Mick Unplugged - Reinventing Ross Mandell: Success, Second Chances, and Redemption

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

In today’s episode of Mick Unplugged, we welcome Ross Mandell, a figure whose life journey is nothing short of remarkable. Once a Wall Street titan and known for his business acumen, Mandell's path took an unexpected turn, leading him through a challenging period as a federal inmate. Despite such adversity, he has triumphed in reinventing himself as a sought-after speaker and coach. His story is one of resilience, accountability, and the relentless pursuit of second chances. Ross's journey reflects not merely survival but thriving through adversity by teaching and empowering others with the knowledge and lessons he has gathered along the way. Join host Mick Hunt as he engages with Ross in a conversation that dives deep into the essence of overcoming obstacles and rediscovering purpose. This episode of Mick Unplugged focuses on raw insights and the importance of action beyond mindset. Ross shares personal stories and wisdom about taking initiative, the value of mentorship, and his commitment to build impactful educational programs. He unveils intriguing aspects of his past experiences, lessons learned, and current endeavors in media and education. Expect an inspiring exploration full of transformative insights, as Ross Mandell reveals his unwavering spirit and dedication to make a difference in the world. Takeaways: Ross Mandel's journey is a powerful story of redemption. A strong work ethic is essential for success. The justice system can be corrupt and unjust. Personal experiences shape our understanding of the world. Sound Bites: "I learned how to manage my rage." "Mentorship is so powerful." Connect & Discover:LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-mandell-108b4522/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rossmandell Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TheRealRossMandell Website: https://rossmandell.com/  https://training.rossmandell.com/ Podcast:   https://rossmandell.com/podcast/ Book:  Rock Solid: Overcome Your Obstacles…..Achieve Your Dreams!   FOLLOW ME ON: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com                                                                        Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How you feel really doesn't really matter when you have purpose. What's your because, man? Like, what's that purpose for you today? You know what? It's something that's natural for me. I love to teach, to educate, to help. One of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability. If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any. I love people that talk about mindset a lot. And yes, you do need a mindset, I don't do a transaction that day. I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any. I love people that talk about mindset a lot. And yes, you do need a mindset,

but mindset is just the first piece. It's the action is to follow through and execution that mattered the most. A lot of people, you know, they get the mindset. They're so worried about executing perfectly that they never get off first base. Just jump in the fucking pool, splash around. You'll figure it out. It'll come to you. But in the meantime, don't miss a day. You can't wait till you get something perfect. You got to get in the game.

You'll take a few lumps. You'll get hit. You'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real. Welcome to MICK UNPLUGGED, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations. Buckle up, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and today we've got an icon and storyteller. From Wall Street Titan to federal inmate, his story is one of the most compelling tales of redemption

and reinvention that you've ever heard. Now he's a sought after speaker and coach, and he's using his journey to teach others about resilience, accountability, and finding purpose in second chances. Get ready to be inspired by the bold, the insightful, the transformative, the original Wolf of Wall Street himself, Mr. Ross Mandel. Ross, how you doing today, brother?

What's shaking, Mick? I'm so honored to be here with you guys today. Dude, I am the honored one. You know, big story, deep story, so many places we could go, man. But I wanted to let you know, as I got to learn your story several years ago, I connected with you, brother, and I wanted to tell you this to your face. So no scripts, no cue cards, no anything, man. I connected with you when I heard about you losing your dad at an early age or at a young age

and how the anger kind of fueled your purpose and realizing that you had to put people on your shoulders to make life happen. I so resonated with that, dude. And I just wanted to tell you thank you for giving a voice to that. Like a lot of people, when they hear people that are fighters and people that just don't give a damn

about what you think about them and how you feel. They don't understand that thing that's inside of a lot of us, man. And so you gave words to that thing for me. So I just wanted to give you appreciation for that, brother. Bro, thank you so much. You know, I'm a big fan of you, of your podcast and what you're doing. And when Stephanie told me that I was gonna get to meet you today, I was really excited.

And, you know, I'm on a journey now, much like you, in this new world of media that has exploded. And it's... It shouldn't be lost on anybody that when President Trump was trying to get his final message out before the election, he didn't go to CBS or BBC or ABC. He went on Joe Rogan's podcast. No agendas, no corporate influence, no bullshit, no FCC regulation.

