The Whinypaluza Podcast with Rebecca Greene Episode 004 Seth Greene

No need to whine and whiney blues up.

Have some wine and join us on the Winey Blues Up podcast with Rebecca Green.

Okay. This is Rebecca Greene for the Winey Palooza Podcast. I am very excited today because I have my favorite guest ever. I asked my husband to join us. So please welcome my husband, Seth Greene.

Hi everybody. Honey, thanks so much for having me.

So Seth, I feel terrible. I did not ask you to print me out a bio. So I'm already being unprofessional with my husband.

So you're allowed to be unprofessional with me. It's OK.

I apologize that I don't have a bio to read. Can you do a brief bio? Well, it probably can't be brief. Can you?

Yes, I can. I've done this almost 1,000 times. So very brief bio because I know you're probably going to go into some of it. But I will say I am the founder of MarketDominationLLC.com. We're one of the fastest growing marketing firms in the country. I have written 8 bestselling books. I co-host the number 6 rated podcast in 2019, Sharkpreneur with Kevin Harrington, and I've been nominated for Market of the Year 3 years in a row by Dan Kennedy, who— which no one else has ever done before. So that'll be my short bio.

So that was super short. I did not expect it to be so short. He does a lot of things. He is a man, my Renaissance man who does everything. So I will dive into more of what you do through this podcast.

That'd be awesome. You'll actually learn stuff probably that you didn't know.

I definitely don't know everything about you and I definitely learn more every day. And I really appreciate you agreeing to this because how many podcasts have you been on?

Okay, so I've done 483 of my— of the Sharkpreneur Show and I've been on at least another. So we're at like 870-something total and we're now airing 5 days a week. So we'll hit 1,000 before the end of the year.

Oh my goodness. Am I allowed to say what number this is for me?

Yeah, of course you are. You are authentic and candid and real. So go for it.

So Seth has done— Seth will be at 1,000 soon. And Seth is my number 4 podcast.

That's right.

Lucky number 4.

Yes.

So I met you when you were trying to keep your grocery bill at $30 a week.

Yes.

And you were, I don't want to say you were struggling financially, but you weren't.

I would freely admit that.

Okay. So when I met Seth, he was struggling financially and was growing his business. Can you tell us about how you got started way back when?

Well, all right. I'll try and do the shortest version possible of that.

Okay. You don't have to be short. I'm interested.

Okay, all right, so I'm gonna do bullet point summary version. So, um, 8 years old, started to learn that Seth was the name of the Egyptian god of death. Got into the occult, um, around 11, 12, started getting— was getting bullied significantly. Got into— tried to summon Satan to put a curse on the bullies. That did not work. My parents distracted me with a deck of tarot cards, figuring that would be a positive way to channel my energy. I went to go buy a book to learn how to read the tarot cards. I, at a magic store, didn't know it was a magic store, saw a magic trick, fell in love, became a professional magician. Fast forward a few years, well, a number of years, and by— I went to Syracuse University for undergrad for— because they have one of the best musical theater programs in the country. At 18, I wanted to be a Broadway star. By the time I had graduated at 22, I had gotten so fed up with my father because every semester he called and told me he couldn't afford Syracuse and I had to transfer home and live at home, no girls over, no loud music, and do the dishes every day. And so I became— instead of going after— going to New York to starve as a Broadway waiter, I decided to become a college financial planner to help other families avoid the problem that I was in.

I want to pause you. Posing.

Yes.

So I just want to point out to our listeners who probably know us, some of them know us well, I want to point out that Ella gets her love of musical theater from her father, who was going to try to go to New York and make it big. So I just wanted to point that out. So go back to financial planning. I apologize.

