The School of Greatness - 602 Philip Levine: Winning Elections and Disrupting the Status Quo

Episode Date: February 14, 2018

THE SPEED OF THE LEADER DETERMINES THE RATE OF THE PACK. Philip is now running for Governor with a progressive vision to move Florida forward as a leader in the 21st century economy. He wants to revitalize the economy, envisioning a Florida with better-paying jobs, more competitive public schools, and an entrepreneurial approach to protecting our environment. In the past, he funded his own campaign, refusing money from special interests, and easily won re-election to two terms with a majority of the vote. On this episode we had a really amazing conversation. Before he was ever in public office, Philip was an entrepreneur, creating multiple companies and scaling them to great success. He let me in on some incredible information a lot of people don't know about him, including how he gave back to one of the most influential people from his childhood. Philip goes into detail on how he led a successful election campaign, the lesson he learned from Bill Clinton, and how you can become a better communicator. If you want to hear how you can be a better entrepreneur and better humanitarian at the same time then you need to listen to Episode 602. Some Questions I Ask: What made you want to transition from entrepreneur to mayor? (6:50) How do you enroll people in a single company that's going to be gone a year later? (10:20) When did you first connect with Bill Clinton? (14:55) What's something Clinton isn't notorious for that makes him different? (19:28) Who was your greatest teacher growing up? (26:32) What's the biggest lesson your mother taught you? (28:52) Do you think everyone should serve in public office at some point? (33:47) What's an entrepreneurial approach to helping our environment? (38:04) What's the biggest challenge that you've had to overcome? (41:36) In This Episode You Will Learn: How Philip's background in marketing gave him an edge (9:30) When he first felt the need help people (13:46) The greatest lesson he learned from Bill Clinton (17:03) How to train yourself to be a better communicator (22:53) Which of his parents was the more inspiring teacher (27:36) What got him so involved in the environment (30:28) How you can get involved in your community (34:08) What Philip thinks we need the most as a society (41:12) What he is most proud of that most people don't know about him (42:48) And much, much more

This is episode number 602 with Philip Levine. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Albert Einstein said, only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.

Welcome to this episode. Very excited for Philip, who is an American philanthropist, entrepreneur, and politician who served as mayor of Miami Beach in Florida from 2013 to 2017. And in 1990, with $500 in capital, he launched Onboard Media in a studio apartment. And after growing Onboard Media into a multi-million dollar company, he partnered with Berkshire Partners to acquire Starboard Cruise Services. The merger resulted in the world's largest cruise industry concessionaire, which was later sold to Louis Vuitton in 2000. And Levine maintains a diverse portfolio of investments in startups, business, and real estate. He is also the CEO of Royal Media Partners, an exclusive partner of Royal Caribbean Cruises. And he also hosts a regular show on Sirius XM called The Mayor,

featuring discussions with elected officials and other interesting personalities on a variety of related topics. And he's also running for governor of Florida in 2018. Now, I've never been one to really get into politics on this. And I don't intend to start to right now. But I wanted to bring on Philip because of his experience from being a successful entrepreneur to then launching the idea of being the mayor of a city, a very popular tourist city, right? And figuring out how do you really win an election? What's that actually mean to launch an election, to live a life of service, to disrupt the status quo? And in an election, you're actually getting tens and twenties

and a hundred of people to enroll in your vision for an idea for a startup that then you shut down a few months later after the election is done. So how do you get all these people and all this energy to move forward and then move an entire city to vote and enroll in you when you've never been in politics? I thought this was fascinating. And we talk about why everyone should try running for public office, the lessons you learn about it, the power of visualization to get big dreams to come true. Also, Phil talked about what Bill Clinton told him that inspired him to run for public office

and some of the biggest lessons he learned from being close friends with Bill Clinton. Also, how to train yourself to be a better communicator and how communication is really the key to enrolling anyone in your vision. It doesn't matter if it's business or sports or politics, it doesn't matter. Also why environmental issues go beyond politics and why it matters to invest in solving them. I am super pumped about this. All right, guys, I'm pumped for this one. Without further ado, let me introduce you to the one, the only, Philip Levine. Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast. We have Philip Levine in the house. Good to see you, sir. Good to see you. Good to see you. We got connected through a mutual friend, Lacey, who has always been supportive of me.

And she said, I must have you on no matter what. And that you're up to some incredible things with public office in Florida. But also, as an entrepreneur, you've had incredible results and success. And you're all about giving back, contributing to humanity, to the world, to the environment. So I said, all right, let's bring him on. So I'm excited you're on here. Thank you, Lewis. And you were the mayor for four years in Miami Beach, correct?

Yes, I was. Now, Miami Beach is not Miami, is that right? Right, exactly. So there's two different mayors, one from Miami and Miami Beach. Absolutely true. We're that place where we have all those hotels and all that nightlife and a lot of fun. But it's also Miami Beach is like the huge economic generator. It's a lot of money coming in, right? Oh Miami Beach is like the huge economic generator for all of Dade County.

It's a lot of money coming in, right? Oh, it is. You know, the Miami Beach brand is just powerful. Hopefully, in the last four years, we were able to build that brand even greater. Yeah, yeah. What made you want to be in a mayor or be in public office in the first place

when the entrepreneurial life is so good? Yes, it is. What makes you want to go and transition out of that? I'll tell you, when I decided to run for office, it was literally like half my friends said, you need to see a psychiatrist. And the other half of my friends said, you go, boy, get out of that foxhole. Everyone pushes you out of the foxhole as long as they can stay in the foxhole. And for me, I started from nothing. I started with 500 bucks and a pocket full of dreams and built my companies. And I was very fortunate in my life. And I always felt somehow I wanted to give back.

You know, people want to give back. And I didn't know how, where, when. And I thought, you know, maybe I'll run for office. And right in my own town, there was this great opportunity to help. We were experiencing sea level rise due to climate change. And I said, I'm going to run for office. And I've got to tell you, I recommend it to everybody. Really?

