The School of Greatness - The Mindset That Took A Shark from Poverty to Millions

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

My life-changing annual event, The Summit of Greatness, is happening September 12 & 13, 2025. Get your ticket today!When Robert Herjavec was the only person to show up for free business lessons from a legendary Canadian retailer, he learned something that would change everything: "I don't need to get paid to learn. I'll pay to learn from the best." This mindset shift from his immigrant childhood of poverty to building billion-dollar companies reveals the exact thinking patterns that separate those who stay stuck from those who break through. You'll discover why passion isn't enough—and why obsession might be the missing ingredient in your success recipe. Walk away knowing the difference between working hard and working smart, and how to shift from a poverty mindset to an abundance mindset that actually creates wealth.Robert on YouTubeRobert’s books:Driven: How to Succeed in Business and in LifeThe Will To Win: Leading, Competing, SucceedingYou Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own SuccessIn this episode you will:Discover the crucial difference between passion and obsession that determines who succeeds long-termTransform your relationship with learning by understanding why the best pay to learn while others expect to be paidBreak through the poverty mindset trap that keeps people working harder but never getting wealthierMaster the sales secret that made Robert millionsUnlock the three mindset shifts billionaires use to create exponential wealth instead of linear growthFor more information go to https://lewishowes.com/1814For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Kevin O’Leary – greatness.lnk.to/1076SCDaniel Priestley – greatness.lnk.to/1795SCRory Vaden  – greatness.lnk.to/1792SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy!Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

There was one main thing that is blocking you from reaching your full potential. And it's all because you're trying to do everything alone. And that's a big problem because real growth happens when you build a community. When you're in a room full of people who want to see you thrive, who support you, becoming your best self. And if that's something you're looking for, then make sure to join me at the Summit of Greatness live at the iconic Dolby Theater in Los Angeles down in Hollywood, September 12th. 13th because this year is a powerful lineup of incredible speakers and performers like Gabby

Bernstein like dr. Tara Swart like Brendan Bouchard Amy Purdy and so many more inspiring surprise guests you'll experience a couple days of transformation and inspiration and deep connection with the community that actually gets you and wants to see you thrive tickets are selling fast so go to Lewishouse.com slash tickets right now to get your seats, bring your friends and family. And I can't wait to see you there at the summit of greatness very soon. Welcome back, my friend, to the School of Greatness. If you are like me and you love business and entrepreneurship, if you love how to turn creative ideas in your mind into a reality, into the physical world, to be of service to other people, then this is going to be

the episode for you. And for years, years, I have been watching a show called Shark Tank. and we've interviewed many of the sharks on this podcast over the years, some of my friends who we've had on here, who have helped invest in small entrepreneurs and business owners for years on Shark Tank and also just inspired people through educating and informing them how to really grow a business. And today I get to interview Robert Herchevec, who I've always been inspired by. He's kind of like one of the nicest sharks, it seems like, on Shark Tank. and I've always been inspired by his insight and his generosity.

And he is a powerful business leader, entrepreneur. And today we're talking about how to explore the deeper dimensions of building wealth and living a life of purpose. He's going to share intimate details about his journey, including a powerful story on how hitting rock bottom led him to rediscover his faith and joy. There are so many moments where Robert, had to pause and think and really reflect about the questions and the conversation

where we were talking about because he hadn't been asked some of these questions ever. So it was fun to have this conversation with him where a lot of these individuals who were on TV or doing a lot of interviews usually get asked the same questions. But as you guys know, I like to go off script a lot and ask things that I'm feeling based on how someone's energy is, how their heart is, and how our connection is before the interview actually starts. And he reveals game-changing insights about the difference between hard work and smart work, why real wealth requires more than just passion, and how to maintain joy while

pursuing ambitious goals. He's shared so many cool stories right off the bat that I think you're really going to love. So make sure to take notes, share this with one friend, just copy and paste the link on Apple or Spotify and share it with a friend. And again, big thank you to everyone who is just showing up. for yourselves as well. During these episodes, taking this information in, diving in deep, sharing with your friends. I appreciate you. I am grateful for you, and you deserve great

things in your life. Without further ado, let's dive into this episode with Robert Herchebeck. Welcome back, everyone in the School of Greatness. I'm very excited about our guests. We have the inspiring Robert Herchavec in the house. So good to see you, sir. Thank you for having. Welcome. I've watched you for, I guess, 15 years now on show. Shark Tank or 15 plus years. 17. 17 years on Shark Tank. We have many mutual friends that you're buddies with that I've had on the show as well.

And you just have an inspiring story and inspiring life. And I'm glad we got to connect a little bit before this because you've been inspiring young and old entrepreneurs for many years to learn about how to grow their business, how to launch a product, how to package and position their product. And, I mean, your story is pretty fascinating because you're an immigrant. You're an immigrant family. I think you came to Canada when you were eight. But you didn't have anything.

Your dad didn't have any money. You guys were living in extreme poverty. So how do you learn to go from, I guess, a poverty situation and turn it into an abundance mindset? Like, when does that learn switch for you of like, we're in poverty, whether you knew it or not, but you had a poverty mindset or maybe you didn't, but you're, in experiencing poverty, when does that switch on to abundance of wealth mindset? It's a great question. And that's a great question. Somebody asked me yesterday because they knew my story.

I went for a medical and the nurse was like, oh my God, I read about your story and you came to Canada with nothing, blah, blah, blah, blah. It must have been so hard. And the truth is it wasn't. I mean, it was my mom and dad escaping from a country, coming to Canada on a boat, with one suitcase, and I'm the only child. Wow. So for them, absolutely horrifically hard.

