The Most Connected Man I Know... Ft. Randy Garn

It's not who you know, it's who knows you and what they think about you and what they say about you when you're not there, that's the most important thing. What is your personal brand? You know, what is when people say, you know, hey, do you know, Randy? Do you know, Emily? What is that trust? And what is that relationship? And I always say, if people like you, they'll listen to you. If they trust you, they'll buy from you. But if they have an experience with you, they'll never leave you. But there's a fourth level. If you transform and change their life, then they will become a massive disciple of yours and shout your name from the rooftops.

Hey, it's Emily here. You know that uniqueness you have, I call it the it factor. We all have it, but some of us either really need to identify it or start to empower it. This show is all about giving you the lessons, tools and principles I've learned after building a nine figure sales organization, training leaders around the globe, and working alongside of some of the most influential people in this world. So now it's time to de plug from your outside world and plug into your new world here. Let's dive in. Every leader needs a mentor. And the man I have today with me is a true leader of all leaders. He's not only a mentor to me, but thousands of other people. He's a mentor to some of the greatest names in the personal development space and some of the greatest, largest businesses out there. He helps them scale. He helps mentor their leadership teams and, and not only that, he's an epic human. He has taught me so much about the quality of relationships and the quality of family. Randy Garn, welcome to the show.

Emily, what is going on?

What is going on?

I'm so excited to be here.

I love it. I'm so excited to have you. Like, you have blessed my life so much. I just have to tell you right off the bat, not gonna cry, but you truly, truly have. And, you know, I just want you to know, like, as we dive in, when I'm out there in the world, when I have people sitting on this couch, so many people know your name. Not only know your name, but you've impacted so many people. You've helped people think bigger. You've helped scale businesses. And you're kind of like this man behind the scenes, but you make such an impact. And where the heck did this start? Like, I like, truly want to know because, I mean, you're backstage at the largest events in the world. Like you have a part in so many people's lives. Like, where did this even begin for you?

Wow, that's, that's a good question. Where it began. I believe it began when I was about 15 years old. So there's a thing when you're between 11 and 15, it's kind of the age of impact. It's actually where you're going to be really. You get a lot of your characteristics as you're growing up. I remember driving out to the ranch. My dad was a high school football coach and he was a rancher. And we would get in the truck and it was about a 30 minute drive. We'd listen to Jim Rome and Dennis Waitley and Zig Ziglar and the Greatest Secret by Earl Nightingale. I remember when sitting there, I was like, that's what he wanted my brain to get ingrained with. So I've been in human performance and high performance my whole entire life, even when I was young. I remember When I was 15, I was having a really hard time with my friends and I could have went one way or the other. I'm sitting in the white Dodge dually four door truck, probably 1975, vinyl seats, and I'm listening to Dennis Whiteley talk about impact and talk about making a difference. And I said, one day I'm going to actually become a really, really amazing coach and a mentor. My dad was a high school football coach and I said, one day I'm going to work with them. And when I was 23 years old, that was when I was 15, 14, 15 years old. When I was 23 years old, I flew out to Nightingale County. We started our first company and we signed a contract with them when I was that young. And honestly, that from that decision when I was 15 to doing that and then doing the coaching and mentoring and training for all of these amazing leaders over the years with our company, that really impacted me. And the way I think and everything I do. Emily, the way I treat people, the way I wake up in the morning, the way I show up for meetings, the way I show up for my family has all been through this human performance and personal development space. And so we grew an amazing company. But it started when I was 15 years old.

Wow, that's incredible. So how many years has this been in this space?

Only like five or six.

Only five? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's just. No, Well, I mean, Honestly, well, over 25 years doing this, like 27 years doing this now. And I can't believe how just amazing and how blessed my career has been to work with so many amazing leaders. And I like, my favorite thing, like, I've really learned my secret, my core competency and what I love to do. What drives the most energy for me is when I see somebody that I'm working with on stage or on TV or just crushing it with their book or hitting the New York Times. Like, I. That's what gets me excited when I see my friends and those that I love just crushing it in life. It's. It's. It drives the most satisfaction for me.

Is that what gives you energy? Ultimately, yeah. Because I feel like you're the energizer bunny. Like, you. You constantly have energy. And you have five children. Six children. Six children. Four girls, two boys. That's right, yes.

Two sets of twins.

Like, okay, so every time I go on Instagram, let's just call like, it is okay. It's like, he's at this event. You're working with these people. You're always somewhere, but you're most of the time with those kids and your beautiful wife, and you're outdoors in nature, and you're connecting with our creator. And my partner, Jake and I were just talking about you, and we're like, this is the ultimate. Truly, you're the ultimate example of a rich life to me, because you're making a difference. You're making a movement. You're a businessman, and I love it. But you're also a man of God, and it shines through. But you put your family first. And I wonder, has it always been that way?

