REAL AF with Andy Frisella - ROCK STAR INFLUENCE: A Success Story ft. J. Erving, with Andy Frisella - MFCEO249

Episode Date: August 1, 2018

You can learn a lot about success & entrepreneurship from a veteran of the music industry who has worked with superstars from Lady Gaga to Nelly. My buddy J. Erving is an influential executive, investor, & leader in talent management. He’s also an entrepreneur to the core & a guy committed to excellence. In this episode, he shares his story & we riff about everything from establishing credibility & authority in your industry to the leadership skills it takes to manage people who are exceptionally talented.

I can stack them hundreds to the roof. I ain't stopping till they stack to the moon. Without me, my family wouldn't have food. Anybody go against me, gotta lose. What is up, guys? You're listening to the MFCEO Project. I'm Andy. I'm your host, and I am the motherfucking CEO. Guys, today we got a great show for you. We got a couple of guests, a couple of guests. But before we get into that, you guys know that we do a lot for the entrepreneur community. And I want to let you guys know that I appreciate your support. The reason I don't run 15 ads before the show starts and we just get right into it is because I don't want to bore you even though I could make a lot of fucking money doing it. But, but I do ask something from you and I ask that if you enjoy the content of this show, if you get something out of this show, which I guarantee you, you will. I ask that you

share it. Tell a friend, tell someone who's like-minded, tell someone who's trying to get something going and turn them on to the show. That's all I ask. It's free otherwise. All right, guys. As always, I'm joined by my co-host, Vaughn, the pastor of disaster, DJ DJ God. What's going on, my man? Things are good, man.

But I do feel like it's been forever since we've had a truly full-length podcast. I know we had the last one. You said that last full-length podcast. I know, but it still feels like we've got so much going on. It's good stuff. I think you're the kind of dude that thinks about the things that— I just enjoy the time so much. I think you say things on the podcast because I don't even remember what the fuck I say.

People are like, oh, Andy, I'm like, which one was that? I think you actually analyze yourself for months after every single one. It's because of how efficient I am. I break down game film on everything. You're breaking down your own film? Yeah. Is it? You are getting better, dude.

Well, I appreciate that. Ever since Tyler told me that, I said, uh, uh. And what was the other thing, Tyler? It's all those times you said the F word. Right. In front of God. I had to cut all that out. But no, man. I like doing this. tyler i it's all those times you said the f word right in front of god cut all that out but uh

but no man i like doing this so i feel like we haven't been doing it as frequently because of all the stuff going on and that whole thing about you having a day job yeah i got to do it actually do have a real job so my job isn't just to produce content and post pictures on fucking instagram oh you mean you're not a real company you're not a information what do they call those information entrepreneur broker yeah you don't you mean you're not a real company. You're not an information. What do they call those information entrepreneur broker? Yeah. You don't, you mean you don't make your money selling programs on how to make money. I don't know. Maybe I should start that. It seems to be working for people. I got to tell you, I'm not going to, you know, get ahead of ourselves here, but I'm, I'm pretty excited about, I know you are. And I know why too. Yeah Yeah, yeah, I know, because I'm an old guy. No, no.

So we have two guests. One of them is awesome. The other one is my brother, okay? Sal is going to join us. But we do have a really cool guest in the studio, but not for the reason that I'm about to say, all right? The reason Vaughn is excited is because Vaughn is the world's biggest basketball nerd. Okay. Yeah.

So we have- Unfortunately, I don't really play basketball that well, but you know. You don't say. Yeah. Doesn't surprise me. So dude, so we have our good buddy, Jay Irving, who's an amazing entrepreneur, been involved in the music industry, an investor in Uber and Spotify, early investor. I've done a lot of cool things. We're going to talk about that,

but he happens to be the son of... Julius, Dr. J. Irving, which some of these young guys and girls don't, they're not informed. Come on, dude. Everybody knows Dr. J. That's true. They do, but they don't know that in 83, the Philadelphia 76ers, Dr. J. Moses Malone, just steamrolled the Los Angeles Lakers. Isn't that right? 4-0? I'm pretty sure it was. So, dude, I can promise you no bullshit that he didn't Google that. He pulls out these fucking basketball facts

out of the air all the time. Now, funny thing is, I will say this. Funny thing is, as accomplished as your dad is, to be honest with you, so I was eight when the NBA, I think it was 81 or 83,

something like that. 83. 83. I was eight. The overwhelming memory in my mind is an ad that he did for Chapstick. Oh, wow. You know that, right?

Yeah, I remember that. Because kids ran up to him and said, Dr. J. And he said, no, it's Dr. Chapstick now. And it was awesome. No, seriously. It was kind of the weirdest idea for an ad, but it was Dr. J., so it worked. No, dude. The best ad I've seen.

This reminds me. What's the name of the company? I'm going to give him a plug. The shirt company. Three Comers? No, no, no. That shirt company. Mizen and Main.

Was it? Mizen and Main. Mizen and Main. The J.J. Watt spot for Mizen and Main is probably one of the most genius advertising pieces I've seen ever. People will know what I'm talking about because it's fucking hilarious. But anyway. Sal was going to say something before I so rudely interrupted.

I was going to actually give you a small compliment. Oh. Small. Some of the boys do not give. Compliments often. You are not like- Jay, this guy can actually spit NWA. He can do some early Dre. I can do.

He can do some Tupac. This pastor of disaster. It's a beard. It's a beard. Have you seen the movie Office Space? I have not. Oh, you've never seen the movie Office Space? I know the part you're talking about where the dude's driving his car. The dude's driving his car. Dorky white guy's driving his car and he is just banging hardcore rap, fucking getting it. And a guy pulls up next to him and he rolls his window up real... That is Vaughn. Gets in his Scion or whatever it is you drive. If truth truth be known my entire rap knowledge is about 10% NWA and EZE and about 90% Christian rap no I'm serious like there's Christian rap about uh like not having sex no I'm like literally like they rap about abstinence I haven't had sex in so long.

Like I got to get a new dog. No, it's the truth. Look it up. But they're like literally. I like hip hop barbecue. Yeah. Good. So why don't you run through some of the intro for Jay?

Well, you hit some of the intro for Jay? Well, you hit some of it, but basically just a super successful executive in the music industry. You worked with some companies called Adam Company, Maverick Management, in the talent management business, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, early investor, Spotify, Uber. I was reading some awesome articles about you about how the way that you choose what you're interested in is, and that this, we really resonate with this, is kind of the convergence of not only your entrepreneurial spirit, but also the things that you really care about, like charitable issues and stuff like that. So, you know, the NBA legend dad is cool, but super excited to have you yourself here. And we're, yeah, we got a lot to talk about. I'm happy to be here. Anything you

want to add about yourself? Uh, I'm a parent. Father of three is probably the toughest thing that I do. Yeah. Uh, three teenage kids. I'm not in the woods like my buddy over here, but yeah, I'm, uh, I'm kind of in different woods now dealing with teenagers. Yeah'm not in the woods like my buddy over here, but I'm kind of in different woods now dealing with teenagers. Yeah. That's the most fun. What are those woods like? It's just different. You're just dealing with different. You're dealing with smoking pot and sex and just different. Am I allowed to talk about sex? Yeah, absolutely. Apparently his ears are going to catch on fire. But, you know, just dealing with different, significantly different issues.