Yeah, I do. By the way, it's like being on a, remember that show, Survivor? Yes. It's like entering yourself as a contestant on Survivor. Wow. Because I think it's something, obviously, to give and to help. You can do it. And I did it. And everyone said, there's no way this guy's going to win. He's a successful entrepreneur. And a matter of fact, the city's 50% Hispanic how in the world is he gonna communicate? But they didn't realize it's put up last when you're fluent the mentee. Mmm So that was a big shock you're right and and I did it differently those I I said, I'm I'm gonna go right to the people I'm gonna go right to the customer

I call the people that vote and I knocked on fight six thousand doors in Miami Beach and I Broke into every condominium building you could imagine. Right. Jumping over fences. Oh, I did. I did it all. By the way, I used to evade security, go to the top of the building. I would then go in the stairwell, because I realized early on, if you use the elevators, their security cameras will take you right out. Right, yeah. And I would knock on doors, and people were like, wow, this person's coming to see us and listen to what we are concerned about. And of course, it was interesting because the poll said, according to the media, it's going to be a close race.

We thought, no, it's not going to be a close race. I ran a fun TV commercial you get a kick out of. We're experiencing flooding during sunny days. So I had a commercial with me, literally paddling on one of our main roads and with a yellow slicker on and the rain's pouring down. And I said, some people want to be the mayor of Venice. I said, I want to be the mayor of Miami Beach. And I said, we're going to fix this problem. And I had my boxer dog, Earl, next to me. So the water's pouring on his head.

And I turned to him and I said, paddle, Earl, paddle. And he looked up at the camera and he cried at the exact moment perfectly. And we took it and we put it on our movie screen at our big theater on Miami Beach. So everyone watched the commercial, loved Earl. I won in a landslide. Wow. And of course, my dog Earl thinks he was the reason why I won. Sure, sure. Exactly. That's great. Yeah. That's creative. But you're also, as an entrepreneur in media, you're an advertising company as well. Sure. Do you think that gave you the edge to be able to come up with creative ideas to kind of beat out your competitors? You know what? I think what it is, is this. I think in campaigns, I always said it's three Ms. You need money, you need a great message, and you better

be a good messenger. I think in our campaign, we had all three Ms. And I believe that's important for every campaign. But yeah, coming from that background where you're an innovator, as you know, and building something from scratch, campaigns are interesting. Campaigns really are. You're building a startup company that you're going to shut down. You're shutting down within a year or so, right? We're putting all this money and energy that's building the whole team, and then when it's over, all right, see you guys. It's a mission.

It's a lot to get people to commit to. Totally. How do you enroll people in a vision like that where it's a single-time company that's gone a year later to put all your time, 80 hours a week or more for all the people working on the team to invest in one idea? It's no different than a startup company. They have to believe.

They have to feel it. It's got to be in their DNA, in their core. They have to be excited. They have to feel that they're changing their community, they're changing their country, they're changing their world. And they want to be a part of something like that. One of the quotes I always have in my city hall office, and I've had it everywhere, is the speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack. And I don't care if it's a company, or if it's a government, or it's a mission. I don't care what it is. And if the leadership at the top is exciting,

everyone will be excited. If there's no clear vision, if there's no clear mission, everyone will be scattered and they won't be committed. So I think we were able to do that when I ran for mayor and thank God when I won. They always call me the most impatient mayor

in American history and I love that title. Why is that? Because I said, listen, our slogan is just get it done. Just get it done. We don't necessarily, it's okay, we can make mistakes, we'll fix our mistakes,

but the mistake you can't fix is not getting things done. And you got to get things done. That's what people want. That's what they expect. I think that's true for being a good entrepreneur right now also. I think a lot of people struggle that I face who come to me, they have these ideas and then they want to have everything perfect.

They want to get the logo right. They want to get the message right. Their vision right. Their mission statement right. They want to have everything perfect. The product has got to be perfect before I let anyone see it. That's good if you're going to wait two, three, five years for a product to come out. But if you want something to come out now, I'm always about let's sell something now. Yes. See if people are actually going to buy into it and pay you. Then go create the product. Lewis, you're 100% right. When someone talks to me about business, they'll say, tell me a little about business and being an entrepreneur. I say, well, let me give you your BBA and your MBA in about five seconds. You buy something for

a dollar. You sell it for two. The more you make to sell, the more you make. You write it down. It's called accounting. Okay. You just got an MBA. That's it. And I don't care if you are in the carpet business or you're building condominiums. I don't care what it is. Business is business. Same as it's always been. So don't overstudy. Don't overanalyze it. Just do it. Yeah. Get it done. Just get it done. I like it. Yeah. When did you realize, okay, I've made enough money, I've focused on my businesses, I've achieved a lot of the things I want to achieve, but now is the time to go do something else? You know, I always feel, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs have,

I call it a movie in my mind. You see things in the future. It's like a visualization that you have. It's a movie in your mind. A lot of times it's foggy, it's not clear. Maybe some people say it's hopeful dreaming, delusions of grandeur, whatever you want to call it. People have these thoughts in the future. And for me, I always thought, God, I just want to be able to make a living on my own. God, the thought of just being able to pay rent and to live and have this little company.

Oh, my God, that's the greatest thing. And I did it. And then I built it. And that little company became a bigger company. And then I was able to sell that bigger company. But during that period, I always had a movie in my mind about the future that I could go out and use my God-given talents to help people. And I felt that the best way for me to do it is to be in office to change things to help people. And-

When was that seed planted for you? I got to tell you. So I think a lot of times for me, I met a gentleman that was an incredible president by the name of Bill Clinton. I was able to watch the great things that he did for people not only during his presidency But after his presidency I got involved in local politics in my community just to help I was literally involved and I would help other candidates And I I was the perfect one to help because I didn't need anything from the government

I don't do business with the government. I was like your perfect person to have involved. Yeah, I just wanted No, it couldn't be there's no such thing. I was like your perfect person to have involved. I just wanted to... You just wanted to... No, there couldn't be. There was no such thing. I always laugh. I said, being the mayor of Miami Beach, I always laughed. He said, it was the greatest job I ever had. It was the hardest job I ever had. And my God, it was the most expensive job I ever had. Right. Because I took 99 cents a year. And I didn't take a reimbursement. And I was fortunate because I could do that. But watching President Clinton, I was just very impressed by what he did. And he took a liking to me.