Didn't speak the language, had no money, my dad was in jail, could never go back, the whole nine yards. Wow. Comes to a country, doesn't know anybody, doesn't speak the language. Now, I'm eight years old, first time on a boat. It's an adventure. It's an adventure. It's just been. Poverty wasn't my mindset.

And I think that's a big difference. I think people that are born into poverty or encompassed in poverty, it's harder to get out of. My mindset was joy. Really? So I grew up on a small village with my grandma. Like the traditional vision of poverty, we had dirt floors, we didn't have a phone. Like it was one of those, like it was a village. There was one phone.

But if you want to get a hold of my grandmother, you called the guy with the phone and he came on me. But I didn't know we were poor because everybody around me lived like we lived. So enjoy. Oh, I mean, everyone allowed you to live the same. The same. So it wasn't you were rich, I was poor. We all lived in a little dirt floor, outhouse. It was fine.

But as a child, we had animals and it was joy. I didn't realize that we were poor until we came to Canada. And when I went to school, I remember this so clear. I don't remember the journey. I don't remember any of it. My mom thinks I blocked it all out. But I remember the first day of school and kids picking on me and making fun of me and telling me I'm a poor immigrant.

Wow. First day of school. Because you don't speak English either at this point, right? And there was no English class. So they just threw you in and that must have been kind of terrifying also of like. Terrifying. I don't know what's his teacher saying? Don't know anything.

Yeah. And I came from an environment where I was really a lot of fun. My dad was the youngest of 15, tons of cousins. And I go into an environment where I literally don't speak the language and kids are making fun to me. I really don't know why they're making fun. So I learned poverty and I learned poor. as a situation. So I never thought I was poor. I just thought the situation we were in is poor. And I know it's a very subtle difference, but I think you learn your mindset. And I think poverty

is a learned mindset. And I think abundance is a learned mindset. I didn't learn a wealth mindset until later on. And I always think if I would have learned an abundance mindset sooner, I would be much wealthier today. Wow. So what is a poverty or poor mindset versus a wealth or abundance mindset? What do they both encompass? The beginning for me is a poverty mindset is when you believe you're poor or you believe that you are the cause of the situation you're in. Or you believe that external circumstances have made you what you are. I never believed I was poor. I just believed our current situation was poor. Really? So I just, I got to a point where I don't want to be in that situation anymore. But there was nothing wrong with me. My mom loved

me. I was a good human being. I just had to get out of this situation. So how do you learn that to get out of a situation of, I guess, poverty or not having a lot. How do you learn, is it a skill? Is it a shift of energy? Is it a shift in thinking that allows you to get out of that situation? Is it a shift of, I need to act in a different way? I need to become something different in order to create abundance. What does that shift look like?

Yeah, that's a great question too. I think. And how old were you when you? were like, okay, I'm not poor personally, but I'm in an environment that isn't thriving. Probably around 12, because it was just such a crappy environment, and we had no money. And at that point, I'd been poor in my mind for four years. We constantly move schools. So, you know, when you're an immigrant, you make a little bit of money, you live in a crappy

apartment, you make a little bit of money, you live in a better apartment. and so on. So by 12, I've gone to like three different high schools. And my dad worked unbelievable amount of hours, like two shifts. Manual labor, I'm assuming a contractor. Yeah, blue collar, factory, swept floors. I mean, eventually he became a millwright, taught himself. Somebody gave him an opportunity.

And, you know, they paid off their house, which was, you know, the immigrant dream. Right. But I think at 12, I'd been living like that for four years. And we went to a better high school. And every time we went to a better school, the kids around me had more. The richer. Yeah. You're like, I've got a little more, but they've got a lot more.

So I'd be like, I'd be in this high school and we'd make a little bit of money and I was poor, but you know the other kids weren't that much better off and then we moved to a better house and now the kids were way better off and I was just like wow this is I'm never going to get out of this cycle how do you get out of this cycle and I think do you feel like you've gotten out of that cycle at this season of your life because now as you start to generate wealth you're around people that have million dollars then hundred million dollars then billions then billions and you're like is that do you find yourselves kind of still in that at sometimes very very true you know there's what's the saying you are the net result of five people you hang out with and i think it's really

true i think that you are it's very very very rare and hard to raise yourself up on your own i think if your environment your parents your friends are constantly pulling you back it's it's hard to keep going like you think I think back and I think none of my friends I grew up with ever made it and it would have been so easy to stay there but I think as you as you do more and you get more your circle influence and your friends becomes wider right so when was that switch then for you your 12 you start to become aware that okay we're moving around but I'm still in this poor environment compared to everyone else around me. Was it an energy shift, a thinking shift, or an action shift that allowed you to say, I'm now creating

abundance in my life? Yeah, that's a great question. For me, it was an energy shift. Now, I've always been pretty high energy, right? So I've always been like, go, go, go, go. What I didn't realize at the time was I was looking for external things to make me better. It took me a long time to realize I can't take external things to make me better until I become better. I always say show me a small business in trouble and I'll show you an entrepreneur in trouble. Wow. It's very, very difficult to disassociate a lazy, unmotivated entrepreneur with a highly successful business and vice versa. And that was me at 12.

