Right About Now with Ryan Alford - First Class Women in Business

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to The Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, Ryan Alford here, host of The Radcast. I am pumped for this episode and you should be too. I am pumped for this episode, and you should be too. We've had some of the coolest, baddest, most amazing women on the Radcast the last couple years, and we wanted to aggregate it all for you.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Some of the best of our baddest women in business, sports, and everything else. These women are spectacular. They're kicking ass and taking names. And you need to take their names. We got Christina Ferrari. We got Tracy Dews, reality TV star Heidi Montag. We've got the number two UFC fighter in the world in the women's division, Raquel Pennington. And of course, the lovely Heidi Cortez. I'm going to let them introduce themselves. So much good knowledge, so much good insight for any entrepreneur at any level or any business person or anyone just wanting to know good habits for how to get ahead. So much great content all brought together in one of the best of Radcast editions. I know you're going to love it. I loved it. You know where to find us, theradcast.com. Enjoy. We're talking water today. We're talking H2O. We're talking the

Starting point is 00:01:29 queen of elixirs. We're talking Tracy Dues. What's up, Tracy? What's up, Ryan? We're talking black and blue in the face. Raquel Pennington, welcome to the show. Yeah, thanks for having me. A charming woman that I was excited to talk to, and she might not know why, but we're going to get into that. But Christina Ferrari, great to have you on the show. Thank you. I'm so excited to be on the show.

Starting point is 00:01:53 I don't want to call this part two with Miss Heidi Montag. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited for an interesting journey today with Heidi Cortez. What's up, Heidi? Hey, what's up? Thanks for having me, Ryan. Hey, my pleasure.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Let's start from the beginning. I know our 40-minute podcast, we could just talk about your accolades and everything you've done, but let's at least set the stage for everybody. I guess your condensed life story, I don't want to shortchange it, but I do want to build towards today and talk more about your recent books, which was where I saw some connection points. But let's at least tell everybody more about you if they haven't already heard. There's probably a lot of our listeners that have heard of you, a lot of executives that we work with, but I'd love to talk a little bit about your story. Well, I've always been an entrepreneur since I was a child.

Starting point is 00:02:45 I started doing businesses at 12. By 13, I was lying about my age to get jobs because when you're 13, you can't really, you can't get a work license or a business license. And when I was 13, I used my sister's birth certificate and social security card to get a job and pretend that I was her. And I got a job at Ross, Ross Dress for Less. Her name's Courtney. So I had a name tag that said Courtney. I was working the registers during the holiday season for like $4.75 an hour. And I was so happy to have that job because we were really poor growing up. I was very underprivileged,

Starting point is 00:03:24 grew up with a single mom, older sister, younger brother. And we were really poor growing up. I was very underprivileged, grew up with a single mom, older sister, younger brother. And we were loved a lot, but we didn't have any money. We, you know, grew up on like eating beans all the time and lentils. And if we wanted to, you know, have nicer things in life or clothes or things like that, my mom really encouraged us to get a job. So my mom knew what I was doing about using my sister's birth certificate and social security card and getting a job at Ross. And I held down the job for several months until my sister got mad at me and called them and told them that I was her little sister who stole her wallet. But she was such a business

Starting point is 00:04:01 person and entrepreneur too, that she was charging me every week to use her name. I would say if I had to say how I got the most successful, it would probably be through ignorance is bliss, you know? Just not really taking no for an answer. When I was a little girl, my dad would tell me, just dream, anything's possible. So as I was growing up, I just thought, you know, if you just like work really hard, you

Starting point is 00:04:26 can have whatever you want. And so I just kept driving and pushing and it worked. Definitely worked. It became, I got all the things I wanted, became what I wanted to be. But it's interesting because I don't think like what one person's definition of success is isn't someone else's. So my definition of success has changed since the beginning of my life. When I was younger, I thought success would be if I had the money, the house, the cars, the lifestyle, the trips. But now my idea of success

Starting point is 00:05:02 is how connected are my relationships? How connected am I am to myself, to divine, to God? How healthy am I? Am I enjoying life? Am I waking up in the morning with peace, with joy, with excitement? That's my higher definition of success now? Yeah, you know, I mean, I've always been an athlete. I've been doing sports since I was five and kind of just I never thought in a million years I'd grow up to be a professional fighter. But I guess that's what I'm destined to do. And, you know, I started in the sport in 2010. And then in 2012, I believe it was, I made my pro debut. And, you know, the sport has been a it's been a journey. It's been a ride. It's fun. You get your highs to highs and your lowest to lows. But overall, I mean, for me, I've had the opportunity to where life is just like really set me up to where, I mean, I just straight focus on fighting and, you know, my life consists of waking up and go to the gym and having some lunch and focusing on nutrition and going

