The Happy Hustle: Achieving Blissful Balance with Cary Jack

Hey there. I do a lot of traveling, and I think last year I traveled more than I ever have, and I was getting sick a lot. And so I decided to do something about this, and I started taking a daily wellness shot. And it has— it's, it's now my secret weapon. I use it to keep me healthy and strong. In fact, I just got back from Chicago and I'm healthy. And not only that, it helps with soothing inflammation, which I really need, and digestion. And I love the way that it tastes. So So it's something that I take before I fly, after I fly. It allows me to keep my energy up at events. And it's the first thing I do every morning is I just mix this little wellness shot in some water and drink it. And I would love for you to see how this can help you too. So just go to trulean.com. It's T-R-U-L-E-A-N.com. And you know what? I love this shot so much that I reached out to them and they are giving True Grit and Grace listeners 50% off. That's right, 50% off your first subscription. Plus, they're going to give you free shipping. Just use my special code, which is LAGO50, L-A-G-O-5-0, and see how this can work for you. Because you know what? Our impact is only as strong as we are healthy. And I want you to keep making a strong, big, big impact. Okay, so go try it. And now on to the show. Thank you for tuning in to the True Grit and Grace podcast. I'm Amberly Lago, and I'll be sharing inspirational stories of resilience and empowering ideas to elevate your business and your life, ignite your passion, and fuel your purpose. Hey, it's Amberly. Thank you so much for tuning in to True Grit and Grace. I have my brother from another mother on the show with us today. Today, the most amazing Carrie Jack, who's actually a returning guest, and we have been sitting here talking for almost an hour, and I'm like, oh yeah, we got to do a podcast. So y'all, he's amazing. He is a new daddy, and he's taken time to be on the show. He's a lifestyle entrepreneur. Oh my gosh! He is a professional model, an actor, an eco warrior. He's the founder of the Happy Hustle. He's the host of the top. 0.5% podcasts globally. Okay, that is amazing. Called the Happy Hustle Podcast. I'm so excited. I've been a guest on his show. Y'all gotta tune into it. He's a humanitarian. He is an author. In fact, he's got a new book coming out.

Mm-hmm.

And I loved his first book so much, and he says this one's even better. I can't imagine that it's even how— what— it's gonna be mind-blowing. So, um, Carrie, Jack, welcome to the show. You know, I love you so much. And I'm so happy to talk to you.

Oh, thank you so much. I'm honored to be here. And like, we were just riffing for an hour. And we're, you know, that's what's awesome is just like, we're comparing and contrasting and collaborating and like going through how we can support one another. And that's just when you know, like, you are aligned and good vibes with somebody just Time flies. And so I'm just honored to be here. And thank you again for having me.

Oh, yeah, thank you. And yeah, we were sitting here talking and I'm like, oh, let me introduce you to this person. You're like, oh, do you know this? Let me introduce you to this person. Next thing you know, we are planning a trip to hike Kilimanjaro. And we're also planning a couples retreat in Montana. So that's us. We get together and it's just like—

I know, I know. And I'm so proud of you too. Like, in I've just been watching your rise, speaking, crushing it. Like, every time I see you, I'm just like, you go, girl. Because, you know, I think you really need to find people who celebrate your success, not like low-key are, you know, hoping for your demise. And I think that's just a beautiful thing to watch your rise and how many people you've been positively impacting. And so it's just super cool to see it. So I just want to shout that out.

Well, thank you so much. And I just want the listeners to know that there are not many people, if any, like you, Kerry. Seriously, no. I mean, I was thanking you again for introducing me to a company that became a sponsor on the show way back, Nootopia. In fact, they just sent me their book.

Oh, cool.

Yeah. And I just gave them a shout out for sending me the book. But I mean, you are just the most giving person. You've helped me with so much, y'all. He's the kind of person that if I text him and ask him a question, he's like, gets back to me. Like, you shared your media kit with me, which y'all got to check it out. And I think you've even updated it since I first saw it, and it's freaking amazing.

Yeah.

Um, but you, you are just like such a giver. Um, And I just really appreciate you. Uh, and I've got so— and, and also, like, your first book I loved so much, and all my mastermind people loved it too. And they loved you. So he came to speak to my mastermind group, and they, they loved you. And when I got to go speak to your mastermind group, I was like, Dang, he is so tech savvy and he had a video play. And I was like, wow, man. So I'm always learning from you. Oh man.

Well, hey, I'm learning from you too though. And you crushed it. All the Happy Hustle Club guys were like blown away. I mean, that's the thing about you. You bring it every time. It doesn't matter if you're on a stage or on the mic or if you're, you know, just doing a Zoom call. Um, I'm just, I'm, I'm sometimes I'm truly blown away by what you bring to the table. And, and, uh, yeah, thank you. I've, the feeling's mutual.

Well, thank you so much. I want to talk about your next book that's coming out.

Yeah.

It's coming out in April. Actually, the date so far, I think, is April 9th that your new book is coming out. And I loved your first book so much, and you're like, well, this one's even better. I'm like, wow, it's going to be a Wall Street— no, New York Times bestseller. I'm just putting it out there.

All right.

But it's called The Happy Hustle Book: 10 Alignments To avoid burnout and achieve blissful balance, which I think I need this. So, okay. So I'm like, okay, this is for the listeners, but selfishly it's for me too, because I love to hustle. Like, I hustle and hustle and hustle, but I, a lot of times I go hard and then I crash and then I go hard and then I crash. And you do so much. I'm always blown away. by all you do and that you look like you've even had a good night's sleep when you have a brand new baby boy at home.

Yeah, definitely didn't.

But no, well, you're always, you know, smiling and in such a good place. And so I really want to— I know there's a lot of people out there. In fact, Carrie, I just had a conversation with a friend yesterday and she was just like, she goes, I wonder if You know, you and I are the only ones that are like working like dogs. Like, do other people work as hard as we do? Like, it's Sunday and we're, we're like grinding. So how do you give us some tips? I mean, you don't have to walk us through 10 alignments or maybe, maybe you want to give a little bit, but even if you could give us a few, um, just because I know a lot of people are, are stressed out, they're burned out.

Yeah.

So what are some of the tips? What are some of the alignments where we can be more blissful.

