Episode 134 - Branden Coluccio from solitary confinement on remaining calm during hardships

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. Oh, my gosh, you guys. I love having repeat visitors on the podcast. It's just so much fun because I already have dived into part of the story and then I get to hear about another part and also am able to just open up new things that have been coming up since the first podcast that we did together. And that's the situation with the guest I have today. I originally met him through an investment group, investment mastermind that we're both in together. And he also was on the Start a Book challenge because he wrote a book and he did an episode on that. And then also we did a Facebook Live. And he really helped contribute a lot in that community. And now he's actually in the middle of a new journey that he's embarking on. And it's been exciting to see his growth already with the things he's been sharing. And it's just feels like such a privilege to be able to talk to him right now while he's at the beginning of this new path for himself. And then it's kind of exciting for you guys to see when someone's starting something new so you're able to really capture what it takes to do the thing. And it's not all as easy as people think it is. There's actually some mental work that is involved to be able to push yourself through, to get to the next level. So I'm really excited to welcome Branch Brandon back to the show. Hey, Brandon.

Hey, Stacy. Thank you so much. I'm so excited. I love talking to you, so this will be really fun.

So cool. I know. I love having these conversations and I love how you're able to really just articulate from the depth of honestly, your soul. I feel it when we're. When we're talking, and it's just such a powerful place to be able to be a part of this with you.

Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it. It. Some of the stuff that I talk about is hard, and some of my content, I get emotional. I just let it out. I don't care. Brian, I. I have been through so much in life that I just don't give a right. So I just. I just let it out. And I think. I think people relate to that. I think a little vulnerability goes a long way, so. Yeah. So happy to have you to dive into whatever you'd like today.

And I think what people don't realize is it's by you being vulnerable and by people being able to see that it opens the space for them to be able to be vulnerable, too, and then for them to get the courage to try something new. Because they're seeing it from you.

That's correct. So that right there is the theme of my podcast, Convictions. And so what I'm trying to highlight are the stories of people who have overcome adversity. Now on my podcast, I try to, and I'm still building it, and I hope to have many more people. I would love to. To hear everybody's story, because I think that everyone has a story of adversity, of challenge and struggle. I think it's all relative. We all go through different things in our life. And so what I'm trying to highlight are those moments where most of these people are wildly successful. Some of them are relatively well known, but there were moments in their life where they were facing homelessness, alcoholism, death of multiple family members within a very short period of time, some facing bankruptcy, multiple business failures, prison. I mean, you name it, right? All of these challenges that we face in life, that is a human experience. And what I'm trying to highlight is the lessons that come from struggle. Right. The gems, the little nuggets of wisdom that come from those experiences. If we treat failure, struggle, challenge, if we treat all of it appropriately, I think. And I've seen this where struggle in life can consume people. I've seen it in my own family. I've seen it through the people that I've met on my journey. And one of my videos, I talk about the guy cell next to me trying to commit suicide. So this type of thing does consume people. And what I'm trying to highlight are the folks who found a way out and what they learn from those lessons. And I think that, to me, it's just incredibly valuable because.

I think that it's popular to tell the highlight reel story and it's good marketing and it's all this other stuff, but there's so much more that goes into it. There's so much challenge that we all face, even if that person is perceived as wildly successful. So that's the journey that I'm on with the podcast. It's. It's been really fun. I've met some amazing people.

Yeah. And I. I love that you shared that, because I just went to. As you know, I went to New York and I went to the Museum of Failure when I was there. It's a exhibition that. It's a traveling exhibition. I'm excited. I'm going to interview the curator of that next week, but.

Sounds awesome. I didn't even know that was a thing.

I didn't, I know. I didn't either. And then I had seen it on the show the Prophet. And so anyway, I saw it there and when I was going to New York, I'm like, oh my God, I have to go. And it was so interesting because it was showing the product failures, right? And it was showing Elon Musk had all these failures and even the, the Oreos that have been failed, Oreo packaging or whatever or flavors. And what was really interesting to me was there's this wall it said share your failure on it. And then it had stickies where everyone is putting the sticky of what their failure was. And Brandon, this is crazy. I thought people were going to be putting their failures of products right. Of things that they tried and that failed. No, it was all their personal failures. Mine was even I got drawn with the whole thing. Mine was, my failure was not living with who I wanted to be. I lived with other people's expectations. Other people put perfection up there. Other people put not living up to my own wants and needs. Another person put people pleasing. It was hundreds of stickies of people in their personal failures, which I thought was really fascinating. And I think it really speaks to what you're saying because once you can reflect on that failure and then you can take the lesson from it, your world is unlimited at that point.

