The Ben Mulroney Show - Sam Demma - "Return on Goodwill"

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

On this episode of 'The Ben Mulroney Show,' Ben welcomes international keynote speaker, Sam Demma. Following the success of Sam's book, "Empty Your Backpack" he is back with a new guide: "Return on Goodwill." If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠   Executive Producer:  Mike Drolet Reach out to Mike with story ideas or tips at [e-mail] Enjoy   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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it's like having your own coach. Whatever your favorite game, we have your playbook. OZoon. Well played. Discover free sports tips, casino games and poker guides at OZoon.net. I'm sure you've heard me say this. I'm not the only person ever say this, but technology is benign, right? It's either it's not good and it's not bad. It just depends on how it's used, right? It's like a hammer. A hammer can either help build a house or it can bash in a skull. It depends on the intent behind it. And so there are those who believe cynically that social media is a net negative and it's only there to do bad things and take us down terrible rabbit holes. Or you can have your eyes open and you can be introduced to an individual who without social media, you wouldn't have known he existed.

And individuals like this person are the reason that there is good. on line. And the person I'm talking about is Sam Dima. He's a global education motivation keynote speaker. If you have, if you have a social media account, you've probably encountered his positivity, the stories that he shares, his insights about how he lives his life and the lessons that you can you can take from them. He is one of the most positive people I have ever encountered. And the fact that I encountered him through social media tells you something. Because that's what he uses it for.

And every now and then on this show, we turn down the outrage. And we highlight the joy. And we highlight the positivity. And I'm so pleased to be joined at the top of this show today by Sam himself. Sam, a welcome to the show. Ben, I want to take you on the road to do an introduction for me. That was unreal. Man, it's so, listen, I know who you are.

Some of our listeners and viewers don't. So give us the introduction that you would give somebody who's never met you before. I'm a proud Canadian. I am a son and a brother and a boyfriend more recently. Yeah, congratulations. I spent my time writing, capturing stories, reflecting on my life to then share them with others,

whether that's in a social media video, standing on a stage during a keynote, or as a story in a book. I try my best. to not label myself further than that because I grew up playing soccer and wanted to be a pro. I had three major knee injuries, two surgeries, lost it all. And I actually have teammates. I'm the Canadian men's national team.

So Alistair Johnson, Kamal Miller, I want to celebrate them for their success in the World Cup. But I try my best not to label myself in a box anymore because I know things could change very quickly. Yeah. Well, listen, tomorrow you're turning 27. Yes. So advance happy birthday. and I asked you how you were celebrating and you said you're celebrating with the launch of your new book

Return on Goodwill. Do good, expect nothing, watch life surprise you. I love that. I love that. Listen, this is just going to be a conversation. I have no notes prepared. You're far too interesting for me to stick to his script. But I saw another post on social media a couple of days ago.

I started following this gentleman. I can't remember his name because it was the only thing I'd ever seen of him. And he said something like, I think we celebrate birthdays wrong. And then he told the story of a friend of his who had a technology company that did very well in the pandemic, very well because he had technologies that other companies needed. And so he sold the company. And he told his friend, I want you to help me, I want you to help me move. And he's tomorrow.

So he said, okay, so he got ready to go move. but first they went to a diner. And they sat down and this lady comes over who recognized the guy and says, oh, you're back. You're back. Are you guys moving today? It's like, yeah, we're moving. They said, well, we only have $5.

And she said, no problem. She goes back, brings them back full breakfast and two cups of coffee. And he said, but we only have $5. And she said, honey, don't worry. I put in the order wrong. So what am I supposed to do with this food? And they sat there and they ate. And they talked about the company.

I thought you told me I was going to move. I was like, yeah, we are moving. And as they left, he left a massive envelope full of cash for her there with a note on the inside. And the note explained to her that over the course of him building his company, she never once asked him if he could afford the bill some days he couldn't. She never, ever turned him away. And so that was him saying thank you to her. and it was his birthday as well.

