Digital Social Hour - From Church to CMO: Shocking $1M Loss Sparks Success | Nick Cavuoto DSH #981
Episode Date: December 14, 2024From Church to CMO: A jaw-dropping journey of resilience and success! 🚀 Nick shares his incredible story of losing $1M in just 2 days during COVID, only to bounce back stronger than ever. 💪 Dis...cover how Nick's unique path from ministry to marketing shaped his approach to business and life. You'll be inspired by his insights on: • Overcoming adversity and turning setbacks into comebacks • The power of service and genuine connections in business • Navigating traumatic experiences and emerging stronger • Building trust and creating quantum leaps in your career This episode is packed with valuable lessons on resilience, leadership, and the unexpected parallels between ministry and marketing. Don't miss out on Nick's powerful advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders! Tune in now for an eye-opening conversation that will challenge your perspective and inspire you to reach new heights. 🎧 Hit that subscribe button and join the Digital Social Hour community for more game-changing insights! 🔔 #leadgeneration #selfimprovement #digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #discomfortleadstogrowth #emailmarketing #leadgeneration #growthmarketing #marketingfunnel #socialmediamarketing CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - How Nick Started His Career 01:40 - The Trust Equation 05:16 - Giving Without Expectation 06:35 - Encouraging Others 09:58 - Fear of Not Reaching KPIs 12:02 - Judgment in Professional Settings 15:51 - How I Met Adley 18:23 - Importance of Relationships 19:43 - Sabbatical and Art Therapy 22:43 - Overcoming Public Speaking Fear 30:25 - Relationship With Your Father 34:01 - Childhood Near-Death Experience 38:56 - School Shooting Trauma 39:20 - Nick’s Experience in the Shooting 43:27 - Shooter’s Motivation 45:45 - Changes in the School Post-Shooting 49:20 - Another School Shooting Today 49:38 - Supporting Someone in Hard Times 51:55 - Nick’s Final Message APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: jenna@digitalsocialhour.com GUEST: Nick Cavuoto https://www.instagram.com/nickcavuoto https://www.nickcavuoto.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
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When you think about like community and advancing people towards a common goal, you realize like business is very,
very similar painting a vision and inviting people into it. I
learned so much in those years. And it was a big organization
with 10,000 people every weekend. So I was managing to,
you know, an eight figure budget when I was 22, just got exposed
early to like business and stuff.
I was 22, just got exposed early to like business and stuff. Yeah.
All right guys, Nick Cavuto here.
We are in Nashville at your spot.
Thanks for having me, man.
Absolutely, bro.
Thanks for coming on.
Yeah, dude, I'm super pumped to be here.
Appreciate you.
Insightful episode, former pastor.
Yeah, man.
Yeah.
So when I was 19, I fell out of college for the second time.
And so I called my dad and said,
dude, what do I need to do?
My dad's been my spiritual mentor for my whole life.
And he's like, listen, buddy, you gotta learn how to serve.
Like this is gonna be a season for you
to learn an important lesson
that like you can go through the muck of life.
But as so as long as you're in service to other people, man,
everything's gonna work out.
And so yeah, man, that's where I started.
And it's been a cool journey.
I learned a lot about business,
a lot about marketing, being lot about marketing being in ministry.
I think because if A, you have to sell Jesus,
that's a complicated issue.
And secondly, when you think about community
and advancing people towards a common goal,
you realize business is very, very similar
of painting a vision and inviting people into it.
Whether you're leading a team
or whether you're leading a tribe of people
towards a common goal, I learned so much in those years and it was a big organization.
We had 10,000 people every weekend.
So this is not like grandma's church of 42 people, you know, that's a mega church.
It's a mega church.
It was a, it was a huge deal.
Five services every weekend.
I've hosted over a thousand live events.
Yeah.
Every weekend.
Holy crap.
It was an operation, man, but I was managing to, you know, an eight
figure budget when I was 22, so just got exposed early to like business and stuff.
Yeah.
You worked your way up from volunteer
to second in command, right?
Yeah, dude.
So when I started, I just showed up
and I interned for two years.
I worked there full time.
I interned, just slugged it out.
No pay?
No pay for two years and just showed up every day.
And it's interesting
because when you just consistently show up
and you do a great job, you don't make excuses.
You're a champion of the vision.
You get spotted, man.
And so they just saw me and I just grinded it out and they were like, hey,
we need someone to step up next to this gentleman who's a public figure
and we need someone to like be number two and help him.
And so it's technically like an executive assistant role.
I started and it very quickly became that I was essentially
running the whole operation for him.
So that he could be talent essentially
and be able to show up and love on people
and do what he does.
But it was a really cherished position.
I had a lot of fun doing it.
That's impressive, man.
A lot of people wouldn't do two years of work
when they'll pay.
Yeah.
I didn't really have a lot of options.
And I think that was part of it.
And in addition, I was committed
because I could see something that was unique. And in addition, I was committed because I could see something
that was unique about the positioning of where I was. And
I think when you have a sense of gratitude, and you're
established in something that's so unique, and you feel like,
man, there's a mission here, there's something I can really
buy into about the thing that I'm doing. You just kind of trust
the process. And that's always been I think, really, my
operating system has been rather intuitive, of just like feeling things out, trusting the process and that's always been I think really my operating system has been rather intuitive of just like feeling things out trusting the process
and then just showing up and executing I think we over complicate things as
human so much but when you just give 110% man and I tell people all the time
like you don't have to you don't have to give a thousand percent better than the
next person if you give ten percent better consistently predictably over
time you're gonna become the most trusted person in the room. Right. And
that's the trust equation. The trust equation is three things.
And this is so valuable. It's number one, are you credible?
Like, so do you have integrity based on the things that you
say? Number two, are you reliable? So can I count on you
to show up even in the hard times even in the good times?
Like, are you consistent in the way that you show up? And number
three has to do with deep connection. Most people have one
of the first two, but they lack the show up. And number three has to do with deep connection. Most people have one of the first two,
but they lack the last one.
And that's all over a self-orientation
of the person who you're serving alongside of.
And so I realized very, very early,
the trust equation, be credible, be reliable,
and have a deep connection,
a deep personal connection to the mission that you're on.
And that's a complete unfair advantage.
If people just get that right,
it produces so much quantum leaps in business
and life and relationships.
It's truly everything.
That deep connection is rare to find in people actually.
It is man.
Cause usually, you know, people are just kind of looking out
for the moment of what they need.
But when people can just take their time, go slow,
respond to the invitations of life,
to see opportunity, to make a contribution
that's meaningful, you can feel it.
