E22: Business News Anchor Jon Erlichman

Foreign.

This podcast is brought to you by Gensler Wealth. Now, before we do this, let's go over the ground rules. The information discussed today is meant to be general in nature and not tailored to your specific investing circumstances. This means that you should talk to your regular Gensler wealth advisor or your own advisor before acting on any information we discussed today. Nothing in this podcast is intended to be a solicitation and past performance does not guarantee future returns. And stay classy. Toronto. Breaking news. This just in. Today on the unlimited podcast, we interview John Ehrlichman, the anchor of BNN Bloomberg's morning program the Open. We talk about life as an on air financial journalist, what it takes to show up consistently every day, the secret to a great interview, what it's like interviewing Kobe Bryant and Robert De Niro. Stick around. We'll be back after this commercial break. Just kidding. Let's go. Well, welcome everyone to the Unlimited podcast. This one is scary for me, I must say, because I am interviewing John Ehrlichman, an expert interviewer, BNN anchor, and we're going to find out what life is like behind the camera in the financial journalist world. But I'm going to give it a try and hopefully I'm not going to mess up too much talking to the professional. It's sort of like me playing tennis with Roger Federer. You know, I can hit the ball, but this is scary. Hey John, welcome. Thank you for making the time, Brian.

It's a pleasure to be with you. I, I don't want you to be scared. This is a friendly environment. We're gonna have fun. This is gonna be a good time.

I love it. So you're already. See I'm supposed to make the guest feel like relaxed. You're making the host feel relaxed. This is, this is why you're the pro and I'm just pretending. So let, let me for the listeners, give a quick intro to John in case you don't know who he is and in case, unlike me, you don't speak, spend at least two hours a day watching him on tv, which I do from my office. So John Ehrlichman anchors BNN Bloomberg's morning program the Open, which airs every weekday. He also serves as co host of Bloomberg's global program Bloomberg Markets, which airs weekdays as well. John has a background as a scoop oriented reporter and accomplished interviewer of top global CEOs and a digital innovator. I'm going to make the bio quick, but not super quick because this is impressive. He's interviewed too many high profile Canadian CEOs and business leaders to name. But he's also interviewed athletes like Connor McDavid, entertainers like Robert De Niro, Ice Cube and Dan Aykroyd, entertainment industry players including Brian Grazer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney's Michael Eisner. The list goes on and on and on. I don't want to keep John waiting here, but you get the picture. And so we want to just have a chat about what it's like to be a financial journalist and a few other key things that I wanted to cover with you today. So again, thank, thank you, John, for being here. Really appreciate it.

That was fine. You took me down memory lane. Yeah, there's, there's, there's a lot of great interviews and this is going to be a great conversation, so I appreciate joining you.

Okay, awesome. Amazing. And actually speaking of memory, memory lane, can you just give, remind me and give our listeners just a little bit of background. You've been in the business for 20 plus years, I think, but what, what was the path? How did you get here? And maybe some interesting stops along the way just so folks know a little bit about your story.

Yeah, so I'm born and raised in Toronto. I went to the University of Western Ontario and I ended up studying economics there. And when I was graduating, I heard this business channel was starting up and I thought, you know, that could be interesting because I'm interested in media. I'd done some work in TV and film in my summers and I thought, I bet my dad would be proud if I went into financial television as opposed to just tv, broadly speaking. You know, if I'm not going to be a lawyer or a banker or whatever, maybe that's the path for me. And I just started as low as you can start. I ended up getting the lowest job possible when bnn, which previously had a different name, was just getting going. And I loved every minute of it. I was getting coffee, I was doing whatever anybody needed me to do. And it was such a fun environment that I, I got hooked. So I ended up rising through the ranks over a period of years, got an opportunity to go to New York for bnn, or what used to be bnn, said a few iterations over the years. And uh, after doing some great work with them in New York, I moved to Bloomberg and I worked covering the markets for Bloomberg in New York. I covered the 2008 financial crisis floor of the stock exchange constantly. Ended up moving out to San Francisco when Bloomberg decided they wanted to really emphasize a focus on technology. It also happened to be a really gloomy time in the world. Everybody was really worried about the uncertainty after the 2008 oh, nos. And tech was a bright light. So I ended up out in San Francisco, worked on a show that still exists today. It's now called Bloomberg Technology. It's gone through a few iterations. Spent some time in Los Angeles, moved into some broader reporting in la. I worked with ABC News while I was there, worked on some startup ideas and ventures, and they got an opportunity to come back home to Canada. And this is where I've been for the last seven years or so. And it's been an honor or privilege to work with bnn, which now has Bloomberg as a partner. So it's kind of come full circle and also to work with CTV News. And yeah, it's, it's exciting. The news is exciting. And that's a little bit of my own path.