I was just pure energy bouncing off the walls, you know, like we talked about, I want to be a detective, I wanted to join the FBI, I wanted to be an actor because immigrants think if you're on TV you're rich. Like I just wanted not to be poor, but I didn't know how to be rich. interesting and I understand that mindset and it as corny as it sounds it always starts with you it always starts with discipline it starts with habit it starts with learning so what did you start learning to support you from going to poor to abundance mindset sales really yeah sales people always think I'm

wealthy because I'm really good at computers and I am I'm probably one of a handful of the top cyber people in the world but I'm not wealthy because of my knowledge of a task I'm wealthy because of my knowledge of sales and how to get how to sell what I'm doing to other people what was the first lesson you learned in sales or the first sale you ever made in life you can't force somebody to buy something they fundamentally don't need. I was very lucky that way because if if I would have been taught the used car sales mini schlocky way, I mean I was just hungry for knowledge. Like I would have gone any way. Like I always think if somebody would have taken me

under their wing and they were like a con man, I would have been a conman. I was just very lucky. Like you and I talk about it, I got to learn from a guy named Harry Rosen, who was a legend in Canada, owned the biggest men's, and he was just a nice human being. So I went there to buy a suit, and it was like, this is a long time, there was like $1,200. And you're like, this is crazy. And I'm like, oh, my God, I can't afford $1,200 like, there's more money than I'll make this month kind of. Wow. And the salesman said to me, you know, if you work here, you get.

to buy one suit every six months at 50% off so I was like great so I got a part-time job there and I get a job there and a guy who owns the place called Harry Rosen now it's a multi-billion dollar company but Harry used to teach on Saturdays if you showed up an hour before the store opened he would teach you how to dress that's cool you'll love this so like the guy's a legend it was like even then it was like the biggest shop in canada and he says show up at 7 30 because there's a store open at 9 and i'll teach you everything you need to know about dressing one and how to sell to men and i'm like like i'm so excited i leave it was like a wednesday i show up on Saturday nobody there nobody there nobody there

so it's just him and I wow no one else shows up no one else shows up so later in the day I say to my buddy hey how come nobody showed up

you know what he says no one's paying me to show up oh interesting isn't that interesting your friend my friend yeah I guess I'm getting paid

I go show up at nine because I get paid at nine yeah I don't get paid Interesting. I don't get paid. What I heard is, I don't get paid. He said, I don't get paid to learn. Uh-huh.

And I always thought, man, I don't need to get paid to learn. I'll learn for free. I'll pay to learn from the best. Like I thought, I would have paid him to teach me. It was great. He taught me everything. He taught me everything how to dress, how to spot someone with money. So I've always been lucky that kind of found that.

Then I worked for Warren Avis, who started Avis, rent a car. Wow. And like I've just been really fortunate to have great role models who are good human beings. I mean, those two, I guess, mentors and people you worked for, they both have billion-dollar brands now, right? Multiple billion-dollar brands. Yes. That's kind of rare that when you're in your teens, early 20s, you randomly, how do you, is it a random thing? Or do you just know, oh, this guy could be something one day. That's pretty impressive. I just, I could have worked anywhere. I could have worked anywhere.

I could have worked at a local restaurant or a barbershopper that wouldn't have been this, you know, mega billion dollar business, but you worked for these two jobs. I think, how did I end up there, right? Because I think back and I think none of my buddies got a job in a men's clear. Like what, and so if I think about it, what I've always been good at is not lying to myself. I think I've always been brutally honest with myself. Like I told you, I went on my first sales call and went to see a customer and the customer said to me, you dress like crap.

I've never had an ego for success. So if somebody said something to me and there's even an ounce of truth to it, I would take it in. I would leave my ego at the door. So when somebody said to me, you dress like crap, it wasn't like, oh, I'm so offended. What are they talking about? it was like oh do i dress like crap and then you go home and you look in the mirror and you're like yeah i dress like crap how do i get better and then it just looked up the best men's store wow

so i've always had an ability i think to be honest with myself there's a saying that the biggest lies in life we tell are the ones we tell ourselves what's been the biggest lie you've been telling yourself lately um that i'm the biggest lie i've been telling myself lately is that uh i've made it i got to a point where i felt like i've kind of made it and just in the last few months i've been thinking hang on a sec because you you tend to you know like i'm older now i'm 62 and you think oh i'm kind of at the end of the road because I know a lot of older people who are super successful and they're like kind of encosting and it begins to affect me.

And I kind of went a few months where I'm like, yeah. And then when I'm like, hang on a sec. Like age is a number and there's lots of people that can start something at this age and I have more capital than I've ever had. So yeah, I think I can still do it again. Interesting. So you've, the lie I've been telling yourself as you've made it. But what is making it?

You know, when have you made it? If someone looks at you or watches this and they're like, if Robert doesn't think he's made it with all the money he has, all this success from multiple industries, from TV to personal brand to social media, everything you touch has blown up. If he doesn't think he's made it, I have no chance of making it.

That's such a great question, because you think about that when you're starting out you always think oh if i had yeah a bigger house yeah like you know you live here and you drive by belair sure and you think oh if i had a house over there i made it or you have a i don't know a corvette you think oh if i had a friarier and i think oh if i had a jet and then you have a jet and then you think what if i have a bigger jet like when i sold my last company in my mind i had uh what i have i had uh a g4 right right and i used to think i mean this is how shallow it was i used to think oh if i had a g6 come on then then i've made it i've made it because my g4 or my g5 and so i sold the business and literally within two weeks i bought a g6

and this a long time ago now i think i don't think think in terms of things of making it, I think in terms of potential. So when I think I haven't made it, I don't think I've reached my potential. So I don't, yeah, yeah, there is no car I want to buy or no jet I need to buy or no home I need to buy to fulfill me. What I need is I need to feel like I've drained every part of my potential. I want to feel like when I'm my death bet, that I say I couldn't have done more. Wow. And whatever that is, because I think it's different for everybody.

Yeah. So for me right now, it's really about getting super fit. It's about starting another business. It's just about taking everything I've learned and applying it. You have a series on social media that's about the lessons you've learned from billionaires. And you've been around a lot of billionaires. and people can go on your Instagram and TikTok and YouTube and watch all these videos. I think they're really interesting lessons.