It's different. People are smarter now, now man like the frequency that people are on is just very different than it used to be
Yeah, would you say humans are innately selfish and they have to learn how to be more giving?
Yeah, I mean I think that you're either in survival mode or you're in connection mode
So people are born and depending upon the structure of potentially their early life
They're either neurologically starting to become wired for survival in the future
or for connection in the future.
And it's funny, the most disconnected people are the most in survival mode.
And so the other ones, I think, who really seek deep connection with people,
they're not really overly concerned about like the basics.
They're focused on like...
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A bigger vision in the future opportunities and what that might look like.
So I've just noticed, I've noticed that.
No, I've noticed that some people get thrown off by how
giving I am in certain situations and they were just in survival mode their
whole lives like they're closed off, you know, so for you to give them something
for nothing in return, it throws them off. Oh, totally, man. Totally. Yeah.
It's giving without expectation. Return has been a big thing in my life,
but I have started learning from Dave Meltzer, our friend, uh, you know,
my mentor, um mentor just learning about like
Not only being open to receiving but in the process of given be giving you realize like the more you give the more you're given
It's not about receiving. It's the quantifiable
Multiplying factor of being a good human and then trusting the process that as you give out of a place of true generosity
trusting the process that as you give out of a place of true generosity,
generosity begets generosity. Like it's you.
They've even done studies recently and typically in a year that you give a con
like a charitable gift,
you earn 1.8 times seven higher than you do a year without. Yeah. That's actually crazy. Yeah. And then that's,
so there's a new site was just released this year.
I need to look into that. That basically proves in karma though.
Absolutely, man. Absolutely.
It's a simple concept.
Very simple and people will not give even,
even if you don't have money, there's other ways to give.
Absolutely, man.
If people want to change the world,
encourage five people a day.
The world's starving for a sense of encouragement.
When you just drop into somebody on DMs on Instagram
and just say, hey man, I just want you to know
you're doing so much better than you think you are.
I'm cheering you on, I believe in you.
I trust that there's a greater plan for your life
and I can see that you're working at it every day
and I just want you to know you're doing so amazing.
And I'm proud to be your friend.
Dude, game changer.
But people just don't take the time
to slow down enough to do that.
And that's not, I'm not passing judgment by saying that.
I'm just saying our world is not wired
with intention at that level for most
people but dude in the hardest times in business for me in COVID I lost a million dollars in two
days so just completely wiped out two of my businesses well one of the businesses I worked
with elective practitioners so as a marketing agency that I had a long long time ago and then
one of the other businesses was live events so if you remember 15 days to flatten the curve.
So practitioners couldn't practice unless they were like,
unless it was like a mandatory procedure, life and death,
elective practitioners got wiped out.
And then live events, you couldn't meet with people in person.
So you had to cancel an event you were planning on having?
Yeah, well, it was a mastermind that was predicated on a live event.
So everything got wiped out overnight.
And so here I am going like,
all right, God, this is your problem
because I'm not gonna try to solve this in my own strength.
And part of that process was I had a mentor and he said,
dude, I don't know what to tell you.
This is unprecedented times.
This guy runs like a hundred million dollar company.
And he's like, just go encourage five people a day.
And I did it, Sean. and I did a half a million dollars
in sales 35 days later.
Wow.
You know what's crazy?
Out of the 35 people who bought,
that I ended up doing this half a million dollars
in sales with, none of them were the people
who I encouraged for the 35 days.
Really?
Yeah.
Wow.
Isn't that crazy?
That is nuts.
And that is truly an example,
because the heart of service versus selling, the heart of service is,
I'm here to make a meaningful contribution.
So it's not about you and what you can do for them.
It's about truly showing up and being present
and available and people can feel the difference.
They can feel the difference if you're in need
or if you're in service.
And that's what changed so much for me, man,
because there was that lesson when I was 19,
my dad said, you just gotta show up and learn how to serve.
It had a boomerang effect to one of the hardest times
in my life as an entrepreneur going like, now what?
And I went back to the basics of just go serve.
And so that's what I did, man, and it worked.
It's crazy.
It's a mind set shift,
because a lot of people don't think in terms of service.
Yeah, and even if they do,
it's the giving and the getting thing, right?
It's not give and then the more you're given.
And a lot of people say like in different circles, like, well, God won't give you
more than you can handle.
I say it's total bullshit.
He won't give you more than you can manage.
So the question is, can you manage the abundance that can be poured into your
hands? Like, cause if you can't, you're going to lose it.
And I don't know about you, but if you're like, have a money manager and you're
like, all right, I'm going to give you a million dollars to manage and they blow it and then you end up with zero.
Do you think they're going to give you more? No, absolutely not. So the reality is when you can
manage what you have, even if it's slow and predictable, money is a currency. It's a current.
It likes to move and it likes to have a transactional type of pattern in its relationship
with people and other things. So what's neat is like when you're starting to focus
on like this whole idea of contribution and giving
and maximizing potential and opportunity,
I've just noticed in my life,
like that's how it functions, man.
I want my current to be generosity.
I want it to be of service.
I want it to be a meaningful contribution.
I love when I have to make sure that like,
on our teams and the people that we serve with,
knowing that like I'm championing making sure that their family is good that their opportunities
continue to get better every single day. It used to be scary and now I've learned like it's actually
what an honor it's a completely different perspective. That's a great shift because a lot of
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CMOs do have that fear of not reaching certain KPIs and goals, right? Yeah. I mean, I built my whole career predicated on results. I just don't know anything different.
So that's like the good part of it. I never believed in brand awareness.
I never believed in just, well, we got you 200 leads. What the heck happened?
Because I know how everything attaches to the next thing. So it's always been about
results. And since I ever have been in marketing and business,
I always said the only KPI is ROI. If we're not creating a
return on investment for you, and every company that I've had,
I always say if we can't two to five extra revenue in the next
90 days, we'll fire ourselves. Wow. Absolutely. Because dude,
you and I know, right? Like if we're dragging an anchor, under
a speedboat,
a business of this thing we're trying to develop,
why would we want to be contractually locked into something
that's not serving us?
Again, it's the reversal, because it's not about me,
it's about the contribution that I make
in someone else's life or in their business
that affects them and their kids and their partners
and their employees.
So if I'm not making a meaningful contribution,
like I deserve to be gone. Absolutely, 100%.
So you got very high standards for yourself,
extremely and for my team and for the people I serve alongside of. Because, you know, at the end of the day, I think that's integrity.
Yeah, so do the right thing. And also like be focused on producing results. That's what matters.