But it's cool because it's like, you know, now, you know, they're like my homies. Like, you know, we talk about whatever. I'm very open with them. My parenting style is like, you know, come home and let's figure it out. And, you know, you don't have to lie or sneak or, you know, any of that stuff. Right. So you guys living in la is that where you live in la uh live uh just north of of hollywood an area called calabasas very cool um i think the kardashians made famous yeah yeah no kidding yeah so dude how did you so i'm curious about this. So a lot of people who come from successful or famous parents, you know, they, they don't really find their way because they're kind of always attached to that. And I don't get that sense from you at all. You've, you've gone out, you become your own man,

you become very successful doing your own thing. So give me kind of like the earliest years of like how you got into business, became an entrepreneur and all these things. Like, did you always know that's something you were interested in? I mean, I think I knew more what I didn't want to do than I knew what I wanted to do. You know, I knew a couple of things. One, I wanted to be able to maintain a certain life. I like nice things. I like to, you know, I like, um, the lifestyle that my dad afforded, you know, for our family was something that, you know, I appreciate and appreciated and wanted to continue to have.

And, you know, my dad is, his parenting style was like, you know, I'm going to have, you'll have a nice roof over your head and all of that, but I'm not going to give you shit. So, you know, you're going to have to go out and figure it out and earn it. Yeah. Um, and you know, so it, how thankful to go out and figure it out and earn it. Yeah. And, you know, so it. How thankful for that? How thankful for that are you now? It takes a long time to become thankful for that because you kind of feel like, you know.

You're like, come on, you could just do that. And I think I think for a while, which kind of led me into music was I rebelled against it a bit because you know I I um I wanted to be able to say I did this on my you know on my own which you know in in uh in hindsight I'm I'm proud of but it's like you know I encourage my kids to use me and use my relationships and you know in any way that they can and I think one of my um early um internships was with the 76ers. And I was I went into the office one day and got a chance to meet who the kind of the guy who was like in charge of basketball operations at the time. And, you know, it's kind of talking to, you know, I guess he felt obligated to talk to me about, you know was interning, about my career and what I wanted to do. And I was just in my junior year in college.

And I'm like, do you mind me asking you a personal question? He's like, sure. I'm like, how much do you make a year? And he's like, I make like 250 grand. And I'm like, yeah, you're the guy around here. And it's like, you only make 250 grand. Like, I don't know that this, I, I think I want to do something else.

I'm trying to make that in a fucking day. So there's a lot of things that led me into music. I've always had a love for music and was passionate about it. But, you know, a lot of it was about, you know, knowing that I couldn't go work a regular nine to five job like I can this personality type. I'm not I can't do the same thing over and over every day, you know, not control my own destiny and kind of have a boss that's just telling me what to do and how to do it every day. And it's funny, too, because when you're young and you're like that, a lot of the people around you, and I don't know if this was the case for you, we've joked about this earlier, but like the quote unquote badge of entrepreneur used to mean

that you were sucked in school. You couldn't follow directions. You're probably a loser. Right. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. And I, I was, I was blessed to have, you know, really solid people around me that were, that were working hard also. I mean, one of my best friends, a guy named Troy Carter, who I was partners to have really solid people around me that were working hard also. I mean, one of my best friends, a guy named Troy Carter, who I was partners with for most of my career, still one of my best friends. He was the one who really kind of showed us the way in technology and even in music and really kind of,

like we kind of talked about briefly earlier, it's like not being what we call homeboy managers, which is like, you know, just your homeboy that you just kind of put on that. Yeah. Because he was your boy back in the day. Exactly. And there's nothing wrong with that, but we got to, when you get put in these positions, you got to educate yourself and, you know, learn, you know, how to, you know, how to build beyond, you know, what the talent of your, of, of your, your client. Right. Um, plus dude, I mean, to be a really true manager, you have to have your clients

in best interest in mind. And as we spoke about earlier, there's very few artists that have a forever shelf time. You know what I mean? I mean, we could count them on one hand. So, you know, part of your job, I think ethically is to look out for their best interests over the course of your life. That's how you, that's how we of your job, I think, ethically is to look out for their best interests over the course of their life. That's how you that's how we learn the business. Right. Like we didn't there wasn't like a book that we could pick out. And I'm sure for your business and what you guys have done, there's no blueprint for it. You know, we you know, we talked about a book earlier that that I'm going to read that could give me some insight in some direction.

But like there's not there's no blueprint to entrepreneurship. Right. You know, so we had to figure it out. And I think, you know, what, you know, and when you're managing a client or an artist in their careers, you have a lot of responsibility to them. Right.

And I think our first instinct is to be, is to protect them. So, you know, that's how we kind of started to learn our way through the, through the business is like, how do we, how do we protect this artist? Right. You know, how do we do deals that are, that, um, are smart. Cause as soon as they get going, you got everybody coming out. I can do this for you. I can do that for you. When the truth is, nobody can do shit for you. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But it's, it's tough's tough and you know and then you got to weed through then you got to weed through the things

that are real yeah how hard is that it's tough you know because it's especially as you as you're getting into it because you don't know the real people right um as you know where i sit now 20 years later i've got great relationships i know a lot of you know i'm i'm you know there's six degrees of separation between you know myself anybody, any opportunity that comes. So it's easy to vet. It's easy to vet folks now. But it certainly wasn't when I was coming in, you know, when I was getting into the game. I think that brings up a good point, though, man. You know, we always talk about this on the show about being ethical over the course long term like you got a lot of you

guys right now who are in business you know you're trying to make a dollar today and you're not taking into consideration your reputation or your name well if you listen to what jay just said what he's saying is basically if right now at the point that he's in he's going to know if you're good or not by who the fuck knows you and if they have good things to say about you you know and and so you know when you are so young and you're hungry and you want to do this and that you've still got to be very conscious of how you do things oh because that you can't shake that once you get it you know once you get labeled you know one of those guys that you don't do business with guess what you can't fix it can't fix it. And a lot of people burn the bridges without realizing they're burning them.

Yeah, and I think it's like people have to, and especially early on, and I tell a lot of young executives that I come in contact with is like, number one, you gotta be honest. And it's hard to be in our business, right? And there's a lot of things that people may say about me but you know they can never say that I bullshitted them

or I stole from them or you know I lied to them you know it's I I pride myself on you know just being straight and sometimes people don't want to hear that and don't want to accept that because it's sometimes it's not always you know wrapped, you know, wrapped in a pretty package with the bow on top. Dude, it's hard to hear the truth sometimes. Yeah. But very rarely is it not the right thing. Hey, James, it's hard to deliver the truth too. I was just going to say, before we go on, why don't we, because you did this for us earlier before we actually hopped on.

I'd like to orient people exactly to exactly what your world's like. So why don't you like specifically share with the people who are listening, like who you've worked with, who some of your clients are. Yeah. So for most of my career, you know, as partners with Troy Carter, we signed, you know, we represented a lot of superstars over the years. Everyone from Eve and Fat Joe and the Lox, a group called Floetry from England, to in 07, my partner signed Lady Gaga, who quickly became one of the biggest artists in the world.

We represented Tyga and a bunch of others over the years. We signed Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth before we, you know, before we shut down the management side of the business that we were running together. So we've been I've been blessed enough to work with and around superstars over the years. And those people have taken us into, you know, those, you know, Nelly, who is St. Louis guy who I've been friends with and had a working relationship with since almost 2004. And our artists really took us into other areas of entertainment, into film, into television, into branding, into technology. We started to learn about technology through a lot of these companies coming to us and saying, how can I use your artists to market, promote, break our platform?

