Become Unstoppable with Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco

Welcome to True Grit and Grace, a podcast designed to empower you to claim your resilience and thrive through life's challenges. I am Amberly Lago, a mindset coach, fitness expert and bestselling author. Each week, I'll dive deep with the world's brightest thought leaders and elite performers to share tangible tools and practical advice to inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize and forge ahead. So get ready to conquer your fears, heal any trauma, lead with your heart, and elevate your life with grit and grace.

Thank you for being here. Today on the show, we are talking about how to break through barriers, how to use setbacks as rocket fuel to get you to that next level, to be at your highest potential, to live the life you were meant to live. I have Mike C-Rock Sirocco with us today. He's the CEO of People Building Incorporated. The powerhouse behind the What Are You Made Of movement. He is a good friend of mine and he's a performance coach, author.

He's a speaker, visionary, and thought leader.

And he's been featured by Yahoo Finance as one of the top business leaders to follow in 2020. Y'all, he is on a mission to build people. He is driven to inspire others and he measures his success on how he's able To help others achieve greatness. So today I hope you are inspired and motivated to go after your dreams. You can text me and let me know what you think about the show at 818-214-7378. And you know what? Screenshot this, share it with your friends if they need a little motivation, um, or you can share it in your social media and tag me at Amberly Lago Motivation or True Grit and Grace. And now I hope you enjoy the C-Rock, thank you so much for being here. I've been looking forward to having you on the True Grit and Grace Podcast. You are inspiring and empowering people. I mean, you're really on a mission to show others that no matter what their circumstances, no matter, you know, what their past experiences are, they can turn any setback into a comeback and really live up to their full potential. So welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Welcome to the show and thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me. I always like to start interviews by just expressing gratitude to the host because I'm very thankful and humbled that I have the opportunity to be able to share with you and your audience. And a lot of people take gratitude for granted, which is kind of ironic, right? But also, they think it's kind of corny to do and really express it sincerely. And I want you to know that I'm really thankful to have the opportunity.

Thank you. Gratitude is a huge part of my life. I mean, I do a gratitude journal every morning and I have a gratitude accountability partner even. So if I forget, my partner's like messaging me, this is what I'm grateful for. So that means a lot. Thank you so much. Before we get started, and I'm grateful for you because also I know this is like one of the busiest times in your career because you have a new book that is launching right now as we speak. And I definitely want to get into that. But before we get into your book and all these amazing things that you're doing, could you just share a little bit about how you grew up, because I've rarely met a strong person that doesn't have a challenging past. And I'd just love for you to share a little bit about how you grew up and what inspired you to do the work that you do now.

Sure, absolutely. So before I get started, I want to make sure I'm clear that I'm not telling these stories to disparage anybody that, that was in my life, because I don't know the whole story of, you know, there's things I'm sure I don't know. And it's important for me to say that because what my story is about is about things that some people didn't do the right way for whatever reason. I'm sure I could have had it worse, but I came from a broken home. I don't remember my parents ever being together. And growing up, I was doing the every other weekend thing and also having conflict above me regarding child support or custody, and then other spouses coming into play then, and then jealousy, all these different things. And as a kid, you see this going on. And one, I thought it was ordinary. I didn't know any different. But you see this going on and you're not quite sure if you're involved with it or if you have something to do with it, or you— there's all these things that go through your head.

Mm-hmm.

And some things are taken out on you that shouldn't be just because, you know, people get in reactive mode sometimes, or it's the only way they can release. But I lived with my dad for about 3 years when I lived— when I was about 8 to 11 years old. He had basically took me to dinner one night and talked me into moving in with him. And my mom, you know, I'm sure at that age I was concerned with things because my mom had been married 3 times. She was going on her 3rd marriage. And it was the 3rd or the 2nd man, I should say, other than my father that I had to like live with and had to figure this out as a kid. And so I might have been saying some things possibly to my dad and saying, hey, you know, I'm not sure about this and that. So he basically sold me into living with him. I lived there for 3 years. During that time, it was some of the most craziest things, psychological, mental abuse, Not necessarily by my dad. I don't want to get into details beyond that, but I do get into more details in the book, but I'm not ready to release that yet as far as that story. But there's some things that went on that shouldn't have went on. And as a kid, I knew I was mature enough at 11 years old to know that I shouldn't be in this environment. Like something's not right about this. So I was coming home from one weekend at my mom's house, going over these hilly roads in southeastern Pennsylvania, and my stomach was in knots. I had that feeling inside, just like anxious and You know, she's like, something's wrong. What's going on? And I'm like, well, I shared with her. I finally broke down. I was scared to shit. I was afraid to share that because I didn't know if anybody would believe anything that was going on or if I would get in trouble for sharing the information.

