SPEAKER_00 0:00

Everyone has a story, a moment, a lesson, or a piece of their life most people may never hear. Hi, I'm Callie Zamzo, and this is Nobody Knows. Welcome to Nobody Knows. I'm your host, Callie Zamzo. And today I get to kind of kind of flip things a little bit because I am interviewing, I think technically you're my producer. Are you technically the producer?

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Director, producer, yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Director, producer, okay, of this podcast. So ordinarily he's behind the scenes. He's directing things from behind and um a wonderful coach and mentor. And you just understand podcasting at a level that I'm just so impressed with. And it's been very fun to learn things from you. But ordinarily, you're you're not here. So I was really glad that you were willing to do this. So, you know, welcome, welcome. Um, so Roberto Rodriguez.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

And you're you're the founder and the owner of SB Studios. That is correct. Okay. So this is your baby.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Yes, it is. It is my one of my precious babies, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

I you know, it's always interesting to me when um when I get to to talk with somebody who's doing something totally behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

I'm so not behind the scenes, it seems like. With everything that I do, everything is like right in front and and especially as a family and the family name. And that yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

You're very upfront with everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Yes, but I couldn't do anything that I do without people that are behind the scenes. Right. Yeah. And um, I think sometimes we forget to, I think, number one, say thank you. So first of all, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Of course. I did not expect a thank you from this, but yes, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

But also just kind of a nod, a nod to you and anybody who are working behind the scenes and making things happen because you're connecting dots that other people don't have to connect.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Yeah. And I mean, usually that's those connections are easier to see once you've like kind of gone through it. Right. Um, I think it's like a Steve Jobs quote where it's like you can never connect the dots looking forward, it's always backwards.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

So everything up to this point doesn't typically make sense until we get to, I guess, the end or to the current moment. And if I take a minute, I just look back, I'm like, yeah. Like I can still think of when I saw your podcast on Instagram, and I literally told myself, I was like, it'd be really cool to work on her show. And then you end up at my door.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Oh, it's fascinating.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Yeah, that that's that's really awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Yeah, and you didn't you didn't call me, I called you. So yeah, there's some some some magical thing in the universe.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

There truly is, and uh that's yeah, we can get into that, but that's that's how we kind of ended up being together.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Yeah. I it's interesting when you talk about um connecting the dots backward because I did have a coach one time who we actually spent a day where I would just sort of brain dump of things, whether they were accidental or like, you know, important milestones, and we put them all on this timeline. And if you look backwards, you do sort of realize that things happen for a reason.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

And it and unless you take the time to do that, I encourage do that.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Yes. If you have not done that, you need to do that. It's and honestly, it's um it's a good exercise to I guess give yourself like personal kudos and realize what you've been through.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

And I think a lot of people just I mean personally, I guess I don't want to speak for everyone, but I know that sometimes I get busy and I don't take a moment to just slow down and look back at even the week.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Yeah, me too. Or sometimes I feel like things aren't moving fast enough. Right. And then when I look back, I'm like, oh, actually, when you look at the grand scheme of things, this is actually going pretty fast. Or or what it took the time it needed to take, because had it had this happened sooner than this, then this magical thing wouldn't have happened. And so yeah, sometimes the universe takes control and on those kind of things.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Yeah, and I think you have to just see it for what it is and let it do its magic. And um, whether you want to believe it's the universe, Mother Earth, Mother Nature, God Jesus, like um, I do think relinquishing some personal control about how the world functions is a very peaceful way to live.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Agreed.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

Yeah, because you try to control everything and well, control's an illusion. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

I'm not saying that like I'm preaching. I'm saying that because I'm trying very hard to remind myself of that all the time. Yeah. Because I do want to try to control things or I want to batten things down and make them nice and neat. And that's just not life, baby.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

It's not a it's not a way to live.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

No, no, it's very stressful. Yeah. Okay, so let's uh let's talk about your general background so the listener kind of knows who you are. Are you willing to kind of tell us like kind of you know your the path that led you to here?

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Yeah, I mean, when it's funny because like I I was even looking into some ideas when I wanted to talk with you and I was gonna send some stuff, but I was like, I just want Callie to do her thing and I can, you know, speak to it. And yeah, I guess even the podcast name Nobody Knows. I think it's a for me personally, yeah, I don't expect people to know about me. Um and I never anticipated people needed to because I would just build the business and whatever I do here works. But yeah, like this is one of the out of everything I teach people, this is one of the few times that I do talk about myself, I guess. Yeah. So I'm excited to share with you, of course. Any questions that you have, I'm I'm more than happy to answer.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

That's wonderful. Did you have something you wanted to be when you uh were a little boy?

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Yeah. So I mean, the two things that I um minus from what I mentioned to you already, the two things I wanted to be growing up was a Secret Service agent.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Ooh.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

And then I wanted to be a police officer. Interesting. And the only like the earliest memory I have of that is being in like elementary school and um actually it's probably middle school. Being in middle school and just learning about um political history and like how the Senate, the House, Congress all worked. And I remember seeing these guys in suits and ties with sunglasses, and I'm like, oh, they look pretty cool. And then that was also like when Men in Black came out and all that stuff. And I was like, you know, it'd be really cool to just be like a secret service agent. And for some reason, I just I don't know, I idolized people that were protecting the most valuable person in the world. Like that was just the view I had at the time when I was a little kid. And then I ended up wanting to be a police officer if I couldn't do that. I was like, it'd just be cool to like take down bad guys and to help people out. Like that was the general idea that I have of what I wanted to do when I was a little kid.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Um, never ended up being a cop and never ended up being a secret service agent. Do I want to do that today? Not necessarily. But it was like uh it was a cool dream to have as a little kid.

SPEAKER_04 6:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

Um, and I think, yeah, as a little kid, you're supposed to have those kind of like I don't want to call them silly dreams because I could have probably done it if I wanted to. It's just obviously it wasn't in my heart as I got older.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

So didn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I uh I wanted to be a star. I had a um and star despite me like triple threat. Like I wanted to be like the ultimate like famous person. Um, but I had a speech impediment. I couldn't say my R's, and so I wanted to be a star is what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

So my family will still say they'll still say that. They'll be like, are you still trying to be a star?

unknown 6:50

Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

You're like, well, not with you guys, never letting that go.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Exactly, exactly. Can't grow out of that. Um okay, so so you obviously you had those hopes and dreams, but then you you kind of went through uh education and then kind of things morphed into it kind of led you into marketing, basically, right? Was that kind of yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

I mean, like obviously from being in middle school and elementary school, there was like a lot that happened in between. Um if I really like have to dissect it and break it apart. Um as I was growing up, I I I would say that I was just naturally curious about just how things worked. And that curiosity just brought me to always kind of analyze and question a lot of things. When I was younger, I actually used to spend a lot of time watching infomercials. Um, I used to watch like all the magic bullet commercials, all those air frying things, those air circulating things, the what what was the OxyClean guy? Yeah. Um I remember watching all like the land the landscaping infomercials of like all the products and weed eaters and things that they had. Like I used to, and one, we couldn't afford cable necessarily, so that was like a big thing, but I found myself naturally being curious about just what was outside of the world that I was in. And um it's something I was thinking about as I was coming here, where it's like you we all grow up in and are placed in like this invisible box that we have, which is I guess your environment, your surroundings, the things that you were like naturally just born into. And when you're when you're living in this box that people don't even realize they're living in, you're just doing what you know to be normal. And I think me growing up in a like a culturally different household, parents with just different cultural beliefs than what is a typical American belief, um, and then coming here for work, essentially. Having dreams and desires outside of what is normal, which is get a job, be successful, and do all that, wasn't like a regular thing in my life. So I just always feel like I found myself, I don't want to say unsatisfied with what I was doing when I was younger. It was just I was always like, what else is there, or there has to be more. Um, and that natural curiosity grew into me trying to understand people more, trying to understand why people do what they do, why people are the way they are, and why things navigate operate the way they do. And so that that's what got me into like marketing. Because when you're in business, there's multiple, you know, departments of growing a business, whether it's sales, advertising, marketing, operations, HR, manufacturing, like all sorts of things. To me, the most exciting thing I got into was just consumer behavior, so understanding people, which also was kind of like how I was when I was younger. I was just trying to figure out why people did what they did, why teachers were the way they were, why my friends treated me the way they did. And at the end of the day, I I realized that it's a lot of information that people are just getting that turn them into who they are. And that at the end, that at the end of the day is marketing too. It's like whatever information is in front of people, that is being marketed to you. And that is what you are going to perceive or see or start to even adopt or practice. Um, so yeah, I would say as I grew up, I just I've always just been naturally curious with people. I never really got into sales or like advertising. Um, to me, I as much as I like I I hate that I feel this way because I own a business, but I don't like selling people. I just like giving them something that they want.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

