Stan Way: Meet An Entrepreneur With A Passion For Personal Development Who Can Help You Banish Self-Doubt And Unlock Your Full Potential

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. All right, guys. Well, I met my next guest a year and a half ago at a capitalism.com event called Capcon. And I recently joined a group that he is one of the coaches of, and he's also the president of capitalism.com and so I've been able to work with him directly through the group. And it's been amazing the way that he's able to open people up, to be able to speak to the things that they want to do in their life and the businesses that they want to open and grow and scale. And I was also blown away with something he shared in the orientation call that really got me to see who he is on the inside, which, as you guys know, with do the Thing, that's really what I'm going after, is following your heart and your passion from what's true to you, not because someone says you should do it or because you think someone wants you to do it. It's coming from the deepest part of you. And I can just tell just from that initial call that that's where he's at and that's what he helps people do. So I'm so excited to welcome Stanway to the show. Hey, Stan.

Oh, hey, Stacey. Wow, what a glowing welcome. Could you be my alarm clock in the morning? That would be so good to thank you for that.

Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for all you do. It's got to feel so cool to just know how many people you are helping in this world.

I love what I've been able to do with business. It's been very unconventional life, but what is really cool is there are nights when me and my wife, when the kids go to bed, we'll just sit down, we'll start talking about someone and be like, that's really cool. That's really cool. We met someone like you, an event, and then we got to know them and their business changed, their life changed, and they moved to Thailand or Something crazy. And it is very cool. I love what I do and I love, I love your podcast. This is so cool. Doing the thing. I'm game for this.

Oh, good. I'm excited. I'd love to just start off and have you share about you and your story.

Well, you know, as my wife would say, I'm going to write an autobiography one day. It's called Short Story Long, the Stanway story, volume 17. I'll just start at volume 17. Really throw everyone off. But, I mean, I, I think like so many other people, I grew up in a situation that kind of left me with a chip on my shoulder, which is everyone. Everyone's like, I was special. There was something special and different about me, especially entrepreneurs and people on the online space. But I grew up in abject poverty in a small town in Utah with a single mother. My father was in prison, in and out of prison. I saw him when I was 4, and I wouldn't see him again until I saw him in his casket when I was 21 years old after he committed suicide. And that's kind of the. The culture, I guess I could say I grew up in. I had an amazing mother, but, you know, a mother who is addicted to drugs. A lot of people my age, you know, I'm 38, about to turn 39. I know a lot of people remember the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and remember watching them and having this moment of pride. And I remember them because, oh, it was a cool thing. But I also remember it because those were two weeks I didn't see my mom because she disappeared and not having food and all sorts of stuff. So that's the kind of life I grew up in. And when I was in high school, I ended up moving to Alabama, which is a funny story in and of itself, but like so many other people, was introverted, afraid of the world, everything else. And luckily for me, I had an amazing teacher. Her name's Pam Brown. She'll live in memoriam forever, rest her soul, who was my theater teacher. And she really helped me step out. And I got Full Ride scholarships, multiple Full Ride theater scholarships, because I was in theater. And I did a lot of singing and dancing back in the day. But it's really funny because theater didn't help me become an actor. That's not what I wanted to do. It helped me find my voice and find who I was. And so I dropped out of university three weeks in, served a Mormon mission for two years because in a former life, I was a Latter Day Saint church Leader and all sorts of stuff for over a dozen years. But yeah, that's a fun other part of my life. But built a couple businesses, had some fun corporate experiences, worked with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies as a director of marketing, corporate recruiter, a VP of sales and marketing, all sorts of different stuff. But had an agency that was a side hustle on the side the whole time. It was this multiple six figure year side hustle, which was pretty cool. So transition to that, gosh, eight and a half, almost nine years ago now when my son was born months prematurely. So, man, yeah, that's. That's it in a nutshell. But I love business. I love seeing business bring out the best in people.

I think the thing that's just so extraordinary about your story is that when someone meets you, they have no idea the things that you've walked through. But I think that's kind of how you're able to help people, right, Is because you've had this unbelievable lived experience that you've been able to get through and go to the other side. And so then when you're helping someone, you can tap into that side of them that you've had, and then that's where the connection point happens, which really helps them expand and grow into something that maybe they didn't know was possible.

