#273 Francesca Vavala, The CBD Business and Conjoined Twins #EEP Entrepreneurship Elevated Podcast

It's time to pounce on your succulent helmet because we're about to discuss the business of CBD, but also how the lessons from being a conjoined twin translates into entrepreneurship. That's right. You're gonna learn all that and so much more in today's episode of Entrepreneurship Elevation. Mmm. I'm ready to pounce on my succulent helmet.

Actually, now it sounds vulgar.

It does sound a little vulgar.

It sounded vulgar all along. It didn't. Do you think so? Yeah, initially I didn't.

Palms and succulent. Oh, and hands.

The helmet, not so much.

Well, helmet can too.

Helmet makes it like filthy. Hi everyone, I'm Mike Michalowicz. I am the author on a mission, a mission to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty. You know what that is? That's the financial poverty that so many entrepreneurs are experiencing. We're running our business, but we're going broke doing it. We struggle on having any time, quality time for our lives. We fix that. We fix all that on this show. That's, that's our mission. I'm also the author, in case you don't know, of Profit First and Clockwork: The Pumpkin Plan. I got a brand new book coming out in 2020 called Fix This Next. You can go on Amazon. I don't even know if the COVID design's up there yet, quite frankly, but you can—

It's not.

It's not yet.

It's like a grain just says with black writing, Fix This Next.

Oh, okay. Thanks, Kelsey. You're welcome. So you can go on there and, uh, and at least buy it without knowing even what the COVID looks like. But the— I submitted, uh, yesterday I submitted the manuscript to the second pass manuscript. Joining the studio by Kelsey Ayers, she completes all my thoughts. Hey, Kelsey.

Sorry, guys. No, that's awesome. You can find us on Spotify, iHeartRadio, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, any podcatcher anywhere.

Podbean. How you doing, Kels?

I'm doing so good.

Okay.

Besides being freezing in here.

It is a little cold in here. Also in studio is Amy Cartelli.

Hey there.

Also known as Gumperson. How you doing today?

I'm doing good. How are you?

I'm doing well. I'm excited for today. And Jay Cablone.

Hello.

Driving all the way from South Jersey up here. Are you in your new place now?

No, end of October.

So I started my hair transplant process.

Oh, how did it go?

So, it was so freaking painful. Oh, really? So it's called PRP. Stands for platelet-rich plasma. What they do is they take blood from you. Well, apparently, I've given blood on multiple occasions, and it flows right out of me. Apparently, couldn't flow out this time. So he pops me one spot, a little bit trickles out. Pops me a second spot, a little bit, and I hate giving blood. Pops me a third spot, a little trickles out. Fourth one, thank God we got it, 'cause I was like, I can't, there's nothing left, unless he goes for my jugular. There was nothing, like every vein was tapped into.

Oh, Mike, that's awful.

Awful, awful. So he takes it, he then puts it in a spinner, and your blood gets separated into 4 levels. And then he's like, because he's a doctor, he feels compelled to show me everything. He's like, here's the— this is the liquid gold, your plasma. Here's like this coagulate component. Here's the red blood cells. And I'm like, yeah, you don't need to show me. I'm like, oh my God. Yeah. Then he injects it, the stuff in your head, but they put a numbing agent, 2 of them. First they put like this, this topical numbing agent on your forehead.

Okay.

Which, when it's hot in the room, because the air conditioning was not on on the weekend, I had to go there in the weekend, They didn't realize the air conditioning was off. It's hot as heck, so I rub my face, right? And apparently I rub my lip, 'cause then my lips started to go numb.

And now I can't talk.

Yeah, so that's all my—

I'm like, this is a classical start. And he goes, are you inebriated? 'Cause I can't work on someone. I'm like, I haven't been drinking. I swear. I swear I haven't been drinking. And then he puts a nerve agent into your back.

Are you lying?

I swear to God, a nerve block, not nerve agent. Nerve agent, yeah. He puts Agent Orange into you. No, a nerve block. And then it felt like I was wearing a hat or something. But there's nothing, you can feel nothing. But the nerve block only lasts for about 15 minutes. He starts the procedure and the nerve block, I can feel it fading. I'm like, this is getting more and more painful. And then he starts injecting it in your head. The whole procedure, said and done, took 2 hours. Mostly 'cause the bloodletting process was like, took too long. Took too long.

But I met the 1800s bloodletting.

It fell here, right? Yeah. Then he ended by putting leeches.

Leeches on him.

Yeah.

So leeches are so weird. In Myanmar, they would come on me, and it's like they don't— you don't feel them, and you take them off, and it's like—

you had leeches on you?