So we can look at these things as struggles, we can look at these things as failures. These are just labels that we place on them. I try to place a different label on what I went through. And I think there's an opportunity for everybody to do the same. And these things are defining moments in our life. Right. You know, the, the real you comes out when the hits the fan. The really you will come out when things are not going your way. When you do fail, do you pick yourself back up? Right. Do you restructure your life? Do you build the discipline? Do you, do you have that within you? And I, I say that having come from a very dark place and having rebuilt that. Right. So yeah, I mean, I, I think that reframing it as those opportunities to, to recourse correct and to follow where you're being drawn in life. I think that is, that is, I think ultimately what is happening to us. I, I, I don't have all the answers, of course. I don't know if there's a God, but I do feel like we get these course corrections and when we go too far off course, the universe kind of intervenes, right. And tries to push us in one direction or another. Now, whether we choose to follow that or not, that. That's up to us. But, you know, I know in my life I've had quite a significant course correction, and I look at it now, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. So.

Yeah, and I love that when you say that, too. And for the listeners that if this is their first time listening to you, I'm sure they'll want to listen to this episode and then go back to the episode that we did together, which is episode number 134. You can hear Brandon's full story, but do you mind, for the people that haven't listened yet, just share a little bit about what brought you to this point right now?

Yeah, yeah. I'll give you the quick and dirty. So I'm kind of an entrepreneurial type, come from a very entrepreneurial family and always had that bait. Right. I knew I always wanted to build big businesses, and I thought the correct way to do that was through private equity mergers and acquisitions. And there's some truth to that, but I think I was probably wrong in that assumption. I probably should have concentrated entrepreneurship, but I didn't. I ended up in M and A advisory early on in my career. I then moved into private equity and, you know, doing relatively large transactions, but also some venture stuff. And then I took the jump into entrepreneurship. I was recruited by a couple of healthcare executives. Guys with significantly more experience were older than me. I looked up to them in many ways. I was 26 at the time, and they gave me a big chunk of the company to help raise some capital and try to build a business. And we did. We built it up pretty, pretty big. I. We did a lot of great work at that company, and we ultimately sold it for just under $70 million. So I was 29 when that happened. And this is going to sound arrogant, but I don't really care. I mean, I. I had always told my dad, I said, dad, I'm going to be retired by 32. And he's like, you're crazy, right? You're 14. Like, shut up. And I did it at 29. And then my life fell apart. I found out that the gentleman that I was working with, the two main partners, had this elaborate kickback scheme going on where they were receiving kickbacks for lab samples that were being sent, which is highly illegal. There was also a patient financing arrangement that was going on that I did know about, that we had an opinion letter for. But what happens in these government investigations is they will find one thing that they can claw onto and then they will look for anything else. And it turns out that that was what they looked for. I was the chief financial officer of that company and so that's kind of how these things go. And so I was faced with a very difficult situation where I had to accept responsibility for what had happened. And at the time, that was very difficult because I felt it was unjustified. It was also extremely traumatic. Right after I sold the company, I had started building up a real estate development company that was doing very well. We did almost $40 million in our first year deals, total develop value. And anyway, so things were, were going really well. I was about to buy another company for 3 million bucks. I was going to flip it for 6. Things were on the the upswing. And then it all sort of crumbled. And I was faced with a choice. Do I fight this or do I take a deal and go away? And I took a deal to surrender for 37 months. I paid $3.1 million fines and restitution. I essentially my whole world crumbled. And I've never been in trouble. I have never had any issues. I've never even been in handcuffs. I'm not a criminogenic person. I did not have negative intent. But that doesn't really matter, right? You find yourself in a situation and you have to be accountable. Now, the part of the story that I didn't, I don't know if I fully shared on our last episode, was where I was as a person person during that time. I've always been kind of a partier. I've always liked to drink and I've traveled and partied and I've done all the, we'll call it the Instagram worthy stuff, although I never posted it. I lived that life. And you know, by the time this all had happened, my partying was probably getting a little bit out of control. Then when it did happen, I really went off the deep end, right? And so I started self medicating with alcohol constantly. Not constantly, but every day. And didn't take care of myself, was unfit, was so anxious and depressed and afraid and scared. I was the lowest version of myself that I'd ever been. And when I went away, the first thing that happened to me was I was placed in solitary confinement for about 22 days. And I do videos on this exact topic talking about how nasty it was. There's also a section of my book where I talk about it as well. But it was in this moment that I decided That I was going to pick myself up and I was going to become the person that I believed that I should be. And it started with fitness. It started with mental health. It started with reading and learning and studying the great minds of history. And I made a promise to myself and my wife that I would take this, this terrible event that has happened to me, which for me, some people, and I know plenty of people in this world where they're like, I. I've been to prison multiple times. I don't care. For me, this was devastation, right? This was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. I'm sure there are other white collar business people who. That is their ultimate nightmare as well. So I decided that I was going to turn this horrible event into something that lifted others up around me. I was going to do something good with this terrible event. And before I went away, I actually wrote an up book, my first book and a course. And I licensed that content to somebody who now distributes that material to prisons around the country. While I was away, I volunteered in the GDD department. I taught people how to read. I met several grown men who did not know how to read. And I also taught several workshops on positive things like building a positive mindset, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, how to build a release plan so that these guys could leave and then go into something sustainable that would not bring them back to prison. And so I fell in love with that work, right? I was like, I'm a teacher. Like, holy shit, I didn't even know this, right? And so that's why I say that was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It gave me the opportunity to figure out more about myself. But that's because I dug for those lessons. I looked for the gold in my failure and I've continued to do that. And so now what I'm doing is I'm building a brand, my own personal brand, around my story, but trying to share the other, the stories of other people who have been through great challenge in life and the lessons that they learned. And I'm also now building a coaching program for taking your most difficult moment in life and using it as your fuel to essentially unleash your superpower. And so that's where I'm at now. That's what I'm up to. I apologize if that was longer than you hoped for, but yeah, I think that'll give everybody kind of sufficient context.

