Trading Secrets - 211. Mark Ballas: Dancing with the Stars, Broadway, Musician, and more?! BTS of his insanely successful creative career, knowing when to pursue the next venture, and always being intentional

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

This week, Jason is joined by professional dancer, choreographer, singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and former Dancing with the Stars pro Mark Ballas! Mark is well known for his time on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars as a pro from 2007 to 2022. Mark has set and broken numerous records and established himself as one of the top dancers and choreographers in Dancing with the Stars history, having tallied three titles in seasons 6, 8, and 31 and four runner-up finishes in seasons 14, 19, 22, 25. Outside of his time on the show, he has gathered numerous acting accolades and also formed a pop rock musical duo with his wife BC, called Alexander Jean.  Mark dives into the thought process behind being all in regardless of what he is doing, why he came back to DWTS after a five year hiatus, as a competitor when he knew he was done competing, being hands on with the costume department on DWTS,  the stresses of competing and judging, how he got prepared to step into the judges seat, and how he plans for his future. Mark also reveals growing up in a creative, supportive environment, doing a yearly mood board with his wife, staying in the present the first year of his son’s life, goals for 2025, behind the scenes of Broadway, growing up with Derek, managing the need to be constantly busy, and navigating the hardest moments. What’s been his biggest financial moment? What major movie was he an extra on? What are some of his memories with Len?  Mark reveals all that and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss!                                                     Host: Jason Tartick Co-Host: David Arduin Audio: John Gurney Guest: Mark Ballas Stay connected with the Trading Secrets Podcast!  Instagram: @tradingsecretspodcast  Youtube: Trading Secrets Facebook: Join the Group All Access: Free 30-Day Trial  Trading Secrets Steals & Deals! Monarch Money: Monarch is the top-rated, all-in-one personal finance app because Monarch helps you make smart money moves. For 35% your first year go to Monarchmoney.com/SECRETS Cornbread: If you’re looking for a healthier way to enjoy a carefree moment, you have to give Cornbread Hemp a try! They've created the first-ever USDA Organic THC gummy that’s 100% legal. For  30% off your first order! Just visit cornbreadhemp.com/tradingsecrets and use promo code tradingsecrets at checkout. Fabric by Gerber Life: Fabric by Gerber Life was designed by parents, for parents, to make it easy to plan for and manage your family’s financial path. With a kids investment account from Fabric, you can start investing in your child’s future today. Start investing in your child today at meetfabric.com/TRADINGSECRETS

Welcome back to another episode of trading secrets. I'm your host, Jason Tardick, and welcome to the pre-market trading segment where I'll tell you a little bit about what you can expect today. A quick little market update or financial tip, which will be a little bit different today, and then an update for my personal life. First and foremost, I'm going to tell you this intro is going to be quick, because this episode is a little longer, but every single word that the one and only, the 20 season legend of Dancing with the Stars, and guest judge this past year, Mark Ballas has to say

is worth it. I don't care who you are or what you do in life. There is going to be something out of this episode that you will take and you will think about long, hard, and intentionally for at least a week or even longer. Mark is just a true artist. that has unbelievable discipline and meticulous energy that is such a craft. And you're going to learn so much about the success he's had and how he's gotten there. Now, we tell stories about, you know, he talks a little bit about his wife who wrote a massive song for Beyonce. We talk about Len Goodman. We talk about his family ties to Dancing with the Stars.

We talk about dancing with the Stars. We talk about behind the scenes as a judge on Dancing with the Stars. We talk about the finances of Broadway in Dancing with the Stars. I mean, we cover A to Z. And if you don't know who Mark Ballas is, somehow, some way you're living under a rock, I can promise you after this episode. You'll never forget him. It's rare that we have Trading Secrets episodes where I say,

I'm going to take away something from this episode, incorporate it into my life in perpetuity. It's rare that I say that. this episode, there's probably three or four things I'll be taking away and implementing into my life in perpetuity. And stay tuned to the recap, especially this one. There's just, it's a, it's a great recap. David and I really, really get into it. Again, the best thing you could do to help this show is just hit the subscribe button on YouTube and wherever you're listening right now. Please hit subscribe. It helps us out a lot. And again, we have some giveaways going. So make sure to give us five

stars. And when you give us five stars, just put your at symbol for your social media handles and and we'll reach out to you if you want. Quick little holiday shopping tip I'm going to give. Usually I give a financial tip. This is a quick holiday shopping tip I'm going to give. People are getting dressed up for different events and holiday parties and all these things. And I have found that probably one of the highest profiting,

biggest margin industry is apparel. So for some of these parties that you're just going for once. You want to get the quick picture. I have a suggestion for you. Go to Pinterest. Go to Instagram. Find the outfits you like. screenshot them, take that picture. You can actually upload that picture into Amazon and then

Amazon will show you a list of apparel products similar to that that you can buy at about one-fifth the price. So you might see someone wearing like a sick Gucci coat and you could, you know, there's not all the stupid symbols everywhere, but it's just fresh. It's probably a $2,000 coat. Take that picture, put it into Amazon and you could find almost the same exact looking coat for 120th the cost. That's my quick little shopping trading secret this episode. And for a little personal update, a lot of action was, you guys know, I was in Vegas for F1 with some work stuff. I have been in Charlotte with my parents for the holiday, which has been really, really nice. So good to be back here. It's also, you know, when I think about like when I open up to you

guys on a personal level, you know, sitting at Thanksgiving dinner with, you know, mom to my right, they add to my left and me and you know this was like the quietest of thanksgivings I've had especially at dinner that I can really remember honestly and even last year obviously when things didn't work out I did have the dogs with me which was nice but you know it was you know it's just me that's no longer the case anymore and for me a little bit of a wake-up call is like well I was so grateful for that it was so good to have a healthy mom and a healthy dad and a healthy me it was like okay this is great but this is i want i want more and when i say i want more i'm i'm so ready for like that next step in life and over like the future years of thanksgiving i want that picture to change

and i want it to change a lot so that's my little update now this week week, we are going to, I say we, I am going to Florida actually. So there's different areas in Florida. I'm going to look at that to consider buying a home. On the east coast of Florida, though, because I know, it's probably some people turn in their head, excuse me, East Coast of Florida. The thought process here is I want to establish residency in Florida and my thought process is great place to visit, great place to rent the house out, should I need to rent it. Real estate has been pulled back a little bit. And on top of it, obviously no state income tax is a great incentive. So that's kind of what I'm thinking. And then I'm thinking

about getting a place up in New York. That would be kind of a hybrid of like an office and a place to live too. So I could work there, a podcast there. I could stay there should I'm up there for work because my god prices of hotels in new york now are like just ridiculous so that's like a very early personal update none of it is certain it's very preliminary um but more to come more to come i think my time in nashville uh it's coming to an end as i have you know i have some friends there and stuff of course some good friends but uh little to no reason left to be there Okay, that's my personal update. Now, enough of me.

Let's ring in the bell with the one, the only, Mark Ballas. Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by professional dancer, choreographer, singer, songwriter, musician, actor. I mean, I could just keep going, but I'll take a breather there. He's very well known for his time on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, Mark Ballas. From 2007 to 2022, Mark has set and broken numerous records and established himself. is one of the top dancers and choreographers and Dancing with the Stars' history.

Having tallied three titles, season six, eight, and 31, and four runner-up finishes, seasons 14, 19, 22, 25. Outside of his time on the show, he has gathered numerous acting accolades and also formed a pop rock musical duo with his wife, B.C., called Alexander Jean. We're going to discuss professional and financial ins and outs of his career, and dancing, acting, music, and where he sees his future of his career evolving to next.

Mark, I only touched the surface of some of the stuff you did in that intro, but thank you for being on training secrets. Thank you for having me. You've done your research. An artist in its purest form, as purest form. Now, typically what I'll do, Mark, is we'll start from like the ground up to get you where he are today. But there's so many moving parts in your life currently. I want to kind of start right now. You have this interesting career side of you that is so successful.

and so massive, but also a bit of a mystery, right? You come in, you come out. You're out. Social media, nowhere to be found. Now you got engagement off the chart. So talk to me just a little bit about the thought process of some of the breaks that you've taken with social media, with dancing, and what, you know, just why is that?

