Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Finding Direction: I Get Interviewed About Creating Your Own Luck & Betting On Yourself

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

Chris Van Vliet is interviewed by Stu Massengill (@stumassengill) on the podcast "Finding Direction". Stu works for Tony Robbins as a National Trainer and Peak Performance Strategist. He is also a master interviewer and asks me some amazing questions which leads to me talking about a lot things that I've never opened up about publicly. We talk about how you can create your own path by being in the right place at the right time, how you can start and grow as a content creator, the biggest lessons learned from interviewing A-List celebrities like The Rock, Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey, why it's important to bet on yourself and much more. Check out "Finding Direction" hosted by Stu Massengill wherever you get your podcasts! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blenie! So good to see you and so good to have you with us on this one. As you saw from the title, a little bit of a different episode here because I'm the one who's being interviewed. I was recently a guest on the podcast Finding Direction hosted by Stu Massengill and Stu's a rock star. He works for Tony Robbins as a national trainer and peak performance strategist and his show is all about helping people who may feel a little bit lost in their lives, helping them find direction.

And he asks amazing questions, really thought-provoking questions. And he dove deep into my story of where I started, the stumbles along the way. And we talked about a lot of things here that I've never discussed publicly. So I think you're going to enjoy this one. And if you like this one, I know you're going to love all of Stu's episodes. So when you're done with this, go check out Finding Direction wherever you're listening to this podcast. and make sure to subscribe to his podcast and my podcast. But here we go.

It's me on Finding Direction. Chris Van Ville. Welcome to the show, my man. I'm pumped to have you here. I'm so pumped, especially learning that we're neighbors. This is crazy. Like, we are hundreds of feet away from each other, and somehow we're talking through computers.

For real. Small world, man. And we're here for a few more weeks and then both leaving. So very cool, man. And thank you for coming here today. And I would love it as we kick this off. If you could share kind of with our audience, basically like what you do, who you are,

and a little bit of like a sneak peek of the journey on how you got there. Well, thank you so much for having me on. My name is Chris Van Vlee, television host. Content creator, I think, is like what the new title is, because as we'll get into during this conversation, it's just shifted so much. But I have a podcast as well. So wherever you're listening to this,

you can listen to Insight with Chris Van Vleet. And I'm just fascinated with telling people's stories. Like I think that way too often, and you know, you do this a lot in your shows, too. But way too often we see the finished product. And we don't see the process along the way of how people got there. So that's what my podcast is all about. My YouTube channels about that. And then I put those clips on my TikTok and Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and

everywhere else. And I'm hoping that at some point through all of that, that people can somehow find my content. I love them, man. So if we go way back, Philison on kind of what was life like as you went through sort of your early years. I mean, did you grow up and you said,

you know, I'm always going to be a content creator and this is what I'm going to do for my life? Or, yeah, what were some of the early years like? Well, the term content creator certainly didn't even exist back then, right? Very true. I grew up in Canada just outside of Toronto in a town called Pickering.

So just east of Toronto. And I was always just super passionate. about broadcasting. Like, I had a Fisher Price tape recorder and like with actual cassette tapes and I would pretend to be the radio host that I heard on the radio. And I just loved that idea of like how old were you? I was four years old when this started. Four years old, like talking into the little Fisher Price microphone. And I just always loved the idea of performing. So whether it was in plays or when I got into high school, I was the vice president of my student council, because. because that was the person who did the morning announcements. That was the person who hosted the talent show on the fashion show. I always loved this idea of having a mic in my hand and being able to get a reaction out of the audience. So that was it for me.

I had a communication studies class in high school where we actually did make like these TV segments. It was so cool. We had a little mini TV studio in my high school. And you went from like position to position, from camera operator to VTR to audio to Florida. director and then you were the on-air talent. So when it came time to pick a college major at 17 years old, which is this craziest thing, right? Like, what do you want to be with, you know, when you grow up?

