Media, Branding, and Storytelling: Adam Torres’ Success Blueprint

In episode 48 of The Adaptive Mindset, Brett Gallant interviews Adam Torres, a powerhouse in the podcasting world and co-founder of Mission Matters, who reflects on his early days as a podcaster, the challenges he faced, and how he built a successful media empire by understanding the business side of content creation.

Tune in to discover insights on leadership, strategy, and the importance of sharing impactful narratives in a digital world.

TIMESTAMPS

[00:02:04] The business of media.

[00:06:44] Building a podcast factory.

[00:08:15] Building a podcast ecosystem.

[00:11:49] Celebrating personal growth journey.

[00:17:04] Authenticity in storytelling.

[00:19:43] Authenticity in sharing personal stories.

[00:22:13] Early influences and hip-hop culture.

[00:26:40] The power of sharing stories.

[00:32:02] The power of sharing stories.

[00:34:01] The power of sharing stories.

[00:38:43] Legacy of a social worker.

[00:41:16] Podcasting as a lifestyle choice.

[00:46:17] Impact of sharing stories.

[00:52:00] Take action on your dreams.

[00:54:13] Junk food avoidance strategies.

[00:59:03] Podcasting as a vital skill.

[01:00:58] Thriving in the digital age.

QUOTES

• "Hey, stop making it about you. Make it about helping others." -Brett Gallant
• "People are going to be able to benefit from your story and your time on this planet far after you're here in ways that you won't even understand." -Adam Torres
• "If there's something on your heart to start, take action. Don't hold back, start. Put your sneakers on and go." -Brett Gallant

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Brett Gallant

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brett_gallant/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brett.gallant.9

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-gallant-97805726/

Adam Torres

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionMattersBusiness 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionMattersBusiness 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtorres8/ 

WEBSITE

Adaptive Office Solutions: https://www.adaptiveoffice.ca/

Adam Torres: https://www.askadamtorres.com/ 

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thoughtleader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we
don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, andmindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and
thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcomeback to the adaptive mindset i'm brett galant founder of adaptive office

(00:25):
solutions and someone who believes storieschange people and people change the world today i'm sitting
with someone who has built an empire around that exact idea.
Adam Torres. Adam has conducted over 6,000 interviews, builta media platform with over 100,000 pieces

(00:46):
of content, and he's co-founded Mission Matters, oneof the top 2.5% podcasts in the world. But
before all this, he spent more than a decade in financial services,managing relationships for over 400 high net worth
families with a combined net worth of more than half a billiondollars. Adam is on a mission to amplify voices,

(01:10):
entrepreneurs, entertainers, executives, and experts, andto help people tell stories that will inspire generations.
Adam, I'm excited for this conversation. WelcomeHey, Brett, man, I'm so happy to be here today. And
I got I got a big exciting thing to say that we wentfrom 2.5%. We're now top 2%. I'll tell

(01:33):
you once you start getting to a certain like little area. It'shard man. Next year, I'm hoping to get to point to top
1.5%. You know, if it's God's will, man, we're just working hard over heredoing interviews and hopefully helping others tell
their story and providing a platform for them to do it at. SoExciting. That's really interesting. You know your numbers

(01:57):
and you know where you're going, which is, you know, you have that mindsetI started in finance. I started in
finance. I didn't like when I got into. in the mediaand when i got into this i didn't really i didn't take
it as or understand it as a creative pursuit to be honest likeand i like how most people when they get into this business they're thinking maybe

(02:20):
really really heavily on the creative side i studiedit just like i studied the market i went back and i studied the
entire history of entertainment so just for example briefly um WhenI was a financial advisor, when I was in finance, I probably consumed,
let's call it 10,000 pages of content inorder to get my Series 7, 6, 63 insurance

(02:42):
licenses, CFP, all the stuff I did way back when. Sowhen I got into media, I was like, well, guess what?
I need to do the same thing. I need to read all the biographies. Ineed to read all of them. I mean, I was reading about Johnny Carson, David
Letterman, Jay Leno. I was reading about Larry King, Oprah,anybody that you could imagine. And then I went further back. I went all the way back

(03:04):
to vaudeville and I was studying like thegreats even back then and how this whole industry moved because I
was like, if I'm going to be a part of this, For me, Ihad to understand the business of it, and that's where I feel like sometimes people,
if they don't get the business of it, and they just, because it's easy, right? You justset up a podcast, you set up a microphone, it's easy, low
barrier entry, but huge opportunity that many missbecause they don't take it seriously and they don't understand the

(03:35):
Yeah, incredible. And you're a living testament ofthat 2% already and going
further. But you've done the work. You put in the reps. Youcontinue to put in the reps. You told me before we
started this episode that you spend 70% ofYep. Yeah. And yeah. And, and, uh, for everybody listening,

(04:00):
just so you know, so Brett asked me, uh, he says, uh, um,he says, he asked me, you know, oh, so are you doing, like, are you batching some
interviews today? Cause we just had a book release and I'm proud to announce ourbook. 1 billion podcasts went to number one on Amazon.
And, uh, I'm, I'm, and I'm telling them and I just laughed,but I didn't, I didn't know for sure if Brett knew who I was or

(04:22):
knew about me. Definitely. I don't know. Maybe the agent he booked hisagent might've booked me on his show or something. I don't know. So. So I
didn't know, but when I saw those, I just laughed.
I'm like, um, yeah, I'm doing a couple of interviews today, Brett.
And I know typically people that are in your industry. Iwasn't surprised when you told me you were 70% in front of

(04:44):
the camera. I had a, another person inyour industry is similar. Yeah. That, uh,
when I was interviewing him, he was, he had sixSo my record is 91 interviews in a week. I
averaged when I first started in the business, I averaged maybe 70 aweek for a long, long time, like talking years

(05:11):
Yeah. And so incredible mindset, whatyou had to do to be able to do that, because you
obviously have surrounded yourself with people thatallow you to do what you enjoy doing. So
you're not doing all the work to get you on the podcast and you'renot doing all the other work that entrepreneurs do.