What's talking about it? I think, honestly, and I've talked about this in the past with friends and stuff, It's like, I'm the type of person when I'm doing something, I'm all in. I want to know everything about it. My buddy Derek, who's also on the show. We grew up together. We've trained together. We moved out here to do the show together.

And that's something he'll always say. Whether it's learning how to make the perfect vanilla latte or like I was a big whiskey guy for a minute and I would make my own ice cubes. They had to be super clear. And then from little things like that to even to dancing, playing music, guitar playing. When I'm in, I'm all in. And then also when I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break. You know, so I try my best to apply myself 100% to everything I'm doing, 200% possible. Otherwise, I just can't.

I just can't. Like, I have to be. Is there like a little bit of perfectionist in there then? So if you're doing it, it gets to be perfect. And if you're not doing it, you're doing it. I don't know if it's about being a perfectionist for me. But it is giving more about applying myself to the full. fullest that I possibly can. I hate to look back and think, I could have tried harder. I could

have learned more. I'm a sucker for information on whatever it is that I'm showing interest in. And whether that's being like, I'll just use Dancing with Stars an example, like being a pro for 20 seasons and kind of seeing every possible outcome that there can be, like I've been eliminated first. I've won it before. I've overscored, underscored. I've been in the final. I've not made the You know, I still, on my last season that I did just two years ago, I still feel like I was learning. I trained intensely for it. I flew my mom out to get me in shape for it. So I try to think of myself as always learning no matter what it is and what the craft is.

I try to be intentional about, oh, there's always new ways to do things. There's always a different way to look at it, even though you've done the same thing on repeat. It may be the same ten dances, but there's so many more. ways to do them that I have yet to do. And there's so many more things about that that I'm still learning. Like, I'll have conversations with my mom, who is one of the best coaches in that field. One of the best in the world. And we'll talk about your mom. She'll give me tidbits like, after all these years, I didn't ever think of that. I mean, she's referred to as Queen of Latin. She is. I mean, she is one of the most renowned and decorated dancers in the

world. I'm going to ask you about that. Before I do, though, let's stay on this topic of taking a break knowing when to do it. I think, of course, artists like yourself struggle with that. I struggle with it. Anybody that's listening to this, teacher, doctor, lawyer, attorney, whatever they are, whatever they're doing. That's the biggest issue, I think, especially this, like, in 2024, these connections, these phones, they drain us. So season, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so scene 31, you win with Charlie DeMilleo. Yeah. You guys absolutely kill it. You're yet, I mean, just, it was unbelievable. Thank you. The finale. What made you decide that season that you're like, I'm going to take a break?

I don't even know if I'm going to come back. What was the breaking for? How did you identify? I had taken a long break before that season. And it was actually a five-year break, which was the longest one I'd taken. And then before the season, before that, I'd taken a year break as well. I wouldn't say I took, like, a social media break or any of that. It was just a break from competing on the show.

So after Charlie, I was very intentional knowing that that was my 20th season going in. And when I came back into it, a big part of the reason I wanted to come back was because of the producers that were in charge. It was Conrad Green, which is, and Dina Katz, all the original, like the originals who started it. And that was, like, very exciting for me to go back to it. But I was- Just, stretch the question, have they cycled out and then back in? Yes. So Conrad started it, and then he did, he ran the show for a long time and made, was a big part of the success, along with a fantastic team of other producers. Sure.

And Dina Katz, who's been casting it from the get-go. It was brilliant at what she does. So when I got the call about coming back to 31. you know, I was like, I was like, Hillel, who's producing it? And it was like, Conrad, I was like, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm interested, you know. Did you get the calls the year prior, you just turned it down? Or did you not get the call? I had been intentional about doing other things.

Like, I had done some Broadway shows. My wife and I do our music gig, and we travel, and we tour and play shows and stuff like that. And I was just doing other things. So there wasn't like the phone ringing every season. However, like I always, I never felt like the door. was closed especially like I have great relationships with the producers and I'm I'm sure if we had got on a call and had an open discussion about hey do you want to come back what are you thinking blah blah blah sure that that would have been there but during those five years I was very much

on a it's not retirement because I never formally said that but a hiatus I was doing other things okay so we saw you this year as a judge now the big question I mean when I said that I'm having another podcast the number one thing I got was will we ever see them as a dancing pro again. So what is your thought when you think about career navigation in the future as a pro on the show? As a pro on the show. As of now, I feel like the competitive side is closed. After Charlie, I kind of made, I voice those words of like I'm retiring as a professional just from the 10 weeks of competing, 20 seasons I feel like was a lot. And also like a monumental time in my life, you know, before Charlie's season, my wife and I had been trying for

family, and now we have a son. And there's just a lot of other things that I'm excited about right now, number one, being a dad, you know? So as far as being a pro, I'm, look, I'm very much so a never say never person. And I'm always open to a conversation. Yeah. But as of now, I couldn't see myself competing as of now. Okay. When you say the competing side feels like that day is closed, is that something, as an athlete, do you just know that? Or is it, like, because I would assume that's been instilled on you since day one. You look at all your accolades, like competitors probably one of your top five words to describe you. Does one day it just say, like, I did it. Yeah. You know, like before I did, um, dancing with stars, I was, I did compete in

the warm and Latin world, which is a whole different world in itself that, you know, our industry is very small and people in that industry understand it and what the schedule is like and how grueling it is because it is and i'd actually decided to stop competing from that when i was i think 18 or 19 because i just i didn't really in i love the dancing i love the creative part i love choreography i love creating but i just didn't want to do that anymore and i also i went to music college and musical theater and i wanted to do theater and i wanted to play music and then move more into choreography and the creative side that was something that was always really appealing for me so that said on Dancing with Stars you get to do that you know as the pro you have to choreograph it

also depends like on your get down like some some pros like having their music given to them like I'm hands-off like I got a I got to love the song sometimes I'll do my own edits I'm very hands on with designing the costume I'm like it's it's got a Every week you were doing that? I am, yeah. Costume design? All of them? With the team.

Yeah, but that's, not every pro is doing that. Yeah, I mean, I think you can make suggestions, but because I've had such, so much experience and also coming up, you know, watching my mom and dad compete and seeing around it, I know what works. Yeah. And I know what doesn't work. And I know what doesn't work because I've made mistakes in dressing, wearing certain costumes and outfits and stuff like that. So I'll use Charlie as an example.

Like, we were very hands-on about what she. was going to wear, how the hair was going to be. But again, with Stephen and Daniela, the wardrobe department, they are just, they're the best at what they do. And even sometimes I'll come in with an idea and Daniela might be like, well, what if we did that but like this? And I'm like, yeah, so they are just some of the best. And also wanting to hear what Charlie was comfortable in wearing and how we can turn her creative ideas into something appropriate for the dance style that week, you know. Interesting. I get why maybe you might need a break from it. Like that is so, It's a lot. For me to do it well, like it's all of it. Yeah. You know, like, and yeah, I just got a, like, 20 seasons. That's a lot.

That's one hell of a run. Yeah. It's like almost half my life, I think. Almost. And there's a lot of records that you broke. I have some here for all our listeners. We've got the highest premiere score of a 27 that was on season six with Christy Yamaguchi. You are the pro with the most partners who received at least one score of a nine on Premier Night. Seasons five. 6, 14, 18, and 19. Only male pro to place the same in finals twice in a row without winning, season 11, 12. Pro to finish in second place with the most times. That's 14, 19, 22, pro to make the finals the most times. You've appeared 11 times in the finals, according to all of our research. So you're in the history books. Wow.

I was overwhelmed by that. You like that? You're like, she was about to shed it to you. Yeah. When I hear you say that, like, it's funny, it's just, it's, it's. It's, I don't know, it's a trip. It's a trip. It's unbelievable.

But, you know, it's a lot. A lot of time, a lot of hours went into that, you know. And, you know, I think also, when I started, I was 21. I was a kid. You know, just moved here from England. I had no idea about, if you'd ask me this when I was back in high school and college, I would, you know, you're going to do that. I was like, in that way.