Starting point is 00:06:04 back to the gym, getting some naps in and repeating five days a week. And then on the weekends, I just try to enjoy myself. So it's definitely a journey. In Cleveland, Ohio, I was born there. I'm a good Midwestern girl. I was brought up there. So I had all the values of home and family. And my parents were immigrants from Italy. Actually, my father was stationed in the war in Italy. And we moved to Cleveland. And by the time I was 14, my parents moved to Los Angeles. And then long story short, I came home from school one day, my mother was having lunch with a new friend she made. And she said, your daughter is pretty. Have you ever thought of maybe perhaps modeling? So I up at the nina blanchard agency in los angeles which is the equivalent to the uh ford agency in new york and uh i was 14 years old and by the time i was 15

Starting point is 00:06:57 max factor put me under contract and to them and i i was their spokesperson for over 20 years, which is a very long lifespan in a model's life. But it ain't forever, isn't it? Well, I was actually living abroad in Italy in my junior year of high school, and I didn't want to go back to high school. So instead of having a senior year of high school, I ended up having a freshman year of college. And I ended up meeting Lauren Conrad there. And she was like, oh, I'm on this show called the Guna beach. And I was like, that is so cool. Great. Uh, cause there was rumored that this girl was on MTV that was there, but it hadn't aired. So none of us knew. Um, and her and I had become best friends. And then she told me about that. And then, um, I lived

Starting point is 00:07:42 with her over the summer and then she said, hey, I'm going to have my own for like a month in the summer. She said, I'm going to have my own show. I really want you to be on it. I want to move to LA with you. The producers actually didn't want me on. They're like, no, we want Lauren moving to LA by herself and we need this whole struggle with her in the city. And she's like, no, I'm not living alone and I'm not going to live with a stranger and I want my best friend there. So her and I filmed season one. I met Spencer in between season one and season two and I fell in love with him. He fell in love with me too, but he was a little scared.

Starting point is 00:08:17 So whatever. What's been like a struggle? I mean, you know, entrepreneur to entrepreneur, like what's been your biggest struggle running businesses and, you know, like wherever you feel like you've grown the most, I mean, kind of, kind of a two part, two part message there. Okay. Um, so first of all, my biggest struggle in life ever was being a teenage mom. My son is now a 22 army veteran and, um, everybody thought I wasn't going to make it. They're like, how are you going to do this? But I was a 20 or I was an 18 year old single mom and I pulled it off. I can't believe it. I moved down to LA with my son, just he and I, and we didn't know anybody. And I, I pulled it

Starting point is 00:08:58 off. I can't believe I made it happen, but that was by far the biggest struggle. I've never been married. So I've never been divorced, and I've just done everything on my own. And I think when people find that out and they're like, well, you know, maybe she had help or financial backing and that wasn't my case. And so when they find out that I was also a young single mom, it makes it more relatable and people can understand that that is a huge struggle to go through by yourself. So that, to answer your question, is my biggest struggle, was my biggest struggle. Well, the thing is, is a lot of people are paralyzed when bad things happen to them and

Starting point is 00:09:37 they don't know what to do. I was never that kind of a person because I realized that I needed to move forward. And I also realized, too, for me, I needed to be independent. I needed to make my own money. I needed to have my own freedom. And that gave me freedom. But the joy that I received from that I had having children and having my husband and the support of, you know, my family. That just kept me going forward. I look at myself now at 71 years old and, you know, it's hard. I look at myself in the mirror and, you know, it's, you know, I got makeup on.

Starting point is 00:10:20 You take all this off. This isn't so perfect, you know, but it's okay. I'm okay with who I am as a person. And I believe that even though I am aging and I don't have that power anymore, my daughters have it now. And it gives me great delight to sit back and watch them do that, you know. But they're like I am. They don't think of themselves that way. They're very much into the same things I was about family and cooking and home. Oh, that's true beauty.