And now you're one of the top CMOs in the world.
Somehow. I mean, dude, it's crazy.
I remember when I was, you know, doing something in Fortune 500, you know, I was managing over
a billion dollars worth of products for a four billion dollar Fortune 500 brand.
And I was half the age of anybody else in the whole entire marketing department.
There were 70 of us.
So it wasn't a huge team, but I just got a lot of permission, man.
In my life, I've seen it over and over.
I get permission early and I think I take just really seriously
the things that come to me,
and that's part of that mindset
that God won't give me more than I can handle.
So I have the confidence and the confidence
to back up whatever it is that I'm facing,
and then in addition, I go like,
all right, God, give me the best capabilities
that I have that you've wired inside of me,
and with your help, I'm gonna hold this thing
and manage it the best way that I can.
So like failure is not an option. It's just not even on the radar. It's just, if I commit to doing it, I'm gonna hold this thing and manage it the best way that I can. So like failure is not an option.
It's just not even on the radar.
It's just if I commit to doing it, I will find a way.
That's how I've always been wired.
When you were half the age, did you feel a lot of judgment
coming your way in that culture?
Not really, I mean, I broke a ton of records
in the organization and that was fun.
I think honestly, in the corporate speed,
it's just very slow.
A lot of people I say like they sink in their chairs
every year, it just gets like that divot in the seat
gets lower and lower.
And so I felt excited to be able to create some breakthroughs
and I think to show that there's a new way of doing things.
I'm an innovator at heart.
That's what I love to do.
But yeah, there were certain moments of where I was like,
y'all don't even understand like what's happening here.
Like how, no one's asked me how I got the result. It's just like, can
you take on more and do more? Yeah. But I figured out very
early, like, it was gonna I'm a fifth generation entrepreneur.
I mean, my dad was a street pharmacist, but he was you got
to, you know, put the two things together. But what's neat is
like, I've always had that wiring that like, if I can
exceed whatever the container is that I'm in then I'll be like a fish and
Jump out. Do you believe entrepreneurship is something you're born with or you could learn it? I
Think the willingness to win is something you're born with or you're not and to be an entrepreneur
You have to be willing to win and sacrifice more than you could ever imagine. It's death by toothpick. That's how it feels
there's an intensity around entrepreneurship,
like true entrepreneurship, of really burning the boats
and being able to pull it all in and call it all in.
That is an innate thing that I think people
who cross that chasm of just survival into connection,
into building something meaningful that they have.
But I've mentored over 500 entrepreneurs.
I've interviewed thousands of entrepreneurs., I've interviewed 1000s of entrepreneurs, what
I've noticed over and over, they have the greatest untold
stories, the things that they've had to give in, like to give up
the entrepreneurs who have had to go to jail for their kids just
to have visitation rights. I mean, I can go on and on about
the stories of how they've overcome hardship through, you
know, had one client sheet 14 years old had an abortion, and
she's been carrying this thing
her whole life.
What's so interesting about entrepreneurship
is I truly believe that it is the best spiritual experience
that we have on earth.
Because you have to defeat the previous version of yourself
so many times in order to ascend,
to make that contribution that you have in your heart
that you know that's possible for you to do.
You have to fall on your sword a thousand times.
Right, while getting judged by everyone around you.
Absolutely, and what's so cool in the way
that I beat judgment,
because that was an early thing in my life
of having a lot of growth and a lot of,
everywhere that I went, I was like the young buck
who was rising up, passing all the ranks.
And I'm kind of a classic optimist,
so I don't judge people that way,
so I don't perceive that I would be judged that way,
but it definitely happened.
But what I learned is the less that I judge myself,
the less that people judge me.
And so when I just stopped judging myself
and like looking too introspectively at situations
and just being grateful that like I even got positioned
there, I started to notice that that sense of judgment
from other people wore off really, really quick.
I would almost became completely oblivious to it at that point.
Wow. So you were just really in touch with your identity at that point.
Yeah. And I think it's just, I'm willing to do what it takes. I'm willing to show up.
I'm willing to put in the work and get results. And at the end of the day,
that's a scoreboard to me. It's not people's opinions.
People's opinions about so many things. But what really matters is how I have an opinion
about myself. And those are the standards that I hold and I care about what my wife
thinks I care about what my kids think I don't really care about what anybody
else thinks but I care about also keeping my word that's the highest
thing is the integrity to allow myself to perform at 95% I don't say a hundred
percent because nobody's perfect but part of not judging myself is being okay
with making human error
But human error is about five percent. Yeah, so I try to make sure that I stick around 95
Yeah, if someone was perfect that wouldn't make sense to me. Yeah, even AI isn't perfect and that's robot
How do you meet oddly
Yeah, so Nick Lauer who's a buddy of mine have invested in his business short form Empire
You know, it's interesting. I spoke at an event and my buddy Sean Kaplan had an event and I went
and spoke about my story of how my kids survived a school shooting and I talked about, you know,
internal belief systems and how that impacted our family and we'll talk more about that. But
I spoke at an event, Nick came up to me after and he said, hey man, I know it's kind of out of the
box, but one of the things you mentioned was during COVID and that time 21, like just thereafter, I started a short
form content agency. We got to 125 clients in four months. Absolutely exploded. It was amazing.
And he was like, I'm on the come up. He's 18 years old at that time. And he's like, I'm just trying
to figure it out. Will you mentor me? It takes so much courage to like walk up to somebody. He was
like, you know, it made it easy? We had the same name.
So I had an easy point of connection with you
to have the conversation.
And when he came to me again,
generosity begets generosity.
So I just flow with it, right?
I'm like, dude, I would love to,
absolutely whatever you need, man, I'm here for you.
And so we met and he said, I would love your help.
And I said, great.
And in the first 30 days, we doubled his business.
And then just quantum leap after quantum leap, it just kept growing and growing
and growing.
We started adjusting his offer a little bit and getting him with more high
performers and less out of just editing and short form and more into like in
person shooting.
And, uh, yeah.
So we became business partners back in, uh, in March of 24.
And, um, yeah, now we're absolutely crushing, dominating.
And so what was interesting is in the growth pattern for Nick, I posted one of the videos
of me speaking at least on an Instagram and said, I got to talk to this dude who's been
coaching you and mentoring you.
And so they brought me in and that's how I'm at Adley and just said, Hey, like I'm just,
my hands are open.
This is my position.
Whenever I walk anywhere, like into opportunities, into business,
into friendships. I have open hands. Better as an open hand than a closed fist. A closed fist is fighting position. I'm not trying to fight anybody.
