108 – One of the top 100 motivational speakers: Tom interviews Dov Baron

Episode 108 – Dov Baron
[00:00:09] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody, it's Tom here with episode 108 of Screw the Commute podcast. I've got Dov Baron here. And this is a guy, the only guy in my entire life that I have been in a hallway of a hotel with half naked. Trying to protect one of our female friends. Tell you about that later. And I hope you didn't miss episode 107 Mark S A Smith. Now, this guy found a cool and simple way to brand himself, and he's teaching small business owners like us why we need to act like executives. And it was a really eye opening interview with lots of tips, especially if you'd like to eventually sell your business. All right. Our podcast app is now on the iTunes store. You can go to screwthecommute.com/app and we've got complete screenshots. And if you don't know how to use apps that well, boy we show you how to use all the fancy stuff in our Screw the Commute podcast app so that you can take us with you on the road a lot easier. Now, our Roku On Demand TV channel, the public speaking channel is live. Maybe by the time you listen to this, we'll have a couple other channels going there. You get probably a hundred grand worth of public speaking training if you just have a Roku box and watch our channel. It's called the public speaking channel. So check it out on Roku TV. Now our youth program is in full swing. We're looking for young people. When I say young, that's up to early 20s or so that are doing great entrepreneurial things and we want to highlight them once a month on our screw the commute podcast so you can have them get in touch with me at orders@antion.com and we'll show them how to apply and maybe they can be featured on an episode of Screw the Commute. All right, our sponsor today is the Distance Learning School, the Internet Marketing Training Center of Virginia. Don't even think about retraining yourself or sending your kids to college until you check out our webinar on higher education. I do not want you wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars and putting yourself and your kids under crushing debt. And we'll have a webinar in the show notes at screwthecommute.com or you can go directly to screwthecommute.com/webinars and either watch the webinar or you can download the MP3 and listen to it. But I've got to tell you, you're going to be mad when you hear some of the things these colleges and universities are doing to you and your family.

[00:02:55] All right, let's get to the main event. Dov Baron He was twice cited as one of Inc Magazine's top 100 leadership speakers to hire. He's also cited in the meetings and event professional's guide to the top 100 motivational speakers and named one of the top 30 global leadership gurus. Now Dov is a man with a finger on the pulse of the evolving world of next gen leadership. And we really need to pay attention to that as entrepreneurs, because some of us old farts are having trouble figuring out these younger people. He's the best selling author of several books, and his latest book is Fiercely Loyal. How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent. Dov, are you ready to screw. The commute.

[00:03:51] Last time I saw you, you were half naked in a hallway. Tell them about that story.

[00:04:05] Yes, there was. There was you. I was going to say we were in bed together. We were in bed, yes, across the hall from each other. And suddenly there's this scream of a lady and we, you know, who actually was one of our colleagues screaming. And I jumped out of bed, as did you. Fortunately, you had more clothes them than I. I had it. I had a T-shirt on. It could no longer because it looked like it was smuggling on my T-shirt. I read it and we read it in a hallway to look for whoever it was who had made it down the back steps. And unfortunately, we didn't catch him. But I am in quick run out of the room, of course. When you run out of a hotel room locked the door behind. So I required Mr. Tom to go back into his room, to get me a towel, that I could cover up.

[00:05:11] Oh. You know, but but I've always like, you know, after the fact. Wish that we'd seen that guy running down the hall and both of us done like the football clothesline from both sides of the hall. Just watch him flip up and down and then call the police.

[00:05:25] I mean, aside from, you know, taking him to the ground, which would have been pretty easy for either of us to do, I think he might have stopped in his steps.

[00:05:47] Well, this is a good point, though. The lady, our friend had just said, I'm going to run down and get some ice. And her husband was in the room and all she did was put that little latch to keep the door from closing. And when she came back, a guy was in there going through her stuff and she screamed bloody murder and scared the heck out of the guy. And he ran down the hall, got away. But you got to really be careful nowadays with security, that's for sure.

[00:06:12] You certainly got to pay attention. But, you know, I mean, I think that. I think you've got to pay attention and you've got to be aware. But at the same time, you can't be. You can't be living your life in fear.

[00:06:23] Heck, no. It's just the balance of paying attention to your surroundings then and living your life. You know, looking at the good stuff along with the bad stuff. So let's tell everybody what you're doing now. Then we'll take you back to long time ago, not that long. You're a young young man and we'll see how you came up through the ranks. So what do you do nowadays?

[00:06:50] Well, nowadays, I my main focus of my business is that I work with high level individuals who are entrepreneurs, CEOs, often athletes and entertainers in helping them to find that personal purpose, to go from success to significance and on to creating a legacy. So that's what I do privately. One on one of the people I work with are often very successful and in going, you know. I'm not sure that it's going to have any meaning if I get another million dollars or whatever it is, there's something missing now oftentimes that people who are not at that level, but they are very often that like what's missing. Those are my private clients. We also work with companies and organizations and their executive teams in helping the company to become purpose driven. Because what we know now is that this is not a it's not a woowoo thing. What we know is that over 10 years, research shows that stock values in a company that is purpose driven, so the value of a company will go up by 12 times if it's a purpose driven organization, and part of the reason for that is because millennials are purpose driven, they want meaningful work. And so they want to work for a meaningful company, a purpose driven organization, and that's how they keep them loyal. So that's the work that we do with the companies in the organizations. And of course, I speak on platforms around the world, everywhere from here to Australia to Iran, Europe, you know, all those kinds of places. So that's the that's the main thrust of what it is that I do. Of course, I write books and as you mentioned, fiercely loyal was one of my last bestsellers. But actually more recently, I have a book called One Red Thread, which is perfect for entrepreneurs to actually help you find your purpose. So you can do that without hiring me. Go get it. The book you can buy an e-book or paperback on Amazon and just go through the exercises. But don't just read that one book yet. You have to do the exercises.

[00:08:59] Are you still doing your own larger events like. That's I spoke to one of your events, so I think it was in Vancouver somewhere.