Mm-hmm.

She said, that's not normal stuff. You shouldn't be going through that. If you want to get out of there, which I think you should, I can file court papers and do it. But you must not flip-flop. You must stick to your guns. You have to be like totally committed because if you're not, somebody's going to talk you out of it. They're going to sell you on why you shouldn't do something for what their beliefs are or they're, you know, in life in general when you believe in something, people will try to talk you out of it to justify their position in life.

Mm-hmm.

So I remembered that. So when I got home from school one day weeks later, my dad had court papers in his hand or legal envelope and he said, go to your room. And I was already walking on eggshells as it was in that house. I'm just like, oh, that tightening feeling again. And I go back and sit in my bed Sit on my bed for about 5 minutes probably, but it felt like 5 hours. And, uh, he comes back with this envelope and he says, says here you want to move back with your mom, is that true? And that's like, this whole thing's going on in my head as a kid. I knew I'd already laid the groundwork and I was waiting for the bomb to drop, right? And so when that happened, I'm like, yeah, that's a decision I made. And he said, well, you know they don't have it that well there. Like, you got money here. By the way, my dad was my hero. Uh, he had his own masonry business. Worked very hard, had big forearms, rough hands. When you shake his hand, you knew that he's a working man and, you know, he busted his butt and he did very well. And he always carried a wad of $100 bills around in his pocket and with a rubber band around it. And I'm sure he was proud of that. And he used to show me all the time and flash it. And I always looked up to him for that and the fact that he was a hard worker. So he's my hero. But now when he asked me this question, like, I feel guilty because I feel like I'm letting him down. And I'm sure maybe he was hurt by it. But the fact of the matter is, there was things that going on that he allowed happen— allowed to happen and didn't stick up for me. That's the way I felt. So I confirmed the fact that I wanted to. He went into the fact that my mom doesn't have that well. We won't have the things there that I have there at his house. And I said, listen, the discussion's over. I remember, stick to my guns.

Mm-hmm.

So I stuck with it. And he goes, okay, that's cool. So he takes a wad of $100 bills out, peels one off, crumples it up and throws it at me and says, Well, here then, you're gonna need this money here when you're living on the streets with your mother one day. And so, that right there was something that for the rest of my life, I don't let it necessarily bother me or like be a victim to it or anything like that. It's all about at that moment, what did you think? And the 2 things that I thought were, one, you're not gonna determine my destiny and my future.

Mm-hmm.

That is not the case. I get to do that. I knew at that age I was stubborn to a fault. probably, which is a strength and a liability. I knew that I was going to be like successful and do, I was destined for great things because nobody was going to stop me. And number 2, I also thought this is an ordinary situation. I can't be the only one in this situation.

Hmm.

So I'm going to be able to show people by being a role model, going through something like this, and then show them what you can accomplish. And so that's this journey I've been on for 30-some years. I don't know that I was necessarily aware of it until about 3, 2 to 3 years ago. I became really aware of it. And then like I got to bottle this. I got to bottle this concept of turning setbacks into rocket fuel and share it with the world. And that's a little bit of background of where I came from and what my drive has been. And now I'm just, you know, I've been besides that just around a lot of broken people, alcoholics, drug addicts, suicide. And I think that to me, I feel like at heart, I'm a people builder, Amberly.

Oh, I just want to like hug you right now. I mean—

Air hug.

I swear. I mean everything you said Yeah. And, you know, as a kid, you just want to feel safe. You want to feel loved. You want to feel heard. And thank goodness that you went to your mom. You listened to your gut, number one. That is huge. I think when you're little, our gut never lies. And sometimes we have people in our lives that we trust that might tell us that's not right, or you shouldn't believe that way, or they don't validate your feelings. So to really know that what was going on wasn't right. In your gut, you're like, this is not right. And to go to your mom and, and her to hear you and want to protect you says so much. But you had an opportunity there for someone that you, you know, you love. You see your dad as your hero and you trust. And for him to throw money at you and say, well, you're going to need this someday when you're on the street, you took that opportunity as— Motivation really is like, yeah, no, I am— I get to choose. I have a choice. And I think that's powerful. At such a young age, you realize, no, I have a choice. But then you're doing more than that. You're helping others see that they have a choice in their life, in their destiny as well. And I think that's such a beautiful thing, how you are of service to so many people, to so many businesses.

Thank you.

And, and show them how to do that. What do you think? What was the day you said for 3 years, like 3 years ago, you were like, hmm, this— I've really turned these setbacks into like rocket fuel to succeed. And I need to like figure out how to share that with people. What are some things that you can share right now for people who are feeling stuck? Or feeling like they don't have a choice in the matter, or feeling like because of how they grew up that they won't amount to anything or they're just not worthy. What are some of the things that you could suggest to them to get them unstuck?