Yeah. Well, that's why this version 2.0, the Happy Hustle book even exists and why I really poured myself into this one. You know, like we really went complete. It's, it's basically the, the first book on steroids. We hired an amazing company that did a whole, you know, rewrite, new data, scientific studies on happiness. We did all sorts of graphic design work and layout work, but also manuscript work. And then I went through and I put acronyms for each of the 10 alignments. So, it's very sticky. And then also, we did a lot of action tasks like you were mentioning, some actual tips, some stuff that like tangible things, just high level.

So, each alignment has its own acronym?

Each alignment. Yeah, it's an acronym within an acronym. So yeah, we went real deep. And we can, we can get into some of those. Because I think the last time I was on, we went through each alignment step by step. And I think we even put you on the spot and did the assessment for you, if you recall. Yeah. Yes.

Yes.

So you go back—

Memory. I can't believe you remember that.

I know, even with my carbon monoxide poisoning, I still can remember a couple things.

I meant to ask you if—

how are you doing since It's still a factor, but, you know, I, I, for those people don't know, I had carbon monoxide poisoning and almost died last April actually. And yeah, so it, it affects the brain in a couple different ways. But that, yeah, that podcast was awesome. We, we went through and Amberly did an assessment live on the air, and that's kind of really the first piece to this puzzle is you have to really know in order to grow. Like, you need to actually do an assessment and figure out where you're lacking in your life and where you need to prioritize change. Unfortunately, this stat really hit home for me. Up to 79% of employees, that's literally 3 out of every 4, feel disengaged and unhappy with their work.

Wow.

And that's according to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace study, which actually costs the world almost $7.8 trillion in lost productivity because people are actually in their work environment, but they're not actually productive and focused and they're really not happy and fulfilled. And so that's like really the problem I set out to tackle with this book is like, how can we actually increase engagement? How can we increase fulfillment and really help people put the happy in their hustle? Now, just high level, you know, you mentioned like, okay, I'm grinding, I'm working hard. How do I like almost like work Less, but make more. You know, that's, that's why. Yeah.

I think everybody might like that. I mean, I love my work. That's, I love it. But I actually yesterday I had that mom guilt because I, uh, took Ruby to get her nails done and I realized I should have, could have been sitting there talking with her and I realized I was answering emails. And so I like put my phone down and I was like, wait a minute, it's Sunday. Taking her to get her nails done. Like, I need to put the phone down.

Exactly. Yeah. And one thing that I like to do, this is just, you know, we'll kind of skip around in terms of sequencing. But this is something, especially now, like you mentioned, I have a newborn son, only a couple weeks old. And, you know, sleep is— I've been saying I'm diaper deep and low on sleep, because that's the truth.

You know, you always have the best sayings.

Oh my God, like a shirt. I just—

how much sleep are you getting? You I need to get a shirt like that.

I was literally like 2 to 3 hours a night right now. I was up at, you know, 1 and I had to take my sister-in-law to the airport at 4. So I'm like, you know, not much sleep last night. And, but anyway, I'm still feeling froggy and ready to rock the mic. And the thing that I do that I want to just highlight that I think you could do and anyone out there to really work less and make more is to focus on your MVTs. your most valuable tasks and having them equal your EHR, your effective hourly rate. Okay. And EHR is a concept my buddy James Schramko talks about. But the most valuable task is something I just was focused on. I was like, okay, what are my key 3 MVTs for the day? And again, this isn't rocket science, right? But it's like really being intentional with how you're spending your time to equal the effective hourly rate. And in order to calculate your effective hourly rate, you essentially take You know, how much money you make, and then you take the amount of time it took to make it and you divide the money by the time it took, and then you'll get your effective hourly rate. And then you shouldn't be doing any tasks that you could hire out that are essentially less than that rate, right? So let's say your effective hourly rate is $100 an hour. Well, anything that could be farmed out or delegated or automated for less than that, should be, right? And that's how you can buy back some of your time. As you know, Dan Martell talks about— I had him on the pod recently. And, you know, it's a concept that it's, again, easy to just talk about, but then to actually do it, it takes work. But that's what I would say first out the gates is how you can actually work less and make more.

Oh, that's so good. And that was something that I learned to really delegate some things because I used to do it. I was a one-woman show. I was doing everything myself and then, um, learned to delegate. And it's hard to let go a little bit. I'm an overcoming perfectionist. And I was like, you know, I've had to like let go. Like, yep, that's, that's good. That's good. I would, and even with something as silly as like show notes, I would be like, I'm an author. I'm a writer. There's grammatical errors in these. Yeah. And now I'm just like, okay, thank goodness for AI, because I take the show notes and I plug it into AI and I'm like, there you go. It's fixed. Yes.

You know, love it.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of those type of things out there where you can really just leverage your time more effectively.

But what are some of the things that you do to leverage your time, especially with having a new— And he's beautiful, by the way.

Oh, thank you. Yeah, his name is Kaizen. No one in Montana, I think, is named Kaizen. I know.

No, I love his name and I love that Jack is his middle name.

Yeah, Jack's his middle name, last name Kenziore. So Kaizen Kenziore, it's kind of a mouthful, but, you know, it's the continuous art of improvement. It's a personal development term and he's got big shoes to fill. So yeah, we're excited about it. But yeah, to get, you know, some of your time back, I mean, for me, it's really about creating systems. I know, again, like I don't want to stay in just the theory, you know, component of this conversation, but actually give people real tangible tactics. The systems, and I've actually been pleasantly surprised with how well our systems are because, you know, I've been off for the last 2 months pretty much, and I'm going to take off the majority of Q4 just to be as present as I can with my son and be the best father and husband I can be. And You know, the systems will really set you free, like having systems and then having checks and balances within your team. And if you don't have a team, you know, you can create automations. But that's really been how I've been able to leverage time. Everyone knows their role, everyone knows what they're responsible for each week, there's KPIs attached to them, and then my project manager will make sure that the actual tasks are getting done and then she'll report it to me, you know. So it's that really.

Hey, Explain, like there are some people that are listening that might not even know what a KPI is.

Yeah. Okay. So yeah, key performance indicator. So, you know, you can create tasks for your team and then you like, maybe one of them is, hey, you need to send 10 cold DMs in Instagram to potential prospects every single day, right? So like that could be a KPI, 10 You know, cold DMs, right? And then you can track it. So at the end of the week, they should have X amount, right? So that, that's really, you know, um, an effective way to get your time back and to make sure your team is actually, you know, putting the happy in their hustle as well.