[00:09:06] There was. It was Vancouver. Yeah. We were honored to have you on our platform. We don't do those anymore because I wanted to stay married.

[00:09:15] Yeah, I get that idea that's a lot of work putting on events for sure.

[00:09:22] So we put on a lot of events, as you know, we stay put on about about 14 events a year and it was pretty exhausting. And now we only speak at other people's events and I don't do that speak to sell thing at all. I'm there to serve. And I love doing that.

[00:09:40] Yeah. Me too I just hated the planning as they don't have to worry about staying married. But but the planning is there's so many details. People don't realize when if an event's going smooth, it's because somebody did a lot of work to make it happen.

[00:09:56] It's the same thing is. You know, this is one of the things that I want to actually speak to entrepreneurs about right now, and that is this. I remember when I went and saw this speaker speak in Australia many, many years ago, actually 35 years ago, and thinking Jesus, this guy's cleaning up. I want to get in on this gig. What a dumbass I was. right, because there's no consideration of what it took for that guy to put 500 people in that room. On that day. The amount of work that goes on in the background. So there's two things with entrepreneurship. I would not anything other than an entrepreneur. So let me just say that you have been an entrepreneur since I was 16 years old. However, let me tell you, it is far more work than you imagine. And if you think that being an entrepreneur is going to give you more freedom. That is true. But that's not short term for short term. You'll probably going to work more hours than you ever did before for less money than you ever did before. But there's a reason behind it. And you need to find that reason, because that's what's going to get you out of bed in the morning when you've got when you're just exhausted because you didn't finish work yesterday till 2:00 a.m. and you have a 6:00 a.m. meeting. That's what's going to. If you're not driven by something more than money, something more than having no boss, that's not gonna be enough. You need to dig deep because there's there's a far more to getting to where you want to go to than you can possibly imagine, because most of it is glorified, particularly in the days of, you know, you have Gary Vaynerchuk, who actually is good at telling people you have to hustle. But in the days of Tai Lopez showing his Lamborginis and all the rest, it's just because it just doesn't work like that. It's very nice. And I'm happy for the guy that he's got that. But you will have to work your ass stuff for minimum wage and less. Just to get over that hump. Yeah. And if you've got something driving you more than the money, it'll be worth it.

[00:11:57] Yeah. And when you see those stack of bills and then no orders coming in or no sales or no prospects, it's daunting. I mean it's we've all all been there at various times. And even when you're on top. Like when I had the nightclub and then I was put out of business because the legislature changed the drinking age. And I you know, I'd work seven days a week for six years. And so. So you're going to. You've got to have that something drive inside you that I'm going to scratch and crawl out of that hole and make it. And then then when you do that enough, then you can you can breathe a little bit. But I don't know. Some of us just, you know, keep scratching and crawling because we like it.

[00:12:38] Well, I mean, I think there's a certain you know, I mean, let's face it. Right. Entrepreneur is the new rock star, right? You know, the cool guys to be. But when you look at that, you know, if you mean you because you talked about being in clubs, you know, I've been around clubs and was a doorman. And we talked about that years ago. And I was part of that world, too. And I knew lots and lots of musicians. And I and I live in Vancouver, which is Hollywood north. And I know lots and lots of actors and most of them are waiters, you know, and this is the thing that people don't realize that there's very few actors, there's very few musicians, and there's very few entrepreneurs who actually put their nose to the grindstone for 10 years in order to break through every overnight success has 10 years behind them. People looked at Justin Bieber and said, you know what, if kids 15 years old and he's got the biggest hit, you know, when he broke out from Canada. Hello. Justin Bieber started playing drums at 5 years old. He's a very accomplished musician, whether he's a dick or not. Not really what we're talking about. What we're talking about is he put the hours in. He put the dedication. He put the commitment in to do honing his craft. Whether you like him or not, he's not relevant. Well, you have to look at each of those people. When you look at Tom Antion, here's a guy who's really made it. Have you any idea of the backstory? I know the backstory of Tom. And the backstory is work upon work upon work upon people stealing shit from him, people, you know, rubbing him the wrong way doing things bad and him committing to getting out of that hole and going through and doing what it takes. And this is the thing I want to drive home to every entrepreneur. You got to drop the idea of the glamour, if you can get rid of the idea of the glamour, then you can actually reach the glamour, but you will not get it. If you're pursuing the glamour, you have to be pursuing your own purpose. Something deeper that drives you.

[00:14:34] Yeah. And this is something that's frustrating me lately. I made the, I don't know, maybe dumb decision. I thought, you know, I'm going to hold some meet ups at my school in an entrepreneurial and they have access to me to come. And I do some high level trainings. Sometimes I get one or two people showing up and, you know, all these I got a hundred and sixty people in the first couple of weeks joined the group. Nobody shows up. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur, but they won't get off their butts and do what it takes. I mean, having the like I say you could stuff gold bullion down your throat. They wouldn't take a bite, you know. So it's a special, special person that's that actually breaks through and makes it. Now, we had a lady on a couple episodes ago. And she she's an expert in Gen Z. And I said, well, that must be the end of the world, because where do you go after Z? And she was telling me stuff that I'm like as an oh, I'm going to be 64 this July. And she's telling me stuff. Well, you know, this this generation, they're kind of flexible with time. And, you know, you got to go along. I'm thinking, all right. So I should put a sign up on my door of my my store that says, well, we might open at 9:00, we might open at ten. It depends. How do you deal with these generation people, Dov?