The only way I can know what people want is by understanding them. And so I've always I've always loved the idea of just understanding people people's driving beliefs, factors, and why they do what they do. And I even learned this like in my future careers and as I got older, when the places I worked, which was like just understand the person that you're talking to and provide them literally give them what they're asking. And that's that's when I realized that. I was like, hmm. I was like, I get I'm pretty good at services because I understood what somebody needed and I had to serve them, and I already naturally enjoyed that. So like the marketing and the services stuff, um, it was just something I grew into. Yeah, and I've I've I feel like it has been in inside of my person since I was younger. I just never really realized it, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

This all makes sense to me as I'm thinking back on, you know, me contacting you and um you saying, come on in, let's let's schedule a meeting. Um, even the the time that we met pre before we we moved before we recorded anything together.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

I think we spent like two hours ago.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Yes, yeah, yes, with a whiteboard and talking things through and you were asking so many questions and um I things that I hadn't even thought about.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

You know, about this podcast that I had been doing for a year. So it's not like it was a new podcast. Um, but you got me thinking a different way because you were curious about me. I learned some things about myself.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

It was very interesting. So do you find that you that that happens a lot when you're when you're meeting with people that they have aha moments about themselves?

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Yeah. So I think one of the things that I am really good at is helping people realize things that they wouldn't notice unless they talk to me, honestly. Um and it's not because I have some sort of secret weapon or insight about them. I just am able to question things in a way that people just don't naturally want to do. And kind of going back to that box theory, when you when you live in a box and that's all you understand, and it's this invisible box in people's minds where it's like, well, I'm a business owner, I'm this, I'm that. I have all these identities and these things that I I that make me who I am. What happens when I and that's why people say think outside the box? What happens when I go outside of this this box that I grew up in? And that's when you find things that you just didn't think of. And sometimes it literally takes somebody else to be like, hey, like, let's open the lid to this box and like let's look outside of it and what else is there? And I've noticed that a lot of people, when they they talk to me, they their eyes almost are like, I didn't even think of that. And I love that. Like it it it excites me, it gets me up in the morning. Even if I they don't work with me, I always like being of value to where they're like, I just didn't think of that on my own. And um, I do notice that that happens very consistently with all the people I meet. As they're they're they're just looking at me, they're like, hmm, I wish I would have thought of that.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah. You did offer a lot of just free advice generally before we had ever signed a contract or you know, um, you just are helpful, you're naturally helpful. I you must there must be something there because I genuinely didn't get a feeling that you were trapping me with your questions and getting me to realize that you're so smart. Like you there wasn't an ulterior motive. You genuinely gave me some, hey, like whether or not you worked me or not, I can I would consider doing this and you might consider this. And and by the way, how come this, you know? And and I mean, it just naturally made me want to work with you. I'm like, this guy art's already helping me, and he doesn't, he's not even asking me, you know. So um, yeah, that's a that's a gift.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Yeah, and I would say I try to, you know, I don't have like a way to identify it within myself. I just know, and what I true truly believe is serving people is just something that does light me up. Like I've tried selling products, I've tried e-commerce, I've tried starting my own brands and products and all this stuff, and I just never cared about it. Like I just genuinely didn't care. I would I would open up these things, I would launch these stores, and I'm like, they don't excite me.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Um, and everyone's like, Oh, you can make millions of dollars though selling things on Amazon. I was like, I I guess I just don't really want to do that.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Um and then my first like real job was working for a company and doing services and also helping people as well. And it's just kept coming to me naturally. And I remember like my first company I did, I used to do like landscaping stuff. Um, they just needed help cleaning their yard. And they were like, I'll pay you. And I was like, Oh, if you'll pay me, then I'll do it. Like, and I just didn't do things for free, obviously, but they would always want to pay me because I was helping them.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

And this in the and every entrepreneur will find themselves in that sometimes where it's like, these people are willing to give me money, but like, how do I charge them? Like, what when do I say, well, it's 50 bucks instead of 25?

SPEAKER_04 15:03

Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

So I never very early on, I never tried to make money, which is probably my own like detriment of like not having a lot of cash when I was younger. Um, I just wanted to help people. And sometimes that works. Sometimes people take advantage of you, but at the end of the day, you learn how to serve others. And I don't think that's I don't think it's a bad skill set to have.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah, I would agree. I I always feel like my mother says it'll all come out in the wash, which I think means it's all it's yeah, it's all gonna be okay in the end. Like all any of the things that you've put out there, the good that you've done, that's it'll it it it'll come back to you in some way, shape, or form. And but don't do it for that. Yeah. Do it, do it just because and and let the cards fall where they may, but they it always seems to work out.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Yeah, and I would say that's the that that that comes down to the intent that you have in your heart. And I think I've noticed it from personal experience and my friends and families and people that I worked with, but when the intent is not there, you can tell.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

You can feel it and the results speak for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Um not that I don't think how do I say this? I don't think people are intentionally malicious. I think they don't realize where their intents are at sometimes. Um I know people want to help, but sometimes they want something out of helping.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

And when you do that, you're expecting something and the expectation is there. And when there's an expectation and it doesn't happen, now you're disappointed.

SPEAKER_04 16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

And now you're just blaming people and you're like, well, they didn't do this. And it's like, well, why did you even help them in the first place?

SPEAKER_04 16:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

So I think the intent behind it for me personally has always I've tried to stay true to it. Some people don't see it, some people do. And you were obviously one of the ones that saw it. You're like, no, this he's literally giving me two hours so far. Yeah. I was like, I don't know what else to ask for him besides tell him to just work for me now. And so it's like at that point, I gave you everything that you were probably looking for in that moment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Absolutely. We uh the Zamsos leadership team had a very robust conversation recently. Um, because uh one of the big things that we're known for is giving this free advice. We know the soil, we understand the plants that grow here, we we know it better. You know, we've got almost a hundred years doing well, more than a hundred if you don't count us actually being a business because the family's been here for longer. So um, you know, many, many years uh collectively of understanding. And so we have this information. We could find ways to charge for the information, but one of our token things is that people can come in and they can ask us a question. But what came up was the people are coming in, they're asking for their question, they're finding out the solution, and they leave and then they go to another place to actually buy the solution. And so there's a lot of uh people kind of saying, you know, that's not right. We should how can we? Is there any way we can charge? And and the unanimous decision was it'll all come back. It'll all be fine. We're doing the right thing. Let's stay the course. And and you know, some people, yeah, they may go somewhere else and they may realize that that product doesn't work as well or whatever, and then they'll come back, or or maybe they'll never come back, but we've at least put something good out in the universe and we haven't required anything back from anybody else. And but it's an interesting thought, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Yeah, yeah. And I would say to that, like I when you when you bring up topics like that, like I start asking questions and I get super excited about it because I know people change over time. And like this this whole thing about information and the way the world works, and basically what you're describing is like people that are like window shopping almost. Um, that's what happened when Amazon came around, is that people would start buying stuff online, but they would go physically in a store to go see it, touch the product, feel it, and they'd go online shop and find it cheaper. Right. And that's still a very common practice, but it's now it's a natural behavior that a lot of people do. And then that's when you got brick and mortar stores that were just turning into like showrooms almost, and just finding a way to navigate that space. But when you bring up like conversations like that and topics like that, I always start looking at yeah, just like the cons like the people side of everything. It's like, why do they do what they do? And yeah, sometimes I feel like teams and businesses don't necessarily need to like do more research, they just are they don't need to dive deeper into like what they believe to be true. They just need to go find more information about why it's happening the way it is. And yeah, sometimes I feel like I've personally done this where I think I know where I think that what I know is like gonna stay that course for who knows how long. And then three months later I meet somebody else. They're like, oh dude, I stopped doing that like a year ago. I'm like, I had no idea. And that's all because I'm just that's when I get out of my consumer behavior mindset and I stop asking questions. I just think that what I know is right. And when you do that, you get stuck in that box again.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

