S7E1: Front Row Frankie - The Secrets to Achieving 'No Bad Days'"

What's up everybody, welcome to 2026, our first Surf and Sales podcast episode of the calendar year 2026. Richard, we're gonna get to 500 episodes this year.

Yes, we are, we will crank them out. Uh, we are, we are. And by the way, this is season 7, this is officially season 7. Wow, 7 years, that's, that's it. So, uh, Happy New Year, bud, how you doing?

Yeah, I'm doing pretty good, actually. Yeah, I feel, I feel pretty good right now.

Yeah, that's a bold statement from you.

I know. I know.

I got a question.

I feel rested.

I got a question for those who are just listening or, you know, in your corner, it says your name is Scott Leese, L-E-A-S-E, for your name. What isn't it L-E-E-S-E? Like, have I been wrong for 17 years? How to spell your last name?

Apparently, the last time I was on Zoom, Somebody misspelled my name and there you go, it's stuck. And I don't— I'm not tech savvy enough to fix it, obviously.

All right, well, we'll leave it. That's fine. Season 7, you are Scott Elise.

Yeah, I don't know my own name in Season 7. Uh, we are joined today by a man named Front Row Frankie who runs his own business called Front Row Fortitude, and he's a motivational speaker. He's part of the National Speaker Association. He's got a really cool brand that he's working on and, and building, and I think he's in Virginia, back east. So welcome to the show, Frankie.

Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Scott. Thanks, Richard. Uh, yeah, bro, Frankie, it's good to be here. Yeah, I got a little hype guy right here. Get a little hype going.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So Front Row Frank, first question, right? Like, how'd you choose the name? Like, cool, it's creative, it's different, I get that. How'd you choose that?

It's definitely, you know, a catchy name. There was a nickname that I got back in 2016. I can share exactly that, that story if we get into my personal story a little bit. Um, but it was a nickname where, um, you know, living in the front row of life, um, you know, and I mean, shit, you know, I'm just gonna go out here and say, like, I got sober in 2016. You know, I burned my life to the ground at the lowest points on the, you know, story of redemption, forgiveness at the high— lowest to highest levels. But I sat in the front row of those, you know, weird little meetings that you go to, you know. I came in, I sat all the way down sat, you know, came all the way in, sat all the way down, sat in the front row, say, you know, I'm Frankie, I don't have shit, I don't want to die, thanks, let me share. I just put myself in the front row and I get stuck. And I sat in that front row, I sat in that front row, I sat in that front row, and I built this life to where, uh, when I started my business 3 years ago, you know, Front Row Frankie sounds cool. It's stuck, you know, it sticks with people. And, um, it's grown into something, uh Very, very cool.

That's awesome, man.

It's got a good— it's got a good ring to it. And we love, uh, redemption stories. And, you know, tend to— I tend to relate very well with people who've been through some hell and fought their way out of it. And you don't know— you may or may not know this about me, but I spent 4 years in the hospital in my 20s, uh, super sick. And I had a bunch of surgeries. And while I was hospitalized, I got hooked on opioids. So I understand, you know, some of the journey that you're potentially referring to. And, uh, yeah, appreciate you, you know, kind of sharing that with us. So tell me and the audience, like, what it is you do specifically. Just give everybody some context for how you think about sales and entrepreneurship and how you, how you help people.

Uh, well, It all goes to that point that you just ended with is to helping people. You know, that's the key to life. My purpose in life is to help others. You know, helping others helps ourselves. That is my main thing. And what I do is, you know, I'm a keynote speaker and I speak on motivational resilience and mindset. And more specifically, the brand that I'm building is called the No Bad Days Mindset, which is a set of practices, principles, and routines which I've adapted into my life to make it possible to have no quote unquote bad days. In over 2,000 days. And it may sound, sound impossible, sound weird, sound funky, but that's the point, because it is very simple. It is very practical. And it all is a matter of intention. You know, living my life through selfless service and positive action, circling back to that key to life, which is helping others helps ourselves. So I talk to corporate teams, corporate audiences, opening, closing keynotes for conferences. I'm introducing a new breakthrough, breaking wooden boards this year. That's passed down from my mentor. So that's gonna be a really cool thing coming with my keynote that'll really kind of take it up to the next level.

