🏋️ ryan doesn't give a shit about haters.

Welcome to another founder Wisdom Pod with Ryan hanley. He's a 2X founder keynote speaker, insurance consultant, angel investor, had an exit, a recent exit that is with Rogue Risk, was the founder president there and is now founding president at Finding Peak. He also owns a podcast. So we're going to talk about insurance, Intertex, small biz, commercial insurance, which is in my interest and workers compensation. This podcast is brought to you by my podcasting company. It's called podvar.com if you want to start or scale your own podcast, make money while having fun interviewing smart people, growing your network, that's all that podcasting can offer. So if you need help with that, go to podpar.com Ryan, welcome to Pond. Tell me a bit more about yourself and about what you're up to nowadays.

Yeah, Charles, great to be here, buddy. So my career has basically been the last 18 years in the insurance industry. So the work that I do, the companies I founded, pretty much all my investments except for one, all my angel investments ever one are in the insurance industry. So I tend to operate in that space but have played a lot of different roles. I did have one for about one year. I stepped out of the insurance industry just because I needed a breather and ran and grew as the CEO a regional fitness franchise. And then after about a year there, kind of came back to the insurance industry. Insurance is a funny thing. It's. Everyone hates it and thinks it's boring as hell, which some of that is true and accurate and I understand. But once it gets in your blood, it's tough to, it's tough to get it out. There's incredible compensation model. It's interesting, engaging, and you develop this arcane set of skills that I don't necessarily translate. So, so I, that's, that's where opposite my consulting firm that I have now works inside the insurance industry.

And you're still a lot into fitness. You deadlift, you box. What's the relationship to that? Your wealth, your accomplishments? How do you treat fitness nowadays? With your life?

Yeah. So it is hard for me to, I, I don't separate the two. To me, you know, health is a competitive advantage in business, it's a competitive advantage in life. And, and, but if you're thinking strictly capitalist, right, you're just thinking, I like to grow companies, build, make money, be a, you know, whatever Instagram baller or whatever the hell you want your career to be. If you're not physically fit, if you're not healthy, if you're not feeding your body, your mind properly, you're gonna get beat. The days of the, of the, you know, you know, overweight, poor eating, I'm gonna have three cocktails for lunch, executive who's successful. In my opinion, those days are over. You, you have to properly feed your body and your mind, and you have to do that in a very intentional way. So when I turn 40, I turned to heavy weight. So I was. Been an athlete my whole life. I played college baseball, I played football, basketball, baseball in high school. I believe in sports, I believe in competition. Happy to talk about any of that, but played a little bit of baseball after college as well. But, you know, I kind of got away from it in my late 20s and early 30s after having it been such an important part of my life for so long. Started a family and kind of got away from it. And in 2017, I found myself at 210 pounds. I didn't have, I was not energetic. I'd wake up with foggy brain every day. I had trouble sleeping. I just didn't feel, you know, and, and I think what happens is, it's kind of like the frog boiling in the pot. We just start to tell ourselves, well, geez, I'm 35 now. Or whatever your age is, right? You're just like, ah, I'm getting a little older. And I woke up one day and I was like, you know what? Screw that. And I read. I, I actually, what happened is I put on a conference in 2017, and I was the MC. I was hosting the conference. It was, it was for the company that I was running at the time, and, and I was emceeing the event, and I got to the last closing keynote of the last day, and I went to introduce our closing keynote speaker. And I, like, couldn't put two words together. I had just completely run out of steam. Like, it was like I just had nothing left. Like, I couldn't. And I looked at the guy and thankfully he was someone I knew. And he looked back at me and he knew I didn't have it, so he just took off and he said, guys, you know, Mike's going to take over. And I just walked off stage and he, he hammered it and he killed it. It was great. And frankly, the audience wouldn't know the difference, but I was literally laying on the floor on my back, back behind stage, like, dying, you know, I mean, like, I just had, I had exhausted myself and, you know, I just said I'd never want that to be the case again. I'm at that time, I was, Yeah, I was 36 years old, maybe 37. I was like, I, I never want that. Like, that is not something that should happen. Like I should be able to emcee a conference for two days and not feel this way. So I, I also at the time was reading Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life, which is a tremendous book if, if anyone hasn't read it. And I just decided to take back control of my life and my health and fitness. And I lost £25, started engaging in more physical activity, you know, went to the gym. And then When I turned 40, I decided that I was going to take on heavy weights because for men in particular, and I'm just not a woman, so I don't understand their physiology as well, nor am I a fitness influencer. So I don't, you know, but for men, especially men over 40, our bodies, in order for them to work properly, we have to push and pull heavy weights. Doesn't mean we shouldn't run. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to live their life, but it is a reality that for the chemicals that, that keep us, keep our brains active, keep our, our bodies functioning the way they should, we have, have to push and pull heavy things. So I started deadlifting and I just pulled 455 last week, which was a new personal record for me. And, and, and the, in the result. So everyone knows foot pain went away, knee pain went away, back pain has gone away, my posture is better, I do not wake up with foggy brain anymore. I could go three, four days in a row, conferencing, networking, working flat out. And I don't run out of steam. And, you know, I'll be 43 in a month. So, you know, if we take control of ourselves and take care of ourselves, it's an absolute competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Testosterone, endorphins and sleeping patterns, well, it's all interrelated because if you deadlift, you'll be tired in bed, you'll just doze off. When you'll doze off, you'll generate testosterone, human growth hormone, when you'll wake up. So fully agree with that. Also red apples this week, which weekend, which I very much agreed to in this, is that us, man, to be happy, we, we need to be aggressively chasing something. You know, that's how we're wired. And I mean, you can try to reinvent the wheel. Elon Musk certainly did it. He's chasing his own nerdiness and generating testosterone, doing so. But it's more being the exception rather than the norm. You, you'll need to go counter current for quite some time. So yeah, for folks out there, yeah, going to the gym, lifting heavy, knowing how to defend yourself, you manly things. I, I think in the age of effemination, it's, it's no taboo to say that out loud. Now when it comes to business, what are you chasing nowadays?

