Mick Unplugged - Bek Lover: The Art of Never Giving Up and Inspiring a Generation

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Dive into an electrifying episode of Mick Unplugged, where resilience meets raw honesty. Tune in as host Mick Hunt sits down with the ever-inspiring Bek Lover, a man who's transformed personal tragedy into a compelling story of triumph. From a lucrative career in timeshare sales to the heart-wrenching loss of a loved one, Bek shares his journey of finding purpose through podcasting and connecting with people around the world. Be ready for a rollercoaster of emotions, impactful insights, and the kind of motivation that might just change your life. Prepare to be moved, inspired, and ready to take on whatever life throws your way! Key Takeaways: The Power of Resilience: Bek Lover opens up about how personal loss drove him into isolation, but ultimately inspired his comeback and helped him uncover his true purpose. Sales Skills as a Life Tool: Both Mick and Bek discuss how the art of sales isn't just for making money, but a vital skill for communication, connection, and life success. Finding Your Because: Throughout the episode, Bek and Mick explore the significance of having a deeper 'why' in life and how it propels one forward in the face of adversity. Sound Bytes: "You never give up, man. That's it." "This is my voice. And I want to thank you to your face for giving me that." "Having a purpose for your life, it's not just about money." Quote by Mick (host): "Regardless of what you do, you've got to develop sales skills... The greatest sale that I make on a monthly basis is having my kids keep believing in me as their father." Connect & Discover With Bek: LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bek-lover-31a53019a/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/beklovernyc/ Website: https://beklover.com/ https://thecomebackteam.com/ Podcast: The Come Back Team Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheBekLoverPodcast FOLLOW MICK ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/                                                    Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What I regret the most about losing my brother for example wasn't just the loss of him when I look back now It's like oh my god. I lost three years Three years of my life in sorrow. Yeah Welcome to Mick unplugged the number one podcast for self-improvement leadership and relentless growth No fluff. No filters just hard-hitting truths, unstoppable strategies, and the mindset shifts that separate the best from the rest.

Ready to break limits? Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of McUnplugged and I'm excited to be in person in studio with someone that I've looked up to forever. He doesn't know this. He's about to hear it for the first time on how he inspired me to really go deep in my podcast. We're talking to the former head leader. He told me he did everything TimeShare.

He was the TimeShare guru. The ethical TimeShare guru. That's a very rare breed. My man, Mr. Beck Lover. Beck, how you doing, brother? Mick, nice to see you, brother. Good to see you, too. Welcome to the Big Apple.

Long time coming. What's left of it? Long time coming, man. Couple big bites got taken out of it the last four years but we're trying to put it back together. We're gonna put it back together. I believe in us. God will. I believe in us man. So so much I want to talk to you about but I wanted to tell you man face to face brother to brother you're one of the people that inspired me when I started the podcast to really be myself. Because if there's anything about you, you're yourself unapologetically.

And so I said, wait a second, this is my podcast. I can do what I want, talk about what I want with no repercussion. And it was after listening to like 10, I binge listened to like 10 of your episodes. And I said, I can be me, it's okay. No one controls me on what I do. This is my voice.

And I want to thank you to your face for giving me that. I mean, you're sure you didn't, you've listened to my episodes lately, you might turn it off and say this guy's out of his mind. But that's why I love you. That's why I love you. Sometimes we got to be out of our mind. You're talking about the comeback team? Absolutely.

When I used to interview. Yeah. We're gonna launch season two soon, man. Yeah. I really miss that work. Yeah. You know, speaking of podcasting, right? Yeah. It's what brought me and you here.

And when I started that show five years ago, almost six years ago, at the age of 30, what am I, minus seven, so 37 years old, I just walked away from a very lucrative career selling timeshare in New York City. Yeah, and I wasn't happy in life. I wasn't happy with the work. I was doing I was happy with the money, but I wasn't happy personally, yeah, and When I started that show I really first of all, I don't have any experience as a podcaster I had no experience in production I knew I could talk because to succeed in sales for 20 years, you got to be able to talk, right?

If you can't talk, you're a starving salesperson. Yeah. Okay. So I knew I had the ability to talk. I knew I had the ability to connect with people. And I said, okay, I know I have the skill that's important for podcasting. The rest of the stuff, I i'm gonna learn how to do it and i launched the comeback team with with nothing man nothing what gave me a little bit of morale in the beginning was i you know the first season i went from this is where sales comes in i say i'm telling anyone i'm looking at the camera i don't care if you don't want a career in sales it is a skill you must learn in life absolutely you have You have to learn. Yeah. Because you're going to have a very mediocre life if you don't. And what I mean by that, it's not about

trying to sell someone and do a hard sale and it's just really learning how to listen, which I struggle with at times, right? And how to connect with people. Yeah. And that's really what sales is in essence, right? Listening understanding looking for what they need might be on both sides Like what do I need from this person? What do they need from me? And is there a way we can connect? I mean that's sales in essence, right? Yeah to not learn this skill of how to ask the right questions When to ask when to speak it's not like if me and you both got the same words in a word bank, right? Let's say that we each got a hundred words and they're the same exact hundred words

