Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - Alex Banayan: Unlocking The Third Door To Your Success | E167

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

At age 18, Alex Banayan sat in his dorm room, wondering what he wanted to do with his life. He was on a pre-med path, but something was missing. Alex hit the library and started reading all the biographies of his heroes he could get his hands on, in the hopes that he could learn the secret of their success. But the advice and knowledge in the books didn't satisfy him. He knew he had to write the book he wanted to read. So, a young Alex set off to interview the world’s greatest minds about their journeys and uncover the secret to success. In this episode, Hala and Alex talk about the idea of the third door, that there is always a way in. Alex shares his favorite stories and lessons from his book and talks through everything he learned along the way about persistence, mentorship, and profiting in life. Topics Include: - Alex’s Journey - Funding the book by winning The Price is Right  - Alex on making transitions  - His strategy for getting interviews  - Getting past the gatekeepers - Steven Spielberg’s story  - Connecting with Tim Ferris  - The truth about persistence  - Defining the third door  - Favorite stories and lessons from The Third Door  - Advice from Maya Angelo - On meeting your heroes and Bill Gates  - Pitbull on always staying an intern - Elliott Bisnow and biting off more than you can chew  - How to find and select a mentor  - Alex’s mentorship program during COVID - Alex’s best advice for people who don’t know what to do next - Alex’s actionable advice  - Alex’s secret to profiting in life  - And other topics…  Alex Banayan is the youngest bestselling business author in American history. The Third Door chronicles Alex’s seven-year quest to uncover the definitive mindset of exponential growth and success. Throughout the process, Alex interviewed the most innovative leaders of the past half-century, including Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Larry King, Maya Angelou, Steve Wozniak, Jane Goodall, Jessica Alba, Quincy Jones, and more. Alex was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and Business Insider’s “Most Powerful People Under 30,” Banayan is his generation’s leading expert in high-performance and personal development, having been featured in Fortune, CNBC, Businessweek, The Washington Post, MSNBC, Fox News, and NBC News. Sponsored By: Riverside.fm - Visit Riverside.fm and use code YAP to start recording studio-quality sound and video and get 15% off a membership plan. Current - Sign up in less than two minutes at current.com/yap for a chance to win $200 Thrive Market - Join Thrive Market today at thrivemarket.com/yap to get 40% off your first order AND a FREE gift worth over fifty dollars! Jordan Harbinger - Check out jordanharbinger.com/start for some episode recommendations Constant Contact - To start your free digital marketing trial today, visit constantcontact.com   Resources Mentioned: The Third Door by Alex Banayan: https://www.amazon.com/Third-Door-Uncover-Successful-Launched/dp/0804136661 Alex’s 30-day Clarity Challenge: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/413802 Alex’s Website: https://thirddoorbook.com/time-magazine-article-alex-banayan/ Alex’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbanayan/ Alex’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexbanayan/ Alex’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexBanayan/ Alex’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexBanayan-TheThirdDoor Connect with Young and Profiting: YAP’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting/ Hala’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Hala’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Hala’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yapwithhala Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/@halataha Website: https://www.youngandprofiting.com/ Text Hala: https://youngandprofiting.co/TextHala or text “YAP” to 28046 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Halla Taha, and on Young and Profiting Podcast, we investigate a new topic each week and interview some of the brightest minds in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in your everyday life, no matter your age, profession or industry. There's no fluff on this podcast, and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research and asking the

right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes of XFBI agents, real estate moguls, self-made billionaires, CEOs, and bestselling authors. Our subject matter ranges from enhanced and productivity, had again influenced the art of entrepreneurship, and more. If you're smart and like to continually improve yourself, hit the subscribe button, because you'll love it here at Young and Profiting Podcast. Hey, Young and Profiters, if you haven't heard, we've got a new text community

powered by slick text. What does that mean? Well, it means that you can literally text me now, and give me your feedback on the show. How awesome is that? Plus, you can get exclusive YAP content and discounts. So check that link out in the show notes or text YAP YAP content and discounts. So check that link out in the show notes or text the app YAP to 28046. That's the app to 28046 to join our new text community. This week

on YAP, we're chatting with the youngest bestselling business author in American history, Alex Benayan. Alex is the author of the book, The Third Door, the Wild Quest to uncover how the world's most successful people launched their careers. The book chronicles his seven-year quest to interview the world's most successful people, including Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Larry King, Quincy Jones, and many more. Alex has been awarded Forbes 30 under 30 and Business Insiders most powerful people under 30. He's been featured on Fortune, CNBC, Business Week, Washington Post, and so much more. When he was just 18 years old, Alex found himself asking a question that all of us face at one point or another.

What do I want to do with my life? Searching for the answer would ultimately lead Alex to interview the world's most successful people about how they took their first steps to uncover their secrets to success. In this episode, Alex shares stories and advice from the likes of Maya Angelou, Pitbull, and Steven Spielberg. He talks about his journey and what he learned about himself along the way and gives tips about persistence and the secret to finding the third door. So if you're feeling stuck in your career or like you can't quite figure out how to break into the industry you want, then keep on listening.

how to break into the industry you want, then keep on listening. Hey, Alex, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast. Thank you very much. I'm excited to be with you. Likewise, it is such a pleasure to have you on the show. You are the definition of someone who is young and profiting. You are known to be one of the youngest best-selling authors ever.

You are also one of the world's youngest venture capital executives, which landed you the Forbes 30 under 30. You are also business insiders, most powerful people under 30. And you are truly paving the way for young entrepreneurs. And before we get into your book, third door, I want to take you back to a very pivotal moment in your life. You are in college, from my understanding, just a month into college as a pre-med. When you realized it wasn't the path that you wanted to take. So what was going through your mind at that point and why did you make that decision?

You know, I was lying on my dorm room bed, staring up the ceiling, going through the what I wanted to do with my life crisis. And for anyone who's ever felt that you know, it's this all-consuming thought where it follows you in bed and the shower, when you're riding your bike, you know, it sort of haunts you. And to understand why I was going through it, you have to understand I'm the son of Persian Jewish immigrants, which pretty much means I came out of the womb. My mom created all my arms and then stamped MD on my behind and sent me on my way. And you know, you might think I'm kidding, but I literally were scrubs to school for Halloween

and thought I was cool. And that was my childhood growing up. And in high school, I checked all the boxes, studied for the SATs, took all the biology classes, went to pre-meds, summer camp. So by the time I got to college, I'm the pre-med of pre-meds. But as you mentioned, that's how I found myself on that dorm room bed looking at this towering stack of biology books feeling like it was sucking the life out of me. And at first, I assumed, you know, I'm probably just being lazy. That's where everyone tells people,

especially if they're young and they're not feeling good, you're being lazy. But eventually, I began to wonder, maybe I'm not on my path. Maybe I'm going to path somebody else has placed me on, and I'm just rolling down. So now, not only did I not know what I wanted to do with my life, I had no idea how the people who I looked up to, how they did it, and how Bill Gates, when he was also in college, how did he sell his first piece of software out of his dorm room when nobody knew his name?