Well, I think that that's my problem that I solve. Bottom line, I help people solve the problem of being stuck because of a setback. And so, by the way, I want to point out something. I think that when I was younger, I was just thinking about this and why am I a leader? Why do I want to help people? Why is that? But I think as a parent, it's important to instill little affirmations in your kids even if they're not something yet. I remember my mom always telling me, you're a leader. You're a leader.

Oh, you're great.

She would always affirm things. And prior to me even believing it in myself, I think that—

I still say that to my daughter all the time. I'm like, you're a leader. You're a leader.

Yeah. I think that plants in something. And my mom, listen, you know, we call her Crazy Mama, not because she's crazy mentally, but she's just like so fun to be around. Just like wild and crazy. And my kids call her crazy mom. And so I think that she'll admit herself, she's had her issues with mental problems, anxiety, depression. Nobody's perfect, right? But one thing that she did really good was build that inside of me. I'm very appreciative that I had that. I'm thankful that I had my dad challenge me in that way too, by the way. So people that are stuck in setbacks. So here's the thing. The only thing that stops you from achieving something in life, it's not the encouraging people. It's not the wins that you have. It's not the successes and the confidence that you have. It's the discouraging people. It's the setbacks. It's the letdowns. It's the people that talk trash on you and discourage you. It's the people— here's another one that I haven't added in a while. When you share something with them you're excited about, accomplishment you had, and they're like, yeah, or they don't even respond.

Mm-hmm.

It's all that, that just, that stuff that stops you. So here's the thing. If you can eliminate that stuff, No, no, no, not just eliminate it, actually convert it into fuel, rocket fuel for your future, you become unstoppable and indestructible. And so, that's my goal, help people that are in that position and then teach them proactively. Proactively is important, Amberly, proactively to convert those things, know when they get into that situation that it's okay. It hurts at first right away, but quickly get a trigger and so, okay, this is what CROC's talking about. I'm going to convert and then roll. And then you blow past anybody else that gets stuck and paralyzed by their setback. So that's the concept that I'm bottling for people and putting a process together for people to be able to become aware of that and then train it into their brain.

I love that. And I'm glad you brought up part about where people don't acknowledge, like when you're really excited about something and people don't acknowledge it, or even worse, they say, Yeah. Good luck with that. You know, I use those moments as my biggest motivating moments. And I don't know if I'm— I really try to think of it as I'm proving to myself that I can accomplish something. But there's that little part of me that wants to say, oh really? Watch me. I'm going to do this.

Right, right.

And then I'm going to take a picture. I'm going to post it. No. But it's hard when you have people that are discouraging or you don't feel like they're on your team. Or what would you suggest to people How to build a supportive team or tribe?

First of all, the thing is you have to understand when people are doing this that they're reflecting themselves to you. It tells a lot more about them than the accomplishments that you have. So you just need to be aware of this and understand and not let it affect you. You need to take it, convert it, like I said. But the way you build some, some supportive people is to be really conscious of the people, first of all, that you're surrounding yourself with. Like, I'll share things that I want to accomplish To people. And then I watch them. I'll just sit quiet and watch their reaction to it. If they're like, yeah, dude, go get it. That's awesome. I want that person around me. Those, I'll rank people. It sounds so superficial, but I'll rank people because to me, my dreams and goals are important.

Mm-hmm.

This is only one life to live, right? And especially if it's good stuff that you want to help other people and have an impact and purpose in this world. So, I'll rank people in my mind. Like, I'll say, you know what? I'll say, look, you know, I want to accomplish something. Here's something recently. I'm gonna have a book launch party in Miami. I have no idea how I'm gonna do that, right? I've never thrown a party in my life. My wife's always taken care of it. I've never been, especially in Miami, I've never set up, but it's just a cool thing. I love Miami. I love going there. I'm gonna do that, right? And I just actually decided to do that while somebody was taking a video of me there. And I said it in the video and then they posted it. My team posted it. I'm like, oh boy. But then I tell people this and then I watch their responses. And some of them, the ones that are worried about themselves and they feel like they're not achieving what they should achieve, they won't say anything or they'll be like, really, Miami? Why would you do that? Like, you're not going to, you know how much that's going to cost? I want to separate myself from those people as quickly as possible. So I think really it's identifying the people that are going to be supportive and the ones that aren't, and then surround yourself with those that are supportive. And it's very important to this part too, because sometimes you get yes men and yes women. And that's not what you're looking for. I'm not talking about that, that just agree with everything that you do. It's okay to be challenged, but it's got to be done the right way so that it's not a discourage or a, you know, downplay of your accomplishments. So that's, that's my answer to that question.

