Karma is a Mother and Doesn’t Use Lube with Matt Russell

Hey, welcome back to the show. I’m here with Carol Carpenter and Matt Russell. Matt, how are you doing today?

And I’m doing great at work.

That’s good to hear, Matt. Matt Russell has his MBA. He’s the CEO and chairman of the board for Pro-Sense. He’s a speaker, author, coach, entrepreneur, and just a great all-around dude You know, we’re happy to have you on today, Matt.

And I appreciate the time. I’m excited about this one.

Podcasts are becoming a big thing. You’re getting on that podcast guest train.

Toot Toot

Was it Major Payne? He’s like toot toot 

great movie. Some great reference points in there.

Oh, here we go. It’s going to Hell in a handbasket already.

But there’s something in my closet that starts shooting it up if he’s in it isn’t happy.

Poop poo.

Hey, we’re happy to have you on the show, Matt. We’ve known each other for over a year now. I can’t believe that time has been flying that quickly.

Yeah, I’d like to say it’s been more of a punishment knowing you that long, but no, it’s been great. It’s been really good.

I didn’t love him already.

We have a base, Pete, and we bring people on board. Those you’d like to have on the show as guests. We bring people on the show based on how willing they are to give me a hard time. That’s their criteria for getting on the Titan Evolution podcast So we got to

You set the bar. Is that what you’re saying?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If someone doesn’t meet my standards, just go ahead and lower my standards.

That’s how. We do it, yeah.

Yep, like in my high school dating career.

Oh, Jesus. Oh my God. Poor Matt.

I got to know Matt. What makes you a Titan?

What makes me a Titan is that I haven’t given up yet. You know, I keep striving to be a better UM, and my drive to keep learning and improving and humbling myself to hang out with people like yourself is what makes me a Titan.

Oh my God, he kissed your cheek *** What is going on in the app? Would you like a room? Like a private room? I’d like to step out now.

We may already have one booked, I’m not sure.

Well, we are We’re going to see you in Mobile in a couple of weeks. So yeah. Yeah, that’s probably pretty accurate. I love that you haven’t given up. You want to keep striving to learn, and then you want to have a fantastic inner circle, which is why you have me included.

Those are three big things I don’t think people realize just how important it is to not give up, have a quality circle, and then keep learning as they go along. You are a little bit older than me, just a couple of years, but I know that you are passionate. Based on your list of degrees, certifications, and all the things that I know you do regularly, I know you’re striving to always take in new information and learn new things. What do you think drives you to keep doing that? They keep learning and keep finding new ways.

Also, what keeps me going forward is my ability to connect with people. I love socializing with people. I love interacting with people. So, the more I know, the more I may not be an expert at it. I can say, “Oh my God, you want to learn about riding motorcycles? Crap, I haven’t done that in decades. But crap, there’s this chick. Her name is Carol, and she’s like the Moto Vixen. You need to check her out and just let that happen. ” Because when the warm introduction comes with the knowledge that, hey, this person can help you get there, I think it lessens the fear and anxiety and just allows things to happen. And when you’re able to connect people, I think it’s a great deal.

I hate I’m not a big fan of this word, but people feel like there’s reciprocity owed to you. So, I like being in a position where people may or may not owe me something, but they’re going to talk highly about me even when I’m not in the room, which is a great place to be.

Yeah, positive experiences.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I want to make sure that when people talk about me in person, it’s only negative, not negative when I’m not there. I’m positive when I’m not around and negative when I am.

That’s right. Never talk. negative about someone.

If you’re talking behind my back, it better be good. If you have a problem with me and you’re not telling me about it, we’re not friends.

But you know what the rest?

The truth is, who wouldn’t love you, Travis? Come on now.

I’m sure I’m the villain in somebody’s story. Travis, the Big Bad Wolf

Sorry, isn’t that the truth? So, is this something that you originally set out to do, like this whole energy sector that you’re currently in, or was it something else?

Also, when I was coming out of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. You know, I’ve had conversations with Travis, but like, I watched my dad, who was the first entrepreneur I ever saw. Everyone else would have had friends. Their pilots were pilots for Delta doctors, but my dad was an electrician, and when he left General Motors, he opened his own electrical business. So I saw him open his own business and hire people. So that was the first entrepreneurial spirit I saw growing up and getting my first job. I was like, “all right, I don’t know what I want to do, but I like interacting with people. 

So, sales, I guess, is kind of where people fall into, but it’s never truly stayed in one field like I’ve done a variety of different things. I’ve started selling pizzas, you know, working at Dominoes and Pizza Hut. Then I worked as a waiter, and then I worked in home automation doing AV. I even got certified as a certified gemmologist while working for a jewelry store that has the national press. And then I got into lighting, which I felt was a good fit because my dad was an electrician, and in the place where I worked, we could recommend local electricians. So, I was able to get my dad some work and my brother to do some side jobs, which allowed me to get out there. And does that allow me to spend time?

It never really fulfilled me, but the connecting of people and just being a social butterfly and getting out there and just having fun and working on business and growing a business is kind of what I’ve fallen into and that’s where, you know, the process was born and it’s still coming to Marsh and my father. Because it is an energy thing, but you know, I love it.

When did that shift happen from you being like an employee to all of a sudden being an entrepreneur?

Well, unfortunately, I think the shift happened well before I became an entrepreneur, which means if you ask some of my old managers, they will say, “Yeah, he was a ******* back then. 

What do you mean back then?

If someone said they were going to do something, I expected them to do it, and there were so many people in management who would say, “Hey, we’re going to do it,” but never follow through.

No, nothing.

Yeah, I saw that in her early on, but it wasn’t until 2019 that I launched a process and I became my entrepreneur, which was one of the best things I could do at the time because it allowed me to still have relationships and still provide an impact, a positive impact for my friends and the industry that’s helped me develop a name and some clout, however small that field may be, maybe so.

