Redefining Success: How Giovanni Marsico Cultivates Communities that Change Lives

I don't want to talk about money, even though it's one of the most important topics. I want to talk about creating change, helping a lot of people, and making a lot of money doing that. I have this new part of my mission to redefine the word millionaire to mean someone who impacts a million people and makes a lot of money doing so. What's happened is that I've become so much of myself where I'm not trying to be something else or someone else without the fear of judgment because people are going to judge it anyway. So I might as well not pretend. I might as well just show up as me. And the more I do this, the more I'm attracting people who are aligned with me. When anyone hears the word marketing, or they assume it's advertising, or they assume it's what it takes to get someone in front of you, to me, marketing is what you do after someone pays you.

All right, Giovanni, I am so thrilled to have you here. Listen, I know we've known each other for, I'm going to say, 10 years. Like, let's throw a decade on there. And one thing that I know from the moment even before I met you, actually, the attraction and the magnetism you have about you and about all the really cool things that you create, you know, I know again, even before we connected, knowing how drawn I was to what you're trying to build, and what I would love to maybe kick off with is for you to share a little bit of your story, because I know you've got a, you know, a unique start that wasn't in the business that you're in now. And you know how that kind of evolved into. You're starting up to now.

Yeah, I, I, well, first of all, thank you for having me. This is so fun. And we've had so many incredible conversations that I wish were recorded. So finally we get to do this. I, it's been a fun journey. I, I mean, I've, I've done, I've produced events my whole life. I started when I was 16, in high school, and our first event had a thousand kids. We were doing these dance parties for teenagers, and it was so much fun. And I've, I actually calculated, I think I've had half a million people attend my events in my life so far. We're working on getting to a million. And that's one of my goals. And that's, I think a lot of people know me for events, for marketing, strategy, kind of coaching and community building, which is, I think, what people call one of my superpowers and interesting. So I. The last job I ever had was at a place called strategic coach for Dan Sullivan, incredible company. And I was running the marketing there. Yeah. And I running the marketing there and left to start marketing coaching and consulting. And that led me into real estate and because one of my marketing consulting clients was in that space and I helped them with their business and we decided to partner up. And I never actually wanted to do real estate. It just felt lucrative at the time. And it was. She and I had sold with our other two partners, 200 million in pre construction condo investments. And you know, I was winning all these awards and being featured in magazines and secretly I didn't like it. But how do you tell people that you're successful, quote unquote, and then not happy and maybe even secretly depressed? It was weird. But it afforded me the chance to invest in personal development, invest in conferences, mastermind groups, coaching, all these amazing things. And I got to start meeting a lot of amazing people. So I'm forever grateful for that journey. And as I was attending events and attending these groups, I always felt like things were missing. Like I, I loved meeting the people I was meeting, but it was like, I feel weird. I feel like I'm a misfit or I don't fit in in some way because I don't want to just talk about money, even though it's one of the most important topics. I want to talk about creating change and helping a lot of people and making a lot of money doing that. So it was either let's just make money or let's just make a difference. And I wanted the kind of combination of both. So I started my own events and community for people like me because I needed to be a part of a community and, and I thought if I can't find it, I'm just going to start it. And that's what, what happened in 2014 with our first event. We had 120 people. Fast forward, you know, we've done. I actually lost track, I think a hundred events since then, from 10 people to 5,000 people, and built this incredible global community of entrepreneurs like me and you, who we aspire to make a ton of money and do really well, but at the same time, or maybe even more importantly, help a lot more people. I have this new part of my mission is to redefine the word millionaire to mean someone who impacts a million people and makes a lot of money doing so.

Maybe a million. Yeah, well, maybe, maybe. No, that's awesome, man. And I, I don't know that I was at your very first event with the 120 people, but I think I was year two. Was year two. Like you've had some big names on your stage was year two, Gary Vee.

Well, Gary Vee was our first big summit, right. So we, we started doing these smaller, intimate, mastermind kind of events with 100, 150 people. And we, we did a couple in Toronto and then we did a few in Los Angeles and it was amazing. And then I quit real estate at the beginning of 2016 because this archangel thing had taken off and I couldn't deal with doing both. And then because all my energy went into this project, I thought we should do a big scale event with over a thousand people. And that was our first summit in September of 2016. Actually today is our seven year anniversary of that event.