Yeah. Well, I'm taking notes every time I talk with you. I'm constantly taking notes.

Yeah. Yeah.

You're so good. What led you— I guess I need to go back a little bit. What really led you to go, wait a minute, I need to get to a happy hustle place? Like, did you hit a wall? Did you hit burnout? What happened?

Oh yeah. Yeah. So I, and we talked about this, I think extensively in the last podcast, but just the Cliff Notes version. I burnt out as a tech entrepreneur in New York City and, um, I was grinding like a dog, just 100+ hour weeks, you know, Roughly 5 hours of sleep a night. And I built this tech algorithm that quantified feedback with my brother and business partner and best friend, which is all the same person. His name's Grant. And yeah, we were just getting after it, you know, kind of faking it till we make it. We were living in a very dumpy apartment in Queens, New York, sharing a king-size bed together. You know, like we were just really working hard to To get this startup off the ground. And we ended up having a lot of success getting, you know, partnerships with Microsoft and IBM on the table and 7-figure VC funding deals all ready to, you know, be executed. And it came with this whole 5-year clause where it was like we had to be beholden to the business. It's rightfully so. If you're gonna take on that much money, you know, they want you to end those type of partnerships. They wanna know you're in it to win it. And when it came time to sign in the contracts, my brother and I just like kind of broke down. Like we were just sitting across our little stained, you know, crappy coffee table and we just had these papers in front of us, stacks of them. And we were trying to decide, you know, is this the right path? And ultimately it wasn't because we were so unfulfilled. You know, we sacrificed everything, our faith, our family, our fitness, our fun, even just for this work. And it was like, oh, could we really do 5 more years of this?

Wow.

And the answer was no. We ripped up the papers. We let all the people know that we're sorry, but we're moving a different direction. I actually moved to Bangkok, Thailand for about a year and my brother went back to get his master's from the University of Florida. And yeah, it was in Thailand where I started to put the happy in my hustle and then started to look at my life holistically at like, what's the most important pieces? And that kind of transformed into the 10 alignments of being a happy hustler. And now fast forward, you know, we have the book, the podcast, the events, the masterminds, the Happy Hustle Club, and it's all centered around, you know, really avoiding burnout and achieving this blissful work-life balance, both personally and professionally.

I love my magnet. You've got magnets that help me check, check stuff off. Okay. But I want to talk about balance because there are some people, in fact, I just was speaking at an event and Tim Grover was there on stage. And I was— it's the first time I've ever seen him, heard him speak in person. And you know, he was super nice. Like, I was the first night I was walking out of the restaurant, and I didn't know if he would recognize me or even know my name or— and he was sitting at a booth. And I was walking out with some friends. And they said hi to him. And I looked at him, I was like, hi, and smiled. He goes, hey, Amberly, you spoke today, right? He was like, how'd it go? I'm speaking tomorrow, and I'm like, I know you're Tim Grover. Like, dude, I know that's the signed basketball. Oh, really? Yeah, I think Ben signed it. Ben and Tim. Yeah, but he was talking to me, and I was like, I left there, and I went to— I was like, he knew my name. Like, he kept talking to me. Like, yeah, oh my gosh. So anyway, the next day when he spoke, he was all anti-balance. He goes, there is no balance in life. Like, he He goes, you know what a balanced scale equals? It's zero. And he's like, and so I was like, okay, Carey, I gotta know, like, balance. What does balance mean to you? And how do we achieve it? And what does that look like?

Yeah. And I'm glad you mentioned it because, like, it is a kind of a controversial topic. It is, especially in the entrepreneur game. Like, you know, you got Gary Vee grinders who, like, glorify working on the weekends. And it's like, you know, good for you if that's what you want, you know. And like, I hear him, Grover, you know, talk about how— I mean, I don't know him personally. And I actually don't know much about his message. But I can see where that mentality comes from working with some of the people he's worked with, like to be a Kobe or Michael Jordan. Yeah, like to work with those type of people. Like, yeah, there's probably no balance. But that is the 0.000001% of people on the planet who have those type of aspirations to be the greatest. Oh, yeah.

It's like the top athletes in the world. Right?

So it's like, yeah. So it's like, what, what's your goal ultimately is my question. You know, for me, balance is about creating harmony in my endeavors. Right? So I am reaching a place of homeostasis and harmony within my endeavors of becoming the best version of myself. But ultimately, I want to actually have joy within my journey.

And, you know, oh my gosh, I have to stop.

Go ahead.

You know, that's the name of my next book.

Is it?

Joy for the Journey. And I tell you, I keep getting these God winks. And I'm like, sorry to interrupt. I just like another God wink. Okay. Yeah.

I love that title for you, girl. That is amazing. That's a good—

I didn't come up with it. Actually, I have to give John Gordon credit. John was like, I have the title of your next book. He's like, I'm really good at titles. And yeah, that's John Gordon.

He sure is. Yeah, he's kind of the GOAT of titles when it comes to titles.

Yeah, but I do believe you're right. What's the point of all that we're doing if we don't have joy for the journey and we're fulfilled? And yeah, I agree.

It's something I talk about now more recently. is the more disease. It's like this disease you get infected with, where you want more money, more followers, more clients, more impact, you know, more love, all the, all the things, you know, you just want more and more of it. But when, when do you have enough? Like, when are you satisfied? Not necessarily complacent, but actually fulfilled. You know, for me, I think the, the cure for the more disease is gratitude, and really focusing on being grateful for what you do have. And yes, you can strive for an enhanced reality. But know that, you know, you can also be grateful for exactly where you are right now, you know, and I think it's just almost lost on our society nowadays. Everyone's you know, caught up in the more disease. And it's sad to me, like, people, they go their whole lives acquiring and accumulating more. And then they get to their deathbed, and they wish they would have enjoyed it. And they wish they would have built deeper bonds with the people that they care about, and that they would have showed up for their daughter or their son's soccer games, or their, you know, even when they're at the nail salon and being more present, right? Like, that's— those are the times that you know, you're going to want back, not more money or more speaking engagements or more podcast appearances or more book titles out in the world. You know, it's like, that's the stuff that matters at the end. Life and fulfillment are all about actually having meaningful relationships. So I'm on a rift here, but that's, that's my stance on balance in a nutshell when it comes to, you know, actually having harmony within your, you know, your everyday existence, finding joy within the journey, and then, you know, curing yourself of the more disease with gratitude.