It's like chess we both get the same pieces But how we play them can determine whether we're gonna succeed or not or how if you're gonna make the sale or not or connect They're not Everybody's different how they might react to words is different. Their humor is different, right? So you could say one thing one thing that a hundred people find funny, but this one person takes offense to it. So, you know, when we're communicating, these are things that, you know,

a salesperson, I think with time, through baptism and fathers, a lot of people are pissed off, brother. And not intentionally, you know, especially in timeshirts, a very intimate meeting where you're going back and forth and back and forth and, you know people can get angry man you know you're pushing them it's high pressure so you would be foolish not to learn how to know at least learn about the process of sales yeah it's life-changing wholeheartedly

really is wholeheartedly so I started the show and I convinced, I went from begging him to like just come on the show to, he actually ended up co-hosting for like the first season. Right, right. Was Arthur and Oscar Rella from The Sopranos, you've seen them in a lot of big movies, Cop Land with Stallone and he was in Billions, which I love that show but I don't like how it fizzled out. Yeah. You ever watch, I don't really watch a lot of TV.

Yeah. But Billions was a show I loved because it kind of brought the whole New York dynamic, politics, the corruption, the blurring of the lines. I thought it was very, very well put together show where Bobby acts well and all that and then he disappears with the plane, right? So Arthur was on a lot of these big shows and I met him smoking cigars and convinced him to come on

and then he was like, you know, okay, I kinda like this. And then, you know, then 2019, everything closed. So nothing else was going on. So he stuck around for a while because they weren't shooting. So it was like, you know, I truly believe this. Your destiny, yeah, there's free will, but some of it's written for you too.

Meaning you gotta take some steps, man. And then the rest, you know, God opens the doors for you. There you go. But to hear what you told me, man, I can't even believe that you even, you got more followers than me, man. You know, how the hell did I inspire you?

Hey, but it's the God's honest truth, man. And I meant that from my soul. Were you on Clubhouse? No, not at all. I was a legend on there, so they threw me off. Yeah, you know, that's the circle with you, right? Like you get thrown out of everywhere. Well, Clubhouse, you know, I think they got me off. You know, that's the cycle with you, right? Like, you get thrown out of everywhere. Well, Clubhouse, you know, I think they got theirs, though.

You know, I got thrown off not because of what I was saying, because I was allowing people to speak and have open conversation and push back what was happening, you know, in 2019, which I did not agree with the way they handled things. And I felt there was a lot of shady things going on, which I think time has, if anyone has a half a brain, can see that something just wasn't right about the last five years of our lives. Whether it's New York, the fact that Governor Cuomo, no offense, I don't know if people support him, my best friend

was just with him yesterday, would even entertain bringing this guy back. And I'm not here to get into politics. I hate it, but I also talk about it but not on your show I can't believe this guy's even running did we forget why he stepped down like right whatever and do we forget about whatever leave that on the side so for me you know to hear that come out of your mouth man and that that's actually what kept me going and what's Mick, is I went from being a host of my own show that was kind of like no one really knew, to now I'm the guest that everybody wants on their show, man, which is crazy. And my even my followers were like, bro, we don't care about your guests. And I've had some big guests, man. I've had Rachel Ray, I've had Carole Baskin of Tiger King. I'm talking about when the show popped. I was like one of the first interviews she ever did yeah I've had Havoc of Mob, Deep Legend of Hip Hop I mean I

love the guy yeah and I go from from doing these interviews till everyone's like man we don't care about the guests we don't we just want to hear you rant I mean you want to hear me yes they're like yeah we want to hear you man you you you inspire us I'm like and I start getting emails from people. Because that, you know, my first podcast really was about trying to inspire people to never give up. No matter what you've been through. I've been through a lot of, you know, listen, this is not a competition of who's had a more tragic life, right? Eventually, I don't care who you are, that's coming knocking one day.