Like, it's really quite overwhelming. Somewhat surreal. We're going to get back into those days you came on. But the big thing. Again, kind of going back to it, and congratulations on everything, is the judging element. People loved you as a judge. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. What was probably the most eye-opening thing is somebody who's been on the show for 20 years

and then went into the judge table. And it's fun, you know, you and I look at going on my past relationships, you know, she was the Bachelorette, but then she was the co-host for season is a pro dancer and then someone has a judge table. Like, what are some of the biggest differences or maybe even the most surprising things that you didn't expect? I'd had a season when Julianne was a judge, and then I took a long break, and then I had Derek as a judge. And I think for me, it's really cool because, A, I grew up with both of them, and so we know each other well. But B, it's nice to have someone on the panel that's walked this, who's been out there, who's broken a sweat, who's had to be in the trench, you know, because you get to, it starts, it's fun, it's exciting, and then you get to, like, week four, and it gets a little more intense, five, six, and then you get into the trench, which is. seven, eight, nine, and ten.

And those weeks are, it's fun, it's exciting, you're in it, you know, you're rehearsing for all hours of the day, and having a judge that has experience that I think is important. So I think it was cool to have two up there, myself and Derek, that have been on the show together the same amount of time, but also had two very different experiences. And look at, even though we were trained together, we have danced together our whole eyes, we also see things differently and we help each other out and I thought that was exciting hopefully for the audience and it was also an interesting I said this to Derek was like wow after 20 seasons on the show still being able to find a new experience for me is tough yeah because I've seen

it all seen it all so being at the judges table was again a whole new experience it was pretty cool like I remember when the show started sitting up there and like you know at the table I'm just being like, oh, yeah, because I never sat there before either. Of course. You think you're more nervous for finale going into it like with Charlie or more nervous to judge? There's such both intense nerve-racking experiences in different ways. I think with Charlie, you know, Charlie's season for me, like there was a big turning point after her contemporary dance where yes, she was gifted. worked hard and we got to that dance and after that one like the improvement like I started to see like massive improvement and I think a big part of that is it is attributed to her

attitude like she showed up every day not just literally I mean shoes on phone down focus like we were we were in it you know yeah and when we got to that finale we had just come off a week a really good week of the the Beanie's Walls which is one of my favorite dances I've ever done to this day and the Pasadoblet, where she got really great scoring. And when you have a week like that, you're like, oh, I got to keep the momentum going. So, like, that is definitely a set of nerves in its own. Yeah.

Right? And also staying focused. Okay. I could always say to Charlie, like, when we get out there, well, I think Michael Phelps. I always use Michael Phelps as an example. I don't know. Have you ever seen that picture of him in the pool? He was just dying.

Where his competitor is looking at him and he's just dead straight. Like, I always use that as an example. That's a good one. Whereas the judging thing, it's not nerves for me because as a judge, I felt a responsibility to help the contestants. I think when you're a judge, yes, you're up there, you're speaking, you're giving your point of view, right, whatever. But I always found, as a competitor, when I had something to take with me into the next couple weeks, that was when I was like, okay, this is tangible, I can take this, I can look at this in the mirror, I can work on it. versus hey you did this dance this could have been better yeah and then you're like but next time do this but there isn't a next time like next time i'm not doing this dance again right unless

i randomly get it in the redemption round right so for me it was like okay if i'm if i'm judging i want to be able to give them something moving forward hey here's a tip this could have been better this week yeah you did this great yeah moving forward let's let's try and do this because you know for the super fans to show and people understand there's five ballroom dances, there's five Latin dances. Yes, they're all different, but there are things that are a through line that work in all of them. Totally. So it was, I was very intentional about, like, I really want to give them something moving forward. That's cool. I love it. When you think about, you know, here's the thing I'll never forget is Derek's, like, he was taking notes at your notes you were providing while it was happening,

but I always think about him. He's also switching my paddle. He was always switching. He was kind of messing with it. He's like, we're boys. We're going to have a good time here. Like, I went to Pull an 8 and it was a 6th. And I looked at him, he was like, I was like, dude, come on, man. It's first time on the truck. Yeah, I give a breather. Like the senior with a rookie for a second, even though you're far from that.

But I always think about, the judges have notes and then they take notes. Yeah. So I'm wondering, how many times do you get to see it before you're actually judging it? Do you get to see it? You're in it. I think. Do you get to see the dance before their practice rounds at all? You don't get to see any footage before show day.

Oh, wow. None. Right, I didn't know that. So you're not, you don't know what the week's been like. You don't know how the, you don't know what dances they're getting until, I mean, they do press releases and everyone knows, and you can see those. However, you don't know what the week has been like or what struggle has been or this, that, and the other. So you kind of come in on show day, like having to give some sort of substance for them moving forward, you know, which was interesting because I went back and studied. I watched season 31, 32, and 33 to get ready for this, because I just want to.

to watch what people to you watched every episode to prepare for it yeah why last three because that's me like i'm i'm intense you really do it you do yeah i gotta do it so i want to do it's like your secret sauce so i just go all in i got to go all in yeah otherwise i can't do it so i went back and watched every episode that was available on disney plus that included charlie's season and i would score i scored everything before the judges would score you know just to practice yeah and then also you you have to make quick notes and like on the day when i judge this season you know i would write notes down and i would have my wording but if another judge hits the comment you're going to make you got to move on yeah you got a shift you got to shift can't say the same thing over and over again

like not because you can't because that's not helpful sure it's it's not helpful like you just heard that already so what can i so i was constantly trying to make moves on the fly on the fly and there was I still, like, at the end of the day, I was like, oh, God, I had a couple more notes. And then you've got the ticker counting down, so I did my best. You did a great job. Thank you. Do you think in the future, possibly full-time judge? Judge again, where do you think?

I mean, I'm not sure where they have had four before. And I know in strictly they have four and there's other countries they have four. It works great with three as well. But, you know, I would all, again, never say never. Never say never. I would be open to the conversation. But I enjoyed it. And, you know, I do think that I have a lot of experience.

that could help and, you know, we'll see. Okay, we're going to go backwards in a minute before we go backwards. You know, you kind of mentioned probably not pro dancer again, but maybe. Being a judge, we'll see. Yeah. But what are you, like in a world where your craft is your art and your art is so many things between acting, dancing, singing, music, all the things. What do you see is next?

And do you create a blueprint for like one, two, five years from now? How do you plan for the future with your career in a space that's literally a pure form? It's a mosaic. it's not a blueprint yeah it's and it's also different time like i feel like with the powers of social media and you know when i was younger and up and coming like i felt like it was kind of odd to be multifaceted and almost not always accepted in the sense of like oh well you're on you do this so you can't possibly do that but that's how i was raised like i went to musical theater school where half the day was academics and the other half was acting music theater dancing lessons

music lessons. So that was a school I went to. Derek and I went to the same school. Is that like for like university or like are you saying as a child? Yeah, it was high school and college. Wow. So it was almost like a prep school like in high school. Yeah. So like in England high school, I started that school at 11 and then graduated high school at 16 and then I went to the college, which is 16 to 19. Do people have to like try out to get into that school? Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So you have to obviously try out for the academics, but then you also have to show an element of everything you have to prepare a dance you have to prepare a song you have to prepare a monologue blah blah blah wow wow and derrick and i went to that school in the uk

together okay so that's how i was raised and my parents were also if i had interest in something whether it be guitar lessons or vocal lessons or rollerblading you know whatever it is they were always very supportive so my life growing up was i went to musical theater school during the day And then, let's say on a Monday night, I would have a guitar lesson. Tuesday night, I would have extra ballroom and Latin lessons. Wednesday night, I'd have band practice with my buddies who would play guitar. I was always doing something like that. And then on the weekends, we would compete ballroom dancing.

That was my whole life. So my life wasn't just this. It was never linear. Yeah, it was never linear. It's always been, even from, you know, my dad's America and my mom's British. I was born in America. I moved to England when I was two. I was there until I was 21.

So my life has always been this, you know. And I feel like we live in a time now where with social media you get to know people and like seeing people have more than one talent or more than one dream or more than one skill set is very much acceptable now. So that's exciting because I've always tried to be an advocate for that. Like, hey, you like to play guitar and sing and you want to dance to and also ride BMX bikes? Yeah, do that. Okay. One life, you know. Like, do it, do it all.

Like, so that's always just kind of been the vibe of my life. It's kind of all of it at once. All right. Give me, though, we got a crystal ball here. You got to predict what you think it might be. What is the two, it could be a year, two years of the future, the future of our best. Where do you see it possibly going? Oh, man.

