Failures, Setbacks & Amazing Breakthroughs

Foreign. All right, so in this episode, I'm going to bring you up to speed in the world of Todd. Now, you and I, we haven't had an opportunity to get caught up in a long time. You know, I've been bringing you interviews with remarkable people. In fact, I've got. I got some doozies coming up for you. Like, people that are jaw droppers, big names that are coming up. And I'm also starting to hit this next level in my career. I want to tell you about it. I want to be incredibly candid about these, like, big victories and these big setbacks in the hopes that it helps you as you're approaching your next level of growth and triumph and success. And it's all going down after these words.

This podcast is brought to you by the Wirebuzz team. Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because I've spent the past decade growing Wirebuzz into a digital marketing powerhouse designed to maximize clarity in complex sales processes so we can help accelerate revenue. And we do this in three phases. Phase one, we transform your website to function like your best salesperson and then also incorporate persuasive on demand sales videos. Now, your entire team is aligned on messaging, and they're injecting massive clarity into your prospect's head. So your site looks great, but it also has engaging content that helps your.

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All right, well, let's get down. Let's get down to business. So in this episode, I just want to, like, lay it out on the table. I want to get caught up with you and talk about the cool things that are happening. But I also want to share with you a great teachable moment in life. That is a great lesson, but also a lot of pain. Okay, I want to talk to you about that and some really cool things developing. So let's start off with some really cool things. And then later on, I'm going to tell you about a epic fail. Oh, yeah? What do you mean, Todd? You don't fail. Oh, yeah, Epic fail coming up later on in this episode. But let's start off with some triumphs and success.

If you don't think that the universe.

Or God or spirit is working on your behalf. Maybe you aren't paying close enough attention because it's definitely happening for me and with me. And even the setbacks are incredible. And I've just learned so much and I've been struggling on the inside because I've kind of got two worlds going on. One that is approaching superstardom. I just got asked by a major event to be their keynote speaker in New York City. More information on that as we proceed ahead. I just got off the stage a couple of hours ago from a Tony Robbins event in Sydney, Australia. More on that coming up. And oh my God, what some broadcast quality teasers going on in this episode. And oh, two nights ago, the sun was going down. The love of my life, Wendy and I opened up a killer bottle of wine and we sat out on our deck over in the mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona, looking over the desert as the sun went down and the stars came up. And we just reconnected on where we're going and how we won't be denied. I'm in the middle right now of doing six Tony Robbins events as a speaker in 60 days. So there's so much going on. Just got back from Business Mastery, Business Masteries. My event, it's the one that I pour my heart into a couple times a year for Tony. And maybe the best part of the entire event, besides crushing it on stage, on the biggest stage in the entire world for Tony Robbins, maybe the best part besides getting pulled into a private conversation backstage with Tony and my wife and him raving about the training that I just did and just sharing some good quality moments with him backstage. You know, he's the greatest speaker of all time, an incredible entrepreneur, somebody that I look up to, I admire deeply. Somebody who allowed me to pour into his company and they after the training, their revenue went through the roof and he just pushed me out onto the stage and was like, dude, you've got to get out there and start teaching this to people. Which transformed my life. Then I dropped a New York, excuse me, a number one best selling book, a Wall Street Journal number two best selling book of all the non fiction books of the week. Yo. So life's been, been really incredible. But when I was at Business Mastery and on stage, I got to tell some business stories about the best man in my wedding and how this person never gave up on me and just coached and guided me every step of the way so I could be a successful entrepreneur. And I just dropped that. A couple business Stories about my best man in the wedding. And then at the very end, I mentioned that my best man in the wedding happens to be in the room right now in the front row, dead center. Best man at my wedding is my dad, Howard Hartley, my best friend. And not to get emotional right now, but my dad was in the audience, and we got to give my dad a standing ovation. You know, my dad's done a remarkable job helping a kid who was struggling with learning disabilities. And he kept my eye on the prize the entire time. You know what the prize was? It wasn't radical success or wealth or fame. The prize was living a life of passion with somebody you love and sharing it with your family. And so my dad stood up, and the whole room applauded. Dad. And by the way, my dad cried in the front row the whole time, you guys. And as I was. As I was watching him, I'd have to look away because I would say to myself, you know, dad's 81. And I'd have to say to myself, somebody's got to get him some water because he's been crying for so long, that maybe he's getting emotional. I mean, he's definitely getting emotional. Maybe he's getting dehydrated.