You're like, I something's not working. It's like, well, have you stepped outside for a second? And have you asked anyone else what they think or what they've done? And typically when it's no, that's when it's time to start doing that again.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

So is that generally speaking, when you get to the F phase like that, is it usually that you're asking somebody else? Is that is that usually your first place to go? Or do you are you a researcher? Are you like how do you step outside the box?

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Yeah, I do my own research and I do my own due diligence in terms of what I'm looking for, and then I find people to validate it. So, like this last meeting I just had with somebody, and it's funny because I know we'll get into this, but like I podcast or I don't podcast, I produce podcasts, and so I'm in the podcast space. And there's still people to this day that are like, I don't even know what a podcast is. And then there's a guy I'm talking to, and he's like, I pay thousands of dollars a month for podcast production. He sees a value that this person doesn't, but that him and I are aligned on. He's not gonna tell me my business idea is a bad idea. He's gonna say you need to keep going. Whereas this person is like, well, I mean, that sounds cool and all, but like I like I'm not gonna pay you $300 to go talk about myself. And it's like, yeah, you're not, but this guy will.

SPEAKER_04 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

And yeah, I think when you have like a belief that is you feel like it's your own, you need to be confident and like take that belief on, try to figure out if it's true, if it's you're close, you're in the right direction, and then just find a way to validate in the real world. And that only happens by paying attention to what's happening, seeing the marketplace change, watching business owners and other businesses make decisions. Um, I actually used to I used to work for the Apple store back in Washington. I was a phone technician. Um, I worked at the Genius Bar before they got rid of the Genius Bar. I was actually there during the last year that they had it, and then they brought this big sign and they cut it in half, and it was really cool. Super dramatic, but really cool. And my favorite thing about working there was that I was working for the most valuable tech company in the world, one of the most valuable companies in the world, even by square footage on a retail store. And I was like, there's a reason why that they are like this. And I mean, I don't want to delve dive too deep into the behind the scenes for that one because I mean that's just a whole different conversation. But at the end of the day, everything was Was intentional that they did. They understood every centimeter square inch of their store, their customers, their people, and then just allowed them to serve people better than most physical stores typically can. And and I think that when you when you pay that much attention to something, you there's no way that you're when you pay that much attention to something and you are that confident that your idea or belief is that like it's like aligned with that, and you find something that in the real world to validate it, you are probably on the right track and you just need to commit to it. So this whole podcasting that we were doing for the past five years, like I have had doubts because there's people that I've talked to that just don't understand podcasting. And then I in one week I talked to three very successful podcasters and they're like, no, it's changed my life and I'm never gonna do anything different. And I'm like, I don't know where you were four years ago when I had this idea. So it would have been nice to talk with you then. And yeah, I just think that that comes down to being believing in your ideas enough to just find an answer for it. Yeah, if the I guess the market would have never shifted and people weren't podcasting, then I guess I would have been wrong, but I wasn't.

SPEAKER_04 23:13

Right.

SPEAKER_03 23:13

So that's like when it comes to I guess validating and asking for the help and stuff like that, you do have to believe in what you're trying to prove or or find out, and then just keep going down that route and even get some naysayers and you're like on your side to be like, okay, so this is what what they don't believe in. And then when you find the right people that actually know what they're doing, it just helps validate everything that you've been uh trying to accomplish. Like I know people that love events, right? And then people are like, but they're expensive and they cost a lot. And it's like, well, you know, if you throw this one event or you hear the story from this guy that went to a conference and now his multi-million dollar business partner was met at a summit, that's pretty valuable.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

But people will still won't throw events because they're like, I don't know what the point is. Yeah. So yeah, it's just like I don't want to say people are everyone is right and wrong. Like it's just all dependent on how if you find them finding the answer or not.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yeah. This is so validating. It's very validating to hear you talk about podcasting in particular because um because there are people that will at will be like podcasting, like, what is that? Or um, sorry, I've never listened to your podcast before. I, you know, I don't know what podcasts are or whatever. And um, but they also don't have no desire to learn about it either. And so, and and that's always kind of just like it's it's strange to me because I'm now in like the world of I'm like, how could you not know? And yeah, like I'm so excited about it and it's wonderful. Um, but so so how did you actually get into podcasting? Like, what's what's the origin story here?

SPEAKER_03 24:43

Yeah, so I tried to start my first podcast in 2017. I graduated from college when I was in high school and I did something called the Running Start program. And um, I got my associate's degree, so it was nothing crazy. I just got two years ahead of uh what the typical college person would do. So I graduated college with like my bachelor's, I think when I was like 21 or 22.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Um when I was in the running start program, it was all about giving you and giving you a running start into your into your life. And I remember when I did the program, I ended up like my my sister actually, um, shout out to my sister because without her, I wouldn't have like been able to do any of this. But she was the direct, like at the time she was working in the running start department, and now she basically runs the whole thing for the local community college over there. And she would sign me up for classes, she would pick my schedule, she would make sure that I showed up. We would fight all the time because you're like, you're late to class, you're this and that, whatever. And she would always support me in terms of like pushing me to do that. And it truly did change my life because I got to save two years of going to regular college, and there's probably a big old debate about the social aspect and all this stuff. I didn't have a freshman sophomore university life. Uh plus, I was in a relationship very early, so I never did any of that college lifestyle. But in 2017, after I'd already graduated, got my first degree, I was like, you know what? It'd be really cool to if more people did running start and they knew about it. So I'm just gonna. And I think at the time, um, podcasting was just all audio. There wasn't a video thing to it. So I was like, I'm just gonna make a podcast called the Running Start Podcast, which I would love to interview people from different industries and hopefully they can give people that are listening a running start into like that career. And that was my first like idea I had. Funny enough, I did what everyone does when they start a podcast is I recorded four episodes and then I stopped. And I stopped because it was hard. I was like, this is a lot. I was like, I don't know what to talk about. I was like, I can't keep going. I've recorded this stuff, it's weird, it's awkward, I'm redoing everything.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Like, thank you for saying all of that. Yeah, it's so true.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

Um it happened to me. Like, I was just like, this is this sucks. I was like, I don't like this at all.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

It's harder than people think.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