You know, all this corruption we see in government and all their sort of the NGOs, they call them, you know, non-governmental organizations but these shadow people that, you know, are ruling our lives, which is so wrong. And he got 30 million downloads in 12 hours, never happened before like that. And so now we're in that race, we're in that game, you know, and I feel like we have a few years to go unregulated business media the were able to reach the masses with the truth You know, I created a company called raw media because it's raw. I don't have an agenda. I'm gonna be Ross I'm gonna share with you what I really see what I really really feel, what my experiences are. No bullshit.

No disguises, no secret messages. And when my dad passed away, I was freaking angry. I was angry at God. God was dead to me. And I became, I just fueled, I couldn't handle what I was dealing with. I was taking pills, I was snorting drugs, I was eating drugs, drinking like an animal. For 17 straight years, I was high. When I tell you high every day, at one point I was, I had viral pneumonia with bronchial respiratory complications, and I'm in the hospital, and I got an oxygen mask on me

and double IVs, and my friend still smuggled me in weed so I could smoke I mean I look back at that particular incident. It's like it was defining like what the fuck man You know and I wanted to therapy what after I got sober when I was clean a year and doctor Arthur Canowat God bless him. He he passed away of pancreatic cancer right before I got married. But he said, you have a river of rage running for you. A river of rage. It's like fire, you know, God created fire,

gave man fire, nature, if you don't believe in God. Fire, the most destructive force in our universe. It can destroy a city, it eats you alive. You see what's happening in LA with the fires Lightning coming down. I mean crazy and then you have but if you if you corral fire if you manage it It could light a village. It could heat a whole city. They use it for cooking So, you know all this abundance rage, which is akin to a fire, I learned how to sort of manage it and steer it. And it gives me almost like a superpower. Men like us that have suffered pain, great pain, turns into rage. It's fuel. It allows people it'll eat you alive and destroy you

Eat your life and destroy but if you understand that if you can manage it to corral it You can use it to fuel so when I went into the stock market, you know They said, you know got to make 300 calls a day and a lot of guys would make a hundred and they get fed up 150 they go out take a walk. They call their girlfriends, act like they're on the phone. Me, smile and dial, smile and dial. 300, okay, they told me 300 calls a day to be a millionaire. I made 400 just to be sure. You know what I'm saying?

Because I didn't care. Right. What am I going to go home? I'm broke. Go home and smoke weed and play video games. You know, I mean, I said, I might as well just work because I got nothing, you know, I got no money to do anything.

And you know, they saw people said, how much did you make? You know, what was your salary? I said, there's no salary. I'm a commission guy. I never took a salary in my life till I was, you know, building companies and we had, you know, 100 million in the bank. Then I put myself, my first salary was like two and a half million a year.

I never took money. I, you know, it's eat what you kill. What does that mean? If I don't do business, I'm gonna transaction business on Wall Street. If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any money.

Who's gonna pay for your seat? Who's gonna pay any money. Who's going to pay for your seat? Who's going to pay for your computers? Who's going to pay for your secretary? Who's going to pay for all the statements that they got issued? So I quickly learned that I better sit there and I better generate transactions. Buy, sell, opening new accounts, doesn't matter. It's got to be transactions. And I learned essentially how to kill, like you eat what you kill. And I learned how to do business. I learned how to do deals. I learned how how to kill like you eat what you kill and I learned how to do business

I learned how to do deals. I learned how to make stuff happen. Now. I gotta say if you get the salary You're not gonna get to that point because you know, it took me a minute. I used to wonder how the fuck I was gonna eat Yeah, I'm not talking about pay rent How I'm gonna eat right. I had no money. I mean, you're working, you're working, you're working, you're grinding. And my work ethic today, I see in this particular arena that we're in, is very helpful to me.

One of the guys, in fact, you just spoke to him briefly, Johnny said to me, one thing about you, you know you're never gonna quit. I just show up, man. That's what I'm doing since I'm a kid, you know win lose a draw You know broke or you know at my at my height. I had a hundred fifty million personally. I Had a real net worth real capital, you know liquid money and my company had 200 million my companies So I was valued at about 450 million at my height. But you got to remember, that's 20 years ago. Today that's like 4 billion.

Yeah, you're a multi-billionaire. Yeah. The world is very different today with all the things that have happened with the mismanagement of our economy by government and circumstances, etc., COVID and a lot of different things that have happened and gone on. But the one thing is clear, I can add a lot of value to the youngsters and to the people. Funny thing is I have a mastermind program. People get me for 10 hours, okay, personally.

