Living The Red Life - Nick Santonastasso : Motivating Story to Tony Robbins Stage & Mindset Lessons you Need

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

In today's episode I had the pleasure of sitting down with Nick Santonastasso, a motivational speaker and entrepreneur. He shares insights into his journey of self-discovery and success. From his early days creating viral content on Vine to evolving into a sought-after speaker and coach, Nick's story is one of resilience and adaptation. He emphasizes the importance of embracing authenticity and staying true to oneself, even amidst the pressures of entrepreneurship. Nick's vision for the future includes expanding his impact through comedy, music, and entertainment, while continuing to empower others to share their stories and monetize their expertise.Throughout the conversation, Nick delves into the nuances of personal growth, the power of mindset, and the necessity of pivoting in the face of adversity. He highlights the importance of setting audacious goals and constantly pushing boundaries to reach new heights. From navigating the challenges of COVID-19 to redefining success on their own terms, Nick's journey serves as both inspiration and practical guidance for aspiring entrepreneurs and speakers alike. With a blend of humor, authenticity, and unwavering determination, Nick exemplifies the limitless potential of pursuing one's passions and embracing the journey towards self-discovery and fulfillment.CHAPTERS1:38 - The Evolution of Motivation2:06 - Building Success3:15 - From Humble Beginnings3:38 - Learning from Others4:26 - Pivoting During COVID5:06 - Overcoming Adversity7:27 - Personal Pricing Evolution9:03 - Setting New Goals10:05 - Vision for the Future11:15 - Pushing Boundaries17:45 - Embracing Comedy19:01 - Finding Success in Laughter19:52 - Helping Others SucceedConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

I'm 6'5", no I'm just kidding. I have no legs, one arm, one finger, super handsome, that's me if you're just listening. When I was 18, I made the decision to create a Vine where you could post 6 second videos. And I was like, okay, I want to become the category king of something where no one can replicate or compete against me. And I didn't see many guys with no limbs running around Walmart pretending to be a zombie. I'm to the point because I've had personal development videos go viral and then me getting destroyed in comments. I'm like, that's cool. And I've also had like funny videos that viral and then get me getting destroyed in comments i'm like that's cool and i've also had like funny videos that went super viral me getting destroyed in comments i'm like i'm just gonna fall in love with all of them and everything that

you hate on i'm gonna use it as content so like give me ammunition and i'm gonna fire right back if i could go back i would sit down my 13 year old self and say buddy sim you're really difficult like you're gonna have ups you're gonna have downs you're gonna be rejected you're gonna fail businesses are gonna crash you're gonna save a lot of lives and it's going to be so worth it. And if I could tell myself that at 13, I probably would have been successful faster. I think in 10 years, maybe I'll find myself. I think I've lost myself through entrepreneurship and business, like trying to be someone else or like patching my identity to specific things. But now I have the credibility and I have the strategies and the track record for being a speaker and being serious.

But like, bro, I'm an entertainer. I just started making funny videos again. And I have 45 million views on YouTube this month. 120,000 subscribers I gained this month. What? One video went viral, right? And so in 10 years, Nick's going to be like everything. My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast.

And I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in Wonderland and change your life. Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. I've got my good friend Nick in here today, and he is going to talk to you about motivation. Not that kind of motivation, but real motivation. Nick, welcome. Good to see you, buddy. Thanks for coming in. So look, I know we're going to talk about your past and your background and how we met and what you're doing now, but you're not just this motivational guy on TikTok or YouTube. You're traveling around the world, keynote speaker, hanging out with Tony, talking on all of his stages.

You know, I see you in China the next day, another big event the next day, another big event. And now you're helping other people pursue that dream of speaking and impacting from stages. And obviously you just came to my event and spoke. And, you know, whether it's 100 people in a room or 10,000 people in a room, you captivate them. So it's great for you to be here. I appreciate you, Rob. Yeah. And it's I just want to give you your flowers again, because we met seven years ago. I was a little baby in entrepreneurship, and I think you were just getting started with the different businesses and to see what we both accomplished, but what you've accomplished and what you've built. I just want to acknowledge you and Kian because it's been

incredible to watch your journey. So I'm glad to be here. Good. Well, let's teleport back. I mean, we met in Tampa. I had a fitness business just starting to take off. You know, I think I was doing around a million or close. Yeah, I think I was doing a million at that point. And I had this goal of building this big empire. And you had this goal of speaking on Tony's stage and becoming this big motivational speaker. And I think, what, eight years later,