Yeah, it was, it was so perfect. Because I think what's cool too is you kind of reflected since our last episode and now you're realizing a few more things that we can talk about too, because I think that idea of where you were before prison, even before you got indicted, right, that's when you were the lowest version of yourself. And you're like, we're thinking. All these people think. So many people think, oh, when I have X or when I do the X and all these things, it's. That's when life's gonna be good, right? And you had that. You were that, and it's still like it wasn't. And I think that's really important for people to understand. It's like, when you're constantly searching for something, you might not be searching for the right thing.

So. Yeah. Can I share a story about that?

Oh, I would love to.

Yeah. Yeah. So the moment that I always dreamed of getting, like, a huge exit, like a business exit, and this is like the entrepreneurial Mount Everest, right? This is what every entrepreneur aspires to. And there. I'm not gonna. I'm not trying to make this sound like a bad thing. It's not a bad thing. I'm just gonna share my experience. And so it was a very Sell. Selling a business is very difficult. Buying a business is very difficult. We get the highlight reels, I said, from the Forbes and Entrepreneur and all this other stuff, but there's so much behind the scenes that goes on. It's very painful on both sides. And after we had consummated the transaction, I remember sitting at my desk just like I am now. You roll into the office, you pop open your. Your phone, you pull up your, you know, your TD bank or whatever it is, and you. You look at your bank balance like you have a thousand times. And I remember seeing a number that was so big that I was like, what? Like, is this real? Like, you're. Like you're not believing it. And in that moment, I didn't feel happiness. I felt regret. I felt total and complete regret because I was like, I just traded this thing that I love. I loved what I do. I love this team of people. I loved everything about that business. Even though things unfortunately did not end well, there was a lot of heart and soul that went into that, and I felt like I had traded all of that for some numbers on a screen, which is what money is, right? And so that was. That was really a difficult moment for me. But at that time, I was already NF Plus. I was already a multimillionaire at that point, so it didn't really feel that different. I was, you know, living the Life. I was living in a penthouse. I had half a million dollars in cars. I could buy anything I want. Right. And so traveling the world. But I was not living in alignment with who I was. Right. I was. Like I said I was. My, my behavior was. I was fine, but I was drinking too much. I wasn't taking care of myself. There was no investment in mental health. I was generally pretty miserable, although extremely rich. And I think a lot of people don't talk about that because it's, you know, maybe a little bit unpopular. But it wasn't, it wasn't necessarily that. It's not that being rich is bad. It's just that I wasn't doing the right things for myself. I hadn't built my, my wealth on a solid found personal foundation. And that's what I do now. And that's really what my coaching program is all about. Yeah.