I think everyone's had a life like mine, though, Stacy. I think, honestly, everyone is so unique and has these cool, amazing experiences, but it's processing it and coming to, like an actualization and then coming to peace and resolving that. I mean, everyone. Childhood trauma. Oh, I've got it. I'm an older millennial, so it's like, oh, trauma. Yeah, that's me. How many world crises can we live through? Oh, that's me. Inflation. Whoa. Was me. Well, it's learning how to process that and turning the lemonade into lemons or lemons into lemonade. Yeah, that's what it is. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's coming up for me right now because I just started that start a podcast challenge where I'm helping people start podcasts. So really, like 1200 people are starting podcasts right now this week. And I'm getting to see all the things coming up for them, you know, like imposter syndrome and coming through grief and really wanting to get their voice out and having it deep in their soul, but something's holding it back. And there's so many people that are, are letting it out, but then the others that I'm still trying to get to, to help them get there and it's getting people to own that part of their experience and the quirkiness of who we each are at our deepest levels. Anyway, I wasn't thinking I was going to go this way, but it feels right right now. But anyway, I was just kind of curious, as I say that what comes alive for you in terms of the people that are in this group and that are kind of trying to get through that bridging point of being able to find their voice and let it out?

Yeah. Well, let me ask if I can, what do you do to help facilitate people in your challenge to get through this imposter syndrome or this mental block they have? What processes are you currently working them through?

Yeah. So right now it's pretty much just I do Dare. So it's I dare you. And then they do exactly which. Those are the words that get them to do it. And then pretty much it's whatever it is. So tell us what your podcast will be about and then why did you choose the name? And then I'm really good about language, so if that's hard, it's like if you were going to have a podcast, what would it be about? So to open their mind up more and then they're just recording it on their phone. And yesterday I pretty much had told them that if you have lived experience, then you're an expert in that thing. You don't need a certification. You've walked through it already and hit the other side.

I think you're so true. That last thing you said is so important. If you have the lived experience, you're certified. Who's. Who's going to give you a further stamp than having survived it. So that's awesome. Yeah, I love that when, as you said, Dare the movie A Christmas Story came to mind when they're out at the frozen pole and he's like, I triple dog dare you. And they skipped a couple levels of etiquette there, but he went straight to the triple dog dare. So that. That's what came to mind. And it works. That is really cool for me. I. You and me, I feel like we've worked a lot with the same circles, a lot of business owners, everyone from the new entrepreneur to the seasoned investor and a couple of exits under their belt and everything. The difference between someone who's had an eight figure exit and the person who's still working the boring job that hates their life and wants to just build the business or even just be able to take their family on vacation. The only difference is getting through the mental blocks that's it. And so, as you've seen, so much of what I try to work with on people is just getting through those mental blocks. And I, for me, it's a cycle. I believe there's like this little circle. People's beliefs form their identity. And then people really buy into identities, especially here in the United States. Like, I'm a Republican, I'm a Democrat. Oh, you know, Trump, Biden, you know, like. Or all sorts of different things. Throw our bumper stickers in our car and we attack everyone else. But beliefs form identity, and people tie on to the identity, which forms thoughts, which then forms the feelings, and then the words and the actions. And the actions produce results, and it just reinforces the identity and the belief set. So for me, it's about helping someone anywhere in that cycle, anywhere in the circle, changing one of those. Because if you can change one of those, you change the course of the river. And so that's why I, like when Tony Robbins goes and works with Andre Agassi or Tiger woods or anything, one of the first things him or Trevor Moad, one of these really cool sports psychology people do, will ask these superstars, athletes best in their class, who's your superhero? Who's your number one superhero? And then they approach the golf tee or step up to the free throw line as that person. They are Superman, they are Batman. And it's a small little thing, but if you can change the identity for just a minute, you can change the thoughts and the feelings, the actions and the words and everything else. So it's finding somewhere in the cycle to disrupt the pattern so that people can get the different results. And it's different because everyone's brain psychology is different. You have to get in and find out what drives someone where in there is really affecting you.

Yeah. And just what's coming to my mind right now is I want to tell the listeners how you guys can now tell why Stan is doing what he's doing. Because the way that you're able to. To speak to that, it's really timely for people to be able to hear that message. Right. At any point, you can make a change in your life. I'd love to hear more about. I like the idea of the theater and how you said it wasn't so much to be an actor, it was the skills that you learned from being in theater and being able to find your voice. How did you help open that up? How did you go from being that introverted kid to be able to have that lens of this theater?