[00:16:02] Well, it's a great question, and I think that I actually love millennials and wrote a lot about them in fiercely loyal, and I'm actually investigating a lot, I'm doing a lot of research around Gen Z as well. So one of the things we need to learn is that this is the first time we know in history where we've had five working generations, which is pretty cool. It's pretty amazing. So Gen Z now are 18 years old at the oldest. OK, so those decks, the oldest ones of the millennials, you know, we think of those as kids, but actually millennials are already 19 to 39 years old. So they're already in leadership positions. They are the screen generation, but the Gen Z are the extreme screen generation. So they are operating multiple screens at any single time. And so what you have to understand is that. The idea we are every human being has natural inbuilt bias. We all have a bias and we think this is the way it is. But that's because that's the way it's been for us. So we call millennials entitled, but they're not entitled. They understand and learn differently than we do. And we have to put that to the side. So, for instance, you know, when I'll go in and I'm standing there with 10 or 15 CEOs and say, OK, tell me something about millennials. And, you know, they're entitled. Always comes up and I go, OK. So how would you define entitled? And they start to explain it. And then I say, let me ask you a question. If I take a group of people and they voluntarily donate a chunk of their time and I'm talking about a large chunk of their time every single week, every single year, consistently without any pay, they just want to donate it because there is a cause they believe in. Would you say that person is entitled? They say, oh, no, of course not. And they go. Those are millennials. They donate more of their time than anybody else. They're more collaborative than any other generation. They want to be part of things. And they don't actually mind if their name is not included. What they mind is that they're building something bigger. This is what we've got to learn from these people. They are actually more collaborative. They are more global in their thinking. They do not know if you look at what's going on in the rise of right wing politics across the world, not just in America, but across the world. What you'll see is actually that's not the young people. What that is, is an older generation who are becoming more tribal, whereas the the Gen Z and millennials are more expensive. They want to connect with people around the world. Our job with them is to get them to do eyeball to eyeball and actually get them to physically press flesh as we used to call it you know, shake hands and hug each other. So that's the distinction. But we've got a lot to learn from these next generations. And I think they're amazing. And I think we can learn a lot from the ever can't. What we've got to get off our perches and think that we're the only ones who can mentor that.

[00:19:02] Okay but can't we have some basic stuff. I mean, can't we say, OK, our meeting is at nine o'clock, not nine thirty nine, not nine forty nine o'clock. Can do they have no concept of what a clock is and time. I mean this drives me crazy. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. We have no concept of time. Well guess what I do and the customer does. The people paying the bills do. Maybe you have to dummy up a little bit and come up with some just basics. What about politeness. What about shaking hands? What about respect for others? How about some basics? Can we have that or do we just have to put up with whatever they come up with?

[00:19:45] I think if you so we're in this we're in this gross generalization now and that's always a problem.

[00:19:52] Oh, I'm happy to stereotype.

[00:19:55] Thank you. Thank you for the clarity. So the fact of the matter is that I know many millennials who are on time and who many who are very courteous and very professional and all the rest of it. But let's just first, let's break this apart a little bit. So the first part of it is this is millennials. This one of things I love about millennials. They're all way more entrepreneurial. Now, some of that is conceptual and some of that is reality as we talked about the beginning. But they think entrepreneurially because they don't trust big business, because they watch their parents bite the biscuit in 2008, 2009, 2010, after their parents had put 10, 15, 20 years into a company and just get turfed out. So they inherently don't trust business and they're always looking for what, the next escape route? What's better for me? How can I climb? So that's what we need to know. They have a good reason not to trust. And I'm okay with that. That's fine. Now, on top of that, what we need to understand is. That there are certain things, as you said, Tom, and quite rightly, that need to be on time. But what we as our generation need to learn is, where doesn't time matter.

[00:21:08] So what I mean by that is I if I give Charlie, let's say Charlie's my virtual millennial a project to do. I don't care if Charlie does that at two o'clock in the morning or five o'clock in the morning or at midnight. I don't care what I care is that it's done by my deadline. So what we have to do is get away from time and go to results. And so when we go to results, then we have to create accountability systems with millennials. And by the way, much to most people's surprise, millennials love clarity of accountability. So if I say I need this by then and they can touch base and get back to me and make sure that they understand things properly, they actually love that. So I say I don't care if you're on the golf course. I don't care if you're in the movies. I just need to know that you're going to get this to me by then. Now, here's the interesting thing for you and I and I know this because both of us have this thing. And that's why I was apologetic, because I was I was I was at nine o'clock and instead of one minute to nine because I like to be five minutes early for everything, that's our generation. If you're on time, you're late. However, for millennials, what you have to understand for them is they're still working out of a college mentality. And that is I have till midnight to get it in.

[00:22:26] So 11:59, is on time. So if it has to be in on Tuesday, that means Tuesday at midnight. So that's eleven fifty nine is on time. That's how they think. So we have to make sure that we understand that. So we say I need it by Monday. You actually need it by Sunday at midnight if you need it Monday morning to work with. So this is understood just that it's it's just understanding how they think.

[00:22:50] Well, here's I'm just thinking, though, that they are going to get a rude awakening when they if they are entrepreneurial and a guy like me is going to give them a big contract and I'm showing up at a meeting to give them this big contract and they're all late and fooling around and doing nothing. I say, you know what? I don't deal like this. Goodbye, because the people that have a lot of money are older. And I think they're going to get a rude awakening if they if they don't find that balance between OK, to get the job done. But, hey, if we really want to be successful, we have to do some of the old school methods. I don't see how they can get away with it.

[00:23:29] I can see totally either get away with it. It's called death. We are dying. Right. Again, that generation is that generation is 39 years old and younger. And we are in our 60s and 70s and 80s. They are also starting to make the money, they're starting to do business with themselves. It's it's fascinating to me. I on my show, I had to remember his name now. He started a company called Rich 20, something hugely successful entrepreneur guy, brilliant guy. And and I think he was 28 when I interviewed him. He's now 30. Super bright, deep understanding, philosophical, very entrepreneurial. And he talks about the same things. He talks about, you know, he talks about other millennials and he says, you know, we have to we have to understand that when we're dealing with another older generation, they do care about time. So there are people who who really get it. But millennials are going to be dealing with those guys. So, yes, when they deal with us we, we then again, this is us setting boundaries and accountability. So what is on? So I'm saying to a millennial when you want to work on them. So if I need this by Monday, what's on time for you? I actually asked that question and then they'll tell me and I'll say, here's what it is for me and this is what we need to a greater. And they go, ok.

[00:24:55] Well, I mean, so it's our client. I hope it works for him because I just. I mean, I'm reflecting a lot of people in my age group, that are just having trouble going along with this stuff and the old and the whole thing with giving trophies out for showing up and picking your nose.