So that was really incredible.

And dad told me, and you guys will love this, dad told me that he couldn't walk back to the hotel room because it was all in one big hotel, about 3,000 people. And dad said, wendy, my wife, walked him back to his hotel room. And Wendy said, you wouldn't believe it. It took us 45 minutes to walk maybe 150 yards because the entire event stopped at everywhere he went. And they had to take photos with him or hug him or high five him or congratulate him or thank him for his son's contribution to their business. And dad couldn't go anywhere in that hotel for the rest of the time. And he confided to me. He sent me a text at 4:30 in the morning as he was trying to get to the airport. He sent me a text, and he said, this celebrity is full time. It's 24 7.

He goes, Todd, I left the hotel.

Room at 4:30am Because I needed to be in the lobby. Tony's driver was taking my dad to the airport. And.

Dad said before he even got.

To the elevator on the seventh floor, a man stopped him at 4:30 in the morning. And the man started telling him about his son and what his son was struggling with. And the next thing my dad knew that this man and My dad were crying on. In the hallway on the seventh floor. And my dad said, I can't wait to get back home to Scottsdale because this celebrity shit is.

It's 24 7, but that's the game.

And you have to love it and you have to appreciate pouring into people's lives. And one man poured into my life like nobody else, and that's my dad, Howard Hartley. And it was great to have him in the front row of my, you know, my Tony Robbins training. And it was the very first time my dad had ever been. I'm going to show you a photo. It was the very first time my dad had ever been at one of my speeches to see me speak in person. And here's the photo of him that somebody in the audience took of my dad. Look at this. How beautiful is that, right? Dad crying the whole time. And it was crying out of joy for the amazing work that we did together to get me to where I could live a life of passion. What are you doing? To pour into other people's lives so they could live a life of passion. Independent, financially liberated. Don't miss that opportunity like my dad did for me. Don't miss that opportunity to pour into other people. All right, so Business Mastery was remarkable. We after Business Mastery, I sold my Lead Generation Master class. It's six days of video and AI for Lead generation. If you didn't get into it, shame on you. I think we got 200 people that signed up to get into the training. And also my mastermind on using the power of video in your sales process. Well, that starts this week. Also, if you didn't get in on that, you missed the opportunity. At Business Mastery, there was actually people in the crowd that have gone through my trainings that I was able to pull out and they'd stand up and they tell their story. Like Kathy Case. You might have heard Kathy on this very podcast, Kathy. 45 days into starting my mastermind, Kathy doubled her revenue. We hadn't even finished the mastermind yet. She had already doubled her revenue. And at Business Mastery, nine months after starting my training, she's now tripled her revenue. Like, how frigging cool is that? Right? And so that was super. And it's great to share it because it's inspiration. It's other people that can follow the same things that Kathy did that can use the power of video in their sales process. One on one videos. I'm not talking about Spielberg productions. You don't even need a budget for it. You just need to put your big Beautiful face on. On camera. And you need to pour into your prospects and advise and guide them. Super cool, right? All right, so that's going on. I just got off the stage in the middle of the night. I did an event for Tony Robbins, Unleash the Power within his big event. Did that in Sydney, Australia, remotely. And I did it from my office. And my time on stage was like 1am in Arizona, middle of the day or in the early evening in Sydney. And I mean, how cool is that? A basketball stadium? It was like 15, 17,000 people in the audience. Got to crush the basketball stadium, do it from the comfort of my home, and then tried to go back to sleep. I'm a little whacked out right now because sleep was different than normal. But what an honor it is to be able to help people all over the world get their life to the next level. I got asked by, oh, remember I mentioned my Mastermind, where you learn how.

To use the power of video?