And then three years like go by and I try to start another one. And I have a first interview I did, I can't remember what I called the second one, but the first first interview I did, I like interviewed my buddy, um, my buddy out in spoke can his name Skyler. He was like an early day realtor. And it's funny because I interviewed him just like about his story and his upbringing and how he got into real estate. And Skylar was very successful in his first like two years of real estate, where typically it takes like an agent six to almost two years, six months to like two years to get their first deal. He was make getting deals at 21, 20 within his first year, um, or by his first year. And the reason I interviewed him, I was like, dude, one day you're gonna look back, you're gonna be a successful pot, like you're gonna be a successful realtor, you're gonna do amazing, and your story is gonna be like in stone, etched in stone. You'll be able to listen to this for the rest of your life. And like, that was my motivator and my driver at the time when I did that second podcast. And again, I stopped because it was hard. Fast forward to me working at Apple. I was exposed to all the tech stuff. I wanted to start another thing. I went to go do a photo shoot in a co-working space in Spokane, and then I ended up running into my partner at the time. And he was like, You working on anything cool? I was like, I'm trying to start this other podcast again. And he was like, I was actually gonna start a podcast too, but he's like, I don't really know anything about the tech stuff or the studio stuff. I was like, Well, I was like, I have all the gear. Like, I was like, I could show you how to set it all up. He's like, Well, actually, he's like, I have this co-working space, and he's like, come, he's like, come over here. And he shows me this little office. And he was like, I was thinking about like turning this to like a podcast studio and just using it, but he's like, I just don't, he's like, I it was just an idea. He goes, I don't know anything. And he was like, Do you think that's like this something that you'd be interested in? And I was like, you know what? And it's funny because I always wanted to like when I graduated high school, I told myself I wanted to go to Silicon Valley and work in the tech world. Like I wanted to be an entrepreneurial startup guy. So this guy shows up and he's like, Hey, like, I have an opportunity, I have some money, I'm oh like I'm buying this building. Would you like to like do something together? And my eyes saw what I've always been looking for, which was like an investor. And I was like, this is my chance, this is my moment. And looking back at it, it was one of the most pivotal and like life-changing decisions I ever made. Um, and that's like another story for another day or later in the conversation where it's like the people that you work with will change your life forever. Yes. And I didn't know that at the time, but that was that was a moment where the decision I made has put me exactly in this spot. And yeah, it was just he was like, I want to do this. You seem to have the knowledge and know-how. I'll front all the costs and just build this studio. And I think it was like in July and August of 2020. I even, my brother just recently sent me pictures where I'm like sitting in this empty room and I'm like typing everything out, trying to build it all up. I just painted the walls like certain colors and there's like nothing there. And I went to the local music store. I bought like literally all their podcast stuff. I and they're like, What are you trying to do? I was like, I'm building a studio, and like, you need this many microphones. All I just bought everything. And uh I stayed in the studio all night long and I set it up over like three days, and then there's just a big old podcast studio in Spokane, Washington, and I built it. Um, I didn't pay for any of it, but I ended up being the one that built it and came up with the idea. And my old partner, he comes up with me, he's like, Hey, I have a name for this thing. He was like, We should call it Speak Studios. I was like, that's actually a really good name, dude. I was like, we're all about podcasting, we're all about talking, we're all about sharing voices. Um, and this is a studio that we want people to come tell stories at. So Speak Studios it is. And crazy enough, I don't, I don't, I don't get into this stuff a lot, but crazy enough, just like small slight side tangent, I do find out that a year and a half later, there is, and if if this story ever gets out, this girl will see it and she'll be like, that was me. There's this woman out in like the Mideast or wherever she like Midwest area of the United States, and I think it was like I can't remember exactly what state. I come to find out though that this girl is actually the originator of Speak Studios, like the name. Oh she opened up a podcast studio back in 2018, 19 or 2020, around that time frame, so way before this was like cool. Um, and I think she was a mom and it just didn't go like she just couldn't do it. And apparently, my old partner actually went to her and he was like, Hey, I like this idea and I like this concept, but I really like your name. Um, would you be open to me like having it or buying it? And um, she said no, and I didn't know about this. So we go and we open up this company, and I just start seeing this stuff online, like the same name pop up, and I like I look it up, and there's literally a studio in another state that says speak on the wall, and it says studios underneath, and I was like, and I look around at my studio and it was designed after hers too. And I didn't know any of this. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So this is like where the story starts to take fun, crazy turns because I'm like, why didn't you tell me this, dude? Like, I thought we just came up with this original, like beautiful idea. And he was like, Well, he's like, the business model wasn't there. I asked her, she wasn't making them like there was no business to it. It was just she she just wanted to start a studio, and I think she was renting it out a little bit, and then she just disappeared and she wasn't doing it. Um so if you're the one that started Speak Studios, yeah, like I was the person that ended up going with it, but in Washington. And my old partner was the one that kind of like brought it to me, and then I turned it into what it is today. So crazy enough, Speak Studios was not, yeah, it was not an original concept. It was some, and this is this is the thing about the way the world works is that you can have all these ideas and you can have all these visions, but then it just takes one person to really execute. And when that happens, yeah, you get something that you never would have thought of or you would have never planned to do, or just happens the way it does.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

Um, I don't know how many people I have thought of ideas in the world and they don't execute and then someone does, and like I thought of that a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just thinking of the idea doesn't do it though. That's you gotta do more than just that.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

So it it for me it was kind of a learning lesson of like speed speed does matter when it comes to growing a business, but like my partner didn't have like necessarily the best intentions when we first started it, and I could tell afterwards, not like up front. Me personally, I made sure that that was like my focus. It's just you know what, after everything I learned, let's just take care of everybody, let's let this part go, and then let's just make a really cool company, and that's what we ended up focusing on.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Was there I mean, there had to have been naysayers. Were there people who who were like, this isn't a good idea? What are you doing? Are you nuts?

SPEAKER_03 33:51

Yeah, so the when we first opened up the studio, I remember I went to Winco and Brand and my old partner was like, hey, go do some research and like figure out some stuff. And um, I go to Winco and I start walking around, and I remember I just went up to this old lady and I was like, Hey, like, I just have a question for you. I was like, Do you listen to podcasts? And she's like, What's a podcast? I was like, Oh, I remember mine, sorry, wrong person. And then I go find this young person, I ask them the same thing. They're like, I don't listen to podcasts, like, I don't even know where you find them. And literally every person I talked to back in late 2020, early 2021, none of them listen to podcasts. And I remember looking at the stat and they were like, Yeah, 50% of the country really doesn't even know what a podcast is yet back in 2020. Now the former presidents and presidential candidates are on podcasts every day.

SPEAKER_04 34:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Like it's a normal thing, it's getting to become a normal thing now. But yeah, back then, it was again 2020, 2021. Um, a lot of people just they didn't know how the business model would work or why it would work. And I didn't necessarily have people that were saying, uh, this is not a good idea. They were like, I just don't know what you're doing. I don't know how this functions. And at the time it wasn't a service game like we do now where we're mainly production services. We were trying to build a podcast network for local businesses and advertisers so that way they had a platform to buy ad space on locally and to be able to support local people and keep the ecosystem in their community growing rather than having to hire like an out-of-state agency or a radio station or a TV news broadcaster. Podcasting was a a way for people to get affordable access to a platform. And this was during um pandemic days, so people couldn't meet in person the same way. A billboard was not as effective as it used to be. Um, doesn't matter if you sponsored a prominent market because nobody was going to them. So the only way to get in front of people was in the digital landscape. And instead of paying for an agency or like a big company to do like an ad stuff, we could rent studio timeout for like 50 to 100 bucks an hour and somebody can make an interview and they can go post it and do whatever they want with it. And then that's when everyone started asking me. And I interviewed like six people for this local show we did, and they're like, Can you just help me start my own? And then that's when I ended up producing for other people and I stopped podcasting.

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

So do people sometimes come to you and say, I want a podcast, but I have no idea what I want to do it about?

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Yeah, all the time.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Really? So how does that process? Because I already, obviously, mine was already going and I already had a vision for it. And that so you just helped me kind of hone in on some stuff. But what uh if somebody comes in and they're I mean, well, first of all, why would somebody just want to start a podcast if they didn't even know what it was going to be about?

SPEAKER_03 36:33

I think for some people it's the I would say I think for some people it's just the belief that it's easy. So they think that there's this easy opportunity to to be able to talk or be known for something.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Oh interesting.