We record the sessions, they get the tapes, and they get other benefits as well by being sort of on the inside of Ross Mandel right now. And it started out a bunch of young kids, like 31-year-old kids, 28-year-old kids, you know, young men, I shouldn't say kids. The young men, and every one of them has business, every one of them makes some money, but they thought that they could maybe go to the next level and

I was able to do that with them. But now all of a sudden I'm getting men like 56 58 63 Saying listen, I got this I got that but can you help me? Yeah, and I've been able to add value to every single one of their lives Nick that's really what this is all about. Do you understand? Absolutely, man. Absolutely. And you know, like on our podcast, right, we talk about your because,

that thing that's deeper than your why, that thing that really fuels you. And I'm hearing it come out, but I always wanted to ask Ross, like, what's your because, man? Like, what's that purpose for you today? You know what? It's something that's natural for me. I love to teach, to educate, to help. I just, that's my personality.

I don't know how to explain it. It's not like some great master plan or, you know, I'm a good person for that. I enjoy it. I mean, it's almost a selfish pleasure. When I was stockbroker, people were attracted to me because I have an energy, but I'm very comfortable sharing. And I think that as a man, you have to be very secure to share.

I noticed a lot of men in life, business, relationships, they're not generous. If you would have asked me, like people have asked me, so who is Ross Mandel? So when I was a young guy, I said, well, I'm a stockbroker. You know, I wear a Rolex. You know, I mean, you know, it's like I drive a Mercedes and I was challenged by people in that sort of psychological arena. No, they said, no, no, that's what you do. That's what you own. Who are you?

And I was like, man, that's like, these are tough questions for a, like you asked me earlier, how am I feeling? I don't even know how I'm feeling I'm so bad. You know, my daughter got into law school today. We're looking to end my probation today my Website went down because there's some stupid, you know, it's a stupid billing issue doing a podcast We had issues with Riverside, you know, so like it doesn't matter really how I feel I happen to really feel particularly good today

I woke up feeling very good and because I'm dieting and I'm going to the gym and I'm taking care of myself. And when I do these things, physically, I'm okay. I have some issues and some conditions, but everything's managed and good. But you know, how you feel, it really doesn't really matter when you have purpose. I have great purpose today. Remember, I was in federal custody for 112 months. And before I went into custody, I was on this journey, podcasting, getting my truth out, sharing. You know, it's amazing what happened in the world while I was away. Donald Trump, 77, 78 years old, a billionaire, builder, ex-president, all of a sudden is indicted

on 92 counts if they're never being arrested in his life in all these different jurisdictions. So the scam of the Department of Justice and various attorney, you know, district attorneys, the scam of our criminal justice system was on display for the entire world. You understand how government, how people in business utilize, they use politicians, Department of Justice officials to further, again, an end. I didn't do anything wrong. They came into my place, 40 FBI agents in November of 2006. They said, nobody's getting arrested. Nobody would just hear to execute a search

warrant. Meanwhile, there's 40 guys with guns who are stockbrokerage from an investment bank. I got a congressman in there, a senator, a member of parliament. They come with guns blazing, lockdown. But here's what they also did. They alerted every major news media organization was already in my lobby. In my lobby. So the phones are ringing. This is the New York Times. This is AP. This is UPI. I mean, the BBC. They're in the lobby while they're executing a search warrant, effectively saying, we're putting you out of business, judge, jury, and executioner. Just serving.

In the meanwhile, we're a highly regulated business. We have been sharing. They send us requests for documents. We give them everything. What are you kidding? I mean, this is, I'm governed by the SEC, the NASD, FINRA, New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, FSA, eight different regulators. But they felt the need to come in guns heavy and

You know, I never really understood how unjust the criminal justice system was but I'll say this to you I had a lot of friends African Americans sort of I want to get Hispanics that have come to me over the years and told me just how friggin corrupt Government is and how corrupt? and told me just how freaking corrupt government is and how corrupt the system is. How, you know, if you're a young black man, they could just pull you over, just because you're a young black man,

not because you're doing anything wrong, not because you're suspicious, not because they just do it. And I never really, until it affects you, you don't really pay its mind. And you know, I'm a voice of that now. The corruption and the unjust stuff. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't break the law. It took them years, years to indict me, to find a crime. Five-week trial, a complete scam, theater, a show. It's a scam, federal

court, the whole system. Let cameras in. no. The judge would start to impress the members of the media. I wanna see, because the media was writing about what a scam the trial was. And the witnesses were liars, the people were laughing. But it's rigged, and the system is rigged, it has been. And not until this Donald Trump thing did everybody see how corrupt. So it's not a matter of me whining about this and that, Mick.