You're going to lose something that's irreplaceable. Someone you love, that's only a matter of time. A mom, a dad, a brother, God forbid, you know, a friend, whatever it is. If you're going through a great time in your life, it's only a matter of time before the darkness comes, the sadness comes. And sometimes it catches us off guard, and a lot of people don't know how to handle it, and they don't know how to get back up, and where they do they turn towards ways of numbing the pain it carries over into their work life

you know so speaking of timeshare when i was doing it it's a very intense job you're doing two to three presentations a day you got 90 minutes to convince some person who doesn't want to be there okay we got the free room to go to the timeshare. The company has in essence bribed them to come and listen to you tell them why they need to spend between 30 and $120,000 in 90 minutes. Most people don't buy a car in that amount of time that they want and that they're willing

to spend more money on to buy. And what's the mindset of the customer in Timeshare? Billboards on the way there. Do you own a Timeshare? Are you looking to get rid of it? They put on the radio, do you own a Timeshare? You're trying to get out of here? Timeshare sucked.

Okay, so and they had to be bribed, literally, you know, made a really good offer to say, hey, you want to come spend two nights in New York City, we're only going to charge you 150 bucks when the room rate's 700 or 500 right? But you're gonna have to come and listen to Beckford an hour and a half. Yeah Okay, and they're coming in very standoffish clothes. Listen, I'm just gonna tell you right now Whatever you say, whatever you do. We ain't buying those were the easiest ones. They were like shooting ducks in the bow Okay, those clients were coming. I'm telling you no matter matter what you say, no matter what you do, we're not buying nothing. And I swear to God, Mick Hunt. I swear to God, I would say, sir, in about 90 minutes, when you're signing the paperwork,

and he'd be like, damn, he was good. Right to their face, bro. You told me that. I was that person. For those that don't know, I came to see Beck. I was at Timeshare. I was like, Beck, back man I'm not buying a damn thing bro like I'm counting down 90 minutes and back said I'm gonna leave this paper right here eventually you're gonna come back 20 years later I still have a timeshare yeah you've seen it in

action yes sir now there is a thin line right pitching heat yeah sizzling too much flat-out line and I've seen in the industry and that's why the initial is There is a thin line, right? Pitching heat. Sizzling too much. Flat out lying. And I've seen it in the industry. And that's why the industry, it's really not the product's fault. The reason Timeshare has such a bad reputation out there is because of all the dishonest salespeople. Of misrepresenting what the product does

just to get a sale. I'm happy in my entire crew and I worked for the big three, brother. I worked for all of them. I worked for Marriott, Hilton, okay, very short time period with Windham, okay, and I'm happy that in my career that I did there, it wasn't, you know, long about seven years in that world, never once did I have someone ever come back to me and say you lied to us or you did this or a formal

complaint. The only letter I ever got in my entire career in timeshare was the guy wanted a two-bedroom career in timeshare was the guy Wanted a two-bedroom and in New York City the units operated like two bedrooms But they weren't they were yeah, and I told them this and they saw it and they still purchased it But things like now I changed my mind. It's not Becks fault. That was the worst letter I ever got in my career and one of the most high-pressure Environments you can be in yeah, and and as a salesperson in that world, the stress that a timeshare, this is what breaks a lot of them brother, you're on a wheel right? And it's called value per guest. So I see X amount of presence, you

know, customers a month, I get a rank. And the higher my rank is the more often I go out. The more often I go out, the more money I can make. So if I'm not closing, eventually I fall off the wheel. I'm dead. I'm done. I'm not earning a living. There's no salary. So it's a very intense process. So you were considered good if you had like a value per guest. It means every time you shuck a hand, the company is making three to four thousand dollars. That was considered good. I was averaging like seven to 10, 12. Wow. $1,000 every time I shook her hand. Wow.

Okay, they didn't want me taking off. Right. But it came from being baptized out of fire also because what happened was, I started with like 100 people. And within three months, there's only five of us left. Okay, that's how many people survive in that industry. Yeah.

And there's a lot of corruption in that game. Really? the managers that control the industry because they have their team in there their friends They look at the new guys as expendable. Yeah, so they would do a lot of feeding So like let's say a tour came in from Beverly Hills and then one came in from Bangladesh It's not the stereotype but just the amount of money someone's gonna have from Bangladesh or Albania where my family comes from compared to Beverly Hills Mm-hmm is night and day. Yeah, so Beverly Hills comes off the elevator They would give it to the people that were already there long before me. Mmm, didn't matter how good I was They were all boys. They were all in on it. Yeah, okay, and they were giving me tours that most people couldn't close

And I got angry. That's like the Albanian in me. I wanted revenge I said you think you're gonna you think you guys are gonna eliminate me? No, I'm gonna outsell all of you. Yeah. And that's what I did. Damn, Becca. I became unstoppable. Yes, sir. But the hardest part of my career wasn't that. It's that during that time period, I lost somebody. So that's where I wanted to go, right? So it's very close to. Let's talk about. It's devastating. Let's talk about tragedy and overcoming and what that's like because you still have mouths to feed, right? Like you've still got to go through it and I think resiliency is one of the superpowers

that you have. So let's talk about that. Having kids makes you a super person, I think. If you're not putting your kids first as a parent, there's something wrong with you. As down as I was, and I was down, man. So I lost what I call my brother. And there's sick people out there that try to even attack me publicly saying,

he wasn't your brother. He's not your brother. He's your mom's brother. Stupid, this guy raised me. Right. My mom's brother was only 10 years older than me. He was like my older brother. He took me everywhere.

