A Revolution for Positive Change with Richard Conner

Foreign.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution podcast where we help you figure out your purpose and get after it. So today's guest I really love because talking with him and doing a little bit of research ahead of the. Ahead of time seems very positive. He's the co. Founder. He's the founder of Inspired to Run. Excuse me. And he's got a heart of service to inspire others to do greatness and to be better and to get into fitness. It's a message I respect and I'm excited about. And I'd love to introduce you to my friend, Richard Connor. Hey, Richard, how are you doing?

I'm great, Sean, how are you?

I'm doing great. You know, I love doing these types of interviews. So first off, you know, we have this podcast called Inspired to Run. I'm sure there's a story on how you got into running.

There usually is.

As someone that's run three marathons in my life, in a past life, it's something that's very special to me. It's taught me a lot about life. But I'd love to hear, first off, could you tell us your story about running? Like, how did you get into it? What. What do you love about it? Things of that nature?

Yeah, for sure. Well, first, thanks for having me on the show. And yeah, this is absolutely one of my favorite topics. So, you know, I always say if I'm not talking about marketing, I'm talking about running. So, you know, love to have this opportunity. Yeah. So my story goes back to high school. You know, I didn't consider myself very athletic. I wanted to be a part of something. And, you know, honestly, I don't know how I chose running, but I just kind of fell into cross country and I absolutely loved it. So within a couple of weeks, I felt like I was home. You know, I had a great team that I was a part of and, you know, again, it was something that I felt like I could do versus, you know, some of the other sports and I just kind of fell in love with it. So I did that through high school and then I also ran track for a couple of. Couple of seasons, but didn't really do as much in track. Didn't enjoy it as much. You know, the time of year wasn't great for me, like allergy wise and I just didn't enjoy it as much as I did cross country.

Right on.

Yeah.

As a discus and shot thrower, I get the allergies thing too. At least it's a little bit different.

Yeah. So, but I mean, it was Just so cool. Like, just memories of running through the trails in the fall, you know, I'm in Connecticut, born and raised in Connecticut with the leaves and the trails, it was just a really wonderful experience. So I just enjoyed it a lot better than track. But then after high school, life happened. I went to school part college, part time. I started a family very early. I was working full time, and I didn't really do much in fitness. Like, I would work out and I run as part of my workouts, but not as much as I was back in high school. And I didn't really run races. I didn't do a lot. And it wasn't until just a few years ago that I got back into running by running races at my old high school. And then there's a whole story from there. But that's generally how it started.

Was.

Was cross country and track in high school.

That's awesome. From those experiences, like, okay, so you have that love for running. It falls out because life happens, and that's pretty common. And now you're back into it. What inspired you to start the podcast?

Yeah, so that's the second part of my journey. That's my comeback story, if you will. So, you know, I work full time. I worked. I also went to school part time. I had a family. I was traveling a lot and just wasn't doing a lot in fitness. And at some point I'm like, you know what? I gotta get back into it. I gotta do something. So I started running back on my old high school, their annual 5K, which, if you can imagine, it's like super nostalgic going back and seeing your former teachers and roaming the halls and then, you know, running the course. But I still wasn't training for it like a week or two before. I'm like, hey, I have a 5k coming up. I probably should hop on the treadmill and do a couple of miles.

So.

So then I did the first race. I was like, you know what? I could do a lot better. But it really wasn't until I think it was like 2018 I started to run Spartan obstacle course races. And it wasn't until that. That really kind of reignited my love for running. Because, you know, if anybody, if your listeners know about Spartan obstacle course races or obstacle course races in general, they're, you know, you're climbing over things, you're climbing up things under. You're in mud, barbed wire, all that stuff. So a lot of this stuff scares me. I'm afraid of heights. You know, I don't have A lot of upper body strength. So, you know, anything overhead used to scare me. And I looked at it as a way to overcome fears and do things that I've never done in my life. And to do that, I needed to run. Like, in. In addition to climbing and jumping and crawling, I needed to run. So that's really what kind of reignited my love for running, as I was kind of training for both overcoming fears and doing things I never did. Plus getting back to what I loved.

Right on. Okay. All right. So you got this need to run, and you're inspired. So you're doing that and you're like, okay, I gotta figure this out. Do you start the podcast to get the questions you have on, like, how do I deal with nutrition? How do I recover quicker? How do I do those types of things? Or did it just, like, you're talking about it enough, and people are like, hey, man, you should have a podcast and go forward? How did that come to be?

