Podcasts about Madison Avenue

Steve shares his thoughts on the viral DOT Cake trend on social media and discusses whether people could make their own versions. The conversation also touches on the rumored arrival of a new McLaren dealership on Madison Avenue, noting that luxury automakers continue to expand in Manhattan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CBS has reported that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” lost $40 million over the past year. Mark covers the controversy surrounding Democratic Maine gubernatorial candidate Graham Platner, who has a skull-and-crossbones tattoo that some say resembles Nazi SS symbolism, sparking debate about his fitness for office. Mark also previews the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will bring several matches to the Tri-State Area, generating excitement for foreigners, but what about New Yorkers?  Mark takes your calls!  Mark interviews restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve shares his thoughts on the viral DOT Cake trend on social media and discusses whether people could make their own versions. The conversation also touches on the rumored arrival of a new McLaren dealership on Madison Avenue, noting that luxury automakers continue to expand in Manhattan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark discusses recent court rulings from judges who have ordered President Trump's name to be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also notes that Senator JD Vance, usually active on Twitter, has posted far less recently, possibly after a conversation with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about his online presence. Mark highlights Donald Trump's latest physical health report, which his physician described as “excellent” and showing he is in good health. Mark interviews New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin. Mark and Michael analyze how the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel became a major national talking point and exposed what they describe as antisemitic views from Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Proposals from Mamdani and some Democrats to rename the Ed Koch Bridge in New York, citing Koch's handling of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Michael Goodwin suggests there are plenty of issues for GOP candidate Bruce Blakeman to address in challenging Governor Kathy Hochul's policies during the gubernatorial race in New York.  CBS has reported that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” lost $40 million over the past year. Mark covers the controversy surrounding Democratic Maine gubernatorial candidate Graham Platner, who has a skull-and-crossbones tattoo that some say resembles Nazi SS symbolism, sparking debate about his fitness for office. Mark also previews the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will bring several matches to the Tri-State Area, generating excitement for foreigners, but what about New Yorkers?  Mark interviews restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo. Steve shares his thoughts on the viral DOT Cake trend on social media and discusses whether people could make their own versions. The conversation also touches on the rumored arrival of a new McLaren dealership on Madison Avenue, noting that luxury automakers continue to expand in Manhattan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The strategy at the heart of the Snapple brand's precipitous rise... and its cataclysmic fall... is simple. "Embrace your roots. Celebrate authenticity." It's a lesson that's been served up again and again in the brands and marketing ecosystem. But it never seems to sink in. So in this episode, we'll pop the top on a Snapple double feature. First, Jane Cavalier tells us about pitching Snapple's iconic slogan, "Made From the Best Stuff on Earth," and watching it flop with the company's original owners. And then, Richard Kirshenbaum outlines the genesis of the iconic "Snapple Lady" ad campaign, which catapulted Snapple into a multi-billion dollar brand--that is, until new owners changed course and sunk $1.4 billion in mismanaged brand value. Richard will tell us how he discovered Wendy Kaufman, the iconic brand spokeswoman whose folksy New York persona peaked the brand's popularity, and why they eventually had to part ways. And together, Jane and Richard will parse lessons hard-earned in the hustle of Madison Avenue, and retell a tale as old as the Golden Goose itself: "If you've got a good thing going, but you don't understand how it works, for the love of God don't tinker with it." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I talk about the biggest shift in marketing since the dawn of the internet: the move from social media to interest media. I encourage you to throw away your subjective opinions and outdated Madison Avenue metrics and start focusing on where the actual attention is. I also discuss why volume is the only way to stay relevant and why you shouldn't be scared of AI taking your job-you should be scared of not knowing how to use it. You'll learn about:The Power of Organic Social MediaHow AI Algorithms Create ReachDay Trading Attention on Threads and FacebookWhy Strategy Requires a Volume MindsetHow to Adapt to Profound Technological Shifts

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we're looking at an amazing chapter in the Bible, Psalm15. When I read this years ago and saw that very last verse that said, “Hethat does these things shall never be moved,” I thought, “I better find outwhat these things are.” So Psalm 15:1 asks the question, “who is the person,the individual, who has fellowship with the Lord and who lives in the presenceof the Lord?” And then the rest of the psalm describes certain attitudes andactions that characterize that person. Forinstance, we've been talking the last couple of days about how he watches histongue. He does not say things that are slanderous, and he doesn't gossip. Hedoesn't take up a reproach against his neighbor or take sides against aneighbor in a way that causes more difficulty. Instead, he is a peacemaker. Todaywe're moving on to verse 4 in this chapter. Here, the psalmist describes how weshould look at the wickedness around us: “In whose eyes a vile person isdespised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.” What this means is thatthe godly person does not admire wickedness. We live in a culture today thatcelebrates sin and mocks righteousness, but the believer must not allow theworld to shape his values. Wehave a Madison Avenue kind of attitude where we feel like we have to haveeverything the world has. We are constantly being brainwashed through socialmedia, television, and advertising into believing that this is the best life:you have to own these kinds of appliances, wear these kinds of clothes, runaround with this kind of crowd, drive this kind of car, and live in this kindof house. Weend up joining the rat race trying to keep up with people we don't even knowand, most likely, don't even like. Yet here we are living that way—driven byit, going to work, trying to get more in order to keep up with people we don'teven care about. And while we should care about their souls, we often care moreabout what they think about us. May the Lord help us. We need to wake up. Weborrow money we don't have, to buy things we don't need, in order to impresspeople we don't even like. I read that statement one time and thought, “Oh,goodness, how true that is.” So,“in whose eyes a vile person is condemned,” as one translation says, or“despised.” In Psalm 1, David begins the book of Psalms with these words: “Blessedis the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in theway of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” The whole book ofPsalms—a book about living the blessed life—begins with a negative. We do nothang out with, run around with, celebrate, or seek advice from those who areevil and wicked in order to determine how we should live. Instead, we look intoGod's Word. That'swhy verse 2 of Psalm 1 says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, andin his law doth he meditate day and night.” Then this person “shall belike a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in hisseason. His leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” Oh,that's the kind of life David is describing here in Psalm 15. So, when it comesto vile, wicked, and evil people, we should despise their way of life. Weshould have a heart that says, “That's not the path I want to follow.” Butthen it goes on to say that we “honor those who fear the Lord.” Weencourage those who love Jesus, who stand for truth and righteousness. This iswhat God wants us to do. We honor and value godliness, faithfulness, humility,and obedience because that is the kind of life that pleases God. Maythe Lord help us not to join the “rat race”! (Read the book of Ecclesiastes)  Godbless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!

In this episode, I sit down with the founder of MasterClass to discuss why the traditional marketing playbook is officially broken. I explain why subjective opinions in the boardroom are killing your creative and why you need to stop trading on "Madison Avenue" metrics. I also dive deep into "Interest Media" and why a creator with zero followers can out-reach me if their content is more relevant. You'll learn about:Why Organic Social is Your Best R&D ToolThe Concept of "Day Trading Attention"How to Scale Your Content to 100 Posts a DayWhy Authenticity is the Only Way to Leverage CultureHow to Overcome Your Fear of AI and Use it as a Tool

New York, 1888. Ann O'Delia Diss Debar — self-styled Spirit Princess, alleged daughter of Lola Montez — convinced a grieving Madison Avenue lawyer that Raphael and Rembrandt were painting for him in his own parlor. The paintings were chemical tricks. The deed to his townhouse was hers. And the worst of her career was still ahead.Jump to the AD-FREE Safe House EditionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-historian--2909311/support.You can pay more if you want to, but rent at the Safe House is still just a buck a week, and you can get access to over 400 ad-free episodes from the dusty vault, Safe House Exclusives, direct access to the Boss, and whatever personal services you require.We invite you to our other PULPULAR MEDIA podcasts:If disaster is more your jam, check out CATASTROPHIC CALAMITIES, telling the stories of famous and forgotten tragedies of the 19th and 20th centuries. What could go wrong? Everything!For brand-new tales in the old clothes from the golden era of popular literature, give your ears a treat with PULP MAGAZINES with two new stories every week.

In the 200th episode of The Kindness Chronicles, the hosts welcome back storyteller and former advertising executive Neal Ford to discuss how his ad career shaped his focus on emotionally resonant communication and how a viral TikTok story launched his social media storytelling. Neal recounts a 1969 experience when strangers helped his family after a car breakdown near Bakersfield, restoring his father's faith in people and later reframing it with the moon landing. The conversation explores skepticism about performative “kindness videos,” the value of anonymous giving, and examples of quietly impactful generosity. They discuss social media's role in spreading either cynicism or connection, how technology and algorithms can be weaponized, and a positive AI example from IKEA retraining staff. The hosts highlight Minnesota Masonic Charities' Selfless Scholar program and Neal's StoryFire.net course, including an AI coaching component and his talk, “The ROI of Kindness.”

Lew Frankfort joined Coach in 1979 when it was a $6 million leather goods company with a factory, a handful of offices, and a cult following. Over the next three decades, he led its transformation into a $5 billion global brand, coining the term accessible luxury along the way and building one of the most consumer-centric businesses in the history of fashion.    In conversation with Anant Sharma, Lew traces the full arc of that journey, from opening the first Coach store on Madison Avenue to taking the brand public, breaking into Japan ahead of every European luxury house, and what it actually means to keep a brand emotionally relevant across generations. A conversation about long-termism, consumer insight, and what it takes to build something that truly lasts.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Mark S. Robinson, author of Black on Madison Avenue, about his four decade-long career working at a high level in marketing and advertising, providing rare and valuable insight into the lack of diversity in the advertising world, and […] The post Mark S. Robinson, pt. 2 (Ep. 23, 2026) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Mark S. Robinson, a forty-year veteran of high-level, prestigious advertising and marketing agencies and author or Black on Madison Avenue, an inside look at the lack of diversity and the obstacles faced by African American professionals in the advertising agency […] The post Mark S. Robinson (Ep. 22, 2026) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The All Local Afternoon Update for Friday, April 24th 2026

After over a decade working in advertising agencies on both Madison Avenue in NYC and in Los Angeles, Meredith turned her passion for marketing to retail marketing and merchandising when she and her husband Michael purchased the historic Fair Oaks Pharmacy in 1990. Together they restored it and added the iconic soda fountain which became an instant success along Route 66 and the site of a host of numerous television and movie shoots.After selling the Pharmacy in 2005, she created her own jewelry line, Pokerchip Girl, which was a smash success in many Las Vegas casinos and nationwide. She also spent a few years working as a Strategic Marketing Consultant to the California Gift Show.In 2010 Meredith and Michael bought Webster's Community Pharmacy in Altadena, CA. As with The Fair Oaks Pharmacy, the goal was to restore and revitalize this neighborhood independent pharmacy to its former glory days by adding a versatile gift and fashion accessory boutique, along with updating the pharmacy to include state of the art technology.In 2014, Meredith Miller expanded her footprint and opened Meredith M, a trend-friendly women's apparel and fashion accessories boutique. The business received numerous accolades, but Meredith made the decision to close the doors in 2019 due to the changing landscape of the apparel industry.Meredith Miller is committed to filling a void in the community marketplace, contributing to the local economy and to the revitalization of the North Lake Avenue Corridor in Altadena, CA. Meredith has created multiple community programs including Fancy Food Truck Fridays and is a regular promotional donor to Altadena organizations such as Altadena Heritage, Altadena Historical Society, Altadena Chamber, Altadena Guild, Pasadena Humane, Young & Healthy and more.Giving back to the community with her time and talent is of equal importance to her. Meredith has been a board member of the Pasadena Humane Society as well as the Vice President and President of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce. Meredith recently served as a Board Member at Young & Healthy, Pasadena; and currently as a Marketing Committee Member at Pasadena Humane. Meredith also gives back to her profession by writing magazine articles, giving seminars and serving on advisory boards in the Gift Industry.In this episode, you'll hear how Meredith built, scaled, and rebuilt retail businesses through strategic merchandising, storytelling, and community leadership — including navigating crisis and turning retail into a powerful hub for connection and economic recovery. What's inside: How to transform a traditional retail space into a destination that drives traffic and sales  The role of community in sustaining and rebuilding retail businesses during crisis  Why experiential merchandising is the key to long-term retail successMentioned In This Episode:WebsiteInstagramTwitterFacebookSupport the show

In this episode of Next in Media, I sit down with Michael Wolf, CEO and Founder of Activate Consulting, to break down the findings from the firm's 11th annual Technology and Media Outlook. Michael walks us through Activate's "Attention Clock" and how multitasking stretches the average American's day well past 24 hours, leaving brands to fight for partial attention while still paying like they're getting all of it. We also get into the state of television. Michael explains why TV is more fragmented than Madison Avenue admits, why YouTube still doesn't get full credit despite dominating CTV, and what the Paramount-Warner deal actually changes. From there, we turn to predictions: Michael makes the case for virtual product placement as the next frontier in creator and in-game ads, and explains how sports gambling is changing live sports. He closes with his biggest sleeper story of 2026: spatial computing and the data layer that will power it. Key Highlights: ⏰ The Attention Clock Hits 32 Hours a Day: Activate's research shows multitasking is pushing daily media consumption past the limits of a 24-hour day, leaving advertisers fighting for partial attention.

DescriptionYour media dashboard looks confident. Clicks up. Conversions tracked. Reach reported. But according to three years of evidence built on 1,265 global campaigns, that dashboard may be the single biggest obstacle standing between you and real business growth.Andrew Tindall is Chief Growth Officer at System1 and the author of The Creative Dividend, a landmark publication built on the Effie Awards global case library representing $139 billion in market share. His finding is blunt: the more short-term digital metrics you chase, the less profit and market share you report. Not because measurement is the problem, but because marketers have been measuring the wrong things and the platforms selling those metrics have every incentive to keep it that way.In this conversation, Marc and V dig into the data behind that claim: what Excess Share of Creativity (ESOC) actually measures and why it predicts profit growth exponentially, why all four dimensions of effective advertising: emotion, distinctiveness, showmanship, and consistency, are declining simultaneously, and why creator content outperformed TV as a builder of long-term brand demand in the research.If you've ever sat in a room where the digital dashboard was treated as gospel and felt something was off — this episode is the evidence you were looking for.Timestamps00:00: Introduction — The Wanamaker problem and why digital metrics created a vicious cycle11:35: Defending the research — methodology, the awards-database critique, and what the FE case library actually proves20:10: ESOC: Excess Share of Creativity — the new metric that pairs creative quality with media spend29:10: What marketers are actually measuring vs. what drives profit and market share35:50: The four creative qualities — emotion, distinctiveness, showmanship, consistency — and why all four are declining43:15: The non-negotiables — how to prioritise when budget is tight49:35: Super Touch Points and creators — why creator content beat TV for building future demand54:58: Closing — the one thing every marketer should take from The Creative DividendReferencesPrimary Source — Episode FocusTindall, A. (2026). The creative dividend: Advertising that pays back. System1 & Effie Worldwide. https://system1group.com/the-creative-dividendIPA Effectiveness ResearchBinet, L., & Field, P. (2013). The long and the short of it: Balancing short and long-term marketing strategies. Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.Field, P. (2019). The crisis in creative effectiveness. Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/publications-reports/the-crisis-in-creative-effectivenessField, P. (2016). Selling creativity short. Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.System1 ResearchWood, O. (2019). Lemon: How the advertising brain turned sour. Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.Agency EconomicsFarmer, M. (2019). Madison Avenue manslaughter: An inside view of fee-cutting clients, profit-hungry owners and declining ad agencies (3rd ed.). Lioncrest Publishing.Referenced in Discussion (Contextual)Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

RADIO PROGRAM ISSUED LIVE, RECORDED IN VIP BOILER STUDIO, AND WILL BE BROADCASTED INTEGRALLY FROM RADIO ABRERA FM (BARCELONA) MIXED BY JOHN C. BRAVE, BARCELONA ON SATURDAY, APRIL 11 , 2026 - HOUSE, NU-DISCO, SOULFUL HOUSE, DEEP HOUSE, JACKIN HOUSE, TRIBAL HOUSE, PROGRESSIVE HOUSE & TECH-HOUSE. EVERYTHING MIXED WITH RELOOP RP-8000-MK2 PLATES, TIME CODE VINYLS, PIONEER DDJ-1000SRT. LONG LIFE AT THE HOUSE MUSIC. ENCOURAGE AND ENJOY THE SESSION !!! ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY !!!!!!!!!!!!! 1) Soulmekanikz, Hannah Khemoh - Hold You To It (Extended Mix) 2) 10&Change, Michelle Weeks - We Will Learn (Extended Mix) 3) Cher - Believe (Disco Dom Remix) (Original Mix) 4) Robbie Groove & Mattias ft. CeCe Rogers with Master Freez - You Droid (The Cube Guys Vokal Mix) 5) Mother Hackerz - LaMulata (Extended Mix) 6) Joss Moog, 908 - You Don't Stop (Original Mix) 7) Zofia, Stez - Time To Get Down (Intro Edit Clean) 8) Nari, Dj Michelle (IT) - Pasilda (Original Mix) 9) Nolek - The Night Is Yours (Extended Mix) 10) Armand Van Helden, Mark Knight, D.Ramirez - You (Extended Mix) 11) Block & Crown, Soulboyz - Sweat (Original Mix) 12) Kodat - So Much Love To Give (Original Mix) 13) Madison Avenue, Super Disco Club - Don't Call Me Baby (Super Disco Club Remix) 14) Hard Rock Sofa - Brasil no Coracao (Extended Mix) 15) Josh Butler - In The Pocket (Extended Mix) 16) Pako Paul - Keep Workin (Original Mix) 17) Les Bisous, Liliia Kysil - Messy (Extended Mix)

The All Local 4pm Update for Monday, March 30th, 2026

Did you know the U.S. has only 27 years of median landfill capacity left while throwing away $6.5 billion in reusable materials every year? Ron Gonen, Founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, challenges everything you thought you knew about recycling economics. With backing from Walmart, Unilever, Coke, and Pepsi, Ron reveals how America has only 27 years of median landfill capacity left while throwing away $6.5 billion in reusable materials annually. "The landfill industry deserves a PR award of the century," Ron argues, exposing how they convinced us recycling costs money when landfill disposal actually costs more per ton. Can circular economy become the rare bipartisan win in Washington? Ron explains why robotics, material science, and supply chain chaos are finally making his vision scalable.Ron Gonen is the Founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a venture capital firm investing in circular economy solutions backed by Walmart, Unilever, Coke, Pepsi, and other Fortune 500 companies. His sustainability journey began in 1980s Philadelphia, babysitting for green architect Paul Macht, and continued when he co-founded Recycle Bank in 2003. Ron later served in the Michael Bloomberg administration, where he gained critical insights into municipal waste management. He launched Closed Loop Partners in 2014 to address the growing complexity, cost, and risk of global supply chains. Ron's work focuses on robotics, material science, and infrastructure that makes circular economy economically viable and politically bipartisan. In This Episode:  (00:00) Ron Gonen's sustainability path begins in his babysitting days (07:48) Post World War II consumer culture and the Madison Avenue shift (10:10) Career journey from Recycle Bank through Bloomberg to Closed Loop (15:43) Landfill industry's PR triumph and the real economics of recycling (20:13) Age of adoption answer: supply chains, bipartisan support, and robotics (25:46) Climate community must become more inclusive and less exclusive Share with someone who would enjoy this topic, like and subscribe to hear all of our future episodes, send us your comments and guest suggestions! About the show:  The Age of Adoption podcast explores the monumental transition from a period of social, economic, and environmental research and exploration – an Age of Innovation – to today's world in which companies across the economy are furiously deploying sustainable solutions – the Age of Adoption. Listen as our host, Keith Zakheim, CEO of Antenna Group, talks with experts from across the climate, energy, health, and real estate sectors to discuss what the transition means for business and society, and how corporates and startups can rise above competitors to lead in this new age.  This podcast is brought to you by Antenna Group, a global marketing and communications agency that partners with Fully Conscious brands — those with the courage to lead transformative change across Climate & Energy, Real Estate, Health, and beyond. Our clients include visionary corporations, startups, investors, and nonprofits who recognize that meaningful impact requires more than awareness; it demands bold action. In today's Age of Adoption, where every sector must incorporate sustainable solutions into foundational systems, we amplify brands standing at the forefront of change, shaping a better future for our planet and its people. To learn more, visit antennagroup.com. Resources: Ron Gonen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-gonen-807a49/Antenna GroupKeith Zakheim LinkedIn  

fWotD Episode 3239: Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 18 March 2026, is Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State.The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State is a courthouse in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U. S. The courthouse is used by the First Department of the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division. The original three-story building, at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street, was designed by James Brown Lord in the Renaissance Revival style and was finished in 1899. A six-story annex to the north, on Madison Avenue, was designed by Rogers & Butler and completed in 1955.The facade of both the original building and its annex is made almost entirely out of marble. The courthouse's exterior was originally decorated with 21 sculptures from 16 separate artists; one of the sculptures was removed in 1955. The main entrance is through a double-height colonnade on 25th Street with a decorative pediment; there is also a smaller colonnade on Madison Avenue. The far northern end of the annex's facade contains a Holocaust Memorial by Harriet Feigenbaum, and the sculpture NOW by Shahzia Sikander is mounted atop the building. Inside the courthouse, ten artists created murals for the main hall and the courtroom. The interiors are decorated with elements such as marble walls, woodwork, and paneled and coffered ceilings; the courtroom also has stained-glass windows and a stained-glass ceiling dome. The remainder of the building contains various offices, judges' chambers, and other rooms.The Appellate Division Courthouse was proposed in the late 1890s to accommodate the Appellate Division's First Department, which had been housed in rented quarters since its founding. Construction took place between 1896 and 1899, with a formal opening on January 2, 1900. Following unsuccessful attempts to relocate the court in the 1930s and 1940s, the northern annex was built between 1952 and 1955, and the original courthouse was also renovated. The structure was again renovated in the 1980s and in the 2000s. Throughout the courthouse's existence, its architecture has received largely positive commentary. The Appellate Division Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade and interior are both New York City designated landmarks.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:05 UTC on Wednesday, 18 March 2026.For the full current version of the article, see Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Amy.

