:34:58 And I just did open Mike mostly around, I did it around the country for two years while I was a trainer for the company that I worked for. But it was terrifying. I mean, I was so nervous, and I wasn't that good, so. It sounds like the hardest job in the world. It's the hardest, well, it's, I mean, it's taking the number one fear in America, which is public speaking to the next level, because you can be in front of an audience and be
Starting point is 00:35:23 bombing and not really know, you know, like the whole back section could be asleep or on their phone and you still rambulant. But if you're doing stand-up comedy, I mean, you get validation or you get crickets every 15 seconds. So it's like the most immediate, like you're failing, you're not failing, you're failing, you're not failing. And the only way to test it is in front of an audience. So you have to be so willing to bomb in front of a group of people.
Starting point is 00:35:49 Or to these laugh at our jokes. Yeah, exactly. Or to learn what's funny or not funny. So I, yeah, it was, it was, but you know what? I didn't know it at the time. This combination, see, I wanted to be a lawyer, but I'm a terrible test taker. I'm not good at, like, I have trouble with reading
Starting point is 00:36:04 comprehension. So I'm sure I have some sort of undiagnosed learning disability. But anyway, so I was, did debate all through high school in college, and then I get to the LSAT, and I bombed it, not once, but twice. So it derailed my whole vision of being a lawyer, and that was really depressing at the time,
Starting point is 00:36:21 and then I naturally then went to Disney World and tried out to be goofy. And you have to be, you have to be 5'8 in order to be goofy and I'm only 5'6. So I'm the height of a chipmunk. So like this was rock bottom for me. I mean my family, everyone's like, what's happening? I said, I'm too short to be goofy and I don't want to be a chipmunk. And so I just started selling facts machines or to orgs. It's really, I mean, you needed a pulse to be goofy and I don't want to be a chipmunk. And so I just started selling facts, machines, sorted orgs, it's really, I mean, it needed a pulse to be hired there.
Starting point is 00:36:49 And so anyway, but the standup comedy I did, but life has a weird way of giving you these experiences because when I started spanks, the combination of the amount of rejection I had had was perfect to start a company because I was told no every day for two years. The idea is no good, no thank you, we don't want to help you, we think this is stupid, whatever. And it didn't really phase me.
Starting point is 00:37:12 And then the writing comedy for two years while I was doing that helped me do all the writing for spanks and the marketing. And spanks didn't advertise for 16 years. We became a household name and a household brand around the world without ever advertising. And I believe we did so much of that through humor and through the connection that we had with our customer and storytelling.
Starting point is 00:37:35 Jesse mentioned it, lead with story. Your customers are so much more interested in why than they will ever be interested in what? What you're selling, why you're selling it, why you're doing it, who are you in the world, what matters, what's your why? That is what people really respond to. So, if you can do it and make somebody laugh or smile,
Starting point is 00:37:58 it's so much better. I mean, you have a chance of them telling five other people, which is what happened with banks. It became a word of mouth brand. Jesse, did you have a chance of them telling five other people, which is what happened with banks. You know, it became a word of mouth brand. Jesse, did you have that same experience that Sarah had getting into stand-up comedy, being afraid of it when you became a rapper? Was it that same, you know, we were petrified it? Or did you gravitate towards it?
Starting point is 00:38:16 Well, the first, right when I got signed to my record label, Delicious Final, they had two huge acts at the time. One was the guy named Tonloak. I mean, might remember Tom Loek. Yeah, a while thing, funky, cool, Medina. The other was a guy named young MC who wanted to Grammy for his song called Bust of Move. And I was one of the next artists signed to the label. So before my album even came out, I got a call from the owner.
Starting point is 00:38:37 Wait, Jesse was best known for two songs. Shake it like a white girl, and college girls are easy. Please Google it. Please Google it. So nervous that I get a call. like a white girl and college girls are easy. Please Google it. Please Google it. So nervous that I get a cold. Which I had a lot of fun telling my dad, you know. I was like, dad, dad, I think I met the one.