And my partner, Troy, was forward thinking enough and smart enough to say, Hey, let's figure out how we can create some ownership with some of these companies that we're helping, um, you know, break by delivering them content. Um, so, you know, we, we, our client base has taken us into a lot of different areas. And I think my, you know, my data, no two days are the same for me. You know, we're, we're putting out different fires every day. We're looking at unique opportunities every day. And, you know, our clients will wake up and say, I want to do X, Y, and Z and our responsibility and our job is to figure it out. Um, and then about a year ago I launched a, um, a distribution venture called human resources, which, um, Resources, which I took the, in terms of music consumption and how it's happening now,

the kids are consuming music in a different way. There was a time in which for us, because we're probably, I'm just assuming we're probably the oldest in the room. We were listening to CDs and our parents were looking at us like, I was going to fucking listen to CDs. Like we listen to tapes, you know, and and I feel like there's a shift happening with the young kids as well. It was like, you know, we when I when I saw and was introduced to Spotify, I was like, oh, shit, I don't have to carry my CDs anymore. I have

a whole music library right here. Like, okay, I get, I kind of get this, this works. But I didn't know that it was going to transition and these platforms were going to transition how music is consumed by young people. But the kids don't, you know, they don't, my kids don't get in the car and turn on the radio. You know, they, they connect to aux or Bluetooth and they listen to streaming platforms. So we launched a distribution venture that's primarily focused on digital given us over the years and we kind of flipped them on their head right so like you know when you go do a traditional label deal you're signing up for four or five albums they want a piece of your you know 360 financially which means that they participate in touring and merch and branding and all of these other revenue streams um and they own your mat and they own your masters we took that and kind of flipped it on its head and said, look, we're going to primarily focus on digital distribution,

which our cost of entry and our overhead and what we have to spend to market, promote, and break access is significantly less than what these major labels are doing, and we can offer you a different kind of deal. And we'll take a distribution fee. You'll maintain ownership of your masters. We won't participate in 360 and all of these other things and we'll also do things on a project by project basis and it's really working well and it fits with like you know when you look at the success of like Chance the Rapper and you know some of these other artists that have had

independent success on a very very very, very high level, it's become the goalpost for a lot of these young artists. They're looking at like, hey, I want to keep more for myself. Yeah. Because I have the tools available to me to make the brand. Right. Yeah. And the kids are creating music in their bedrooms.

Because back in the day, I mean, dude, a lot of the people who listen to this, they're young. They don't really remember what it was like before we have social media youtube all this shit and so now you know back 20 years ago to become a real artist you had to have the big label yeah now you don't need it because you got the tools to make it yourself and you had to go in a proper studio to make a record you know you couldn't make a record on your computer yeah back then yeah um so now these kids they don't need um the ability to succeed and the tools are so so much more available same thing as writing a book too like you don't need a major publisher nowadays right it's it goes with everything yeah and i think it speaks to you know very much in in on brand with your

show is like it's entrepreneurship i mean mean, these young artists, they're entrepreneurs, they're building their own brands. Right. They're being, um, they're self-contained, um, and they're taking the initiative to, you know, to, to move their, their brands and their projects forward without having to wait on a major label. It's a cool time, dude, because you don't need, like, you don't need the approval of anybody else. don't need someone to come say hey you're good enough to do this you know what you need to do you just need to go learn learn the tools and do

the shit till you get good because none of these dudes and you can test this and maybe i'm wrong but i would bet that you know these guys who you sign over your career you represented they were doing music for 20 fucking years before you ever got got into them you know, these guys who you signed over your career, you represented, they were doing music for 20 fucking years before you ever got, got into them. You know, they're practicing, they're doing the work and, and that shit, nobody picks up a microphone or whatever the fuck you're trying to do. And it's just great from the first day. You know what I mean? I mean, dude, you look, look up YouTube videos of Bieber, dude, when he was a little kid. Or Ed Sheeran or any of those guys. I mean, they were grassroots moving it through it.

I would say anything. If you look at the kids now, they're more serial entrepreneurial because they have to pound the pavement. Like they're producing new songs, social content. Yeah, they got to get on YouTube. They got to get on Instagram. They got to get on Facebook. I mean, they have to.

It's cool though. Like, dude, it's cool because, dude, we're getting a view of like, because like, dude, back, you know, it's just, dude we're getting a view of like because like dude back you know it's just i don't know i appreciate the process now because you're getting you get to see these people becoming stars versus all of a sudden you're just having to take what the record companies give us well and the record company would make or break you right in that sense before they would either allow you to be famous or not allow you to be famous because they owned you now you can't stop these kids well yeah and they can't stop them you know what i mean they they they kind of would make you

what they want you to of course right yeah like until you deliver them the record that they feel like is right that you hit record for radio or whatever you would just kind of in limbo but now it's like they don't get to control that the kid you know the creativity of the artist is much more authentic exactly well we spoke about this earlier but i mean you think about lady gaga right radio station doesn't want to play your shit yeah tell that story that we were talking about like we were talking about like the radio wouldn't play wouldn't like they wouldn't play your shit yeah so you know and t you know, and Troy was the visionary behind Gaga, and he was the one who really moved all of, you know,

in conjunction with her and Vincent Herbert, who was the guy who kind of, you know, who was the music guy behind all of it. You know, but they looked at these records, Just Dance, which is like one of the first big breakout hits from Gaga and radio wouldn't play it. And it was around a time where, you know, Twitter, Twitter and Facebook and all of these kind of social platforms were becoming more more more popular and they used these social platforms to create a connection with her and fans directly, not just in, you know. So she was one of the first people to transition from being controlled by the record label to directly contributing and creating a movement behind her.

Creating a direct relationship and leveraging social platforms to affect radio. Yeah, forcing them to play it. Forcing them to play it. And it was really smart in their approach to marketing it and promoting it. And the other thing is she wasn't just talking to people in California or wherever she was physically at. She was talking to people around the world through the internet. And that hadn't really been done on that level previously.

And at the time it was free. You know what I mean? They were smart. They got in there and they pounded it and it springboarded everything they had. I want to get something straight here though. We had CDs too. Like I don't know how old you think I am.

I remember it was like an upgrade from the three second skip to the 10 second skip. You had a 10 second skip fucking this man. You were the shit. Do you have a visor in your car? Well, do you remember like the sport disc one that was yellow and the headphones went around?

I'd still wear them. You might've had CDs, but I had, I had mixed tapes and a track. We used to download that. I still have a car that has fucking eight track really yeah that's awesome my first cassette was big willie style i'm surprised i'm surprised you don't have it you know today like you know digitally plus on cd and poster in your

house so i what i'm interested to know is that with your experience in the music industry i mean obviously that it's just a richly creative, very, you know, all sorts of different types of people, good, bad, ugly. We talk about the importance of core values a lot on the podcast. And I guess my question is, in that industry where you have to keep

your sort of bearings about you and not get completely blown and pulled away by everything. I think the part is you want to get blown, bro. Well, no, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about like- You got blown. That's the moral industry, brother. You got morally blown.