Yeah. Oh, I Don't know. I was bullied so much growing up. So I grew up as a Lutheran kid in Utah, which is a interesting dynamic in and of itself. Then I became a Mormon in time to move to Alabama so I could be the only person of my religious denomination, no matter where I was at. Because my joke is, I enjoy a good persecution complex, as does everyone. I was bullied a lot growing up. And so I kind of got into theater right the year before I moved to Alabama in my eighth grade year, middle school. And I realized everyone thought I was a weirdo. Everyone thought I was an outcast because people in the community, I think, knew my mother and my family and everything a little bit. So I always felt a little bit like an outsider. And I was like, well, if people think that way about me anyways, it's not going to hurt to get on a stage and do this one theater production. And that changed everything. And it was so funny because then when I moved to Alabama, once again, Pam Brown, the greatest woman who ever lived, my amazing theater teacher. I remember there was a moment in the audition because had to audition to be in this theater class. I was 14 years old, and she made me and my gentleman who became one of my best friends, Brian. She made us lay down on the floor and sizzle like bacon. And I remember being like, I'm 14 years old. I'm sitting in a professional's office, laying on the floor, making bacon noises. And I was like, the world is just full of stupid stuff, so just accept who you are. It was just a really pivotal moment for me. So I thought, oh, my God. I thought, oh, I'll go Broadway one day or one of these things. And I always believe in. It's a Hindu thing. Honor your teacher. I remember we went and saw Phantom of the Opera, Birmingham Broadway series, and we watched Phantom of the Opera, and it was amazing. And one of the guys who played an opera singer afterwards, he held a Q and A with these young high school students here in Birmingham, Alabama. And everyone's like, oh, how do we become actors and everything else? And I'll never forget this young girl who was stunningly beautiful and I knew from theater competitions, had a voice of gold. She said, how can I become Broadway's greatest actress ever? Or something. And Frederic Herringes, this guy who played the role, who anyone can go and Google and find him. Frederic Herringes said, you have to love your craft. And he told this story about living in Chicago after getting his degree in theater or anything. And he had no power, no heat, no Furniture, no bedding. And he was sleeping on the floor in this apartment in Chicago through the winter. But he was doing it so he could show up these play practices or theater practices or whatever it was. He said, young lady, if you love your craft that much, then you can be the biggest star in the world. But if you don't, then you never will be. And I just remember watching 80 high school kids, hopes and dreams be shattered right in front of them. But for me, it was one of those moments where I went, I don't care about acting that much. What do I care about? Care about? And I was like, well, I care about people. Which went really well into being a latter day saint. Miss Sharing everything. But it was one of those moments where I was like, what do I care about? And I care about people and I care about business. And you've probably heard me say this, Stacey, but I believe business and building a business is the greatest spiritual practice that will refine you, beat you down, get out the dross, and turn you into the best version of yourself if you follow through with it. So that's why I love business, money and everything that's cool, and vacations and business trips, all those things are fun. And the connections, everything's great. But, man, getting to be the best version of yourself, that's cool. So I'm not sure that's the answer you were looking for, but it is.

Yeah. And you're really speaking to something I talk about a lot on the podcast, which is really identifying your life assets, these things that you've done and experiences you've had in your life and skills that you've built and then being able to apply them laterally to other things. And I liked how you immediately talked about the theater as a way of building these life assets of things that you're able to now use in your everyday life. And then you transitioned into business and how when you can open a business, that's then you becoming the best version of yourself. Because you're going through all the ups and downs and the problems and the obstacles and you're overcoming and all these things that you're basically building confidence to be able to do whatever you want in life.

Yeah. Oh, totally. I was late in Mormon culture. I didn't have my first kid till I was 30, which, you know, is like, sinner. Should have happened many years earlier. But it was really funny because during those years I had, like, my own business. It was the side hustle that was doing really well. But I was also in management positions in corporate America, which is just the bane of my existence now. It was so funny because I always thought, man management is just like being a parent. You have to learn everyone's love language, how to reinforce them, how to help them feel good and give them like a compliment sandwich and implement the one minute manager kind of stuff. And, and I loved, I loved managing people and building teams and all sorts of stuff. And I was like, oh, I can't wait to be a dad. And now it's like the direct correlation between managing employees and managing loving my children. It's so much the same. The better you are at business, the better you can be as a mother, a father, a. A partner, just an overall citizen, because those communication styles, building people up, it's all the same. It's just skill sets that I don't think many people, especially in our culture and with our education system, get the opportunity to really expand on or refine. Yeah.

What do you think's the biggest thing that gets you to be able to help people in the way that you do?