I've done the board breaking exercise before, by the way. Yeah.

Was it—

did I ever have— it was not Brian, but Richard, did I have— did I do that with you? We did it back in the day.

Back in the day, we did a thing at Elite Fish. You did the modified version with a piece of paper, right? Because we were afraid to bring in boards.

At work to do this.

But, you know, Scott had people write something on the piece of paper and someone would hold it super tight and you could punch through it.

And yeah, it's much better with boards though.

Agreed. Agreed. But I think it's just the psychological aspect of it. I got a— I got a question for you, Frankie. Am I supposed to call you Front? Front Row? After—

after the first initial one, just Frankie. You know, I introduced myself as Front Row Frankie, and then I follow So you don't have to call me just Frankie after this. All right.

I was going to call you Dr. Front Row, but, um, no doctor. So, um, I've been talking about this a lot lately, and I think this is a hard part of maybe that New Year's thing, right? Sometimes this, this, sometimes we need to get some momentum going rather than looking so hard for motivation, right? Like, it's like, well, what motivates you? What's your why? What's your thing? Sometimes even if you have that, it feels like moment— you got to get started, right? So I sort of call that as momentum. And as someone who speaks on this and lives on this, you know, tell, tell me I'm wrong, is that sometimes you need momentum before you need motivation, or do you need motivation first to create the mo— like, and maybe it's neither, I don't know, but I, I just something I've been talking about and thinking about, and you're kind of like the right person to ask, I think.

Well, I think it, I think it's a little bit of both for sure. You know, you get that glimmer of hope, you know, that little bit of motivation, but then it does take that, uh, action to start getting that momentum. And because you got it, and the momentum doesn't have to be big, you know, I'm a big believer in just little things every day, you know, uh, we probably all hear that in our circles, but, uh, doing those little things, we start to gain momentum, which in turn gives us more motivation, which in turn gives us, uh, more momentum. So it kind of feeds off of each other. So it's almost like the chicken or the egg, uh, but you definitely need the momentum. And that momentum, I think, you know, for me is just like routines. You know, I'm a very routine person where like just doing it, just doing it, just doing it. Um, and then after time you're so set in that route, that routine that, you know, that momentum's moving, whether my, whether my ass is on fire or not, that momentum is still going. Uh, and I'm still growing, you know, regardless of, you know, the hardships in life because I did the work before. To keep that momentum going even when I feel like I can't.

I got another question for you, and it's timely and a little corny, but I think it's relevant. We all come into the new year. Oh, this is my resolution. This is what I'm going to do. And we stick with it for 2 weeks, right? Like, what do you— how do you advise people? And it happens throughout the year, particularly, I think, people in sales, they have to sort of reset, how do you get them past that hump, that mental part where it's like, I'm 2 weeks in and then I'm just like, oh, I got a cold today, so it's hard for me to go to the gym. And the next thing you know, it's 4 days later and you've stopped going to the gym or working out, whatever it is, right? And it could be anything. And it doesn't have to be in January. It could be— how do you get people—

what do you—

how do you encourage people to break through that, their own barrier, so to speak?

Well, um, once again, I mean, I, I, for some reason, that the same thing is the routine. People fall out of routines very easily. That's the main thing I feel like with personal growth and development, um, is that people start it, and that could be the gym, that could be writing, that could be running, that could be whatever it is, you know, but people, people stop, um, which is okay, which I think in a, from a human conditioning kind of form, you got to Give yourself grace, but you got to stay motivated. I think surrounding yourself with people who are doing things more than you is extremely important because that's where a lot of people fall off too. Sure, they're, they're motivated and they have that momentum and they're following those resolutions in the workplace. But who are they hanging out when they leave work? Who are they hanging out after hours? Who are they reading? Who are they watching? Um, because that subconsciously keeps us going. That subconsciously, uh, helps us to keep going even if we miss a day or a day or two. Um, and me, the, the brand that I am building is to help people stay in that routine, to help people not have bad days, to see that we have these, uh, you know, really, really hard days with a lot of bad moments, you know, and Um, I'll tap in a little bit more, but this— I just created this, published this first, uh, uh, product for my business, which I've been planning for years and dreaming about for years, but it took a lot of work. But it's a, it's a daily transformation calendar, and it's not just a little affirmation calendar, a transformation calendar for people to stay in that routine. You know, it's got an affirmation, it's got a little mini mantra that'll help them go throughout the day to remember, and then reflection question to help them seek internally, and then Uh, start a daily, daily writing practice. But it makes it simple because all you have to do is just do that. And even if you're having a hard day, just do it. Just do it anyway. Just do it anyway. Just do it fucking anyway, and it'll work out.