(05:37):
You're, you're, you're surrounding yourself with peopleAbsolutely. And, and in this case, and just if we're kind of juxtaposing this
to other businesses, all I've really done is, um,in this case, my widget is the interview, right? That's
my widget. And so, um, when I was creating what I,and I call it this internally, I don't know if I've said this on other podcasts, but I

(06:01):
call it my factory. Like, like many people, they, um,they go out there and they, um, they go after, and
it's okay. I'm not saying it's wrong, but entertainment specifically. Manypeople, they go, they want to get a lot of
attention, they go to get the followers, they go to get all these other things,which is very important. Some people are very talented at

(06:22):
that. They're talented at getting and gaining a large audience quickly.
For myself, I didn't ever want to be in a position towhere I would be out of the game if I didn't succeed or
if the audience had all the control, meaning the people listening tothe show. So I kind of did it a little bit backwards. I built the
factory and the factory being the production, thedistribution, like all of that, literally the editors, the business

(06:47):
model to make sure I was profitable enough to stay in the business towhere I wasn't dependent on one particular thing
so that I could make sure I'd be in the game indefinitely because I figured, you know,Talent and, you know, is this show good or is it bad or
whatever, that's subjective, like taste change. Butwhat isn't subjective is cash flow and can you stay in the game?

(07:08):
That's not subjective. That'slike if you crap out and you can't do the business anymore, then
it doesn't matter how good your show was if you couldn't do theYeah. I like the pennies. When I first started in the business, Brett,
I didn't know if this was going to work. And I, uh, and I didn't takeit as a serious, like, as like it is now. I didn't have a bunch of

(07:33):
employees, anything like that. I edited my own episodes. I didn't wantto put a penny into it. I had it down to where each piece
of content, it was somewhere around, I don't remember right this moment, say 25 to35 cents per piece of content put out. That's how quick, how closely
Had. Now it's a little bigger. There's a lot more moving pieces. Idon't like, you know what I mean? It's a little bit different. Now I'm steering a little bit

(07:59):
of a bigger ship, but in the beginning it was, that'swhat I was looking at. Cause I was ultimately thinking like, if I can have the factory,
you know, then you own the factory, you can do other things withit. And you know, you can pivot, you can find other ways to use those resources. So
just one quick example is during the pandemic, we, Weweren't doing this prior really to the pandemic much, but we started

(08:23):
launching shows and helping other people launch shows with our productioncapabilities and now we've launched over 250. So go figure, we
have a thriving business on that side where we help people start podcastsand we help people that already have podcasts grow them. That's
Well, you have the factory, you can repurpose content, youcan help others repurpose content. There's

(08:50):
a connection there to an organization in mypart of the world where a
business conglomerate has built the factory. They hadthe distribution. They have other supply chains
that supply in. So there's the factory and the distribution. It'sa beautiful little ecosystem. Sounds like you've built

(09:16):
Yeah, and on that side, really, we didn't know that part was gonnahappen, so I don't really like to oversell that part, Brett, because
we didn't. No, no. No, no, and not saying you're doing it, but it's for people listening, andthe reason why I say that is because sometimes people think that
if somebody's a little polished or they have a certain thing that theycan possibly, you know, oh, that person could do it, but I can't, but

(09:36):
just to be really clear here, I started as the world's worstpodcaster, and I'm not being humble, I'm not being, let me
give you an example, Brett. Let me no, no, no, hold on.
No, I'll give you an example of why I was worse Imy first podcast and my or I should say my first show. I was so
scared Brett. I didn't even use my real name. IDidn't do a video right now. You're on video. You're on zoom I

(10:00):
didn't do video and do a video interview until I did over 1500 episodesyou try to camera forget my name I couldn't talk.
I didn't do an in-person interview until after 3,000 interviews.
I didn't interview people in front of a live audience or infront of a stage and stuff like that until I think, don't

(10:21):
quote me, maybe over 4,000 interviews, something like that. It might have beena little bit more, 4,000 interviews. everything that I've
done has really been a progression of just understanding mytrue limitation, and I wasn't really born with
that skill. Some people are born funny, or they're born with some things, and some people areborn to be in front of the camera, or this or that, or whatever. That

(10:42):
wasn't my case, and so I share that, because for those that arelistening or watching, we're sharing some certain numbers here.
Even, okay, I'll do 1,500 episodes a week, or ayear, excuse me. and I
may seem polished to some, some may be like, that guy sucks, I can do it, whatever, it'sokay. But the point is that I come

(11:02):
on these shows because I want other people to get in the game and alsoshare their stories, no matter where they feel they're at
and their capability. Some people are going to resonate, forexample, to your voice, Brett, some are going to like mine, some are going to like us working
together. That's all subjective, but it's important to get outOh, yes. We, a lot of

(11:24):
times we underestimate how interesting we really areand what your story, your story
can have an impact on somebody. And wetake that for granted. And like,
when you're talking about, you know, you put in the reps of being,you know, not even doing video at first till

(11:49):
But I remember the first time, I've been recording myselfon social media for years. And I
went back and looked at my previous content. OhI'd never do that. Rule number one, I'm gonna say
rule number one like 50 times. Butrule number one, never listen or look at your content that you put out

(12:13):
I love it though, because I think there's some joyin that though, to celebrate the growth. Yeah, the
journey of who you can become. Andsometimes there's somebody that's listening here
right now may have on their heart to start a podcast orto start something or get in front of the camera and share online

(12:35):
about their own journey. Hey, stop makingI love it. I looked at, so once
a year usually I'll do a post or I'll recycle a particular post onInstagram and this post is back, speaking of looking back, this
post is back from 2016, that's when I released myfirst book, I was still in finance, it was called Money Matters, and

(13:01):
I did this, and I can see myself, and I had, somebody took apicture, or a video, excuse me, and you could see how nervous I
was in the video, and I'm like opening the box, and I'm like, oh my gosh,here it is, my first book, like whatever, and
I'm just trying, I'm just talking, and I'm like, oh my gosh, look atthat. It's interesting to look back in time