No, that's a great question. And it has been that way, but not as levels of importance. We go through different seasons in our lives. I think I've always tried to do this in order. God first, then my beautiful wife. She's amazing. And then my six kids are so fun. I've got two sets of twins, and it's just bananas. And then it's my business partners and my deep, meaningful relationships and those people that I do life with. It's like, dude, I literally. I only work with people that I love like, and respect, period. And so I think as I've gotten older and, like, I've seen friends, you know, go different directions. And one of the things that the book that we wrote was called Prosper. And I did a lot of research on the term prosperity and the term prosper, which is the new the balance between money, happiness, and sustainability. Because we all know people that are happy that don't have any money.

Totally.

We all know people that are doing so well Financially that are miserable.

Totally.

And then the third legged stool of that is prosperity. So it's like those combination that it's, it's, you know, it's multidimensional because it's not about building all this wealth and then sitting on a pile of gold that nobody likes you.

Right.

So I dedicated my life to really what does it mean to live up in that, that prosper realm. And we call it the prosper zone. And it's a really rich, balanced life. And, and for me, priorities are definitely God, my family and my business partners and then the money and the income. I can't stop people from now wanting to work with me. It's just like I have to be very, very conscious now with my time and who I work with because I do know if you do those things in that order, you can't help but not be successful.

I've noticed that with you. I feel like your partners are your friends and they're kind of like your family. And I feel like there's so many people and I've even gone through it of like climbing the ranks. Right. Building the businesses where it's like, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Rinse and repeat. I feel like you have really mastered the art of relationships. Like what advice can you give to people on that? Because again, so many people watching this right now, like they, they want to write a book, they want to make a podcast, they want to build a sales team. And it's like everything is so transactional.

Yeah. You know, well, you have to learn like, and this is where I'm starting to master the art of abundance and reciprocity. And I've studied it my whole life. But there's a difference between study and, and action and actually habit.

Oh yeah.

So it now and me and Jake were talking about this earlier, it's like relationships have now become a habit to me. It's like you have to think about intentionally living that. But now it's just like become a habit that I'm really, really, really focused on deep, deep relationships where I'm not just snorkeling with people. I'm like totally scuba diving with them.

So good.

And like saying like, dude, how can I help you?

Right?

What can I do to serve you? And one of the things that my dad taught me when I first went to college, he shared two things with me. He said, when I literally remember I was going to college, I was my freshman year, I just got back from living in the Philippine jungle. For two years. And I remember getting ready. I got home in December, and I had a few weeks before I go to college. And I remember walking down the shag stairs in my house to my dad, and he's literally kind of got tears in his eyes. My dad's my hero. He's so amazing. And he's still alive and still just an amazing, amazing human. I remember he grabbed my face, and he said, randy, I want you to remember three things. He said, randy, I want you. One, remember that people are more important than things. And then he said, two, that if you don't have your own goals, someone else will use you for theirs.

Wow.

And then he said, three, learn to do as much as you can for as many people as you can, as often as you can. And. And I remember writing those things down. I was like. And at that young age, I was like, you know what? All right, now I'm going to go off to college. I wrote down in my journal that night. And I remember writing those three things down. I said, I'm going to live my life this way. So if you think about relationships, a lot of times we get hurt because we have an expectation.

Truly.

And so I used to have expectations. I used to be very transactional. You know, I used to be like, you know, learn to give to get.

Yeah.

Now guess what I do.

You give.

I give to give.

Yeah. Give to give.

I give to give. And that's how you live the law of reciprocity. Again, do as much as you can for as many people as you can, as often as you can, and expect nothing in return. And that's why I don't have any anger in my heart, because I have zero expectations.

That's right.

And now I. Things are just flowing and coming, and you can't. All of a sudden, you can't stop it. I put God first. Right. Put God first and everything else.

Yeah.

Will fall into place.

Amen. So this is such growth.

It's what I'm trying to do every day. I'm not perfect.

Yeah.

But I'm trying. I'm intentionally trying to live that way.

Oh, I feel it. And I. You know, and I'm trying to get to your level, and I'm going to work on that. But I feel even in my own career, I've had a tremendous shift. Even when I made this show, so many people were like, what's the plan? What's the business plan? What's the sponsored ads? What's. This is during COVID And I was like, I just want to Turn on the mic and share my wisdom. I just want to share. And same with social building the brand. I'm like, I just want to give. Like, I just want to give. And I know that the right people will come into my life that I can serve, that I can do business with. But it's such a different space to be in that space versus, like, what can I get? What can I get? What can I get? You know, do you believe, like is having this attitude? Is that how you have gained some of this top business partnerships in the world? You know, I don't even know if we can say these people's names. So I'm not saying their names, but like, the books we've all probably read and like, these are some of your best friends and you help counsel them. Like, how did you. You know, because so many people are like, I want to land that first big guess, that first big break. That was it. Just like one door that opened and then you did a good job. And then it's word of mouth or.

