In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews international best‑selling author and speaker Davide DiGiorgio. Davide shares a transformative personal story about moving to the Arctic, realizing he was the problem in his own life, and using that insight to become the solution, which reshaped his relationships and career. He explains that everyone is already a speaker and leader—no permission needed—by simply clarifying one’s beliefs and speaking out. His business philosophy emphasizes that people care about the person, not the product, urging relationship‑first approaches and long‑term mentorship cultivation. Davide discusses the key to happiness as being unapologetically oneself, referencing his book “Being Unapologetic.” He recommends Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist for its message that treasure lies within, and highlights a favorite quote from Lisa Nichols about self‑liking before seeking external validation. The episode concludes with Davide’s online hub davidspeaks.com for connecting across social platforms.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have David DiGiorgio with us. He is a number one international best-selling author, keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, coach, and leadership coach who's worked with thousands of speakers, performers, executives, and leaders for over 25 years. So welcome to the show, man.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Of course. Grateful to have you here. We'll jump right in, David, to the first one. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I love this question. So in 2009, I thought it would actually be a really good idea to move to the Arctic. Yeah, where there's polar bears. And so I'm originally from Toronto, Canada, and I moved to the Arctic and I thought I was having a great time. New life and small town. And 3 days were amazing. And then on day 4, I started crying and I started crying for the next 3 and a half weeks. I thought, am I having a nervous breakdown? Maybe it's the 24 hours of daylight at the time because I was there in the summer. And I realized things were just going terribly wrong. Every step of the way, things were going wrong. And what I started to realize actually through a dog that I was dog sitting for a time, we were just not friends. And I had this conversation, I had to have a come to Jesus moment with the dog. And I said, Toby was the name of the dog, Toby, tomorrow I'm going to wake up and I'm just going to love you like no one else has ever loved you. We were just not having a good time up until this point. So the next day I woke up and I said, oh, Toby, it's great to see you and everything. And I realized all of a sudden he's really taking well to me. And by the middle of the afternoon of that day, he's curled up in my lap, giving me dog kisses. And I realized in that moment, oh my goodness, I am the problem in my life. Nobody else, just me. So if I could shift this relationship within 24 hours, what else can I create in my life? And so if I'm the problem in my life, I can also be the solution. And so I radically transformed my life and I moved back to Toronto and I changed everything about my life and all of my relationships. And it's been a huge lesson for me that if I can also be the problem in my life, I can definitely be the solution.
Yes. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah. So in the speaking world, it's really fascinating. A lot of people talk about public speaking. When can I speak? We had a conversation about this recently too. And what people need to know is you're already a speaker and a leader. You arrived that way. When you're a baby and you need to say something, you cry. You poop your diaper, you cry. You're hungry, you cry. You speak. People are waiting for you to show up and share who you are and what you believe already. So you don't need permission. You don't need to learn more. You just need to get clear on who you are and what you believe and start speaking out. And you speak all day long. So just call yourself a speaker already. You lead people all day long. Call yourself a leader already.
I think that's a huge lesson. It's like the same thing with becoming an author. Obviously, you're not an author before you put a book out there, but you do have the ability to become an author, right? And I think that's what it is with a speaker. We see people on stage and we're like, "Oh, we could never do that." But it's like for you, you know what I mean? I'm sure, and maybe I'm wrong, but I'm sure your first talk wasn't amazing. You know, like it's taken you time.
No, you learn, you just learn it. Right. And it's just, it really is just a mind shift. Yeah. People look at me and they say, oh my God, you're amazing now. I was like, yeah, well, I started speaking when I was in third grade. I think I did a speech competition in third grade and I've worked with, you know, as a theater producer and a performer, I've worked in that world in a high performance world my entire life. It's a lot of hours put into it. That's it. But I also say to people who are not necessarily on the stage, well, what if you just started imagining every one-on-one conversation that you had was very intentional and you said to yourself right before you have that conversation, okay, I'm a speaker and I'm going to act like a speaker now. And so all of a sudden your words matter more. The way you present yourself matters more, right? And there you can get practice all day long.
