The Massimo Show

On this episode of the Massimo Show What if we told you the road to wealth isn't lined with apps, funding rounds, or viral ideas… but instead with dust, sweat, and a whole lot of cardboard boxes? In this eye-opening Episode 97 of The Massimo Show, Rod welcomes one of the most talked-about entrepreneurs on the internet today - Nick Huber, the man behind The Sweaty Startup movement. You've seen his tweets, you've heard the opinions, and now it's time to get the full story from Nick himself — raw, unfiltered, and rich with insight. Nick's Journey: From Dorm Rooms to Boardrooms Nick didn't dream of being an entrepreneur — he became one out of necessity and curiosity. Raised in southern Indiana by a middle-class family — his dad in real estate development, his mom a school nurse — Nick learned the value of work early. At Cornell University, he wasn't reading books on startups or idolizing Silicon Valley founders. Instead, he was hauling boxes, renting trucks, and building Storage Squad, a college student storage company that scaled to 25 campuses nationwide. That “boring” business was just the beginning. Fast-forward a few years and Nick is now the co-founder of Bolt Storage, a self-storage empire managing over 2 million square feet across 68 locations — with assets valued north of $100 million. Oh, and he's not done yet. He also acquired a controlling stake in Somewhere.com, an online hiring marketplace. Oh yeah… and he's got nearly 800,000 social media followers tuning in for his blunt, refreshing takes on business, wealth, and life. Key Themes Covered in This Episode: The beauty of boring businesses: Why low-glamour, high-demand services offer more freedom and upside than trend-chasing startups From sweaty work to scalable systems: How Nick transitioned from hauling boxes to managing hundreds of employees Momentum is everything: Nick breaks down how small steps (and sweaty ones) led to massive success Work-life alignment, not balance: His take on how to build a business that supports your life, not consumes it Social media with a mission: How Nick uses Twitter and podcasting to teach, build brand equity, and source deal flow Why VC-backed startups aren't for everyone (or even most people) — and what the mainstream startup culture gets completely wrong Building a $100M+ portfolio without big capital to start: The true power of leverage, partnerships, and grit Why young brokers and business owners should skip the sexy ideas and focus on real pain points Grab Nick's new book: The Sweaty Startup: How to Get Rich Doing Boring Things — a blueprint for building freedom through simplicity, hard work, and smart systems. If you're tired of being reactive, constantly chasing shiny objects, or just stuck on the transactional treadmill — this episode will challenge your thinking and energize your vision. Listen now to learn how to build wealth, impact, and a life you actually love — the boring way. Want to grow your brokerage business fast? Book a free strategy call at https://massimo-group.com/ www.sweatystartup.com www.nickhuber.com www.sweatystartupbook.com www.somewhere.com/nick  www.boltstorage.com www.recostseg.com www.adrhino.com www.spidexx.com www.boldseo.com www.webrun.com www.titanrisk.com www.recruitjet.com www.hubermethod.com www.x.com/sweatystartup www.instagram.com/sweatystartup www.linkedin.com/in/sweatystartup www.youtube.com/sweatystartupwww.tiktok.com/sweatystartup www.threads.net/@sweatystartup.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-huber-show/id1576120606 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sweaty-startup/id1445260221 Link to buy the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bLazjW Link to buy the book in the UK: https://bit.ly/422njPW

On this episode of the Massimo Show In Episode 96 of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down once again with one of the most downloaded guests in show history — Matt McGregor of Colliers International and a Massimo Master Broker. Matt and Rod go deep into what they call the evolution of cold calling. Spoiler: they don't believe in “ice cold” calls anymore — and they've got the stats to back it up. They reveal: Why 92% of calls now go straight to voicemail—and what to do about it How to turn a cold call into a warm one using tech, timing, and tactics The specific multi-touch sequences Matt uses (emails, DMs, text, and mailers) Why bots, AI, and campaign automation are changing the game for prospecting The launch of WarmCaller, Matt's new patented tech that ranks and feeds you personalized, real-time prospecting insights How brokers can finally stop sounding like “just another sales pitch” and start making calls that truly resonate Rod and Matt even share real conversion stats from their own sales teams — over 5,900+ calls tracked — to expose what works (and what doesn't) in today's CRE environment. If you're still dialing blind and hoping for the best, this episode will shift your mindset and your results. For more info or to request a demo of WarmCaller, visit warmcaller.com Want to grow your brokerage business fast? Book a free strategy call at https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Skylar Romines, founder and owner of ATW Advisors in Orange County, California. Skylar is an expert in commercial real estate insurance with 15 years experience in the insurance industry. She passionately advocates on behalf of business owners, helping them secure better insurance terms and control over their programs.  Skylar described herself as a late bloomer who struggled socially in high school, but found her footing later in life. During college, she started working at Nordstrom, but later transitioned to insurance after receiving advice from a family member. She unexpectedly found success in the insurance industry while earning her psychology degree. Skylar discusses the challenges and changes within the insurance industry, particularly in the current hard market cycle, where there are fewer options and insurance premiums are increasing significantly. She advises investors to be proactive, working closely with their brokers to avoid pitfalls, such as shopping multiple brokers and delaying insurance considerations.  One of the key points Skylar made was that real estate investors should engage their insurance brokers early during the acquisition process to ensure accurate quotes, avoiding any surprises with coverage costs, and to fully understand any associated risks. Investors should focus on maintaining property conditions, as insurance costs often reflect the risk associated with property age, systems, and geographical factors. Skylar shared her recent success and expereience using social media platforms, like Twitter and LinkedIn, to connect with professionals and grow her network in the real estate industry. She notes how Twitter (X) can foster a sense of community and engagement across industries, unlike LinkedIn, which is more formal. Additionally, Skylar mentions her upcoming book relesased this July, So She Did: Stories, Stats & Strategies to Help Women Win, which focuses on the underrepresentation of women in high-paying roles in the insurance and real estate industries. Drawing from dozens of interviews, she shares compelling statistics, actionable advice, and the collective wisdom of women who are challenging norms and inspiring women to claim their own seats at the table of leadership, ownership, and equity. Skyler hopes to empower women to rise, thrive, and lead in their own unique and inspiring ways. Overall, the episode provides insights into Skylar's journey from a college student with a side job to a successful commercial insurance expert. It also touches on broader themes in commercial real estate, the state of the insurance industry, and the importance of networking in business. Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered. At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Ken Ashley, CCIM, MCR, SIOR, Executive Director of Cushman & Wakefield and Founder of CREI, Commercial Real Estate Influencer. Ken is a successful Atlanta broker with nearly 30 years experience with tenant representation and sales in the commercial real estate industry.  They discuss the importance of building a personal brand and using social media effectively in the commercial real estate industry. Ken shares his strategies for engaging with prospects, valuing your time, and creating a strong online presence. He emphasizes the need to focus on the other person and provide value in order to build trust and influence. Ken also announces the upcoming CREI Summit, a conference dedicated to helping commercial real estate professionals build their brands and increase their influence. Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered. At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Ron Koenigsberg, Founder & President at American Investment Properties, a successful Long Island Broker with 30 years experience in the commercial real estate brokerage industry.   As Ron recalled the pathway to his start in commercial real estate he stated that he “[wished] everything was a straight path… but there are lessons to be learned that are probably never in a straight path, and you certainly have to have a little bit of resilience along the way.”  Ron describes his journey from growing up in Long Island and watching his father survey buildings and construction sites, through his time in college, first jobs, and the eventual decision to establish his own firm, American Investment Properties.  Rod goes on to ask Ron what's the one common thread that allowed him to not only succeed, but thrive during the market cycles over the years? Ron responded that he attributes his success to two factors, his call counts and his coaching from The Massimo Group.  Ron recounts a time in his career when he was scared, he was making a lot of calls, but business had come to a halt. After seeing an advertisement for The Massimo Group, Ron encountered James Nelson and asked him if The Massimo Group was really worth it, since it was expensive!  Ron was a successful broker, “but [he didn't] know what [he didn't] know.” After 10 years with The Massimo Group, Ron stated that “It changed my life. Within five years, I went from really losing money or just getting by to… Broker of The Year… and I won the MVP (The Massimo Group's Most Valuable Producer award) bat on the back of my book.” Rod then goes on to ask Ron what the foundations to his success are? Ron immediately replied with relationships, daily phone calls, and reaching out to his prospects, especially through face to face communication and active listening. Ron notes that while social media is important, it's also a double edged sword. 93% of the essential parts of how we communicate, per an FBI study in the 1970s and 1980s, never come through with the use of technology.  Lastly, they discuss Ron's new book, Power Broker: How to Succeed In Life And Business. This is an essential mindset book for any broker on how to attack everyday, especially if you're feeling stuck, questioning what to do, or are plateaued. It details 9 skills that Ron believes are essential for making people successful. You can find Ron's book on Amazon, Audible or at www.RonKoenigsberg.com. Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered. At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with one of his mentors, Jerry Anderson, a veteran in the commercial real estate brokerage industry with over 50 years of experience. Jerry, currently a Corporate Advisor for eXp Commercial, has successfully run two international brokerage companies and is a pioneer in single point of contact and master franchise brokerage models.  Jerry has succeeded and thrived through at least four economic downturns, otherwise known as inflection points in brokerage, throughout his career, so Rod begins the podcast by asking him about the current state of the market and how it differs from previous downturns he's experienced. At first glance, Jerry thought this downturn was similar to the 2008 financial crisis, but after watching some activity over the past few months, he said there are several differences, especially where things are heating up in the financial/lending industry, and “not in a good way.”  Jerry elaborates that the central dilemma for US brokers right now is that “Interest rate percentages have really been very, very low, in my opinion, for way too long. We have to reset all that. We have to get people accustomed to higher interest rates. If you own a property…at 3% or 4%, [we have to ask] why would you want to sell?... [and advise] All you're going to do is pay capital gains tax, move on, and have a higher interest rate.” Jerry also points out that interest rates used to be higher, he remembers he “was pretty happy when interest rates [used to be] 12% and I was making money as a broker at 12%.”  With Jerry's lengthy expertise, Rod asks what advice he would give to brokers saying there's no velocity in the current market and there's “nothing I can do.” Jerry suggests that interest rates are relative, brokers have “had it pretty easy for the last 10 years… the habits they gave up, they're going to have to reinsert… You have to be an advisor in this marketplace more than ever before because people don't need you… you have to help them figure out what they do need.” “It's a beautiful time for you as a broker to make calls and say, let me share with you what's happening because we have our thumb on the heartbeat of the market.” Jerry continues to explain that brokers have to refocus, understand where the market is and its impacts, and share that knowledge and awareness with property owners and buyers to put them “in a position to be successful…” Rod further emphasizes Jerry's points by adding that The Massimo Group encourages our clients to be an authority in the market versus a commodity, an advisor versus a facilitator. “...This is not a time to take your foot off the pedal. This is the time to jam that pedal to the floor [with] more calls, more effort, more work if you want to just maintain a sliver of market share…” Lastly, Rod enquires what Jerry feels are some of the greatest inflection points in brokerage history that have changed the way brokers work. Jerry recalled the Tax Reform Act of 1986, technology, particularly software and the internet, and the structure of brokerage companies. Jerry briefly discusses his white paper The Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Industry Is Broken For Both Brokers and Associates. Rod postulates if he feels brokerage was broken back then and it still is today, how can we fix it? Jerry details the strengths and weaknesses of some prior brokerage models, from the small shop to national and international brokerage companies, franchises, and now virtual models. Jerry believes the current model that eXp is experimenting with is the closest to having it figured out.  Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered. At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Bobbie Mastracci, CCIM, SIOR and Principal of Phoenix West Commercial, LLC, also known as the “Go To Broker” for the West Valley of Phoenix Metro. Bobbie is a successful real estate broker and Massimo coach with 20 years of CRE experience. She works with corporate and small business clients, both locally and nationally, and prides herself on her faith, dedication, and ability to deliver unmatched customer service. Bobby shares her journey from her first job in high school, to being a hair color platform artist, and then entering the world of commercial real estate. Not to mention relocating from Pennsylvania to Arizona. She discusses the importance of education, setting goals, and having a strong work ethic.  Bobby also addresses the misconception that it is harder for women to succeed in commercial real estate and emphasizes the importance of faith, discipline, persistence, and consistency to achieve success. Bobby advises, to those considering a career change, to be prepared for a slow start and to find a mentor or coach to guide them. She also talks about the benefits of embracing technology, including AI, in the industry. Overall, she encourages listeners to have a positive mindset, seek opportunities, and take action to achieve their goals. At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/ Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Rich Vaaler of Vaaler Commercial Real Estate, a commercial real estate broker with 43 years of experience.  He's owned, managed, and developed property throughout his career, a facet that the typical broker may not have to share with their clients. It gives him a perspective to help his clients, especially older people, streamline their portfolio/assets and get rid of the complicated ones to transition into simplified properties. He loves what he does and he's always trying to get better, always trying to learn more to help his clients. Rich emphasizes the importance of being good at what you do, finding a niche, and constantly learning and improving. Rich also highlights the significance of having a supportive spouse and the role of AI in his business, particularly in writing content and analyzing data. He encourages brokers to focus on their specific market and consistently work on prospecting and building relationships. Rich concludes the podcast by expressing his gratitude for the coaching he has received at The Massimo Group and the positive impact it has had on his life and business. At the Massimo Group we've been helping businesses like yours integrate AI into their everyday business practices. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/ Note: These highlights of the key points discussed in the podcast are designed to provide an overview of the episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show Host Rod Santomassimo is joined by 3 guests who are all highly successful and influential figures in the commercial real estate industry: Ken Ashley, Executive Director and Chairman for Cushman & Wakefield's Tenant Advisory Group; Brad Ahrens, President of Concord Development Partners; and Bob Knakal, Head of New York Private Capital Group- JLL. They delve into various aspects of commercial real estate, centering the conversation around their experiences, insights, and strategies that have contributed to their success as top producers. They each offer valuable insights and expert advice taken from and highlighting the information found in Rod's new book, Dominators of Commercial Real Estate Brokerage. Our podcast begins with an introduction to today's objective: sharing clarity in the chaos that's forming in this market downturn, sharing approaches every broker should be thinking about and considering, and tactics that have worked in the past and continue to generate results, to help us all get through this part of the market cycle.  Ken Ashley shares his journey in commercial real estate and his passion for solving complex real estate problems, emphasizing that the market is always evolving. The discussion moves on to the current state of the office market and how office tenant reps can thrive. Ken highlights the need for adaptation and the changing dynamics of office spaces post-pandemic. He urges tenant reps to focus on building relationships, marketing their brand effectively, and adopting a strategic approach to business development using the A, B, C system. Brad Ahrens then shares his experiences in managing active projects during the pandemic and how his team adapted to mitigate risks. He discusses the importance of automation, outsourcing, and integrating technology to streamline processes and manage deal flow, leading to increased efficiency and faster decision-making. Overall, allowing him to optimize operations.  The podcast conversation then shifts to social media and its impact on the commercial real estate industry. Ken Ashley emphasizes that social media is a powerful platform to spread one's brand and message, but it requires focus and intentionality. He encourages professionals to adopt a thoughtful approach and provide valuable content to stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Our guest speakers also explore their tech stacks, communication preferences, and the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in the industry. They agree and emphasize the importance of using technology effectively to streamline processes and improve productivity, but caution that while technology and AI offers many benefits, the human element will always be crucial in commercial real estate. It's the ability to connect, build relationships, and provide personalized expertise that sets professionals apart in this industry. Next, Bob Knakal, a veteran with 39 years of experience in the New York real estate market, gives a quick introduction to himself and his remarkable achievements in the industry. He then talks about his recent project during the pandemic, where he personally inspected and documented every building under construction in Manhattan, creating a comprehensive and accurate database that sets him apart in the market. Brad Ahrens, who transitioned from brokerage to real estate investment, discusses the differences between representing investors as a broker and understanding investment deals as an investor. He emphasizes the significance of quantifying information to provide clients with data-backed insights, leading to faster decision-making and building trust. Ken Ashley highlights the importance of emotional and tactical listening in building trust and strong relationships with clients. He stresses the value of being genuinely interested in others, actively listening, and being confident in oneself while showing vulnerability. Finally, our podcast concludes with our guests sharing their reasons for remaining passionate and dedicated to the industry, ranging from enjoying the business challenges to wanting to change the world. Leaving us with the idea of embracing an abundance mentality and giving back to the community. They also emphasize the significance of mentorship, surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals, and always striving for growth and improvement in the commercial real estate industry. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and lessons from highly successful professionals, giving listeners actionable strategies and a glimpse into the mindset needed to navigate challenges, make informed decisions, continuously evolve and stay relevant, and excel in the world of commercial real estate brokerage and investment. All of this making this episode a must-listen for industry professionals. Note: These highlights of the key points discussed in the podcast are designed to provide an overview of the episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod talks about what hard feels like, especially when it comes to commercial real estate brokerage and how to handle it in the current markets. Rod thought it'd be important to address something that's going on right now, the market is shifting and we're seeing less velocity, more challenges than we have before, inflation, increasing interest rates and even bank solvency. It's a fact that you have to work 10 times as hard to produce maybe half the results. Every transaction becomes a fight as the speed of transactions declines, even though you're putting in more time, energy, and even strategic thought. Those benefits may seem like they're dwindling. This is the harsh reality of the current market that we're all working in in trying times.   However, don't forget, this also represents a chance for business development, personal development, resilience, and yes, invention. It's the examination of your fortitude, adaptability, and perseverance. It could feel like you're running in place while exerting more effort than ever, but keep in mind, this does not indicate that you've failed. Even the most seasoned brokers must overcome this issue because it's a reflection of the market. It's not a reflection of you.   How you react to this market is within your control. Let these trying times spur your development, creativity and innovation. Be proactive in looking for new opportunities and innovative ways to answer the problems that you and your clients are encountering. Encourage yourself to learn more about the market, hone in on a specific subject matter and grow your expertise, or forge closer bonds with some of those prospects and clients you've worked with. Put extra emphasis and attention on developing relationships with your clients and giving them outstanding service.    Yes, this is what hard feels like, however, it's also what growth feels like. It's how resilience feels. It's how creativity feels. So accept the challenge, adjust and invent, and keep in mind that this tide is going to eventually shift, and when it does, you'll be better equipped to take advantage of the opportunities because you'll be stronger and wiser. Always remember that in commercial real estate, the market's difficulties are not an accurate representation of your skills. Use this time as a chance to show your resilience, adaptability, and steadfast dedication to your clients, to your craft, and to yourself. So keep moving forward with new ideas and demonstrating that you can succeed in even the most difficult markets.

