Tell Your Story: From Adversity to Authentic Success

I just realized I never actually said what the hell I do. What is it you do? Yeah. So what do I do? Well, I'm a storyteller, as you can tell. Keynote speaker, author. What else? Course creator, brand partner for several companies. I guess that's it. I coach my daughter's flag football team. That's a lot of fun. But overall, my, my goal is to help people live and tell better stories. So that's why I love helping people get clear on their identity, who they are, their vision, what they want to do, and then the routines needed to have that lifestyle that leads to that vision they're talking about. So that's me in a nutshell. And to answer your question, what were the first few months after getting fired? I'm going to double click on this. I was actually in rehab for alcohol addiction. And I literally wrote the business plan for my company while I was in rehab. And within a year and a half, I was making like 20,000 bucks a month. So, hey, the plan worked, but it sucked. You know what I mean? It sucked when your identity goes from this guy who works all these cool ass companies to all of a sudden you're like not doing that in, you're, you know, getting your life right? But that was 10 years ago. And luckily I never relapsed, never drank again, never even wanted to. But it was really tough. I remember I joined the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce because I wanted some kind of identity, like some kind of plaque on the wall, something to say about myself. Because again, when you leave corporate, you lose part of your identity sometimes. So that's what I did. So I was like, why would I compete with these people? That's not the most unique thing about me. The most unique thing about me is the adversity that I've gone through and, and how I'm still here. And that adversity, plus the audacity to tell your story, is how you become more authentic to your audience. And if you think about superheroes, they're Superman, great guy, blah, blah, but freaking boring. All he does is win. I loved Batman because he was a human. He was a regular human. He had no superpowers whatsoever. He just figured stuff out, right? So he's very much an anti hero, didn't like a lot of people, blah, blah. But I'll tell you how I arrived at this, this moment of clarity. I was talking to my book mentor, Bruce Filer, and I'm at his home in Brooklyn and he's. Okay, just give me your life story, right? Tell me everything from beginning to end. And I shared much of what I shared with you just now. And he's. I'm curious, and I think other people are curious, too, after all the challenges that you've been through. And I. It's not even the half of it that I told you so far, getting fired, battling alcoholism. But at the same time, over the last 10 years, I've also lost my brother, my father, my son, and my grandfather, and I'm still here. He's like, you know, hearing all this, like, how are you just engaged in these arenas and fighting battles that some people never get a chance? And you still win, you still thrive, you still survive. How? And I was like, I don't know, man. It's like, when I'm at the gym, I'm just a fucking savage. And he's. That's it. He's. That's it. That's what your book should be called. And teach other people how they could become a savage as well. So, like, I hear. I've seen the light bulb go off with you, too. It's like, yeah, so, yeah, that was an epiphany moment for me. I'm like, wait, so I don't have to pretend to be perfect?