Wow. What a great question, Stacy. I don't. I would call myself a deeply spiritual person. I wouldn't say deeply religious by any sense of the word, but deeply spiritual. And I think of the word agape a lot. Like love, like pure love, like charity. The King James version is charity, but it's really, it's that love of God. And whatever you identify God as, whether it's grand architect of the universe or just science or whatever it is, I think striving for that, it's called one of the gifts in the good Book. You know, it's called One of the gifts and it says strive after these gifts. And no matter what you identify as God or there may not be one, it's having that love for all people. And I think it's beating down our own ego and pride. We're all just living out these deep spiritual archetypes anyways. So we all come in here with this ego and who I think I am, but at the end of the day, no one cares. No one cares about you. No one cares about me. Ten minutes after this podcast, people are going to be more concerned about what Joe Rogan tweeted, you know, but it's. No one cares about us individually. People only care about what you can do for them. And at the end of the day, we're all gonna die anyways, so might as well have fun and just help other people. So that's not a business. There's no business principles there other than try to love people. And love them for who they are and where they're at. And forget faults and screw ups and quirks because we all have them.

Yeah.

So many.

Could we talk about Pam Brown for a minute?

Sure.

Okay, so the bacon exercise. So what else do you think that she did to help you? For you to say that she was the best teacher.

This was a woman who. Ms. Brown has passed away now. So I'm not worried about her tenure being messed up. When I tell a couple of these stories. Truly one of the greatest women who ever lived. I know when there were teenagers in my class had personal deep stuff going on at home with parents or abuse or something, Ms. Brown helped them out. I know I faced a couple of experiences where she was the house I drove to in the afternoons and I was like, I need just someone to talk to. So she was there, but also in the classroom. She taught honors English and she would take people through Macbeth and all sorts of different stuff. Amazing teacher, but she taught everyone right where they were at. And she cut out the bull crap. I remember her calling out some star football players. Football's everything. And the south, even in high school. And just I remember her being like, are you stupid? Do you honestly think that you're going to get to stay on the football team if you fail another test? But it was not actually calling people stupid. It was serving them where they're at. And I. My friend Brian, who I talked about a minute ago, I remember he was acting up once in class and she said, that's it, I'm done. I'm done with you. Roll on the floor. And everyone was like, what? And she said, I want you to spend the next 60 minutes because we had 93 or 96 minute block periods. And she said, I want you to roll on the floor from one end of the theater to the other. It's this tile floor, you know, it's probably 200, 250ft. She said, I just want you to roll and if you stop rolling, I'm going to get you with my Super Soaker. Because we had bought her a Super Soaker. She liked to shoot students with water guns. And I remember my friend Brian for like an hour because he would not stop acting up in class. He had to roll on the floor and it was painful. And his Birkenstocks kept falling off. And every time he stopped though, she shot him with a Super Soaker. And we're all just dying. Yeah, we're laughing just like that. But that's what Brian needed. Yeah, that's what he needed. And I. I respected her so much for that. And none of us, no one in that class, Brian included, would have ever gone to a school authority and been like, oh, how abusive. Now it's 20. What is it? Now it's 20, 23. If a teacher did that, they'd probably be excruciated on TikTok and have to hide from the paparazzi. But she served people where they needed to be served.

Yeah, yeah.

The question. Yeah, I haven't thought of that in so many years. But, yeah.

So this is screaming at me right now. My. I'm like, all chilled up because I literally see you do this with people. So just to give people context. So Stan is the president of capitalism.com and I just recently joined the incubator program with this company. And he's not only the president, but he's also one of the coaches in the program and one of the people in the group. We were. We meet weekly, and one of the people in the group was very in his head about publishing his YouTube videos. And then Stan actually showed Ryan Moran is the founder of capitalism and showed these videos of Ryan, who's now. I don't even know what does he have hundreds of thousands of views on his channel. And he's built.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Like, amazing following. And he's actually the reason why I'm even doing do the thing, I think, because helped me through his book and his words were the right thing at the right time when I was going through an identity thing after I exited my business. And so Stan was showing videos of his first three YouTube videos. Let's go here for a minute, because I feel like this is the water gun moment where you just showed someone exactly what they needed to see at the moment that they needed to see it.

Yeah. So this was. I mean, this was last week.

Yeah.

Wonderful gentleman named Darren who. And it's his TikTok video.

Oh, TikTok.