Starting point is 00:38:54 He's like, that's nice, honey. What does he do? He's a rapper. That's known for shaking like a white girl. And college girls are easy. People buy into stories. He's all part of the plan. Anyway, before my album came out, I got a call from the owner of the record company who
Starting point is 00:39:12 said that they're having this huge concert in Atlanta where we live now at the Georgia dome and they were busing in 36,000 inner city kids from all over the state of Georgia for this concert that they coined the increase the peace concert because they were gonna have black artists and white artists come together in this community bonding event and the day before the concert vanilla ice cancel and they needed a white rapper. So they volunteered me to be the white act so I get to the venue and as soon as I get there I recognize recognize immediately like the place is unruly. There's just fights going on, they're putting the house lights on and police are everywhere. And the kids are booing. Every single act that came on stage, they booed them off stage.
Starting point is 00:39:52 So the first guy up was like, LL Cool J and his prime. And they booed, LL Cool J, off the stage. I'm sitting over here in the green room about to go on next to sing my song called Shake It Like a White Grunk. So I call my mother. And I said, Mom, I got a really big problem. And they're booing LL. And she was like, sweetie, just be yourself. They're going to love you. And I get up on stage.
Starting point is 00:40:17 And the answer is like, you know, all the way from California, give it up for my man, Jesse James, which is my stage name. Do not Google it. And as I'm going on stage, the record company gave me some t-shirts, like promotional t-shirts, so I grab them. And as I come on stage, I'm like, I'm looking at the kids in the front row and they're pissed off, that I'm even invited to the venue. But I have these t-shirts. So I'm like, does this section over here want some free t-shirts?
Starting point is 00:40:40 And the kids go crazy. I throw them out. I'm like, the section over here to my right, you want some t-shirts, they went nuts. I threw them out, like middle section. You want some t-shirts back there. They went bonkers, I threw them out, I said, thank you very much, salt and pepper's up in that. It's like I got the fuck out of there, man.
Starting point is 00:40:54 That's never let them boo you. Never let them boo you. It's like the first rule I got in business. That, no, I'm not doing stand up Is this man. Oh my gosh. I can't take it. Okay, so Sarah after you had made it You made a very shocking decision in my opinion to really put yourself out there and go on Richard Branson's Reality TV show. Why did you make that decision? You know, I read his book in college,
Starting point is 00:41:29 and I really thought he was seemed like such an interesting guy that I would like to know. And so I, that was a start of it. And when he declared that he was doing his own version of the apprentice, his own reality show. I just thought this was a great opportunity to meet him.
Starting point is 00:41:50 And he started Virgin over season London. He's just a really colorful, fascinating, adventurous guy. But he, yeah, so I, I, I, thanks was four years old at the time and my lawyers literally begged me not to do it. They're like, why would you ever do a reality show? You're the face of this brand and you're putting your reputation over to Fox and you have no idea what they're going to, how they're going to edit you or what they're going to do.
Starting point is 00:42:16 And I just, I just had confidence that Richard from what I'd read about him would, wouldn't, wouldn't be a part of something that would, wouldn't edit me the way that I am. But I got a 27 page contract before I did this. And it was the most insane contract. It literally said we can burn you, we can submerge you under water, we can drop you in political unrest. I mean, it was like insane. So my dad is a lawyer, and I emailed it to my dad,
Starting point is 00:42:41 and I said, dad, I'm thinking about doing this reality show. Can you help me edit the contract? And all he wrote back was no sane person would sign this love dad. And I signed it. And I went. And I was like, which is a great influence on our kids. Yeah, we have not let the kids see the video footage.