It was a little bit of the latter. I mean, honestly, I wish I had my podcast back then for me to listen to, but, yeah, so I was telling my story to folks about what this journey was doing for me mentally and physically. Right? So mentally, it was making me stronger, and it was helping me in other areas of my life outside of physical aspect of it. And then physically, I'm getting stronger, I'm toning, I'm losing a little bit of weight, and I'm just getting more healthy. So I'm sharing my story. And then folks were really receptive. Friends, family, co workers, like, hey, Richard, that's great. Or show me some of your muddy race pictures. More so than I thought people would actually be that interested in seeing it, But I also would hear, I wish I could do that. I'd love to be able to do that, but I can't do that. I'm not a runner. So, you know, that kind of stuck with me for a while. And it wasn't until a couple years later, during the pandemic, because my podcast was born out of the pandemic, that I wanted to start a community. And at first, my idea was to do it in marketing, which is my profession. But then I'm like, you know what? I really would love to do something outside of marketing that I just love to do. That's just fun. So that's how I. I decided running. And then a good friend of mine said, well, why don't you start a podcast? And I'm like, what's that? So, and that's really how it started, I learned what a podcast was. I went through training on how to start it, and I really started it with the intention of sharing my story, but then realize there are a whole lot of other folks out there with inspiring stories, and I'm using this as a platform to share theirs as well.

Awesome. So, yeah, I love that my podcast is just about a year old, so at the tail end of the pandemic, it was born. So that. That's super cool. And I think everyone should start a podcast that'll just get you thinking about the things that you love in a different way. And one of the taglines that I didn't say at the start of the thing is to talk to people about the things that they nerd out about. So I'm really. I could see the excitement in your face. If you're listening, you can't see that. But Richard's face is lighting up as he's talking about this, which is super amazing. So on the community aspect.

I know.

When people have, like, a purposeful journey, you know, there's like, the call to action of, like, I want to change. And it sounds like yours is talking about this thing that you love and people being like, yeah, but I can't do that, so let me solve that problem for them. So on that, that purposeful journey of sharing this. This passion that you have, how has the community really formed? Do you have, like, do you have a running group that you also run in Connecticut or what are the other, like, things kind of going around, what you're doing?

Yeah, so it's a little bit of a mix. So I do have a. It's. It's all virtual again, because I. It was kind of born out of the podcast, so aspire to run, community is virtual. We have Facebook group and then a following on a Facebook page, as well as Instagram. And. And of course, the podcast listeners who may or may not be on the social channels as well. So, you know, that's kind of the community, and I engage with them. But in addition to that, there's a little bit of overlap with my coach, who's my Spartan coach slash running coach, and his community. So there's a little bit of overlap. So for the folks that are in person are really those that I've met through my coach, and I've kind of expanded my community and he's kind of expanded his kind of through our, you know, platforms.

That's awesome. So I guess since I'm a high performance coach and always trying to. I'm always curious about, like, the vision that people have for the things that they're doing. Like, what do you think the inspired of the RUN community looks like in five years?

Oh, gosh, in five years. My vision is to have ambassadors all over the United States. My vision is to have hundreds of folks to say, richard, because of your podcast, I was able to make a change in my life. I wanted to make a change. I was stuck. You know, whether it was health related, family related, job related, I just needed something. And your podcast helped me on that journey through running because that's the stories that I'm sharing. And I've seen how running has helped people transform their lives and it's helped them in other parts of their lives. So I want to see that for others again. If you're. If you want to make a change or if you're looking to make a change, I want to be here to help you believe that you can first and then give you the tools and resources and connect you with the brands and services to help you do all those things and have the best experience you can possibly have. Like, that's my vision, you know, in. In five years.

Right on. Well, I love that it's people focused.

And.

Yeah, that's something I'm always looking for and what people are doing because I think that's what makes the difference for people that ultimately will succeed. Because I have a belief that we're all in it together. So I'm digging that little bit shift of gears. So I know that you have a framework for what you're doing. And it. My notes are correct. It's mindset, movement and motivation. Could you maybe explain what the mindset, movement and motivation are? How you might, if, say you're someone that has never ran or starting is like a beginner level, beginner level, whatever that is, how you might apply that framework to helping them get that or get into running.

For sure. For sure. So it's actually kind of interesting. So this takes me back to before marketing. I was engineer by training and then all these years in marketing. So the way my brain works is I try to. I tried to think about all of the conversations that I have and build a framework or structure based on those stories. And I started to hear some trends and themes. And a lot of it was, like I said, there was a starting point. It was either internally driven or externally driven. Either I needed to make a change and I wanted to, or someone invited me to run a half marathon for the first time to raise money for cancer, or they invited me to the gym and that was kind of the spark. So, you know, the way I think about the pillars is, you know, starting with mindset for someone who wants to make a change. So they made the decision, but they don't know how. They don't believe that they can. They don't think they have time. Like, all the reasons why someone might not start. I like to cover all those things in mindset to help you get going, right. To overcome whatever that mental block it is or mental barrier it is, because more than likely that's what it is, right? From a. From preventing you from getting started. So that's the mindset part. Movement is the act of doing it. Right. So if you've never run before, there's no expectation that you're going to get out there and run a 5K in, you know, in a certain amount of time. Right. It's going to start with just move, moving time on your feet. Well, what does that start with? That starts with getting running shoes. It starts with getting a plan. You know, most popular couch to 5K plans. It starts with, you know, nutrition and hydration. What should you be doing now that you're more active? How do you fuel that? Because most folks think, well, let's say they want to lose weight. That means I have to eat less. Well, if you're moving, you might need to eat more, you might need a hydrate more. Right. Or you might have to eat differently. So, you know, there's just helping someone along that journey so they don't get injured, they don't get burnt out, and they feel like they can actually do it. So that, that's the movement part. And then motivation is. I've learned that you're going to see success when you're consistent and you're doing the things. Over time, you're going to start to see results, but you're going to wake up in the morning and you were like, I don't want to do that run, or I don't want to do that workout. Like, I'm too tired. I don't feel well. I got kids stuff. How do you keep going? So we talk about ways to stay motivated, to stay focused on your goals, and there's tips and tricks and things that we talk about to get you going. So that's kind of the framework, mindset, movement and motivation. And I, I used to think of it in a linear fashion, but I've come to realize that it doesn't necessarily apply only to someone who's never run before. You may run a 5k or you may have run a 10k or half marathon, but now you want to run a marathon, and for you, that might be a big step forward. Like, oh, gosh, I can never run a marathon. Well, you know what? You start back at mindset. What's making you, preventing you from believing that you can, and then kind of working your way through the process. So that's kind of how the framework works, and that's how I've been talking about it on the show.