My journey is to be of service today. That's what I want. I'm a father. I was taken away from my young family. My daughters were 14 and 11. My young wife, God bless her, she was barely 40 years old when I went in and stuck with two kids. And like they say, like if I had cancer or a stroke, something terrible, the whole community would rally, right?

But when you're indicted by the criminal justice system, you're a villain. People would stay away. Now all of a sudden people are starting to realize this is a bullshit, a lot of bullshit going on. So in 2014 I go away and I missed a lot of valuable time being a dad. You have kids, Mick? I have three. So you know what it is to be a parent, to love unconditionally a child. And I was forced away from them. I couldn't call them on the phone. They couldn't call me when they needed dad. They suffered greatly, okay? And then, you know, I was on American Greed.

I'm the finale of season nine called The Sky's the Limit. You know, the show, I get a letter while I'm in prison that Mike my case was deemed the most colorful case in the United States in 2011 after 2012 after was sentenced and they did an hour show It called the skies the limit American greed and you know people are very A lot of the haters come out on social media because they're too the cowards. It's like Hamas. They wear masks You know, if you really feel something, say it, show your face. Okay, take a position. I'm like, that's the kind of guy I am.

You know what I mean? And there's a lot of people that suffer from cowardice and from hate. And so my family was really, had a rough time. And this morning I got a call that my daughter got into law school, her first choice. And so I know, so I feel like I got into law school. My whole family feels like we all got into law school. What school did she get into?

She's going to Nova in Miami. And, you know, she lives in Fort Lauderdale and it's just such a big event for us having been through what we've been through. She had no intention of being an attorney. She went to University of Florida, great school, finished in three years with a four-year degree, a degree in psychology. And then, you know, we had a lot of fatherly talks and I like to say that I said, look, I don't care if you lawyer for one day, lawyering is maybe not for you, but whatever business you want to go into, I promise you when you walk in as an attorney into that office, people will look at you very

differently than if you just walk in as a college graduate. You understand it gives you access to any business that you decide, entertainment, securities, intellectual products, whatever enterprise you're interested in making, what industry, you know, podcasting, whatever industry you're interested in being a part of, you can walk in as an attorney and you're valued, you're six figure automatically off the rip and people look at you differently. So that message resonated with her. I will tell you I did everything I could to, you know, you know, if I ever made a good sale, it was this. And I'm so

proud as a dad and my other daughter is killing it. She's a technology recruiter. And you know, one of the things, Mick, that I know, I just know intuitively having followed you now and watched some of your stuff, you're a good guy and we want to positively influence people. That's the reason we do this. To bring a positive message, to be of service, to help, to influence positively, there's so much, you know, when I got sober, I stood up in a room. I was in Manhattan, 32 years, 33 years old, 1990. And they said, my name is Ross. I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict. I don't know any sober people in New York City. If I could get some numbers from some of you,

so if I have a rough spot, I can give you a call and maybe you could help me with advice. I'd be grateful 15 people ran over to me and it's funny because I had no idea there were so many good people in this world and what I've learned is if you're looking for bad, you're gonna find bad if you're looking for trouble You're gonna find trouble easy. It's easy I used to go into cities all around this country, and within an hour of being in the city, I knew where to get drugs. I knew where the best bars were. You know what I'm saying?

I knew where the action was, that sort of underground action. But then you know what? As a grownup, as a newly sober guy, I learned where all the good AA meetings are in East town. I learned where the good people were, where they went, where the people that I was interested, helpful people, people that were interested in being a part of a movement

that helps in a positive way. So, you know, I learned God is funny and the world is funny. You will, you know, seek and you shall find. They say that in the New Testament, right? And the doors will be open to you. So you have to decide who you wanna be and what you wanna be in this world. And then you just reverse engineer it

and figure out the steps you have to go. I teach this. I teach young men and even young women now mentoring. And it's a wonderful thing. We have a course called The Wealth Formula. Okay. Go to my website or click on any of the training links in my bios in social media It'll take you through frontal to light speed Bradley LEA light speed virtual training and Henderson, Nevada right outside of Vegas