One of the things that I hear all the time, especially around this, um, concept of like spend time around the right people and people— I don't know how else to phrase it— kind of where you want to be, or doing better than you, or whatever.

The 5 most— the 5 people you're surrounded by.

Yeah. So, so the thing that, the thing that I hear all the time from people is like, I would love to do that, where do I find those people? How do I get connected to those people? How do I make friends with those people? Because I think when you're not from that kind of world or that kind of circle, you don't even know where to begin. I, I had this conversation with two different people in the last week or two, right? And one of them, very fresh, who just has lived a totally different kind of life for, for 30 years, does not know where to begin to do that. How do you personally coach people and steer people who maybe come to you with a similar challenge, you know, objection, I guess. How do you guide people through that?

Well, it is a community, you know. You got to find that community, um, whatever it is, wherever it is, and put yourself in those circles. So I guess, you know, where— you know, I'm not sure, you know, I'm a big, uh, wellness studio type person, you know, and I don't even have to know anybody there. Like, if I have a Saturday night free I'll go on Eventbrite and just type in the word spiritual and just find a weird foo-foo, something fun to do, you know, fun to me, you know, sound bath or healing thing, cacao ceremony, things like that, because that attracts the type of energy that I want to cultivate within myself.

So find activities maybe first. Don't seek the person, maybe seek an activity, and the activity leads to the people.

Yes, I would say so, because you want to put yourself in their aura, so to say, you know, so to sense. Um, but also have the same— have the confidence to sit down at that table, you know, to put yourself, insert yourself, and maybe feel rejection and do it again and do it again and do it again. And it's like a, a no-fail system. If you do it enough, somebody's going to notice you. If they see your name on the, um— if you see your name enough or see enough around, somebody's going to reach out their hand because more people than not want to help people if they're in the same circles, if they're in the same, same room, you know. And it may not be at first because it might be kind of cliquey, but there will be somebody like me that will notice you not being there normally and go and say hi.

Yeah, yeah. The speaker circuit is an interesting thing. To me.

It is.

I can't quite figure it out. Maybe, maybe, maybe you can help me. Maybe not.

Maybe we're all just, we're all just kind of, uh, throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks.

Yeah, that's how I feel a little bit, because, you know, I don't— I, me personally, like, I don't prospect out to try to get speaking engagements, SKOs, whatever you want to call it. Trainings. So things come my way every now and then, and, uh, I'm very passive about it. And that's on— that's on me. I would love to do more of them, but I'm sort of lazy about it. And I'm like, I'd love to do more of them, but I just basically want more people to come to me, right? That's my own admission of failure and, and my truth and whatnot. But then I get these big huge ones that land in my lap. Which I don't even know if I've told you, Richard, or not, but I have a massive speaking opportunity to a sold-out basketball arena in April.

12,000 people. TEDx thing or something?

Yeah, yeah. So, but, but then I don't get all these other ones, and I see some of these people getting these SKOs and speaking events, and, you know, if somebody says, oh yeah, I've got 4 lined up, and I'm thinking to myself damn, how did they get that? And I know about this speaker association and I've never done that. So what I want to know from like an entrepreneur business standpoint, salesperson standpoint, how do you, running your business, think about acquiring business and revenue and gigs and stuff like that? Like, what works?