Wow. Well, happy anniversary on that event. I was definitely there. And probably, you know, for me, knowing that like, like you, I invest in a substantial amount of time and resources and efforts in continuous self and personal development, business and personal and health and all of that. Because you know, from my perspective, if anything I've learned over the last 16 years of having my own business that that is where we get the greatest amount of growth, is stretching ourselves. And I remember the first event that I went to, the first big event was that event. And that changed everything for me where, you know, the takeaways were unbelievable, the connection was, you know, next level. And I remember, you know, that was an evolution. I think that's what drew me in when you had your master's group. And I remember, and I tell this story often, Gio, but you're not normally in the room when I tell this story. But the master's event, which had some requirements, I think you had to have a million dollars in revenue in your business in order to kind of qualify. And you know, I had just sort of surpassed that at the time. And I was nervous. We went to San Diego, San Diego. And I remember being in this room of about 300 people. And I remember at the start of this day, and I think it was a three, three day event and you said to the group, listen, I've essentially put you at a table strategically with people that we felt like there was a really great connection, opportunity or collaboration. And I got, I still feel like I was at the wrong table. And the reason, the reason I was is that I, you know, was going around introducing again being a little bit uncomfortable in my own skin at that point and definitely felt like I was living someone else's life because beside me was Naveen Jain. And I was like, hold on, this guy is disrupting the world. But, you know, predominantly his discussions were focused on health care and gut health. And I'm like, huh, I've got an accounting and tax business from Canada. Nice to meet you. And I remember that. And I was like, oh my God, like I stretched me so much getting out of my comfort zone. And I did disappoint myself that week because I remember and I say this so that people who can resonate with this, like, we need to push ourselves. You had your 126 talks and essentially what Gio did is he put everybody or gave everybody the opportunity to have 126 seconds on the stage to share something impactful for the rest of the room. And I remember like this room was something special. You know, I don't remember everybody that was there, but of course Naveen was there. The Dan Martells of the world were there. Right. It was a great room and this was an opportunity to get seen by this next level of people. And I cowered at the table and never got up. And which is amazing considering I speak often now on, you know, fairly large stages probably because of that where I felt a level of inferiority there because I hadn't gone through it before and being beside Naveen Jain. But like the experience and transformation of this event for me was life changing. So thank you for that And I can truly share, you know, the magic that you create at your events is, is next level first.

Thank you. And I, you know, I've had my own experiences like that, even one with Naveen at an event where they sat me next to him. I didn't know that about you, so that's really cool. And honestly, one of the things I've discovered is, and I find this so profound is that no matter who someone is or when you're with someone or when you know someone you admire or even look up to, everybody has some form of imposter syndrome. And it's because, well, I can't say everybody, but most people or at least most people in our world do because we're growing, right? So even if you're running a business like I had someone and I'll keep confidential, but they're running a nine figure business and secretly came to me saying, you know, I, I need help with something very specific and I'm almost embarrassed to ask for it because people see me as this hugely successful person and I don't know this one thing and I don't want to be seen as a beginner. And I think we all have that in some way, right. And there's always something new to learn. So as long as we're growing, we're going to feel that imposter syndrome. And that's, to me, it's like GPS for growth. It's, it's actually a good thing and maybe we can reframe our relationship with it so that we don't feel a weirdness or a shame or whatever and realize we have so much to contribute and let's just keep growing together. And I think what solved that for me and for you and for all of us is that when you build community of people who are aligned where you're safe to be yourself and show up and share your wins and share your struggles and ask for help and not feel weird about it, it's a game changer. So my first huge tip for anyone watching or listening is find your people, find a community where you feel safe to show up, be yourself and you're all growing together.