But if you could share the top three lessons you've learned from billionaires, what would those three lessons be? Wow, number one, knee-jerk is absolute obstinate obsession about their skill set. Not about the world in general, but about that one thing. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's not, all the billionaires I know would struggle on jeopardy. Right. General knowledge doesn't get rewarded.

Yeah, just a specific knowledge. And so that's the first thing that comes to mind. Like, I don't know a single billionaire that isn't a world-class expert at a very narrow, singular task. I think the second one would be curiosity. it's it's hard to be abundant if you're not curious right like i love to learn i love to you know how did you start the podcast how did you like i'm fascinated and i think that comes into because uh people of great wealth tend to be problem solvers you know we tend to like problems and I think the third one would be discipline now discipline is different right

like discipline to me is fit body fit mind fit business but I have billionaire friends who are slops sloppy right yeah you know they're they don't they eat like crap they're overweight, they don't care, but they're extremely disciplined about their business. I think the discipline applies to who you are and everybody can be different. I think those are the three. Here's a question for you that I think a lot of people, because I have a lot of fit people in my audience, a lot of fitness professionals and people in the health and wellness industry who struggle at making money. They're really good at taking care of their health and they're jacked or they're fit or they eat all the right foods,

but they haven't unlocked how to create financial abundance. So if someone is healthy, physically, emotionally, spiritually, but financially hasn't cracked that code yet, what is missing from them to create that financial abundance? It's a great question. I think it's the same reason why people who are wealthy aren't fit. What is that reason? They look at the superficial, easy,

ways to do it. So people that have a lot of wealth think that they can get fit by taking a drug or surgery or surgery or they look for placebo type band-aids. I think anything hard is discipline and habit. So people that are super fit have discipline and habit, but they're like me when I was a team. They don't know where to apply. You know, interesting story for you years ago, because I've always been a pretty fit guy. So years ago, the Army Rangers reached out to me and asked if I'd like to go to the training camp. And, you know, I think I'm pretty fit. And so I was like, yeah, rah. Anyway, long story, I went, completely kicked my ass, huge amount of respect for people in the military, the discipline.

When it was done, I sat down with the guy who ran the training program and the kind of did analysis of over the last couple of weeks, which you did well, which you didn't. And I said to him, people in the military must be great of business. Because think about it, discipline, habit, like no one has that more than Army Rangers or most people in the military. He said something very interesting, which was, it's very rare that people in the military do well in distance. Why is that? Why do you think?

I think because there used to be following the rules and taking orders probably in saying, what do I need to do to make sure that my boss is happy and staying in line with the team? That's part of it. And that was my answer. Because you can't break the military mold of how things are done. This is the way it's done. We're not going to change because you have. have a different opinion about how to run our unit.

So I said the same thing. Okay. And that's part of it. But he said there's a bigger reason. Tell me, yeah. And the bigger reason is purpose. People join the military because they have a need to do something greater than themselves. Think about that.

You're going to know, you're willing to lay your life down for our country. Like think about that commitment. Like, that's not, gee, do I, you know, am I kind of into it or not? Like, that is an all-in, passionate commitment. I am willing to die for my cause. So then they leave the military. They get a job in sales. And their boss says, if you don't make your number,

we're not going to make it for the quarter. And they struggle with that. They're void of purpose. When you have that great a purpose and that leaves you, it's very hard to replace it with a different purpose. You would think they could, but he said that was the reason. Wow. And so I think it's both. Yeah, yeah.

Right? Like I think people with great wealth don't have a purpose to get fit and people that are super fit. Really at the core, show me somebody who's doing great things and I'll show you somebody with unbelievable. purpose. Interesting. Have you ever had a point in your life where you tied your self-worth with your net worth? Wow. Yeah, probably my 20s, to admit it. Yeah, I was very, I was very superficial because my understanding of wealth was very external. It was everything that I saw other people. So my definition of wealth was how other people spent it, what kind of car they had, what kind of a house I had. Because I never really met anybody who had great wealth.

I always say there's superficial wealth, which is you live for the way you think you should. You buy a nicer car, you get a bigger lease, you get a bigger mortgage, because you think you're think those are the things that you need in order to be successful. And I think once you really achieve great success, you begin to realize I don't actually need another car. I don't need these things to fulfill me. But yeah, I think in my 20s, I was very. How does someone today not tie their self-worth with their net worth? Maybe they're not making a lot of money right now, how do they not let it affect their identity or their core of who they are and the way they feel about themselves because they're not making 100,000 or millions or, you know,

these things? Well, I think your net worth is not a reflection of your value. Poverty and wealth are situational. So somebody listened to this could be making 50 grand. and a year, but they're a high power, high value individual. Everybody's at a different stage of their journey. You've just got to believe that you're learning the skill set in order to get there one day. And you've got to have a greater purpose in order to get there.

So I never thought I was going to end up where I was. You never thought you'd end up where you are now? Well, I never thought I'd end up. up like I am now, but even when I was poor, I never thought I'd stay there. Got you. I see you. It's just that the scope of my dreams wasn't big enough. My dream in my 20s was to make $1,000 for my age. So when I'm 50 to make 50 grand, to buy a house and pay it off in my lifetime. Wow. And to buy a Corvette. That was your dream. That was my dream. that was my like that was the that was my dish and board dream like that was my like

knock it out of the bullet part dream because we didn't know anybody who had done those how did you begin to expand your mind to shatter that limit um again super curious super honest with myself. So, you know, when I, when I bought a used Ferrari and I moved into my house, I was so proud of it. It was a 1986 Ferrari Testerosa, and it was used, and there weren't that much money at the time. And I brought it over to my garage, and I put it in. And this was my superficial state. So I moved into this neighborhood, and I see my neighbor across the street. And his name is Richard, still a friend of mine. So I go over and I'm like, hey, blah, blah, blah. Oh, by the way, look at my car.