So what is this? Well, it's an energy conduit because that's how you can give and
receive. That's how you can give and be given more is by opening your hands and
holding a posture of what service, how can I support, how can I help?
And that's just what always has worked for me.
So I shadowed for four hours, you know,
on like a random Wednesday.
And at least I really think we can use your help.
And so then I talked with her and her husband Blake
and here we are, dude.
The rest is history.
The rest is history.
I love that man.
I really love that openness.
Yeah, that's everything man.
That opening your hands,
it really opens up everything
in your life that you could need or want. It's a beautiful thing. So you're very focused on
relationships like that's important to relationships or rocket ships, brother. Yeah, they will take
you places that you never dreamed you could get. And I think part of that is truly being a good
person and having integrity being that that trust equation, credible, reliable, deep connection, it's got to be
authentic. It's gotta be true.
Yeah, you never know where people will end up, man. That's
true. A lot of people try to form relationships purely based
off money. And I think that's a mistake because you could catch
someone early on their journey and they can help you 510 years
down the road to Oh,
absolutely, man. Absolutely. There's been a lot of people
who I've helped and coached along the years and then and it pulling them into opportunities and gigs. And at the same time, you know, like when
you have a sterling reputation, when you write a book in nine years, you know, you go nine years
later and you ask that one person who you met, and now they become a mega entrepreneur or a public
figure. And they're like, I would love to man, because your reputation precedes you.
You showed up, you did what you said you were gonna do.
You operate in high integrity and truly a heart of service.
Those are the types of people that people wanna help.
Yeah.
And yeah, I've seen that happen in my life
over and over again.
I haven't done them all perfect, Sean.
I haven't. Same, no one has.
I've learned a lot of hard lessons
about just different seasons of life
and how I chose to show up at those times of when I was either in
pain or you know, whatever. And that's why I ended up taking a
sabbatical. Yeah, this was back in 22. Because I was like, I
got to do some internal stuff. Right. And you said 100
therapy sessions in about a year in about a year. Yeah, every
three days, basically, right? Yeah, dude, it was super
intense. Yeah. I mean, 52 days in the year. And I did it twice
a week. I met with an art therapist which was really
interesting. Studied Carl Jung for 52 years. She was in her 70s. Absolute Jedi
master like incredible. Sharon Barnes is her name. She's in Colorado and then I
met with a PhD who gave me a lot of tools and resources. One of the most
interesting things that Sharon did is she had me draw with my non dominant hand to
unlock my subconscious. And I would draw pictures. But it's
funny when you're drawing with your non dominant hand, you
literally looks like you're like three year old. But that's what
it's unlocking in your mind is that stage. So she's like, draw
something. I'm like, what the hell you want me to draw? She's
like, well, anything like what do you mean anything? She's
like, just draw. And so I sat there for like a minute, I'm like, just you mean anything? She's like just draw. That's why I said they're fucking me
I'm like just start drawing
and then I realized I draw these four trees and
I drew this road that went in the middle and this little guy and then this big black cloud of chaos
chasing it and
Then I showed her I'm like, I don't know what this means
And she observed it and she said, like, I don't know what this means.
And she observed it and she said, uh, what are the four trees represent?
And I was just searching for four in my life. What, what do I have four of I have four kids and I'm like, oh, this is super
interesting.
So I started to realize what it was.
She's like, well, what's the road?
I'm like, it's the path of life.
She's like, he was a little guy. I'm like, that's me. She's like, well, what's the road? I'm like, it's the path of life. She's like, he was a little guy.
I'm like, that's me.
And what's the black cloud?
And I'm just like, chaos.
So what's interesting is I was able to formulate that my kids were here.
I mean, it gives me chills in my arms, dude.
My kids are here.
This is road in this path of life.
And there's this tornado running through the middle of it, chasing me.
That's impacting them.
Now it hasn't hit them. It's impacting them it's crossing through them and so then we would have a conversation about that Wow and that
powerful that is deep yeah dude she was Jedi absolute Jedi life-changing man a
powerful exercise yep yep I actually write my in my gratitude journal with my
left hand just to practice there you go I want to be ambidextrous and I brush my teeth from my left daddy unlocks parts of your brain. I absolutely does
Yeah, it creates neuro pathways the that crossover that normally wouldn't and so it allows you to start thinking differently
And yeah, and I think it's good to do hard things
A lot of people shy away from things because you know, we're wired for survival
Primarily and so we don't want wanna do hard things that are uncomfortable.
But when you force yourself to do it, especially early,
you start training your brain that like,
yeah, we're gonna experience struggle.
And suffering's guaranteed, struggle's guaranteed.
And so it's the golden elixir of life.
I'm like, bring it.
I've learned how to be in that position, bring it.
Embrace it.
I love it.
Yeah, I try not to run away from my fears anymore.
I think it's important to address them
as you identify them.
Yeah, absolutely, man.
Public speaking was a big one for me.
Was it really?
Yeah, now I'm a podcaster.
Dude, good for you, man.
Yeah, that's a big one for a lot of people, I think.
Were you struggling with that too?
Dude, so I grew up in church.
Like from the moment I was born,
my dad was Holy Ghost Pentecostal,
Assemblies of God, shout them
down. You know, that's the environment that I grew up in.
So I grew up around professional communicators, inspirational
people for my whole career, which when I ended up getting into
marketing, and then personal branding, and then working with,
you know, millionaires, billionaires, celebrities,
athletes, epic, and you know, elite entrepreneurs. It was very
natural for me, because that's who I spent my whole life around.
So I never had a fear of speaking, but my father did.
My dad was a drug dealer who found Jesus.
As simple as it is, that was his story.
He lived a life of a lot of contrast.
He just one day just walked away from it and it was done.
But what's fascinating is my dad has an eighth grade
education because he dropped out of school, middle school
to sell drugs at 13.
So he always had this interpretation
when he would go to speak,
because I watched him my whole life.
When he'd go to CommuniCakes,
he was a minister and stuff in church,
and I would watch him just be petrified.
And dude, he'd create those three ring binders
and just like everything's highlighted
and it's gotta be perfect.
And there was always a moment every time
that he was communicating publicly to thousands of people,
he just would take the thing and just shut it.
And as soon as he did that, dude, magic.
It was like everything that poured out of him
was so powerful, but sticking to the script, man,
it suffocated him.
And I realized in my life, I'm like,
I wanna help that version of my father,
because it's Dr. Jordan Pearson talks about it all the time rescuing your father from the belly of
the well. There's a part of us as men, certainly, that wants to redeem the illness and or the,
you know, the, the afflictions that our father brought on himself or others or or us.