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with The Massimo Group's own Chief Strategy Officer, Mike Gallegos CCIM, MCR, to discuss AI and how it's taking the world by storm. You can either chose to adopt AI or get left behind.  At the Massimo Group we've been helping businesses like yours integrate AI into their everyday business practices. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with entrepreneur, author and international speaker, the one and only, Ronsley Vaz. First and foremost, he's the executive producer and host of multiple top rated podcasts, including The Psychology of Entrepreneurship, Should I Start a Podcast, and Bond Appetit. His podcasts have been downloaded more than 5 million times across 133 countries. In addition, he's the founder of the award winning audio marketing agency Must Amplify, which has helped entertainers, government leaders, athletes, and businesses raise their voice through podcasts. He's also the founder of the globally renowned conference We Are Podcast and audiobook agency, The Library of Sound, in partnership with Audible Australia. Ronsley's book, Amplify, has helped thousands of companies, associations, and business minded individuals expand their reach by using their podcasts. 

On this episode of the Massimo Show

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with one of the CRE top producers in North America, James Nelson. Now an author as well as being a speaker, investor, amazing broker and long time Massimo member, James is principal and head of Tri-State Investments at Averson Young. With the launch of James' new book, The Insiders Edge to Real Estate Investing, Rod opens by asking why brokers don't also invest in commercial real estate? Does he see that as a conflict or should they be investing? James astutely remarks on the ethical issues and potential conflicts of being a broker and investor. He personally operates with the beliefs that reputation is everything, full or over disclosure is key and don't invest in an opportunity that you're listing or selling as a broker. Next, Rod explores why James chose to invest in commercial real estate versus other avenues, such as the stock market. James responds by sharing his passion for the business and his desire to aquire all the knowledge he can on the frontlines as a broker. He then postulates, "Why wouldn't you take your expertise and knowledge and parlay that into an investment? Why would we not practice what we preach" about the benefits of buying and long term wealth creation? There are many inefficiencies in real estate, you can use that as opportunities that you just won't see in the public markets. James continues to share that this is a big part of how he came to his book's title, The Insiders Edge to Real Estate Investing, as this insight, or edge, is "one of the main benefits of real estate" investing. His book details that "you can gain the insiders edge to outperform in the market." Whereas with the stock market, everyone has the same information available to them. Rod and James go on to discuss how he got his start as an invester 20 years ago, the main deltas on how a professional investor views a deal versus a broker, tips for how to get started in investing with "sweat equity," and what the ideal investment team looks like. James provides a host of information in his book about "having the right specialists" and how "This is the business that's all about having the right people." With the assistance of James' writing team, he also wrote about how to bring on a well trusted partner for your first investment and the significant differences, with respect to both risk and reward, between a general partner, co-general partner, and limited partners. Lastly, and a big part of the book, James reviews "the most important attribute for a great opportunity, seller's motivation." To close out their podcast, Rod gets James' thoughts, from his broker perspective, for what he sees as opportunities in the market for 2023 and how he's able to find the time to do so many things.  If you'd like to find James' podcast or more information about his book, published by McGraw HIll, The Insiders Edge to Real Estate Investing, go to jamesnelson.com.

In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Mason Fiascone of Paragon Group in Washington State. Mason will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Mason is a multifamily advisor serving the middle market in the Inland Northwest. He has built his business from fourplex to 100+ unit property sales in less than 2 years, closing $65M in multifamily as a solo broker at an independent firm in a tertiary market. Honing his prospecting skills, creating a unique offer, and leveraging social media, Mason will make 7-figures, in a tertiary market no less, in as few as 24 months. Mason will share how he does it, and exhibit some specific approaches anyone, or any level of experience can do as well. You can learn more about Mason here: https://paragongroupwa.com/mason/ About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event...Ever! What you'll get: • 12 Amazing Speakers • 2 High-End Key Notes • 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers • All Service Sectors Represented • All Product Types Represented • Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact! This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss! Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show with Rod Santomassimo featuring Guest Speakers for MassimoCon: Rod interviews Robbie Baty, Executive Managing Director at Cushman Wakefield's Dallas-Fort Worth office. He's the Office Tenant Representation Leader. Robbie has helped companies with their headquarters locations for the last 15 years. He specializes in representing office tenants, ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, in site selection, lease and purchase negotiations, build-to-suits and municipal incentives negotiations. Over his career, he has distinguished himself as one of the top tenant representatives in the North Texas market. A key takeaway from this talk with Robbie: It doesn't matter if the market is up or down, tenants are always going to be looking for space. Find out more about Robbie Baty and his career as a world-class tenant rep here: https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/people/robbie-baty At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Robbie will share just what you need to do differentiate yourself in any market. If you want to hear it all, you have to come to MassimoCon this November!   About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever! What you'll get:

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show with Rod Santomassimo featuring Guest Speakers for MassimoCon: Rod interviews Bob Knakal, Chairman of New York City Investment Sales for JLL.  Bob is one of the most successful investment brokers in the world. His record of success includes closing on over $18 Billion of investment sales, selling his former brokerage company for a reported $100 million, and being the recipient of more awards and recognition than we could possibly list. He's aiming to sell his 2022nd building in 2022. A key takeaway from this talk with Bob: Being a market leader and knowing the market inside and out will propel you to success. Find out more about Bob Knakal and his extraordinary Commercial Real Estate Career here: https://www.us.jll.com/en/people/bob-knakal At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Bob will outline exactly how he keeps his fingers on the pulse of the NYC real estate market and then leverages this data to retain his authority position. About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever! What you'll get:

In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show: Rod interviews Matt McGregor, Executive Director and Corporate Real Estate Strategist for Colliers. Matt will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Matt McGregor is Executive Director and Corporate Real Estate Strategist for Colliers and is one of the most recognized and awarded supply chain / logistic brokers in the county, working with some of the most prestigious companies in the world. Real Estate Forum's Top Industrial Broker for 2017, a SIOR advisor of the year in 2019, Matt earned his Master of Science in Supply Chain from Michigan State University as well as a Logistics and Transportation certificate from Georgia Tech. Matt specializes in the representation of industrial tenants and landlords in the Seattle area and is a market leader in the dispositions and acquisitions of both owner/user and investment sales. Matt has developed long-term relationships with many clients due to his extensive knowledge of the market and his dedication, professionalism, and commitment to his clients.  Matt will share his team's 7-Step Prospecting Pursuit Process as well as demonstrate elements of the Technology-Based Marketing Program.  Find out more about Matt McGregor here: https://www.colliers.com/en/experts/matt-mcgregor About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…Ever! What you'll get: • 12 Amazing Speakers • 2 High-End Key Notes • 8 – 7&8 Figure Producers • All Service Sectors Represented • All Product Types Represented • Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact! Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss! Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/  Let's Move Forward!

In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Kim Ford, CEO of Rise Pittsburgh. Kim will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.   Kim is a 25-year CRE veteran exclusively representing businesses/tenants, never landlords, in Pittsburgh, and over 200 U.S. markets. Kim has never stopped searching for success and does the same for each and every one of her clients through her 20+ years of experience, market expertise, transparency and strategic positioning.   Kim, who is also an FAA, Licensed Unmanned Aircraft Pilot & a writer, speaks in many cities across the country and volunteers at the Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship to mentor entrepreneurs in the Real Estate and Technology industries. Kim will be speaking about how to grow your Commercial Real Estate business by thinking outside of the box.   You can learn more about Kim here: https://risepittsburgh.com/team/   About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event...Ever! What you'll get: • 12 Amazing Speakers • 2 High-End Key Notes • 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers • All Service Sectors Represented • All Product Types Represented • Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact!   Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available.   This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss!   Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public- registration/

In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Managing Director for Capstone in Oklahoma City, OK. David will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. David has over 15 years in the real estate industry, specializing exclusively in the brokerage of multifamily housing projects and multifamily site selection. From being named “Rookie of the Year” in 2007 through today, David has personally been involved in multifamily and land transactions totaling more than $1 billion throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri. David is a seven figure producer and is 'The Guy' in Oklahoma City for multifamily. When asked, David stated his 3 pillars for success are: offering his clients extensive market knowledge, "I truly think there's nobody in Oklahoma that knows the apartment market better than I do... I know the market inside and out and my client's love that... I can tell them [things] other people don't even know."; hustle and dedication to building his business; and, building relationships with your clients, "We're big believers in a client for Life." David goes beyond the inactive client, his clients are truly part of his life. As such, they've been able to put their trust in David, knowing he can consistently provide them with the results they expect. At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, David will share how you can create “Clients for Life.” You can learn more about David here: https://www.capstone-companies.com/team_member_info/david-dirkschneider/ About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…Ever! What you'll get: 12 Speakers 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers All service sectors represented All product types represented 2 High-End Key Notes Plus many other surprises. It's GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional. Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/ This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss!