SPEAKER_03 36:49

And I think the the hidden truth that they realize is that it's not easy at all. And I think you've known you've realized that. Yeah. There's a lot that goes into it, especially when you have intent and effort that you're wanting to come out of it. So I think what happens is that people just assume that it's just sitting in front of a mic like this and just talking to a camera and you're good to go. And that's just there's so much more than that. So I think a lot of times people just get ahead of themselves, they get excited and they're like, I want to start a podcast, but I have no idea what to do. But the simple answer is just like, what can you talk about for hours?

SPEAKER_04 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

Because whatever it is, that's your podcast.

SPEAKER_04 37:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

And that's the easiest way to come up with an idea. You don't need to invent something that you're like, I need to figure out what to say. It's like, well, what do you like to say? And just podcast about that. And surprisingly, that works better than most people that try to start a show without any actual plan.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Yeah. I've been very surprised by learning who my audience is because I it wasn't necessarily super intentional who actually was going to listen to this thing.

unknown 37:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Um, I I just had a vision of connecting people. And so that was my that was the whole thing that I was interested in. I also thought it was gonna be way easier than it is. Um but what is rewarding is still that initial reason why it got into it. That got meeting all these people and connecting people. And I just I love that aspect of it. It's it's incredible.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

But um well, even today I was reminded with one of my meetings I had with this um really like rad podcaster I just met recently, and he told me he's like, I'm never gonna stop podcasting because it has changed my life forever. He's like, the people that I have met, the the opportunities I got, the doors that open, like he, and just like a lot of other people, they they they know that there's a route to monetization in terms of the social media world and what Instagram and social media has created for people to believe. But in reality, it's like a super connector. The way he described it, and I would love for people to kind of hear this. It's like you need to be the host of the party. You can join a party and you can go to a party, but when you're the host of a party, that's when you you have the ability to like make the call on things, invite certain people, be looked at as the expert or the community gatherer or the person that's the go-to person. And when you're doing that, you're just you're just showing more about yourself and the passion that you have for that topic. Like if you hosted a Dungeons and Dragons meetup, people are gonna assume that you love Dungeons and Dragons. Right. You will be the expert or the guy. They're like, that's the guy that hosts those events, right? If you are, I just had a meeting with a gentleman that runs a freeze-dry, uh freeze-drying podcast, which it's all about freeze-drying fruits and products and CPG products, all like that. And he is literally known as the freeze-dry guy, like in his industry, all from his podcast.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Yeah, and he doesn't make money from, he doesn't really necessarily make money like massive revenues from just like views or anything. He gets paid to go out and interview manufacturers of i of freeze-drying machines, and they will pay him to do that because if they paid an ad company to go out there to shoot an ad, it's fifteen thousand dollars or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_04 40:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

And he created demand for his audience because one, he knows his craft very well. He did do his own CPG products for that space, and then he ended up just providing value to these businesses and these owners that wanted his audience. And so now he's the go-to guy and has had a freeze-dried summit that he sold out for people that would do freeze-dry, like that is weird. It's wild, it's wild, and that's such a niche market. Yeah, like he is successful because of his podcast.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:40

And the other guy I met, he's in the oil and gas industry. I'm like, You're talking the oil workers are on podcasts now? Like, that's crazy. And it's been very successful for him, and he's literally grown a whole media company around it. Yeah, like that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

It is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Um, and that's all based off of who we met from the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Yeah, I mean, it it it's a total super connector. I love that the way that you mentioned that. And and to a level that you that you don't fully realize until you're doing it. Right. I, for instance, at the end of last season, we had a a drawing. You know, people would listen to the last thing. We had a secret word in there, and if then if they gave it, then we would draw their name out. And the guy who we drew out, his name is Mark Pemble. I'm giving a shout out to you, Mark. I know he's listening and watching because um, because it was in meeting him when he won. We gave him the gifts and whatever, and he brought his brother and he brought his dad. And I'll I'll post some pictures. Anyway, wonderful human beings. And he is now somebody that I reach out to because he's he has organically, he found the podcast on his own, had been listening to it, is a part of a podcasting, almost like a book club, but like a podcasting club. And they've actually had mine as and he will give me feedback. He'll say, Hey, you know, I kind of like this, or what about this? And um, so I'm now actively reaching out to him and staying in touch with him. I don't know if I would ever, he knows he's a skateboarder, and you know, his favorite episode was the one with the um the guys from uh Sector 17 who do all this spray painting, the graffiti art and that sort of thing, anyway. Um just a very interesting person. I don't know if I would have ever met him otherwise. Right. And now I consider him one of my friends. And and it and it happened right quite quickly just because of this, because of the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 42:15

Yeah, because of the fact that you you committed to something that literally allows you to meet and connect with other people.

SPEAKER_04 42:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

And I think if you were to have done six episodes, eight episodes, yeah, this would have never happened.

SPEAKER_04 42:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Yeah. And I think people forget that. It's like it's a long game for sure, but it's something that you're committing to. And when you are building out your network, it's it's a long-term play. I, you know, I don't try to build relationships that I only want to last a week or a month.

unknown 42:43

Right.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

That just would be a waste of time. Um, doesn't mean I don't talk to people or I don't socialize, but like if you're giving time and your energy and you're actually wanting to build something, finding the right people to support you, like this Mark gentleman, like that that's support. That's not getting in your way. Where if he was commenting and he's like, This is a terrible show, Callie, like you just need to give up. Like, why would you listen to that?

SPEAKER_00 43:05

Right. Yeah, exactly. But because we have developed this relationship, if he did come back and say, You're you're going, uh you're this doesn't feeling the same way, I would listen because I respect him and I understand that he has spent enough time to do that.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

He does he does consume what you're producing, so it's like it's a natural thing to be able to be like, hey, like you've been consuming this stuff. Like, what do you think? Versus somebody that's like, I don't know why you podcast. I've never listened to an episode though.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

Right.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

I'm like, well then I don't know why you're commenting on this.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Exactly. There's no room for that. Um okay, so that I mean that kind of is a nice segue to uh is there anything that podcasting has taught you about people in general?

SPEAKER_03 43:44

Is there anything in this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Because you this is a very people y business. Right. Like you you work with a lot of people and then you have the podcasters, you have their entourage.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

Yeah, no, you're you're not you're not wrong. Um I guess going Back to what I was telling you earlier is that I would say me personally, and then the team has been getting good at it too, but like just helping people realize things that they don't think of on their own, stepping outside of their personal box that they've grown up in or what they've known to be true. And um I've just noticed that some people just don't step out of that box.

SPEAKER_04 44:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

And when you when you don't do that, you you just get stuck in a recurring theme of life, which is like the get up, you work, you do this, you do that. And it's like, well, why are you doing that? And it's like, well, I'm supposed to. And you're like, Are you sure? Like, is is there anything else that you could think of? And they're like, Well, now you say that. Now you got me thinking, like, what else could I do?

SPEAKER_00 44:43

Yeah. Well, I want to do this, but I don't know, think I could, or you know what, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:47

Yeah. And I just I've just noticed that some people just don't challenge their thoughts enough. And when people come in here and they're like, I want to start a podcast, I'm like, what's your first idea? And now challenge that idea and like come up with another one because you're you're probably close, but assuming you got it right on the first ideation is a little ridiculous. Right. I'm not, I'm never gonna think of the right thing perfectly immediately. Right. So it just takes some time and some thought.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

But you did that for me. Yeah. I was like, no, no, I I already know what I've got going here.

SPEAKER_03 45:18

And you're like, what do you even came to me and like some again, some people just don't like if you don't mind me sharing this, some people just don't see it until someone else kind of says it. Yes. And for you, it was you literally told me to my face, you're like, the podcast is great, and I love the conversations. It's just interesting because the best part of the show is this. And I was like, Callie, I think you've solved your own problem. How do we make this show better? Let's make the show about this best part then. And that's just really what it took. But again, I think what also helped you is knowing that I've been doing it for other people too. Yeah. Like otherwise, you would have been like, well, dog Roberto, that's kind of obvious. And it's like, well, is it that obvious? And in the way that we do it, it's a little bit different than somebody just being like, Oh, well, just do that if that works.

