Aligning Your WHY with LIFE: Love, Impact, Faith, and Energy

Welcome to beyond you'd why Podcast, where we go beyond just talking about your why and actually help you discover and then live your why. You see, we believe that knowing your why, that driving force behind every decision you make and every action you take, is the essential first step to really knowing yourself. It allows you to move forward faster and have a bigger impact. If you're already a fan of the show, then you know that every week we talk about one of the nine whys and then we introduce you to somebody with that why so you can see how their why has played out in their life. This show will be more powerful for you if you've already discovered your why. If you still need to do that, head over to whyinstitute.com and discover your why today. It'll only take you about five minutes. Now let's meet today's guest.

This week we're going to be talking about the why of Better Way to Find a Better way in Sharon So if this is your why, then you are the ultimate innovator and you are constantly seeking better ways to do everything. You find yourself wanting to improve virtually anything by finding a way to make it better. You also desire to share your improvement with the world. You constantly ask yourself questions like what if we tried this differently?

What if?

What if we did this another way? How can we make this better? You contribute to the world with better processes and systems while operating under the motto I'm often pleased but never satisfied. You are excellent at associating, which means that you're adept at taking ideas or systems from one industry or discipline and applying them to another, always with the ultimate goal of improving something. So today I have a great guest for you. His name is Scott Danner. Scott is a true champion of high performers and those striving to be the best versions of themselves. Scott is a CEO, entrepreneur, coach, consultant and life optimization specialist. He's also the author of the Amazon best selling book Freedom street and the host of the High Performance Life Podcast. Scott encourages high performers to focus on life, love, impact, faith and energy, believing that when these critical components are in harmony, success and financial rewards follow. His podcast features deep, unscripted conversations with ultra performers exploring their unique mindset, successes and struggles. And in 2016, Scott launched his own business in Chesapeake, Virginia, growing it to over 70 professionals across seven states with an impressive 2,000% growth in less than six years. He's also the co founder of the Chesapeake Virginia Wine Festival, which has donated more than 2.75 million to local charities. Scott lives in Chesapeake with His wife Adrian, and their two sons. Scott, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you for that great introduction. And you nailed My Better Way as a mindset because you could have just been reading a script of my life right there.

And me too, because it's my why. So you and I are going to have a great conversation today. So let's go back, Scott, in your life. And you know, we know you're now in Virginia. Where were you born? And, and where did you grow up? What were you like growing up?

You know, I, I think about this quite often as I age, and that is, I grew up in Virginia Beach. I grew up, my parents are, my mom's a paralegal for over 40 years. My dad was a storeroom manager for the city schools. And I had this better way mentality all the way back. I mean, I can think of, my dad rode his bike to work. And I talk about this in my book. And I remember going, he was drenched in sweat. He would pick us up for the babysitters. It was 105 degrees. We're walking all home. He is absolutely drenched in sweat, uncomfortable. You can see it on his face. And all I kept thinking is, we gotta solve this. There's gotta be a better way. And I've had that mentality from the time I was a child, which is really the, the entrepreneur bug. Like, it's a perfect scenario to be an entrepreneur. And, and you know, I, I can go back throughout my, my childhood, I constantly questioned just about everything and any way that one would put in front of me. And, and I mean, I remember joining the criminal justice club. I was a criminal justice major in college and there were like 12 people and it was the most boring meetings, but they talked about doing cool stuff like visiting high security prisons and going to shooting ranges and things I had not done but I was interested in learning about. And I remember saying, why is this not cooler? And you know, as a, as a sophomore or junior in college, we grew that organization and club to like 150 members. You know, it was, we had a huge party every year. We did like three or four solid events. And you know, as an adult, that's where the wine festival came from. I went to a spaghetti dinner. It was horrible. And you know, all these movers and shakers in the community and I'm like, nope, we have to have a better way. So from childhood to adulthood, it hasn't changed. And it drives me to do better every day.

Yeah, it's, you didn't pick it and you can't turn it off and it's just the way it is. Right. I mean, it's just how you operate.

Yes.

And it's got its great, great things and it's got its challenges that come with it. So we can talk about those as well, but let's get to know you a little bit better. So, grew up in. Well, what were you like in high school? If we were to walk down the hall in your high school and we see, hey, there's Scott over there, what would we see?