Starting point is 00:43:00 But it was two months of the most intense stuff. What they didn't tell me, but I should have figured out, and put the two and two together from the contract, was that, you know, if you lost the business challenge, each business challenge took place in a different city around the world. So instead of every challenge being in New York City, where I was in Hong Kong, when I was in Africa, when I was in Tokyo, I mean, it was wild. We were traveling all around the world. But if you didn't win the business challenge, instead of going to a boardroom and just being fired, you had to do a world record-breaking debt to find stunt with Richard.
Starting point is 00:43:31 And two days into filming, I literally was in Atlanta and the Starbucks line like the day before. And then the next day, I'm in England, and they woke me up at three in the morning and handed me a helmet. And I said, I'm an entrepreneur. Why do I need a helmet? And I had to scale the side of a hot air balloon
Starting point is 00:43:49 at 10,000 feet in the air and have tea on top of the hot air balloon with richer. And you're afraid of heights. And I'm so afraid of heights. Like I cry on planes, I cry during take-off. I don't like heights. Yeah. So that was crazy.
Starting point is 00:44:03 And that was the first day of filming. But Jesse can't even watch it. Jesse's watched like half of the first. John's got so ridiculous. It was like Sarah climbed the scale, the top of the building and jump in this glass of water. And then when you're in the water, I'm going to throw you in with the sharks and then we'll swim around and come up. I, what, this is crazy. So you guys weren't married back then? No. He didn't know me that. But yeah, so that was it. Was it worth it now when you look back?
Starting point is 00:44:30 Are you glad that you did that? I'm so glad I did it. I mean, I think that I don't think I would have done the challenges if I was a mother at the time. But I wasn't. I was single and definitely not. Yeah. But yes, I'm so happy.
Starting point is 00:44:46 I mean, Richard's actually a great friend. I'm actually going to Switzerland this Friday with Richard and about 35 entrepreneurs from around the world and we're doing a physical challenge through the Swiss Alps to raise money for education. And I'm not like my husband. I'm not this physical challenge you know, challenge person, but I had had too much to Keela when Richard asked me
Starting point is 00:45:07 if I wanted to go and I said yes. And so I'm going to be like, I need it when I'm terrified. But we're going to swim, bike, and hike through Switzerland. And it starts with a glacier lake swim in a full-body, wet suit. Well, in just a case, you guys can't picture this or have it seen this show.
Starting point is 00:45:28 We brought you a clip. Oh, you have a clip? Which clip is it? Is it a Rotta loop? The next challenge is that we're going to go up on to the top of the balloon. Something I've never done is not going to be easy at all. On the top of the balloon, we're going to have a tea party
Starting point is 00:45:41 and have a discussion. We're gonna have a tea party and have a discussion. Even when we stood out on the ladder suspended at 10,000 feet on the side of a hot air balloon is terrifying. I am so scared. I'm going to try to jump over that. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.
Starting point is 00:46:11 Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.
Starting point is 00:46:19 Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers full sweat. I don't want to. I rather run for 20 hours. That was so intense. There was so many things about that.
Starting point is 00:46:30 But it took me 48 minutes to climb. It was a dangling rope ladder. So there was nothing anchoring it. So I spent the first 25 minutes of the climb, just flailing around in the air. And then the last 20 minutes, I kept saying, just get to the balloon, get to the balloon. But once I got to the balloon, the balloon was hot.
Starting point is 00:46:47 And the rope was very taught against the balloon. So I'd know where to put my fingers anymore around the rungs of the ladder. So I'd use my fingertips. And then once I did the little T thing, I was like, that was great. I started bawling because I realized I had to climb down. Oh my gosh.