Oh, that's so good. And it reminds me, you know, just last night I was laying in bed and I lay in bed sometimes and my mind is just going. And so sometimes I have to get up and, and write things down and go, okay, this is, this is okay. I can go to sleep now. It's written down on paper. But I was thinking about, I was recently at an event and I left the event early because I was like, I want to get back home and be with my family. I'd been, I've been gone a lot and Yeah. Then I was laying in bed. I was like, oh, but I could have met more people at that VIP afterparty. And I probably missed making some meaningful connections. And I was like, oh man. And then that person, they called them back on stage and I could have done the panel and I could have done more. And so I'm very guilty of that. And then I just thought, yeah, I was just like, you know what? I am grateful for what I did get to do, and I'm grateful I got to spend time with my family. And I just remembered that we meet the people that we're supposed to meet. I really believe that we meet the right people we're supposed to meet, um, that it's all in divine timing. And I just have trust in that. And so, and this is the first year actually since I wrote my book that I'm starting to get a little bit more discerning on what I'm saying yes to.

Good.

So, so how do you make those decisions? Because I'm sure you have people just knocking on your door every single day, beating down the door, trying to get on your podcast, wanting you on their podcast, wanting you for appearances. How do you get a little discerning when you're making decisions?

Yeah, I mean, it really is getting clarity with a focus filter, you know, just being very clear on, on your goals. And if this decision is gonna lead you closer to it or distract you. And ultimately, all the entrepreneurs out there know the shiny object syndrome is enticing, right? And, you know, I constantly like have to judo chop myself and be like, no, that's not, you know, it's not the right path or that's not the right opportunity. Stay the course. And it's when you have your your goal is clear and you're able to have that focus filter, then it becomes easier to say no. And no is powerful and it should be something that you actually consciously think about before the opportunities arise. Like you should have that discernment, you know, decided upon, right? And it's like if it fits in your box of yeses, then great. You say yes to it, but if not, then it's a no.

Yeah, that's so good. And it's so good to, to, I'm glad you said you should know before, like, because what I'm guilty of, I'll just admit it, is I'll say, yes, I'll do it. Yes, I'll do it. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And then I'll look and I'm like, oh my gosh, what have I done? I've scheduled 12 Zoom sessions in one day. Like, what the hell? You know? And then sometimes I'll have to go back. And like cancel, which is not good. I don't like to cancel, but every once in a while, when I got back from a trip last week, I was had a flare up. I was hurting bad. I was like, I'm not going to be able to show up the best that I can to do this podcast. I'm gonna see if I can reschedule. I don't like to do that, but I'm like, if I wouldn't spread myself so thin, then I wouldn't have to cancel. So yeah, I really was like, okay, time to regroup and reassess.

Yes.

And do you do any sort? Do you do any sort of like yearly assessment on like what moved the needle on your business, what brought you joy, what was a waste of time sort of thing?

Yeah, actually, funny enough, we're— I'm doing year-end planning next week, you know, for the year ahead and just the reflection of it.

And you do that with your team or do you do it with your wife?

I'm actually doing that with a guy named Steve. He has— he runs a system like it's almost like an operating system, kind of like EOS called System and Soul. He's part of our Happy Hustle Club and he's doing it for all the guys, actually, a whole like year-end analysis. And, you know, I do it. I actually kind of did something similar with Rory Vaden recently in Nashville this past week. But I think it's a constant, you know, assessment. However, there is times towards the end of the year where I do a reflection.

Yeah.

And even, even every birthday, I like to do, like, whatever the year it is, I'll do, you know, coming up, I'll be 34. So it'll be—

Oh, you're such a youngster. When's your birthday?

November 27th. Yeah.

Oh, it's coming up. Oh, November 27th. 27th.

27th.

Yeah.

So, but, but that's one thing I do every year. Is I'll do 34 lessons learned, you know, in that year.

So that's like in a, uh, you know, I think I remember you did a post or maybe it was a podcast on—

Yeah, I do it every year. I'll put a podcast out, 33 lessons learned from last year and 32 the year prior. So it's like, that's a constant assessment as well of like, what's, what I've learned. Um, and it's a nice tradition that I've, you know, started for myself and I enjoy doing it.

Well, what are some of the biggest lessons learned this past year? I'm sure you learned a lot about how to change diapers.

Yeah, this whole fatherhood thing, I've learned, like, I have— I've learned how much respect I have for breastfeeding mothers. That's the truth. Like, I— mad respect to any breastfeeding mother out there. It is— that is a beast. And I do not—

especially if you get like an infection.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, I don't know about that, but I mean, I can imagine.

Yeah, to all the mamas out there.

Yeah, I mean, but just like birth and Like, women are so powerful. And I'm like, that's one of the lessons and takeaways. I, it's like, wow, do guys have— we are blessed for, for strong women because I'm like in awe of moms now more than I was prior. So, but yeah, this, um, this past year for me, it's been interesting. You know, I, I host the Happy Hustle podcast, which we're coming up on our 400th episode.

Wow.

So it's, it's been a, yeah, it's been a beautiful lesson in consistency. Right? Just like staying the course. We haven't missed an episode in, you know, 400 episodes. Like we have the same cadence, you know, we just, you create that discipline. So be consistent with whatever your goals are. Another lesson, you know, with this AI and this like artificial intelligence and the integration of tech into our everyday reality, I realized that people crave human connection more than ever. Like, there is no substitute. There's no ChatGPT workaround. There's no integration that can supplement the human connection of, you know, in-person bonding. And that's where I think my Montana Masterminds and the, the, you know, the group that I facilitate has really just built its value proposition because the connection is in such a lack because people are trying to, you know, find it through tech and it's not going to be found there, that connection. So that was evident. And then another connect— another lesson I would say is just getting clear on my goals and then Knowing that the time it takes to achieve the goals, it's the delayed gratification.

Especially with your book coming out.

Yeah.

That you've been working on. Yeah.

This book has been in the works for like a year plus, and then now it's getting pushed back another 6 months, and it's like, okay, it's gonna go out when it's time. And, you know, stay the course, stay focused, keep growing, and just, you know, I think that's been, in this society, we crave instant gratification, right? And I think anything worth doing takes time.