So it's kind of conveniently plays dovetailed in that last question that you, um, that we just talked about, because that's how I've built my speaking business, is that I started putting myself around other speakers. I started seeing what they were doing, and the altruism within, um, that association, um, I'm, you know, building it. Um, and I'm 3 years into my solo business, and I was told it was going to take 2 to 5 years. I was speaking public schools before that, for a nonprofit, but actually building a business as an entrepreneur, um, it's hard. It's hard to crack into the business like you're saying, um, especially building it from like not having a substantial, um, following or background. Um, and so I joined National Speakers Association, just put myself in that, in the aura. That was like the main thing. And people started seeing me and started watching me. And over time they saw me show up more. And this past year I was elected as a board member for National Speakers Association DC. And I say DC is a solid, solid group to be a part of. And I was awarded Member of the Year from that. So like that, those things happen, right? Kind of open my— open— thank you. That opened the doors for me kind of nationally., for like people to really see, oh, this Front Row Frankie guy, he's really actually doing it. Um, and he really has something tangible with this business and this brand. And then over time it's like, boom, you know? And, um, I've, you know, I've been given referrals from people, um, from people there. Um, but even now, like, I've been very intentional with growing this, what I believe is going to be a million-dollar brand, you know, bet that. That it's like, but very organically, not being pressed that I have to have this right now. Like, I'm not speaking full-time. I'm still working my ass off, you know, at a restaurant 3 nights a week and then going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 4:30 and working my ass off at home and grinding. But, um, what I was going to get at is that, um, things are clicking like right now. Over the past month, I got a really big just breaking opportunity there. Like, things are about to really take off in 2026, but it all came from just putting myself in those circles for 3 years to where it's kind of just been here.

Um, do you think it matters a lot to sort of volunteer? This is a stupid question as I'm asking, but like, to volunteer, to be a chapter lead, to like— the, the more involved you are, I would imagine, the more opportunity comes your way, or does it not really work like that?

I would say so, yeah. I mean, just, you know, going to the monthly meetings like you, like there's no little I do. It would— you would— it would help you substantially because you already have a— you've already done very well for yourself where you— they would just be able to say here to here. And then you have things where we all just kind of help each other with things that we don't No, you know, um, so it's a very altruistic, um, association, which is amazing. Um, but yeah, I'd say the more you do it, you know, but would you rec—

would you recommend that Richard and I do it?

100%. 100%. I mean, what, what, what are we—

yeah, are you— are— have you already done it, Richard, or no?

Done what?

Speak like—

are you a member? Are you a member of the National Speaker Association?

I, I think I might have looked at it at one point. I don't know that I joined it to go to any events though. Well, I probably should.

A lot of people don't realize that, like, um, it's not just for speakers. It's authors, it's coaches, it's teachers, it's whatever, you know. We're all, we can all speak, but it's, so it's, if you heard of Toastmasters, Toastmasters is like where you go to like learn how to speak, the art of speaking. Articulate it. NSA is, you know, where you go to build a business. That's like the tagline, where speakers go to build a business. And it's just a group of, you know, entrepreneurs all just trying to figure it out together.

Um, all right, Frankie, Frankie has closed me. Frankie has closed me. The NSA just acquired $185 from Scott Leese right now.

That's a bold statement. That's a whole big $185.

Throw my name in there, I'd love that.

Yeah, do you get commission on that?

There's, there's nowhere to say there's a referral anywhere.

Dang, you know, otherwise I would have.

Well, we have this. You could submit the video file of this to them and say, here's proof.

Yeah, there you go.

I just paid the thing. It's taking, it's taking me 7 years and now I just paid the $185, Richard. I've been saving.

Okay.

I didn't mean, I did, I had no intention of like going down this rabbit hole on NSA, but it has been a, just a great part of my life.

But I think, but I think, but I think it's interesting and important because there's a lot of people that, you know, are listeners of ours and that Richard and I talk to every single day who are SDRs or AEs or sales leaders or, or what have you that have pivoted or at least do some stuff on the side. To scratch the entrepreneurial itch and the solopreneur kind of itch. And people don't know about these kinds of things. I've been doing this a long time. I barely know anything about this. I literally just paid for the first time right now while you were talking. I literally just paid the $185, right? And so I think people who, hopefully people who are hearing this, somebody's gonna be like, well, what is this NSA thing? What is this National Speaker Association? What do I do? How can I get more business off of this? Right? So, you know, you inspired one guy, me.