Yeah. I mean, I think it's really, I like people who are straightforward and tell me like it is. Like, I really don't want yes people. I want I'm always, even people on my team, I'm like, look, I am always open to constructive criticism. Let me know if, you know, I want to know. And I have another friend who just something as simple as like she'll text me and say, hey, you got a typo on that post you just put up. I'm like, oh my gosh, thank you so much.

Yeah.

I am grateful for those people in my life who like, and I'm grateful, you know, my husband, He can sometimes be hard on me, but I appreciate his honesty. And I think that's important. And, you know, his whole family's out in Miami. And that is where I had a big book party. Did you really? Yeah, yeah. It's a bookstore called Books and Books out in Miami. And let me tell you, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I went to go check out the store. I thought I'd be, you know, in the back of the room, signing a couple of books. I don't know that many people in Miami, his family. And I get there and there is a room and they've got chairs set up and there's a podium with a microphone. And at this point, I hadn't even done a lot of speaking, but I was like you. I was like, this is my dream. I am gonna go for it. And it ended up being the most amazing time. And you know what? There's real power in social media because I had people show up that I just knew from social media and I got to meet them for the first time. I mean, actually, that's how you and I met. I connected with you on social media and then we ended up being in a mastermind together. And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, I follow you on Instagram. And I'm like, and now I'm so grateful. I'll get to, you know, knock on wood, God willing, that I'll get to see you soon in Vegas. And I'm excited about Miami. I would love to go to Miami for your party.

Yeah.

When is that going to be?

I don't know. That's the thing. So I commit to something and I'll figure it out. So the next thing right now, obviously, we have to watch and see what's going on with COVID You don't know for sure.

Yeah.

So I'm going to kind of like watch that for the next week or so and then start planning. And I'm also good, really good at letting other people do the work, get a vision and let other people implement and put them in place to do that because it frees me up. I can't plan the party myself. I can't do all the work for it. So what I need to do is I need to have the vision to do it. And then find the right people that put it into action. And that's what I'm going to do. But it's going to be obviously next year sometime. The books I'm planning, the presale was already put out last week. February 7th is the aim date for the release, which is my birthday.

And that's awesome.

Yeah, we just, it just so happens that we're going to do it that way. And then soon after there, sometime February, March is what we're looking at.

Well, I think I'm hoping by then things will be a lot better. I mean, we've got the vaccine coming out. And I love a couple of things that you just said. First of all, you said you're really good at like letting people help you and kind of delegating things. And I think that is what a successful leader, what it really takes, because you can't do everything on your own. And when I was launching my book, I was doing it all on my own. And if there was one thing that I could go back and change, I would have had a team that helped me so I could really enjoy the journey. Like, so you can really be there in Miami Miami and enjoy being in the moment instead of worrying about, okay, I got to plan this. I got to post about it. I got to, you know. So I think that's amazing that you're doing that. And just that you're like, I need help with this. We're going to be better as a team if I have people that I can delegate this to. So I love that you said that. I think that's what it takes to be a good leader. I know that you have, you're licensed with Grant Cardone. Now some people might not know who that is. He's huge in the entrepreneurial and business world. Can you share a little bit about Grant, how you met, and what that means to be licensed with him?

Yeah.

Being licensed just allows you to work off his content, teach off his content, and make money off his content. And I use it in different ways. Some people use it more just focused on all 10X Grant Cardone. I mix it in with mine and I did it for access. But back in, when I was 11 and I moved back with my mom, there was a guy named George my mom married, and that was my stepfather. And he stepped in right at the right time at that young impressionable age when I was about to go through puberty and a lot of changes happening. He stepped in and he was a very black and white kind of guy. Like, you either do good and good things happen, you do bad, bad things happen. One of the things with George was, is that he would like play ball with me, go to all my games. Like, I wasn't even his son. He didn't even really know me that well, but he stepped right in. It was just like a perfect fit. He didn't— he wasn't really good with money. Like making money. He was good about stretching it like a long ways, but he wasn't good about, and it wasn't, that's not what he cared about. He cared about activities, hunting, fishing, all that. By the way, he was really quiet when he was sitting on the couch or going to a party somewhere. But then if you started talking about hunting, baseball, fishing, football, anything like that he was passionate about, he would just jump up and like be really, he's got a deep voice and he would get right in your face and talk about it, get all excited. And he was really passionate. And so throughout my years growing up, he was hard on us. Not never physical, but hard on us, always taught us right from wrong and led us in the right direction. So he was a mentor to me. And so when I— back in 2019, February, he was coming out of the woods hunting, and he died of a heart attack suddenly.

Wow.