[00:25:13] And, you know, all that stuff lets it make you and higher on the same page with that stuff. You know, you and I are also in the same age bracket. So it's not it's not that I'm certainly not in not giving people rounds of applause for actually showing up. But I'm very much inclined to give people rounds of applause for things that they did well and recognition. But he is. Let me just give everybody some insight around this. If you are working with millennials, here's what you need to do to keep them loyal. You need to be purpose driven. You need to know what your purpose is. One of the highest things on the top five of what makes them work for a place is that it's meaningful. More meaningful work means you have a purpose driven organization, ok. Purpose driven leaders. So not only do I believe in a company, I believe in the leader. When they have those two things, they will do more for you than they will do for anything else. On top of that, you have to build accountability systems for them. They like accountability systems. On top of that, you must be willing to ask and our generation are terrible at asking. What we do is we tell stop telling and start asking. So, Bob, I need this done by Tuesday. Get it done. Doesn't work, Bob. I need this done by Tuesday. How do you think is the best way for us to get it done? Now, you don't have to agree with Bob's answer, but you have to give Bob a voice and you have to. you have to say. Or should that voice to that it to say, OK. That's a good idea. And what about this? Oh, OK. Bob will then go away and do it. You have to be inclusive. And one of the problems with our generation is we're not inclusive with them. We want to bark orders because we're the boss, because we pay the bill. So what? Here's the deal. You may write the check, but there's nobody to write the check for if they walk out and go to your competitor and they will. So understand that these are your collaborated people. They're not your slave or indentured individuals. These are your collaborators. Treat them like that. Listen to them. Ask instead of telling you. You can still give your input. You can still give the guidance and you can still create OK. This is an emergency. So we need a deadline on this and have your accountability. Honestly, you will be surprised at how amazing they are. I love working with millennials because I know I'll get stuff done, but I'm the I know I'm the one who has to be very clear about this is my boundaries.

[00:27:48] Yeah. And I must be doing something right because, you know, I've heard people here 12 years, some of them, you know, say, oh, so but it's still inside of me. It's like like it's us fighting every day. I can't live because like, oh, it's just like you said, if you're not early, you're late. My book. So. So let's take you back to you said you've been an entrepreneur since 16. Did you ever have any any jobs?

[00:28:14] Well, I did. I actually had a job when I was 14. I lied about my age. I had a big job and I had reporting so I could get away with it. And so I did an apprenticeship. I get a four year apprenticeship in 10 months. Wow. Then taught in an academy for that. For that for that particular industry and within a few months left and started my first business. So that was my my job. I did. I did have another job, I think. Oh, yeah. I had another job briefly in Australia before I left. Working up north on the gas line went up there as soon as I was a labourer as a unskilled labor because it was up north and it was very, very, very good pay. And I went up there for a few months to work up to make some money because I was moving to Canada and I just wanted to put some money in the account. And I went up there and within a within two days I was promoted and within a week I was promoted again. And by the end of the month I was promoted again. So I was making twenty six twenty seven bucks an hour on a job that I was only doing just purely to make some cash and that I like to get on my plane and come to Canada. So that was the end of the jobs thing. You never really works out well for me because I'm very millennial. I don't like being told what to do, you know, like we might bitch and moan about millennials, but every entrepreneur's a millennial. Millennial is not just an age group, it's a mentality. And it's basically I don't feel like following other people's rules. Now, my rule like yours, Tom, is I want to be early. I don't want to be on time, but at the same time, that's my platform. That's how I want to work. So it's very entrepreneurial. And that's you know, for me, I didn't like following other people's rules. I didn't like wearing their uniform. I didn't want to follow all that stuff. I knew that I had creativity and I wanted to experience that in the world. So the job didn't last very long.

[00:30:21] So what did you start as your first business?

[00:30:28] My very first business was I was a mobile hairstylist.

[00:30:35] Did you go to hairstyling school? Because it's pretty strict rules.

[00:30:43] Back in those days, here was a full year apprenticeship. I get a four year apprenticeship in 10 months. I was teaching in the academy. By the time I was 15 years old. How it happened was I what? I went to school at 14. We had a career counselor who came to the class and and he asked everybody what he wanted to do. And I said, I want to be an artist. My art was in galleries. By the time I was 11. And so I said, I want to be an artist. And he just looks at me. You know, being a dick that he was. Only one in 100 make it and only a 1 in 100 of those make any money at it. Find someone else. Thank you for the encouragement of the fabulous guy. And so I went home and had a good old cry and told my mom what you'd said to my mom said, well, there's other ways to be an artist, and I see what you mean. She goes, Well, you have to just do the cameras. And he said, no, she well, what about doing it with hair? So, you know, OK. So she said, I know a guy. And she actually knew personally a guy who had grown up in close to where I'd grown up in the ghetto. But he had become a very famous hairstylist in in the city. And she called him and asked him if he would give her son a Saturday job, which is just going in on Saturday for a few. I went in to do that. And I loved it. I became obsessed. And that's why I got my apprenticeship and did it four years in 10 months. But it was also wonderful freedom for me because I realized I could do that anywhere in the world. So that's how I got to travel and study and and open businesses and study with different teachers from around the world, not at not hairstyling, but studying psychology, quantum physics, metaphysics, mysticism, mythology. I got to study all those different things because I always had this skill set that gave me such amazing flexibility.

[00:32:31] So how did you transition into what you're doing now?

[00:32:34] Well, while I was doing all that, like I said, I was travelling and studying and travelled the world to study with these great teachers in religious philosophy, Buddhism, the Dow, Hindu philosophy, Gnostic Christianity, studying psychology. While I was doing that study to be a counselor, became a counselor, became a family therapist, learn family dynamics and quantum physics. And then I had these clients who would come in and was one particular client, Steve, who owned a national menswear company. So you own this company and he was one of my clients. So he would come in and we would just have these phenomenal conversations. And one day he said to me, so I'd like you to come speak to my my national managers. And I'm like, about what? And he goes, Anything you want. So this is 1984. And he said, What do I mean, anything? And he goes, you can talk him and he will. We have these great conversations. I want you to come talk to my managers. And like Steve, I don't know these people. I'm not a Speaker. It's fine. Come on in. And I said, how long for 10 minutes. An hour. And I'm like, oh, no, you know.

