Episode 161 - Brian Cook Went From Post-Dated Check To Successful Franchisee

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. Today's guest has a highly inspirational story. Brian Cook is a serial entrepreneur. He's passionate about fitness, and he worked his way up from personal training to training other entrepreneurs on how to run businesses. One of his companies, StretchMed, has 25 franchises, and he foresees doubling that number in the next year. It's no secret that Brian enjoys helping others increase their mobility, improve longevity, and achieve their best lives. But he also prioritizes himself by living with intention. He embodies do the Thing in all aspects of his life, and I know you will gain so much from his knowledge and words of wisdom. I am so excited to welcome Brian to the show. Hey, Brian.

Hey, Stacy. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, I'm so excited to have you here because we haven't really had an opportunity yet to talk, and it's exciting to be able to get to know you.

Awesome. Same.

I'd love to hear about you and your story about how you do the thing.

Okay, yeah, great question. So I'm 52 and I've been. I started my journey as a, as a personal trainer at 20 years old. So I'm really a fitness entrepreneur and, and stretchmed, which is my current company, it's my fourth company in 28 years. And in those 20 years, I'm nearing about 200 locations open across four different boutique fitness brands. So. And then franchising is my real passion. So using franchising as a pathway to wealth creation. I started as a personal trainer in a gym. So humble beginnings. And then I went from being a personal trainer in a gym to opening up a brick and mortar one on one studio way back in 1995, before it was even a thing. Did that for a handful of years. Went to three locations, but had to close one and saw one. So I had my first over expansion. And then at that time I was 25 or 26 at the time. I think I was making a hundred thousand a year what I was doing and thought, geez, let me look at franchising this, this personal training model. And in the process of franchising it, discovered another company that was already doing it and then decided to join them. Bought the rights to Massachusetts for this one one training company and then became a franchisee. So it was kind of my first step into franchising. But I also bought the rights to Massachusetts as an area representative and then shared franchise fees and royalties with the founder, with the owner of this company. And then that was my kind of first Taste of being a franchisee and kind of a mini franchisor. Sold 60 franchises, got 40 open, and then sold it for 1.2 million. I got on board with 10,000 and got off the bus with 1.2 and then started my own franchise. We grew that group fitness model from one location to 100 locations in five years. Went through a disruption because obviously fitness got pretty saturated. Then Covid hit. So we're still, we're about to relaunch that brand in the next couple months, which is exciting, but it with grinding stretchmed super exciting is 2015. Way back, a family friend took me out for coffee, asked me for coffee to get my advice on stretching industry. And I never heard of it. I was like, wow, I've never heard of this. This is cool. I said, I'm sure if you open it in a great territory, you'll do, you'll do fine. So then 2017, 18 came around. I saw it started stretch zones, stretch labs starting to pop up and emerge. Thought back for a minute. I was like, wait a second. I used to stretch one of the partners of the Red Sox. I used to stretch them and train them. And this is in our wheelhouse. My director of friendship support also was a degree in exercise physiologist like myself. So we're very much fitness people. So I'm like, I think we're going to be getting into the stretching business and just decided to, you know, really dissect the industry. Flew around the country, went to about seven different competitors. And then we spent nine months developing the stretch. Just the stretch and the various protocols that we deliver. Built the first stretchmed model, color scheme, you know, the trademark, the name, the logo, had a hundred names to whittle down to stretchmed. So it's, it's super cool. And then we opened the first one. It did really, really well. Three months went by, then Covid hit boom. But we had sold three franchises. So to start a company just before COVID we grinded through and then in 2022 we went from seven locations to 25. So we had a good growth and we feel this year we're going to go from probably 25 to 50. That's where I am today. So super exciting.

Yeah. So do you mind kind of for the listeners that are new to the stretching market, just explaining what it, what you do?