I think I always had a good vision that I wanted to do something with my life. But I would say that in high school, if I ever was fumbling with direction, it was then. I enjoyed a great party. I went out just about every night. I drank too early in my life and, you know, I did what I don't want my boys to do as teenagers. I also had a ton of freedom. You know, growing up. I remember my parents that if I made honor roll or did, did well in school and I played soccer and, and I did travel soccer and I did all these things, you know, I hit all the buttons for them. As long as I was home by curfew and I didn't get in trouble, I, I was good and I didn't. So I toted the line. I always had a gut feeling when things weren't going to be good. I often left scenarios throughout that, that early adulthood where things would get rough and at the right time, right before things might get bad. I was a hard worker. I worked a lot. My father put a lot of, a lot of expectations on earning. I remember he, he told me I had to have a job even during the soccer season. And there was nobody that would hire you after 7pm Practice would end and you have to have a job after that. So I washed dishes in a, in a seafood restaurant and you know, that often went till midnight during the season and then you got school in the morning. And I wasn't afraid of, of working and, and then for fun, my sister was two years younger. We had deals all the time. I went out. I ended up marrying my sister's best friend, who was one of her great friends. And we had a lot of fun growing up together and just being kids and big Italian Catholic family. So I'm the oldest grandson in a family. So my mom has six siblings, five sisters and a brother. And I was the firstborn in that family. So My grandmother was 100% Sicilian. And I was in that house. All these teenage girls, one teenage boy and me. And so, you know, I really grew up with a huge support system, a huge love for family, a drive for family, you know, all that type of stuff that kept me grounded and has really led me in the direction that I'm in in all parts of life. I always came back for every family event. I was prioritize those things and I felt it as a, as an obligation, not just something that was, that was gifted to me. I really loved leading in a way that, that connected the generations. I was often the connector between the two generations, and that was a really neat thing. So nowadays I fight for getting them all together again because they're all alive, they're all healthy. And I'm like, hey, how long are we going to go before everybody's back together again? So, you know, that's a little bit about the childhood. I mean, I played a lot of soccer and I love sports, and outside of that, I worked, I played sports and got into a little, little, little parties every once in a while. But other than that, I was a great kid.

Sounds like a very similar story. So you could probably move in and out of all the different groups fairly easily, right?

I would say that I was friends with just about everybody. I mean, I didn't make enemies. I very rarely had a problem with anyone. If I got into a problem, it was because I ran my mouth a little bit too much, but, you know, was making jokes more so than it was anything else. And. But yeah, I think I felt like I could always fit in. I would, I would glide in softly though. Like, I don't go into a room loud. I open up as I learn the room. And so I would say that's always allowed me to connect with people in a different way because I'm not going in saying, look at me. Even though I'm very comfortable, I, I'm very passive at first, sometimes a very short amount of time. So. But it's, it's a. I guess as I've gotten older, it's a very effective strategy for connecting with people, building trust, and allowing yourself to be a part of lots of different groups.

And think about that from the better way perspective. Right. How can you make something better if you don't actually know what's currently going on? So you walk into a room and you don't really understand the room at all because you just got there. So in order to make it better, you got to figure out, okay, now, like, what's the dynamic? What's actually happening here? I can't add my 2 cents or I can't help improve it. Or I can't do anything until I know what's going on. So you can't know what's going on by talking all the time.

Yeah.

So you got to listen, Right?

It's so true. I think the other thing, when you talk about better way, um, it's really interesting. I was also the kind of person that, you know, knew a new guy would move to our area, didn't know anybody. And the minute I knew that he didn't know anybody, I was introducing him to all of my friends. I was bringing him in, I was making sure he was connected. I had buddies taking him out, you know, picking him up for school, you know. And the other thing that I think, when I think better way, something I hadn't thought of, but I know it's. It's a common trait is I was often the big brother or the dad figure for a lot of my friends. So I was the conscience and the pressuring them to be better, to do better. Like, I had expectations of them that sometimes they didn't have for themselves. And some of my best friends that are still great friends today, they don't like calling me when something doesn't go well. Like, they all. They want to tell me when all the good stuff is. And it's almost like this. This connectivity. One of my best friends, who's still one of my best friends, best man at my wedding, told me one time. He was like, you know, I remember just growing up and not wanting. I always wanted to tell you the good stuff. Like, I wanted to tell you all the positives. And so it's. It's just really. It's. It's fundamental that. That better is not just about yourself. It's also about everyone around you. Like, just helping the entire scenario or helping someone achieve greatness that they might not see in themselves, but you see in that.

Okay, so you graduated high school, off to college. Where did you go?