And the next one I have for you is, what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Yeah, people aren't interested in your business at all. They don't care. They're interested in you. Because I don't know about you, Tyler, but I know I've done business with people that I would never have thought because of their business. Like, I'm not interested in their business at all, but because I like them, I'm like, you know what, I want to support you. And then you get interested in what they're doing. And so stop thinking that your, you know, in our world, your content actually matters. It does to a point, but if I have the option to get my content, let's say, from someone that I really like or someone I don't like, you're always going to choose the person or the method of delivery that you like more. So, people are interested in who you are, not your business. So, lead with who you are first.
Definitely, yeah. And I think too, people do business with people they know, like, and trust is something that I believe. So, just creating those relationships first and not, you know, with no expectation, the business kind of just like comes down the road anyway. So yeah, I couldn't agree more. Um, the next one I have for you is if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Tying to what you just said, what we're just talking about here, the relationships— the piece of advice is this, David: the relationships you have now, nurture them for the long term. And build relationships with the kind of people you want to be. So I was very fortunate to have amazing mentors in my life, and I didn't necessarily keep those relationships from when I was a teenager and even younger. I didn't really nurture them through. I don't know, maybe it's the system of schooling that we have in this world. It doesn't really teach you, like, keep those friends that you met in high school. You know this very well. You want a book to go number one, you need a lot of people who believe you and your message because nobody actually really cares about your book. A lot of people won't even read it. They're supporting you. And it's those deep relationships that you have that make a difference. The only reason that I've hit number 1 now in 5 countries and counting is because these people are like, oh my gosh, David, we can't wait to support you. We love everything you're doing. All relationship-based.
100%. Could not agree more. And then I kind of go a little bit of a different path, but in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
So being yourself, being you, and you are the person who arrived the moment of your birth. That person, that baby, that miracle that you arrived as, figure out how to peel back all of the layers that have been added on to you, all of the mindset that that doesn't work for you. Peel all that back and be yourself because the minute that I started to step into being myself, and I mean now it's the title of my book, Being Unapologetic, being unapologetically you, I have never been happier in my life.
And what is— okay, this is perfect because we've been talking about books somewhat. What is the best book that you have read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
Barnum the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. And there's so many great quotes in it and he says so much beautiful stuff. Basically, it comes down to you are what you're looking for. His specific quote is, "Remember, wherever your heart is, you'll always find your treasure." The quote, actually, "The secret of life is to fall 7 times and to get up 8 times," is in The Alchemist. It's just like wherever you're looking, it's not out there. The answer to what you're looking for is right inside of you. And I love it. The Alchemist is just a transformational book.
And you may have already said it in there, but what is your favorite quote and why?
So different quote, actually. Lisa Nichols from The Secret, amazing, amazing woman. She recently said in an interview, "I woke up and liked myself today. Your like is extra. My job is to like me first." I love that.
It's so true because, yeah, well, the truth about it is, is if you don't Well, I think I've actually heard the quote, like, if you don't love yourself, then you don't have the ability to love others. What's your take on that?
Well, yeah. And, you know, it's interesting, specifically what she's talking about is like, are you waiting around, for example, on social media and Facebook for the likes to come in? Or do you have a vision? And are you moving forward with your own vision? You know, if you don't like yourself, how are you going to ever— you're not going to make it, you know, you just, you just won't. So stop waiting for the validation and understand that your vision that you have, what you believe is the value. For others.
100%, man. Um, dude, thank you so much for coming on. Uh, the last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and/or connect with you online?
davidspeaks.com. And that's David with an E, davidspeaks.com. You can connect with me across all of my social media channels. Hit me up on YouTube there. Everything is connected in that one place.
Perfect, brother. Thank you again for joining us.
Thank you so much, Tyler Wagner.
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