Yeah, so I, so as you mentioned, I started a company. So I, I had at the time that would have been about 14 years of insurance experience and I'd worked in a bunch of different frameworks, both as an insurance agent, so a salesperson. I'd worked for technology companies, I had had a lot of carriers as partners. So I got to see the industry from a, from a broad spectrum of viewpoints and I started to develop my own philosophy as to what I felt an insurance agency and for those who are outside the United States that are listening to this, this may not make sense, but inside the United States, which is where I work, local independent insurance agencies are the primary method in which say car insurance, home insurance and business insurance are sold. So, and that's the space that I work in. I don't do a lot with life or with health or with Medicare or anything like that. It's mostly personal and commercial insurance, property liability, etc. So I had seen this, this, I'd seen all these different vantage points and realized that our market was really missing a type of business, a type of delivery mechanism. And just to explain that, I call it a human optimized model. And the kind of 10,000 foot on that is that there are two primary delivery mechanisms for selling particularly commercial insurance today. And that is face to face, hand to hand, inside a local agency, or 100% DIY online, no human helping you, you make all the decisions. And what I, you know, my viewpoint is, and the way that I built my agency, which I ultimately sold and have exited from, was that I believe most insurance customers in the United States actually want something in the middle of those two options. So they want the ease of being able to do things online, communicate online, maybe a self service portal for basic functionality, et cetera. But when the shit hits the fan, they want somebody to call who knows what they're doing, who's licensed, who's in the states, preferably licensed in their state, and understands the nuances of what they're facing and can walk them through and solve that problem for them. And that is what we, that, that's what we built. That's why I call it human optimized. That is, it is both a technology solution and A human solution combined in one and we were one of the fastest growing small commercial agencies in the entire country. We were bootstrapped until we were bought and very proud of that business. But what I've done since exiting is now in my, in my consulting agency finding Peak and is I'm taking that methodology and now helping agencies around the country implement a human optimized model so that they can start to grow their business, grow their business faster in this kind of post Covid digital age and ultimately deliver what I believe is a much better product to insurance consumers. So, so the end of this and not that, you know, this is, you know, the kind of virtuous circle to this is that hopefully, you know, business owners in the United States start to get an, a better service. You know, they start to get what they actually need and they get their problem solved and can have a product that's actually going to help them.