Amazing. Amazing.

Yeah.

And so bring it back to today. So, you know, I said at the beginning, I see you on the TV every morning. It's up in the, in my office. Would love to understand what's a day in the life look like for you. Because, you know, you're on, you're, you're there, you're on. I see it every day. You know, how do you prep, how do you stay on top of what's going on in the world? How do you get yourself ready to be on air? All that sort of stuff. Because, you know, people don't necessarily know what it's like behind the, behind the scenes.

Yeah, it's not that glamorous, Brian. I'll, I'll be honest, I put on my pants like everybody else. It starts pretty early. And you know, what you're, what you're trying to do is a few things. We know what our audience wants. They want to be informed. They want to be up to speed on what's happening that day. So you're really trying to key in on, okay, what are going to be the top stories today? What matters to our audience? We have a great team that helps us to get ready for the day. Works very hard to get great guests that can complement our coverage. Some of those are in the moment. You know, maybe there's breaking news and someone comes on and talks with us. But a lot of times we're, we're trying to plan so that we don't have to be scrambling in the moment and we'll try to build out the show. It's kind of like making lunch or making a sandwich or making a salad. Right. Like you might come into the day you've got a few of the ingredients, you might have to get an extra ingredient, which that's some of the excitement of, of news. I'll be honest. A lot of us become these news junkies because you never know what the day is going to bring. So you have to kind of accept that. And you definitely, in live cable television, you have to accept that. You have to embrace the fact that you're going to have a plan in place, and you need to have a plan in place, but you might need to break it, you know, to, to follow where the news goes. So that's, that's, that's really where things come together, you know, in working with our, our global partners, you know, they've got their eye on even more stories that are happening globally. So you end up casting a wider net. As I move into my afternoon, but starts pretty early, work with our team in the morning, get our show to air, get off air, basically recoup, regroup, do it again in the afternoon and reset, recharge and get back at it.

Amazing. Well, yeah, it's funny. You talk about, you know, getting ready and things change, and you got it. You're on every day a little story for the listeners. When I first reached out to you and said, would you be so kind as to do the podcast? Maybe we'll have a quick call. I'll tell you what it's all about. And you said, sure. And then we had our quick. I do this with all guests. I have a, usually a quick free call before the podcast where we talk about what we might want to talk about and what I might put an agenda together. A lot of work goes into it, as you can imagine. And I got John on the zoom, and he came on and he said, okay, are we going? Are we live? So. So, I mean, it gave me a pretty good indication of, you know, you're a professional, you're. You're ready to rock, which is pretty amazing. I just thought that was an interesting view into how you and your world might operate versus, you know, us pretend interviewers over here. But let me ask, let me talk for a minute about a theme that I've used in the past here. I did, and I did this especially, for example, with DAV at Rosenberg, who I know you've interviewed a lot. It's sort of characteristics of successful people. And one of the, you know, not to toot your horn for you, but one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you was because I think, at least from my vantage point, it cannot Be easy. Every day, every single day, without fail. Getting up, getting ready, knowing you're going to be on. You have no choice. You have to do your best. You have to be live. Sometimes I wake up, I look at my calendar. If I have no meetings in the day, I feel pretty good. It's going to be a relaxing day. You don't have a relaxing day. And maybe you could just share for our listeners, like, what. What does it take to show up every single day, be on, be ready, no excuses. Because that, I think, is really a characteristic of a really successful person.