Yeah, great question. So stretchmed is a one on one stretching studio franchise model. So someone would come in, we have four tables and we have, you know, we essentially take athletic trainers, personal trainers, exercise physiologists, we teach them our stretching protocols and then they would just take you through a one on one stretching routine on a table. So instead of a massage, someone's going to put you through 36 different stretches head to toe in 50 minutes. So the, the purpose is to eliminate chronic pain, increase mobility, rejuvenate and help you move.

Well, I think it's so amazing. I've gone to a few fitness camps in the past where you go for a week and you get to do a bunch of exercises. And there's always women that are there, that are. And when I see them there, I get really excited because they're doing the thing, they're being active, they're hiking, they're biking. And I always ask them the question. This is even before I had my podcast. I probably ask more questions now, but I'm like, what keeps you able to do all these things? And they said mobility. They said they have a daily stretching routine. So there's something really powerful about the work you're doing because you're helping make it easier for people to be able to live that life as they age.

Yeah. And if you think about, if you think about the aging process simply is our bodies were designed to sit in chairs, sit in cars, and be sedentary all day. The minute our range of motions decrease, all of the musculature is atrophies. So, so we just, we lose lean body mass, we lose range of motion. You see older people, when they, when they go to turn, they just, they don't turn their neck, they just shift their body into the neck. You know, we have five stretches for the neck. So the first step in longevity is range of motion around every joint in your body. So we just, we work through every single joint in your, basically everything in your body, head to toe. And it, once you increase that motion, maintain it, then you can, then when you train, play, hike, play sports, you're going to have this increased range of motion. Then you'll keep it.

Okay. I can't wait to hear your answer to this question. What would you say to someone that says they don't have time to stretch?

Wow. So then you have time to age, you don't have time to stretch, you have time to age, so you just gotta, you just gotta age faster. That's all. And I think it's a great point. It's a great reality. I think we, we all have to relook at our priorities and what's important to us. But self care has to be first and foremost because to me, it leads to mental health, it leads to mindset. And what severs all of us is just really what's between our ears. And that's, that's really the biggest thing. And not thinking carry salt was going to really weigh on your, your ability to succeed and be confident.

Yeah. It's so funny when you were first coming on, I'm really excited to talk to you about how you grew stretchmed to where it's at and I'm excited to hear that journey. But I feel like I want to stay here more because there's something so important about this work that you're doing. And also just being able to kind of what we were almost talking about before we started hitting record is living life with intention and really being able to, like you said, notice what your priorities are and not just immediately blocking it by saying I don't have time to do that. Whether it's stretching or doing something else.

Yeah. One concept that is pretty rooted in me for many, many years now. I learned it from this guy. His name is Dan Sullivan and his company is Strategic Coach. He coaches entrepreneurs. He's 78. He's the smartest guy on the panel. He's. He's got a fitness level probably of a 30 year old. And he calls it so all progress happens this way. It calls his four C's formula. And the, the first step, the way I explain it a little bit more detail, is that we all have a comfort zone. No matter what, we all have a comfort zone. And a commitment is only a commitment if it's outside your comfort zone. So that's the first C. The second C is courage. And that's the uncomfortableness we feel when we realize what we just did, we made a commitment outside of our comfort zone. And what happens next is either we retreat back to our comfort zone or if we push through courage. The third C is capability. We develop a new capability that we didn't have which leads to increasing confidence. And then now you have a new comfort zone. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. And that's how over 20 years you just, you just, you operate differently. And for me, one on one trainer, you know, my personal four Cs was I was a one on one trainer. Very good one on one. Then I had, I remember I had to teach franchise. So I was great under someone else's franchise because I never had a huge franchise school. And then once I had started my own franchise, I remember my first franchise school. I had like seven people and I was like, oh wow. I have to actually it's a Groove. Wow. So then I got through that and then, and then I'm coaching a workshop of 40 people. I was like, oh, wow. Then I have an annual convention of 150 people. So none of it was comfortable for me, but I had to keep foreseeing all the steps of the way. So that's one concept that I absolutely love. And when I talk to my kids, is this a four Cs moment or is it something we have to really look at? And it helps you realize that if you're comfortable, you're not going to grow. It's that simple. So that's, that's a big one I love.