And I think that's why we connect so well, because I kind of went through something similar after I exited my business. I had it for 20 years, and then I had all these employees and constant. Just brainstorming, talking, strategic meetings. And then all of a sudden it all stops and you're like. And then you kind of look and you're like, okay, I have the money, I live in my dream place, whatever, all these things. And you're like, if I'm still not happy, what's really wrong with me? And so then that's where the work starts for me. Then it was other things. And then for you it was when you went to prison, that was when you were able to get your, your reset. But I think a lot of people don't realize that. And I think what's good about that, about you knowing people, knowing that, is that that inner work is something we can all do. And then once you get the inner work, that's when your external world kind of matches that.

Oh, and it accelerates. Right. Because you're, you're, you're doing things that are in alignment with your true purpose. And also you're, you're healthy, both physically and mentally. And I believe that that is the foundation for everything. And that is where I have invested a lot of time and energy and still do to make sure that I, my mind is right. I'm able to perform at the top level, which if you have aspire to be a business person at the top level and sustain it, you have to have a rock solid foundation.

Yeah, I'd love to also talk about. And we have this in the full episode, you guys, if you want to Go back to it. Feel free to check it out. Like I said, It's 134 on the do the Thing podcast. But I don't think I went into the contribution side of it as much as I wanted to. Just touch on that now, because when you're in prison and you're doing that stuff where you're helping people with all the things you were doing between the GED program, the entrepreneurship program you mentioned. Holy shit. I'm a teacher. Right. And you're getting this feeling of contribution. I just wanted to see if you wanted to talk a little bit about that, because it seems like now that's where you're at. Now that you're out, that's what you're able to see as your next path is being able to really make a mark in terms of contribution to what you can help others do.

So there's more. There's more backstory to it. It's. I've always loved helping people. Right. I have. I'm softy inside. Right. Like, I. I come off as a little intense and aggressive, but I'm very. I'm a loving person. It all comes from a place of love. It's just. That's how I deliver it. But my. My sister is. Has been an addict for many years. And that business that we started was the substance abuse treatment business. And I gotten into that business. I didn't even realize how profitable these. These things can be. I didn't realize a lot of the economics around it till I gotten into it. Also didn't realize the regulatory issues. That's a separate point. I wanted to help people. I wanted to help save lives. I still am driven by that same ambition. And the funny thing about all of this is that I'm now coming full circle. And with the program that I'm building, I'm now doing that, but I'm doing it my own way, and I'm doing it directly. So there's this. There's this amazing circularity to the story now as I. As I lean into what I'm working on and just loving every minute of it. I mean, it's. It's really been wonderful.

So good. And I'd love to then. Now talk about the podcast. So we met through. Cause I was. We were talking about the expert panel for the book challenge. You were helping me with that. And then you mentioned you were starting a podcast. I mentioned I was doing a Do the thing, start a podcast challenge.

Yeah.

And then that's when we were able to. Basically, you had then after That I think we, it was right after we set up your podcast, that's when you came up with this idea for your own. You did this yourself. 30 day video challenge. So I kind of just want to. Oh my gosh. A 90 day video challenge. So I'd love to just, I'd love to just talk about that because what got you from the point to you starting the podcast, us talking, then you saying you're going to do a 90 day video challenge, and just even getting something like that started. And for people listening, Brandon has immediately said he doesn't like being on video. This is all new for him. So this is not something that he was used to doing. It's all literally starting now.

Yeah, so it is. It's actually pretty simple. So I. The way I quit alcohol, I just, I decided I'm the person that doesn't drink anymore. I don't drink. That's me. That's who I am. I'm the person that produces a video every day. That's me. That's who I am. That's the mindset that I utilize. And I also, one of my tricks, and I think I said this in your community, is I will place the consequence of not doing it. I will create this scenario that is very, very horrible. And I said, and I told my wife this and she thinks I'm a lunatic. Which there might be some truth to it, but I was like, look, if I don't make a video, produce some kind of content every single day, I want you to divorce me. And I love my wife is like my world, right? She's been with me through this whole thing. So anyway, I create this really, really negative scenario. I place it next to this thing that I have to do that I feel is a little bit painful. And then you're like, okay, that or this, I can do this. This isn't that bad if it avoids that. And then in addition with reinforcing it with yourself, that this is what I do. This is who I am. I am a contact creature creator. Now. I've been doing this 14 days, so I don't know if that's official. Can I be a content creator in 14 days? I don't know. I'm counting it, Right? So that's how I do it. I just decide I am the person that does X.