Let’s not decide on the field.

I’m sorry, you do realize my fields are even smaller than yours like my industry is way bigger than yours.

Yeah, everyone needs lighting.

It’s not about size, I know. Hey, hey, I know. I’m waiting. For the joke, because I know Travis is going to go there, excited about the size, but in reality, it is so anyway.

I’m thinking you would be comparing sizes with Matt. I didn’t expect that today.

Travis? I know you know me We’re going to go there.

Matt said he was a certified gemologist. You’d like to know the four Cs for diamonds.

Yeah, cut clarity.

Carrots, come on, man. I say this knowing that I had to Google it and I’ve got it up behind my screen because I knew I was going to ask you the question.

I love it.

There you go.

After that, the only things on my screen are two beautiful faces and then Travis.

I knew it I knew it. I knew he was going there. So, who do you have on there? Besides me, you and Carol, there are two of you.

I got Dwayne the Rock as a screensaver.

That would not surprise me in the slightest. Even in Atlanta, you can recognize the rocks’ glory 

Player: What does Dwayne have for 4 CS?

Oh my.

How many carrots have you rocked?

I don’t know. Let’s divert the train to another track.

These subjects Let’s be subtle about it.

Now, hurry. And he lives in Atlanta, so I don’t want to annoy him. because he could be at my house in an hour if you wanted.

Oh, I’ll be there. Just let me go anywhere.

Yeah, you’re in Canada. You’ve got to like If you plan on returning to the United States, you should take COVID testing. To go see the rock.

Yeah, that stopped a long time ago. I have my vaccination card. You have to go through everything anyway, so yeah.

So, Matt, what steps did you take to get from where you were to where you are now? There are always these stories, these trials, and these tribulations that people have to go through that never seem to make it onto social media.

You always get the highlight reel on social media.

Yeah, well, I think for me it was just having conversations with a variety of people. You know, like I love my friends from high school and, you know, a middle school that I still hang out with. I wouldn’t say my friends are this way, but I saw this post that, you know, people that you grew up with resent you more because they are not having the success you are. It’s fear of missing out or something like that. I’m not sure exactly what it is.

There’s a saying for that, right. They say everybody wants you to succeed. They just don’t want you to succeed more than you.

Yeah, that’s good. That’s probably exactly right. Just like having conversations with you and so many other people that we know within our circle, has allowed me to expand my mind and how I look at starting a business and growing a business. In 2016, I got the opportunity to work with a friend of mine, and during that time, I kind of was a supplier for him, and I watched how he built a business; this was his third or fourth business that works. He already had sold the others and made a fair amount of money and seeing how he, you know, incorporated, you know, doing an LLC versus Nest Corporation, having one, two companies versus Warren, you know, and having trust and having these different things, things that you don’t learn in school, you know, things that you learn by doing. That was awesome. So seeing the path, I would go over to my dad and be like, “Hey, you know, what about this again? He just opened a paid rental place and said, “Hey, this is what we’re going to do, but the marketing and what we’re dealing with now with REACH, especially for me, since I have no geographical boundaries to anything. On this great green earth of ours, I can touch a lot of small businesses.

A lot of entrepreneurs are solely focused on regional markets, but for me, seeing someone that has already worked on, uh, a continental scale, you know, and been successful, I was like, all right, well this is somewhere I need to look at And but the nice thing is, I looked at you and I said you’re doing great, but I also saw your character flaws. But we all have him I was like, “all right, don’t do that, don’t do this. And it’s like, yeah, don’t, yeah, don’t do these things because I’m still painful, but if you can avoid these pitfalls, but having those conversations and saying, “All right, this is how I navigate. 

Fundamentally, make the shift because you have to have a change of mind. I’m changing. It is hard to say I can go from being a small business owner or a W2 employee to being an entrepreneur. Because when you go from being a W2 employee to a small business owner, you’re creating something, but it’s going to be something you’re going to build bars around, you’re going to shackle yourself down to it. But when you become an entrepreneur and have all these conversations with amazing people, I’m going to be all right. How do I structure this in a way where I don’t have to be as relevant as I want to be?

What do you mean by relevant?

We’re all Where I can step away from the business for a month or two and the business will still work if

Oh, so you say, how do you build a machine without having yourself be one of the COGS in the machine?

Yeah, because, you know, connecting people and socializing with people is a passion of mine. So this is not working for me. This is something that is a passion. This is something that gets me excited. But having people that can do the same thing without you, yeah, there might be a little drop-off, but no one can be me. No one can be like Carol. No one can be like Travis. But then you can find people that are like-minded and say this is your vision. Let’s go after it and just do what you say you’re going to do. That, I believe, is the key.

But you do have to have a fundamental change in heart and mind before you can do that. A lot of people say they want to be an entrepreneur, but they will never change that mindset, so they’re always going to be stuck up. I blame other people for my faults.

Well, that’s a very limited mindset that they have They haven’t opened their perspective. And once you do, I don’t know, Travis Who was it we were speaking to then? We talked about this, about the education system and, you know, going through high school and college and getting a degree to be pumped out into the trade, right?

And we’re kind of, we’re kind of past that. I mean, if you want to be an entrepreneur in so many ways, you don’t need to go to college. You need a different education altogether. That’s that expands your mindset instead of limiting it into this box of oh, this is what I have to abide by. These are the rules I have to, you know, live by, and entrepreneurs’ live way outside that box.

Well, and that’s, you know, a great statement. Like, there’s a friend of mine that I have one of my oldest friends and went to a prestigious college here in the South, and I did not go to a prestigious college, but I read one of his professors’ BIOS probably three or four years ago, and he’s been out of school for several years, and the professor had never started a business. He’d never worked in a business, but he was the professor who taught it.

That’s crazy. Don’t you think that’s nonsense? You have a professor that’s teaching you business but has never had a business. How is that possible?