And we built an incredible, extraordinary friendship, which lasts till today. And I saw, oh my God, this person could do great things. Maybe I could do great things for people. And I think he was a big inspiration for me eventually deciding to run for office. When was that, when you first connected with him? It was literally in his second term as president. I was fortunate enough to host him at my home for dinner and help him and help, at the time, Vice President Al Gore as best as possible.

And through that, I remember he, it's funny, I remember, Louis, after the dinner, he said, you know, Philip, why don't you ride back with me to Air Force One? And I was like, sure, Mr. President, I'd be very happy to. And I remember sitting in the back seat with him going all the way to Air Force One. And as you know, it's kind of strange being on the highway where there's no other cars. Right. And you're in the center of the universe. And he was very interested in me, how did you start?

What was your life about? And I think that President Clinton identifies with people that have made it through nothing, that have kind of crossed barriers to get where they are. As you know, he came from a little town called Hope, didn't meet his dad. Dad died before he was born and was able to pick himself up by the bootstraps and become the youngest governor in history. And I think that when you saw someone maybe in business who started from nothing, who had a divorced family like I came from and did it himself, I think there was a good identification that way. And I just felt like, you know what, at some time in the future,

I don't know when that time will come, but I'm ready for it. I want to give back as well. So I think that was a… That was the planted seed. I think it was a seed that was planted in me. But you were still hungry to go make more money and build your businesses probably at that point, so it wasn't like, I'm ready to go now. Yeah.

But it was planted. Wow, that's fascinating. What year was that? Do you remember? I think it was the late 90s, probably. Wow. Yeah. And I was growing.

My business was growing, and I was loving it. And you were in Miami Beach then still? Yeah. Yeah. I literally started the company above the news cafe on Ocean Drive. And one of the days when it was just going through an amazing transition, Miami Beach, it was a real renaissance. And a lot of great entrepreneurs were kind of getting going in this environment. And Miami Beach was changing as well. So we started it with nothing.

Amazing. Yeah. Well, it's too bad that you went to Michigan. Go blue. Amazing. Yeah. Well, it's too bad that you went to Michigan. Go blue. Exactly. What was the greatest lesson you learned from that moment you met President Clinton until now about him? Because obviously he, you know, he was in office and there's probably great lessons you learned just being around him or witnessing him and then everything that he's gone through since then. Sure. What would you say he's taught you either through observing or through a direct lesson? You know, I think that one of the things is that when you're in public life, you have to keep your focus.

Not listen to the background chatter. Know that you're doing the right thing and keep going forward. When I first ran for mayor, my God, it was amazing. The media was against me. Everyone was against me. Because it was weird having this successful entrepreneur running for office. And by the way, the entrepreneur, he was going direct to the customer. Literally, he was bypassing our channels of communication, which is fundamental to our business model. This person, entrepreneur, who has great resources is literally using Facebook

and Twitter and email and reaching the public and not going through the normal channels. When someone wants to go around your business model, you don't love them that much. Now, of course, we're seeing it more and more, but I think I was an early adapter to that, doing it going forward. So I think that for me, I remember waking up every day and saying to myself, oh my God, what are they going to say about me now in the paper? What are they going to say about me now in the media? And after a while, you develop a very thick skin. I come from Florida, so I think I developed an alligator skin. And I laugh. When I was first running, my mom would say, God, did you see what the paper said? And you think to yourself, man, did I do the right thing?

Was this a smart move for me? But then I would say, Philip, you have swam out too far. You cannot swim back to shore now. You just better swim like your life depends on it and get to the other side. And that's what I did. Wow. And I won. Wow.

And so with Clinton, did he give you that feedback to just like have a thick skin or what was the lesson that he showed you? Yeah, I think so. And I think that what he said is, listen, you know, you're doing the right thing. Keep going forward. Don't listen to the naysayers. Don't listen to those who want to see you fail. Just keep moving forward and you'll get where you want to get and stay on your message, which is most important. But I think it's like anything. It's probably in sports in the same way. You can't listen to the crowds. You can't listen. You've got to do what you know. Keep your focus. Yeah. He's notorious for being very present with people, being the most interested in people, which makes him the most interesting person, having great eye contact,

remembering people's names from 60 years ago and their dogs that passed away, 20, whatever. He's notorious for that. But what's something that he's not notorious for that you picked up on that makes him unique and different, or that makes anyone unique and different in order to reach a level of success like that? You know what's interesting? I always feel that the public can smell you out.

They know who you are. You can try anything you want. You can hire 15,000 consultants to tell you how you should act. You are who you are. You are who you are. And people know who you are. And you are either real or you're not real. I could tell you stories with President Clinton where we would literally go to a restaurant and he would talk to all the staff and literally that Honduran busboy would say, hello, Mr. President. And the president would focus on that young Honduran busboy as if he was the most important person in the world and there was no one else in that entire restaurant. And that ability to focus, to show people that you really do care, that you're telling the truth, that you really feel it in your heart, you're doing this for the right reason, I think that comes from within.

And I think President Clinton always had that and still has that. And I think that that separates those that folks will believe in and not believe in. That's an important point. Now, everyone's got their pros and their cons. And I always laugh and say, I don't know everything about everything. My best ability is to recognize ability. And when someone asks me a question, I always laugh when I'm in these living rooms all across the state of Florida. We just did an amazing bus tour. Right. I saw the bus. It looked cool.