Yeah, 100% and take a chance. I would have never had that growth in that moment at that event or continued to be at all of your events, to be honest, if I hadn't taken that first sort of leap and investment in myself. And yeah, it's scary. You know what, taking risks is scary. But you know, for people like GEO, who create these communities that embrace you and surround you with, you know, reinforced confidence and knowing that you're in the right place, it's, it's honestly, it's life changing. And for anyone who's looking to make this sort of investment in themselves and in their own personal development, like, you definitely have to check JIO out and, and his communities and what he's up to. I'm going to talk more about that in a little bit because I definitely want to share your magic with everybody. But you know, I want to hop back in here talking about your story and, and sort of the transformation from DJing, essentially the, the kids events into really, you know, DJing the masterminding of, you know, some really successful people. So one of the true strengths, and I know you said connecting people is really for me building that community and I haven't seen anybody do this like you and you know, I'll throw a little self plug in here, I'm pretty decently connected with some pretty successful people through, you know, communities like yours and whatever, we've been able to build up a pretty decent network. But I can honestly say I've never met Anyone like you who builds a community of people that are coming together for, like, feeling good about making a difference in the world. So would love to know from you, Gio, you know, what is it that you do that's so incredible? That's different, you know, what are your tips for people on building a community, a tribe of followers? Because again, I think probably more than anyone else, you've got this large community of people who would take a bullet for you and for your cause. And maybe if you have any insights on how you do that so magically.

Well, part of it is what you just said. First of all, again, thank you. Having a cause, meaning one of the components is speaking up about who you care about and who you want to serve and who you would take a bullet for and, you know, taking a stand for them. And the clearer you are with that, especially when you understand yourself first. I think, and I've realized this more and more lately, what's actually happened is that I've become so much of myself where I'm not trying to be something else or someone else without the fear of judgment because people are going to judge it anyway. So I might as well not pretend. I might as well just show up as me. And the more I do this, the more I'm attracting people who are aligned with me. So the community building is more of aligned attraction. It's. It's people who see what I'm saying or what I'm writing online or whatever it is and thinking, wow, I really resonate with that with you. I literally did a post this morning about this where I started with, you know, you're weird, you don't fit in, you're a misfit. And all of these things that I've been told about myself. And at the end of this post, I said, if all of this is resonating, you're one of us. And I've had so many people either comment or even more dm, saying you literally took the words out of my mouth. And I think for anyone, you know, if you want to build community, it's that it's letting people know what you stand for, who you are, what you believe in, what your values are, and start building culture. It might be weird to say it in this way, but for context, if you were going to start a church, and I don't mean a religion or maybe, but how does any religion start? It starts with someone who takes a stand for what they believe in and they. They look for people who have a shared cause, a shared vision. It could be A church. It could be a mission, it could be a charity, it could be anything where it has to do with values and alignment and change that you want to make in this world and, and you declare these things. People get attracted to it.

Yeah, 100%. Speaking of vision and values and, you know, core beliefs, I was also at your second annual event where Simon Sinek was on stage too. And that was, you know, my intro to him. And he's a game changer too. Again, you tend to attract these world class people and bring them together and, you know, it's definitely admirable.

I have a, I have a second story for you if you want. So.

Yeah, please.

Before the event, he called me and he said, listen, I do so many damn keynotes, can you interview me instead? I thought, okay, because he's literally my favorite speaker in terms of his stage presence and his genius. And if you haven't read his book, start with why it's one of my favorite books ever. And I thought, wow, what an awesome opportunity. I get to be one of the first people to interview Simon. And I tried to not stump him, but I was like, let me come up with some really good questions. And every answer was like a 12 out of 10. And then we did Q and A with the audience and some of the questions were so unique and interesting and every answer he gave was a 12 out of 10. I thought, this guy is a magical human. And all he talks about is start with why you do what you do and then what you do. I think part of this conversation is, or maybe we can have a discussion of what makes people successful. And I think I'm. You're like me. I know you're like me. You're always looking for patterns. And one of the patterns is we don't just learn, we execute. You know, like you, you don't just dream. And I'm the biggest dreamer ever. You, you dream and then you actually take action. You learn something and then you apply it. You don't just have a, a shelf full of books like our, our friend Jim Quick says, you know, shelf help. It's like you, you, you need to take action and execute. And, and I, I think that's one of the key things. So I learned from Simon and I, I executed, we had Seth Godin speak at at least four of our events, same kind of thing. So I, I, Seth is my hero, or he's always been like, I, he's my favorite author and if you don't know him, he's one of the best marketing authors There is. He's had over 22 bestselling books, and I wanted him to speak at our first big summit, the one. That first one you came to. And I thought, how do I. How do you pitch the best marketer in the world? Like, you can't. And he doesn't like to fly, by the way.