Yeah. And it's making me think I was talking to you a little bit about my community before we started. And what I do is I give them a dare. And that's the way it's like a really simple one day, one one a day dare. And so by them being able to do the dare, they're then, first of all, they have the lens of a dare, which, that gives you more courage right then and there. But that's where you're building that confidence to be able to do other things. So I have some people that joined my challenge to date, and now they're starting a podcast and they're like, I just came to date. Now I'm starting a podcast. What is going on? And I think it really speaks to what you're talking about and how, why it works so well because you're building that muscle in yourself to be able to continue to stretch and grow.

Yeah, that's, that's awesome.

I'd love to hear too, because it sounds like from when you were telling that story of having to do the convention and these other things, when you attack something new, do you have a step by step plan that you're figuring out ahead of time or are you sort of doing it as you go?

Yeah, great question. So there's another really incredible tool I learned from koj, and it's called the Colby A Index, K, O, L, B, E A Index, and the Kathy Colby. Her dad created the IQ test, so she created this, this Colby A Index. And it basically, we all have four numbers. And it's amazing because it's, it's, it explains why we do what we do. So four numbers. The first one's fact finder, second one is follow through. Third one's quick start. Fourth one's implementer. So fact finder. And everyone's a one to a ten. That's a range. And I'm a seven, four Six, three. So I'm a seven Fact finder. I'm a four follow through. So factfinder is my need for detail and information when before I make a decision. And each of the numbers is how much energy you have to apply in these given tasks. So the second one is fall through, which is how you approach your work. High Fall through. You can approach it systematically. I'm a four, so I have to use things to help me make up for the four folders. So I use Framework, Daily Plan and Morning routine without the IBMs. The third number, quick start 1 to 10. That's how much energy you have to take risks and do something that's not proven. Where someone at one Quick Start, they're like, oh, can we just keep doing it this way? Someone who's at 8, they're like, let's keep trying new things. Fourth one, implementer. That's the energy to work with your hands. The person that can't wait to build an IKEA desk. And everyone else was like, oh, so we did this years ago with my team and we had been together for many years. So then we did the Colby. It was just spot on. And when two people are off by more than three units in any one of those columns, there's potential for conflict because of the communication styles. And even cooler is when you do it in a relationship, because then it's like, I did this with. With a girl I was with, you know, years ago, and it was like, Ally, it may seem like Brian's interrogating you, but it's just his need for information. And I was like, brian, it may seem like Ally's aloof, but it's because she can process faster. So just a fabulous tool to understand how we're all wired and how we approach things. And so for me, it's all Framework. So when I do something, I have to kind of take it through a process that I've developed over years and I kind of understand it. And, you know, the four C's is actually a formula, literally where you write stuff down and decide, is it really worth me doing this?

Yeah, that's so good, because you're really tapped into yourself and how you're able to move, think, act, and it really helps you. I mean, that's probably what helps you do the things so much, is by you knowing yourself, and then you're getting aligned and more congruent into what you're really wanting too.

Yeah, totally.

Well, I'd love to talk to you about stretchmed, because when people hear that you've Built something and it's got 25 locations. That's so intimidating. Right. In terms of like I could never do that. But when I think about how you're. When you were younger and you talked about how you started being a personal trainer and then you got that first location, do you remember back into what that was like for you? What got you to actually do that?