Yeah, it was fantastic. And someone will ask me something so specific, and I'll say, listen, I didn't realize when I became the Miami Beach mayor that I had to be a hydrologist and a meteorologist. But I learned and I figured okay, because we are dealing with climate change. I say, when you're the governor of Florida, there's a lot of issues that a candidate is not going to be an expert in, okay? But what I'm an expert in is finding experts, okay? But if you know you want to do the right thing, if you know your mission is to do the right thing and get to a certain place, we'll get there. Is to do the right thing and get to a certain place. We'll get there without being a the expert of experts but knowing how to communicate with people and

Make them understand that you will have their best interest at heart Yeah, what would you say is your best skill or asset that you've developed over the years? I think communication my ability to communicate my ability to focus on The real crux of an issue, to make the complicated simple. People are not interested in complicated. Nothing's that complicated. Take the complicated, make it simple, so everyone understands it. And the one thing I remember Mayor Bloomberg said

when we hosted the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach, he said something to the effect that not everybody always agreed with him, but they liked that they felt that he believed in what he was doing for all the right reasons. So even if they didn't agree with him, they liked him because they felt he was doing what he felt was right, even though they may not agree with it. They may have thought that they don't want you to take away their big, large Coca-Colas or whatever it was that was going on in the third term, but they knew that he was doing it because he really wanted to help people.

Yeah. Not like there was any other ulterior motive to what he was doing. Right. And I think that's key. How does someone train themselves to be a better communicator if maybe they don't feel like they're good at one-on-one communication, small group communication, large audiences? What are some things that they can do

to develop a skill of making something simple that's complex and enrolling people in an idea? Well, I can tell you based on experience. I got into the cruise industry in a kind of a funny way. So I'm- And you ran a media business in the cruise industry, right? Yeah, sure. Yeah. Can you share what that was? Yeah. The way I started was kind of funny because I'm a kid. I graduated University of Michigan. I don't have a family business. I majored in political science. I want to do this. I want to do that. Where am I going to go? I tried this job. I tried that job. I'm thinking, wow,

I don't know if there's anything I really like to do. I'm working at an investment banking firm. I'm wearing a jacket and tie. I'm early 20s. I'm thinking, this is misery. If this is life, boy, this is not fun. I remember thinking that. And I read an ad, help wanted, where a little company called Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines wanted someone to be a lecturer on board their cruise ship. I remember reading the ad and dreaming as I read it. Go, wow, what would that be like? And it was a tiny company at the time, three ships.

I went down, I interviewed. And they said, well, how much public speaking experience do you have? I said, oh, I'm a great public speaker. I was like 23. Thank God they didn't do any due diligence. There was no internet. And they needed someone really quick. They needed someone like, OK, we will take you.

OK? I went on board this cruise ship called the Song of America. And I remember thinking, get on board, we're out in the ocean, my first voyage. I thought, this is the worst, dumbest decision I have ever made in my life. I'm scared to death. I've committed career suicide at 23. And I remember thinking to myself, how do I get myself off this cruise ship?

I thought, okay, maybe I'll call the Coast Guard. Maybe the Coast Guard will get me off. I had $500 to my name. I don't even know what the Coast Guard charges to get you off a cruise ship. I said, just get through it, Philip. The next morning, you're going to be giving the speech. There'll be 20, 30, 40 people there. Tell them about the islands,

a little bit about what you learned. So I finally fell asleep. Next day I get up. I go to this lounge called the Oklahoma Lounge. I walk in. There's like 1,000, 1,500 people, standing room only. And I'm like, I am going to die.

I really, really messed myself up this time. Yeah, yeah. And the cruise director is like one of these British suave debonair, like Sean Connery, you know, Roger Moore, James Bond, out of the encyclopedia. And the cruise director, and he says, ladies and gentlemen, I've got the foremost expert on the Caribbean, one of the greatest

speakers we've ever had on board the cruise ship. You're the first speaker ever. I walk up, it's like 180 degree fight or flight, you know that feeling? Terrified. I go up to the stage, my arms are frozen to my side. I started speaking. Literally, my arms started to move a little bit. These people were listening to me. I cracked a couple of jokes. They started to laugh. And you know what? It was the beginning of the rest of my life in the cruise ship industry. But it was a fear.

I had never really done public speaking. It was the greatest fear. But I just did it. So to answer your question, do what your greatest fear is and practice it. Practice it. Practice it. No one's an expert in anything. No one's been around this life before.

We're all doing this for the first time. So we know. So the bottom line is just understand no one knows anything about anything, okay? Everyone just pretends they know about things. And then little by little, they figure it out and they learn about it. I didn't know I'd be a good speaker,

but I just made myself do it. And little by little, I overcame it and I became good at it. So I just, I say to people, but I just made myself do it. And little by little, I overcame it and I became good at it. So I just, I say to people, be real, be yourself, communicate. Everyone's got great God-given talents. Just find what those are and focus on them. Right. Wow. Yeah. Who was your greatest teacher growing up? It's interesting. I had a great history teacher at my high school, Hollywood Hills High. His name was Mr. Wilson. It was a high school in Hollywood? Yeah, Hollywood, Florida.

Oh, Florida. The other Hollywood, the other Hollywood, South Florida. And I remember we used to walk in his classroom and go, hello, Mr. Wilson, because Dennis the Menace, that was one of the things he used to say. We couldn't believe how old he was at the time. He was old. He must have been 26, 27 years years old and we were little punks But he made us read this magazine. We had never heard of before called Time magazine Mm-hmm, and he made us get a subscription and he made us understand and learn about America American history and American politics And he would explain it to us and he make you read an article in Time magazine And the next day you got to discuss it and it made a huge impact on me

It drove an interest in America and me I mean as a boy being born in Boston growing up in Boston learning about the colonial experience Living when he going to an elementary school where Paul Revere stopped during his night ride Obviously was it was in my DNA. Mm-hmm, but that teacher mr. Wilson, I think made a very big impression on me Yeah, that's cool. And what about your parents? Who was the more inspiring teacher for you? Well, you learn from both. My dad, kind, warm, loving, decent, good person.

And my mom, the same. But my mom, when you grow up with a single mom, your parents are divorced, you learn the realities of life at a very young age. And my mom was always a driver. My mom was always pushing. My mom was unconditional love but always made you feel like you can do anything. And I think a mother is so important to everyone. A mother's job, what a mother does is such an incredible job for everybody.