Why do people feel the need to comment on your boxing posture and what's your opinion on giving advice?

This is my favorite thing. So, so I, it's funny. So I got divorced two years ago. Not something to be sorry about. We were just two different people. We're actually good friends and we do a great job co parenting so it's not something to be upset about. I'm not pro divorce in any way, shape or form and I feel people get divorced too quickly. But in our case we'd been together for 13 years and we just had grown apart and, and like I said, we're actually friends today and it's not a big deal. That being said, I started dating a woman after my divorce and she was a boxing coach and I love fitness and, and all that. And she said hey, come in. And I fell in love with the sport. I just, you know, I'd always enjoyed boxing and watched it and I love watching the old bouts on YouTube. Muhammad Ali and Sugar, I want to say Sugar Ray, but that's the musician. But you know, I just, just you know, I love the sport and everything but I didn't know much about it. Right. I never been in it. I was involved in it and, and she kind of took me down this rabbit hole and I was like, wow, I really love this. I have no interest as much as I think it would be amazing enrolling jiu jitsu or learning all that stuff. I don't have the time and, and it's just not something I'm interested in. But man, I really enjoyed the, the Marshall aspect of boxing and I started to get into it and But I'm, you know, 42 year old dude going on 43 who, you know, I'm just learning how to hit the bag. I'm learning the basic punches, learning the footwork. And also this is like something I do once a week, twice a week. It's not like I'm in the gym every day. So I post videos on Instagram and if anyone wants to go check me out. I'm Ryan Underscore Hanley of my boxing and of Deadlifting and all the workouts. And I post them not to be a fitness. I am not. I just want to be clear, I am not a fitness influencer. I don't sell any fitness products. I don't recommend any fitness products. This is, I post them usually with a little inspirational message because what I'm really trying to do is show other men and women in their 40s and you know that hey, you can be physically fit and that and that you can be a parent, you can be a business professional and integrate fitness into your life, right? And it's just meant to be motivational and inspirational. That's all. It's not, you know, but oh my God, dude, it is amazing. I have come to absolutely love this. I get thrashed in the comments when I post these videos. People are just, oh, they just tear me apart. This and this. And I can't wait to fight you and I knock you out with one punch ballot. So and it's amazing. And the reason I say it's amazing is because, and this is like just a quirk of humanity which and I've been creating online for a long time, so I'm used to people having negative opinions about things that I say and I'm transparent and authentic and outspoken and you could ask me any question, you could ask me about political, economic and I'll give you my viewpoint on those things. I have no problem. I am who I am and I firmly believe and I'm a firmly firm follower of Jordan Peterson and Jordan Peterson talks about telling the truth and you can't live in reality if you don't tell the truth. So I would never pretend to be something to you so that you like me that isn't true to who I am because you don't really like me. You like this version of me that I'm showing you, right? So like that's my whole philosophy. Okay? So the best part about the boxing thing is I get absolutely thrashed by these guys and they're all, most of them are like a non accounts or faceless accounts. But it doesn't matter. It'll be like stoic, underscore boxing, Underscore guru. You, your footwork is terrible. I'd knock you out in one punch. Blah, blah. Go get a trainer, bro. You know, it's amazing. And then when I respond to a T always because I, and I respond to every one of these comments, Even if there's 20 comments on a post, I'll respond to them and I'll say, hey man, I really appreciate the feedback. I'm 42 year old, dude, I'm just learning and I love the sport. What would you like? What, what advice would you give me, dude? The next post. So I'll get this epic hate post. I'll respond. The next one will be, oh, bro, that's amazing. Hey dude, here's what you know, your left hand's just dropping a little bit on your hook or you're not using your hips or whatever their advice. Then they become like bros. And now they're. There's only one guy. There's one guy. It's like, I think he has the word stoic. It's like something stoic, underscore boxing, something who just, he refuses no matter what I say back to him. Nice. He just, every post he hates on me, which I think is also great, but like, but almost to a T, dude. Dell flip. And the next comment will be, you know, them actually giving me real advice on something I'm doing, which I know, I mean, I watch the videos, I know I'm not a good boxer. Like if I were to go into a ring with someone actually knew what they're doing, I get destroyed. I mean I'm just doing it for physical fitness. But it, it's just funny, the humanity and how people work. And I think it's a good lesson to say like I choose to put those things online. That's a choice that I make. So I have to be okay with someone having a problem with it. And I think people get really messed up about feedback and they get messed up about trolls and hate and it's like you put it online, you made that choice. You know, I made the choice to do that. So it's their choice to be hateful. I, I don't like to be hateful. And, and you know, I believe in God and try to live my life as best I can by Judeo Christian values. And that's just the choices that I made and how I was raised. And I don't believe in living in hate. But like that I also, why am I going to get upset about some, a non faceless account telling me that I dropped my left hand when I throw a hook and that he'd knock me out with one punch. Like why would that bother me at all? Like why? That doesn't bother me.