And I think that’s kind of a broken system. Even in the trade field, you know, you go to a trade school, you come out, there are a lot of people that get promoted to become managers just based on their entrepreneurial skills, not because of talent. It’s like, “Oh well, you’ve been here for three years. You should become a manager. It’s not that you’re good with people, it’s not that you’re good at communicating. It’s just that you were here, you filled a seat. And oh, now you’re this and there was no training or education to get that person ready. And there was no backfilling of that Hey, how do you get someone in when there hasn’t been this? I heard it the other day. It’s planned for obsolescence. But if we go into any business and say, “How can we create a succession plan as a fundamental foundational building block? 

Then you can truly thrive in any business you’re going to be in because you’re already looking at day one who’s going to replace you because you want to go on vacation, not because you’re afraid of when you’re going to get replaced.

Yeah, that’s true. That’s true, although I don’t know. I love what I do too, so I don’t want to be replaced because I like being there and I like making people happy and seeing the smiles on their faces and interacting with individuals.

So, there’s a part of me that is self-centered. But if you ask any entrepreneur, you know we’re doing what we love. It’s a passion, which is why it’s not a job. Even though it’s it? Yeah, it’s a job. It is a job, but it doesn’t feel like a job because it’s something that you created and that you want to be a part of.

But I mean, if you knew that you could pick up another three or four hours a week just by being on the track. With, you know, 20 new riders You know, how awesome does that make you feel?

You know what? I get emails from people, right? And I get emails all the time because we have these events, so coming up to the event, I get emails. Following the event, I received numerous emails, texts, and messages via social media. He private messaged me about having an amazing time. Had they liked our program, I’d get thanked on the spot. I say goodbye to everybody when we leave, and they give feedback. I mean, this is like, I don’t know, I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything in the world.

And that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about. But if you can find things that you know within that business that allow you to spend more time with the people that you know, and you know, yes, you want to be genuine when you reply to people, but some of the stuff can be automated, You know, it’s not like, hey, thanks for coming, but you know.

I know it’s just a personal touch, but I can’t help.

The booking process could be some of the stuff that you know is a time suck. You know, if you can say, “Well, if I can shift that because I, yeah, I’m going to ride for another twenty-five to forty years, but you know, you want to spend more time riding as opposed to building, and then if you can have someone build that and you spend the time engaging, because you’re like me, that engagement is what gives you fuel.”

Yep, I agree.

And that’s the reason that I’m on camera; this is what I love doing. I love connecting with people.

You are looking at yourself.

I love talking to myself.

Oh, sorry.

Mine is the only picture that’s up I don’t even know where you two are on the screen. I can’t even tell you. It’s just… it’s just me. It’s just me talking to myself. But those of you that know me and the people you know, that’s an obvious joke. For somebody listening for the first time, it’s like, “Man, this guy is kind of high on himself, isn’t he? 

I’m poking fun at Travis!

Carol’s desire to be the CO is based solely on this distinction. She’s like, I just want to pick on you all the time, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s kind of fun, right?

We get to pick on each other. We get to pick on other people. It just kind of feels like everybody’s family, so it just, I don’t know, it just feels like a big family kind of thing.

That’s my girl, Pug. I love her to death. Matt, you were saying earlier that when you were working for managers, they would not follow through, but you also said that you’ve hired people. So how do you hire? The people that aren’t going to be like those managers who used to work for them, they’d never follow through.

Well, I hire people and then I lead by example, you know? If I tell someone, I call him back. I’m going to call him back and tell him I’m going to e-mail him. Even if I do not have the answer, I’m going to say, “Hey, I’m still waiting for the answer. I need a little bit more time, but at least I’m communicating.

Communication is the key to solving most of the world’s problems, but most people avoid having delivery. Not-so-pleasant news and bad news are sometimes worse than good news. Most people avoid having delivery. Not-so-pleasing news and bad news are sometimes worse than good news. Yeah

Sometimes you have to give the bad news. But at least you’re delivering something to them, so they don’t feel like you’re ignoring them or putting them off, or that they’re not important, or you know.

Yeah, well, and the thing I look at is that, as a business owner, I need information as quickly as possible so I can be informed and decide. People go through life that way. I need to deliver this information as quickly as possible so the personnel or side can decide that’s respectful of their time and their talents. Because if you don’t think that they can handle the bad news, then you think they lack the talent to build and adapt and overcome.

But everything that we do in life is about adjusting, adapting, and overcoming, but if we take those opportunities away because we’re afraid of losing relationships, pathetic. And you have to say, I kind of can’t deliver bad news. Then you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur. You should be a W2 employee and just follow orders. And just do and do what people say, because people thrive on information. And they were able to digest that, you know, people watch television and make educated decisions all the time based on what they see some people need.

Or uneducated, it just depends on whom we’re talking about.

Well, it depends on what your perspective is You know, some people say that’s the right decision and other people say it’s wrong, but everyone has a different work life. Like, even right here, we’re all on this thing doing the Titan Evolution podcast. Three people from three different backgrounds.

But we all have a password. What are the listeners supposed to take away from this? Holy crap, I resonated with that. That was a catalyst for me to move forward. If we hadn’t had that conversation, they wouldn’t have had that Ah ha, but because of fears being set aside and just saying, “I’m going to do it. You know, we can help someone. It may only be one person, or it could be a lot of people because you never know what the next domino is going to be.

So, it could resonate right at the end of the day. You don’t know who’s going to resonate with you. So, let me ask you, what would that be? You consider it one of the hardest obstacles that you have had to overcome.

I should not have discussed this two months ago. The hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome was being pronounced dead.

Holy crap, OK, I did not expect that.

So, on June 14, 1996, I was driving home from Virginia Beach, assisting my brother in his move, when I fell asleep behind the wheel about 35 minutes from home. I overcorrected and got ejected out of the vehicle.

Do not bring a seat belt or it No, well.