And at that time, I'm 41, I think at that time, I wasn't really ready to give up having a mentor. I think that I was ready to mentor and I was mentoring people, but I wasn't really ready to give up a mentor. And right at that time, he passed away about a week or 2 weeks after that. My brother Casey and I felt this energy. And that's when my mission really started where I felt like I got to go on this What Are You Made Of thing. I got to go talk about rocket fuel. And so, I didn't know how I was going to do that. And here, my brother started reading The 10X Rule. And he said, called me up. He said, Mike, you got to read this book. I think I heard about it before. I might've heard about Grant before. I didn't know who he was, this and that.

Yeah.

So you got to read this book. It sounds like he's— it sounds just like you. So I read the book and I'm like, holy cow, man, this is like, this is validation that I needed. I've had an animal caged up inside of me all these years. I was worried about being hard on people, push them too far. I was worried about holding people accountable. I was worried about like my employees, if I held them to like a task that they would leave. You know, I was always worried about what people would think. And then I was like, I don't need to do that anymore. It's like, it is like an unleashing and like uncaging of an animal. And so when that happened, I was like, okay, this, this is a great feeling. First of all, this is like what heroes make their, their people feel like. Their father, it was like, I feel like, I feel great. I want other people to feel like this from me. So I said, let me just immerse myself in his content. And that's, that was from afar. I just looked at YouTube videos, read the books, got on his programs. And then I started, I went to the 10X Growth Conference in Miami. And, uh—

When was that?

I was— February, February 18th.

Okay.

And it was on Super Bowl Sunday. Just, I was just so impressed with everything that he did and how he put together things and the talk that he was, he was speaking to me. It was exactly what I needed at that moment. So I got my team on his training and we just immersed ourselves. And then I started building relationships with people in his organization. And then went and played golf with Jared Glant, who's a buddy of mine now, who's the president of Cardone. And I just wanted to be around them all the time. Like it was like I, I need this. This is something I need right now because this is going to help me push my message out to people and show me how to do it.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, finding a mentor, by the way, that, that's, that's, that's really, really key, is finding somebody that's doing what you want to do or where you want to be, or they're on the journey to the destination where you want to go. And that's what Grant was for me. And so I didn't even know him at that time. I didn't meet him for, I don't know, for a year or so after that. And then I became a licensee and then went to a lot of masterminds. And I shelled out, Amberly, I shelled out a lot of money. I've probably spent over $300,000 with his programs, with him, masterminds, with some Brandon Dawson who's another partner of his, Cardone University. I mean, I spent, and I say this number because I want people to understand how important it is to invest in yourself and to invest and pay for access. It sounds crazy and some people shy away from these things when like they see that and you're like, whoa, you're buying friends? You're buying— no, no, no, no, no. I'm paying for access. These people, once they hit certain levels, their time is very valuable. So how do you get in front of them? How do you get their attention? Well, time is money. So you take money and then you buy time. And that's what I did. And it's been, every time I spend money with him, I make more money. My team makes more money. My family's my team's families are better off. So the whole thing works. And, you know, that's how I got involved. And to this point right now, I'm writing this book, and he's— I haven't told everybody this, but I'll share it with you. He's writing the foreword for my book. And so—

That's amazing.

It's a great thing. And I'm just— I always approach things when I have a mentor or teacher that I want to make them look good. So that makes— I don't know if this makes sense, but like, if somebody's, you know, I think it comes from when I'm teaching people, if they don't do what I want to see success and they don't have success, I, it hurts me inside. And I don't want anybody to have that feeling. So when I work with someone, whether it's a teacher or if I buy something from someone, a vendor, I make sure it works. I make sure they look good. That's what I think in my mind. And so my thing now is I want to be a case study for him and his content and for people that have invested with him to show people what that content does. And I don't know, that's a long-winded answer, but Yeah.

That, well, that's amazing. And I'm so glad that you brought up, I'm big on mentors. I mean, I've had a mentor since I was a kid. You know, I started teaching dance at 13. I had a mentor. She's still in my life to this day. She not only taught me how to teach a dance class, but she taught me life lessons that carried over into my fitness career. She used to say, I don't care what's going on in your life. When you show up to teach, you put the needle on the record and you turn around and you teach that class with a smile on your face. I mean, She was like, she was hardcore. But she taught me the business side of how to run a business. And that carried over. And then when I got into fitness, I had a mentor who owned a fitness business and I learned from him. And then when I got into speaking, people think that, you know, I have people ask me all the time, well, how did you get on that stage? How did you go and become a speaker? How did you do this? I'm like, well, first of all, I went to a teacher who taught me how to put together a presentation, and that was $5,000 just for a 5-week program of how to get, you know. And so I'm really—

People don't see the journey. People, I mean, the journey to success is invisible.