I went to Radford University in Virginia. I got. I applied to two colleges, Virginia Tech and Radford. The only reason I knew those two places is because I went there five or six times and hung out, had beers, had felt like it was the greatest freedom I ever had. Told my mom I was like, I have got to go to college out here. And. And she actually put in my applications. I was also going to join the military because I wasn't sure we could afford to go. And my mom filled out all my applications for both places. She basically made me pick two places. These are the two places my son's doing Orientation for Radford University today. He's going to play Division 1 soccer there in the. In the. In the fall, which is in, like, a couple of weeks. But my. I can remember orientation with my dad on campus and me saying, I'm going to start this trip off right, Dad, I have never been to this campus during the day. I don't know anything about where to take you. He was like, show me around. And I was like, I don't know anything. I'm just going to be honest with you. And so I went to college for criminal justice. I wanted to major in criminal justice. I was interested. I just didn't know what I wanted to be when I got older. And I thought I would go into law school, so I went criminal justice and I thought FBI, you know, some kind of federal agency or law. And. And I graduated early from college and went on to work for the Attorney General's office right out of college in that field a little bit. And, you know, I'll pause in case you have other college questions. I don't know if there's anything else about college that I did meet. My. My wife, who was my. My sister's best friend, came to college with my sister two years after I started. We started dating almost the first week she got there, and eventually she also became my wife. So college was good to me in a lot of ways.

Well, let's do pause there for a second because I want to add a little bit more to the equation, because we know that Scott's why is to find a better way and share it. But. But his how. How he goes about doing that is by challenging the status quo and thinking differently. Then ultimately what he brings is a trusting relationship where other people can count on him to be that trusted source. And how did that feel to you?

You know, how did it feel in college, you mean? Or just in learning about that, that. That whole scenario?

Yeah, about knowing about your why and your how and your what. Because we'll see how. Now that we look back on your story, it just comes through loud and clear.

It. Honestly, it feels. It feels. It feels perfectly aligned. I have always thought differently. I've always felt like I was challenging everything that existed. I mean, to this day, my son's going to Radford, and so now I'm paying attention to the school, and I'm like, you know, their. Their enrollment was lower, and all I can think about is I know how to make this college better. I know how to make more people know how wonderful this school is. I actually have A plan in my brain of what that would be, and I want to share it. And so. And it's not. It's not that crazy, but it's so simple sometimes. But it's that ability to just. I just incessantly think about it and plan it and. And sometimes I jot down ideas and, you know, so I've always been doing that. But I think if you want to go fundamental. I wanted to have a better life for my whole family. Like, I. I wanted to go to college and be successful. Not for me, but I wanted my mom and dad not to have to struggle. I wanted my little brother. My brother was 14 years, almost 14 years younger than me. I wanted him to have better opportunities than I did growing up. I wanted to not feel that. That struggle that we had of constantly having to say no to everything. Because, you know, I. I went every year to go to the French class in high school because I wanted to go to the French. To France. And my mom took French. My grandfather spoke it a little bit, and. And Italy, they didn't have an Italian class. I would have done that 100%, but the French one. And my mom would entertain me to go to these things. But then as soon as it came time to pay for it, we would literally go and listen to the information and we'd drive home and she would say, you can't do it. And when I was playing select soccer, it was. I had to hear no every year until I could afford to pay for it on my own. And these were things that I just. This was my drive when I was going to school. It was not about money. It was about finding a better path for our family and, and being a leader. And that was something that I think. So when you say challenge and you say, you know, thinking differently and you define the better way dynamic that, that I'm. I'm wired for. It's 100% who I am.

And ultimately, you want to be that trusted source. You want to be the one that others. If you say it, it's going to be true, right? You can't say something if it's not true.

I. I cannot. In fact, it. In times. There are times in business where people will try to, you know, tell you you said something that you didn't say. And it. Nothing makes me more frustrated than that, because I know exactly what I've said at all times. I know exactly how I said it, and I know that if you took it the wrong way, that's not on me, that's on you. And I And I, and I say that all the time. And I'm like, I'm not, I am so in tune with how something said. And I could tell you what someone was wearing, where we were at, what the conversation was like. I mean, I can repeat it all in because my word matters so much. So, you know, it's not about disagreements happen and things like that. But I'm just saying to that point, it's so fundamental to who I am. Yes, absolutely.

I love that. And so. Okay, so now you're at the Attorney General's office. How did you get from, where did you go next? Keep us going down your career.