Yeah. He was like my mentor. He paid for every, this guy took me everywhere. He gave me the name Beck Lover. I literally have this name because of him. May he rest in peace. He gave me this name making fun of me because I was into hip hop when I was younger and I was rocking the MC Hammer stuff, you know, the big bands and he sees me. He's like yo yo Beck Lover and I like I like damn I like I swear to God I was like 56. I guys like I like the sound of that So I say yes, I have some people call me back lover

He literally gave me that name and then became a nickname Wow and now the world knows me by it But so I was very close to this person and I lost them suddenly in a car accident right at the age of he was 42 I was only 31. Okay, and it was devastating. I had been through horrible things in my life. I lost family in the Kosovo War. In 1998, I lost about 28 people. Wow. Okay. Cousins and their cousins,

and I spent every summer with them, and it was in the Republic of Kosovo, which at that time was a part of the former Yugoslavia, which erupted into war in the 90s, and you had Bosnia and Croatia, and then Kosovo, and I lost a lot of people man. So I know it's like to get a phone call and find out 28 people that you love and care

for your family that you see every summer is wiped out and that's a devastating thing to go through. I was underneath the World Trade Center when it got hit, right? The age of 19. I went to Pace University right here in downtown Manhattan. E-Train Last Stop World Trade Center. So I know what it's like to come out, thinking the world's, like going into the subway and the world's normal,

and you come out 15 minutes later and you're like, did I just go through a portal? Like, did I just go through a time warp? Like, where the hell am I? Because it's snowing outside, but it's September. And it's not snow. And I'm looking up and I see people start jumping off buildings, right?

So that's how my day started at the age of 19. So I've seen a few things in my life, but putting that all together Losing Nikki for me was like Atomic bomb one in my life. Wow. It was the most difficult thing that I've had to deal with because of the how close and how important he was to me and I couldn't picture life without this guy anymore because he was so important to me. And helped me shape a lot of my identity.

He gave me a lot. He's the one that always told me, what are you doing, man? People love you. You're wasting your talent. Why are you working? Go into Hollywood. I said, I don't really wanna be an actor.

He's like, dude, you belong in front of a camera. Yeah. What are you doing? People love you. You inspire people. You make them laugh. You make, like people love you, man. Yeah. And then, you know, losing him, man,

it just, it was devastating, brother, you know. So walk us through the steps of- So I was at work. Yeah. Yeah, so, you know, I'm going to work in the morning. I take the ferry into the city There's traffic in my town. There's never traffic like that. I'm like what's going on somebody died on river road. I'm like The hell dies on river road make the story short. I'm going around my own brother not even realizing it's him. That's him

I get to work And at this time I worked for hilton in the the biggest hotel in new york the hilton on 54th or whatever it is right here on 6th Avenue. That's where Trump, the first time he won, he held his acceptance speech there. So I get up to the penthouse, because that's where they would sell the units, and I get up there and then I see all my family calling me. At the same time, I'm like, this is not good. Something bad's happening. The fact that my aunts are all calling me, they never even call me, something's wrong.

So I pick up, they'll like, get to your uncle's house right now. I'm like, what do you mean? Like just get to his house now. I'm like, can you tell me why? They're like, I don't want to tell you over the phone. I'm like, okay, so I already know someone's dead. I'm praying at the time it's my grandmother maybe, something you know, but in my heart I'm like, it's probably him, man. It can't be him. And to make the story short, man, I'm like frenzied. I don't know where I'm going. I get downstairs. I'm trying to hail a cab.

This is like, you know, before Uber really took over. Yeah. And I make it back. And, you know, I'm in the cab. And then my other cousin calls me and says, hey, man, Nicky's gone. I said, dude, I just went crazy, punching the roof nuts. The poor cab guy, man. He's like, brother, are you okay?

I said, nah, man, I'm not. I said, I'm sorry, man. Just get me to the ferry, man. And I went back home. Years, Mickey. You know, people go through a hard time in life. And I understand sometimes it's weeks, sometimes it's months, sometimes it's years.

Brother, for you, sister, for you, it might be decades. Wow. But you never give up, man. That's it. You can't. And to say that I didn't feel like I had in some ways, I did. I felt like I did. I'm inside of a man cave did. I felt like I did.

I'm inside of a man cave. I was never an introvert. During this time period, I became fully introverted. It's crazy. It was like the complete opposite of who I am. That's how you know something's wrong with Beck. This is a guy who will talk to anybody, anywhere, anytime, and now he doesn't even wanna talk.