I think so too. I think easy doesn't make you proud, you know? And I'm glad you shared all of that, like, especially like with your podcast. I've tried to explain to people in my mastermind that it's a marathon and consistency is how you start to get better rankings. And I did take a few, 2 weeks off, I think, of my podcast. I'm, I'm only at episode, like, uh, well, by the time this one comes out, it'll maybe be 2 over 200. Oh, way over 200.

Amazing.

But I hit 200 a couple of weeks ago, and I'd taken like 2 weeks off in 200 episodes, uh, from the podcast. But that consistency, it is consistency that will, you know, it might seem, yeah, it might seem slow and like every week, and I just put my head down and keep going. And I think running track kind of helped me, being an athlete helped me learn to do that. Like, it takes consistency.

Yeah, it does.

And I love that when I introduced you as my brother from another mother, because I feel like even our masterminds, because you have a mastermind for men, which is Amazing. And those men in there are so amazing. Like some of them like reached out. Um, and then I have my mastermind for women. And so, actually, I have somebody I want to refer you for your mastermind. I'll do that more off. Uh, let me write that down. I love that you say about the connection because that's why, like my, my, actually my husband, bless his heart, he puts up with me, puts up with so much. I was like, oh yeah, honey, uh, by the way, I'm having 20 women over to the house. He's like, when? And I'm like, Friday. I was like, I think I told you, right? I was like, yeah, I told you that, right? I was like, oh, and one of them's spending the night. And, uh, and I was like, and then, um, they're all going with me. I'm playing in a celebrity softball tournament, so it should be fun.

Oh, fun.

But the— he goes, well, how many of these are you gonna have a year? Because this is our second or third. This year. And I just feel like, yeah, we connect on Zoom, but there's nothing like when you get together and you can connect in person. It's just a bonding that takes place and it's like a bond that doesn't ever break. It's like you're in it. So it's so important. And I think especially as entrepreneurs, because it can be very lonely.

Yeah, it can be. And, you know, just a quick story within that, you know, we go into the backcountry wilderness for, you know, 5 days and it creates this container that I don't think is replicable in any conference room or any, you know, event center. It's just so intimate out there in the wilderness. No phones, no devices. And I'll just tell you this last mastermind, there was a $15 million deal that was forged around the fire just because these 2 guys hit it off and he's buying his business now. Like, it's like crazy to think and they're, you know, it's like that's the kind of stuff that happens in person. It's not, that's not gonna happen on Zoom. You know what I mean? Like, you're just, it's, you need to build the trust, you know, that's really what it's about. And to that point, like with a personal brand, I recommend everyone have have their presence online with a strategy because it automates trust, right? That's really when you have a personal brand online, you can automate trust by being strategic with your reputation and what you're showing up for online and how you show up online. So that's just a quick note on connection.

Yes. And you know what? You are so consistent on social media. You amaze me. And what you create is amazing. Like, I love all your posts. Oh, I'm not kidding. Like, uh, you make me laugh with some of, like, your—

The memes.

The memes are hilarious, but you're so consistent. But you show up as you. Like, people get to know you because you are right there also, you know? So you do funny stuff, then you're right there, and, you know, um, but I'm sure being an actor Like, it was really hard for me to show up on camera at first. Like, I was— I have no problem on a stage because I grew up a dancer on a stage. Like, I feel at home. I actually feel at home on a stage.

Mm-hmm.

But put those cameras up.

Woo.

That was scary. What's some advice you can give some people for showing up on camera? Because this is something that I'm really trying to get some of the people in my mastermind. I was like, You gotta show up as you on camera, like show up on camera. What's some advice being the successful actor and model that you are as well?

Well, I kind of got out that game. I mean, I still got one toe in. But yeah, I think for me, I don't know, this, this was advice I got from my improv teacher at the Second City in Chicago. I did like 3 and a half years of improv training there, which I do recommend everyone do improv training because that is like a great life skill. Because life's—

Writing that down.

Yeah. Yeah, do improv classes. That, that, that was a game changer for me. But yeah, you know, I'll reference Rory in his quote on this one because he says, when the mission to serve is clear, there is no fear. And I think when, when you have a mission to serve, like the fear dissipates. Now, it doesn't mean it's gone forever It'll come back and it'll poke its head, you know, and you got to squash it. My improv teacher would say, and I know this is not PC, but bring your, bring your, your fuck it bucket to the stage, you know, and dump it out all over and just roll around in it and just be you like, eff it, you know, just go for it. You know, I think in this modern day with society and social media, there's so much facade and like people standing in front of the fake rented Lambos, you know, and like the people really crave your unapologetic self more than ever. And so if you are bringing authenticity to your videos and if you're, you know, Hormozi talks about the hook, retain, reward, which I like. Like, you know, you hook them in the beginning, you retain them with valuable content, then you reward them with what you promised in the beginning of the hook. I think that's a solid model to follow, you know, with your content. So think about, you know, how you can hook people. It even times with your business, you could just answer questions like think what questions you get, you know, and then answer a question, make a video about it. It's not that big a deal. Just being real, being raw, Bringing your, your eff it bucket, you know, serving, you know, uh, others with, uh, intention. I think that's some, some advice there that I would say.

Harry, you are so amazing. I swear. Look at— I, I came with questions, but I take notes all over the page of everything that you share. You're so smart every time I talk to you, but also I love your authenticity. I think that's why so many people love you. Everybody I talk to is like, oh my gosh, yeah, he's awesome. He's the best guy. Like every single person that I talk to and the people that you surround yourself with are amazing people like Rory and Trent Shelton. Also keeping it real, there's something I want to ask you about.

Let's go.

You're really good at selling. Like you're a really good salesperson.

I like sales.

Yeah. How you secret to selling $1 million on Zoom?

Yeah.

Yeah. How, how the heck? And you've told me about some of the deals that you've got. like for sponsorships and stuff. And you're like my hero. You're my big inspiration for that. That's amazing. But no, I'm serious. But what is the secret to selling? Because there are a lot of people out there that they're trying to sell their coaching, they're trying to sell speaking, they're trying to sell a product. What's the secret? What are some tips and tips, like tips and like maybe hacks that you can share to help us?

Yeah. And I need to update that press kit because it's definitely much more than that now over Zoom. But I will say—

What is it now?