People will say, well, you know, is that a job? Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world. I appreciate what moms do. I see them everywhere. It is not easy, okay? Moms come through. And I think that moms are underappreciated in our society because I was fortunate enough to have a mom that I attribute a lot of my success to.

Matter of fact, my mom is on one of our big television commercials that's running across our entire state of Florida. And she's become, I think, the most popular person I know. And she's so popular, her condominium, I said, her head can't even get through the doorway anymore. Exactly. Yeah, that's great. And so what do you think the biggest lesson was that she taught you? Probably never give up. You can do anything. Be good to people. Do what's right.

It was always do what's right. Do what's right. Philip, do what's right. You know what's right. Do what's right. You always got to look yourself in the mirror. I learned it in politics. We had an experience where a girl in our community many years ago was paralyzed.

And she's very well known in our community. My name is Sabrina Cohen, a fantastic woman, brilliant. And she's confined to a wheelchair. She moved forward and pushed with the Christopher Reeve Foundation to have what's called an adaptive beach where those can go to the beach that are paralyzed, that have paralysis. And we picked an area on Miami Beach where we wanted to set it up for that. And certain people that lived right in that neighborhood there were against it. They didn't want that in their neighborhood.

And then there were commissioners who were not necessarily wanting to vote the right way. They wanted to vote based on political pressure, based on campaign donations. And I gave a speech and I said, you know, folks, many years later, when you're no longer in politics, you're going to look yourself in the mirror. And you're going to want I said, you know, folks, many years later, when you're no longer in politics, you're going to look yourself in the mirror.

And you're going to want to know, did you do the right thing? Do you feel good about yourself? Thank God we appealed to them and it passed. And Miami Beach will have an adaptive beach for veterans, for folks that just want the opportunity to go to the beach. That's great.

And I think that's something that's in your DNA. Yeah. You feel it. You know what the right thing is in life. What got you so involved in the environment? When was that something that became important to you? Was that when meeting Al Gore and, you know, the movement that he has? Or did it come later? Well, I've always been someone that loved the environment, loved the outdoors, love animals, love, love, have four dogs. Four dogs? Yeah, four dogs. I could have another 40. You know, I just love animals. You know, in Miami Beach, when I became mayor, I would say that some

people get swept into office. I kind of got floated into office based on our sea level rise issue. And understanding what was causing our streets to fill up with water. But we know it was the heating of the planet, the rising of the t tides So we're seeing this wonderful incredible community being hurt because of sea level rise and I ran on that platform and said listen This is a problem. We have and it's not Republicans on Democrat. The ocean is not Republican not Democrat It just knows how to rise. Yeah, I said we need to fix this problem and on Miami Beach we move forward We're investing five hundred million dollars raise our roads, put in pumps. Really? Oh, raise our seawalls, change our building codes, allow people to put solar panels on their roofs,

give them the additional height that they need to do this. So for me, I learned it and saw it firsthand as a mayor that we need to move forward as a world together to reduce the carbon emissions in our planet. But I've got to tell you, for me, I see it firsthand. So it's become a mission of my own. I was honored to be in a documentary with Leonardo DiCaprio. I heard of it called Before the Flood. I played the mayor of Miami Beach. Very compelling role. And of course, with former Vice President Al Gore and his latest documentary, Truth to Power, Jack Black, and National Geographic, A Year of Living Dangerously,

we've become the poster child that this is a big problem. We must all come together. So I think it's all tied together. I believe that we need to reduce our carbon emissions. In Miami Beach, we led with the Sierra Clubs called Ready for 100 to basically say, hey, this is what our carbon emission is now. Here's our inventory. We're going to commit to utilizing a renewable energy by 2035 fully in our community. And that's one of the big missions of me going forward in my campaign for governor, to make sure that we do the same thing in the state of Florida. Yeah.

Now, educate me on how many years as mayor in office. Is it two years or four-year term, or how does that work? Sure. In Miami Beach now, of course, every community is different. Okay. In Miami Beach, they're two-year terms. Two terms. Yes, I won two terms, and everyone said, my God, mayor, you've got to run for a third term.

You won't even have an opponent. And I said, listen, I'm an entrepreneur. Every single thing I've said we're going to do, here's the checklist. We've done it. Yeah. And by the way, if it's not totally complete, it's in process. You don't need me. Yeah. You know, change is good.

I said, I'm going to go run for governor of Florida because I believe that I can help the people of Florida. I believe in the American dream. And people say, you're a Democrat. And I said, well, let me tell you, before I'm a Democrat, I'm an American. That's who I am. I'm not right. I'm not left. I'm forward.

I'm pro-people. I'm pro-business. My message is all about kind of what President Kennedy said, that in a rising tide, it lifts all ships. As long as everyone's on a ship, as long as everyone has a ship, we're all going to rise together. But that's kind of the mantra of what our campaign is about. That's great. Well, let's not have the tide rise too high on Miami Beach because then it'll take over. The economic tide. Exactly, yeah. The economic tide. Exactly, yes.

The economic tide. The environmental tide we don't want to go to much. No question about that. No question. Do you think everyone should serve in public office at some point or be a part of it? I think be a part of it. It's not for everybody. I always tease and kid about that because I always say it's like I said, you're on a

survivor. But you don't win a million dollars at the end. No, you don't. But I think it's always a good feeling to give back. And everyone can give back in a different way. It really doesn't make a difference what it is. How can people get involved in their community whether they're not in public service?

What can they start doing now, even on a smaller scale? Anywhere in the world. I think everyone's got a different issue. Everyone's got a different passion. Some folks, they want to help animals, and that's fantastic. There's ways to do that. Some folks, they want to help animals, and that's fantastic. And, you know, there's ways to do that. Some folks want to, you know, help in environmental issues. Every community, you're finding that there's so many activists

that really push the politicians to do the right thing. And activism is a growing trend. Some people do it online. Some people, you know, show up at commission meetings, get involved in boards, committees in your local community. Make yourself heard. Listen, our country is in a very trying time right now. We're very divided.