How did Spielberg, when again, he was around the same age, become the youngest major studio director in Hollywood history without any experience? You know, these are things they don't teach you in school. So I just assumed there had to be a book with answers. So I started running the library and ripping through business books and biographies and self-help books assuming there had to be a book,

not on a particular age and life, but really a stage. When you have a big dream, when you have a big goal, no one's taking you seriously, no one's taking your calls, how do you find a way to break through? And eventually, I was left empty handed. And that's when my naive, aching, thinking kicked. And I thought, well, if no one's written

the book I'm dreaming of reading, why not write it myself? And I thought I'd just call Bill Gates, interview him, interview everybody else. And I thought I would be done in a few months. That I thought would be the easy part. The hard part I figured was getting the money to fund this journey. You know, I was bare and student-alone debt.

I was all out of bar mitzvah cash, so there had to be a way to make some quick money. So two nights before final exams, I'm in the library doing what everyone does in the library right before finals. I'm on Facebook.. I'm on Facebook. And I'm on Facebook and I see somebody offering free tickets to the prices right.

And I'm sure you know the game show, you know, it's the longest running game show in American history. And I was going to school in Los Angeles, not too far from where the show filmed. And my first thought was, what if I go on the show and went some money to fund this book?

You know, not my brightest moment. Plus, you know, the show was filming the next day. I had finals in two days, you know, it was a bad idea and I told myself that the dumb idea did not think about it. I don't know if you've ever had one of those moments where an idea no matter how crazy it is, it keeps clawing itself back into your mind. So that night, I decided to do the logical thing and pulling all night or to study. But I didn't study for finals. I studied how to hack the prices right. And I went on the show the next day and did this ridiculous strategy and ended up winning the whole show case showdown, winning a sailboat, selling that sailboat, and that's how I

funded the book. And that's how the journey got started. Wow. So I know the story because I did research on you. So you sold the boat for like $16,000. Now you're able to embark on this journey, which was pretty expensive because you basically plan to fly around America

and interview your idols and do whatever it took, but how did your parents react? Because did you pause school or did you drop out of school 100% like, what, what was that? It happened in stages. And I think when, whenever you're on the precipice on taking a big change in life,

it can feel daunting that it has to be this one big giant leap. Oh, you just got to quit your job and never look back. The reality is, and especially when I've studied success over the past 10 years, every single person who achieved their dream normally didn't take some reckless sleep. They took one courageous step after another. So, you know, for me personally, you know, started sort of small.

First, it was just deciding over summer vacation. I wouldn't take pre-med classes over the summer instead of work on the book. And the next year, it was switching from being a pre-med to going to a business major. But by the way, these weren't small things. This was like my identity. My parents came from Iran as refugees

with a single hope that I would have a secure safe life unlike they did. And then from there, the next year after that, you know, the book started getting a little bit of momentum and I was so close to getting that inner-reuth bill gates and that publishing deal that I, then I took a semester off from school and I went from there.

So on a high-end site, it's really easy to say, oh, I just dropped out of school. But the reality is, it's one terrifying step after another. I love that you showcase that because I was reading your stuff and it was really positioned or I assumed that it was like cold turkey but that's a great lesson to know. Even with like starting a side hustle, you don't need to quit your full-time job right away. It's okay to kind of ease your way into something see if it's actually going to take off, see if you get momentum, see if you like it before just cutting the cord. Absolutely. One of the most surprising things I learned in my research

on Bill Gates leading up to my interview with him was that he didn't drop out of school the way, you know, the media makes it sound. You know, you look at a headline and it said, you know, drop out Bill Gates becomes young, you know, richest person on earth and things like that. drop out Bill Gates becomes young, you know, richest person on earth and things like that. The reality is Bill Gates started Microsoft, when, you know, he was in college from his dorm room with his buddy Paul Allen, and they decided to take one semester off to see

if the company would get some momentum. And do you know what happened after that? They realized it wasn't getting momentum and Bill went back to school. No one ever talks about that, but that's just the reality. They realize it wasn't getting momentum and build one back to school. No one ever talks about that, but that's just the reality. Open his biography, it's right there. Anyone back to school, try to again, and then after that, took another semester off and

then it started picking up. I think our society, in particular our generation, we grew up with tweets and now with TikToks and it's so easy to compress years and years of someone's journey into 60 seconds. But the reality is, especially when you're studying success, it's a lot more gray. And it's a lot more little steps. A tipping point is only available in hindsight. The reality when you're going after your journey, and especially if anyone listening is in the trenches right now, it's

okay that it's not happening overnight. It takes little step after a little step. It's so true. It's such a great point. So we were talking offline and you were asking me how long I've done young and profiting podcasts. So it's been about four years, but it was a 10-year journey. And when I started the podcast, I had big guests from the gate because I had this really inspiring story. I almost had a show on MTV.

I was like, you know, on Han, 97. And so people believed in me and it was kind of easy to get guests off the bat. And I was punching above my weight from the start. That's great, that's nice. But with you, I don't know what that feels like. Yeah, I want to know what it was like for you because you are 18 years old

and from my understanding, no track record in media. How did you get in touch? I mean, you interviewed Tim Ferris, eventually Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, these huge names. So what was your strategy like overall? And then I'd love to do like a rapid fire and get some of your crazy wild stuff?

Well, it was a lot more forest gump than Albert Einstein when it came to my strategy. You know, the reality is to my surprise Bill Gates normally doesn't do interviews with 18 year old college students. So my simple idea turned out to be a lot harder than I thought and the book ended up taking seven years. You know, seven years of, Seven years of hard work and sweat, but eventually it happened. Took two years to get the interview with Bill Gates. It took three years to track down Lady Gaga, and every single one was different.

So you're saying every single one was different. Well, tell us the story. I'd love to hear, for example, how you got in touch with Lady Gaga. You brought Lady Gaga up, so let's start with her. Lady Gaga, again, that was one of the final interviews of the book, and it's one of the final chapters, because it just took so long.

