Failing Forward: Lessons in Resilience from Sales and Speaking Pro Larry Long Jr

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Welcome to the Event Pro show, your ultimate guide to the world of corporate

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events. Whether you're a corporate event planner, experiential marketing

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pro, producer, technician, or anyone involved in creating exceptional

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events, this podcast is your go to resource for valuable insights,

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expert tips and inspiring stories from the industry's leading professionals.

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Well, thanks for joining us on this episode of the Event Pro show. I'm

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your host. So, Seth Macchi. I'm the CEO of lemg. We're an event production

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company based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and we

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produce primarily corporate events. So the whole idea of

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this podcast is to introduce you to friends I've met along the way

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that somehow touch corporate events. And I can think of

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no better person to introduce you to than today's guest,

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Larry. Larry, before I. I'm going to do your bio here to introduce you.

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Larry Long Jr. Our guest today today is a CEO that's Chief

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Energy Officer of LLJR Enterprises.

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Focused on motivation, inspiration, and most importantly,

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transformation through speaking and training programs. He's the host

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of the weekly live show midweek midday motivational

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minute. Which is it? What episode now two.

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Oh, my microphone is on. We're at episode number 280

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and counting every week, man. 280 and

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counting. The author of Jeff Jolt. So Larry's a revenue

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acceleration expert, recognized as a four time salesforce top sales

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influencer, former college athlete, Larry's extremely passionate

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about helping leaders take their game to the next level. As an experienced leader with

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demonstrated history of success in software sales, Larry brings a unique perspective to the

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table, understanding many of the challenges faced by

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professionals today. Larry Long Jr. Welcome to the

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Eventbro show. Oh, thank you so much, Seth. I'm happy to be here. The

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check is in the mail for that amazing intro. You got me blushing.

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Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was, I was doing my best VO voice for you

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there, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I appreciate it, man. I

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met you probably what, a year and a half ago and

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instantly you have this personality that I think is

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something that people want to be around and there's an energy to it

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that people need. You know, I think being

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positive and someone that inspires that and others is needed

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right now. And so I'm really glad that you said yes when we sent you

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an invite to be on the show. So thank you for being here. It's my

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honor, my privilege and my pleasure. I'm happy to be here. Said let's chop it

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up. All right, let's do it. Well, like I said,

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this is a show for event professionals and you

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are speaking Professionally at Events Weekly all

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over the world now. I mean, you just keep. Every time I see, you're somewhere

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else. So I start off with a baseline question for people that

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I think is a super interesting question, hearing different people's

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perspectives and experiences. But what is the first

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event that you can remember attending? So I'm looking at, like, maybe

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your earliest memory as a child. Oh, first event. You're. You're taking

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it back to the archive. Taking it way back. Way back. I've been on this

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earth 47 years, and it was probably 38 years

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ago. The first event that I recall was a Janet

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Jackson concert. Janet. My cousin Tanisha

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is Janet Jackson's number one fan. I'll never forget.

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We were in Columbia, Maryland, at the Merryweather Post

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Pavilion, and I had a crush on Janet. That

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concert was amazing. I don't even

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remember it, but I remember how it made me feel. I'll

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never forget that experience. Yeah, amazing. That might.

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That's got to be at least Top 5 stories so far of people's experience.

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We've got, like, from different directions, but that's got to be a top five. And

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I think you touched on, like, the power of events, whether

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they're entertainment or corporate, you know, it's like anything else in

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life. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I remember how I felt.

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And that's the power of events, for sure. Which is a quote by Maya

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Angelou, and it's a quote that I try to live by. People will forget what

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you said. They'll even forget what you did. They'll never

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forget how you made them feel, feel inside. And all I

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know is 38 years later, I still remember

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just how amazing Janet Jackson made me feel inside.

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It's tough, though, when you're a little kid and, like, the bar is

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set so high, you know, Like, I would have hated to been the next show

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you go to, because who's gonna top that? Well, I actually. I'm glad you

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asked. MC Hammer. Oh, don't get me doing the Running Man. Okay.

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I'll never forget that show because he had about a million people

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on the stage, and he just brought so much electricity. I

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mean, I thought that I was the chief energy officer. Empty Hammer is

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one of the original energy officers out there.

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Another experience I'll never forget. All the people. All the Hammer

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pants. Yeah, man, I remember.

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Okay, so you had two good ones. The bar. The bar was right there.

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So when. When was the first time you can remember wanting to be involved with

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public speaking as a career, jumping way Forward. You

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won't believe this, Seth. I always wanted to be on the big screen.