Yeah, a lot.

Disgusting. Like, often? Pinhole.

Why? Where were they coming from?

What were you gardening in Myanmar for?

Clean the outside of the nunnery.

With leeches?

Yes.

But aren't leeches in water?

So it was like this super monsoon season, so the garden would get like totally swamped with water.

Oh, that's more disgusting than my story.

Were they hard to pick off?

Did you puke?

Kinda, but not really.

No.

'Cause sometimes in Myanmar they prepare leeches for dinner.

Liar.

No!

Spreading lies.

See, I never know.

High in protein.

I never know.

Look, Google it right now. Eating leeches.

This is gonna be a good day.

In Myanmar for dinner?

Nobody's gonna believe it.

It doesn't have to be that specific. That's too long tail, all right? You said it! Well, I'm just saying it's tradition in Myanmar. I think.

Here's a big question though. Is it worth it? If your hair regrows, is it worth it?

We'll know in 3 months. Yeah. Oh, that's a good question. If my hair regrows, it is worth it.

Where was the nerve block? Tell me where that went.

They put it at the base of your skull. Ow! Both sides. Ow! Here's the thing. They stick the needle in and they move it around. And they say don't move. Don't move. Don't move, yeah, so your head's kind of, you're lodged, they kind of, Wedge your chin in this thing.

I don't like this, Mike.

And he moves it around, and yeah, listen, dude, listen. Don't shave this. You don't have a greater pain tolerance than me.

Start shaving your head, we'll look like twins.

No, dude, you have a good head. This is like a cantaloupe that was sat on.

We don't know that, we've never seen it bald. Let's shave you down.

Exactly.

Let's see how it is.

The funniest thing.

We'll go from there.

Just to finish out the story, I go to Amy, I wanna do this PRP thing and try it out. I'm like, can you book it? She goes, yeah, but Mike, you really don't. Need it. I mean, you kind of do. No, you really don't. That's what you said.

I said you don't need it.

Yeah, totally. From the right angle, I don't need it until you stand behind me and you start dry heaving.

I'm married to a bald man. I definitely imagine dry heaving.

Nobody's dry.

Yeah, but he can wear baldness. And by the way, just so you know, I did meet with a cancer patient, mastectomy, and had PRP, and she has full hair. It's Tracy. I'm not gonna say the last name. Yes. But yeah.

So it worked well for her.

She attests to it. And Here's the greatest thing, is no maintenance needed. She said it was 2 or 3 procedures and she's been done for life. Where someone that has a genetic balding pattern, I have to do this for life. But you just have to do it 2 or 3 times.

That is encouraging.

Yeah, that was encouraging. So if you wanna do it, that's my story.

Wow.

Kelsey, anything else we have to talk about besides my balding head?

No.

It's not even funny.

Hey, you know we have a sponsor that supports this? Yeah, it was so fun. I went to the board meeting, by the way, it was a lot of fun.

Tell us about it.

So, they did, they flew me out economy, and I had to pay for it.

And we then—

So not so much they flew you out.

Right, right, all right.

But there was 6 other business experts, if you will. Barry Moltz was out there, remember Barry Moltz? Anita Campbell, who's big in that space, and some other people who I didn't recognize. And there was about 10 people from Nextiva. Developers and so forth, and we sat down. They're developing, developing the next version of NextOS, which is their CRM, but it uses artificial intelligence. I will tell you, it does stuff that is off the charts. For example, you can do individual client and prospect tracking on their happiness quotient based upon an analysis it does on the web. So you're a big Walmart shopper, Amy, we all know that. Like, I see you there all the time.

Yes.

You know, and so when you're at Walmart and you're doing your checkout, Walmart thinks things are fine. Amy keeps on showing up. But offline, you may be like, Walmart's such an unpleasant place. The way people present themselves there. You go very sloppily. Wearing your sweatpants and stuff.

Tweety Bird sweatpants.

Exactly, with the big stain on it. The big stain on it.

Braless.

Braless, like things just hanging out that shouldn't be hanging out. And you're complaining online. The system from Nextiva actually tracks your online sentiment and will come back and say, she's actually not happy, she's not content, and start profiling the person's feelings. And it listens to phone calls, 'cause Nextiva's phone system, if you activate it, it listens to your tonality. So you may say, oh, I had a great experience at Walmart again. And it'll say, oh no, you didn't.

Oh, wow.

Isn't that wild?

That's pretty interesting.

What if you're just a monotone person?

Well, it's an amalgamation of all your inputs. Like, you would be like, mm, really, could a person always be this happy?