Starting point is 00:47:04 I was like, wait, how do we get down? So we had to go back down the ladder. If you're struggling with swelling in your legs, ankles are feet, you're going to want to listen up. Forget your compression socks and water pills. New research shows that swelling and inflammation can be resolved by upping your intake of omega-3 fatty acids from krill oil. Omega-3's improved circulation
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Starting point is 00:49:36 Sounds horrific. Yeah, no, but think about your here. Listen, I'm here and what an experience. So, so Jesse, you have an online community build your life resume community Which is really amazing check it out if you guys haven't seen it Awesome Some of the feedback Jesse that really pops out at me the things that people like the takeaway is the brownie
Starting point is 00:49:58 The you know, what is your unique brownie? Can you share what that means and and how you develop that? It's just a reference to a story when I was in college. I was across Rose, my senior year of college. I was either going to the music business, which I loved, or I was going to sell a product called Antfranies Brownies. I had a roommate in college that had an Antfranie. And every month, she sent us a shipment of brownies, and I don't know what she put in the brownies,
Starting point is 00:50:21 but they made everybody happy. Like, I can market these., like this is going to work. So for my advertising class senior year, we had to create a fictitious brand from scratch, soup to nots like jingle, which I was good at, billboard slogan, packaging, everything. So I said, I'll use this advertising class as my R&D department. And if they like my Aunt Franny's brownies presentation, I'll just roll it out and I'll sell Brownies. So the way that the final exam was set up, there were a hundred kids in the classroom.
Starting point is 00:50:50 It was small. And everybody had a hand in their campaign, but five people were going to get picked at random to present a 30 minute state of the union of the business they were going into, the industry they were going into in front of the class. So like I'm a senior in college, there's a 5% chance that I wanted to get picked like
Starting point is 00:51:06 nobody prepared for the oral presentation. You didn't want to get picked. And sitting to my right in the classroom was a guy named Ronnie Cohn. Ronnie Cohn was a professional jackass. No, Ronnie Cohn bullied half of the class for four years of college. So when the professor said we're going to do this in democratic way, everyone write down your name and I'll take off my hat, and I'll pick out the name.
Starting point is 00:51:28 When he came to me, I took 25 pieces of paper, and I wrote Ronnie Cohen's name down. I stuffed him in the hat. And when he picked out the name, this is a true story. Sure enough, the first thing that came out was Jesse Itzer, the jackass, did the same thing. He's such an asshole. So I went up there and I pitched to Anne Franney's brownies in 30 seconds into my presentation.
Starting point is 00:51:52 By the way, the tuition in American University is $40,000 a year. That's where I went. So for four years of tuition, $160,000 of my parents' money, this is literally the only thing I remember. The professor stopped me. For $160,000, he stopped me in the middle of my presentation, 30 seconds in, and he said, son, I want to know what is your point of differentiation? And I was like, what does that even mean? He said, what makes your brownie different than all the other brownies on
Starting point is 00:52:21 the market? And I was like, well, they're more simple dishes, they could be gluten free, they're home baked, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he was like, no, he said, son, there's a thousand brownies that come out every year. And substitute them for marketer, for restaurant tour, for advertising, for lawyer, for whatever you do, there's a thousand of you that come out. And if you want to make it, your brownie,
Starting point is 00:52:41 whatever it is, has to be different than all the other brownies sit down and he made me sit down and I realize that that moment like it was a real powerful moment for me because I asked myself at that moment like and since then as an entrepreneur I've always asked myself like how am I different you know what makes my product stand out how can I treat my customers differently than everybody else. Zara mentioned it early but like if you if you rip up the playbook that everybody in the industry is using and you say like, well, how would I do it if I never was taught how to do it?