Okay, so the first, I skipped a small part. When I first graduated from college, I, for about eight, eight or nine months, I took a sales job and I was a military at a military recruitment company and I was helping to bring in military guys locally. I just had to work right out of school while I looked for something that was more in tune with the major. And nothing popped up in the very beginning when I first graduated. So I took this job and I was actually doing quite well. And then the AG's office, I had interned with them, so they had asked me, I had presented an idea, how about better way? I had presented an idea as an intern that the AG at the time had a program called 2000 Mentors for, for the year 2000. And this was in 1999. And when I arrived as an intern at the Attorney General's office my senior year of college, there were like 665 mentors. And so my initiative, what they told me to do, was find ways to bring in more mentors so we can hit our goal of 2,000 mentors signed up within this program by the year 2000. And so I, I, I presented a plan to go to all the service organizations where people that already want to give to the community would probably be willing to sign up to be a mentor in their communities. And then we would just have to connect them to the existing organization. So we in tune would get all of our 2,000 names, they would succeed, and we'd hit our goals for the AG's campaign promise.

So internship ends, there's no job opportunities there. I graduate college early. I'm, I'm working at this military recruitment company, having a great time. It was kind of like an extension of college for the most part. And we were, we were, it was such a cool experience, great people. I still am friends with some of the people from that nine month period of my life. But I had made a recommendation When I left the AG's office that we merge the, the mentorship program, I felt like it was unfair to leave it hanging. Like I know political promises, right? And I was like, why would you leave this hanging? Let's connect the 2000 mentors with a program that already exists. And Colin Powell had, had actually had a program called America's Promise. And I said, how great would it be if we brought in Colin Powell and we did a formal merge of the platform to 2000 mentors in the year 2000. And Colin Powell comes in and says, I got it from here and we're going to merge and this, Virginia is going to be a new opportunity. And this is pre Colin Powell's politics for the most part. He was still, I think he had just finished the general. He was doing all this, this other work at the time. Maybe it was around the same time. And so when I was, when I was working at the first job, the AG's office called me and asked me if I would introduce Colin Powell in front of 8,000 people at the University of Richmond. Because they were going to actually execute this idea, which was super cool to me. So.

I got the privilege and honor to introduce Colin Powell, whose helicopter was late. And so as I was doing my five minute presentation that I was told to do and then to introduce, he didn't show up and he wasn't there. And they're like, keep going. And I'm a 21 year old kid in front of 8,000 people and they're telling me to keep going. And I saw the, the person who was my intern coordinator, he's now an attorney in Richmond, super smart guy, but he was a young guy who was probably 31 at the time. And Colin Powell was like one of his heroes. And they didn't ask him to do a presentation. And I remember thinking in my brain, I was like, I'm just going to bring up Courtney up here. He'll know what to say. He's more polished than I am and he can introduce Colin Powell. And so I, I, I, I, I'm going to pull, I wouldn't be here if Courtney wasn't here. And I introduce him, he comes up to the stage, I mean, it was perfect. And then like five minutes later, he introduces Colin Powell. And so I technically did not get to introduce Colin Powell. But the program merged. I ended up, they offered me a job that day when I finished that speech. And I went on to become the assistant Director of Crime prevention for Virginia. And that was my role. Once I got out, once I did that presentation and I decided to not go to law school. At that point in time. I'd put in my law applications, I was accepted. I was actually looking at going to Catholic University in D.C. and I decided when they offered me the job that I had no idea why I was going to college anymore and I was just going to go work like I was actually going to go do something. And I worked for a couple of years in the administration, on the sixth floor, on the politics floor, traveled the state, did all these huge events, learned so much from that job. And then when he didn't win the gubernatorial race, I didn't have a job. So I, I had made so many good friends. The Department of Criminal justice, head of Virginia's DCJS reached out to me. He had a grant funded role and he gave me a position to do. I was a liaison between the Department of Education and the Department of Criminal Justice. So I want you to think of Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi and you know, there are two different criminal justices. You're strong. There are gangs in your school. And then the, the educators are like, these are just misguided children. If we don't report it, it's not a gang. And so I would do these, these meetups where I would pull together the ideas and we were pressing for school resource officers and that was a big initiative. And I was a liaison and a connector between those two groups, which was not a very fun job and I did not love it. So I was looking. The grant came and got refunded and I turned it down and I started in the financial services industry instead. I applied. My aunt was working down in Arkansas for a financial advisor. She told me I would be great at it. She'd always been a great influence in my life. And I applied two weeks later. I was studying and I just said, if the worst thing that I do is learn how to manage my own money, then I've, I've gathered a good life skill and I started in business that day in 2002. Wow.