There you go.

So far.

Well, I was kind of already thinking it as at the beginning before we tapped into that, you were talking. I was like, you either one of you just started, you know, just add that as a, and speaker.

Yeah.

And speaker, you know, so I, I got a question cuz I think you, you, you blew both of us away when you're like, you know, this still isn't my full-time business. I'm, I'm, I'm I'm still hustling at a restaurant. Like, are you like waiting tables? Like, is that what you're doing? Like, this is— you're grinding hard, man.

I'm very— I'm grinding very hard. And almost— it's almost like, ah, should I said that? But no, I think you should.

I'm glad you did.

Authentic. And I try to be very humble where it's like, you know, I, I, uh, I work very hard and I'm building this, this dream, and a lot of people are You know, believing— I mean, my board of mentors are stacked because they see me working very, very hard.

You know, talk to me. Talk to me because I talk about this too, right? Like, I call it your personal board of directors, right? You got someone that's, you know, a close friend relationship advice. For me, that's Scott Financials, my mom, because she's a broker. You know, I'll still bounce ideas off Scott. And then, you know, you might have a spiritual person, whatever. What that means to the individual, right? Talk about yours. What, what kind— what do you, do you have them segmented by, like, this is the person I go to for that, and this is the person I go to for that?

What do you—

how do you do that?

In a sense, yeah, they're people that I, that I too watched, you know, before they took me under their wing, you know. It's like, you know, I want what they have, but not like, not necessarily, uh, monetary or material. You know, how they are as a person, how they carry themselves, how they treat others. But then also like how they built their business or their brand, you know? And I—

how did you approach them then? Because I get this all the time. How do— like, because I give this advice to younger people like Scott, you need a personal board of directors, right? In my opinion. And, you know, a lot of times it'll be someone, you know, a person of color, it'll be someone of a different sexual identity. And I'll say, look, you're going to get my perspective as a straight white guy. Which I'm happy to give you. You need to go find the African American female business leader because she's gonna have something to tell you that I have never experienced. Right? And there's value. Right? Those kind of things. But how do you then ask the, you know, the kinds of people you want, you see them. You just, did you just cold call them and email them? And like, how did, how did you ask someone to like, will you be my mentor?

Well, it's— I mean, another plug, you know, it's all come from National Speakers Association, from putting myself in those circles, um, and showing—

but how did you ask them? Like, what did you say?

Did you just talk about what's the actual messaging that you use?

Well, I think it's— none of them have really been, um, a definitive ask. It's just a healthy, organic way of building relationships to where now they're on my, you know, favorite contacts and they know that they're on my board of mentors and that all just came through organic over time.

Which is totally fair, right?

Yeah.

So you get to— you start to have this relationship with someone, right? You start and you start to help each other because I think it's even though they're your mentor, you try to give them something back too. Did you officially say to someone at some point, hey, Scott, you know what, I'm going to keep asking you for stuff. I'm going to put you on my personal board of like Did you eventually at some point clarify it or define it with them?

Yeah, yeah, I think, you know, and I would have to look at, um, the wording or the messaging, um, but, you know, it is— it was one of those things of like, this is how— this is where I'm holding you, and is that okay? Do you mind? Would it be okay if, um— and also, what can I do for you? Always. And with that, any type of effective communication Um, is, you know, this, this, this, and how can I help? And actually truly meaning that, you know, having to be— because people, people can smell the bullshit, you know, um, and they, they watch the feet, you know, what are the feet doing? So actually being able to, to back that up and, um, be there for them.

What do you mean watch the feet?

You know, so my mouth could be talking, I could be talking all this stuff and looking at all these books and all this. Mindset and motivational stuff, but what am I doing when nobody's watching? You know, what am I doing? What are my feet doing? Am I actually stepping?

What actions are you taking? Right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

So yeah, watch the feet because it's true.

Yeah.