SPEAKER_04 46:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

Um, and yeah, I think that's just what I really helped you with is just seeing something that you just didn't see for yourself for a moment.

SPEAKER_00 46:13

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

There's a whole thing with podcasting where, and and I can say this from my perspective, because this is like kind of my job, right? It's to connect with people. Now, I with you, it's a little different story because you and I have already connected. But sometimes people come in, I literally meet them, they sit down, and then I have to figure out how to connect with them.

SPEAKER_04 46:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

You watch this happen a lot. So are is there is there a a trait or is there a thing that people do that that makes them better connectors than others? Do you know what I'm trying to say?

SPEAKER_03 46:41

Yeah. So I think the thing that makes, and if you're listening and you've been told this, like you have a secret power that some people don't have. But for most of my life, even when I was a little kid, like when I was a little kid, everyone literally would be like, Roberto, you're always happy and you're always smiling. And just take a moment and think, would you rather hang out with somebody that's happy and smiling or somebody that's upset and sad? Right? Like, that's like the first thing that I noticed. And I was like, okay, so like I'm like, duh, people like talking to me. I'm always laughing. Like that's an obvious. And then when I got into my actual uh work life and I started to get my first job, I was always told that you're just so easy to talk to, Roberto. I can just tell you anything. Like, and it wasn't anything crazy, it's just that they felt like they could have a conversation with somebody without being judged or questioned or whatever it may be. And when I used to work for the Apple store, that was my most I literally had customers that would come in, they're like, I want to talk to Roberto because they knew that I would actually take the time to sit down and talk with them and like let them say what they need to say without belittling them or being like, Why did you do that? You know your phone's not waterproof. Why would you take the water like? And I we had employees that were like that. They would be like, Yeah, you know your phone's not waterproof, right? And they're like, Well, I didn't know that. They're like, Well, in the fine print, it says this. I'm like, dude, they're not gonna, they don't read that. And you know that. So, like to expect somebody to, yeah, I guess just uh to treat somebody, I guess, in a way where it's like not empathetic, that is where, again, if you're told that you're really easy to talk to, you're really good at building rapport and empathy and and showing that. And that is so valuable in a digital and a future coming world where people are so tech heavy. And like, you need to be like, if you want to be successful in the future, the only thing that you need to focus on is how to be a real human, be empathetic and learn how to build rapport because then your opportunities will come in whatever space it is, as long as people can actually talk to you, have a conversation, and trust you, like you can you can ask for a lot of things too at that point as well. Hey, can you help me with this? I'm trying this new thing. Do you you want to see it? And they'll be like, Yeah, because they've just they've been able to be comfortable with you. And I think when people are interviewing like this, or when they're wanting to interview a complete stranger, the thing that's gonna help you do that is just be empathetic and like listen and understand, you know, that whole active listening thing that people talk about is a real thing. Um and the other key component is telling stories with one another.

SPEAKER_01 49:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

If like again, more value, and I I really hope I don't ever get in trouble by Apple for giving all the secrets away because they literally have taught me everything that I know to this to this day with like my real business stuff, and it's changed my life forever. And one of the one of the things they literally teach you when you're working for Apple is how to tell stories. And there is a there is you can de-escalate angry people with a story. It sounds weird and obviously it kind of sounds obvious, but I even do it with my kids where like they're upset and I start telling them a story, and they like kind of calm down and they're listening to this story, and it might sound silly or like, why did you even say that? But it's it's a it's a way to help relate and to understand one another. And so I'll give you an example. People would come into the Apple store and they'd be like, My phone is broken. I am so mad right now. Like, this is ridiculous. You guys charged me a thousand dollars for this thing, and now it's not working. And I'm like, Oh like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, like I know I've I paid a thousand dollars for anything, I'd be pretty frustrated, and they're like, Yeah, so can you fix it? Like, they're they're just pissed off. And they come in and they're like, Yeah, phones is water damaged, like this is this is what it is. And I remember this gentleman, he went, I remember the story very clearly. He went like um four-wheeling in like a bunch of mud and water, and like his phone got all wet, and that's why it was it wasn't working. And I literally tell him, I was like, Yeah, dude, I was like, I I don't doubt it. Like, I remember this one time I went uh swimming with one of my friends, and they ended up pushing me in the water, and I didn't realize my phone was in there, and I literally lost my phone for three months. He's like, I know. He's like, I've been without my phone for like a week because there's no other Apple store. And he starts to relate with me. And I'm like, yeah, and I was like, dude, same thing. I was literally in who knows where I had to drive all the way back. He's like, right, right? Like, that's crazy. And then he literally leans back and he's like, he's like, sorry, I'm so frustrated, man. Like, he's like, I just want my phone to work, and I was like, I get it. And I was like, let me take a look at it and de-escalated all from stories. It's not be like, and people think that there's so much secret strategy to all this people stuff. No, it's not, it's just connecting with one another, yeah, listening and then sharing a story. And that's literally what the most valuable company in the world has taught me, and they still teach their people today. It's like literally tell stories. That is how you relate with one another and how you connect. And that's that belief is why we do podcast. I do podcasting at least, because I truly believe that all these stories that people tell will help people connect and heal.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:49

I yeah, I believe that too.

SPEAKER_03 51:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 51:51

So, you know, you've now heard I mean, I'm gonna say hundreds, but probably maybe even thousands of stories.

SPEAKER_03 51:57

Yeah, I'm getting there.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Yeah. Um, so is there is there something that you've noticed that we all seem to have in common that maybe nobody's put their finger on before, or maybe we have. But what is the what is a common string that you that you've noticed in listening to so many different stories and so many different people's perspectives?

SPEAKER_03 52:18

I think that I think the one thing that I notice a lot of people walking around, and I'll say this confidently, but I feel like a lot of people walking around walk around life thinking that won't happen to me. And I don't want anyone to speak like ill of themselves or be like, okay, maybe this will happen. Like, I don't want people to like wish that upon themselves, but I have noticed that a lot of people across the board have had moments in their life where they're like, that that would never happen to me, or I would never let that happen to me, or that's not gonna happen. And then one day it does, and that's when your whole entire personality breaks and snaps. And you're like, I'm not that wasn't supposed to be me. I wasn't supposed to get divorced, I wasn't supposed to have kids this young, or my my mom wasn't supposed to die this early. Like it there's all these things in life that people have that they're they just assume that it will never happen to them, and then the moment it does, they're searching for somebody in the world that's like, please understand me. Please, is there somebody out there that knows what I'm going through? Because right now I feel so alone. And in reality, we it I've heard people say it all the time, and I've say it, we all live the same lives, just like in a little bit different way. It's like we're all we're all doing the same thing.

SPEAKER_04 53:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

Just everyone has a different approach, method, lifestyle, or results from it. But yeah, I think a lot of people I've that I've noticed and that I've met over the years of doing all these interviews, yeah, a very common thing is that they don't think that something like that will happen to them. And so they won't listen to something like this or they won't research something until it happens to them. Yeah. And then they start looking for all the answers.

SPEAKER_00 53:58

Yeah, it's it's funny. I not funny. It's interesting. Uh my husband's very matter-of-fact about these things, and he's he's got some similar um thought processes. And and one of the things is when people are like, well, you know, what if, you know, what if my mom dies, or what and and anytime somebody does that, he'll be like, it's not if they're gonna die. We're all dying. We're all gonna die. Yeah. And he's so very blunt about it. And there was like, oh yeah, I guess that's true. But you know what I mean? Like, now, what if you guys now? Well, you're exactly right. We don't know when. We don't know how long we have our parents, we don't know how long we have, you know, yeah, anything in this life, right?