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I wanted to be a movie star. I wanted to be an

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actor. I like when the spotlight is

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shining on me. And I'll tell you a story that you probably

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won't believe. In elementary, middle, and high school, I was

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the kid in class that used to get sent to detention for talking. I

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mean, my teachers used to say, hey, Larry, you talk too much, and you

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never shut up. I know. You're like, no way, Larry. I don't believe it.

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That's crazy. But. But I never imagined that I could have a career

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where I get paid to serve. I get paid to speak. And as

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a professional speaker, I pinch myself every

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day. And I don't pitch myself too hard because I don't want to wake up

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from this dream. But I'm living my dream, Seth. I mean, it would

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be like me telling my son, you're going to get paid to play video

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games. He'd be like, wow, where do I sign up for that?

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That's exactly the life that I'm living. This is your video game.

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I love it. So when you. You started out, you're super

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entrepreneurial. You're not afraid of challenges, because

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obviously, I'm just making some assumptions because getting in front of people and

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speaking just cold is challenging to do. But what were some of your

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first speaking gigs? What were those like? Yeah, well, actually,

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we're going to rewind back to elementary school. I'll never forget. I.

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I had to speak in an oratorical contest. This was in Columbia,

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Maryland, where I got to talk about nonviolence, non

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cooperation by Gandhi, by Dr. Martin Luther King

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Jr. And I absolutely lit up. It just gave me this

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feeling of sharing information, sharing my

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passion for it. Now, professionally, let's rewind back

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to this date, March 17th of 2020. And I know

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you're looking at me saying, hold up, wait a minute, Larry, that's St.

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Patrick's Day. You don't look Irish. You. You don't even look black Irish.

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That was my first paid speaking engagement. And if you think about that

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date, March 17, 2020, that was the start of the

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pandemic. Yeah, that was right there. That was like the

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week. Friday the 13th was when my. I was working in

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corporate America doing the speaking on the side. My office shut down on Friday

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the 13th because we were about to send reps to the ACC

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tournament, SEC basketball tournament. And that was when the

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NBA shut down because Rudy Gobert, he was touching all the

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microphones, spreading that Covid and college basketball

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pretty much said, hey, we gotta tap out. We said, hey, we'll see

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everyone in two weeks. Two years later, we were still working from

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home. Yep, yep. What a crazy time. I mean, you, you bring

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that date up and I know a lot of people have PTSD about that, but,

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man, it's a resilient industry and it created

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a lot of cool things like it, it launched a lot of careers.

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A lot of technology was embraced, probably pushed forward

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10 years in that one year because people had to use

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it. And that's benefited us. So. And I bet you've been able

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to do more since that time than you would have physically been able

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to be at. You know, it's allowed speakers like yourself to do. I mean, you

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could do two events in a day in different

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regions. 3. Is that the most you've done? The hat trick.

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You did the three. All right, Chocolate chip. And someone said,

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hey, Larry, I, I guess it's ignorance is bliss. They were like,

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do you understand that you started your business in one of the worst times?

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Yeah, for me, it was one of the best times. I said, hold up. I

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get the opportunity to speak and serve, and they're gonna write me a check, and

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I get to do it from the comfort of my own home. Come on, Cletus.

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Yeah. Which is another, like, entrepreneurial thing. A lot of times when

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people see challenges that are insurmountable, some people think

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opportunity, there's something here that no one else is seeing. And it's

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a shift right now. That's a one time thing. And I'm going to, I'm going

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to jump on it. So now you would probably love to say that

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since that day, there's been zero challenges, but I'm sure you've had

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the ups and downs and the, you got to push through it. But, man, you

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had a launch. You had a launch. There's certainly been some challenges.

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It's been an adventure and a lot of misadventures. But I,

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yeah, I've loved, I've tried to love every step of the

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process, Seth. Well, you've got, you've had a super

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interesting career all the way back to your, you know, your school

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days, from what I know about you. But your career's touched

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on many organizations and job titles. So how do you think

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your background helps you as a professional speaker and even

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a coach? Because, you know, coaching is one of the things that you offer as

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well. So how do you think that's. That's helped you? I mean,

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if you had started just cold right out of college versus now.

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You know, what's the difference? Drastic. It's those lived

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experiences. I mean, my first job

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was working at Accenture, doing it, consulting. Then I started

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my own indoor baseball softball academy, and that failed

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miserably. I learned from it, actually. Chapter three in my book.

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Strikeouts, They're a part of life. I've struck out on the baseball

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field, on the slow pitch softball diamond, and in life

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and in relationships. It's those learnings that now

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allow me to share with others. Here goes where I zig when I should

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have zagged. Here goes what my experience was and

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I can share with you from a place. I've been there, done that.

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It's put me in a whole different rare air, my lived experience. Now,

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I could have spoken right after college, but I wouldn't have had those

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experiences of leading people, of dealing with teams

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and the dysfunction that teams present, different

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communication styles, getting bopped over the head in challenges.