You want to see my Ferrari? So it comes over out in the garage and I'm so proud of it. I've never been arrogant, like, let me show you why I'm better. I was just so happy. So I showed my Ferrari and he's like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. I love that year. He says, come to my garage. So we go across the street to his garage, he opens up the garage and he has two Porsches.

Uh-huh. And, you know, it's those moments in life that something happened you're ready to learn it but you don't know what you need to learn and then something comes in and those two things fit and it's an aha moment and i remember it so clearly he opens the garage there's two porches and i worked my ass off to buy a used Ferrari it took everything i knew to get that car and and it wasn't like it was one of many i was it was it was That and I walk across the street and that guy has two and I couldn't fathom how that could happen Like I was like how could he do that? Interesting and so I walk back and I was thinking

There's something I need to be better at because the road I'm going. I'm never going to get there Really because you're like I've worked as hard as I can work and this is what I got every piece of knowledge every bit of hard work, every bit of discipline I had got me one for art. Now here's an interesting thing I think everyone needs to pay attention to and be mindful of what you're about to say because I think what you're about to say from this question I ask you is going to break everyone's minds open because a lot of people are thinking I work 15, 18, 20 hour days already and for years I've been working hard at a job. And I'm not getting the exponential growth I'd like, barely making

incremental growth. And I don't see a way I can't work any harder to create more wealth for myself. What is the thing that you learned then in that moment about hard work versus creating wealth? Because yes, you need to work hard, but what is the thing that broke you open from saying, I'm going to work a different way that's going to unlock wealth? That's such a great question. My dad worked in a factory's whole life two shifts, paid off his house in his lifetime, super successful guy in his world. I will never work a day in my life harder than my dad worked, ever. That man was the hardest working human being I'd ever come across.

just because you'll work hard though doesn't mean you'll be rich oh man what it means is you won't be poor and there's a fundamental difference between the blue collar poverty mindset and the wealth abundance mindset and when i learned in that moment is i literally friggin couldn't give more I was sleeping four hours a day. I was great at my task. I was driving my company as hard as I possibly could. And it gave me one Ferrari. It's still cool, but yeah.

Super cool. Nothing wrong with that. You didn't see how you can get more. Yeah. And the first part was, did I want more? Ah. Did I, was that important to me? And people misunderstand that.

They're like, oh, yeah, I'd like more Ferraris. It was never about more Ferraris. It was just about how do I get more? How do I get more value, more worth? How do I get a better life? And so I said, yes, I definitely want more. Why not? Why not me?

And so that was the first part. Big lesson for me, though, is you have to pivot hard work is absolutely foundational but smart work is pivoting right so what did you learn from going to hard work to smart work to create more financial abundance what I learned is markets and people will pay for value not for time people will pay you for your knowledge not for or how long you've been doing it or the amount of hours you're going to spend on it or those kind of things. And what I realized is I wasn't creating enough that. Really? For your customers,

your clients, or for my customers. Yeah. For my customers. And for me, I wasn't learning enough. And it's funny. I actually ended up going to a Tony Robbins seminar, right? which was really eye-opening because I'd never experienced that. And I thought I was a pretty motivated, high-functioning guy. And then I went to a, so interesting story. How old are you then? 26, 27. Okay, I want to hear this story because I have a similar story.

And so I write about this Tony Robbins. And this is the early Tony Robbins when he was like, you know, bigger than life. and he was coming to Toronto and me and four buddies went to buy tickets only one of us bought a ticket and showed up me all my buddies were like oh it's a waste of time

so I go there and I bought like the super expensive ticket right like the front row and Tony walks in and it's like boom and I was like wow like I'm high energy that guy is transformational energy wow what I realized was all my energy

was internal I was doing a great job of influencing me of making me better I saw Tony and I realized me and I realized I need to make other people better. So I need to make my employees better. I need to make the people I work with. Like I need to make them that and then I need to bring transformation to my customers. And what started for me was a outward transformation of my energy. Before that, I was highly motivated on my own, but if you met me, you wouldn't have walked away and said, oh my God, that guy's like, boom.

After that, if you met me, you would have said, that guy's full of joy. And I started changing our sales pitch to our customers away from product focus to a subconscious focus. I started thinking about why people buy and not what they're buying. And so many people watching are so focused on product features. Why is my product better? We said those things are important, but until we engage people, until we open their minds, they're really not going to listen to us.

So we started in our sales calls, why did they say that? How did they say it? How were they sitting? What did you say? All those things, and none of our competitors, like keep in mind, we're in a very, very technical field, and we're out talking to people about how they feel. Interesting.

In order to sell them really technical stuff. Can you give an example of what that slogan or line of marketing material might look like or someone's speaking about it to a potential customer? You're not selling tech or cyber technology, right, or cybersecurity. software or tech, what are you then selling? We're selling comfort and we're selling safety. You know, there's a good salespeople sell features, great salespeople sell outcomes. And really great salespeople sell feelings.

So I pivoted our company and I said, if the only thing you get out of the sales call, is that the customer feels better, we've achieved something. Because that gives you the opportunity for another call. And, you know, I didn't come up with the same, but the saying is people never remember what you say. They remember how you make them feel. And when I sold my first company to AT&T, interesting story. So everything I've learned about business, I learned on my own.