Well, they're very kind words. I appreciate it, but, you know, it's. It's an honor to do this. And when you get the opportunity to do it, I think it's important to embrace it. You know, there's. There's not a huge number of opportunities to do this, so I think you have to respect the opportunity, right? Because there are a lot of people who want to be doing these things. So if you don't want to do it, somebody else is in line who might do it, right? I mean, in the same way that in any field, right, you have to have that motivation, especially if it's an area that has pretty widespread appeal, like the kind of appeal where someone might look at it and say, well, I'd like to do that. And so there is that aspect of it. If you're not going to do it, somebody else will, so be ready for that. But I think that just being consistent, and I've learned that over the years, that is one of the keys to success with everything, right? Like, I have my good days, I have my bad days, but I know if you just keep pushing through and just stay committed to things, that good things do happen, right? And whether it's in investing, which is your expertise, whether it's in building a business, you know, whether it's in your hobby or even your profession, like athletes, right? You just. You can't do it all at once. And I think, you know, some of your audience will know that there was this viral video of a very successful Milwaukee Bucks player after they lost in the playoffs recently who mentioned essentially that you shouldn't think about losing as failure, per se, right? You're. You're constantly adding and moving forward and learning. And so I think that if you can stay committed, stay consistent, you're going to find that you're constantly adding and learning. And, you know, look, one of the things that's great about your podcast is your audience gets to learn so much. You get to learn Talking to different people, and I get to do that, too. So that's a motivating factor. Like, if I get up and I get ready and I put on my best version of myself, I'm going to have a great day. I'm going to have a chance to learn a lot of things myself. And yeah, I mean, it means that once it gets pretty late in the evening, you better be making sure you're getting to bed, you know, drink a bit of water, get a little exercise, get your rest, all that kind of stuff. But it really is exciting. I mean, it's an exciting career. And I have to say, I'm lucky in the sense that, you know, I have a lot of colleagues who work in broader news all the time. They're the ones who often have to drop everything sometimes go to other parts of the country, other parts of the world. Most of the time, I'm privileged to be able to have a. Have a lot of consistency with where I'm going to be during the week. So again, it's, it's, It's a lot of fun. And that, and that keeps me. That keeps me pretty jazzed up, to be honest with you.

Good. That's, that's. Those are some good words. I do recall during the heat of COVID I guess you were broadcasting, I'm going to have to assume, from some room in your house. I'm not really sure, but you were, you were also, nonetheless, on every day, any interesting sort of stories around, how you had to deal with that. And I know you've got some young kids and how you kept them out off the camera sometimes they were helping.

Me, you know, assistance behind the scenes. Well, you know, it's funny, I think a lot about how all industries are evolving. I covered technology pretty extensively when I was out in San Francisco for several years, and media has obviously changed. The fact that your podcast exists and we can do this podcast remotely just speaks to that very fact. And I remember I used to be on location, we'd have these big satellite trucks that people would rent for astronomical amounts of money so that you could be live in the field covering whatever, an Apple event, this, that, the other thing. And it just reached a point where it seemed like it wasn't the most efficient use of resources. Right. It was cool to be the journalist who had access to that. But it, it seemed like if you could do it in a much more efficient way, why not do that? Especially as. As phones got better and I'd had some experience working with different live streaming platforms. There was One that Twitter had launched. And I'd actually, when I was in Los Angeles, helped to build a, a network on that app, kind of like a channel that was, we almost, we programmed it almost as if it was 24 hour content. And I, I was primarily focusing on, on doing news coverage and I, I did live streaming from one of the main Republican debates. This is in the lead up to the election where Donald Trump emerged victorious. And so when all of a sudden the early days of COVID we didn't quite know what was going to happen, but wheels were emotion to think, well, gosh, if we have to keep the lights on and keep the TV airwaves full, but we can't necessarily be in the studio, what are we going to do? And candidly, I raised my hand and I said, look, let's give it a shot. Let's see what happens if we're at home and we're doing the show through some more modest looking technology and find out what happens. And that's how it got started. And it went so well that we were able to really embrace that. So much so that just to give B M Bloomberg in particular a nod of all the cable channels that are out there, I mean we, we were pretty consistent with having our hosts, our reporters figuring out this technology being live pretty much consistently for a very long stretch of time from home. But to your point, there's a new work method that you're working through. So I give my wife Caroline a lot of kudos for helping me in some of those nail biter moments. I have two daughters. They were great. Eventually Covid feels like a blur now, but it was a long stretch. Brian my, my daughters used to share a room and as, as they got older, they said, you know, dad, that room that you're broadcasting in, we would like that so that we can have our own bedroom. And so, you know, I had to find a new spot in the house, but you know, as a whole, look, I like, I love being creative. You know, I'm, I'm, I love, I love business, I love the topic of investing, but I also just love creativity. And even though Covid took away some of what we've traditionally done in media, it opened the door to just trying new things. And most of the time it was, it was, it was really fun. I will say though, to be back in studios now, to talk to people in person, it's hard to match the energy and the excitement that comes from that. And plus, like what we're trying to, you know, hold people accountable, ask questions that bring out the most truthful answers, give our audience what they want. Does help to be in a real television studio with. With people right in front of you.