And so it's a natural thing that we want to do. So I wanted to redeem that part.
And so when I got a chance to speak, when I was in ministry,
this year's a crazy thing about this. I never spoke one time. Really?
I was always behind the scenes running everything. Wow. And that's because yes,
age and I was posturing to,
to be able to take things over from an infrastructure of operations.
But I also knew I was a great communicator, but it wasn't until Mike,
Kim told me, he said, you're also knew I was a great communicator. But it wasn't until Mike Kim told me he said,
You're a great teacher. I said, a teacher? Like I was a 1.2 GPA
college student who fouled out twice, an average C student who
couldn't pass ninth grade algebra, like a teacher. And he
was the first one who spoke life into me in that way, and gave me
an opportunity to speak. And when I did, I just saw the mirror
of my father going like, I didn't need a script.
I didn't need a thing.
I just spoke genuinely from the heart and that, uh,
proved itself to be amazing. And now, I mean,
I've spoken on hundreds of stages, hundreds of podcasts, uh, did a Ted talk,
you know, I have no fear getting up in front of people and having a
conversation, but I have found a way to do that.
That's very unique when it's with a group of people because I don't go
pontificate. I saw those people growing up, you know,
thinking about standard tele, televangelist. That's what I saw. Yeah.
So it's the redeemed version of that,
which I sit up there and I'll look at a group of people and I'll just like,
wait 10 seconds. And they're like, is this guy having a stroke?
Like what the hell's going on? And I I just go like so how's everybody doing and I'm pulsing
energetically the room I can feel the anxiety the uncertainty I can feel that
someone is struggling with a severe illness I can tell that someone's
probably dealing with a very intense relationship you know exchange I can
tell that someone in that room's been sexually abused. I can feel it. I can know it. And dude, I call it out sometimes. I'm dead
serious. But that's the gifting that I grew up with is that ability to intuitively pulse and sense
the room. So all I'm doing is I'm pulsing, getting a confirmation on these things. And then I start
calling certain things out. Wow. Oh yeah, dude. Imagine calling someone out for that and never
told anyone. It's happened. Here's the thing. Imagine calling someone out for that and never told anyone.
It's happened.
Here's the thing, I don't prompt it in a way of where I go,
I know someone in this room has this.
I will say something though of like,
I know some of you are probably going through
some of the deepest, darkest moments of your life right now.
And the first thing that I wanna tell you
is that you're not alone.
The most horrific thing is literally
scalling the walls of hell and going through the deepest, most painful, traumatic, horrible season of your life.
And not feeling like anyone even cares or knows.
And when someone can be in that room and they can pulse sense that,
and then call it out, you're like, maybe God's real.
Maybe there's something, maybe the universe has got my back.
Maybe there's something out there, a force out there that loves me more than
my mom does that is actually carrying and seeking to like, be on my side.
When you can feel like a force that's way bigger than humanity and you can even
for just one moment, 1% be like, maybe this thing's got my back because no one
knows that, but this dude somehow does.
It's not about me.
I'm the messenger.
It's about allowing them to illumin'm the messenger. It's about
allowing them to illuminate that there's something greater out there, that there's a deep basis of faith, let's just call it be
a currency of faith, that they can go like, maybe I do believe
that there's something that's greater that has my back. That
can change everything for somebody. So and then the
conversations that come after always so powerful, but, you know,
I'm a hope dealer and a dope healer. I just have found the way of, you know, in business, a lot of what I do, it's pseudo.
It's like I solve operational problems for, you know, some of the most prominent figures in entrepreneurship and business and entertainment.
However, how I do that is very unique.
Very.
Because it comes down to the individual
and their personal individual success
and guiding them in the right direction
and being truly a confidant.
You get three different types of people in your business.
You got confidants and those are the people
who are for you, period.
They don't care what you do.
They don't care if you're like bankrupt or a billionaire.
They're for you.
And I've always had a very cherished position
with a lot of people for an extended amount of time of where
I'm behind the scenes and you would never know that I was even
there unless you saw me like in a picture behind them, you would
never know that that person's success was in duality of what
we created together in co creation.
And you don't care to take credit?
Not at all. Because it's I think it's collective. It's like, why
should I take credit? There's so many different people who have contributed.
Their ancestors, their great, great, great grandparents
and the sacrifices they made are just as important
as the ones that I did.
What I figured out is that I don't wanna do things alone.
We're in a season of Avengers.
It's actually, my buddy said this really well.
He's like, okay, you're gonna rock solo?
Good luck, because you're going against teams
of five, 10, 15, 100 people.
So I'm like, if you wanna defeat Thanos,
meaning if your vision is big enough,
then you wanna collaborate
and bring people along on that journey.
Because-
Yeah, look at Trump right now.
Hell yeah, dude.
What about today in Tulsi?
Dude, it's a perfect example,
but that's where the world is trending.
It's trending towards, we have to find what's common.
We have to find the areas of life
of where we have agreeance on the right things,
of where we believe the right things,
so that we can take all that force of energy
and push it in the right direction.
But it's just so hard to do it alone,
and it's not that fun.
It's not that fun to lose alone.
It's not that fun to win alone.
Like, I wanna win alongside the people who I believe in.
It's not fun at all.
I've taken vacation solo, thinking it'd be amazing, got the nicest hotel and I'm bored out of my mind.
Yeah dude, you want to run with people who care and where you're up to something is meaningful.
That's why I love those Avengers movies because you have all these unique characters with all
their unique backgrounds but they're all on one core mission that they know that they need each
other to win. And I think humanity when they bind together and they go towards something,
they have a rally cry and they identify
a common enemy, I think that's where humanity shines brightest.
Absolutely. Yeah. Um, now you had an interesting relationship with your
father growing up. Did you feel like making him happy was a big driver for
you growing, growing up in your teenage years and twenties, making him proud of
you? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I was really afraid of my father. And that kept me out of a lot of trouble. There were many times where we'd be with our friends and doing stuff. And I'd be like, I'm out of here, because if my dad finds out I'm here, like I'm dead.
So he did you fear based parenting?
based parenting? I think so. I think he did the best that he knew how. You know, and my dad has own struggles when he was younger and you know, lack of safety and all these
other things. And so I think a lot of that contributed into it. You know, he's part of
a first generation family in the US. And so, you know, like, they didn't have conscious
parenting back then. So, but at the end of the day, I think a certain level of the fear
of God in, you know, in my life, at least I can speak for my story as a kid was actually really healthy.
Like my dad never physically did anything, you know, but there was just like this, don't screw up.