And with all these people, you know, you worked in radio in particular, you know, every, one of these people have multiple gateholders. There's the manager, there's the agent, there's the managers, managers, manager, you know, there's the, you know, there's like 15 people who all claim they are the decision maker. So you sort of get, you can get lost in those worlds.

I'm a thing with Lady Gaga in particular, it just so happened, I met someone named Matt Nicholson, who worked with Lady Gaga and helped her on, you know, her digital projects. So he brought me in through that door. And what I learned is that, and actually learned this from studying Steven Spielberg, that every single story without exception, whether it's Warren Buffett and finance, my angel and poetry, every single one of these people, always had that inside person, an inside man, inside woman, someone inside of the organization that they were trying to get into, who believed in them. And you actually brought to get into, who believed in them.

And you actually brought it up earlier, who believed in them as a person. Before the idea had any feet, believed in them and was willing to open that door and bring them in. So with Steven Spielberg, it was a man named Chuck Silver, who helped Spielberg get his first contract with Warren Buffett. It was an investor in Benjamin Graham. But when you read a magazine, or you turn on CNBC, those things aren't talked about, but that's the reality of how the world actually works. Yeah. So basically, you went and found the inside man, the person that you could hook you up

with the person you actually wanted to meet, and you would get in their good graces. So how can we go about finding an inside man? Do you have any tips for that? Yeah. You know, my favorite, I just referenced the Spielberg story. To me, the Spielberg story is the best case study of how the inside man, inside woman actually works. And the reason I love this story is most people don't know is that the way it started. As when Steven Spielberg was 17, 18 years old, he applied to film school, and he didn't get in. And then he applied a second year to USC Film School, and he still didn't get in.

And that's where most people would normally stop their journey and think they're not cut out for it, but Spielberg decided to take his education to his own hands. So he signs up for community college in Los Angeles, so he can sort of be around the industry. And he goes to Universal Studios Hollywood, the theme park. And for those of you who have been at theme park, you know there's a ride called the tram ride

that takes you on the back a lot of the studio, where you can see where the movies are made. So, Spielberg goes on this little tour bus, and about halfway through jumps off the tour bus hides in the bathroom and waits for the bus to keep driving and Spielberg walks around the lot on his own. And about an hour in, he bumps into this older man named Chuck Silvers. And Chuck Silvers sees this like pimply face kids as you know what the hell you're doing here. And Spielberg told him the truth. He said look I'm I'm so sorry, I jumped off the bus.

I always dreamed of being a director and they end up talking for about an hour. And Chuck Silver's was the head of the Universal Television Library, the head of all archives. At the end of the hour, he says, Stephen, how would you like to come back onto the lot? And Stephen goes, that would be a dream. So Chuck Silver's right, some a three day pass. And Spielberg comes back the first day, comes back the second day, comes back the third day, and on the fourth day, he shows up again,

wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase, and just walks to the security gate, waves his hand in the air and goes, hey, Scotty, and the guard just waves back and Spielberg walks right there. And he does this for months. He's sneaking onto sound stages, going into editing booths,

asking directors and producers out to lunch. And he's essentially creating his own film school from scratch. But what happens after a few months is Chuck Silver slowly becomes Spielberg's mentor. And Chuck Silver's gives him one of the best piece of advice a mentor can give someone. He said, listen, Steven, stop smoothing on the lot every day.

Go create something of value. Go create a short film of quality. And don't come back onto the lot until you have it ready to go. So Spielberg took that hard piece of advice to Hart. And he went and spent months filming and editing a short film called Amblin. And he went back to Chuck Silver's and showed it to him. And it was so good that at the end a single tear drop came down Chuck Silver's face.

And Chuck Silver's picked up the phone immediately and called the vice president of Universal Television Sid Shrineberg and said, Sid, I have something you gotta see. And Sid said, listen, there's a lot of things people tell me I gotta see. And Chuck said, no, if you don't watch this tonight, someone else will. And the vice president said, you think it's that damn important? And then Chuck said, yes, it's that damn important.

And sure enough, the vice president watched that night, Spielberg the next morning got a call from the vice president's office saying he needed to be on the lot immediately. Spielberg rushes over and on the table as a contract making the youngest major studio director in Hollywood history. And the reason that story so powerful to me is, yes, of course, Spielberg was tremendously talented. If he wasn't talented, this never would have worked.

However, I think we can both agree. There must have been at least a handful of other talented directors in Hollywood at the time who didn't get that contract. And when you look at what made Spielberg different than everyone else, is that on top of the talent, was his ability to find this inside person. His ability to have the courage to jump off the bus, talk to Chuck Silver, tell him the truth about his aspirations, not being manipulated, but telling the truth, and actually follow his mentor's advice and actually do the hard work.

But if it wasn't for Chuck Silver, Spielberg never would have got that past to come back on the lot. He never would have gotten that good advice, and most importantly, there never would have been someone to get the vice president to pay attention. And then everyone's career, whether you're launching a podcast, writing a book, starting a business, trying to get a promotion, it's always that inside person who believes in you, who uses their social capital to kick the door open to help you get in. Let's hold that thought and take a quick break with our sponsors. Young and profitors, do you have a brilliant business idea but you don't know how to move forward

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Go right now for 50% off your no risk 2 week trial at trinom.com sash app. That's trinom.nom.com sash app for 50% off trinom.com slash app. This is so powerful. You are dropping bombs right now of knowledge. So thank you so much. So I want to get into a couple of your kooky stories. And I think Tim Ferriss and Larry King, I think, would be two great ones.

So tell us about how you know Tim Ferris. Yeah, no, you definitely have two of the cookier ones. With Tim Ferris, again, you have to understand, you know, I'm at the time 18, 19 years old, no one wants to talk to me, no one wants to answer my emails. So with Tim Ferris, what it ended up happening, was, because at the time, Tim was one of the youngest best selling authors in American history.

So I followed, there's someone who had to have some kind of insights for me, it had to be him. So I ended up, one of the things that I would do in the beginning of the journey is I had a little note card that I printed out in my dorm room. And it just had a list of all the people I wanted to interview. And because I didn't have any real connections, what I would do is just whenever I would like literally, whether it was on my college campus or anywhere I would go, whenever I would

tell someone about the book, I would show them the card. And you would be surprised. If you showed to like 10 people, one at a 10, they won't know a person on the thing, but they'll have an idea for you. And they'll say, oh, you know, Spielberg's actually gonna be speaking at, I saw him the early times.