Yeah, great question. So if I take myself back, I was working at a gym, loving what I was doing with my clients. I always say it was like she was like, cheers. Like everyone loved each other. It was fun. And I couldn't believe I was being paid to teach people how to work out in this beautiful health and swim club. It was amazing. And then start personal training coming in, charging $60 an hour for doing the same thing I was doing as a fitness instructor. So, you know, got certified, built up a clientele fairly quick. And then a company bought the gym that I had worked in and everything was changing. So I was like, ah. So that was my opportunity to say let me, let me look at opening a studio. And then just, just opened up a kind of a shoestring little one on one studio in Brighton, Massachusetts with maybe $3,500 in cash loan from my dad. Post dated checks which most people that probably listen podcast don't know what a post dated check is. And my dad got me some credit from his work. So just, just all in situation. And then from that went to second and third locations, blew up as I mentioned. And then I got into the, the other fitness franchise that I was a developer for. When it was time to start my own franchise, I had a, a consultant I work with who became a friend of mine, really great person in my life. And I remember asking him, I said Glenn, am I kidding myself? I. I can open my own branch eyes. I literally said that. And he saw me dead in his, sent me dead in my tracks and said, you know Brian, you've got this, this, this, this, this. And he just gave me that check. So I think, I think just having a peer group that is going to just build your confidence. And coach has a coach has a term that he uses all the time. That's amazing. Always protect your confidence, even if you have to change the rules of the game. And that's life. I think in our lives, if there's anything that's affecting our confidence, we have to immediately change our cause. We don't. We're gonna erode. It's gonna, just gonna take us off our. That's a root. Could be a Relationship could be work, could be a boss. And it's gonna, it's gonna take you down. So you gotta, you gotta fix that quick.

Yeah. I'd love to explore this idea that you were talking about with talking to your friend.

So the story in him, which is amazing and sound at the same time. So I'll tell you what happens. So here's a guy that came into my very first person training studio when I was 23 years old. I'll never forget it. He wrote on his registration form, I want to live to live to a hundred. And I'd never seen anyone that kind of thinking.

I love that. That's like exactly what you want to be is what he's saying. It's not I want to lose 10 pounds or get fit. It's like, I want to live to a hundred.

Yup. And his wife bought him the gift certificate. We kind of got going. He was a professor at Babson Business School, which I later went to. So because of him. So we just really hit it off and we would barter training for consulting. So he would challenge my assumptions and we just, we just hit it off. And then he gave me those couple extra pushes then. And then I went to Babson because of him, you know, got my mba. And what was tragic is then he became a franchisee of mine. He bought a couple of my group fitness locations and it was awesome. He was growing. And then he had this low grade leukemia and I'll never forget it. And then his wife, I had a call on Friday with him because it was a buildup going on and he, his wife was on the call and he was in the background, just said, I had a cold or I didn't feel well. And then she literally called me on Saturday and said, glenn's in the hospital. They don't think he's going to make it. And we just, like, we just talked yesterday and then I went out on Sunday and he didn't make it. So just, you know, 55 years old or 52 years old. Just got married like a year before and it was just, just a real tough thing. So I think those experience, but he just had such impact. I always look at the people on one hand who had the biggest impact in your life and typically they were interested, not interesting, and he was someone interested in you and someone who you pick up and want to call. So, yeah, so I just want to be like, I always think of these role models I've had growing up and I want to be them to the people in my life.

Yeah. It's amazing when you have someone as a model for how you want to live, and then to be able to see someone living this remarkable life and impacting in the way that he did and then also then seeing what happened, it just definitely connects you more to what means the most.

Yeah. His whole thing which is so amazing is being present with you. He was with you. He wasn't kind of here with, you know, ten things going on. Like, oh, like, oh, hold on. Those people that are talking and then, like, then they picked up. It's like he was. He was fantastic. I was lucky. I was lucky to have him in my life. And me. And me and many other people. And he was a great professor at Babson and he'll be. He'll be missed for sure.

So with that. That's such a. It's such a powerful way to be able to do the thing, right, is to be able to connect with people that want the same thing as you and are going for the same thing. That's how you're able to expand yourself and like you said, with the franchises and be able to. To move even more. We have a piece of the do the thing formula. It's called my people, and that's what it is. It's just surrounding yourself with people that want the same thing as you, to give you the community and the connectedness that you need to do the things that you want. I'm also just curious because sometimes you can ask the wrong person for the, for advice, and then that is like, it's. You're not going to get that kind of advice, and it's normally going to then deter you from you being able to move forward. I was just curious if you've. If you have any advice for people on that, on being able to identify that.

Yeah, that's a. That's an awesome question. So I think the great thing about realizing where we're at, right, there's this. I think everyone needs a coach. Every single person needs some type of life coach, work coach, whatever you want to call it, they're kind of almost the same thing because everyone. Someone's where we want to be, but there's also someone that wants to be where we are. No matter where you're at, whatever level you. You might think, oh, no, I'm not. I'm not having that vote. But you are. Trust me, whatever level you're at, you could help a bazillion people get to your level. And that's the first thing. So to me, I would only take advice from People that are where I want to be and if you're not where I want to be, it's like in one ear or the other. And also if they're being paid for this advice, it's even less valuable if they're being paid for the decision I make, even less so. So really listen to people are in a position, they're where you want to be. And a lot of people just want to, you know, the expression is only at the top. People want to share, people want to help this gratification. And what's one thing about franchising? I love teaching people how to run businesses that don't require their time. So they create passive income. So then they can get on to doing the other amazing things in life that aren't work related. So it's really a widget. So then they can tap into their unique ability and what is the do the thing that they were meant to do. They were born to do this. They just had a time to focus on you because they're just reacting to life.

Yeah. And you're making me think a lot of times people will get paralyzed by that question. Right. Because it's so far from where they are. But you said it earlier where it's just about making these little steps and then as you make the steps and you're moving and you have the momentum, that's when it, it evolves. So the people that are paralyzed and can't move, it's hard for them to see how to get to that level. But that's why they have to just take the first step and an idea of what they want and then they're able to. To see what they want.

Yup, exactly. And for, for me, for, for those that are struggling, to me it's, it's all about the morning routine. If I didn't have morning routine, there's no, there's no stretch med, there's no, there's no nothing. Because if I don't have that two to four hour window before the world, before I even talk to the world or my work, that's the thinking work, that's the visionary work, that's the framework, that's what I want to be.

So to me it's get to bed at 9, get up at 5, get up before everyone else in your family gets up. And my family get up at 5, I get up at 3. Whatever time everyone else gets up, I'd have to be up two hours earlier so I could just do my thing and get started. So to me it's just get clear and then, you know, keep your, your day job, develop the side hustle, articulate that and then be on podcasts, get on every, be a learner, listen and then just start to mini experiment and then you'll keep pinging the market with what you love to do. And if you love to do it, you're going to, it's, it's not going to be working. The other thing I love to talk about is I have a buddy, he'd get a kick if he knew I talked about it if he'd get a kick out of it. But he longtime buddy of mine, stay at home, dad golfs five days a week, always trying to get me to go golfing. And many times I could go golfing, but I would rather work.

So I say if, but I couldn't tell him that because he'd think I'm nuts. So rather work than do a hobby you love. You're doing the right work and that's totally. So I love, love that work. And that's a barometer. And not that everyone can find that, but I think you can. I think you, you, you keep a hot, you keep something to pay the bills, but man, you gotta, you've got to do the do side hustles until you tap into your real passion. And then, and then as that passion starts generating revenue, then make the leap and just burn the bridge. Burn the bridge behind you and start a new life and you're all set.

What would you say to someone that's just paralyzed in terms of fear or perfection or insert whatever self doubt, whatever it is that's happening there.

So fear. So a couple things that have helped me over the years and the best thing I ever heard in my life was the acronym for fear False evidence appearing real. That whoever, whoever read to that, that is just sheer amazement. So what happens is we, we when we get fearful, it's because we start to project something that could happen but hasn't happened and then we get paralyzed. Right? So that's number one. And then number two is to take a minute and do a positive focus. So the other thing I really love that I learned through coach again. And this is what's so amazing about this program. I tell everyone if you're an entrepreneur, joint strategic coach, because it's just this entire, it's, it's all about your mind, training your mind. But so the positive focus concept is before we start a meeting, we do positive focus. You have to share one personal positive focus and one professional positive focus before a meeting. And what that does negativity and creativity can exist at the same time. So it allows you to kind of shake off anything that may have happened that morning or that night. So I would do a positive focus and then all of a sudden it's like I. It's like a reset. And the other big tool he has, which is just amazing, it's. He calls it the gap in the gain. And what most of us do is we measure from where we are today to where we want to be. So we do that, we're a failure. But if you measure from where you came from to where you are today, you're an amazing success. So he calls it, I go in the gap every day but for a second where before I'd be in the gap for months and years, then what happens? You put everyone else around you in the gap. So positive focus.