Yeah, exactly, she loves everything.

I love Walmart! I would devote my life to Walmart! And you're like, The next system goes back and computes and says, actually, she would devote her life to Walmart in Myanmar eating leashes. So thanks to Nextiva and having me on the board. I actually have a call today with Thomas Gorney, the president of the company. It's a $300 million company. Wants to have a call with me to discuss some insights I shared there. So I feel very happy that I was able to share stuff that triggered that phone call.

Very cool.

That is cool.

Thank you. Kelsey, do we have, before we enter our interview, do we have any—

We have a shout out.

Shout outs? Who's the shout out from?

This one comes from Kelly Ashton. She writes, "Hi Mike, I'm on my 5th round of listening to the book. It's the background to my life and my daily motivation. I've just had my first night's full unaided sleep in about 4 years. I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that I found your book. The work you do changes lives and you should be very proud." Oh, that's super kind.

Which book did she say?

Profit First.

She's saying the book put her to sleep.

That's why she's on the 5th round.

Isn't that great? I've never slept so well in my life.

I just keep reading and I sleep. I read it, I sleep.

Within one page, I'm zonked out every single time.

Best sleep of my life.

Dude, that was funny. That was funny. Hey, before we get into it, what do you guys want to do as the game today? We can do weird products, we can do a riddle. Amy's here, I like to do riddles because she ruins them. Or we can do the company names, like the original names of the companies. What's your preference for today? You gotta get mentally prepared. J-Bone, what do you want? You got food jammed in your mouth.

I like the company names.

Okay, all right, we're gonna do company names.

Okay, okay.

All right, so just, I want everyone to be prepared. That's our big cliffhanger. Okay, I got stuff flying all over here. Her name is, I don't know. I didn't have the document in front of me. It's Francesca Vavala, and she was born as a conjoined twin. It's a Vavala?

Yes, Vavala.

You can just say it out loud. It's not Vavala. I told her I was messing with you. Vavala. She's born as a conjoined twin. We were actually talking about it at this event we were at together. It's just a fascinating experience. There's a lot of parallels, I think, into actually running a business. She went on to become an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry. She's an advocate and speaker for CBD and the other variant of cannabis, which is what, TH something? C. C, THC, thank you. You know it, means you do it. She travels the world and speaking about these topics and so much more. It's my pleasure to have Francesca on the show with us today. Welcome, Francesca.

Welcome.

Welcome, Francesca.

Thank you. Thank you.

I told you I'd mess up your name. There's so much pressure on this show, Francesca, to get everything right. And it's not, it's not that the stuff isn't in front of me. It's just the criticism that's going to come from Kelsey and Amy is so, it's so thick in the air.

Taggers coming out.

We did it silently. We didn't. You were the one who said we could say it out loud.

No, but it's because it's more insidious when you say it out loud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I like it. So Francesca, when we were talking, I shared an analogy and you said, you know, actually, I was a conjoined twin and I wanna tell you about it. You know, a lot of people when they talk about entrepreneurship, they say it's a parent-child relationship. You, you bring life to a business, you nurture it, you grow it, and you hope one day your business will come back and serve you. Like when your kids come outta college, you think they'll come back and serve you, which they never do, by the way. Let that be known. Um, but the, but I believe business is more that of conjoined twins, that we share a biology, that we're linked in together, and the health of one influences the health of other. The separation therefore is a very careful surgical process. But when you do it, in some cases, both entities will thrive. And there's an independence. But that's just an analogy. You're a person who lived through this. Do you mind sharing the experience with us, what your experience was?

No, no, I don't mind at all. I'm happy to. And, you know, when I remember when you said it, you're like, well, people say it's parent-child, and I say it's conjoined twin. And I was like, oh, really?

I think it was an awkward moment right there.

Yeah, it's, it's an interesting experience because it's one that I know I own. But because we were born conjoined, we shared the liver, we were joined chest to abdomen, and we were the youngest conjoined twins to be successfully separated in the United States. So we were separated at 4 days old. So In terms of what is it like to be a conjoined twin when you're actually conjoined, I can't speak to that in terms of a memory or an anecdote or anything like that. But it's still a big part of my story because it's very much become an identity for me. And I think in terms of businesses, that absolutely rings true because, I mean, even in small talk and cocktail parties and networking events, it's like, oh, who are you and what do you do? And if you're an entrepreneur, it's like, well, what does that mean? Or an entrepreneur of what? In what industry. So there's always the same, you know, similar questions. And it's like, who I am is a conjoined twin, even though I'm still separated. Well, not like they would rejoin us, but even though I am—

you would have the first ever surgery if they did that.