(13:21):
and then our most recent book, just to see the progression, likeyou said, when we released that book yesterday, it was
just a whole different, you could see nine years ofgoing from absolute amateur neophyte to
holy smokes. We went number one on Amazon a couple hours andit's like, wait a minute, this is two different, not two

(13:41):
different people, but you could see a matured product versus a just getting startedproduct. And it did feel good, so you're right, I do agree. Sometimes
you gotta look back, but don't look back too much. And ifyou have a podcast, don't listen to every episode that you do and
dissect it and this and that. I'm trying to, that's the part that II know you wouldn't. But I just, you're a pro, but for

(14:04):
people listening, I try to give them a couple tips. Don't do that,don't get in your heads. Your podcast is gonna get better when you
record more episodes and you just keep on going. That's like you'reexercising a muscle, it's a marathon. and it's not a
sprint. You misspeak, you do this, the ums, the ahs,the forget what everybody tells you. Like my first show, Brett,

(14:24):
I didn't even edit. I had almost 300 episodes uneditedbecause I still didn't even know my first like 300. We built an audience from
it. I think part of the reason people subscribe is like, this guy's atrain wreck. He's like, I'm like, I think this
is another podcast episode or we could just call it a phone callI often say a lot of times the mindset is a muscle and you have to work

(14:51):
it out. So that mindset of putting in the reps andjust getting comfortable being
uncomfortable is key. YouI don't know if I'd say I was a master. What I was was at the
end of a day of doing 15 to 20 interviews, I'd bein the fetal position with the ice pack on my head, literally, because

(15:15):
I just had splitting headache of pain. SoI think what really kept me in the game was
just the, almost the responsibility oreven the guilt I would say. Maybe the guilt, a little bit of Catholic guilt thrown in
there maybe, but I just couldn't like, I didn't want to let somebody down. Likethey, some people had been waiting like months to get on the show. And

(15:37):
I didn't want to let people down. They wereexcited to be on the show, and I don't take that for granted that
somebody wants to come on your show or wants to give you theirtime or their story. So I just kept saying yes. In
the beginning, there was no plan to do this many interviews. Oh God, no, that'd be crazy.
For me, I'm saying that'd be crazy. I would've never been like, okay, what I'mgoing to do is I'm going to do a crazy amount of interviews. That

(16:02):
wouldn't have sounded right, but it was a progression. It had to be very,very beginning. I had to beg people to come to the show. Hey, I don't know what
I'm doing, but come to the show. we'll figure it out, and many peoplewere very supportive and did do it, and then over
time, the word got out a little bit, then it got out a little bit more, thenit just started to grow, and then before I knew it, I had a packed schedule, and

(16:23):
I'm like, oh my gosh, and I just felt guilty. I'm like, Ican't cancel on all these people. They're depending on me. So
it was more almost responsibility more than a plan. ThereBut look what it's become. So you've
done over 6,000 interviews, and I would say more thanthat now, but after all those conversations, what's

(16:48):
the common thread behind a story that truly movesAuthenticity is for sure. People can just, the
BS, people could tell the BS factor sofast. And I think it's because of social media. I feel like once upon
a time, if you think about like, lookat this progression in entertainment. So if you go way back when, you

(17:11):
even think about something like theater and it's a little bit of an exaggerated expressionfrom the standpoint of they're projecting their voice, there's no microphones, anything
else depending, right? And so you look at that and then you progress andyou look at as media forms change and other things, then you go
to something like a radio, right? And then you look atlike, especially radio, like you look at Orson Welles when

(17:32):
he evoked literally panic from one of his broadcastsand people thought that like, that's crazy. Like,
and then you think about now we have a new format, which is TV.
And then when we look at TV and there's a screen for the first time andthen acting and then all these other things kind of change. and you
think about things like movies, right? And then sound inmovies. And so now when you think about social media, the

(17:57):
fact that they're screened so close to our eyes andalso in such intimate areas. So for example, just even
the fact, if you think about this, okay, maybe our parents grewup and maybe there was a TV in the bedroom and it was like on the dresser all
the way across the room. Now with a cell phone, it'sin your hand. You're literally touching the object and

(18:18):
in bed with the object a couple, like afoot or two from your, depending on your eyes and if you have your glasses
or not, whatever, a couple feet from your head. Like, literally, it doesn'tget any closer. And then, let's imagine you're wearing AirPods or
something. Now, you even have, literally, thecontent is in your orifice. It's in your ears, physically.

(18:40):
It's physically touching your ears and making a vibration. SoI personally believe, I can't prove it scientifically. If somebody
can, great, but I can't. But it's just logical to me. thatnow at this point, like the waves and the energy, it's just
so, people are so quick, especially theyounger generation who, they never grew up

(19:02):
without not having these screens. So they're programmed fromliterally babies, like they could be literally as babies, they're
already seeing screens. So they're programmed to be so highlyin tuned and process and understand. So for
those that like, maybe in the past could have faked somethingor could have been this certain type of thing. Now,

(19:24):
if you can't get an Oscar with your faking, you're better off with authenticity.
Just be yourself and ugly scarsand all because in all reality, if you
can do that and if your heart's in the right place, it's a lot ofmoney to be made and you can help a lot of people at the same time while doing that.
Oh, a hundred percent. I've heard, uh, I'm in Dan Martel's,uh, coaching program is elite program. And

(19:57):
Yeah. Like, and I have a few messeslike everybody else. There's a few that I, that
I don't have the courage to share just yet. Iknow I will share it. And I, I've shared it a few times personally.
I like that you say that too, though, because you don't have to force it. If it'sfeels forced, then it's not time. It's okay. If you're, you're being

(20:26):
Exactly. There's a message that I know I will shareto a certain audience. It may never be public, but there's
the message that I proudly share. I'm a man who's reclaiming hisidentity. As of today, I've released 140 pounds.
Wow, congratulations. I say that like I've lost it,Yeah. And it's, it's all that

(20:54):
authentic story though, that can move people. Solike, I, I share it to inspire people.
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm a fan of that. Andit's interesting because as I, as I've kind of progressed in

(21:15):
this business, I've little by little started to share morethings. And I remember like, and when I first started in
this business, I didn't really. share too much about my upbringingonly because I wasn't used to it because I come from finance and in
finance like the last thing so my office wasin Century City I lived in Beverly Hills the last thing I

(21:35):
wanted one of my you know pretty wealthy Beverly Hills clientsknow was that I was from the Midwest number one I wouldn't lie but
I just wouldn't bring it up obviously. I wouldn't want them to know I'mfrom the Midwest, I'm from Michigan, I'm from Detroit. These
are all reasons why they wouldn't do business with me, justto be honest. It wasn't that, again, I didn't hide it.