brilliant brilliant guy We have one of my guys. Yeah, we have a We have a course. My store is right next to Grant Cardone and Damon John and Robert Kiyosaki, the rich dad poor dad guy. I'm very proud of all that. And we're doing a new course, a stock market course, just so you know. We're going to teach people what the stock market is and how to navigate the market, how to trade, how to build wealth,

one brick at a time. And there is no course out there that's legitimate teaching young men, middle-aged men, older men, housewives, young women that want to learn about the stock market. It's a daunting thing. You have all these guys on Telegram and discord with these scammy little groups That are you know trying to recommend options on futures of some sort of tertiary currency. I mean, it's a scam It's the first big downturn that's all gonna be revealed. I want to be there to help everybody Navigate the world of the stock markets because it affects pretty much everybody today everybody on the planet really and so everybody that's involved should have a navigate the world of the stock markets because it affects pretty much everybody today. Everybody on the planet really. And so everybody that's involved should have at least a legitimate

understanding of what it is and how to play. We're going to show you the rules of the game. I love it, man. I love it. Now, one other thing I'm involved in is I really want to share this with you. Yes, sir. You know, I did time with a guy named Lawrence Hartman, with my celly, and he has an incredible story. He's an attorney, Ivy League attorney, became an international fugitive. He was on Interpol's most wanted list. There was a red notice issued for him. He eventually got arrested, sneaking into Nicaragua with a fake identity. It's a crazy story. You know, online sports. He was a brilliant attorney,

Ivy League Law School. And it's about his journey. And Raw Media has agreed to represent him. He has a book, a screenplay. And Michael Capone has just agreed to star in, to produce and direct, C-O-P-O-N. He was one of the original Power Rangers. He's won an Emmy, he was in five films last year. He's been in the business for over 20 years. Check him out on IMDB. We're about to start announcing this on social media and he's gonna start doing interviews in the trades

like Variety, How to Report, et cetera. What I want to make unplug to get this first today because we just made the agreement in the last couple of days it's being papered now but I wanted to give you a little bit of something that nobody else has Mick. I appreciate that Ross. Anytime we can break news and have exclusives I love it brother. That's the first time it's been mentioned publicly and you got it. So it's going to be a great clip and your people will get to see it. And it's called Blind Greed. Blind Greed. From Ivy League to International Fugitive starring, it's the story of Lawrence Hartman

starring Michael Capon, C-O-P-O-N. And we're looking to just so you know, produce it in the Philippines. Okay. And there's a whole variety of good reasons for that, which I don't want to take up the time, but it's a very exciting thing to be in this industry and this business. I'm very determined to build a media company, sort of like Mick Unplugged. Just killing it, bro, right? We spoke about some good things prior to the broadcast. And I'm like so proud of you, man. Do like following in the things that you've done, man.

Like, I totally believe in mentorship, whether it's virtual, whether it's through learning and reading, whether it's through research. Like mentorship is so powerful. But here's the key. And I want to talk to you about this, too. Having mentors is awesome. But sometimes you have or not sometimes all the key, and I want to talk to you about this too, having mentors is awesome. But sometimes you have to, or not sometimes, all the time you have to take the action. Right?

Ross could give me the most amazing advice ever. If I don't put action behind it, it doesn't go anywhere. Doesn't mean anything. And so one of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability, right? Like going back, I took a bunch of notes, right? The, hey, if you tell me I can be a millionaire by making 300 calls, I'm gonna do 400 just to make sure. That's accountability.

When you talk about, hey, I don't know anyone in New York City that's not a drug addict. I need help. Will you be there for me? That's accountability, That's action. You talk about the coursework that you're doing with Bradley and Lightspeed. Ross doesn't have to do that. That's accountability, right? And now your cellmate, the blind green, that's all accountability and action. How important to Ross Mandel, because that's what I picked

up following you and your story in the research is accountability and action. How important has that been for your journey, brother? I am, like you said, you asked me how I feel and I can't even answer you really because I haven't thought about it. I'm too busy doing. I'm not so busy feeling. You know, Andrew Tate talks about these things and he's a very controversial character, but I dig him. I dig the Tate brothers. I wanna say it publicly. They're going through a lot of shit with the bullshit legal stuff that they're being brought into

because they made a lot of money. He's very brash, he's very outspoken. But a lot of the things he says, I agree. Being a man means being accountable. It means being accountable. You wanna be successful, you better take action. I can't stand negative people. I can't have it in my life. You know, they even tell you, you know, a younger man is going to a cancer journey and he's going to all