[00:33:40] Oh, no, you got to shut up for an hour and a half for three hours.

[00:33:45] That's exactly the hook around the neck. But then it was like terrifying. So I agreed to a half an hour and he said, but I have one condition. So again, 1984. And for those of you who are not old enough to remember 1984, my hair was chest length. It looked like the Louis the 13th Hairstyle, which was our Howard Stern. Stern's long ringlets curls down to my chest. I wore earrings that were big enough to hang parrots off. I'd been a bodybuilder since I was 19, so I was 24. So I was, you know, so. When you're young and a bodybuilder, it's important that everybody knows. So I wore clothes that were way too tight. So I'm in this tight t shirt, ripped jeans, long hair, earrings. And I've got designer stubble. And he said, yeah, I have one condition. I go, here we go. Probably got to wear a suit. Then he said, No, I want you to dress exactly like that. What you mean? He goes, I want you to wear exactly what you're wearing. And I said, well, can I put my hair in a ponytail? And he goes, No. And when you look exactly like this really now you should know that Steve owned a national menswear company. And how I met him was he made my suits. So when I wasn't dressed the way I've just described, I wore beautiful tailored suits that he made for me. So because, you know, I like that. I love it, you know, because I don't buy them from eBay. I know some people.

[00:35:23] Folks, his shoes They're worth more than my wardrobe in the last 12 years. What he's wearing right now at home probably is slippers are probably worth more.

[00:35:35] So I said, okay, fine. So I show up at the at the. It's this long boardroom and I put my head in the door and I see these guys on this long board table, 1980s, the old they all look like Gordon Gekko, they're buttoned up tight in their suits and ties. Right. And they look at me as I put my head home with this crazy hair. They look at me and they give me what we used to call in England, the bugger off nod, which is the head to head to the side bugger off you're in the wrong room. But I just smiled and stayed there and waited. And then Steve said, let's welcome our speaker. And he welcomed me. And, you know, clunk, jaws hit the desk. So this wild man know with all muscles, tight T-shirt, ripped jeans, crazy hair big earrings. I stand in front of them And this is the early 80s when racism was a big issue in Australia with the Aboriginal First Nations people. And I said, put your hand up if you're a racist. Now, I don't remember what I spoke about. I only remember when I opened with. Put your hand up if You're a racist. And of course, you can imagine nobody put their hand up. And I said, OK, well, you know, if you would judge somebody by the color of skin or by anything that is visual, like the color of their skin, what they look poor or rich or, you know, whatever it might be, put your hand up if you were judge by that. Nobody's hand goes up. And I said, you're a bunch of freaking liers. Every single one of you judge me, by the way that I look. You decided how much money I had, how intelligent I was, and whether I was a customer, by the way, that I look today. But what you need to know is I am your customer. That's how I know, Steve. You make my suits. And if I'd walked in and any of you clowns would have been you would a lost business. And I think, you know. And, you know, I think at that point it was all over. Look over to, Steve. And he's a smart guy. He's way smarter than me. He's grinning from ear to ear because he he knew what he was doing. And that was my introduction to speaking to companies and organizations. Now, here's the sidebar of that. If the story ended that that would make me a speaking hero because I was completely and totally authentic. And Steve understood that that was my strength. But I went away. And Steve I saw Steve the week after. He was like, yeah, that was fantastic. It really got his off to a great start. Made us open up. It was fantastic. Thank you. It goes back a few weeks later, he goes Alistar and wants you to speak for his company. Alister was an older guy we knew who also owned a national fashion company. He wants you to speak. I'm like, oh, wow, great. I had a good time. I enjoyed it. It goes great. So what did I do? I went away and did my research because I'm not a speaker when I know what speakers do and what speakers look like. And that's exactly what I did. So I notice that speakers in 1980, in the early 1980s, a uniform, blue suit, white shirt, red tie, patent leather shoes, certainly not long hair and certainly not designer stubble. They either were clean shaven or they had some nasty ass mustache. So what did I do? I cut off my hair, bought a blue suit, white. Got cut my hair off and had this dead caterpillar on my left. And died a death from this and didn't work it out for about four years, couldn't work out what the hell happened. Why was I so good on the first one and not the rest? Because I gave away my authenticity. And I was too dumb to recognize what it was. So it's a hero story until you realize, yeah, I'm a hero by accident and then I'm a complete idiot by on purpose. I actually let my head get in the way and went, OK, what is it? And it was only when it came back to being truly authentic that I became a good speaker again, because, you know, I haven't worn a tie on on stage for years and years and you don't wear suits. You know, that's how I dress my style my way and I speak my way, as do you, Tom. And that's what makes us endearing. That's what makes people connect. So that was my introduction to the speaking world.

[00:39:35] Yeah. And I had a lady one time was a student of mine, an image consultant. And she said, oh, Tom, you gotta you gotta wear a double breasted suit and look like old money and do this. I said, I'm already making one hundred fifty thousand dollars a month. That is ten years ago. She tried to tell me that. Oh, yeah. I gotta change my image because it's not going well. No, I like. I say from stage, if it wasn't for George Foreman and his stretch waist bands off eBay, I couldn't even get dressed in the morning. But that's me.

[00:40:11] We are talking about those pants from me that I wrote. I roasted you on stage and you roasted me for my seven hundred dollar pants.

[00:40:21] But then it works for both of us. That's the whole point.

[00:40:24] Is that point, isn't it? It's the authenticity.

[00:40:27] Yeah. I mean, I came from blue collar. Nothing. I mean, we lived out the sticks in my town. My hometown to this day is only 500 people and we lived in the suburbs. So is total sticks. That's what they come from. And that's what I you know, you can be successful from any kind of background, but you're better off being that being you. So, did you ever get screwed over in business. I know that's a funny question. What did you do about it? That's that's the real question.