This is just hilarious. This is funny. Yeah, well, first comment. You know, one of my favorite fighters, Sean o', Malley, he fights so weird, you know, and he just trolls heat seeking missiles, you know, so even if he drops his hands. So everyone has their own styles, you know, and it, that's why it's really hard to judge someone when they're not in the ring fighter fighting another human being. And that's why the sport is beautiful. It's because it's chemistry between two different styles that might interact totally different from one another. And second, I like how you react to that and you're not afraid of posting it out there, you know, because I've dealt with hate myself for quite some time and usually I respond with aggression. You know, it's fight or fight in my case. Nowadays I don't give much, you know, like, I just don't respond. So I think you need like a lot of it to overcome it. You need like exposure to this radiation and then you kind of grow some thick carpets to subside that. Now you went through a divorce as well. How did you get through that? Because that's like someone that, you know, and it's, it's like a lot of cell destruction from the heart, from the brain, you know, because you grew with that person, you know, interlaced. So how, how did you adapt and survive that?

Yeah. So I have two comments. I have two comments. One, I just want to comment on what you just said. I think that are, and, and I'm sure, I'm sure just, just based on the brief time we've had together that maybe you would agree with this. I think our aggressive reaction to hate is often, is often the result of an insecurity that we're either aware of or unaware of. Right. When you're secure in what you're posting, I'm very secure in myself. Right. I am who I am. I'm highly imperfect. I try very hard to be a good person. But if, you know, I post the videos with pure intent and if someone wants to take them negative, I'm secure in the fact that I'm doing nothing wrong. And you know, I don't want to be a pro boxer. And I, I, and all I really want to know is if someone ever came after my kids, I can throw a Pretty decent overhand, right. And feel confident that if I connect that person's not going to want to keep coming after me. That's really all I want, you know what I mean? Like that's it. So like I don't care. So because I'm secure in that, you know, maybe if it was something that I were, you know, just to be honest with people. I'm also slowly working on a book and I'm just in the conceptual phase and I'm starting to put it together and it's based on a concept that I firmly believe in. In business is a business related book. And, and, and it's something that I feel like is a, is a gap in the market for, for this idea. And I will tell you that I can already tell when I show little snippets or little ideas to people and I get their feedback. Sometimes I'm a little, I'm a little, I can feel myself being a little more on edge with the feedback because I'm not as secure about writing, you know, about that concept yet. I haven't, I don't own that concept. So I think it's just understanding where we are in the security like you know, from secure to insecure, where we are in that range and understanding our reaction is probably depends on where we are. I think that's that. But getting to the divorce piece, you know, it was, it's funny. I'll tell you guys the story. I was actually on the way. My ex wife is a, is a good person. She's a very different person from me but, but she is a good person. She's a great mom. We do a good job co parenting together and like I said, we just kind of grew apart. And while I would have never divorced her, I, like I said, I believe in, I think we, I think we too quickly today. And I think a lot of this has the, has to do with secularism. I think as we've moved away from believing in a higher power, whatever that is that non judgmental to which one you choose. But as we move away from believing in a higher power, we become more narcissistic, materialistic. And the secularism that comes out of that allows us to make rash decisions like, oh, you know, my wife doesn't give as many blow jobs as she used to. So you know, I'm gonna get divorced and go find someone who will, you know, that's, it's, it's, you know, and I've had people like say things as trite as that to me as to why they don't like somebody. And I'm like, that's insane. Like, life is really hard. Everybody's got