these different doctors and he's getting all this advice and I'm like, the number one thing is you can't be negative. The body is a self-healing mechanism. I believe God wants good for us, I believe that. And the thing is that we can't allow negativity or doubt to creep in. If I was feeling all so much, I might have doubt. I have made a decision, I've got some goals down. One is to build a successful media company,

a successful podcast, to build an educational platform where I could truly help people get into business, build and create wealth, understand the stock market. There were specific things that I'm uniquely knowledgeable about. I have literally tens of years of grinding and making moves and success and accomplishment and failure. You know, Patrick Mahomes will learn more from what happened last Sunday in New Orleans, right? From failing than he ever will from all his victories. Trust me, the Kansas City Chiefs learned, they got beat down, okay?

They're gonna reorganize and reshuffle the deck because that's what winners do. It's not just about winning and accomplishing, it's about maintaining, okay? It's a great thing. If you're not aggressive, you're never gonna make money. But if you're not defensive, you're never gonna keep money. These are really important nuggets of wisdom. And if not for mentorship, you know, when I was a young man on Wall Street, I would be in the, like, called the bullpen, right?

A boardroom. I'm making $40,000 a month and I share a computer and a desk and a secretary. I'm making 40, 45,000 a month. The guys in the offices are making 100,000 a month. And I couldn't figure it out. I would knock on door, Michael Cavanaugh, I want to give you a shout out Oppenheimer and Company, 1985. I would knock on his door and say, Michael, would you mind if I come in and just sit in the corner and listen? I want to take some notes. I promise you I won't make a sound. And he says, sure, Ross. And I used to go in and he would like put on a

show, you know, he was a – he's real. He's a real guy. And he could get on the phone and talk to a guy that he doesn't – never met, maybe spoke to once before twice, qualified him, got a lead, sent him, you, you know introductory package and get him to Commit to a hundred thousand dollar transaction called on the phone There's a guy that earned a hundred thousand dollars a month He used to drive down to Wall Street from Midtown Manhattan and a convertible Rolls Royce in 1985 You know what I'm saying, you know, we've still admire him, you know, him. Rolls Royce leaves no doubt. That's what my daughter says.

Mercedes, everybody's got a Mercedes today. Rolls Royce, you're making a statement now. No joke. I would sit and take notes, but forgetting the notes, I watched. I'm a very big monkey see, monkey do guy. I see Joe Rogan. I see Joe Rogan. I see Patrick Bette David. I see Bradley. I see McHunt. I say if you could do it, I could do it. Maybe not as well.

Maybe not the same. But if I understand the game, I can do it. But if I don't attempt to understand what it is you're doing, how you're doing it, then I'm in the blind. So I would knock on doors of guys that were better than me and more than me and say, would you mind if I ask you a question? That's how I got in the stock market. You know, it was the disco days, New York City, Studio 54 in 1979, 1980, right? Saturday Night Fever, John

Travolta, right? And I used to go to these clubs, Studio 54, Zenon, Magic, you know, the underground, these are famous, famous places in Manhattan. I'll be 68 in March. And we used to see guys pull up, literally Studio 54 and West 54 Street, there'd be a thousand people on the street, a thousand. And there'd be these velvet ropes and everybody would try to get into this place. It was the most famous club in the world, hands down, right?

They made movies about it and shows, and you know, the Broadway show. And there would be guys that would pull up in expensive cars, Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Bentley. And a guy would literally come out from nowhere and they'd give him the keys and out of the car would be this, you know, one of the hottest, the most beautiful women you could see. And they would walk through the ropes.

Then when I eventually got into the place, I would see them sitting at like the best table with bottles like the best table with bottles of the best champagne and I would go right up to them and I'd say, excuse me, who are you? I mean, how do you – why is this woman with you? How did you – so you pull up, you got in. I mean, what do you do? I'm a stockbroker. I'm an investment banker. I'm a trader. I work at Goldman Sachs. I work at JP Morgan. It was all these financial guys. And so that's what led myself and my closest friends. We didn't know anything about the stock market. But we saw people that had what we wanted. So we emulated them. It's that simple. I mean, it's nothing more than that. And we didn't

have cell phones in those days, computers. We didn't have social media. We didn't have Google. Right. Guy says he's in the best of my, you know what that, I said, what does that mean? He went, I'm staring at his girlfriend. Right.