Great marketing does not start with your product. It starts with your customer. In this conversation, I speak with marketing strategist Scott Hornstein about why storytelling, customer research, and trust are the real drivers behind successful brands. Scott shares lessons from decades in marketing, including his work with IBM and major technology launches, and explains how companies often fail when they focus on themselves instead of the people they serve. You will hear how listening to the voice of the customer can reshape messaging, build trust, and unlock growth. Scott also reflects on entrepreneurship, resilience, family, and the mindset required to get back up after setbacks. I believe you will find this conversation both practical and encouraging as you think about how relationships and trust shape business success. Highlights: · Creativity in Queens – Scott reflects on how music and culture shaped his early creativity.04:10 · From Literature to Marketing – His love of books leads him toward storytelling and marketing.12:57 · Learning to Experiment – A mentor teaches the value of trying ideas and learning from failure.20:46 · The Customer as the Hero – Scott explains why marketing must center on the customer.31:48 · Customer Insight Drives Messaging – Research helps reshape a company's message and market entry.41:23 · Resilience Through Setbacks – Scott reflects on perseverance in life and business.50:59 Top of Form Bottom of Form About the Guest: I currently live in Reston VA, my wife and I having moved there to be close to our 2 daughters and our 2 granddaughters. I am an independent business consultant specializing in storytelling – which embraces marketing, research, and content. Family is the most important thing in my life and it has taught me that lasting relationships, business and personal, are steeped in empathy and commitment. I was born in Manhattan on July 25, 1950. My parents soon moved the family to the up-and-coming borough of Queens. I attended the public schools in and around Forest Hills.  Writing was always my goal. I graduated NYU as an English major.  Upon graduation I traveled, then pursued my (naïve) dream of living as an artist – as a writer, an actor, and a musician. I wrote plays for the brand-new cable industry, wrote for a movie-making magazine, was in several off-off Broadway plays, worked as a pick-up musician. I helped in the office for a former professor to earn subway money. Got tired of starving to death. Took a job with CBS in the Broadcast Center, pulling together the Daily Log for the local station. Then, got hired to answer Bill Paley's mail. Then, I was hired as a marketing manager for Columbia House where I got some of the best advice – keep going. I met this guy from my neighborhood while commuting to my job in Manhattan. Turns our he worked for Y&R and said they were looking for someone. I interviewed and jumped over to agency-side work as an Account Executive, then Account Supervisor, then, going back to my roots, copywriter and eventually Creative Director. The entrepreneurial life has been a roller coaster, but I have been blessed to work with some brilliant people in marketing and sales, and some great companies. It allowed me to understand how I can really help my customers become successful in the long-term. Ways to connect with Scott**:** LinkedIn Medium www.hornsteinassociates.com About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Well, hi everyone, and welcome once again to another episode of unstoppable mindset today. Our guest is Scott Hornstein, although when he came into the Zoom Room, I said, is it Hornstein or Hornstein? And of course, he also understood, because we're both of the same age, and are both fans of Young Frankenstein, who always said that his name was really pronounced Frankenstein. But you know, you have to have to know Gene Wilder for that. But anyway, if you haven't seen that movie, you got to see it. Mel Brooks at his best, but Scott is a marketing person and specializes a lot in storytelling, which fascinates me a lot, because I am a firm believer in storytelling, and I know we're going to have a lot of fun talking about that today. So Scott, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Scott Hornstein  02:20 Thank you so much, Michael. I have to start by saying I have great respect for your work, and this is really quite a privilege for me. Thank you very much. Michael Hingson  02:32 Well, thank you. You're a long way from where you were born, in New York, in Manhattan. Now you're in Reston, Virginia, but that's okay. Well, you're not that far. It's just a short train ride, a few hours. Scott Hornstein  02:41 I That's true. That's true, although with that particular train, you can never be sure exactly how long it's going to be good Michael Hingson  02:52 point, yeah, yeah, good point. It is one of the things one has to deal with. But that's okay. But, you know, I've taken that train many times, and I've taken the the Metro liner as well, and also just the regular train. And I like the trains. I enjoy the train. I wish we had more of them out here. Scott Hornstein  03:15 I do too. I when it a long time ago in business, when I had a client here in DC, and I was living in Connecticut, I started taking the train, and it was so superior to flying. Oh yeah. And then recently I was, as I was mentioning to you, I was in Germany and taking the trains there is just wonderful. It's so superior. Michael Hingson  03:47 Yeah, I wish we would have more of them out here. If I, for example, want to take a train to San Francisco from where I live in Victorville, the only way I can do it is to take a train at roughly four in the morning to Los Angeles and then transfer on a train to go to San Francisco, which is no fun. I'll fly because it's it's kind of crazy, but I like the trains, and wish we wish we had more of them all over, and wish more people would use them. It's a lot better than driving, and it's a lot more pleasant. When I lived in the east, there were any number of times that I knew people who would travel from like Bucks County in Pennsylvania to New York Wall Street people, and they would go two, two and a half hours on the train every day and back again. And they formed discussion groups or other sorts of things. They they made it a part of their regular day, and it was there was nothing to them to do that. Scott Hornstein  04:54 And to them, I say, God bless. I am not in love with commuting, right? Yeah. Michael Hingson  05:00 Well, I understand that. I appreciate that, but they, they did well with it, and so good for them, or, as I would say in Australia, good on them. But you know, well, why don't we start tell us a little bit about you, maybe growing up in the early Scott and all that stuff. Let's start with that, sure. Scott Hornstein  05:21 First one brief aside about Young Frankenstein when I was living in Connecticut, I would go to the theater in Stanford, and for one performance, my tickets were at the will call, so I went up to the ticket booth, gave them my name, and the woman be on the other side of the iron bars keeps throwing her head to the side, wanting me to look over to my left, and I finally look over to my left, and there's Gene Wilder. Oh my gosh. What an enormously tall individual, very gracious, very nice. In any case, yes, Michael Hingson  06:06 with him, did you? Did you talk with Scott Hornstein  06:09 him just for a moment, just for a moment, you know, just Mr. Wilder, how nice to meet you. And he said a couple of nice things. And that was about it. Still, we all went to see the to see the show. Still, it was quite a thrill for me. What show I do not. Oh, that was, oh, no, excuse me. That was the the madness of King Charles, madness of King George. King George. But he was quite mad, and the play is excellent, excellent. Well, anyway, in any case, I grew I was born in Manhattan. I spent the first couple of years of life on the west side. I don't remember much of that. But my parents quickly moved us out to Queens, which at that point was rather undeveloped. You could get a lot more for your money, and we have lived in an apartment building. And around our apartment building was nothing but empty lots. It was just not developed yet. But it was a great place to grow up because the there was so much going on in those years and so much so much music that was going on. The first recollection I have, in light of all the talk about vaccines and healthcare and all of this is I really remember that polio was a real thing there, and I remember kids with the braces on their legs. And I remember that when one of my friends got chicken pox, that the mothers would get us all together and have a play date so that we got chicken pox too. Okay, but it was, Michael Hingson  08:20 I'm sorry, remember, I remember getting the polio vaccinations, even starting in kindergarten, Scott Hornstein  08:24 yes, yes. And it was such a remarkable thing at that time. We all thought it was like a miracle. And, and Jonas Salk, I mean, he was like, such a hero, yeah. The other thing, so I, we were out in Queens, in an area that's the larger area is called Forest Hills, and it was, it was a great place, because the the whole museum, whole music scene was just exploding. So I'm moving on until my junior high school and high school years, and it was just all over the place. Yes, we were playing in bands, but also there were these wonderful venues to go to. And there was the subway. If my parents only knew where I really was, we would get on the subway, go down in the village, go to all the cafe bar Gertie spoke city, all these places to hear the this wonderful mind changing music. And by mind changing, I don't mean drugs. I mean mind changing that it was, it was just everything in life. Michael Hingson  09:57 And there's nothing like hearing a lot. Music, Scott Hornstein  10:01 even to this day, it's my very, very favorite thing to do. Yeah, and so many musicians and artists came out of that area. I not being one of them. But it was so exciting. Michael Hingson  10:27 I remember when we lived in New Jersey, and I would commute into New York. I heard, for example, even then, and it was in like 96 to beginning of 2002 Woody Allen on Monday night would play his clarinet somewhere. And less, less, Paul was still doing music and playing music at the meridian ballroom. And you can even take your guitar in and he would sign it for you Scott Hornstein  10:55 the it was Joe's Pub. Woody Allen would right. And I went there a couple of times to see him. Of course, it was so pricey that we had to kind of sneak in have one beer, yeah, Michael Hingson  11:16 but still, it was worth doing. Scott Hornstein  11:19 And then they Yeah, and they were great clubs. I think that was, there's certainly the blue note for jazz that I went to a lot. And then there in Times Square, there was iridium, which was where I was able to see Les Paul, right? And many of those greats. Michael Hingson  11:42 Yeah, I never did get to go and get my guitar signed, and now it's too late. But oh, well, do you play? I play at it more than anything else. My father, I think, even before the war, before World War Two, or somewhere around there anyway, he traded something and got a Martin grand concert guitar. Oh, still, I still have it. That's wonderful. What a wonderful sound it is. Scott Hornstein  12:15 What a wonderful story. Yes, I play as well. I And growing up very early on, I decided I wanted to be Ricky Nelson. Oh, there you go. But I quickly learned that I was not going to be Ricky Nelson. However, the guy that was standing behind him playing guitar, now that might be something that I could do. So yes, so I picked it up, and I played in all the bands and then, which quickly taught me that I was not cut out for rock and roll, that I wasn't very good at it, but it led me into many other avenues of music, certainly listening, certainly being part of that scene, I'd go see friends of mine who could play well rock and roll and And that was so exciting for me. And then I, I played in pickup bands through college. So on a weekend night there would be a wedding, Bar Mitzvah, and this guy, I forget his name, piano player, he he got all the gigs and Howie was the first choice for guitar, and if Howie wasn't available, they'd call me. Michael Hingson  13:47 There you go, hey. So second choice is better than no choice. Absolutely. Scott Hornstein  13:54 I i enjoyed it thoroughly and that they paid me money to do this. There you go, right, inconceivable to me. Michael Hingson  14:05 So what did you major in in college? Scott Hornstein  14:10 Well, I started off majoring in biology, and there you go. And why I chose biology is is a mystery to this day, it didn't last long. I cycled through a number of things, and I graduated with a degree in literature, in English, particularly American literature, which is not quite the same as learning a trade. But you know it, it was consistent with with who I was at that time. I was the guy who, if he went out the door, would have two books with him, just in case I finished one. I didn't want to be left at sea, so a voracious reader couldn't stay away from the theater. So it was very consistent with who I was and and it was good for me, because I think through things like like literature and fiction and biography, you learn so much about the world, about how different people are confronted with challenges, how they process their lives, how they overcome these challenges or not or not, it just exposes you to so much. Michael Hingson  15:49 Yeah, and so I'll bet you had some challenges finding some sort of real, permanent job after getting a degree in English? Scott Hornstein  16:03 Yes, I did. But when I got out the idea of it didn't cross my mind that people actually would not earn a great living by being just an artist. What did I want to do? I wanted to write. I wanted to be involved in music. I wanted to act. I did all these things until the point when I got thoroughly fed up with being poor, with not having a dime in my pocket. Ever starving to death is, is sort of what you would call it. Yeah, yeah. You know, I did. I have modest success. Yes, I was able to keep myself off the streets, but no, it was no way for a career. It was no way to even be able to afford your own apartment, for gosh sakes. So I from there i i had done a lot of promotion for the different things that I was involved in, trying to get audiences, trying to get awareness of what I was doing, and that led me to have some contacts inside of CBS. And when I started looking for a job, I started talking to these folks, and they offered me a job. So here I was, and actually gainfully employed. Michael Hingson  17:44 What was the job? Well, I Scott Hornstein  17:47 was sort of a gopher for my first job. Mostly what I did was type, but I do have one good story for you. So I was down in the depths of the CBS Broadcast Center, which is all the way on the west side of 5017 and it's an old milk factory, so which they had converted to broadcast purposes. And so there were long holes, and the halls would always slope down. And there was one day where I was late for a meeting, and I came running down the halls, and there are always these swinging doors, I guess, for in case there's a fire or something, and I'm bursting through the doors, and I go running, and I burst through the next set of doors, and I'm running, and I burst through the next set of doors, and I knock this guy right on his bum. I pick him up, I dust him off. I say, I am so sorry. He says, Don't worry about a thing. It's all fine. I continue running. A friend of mine grabs me and says, Did you see Paul Newman? Michael Hingson  19:10 There you are. Scott Hornstein  19:12 So I have the unique entry on my resume of knocking Paul Newman to the ground. Michael Hingson  19:22 I Well, at least he was civil and nice about it. Scott Hornstein  19:26 He was very nice about it, though. Yeah, so I worked there and then through my writing, because I was writing for a film magazine at night, which, of course, didn't pay a cent, not a cent, but I got to go to all the premiers, and I got to meet all the people and interview all the people so whatever. So through that, I was able to go over to the main building and answer letters for Bill Paley, who was the. Michael Hingson  20:00 Chairman, Chairman, I said, Yes, right, Scott Hornstein  20:02 and it was my job to explain to everybody why Mr. Paley, I never called him, Bill, never, nobody, no, no, why he was right and they were wrong. That was my job, and that I did that for a little while, I can honestly say that I enjoyed having money in my pocket, but that was not the most fulfilling of jobs, and from there, I was able to go over and get my first marketing position, working for the Columbia record and tape Club, which was part of CBS Records at that time. And when I Ben or Dover was the president of Columbia House at that time, and when he made me the offer, he gave me one of the great life lessons that I've I've ever had. And he said, Scott, if you sit in your office and you do exactly what I ask you to do, and you do it on time, and you do it perfectly, we are not going to get along. But if you are out there and you're trying this and you're trying that, and this works, and that doesn't work, but you get up and you keep trying, we're going to be fast friends. Interesting. Yeah, yeah. That's something that has stayed with me my whole life. One of the great pieces of advice that I've ever gotten, Michael Hingson  21:57 well the for me, what's fascinating about it is thinking about how many people would really do that and allow that to happen, but it's really what more people should be doing. I've I've always maintained that the biggest problem with bosses is that they boss people around too much, rather than encouraging them and helping them and using their own talents to help people be more creative. When I hire sales people, the first thing I always told them was, well, the second thing because the first thing I always told them was, you need to understand right up front if you're going to sell here, you have to learn to turn perceived liabilities into assets. And that's got a story behind it. But the second thing that I always talked about was my job isn't to boss you around. I hired you because you convinced me that you're supposed to be able to do the job, and we'll see how that goes. But you should be able to but my job is to work with you to figure out how I can use my talents to help you and to enhance what you do to make you more successful. And the people who got that did really well, because we usually did things differently, and we both learned how to figure out and actually figure out how to work with each other and be very successful. But the people who didn't get it and wouldn't try that, generally, weren't all that successful. Scott Hornstein  23:26 Not terribly surprised, sir. You know, I think that people miss the the humanity of all this. And that if we bring our respective strengths and work together, that it's going to be a more complete and more successful whole than if I try and dominate you and tell you what to do, right, just that hasn't been a successful formula for me. I have never done well with people who tried to tell me exactly what to do, which is probably why I went out on my own. Probably why, in the greater scheme of things that I I did well, working for people from Columbia House. I met this guy on the train, and we got friendly, and he said he worked for an advertising agency, and they were looking for somebody would I be interested in interviewing? And this was with the young and Rubicon. And I did get the job, and I did work my way up to an account supervisor. And then i i said, i. Hate this, and I went back to be a copywriter and worked my way up to be a creative director. But, you know, I went on my own on January 1 of 86 and it was like a liberation for me, because at that point there was a new a new president of the division that I worked for, and he was not a nurturing individual. He was more of the dominant kind of you'll do what I tell you to do. Didn't sit well with me at all, and I had the opportunity to go on my own. So I I packed up my dolls and dishes, and I walked in on January 2, and I said, Bill, I quit. Michael Hingson  26:02 There you go. Was it hard for you to do that? Scott Hornstein  26:11 You know, at that point? So I here I am. I'm a creative director. I got the office on Madison Avenue, and I'm doing freelance all over the place, not only because it was extra money, but because it was it was fueling my creativity. It was giving me something back. It was fun. And I really like to have fun. I have so much fun working with people and that interaction that that humanity, the spark of humanity. So I was doing a lot of freelance, and I wrote this proposal for this one design group who was near where I was living at that time, and it got sold. So they said, Do you want to you want to work on it? And at that point in my life, I didn't have any responsibilities. I had a studio apartment there that was real cheap. And I said, If I don't try this now, yeah, I don't think I'll ever try it. So that's what I did. I quit, and I walked out the door into the great unknown, Michael Hingson  27:39 and the entrepreneurial spirit took over. Scott Hornstein  27:43 It did, and it worked well for about six, seven months, and then we got to the summertime, and I couldn't get arrested for a while. But you know, you have to take it one day at a time. And I figured, all right, well, let's just be open and network and see what's going on. It's not the time to quit. It's not the time to go back and get a job. And I was fortunate in that I was sitting at the desk one day, and this one guy called me, and I had met him before his folks ran one of the biggest, or actually the biggest, telemarketing agency in New York at that time, and I had met, met this fellow, and he said, I got this project. I've been asking around for creative source, and three people gave me your name. So I figured, well, let's go talk. And that turned into a very, very good situation for me, it gave me a lot of responsibility and a lot of leeway to take all the things that I had learned and put them in service of my client and I had a ball. I loved it. The only thing I didn't love was the and I did love this for a while was the constant travel. Now, everybody doesn't travel, and they're all sitting in their rooms at home, looking at screens. But that was that was a great opportunity for me to to spread my wings and to take and I learned so much one of the. Initial assignments I had was for IBM and IBM at that time was, was Mount Olympus. Oh my gosh, working for IBM, and I worked in tandem with this research group. We were all working on the introduction of the IBM ThinkPad and what these folks, they had a methodology they called voice of customer research, which was a qualitative research we're talking to decision makers from a carefully prepared Interview Guide to come up with the attitudes, the insights that we could put together to to come up with a solution. And I was fascinated by this of how to tap into what what the customer really wants by talking to the customer. How unusual. Michael Hingson  31:16 What a concept. Oh yeah. I mean Scott Hornstein  31:19 then and now, it's still the operative phrase of this would be a wonderful business, business, if it wasn't for all those annoying customers and and this just turned that on its head. That's another thing that I learned that has stayed with me through my entire career, is that for the the storytelling, and what I mean by storytelling is, is two things. Is, first, you know all your stories are going to come from what you consider to be your brand, but if you're not developing your brand according to the wants, the needs, the desires, the expressed future state that your Customers want, then then you're wide of the mark. So I was able to bring this in, and I think do a much better job for my customers. Now, the way that relates into storytelling is that you're you're able to take what you do and put it into the story of how your customer succeeds with the hero in the hero's journey, is Michael Hingson  32:55 your customer, your customer? Why do you think that is such a successful tactic to use, Scott Hornstein  33:02 because everybody else is completely enamored of themselves. When other companies craft their their brand, it's mostly because why they think they are special and what their vision tells them is their future. And quite frankly, most customers really don't care when, when a new customer first confronts you and your brand. They ask three questions, who are you? Why should I care? And what's in it for me? And if you can't answer those, if the story that you tell whether complete or in fragments or in in different parts according to where they are on their consideration journey. It doesn't resonate. It doesn't resonate. Hey, I have the best technology out there. I have brilliant people working on this technology. And guess what? Your technology? Somebody will eat your technology in 18 months, and I don't care, I want to know. What does it do for me? Michael Hingson  34:28 Yeah, as opposed to saying, After asking enough questions, I have technology that will solve this problem that you have identified. Let me tell you about it. Is that okay? Exactly? Scott Hornstein  34:44 Yeah, exactly. And as odd as it sounds, that helps you to stand out in the field, in a crowded Michael Hingson  34:55 field, it does, but it's also all about the. Relating to the customer and getting the customer to establish a rapport and relating to you. And when you, as you pointed out, make it about the customer, and you talk in such a way that clearly, you're demonstrating you're interested in the customer and what they want they're going to relate to you. Scott Hornstein  35:24 There's two, two things in there that, well, there's a million things in there that are particularly true. And the first is not only recognizing and and internalizing the goals of your client, but also opening yourself up and saying, these are people. These are humans. And the other real distinguishing fact that a lot of people don't either realize or embrace is that in business to business, and I've spent most of my life in business to business, it's all personal. It's all about personal connections. It's all about trust. And call me crazy, but I am not going to trust a machine. I will have confidence in technology, but my trust is going to be placed in the human through this, one anecdote that that is has really impressed me is that I was doing one of these interviews once, and I was talking to the CEO of of this company. And I said, Well, you know, I of course, I'm working for company A and you've been a client for a long time. What's, what's the greatest benefit that you get from this company? And without hesitation, he said, our salesman. Our salesman is part of our team. He understands who we are, he knows what we need, and he goes and he gets it. So that kind of that, to me, has always been a touchstone on things. Michael Hingson  37:43 Well, the fact that the salesman earned that reputation, and the President was willing to acknowledge it is really important and crucial. Scott Hornstein  37:56 And within that, I would say the very important word that you used is earn. You need to earn that trust. Sure it doesn't come just because you have brilliant technology. It's all people. It's all personal, all people. Michael Hingson  38:20 And that's success, the successful sales people are people who understand and work to earn trust. Scott Hornstein  38:32 Well said, and I think that particularly in this age of accelerating remoteness, that this concept of earning the trust and the person to person becomes a compelling competitive differentiator. And I think that that telling the story of of how you make your customers successful, of the role you play, of where you're going, this allows you to bridge some of those troubled waters to people who are sitting remote. It helps you to open your ears you know where you're going, so you can listen, yeah, Michael Hingson  39:40 well, and that's an extremely important thing to to keep in mind and to continue to hone, because bottom line is, it's all about, as I said, trust, and it certainly is about earning, and that isn't something you. First, it's something that you understand. Scott Hornstein  40:04 It's a gift that can only be bestowed on your customer. You can want it, but they're the only ones who can give you. Your brand is the meal you prepare. You but your reputation is the review, right? So, yeah, you gotta earn that trust. Michael Hingson  40:32 So how long so you you own your own company? How long has the company been in existence? Scott Hornstein  40:40 I Well, let's see. I went on my own on January 1 in 1986 and I am still without visible means of support. Michael Hingson  40:58 Well, there you go, same company all along, huh? Scott Hornstein  41:03 I Yeah, you know, do different work with different people, sure, but yes, it's still me. Michael Hingson  41:13 It's still, do you actually have a company and a name or anything like that? Scott Hornstein  41:17 I did. I did for a long time. I operated under Hornstein associates, okay, and recently I have dropped that and I just work as myself. I think that I had employees, then I had expandable, retractable resources then, and I'm not so interested in doing that right now. I am interested in working as and I love working as part of a team. Collaboration is my middle name. I might not have put that on my resume, but yeah, and I'm just, I'm really just interested in being me these days. Michael Hingson  42:13 That's fair. There's nothing wrong with that. No, well, in your current role, what do you think is the greatest contribution you've made to your clients, and I'd love an example, a story about that. Scott Hornstein  42:28 I would love to tell you a story. Oh, good. So one of my clients is a manufacturer. And they manufacture of all things, barcode scanners, as you would use in a warehouse and in a warehouse, absolutely everything, including the employees, has a barcode. Theirs is different than the the ones that you would normally see, the ones that like have a pistol grip. These are, these are new. It's new technology. They're ergonomically designed. They sit on the back of your hand. They're lightweight. They have more capabilities. They're faster and more accurate. Well, that sounds like sliced bread. However, they had a big problem in that all the scanners in all the warehouses come from the titans of the universe, the Motorola's, the great big names and these great, you know the old saying of Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. Well, you know, if they need more scanners. Why would they go elsewhere? They just go back and get the same thing. So the the big problem is, is how to penetrate this market? And we did it. I worked with them in a number of ways. The first way was to conduct interviews, qualitative interviews, with the executive team, to come up with their their brand. What did they think? What did they think that was most important? And they said, clearly, the productivity gains, not only is this faster, not only can we prove that this is faster, but the the technology is so advanced that now we can also give you. Information from the shop floor. Well, then we talked to their their partners, who were already selling things into these warehouses. And we talked to a number of companies that were within their ICP, their ideal customer profile, I think that's very important to be prospecting with the folks who can make best use of your products and services. And what we found is that it wasn't just the productivity, it was that we solved other problems as well, and without going heavily into it, we solved the a big safety problem. We made the shop floor more secure and safer for the workers. So we changed the message from Warehouse productivity to the warehouse floor of making each employee safer, able to contribute more and able to have a better satisfaction, and that we were able to roll out into a into great messaging. The initial campaign was solely focused on the workers, and our offer was We challenge you to a scan off our scanners, against yours, your employees, your products, your warehouse. Let's have a head to head competition, because we then knew from these interviews, from working with the partners, that once these employees got the ergonomic the lightweight, ergonomic scanners on their hands, and realized how much faster They were, and how much safer that they were, that they would be our champions. And in fact, that's what, what happened. I can go deeper into the story, but it it became a story. Instead of coming in and just saying, boost your productivity, it's the scanners work for your your overall productivity. It helps you to keep your customers satisfied, your workers, one of the big problems that they're having is maintaining a stable and experienced workforce, this changed the characteristic of the shop floor, and it changed the character, how the employees themselves described their work environment. So we were able to take that and weave a story that went from one end of the warehouse to the other with benefits for everybody in between. So you said, What is the the one you said, the greatest benefit, I would say the contribution that I'm most proud of, it's that it's to recast the brand, the messaging, in the form, in the shape of the customer, of what they need, of helping them to achieve the future state that they want. And I'm sorry for a long winded answer, Michael Hingson  49:10 yes, that's okay. Not a not a problem. So let me what would you say are the two or three major accomplishments or achievements in your career, and what did they teach you? Scott Hornstein  49:26 Well, you know, I think the the achievements in my career, well, the first one I would mention was incorporating that, that voice of customer research, bringing the customer to the planning table, letting the executives, the sales people, the marketers, unite around, how does the customer express their hopes, their dreams, their challenges? I would say the second. Uh, is this idea of taking all of the content of all of the messaging and and unifying it? Some people call it a pillar view. I call it storytelling, of relaying these things so that you are giving your prospects and your customers the information that they need when they need it, at the specific point in their consideration journey, when this is most important, and it might be that a research report for a prospect that talks about some of the challenges in the marketplace and what's being done, it might be as simple for a customer as a as a video on how do you do this? You know, how do you screw in a light bulb? Oh, here it is. Everybody's used to that. The the third thing, and, and this is something, forgive me, for which I am, I am very proud, is that now I take this experience and this expertise, and through the organization called score, I'm able to give this back to people who are are trying to make their way as entrepreneurs Michael Hingson  51:35 through the Small Business Administration. And score, yes, Scott Hornstein  51:40 very proud of that. I get so much for from that. Michael Hingson  51:46 Well, what would you say are maybe the two or three major achievements for you in life, and what did you learn? Or what did they teach you? Or are they the same Scott Hornstein  51:57 I did? Well, I would say they're they're the same, and yet they're a little bit different. The first one is, is that it's only very few people who lead the charmed life where they are never knocked down. I'm not one of those people, and I've been knocked down several times, both professionally and personally, and to get back up, I to have that, and you will forgive me if I borrow a phrase that indomitable spirit that says, no, sorry, I'm getting back up again. And I can do this. And it may not be comfortable and it may not be easy, but I can do this. So there was that I think that having kids and then grandkids has taught me an awful lot about about interpersonal relationships, about the fact that there isn't anything more important than family, not by a long shot, and from these different things. I mean, certainly, as you I was, I didn't have the same experience, but 911 affected me deeply, deeply and and then it quite frankly, there was 2008 when I saw my my business and my finances sort of twirl up into the sky like like the Wizard of Oz, like that house in the beginning, Michael Hingson  54:09 but still, Scott Hornstein  54:16 And I persevere, yeah. So I think that that perseverance, that that focus on on family, on humanity. And I would say there's one other thing in there, is that. And this is a hard one. Observation is that I can't do anything about yesterday, and tomorrow is beyond my reach, so I I have to take Michael Hingson  54:56 today, but you can certainly use yesterday. As a learning experience, Scott Hornstein  55:01 I am the sum of all my parts, absolutely, but my focus isn't today, and using everything that I've learned certainly. You know, I got tongue tied there for just a minute. Michael Hingson  55:19 I hear you, though, when did you get married? Scott Hornstein  55:25 I got married in 87 I I met my wife commuting on the train to New York. Michael Hingson  55:35 So you had actually made the decision to could to quit and so on, before you met and married her. Scott Hornstein  55:43 No, no, I was, I was I met her while I still had a job in advertising. That's why I was commuting to New York. And you know, in the morning there was a bunch of us. We'd hold seats for each other and just camaraderie, yeah, you know, have our coffee. Did she? Did she work? She did she did she was she joined the group because she knew she had just gotten a job in New York. And of course, for those who don't know New York? When I say New York, I mean Manhattan, the city. Nobody thinks of any of the boroughs Michael Hingson  56:27 as part of New York. Scott Hornstein  56:31 And yeah, I and one day gone in, she fell asleep on my shoulder, and the rest is history. There you go. Michael Hingson  56:41 What So, what did she think when you quit and went completely out on your own? Scott Hornstein  56:48 I you know, I never specifically asked her, but I would think that she would have thought that maybe I was not as solid, maybe not as much marriage material, maybe a little bit of a risk taker. I did not see it as as taking a risk, though, at that time, but it was actually great for us, just great for us. And yeah, met there, and then I quit. Shortly thereafter, she was still commuting. And then things started to just take off, yeah, yeah, both for my career and for the relationship, yeah. Michael Hingson  57:51 And again, the rest of course, as they say, is history. Scott Hornstein  57:56 It is. And here I am now in Reston, Virginia, and we moved to Reston because both daughters are in close proximity, and my two grandchildren. And you know, am I still confronted with the knock downs and the and the get up again. Yeah, the marketplace is very crazy today. The big companies are doing great, the mid size companies, which is my Market, and it's by choice, because I like dealing with senior management. I like dealing with the people who make the decisions, who if we decide something's going to happen, it happens and and you can see the impact on the culture, on on the finances, on the customer base. These guys are it's tough out there right now. Let me say that it's it's tough to know which way to go. This doesn't seem to be anything that's sure at the moment. Michael Hingson  59:11 Yeah, it's definitely a challenging world and and then the government isn't necessarily helping that a lot either. But again, resilience is an important thing, and the fact is that we all need to learn that we can survive and surmount whatever comes along. Scott Hornstein  59:33 And let me just throw in AI that is a big disruptor at the moment that nobody actually knows Michael Hingson  59:43 what to do with it. I think people have various ideas there. There are a lot of different people with a lot of different ideas. And AI can be a very powerful tool to help but it is a tool. It is not an end all. Um. Yeah, and well said, I think that, you know, even I, when I first heard about AI, I heard people complaining about how students were writing their papers using AI, and you couldn't tell and almost immediately I realized, and thought, so what the trick is, what are you going to do about it. And what I've what I've said many times to teachers, is let students use AI if that's what they're going to use to write their papers, and then they turn them in. And what you do is you take one period, and you call each student up and you say, All right, I've read your paper. I have it here. I want you now to defend your paper, and you have one minute, you're going to find out very quickly who really knows what they're talking about. Scott Hornstein  1:00:47 That, in fact, is brilliant. Michael Hingson  1:00:49 I think it's a very I think it's a very powerful tool. I use AI in writing, but I use it in that. I will use it, I will I will ask it questions and get ideas, and I'll ask other questions and get other ideas, and then I will put them together, however, because I know that I can write better than AI can write, and maybe the time will come when it'll mimic me pretty well, but still, I can write better than AI can write, but AI's got a lot more resources to come up with ideas. Scott Hornstein  1:01:21 It does. It does. And with that, it's a fantastic tool. The differentiator, as I see it, for most of my stuff, is that AI has read about all this stuff, but I've lived it, so I'm going to trust me at the end, Michael Hingson  1:01:45 and when I talk about surviving the World Trade Center and teaching people what I learned that helped me in the World Trade Center, I point out most people, if there's an emergency, read signs and they're told go this way to escape or to get out or do this or do that, but there's still signs, and they don't know anything. I don't read signs, needless to say, and what I did was spent a fair amount of time truly learning all I could about the World Trade Center where things were, what the emergency evacuation procedures were what would happen in an emergency and so on. And so for me, it was knowledge and not just relying on a sign. And so when September 11 happened, a mindset kicked in, and we talked about that in my my latest book, live like a guide dog. But that's what it's about, is it's all about knowledge and truly having that information, and that's what you can trust. Scott Hornstein  1:02:48 I'll give you a big amen on that one. Michael Hingson  1:02:52 Well, this has been a lot of fun to do. We've been Can you believe we've been doing this an hour? My gosh, time, I know having fun. Scott Hornstein  1:03:03 It's fun. And I would say again, in closing, I just have enormous respect for what you've accomplished, what you've done. This is been a great privilege for me. I thank you very much. Michael Hingson  1:03:19 Well, it's been an honor for me, and I really value all the comments, the advice, the thoughts that you've shared, and hopefully people will take them to heart. And I would say to all of you out there, if you'd like to reach out to Scott, how do they do that? Well, there you go. See, just, just type, well, right? Scott Hornstein  1:03:42 That's it. If you, if you sent an email to Scott dot Hornstein at Gmail, you'll get me. Michael Hingson  1:03:56 And Hornstein is spelled Scott Hornstein  1:03:58 H, O, R, N, S, T, E, I, Michael Hingson  1:04:03 N, and again, it's scott.hornstein@gmail.com Scott Hornstein  1:04:09 that's that's the deal. There you go. Well, find me on LinkedIn. You can find me on medium. I'm all over the place. Michael Hingson  1:04:18 There you are. Well, I hope people will reach out, because I think you will enhance anything that they're doing, and certainly trust is a big part of it, and you earn it, which is great. So thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching us wherever you are. Please give us a five star review and a rating and but definitely give us a review as well. We appreciate that. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest, Scott, you as well. We're always looking for more people to have on, so please introduce us and Scott. If you want to come on again, we can talk about that too. That'd be kind of fun. But I want to thank what I want to thank you again for being here. This has been fun, and I appreciate you being here with us today and and so thank you very much for doing it. Scott Hornstein  1:05:07 My all the pleasure is all mine. Michael Hingson  1:05:14 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