Yeah, for sure. So that actually plays into my next. Or leads into my next question. You know, I'd like, I like to understand what happens in the studio. You know, there's, there's lots of information flying. You know, news is rapid, accessible by everyone every second on their phone. So what type of environment does that create for you and your team? As you know, news is coming, Is it frantically trying to get new news out the door as quickly as possible, or what's that, what's life like for you and your colleagues in this sort of always available, always accessible news stream that people can get in the palm of their hands?

It's a great question, and we spend a lot of time and energy trying to navigate that, because I think we started the conversation by talking about how I set up for the day. And, you know, the truth is that you're building a relationship with the audience and, and that's the starting point. Right. And we also talked about consistency. So part one for me is I need to build that level of trust with our audience, that I'm going to be there every day and we're going to have consistency in how we do things. But we also talked about how you have to be ready for whatever the day brings. And you're absolutely right that the world we live in throws a lot of information very quickly. And so you try to balance what's new and how quickly do we get to it, and then how are we going to be able to deliver that? Now, right now we're privileged. Let's just stay in the arena of financial news. We're privileged because Bloomberg is our partner and because they have spent decades building their own relationship with their users, which is rooted in trust, which means that they've got teams of people around the world that are spitting out headlines left, right and center, but in a really thoughtful editorial way. So as their partner, I have that tool in my back pocket. So if something breaks, you know, I can turn to that and try to make sure we're on the right path. But, you know, news is coming from everywhere. It's coming from social media, etc. Etc. So, yeah, there's, there's a lot of, in the moment trying to determine the news value, trying to determine whether or not we can deliver it just that minute or whether we need to take a little bit more time. And, you know, we could go really inside baseball. We don't have to. But, you know, look, there's, there's ways to determine what news is truthful, what requires a little more digging before we get into it. And I, I guess if we're doing it live on the air, you just get into the rhythms of, of knowing. Right. It's just, you know, in the same way that anybody who is a professional investor, they'll look at an income statement, they'll look at a balance sheet, and they'll know, they'll know when the numbers or the descriptions don't quite add up. And so you just start to get a sense for that over time. And, you know, beyond just having Bloomberg as our partner, which is fantastic, and the fact that I've got all these colleagues that are thinking in the same way in real time, too, we all hustle around that. But it is, it is a complicated world and it is a world where, especially in, in the, in financial markets where people will take advantage of that. It's just a reality.

Yeah. And so you mentioned you used the word truthful before and trying to figure out what's the right sort of info to, to, you know, share with your audience. There's a little bit of stuff going on in the media these days, Tucker Carlson and all this sort of business. What, what do you think the media's role is in general as it relates to sort of sharing information with, with an audience. And, you know, is it supposed to be just factual? Is it supposed to be editorial? Is it supposed to push an agenda? How do you, how do you think about it?