I don't know, probably 4x that, maybe, maybe even 5. Yeah. I mean, but that's—

Oh my gosh.

Just over Zoom, like legit Zoom calls. And I don't work that much. I'm like 20 hours a week typically is my sweet spot, you know? But the thing that I talk about in the book is the roadmap. It's our sales strategy. And if you want, we could just kind of go through it. And I think this would be valuable for anybody out there who's looking to increase their conversions and really use, you know, pressure-free persuasion to help people make the best decision for them. So the roadmap is an acronym and it starts with rapport, right? R, rapport. You have to build the rapport with your prospects. You have to understand too, most sales are won or lost within the first 30 to 60 seconds just by energy, right? Like—

I believe that.

It's very strange to me when people get on a sales call and they'll be like, well, how are you doing? And they're like, good. And they're like, well, how are you doing? Oh, fine. You know, it's like that, like, is instantly this generic It really meaningless exchange of words. And for me, I recommend everyone out there have an opener that they like attribute to their own self-worth and being, you know, for me, like, I will say, if someone says, how am I doing? I'm like, it's a beautiful day, and I'm breathing, I'm feeling blessed. Like, that's my ethos. That's the energy I want to bring to the table. So I, that's like, I know, that's my go-to. And I recommend everyone just create something for themselves in order to build rapport and also have a series of questions that can get to something meaningful that you can then find the commonalities. And, you know, I like to ask, where are you from? You know, like, where are you from is a personal question that people will feel, you know, passionate about where they're from. That's the truth. People like, if you're from Texas, you're gonna be proud about it, right?

I'm proud.

I know you are, girl.

Right?

If someone says, Because, you know, like, and then when Amberly tells me she's from Texas, I'll think of, oh, you know, I got a— my cousins live in Austin. I've been skiing on Lake Travis. You know, we find that commonality. So rapport is essential and that is the R in roadmap. And I really, I stayed here for a beat because I want to make sure people realize like rapport is imperative. Okay? So that's the R, right? Now we get to the O. The O is obstacle, right? Obstacle. You have to understand what is their pain? Why are they talking? And you can just ask them, tell me what you're struggling with right now. Like, you know, why are we talking right now? Like, I mean, give me, you know, give me the truth. Like, what's going on?

And that just happened. So I just was on a call over the weekend. I could tell she will She was like really not wanting to open up. And I actually asked her, I was like, well, let's, let's go a little deeper. I was like, what is that? I was trying to help her with her social media. I was like, wait a minute, what is the hardest thing that you've ever overcome? I'm like, really think about it. Like, what is the thing that was the most painful that you—

Mm-hmm.

And then she, all of a sudden she, you know, she opened up. And then we had the mo— and we ended up staying on the call for a long time and talking and getting into it, like really diving into it.

Yeah. And you need to go that deep. It's like the 7 layers of why. Okay, why do you want to lose weight? Okay, you want to lose weight because you have your company retreat in Mexico coming up. Well, why do you want to look good in your bikini then? Okay, well, because my husband said That I was looking overweight. Well, why did he say that? Well, because, you know, you keep going deep. That's a poor example. But like, right, you want to get to like the core self-worth issue there of why that person wants to lose weight, right? You keep asking why until you get to the true pain, right? And I highly recommend everyone do video calls with their sales prospects and make sure that you're taking notes so that you can use that verbiage, you know, in the close. So that's just a note within. you know, the framework. So we got the R, rapport, we got the obstacle, the O. Now we got the A, which is aspiration. Why do they want what they want? What do they even want, right? Like getting really clear on what is their goal and really, you know, how can your product or service help them get there is the next piece. So we have to understand why they want it, right? And so the goal could be different for everyone, right? Like, you know, So, it could be, I want to make more money. Well, why do you want to make more money? Well, I want to buy this car. Well, why do you want to buy that car? Well, because I want, you know, my dad to think I'm successful. Well, why do you want that? Well, because he didn't tell me he loved me. Oh, okay. So, now we're here, like, at the core, right?

Yeah.

So, it's like we need to understand the depth of the aspiration. So, that's the A. Okay. And feel free to interject here with any questions, but I'm just No, I'm moving along.

Can you see I'm taking notes over here?

Yeah. So then we get to the D, right? So this is the D in the roadmap and this is the demonstration, right? Demonstration simply, you know, means, okay, we need to demonstrate our product or service success with other people leveraging social proof. Like, you know, hey, you know what, Amberly, you remind me of this other client. Her name was Kelly and, you know, she was struggling with something similar and she, you know, came in and she was skeptical about this working for her, you know, but she trusted the process and she went all in and, you know, she 3x'd her income and went through this whole process and now, you know, look at her now and it's just like you're demonstrating that product or service success as well as educating like your product or service, like you're kind of explaining it here, we're demonstrating how it works and I don't want you to get caught up in the features. Most people, they get caught up selling the features. You need to sell the benefits, right? Sell the benefits, not the features. Okay, no one cares how many modules you have in your course or how many hours of, you know, trainings. They care about the result, right? So sell the result, focus on, you know, the benefit-driven marketing, right? So that's the pro part. Okay.

This is so good because you know what, I've gotten caught. I've had people, so I get on the phone with, with people sometimes if they're interested and want, have questions about like my event that I have coming up in April.

Yeah.

And they're asking me about, well, now what's the difference between the VIP package and the Unstoppable, regular Unstoppable package? And I start going through like what they get and stuff. And then I'm like, well, wait a minute. No, what you get with, what happens with a VIP is you actually are gonna make connections with this person, this person, and this person, which could lead to collaborations, which could lead to you being on their podcast, which, you know, it's— but it's hard because there's a part of me that I never really had to sell, kind of like in my business before. I had— it was word of mouth.

Yeah.

And it was all word of mouth, or people would see me on the street And just come up to me and say, are you a trainer? And I'm like, yeah. They're like, well, I want to train with you. You know, it was— and so to do this space of like planning events and stuff, it was all new.

Yeah.

And I got caught up in like, well, you get the goodie bag.

You get—

like I would list the things. And so I wrote that down, like sell the benefits, not the features, sell the results.

Yeah, sell the result. And then, and a lot of people go awry there. So don't, you know, give yourself grace, right? Because, you know, it happens to the best of us. So now we're at the MAP part, right? So the M stands for match. Match meaning actually match the prospect with your product or service. I cannot tell you how many times I've sold the wrong people into my products or services and it became such a pain in the butt.