We've had many conversations on Raise the Line about the challenges of health communication in today's world of information overload, but none of our guests have the kind of expertise Dr. Tesfa Alexander has acquired in a career that has taken him from Madison Avenue to the halls of government and academia. From guiding tobacco education research at the FDA to leading public health initiatives at MITRE, Dr. Alexander has developed a deep understanding of the science and strategy behind effective health communication. “Successful campaigns keep the long game in mind where you want to develop a lasting relationship with your target audience,” he tells host Lindsey Smith. That relationship needs to be built on understanding culture, beliefs, priorities and daily realities, and only then can you develop messaging that will resonate, he explains. Dr. Alexander also believes these relationships can be leveraged to help people sort out facts from misleading or inaccurate claims. “I strongly recommend shifting our focus from combating misinformation head on, and instead working with the communities who we are seeking to serve.” This fascinating look at communication science also covers: How stories drive belief; The importance of working with community partners who are trusted messengers;  The power of audience segmentation. Tune in as Dr. Alexander unpacks what it takes to influence beliefs, and ultimately behaviors, in an era defined by misinformation and institutional mistrust. Mentioned in this episode:Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Keith breaks down where the U.S. housing market appears to be headed and which regions and states are quietly winning or losing in the population shuffle since 2020—and what that could mean for real estate investors.  You'll also hear about an intriguing cash-flow play in single-family rentals in select Southern markets. Then, Keith is joined by financial strategist and comedian Garrett Gunderson, who challenges the usual "scrimp and save" advice. Together, they explore how to build real wealth without sacrificing your life today, how high-net-worth individuals often get money wrong, and a different way to think about financial independence, freedom, and investing in yourself. Resources: Get Garrett Gunderson's Killing Sacred Cows audiobook free: DM @GarrettBGunderson on Instagram with the words "Keith Cows." Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/595 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  1-937-795-8989 to speak with a freedom coach Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com  Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Keith, welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, is the future direction of the housing market trending up or trending down? Which states have seen the most population growth? Then powerful wealth mindset tactics with a financial comedian today on get rich education   Speaker 1  0:20   since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, and delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads and 188 world nations. He has a list show guests and keep top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki, get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast or visit get rich education.com   Keith Weinhold  1:04   the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequel and even chat with President chailey Ridge personally. While it's on your mind, start at Ridge lending group.com that's Ridge lending group.com   Speaker 2  1:38   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  1:54   Welcome to GRE from Mount Rainier to Mount Rushmore and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and this is get rich education. I am not a Lambo driving influencer that will take any brand deal just to shill a gambling platform instead. Our core strategy at GRE is aging. Well, I've spoken with a lot of LP investors with capital calls and deals that lost all their money. Well, we approach wealth building with discipline and consistency. It doesn't sound dazzling, but it really shines when things go wrong elsewhere, because at least for the core of our portfolios, we get long term fixed rate debt for income property get paid five ways and win the inflation triple crown, and we do it all with a high degree of passivity. Right before I took the mic today, I got a two sentence email from a property manager that said an air conditioning unit's air handler board had to be replaced for $420 I don't even know what an air handler board really is. Now, the manager sent some photos in a written estimate. I quickly checked chat GPT, and I saw that the price was about right, and replied to my manager to go ahead and have that done. That's it an example of relative passivity. US residential real estate has nominally appreciated over every single 10 year period in modern history, despite some occasional short term downturns, even those are not common. Well, we recently had a guest mention that it's 20 years at the longest like 20 years or less is the period of time between which real estate never goes down. He was right. But you actually can't find any 10 year period where home values fell. What about the 2008 global financial crisis, I think that's the first place that the mind goes. Well back then, home values bottomed out at 208k in 2009 before they started growing again. And 10 years before that, the median price it was 157k in 1999 so even when home values hit their GFC low at that point, they were still up 32% from the previous 10 years. So you can confidently say then that over any 10 year period, home prices are up nationally. Now, how about the future? Well, for the future, there is more evidence of rising home prices. Building permits for new homes have fallen to their lowest level since 2019 that's according to the census bureau. So fewer single family homes are being built. Now we plan to discuss that more on. Next week show when we dive deep on does America really have a housing shortage? But this week, more reasons for future home price bullishness is that the labor market now, it's not doing that great. It sure isn't white hot, but unemployment, which was already low, that recently dropped a touch lower to just 4.3% inflation has fallen to 2.4% and wages are rising faster than that. In fact, our own Fed Chair recently remarked at how he's surprised at the strength of the economy. The property market analytics firm kotality, they now expect home prices to appreciate another four and a half percent this year. They and other firms continue to believe that the Midwest will be the hottest area of home price growth even more than that four and a half percent in that region. That is because not only is the Midwest underbuilt, it's that the prices are so affordable that it's attracting young people. The other factor is that mortgage rates recently dipped just below six into the high fives again, and that can release this pent up housing demand, and think about where we've come from. In late 2023 mortgage rates were about 8% and now lower mortgage rates also reduce the lock in effect, so it can create both more sellers and more buyers. The thing to remember is that 70% to 80% of home sellers are also home buyers because they've got to live somewhere. And first time homebuyers, of course, they buy only, they don't sell anything. In fact, former GRE guest in housing wire lead analyst Logan modeshami and Barry Habib were just positing on this at housing wire's latest summit on how the volume of home sales has been depressed for so long that lower rates could very well trigger a rush of buyers, these kind of people that have been delaying purchasing for years, this pent up housing demand being released if indeed rates go lower. People think they know the future, but we don't really know that that's going to happen for sure. But a lot of optimism about this phase of the housing market supported by not great, but decent economic conditions. Of course, that new housing demand is going to manifest unevenly across the nation. So let's talk about the places that have seen the most population growth from 2020 to today, basically the states that support that housing demand. Well, between 2020 and today, the US has grown by about 10 million people. That's over 3% nearly every state grew. But the bigger story is where that growth is happening. And really, here's the jaw dropper as a region, the South, gained more people than all of the other regions combined, about 7.6 million new residents in the south since 2020 the South's population is up 6% the West's almost 2% the Midwest population is up more than 1% and The Northeast up seven tenths of 1% again, this is not per year. This is total population growth from 2020 to today, Florida and Texas, they led the nation among the big states, both up almost 9% sprinting like they just found out that income tax is optional. The Carolinas in Tennessee are big southern growers too. People clearly keep moving toward warmer weather, a lower cost of living, lower taxes and job markets. Nothing new there. California in New York are the biggest losers in absolute numbers, California losing half of 1% of population in New York, a full 1% people keep moving away from these traditionally expensive, high tax coastal states like a buffet when the crab legs run out, people just getting up and leaving. That's not any sort of news story there, either. These trends help cash flow residential real estate investors like us, because the south aligns with that favorable landlord tenant law and those high ratios of rent income to purchase price. Luckily for us, that's where people are moving too. The Midwest has those phenomena as well, although their growth has been slower.    Keith Weinhold  9:39   Now a few Midwest highlights for you. Since 2020 the population of Indiana is up 2.8% quietly benefiting from Illinois. Escape Velocity, Missouri up almost 2% and that's growing mostly in Kansas City and St Louis suburbs. Ohio at almost 1% that's pretty modest growth overall, but Columbus up 5% that is flexing like it just landed a semiconductor plant there in Columbus, the intermountain west has bicep bulging growth, but it rarely works for us, because rents are only a little higher, but property prices are way higher. Yes, those pretty Rocky Mountain states, great Instagram, tough cash flow now Louisiana, it is a state that confounds people. It's a warm place, and it has a low cost of living, you would think Louisiana would be attracting people in droves for those reasons. Well, then why is its population following Louisiana down nine tenths of 1% since 2020 Well, you've got bleak job prospects that make Louisianans leave its tax competitiveness ranks 31st property insurance costs are high thanks to environmental risk. Louisiana has more swamps than beaches. Even the NFL saints were six and 11, and if they had made the playoffs, that wouldn't have made people move back. And hey, no personal shade here, I enjoy going to the New Orleans investment conference in Cajun culture, in Airboat Tours through the alligator filled Bayou, fun stuff, but for income producing property, you got to seek out different characteristics than just vacation Glee or how Good the gumbo tastes keep emotion separate from investing, Hawaii is America's biggest percentage loser. Its population is down one and a half percent since 2020 its cost of living is stratospherically high, with a median home value of just a little over a million dollars. That results in net outmigration to the mainland parts of the Aloha state now experience natural decrease. That means that deaths exceed births. Natural decrease. That's mostly a phenomenon on the Big Island. That's not where Honolulu is. That's where you have Kona and Hilo when young people can't afford to stay demographic gravity kicks in population loss. Hawaii is also highly dependent on tourism, meaning more volatility in recessions. It has contractor availability issues and higher repair costs, partly due to shipping materials to the remote islands. What about the upsides of Hawaiian real estate? Well, you're just going to have this inherent, strong, long term land scarcity and lifestyle desirability overall. Hawaii isn't bad. It's just hard. And I like Hawaii as a place to vacation, so the best times in my life were in Hawaii. Now, with all this said, These are broad generalities about states which are big places themselves right now. There are certainly Missouri real estate investors listening to me that are actually losing, and Hawaii real estate investors that are winning, and even cash flow positive. I'm talking general trends here, and this is with respect to long term rentals, not short term rentals. If your rent to price ratio is as low as point three or point four, like it often is near the coasts, well then you are speculating on appreciation. That's what that means. All 50 states have opportunity. All 50 states have no go zones. People keep moving south. That's a trend that the pandemic accelerated six years ago. More opportunity is concentrated there. That's got nothing to do with vacation excitement. That is population math, and I'm talking about swimming with the tide here in our Don't quit your Daydream newsletter I recently sent you that colorful population change map that I was describing some of there. More recently, I also emailed you that great and rare map of landlord friendly versus tenant friendly states mapped out and a lot of other great stuff.    Keith Weinhold  14:17   Before we bring in our firebrand guest, Garrett Gunderson, I just learned about a really strong opportunity for a provider of single family rentals and duplexes in Memphis and Little Rock. They're providing a locked in 5% interest rate and 5% property management for five years. Yeah, that's not a throwback to 2020 it's what mid south homebuyers calls their triple five program. They are the oldest and most trusted, maybe turnkey investment provider in the country, operating since 2002 and what they do is they offer these fully renovated, occupied rental properties in Memphis and Little Rock, two of the strongest cash flow markets in the South. With financing and management and rates that make the math work like it hasn't in years. So again, 5% interest, 5% property management fees for a full five years. You know those markets, they already had these investor advantage numbers with rent to price ratios mere point eight in Memphis and Little Rock. But yeah, that low 5% mortgage rate, even for renovated properties, not just new build. That's the kind of spread that turns a good deal into a great one. So to give you an idea, if you get a 30 year fixed rate mortgage loan amount of 125k with a 7% mortgage rate, your principal and interest payment is 832, at a 5% rate, it's just 671, so that's $160 more cash flow right there, and it's made a tad sweetener than that with just a 5% Property Management rate. And I don't know how long that offer is going to last, but it is available now and for the next little while, you can ask about it. When you visit mid southhomebuyers.com that's mid southhomebuyers.com and you can ask them about their triple five program. More next. I'm Keith Weinhold. You're listening to Episode 595, of get rich education.    Keith Weinhold  16:19   Flock homes helps you retire from real estate and landlording, whether it's one problem property or your whole portfolio, through a 721 exchange, deferring your capital gains tax and depreciation recapture, it's a strategy long used by the ultra wealthy. Now Mom and Pop landlords can 721, the residential real estate request your initial valuation, see if your properties qualify@flockhomes.com slash GRE, that's F, l, O, C, K, homes.com/gre. You know, most people think they're playing it safe with their liquid money, but they're actually losing savings accounts and bonds don't keep up when true inflation eats six or 7% of your wealth. Every single year, I invest my liquidity with FFI freedom family investments in their flagship program. Why fixed 10 to 12% returns have been predictable and paid quarterly. There's real world security backed by needs based real estate like affordable housing, Senior Living and health care. Ask about the freedom flagship program when you speak to a freedom coach there, and that's just one part of their family of products, they've got workshops, webinars and seminars designed to educate you before you invest start with as little as 25k and finally, get your money working as hard as you do. Get started at Freedom family investments.com/gre, or send a text. Now it's 1-937-795-8989 Yep. Text their freedom coach directly. Again, 1-937-795-8989,   Dani-Lynn Robison  18:08   this is freedom family investments. Co founder, Danny Lynn Robinson, listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream. You Brenda.   Keith Weinhold  18:24   Today's guest is someone that America knows as the long haired, bearded money guy in the past, he's drawn physical appearance comparisons to Jesus Christ. He's a prominent financial strategist. Founded an eight figure company, hit the Inc 500 he's both a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He is just an electric speaker, including appearances in front of dozens of billionaires. And he's just got this great way of speaking to financial freedom that hits you differently. He even has a comedy special that's great to welcome back to the show. Garrett Gunderson,   Garrett Gunderson  19:02   that's good to be back. Man. Is really good. Love your energy. Has a nice intro.   Keith Weinhold  19:07   Well, you give a lot of like, nice guidance to people that's somewhat different than they're used to hearing. You know, Garrett, I think a lot of the conventional guidance is, you know, it's not very far above Elementary School advice like, put your credit card in the freezer so you don't use it too often, but a lot of times you speak to either business owners or people that have already had some success, and I think a lot of your underlying mantra is, hey, you better live your best life now   Garrett Gunderson  19:35   I kind of feel like you are your greatest asset, and if you starve out that asset because you don't feed it with knowledge, or you don't invest in yourself, or you don't gain the skills that really matter because you're so addicted to scrimping and sacrificing and building your balance sheet right, trying to build savings accounts and retirement plans and doing all you can to pay off that mortgage. Yeah, you could become a millionaire on paper. But will you live like one? Will you enjoy your. Life. What about all the memories that you miss along the way? What about having quality of life today and creating a life you don't want to retire from? The wealthy people, they didn't get that way because they shrunk their way there. They didn't get that way because they were amazing budgeters. They built businesses. They created value. They learned how to, you know, sell or speak or market or have business acumen that grow business or to hire people, and having those systems that actually impact more people or more deeply impact the people that they serve, because it's about value creation and their value creators. And I think this notion of just thinking, Oh, I could just trade time for money and set money aside. Man, that's a really painful way to get to a million dollars, but Northwestern Mutual, they just put out an article that said, 32 or 34% of millionaires don't feel wealthy, because if you have money tied up in an account that isn't kicking off cash flow, it doesn't feel like wealth. You can't spend that net worth. It's just a statement if you don't learn how to create cash flow. And I love financial independence, where people have cash flow from assets to cover their expenses now their lifestyle is covered from that cash flow. Now they can reinvest every active dollar into themselves and their quality of life, into more cash flowing assets, into taking trips along the way, not just waiting until they're too old to enjoy it.   Keith Weinhold  21:13   You work with business owners all the time, and you've even worked with some ultra high net worth people that still seemed to scrimp and save. Do you think really, what is that the function of? Is it more of the wrong mindset or the wrong tactics when someone acts that way?   Garrett Gunderson  21:32   It's a mindset that's really kind of handed down to them? Yeah, maybe from their parents or grandparents or from a different era, like there's people that were, you know, in the Great Depression, that then tells stories to their family about how tough it was, and you never know when that money could go away. So you got to hold tight, and it's a scarcity mindset. So one of the wealthiest clients I ever had, I mean, this was a guy who he was worth a lot of money, but you would never know it. I saw him on TV one day. I was like, Dude, he needs new clothes, and we found a strategy to save him a bunch of money. He was just buying his inventory with cash or like, let's buy it on a plum card, and you'll get cash back. I just said, Just take 10% of that cash back, which was over $100,000 a month, and spend it on yourself. He's like, Well, I wouldn't know to spend it on I'm like, Well, how about some new clothes to start with? He's like, Okay. And then the next month, he bought a nest system for his house. The next month he bought a sound system. Eventually, saved up enough money to buy a Tesla, which he really wanted, like it was money that was there for him, but it changed his entire paradigm, because now he had a quality of life. He was very philanthropic and donated money. He built massive businesses, but he never treated himself well. He'd never felt like it was okay to spend that money because of his upbringing, because the way that his parents viewed money and the way that their parents viewed money, and it was always something that felt scarce. So it felt like, okay, will this go away? And the reality was, we just found money in your couch cushions, essentially. So why not enjoy it along the way? He eventually bought a home that he loved on the water, that he loves the garden. I mean, it was like a total transformation with that one simple thing to help him heal his relationship with money, overcome scarcity, because he was already highly productive. He just had to break free from this budgetary mindset.   Keith Weinhold  23:09   That's great. It was almost like, Dude, I can see it in you. Before we even talk. You got that code off the rack at Burlington. I swear you can do better than this. Come on, now   Garrett Gunderson  23:17    30 years ago, 30 years ago too. You know, it doesn't even fit anymore.   Keith Weinhold  23:23   Well, you know, I recently dedicated a complete episode Garrett to the way I put it is that the risk of delayed gratification is denied gratification. Now, there are some good things to be said for delayed gratification, I think, especially when you're younger, or you're just starting out in the working world, and you just tried to cover rent for your apartment and you don't have much else. Delaying some gratification is good. You need to form capital. You need to get liquid. I try to avoid saying stacking savings, because that gets people in the mindset of becoming super savers sometimes, and they miss out on returns. But what I mean about the risk of delayed gratification, being denied gratification, if it's taken too great of an extent, is, you know, I'm talking about the guy where, when he was 24 he used to say, Oh, I'm going to visit the Galapagos Islands someday. That's what I want to do. But you can just tell by the time you talk to the dude, when he's 48 he begins to use the past tense for things he wanted to do, for example, then he might start saying, Oh, well, I guess I never did visit the Galapagos Islands. You know, you can tell with people when they use the past tense, and that's when you know that their future is not bigger than their past, and a lot of that is the reflection of their financial status.   Garrett Gunderson  24:40   I got married at age 23 and the first two years, well, it was really like the first year and a half, maybe I was just such a miser. I gave my wife a $400 a month budget for an apartment, and we found out that there's places you don't want to live in Utah. I didn't know it, but she's like, is this what you want? And I was like, This doesn't feel like a safe neighborhood. And then you. Know, I was like, All right, maybe $600 I was still kind of really scarce. And my parents were like, Why don't you just live in our basement, rent free, and my wife's like, sex free. If you think that's where we're living, I'm gonna live in my parents basement, you know? Because I just thought money was something to save. So I saved me over 50% of my income. And a lot of people were like, that's amazing. Congratulations. Great job. And so I felt really good about it, and then I realized that my business wasn't growing as fast as this other person my age. I met him at an event, and a year later, he was doing better. And I was like, Dude, what's going on? I could hear it in your voice. I could hear like, you're just a different person. He goes, Oh, I'm doing two things. One, I just hired this guy, Steve D'Annunzio, and he changed my entire life. And I was like, I need to meet him. He's like, he happens to be here in Vegas. He's from Rochester. Introduced me. I hired him as my coach right away. I'm hearing all these people talk about strategic coach at the same event, and they had a booth. So I signed up for Strategic Coach, which meant I had to part with some of my money. Think it was $7,500 I hired Steve as a one on one mentor, and all of a sudden I was investing in myself, yeah. And I broke free from those chains of like, reduction and restriction into the game of production. And then I even had a situation where a woman called me out at the same event. This was a life changing event where she's like, I wonder what it's like living in a financial prison you built for your wife. It's like, Oh, see, that's what happened. I thought I was responsible, and building that responsibility that's actually building walls. And when I came home for that event, my wife and I started looking for our home. Within a few months, we found one. I bought a home. It was very easily within my means. I basically made as much as I paid for this house that we loved. We lived there for nine years. We built so many memories. You know, we had our two kids while we were there, I started host study groups, and that year, I grew my income by $170,000 with the coaching of strategic coach, Steve dnunzio And this woman, Nancy, calling me out. The next year, it grew by even more because the skills started to compound. I decided from that moment forward, I would spend at least $40,000 a year, which I might be able to reach for some people, but at least $40,000 a year on mentors. Is a guy named Alan. He writes my meal plans and my workouts, and I'm at 10% body fat because he knows exactly what they do. I do what he says. It was worth this $10,000 investment, because now I pay attention what I pay for, and I look at like if I'm my greatest asset, how can I create more energy? How can I create more value? How can I feel better about myself? How can I show up the very best version of I am, so I can deliver the most to the other people. And so I've always just been in amazing groups. I just got back from two different events in Beverly Hills around amazing people, learning incredible things that allow me to grow. I haven't spent a huge amount of money on a mentor last year to figure out something that I hadn't been able to figure out to this point. It's the same thing I did to become a speaker, to become a writer or even learn how to sell or market, you've got to invest in the skill, not just in the savings account. You grow yourself first, and then you grow your money. If you starve yourself out because you're in that miserly mindset, you're going to stunt your growth and never be fully fulfilled.   Keith Weinhold  27:56   You're your own best investment. And yes, this stuff is the varying definition of investing in yourself. Don't live below your means. Grow your means and all of that.   Garrett Gunderson  28:05   Grow your means and be more efficient within your means. I mean, the best way I know how to save is not overpay on tax, which 98% of business owners are doing that today. You know, don't overpay on interest, because you either restructure your loans, renegotiate your interest rates, reallocate underpouring funds to pay it off, or you remove investment drag. A lot of people have unnecessary fees and hidden commissions that drag on their investments. Or just design your insurance properly so it's more efficient. Those four i's, IRS, interest, investments and insurance show you how to keep more of what you make, take some of that money, build up your foundation so you have a peace of mind fund, so you have staying power, at least six months of liquidity and then invest more into yourself or learn how to create cash flow. This is the game the wealthy play. But the poor middle class, they think it's about paying off a mortgage and funding the retirement plan, and they will argue about it until it's too late, when they get there and now their homes paid off, but the property taxes are higher than their mortgage was 20 years ago, you know. Or they have home maintenance they have to take care of, or inflation has destroyed the value. Like if someone were to put away 100 grand and they wait for 30 years if they got 10% which the market did the last 30 years, if you reinvest dividends, they're going to have right around $1.7 million but if they have to pay 2% in fees, fiduciary fees, 12 b1 fees, which are marketing fees for the fund expense ratio, you know, the fees of maybe a retirement plan, and they now have 2% fees. It only goes to 1.1 million. Huge difference. And that 1.1 million if we account for inflation, even if we said inflation was low, like 2.7% over that 30 years. Well, by the time we pay for inflation and tax, guess what? The purchasing power value is like, 300 grand $300,000 that's a problem, and it's because they didn't learn to create cash flow. It's because they didn't learn to invest in themselves. It's because they relied completely on a market they don't control. I'm not saying the market is completely something to avoid. I'm saying we go in sequence. How do you grow your income for. First, then how do you keep more of the income you make with? You know, financial savvy and plugging leaks. Then learn to grow your money, but maybe growing your money. For some I like to think of like three dimensional assets, like real estate's three dimensional. It can grow in equity, it can create cash flow, and it has tax advantages. But my business is three dimensional, the more my business creates cash flow, without me, the more equity it has, and that business has major tax advantages. So most people are one dimensional, pay off a loan, put a money in retirement account. That's the poor, middle class. Wealthy people build a system where they've got three dimensional assets, equity, cash flow and tax savings. And that is a complete game changer, because then they can employ the buy borrowed I strategy, if you have assets like, you know, an individual stock, or if you have assets, like a piece of real estate or a business, you could borrow against it. There's no tax on that five for life, right? You keep refinancing. Or you can even do charitable trust to avoid the taxes upon the sell of those paying no tax when there's gains. Or you can pass it on to the next generation with a step up in basis, which means they get it at the full value and not have to pay the difference. And if you have life insurance, the life insurance will pay back the loan that tax free as well. So buy, borrow, die. I mean, it's a completely different thought process of defer taxes. If you defer taxes, I get it. You could do a Roth IRA or Roth 401. K Sure, that'll let you put after tax money in and grow it. But where's the cash flow? What's the underlying investment? How does it help you create financial independence? How does it help you does it help you grow your skills to become a better investor? We've been taught to be lazy, not that people are lazy. We've just been taught to be lazy with our money. We've been fed a narrative. I don't have the time, I don't have the skill, I don't have the interest, but I want to have it, so I just hand it over. And who do we hand it over to Keith Wall Street. Wall would you trust Wall Street? Like you flew to Frankfurt not long ago. Would you get on Wall Street airlines where they're like, hey, sometimes our planes go up, sometimes they go down. That would brand, and he'd feel inspired, right? Would you go to Wall Street, you know, hospital? Or like, hey, he lost one of your kidneys, and by loss, we stole it and resold it. You know, like, Wall Street doesn't have a brand. That's good. It's boiler room. It's Wolf of Wall Street. It's the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas. You know, greed is good like yet that's what people put their money into. And you can go to any downtown and any major city, and guess who has the biggest buildings, insurance companies, banks and Wall Street investment companies. So you're taking the size of your home and shrinking it to build up their building and put money in their pocket. And their story is, it's because they're Ivy League, they're smart. They try to make it complicated, but you don't have to know most of the things you think you need to know about finance. The foundational things are important, how to protect your assets, how to design insurance, to transfer risk, how to have some liquidity, how to automate your savings. And then you focus like Warren Buffett would teach. He said, You know how people would become a better investor if they only had 20 investments they could make over their lifetime? He says, I don't diversify because I'm in the know. He's like, I'm a good businessman, therefore I'm a good investor and I'm a good investor because I'm a good businessman. I don't separate the two. Yeah, most people think he's a stock market investor. No, he buys out the companies in the stock market. Rarely does he have minority stakes in it. He does have some of that, maybe with Coca Cola and apple, but he bought a lot of companies outright, whether it was Geico, whether it was See's Candies, whether it was like he buys these companies, he's so far outperformed the stock market by billions of dollars from an index fund like what he has, versus someone that put the same money in an index fund, Warren has billions more from his investments than the person that put all their money in the index fund, even if it was the same amount. It's completely about strategy, not about luck.   Keith Weinhold  33:30   Yeah, it's the Andrew Carnegie, put all your eggs in one basket and then watch your basket. Yeah? Watch that basket like a hawk. Totally. Yeah. I mean, stacks mutual funds, they have what I call those five simultaneous drags. If you think you're getting a 10% long term return over time, subtract out inflation, emotion, taxes, fees and volatility. What do you have left? Not much. But there's no friction there. It is just the easiest thing to do ever since decades ago, 401 K contributions begin to become automated throughout your paycheck, sometimes even automatically, automated   Garrett Gunderson  34:04   values your permission opt out. It's easy. You have to opt out, right? It's Big Brother. You don't know what's best for you. And by the way, how crazy are four one K's. Part of the reason the market has gone up in value is because people consistently fund for one case, whether the market's going up or down, they're told $8 cost average. So that's artificially fueling the market. When we see the numbers, there's a buffet index, and it's like 2.9 times higher than what he's comfortable with, with the stock market, because of how overinflated the market is, partially due to inflation, partially because people put money in. But let's remember, why did 401, K's even come about? Because pensions failed. And by the way, these pensions failed and they had world class money managers managing these multi billion dollar pensions, but they didn't know about something called disinvesting, or didn't know enough about it. When the market goes down and pension money is owed, they still have to pull money out of the pension to pay the employee which disinvests, which pulls more money out of the account. So now instead of just being 10% down, they might be 17% down. And so even if the market comes back 10% it's 10% of only 83% of the money. So not even back to square one. And if it goes down a second year in a row, they're in real trouble. It starts to chip away at the principal, and they can't recover. And that happened to pensions, and they said, Oh, here, we can't handle these. We're going bankrupt. We're going to get rid of pensions. You take care of it. Well, guess what? Vanguard says, the average balance in a 401, k right now is $148,000 how someone's supposed to live on $148,000 even if you could get 10% that's $14,800 a year taxable, that's not going to do it. Even if you have a million dollars, where are you going to put the million dollars to get the return without risking it going down? Maybe you're going to be in treasuries at 5% that's $50,000 taxable per year. You're a millionaire on paper, but living poorly. That's why I'm here to call these things out. I think that my book Killing Sacred Cows, which was my original New York Times bestseller, which is probably how we met. Yeah, I rewrote it. I rewrote it, rereleased it in 2024 and I'll give people the audiobook. They just have to DM me on Instagram. Garrett B Gunderson and DM the word cows with Keith's name, cows and Keith or Keith and cows. I'll hook you up with the book for free, so you can learn about the nine financial myths. We're talking about some of them here, but there's also some comedy in there, so they can laugh after each chapter. I threw some comedy in there. You know, if you like my comedy, I'm not the funniest comedian. I'm just the funniest money comedian. That's the reality.   Keith Weinhold  36:33   When we had the very inventor of the 401 k plan, Ted benna, come onto the show, he revealed to us that when 401 K plans rolled out, they were first called salary reduction plans. They had to scrap that name in order to foster participation. But reducing your salary is still principally what it does to you. You got to think about it that way and blow up some of these myths. But Garrett, you've already given a lot of great technical information about what someone can do, how someone can think differently. Bigger pictures, we're sort of winding down here. You know, when I'm thinking about this whole delayed versus denied gratification thing, how do you meter it out right throughout your life? I mean, what's your earmark your family legacy? How do you meter it out, right so you don't have too much or too little at the end of your life?   Garrett Gunderson  37:15   I like to see this strategy of, like, what would the rockfellers do that I wrote about is, you know, the beginning before that strategy is you pay yourself first, which has always been around Richest Man in Babylon. Tons of books talk about it. My argument is you want to pay yourself at least 15% of your personal income, off the top, to a separate account. Once you get six months in that account, now you start to invest that money, but you build your stability with that peace of mind. And we want 15% because the luxury once enjoyed becomes a necessity. So you want more money in the future, not the future, not less propensity to you know, there's also, just like planned obsolescence, things break down. You have to repair them. Technological change, we're buying new technology that doesn't even exist. I have now subscriptions to a bunch of AI things that help me out, right? But I'm spending more money. There's also taxes, those could go up in the future, or 38 trillion in debt as we film this, which is a crazy number. And there's also inflation. If we give 3% to each of those five factors, that's 15% now again, use the four i's, IRS, interest, investments and insurance to find that money, not just budgeting. But then here's the magic. At least 3% of your income should go to a separate account called the Living wealthy account. That's your guilt free spending, value based spending account, so you enjoy some money along the way. These are the things that are the finer things in life that people might say are wasteful. You know, there's a book called unreasonable hospitality that talks about this, 11 Madison Avenue was the number one rated restaurant in the world. And, you know, will who wrote the book talked about they had 3% of their budget to just go wild on their customers dream making money, right? So to create the special experience in the restaurant, and even the bear, I think was season three, showed some of that process of how they do that. So I highly recommend taking a certain percentage. You get to enjoy along the way. It could be higher than 3% but start there, and you're going to feel better, you're going to have different energy, you're going to show up in a different way. And then from there, I just believe in having trust, so that your money's outside of your estate, and protecting financial predators so you own nothing but control everything. And I personally use life insurance. I use just standard over, you know, like basically properly structured, optimally funded whole life, so that death benefit will come in after I die. It allows me to spend more of my money and then have it replenished so I can enjoy more of my money along the way, because I know that death benefit will be there for my wife or even for my family trust after I'm gone, so I don't disinherit the people that I love.   Keith Weinhold  39:31   Garrett Gunderson, he can take you through these steps, which he calls financially fit, to financially independent, and then finally to financially free. Tell us a little more about that going through those steps.   Garrett Gunderson  39:44   So financial fitness means your financial house is in order. You've got everything handled properly, car insurance, homeowners, liability, disability, medical life insurance, your corporate structures as a business owner, how you pay yourself, your taxes the last three years and move. Moving forward your investments. It's like, you know what it's going on. You've improved your cash flow, and you're dialed in. You're as safe as you could possibly be. Then financial independence is, how can we create income, especially from a business that comes in when you don't, that's people, that's processes, that's technology, so that you can be involved, but you don't have to be involved. This is the part most people miss, yeah, and I think it's crazy. A lot of people have this notion they're just going to work so hard so they can sell their business one day, I'm like, What about just creating a business that you love so much you don't want to sell it? What about giving up the things that are burning you out and have the employees that can take care of that so you do the things that you love and then just enjoy life along the way, take some little trips, take some time off and come back in. The business grows up when you're away, they learn how to do things without you, and then you can still create value into that business. I sold the business in 2021 and really regretted it, because I kind of was so removed from the business. I kind of felt like it lost its soul and I didn't feel connected to it. So this time around, I started a business in July of 2024 I'm like, I'm only going to work with the P with the people I love, building things that I love, and I'm not going to let myself get burned out by doing too much. We're going to take two weeks in Hawaii coming up here in April, just enjoy some time together as a family. We do quarterly family retreats with my wife and kids. We do traditions with my family up at my cabin, like I want to have this great life where it's blurs the lines between work and play. I have a little quote from someone else that talks about that art of life is blurring the lines between work and play, but also just having complete play sometimes that there is no work. So I come back refreshed, relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to create. And so really, that financial independence gives you permission to swing for the fences and what you do, knowing your foundation is handled, knowing that your lifestyle is covered, from assets to create cash flow gives you work optional freedom. But instead of retiring, think, what could your biggest impact be like? Create the life you don't want to retire from. Create a vision so compelling you can dedicate your life to it and find that the win is actually in the work, not just the outcome. I think that is the elegance of we win when we play, and when we have more play in our life. We don't try to escape from something. And when you start something, you might have to do things you hate, but you can eventually delegate it, and then life becomes great. I mean, one of my early coaches, Dan Sullivan, who I mentioned, a strategic coach. He's in his 80s, still behemoth of creating value in the in the market. To listen to him, you know, he's phenomenal. He's made such a huge difference in my life, and he has no intent of retiring. He just gets smarter every year, adds more value, builds more infrastructure, and he's the one that taught me the merit of free days, just taking time off, taking time away. So, yeah, that's financial independence. Is cash flow, and then financial freedom is a state of mind. It's when money is no longer the primary reason or excuse you would do or not do something. It's a consideration, but it's no longer the consideration means that you have a healthy relationship with money. Money is an asset and an ally, not an enemy. You don't come from a place of scarcity. You come from a place of abundance. You can be more present with your family and doing what you do without feeling distracted. I think wealth is our ability to be present, not necessarily how much money we have in a bank account. I think we have a good amount of money in a bank account, and we can be present. That is like true wealth.   Keith Weinhold  43:12   It harkens back to the John D Rockefeller, he who works all day has no time to make money. Rockefeller would have said, you can architect a wealth plan if your head is down on the assembly line, that means gradually move your offer. It's from trading your time for dollars over to owning assets that pay you to own them. Garrett's comedy special is called the American Ream. There's no D in that word, R, E, A, M. You can look that up, Garrett. It's been enlightening as always. Thanks so much for coming back onto the show.   Garrett Gunderson  43:43   Hey man, good to be back.   Keith Weinhold  43:51   Always. A lively conversation with Garrett, besides some great mindset perspective, he's really good at saving you tax and setting you up with asset protection. Though he's not as real estateish as me, he's pretty savvy. For example, He's aligned on the fact that, for example, say you have an 80k debt. Well, it doesn't necessarily mean that it makes sense for you to pay that off sometimes it does, but what happens to your net worth anytime you pay off an 80k debt, well, let's see. You've reduced your asset side by 80k and you've reduced your debt side by 80k so your net worth is the same, and retiring the debt means that you might have lost leverage, lost cash flow and lost tax advantages, all at the same time on Instagram, send a DM with the two words, Keith Cows to Garrett B Gunderson, and he'll hook you up with his book for free next week on the show, we go deep on does America really have a housing shortage with an expert analyst. Until then, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream.    Speaker 4  45:01   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively   Keith Weinhold  45:29   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth. Building, get richeducation.com  