Starting point is 00:10:52 For me personally, like, obviously, my job isn't only just being in the gym and getting into the best shape possible and working on my technique and skill. For me, I mean, I have genetics and I come from a Hispanic family to where my job starts in the kitchen too. So, you know, I'm constantly working there. And then there's just some days that, honestly, training gets so tough that my body, I mean, being 33, being an athlete since I was five, I've had crazy injuries.

Starting point is 00:11:18 And then the injuries you sustain throughout fighting and throughout this career. I mean, living in Colorado, Colorado, I feel the aches and pains when that winter hits, you know, and so it's like, there's some days that I don't even want to move. And it comes down to, you know, sometimes maybe twice a week, I have to go to physical therapy, and I'm getting dry needling, I'm getting massages. I have a massage every week, I live in the chiropractor's office three days a week and I'm constantly doing something like that some days it consists of you know just go sitting in a

Starting point is 00:11:50 steam room or a sauna and it's not to cut weight or lose weight but just to like relax the body and um other times they'll be at home and taking a hot bath and then some days it's just it's non-stop grinds like you have to listen to your body. So I take Saturday and Sunday off, but even with that, I'm super active. So I'm constantly doing something. And this sport, like I said, it gives you the highest, the highs and the lowest, the lows. And it's tough when you're on a platform, it's tough when you're in the spotlight and when you're in the media and you have all these expectations to live up to.

Starting point is 00:12:20 So not only do you have to work on your body physically, but you have to work on yourself mentally. And so I do sports psychology in there and it's's just it's nonstop. Yeah, absolutely. It was definitely us versus the world. And at a point, you know, we weren't talking to my family, because we felt like they were going against us and not being supportive and his family. And so there have been so many times where it literally was just Spencer and I and it drove us closer together. And for a lot of people would have completely tore them apart, but being against all these producers and conglomerates, and it just

Starting point is 00:12:50 made us such a tight, you know, unit. And so I think the hardest challenge for us was, has actually been running Pratt Daddy. I think that's been the hardest thing for us because it's such a constant. So when it's TV and when it's your own personalities, there's just not as much that you have to deal with with all these details and like continually being hit over the head with payroll and how much do we spend on this and how much do we spend on that? And it's hard because at first it was Spencer's company basically that he was doing and I had a newborn. I'm like, great, whatever.

Starting point is 00:13:19 I'll just promo it. And now it's become both of us and I always have to be the bad cop with finances. And this is like, I don't want to be that. I don't want to have to get into that. So I think our hardest challenge has been this company. What makes, where does this entrepreneurial drive come from? Like, you know, I know you talked about the early age and doing it, but like, you feel like it's like innate. I mean, I, it sounds like you're born that way on some level but maybe the I don't know what does that what generates that I think a lot of it has to do with um you know my mom's support of like like allowing me to get jobs early and no matter what I told my mom I wanted to do when I was a kid, she was like, Heidi, that's a great

Starting point is 00:14:05 idea. Heidi, you should do that. And she never said no. She never said you can't do this. And like I said, we were so broke and I was so underprivileged that I would dream about how I can be successful or how could I provide for my family someday. So I think that for me is where my drive comes from, but I couldn't think of it any other way. This is definitely my passion and to be relatable to other people that maybe have upbringings like me. I grew up in a very conservative family and, you know, I, I, I chose a different route. I was not, I was not a traditional, um, you know, by the books person and I didn't want to go to college and, and my family was very supportive

Starting point is 00:14:51 the whole way through. So I just wanted to be like that. So I thought the way that I could be like that, I'm talking about when I was really little, like five, six, I thought I had to be in Hollywood to, to have that kind of lifestyle. So I, um I always thought one day I want to go to Hollywood and do that, but also I want to help people. So how do I do both? So I thought, well, I'm going to be an actress, but I'm also going to be a doctor too. So when I was, I was blessed with the opportunity of getting through high school in one year and started college at 15 and a half. And I wouldn't say that I was the most like genius kid or anything like that. I was just very driven. And my first semester of college, I think I started with 21 science units, had to go. I think I started with 21 science units. I remember walking into the dean's office at 15

Starting point is 00:15:48 and saying, I want to do this. I want to become a doctor someday. I want to help people. And I don't want to waste any time. Will you sign this so that I can take all these units? And he's like, sure. And I did well. I got on the Dean's list that year and I just pushed through. And that next summer, since my dad was a missionary, I got to go to an indigenous village in Guatemala and shadow a surgeon, just witness so many things, surgery, vaccinations, you name it. And it was really fun. And it was the most eye opening experience. One of the things that I took home with me that I never forgot was how precious water is. Exactly. Yeah. Where does where do you gain? who are your influences now? Like, you know, like where do you go for inspiration?