I was wearing a seat belt, but I was helping my brother move and something hit the seat belt, causing it to come undone and I went out the window My brother was in a U-Haul box truck in front of me. All this happened, and side mirrors came back He didn’t find me in the vehicle, went back to his flashlight, and then came across a dead body or came across a body which is What happened in 1996? Fortunately, a tractor-trailer stopped, and CB was able to seek assistance.

But my brother was in the Navy, very much like Travis. He was a sonar tech on the USS North Fork, which was decommissioned. Irrelevant details to, you know, when it’s time to stamp this thing.

But uh, he came He found me, and as the ambulance was coming up, I lost consciousness, and my brother, being a corpsman within the Navy, said, “Hey, this is what’s going on.” They got me loaded up So a shot of epinephrine to the heart to paddle series to get me back, but you know, 7-8 minutes. I’m not sure of the exact time, but I didn’t have the out-of-body experience that some people have. Oh, do you go see Jesus or, you know, see a white light, or do? You go to hell Yeah, no, yeah, I didn’t.

I went to hell, and hell didn’t want me, so they kicked me back.

Yeah, so you know Maybe that’s what happened. I don’t know. I was very high. I was riding high, you know, between my sophomore and junior years. You know, I was, uh, pretty good on the track. Track and field were the only sports I was OK at, but track and field were where I excelled, and I was getting. Notable notoriety within that arena And, you know, I was ranked very well in the state, so I had a pretty good opportunity to get a scholarship. And you know, I had girlfriends out the wazoo during that time My parents said that she then installed a revolving door because they never got to it.

Come on, he was a player.

Yeah, they never bothered to get these other names.

All right.

Yeah, they never bothered to get some of the girls’ names either. They knew they would never see him again. But those are my mom’s words, not mine. Regardless, it was having to sit out a year of sports. And then seeing who came to check on me, you know, because it happened during the summer, so the school’s out and it’s not like we had social media. You know, Myspace was not even a thing at that time. So, if that tells you how old I am, I think we still had Yellow Pages, and that’s, you know, a thing that you looked at to find telephone numbers for those.

Oh, I’m aware.

Jeez, we have it.

We had the rotary phones too, where you could use a pencil. Yeah, yeah.

There’s an article that was round run in the local newspaper and it was amazing, the outreach of, you know, friends, which truly humbled me. So, to go from high on the horse, I’m thinking now. You know, my **** didn’t stink to be holy crap, people care My parents have always been kind and loving people, but they are always out of focus. That was not me at that time, that there was that change, but there was a lot that I had to overcome, like, all right, well, how do I still be me but still, you know, get what I want and be conceited and cocky and all the other stuff that a high school student has to

a schoolboy So that was probably my biggest challenge. And then, you know, not learning how to walk again Luckily, I didn’t have to go through a lot of therapy, but my left leg was nearly amputated, and I had several fractures in my skull. You know, a blood clot in the brain. So, but just, you know, sitting back and trying to be the cheerleader for other people, which is now kind of what I do now, is like, I want to meet people so I can be the cheerleader for them, and help be the champion for them. And well, the first thing I’m thinking about is, you know, that’s probably what it was. You know, that was a fundamental change.

And how do you become a champion for other people when people champion you when you probably didn’t deserve it? I probably didn’t deserve a lot.

No, I mean, you could have. I mean, you could have deserved it, but this is a chance to reflect on your life and see what might have led you to where you are right now and the reason, you’re doing what you’re doing.

very well. So, it very well could be.

A big shift in perspective

I like that.

Yeah, I, the man, had told me the story about his death and eventual ejection out of Hell and back into the living a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t give Carol this information in the read-ahead because I wanted to see her real reaction and get a little live reaction. I just have a cold reaction to this.

What are you going to do?

Well, you know because we don’t, we don’t ever really talk. Before any of our podcasts, we didn’t and we each did our research, lack of research, or too much research, right? And what we’re asking is genuinely where our conversation is going So if it organically goes there, I’m curious.

I’m going to ask. And life is all about curiosity, especially when you’re getting to know somebody. And I don’t have much experience with you; I haven’t met you before, so you know, of course, I asked. I asked a big question. Thanks a lot, Travis.

Hey, you’re welcome. You have been set up in part by Travis Johnson. Travis Johnson Yeah, go into some kind of ad right there.

Right.

Hey, great. Let’s work, yeah.

I’ve already, I mean.

That’s quite a story in itself.

It truly is What I love about stories like this is that there’s always before the incident, during the incident, and the aftermath, and what we find in the aftermath, even though it was terrible, right? It was a horrendous situation. We were ejected from a car. So, you are brought back to life and then have to go to rehab and rethink your whole life because of it. I’m sure you had scholarships lined up, and I’m sure those changed when you could no longer perform as a track athlete, you know? So, when life throws that stuff at you, as it throws at everybody, it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you’re from, how much money is in the bank, or any of the other ****

As people say, “Life happens to everybody. It does, and what becomes of that? What is the aftermath? What is the change? What is the transformation that does or does not take place?

Does something like that happen and turn you into a cold-hearted ******* for the rest of your life? It absolutely can. It happens to a lot of people that I’m no longer friends with. But when that stuff happens, what are you going to do with it? How are you going to grow? What did you learn from that? How are you going to incorporate those lessons into your life moving forward? What does that mean? What does it do for you and how does it alter your life? Your life and it sounds like it was the Great Awakening that you needed to be the map that we know today.

It is one of those things that you look at. I look back on it from time to time, and obviously, the further I get away from it, the less I think about it. But it is one of the things that I do look at as a catalyst moment, and I like to think I had a pretty good upbringing; you know, great parents, great family friends.