And now let alone I gotta go sell timeshare. And I used emotion as a weapon in sales. I mean I was lethal with it and now I'm like I go from being one of the top sales reps to I'm about to lose my job. I'm literally 90 days in because you get three months in that. They give you three months to pick up and everyone felt bad. Everyone knew what had happened. They give you three months to pick up and everyone felt bad. Everyone knew what had happened. They're like, they're like this rock star. It's like what, like, you know.

Yeah. My managers felt bad. Everyone felt bad for me. And they're like, shit man, we're gonna lose him. You know, like we're gonna lose, clear, we're gonna lose. And I'm on my last knees, man. And I remember that time, man. It was, it was rough, bro.

Wow. It was rough. I couldn't control the emotion. Yeah. So where I would try to get it out of my clients, it was, mine was coming out too much. I'm the one crying on the table. I would make them, listen and hard sales, I'm sorry, make them laugh, make them cry, either way they will buy. The problem was I was the one crying. So it was crazy man and then you then, you know, something kind of came over me, man. I heard him, his voice is like,

he always told me never give up. I the tiger. He would always say that to me. I the tiger, Nicky. I'm looking at my kids' pictures and I don't know what happens, brother, but I go on a freaking rampage, bro. I broke like sick record that month.

So I'm on like final warning about to be fired. So like I sold a half a million dollars that month. I made like 50 racks. I saved my job. And I came back out of the abyss, but I wasn't healed yet. But at least I had gotten back to the point where I could work.

There was something therapeutic about work. I think a lot of times when people go through tragedy, they go into isolation. I think that's where times when people go through tragedy they go into isolation I think that's where you become devastated. It's okay to pull back for a little bit but for not too long because if you do you can go into a very dark hole and it might be very hard to come back up and I know because I kind of I kind of did that so I think having the routine after tragedy You know as hard as it is to go to work and, you know, friends, like let your friends talk to you, man.

Like, you know, you need people, man. We're social creatures. That isolation destroys us, man. You know, even these podcasts, you know, like what you're doing now, there might be one person listening to this right now that changes their life, Mickey. And the impact, you know, and I'm sure you get messages all the time. To me, that's what kept me going throughout all of it. It's always the thought of, I can't give up.

So many people before me Didn't give up my family. I saw them after the war. They lost everything people died. They didn't give up How am I gonna give up over this? How can I be the one that gives up my grandfather? Great-grandfather did 28 years in a communist prison. He didn't give up. How am I gonna give up? Yeah, like shame on me if I give up cuz we're gonna die anyway That's and when you realize the great equalizer like hey no matter what we're all gonna die. Every single one. So wherever they are I'm going and we might as well go out swinging. And then that kind of breath you know and faith I do have faith in the creator that breath is kind of what what led to all of

this and which is why we're here today. That's why I started the comeback team. Yeah. So for the listener or viewer right now that's going through something whether it's tragedy it could be divorce it could be that's another whole board too man right divorce is devastating i don't think people understand it so they've been through it's devastating yeah so for that person that's going through something right now like what's some advice you want to give them you got to understand like these things are gonna happen, man. And you're not the only one going through them. And so many people have gone through them, are going through them, and will go through

them. You're not here forever. You can't let this one or two events dictate the rest of your life. You know, having a purpose for life, man. Like really having a purpose for life, man. Like really having a purpose. Like today when I came into the city, you could see it in people's faces, man. You know, there's two types of people that wake up in the morning.

There's the ones that look miserable. They're like, man, you could see them. They're at the bus stop. They're going to a job that they don't want to go to. Then you have the ones that seem a little bit more alive, right? And to me, I always said those are the bosses those are the workers yeah you know having a purpose for life it's not just about money Mick for money I would have stayed working in time for the rest of my life I made a great living there

yeah I was not happy so until you find a purpose for your life and if you can't find it for yourself then find a purpose for other people man mm-hmm give some meaning to your life man yeah so when I said earlier like my kids, so yeah I'm going through tragedy and trauma. I'm like but I so I put myself my kids need me. I gotta I gotta get through this. You gotta have a why right? Yeah like the great say like Les Brown and Eric Thomas. Yeah. You gotta have a why. What is purpose, man? Is it just to make money and then that's it? Like, okay, maybe you don't have kids. Like, whose life can you make better?

Because if you're not, you're being selfish and then maybe that's part of the reason why you're having a hard time. That's it. Find a higher purpose, man. Life is so damn short. Fight for something, man. If you can't fight for yourself, fight for someone else.