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I mean, I've seen, I haven't seen it all, but I've seen

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a lot. Yeah. You know, and I, I think that

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it's way easier. So. So a lot of times

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I think when you, you hear a motivational speaker and they're just

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positive, positive on a superficial level, it's easy to write off.

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But when you meet somebody that has lived real

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challenges through their whole life and then they still show up

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and they're choosing to approach things with energy

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and optimism, that's completely different thing.

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And that, that comes from baseball. In baseball, if you're a

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70% failure, you're going to the hall of Fame, you're a

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300 header. There's not many places in life that you can

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experience that. But luckily for me, opportunity

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knocked for me to be a sales professional, making 150

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cold calls every day to accounting firms where

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I got. I struck out a whole lot. So dealing with

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rejection, dealing with how do I make sure that my

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attitude and my gratitude shines through that

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phone? Even when the last person told me, hey, Larry, I

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want you to put on a pair of concrete shoes and jump off a bridge.

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I looked through our objection handling manual. I said, oh, they don't have the kill

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yourself overcoming objection. I said, the best thing that I could

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think of. God bless you, too. And then I hung up.

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And keep it positive and keep it rolling.

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It's such a life skill. There's a term I'll never forget. Rick

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Daly, one of our sales leaders, said, said Fido. I said,

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rick, is that the name of your dog? He said, no, it stands for effort

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we'll say forget about it. Drive on, Fido. Yeah.

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Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I think sometimes you just need that.

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You just need to move on. And it's your choice. At that point, you take

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the control out from the other person back to you move on. I love

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it. And that's real. I mean, that is a real thing. It's not being

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optimistic as a superficial thing. It's a choice. It's a power

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that you're taking and moving forward. And I think you

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have, you know, talking to you and knowing about. You have extensive experience

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as speaker and a coach. But what do you think right now

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is the most surprising challenge currently facing just

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professionals in general that's keeping them from going to the next

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level in their career? Yeah, it's. It's the mindset.

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And you touched on it. Seth. When I drop off my kids at carpool every

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morning, I tell little Lucia, who's about to be 12, and Big

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Trey, he's 6 foot 3, towers over me, he's about to be 16.

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I tell them, make it a great day. And they say back to me,

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it's my choice, daddy. It's our choice. We make a

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choice whether we're going to make it a great day, a wonderful week or

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not. And that's where I see the biggest challenge is the

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mindset. The great Henry Ford, I never met him, but I

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think he said, whether you believe you can or whether you believe

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you can't, you're right. So you make the

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choice. And I've been really fortunate. Seth. Five years ago, when

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I was starting this journey, I worked with a coach, coach Kristen Frade,

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and she worked with me on some of my mindset. Chapter one of my

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book is what story are you telling yourself and believing?

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Because every day we wake up, we get to narrate, we get to author

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our own story. And she said, larry, I hate to burst

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your bubble, but you tell a story of fake news often

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and you might believe it, but I don't believe it. I'm like,

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wow, she really put me in my spot and changed my perspective that

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I don't have to say that I'm a terrible writer and I can't

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write a book. Up until now, I haven't been the strongest long form

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writer, but with the right team, anything is possible.

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So anyone who's listening, you're going to go through challenges.

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That's life. Life is a four letter word. My

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encouragement is to get crystal clear on your vision,

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your goals, and I mean big goals, and then surround

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yourself with the right people. You and I had a

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great conversation around how you're adding to your team

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with great people. That makes it so much easier.

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It's not easy, but when you have the right people in the right place, in

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the right space, at the right. In the words of the great

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philosopher J.J. walker, die. No, my.

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Love it. All right, there's the quote, there's the quote for the show right there.

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And, and Larry's talking about his book Jolt. We'll,

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we'll put a link to that in the description of the episode, just so you

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guys know the book he's talking about. And I would encourage you to check

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that out. Larry's full of a lot of wisdom and, and

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hard earned wisdom, not superficial wisdom,

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just speaking with him through the last year and a half. So

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on that note, of all the subjects you speak about,

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you speak on a few. What are you most passionate about right now?

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Yeah, well, the, the three topics I speak on are sales.

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I started off my signature keynote with sales is not a four letter

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word. Sales is not a, it's not a naughty word. And then I,

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I ran into Jolt. That, that's my second keynote, my third

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keynote. And I would say this is what gets me super excited.