Okay, so 2002 embarks on the financial services world and then how long did it take you to really get going?

So I would say, you know, the first couple of years I knocked on doors, I cold called, I did anything and everything I could to get started and I built a really good community feel. I started to build the business. I would say, you know, it took about three to five years to really feel like I was doing well. I think I made six figures about three years into the role. And back then that was a really big. I'd never even dreamed of making that much. I mean, I thought if I made like 65, 75K back then, I was killing it. And year one, I matched my income that I had, that I had. I left the other job and I made like 10k more. Year one full year in, I matched the income the next year, so I made the same amount, like two years in a row. And then the next year we started just really amping it up and, and I was building a good practice. About 7 oh, 7, oh 8, about.07, I had seen about a 20% increase in my business and my income every year. And 08 and 09, I saw a decrease for the first time. It was a stagnation and a decrease because of the entire environment, the financial crisis. But we came through that and then I saw a 60% increase coming out of that. All the relationships I made, all the connections, standing by people in the worst of times helping business owners when they were challenged and, you know, developers going out of business. I mean, there was so much value out of those challenges. And I learned so much that I, it was like an, it was a crash course. You got to figure 20 years. Most people in the business that had taught me were, were started in the 1980s and these guys had never seen a downturn until 99 to 2002. And then again, oh, 8 and 09. And that was like it. There were like these small little pockets in 20, 30 years. And then we had seen two in a row in a short amount of time. And so it was, it was really good, Gary. It was awesome because I learned a lot. And that's when the business took off. And, and the, the quick version is I ran a private practice and I, and I couldn't get it out of my brain. Here's for your listeners, that there was a better way. I got passed over. I got passed over for a role in leadership. I was, I was pretty young and I was poised to take over in a, in a leadership role, a management role. That would have been a potential direction to a general partnership. And I felt like that's all I wanted to do. It was definitely my calling. You know, I felt like it was, it was going to be the path for me leading people. And I didn't get it. They called me and told me that I was, it was me and another guy and I was, was, I was. Got the phone call saying, you're, you're not going to do it. It's not you. And they told me that I was a wild card that I was too unpredictable and that I wasn't a good manager and everything they said was right. And I, I talk about this in my book. I actually went home, my wife, after I put the kids down, had a bottle of champagne and two glasses and she was waiting and she basically was celebrating the fact that it just wasn't the right path for me and she knew it. So I spent a year serving under the other guy and doing everything that I knew that we could do. And, and then I spent that entire year evaluating where my next move would be and how I would build something better. And so in 2016, I started Freedom Street Partners, which was the company that, that I've, I've built from the ground up. And we had. Now I was a private practice, hundred million dollar book of business doing just under a million dollars of production a year. And we started something where we built a platform and we started serving the average age of a financial advisor, 62 in this industry. And there's no, have no succession plans. Very few of them have catastrophic risk. So I was like, let's build a plan that we can actually serve as the next level for them. And so we started building a platform and people were attracted to it. And you know, in the, the. I'll pause there for a second because I know that's a lot of stuff, but that's a, that's the, that's the trajectory.

So what was the def.

When you didn't get the job is when you started to think about Freedom Street.

When I didn't get the job, I realized that it was not the place for me. So, so ultimately I have always been willing to give something a chance even if it doesn't feel perfect. And the company that I was with was definitely trending toward. First of all, they'd always been older leadership, so they really, really. I was a young hard charger, you know, definitely not perfect fit for that.

And there was just a lot of trends I was noticing that I didn't love about the company. And once I didn't get the role I was, I was aware I was fine like I was. I was dialed in and attuned to the things that were great for some people but would never be great for me. And so I just really had a clearer picture of what was best for me. And it wasn't that. And I also knew I could lead people in this industry and I wanted to change the industry. I wanted to change the way that, that people think about our industry. I hated all the negative connotations and all the struggles. And you know, it's lawyer jokes, it's financial advisor jokes, it's accountant jokes. Like it's. And yet you're the person that's helping people at their hardest moments, when their husband dies and they have nobody or when they're, they're, their grandchild suddenly passes on and you're helping this create a foundation for them. And like these are like life changing helping people moments that, that you know, that people do in this industry. And so I wanted to change the industry and so that's, that was my goal. It was way bigger than, than just setting up a company.