No, you're allowed to interrupt. You can interrupt anytime you want. So you do that at home anyway. So went, okay. So I became a college financial planner. My branch manager, after I passed my Series 7, all my licensing exams, says, I got a book where all your clients are going to come from your entire career. I said, this is awesome. I'm young, I'm dumb. I'm going to be rich. I'm going to buy a Ferrari. Give me the book. And he handed me the phone book, literally the Yellow Pages, and said, they're all in there, go get them. And I did not know any better. So I followed the formula of 300 cold calls a day, interrupting strangers, asking for money, getting hung up on. 6 days a week, and that sucked. Until I was reading— fast forward a few years, I was reading a magic trade journal, a trade journal for magicians, because I was still doing magic part-time on the side. And it had a full-page ad in it for a marketing course for magicians, and it promised you could make an executive-level income part-time as a magician. So I still didn't have any money then, so I said, Mom, Dad— I was in my early 20s— I said, this will be my birthday present, my Hanukkah present, every other present. Whole year, you don't have to buy me anything else, just loan me, just give me the money to buy this thing. Oh, they did. I bought it. They bought it for me. I implemented it in 30 days and became the busiest, most expensive magician in Western New York at the time. I then used my critique certificate to talk to Dave D., the legendary marketer whose course it was. I said, would this work in my real business as a financial advisor? He said yes. I said, where'd you learn it? He said the two words that changed my life. He said Dan Kennedy. I started buying every Dan Kennedy book, product, tape, course I could afford. Um, until we fast forward a little bit when you and I met and I was still trying to figure it out and make it work. And then, uh, we got married and you quit your job. We bought our first house and we had our first baby and you quit your job to be a stay-at-home mom. And I was still cold calling. And I said, just reading this stuff about Dan isn't enough. And I got to do a consultation with him, and he said— the short version was, write me this really big check and I'll change your life. I came home and begged you to borrow the money to, to write that check. You said no. And I asked you the next day, you said no. I asked you the next day for 30 days in a row, and you kept saying no with more and more words that aren't appropriate for the show.

Right, so I'm gonna pause you again.

Yep.

And I am going to say that I want to remind you in this story that you can't give me a hard time because I think that I have learned to be persistent from you. So, when I am persistent and relentless and I say, I want a pool, I want a new house, I want a vacation, and when I say it, I want a dog, I want a dog, I want a dog. So, when I do that, and I don't drop it. Maybe I learned that from the master.

Oh my God, so it's come back to bite me. That's great.

OK, so keep going.

Thanks, honey. So on day 31, you caved, and you said you better pray this beep works. So I went to go work for Dan and learn from Dan. And in 2 years, I had gone from the 6,700th, last-placed rep at AG Edwards to the top 30 nationwide for opening new accounts. I was competing against advisors who had been in business twice as long as I had even been alive. It got me written about in our company newsletter and a whole bunch of other places. My phone started ringing with other financial advisors who saw me written about in trade journals and said, "How do I do that? I want to be you." And I asked— I faxed Dan and said, "What do I do?" And he sent me a fax back that said, "You start a marketing company and you do it for them." So that year, that year that you, you gave birth to Max and quit your job. I quit my career at AG Edwards, started my own financial firm and a marketing firm at the same time. And then over the— that was '07, also the year the subprime bubble burst and the stock market tanked all at the same time. And 13 years later, we now have a, you know, 36-person team at Market Domination LLC. We've served thousands of clients. I still run the Financial Services practice and still work in that every day too. And it's been an amazing roller coaster journey thanks to you.

And I'm all teary because we don't talk about this a lot, but you don't know how thankful I am that you made such a success for yourself and our family and all the people that you're helping. So I'm very appreciative.

Thank you.

I got me all emotional.

I agree. I've told this story so many times I've detached from it, but I— we haven't— thank you. I thank you for your gratitude. I appreciate that.

All right, I have heard it. I have heard it before, but I think you added stuff today. I don't think it's ever exactly the same.

No, it is not.

And you push—

you got to keep it fresh if you're going to tell it a thousand times.

Yes, so you're probably tired of telling it. I don't think that that even covers your resume.

Okay, that's okay.

So that's 2 businesses. Okay, I'm going to take it further. Are you able— are you able to tell us all of your businesses? Can you tell us more? There's more.

There is, sure. So we also— we have a separate— so we have another company that is a publishing and podcasting company.

Yes.

Which thank you for being a client of.

Yeah.

Um, and we also, we have a software company where we license the software that we use, that we created to run our business, to help other agencies run theirs. Um, we have a separate business. It's just college planning where we're helping other financial planners help more people get through college without debt. And then I also have negotiated over the years. We have partnered with a number of our marketing clients. So I own pieces of percentages of which I learned from Kevin Harrington. I've learned to take equity in other people's companies in exchange for reduction in marketing. So I own pieces of quite a few other companies that we market and then get a cut of the revenue we create.