I'm confused. In other words, you want to keep your bearings about you. And like you were saying, you want people to respect you and keep your integrity over 20 some years. But you also have to evolve and adapt and adjust and innovate. So what are some of the core values that have guided you in your success to where you've been able to, you know, basically persevere while others have come and gone, but also change with the times. Like what are some of the, your core values that have guided you? I mean, you know, I, I believe in God, you know, so that's, you know, I feel like I've, I've prayed for the things that I wanted, um, in life. Um, and I worked really hard. Um, yeah, I put the hours in. Um, and I think the, you know,

the most important thing that I would encourage, you know, your young entrepreneurs and, um, and listeners to, to do is, you know, I surrounded myself with people that were like-minded. I feel like, you know, I'm a firm believer that you're a makeup of the six people that you spend the most of your time with. Um, and I've got really solid friends, you know, that are, you know, on the same page that I'm on that are, you know, that work hard, that have integrity, um, that are smart, that educate themselves, that are supportive. Um, you know, cause there's times in which, um, you know, I'm, I'm down or I need, you know, support and my friends are there for me and I'm there for them when they need it. And, you know, and I've seen what, you know, there's a few of our peers that have taken their lives and I've seen what, you know, I've never kind of contemplated,

you know, suicide or anything like that, but I can see how, um, I can see what the thought process could have potentially been, um, because of the pressures of, of our space. And, you know, what I pride myself on, whether, you know, I haven't signed the biggest acts in the world or, you know, been the most most successful but i'm still here 20 years later and still in it you know and not only are you in it man you're doing progressive shit and you're looking to grow and get bigger but see i think that the the challenge for us is like see these supplements and stuff they don't talk back to you right you know these these artists talk back they wake up one day and they're like, you know,

I'm tired of you, you know, and, and, and I want to go in a different direction. And it's like, what the fuck? Like I dedicated my life to you, you know what I'm saying? Like, and we did this, we built this together. And, you know, so I think we have to, and I've been able, you know, and blessed to, to have a couple of liquidity events where we sold businesses, but I can't hand my kids and I don't want my legacy necessarily to be these artists that we managed. I can't hand that off to them and say, hey, I'm getting older now. Yeah, but bro, that's where your entrepreneurial skills are going to come in handy. Yeah, and that's where we-

I mean, you're still a young man. Like these guys can't see you, so they don't know how old you are. How old are you? Yeah. 44. Yeah, you're a fucking baby, dude. 44.

You know, we're just getting started. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's how I feel. That's how I feel too. Yeah. And it's been, so this distribution company,

some of the things that we're doing, like that I'm doing on the film and television side, producing some, you know, doing some things where we can create ownership is what's really important for me. And create a platform that, like, not only I can use, but, you know, my young executive friends, my kids, you know, this next generation of, I want to help, you know, I feel like this music, the landscape is changing a lot and I don't want to sit on my hands until the change happens and then figure out where I sit. I want to fit. I want to be helped, you know, a part of making the change and creating these new platforms. And, you know, our hope is that, you know, this distribution venture becomes, you know, just as viable an option as Universal or Sony or Warner or any of these other record companies because of how the landscape has changed and because of the types of deals that these artists want to do. So, you know, the important thing for me is like, how do I get to, you know,

a place that you guys have built to and having a, know this IP that you've created that is that you know is is your vision and you're able to you know move it how you how you how you want to and you're able to scale your business and build your business how you see fit you know some days there's you know an artist is hung over and doesn't show up for a meeting you know so it's like this there's um you know, an artist is hung over and doesn't show up for a meeting. You know, so it's like, there's, there's, you know, there's, I want to be able to control my own destiny in that way and, you know, and have some, and have, you know, these, these tangible things that live and die with what I'm willing to put into it.

Yeah. You know, so dude, let me ask you something too. You touched on something that I think is extremely important. i know sal and i truly believe in this um we don't talk about it much but it just kind of goes unsaid but you said you're surrounded by great people okay in the music industry i feel like there's a lot of people and not just music but also like uh you know movie movie actors and things like that, that end up ruining their career because they're surrounded by the wrong people. How many times have you seen that happen? I mean, it's, we've seen that movie so many times, you know, and one of the things that you guys are not really even understand how much it, you know, it affected me is like you guys

talking early about how you had a fistfight. Yeah. Like that's real shit. Yeah. Like I, I, it's the passion, you know, and my friends and I like, we're still going to be friends afterwards.

The story was Sal and I got in a fist fight about two weeks ago, uh, in the, in the office. And we were, cause I didn't tell the story, but Sal, basically Sal and I got in a fist fight,

uh, for like a minute. Over fries. No, it wasn't over fries. It wasn't over anything, really. It was just the point that Jay was making is that it was passion. Like I was saying my shit, he was saying his shit, and then it turns into a fuck you. Like, no, fuck you.

And then you're fighting. But dude, two seconds later, it's like, all right, it ain't no thing. And that's how me and my friends are. Yeah, right. are yeah right like you might get a dude my friends are like that too like everybody here's like that like that and but i i think the importance of what we're trying to say to these young these young bucks that are listening right now is that you know because dude i can i talk to these guys they send me messages shit and they're like dude do you really think that it's important? Like I got this one friend, he's this way and this way,

but we've been friends forever. I'm like, bro, you got to fucking audit. You got, you got to edit that and get that out of your life. Yeah. You know, how much do you believe in that? I believe in that wholeheartedly. I mean, and not that, you know, you know, I'm a firm believer in I, my friends from a work perspective, my friends that I can work with are capable. I can't put my friends on just because they're my friends. And some of those relationships, I can't invest

as much time in because we're just not on the same page. It doesn't make me not a real dude or. I think it makes you more real. Because you're being real to yourself and your family. And you're being real to them by by saying like look you gotta get your shit together yeah and and and my friends the where we how we've built out our our relationship and our rapport is like we got to be straight with each other and that's where it gets to be honest man yeah you got it that's where it gets to a place of like you're ready to fight because it's

like you don't want to some shit you just don't yeah and it's and it could be simple shit like you you haven't been home in three weeks yeah go the fuck home right you know i'm saying like you're drinking too much you're drinking too much you're doing this or you're spending too much time here there or you know and and having a network around you of people that are going to give you real solid direction, you got to have that. Right. You know, because none of us are able to do it on our own. So the next question, dude, that people ask, man, they ask, they say, well, how do I get that? Well, I think you get it by giving it. Yeah, yeah.

No, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, I think when you're working towards something, you'll find, you know, you'll connect with people that have a similar mindset. If you're really putting dedicating yourself to doing the work right you know going to because a lot of people have that they have that idea right like dude i'm gonna go out and i'm gonna try to build something but then i'm gonna have this and none of my friends are gonna have that and we're not gonna be real friends anymore so i'm not real i'm i'm being fake to them

motherfucker your friends that that you going to make along the way are going to be better friends. Yeah, yeah. Because they're aligned with your core values. Yeah, and they're on the same page as you. And you have the same goals and agendas. I've been lucky to, you know, my network of friends I've been with for, you know, most of them over 25 years, you know, and they're my real friends.

Yeah. them over over 25 years you know and they're my real friends yeah and you know they've all we've we've got a real solid network of of um of people that you know work hard have success i mean and it's just a testament to really putting the work in yeah but i'd be willing to bet you lost a few friends along that way and add a few to the added a few to the mix hell yeah and that's the thing you know like people are afraid that people are afraid to let one or two go to replace with one or two it's like running a fucking sports team it is a sports team you know, like people are afraid to, people are afraid to let one or two go to replace them. One or two. It's like running a fucking sports team. It is a sports team.

You know what I'm saying? Like, Hey man, when a guy gets old, you got to get rid of him a little bit. You know what I mean? Maybe it sounds harsh, man. It sounds brutal, but, and people have a hard time with it. And I understand it. Cause I do understand. I do. Cause, cause society judges you for like being fake or not being a good friend or not being

real. When you make a decision, that means you're going to cut someone out who's been in your life for a long time. But, dude, the length of time that someone's in your life shouldn't be the deciding factor on who gets to stay and go. It should be who's aligning with you at that point in your life the most. And I think that problem, from a standpoint, business decisions to me are easy. They're very black and white. Do they benefit the business or not?