[00:41:01] Well, I got screwed over by the same person you did. Yeah, I confront. I confronted that individual to no avail whatsoever. What did I do about it? Same as I always do. You're dead to me. Done it. Done. And and I will never bad mouth anybody unless I'm asked directly about that person. And when I'm asked directly about that person, I say you probably don't want my opinion. And they say, why? I say, do you like the person? Yes. And I say, you don't want my opinion. And that's enough just to be said. And sometimes people will push back and say, no, I really want to know when I say, are you sure? Because you probably won't like my input. And they say, no, I really want to know because I'm about to do business with this person. And I say, well, here was my experience. And I know it's not just mine. I know other people. And I will actually say I know one person in particular. Meaning that some business to that person. So for me, it's it's your dead to me. And and I don't want anything to do with you. And it and it is fascinating to me because I've had this experience where people will come up to me and say not just about him, but about another person I can think of. So, you know, such a wonderful person. And my response is very simple. I'm glad that that's your experience of him. And they go, what do you mean you have another experience? And I go, yes. And they go, oh, what was it? And it's it doesn't matter. I'm not here to change your experience. If your experience was good, then my experience may have been an anomaly. And maybe you have the real experience.

[00:42:31] Well, I never thought I'd say that you're much more diplomatic. Oh, that's because you're in the web of a serious professional level con person that can be and as a chameleon be anything they need to be to Rob you.

[00:42:52] Yeah. But you know, I'm just one of things I learned here is I give you an example. Many years ago, back in nineteen nineteen ninety two, I was walking on the street with my mate Mike, my very good friend Mike. We have both bodybuilders. Mike is to a same height as me 5 8 and 240 of muscle. So big guy we're walking down the street and all of a sudden I notice this guy who I recognize he who crosses the street to our side. We're walking on the street. Oh, hey. And he goes, Oh, hey, dov. When he waves to me and he doesn't stop, but he keeps walking. That was kind of weird. And so that's fine. And then about three or four days later, I see the same guy in the gym. And I'm not with Mike, but Mike was my best friend and my training partner. And and this guy, I said, hey, you a bit weird when you pass me on Granville the other day. And he's like, how can you hang out with Richards? And know, like, what do you mean? He goes with Mike Richards. How could you be with him? And I said, What do you mean? I'm gonna be when I was walking with him. He goes, yeah, but, you know, how could you do that? I said, I don't understand what you're talking about. He goes, he is such an asshole. And you know, he goes off about him and says all these horrible things. And I said, I don't know who you're talking about. And he goes, Yes, you do. Mike Richards, I was with you. I saw you with him. I said, I don't know who you're talking about. And he says, You're telling me that you don't know Mike Richards. I said, No, I'm telling you, I don't know the same Mike Richards you do. My experience of him is not that my experience of him is that he's kind, he's generous. He's spiritual and he's very funny. And he's like that. And I'm like, yes, that's your experience. And I will not judge people by somebody else's experience. Therefore, I can not judge somebody and interfere with their experience. But if they asked me for my opinions specifically, I will give it. But it has to be specific.

[00:44:49] I say I'm happy to do that. I'm happy to do what you want. Because that's where. Yes, there's this difference. Difference of opinion. But I mean, I'm the one that goes out on a limb and creates a TV show. It's in development in Hollywood. But these people, because I'm I'm always for the underdog and I just can't stand when people take advantage of others. And I don't care if somebody charges a million dollars a minute. As long as they do what they promise and they don't do it under false pretenses. So. So I'm kind of what they call a sheepdog. You know, people that will stick up for the sheep. So what can. How can people deal with you like you've got private training, you got courses. What do you what do you got for the listeners that say, hey, this guy really got his act together. What can I buy from you?

[00:45:47] So obviously, as I said, lots of books. You can find me on Amazon for all that. My money. My main Web site is FullMontyLeadership.com.

[00:45:55] We'll have all of this in the show notes so people can just click on it.

[00:46:00] But you can get you can get my books. I also have my own Roku channel. You can find Dov Baron, Full Monty leadership on Roku as well. So that's there. I'm actually featured on a couple of other Roku channels and also on binge TV. My own TV series called Pursuing Deep Greatness is on there. My podcast is. You can also listen to that. All that stuff is available through my website. If you want to find it. But if you want to work with me, listen, here's the simplicity of it. And I want to say this to you right now. I don't know if you're a regular listener to this show, but you again, remember I talked about the glamour and the ideas around entrepreneurship. You probably don't know what goes into to making stuff happen. So Tom does these shows for you. What was it, 103 so far?

[00:46:46] So far 108. Yeah.

[00:46:48] 108. Right. So you have no idea what it takes to put the show together. There's so much work that goes on in the back end. And Tom needs to know that you are listening to this and it's having impact. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to iTunes and I want you to rate review and subscribe to the show. And I want you to share the show with other people, you know, who will find value in it. Because part of how Tom knows that this has an impact is you letting him know by rating, reviewing and subscribing to the show and sharing it with others and write to him. Let him know what you got out of this. In fact, write to me dov@dovbaron.com.

[00:47:31] Write to me, C.C., Tom. Tell us what you got out of this show, this particular episode. Tell us what you got out of it. Tell me how I can help you. How can I serve you? What can I do for you? And do not be surprised if I can help you because like Tom, I will respond to you. I actually do respond. Yeah, I know you might find it unbelievable. People think I'm mad for giving up my email address, but you can write to me. I will respond to you. There's a way I can help you. I will. That's why I'm on the planet. But it's important that you value that. Thomas put the time, energy and effort in for you to have what he brings you in this show. So let him know. So write to us both. Tell us what you got out of show. And if I can help you and you need help from me in some way, reach out to me and we'll see what we can do. Point out how I can serve you.

[00:48:16] Yeah, that's why I like Dov. I mean, he's a unique individual that he's he's spending his time promoting me, you know, and most of the a lot of guests, totally the other way around just doing it for themselves. And so. So really appreciate this guy and and love him to death.