Okay, I didn't know.

We do not have time to go into that entire list.

Okay, you don't have to. I didn't know that. I knew that I was going to learn stuff today. So what I wanted to point out, because there are probably mostly— from my end, there's a lot of parents who are going to be listening to this.

That is your target demo.

Yes. So the reason I'm pointing that out to you is because I know that your father frustrated you in college because he was so stressed out about paying for Syracuse.

Okay. Yes.

So I want to fast forward to today. And what I have learned about you is that you have taught me a lot about college and paying for college and a lot of stuff that I had no idea about and a lot of stuff that other people don't have any idea about. So what people don't know is that one of your main goals is to help people afford college.

So not to save for college, but to save on college, literally to make college cost less Oh my God. We had an example that I've mentioned at dinner the other night of a girl who was going to Boston University, and her parents thought that because they had enough money to pay for it saved up, they were fortunate, that they shouldn't fill out financial aid forms because, well, we have all the money. Why do we need financial aid?

Which is what I thought. That's what I thought.

Well, they missed that. Well, we're fixing that. They hired us to fix that situation, and it turns out we're going to save them $36,000 a year. Because even though they had the money saved up, they still qualify based on their tax return and some other things for almost half, a 50% discount on tuition. So they're not going to have to spend all the money that they saved, and some of it is going to go to the younger brother who gets— who now will get to go someplace better because of it.

So not because I'm trying to give you more business, okay? Obviously I want you to have more business, but because I care about our listeners, I want to tell people that as his wife, he has taught me so much about college and how to pay for college and how to save on college. So if you have children who are going to be attending college in the future, or are in college—

www.howtofindmoneyforcollege.com.

Say it again.

www.howtofindmoneyforcollege.com is our website. If they register, they get to watch the 33-minute training video from me about how to pay a whole lot less for college.

So I want you to connect with Seth so that he can help you save on college. And I'm saying that because I had no idea that someone like me, for example, could save on college. I just thought I had to save for college. So that's, that's my point. So can you tell us right now what your biggest challenges that you're facing?

You know, that's my favorite question when I'm the interviewer, and I would say I— my biggest challenge now, because every time I get asked that, the answer is different because it changes. I would say my biggest— we're hiring fast enough because I was taught to hire slow and fire fast, and we are currently rapidly expanding, and I'm trying to find the right people fast enough to fill those roles so that the business, the people who want to hire us, don't go away because we took too long to be ready for them. So I would say right now, applying everything I know about marketing and business to a hiring system, um, is probably my biggest challenge right now.

So for people who may know somebody or maybe somebody, what do you look for in an employee? What are you looking for?

So we hire for personality and we train for skill. So some of our best employees are stay-at-home moms. Some of them had no experience in marketing whatsoever, and they didn't need it because everything I do, everything we do, is learnable. It's a skill. I've, I learned it. I didn't know any of it when I started, so you can learn it all. We're looking for personality, ambition, culture fit. Somebody who's flexible and is going to work hard and all the jargon buzzwords that everybody says they do but doesn't necessarily do, but sounds good in an interview. And so, uh, we're looking for people that are— can want our crazy-paced, fast-paced, high-pressure business world and want to excel and want to learn new stuff. And then we can teach them the rest later.

I love it. Great answer. How have you adjusted your business in today's pandemic? That's a good question.

So we— I would say that I'll use marketing jargon and then explain it. We started out focusing more on the bottom end of our ascension model. So what that means is we were typically focused on the highest end, the top 1% of any industry we were in. We wanted the highest-producing financial advisors. We wanted the highest-producing marketing agencies, and we wanted to sell them a high-ticket, high-dollar-value service. And what we realized is people got scared when COVID started, when COVID hit and everything shut down.

Yes.