Like, what do you have a dream or an idea of something you want to accomplish? What do you think the career move could be? This is not going to be an exciting answer for you. Okay. No, no, let's hear it. I want to hear it. I tell you why, because I, whenever I've done this and mood bored and stuff, which I do every year, like coming up on New Year's, my wife and we mood bored every year. Oh, we want to do this, we do this. And I would say 99%. Do you do that on New Year's Eve? We do it around that time. I wouldn't say every time. But we sit down, we talk about goals and not just work and financial. We talk about life and trips and relationship and personal goals as well that we want to achieve. But, it's great to set them, but I would always say that like the universe just kind of takes you on the ride as well. And I read the power of now. And after I read that, I'm just kind of like trying my best to be present at all times.

Because I always had a tendency to be like, oh, I got to get to. That's my issue. Yeah, I'm always there. And then I just noticed that when the things were happening, I was kind of like getting into the next thing. Yeah. Now, however, setting goals, I'm a big. I'm a big list maker. I love to make lists, whether it's my daily schedule or dreams or goals and now being a dad.

But if you were to ask me now, I would love to, my wife and I, when my son was born, we took a break from social media. Sure. Work. We were very intentional about being home. How long of a break did you take? The last time I had posts on socials was probably at the top of the year. I can't remember. And then I just recently got back on. And he was born in November last year.

So after he was born, it was the holidays. Yeah. And then we've just been immersed in mom and dad mode, right? Wait, this is unbelievable. So your son is bored. Yes. And you and your wife take off from everything. Pretty much.

And just like spend in the present of being with your child for the first year. Yes, yes. Wow. Yeah, that was very, we were intentional about that. That said, you know, when the pandemic happened, And we built like a little home studio set up. Wife's a songwriter. Yeah, for us.

We built this home setup. So we had so much inspiration from being parents and also being home that we worked a lot from home when he was there. And when I say work, I mean creative work, writing and creating ideas and this, that and the other. And within that, within this year, our hard drive is filled with lots of ideas. So one of my goals, the reason I'm saying that is one of my... In this year, though, you're very present, but you're also idea generating. Oh, yeah, yeah, but... Unbelievable.

But while being in mom and dad mode, you know, and like sitting with him and playing guitar and, like, you know, just being present and not being on our phones and being outside touching grass, taking him walks, doing all that stuff. But we were writing a lot because when we are in a creative space or like when we're in a place like that, it was inspiring. Yeah. You know, like being home with our son, we've written so many songs. So the reason I'm saying that is that that is one thing I want to do within the next year

is to go on that hard drive and see what we like and finish it. Yeah. Because it's like they could just sit there forever or we can take initiative and finish what we started and get it out into the world. So that's one goal. You know, I would love to get back on Broadway at some point. Okay. And then also move into some creative choreography, kind of more behind the scenes. It's not where I'm having to get out there and compete and do it.

Like, I would love to do some other choreography work like that. Okay. You know, I would love to be a part of an original Broadway cast at some point. Wow. And then just get this music out with my wife and tour the country with her and take our son on a wild adventure around the country or the world, you know. I love it. Those are some things that we'd like to do.

Those are just a few. And you've got a hard drive of about a thousand other, creative in its finest form. Now, your wife, B.C., she wrote if I were a boy for Beyonce, right? And we've already talked about a lot of your actors. This is also a finance business podcast. So of all these big things, right? Yeah. Having, you know, Emmy nominations and being world choreograph, award winner, and writing

songs for Beyonce, between the two of you, you guys have done a lot, which financially, like of all the different things you've done, which financially has been like your mirror ball? What's been the big thing that's like changed your life financially? Because you talked about the fact that's a relationship you sit down and kind of talk about all goals and even financial. Sure. I mean, at some point I think you should have a conversation with her. Yeah, I would love to.

I would love to. You know, the music industry is forever changing. Yeah. You know, back when that happened, it was like publishing and all that stuff was, you know, very lucrative in a different sense to what it is now with streaming. Like when she, we talk about this all the time when BC wrote that song, streaming didn't exist. So now it's a whole different thing for songwriters with master splits. But yeah, you should have that conversation with her because it's quite fascinating. Okay.

But for me, I wouldn't say there's been like one thing that was like, yo, this just changed the, the game for me, but it's been an accumulation of all the things. Again, my life, it's dancing, Broadway, choreography, making music, and then also just trying my best to be as financially intelligent as I can, which I'm still learning, you know, and I'm quite a, I wouldn't say I'm a spender, you know, I'd like to treat myself, I love to treat my wife and now my son and stuff like that and that gives me more joy than buying stuff for myself. Hence why I'm always usually in the same white t-shirt and dixie fans in a leather jacket. There's some financial method to the madness. Yeah. I like it. I drive a Jeep. Yeah. It's all, it's all good. When I was younger,

I drove an Audi and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I drive deep and I like it. You know, but I, yeah, like, it's been years of keeping it moving for me, you know. And then from years of keeping it moving, moving i was able to find stillness yeah at the time where i wanted it most and that's when i became a dad you know what i mean yeah and now he's a full-on little boy who's going to walk any second yeah now i have to it's time to get back out there and and work and be creative and exercise that muscle and have him see mom and dad doing these things that we do and yeah but it's been just i would say an accumulation of just all of it i like it when you said the book that you read was the power of now power of now give us the just one one biggest takeaway from it because it's yeah i'm hearing

word stillness i'm hearing words be present or saw that you took a year off to be with your your wife and your newborn like give us the biggest takeaway from that book because i think people can learn from that like it's literally the stillness of being in the in in this moment right now this like this second nothing else like this conversation that we're having like i'm not thinking about where I'm going tonight, like, even like I try, like, if I'm somewhere and there's friends or people, like, I'm here with you. I'm not looking over your shoulder for what's the next conversation. I'm not thinking about anything else, right, than being present. And I've noticed that I read that book during COVID when I think it was a stressful time for everyone.

Yeah. Because there was nothing but sitting with your. yourself and your thoughts and stuff like that right and as a creative person i'm sure any anybody like you want to do the thing that that you love or you have to go to work and stuff like that and it was such a different time so when i read that book like just really surrendering to where you are why you're there and not letting the mind or you're the egoic mind as it says in the book like yeah consume you you know so when i was on the show with charlie i was on the show with charlie when I'm writing with my wife or we're creating something where I am there 100% when I'm being asked to judge like oh we're doing that now you know like I try not to think ahead or and look I'm

not perfect I have those moments where I'm like no no no no bring it back bring it back because that's human right course yeah but yeah like that I will say that book helped me a lot during a weird time all right I'm going to get that book we might have we might have no I have it and it's like Literally my biggest struggle, the alchemist. I haven't read either. You've got to read those books. Okay, guys, everyone listening. I'm going to text me after we're going to read them, and then we're going to have the authors on, assuming they go to plan. I downloaded it on my iPad. I would just like highlight sections online. I would go back and read those sections. I still do it. Okay. Interesting. All right. Those books are happening. I said. I want to transition to Broadway. So you went on Broadway. We really don't know much about the business of Broadway.

Yeah. My understanding is you're paid a weekly stipend based on your role. you're under the union. Talk to me about just kind of the business element of the Broadway. I mean, yeah, you kind of nailed it. I think you have, and I'm sure the business has changed it now because I feel like the business and everything is changing now. Like even with choreography or doing it on the show or whatever. Dancing with the Stars is changing now. Dancing with Stars is like a TikTok competition and a dancing competition. Yeah, like we didn't have any of that when I was coming up. You know, like, so, and it's funny to see there's lots of new fans and, you know, to see how they interpret it or what they're thinking or how about it and who they're rooting for and why they're rooting for it. And, you know, and they don't know the history of the show or why it works or why the judges call certain things.

Sure. Which is, that's what makes it fun, right? Is that you can discover this at any age and it's, A, it's probably one of the only shows you can watch with every member of the family and have a blast doing it, you know, which I, that's what I love mostly about the show. But yeah, I would say with the Broadway thing, it's probably different. So when I was on, I was last time I was on Broadway was in 2018 in Kinky Boots. Okay. But yeah, you have your salary and there can be certain deals, I think, depending on ticket sales. You can get bonuses because, you know, shows goes like this.