Exactly. It's kinda always been my approach with this type of stuff. Yeah. And you kind of just went to where I was going to ask you next because I talk about your because, that thing that's deeper than your why, like that real reason. And it shifts over time, right? So if we were to say today for Beck Lover, man, what's your because? What's that thing that keeps you pushing and going through?

So things have really transitioned in the last couple of years. So I never went into podcasting to really get political. I was actually the one subject matter that I was kind of avoiding. People will look at my content and I'm like, this guy's full of crap. No, go look at my first season of my podcast. Then something happened in 2019 where I kind of got, you know, galvanized because I didn't like what was going on. Okay, and I'm not just for the record not Republican or Democrat. I believe is an illusion. If I was to be classified, yes

I'm someone that leads towards conservative values, family and all that stuff and business and God and blah blah blah, but I don't believe in ramming it down people's throats. So I end up going on the Danny Jones podcast, huge podcast, and I'm there to talk about just random stuff and somehow religion came up and you know I am Caucasian but I'm of the Muslim faith. So I'm not stereotypically what you would classify and the ignorance that a lot of people have as what a Muslim would look like. Right. They're usually someone with a huge beard and a turban around their head and they talk like it is. So I've always, you know, I'm coming from an Albanian background and seeing what my family

lived through during the occupation of Kosovo under the brutal Serbian regime under Milosevic and just knowing what it's like to see that and learning about it as an American what happens to the African-American community here I was always like inspired yeah by these people who would push back against that type of evil you know as a child I watched the movie Gandhi like 20 times mm-hmm you know, the movie Gandhi. And just these social injustices that have existed have always spoken out against but just never really publicly like on the internet.

I went to protest my whole life against the Bosnian war, what was going on with my people and stuff like that. So going on these shows, kind of that came out of me and it just broke the internet, brother. We're talking about billions of views. Yeah. You know, and I was going through one of the darkest times of my life, another personal thing that I won't get into.

But it was another, just because you went through one bad thing doesn't mean it's not going to come back again. Correct. Or something horrible is going to happen. Correct. Right? Because it's just a matter of time, right? Yep. And you know, and make the story short, my phone's vibrating one day. I'm at a really low point right now.

This is like a few years ago. Mm-hmm. My phone's going like, I'm like, what the hell is going on? Bro, you're everywhere, bro! What do you mean? Tyrese Gibson just posted you. I'm like, Tyrese? There you go.

Baby boy? Bella Hadid, this one, that one, every ad. I'm like, what the hell is going on? Like I couldn't believe it myself, man. It just went viral. Now it's at the point where I literally go outside and I swear to God I get stopped all the time. And I'm like, how? I mean, Mick Hun got more followers than I do, man.

Only got 130,000. There's people with my face and my name, I swear to God, online that have way more followers just using my name. It's crazy. And I'm like, I got 30,000. This guy's got like 180,000 like on TikTok. 180,000 followers on TikTok. My name, all the content's mine.

Why do I leave it up? Because he's clearly doing a better job of marketing me than I am. I swear to God. He's a better me than he. You know, and he was respectful. He's like, sir, I am. I swear to God. He's a better me than he. Yeah. And he was respectful. He's like, sir, I am making money with your content. I said, good, you're doing better than I am.

He goes, sir, I would like to give you half the money outside. I said, don't need. I don't want nothing. I said, the fact that you had respect and that you tagged my name, keep doing what you're doing. But there was one weirdo who was like literally trying to pretend like he's me but I gave him like okay you could post but then I seemed like my friends were right on me not knowing that it's not me yeah same picture just a Beck dot lover not better minds back lover his is Beck dot lover

yeah they're like I miss you he's like yeah I miss you too I said listen my man that's your first warning I don't mind that you're doing what you're doing but if you try to impersonate me or act like with people I know or even just people in general, we're gonna have a problem. I'm gonna strike the page. Okay brother, I want this. Probably some guy from Pakistan or somewhere. I don't know. Of course. The way I'm picking on the Asians today. Mr. Humanist. But they know I love them. They know I love them. Beck loves all. So yeah man, you know, that's the whole thing. Starting where we started from the beginning of this. Starting a podcast, not realizing what was gonna happen.

Having no experience. I had every reason not to. Family saying, you're stupid. Where are you going through a midlife crisis? Oh, you're making a fool of yourself. My mother, stop already. You're making a fool of us. But you know what you wanna do.

We always, I knew this ten years ago. Yeah. And what did I do? I'm living my life for everyone else except for me. I know the gift that God gives everyone a gift. Mm-hmm. Most of us either A. are too stupid to realize what it is. No. B. too scared to operate on it.

Or you know C. don't believe man. So like basically, you know, there's someone out there that you know, see, don't believe, man. So, like, basically, you know, there's someone out there that, you know, you're listening to this and you make the best apple pie on earth. And you don't realize that that was the game. It wasn't to be an amazing basketball player or public speakers that you literally make the best apple pie in the world. Babe, he's talking about you. Okay. Yeah, my wife.