He shared. I've been in my head trying to figure out my TikTok, and that's my terrible impersonation of Darren. I'm so sorry, Darren. He's English, by the way. He doesn't have a speech impediment. But we've all been there. You've been there. Everyone gets there, creating content. Oh, it has to be perfect. So I said, okay, you joined this program. You've followed Ryan Daniel Moran. You've read the book. Bestselling author, amazing YouTuber. So I did. I live on the call. I went to ryan Daniel Moran's YouTube page. Then I clicked the videos tab and then we spent what, four or five minutes scrolling down, scrolling down, scrolling down. And the first video is like a, I can't remember, it's like a 42 second video of a double rainbow. You know 13 years ago, 13 years ago when someone auto tuned double rainbow or something like oh my God. And then his second video is the wor. I love you Ryan. Ryan, you're my brother. I love. But his second video is, it's called like famous Gut Buster chili. And it's this teeny, scrawny 20 some year old kid who's making fun of himself. The self deprecating jokes on. Looks like he's shooting this video on a potato. I mean it's the worst video quality ever. He's like, I'm vegan, I don't eat meat. So I'm making my famous Gut Buster chili. And it was so terrible we couldn't watch the whole thing even on that coaching call. But same thing I said at the beginning. The person who's had the eight figure exit, the person who's just being and dreaming people, they get through their mental blocks and they just publish, they just do it. They publish the podcast, they publish the video, they make the Instagram reel, they share the Facebook status, they talk to their loved ones about that next big thing and they know they're going to get hate like oh, you're vegan or oh, that's the worst video ever. Who cares? At least you did it.

Yeah, I thought that was so extraordinary because it showed that just by doing the thing right and by Ryan publishing those videos and he's hasn't deleted them, they're still there for everyone to see and I love that idea. And now he's this, I mean, a huge person in the space and had he not started with that video, he wouldn't be anywhere where he is now. And so for you to be able to meet Darren, where he was, I thought was really cool.

I think everyone's always got that next thing. You probably right now already subconsciously know the next big step to take in business, but you're afraid of it. And there's some sort of mental block there. Most people I ever interact with already know that thing that they probably should be doing and they're like, I'm afraid to say it out loud because then I have to do it. Well, there's always that thing for so many people and it's having the ability to communicate and talk to someone. I feel like so many entrepreneurs are so alone. That's why I Believe in coaching.

Yeah.

So much. And group coaching and accountability and mentorship, because the ability to get all that crap that's up in your head out to other people to hear. Oh, I'm not a crazy person. Yeah. I'm worried about how my voice sounds on microphones. Well, get over it. Everyone hates the sound of their voice. It's the worst. So no one cares.

So, yeah, yeah, it's great. And it reminds me of even when I first joined and I was in the group and I'm going to be real for a minute, and I told you, and if you remember this, but it was in the group with like 20 people and I said something about how I'm not charging for anything yet would do the thing. It's been just a hobby business for me. It's been not even a business. It's been a hobby. I've joined. I did the podcast and I was exploring other businesses. So do the thing was something I was doing for my book research. I'm having fun with it, and then I'm exploring all these other businesses on the side. And then all of a sudden I realized, oh, I can actually make this a business anyway. And that's when I joined the Incubator. And the first call, I'm telling you, I haven't charged anything. And then I don't even remember we were talking about my person. And I think I said, a lot of my people have done that thing where they do everything for everyone else. And then you looked at me and you were like, do you think you might be doing that now? And the people pleasing thing. And it was funny because I had just done this amazing episode with Dr. Nancy DeAndrade on people pleasing. And so I've talked about how I'm a recovering people pleaser, and I don't think that's what I'm doing necessarily, but it did open my eyes up to the point where I think I almost cried on that first call because it realized, yeah, I do need to charge money at some point for what feels right. And so it was just. It was a cool moment. And it also just shows how you were able to see behind people's blocks.

Well, I will say it comes from working with literally thousands of people. Of course it was your words. You could go back if you want to watch that ever in the replay section of the calls, go back and listen to your words. Because I remember hearing when I first started out doing insurance sales when I was 21 and everything, like listening to personal development and Jim Rohn's I can spend five minutes with you and tell you what the rest of your life's going to be like. And I used to be like, well, that. And then I listened to Brian Tracy, and Brian Tracy said the same thing. Then Jack Canfield, who's an amazing coach and mentor, said the exact same thing. And I was like, they're full of it. They're liars. And then there became a pivotal moment where after I'd been, I kind of started consulting. When you're really good at business, people then are like, how did you do it? And consulting's great because you're like, well, pay me money and I'll tell you all the secrets and then you won't implement half of them. And I hated consulting. It felt disingenuous and out of integrity because I'm like, do those things. And some people would do them and make millions of dollars, and other people would be like, thanks and just keep paying me. And I'm like, no, that's. No. And so I started paying attention through a lot of self work in spiritual practices, like noticing my words change how I do things. And I started noticing how people say things. So if you go back and watch that call Stacy, it's really funny because you were saying all the words. You were completely oblivious to all the words you were saying, but you literally said you were a people pleaser without saying the word. But we're all blind. We're all blind to that. And so that's where truly, now I pay attention to words. My wife has an amazing best friend. She grew up and I love her. She's an auntie to her children love her, and she's going through. She wants to lose weight and. But I noticed the last time we were hanging out with her, she's like, well, I can't because. And she starts forming this identity around not being able to lose weight. And so she's a friend and it's. She's my wife's friend. So I want to be super gentle. But I said, hey, do you hear your words? You're owning this identity, and it's not who you want to be. How does that serve you? And we saw her the next day and she came over to play with our baby. And she's like, I can't stop thinking about what you said. No one has ever said that. And it's. It's our words. If people would just share their thoughts recorded into a microphone privately, and then go back and listen themselves, they'd be like, oh, my God, I'm a psycho. The Words I say don't even align with who I want to or the person I am.