Oh, right, I did know that. Yeah.

And I had no connection to him either, which is even more challenging. The only thing I knew is that he actually checks his email and he responds to every email, which I think is insane, but he does. So my, my, my. I'll share what the pitch was because I think it's so valuable for all of us listening and then how to think about it. So the pitch was, seth, I'm your biggest fan. And I know you've heard that a million times, and I've read all your books, and I know you've heard that a million times, but here's the one thing you haven't heard a million times. I'm your success story, and I want to share how I'm a case study for you. And I went through all the books that I've read and how I applied his wisdom to create this archangel thing that we've built. And I said, thanks to you, I'm about to produce an event with a thousand people that only exists because I'm your student, and it would be amazing to come full circle and have you speak at the event that only exists because of you. And. And his response was, how do I say no to this?

It's great. Like, he's right. How do you say no?

And the way to think about this is, I believe every human is on a path, on a journey, and we all have a bigger and better future we're trying to get to. And we all have an aspiration, and if you help someone get to their future faster, you become valuable to them. So someone like Seth, who has all the success and all the accolades and money's not a thing, what's the thing? In my head, I was like, what is the one thing that he wants most right now? And to me, it was knowing that his work mattered. Like, knowing all the blood, sweat, and tears actually made a difference. And I wanted to prove that I am his success story, which I am. And that's how we've built our relationship. And, you know, if you want anything from anybody, just understand where they want to get to and how to help them get there faster. Like, we had Gary Vee at that event, too. And, you know, same thing. How do you pitch Gary Vee and I knew he had a big book launch happening and authors love, sell a lot of books. So I didn't say, can you speak? I said If I buy 3,000 of your books, will you come speak again? It's like, well, yeah, yeah, sure. So that helped.

Yeah, yeah, that's pretty amazing. Yeah. And again, you know, world class people that you get to associate with your community, but these people don't exit your life. Like Seth Godin, for example. You know, I, I feel very fortunate to be part of your council membership and which we'll talk about, but I know Seth just continues to circle around and make reappearances because it's not like you create this sort of one time financial transaction that happens. You create real connection with people and maybe, you know, a tribute to your community as well that continues to attract these people back as well. And again, Gio, you do so many wonderfully magical things that it's, it's great to be a part of it for sure. So listen, I know, you know, I feel like I've pumped your tires here too for those people who, and I mean it, and it's genuine, it's not a, I don't need anything from you in exchange for this. This is just me wanting to share the magic that you create. But we know it's not always roses. We know that there's definitely challenges along these journeys. So thinking specifically of starting your business from scratch in a space that you didn't really necessarily have experience in to now where you've got, you know, I'm going to say hundreds of thousands of people part of your universe in one way, shape or form. What are some of the challenges that you've had along the journey and how did you overcome them?

I've lost track.

I know it's a loaded question, right? It's a loaded question. And if you're anything like me, you go like challenges this week because I could probably go on for the next 20 minutes related to that. But if you were thinking of some highlights of some, you know, larger obstacles or some major challenges that you overcame and you felt really proud of it.

The, the first one that comes to mind is not having the right support because you think you can do everything yourself and not investing in experts like, thank God I hired you.

Oh, this is the return plug, right?

Well, I mean we, you know, on, on this journey, one the challenges for anyone is that you don't know what you don't know. And business growth and entrepreneurial growth is very also tied into Personal growth. But so there's these interesting things that happen along the way. And I think I equate it to an 80s video game. So if you think of, let's say, Super Mario Brothers, which I don't know if you ever played that, but I.