Never academically, it all had to do with character. So I think I can look back on it now and be really grateful for it. But yeah, you know, you you want a healthy balance,
even if it's a 5149 of where I trust the safety of that parental figure, more than the fear
of the emotional explosions and the tyrannical behavior. And I think it's probably like 8020,
which is really like impacted, you know, things.
But I cherish the lessons,
but there's a level of safety there that's,
that's just not there and that's okay.
And you had to go back and address that trauma, right?
Eventually you can't run away forever.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I've had hard tarts with my dad
and talk to him about it.
He's very apologetic, you know, my dad's very different.
You know, as your parents get older,
they doesn't go for everybody,
but they soften off a bit,
see things a little bit differently.
And that was a massive fight for me too,
cause my mom's Asian and a lot of Asian people
use academics to further their career,
but for me that wasn't what I aligned with.
So that was a fight for years, you know,
in high school and college,
but now she's the biggest supporter of the podcast.
Wow.
But it took some time to get there.
Yeah, what flipped for her?
She saw how passionate I was about it, I think.
And she realized that academics is not the only way
to get success these days.
I think it's changed a lot since our parents' generation,
where college actually got you jobs and it was valuable
and much cheaper.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
It's like 40K a year now.
Oh, just no joke, dude, it's crazy.
And for what? I'd rather hire Dave Meltzer or Adley to coach me. Yeah, totally, absolutely. It's like 40K a year now. Oh, just no joke, dude. It's crazy. And for what?
You know, I'd rather hire Dave Meltzer or Adley to coach me.
Yeah, totally.
Right.
Absolutely.
And what about your dad?
Supported me.
Yeah, he was an entrepreneur.
He had a nine to five, but he sold books on the side
and did very well.
So I witnessed that growing up and he was a big inspiration.
Wow, that's incredible.
So I got to experience both, which I think is important too.
And I'm multicultural, so I got to experience the Asian side and my
dad's iron. So I got the alcoholic side. Yep. I got to where I wanted to fit in
that. Totally man. Wow. It's important to get different perspectives. I think a lot
of people grow up in a town and they're still there. Oh dude, absolutely. And you
know, and my best friend's Korean. So like, what's interesting is like he
shared with me a lot about, you know, and I'm Italian, you know, and my best friend's Korean. So like, what's interesting is like he shared with me a lot about, you know,
and I'm Italian, you know, on both sides.
And my my dad's half British.
So my grandmother survived World War Two bombs going off like,
it's a whole deal. Raised herself.
Her parents died when she was like under 12 years old.
Yeah. So so much resilience there.
I mean, that's I think what's gotten me through so much of my life is like
there is a part that wants to continue to make her proud.
Near death experience when I was five years old,
I almost drowned in a pool.
Wow, you remember that?
Yeah, oh dude, that's brutal.
That's like, it's like hardwired in my DNA at this point.
Oh yeah.
What happened?
So I was in a pool at a state park and my parents,
and I got four kids, so I get this.
They're just talking to a couple of friends
that they saw and there was actually a girl
who was probably 17, 18 years old.
I was five and she had special needs
and didn't really realize what was happening
and went to, you know, just play.
And I essentially got water boarded
when I was five for about three minutes.
Yeah.
So jumped on me and just over and over
and over and over in the water.
Yeah, super intense, man.
But that survival mechanism, I think,
especially at that age,
I truly believe that it gets coded in your DNA.
Because from that point forward,
I've had a no quit, survive at any cost,
high performance type of attitude.
And so it's been a wonderful thing.
But what's so interesting, man,
is I was petrified of water.
And when I was 12 years old, I remember
I was at a campsite with my grandma,
because we would go camping with her every summer.
And she's like, you want to go down to the pool?
And I'm like, grandma, you know the story.
I'm like, no.
And she's like, well, why don't we just, you know,
it's like exposure therapy.
Just I'm going to very slowly get you to look at the thing
you don't want to see.
And we got down there, and she would knit hats and scarves
for kids who were underprivileged.
And she would do it literally all year round.
And then at Christmas time, she'd give it
to all these orphanages and stuff.
And she's the same amazing lady.
But we got down to the pool and she sat down
and she's just knitting.
And I'm like, what am I going to do?
Just like, stand here all day.
So she's like, so you're going to get in, you know, whatever.
And I'm like, I don't know.
I don't know.
And like, you just like experience that moment by moment, you know?
And then I find like stay on the edge of the pool and it's like,
I'm faced with a decision of like, am I going to do this or not?
And she didn't pressure me. She just was with me.
And this is such an interesting concept of like holding space for people who are
going through hard things. You don't, people have a lot of courage.
Sometimes they just need to know like,
are you gonna be there if I die?
Like, if I'm about to die, will you please help me?
And I knew she would.
So finally, I was just like, screw it.
What's the worst that could happen?
She's here and I just jumped in.
Wow.
At 12 years old, I overcame the greatest fear in my life.
And so what does that produce in someone
when they face other challenges?
And literally that summer, when I was 12,
I started going door to door and selling candles.
Wow.
And just started slaying like this whole new version of me
of like unlimited possibility of optimism
to confront whatever realities were in my life,
to just overcome fear became fun.
And I think that was a staple to my success.
I don't know if I'd be the same person today
without that experience. So I've learned how to be immensely grateful for that. And to also my success. I don't know if I'd be the same person today without that experience.
So I've learned how to be immensely grateful for that.
And to also like forgive my parents, you know,
I had one of my therapists who I talked to,
she said, well, you cherry pick the story
because you don't usually tell
that your dad jumped in and saved you.
Oh, he did?
He did.
Wow.
Yep, and so that's always been a thing for me
of like, whenever I tell the story,
I always put them at the end of like,
my dad was the one who, yes, I had a lot of struggle with,
but he's also the one that like,
in the moment that mattered most, he was the one who showed up.
So there's, that's why there's such an interesting
parallel in relationship, but I believe that like, you know,
fathers are the greatest representation of what can,
redemption can look like in someone's life.
And it doesn't have to be a me versus him thing, you know,
it can be a a let's band together
and co-create redemption on both of our stories together.
And so.
I love that.
I have a very similar story.
Cause my father never showed me physical love.
He never gave me a hug.
Yeah.
I think the only time he did was when I was moving
out of Jersey to LA.
Wow.
And I was 20, 22.
Wow.
That was the only time he's ever hugged me.
Never told me he loved me.
And then we found out at six years old,
he got diagnosed with Asperger's.
So that really messed me up, dude,
because the whole time he did love me,
he just didn't know how to show it.
You know what I mean?
So that really got me messed up.