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews best selling author and motivational speaker, Carrie Wilkerson. Carrie will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Carrie has been featured on CNN and Fox Business News, in Success and Entrepreneur magazines and named by Forbes as a top small business influencer. She's consulted with Google  and other business thought leaders on growth strategies, productivity and current trends. Carrie usually only speaks at events with massive attendance, but we got her to speak at MassimoCon!  Consistent with Massimo's mission of having their client's build the business and life they desire; At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Carrie will present a proven approach for achieving all your personal and professional goals. She loves showing people how to transform their lives, bodies, relationships and bank accounts. A kew takeaway from this talk with Carrie: She's never seen a calendar with "Someday" on it. Whether you tune in for her tough-love, her hysterical no-filters humor or her big-as-Texas heart, she'll inspire you and help you make a plan to be more productive and more profitable, without sacrificing your priorities. Find out more about Carrie Wilkerson here: https://carriewilkerson.com/ About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever! What you'll get: 12 Speakers 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers All service sectors represented All product types represented 2 High-End Key Notes Plus many other surprises. It's GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional. A limited amount of public tickets are currently available. Secure your seat now! Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss!

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Allen Buchanan, SIOR of Lee & Associates Orange out of Southern California. Allen will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Allen has spent his real estate career in the industrial arena in North Orange and West Riverside County. His specialties include user representation, owner representation, and investment sales. Allen has continually been recognized as a Top Five Producer of the Orange office over the last 32 years and has mastered the art of  prospecting, allowing him to retain his top producer position. At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Allen will share exactly what he says to secure meetings, along with the plan he has when he meets with prospects helping him achieve an impressive meet to listing conversion ratio. Find out what Allen's “Levers to Success” are in this special podcast episode. You can learn more about Allen here: https://www.lee-associates.com/orange/allenbuchanan/ About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event...Ever!  What you'll get: 12 Amazing Speakers  2 High-End Key Notes 10 - 7&8 Figure Producers All Service Sectors Represented All Product Types Represented Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss! Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews The Canvassing Queen® Beth Azor. Beth will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Affectionately known as 'The Canvassing Queen™' Beth Azor is the founder and owner of Azor Advisory Services (AAS), a leading commercial real estate advisory and investment firm based in Southeast Florida. As its principal, Beth currently owns and manages six shopping centers in Florida and travels the country consulting with, brokering deals for and training associates in the commercial real estate industry. A partial list of Beth's clients include Phillips Edison & Co., Brixmor Properties, The Shopping Center Group, Urban Edge Development and DLC Management Group. Prior to founding AAS, Beth was the President of Terranova Florida's largest 3rd party asset manager. Beth also has over thirty years of experience in managing, developing, redeveloping and teaching commercial real estate leasing agents all over the country. She has taken it upon herself to guide budding and established retail real estate agents to conquer the market by offering commercial real estate training courses and workshops. Her canvassing workshops are legendary! Learn more about Beth here: https://www.bethazor.com & https://azoracademy.com About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever! What you'll get: 12 Speakers 10 - 7&8 Figure Producers All service sectors represented All product types represented 2 High-End Key Notes Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss! Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod continues to feature elite commercial real estate brokers, this time sitting down with Nikita Zhitov. Nikita is a different broker with a different approach that has led him to exponential results. Born and raised in Russia, Nikita immigrated to the United States when he was fourteen. He went from beginning the 9th grade knowing no English to buying his first property, a 16 unit apartment building, 3 years later with $500 in saved up lunch money during his senior year. He was 18. Nikita soon flipped the property for a $50,000 profit and quickly became “obsessed with the sport of real estate acquisition and creative finance.” He dropped out of a full ride scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill for a full time career as a real estate entrepreneur. With no money, no credit, no resources or connections, Nikita averaged buying about a property per week. When Rod asked how he did it, Nikita simply said “That's the beauty of real estate…real estate offers thousands of tools to structure deals creatively.” Rod and Nikita went on to discuss his innate intellectual curiosity, his pursuit of the American Dream and his emphasis on continued learning and development. Nikita implied knowledge is paramount, having learned through research, tools, mentors and programs such as The Massimo Group, “if he can learn one thing…it pays for itself many times over.” They also discussed the recession, how Nikita lost focus and direction and lost it all at 24 years old. When Rod asked how he started over, Nikita stated “Starting from ground zero is the perfect place to start, you've got a clean sheet of paper.” He “had all of this knowledge…how to make money in real estate,” so that's when he went into commercial real estate brokerage. Nikita is now the broker in charge of CityPlat Commercial, a brokerage entity in the Raleigh-Durham NC market, with his young team of 20. Listen in to hear his unique approach to running his successful brokerage company.

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with 2021 Massimo CRE Elite Member of the year - Mark D. Bratton. Hear how Mark Bratton,  SVP of Colliers International, Hawaii, and Massimo CRE Elite member of the year transformed his business from slumlord to yacht owner by applying specific principles to his brokerage practice. Mark grew up in Westlake Village in Southern California. His neighbors that he used to sail with were architects and he thought this would be a great path for him. He took drafting classes and interned at their firms but “then I kind of looked at the business side of it and said, architects kind of make their money later in life, maybe I want to go more into finance and development. So I switched my major to real estate for the last three years of school” Mark tells Rod.  With this switch to real estate, Mark had charted a new course for himself. Consequently so had his father. At the same time that Mark was going to college at San Diego State, his father had gone from marketing to becoming a real estate developer. He had the pleasure of working during his summers helping clean up after the construction crews and getting first-hand knowledge of the sweat equity that goes into the construction side of things.  Mark got his foot in the door in Hawaii by partnering with a friend of his dad and selling residential real estate at a resort. When this partner retired he knew it was time for him to make the transition to his originally intended market - commercial property.  Mark started out doing retail shopping center leasing. He got a job at the same firm he is with now and on day one they said “See this nice lady Judith, you're going to shadow her for 60 days and then you're going to go out and do it on your own… in the 80s That was training!” Mark jokes with Rod.  Today Mark and his team, Capital Markets Investment Team, sell, consult, and advise on all property types within the state of Hawaii.  Mark and Rod spend the rest of the interview discussing strategy, breakdown of responsibilities on his team, Mark's evolution as a broker, and why coaching at the Massimo Group is right for him.

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with one of two 2021 Massimo CRE Elite Members of the year - Whitney Tharaldson. Whitney is the proud owner of The Tharaldson Group, Inc. which is the premier brokerage company in California catering exclusively to dentists. They specialize in practice sales, medical building sales, leasing, and practice appraisal.  Originally from West Covina in LA County, California Whitney was a high school athlete playing basketball, volleyball, and track. She also loved fashion but overall, “not really school” Whitney admits to Rod. She left High School and headed to Chapman University in Orange, CA to play volleyball. She was originally interested in physical therapy and then devoted her pursuits to pre-dental.  From there Whitney tried her hand at a law office, working at Neiman Marcus, and back to real estate. The truth is she had been answering phones in the office of a family member who worked in real estate at a very young age and no matter what she did she kept coming back to it. It was her passion.  But it wasn't always easy. Whitney took odd jobs and her passion waned here and there but “after some soul searching and time off piercing other things that I don't want to do anything else” Whitney tells Rod. The bottom line, her level of commitment changed. She got a coach and put her whole self into her work and has surely seen the results.  In the rest of the podcast, Rod and Whitney discuss her connection to her niche, leveraging social media in the industry, and planning for growth in the coming years. Tune in to hear the whole podcast! 

On this Episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Massimo's 2021 New to Business Member of the Year - Steve Rowe.  Originally from Connecticut, Steve moved to Mobile Alabama when he was nine years old. His grandfather was the vice president of a grocery store and his father owned a construction company. His intention was to work for his father after school. “So in high school, I never really tried that hard,” Steve tells Rod. As soon as he could, he immediately went to work for his dad. His teachers encouraged him to work on his resume but he didn't really see that as important since he knew he essentially already had a set career. “It was something that I thought was the right thing for me until I started really getting a better understanding of real estate,” Steve explains. “And that is why I made the transition into doing full-time brokerage because the difference maker for me has been the fact that I love what I do.”   A friend of Steve's - Justin - who started his own SVN franchise lamented that “Man, I'm having a hard time finding anybody.” Steve told him “yeah, you really need somebody like me who's okay making a lot of old calls.” Justin pitched the idea of Steve joining the team and Steve really didn't see why he couldn't make that move. So in 2019 he came on full time to the SVN team - before getting his license - and started making calls. He got licensed shortly after that and has been a powerhouse of sales ever since.  Rod and Steve spend the rest of their time together talking about a variety of things that lead to his early success at the start of his brokerage career including:  The importance of being sociable plus the use of systems becoming a resource and creating a niche in your community consistency in calling and tracking your pipeline and what it takes to feel ready to build a team

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with 2021 Massimo CRE Accelerator of the Year - Mason Fiascone. Mason is currently a Local Inland Northwest Multifamily Expert in Eastern Washington State for The Paragon Group.  Mason grew up in the Chicago suburbs north of Chicago and Gurnee, Illinois, and loved all kinds of things: leadership, business, entrepreneurship, “everything I could get my hands on” Mason tells Rod “typical kind of firstborn type A personality”  He started a lawn mowing business mowing lawns in the neighborhood, he was the only male babysitter in a roughly five-mile radius and was involved in Catholic leadership through his high school.  After graduating high school in 2012 he went to undergrad where he met his wife, studied marketing and philosophy, and then worked for four years in corporate America at Unilever. Mason did marketing work for big brands like Ben and Jerry's, Dove and Hellman's to name a few. “But I realized that my wings were a little bit clipped being in the corporate world. And so while working a full-time job and living in Charlotte, and New York and San Francisco, I was doing everything I could to learn about real estate” Mason explains to Rod “everything I could to understand how can I get out of the corporate world and into the generating income and providing a life for my family.”  After a year and a half, Mason realized he'd only scraped the surface of real estate and that he needed to get into the business full time. He decided to be a multifamily specialist and saw a lot of opportunity in his market, which is Eastern Washington. He built the business plan, jumped in, and has found a lot of success since then. And that was 15 months ago from today, in January 2020.  Mason and Rod spend the rest of their time together discussing how he read Brokers Who Dominate and then Knowing Isn't Doing on the recommendation from a friend and absorbed every single piece of information, how he stumbled through his first few deals (including an unwelcome guest in the basement of a four-plex), how his pipeline completely changed after starting coaching with The Massimo Group and what's happening over on Real Estate Twitter. 