The goal today is to bring us together, not to divide us more. And I think that's kind of the goal of why I'm in office, is not to go out there and create greater separation. We want everybody to win. We don't want winners and losers. We've had enough winners and losers. We've had enough winners and losers. Let's now bring it together. You know, it was the greatest generation. I make a lot of analogies to the greatest generation because God knows they were the greatest generation.

They won World War II. We're still living off the fumes of that incredible endeavor when our country won with the help of allies to do the right thing. We need to go back to the principles of the greatest generation. You know, we saw in Puerto Rico was a debacle, was an embarrassment of how our country handled the relief of an island that's full of American citizens. I laughed and said, listen, if this gang had been running our country during World War II, I can only imagine how that Normandy invasion would have gone.

Can you imagine? Hey, it's raining. The weather's not good. The water is rough. They're shooting at us. We're not going to invade. Or during the Berlin Airlift. If this gang had been running the country during the Berlin Airlift,

Berlin would have been part of the Soviet Union overnight. I said, well, we had an opportunity in Puerto Rico to show the world what we can do when we come together. We didn't do a good job. We didn't relieve them. We didn't support. Nothing. Nothing.

Why is that? Because the speed of a leader determines the rate of the pack. And I'm sorry to say there was a lack of executive skill set in the White House. Instead of playing golf during that period of time, I would have picked up the phone and I would have called the CEO of the top 25 electric companies. I would have picked up the phone and I would have called the CEO of the top 25 electric companies. And I would have said, folks, assemble your best and your brightest teams. The United States Air Force is going to pick them all up and we're going to bring them to Puerto Rico. I would have put together a military invasion of that island, the likes of which HBO would have liked to have filmed.

And the world could have watched what America could do. Instead, we didn't do that. We let everyone down. We let ourselves down. We let the Puerto Rican community down. The only positive thing is a tremendous amount of those Puerto Ricans are moving to Florida. They have a long memory.

That's the closest place to go to. Absolutely. They all had family there. And we welcome them. And we welcome those Puerto Ricans. I had friends who had planes that went and picked people up on their private planes and brought them back over to Miami or Fort Lauderdale or whatever and constantly trying to do their own duty. Well, I can tell you, Lewis, I brought the first private aircraft into San Juan before anybody else.

Massive aircraft with supplies, medical, everything. That's great. I met the amazing mayor of San Juan on the tarmac, Carmen Luis Cruz, and she met me and tears in her eyes. We hugged and we got those materials out to the bright people. And matter of fact, it was kind of interesting because we got a lot of news coverage. So I guess the White House did a briefing. I saw it. And I think it was some of the reporters from Univision or Telemundo said, the mayor of Miami Beach has brought planes in. Why aren't you guys moving fast enough? And they said, the mayor of Miami Beach doesn't know what he's doing.

And of course, all the reporters laughed and said, well, we think he does. He's actually getting it done. And that's what the country wants. Yeah, maybe it wasn't the best plan. And maybe it wasn't that you had it all figured out. But you went and took action and did something to try to make some support there. We wanted to show the world that it can be done. Well, it's possible, yeah.

It's possible. That's great. Well, great on you for that. Yeah. It's possible, yeah. It's possible. That's great. Well, great on you for that. Yeah. What's an entrepreneurial approach to helping our environment? Are you taking an entrepreneurial, I guess, approach to what we can do to make it a win-win

for the economy when we're investing in our environment, as opposed to just, oh, we're spending all this money on the environment and nothing's going to come back to us? It's a very good question. People say, people say, well, what does it mean when you're pro-people, pro-business? I said, well, have you taken a look at the HR manual of the most admired companies in America? And I don't care if it's Apple, Amazon, eBay, Lockheed, Boeing, GE. You're going to find that they're pro-environment,

they're pro-healthcare, they're pro-education. They do not tolerate any discrimination whatsoever, they're pro-people. And by the way, they do it for purely selfish reasons. They have found out if you treat your people really, really well, they'll actually do really well, you'll do really well, the company will do fantastic, and it's a win-win for everybody. So to answer your question, in our state of Florida, we want to do the same thing. We want to treat our people really, really well. And in order to attract the right companies to come to Florida,

they want to know that you have great environmental policies, that you make sure that your water is clean, that your shores don't have offshore drilling, God forbid, that you're making sure there's no pollutants in the environment. Because by the way, these companies aren't coming to a state that doesn't take care of itself. They're not interested. It's an economic reason in itself to be a pro-environmentalist right now.

Just take a look at these great companies. They'll tell you right away. The second thing is for us is that we call ourselves the sunshine state. We're not the partly cloudy state. And we know that the future is solar energy. So for us, we need to own that space and become a leader in solar energy. And it's something that we're going to move forward to do.

So there's so many jobs and economic benefits to running in the solar energy space. Yeah, a lot of money available there. It's unbelievable. And more abundance with energy. That's exactly right. It's a win-win. It's a win-win. So environment and economic growth are side by side. They are not against each other. Yeah. Not adversaries. They're compliments. Right. What do you think we need right now the most as a society in America? What's missing

from us and what do we need, do you think, in our lives the most? I believe what we need is a sense of coming together and understanding that we are not that divided. We all kind of do want the same things. And let's not let others divide us because no matter where I go around our great state of Florida, people tell me they want clean water. They want great education for their kids. They want unbelievable job opportunities. They want public transportation. They want to just make sure their kids can go to college and life will be even better for their kids than it was for them. And what's amazing about all those things that I can go through more is that they're not Republican or Democrat. And they're not even American or French or German or Japanese. Right.

They're just world values that most people just want. And they want their families to be safe. So when you cut through all the clutter and you say, well, what does it divide us? Well, not much. We're all the same. Nothing's really changed that much. Yeah. We all want the same things.