And what happened was people stopped buying and stopped paying, and we realized we needed to come up with, number one, some lower-priced service offerings that they were more comfortable affording regardless of who they were. And then we also needed to spin the way we marketed our services. And it wasn't as much about expansion anymore and growth. And this is what we're going to help you grow. It was about survival. So we had to pitch— we changed the titles of things to like the COVID Survival Program and stuff like that. And we positioned how we sold it and making lower-priced offerings that were positioned as this will help you get through this made a huge difference.

I think that's brilliant. I remember having many conversations about that, and I appreciate the fact that you were able to work through all of these months. There was never a time that you couldn't work, so I'm thankful for that.

Yes, I mean, fortunate enough, we were using Zoom before COVID Um, half our staff is remote already. Our— not most of our clients are in another state because they heard me speak or saw something. They're not in Buffalo. So most of our business was virtual before, so it wasn't a huge transition for us. So the biggest— we were very fortunate.

The biggest adjustment was you spent a few months working from home.

I did, because I didn't read the fine print in Cuomo's policies and realize that if I was the only one who went to the office, I could still go. I just had to keep all my employees at home, which I didn't catch on to until months later. So I worked at home for a few months. And yes, that was an adjustment to hiding in our bedroom. Working here with the kids home at the same time.

Yes, yes, I did my best to let you know.

You did. It was unrealistic of me to expect them to like be quiet for 8 hours a day.

Yeah, yeah.

But every once in a while recording a podcast episode, I appreciate that you told them to quiet down for the next 30 minutes because Daddy's recording something.

So you have 3 children, a wife, a dog, 2 cats, multiple businesses. Can you tell us how you balance it all?

Sure. My favorite line is from Barbara Corcoran, also from Shark Tank, who I had a comment who told me, "Balance is BS. Boundaries rule." She said there's no such thing.

I'm writing that down. Go ahead.

Yeah, I use it all the time. It's a great line. So she literally has a separate work phone and personal phone, cell phone, and she physically turns her work phone off when she leaves the office. And if you're a client, if you're a business partner, you can't get her until the next day. And I said, you're my hero, I haven't pulled that off. I've tried. So I would say, I— you're— and this would be advice to your parents who are watching, who are either work employees, team members, or who are business owners or entrepreneurs or sales professionals themselves, which is your business should support your life, not the other way around. So you should design your career and your business to say, hey, if I got to be at home at 4 to get Max to soccer, then my business needs to let me do that, and my calendar needs to block off so no one can book a 4 o'clock meeting. So you just got to pick what your priorities are and try and build everything else around that so that you can make it happen.

I love that, and I also think that you're touching on flexibility.

Yes.

And I think that what I have learned from mothers and fathers and people in general is that a job that is flexible is the best job. Because an example, you will come home to get Max, go to soccer, and then do a meeting in the car while Max is at soccer.

Yes, I will do often take to work calls or work meetings while in the first half of his practice. All bets are off if they put him in net and start doing goalie drills, because then I will get out and watch. But if they're doing field player drills and rondos and stuff like that, I will say work balls.

I love how much you love watching him play soccer. I love that. You're a good dad. Thanks. So going with balance, can you tell us what your best coping strategies are?

That's also great. I got a lot of good questions. Okay, what my best coping strategies are. So realizing everything is temporary, whatever it is will pass. We've got two different types of punching bags in the basement. Those help. You know, I'm a martial arts black belt and go twice a week. Hitting things helps. Not real, you know. So in a constructive way, in a, you know, not just randomly punching strangers.

So going to Krav twice a week is helping.

Yes, meditating every single— I meditate twice a day. We recently— I recently got us a far infrared sauna going, and that helps. So I'm trying to find lots of ways to improve our— my emotional state and manage the stress.

I think you're doing a great job.

Well, thank you. You're—

I hope that you think you're doing a great job.

I think I'm doing a pretty good job.

Well, we can all grow every day, right?

Exactly.

Learning, learning every day.

Yes.

I have a feeling I know what you're going to say, but what inspires you to get up in the morning?

Obviously you and the kids. That's the obvious answer. I would say the ripple effect of the people we help, the business owners we help, and all the clients they touch. So if I touch one chiropractor, but he touches 1,000 patients, I'm technically helping 1,000 patients. So we have a huge ripple effect. That's what excites me. And then the fact that I'm not only providing for you and the kids, but we're feeding, we're creating jobs, we're feeding 36 other families, we're buying people houses and cars, and they get to make those things happen because of what we do. So I would say the ripple, you, the kids, and then the ripple effect.

So, in our marriage, I am the soft, what is the word that I am looking for?

Sap?

I am the soft sap and you are the tougher disciplinarian.

Yes.

I think that what people don't know about you, and I just want to point out before I move on, is how wonderful your heart is and that is what I love most about you.

Aww, I will drink to that.

Other than making me laugh through these 16 years, because I need you to make me laugh.

Yes, thank you, I appreciate that.

So you better include mine on this list, but what are your favorite blogs to read?

Well, of course my wonderful wife's that I contribute to every couple, a couple times a year. What are my favorite blogs to read? I would say TechCrunch, Mashable, there Entrepreneur Inc., Fast Company. Those would probably be my top 5.

What about podcasts? Do you have a couple favorite podcasts that you listen to?

Absolutely. So Entrepreneur on Fire by John Lee Dumas, Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, and if you can get by the constant F-bombs, Gary Vaynerchuk.

Okay, so I'm gonna listen to a couple of those so that I can learn and grow and be a better interviewer.

Start with Entrepreneur. I would say JLD is the best interviewer of all of them, and his episodes are shorter. Tony, Tim, and Gary will go for like 90 minutes. Tony has some really— Tony and Tim have really substantive interviews. Gary sometimes basically talks for the hour and a half. But I would start with JLD. He's my favorite interviewer, absolutely.

Yes, and I find that I'm always so invigorated after I listen to anything Tony Robbins does, so I will check out him too.

Yes.

Yes. This is a hard question, but what's the best advice you've ever gotten?

Actually, it comes from your brother. What? Yes. Dr. Corey Melnikoff, who said, "Who you are affects how well what you do works." That's huge. So that was my biggest writer downer out of his book, The $4 Sandwich, which is his story. And I think about that every day because— and when I get asked, I talk about how the leaps, geometric progression of growth of our business isn't because I learned some new marketing technique. It's because I evolved as a person or a leader. I grew, worked, and worked on myself, and the business grew automatically to match where I was as a leader or a person. So I think when your head's in a negative, scared, fearful space, our marketing doesn't— my marketing doesn't work. When I'm confident and going, this is awesome, this is going to be great, this is going to work, magically it works. Like, we now tell clients, it's part of the intake process, if they're wishy-washy, if they're not sure about hiring us, like, don't— I won't take your money because there's no point. If you're doubtful, it sounds like your wife. It won't work. Like, you have to believe as much as I do for it to work, or the spiritual energy or whatever you want to call it just won't happen. So my best advice would be from your brother.

That is excellent advice, very excellent. And I don't think that I think about that And I apologize for any time that I'm wishy-washy. I think that I don't realize my potential. And I think that you, one of your talents is seeing people's potential, not just mine, but other people. And you help everyone grow their business and you're helping me grow my business. And I don't see all the opportunities that you see.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's a big part of my— one of my favorite parts of my job is the vision, is the strategy, is going— success is everything you want. Even if you're already successful, that next level is right outside your comfort zone. And if you're in your comfort zone, you can't see outside of it. I'm the same way. That's why I have, you know, Jerick Robbins. Tony's son is my coach. And in the last couple of months, he's hit me with stuff and I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe I didn't even think of that. That's incredible. And he's like, you couldn't see it, but I'm an outsider looking in and I don't have your mental limitations for your own business, so I can see what you can't see.

So you're pointing out that we need to have coaches in our life who are more successful than us to help us see where we can grow.

Absolutely.

And be— and become even better at what we're doing.

Yeah, I'm a junkie for that. I've been in obsessed with personal development probably since I was about 12 years old. I read my first Tony Robbins book at 13. That was the first one I ever read and got me hooked. And obviously couldn't afford a coach at 13, but have had many, many, many, many, many different coaches that I have paid over my 20-plus years in business, which I totally support. I appreciate that. Well, especially when you see the return in our bank account.

So I may have like a tiny vision of something. And I may even mention something. And then I have learned to almost, I don't want to say be careful, but be careful is probably—

Oh, you're right.

Because you will go from 0 to 100 when I'm at 2.

Yes, I go off to the races.

Which is a wonderful thing. I mean, I think I need that. And I was thinking today, that, you know, the corny song, The Wind Beneath My Wings?

Yes, of course.

So you are the wind because—

but sometimes I might blow a little faster or harder than you want.

I'm like, I'm like the turtle.

Yes, you're definitely the turtle.

And you're like the hare and you're like, let's go!

That is an excellent analogy.

Can you tell us how you grow your audience? Because I will learn a lot from this.

Wow. So there's so many ways to grow your audience besides just having great content. So I mean, there's a list. I mean, Facebook ads, YouTube ads, Google search, Google Display, Google Network, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat. Oh, well, we don't really do Snapchat or TikTok yet. Um, direct mail.

I would love to learn how to use TikTok in my business because I'm fascinated by it.

So TikTok now has an advertising platform. So I just started— my target demographic is not on TikTok, but we have to have clients that I could use it for. So we have clients who sell products that a younger demographic would buy. So it's not necessarily going to grow my marketing business, it's not going to necessarily get me business owners or entrepreneurs as customers on TikTok, but your moms are on TikTok, they're watching their kids.

Do you think that moms are on TikTok? That was my question for you.

I would be surprised if— I would say that they haven't hit critical mass yet among any— among a larger old, slightly old mom demographic. But I would say they're at the beginning phases of it because you're now on looking at what the heck are Ella and Lily doing all day on TikTok. So I would say as more— as the kids keep growing, eventually the parents follow to see what the heck is going on. And then 5 years later, the grandparents show up going, hey, what pictures are they posting of my grandkids that day, right? Like our grandparents, like our parents are now over the last couple of years all on Facebook watching the pictures you post of our kids all day. That's why they're on. Like they post, they don't really post. They just watch what you post of our kids. So you'll get on and then once they see that you're on a lot, they'll show up on TikTok to see what videos you're posting.

Well, and it's the cheerleader in me because I'm seeing the cute little dances that Lily is learning, and now I want to do it.

Well, there you go. You could be the dancing mommy blogger.

How do you inspire people like me who hesitate?

I think that's the vision. The here's where you could go. Yeah, I might be 100. You might be at 2. But even if I get you to come up to a 10, that's a huge shift. I don't expect you to get to 100. I would say it's the belief in you that's bigger than your belief in yourself.

Oh, that is so true. Yes. Thank you for believing in me.

You're very welcome.

Can you tell us who your favorite client is or was and why?

You mean other than my wife?

Now let's be honest, I do not, I do not think I'm your favorite client.

Okay, uh, so yeah, absolutely. Favorite client is Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank. Ah, uh, so why? Geez, I've learned so much from him. Uh, so he is not just a client. We now own two companies together. Those are two on the list. So we've started businesses together off of what we were doing. We've done marketing for a number of his portfolio companies. I've been a guest judge on his live version of Shark Tank called Pitch Tank. I was a guest judge for 3 years in a row before COVID when I would fly to Vegas, Tampa, and California every year to be a judge. I learned a lot being a judge on the panel with him and watching what questions he asked. I learned a lot by doing a podcast interview every week and seeing what he asked, how he follows up, how he turns that into opportunity.

Um, interesting.

I learned something new 2 days ago when I interviewed him and his other, one of our other business partners, Mark Timm, about their new book Mentor to Millions, which has 10,000 pre-orders on Amazon already. And I learned a ton interviewing them about the book. So I'm always learning something from Kevin.

That's fabulous. You're always—

the fact that he's a Shark and, you know, a billionaire and talking to me and asking me for advice on other things that he doesn't know about was like what you remember when I was texting you shaking sitting next to him at a dinner, and everyone in the room was a billionaire but me. Like, the guy who supplied all the, like, the popcorn to Disney, every Disney resort, like, was sitting next to him. And everyone in— it was the biggest, highest-end steakhouse in Tampa. And I was like, I can't even imagine what the bill is. They're on their 7th bottle of champagne, like, wine, like, holy cow. And I was like going, honey, I'm trying not to shake while I eat my food. Like, It makes you remember.

I remember you driving him in your car and me telling you to clean your car before he got into your car.

Yes, it's so funny because the book Mentor to Millions is about his mentoring people. And on the podcast a couple days ago, I said we were talking about that story because I asked Mark how they met and how they— he became his mentor. So our story came up and Kevin was telling Mark, who hadn't heard our— my story, which And I was like, yeah, it seemed like Seth was driving really slow to the airport and then he wouldn't let me out of the car. And I was like, okay, that's an exaggeration. I didn't refuse to unlock the door, but I did drive slow so I had more time to pitch him.

That's hysterical. And really—

I didn't know that he had figured that out.

Oh gosh. Well, I'm glad that you drove him to the airport and got to talk to him and start an amazing relationship.

Me too.

So on that topic, we talked about your favorite client, and I know you can't use a name for your most challenging client, but can you tell us about your most challenging client and why they were challenging?

Sure. So there are legal issues preventing me from sharing their name because they weren't happy. So most challenging was a gentleman who hired us to market his physical product to consumers, and then his industry training to his own industry— other people who did what he did. He was teaching them how to do what he did because he had this special technique and special products that made that better. And he was known in his industry. So the reason was— he was— the reason he was challenging was he did not give us half of what we needed to launch his marketing. So it never got off the ground the way it should. And then we ended up in a legal situation because he claimed, well, we didn't double his sales. And we claimed, well, you didn't give us what we needed. And in addition to his refusal to deliver what we needed to get him the sales and his unrealistic expectations, and then the legal issues that came out of that, he also severely alienated several of our staff members to the point where they wouldn't be in the room with him and refused to work on his account. Um, so that is why he was our most challenging client.

So what you are touching on is that we get what we put into something. So whether it's a course or a firm that we hire or a teacher who's teaching us, whatever it is, or your relationship with your kids, we have to put stuff into it. So if you're hiring, this is what's frustrating for me as your wife. So if someone is hiring you and you're asking for X, Y, and Z, you actually have to do the work and give it and hand it in so that the next step can be taken. So if you say to me, I need this from you, or now you need to do this, I actually need to do it if I want my business to go anywhere.

That is absolutely correct. And yes, that is a frustration of people who hire us and then don't do what we need to get the results they hired us for. Thankfully, we keep always elevating our screening mechanisms and our disclaimers up front to reduce that, and we've gotten better and better and better at it, some of which with your people advice over the years. However, we're never going to be perfect because people are going to be people and they're going to write a check and expect it to magically turn into money without doing any work. And no matter how much we tell them that doesn't happen, they still want to believe that it's like a lottery ticket they automatically win. So We'll always have some tiny percentage, but thankfully it's gotten smaller over the years because we've learned.

And so now you're telling people you're going to have to do— you're going to have to deliver what we ask for if you want it to go anywhere.

Yeah, and it's all in our contracts now upfront. We need— if you don't respond in a timely fashion, if you don't deliver this by this time, you know, not— it's not our fault and you absolve us of any liability.

So There are mothers who have continued— there are mothers and fathers who have continued to work through having children. I did take a pause on my career, and there are a lot of parents like me who took a pause. I'm just looking for what your advice would be to somebody like me who is starting to want to get back into the business world.

So I would say if that is something that you truly want, you should absolutely do it. I know that to throw you under the bus, you had limiting beliefs about going back to work. You said, well, who's going to want to hire me? I've been home with the kids. I think that's crock of crap. I think that you've had the hardest job in the world. And I think if you listed mom on your resume and put logistics and distribution management, supply chain management, coordinate, like all of that. If you listed the corporate words for everything you did, you'd get hired in a second. And as I've said, stay-at-home moms have been some of our best hires because they're so good at juggling, multitasking, and being flexible.

I did get criticized for putting mom on my resume for something.

I did. I'll kick their butts. That's a— no, that's the best job you could ever have.

So I appreciate you're so supportive of mothers and fathers because you're in it with me and you see what we do every day.

And you see what I could never do your job.

Well, and you see what you would have to do if I wasn't home. So you have an appreciation for it. I would hope, I would hope that most people do.

I would hope you would hope, but I can't do anything about most people.

So one of your biggest titles is father, and you have 3 children who keep you very, very busy. So I'm wondering if you have some parenting advice for the parents who are listening.

Wow, you're asking me for parenting advice? You're the parenting advice expert.

No, you have a lot of good advice.

I mean, a lot of it is stuff I learned from you. I, I guess you mentioned I'm the disciplinarian. I try and be consistent. I try and do rewards and consequences, which I learned from you. I try and be flexible. You've taught me to let more stuff go and be more tolerant. You know, I mean, some of— I could remember some of my lowlights in parenting, like trying to physically, you know, years ago, drag Max down the stairs, like down the stairs to get him to go play in a soccer game. And he didn't want to go. And you were like, dude, you're going to hurt him. You can't fight with him at the top of the stairs. And I was like physically trying to drag him. So that was not one of my proudest moments. So, you know, it was what, it was like U8, U10 soccer. I was way too invested in it. I was, you know, it— they weren't good. I know, but I've worked on it. And although he's also 11, like it isn't so U10, you could say it's not the World Cup, right? It's not college. He's getting closer. Like, his chances get better each year. So, but I'm still like, I let him skip the other week. Like, I was trying to be flexible. I'm trying to learn.

I think that the biggest change that you have made over these last 13 years of parenting is your flexibility. And we talk all the time about you seeing things as black and white. And I think I have spent 16 years trying to show you the gray.

The pink, yes. And I, yes, I have been working on that for a long time. I will continue to work on that. Yes, you always— you have been working on me for that the entire time to get me to loosen up more.

Well, and I need you because I'm too loose.

Also true. I have been trying to tighten you up just a little bit.

Oh my God, can you imagine his soccer attendance without you?

He wouldn't be on these teams because he wouldn't have shown up half the time, so he wouldn't have made the better team.

Boy, thank you, honey.

You're welcome. I'm going to write that down that you said that. It's recorded. There you go.

So you don't necessarily see this, but you do have it all. You have successful businesses, you have successful children, and you have a successful marriage. So, um, how about some advice for a successful marriage?

Okay, so successful marriage. I, so a lot of that on the same thing, pay Patience, flexibility. Do you want to be right or do you want to be in love? What are you focused on? I think marriage is a place you go to give, not a place you go to get. So if you're looking— if you're keeping score, then I did this and she didn't do that, it's a transaction, not a relationship. I think it's about— it's not about balance. It's about, hey, I want to— if anything, it should be a competition. Who can give the most? And then you gotta take turns saying, okay, it's your turn to take right now. It's your turn to let me help you right now. I think if anything, it's a race to pay, to donate, to give to the other person. And of course, when that doesn't work so well, it should be a race to say I'm sorry first.

I love all of that, and I am so impressed and more in love listening to that answer.

Well, then we could do more episodes.

What else do you want to share that I didn't ask you?

I got nothing. That's a— I mean, you could do 3 days on depending on how deep the rabbit hole you wanted to go in terms of business and marketing. So I will say congratulations to you on getting your podcast launched, and I'm getting 4 episodes done, looking forward to the next 40. And I've been very impressed with all of the work you're doing, and we're happy to be the wind beneath your wings. And I'm looking super forward to seeing how far it takes you.

Aww, you know, all, all of this, all of the whiny palooza stuff is because of you. Because I may have an idea, but you make it happen. So I really truly want to say thank you.

Well, we greatly appreciate it. I am happy to be your implementer.

Tell our audience where they can go to find you.

Sure. So again, if you got questions about your kids in college, go to howtofindmoneyforcollege.com. If you're interested in learning more, if you've got a business or a sales career that you want to take off, go to marketdominationllc.com, check out the awesome sizzle reel, and then next to it, fill out the form and you'll get taken to our calendar. For the Winey Palooza listeners or viewers, we'll do a 15-minute strategy session with you, no charge. I guarantee you I can figure out what could solve any marketing challenge you've got in 15 minutes or less, and we won't charge you for that because you came through my wonderful way.

Aww, thank you for being on my podcast.

Thanks for having me, honey.

This was so much fun. I knew I was—

it was—

I was gonna love this. And this is Rebecca Green for the Winey Palooza podcast, reminding everybody to spend every day laughing, learning, and loving.