I love that. And I think for those of you who are listening to this and are thinking, I can't run a 5K or run at all, or I'm not a runner, I'm a something, I'm a surfer. I'm a so focused on my family. I'm a business professional. I think this framework fits really well into other areas of life. Could you maybe. On that note, do you think you can maybe share how this running journey that you've been on in the podcast has impacted you professionally or outside of the podcast and the activity of running?

Yeah. So there's a couple of things. It's actually interesting the way it's all connected. So first, the running and my journey in the Spartan races gave me the courage to do other things in my life because I wanted to overcome my fears and do things I never did before. So one of my fears is not necessarily public speaking, because I've been doing that throughout my entire career. But for whatever reason, being on video or doing a podcast scares a life out of me, you know, if you. If you roll back the clock three years. So again, I'm on this journey to do things I've never done before, and this is something I've had to overcome. So the running and Spartan obstacle course races really helped me get to get to this point. And, you know, I think the way I'm thinking about, you know, inspire to run podcasts and the framework in the community is helping me from an entrepreneurship standpoint. Right. So I've worked in corporate for over 20 years in various roles, some technical, but mostly marketing. But I haven't run my own business before. And this is really helping me think about, really think about who can I serve, you know, best with what I know, what I've learned, what tools and resources I have, and how do I package that. That's going to be easy for them to find me, to access my products and services and then be successful in their own journey. So I would say this podcast has not only helped me and others in terms of running, but it's also helped me think about, you know, how I can serve the, you know, the community through the work I'm doing here.

I love that phrase of how can I serve or how can I serve greater. And I do think this format is a wonderful way to reach more people, to inspire them to run or to follow their passions and what they nerd out about. So I'm curious now, then, are there things that you've learned in other areas of your life that you've brought to running that you personally makes. I don't want to say running style, but you're training a little bit more unique from just like a generic. Generic, I'll say, common knowledge out there in the world.

Yeah, I have to think about this. I would say that what I've learned through my guests and through my coach and through this podcast journey is completely different than what I learned in high school. So. So for sure, I pro. I'm pro. Not probably. I'm definitely more knowledgeable about running, about nutrition, about hydration, about gear than I was, you know, back in high school. And then I'm a much stronger mindset. Right. So the things that I'm doing now, I feel like I'm a stronger runner and I'm in more control than I was, you know, maybe when I was younger. So. But if I think about things, you know, specifically, I would say nutrition is number one. Nutrition. I wish I knew then what I know now. You really. Unless, you know, you really wouldn't know and understand how much nutrition impacts you. Again, it's not about gaining or losing weight. It's about. It's also about, you know, how you feel and your. Your performance. I mean, there's so much more to it and everything that's out there to help you. And I know there's. It's very controversial about supplements and this, that and the other. So I don't take a lot, but there's certain things that I do that I think it's helped me reach my goals, you know, over the years, like, you know, creatine, amino acids, you know, protein, just really your base. Multivitamins, just really your basics.

Right on.

Yeah.

I think I can nerd out about nutrition quite a bit. You know, I've been. So I really like athletic greens is something I do pretty regularly with a little bit of creatine and then focusing on protein. I'm not sure if you follow the Haberman podcast or I know of it.

But yeah, yeah, there's a lot of.

New things talking about, like, if you have the same level of work, but one person Eats more protein than the other, that. That actually shifts your body and weight loss in a different way. So, yeah, there's just more science out there. Almost too much to know what's actually working and what's good for you. But yeah. Do you have any, like, favorite supplements? I know when I was training for marathons, I do the. I think they were meant for cyclists, but like the hammer gels, which are like protein and carbohydrate, like packets. But what are your, like, go to, like, performance things for when you need to make it happen?