He's gonna be speaking at this event. Or, oh, I heard Buffett has this thing. I actually have a friend who met Buffett at a death. So I would carry this card with me wherever I'd go. And one of the people I met in the first year of working on the book was a man named Cesar Bosa Negra. And he worked for a nonprofit called DonorsChoose.org. And I showed him this card and he goes,

oh my God, my boss actually went to high school with Tim Ferriss. So by all these things are so random. You know, you don't think you're ever gonna find someone who went to high school, you know, it's so random, but you just sort of gotta keep putting yourself out there. So he goes, let me ask my boss, and sure enough, I never heard back. Says that he would talk to his boss,

but I never heard back. So I decided to just take matters to my own hands, and it started emailing Tim Ferriss's assistant asking for this interview. And I email one time, two times, five times, ten times, no response. And I'm thinking, okay, maybe it's a lost cost. And right as I'm about to give up, I'm checking my inbox and I see sort of like a newsletter spam. And it's for an app that I used on my phone called Evernote, you know, No Taking App. And it said, the Evernote conference at San Francisco this summer featuring best selling

author Tim Ferrars as keynote speaker. And I'm like, Oh my God, this is my dream. All I have to do is go to this conference. I use the money from the prices, right? I think it was like $50 to register. And I was like, Oh my God, this is my dream. And I bought my first ever plane ticket by myself and I go to San Francisco and what I did though

is because I knew Tim was involved with DonorsChoose.org, that company where, you know, Sess our work, then on profit. I took a DonorsChoose gift card in my back pocket, you know, just in case. And I also, for some reason decided to print all 10 emails, it's in Tim's assistant, put my backpack and do it. I don't know why. I just, I needed some kind of like safety blanket. So I think this is a genius plan. You

know, it's a conference for an app. There's no way, you know, anyone else is there to talk to Tim Ferris. This is my dream. So I get there. I show the San Francisco I'm 19 years old. and I step into this conference hall. And almost every single person there has a copy of Tim Ferriss' book, The Forerowark Week, Under the Arm. And it hits me every single person here has the exact same idea that I do. Everyone is here to talk to Tim Ferriss. So I'm like, what am I going to do? So I decided, all right, I'm gonna take a seat

right at the front of the stage on the far left side where the staircases are. So when Tim walks off the stage, I'll be the closest person near the stairs. So I can be the first person to talk to him. So I sit right in the front row, right, I think I'm a genius. Like I think I just hacked the whole system.

The lights turn on, Tim walks on stage from the far right side. So now I'm on the complete opposite side of the entire conference hall. So I'm panicking now and thinking, I can't believe I came all the way here. I'm going to lose this opportunity. I don't know what to do. And I sort of look around and I see there's a VIP bathroom on the far right side of the room. So during Tim's speech, I just sort of like sneak out of my chair and run to the bathroom.

And there was a bouncer guarding him, but I just sort of like begged if I can go inside and he just like let me go use the bathroom. And I ended up crouching in the bathroom stall for about 30 minutes with my ear pressed again. By the way, I'm not proud of this story. I do not recommend anyone do this, but this is just what happened. I ended up crouching in the bathroom for about 30 minutes, you know, the smell of urine stinging my nostrils. And my ears pressed against the wall, and I'm waiting to hear the sound. And sure enough, I hear the applause. And as soon as I hear

the applause, I jump out of the bathroom, and sure enough, Tim Faire is standing about five feet in front of me, all by himself. And I don't know if you can relate to this, but when I am in those moments, when it lines up so perfectly like that, it's actually when I get the most nervous. And I even have a name for that feeling. I call it the flinch.

It's that feeling when your throat tightens up, your mouth is why your shut, your feet turn to stone. And I just like awkwardly stood in front of Tim Mayer in front of my bathroom, staring at him. And almost to break myself out of the grip of the flinch, I just reached into my back pocket, handed him that donor's shoes gift card. And I said, this is for you.

And he looks and goes, oh great, I actually, I know the founder of Donors shoes, I want to high school with them. And I'm like, oh, you don't say. And he's like, how do you know Donors shoes? I'm like, well, I'm actually working on a book right now. And he's like, oh cool, what's your book about? I'm like, well, I'm interviewing some

of the world's most successful people. Like, for business, I'm trying to interview Bill Gates. I'm trying to interview Lady Gaga. I'm trying to interview Jane Good. I'm trying to interview you. And he's like, ha ha, very funny. And I said, no, I'm trying to interview Bill Gates, I'm trying to interview Lady Gaga, I'm trying to interview Jane Good, I'm trying to interview you. And he's like, ha ha, very funny. And I said, no, I'm serious. And then I reached into my other pocket and gave him the 10 printed out emails.

So he just looks at me, he's laughing. And he's like, you know, let me look through these, but I'll get back to you in the next couple of days. And he was really nice. A couple of weeks go by silence. So I email the assistant again, no response, again, and again, I ended up emailing his office over 32 times. And again, I do not recommend this, but I ended up emailing 32 times until out of nowhere, I got an email saying, sure, Tim is available and he can talk in two days.

And we did the interview and the interview was amazing. And I learned a lot from the interview particularly about how to properly cold email people, how to properly reach out to people. But one of the lessons that I missed in that moment was I thought the reason this whole journey worked to get to Tim was because I was so persistent. When I found out years later when I actually met Tim properly and got to know him, you know, as a person, was he told me the truth of

that would actually happen behind the scenes, which is Tim was so annoyed and angry at me. He called his mutual friend, the person that don't her shoes and said, what the f**k is this kid's problem? And thank God, the person who don't her shoes says, look, I know Alex has rough around the edges, but his heart's in the right place. And I think he's really trying to help his generation. I think this is a good idea. And that's why Tim said yes. I think this is a good idea. And that's why Tim said yes. That's so interesting.

It's so funny because we're always taught, be persistent, be persistent. But when you're on the other side and you're a busy person, it can get quite annoying if somebody won't let up when you're busy or not interested. And he've already clearly said, no, I'm busy or I can't do it.

So he did teach you about persistence versus hassle. So do you want to kind of break that down for us? I will say a big takeaway is that I always thought persistence was about knocking on one door a hundred times. What I've had to learn is that persistence is about knocking on a hundred different doors. And no business book talks about the dangers of over persistence, where you can knock on a door so many times that they put the dead bolt on and, you know, call security on you. And again, persistence is not about knocking on one door 100 times, it's about knocking

on a hundred different doors. It took me many years of mistakes to finally learn that. So let's get into the concept of the third door, because you already shared a couple stories that really illustrate this well. For example, Steven Spielberg came jumping off the bus and kind of getting in film school in his own way. You hiding in the bathroom to meet Tim Ferris. So what is the third door?