Understanding the acronym for fear and 4 cease and just start taking small steps and see the good in everyone. Just train your brain to another big one. I haven't watched the news since November 2008. I've not watched the news since November 2008. Because what was starting to happen, I used to always watch every morning, you know, cnbc, the whole thing for years. And then the whole financial meltdown. My company was early and emerging and it really was affecting my thinking. So I was like, I can't do this anymore. I shut it off and really got granular with my company and we started growing 100% a year. And if you think about the news and everything about the news, it's all about negativity because that's what gets ratings. And we're essentially wired to pay attention to that. So I don't get any news unless it's through people. So I won't hear about a plank. I don't hear about anything. If it gets to me, maybe it's something, I just don't do it. So I would say stop negativity, be sensitive to who around you is negative. Minimize that and get going. Because every day and tomorrow's a new day, you have a bad day, guess what? You get to start over tomorrow. And you're all set.

Yeah. And you're really making me think about that concept of when you're talking about training your brain and everything that you just said, it's that concept of what you focus on grows. I noticed this just even recently I started doing comedy and not really doing comedy, I'm just having fun with it. But I guess I'm doing it. I've done stand up shows, but anyway, it's been really fun. It was a way that I was stepping outside of my comfort zone and doing something that was my do the thing that was terrifying and it's been so much fun. But the thing that I really love about it is you're writing down the things that you find funny. And so the whole day I'm in this fun kind of state because I'm looking for the humor in the day. And there's something really cool about what you're saying too. It's just like when you're focusing on something, whether it's gratitude or something funny, it just changes your entire mindset.

Yeah. Yeah. 100%. And the, the book think and go rich, which to me is if you go evaluate every successful person, they've not read it once, they've read it five times and think, you grow rich. So he's got another book that's pretty cool. It's called Law of Success and it's like 600 pages. That was actually too much. So they, they simplified it to think of rich. But it's all about training your mind and thoughts or thinks through their assets or liabilities. Just your thinking may not even speak or talk. Show us what you're allowing into your head. So a coach, if there's a bank effort on think, he calls it thinking about your thinking. It begins there. So you wake up in the morning, have your coffee. What are you thinking about? Do you have to train what you're thinking about? Start. I always like to start by writing it down. So you start to condition you're thinking your thoughts. And you just don't let in the stuff that aren't going to be assets, they're going to be liabilities. And then you're good. And then you just keep expanding upon it.

I think you're doing even more than not letting it in because you're writing it out. So you're letting it out, so then it gets freed. I just finished. I did a do the thing, find your voice challenge. And the idea of that was to get their mind freed to. Because I did that. That's kind of before I started my podcast. I did these voice notes in my phone. Sometimes I do adventing voice note. Sometimes I would do just random stuff for the book that I'm writing. And it really helped clear out my mind. And I tested it in this challenge and it was a 17 day challenge where they recorded voice notes of different journal prompts. And so what it does is it, it lets it out so then you're not thinking negative thoughts anymore. You're freeing it in a way that helps you see what really matters to you.

Yeah. That's awesome. I think, I think also simply having no past.

It'S just that simple and big future.

Small past. Because if you have a big past and a small future, it's tough day, tired to get out of bed.

Yeah.

So no past. And it's like. And Coach has this really cool. He calls it a quick thinker. And if you could only take. So you want. If you want three things in the future, write down those three things you want. But now you can only take three things from the past and three things from the present. What are you going to take?