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Now they call me LinkedIn Larry. And it's

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leveraging LinkedIn to strengthen relationships, build

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new relationships, to grow your business. Because, Seth,

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I don't care what anyone's title is. We're all selling

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and we're all, I'm not going to have a wardrobe malfunction like

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Janet did, but we're all in the

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relationship business. There it is. So

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LinkedIn is the platform, at least

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for me, to generate relationships that lead to

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business. And I'm able to generate business because I'm all about

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serving. I'm all about how can I help you, support you,

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guide you, encourage you. And what I found is that the

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more that I give, I mean, I'm not Grant Cardone, I'm not

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10x, but I found that the more that I give, it comes back

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20x. At least in my case. I mean, I've been

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really fortunate with just global relationships. I'm going

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to Telford, England in October. How

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does that happen? Little Matthew, Hayley, Larry Long Jr. Back before my

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barber got mad at me, I used to have some hair like you. But

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I never would have imagined that I'd be going across the globe.

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I got to speak in Singapore earlier this year. I was in Canada.

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Last year I was in Bali, Indonesia, Bogota, Colombia. I was

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getting fly in Dubai. Who would have Thunk it. Come

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on now. So just talking about my experience with

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LinkedIn and, and sharing with everyone else that

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if you just put in effort, if you put in intentional time

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and you look for ways that you can intentionally support others,

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this platform could lead you to heights that you never

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would have imagined. And I'm exhibit A. Do you think

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on that note, on LinkedIn, do you think LinkedIn has helped you refine your

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message over the last five years by the kind of back and forth,

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just talking with people on. The platform

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1000% in 2020, I think

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I uploaded content, I posted content

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close to 98% of the days. And to

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be able to get that kind of feedback real time of what, yeah,

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what, what hits, it's kind of like a comedian. Sometimes comedians, they're working

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on jokes and they're like, that ain't going to work for me. Every day

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it's, it's a new canvas for me to really be an artist and

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see what's resonating with people, what's sticking, what's getting

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people involved in conversation versus what do people

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see and say, eh, we'll pass for today. But

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really, it's the power of LinkedIn is what I call B2B.

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And I know most people are like Larry, of course, business to business in my

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Steve Harvey Family Feud Voice survey says

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B2B is belly to belly. What you and

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I are doing right now, Seth, is belly to belly. That's the difference

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maker. So, so many times people just spray and

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pray. But there is a saying, show me. And it's actually, it's trademarked

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by Sam McKenna. Don't, don't sue me, Sam. But it's called show me

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that you know me. So, Seth, I did my research. I know that you

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graduated from Full Sail University.

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You've had your business for seven plus years. You and I met at aenc.

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That's different than just sending out a mass message. When

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you can tailor it, when you can send a video, an

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audio, a funny gif that's relevant to the person that you're

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reaching out to, it's just more impactful and it leads

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to strengthen relationships which lead to business

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opportunities. Knocking at the door.

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I love it. I love it. Just a general question for you then.

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So how Does Larry Long Jr. Define success?

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Ooh, that's a good one right there.

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For me, success is defined. It's different for everyone.

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For me, it's living a meaningful, purposeful life

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where I'm able to have impact and income in

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order to do all of the things that I want to do

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and my family wants to do. So that's my measurement

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of success. And I've got some numbers behind it that. Because what gets

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measured gets delivered on. And just being

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fortunate. I grew up with parents that were very detail

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oriented when it came to goals and having a coach that said,

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larry, let's go ahead and put numbers so that we can track are you

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having success or not? So there's some numbers that I'm trying

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to hit. The number of people I touch, the amount of dollars that

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I'm able to put into the business bank, the amount of quality

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time I'm able to spend with my family. I just saw my doctor

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yesterday. The amount of lbs that I'm able to

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reduce because I put on some pounds. And we all

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know that your health is your wealth, but knowing isn't doing.

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When I saw my doctor and I was 222, I said, Doc, do you know

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what time it is? He said, yeah, Larry, it's 2:29. I said, no,

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it's bow time. He said, well, there's no time for bow time.

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If you want family time. If you want to see your daughter walk down that

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aisle, you better watch what you eat and not eat as much. So,

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yeah, sorry, Bojangles. I'm just

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like. One of my favorite things about you is your, your

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depth of props that you have available, man. It's just, it's

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awesome. It's so cool. I got the mullet outfit. You do

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not want to see what my, what my office looks like.

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My wife said, do you know what people would think if they could see what

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your office really looks like outside the camera? They had that

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one shot of you, but there's other stuff going on. I know it, man.

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I'm picturing like little people around just handing you stuff, like they're

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ready, like, based on what you just said.

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So are you the type of person that has like a vision board or

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you say out loud or you write somewhere. I'm not asking you to read it,

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but like, do you. Do you have like, this is what. Where I want

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to go. You know, these are the things I want. Not necessarily like KPIs for

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a business, but like, you know, this is kind of what I want my life

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to look like by this point or, you know, something that keeps you focused on

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what you. What you're aiming for. Yeah. And this is a challenge of mine. I

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have some things. I don't have a vision board. I've got vision

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boards. I've got a whiteboard there. I've got two whiteboards there

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and they all have stuff on them. I was working with a speaker

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coach. Coach Taylor, Loonan and Orlando.