It goes like anything. Yeah, of course. But yeah, you kind of have your salary and you're hitting eight shows a week and you're in the grind. Which is more difficult? That's why I want to ask. So which is more difficult? would you say? One season, Dancing with Stars or Broadway, where you're doing eight shows.

They're very different. Yeah. They're very difficult in two different ways. Like Charlie's making her Broadway debut right. That's right. And we chatted heavily about her going into it. And I was like, you'll see, you'll get to, after your six weeks, eight weeks of eight shows a week, that's when you're like, oh, the respect that I have for all people that perform on Broadway. Like the endurance, the energy, the discipline it takes.

you know, because you always want to give the best show possible. Sure. Because it's not the same audience every night, you know. So it's incredibly disciplined craft, and you have to take it very serious. Like when I was doing both roles, actually, Charlie Price and Frankie Valley, like both big sings, big vocal roles, not just from the songs, but it's the scenes in between. You have to learn your pace, and you have to also know, like, when you hit the gas and then when you have to, off because you don't want to... You'll lose your voice.

You'll lose your voice. There's just no way to do it. When I played Frankie, I did six shows because their set up was six and two. I know some other shows are like that too, but Charlie was eight shows a week. Damn, that's true. And it was like, it's intense and you have to. And you want to go back to that. I love it.

Not only is it fun, the community out there, the people, like I've made lifelong friends being those shows that we still, like when I'm in New York, I'll hit up someone with my Jersey Boys and they're like, ah, let's say my family and kinky boo. from the factory, you know. But yeah, it's like my schedule was, you know, I'd get up, I usually wouldn't talk until around 2 p.m., 3 p.m. And I lived in a building that had a steam room, which is like, your voice's best friend.

And then they had like a small pool that I'd swim laps every day. And then I would jog to the theater, break sweat. No words till 2 p.m. None. Literally none, like some tea. You're a very fascinating, stupid. So you wouldn't talk at all. Literally, yeah.

And my wife's a singer, too. she's a big rock singer so she understands is that a common thing for singers yeah i mean well eight show a week singers yeah for sure i mean look everybody's got their own system and their warm ups and their warm downs but that was my like the as much vocal rest as possible and then you know a very diligent warm up to get you ready and then i like to break a sweat before yeah and then the thing that i think most people don't consider also is the cool down vocally like you finish a two-hour show And then you want to warm your voice down. Oh, interesting.

Bring it down. Then you're just silent for 12 hours. You can talk. But you're just keeping it down. Yeah. Without whispering, you're not like, you know, drying out. Yeah. Art is taking in a lot of directions.

If we go back to school, what is this like, I'm just curious, what is a school like that cost? If someone wants to go to a school that's like a prep and university and it's art and also academic, what is like the, it's kind of be expensive. I imagine it was. I was young at the time when I started it, and when I moved to the college, I was lucky enough to get a scholarship. So on the college, I had a scholarship in the, I'm not sure my mom and dad were obviously taking care of me

when I was a kid, yeah. When you graduate 21, and now you're in one of the most internationally known schools, and you have these unbelievable classmates and colleagues that you're working with, What did you, like, what did, what did your peers? What did you guys expect to do from that point? Where were you like, this is going to be the track of? I mean, I remember, what were the dreams of 21? Oh, I was just being on stage.

But is it more like movies? Is it more Broadway? Like, what's the dream for a dance? I think the cool thing about being at that school is that everyone had a big wide, wide net. Big wide net of time. It was like, we had songwriters at the school. We had dancers at the school. We had seniors.

It's a big theater school. So everyone shared that love of musical theater. Yeah. like the dream of getting on the West End, which is schools in England. So the West End is London's Broadway. Okay. That's like, you know.

Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like winning an Olivier Award. Yeah. And which is a Tony over here, you know. So honestly, as a kid, like, when I was at the school, the thought of being on Broadway was not even reachable for me.

Like too far? Yeah, because I grew up in the UK and I lived my whole life there. I never thought in a million years that I was not. I would move out here and then I would get to be in a Broadway show like that was like the dream come true

yeah and I've had many friends from school who have also gone on to do big things in the West End big plays Broadway shows so but that was always the combo like sitting around

be like oh what show would you want to be in yeah be in this one you know like interesting so when was it and how was it that dancing with the stars that 21 finds you

okay so when I was competing as a bar in Latin dance fair I competed Pretty seriously from age 11 to 18, you know. It's really difficult, I would say it's almost impossible, to do real competing and the show. Because back in the day, they had two seasons a year. There was spring season and the winter season.

Sure. Now it's only one. So during the spring season, the biggest competition in the world, which is held at Blackpool, one of the biggest. There's a lot of big ones, but that's one of the most prestigious, is held. at the same time. And then in the winter season, there's another one called the International, which is also held at the same time. So if you were competing on Dancing with Stars and trying to be a serious competitive ballroom dancer, like the schedules don't burn out. You can't do it. Well, they just don't line up. Like, you can't be able to do both. Okay. So, like, so difficult.

So once I had stopped competing as a competitor, we got approached from the show through, you know, mutual connections. And then Derek and I both sent in tapes. I remember we went to the BBC in the UK and did a screen test, which they aired on the show, and it was hilarious. I mean, embarrassing in the best way of passing. It's hilarious. And then, you know, we did the screen test.

It didn't really think anything of it. Like, you know, Derek was doing footloose in the West End. And I had just come off the Buddy Holly musical UK national tour. And then we got the call with, I think, five minutes apart. They were like, all right, we're interested. Would you be down? You have to relocate to. Los Angeles, which, and we had a few days to make the decision, like, moving everything from

England to there, like, we flew out to Los Angeles, my dad helped us get an apartment. I had a backpack, guitar case, a suitcase, and that was it. That was it. And then we just moved into our, like, little apart. Did you guys live together? Yeah, for the first couple years, yeah. Oh, like, a little apartment, like, down by the Grove. Oh, God, that's unbelievable. Good times. That is good But, like, again, like, no idea what the show was going to be. I knew what it was because, you know, we'd seen bits and they have it in England strictly. Of course. But just didn't realize, like, at the time.

What it would do for everything in your life and all the things. How much it would impact our lives. Are there any celebs that you dance with that you still are pretty close with? Yeah, I mean, I have good relationships with, you know, my partners, yeah. Really? Who would you say, like, you're the closest with all the years if you look back on it? who you like keep in touch with the most I speak to Sean Johnson a lot oh she's the best yeah yeah she's so great Charlie obviously yeah you know I saw Christy the other day at uh she came to the

500th episode it was so great to see oh that's awesome crazy because she had brought one of her daughters who the last time I'd seen her she was like little little interesting all of me now but yeah I have good good relationships like when I when we see each other it's always if they did like a superstar season would you yeah like the all star season would you then be a little bit more tempted to get back in the ring as a pro? I don't know. They did it once. They did it in season I don't know. I can't remember with the number.

They all, like, bleep into one. I don't know. It just, you know, never say never, but... Okay, never say never. Another thing I found fascinating. I know it's just I don't want to say just, but you were an extra and Harry Potter. How do you land a gig like that? Like, what having you done, Mark? Wow, you have done your research. So this is...

I have to find the photo for you, so you can see Derek's on social media. Oh, Derek's an extra too? And Julianne. Oh, get out of here. We all went to the school together, right? Unbelievable. So how it worked was Harry Potter was looking for extras. So what they ended up doing was hiring all the theater schools. Because all the kids are interested in film and theater and TV.

So all the theater-type schools in England were the extras. Yeah. So we would, you know, we would show up at school. They would bus us all the way to Hogwarts. And, you know, we got so... That's pretty sweet. We got put into our houses. Derek was a Ravenclaw.

Yeah. Julianne was a Gryffin'or. I was a Hufflepuff. I was like, I'm Slythering for sure. Or Gryffindor and I was like got Hufflepuff. Which, like, looking back, it's actually pretty cool. It's pretty cool. Do you remember back then, like, for Harry Potter as an actual, like, what does someone get paid for something like that?

Oh, I couldn't even tell you. Like, we were little. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, 13, May 14? Like, a couple hundred bucks? Like, if you had to guess. Maybe. Yeah, yeah, but it's just like...