Oh yeah. You know, so, um, it's a long, it's a long journey. And, and I'm glad that you brought up that you spent money, you invested time and a lot of money to learn these things because Man, did I, I invest too, a lot in a lot of money and a lot of time doing things. And so I'm glad you brought that up. I wanted to ask you before we start getting into some other exciting things that you're doing, what keeps you motivated? Because I see how much you do with, I mean, you're coaching people, businesses, you've got your book, you're involved in masterminds, you're helping so many people. Your website's beautiful. And I was like, oh my God, he sells coffee mugs, shirts, jewelry. Like there's nothing that you don't do. How do you stay motivated? And do you believe in like a work-life balance or more of kind of a harmony? Because I can't seem to figure out how to create balance.

Well, first of all, I'm just following a blueprint. So Grant does all this stuff already, whether you like him or not. Some people hate on him and this and that. He has a blueprint for success. I'm just following it. I'm putting, by the way, there's so much to do. So what I do is I take little bits of time and incremental additions to my game, and I just keep adding little things to it. And before you know it, you look back and you're like, wow, look at all the stuff you put together. I don't even realize some of the stuff. You're noticing some things you're throwing up to me, and I'm like, whoa, I forgot about that. I just keep putting things in place and not worrying about, you know, I have urgency in action, but I don't have urgency in seeing the results. You follow me? So you gotta have patience in seeing results but urgency with action. What motivates me? One, I'm a believer in God and the Creator. Okay? And I believe that when I was put on this earth and what all of us are put on this earth, we have a purpose and we have certain potential that was given to us. I feel it's a slap in the face of my Creator to not go after everything I was put here for. Now, that's the way I feel. I don't know if it's right. I just, I'm sharing with, you know, you and the audience, that's how I feel. And I think that if I in a situation where I could go further and I stop and I say, I'm good today, that's not right. It's a moral, ethical obligation to me to keep going. And so that's what motivates me. As far as that, also the story I told you about my dad, I mean, I always think no matter what that he's watching me and I cannot let that happen. So that's another thing. And the other final thing I'll say in regards to that Is that I never think I'm doing enough. I always think I need to step up my game and do more. And when you say, for example, and don't take this the wrong way, but when anybody says, hey, C-Rock, you're killing it, or hey, you're doing this, and gives me those things, I also convert that into fuel because I feel like, wait a minute, I don't want— I'm such an enemy to complacency that I don't want to let myself slide and hear that. I take it and I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but I— it's an internal thing. I'm just being transparent, sharing with you. that I say, oh, okay, wait a minute. I need to step it up a little higher now. So again, I don't know that this is right. I'm just sharing with you what I do. And then your question, the final question was about balance. And I believe that you need to make sure that you're focused on all areas of your life because if you don't and you let one suffer, this one suffers. So if you let your family suffer, your work's going to suffer. So even if you're focused on your work and 10x-ing your work and adding rocket fuel to your work, but you're not your family, your work is gonna suffer because the family problem will become a problem that is gonna affect your work. So, to me, it's like, look in what areas need help right now. Analyze what areas and give the most attention to the area that needs the most help at that time. And then, move around that way. Whatever you wanna call that, whether that's balance, harmony, I just think that everything needs to work and you need to know that everything is gonna need attention at times and some more than others. Does that make sense?

Oh, yeah, it does. And I mean, it goes with— and you're so right, you know, I'm stubborn. As well. I tend to really, I'm really good at the grit. It is the giving myself grace and kind of resting, even taking a nap or listening to my body more instead of pushing, pushing, pushing. I know that if my health isn't good, then I can't be an active mom. I can't be the wife that I want to be.

Yep.

My business starts to suffer because I can't think creatively because I'm in pain or whatever that may be. So I think that is important to create that balance so you can have that rocket fuel in all areas of your life. What inspired you to write your book?

I think when I went through with George passing, my stepfather George, when I went through with him passing, I started to journal because I felt like I needed to get something out of me. And then, I also felt like, wow, life's short, man. Shoot. What did I do with all my life? Like, what have I been doing? I'm 40 years old now and I haven't really accomplished what I'm here to accomplish. Then, I realized my window's so short. I was like, oh man, I got to figure something out with this. I got to jam everything I possibly can in this short window.

All right.

Then, I was like, okay, so what have I been riding off of? What have I been using? Okay, it's rocket fuel. It's turning setbacks into rocket fuel. I've done this my whole life. I need to get this out to people. I see people all the time talking about comebacks and getting through tough times, but I heard rarely people actually converting it and using it as fuel. So I wanted to get this message out to people, share my story, because I'll go back a little bit more. When I heard Pete Vargas, I don't know if you know Pete Vargas.

Uh-huh.