(21:56):
If somebody asked or came up with a conversation, great, but I wasn't leadingwith my story in any means because that would have
hurt me for my business in that particular case. forthe clientele I was targeting, for who I was serving, so it wouldn't
have been a good thing. But as I progressed, andnow, for example, in this most recent release, One Billion

(22:18):
Podcast, I actually do talk about my upbringing, and I talkabout some of my earliest influences, which people wouldn't actually
expect. So most people, they see me, I'mnormally in a suit if I'm recording or anything like that, and I cover some
of the top events in the world, so like Davos and Milken Institutes,their global conference and FII priority. I mean, I'm

(22:40):
literally at the covering the top things and I'm always in a suit andtie. So they probably wouldn't expect that some of my earliest
influences were actually people like Master P and whostarted No Limit Records and Little Wayne. had
a lot of hip-hop influence growing up in Detroit, and those weremy earliest influences of seeing somebody

(23:03):
that came from a place like where I came from, the inner cityof really a hood, and to make
it out of there and to be super successful. Those aremy earliest influences and inspirations, and
I talk about that in the book. People wouldn't expect that from me,but I never led with that story because, all

(23:24):
kidding aside, can you imagine this, Brett? So who are some of your early,and then I bring up Lil Wayne? Yeah, especially
in that industry. Beverly Hills clientele is not reallyfeeling that. I'm sorry. I don't care. Somebody disagrees. Yeah, send
But now it's part of a bigger story about today.

(23:47):
Yeah, it just makes your whole character richerand people understand more
And I think that's a privilege now. And I think also society thoughhas kind of shifted a bit. So now, the
comment I've been talking about and just laughing because I'm thinking about it, thatwas nine years ago. I haven't managed money in nine years. So

(24:15):
I actually think nowadays I probably could share that story morebecause people are more accepting and more understanding, even
the Beverly Hills clientele, so not ragging on them. I actually think Icould share that now and I think it would, It's
changed though, but that's because of social media. It's changed. Ibelieve we're becoming uncertain. It could be both sides, so

(24:36):
I'm not going to say this is a sweeping comment, but I willsay that in many instances we've become more tolerant just because we're
starting to understand the humanity in other places. Because, Imean, even whether we realize it or not, you pull up your phone, you
see some random, like, I don't know, I'll give youan example. There was in the Philippines, there was a, when

(24:57):
the typhoons came, and obviously we hear about it, we seeit on TV, we see the floods. but it was very humanizing. We
never want to see anybody get hurt, obviously, but we see the floods, andI saw this one Instagram reel, and it was like Filipino people,
it said something like, Filipino people are the happiest in a typhoon ever,and it had people literally dancing and creating content and cheering, not

(25:18):
saying everybody's happy that their house is flooded, but theywere making the best of it, and they were resilient, and you see, I
saw some old guy do like a flip off a boat into the watereverywhere, and it's just like, And these are people, like I've
never been to the Philippines, I'd love to go one day and I will go one day,but it just kind of humanizes it. Now it's not a

(25:40):
meteorologist giving a quick couple secondson the news. Now I can see the people and be like,
oh my gosh, they're like me, what would I be doing if I was there? I probably wouldn't bedoing a flip in there, I'd be freaking out. So then I'm thinking,
dang, who said that? Everyone's my master insomething or my, I think it was Emerson. Well,

(26:01):
go figure. I was like, man, that person is like, they'rekilling me on that one. I don't know what I do and they're over here like
Enjoying life. Great. Like you said, social media hasbrought us So, in a lot of ways, closer
together, and giving us theopportunity to have niches. Yeah, I believe that. Today,

(26:30):
you could have niches in the former industry that you were in,So your whole brand is built on elevating
stories. Why do you believe that sharing our storyis one of the most powerful things that we can do? We touched a little bit

(26:54):
So I've seen it, and I talk about this a little bit. Well,I've seen what it's done in my life. That's the first thing. So I
didn't believe this before, just to be clear. When I was in finance, Istarted in that business when I was 16. When I
was asked to write my first book, which I talk about in my newbook, I literally was like, what

(27:18):
why like broke people write books i don't wanna focus ona five dollar product like that's that was my initial reaction so
my mentor christopher kyle talkatives like this is stupid whywould i ever write a book is silly see by the way now the okay the irony
out of circle back to the start but the irony now is now i have a publishingcompany published over four hundred authors including one

(27:39):
of my prides, Barry Sanders. I'm from Detroit, soto publish the Lions famous all-time, I say
running back over Barry Sanders, complete dream come true. Okay,back to the story. I didn't believe it
at all. I didn't understand marketing, I didn't understand brand, Iunderstood numbers. I understood compound interest.

(28:00):
I didn't understand. I understood investing. That was it. Sowhat happened and where I became kind of a convert to what it
was, it's what happened to me. I put out my first book andI start getting people like, it wasn't, just to be clear, it wasn't like
some inspirational, motivational, it's called Money Matters.
Okay. So it's not like, I mean, I'm a big WayneDyer fan. I love him. I love, I enjoy inspirational content.