Yeah. Are they going to make our business 10x better or not? Do they move us forward or not? Right. You need to learn to evaluate your personal relationships the same. Right. When you add emotion to that, it makes it hard. It's difficult.

When you say that to someone, they hear that as like, well, dude, that means you're being selfish. Well, yeah, you have to be selfish with your personal relationships. Well, you protect them in that same right. You know what I mean? When you build that fort, and that's what makes the fucking team so tough. Like when you're all on the same page and you're stroking in the right direction, when you're not looking. Well, that's what I meant when I said you got to give it. Like, how do you develop that? Well, you give it first, dude. Yeah, you call the motherfucker out. It's part of the deal. And how you keep them in check and you keep those moral values in place because i was even though the question wasn't answered to me i was trying to figure out how

to put this back into play you know what is what is the moral connection or moral advice you could give somebody is dude always do the right thing we talk about our mom always told us when we're kids i don't give a fuck how hard it is to get out of your chest or out of your brain. You got to look the dude in his eyes and tell him the truth because they need to hear it. You know what I mean? And it creates a bond of trust because- Well, I think when you stop looking at it as something like it's going to be a hard conversation to more like, dude, I'm going to help this person by telling them this.

Yeah. It's easier to tell it, you know? Yeah. And I would say this is where I knew as soon as Jay said this back, I was like, you know, you kind of have that instant connection. You're like, all right, this is our kind of dude. Yeah. And I would say your industry, the reason you've been super successful in your industry is because probably most managers trying to figure out how to take most advantage of the situation that they possibly can versus take care of their fucking client the best way possible. You know

what I mean? Like, and we're in a supplement game. And that's something I admire about what you said earlier too, dude, is that when we were talking before the show that I really thought was cool that you said was when you said like, you know, because I know how people are, dude. I've been in business for a long time. Like most people are all about taking. And one of the things that you said you prided yourself on, and I believe you said it maybe earlier in the show too,

but I just thought it was cool when you said it, made me respect you a lot right away, was when you said, like, look, you know, we're going to look out for opportunities for these people for their life, not just for while they're here. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah.

And dude, that says something about you, because that's not really your obligation. Yeah. You know what I mean? And the tough part about it is like because that's not really your obligation. You know what I mean? And the tough part about it is like, and I'm sure you guys deal with this in your industry as well, is like we're almost conditioned to do the opposite

because as managers and lawyers, like you basically make your money off of commissions. So you're making decisions they're making. And when I say they, I think people that don't have the same moral, you know, kind of composition. I think they're making decisions based on how much I can commission today. Instead of like a long-term strategy play. And you got to have real solid, you know, your clients got to have trust in you.

Because you got to be able to look them in the eye and say, look, you know, this seven figures but this isn't the right deal it's not it doesn't align with you for this reason they're like you're fucking crazy jay exactly you know because but dude how many other guys are gonna tell you that yeah well it's harder to say no sometimes it is i mean it's a lot harder to say no than it is i do feel like when you're trying to build a brand of any sort whether it be one of our companies or whether it be one of your artists who is a brand or your own company that you know you're building that brand now where you're out in front of it um which is you know something that's new for you yeah dude i think it all i think the right decision is always the longer term decision that makes sense long

term yeah you know what i mean like i've never anytime i've ever made a decision based on what i could make today i've fucked myself every time I just stopped doing it. I started looking at it like for real, like I don't care how much money is involved today. If it doesn't align with what we're doing, then we don't do it. Yeah. Well,

it's like farming, man, but it's hard to do that when you're fucking starving. Well, and it's hard to do that when you don't have people around you that, that support you. Yeah. You know, it's like if, if Sal's like, if Sal's not to do that when you don't have people around you that, that support you. You know,

it's like, if Sal's like, if Sal's not being honest, if you're missing something, you're not seeing something. Yeah. And he is, and he doesn't have the,

you know, the, the guts or, you know, the, or the relationship to say, yo, yeah,

you're bugging. Like this is the, this is the longer term play. Yeah. You know, it's, that's why you got to surround yourself with the right people. That's why we end up in a fist fight.

Yeah, exactly. We might not agree with the direction of how it goes you know what i mean like dude we don't agree every time but you know what i don't think we've ever made the wrong decision right you know we've made some wrong ones but they're a good moral compass i'm talking about big places no no i'm with you like i mean yeah you make you're gonna make a bunch of little mistakes, but like the thing is, is you don't want to make the big ones. Right. Yeah.

And steel sharpens steel. So like you guys, you know, kind of having that. And dude, we have other personalities here in the office too. Like, you know, like Chris, you know, everybody gives Chris shit because he doesn't really say much, but if Chris speaks up, you fucking listen because he doesn't say much. Right. You know what I'm saying? So we have other personalities in the office and we you know uh jason is probably the smartest motherfucker in

here so if he speaks we listen you know what i mean um but it's uh you know it's it it's uh it is all about surrounding yourself with people that are that really just have enough courage and i don't even call it courage because when you're i mean i think that's the wrong word i think the right word is they have a good enough heart to fucking tell you the truth. Exactly. You know, I always tell people, you know, in a management and leadership situation, you know, people, people think you're being mean sometimes when you're telling them the truth. You're like, dude, why are you being so mean? I'm not being fucking mean. Being mean would be not telling you what

I'm telling you right now. Or not caring enough to tell him. Like sometimes being nice is, is, is a long-term nice play. You know what I'm saying? Like you might not like it today, but I'm trying to help you out for the rest of your life. Absolutely. Yeah. So I'd like to circle back because you, to your point, you said supplements don't talk, but don't talk back, but artists do. And I think this is a natural extension of what we're talking about. We talk about leadership on the show all the time. So here's a question.

I know a lot of people in an entrepreneur situation, they kind of lament, like, how do you work with, you know, how do you develop? Like manage the egos type of thing? Well, I was going to say, a lot of people say, how do you deal with somebody who's just not very smart? But then the opposite is true. How do you do that? Andy has this problem. How do you deal with people who are exceptionally talented that you work with? And how did you deal with them?

Are you tuning your own fucking horn down there? Two-two, motherfucker. Hashtag sarcasm. Listen to this guy. This guy has pat himself on the fucking back. It took you a second to figure it out. No, I didn't. I was actually processing it.

Did that just really go down? That was just so under the radar that I was like, oh, is this really fucking happening? It was smooth. No, but in all seriousness, you- See, Vaughn, you have learned something from me. I have, I have. You learned how to pat yourself on the back without anybody noticing. Exactly.

No, but it is. In all seriousness, I just got finished reading a huge biography on John Wooden. He was saying that everybody thinks having no talent on a team is a problem. He said the exact opposite is also very difficult. It's when you're just completely loaded with talent. So how have you developed leadership skills in dealing with just exceptionally talented, creative, and probably very opinionated people? What have you learned about the proper way to maybe influence those people? A lot of it is patience. When you think about what our gift is, is our business acumen, our ability to create strategy, our work ethic, all of those things.

A lot of these artists, their gift is different, right? And what they're kind of striving towards is a little bit different. These are people that can get up on a stage in front of thousands of people and receive their applause and, you know, and their gratitude and that kind of payoff in that way. I don't know what the fuck I would do if I was standing in front of 20,000 people. I wouldn't know what to do, you know?