we've done it. You know, we've still got a long way to go and we have way bigger goals now. But it's really cool that we were able to, you know, hit those first kind of goals. So let's talk about it. How did you end up doing all of this stuff? Yeah, well, when we first met, we were just getting started, you know, with our business partner a friend in the back and everything was new and basically i quit my job at the customer service job that you know that i had and i moved into rapper's house on the couch and i was like hey we're gonna build this business and from there you know i'm a big believer that this is an information game right if we're seeing people that's doing something in a superior level it's like the question is not like are they better than me the question is what have they learned or have access to that i haven't gotten access to right

so it was a game of information learning the business model and then we built an unsustainable business model right i think a lot of times when you're first starting a business or a new offer whatever um maybe you forget about the sustainability or the scalability of the the business model they offer and so initially i was just a motivational speaker and the pigeonhole or the the trap that we fell into was i was still trading kai for money and i didn't have any offers or anything to give people in the back right so i would show up people would love it and then they'd be like can i work with you i'm like what does that mean you know i like i had no idea and long story short short when we moved to vegas to take over vegas

covid hit and destroy that business forced us to become marketers look at it now it's kind of funny because uh you know covid impacted a lot of businesses and people right and for me i was traveling the world at that point for two years uh growing my agency and most of my agency clients came from me speaking at events going to masterminds and parties and stuff and networking. So like it just completely stopped the growth of my agency. I didn't have an acquisition channel online. And the same for you. Right. But then we both kind of pivoted and, you know, figured things out. And in some ways it pushed us to adapt. And for me, I've created something way bigger than what I had

before COVID. So I'm very grateful for that. And I know you have too. So maybe, you know, that's something we can talk about later is overcoming adversity and challenges and where, you know, it might not seem possible and hard. And I think that's the story of your life, right? Yeah, for sure. I think the biggest thing is the brain's always looking for evidence, right? Like when the five minute mile was ran and everybody did it. Right. There's like a proof of concept. Right. And so we're in business.

We're always just looking for proof of concept, especially as marketers. Like you're looking for the first opt in or the first person to say yes to the first person to buy the product. And you're like, yo, if I can sell it once, I can sell it over and over again. Ten times, now a, now 1,000, yeah. And so I think the big thing when overcoming adversity is like the brain wants to take you to all the evidence that you can't do it and wants to take you to all the evidence that it's not gonna work. Or before we even start it,

we're already creating an undesirable outcome in our head that stops us from taking action anyway. Yeah, it's interesting because I think I actually do the opposite, probably why I'm successful, right? But so you think that's a gift that entrepreneurs have? Or do you think it's that I've trained my brain and my upbringing got me to that point? So whether it was your upbringing or not, you definitely trained yourself or you got trained at an earlier age.

So there's hope for all of you if your brain's not programmed that way. But I think it's catching yourself because we all have patterns. So it's catching yourself like, oh, I'm already shooting myself on the foot or i'm already believing it's not going to work and then in that moment shifting and be like what are the reasons why it would work because the truth is bro like when covid hit we were scared of digital marketing we were scared of offers and funnels and like we're like absolutely not and we literally had to like write out all the reasons why it would be beneficial we had to rewrite the story and all the reasons why it would um lead to a greater life greater fulfillment even more scalability so we had to like get so much leverage oh for yourselves you're like oh wow

that's cool yeah right yeah yeah it's a it's a it's a big but that's great because it shows that you guys did that and now you're like better off for it right and speakings re-resume now so it's like now you got two you know killer acquisition channels or business models within one so um but i think that's important for people to hear because you know like often people listening go oh you just got lucky or you were born this way or you you know but and i think i'm pretty resilient and stuff but they don't see what goes on behind the scenes to to get to the success right so even for you pivoting and uh i'm sure most people thought it was normal that you were launching

courses and programs and doing the instagram hey dm me if you want to join this but to you it was like figuring it out as you go yeah right yeah it was a whole different world and like then you start battling like self-worth i'm like what do i charge will people ever pay for that and like that that as well for people that are listening is like when you up your price or the investment of your offer and you get that one, yes, it changed your whole paradigm, bro. Yeah. So I started my first fitness, you know, I started as a personal trainer.