(28:26):
Okay. I mean, I enjoy that. Les Brown's the like, I zigs,I enjoy all of that, but that's not what this book was. It
was, but I got response from people thatwere responses and it was just like, it was really helping them.
And I was, it was a weird feeling for me at first. I'm like, what?
And then. I started finding myself goingon speaking tours. I mean, I went on a speaking tour as far away as China. Insane. And

(28:51):
I'm like, whoa. In the past, when I was a financial advisor, Ipaid to get on stage. For those of you that have ever been in that business, it's called
you got to throw a big event, or you have to bringpeople to a steakhouse and wine them and dine them. And ultimately, some
of them become your clients, and you do it again. but it's ultimatelyyou're paying to be on stage in front of people. Then I started getting

(29:13):
paid to be on stage in front of people and I'm like, what?
It's insane. I didn't even understand it. I booked, Ihad the speaking fees as high as $30,000 to stand on stage. I
couldn't believe it. I didn't even understand what that was to be honest. I'mlike, now I understand and I understand, oh, well, if my name can
help drive tickets and sales and if I can, you know providean experience for the audience and they come back and now I get the business

(29:37):
but at that time I'm like what is this a scam I didn't understandit I just didn't even know the business so now
I look I kind of like it's been a progression forme and God's really just been working on me and kind of like showing me
things along the way and giving me opportunities and bringing peopleinto my life that have brought me to different levels And

(29:59):
that's where I see, I believe,by me sharing that story with others, not everybody has
the goal that I have. Everybody needs to do all these interviews. Somepeople, great, do one interview a week, launch your podcast,
do one interview a week, help your community. Do one a month,whatever. I'm not saying, this isn't a comparison, it's just saying that

(30:21):
I believe that by me sharing my story, Ithink it's gonna give, for some people, maybe some permission to
feel like, well, if that guy could do it, I could do it too, or maybe,and that's what this whole book, so One Billion Podcasts, the reason I wrote
it, Brett, it was because I was coming on shows, andI kept getting, sometimes I go on

(30:43):
a new podcaster show, sometimes I go on a more experienced podcaster show,all these different things, but what I realized was kind of like twofold, and
this is what I wrote it, like the avatars, if you will, One was forsomebody that already had a podcast, but doesn't actually really know
the business. They don't actually know the opportunity. They're justhaving fun, but they don't really understand the business, and

(31:04):
that's why many of them quit. So you hear a bunch of stats. I don'tknow if these are true or not, and I don't quote them in the book at all, because I don't know
if it's true, but it's something like most podcasts don'tmake it past 25 episodes, or 24, or 26, whatever they
say. That's because they don't actually know what the opportunity isthere. So they're missing some information. If

(31:24):
they had that information, I don't believe that would be the case. Sothat was my first avatar. The second avatar was
somebody that doesn't understand the power of sharing theirstory. And through the book, I share my story
a bit, but then I also kind of give reasons whyand lessons and other things to take away from it. So hopefully I

(31:46):
can inspire other people to share their own story, whether it's starting theirown podcasts or their own social media channels or their own, but
this is the real bottom line. This is thefirst time in history, the history of the world, that
everybody can participate in telling their own story. Entirehistories of peoples that have been wiped out no longer

(32:08):
exist. And some of this was by design, by the way, someof this was not. And I'll just give you a quick example. At
one point, if you were the one that had the power, themoney, the intellect, you go far back enough, maybe you had the ink,
great. Maybe you could read and write, great. Maybe you had the intellect tomemorize long prose and pass it down to generation to

(32:29):
generation, great. If you didn't have those things, money,power, access, birthright, above average
intellect, then all those peoplewrote what your story was, period. And
some of that was by design, some of it wasn't. Some stuffis conspiracy and accurate and true, some stuff is

(32:50):
just that's the nature of the way it was. It wasn't that important. Sonow, we can take part in that. And
the more that we all take part in that, the more that Ibelieve that humanity has the ability to be uplifted by our
Yep. I've seen it in my ownexperience and starting mine, my own podcast, the

(33:14):
people I've had the opportunity to meet. It's blessedme. Yeah. And seriously, one
of my first guests said something beautiful tome. He said to me, my goal is to
said something else before that, but he said one thing that impacted me andI shared it with my wife. My goal is to love my wife even more

(33:38):
You know, and if I never heard that I had,I had the opportunity to share that with my wife very
I am thankful for that moment. And I wouldn't have had that opportunityHmm. That's

(34:01):
It doesn't get any better than that. And I, I've heard this saidthis way before, everybody has a story and,
um, and you know, pathway to sharing thatstory is one way podcasting or, or
just meeting with somebody going for coffee, butI've heard that so many times and

(34:28):
we, for me, when Istarted my podcast, I had it on my heart to
start one for about five years. And I finally, thisGonna have cake, you know. But

(34:48):
I overthought it. There was different versions ofit. And maybe this podcast will be reinvented later.
But just because of the way it is right now doesn't mean it hasto be this way all the time. So we can still share
I want to challenge kind of like one little point here thatyou said about sharing your story, having a cup of coffee. And I

(35:12):
talk about this in the book, and I might sound a little biased, butI am biased, but it's for a very specific reason. When
you go and have a cup of coffee or when you go talk to somebody, andthis is one of the reasons why I started my original podcast. I
don't come from a background of means and I now hadaccess and I'm in these meetings

(35:36):
and I have these amazing clients, many that are very wealthyand that had a lot of success. And I go
to coffee with them all the time. And I have meetings with them and I talk tothem on the phone, all these other things. And I always had this nagging thing in
my head. And the nagging thing was, nobodyelse benefits from this but me and the person on the other

(35:57):
side of the phone. So I'm notsaying it's not good to share your story one-on-one, but I
would challenge people to think about theimpact of how and where you share that
and how these interactions are had. Because you have thatone conversation, you're like, man, you walk away with that. Now, can you imagine when

(36:18):
you record that and you put that on a podcast and now thousandsI agree with you, Adam, 100%. diminish
the power of having an impact on one person's day, and thenAnd then they go on a podcast and make somebody's day. But

(36:39):
I agree with you 100%. I don't diminish it. No, I know. I know. Butsometimes we're... I've talked to some people
that I've invited on the podcast. I don't think I could ever be on a podcast.
Of course you can. You have an amazing story.
You know, like we need to get your messageIt's tricky because here's the thing, and I'll give you an example I give

(37:10):
in the book as I talk about my mom and I talk about her. She'sno longer with us, unfortunately. She, of all things,
last year during Hurricane Milton, like literally there were six people thatpassed due to the tornadoes ahead of time. She was literally swooped up in a tornado, you
can't make this up, and made like national news. Absolutely ridiculous, likecrazy. Like, act of God, it doesn't get any more act of God than that.