Somebody in the Mastermind, unbeknownst to me, owns an event that I've been following for years. It's an event I've always wanted to speak at, but I didn't know anybody at that event. And after their business took off from going through my selling faster with video training, they reached out to me and they were like, hey, we didn't tell you this, but we own the Event Planner Expo. And by the way, you should know that this is the biggest conference of the year for event planners. Well, yeah, Todd, why is that that big of a deal? Because as a speaker, who are the people that hire me? Event planners. Right, exactly. Event planners. And there's going to be 2,500 of them in New York City. And they have two keynote speakers. Gary Vaynerchuk from VaynerMedia and yours truly, Todd Hartley. And so I'm incredibly grateful. This event planner company, this. That went through my training, unbeknownst to me, they reached out and said, we closed so many deals using your video selling strategies to people that were asking for proposals that we stopped counting into the hundreds of thousands of dollars that we made using your strategies. And then we started saying, oh, my God, this Todd guy, his strategies work. We need to put him out on the stage. People need to know about this. And, like, that's the greatest testimonial of them. All right, so I'm super excited to do that. Oh, you're going to love this. Where is it in New York City, Todd? Manhattan's a big place. Where is it in New York City? Well, it's at the 92nd Street Y. And if you know anything about New York, the 92nd Street Y has a very large history and impact on the city. They have a gorgeous theater on the inside. Been in there once before. Tell you about that in just a second. And I've only been in the 92nd Street Y once. It's a big community center. I've only been in there once and.

It was the first time I went.

To New York City and I got invited for a business meeting with CNN because I was. When I was 25, I was. I had a TV show concept. I was doing it on radio in Phoenix, on the number one station in Arizona, 92.3 KTAR. And my show was taken off and I pitched a TV show concept to CNN and they invited me out to meet with their executives. They ended up picking up a four month exclusive contract on my show as they were evaluating and reviewing it. So I flew out to New York and I met with CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. But I was 25 and I was friggin broke and I just got married and I didn't really have any money, I could barely afford the flight and maybe you've been there. So I reached out to a buddy, a friend of the family and said, do you know any place that I could stay in New York? I've got a meeting with all of these big networks and I just can't afford a hotel. Like one of the more humbling, embarrassing things you could ever say to a friend. And he replied back and said, I just spoke to my mom, she works at the 92nd Street Y& they have dorms and she's going to get you two nights free so you can do your meetings. And now 20 years later, I'm the keynote speaker at the 92nd Street Y where I couldn't afford to stay. And now I'm the one featured on their stage. That is the power and the grace of hard work and perseverance and Lord's spirit in your life. And please don't miss the opportunities to evaluate them to see what's really going on. It's just a really amazing story in my life now as I wipe away the tears. For those of you that are listening only and not watching the videos, there's a setback in my life. Oh no, Todd. Say it ain't so. Like you have all this. Say it ain't so, dude. Yes, I stubbed my toe again. And the truth is I don't mind telling you it's like in my mind I'm like this. I'm on the journey of success and it doesn't always come out beautiful. And I want to be candid because I believe that as you go through it, you will see that those failures and setbacks that wipe tears away again are healthy and important and they help you recalibrate. So what happened to me and what happened for me, and I say that because I believe in everything's working in the long term for my benefit. I don't believe the universe is against me. I think the universe is working for me, and I'm committed to that. And in life, you're always going to prove yourself, right? So if you prove yourself that you're always going to prove yourself right? So select something amazing that you're going to prove, right? Because if not, then you're going to prove that the universe is against you and that people are going to screw you over and that you're not going to have success. And I'm just committed to staying on path regardless of the circumstances on the ground. I'm going to turn it around. This game isn't over. I'm still in the game. I haven't failed. I'm actually failing forward. So just got a tap on my wrist. What does that mean? Well, I got another podcast interview coming up right after this. Stay tuned. I'm super excited and honored to be able to share the path to victory along with you. Please know the path to victory does have some losses. With losses comes learning. With learning comes optimization, and with optimization comes new triumphs. And I am on that path. My wife said to me, and please make sure you recalibrate yourself if you don't have this. My wife said to me the other day when I always felt like I was in dire despair, where I felt like I was taking steps back when I want to be making huge heroic drives forward. My wife said to me, dude, you have an incredibly high pain threshold. And if you're an entrepreneur, if you're trying to get to the next level, you have to be willing to have a high pain threshold because you're going to get your ass kicked. But in the process of getting your ass kicked, you're going to have to learn from it. Dust yourself off, shoulders back, head back, high. Become the next best version of yourself. Proceed ahead. Nobody's keeping score, so there's no reason you should prove yourself right, that at the end of the day, you're gonna win, you're gonna triumph, you're gonna get your life and your family to the next level of greater freedom. So you can pursue other passions in your life to bless other people along the way. And that is where I am in a wonderful, magical mystery mix of success and setbacks and struggles. And all of those are designed to create an accelerated path. If you're on an accelerated path, you know what you need? Setbacks. Unfortunately, if you're on an accelerated path, you are going to have setbacks. And if you are on an accelerated path and committed to the end goal, transformation and victory, you have to be willing to have some struggles. Please know comfort is the enemy of growth. If you want growth, get really comfortable being uncomfortable. If you're too comfortable, you're not going to grow. All right? I spend most of my time not being comfortable. That is my comfort zone. If I, like, chill out on the couch, in my head I hear, yo, dude, you could probably be investing this time into something that's going to help you on your path, get there faster. So my comfort time is limited not because I am a slave driver, I'm kind of a slave driver, but because I'm committed to getting to that transformation and breakthrough so I can serve more people. All right. And I'm appreciate the opportunity to be very candid with you. I am excited to tell you about superstars that are coming up on this very Todd cast. And I'll tell you those as soon as I can announce them. But I've got a lot of big names coming up, a lot of big opportunities. And when I go to New York City in a couple weeks, New York City and I go to the Event Planner Expo, I promise to share that information along the journey so it can help you accelerate your path. So on behalf of the team here at Wirebuzz, I wish you an incredible success and journey. Because please know, you may think the journey is towards the breakthrough in the transformation, and it is. You may think that it's all about success and it is, but the lessons along the way are the ones that will accelerate you to your next level breakthrough in transformation. I love you. Can't wait till the next episode and look forward to to hearing about what's going on in your life. If you aren't following me on LinkedIn and it's weird to say follow because what I really mean is interacting with me. If you post whenever I'm not slammed, I jump in there and comment. So please interact with me. Share your life. I want to know what's going on. I want to hear about your successes. I'm comfortable hearing about your setbacks. I have them also. I just laid them out on the table for you. And more than that, I want to help you accelerate your path to yes.