Yeah, yeah. So I use a bunch of different things depending on what it is that I'm working on. So first off, you know, it's interesting what you said. There's a lot out there, right? So you really have to find what works for you. And I've had to do that. So, you know, let's just take protein for an example. I used to take get protein shakes at the gym and for a really long time I did not feel well and I couldn't figure out why. So I'm like, oh, well, maybe it's something that they're mixing at the gym that just doesn't agree with me. So I started to make it on my own, same thing. And it wasn't until I switched to vegan for. For my protein. Never had a problem, like, so I just found something that had worked for me and you know, in that particular case. So whatever it is, I think you just have to try things and see what works. Works for you. So for me, what I normally do is for my daily electrolytes, I use noon and uun. So, you know, it's interesting. It's a little bit of an acquired taste at first, but I can't live without it. So every day, like, that's absolutely the first thing I have to have. They also have immunity tablets that I also take. So noon is what I do. General. For general electrolytes. When I'm running, I use tailwind hydration, which is relatively new to me. So my coach had introduced me and I actually had the CEO on my show and I just, I love it. I love the science behind it and I love, you know, how that compares to others. Like other products. Like, that really works for me. So I use tailwind for my. For my long runs. I use goo energy as well to kind of supplement the tailwind. It just depends. Like, if I'm running really, really long and I need that much, then I'll do it. I'm probably using less of the goo now, but I Would typically kind of pair those together. Some people keep in mind, people bring food, like on these, you know, trail rides and all. I can't necessarily eat when I'm running. So for me, this is like the most I could do. This is the best I could do is goo and tailwind. And then afterwards, for my protein, creatine and amino for after my workouts.

Right on. On the topic of nutrition, so I have some friends that are like ultra marathon runners and their macronutrition outside, the actual work is baffling in that it's like two cheese pizzas, a thing of Nutter Butters, and just trying to fuel the machine, which I get extreme levels. Like, you could have an immaculate metabolism because you're just doing so much work. Do you optimize, like breakfast, lunch and dinner with your family? How does that impact, you know, I'm sure if you're doing like, if you're continuing like the vegan thing out there, like, sometimes family members don't particularly like that particular thing, but ultimately, like, what are you doing outside? Or do you have a theory? Or is it just kind of like whatever the family's doing or what's up?

Yeah, this one, this one's a hard topic. First off, for the vegan part, I only do that for the protein and certain things just because it's better for my system. So I'm not necessarily vegan in general, but I found that some vegan products work better for me. But in general, this is a hard topic, and I think culturally it could be even difficult. Right. So in many cultures, food is kind of the center of what you do and what brings family together. Right, Right. So if you're, if you're trying to go, let's say, on a different path than how you grew up or how your family is, that can create conflict in the family. And honestly, I went through that. I went through that with my family because my family, you know, really wanted to, you know, they wanted to, you know, I don't want to call it specific foods, but let's just say fast foods, right? Yeah, they wanted this particular fast food. I'm like, some things they'll do, but other things, I'm like, no, because it doesn't fit my plan, but also I don't feel good after I eat it. And I really started to realize that after I stopped eating so much, then I started to feel better, but I didn't know or understand I was feeling bad before, if you know what I mean. It was just kind of how I always felt. So that created a lot of conflicts. But then just over time, my family knows, like, there's just certain things I'm just not going to eat, and we just have to agree to disagree and we'll do separate things on, you know, whenever that comes up. But in general, you know, we eat together. But for my workouts, if I do, like, a really hard run or a really hard workout, I have to eat. So my family knows if that's my schedule, and the plan is not to eat, like, until a lot later or eat something that's really not within my plan. They already know. They're like, listen, just do what you have to do, and then we'll come together later. And we just. Again, that's taken time. But I know that can create conflict because it did for us for a really long time. And it's. It's. It's hard. It's hard to get through. And I don't know if folks ever get through it.

I want to dig into this a little bit. I'm just curious, like, how did you, I guess, get that consensus? Because it sounds like it's just everyone understood where you might not be interested in this, because I need this for performance, for the running. But, like, if you're not doing that or whatever, then, you know, we have our way around it. We still want to make that communal experience happen, which I think is super important just for connecting with the family. You know, I grew up around Chicago. I live in California. My wife's in California. So, like, the steak and potatoes thing doesn't always go with her. And sometimes, like, we don't get into it, but it can cause a little bit of awkward conversations sometimes. But so how do you. When you're with people that you love or people that you like and you have to do what's right for your health, how do you think about communicating that or getting people on board?

Yeah, I mean, the best thing is just to be upfront about it. Like, this is this is this. And it's also hard to do it in the moment, too. Right. So it's about having the conversation maybe ahead of time. And, you know, it's been a while since I've talked about this. It even. Even for your training plan, even for your runs, like, if you have kids, you have, you know, obligations, you need to schedule. In my opinion, you need to schedule these things. And if you have a spouse, you need to communicate what those plans are. So it's not a surprise or it's not a burden. Like, hey, I'm going to do my run at this time. Can you, you know, can you make sure you're. You're here for the kids? Or if not, then I know I can adjust my run schedule to do it at a different time. So I think it's about having a conversation up front before you're like, in the moment and it becomes an issue. But, you know, so I'd say probably a lot of it is planning, but a lot of it is just repetition and consistency because over time, eventually, hopefully they're going to get it right. This is your routine, and this is what you're striving for. And if you're making progress and it makes you happy, then others are going to start to see that and hopefully respect that and support you.