Starting point is 00:16:46 And I don't know what, what, what keeps Heidi happy? You know, I don't know. This might sound so cheesy, but my mom, she has like the sweetest, like, I mean, she's like the sweetest angel that ever lived. My mother is my inspiration. And I just think about how she was so loving and so supporting. And, you know, I thought everybody's parents were like that. And when I got older and I realized that everybody else wasn't. So my mom, you know, she's my inspiration. I live for my mother. I live

Starting point is 00:17:19 for my son. And, you know, those are people that that I love and I aspire to be like. I used to think about the opportunity. One thing that my father instilled in me was like anything you want to do or become, you can. And your your greatest struggle is going to be figuring out what you want that to be, because once you decide it, it'll be. But you just need to figure, you know, figuring it out. I want to help people, but I don't want to cut people open and give them shots that didn't resonate with my personal journey. So I thought, Hmm, okay, I want to help people, but how else can I help them? And the second thing was how precious water was and to be grateful for it.

Starting point is 00:18:05 And that someday I want to go back and help these people. You know, I was in school for, before my fight career really kicked off, I was going to school to be a doctor. And so like, I have a lot of schooling underneath me and I love learning. So, I mean, I don't care what age I am. Like I'll go back to school and do different things. And I have a lot of like credentials under me when it comes to like I mean, I don't care what age I am. Like, I'll go back to school and do different things. And I have a lot of like credentials under me when it comes to like, physical training and all this

Starting point is 00:18:29 other stuff. I love coaching. I love just being around the athletic world. I'm really into like physical therapy and recovery and all different things. And you know, I want to open a gym, I was getting ready to open a gym and then COVID hit. So there's different things there. I have a lot of investments and stuff for myself and whatnot. Like I'm always thinking about with like the future and everything. I love living in the present, but at the same time, like I do things after every fight or just in my daily life to set up my future. And so, you know, I mean, I want a family. I want kids. I want to be able to run around with my little rugrats and hang out, travel the world. So there's a lot there. Like, you know, people wake up and they honestly like they have two struggles in life.

Starting point is 00:19:14 And like it really sucks. And we all go through things and everything. But like my issue is I wake up and I'm like overwhelmed because I have like too many goals and too much ambition and it's like frustrating to like sort through and calm myself down with so those are things that I'm like working on there's a lot in the works and I uh I feel like whatever I put my mind to it'll definitely happen what um what advice do you give to people that want to get into the sport like you know it's probably universal. It doesn't matter if it's a woman or a man, but on some level, I mean, I know there's some nuances, I'm sure.

Starting point is 00:19:51 But I mean, how do you counsel people? I'm sure you get a lot of questions about that. Yeah, everybody always asks. And, you know, like, you're not going to have an answer for yourself until you try it. That's all you can do. So go out there and try and put your best foot forward and have fun. And, you know, I tell them it's going to be highest to highs and lowest to lows, even in training, you're going to have people of all different skill levels. And, you know, at the

Starting point is 00:20:12 end of the day, remain humble and have fun, have fun with whatever you're doing. But I mean, you're going to get in shape and remember why you're there. Like, don't set these like outrageous goals and expectations for yourself. Like just embrace the journey and have fun with it every single day and let yourself grow. What's been your biggest learning lesson to date from running Pratt Daddy? Oh my gosh. Is it just that overall complexity? Yeah, it's so hard and it's just a balance of spending as well. So we just deal with that every month because the more crystals you

Starting point is 00:20:45 buy, the more money that you make, but then you can't be spending all of your money into inventory. Payroll being more efficient. I'm the one who always has to fire and hire basically. So that has never been a fun job. I get all the really fun jobs, you know, like the, I'm the bad guy. So good cop, bad cop. But I think also knowing your roles and, and some, I think that's been the biggest learning curve with Spencer. And I'm like, sometimes I'm just going to let him be like, great. And let him figure something else out and, you know, pick my battles with certain things. So I think just between us and kind of getting that going has been hard. Um, also we've just done so much trial and error with a

Starting point is 00:21:26 photographer and product placement. So trying to eliminate that and gosh, it's just been so much. Tracy, how'd you get so damn successful? I think really being successful is being able to just connect with people and have fun with people and create community and show up and have a vision and those kind of things if you just keep showing up every day and you're faithful and you're fun and you're kind and you're honest you're gonna go somewhere so and just do the things that light you up that get you excited we've all been given gifts that are unique to us and it's not an accident so the things that make you smile or light you up chances are you're really good at that you know as you go through life and i look at my life as a book and chapters in a book and each part is a part. And there are good things that happen to you along the way.