Comedy on a TuesdayFirst, a look at the events of the day.Then, The Lux Radio Theater, originally broadcast February 24, 1941, 85 years ago, The Whole Town's Talking starring Fibber McGee and Molly.  Jim Jordan, er,  Fibber McGee, takes the role played by Edward G. Robinson from the 1935 motion picture.  Fibber is a mild-mannered clerk who bears a striking resemblance to an escaped convict.  Followed by The Danny Kaye Show,  originally broadcast February 24, 1945, 81 years ago, The Murdered Meatball.  The cast of "The Danny Kaye Playhouse" presents Inspector H. I. J. Kaye in "The Case Of The Murdered Meatball." Then, The CBS Radio Workshop,  originally broadcast February 24, 1957, 69 years ago, The Space Merchants Part 2 starring Staats Cotsworth.  The science fiction classic of the future in the grip of "Madison Avenue." How to "sell" the colonization of Venus.  Finally, Claudia, originally broadcast February 24, 1948, 78 years ago, A Little Something for the House.  Claudia and her mother visit a department store.  Kathryn Bard and Paul Crabtree star.   Thanks to Debbie B. for supporting our podcast by using the Buy Me a Coffee function at http://classicradio.streamCheck out Professor Bees Digestive Aid at profbees.com and use my promo code WYATT to save 10% when you order! If you like what we do here, visit our friend Jay at http://radio.macinmind.com for great old-time radio shows 24 hours a day