problems, everyone's got baggage. Pick somebody and just fight. And I feel like we don't fight anymore. And, and, and, and what? I mean, I don't mean fight each other, I mean fight for the relationship. And we had done a little bit of that and just realized that we wanted different things out of life. I mean, that was really what it came down to is that I tend to be a little more of a minimalist. I tend to. I really like work. I really like coaching my kids teams. I really like being involved with people. I love speaking. It's like my favorite thing in the world is being on stage. I've done more than 300 keynotes in my career and I love it. She's more like stuff and parties and, and I don't mean that a negative way. I don't. And because she's a good person, I don't mean that. And like, that's just what turns her on. And it's just, we're just different people. So though I was, it was very shocking because she approached me and it was kind of out of the blue. We hadn't discussed it and it, it took me by surprise. And I went to a deep, dark place. I mean, to be honest with you, I hadn't smoked pot in 20 years. Every night just to get my brain to calm down. I'm getting high as hell. I'm drinking, I'm just in. I wasn't eating well, I wasn't working out. And for about, for about two months, I went to a very dark place. I was living out of a bag in a hotel room. Like, it was brutal. And then one day I woke up, I'm hungover, feel like shit, I'm foggy brained. I probably put five to seven pounds on. And I looked in the mirror and I was like, bro, this is, I literally said this to myself and I, and I know bro is like a very like, you know, word or whatever, but you know, hey, you say what you say in the moment. I, you know, I mean, I wasn't Shakespeare in this moment. Let's just put it that way. I wasn't my best version of myself. And I literally, I'm looking at myself in this hotel mirror. I'm getting miserable. I'm miserable. I realized I don't miss her. I miss the idea of having this family unit. And I had a, I had a very good mentor give me the best advice. I've ever had. He said, find a counselor and go see that person every other week for the rest of your life and just consider it a life expense. Whether you're in a good mood, bad mood, everything's amazing, everything's terrible. Just go talk to them. And. And I said. And I had been off of that for probably about six months, and that was. Had nothing to do with this situation. I just, you know, I hadn't seen the person. And I just. So I went there and I just said, you will. I literally pointed in the mirror and I said, bro, you will not fall apart. You will not fall apart. You're not going to be that guy who becomes the hobo living in trash, can't keep their shit together, overweight dad bod. Lose your job, drinking every night. You're not going to be that guy. And I just decided to change. And I. That night, I literally took all the pot in my house. I threw it in the fucking garbage. I, you know, got rid of the booze and, you know, I still, I. I have cocktails now. I love good cocktails. I'm not anti drinking. I'm not even anti pot. I just, Actually, for me, it just, I don't. It takes away my creativity. It's phenomenal for closing your brain down. I don't, I don't judge these things. I just think we should think of them less as, Less as crutches and more as tools, right? If, think. If you think of these things less as crutches and more as tools, then you use them in a way that's productive. Like, I have a. I'm seeing a woman now. She's phenomenal. Hopefully we're together forever. Who the hell knows if that'll happen or not? But, you know, we go out on a Friday night sharing a really nice cocktail. Like, we had a Mezcal Old Fashioned. I never had a Mezcal Old Fashioned before. And like, we found this spot that's got this. And like, that's an amazing experience to share together, right? We're not having 10 of them, you know, maybe we have two on a fun night, you know, like, so I'm not judgy. But my point is, I said I got to get my shit together. I went started. I'm going back to the gym. I went to the gym that day. I went and saw my counselor that day. I threw out the shit that was holding me back and I just decided to get back to work. And two months later, I was divorced. And on the same day, April 1st of 2022 I got divorced at 10am I signed a lease on a new apartment at noon and I sold my company at 2:30 in the afternoon on the same day.