So their makeup and they're wired a bit differently. And I think we have to, as managers, we have to, you know, kind of be patient and take a step back and understand you know the what we're what we're dealing with right so like you know if you're and you have to understand it you have to live it and that's why it's disappointing when you know things don't work out and artists go their separate ways is because in order for us to do management in a real way we have to be all the way in it. We got to live it. We got to breathe it. We got to know what it is that we're selling. And, you know, you're not going to go support these supplements that you haven't tried or,

you know, you don't know the ingredients. So you're not, you know, intimately connected to what's there. You have to learn it in that way. So I think you gotta learn your brand that you're building and selling, you gotta know it inside and out. So like you really need to understand who you're working with. You gotta understand it, yeah, and understand who you're dealing with.

And everybody, and the challenge in our space is that, John Doe and Jane Doe are very different in terms of, and I don't mean it in a male-female way, but I mean it just in terms of every artist is different. Their makeup is different. There's a lot to know. Yeah, how they expect things done, how they want to communicate with you,

the types of things that they want to do or they don't want to do, what they're strong at, what they're not strong at. They're all very different. You got to know down to what day, you know, so-and-so's in a bad mood and what day they're not going to be in a bad mood. Yeah. Or what's their motivation.

I think another thing to add, and I think I picked this up from Jay, and I don't think he would say this about himself. And I just, if I'm wrong, you tell me. But, dude, I think humility is a huge deal. I could tell you're a very humble dude. And I think being a leader, a lot of people think being a CEO and being a leader is being loud and boisterous

and barking orders and shit like that. It really isn't that at all. Really what it is, it's being humble enough to know what the fuck you don't know and being able to recognize what the best idea is, no matter whose it is. Yeah. So it doesn't matter if it comes from me. I don't have to have all the

answers. You don't, I do. Do you really care if you have the right answer? I, I, by the way, the right answer. Most of the times I don't have the right answer. So it was like, I, I, that's why you ask and surround yourself with good people. That's a big trait that people don't really understand about humility and what like people say, Oh, humble. Dude, that's a big trait that people don't really understand about humility and what like people say, oh, humble. Well, Andy, you're not humble because you drive fucking Lambos. No, motherfucker. It has nothing to do with it. I know what I don't know and I respect their expertise and that person's expertise and that knowledge and this knowledge. And my job as the guy who's supposed to make the decision is to take this part and that

part and this part and put them all together and throw the fucking shit out there. And hopefully it works. And you got to support your team. Yeah. Because that's that's as much as being a leader as as anything is supporting. You know, there's artists, especially with this new distribution venture that, you know, I call my team that I'm building around that. I call them the kids. And I don't mean that

in a disrespectful way but like they're fucking 17 to 25 years old yeah and I bet they're smart as fuck too they're kind of kids to me you know

and they the stuff that we've had success with to date isn't stuff that I would necessarily hear and be like yo this is it

you know they're telling me nah this is this is a go and I'm like it's a go really? like but alright you know if you guys you know I're telling me not this is this is a go and I'm like it's a go really you know if you guys you know if I'm gonna support it yeah I walk in

the back and you know they're always playing it's like rotation of music some days they play classic rock some days it's hip-hop some days it's new age pop or new rap and I always just walk back and I always just ask is this drake right yeah i have no idea no matter what genre is like is this drake it's all got that same little beat to me you know like whenever you know like tupac and biggie was like so uniquely i never started to feel fucking old until like the last couple years like listening to those guys in the warehouse the shit they listen to like i i seriously walk out and like i started listening to some of it like you you have g easy yeah i started listening to g easy i like g easy yeah i'm like this this sounds like rap to me you know what i'm saying

logic sounds like rap to me like some of this other shit out there don't fucking sound like nothing and it's like the most popular shit i've ever fucking seen it all sounds the same to me that's the whole joke like i'm like listen to like but your your parents probably said that at some point i had such reflection of my dad in that sense, you know, but it's like, it paints that perspective. Just like you were saying earlier about your parents, you know, they were taped to CDs. Now we're the fucking, we're the fucking old heads. Yeah, we're the old heads. And you got it.

Like you said, you got to, you got to be humble. Otherwise the shit you put out will suck. Yeah. And I see, I've seen it. I've seen some executives that are so caught up in their own hype that they can't. Because they always made that right call. And it's like you can't. You can't ride the pass, man.

It's the sports analogy. I can help you understand how to go out and get 20 and 10, but I can't go get 20. I can't go be LeBron James today. I got to be Pat Riley or yeah you know I got to put myself in a different I think that's the thing a lot of people don't even realize this and this is something that I've seen because we've been doing it um for for a long time now or what people would consider a long time I don't feel like it's been a long time but um this is something for some of you guys who are listening right now who have found some success.

You know, just because you made the right calls last year and the year before that, and the year before that doesn't mean that your calls you're making right now are the right ones. And a lot, I call it the Midas touch, man. People think that they got the Midas touch. That's why you see people make money and they make, let's say they make fucking a hundred million bucks, but then they, they've never, and they've never been in the restaurant game before. So what do they go do? I'm going to be a restaurant guy and they go pour 50 million bucks into a fucking restaurant and they get slaughtered.

You don't know about restaurants. So why the fuck are you doing restaurants? My dad talked me out of a restaurant probably 30 times over. I keep going back to him. I'm like, no, I got a new idea. A new concept. He's like, it's not a restaurant. Is it? It's like, it's not happening. I got it. I'm like, no, I got a new idea. A new concept. He's like, no. It's not a restaurant, is it?

It's like, it's not happening. I got it. I'm not doing it. I think I have a great lesson for the young entrepreneur here because as, you know, as my career has progressed, leading, there's only one way to lead and it's by example, right? But understanding how to create leaders underneath you is a real, it was a struggle for me because I'm a-

And dude, I think that's one of the hardest parts of controlling the process, being a CEO slash president slash whatever you want to say, shot caller in the business is duplicating the leadership ability. Well, and you think, look at Jay's, his business model, and you start talking about trusting the process, but you have to learn to build these guys and gals into people of character and, and, and learn to think like you and let them fail and let them swim and let them go out on their own and then try to teach them and reel them in. And it's a long, it's a hard thing to let somebody go fail on their own. It's a hard thing to lead and teach those people like, Hey, listen, all right. I think you should go this way. But if you think that's the decision, then you'd fucking go.

Yeah. Cause most people can't learn by any other way than experience. And that's fire's hot you're still figuring that motherfucker you know yeah you got touched a couple times think about jay's business man he's got these 17 to 25 year old kids and kind of shit out of luck you better say hey i gotta trust you a lot yeah you know what i mean there's actual other aspects to that too is that when you have a young leader somebody who's have responsibility to make a decision and they fuck up dude these those kids, those kids take it hard, man. You know what I'm saying? Then you got to become the, you got to become the guy who's building back up. But you want the guy, you want the people that are going to take it hard.

You know, it's like, you know, I'm saying there's like a dad aspect to it too. Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Dude, I have guys in my companies fuck shit up. It costs me a lot of fucking money. Yeah. And they're like, dude, I'll understand if you want to fire me.