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We're working on some things within the business around the sales,

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my sales message around LinkedIn message. I've got my

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notes inside my phone that I pretty much, oh, that's my daughter right there

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looking at me pretty much saying, daddy, be present and you're in

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my presence. Be present and don't be staring at that phone.

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But I'm a big believer of documenting.

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You can't see it actually. Yeah, I've got 12

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notebooks back there. That doesn't even count. Number

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13, that's here. Number 14, which is my

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active one that I'm almost through. Number 15 that I'm about to

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open up. So I'm a voracious note taker. But what I

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found is that notes are good, action is

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gooder. It's great when you're able to take action. So that's been

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my focus these last five years is hey, I want to learn,

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but I really want to be focused and intentional on what I act

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on from those learnings. Love it. I love

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it. On that note,

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heading into an uncertain future because we always are. You could say this at

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any point. You know, like people talk about right now, the economy, blah, blah, blah.

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How many, how many downturns have we lived through at this point? You and I

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are similar ages and, and headwinds. But

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heading into an uncertain future, how can we stay motivated and focused on the right

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things on a daily basis, you know, like, and that could go back to like

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you've written down your long term. So like, you know, at least your

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waypoint of like where you want to end up. But how do you, how do

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you kind of get up every day, stay motivated, focused on the right things

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in spite of social media news, everything's best

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attempt to bring you down, you know. Every day

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you got to control the controllables, which is a lot easier

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said than done. I've got a great colleague, he's a sales coach,

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sales trainer up in Boston. His name is John Barrows. He's

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got an acronym called eat. I'm trying to cut down. So I'll flip

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the script and call it tea and we'll call it unsweet tea. Even though I

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want to drink some sweet tea, some sugar tea. But. But you can

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control the tea is how you treat other people as

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well as how you treat yourself. So many times I

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do some coaching and people beat up on themselves and I'm guilty As

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charged. Give yourself grace. Lift yourself up.

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Inspire yourself. Encourage yourself, and don't beat yourself

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up. The E is you can control your

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emotions. You can't control what's going on around you, but you

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can control your emotions around it. A great friend of mine,

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Vicki, I'm looking at it on my bookshelf. She gave me a little

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statue that says positivity, and it's right at eye level. I love

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it because I can make a choice to be negative.

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There's plenty of things that go on in my life for me to be negative,

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but I make a choice to be positive. Now, the A is you can control

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your actions and your attitude. Outside

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of that, you can't control. I remember having conversations with my

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son while so and so at school. Trey. He's Larry Long, the third.

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Trey, you can't control that, but you can control how you react,

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how you act, your emotions, and how you treat other people. And if

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you do that with a very. With just a

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great spirit, with an encouraging and uplifting

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spirit, more times than not, you're going to be a.

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Okay. It's when you start to slip and you start to go down those

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rabbit holes of woe is me, you start feeling

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sorry for yourself. And that. That's why it's important to surround yourself

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with great people. I mean, Seth, you don't know this, but every time that I

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see you at a conference, you've got a positive attitude. There's a reason

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why I like to be. And you're. I mean, it's contagious,

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and it's contagious in a good way where I

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don't need to put the mask on. Yeah. I mean, I got scammed. I

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00:26:40,790 --> 00:26:44,030
mean, Cam Newton right here. I don't want to put the mask on because I

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want to absorb that so that I can give it and share it with

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other people. So that would be my. That. That would be my

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advice and my encouragement to others out there. We. We go through

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some. Through some. Shh. I don't know if HR Is listening. I'll just call

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it some stuff. You're good. You're good. You know what I mean? Keep going.

436
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,480
Yeah, keep going. I like it. I like it.

437
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,320
You're definitely example. An example of someone. That example. Keeps

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going. Staying motivated, focused. Just keep going. There's something to

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consistency, you know, showing up. That's 90 of it. Right?

440
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Just. Just of it. Right. I

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think. I think it was my Uncle Luke who said, don't stop. Get it. Get

442
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,760
it. And McFadden and Whitehead said, ain't no stopping us now. I don't know if

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you can tell, but I love music. I, I, I can't sing because

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I'm tone deaf. That's why I speak. But I love

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music. Just. Oh, it moves you. It, for me, it brings back great

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memories. I mean, I talked about Janet, I talked about MC Hammer.

447
00:27:43,430 --> 00:27:47,030
I mean, oh, we, Yep. Brings you back right away.