He spoke at that first GrowthCon that I went to, and Pete told his story about his relationship with his dad, and he's got this framework that he uses that really grabs you, man. And then you listen, you're like, wow, he's talking to me. And then he tells his content so that you already— he's got you by the heart. And then he tells his content, which works. It's legit. It's not like he's scamming or anything like that. So he shared a story and I'm like, wait a minute, I have a story like that. Let me start sharing some of this to people. So I did, which I thought was ordinary. And I thought, you know, most people don't share their story because they think it's ordinary. It's not exceptional enough. They're embarrassed by it or they underestimate the power to inspire millions of people. So, I became aware of this. I'm like, well, let me share this. And people started being intrigued by it. And I'm like, if I tell this story to someone and they're intrigued by it and I tell it to another one and they're intrigued by it, then if I do this to millions of people, this can impact the world. So, that's where it came from. And then, I just, that's first step to me was podcast and then book.

Hmm.

So, and then, that's it. So, really, I wake up every morning figuring out ways to get known and become a celebrity and not for ego but for impact.

I love that. And that is motivating. That's where I get motivating is, is thinking of my why. What, what do I— why is it that I want to give this, get this message out there? And I, I think that, you know, sometimes when you're going through a hard time or you have a past experience— I used to carry a lot of shame about things that happened with my childhood and a lot of shame about the way I look after my motorcycle accident. And once I learned to just embrace that and accept who I was, what I went through, and I could share that experience, I noticed that's how I really made meaningful connections. And when— it's so inspiring when you meet someone, just hearing your story and you sharing about your childhood, I'm like, oh my gosh, no wonder we connected instantly. I mean, I grew up so similar. And when you meet somebody that has gone through experiences and you see how they use that as rocket fuel to propel them to level up and level up and level up. It is just so inspiring. So I can't wait to read your book. Before we go, or can you tell us about other exciting things that you have going on? I mean, I know I've listened to your podcast. Your podcast is amazing, by the way. So thank you, podcast. I've got your book coming up. And tell us anything else that you have going on right now.

Um, you know, one of the things about that podcast, I— to me, like, I just I see other— see, we shouldn't compare ourselves because I see other people's podcasts and I'm like, wait a minute, I got to do this, this. I'm so critical of it. But I did just not think about things. I just went at it with that. So I encourage people, if you want to do a podcast or whatever you want to do, don't try to perfect it. Commit to doing it and then just take steps to going into it because then you never know. Like, people have said great things about my podcast where I don't feel the same way yet. So it's—

I thank you for saying that because I swear, you know, when I first looked at your podcast, I was like, oh my gosh, He has almost 300 ratings and reviews. And I, you know, it's easy to get into that comparison trap. And I'm like, I don't have that many. And we started our podcast around the same time. And I'm like, stop it. Just keep putting your message out there. Because it's when I get a message from somebody that says, oh, I just listened to that episode with, you know, Dr. Renee or Trent Shelton that you did. And it It really moved me. So thank you. It's those messages that keep me going.

Yeah.

So gosh, thanks for sharing that. Because I never would imagine that you would look at yours and go, oh, I'm not there yet. But I feel the same way. I'm like, I'm learning. I didn't know what I was doing. And I'm just like, but I have this passion in me to get other people's stories out there so they can give their tips and tools and really empower others. And so yeah, Anybody out there wanting to start a podcast, just do it. Like just start.

I don't even care, by the way, I don't even care about subscribers. I don't care about ratings. I don't even care about all that. What I look at is how can I get known? How can I get it, like be everywhere? That's what Grant taught me. Be omnipresent. Be everywhere. So I take my podcast and I repurpose it. I break it down into 30 1-minute clips, whatever, and then post it everywhere. Like it's on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere. Just put it everywhere. YouTube. And that's what matters to me. The podcast subscribers, if they come, I don't even know how to figure out if I have podcast subscribers.

I don't either. I don't know. Somebody asked me, like, I'm not that good at that.

Nope. Just look at it as one, you're doing a journal for yourself. You're able to therapeutically journal via video. You practice speaking, right? It helps you practice speaking and get out of your comfort zone. There's so much that comes along with it besides subscribers and ratings and all that jazz. So, you know, I just encourage people, just get started on it and just do it and see what comes and watch the flower that blossoms. And it's not very masculine to say, let's watch how you become, you know, a butterfly. That's not even masculine.

Yeah. Hey, I got my butterfly back there. Yeah. So you know what? It's so true. It does help you. And I, let me tell you, I record when I do my introductions for guests and stuff, I record in my closet because my office shut down, my office building shut down. So now I'm in my home office. and it's quietest in my office, in my coat closet. But it was scary the first time I went to like record, and I'm just in the closet with a microphone, and it felt so serious. And my daughter came in and she's like, Mom, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm trying to record this and I'm kind of nervous. She goes, Mom, this is what you do. And now she's 12, and she just grabs the mic and she's like, hi. She pretends to be me and she's like, hi, I'm Amberly Lago, blah blah blah. And I was like, Sometimes we need our kids to show us, like, stop taking yourself so seriously, have more fun.