Movies on a Tuesday First,  a look at this day in History.Then, Screen Directors Playhouse,  originally broadcast February 17, 1950, 76 years ago, It's In The Bag starring Fred Allen.   A flea circus operator searches for a hidden fortune within a Louis XIV chair. An adaptation of Allen's 1945 film. Followed by Theater Guild on the Air, originally broadcast February 17, 1946, 80 years ago, On Borrowed Time starring Walter Huston.  An adaptation of the 1939 film that starred Lionel Barrymore.  A cantankerous old man takes in his beloved, orphaned grandson, whom he must protect at all costs with the help of an agent of Death and a magical apple tree.  Then, The CBS Radio Workshop, originally broadcast February 17, 1957, 69 years ago, Space Merchants Part 1 starring Staats Cotsworth.  The science fiction classic of the future in the grip of "Madison Avenue." How to "sell" the colonization of Venus. Finally,  Claudia,  originally broadcast February 17, 1948, 78 years ago, Planning the Renovation.  Redesigning the farm...by committee.  Kathryn Bard and Paul Crabtree star.  Thanks to Richard G for supporting our podcast by using the Buy Me a Coffee function at http://classicradio.streamCheck out Professor Bees Digestive Aid at profbees.com and use my promo code WYATT to save 10% when you order! 

Meghan Mundy's journey through fashion has taken her from Madison Avenue boutiques to some of Rochester's most memorable runway shows. She opens up about building Rochester Fashion Week, raising millions for local charities, and why treating people with respect has been the foundation of her success. A thoughtful look at creativity, reinvention, and community impact.

What does it take to truly see the people and stories that have too often gone unnoticed?In this episode of Agency for Change, Lyn Wineman welcomes Mark Robinson, marketing leader and author of Black on Madison Avenue, for an honest and thought-provoking conversation about power, opportunity, and identity in the advertising industry.Drawing on more than four decades of experience at some of the world's most influential agencies, Mark shares how his career began, the barriers he encountered, and why diversity efforts in advertising have historically fallen short. He explores the idea of invisibility in the workplace, the innovation born out of necessity in multicultural marketing, and what real progress requires from today's leaders.You'll hear powerful stories from Mark's journey, insights on how organizations can move beyond comfort and familiarity, and a reminder that meaningful change starts with curiosity, courage, and a willingness to do things differently.Connect with Mark at: ·       Mark's Writing Website – https://markrobinson-writing.com/·       Mark's Business Website – https://www.marksrobinson.com/·       Purchase Mark's books – https://markrobinson-writing.com/books

In this episode, I sit down with David Freeman, who just launched Kinetic Media Partners after an incredible 15-year run at CAA. David was one of the first executives I knew who truly understood the business impact of digital talent and the creator economy - back when most people in Hollywood were still asking "why do you care about that?" He walks us through his journey from starting CAA's digital department in 2010 (when they were the "redheaded stepchildren" of the agency) to today, where the creator economy is tracking toward $37 billion by 2027. Now he's building the infrastructure to turn fandom into real enterprise value.We dive deep into how tech companies have become Hollywood, the rise of mega-creators like MrBeast who are building billion-dollar businesses, and how AI is about to revolutionize content creation in ways we can barely imagine. David shares insights on creators who are successfully building mini media empires (think Dude Perfect, Rhett & Link, Jesser), the critical need for proper operators and infrastructure around talent, and why we're likely to see consolidation and big exits in the creator space. It's a masterclass in understanding where media, culture, and commerce are headed.---Key Highlights

They say the best form of advertising is word of mouth. When one person tells another about his experience, it’s very persuasive. Well, that form of expression was around long before Madison Avenue brought it to radio and TV. The Lord invited us to tell others what He’s done for us. And today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us what we can learn on this issue from the prophet who ran from God – Jonah. We’ll see, when Jonah finally turned around, so did an entire city! — Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years. Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They say the best form of advertising is word of mouth. When one person tells another about his experience, it’s very persuasive. Well, that form of expression was around long before Madison Avenue brought it to radio and TV. The Lord invited us to tell others what He’s done for us. And today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us what we can learn on this issue from the prophet who ran from God – Jonah. We’ll see, when Jonah finally turned around, so did an entire city! — Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years. Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this explosive episode of Gangland Wire, host Gary Jenkins sits down with actor, entrepreneur, and mob insider Gianni “Johnny” Russo, best known for his unforgettable role as Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. Russo pulls back the curtain on a lifetime of stories that stretch from Frank Costello and Joe Colombo to Las Vegas skimming, the Vatican Bank, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hoffa, and even Pablo Escobar. Russo discusses his new book, Mafia Secrets: Untold Tales from the Hollywood Godfather, co-written with Michael Benson—an unfiltered account of power, violence, politics, and survival inside the criminal underworld and Hollywood royalty. This is not recycled mythology—this is Gianni Russo's personal version of history from the inside. Whether you believe every word or not, the stories are raw, violent, and utterly fascinating. This episode discusses: The Godfather, The Kennedy assassinations, Vegas skimming, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hoffa, the Chicago Outfit, Pablo Escobar

In this episode of The Retail Pilot, we sit down with Gene Pressman, a third-generation leader behind the iconic Barneys New York, to unpack how a single store became a cultural force. From redefining American fashion to championing emerging designers, Gene shares the behind-the-scenes decisions, risks, and creative instincts that shaped Barneys into more than retail—it became an experience.Gene reflects on growing up inside the business, learning from his father and grandfather, and helping transform Barneys from a men's discount store into a global destination for innovation, humor, and uncompromising taste. The conversation spans pivotal moments like discovering Giorgio Armani, building the women's business, creating unforgettable windows and advertising, expanding globally, and navigating the realities of rapid growth.This is a candid, thoughtful look at creativity versus data, risk-taking versus safety, and why true merchants don't give customers what they ask for—they give them what they don't know they want yet.Show NotesGene Pressman's role in transforming Barneys New York into a cultural and retail iconGrowing up in the Pressman family and learning the business from the ground upHow Barneys introduced American audiences to designers like Giorgio Armani, Comme des Garçons, Dries Van Noten, and moreThe shift from men's fashion to building a groundbreaking women's businessWhy humor, irreverence, and creativity were central to Barneys' DNAThe decision to take advertising and creative in-house and what made Barneys' campaigns unforgettableExpansion to Madison Avenue, Los Angeles, and Tokyo—and the challenges that came with growthBalancing creative vision with financial realities in large-scale retailWhy data can't replace instinct in merchandising and brand buildingReflections on legacy, culture, and what Barneys represented beyond shoppingIf you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to The Retail Pilot and leave a review—it helps more listeners discover the show.For the full story behind Barneys' rise, challenges, and lasting impact, check out Gene Pressman's memoir They All Came to Barneys.Follow The Retail Pilot for more conversations with the leaders shaping retail, culture, and brand innovation.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Two magazines changed the mirror. Ebony and Jet put everyday Black life on the cover, turned a touring fashion show into a cosmetics empire, and forced Madison Avenue to see—then spend. This episode shows how pictures became power.Audio Onemichistory.comFollow me on Instagram: @onemic_historyFollow me on Substack: https://onemicblackhistorypodcast.substack.com/Follow me on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@onemic_historyPlease support our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=25697914Buy me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Countryboi2m

This is your afternoon All Local update for December 6, 2025.

Mark Robinson, author of Black on Madison Avenue, talks to W Lance Hunt and Vegas K Jarrow about his experiences working in the advertising industry as an African American man.

BT & Sal dive into the hot stove debate surrounding Pete Alonso's free agency, with Tierney predicting a "robust" market—possibly including the Red Sox—that forces the Mets into a tough decision on a five- or six-year contract. Sal, however, remains skeptical, arguing he doesn't see a "significantly better offer" emerging despite the slugger's improved year and the absence of a qualifying offer. The discussion also veers into a larger question about New York sports: Do high taxes, traffic, and media pressure make the area less desirable for top free agents who no longer need "Madison Avenue" endorsements to maximize their off-field earnings? Plus, they briefly slam the Giants' worsening track record under GM Joe Shane.

