In this episode of the Business Blast Podcast, host Tyler Wagner interviews author and podcaster Zach Miller. Miller shares his core philosophy of "raising your hand"—actively pursuing opportunities rather than waiting for perfect scenarios. He emphasizes the importance of strategic personal positioning, ensuring that the way others perceive you aligns with the keywords and narratives you want to own. Miller advises a long‑term mindset, focusing on sustained effort over short‑term gains. He recommends early career experimentation through internships, apprenticeships, and creating content around passions, noting that such content gains lasting value over time. For happiness, he stresses doing what you love and not being distracted by others' actions. Miller highlights the book North by ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, drawing lessons about perseverance, and cites his favorite quote, "Everything happens for a reason," from the TV show Lost. He directs listeners to his online hub at startwithhatch.com and the "Zach Miller Says" brand. The conversation is conversational and motivational, offering practical advice for personal branding, career development, and mindset.
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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, and today I have Zach Miller with us. He's the author of Anomaly and host of the podcast Zach Miller Says. So welcome to the show, Zach.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Zach, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I think the most important thing or the best story for me is I constantly raise my hand. And what I mean by that is I go after what I want. And so many people are waiting for this perfect scenario to happen. And oftentimes that perfect scenario actually does happen to them, but they don't raise their hand. And I think we need to all be a little bit more selfish. So the biggest things that have ever happened to me in my life, whether it's hosting a TV show, being a published author, getting someone to give me more money through some sort of package that I position my business for. It's all because I raised my hand, and I think people need to be a little bit more selfish, raise their hands more, and go after what they want.
I love it. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I think the most important thing is people need to to be thinking about how they're positioning themselves. And what I mean by that is go and ask your network, your following, your friends, your family, what they think you do. And if what you do and what they think you do are not on the same page, you need to start thinking about the way that you're positioning yourself, marketing yourself, and making sure that the world knows who you are using the kind of keywords and phrases that you want them to, because if not, they're going to think you do one thing instead of something else.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Yeah, I think, you know, keeping your head on straight and just focusing, realizing that you need to be in this game for the long run. And if you try and not have that kind of mindset and focus, I think you're gonna, you're gonna lose sight. And so, so just be thinking and trying to follow through with focus for as long as possible, because I think people that try and play the short game lose, and the people that want to play the long game win. So focus, keep your head on straight.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I think people should test out more what they want to do in life with their careers. So whether or not you want to go into owning your own business or you want to join a team, I think you should test that out early and often. So it could be something like an internship, an apprenticeship, but you have to be constantly testing out these, these careers that you might want to be going into. Because if you're like me, I got into a career that I didn't really like. I didn't do an internship in it. Had I done that, I think that would have gotten better. And then also create content around the things that you love because decades later, you're probably still gonna love that and that content will be even more valuable because it has years and years and years of exposure on there. So test out your careers and create a lot of content around the things that you love.
[Speaker] And in your opinion, it might tie in, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Do things that you love and don't really worry about what, you know, quote-unquote Sally is doing. Focus on what you love, focus on the things that you want to do, and don't worry about what the world is doing around you. Focus on the things that you love.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I just finished this book by Scott Jurek. He ran the Appalachian Trail. In 50 days, actually even less than 50 days, and he wrote a book about it called North. And it's really an incredible story because it's a story about life and the trials and tribulations that you have to go through. But he puts this remarkable book together about his journey running the Appalachian Trail, and there's a really interesting quote in there, and the quote is, "It always never gets worse. And it's just, it's an incredible book, and I recommend the audio version because it's both him and his wife telling the story about how in 46 days or so he ran the Appalachian Trail, which is ridiculously crazy.
And I apologize, I may have missed it, but the last question that I normally ask, um, or second to last, is what is your favorite quote and why? So is that your favorite one, or do you have another?
It's not. My favorite quote is, "Everything happens for a reason." The first time I ever heard about it was in the TV show Lost, and it just stuck with me. I was like, "Oh, that's really important." So I think, you know, we don't even realize it when it's happening, but everything happens for a reason. And so we might think that something is a bad thing when actually it's going to turn out to be a good thing. So, you know, everything happens for a reason. Love that quote.
And thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, so if you're interested in finding me online, go to startwithhatch.com or search my name and add says, S-A-Y-S, so Zach Miller says, to check out any of my content online.
Perfect, man. Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate it.
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