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Melissa Agnes - Founder and CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute, Melissa Agnes is a recognized leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is the creator of the Crisis Ready® Model and author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World. She is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.    Getting Out of the House and Becoming an Adult Melissa grew up in Montreal, traveled the world when she grew up, but lived in Montreal her whole life until she moved to New York for work. Melissa describes her passions in high school as “ just trying to figure myself out. And I was very passionate about getting out of the house and becoming an adult and leading my own life.” Something I am sure we can all relate to!  With ambition on her side, Melissa soon found herself working as a brand strategist and entrepreneur with a keen eye for what was coming down the pipeline when it comes to the change that technology was bringing to the world, and what that meant for businesses and potential risk.  “So I saw the risk that social media, the real-time news cycle, and the fact that every single consumer had a voice and could raise that voice against brands. I saw the risk. I didn't understand why people, nobody was talking about it at the time.” Melissa explains to Rod.  “And I also saw how if we confront the risk, if we mitigate the risk, all of a sudden, we have this unprecedented opportunity for connection and communication in times of crisis that can do wonders for the organization and its business, its brand value element.”  In Melissa's mind, this was revolutionary - and she was right! - but she wasn't one to jump into something without doing her research. “I started by doing so much homework. Once I kind of had that epiphany, I realized that crisis management was a thing…” Melissa explains.  “And when I realized this, I spent about a year studying everything that I could on the subject, because it just kind of fed the wiring of how I made it really, really resonated with me.”  Melissa continued to get frustrated with the fact that nobody was talking about the way the world is today, not the way that the world was yesterday but her opportunity to prove herself was just around the corner.  “All of a sudden, we had a client, we just launched their website, they became in crisis. They called us because it started on Twitter, and they related Twitter with a website because it was digital and just happened to pick up the phone and call me.” Melissa says.  Within a half an hour Melissa and her team had the clients' investors getting the right information, the media correcting their story, essentially, everything flowing the way that it needed to, even though - - and here's the real kicker - they needed to basically rewire the communication strategy because the investors and their stakeholders weren't even online yet.   A miscommunication that happened online and had the potential to spread like wildfire had been stamped out before any outlet that would reach key decision-makers ever had a chance to be misinformed.  The president of the company called Melissa the next day and said that not only did the stock price of the company not go down from the day before, but it had actually gone up by a cent. That was a direct result of how Melissa and her team managed the incident. “That was my, oh my goodness, I can serve. This is what I'm supposed to do.” Melissa tells Rod.  What does one do when they are young and inexperienced but full of ideas and frustration? They start a blog, of course! “I blogged five days a week for several years, it turned into a blog and podcasts and videos and collaborations and amazing clients and a great career,” Melissa explains.  After years of blogging and practicing crisis management for business, Melissa launched the Crisis Ready Institute to help leaders and their teams develop the skills, capabilities, and confidence to successfully navigate and thrive through challenge and adversity. Melissa describes a crisis as “anything that touches bottom line and reputation” and explains that her passion is communication and understanding emotion. This unique and empathic perspective guides her work in every way.    An Issue vs A Crisis  When it comes to being an independent contractor, solopreneurs, or small business owner, it may seem like you are always in crisis. But Melissa suggests that an issue is not a crisis.  Melissa suggests understanding and defining for your organization what an issue is versus what a crisis is. And then defining the criteria or the thresholds that take an incident from issue level to crisis level.  By having those definitions and those understandings and doing a simple exercise, where you can identify your high-risk scenarios - issue versus crisis - and those thresholds, you've already alleviated a lot of stress that comes with identifying an issue and its scope.  The second step is to better understand or to seek to better understand your stakeholder groups. Because successful business is built on relationships, Crisis Management is about doing right by those relationships when it matters most. It is important to understand who you serve, how you serve them, and what the relationship is, in your business and in your brand.  Consider what their expectations are of you and how a certain specific situation relates to them, and how it impacts them.  What are the questions that they'll have, that if you answer those questions before they come to you with those questions, you can get ahead of the story and own the narrative, and continue to build and foster trust even amidst adversity?  Rod and Melissa spend the rest of the show swapping stories and examples of crisis vs issue, setting up a framework to define a crisis, and how to communicate the difference between a crisis and an issue to your clients and stakeholders. Listen in to hear the rest of this amazing and timely advice! 

No one ever drifted to the success they wanted - they created a plan and set goals to get there.   The trouble is, though, that achieving big goals isn't easy because most of us haven't been taught HOW to properly set goals -- or even WHAT goals to set so that we end up with the results we really want. There is no reason 2022 can't be your best CRE year yet – Rod Santomassimo walks through his 7 Days to Your Best CRE Year Yet program explaining the goal planning steps to gain clarity, how to set career-changing goals, and how to achieve them to gain greater success in 2022.  A free downloadable workbook is available at https://rodsantomassimo.com/e-68-7-days-to-your-best-year-yet-part-2    This is Part 2 of 2.

No one ever drifted to the success they wanted - they created a plan and set goals to get there.   The trouble is, though, that achieving big goals isn't easy because most of us haven't been taught HOW to properly set goals -- or even WHAT goals to set so that we end up with the results we really want. There is no reason 2022 can't be your best CRE year yet – Rod Santomassimo walks through his 7 Days to Your Best CRE Year Yet program explaining the goal planning steps to gain clarity, how to set career-changing goals, and how to achieve them to gain greater success in 2022.  A free downloadable workbook is available at https://rodsantomassimo.com/e-67-7-days-to-you-best-year-yet-part-1/.  This is Part 1 of 2.

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with a Top15 Business Growth Expert, a Top 41 motivational sales speaker, and a Top 10 sales and leadership trainer, Meridith Elliott Powell.  Sales strategist, leadership expert, Certified Speaking Professional, and award-winning author, Meridith Elliott Powell wants today's businesses to stop viewing uncertainty as something that prevents them from being successful. This is why her virtual programs, leadership coaching, online courses, and keynote presentations leverage her 9 step formula for making uncertainty your company's strategic advantage™. A Rocky Road to Real Results  Meridith grew up in a little town called Uniontown, Pennsylvania - in coal mining country. While she didn't really know what she wanted to do when she grew up she was not afraid of hard work. In fact, she feels she got the majority of her education by working. “I got through college by the skin of my teeth, from Penn State University to the University of South Carolina but I learned sales and leadership far more from waiting tables,” Meredith tells Rod.  Her very first job was in public relations for a chamber of commerce and from there she went into banking and healthcare and ultimately launched out on her own.    Meredith has honed her ability to flourish in times of turmoil. She had worked in travel and tourism in the midst of a hurricane, in healthcare when they'd gone through a cutback from the government. When she went into banking and financial services was when regulation was really coming into place. Her passion became a desire to help businesses navigate how they not only go through change but motivate their teams to go through change and actually see changes as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.  To sum up all of her time working with businesses, Meredith has written an incredible book called Thrive.    The Creation of the 9 Steps  “How lucky am I that my passion is helping organizations navigate changes successfully, and we just keep getting changed on another level of steroids,” Meridith tells Rod.  “A couple of years ago, and I can imagine everybody listening to this podcast can relate if you go back to 2018, 2019. I mean, do you remember how good the economy was? You just basically opened your doors and business rolled in? Well, I was asking my clients just like everybody does tell me how businesses are going. And everybody responded the same businesses, good businesses, great. In fact, we are having our best year on record. But oh, this uncertainty, as if we were all relishing how good the economy was, but we were waiting for the ball to drop for the bottom to fall out. And that just got me thinking like, Why does uncertainty always have to be a bad thing? Why does it have to be a negative? What would happen if your business, if you started to see it as an opportunity if you actually believed that uncertainty was the disruption you needed to take your business to the next level.  And that put me on a mission to try to find companies that had done that. And let me tell you, there aren't many.”  Meredith discovered just nine companies (ironically enough) that had been in business since the late 1700s, early 1900s. And they're still in business thriving today. These businesses had come through economic depression, they'd come through World Wars, they'd even survived previous pandemics.  From there, Meredith built a nine-step formula of what it takes to navigate change at any level and see uncertainty catapult your company, and your business, to another level.    The difference between Netflix and Blockbuster Even the experts, the change gurus, tell us that we need to navigate change, we need to be good at change, we need to react to change. But in an uncertain marketplace, if you are reacting to change, even if you're acting to it flawlessly you're already behind you already lost. So strategy number two is that you need to condition yourself for change.  “Change can be your greatest opportunity if you see it coming. If you wait for change to happen in an uncertain marketplace, it will bury you.” Meredith explains.   And change is like a muscle. The more you work it the more you think about it, the more you talk about it, the better conditioned you are going to be for change. So you have to start to anticipate the changes coming in the marketplace.  Meredith gives us step two in her 9 step process and it's actually an entire exercise or tool. The tool is called a S.C.E.P.T.I.C. (pronounced skeptic)   Meredith recommends that every quarter, you take 30 minutes to look outside of your business to see what is happening externally that's going to impact your success in an uncertain marketplace.  Society  Competition   Economics Politics  Technology Industry  Customers Brainstorm: What do you see happening outside of your business as it relates to those words? This will help you anticipate the changes that are coming in the marketplace. The goal is to create a team that feels empowered by change, rather than disempowered by it. “This is the difference between Netflix and Blockbuster.” Meredith recounts. “Blockbuster believed that the only change they had to pay attention to was inside the company. Netflix is a company that keeps looking outside and is changing before they have to condition themselves for change. Start controlling change rather than change control.” Rod and Meridith round out the podcast by discussing the 5 Ps  Productivity  Prospecting (very interesting approach from Meridith on this one!)  Presence  Partners  Platforms Listen in for the full story! 

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Jon Gordon.  Jon is a husband, father, and author. His best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. He's the author of The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, and his latest The Coffee Bean. Jon believes in keeping his bio short because his past accomplishments, well, they're meaningless. What matters most is that he has something to say today that will inspire you to take action tomorrow.  Usually, Rod starts out the show by asking guests about their teenage years. But this time around he felt like he already knew a bit about Jon because Jon attended Rod's arch-rival high school!  Even though they don't share the love of the same high school they do both appreciate Long Island NY and lacrosse.  Jon grew up in Long Island, New York, and a Jewish Italian family, “a lot of food, a lot of guilt. A lot of wine, a lot of whining.” Jon tells Rod. Not only did he play lacrosse in Highschool but he went on to play at Cornell University. There he learned about the culture of teamwork and about being a leader in many ways.  Jon struggled and didn't know what I really wanted to do after college. He opened up a restaurant in Buckhead, went to work for a dot com, and even ran for city council! He was young - just 26 - but his opponents were seasoned and knew how to smear the other candidates. Jon didn't like the negativity and lies that came with the campaigning and decided that wasn't for him.  After these various upheavals, Jon's quest for purpose became a little more existential.  “What am I born to do? Why am I here?” Eventually, he decided on writing and speaking without much of a solid answer about what his topics would be. At the encouragement of his wife, Jon knew he needed to focus on positivity and he figured there were others out there who needed to as well.  “And so I started to research ways that I could be more positive,” Jon tells Rod.  “Start to practice those ideas, start to write about them, start to share them. The next thing you know, people are reading my newsletter. I'm getting an offer to do a book.”  That first book didn't do very well and Jon started feeling negative again. One day, while he was out for a walk the idea for The Energy Bus came to him. “I wrote that book in three and a half weeks. And that book would change my life because so many different NFL teams, NBA teams, corporations and nonprofits and hospitals and you name it started to read this book, and I started to get brought in to speak at these different events and that led to another 22 More books since.”  Listen in as Rod and Jon discuss the premise of The Energy Bus, the science behind being the best version of yourself, the true origin of negative thoughts, and how to get rid of them.

On this episode of The Massimo Show,  Rod sits down with Wall Street lawyer turned podcast interviewer with an approachable style and knack for securing high-profile guests. His show, The Jordan Harbinger Show was selected as part of Apple's “Best of 2018.” Jordan had a lot of thoughts in high school:  “at what point are they going to teach us where we can find jobs and what we should be doing with our lives and all that stuff.”   “am I employable?” “I have plenty of time to figure this out” Things I'm sure we all thought about at one point or another. In the meantime, Jordan just kept getting in trouble until his family said, “Hey, you can't just do bad stuff until the end of high school, even if you're getting good grades.” So he went on a foreign exchange to Germany, “which was life-changing, and thank goodness I did because I look back now and I go, holy smokes, I was one year away from getting arrested for sure.” Jordan tells Rod. In high school, Jordan could show up for the test and get a B+, no problem but he quickly realized that you couldn‘t do that in college. Everyone there was smart enough to show up and get a B+ so Jordan put his head down and studied.  Then came law school and Wall Street. Jordan realized these guys were smart enough to show up and get an A on any test, plus they were willing to work seven days a week, 16 hours a day.  Jordan felt like his competitive advantage was gone and the imposter syndrome quickly crept in.  His plan was to work from home (before it was cool) and make himself scarce so that none of the senior partners would know he wasn't good enough to be there. So he connected with another colleague who was never in the office for a little advice.  “So Dave said, when I asked him, ‘How do you work from home all the time? what's the cheat code here?' He was like, ‘Oh, I'm not really working from home that much. I mean, here and there. But I'm actually doing a lot more to drive business for the firm'. And I was like, ‘well, what does that mean?' And he's like, ‘well, you know, I'm doing jujitsu, I'm going with investment bankers. I'm playing racquetball, squash, whatever it was, I'm going with the investment bankers, playing golf, doing it with potential clients, going on a charity dinner, cruise, doing it with potential clients', and I was like, ‘Oh, okay. How do I do that networking thing?'.  And of course, this is where the train stops because he goes 'just be cool, man.”  Clearly, this answer wasn't going to help. Jordan felt he was the antithesis of cool. So he started learning things about body language, nonverbal communication, persuasion influence, taking Dale Carnegie courses, and sales courses. “But I quickly realized that if I'm going to learn how to pull in multimillion-dollar deals, from Goldman Sachs to my Wall Street law firm, I'm not going to learn it from a guy wearing a sweater vest at the learning annex on Tuesday nights” Jordan explains to Rod.  So he started to go back to first principles and to connect with really great people in the field of sales. He sought out authors who wrote books on influence, he started to read those books and contact a lot of the authors to learn directly from them, “because I just knew there wasn't a class on doing this, which is why those people who can bring in deals for a firm are so valued because there is no book you read a course you take...there's no master class for this stuff.” It become Jordan's mission to bring in business through networking and relationships and to be indispensable for his company.  But then came 2008 and the housing crisis. Jordan's firm was heavily leveraged in the real estate, finance, and derivatives and when the crash came they laid off everyone, and then the firm went out of business.  That co-worker, Dave, jumped ship and worked at another law firm as a partner. He was young and had an amazing skill. But it wasn't that easy for the other older partners. “And I had a front-row seat for that. And I was like, okay, whatever organization I go to, I have to be the Rainmaker” Jordan recalls. So Jordan focused even more on his goal of networking. “It's the only secure position around really, is that the person who has the relationships. When Jordan realized that he didn't want to hang his hat in the same world he saw crashing down around him he knew he would have to do something a little outside the box. And from there, his podcast was born. Jordan interviews all kinds of people who rely on networking, relationships, and outward appearance for their success. From Charles Koch to Kobe Bryant. But what he's really focused on is bringing amazing content to his listeners while avoiding the pitfalls of his position of power at the mic.  Rod and Jordan spend the rest of the podcast discussing the challenges of being a young professional in a world based on long-term relationships, the importance of finding your niche platform, and why building a product that serves his listeners first has lead to years of success.