BT & Sal dive into the hot stove debate surrounding Pete Alonso's free agency, with Tierney predicting a "robust" market—possibly including the Red Sox—that forces the Mets into a tough decision on a five- or six-year contract. Sal, however, remains skeptical, arguing he doesn't see a "significantly better offer" emerging despite the slugger's improved year and the absence of a qualifying offer. The discussion also veers into a larger question about New York sports: Do high taxes, traffic, and media pressure make the area less desirable for top free agents who no longer need "Madison Avenue" endorsements to maximize their off-field earnings? Plus, they briefly slam the Giants' worsening track record under GM Joe Schoen.

What does it take to lead with both purpose and perseverance? In this episode of Legendary Leaders, host Cathleen O'Sullivan sits down with Kate Grant—CEO of the Fistula Foundation and author of No Woman Left Behind—whose remarkable journey from Madison Avenue to global health leadership reveals what can happen when compassion meets conviction.    Kate shares how walking away from a thriving advertising career became the first step toward transforming the lives of more than 100,000 women suffering from obstetric fistula—a preventable childbirth injury that still affects over a million women in the world's most underserved regions. With honesty and humility, she opens up about redefining success, the courage it takes to stay focused on one mission, and how saying "no" to good ideas is often the price of real impact. Cathleen O'Sullivan (Merkel)   Together, Cathleen and Kate explore the intersection of leadership, purpose, and humanity—what it means to build something that lasts, lead with heart, and never look away from the people and problems that need us most. This conversation is for anyone who believes leadership is less about power and more about the lives we choose to touch.     Episode Timeline:   00:03:34 What is obstetric fistula and why it still exists  00:07:39 The devastating social cost: ostracism, shame, and isolation  00:16:21 A survivor's story: 30 years of suffering and the gift of a chicken  00:28:30 Building a global network: from one hospital to 35 countries  00:33:12 The fundraising approach: efficiency, focus, and saying no  00:38:25 Ensuring quality: working with expert surgeons and measuring outcomes  00:47:15 Leaving Madison Avenue: when success isn't enough  00:53:05 The earthquake and breakup that cracked everything open  01:03:11 Redefining success: career, motherhood, and the myth of having it all  01:10:00 What's next: stepping down and training as a therapist  01:19:16 Final wisdom: listen to your inner voice and own your choices     Key Takeaway:   A Hidden Crisis with a Solution: Obstetric fistula—a childbirth injury from obstructed labor—affects at least one million women in Africa and Asia, leaving them incontinent and ostracized. Yet 90% of cases are fixable with surgery, making this needless suffering Kate refuses to accept. Relentless Focus Drives Impact: The Fistula Foundation does one thing exceptionally well—funding surgeries—and has helped over 100,000 women by resisting mission creep, measuring outcomes rigorously, and treating the nonprofit like a results-driven business. Listen to Your Inner Voice: Kate left a successful advertising career after travel exposed her to global poverty and an earthquake cracked her life open—proving that transformation requires quieting external voices and giving your own inner compass a microphone. Empowerment Through Accountability: When problems arise, assume you created them—not to blame yourself, but to empower yourself to learn and fix what's broken rather than playing victim to circumstances or other people. You Can't Have It All at Once: Success means making intentional choices about where to invest finite energy—Kate chose her son and the foundation over remarriage, showing that owning your trade-offs without apology is more honest than pretending you can do everything equally well.     About Kate Grant:   Kate Grant is a global health and social-impact leader with over 25 years of experience advancing maternal health and women's rights worldwide. As President & CEO of Fistula Foundation, she has expanded access to life-changing surgeries for thousands of women across Africa and Asia while building high-performing teams and partnerships with governments and NGOs. She is also the author of No Woman Left Behind – A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth, a memoir highlighting her journey from a corporate career to leading a global health movement. Known for her equity-focused, collaborative leadership, Kate's mission is to ensure every woman has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified life.     Connect with Kate Grant: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-grant-92110561/  Website: https://fistulafoundation.org/  No Woman Left Behind (Book): https://fistulafoundation.org/no-woman-left-behind/      Connect with Cathleen O'Sullivan:  Business: https://cathleenosullivan.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathleen-osullivan/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legendary_leaders_cathleenos/      FOLLOW LEGENDARY LEADERS ON APPLE, SPOTIFY OR WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO YOUR PODCASTS  

This week on The PR Podcast, we sit down with Matthew Pierce — a strategic communicator, storyteller, and multidisciplinary creator who blends PR expertise with music, video, and live performance to make messages unforgettable. After a decade managing major campaigns on Madison Avenue, Matthew now helps brands, leaders, and event organizers bring their stories to life through documentary-style video, custom songs, creative content, and high-impact stage performances.We dig into how he chooses the right medium for a story, how business strategy informs creativity, and why audiences connect more deeply with moments that feel real, intentional, and crafted for them. From corporate events to custom rap performances to storytelling through his “Ambient New York” videos, Matthew's work shows what happens when strategy and creativity collide.The PR Podcast is a show about how the news gets made. We talk with great PR people, reporters, and communicators about how the news gets made and strategies for publicity that drive business goals. Host ⁠⁠Jody Fisher⁠⁠ is the founder of Jody Fisher PR and works with clients across the healthcare, higher education, financial services, real estate, entertainment, and non-profit verticals. Matthew Pierce: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AmbientNewYorkLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewrussellpierce/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/boypiercemusic/The PR Podcast: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ThePRPodcast/Twitter - https://x.com/ThePRPodcast1Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theprpodcast_/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theprpodcast?

Keith tells how much he paid for his first property and how he traded up for more and larger properties.  He highlights the benefits of owning real estate, noting that 63% of the median American's net worth is in home equity and retirement accounts, while the top 1% has 45% in private business and real estate.  He also shares his personal journey and emphasizes using other people's money to grow assets. Discover why outdated rent control policies harm housing supply and affordability.  Learn innovative ways to turn your property's unused spaces into effortless cash flow with today's best peer-to-peer platforms.  Sign up at GREletter.com to grow your means, and join a thriving community passionate about breaking free from financial limits! Resources: These platforms let property owners creatively monetize underutilized spaces. Neighbor.com – Rent out your garage, basement, driveway, or unused space. Swimply.com  – Rent out your swimming pool by the hour. StoreAtMyHouse.com  – Rent out your attic, closet, or other home storage spaces. SniffSpot.com  – Rent out your backyard as a private dog park. PureStorage.co  – Rent out extra storage space such as garages or sheds. PeerSpace.com  – Rent out your space (home, backyard, loft, warehouse, etc.) for events, meetings, or photoshoots. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/581 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  1-937-795-8989 to speak with a freedom coach Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com or text 'GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript: Keith Weinhold  0:01   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, talking about how I personally built and grew wealth myself with real numbers and real properties, what a rent freeze actually means to you, and how you could be losing income by not creatively generating more rent from properties that you already own. I'll talk about exactly how today on Get Rich Education.   Speaker 1  0:27   Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors and delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show guests include top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki. Get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast, or visit get rich education.com   Corey Coates  1:12   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  1:29   Welcome to GRE from Stonehenge, England to Stone Mountain, Georgia and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and you're listening to get rich education. I visited Stonehenge and made, by the way, today I'm back for another incomprehensibly slack jawed performance here, still a shaved mammal too. Status hasn't changed. And remain profligate and unrepentant about the whole thing. You probably know it by now that if you're listening here and you want to learn and do things the same way that everyone else does things, then you are squarely in the wrong place. I really mean it more on that later. But you know, Wall Street doesn't scorn real estate because it's risky. They dislike it because it doesn't scale the way that they need it to private real estate can get messy, operational, illiquid. Every real estate deal is different. Every market has its own physics. You can't package it into a fund with a push button deploy strategy. And that's precisely the point. The modern financial system rewards frictionless products that trade constantly and generate fees instead building real, durable wealth has never been frictionless. Here's what the wealth distribution actually shows for the median American. 63% of net worth is in home equity and retirement accounts. For the top 10% that tier, 25% is in real estate and private business ownership. But for the top 1% that highest tier, 45% combined is in private business equity and real estate. So as you approach the top 1% it's more skewed toward owning a business and directly owning real estate. Wall Street, they only offer derivative exposure to real estate through mega funds and REITs. But exposure isn't ownership. Your best risk adjusted returns live in the deals that are too small and too messy for institutions to touch, and that's where your yield lives. The control, the opportunity, the world's enduring fortunes weren't built just by buying exposure. They were built by owning things, land companies, assets that require some sweat to get them going. The next decade favors owners over allocators, the stuff that pays you perpetual dividends. So the irony is that the very things Wall Street avoids the messy hands on part of real estate. Oh, well, that's what makes it such a powerful wealth builder. And see, even, as we somewhat found out last week when we talked about AI property management here on the show, you can't fully automate relationships or construction or management, but that friction is exactly where the margin lives. What makes real estate frustrating for institutions is exactly what makes it valuable for operators and long term owners like you and I. It's the nuance, the inefficiency and the need to actually. Know something about a market, rather than just model it. Wealth that lasts comes from assets that you can influence, not just monitor, and that is the difference between you having mere exposure and true ownership. You can't outsource legacy, the messy path of ownership is often where meaning in real freedom is found. You've got to tend to the garden somewhat, whether your properties are professionally managed or self managed, but some people get overwhelmed if they're asked for a log in and a password, even we all know that feeling somewhat well, then they stay metaphorically logged out of success. Think about how easy remotely managing your real estate portfolio is today. Sheesh 200 years ago. There was no anesthesia. We had smallpox, brutal physical labor, no electricity today. What if a website tells you that you've got to reset your password? Oh my gosh, is the deal often just overwhelming? Can you imagine the effort now, two weeks ago, I mentioned to you that I went back and visited the first piece of real estate that I ever owned, that seminal blue fourplex. But did I ever tell you how I grew that seed into a massive real estate portfolio, and how you can do it by following GRE principles? Let me take you through the early steps here so you can see how you can get something similar going. Of course, your path will look different, but this is going to spawn a lot of ideas for you. I think you already know about my 10k to 11k down payment into that first ever fourplex as the FHA three and a half percent down. Owner occupied, but I didn't buy another piece of real estate for over three years, because real estate just was not that driving thing in my life yet. So I lived in one of those really modest four Plex units longer than I had to three plus years after that, I moved out to a pretty modest, still single family home five miles away, that I had just bought. And since I vacated one of the four Plex units in order to do that. Now, I had four rent incomes instead of three. But here is really the pivot point with what happened next. Now, what would most people do? They might hold on to that four Plex, keep self managing it, and when they could, perhaps aggressively, make principal payments, getting the building paid off before its organic 30 year amortization period. And then what else would they do once it was paid off? Say that would take them 12 years, which would entail a lot of sacrifice, like working overtime at their job and skipping vacations. Oh, they think something like, Oh, now the cash flow is really going to pour in with his paid off fourplex? Yeah, it sure would increase a lot, but after 12 years of toil and sacrifice cashflow off of one fourplex still wouldn't even let you quit your job. Staying small doesn't work, plus you live below your means for a really long time that is sweat and time that you're never going to relinquish. You started working for money. Rather than letting other people's money take over and work for you, it is right there waiting to do that for you. So instead of that path, what I did is when equity ran up in that first fourplex building. Its value increased from 295, to 425, in three and a third years, I did exactly the opposite. I borrowed the maximum out of that first fourplex building, 90% CLTV, and used those tax free funds. Yeah, tax free funds, when you do that to both spend money, well on vacations and make a 10% down payment on a second fourplex building that costs 530k now I'm still living in the single family home while I've got the two fourplex buildings, both with 90% loans on them, still cashflowing A little so eight rent incomes, more debt than I ever had, 10 to one leverage on two fourplexes, and this was all less than five years from the time that I bought the first fourplex. And yes, it probably took some password resets in there. Then next I learned that investing in only one Metro, which is what I had done to that point, that's actually pretty risky, because all eight of my rent incomes, plus my own primary residence, were exposed to the whims fortunes and misfortunes of only one economy. This was in 2012 now, so I started buying turnkey single family. Rentals in other economies that make sense. Investor advantage places is what you've got to look for, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee. My first turnkey was bought in the Dallas Fort Worth metro. I know I've told you that before, all right, but how was I buying more even though I was still working a day job in a cubicle for the D, o, t. Well, it wasn't from my job, because that job is working for money. What it was is borrow tax free and grow, borrow tax free and grow, borrow tax free and grow. By then, enough equity had accumulated in the first two fourplexes that I traded, one for an eight Plex and the other for an 11 Plex. Now we're getting up to $3,500 of monthly cashflow at this point, which is probably 5k plus per month in inflation adjusted terms. And the 8plex cost 760k and the 11 Plex cost 850k back then, and I still remember that that was a big day for me back then, those buildings closed on either the same day or on consecutive days. I forget. Well, that was 1.6 million in purchases. Maybe that's two to two and a half million in today's dollars. And see that is sure more than what one paid off fourplex would have given me on that old slow track, yet I had all of this faster than waiting 12 years to aggressively pay off one fourplex. And you know, some could say back at that time, they would look at that situation from the outside and say, Keith, where did you get the money to make 20% down payments on that 1.6 million worth of real estate, that is 320k cash? Did you save up all the money? No, I didn't. I didn't have the ability to save that much money at my job. Did you use your existing properties like ATMs, raiding one property to buy another. Yeah, that's exactly what I did. That is the use of other people's money that is wiser than spending my time away from loved ones by selling my time for dollars that I'm never going to get back. And by the way, I have always been the sole owner of properties. No partners here. Now, at this point, I've got dozens of running units spread across multiple states, all professionally managed. And by the way, eight doors is the most that I've ever self managed, because I got professional management involved after that. Oh, there are a ton of lessons in there about what I just told you, many of them, which I've sprinkled through more than 500 episodes now, but now that I told you where I came from, do you know the lesson that I want to leave you with here on this one, for the most part, it's that I'm not even using my own money to do this now, I did add some of my own money for down payments. Sure, by far the minority portion, primarily and centrally. I keep leveraging the bank's money, and they make the down payment for me on the next property. Borrow tax free and grow, borrow tax free and grow, borrow tax free and grow. Yes, the pace of you doing this is going to fluctuate over time, but that is the playbook that I just gave you right there. Now I've done it in cycles that feel slower because appreciation is lower, but interest rates tend to be lower during those times. And I keep doing it in cycles that move faster because appreciation is higher and interest rates tend to be higher during those times. I've done it when lending was loose, like pre Dodd Frank, and I've done it when lending was tight and inflationary. Times supercharged this whole thing. Sooner than later, you would rather get $5 million worth of real estate out there under your belt, all floating up with inflation and appreciation, not just $1 million worth, $1 million worth, that's more like sticking with one fourplex and trying to pay it off. Anything worth doing, anything in your life is worth doing. Well, look, other people's money is still available to me and to you. So using my own money back when I was an employee, I mean, that's exactly when I would have had to trade more of my finite time for dollars and see, that's what the masses do, and that's precisely what keeps them as the mediocre masses. I really mean it. Now, I wanted to make things real for you with that soliloquy.   Keith Weinhold  14:47   Later today, I'll discuss the GRE principles. Did that formative story spawn? A few weeks ago, it made substantial news inside and outside the real estate world that Zohran Mamdani was elected to be the next New York City Mayor. His first day on the job will be the first of the coming year. And actually, it's easy for you to remember how New York City mayoral terms work, because it is the same as the President of the United States. Each term lasts four years, and they can serve up to two consecutive terms eight years. Let's you and I listen into the audio from this short video clip together. This Mamdani campaign spot ran back before election day, but it tells you what he stands for and where he's coming from with regard to rent. In a slightly corny way, the ad shows various tenants popping their heads out of apartment windows and such, saying like, Hey, wait, what? You're going to freeze my rent?   Speaker 2  15:50   I'm Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, and I'm running for mayor to freeze the rent for every rent stabilized tenant.   Unknown Speaker  15:57   Wait, you're gonna freeze my rent?   Speaker 3  15:59   Yes, did I hear rent freeze?   Speaker 4  16:02   Yes, this guy's gonna freeze the rent. No. Pike none. This guy's gonna freeze the   Unknown Speaker  16:09   rent. It's true.   Dani-Lynn Robison  16:12   As your next mayor, I will freeze your rent paid for by Zoran for NYC.   Speaker 5  16:17   The banner at the end of the ad reads, Zoran for an affordable New York City. Oh, yeah, slogans like that are so catchy for anything. All right, he says he's going to freeze the rent for every rent stabilized tenant. And rent control and rent stabilization, they mean very similar things, ceilings on the rent. I'm soon going to tell you what I think about that, and I've got more on Mamdani shortly, but it's not going to be political This is not that kind of show. This is an investing show. I think that even our foreign listeners know how big and influential New York City is. It's not the political capital, but it is the capital of so many things in the United States, it's America's largest city by far, eight and a half million just in the city proper, 20 million in the metro. And New York's growing in sheer number of people. The Metro gained more population than any other city, almost a quarter million people added just last year, even if you doubled the population of the second largest city, LA, New York City would still be larger. All right. Well, how did we get here? A quick story of New York City rent control is that in 1918 New York City passed its first flavor of rent control, and that was the first US city to do so that didn't solve the problem. So in 1943 Congress passed the emergency price control act, and its name implied a temporary patch during World War Two. But even after it expired, and even after the war ended, New York State chose to make it basically permanent in 1950 that didn't solve the problem. So in 1962 New York state passed a law allowing cities to enact expanded rent control if they declared a, quote, housing emergency. Well, New York City did, and that housing emergency has essentially continued unresolved. Still, what they consider an emergency condition persists today, yeah, all these decades later. I mean, really a what, 60 to 70 year long emergency condition that didn't solve the problem. So in 1969 new york city passed what they called rent stabilization. It's really just a new flavor of rent control, and this greatly expanded the number of properties that were subject to these rent regulations. And about half of New York City's apartments are subject to that law that didn't solve the problem. So more expansion and more tweaks of regulating the rent were made in the decades that followed. You had notable ones in 1997 2003 2011 in 2015 but none of them solved the problem. So in 2019 New York expanded rent stabilization to include what they call vacancy control. Now what that means is rent caps are now applied to new renters, not just those existing tenants renewing a lease, and it also granted more tenant protections that didn't solve the problem. So in 2024 New York State passed what they call good cause eviction. That is a third expansion of rent regulation in these tenant protections. This time, they just gave it a slick name, kind of apropos of Madison Avenue's famed market. Marketing prowess. I suppose that didn't solve the problem. And by the way, rent caps came in below not only the rate of inflation, but also below household income growth almost every year over the last decade, and in some years, no increase was allowed at all. That is a rent freeze. But that didn't work either. And meanwhile, New York's public housing agency has 80 billion in deferred maintenance needs, and it's running a $200 million plus operating deficit. So government run housing that hasn't worked either. All right? Well, that brings us to 2025 where New York City is electing a mayor who campaign on freezing the rents and expanding public housing. So New York City now has, for over a century, chosen to expand and rebrand these ideas that just haven't worked, and yet they keep coming back for more and yeah, what exactly is the word for doubling and tripling and quadrupling down on ideas that have proven not to work? Is that word stupidity? Hmm, so throughout that history that I just brought you from 1918 whenever I say that didn't work, what do I mean by that? And here's the big takeaway for you. What I mean is that rent control hasn't worked in New York City because it discourages landlords from maintaining rental housing, and certainly from building new rental housing. So what that does is that it shrinks the supply over time When demand exceeds supply, you know what happens to price? And in Manhattan, just the studio apartment now averages $4,150 and the average rent citywide, that's Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, which does include some rough areas in this average rent is $3,560 so as a result, what really happens here is that rent control helps a few lucky tenants while driving up rents and then worsening the shortages for everyone else. So what is the solution here? It is simple. Actually do less. I mean, isn't it great when you can solve a problem in your life by actually doing less? Yeah, drop the regulations against building and drop all forms of rent control, that way we'll have more building, and with higher supply, natural price discovery could take place. So he says he's going to freeze the rent for every rent stabilized tenant. And you can start to understand why we don't discuss investing in New York City Housing very much on GRE what we do. We talk about it as a model of what not to do. The good news is that I don't have any evidence of rent control spreading into the investor advantage areas that we talk about here, like the southeast and the south central part of the United States and the Midwest. But here's the thing, just ask yourself this question, what if there was a force imposed on you by popular vote that froze your income. Okay, I'm talking about no matter what you do from work you're a software engineer, a doctor, a nurse, a paralegal, a carpenter. Would you think that was really unjust if your profession were singled out, and then voters said, hey, no more raises for you. We don't care if there's inflation, we don't care if you're getting better at your job. We don't care if you have rising expenses. We're going to put a cap on your income. How would you like that? Well, look, in New York City, they're voting for landlord's income to be frozen. They are singling out one profession, and these are really important people. These are the housing providers. So by the way, I've heard two people describe New York City mayor elect Zohran mandami. Is a good looking man? Is he good looking? I had to go look again. When people said this, I guess he's not bad looking. And hey, despite being a heterosexual male, I can say that some guys are good looking. I just never thought that with him.   Speaker 5  24:32   Now, do you have one friend kind of have that type of friend who always just seems to know what's happening in the housing market? Well, that person could be you. There is a way to do that. Boom, it's easy, and you're going to sound smart without reading a single boring, fed report. I don't sell courses. I don't wear sunglasses indoors, and I definitely don't tell you. To flip houses on Tiktok. I just talk here, and I send you a smart, short real estate newsletter. That's it. This is smart stuff that you can brag about at boring dinner parties, and you've got a lot of those coming up here at the holidays. It is free. I write our letter myself, and I'd love to have you as a reader, sign up at greletter.com it's quick and easy. Your future wealth will thank you for it. See what I did there. It takes less than three minutes to read, and it is super informative. GREletter.com Again, that's greletter.com, I've got more straight ahead.    Keith Weinhold  25:45   You know, most people think they're playing it safe with their liquid money, but they're actually losing savings accounts and bonds don't keep up when true inflation eats six or 7% of your wealth. Every single year, I invest my liquidity with FFI freedom family investments in their flagship program. Why? Fixed 10 to 12% returns have been predictable and paid quarterly. There's real world security backed by needs based real estate like affordable housing, Senior Living and health care. Ask about the freedom flagship program when you speak to a freedom coach there, and that's just one part of their family of products, they've got workshops, webinars and seminars designed to educate you before you invest. Start with as little as 25k and finally, get your money working as hard as you do. Get started at Freedom family investments.com/gre or send a text now it's 1-937-795-8989, yep, text their freedom coach, directly again. 1-937-795-8989   Keith Weinhold  26:57   the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequel and even chat with President chailey Ridge personally while it's on your mind, start at Ridge lending group.com that's Ridge lending group.com   Dani-Lynn Robison  27:30   this is freedom family investments, co founder day. Lynn Robinson, listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream.   Keith Weinhold  27:37   welcome back to get reciprocation. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, earlier this year, I talked to you about new ways where you can generate more income from the properties that you already own, and doing that through peer to peer leasing platforms, I got feedback from you that you loved it when I talked about it on that episode. Well, I've got more of them to tell you about today. This is exciting. Is there money sitting right under your nose and you haven't even collected it yet? And sometimes this happens in the world. This has nothing to do with finding Uranus, but it is similar to how they just discovered a new moon of Uranus, even though it's only six miles wide. Yes, that's something that scientists recently discovered, yes, much like this new small moon of Uranus that was really always there, but just discovered, metaphorically, this is what we're talking about with your real estate here now. This is a lot like how Airbnb rattled the hotel world about 15 years ago. These platforms let you rent out space and amenities that you already own but barely use. Neighbor.com, is the first one. I'm not going to say.com every time, because most of them are that way, and they've got a mobile app of the same name, all right, neighbor that's like Airbnb for your garage or your basement or even that creepy crawl space that you never go into. So instead of letting junk collect dust, you rent out your unused space to people who need that storage, meaning then that their clutter pays your mortgage. So customers request space and then you approve it. That's how it works. In fact, we have a woman here on staff at get rich education that easily made about 1000 bucks personally on neighbor, she rented out a parking space in her driveway. She rented that space to a college student that needed a place to park her car while she went back home for the summer. You can easily do that too. Then there. Swimply, S, W, I, M, P, L, Y, rent out your pool by the hour. Yes, your pool is no longer just for cannonballs, awkward barbecues and tanning sessions that you regret, although not typically, I've read about how some people have made passive income streams of $15,000 per month this way. I mean, gosh, did Marco Polo just get turned into a side hustle? Or what that is, swimply. Then there is store@myhouse.com Do you have an empty closet or an attic? You can turn that into a treasure vault for stranger stuff, and you can get paid while their clutter hides in your home instead of their home. So think of it as maybe some pretty passive income, only dustier, and who even lives there in your attic right now? Anyway, a bunch of raccoons. They're not paying your rent again. That is called store at my house. Sniff spot. It turns your backyard into a private dog park. Yeah, local pet owners can book your yard by the hour to let their pups run and sniff and play. You provide the grass. They bring the zoomies, and you pocket the cash that is sniff spot, Pure Storage. That one is a.co when people need storage, you swoop in like a friendly capitalist neighbor with your extra space. So you rent out your garage or a shed, or, say, even a corner of your basement, and you watch empty become income, you are basically running a mini Self Storage empire without the neon sign. I mean, sheesh, you are kind of like Jeff Bezos with cobwebs here. Okay. Again, that is purestorage.co, then there's peer space. Now I've used this one before, personally, and so has someone else here on staff on GRE she actually told me about it. What I did is I paid for a few hours as a renter, not the landlord on peerspace. In fact, I rented this space this past summer to give an in person real estate presentation where I covered real estate pays five ways and the inflation triple crown and all of that with peer space, you rent out your space for events, okay, so your home or your backyard or loft or some funky warehouse, you rent that out by the hour, and those events could be film shoots or workshops or parties or other events. That's what peer space is for. I mean, that could be a cool backdrop for an influencer or a film crew that has a pretty big budget. Renters come to you with alacrity. They will come to you because they can often save 50% or more versus using more traditional avenues. There, in fact, even public storage, like that's the company name Public Storage. They're the nation's largest self storage space operator. They even use neighbor.com to help lease out their leftover inventory. And so do some REITs that have extra space at their office or retail or apartment properties. They use neighbor.com as well. All right, so that's my roundup of more peer to peer leasing platforms, a few more of them than I told you about earlier this year, and the types of listings you can get creative. People are getting creative. They are monetizing everything from empty barns to vacant strip mall storefronts to church parking lots. I mean, consider how often church parking lots are empty. They're empty almost every day except Sunday. So get creative and think about space that's not being used. One thing to look out for, though, is that your HOA might try to crush your entrepreneurial spirit here. So keep that in mind. Just look around. Do you own any underutilized space or asset that you can rent out. Well, chances are there's already a peer to peer rental platform for it. And when you visit any of these platforms that I told you about, I mean, you're probably already going to see people offering space in your neighborhood. You'll be surprised.    Keith Weinhold  34:39   And this is not some unproven fad. Turo really took off about 10 years ago when they realized that most Americans' cars just sit idle, more than 95% of their time in their driveway or in their garage. Well, at that point, everyday people started to lease out their cars. Cars on Truro. So the bottom line here is that if you own most any real estate, then you've got options, and you can often make the rules peer to peer. Leasing platforms add new income streams to your life, and if you read my Don't quit your Daydream letter, you'll remember that I wrote about those resources and gave you their links and everything. See, that's the type of material that I put in the letter sometimes and again. You can get it at gre letter.com It shows you how to build wealth, much like I've been talking about on the show today. This is vital, because the conventional consumer finance world, you know, they just don't tell you about things like this. For example, did you ever wonder why economists aren't rich like maybe you would think that they would be Well, it's because schools and universities, they don't really teach you how to make money so someone can have an advanced degree, a Master's, or even a doctorate. That degree will be in finance or in economics, but they're still broke, or they're still trapped by their job, because the only way they know how to make money is by having a job. There's nothing wrong with having a job, but that's the only thing they know. They never learn how to earn and multiply money like with what I've been discussing today. Economists make between 70k and 180k per year in America today, you know, school taught both us and them the theory of money, how it's counted, how it's tracked, and how it flows through the system, but it really didn't teach them how to build a little diverter device on that flow to earn it or create it or leverage it to build freedom for themselves. And that is why this show is here. That's not a knock on economists. Economists are brilliant people, and some of the best known ones are guests on the show here with us. At times, we don't just want to live in a world of models and charts, though, when you build real world wealth with mortgages and markets and moves that don't always fit inside a formula, and certainly not a conventional one that you grew up with. So when you hear the experts talk about where the economy's heading, sure listen to them. I listen to them, but be sure to apply that to your own balance sheet, because you don't build wealth in theory, you build it in real life.    Keith Weinhold  37:44   Then how do you get a good deal? Build a relationship with a GRE investment coach like Naresh. Here you can do that on just 130 minute call with him, and then when the deal that you want becomes available, he'll let you know. By the time you find something on the internet, it's going to be too late, because that means a lot of people have already passed on that deal. If it's already out there publicly, like I said earlier, if you want to learn and do things the same way that everyone else does, then you are squarely in the wrong place. I really mean it. And why would that be? In fact, what does everyone else have? Not enough money at the end of the month, a budget where they constantly have to make sacrifices to meet it, because they think that is the way and they live below their means instead of grow their means. The underlying philosophy here at GRE is, don't live below your means. Grow your means. In fact, we have a T shirt with Grow Your means on it and our logo on it in our merch shop. That's why GRE has a tree in the logo. Grow your means. Instead of shrinking your lifestyle to fit your income, it's about expanding your income to fit your ambition, so don't cut your dreams to match your paycheck. Grow your paycheck to match your dreams. This really reflects the abundance mindset behind get rich education, that wealth isn't built by pinching pennies, but by creating more cash flow and assets and income streams in practical terms, like with what I talked about, about growing my own portfolio back at the beginning of today's show, this means buying cash flowing real estate that's growing your means leveraging good debt that's growing your means using inflation to advantage, that's growing your means investing in yourself or in new ventures. That's growing your means it's the mindset opposite of budget, harder. It is earn smarter at its core, grow your means. What that means is expand your capabilities in. Not just your comfort zone. Use creativity and leverage to multiply your results. View financial growth as a positive, proactive act, not a greedy one, because you're going to serve others with good housing and maintain it. This all encourages abundance over austerity, and it's the same idea behind the tagline financially free beats debt free.    Keith Weinhold  40:27   Thanksgiving is coming up this week, and I'll tell you something. Luckily, American ingenuity improved since the Pilgrims left England, traveled to a totally new continent, and called it New England. Fortunately, we have become more innovative since then, you are about to have more topics for conversation with family at the holidays. And note that Gen Z, ages 13 to 28 they are more likely to talk money today than they did previously. They are kind of the share everything on social generation. Tell relatives about your real estate investing, or at least some of the ideas you have. Tell them, perhaps something that they would be surprised to hear, that you learned on this show, like mortgage rates are, in fact, historically low today, actually, or something like that. And at Thanksgiving or Christmas, please tell a friend about the show. GRE is the work of my life, and that would mean the world to me. If you like listening every week, tell a friend about the show. Now use the Share button on your podcatcher if this show helps you see money or real estate differently. On Apple podcasts, touch the three dots and then the Share button. On Spotify, I think you can just hit the Share icon, the little rectangle with the arrow, and post it to your social feed or social story. That's how more people learn how to build real wealth like we do here at GRE and even better, Don't hoard the good stuff. If you learn something here, engage in the nicest kind of wealth redistribution. Tap the Share button right now and text this episode to one friend who'd appreciate it. Until next week, I'm your host, Keith Weinhold, have a happy Thanksgiving, and don't quit your Daydream.   Speaker 6  42:29   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively.   Keith Weinhold  42:57   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building get richeducation.com