Memories of time I had with my grandfather. Time where I was. You're going to pick these amazing moments and then. And then the present and you're going to go after these three things you want in the future. So it's just that carrying that stuff forward and I have a core value, open house communication. Because I feel like everything, every part of my life, if not open and honest with people, I. It's just, it just harbors. It's called the unsaid. So I think it's just open house communication. Be authentic. Have relationships that are authentic. I don't like relationships that are just kind of like eh. It's just, it's. No one has time for that. So it's authentic. And when you give, you get. I love that too. So really, if we just all gave our wisdom to people, things will come back to you. But you've got to give to get.

I would love to hear your number one piece of advice for the listeners on doing the thing.

I would say that's a, That's a tough one for me. I'm just trying to think because I, I was. It's been so long. I've had my own company since I was 23. So it's just really hard to think not being in a situation where you could just control every part of your. Every part of your life. So I would say, I think four Cs. The first thing to do would be to articulate your. Your current situation. Four Cs. What's this commitment that you need to make? Because the current situation is not changing. And I always. I'm pretty brutal with some of my. I don't believe in Neutron. You're the growing or dying. But that's kind of my. Just my, my, my brutal honesty. So I really feel like limited days left in our lives. So it's like you, you get a. It's Gonna be awesome. So to me, it's just getting really clear with your current situation. Absolutely. Developing a morning routine. Because without that, I just don't. I think if you wake up, you get ready, you kind of roll in, you grab a coffee, then you're at the office at 9, you're busy all day, then you go home and then it's just a couple hours of tv. So it's like just stop watching TV and read. Leave TV for the weekend, but not during the week. That's where you get to do the mind work morning routine and just find what you love, find a hobby what you love. Figure out how to monetize it. Because if you can, if you can actually find something you love and make money, then it's like you're not working. And the cool thing about retirement, like I'll never not work because. And again, I'll mention Dan again because you can tell this guy's had a big influence on me. But his definition of retirement is doing none of what you hate at all of what you love.

So good.

So why would you not keep working if you love it? So to me, just start to do less of the work that you don't. Like build more time and do the thing. Go through the FEAR acronym. Get into a mastermind group that are going to. People are going to support you and they're going to articulate what's amazing about you. Because everyone has something amazing about them. Everybody. They just don't even around and bringing it out of them. And then just start taking those baby steps because comfort zone, just one little step is huge. You don't have to like go from here to like public speaking, like calling in a stage. That's ballsy. That is absolutely the. That's like the. The biggest thing ever. That's like 10x public speaking because you're trying to make people laugh. That's huge. I would have a hard time doing a comedy stick like you just did. So. So good for you. That's amazing.

Thanks. Yeah. And what you're speaking to. Yeah, it took a lot of little things to get to that point. I'd love to also hear what does do the thing mean to you now that we've talked and we've had this conversation, what, what do you think it represents?

I think do the thing is what I think, what's going to give you, what's going to build your confidence and what's going to give you meaning and what you love. That that's me. I would say, what do you think of that? I know for me, like if you ask me what should do the thing mine is I love to create companies from scratch and I love to, you know, my next company which I'm already excited about starting is it's going to be helping fitness entrepreneurs franchise their concepts so they can use franchising as a pathway wealth creation that eventually all entrepreneurs franchise in their concepts. Podcaster Because I really believe this process of helping other people get to a level you're at is just. It's phenomenal. So yeah, I love it.

Please share with everyone where they can follow along with you.

Yeah, so I'm not too present on social media yet. I mean it's. I was probably the last person on Facebook and I'm really not Facebook. I use it for. To run ads for the companies and occasionally. So really probably LinkedIn I'm starting to probably that's my first thing that I'll try to stay active on LinkedIn because it's more business stuff. And then distressmedstudios.com is our website. Those interested in that pursuing that. But yeah, I wish you and your listeners the best and I'm excited to follow you and listen to some of your podcasts and just this awesome stuff that you're doing for your listeners. It's awesome. Great job.

Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited to keep in touch. I have a few ideas for you being an expert on the expert panel for a few things I'll talk to you about. So thanks so much. It was wonderful getting a chance to talk to you and for the listeners. Do the thing, just do it.