SPEAKER_03 54:34

Yeah, and I think when you don't open your curiosity to like even just understanding how people deal with trauma or issues or anxiety or whatever it is, the moment it hits you, now you're just searching for it everywhere. And I when you're in that space, it's a lot harder to find it than if you were to have a level-headed mind and you like you get ahead of it, I guess. And that's where I get into, and I have a real big problem with the lot of, I guess, just the public individuals, which is like there's a lot of information out there available to everybody. You just have to go find it. Yeah, you need to find the things that excite you, that interest you, and you need to learn about it because it is out there. It is for the taking, it is for the understanding of the regular person. And yeah, I mean, I catch myself sometimes where I could I'm scrolling where I could just be educating myself a little bit or learning. But I do scroll a lot of like articles and news things and I read stuff and I understand it. And my girlfriend's like, How did you even learn about that? I was like, Oh, I just read about it today. Yeah. She's like, What where are you finding this stuff? I'm like, it just pops up because it's naturally like what I'm already looking for most of the time.

SPEAKER_00 55:37

Yeah. Yeah. Um, you're a wonderful resource for her, as Clint is for me. He uh he's an avid reader and he will, if there's something that's applicable, he'll put it right in front of me, which makes it very easy for me. So I'll be like, okay, this is great. I this was important. It was good that I read this as, you know, and I don't have to go looking for it. So um, but he's a voracious leader and some a reader. And sometimes he um will just like some like something will happen and I'll be like, wow, I can you believe it? He's like, Yeah, because this, this, this, and this happened for the last three weeks.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

Yeah, and I've done the same thing. I've caught myself doing the same thing where I'm like, Yeah, I've like, how did you not see this coming?

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Yeah, what do you live under a rock? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:12

So I have to take a step back sometimes and be like, okay, not everyone is as in-depth in the know-how on certain things. Um, but that's why there's people to help, right? Yeah. That's why you go to a tax advisor because they know about taxes. Exactly. That's why you go to a mechanic because they know about the latest and greatest thing that happened. Right. You don't just you know you don't have to learn and be an expert at everything, but the things that excite you and even that you want, like you and anybody that wants to start a podcast, the things that excite you and that you can talk about, talk about them.

SPEAKER_04 56:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:42

Do those things because there's somebody else out there that probably is just as interested as you are, but maybe they're not gonna do it or take the initiative. And they would just like to be a part of the conversation.

SPEAKER_04 56:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 56:52

Going back to what I said earlier, host the party.

SPEAKER_04 56:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:54

Host the meetup, host the mechanics meetup, host the archaeologist uh dine and like dinner night. I don't know, whatever you want, but do it because there's somebody out there that probably would think it's just as cool as you do.

SPEAKER_00 57:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:08

And even if it's only like five or 10 people, there's five or ten more than you already had.

SPEAKER_00 57:12

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 57:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_03 57:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:14

I always think that's interesting when those when that happens, when you go to a party and there are fewer people, but then you actually get to know all the 10 people who were there, and it's uh sometimes more meaningful.

SPEAKER_04 57:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:24

And you're like, oh, I've got only 10 people there, but now I know all 10 of them. Right. You know, yeah. It's always interesting.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

I and I prefer that too. I mean, I'd get in trouble when I worked at the Apple store because I took too long with some of my clients and customers, and they'd be like, uh, you have to help 15 people. And then they go, I'm like, I'm not doing that. And I got in trouble for it. So yeah, you learn your lesson eventually and how to like pull back and make sure you're spending the appropriate time with people. But yeah, when you're connecting, it time flies.

SPEAKER_04 57:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:50

Things you learn, you cross paths, you change, you share stories, and you just learn a lot from one another.

SPEAKER_00 57:55

Yeah. Well, you've heard a lot of stories, particularly on podcasts. Is there any are there any that like stick out for you? Like did where you were either shocked or you know, surprised by something.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

I feel like at this point I've heard like everything of the sun. And so I'm like not shocked. I'm like, I I've I've heard that before. But I would say like, I think just hearing people share vulnerability is what always gets me. I'm like, geez, that was pretty deep. Why would you just say that online?

SPEAKER_04 58:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:24

But it's because again, people don't get the chance to just have conversations sometime.

SPEAKER_04 58:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:28

So I think when you're in a setting like this, interesting things will always come out.

SPEAKER_00 58:33

Yeah. I've learned that too. I'm I'm always I'm always surprised, which is fun. Um, has anything come off that totally changed your perspective? Like, did you learn something? Have you learned something where you were like, oh my gosh, I going into this, I was feeling one way, but now I'm kind of thinking about it differently.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

Like based off of the conversation that you had?

SPEAKER_00 58:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:55

Um I wouldn't say it's necessarily changed my perspective. Well, I guess it would because it gave me more information, but like even recently, we've had a bunch of tech guys in here and they're very heavily involved in their space. And it's gotten me excited about technology again. And I forgot how much I used to love technology. That's why I worked at the Apple store. That's why my first ever when I went to college, my first thing I tried to do was computer science, uh computer programming. I took a Python class and I got like a C in it, and I I couldn't do it. It was too much. And that's because I really, really wanted to get involved in technology, and I just kind of like took a step back and I got really creative. Meeting these guys and seeing everything that they were doing, I was like, that that fires me up again. So I think just getting exposure to things that you're not used to on a daily basis or conversations that you don't typically had. Like we do a show for a food company in town called The Protein Spot. Um Tyler's a good friend of mine now, where I just like when I see him, he we we can just chat about random stuff with business and food. But I have my own personal um journey with health, nutrition, and all this stuff, which is why that stuff excites me.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:03

So there's stuff like that where like I have my interests, my things that I I'm into. And when I hear more stories from other people, I'm like, oh yes, that's that's awesome, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

Um, so I would say just the natural plethora of stories that I hear based off of my interest always just get me more into what I'm doing. Yeah. So like right now, currently it's the tech stuff. I'm working with a lot of tech guys and they're getting me all excited about technology again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:26

Now can we go there? Yeah. Can we talk about that? Um, I just I guess kind of tech and maybe where podcasting is headed, and and anything else you want to add as far as tech is concerned.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:37

Yeah, I mean, the world is changing so fast, and a lot of people know that they just don't want to hear it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:43

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:44

Um or don't want to believe it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

I always think it's interesting uh people denying the whole AI thing. Like they're gonna be able to somehow just deny their way out of the fact that it exists.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:52

Yeah, there is no stopping it. Right. The train has left a station, it is full steam going downhill. Like it's in a good way. Like I like if I had to pick and tell, I am pro-tech, like I do like technology and I do think it does help society. Does it mean that this gets taken advantage of? Of course. It's the same idea of like alcohol is not good for you, but it doesn't just naturally just end up in your body. You you drink a lot of it and you get sick.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:24

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:25

So just like anything, if you do and consume and use it in the ways you're not supposed to, it will hurt, it will cause problems. But I think yeah, and I think people marry the idea of innovation with like destroying everything we've ever known. And it's like, well, everything we know now is because of everything that we like have been building.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

Um I mean, go back to the 1800s when they didn't have washers and dryers and convenience products, they couldn't turn on lights immediately.

unknown 1:01:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:56

And now you can turn them on demand. And it's just I don't think anybody in that would be watching right now would get rid of electricity. They might say they want to. No, you wouldn't. Right. You need it. Right. And sometimes it's hard to admit, but you need it. So technology, I mean, it's ever changing, it's gonna change the world forever. And I'm excited to see where it goes. I just think a lot more people need to get involved because there's only a sub, it's only a small group of people that are doing it because they're just so involved in AI, technology, computing power, mechanical, mechanical engineering, like it's not as easily accessible, but the information is out there and it's available to people. And I think people just need to spend more time learning. If people became more tech savvy, they'd have a better time navigating the future world because it's gonna be more technologically advanced. Whereas if you just wait around and then kind of like our grandparents and our parents, like they don't know how to use an iPhone sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:53

I I many times. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:55

And I I when I was working at Apple, people couldn't even log into their email.