So I think you're speaking to why the find your voice challenge was so successful. I did a 17 day challenge where I did literally that they recorded in their phone these voice journaling things. And even, even to the point of do a venting voice note. Because when do you really get permission to just vent without somebody giving you feedback on the other side?

Yeah.

And it really helped people process that. I love that question though. I almost think if I do that challenge again, I might have a follow up question. How does that serve you? I love that.

Yeah. Well, we all say that everyone wants to be this really great person, but then they own some part of their identity. And it's as simple as for me writing. I love copy. I love. That's. I was two minutes late to this call because I was reviewing copy. Like, I love copywriting and stuff like that, but it's so funny. People are like, well, how did you get into business? And so spare you the 85 minute story. But I bought a course and it was really good. And then I realized, oh my God, I know more about copy than literally anyone that does copy for the most part in 2007. And so one day I just called, I got a pamphlet in the mail from a dental office. And I called them and I was like, hey, hi, I just got your pamphlet. And they're like, oh, do you want your free teeth cleaning? And I was like, no, no, no, no. I'm so sorry. I'm calling because I'm curious. Is this working? Because their headline and their call to action sucked. And I really confused the woman. But I introduced myself, I was like, well, I'm a copywriter and I think I could really help you. And that one conversation led over like the next three, four or five years. I was like the North American Southeast's number one copywriter for dentists. And then attorney. Is that even a niche? I don't know. But it was just. Because I literally just. I don't know. I. I called, I didn't have any thought. Like it was a mindless thing. And I was like, oh my God, I can help this person. Their copy sucks. But balls. And I just changed my identity immediately in the act of service. And I think the moment people can do that, they can change their identity in the act of service to someone else. That's one of the biggest thing that gets people off that rut. And then you can change your words and thoughts. Yeah, all that.

But I Love that you said that. So I'm like, I said, I'm in week one of the podcast challenge right now. And the way I do my challenges is I have an idea of what I'm doing, but I sort of build it in public based on what I hear from the feedback and when I see what people need. And day three, the dare I gave them was, who do you want to resonate with your message? Pretty much the thing, who can I help by doing this? And that was going to be something I was going to do in week three because in my mind, I had other dares I wanted them to do first. But because I saw people getting in their head so much and, like, what Mike? And what this and what that, I was like, I need them to see who are they going to be able to help. And so I like that. That's how you pretty much even started this, was noticing that you can help the person.

Yeah. Oh, man. Have you ever seen the movie Catch Me if youf can with Leonardo DiCaprio?

Oh, I probably. I think I did a long time ago.

Yeah, it's Stacey, you gotta go watch this movie. But even better than the movie is the book, because the movie's great. And it's this guy who literally was just a complete fraudster. He became. He became an airline pilot with Pan Am because he stole some. He stole some uniforms, and he figured out how to become a doctor, and he passed the bar in the state of Louisiana. All these. These crazy things. This true guy, Frank Avignale. But the book is crazier because he went to Brigham Young University, of all places, in Provo, Utah, and he walked in to a lecture, and it was like this new identity he was taking on. And they sat there for a few minutes, and no one showed up to teach the lecture. But he had read ahead. He read chapter one. So he went up to the front of the class and he said, well, I'm kind of paraphrasing here. But he went up and he said, well, I've been watching you. Yes, we're starting class now. I am the professor. Okay? Amazing story. And guess what? He taught the lecture that day. You know, they went on an entire semester, Stacy. They went on an entire semester. He gave tests, he gave quizzes, he lectured every day. Okay? Then he gave final exams. And no one found out that this kid was even teaching this class until it came the end of the semester. He graded final exams. And people are like, this isn't showing up on my transcript. Where is it? And the university was like, oh, yeah, we dropped that class. No, we dropped it. And they're like, no. There was this professor, now he's disappeared, and it became this whole thing. Well, years later, when the FBI was interviewing this guy who did so many crazy other things that are in the movie if you go watch. But the FBI, when they were asking, they said, how did you do that? We want to understand how you did that. And he said, I just stayed one chapter ahead.

Wow.