Right, Cool. Yeah. I love the point that it's hard to do in the moment of having. Doing marathon training myself years ago and navigating the friendship space. I was in my mid-20s. Everyone, it's Friday. We're gonna go out for drinks. And it's like my long runs on Saturday morning. I could do it hungover, but it's terrible. So maybe we don't do this communal habit. And yeah, if it's Friday and it's after work and your buddy's like, hey, let's go. It's different than, like, no, I. I needed to navigate this, so understand that point too. Wondering now, I'm curious about your podcast. You have this marketing career. Can you explain a little bit what you do on the marketing side and that just personally, how are you marketing your podcast? How are you getting the word out that nature just to kind of nerd out on that for a little bit?

Yeah, I love talking about marketing just as much as running and, you know, so when to describe what I do, I love to use this definite. One of these definitions of marketing is creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers. It's just one of the many definitions of marketing. So when people think about marketing, most people think communicate, communications, right? They think about advertising, whether it's tv, billboards, digital agencies. Like, that's what most people think, but there's so many more aspects to it. So the work that I've done was really more so on the creating and delivering value. So I worked for B2B companies, not B2C companies and global companies. And I brought new products to market was a lot of the work that I did, as well as managing product portfolios and expanding those portfolios globally. So that. That's a lot of the work that I did really on that create creation side. As well as the delivering side. So because of that, you know, after almost 20 years in the field, I'm like, gosh, you know, I really would love to do more around that communicating part. Right. More B2C digital. You know, digital has been around for a while, and here I'm a quote unquote marketer, and I knew very little about. Little about digital. So, like, I really would love to learn this space. So I went out and I got. I joined the American Marketing Association. I got my Digital Marketing Institute certification, and I was like, I'd love to do more in this space. And then that's kind of what started this. Hey, I also love to build a community. Let's do an online community. And then eventually, you know, the podcast and social and all of that. So it all kind of came together. My marketing experience and my future aspirations in marketing, as well as my running experience and how I wanted to help others really just eventually came together, and that's what helped me form the podcast and the community.

Right on. Yeah. I feel oftentimes than not when I talk with people, there's a similar pattern of I did all these kind of different things, these different passions, at some point in their lives, they're like, oh, I can weave all these threads together into one string. Feels like your whole life has kind of been leading up to that moment, which is pretty magical. The universe conspires to help you do the thing. So that's pretty.

And it hasn't been easy either, right? I mean, I've been learning. I kind of feel like I'm starting over. I'm kind of feel like I'm 20 years ago, 25 years ago, starting in my career, because these are all new things that I hadn't really done too much during my career again around digital social media and advertising and that. So, you know, you're asking me about, like, how do I promote my podcast? Well, I've had to learn all these things and I. I can't say that I'm great at it. I'm learning how to do it, but I'm definitely getting better and the show is growing and I'm getting more listeners and, you know, so that, that's really great, but I had to learn so kind of what I do. Two things that I do. So first is promotion through social, which I think is probably the most common and free and easy thing to do. But I've learned that it may not be the most effective way to do it for podcasts. Right. Because if you're thinking about meeting people where they are. If you're scrolling through TikTok or Instagram or Facebook, how likely are you to flip over and open up your podcast app when you hear something? I don't know, it had to be really compelling for you to do that, right? So. So it could happen, but it's not as likely as many other as maybe other places. So the way I'm starting to use social now is really more so for engaging with the community. So, as you know, with podcasts, it can be one way you don't really get that direct feedback, but you can if you drive them to your. Your social community. So that's one way I'm using it. And the other way I'm using it is to share my resources. So I build some resources based on, you know, everything I've learned and kind of what I teach and talk about in the show, and I use that community or those channels to share that. And then, you know, beyond that, it's conversations like this right through other shows. So whether it's, you know, interviews or I love to do ad swaps, that's something that I'm looking to get into because then you're. You're meeting people where they are, they're already listening to a podcast, they're already in a podcast player app. It's probably the, you know, low barrier to get them to check you out. And one thing that I just started recently is advertising in podcast players, which seems to me, seems to be going well. So I'm like, okay, you know, we'll continue that. So that's what I've done. I've done a little bit of email marketing. Again, for a marketer, for me to say I've done a little email marketing, it sounds like I'm a little bit of imposter, but I'm learning. So I can't say I'm great at it. But that's another great way to promote the podcast and engage the community.

Right. Like you, I feel like I'm still at the beginner stages of figuring all this stuff out. Haven't been on social media for a while, but not using it as a tool to communicate and connect. There's an art to it, and I feel like I'm still drawing stick figures.

Personally, but you and me, both my friends.

But I do appreciate you sharing that. Let's see, how was. How did that shift from engineering to marketing go? Because you said, I think we were talking maybe before when you shared your electrical engineer. That then does more. It sounds like more product management side stuff was that natural was that, oh, I'm interested in this or yeah, how, how does that story go?