unknown 1:02:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:58

I think it's the number one problem with my parents' generation. They forgot their password. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:03

And you like a a regular person, I guess, or a modern person today, they'd be like, how they don't even understand how that's possible. And it's like, well, sometimes they just didn't ever, they didn't ever need to or try, and then they eventually get left behind, unfortunately. Right. And it creates this world that you just now all of a sudden the world that you knew it does no longer exist. And it's like, well, you weren't even paying attention.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:25

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:26

It's been changing in front of you this whole time, and you just decided to close your eyes or turn the other way. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I can't speak for everybody, but I do know that it's frustrating to feel like you live in a world that you don't understand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:39

That's well said. So let's say that somebody is listening who is frustrated in a world that they don't understand and they want to just take once, and let's not let's just take my generation. Let's not go all the way up where somebody maybe has it doesn't even have a computer and never's had, but just somebody who has kind of been in with it, but isn't necessarily immersed and and fully understanding like the AI world. Are there some what would advice would you give them as far as like how? How would they even learn more about it? Or how would they how could they lean in a little bit more if they're so if they're kind of digging their heels in?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:13

Yeah, I I think I mean that's a really good question. And I feel like this is gonna be almost, I don't know, it's gonna be maybe counter counterintuitive to what I said earlier, but I don't think there is a lot of learning opportunities in the tech world right now. I think it's being driven by the people that already understand it. And it's almost like the tech and again, if there's any I know there are people out there trying to solve this, but the tech people are almost leaving the non-technical people behind because they're running so fast with the AI and the technology stuff, where it's like even today, like with buying a home, there's a lot of people that still do first-time home buyer classes, and those are for people that have never bought a home and they don't even know what a mortgage is or what balloon payments are, none of that stuff. They're they're not gonna understand it until they get some sort of education or access to education, which again, this is a whole separate conversation, but then that's where socially it's a it's um access to information, or can you even afford to get this information or how do you even get it? If I'm at Harvard University, I have access to all the future technology information in the world. Whereas if I'm at a local community college, I don't have that. So I had to go out of my way and find those resources, build that resource library and learn it for myself. So I think the first thing I would say to people is just start asking more questions about it, and you might naturally run into somebody that might have an answer or might have a similar curiosity. And then if you got two people that are more interested about it, like say there's two 40 year old stay at home moms that are like, I I'm talking to my friend and now she's excited about AI, and I'm excited about AI. Maybe you guys can just help each other learn a little bit. You don't necessarily Need to take an AI class or go and do anything like crazy, but now you have somebody that's aligned with you or where you are at, versus if you're listening to this and I'm talking about tokens and ChatGPT and cloud and automations and skills, you're like, I have no idea what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:13

And that just makes you feel less and less and less knowledgeable about it. So I would just start at the beginning, find people that are on your level, and then just maybe be curious together. Like that's what exploring life is is like just being curious and moving forward always. And if you just find people that are close to where you're at with that, it's easier to do that.

unknown 1:06:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:32

Like I'm not gonna go start skateboarding with a pro skateboarder if I don't know how to skateboard.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:36

Well said.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:36

Yeah, and it's just gonna make me feel like I'm never gonna get there.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:39

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:40

Versus like if I'm with my buddies and this is our first time going, we're all laughing and having fun and trying to do kickflips.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:45

Like right, right. Yeah. All right. Before we close all this out, um, I'm just curious about what is on the horizon. What's next for you?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

Yeah. Um, you know, I don't exactly know what I want the next phase to look like, but I do know that the plans that I have is gonna take a lot of work. And for anybody that is like trying to figure out that next thing in life, I truly think that you just need to focus on the now stuff, prepare yourself for what it is that you want the future to look like, but don't try to be a fortune teller and be like, this is exactly where I'm gonna be. And if it doesn't happen, then you know, I didn't do it. Because your variation of that just might be different.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:39

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:40

You know, I I I think of um I think of my sister sometimes where, and hopefully you're okay with me sharing this, but I think of my sister sometimes where she says, I really want to save people's lives. I want to be a doctor, I want to do something in the medical field. And I was and I challenge her every time. I'm like, have you ever thought of another way to save somebody's life that's not medically facing? And I don't think she necessarily likes me when I challenge her on that, but that's what I do. Is uh it's like, if you're really wanting this, like what if you can't get it this way, what's another way to get it? And just keep trying to find that because if that's gonna fulfill you, go do it. Like, there's nothing wrong with doing something that fulfills you, but know that there's a lot of different ways to get there, right? Yeah, and I think people just need to like I again from all the people I've worked with, I've seen personally and I've experienced myself. I think sometimes we just need to get out of that box, ask some more questions, get uncomfortable, and just continue to have faith and belief in what you want to do and just work towards that. And whatever that looks like down the road, that's that's what it was meant to be.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:45

Right. Maybe don't be so um exact with the end picture.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:49

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can have goals and ambitions and like say I'm again, say I'm planning a revenue goal for my business. I want to hit $200,000, I want to hit a half a million dollars in a year or something, and you hit 480,000. Like you got pretty close. Yeah. Maybe you didn't get exactly, or you even went over. But to then be like, if it's not five, zero, zero, zero, zero, I didn't do like you know what I mean. Like I didn't do exactly what I said I was gonna do. Right. But you got to closer a variation of it, and that should be good enough as knowing that you worked on it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:23

Yeah, that's good advice. It's it's a little bit hard to follow sometimes, especially when we have our heart set on something. Right. Um, but again, that with that whole thing that we talked about at the very beginning, where you look backwards and you connect the dots, you'll be amazed that some of those dots appeared that you you didn't think that they were dots that needed to be on your timeline, but they were good or bad, and they helped shape where you are now.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:45

Yeah, and I think a lot of the people that um anybody meets along the way are the reason why they are the way they are. Like they shaped you into the curiosity you have, the thoughts you have, the beliefs you have, even if somebody bullied you growing up, like they helped you understand that people aren't always kind, and sometimes they're not kind because there's something going on in their life. Like you just learn from experience life with other people, and I think you people just need to do that more. Don't be so locked up in your house all the time. And I'm this is I'm even speaking for myself. Like, I already do a lot of people connecting, so I get burnt out sometimes. I don't want to socialize always, but I try to pay attention to the people that I I get involved with or that I talk to, and that give me an hour because I'm like this one hour with them could be something that I learned, something that will change my life forever.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:38

Um, maybe not always, but you never know. Right? You never know. Yeah, that's right. So I think, yeah, just if last words of advice, just be more curious, ask more questions, challenge yourself. And um, I mean, I'm willing to have a conversation with anybody to challenge them. So if you need help, you can just message me and I'll be like, Well, did you think about this? And like, no, I didn't, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:02

He's not kidding. Yeah, he absolutely is going to do that. It might be uncomfortable. Roberto, I kind of threw this out there thinking it could be interesting. Yeah. This is a fantastic episode. I'm really excited to share it with other people. Thank you. Yeah. You are you're you're just this wonderful, um, you're younger than you're quite a bit younger than I am, but you're full of wisdom and I learn from you every time I'm around you. You're a very unique human being, and I really appreciate you helping with the podcast. And I appreciate you just as a human being. So thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:31

No, thank you. And uh like again, I I get a real kick out of people like you and working with people like you that again, basically the theme of the show, which is like, or this episode, it's just having something that you believe in and just working towards that. My team loves it, I love it. Like people, I know when people are passionate and they're actually dedicated to what they do, it's just a lot more enjoyable. So kudos to you for finding a space like this and just putting yourself in an environment where you can continue to build relationships because it seems like that drives you as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

It does.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:04

Yeah. So you're doing it.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:06

And thank you. Thank you for supporting it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:08

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:09

Hey, thanks for watching. If you or someone you know has a story to share, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out, share your story, and you could be featured on an upcoming episode. And remember, once your story gets shared, it will no longer be one that nobody knows.