What got you to make that decision? Because pretty much it was right after we set up the podcast. And then all of a sudden you sent me the email with your first video. So what, what got that decision to come on?

I Have been hiding behind the keyboard for too long. I write a lot. I'm on my second book. I write every morning. So there's a lot that doesn't even get published. And I'm working on getting all this stuff out there. Actually, my. In my member group now, it's super cool. They get my morning musings. So every morning I send out something, you know, motivational, something from history that I've learned, and I get like a little blurb to kind of fire them up for the. For the day. So I'm. I'm finding ways to get out from behind the keyboard. And to me, this was like, okay, what's the scariest thing that I can do? And it's getting on camera and talking and sharing my story. And so when I do things, I tend to just go all in. Like, I'm just going to go for the hardest thing because I just. I don't know, naivety, ignorance. I don't know what drives it. I just do it. I'm just like. I'm just over the hardest possible thing. Getting on camera was that thing.

And so when you did the first episode, when you did your first recording, what was that day like for you? How did you sit down to actually do it? And did you do more than one take or was it all just one thing?

I did one take. Most of my videos, actually, all my videos are one take. I let them fly. I mean, I haven't had them edited yet, but I don't even know if I will. So.

Yeah, they're so good. You don't have to.

It's.

They're really good.

I just let it fly. The first day was. Was anxious. I was anxious to do it. But again, well, feel a little anxious or divorce my wife, right? Yeah, I'll feel a little anxious.

Yeah. It's interesting. I. I remember seeing that video and what came to my mind with that negative consequence was. I don't know if you've heard, I can't remember what the app is, so I won't give them a shout out right now. But there's some app that. I think it's losing weight or something. If you don't lose the weight or you don't meet your goal, then you're going to owe some charity that you don't like a bunch of money. And so it reminded me of that.

Yeah, it's similar. It's the same logic exactly. For me, that wouldn't motivate me enough, truthfully, to, you know, donate money to the, let's say the political party I. I don't agree with that would motivate me. Losing my wife. Oh, my God, I'll do anything. What do I have to do? Name it. Right? So, yeah, you have to come up with. For some people, you might have to come up with that extreme of a situation and really convince yourself of it. And it's reefer. I did it in print. And two, it worked a lot. It works, I promise.

Yeah. And actually, I think the thing that's cool about that is you know yourself and what works for you. And while something else might work for someone different, that's great. Know what it is, though. Know what that motivator is for you. And actually, why don't you share the prison one? Because that was the push ups, right? Is that what you're referring to? Because I love that.

So there. Yeah, there are. There are two examples. So it was. The first one was burpees. So for. Everybody knows what a burpee is, right? So they're hard. Everybody's like, you're crazy. Why do you do bur. I. So I'll go to the gym now and I'll be doing burpees all over the gym. And they're like, why do you do smoothie burpees? I love. But I hated them when I first started. They were my least favorite workout and I always avoided them at all costs. And then one day I just was like, I've decided that I'm someone who loves burpees. I just love burpees now. And so what I would do after every workout and working out in prison, it's like a big thing. It's all you do. And I would reward myself. Reward myself. Notice the language shift with 25 burpees. After I finished my workout, that was what I got as a treat. My dessert, as I called it, for completing my workout. Right? So people like, you're just. You're a lunatic. But I love it. Like, I look forward to finishing my workout now and cranking out my 25 burpees because that's my reward. And it's amazing how your mind works at first. You are definitely playing a game, right? There's no question you're straight up lying to yourself. But after a while. And the other trick is I would smile while I would do them. Try not liking something while you smile. And it will, I swear, if you do it, do it enough consistently, it will. It will completely switch your. Your mindset. I did that. And then also the track or the. The rec yard. So I was in a low Security facility. So a higher security than where white collar guys usually go, that's another story. So that's. That beats double razor wire fence. The full thing. And what I would tell myself when I would be, when we would eventually get outside was, I'm not stuck in a prison. I'm not stuck behind this razor wire fence. I'm just on a beautiful walk in the countryside. Right. And so you look on the other side of the fence and there's deer walking around. There's these beautiful green trees. It's like a really nice part of Connecticut. So you've got rolling hills. And so all I did was I just concentrated on the beauty that was around me and was like, wow, I'm really grateful to be outside enjoying this moment. Right. Because I was stuck inside for literally months. And so it's all about tricking yourself into seeing things in a way that is positive and beneficial to you.