And I take a lot of pride in that, you know, being the person that I portray myself to be, this Front Row Frankie. I live by something. Uh, it's called a personal mantra. It's who I am and who I want to be, and it's very important to me. Um, and it's to be an honest man, a good character, and to help a lot of people. And that— I suggest that to people, to figure out that personal mantra, who you are, who you want to be, and follow that and make sure that you uphold the integrity of it. And even deeper behind that, the purpose of that is that I have lived an extremely hard life, and I understand and respect life so much because I understand and respect death so much. And I want at my eulogy, whether that is next week or 50 years from now, for people to say that Frankie was an honest man, a good character, and he helped a lot of people, you know. And how do I do that? You don't have to take the actions on a daily basis to do it. So it's like that thing that's repetitive in my head of, um, knowing that personal mantra and taking the actions to fulfill it.

How do you think about your fee structure? This is the next part of being in this business, I think. Yes. First of all is like, how the heck do I get seen and how do I find business? And then how do I, how do I charge for this? Yeah, people are sometimes like, do I charge by hour? Do I charge by convenience, by what's being asked of me?, you know, the size of the audience or something like that? How do I justify my price tag? How do you— how did you come up with those things and how do you think about that as a process?

So the fee structure is definitely— it sways, you know, it depends on, your expertise. It depends on the size of the crowd. It depends on the size of the size of the room. Um, it, it varies, you know. Like, I— do you talk actual dollars on here?

We do, yeah.

Okay.

I mean, so like, um, starting out, you know, my, my fee, you know, for any just basic speaker, you, uh, speaks, you know, $1,000, you know, $1,000 for me to come speak for an hour. And then, you know, went up to, um, 2, and then I was at 2 to 5, and now I'm at 5 5K, my next B would be 7,500 or 10. So it's like it comes over time, but you got to really kind of get in those bigger rooms with those bigger stages, with those bigger budgets, because that too, it's like, what's the budget? Um, what type of associations or conferences or groups, um, can afford that? And I say that 5, that's for like a, you know, a conference type setting. And then it varies, you know, for, um, corporate teams, whether it's, um, 60 minutes, 45 minutes, 3-hour workshop, 3-day workshop. Um, you know, all these things that I built, that I had things, and it's a, a negotiation really, but also upholding that fee integrity of not speaking for less than and not speaking for free. But you could speak for no fee, but what am I getting out of it? You know, it's got to be right. We don't speak for, for free. Um, so I guess figuring out what that worth is, what that value is. And, um, Scott, I'm not sure what that, that, uh, the auditorium is, but if you— this speaker world, it is very— you can do very, very, very well with it.

Yeah, I mean, the fees that I know some of my contemporaries, uh, command is, you know, staggering.

But it's also, you're not paying You're not paying for that 60 minutes. You're paying for the, you know, you're paying for the impact of it. Yeah, the impact, the ROI of that, but also what that depth and weight that I share and that I provide, um, for years of practicing this, uh, you know, personal growth and development, or the years of, um, hardship and struggle, that it took to get there, you know. So that's where it all kind of falls in line. Um, yeah, so it's, it's an open-ended question, I feel like, and I feel like it's an open-ended answer because I can't really give you a definitive answer.

No, but that's— it's important to have the conversation however it comes out because I think so many people don't know. So many people are like, okay, I heard you say $1,000. So people are like Well, I heard somebody say $1,000 one time and then, you know, somebody else will be like, you need to charge $50 grand for a keynote. Like, what are you doing? And some people are just like, you know, I've never made $50 grand.

God, are you getting paid for this or are you taking this? You know what, I'm gonna do this one because I don't know when I'll get it and I'll cut up the pieces and use it and leverage it, right?

Like, yeah, there's a trade-off for you. Yeah, for the TED Talk, you know, I'm not paying, but they're not paying me, right?

But you're getting something out of it. Everybody's getting something.

I'm getting— I'll get plenty of content, exposure. In theory, you know, if I do well, they pump the episode and God knows what that, you know, could do.

Yeah, but you get to brand it, you get to use it.

Yeah, sure.

I mean, you get leverage is maybe a better way to say it. Yeah.

And that's, you know, hopefully valuable. But to Frankie's point, I'm not, I'm not doing other ones for free, right? You know, I, then there's time, there's a, a trade-off, right? There, there's sort of a analysis that I'm doing when somebody says, hey, will you fly to Virginia and do an event for us next week? I'm thinking, okay, that's my time, that's my energy.