So what did you, how did you come up with the name Freedom Street Partners? And why did you choose that?

So freedom was really important to me and I really got, I have a, a creative side and I just, and I also get a little bit lost in my thoughts sometimes and I couldn't get out of my head how blessed I felt to be able to just be able to start a business from scratch. Like, I couldn't believe that I was walking with my dad, riding his bike when I was a kid and thinking I could become a police officer or a teacher. And today I'm making very good six figure income. I'm providing my family with more than I ever dreamed and it's not good enough. I remember the day I was telling my dad that I was going to leave and my dad just shook his head and like looked at me with this like, it's never good enough for you. Like, I don't even understand you. He does not. I mean, he literally looked at me with all. And he was trying to be happy for me, but he was also like looking at me like, what is wrong with you? I don't even know what you earned, Scott, but it's way more than I could ever think of. And so when I thought about freedom, I kept going back to the theme of like 1776 and just starting this country and how it was founded on the restrictions that were placed on people that just wanted to be entrepreneurs, they wanted to build something better. And so I got caught up in that freedom and there's so many freedom names that it was so beat up. And, and my assistant of, of 14, 15 years came in one day and she said, I had a dream last night and, and we're going to be called.

Market Street. And I said, amanda, that is the worst name I have ever heard in my entire life. We don't want the market to be any part of our name. And I Was, and we're good friends by the way. So I'm like, I'm telling her how horrible of an idea it is and, and I said, but wait a second, what if it was Freedom Street? And I, I plug it into, you know, bringing Wall street to Main Street. Freedom is a freedom for, for people. What does freedom mean to you? If we can define that, we can help you really achieve all your dreams. And Partners was a partnership between us and our clients, between us and our partners that were advisors with us. We were growing something bigger, better together. And so I looked it up and it wasn't taken. And so I literally bought it right then and there. I reserved the name, I started building the brand and I wanted to build a national brand. So that was how we started that, that entire.

Process of the branding of Freedom Street.

So what makes Freedom street different than what you were current, what you were doing before? How are they different?

So it was a couple of different things. Number one, you know, a lot of things are just tied to the fact that the bigger you become, the harder new and young ideas get to, to surface. So part of it was just being innovative. And when I say I wanted to change the industry, I wanted to build a platform that truly did a couple of things. Number one, the way the industry trends is it's so highly regulated and challenged and there's all these little. It was becoming so meticulous, like every single appointment, there was so many other things that you had to do that I felt like advisors weren't able to do what they do best, which is actually sit across from their client and learn about them. How can you serve people if you don't have time to do it? Because all you're doing is the busy work behind the scenes. So you know, we created scale by creating models, by creating a full time trader, by having the things that took the most time removed from our team members so that they could spend more time serving the people that they serve. And, and that was what made it special. And then the second thing was there really, I couldn't find a whole lot of information on succession, catastrophic risk. It's amazing. Advisors plan for everybody else's major life happenings, including when they're no longer here, but they don't plan for themselves. And I thought, man, if I can, I had a blessing. And that was that there were more 80 year old advisors than 30 year old advisors. And I was like 38 to 40 at this point in time. So you're talking about a 38 year old who just says it's gotta be better than this. And, you know, and there it is, right? I just, I wanted to build a better mousetrap and through scale, innovation, youth, you know, even the training and the way that we do things, it was, it was all the parts that I loved. Building community events, you know, continuing to develop things and impact at a greater level.

I love it. And you came up. Let's talk about life now. Because.

You know, you and I are in a group together, right? In the Genius Network together. And I heard your presentation on that, and it was freaking awesome. I loved it and it was. And I know you live it, so what is it? I know, I'll let you take it from there.