That actually was the SNL joke on Weekend Update when we were born. So they were conjoined twins were rejoined today.

So you, you were featured on SNL? Kind of.

We were a line on Weekend Update. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was. I just— it's so funny, the timing, because I just got back transferring VHS stuff to DVD. And it was all these news clips of when Emily, my sister, came home from the hospital, because I was sent home first, and she had some more complications, and she had to stay. And so it was the only press that my parents let happen was when we were both going Home. So it's all these news clips, and one of them is when Oprah was a news anchor, and she— and I was like, Oprah says my name! Oprah talks about me!

That's pretty freaking cool. So, and I gotta be careful about treading this water because I don't know anything about it. I have heard stories where there's conjoined twins at a certain point elect to not become— be separated, to not go with the procedure. Um, have you followed the stories of other conjoined twins?

Yeah, here and there I have. It's, it always fascinates me because it's like a club that you don't intend to join. And yet you're a part of, and you feel funny enough, a part of all of those people that have had some similar experience, the shared rare experience, even though the experience is totally different. Emily and I didn't have a choice. My parents didn't have a choice because we— she had an intestinal blockage that was going to be life-ending if they didn't try to separate us and then do the surgery on her. So it was— there was no option there. At the same time, we were incredibly lucky that we only— the only major organ we shared was the liver, which is a regenerating organ when you're a baby. So we took some and have it grow back. And I'm a very big lightweight when it comes to drinking, and I just blame that.

So there you go. There you go. But I've heard these stories, and the parallel I made to business is that, um, as conjoined twins— the stories I've read— the longer, uh, before they consider the operation, the less likely they're to proceed, uh, the conjoined twins, if they have cognitive ability. Because, well, whatever, there's almost an acceptance, or more than that, there is a, uh, routine that's established that they prefer to retain— remain together. Well, in business, I find the same thing. The longer that a business is dependent upon the owner, the more likely the owner is to be dependent on the business and ever separate from the business. So the earlier you separate yourself from the business, the more likely you'll be able to grow a business that runs on its own. Now, Francesca, you also run a business. What has been— has there been any kind of parallels you've seen like that, or any learning that's come out of that circumstance for Oh yeah, plenty, I think.

And some of them are subconscious and some of them I, you know, I pull out and try to articulate and understand. So I think it's, it's everywhere. And your analogy is a very good one because I think what it is is we get used to things and what is our normal, we are hesitant to shake up. And I think that's true if you're a conjoined twin electing to stay conjoined or if you are a business owner and electing to stay a part of your business instead of apart from your business. So it's about that, whether you want to call it a groove, a rut, a normal, a whatever, we are all about maintaining what we already know because different is scary. And that I think we're just programmed as human beings to avoid that risk at all costs. And risk is always anything that's changed. So yeah, I absolutely agree. And for me, a lot of that comes from the fact that, you know, I didn't elect to be a twin and I certainly didn't elect to be a conjoined twin or to be separated at that. But there's these moments in our lives that are either determined by outside forces or that just happen. They happen and they're pivotal and they can be good, they can be bad, they can be indifferent. Your business, you know, you could write one blog and it goes viral. It can be, you know, One tweet and it destroys your brand. It can be whatever it is. They just happen and we can't separate from them. We don't necessarily have control over them. We just have to decide what to do about it. It's all about like, "These are the cards you're dealt," or, "These are the cards you've played and here's the outcome." It's all about just going forward from there and learning from that past. To me, being a twin and Emily was born with severe cerebral palsy because they didn't know that we were conjoined and complications happen. So I grew up with basically, if you want to define a conjoined twin in the 1930s, we were freaks. And I think a lot of people would still consider that maybe subconsciously today, if you see conjoined twins, you're going to stare. That identity of freak is something that maybe was a label that I was born into, that I have to decide what to do with it. With Emily being disabled, it's like, these are just, you know, people would look at her as a burden to our family or as an obligation or something. And it's like, oh no, no, that's not it at all. You guys don't, you're from the outside and you don't see what's going on here. And so it's like, well, we get to decide how to how we're going to present our story as a family and under the conditions that we're born in. I think business is the same way. You have to decide what you're going to do, how you're going to present it under the conditions that you have. Then from there, you do end up shaping your story and influencing the story people will retell about you.

Well, I really want to explore this now. With Emily, which I know she subsequently has passed away. About 6 years ago. I'm curious about the bond, A, the bond you had, and maybe you can't judge it based upon other sibling relationships, but I'm curious what was there from your perspective. And then secondly, how do you make the story, or how is the story different than what the outside sees?