Holy.

That. That was four months from the day she just about. From the day that she told me she wanted me out of the house and she wanted a divorce. And it took me two months of darkness. And then. And this is what I will tell people, it is incredibly difficult. And I had back steps and I had moments where I questioned everything. But if you look in the mirror and you just, just. You just got to friggin decide you want better, that's what it is. If you're in a shitty place right now, I don't care how depressed you are. I've been depressed. I've been fired from jobs that I loved for things I didn't understand. I've had stuff happen in my life. You know, we all got our baggage, we all got our things. And I'm no different. I'm not saying my shit's harder. I'm just saying we all got our things. When you're in those moments, and if you're in one right now, the only way out is to decide to change. That's it. Just decide to change and then start doing the things it's hard. Your, your, your mind, your body is going to freaking scream at you. There's gonna scream, it's gonna. Like when I went, dude, this is crazy. Like when I went to throw all the pot that I had in my head. Not that I had a ton, but you know, when I went to throw it out, my body's literally saying, and my mind's going, don't do that. You need that. What if you can't sleep tonight? What if you. And I just said, ah. And I threw it and I was like, you know, just get past it. Just decided that's not gonna be something that's gonna be in my life right now. And I decided I was going to the gym and I had a terrible workout and I'm sweating out all the booze and I could barely walk and I'm out of breath and I'm like, this is fucking terrible. But I did it. And then I did it the next day, and then I did it the next day and here I am now, two years removed. Just exited my company. I'm doing tremendously. I have a wonderful woman that I'm seeing. I, I just, I bought a house that I've renovated and it's beautiful. And now my kids have their own rooms when they come to see Me. And, you know, I'm growing this consulting firm, and, you know, I have all these angel investments that I made, and I got half. I got. Well, I got about a dozen speaking gigs. But in. Life is great. Life is great, but it only happens if you just have to decide and be intentional with the action. I wish there was better advice, but I do think. I do think seeing a counselor helps, and I do think talking about it helps. So. Video games are not the answer. Drowning in booze, doing drugs, they're not the answer. They. They can be tools, but they're not the answer.

Wow, what a story. And just for folks to expect through, to go through that valley of the shadow of depth, you know, that's part of life. People. Pain is part of it, you know, and you absolutely need to go through that. And you can sort of numb it with some stuff on. On some timescale, but sooner or later, you're going to need to deal with that dragon. So thank you so much for sharing that. Ryan, where can people find out more about you?

Yeah, and I apologize if I sound different. For some reason, my microphone and my camera just went off. So I apologize for that, guys. But the. If people want to find out more, I said Instagram. Ryanhanley on Instagram is a good spot for, like, leadership motivation, like, personal development stuff. If you're interested in the business stuff. I do. I mean, it is tailored to the insurance industry. That's my area of expertise. But LinkedIn's a great place to connect. I do have a podcast and a YouTube channel that's. You just go to ryanhanley.com and just. If anyone's going through something, especially if you're a leader or an entrepreneur, you're having a shitty day or you just, you know, I'm happy to chat with anybody. I. You know, there were people who, when I was in my worst moments or just. Just having a really bad day or just, you know, why. You know that, why me? Why this. Why does this happen? Moment, which we're all going to have the. There's. There's. There's two things I would say to that. One, do not expect that not to happen to you. Right? Understand that regardless of how hard you work, how much prep and time you do, you are going to have days that you wake up and they're just terrible days. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not depressed. The world, the universe is not out to get you. You're. You're just. This shit happens. It's just life. Find somebody you can call call them, talk to them about it. Promise you you'll feel better. And if you have nobody reach out to me on one of the socials, I'm happy to help.