Starting point is 00:53:12 That's where innovation comes from. So I always ask myself in an authentic way, you know, if you're quirky, be quirky, if you are this, be this, but what makes you different? I just remember not to believe at this point, but I remember when we started Marquis Jet, which was a private jet company that I started with my partner. We had no aviation experience, we had no airplanes, we didn't know a lot of rich people,
Starting point is 00:53:35 and we started this company that, and not a great formula for a private, but we ended up building companies that did $5 billion in sales, and we sold it to Warren Buffett's netchets. And I remember sitting with our sales team, and I would go in and I would listen to pitches, and they would pitch the way Kenny and I, my partner and I, were pitching, and I'd be like,
Starting point is 00:53:54 what are you doing? Like you're a single mom. Tell people who you are, you know, and be unique for you, and be different for what you are. You're not the co-founder. So it's always been a mantra of mine to just kind of like what makes you uniquely different. And I was a question Sarah asks all the time to her team
Starting point is 00:54:12 and to her employees, you know. She always asks her employees, if no one told you how to do your job, how would you do it? Yeah, because we're on autopilot as human beings. I mean, think about it, almost every single thing that we do, someone taught us how to about it almost every single thing that we do. Someone taught us how to do it or we observed how it was done. And so I like the space of closing your eyes and saying,
Starting point is 00:54:33 if no one showed you how to do this, how would you do it? Like, would you be doing it differently? And oftentimes, you will, and the answer or the vision comes to you, and then that's a real nugget for yourself. Yeah, I would just put an asterisk next to that, because I just ran this race, and I'm a big believer in becoming the expert in the space you're going into. So before I approach this race, I called everyone that I could find, anyone I could find
Starting point is 00:55:02 that did this race and asked them a lot of questions. How many calories you have to take? How many ounces of fluids you have to take every hour? How much sodium do you need every hour? And in a very, very short amount of time, I became what I believe in my own head was an expert. And I would come in every station and say to my pit crew, I'd be like, I had one goo, half a bottle of rock team, which was up to the drink that I was drinking.
Starting point is 00:55:24 I had 200 calories, 70. I need 350 milligrams of soda. I got was very aware of it. So in certain circumstances, you wanna become the expert and follow the advice, but in others, you wanna stand out for what you want. Please do not get mad at me, but unfortunately we have to move to the lightning round
Starting point is 00:55:42 of questions and we're about ready to wrap up and even though no one wants these two to leave. Okay, what's happening in your life right now? I'm going to Switzerland on Friday. Which sounds very fabulous. That sounds very exciting. Okay, how do you feel in your inner room with Richard Branson, Microsoft Giving Pledge? How do I feel when I'm in the Giving Pledge room?
Starting point is 00:56:03 Super humbled. And, you know, like, how did I get in this room? Pinched me, kind of feeling. Sarah's agreed to give away half of her wealth to charity. Amazing. What would your career be if you didn't start thanks? I mean, I'm a frustrated beautician. I might have my own salon or I was someone who did everyone's hair for prom and I always like doing makeovers and things like that.
Starting point is 00:56:38 Oh, that sounds fun. Theme song for your life. Your speed rounds, we can. Oh gosh, theme song for my life. Look, either one or even. Mine is baby got back. Oh, yes. I've been let marketing, excellent,
Starting point is 00:56:57 I'm in the butt business, okay. Wow, that's good. That was good. Oh, there's a song called Here I Come. It's a reggae song. That's one of the modules song called Here I Come. It's a reggae song. That's one of the modules, like Here I Come. So it's my own personal thing. Okay, favorite party trick.
Starting point is 00:57:17 I can make people say no. I had this crazy thing. I could do it with you after Heather. Have you ever heard it before? No. God. Ah. All right, that was good. Weird trait about you.
Starting point is 00:57:31 Weird what? A weird trait about either one of you. I mean, this is so weird, but I can vibrate my eyes. What does that even mean? What did you say? I can vibrate my eyes. You learn something new all the time. We met for 10 years. I've never seen you vibrate your eyes. I can vibrate my eyes. You learned something new all the time, we met for 10 years.
Starting point is 00:57:45 I've never seen you vibrate your eyes. I can vibrate my eyes. And the weird thing is, is Charlie just looked up at me and vibrated his eyes the other day or little boys, so apparently it's genetic. I've only had fruit until 12 o'clock noon for 29 years now unwaveringly. Fruit tell news, brother. And I didn't like that smoothie that you gave me. It's pretty nasty.