So what's cool about this is it's something I've been doing my whole life. And, and it's, it sounds cliche, but life, the life, the high performance life model is essentially a cool name for something that I've been doing very, very meticulously my whole life. And that is, I would get overwhelmed or I would. I would have so many things in my brain that I needed to find a way to get it all out. What were my goals, what were my dreams, what was actually something I wanted versus what were things I was saying to myself. We often find ourselves thinking that we want something, but when we go to write it down and we actually start thinking about it, it may or may not be the exact path that we want to go on. And so I had created these. These four quadrants in my brain that were love, impact, faith and energy. And love was your family and friends, the who's in your life that matter most, the people that you want to surround yourself with. I would. I had been making lists of names of people that I wanted more time with in my life for years. Every year I go through people that I've met, people that are part of my family, people that, that I, That I love being around, that I get energy from. And I write their names down, and I also write a couple of the names down to the people that suck the energy out of my life. And I try every year to surround myself with more of the right who's. Genius Network is a great example. You know, it's an area where each year I find myself learning more and more about a couple of the members and people that become really great friends of mine. But it's, it's, it's, it's defined, it's purposeful, it's written down. Impact. I learned really early on as a financial advisor that when I started that Wine festival. I was ready to throw my entire career away by the way that I felt running that event and giving $175,000 to charity that first year. I never dreamed I could personally write a hundred thousand dollar check to charity. I don't. You know, I know people when you hear those things. And I look back on where I've come from to now, I just, I didn't have that view. I never thought about money in my, in my visual of how much money I would make or how much money I could give. When I felt the impact I could make beyond my career, it was huge. So when I would talk impact, I felt like work was a bucket that would bog me down and beat me up. So all the things that were important about work, I would put in that impact area. But then on the outside areas, I would put the why behind it. Like, what was it going to do? How is it going to impact? And I would go through the who, the what, the why, and the how. In each box. I do it with the who's. I would go, what are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we doing it? And then I would define impact the same way. And then faith. Each year I would find myself wanting to get deeper in my faith. I've always had a. I've always believed in something bigger than myself. I've always believed in God. I've always been a devout traditional Catholic. But I haven't always practiced the way I feel proud of. And so I would write down the things that I was most proud of, and I would write down the things that I really wanted to implement in my life and spiritually, to find a way to take the ego out of all the decisions I was making. A bigger why. And so it. So impact moved into the why. And faith was the why. It was also on the bottom corridor. So when I look at the four quadrants I have, I have love and impact up top, but I have faith in energy on the bottom. Energy is about how you show up. It's a healthy mind, a healthy body, a healthy spirit. There have been times in my 46 years where I haven't been the healthiest. I've had, you know, situations with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's and, and some autoimmune stuff. And it always comes down to the fact that I am ignoring really important, glaring things that are going on in life and way too stressed out or not focusing on the right things. So by laying it all out on paper, looking at my life in general and Having gone through this with clients, our tagline for years was Life Wealth Optimization. And so this was the life optimization portion I've been doing for 20 years. The wealth optimization was my career, but the career part was. Was not as intriguing to me as the life part. And so what I've done is I've taken something I've been doing, working through, learning about myself, and then I started to. I really started to teach it. And one of my friends was really struggling, and I did a video one time several years ago, many years ago, and I just drew out all the things I do when I have this happen to me. And I sent it to her and, you know, everything changed for her when she executed upon this. Another friend lost their father and was reeling and having a really hard time. And I used it to help frame what was most important. Why was it most important? How are we going to do it together? And you know, it's, It's. It's such a bigger tool than just laying out your dreams and your goals. Sometimes it's about overwhelm, and I use it for that too. So this life model is something that's been so great for me. And I just. Like you said earlier when you introduced it, right. I know something is great about this, and I want people to know how great it is and how it can help them in their own lives, because it will make their relationships better, it'll make their impact greater, it'll make their faith stronger, and it will make them healthier humans. And that will allow them to deliver better to the world.

And ultimately it gives them more clarity, right?

Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, you have to prioritize the most important things. And as I write down all these things, I circle the most important ones. That means that sometimes there might be someone that's really important in that group, but the most important person. My son's getting ready to go to college. He. He is a priority right now. They're always a priority. But there are times where now we are genuinely saying no to things because we have three weeks left before he goes away to college. Nothing else matters but our family. Four right now. And, you know, and so that's an important thing. And you know, even last year during his last soccer games and his. I mean, it's just everything was memorialized for me. But when I started that year, it was prioritization, to your point. It was clarity. It was understanding the who's that mattered most. Sometimes other who's matter, but when do they matter the most, really? Does Play a part in how I make decisions.

Yeah, I remember, like I said, hearing you talk about it and seeing your diagrams, and I thought, man, that's just a powerful, simple, powerful way to gain clarity about what's really important in your life so that you can make the decisions, the right decisions, that you're going to be happy with the outcome, which is often hard to do. Right. You just start doing, we start doing, and then we end up. Now, how the heck did I get here?