That's 3 days.

3 days, I'm not spending time on my other businesses if I'm doing this. So there has to be a price tag to make it make sense for me, for sure, you know. And everybody, everybody's numbers and answers and process for that is going to be different depending on where they're at right now. So I just, I appreciate you answering the question genuinely and, and however it kind of came out for you, because I think it's important for people to, to hear and kind of um, understand, right? Um, I have no idea what happened, Richard, but we're like 40 minutes into this. I know, already. I know, yeah, flying, flying by. We usually only do like 30, 45 minutes, Frankie. So, um, we're kind of coming up towards the end here. So what we do usually do at the end is we say, how can we help? How can we be helpful to you, man? Do you have any questions for us? Is there anything we can share for you to help you on your journey? So take it away.

Yeah, I mean, I would say me asking you, you know, it's, you know, how do you tap into the speaker world? Me, you know, I'm prospecting heavily in 2026 with the hospitality corporate restaurant market. I'm also focusing on sales and healthcare. Where would you suggest speaker tapping into the sales market? Am I going to conferences? Am I— where is it needed for somebody like me who talks about, uh, shifting your perspective, you know, turning that struggle into strength, um, getting through the hard days, you know, um, as a high performer, you know, high-performing professionals, um, with motivation, you know, when their motivation fades kind of thing?

Yeah, well, asterisk, would be I have no idea what I'm talking about. So asterisk already. My first thought hearing you talk is, um, junior level folks, entry-level folks, people breaking into the profession for the first time who are going through some of these challenges and struggles, they're usually in my experience more open to sort of philosophical spiritual kind of stuff. Uh, I worry a little bit about the like 30-year veteran who's like, can you just give me something fucking tactical, bro?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't want to hear this woohoo shit.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, which is fine. Yeah, I don't necessarily disagree with them. I'm just thinking, you know, for your audience, do I really want to put myself in that position? I don't think so. I might rather talk to a bunch of 20 3-year-old kids in a call center type of a thing. Um, I don't know much about sort of non-tech industries and their sales training other than I'm not super impressed every time I talk to people from those industries. I'm thinking right now, Richard, do you remember, Richard, a couple years ago when we were talking to people from like the pro sports sales world?

Oh yeah. Yeah.

And we, and Richard and I were like, how the fuck do these people sell anything? They're terrible. Right. So it's stuff like, so that's my kind of vibe is like the farther away from tech and software, I think a lot of the skillset kind of drops off. And so there, maybe, maybe I'm just snobby tech snob. I don't know. But that, that's been my experience is that the skillset is not as sharp. In some of these other areas. So therefore, maybe there's more opportunity there. What about you, Richard? That's my answer.

I think that you have to fish where the fish are, right? So if you're trying to get in on salespeople, well, you know, there are a couple of places they are. You know, they're on, they're on LinkedIn, they're on TikTok. I think, you know, particularly for someone like you, I have no idea where you're spending your social, but You know, building out a presence on some of the video platforms I think would be helpful. And you can gear it towards healthcare and TikTok and those things so that you start to build that following. Right. And it's, you know, it takes some time, but it's not that hard. That's the first thing I do. I think you need to do. I think the other thing, I think the sales one is hard because there's so many already there., right? And it's just like everywhere. It's not even just sales. They all go to who they've heard of. They all go to who they know. So you're gonna have to start somewhere, so to speak, and you're gonna have to ask for referrals, right? Like, that's, you know, if you've got a couple of clients where you've done a sales team, like, hey, who do you know, right? Is there somebody you could even introduce me to? I, one of my favorite stories to tell, I got Zoom because their rep cold called me and I said, I'll take your meeting if you get me a meeting with your VP of sales to talk about training. And he did. And this is when I bought my first Zoom license. And then I told the VP of sales, you know what, I'll do a free lunch and learn for you. Do an, I'll give you an hour of my time. And Then I said, I'll even show up and do it down in their San Jose office because this is Zoom, right? Like, okay, this is, you know, you gotta step in, right? And sure enough, they became a very, very big client before they became a very, very terrible client, which I can now say. So I think that you have to make some little steps, right? Like, what's it gonna cost you, Frankie, to find a company and say, look, this is what I do. I'd love to do an hour with you, lunch and learn. I'm not gonna charge you anything. Right? All I ask is that at the end, if you like what I did, you go write a review or you introduce me to somebody, right? Like, yeah, one or two of those isn't gonna kill you.