You talk about these doors like it's like getting into a nightclub bed, love to hear that analogy. Yeah. So after spending 10 years studying the world's most successful people, when I started, there was no part of me looking for that one key to success. We've all seen those business books or those tech talks and normally I just roll my eyes.

But what ended up happening over 10 years of research is they started realizing every single one of these people treated life and business and success the exact same way. And the analogy that came to me is that it's sort of like getting into a nightclub. There's always three ways in. So there's the first door, the main entrance, where the line curves around the block, or 99% of people wait around hoping to get in. And we all know that line, people waiting on the cold, hoping the bounce of that's in it, that's the first door. And then there's a second door, the VIP entrance where the billionaires and celebrities go through. But what no one tells you,

but I'm sure you've seen your career many times is that there's always always the third door. And it's the entrance where you jump out of line and run down the alley, bang on the door 100 times, crack open a window, go through the kitchen, there's always a way in. And it doesn't matter if that's how Lady Gaga got her first record deal. Oh, Spielberg, you know, got his directing conducted all took the third door. Yeah, and it kind of sounds like you are saying that mentors can be like your key to third door as well. You're short cut.

All right, cool. So let's talk about some of the big lessons that you learned from all of these interviews. You learned a lot about luck. You learned a lot about confidence. Tell us some of your favorite stories and lessons. One of my favorite interviews is actually from Maya Angelou. And those of us who are familiar with Maya Angelou's work know that she's one of the most celebrated poets in American history. She is one of the best-selling authors of all time, her book, I know why the Cajford sings,

it's still one of the top books. But what most people don't know is where her life came from. You know, Maya Angelou is born in Stamps, Arkansas, or raised up in Stamps, Arkansas at a time where the city, the town was strictly divided between blacks and whites and as a young black girl, you know, she grew up at a time where you could see, you know, crosses burning and lynchings and, you know, it was a very, very dark time in American history. And at about age eight years old, she got raped by her mother's boyfriend. And

She got raped by her mother's boyfriend. And when she told her brother what had happened a few days later, the brother of course did the right thing and told the mother, and the man wasn't only arrested, but a few days later he was found dead behind a slaughterhouse. And what the eight-year-old my angelou thought, because this is how kids kids brains work sometimes is that she thought that her using her words causes man to die. So she became a mute and didn't speak to anyone for years.

And her life continued to unfold full of tremendous challenges. She faced tremendous domestic abuse. She faced teenage pregnancy. She faced teenage pregnancies. She Lots and lots and lots of challenges, you know face racism at every corner But what's so amazing about Maya Angelou Tameyah is not the darkness she endured It's how she turned that darkness into light It's how she channeled her experiences into works of art and transformed them into ways of healing for millions of people. And one of the things I asked her is if and everyone in their own ways goes through those cloudy times.

I know I've been through it. My dad got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed a year later, I've had people I love go through, you know, bounceouts of abuse and have to get out. And I was asking you're almost selfishly when you're stuck in the storm, when you're stuck with the clouds, what do you do? And she said, I want you to write, she literally, and she has a beautiful way of talking. She goes, young man, I want you to write this down on your no pad right now. And I said, yeah, of course. And I said, what do I do? And she said, I want you to write this down.

This is a line I once heard from a country song. And I think it answers your question perfectly. And I said, of course, and she goes, write this down. Every storm runs out of rain. Every storm runs out of rain. Every storm runs out of rain. And you just have to get to work. And what's so powerful about Maya Angelou is that because she has had endured so much, she had this ability to help me get some perspective that, yeah, hard things happen, but they're impermanent.

But you got to get to work. And one of my other favorite things she said, so I interviewed her the year before she passed away. And one of my final questions for her was, you know, what's your final piece of advice for the next generation? And she said, get yourself out of the box. Try to understand that Taoism works for some people, give it a shot. Read Caesar Chavez, Read Martin Luther King, Read Nelson Mandela, read, you know, not everything will work for you, but try it out and see what does work. There's all this wisdom out in the world. And if we stay

hold up in our little boxes, we'll never see all of the wisdom and all the riches the world has to offer. And then she said this beautiful final line, she said life is short no matter how long you live. Get to work. That's so beautiful. You must feel so crazy that you've interviewed so many of these powerful people. That's all you've got a pretty impressive track record in terms of who you interviewed. I'm very lucky. When you're talking, it seems like Bill Gates was really like your big goal, you know, your big audacious goal. As we were doing this interview, you kept mentioning,

like, oh, I was waiting for Bill Gates or I finally got Bill Gates. So why was Bill Gates such a big deal to you? I mean, you interviewed lots of other huge people. And what did you learn from him? Was it everything you hoped for? Because they always say, don't meet your heroes in person. I was like, was it everything you hoped for? You built it up quite a bit. And what did you learn?

You know, I think about that line a lot that don't meet your heroes. It cuts both ways. I've met my heroes and been disappointed. I've met my heroes and been shocked that they're even better than I could have imagined. You know, with Bill Gates, the way this whole book got started, the way he even made this list was, it's a product of just being this like young naive kid and I sort of said, all right, when I make my list of people who I want to interview, I knew what I didn't believe in

and I knew I didn't believe in things like that, you know, a Forbes algorithm of success. I knew that was not what I subscribed to. So I did what I do whenever I'm in trouble. I call my best friends for help. And I call my best friends, and one night we all gathered up in my dorm room, and I said, guys, if we can make our dream university,

who would be our professors? And that's how the list came to be. And then it became easy. Okay, for business, Bill Gates, for finance, Warren Buffett, for Poetry, Maya Angelou, for science, Jane Goodall, for Latin American studies, Pitbull, like, you know, we're just these goofy kids.

