In this Honor Roll episode, host Mike Michalowicz and co‑hosts discuss which classic films offer the best entrepreneurial lessons. After a brief sponsor shout‑out, they highlight Miracle on 34th Street as a case study in customer‑first honesty: Santa directs shoppers to a cheaper competitor, the rival store’s manager reacts angrily, but the honest advice drives traffic back, illustrating that doing right for the customer—even when you’re not the solution—creates long‑term goodwill. They then cite It’s a Wonderful Life as a reminder to send holiday greetings to everyone, especially businesses, to nurture relationships during the season. The segment is light‑hearted, peppered with jokes about accents and repeated sponsor thanks, and ends with a festive greeting.
Welcome to Honor Roll, and now here's your host, Mike Michalowicz.
Welcome to a night of theater, because this evening we're going to talk about the greatest movie line ever for entrepreneurs. But first, sponsor time! The people that pay for all this stuff. Thank you to American Express, DexDigital, Prevendis Group, and my boys at Skype for being sponsors.
And by the way, Nextiva, you too are awesome.
So the most important movie you can ever see— I'm just turning to different accents here because quite frankly I have no control over accents and I suck at it. I just kind of flop around, so it— whatever. So best movie ever, Miracle on 34th Street. Stick that in your corncob pipe and start Smoking that one. Why? Because there's a scene where Santa Claus is at the Macy's or the Gimbels or the— I don't know where he is, but he's at the store where Santa is hired to be Santa. If you're stoned watching that movie, it's a total mind mess. People are coming in to buy stuff and they ask Santa, "Hey, where do I get the hot new toy?" And he says, "The store across the street has it for a little bit less. Go there." So they go to the store across the street, and the manager of this store comes to Santa and goes, "What the fuck?" What? He didn't say, "What the fuck." It's an old movie. He said, "What the hey-haw?" And Santa's like, "It's a better price." And he's like, "Santa, you're fired for doing this. We're losing customers." But then the next day, the manager is aghast Because people come flocking back to the store because this is the honest store that tells the truth of where to get stuff, and they get more business than ever. That's the business lesson. Do right for the customer, even if you are not the solution. You'll have your own little miracle on 34th Street or 5th Street or the boulevard or whatever street you're on. To be honest, there is another movie that perhaps has a more impactful impactful and prolific message for us. It's a Wonderful Life. If you haven't seen that, like, what planet are you from? And the lesson is this: during the holidays, always, always send greetings to everyone, particularly buildings.