Well, I'm old school, Brian, and I became a journalist to report the news. It, it is a complicated world we're living in. And, you know, I think that it's no secret that in some pockets of media, I would argue this seems to be more of a conflict in the United States than it is in Canada. But that you have, that you have programming that is geared to audiences with very specific messaging to deliver on what they think that audience wants. Yes, I'm thinking about what our audience wants, but I'm lucky to have an audience that wants the news. Right. And they want to know what's happening in the world that day. I think if we're talking about, particularly in the United States, agendas that are to the left or agendas that are to the right. You know, that, that is really hard to navigate. And I've never felt that was my role. And so I think when you have this powder keg of social media and then very specific media that is very large and very influential in just delivering what they think that particular audience wants as opposed to what the news is. We're so well into that world. Like, I don't think there's any turning back from that. So I think that you have to understand that's happening and could even get more complicated as more technology is adopted. You know, even now everyone's trying to figure out with artificial intelligence, what if it's not only that you have this view and that view, which is views, it's opinions, it's not even the news, but what if it's being delivered by someone or something that you think is someone? And it just further fuels, you know, worries around misinformation. It's, it's unavoidable that these worries are going to continue to populate. But I, I think you just have to be aware of it and navigate around it as best you can.

Okay, I got it. And he also mentioned something just now about sort of the daily, all the stuff coming at you all day. We're just, you and I are maybe on different ends of the spectrum in the sense that you're reporting every day, every moment, what's going on. You know, I see in the morning, it's 9:28, the stock market's about to open, and it looks good today, it looks bad today, it looks flat today. And I'm on the other side trying to think long term and tell my clients to think long term. Don't worry. Even though I love watching you, you know, almost, don't worry. What John saying just at this moment, because like in the grand scheme of your investing, you know, life cycle doesn't really matter if the stock market is up or down today or whatever the case may be. How do you, how do you balance that? Or frankly, is your job to tell people what's going on at the moment and let me and others do the balancing?

So it's another great question, Brian. And look, I'll be honest. Having worked in financial media for close to 25 years, I see all the flaws in how Wall street operates, the same ones that you do. And let's use the Warren Buffett example, right? Like, Warren Buffett is not catering to the Wall street analysts. He's catering to people who he sees as his stakeholders, his shareholders. He's invested for the long term. He wants them to be invested for the long term. And he has routinely criticized the quarterly games that take place on Wall Street. So in the same way that I have to report on all these things, I also have to try to Navigate the fact that like you, I think at least to a certain extent, we're, we're, we're speaking to people who have the same motivations. You know, on the one hand, yes, they want to know what's going on that day, but they probably are trying to make smart financial decisions tied to their future. And so it's, it's finding a balance, I think, on what has happened in that moment and maybe just trying to provide some context when possible. And we do tend to try to get the, I suppose, that longer term thinking and that longer term narrative through some of the people we speak to. Right. So, you know, I think that, let's say there's an earnings report one day and there's a lot of drama around that earnings report. Either it's really positive or it's really negative. You know, I think you just want to try to explain at the very least what the drama's all about. But I think you also want to, if you can, make sure there is that context around what the ramifications are for that tomorrow and the next day. But you know, sometimes it's extremely misleading. And my time covering the technology world is a great example of that. Having worked, sure, covering Bay street, but also covering Wall street, the short termism that exists when, you know, people are getting really excited in the moment can actually have devastating long term financial implications. I don't know, pick any of the largest technology companies that didn't dominate the landscape the way they do Today, you know, 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, and if you had based your investment decisions just around the headlines of that day, would you be better off today or not? Better off today.

Okay, good. Well, let me stop peppering you about questions about the financial sort of day to day and financial media. I want to be selfish for a minute and maybe my listeners will find this interesting, but I want to talk about interviewing because there's one side of you which is the expertise on the financial side when you're talking to your guests and reporting the news. But you're a, you know, you're an anchor, you're an interviewer, and I'd love to hear maybe your top tips. And this is good for when people go and meet people or have interviews or doing what we're doing right here, right now, like what in your mind makes, quite simply, you know, makes a good interview as a start.

Well, I think it, I think there's, you know, there's, there's a few.

By the way, I should have asked you this as the first question. Because then maybe I could actually run a good interview here. But at least we're, we still got some time, so I can improve.