I don't have a business degree. have a degree in classical English literature. So I sell my first company to AT&T for, I think, $32 million. More money than I could have imagined. I was a long time ago. How old are you done, roughly? 35, 34. I mean, 32 million for a kid that wanted to make. A lot of money. 50 grand. It's a lot of money. A lot of money. So AT&T does the due diligence on the business. They hire an external company. Anyway, long story, they bring me in, and they, say to me we have a problem I'm like what's the problem they said well you know we we hired this external company we looked at your systems we looked at the way

you do take a day blah blah blah and we measured it with all your customer response and it's not great and so I'm thinking oh my god I'm not going to get the 30 million dollars so I'm scrambling and I'm like hey did you ask those customers if they would buy from me again and then like yeah actually we did so they flipped to the last page and they said 97% of your customers said they would buy from you again despite all of these things and I said you ask them why and they said yes and they said two reasons one you made them happy and two they believed if they had an issue you would take care of them wow and so you think about how many people are starting a business

how many people have a product that doesn't emotionally connect with their customers? That's beautiful. Yeah, especially like in a whole tech world, like how can you humanize it or making a feeling come from that type of a product or a service where it may not seem like it's supposed to make it. It's not even just tech, though. It was like you look at retail today. I just did an interview with Forbes.

somebody about this they and the reporter said to me they think retail is dead and i don't think it is i think we're going to see a resurgence in retail but not i don't think people are going to go to the mall to look around you know like oh i'm here what shops are here i think people that depend on location to survive are going to be in trouble but i think brands have an emotional connection like i will drive to a mall to buy lulu lemon i will drive to a mall to buy lulu lemon i will drive to a them all to buy canned goose because those brands speak to me so i think it's in everything i think it's in tech i think it's in fashion i we see it on shark tank yeah there's a few quite this has been fascinating robert i'm so glad you're opening up um i've got a handful of questions left for you

there's so many things i would like to talk about but there's a few things i want to make sure we get to one is faith how much has faith in God or in religion or in the universe played in your life from childhood to now and how much do you put awareness around your faith and also into what you're going to create for the future of your life yeah great question so I've really struggled with my faith in my lifetime started out very religious altar boy for many years became very cynical about it became a superficial Christian meaning I believed in my God and my faith when it was convenient for me and then went through a

horrific time and found my faith again to kind of left cynical cynical believed that I didn't need God or faith or anything else in my life believed I was in control of my own destiny and we are but there's a greater plan mm-hmm What was this season of time where you were feeling that was a rough season for you? 2014. I was going through a really, really difficult time. Like, I mean, like, to the point, I didn't think the sun would rise again. And, like, suicidal thinking?

Yeah. Yeah. Like, contemplated suicide, came close. like it was and you know I mean you know me a little bit now I've always been a happy guy and I've always believed like I was Superman wow and I lost it all like I realized I had kryptonite and I was just like downward downward downward downward and a good friend of mine, John saw me spiraling. Like, I was a shell of what I was. Is this emotionally, is just like alcohol or drugs or it's just like, you know, panic attacks? Is this anxiety, depression?

Just emotional. I was going through a horrible divorce and just family stuff and like just horrible. And, uh, John, thank God he's a priest he said to me I need you to go somewhere and you have to have faith in me to trust me to go here and so I did I flew to Seattle on my super fancy plane and got off the plane and I met one of his friends who was a pastor in in Seattle and he took me to a homeless mission and I spent the next month or so there. I spent the first couple of weeks at the mission, then I got a hotel and it was absolutely transformation.

Wow. Yeah. Being in service for a month to the homeless in that city. Well, I think the first thing as horrible as this is going to sound, I feel I felt so sorry for myself that seeing people who were worse off than me was just a bit of a wake-up call. Sure. Of course. Perspective.

Like I'm going there on my jet, have thought about suicide, contemplated suicide, didn't think I had any value left to give in the world, flying on my jet, meeting a guy who literally, has nothing. Not nothing because he doesn't know if his life has meaning, like literally has nothing. And Union Gospel Mission is a Christian, like you have to go there for a year. It's for homeless, addicts, and so on. So I think that was the first thing. It's like, I just like, wow, these, like, what am I complaining about kind of thing? And then the second part of it was just getting back to purpose if you don't love yourself

and you feel like you have nothing to give you can't give to anyone else and I was void of me going there was a wake-up call and getting back to my faith getting back to seeing value in me like I went there broken And I left there like, who.

And people have a funny, because I meet a lot of people with faith who believe in God and other things. And they always think, how can you be so motivated and have so much faith? And people don't understand that faith doesn't mean that you give up control of your life to someone else. Like I hate when people say that, oh, my. life is in God's hands and I'm like you got to do something like like I think we were given this opportunity in life and we've got to make the most of it and I think that was the greatest thing I got out of that month is just the feeling of back to joy how does someone learn to know they are valuable like you got to a place where you were broken right you were broken but

you had I don't know hundreds of millions of dollars private jet you had success you had you're on tv you're doing these things that people would dream of having how does someone learn to know that they are valuable whether they have lots of money or don't have lots of money such a great question because you i always think about that like i think about how uh arrogant was i to have all this stuff feel so sorry for myself. Like why couldn't I on my own figure that out? Like why couldn't I've used some of my wealth to do good? Like how shallow was I to focus on my own misery? It took the misery of others for me to realize that. And I always think, how arrogant and shallow is that?

But I think it's hard. I think it's really hard to ask for help when you feel you're in control of your own destiny. Right. Like I think powerful people and strong people have a hard time asking for help. And I just needed help. I mean, it could have been anything. What do you ask God for today? Peace. I mean, I pray for peace. I pray for joy. I just want my family to feel fulfilled.

Right? And I think about, I also think, I was just talking to somebody about this. They said, do you worry about your legacy? And I think, no, because once I'm gone, I'm gone. But what do I want my kids to remember about me? And I want them to remember the joy and the love. That's beautiful. I mean, I think that's what every human being wants love, joy, peace. And I would also add financial success. Because I think those are,

aren't separate. I think if you live in North America, you have to make a certain amount of money to take care of your family. I mean, that's just reality. And that's one of the things I worry about America in the last few years. It's becoming wealthy almost became like a dirty word. It's one of the things I love about Shark Tank is you have six of us, self-made, relatively nice people. Right. And we show people every week that anybody can do it. Yeah. Why do you think so many people tie wealthy people with stingy mean people? And why do they, you know, a lot of people will say, you know, they want wealth, but they also afraid of wealth because they've seen how some people who are super wealthy maybe treat people

poorly or are angry or whatever it might be or stingy, not generous with their wealth. Yeah, it's a great question. It's like sales. If you ask most people about sales, they're They would say to you, oh, I don't want to be a sales rep because they think use car salesman. But I'm sure with your expense, the greatest salespeople you've met are probably super nice and super helpful. Right. Sales is the ability to help someone not to get them to buy something they don't need. And it's the same thing with wealth. Wealth is not the creation or the subjugation. What's the quote I read a long time ago?

power is not the subjugation of the weak power is the ability to get the powerful to see your vision and I think it's true I think most people that don't have wealth want an easy answer as to why they're not doing

if you could go back a year before 2014 10, a decade back, but a year before, you're about to go through your darkness, the sadness, the depression, the divorce, the horrible feelings you're feeling. And if you are who you are now, and you can speak to that younger version of you 11 years earlier and only gave him three pieces of advice, with everything you know he was about to go through, what three things would you say to that version of you, right?

before you went to your darkest times the sun always rises tomorrow i think i think the reason i went there is you know and not just personally but in business i tended to have these horrific like oh my gosh if we get this one deal the world will change good or bad so i think that's the first thing i would say is the sun always rises like don't make mistakes they'll kill you. Don't bet at all on one thing kind of thing. I think the second thing I would say is the world is your oyster. Like it really like you think about like somebody owns this building and sure they may have inherited it but let's go back to the first like somebody bought this land built this building somebody created it the world is incredible like the things we can do and i think

the third thing is you are all powerful you are all powerful there is nothing we cannot achieve if we believe and we're willing to work well hard enough that's beautiful um again there's a lot of things i'd love to ask you but i want to be respectful of our time robert um i have two final questions for you before I ask them. I want people to follow you on all over social media on your YouTube because you in the last few months have been starting to share these stories that I don't feel like people have been able to see

unless they watch Shark Tank. And they edit that stuff down into 30 second moments and there's six of you and so they don't get all of you. But the wisdom you're sharing here, I feel like it's just scratching the surface about what you've been sharing online. So I want people to follow you on YouTube, want people to follow you on Instagram, it's your name,

we'll have it all linked up but how else can we be of service or support to you today no i think this was great i mean i'm a big fan you've had some amazing guests on here i appreciate you having me in that yeah uh same company i think this is great cool um this question i ask everyone there's two final questions this one is called the three truths okay imagine you get to live as long as you want to live in this world but it's your last day eventually in the future and you get to create and accomplish all of your dreams from this moment until that last day but on this last day for whatever reason hypothetically you've got to take all of your content with you so all of your social media content this interview your books that you've

written it's all gone so no one has access to your information anymore but on the last day you get to leave behind three truths three things you know to be true kind of the three lessons you leave behind for everyone and that's all we would have to remember your content by what would those three truths be for you number one my family because they are they are especially my kids they're the embodiment of i hope they're the embodiment of what i am number two is joy yes without joy there is no life like there there is no misery in you know, there is no wealth in misery. How many successful people are miserable, right?

And I think you can spike to success, but if you don't have joy, it fades. And how many successful people commit suicide and drugs and alcohol? Joy is everlasting. And I think the third one is empowerment. I think if you would hope that when you leave, that you've empowered somebody in their life to do something better. It's one of the great things about Shark Tank.

Where was I? Just the other day. Somebody gave me a card and thanked me for being on the show and how much it affected them in their family. And I think, how great. is that to be on a show that inspires so many people for 21 years. Millions of people. Millions of people.

Before I ask the final question, Robert, I want to acknowledge you for the joy you brought today. I think there's, you know, I think a lot of people can learn from you, not from the lessons you share, but the energy you bring. And I've heard the word joy and written it down and highlighted it multiple times from this conversation. And for me, that's what I feel like, that's what you embody. is joy.

And I believe it's probably one of the main reasons you've been successful in your TV career, in your business career, is because you've brought the joy consistently. Maybe it needs to be more miserable, because Mark is pretty miserable, and he's worth more by me than I am. No, I'm joking. But is he living a fulfilled life as you are, you know?

Probably. You're like, dang it. He can wear whatever he wants, yeah. But I would acknowledge you for overcoming the pain and creating great perspective. And I feel like you're living a life of extreme purpose by sharing your knowledge now in a bigger way. I know we talked off camera about how, you know, it's even worth doing this social media

stuff. And it's like, I can't really quantify. Like, is there money here? You know, is there opportunities for business? But you never know how much of an impact you can make on someone when you share a story. And you are credible at sharing stories, whether it be on TV, here, but also in your social media and the people will remember the feeling of the stories you share for a long time and so I acknowledge you for diving into this chapter whether you do it for years or a few more months

of social media but sharing your knowledge for free is an incredible gift that you're giving to the world and I acknowledge you for that and I acknowledge you for bringing the joy when you share thank you of course my final question Robert what's your definition of greatness Jeez, that's such a great question because my dad was a great man and my mom was a great person. And my definition of greatness would be fulfillment of potential. so my dad never made any real money but I think considering the pain and life he had that man wrung every moment of his life so if I did nothing but what my dad did that wouldn't have been greatness because I was given

more. Those that are a given more need to do more. Those that have been given more need to find greater purpose. So I never think that it just wasn't enough, right? Like I couldn't have achieved any level of greatness if I just simply did what my parents did. And I think a lot of people listening, it's the same thing is you've got to find your own purpose. Yeah. Right. And that's beautiful what's your definition of creating this I'm trying to see if it's different than what I had a couple of years ago for me it is to discover your unique talents and gifts that you've been given and pursue those gifts to live your dreams and in the pursuit of those dreams make the maximum impact on the people

around you. Wow. Yeah. Because we've all been given different talents and gifts that we need to learn to cultivate. And then we are, I think we're given

cues, feelings of what dreams we might have. There's a curiosity, there's something that pulls us into an idea for a potential dream, something. Whether it's God or an intuition or a feeling that's pulling us

or making us think about something. I'd like to create that. I'd like to build that. I like to overcome that. I like to help this thing. I'd like to make this thing. Something that pulls us. And then we need to cultivate the talents and gifts within us to pursue that dream.

And in that pursuit, I think it doesn't have to be changing the world, but it needs to be changing the world around you. Impacting the world in a positive way around you. And if that's five people, your family, that's beautiful. So I think that's what your mom and dad did. They impacted you. and the people in their community because that was their reach

and you've been given different gifts and talents that you've cultivated and maximized to this level and you feel like you've got to maximize more to the next level and in that pursuit of the new dream how will you impact people around you the people closest to you

but also the platform you've been building how will you impact those individuals as well so well said because I think you know it goes back to God and faith. I think that there's no one external that's going to do it for you, but the signs are there. Yes. And you never know how the dots connect until you look back. That's true. When I first, when Cameron and I first got in Shark Tank, we started in Canada, I started a show called Dragon's Dent. And the very first day, they put me in a room.

You know, just see how you'd react on TV like this. Sure, sure. And they threw these fire questions like, tell me what EBITI is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there were random questions. And one of the questions was, why do you want to be famous? Mm. What you're saying?

Just to see what you'd say. What I said is so I can get on dancing with the start. Shut up. You did not say that. And everybody laughed. I did 100%. Everybody laughed and I thought that was a funny. What people didn't see was 10 years before.

that, my mom's favorite show was dancing with the stars. Wow. So imagine little Eastern European immigrant woman, horrible life, watching this beautiful show with these beautiful dancers. Like if you called my house on a Monday when the show is on, my mom would like answer the phone and go, like, bye, you call it. You know, I bought a show. My mom ended up getting ovarian cancer.

And she went to the hospital, and she was there for a year, and every Monday, I would go to the hospital with the other women who had ovarian cancer. And we'd all watch dancing. Wow. And one day, my mom says to me, Robbie, you so beautiful. Why not you be on show? And I say, without thinking about it, if they ever ask me, I'll do. do it for you. Wow. And my mom passes away. Ten years before I even had an inkling of being on TV. Fast forward 10 years later, I'm sitting in a room. They throw that question at me.

First thing comes to my mind. Fast forward another 10 years. I'm going through this horrible time. I come out of it, fix myself, finally begin to think I have value in life again. Three days later, the producers of Dancing with the Stars asked me to be on the show. Oh, my gosh. Like, before they're finished asking me, I say yes. Oh, my gosh. I walk in, meet the woman I'm going to marry. Oh, my God.

And today I have this unbelievable life. I didn't create those dots. I believe life or a greater force or God. Whatever your faith is created those things. But it was up to me to connect the dots. And I think for anybody watching or listening, you have the power to connect those dots. Wow.

You have to have enough faith to believe it all connects but you still got to get up every day work your ass off and make it happen we have a lot I mean we have some similarities in life I mean obviously you're

much more successful for me but when I was sleeping on my sister's couch I would watch that show dancing with the sturg and I was like I was living in Columbus Ohio and I was like broke and I was like but I loved to salsa dance I started I started learning

had a salsa dance one after our, you know, when I was on my sister's couch. This is one of the things I was talking about beforehand. I learned public speaking and salsa dancing because there were big fears of mine. Same. And so I'd watch this show. And I traveled the world eventually salsa dancing in clubs, like social salsa dancing, not ballroom, not joking you. For like 18 years I've been traveling the world.

You must be the biggest salsa dancer. Biggest gringo salsa dancer ever, right? And I remember thinking, gosh, one of the people, be amazing to be on the show one day. I wasn't famous. You know, I had no money, but I was like, you need to become famous in order to get on this show. And that was like, since I've been in LA for 12 years, I've always wanted to be on that show. It's a great show. I've always wanted to be out of the show. So maybe one day I'll fulfill that as well. I'll introduce you their producers. Do you the cats, right? Yeah, exactly. I'm better. I'm better. I'm trying to pitch

and stuff myself. I'm there. Many years, I've tried. I mean, obviously, grace experience I've I'm sure. And the hardest experience. I can imagine. People don't realize how hard. Eight hours a day of training and the whole thing. I know a lot of the dancers as well. And, yeah, they're friends of mine.

I love the show. It's a great experience. But one day, maybe I'll be, if it's still on air, maybe I'll make it one day. Well, it's good to have a dream. Exactly. Robert, this has been powerful. I appreciate you so much for coming on. Thank you.

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