Oh, yeah, I did.

So the original ones were. Or I guess any of them. There's levels, right? So you start at level one, you get through the level, you avoid the monsters, and you get to the final. The end of the level. There's like the main monster you have to defeat. You defeat him, you get to level two. I feel like all growth is like that. Like. Like life growth and business growth, where you master a level, and it might be at the beginning figuring out how to make an offer and figuring out how to sell your thing and figuring out how to deliver something that actually creates a result for someone. And then you have all of these battles along the way. And then you get to level two, you're like, oh, now more people want my thing. How do I offer it to more people? And then you're juggling, and you're learning how to juggle, and it's all. Every level, you have to acquire new skills. And then at some point, you're. You're capped out. You know, your time capacity is gone. You're like, oh, I have to hire people and figure that out. So now you. You shift from being the artist that. Or, you know, you start with a dream, and then you finally, you're an artist, you're creating, and people are buying your time or they're buying your art, whatever that is, for anybody. And now you run out of time. You're like, oh, man. So now you have to shift from an artist to a builder, and you're building a business, and you have to figure out finances and HR and operations and systems and technologies and all these things. And, like, it's always a new skill set, and it's always a new level. And every time you feel like you're a beginner and a noob, like my kids say, but you're not. You're just. You're stacking skills, right? And I think the challenge is not realizing what the levels are, or at least the one where you're at and the one ahead of you so that you can start acquiring the skills you need to get through the next monster at the end of that level. And you probably have way better knowledge of this than I do. But I have a feeling that for most people, finances is kryptonite, where their thing is, what they know whether they're a craftsperson or a plumber or a coach or consultant or a health practitioner. Right. They know their thing. They've had years of training on their thing. What they don't have is hiring and finance and marketing and all these other skills that you have to acquire along the way. So I think, you know, mistakes or lessons to share that other people could avoid is know where you're at and what the next level is for you and what skills that you'll. You're going to need to cross that next level. That'll be hugely important.

And it's so true, Gio. You know, I even had somebody jump in yesterday on a call with me, and, you know, super entrepreneur, she's got about a dozen businesses going. You know, she's moving into the US and, you know, one of the. One of the problems that we constantly see with entrepreneurs, that I see constantly with entrepreneurs, is there's so many ideas which are amazing. You know, they're really great at selling their idea, their concept, even collecting the cash related to it, but they're just so busy building the future that sometimes, you know, we forget about some of the obligations. And this particular entrepreneur came in and she said, you know, I've got all these companies and, you know, looking at franchising and expanding into the US and, yeah, but I haven't filed any of my taxes for the last three years, and my bookkeeping hasn't been done this year. And she's like, I'm really embarrassed about it. And I very quickly go, this is my third call today with the same situation. Maybe not the 12 companies in the franchising and into the U.S. you know, that's a little bit more unique to you. But the reality is, is that we're, as business owners trying to create something magical, and we're focused on the future and building that out. And it's almost like we just need to look back and go, can someone just deal with this, please, so that I can focus here? Because that's where I'm changing my impact. And so this particular lady, very quickly, I was like, no, this is. You're exactly in the right spot. We understand how to support you in, you know, these sort of, you know, in these sort of challenges in providing the support so that you can go and realize your mission.

And.

And for sure, you know, when you talk about stacking skills, yes, we need to continue to hire the right teams. You know, I've got a really great marketing agency that we work with that pulls together all these podcasts and they do magical things that I don't know how to do, where I just want to share the lessons and, and help people understand how to stack their skill set. So, yeah, it's amazing to be able to bring people in and help support us along our journey as well. Listen, I want to ask you something and it's something that I don't know a lot about and I know this is something that you're involved with that is pretty special. Can you tell me about the documentaries that you're involved with, why you're doing them and you know, what sort of impact you're creating with those?