Starting point is 00:58:09 Listen. Okay. What's your biggest pet peeve? Pet peeve? Oh, okay. I know what yours is. Oh, like the newlywaking. You know, what do you think mine is?
Starting point is 00:58:21 Well, I mean, you're probably about to answer something different, but running water. Absolutely. Absolutely. I guess I want't get me started on running water. Yeah. Did anyone notice the clock is now going the opposite direction? What? A little confused. Okay. My pet peeve is when the windshield wipers are going more than they need to. That's a fair one. Believe me, I get the brown, I mean, so be driving and sound like shut the window wipers off. But lower the, I mean, so we'll be driving and sound like, shut the window, the wipers off. Lower the wipers, I'm like, it's just setting me.
Starting point is 00:58:49 It's setting me. Based on the wind, raise the wipers, lower the wipers. Okay, here's a good one Sarah. Shut the wipers off. Who is your celebrity crush? Well, growing up, my celebrity crush was Jean Wilder. I'm excited. I'm excited. Look who I'm married. Well growing up my celebrity crush was Jean Wilder I feel like she I'm not kidding I
Starting point is 00:59:18 Myselfity crush was Wonder Woman Oh, I love that! I love that! Thank you so much. That was awesome. We're going to wrap up, even though we don't want to lose these two right now. But if you thought this day couldn't get any better, Sarah has something that she wants to share with everyone. Yeah. I'm sorry. What was it?
Starting point is 00:59:40 Okay, okay. Yeah, so listen, all you have to do, I'm going to give away some awesome Spanx products, okay? Yes, yes. And for the guys out there that are like, look, you've got a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mother, they're going to love you for this. And I also happen to make man's Spanx.
Starting point is 00:59:59 So you can buy yourself something too, okay? Jesse, my underwear, well, not my underwear, but the underwear that I make for space is his favorite underwear. He loves the man's things underwear, but anyway, I digress. So, all you should do is get out your phones and go to Instagram and follow at Sarah Blakely and that's a-a-r-a without an h at Sarah Blakely and that's S-A-R-A without an H. At Sarah Blakely and then in the last post, which actually was his last man standing post,
Starting point is 01:00:31 just put hashtag hyper growth. And I'm going to pick 20 of you at random and I'm going to send you some awesome spanks leggings. And if you're a guide, you don't want leggings, you want something else, I'm happy to send that to you. But we have a cult following for our faux leather leggings. People love them, you will love them. Hold on.
Starting point is 01:00:50 Can I do a promotion? I can eat. If you guys... No, we're not allowed. Try it, are you doing a promotion? We just found out. All right. Go to my Instagram at chsea.
Starting point is 01:01:04 Just use the same hashtag, All right. Go to my Instagram at chsea.com. Here's the same hashtag. Come to a hawks game with me. Court side. I'll take three people. Oh my gosh, it doesn't make sense. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:15 No, no. You can wear your stanks. And I'll take three people. You'll come to a game. We'll go early. We'll go to shoot around. And if we win, you get invited back.
Starting point is 01:01:29 That's awesome. All right guys, please join me in thanking these two amazing human beings. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. Thank you. That was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Starting point is 01:01:45 Thank you so much. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so. Thank you so much. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so. Thank you so they are with one another is so beautiful. It's just unreal. So it's definitely real though.