Yeah. The timing of you saying this is really interesting because I'm in the middle or just about to start to plan the do the thing, get fit challenge. And I'm wondering if you have thoughts on Adair for that, because I feel like there's a lot in what you just said that could maybe help people move towards getting fit.

Yeah, I mean, the. The foundation of my program is. Is getting fit. Right. Physically and mentally. That's. That's never been. The only real opposition I had was to burpees. I was never opposed to getting fit. I decided actually before I went away that I wanted to get fit. So I. When I went In, I was 186 pounds, which is the most I'd ever weighed. I'm not very tall. And so when. And when I came out, I was about 152. Wow. Something like that. Right. So I lost a lot of weight. I was actually too skinny because you're underfed. And, you know, I'm probably 165 now, but absolutely chiseled in every way. And I'm proud of that because I've worked for now years to get to that point. So how do you motivate people to get fit? Well, so Ed Mylett has a good one. For anybody who doesn't know Ed Bylette, look him up. But what he says to himself is that if I don't go to the. Ed is a wildly successful guy. He says if I don't go to the gym, he imagines his daughter walking down the aisle alone because he's dead, and that he's not able to be there for her and that he's that. I think there's an interview where he's like, I've literally made myself cry thinking about that. That's. That's reframing again. Right. He's actually wanting to learn this trip from. And so if you're thinking about the consequence of not working out, I mean the look it up like the science is as clear as day. It is extremely beneficial for your. Your longevity, your overall health, your quality of life. Not just lifespan, but health span. And then in addition, the mental benefits. I wake up at 4:55 every single day. I work all day until 4pm and I go to the gym for an hour and a half. I come back and I work until 9pm that's my schedule. That's what I do every single day. And I firmly believe that I have the energy, the confidence and the stamina to be able to do that because I work out every single day. So the, the benefits are just unreal. But if you have to use a negative reframe, use it. Yeah.

I would love to also have you share with people how it was for you because I know the videos are getting easier for you to do. So the first one was really painful and hard. And you can see, I think it was by video 4. I was like, oh my gosh. I was like, oh my gosh. This is insane how quick it happens for you to shift.

Yeah, it's. It's just like anything else. It's really scary at first. And I think people are more afraid of the unknown, so they're more afraid of what they. They have not yet experienced in getting in front of a camera and putting content out there. And so you just have to do it. The shift. The shift is funny because I started around that time, maybe day four or five. I noticed myself, I was driving home from my workout and I was like, I want to go make a video. I noticed that. I want to get on video.

If you're looking forward to it now.

Correct. It was something that I actually enjoyed and I'm now more organized about it. So there's a learning curve to everything in life, right? You're not going to be good at it. Go watch my first video. I'll post it up. I'll eventually get it on YouTube. I'm working on it, but like, it's terrible, but that's okay, right? You're gonna suck, right? Like, would you make fun of a child learning how to walk? No, you wouldn't, right? You're learning how to walk. It's okay to suck. But like, you Said the suck only takes maybe a couple weeks. You start to get good at it now, figuring out the equipment stuff. You figured out the equipment stuff. I can see you're all set up. So you just have to begin to. So lean into it. Say, I'm going to suck for a little bit, but I'm going to keep doing it and I'm going to get better. Because you, you will, I guarantee. You better guarantee it.

So for people that maybe are about to start the Start a Podcast challenge, it does start April 17th. What advice do you have for them on kind of being comfortable around the suck and being able to just be patient with yourself and then also the clarity that you're getting through doing these videos.

Yeah. So the podcast thing, practice. So what I would do for mine, I do these really. I try to hype people up in my introduction. It's like, I don't know, I don't know why I do it. I just find. I find it fun and it gives me the opportunity to do a lot of research on my guest. And I believe that that is just a demonstration of respect that they're giving me time. I need to do my research and learn about them. And so I do this really long built up introduction. It takes me days to prepare for it. And what I did before my first ones is I would write it out, I would script it, and then I would just practice, practice, practice, practice. I would go through my questions, I would film myself going through my questions. I didn't share that with anybody, but that was my way of being prepared. And what I've found in life, in my lessons, in my personal life and my professional life especially, preparation is the key to victory. Just prepare. Do it ahead of time. Do it at night when you're by yourself and just practice, practice, practice. And before you know it, you'll have more confidence. You'll feel comfortable going into that situation because now you've done it 10 times, even though it wasn't game time yet. You've practiced, you feel prepared. That's a trick that I use all the time.