So I feel like in my life I manufacture serendipity and the more I've been working on this archangel mission, the more awesome opportunities come my way. And one of the groups that I run is called Archangel Council. You're a member of that group. And another member of the group is a guy named Nick Nansen who is a 22 time Emmy Award winning director of films. And he said, I just made this awesome movie about child trafficking and showcasing what's happening in that world with. And we used it as a fundraiser and we built this whole community around it. Which, by the way, that movie was a documentary and it turned into a movie called Sound of Freedom which just came out as a. I don't know if you've heard about it, but it's like a huge film and Hollywood film. And he thought, you know, you. He said to me, gio, you have an amazing community. Would you want to co create a film with them similar to this? And I said, yes, but I don't want to be dramatic or negative. I want it to be aspirational, uplifting. And we created a film called Dreamer together, which was about people who had these really big dreams to change the world in some way and actually executed and made it happen. And what Nick didn't know was that it's. I'm a movie freak. Like for the past 15 years, except for during COVID every Friday I go to a matinee movie by myself to watch whatever came out. I've seen thousands of films. I love movies and I love stories and it's been a childhood dream to produce films. So for him to ask me, I was like, the little 10 year old to me was like, yes, please. And we did it and then the film was ready in 2020 and we were going to do a big red carpet thing in the fall of 2020. And then Covid happened and we're like, shoot. So that summer we Did a. We said we have to help people because it was really tense the summer of 2020 and scary. And we said, why don't we just give this away for free for a week? We'll just let people opt in, watch it for free for a week before we release it on, on platforms and stuff. And we had a hundred thousand people watch it and we had thousands of people emailing back saying, this is, this movie changed my life. I saw it with my kids, they love it. And that feedback was unbelievable. I wasn't expecting any of that. And I thought, okay, I want to do more of this. And Dreamer went on to win three Emmy awards, which is unbelievable. Like, so now I can say I'm an Emmy award winning producer, which is really cool.

Yeah, not too many people could say that, Gio.

So amazing. And we just finished our second film which is called Hero. And the idea is I kind of want to make a whole new genre of movies called real life superhero movies. So we, you know, I, I love Iron man and Spider man and X Men and that's fiction. And I think we know people who are changing the world, who are helping a lot of people and I want to showcase their story. So we're going to make a film every year now showcasing stories of amazing humans. And Hero is just finished. We're going to launch it in 2024 officially. But we're, you know, we have something big happening in November of 2023. We're going to do the same thing. We're going to let people watch it for free for a week. You just have to opt in. And I want a million people to see this one.

Yeah, to where? So I'll segue here just because I think it's an important spot. Where can people get access to Dreamer? Hero? Where should they go to help support that Dreamer?

Well, just find me because on social like Instagram, it's probably the best. Or Facebook and then or giovannymarcico.com and you'll get links for all these things. Dreamers on Apple, Google, Amazon in the US and in a bunch of other countries. Hero, we're working on distribution right now, so that'll come out in 2024. But if you follow me, you'll be able to see it for free in November.

Amazing. And we'll make sure everybody will make sure those links are all attached to this podcast as well, which is amazing. And you know, it's so inspiring to hear you talk about being an Emmy winning producer and not even just that, you know, sharing the Stories of real life, people who have all had, you know, the imposter syndrome have all gone through and likely still do, and are just going through and changing the world in such a positive way to get their story out, I think is so, so powerful. So kudos to you and your community for doing that. Super amazing. Let's talk about counsel. So one of the interesting things that I found is, and everyone's heard this before, you know, you, if you're not, or if you're in the smarter, if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. And council for me, is one of those spaces that you've created where there's so many incredible people who've had so many, you know, wonderful experiences, massive growth, you know, public companies, private companies, leadership in different ways, marketing operations, hr. Like, there's just so many incredible people in there that for sure, if, if anyone were to jump in there, you're going to learn something. Tell me a little bit about your intent with counsel. And I know that you've moved a major focus towards building council out. What does that look like?