Starting point is 01:02:11 I guess that's the most important thing I want people to know. Having had a chance to, you know, see them together. It was, it's so important. The person that you pick as a spouse and those two nailed it. They're just so great together and they really uplift everyone around them. And they're a lot of fun and very, very funny as you saw. So I hope you love meeting them. I wanted to share Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service. You can watch over 100 TV channels and thousands of movies on demand completely for free. Pluto TV doesn't
Starting point is 01:02:40 even ask for a credit card. You don't even need to sign up to watch for free. Pluto TV is the easy and completely legal way to watch your favorite TV shows and hit movies for free. What are you waiting for? Never pay for TV again by downloading Pluto TV. You can download Pluto TV for free on all of your favorite devices today, including your phone, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Smart TV, PlayStation, and anywhere else, a U-stream. That's a lot of TV. So I'm actually
Starting point is 01:03:11 trying to get, I'm not trying, I'm going to get Sarah Blakely back on and just do a solo interview with her. I did a solo interview with Jessie and then the two of them together as you listen to today. So I really wanted to get Sarah alone as well. And I've been back and forth with her team trying to coordinate dates, which is pretty tough. She's been out of the country a lot since Boston. So it's interesting. One of the challenges I've been running into a lot lately is how to stay on
Starting point is 01:03:42 people's radar and not annoy them, right? Because Sarah Blakely said, yes, she would do my show individually when I met her in Boston at hyper growth, but now she gave me the contact info for her team. She's been gone and you keep wanting, I send the team a copy of my book. I send nice notes, asking how are trips going?
Starting point is 01:04:04 But one of the things. I said nice notes, asking how are trips going. But one of the things that I've been doing lately is I've been following up on social media because when you don't have someone's cell phone number, you can't text them, but social media DMs and comments too are a really great way to stay on people's radar because I just liken it to myself. I forget all the time that so and so had asked me to do this podcast or ask me to be here or there. I get busy and I just, I forget or I lose track of, you know, a follow up piece.
Starting point is 01:04:33 So it's important that we just keep showing up and I think of it this way. I'm not annoying someone. I'm helping to remind them they might have gotten busy and forgotten and, you know, I just try to put myself in those same shoes. So, it's a constant challenge. However, it's one that there are some strong wins
Starting point is 01:04:51 that you're going to see in the next. Actually, in the next two weeks, I'm super excited that I've been staying on top of a couple different people. And they came to fruition and we've put dates together. And the next couple of weeks are going to be really, really big. So, I'm super, super excited for that. the next couple weeks are going to be really, really big. So I'm super, super excited for that. And I hope you're going to be excited about it when you see it too.
Starting point is 01:05:10 And I will stay on Sarah Blakely's team and get her next date booked. But for today, I've got to get back to working with Ted talk because Saturday is going to be here before you know it. And one of the most important things in a TED talk, I just read this. and one of the most important things in a TED Talk, I just read this, you can either own the TED Talk or the TED Talk can own you, and the biggest differentiator is practice. Oh my gosh, it's so tedious, but it's so true. Doesn't matter how many times you've spoken,
Starting point is 01:05:37 if you aren't hitting the time marks and punching up the big quotes that you want people to take away. So actually what I did was I wrote down the top seven quotes that I think that I have in my TED Talk and I put them on the walls around my house. My son thinks I'm completely crazy. However, he knows that this is really important to me. So I just, I'm a visual person. I like looking at the quotes. I like seeing them and it's helping me to remember, oh, these are the moments. I really need to bring to life to the audience and I want them burned in my memories so that
Starting point is 01:06:11 I really feel them and showcase them when I'm on that stage for my 10 minute run. Oh my gosh, it's so crazy. Okay, so thank you so much for being here with me this week. I hope you loved Sarah and Jesse. Please share this episode because I really think it's so impactful and important for people to know about great people out there in the world doing good, helping others and sharing the keys to their success as well as making us all laugh, which I always need a good laugh. So when you send me a DM of the screenshot of a rate and review of this podcast and I will buy you my
Starting point is 01:06:47 $299 video course on confidence as a big thank you. You can DM me on LinkedIn Instagram wherever you want or you can go to my website and Shoot me an email. So thank you again, and here's to you going big this week and putting it out to the universe. This TED Talks Gonna be a busy! Stay tuned till next week, you creating your confidence. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ How to show up with Coca-Cola Energy. You're tired and you're thinking of canceling on your friends. Don't do it!
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