I was just one chapter ahead. And I think so many people sell themselves short because they're like, well, I only know a little bit more. Well, okay, well, you. If you know a little bit more than the average American or someone in Western society, we're a headline clickbait society. No one actually informs themselves. And I want to say that super respectfully, but most people don't go past the headline. So if you read even three paragraphs, you know more than the average person. So I think maybe that might help your community. But if you're just a chapter head, you're fine, because people need you. They need that pull up from wherever you're at. And it's even more fun if you're just a chapter head, because then you can be an example and the hero on the hero's journey that they see, but then they're becoming themselves as well.

So that's actually the E in I'm Game, which is the do the thing formula is educate. And a lot of people think educate is educating yourself, which it is. It's mentors and learning from coaches and books and podcasts and YouTube videos. But there's a part two, which is educating others. And that's when you're able to not only kind of tap into relearning that thing as you're teaching others, because you learn it in a different way when you're able to communicate it to someone else by teaching them, but you're also contributing to other people. And it reminds me of even how my podcast started. Week three, I was asked to be on someone's cohort as an expert, and I didn't even have my podcast published yet, but because I had 10 episodes done, they were like, oh, hey, can you speak on this topic? Because you're further ahead than the other people. And that's what really lit the fire for the podcast, because I felt that contribution from being able to help people.

Yeah, well, and that's crazy, because you probably know these statistics being in the podcast world, but it's like over 90% of podcasts never make it past episode 10. So the fact that you already had them banged, you were already ahead of 90% of podcasters. Yeah, people just sell themselves so short. That's what breaks my heart, is when we're like, well, I failed, so I'll just stop now. Because we also live in a society where all the gurus are like, oh, just do this, and you'll be massively successful and you'll make a million dollars in 19 days or something. Well, maybe. But, no, you're gonna fail, and you gotta fall on your face a lot. And I wish more entrepreneurs and online gurus and everyone would be like, hey, let me tell you about the time I fucked up with an inventory order and nearly put myself out of business and had to fire half my employees. Those are the stories more people need to hear, because there's never been anyone great, do anything in the world without massive failure on the front end. We focus on the results at the end, but we forget the massive failures. I think that's heartbreaking. So, yeah, that's why your challenge is so cool. I love what you're doing.

Thank you. Yeah. And it reminds me, in my kickoff for the challenge, I even put the times I reached out to people to interview them and they said no. And then I put certain applications I applied for. Like, I applied for TEDx and got rejected and applied for some podcast network thing and got rejected. And I put all that in there because I wanted to show them, like, if you're. When you're growing and you're expanding, people are going to say no, but you're not going to let it stop you. Here I am helping these people because I kept going.

One of the most pivotal moments for me, I was consulting. Speaking of consulting, I was consulting for capitalism.com before I came here. And it was really interesting because the first people who ever came through the incubator program, which you're in right now, the very first cohort, they were graduating, and I was consulting, and I said, well, you got to find out what people thought of the program. And Ryan was like, okay. And the team was lean. I think we've quadrupled or quintupled the team the time I've been here. But the team was really smart. So I said, I'll do these exit interviews, which was far and above my retainer. But I really fell in love with capitalism dot com. I fell in love with Ryan and the team and the mission and the statement. And I know personally where I want my life to be and how I want people to view capitalism. So I start doing These interviews. And there was this wonderful woman who shall remain nameless. She'd been in the incubator for a year and trying to create a physical product brand. And she's fun, she's nice. I have met her in person, actually, the event where I met you. So we're having this nice conversation. She's like, well, it's just not a good program. It's not a good program. And I said, okay, why, oh my gosh, this is not the result I've heard from many people. Why was it not good? And she's like, well, you know, I just wish there was more help around reaching out to manufacturers. And I said, oh my gosh, you're right. Yeah, tell me about it. It. And she spent 12 months in this program, I found out, and it took quite 10, 12 minutes to finally get her to say it. She'd called three manufacturers in a 12 month process. She's like, well, there wasn't enough training or enough structure. I said, well, did you ask for help or support? Well, no, there's nothing in the portal. And I said, well, there is some stuff now, did you watch that? And she's like, well, yeah, but I tried. And I maybe in the spirit of what we've already addressed, I said, you didn't try. Calling three manufacturers is what I call a break at lunch in between eating bites on a sandwich. I love that. That's. That's not trying. You didn't do anything called three manufacturers. My son could do that. And you know, I was playful about it, but you know, people see the smallest failure and it's easy to. And I'm not saying that's what this wonderful woman did. Yeah, wonderful woman who I still dearly love and appreciate. But it's so easy for us to fail and then project and blame others because it's always easier to blame someone else than be fully accountable. And that's hard. When you realize your life is 100% dependent upon you, that's scary. And it does take some accountability. And we live in a culture where it's easy to blame someone else. Oh, they hurt my feelings. No, you chose to be offended. Oh, they caused this. No, probably your lack of management did that. Right. You weren't proactive enough reaching out to your manufacturer, your three PL partner. And so it's growth, businesses growth.