But that's really how the journey got started. And it was really by making that list that it sort of became this treasure map for the third door. And when I met Bill Gates, I learned tremendous things. I learned his negotiating secrets. I learned a lot about his strategy of how he was able to, especially at an early age, talk about anyone who is young and profiting those Bill Gates in his 20s,

in the strategy that he used. And I sort of might take away from that is, from my interview with Bill Gates is, you know, the guy knew what he was doing because even if he didn't go into software, if he had a hot doc stand, he would have had the biggest hot dog stand empire in America just because he really understood the mechanics of not only had a grow and work hard but had to really strategize and think very long term. But yeah, no, it's, I think when you spend two years fantasizing over anything, it never leads up to your fantasy. And some of the interviews

that I wasn't even fantasizing about at all were the ones that changed my life in a major rate too. We'll be right back after a quick break from our sponsors. Hear that sound, young and profitors? You should know that sound by now, but in case you don't, that's the sound of another sale on Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform

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Kelly is an inspirational entrepreneur and I highly respect her. She's been a guest on YAP. She was a former social client. She's a podcast client. And I remember when she came on young and profiting and she talked about her conviction marketing framework. It was like mind blowing to me. I remember immediately implementing what she taught me in the interview in my company and the marketing efforts that we were doing and as a marketer I really really respect all Kelly has done all Kelly has built in the corporate world Kelly secured seven promotions in just eight years But she didn't just stop there. She was working in 95 and at the same time she built her 8 figure company as a side household and eventually took it and made it her full time hustle and her strategic business goals led her to win the prestigious Inc 500 award for the fastest growing business in the United States. She's built an empire she's earned a life changing wealth and on top of all that she maintains a happy marriage and healthy home life. On the Kelly Road show,

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you can get 15% off when you go to masterclass.com-profiting. That's masterclass.com-profiting for 15% off an annual membership. Masterclass.com-profiting. So I would love to kind of talk about some of the stories that really resonated with me that I think my listeners will like. So Pipball, he told you to always stay in intern. Can you talk to us about that one? I love that. He talked about someone who, you know, of course, I was very excited, but who just blew me away with their authenticity and their wisdom was Pippal.

Again, it sort of doesn't match the persona at times. You watch a concert or music video of him and it's like popping bottles on a private jet. at times you watch a concert or music video of him and it's like popping bottles on a private jet but you sit down with him and the guy is just he's just sharp he's so wise so sharp and his backstory isn't talked about much well most people don't know about people is that he was born literally with cocaine in his blood. His mom was high when he was born. And what people also don't know is that Pippo went to literally eight different high schools over the course of three years

because they had to move around so often. And people do know a little that he was a drug dealer in high school. And what's so funny about the entry of Pippo, this is not in the book, but I think he'll appreciate this. And people do know a little that he was a drug dealer in high school. And what's so funny about the interview with Pippel, this is not in the book, but I think he'll appreciate this. Pippel's PR person said, no talking about drug dealing. I was like, great, no problem, you have my work.

I will not ask a single question. And he's like, great. And I'm very like in integrity in moments like that. If they're grand to me, that access, I'm very grateful. But for reasons, I may never understand about halfway through the interview, it was going so well that people just started opening up on his own and talking about all of the struggles he went through as a kid. And then hindsight, I think I know why. He was trying to explain to me how his life was this constantly, almost like a video game trying to get to me how his life was this constantly, almost like a video game, trying to get to the next level.

In high school, he was trying to survive and just make it out alive from the drug world. And then he was trying to just barely make it into the music world. Then he was trying to make money in the music world. Then he was trying to be the biggest musician out of Miami. Then he wanted to be the biggest musician in the world. And his life was like this video game constantly leveling up. And he was telling me story after story after story

and at the end, at the end. He finally sat back in his chair when he was done telling me about all the different levels that he's worked on in his life. And he just sort of sat back. We were sitting on a balcony in Miami, overlooking the sunset. And there was just a silence. And it was at the point of my journey where I was starting to become a better interview and I learned to sometimes just let the silence sit. And I didn't say anything. And the silence just lasted for about a minute.

And then he started just talking on his own. And he said, you know, a few weeks ago, I was with Carlos Slim Jr. Who, you know, is one of the richest people on earth, the richest person in Mexico. And he goes, you know, I was with Carlos Slim and I told him, you know, I wanna be your intern. I'll get donuts for you, I'll get coffee,

I just wanna sit around and chat to you and see how you operate. And at first, you hear something like that and you think he must be exaggerating or joking, but I looked in his eyes and I said, this is probably the most serious thing he said the whole interview. And I was looking at him and I was realizing, here's a person who can perform a Madison Square Garden. And he's talking about how he genuinely has a deep desire to be an intern for someone else at this stage in his life.

And Pippo kept explaining he goes, look, I can walk around a music label like a king. But at night, what people don't know is I'm walking around the offices of Apple and Google taking notes. And what I learned from Pippo is that the best executives, the best entrepreneurs are constantly leveling up in their career. Do it because they are never satisfied with being an executive. They constantly want to stay in intern. And if you want to be the mofasa, if you want to be the king of the pride land, you have to be Simba as well.

You have to hold both at the same time because the moment you're comfortable being at the top is the moment you begin to fall. And for Pitbull, it wasn't just about a strategy of success, it was who he was. And by staying in intern in all areas of his life, it's what allowed him to continue to level up. So the key to growth is to constantly go back to the bottom again. Oh my gosh, I resonate with this so much that is such a great lesson for everyone to have heard.

So there's one more secret to success that I want to uncover. This one actually comes from one of your mentors, Elliott Biznell, and he taught you to bite off more than you can chew. Now this is very counterintuitive. Usually it's don't bite off more than you can chew. So tell us about that one.

So, one of the things I learned from Elliott, and sometimes the best lessons are the ones that you're never explicitly said. They're the ones you just learn. What I learned from Elliott is that, and the truth for all of us, we're all more capable than we give ourselves credit for. And I truly mean that from all my years of studying and success, all my years of meeting

readers of the third door, people are more capable than they give themselves credit for. And this idea of bite off more than you can chew, you'll figure out how to chew later is essentially giving yourself the credit you deserve, which is that you'll figure it out. You might not have the ability now, but you can grow, you can learn, you can try for new things. And by the way, he didn't say buy off more than you can chew. It's so easy and fun.

No, he's then you'll figure it out later. And the reality is, it's hard, it's painful, it's uncomfortable, you want to cry. But what's interesting, and this is a big thing I want to share with everyone, is that in the world of fitness, I think, you know, if we pulled 10 random people on a street and said, hey, if you can only lift 50 pounds on the bench press and you want it to lift 150 pounds by the end of the year. How would you do it?

Nine out of 10 people would know the answer. Well, you go 50 pounds, 55, 60, 65. Oh, you tore your muscle, now you go back down to 55 and you work your way up slowly until you get there. But in the world of business and the world of entrepreneurship, you ask someone, well, your business is this size and you want it to be this size, how would you do it? Not in 10 people have no idea what to even say.