I'm like, you know, if you don't mind me saying, you're not that great looking. She's stunning. How did you get this woman? You know, that's who I am. I talk, I'm very, but you know what? Most people appreciate me like that. They start laughing.

And they love talking, people love talking about themselves. You know, guys used to come up to me and say, is that your wife or your nanny? I would check into hotels. They, you know, one place, the Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico, Jay Z and Beyonce were checking in.

This is back in like 2006 or so, 2005. And it was a holiday weekend. And I was a VIP, and it was like, you know, gamble, that big lines of credit, all these different things. And we check into VIP. And so Beyonce and Jay-Z, they put us ahead of them. I was very cool.

I had my whole family there, my wife, my wife's sister her kids My wife's hanging around so they the host looks at me. He goes is mrs. Mandel gonna be joining you Staring at my wife Thought she was my nanny right because she was much younger and super gorgeous, you know, and so the things that I wanted when I was a younger guy in my 20s, I willed it to happen by taking action.

And you know, one of the things about mentorship, my master, my program, just so you know, you go to info at RossMandel.com if you're interested. I hold you accountable. So I have a new mentee and 50 year old, he's in his 50s. He's very successful. I mean, he makes several hundred thousand a year, but he, you know, he wants more from life. And every Friday we meet online, it's taped,

you know, Google meets and I hold them accountable. But I also hold myself accountable. I, we're friends, it's not like it's just me advised. I learned from everybody, man. I learned from you today. I learned from what a listener you are. Taking notes like that was amazing. I mean, that's why you're so successful right now.

And that's why people are chasing you with, you know, seven figure deals, bro. I mean, because you're worthy. Whatever you've done, whatever you've done to get to this point indicates to me that you're worthy. A lot of times we look at the financial reward being an indication of someone worthy or not. I believe that in the podcasting business now,

that's a true indicator. Like, I tell you, on social media, I don't pay for anything. I refuse, a lot of guys, you know, you see these numbers, a million, five million, three million, 200, they buy these followers. And I was advised earlier, if you do that, the algorithm knows, you're not fooling anybody.

Maybe you're fooling some kids, who cares? But the business of social media, the algorithm knows exactly how you got those followers, organically or artificially. I just broke 50,000 on Super Bowl Sunday of followers on Instagram, all organic. And now the algorithm is working for me. Now I get a thing from Instagram,

we're promoting this reel because we believe you'll get more followers. Like the algorithm's telling me. So I just posted a story. It's about these fires in LA and how Gavin Newsom is just destroyed. The governor of this state of California is just destroying this state.

Bad leadership, Mick, bad leadership. It's terrible. I mean, California, if it was a country, it would be the sixth most prosperous country in the world, and they're broke and they're in debt. I mean, what is that? Leadership. What is that?

Leadership. People are leaving bad leadership. So, you know, he's gotta be fired and you gotta move on. But accountability is really important, and understanding the game that you're attempting to be in. You know, I meet people all the time and they come to me and ask me, there's a lot of men and I see they're in a particular industry and they've never really evolved.

They don't really understand the game of the industry. You know, they're good workers and, you know, they put in their hours and they don't understand the big picture. And it's not that difficult, but you have to want to. You can't be afraid. You can't be afraid to ask questions. You can't be afraid to explore and understand. I mean, it's stunning to me that a guy could spend 20, 30 years in an industry and not

really understand the industry that he's in. That's something that Wall Street gifted me. We would, as young brokers, we would be told, here's the deal we're pitching. This is a conglomerate, Diageo, that represents all these brands of alcohol. So you become like an expert in alcohol and the business of alcohol and the business of Diageo and all that. Next thing you know, we're doing a banking deal with this company. You know, this company is involved in defense technology.

You know, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, whatever. You become like an expert and you start to understand from the top down and you understand how the industry, how the game is played within the industry. I always look to identify an industry leader, right? So in the podcast world, I say it's gotta be Joe Rogan. Yep. Right? They paid him what? Spotify paid him $250 million six years ago.

Now for three years, $200 million. Now he's getting $250 million for three years. Yep. And Joe Rogan is great. I love him. I listen to him. I watch fight. He makes the UFC fights exciting.