And what would you like to share with people in terms of the clarity you've been getting from being able to both do the podcast with the interviews you're doing, then also with the videos that you're. That you're doing daily.

So the clarity is really.

It'S about acknowledging who you really are.

Accepting that and leaning into it. And I think on camera, it's easy to have a certain filter. I. I'm filtering so many f bombs right now, you have no idea. Like there, you're always going to have a filter. But I think to the extent that you can be authentic and just lean into it, it allows you to feel.

Free. I guess you feel like you're being yourself, and that's a very good thing. And I think it's a reinforcing behavior, a positive reinforcing behavior. And I think also, as you verbalize, whether it's your story or topic you're talking about, it's different to write. It's another thing to speak. Right. And so, like in my writing, when I want to edit it, I read it out loud because I can tell the difference. And so when you speak something out loud, you are forced, I think, to articulate it better. You are forced out more. More cogent thoughts. And so that's that. There's a lot of clarity that just comes through the act of speaking it.

And you mentioned earlier, I actually, I wrote down my version of what you said, so I can't remember exactly what you said, but I had this happen with me where once I started doing the podcast and I started speaking things out loud, all these dots connected in my life and I started to see the. The circle. And I think that might be what. The way you worded it, I'd love to hear. Is that. Is it by you speaking things out loud? Is that how you're starting to see this thing all your life, things starting to connect together?

Yeah, definitely. I'm. I'm leaning into it and I'm. I'm moving towards this. It's the. I call it the universal pole in my video. And it's like I'm just fearlessly moving into it. And I think that because I'm doing that, that.

There, I'm noticing I'm connecting more dots in my life. Right. So there are things that I'm noticing about myself, things that I could be working on that I am working on that will bring me greater fulfillment. And so, yeah, so it's. It's definitely been called, like a cathartic process in many ways. Yeah, it's been great.

You mentioned bringing you more fulfillment. What have you noticed with that? Are there things that you're working on actively now to get there?

Yeah, so the one is my. It's my coaching program. And the funny thing about this coaching program is I've been doing this for free for a while, so. And they always say, what would you do for free? And I'm like, I've been doing this for free. I. I have a business coachee side of it. That's not free. That's been going very well. But I've coached a lot of people through deep struggles, some really difficult stuff. And people always come to me and ask me for help. I had an entrepreneur who came to me the other day crying, straight up crying, and what many would consider a very successful person. And so there are. These people are all over the place. There are many, many people like that. And I just believe that by leading into this and creating this actual program, that I'm going to be able to help change people's lives. And that. That drives me. I kind of don't care if it makes money or if it doesn't. And I think because I don't care that it will make a lot. Right. And that tends to be how things go when we overthink things and overanalyze and procrastinate, which perfectionism is just procrastination disguise. We end up holding ourselves back and not making the impact that we know we can.

And I'd love you to share more about your program. You mentioned it's going to be getting fit from the outside and the inside. So can you share a little bit more about what you're going to be doing?

Yeah. So it's about helping people to take control of their journey. And I think my original target and my. My branding is, is the white collar savage, which is this Persona that I think sort of encapsulates me because I. I'm a white collar kind of business guy, but I'm also very into health and fitness. And if you've seen my workouts or anything like that, you would see that they're pretty crazy. And so I sort of combined these Personas. And I was in many times in my days in private equity, I was called a bulldog. That was my nickname. Right. I'm just. I will run through walls to get things done, and I will run through walls for the people I care about. No questions. Right. I will. I will do it. I will find a way. And so this white collar savage brand encapsulates that, but really it's about helping people take control of their journey through structure. Right. And I think that I look back in my life and I realize I didn't have the structure. That's why I was overweight. That's why I was out of shape. That's why my mind was a. Was a complete mess. My life was misaligned. And so I look back at all those things, and I realize I didn't have that foundation. And so it really is There are seven pillars, right? So we've got the first one, which is building a rock solid ironclad mindset, and that comes through discipline. The second one is mentorship, right? And so now we're building a community of people who are all moving in the same direction, trying to take control of their journey, crush that negative self talk, and eventually kind of go off and achieve what it is they want, become the person that they admire most. Then the third one is obviously getting healthy. And the way I have it written out is get healthy, get ripped, and look good naked, right? The idea is you want to have a little bit of swag, right? You want to have that confidence in your life, that cool, like, you know what? I feel good, I look good, I can walk into a room and I feel comfortable. We all want that. Let's be honest, right? Just tell it how it is. The other one is the fourth color is be congruent, right? And so I learned this from my mentor who I paid a tremendous amount of money to help me kind of get through what I needed to. Well worth it. And it basically is I'll never ask somebody to do something that I'm not doing myself, right? So I will. I walk the walk and I try to leave from the front. Number five is living in the service of others, right? And so that's a. That's a firm commitment to try to help save and improve the lives of other people around me. Number six is finding meaning and purpose equals wealth, right? So what we were just talking about leading into this program, I'm confident that I will create something beautiful because my heart is in it and I'm being pulled in this direction. I know that this is where I'm supposed to go. And so helping people figure out exactly what that is, but do it with having the right foundation already in place. And then the final one, and I'll shut up, is kind of a commitment to the lifestyle, right? So like I think we all have, there's an issue with short term gratification, right? And if we can delay gratification, if we can evaluate our life based on who we are, months, years, decades from now, I think that's where you eventually see true success. I think so many people invest in something and they'll do it for a month or two months or whatever, and then they don't find success. They haven't paid their dues, right? You've got to pay your dues. You've got to look in periods of years and months and then look back and evaluate. So that's really the program and that's what we're building.