So, we do have an older sister, and my older sister Sarah and I are very typical sisters, a year and a half apart, like Irish twins and everything. And so we were, we fought all the time, typical sibling rivalry, and then we both had Emily in very different ways. And I think in terms of the bond, it was— I felt, um, you know, she was a part of me and I was a part of her, and very much the things that I did or said would influence her, if you know. And so it's like we connected on a deeper level. I was able to take care of her maybe— I don't want to say better because Sarah's just gonna get mad at me if she hears this, if I say that.

But don't worry, I cloaked your name. I called you Bávila, so she'll have no idea who you are.

Excellent. That's a good point. But I was able to communicate better with her and our connection was stronger. And there was an understanding there intrinsically, instinctively, genetically, biologically, that isn't there when you are separated from by years or by a year or whatever it is. So, that bond was very strong in that we could just see each other and know what was going on or what we were trying to communicate. Not always. It's not magical. It's not a movie. You know, there were times when because she was nonverbal, she'd point with her eyes, nod yes and no, use her computer to talk, and if she wasn't used to her computer, then it would be like, "Okay, I've got to figure out what exactly it is she's saying." 9 times out of 10, I was better at it than anybody else. And then my, my mom and I were the best at it. So it's that bond, that kind of connection, and the fact that I felt fiercely defended of, of her as protective of her. And so I think that kind of protectiveness is how we are with our business. And that kind of understanding is instinctive. Sometimes you just go with your gut and you know just, you just know something and you make a decision because you know it better than anybody else and maybe you can't explain it, but you know it's the right decision. So—

So just do me one favor. I don't know, on our side, the audio, you're starting to fade a lot, so maybe you can lean into the microphone a little bit. Question for you is now, how does this translate into business? So you're in a business that is, you know, use a term that it's a horrible term, but it's the reality that people will perceive from the outside, oh, you're a freak. You know, you enter the cannabis business, that has that same perception. You know, you're in a formerly illegal business. You know, how's this translated into your business in cannabis?

It's done so much for me because I— so I was totally like your dare kid, uh, slash straight edge. Like, I never did drugs. I just said no. And I, I certainly stood on my high moral ground for that, um, and was proud of it until I learned exactly what cannabis is and what it does, and the fact that it is nothing like what I was told it was. And that, that changed everything. So suddenly I saw this with new eyes and I was like, wait a minute, this isn't dangerous. This isn't a gateway. This isn't addictive. This is actually something that belongs in our bodies. This is something we need to be doing. And there's a lot of social justice issues wrapped up in it. This is my jam. I am into it.

So I love that. I love that. So, um, as you get into this business, what are— how do you navigate the outside vantage point? Right? Because that's the parallel I see here. Um, is it just resist the resistance or is it education? How do you start kind of changing the perception?

It's everything. It's, you know what, the, the biggest tool that I have is funny enough, the same one that I have as a formerly conjoined twin, is that nobody looks at me and thinks, "Oh, you're a conjoined twin." Nobody would be able to label me as that unless they— and even when they see my scars, they can't necessarily do that. Well, the same thing's true in the cannabis industry. I've been doing some public speaking, and one of the pieces of feedback that I get from it is people come down, they're like, "Yeah, you are not what I picture when I picture cannabis," because I don't have dreads and I'm not listening to Bob Marley 24/7. Or whatever it is like that you think of when you think cannabis. It's like all those stereotypes are gone. So part of it is just being a face that is already familiar to people, that is already maybe safe in some way, or— I hate the word normal, but let's go with it because that's what people are really meaning— is like a quote-unquote normal-looking face for cannabis that they can relate to. That's the biggest tool. And then next to that, I think, is education. It is right up against it that we have to to be able to tell people that. But I've been using kind of both simultaneously and getting in front of people and being like, "Hey, listen, here's what I used to— I used to be where you are with this, and now I'm here, and here's my journey for it." And the biggest part of that to me is actually a big part of Emily and learning that cannabis has incredible antispasmodic properties to it. And one of the biggest issues with Emily was the spasms that she would constantly have with CP, and that ultimately the spasms that she was having when she would swallow would cause aspiration pneumonia, and pneumonia is ultimately what killed her. It wasn't the CP, it was the pneumonia. And if I had known then what I knew now, I would have a tool that would be able to change her life. And that to me is an incredibly important thing to— for people to hear. It's like, we're not changing this perception for vanity's sake. We are changing it because it can change lives when we change the way that we think, and when we open our minds and and shed old beliefs that are no longer serving us because they've never been true.