(37:31):
It was like, literally the home was picked up and thrown across.
The houses on both sides were still standing. Like, it was reallylike a direct, it was crazy. In
the book, I talk about my mother spent 40 plusyears, and she made a difference in a lot of
people's lives as a social worker, andshe worked with at-risk youth. So she used to say the least of these,

(37:55):
those that society had forgotten. AndI think about it, and now that she's not around anymore, what
I value most really is, I brought her on theshow multiple times, so I have podcast recordings of her on
the show. So I don't have kids yet, I don't have a wife, buthopefully one day that's going to be in my future. they'll

(38:16):
get to hear from their grandmother or great-grandmother, who knows,one day, her voice and her telling her
story. So that feels good for me, for my legacyand for my personal, let's just say, thought process
for my familial unit and just to make me feelgood. But I take it a step further and I'm like,

(38:37):
man, That's 40 years ofknowledge of a social worker, of working with at-risk
youth, and what would her podcast have been like? Shewould have had compassion. She would have had forgiveness. She
would have talked about, to the peoplethat have been abused, both sexually or otherwise, physically, all

(38:58):
these other, the worst things that ever happened, she would have told them it's not theirfault. She would have told them, she would have preached forgiveness. And
that, those recordings, her show, that couldBut think about it this way, like, that's just one

(39:20):
social worker. I love my mother, obviously, and obviously I'm goingto be biased, right? But that's one social worker. Can
you imagine, you know how many social workers there are, you know how many people there arethat are amazing like that individual? Obviously I'm biased, it's
my mother and she was an amazing person, but there's manyamazing people that are social workers that

(39:40):
are in the trenches that are helping people. They need podcasts,they need to be sharing their message because that's the shared knowledge
that lifts humanity. And so I'm not against tohave coffee and again I love it. She impacted people one at a time for
40 years. Andto those people and their lives, that

(40:07):
could have been some of the most amazing. One of the shows that Ihaven't released this one yet, I'm going to very likely release it on the next
anniversary of her passing, but she talks abouthow she would connect with kids. And she would
connect with them many times and she'd do something for them that maybe they'dnever done before. She'd get them a McDonald's hamburger, a dollar hamburger

(40:28):
is what she says. And she's like, and I treat them with respect and I lookthem in the eyes. And sometimes these kids have never in their entire
life had anybody do that for them. Like that,that's where they were coming from. And so like for people to hear
that, again, this is my mother, very biased,but she's one social worker. How many other ones out there? So

(40:49):
sometimes the media and the attention and the things that we get, we lookat celebrities, we look at other people and we look at the people that are kind of
in the business and know what to do. And so for me, okay,I was in finance and I, you know, I'm doing my best and obviously, and
the book that I released, I did, I dedicated that just dedicated tomy mom and I put, I'm continuing your work. But I

(41:09):
look at it and I'm like, man, she was the one, shecould have had a show. And so the reason I'm coming on shows and
the reason I'm so passionate about this book is because I want other social workers,I want other people to think about this in a whole different
way. Don't stop the one-on-one, keep doing that, but considerthat now, for the first time in history, Yeah,

(41:31):
first time in history you can do it really doesn't cost that much moneyif any you can do it yourself. My first one was I started my first
podcast on a phone. It was nothing. I don't think I spent a dime. IA lot of times people we overthink things and just
That's what I did. I didn't double penny. If you area business owner and if you are somebody that already has a brand and

(41:56):
stuff, sure, you're going to have to invest because that's two different scenarios. Ifyou're a social worker and you're just doing this to help people and you don't have any
budget, do it yourself. Go online, figure it out. My book,it does tell you how to do it, so that's a shameless plug there, but I want
people to do it. I want them to launch. If you have budget andyou want to go out there and you want to do something a little bit more elaborate, great, that's your means

(42:17):
and what you want to do, but it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't haveto be that way. Because in my opinion, it's more so
about the participation. I can't even imagine, ifshe'd done her show for 20 years, what kind of content she would have came out
with, what kind of things she would have, just conversations, record thoseconversations. Those are episodes. Your cup of coffee, Jerry

(42:37):
Seinfeld, right? Comedians and coffee getting car, what? comediansgetting coffee and I never say that dang show right and I love it I've watched
it twice but uh one of my I love that show butcome on that was a freaking network tv show
he's getting coffee just record it I literally Brett I'mnot joking I have a recorder that I put in my back pocket

(42:58):
and I will do an impromptu interview withsomebody when I'm drinking coffee or when I meet them
for the first time, I'll be like, you know what, this is gonna be a good conversation.
Let's record it, I wanna put this on the podcast. I know a little bit about you, I just have afeeling it's gonna be good. If it is, we can release it.
If you don't want to afterwards, no big deal, I'll delete it. And I've literally doneepisodes that way. Strangest place I've ever recorded a podcast episode,

(43:25):
You can do this anywhere. Oneof my earliest podcasts where I was a guest, I
was in the back of a brewery. That'sThat was a lot of fun. I love that you said that because that's what
I'm trying to get people to understand. Thiscan be fun, this can be part of your lifestyle. I'm

(43:50):
in a suit normally, I look like I'm on the news or something. Itdoesn't have to be some stuffy anchor guy. You can just be
yourself. You can have fun. And the more authentic you are in just yourself,the better your show's gonna do. And for some of you, this
will turn into a monetization and a money venture.
So when I, going back to my mom as a social worker, like,and I think about like, she had her master's from University of Michigan.

(44:15):
She was, you know, let's say in Michigan in her market, she was probablyon the top to upper tier of her profession, especially
before she retired. But that being said, compared tomoney made in content creation and in media
specifically in podcasting, she made nothing. Whatwould have been the extra work? Again, this is a different time period,

(44:38):
but I'm saying this more so for people that are in thatsame position right now, like figuring out
other ways to make money and do things. Your story startinga show is a great way to do it and that compounds over
time you'd be shocked what's what would happen you stick with itYeah i'm already seeing it myself personally and

(45:01):
just getting shy of one year in. There'sIt's a pathway to open up new connections, new possibilities, even
with potential clients, but just having beautiful conversationsYeah, I love that. I've done over 6,000 interviews.

(45:25):
I've never heard anybody say that. That's a blessing that you got to hear that.
It's amazing what he said, what was most impactfulfor that. He said
his friend who was a client knewthat he was about to take his life. Wow. He

(45:49):
called him. He said, I need you at my office rightaway. He knew he was going to do it for our drive. Okay.
Well, that man drove two and a half hours. toget there, that man saved
his life. Wow. And now he'sa beacon being able to share that story,

(46:16):
how important we all are and how important theone thing you could say to somebody can change
their life. That man savedmy guest. And then I
got the privilege and my audience hadthe privilege to hear what he said about

(46:46):
Yeah. And now,and here just to add to that, and now we're talking about
it, and now my audience is going to hear about it, and now other things. So when you think aboutenergy, and I'm not, again, I hate to go back to this, but
just an example, if you weren't doing a podcast,then you may have told that story to your wife, maybe

(47:09):
your kids, maybe it became a family story. So,so good. So over time, maybe 50 people
heard it, a hundred people heard it maximum in your entirelifetime, maximum, probably you went up more than a hundred people went
up. And then how long would that have lasted? Maybe, Maybeyour kids remembered it, maybe. Maybe

(47:32):
they remembered it, maybe they retold it a couple times maybe in their life.
So basically, within one generation, that amazingstory that has the ability to help thousands of people and uplift,
literally sharing stories like that uplifts humanity inmy opinion, would be lost and forgotten, period. But
because you recorded that episode with him, nowyou have a piece of content that now both of your legacies,

(47:58):
I don't know if you ever really considered this, but it's something I only understoodwhen I lost my mother, and that's just last October, is I
didn't understand that when you do a podcast episode with somebody, you'renow part of their legacy. Like, you've now created another
piece of content that links you forever. Like, I never really thoughtAnd so now, because you did the recording and you did the work,

(48:29):
and now we're talking about it. that manymore people get to be helped. And who knows, maybe somebody that really
needs to hear it and is in that dark place is going to hear that. Sonow tens of thousands of people will likely hear that story
versus, and I'm not against a hundred people, by the way, hearing, I mean, no, no, Ijust mean, numbers are important. Like I'm sure I want people

(48:50):
to wrap their head around the true impact of whatthis is because it's bigger than most people kind of understand.
I, I, I can't think of any better way to saySharing people get to hear the stories
of your mother, that legacy helping herknowledge has been recorded. and

(49:17):
you get to talk and share it in that future episode that you'reYeah. And when I'm gone, it'll still be there.
And what's it, what's, I don't think that's not,so I've had, I've been doing this long enough to where I've had other individuals that
I've, that, that are no longer with us that have either been onthe show or also that we've published in our books, actually, like we've

(49:41):
had a couple of authors that, you know, they, some things happen, butare no longer with us. It's interesting because their
legacy is still there. And I don't mean legacy for the sake ofego, which I'm not against ego. If somebody has it and that's part of it and
they want to remember it forever or however, great. I'm notagainst any of that. I'm not judging when I say ego. I don't really think that's

(50:01):
a bad word. Some people, it helps them. Some people, it doesn't. I don't know. That'sabove my pay grade, Brett, but when I say it, I just
mean that people are going to be able to benefit fromyour story and your time on this planet far after you're
here in ways that you won't even understand, that Idon't understand yet. That's just one little shade. understanding

(50:23):
that i believe i've been allowed to have at this point that it's goodbut there's other levels and we'll see and when i look at perspective breath
this is something i try to tell a lot of new podcasters isay like if you think about it like entertainment or
other things like. People are in the business for like 30 years. Todo anything like to have a meaningful impact in
a career, you're going to be doing it for like 30 years, period. It's going to be multiple decades.

(50:47):
So if you're just getting started with your show and you're early in,I want to talk to the new podcasters. You're
a year in, you're two years in. Don't even think about it.
Just keep having fun. Figure out new ways to have itfun. If your show's getting stale or you're getting bored, it's
not the format, it's not that. It's that you got to figure out maybeyou need new ideas to make it fun to keep doing

(51:14):
I shared with you at the beginning of the show that Ijust finished listening to The
Big Leap by Gay Hendrix. Are you in your genius zone?
When you're doing this. And then there's that upper limit, what,why, like what, when you're just about to have a
breakthrough, why are you self sabotaging? Sothere's, there's one thing I want to make sure I touch on to the,

(51:42):
before we finish up today, it was a common thread thatcame up for a number of minutes while we were talking. The
execution. Ifeel like people that are listening, if
there's something on your heart to start, and perhaps it's the podcast ora book you want to write. or something

(52:04):
that's on your heart, take action. Don't hold back,start. Put your sneakers on and go.
And you've lived that. Wetouched on it, but I just wanted to really bring it front and center for

(52:27):
Yeah, I'll say that my my lazy brain andmy like I'm not I'm not all that like I
would I when it comes to execution the secret to me is systemsThat's it. Like I can't I don't have I don't have I
don't have a bunch of like this willpower to likesucceed and to do all these things the reason for

(52:48):
I'll give you a couple really super quick ones is Number one,for podcasting, what helped me was having people on
the calendar already scheduled. I didn't want to let people down. It washard. I made it so hard by having
my calendar filled that it would take just as muchwork to start getting people rescheduled as