Right?

In the sales world and you could do the same thing for any hospitality thing. Like, it's, it's not unusual, right? So that's my, that, that is one approach to do it. And look, if all of a sudden you get flooded with 20 requests, you could say, gosh, you know what, I got so many requests, I've done all I can do, but I'd be happy to talk to you. Right? So, um, that's how I would do it.

And that's a great suggestion. It is part of my, you know, prospecting plan. You know, I've, I've kind of stepped back from prospecting, um, over the past several months and kind of leveled up on a couple things, updated a couple things to launch into 2026. And one of those big things was, yeah, taking that workshop that I built for that Lunch and Learn and presenting to people. I know a lot of people in the DC area and doing that. And yeah, yeah, I mean, why not?

The other thing is, I mean, you've got— if you've got a Zoom license, go create a landing page, go give one out for free as a webinar. You're going to collect email addresses. If 4 people show up, then 4 people show up. If 40 people show up, 40 people show up. Who cares, right? Nobody's going to know, right? They're just going to know you did it.

Yeah.

You know, and the worst thing that happens is nobody shows up and you just record yourself. Now you've got an asset that you can use that you could then send off to someone else to say, here's what I do. Here's a snippet of what my motivation stuff is like. Maybe that's, that's another way.

Yeah. Okay, cool.

Cool.

Thank you. More, more will be revealed. And it's, You know, keep working towards it.

What's the best way for people to reach out to you, learn more about what you do? You want to plug your website or your LinkedIn profile, or what's the best way for people to—

you can find me anywhere, um, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, whatever it is, Front Row Frankie. You know, I've been very intentional with the SEO on that, um, and trademarking, you know, all these different— you know, I had the Front Row Frankie and all the No Bad Days mindset, um, you can type that in and I'll come, come right up. And, um, what I'm doing right now is really trying to help people, um, tap into that daily routine. You know, this, this calendar, this is revolutionary. And I say that because I've done a lot. I've done a lot of daily planners, a lot of journals, a lot of affirmation calendars. What's cool about this is that it has The mini mantra, the reflection, the affirmation and reflection. But what's revolutionary about it is that each month is broken up into different areas of personal growth and development, you know? So it's not just a simple calendar. It is neuroplasticity at its finest because it takes 28 days to form a habit.

And each month you're all, all, I need to know one, I need to know one thing real quick. What is it? What does it say for June 30th? I just want to know what it says for my birthday.

Okay, let's see. And I love that. I've been telling people as they pick it up and look at it and say, look at your birthday. All right, so June 30th.

All right. Having expectations. That sounds good.

Well, I mean, expectations. We all— I just saw the word expectations. That's, you know, having expectations of someone else to act the way you want them to. Is like hitting your heart with a hammer and expecting someone else to feel the pain.

Scott, that is you.

The mini mantra, nailed it. Release the expectations to stop the pain.

And why do these things have to be so accurate, right? Is it odd? Oh my God, you know, I asked the question, I, I asked the question, I deserve the answer.

And, uh, the reflection is, what expectation do you have of someone else that actually causing you pain? You know, and these are all for me. This is all from my heart. When I write these, it's great. In the morning, I put them on my Instagram story and copy and paste them. But really where it's at, it's exactly where I'm at, at that day, at that time. And I have, you know, hundreds of these in a file.

Where can I get it?

Yeah. Where do we buy that?

My website, frontrowfortitude.com.

Frontrowfortitude.com.

Much easier. Just find Front Row Frankie. The link's in the bio. I'm not hard to find. Hang out, man.

We have, uh, we've really enjoyed this conversation. The time flew by. You're an inspirational guy. I look forward to learning more from you and absolutely staying connected and being a part of your journey, man.

Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate you, and take care. Be well, be kind.

All right, thanks, Frankie.

We will see you all next time on the next episode of the Surf and Sales Podcast. Happy 2026.

Ciao ciao.