Natalie starts the program describing her recent trip to Warsaw where she visited the Warsaw Ghetto, and couldn't hold back with exclaiming "there is no reason to live outside Israel today!" Her guest, David Levine, is a former advertising executive from New York's Madison Avenue who made aliyah with his wife towards the end of his career in 2015. . The couple moved to Ashkelon and David writes a blog "The Truthful Project" www.thetruthfulproject.blogspot.com/ and has authored several articles which he's compiled into "Hey Israel, You're Perfect - Now Change" which is available here: FREE download at www.bit.ly/HeyIsrael-2dEdition Mentioned in this episode is an upcoming Book Shuk in Jerusalem, Dec. 7th https://www.nbn.org.il/book-shuk/ Returning Home 23NOV2025 - PODCAST

Through his paintings and projects, Anthony's message is clear: art is not only for expression, but for communion with God and an invitation for others to encounter His presence.Anthony has made the journey from mainstream success to spiritual purpose and has seen his social-political art evolve into devotion to Christ, demonstrating how art can be a prophetic voice in culture.Freda's award-winning illustrations and paintings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New Yorker, Time, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. He has a permanent art exhibit at the 9/11 memorial In NY. Anthony Freda Anthony began his career in advertising, notably working on the infamous Joe Camel campaign. When the FTC ruled the campaign illegal for marketing cigarettes to children, Freda experienced a profound moral awakening that led him to leave advertising behind. He went on to work with prestigious publications such as The New York Times and The New Yorker, but it was his work on an OpEd piece for The New York Times promoting the Iraq War that sparked another ethical reckoning. Realizing he had gone from selling cigarettes to selling war, Freda transitioned once more, joining the early alternative media movement in the 2000s.Freda's work has often pushed boundaries, both politically and artistically. His art is part of the permanent collection of the 9/11 Museum and Memorial in New York, where his piece is one of the only works that questions the official narrative of the events of 9/11. His ten-year tenure with Infowars as an illustrator and writer further cemented his place in the world of controversial alternative news, and he has been vocal about his role in the space.Freda's work, especially his art, continues to stir debate. In 2024, an author in Germany faced legal consequences for simply posting one of his book covers on social media, and Freda himself has been extensively censored for his dissent against the official COVID-19 narrative. He has even been flagged as a potential domestic terrorist for his critical stance and controversial imagery. One of his most notable works is a covert illustration for The Wall Street Journal in 2025, where he secretly adorned Xi Jinping's tie with skull motifs as a subtle critique of global politics.In 2024, Freda worked as an illustrator and media consultant for RFK Jr.'s Super-Pac, AV24, further cementing his role in the political and media landscape. However, in recent years, Freda has pivoted his artistic focus towards Christian art. After decades of political commentary, he now sees the battle as spiritual and has committed to dedicating much of his creative work to Christ, producing original pieces as a devotion to his faith.WebsiteInstagramJesus Park KickstarterSubstack Example