(53:09):
it would to just do the dang interview. So I just do the interview.
So that's number one. My schedule was always filledwith people with a calendar link and everything else like that. So then I didn't have a choice.
I'll give you one recently justso you could see the personal life. I don't have all this execution
ability. It's just I create systems. So Inoticed that I was, a while

(53:35):
back I gained a little bit of weight and I'm like, what's going on here? And then I looked atmy pantry and I'm like, oh, That's what's going on. I got a bunch of junk
food. So now I don't let myself go to the, I don't knowwhen it happened. It was like junk food creep. It just started showing up. One
bag of chips turned to two, turned to three, and then they just got me.
I didn't even notice it. Somy new system for that is, and they're not paying me to say this,

(53:59):
but just so you know, Uber Eats, I havemy groceries delivered now. I won't walk into a grocery store. So
then I have no junk food in my house, like period. I allow myselflike one bag of pretzels, but I don't even miss it. That's
It's just, it was there. You don't even miss it. So youdon't do it. My system, chocolate chips and

(54:20):
peanut butter are my downfall. I put the chocolate chips, inour bedroom closet. If I don't see
So, so for some people listening that they might laugh, butlike, it's just the truth. I don't want to think about it. Yeah. That's what I
mean. It's like, well, I won't step in a grocery store. I'm like, I wasn't there. Peoplewere like, what? You won't go. I'm like, Nope, I won't do it because then I'm

(54:43):
going to get, but now, you know, it's amazing. I don't even think about it.
I have no like want to like grab any,I don't miss any of it. It was just, they're really good at
their market. I'm walking by. Oh, that looks tasty. Let's taste that.
No, and you've built that system and whatI like my own transformation. I've really

(55:08):
Oh, yeah. You realize that when you don't have it anymore, that's forsure. Then that's a get a get a get a
toothache, a minor toothache and get one of those. Andlet's see how your day goes. Like all of a sudden, that toothache is
100%. Hey, Adam, how do people find you and yourSuper simple. Ask Adam Torres on Instagram. Love

(55:34):
for everybody to connect there. When you click on the link inthe bio, you can get the book, One Billion Podcasts, The Future
of All Media. Nine years to write100 and something pages. It's something
that if you've ever thought about having a podcast, if you have a podcast, absolutelyyou have to read it. but ask Adam Torres on Instagram. Click

(55:55):
on the link. You'll also that link tree link there on Instagram. Youcan get everything like, and there's a bunch of free eBooks. There's, you know, the podcast
of course, and just a lot of other free. I liketo say we give out more free content and free things than
any other media company of our size on the planet. Like,so definitely check that out and that I'll link to the website and

(56:19):
Incredible. Thank you, Adam. I want to end with somethingfun I like doing. Rapid fire questions with you. Oh,
snap. Go for it. First thing comes to your mind. One story thatUh, sixth grade, uh, a police officer came to my,
to my, uh, social studies class orno science class and said, look to your left, look to your right. Um,

(56:44):
one of you will be a dad and one of you will be, itwill, we'll see the penitentiary before the age of 21. That was
the numbers during that time, um, caused me to think aboutlife a whole lot differently. And I got serious at a really young
Wow, what a message. Morning routine that's non-negotiable.

(57:06):
I would say, look at my podcast schedule. Whodo I get to interview today? Like, what do I get to, I'm in bed looking at
my schedule like, who's next? Come on, this is gonna be a wonderful day.
Oh, anybody that's ever had a Mrs. Fields cookie?

(57:27):
By the way, I've had tons of amazing famous peopleon the show, but this one's just my favorite because it's so funny to
me. So anybody that's ever had Mrs. Fields cookies? Ihad Mr. Fields on the show. And let me tell you, Mrs. Fields cookies
was a tech show. or excuse me, was a tech company. Itwas one of the first tech companies. It's not, the people that bought it,

(57:48):
bought it because of the technology of just in time, whatthey had back then. They were pioneers in tech, but the most,
the favorite part about that interview is when I asked him, you know, kind of like thepay it forward question, like, what would you tell entrepreneurs? I
expected some like nice, sweet answer. No, he'slike, you gotta be crazy. You gotta be almost a masochist. You gotta like,
like pain to be an entrepreneur. And I'm like, you're the Mrs. Fields, likeyou're the cookie guy. You can't say that. But

(58:18):
Mr. Fields was awesome. Love it. Ilove that. Oh, man, that's good. A book every
The first book they should write should be the one and Igot this from from the Ted, from
Ted founder or the founder of Ted talks. And he, uh,he says that to write, so like he, he doesn't write

(58:41):
what he knows. He writes what he wants to learn. He writes books aboutwhat he wants to learn. So I would argue that the book
that you should write should be about something you want to learn because it'sLove it. Um, most underrated skill for 2025. Podcasting,

(59:03):
What are you talking about? The whole book's about it. One billion podcasts. Peopleare getting on my nerves. They keep saying, podcasting saturated, this,
that. Read the book. There's only four million podcasts. There'sover 150 million YouTube channels. Are
you kidding me? I make the argument of why that's gonna change.
Podcasting is the next YouTube and you're early and you're inBeautiful. What word describes your

(59:33):
One word? Yeah. I wouldsay conduit. I
really think I'm a conduit for all of this. All theproducts, everything that we design, what we do, my mission, I'm
just a conduit. In all reality, I made itliterally on this planet far longer than I thought I would, considering

(59:56):
my early upbringing. So for there, I already won. AndI've just had all these blessings and all these blessings really all
of my goal is any bit of Shine any bitof like accolade anything I get I'm trying to help other people. I'm trying to
lift others up So I just think I'm a conduit beautifulAdam, thank you for an incredible time. I've

(01:00:18):
had a great pleasure getting to know you andmeet with you, and I know our audience is going to be impacted by this.
Like Adam shared, please connect with him. Reachout, DM him, read his book, and
let him know how much this has impacted you.

(01:00:43):
Thank you, Brett, man. Appreciate it. And congrats again on the oneYeah. Thank you. Thanks

(01:01:03):
for tuning in to The Adaptive Mindset. If you found value in today's episode,don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it
with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age. Stay secure,