Starting point is 00:22:27 I'm pretty, can I say shitty things? Oh yes, please. This is the rad cast. Okay. All right. I'm always trying to edit myself.

Starting point is 00:22:39 Oh, please don't. No editing on the rad cast. Yes. Yeah. And then, you know, you have to pick yourself up and move on because

Starting point is 00:22:47 life is a series of events and you know good stuff bad stuff and you know that's that's how i conducted my life i know it's been obvious like i see that from what i've read and from afar and it's what i'm mired about you is it seemed like you uh you're a damn fighter like where where does that come from though I've heard that you've told three or four different stories but out of every single one of them I it's a theme coming through and I always ask people like you know because not everyone is that way you know especially in today's society seems like everyone kind of goes the other way where did that come from uh i'm italian number one okay all right starts there um you know what i don't know where that really comes from it just i know that it's

Starting point is 00:23:34 always served me well but my my girls call this side of me ristina panari that's their like evil twin it's like whenever somebody, you know, backs me up or if I have to do something, they'll go, mom, you know, Christina Panari came out today and I had to assert myself to, in order to get what it was that I needed. And they said, you know, it works. They used to get frightened every time they saw Christina come out and they would leave. get frightened every time they saw Christina come out and they would leave. But I think it's just a survival mode that I've always had because I, I, I, I enjoy everything I do. And like, if you'd ask me like now, if you could go back and change one thing, would you change it?

Starting point is 00:24:18 And I would say, no, absolutely not. I don't sense that in you. That's why I wasn't even going to ask that. I don't sense. I know, but I don't, I don't, I don't sense that in you. That's why I wasn't even going to ask that. I don't sense. I don't know, but I, I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't sense that you'd change anything,

Starting point is 00:24:30 but I, cause I feel like you've learned and you've rebounded. Like if you were someone that dwelled, which I don't sense in you, like I might ask that, but I can tell you don't dwell. You, you're a problem solver,

Starting point is 00:24:41 you're a fixer, a fighter, whatever it is. I don't know. I don't even know you, but that's what I sense in you. Well, I think it's important. What I've learned in life very young, and I believe that failure or what you perceive as failure to be

Starting point is 00:24:55 is opportunity disguised as deep disappointment. I love that. I made that up, by the way. Did you really? All right. we're going to circle that one that that's going to make we do highlight clips from these that's making the highlight clips and going to be a quote and uh if you see that on my personal page i will i obviously give you credit but i love that but i believe that and every single time and i'm not

Starting point is 00:25:23 exaggerating or lying by about this every single time one of those bumps in the road happened always turned out to be the best thing that happened for me because it turned me around in another direction and brought new opportunity. If that hadn't have happened, I wouldn't have met my husband. If I hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't have written the book. Or if I hadn't written the book, I wouldn't have come up with the idea for the food company that we just started. So everything turns out for a reason. And when you look back on it, did it hurt? Did you cry? Did you do?

Starting point is 00:25:56 Yeah, I did all of that. Did I get mad? I also believe in letting your feeling to show your true feelings. And you don't have to hold anything back. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to be mad. It's okay to, you know, to, to, to act not cruelly, but it's okay. Not, not cruelly, but badly. As long as you're not, you know, physically hurting anybody or say, or, or your words, you have to be careful with your words too, because those are hurtful.

Starting point is 00:26:25 Hey guys, you know where to find us. We're at theradcast.com. You'll find all the highlights from today. I'm Matt Ryan, offered on all the platforms, including TikTok, where I'm blowing up. Go find me there. We'll see you next time on The Radcast. To listen or watch full episodes,

Starting point is 00:26:41 visit us on the web at theradcast.com or follow us on social media at our Instagram account, the.rad.cast or at Ryan Alford. Stay radical.

Right About Now with Ryan Alford - First Class Women in Business

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