On this episode of the Massimo Show   Rod sits down with author, thought leader, and sought-after speaker who teaches people, leaders, and teams to infuse their lives and businesses with authenticity and appreciation: Mike Robbins. As a leadership expert, Mike partners with some of the top organizations in the world helping enhance culture,  performance, trust, and belonging.   Early Retirement x2  As a teen living in Oakland, CA Mike's biggest passion was baseball. Turns out he was very good, good enough to be drafted by the Yankees. But, with his future in mind, he turned down the contract in favor of playing college ball at Stanford, which was only about an hour from where he grew up. He was actually drafted again, after his junior year, by the Kansas City Royals in 1995. As he worked his way up through the minor leagues he experienced every player's worst fear: an injury “I went out to pitch one night, I threw one pitch, I tore ligaments in my elbow, blew my arm out when I was 23. After starting baseball when I was seven...two years, three surgeries later, I was forced to retire from baseball at the age of 25.” Mike explains to Rod.  Like many kids with pro athlete dreams aside from going to college, Mike hadn't really put a lot of thought into a true plan B. He spent time in the late 90s working with internet companies, startups and was in sales and business development learning but not really all that interested and passionate about his work. Along came another type of injury: the .dom bubble burst.  “So now I'm, you know, 26 and out of work and don't really know what the heck, but had had this secret sort of fantasy that I barely even talked about out loud, that I wanted to speak and I wanted to write and I wanted to coach and I wanted to inspire people” Mike explains.  As of January 1st, 2021 Mike has been doing just that for 20 years. “...a lot of good fortune, a lot of support, a lot of help, a lot of determination, a lot of trial and error, lots of error. And I've been able to...do this work that I absolutely love,” says Mike.    Finding Freedom in Entrepreneurship  With no job prospects in his field, Mike was feeling absolutely lost. Despite having the dream of being an author and a coach, knowing the path to get there felt impossible. As fate would have it, about two months later Mike met a woman, Michelle, “that ended up being probably the most extraordinary thing that happened in my life” Mike tells Rod. Not only had Mike met his future wife but he also met the first person who ever encouraged him to start a business.    Finding Wings on the Way Down  Early on someone told Mike to deliver 100 free speeches to rotary clubs and high schools and maybe after 100 times he would be getting paid. Well, it only took 12 times. With a well-connected wife and a friend who was the assistant baseball coach at the high school, Mike has plenty of opportunities to speak and hand out his card. “ I met a woman at a workshop that I took and I had my little business cards,” Mike recalls. They said ‘Mike Robbins Motivational Speaker' and she worked for a company called Sutter Health...she called me like two weeks after the workshop and was like, ‘Oh my god, I'm so glad I got you on the phone. Our CEO from one of our hospitals in Sacramento just called. He's all stressed out because he has a big meeting with all of his managers next week, and their speaker just canceled, but I told him, don't worry, I got a great guy” After that phone call Mike was hired to give a 90-minute presentation on the keys to creating a championship team to 200 managers. After that, he was hooked. He distinctly remembers 3 big takeaways that he still relies on today:  Be yourself.  Connect with the audience, human to human. Talk about the stuff that you know But Mike's main message: Be willing to try. Say yes and find your wings on the way down.    Being Present  At this point, Mike was still only 28 years old and speaking to lots of companies. More importantly, he was finding his niche. He noticed that GenXers were interacting with BAbyBoomers and that creating cultures where people who are different can work together to be successful was important to these companies. Being young himself but having come from a strong team mentality upbringing of baseball he offered a unique perspective.  His time with those younger crowds and junior executives served him well. Despite the social media and TED talks and podcasts Mike still garners a substantial amount of his engagements from good old-fashioned business relationships.  “At the end of the day depending on the business that you have, but especially a service-based business like mine, it's about people, it's about relationships, I could have the fanciest video in the world, I could do the best Facebook marketing campaign you've ever seen, I could, you know, whatever. And at the end of the day, it's like, they got to trust me and know me and know that I can come in and actually provide value for them.” Mike tells Rod.  “I would say for what it's worth, my training as an athlete really helped me in that the game is the game, whether you're playing in Little League, or in front of five people, or you're playing in the College World Series in 1995 on national TV as I did. I'd never pitched in front of 25,000 people, I'd never been on national TV, but you know, and I was scared and I couldn't catch my breath. And the first four pitches I threw almost went over the catcher's head because I was so nervous. But once I calmed down, I realized, you know what,  it's still 60 feet six inches from the mound to the plate, it's still 90 feet with the bases, it's still the same game I've been playing since I was a kid, I just have to deal with my emotions about being on this stage.  And I think the same is true when I'm speaking on the stage, literally in front of I haven't been on a stage in months, of course, but in front of 1000s of people, it's noticeably different than when I'm speaking in a room of 20 people just energetically but it's still the same. I'm still communicating a message to a group of people and wanting to engage them. It's just the stakes sometimes change or the size changes but  the story in our head that is more intimidating than the actuality of what we're doing.”  Rod and Mike close out the show by talking about his Coaches, Mentors, and the value of being vulnerable. Visit mikerobbins.com to learn more about Mike, his books, his podcast, and how to bring him to a zoom screen near you!

On this episode of The Masimo Show, we continue our conversation with the award-winning author - Andy Andrews.  In part two of the conversation, you will hear about his work with presidents, how he worked with major sports figures, and his emphasis on creating measurable results.  Good Question vs Bad Question  Andy used to tell people which presidents he'd been to the white house to meet but in this day and age when people ask him which presidents he answers “the four that asked me.” Very clever.  Despite having been to the white house multiple times, the biggest turning point in his speaking career was when he was capped out by his speaker's bureau. He remembers them saying “This is as much as people like you make.” He didn't have a gold medal or Superbowl ring. He didn't have a television show and he wasn't the hero of some national disaster “And so I knew what they said was correct. It was true. I just didn't know if it was the truth.” Andy recalls.  He began to search for the answer. “It took me a while,” Andy says “because I've always believed that the quality of our answers can be determined by the quality of our questions.”  You can ask yourself “Why am I so fat?” and your subconscious will come up with all kinds of self-degrading responses. But if you ask yourself a question directing it towards a solution such as “How can I regain the shape I had when I was 30?” and then let your subconscious do the work, you'll be surprised at how much better the response is.  In search of a good question to the problem of his speaker's cap, Andy thought “Why do people book speakers? Why do companies book speakers? Why does somebody get a consultant? Why does somebody bring somebody in for their convention?”  And one morning, he woke up with the answer, and “it scared me to death because I knew it was the truth.”  Most companies booked speakers for their events because they always have.  Creating Measurable Results  If they had 10k to spend they booked a speaker for 10k if they had 20, maybe two speakers. Andy asked his speakers bureau if any company had ever gone from booking 10k speakers to 50k speakers and the simple response was no. And when pressed as to why he was told it was because they didn't have the budget to do so.  And there we go again - thought Andy - was something that was true, but not the truth.  Because in reality, the truth is the reason a company that was booking a 10k speaker was never ever going to consider a 50k. Speaker is because they never got a return on their investment with a 10k speaker.  Andy realized he needed to find a way to help people get a return on their investment. More specifically: how to create measurable results (a term Andy has actually trademarked).  Andy went on to work with professionals in football, golf, Olympic shooters, and even in the mortgage industry.  Rod and Andy go on to outline his success in doubling the revenue of a mortgage company, the details behind his new book Just Jones, the importance of community and personal peace, and what it means to win with culture.  Tune in to this amazing conclusion to the two-part podcast with Andy Andrews and let us know your biggest takeaway! 

On this episode of the Massimo Show, we'll explore the first in a two-part series with author Andy Andrews.  Hailed by a New York Times reporter as “someone who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,” Andy Andrews is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including The Traveler's Gift and The Noticer. He is also an in-demand speaker, coach, and consultant for the world's largest organizations. Andy has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents, worked extensively with the Department of Defense, and regularly addresses the world's largest corporations. Arguably, there is no single person on the planet better at weaving subtle yet life-changing lessons into riveting tales of adventure and intrigue—both on paper and on stage.  In this interview, Rod and Andy talk about Andy's history, the origins of his beloved (and real-life) character, Jones, and the origin of the seven principles that changed the course of Andy's life.  From Bad to Worse  Andy recounts that he led a pretty normal life until he was 19 when he lost both of his parents.   His mother from cancer, and his father in a car accident.  With the loss of his role models at such a defining time in his young life you can imagine that the choices Andy made shortly after were motivated by a mountain of grief. After a series of poor decisions, Andy found himself homeless.  “You know, nobody 35 years ago was talking about homeless people,” Andy explains to Rod.  “But I was living under a pier on the Gulf Coast and in and out of garages and it was just not safe or smart. But I did.”  Meeting Jones  While living under his pier Andy came to know an old drifter. He didn't know where he was from or where he went when he wasn't there or really anything about him but he struck up a kind of friendship with him. “We called him Jones, not Mr. Jones, just Jones and he was a very wise man,” Andy tells Rod.  One of the biggest takeaways Andy got from his friendship with Jones was something that he told him: “‘Hey, remember, you can't believe everything you think.'”  This opened up a whole new world of thought for Andy. So much so that it became one of the grounding ideas of the work that he would become well known for in the corporate world and Jones himself became the main character of his book series.  The other takeaway that Jones gave Andy was the gift of escapism. And not into tv or movies or Instagram that way we often do today but in a much more tangible way - the escape into the past. More specifically, biographies.  “I'd always been a sports illustrated field and stream kind of guy” Andy recalls; “and he started me reading biographies. And I said, ‘Ah, biographies…' I didn't know what else to say. He said, ‘No, no, these are adventure stories. These are mysteries and romances and thrillers, and they're all true.'” Andy went on to read over 200 biographies. But reading books didn't put money in your pockets or a roof over your head so Andy had to figure out a way to make a living.  Making a Living  Andy was living on the beach but he was no beach bum. He was washing boats as well as selling fish and bait. He would introduce himself to out-of-towners who had money and a boat but no fishing skills and offer to be their guides for the day. “Back then I'd take people for $100 a day and if you don't catch fish, you don't pay me. It was like a fortune to me. But I worked. But I always wanted to speak, I always wanted to communicate, I wanted to be a speaker, I just didn't have anything to say. And that'll kill a speaking career, as you know” Andy tells Rod.  The Noticer is Born  During this time Jones was a constant for Andy. “You read 200 biographies, you got to notice something, and Jones called himself a noticer,” Andy says. “He would say ‘when they were passing around the talents, I didn't get the good ones. I can't run fast, I can't sing great. But I notice little things that make a difference for people.'”   Like Jones, Andy began to notice some striking similarities in the subjects of the biographies he was reading. It turned out there were seven principles that Andy saw in each of these remarkable people. He wasn't sure if George Washington Carver or Winston Churchill knew enough about themselves to know they had these principles but it was clear to Andy that they were there.  Andy began to form some bigger questions in his mind:  What if someone knew about these seven principles and better yet what if they taught them to their own children?  Could someone get a hold of this knowledge and change their lives? Or was life a lottery and you had to be born with these traits?  “Were these people in this book, were they born this way? Or did they do something? Because if they were born this way, I knew I was out of luck. But if they did something, what did they do? And how long did it take them to do it?” Andy muses.  The Seven Principles...Kind of  I know you're chomping at the bit to get the seven principles and - better yet - start implementing them but Andy explains that “one definition of wisdom is a deeper understanding of the principle. Right? And so if the definition was a deep understanding of the principle, well, that's a target you can hit. Okay, but...where do you go from there? Well, deeper, I guess.” and the truth is that that can't be done in a 3 minute TV segment and it can't be done in a podcast write-up - but it can be done in a book. You should read it.  Ok, we'll do one... Responsibility. The idea and the notion is everywhere - especially today.  There seem to be two extremes about responsibility in our world today. One is that people need to accept and own their responsibilities outright and the other is that the notion of responsibility has to be taken with a grain of salt due to one's upbringing and background.  “But see, here's the thing,” Andy explains “Responsibility has nothing to do with blaming somebody about what they've done, or making somebody feel bad about where they're from. Responsibility is about hope and control. And who doesn't want to have hope for a greater future they can control.” Maybe it's your mom or your neighbor or the weather or COVID or the president or your wife - the bottom line is you can't control any of those things.  “And so the opposite of that is if I can look in the mirror, and I can say, you know what, I've had some crazy things happen in my life. And I couldn't control any of them. But I made choices, in response to those crazy things that have led me down a path to a place that I like, and if I can understand and believe that I can make choices that will lead me to a place I don't like, then it just makes logical sense that I could make choices that would lead me to a place I do, like” Andy says... “and so the game becomes, make better choices. And that's what the other six principles are about helping people do, understanding how to make those choices.”    From the Boat to the Stage   Rod and Andy finish out this episode and discuss Andy's rise from living under a pier to standing on top of a stage. Listen to the remainder of this episode and stay tuned for the second half of this amazing interview in two weeks! 