I love it. It's put you on such a mission. I mean, you can hear it in your energy and your voice. Would you trade any of your past for where it's gotten you today?

No, I couldn't, because I very much use it for, for where I am today. Everything from how I was born and the family I was born into, to the careers I've had, because I certainly didn't start as a cannabis entrepreneur. I never thought I would be here. Um, I— my first life after college was as a high school English teacher in a private Catholic school. So, um, that was a very different path, and I was busting kids for pot instead of actually smoking with them behind the—

in the back alley. You're the dealer.

I know, I have to go back and apologize.

Francesca, it's been a joy having you today. Um, thanks for sharing all these insights and such a personal story. Where can our listeners get more information about you?

You can always find us on social. Our CBD business is terapinselect.com, so you can hop on our website and pop in there and see all of our education articles and tools and things and learn for yourself more about CBD. And you can always find me on social. It's Francesca Cann, C-A-N-N, on Instagram and on Facebook, and I'm happy to friend and have conversations. And you can usually find me pretty much anywhere. You can always email me at francesca@terrapinselect.com if you want to talk privately.

Francesca Vavalla, thank you so much for joining us today. We'll talk to you later.

Thanks, Mike.

That's the theme song for cannabis. Did you know that?

Really?

No, it's not. You were a subscriber to High Times, weren't you, Amy?

Sure.

Remember the covers of High Times, that magazine? It was always a guy in dreadlocks or a woman just totally baked. Can you imagine Francesca like in a business suit now? Like, that's the new standard for High Times. I'm just pointing it out. All right, you guys are asses. I really don't like you. I set you up so well.

So well! Did you set us up so well?

You could have ran with that. Are you my singing partner or what?

Always.

God, I adore you. Alright, so, um, here's what we're gonna do. I don't know why I have to announce it. You know why I announce this every time? Because there's a lot of listeners that come in, and they haven't heard before. So, we're gonna recap what we learned. Yeah. It doesn't make sense at all. She goes, "It makes sense," and then she whispers, "It makes sense." Um, we're gonna recap what we learned. We are going to play that amazing game of what the original company name was or was not. And, um, and we're also gonna answer some listener mail. But first! We are going to thank our corporate partner, Nextiva, voice over IP phone system, and now arguably are developing the most advanced CRM in the world. So check them out, nextiva.com, and your business will never be the same. Plus, you'll notice that you can actually do the voice recording of this show and say, oh, Mike really is a bastard. Like, the system will come up and say, Mike, balding bastard. Alright, who wants to go first with what you learned?

You're up first, Jay.

I'll go first. Everyone's looking at you, Jay Bond.

I like what you said about, you know, once you make a decision, you don't always have control of the outcome.

Yeah.

And then you just have to deal with the cards that you're dealt. I think that that's a good mantra to keep yourself grounded.

Okay, like that. Amalish?

I was thinking the same exact thing. I love that, and I love Francesco's powerful reasons to be in the CBD business. it's so compelling. The information we have, the information we don't yet have, but the research that's coming, I think this is so phenomenal. There's so many applications. I'm so excited to hear more. Like, I wanna get on there and figure out, like, what else could it do for people. That antispasmodic thing, I didn't even know about that. That's really cool.

Was that ever presented to you when you went through your treatment for cancer?

No, what people did was, like, sneak me edibles, and, you know, sneak me this, and sneak, like, and And my husband went to my oncologist and he's like, I want to get her medical marijuana. And he's like, well, there's one dispensary. It's like a 5-day wait. And there's only one doctor in the county who actually has this particular license to distribute. So it was really difficult and impossible to go that route. And I just suffered. 'Cause I didn't like the opioids. The opioids are terrible.

Opioids are horrible.

They're terrible.

There was just a judgment against Johnson Johnson potentially being supporting opioid distribution in Wisconsin or something.

Like something like 500 pills per person in a particular county or state or something were developed or something.

I was gonna say, Amy, you could have just gone to your kids' high school and hung out there.

Exactly right. Exactly right. I mean, it was offered to me, but I didn't know what I was doing. But like my son was telling me, he's like, there's so many cannabinoid receptors in our bodies that are, you know, were made for this. That—

so you, you— did you take marijuana when you had cancer?

I didn't. I didn't know what I was doing.

So what did you do with all the supply you have? Kelsey wants to know.

They went—

they—

I—

well, you give them to your kids? No, I didn't give them to my kids, but I could have.

I could have.

Kelsey, what'd you learn besides Amy's a dealer now?