What would be a good question for them, similar to the one where you were saying, is this serving me? What would be a good question when they feel themselves blaming others that they can ask themselves so they can own the Experience themselves.

So when I work with people one on one, everyone's like, help me build this business. And I'm like, okay, let's talk about your meditative practices. It's always this deep inner work. But one of the things. Usually about three weeks into working with someone, I'll say, can you tell me three to five times in your life where you had this massive challenge, either personally or business, professionally, maybe educational, a really big challenge? And then tell me about that. I want you to write it out. And I take them through this process where I tell them to write it out, and then I ask them actively, well, whose fault was it that these things happen? And, man, every time. Well, my mom told me I should get the student loan. Oh, she did, really? But you did it. You made that. So everyone's projecting. Oh, it was my mom. It was my professor. It was my. It was my boss. It was. So as someone else. And then I'll reply via email and I'll say, how is it serving you to blame this other person? So when they email me back their response, I'll ask them and I'll say, how is it serving you to blame all these other people for the failure in your life? And, man, those are emails that don't often get immediate replies. Okay. Because that's when people have to confront their own ego and their pride and be like, oh, well. And look, most people are programmed. We're all programmed. The first eight years of life are phenomenal because you're given the programming and set things for life. All your subconscious stuff is built in and everything. Most people will never make major changes. There's an amazing book. It's called Change or Die by Alan Deutschmann. And he walks through the science and the psychology. Most people's brains will not change unless they go through a major health scare and almost die or a major relationship or a major paradigm shift. And so people don't question those pre programs and most people won't confront them. So that's why I love building businesses. Because you're immediately faced with all your own inner bullshit.

Yeah, it's fun.

It's fun.

Okay, Stan, the time's here. What would be your number one piece of advice for the listeners on doing the thing?

It's so cliche, but just do it. Just do it. There's another book I read a few years ago. It's called the Five Regrets of the Dying from this amazing hospice nurse. And so many people in those final moments just wish they had done that. They'd done the thing I'm fortunate in my life that I've been with 12 people as they've passed away, in the room, holding their hand, praying over them or something. And those are sacred, holy moments. And I think that's really shaped who I am as a person to be able to realize, oh, this is a short trip. Might as well make the most out of it and have fun. And you're either going to live your life having tried and failed and then trying again and succeeding, or at least having adventures failing, because that's. Man, the best books in the world are all about people failing at massively awesome things. Or you're going to sit back alone by yourself, sad, and let that dream die within you. And that kills me. That makes me so sad because every soul is so special and deserves the opportunity to just live out whatever they want to.

So, yeah, please share where people can learn about you and also get involved.

With capitalism.com it's really easy. Capitalism.com we have this really fun vision, Ryan and myself and the entire team to create a million millionaires in the next five years, or I guess four and a half years now. And that seems really big and audacious and scary to people, but I know money means very little on the front end. It's the person you become in the process, the people you get to serve, and then ultimately the freedom you get to experience for yourself, your family, maybe generational wealth in doing that. That's the vision and being the best version of yourself. So right now, we work with a lot of physical product brands, helping them scale. Over the coming months and years, you'll see us serving people among varying degrees of entrepreneurship and personal wealth to serve them where they're at. So, yeah, capitalism.com and then the other.

Thing just coming alive for me is just the people. You guys get to do the program. So when you invest in it, the people you surround yourself with, the people you've attracted into it, I mean, that's worth it in itself because they're just really cool freaking people. Oh, man.

Well, it's people like you. It's people I want to sit and drink a beer with or drink a glass of wine with and just talk. It's friendships. It's family. Well, you were on the call yesterday. I think we had a community call yesterday. And I said, oh, my God. It's like family. It's like seeing my family, a family that I chose. And I like.

Yeah.

And we're all building each other up. There's no Aunt Karens in our communities.

Thank you. So much for coming on. I really enjoyed doing this with you. I really appreciate it.

This was fun. You have such a cool community. I love what you're doing. It's the absolute best thing. Every entrepreneur needs to go through your.

Challenges and for the listeners, do the thing. Don't wait for opportunity. Create it.

Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. It Just leave us a voice message at dothothing callcast co or email us at hello at dothingpodcast. Com.