So, originally, and it took me a while to actually launch because of imposter syndrome, and I'll explain why, and I have the antidote to that. But when I first launched it a few years ago, my intention was to have a membership and mastermind group that's like a board of advisors to help me scale Archangel, where one of the qualifications was you had to be ahead of me, meaning you had to have more revenue, bigger team. And then I thought, who the hell am I to lead a group of entrepreneurs who are all ahead of me? It doesn't make any sense. And then the thing that changed my life was the realization that none of the members cared that they were ahead of me. They only cared that I can get them ahead. And going back to what I talked about, Seth Godin. Right. Everyone's on a path. If I can help them get further down their path or get them what they want faster, that's valuable. And one of the things which is so interesting for anyone at a high level in entrepreneurship, one of the challenges is connection. Because you're at the top of your mountain, people always come to you with their problems, whether it's your team or clients. Who do you go to for support or advice when you're a leader? So I connect leaders to other leaders, and that's my superpower. So it doesn't matter where people are at, on their, what level they're at or how much Revenue or how big the team is, it's, it's valuable for me to use my gifts to, to help that. And I think everyone listening or watching, it's the same thing. It doesn't matter if someone is ahead of you, it's can you get them further ahead on their own path with your gifts? And that's, that was the, the, the catalyst for starting the group. Now one of my new moonshot missions is to help a thousand people become millionaires by 2030. And again my definition of that word is someone who impacts a million people. So councils like my group of either millionaires or what I call millionaire makers, people who have an expertise that supports these people on their missions. And it is a life changing community of people who are all. And by the way, going back to your smartest person in the room, I've always loved that phrase. But then I realized, wait a minute, there's something interesting here because council is a group of people who are the smartest person in the room. Everyone is a genius, but they're, they have their own genius and synergistically they want to connect to other people's genius. So we're all the smartest person in the room in our own way. And then we all have imposter syndrome, we all have some kind of kryptonite and we can support each other's growth way faster by being together.

Totally. Yeah. Love that. Super powerful and your insight about, you know, helping them get further ahead regardless of where you are. You know, one I think is a really great sales message, you know, for anybody who's trying to say, hey, how do we help more people with delivering what we deliver? Just find a way to get them ahead with whatever you offer, whatever knowledge you have. That's pretty powerful. And for sure, you know, council is, is there's so many bright people in there and so many people who I know we get the opportunity to see on stage at some of your events. Would love to maybe hear a little bit more about events. I do want to plug specifically one. I know we're just heading into the fall of 2023, I know there is one coming. But here's one thing I will say about your events geo every time I go to one, it's better than the last one and the last one was incredible. This one just seems to always be have a little bit more sweeter icing on the cake. So can you share a little bit about your events, what type of events you have throughout the year? Maybe specifically the one that you're launching now? And then how people get to be part of your universe so that they can pay attention to the next one.

So the one coming up, and the way I always challenge myself is that every event has to be better and every event has to be a bit different so that there's always novelty because I don't like, I don't want people to get bored or think, oh, I'm going back to the same thing over and over again. So this one is called Millionaire. That's the name of the event and it's actually the name of our next film project. So we're every fall we do an event in Toronto where we're now going to connect to the next movie. Right. So the end part of the mission, right, so the, the mission of helping a thousand people become millionaires starts at this event. And anyone who resonates with that idea of I want to help a lot more people are going to be here and some incredible humans are going to be in the room. It's at the point where the attendees to me are more important than the speakers. Right. So a lot of events that people go to, they go to hear someone speak or to learn something and that's still, that's still there. But imagine a room where the attendees could all be on stage so there will be speakers. But it's more about the connection and the networking and the conversations and the matchmaking that I do, where I sit people at tables with each other, those kinds of things like you, that's going to happen. And then we're also, as part of this event, we're doing a red carpet premiere of our hero film, which is finished. So spending two days learning and connecting and changing your life. And then some fun evening activities too, with some even more amazing humans.

Amazing. And so what are the dates on that event, Geo?

October 12th and 13th.