And the truth is, it works exactly the same way. All these skills that we need in entrepreneurship, whether it's sales, strategy, pitching, storytelling, business development are all learnable. Except when you go to the gym, it's much more obvious what to do. And entrepreneurship can be a bit more tricky, but the truth is it's all learnable. You can learn to be a better storyteller. You can learn to be better at sales. You can learn to be a better marketer. Now, what people think is they either got it or they don't got it. And they try it. They don't have it the first time and they

give up. But what Eliot's advice was, by the more than you can chew, he's like, all the other things you'll figure out on your own. And I think that's one of the best pieces of ice I've got it. So let's stick on this concept of mentorship. You are a mentor. I know you do some mentorship groups and things like that. You have a couple mentors. I think Cal Fussman is another one of your mentors.

So how do you go about finding and selecting a mentor? Yeah, I didn't do much selecting. I was very much like a beggar taking whatever. I think the thing about mentorship is, the reality is I asked, I wanted hundreds of people to be in my mentors. I was 19, I wanted Tim Ferriss to take me under his wing and spend every day teaching. People have different constraints in their life.

Tim's really busy, he's got a lot going on. He already does a lot to give out all of his knowledge out to the world. The reason it worked with Elliot Biznows is because at the time no one really knew him with Kyle Fussman, essentially the same thing. No one had heard of him outside of the right-wing world. And I'll share a piece of advice someone once gave me. And his name is Will McDonough. And at the time I met him, he was a vice president at Golden Sachs. And I asked Will essentially, what makes a mentor want to spend time with a mentee? And he said, from his experience, it's one of three reasons.

Number one, the mentor sees a part of themselves in the mentee. Number two, the mentor wants to make the mentee a bit more like them, sort of pull them in their direction. Number three, which I think is the most interesting one, is the mentor sees something in the mentee that they want to cultivate in their lives. So they want to spend time with that young person. And that one didn't make any sense to me because in my mind what the hell could any of these successful people want from a young person. But now that I've seen you know

so many stories unfold the truth is you would be surprised that an executive in their 60s or 70s is missing something in their life. And what they're missing a lot of times is that sense of possibility, that sense of hope, that sense of there's always a way, that sense of a dreamer, because they had that too in the beginning. And sometimes it's even more practical. I remember when I was spending time with Larry King and his friends, I was like showing them how to use an iPad.

I was like showing them what Snapchat is. So sometimes it was even as practical as literally teaching them things that they were curious about. But the best mental relationship to have all three. The mentor sees a part of themselves in you, the mentor wants to teach you things to pull you in their direction, but also the mentor wants you to rub off on them. And I think the third thing, I didn't understand at the time,

but that actually is in your control a bit. You can choose to be a positive person. You can choose to be kind and nice and a dreamer and excited about life. You can't really choose if the mentor sees themselves in you or if they, but you can choose how you show up in the world. And even if you talk to a hundred different mentors and 95 of them think you're an idiot

and don't want time with you. The five who do will change your life and that's all you need. This is really, really good stuff. So Alex, you spent the pandemic giving free coaching away basically. You were doing mentorship programs. What did you see?

Like why did you see there was a need for that? What was happening where you felt like you needed to kind of open that channel for people? What were people feeling and what is your advice to people who are feeling similar that may not have been involved in your mentorship programs? Yeah, for me, I didn't see it at the time as coaching your mentorship. I saw it as when I had started writing the third door, almost 12 years ago now.

The book came out a few years ago, but it's essentially been this like 10-year labor of love. The original intention was I wanted to go on this mission and, you know, gather all this, you know, knowledge and tools and put it in a book to help people who are struggling just like me. And while people have read the book who are executives at Merrill Lynch and Mastercard and Nike and Disney and my heart, it was always that young,

scrappy person who has a big dream. That was my original intention for the book. And when the pandemic hit originally back in 2020, I couldn't have expected that essentially my inbox became flooded with all of these readers who I had met over book tours and book signings and things like that, really struggling, losing jobs, having family members who are sick, sometimes being stuck at home with abusive parents,

and I didn't really know what to do. Because I, a part of me loved these people, but a part of me had no idea how to help people I barely knew. And thankfully, a mentor of mine by the name of CalFosment said, why don't you just meet with people publicly one hour day on Zoom and just answer their questions

about what they're dealing with. And I said, that is such a stupid idea. Like, that does not scale. That doesn't. Who would even want that? I thought that was a worse idea. I said, do you know what would be a good idea? Why don't I just take some time and write everything I've learned over the years into a second book and then share it with them then? And Kyle said, well, it took me seven years to write your first book. I don't think your second book will get there in time. He's like, why don't you just meet people where they are? So I decided to just, you know, I just posted on Twitter and on Instagram and I said,

look, one hour a day, I'll be here in this Zoom room, sharing the lessons I learned over this 10 years of research. Whoever wants to come by all means come, no pressure, and you know, as a pandemic, people were losing their jobs. I said, this is completely free. There's no course, there's no nothing. It's just, I'm here to help how I can, if I can.

And what ended up happening was a miracle. People from all over the world came together. We had people from Nigeria and India and Japan and, you know, single mothers from Colorado and college students from Florida. You know, there was a person in the brassca on their tractor zooming in. You know, there's all these different people. And what's amazing is the people who showed up were the people who were betting on themselves.

And a lot of times it was people who couldn't afford, you know, a fancy course from a self-help author. It was people who needed help, but wanted to help themselves. And it was a big honor for me to hold that space with them and what was supposed to be just for a couple of weeks, we ended up doing it for over a year and a half. And while I ended it after a year and a half so I could focus on my next book and my next

projects, I'm still in contact with them. I'm still on the phone with them. They're just these remarkable people. And I love them dearly and they helped me more than I could have possibly helped them. Yeah, it's a two-way mendiment mentor relationship that you are talking about just earlier. So what is your best pieces of advice as we wrap up the interview to everybody out there who may be struggling still? It's two years after COVID. A lot of people have found their feet. A lot of people are going through like a crisis where they have no idea what they want to do with their

careers and they're quitting their jobs. It's a great resignation as you are definitely familiar with. So what's your advice to people who feel like stuck? Like they might want to quit their job or they just quit their job and they have no idea what to do next? You know, I have different tools that if people want to practical answer. One thing I have is a thing called the 30-day clarity challenge So if that's something you know, you can just type that into Google with my name and it'll pop up I'll put in the show notes awesome amazing. Yeah, you're much more advanced than I am at this But if I had to share a final thought

no that Success and failure not opposites I that success and failure are not opposites. I think I personally can get so caught up in, oh, am I succeeding or am I failing? Am I succeeding or am I failing? But the biggest thing I've learned from 12 years of studying success, is that success and failure are not opposites. They're different sides of the same coin.

They're both the result of the same thing. They're both the result of the same thing. They're both a result of trying. So the opposite of success isn't failure. The opposite of success is not trying. And if I have one wish for everyone listening, it's that you unattach yourself from success and you unattach yourself from failure and you say, commit yourself to trying and growing,

because that's what will change your life forever. Awesome. So we're going to close out the interview with a couple of questions that I ask all my guests. And then we do a couple of fun things at the end of the year with them. The first one is what is one piece of actionable advice that our listeners can do today to become more profiting

tomorrow? Look yourself in the mirror every morning and say, I love you. Ooh. And what is your secret to profiting in life? No exactly what you're trying to do and why you're trying to do it. Because if you're chasing a salary or if you're chasing a certain amount of money in your bank account, I'm going to tell you a secret.

When you get to that, the goal post is going to keep moving. So if you're not very clear about what you want and why you want it, you're in for a life of chasing shit that does not satisfy you. And where can our listeners learn more about you and everything that you do? The third door is available wherever people like to buy books. So whether it's Amazon or Barnes and Noble or if you like audio, it's on Audible and I narrate the audiobook. And if you end up getting the book because of this podcast, you know, let me know on, you know, Instagram or Twitter, it's just at Alex Benayan. Amazing. So I'll stick your link for your book in the show notes.

And what about your next book? Can you tease that out a little bit? I'm working on it right now. Slowly. It's in the same genre, but it takes a little different approach. Awesome. Well, we can't wait to have you back for that one. Alex, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. This was such a joy. Man, this conversation was awesome. Alex is such an incredible storyteller and I found this whole conversation to be super entertaining. It was so much fun to hear his first hand accounts of talking to these absolute legends like Bill Gates and Mike Angelo, and even just how he snagged these interviews were lessons in itself.

I mean, there's so much to unpack here and right off the bat, I think it's super important to recall the very beginning of Alex's story when he's sitting in his dorm room and he asks himself the question, what do I want to do with my life? And he considers everyone's expectations of him and he looked at the direction his life was going. And he thinks, is this what I want? He considers everyone's expectations of him and he looked at the direction his life was going. And he thinks, is this what I want? And for me, this is a moment where Alex first starts to belong in that category of legend

himself. Alex chose to pursue his passion, even if it seemed like a wild leap, even if he was straying away from a clear path to success like being a doctor. And even if at some points, it seemed impossible. Alex bet on himself even though it meant taking a huge risk. And he did let the possibility of failure or doubt hold him back. And let me tell you, being off the beaten path can be scary, but like Alex said and like all of these experts agreed upon, if you want something bad enough, you can always

find a way to succeed. Don't wait in line for your opportunity to use the front door like everyone else. Go sprint down that alley, pry open a window, climb up that fire escape. There's always a third door, you've just got to go find it. And from my own personal experience, I've created a third door in my career many, many times. Guys, I was rejected by radio. I was rejected by satellite radio. I was rejected by MTV. There was a whole lot of almost in my journey. I almost had a show on hot 97 the radio station. I almost had a show on MTV. I was almost the co-host of Sway in the morning at Sirius XM. But every single time I was rejected and all the while I knew it was my destiny to use my voice to create a positive impact on the world. And I always wanted to show like

young and profiting. So one day I stopped asking for permission. I stopped expecting somebody to open up a door for me and I created a third door myself by creating and launching young and profiting podcasts. And it was a hit since episode number one. And so I hope that inspires you guys. And remember, while entrepreneurship isn't an overnight journey, it's also not a solo journey. You do not have to go it alone. Mentors, friends, and support systems

are all critical in building success. And Alex said that every person he interviewed had someone on the inside to help him. That's called an inside man. So make sure you guys look for that inside man. Don't go it alone and reach out for help because you never know. It might be the next person you bump into who becomes the Chuck Silver's to your Steven Spielberg.

So sometime this week, I want to challenge you guys to really assess your life. Consider the question, what do I want to do with my life? And when you've answered that, find those access points, those third doors, search out mentors, and bite off more than you can chew. I believe in you. So get out there and get hustling. And when you reach the top, remember to be like people and keep on learning no matter what.

Alright, young and profitors, I want to see you in my DMs. Hit me up at Yap with Hala on Twitter or Instagram and join me on LinkedIn by searching my name, Halla Taha. Let's get after it and let's listen, learn and profit together. If you love this conversation with Alex as much as I did, hit that five star rating on Apple Podcasts and drop us a review. My goal this year is to reach 500 Apple Podcasts reviews. Yes, that seems like quite a little

considering how big my podcast is, especially if you guys tune in on Apple, what you may realize is that I don't have many reviews. And that's because my listeners are across all apps. I have over 200,000 subscribers on cast box. I have 50,000 subscribers on player FM, for example. And so my listenership is really all over the place. But at the end of the day, sponsors and a lot of new listeners are finding us on Apple. And so my listenership is really all over the place. But at the end of the day, sponsors and a lot of new listeners are finding us on Apple. And I don't have that many reviews. So if you guys tune in on Apple, or if you have an iPhone, do me a favor, drop us an Apple podcast review so we can get more reviews and have more social proof and make a bigger impact on

the world. If you want, you have to succeed and to be around for a long time, please drop us an Apple podcast review. All right, let's rally together and get this done. As always, thanks so much for tuning into Young and Profiting Podcasts and thanks to my amazing YAHF team you guys are awesome. And this is Hala, signing off. Are you looking for ways to be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative? I'm Gretchen Ruben, the number one best-selling author of the Happiness Project.

And every week, we share ideas and practical solutions on the Happier with Gretchen Ruben, the number one best-selling author of the Happiness Project. And every week, we share ideas and practical solutions on the Happier with Gretchen Ruben Podcast. My co-host and Happiness Guinea Pig is my sister Elizabeth Kraft. That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer in Hollywood. Join us as we explore fresh insights from cutting-edge science, ancient wisdom, pop culture, and our own experiences about cultivating happiness and good habits. Every week, we offer a tried-this-at-home tip you can use to boost your happiness

without spending a lot of time energy or money. Suggestions such as follow-the-one-minute rule. Choose a one-word theme for the year, or design your summer. We also feature segments like know-yourself better where we discuss questions like, are an over buyer or an under buyer? Morning person or night person abundance lever or simplicity lever and every episode includes a happiness hack a quick easy shortcut to more happy. Listen and follow the podcast happier with Gretchen Rubin.

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