I worked in a gym for $8 an hour. And then I think my personal training sessions, we were allowed to charge $30, which was crazy money as a 19 year old, right? $30 an hour. It's like a whole day's salary almost. And that was like, blows your mind, right? And then you sell packages for like, oh, you can get 10 sessions for 200 and you get 200 off someone.

It's like, wow, that's a week of wages I just got in a second. And, you know, now we do 100K, you know, clients, right? And we sell a lot of those so I think I think I'm sure it's the same for you like everyone you start somewhere and and really you just have to figure out that middle step which is part belief and then part logistics of what am I going to sell how am I going to position myself but everyone you know can be increasing prices right percent and because it's scary like you should yeah right it's like there there's nothing better than overcoming the fear of like it's fifty thousand dollars you know it's a

hundred thousand dollars and like exercising that rep and then also like when you're when you're a well right like i would consider both of us a well right we dedicated our lives to our craft and so now we have the knowledge to condense time and people may receive so like my biggest breakthrough one of the biggest breakthroughs in marketing in this world that we live in is over delivering is it more information it's jamming yes and and i think also like there's always a new level right like so i've earned 100k on stage you've probably way more than me but like um i'm sure tony's aren't more than you right and like i you know i was speaking to one of the sharks from Shark Tank the other day

and I have this 100k offer for a year. And then they were telling me they have 100k a month offer for consulting. I'm like, you know, like, so when you get to this high level, then there's still another level above that. But I think part of it is just actually being around those people, right? Like, I'm sure being around tony and all these people helped you kind of build that that you know confidence i guess and like also seeing is believing like the four minute mile right 100 100 and you start to adopt their standards right so

even being around you and like seeing the environment and the culture that you build it's like i start thinking of like oh we could take this to the next level or like people are like how are you so good at speaking it's like well my standard is t, oh, we can take this to the next level. Or like people like, how are you so good at speaking? It's like, well, my standard is Tony. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I think also is like your identity and who you are is directly correlated to who you surround yourself with and who you compare it. Totally. Yeah. I mean, like, you know, I got passionate about opening an office because I went to I can't remember where I went to, I can't remember where I went to, but I opened an office because of it. And then I went to Grant Cardone's office for a private event and his was like, you know, 20,000 square foot or

whatever. And mine was like four or five. So I'm like, okay, I got to go bigger. Right. And now we have between all, we have an office in London and two in Florida and you know, they're like 12,000 now combined and people walk in and they're like holy cow this is crazy but what's weird in my head is I'm like so under impressed because my goal's so up here right I'm like no this is small you wait like in four years I'll own the building then then you can come in and say wow this is crazy and I think that's so important too right like most people see you you know speaking in China and then on Tony's stage and they're like, dude, you've, you've made it. Whereas I'm sure in your head, you're like,

no, I'm going to one day be Tony, right. Or something like that. A hundred percent. I feel like seven years in business and I'm like, I think I understand what I'm doing. You know, like it takes, it takes a long time, but I definitely agree seven years in. And I'm like, I think I'm just scratching the surface. Yeah. And there's like, oh, there's always a next level. But I think as well, our definition of success changes. Yeah.

Right. So I think you could read like earlier on, like maybe our definition of success, like, oh, a million. Yeah. Yeah. And then it shifts. Yeah. And so for me right now is like our new compelling vision is like cracking virtual serving people from virtual i don't need to i don't need to i don't need stages so now i could cherry pick and i have the

leverage and i can live in multiple countries all around the world and do my calls and serve my people i mean talking a virtual like you know i i didn't do many webinars and stuff and when i did i would just do a few hundred people on them and you know then eventually i actually did like 100k from a webinar and uh we hosted two big ones the last two months and we had 50 000 people register and we had like 10 000 live um and it was you know i had affiliates and stuff and partners on it but like it just like i remember when i used to see tony and grant cardone and pete vargas and all that hosting these but i'm just like i just don't know how I could ever get like 50,000 people registered so I again it's like you got to reset the goals and if you want to be like ultra successful you almost have to reset the goals and keep pushing yourself 100% and I think you know there's two people two types of people one