And then he said, so you don't need me to move, do you? As they were watching her read it from outside. And he said, wait, you're not moved by this? And of course we're moving. This is us moving right now. And he said, that's how he wanted to celebrate his birthday. I'm sorry I spoke for so long,

but it hit me when I read the title of your book that this guy expected nothing in return. He didn't want to do it for social media. His friend didn't video, like clip it for video. Like when you hear a story like that, what do you think? I think it's beautiful. I think the real value of living your life that way is also,

it changes how you show up and how you feel. I think it's beautiful that there was a physical return for that lady in that moment who gave expecting nothing in return for this gentleman. Because sometimes there won't be an envelope full of cash. But what there is is joy in your heart and happiness. You know, like today I was standing in the St. Louis airport flying home. And I ordered a sandwich. And it came with a side of potatoes.

And I didn't want to eat the potatoes because I eat enough potatoes. So I shouted to the lady behind the counter in the kitchen saying, hey, how's your morning going? And she turned around because no one ever talks to her. They always talk to the cashier. And she said, my day's going good, honey. And she heard me when I said, please no potatoes to the lady standing behind the cash. And she yelled back at me from the back and said, can I have the potatoes? And I was like, well, I'm not eating them.

Of course you can. I'm laughing and smiling. she's laughing and smiling. There's no envelope of cash, but it made my moment in the airport more meaningful and happy. It made her moment in the airport more meaningful and happy.

And life can be filled with little moments like that if we choose to be present, pay attention to the needs of people around us and just have fun. And you got to tell, how were you raised that you are able to appreciate what's happening to you in real time?

We were talking earlier that in a lot of cases for most people, we don't appreciate those moments until they've passed. You seem to be able to take stock of those moments, what they mean and how they impact you in real time. I had a mentor named Chris who introduced me to this guy named Jim Rohn when I was just starting my work speaking in schools almost a decade ago. I have gray hair now been.

It's pretty crazy. Welcome to the club. There was a video that Jim Rohn released and he's a speaker who's passed away now. he's from rural Idaho. And in the video, he said there are three gifts you leave behind, your library, your pictures, and your journals. So make sure you reflect on your life, make sure you take lots of pictures, and make sure you read good books.

And I thought, okay, I'm starting to read more. I do take pictures on my phone, but back then, I don't keep a journal. And so at the end of each day, I got into the habit of just jotting down the people I met, the conversations I had, some of the witty things people said to me, or the negative emotions I felt and why. And I started finding, as I began journaling, there was a lot of cool little realizations. And I would pick them up and then share them with the world or I would tell it to a friend. And their reaction would be really interesting. I thought, wow, like there's something to reflecting, learning for myself, sharing it with others. And I thought, can I shorten that gap

and try and experience them in the moment? And so now when something makes me emotional, whether a really positive emotion or a challenging one, I'll pull out my journal, I'll write it down. Well, we are going to take a break. We're going to got lots more with Sam, the author of Return on Goodwill, Do Good, Expect Nothing, Watch Life Surprise You. I want to hear about what compelled you to put this book together. How did you know it was done? And I want to talk to you about kids today, right? Because I don't think I have had a guest like you on in a long time who spends as much time as you do in schools.

I'd love to get your take on what, are you bullish on the future with these kids? Are there any concerns that you have? What are the stories that they're sharing with you? Because I got kids that would do well to hear more from you. We've got so much. I'm so happy that this is how we started the show today. Guys, sometimes we start with the heavy news, and there is heavy news to be dealt with a little bit later.