How did, what'd you learn from that now?
Basically that, he just loved me so much.
He just didn't know how to express it, man.
And he had so many demons he fought.
He was a drug addict and alcoholic.
And I think he just got in his own head.
Yeah.
You know?
It's hard to show compassion and love to others
when you feel so much shame.
Shame is a prison.
Yeah.
And it's a prison that will not allow you
to release the thing that you want to the most. And then
additionally, having some neurodivergent things going on
is like, that's just it's a it's a it's a part of the the puzzle
that doesn't allow you to experience what you needed to.
But what's so neat is there's always redemption, man. Like
whenever you look now back at the story, it's like, geez, I
just wish I would have known sooner. Yeah, like I wouldn't
have maybe formulated
the stories in my head that I did. But that will serve its
intentional purpose in your life.
It's been a big lesson because I picked it up from him and even
with my fiance, I wouldn't tell her I love you and I wouldn't
hug her or kiss her show her affection. But I've learned how
to do that now.
That's amazing, dude. Yeah.
Powerful.
You also went through another crazy traumatic incident last
year with the school shooting. Yeah, your kids so they were at the school when it happened. They were a man
I showed up on a you know, Monday morning dropped my kids off at school and said hey go be leaders today
That's why I was telling them every day that I dropped them off
And you know, what's interesting is my office is directly across the street from the school
So I'm literally like you pull out and then you make a left and I pull right into my office building
You know, that's where I used to be.
And so I dropped them off, um, you know, and then I was on a zoom call this dude from Canada and then my wife called and
we have this rule, like you call twice. There's something going on.
That's a good rule. It's a very good rule. Yeah. It's huge.
Because then you always know like it's a, you need to pick up.
So I picked up the phone and I'm just like, Hey babe, what's up?
And I told the guy, hey, one second,
I have this rule with my wife, she calls twice.
So I mute him, pick it up.
And she's like, babe, there's a shooting at the school.
There's a shooter at the kid's school right now.
And I'm like, wait, wait, hold on.
I like, I'm thinking, I can't even,
like I'm not even hearing this correctly.
And I'm like, wait, what?
And she's like, there's a shooter at Covenant.
And dude,
I have never felt whatever all those body chemicals were in that moment that hit. It's like an insane surge of adrenaline and everything else.
I just slammed down my computer.
I still had her on the phone and I ripped open my office door and I began running
down the hallway. Actually, my shoe fell off.
I was running so hard and fast that my shoe flipped off my foot.
And I'm just pushing people out of the way
in the middle of the office.
Run back, grab my shoe, and I go to the elevator
and I'm just pounding the elevator buttons,
trying to get down there as quick as possible.
And I pick up the phone again and I'm like, okay.
And on that sprint though,
I had this 10 seconds of adrenaline hit.
And then I was reminded, this Dallas monk
who spent 45 years as a psychologist, when I was doing therapy, he gave me the greatest lesson
in life.
And he said, Nick, you know what, you're going to have life experiences, things that are
going to happen.
And if you allow your emotions to immediately follow your life experiences, your belief
systems are going to be very skewed.
You're going to see the world in a way that is untrue.
And so he said, the way that you create the grand filter to your life, to
protect the greatest treasure, which is your emotional consciousness.
So the way that you do that is life events will happen, but you need to
insert your belief systems, then your emotions, and that's how you truly
guard your heart.
So I was reminded of that, dude, you know, it's just like the military,
like in the greatest moment of stress.
You want to rely on your training and not your, you know, it's just like the military like in the greatest moment of stress You want to rely on your training and not your you know nature really and stress responses And so sprint ten seconds this whole thing's going on getting over a pounding a pounding bounty and I pick up the phone again
And I'm going to talk to my wife and it was like what is your belief?
Like I just felt it like what is your belief about? And I relied on my training because 100 therapy sessions.
I mean, what's so crazy to do is I stopped doing that there like all the therapy and the intensity around that sabbatical two weeks before this happened.
So I truly believe that God prepared me for the whole moment.
And so she started crying, of course, and she said, I hope my babies are okay and I said our kids are
fine and did you know my honest belief was in that moment they're either dead
and they're with God or they're alive and they're safe
well it's one or the other you know the contrast of life in those moments gets pretty crazy. Yeah. But I knew that either way that they were okay.
And pounding that button, gotten that thing. She's bawling her
eyes out. I'm talking through with this. And just they're
gonna be okay. They're gonna be okay. They're gonna be okay.
Get down four floor to the first floor bolt out the front doors.
There's all these people. There's literally police, there's
helicopters, it's insanity. It's like the where the office is.
It's a, you know a police tapes already down there.
This is like 20 minutes after it happened. Wow. And I mean, the police were there and took care of it in 13 minutes. This is
about seven minutes after like everything was done. But you
got to remember like in that timeline. It's like every second
feels like an hour. So I get down and running. I'm like sprinting as fast as I can down to where the reunification point is and I
see my son with his class walking down hand in hand and they had crossed a main
road they were on the playground and the shooter walked past the playground with
70 kids on it. What? She could have just turned an open fire on all of them and
didn't and still to this day we have have no idea why. It doesn't make any sense.
Whoa.
So we truly believe that God preserved our kids that day
and protected them.
And so did she shoot anyone?
She did.
She killed six people.
Oh, she went inside.
She went inside.
So it was just targeted attack.
It wasn't very, yeah.
Very, very, it was targeted.
It was intentional.
You know, three, three teachers and our staff and three kids.
Wow. Third grade.
So it must've been former teachers
she had to graduate with or something.
She didn't, you know.
We've got a lot of, you know, additional information
that they don't share like on the mainstream news and stuff.
Just obviously because we're parents
and there's a different level of complexity involvement.
But no, it's just the best way that the detectives in the FBI explain this, after
like hours and hours of answering questions and helping
us and answering what they can. So it's as simple as this. And I
know it's hard to hear, but pure evil showed up that day. There's
no other way to describe it. This person had unique
challenges. And in the process of that,
there was a, it seems kind of like there was a former version of who she was that she wanted to take off this
planet and so someone who's very suicidal and you know,
dealing with these things and had nothing to do with those
kids and everything to do with like an internal rage about self
And just was taken out on others. Yeah, so it's a it's a sad thing. You know, there's a certain level of empathy
My wife's father was also murdered when she was three and
This is the second time we've had to deal with this
Most people don't have to deal with it once I've got to deal with it twice
But I'm really grateful to say
that my kids are doing amazing.
They're so resilient, dude.
Like kids are so resilient.
They're better kids today, I think,
because of what happened.
And we've trained them and we've created space
and we've done a lot of therapy
and all the things that need to be done.
Yeah.
But I remember like when this happened
and the first time I had a conversation, I'm like,
our kids will march back up that hill. The part of the Civil War
was fought on that hill. Wow. And I'm Oh, there's a lot of
history behind it. And I'm like, our kids are going to march back
up that hill. Because these are the things that they overcome
that create them into champions of who they're going to be
tomorrow. We're not going to cower in fear. We're not going to
step back. Not going to play defense. We're going to handle what needs to be handled. We're not gonna cower in fear. We're not gonna step back. We're not gonna play defense.
We're gonna handle what needs to be handled.
We're gonna heal,
and then we're gonna go on the offensive.
So if my kids beat death at five and seven,
what else are they gonna do?
Probably change the world.
Absolutely.
A lot of parents probably pull their kids
out of that school, right?
A lot less than you'd think.
Because now it's the safest school
that you're gonna find in the whole city.
It's like Fort Knox.
I mean, in a good way.
It's not, you know, it's not like you walk in and you're like, I'm walking into like,
you know, like a prison, you know, like where it's like, it's these layers and layers.
It's extremely secure.
And there's very high levels of security and personnel who are there and all those things.
So you know, we feel great about it because of that. And yeah, there's a lot
of families who were impacted in different ways, you know, I'm
one of the people who were very lucky to say like, my kids
didn't see anything. My daughter was 10 feet away from the
shooter. Wow. Thankfully.
Walk past her. Yeah, I mean that she was she was safe. She was
basically the distance between a drywall and
You know, you just you just think about that and go like this person's coming up a hallway and my daughter is
Literally on the opposite side of where she's firing
So, you know some auditory things like have been really interesting for for her as she's processed those like no balloons
You know different types of things that like you you just gotta deal with now and be mindful of.
But at the same time, our reminder is always like,
there were heroes that day, there are people who loved you
and people who fought to make sure that everyone was safe,
but Vanderbilt was preparing for 60 casualties
or at least injuries.
Wow.
And the teachers were the ones who saved those kids' lives.
Really?
They were fully trained.
They knew what to do in that type of scenario.
Extremely trained, extremely.
Were they armed?
The teachers?
I don't know how I,
I don't think I can answer that question.
I don't know.
I want to put you at legal complications.
The short answer is yes.
There are staff members who,
and obviously now there's a completely different level of security. The person who primarily is armed was not there that day. They're on vacation. Oh, they weren't they were not there that day on vacation. But you know, armed with a pistol and someone's got a rifle, you know, that would have been a battle that probably wouldn't have gone the direction that we wanted to and this guy is very fearless. So he would have jumped right in. But that's just a, it's an unfair fight.
And so, you know, all things are what they are,
but you know, a lot of empathy, a lot of growing,
a lot of learning, a lot of understanding.
But yeah.
It's sad that's a fear that parents have these days,
you know, sending their kids off
and there might be shooting out at school
with how common they are now. I think it's a great way for people to awaken of how evil the world
is. I think like we sometimes live in this fantasy land, like let's care about
you know certain issues that don't really matter. I'm like well our kids
safety really matters and there's so many preventative measures that don't
go into like the hyper politics of like you know gun usage and and you know
banning firearms and all this stuff. There's very practical
things, very practical things that every school district that
they can solve that cost 10s of 1000s of dollars, not millions
or hundreds of 1000s of dollars that can be done. And even just
training, you know, like the dude Brinks, br inx. He's part
of a safety security team is a metro here in Nashville. And he
was the guy who who trained the school and he trained schools,
he got over 750 inquiries like within the first week after. So
what's good is like these situations as horrific as they
are. What the trend is showing is that people are becoming more
and more mindful of how important it is to have this solved.
And dude, there's just another shooting at a kid's school
today.
What?
Yes, in Georgia.
Oh my God.
So I'm just, you know, my heart's breaking for those people
because I know exactly what they're going through right now.
So I'm gonna find a way to reach out to whoever I need to
and to try to be a voice of encouragement.
The one thing Sean, I think that was really interesting and hopefully people who are going through
hard things or know somebody who is that they pay attention to in this part is
like we had people who would say, Hey, love you praying for you. Or, Hey,
we're thinking about you. We're so sorry. Let's know if we can do anything.
It's the worst thing to say to somebody who's going through literally.
So if you understood how the brain doesn't function under that level of stress, the,
the idea to even answer, here's what I need you to do for me.
It's really, really hard. And I'm not like, again,
I'm not like slamming anybody who said that to us or to others.
I just want to give awareness on what to do. We had a couple of friends. One,
my brother, one of his best friends from high school.
I haven't talked to this girl in the 25 years, you know?
Like, I mean, it's crazy.
We got home after that crazy day
and spending five hours waiting and making sure
that our friends and our kids were alive.
And we showed up and there was dinner on our front door.
Wow.
People who have been through really hard, traumatic things,
they know how to serve people who are going through those
because they've been through it before
and have seen what we've seen now, which is don't ask,
just solve a problem and solve the most basic problem
that you can find.
And so when we got home and dinner was there,
we were like, our kids haven't eaten in like 10 hours,
like simple stuff, right?
And to me, I'll never forget that.
And I'll never forget what she did for our family.
Yeah. And I hadn't even talked to her in 25 years powerful. So simple things when people are going through hard things
Just solve a problem. That's really practical. Don't ask them how they can't think
So just like solve it and love on him. That's the best I've ever heard
Yeah, simple. But yeah people when a loved one passes are like, how can I help? Yeah, nothing don't send flowers either
No, it sounds so crazy.
And my grandmother taught me this after she lost her son.
She says we had so many flowers that it like,
flowers traumatized me because there were so many flowers.
Just solve a simple problem.
Right.
Dinner would make.
Dude, it's so simple.
Make that night, honestly.
Oh, dude.
If you sent me dinner, that would mean a lot.
And it shows because the person who did it,
I hadn't talked to in 25 years. Yeah. So again
people just know there's a deepness there that they just know how to serve in that moment and
so that's what I'm going to be looking to do tonight is how can I help those people who
are going through a lot of stuff. I love it Nick. Any final messages? Anything you want to get off
your chest before we wrap up? Dude it's my only consistent one that I like to tell people which
is if you want wanna change the world,
encourage five people a day.
People are starving for a sense of encouragement.
And it's such a simple thing that we can do.
And so that's my story I'm sticking to, brother.
We'll link your socials below.
Thanks, man.
Appreciate you, bro.
Much love, man.
Thank you.
Bye.