Yep.

Just, just do it, you know? And so, um, so yeah, I, I, I too, I have, I have a podcast editor and she sent me an email, congratulations, you hit a milestone for downloads. And I'm like, I did? How do you even see that? Like, I don't know.

Yeah, yeah. Well, but just to, uh, mention some other things we're doing, uh, working with loan officers in the mortgage industry because I have a large group that I run with best friends, 40 employees. Uh, we're doing great, but I want to share other, uh, with other loan officers and other companies how we've had our success. So I have, uh, a sales call that we're doing in the morning time at 9:00 AM. It's coming out soon. Next, it's going to start next year, which is at 9:00 AM for 20 minutes. We get fired up because we do it on our team already anyway. And it's a Grant Cardone-inspired morning meeting. And if you've ever been to a Grant Cardone—

Is that every day?

Is it going to be? Yeah, it's going to be Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM. 20 minutes. We're gonna just get fired up, get ready for our day. And, uh, basically Grant taught me this at his company. You go there in person, not a lot of people have had the opportunity to see this culture building 101. I mean, it's— they celebrate wins, they clap when they're coming in, they play some music. It's like an energy thing. And then they celebrate wins and they also get inspired for the day. And a lot of loan officers, a lot of people actually in any companies do not have the opportunity to do that. Most of them don't have a team. They don't have culture where they work. They don't have support. I want to get that out to people and not just keep it in our own little group. So it's a, it's a package deal thing. It's, it's really inexpensive, but it's every day, man, Monday through Friday. I think it's, I don't know, $300 or something like that for a month, for the month. But I guarantee you, when you get involved with that, as a— now I only deal with loan officers right now, but if I do make special exceptions, if people beg, but, but, but, and that's through this sales call and the training that we're doing, but I guarantee you that if somebody gets one more loan for the month because they have been inspired Or they push a little harder that month, they're going to triple or quadruple their money. So that's the concept behind it. So that's what we're working on now, along with a training platform for loan officers, a digital interactive training platform that is going to basically show people how we've blown up our mortgage business 800% in 2 years.

Okay. Now, is that going to be like an evergreen course or is that going to be you? Okay.

That'll be an evergreen course. I do one-on-one coaching with it. I'll have masterminds with it. It's just right now though, that's going to be an evergreen course to get people on the track of where we are so they really understand the way we think, how we operate. And I'll give you a little insight on something. Today, I had a sales meeting every day with my team, and we talked today about why they chose to work with me. Why are they choosing to work on CROCK's team? Why are they at Nations Lending where we work? What is the reason? And specifically, and we went down the team and everybody told why. Because I wanted them to really be grateful, first of all, why they're working where they are and understand why they chose it and then make sure they take advantage of those things. And so we did that today. And it's important to really understand why you are where you are so that you don't take it for granted.

I love that. And I love the culture that you're building. You're instilling the gratitude, how being grateful is such a huge part of your life and just empowering so many. I think that's amazing. Where can people find you? If they want to beg to be—

Beg, if you're not a loan officer, beg to work with me.

Beg to work with you. But where can people, first of all, where can people find your book, your courses, maybe coach with you? And especially if they're a loan officer, get on the CROCK team. Where can people do that?

The best way to start is to buy the book. And that is at MikeCROCK with no K, MikeCROCK.com/book. And if you go there and get the book, you'll be on our, obviously subscribe and you'll get all the updated news. But I really love engaging with people on Instagram. And that's @MikeyCroc. Mikey, M-I-K-E-Y C-R-O-C, @MikeyCroc. Send me a DM, engage with me. I love talking to people on Instagram. I love lifting people up and encouraging people. And that's the best way to keep up with everything that I'm doing.

Yeah. And you know what, you guys, screenshot this if you're listening on your phone and tag CROC and me and let us know what your favorite part of this episode was because he really dropped some nuggets in there, nuggets of gold. And thank you so much for, for being here with us. You are so awesome, and I can't wait to see you in Vegas. So thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. If there's anything I can ever do for you, all you got to do is holler.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for joining us this week on True Grit and Grace. If you like it, please rate it or share it with your friends.

That would help too.

If you're not yet on the newsletter list, come over to amberlylago.com and jump on it. While you're there, you can grab a free downloadable gratitude journal, and you might just want to check out my book or even check out my monthly motivational membership. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.

Bye.

Next week!

Next week!