Listen, you have a wonderful podcast, and I think the, the growing audience that you've had speaks to the fact that you're having great conversations. So kudos to you on that. So I guess I think about this again from, from what lens? If we're talking about the audience member, let, let's start there. I don't want to waste their time. I want to make sure that we deliver on the priorities that we set out initially. And we've talked a little bit about that. So I think that if we're going to have an interview, I have to consider what it is that the audience member is going to be interested in. And so you have to consider that before you've even decided about whether you're going to do an interview or not. Right. So there is that component once you're into an interview or you think this is an interview, that is important. There's layers to that too, because some interviews are more casual in nature. That's not to say they, they aren't serious, but the stakes don't feel as high. You know, it might be an interview just about what's happening in the markets that day. Right. But sometimes you're speaking or interviewing a principal of a business or a member of government, and there are some higher expectations on what's going to come out of that interview. And not only that, people might be on, on the other side ready for those tougher questions, and it might invite a more tense conversation or a more combative conversation. So I feel like interviews, in many ways, they come in a wide variety of, of flavors, and you have to have kind of a toolkit ready for, for each one of them. I would say the biggest thing that runs parallel through all of them. If I could give your audience any piece of advice, because I, I think it holds true in any conversation you have in your life. It's when you can let everything melt away and you can listen. There's, there's deep value that comes from that. And, you know, for me in tv, you know, when I was starting out, first of all, I didn't start out on camera. I was behind the scenes for a period of time. I, I, I love the production aspect, and going on television seemed a bit scary to me. And even once you're in the machine, there's a lot you have to get ready for. There's a lot of stuff happening, and it's only with time that that starts to melt away. You get used to the process and then you can focus more on the interview and then you slowly but surely can actually listen to what someone's saying. And the reason I bring this up, especially with television, is because somebody at home is not doing the interview. They are consuming that interview, which means that they may be, it's possible they might be more engaged in what the subject is saying than you are if you're thinking about what your next question is, or someone just spoke in your ear and said, hey, fix your tie or whatever it is. Right, right. So they're also keeping you accountable. So I think the ability to listen is really valuable because whether it's, whether it's a high stakes interview or not, if you're listening, you have a sense on, on where you can go. We don't always, Dan.

And sorry, I haven't been listening to anything you've been saying that I'm going to start now. I'm ready to hear the big tip.

No, but you know, it's easy not to listen, right? And I think it's because there's so many distractions. But listening is, I do think it's a superpower because if you do listen, you'll be able to get from A to B. You know, with, with some interviews might take a while to get there. You know, some people might have very long answers. They might have a lot they want to get out. Other times, you can get right to it. Listening is, is my number one takeaway after doing this for, for more than two decades.

Okay, amazing. I was listening to you, by the way. I didn't hear it all.

I stopped listening to myself 10 minutes ago.

Okay, that's good, good feedback and good advice. Let's keep on the interviewing theme. At the beginning, I mentioned a good number of folks that you have interviewed in the past. I had to stop in the middle because I realized the list is so darn long, we'd be here forever. Just listing all the amazing people you've spoken to. If you think back and like, what would be the most memorable interview? Or it might be a news event that you were covering, but you know, in your career, when you think back, a couple of really amazing highlights, people or events that you were covering, working on interviewing, et cetera. Any, any, any good ones, good stories come to mind?