448
00:27:47,590 --> 00:27:51,310
Yep. Brings back four bars, you're back there. You're back there. First four bars,

449
00:27:51,310 --> 00:27:54,150
you're back there. So what do you, you speak at a lot of corporate events.

450
00:27:54,150 --> 00:27:57,440
So what do you. You speak at as well as other types of events. But

451
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,480
what do you think? Just thinking of technology. But what do you think? Just thinking

452
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,880
of technology, moving, maybe trends, broad trends.

453
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,080
What do you think corporate events will look like in 10 years? What do you

454
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,440
think corporate events, you know, what do you think big trends are? You know, that's

455
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,040
a great question. What I would, if I had a crystal ball

456
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,640
and I've already started to see this, it's less of the

457
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,450
speak at you in 1892. No. Yeah. It's

458
00:28:22,450 --> 00:28:26,210
the interactivity. It's creating an experience. And I'll give

459
00:28:26,210 --> 00:28:29,770
you an example. One of my colleagues, she just got inducted into the

460
00:28:29,770 --> 00:28:33,450
National Speaker association hall of Fame. Her name is Sylvie De

461
00:28:33,450 --> 00:28:37,210
Gusto. Two years ago, I got to see, she put on

462
00:28:37,210 --> 00:28:40,890
this experience where it was a hologram. So it was partly

463
00:28:40,890 --> 00:28:44,290
her on the stage, partly a hologram

464
00:28:44,370 --> 00:28:47,570
image of her would just interact. I mean, it was

465
00:28:47,570 --> 00:28:51,250
absolutely amazing. And I've seen videos of it since

466
00:28:51,250 --> 00:28:54,900
two years ago. It's gotten even better. Now. It's got

467
00:28:54,900 --> 00:28:58,660
me noodling about how can I create an unforgettable

468
00:28:58,660 --> 00:29:02,420
experience that makes people feel like, wow?

469
00:29:02,420 --> 00:29:05,980
That was worth the price of admission of my time, my

470
00:29:05,980 --> 00:29:09,819
energy, and my resource. So for all the event pros out

471
00:29:09,819 --> 00:29:13,540
there, I'm encouraging you. There's a saying, if it ain't broke,

472
00:29:13,620 --> 00:29:17,420
don't break it. Once again, survey says NER if it ain't

473
00:29:17,420 --> 00:29:21,210
broke, break it, shake it, flip it upside down, and

474
00:29:21,210 --> 00:29:24,610
let's put on our thinking caps. Let's break the brain and think about

475
00:29:24,850 --> 00:29:28,650
how can we level up from every touch point

476
00:29:28,650 --> 00:29:31,890
of the experience where folks say, wow,

477
00:29:32,850 --> 00:29:36,410
wow. It's really an A plus experience, that wow

478
00:29:36,410 --> 00:29:40,210
factor. So that's what I'm thinking is the interactivity, the

479
00:29:40,210 --> 00:29:43,410
opportunities to connect, the opportunities to really

480
00:29:44,130 --> 00:29:47,770
transform. Yeah. Because once again, I

481
00:29:47,770 --> 00:29:51,370
take notes, but if I don't take action from those notes,

482
00:29:51,690 --> 00:29:55,370
everything remains the same. I, I go back and I'm doing the same Daggone

483
00:29:55,370 --> 00:29:58,410
thing. If I take those notes and I do something different.

484
00:29:59,610 --> 00:30:03,450
Mind blown, transformational. I love it. I love it.

485
00:30:03,450 --> 00:30:07,170
Well, I have maybe one or two more questions. We have maybe one

486
00:30:07,170 --> 00:30:10,730
or two more planners to listen to. A lot of meeting planners listen

487
00:30:11,090 --> 00:30:14,370
to. I have to get down to one technical question. I have to get down

488
00:30:14,370 --> 00:30:18,050
to one techn. So you're a professional speaker. Okay, got event plan. So you're

489
00:30:18,130 --> 00:30:21,890
professional speakers. We've got event planners that book speakers is. I'll

490
00:30:21,890 --> 00:30:25,490
ask this a couple different ways. What's your favorite event you've ever been involved with?

491
00:30:25,730 --> 00:30:28,610
What's your favorite event you've ever been involved? What event have you walked into or

492
00:30:28,610 --> 00:30:32,170
been? What event have you felt set up and you

493
00:30:32,170 --> 00:30:36,010
felt success of what the planner did X, Y and Z

494
00:30:36,010 --> 00:30:38,930
or whoever booked me or the event organizers or whoever booked

495
00:30:40,290 --> 00:30:43,990
set up speaker for success set up so that they can get up and do

496
00:30:43,990 --> 00:30:46,950
their best. Game so that they can get up and do their best. Well first

497
00:30:46,950 --> 00:30:49,950
of all to all the meeting and event planners call me

498
00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:56,110
but as I reflect I've worked with some great professionals

499
00:30:56,430 --> 00:31:00,270
and the specific event, it was in Orlando, it was March

500
00:31:00,670 --> 00:31:04,510
9th of this year, 2025. And I'll say

501
00:31:04,590 --> 00:31:08,430
we thrive in 2025 because that was the name of the event.