And how does God tell you this? Everyone tells you, hey, you know, what's her name? Marcy. Marcy, Marcy, I love your apple pie, please make us one. Oh, Marcy, for the holiday, can you make your pie? Hey, Marcy, my teacher is having a bake sale, could you, you know, can we, can we, and that's your clues, man. That's your gift. That if only you would realize that, hey, this is my gift. Everyone has a gift. Some people, they use their looks.

It is a gift. I think it's a gift and a curse at the same time. But I always knew I had a big mouth. So did my teachers. If you look it up, it says in my yearbook, most likely to have his own talk show. I swear to God, they knew it in high school. Now imagine, they knew this in high school.

And I didn't... I always do. And so do a lot of you. You know where your gift is but you're too scared to go after it. You don't have to quit your job. There's so many ways to get somewhere. You know? I can go with a plane, I can go with a boat. Right? It's the same thing

in life. There's more than one way to get to the destination but so many people just don't want to try, Mick. They don't want to try, brother. They don't want to try. They don't want to sacrifice watching soccer or football or whatever. Just taking up Xbox. Yeah. And procrastination, man. It's such a dream killer. That's my greatest regret now. Looking back at all of it, the tragedy, the success. What I regret the most about losing my brother, for example, wasn't just the loss of him.

When I look back now, it's like, oh my God, I lost three years. Three years of my life in sorrow. Someone gets divorced, it takes them five years to get back up. I get it, man. That heartache is serious to some people, man. Some people are just heartless. They don't feel okay next right but The greatest regret if you're young and you're listening to mick show right now the greatest regret you will have in this life I promise you two two three of them one. It's not going after going after it taking that risk. Yep

Okay, I i've failed so many times man. I don't even care anymore. I'm like numb to it. I laugh now I'm like, okay next i've lost construction. I've lost plenty of companies in my life. I've failed so many times man. I don't even care anymore. I'm like numb to it. I laughed now. I'm like, okay, yes I've lost construction. I've lost plenty of companies in my life. I've also succeeded but what I'm saying is not taking the risk Not having the faith because some of it you're gonna have to go on faith Yeah, okay If I would have paid attention to what was happening in the beginning of my podcasting career mean you would not be sitting here right now Today agree. We would not have met this Tyler in the other room wouldn't be here today. These relationships, I drove cross-country, I met Rachel Ray, I'm going to her house in Italy, she's amazing. Like just by knowing, hey I think I have this gift, I'm gonna take

the risk. And everyone close to me is telling me I'm stupid, you're making a fool of yourself, You're an idiot. You're this, you're that. Meanwhile, I have strangers from all over the world saying, you really changed my life. I mean, what you said to me, it caught me off guard. But I mean, those types of messages are what kept me going. Even though there was no recognition, no money, nothing. And that's why I've never stopped. And I made a pact that I will never stop. That's it. Because to save one life is as if you saved the whole world, Mick Hunt.

Amen to that, amen to that, man. So I love that. You gotta take risks, you gotta have faith, you gotta keep going. And I'm gonna go back to something you talked about at the beginning. Everybody, regardless of what you do, you've gotta develop sell skills, right?

Like someone asked me the other day, Mick, what's the greatest sell you've ever made? And I started laughing and They expected me to talk about a financial sell. I said, you know what? My kids are adults now My kids are 27 24 23 the greatest sell that I make on a monthly basis Is having them keep believing in me as their father. That is the greatest sell that I make because as kids Right. I can tell my kids anything when they're nine, 10 years old, but when they can make their own decisions and have their own thoughts and honestly,

don't ever have to talk to you again. The fact that they do, that's the best sell I've ever made is being a great dad. I got three myself too, man. And it's difficult, you know, cause I mean, I don't know. I mean, in most households it's the daddy, I love you. Then the hormones start kicking in. Yeah.

Some bodily changes start happening. Yeah. Then it's the, I hate you, dad. Yeah. We've all been there. And then it's the life is so busy. And then it's the damn what my dad went through and damn what I put him through. Where you have the self-realization, you know, and that I think only happens once you become a parent.

Yep. I became very humble and mortal. I say I became mortal that they became a father There it is. I was never scared of anything. I was known as a nightlife guru always out to four or five in them I was always an amazing networker Yeah, and I think it's another thing that a lot of young people drop the ball on even though they have tools that we didn't have And maybe it's done more online now, but knowing how to store those resources, man, you meet these people, you get a business card, okay, maybe you're nowhere near that industry. Yeah. This is a little nugget for your audience. This is so important, okay, when it comes to networking. You've seen me, you see, I know everybody. Absolutely.

It's so important because you don't realize that, yeah, you're 18, you're 19, you're 20, you're in college, you haven't realize that yeah, you're 18 you're 19 you're 20 you're in college You haven't figured out your life yet. Some people don't figure it out till the 40s man. I mean this it is what it is Yeah When you meet these people man store the information because you don't know you might need it one day Yeah, so how would I do? Here's a little shortcut when you meet someone take the contacts right in the notes I met Mick hunt met him on 34th Street. We were at the Penn Bar, we had a drink.

He told me he has three kids, they're 26, 27, 28. He has a podcast. He likes to talk about business. Write as much of that transaction you can remember. Now, 10 years from now, someone goes, man, you don't need podcasts? I go, let me check my phone. You go on your database, you hit podcast,

and Mick Hunt pops up. Now, you might not have spoken to me. You only met me once right? You only met me once. Yeah But I have the notes Mick, I don't know if you remember me. My name is beck. We hung out in new york. How's your how's your son? Jimmy doing jimmy? Damn, this guy must know me if this guy now mick's gonna feel stupid that he doesn't remember That he met me because i'm naming his wife, his kid, he likes, you still like to drink them tequilas with the teacups? Yeah, yeah. How does he remember all this?

So now I have proof that we've met before, we've connected. You're gonna give me the benefit of the doubt. Absolutely. Storing this information, don't be scared to talk to people. People are like jigsaw pieces, man. You meet the right one, it changes everything. That's it. You know?

And you meet the wrong one, changes everything. So be careful with what you do, but meet people, man. You meet the right one it changes everything. That's it. You know and you meet the wrong one changes everything. So be careful with what you do but meet people man. Talk to people. You got nothing to lose. Most people are not going to bite your head off. Right. You know stop being scared. You know I love meeting people. I've always loved meeting people. Opening up relationships. Just getting to like I've generally just always enjoyed meeting people. Okay, maybe I'm extroverted but what you know, I don't know you listen I think maybe the older you get to you know, but a lot of people let you down and people just get bitter But I think my greatest achievement is everything I've been through and I've had more knives rammed in me mic Then a than a kitchen counter. Yes, sir I swear to God mic and always by people I help the most. Yep, which is you can't be betrayed by people. You don't know

It'll be betrayed by people you do know that you cared about right? So it's called betrayal So the the thing i'm the most proud of mick is that after all of that I'm not bitter I kept that part of me the part that still likes to help people and meet people because a lot of times There's a lot of people that become hermits after that. They been betrayed so many times you can't blame them i don't blame you it's hard to like okay they're gonna be like everyone else same thing in dating i've tried with 20 different women 20 different men i'm done dating because there's no one good for me it's that mentality that limits so many people not only in their relationships but in business

i knocked on 20 doors but try the 21st door man that's That 22nd door, the law of averages will kick in eventually. It always does. At some point. It might be the last 10 door knocks out of 100. Right. But people don't have the stamina, the drive, or the belief. And that's the world that we live in. The Easter Bunny generation.

That's it. Words of wisdom. My guy, Beck Lover, the guy that inspired me to truly just be me on the podcast mike beck brother i love you more than you know man well mick you know and i'm happy to have met you man let's do dinner sometime and where you living at i'm in south carolina but i'm up here a lot i'm in the city quite a bit looking for you south of the border no you know i'm talking about i know those signs were everywhere from beginning dc when we, my dad was the kind who'd make us drive to...

To Orlando. Everywhere, yeah. From New York to Orlando. Yeah. I must say I enjoyed traveling through South Carolina. Those signs were very entertaining. South of the border. Pedro was being for you at South of the...

I'm like, Dad, is Pedro guys bigger than Mickey, man? In my mind as a kid, I'm seeing all the movies. But that's what you think. You're on the road for Disney World, and you're like, South of the border. I made us spend one night there, man. That was not a fun night. Yeah, and he's not talking about Mexico, by the way.

It's like a tourist trap. Literally, once you get past the North Carolina line into South Carolina, there's a spot called South of the Border. It's kind of fun. It's a fun little place. They sell souvenirs and gifts and fireworks. It's basically like a tourist trap, brother. No, it is. It's the greatest one ever.

Yeah, it's not like. It isn't. It's the greatest one ever. South Carolinians never go there. Hey everyone, check out Mick on plugs. It's your boy Beck Lover. And if you're looking for me, you can find me at beke, that's B like boy, E like Edward, K like Kimberly, Becklover.com. There it is. And for all the listeners and viewers, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Love you, brother.

That was really the truth, man? Yeah. Damn. I wouldn't lie. That's crazy. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next. Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this with someone who needs it.

And most of all, make a plan and take action, because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hello at mickunplugged.com. Until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.