Yeah, there are some parts of it that was natural. So I'm a good communicator to, you know, to a certain extent. And I built really great relationships when I was doing technical roles. And then, you know, opportunity came up in marketing where they're like, look, Richard, you, you know the product line, which is a very technical product line and I have an engineering background, so I understood it very well. And you're a good communicator, so you can communicate with customers, you can talk about the products in a way that they'll understand. And that's really how I started. So for me, I would say that it was not a difficult transition because it was already taking technical products that I knew and understood and being able to bring them to market and communicate to our customers about the value that the products bring, how to use the products and how they can benefit them and their customers. So that part of it I loved because I was going to trade shows, I was going to do customer presentations, I was building demonstration kits like, absolutely had the best time of my life. One of the best years of my career was actually my first couple of years in marketing kind of doing that work. And then beyond that, I started to do more product, new product development, which again aligned with my undergrad, right. With engineering because I was developing new products with the engineers and the cross functional team. So all of that wasn't really that much of a shift. Now the business side of it, the culture, the corporate communication, executive communications, all of that was very new for me and I had to learn that. So I decided right when I finished my undergrad degree I need to go right to B school. So I went back for my mba. I did that two years full time on Saturdays while I work full time during the week. And that helped me, like catch me up on all the business stuff that I, I missed during my undergrad. And that helped me, you know, kind of make that transition as I'm putting together business cases for investment or communicating to the leadership team or, you know, you name it. So that part of it was a lot more difficult than maybe some of the other aspects of what I was doing.

Right on. So you mentioned that it was the best time in your career, that those early days of doing it. Why do you think that was? What do you think? If you could sum up in a couple of points like why that was such a amazing part of that journey.

Yeah. You know, when you work for a big company. Sometimes it's hard to get things going. Sometimes it's hard to get. Get things moving forward. But once you get there, once you get everybody moving in the same direction and you're winning, it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. So I can. I can tell you there are a handful of times in my career where I had that. It was during that time customers desperately wanted what we were selling. These products that we were coming out with, they were for the industry, they were ahead of its time, and they brought real value to customers. So that was great. So everybody was behind that. And I felt like. I won't say I was at the center of it, but I was a part of that. I was part of something special. And that didn't happen again until years later. Again, there was other role that I took, and we. We had this plan around certain products and certain customers and certain initiatives, and again, we had that alignment, and we were able to just get after it, and we were winning. So there's. For me, that's what's really special, because if you have conflict, everybody is competing priorities or you're just not moving forward, then it's. Then it's a grind, and then it's just, like, not as much fun. So honestly, I've never really thought about it before you asked me that, but that's probably. But I would say that's amazing.

It sounds like. To re. Paraphrase it, it's like being part of a movement of change where, like, you have momentum, you have everything aligned. Everyone is focused and pushing forward and doing goodness out in the world. So I commend you. That's awesome.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's what made. And it was new. I mean, at the beginning of my career, marketing career, that was new, so that was also part of it. But like I said, it happened in other times during my career, and I think that was the common thread or common theme.

Right on. All right. Switching back to the podcast or running in general, if you could start a meaningful revolution or that movement for people to follow where we're all working towards the same goal, we're all aligned and putting goodness out in the world, what would you call it and why?

Yeah, well, I don't know if I would call it anything different than what I called inspired or rhyme, because that's really what I'm trying to do. But, I mean, the revolution is really helping folks get unstuck. And, you know, again, they want to make a change, but for whatever reason, they're stuck. And they don't know how or, or they don't feel like they can, or it's. It's not enough pain for them in their lives to actually make that change. Right. Because that's what I realized, that that's what happens when you get to that point where you're like, I can't take it anymore, generally is that that's when you make the change. So for me, okay, that's okay because at least you made the decision to change. But for me, I'd love to catch you a little bit earlier right before that diagnosis, before that, what happens with, you know, the family related challenges before, before your job, like, before those things. These are things that will help you anyway, not just physically, but also mentally and other parts of your life. So for me, that's really. The revolution is not waiting until that time where you have to make a change. It's doing it. It's doing it before then or starting before then.

Yeah. I keep thinking about the name Inspired to Run and how I like it the more that I think about it. Because it's not just about running. Like it's inspired to take action, it's inspired to move forward. And I'm sure it was intentional on your part and I'm just slow kind of catching up here. But that's. Yeah, that's great. I love this movement. And I definitely, as a high performance coach, a lot of my work is kind of, oh, you're comfortable. Like, what's going to get you out of that comfort zone to live that extraordinary life that you have the potential to live and that process to do it. So that's amazing.

And we could rename it, we could rebrand it to inspire, to move. The feedback I get sometimes is, well, Richard, I'm not a runner, but I cycle or I swim or I do this or I do that. And I say that's great because this framework still applies to you, right? The mindset movement, your form of movement. I talk about running because that's what I know and love. But your form of movement and then motivation, I think that applies across the board. So I don't know, maybe we can call it inspired to move like you said.

Oh, I would keep it inspired to run because, like, I'm thinking, like, let's go, right? It's like you wake up. I'm inspired to run today, like in all areas of life. Not just the physical movement, but my career, my family, like, all of that. Like, it's such a great encapsulation. So I would say don't change it because it's brilliant.