So I just love the way that she questioned a belief system, even like as a Catholic school teacher, um, to the point where she researched and became educated and then became an advocate for something. I feel like that's a super important lesson for all of us, to never take anything at face value, and that it is, you know, it's just a thought, it's just a belief, it's not necessarily true or real. And to judge other people based on that, yeah, is harmful.

Yeah.

And I loved that she made that comparison of like instinctual care for siblings and parents' daughters to the instinctual thoughts you have around your business. Like, don't trust what you think is right or wrong based on other people's opinions. Trust your instincts.

I—

wow. So that was, that was my biggest takeaway, is the inside reality is way different than the outside perception.

Yeah.

Um, so much so that I want to actually do a formal interview for potentially a book around, uh, this concept I'm thinking, I'm calling it in my head the disadvantage advantage. And so, uh, Francesca, if you're listening right now, just make a mental note, I want to interview you for the book. Um, but also that sometimes, um, success is kind of thrust upon us in the weirdest ways. It reminds me of Brené Brown's story. You know, she's the author of Dare to Lead. She is this phenom right now. And she did a, um, a presentation, I think at TEDx or something like that. And it's funny, she talks about that now. She's like, oh, maybe 100 or 200 people will watch this. And she felt very uncomfortable that that many people would watch this. And it became like 2 or 10 million, right? And so it was kind of thrust upon her and she's embraced that responsibility from something that she didn't plan for, didn't expect, or didn't even actually want. And now she knows she actually did want that. And I, I hear the same in Francesca's story is, you know, it's sad. She used the word freak and that's the, that is what people, some people will see for that circumstance. And I don't think Francesca would have asked for that, but that was her circumstance. She was a conjoined twin, and now that's become such an advantage to her. It's a blessing, right? So it's just interesting.

Absolutely.

Okay. Um, Kelsey, what else we got? Uh, should we do the game now?

Yeah, let's do the game.

Okay, let me get some perfectly queued up music for a great game. Wow! That's spot on music. So, uh, here's the game we're gonna play, Aim.

Okay.

Oh no, it was Jay Sloan who wanted this. Jay Sloan. Yeah. So, uh, Jay Sloan says, I want to play the before and after, or name game. And what this is, is these companies—

is that what he said?

Something like that. You're such an ass.

Say a lot of things.

You're such an ass. Every time I think of you, I'm like, she's an ass and I love her. It's the weirdest feeling.

It's like, this is like abuser syndrome.

Yeah, right.

Some form of masochism. So here's the— here it is. I'm gonna name these 3 companies. They're all companies that you probably recognize, and I'm gonna tell you their company name prior, and then you tell me which one of these is a fake. There's only 3 companies. That make sense?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, first one, we're gonna talk about Xerox. You all know Xerox, right? They were originally called the Haloid Photographic Company. The Haloid Photographic Company. That's how they would announce it. Like if you watch a commercial, they like, you should use the Haloid photographic company.

Did they have commercials back then?

That's a good point.

I don't know.

All right. Next company is AOL. You've heard of them. America Online. You've got mail. Pattern baldness. Was also, or had a prior name of Quantum Computer Services. Quantum Computer Services. And then, you know that company Nike? Yeah, you're wearing Nike clogs right now. Is that Nike or is that Adidas? What is that?

Adidas.

Oh, okay.

Well, I don't wear Nike.

Okay, you know Nike was originally called Apollo. He's talking that Greek, uh, god or goddess, um, kind of mentality. So which one, uh, do you— do you think— what?

The god, by the way.

Nike is—

no, Apollo.

No, but isn't Nike a goddess?

Oh, I have no idea.

I think Nike's—

oh, please, please, I want to slap you. Do you have a phone on you? Yeah. All right, look up Nike if she's a goddess. I said god for Apollo and then go god, goddess. Because I believe Nike was a goddess. I hope so, so badly. Oh, God.

I hope so for your sake too.

What an ass. Okay, so Aim, do you wanna go first? Sure. What's your guess?

I'm guessing Nike's the wrong one.

Okay.

Nike is a winged goddess.

Ha! Ha! You suck.

He's so pleased with himself. Oh, Kelsey, you won't live this down.

She's always correcting me. She's always completing my sentences. And she's usually right.

And she's right.

Finally. J. Sloan, you're up. Which company was not renamed? All right.

So I know for a fact that Nike, the one that you said was wrong, but they did have a name previously to Nike.

Yeah, you used that on the last one, I think.

I used the Nike one already?

Stop.

No, stop. That was the best.

That was the best muttly ever.

You guys stop smoking.

That was perfect.

Kelsey ruins everything.