It's like, bro, if I fire you, I'm going to bring the next motherfucker in. He's going to make the same mistake. He's going to lose $150,000. Let's learn from this and move forward. Exactly. But that's a hard piece to develop. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Because you know it's the wrong decision or you think it's the wrong decision. It could end up being the right decision, right? But you push him out into the water and you're like, fuck, it's the wrong decision or, you know, you think it's the wrong decision. It could end up being the right decision. Right. But you like push them out into the water and you're like, fuck, I hope he can swim. You know, like that's, that's just a, it's a good learning lesson. I think for the young guy, when you're trying to breed, cause everybody always asks, how do you get so many good guys? Well, you got to fucking breed them. You know what I mean? You got to fucking build them, man. And you build them through mistakes and some, you know, wins too. I mean, you learn a lot from fucking winning, but you got to let them swim. You got to.

And let go of the process. Stop choking them out because eventually they're going to go somewhere where they can't swim. Yeah, and you got to be there for them when they bump their head. Yeah. And you want the ones that are passionate about it. And you want the ones that can bump their head a lot. Yeah.

Okay, go bump your head again. Exactly. You don't want the guy that keeps bumping his head on the same bump, though. No, no, no. New bumps. New bumps. All over the head. All right, so nerd insight here for a second.

If you go back, like if you go to Wikipedia and you look at all the historical records of the head coaching records of different coaches, if you look back at like, you know, the 70s, the 60s, the sixties, the fifties, something you'll see is that in, in a ton of cases, guys that ended up being hall of fame, like Titans of coaching their first eight to 10 years, they had pretty bad records. And what I think is interesting is that really can't happen now. And so if you're an AD, you could be firing somebody who maybe if you give them a couple more. That's how every champion is built, bro.

Yeah. In any space, in any sport. But do you agree that there's no tolerance for that anymore? No, there wasn't then either. You'll see guys who fucking lose, lose, lose. They lose here. They lose there. They lose here.

They lose there. And then all of a sudden, they're fucking great. Dude, I was looking at this. I was looking at a. I was looking at a... Fuck, I forget. I was looking at something on Wikipedia about Jerome Bettis. Yeah. So when Jerome Bettis played his first three years with the Rams,

he played from 93 to 95 with the Rams. They drafted Lawrence Phillips, who was a total bust. Right. And they traded Bettis the day they drafted phillips the day they drafted him all right phillips ended up committing suicide in prison fucking did all kinds of shit bettis goes on to be a hall of famer right you get what i'm saying pittsburgh right yeah yeah yeah the bus dude yeah fuck i mean pittsburgh he's fucking dude a bus the first 265 tailback dude he's 260 fucking pounds of twisted steel and

fucking roast beef he's a good bowler fun fact you know that dude guys like that are good at everything yeah i remember watching him at notre dame we're getting off the subject but fuck he was a stud at notre dame i mean if i'm the same right laurence phillips was a fucking stud in nebraska yeah he was i mean right a little bit goofy in the head, but he could run a fucking football. But I mean, at the same, I mean, going to your sports analogy, and there's a specific Packers team, and I don't know exactly which year, but it was in the mid-90s, 98, 99, when they went to the Super Bowl. On that coaching staff, there was, at one point in time,

there was eight of nine guys were head coaches in the league shanahan holmgren yeah yeah before that um who's the fucking quarterback analysis jude gruden yeah but before that they were all um it was the niners the niners bred all those guys yeah dude look man you can't learn to win without learning to lose first right you know and like dude the truth is is like i I've met very few people who are just lifetime winners at everything they fucking did. And if they were, they were super hard workers. Okay? Like for me-

Steve, he just talked about me. It was amazing. Most of the people I know that are consistently successful, you have to lose for a long time because here's the thing. And it's not what you think there's all the first part of it is, yeah, you got to get your brains beat in and learn how not to do everything to then learn how to do stuff. That that's what most people think. But the reason that most people become champion fucking lifetime winners is because they went through that time where it was so bad.

And when they start winning, they never want to go back. So they keep their sword sharp. They keep their foot on the fucking gas. And they don't ever take a playoff. You know what I'm saying? People who get success quick, people who win early, they think that winning is easy. That's why you see so many people who are young and they, they have a company in 24, 25 years old and they do something and they make, you know,

half a million bucks or a million bucks and they're like, Holy fuck, dude, this is easy. And then what happens to them? They fucking lose. Right. And they get their brains beat in. Yeah. One hit wonders. Yeah. And dude, that's why, you know, you, you have to, dude, I can tell you right now, people ask me all the time. They're like, dude, when are why, you know, you have to, dude, I can tell you right now, people ask me all the time. They're like, dude, when are you going to retire? You can retire. Yeah, I could fucking retire.

I'd never work a day in my life again. You know how boring that would be? First of all, I would hate it. Second of all, dude, I don't feel like I've done anything yet because I was so broke for so fucking long that I like, I don't want to go back to that. Like, I'm terrified of it. No, it's like PTSD of it no it's like ptsd of being it's funny we were talking earlier about when i sold my first business i thought it was i had enough to retire yeah and

you know you wake up a few years later and it's like shit i i'm fucked up yeah i don't know money like you know it's like yeah i thought you could you know you had made enough to retire from me to bring up around surrounding yourself with people that are that are further down the road You know, it's like, I thought you could, you know, you had made enough to retire. Who's stealing from me? Exactly. I think that's another point to bring up around surrounding yourself with people that are further down the road with you. Like, I like to personally be around people and spend time with people who are 10 to 15 years further from where I am. Because like, dude, their version of success and my version of success is so different. So it makes me want to level up.

You know what I mean? Like, dude, I think being able to keep that hunger over the course of 50 years, that's what makes people great. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's not like, it's not this thing of like, you know, Oh, this person was gifted or this or that. I think really, truly it comes down to somebody realizing that they ain't fucking shit and that they've got more work to do. The minute you start thinking you've got it made and you've got the money you need and you've got this and that and this, people stop working. And what happens if you stop working? You fucking lose. I told the guys on Monday at our Monday morning meeting, I said, you're like a tree. Your life is just like a tree. You're either growing

or you're dying. At one point in time, that tree stops growing and the motherfucker starts dying. You better keep growing. You stay on the gas. You keep moving. You just keep fucking throttling. People tell me, they're like, dude, Andy,

how much do you need to this and that? It's not about that. It's not what it's about. You're either growing or dying. Yeah, it's about keeping going. And dude, you know what would happen to me if I fucking quit? I do.

What? You'd spend all your money. Not only that. You can hope that there was more Pacific Rim movies coming out. I saw the second one. Did you?

Yeah, it was decent. Yeah. So, no, but I would drink myself to death. I would fucking drink every single fucking day. I would be 500 fucking pounds

at least and I'd be miserable. So I have to keep going or I'll die. Yeah die yeah you know that's truth i'd break up with my old lady i would certainly drink yeah yeah so i wouldn't know what to do you know what i mean yeah yeah i don't know what to do so yeah dude i don't know like i just think that like i think that being able to figure out and put yourself in places to maintain that hunger and that drive is like crucial, man. And like, dude, you can do that a number of different ways. You can, you can, you can hang out with people who are more successful

than you. You know what I'm saying? You can stay extremely humble, no matter how much money you have, realize that you have shit. Okay. You can think about the, the, the lack of significance of your life. What's your life really mean? Oh, you made some money. What's that mean? Right. Well, I was going to actually spin that on you. I was going to, cause you said earlier, my legacy is going to be this. And I also said this Monday at the meeting, you know, like I'm at that weird transition and I think you'll relate to this in, in, in dad land. Like I'm at that weird transition where you, you never stop. Like I'm wired to win. Like I want to win. I love the question. And I asked this question every once in a while on this page, do you hate to lose or do you love to win? Like I want to win. I love the question. Andrew asks this question every once in a while on his page.

