David Shands | From Cheesecake Factory to Millions: Lessons in Success with David Shands

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Shands man, like what was your because.

There'S a lot like, who am I? Right? It's not one thing. Like at what point did I say I wanted to be the most amazing father in the world? Or at what point did I say I wanted to affect the world in terms of teaching entrepreneurship?

Or you talked about the attitude of gratitude.

Some people are waiting until they get a lot to be grateful, but it doesn't really work like that.

I'd love for you to just take a moment and talk about attitude of gratitude and what it means and how that helps center your day.

Once you get more, it doesn't make you grateful for that stuff. It just makes you want more. I was grateful for a good night of tips. Just grateful. I'm grateful that there are people around me that I love. I was grateful for the church that I went to. I was grateful for having family because I realized that other people didn't have family. My job is to be grateful for it because whatever I have, I didn't do anything to get it to multi.

Multi, multi, multi, multi. I won't put all the millions on there, right? But to this very successful person that teaches other people the ingredients to success, what inspired you to be that inspiration for others?

I mean, I wasn't trying to be inspiration for others. I was trying to make some money. Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves and game changing conversations. Buckle up. Here's Mick.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today's guest is nothing short of extraordinary. He's a visionary entrepreneur, transformative speaker, and the man I call the Goat of podcasting. As the mastermind behind the Social Proof podcast. With over a million monthly downloads and a leading inspirational entrepreneur that's turned dreams into millions. Please join me in welcoming the one and Only the goat, Mr. David Shands. Mr. Shands, how you doing today, brother?

I am good, thanks for asking. How are you?

I am great. And I truly mean that when I say you are the Goat Man. Like, I just started my podcast God back in March. I'M now part of UrbanOne Podcast Network.

Congrats.

But I'm gonna be honest. When I started, there wasn't people I could really look up to. You were the one. I dissected and listened to every podcast. I was a huge podcast listener of yours before, but when I decided to start, I was, okay, let me hear how David's doing it. And what I realized and what became my method was make it all about the guest. And that's what you truly are, is you're a carer of people. And so I wanted to just take a moment before we even get into everything, man, and just say, from the bottom of my soul, thank you for being someone that a kid I call a kid from. From Greenville, South Carolina, could look up to. So I appreciate it.

Thank you, man. I'm honored, brother. I'm honored. In Intro, it was a million monthly downloads, and we did hit a million monthly downloads, but it's not at a million monthly downloads right now. I'm not a. I'm not a capper. They did, like, some sort of. It was. Apple did something with the podcast numbers where they stopped counting a lot of the backlog or they stop sending your backlog podcast downloads for a while. So it like, people lost, like, 40% of their views. But we still have millions and millions of views. But I will always be upfront with what's going on in the world, so. But yes, thank you, man. I appreciate you, yo.

I appreciate you more and just what you mean to the world, man, like your journey, your story, you know, on Make Unplugged, we go deeper than your why and really talk about that. Because that thing that really fuels you, that gives you that purpose. And so I love for the listeners and viewers. David Shands, man, like, what is. Or what was your. Because that moment, that thing that said, this is my purpose and this is who I'm going to be.

It's a somewhat loaded question, because there's a lot like, who am I? Right? It's not one thing. I'm just a lot like, at what point did I say I wanted to be the most amazing father in the world? Or at what point did I say I wanted to affect the world in terms of teaching entrepreneurship? Or I feel a responsibility of letting people know that they voice can be heard, which is why they need to start a podcast. But I do a lot of this stuff because it's one. A profitable thing for me, and I get to do what I love and with extra time by doing things that I love, with the happiness that I get from being able to make money to do the things that I love. And also, with the extra resources, I can really, really, truly help people that when the cameras are not on is when I get the fulfillment.

Amen.

Or I can spend some time and, like, really pour into someone or give someone something that I wouldn't have been able to give if this was 12 years ago working at the Cheesecake Factory. So I am just truly, truly blessed, man, in every area of life to be able to wake up and do what I love.