I'm not sure how they divvy that up. Yeah, yeah. But I'm sure it goes through the schools. Okay, all right. It was funny, like, you can't see me on it at all. Yeah. However, at the time, I did have a mouthful of braces, and, like, I was really into Lincoln Park. So it had, like, this red.

I was, like, really, like, I was a big metal head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I wore a lot of stuff from Hot Topic. Right. And, like, the one time, I was like, oh, I'm in the shot. They moved me out of it. And it just popped out. I was like, alright.

Lincoln Park's do that. Yeah, yeah. Unbelievable. I mean, what a wild. But Derek, you see him clear his day. Yeah. He got it. In the scene, they're playing wizard chess. Hermione comes through the doors. Yeah. And Derek walks past, you know, like you see him clear his day. I love it. On Harry Potter, too. All right. When you look back at your career through dancing, acting, singing, all of it, what has been the biggest struggle? Like, what has been

the thing that's almost broke you at one point, or it's the hardest challenge that maybe we don't see through our screens? sometimes feeling like I wasn't doing enough or if I wasn't utilizing my skill set to the highest capability or staying constantly moving like I think having quiet times or lulls or being between work where you're not working or you know you're auditioning and it's not really happening I think those moments can be very disappointing and make you feel small and not like you're doing enough right and I look back on those times now and be like, oh, wow, I learned a lot about myself in those times and ways to, instead of like being like, oh, you know, it's not happening for me, well, why? Why isn't it? Like, how can I dig deeper? How can I work harder?

How can I get better? How can I see this from another angle? You would think of, I'm going to use Dancing with Stars. For example, like being on that show and, you know, having seasons where it doesn't go as well or taking a break from it, right? It's like you have to train on the off time. You have to still apply yourself. You can always be better.

There's always another, like again, I said earlier, it's another way to do things. And I think when I was a little bit younger, it's like if I felt like it wasn't happening fast enough or I had downtime, like I'm not, I was never good at sitting still. And I think that's because my whole life I've been competing. You're going and going and going.

And my wife helped me a lot with that. A lot because I would have moments where I was like, I need to be busy. I literally couldn't sit still without having some idea, whether it's like, I've got to be doing this or I've got this idea for this. I've got to execute. And yes, it's good to hustle and it's good to be proactive and it's good to chase that dream and, you know, Michael Phelpset and not give up and do all that stuff. But sometimes being able to sit with yourself and be in silence and spend that downtime, I felt like I've learned a lot more about my craft. and myself as an artist in those times because it drove me to dig deeper.

Well, why not? Why isn't this happening? What am I missing here? Yeah, I struggled with that. Having downtime. I really struggled with it. Or, like, you know, I took a five-year break from dancing. I did lots of other stuff, you know.

But there was moments of just stillness that were at the time really difficult. And now it's not until later, I'm like, actually those times help me fall in love with it again or get better at it or see it from a different angle and I think those type of things really kind of change the game for me and they give you anxiety too you know like which can be quite crushing yeah I mean like enough as being enough is a big struggle and posture syndrome is a big struggle and when you live in a world that's hyper competitive and everyone is extremely successful at what they're doing yeah you start to benchmark yourself against everyone else as opposed to yourself yeah and when you're

surrounded like these unbelievably talented people like at Derrick Huff and Julian Huff and everyone else if you have one step back and they came moving forward you that those things can get in your head and and and the cool thing is with them it's like Derek and I've had long extensive conversations about these types of things as well and look like we are really like brothers and we've been there for each other through each other's ups and down stillness and this that and the other you know and you know during my season with Charlie, my wife and I had a miscarriage during the season.

Oh, during the season. Yeah, so we talked about it probably a year later, but Davini's Walswee did was very much dedicated to that. Yeah. Like that letting the balloon go. Yeah. You know, I just got goosebumps. I did too, actually.

Like, because, you know, I decided to go back to the season, found out my wife was pregnant, and then that week we found that we had a miscarriage, I had to go to rehearsal and, you know, and that was a really heavy time. And I think at the time, Derek was one of the only people who knew. Obviously, my wife, my family, and I told Charlie and her mom and mighty and stuff, and that was like the close group that helped me get through that, you know. And that was very hard, very difficult time because you're on this.

It just goes to show, right? You watch these shows, like whether it be dance stars, the bachelor, is it cake? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's great, Joe. And you just don't know where people are at. Totally. And even though we're providing this, this entertainment, I was top five hardest moments of my life, I'll say. You know, and the show is so great with how they helped me navigate that week and stuff like that. But again, like, it's not just a week of grief.

Yeah, you know, that. I still think about that. And, like, a reason I spun to that is because there are those times during something. thing that feels so, oh, you're on dancing the stars. Oh, you're on Broadway. You're doing it. But we're all human and we have human experiences. And that was a very wild experience for me from going, the heaviness of that and seeing the person I love the most go through that. Yeah. And then having to provide the highest quality of competition and dancing that I can provide at that time. You know, so there are those moments, you know. But,

I feel like in those moments you learn, again, more about yourself. And I was lucky to have a good support system and Derek being one of them who, you know, really have my back. And I think, too, the just perspective. Like, you know, I brought up imposter syndrome and comparing yourself nonstop to other people when something like this happens in your life. It's the perspective of like, why am I wasting my time on dumb shit like that? There are meaningful things that will just give you the perspective of like what life is.

And that's one of those. And I feel like later, at the end of the day, you know, like using dance, going to start. It is fun. Yeah. It's fun. Yeah. I always say it's the it's not that serious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not but it is. It's not, but it is. You know what I mean? And I enjoy watching

the others. Yeah. When I compete, I'm tunnel. Yeah. And I'm able to separate from a year of years and years of competing. Like, I can watch my friends do well and get great scores. And like, even when I on the season with Charlie, like, when I went home and watched a show and I was watching Val and Gabby compete and I Thanks, Val, I was like, bro, you're so good. Oh, this is when you're preparing to be a judge?

No, this is when we were, oh, when you were going back. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I went home, I would watch it back to see, oh, what could Charlie be better at, what can I be better at? Totally. You know, what do we need to do moving forward? And, like, I watched the whole show and I text Val, like, yo, bro, you're so good. I love it.

Val and I grew up together competing as well. All you guys did. Yeah. It's like you guys are all like, everyone came from, it's unbelievable. Where we've known each other for years. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, there's always love there for me. Yeah, exactly.

But I love it. Well, we're wrapping up here. And the one thing I've got to ask about, especially as we're talking about memories and nostalgia, Len Goodman, everyone knows them, everyone loves them. You have had a lot of time with him. I have, yeah. What's, like, one of your favorite memories of Len that maybe we don't know

and would only know from you? Well, my parents had lessons with Len when she was pregnant with me. Your mom, your boldie pregnant? Wow. So that's how I... That's how deep it goes. I've known Len since, like, birth, essentially. You know?

you heard his voice while you were just growing all in that voice that's one of my biggest like things is his voice it's so charming and charismatic and funny and everything that in cheeky yeah yeah we had so many memories and with him like when we were kids every year at my mom's dance studio which was called starlight they would host this big pre-blackpool which is a big competition party yeah and lend would be the mc and you know we would do little performances of that like i have video of Derek and I performing where I don't know we're like 15 and you can hear Len on the mic like here's Mark and Derek

you know that classic voice you know but so many memories with him like just his cheekiness and what I love the most about him and this may be the Brit in me is just the straight shot like no messing around like it is what it is

he's not sugar coating it for you and look there were there were weeks where where he would let us have it like if we missed, if we were, you know, and the rules, which we were, you know, and then we'd be all upset, and he's like, sorry, like, it is what it is.

It is what it is. And, like, at the time when you're young and you're coming up, you're like, oh, oh, because you want to be creative. Of course. You want it to be different. Yeah. But Lenz a purist. And I'm also later a little bit more of a purist.

Like, I love creative freedom, but I also want to know what dance you're doing. Sure. Like, just from looking at it, you know. So I look back on those times from learning so much and, like, a tribute to him and his feedback, how to find the balance. How to not, like if we're doing a cha-cha or a jive, like, it's got to look like one. Yeah. You know what I mean?