On this episode of The Massimo Show special guest, Mike Gallegos sits down with Massimo Founder and President, Rod Santomassimo, to discuss the six key trends that are facing the commercial real estate industry today.   Number 1:  Prospect Sequencing, not cadence, but sequencing, think about structuring sequences. It's just not being on Twitter, folks, that doesn't give you …  Number 2: OmniPresence. You immerse your audience, with your knowledge, with your skills, and… Number 3: Your move to Independence. Yes, think about how you can become more independent? And with your independence you can become… Number 4: The Advisor or the Consultant and not simply a transactor.  The quicker you get to that position, the more money you're going to earn, and possibly as you earn more you will consider… Number 5: The Restructuring of Big Brokerage houses.  It's happening, it's happening every single day. And more and more of these low-cost, high-fee infrastructures will continue to grow. This brings us to … Number 6: Your Personal Diversification of Income.  This is what you need to be thinking about right now. In addition to growing your commissions, grow revenue through other ways.   Think of this now, while also focusing on getting deals done for your clients, for you, and your family.  Will you adapt to these new trends and position yourself as an advisor, a consultant, versus simply a facilitator of deals? Transactors are commodities.  Commodities have little value. Consider how you can apply these lessons today to your practice. How much will these changes impact your income growth?  How can you start building the business and the life you've always desired?

On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with speaker, author, business savant, and leader of B2B sales approach and consultancy, Anthony Iannarino.   Anthony was raised by a single mom, who was raised by a single mom and what he liked to do most in high school was not be there. He spent a lot of energy trying to get out of school and when he got to high school, he had an experience that shaped his life.   “We were very poor.  We ate mac and cheese, hamburger helper or fish sticks” Anthony tells Rod. Foods Anthony would never eat again. At 13, A friend of his got him a job washing dishes at Villa Milanos.  Anthony would put in 40-50 hours a week.  “They would feed me lasagna, prime rib and chocolate mousse” he recalls.  “Joey Milano's mother would come around and say ‘you are so skinny you need to eat more!'”.  That's when Anthony fell in love with work...and good food! He was floored by the idea that they would pay him to work and feed him and if he needed a reason to skip school before he'd certainly found it now.  But work and food weren't Anthony's only passions. He also loved music.  He started a band that went though a few members and name changes but eventually they were in LA. Despite his love for his metal band LA is not a cheap town and Anthony had to get a job.  Anthony found himself in an outside sales role out selling all of the other sales guys and feeling as though he was really helping people. With a good job and a band on the rise he was feeling great. But he learned that things change quickly.  A change of...Brain  One day Anthony had a grand mal seizure walking to his apartment.  He was taken to UCLA where they found a giant spot on the front right lobe of his brain.  They told him he had cancer and he needed a lobectomy but he asked for a second opinion. “They said it could be an Arteriovenous Malformation.  That is a congenital disease where arteries and veins grow into a knot.” Anthony explains to Rod.  After testing, it turned out Anthony had the largest AVM they had seen. He had several long surgeries that resulted in a small part of his brain being damaged and removed.  At 25 he was considered brain damaged, with no college degree and no real plan for recovery.  But after surgery, Anthony recognized it was like his brain was on fire, in a good way.  He was easily reading a book a day and felt like he was making more neural connections. “My neurologist said we have no evidence that is true, you are freaking out because we cut a piece of your brain off.” Anthony tells Rod. But it turns out the doctors were wrong. There is a lot of plasticity in the brain and we now know a trauma like this can create new neuroconnections.   That is when Anthony went to college. He completed a 4 year degree in three years working full time and went on to take the LSAT scoring in the top 15%. He got the Dean's academic scholarship to law school but after receiving his law degree, he decided business was a better place for him. Anthony was fortunate enough to go back into the family business and attended Harvard Business school, graduating with his OPM in 2005.  The family business was temporary staffing.  When Anthony took over the family business and became the sales leader he had to figure out how to transfer his knowledge to other people who may not have the character traits or skills.  “It took me a while to figure out how to help people recognize they had assumptions that were out of line with reality.” Anthony tells Rod. “My job is to teach them what reality requires of them and then have difficult conversations to make sure they could make decisions even if they weren't happy about it.”  When Antony first started at the company the revenue was at 3M.  It grew to 50M.  “What you are really doing when you are selling is helping facilitate a decision for your client about what and how they need to do it.”   Putting Pen to Paper The very first publisher that contacted Anthony about writing a book asked him for a manuscript, and he delivered 17 Elements: The Periodic Table of Sales Success. It included the idea that Mindset and skill sets are what one needs to succeed in sales. Character traits dominate the skills and the acquisition and willingness of the skill to be able to try new things.  Anthony defined some of the elements as: Discipline Optimism Caring  Competitiveness Resourcefulness Determination Initiatives Communication Accountability Over twenty-five years, Anthony has boiled down everything he's learned and tested into one convenient book, The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need that explains what all successful sellers, regardless of industry or organization, share: a mind-set of powerful beliefs and a skill-set of key actions.  Listen in as Rod and Anthony talk about being optimistic about the future and still doing what needs to be done.   

On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with author, speaker, entrepreneur, corporate guru and so much more…Lisa Copeland  Lisa was a cheerleader and on the drill team in Arlington, Texas - where football and cheering are a way of life. But Lisa admits she didn't have a lot of ambition in high school. “I wanted to chase boys and go to fashion college.” Lisa tells Rod  An accidental change of direction  While in fashion college, she did something that changed the course of her entire life: she wrecked her car. “My parents would send me money for insurance, and I did not pay my insurance. I had a totaled car and no job.” Lisa recalls. After the wreck she went to her dad and he said ‘I gave you a car, paid for college, your car Insurance - you screwed up; figure it out.' There was no public transportation in Dallas so Lisa got creative. She got a job selling cars because they would give her a demo car off the lot.  But it wasn't as easy as walking in for a job and walking out with a car. At first, the car dealership did not want to hire her at all. In fact. the managers were dead set against hiring her. Lisa called her parents to tell them she had figured it out, “I am going to sell cars and they will give you a car.” she told them. Her parents started to back peddle saying ‘no no we will get you a car' but it was too late. Lisa's first big sale was herself. “I talked my way into a job” she explains. Turns out she was really great at sales.  Lisa had never even been in a car dealership before applying for the job but like a lot of us, she learned that you can fake it until you make it. Despite not wanting to hire her and the general lack of support from the management there was one gentleman, Ernie Bays, who took Lisa under his wing and was her mentor. “He showed me the ropes and made sure the rest of the men were nice to me.”  After college, Lisa was doing really well at the car dealership and was promoted to finance for a few years. She then became the finance platform director. “I stayed in the car business for 12 years.” Lisa says.  After her second child the nights and weekends were too much. She was able to transition to the mortgage business because of her finance background. She did so well in the mortgage business that within 2 years she had started her own mortgage company that is still in business today. Car Buying, Her Way. Lisa travels the country speaking to small businesses, associations and large corporations teaching methods that got her to the top of her field and made her highly sought after. Lisa's first book Crushing Mediocrity - 10 ways to rise above the status quo was co-authored with Rene Banglesdorf who is the CEO of Charlie Bravo Aviation.  If you have a mediocre mind set you will fail as an entrepreneur. There are ten aspects that will help you rise above. The one I start with is:   Do you believe what you do matters?  What is your purpose?  Taking her sales presence to the stage  Lisa's speaking took off after her team broke the world sales record. In sales you must know how to push through mediocre days. If you get stuck the organization gets stuck. I get brought in to help sales organizations get unstuck. Listen in for all the details of Lisa's inspiring story!  

On today's episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with experienced keynote speaker and author, Alan Stein.  At his core, Alan is a performance coach with a passion for helping others change behaviors. He spent 15+ years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant). Through his customized programs, he transfers his unique expertise to maximize both individual and organizational performance with clients such as American Express, Pepsi, Sabra, Starbucks, Charles Schwab, and Penn State Football, and many more. An Early Love  Alan grew up in Washington DC and when he was 4 his parents signed him up for his first basketball team.  “Basketball was my first identifiable passion, the first thing I fell in love with.” Alan tells Rod. 40 years later basketball is still a major pillar in Alan's life.  “I am grateful that I have been able to make a life and a living around something I love, something I am passionate about, and something I have always had an affinity for.”  Even though he now does corporate keynote speaking and writing, it is all done through the lens of someone who spent his entire career around the game of basketball.   In addition to playing basketball Alan also played “every sport under the sun”; football, volleyball,  baseball, hockey as well as martial arts, skateboarding and BMX.  But he always came back to basketball.  He was a good high school player, and even played on scholarship at Elon College.  While at Elon, he was developing an equal love for performance training - Strength training, conditioning for fitness as well as becoming more powerful and more fit.  When he graduated college and realized his formal basketball playing days were over he decided to pursue a career where he could combine his love of basketball with his new found love of performance training. “I became a basketball performance coach right out of college for almost 20 years and I had an opportunity to work with some remarkable players and coaches.” Alan reminises.     From the Court to Corporate  4 years ago Alan decided to take what I learned from the game of basketball and show folks how to apply those same principles, mindsets and habits into business.   Many of these ideas stem from what Alan calls performance training.  When Alan first started he referred to it as strength and conditioning with the goal being to get players to be stronger so they would be resilient to injury to get them in great shape to be able to be as fresh in the 4th quarter as they were at the start of the game.  Over time, the title was confining.  What Alan was really doing with these players was more than strength and conditioning.  “We worked on the physical side: flexibility and mobility, hand eye coordination and balance but also the mental side: mindset and habits.”  Over time Alan morphed that title to performance and he addressed everything except the skills of the game.  How to eat well, how to take care of their bodies, how to improve their athleticism, how to have a winning mindset and how to develop an environment and habits to support all of those things.  “I do the same thing in the corporate space, just to a different audience.” Alan tells Rod.  Mastering the Basics  “You have to master the fundamentals”. Alan explains.  As a performance coach in basketball you have to create the soundest foundation possible so that when an athlete learns the skills of the game they would be the best player they could be. Alan does the same thing in the corporate space.  Alan works with a lot of sales professionals and instead of teaching them a sales philosophy or protocol he creates their foundation so when they apply their sales philosophy they are as effective as possible.   “The life changing lesson that I learned from Kobe Bryant was that the secret to his success was to never get bored with the basics.  He had a strong appreciation and respect for the fundamentals and he knew he needed to constantly work to master those.  He did that because he respected the game and the process. I bring that to the corporate world.”   After leading a workshop one of the first things Alan does is help people to gain clarity on what their basics are.  To Alan, it doesn't matter if they are an executive, in sales or HR, they need to know what their fundamentals are.  The one that works universally is Listening.  If you want to improve your influence or impact as a leader, improve your active listening skills.   Master your Mindset and W.I.N. Mindset is the #1 limiting element.  It can make or break anyone in any walk of life.  Your Foundation has to be solid. 3  pillars to Growth: Foundation Skillset  Mindset Alan describes Mindset as your self awareness, your emotional intelligence, your ability to recognize and process your own emotions.  “What I learned in 2020 was that our emotions are designed to inform us, not direct us.” Alan recalls. To him, this is important if you are in a position of leadership. It is important that your emotions are not dictating your behavior.  Having an elite mindset is having your emotions and not allowing them to dictate your performance.   Another component of an elite mindset is saying I am going to do the best I can with what I have where I am.  There will be no excuse, no blame and no complaining.   The next part of mindset is to learn how to be in the present moment: WIN What's  Important  Now Effort and attitude are two things Alan has control over.  He focuses on giving the best effort and attitude in everything he does.  “Part of that attitude is my response to what is going on around me.  How I choose to respond with what's going on around me will dictate what tomorrow looks like.”   Are the habits you have today on par with the dreams you have for tomorrow?

On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with Dave DesRochers.   Dave is a former offensive lineman who was a 12th round pick in the 1987 draft and played in the Seattle Seahawks organization for a couple of years. After his football career, he got into acting and worked on various television shows, movies, and commercials. After moving on from acting he owned a financial investment firm for about 20 years. Today he is the Vice President of PATH2HappiSuccess which is a company that helps lead students to better college experiences and assists them in finding lifelong careers that will lead to their happiness.  Early Years In High school, Dave was a basketball player - tall and lanky.  He was good enough to make it to the final cut for the Olympic development team and get scholarship offers at small universities.  The football coach approached him in his junior year and asked if he was going to play.  “I said  ‘no, I am a basketball player and I have some scholarships.'” Dave recalls.  Despite Dave's protests the coach encouraged him to come and play football and promised him even better scholarship opportunities. Dave remembers telling the coach “I'm not very good. I like football, and I want to be, but I'm not.” The coach said he'd help him but 3 practices in he pulled Dave aside and said “you know you're not very good. You really need to work on your footwork”  and handed Dave a jump rope.  Despite his skepticism, Dave took the jump rope home and worked until he was proficient at it.  “The jump roping gave me confidence,” Dave tells Rod “and I did fairly well that year.” Dave was offered scholarships to CAL, U of A, Hawaii, Fullerton on a dual scholarship and the school he chose,  San Diego State.       Dave was taken on a scholarship with potential.  What he came to find out is potential is a nice way of telling somebody “you are not good”.  For Dave, it was the same thing with the NFL as well.  He was a 12th round draft pick - meaning he was decent and picked based on his potential.  Dave credits this mostly to the fact that, unlike many other players, he was in excellent condition. Furthermore, he did things to take care of himself and work hard that most big guys don't want to have to worry about.  What Dave learned is that if you do the little things other people aren't willing to do, you will succeed.  You will put yourself above everyone else in the room.  Life After Football In 1992 he stopped playing football and became a financial advisor. “My first year I made $5,000,” Dave tells Rod.  “The first thing my ex-wife asked was, ‘are you sure you should be doing this?'”  The entry-level for the job consisted of cold calling. Dave was handed a phone book and asked to call 25-30 people, speak to 10 and set 2 appointments a day for his advisor.  He would have to speak to complete strangers, get them to listen to him, and then get them to come into these appointments.  “Most people would dread that” Dave says “I dreaded it, but that was my job.”  He would call 100 people and set a goal of setting 5 appointments a day.  Dave always doubled what was expected of him and in 2 months, senior management was having him give presentations to all other junior representatives on how to cold call.  Within 4 months he was given his own branch, and in 3 ½ years, he was vice president of the bank.   “It was like the jump rope, I did something no one wanted to do. I took it and did more, better and quicker.  I put myself above everybody else which put me on the fast track to succeed.”  Pivoting, Before it was Cool  Four years ago, Dave was talking with his fiance's uncle about a program he came up with that would help students solve the problems surrounding changing their major, taking 6 years to graduate, and student loan debt.  He was writing his book: Career Happiness and Success: A Definitive Path to Determine Your Best Career. As he was researching college statistics he found 70% of college students change their major once, 33% change it twice or more.  He started looking at the career assessments and came up with a program that he thought would be a solution to this problem.  He asked Dave to take the program and tell him what he thought.  Dave did all parts of the assessment, it took him 3 days, but he realized that this was a program that could help so many more people.  Dave went to work with him on this project.     Dave's Description of the Program Our program starts with 2 general assessments, we have to know what you are going to love.  What that doesn't say if you will be good at what you love.  Being good at something is your aptitude. So we have an aptitude assessment.  This is where we begin.  We take what you are going to love and what you are good at along with general vocation categories.  We use the US dept of labor data of all careers.  We have you pull up specific careers in all categories.  As you look at them it will show you how much education you will need, how much money you can earn, and the job growth rate.       Listen in to hear Rod and Dave talk about what equates to talent, potential, and the path to happiness. 

Listen in to hear Rod share his latest lessons as he navigates through his most recent challenge. 

On this episode of The Massimo show, Rod sat down with Brand Architect, Speaker, and Certified Go-Giver Coach Bill Ellis.   Bill Ellis is a master at unlocking the fearless potential in others.  A veteran of corporate brand management for more than 25 years at global beverage giant Anheuser-Busch, Bill has come to learn and deliver his true value in the past decade as a public speaker, certified coach, and brand architect for individuals and businesses. Untraditional roles require Untraditional paths  As with most people in less traditional jobs Bill didn't start out knowing he would be working with companies and individuals to build their brands. Bill was the 4th out of 5 children in a military family who moved around a lot.  Despite their constant relocation, Bill found a sense of identity in the fact that both of his  parents were from New Orleans.  “My influence was around moving around, military life, and Louisiana culture,” Bill tells Rod.  Adding to his love for NOLA Bill attended high school in New Orleans.  “What I was focused on during that time was being able to stay in one place for some time.  I could make friends that I wasn't going to leave in a year.  Beyond that I did not have big dreams or big ideas.” Bill recalls.  His first professional job was working for National Supermarkets.  As with most first forays into work for pay Bill felt he learned the most in those first few roles. From stock work to overnight clerk to customer service desk to cleaning out the incinerators, Bill cultivated a sense of self-motivation and work ethic. In the end,  he knew he didn't want to be working at a supermarket for the rest of his life and decided to go to college.  After graduating from college Bill thought his path would be in the financial world and he went to work for The Bank oF New Orleans.  There he met his first wife and eventually decided he didn't enjoy banking as a career. He found himself working in sales for one of 12 Anheuser Busch-owned distributors.  “I worked in New Orleans in sales for 3 years.  During that time I traveled to St Louis and was able to contribute to marketing.  That led me to a job offer in St Louis working in the marketing department” Bill explains.  “We moved from New Orleans to St Louis where I started a career in Brand Management which is the heart and soul of marketing at Anheuser Busch.”  Bill admits that this was not a path that he had anticipated but, it was the one that connected him to what he does today.  Branding is not the logo …. It is more the value a product has.   According to Bill, the first step to creating a well-thought-out brand is to identify what your value is and what service you are going to provide.  Pro Tip: It should be something you and other people believe in.   While a logo is critical in branding it is not something pretty or arbitrary - people need to understand what value they get from your company when looking at the logo.   If you provide a service instead of a physical product branding is still important!  When trying to suss out your branding start with “What's the point?”  Does this speak to the purpose of your service? Does that purpose have relevance to anyone else out there?  If yes then ask what's the point to them (prospect or customer). How does our service differentiate from someone else? Who is providing the same service? These questions will help you identify your own brand and set you apart from others in your industry.  Rod and Bill finish out the podcast by discussing Bill's 3 Ps (Passion, Purpose, Persistence) and as well as the 5 Pillars of Branding (Leadership, Behavior, Communication, Influence, Team).   

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with CEO David Horsager.  David is a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author of the national bestseller, The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line and his new release, The Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars That Drive Results. Additionally, David is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and a global authority on helping leaders and organizations become THE most trusted in their industry. David's work has been featured everywhere from Forbes to The Wall Street Journal. He has taken the platform to 6 continents and advised everyone from IBM, Toyota, and global governments to the New York Yankees and FedEx. Learning from the best  David grew up on a 1500 acres bean farm.  8 miles from the nearest town of 500 people.  He grew up loving all sports and working on the farm.  David became All-State in football under the winningest coach in the state of Minnesota.  “Working on a farm taught us how to work. I learned a lot about trust and leadership by working under who I think is the best leader of all time - my dad” David tells Rod.   David didn't leave his love of sports back in high school. Out of college, he went to work for the biggest Christian sports camp in the country.  He then became director of a youth and family organization building some of his leadership curriculum along the way. In 1999, David and his wife moved back to Minnesota and started their first business.  David spent a lot of time speaking to youth and was even given the opportunity to teach at the Coast Guard Academy.    While He was doing graduate work, He had an epiphany about trust.  David realized all that time he had been working on the leadership curriculum there was a nagging feeling that the core issue wasn't a leadership issue at all - it was a trust issue.  “My graduate work was based on the lack of trust being the biggest cost to an organization's bottom line,” David explains “Twenty years ago, no one was talking about trust in organizations.  It was unique for me to prove that a lack of trust in an organization was their biggest cost. Trust changed me - my parenting, being a better husband, friend, that is why I am even more passionate about it today.”  Trust and your Small Business  How does trust work for a small business owner?  The first thing to do is to see trust as the cause.  Increase trust in the message.  Then you move to the 8 pillars of trust.   Trust impacts the bottom line.   If a boss doesn't trust you he is going double-check your work and that takes time.  Ultimately there is a massive cost  - mental and monetary -  to a lack of trust in any business. If we take a look at the metric of the most successful leaders, brands, and organizations we can see that every time trust increased, attrition went down - retention went up the cost went down and efficiency sped up.  The question isn't if but how do you increase trust with key people to further success in your business?  Listen in as David and Rod catalog the 8 pillars of trust and how to implement them in your own business.   

On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with one of the top 5 leadership experts in the world. Mark Sanborn is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab for leadership development. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, he has presented over 2,600 speeches and seminars in every state and fourteen countries. His latest book is The Potential Principle. Mark is the Expert in Residence at High Point University located in High Point, NC and his client list includes Costco, FedEx, ESPN, IBM, and St Jude's.  As with the best of leaders, Mark came from humble beginnings. He grew up on a farm in Ohio, was an average high school guy, and attended Ohio State University.  There he studied agricultural economics. “Economics was the most philosophical construct in my life,” Mark tells Rod.  “Economics is the allocation of scarce resources for maximum return.  Our scarce resources are our time, energy, and expertise.  We all want to get the most out of life.” Mark never practiced as an agricultural economist but went into agricultural sales.  It forced him to engage in a business where he was a manager.  After a short stint in sales and marketing, he is now in his 33rd year as a professional author, speaker, and advisor.   From the age of 10, Mark was giving free speeches focused on patriotism and agricultural.  Mark heard a lot of professional speakers, but it wasn't until Mark was 16 when he heard someone else speak that  it dawned on him that person was getting paid a lot of money to tell their story.   The spirit of free enterprise set in. The only thing better than giving speeches, in Mark's mind, was having someone pay you to do it.  As a freshman at OSU and because Mark had been involved in Future Farms of America as a state officer, he started getting invited to speak at commencement exercises and at after-dinner speeches.  One day Mark got an invitation and he told them he charged $150 and they accepted.  That was his first paid speech at the age of 19.  From there he kept building.   The Three Resources a Leader Has Are:  1) Time 2) Expertise 3) Time and Expertise of their team Mark alleges that right now finding people that have true expertise is difficult.  “We are overwhelmed with information” he explains to Rod “ The ability to access information is good, the ability to access its validity is harder than it's ever been. One of the hardest jobs for leadership is doing your due diligence to make sure the decisions you're are making and the practices you are using are solid and credible.  It is important to learn from practice.”   You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader Mark explains that your skillset makes you a leader, not your title.  You can be given a title, but you can't be given a skillset.  A skillset has to be learned and developed.  The real test of leadership is if you did not have a title, and you could not reward or punish people for things they did or did not do what you asked - would they still do it?   Bad managers get compliance but good leaders get a commitment.  Commitment is getting people to do it because they are sold on it, they want to do it, they know it will benefit them and the greater good.  True Leadership always benefits the greater good whether it is the colleague, vendor, customer, or community.  Today too many people look at leadership as a tool to get what they want instead of the real use of leadership which is to help everyone to get what they need.   The Concept of the FRED Factor Fred was a Postal service employee who delivered my mail.  He had a simple job of putting mail in a box, but he made it artistry through the things that he did.  The quality of his service and the friendships he made.  Mark was so impressed with it that he wrote a book about it.  The Fred Factor is the ability to continually create value for the people you live and work with through 3 things you can control.   1) passion 2) creativity 3) commitment Being extraordinary is a choice.  Many of the most successful people Mark knows were extraordinary not because of the way they were brought up or circumstances but in spite of. “We learn a lot more through failure than we do from success.” Mark says.  What made Fred so special?  When Mark first moved into a house in Colorado, there was a knock at his door and it was Fred introducing himself.   Fred was more worried about Mark's mail than he was.  He was a professional.  A professional is more worried about the solution to your problems their product or service solves than you are.   There were dozens of other examples of where Fred, without a title and just a commitment to do an extraordinary job - you can be extraordinary.  Fred does it because he believes that excellence is the right thing to do.   The Gift of Time  The only thing people want more than disposable income is time.  We don't have enough time and we are always too busy.  Covid has killed the excuse you don't have time.   With Covid, everyone is adapting.  A surfer interacts with the wave to get the outcome they desire.  We need to learn to develop those skills.  First, stop looking for the new normal. “I never liked the phrase the new normal,” Mark tells Rod. Through necessity we are going to say it's the new abnormal.  Every day is going to be a little different.  By thinking about the abnormal we never get complacent we become more vigilant and more agile.   Tune in to hear Mark talk more in-depth concerning leadership and the new abnormal.  