So I love that.

Right on.

If.

There were a couple of habits or things to help get people into action right. In their movement or other areas of their life, do you have like two or three different suggestions for like daily habits or weekly habits that'll really help people get in the game?

Yeah. You know, the first thing, because we've been talking about running, we'll just start there. The first thing is, is moving every day doesn't mean running every day, but it's getting into the habit of doing so. Because if you're not in the habit, it's going to seem really difficult to get started. So, you know, if you're not a runner today and you're looking at a couch to 5K program and you're like, I can't do that, then I would say put on your running shoes and then just walk. Walk 15 minutes a day. You can certainly find 15 minutes and you can certainly walk. So just do that. And then you build that habit until you get more comfortable and then you can kind of progress from there. So for me is to find some sort of movement. Every single day is a first habit. And put it on your calendar. You know, not everybody likes this. Not everybody lives by a calendar. But, you know, many of us work in a corporate environment, which we do live by our calendars. And even if we're not right, even if we're entrepreneurs, you still, you know, have time blocked for types of work that you're doing. So put, just like everything else, put it on your calendar. That would be the first thing. The second thing is around hydration and nutrition. I can't tell you how important it is. Again, not so much for yourself, again, if you're looking to gain or lose weight, but how you feel, being really mindful about what you're putting into your body, because I can tell you it's going to impact how you feel and you may not realize it. Right. If you're eating certain things or all the time, you may feel a certain way, you may not realize, hey, I might feel differently if I don't eat certain things. And I might. It might be better for me or it might be good for me if I substitute one thing for another. Right. So I know there's controversy about limiting and like not taking things away. Okay, well, maybe you don't take something away. Maybe you eat less of it or maybe you switch to something else, but it might have a positive impact on how you feel. So having a focus on your nutrition and hydration and it doesn't mean, like, super big changes in your life. It really could be just small changes. The third one, you know, the third one. I'm gonna say this, but I'm myself not very good about it. But I did this for a while, and I. I'm, like, kicking myself. I didn't stick with it. So I went through a period of time where I was.

Doing.

What do you call it? I was doing. I want to say mindfulness, but the meditation.

Okay. Right on. Yeah.

I don't even know what. Why that word slipped my mind. I was talking to somebody about mindfulness earlier today, so that's why it was in my head. So meditation. So I was doing that, and I was doing affirmations, and I felt so good after doing that. And now it was a bear waking up a little bit early and going in the dark, you know, and downstairs and doing the meditation and then doing the affirmations. But I felt good about it. And the reason why I say this is so important is because your body does basically what your mind says, right? What you think. So you have to control your thoughts. And this is a great way to do it that I kick myself that I didn't stick with, but it's 100% on my list to get back into because I saw a marked difference in doing both meditation as well as affirmations.

Right on. Yeah, I definitely agree with putting it on your calendar. Like going into my coaching business, getting away of meetings and stuff, I thought it was great. And then it took me a while to be like, no, I'm not. I'm distracted because I don't have the thing on the calendar to go do. And so as someone that resists putting things on the calendar a lot, I like the flexibility of life, that it's something I must do in order to move forward. So I love that. I think the hydration nutrition point. I'd love to add that a personal insight that I had is it really takes three days for the food that you eat to impact your energy. And I don't think there's science behind that. It's just something I've noticed that, like tracking things, we think that you eat it, and then later that day, you're burning that energy.

But you're.

Right now we're burning the energy from the things we ate three days ago. And that's what's making us feel great or not great or lethargic or ready to go. And so I love that point. And I just wanted to add that because I think, you know, you think about eating and consuming in a different way if that's in the back of your head. And then I had a question on the meditation and affirmations. Do you have a formula for coming up with affirmations or was it just some book you read? Or how did you go about constructing that meditation and affirmations habit?

Yeah. Let me tell you something. So I did a lot of Internet research on this and it all seems woo woo stuff. And I'm like, I don't know where to start. I honestly, I wish someone would just tell me. So I ended up making, making it up. And then for the affirmations, there's two ways you could do it. You could do verbally and you could do written. So I haven't read the studies, but apparently there's some science that says if you write it down, you know, I think within like 20 minutes or 15 minutes before you go to sleep, you have better retention or your brain processes. It is what I heard. Right. And you could do verbally. So there was one point in time I was doing both. I was doing verbal in the morning and written at night. Going forward, I don't know if I would do that again. I think I would probably just do the written. But basically the way I did my affirmations is I had like three or four affirmations and I would either write them down repeatedly or repeat them out loud. I don't like 15 or 20 times every day. And it was around each of the areas of my life where I wanted to see significant improvements. So one of them was around relationships with my family. One of them was around my physical health. Right. Believing I can get to where I wanted to go with my running goals. One of them was around entrepreneurship. So the same, you know, mental blocks that someone might have about running, I have about being an entrepreneur and one day running my own business and not, you know, not being in a 9 to 5. So I have affirmations around that. So those, the top of my head were like the three main ones. I'm sure there was another one. And I just wrote it based on what the. What I read. So basically you have, you write it in a way or you say it in a way as if it's already happened. So you're basically telling your brain, this is who I am, and then your brain starts to believe it versus this is who I want to be in the future. So I found that really interested. So it's like I am a successful entrepreneur with, you know, this running community and podcast and digital media. Company like that's my affirmation. So that's basically how I built them. Cool.