Yeah.

And I know you could resonate But now I just make sure I don't do that because I match people properly and I really make sure I can help them and that it is a fit for both of us.

That's why I still— like, I was on a call a couple of days ago with somebody who was interested in my mastermind, and I do like a 15-minute call. And when Zoom comes on and she's like, oh my gosh, Amberly, I didn't think it would really be you. And I'm like, well, yeah, it's me. I said, you know what? I, I've been excited to talk to you. And I was like, I want to make sure it's a good fit. Like, we want to have similar— we want to have the right kind of— I look at the energy and—

Oh yeah.

And because I've made the mistake of matching the wrong person with the wrong product that I have. And it was— I was like, uh-uh, I can't do that again. So I get on all those calls. Good.

Smart. And I'd recommend everyone really like do their due diligence when it comes to qualifying properly, right? So that's the M. Then we get to the A, which is like the actual ask, right? So it's like, now, you know, we went through this whole process. We want to ask for the sale. We want to make sure, you know, that we get to this place of, okay, And the question I like to ask is, you know, is there any reason that you wouldn't take action on this today? Right? Like, is there any reason you wouldn't take action on this opportunity today? And they'll tell you and you'll have it. Hopefully, if you did this properly and I get deep into all this, I actually have like a whole sales online course. Anyone who wants it from your audience, you know, I can, we can kind of link it up, but it's—

Okay. I want that link.

Yeah.

What is that?

Thehappyhustle.com/sales. Basically, it goes through this whole process, but in more detail with like templates and stuff like that. It's like, it's a, but it's videos.

Is it something I could buy for my mastermind members?

We'll just give it to your mastermind members. Yeah. Anyone who's in there, they can have it.

Oh my gosh. See, y'all, this is what I'm talking about, how generous he is.

Yeah, no worries.

Well, I'm going to buy your book for all All right.

I'll let you do that because we're still, you know. Yeah.

Thank you.

I will say the ask is huge and you want to make sure that you are prepared with the key 5 objection busters. I call them objection busters. Like typically it's time, money, my spouse, this won't work for me, fill in the blank, right? But you need to be prepared with whatever the key 5 objections that you hear the most and you need to have objection busters for each of Right? So if you didn't go through the pro— and I like to layer in those objection busters throughout the conversation, but they'll tell you if it's like, oh, you know, money's tight right now. Like, I just don't think this is a fit for me.

Well, what do you say to that?

Well, it— that kind of should have been discussed in the— before you even get on the call, you should ask them, you know, what was your household income in the last 12 months? So if they don't like like make the proper amount of money to pay for your $25K mastermind or whatever it is, like I don't even usually get on a call with them. I'll just refer them to some of my free products or services. Like I still want to help everybody, but I know my stuff isn't for everybody at the highest level, right? So, but if it is potentially a fit, I do the math, right? I'll say, you know, because people, they buy with emotion, but they justify with logic. Right? So emotionally we have to get them charged up, like, you know, going through their obstacle, their aspiration, the demonstration, right? We go through all that, but logically it's gotta make sense. So you gotta do the math. So if you're like, hey, you're investing $10,000 and I totally understand $10,000, you know, that's an investment, but what's one client worth to you?

Okay.

One client was worth, you know, $2,500. Okay, well, in my mastermind, if we help you just get legit 4 people in over the next 12 months, it's going to get you ROI. And logically, it's a no-brainer for you, right? Because like, I have 4 people in the mastermind who would be your clients already. I could just make key introductions, not to mention, you know, the other components, right? So like, I just do the math for them. That's really How I overcome the money objection.

And you're really good at making connections, by the way.

Thank you. Yeah, I think connections are a part of life and business. And, you know, I know there's people who like will brand themselves on LinkedIn as like a super connector, and I think it's kind of a crock of crap. You know, they're like, it's like so impersonal. If you're going to make connections, make it because you know it can be a mutually beneficial relationship and like just help people. Like, you know, like Zig Ziglar talks about, you can have everything you want in this life if you just help other people get what they want, right? So anyway, I think that's a part of it. But that's how I do it. You know, you overcome it.

What about— they're like, oh man, I just need to check with my husband, or I just need to check with my wife. What do you say to that?

And oftentimes I like to actually bring their husband or wife on the call earlier By asking, are you the decision maker on this opportunity or is there someone else involved? Right? And they'll be like, yeah, I have to check with my husband. Well, are they around? Why don't they just sit in and just, you know, so they can be fully immersed in the information, you know, and, you know, if they're not around and available, this is where the P comes into play, which, you know, the final step, which is the pull. The pull is ethical scarcity and urgency, right? So after the call, I typically give a 3-hour window to decide. I don't let people sleep on it because, you know, that, you know, oh, I just need to sleep on it. That is a recipe for decreasing the emotional heightened state that we just got them into.

Oh my gosh. Really?

Right. Yeah.

So ways.

Yeah. Yeah. So don't let them sleep on it because they're oftentimes not going to make a decision anyway in your favor. If they're gonna do it, they're gonna do it that day.

I think so too.

Yeah. And, you know, obviously the sales cycle's different if you're selling like software to like a Fortune 100 company, like, you know, it's gonna be different. It'll be months, but like you could still leverage ethical scarcity and urgency. And key here being ethical, right? Like ethical meaning ethical.

Yeah. Yeah.

So if you're like, hey, scarcity-wise, I only have I have, you know, 5 spots this month for my mastermind, you know, and then you go ahead and sell 6 spots. Like, that's out of integrity. And I'm not about that, you know. So it has to be ethical, right? And then when it comes to—

I strongly believe that. I mean, oh, yeah.

Yeah. So and then the urgency part is how you get people to make a decision within the 3 hours. You're like, okay, you know, if you make a decision, and if you check with your husband or wife, in that 3-hour timeframe and I'll send you a follow-up email with the high notes that you can repeat, you know, refer to them, you know, but if you make that decision within 3 hours, you get X bonus, right? X urgency. So usually, you know, it's like something that is very valuable. You know, it could be an extra hour of one-on-one consulting with me or you, or it could be an event ticket or it could be whatever, right? Something valuable. But that's how you make them make the decision within You know, that urgent timeframe. And yeah, it really is oftentimes where I see people lose a potential sale by just not getting the P proper, you know, the pull, right? You got to have ethical scarcity and urgency. One pro tip here that I'm going to mention, I don't even talk about this often, but—

So what the P is for? Pull? Pull. Yeah.