502
00:31:08,430 --> 00:31:12,230
It was the NSA Thrive conference in front of a group

503
00:31:12,230 --> 00:31:15,590
of 250 of my peers of speakers.

504
00:31:16,150 --> 00:31:19,790
So what the meeting planner did was prepared me well in

505
00:31:19,790 --> 00:31:23,590
advance and we went through a walkthrough. We, we talked through

506
00:31:23,590 --> 00:31:27,029
every aspect of the experience and

507
00:31:27,590 --> 00:31:31,270
I think that's what led to it being successful for the audience, which

508
00:31:31,270 --> 00:31:34,910
is the number one goal. But also for me it's

509
00:31:34,910 --> 00:31:38,230
an. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm still glowing from that experience.

510
00:31:38,550 --> 00:31:42,350
And Seth, I'm not sure when this is going to be released, but that's led

511
00:31:42,350 --> 00:31:46,110
to. I'm about to go speak to my colleagues in North Texas and Dallas

512
00:31:46,910 --> 00:31:50,430
the following week. Washington D.C. next year,

513
00:31:50,510 --> 00:31:54,230
Ohio. So that experience and just the,

514
00:31:54,230 --> 00:31:57,230
the it was just tight at every touch point

515
00:31:57,390 --> 00:32:01,110
beforehand during and even after I got

516
00:32:01,110 --> 00:32:04,950
to write an article afterwards. There was a podcast afterwards. Oh I love

517
00:32:04,950 --> 00:32:08,750
it. Just the experience was amazing all around and

518
00:32:10,100 --> 00:32:13,860
family's everything to me. My wife was able to join me in that,

519
00:32:13,860 --> 00:32:17,540
in that experience. They made her feel special. It's

520
00:32:17,540 --> 00:32:20,580
really what I would say. It's the little things

521
00:32:21,140 --> 00:32:24,899
are really the big things. I love it. And

522
00:32:24,899 --> 00:32:28,180
you know, you said, you said the attending, you know, experience is what it's all

523
00:32:28,180 --> 00:32:31,460
about is. And it's

524
00:32:32,260 --> 00:32:36,020
bringing us musicians or something. If you're musicians,

525
00:32:36,260 --> 00:32:39,900
do your thing and you're still so comfortable on that stage or when you're doing

526
00:32:39,900 --> 00:32:43,720
it, experience when you're doing it. Because you're getting the best version

527
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,560
of that. Because you're getting the best version of that. Something to take

528
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,360
note of. Something how to take note of, like the psychology

529
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,960
behind being a speaker, that you do this all the time. Being a speaker, this

530
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,480
help me out to be the best. And this will set me up. It's pretty

531
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,160
cool. Little details, Pretty cool. The little things that not

532
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,960
everyone thinks about that just means so much. Whether it's

533
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,680
a thoughtful goodie basket, whether it's doing. Doing your

534
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,260
research and realizing that I'm a Maryland Terrap fan

535
00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:16,860
and just having a little Maryland. A little $4

536
00:33:16,860 --> 00:33:20,700
Maryland chachki. The little things go so

537
00:33:20,700 --> 00:33:24,540
far, and there are things that we can all do. Seth, I want to give

538
00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:28,020
your. Your. Your listeners and your viewers something that I call the three minute

539
00:33:28,020 --> 00:33:31,580
challenge. There's no promises in life, but I can promise you

540
00:33:31,660 --> 00:33:35,500
that if you do this, you're going to impact others in a positive way.

541
00:33:35,580 --> 00:33:39,080
We're all strapped for time. I know that we're coming up on our time, but

542
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,720
we've all got three minutes. Every weekday, I encourage you to take

543
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,480
three minutes to find someone in your Rolodex. I know some people

544
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,320
are like, why is he talking about the fancy watch? That's a Rolex. But find

545
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,080
three people. Find one person in your contact list,

546
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,000
and all I want you to do is take three minutes to surprise and

547
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,800
delight them. You're not asking them for

548
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,200
anything. You're not trying to sell them anything. You're making a relationship

549
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,960
deposit. Yeah. Letting them know, I see you, I

550
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,440
feel you, and I love you. If you do that every

551
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:16,000
weekday, Monday through Friday, I guarantee you're gonna

552
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,680
touch a lot of other people, and it just might