Would I exemplify their behaviors to get refocused? You know it was nice to get that swift kick in the *** that you know a lot of us to need. Uhm, because there’s, you know, there are times that everyone needs to be conceited, and I’d honestly say they need to be conceited. Because if you’re not fighting for yourself, no one else is going to fight for you. But you also have to have the ability to be humble enough to ask for help when you know it’s outside of your scope of capabilities. One event was that kick in the *** that allowed me to say, “All right, well Matt, you cannot do a lot of stuff. 

I still felt like I could play football or wrestle, and I wasn’t good at either one of them, but I wanted to. I had to look at doing other things to occupy my time. That helped make me stronger for when I did get back to doing those things. But even when I got back, there were still fears on the coaching staff that didn’t allow me to fully come back. Because they’re like, “Oh well, we don’t want someone dying on our field,” so you know, they’re always very limited.

So. And not having all the information available to you is, you know, you have to adapt, and Bell would get kicked in the *** and adapting from getting kicked in the *** is the number one skill set. I think of a Titan. So, I’m going to tie it all into the Titan Evolution. You have to be kicked in the Aston Bell to adapt and overcome.

If you can’t do that, just be happy where you’re at.

Find your passion and do something else.

Whatever that might be, I mean, at the end of the day, find your happy place Reside in your happy place because, you know, I think too many people say they want to do something. Oh, I have a passion for this, but do you? Because when you go down that route, there is going to be so much hardship, so the amount of passion that you have has to be great to overcome all those hardships Now if you’re a little bit like, yeah, passion for it, but like, you know, I could let it come or go, I don’t care, you know When you hit that very first hardship, you’re like, “I’m ******* out. That was too hard, no? If you do have a passion for it, no matter how hard it is, you’ll fight.

Yeah, and that’s the thing you have to build a fight for. But you’ve got to know what’s worth fighting for in any business. And that’s the great thing about my business is that when I started it, you know, in 2019, I didn’t start it alone. I got a board of directors to say, “Man, you’re a freaking idiot. You’re a ******* Yeah, and then don’t do it again, don’t do it again, don’t do it again. And some stuff I said, “all right, I don’t need to do that,” but some stuff I just need to modify.

I feel like I’ve been an honorary board member of your directors for a while now, yeah.

But and that’s the thing you got to, you got to have people say, hey, what? Your passions lie in what your vision is. You’ve got to go after it, but you’ve got to have people around you. They’re going to help you stay on the path and get rid of the excess baggage that’s going to weigh you down. If you can get rid of that excess baggage with positive or constructive criticism, you’re able to find your point of thriving so much more easily than you can by doing it by yourself.

And that’s one of the things that I love saying, “Uhm, I don’t know” to meet people at the top. I think I’m still at the bottom of the mountain because I think But I guarantee you, when I get to the top of the mountain, I will not be alone. I will have a lot of people with me. I had people help me along the way, and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of that view because I’m surrounded by people that were on that journey with me. Who were the naysayers? But they were also the naysayers that kept the excess baggage at bay. And instead of me trying to log that, why do I need a cinder block for this journey? No, I require better footwear. I don’t need cinder blocks for shoes. I need shoes, you know, and if I have the right tools and the right resources around you, you can do anything. But yeah,

I love that it sounds like you’re saying that it’s required that you get feedback, take direction, and have people hold you accountable to keep moving forward. It’s so interesting how perilous everything else is. I like to bring things back to sports because so many people watch or participate in sports at every level. You know, when you were growing up and you’re in middle school or high school and you go out for sports, you’ve got a coach, which is fine. You need a coach You need someone to help you get those rules and the fundamentals. And all this now What do people forget? How do you feel about those at the top, regardless of how you feel about Tom Brady? I don’t know, probably the GOAT of his sport right through all of the things that he’s done, even at the top of his game, winning, I don’t know, like 7 Super Bowls, something like that.

He’s had a coach the entire time He has someone that does fitness with me, someone that takes care of his meals. There’s someone that’s on him in the film room making sure that he’s getting his film time in that to perform at those highest levels, you have to be surrounded. Highly skilled individuals who will hold you accountable or hold your feet to the fire and kick your ***. So, you know, when you step out of line, it’s not just for those beginners; it’s not just for the people that feel at the bottom of the mountain. It’s those people that are on top or heading towards the top of that trajectory.

They continue to have coaching, people who push them and demand accountability, and people who say hello. That’s all good and well, and it was fun for the weekend, but next weekend you better be back here doing this and working hard at it because there’s no way you’re going to get to the top if you take that break.

every single time.

And that, you know, that’s a great thing, and here’s the tie into the sports analogy I’m going to say Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Walter Payton, and Ray Lewis. You should know that one of us has an award named after him. The Walter Payton Man of the Year Things changes when you put Walter Payton at quarterback and Tom Brady at linebacker. Ray Lewis is at wide receiver. How many titles does he play or win with these people? You have to be in the right seat with the right people around you to achieve your goals. And it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if you’re in the wrong seat and you stay there and you don’t have someone telling you you’re in the wrong seat or if you’re too stubborn here, it’s your damn fault.

Well, you’re setting yourself up for failure there, aren’t you?

Because we can all be great at whatever we want to do in life, but you have to find like you said, perseverance. And if you get kicked in the ***, you have to find people who will help you, you know, pick you up. And to top it all off, they aren’t. Well, why did you get kicked in the ASK?

Well, that was dead weight Leave it there. Oh, it That was just We need to re-polish that turd and get it out into the pub. Look again, so we can get the adoption rate to find success and to find the buy-in of the people that we are inherently trying to serve no matter what field it is.

Well, don’t you think that’s why it’s most important that you surround yourself with people that you trust? People deserve to be in your inner circle so that you can thrive because of their opinions and the things they’re relaying to you.

Yeah, some of them may sometimes say things where You know, you have to be able to take all advice, even bad advice, and weigh your options from it, but I think it’s really important to be surrounded by people you respect and trust.