Yeah. So we're going to make sure that this gets launched and out to our community because truthfully, you know, if you guys have already heard me share my experience of being at GIA's events, they are life changing in so many ways. And this is just one of those investments that you need to make in yourself, because I know it's time and everybody is holding onto their time, so with a stranglehold. And this is just one of those moments where we have to, we have to say the investment of this time to be at these events is such a massive transformational investment for you and your life and your goals and, and your purpose. And you need to find this community. Like Geo said earlier, find your people you know, go out and find your people at this event if, if what Geo is sharing with you is resonating, that you're finding a purpose to advance humanity and become a millionaire who impacts a million people. This is your tribe, this is where they are. And wholeheartedly endorse everyone being there. I will definitely be there and excited about it every single time. So, Gio, thank you for that. Let's just. One last thing and, and, and then I have a last question to ask you. But if people wanted to find you or to be part of your community, is going on Instagram finding you the best way to do that?

I, I'm sure you'll put links to my sites and stuff and the show notes, but just message me like it's the easiest way. Say you heard me through Bob and let's have a conversation. I want to actually give an amazing tip that relates to our event, but I think if you're an entrepreneur, if you're in any kind of business, actually no matter what business you're in, you're in the business of giving people their time back because especially if you have a service, they could try to do it on their own, but that's frustrating and draining and energetically a disaster and costly versus hiring or talking to a professional or an expert. Right. So you, for example, you've given me thousands of hours of my life back not having to stress about finance. I will give people a thousand hours back of connection with amazing humans because what happens is you go straight to intimacy. If you had to go out and network and go to different events and, or whatever it is, reach out to people cold and try to build business relationships like authentic ones with amazing humans. It's impossible or you'd have to invest hundreds of thousands to get into all these different rooms. I'm putting everybody in one room so that within two days you built incredible relationships and you've learned how to scale and you've learned how to be the best version of yourself and all the things that it takes to be a millionaire in my words. Or I'll put quilts around that.

No, it's so true. And looking forward to that. Last question I'll ask you, and it's one that I ask everybody, is all of your experience along this journey, I know you have so much wisdom and especially because of your connections with people who've been going through their own journey. What is maybe one thing that you would give as a piece of advice to an entrepreneur who's starting with where you were, you know, 10 years ago. What would that one piece of advice be on their journey to achieving the level of success that you have on.

Top of everything you and I have just shared. The one advice I would give myself if I had to go back, which I, I've kind of done, but I didn't have the, I didn't have the consciousness that I was doing it is that I'll start with marketing first. When anyone hears the word marketing or they, they assume it, it's advertising or they assume it's what it takes to get someone in front of you. To me, marketing is what you do after someone pays you. And what I mean by that is if you care deeply about who you're helping and you create transformations and you create something remarkable, the people you work with can't help but talk about you. And third party edification. Like having an army of of happy people talking about you is way more effective than cold Facebook ads or not. This Facebook I like, I love all these things, but I just feel like there's so much of an emphasis on advertising versus an emphasis on delivery and relationship building. And I've spent 10,000. Well, you know, what's my Facebook ad line item in my account? It's like zero. I don't advertise, I don't have to because I have people like you who come to the events and in the community like they can't wait to talk about the experience. And I think if we if people listening focus on how to be a even an ounce more remarkable, you can shave a lot off your marketing costs. And I would invest the marketing budget into relationship building budget and see what happens.

Totally. And I it's Jay Abraham who talks about the three ways to grow which is more leads, selling more to your existing clients and pricing. And you know which I love that model, love it because it's so bang on but it's missing one thing. And I talk about the key of being retention. And without retention you can continue to fill the bucket as full as you want. But if there's holes in the bucket, so you're saying the exact same thing, which is you know, the delivery and the experience and the community. You know, when you deliver that retention goes up. Not only does it turn from retention, but it turns into a referral and a community builder. Love that. Gio. Listen, my friend, I am so excited. One, that you're here and that we had an amazing conversation because we always do. Two, I'm excited for this event and the following event and to continue to watch the documentaries and your success along your journey. It's inspiring. Your willingness to devote your time and energy to help impact the world and make a positive movement is remarkable. And so grateful to call you a friend. And thank you, my friend, for being here supporting this guys. This has been the Wealthy Entrepreneur Podcast. Thanks for tuning in. If you're enjoying the Wealthy Entrepreneur Podcast, make sure you give us a follow. Share this episode so many incredible insights in here from my friend Giovanni. Thank you so much and we'll see you next time.