553
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,280
come back to you 20 fold. That's something that we can all

554
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:27,040
do. I share with all my audiences. I can count

555
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,800
on one hand and two fingers how many people have actually done

556
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,600
it and continue doing it and experiencing the benefits and

557
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,260
the riches and of. Of depositing

558
00:34:37,820 --> 00:34:41,620
positivity in other people's lives with intentionality. You know, I love

559
00:34:41,620 --> 00:34:45,460
that. I love it. And this is not coming from someone that doesn't

560
00:34:45,460 --> 00:34:48,860
practice this. This is coming from someone that puts it to practice. Because

561
00:34:49,260 --> 00:34:52,940
I have been a recipient of a random Larry check

562
00:34:52,940 --> 00:34:56,500
in, and I. And it's just. Just little positive burst, and it just makes your

563
00:34:56,500 --> 00:35:00,020
day, you know, and there's nothing to it. It's not like you're asking for anything.

564
00:35:00,020 --> 00:35:02,940
It's not like a sales thing where you're asking to close a deal or something.

565
00:35:03,020 --> 00:35:06,840
It's. It's just legitimately a little touch point of like, hey,

566
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,560
we're all humans. Let's high five and know that I'm here and you're here and

567
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,400
that I see you. That is powerful, man. That's a great tip. Thank you.

568
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,160
Thank you. And what happens sometimes is that folks forget it. And that's

569
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,440
okay. We're all humans. But a lot of times people go to the

570
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:25,000
relationship bank and try to make a withdrawal, but they're

571
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,560
overdrafted. They haven't made any deposits in any

572
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,240
relationships. And the universe has a way of knowing that

573
00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:35,760
when you haven't given, you don't deserve the receiving.

574
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,920
So often people say, larry, why am I not getting? Well, what have

575
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:43,520
you given? What are you giving? Is the question that I

576
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:47,000
ask. And a lot of times that question is like a deer in

577
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,800
headlights and it's crickets, and it's like, okay, well, that's where we can

578
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,400
start. Who can you give? Who can you serve? Who can you support

579
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,030
right now? Not because you want something, but. But because you

580
00:35:58,030 --> 00:36:01,830
genuinely want to serve and help others. It does a body good.

581
00:36:03,110 --> 00:36:06,750
Well, Larry Long Jr. If people want to learn more about you, where

582
00:36:06,750 --> 00:36:10,550
should they go? And what do you want to tell people about that? Oh,

583
00:36:10,550 --> 00:36:14,030
goodness, I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn. They call me

584
00:36:14,030 --> 00:36:17,870
LinkedIn, Larry. I'm actually maxed out at LinkedIn Connections,

585
00:36:17,870 --> 00:36:21,510
but please follow me and please send me a message. If there's ever

586
00:36:21,510 --> 00:36:25,280
anything I can do to support you, please let me know. My website

587
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,884
is also LarryLong Jr. That's Jr.

588
00:36:29,036 --> 00:36:32,520
LarryLong Jr.com. send me an email, Larry, at

589
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,280
LarryLongJr.com I would be honored. It

590
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,000
would be my honor, my privilege, my pleasure, to support you

591
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,920
as you go through this journey we call life. I love it. And we'll

592
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,600
link to all of that in the description of the podcast, including your book as

593
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,410
well. If you're interested in picking up Larry's book, I would encourage you to do

594
00:36:51,410 --> 00:36:54,970
so. Larry, thank you so much for taking the time with us today. This has

595
00:36:54,970 --> 00:36:58,770
been a great episode. Seth, I appreciate you. Thank you for all you do.

596
00:36:59,250 --> 00:37:02,530
Yeah. And thank you for joining us on the event Pro show. You can find

597
00:37:02,530 --> 00:37:06,250
more episodes on the eventproshow.com or you can

598
00:37:06,250 --> 00:37:10,050
listen to us on your preferred podcast platform. Every

599
00:37:10,050 --> 00:37:13,730
week we put out an episode Every other week I introduce you to a new

600
00:37:13,730 --> 00:37:17,580
friend in the corporate event space. Space somehow loosely connected. And

601
00:37:17,580 --> 00:37:21,220
then the other week I give you tips and tricks on AV and

602
00:37:21,220 --> 00:37:24,900
event production in the corporate space. Either way, thank you so much for your

603
00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:28,700
time and we'll see you on the next one. The

604
00:37:28,700 --> 00:37:32,500
Event Pro show is a production of LEMG video by

605
00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:35,940
Nick Barrett, audio and post production by Prince

606
00:37:36,020 --> 00:37:39,140
Thompson. You can learn more about us at LEMG

607
00:37:39,620 --> 00:37:40,020
Live.

608
00:37:41,350 --> 00:37:49,950
Sam.