I used to watch him on Fear F. He makes the UFC fights exciting. I used to watch him on Fear Factor, right? He himself was a little karate champion out of New Jersey. But I dig, I dig the, I understand, I look to understand the industry, how people monetize, what makes something interesting or not interesting, so forth and so on. I'm sure just like you do, you know, I'm sure this is what you've been doing, right? I treat everything like a business, man. Like I heard from Deion Sanders, if everybody played football for free, he would too. But when you can make money, then go make the most you can.

And so that's how I looked at podcasting. I didn't know unless your name was Joe Rogan. I thought everyone was doing it for free. And then when I realized, oh, there's a formula, there's a path to success and it can become a business, that's what I did and that's what I do. And again, learning from people like you that put action behind everything,

have a plan, but action is what makes it happen, right? Like I love people that talk about mindset a lot. And yes, you do need a mindset, but mindset is just the first piece. It's the action is to follow through an execution that mattered the most. And I got that from my guy Ross Mandel. Thank you, my man. A lot of people, you know, they get the mindset.

They're so worried about executing perfectly that they never get off first base. Right. Just jump in the fucking pool. Splash around. You'll figure it out. It'll come to you. But in the meantime, don't miss a day You can't wait till you get something perfect. You got to get in the game. You'll take a few lumps. You'll get hit

You'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real not by studying Right, right. Yeah, right. Right. I mean listen, I'll never forget You know, we were young boys in the neighborhood and somebody would get their hands on a Playboy magazine. You know, this is before the internet, you know, this is before cell phones. And all the young boys in the neighborhood would go, you know, to this guy's house and he would look at Playboy and it was so exciting.

And we'd talk about kissing girls and touching girls. And every young boy is fascinating, you know, it's fascinating. We see these young women in our lives who were like so excited one day, went up girlfriends, we could hold hands and touch and feel. And you know, you could study it all you want. You could watch pornography,

you could read books and magazines. But until you're actually with a woman, you have no idea what it is. You have no idea. So get in there, don't be afraid, stop studying. I use that as an example for men because all men can understand that. Until you actually give your pants down, you don't know what the hell's going on. And it's a great experience, right? And you don't have to get it perfect and you don't have to get it right. Get in there, practice. And I like to use real life examples that are relatable.

You know what I'm saying? Because sometimes you look in books and academia and they come up with this shit that, what the fuck are you talking about? I like to keep things simple. Because at the end of the day, people convolute things. People dress things up. And to go back for a second anything worth doing Mick anything is worth doing for money Yes, sir, that's something they teach you on Wall Street. It's an axiom

Anything worth doing is worth doing for money and you know once money's involved now you understand And you know, once money's involved, now you understand the difference between doing it wrong, doing it so-so, and doing it right. In podcasting, doing it right, you might get 250 million from Spotify. Do it right. You know, you don't know what the fuck you're doing, you're doing it for free, it's costing you money.

That's it. So, you know, these are the two, the beginning road and the end road, you know, in theory. Right, now let's figure out how to get to that 250 million for three years. Let's go get it. It's exactly what it is, bro. You know, you don't make it. People make it so complicated. Turn the fucking camera on. Give me the microphone and let's go. That's it. Figure it out.

We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Ladies and gentlemen, we got a lot of wisdom, and I'm calling it wisdom, from my guy Ross Mandel. Ross, brother, I appreciate you more than you know. This meant the world to me that you would spend some time just having a conversation, man. Like, that means the world to me, brother. For you anytime, Mick. Anytime.

And now I have your number, so I'm gonna bother you once in a while Let's do it hit you up bro. I'm gonna hit you up. That's what I'm good for I want you on my podcast soon done. Do we already talked to stuff? It's happening. I love happen. Yeah, boy. She's on it Wait, she is She's doing great. I love it and Thank you for having me today. I really appreciate it. No, I appreciate you We will make sure that links to everything you're doing,

so the website, your social links, the courses, the Mastermind, everything we're going to have available. People, if you're watching or listening, do me a favor. Don't just follow Ross, right? Like, you can see his story. Connect with Ross, right? Like, we appreciate the connections. Follows are great.

Connect with Ross because you're gonna get wisdom. Right? You're gonna get wisdom. Join the masterminds, take the courses. You're gonna learn more about you than you ever have because that's the way Ross teaches. He's not gonna just give you answers. He's gonna challenge you.

And you're gonna learn who you are if you accept this challenge. 100%. And I thank you so much, Micah. You know, I'm humbled by you today. Thank you. I appreciate you, brother. For all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower.

Go unleash it. Thank you for tuning in to Mic Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.