sits around and the other one keeps pivoting and I think a lot of people like during COVID they sat around and then we were like yo we got to figure out what we're doing looked at the other experts i've modeled all their pivots and what they were doing because they have more marketing budgets and they're already testing things but the same thing bro like virtual events are are a gift i think immersion causes conversion so the more time people spend with you we did one um it was organic there was a hundred people on zoom we generated 180,000 i was in my office i could have been in my underwear crazy right crazy so what let me ask you this so everyone sees you now successful but in your head what does the what in 10 years who

will you be it's a great question i think i think in 10 years maybe i'll find myself i think i've lost myself through entrepreneurship and business like trying to be someone else or like catching my identity to specific things but i'm coming back to home of like now i have the credibility and i have the strategies and the the track record for being a speaker and being serious but like bro i'm a i'm an entertainer yeah and so like i'm a funny dude and so, but like, bro, I'm an entertainer. And so like, I'm a funny dude. And so for example, like I just started making funny videos again and I 45 million views on YouTube this month,

120,000 subscribers again this month. One video went viral, right? And so in 10 years, Nick's going to be like everything. Like I feel like not only speaking and serving, but there'll probably be a comedy tour. There'll probably be a massive show and a podcast there might be a a documentary like anything and everything making music like yeah like my business and and the people that i serve in the clients

that we change their lives allows me to play my inner child and all the things that i want to do yeah and most of those you probably can do in two or three years. Like, like, you know, like I actually had this same vision about two years ago. I'm like, I see where the marketing world is and I don't want to be in this in 10 years. Like, I don't want that to be my legacy. So I went more mainstream and I set this vision to get into TV and become a celebrity. And I'm not like, you know, you grew up at least entertaining and going viral. I did not, right. I was this quiet kid from England. So the idea of me being this celebrity is kind of weird. Not now, but it was.

And I mean, I just shot last year, I shot my first major TV show that comes out on Amazon in June or July. So in a couple of months, and we just reshot a show. We just shot a new show last week, which will be on a major platform at the end of this year. Our podcast is Top 10 in Entrepreneurship. And I think that just shows like it takes a special person to have the goal so big to even attempt it like me and you. But when but that's 90 percent of the battle.

And that's the reason we actually do it is because everyone else isn't even entering that race. They get comfortable in that. I became a millionaire and then they stop, right? And then there's a few that gravitate beyond that, Gary Vee, Grant Cardone, Tony Robbins of our industry. And honestly, they're very gifted. But I think half of it is it's easier at the top because everyone wants to be a millionaire. But then very few people set the goal of becoming Tony or Grant. So the few crazy ones that believe in it and actually do they become the next tony or grants or gary so i'm excited to to see this come to life for you and and honestly for me now like filming this tv show is one of the most fun things i've ever done like i love it and you'll probably feel the same right doing this it's like it's uh it's a part of us that makes us alive it's a

different thing it's new right when like you and i are new to something we want to learn it obsess and get be the best at it you know right and so that's just our style so yeah i think it's just a another way to to serve people and i think as well right like i have so much serious content and very valuable content but i was like what if i meet the majority of the world at their consciousness level and it was just funny it was light and then you get a bunch of eyeballs and then there'll always be the conversion rate a small percentage that will go and trickle into ravey fans yeah i mean every successful person i study they have that mass appeal right like grant hangs out with all these rappers and celebs and you know and even trump's a good example i'm not into politics but

he makes it very simple make america great again. Like I always teach, his communication style is very simple for the third grade level. And people, every single person on the planet loves to laugh. So you can't go wrong. If you can make people laugh and then you can inspire people, it's like two bodily human needs that every single person on the planet needs. They need food, water and entertainment. Right. 100 percent.

And I think I think the a breakthrough that had recently when i studied like because i study like twitch streamers and all the cats that are printing money and i'm looking at their chat and their fan base i'm like yo these people are like the chat's toxic like there's more hate yeah these people are paying them as well it's wild right so like i'm to the point because i've had personal development videos go viral and then get me getting destroyed at comments i'm like that's cool and i've also had like funny videos that went super viral me getting destroyed at comments i'm like i'm just gonna fall in love with all of this yeah and everything that you hate on i'm gonna use it as content so like give me ammunition