No sense in denying gratitude and positivity. If it's there, enjoy it, embrace it. And we're doing that with Sam Dima. Fortunately, you're not just listening to the Ben Mulroney show right now. because it's far more interesting with my guest, Sam Dima, the author of Return on Goodwill. And you've seen him, you've seen his social media posts where he talks about meeting a stranger

and the ripple effect, the positive ripple effect that that has over on his day and that person's day. And everyone needs a little bit of Sam in their life. And I'm glad to bring them to the listeners and the viewers of the Ben Mulrin Show. Sam, thanks so much for being here. Talk to me about the book, because at some point you say, I have a book to write. And then at some point you say,

I have written the book. So talk to me about the in-between. Well, I'll tell you why I wrote it. My Italian grandmother, mid-80s, calls me up. It's like six months ago. And she says, Sam, you're not going to believe this.

The CRA is auditing me for the second year in a row because they don't believe in my charitable donations. And my grandma's accountant is another old lady down her street. So she doesn't have the receipt. She had to walk down the street, get this accountant. They had to go call all the charities she donated to

to get a receipt and then mail to the CRA. And the first time they sent that envelope, it got lost. So she went back and printed them out again, did it a second time. And she told me, she told it to me laughing. Yeah. But it made me feel sad because I was like, is that how suspicious, generosity, kindness, and goodwill is in the world we live in today? That we only think people are doing good stuff for their own self-interest.

Yeah. And, you know, I had some other people in my life who modeled what it, what it could look like to live with presence and curiosity and goodwill. And I saw how meaningful it was for them. Yeah. So the combination of that conversation with my grandma and these examples made me feel like this is a beautiful thing to put out into the world and hope more people will start living this way as a result of reading it. Can I tell you one of the people that I was going to New Jersey for a presentation and

I got a direct message on Instagram that said, hey, brother, love your stuff. We never met before. But if you have a foundation, I'd love to make a contribution. And I was like, well, I don't, but like, let me call my grandma. She's into that. But I searched him up because his name on Instagram was at $2.00 Hall of Steve. Okay. So this story could go in a lot of different directions.

Yeah, it's good. I took his name posted on Google and what came up was this lawyer who's known for carrying around stacks of $2 bills and handing them out to strangers. And he would give them out in groupings of three and he'd say, giving is twice as good as receiving. Pass it on. long story short we ended up finally meeting he wanted to do a dinner so he met in manhattan at a place called spark steakhouse and i'm running late because driving in from new jersey to new york is not a good idea during traffic learn that lesson we get to the restaurant we walk inside the staff run over steve so good to see you he starts putting two dollar bills in front of all the customers at the bar

some people are frustrated they're like i don't need your money he's like no give it away we sit at the table not even five minutes into the meal a young lady runs over to him Steve pulls out a crumpled up $2 bill from her pocket. You gave this to me and my mom two years ago. We still haven't. Tell your wife, I say hello. I saw firsthand what it looked like when someone chose to live their life, giving, expecting nothing in return.

And my attempt in that book is to share that philosophy with others in the hope that they might adopt it and see how much meaning it could bring to them. Well, you know, it's an interesting time that we're living in because some of that beauty that we talked about that exists on social media, it's a double-edged sword, right? we see the generosity of people with big followings who help somebody who's down on their luck or somebody who's struggling. And for every person like me who takes the lesson from it, there's somebody else who, for whatever reason, looks at it and says, oh, they're doing it for the clicks.

And so what you're talking about is really hard to nail down this idea of doing something expecting nothing in return. You could argue that those people are doing exactly that. but you could easily argue the opposite. Yeah. Right. So it's a hard thing to nail them. I had a hard time in the book.

I was like, how do I make sure I write this in a way that it doesn't feel like a strategy? Yeah. Using people's names, leading with compliments. Like, okay, why? And I think the only good reason

if you do have one to do those things is if it makes you feel really good in your own heart. Yeah. And if that's your reason, go do as much good as you want and feel as good about yourself as you need to.

I think if more people were just living this way and then reflecting on how it made them feel and the people they were helping, you can make, you know, they can make their own conclusions. But I struggle with that too. I like to say that kids get me

because I have, you know, I like dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and superhero movies. But you really have a way of connecting with kids. And since you started your speaking career so long ago, I mean, you're the youngest certified speaking professional in history. I didn't even know, I mean, I speak professionally. I don't know, I could get certified.