I love it, man. And again, I love your authenticity. You are always going to talk to people about things that matter. And one of your recent episodes, and it's something that tells me about the core of who you are. I'm going to lie, Dave. Like, it made me cry, man. I'm a tough guy, but tough guys can cry sometimes, too. You talked about the attitude of gratitude, and I felt like that message is so inspiring, and it's something that everyone needs to hear, and I'd love for you to just take a moment and talk about that, the attitude of gratitude and what it means and how that helps center your day. Because I watched it first thing in the morning a couple of more mornings ago, and, bro, it got me there. And that was the message I needed, literally that moment.

I am just super grateful for everything that I have, the ups and the downs. But some people are waiting until they get a lot to be grateful. But it doesn't really work like that, because if you're not grateful with the little that you have, once you get more, it doesn't make you grateful for that stuff. It just makes you want more. And then we find ourselves on this hamster wheel of going after more. But when I was working at the Cheesecake Factory, I was just grateful, man. I was grateful for a good night of tips. Just grateful. I'm grateful that there are people around me that I love. I was grateful for the church that I went to. I was grateful for having family because I realized that other people didn't have family. I was actually grateful for this job as a server. Understanding that some people don't have a job and they would. They would love one. I just. Grateful, bro. So the alternative is not being grateful, right?

Yeah.

Where I believe I've been so unexplainably blessed, bro. You know, like, some of the things that your life that happened, you can't take credit for.

Yeah.

Like, how can you take credit for the right person at the right time coming into your life? You didn't do anything to do that they were sent that way, like the message that I gave whenever I gave it and you heard it, but that was the thing that you needed to help you do something that was going to empower you. Now, if you didn't get that message, you have not have been empowered, but you can't take credit for that because it was sent.

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So I'm so grateful for everything I have. Knowing that I'm not that fancy, I'm not that smart, I'm not that brilliant, have accumulated some of the things that I have, there has been a grace on my life. So whether it's a million downloads or 200,000 downloads every month, whether it's a million dollars or 30,000 a year, my job is to be grateful for it. Because whatever I have, I didn't do anything to get it.

Man, that is so awesome. And you know, my mother is a minister and I talk about my mother a lot on the podcast and I immediately called her and I said, mom, you know what? I know that, you know I appreciate you and that I'm grateful for you, but in this moment, like, something's just telling me just so that you know I love you, right? And my mom was like, what just happened? And so I shared the YouTube video with my mom, and she called me back, like, 20 minutes later. She was like, actually, that's the sermon I'm preaching this weekend on just being grateful. And that moment centered me, man. Like, grateful that I could put shoes on my feet, right? Grateful that I could go make myself breakfast. Like, the little things that you just said, we take for granted, that we just need to be grateful for. And for me and the spirituality that I have, it just reminded me that we're here for a purpose. And you got to be thankful for. You said it eloquently. The ups and the downs, the trials and the tribulations, right? Like, you got to be grateful for everything because that continues to shape who we are. So, again, bro, just thank you for that message, because you have no idea how much I needed it Monday morning.

My pleasure. I'm honored, bro. I'm honored.

Yes, sir. So you hit on cheesecake, man. Let's get into it. David Shands, cheesecake server. To multi, multi, multi, multi, multi. I won't put all the millions on there, right? But to this very successful person that teaches other people the ingredients to success. Like, how did that happen? So you're at Cheesecake Factory. Like, when did it click? The. I want to inspire others. But even before that, there's something greater for me, because I think that's where it starts, right?

Yeah. I was always going after something. I've never not been ambitious, but. And I've tried a bunch of things. It just so happened that this T shirt brand that I wanted to build was a thing that worked. I think it could have been anything at that time. It could have been real estate or crypto or, I don't know, telecommunications or. I think at that time, time it could have been anything. Because at this time, I try and fail and try something else. Doesn't really work out, and I lose all my money. And it just. I've been through the education process, and at this. This time, I'm listening to a lot of Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglars and Eric Thomases and Inky Johnson. I'm listening to all these people. I'm on this personal development path. So all of my failures and my clarity on who I am and all this motivational stuff that's going on in my Head and the network of people that I met along the journey, it all came together when I decided to put this T shirt brand together.