Epizema, lass.

That's what they named Kelsey. Ruins everything. That's her name. Kelsey Ruins Everything.

Yeah. So then Xerox, I believe. I think that was their original name. So I'm going to go with Quantum for AOL. I think that's the correct one.

The wrong one. Huh?

No, no, one's right. No, no, no. Two are right. One's wrong. Oh.

Oh, well, Nike's wrong.

Okay. Jesus, Jesus.

I was so close.

All right, Kelsey, you're up.

Kelsey, you're up. I say the Nike one too.

What?

I say the Nike one too.

So you guys are all right. This was—

this—

these games are no longer fun.

Maybe you shouldn't reuse the same one.

Did I really use this one before? I'm pretty sure. This is the dumbest—

we should create the games and then have you do the questions.

Oh no, the last game we played was with my wife when then we got in a fight at home. Oh, like, wait, I want to hear this because I missed that one.

If I don't know, are you making that up?

No, in my head I'm making it up. But no, but Jeremy's asking questions like, oh, what annoys you most about Mike? The way he clears his throat.

That was one question out of like 10.

But they're all like that.

And what's your worst date? It was really like you're trying to pull up all the bad memories.

What's your worst date ever with Mike? I said, if you had to pick a celebrity, when did Mike disappoint you the most? It wasn't bad.

It wasn't that bad.

You had 10 things that Mike does wrong.

Which celebrity do you hate the most but still would rather date because Mike's such a jerk? Remember that one?

I was gonna bring up your first kiss, but then you already told the story about, so I couldn't do that. First date, I was gonna bring up like all these romantic memories.

No, you said when do your first kiss with someone other than your spouse?

I asked her what your favorite body part was.

Yeah, and what'd she say? She said something weird. Your beard.

No, you sound like that, right?

She said your beard. Yeah, she goes, what's your favorite? That's not even a body part.

That's just the hair that you're missing from the top of your head.

And my answer was, yes, true, true. This lack— I wrote down, like, you said, what's your favorite body part? And like, so the thing was I had to respond. I had to write down what I said.

Like the Honeymooners game kind of thing.

Yeah, Honeymooners.

Yeah, okay, whatever.

Newlyweds.

Oh yeah, that's what I meant.

So you're just like the honeymooners.

I love that I correct. You don't say anything.

You would jump on me.

The truth comes out. So I say arms. I say she likes my arms. Arms, and she goes, it's your beard. It's probably the best feature.

I think she was going somewhere else and then she cleaned it up.

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what she cleaned it up.

I don't think there—

it was too awkward for a minute there.

It was awkward, right? There was a— the whole show was disgusting.

Okay, um, I can't wait to hear that one.

Okay, Callis, give me something to get me out of here.

Let's do listener mail.

Okay, thank God. Oh, here's a punch for listener mail.

Okay, you ready?

Yeah, now I am.

This comes from Dan Stramer. He writes, hi Mike, question about TAP. When setting up my TAPs, we set a percentage for our salary. What if I could— what if I would like the salary to be a set number, for example $12,000, and not a percentage of the total income?

How can I set that up? Dan, good question. So you have to set then the percentage to equate to $12,000 on your minimal or slowest month. So most businesses are volatile in their income, and, uh, you know, not necessarily massive sways, but you may have, uh, one month that's 50% more revenue than the next month. So you set— you look at your weakest months out of the year and set the salary based upon that. So say I make, uh, $10,000— well, that's not a good number— $100,000 a month, because he wants $12,000 a month. Month, right? $100,000 a month in a business, that's a very healthy business. Well, um, that's your average, but some months you make $200,000. You would set actually at $100,000, uh, you set 12% because that represents $12,000. So your lowest number, if your lowest number is $100,000 during any given month or in a year, you set the percentage based upon that. That way, when you have a $200,000 month, you actually put away $24,000, but you only take out $12,000. So it starts building cushion. Did I explain that well enough? Yeah, I think so. I just want to get out of here so badly.

He hates us.

Get out of here. I do hate you. I love you. I love you guys so much. It's like a real family.

How many times did he—

I don't know, a lot. But I like— I love you. Yeah, I really can't stand you. I love that you're becoming— I love that you're getting president of the company too. You're taking it over. All right, Kelsey, take us out.

Please don't forget to subscribe wherever you're listening and leave us a review.

And go to mikemcallowich.com or mikemotorbike.com. That's the shortcut to get there. There's tons of free resources, uh, some goodies up there. Simply click on Get the Tools and we'll hook you up. All right, see you guys later. Bye. Now that we're off the air, I really do hate you guys.