So I think coming together and realizing that we are Americans. And to be an American means to do the right thing. The American way has always been to do the right thing. And I think if we go back and look at the greatest generation and the lessons of the greatest generation, it's time to get back to what we learned as kids in a nursery school and what we learned from our parents. From our moms. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. What would you say is the biggest challenge you've had to overcome, the inner battle,

or any type of inner demons that you've had to overcome, the inner battle or any type of inner demons that you've had to overcome, whether it be being a mayor over the last four or five years or before that in business? I think that you always find that no matter what you're trying to do, people are going to try to take you down. It doesn't make a difference. Whether you're in business, whether you're running for office, you're never going to get everyone to like you. It just doesn't work that way. So I think the key in life going to get everyone to like you. It just doesn't work that way Okay so I think the key in life is to put your blinders on and Keep moving forward in the direction that you know in your heart

And there are always going to be those times where you question yourself late at night You thinking should I shouldn't I have that right? Is that wrong? And then you go to bed you wake up the next morning and you're recharged and you're ready to go and you're back on Message so I think that whether it's me or anybody else, there's no clear path. You always are going to wonder all along the way. When I was building my companies, I remember saying to myself, God, is this the right company? Is this the right thing? Is it going the right direction? Is it exciting enough? I don't know how it's going to grow. And you go through these things, but you end up realizing

It does it comes to you like let it happen. Don't push it all happens when it's supposed to happen Just keep pushing along the right direction Yeah What would you say is the thing you're most proud of that a lot of people don't know about you? You know all the things that are public that you've done for Miami for Florida for these businesses for the things you've done people Know those things. Yeah, What's something that you do? Consistently or a moment in time that you did that you're really proud of that maybe sure only your family or friends and close friends No, well, you know what? I think along the way I think I've done small things for people that have been the right thing kind of doing the right thing

I would say right now what I'm most proud of is my new baby boy Henry who's four months old Wow Congrats, I'm most proud of is my new baby boy, Henry, who's four months old. Wow, congrats. And I'm really excited about that. Wow. Is this child number three? I have two, I guess you could say, chosen children. My fiancée, wife-to-be, has two kids from a previous marriage that I've known for years. Wow.

And I've taken it upon myself to really help and mold their future. Wow. You know, it's funny because I never liked the term stepchildren. I just can't stand it because I would think they're chosen children. Because you actually, you know, when you have your own natural birth child, you have no idea. But when you kind of assume parenthood of two children that aren't your natural children, those are children. They're chosen. You actually chose to raise those children. And so I love that responsibility. And I can tell you, dealing with a 14-year-old, it's a lot of fun. It reminds me of when we were 14-year-olds.

Oh, my God. It makes you feel like, God, I can remember that. Every little thing. Every way you're trying to outsmart me, man, I was there. I did it. So I know exactly where you're going. You're with your friends. It's like, that's funny to me. I did it. So I know exactly where you're going. You're with your friends. It's like, that's funny to me. You know, there's fun stories in my life. You know, I'll

tell you, kind of just fun because I'm out here in California, reminds me. If I was a little boy, I was seven years old, living in Boston with a single mom in an apartment. We had an African American neighbor in the apartment next door. We had three daughters. And I remember he was really tall. And someone told me that he's a basketball player and I was like, oh my God, really? And next thing I know, I found out he was a Celtics player. So I stalked him. I mean, stalked, full on stalk.

And he loved me. He thought I was cute and kid and throwing my basketball and this and that. His name was Art Hambone Williams, played for the Boston Celtics. And picture, I'm just this kid. My dad was nobody. I was nothing.

And he was so nice to me. He actually took me to a Boston Celtics game, brought me in the locker room with him, and I sat right by the bench the whole time. And he would bring me to practices. And he was a good guy. And he did it for the right reasons because he just was a good person. And he saw this kid, and he was nice. Later, of course, we moved from Boston, and about, I think about five years ago,

it was right before I was a mayor, six years, I don't remember what it was, I was thinking about kids I grew up with, you know, people that made an impression in your life. And when I was in sixth grade, remember that report you do, The Greatest Day in Your Life? Yeah.

I had a picture of Art Williams on the front of my cover. I went on the internet late at night, and I started kind of digging up, whatever happened to Art Williams? And I got all these numbers, Art Williams, Art Williams of Art Williams on the front of my cover. I went on the internet late at night, and I started kind of digging up, whatever happened to Art Williams? And I got all these numbers, Art Williams, Art Williams, Art Williams. So I called one of them out in California, and I said, hi, is this Art Williams? He said, yes. I said, is this Art Williams that played for the Celtics?

He said, yes. I said, Art, in a million years, you're never going to guess who this guy is on the phone calling you. He said, I have no idea. I said, do you remember that little boy that you took to the basketball game, friends with you when you were little? He said, yeah. I said, I'm that little boy. Wow.

He says, oh, my God. I said, yeah. I said, so anyway, we started talking, friends, catching up in life. I sent him a copy of that report I did in sixth grade. You sent him a copy? Yeah, yeah, he loved it. Oh, yeah, I archive everything. I have everything. And so anyways, at that point, I'm a sent him a copy. Yeah, he loved it. Oh, yeah, I archive everything. I have everything.

And so anyways, at that point, I'm a big Miami Heat fan. Yeah. And the Heat was playing the Celtics. And Art hasn't been doing as well. He's on a limited pension. Yeah. So I sent him a huge flat screen TV so Art could watch the games and we could talk about it. So the Heat ends up winning the championship.

Thanks to LeBron. Thanks to LeBron. Okay, I agree with that. Now, the opening game of our new season was against the Boston Celtics. So I flew Art in from California in first class, and I put him at the hotel that the Celtics were staying at. Wow. And I brought Art with me, and we sat on the floor of the Heat-Celtics game.

And the news covered it. And they said, look at that. Talk about paying it forward. Art, when he da-da-da-da, brought this little boy, and there's that little boy now, a successful business guy, brought Art in to take him to a game. I had organized it with the ownership of the Celtics. So I brought him during halftime into the locker room of the Celtics. At the time, Doc Rivers, the coach, stopped them all and said, let me tell you about who this is. This is Art Hambone Williams, championship, NBA,

Boston Celtics, they presented him in his shirt. And it was pretty emotional. It was incredible. And then what was even more interesting, is that crazy how life is, obviously the greatest coach we believe of all time and the president of Miami Heat is Pat Riley. Pat Riley played with Art before he went to the Celtics.