Yeah, it is interesting. You want to do the rest of your life when you're 17. I was like, well, that communication studies class was fun. So I guess I'll take that. That's kind of where the process began for me of like, I'll dip my toe into this world and see that, see if I can like try to one day possibly get a job in radio or television. And man, I had so much fun in college, but it hit me like a ton of bricks during my senior year. I was having the best time. I lived with four my best friends. We decided if a 930 class was too early to go to or not. And then one day, it hit me like, oh my gosh, when we graduate at the end of this year, you know, we have to go work for the rest of our lives. And I just decided in that exact moment that I didn't want to hate my job.

very least. I didn't want to hate the job that I had. And that's kind of where I was like, all right, I'm going to reach out to every radio station, every TV station in my college town and just see if I can get in there and get some real world experience. And that's where my journey began with like volunteering at radio stations and TV stations and bringing that value and hoping that they would see that value in me. Yeah. Interesting. And I think two things there's like one, as you made that change in your life, I think the first thing that if people only got like one thing from our conversation today was that you made the decision in the sense that you were like, the decision I'm making is I'm a senior in high school trying to figure out my life is I'm

not willing to settle for something that I don't actually enjoy. And I think a lot of people, unfortunately, don't make that decision, right? It's like, well, you know, it'll, it'll be, you know, okay. But once you make the decision, it's like things will come into your life, opportunities will come into your life, you'll act differently just because you've made that decision. And the second thing I would love to kind of hear from you a little bit more is what would you say are like let's say someone's listening to this. They're going, okay, I'm on board with you, Chris. I don't want to do something that I hate. What would you say are like three specific ways people can almost like create more opportunities in their life to step into a world of doing something

that they actually like? Well, we're now living in a time where like anything's monetizable in some sort of way. I mean, that's incredible. That's something really over maybe the last decade where, you know, the advent, the internet existed when I was in college, but like now it's on a different scale now. So I'd say, number one, start to lean into the things that really drive you, that really juice you, that, you know, you're passionate about. Number two, I would say, don't quit your job. Do not quit your job today, but with your free time, work on whatever that other thing is.

and I think that people make that mistake of pulling shoot way too early, getting out of their job that's paying them and then jumping into this other thing. Like, I am definitely one of those people who loves to dive in and not check the depth of the water or the temperature of the water, but you need to be able to make sure that you can pay your bills. And I would say, number three, bring value to whatever it is that you're doing. We'll use the example of broadcasting because that was what we were just talking about. what can you bring? And I think that the answer in most of these situations is you can bring your time. And your time is really valuable. And I think that you can exchange your time for experience.

And I think that too many people are looking for an opportunity to get paid from that experience. If I'm giving you eight hours of my day or if I'm giving you 40 hours of my week or whatever it happens to be, they want to be compensated. Well, you are being compensated and experience that you will then turn into a, a great paying job later on. Right. Yeah. And connections, right? Because as you step into that door,

and there's something when you put yourself in the space or the arena that you want to be in, where all of a sudden now you become top of mind, right? Where they're doing something and maybe someone doesn't show up that day to broadcast. And you're not the broadcaster, but they go, hey, Chris, like, you're the only one here and you always talk about how you love doing this. So, like, we're going to throw you, like, you know, one of the people we're both probably familiar with Les Brown. Right? That's kind of the way that he got his like career started as a speaker. He was a, you know, a disc jockey at a radio station. And eventually one day they needed someone. He was literally the only person there. And they were like, all right, you're on. And, you know, the rest is history. And so I think there is a magic about putting yourself in the right place. And I would love it if you could share. I was doing, you know, in some of my research, this sort of tactic, I guess we'll call it on how you magically appear in cities when the operative.

is right. And I was wondering if you could shed light on that because I think it is something that is extremely powerful. It's something I've done as well. And it's just, it's brilliant. So if you could share on that a little. I think it's just, it's the idea of making yourself available. Like, you want to be able to shut them off from as many nose as possible. So the way that I got my first television internship is I was just about to graduate from my communication studies degree, Bachelor of Arts, and I was applying at all these different places for an internship, and nobody was getting back to me. And I was like, if I don't get an internship this summer, there is a zero percent chance I'm ever going to get a job because I don't have that

real world experience. So I reached out to this small station in Peterborough, Ontario, which was 100 kilometers, if we're talking to Canadian terms, 60 miles away from my hometown. And I reached out to them, I scoured the internet to find the general manager's email address. And after I did some digging, I found it. His name's Ron Johnston. Right. Sent him an email. And I said, hey, you know, spring breaks just around the corner.

I'd love to come in and talk to you about a possible internship. I'm actually going to be in Peterborough next Tuesday. It'd be great if I could come by and talk to you. And he wrote back like, well, we don't usually do this. But since you're going to be in town, come on by. I had zero intention to be in this town. I hadn't been there in years and years and years. And I went by and he basically looked at it.

my resume, which was now filled with all of the volunteer positions that I had from my senior year. And he went, well, we don't usually do this, but sure, we'll create an internship position for you. And I was like, oh, my gosh, wow. It worked. Long story short, that internship turned into a job. And I was internship, right, unpaid, 60 miles each way. It's like a lot of driving. I was working my old high school job, which was in the fish department of the pet store at the

mall to pay for the gas to drive to my internship. So picture the juxtaposition here of like scooping dead goldfish during the morning and then driving to go, my internship ended up me being on TV. Like so scooping dead goldfish to then being on TV later that day. So it was basically, it's the whole idea of like right place, right time, but I put myself in the right place at the right time. And two weeks into my internship, I was basically at that point following someone around and they were, you know, doing the story. And when you're at a small station, they write, report, edit, produce, do everything. And two weeks into my internship, the assignment planner goes, here's your story for the day. And I said, oh, cool, like, who am I following today? Well, you're going to go with Terry,

but this is your story. You're going to be on the six o'clock news tonight. Yeah. I was like, wow. So my internship turned into me being like a intern reporter. And then about a year and a half later, there was a job posting at MTV2 Canada, and they were based in Vancouver. Other side of the country. You know, Toronto's basically where New York is, and Vancouver is basically where Seattle is. And I, first of all, faked, they look for a demo reel in television, which is basically a highlight reel of all the stuff you've done. Well, when you work in local news in Peterborough, Ontario, it's not a lot of highlights.

You know, no offense, but there's just not a lot of, like, newsy stuff that's happening. So I would take the camera, because I'd actually. to them. I would take them after my shift, go out and like pretend I was like interviewing celebrities and pretend like we were reporting on like the concerts and festivals coming to town. Put this together. Sent it off to this job in Vancouver. Didn't hear anything back. But on the application for the job, I saw the name of the person that was doing the hiring. So I randomly called the TV station and I asked for her by name. And they said, oh, yeah, one moment, please. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is going to work. I left a voicemail. She ended up

emailing me back, like, oh, we're still going through candidates. Like, you know, we'll be in touch. Yeah. In the email signature, she had her direct phone lines. Like three days later, I called her at her desk. She answered. And I said, hey, I just wanted to call, you know, follow up on my demo tape that I sent in about the job. I'm actually going to be in Vancouver next Thursday. And I would just love to come and talk to you about the job. So much like the internship job, you know, the same thing happened. Oh, if you're going to be in town, sure, come on by. I hung up the phone. I like yelled to my dad, like, dad, I think we didn't. buy a flight to Vancouver. My dad, you know, luckily worked for an airline. So he's like, oh, nice.

I'll see what we can, you know, figure out here. So I think it's the idea of trying to eliminate as many knows as possible. And I've also always been the person that if someone just gives me like the ability to just put my foot in the door, I'm going to like wedge my foot in there and swing it open. Like I think that instead of going, well, I would love to do that, but I don't have the time. or the money or the resources, like, I'm going to find a way to do this. Yeah. What's up, my friends? It's Stu, and I have big news.

After interviewing hundreds of people on their journey in life and experiencing my own journey to a life full of fulfillment and passion, I finally put together a special guide just for you. And it's called three steps to finding direction in under 10 minutes, and you can go grab it at finding. directionuniversity.com forward slash three steps. If you're feeling lost and like you're not quite sure what you want to do with your life, this guide will help you figure out exactly what your next step is in just under 10 minutes.

You're not alone in this journey and I'm excited to guide you through this process until you've truly created a life that you love. Go grab the guide at finding directionuniversity.com forward slash three steps. I look forward to helping you create your dream life. It's such an interesting way for you to say it's like all the time we go through life and it's like, man, I was just the right place, right time. But the way you're saying it is, it's like you can create that. Yes.

Yeah. Or like, think about all the different scenarios where like, let's think in the entrepreneur world, like if you wanted to be in front of Tony Robbins or Gary V or someone like that, well, you can see where they're going to be like where they're going to be speaking. or were they going to have book tours. Like, put yourself in the way. Like, I'm not saying that every single time it's going to go how you want it to go,

but at least put yourself in the room and then see what happens from there. Yeah, it is interesting. And it's like for anyone that's listening to this, I think a simple thing they can take from this is like, one, find people you can call and just like you said, ask for their name because it's, you know, again, not going to work every time,

but for them to say, oh, you want to be connected to so-and-so. Okay, yeah, here, give me a say. It's like if you call them with confidence and you call them with like, hey, this is what I'm supposed to be doing, a lot of the time they'll pass you to the person just because you asked for it. So it's like call some people at companies you want to work for. Also, if you're bold enough like you were, say you're going to be in the city. And I've seen it again time and time in my life too, where most of the time when you say, hey, I happen to be in town, people are just going to be like, well, it's such a random occurrence that you just happen to be here while we're having this conversation on this date. It just makes too much, this kid's in the right place at the right time.

You know what? Let them come in. And you're that person. And it's just so cool. I've also sent a lot of emails where like maybe I can't find this specific email for the person I'm looking for. but I'll find someone like hopefully in like that same department and I'll be like, I'm sorry, if you're not the right person, could you please forward this along to the right

person? And if you're bringing value and it's not an ask and it's a give, most of the time they're going to be like, oh, I'm not the right person, but Stu is the right person. So I'm a pass it. I've ced him on this. Interesting. I like that. One of the things I'll do is let's say, for example, you want to work for the company

Paramount Pictures, let's say. And you know that the HR person's name is Christy or something like that. One of the things I'll do a lot of the time is put, like, think of what would every email Christy have possibly be? And it's like Christy at paramountpicture.com. Christy at p.p.com.

Christy period, last name at paramount pictures.com. And it's like, if you spend five minutes and look at what are like 20 emails that she could possibly have, like the chances are that you're going to get it, are pretty likely because a lot of the time people have those generic emails for their companies. And then when they get an email from me, they're like, how did this person get my email? Like, okay, someone must have connected them or like you almost have instant report because

you randomly ended up in their inbox and people don't randomly get their emails. Right. Especially like if you have something to say, right? If you're bringing some of good value and I like, my email is out there and I get plenty of emails every day. But a lot of them are like, hey, can I have this from you? Can I take this? Yeah. It's like, well, that what, like, and I think this is the biggest thing. Like, I think you need to present this.

It's like what's in it for the other person. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Go to give. Don't go to take. Yeah. And then that'll get your foot in the door. And then you go from there.

And so if we go back into your journey, so you're now working in MTV at Canada and you're doing this. And I'm curious, at what point do you go from like broadcasting, being on TV to all the sudden now you're on YouTube, you're on different areas like that, and that's all of a sudden like you're the main place of your presence. I actually had a realization when I was working there at MTV2 Canada where we would broadcast and, you know, the old model of broadcasting is like, if you're not watching Channel 7 at exactly, I don't know, 6.52 p.m. on this specific Thursday, you're not going to see it. And I realized like at that time I was interviewing a lot of bands.

and I knew there were huge followings from a lot of these bands that either didn't watch our show or didn't live in Canada and never see it. So I started taking those and putting them up on a random YouTube channel that actually didn't have my name, just like I wanted this interview with Andrew McMahon from Jacks Manichin, who I was a huge fan of. I just wanted other Jack's Manichin, something corporate fans, to be able to see this. So I just put it up there and sure enough, got tens of thousands of views. that's when I kind of realized, okay, this idea of broadcasting is, it's changing and it's shifting.

A few years after that, I actually created my own channels, the one I have now just with my name, Chris Van Fleet. And I would do an interview with, you know, sometimes really big celebrities like Tom Cruise or Merrill Streep, Ran Hathaway, or Margot Robbie, Denzel Washington. And yeah, they would air on TV. And then afterwards, I would take the raw uncut interview and just put it on my YouTube channel. hoping that other fans of either that actor or that series would appreciate it. And some of the Twilight interviews like blew up, some of the Marvel interviews did really well. And that's when I kind of started to realize that there was something more going on here of like reaching an audience just beyond that channel or that city.

And that's when I started to kind of go out of my way, not just the interviews that we were getting with the TV station, but I started going, well, what if I went to this convention? and that person was there and I could have access to talk to them. Or what if I went to this show or this concert and I could talk to somebody? And nobody was really doing that at the time at all. So I kind of like was a little bit ahead of the curve where I was able to, number one, get access because I worked for the local TV station. But number two, like nobody was thinking to do this.

Interesting. Okay. And so I'd be curious to hear from you like a little bit more. more on the tactic-wise, like, you've had conversations with people doing incredible things. And I would be curious for you, maybe we'll say in your early stages, because now it may be a little bit easier. You go, hey, we got this many people we're going to send it to. But I'm curious in your early days, like, what were, and given the fact you're coming to add value,

right, given the fact you're coming to give, you're not coming to say, hey, like, can I get this from you? You're coming to give. What would you say are two or three ways that you weigh? to create more conversations and more connections with people that other people may go, damn, how'd Chris get, how's Chris talking to that dude? Like, what were some of those? I knew I had, like, access to some of the back channels that I don't think people

would necessarily think of. Like, I would, here's a great example. Like, Chris Jericho, you know, legendary wrestler. I'm a huge wrestling fan. He wasn't really doing a lot of wrestling at this time. It was like 2012, I think. but he was on tour with his band Fossey. And I was like, well, if I can get in touch with the venue where he's playing

and say I want to do an interview with Chris Jericho to talk about their tour, maybe the venue can put me in touch with the tour manager who can then set this up. So it was a lot of like finding that third, you know, that book, The Third Door. I love that idea. Yeah, yeah, great book. Such a good book, like recommended to everybody listening. Yeah. So it's like before I even knew what the term the third door was, I think I was kind of already

doing those types of things. And I would also send emails where it would be like, hey, some of my recent guests include. And then you would like list off sometimes big names, but I would often list people like that they might be friends with or that they might be colleagues with. And if they go, oh, wow, if that guy or that woman did an interview with this guy, well then I should probably do it too. So that was a really big one. I would basically have the. same beginning and end of my emails, but the chunk where I listed off like eight or ten of my most recent guess, if it was a UFC fighter, for example, I would list off mostly UFC fighters and then throw in like maybe a big, you know, name or two after that. But I would hope that they would

go, oh, wow. Well, if Stepe Mioch did an interview with you, then, you know, I will too. Okay. And what would you say was the, you said you had the same intro and outro in your email, bulk of it was like these different names depending the guest. What would you say was that sort of like sweet spot intro and outro that you found work? The biggest mistake that I see is people will talk about their podcast or reference their podcast or YouTube channel and not link to it. Like that blows my mind that people will say, hey, I've got this great podcast called this. I would love for you to be a guest on it.

And I'm like, well, now I have to look this up, figure out, no, I should just be able to click there and see, like, oh, this is what the podcast is about. So that was a really big part. Like I would fill it with links, like hyperlink the podcast, hyperlink the YouTube channel, hyperlink the, my Twitter has this many followers, Facebook has this many followers. I think that that was a really important part. Like, don't make them have to do any more work. And I think it's lead with value. And then I would also like end the email with value as well. Like here's what's in it for you. If you're promoting this book, movie album tour. There's a great audience that is very passionate about what you're talking about,

so I'd love to get the word out to them. Love it. So cool. So as we continue to go down, you start on YouTube all of a sudden, things are really rocking and rolling on YouTube. I would be curious for anyone that's listening to this, and maybe they've had some sort of a spark where they go, you know what? Like you said, you can monetize just about anything you do nowadays, and they're looking to

potentially be some sort of a content creator and, like, take that. that route with their life. Yeah. What would you say are the first three steps you'd give someone, if they were saying, I want to become a content creator, here are the first three steps. You need to actually start making this a career. This is so actionable.

I love this. Three steps. This is so good. We're a big fan of action here, for sure. This is so good. I'd say, number one, get comfortable on camera and get comfortable with, yes, this is how your voice sounds. And I, yeah, I know you don't think you sound like that,

But yes, the rest of the world hears you like this. And yes, this is exactly how you sound. And now we walk around with the smartphones and video cameras in our pocket all the time. It's easier now than ever to get comfortable on camera. It wasn't even that long ago. But when I started in television, you needed to own an actual camera that recorded on tapes. And then you had to take the tape and then, you know, put it onto your TV. Now you can just set up your camera and, you know, shoot something.

So I'd say number one, get comfortable on camera. Yes, that's how you look. Yes, that's how you sound. Get that out of the way and then move on from there. Let's say number two, just start. I think that too many people put way too much thought into what it's going to be called and what their background's going to look like and what light should I buy and should I have the right camera.

Just start. I think that's the most important thing. Like take all of the barrier of entry away. Just start. Figure out the equipment. If we're talking podcast, five episodes from now 10 episodes. episodes from now. If we're talking about YouTube, five videos from now, two months from now, whatever it happens to be, like, just start. And if you go back and look at any popular creator

now at their first bunch of videos, you'll see, they didn't have the best equipment. They didn't have the best editing style. Look at Mr. Beast's first dozen videos or Logan or Jake Paul's first bunch of videos. Like, they're off. Right. And I think the idea is you just need to start. And then I think number three is like figure out what you want to talk. Well, I think you should, to figure that out, but like figure out how you can become an expert on this thing, become like, become known for that thing and start to dial that niche in. So once you figure out your niche, like niche down on that niche, and then become like the person that people go to for that.

Yeah. Love man. Extremely, extremely, extremely actionable. Very cool. So let's say we go a little deeper and someone goes, okay, took your advice, came back, listen to this podcast again, come through a run two. And I got, I started. I got my show. I got my equipment. Yeah, I think my voice still sounds weird, but you know what, screw it. I'm not doing it. And they figured out, you know, their nation, they're starting to become more of an expert in that,

but then they get stagnant. What three tips would you give someone to consistently become a better content creator or get more known? Like, how do they take it to the next level? What would your steps be for that? I think you have to like be consistent as number one. And I think that a lot of people fail because they're not consistent. Like there's some stat where it's like, I don't know, something like 80% of podcast stop after seven episodes. And I think it's just because you get going and you just go, wow, man, it's a lot of work.

Yeah, it's a lot of work booking the guests and then recording and doing the research and then editing it and then uploading it. And I think a lot of people just like, it's called pod fade. That's a real thing, like a real term. Yeah. So I think just be consistent. If it's YouTube, like you're going to put out one YouTube video a week and it's going to be every Tuesday.

Maybe it's two videos a week and it's every Tuesday and Thursday and like make that agreement with yourself that whether it gets one view or a thousand and one views or a million in one views that you're going to put that content out no matter what and you're going to stick to that. I think that that's a really important thing. Number two, find somebody in your space that's absolutely crushing it and don't copy what they're doing, but reverse engineer back to. to where you're at.

So maybe they're at step 63 in the process, and you're at step two. Figure out with step 62, 61, 6059, all the way back to where you are is, now you've got a clear roadmap of how to maybe not be like them, but gain the same type of success. And then I'd say number three,

find people in your space who are about the same size as you and collaborate with them. And then you can latch onto their audience and then they can latch on to yours. And I think that once, you start to grow with them, they'll start to collaborate with other people. And then you can start to collaborate with those people, and then you'll all be growing together.

Love it. So cool, man. So, so many people are going to be able to take so much action from this. Right off the top of my head. I hope this makes sense. Oh, crystal clear. So a few things I'd be curious as we wrap up for today is you've now interviewed, I mean, people from all over the world, people doing incredible things in their life.

and two questions I would have for you is one, who's your favorite person you've ever interviewed? And two, what would you say is the biggest lesson you've learned as you've gone through this journey of just interviewing people, picking their brain, learning why they think the way that they think. So favorite person and then biggest lesson you've learned. It's so hard to narrow down to just one. That's fair. But growing up, I was a huge wrestling fan. I was a big fan of the Rock.

So years later, when I got to interview the Rock, it was pretty special for me. not just as an interviewer in that moment, but as the 16-year-old kid who would walk around my high school asking people questions just so I could shout, it doesn't matter what you think. So to finally meet the Rock,

and then he actually did the It Doesn't Matter bit to me. Like, that was so cool. And they always say you shouldn't meet your heroes, but if your hero happens to be Dwayne Johnson, like you should do everything in your power to try to meet him because he's kind and he's funny and he's charismatic, but he has this star quality about him

where he's self-aware enough to know that this is a big moment for you and he makes you included in that moment. Like he'll make a little joke in your expense or, oh, you've been working out, man. Like he makes a little reference that brings you into that moment. So it's the rock for me.

So cool. And I think for the second question, the biggest thing I've learned is like the power of communication. And I just spoke recently about like the power of asking the right questions. And if you really boil it down, everything you have or you don't have in your life is a direct result of the questions you have either asked or haven't asked. And I've learned throughout my career that like changing one or two words can give a very different

answer. And I think that that's a really big thing. Like as much as I love these types of conversation, this is how my podcast flows. Sometimes you've only, got like three or four minutes with somebody, which sometimes means three or four questions. And you don't want to be like fumbling over your words. And also the more that you talk is the less that they can talk. Yeah. So I learned things like, you know, a really generic question when you're talking to somebody when a new movie's coming out is like, oh, what was it like working with Steven Spielberg? And then their answer is going to be like something really generic, like, oh, he's so great, he's so talented. It was amazing to work with him and something I'll never forget. I,

started shifting like that little question to like what's one lesson you learned from working with Steven Spielberg that you'll take with you to the next set that you're on and then you would get like a much deeper response to that so and I've now taken that to like all aspects of my life not just the interviews that I'm doing right it really boils down to ask better questions get better answers yeah what's a better question you've started asking yourself recently I mean I start an end every day with what am I grateful for? And that shifted my entire perspective on everything. And I now end every podcast with that same question. I ask my guess, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? And I do it for two reasons. One, I'm genuinely

curious. What is that person grateful for? But number two, I want people listening to go, wow, that person who's so incredibly successful and they're at this place in their life that I wish I could be, they're grateful for things like their health or they're grateful for things like their family. I can be grateful for those things too. True. Powerful, man. Yeah, gratitude is a beautiful force. We practice here a lot on the show.

So as we wrap up from here, I'm curious, you know, Chris, obviously you have an immense amount of value. You're doing an immense amount of cool things in this world. We also happen to be neighbors. I'm curious, aside from your address, if people want to find you. that, see what you're up to, what you're doing in the world. Just what's the best way that they can stay plugged into you. Wherever you're listening to this, please check out my podcast called Insight with Chris Van Vle. We've had some super exciting guests recently that I've been pumped about.

Adam Sandler was just on the show. Just did one with Jeff Goldblum. Of course, I'm a big pro wrestling fan. So there's lots of wrestlers that, if you are a wrestling fan, you'll recognize on there. So it'd be awesome if you could go there and give my show a follow when you're done listening to this episode. And then on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, every social media, it's just my name at Chris Van Vlead. Perfect.

Last question I have for you, we ask this to all our guests because we believe in how people find direction, but doing it through action as I see, you can probably see from now. And so I'm curious for the last question is, what would you say is one thing someone listening to this can do in the next 24 to 48 hours to start finding direction in their life? I think the biggest thing. and I put a whole podcast episode out about this is you just have to start. Like there's never going to be the perfect moment for the perfect time. Like you just have to start.

And you'll figure it out as you get going. Nobody was listening to Joe Rogan's episode 16. Hell, nobody was listening to episode 416. I think the idea is like episode one or video one or post one doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be a place that you start from. And then once you start, you can get a little bit better tomorrow and a little bit better the day after that. But it comes down to you just have to start.

Simple. Start, start, start. Chris, it's been an honor to have you on the show, man. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the immense amount of wisdom. And everybody definitely go check out Chris, his podcast, everything you're up to. And thanks again, brother, for hanging out with us. No, thank you.

Let's go grab a slice of pizza now. For real. All right. Hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you so much for being with us. Of course, a huge thank you to Stu Massingill for the invitation to be a guest on Finding Direction. This is one of my favorite interviews that I've ever done.

So check out his podcast wherever you listen to podcasts for more great content like this. And be sure to subscribe to both Finding Direction. And also to Insight. I'm assuming you're subscribed to Insight because not only if you listen to this episode, but you've listened all the way until the end, but if you haven't subscribed yet, please take a second to subscribe to the podcast and the YouTube channel. and Knowles, Chris Van Fleet, and CBV clips. And I'd love to hear what kind of insight you got from this conversation.

Let us know on social media what nuggets you pulled out of this one. And tag us. Stu is at Stu Mass & Guild. It's just his name. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, also just my name. And take a screenshot and tag us on social media so we can share it out as well. And since Stu works for Tony Robbins, I'm going to wrap this episode up with one of my favorite Tony Robbins quotes of all time. Anytime you sincerely want to make a change,

the first thing you must do is raise your standards. Be great and be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes.

So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What should be?

Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.