So, and when we would dabble outside of the styles a little bit more, him being so tough helped us rein in and find the balance of creativity and authenticity to the dance. Wow. So I love that way. I miss him very much. Yeah. It's unbelievable that you were literally in your mom's belly when she was getting lessons from one.

Still dancing. I was in there like, you were starting to learn. It's unbelievable. All right, Mark, well, I mean, there's a million other things we can go into, but we've got to wrap up here. Got to get your trading secret. So it's special to you. You can't learn it from a professor or textbook only from your experience. What is one trading secret you can leave us with?

It's just short and sweet. I like it. And my dad said this to me all the time. It was like, the mind is like a parachute and it works best when it's open. And he would say that to me all the time whenever I was like, I don't want to try that or I don't want to do that. And my dad would say that to me. The mind is like a parachute. It works best when it's open.

Be open minded. Be open to communication. Be open to trying new things. Don't let people tell you know. Like if I listen to people, you can't do this and that at the same time. I would have never gone for the other things in my life. I would have only just done one. And I attribute that to having great parents that supported me and friends in my group

that lift you up and that want to see you do well and vice versa. But whenever someone says, what's the advice you have to? for someone that I hear my, I can hear my dad's voice saying. Is that more, is the alignment of that more don't be closed off to things? Or is it more just like, keep everything. Keep it open. It's open. Everything's a conversation.

Okay. At least entertain the thought. At least think about it. Process it before you say no. Yeah. But that even connects to when I'm like, what's next, the idea of being linear isn't being fully open. Exactly.

And maybe something will be linear for you. Sure. It might, you might see it straight away. But you also might have to take some turns. And that's okay, but be open to it, ride the wave, and enjoy the process. I like it, Mark. That's genius stuff right there. Let everyone know where can they find everything you have going on.

Yeah, just, what is it, on these days, Instagram. And the TikTok. Just at Mark. I'm trying. Just at Mark battles. And then if you want to check out my wife and I's music, it's just at Alexander Gene official. Awesome. Mark, it was great to see you as a judge.

It was great to see you this entire year back and dance with the stars. just a little bit. We'll see where it goes from here. Congratulations on your journey. And thanks for sharing all this wisdom. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it. Ding, ding, ding. We are closing in the bell to the Mark Ballas episode.

My God, David, there's a lot of action here. This episode was jam-packed with inspiration, education, and a lot of discussions of a long and successful career. Before I turn it over to you, I want to make sure that I'm making this about the money mafia. So if you guys go and give us five stars right now and then let us know who you want on the podcast or a topic, we are going to give some stuff away from the influencer closet. You guys know what the influencer closet is. PR companies and influencer companies send stuff to me and I have a whole lot of stuff going. So I got things to send out and I have three items I'm going to give away this week. Just go give us a review and put your at symbol and we will reach out to you. our last review here was from chrissa i always enjoy listening to this podcast and learn quite a bit keep it up and that's uh then she went into a long long little piece of advice there but with that

being said give us five stars david what do you got well i'm going to start with where the episode ended and his trading secret anytime we're 200 plus episodes in and we get a trading secret we've never heard that that kind of eye opening we'll start there he said your mind is like a parachute it works best when it's open and i think if you take that mentality into this episode with the inspiration, with the insight, with the education. I think you'll get so much more out of this episode. I mean, he just sounds like a really humble, interesting, well-thought-out, well-rounded individual, and I thought it was an amazing episode.

I love that quote. That is a quote that will stick with me forever. I think in this society, we get so closed off. We get so down these, you know, just these different lanes that were put down or we either put ourselves on and we get stuck. And I like this idea of just openness. But I mean, David, between, you know, his trading secret and his all-in-all-out mentality or going to school with Derek Huff from his wife, B.C., to writing one of the biggest

Beyonce songs. I mean, there's so much to cover in this one. And it was relatively lengthy episodes. So I want to be cognizant to that in the recap. Where do we start? Everyone can take something away from this episode. It would be the word intentional. he's so intentional about like he said his all in all out mentality whether it's when he's doing

something for work he's doing it all in he started being a judge on the show and he watched back the last three seasons and practice judged every single dance whether it was him taking a break from from work him being all all in on that break when his son was born he he left socials and left work for a year because it was intentional he wanted to spend the time i just think that's so much easier said than done and to see him do it like that for me was super super super inspiring to try and add to my life. What about you? Any hard takeaways that you, that you're taking away from him? Well, I'm the, I'm the polar opposite. Like, I'm definitely, first of all, when we talked about the book, Power Now, we'll get to that in a second. Yes, we will. I'm so,

I need to be so much more present in life. So his opposites were things that I'm trying to achieve in life. So those are things that I was gravitating towards. So the first one was the all in, all out method. I am like, the jack of all. I got. chips everywhere. I got, you know, I've invested in a restaurant company. We got a, there's a freaking, there's a baby infant camera company. I have ownership in a financial services company. I have an agency. I got, you know, I got shit everywhere, right? So I'm so like, do as much as you can and just get it done and just keep moving forward. And I think to be a true artist and to be a true creative and to really achieve massive success in one field, you have to have his thought process

of if I'm going to do it, I don't care how many hours I'm going to do it. I will watch three seasons and judge every single episode. I will prepare for my finale dance by literally going through every single season to see what I could do different. I will pick the colors of the stars socks for that episode, right? It's such a precision, which is so different than me, and I respect it in such a great way. And my takeaway is to start gravitating towards some of that stuff. But I want to talk about the power of now it's so wild david he mentioned power of now and you know when things in life come up like you hear it and then they come up this book came up of course and ever since he said that i've been really trying to think about it and then i was in my dad and i were working out yesterday

and then after i worked out we did some hydro cold tub hot tub then we did steam room sauna and after we left the sauna at the end of it you know and of course you're not on your phone in the sauna you got to be present, I walk out and on the floor, which is the weirdest place ever, the book was sitting there and no one was there. And it was the power of now. And I'm like, I always find stuff like that kind of weird, you know? That's very weird. That's like when you find a dime or a penny and it reminds you of someone or something, I mean, they just show up in the random spots. But just the fact that a book's on the floor in this kind of time in your life is really interesting. Have you purchased it? Do you own it? Do you plan on reading it?

Haven't purchased it yet. I'm going to listen to it on an audiobook. That's been a big thing of mine lately. Falling asleep to either podcasts or audiobooks and not TV, or at least since I've been single. I like that. Ever since I've been single, I guess. I just fall asleep to podcasts. I put in the headphones or whatever. I'll put on speaker and to an audiobook. So I'm going to do that. But for anyone that hasn't read, I do have just a quick synopsis of it. And I want to hear if you're going to read it. So the power of now, it's a guide to spiritual enlightenment. It's a discussion about how people interact with themselves and others. The concept of self-reflection and presence in the moment are presented along with simple

exercises for the achievements of its principles. The book draws from a variety of spiritual traditions, and one reviewer described it as Buddhism mixed with mysticism and a few references to Jesus Christ, a sort of new age reworking of Zen. It uses traditions to describe a belief system based on living in the present moment, which I found very, I don't know, I find that very interesting. And I will tell you to this day, because we went to dance with stars finale, right? And then after the finale, they have an after party, at the after party. Mark was there with his wife, B.C., and I got to meet them. Obviously, I've met Mark, but I got to meet his wife. And every interaction I've had with them, whether it's been a call, a FaceTime, or in person,

they are so, like, you can feel their energy how present they are. So there's something to that. Do you think you'll read it yeah i mean just to build off that he even said on the podcast he was just there intentional with you on the podcast was like the only thing that mattered he wasn't thinking about anything else and so that makes your interactions with them so much more intense and obviously with his wife i'm going to put something out there to you and put something out there to the listeners because i'm as you know uh kind of a freak when it comes to certain things true in life and and the concept of reading and implementing and interpreting is not something that I do. So I made basically a conscious decision. What do you mean?