[00:48:35] So thank you, Tom. And can I say something here? Because I think it's important. So, listen, you know, you just heard that banter going backwards and forwards between Tom and I about people in the industry that we're in who have rip people off. So the truth of the matter is, you, you, the listener, you have to decide if you have integrity because nobody can give it to you, because integrity will always be harder than being unintegral. It will require you to swallow your pride. It will require you to say I'm sorry. It will require you to send a check to somebody when you don't really have the money and you have to decide to do that. And, you know, it's interesting because. There are so many people who are out to get their own and good God bless them for that. But you know what? At the cost of others, no. And one things I will tell you about. If you're going to do business with Tom Antion, he is the Most integral entrepreneur I know, I had a conversation last week with somebody else in my industry, Ken Keyes and Ken and I, oh, do you know, Tom said, yes, I know Tom well, he goes, what a great guy. We told you about Tom, because here's the thing. Tom spoke on my stage. And when you speak on it, on somebody else's stage, there's something called a revenue share. Tom was sending me checks. Two years later for like 20 bucks. What I have missed the 20 bucks. No, what I have even known that I was due the 20 bucks. No, but Tom, is that kind of integral. This is an integral entrepreneur. And those, my friend are rare. And if you decide to be an entrepreneur and you decide to be one of them, you will be in the upper echelon of entrepreneurs. And that's what it takes. You have to have purpose and you have to have integrity and you have to have values and you have to freaking stick to them even when it's difficult, because that's what Tom has always done. That's why Tom is loved in the industry, because anybody who does business with Tom knows that he will hold himself completely accountable and absolutely integral. So if you're going to spend money with Tom, you can invest in one of his products or his trainings. That is what you will be dealing with. And I operate by exactly the same thing in mind. If you're not gonna do that, do as both a favor, get a job. Don't be an entrepreneur.

[00:50:56] Yeah. Very, very. Great. Great words there from a guy that does the same exact thing and I could say the same things about him. It just amazes me that people want as some of these scammers are brilliant, but they channel it into bad stuff and they could be just as rich and and and not and be able to sleep at night if they were channel it into good stuff. But just like Dov said, if you adhere to the high integrity, people will notice and you'll get plenty of business and be and be revered and you won't be worrying about the next person that's gonna try to get you for screwing him over. So, so beautiful. Beautiful words, though. Got to take a break for a sponsor. And when we come back, we're going to ask Dov, what's a typical day look like for him and how he stays motivated?

[00:51:45] So, folks, did you ever wonder how tens of thousands of people like me sit home earn legitimate money and don't have to listen to a boss or get up and fight traffic every day? Well, it's because we have online businesses and you'll learn how to have an online business or get a high paying job at the only licensed, dedicated distance learning school in the country, probably the world, the internet marketing training center of Virginia. Check it out at IMTCVA.org. Of course we'll have that the show notes. And remember to watch the higher education webinar at ScrewtheCommute.com. Like I said, be prepared to be mad when you watch because some of the things the universities and colleges are doing, you know, in my not so humble opinion or downright fraudulent. And I don't want you to get caught up in that. And one of the reasons talking about integrity. The reason I started this school was because my industry is unregulated. People say and do anything just to get your money. And I wanted to set myself apart. It took three years to get the license for the school. Background checks, financial checks are very strict. You know, they do spot checks on making sure you're not ripping students off that your curriculum's good. Everything. So it's really something that can get you and in demand skill in a very short period of time compared to going to some of these longer things and paying outrageous fees for professors that have tenure and could care less, which if you get education. So check it out at IMTCVA.org and also check out that higher education webinar.

[00:53:23] All right. Let's get back to the main event. We got Super Dov Baron out of Vancouver, Canada, known this guy for a long time. What's a typical day look like for you? Maybe one when you're on the road and one when you're in the office. What kind of things do you do every day as part of your business?

[00:53:41] So not on the road. My day starts usually around 6:00. Then I will get up. I will have my wash my face and get ready, and then I will have my fat coffee. And then I will go to the gym, work out, come back from that workout. Having drank about two liters of water as quickly as I possibly can in those first few hours and shower and come straight into the office that I have in my home and usually start with not answering emails, not doing that. But I will try and actually write for about an hour every day and then I will start with my meetings. Then twice a week I go through my emails. I don't do that on my own. And when my assistant goes through, I'm just sort of what I need to go through. Then I go through most of my days, then spent in meetings, whether that's with my own clients who I work with. A lot of my clients are internationals. I work with them internationally over a zoo or in my city office work. Whereas where I meet my eyeball to eyeball, meet my clients and read for at least an hour a day, meditate.

[00:55:06] What kind of things do you read?

[00:55:10] I read a lot of leadership, a lot of psychology. I read a lot of quantum physics. I read a lot of people who don't think the way other people think. I'm fascinated by people who think in a different way. I want to read people that I don't agree with because I think that's how I learn. So part of that is that I will watch about somewhere about 20 minutes of Fox TV, about 20 minutes of MSNBC, about ten minutes of CNN and about the same of RT and Al Jazeera. So about an hour a day of news that comes from a very broad spectrum of news. So I'm always looking to have insights from from from a very rounded position. I don't like getting it. My you know, one of the problems we have is, you know, I give you an example. One of things we talk about is we are always saying, oh, you know, surround yourself with like minded people. I did a video about this. That's the worst advice you can possibly get. Social media is like minded people because actually Facebook guarantees that they will only feed you stuff you look at. So. So make sure you click on stuff you don't agree with and don't believe in because then Facebook will stop feeding you that, too. So my Facebook feed is very different than people's because I want to learn from people I don't agree with. I don't have to agree with you. I want to learn from you. What is it that I'm not seeing that you see even if it's crazy? I want to see that. I want to understand it. So learning is always been an inherent part of my day and will continue to do that. And of course, then, you know, I spend some very high quality time with my bride at the end of the day. And I start every day and finish every day with my gratitude, with my journaling, with my. What I call my my greeting. So it's a greeting to the world. It's a greeting to who I am. It's an alignment with my purpose.

[00:57:19] I hope you got it. If you get a chance. We had an episode a couple of weeks ago from a guy named Rick Raddatz. He's made many millions of dollars online, but he's doing his passion and he's a political philosopher. And oh, by God, was he coming up with some stuff. I think you would love it.