Like, I think a lot of it has been. A lot of it has been word of mouth. And you need to always remember this too. It's not who you know, it's who knows you and what they think about you and what they say about you when you're not there. That's the most important thing. What is your personal brand? You know, what is your logo? You know, what is when people say, you know, hey, do you know Randy, do you know Emily? Do you know, after the O to the R to the D? Because she's the bomb? It's like, what is that trust and what is that relationship? And I always say, like, if people like you, they'll listen to you. If they trust you, they'll buy from you. But if they have an experience with you, they'll never leave you. But there's a fourth level. If you transform and change their life, then they will become a massive disciple of yours and shout your name from the rooftops. So that's the four levels that you need to get to. And so I work on transforming people's lives for the better and expect nothing in return. The other thing is, like, everybody needs something. So one of the things that I love to do, I love to serve intentionally.

Yeah, you do.

And I'll be thinking about, I'll see something online or whatever is. I'll see something or I'll know somebody's going through stuff. I figure out a way to help them, and again, expect nothing in return.

Right?

And I think I've built up that reciprocity bucket in such a way. But now I'm super intentional with who I work with. Right. I only work with people that I love, like, and respect. And two, I have a group of five people in my phone that are like my superstars. And then I have 25 people. So I have 30 people in my favorites in my phone. And that is who I'm doing life with the most. Right?

Okay. This is major.

It's intentional.

This is a major teaching point right here. I mean, it's all this is. But if we got super intentional, all of us, again, like, the people you're working with, the people I know in my heart, like, my longing is to help leaders become better leaders. Like, I want to mentor the leaders, right? And create that ripple effect. And so if you're wildly intentional about, like, who is the top five? Like, who are you pouring into? Who are you mentoring? That's massive. Just having that even just top of the mind awareness who you work with.

You'Re with them all day long. So I always say, people say, dude, I'd never work with my family or my friends. I was like, you know who I work with, and, you know, like, we're super close. Like, we do life together. Why would your business partners. Why would you not want your business partners to be your best friends? Yeah, so. And they have to be like, so for me, I'm like, I'm going to design my life. You know, I believe that I'm created by a divine design. And if there is a divine design, then there is a designer. And so I choose design who I work with. So I think that too many people just will work with people for the money, and they don't think about the damage that comes because they don't like their job. They are not happy. The income may be there. So I'm just challenging people to ensure that whoever you're working with, that there's trust. You're committed to excellence, you do your best, and you care and love each other.

This is so solid because so many people, including myself, you know, have gone through employees. It's hard to find someone. It's like you hear words like, oh, I need to have boundaries, and of course you do. But I think it's like, if you're hiring an assistant, if you're hiring an executive assistant, a manager, a marketing manager, or even if you're like, hey, let's build a business together. Why wouldn't you break bread together? Why wouldn't you get to know their life? Why wouldn't you go deeper with them. You know, this is where I see tons of attrition happening. This is. This. This is where you see the fallout. This is where even when I mentor, like, sales teams, right? When people bring in new builders as fast as they lose them, it's like there's no place to build the relationship. And I see this time and time again. In fact, if I sit here because.

Because, Emily, they. They look. They look at people. I'm just telling you. And I haven't always been perfect at this, but I'm doing so well now. Is that a lot of people look at individuals and people as transactional. Oh, they'll be here for a little while, then they'll leave. What if they don't? What if you do such a great job that you build an amazing legacy and a kingdom with those that want to be there and want to be with you, and you transform each other's lives and you have a company that becomes transformational.

Oh, what a mission. What a vision. So my question for you is. Cause I know what the person's thinking listening to this while they're driving right now, they're like, okay, I love that idea. But what happens when now we're too good of friends? And maybe I'm their boss and they're coming to me for things. Like, I look at a man like you, and I don't use the word busy. I use the word productive because you are wildly intentional, and you are productive. But I wonder at times, like, if you're too nice, does people, like, kind of use you a little bit? Do they suck you dry? What would your advice be on that?

So you can't. Don't mistake kindness for weakness. There's a humongous thing that I teach called accountability. You do need to have boundaries, even with close friends, but you do it in love it. And I always teach this that I learned from a really close business partner of mine, uac, which is understand, agree, and commit. Too many times in business relationships, we'll commit to stuff we don't fully understand, we don't fully agree to. So my business partners know that Saturdays are 100% sacred for my family and Sundays. So two days out of the week, they know that I will work on stuff if I need to, but they know that I'm going to take Jack and Max skiing. We're going to be fishing, we're going to go hiking. They know that, and I know what they're doing. So we have full understanding and we commit to each other.

Great.