You want to pull them into the opportunity by Leveraging ethical scarcity and urgency, not push. Push is what most people do.

They're like, yeah, yeah, you're right.

You need to buy this. You need to buy this.

You know, in the ethical urgency and scarcity.

So one pro tip here that I just want to mention, you need to have a price anchor.

Oh, price anchor.

Yeah. So if I'm going to sell, like if my key offering is a $25,000 mastermind, I need something $50,000 or $100,000 to anchor that price.

Right.

So when I was selling our biohacking, I ran a biohacking company for like 3 years prior. We had our core thing was $25K. We had a $100K opportunity for this like 5-day immersive thing that we might have sold one of them. But really I told everyone about them because everything in relation to $100,000, you know, that is below $100,000 looks less expensive because it is. So now my frame has changed, right? If I start that here's my $25,000 thing and then, you know, I am trying to sell that, just that $25,000 thing. Well, they're gonna think probably that that's expensive in relation to their last coaching program, which was $10,000, right? So the price anchor is something that every single person should have. Manufacture an offer that, yeah, it's worth that money, but ultimately, you know what you're trying to sell. Like Starbucks is trying to sell most of their their largest offer, right? Their, their biggest cup, they just make it a couple cents more than the, the medium. I don't even know their Italian names, what they call 'em, but you know, the, you know, the, the venti or the grande or whatever. They, they know which one they're trying to sell the most of by how they price it, right? So you need to price accordingly and always have a price anchor. So that's the roadmap.

That is so good. Oh my goodness. And that is just part of your Yeah, yeah.

That is just one alignment. We talk about financial abundance. You know, I believe the fastest way to—

I can't wait to get this book. I can't wait.

Yeah, I'll send you the new copy for sure. But yeah, we'll have the audiobook and everything out and, you know, I'll do like special interjections and, you know, but yeah, that's one piece to the puzzle is how to, you know, abundance financially. It's the A in our soul mapping framework, but you need to know how to sell if you want to make more money.

That's the That is incredible. So you gave us so much information from just like one part of your book.

One of the 10. Yeah.

Oh my goodness. That I am so— you could literally, well, and I know you know this, but I'm like, each acronym or each part of the—

you have a whole course, whole, I mean, this There's a lot of IP and a lot of like backend work to get these, like for selfless service, for example, we talk about GIFT, give insight, finances, and time, right? For optimized health, we talk about energy, you know, environment or exercise, nutrition, environment, rest, gallon, youth. And we go into all of it. For unplugged digitally, we talk about break, book, you know, which is how to, you know, get control of your device use, you know, barriers, recharge, eliminate, airplane mode, and keep. So it's like we have acronyms for each of these 10 areas to make them sticky, to make them like actually work for you. And that's one of the things that I really wanted to do with, you know, it's a, ultimately it's a business and personal development book and I wanted to make it so it's very much like action-oriented and can actually change lives, you know, by implementing it, not just talk theory. So that's why we went deep into the frameworks.

Yeah. Well, I've got pages of notes just talking to you. Thank you. I'm sure the listeners are going to have a ton of notes and want to go back and relisten to this. I'm going to go back and relisten to it. I'm going to make sure everybody, all my clients and all the people in my mastermind listen to this. And yeah, thank you so much for your generosity.

Of course.

So what is the best way for people? Because I think You can, can I go ahead and buy your book presale, right?

Yeah, you can. We have the preorder available and it comes with over $350 worth of legit bonuses. We got masterclasses, we got workbooks, like real bonuses attached to anyone who does preorder. And you could just go to thehappyhustle.com/book. And then after you buy a copy of the book, if you wanted to actually get some of the, like we have a couple bulk options to get more books if you did want to share them with more people, we have some amazing bonuses included with those bulk options. So like if you get, you know, 5 copies or 10 copies or whatever, there's like really valuable bonuses that—

That'll be on there. So if I go to thehappyhustle.com/book, then I can buy a bundle?

The bundles are under bulk, but if you just want one, then it's just You know, go to book, uh, forward slash book.

Okay.

Yeah, I'm going— sorry if that was, if that was confusing, everyone, you could get to the bulk page by just going to order one, one to start. So thehappyhustle.com/book.

Okay. That's what it'll be. Y'all don't worry. It'll be in the show notes because I know you're going to want to get this book, especially if you're an entrepreneur or, or actually anyone, like if you're a mom chasing kids around the house or dad chasing kids around the house, but you got a side hustle I mean, this book is amazing. I, I, Carrie, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So we'll have your website. We'll have thehappyhustle.com/book in the show notes. We'll also have, uh, your Instagram handle and, and maybe by then we will have gotten a landing page for our couples Montana retreat that we're planning. Who knows?

We, yeah, we got to get the date locked down and, uh, yeah, and start inviting your amazing tribe and mine. So I, I mean, we already have probably most of it sold out just by word of mouth. So, but, uh, but yeah, we'll, we'll pick the dates and, um, we'll put it—

We might not even need a landing page. We might just, yeah, make a couple of calls and talk to our friends and be like, yeah, I want to go.

I think it's— I have, I have, um, if people want to know kind of the gist, it's at thehappyhustle.com/mastermind, and they can see some of the past ones, and then we'll get something custom on You know?

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, that's a lot, a lot of— and then hopefully we have you on the podcast soon, the Happy Hustle Podcast, again, whenever you want to come back. Maybe for your new book, we could talk about that. But yeah, I would love to rock the mic again. And, uh, thank you.

Well, I, I've been just so excited to get to talk with you. Thank you for your generosity and all that you share. I mean, on the podcast and before the podcast. Thank you for your time. Enjoy your baby. Give your wife— send your wife my love. And, um, anyway, thank you again. And, and y'all, thank you so much for tuning into the show. So great, Carrie. Thanks for coming back to True Grit and Grace. And if y'all, uh, make sure you subscribe and leave a review, shout Carrie out. Thanks for listening in to the True Grit and Grace podcast. We'll see you next week. Bye.

Yeah, peace and love, everyone. Thanks again. Peace and love, everyone.

Thanks again.