In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Elle Russ, a writer, actor, and host of the Primal Blueprint podcast. Elle shares a personal story about living with hypothyroidism for a decade, describing how the hardship ultimately became a catalyst for her writing and public speaking career. She offers health advice rooted in the paleo/primal community, emphasizing the need to eliminate carbohydrate dependence to avoid type‑2 diabetes. Her business tip centers on the power of showing up early—being the first in the office to gain a productivity edge and demonstrate dedication. When reflecting on advice for her younger self, Elle highlights studying the subconscious mind, building inner confidence, and disregarding others’ opinions. She defines happiness as the ability to enjoy one’s own company, develop integrity, and pursue passions despite financial constraints. Elle’s favorite book is the Pulitzer‑winning novel Confederacy of Dunces, which she praises for its humor, and she shares two favorite quotes: Henry Ford’s “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” and an anonymous saying about statues never being built for skeptics, encouraging risk‑taking. The episode concludes with Elle directing listeners to her website (elleRuss.com) and the Primal Blueprint podcast on iTunes and primalblueprint.com.
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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.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I have a very special guest today. Her name is Elle Russ. She is a writer and the host of the popular Primal Blueprint podcast. So welcome to the show, Elle.
Thanks for having me.
Of course, thanks for joining us, Elle. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you today is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
You know, I have so many stories that have underlying valuable messages, but I would say that the overall theme would be sometimes gifts come wrapped in shit. So for example, I suffered from hypothyroidism for like a decade. I dealt with all this crap, but then it totally aligned with my career as a writer down the road and enabled me to be a public speaker and also help other people with that issue and really give back. So, you know, I wouldn't go back and change it for the world because of the gifts that it brings you when you're humbled by a a fucking horrible disease for, knocks out 6 years of your life. But at the end of the day, that's the thing. So I would just say when bad stuff happens and things are seemingly negative, you just gotta go, you know what, this better be a gift wrapped in shit and I'm just gonna keep that as my focus. And I guarantee you, 6, 8 months, you never know when you'll be like, ah, that was meant to happen. So I guess that would be the underlying message, yeah.
[Speaker] I love that. And the next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, I'm in a couple of industries, so I'm a writer and I'm also an actor, so I'm in the entertainment industry. So I guess maybe don't have a private meeting with Harvey Weinstein at 3 in the morning. There's one. But for the paleo primal world, for the health world, which I'm in, I would say, listen, the most valuable piece of advice is you've got to get off the carbs. You've got to stop being carbohydrate dependent. We are not meant as humans to be carbohydrate dependent. And when you are, it ends up in type 2 diabetes. And I think we all could just watch TV and see the commercials to know how that has worked out.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I always tell everyone from, you know, I used to be in the corporate world at a very young age. If you're in a corporate world or anywhere where you can show up early to work before everyone else gets there, do it. Be early for everything. I don't care if it's a meeting, but it's, it's be early and also just show up. Be that first person in the office because by the time you've had the coffee and you've gone through your emails and you've gotten settled, you're rolling with work and everyone's still, you know, rolling in the office and pouring their cup of coffee in the break room. So I would just say get ahead on everybody. And also it really shows great perseverance to whoever you're working for and dedication. And it's just a good rule of thumb.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I'd say, yo, study the power of the subconscious mind. Get into that, because I would have liked to have known about that sooner. I would also say develop inner confidence as soon as possible and stop giving a shit about anyone else's opinion of you, because all that matters is what you think of you. And when you think you're awesome, you don't need to tell anyone. Everyone already will think you're awesome too. That's how it works.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Being able to literally sit somewhere by yourself with your own thoughts and enjoy your own company. And so that's, that's really shows a lot about one's internal happiness quotient. And how do you get there? Well, you got to develop inner confidence. You got to really like who you are in this world, you know. So if you're out of integrity, you start getting integrity, whatever it is that's making you feel good about your place in this world. And then on top of that, too, of course, follow your passions. Even if you have to have the full-time job to pay some bills, follow your passions. I don't care what it is, do something towards it because you will regret it if you don't.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
You know, the best book I've ever read is actually a very funny work of fiction that won the Pulitzer Prize called Confederacy of Dunces. And if no one out there listening has read it, it's literally the most hilarious book on planet Earth. And the great story behind it is that the manuscript was found by the mother of the son who commits suicide who wrote it. She called the publisher. He was like, whatever, I feel sorry for this woman, I'll read it, whatever. He reads it, he can't put it down. The dead author wins a Pulitzer after he's already dead for this book. So Confederacy of Dunces, it's really funny. It's nothing— I didn't learn anything from it, you know, per se, to go through life, but Gosh, it's just so funny and so hilarious and probably one of the best works of fiction.
So, and what is your favorite quote and why?
I have two. One is, whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right either way. That's Henry Ford. But my other one is sort of an unknown quote, I believe. I'm not sure who said this one, but it's, no one ever built a statue to skeptics, right? There's no statue anywhere where kids are like going on a field trip and they're like, oh, look at that, that's the statue of John Smith who never believed in a fucking thing, never bought a I mean, no one, no one builds a statue to people like that, right? People build statues to people who took risks, who had innovative ideas, who weren't, who weren't already there, the new innovation. So, you know, if you're always like, I don't know, I don't know, you're never gonna get there. You never try. You've got to take risks. So I like that. That's probably my favorite.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on. Now, the last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Sure, anyone can go to my website, Elleruss.com, E-L-L-E-R-U-S-S.com, and you can also hear me every Monday interviewing a variety of people, mind and body, on the Primal Blueprint Podcast, and you can get that on iTunes or go to primalblueprint.com.
Perfect. Thank you again for joining us. We really appreciate it.
Thank you.
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