Well, I look at that and I said this on the other podcasts as well several months ago Trust and respect, or kind of like being accepted and just being approved of, you know, obviously the same word, trust, and respect. I trust a lot of people, but just because I trust you doesn’t mean I respect your business sense. Because if you’re very complacent and just want to do a task without thinking about it, how do you know how to improve on that task? That’s not the person I want trying to give me advice. I want something that’s always fun.

You want somebody that’s challenging you  

Yeah, absolutely.

Right, but I’m talking about

That’s what’s key.

Surrounding yourself with people whose advice you would take because you believe they have your best interests at heart and can see you going down a fruitless path can be a good idea.

At least they’re stopping you before you make that journey because it’s a dangerous one.

It is, and I will say as much as I would love to have that journey happen with a lot of my high school friends and stuff like that, the journey that I’ve been on the last several years has been so far removed from them because it’s been around people that I’ve met on LinkedIn or, you know, in other organizations because they are constantly

I’m looking at change and evolution, and what I find is, you know, and that’s what I’m looking for. That’s why I’m always looking to find the next conversation to engage in.

One, because you could be in my life for my entire life, but if you’re in my life during a critical moment and be that point of influence where I can find a catalyst statement or catalyst moment or catalyst thought, that’s important to me. You may only be someone, and trust, you know, many people say that trust is given rather than earned. I like to say trust is earned, but respect, as I can respect people for what they’ve done in their careers. I went, “Man, I want a model after that. But I only want you in my life for a short period because that’s only going to be critical for now.

Maybe that was narrow-minded, but maybe we can still develop a relationship. It’s finding the fruit and every harvest and ever So every harvest would be every relationship that we’re in, you know?

Because, you know, like again, Travis, we haven’t known each other since last year. You know, we haven’t known each other long, but the conversations that we’ve had and just the growth that I think both of us have had with some of the other people that we’ve socialized with have been unparalleled to what we’ve had with relationships that we’ve had for long periods.

So, it’s making sure that you’re present enough to be able to buy that trust and respect from other people and allowing them into your inner circle to help give you that.

That jolt in the ***, that impetus to look at things differently, to find a better way, because there is no one way to make $1,000,000 There are a lot of ways to do it.

And you know, you know, I know Travis is, you know, great at podcasting, but there’s, you know, he wrote a book on it, and he’s even said, “I don’t know everything but this.” These are really good practices, and if you can find something from that, you’ve got to be willing to learn from the teacher. And that’s, you know, that’s where I’m trying to be a lot of the time. As you know, being in a state of being present and being humble enough to be taught by other people.

Well, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat, right?

That’s right, I only know two ways, so if you’ve got more, please let me know.

Well, of course, of course there, yeah. Here we go, Travis. Ha ha ha ha. Oh my God.

OK, so tell me, what is one of your biggest pet peeves?

Do what you say you’re going to do.

So, you’re saying accountability?

If someone tells me that they’re going to call me or they’re going to reach out to someone on my behalf, and you know Make an introduction. Do it if you want. If you want to hit my shift list quickly. Just don’t do anything. Just say you’re going to do something and don’t do anything. Because I believe actions speak louder than words. So shut your mouth and start performing. I don’t. I don’t care. I don’t care if the performance sucks, but at least your actions are, you know, hey, let’s get it moving. You know, paralysis by over-analysis is I’m not looking for that, I’m looking for action You know, I’m not a Harvard professor. I’m not very prestigious. educator, coach, or anything like that there. I’m a get **** done type of person.

Get *** done or I like it. DSD gets shut down. Oh, here we go. Here we go, there we go. You’ve got it right there.

He’s just got your name, your call name.

Carol’s callsign is Pug, and your callsign is Get **** Done.

Hey, we are not. We are not calling it a day.

That’s the beautiful thing about call signs: you don’t get to choose your call sign.

Yeah, I had no choice and they called me out.

But I see you. I will see you in a couple of weekends. I’ll tell you what it means. I’ll tell you the story behind it.

It is a funny story, although I can make fun of him and say he’s being racist because it’s not because I have a pushed-in nose.

I would never be racist.

Travis, you’re getting hate now. Have you ever pushed those in? You’re going to get hate now.

I hope I get hate mail. I hope someone is brave enough to have a problem with me and start a genuine conversation with me. Right. The show is meant to get under people’s skin because there are not going to be any rules, any boundaries. We’ll be able to chat about whatever we want. We’re going to be able to cuss, and I know Georgia. That’s a good Georgia boy, and he knows how to cuss. It’s one of the reasons we invited you to today’s show, so here’s the deal. Life will make you uncomfortable. It’s designed for two. You’re going to grow from it, or you’re going to get mad about it, or whatever, but it’s going to make you uncomfortable. And if you can’t function in an uncomfortable world, you’re not going to be able to function at all. I have to ask, what advice do you have for future people who are listening to this? They’re in ****. They just died. and got revived. What advice do you have for those people?

Every rain clap or every storm has a silver lining. It’s not It’s not going to be forever. Tomorrow’s a new day. And those are the things I had to keep telling myself, you know? You know, there are still days I wake up and I go, “Oh, man, it’s going to be a bad day getting up out of bed and persevering, having a conversation, you know, bringing stuff back into perspective. Don’t let the bad ruin your perspective.

There’s a wise man that’s on social media who posted something. I think he saw a picture in it above a urinal and took a picture of it.

Oh my God.

and discuss photography a bit. And so, I think that we wisely managed Travis Johnson. But why he’s taking pictures in the urinal is beyond me, so I’ll let him tell the audience and block the pop-up.

What are you saying? What did the image convey?

Well, life is like a You always process the negatives. You know what? I’m talking.

About now I do. I just shamelessly stole that from somebody. Otherwise, it wasn’t my photo.

Oh, I thought you were in there in the bathroom taking pictures. It’s all like, “What the heck?

No, no, after that one court appearance, I’ll never do that again.

Oh, they are. They’re finally allowing you back within 200 yards of the school.

Right.

It’s 1000 feet, so I don’t know what that is in yards and 300. 10:10: I don’t know. It is going to hell in a handbasket, I tell you.

But again, you have to. There’s been a lot of **** that everyone’s overcome, and you can let it weigh you down, but you can say, I mean, you know, I can get through it. You know, it is going to burn you through it. Suck, it’s going to hurt.

And by the way, if you think you can’t get through it, what’s going to happen? It’s going to be ***** hard, right? So, I might as well have a positive outlook on it and just say, “Well, let’s ******* Roll up our sleeves and get to business. We’ve got to get

And I will, and I will say this on behalf of myself. I’m Travis. You might not connect with Carol, and you might not connect with us. Maybe they do, but I guarantee there’s someone within your circle. If you’re having a bad day and the shifts are just unbearable, you could reach out and phone a friend. Don’t be afraid to hide your fears.

Those are the best kinds of friends. I was ecstatic. Fortunately, enough, when I was 15 years old, which was a long ****** time ago, Todd was my best friend. From the time I was 15, he ran around with me. We were wild children, and if he ever tells a story about me, I am up **** Creek without a paddle, because we have long talked like I told him. I’d murder him in his sleep, I’d say, and I could go on.

So, God is safe now. She just admitted it. So, if something happens to TOD, do we know where to look?

Yes, they can find me Chances are I did it because he said something he shouldn’t have, but he did. He and a few other people are the people I turn to when? **** goes bad. I’m having a horrible day It just comes down to a phone call, and I don’t even need the words of encouragement. Sometimes it’s just venting and getting it.

They just need to be there to listen to and support you. And it’s having that wonderful support system that has gotten me through some pretty awful situations, and once you get all that negativity out, it’s amazing how resourceful you can be. You can t need to be there to listen to and support you. And it’s having that wonderful support system that has gotten me through some pretty awful situations, and once you get all that negativity out, it’s amazing how resourceful you can be. You can troubleshoot it yourself You can get out of anything; you just need the right attitude to do it.

I looked on my social media to find the picture Matt was talking about There’s no urinal in this photo, but haha. The caption says life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negative, and if things don’t turn out, take another shot.

Oh, I love that. That is a beautiful quote.

I don’t know to whom it’s attributed. I stole the photo off of someone else Is social media ever becoming a punishable offense. I will be, but until that day comes, those are some amazing words of advice for anyone out there listening.

Well, I’m glad that we were able to get Travis to provide some sense of wisdom to this show today.

Oh yeah.

It’s not the Travis-fashioned wisdom show, we’ll tell you that right now. It’s the Evolution podcast for a reason. Yeah, we’re all evolving. We’re all simultaneously masterpieces and at work at the same time, and that’s OK.

That’s right.

They were always, uh, yeah, it’s constant, it never ends, and we’re always evolving. It’s what we do. We’re always trying to be better.

And I’m always willing to take a hard time for Matt because I know he’s going to shower me with bourbon and cigars when we’re in Mobile. Oh, so you ask, “Kiss each other?”

This is what’s going on here. **** each other’s ****

Man crush.

Jesus, right?

That’s OK. I don’t like either, so sorry. What’s your drink of choice, Carol? Hot tea, honey?

Do you think I’m boring?

Well, to be fair when you first met me, what did you think? I was bored, so.

No, I didn’t think you were boring. I just thought of another word, but anyways.

I think Carol’s a tequila girl 

Yeah, I love vodka martinis.

Duck dirty. dirty.

No, no, no. No, no.

I don’t like dirty dishes. No olives. I found that. Up there, I do remember. No olives.

I love olives. 

But not dirty.

Not dirty. I like other things dirty, just not my martini.

Hey, we’re going there, right?

Hey, you’ve got to because we’ve got to figure it out. See how we can get this thing sponsored by Grey Goose Tytos.

No Grey Goose, Belvedere, Chopin, or any of those guys you want a sponsor for?

Hit me up  

Well, we’ll have to record this, leave out the competitors, and send each company separately.

I have one planned. OK, OK, what else do I drink?

Is anybody going to anyway? So just leave it all. It’s all there.

I work for alcohol. Man, what do I want to know about you?

I know you’ve got a couple of boys. What is your favorite activity with your boys?

So, it’s a little bit different with each of them My oldest because he’s

Hey, hold on, how many do you have first off?

I have two boys.

OK, Ages?

eight and five.

ahhhh their little tykes. They’re babies.

He’s my oldest. He’s a little bit more reserved and analytical, so I love building Legos with that guy. It’s just a lot of fun for my youngest. He’s a lot like me There’s not a filter between his brain and any other part of him So he’s like,

most men. Sorry, we don’t say that out loud!

But with him, like when I can get him to calm down, like this past week, you know, Shark Week, I love Shark Week. So, he, you know, gets him just to cuddle up with me, watch Shark Week, or we’ll sit there and we’ll play outside and watch him. He’s running around with a four-wheeler, so you know, he’s still, like, just exploring everything, but he’ll, he’ll be my bruiser.

Oh, you know what’s funny, though? I raised two boys, so mine are 24 and 20. And the one thing I noticed was the way they were when they were growing up like they almost had a swap in the chain between what I anticipated one to be and the other one was that it was a really interesting flip. So, you might see that when they get older.

They very well could, but you know right now. They start back at school this week, so starting kindergarten, 3rd grade, so it’s an exciting time here at the house, getting everything ready, you know Watch him pitch.

That’s like trying to when they’re that age, they’re like, they’re lovable. You know they haven’t hit their teenage years yet? When you just want to kind of murder them. I’m seeing them. Murderer machine

I thought that I thought in The Teenagers that you wanted to murder him because I want to murder him now.

Really? Oh no.

Because there are little versions of me.

Oh, that’s terrible.

So, I looked at it and went.

And I laughed. It’s going to be an “Alpha” dog here.

It’s funny, I asked my friends here in the area that has kids around the same age, what’s the over-under on how many times you want to throw your kid through a wall today, and they’re like 1020, you know, because, I mean, karma is a mother. And she claims it hurts because she doesn’t use lube.

That’s the quote from their show. Karma is a mother, and she doesn’t use lube. I just want to clear some things up for the folks at home listening.

Goodnight

It is perfectly OK and normal to want to throw your kids through the wall. It’s not. OK, to do it just so we’re clear.

Yeah, that’s one step too far, yeah.

That no children were harmed in the making of this show.

Okay, here’s the disclaimer. 

But no, it’s not great. My parents laugh at me. They’re like, “Oh, they can’t do any wrong. I’m like, “Yeah, whatever,” so then my mom just likes you. That’s right.

Your mother is being repaid through your children.

Yeah, and she’s loving every moment of it.

Oh, I know she has got She’s sitting over there, sitting on her martini, just smiling.

That’s right, Fokker How they feel

Yeah, Mama pours the old #7 in there and just sorts, ha. Yeah, that’s right, yeah, this is coming.

Karma sucks, doesn’t it, honey?

Yeah, but you know, I wouldn’t trade it. You know, they’re… I mean, they’re good kids, but you know, they’re beating each other up like before they’re recording. They’re wrestling around The youngest one kicked the other one in the face, and he’s got a big footprint on this sheet. He’s like, I think he loosened the tooth, was like, you have your eight, you have loose teeth already. Shut up.

I was like when y’all wrestle around, someone always gets. It hurts, so it is.

How else would you know? When to stop, yeah.

Nothing. So, we have a doctor across the street, so he’s performed emergency surgery once or twice. It keeps life interesting, and you know, the nice thing about it is that they get to see it. The greatest thing about being an entrepreneur is that I don’t have to go into an office.

So, when I have a little downtime, especially during the summertime, I get to spend time with them. I’ve learned more about certain TV shows I thought they were going to be watching, like The Flintstones and Jetsons.

Now they’re watching weird stuff like, I’m like, I don’t understand that crap. Get some Wile E. Coyote and bombs, you know, I don’t want to.

Oh my God if you said that to your children. They would probably roll their eyes and say, “No way, let me go. 

I’ve tried I’ve tried introducing them to it like this isn’t good. I’m like, “You’re not my child. 

That’s one of the things I love doing with the kids, showing them different TV shows and stuff. So my kids grew up on duck tales and gummy bears and gargoyles from the 90s. I did watch Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z when I was a kid. My son and I have been watching Dragon Ball Z, and I made my wife watch it when we were dating. So now my son is talking to my wife about it, and she’s like, “I can’t believe I know all this **** 

I know it’s horrible You know, I know. I bet you she won’t admit it outwardly, though.

Yeah, yeah, she probably likes it a little bit.

Yeah, it’s likely, you know, but the nice thing about it is that it’s there.

Yeah, she probably likes him.

We’re talking about, you know, learning, learning experiences. I’ve had my kids go, “Why do you do it that way? 

It forces you to reflect, huh?

Amazingly, kids can see things from a different perspective.

One of the greatest things I have embraced is finding expertise from people outside of the industry.

That’s huge. That’s how J. Abraham got his name. I believe the business world has grown so large because of him because he accomplished so much, and I believe it is truly stating where I began. I’m probably wrong. Feel free to be like Travis doesn’t know **** It’s probably true, but when he started going to different industries, that’s where his knowledge just grew exponentially because a lot of the principles are the same, but there are so many different ways of doing things. Like real estate, a common thing when you’re selling a house is to have an open house. What other industries do that or could benefit from something like that if you don’t? If you don’t take some of these practices in other industries and try to inject them into your own, you’ll never be that person that has Like, there’s something at the leading edge of technology that’s figuring out how to do all this stuff before anyone else does it because they’re trying things from different industries. It’s amazing.

See how that is? Yeah, and yeah, that’s how it is for me. It’s like I saw gaps. I’m like, how can this be done better? But it’s an underserved market What can I do? Okay, but why?

They’re silos How can I have cross-pollination? So, all these things are going on, and they’re constantly evolving into new revenue. new opportunities and which allows a better reach? Because I’d rather influence 100 people that influence a million than have to influence over a million people that don’t have any influence at all. And there are a lot of people who want that million because, as I previously stated, you have to have those people who can have influence.

And there are particular things, whether it be real estate CBD, that’s a big thing or crypto. If you find people that are influencers in those and then you can help them, that’s a game changer and that’s why you know. That’s where it’s at.

And that’s why we brought you into the energy space today.

Yeah, yourself but wait, this is energy ****

Man, we took a really hard left somewhere here What we’re talking about, Hey Matt, is that we’re getting ready to

We started talking about trains and.

As we’re getting ready to wrap up today, what final words would you have?

For our audience, one of the things that I do every day is push-ups. I have a routine that Travis and I’ve talked about, but I do push-ups every day because 22 veterans commit suicide every day, and that’s why I want to bring awareness to my message. And what I want to put forth every day is, you know, just be kind to others. You know, you never know the reach of your kindness and the impact it can have on someone in their day.

Because you’re six people, remove yourself from everyone and don’t be * ** because if you do, it’s going to come back a lot harder on you than when you put it out. So just be kind and be other-focused, and that’s it, you know?

You can do those things on a consistent level. Every day is a struggle, but you know you can do it on a consistent level. You’ll be all right.

I think we should label this show “Don’t be * ***.” Then I splurged.

Probably half the show is ****. It wouldn’t work out.

I thought it was like Mother and No Lube.

Well, I thought that was it.

Oh God yeah, that would bring a lot of people to the show, just to

Yeah, figure out what that was all about. Yeah, this can be the title This is my current karma as a mother who doesn’t use lube. Hey, Matt, thank you so much for being our guest today. It’s been a sort of pleasure. I enjoyed most of our conversation.