Do you hate to lose or do you love to win? Like what is the fucking thing? And like, I always, most of the time I mean, vote on the motherfucker. Cause I don't know where I stand. Cause I hate to lose so fucking bad,

but man, I love the taste of winning. You know what I mean? Like I fucking love the taste of winning. Yeah, but if you hate to lose, the win will be there. But you love the taste of winning,

then you understand you'll win at all costs. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like, where do you sit? I'm a hate to lose motherfucker. Like, dude, I will fucking cut my own fucking face off to fucking win.

I don't care what I got to do to win, but, but, but like, dude, but that's my point. It's like, if you hate to lose enough,

you're going to win. Yeah. But do you cut your face off? Cause you love to win or hate to lose. I would fuck. I would cut my face off to fucking beat you. You better start cutting. Yeah.

Hold on. Let me get out there. I just love the line in The Office that Andy says. This is my motto. He says, Andrew Bernard does not lose. He wins all contests. And those he loses, he quits because they're unfair. I was going to make a political joke there, but we'll stay out of that. It's, um, no, but my, you know, my legacy and I, I've had to kind of had this, you know, dad transversion

in that sense where I care more about people, what people will tell my kids when I'm dead and how my kids live. And I say this to my guys. That's what I'm trying to say though. No, no, I understand. Like what I'm saying is, is when you think about what your life really means and what your impact really has been like for me like dude if i would have died today i would have made some money but what i really fucking do oh i did a couple things i helped a lot of people change their lives i created a lot of jobs for people but i mean that's not enough it's still in the it's so it's so small that it really doesn't matter you know what i'm saying yeah and that's what i like that motivates me

so i'm like fuck dude i want to do more well and i was telling those guys on you know or the guys and girls where we have a monday morning company-wide meeting every monday and and i told them come hell or high water like that that's what matters most to me and i learned to live that way and make decisions based off of of that process because i know if i can make these men and women better people better overall individuals empower them make their lives better allow them to succeed what are they gonna tell my kids when i'm fucking dead because now i'm like instilling values that man made a huge tremendous impact in my life and and so when you start leading that way by example in that sense good shit just starts not even just leading that

way it's living your life that way of course but i mean it's amazing like you know you you and you're gonna make mistakes along the way yeah you know You know, I think something, I think something that people struggle with too, man, is when they do fuck up and they make a mistake, they have a hard time forgiving themselves. You know, they have a hard time like saying, Hey, I fucked up and it's okay. Cause everybody fucks up. Dude. The best part is like, and that's a, that's a, that's a character building process. One thing I've learned now is I just admit when I'm wrong right out of the gate. It takes off all the shit. It's like, whose fault is it?

My fault. I'll sit on that shit. And then it's like, psst. All right, what's next? So if you have one thing to say to, and I know I hate these questions when people ask me, but if you have one thing to say to a I mean, I know I hate these questions when people ask me, but if you have one thing to say to like a young entrepreneur, because we have a lot of people who are interested in music to listen to this podcast a lot, because a lot of them make music for us and send it to us. If you had a piece of advice or a piece of wisdom that you could share with all your

experience in this industry for guys that are trying to do it now, what would that be? It's funny you asked that. Cause I've been kind of battling with that. Cause my son is into, into music. 17, right? Yeah. And, um, that's the last thing I wanted him to do. Um, and for a lot of reasons and, um, and you know, what, but what I've watched him do and what allowed me to support him being in music is I watched the sacrifices that he made. Right. You know, and what I would encourage, if there was one thing that I could tell, you know, young people to do to try to, you know, break into this space, you got to, you know, it would be make sacrifices and work hard. And at the end of the day, this space really boils back down to music.

Like these platforms that we create, these new music consumption and all of these changes and all of this shit is like at the end of the day, it's gonna boil back down to good music. Which is going to come down to doing the work. Yeah, doing the work, putting the work in. And for my son who doesn't go to parties on the weekends,

doesn't, you know, sacrifices hanging out with his friends, you know, he's either, he just graduated from high school, but when he was in school he's either in school or in the studio yeah nowhere else yeah you know he's not what it takes yeah and he's not hard to find because he's you know and you know so and and it wasn't it's something that i feel like i hope that i instilled in him but you know just more from watching versus you know because that's how i have to live my life. I'm either working or I'm with my kids and my family.

And I've missed a lot. I've missed birthdays. I've missed weddings. I've missed parties. I've missed things that I like to do personally. I've sacrificed a lot to be able to have the lifestyle that we, you know, that my family has. So I'm hoping my son, you know, I'd like to take a little bit of credit for it. It sounds like he's recognizing it.

Yeah. It's like, he's saying that, but like he makes, he makes the sacrifices and, you know, some of these young- Nobody can pay those dues for you, man. You can't, you can't, you can't, nobody can pay them for you. And, you know, as, as many situations as, as, you know, folks could potentially put you in, if you haven't, you know, there's a book called the outliers that I encourage young people to read. And it's like, it talks about, you know, your 10,000 hours, um, you know, 10 years or 10,000 hours. Yeah. And it's like, until you've, until you've put that, that work in, you know, you still got a lot of work to do, you know? And so I, and dude, and I think that's, I think it's important because it, this, this concept, it, it transcends every, uh, space.

Okay. You are going to have to do the work. And a lot of you guys think that if you meet this person or you connect with this person, this is why I get so pissed off when these young, young guys talk about networking, motherfucker, what the fuck are you networking for you should be working on your whatever it is that you're supposed to do because dude if you meet that one person or you make that connection by chance that you think you're gonna make and you ain't ready for it guess what they're never calling you again ever no matter if it's 10 years down the road you know so you got to be ready and that comes from the work yeah you got to put the work in yeah it's amazing it's 10 years down the road, you know, so you gotta be ready. And that comes from the work. Yeah. You gotta put the work in.

Yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing how that concept transcends all the space. And it feels so simple, but it's like in any, in any space, in any career, I think people are conditioned to look for the shortcut.

Like, do you think of all the marketing that's put out there to talk about the shortcut of the work? You know what I'm saying? Buy this program and you'll be here. Buy this pill and you'll lose 100 pounds. Right. And this is coming

from a motherfucker that owns a supplement company. There ain't no fucking pill that's going to make you lose 100 pounds without you working your fucking ass off. Is there a six pack one though?

I made a post about that today. Yeah, that was a good post. You either do the work or you don't. Yeah, you either do or you didn't. That's it. And that's it.

And 90% of the work equals 0%. That's it. Yeah. You're getting the same result of it. If you do 90% of the work, you're getting 0% of the result. Just like if you did nothing. So you might as well just go watch the fucking walking dead, you know? Well, dude, thanks for coming in for the show. Thanks for having me. This is fun. Yeah. This is great. Good to meet you guys too. Yeah. So dude, um, where can the guys find you if they want to follow you, connect with you, like on social media? The new venture that we're really hyper-focused on now

is Human Resources. Okay. And it's human-re-sources.com. Okay. So that's our website and we're on Instagram. Cool. Okay. Um, so that's our website and, uh, we're on Instagram. Um, and, uh, you know, and, um, we're responsive, you know, we try to respond to, you know, everybody that reaches out to us. And, um, so cool. Make sure you guys are following them and follow along with them. Uh, again, bro. Thanks. Appreciate having you on. Thank you. Thank you guys. Guys. Don't

forget if you got some value of the show, which was basically fucking impossible not to, uh, give it a share, tell a friend, uh, and let's get them on the MFCL movement. All right, guys, thank you so much for the support. We'll see you next time. Outro Music