Well, someone actually asked me just the other night a similar question and I'll, I'll share the same answer because it, it came very naturally and I don't know where it came from, but it just came out. I had a chance to interview Kobe Bryant a couple of times. Oh, when, when I was based in Los Angeles. And Kobe was a really fascinating interview because he is, he's a lifelong learner and a very profound thinker. And you know, we talked earlier about having that consistency in our jobs, right? Like, he's this person who had a high level of dedication towards continuously bettering himself professionally. And Kobe had a habit of quite literally cold calling people who he perceived to be successful from any industry. And it's, it's actually, I mean, it's great advice, especially for people who sometimes wonder whether they can cross over that line. Kobe Bryant did. He would call up successful people in all fields and want to just pick their brain. And I thought that was a very interesting thing. What made him a really interesting interview is I interviewed him on a couple of occasions once in connection with one of his shoe lines, which I think speaks to kind of the business and marketing brain that he had. One in conjunction with a documentary that he, he was involved with. And you know, as much as I noted that it's helpful for the interviewer to listen, it's also helpful when the person you're interviewing is listening to the question and giving you an honest and sincere answer. And you know, I think that when you can see someone in a different light and, and it's unfortunate in many ways because Kobe was just getting started on his business journey and boy, did he have ambition and drive. And, you know, we didn't really get to see the full extent of, of what his post basketball life could be. But, you know, I think that that really was a, that was a meaningful, that was a meaningful interview. I mean, in terms of moments in time, you know, when you work in news and you're covering news, you get to be at a lot of these different touch points. And I guess if we're just keeping it, I mean, I've, I've had an opportunity to cover some very dramatic moments in, in news, you know, through my time with, with ABC and CTV News. But, but I guess in the business world, as I say, if we think about these cycles, you know, to be at this point in my career and to be able to think back to what it actually was like during the financial crisis, you know, that there is value, I think, in being able to, to draw back on that moment, you know, and I just, I just remember that mood on, on at the stock exchange on those darkest days, you know, and we, we started becoming numb to the reality of like 6, 7, 8, 900 point drops on the Dow, whatever it might be. And the uncertainty was palpable. And you know, we talked earlier about short term versus long term. This is an uncertain time, but this is, this does not feel like 2008. And I, I know that because I could feel that, you know, and, and, and we could all, certainly we all experience that. So, you know, it's a reminder too, of all the, the rhyming in, especially in the business world. Right. You just see these things over and over again and it's pretty remarkable.

Yeah. Amazing. Good story with Kobe. I, you know, speaking of showing up every day, which we talked about and characteristics of successful people, I, I do recall an interview Kobe did years and years and years ago. And I don't remember all the particulars, but basically the, the sum of it was he'd wake up, you know, probably two hours earlier than most of his peers. He'd get a practice in or an exercise or whatever he does, eat a breakfast, do another one, do stop something else, do another. Like essentially he was practicing three times a day when most of his peers were practicing two times a day. And when you add up that extra practice over years and years and years, it creates a dramatic outperformance. And again, that's just the high level theme of what his interview was. But it's funny that you mention him because we were talking earlier about showing up and every day and doing the thing, so that's great. Any, any interviews where you were just simply starstruck, you know, you, I'm sure you have your particular things that you love and music you love and sports folks that you, you know, you look up to. Any, any interview where you were like, oh my God, can't believe I'm interviewing so and so.

That's a great question. You know, I try to be professional in all these settings. Again, I'm just gonna say what popped into my mind. I, I interviewed Robert De Niro tied to some of the work he's done with Nobu. And that was a trip.

Brian, you were talking to him. Did he say, you talked to me? Just.

Oh boy, oh boy. Yeah, that, that, that, that would have been something, right? You know? You know, he is someone who I have long admired the work he does. Right. I'll watch just about every classic De Niro movie. He is not someone in an interview format who feels compelled to give the richest answers, which I love that. Right. Like, I, I, I love that people who are comfortable with who they are, are, are going to be able to answer questions the way they want to. Answer them. And for celebrities in particular, where you to sort of make it in the industry, historically speaking, can you imagine how many of these interviews they've had to sit through where, you know. So I think that when you have to be part of that process a lot, you're maybe hoping for the conversation to go in a direction that might jazz you up in a way that you hadn't been before. And that's why, like, I've had a chance to do a lot of more business themed interviews with celebrities over the years. It usually opens up the door towards something that they are passionate about. I mean, like, De Niro will be humble about the sort of the origins of the Nobu. I'm going to call it an empire. I mean, it really has become quite a powerful force over the years. But, you know, being able to talk to him about that, open the door to stuff that he wouldn't necessarily get on, let's say one of those press junkets like, you know, what did you think of the role and the character? Yada, yada, yada. So I thought that was really cool. But, you know, yes, there was a moment where I was like, this is interesting. I'm talking to Robert De Niro.