And you've been speaking with kids for 10 years. What have you noticed in those conversations that you have with them? You know, after you're done speaking and then you talk to them, what's different today than 10 years ago? Attention span? Yeah, really? Yeah, the ability to sit and focus on one specific thing for a long period of time. I notice these days there's a lot of students getting up, going out, coming back,

getting up, going out. Back then, teachers would say, no. We have a 60 minute performance where the guest speaker You're going to sit down We're going to have a good time So I've noticed that But I have noticed a consistent thing

But kids are afraid of letting their parents down Like almost all the conversations I have After I finish speaking Are young people coming out to me and saying I really want to do this thing But like I don't know how to tell my parents And I think that if I do

My parents are going to say like No or like not approve of it And some of the things they tell me they want to do are not outrageous. Like, I don't want to play soccer anymore. I want to start playing volleyball. But because we spent five years playing soccer, I think my parents really want me to continue playing soccer.

And I don't know how to bring it up with them because they're going to freak out. And so, you know, if you're a parent. I tell them that right now you don't have all the information. There's a gap between what you think your parents are going to do and what's actually going to happen. And you're choosing to fill that gap with a story that makes you afraid. I think it would be really really.

helpful if you tell your parents how you truly feel and then see how they react as a starting point. And if the reaction is really negative, you're not self-sufficient right now. It's going to be really hard for you to make decisions that are your own because they house you, they feed you, they take care of you and they love you. Yeah. But know that at a certain point, you will leave high school. You will get a job. You will find a position in your life or you can make your own decisions and you can take care of yourself. And so their house, their rules for a period of time. But don't feel the gap of the negative story, assume positive intent, which is also one of the ideas I talk about in the book.

So the book comes out tomorrow, return on Goodwill. It also coincides with a cross Canada speaking tour. And so in Toronto at the TD Music Hall on Saturday, you've got a lot going on, man. You've got a lot going on. If people want to buy the book and if they want to see you live in person, how they do those things. So we're doing nine shows across Canada.

shout out to coalition music my cousin and uncle who worked there run that run the company they're helping me organize all the shows people can search return on goodwill live and i have a web page with all the nine shows they could grab tickets or you could just search return on goodwill book and it'll pop up on our shopify store because if you like the art buy it from the artist but what's the author reading these days right now well i'm i'm reading a bunch of different books yeah my girlfriend you can do that simultaneously you can do different books at the same time I do little snippets of different books. Right now, my girlfriend and I are super into spirituality.

So she shared a few books with me that I've never heard of before. And it's very different out there. One of them is on something called the Akashik Records. Super out there. I'm reading that. Yeah. Listen, there's nothing wrong with reading something even if you're not going to... It doesn't mean you're jumping in with both feet.

Yeah. It's just learning, right? Yeah, 100%. And then there's a slew of books from Alex Hermose. It was a business strategist, and I'm really enjoying some of his writing as well. are you, it feels to me like, I mean, you're at the beginning, man, you've been doing this for a long time, but you're still at the beginning. Yeah.

Like, do you have any idea where this is going to go? Or are you, like, let me finish your, anything? I have an intention. Okay. But I am completely open to how things are going to unfold in my future. The intention is to do more of my ticketed shows for families. I want to see multi-generations coming out to our events. So grandparents, parents, and their kids all coming to an event that's half

motivational, half comedic. Half comedic. I love comedy. Yeah, yeah. I worked it just for laughs for years. Did you? Oh, I love comedy, man.

We were just talking about yesterday. Sam, I wish I could have you for the three hours. I got, I'm a 50-year-old man. I got so much to learn from you. I appreciate you. I know everybody who comes into contact with you comes out the other side better.

And I really, really appreciate you. So people can buy the book tomorrow, return on Goodwill. And of course, the show kicks off September 11th. Thank you so much, Sam Dima. All the best to you and whatever you do in the future. Thanks, Ben.