On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with author, keynote speaker, strategic business coach, and global event promoter Tony Rubleski. Tony is the president of the Mind Capture Group and has been highlighted on the Detroit press, Fox TV network, ABC and CNN radio.  He is the creator of the mind capture book series, as well as the authors of Trailblazers: Leadership Lessons from 12 Pioneers Who Beat the Odds & Influenced Millions and he is about to release a new book: So You Want to Write a Book. His core expertise and message is designed to help people ‘Capture' more minds and profits. No Stranger to the Stage  Tony spent his younger years in catholic school but eventually transitioned to a public high school.  He refers to himself as a curious soul who pondered the priesthood for about six months but ultimately played football and baseball in high school as well as played in a heavy metal band.  In his senior year of high school his band, The Creed, opened up for Green Day.  For Tony, music was an extension of creativity and joy.   Once he got through college he began to understand the reality of having to get a job.  Today his creative extension comes in the form of writing books instead of music.    At 19 Tony was cold-calling and door to door selling for Telecom. “I was having fun but didn't know what I was doing.” Tony tells Rod.  “I enjoyed going door to door, was young and naïve.”  At 20 Tony came across Tony Robbins and he says it changed his destiny.  This led him to study Dan Kenndey and Jay Abraham.  “My marketing classes in college, we weren't learning about setting goals.  I would go to my marketing classes after studying Jay Abraham and ask the strangest questions.  The professors would be like what planet is he on.” Tony jokes with Rod. His inquisitive curiosity and his appetite for the subject matter led him to seek out Tony Robbins, Jay Abraham, and Dan Kennedy a couple years later. “Looking back, there are moments that change your destiny.  Being around those guys in my early 20s was impactful.” Tony says.  Making People Take Notice  Over time Tony began to gradually transition from telecom sales to being a thought leader in his field of marketing.  Tony met with and worked for Dan Kennedy by age 23.  “I was able to get the CEO's to call me back by using direct mail grabbers such as scratch off tickets, money bags with fake money.” Tony reveals to Rod.  “I had no fear of embarrassment to mail the CEO of a bank a bank bag with a funny note.  When you do different things, you may ruffle some feathers, but you sure do stand out.”  Tony learned from Dan Kenned that when you are cold calling you are an uninvited pest.  As opposed to someone reaching out to you - that is a welcome guest.  It is about positioning.  Today, Tony teaches referral marketing around the world to big companies.  Through the evolution of working with Dan Kennedy, Bob Burg, Jay Abraham, and Ivan Meiser, he will often name drop to give credit to those who taught him and reference his source materials.  “I don't have all the knowledge.  Universal knowledge runs through many teachers and masters.  And Then I teach it in my style or mind capture way.” Tony says. At Telecom Tony used successful direct marketing principles. He recalls how a lot of Jay Abraham teaching came into effect.  “was selling phone service, the most hated and boring service.  You had to be motivated.  It was Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglars who came in to motivate me to keep doing this.”  Mind Capture  About 17 years ago, Tony was still in Telecom sales and he would have agents he recruited come to him and say “you need to write a book. You are a great teacher who does these crazy marketing things!”  But people kept prodding him asking when his book would be done. At the time, Tony lied and said he was working on it but eventually that prodding pushed him to write a manuscript.  “When the manuscript was completed, I was the VP of Sales at an Ad Agency.  I was looking at my bookshelf one night and saw a Jay Abraham seminar called Mind Capture. That is when I thought, that is what I am trying to convey.  A year later I met Jay Ahrahmam in Detroit at an event.  I gave him a signed copy of my book and told him you were the inspiration for the title of my company.” Tony recalls. Tony describes Mind Capture as a battle we all face in business and doesn't hesitate to give Jay Abrham credit for the brand and the source for what he now teaches around the world.   Mind Capture is the ability to stand out and get attention in a world with too many choices and demands placed on our time.   Since Tony's first book, attention spans have gotten shorter. We are trained and addicted to our phones.  Tony recommends that the best way to get attention is through referrals and introductions.  Still today, Word of mouth is still the most powerful.    Build relationships and not transactions.  How do we grab attention?  What is your story? What is your uniqueness?  Uniqueness captures attention.  In the 9 second world we live in you have to fight for attention at all costs. Get a client and you do such a great job providing exceptional service they want to refer you.  They send you more people via introduction.  Word of mouth accelerates, and you keep repeating the process.   During this lockdown time everyone is doing soul reflection.  People are doing business reflection, life reflection.  It's a good time to reach out to your current clients and referral partners and check in.  How do you do it?  Right now, Tony is doing more webinars and zoom interviews training for large groups because everyone is at home.   “I am not charging for that.  I am doing that as a value added to thank core clients.  I am here to serve them not sell them.” Tony says “ These are unpaid auditions for the right target groups.”  Tony has written 6 books.   His latest book:   So you Want To Write a Book is available via e-book. “This is the time to put this book out.  We put out our E-book first.  Most people are home right now.”  According to a recent survey 81% of Americans want to write a book before they die. “The numbers are huge.  That means there are potentially 260 M people in the US that would like to write a book someday.  If you put a book out at the right time, it should fall at a better audience.  I didn't see a pandemic or lockdown.  We rushed and pivoted to what was happening.” Tony explains.  Tony and Rod end the show with Tony's two best tips for success in business. Tune in to hear the full interview.   

On this episode of the Massimo show Rod sits down with a ghost writer and (his own) writing coach Wally Bock. Wally is an authority on the  issues of supervision, leadership, and management and has the various career endeavors to prove it. More recently he has spent his time helping others lean into and expound upon their own leadership qualities by helping them write about them.  Wally was born in New York City in 1946 to a Lutheran Pastor and his wife. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated from there in 1963. He was a bright kid with scholarship opportunities for college as well. But one day his father told him about a relative who had gone off to a major university with their family paying the way. But this relative didn't go and study. They avoided going to classes for a year and a half, before their father found out. “I thought about that a lot. I realized that however bright I was, if I went to college right then I'd probably do pretty much the same thing.” Wally tells Rod.  Instead of potentially wasting his money and scholarships Wally decided to pursue a lifelong interest - the military. He joined the Marines and served from 1963 to 1968 and it was here that he learned a lot about courage and leadership and principles and about how your capacity is more than you ever imagined.   Why Books?   Wally's first book was called Budgeting for First Line Supervisors.  This was his first book because when he got out of the Marines he was teaching for a government program called Model Cities helping small businesses.  He started writing articles around that. An acquisition editor at a publishing company heard some of his speeches, read a couple of his articles and offered him the opportunity to do four books.  A couple of years after that, Wally moved on from the multinational to a non-profit, where he was the Business Manager at a graduate school. He got the numbers right and they  improved on every measurable performance indicator. But he messed up in other ways and got fired. “That is when I figured out the only person who would keep me hired was me.  That is when I started my own business.” Wally remembers.   He established his consulting firm in 1982 and for the next several years, he had a fairly conventional practice where he did business consulting as well as speaking, training, and writing on leadership issues.  “I was good at finding the story a business had to sell and turning that into something that helped them get business.” Wally tells Rod “ It is a dynamite skill to have, however it takes time to get the info out of the person who has the business.”  Wally had a skill of understanding the story behind the business.  It is the story that attracts the sales.   Mixing the old and the new  Wally is an excellent example of the merging of two very important skills: connection and progress. When asked how he marketed his books he simply says: Letters. “I wrote letters to people.  That and the yellow pages.  Letters are more important than ever today.  It is more important than email, twitter.  I am all for those, but I am for writing letters.” Additionally Wally was one of the first wave of people who engaged in e-commerce to sell his books.  Wally was writing for speakers, trainers and consultants for a report called Cyberpowers. A publisher came to him and asked him to write a book about “Taking on the Super Information Highway”.  That book came out in 1995 and resulted in 2 more large book contracts.  That was when he went from small to big.  The market warranted it and he was ready.  Why Coaching?  Wally was speaking across the globe and traveling all the time for business and then  911 happened.  After 911 travel was harder to travel. “I was going to come off the road and needed to figure out something else to do.” Wally says.  “Up until that time, all the books I had written were by myself but I wrote CyberPower for Business with Jeff Sonea and discovered I really liked working with somebody else.”  The idea of ghost writing came to him and it took off - that was over 20 years ago.  Wally and Rod talk about the types of ghostwriters, how the pandemic has forced people to shift in their businesses and the value of writing your story. Tune in to listen to the full podcast!   

On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with one of his own coaches - NYT best-selling author and world renowned hall of fame speaker Chris Widener. Early Life  Chris was born in Seattle, Washington. His father was the CFO of an architecture firm called NBBJ and was making almost 100K in the late 1960's. Unfortunately, he was severely underinsured and when died at 41 years old (when Chirs was just 4) he only had 30K in life insurance. Chris' brother was 13 years older than him and left home after the death of their father and married a girl who did not like their mother.  Alone with a young child, Chris' mother had to sell the house we were living in because she couldn't afford the $400 mortgage payment. Chris pinpoints this tragic event as the beginning of his downward spiral.   Chris experienced an avalanche of instability in his formative years. After living in 28 homes, attending 11 different schools, being shipped off to live with relatives twice - once in 4th grade and once in 9th grade it may not come as a surprise that he started doing drugs in the 5th and 6th grade. Even smoking opium by 8th grade.  With limited supervision and the lack of strong parental figure. Chris spent most of my time growing up scalping tickets to the seahawks and mariners games outside the Kingdome and betting on the ponies at Longacres Horse Track.  “I was headed in the wrong direction.” Chris recalls.  “The year before my senior year of high school I got invited to sleep at one of my big pot smoking friends' houses. It was a Saturday night and we probably spent the night getting high.”  The next day Sunday, his mother opened the door at 8am and said get up we are going to Sunday school.  “I had no clue what Sunday school was because I had no religious upbringing.” Chris tells Rod.   Finding a Father  The youth minister was from Helena, Montana and he had 2 things that I needed in my life at that point. First of all, he had size 11 cowboy boots. This was good for me because I never had a male role model.  I didn't know my grandfathers, my father had died when I was 4. This pastor became Chris' role model and taught him about God, purpose, having a vision in your life, and  knowing that life is bigger than YOU. Additionally he inspired Chris to go into ministry where he discovered and honed his gift for public speaking.  “If you want to become a world class speaker, spending time in the ministry is good because you need to come up with 3 new speeches a week.” Chris explains. “ I started speaking to summer camps, high schools, colleges about overcoming a crazy youth.  As I got older, I transitioned talking to adults focusing on leadership.  I got a few lucky breaks in the early 2000's.”    Career Success  Chris was asked to ghost write for John Maxwell where he spent 18 months writing for him on his national syndicated column.  From there he was asked by Jim Roan to write with him.  “I wrote the Jim Roan 1 program as well as his last book the 12 Pillars of Success.  And then there was a television show in Dallas who wanted Zig Ziglar to do a show and he didn't want to do it by himself, so they asked me to co-host his TV show.” Chris says.  When people ask how do you build a successful speaking career.  I say it's easy.  Three step process: 1) Have John Maxwell call you 2) Have Jim Roan call you 3) Have Zig Ziglar call you Once that happens it's all easy from there.   All joking aside, Chris recommends that when opportunity presents itself you need to be able to walk through that door. Preparation may look like working for others but you are also curating your own skills. Be ready to use them!  Principles to create a lasting legacy: 1)   Understand you don't know the impact you are leaving.  You need to trust. 2)   Take advantage of opportunities and be prepared.  3)   What to do when you thought was going to happen doesn't happen. Listen in to the full podcast to hear more from Chris including information about his latest book! 

On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Tom Ziglar, son of Zig, CEO of Ziglar, and key collaborator on his father's 30th book, Born to Win. Tom Ziglar carries on the organization's “profoundly simple” philosophy “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”   “You have got to be ready or sick and tired of the way things are going.” - Tom Ziglar Growing up in Dallas, TX  Tom played golf with his dad and fell in love with it.  So much so that he ended up going to college playing golf. But in the long run he was mistakenly called to help others in the same way his father had. Prior to being named CEO, Tom began his career in retail and direct sales. He joined the Zig Ziglar Corporation in 1987, learning every aspect of the business as he climbed from working in the warehouse, to sales, to seminar promotion, to sales management and then on to leadership.  Learning the Ropes from a Legend  “Zig Ziglar would always say to people, I have walked in your shoes.” Tom explains to Rod. “What he is telling the audience is ‘Hey, I struggled like you.'”   Born in Alabama, Zig grew up in Mississippi.  His dad died when he was 5 in the heart of the great depression.  Raised by his mom (who had a 5th grade education) and the 10th of 12 kids Zig used to explain to his son that they were “the second poorest family in the city.”  He never did well in school and joined the Navy at the end of WWII.  Zig tried his hand at college but school still wasn't for him and he ended up dropping out. He got married and got a sales job. For 2 and a half years he didn't sell anything.  A man PC Merrell, a man Zig respected,  pulled him aside at a convention and said  “Zig, in all my years I have never seen such a waste, but if you believed in yourself and went to work on a regular schedule you could be a champion.”   That was the first time that anyone in the position of authority had told Zig he could be a champion. That was the day he went to work to try and figure out what it meant to believe in yourself and he made the commitment to start work every day at the same time.   It was that year that he finished #2 out of 7000 salespeople.  In the prior 2 and a half years prior he hadn't even broken the top 5000.  “So when he would tell people I walked in your shoes what he was saying was ‘I have had my car repossessed, my lights turned off and struggled.'” Tom continues.  Zig's  mission became to help people understand that they have these gifts and amazing abilities in them already. Choose to win - you can transform your life one choice at a time.   The fastest way to success is to replace a bad habit with a good habit but every success starts with a choice. Why do we want to make the choice?  What Is the big reason that propels us?  Once people answer these questions, then the different areas that we need to focus on become clear. “At Ziglar we teach balanced success.” Tom explains.  “What is the point if you have tons of money but no health or family? The choice we speak about in the book encompasses every area of life.”  What do you want the result to be?    Listen to the rest of the podcast to learn more about Tom's book!   

On this episode of the Masimo Show we get a special message straight from our founder, Rod Santomassimo.  Let's focus on you, the end of 2020, and look forward to where we are moving too.  Every year we provide an outline of a road map to allow you to craft a plan that is right for you. This year we've updated our plan- the 7 step plan we call The Seven Days to your Best Year Yet plan.  This plan outlines the 7 steps you should take  to put yourself (with our help of course) in a position to make 2021 your best year yet.   Step 1. Transactional Review Look at what you worked on and the results of those transactions Step 2. Activity Review Taking a qualitative looks at your activity from last year  Step 3:  Reflection Looking back over last year, your way forward should start to come into focus  Step 4:  Restriction Phase.   Ask yourself why you didn't meet certain goals Step 5:  Reposition.   Now that you have given yourself an audit, let's move forward Step 6: Reaffirmation.  Look at what you set your plan for 2021 look like? Step 7:  Refinement.   Let's make sure we do what we need to do to achieve the goals you set!  Remember to start small to build winning streaks to move forward to achieve those goals!