If you haven't picked up my book.

Accelerating yes, the number one bestseller, don't hesitate to do that. It is a book that transforms businesses and lives because it teaches you how to speed up your own path to yes. On your website, in your marketing, for your sales team, for your clients that are existing, and also in your team and the training that you have to provide them.

So on behalf of the Wire Buzz.

Team, I bid you farewell for now, but I will talk to you soon on the next episode. Or you can reach out to me on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on Facebook, on TikTok. You get it. Anywhere you are is where I hope to be, so I can help impact your life and accelerate your path to yes. Talk to you soon. And thank you for joining me right here on the Todcast.

Yo, that was a powerful episode. And from what we just learned, it should be obvious how you can now implement these lessons in your life to get to the next level. Now, before you bounce, I just have three quick thoughts. First, thank you for taking me on.

Your incredible life journey.

Second, if you receive some value from me and you want to pay it forward, it would mean the world to me. If you left an honest rating and review at Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, I'd be incredibly grateful. And lastly, if you share this episode, whether it be a screenshot or a photo from where you're listening, anything via Instagram stories or LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the social media sites, just tag me and the guest. I'll repost your content and I'll reply.

Back in the comments because I love mixing it up.

In fact, I'd love to share your shoutouts in my feed too. Not only are these shoutouts really good for you and for me, but they also help us book more amazing guests because they'll be able to see the reach that you're helping to cultivate. This is a way for you to help contribute to the show. So thank you again for listening and I look forward to earning a regular spot inside that ear of yours. Let's grow.