[00:57:41] I interviewed Rick probably 8 Years ago.

[00:57:45] Oh, I betcha. It's totally different now because he is really into this and I could hardly keep up with him the way he was.

[00:57:53] Yeah, he was just entering into the political arena and those homes because Rick was very big in Internet marketing. Yes. For that, as you probably know, still is. And that's what I had originally met him through. John Childers. That's how I originally met him many, many years ago. And then I met him at Sangh. And he and we started talking about politics because I'm certain poulet politics. And we end up having him on the show because of that.

[00:58:19] Yeah, well, boy, it's evolved. Let me tell you that, because I just talked to him a couple weeks ago, so. So what about when you're on the road?

[00:58:29] Well, I'm on the road. I invariably, you know, I just wake up early. That's what I do. I wake up early. I work out. If I can't work out, then I go for a very long walk. I love walking, so go for a long walk again. Fat coffee to start the day. Again, my greeting to the world, what I call my greeting, which is a whole process that takes about 10, 15 minutes. And part of that is gratitude, recognition and validation of myself with the world in alignment with my purpose. I will if I'm speaking, I'll go prep for the day of prep for my speaking event. I will do at least one run through of what it is that I'm planning to do. Then I will go through it out loud and with passion. So I don't do it quietly in my head. As you know, I am speaking full as if I'm on a platform and I have no microphone and I through 100 people and that I've got to reach the back end. Right. So yeah, it's full force. I mean people actually knocked on my door are you okay. Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. And then I go out and I'm very you know, I'm I'm as you know, I'm very relational. I love meeting people. And they go out and meet people. And when I'm at an event, I do my very best to be there for the entire event. I do that on purpose, because I'm there to meet people. And not just that at present, I'm there to serve. So I want to meet people or to find out how I can help them. I want to. And so, you know, my goal in every event is to serve a minimum of five people with depth. Not from the stage. Meaning people, I actually interact with So I want to make sure I do that. So I commit to serving them. And so very often I'll give thousands of dollars worth of value away to somebody by giving them a consult, not just sitting with them to say, OK, well, how can I help you? What's going on? What are you struggling with? The same way if I can help you. If I can't, then I'll tell them that and I'll actually say, You know what? You need to speak to Tom Antion. You need to speak to whoever it is, because he really knows this world better than me. And that's where you need to go. So I'm always about that. Every morning I start my day when I'm travelling by connecting with my wife and wishing her good morning or maybe a time difference. And every night I finish my day while I'm away by doing exactly the same, by saying good night to her and thanking him for being in my life.

[01:01:04] So she doesn't travel with you much.

[01:01:07] She does, but not always so when it when she can't, when she's working on stuff here because she's my business partner, as you know. So she you know, we always say good morning. We always say good night. And as I said, we spend at least an hour a day reading and meditate every single day. So that's kind of that's kind of my day. It's not. It has certain structure to it. And a lot of floaty stuff to it. Of it. But no executive time.

[01:01:35] So I guess a lot of that stuff is actually the next question is how you stay motivated. It seems like that's inherent in your daily life.

[01:01:49] It is you know, people have asked me about that many times, how do you stay motivated? The answer is simply that I am committed to serve in alignment with my purpose. So how I stay motivated is what I get knocked down and you will if you're an entrepreneur that's just par for the course. When I get knocked down, what I will always ask is why am I here before I go on stage If my wife is there with me, she'll say, Who are you? What are you here to do? And who are you is not my name. Yes, I am at a soulful level. What am I here to do? What is my purpose? And those are the same three questions I asked myself, and that is what I asked myself when I'd been beaten up. And I'm feel like a bag. I don't want to drag my bed and I just want to pull the blanket over my head. And it was too tough. That's what I do. And when I ask those questions, I come back to I am here to serve. That's why I'm on the planet. So get your ass out of bed. Go do what it is you came to do. That's how I stay motivated.

[01:02:55] Beautiful words. Now we call our people listen to this screwballs as any parting thoughts for those people are out there and say they're getting excited about this, but they they want to either start a business or improve the business that they have.

[01:03:10] Great question. So, you know, it's very simple. Find your purpose. You will not sustain your motivation on money even if you it. So if you are broke right now and you're struggling financially, that's actually a powerful motivation. And so that's great. Wonderful. Now, what happens when you get more money? The answer is you'll get more money and you'll go far enough and you'll want to get more. And then you and you'll go, oh, well, that's it. Now, I made I made the million. Now I need to make five. Now I need to make ten. And it will just keep going and you will never be fulfilled. But if you reach your purpose, every day is fulfilling to find your purpose, get one red thread and get it as an e-book for like, I don't know, less than five bucks. Go get the e-book one red thread. I'll walk you through the process of finding your purpose. And here's what I want. You know, if you think you've found your purpose, you probably haven't. You probably found a passion. The passion and purpose, a vastly different passion is transitory. It will change if you're a male and you're a heterosexual. Think about what you are passionate about when you are 15. If that was your purpose, you'd be working in a lingerie store now That's not your purpose. That's your passion. Passions change. Purpose doesn't. It's inherent. Find it, dig into it, bring it up to the surface and then run your business from that place that will keep you going. It will allow you to up level your business or allow you to always commit to serving at a deeper and deeper level. It's what will set your ass on fire every single morning.

[01:04:42] Well, folks, I think you probably have figured out by now why a Dov has been coined that one of the top 100 motivational speakers. So this is a really great time for me to catch up with him. Thanks so much for coming on, Dov. Really appreciate it.

[01:05:00] What a pleasure, Tom. Thank you so much. I'm honored and grateful to be here to serve and again, I encourage each of you, dear listeners, to make sure that you go rate review and subscribe to this show and share it with your friends, because Tom puts a lot of work in to bringing you so much value.

[01:05:14] Well, I thank you so much. And we're going to have all Dov's stuff including all his Roku TV links and all the stuff that he's doing in our show notes for this episode. So, hey, also get that podcast app that we have to make it easy for you to do and take this with you on the road. And hey, we'll catch all on the next episode.

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