Yeah. I know some people say to do like value based, like I am kindness or goodness or whatever. Some of it is goal driven. So I just want. I was glad you clarified that for us all and it's great examples too. So if you don't have an affirmation and you think it's woo woo, because I definitely did when I started doing this stuff. Give it a try. Like be open minded enough to experiment and see how it feels because ultimately that repetitiveness I think does something to your brain where you then start to look for the ways to make it happen. So. Yeah, there's research on it, but yeah.

Yeah, I don't know. I'm still learning about it myself. So it's something that's relatively new for me. But it's, it's those things that I package kind of in that mindset part to help, you know, help me thinking. If you don't think your mindset controls like what you do or how you behave, like you're. Think about it like if you were, you're an entrepreneur and you have a product or service you need to sell, are you making those customers those cold calls, are you following up on those? Are you like what are you doing to close the deal? Like if you're not doing those things like out of habit and with intensity, more than likely there's something holding you back. Right. So this is how your mindset leads to the success that you have in really any part of your life.

Definitely, definitely. One more question on this before we start to wrap up on mindset in particular, do you, how do I want to ask this? Do you have any habits or techniques for helping people shift? Like I'm not a runner, I can't do it. It's self doubt. I'm not capable or I'm afraid that if I run that I'll have to give up pizza because that's the thing I love and I won't have time to cook pizzas or whatever. Do you, how do you think of what's your mindset around? Changing mindsets? I guess.

Yeah, I mean so this is, this is a tough one because I'm sure you see this in your, your coaching business. It's really very individual. Right. So you have to. The way I think about it, it's almost like overcoming objections but so I'd have to know like what are your objections to be able to help you overcome those. So the way I do it a little Bit more generically is through my show is sharing inspiring stories of folks who didn't run before for whatever reason, and then they started running and what they did along the way to overcome some of those barriers and challenges with the hope that you're going to resonate or relate to one of those stories and you're going to say, that's exactly my problem. Maybe I'm, you know, I'm older and I haven't been a runner. I haven't been runner in many years. Well, my guest today, you know, he didn't run after, like, he started running after like 20 years. Right. So now he's in his 50s plus, and he's, he enjoys and he considers himself a more mature and stronger runner than he was, you know, in his 20s or 30s. 30s. So if you're in that situation, you hear that story, I'm hoping that helps overcome that objection for you. So I'm doing that through the podcast. But, you know, it. It's individual. It just depends on kind of what you're, you know, what, what you might be holding you back.

Gotcha. Right on. Yeah, I tend to think through it on, you know, I. Objectives are, of course, like, super important, but it's also aspirations, you know, I think so much of, like, talking about, you know, the affirmations. It's believing the reality where you succeed.

Yeah.

And connecting with it more times than you think, you know, because it's one thing to be like, I want to be, you know, at this certain weight and I'm doing this for weight loss. And you think about it on New Year's Eve and then, you know, come January 1st, it's out of your mind and nothing changes because you don't connect with it. So.

Great point. Yep.

But yeah, it's always that, that, that tug. I think you need both. You can have all the motivation to do it and then be like, well, I can't because my shoes laces aren't tied right. Or whatever. And it's like, let's fix that for you. That's. That's an easy fix.

Yeah. And, and honestly, I guess where I'm coming from is in my mind, someone more chances than not wants to make the change. Is. So they've already thought about like, yeah, I'd love to be there. It's getting there is the, is the challenge. So I guess that's where I'm coming from. But you're absolutely right. You have to have that. You already have to have that vision in the first place. And I feel like I don't know if I can provide that vision for you. I think you need to, you know, have that start. But once you do, I want to help you get to where you want to be.

Right on.

Yeah.

The man said it, guys. So with that, if the good folks at home or wherever you're listening want to follow up and connect with the podcast or follow up with you, what are the best ways? And we'll put those in the show notes for sure.

First. Thank you so much, Sean. I really love this conversation and I love sharing my story and like I said, you know, helping others in their journey. So you can find me one of two ways is probably the best. The first is Inspire to Run podcast. Literally wherever you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and then on social. I'm most active on Instagram. So again, Inspire to Run podcast. So you can not only engage with us there, but also I have Instagram lives periodically where we go live and answer your questions and bring on some past guests and we bring them on for, like a real talk. So you get the episodes, but you also get some Instagram live Q and A sessions as well.

Awesome. Definitely go check out Born to Run or not Born to Run. That's the book. Inspire to Run. Born to Run is a really great book you should read if you're interested in running at all. But Inspire to Run is also where it's at. So, Richard, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your wisdom with the audience today. And with that, we'll see you guys on the next episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast.

Sa.