He played with a team called the San Diego Rockets. They were teammates. No way. So I had told Pat, I'm bringing Art in. And we all had dinner together. These guys had a reunion. And ever since that, Art and I have been friends. And we communicate.

And we talk. But I just think it's in life. Never forget where you came from. Never forget those that helped you along the way. Never forget. It's most important. Yeah. And that, to me,

has always been a big lesson in my life. That's powerful. I want to finish up with a couple questions. This has been inspiring, so I'm glad Lacey connected us. This is called The Three Truths. I ask this question to everyone at the end. Okay. Hope I can answer it. I'm sure you'll be fine. Okay. You're able to create simple ideas out of complex things. Imagine this is the, you know, 100 years plus from now, it's the end of your life. You've achieved everything you want. You've given back to the community, the world, whatever you want to do, it's happened. You've got successful radio show, books, TV, whatever it is, you've done it. If you want to be the president, you've done that. But for whatever reason, all the archive stuff

that you always save is gone. And no one has access to your information anymore or any of your speeches or videos or content. It's all erased for whatever reason. But you have a piece of paper and a pen. And it's the last few moments and you get to write down three things you knew to be true about all of your experiences in life,

the lessons you've learned, and these three truths you would have to pass on to everyone else. That's all they would have are these three ideas, lessons, or truths. What would you say you'd write down? Good question. I would say, number one, all people are the same. That's a lesson. Number two, do the right thing.

And number three, really just be nice to people. Be kind. That's it. That's it. Keep it simple. That's it. Nothing more than that. That's the most important things.

Of course. Yeah, those are great. Before I ask the final question, I want to make sure we support you. So what can people do to follow you online? Where can they go? You're obviously running for governor in Florida. So how can they support to take action or get involved or knock on doors or vote or whatever it is? I got to tell you, we're getting a tremendous amount of volunteers.

And the easiest way to access us is online. Philip Levine 2018. There you go. PhilipLevine2018.com. That's online. Philip Levine 2018. There you go. philiplavine2018.com. That's it. You'll see everything. There's an opportunity to volunteer, opportunity if you'd like to make a contribution. We don't care if it's $5 or $50,000.

We would love to get your support. And anything anyone could help us do as far as being a volunteer, we would love it. And the website really says it all. Yeah. philiplevine2018.com. Got all your information. Everything. What you believe in, what you're committed to creating as a governor,

all these different things. 100%. And we always say it's a work in progress because we learn as we go along. Absolutely, yeah. And are you active on social media yourself? Very much so. Or someone on your team? Yeah, our Twitter is Mayor Levine.

Okay. That's our Twitter. And, of course, we have our Facebook, which is Mayor Philip Levine, which we're very active constantly. Cool. Yeah, so where are we? And then Instagram, I want to say it's probably Mayor Levine. Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

Awesome. There you go. Awesome. Well, so make sure you guys go check it out. Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, the website. Support. If you're in Florida, Facebook, the website. Support, if you're in Florida, make sure to support. I'm excited about this. I have one final question before I ask it. I want to acknowledge you, Philip, for a moment for your generosity towards

humanity, your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your generosity. And I think it's really easy for successful entrepreneurs to continue to be successful entrepreneurs and go after the bigger, better, more money opportunities. And not saying that you still don't want those things, but to continue to want to give back and serve, which is not necessarily a sacrifice, but it's a different agreement you have with your life moving forward. It's something that I want to acknowledge you for, for making that shift and transition to serving humanity in a much bigger way. So I appreciate all that you're doing and hope you have an incredible year and you have big results at the end of the year.

Well, thank you. Yeah. My final question is, what's your definition of greatness? I think greatness is the ability to inspire and help others. And thinking beyond your own personal self. And that's why I'm running for office. To make sure everyone has the opportunity to live the American dream. And that dream is different for every different person. But I believe that it's our responsibility to make sure everyone has that opportunity. Philip, thanks so much.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. There you have it, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this one. Make sure to check out the full video interview, show notes, information at lewishouse.com slash 602. And I hope you pulled away some valuable lessons from this interview

with Philip. Again, telling better stories. Are you telling better stories in your life? Are you learning to become a better communicator? I don't care if you're looking to run for mayor, for governor, for president, for middle school class president. It doesn't matter what you're trying to do. You've got to learn how to be more confident with your communication. This is something that I can continue to do. You know, as an interviewer and as a speaker myself and as a writer, I am always thinking of how can I get my message out there in a better way? How can I effectively communicate with confidence and tie in powerful stories that makes things from complex to simple all the time. But think of how you can do this as well in your life. And make sure to share this out

with your friends at Lewis Howes on Instagram, or on Facebook and Twitter. Tag me let me know what you enjoy the most about this and make sure to tag Philip as well as I'm sure he would love this. You can get all his information at lewishouse.com slash 602. And also, if you haven't got a copy of my new book, The Millionaire Morning, the mindset, habits, and routines that will make you rich in the first two hours of the day, make sure to pick up your copy right now. It's free, guys. Go get your copy, themillionairemorning.com. You're going to learn the 10 steps to developing a millionaire mindset, the top habits of millionaires that you can actually start doing every single day. Once you know the information, it's all about applying the information and seeing results.

Go get it. It's free. You pay for shipping and handling, themillionairemorning.com. I hope you guys enjoyed this interview. Again, Albert Einstein said this, only a life lived in the service to others is worth living. I am constantly thinking of how can I give back? And I want you to think about how can you give back in your life

and be of service as well. It's one of the greatest gifts to give. And it's also one of the most selfish things because of the way it makes you feel when you give. It's one of the greatest rewards and greatest feelings. So in a big way, living in service is also great because you're giving, but you're giving almost the most back to yourself and what you receive in return. I love you guys. And as always, you know what time it is.

It's time to go out there and do something great. Bye.