and i'm gonna fire right back and keep trolling you know like i think i'm like ultimately like a troll i was a troll yeah you know doing the zombie stuff and then i became really serious and now i'm just finding myself again yeah i think that's key and and i mean talking to the zombie stuff if people don't know you as well as i do talk about your childhood and all that stuff yeah so first i was born like this so maybe your brain was like what happened to this and if they're listening not watching yeah i'm born like this um i'm six foot five no i'm just kidding i have no legs one arm one finger super handsome that's me if you're just listening and so when i was 18 i made the decision to create a vine where you can post six second videos and i was like okay i want to become the category king of something where no one can

replicate or compete against me and i didn't see many guys with no limbs running around walmart pretending to be a zombie so i did the zombie pranks and went super viral and this was when like walking dead was big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Walking Dead paid me. They hired me to do a prank. But like literally I have a screenshot in one of my phones of Logan Paul messaging me saying like, yo, me and you are the top followed biners today.

Like, congratulations. Never heard from you again. Maybe we'll collab. One day. Right, right. But like that's how I got started was like pranking. And then when I did bodybuilding, we connected in the bodybuilding world as well and then when I became a speaker like I killed that part of me I was like I need to become super tactical super serious I need to prove myself

now I've got the track record so I'll come back come back home to Nick well I think it's funny because yeah when you start getting into it you have to be more professional get respect and then like now I'm in this big red fluffy coat slides and shorts in florida and you're going back to your old self and i you know i just literally got when you walked in the office i was on a call with like more of a private equity old school 300 million dollar investment kind of guy right and it's like part of me as i was getting on that call i realized i was in my big red fluffy coat red hair and then you know he's suited and tied up in my big red, fluffy coat, red hair. And then, you know, he's suited and tied up in a big office with bookcase behind him. I'm like, it's just the world we live in now. Like

it's almost people get it because we do live in a world of influencers and people like Logan Paul, right. Doing those crazy things. So, um, I would love to just, you know, as we come to the end today, talk about, you know, what you what you're doing um more on the speaking side the coaching side how you're helping people what you know if people um want more of nick where do they find nick and what do you do for sure i'm just a big believer that speaking is like music and it's opinionated meaning there's people that hate us and there's people that love us but if you're just your authentic self your clients will find you and so every time that we don't share our story someone out there's suffering because they haven't met us yet. Right. And so

my whole intention with our students is like to share a story, monetize your expertise in an irresistible offer, and then use in-person or virtual stages to speak to one to many and then have your people come find you. I think oftentimes people are trying to find people to sell them something versus getting in front of people who already want what you have yeah and so if we can find the right stages and get in front of people who want what they have then you can you can coach people you can serve people so that's what i want to help people do you're most qualified to teach your younger self everybody's walked the path now turn around and give it to the world yeah and so you can you can find me on instagram facebook

youtube no legs one arm tattoos you can't me. Nick Stanto because my name's along and they can find me anywhere. Good, I love it. What, you know, I like to ask this question. If you could go back 10 years and give a couple of pieces of advice, what would it be? If I could go back,

I would sit down with my 13 year old self and say, buddy, it's going to be really difficult. Like you're going to have ups, you're going to have downs, you're going to be rejected, you're going to fail, businesses are going to crash, but you're going to save a lot of lives and it's going be really difficult like you're gonna have ups you're gonna have downs you're gonna be rejected you're gonna fail businesses are gonna crash but you're gonna save a lot of lives and it's gonna be so worth it and if I could tell myself that at 13 I probably would have been successful faster yeah okay I love that I love that and uh what's you know what's

next over the next year or two we talked about the 10-year kind of goal but how do you see the next year yeah um interesting at a different season of my life and so right now-year kind of goal but how do you see the next year yeah um interesting at a different season of my life and so right now i'm kind of minimalizing or taking away so selling the the florida house gonna get a a nice smaller place in miami and then we're gonna live in columbia and then we're gonna work from there i'm headed out to dubai who knows me saying dubai but i want to take this season of my life to really master the marketing and the virtual side of the business and immerse in all different cultures where I'm not tied to anything I know got a girl I'm not married don't have a dog you know like I'm let me just leverage this season it's a great time to do it right so yeah I love that we travel as you know I mean I traveled for

two years before COVID and it's harder to do when you have dogs and obviously kids but it was great it was a great experience yeah so yeah just running running around town. Love it. Cool. All right, buddy. Well, I appreciate you coming on. I know you're going to keep inspiring millions. So thank you for inspiring my audience. And guys, I hope you had a great session. We'll see you guys very soon. Take care. Thanks for watching!