Yeah. There's so much that I love about that and I wanted to point something out for the listeners that you said that was important, where you're saying that you're not doing it for the money, but the money's going to come. The thing about that that's really cool is your decisions aren't being made because something's making money. You're making decisions because it's something you want to do from your heart and from where you're at. And that's why it's going to be successful because you're not making decisions. Oh, this is gonna make a ton of money. No, it's coming from things that you actually really want to do inside of you and the contribution that you want to make which is then going to ultimately give you fulfillment in life.

And I know it works because I've used it on myself. If that's my. I just read my blueprint for me, that's all I did. Right. So. Yeah.

So coin works.

Yeah. I've helped others get through things like this as well using the exact same formula.

Are you gonna visit men, women? Are you. Who are you looking for in terms of people that are gonna go in your program?

So some people who can deal with true accountability and honesty. So I tell people, I will say things to you that your mother would never consider saying to you. Right. There is a brutal honesty that is required when you're trying to make a shift in your life.

Yeah.

And I don't care if you're a man or woman. I don't care if you're, if you're trying to be the best version of you, to be the person that your, your husband or your wife admires, that your kids truly look up to, that the people in your company revere. If you want to be that person, you have to have somebody who's coaching you through that and they have to be able to call you out blind spots. So my program is geared towards the high achiever who's trying to overcome challenge in life. But I just signed our first client and it's a young entrepreneur, 22 year old kid, and he's really just looking for how do I, how do I elevate, how do I level up? He's been in business now since he was a teenager and he wants to do better. He wants to play in the big leagues. And so he understands that he needs this foundation if he's going to play at that level.

Yeah. And I think that's what's so powerful is you know it from such a deep level, from all the. All of your lived experience, right. From going from. And I don't know if you're comfortable with me saying this, but it's like you have. Because I think that's what I call like golden handcuffs for a while, right, where you're kind of feeding on the success train. Then you got the real handcuffs, then you got out. And what are the new handcuffs? What is that? It's just the release of it all.

I went from golden handcuffs to real handcuffs. You know that. That actually is pretty good. I might get a little that from you.

But now we need to think of what the new thing is. So you're from golden to real to what to. To blowing up the camp. Now I've blown up the handcuffs.

We'll come up with something.

Okay. Yeah, no, there's something there for sure. Because I think it's true. So many. I mean, I've seen it. I'm with my network and there's so many people that are surrounding me that I've seen so unhappy, exhausted, depleted from just the high achiever mindset. And to now have the combination of both of true meaning, true purpose, true fulfillment, and also knowing, okay, that's not the cherry. The cherry is being who I am inside and then everything else then can come from there. So. Well, Brandon, I am so excited to know you. I feel honored and privileged to be a part of your journey and I'm just cannot wait to see what is in store for not only you, but for the people that you're able to impact.

Yeah, thank you. I'm. I'm very excited. I'm glad that we're documenting this journey together. You've been like, I don't know, my accountant. I've assigned you as my accountability partner throughout this whole thing. So I'm glad that we're doing this. It's awesome. Thank you.

And what would be your one piece of advice for the people listening on doing the thing and feel free to do different advice than you did the first time.

Let's do the thing.

Do the thing.

That's my advice and that's how I communicated my coaching program.

So great. I love it. And for the listeners, do the thing. Don't wait for opportunity, create it.