Yeah, I do it all the time. I get lost, and I get lost in thought. When you're constantly thinking about better ways, you know, you're. You're also trying to make yourself better all the time. And it can become something. You know, when you talk about the challenges with that is that you put a lot of weight on your shoulders. You put a lot of things in your head. You put a lot of people's problems in your life, and you are solving so many of them and making an impact, but you're also drowning sometimes. And so when I find myself drowning, I go back to my own tool. And I'm not saying that I'm better than anybody else. I'm just. I'm just effectively and efficiently using a tool to help me clarify the direction I need to go in to make the decision I need to make, to guide myself when I'm challenged.

And so you've been. Freedom Street's been around, you said, since 2016.

Yep. So in 2016, we started it. And in 2023, I actually, in all through 2023, I took the company to market to find strategic partnership or some potential private equity or family office money to build the next level. And what we decided to do in 2023 is we were actually, we merged with a large company, one of the top 20 RIAs in the industry. They had all the back office. So they formally acquired Freedom Street Partners, and we now lead the M and A division of this larger entity. Our company got to stay intact as far as all of our employees, all of our advisors, all of our client base. Everything was just kind of plugged into a larger entity. And instead of me having to create the best hr, the best, you know, I'm leveraging strategic partnerships that are. That have already built it. And, and it's been a really great thing. So that was in 2023. And, and part of that was also a life decision. You know, my, my, my family's at a. At a transformative moment. I have prioritized them, but I've also put a lot of energy and effort into building the company and to developing our brand and doing all the things that business, you know, kind of takes from you, not just gives you. And I saw a way for me to continue to make my impact, but maybe lessen the way that I was doing it. The. The. The. The. The full 180% of Scott, I want to give 120%, not 180%. So.

Okay, last question for you, Scott. What's the best piece of advice you've ever given or the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Man, I. This is what a hard question for someone like us. The better. I mean, there's. I hear a better question every single day. I have no idea what the best is. But I can tell you this. When I started.

I'm going to give you two, because I can't give you one, but I'll give you two. The first one is the easiest. And that is when I realized that there's something greater than me in control. And God is leading me, and I surrender. I always end up in the right place. And. And my grandfather laid that. That. That groundwork. My mom and dad helped me realize that this was a path for me, and it always kept me grounded.

But from a. From a. From an execution standpoint, I just believe that when you work towards your strengths and you don't focus on your blind spots as much and you just keep digging into what you're great at, greatness comes out of you. And. And that is. That is a really special thing. But I connect the two because I believe that greatness comes out of you when you realize that it's not about you. And. And so those are. That's the connecting. It's two thoughts, but it's. It's really one connecting thing, and that is, you know, just finding what you're great at. Everybody has a gift. Use it. And if connection is your gift, connect more people. Talk to more people. I love what you're doing. This is such an efficient and effective way to help people know not only who they are, but how they can be really great at what they're doing. And it's why we've connected, why I really love your message, and I really love learning about your story and how you help people, because it's just a really, really amazing thing to lean into that gift of connection.

Thank you, Scott. That's awesome, man. Hey, if there's people that are listening and they want to learn more about you, they want to follow you, they want to work with you, they want to hear More about life. What's the best way for them to connect with you?

So ScottDanner.com is an easy way to find me. And we do a lot of guidance, a lot of coaching, a lot of help with people for the high performance life and, and listening to the podcast. I mean, part of the reason I put that podcast out there is because I am interviewing so many amazing people and they are showing everyone a better way. They are showing you how they failed, how they, how they learned what they did great. I mean, I've had Navy seals who were almost dead on the, on the battlefield that, that are living and, and, and doing amazing things. And I've had, you know, women that have done things that they never dreamed of doing and changing their communities and their cultures and I mean, just so much stuff. So, you know, and last but not least, the YouTube channel, we put everything on YouTube as well as a lot of our thoughts. And I think those are the two, two or three areas people can find us and enjoy, hopefully what we're putting out there for them.

I love it. You know, this was like talking to myself. It's, it's kind of funny because everything you were saying is kind of the way I would say it. And that's, that's what happens when two people with the why a better way, you know, with the same why talk. So, Scott, thanks so much for taking the time to be here today. I know you and I are going to stay in touch for, for many years. So thanks again for being here.

It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for asking me to be on the show. I'm humbled and honored and I really look forward to, to being a good friend for many, many years to come. Agreed. Foreign.

I really hope you enjoyed today's episode and that through today's guest, you heard how important it is to know your why and how impactful it can be in your life and the lives of those around you. Be sure to head over to whyinstitute.com and discover your why today. Remember, the more you know about yourself, the more you'll know about others. I'm Dr. Gary Sanchez and I'll see you on the next episode.