So I made a conscious decision a long time ago. And I don't know if this is out of stubbornness or not, but I chose, it's going to be so ridiculous. So I chose not to read books, motivating books or power of now books or anything because I never wanted my life to be lived out in a way that wasn't my own thought, my own decision or my own experience. So as soon as I started, my fear was, as soon as I started reading things for advice and instantly implementing them, I'm all of a sudden trying to chase the feeling or the purpose or the thing that really maybe does or doesn't apply to me. It applied to someone and it's out there and I think that's good. But I've just been on this like my life journey. Like Lily Jay, I haven't read a book. Like I don't, other than like books that maybe

we had to read in school, like I haven't read a single book. book in my adult life for any like purpose of like enlightenment or reading or anything. I've just always lived under the guise of if I need to implement something from my life, it's going to come from my own experiences and my own life because that's how I want them to become a priority or instilled in what I need to do. So I'm curious if anyone else out there is as weird as me and kind of has taken a stance on books and taking advice in their life, but I don't know. I don't plan on reading this, but I want you to, I want you to read it and convince me that I should read it.

That's the, okay. That, but this is fair. Well, your take is wild. Like, you're taking out of here. Here's where I respect your take. Where I respect your take is what I think I'm hearing, is you say, my intuition is my compass, and I never want to lead in a direction other than what my compass says and I don't want anything to cloud that, which I respect that because I have a lot of things that cloud my colleagues. I agree. And I think my intuition is bang on. But where I would challenge you is like there are thousands of years of history and they're experts in every single field that and there are people with just really good tastes that can inspire us through their research, their history, their experience, et cetera, that can help us shape to grow in different

directions. Similar to let's say this. Here's where I'll challenge. You're a hockey coach for the best kids in the world imagine if you're like i'm not going to look at nutritionists and what they suggest i'm not going to look at other coaches to see what they're doing i'm not going to look at the best coaches in the world to like read their stuff to then adjust and like take ideas you know what i mean it's a very good point it's a very valid point i just don't ever want to be in a situation where it comes to like life habits or or things where okay i'm taking advice from this thing because i should do this but like then i'm doing them and i don't even know if i'm doing them right If they're having the right impact, I'm chasing.

I'm chasing for the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. Well, for me, it's like, okay, this is your life. You have full control of all your decisions. You have to be able to sit and analyze what makes you happy and what doesn't make you happy. And then you have to find, you know, through what you know is going to work for yourself. You have to figure out. You have to give yourself your own advice. You have to be able to communicate and talk these things out with yourself to find out what the solutions are.

And I just have always been worried as soon as I go outward to try and find those solutions and implement them my life, like now I've just lost, like, I've just lost it. I feel like here's where I think we can agree. I think customization. I think our brains and our everything, man, our hair, our brains, our nose, our lips, down to our freaking toenails on our pinky toes. Everything in our own bodies inside and out is like its own machine. Like, we are all built so different.

Nothing is the same. And I think that everything we do and how we do it has to be customized to what works for us. something as simple as like a doctor prescribing you and I a drug. We might both be perfect candidates for that drug and my body's going to react to it totally different than yours is. And what I think the answer is if there's advice out there, there's books to read or there's places to go and there's things to do, you have to be able to like look at it and like you said, analyze it, consider it for a choice. And then if it doesn't work out, instantly customize what does for you. And I think maybe that's where a lot of people miss is they'll digest the information

and then they think it's like the law of the land. There's not, this person said it, so I have to do it. I think the biggest thing is, like you said, decisions and then customization that works for your own little machine because we all have our own little machines. And you know what? I'm going to take a page out of your book here. And I'm going to, I am, I'm going to listen. I know people on this podcast has said sometimes I don't necessarily follow up the things

that I say I'm going to do. I'm going to listen to this book because I've never listened to an audio book. and I actually don't enjoy reading and I don't think I retain a lot of things when I read I get frustrated when I read. I am going to download this audiobook, The Power of Now and on JTA

at some point before the new year I am going to give you my honest takeaways from this process of the power of now. I have a challenge for you. I have a challenge for you and me and let's actually fucking do it. Okay. The first two chapters, you are not

your mind, conscientious, the way out of pain. You and I listen to two chapters and through the week, let's keep each other accountable. And then next week, you and I are going to have a longer recap. We have Joan and Chalk coming on, okay? And it's a short episode. It's only like a 25-minute interview with them. So you and I have a lot of time to discuss all things. We'll just, I mean, we have a lot to cover next week. It won't be a Jason Tells-all, but with only a 25-minute interview of Joan and chalk, we will have a lot of time. And you and I will talk about the power and now the first two episodes. You in? I'm in. Okay. You're in, sold. We're there. Now, there's a few things

we got to move to as we wrap up this interview there you know i thought was i mean the lenn goodman he's so beautiful so touching it's to me the history of mark ballas and professional dancing from the lineage is remarkable but that also tied to the future or the current and potential future which is now after 20 seasons and all the success which i thought was so cool that he was like coming to tears almost when we we talked about it this this the judge's conversation because i think for all the Dancing with Stars fans out there, there's a lot of controversy around the judges, especially

Carrie Ann. So when it comes to judges and what he said, what do you think? I mean, I loved his take on what a judge should be and what he tries to do as a judge. I think he said as a pro he loved a judge that had been through it before, right? He almost respected

their scores more because they have the full vision of understanding what they've gone through. And he also as a judge kind of puts himself in their which I really loved. I loved how he's like, well, they're never doing this dance

again in the show ever. So I'm not going to necessarily critique them on certain things about that dance, but there are overlaying skills that may help them that I'll give more tips. He's like,

I'm not really there to judge them. I'm there to help them. You know, obviously the fact that they don't see the footage to the day of is really, really good integrity, I think,

from the show to get judge's honest reactions. But, yeah, I've, I've, I watched part part I wasn't like super loyal in the season but every time I'd see Instagram or I'd go on TikTok or I'd hear people talking with the show and when I have watched it religiously Carrie Ann just gets like she just gets dragged like she I've I've also seen that she's like really really really really overly critical of the females and like gives all the guys like tens and there's like TikTok clips of like Derek's reaction sometimes to some of her scores being like what is this lady doing? So maybe this is the first live petition of Mark Ballas replacing full time and getting Carrie Ann out of there.

I want Mark Ballas in there full time. Here's what I'm going to say. I always like to give two perspectives, big devil's advocate guy. What I like about Carrie Ann is that, obviously, like her history speaks for itself. Like she's a professional true and true in the space. But what I like about her is that she'll throw curveballs. Yes. She doesn't care about the popular.

stance she doesn't give a shit about being liked like karian knows she's going to get the shit kicked out of her when she says some of the stuff she says but she says it because she believes in it and so like that i respect and i do think that every judge's panel has to have someone like that you're like a shark tank got to have kevin o'leary mr wonderful is been on the show on simon cowell you get you just have to so that i like what i don't like is exactly what you said it feels to me that there's just a ton of inconsistency and it feels to me that she clearly has favor And she plays into those favorites. And I remember when Caitlin was on the show, I believe her in Ardum might add a little

personal history. And I remember it felt like every single week, Carrienne was just beating this shit out of Caitlin and Ardum. And I was like, I was getting pissed, you know? So to me, I like someone taking a view that's different than the norm. I just think you've got to be more consistent with it. Yeah. Carrie Ann, if you'd like to come on the podcast and debate, we would love to have you.

we would love to have you especially because you've had she's had an incredible career and she's doing something different and she's she's strong within her opinion and she's the only woman on the panel so that's that's a beautiful thing she represents a lot and so there we go carry in here's the invite if you'll ever accept love it um cool david anything else before we wrap no i just i just thought the the whole episode was great i mean some of the moments that you talked about the Len Goodman talking about his mom getting lessons from him while he was pregnant. And I thought I have to touch the story of him sharing about the miscarriage that he had during the season, the Vietnamese Walt Stans, that was dedicated to that experience with Charlie.

I just thought, you know, some really touching moments in this podcast. He seems like an awesome, awesome guy. And like we said, from the top, very inspirational, very motivating. So all around, great episode. I love it. Good stuff. Well, remember to give us five stars. You are now going to be in the holiday giveaway contest every single week where you're going to be

giving some stuff out. So get ready for that. Get ready for Joan and Chalk next week. And we have a ton of great episodes coming up. And also, Jason tells all. So if you have questions that you want David to ask me, make sure to shoot us an email, Trading Secrets at jason tardick.com. And, yeah, we'll see you next week for another episode of Trading Secrets, one you can't afford to miss. Making that money and money Living that dream Making that money Money pay on me

Making that money Living that dream