Yeah, literal. Unreal. Okay, well, we're getting close to the end here. Only because it is late on a Friday afternoon and you've had a full week of being on, as you are, you know, at the end of movies. Speaking. So speaking near the end, at the end of movies, sometimes they do the blooper reel. We're not going to do a blooper reel, but any big bloopers or blunders or mishaps that you've had on air that you had to deal with, and maybe, maybe that's happened actually off air that the audience didn't see. But, you know, something crazy happened and you had to just go with it. Any good stories there?

Okay, well, I'm going to stay on this theme of what pops into my mind first.

Okay.

So I hope my Bloomberg colleagues will forgive me for this one, but years ago we had a set built. It was in the middle of our newsroom. It was really cool, actually. But because they could film from a whole bunch of different angles, there were sometimes a moment where you could be in one corner kind of at an anchor desk and the camera was in the far corner. And my eyes weren't the best then. I have subsequently had surgery, which helps with that. But I, I realized in the moment that I was reading a newscast on a monster and I couldn't read a word of what was there. And I tried to look at the pictures that were being shown while we were doing the newscast. And that was a moment when I said, I think I have to really get this eye thing figured out. I, that's, that, that one seems like a core memory.

It's still with me to this day.

But, you know, it, look, it happens. And like, you know, it's, it's just the nature of what we do is sometimes, and quite honestly, more often than not, you lose the audio connection, something happens to your mic. I was on a shoot recently where our camera operator did such an impeccable job of somehow holding the camera while also fixing our guests mike in real time with like, his left hand while the camera was on his right hand. I mean, you have to stay calm under pressure now. We're not doing medical procedures here. I don't know how the doctors do that stuff, but it's, but it's, it's, it's, it's fun. It's actually part of the excitement, to be perfectly honest, in doing what we do. So I, I, I enjoy being part of the, part of the ride.

Well, yeah, you know, the beauty of the podcast here and the listeners would have no idea that we've ever had a blunder or a blip or anything because we could edit things out. Although we are pretty, pretty rolling here. And don't do too much editing. But yeah, that's the other piece of being live. You never know what's going to happen. Okay, last, last question we ask everybody. Although I have a feeling I know your answer. You know, our theme over here is unlimited your wealth. Unlimited. We can help families with generally whatever they need. On the wealth side, we can look at any. Our listeners have heard me say this over and over again. But so the question for all our guests are, you know, if you weren't doing what you were doing, you have unlimited options in life. The world's your oyster. What would you be doing? Other than, you know, being on my TV every morning, which I really appreciate.

Well, people probably won't know this, but I love music. And actually in the last couple of years, I finally started recording some of the music that had been building up in me for the last 20 years. And, and, and that was a, that was a wonderful cathartic experience to do that, to get into a studio and to record some music because, you know, you have to pick, you don't have to pick a lane. There's, there's no path in life and there's there's nothing definitive, but sometimes you do have to pick a direction. And, you know, Brian, I had the. I had the high school rock and roll band, you know, and we all thought maybe, just maybe, we'll, we'll, we'll take a shot at it. And I. And you know, it's mild, it's mild regret. But it's funny. Like, I, I actually put a little bit of distance between myself and music for many years because I love it so much, and I didn't want to feel like I wasn't having an opportunity to do it. So I was really happy to record that music and maybe I'll. I'll find a way to trickle it into the world slowly but surely.

Well, send me a sample. Maybe it'll be the outro music to this podcast. Anyway. Listen, John, I really appreciate your time. It's not lost on me that, you know, you. As I've repeated over and over again, you have to be on much of your day. It's probably a stressful thing, although it sounds like you love it. But you've taken an extra hour of your time to be on with us. I really, really appreciate it. Wish you the best. Can't wait to see you Monday morning on my TV again. Look forward to chatting soon.

Brian, it's been a pleasure. Congratulations on this wonderful podcast and your career, too, and I appreciate you having me on.

Okay, awesome. Thanks very much.

The Announcement Unlimited podcast is hosted and produced by Brian Ginsler and is edited and mixed by myself, David McMillan. This podcast is not to be taken as investment advice. If you like what you heard, don't forget to rate the podcast and follow us on social medianslerwealth. Thanks for listening and see you next time. Sam.