Yeah.

So it worked. It wasn't one moment that or how did I come up with this genius idea? It was the fact that all these things that I've went through, Ups, downs, networks, everything, books I decided to read. Now I'm taking all that stuff and I'm putting it as T shirt brand. It worked out, man. It was the first thing that really worked in terms of my entrepreneurial journey.

Yeah. And so. So now we've got the T shirt brand and you have some success. What inspired you to be that inspiration for others?

I mean, I wasn't trying to be inspiration for others. I was trying to make some money. It wasn't like, yo, I just had this passion and motivation to help people. No, I was trying to make some money. Like, everything el I tried in my path, I started this brand called Sleep is for suckers, geared towards entrepreneurship and people that are willing to lose sleep to get what they want out of life, because that was the lifestyle that I was living. And I was. That's who I was. Just, I'm going after it. So I'm willing to give up a little bit of sleep to make a little more money. And that worked. So it didn't start out as, I want to help the world. I'm like, I'm about to sell some cool T shirts and make some money, because I can count if I sell 200 T shirts a month at $20 a piece, I'll make $4,000 a month. Run it.

Simplicity, right?

Yeah, for sure. It wasn't super deep.

No, I love it. So started as a T shirt brand, but then it became a movement, man. And, like, it still is a movement today. And again, very honored to say that I've been touched by that movement. Like, when did you get the idea to scale it? So, yeah, you're making money, Right? You've got that part down. And it's like, okay. Because I feel like that's the ingredient that most entrepreneurs miss. It's like, okay, you get comfortable. You've got the idea. But I know again, your mantra, sleep is for suckers. You were not stopping there. It was, oh, okay, I can scale this thing now.

I wasn't super familiar with the word scale at that time. It was, I need to make more money than I'm making right now. Yeah, it wasn't scale. It's like, yo, if I made $2,000 last month, can I do 2,300 this month. So entrepreneurship on this level is more simplistic than people want to make it. It's like when I decide to scale it, I decided to make money when I started it. If I make it a certain amount of money, I just decide to make more money. I don't. I don't understand the scale concept. It's like, how can I sell more T shirts? So I call one of my friends. He's wearing the shirts, and he. Well, he. I'm talking to him one day. He's like, man, you should send me some shirts, and I'll sell them. I was like, word? He's like, yeah, the message is dope. I was like, all right. So he takes the shirts and he starts selling them. And then somebody else calls me like, yo, you should give me some shirts, and I'll sell them. I said, word, let's go. If you keep going, there will be a natural progression. If you're interested in that, if you're interested in progressing, there will be a natural progression at some point. But again, it wasn't scale, and how can I double? I was like, yo, I just want to make more. And I think that's a blessing. It was a blessing for me because I've never been, like, that smart, but I knew how to work. And I think if people weren't so smart and they weren't trying to think of how to mastermind everything and go out and get some money, you'd be able to feed your family a little easier. You make that extra money to be able to take your family on a trip, Go hustle. I'm from the era where I had to actually go to somebody and make a sale. There wasn't no link in my bio, create content. It wasn't none of that.

Right.

I got to walk up to you and try to convince you to buy this T shirt.

Yeah.

So I realized the more people I walk up to and convince to buy a T shirt, the more money I'll make. And then my first lesson wasn't scale. My first lesson was, how do I not spend all the money? How do I keep the money?

Yeah.

So that's my.

Again, authentic. Keeping things in its simplest form. The things I appreciate most about David Shands. Right. Like when I listen to David speak, he's going to give it to you raw. He's going to give it to you simple with things that you can start doing. And you're exactly right. For businesses, it's about, how can I do more? And then the profitability side is how Can I keep more? Right. So. So it's twofold. It's how can I go get more and at the same time keep more? And in the middle of all that, you got profit.

Yeah.

And to me, it's that simple. It literally is that simple.

100%. 100%. You're right.

So the things that you do well, you're the master of. I'll say that. Right. Like, the things that you do well, you're the master of. When did podcasting become a thing for David Shands?

One I didn't know it was a podcast necessarily, but I've always been like. I've always brought people together. So I'm doing this conference called Social Proof Conference. So what I decided to do to promote it was typically at a conference, you'll get a bunch of speakers and they're going to speak on different topics. So I said, wouldn't it be great if I just started sitting down and interviewing the speakers? Because if I interview this person, someone might watch it and say to themselves, I want to come meet that person that David interviewed. So I was just trying to sell tickets. If you look at them first episodes, you'll see at the end. For one, I didn't have a name for the podcast. And first bunch of episodes. The second thing was at the end, you'd see me selling tickets. Hey, make sure after this interview, y' all go get these tickets. March 4th and 5th. It's going down. Atlanta. So I was just trying to sell tickets to an event. It wasn't that I was trying to be a podcaster. Cause I didn't know what it was. But I got really, really good at the interview process and people said they liked it. So I kept going. And this new buzzword podcast comes up that I'm already doing, and I just started putting gas on it.

So that's why he's the og. He is the og. And you said earlier, everyone should have a podcast. And I know three of my best friends are laughing at me right now because they were for two years trying to convince me to have a podcast. And my answer was, everybody shouldn't have a podcast. I don't want to listen to everybody talk. So I am convinced now that I do have one, though, that podcast opens doors. And I'm not even talking about financially. Podcast opens doors for communications. Podcast opens doors for people that listen to you to go through and get through something all the time. And so why does David Shands feel everyone should have a podcast?

Because I believe everyone should have a voice. And I believe we can have something to say and put it out to the world. And if nobody ever listens, was it a bad idea? Well, no, because maybe through this podcasting journey, you start to develop communication skills. Or maybe through these interviews, you get more comfortable asking questions and getting more information. Maybe you. You get a sense of freedom from letting your voice be heard. It's like, if we. If we can have a voice, should we. If we can have a voice in this world, should we? Is the question right? If we have something to say, the question is, should we say it? And I believe the answer is yes. So everybody has their own reasons for what they're doing, but it's like, okay, everybody knows how to read, right?

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Yes, sir.

The question is, should we?

Yes.

Yeah, right. I mean, every. Everyone, like has something to say. Should they say it? I believe so. I think everybody deserves to have their freedom of speech. And what's in the moment when we start saying to people, no, everybody doesn't need to have a podcast. I wish some of these people don't have a podcast. It's like you want to take somebody's voice from them when they have something to say. If you don't like it, change the channel. But don't tell somebody they can't set up a microphone because their opinion is different to yours. Because people are taking their opinions as facts and your opinion is just an opinion, not a fact. This person saying whatever you're saying, it's not right or wrong. It's their opinion, right? Should it? Should a man open a door for a woman?

Yes.

Well, that's your opinion.

That's my opinion.

But yes, that's your opinion. Because some people say, well, I get my own door. Why does a man open a door for a woman? Why doesn't a woman open the door for a man? We want equal rights. Who's right? It's all your opinion. So I think everybody should get an opportunity to have something to say. Put it out into the world. Let the people hear it. Listen, man, my dad, one of the most brilliant people I've ever met in my life. Smart. I mean, the way he would say the things he said and the little jokes that he would crack, I mean, it was just a masterful communicator. No one will ever. Don't ever, ever be able to hear it. None of my followers will ever be able to hear how witty my dad was. Why? Because he didn't record the stuff that he had to say. How I loved. My kids listen to my dad's wisdom.

Yeah.

So I love it.

I love it. I love the fact, too, again, now that I have a podcast, I get exactly what you're saying is the ability to express your thoughts in your own way. Because you're right, people don't have to listen.

Yeah.

But sometimes that stuff is very therapeutic to be able to have a conversation about whatever it is I want to talk about. And the beauty of it is, it's your show, Right. It is your show. So I can bring on David Shands every day, if I could afford to bring them on every day. But, no, I can bring on who I want to. I can host it wherever I want to. I can go out publicly and just say, hey, let's record it. Let's have a conversation. I love the fact that podcasting has opened doors for me from a relationship standpoint, that. Not going to say it would have never happened. It would just been more challenging. Podcasting has done that. And so you're exactly right. And so to Ryan and to Daniel and to Bradley, you all were right. Everyone should have a podcast because everyone has a voice. So thank you, David Shands, for that piece. Yes, sir. So coming towards the end of 2024, and for entrepreneurs, I always say, every year becomes different. Not necessarily challenging, but every year becomes different. Right. The world advances in technology. Now we have AI that literally changes every five minutes. There's something new that you can do and improve on or get better. But I also think a lot of entrepreneurs stay in this warp of trying to figure things out and not always keeping the main thing, the main thing. So for David Shands, man, what's some advice that you have for entrepreneurs as we get ready to start 2025, there's.

Three things you just got to get right. And this is specifically for the time frame that we're in right now. One is content. Don't be afraid of it. You got to learn how to create this stuff. Two is community. You've got to build a community. Now that's more of a buzzword now, but I've been doing meetups and all that kind of stuff since 2011. So I've always been in the community in terms of like getting a bunch of people around me because that's where I feel safe. And cash flow, you have to build some cash flow. You got to understand business, understand economics, and go make some money. So those three things walking into 2025 will serve you well. But whatever one of those three aren't, aren't you just don't have. Right? Whichever one of those three are broken, fix it. You got about 40 days or so left up until the end of the year. Don't walk into 2025 with those handicaps.

I told you he keeps things simple. Ladies and gentlemen, if you can't follow and input something that David Shand says, it's a you problem.

I promise you.

He breaks things down to the simplest form. Right? So what do you have coming up? What's exciting? What new projects is David Shands working on?

Podcast Summit will be late July 2025. It's a gathering of podcasters and content creators. Just an incredible experience. The best podcasting event in the world, hands down. And the morning meetup that's continuing to grow. Just follow my journey. I'm all about teaching entrepreneurship. End of this year, by December 13th, Donnie Wiggins and I, my partner, we're putting on your first million conference. So we're doing all. We are going to be spending a whole day laying a foundation for 2025 for you to have your first million dollar year. And we believe we're going to have at least 50 testimonials coming out of that.

And I don't want you to give anything away. No tips, no tricks or anything. I want everybody to register for that event. So how can we register? How can we find and follow the things you have going on?

Yeah, my first million live. Com. And if you're watching this after that, then you know we got Podcast summit coming up. If you're watching any other time, I have a morning meetup community. I'm teaching entrepreneurship every single day, Monday through Friday. I'm literally on a call like this every single day and I have this community of people that are looking to grow. And they're all growing. It's incredible. So, yeah, that's the morningmeetup.com podcastsummit.com, myfirstmillionlive.com whenever you're listening.

Perfect. Where is the summit 2025 gonna be?

The podcast In Atlanta. In Atlanta, yes, sir.

It's an easy drive for me if I'm invited.

David, pull up. Come on, come on.

Absolutely, absolutely. So I wanna end with this. Cause I know you have a lot going on and you were gracious with your time today. Max, for the listener or viewer right now, that's like they need that something to keep going. Cause you mentioned keep going earlier, and that's one of the pillars of. Of my life too. What's two or three things that you want to tell or leave with people that are watching and listening now?

Stop stopping. I mean, people spend 30, 40, 50 years of their lives starting and stopping and starting and stopping and starting and stopping. Just stop stopping. That's so many things I think they could have gotten from this interview. But that's just the words I would leave you with. Just stop stopping. There's too many people depending on you, but for some reason, you keep stopping. And we can't progress that way. Can't get excited about something today and we're excited about something tomorrow. So the thing we was talking about today, we're not excited about. And we stop that. It's like laying a bunch of seeds and only watering the seeds you laid today. And you forget about the rest. Nothing's going to grow like that. So I believe if you keep going long enough, eventually you figure this thing out and you'll see something grow in your life. Amazing.

Amazing. David, brother, I appreciate you more than you know. Thank you for being the man, the leader, the father, the inspiration that you are. Man from my soul. Again, thank you so much.

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

You got it. And for all the listeners and viewers, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Thank you for tuning in to MC Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.