And so there's a big thing within relationships is that as understand, agree and commit. If you do that really well, then there aren't any issues. Because what happens in relationships is if there's the unknown and lack of clarity.

Yeah.

Then there's a lack of trust.

Amen to this.

And so if you're not super clear. So I try to be as clear and concise as I can in my communications. And one of the books that I really love is another good friend of mine is Ken Blanchard, the 1 Minute Manager. There's another great book called High Performing Habits by Brendan Burchard. Number one thing, seek clarity. Right. Seek clarity and then generate energy and then like increase productivity. You know, demonstrate courage. So you have to in relationships. The thing is that that happens in exactly what you're saying. Somebody's like, that seems too utopia. That seems like unachievable. It's actually not. The reason why it's not is because you may have a lack of trust in them or there's a lack of clarity in the relationship. So just be clear about it.

Yeah.

Like here's what I expect, here's what I expect you to do. Here's what I'd like to do. I, I love you and I respect you, but I actually, when you do that, let's work this through. And there's an appropriate way to have those really direct conversations and you can keep deep, meaningful relationships that way. Relationships of respect. It's way more important to be respected than be liked.

Yeah, absolutely. So good. So amazing. Wow. What have you seen, you know, working with all these entrepreneurs? Have you seen like an IT factor with the ones that create the change? Go somewhere with it. Scale, if you will. Have you seen any common denominators with people?

Yes.

Okay.

Like with you. You are amazing. Thank you. Like, you really are. Like, I'm so excited to see where you're going to go with your career. One of the things that I love to do is I love to work with leaders. Because if I can impact 20 leaders that are impacting millions, then I've impacted 20 plus million people. Right. I love to see you win and those that I work with win so big. What I've seen in really amazing like leaders is one massive, massive, massive intentional work ethic. They know how to work, they are fearless about work and they love, absolutely love what they do. They're on a mission.

Everything is figureoutable. Marie Forleo says it all the time, but it couldn't be more true. And I just think if you are so dead set, focused like our friend Rob Riggle that you introduced me to for 10 years, he was doing standup comedy One in the Morning. Who's watching? No one. Right. Like, but. But that relentless pursuit of, I'm going to get better, I'm going to do the right things, I'm going to pray, I'm going to work on myself. And it's like, boom. Suddenly you appear in my life. It's not by accident, you know what I'm saying? It's by design. But I just feel like so many people stop before it could get really good. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like, 10 years later, here we are.

You know, I've never, ever, ever met a strong person with an easy past.

Yeah.

Either.

Yeah. It's so true. It shapes you, refines you. What has been your biggest life lesson?

Man, my biggest life lesson came about three years ago where I was actually preparing for the Kona Half Ironman, and I was riding my road bike and I got completely ran over by a car. Ran right over my bike. Like, I was like. It just hit me head on under both tires. My bike was crushed. I remember thinking to myself, if I don't die, my wife's going to kill me when I get home. You know, I'm thinking, am I going to be paralyzed? Like, you know, as I was getting sucked under the tires and everything, it was like slow motion, Emily. And I remember thinking to myself that I have so much more to do on this earth and this can't be it. And I was completely protected. Like, my friends were there. They rushed me into the hospital. I went and got a CAT scan. I went. Got an mri. Like, the doctor checked me all out, and guess what? I had nothing wrong with me. No. Not even. I did have some road rash.

Yeah.

But I had. Nothing was wrong with me. My bike was completely crushed and demolished.

So you should have. Could have been. I mean, I'm sure the doctor was like, how are you even.

Oh, yeah. He's like, I can't. Like, he's like, I can't believe that anything's wrong with you. So I can only think this. One of my greatest lessons in life is that miracles are so real and angels are so real.

Yeah.

And I literally. I write in my journal every night, and I actually write down, how did I see the hand of God in my life today? And one of the things that I. That I've seen that's the greatest joy in my life again is that I see every. I feel like every person that I meet in this life, I try to treat every one of, if they are like a son or daughter of God, right?

Yeah.

And there are some amazing, amazing people. And so while that was happening to me, I was like, if this is it, I was like, you know what? Don't take me now, because I need to actually do more work. And so I see my kids. They're so precious. Every day is a complete gift. But now I look at every single person that I meet is an amazing human wherever they stand. You know, I lived in the Philippines for two years, and some of the greatest people and greatest examples were living in bamboo huts. Totally such examples. So I think one of the huge blessings in my life is that to treat the CEO and the taxicab driver, the Uber driver, the exact same.

Amen. I agree.

And you never know who the treasure map to the treasure is. You never know.

You're such a beautiful human. I'm so grateful for you, truly. And this is just the beginning. And thank you for everything you've taught me so far and for your example. You know, I just really look up to you and admire you and respect you so much. Randy Garn, everybody. Thank you for being here and thank you for being in my life.