Welcome back to Snafu with Robin Zander. In this episode, I'm joined by Kevan Lee and Shannon Deep, co-founders of Bonfire – a creative studio reimagining what it means to build brands, tell stories, and live meaningful lives. We talk about how Bonfire began as a "Trojan horse" – a branding agency on the surface, but really a vehicle for deeper questions: What does fulfilling work look like? How do we find meaning beyond our careers? And how can business become a space for honesty, connection, and growth? Kevan and Shannon share how their partnership formed, what it takes to build trust as co-founders, and how vulnerability and self-awareness fuel their collaboration. We explore their path from tech and theater to building Bonfire, hosting creative retreats, and helping founders tell more authentic stories. We also dive into how AI is changing storytelling, the myth of "broetry" on LinkedIn, and why transparency is the future of marketing. If you're curious about what's next for creativity, leadership, and meaningful work, this episode is for you. And for more conversations like this, stay tuned for Responsive Conference 2026, where we'll be continuing the dialogue on human connection, business, and the evolving role of AI. Start (0:00) How Bonfire Started (14:25) Robin notes how transparent and intentional they've been building their business and community Says Bonfire feels like a 21st-century agency – creative, human, and not traditional Invites them to describe what they're building and their vision for it Kevan's response: Admits he feels imposter syndrome around being called an "entrepreneur" Laughs that it's technically true but still feels strange Describes Bonfire as partly a traditional branding agency They work with early-stage startups Help with brand strategy, positioning, messaging, and differentiation. But says the heart of their work is much deeper "We create spaces for people to explore what a fulfilling life looks like – one that includes work, but isn't defined by it." Their own careers inspired this – jobs that paid well but felt empty, or jobs that felt good but didn't pay the bills Bonfire became their way to build something more meaningful A space to have these conversations themselves And to invite others into it This includes community, retreats, and nontraditional formats Jokes that the agency side is a Trojan horse – a vehicle to fund the work they truly care about Shannon adds: They're agnostic about what Bonfire "does" Could be a branding agency, publishing house, even an ice cream shop "Money is just gas in the engine." The larger goal is creating spaces for people to explore their relationship to work Especially for those in transition, searching for meaning, or redefining success Robin reflects on their unusual path Notes most marketers who start agencies chase awards and fame But Shannon and Kevan built Bonfire around what they wished existed Recalls their past experiences Kevan's path from running a publication (later sold to Vox) to Buffer and then Oyster Shannon's shared time with him at Oyster Mentions their recent milestone – Bonfire's first live retreat in France 13 participants, including them Held in a rented castle For a two-year-old business, he calls it ambitious and impressive Asks: "How did it go? What did people get out of it?" Shannon on the retreat Laughs that they're still processing what it was They had a vibe in mind – but not a fixed structure One participant described it as "a wellness retreat for marketers" Not wrong – but also not quite right Attendees came from tech and non-tech backgrounds The focus: exploring people's most meaningful relationship to work Who you are when you're not at your desk How to bring that awareness back to real life — beyond castles and catered meals People came at it from different angles Some felt misaligned with their work Others were looking for something new Everyone was at a crossroads in their career Kevan on the space they built The retreat encouraged radical honesty People shared things like: "I have this job because I crave approval." "I care about money as a status symbol." "I hate what I do, but I don't know what else I'd be good at." They didn't force vulnerability, but wanted to make it safe if people chose it They thought deeply about values – what needed to be true for that kind of trust Personally, Kevan says the experience shifted his identity From "marketer" to something else – maybe "producer," maybe "creator" The retreat made him realize how many paths are possible "Now I just want to do more of this." Robin notes there are "so many threads to pull on" Brings up family business and partnerships Shares his own experience growing up in his dad's small business Talks about lessons from Robin's Cafe and the challenges of partnerships Says he's fascinated by co-founder dynamics – both powerful and tricky Asks how Shannon and Kevan's working relationship works What it was like at Oyster Why they decided to start Bonfire together And how it's evolved after the retreat Kevan on their beginnings He hired Shannon at Oyster – she was Editorial Director, he was SVP of Marketing Worked together for about a year and a half Knew early on that something clicked Shared values Similar worldview Trusted each other When Oyster ended, partnering up felt natural – "Let's figure out what's next, together." Robin observes their groundedness Says they both seem stable and mature, which likely helps the partnership Jokes about his own chaos running Robin's Café – late nights, leftover wine, cold quinoa Asks Shannon directly: "Do you still follow Kevan's lead?" Shannon's laughs and agrees they're both very regulated people But adds that it comes from learned coping mechanisms Says they've both developed pro-social ways to handle stress People-pleasing Overachievement Perfectionism Intellectualizing feelings instead of expressing them "Those are coping mechanisms too," she notes, "but at least they keep us calm when we talk." Building Trust and Partnership (14:54–23:15) Shannon says both she and Kevan have done deep personal work. Therapy, reflection, and self-inquiry are part of their toolkit. That helps them handle a relationship that's both intimate and challenging. They know their own baggage. They try not to take the other person's reactions personally. It doesn't always work—but they trust they'll work through conflict. When they started Bonfire: They agreed the business world is unpredictable. So they made a pinky swear: Friends first, business second. The friendship is the real priority. When conflict comes up, they ask: "Is this really life or death—or are we just forgetting what matters?" Shannon goes back to the question and clarifies  Says they lead in different ways. Each has their "zone of genius." They depend on each other's strengths. It's not leader and follower – it's mutual reliance. Shannon explains: Kevan's great at momentum: He moves things forward and ships projects fast. Shannon tends to be more perfectionist: Wants things to be fully formed before releasing. Kevan adds they talk often about "rally and rest." Kevan rallies, he thrives on pressure and urgency. Shannon rests, she values slowing down and reflection. Together, that creates a healthy rhythm.  Robin notes lingering habits Wonders if any "hangovers" from their Oyster days remain. Kevan reflects  At first, he hesitated to show weakness. Coming from a manager role, vulnerability felt risky. Shannon quickly saw through it. He realized openness was essential, not optional. Says their friendship and business both rely on honesty. Robin agrees and says he wouldn't discourage co-founders—it's just a big decision. Like choosing a spouse, it shapes your life for years. Notes he's never met with one of them without the other. "That says something," he adds. Their partnership clearly works—even if it takes twice the time. Rethinking Marketing (23:19) Kevan's light moment: Asks if Robin's comment about their teamwork was feedback for them. Robin's observation  Notes how in sync Shannon and Kevan are. Emails one, gets a reply CC'd with the other. Says the tempo of Bonfire feels like their collaboration itself. Wonders what that rhythm feels like internally. Kevan's response  Says it's partly intentional, partly habit. They genuinely enjoy working together. Adds they don't chase traditional agency milestones. No interest in Ad Age lists or Cannes awards. Their goal: have fun and make meaningful work. Robin pivots to the state of marketing (24:04) Mentions the shift from Madison Avenue's glory days to today's tech-driven world. Refers to Mad Men and the "growth at all costs" startup era. Notes how AI and tech are changing how people see their role in work and life. Kevan's background  Came from startups, not agencies. Learned through doing, not an MBA. Immersed in books like Hypergrowth and Traction. Took Reforge courses—knows the mechanics of scaling. Before that, worked as a journalist. Gained curiosity and calm under pressure, but also urgency. Admits startup life taught him both good and bad habits. Robin notes  Neither lives the Madison Avenue life. Kevan's in Boise. Shannon's in France. Shannon's background Started in theater – behind the scenes as a dramaturg and producer. Learned how to shape emotion and tell stories. Transitioned into brand strategy in New York. Worked at a top agency, Siegel+Gale. Helped global B2B and B2C clients define mission, values, and design. Competed with big names like Interbrand and Pentagram. Later moved in-house at tech startups. Saw how B2B marketing often tries to "act cool" like B2C. Learned to translate creative ideas into language that convinces CFOs. Says her role often meant selling authentic storytelling to risk-averse execs. Admits she joined marketing out of necessity. "I was 27, broke in New York, and needed a parking spot for my storytelling skills." Robin connects the dots  Notes how Silicon Valley's "growth" culture mirrors old ad-world burnout. Growth at all costs. Not much room for creative autonomy. Adds most big agencies are now owned by holding companies. The original Madison Avenue independence is nearly gone. Robin's reflection  Mentions how AI-generated content is changing video and storytelling. Grateful his clients still value human connection. Asks how Bonfire helps brands tell authentic stories now that the old model is fading. Kevan's take  Says people now care less about "moments" and more about audiences. It's not about one viral hit—it's about building consistency. Brands need to stand for something, and keep showing up. People want that outcome, even if they don't want the hard work behind it. Shannon adds Notes rising skepticism among audiences. Most content people see isn't from who they follow, it's ads and algorithms. Consumers are subconsciously filtering out the noise. Says that's why human storytelling matters more than ever. People crave knowing a real person is behind the message. AI can mimic tone but not authenticity. Adds it's hard to convince some clients of that. Authentic work isn't fast or easily measured. It requires belief in the process and a value system to match. That's tough when your client's investors only want quick returns. Robin agrees  "Look at people's incentives and I'll tell you who they are." Shannon continues Wonders where their responsibility ends. Should they convince people of their values? Or just do the work and let the right clients come? Kevan says they've found a sweet spot with current clients. Mostly bootstrapped founders. Work with them long-term instead of one-off projects. Says that's the recipe that fits Bonfire's values and actually works. The Quarter Analogy (35:36) Robin quotes BJ Fogg: "Don't try to persuade people of your worldview. Look for people who already want what you can teach, and just show them how." He compares arguing with people who don't align to "an acrobat arguing with gravity – gravity will win 100% of the time." The key: harness momentum instead of fighting resistance. Even a small, aligned audience is better than chasing everyone. Kevan shares Bonfire's failed experiment with outbound sales: They tried reaching out to recently funded AI companies. "It got us nowhere," he admits. That experience reminded him how much old startup habits – growth at all costs, scale fast – still shape thinking. "I thought success meant getting as big as possible, as fast as possible. That meant doing outbound, even if it felt inauthentic." But that mindset just added pressure. Realizing there were other ways to grow – slower, more intentional – was a relief. Now they've stopped outbound entirely. Focused instead on aligned clients who find them naturally. Robin connects it to a MrBeast quote. "If I'm not ashamed of the video I put out last week, I'm not growing fast enough." He says he doesn't love the "shame" part but relates to the evolution mindset – Looking back at work from six months ago and thinking, I'd do that differently now. Growth as a visible, measurable journey. Robin shifts to storytelling frameworks: Mentions Kevan and Shannon's analogies about storytelling and asks about "the quarter analogy." Kevan explains the "quarter" story: A professor holds up two quarters: "Sell me the one on the right." No one can – until someone says, "I'll dip it in Marilyn Monroe's purse." That coin now has emotional and cultural value. Marketing can be the same – alchemy that turns something ordinary into something meaningful. Robin builds on that: You can tell stories about a coin's history – "Lincoln touched it," etc. But Kevan's version is different: adding new meaning in the present. "How do you imbue something with value now that makes it matter later?" Shannon's take: It's about values and belonging. "Every story implicitly says: believe this." That belief also says: we don't believe that – defining who's in your tribe. Humans crave that – community, validation, connection. That belonging is intangible but real. "Try selling that to a CFO who just wants ROI. Impossible — but it's real." Kevan adds: Values are one piece – authenticity is another. Some brands already have a genuine story; others want to create one. "We get asked to dip AI companies into Marilyn Monroe's purse," he jokes. The real work is uncovering what's true or helping brands rediscover it. The challenge: telling that story consistently and believably. Robin mentions Shannon's storytelling framework of three parts – Purpose → Story frameworks → Touch points. Shannon breaks it down: Clients usually come in with half-baked "mission" or "vision" statements. She uses Ogilvy's "Big Ideal" model: Combine a cultural tension (what's happening in the world) with your brand's best self. Then fill in the blank: "We believe the world would be a better place if…" That single sentence surfaces a company's "why us" and "why now." It's dramaturgy, really — same question as in theater: "Why this play now?" "Why us?" Bonfire's own version (in progress): "We believe the world would be a better place if people and brands had more room to explore their creativity." Kevan adds: it's evolving, like them. Robin relates it back to his own story: After selling Robin's Café, he started Zander Media to tell human stories. He wanted to document real connections — "the barista-customer relationships, the neighborhood changing." That became his north star: storytelling as a tool for change and human connection. "I don't care about video," he says. "I care about storytelling, helping people become more of who they want to be." Kevan closes the loop: A good purpose statement is expansive. It can hold video, podcasts, even a publishing house. "Maybe tomorrow it's something else. That's the beauty — it allows room to grow." Against the Broetry (49:01) Kevan reflects on transparency and values at Bonfire He and Robin came from Buffer, a company known for radical transparency — posting salaries, growth numbers, everything. Says that while Bonfire isn't as extreme about it, the spirit is the same. "It just comes naturally to invite people in." Their openness isn't a tactic – it's aligned with their values and mission. They want to create space for people to explore – new ideas, new ways of working, more fulfilling lives. Sharing their journey publicly felt like the obvious, authentic thing to do. "It wasn't even a conversation – just who we are." Shannon jumps in with a critique of business culture online Says there's so much terrible advice about "how to build a business." Compliments Robin for cutting through the noise – being honest through Snafu and his newsletter. "You're trying to be real about what selling feels like and what it says about you." Calls out the "rise and grind" nonsense dominating LinkedIn: "Wake up at 4 a.m., protein shake at 4:10, three-hour workout…" Robin laughs – "I'll take the three-hour workout, but I'll pass on the protein shake." Shannon and Kevan call it "broetry" The overblown, performative business storytelling on social media. "I went on my honeymoon and here's what I learned about B2B sales." Their goal with building in public is the opposite: To admit mistakes. To share pivots and moments of doubt. To remind people that everyone is figuring it out. "But the system rewards the opposite – gatekeeping, pretending, keeping up the facade." Shannon says she has "no patience for it." She traces that belief back to a story from college Producer Paula Wagner once told her class: "Here's the secret: nobody knows anything." That line stuck with her. Gave her permission to question authority. To show up confidently even when others pretend to know more. After years of watching powerful men "fail upward," she realized: "The emperor has no clothes." So she might as well take up space too. Transparency, for her, is a form of connection and courage – "When people raise their eyes from their desks and actually meet each other, that's power." Robin thanks Shannon for the kind words about Snafu. Says their work naturally attracts people who want that kind of realness. Then pivots to a closing question: "If you had one piece of advice for founders – about storytelling or business building – what would it be?" Kevan's advice: "Look beyond what's around you." Inspiration doesn't have to come from your industry. Learn from other fields, other stories, other worlds. It builds curiosity, empathy, and creativity. Robin sums it up: "Get out of your silos." Shannon's advice: "Make the thing you actually want to see." Too many founders copy what's trendy or "smart." Ask instead: What would I genuinely love to consume? Remember your audience is human, like you. And remember, building a business is a privilege. You get to create a small world that reflects your values. You get to hire people, pay them, shape a culture. "That's so cool, and it should make you feel powerful." With that power comes responsibility. "Everyone says it's about making the most money. But what if the goal was to make the coolest world possible, for as many people as possible?" Where to find Kevan and Shannon (57:16) Points listeners to aroundthebonfire.com/experiences. That's where they host their retreats. Next one is April 2026. "We'd love to see you there."   Companies/Organizations Bonfire Buffer Oyster Vox Zander Media Siegel+Gale Interbrand Pentagram Reforge Robin's Café Books / Frameworks / Theories Traction BJ Fogg's behavioral model Ogilvy's "Big Ideal" Purpose → Story Frameworks → Touch Point People Paula Wagner BJ Fogg MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) David Ogilvy Newsletters Snafu Kevan's previous publication  

John Sampogna co-founded his digital agency, Wondersauce, at just 26, with the ambition to take on the giants of Madison Avenue. He spent five years grinding, building a stellar reputation, and scaling his team from two to 100 employees. But as the operational weight of payroll, HR, and collections threatened to pull him under, he made a decision that shocks most founders: he sold the company he bled for.For most founders, that's the end of the story. For John, it was just the beginning. He stayed on to run Wondersauce, proving that selling your business doesn't mean selling your soul. Now, 15 years in and still at the helm post-acquisition, John is having his best year ever, redefining success by mastering the shift from entrepreneur to "intrapreneur."In this interview, John sits down with Ryan Atkinson to share his playbook for competing against giants, even when you're the underdog. He reveals his "ruthlessly raw" pitching strategy, the keys to scaling from 2 to 100 employees, and how to build systems and redundancy (SOPs) so you can stop being the bottleneck in your own company. John also gets transparent about the process of business acquisition, what buyers really look for, and how to structure a deal that lets you keep building. Whether you're a service business owner or a founder planning your exit strategy, this episode provides a masterclass in building a business based on reputation, discipline, and relentless growth.Takeaways:- A "ruthlessly raw" and direct pitching style, focused on ideas rather than a polished script, can be a refreshing way to win over clients who are tired of "buttoned-up" agency presentations.- The two biggest levers for scaling a service business from 2 to 100 employees are the quality of your work and the reputation it builds through word-of-mouth.- When planning an exit, you must build redundancy and systems (SOPs) so the business is not dependent on you. This makes it a much more attractive and stable asset for a buyer.- Founders who are "hands-on" in everything are often a bottleneck.1 You should hire people to fill your weaknesses (like project management) so you can focus on your strengths (like sales).- When clients repeatedly ask for a service you don't offer, see it as an opportunity. Be transparent, learn alongside them, and offer it at a discount to prove your capability.- Stop selling services (e.g., "email marketing") and start selling results (e.g., "client retention"). This communicates your true value and avoids commoditization.- Only start a business you are genuinely interested in. If you're not passionate, you'll be beaten by competitors who absorb industry knowledge organically simply because they love it.- Be a broken record with your marketing. No one listens or remembers after one time; you must relentlessly drill your unique message into people's heads.- The toughest, unseen part of being a CEO is the emotional tax of managing and protecting your team, all while having to find your own ways to cope and "keep it together."- There is power in being "blissfully naive." The lack of experience in the early days allows for purer and less conservative decision-making, which can be a powerful advantage.Tags: Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Business Acquisition, Systems and Procedures, Digital AgencyResources:Grow your business today: https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast Connect with John: https://www.instagram.com/wondersauce/?hl=en

Scott Kaier makes his second appearance on the show today. You can his first vist way back on episode 232 in August 2020. As President of Formidable Media, Scott helps a select group of clients build their brands globally through tailored marketing services—public relations, custom content, paid media, and social support. As Senior VP at Green Threads DPP, Scott also leads efforts around the EU's upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) legislation, guiding companies through compliance and integration. His specialties include textiles, sustainable materials, performance fabrics, and the outdoor industry. Show Notes You ever have that moment where you realize you've been playing the game backwards? That was me, mid-career, sitting in a glossy outdoor brand office with beautiful gear… that nobody wanted to write about. What Happened: I didn't come from some Madison Avenue ad agency. I started in bike shops — greasy hands, mismatched gear, and an obsession with adventure. I wasn't chasing media hits, I just wanted to be around people who got it. Fast forward a few years, I'm deep into PR for top-tier outdoor brands, working with media, crafting stories, and yet… I'd see some products completely flop in the press while others (less exciting, in my opinion) stole the spotlight. At first, I took it personally. Like, why aren't they seeing the story here? But here's what I learned: the best stories aren't the ones brands tell about themselves — they're the ones that resonate. Principle: Outdoor brands often fall in love with their products, not their audience. They get caught up in their idea of what's newsworthy, forgetting that real stories aren't about features — they're about connection. And connection comes from authenticity, timing, and meeting people where they are. Transition: Most outdoor brands are struggling not because they don't have great gear, but because they're telling stories no one is listening to. The market has changed. What worked in the golden age of trade shows and glossy magazine spreads doesn't fly in today's fragmented media world. And while your product might be sustainable, your message might not be. That's why this week's podcast episode is such a wake-up call for brand leaders trying to stay relevant. Scott Kaier dives deep into what the outdoor industry gets wrong (and right) about media, storytelling, and brand strategy — and what's coming next with EU digital product passports and sustainability compliance. Call to Action: Still wondering why your product isn't getting the attention it deserves? That's the pain. Getting ghosted by media, confused by content trends, feeling like your message gets lost? That's the agitation. Scott's been on both sides — agency and in-house — and he shares the mindset shift that changes everything. That's the solution.

This week's “How She Finds Purpose” insight comes from Kate Grant. She says – “It's figuring out which part's not fulfilled, and if you can make a career change and get that piece fulfilled, great. But sometimes you can't. And if even just figuring that out, because then you could sort of say, I now know what I've got, and it's not quite what I want. And I'm gonna try to get this filled some other place as opposed to just this sort of growing sense of dissatisfaction and angst and internal sort of tension.” Here are 3 reasons why you should listen to this episode: If you've ever felt like you've climbed the ladder of success only to realize it's leaning against the wrong wall, Kate's story will help you rethink what real fulfillment looks like. You'll hear how personal wake-up calls—whether from an earthquake, heartbreak, or inner voice—can lead to unexpected purpose. Kate gets real about the messy middle of career change, and how it took her nearly a decade of “dating jobs” to find the right fit. Kate Grant is the founding CEO of Fistula Foundation, the world's largest charity focused on treating childbirth injuries. She's also the author of No Woman Left Behind, where she shares her powerful story of walking away from Madison Avenue to become a leading advocate for global maternal health. Connect with Kate at Website: https://fistulafoundation.org/ Find her book at: https://nowomanleftbehind.net/   Would you prefer to watch or listen to the podcast on YouTube?Head on over to https://www.youtube.com/@leadershippurposepodcast   Want to connect? Connect with Dr. Robin on  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinlowensphd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinlowensphd Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/robinlowensphd/ Email: Robin@LeadershipPurposePodcast.com   Thank you for listening! Rate, review, & follow on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. Talk to you soon!   This episode was produced by Lynda, Podcast Manager for GenX Creative Entrepreneurs at https://www.ljscreativeservices.co.nz

Meet my friends, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton! If you love Verdict, the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show might also be in your audio wheelhouse. Politics, news analysis, and some pop culture and comedy thrown in too. Here’s a sample episode recapping four Thursday takeaways. Give the guys a listen and then follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Winning Culture Wars Clay highlights the record-breaking ratings of football and the success of American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney ad campaign, which he views as emblematic of a broader cultural pendulum swinging back toward sanity, beauty, and Americana. This cultural shift, he argues, is closely tied to the popularity of President Donald Trump and a rejection of progressive narratives. The hosts explore the impact of woke advertising agencies, particularly those on Madison Avenue, which they claim have pushed ideologically driven campaigns that alienate mainstream consumers. They cite examples like Bud Light and Cracker Barrel, arguing that conservative consumers are now influencing corporate decisions by voting with their wallets. The success of campaigns featuring traditional beauty and sports is seen as a rejection of androgynous and politically charged marketing. Clay and Buck also discuss the strategic importance of winning the culture war, asserting that cultural victories are more impactful than policy debates. They call for continued pressure on corporations to align with conservative values and celebrate companies that do so, believing success will breed imitation. Bodycams Work Crime and public safety, with a focus on urban violence and the Trump administration’s tough-on-crime stance. A poignant clip from a Chicago grandmother underscores the desperation felt in high-crime neighborhoods and the desire for increased law enforcement presence. The hosts criticize progressive leaders for failing to protect vulnerable communities and highlight the disconnect between elite rhetoric and everyday realities. Body cameras are praised for providing transparency and protecting police officers from false accusations. The hosts argue that footage often reveals restraint and professionalism in law enforcement, countering mainstream media narratives. They also discuss the psychological toll of police work and the importance of understanding the realities officers face. Toward the end of the hour, Clay and Buck address a controversial report suggesting the Trump administration is considering banning gun ownership for transgender individuals, citing mental health concerns. They acknowledge the complexity of the issue, balancing Second Amendment rights with public safety, and note the political dilemma this poses for Democrats who advocate both gun control and transgender rights. Vaccine Questions A discussion centered on vaccine mandates, medical freedom, and cultural politics, with a strong emphasis on parental rights and skepticism toward the healthcare establishment. The hosts begin by spotlighting Florida’s move to eliminate all vaccine mandates under Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and Governor Ron DeSantis, framing it as a major win for medical autonomy and personal liberty. They criticize the COVID-era public health policies, especially mask mandates and vaccine coercion, calling out the authoritarian behavior of bureaucrats and airline staff. Dr. Mehmet Oz joins the conversation, advocating for vaccine decisions to be made between doctors and patients, not dictated by government mandates. Clay and Buck reflect on their own parenting experiences, expressing concern over the increasing number of childhood vaccinations and questioning the pharmaceutical industry's influence. They discuss the rise in childhood allergies and illnesses, suggesting a link to overmedication and calling for a more holistic, risk-benefit approach to pediatric healthcare. Politicizing Public Health Dr. Nicole Saphier, Fox News analyst and host of “Wellness Unmasked” on the C&B Podcast Network reacts to the RFK Jr. Senate hearing, condemning the politicization of healthcare and calling for a return to data-driven, transparent public health policy. She highlights the erosion of trust in institutions like the CDC and HHS and urges a reevaluation of the childhood vaccine schedule, advocating for fewer shots and more nuanced messaging to combat vaccine hesitancy. Dr. Sapphire also shares personal anecdotes, including her awkward first encounter with her now-husband, and promotes her podcast Wellness Unmasked, part of the Clay and Buck Podcast Network. The hosts wrap up the hour with humorous banter about bad dates, movie preferences—including The English Patient and Bloodsport—and Buck’s misadventures bathing his dog after a messy walk, adding a dose of comic relief to the show’s cultural and political depth. Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8 For the latest updates from Clay and Buck: https://www.clayandbuck.com/ Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Social Media: X - https://x.com/clayandbuck FB - https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/clayandbuck/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ClayandBuck TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clayandbuck YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The viral commercial has a mysteriously simple message: sportsmanship. The child actor has gotten dunked on by NBA Twitter for more than a decade. Correspondent Zach Schwartz untangles a web from Madison Avenue to the Supreme Court to Damian Lillard, in search of a boy named Alex — and the meaning of perseverance. (This episode originally aired January 7, 2025.) • Subscribe to Pablo's Substack for exclusive access, documents and invites https://pablo.show/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The viral commercial has a mysteriously simple message: sportsmanship. The child actor has gotten dunked on by NBA Twitter for more than a decade. Correspondent Zach Schwartz untangles a web from Madison Avenue to the Supreme Court to Damian Lillard, in search of a boy named Alex — and the meaning of perseverance. (This episode originally aired January 7, 2025.) • Subscribe to Pablo's Substack for exclusive access, documents and invites https://pablo.show/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices