In this enlightening episode of the Beyond Fulfillment Podcast, join us as we dive deep into the journey of Gene Hammett, a successful entrepreneur, executive coach, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startup founders will gain invaluable insights from Gene’s story of triumph and challenges.
Gene shares his entrepreneurial beginnings, relatable experiences with the dot-com boom and bust, and the heart-wrenching tale of rebuilding after losing everything. Discover how he turned adversity into opportunity by becoming a coach and helping businesses grow and transform. Learn about the importance of facing tough conversations in leadership and Gene’s journey to creating impactful coaching and writing with his wife.
Throughout the podcast, Gene provides real-world advice on finding your purpose, fostering courage and confidence in business, tackling imposter syndrome, and cultivating a thriving business culture. Entrepreneurs seeking valuable strategies and inspiration will find this episode especially enriching.
Timestamps:
Gene's Entrepreneurial Journey [00:00:19]
Overcoming Business Challenges [00:05:10]
Path to Coaching Success [00:13:31]
Importance of Tough Conversations [00:30:50]
If you found value in this episode, please like, subscribe, and share with fellow entrepreneurs looking to elevate their business journey!
Connect with Gene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genehammett/
#GeneHammett #BestsellingAuthor #KeynoteSpeaker #ExecutiveCoach #PodcastHost #EntrepreneurJourney #StrategyConsulting #MergersAndAcquisitions #PwC #DotComCraze #eCommerce #9_11Impact #Entrepreneurship #LifestyleBusiness #VancouverOlympics #BusinessPartnerships #CoachingProgram #ConfidenceRebuilding #IntrinsicIdentity #PublicSpeaking #TrapOfSuccess #LeadershipDevelopment #ToughConversations #ImposterSyndrome #PeopleProblems #RadicalCandor #CrucialConversations #LeadershipFramework
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today we're joined by bestselling author, keynote speaker and
renowned executive coach, Gene Hammett.
Having successfully scaled hisown business and helped numerous
CEOs achieve their potential,Gene brings a unique perspective
to the table.
You may know him as the hostof the Growth Think Tank podcast
(00:21):
where he dives deep intoleadership and business growth strategies.
In this episode, Gene shareshis journey from thriving in the
sports travel industry tofacing a devastating business collapse
that led to his transformativecareer shift.
We delve into his passion forentrepreneurship ignited in high
school the importance offinding true purpose and building
(00:44):
a business.
Driven by meaning over mere success.
Gene also opens up aboutrebuilding confidence and the pivotal
role of tough conversations in leadership.
Whether you're navigating yourown entrepreneurial journey or seeking
inspiration to lead withpurpose, this episode is packed with
insights and stories that youwon't want to miss.
(01:07):
As always, if you found valuefrom this content, please like and
subscribe.
Hello everyone and welcome toanother episode of the Beyond Fulfillment
podcast.
I'm your host Dave Gulas, andthis week my guest is bestselling
author, keynote speaker,executive coach and podcast host
(01:27):
Gene Hammett.
Welcome, Gene.
Thanks Dave.
Excited to be here.
Yeah.
Appreciate you taking the timeif you could, for everyone.
Gene, can you just walk usthrough your journey and your backstory
and how you got to where youare today?
Yeah, I'm going to go quickand then I'll slow down and you can
pause me wherever you want to.
(01:47):
But I feel like I've been anentrepreneur at heart ever since
I was a kid in high school andI didn't have an idea.
So when I graduated fromcollege, I went into consulting because
I felt like that was going togive me the best chance to really
put my skills together.
And so I did strategyconsulting and mergers and acquisitions
for about three years.
(02:09):
I wanted IT experience, so Iwent to a big consulting company
called PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Did consulting there for a fewyears and then the dot com craze.
So I'm a little bit older thanprobably most of you listening, but
I'm 54 right now and I washitting my stride in my professional
career when the Internet wasreally starting, coming on strong
(02:30):
and I said, I got to work inthat space.
I don't want to miss this opportunity.
And that was in 99, 2000, 2001.
So we did e commerce for largebrands and at 911 everything changed.
I guess I got a golden parachute.
It wasn't that big of aparachute, but about $35,000.
(02:52):
I used half of it to getengaged to my wife.
And then I used the other halfis about $17,000 to start a business
in 2001.
And I scaled that up very quickly.
Every year was better than thelast, and every year I got up to
about 7 million.
I'll pause right there,because that's kind of the quick
(03:12):
view of where my business wasbefore I actually became the version
I am today.
So you mentioned too, you.
You felt you wanted to be anentrepreneur ever since you were
a kid in high school, like, at heart.
Yeah.
What.
What was it aboutentrepreneurship that.
(03:33):
That attracted to you.
You to it?
I don't really know.
I think it was just natural,if you will.
I.
I was into making money.
I had my own lawn service.
I sold candy as a kid.
I mean, you know, probablyeveryone has similar type of stories.
I just enjoyed being my ownboss and making the money, but I
didn't have the idea.
(03:53):
So I worked for others.
And when I look back at it, itwas very strategic that I was putting
skills together that wouldprepare me to run my company when
I did launch it, which was in 2001.
Okay, all right.
And you said that was aroundthe dot com craze, right?
Yeah.
I mean, you know, you'reyounger than me, Dave, but I.
(04:16):
It was similar to now with AI.
Like, everyone was like, isthis for real?
You know, is this going to last?
I mean, a lot of peoplethought that it wouldn't last.
And we look back now and go, go.
You know, it certainly changedthe way we.
We operate, the way we buythings, the way we research things.
You know, I have a son who's17, and he doesn't know what looking
up something at the library isand how easy it is today.
(04:40):
But I look back at that timeas it prepared me for this, and then
I will kind of pick up thestory just a little bit, just so
the audience gets theunderstanding of who I am.
I ran that businesssuccessfully for about nine years.
And I say that because at theheight of that message or that time,
I was doing sports tours.
(05:03):
So I was doing.
Selling tickets and hotels andflights and whatnot to the largest
sporting events in the world.
My biggest event ever was inthe Beijing Olympics 2002.
I did 8,500 people to Beijing.
I'm not going to say we didn'thave any problems, but it was a very
successful event.
I made over a million dollarsin profit in about six weeks.
And it was an incredible ridethat I was.
(05:26):
I was getting burned out on alittle bit, but I was so good at
it and had created such alifestyle business that I wasn't
sure I'd ever quit.
Even though I didn't like whatI was doing.
I was just making good moneyand I was traveling the world and
who doesn't want to do that?
But then everything fell apart.
I don't know if you know mybackground, Dave, but I, I, I ran
(05:48):
my business successfully fornine years until it one day it wasn't
successful.
It completely fell apart rightin before my eyes.
All because I made the wrong decision.
I, I trusted my, my, my friendand partner.
I signed a contract, I paidhim $3 million.
I expected inventory for thatfor the Vancouver Olympics.
That was 2010 and he was notable to deliver.
(06:13):
In fact, that, that it wasn'tjust not able to, it was, it was
a malicious attack on me andmy business and my money.
And he had all of it and I hadnone of it.
And I was not just losing mybusiness, but I lost my house.
I lost my sense of confidence,my sense of my identity with who
I was.
Everything changed in 2010 forme and that's when I started searching
(06:37):
internally to decide what wasmy next move.
Being an entrepreneur, I knewI'd get back on my feet, but I wanted
to really help others.
I really wanted to make a difference.
And in 2010 is when I decidedto become a coach.
And that's what I've beendoing as my primary income since
(06:58):
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(07:41):
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Wow.
So a whole lot to unpack therefor the audience.
I just want to go back in thestory just a little bit.
So you mentioned somethingthat I, I thought is profound.
So you had this lifestylebusiness as you call it, and you're
(08:06):
making very good money and youwere very good at it, but you weren't
Happy?
Yeah.
Can you just explain, like, it was.
A combination of things, Dave?
I.
I'm not really that much of asports person.
I like to go into a game everyonce in a while, but I'm not going
to watch, you know, six hoursof football on a Sunday or, you know,
(08:26):
watch every baseball game orbasketball game.
And so when you're in sportstours, you know, a lot of your life
depends on who's going to, youknow, be in the super bowl or who's
going to be in the NationalChampionship or who's going to be
in the World Series orwhatever it may be.
And I.
I didn't watch tv.
You know, I watched.
I paid attention to what wasgoing on because that was business.
(08:48):
But it wasn't a natural partof my life.
I look at my peers and theylove sports.
It was just, you know, muchmore ingrained in their life.
And so I was doing somethingthat I was good at, but it wasn't
a part of who I was.
And part of me was missing outon the fact that I was just selling
tickets to sporting events.
(09:08):
I mean, one of my biggestevents ever was the Masters Sports
Golf tournament.
Familiar with golf?
I used to take 1200 people tothe Masters.
And so we.
I was very good at it, but itjust wasn't.
It wasn't really fueling thepurpose in my life.
It was.
It was.
I was making money, I hadfreedom, but it wasn't.
(09:30):
I was missing something.
And that's what kind of allowed.
When it.
When everything fell apart, Idecided to be intentional about rebuilding
a life and a business based onpurpose, not just what I'm good at.
And another question, too,because you hit on a topic that I
think is so prevalent for somany people.
(09:51):
Like, so often you hear aboutpeople wanting to get into entrepreneurship
for the money, or, you know, it's.
So the success side of it isglamorized with the cars, the houses
and all that kind of stuff.
And here you had the money,you were making very good money.
You had a lifestyle businesswhere you had freedom, but yet you
(10:12):
were missing that true purposeand fulfillment of your life.
And maybe for someone whodoesn't have the money or who is
struggling, it's hard toimagine that.
But here you have all these material.
These signs of materialsuccess, but yet you weren't happy.
Yeah, you probably don't know.
I've published two books.
The most recent one we'll talkabout in a few minutes.
(10:32):
But my first book is, if youcan see the title in the video, the
Trap of success.
And in essence, when I lookback on where my business was and
where I was as a person, I wasso successful with the money and
the freedom that when I hadthe next level idea, I talked about
(10:52):
it, but I wouldn't take actionon it.
I wasn't living from a placeof courage.
I was living basically in fearof losing what I had created.
Even though I didn't like itthat much because it was paying the
bills and it was giving me thelifestyle and all of the things that
we've already talked about.
But when I look back at it, Iwasn't evolving.
(11:14):
And that was part of mydownside into the business fell apart.
Yes.
By some other source, whatnot.
But I trusted him way too much.
I'm not going to blame him forwhat happened, even though it was
very malicious and he's doing17 to life right now, or 17 a half
years in prison.
(11:34):
All that said, I, I really, Ilook back that that is the worst
thing that ever happened tome, but it's also the best because
it woke me up.
It woke me up to living a lifethat's more aligned with who I am,
my identity, the purpose,making a difference in the world.
Because I love what I do right now.
(11:54):
I love the clients I have.
I love seeing them win, seeingthem grow their businesses.
Most of my clients are.
They're not small, but they'renot huge corporations.
My average client right nowis, is 10 to 30 million in revenue.
And I'm a CEO coach for them.
And I just, I love seeing themwin and create more stable businesses
(12:15):
and businesses where people are.
Are leading, not just them.
And that's, that's what I lovedoing right now.
And that's what I'm.
I'm actually, I feel like I'mworld class at that aspect of business
at this point.
And that just gives me apassion for what I do.
Okay, and we'll get into thecoaching here in a second.
Just one more piece of the story.
(12:36):
So your friend and partner whoyou trusted basically stole $3 million
from you.
Is that one way to put it?
Y.
You lost, I mean, from someonethat had worked very hard and, and
built up the successfulbusiness and had financial success
and security.
To lose everything so quickly.
(12:57):
Like, what was that like?
It's hard to even describe thedoubt that came into me because when
we say quickly, I'll paint thepicture for you.
On January 15, 2010, was thedate written in the contract that
he was supposed to deliver theinventory for the Vancouver Olympics,
(13:17):
which was three weeks away.
It was in early February 2010.
And everything in my life goesaround these events.
So I know I've been to, youknow, seven Olympics and in multiple
World Cups and, you know,probably 20 Super Bowls and whatnot
over my lifetime.
But this one event, everythingwas supposed to happen on January
(13:37):
15th, and it didn't.
Now, it took a few days tounravel, but that was the moment
where I knew there was anincredible, you know, shitstorm,
if you will, about to hit me.
And I didn't.
I didn't immediately believethat my friend was doing something
(13:58):
dishonest to me.
In fact, I protected him.
And I protected him to mylawyers, I protected him to my wife,
and I said, no, it's just a misunderstanding.
He's going through a tough time.
We're going to work this out.
And, you know, the optimismthat entrepreneurs have, I still
had it, even though it lookedreally bad.
But then as I started pullingon the story that he gave me and
(14:22):
some of the things just didn'tstart to add up and everything.
I started hearing about thelies and about the things that were
inconsistent, and then I wouldtalk to him about things.
In the early days of this,very quickly, though, I sued him,
he sued me, and it got to be alawyer thing.
But that.
It really crushed me, and Iwent into a dark place.
(14:45):
I cried for days on end.
I was not allowed to live inmy house because I was afraid of
people attacking me.
And I spent about four plusyears in doubt that maybe he would
take some of the money that hegave me, hire a hitman.
And if I walked out of myneighborhood and went for a run,
that I would be taken out.
(15:07):
And I know that's no place, noway to live, but that's the way I
lived for four plus years.
Wow.
Okay.
So everything unravels,business falls apart.
You lose everything, you loseyour house.
You're having to start over,basically, and deal with this emotional
(15:29):
nightmare.
Yeah.
That you just described.
And then what happens next?
I really did some internal searching.
As an entrepreneur, I knew Ineeded to have a pathway forward.
I need to have some clarity.
But.
But I was broken.
I had.
I was still living in myhouse, and we affectionately call
it the big house because itwas like 5,500 square feet.
(15:51):
And that's, you know, that'sthe lifestyle we created.
And we had to move out of it.
We had to, you know, I had tofind a job.
And, you know, one of thethings that.
That I went to my wife and Iwas discussing, you know, my path
Forward.
My first coach, her name wasLinda, my first ever business coach
or anything like that.
(16:12):
She was actually pretty new tocoaching at the time.
And this was in 2002.
She helped me get to a milliondollars in the business.
It wasn't her, you know, thatwasn't her claim.
There was, you know, backthen, you didn't have to make the
claims that we make today orpeople make in their marketing, but
she just helped me get clarityaround who I was, what I was going
to do next.
(16:33):
And the best way I candescribe it is Linda and I would
have a conversation where Iwas about 70, 80% sure of what to
do next.
After the conversation, I was100% sure I would get off the phone
call with her and I would justgo do it every time.
And when I did that over andover and over, that created success
in my business.
(16:53):
It created a sense ofconfidence and clarity.
And those things were exactlywhat I remembered.
When it was dark days for me,I wanted to be that person for someone
else.
And so I started thinkingabout being a coach.
I started looking at coaching programs.
Most coaches today are not certified.
I didn't know that, but Iwanted to get certified.
(17:16):
And I actually, if I, youknow, really being honest with you,
Dave, I was broken becausewhat happened to me, and I went through
a coaching program that was sointrinsic to who I was and my identity
and rebuilding myself that itwas able to rebuild me even when
I didn't believe in myself.
And I knew that was the skillsthat I wanted to work with for the
(17:38):
rest of my life and bring tothe, to the world and do what Linda
did for me, I wanted to do for others.
And so I became, I gotcertified as a coach.
I did get a job.
I had to do the things I hadto do to pay the bills.
But after 2012, I was on my own.
And I've been a full timecoach, speaker, author, podcaster
(18:00):
ever since then.
Okay, all right, so you're onthis new journey now and you.
So you're a coach and you gotcertified, you start building your
business and just.
Can, can you talk about howthe other aspect, it came about,
like the speaking, thewriting, the books, the podcast,
(18:20):
all that.
I'll also tell you this too.
I mean, when I was broken, andI know I've said that a few times,
but my confidence level wasjust shot.
Like, I just, I had just been successful.
I'd never really beenchallenged in my business career.
Everything had just worked outfor me.
But losing it all wrecked me.
And when I Look back at that.
I was carrying a lot of thatinto my coaching.
(18:41):
So my value for, you know,what I would ask for per hour in
the early days of coaching wasridiculously low because I had no
confidence.
But as I started working withothers, I started hiring some more
coaches to help me refine thisand get to the norms.
My first real client came in.
(19:04):
I was charging 500 bucks a month.
And I was able to.
To.
To.
I don't know how I paid thebills at 500 bucks a month because
I had probably three, four,five clients.
I raised my prices a littlebit here and there, but the first
six years of me building acoaching business was nowhere like
me building my sports tour business.
(19:24):
The sports tour business tookoff immediately and I was making
tremendous amount of moneywithin two years.
It took me six to seven yearsto get my foundation to get even.
I think to even get more thana hundred thousand in revenue, which
after paying your team andwhatnot, I still wasn't making that
much.
And I live in Atlanta, so it's really.
It was really hard.
(19:44):
And it was me, my wife and myson and none of us.
I was the one that wasproviding for everything.
So my wife didn't have a jobto kind of stabilize us.
She was a speaker as well.
So I go back to the strugglebecause I get it and I've been through
it and I've helped others do it.
I totally lived this for years.
But as I started running mybusiness, the one thing that worked
(20:08):
for me was when I would givesmall speeches for free, small networking
events.
Could be a chamber ofcommerce, it could be a user group
of some sort.
I met them on meetup.
I think that's still a thing.
Meetup.com I think.
But I started speaking and Istarted getting clients and I was
(20:29):
able to grow my business from that.
And that was about eight years ago.
Again, I wasn't charging forspeaking, but I would speak for free
and I would get a client or two.
And I did that ten times a year.
And I started built mybusiness, started scaling, started
writing books as I gotcomfortable with the rear view mirror
(20:50):
of what I experienced.
The Trap of Success being myfirst book, that was a hard one to
get out because it was veryemotional to me to look back at what
I had done and overcame.
And then I wrote this recentbook this past year with my wife,
who's in my business as well,or we do this together.
And it's just been anincredible journey.
(21:12):
It hasn't been easy, but doingit together has been Very special.
Let me just ask you anotherquestion along that same line, because
so often, you know, the spouseof an entrepreneur is, you know,
kind of goes through the samepain, right, with the journey and
the struggle and having toreally, you know, be there through
(21:34):
all the dark times.
I mean, sounds like she waswith you kind of all the way up through
to the mountaintop.
And then when everything camecrashing down and through the, the
whole post, post, you know,nightmare struggle and all that,
like how, how important wasyour, your wife and her support to.
To help this whole situation?
(21:56):
I probably couldn't stress howimportant it is.
I mean, we all have heard those.
I, I guess they call themcliches and whatnot, but it's really
not a cliche.
But the most importantdecision you'll make is who you decide
to, to do life with.
And I got married in 2002, soI've been married 23 years this year.
It'll be an incredible.
(22:17):
Just been an incrediblesupportive partner now.
Not, not easy, I will tell you.
I mean, there were times whereshe thought one way and I thought
another way.
And in the sportswearbusiness, I kind of ran things and
I made decisions.
She told me not to do the dealwhere everything fell apart multiple
times.
And I overruled her in air quotes.
(22:40):
But since then, wheneverything fell apart, she was right
there beside me.
She was holding my hand.
I was the one that was beingaccused of whatever was going on
because there was missingmoney, right?
Missing inventory.
I tried to shield her as muchas I could, but as soon as we got
past that and we got into thecoaching world, she kept her separate
(23:02):
business for a while.
She was speaking to young highschool students and some college
kids, using her skills of speaking.
And she wrote a book therecalled Faceplant because, you know,
kids.
Different kind of a differentkind of angle for that.
But she, in the last fouryears, she's been very integral to
(23:24):
this coaching business.
Actually, when I sell clients,I'm not just selling me, ideally,
I'm selling her as a coach.
And I have other coaches thatwork on our team that coach managers
into leaders.
And she was my co author onthe book.
You can see in the bottomthere, Amanda Hemet, very much an
equal partner and what we're doing.
And she's got a differentskill set.
(23:46):
She is incredible with whatshe does, and I do what I do, and
it has worked.
It's also not easy to write abook with your wife, if you can think
about it, because it's, it's,you know, it's a lot of time together
that we've got to make decisions.
And we just, we just wrappedup a couple's retreat.
First time we've ever done this.
We did a three day kind ofstaycation in Atlanta and we really
(24:10):
reflected back on what's goingon in our life.
Next year we'll be empty nesters.
Our son's going off to college.
And so we looked at our, youknow, how far we've come.
We talked specifically aboutlast year, the things that we did,
we got right, the things thatwe want to improve on.
And then we made intentionsand goals for 2025.
(24:31):
I would recommend that for anyone.
We had a bunch of questions.
We used to help us throughthat and happy to give them away
if anybody's interested.
But just an incredible partnerin the journey.
And I wouldn't be assuccessful and happy if we were doing
this separately or if shewere, you know, kind of not here.
(24:53):
All right, and so youmentioned too, right, Going through
the whole trauma of thebusiness debacle and your confidence
really took a hit and foryears you were struggling.
You weren't charging reallywhat you are worth.
And it took a while to getover that.
I mean, how looking back at itnow, right, because you're, you're,
you know, clearly you've comea long way since then.
(25:16):
Like how important do youthink that was in terms of building
your character to, to reallysustain, you know, success in coaching
long term?
I think in any entrepreneurialbusiness there's two things that
are absolutely required.
You've got to have courage and confidence.
(25:36):
The courage to make the tough decisions.
Like I jumped in both feetwith the sports tour business.
I continue to invest in thebusiness, invested in myself as a
coaching.
I really jumped in and hadcourage to do that.
And a lot of that gave meconfidence to move forward.
Now when I lost everything, Ihad to rebuild it and it took time
(26:00):
for me to do that.
My coaches helped me, my wifehelped me.
Just getting some repetitionwith my clients and their successes
all help build the confidence.
But if you don't understandhow confidence plays into your business,
then you're probably playingsafe because it takes a lot of trust
in yourself to charge moremoney to make bigger, bolder offers
(26:24):
to work with bigger clientsthat have got different kind of problems.
Every, not every one of myclients is exactly the same.
In fact, some people, I'llgive you an example, I've never had
a board.
I've worked with a lot of.
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
I've got lots of different businesses.
I've never had a formal board,but I've had some of my CEOs that
are running 20 and 30 milliondollar companies that have trouble
(26:45):
with their board.
And I get to coach in areaswhere I have no domain of expertise
and experience.
Now, that's scary.
But it took courage and tookconfidence and just being able to
listen and support them.
And I did.
I think looking back at it,fantastic job helping each one of
those clients navigate those challenges.
(27:08):
And so when you're anentrepreneur, you've got to have
courage and confidence.
And it builds every year.
Even, even when you thinkyou've got enough, you look back
and you go, I've grown just inthis past year.
I've been in business.
I've been doing this coachingthing for 12 years.
I've grown in this past year.
I can see it, I can feel it.
(27:28):
I know what it takes.
I have my own coaches.
I had two this past year.
Made huge investments in myself.
And that's what I think ittakes to really be successful in
today's ever changing world.
And especially in terms of leadership.
Because most people I'mtalking to, they're building businesses
that are bigger than they'veever run before.
And every time they hit newchallenges, they doubt themselves.
(27:51):
And having me to talk toactually helps them get clarity and
confidence to move forward theway I described what Linda did for
me.
And so I'm living the dreamthat I set out to when I was trying
to put my life back together.
All right, and another thingyou just brought up there.
So you said as, asentrepreneurs continue to grow and
(28:13):
progress and reach new levels,they doubt themselves.
And something we hear about somuch today especially is imposter
syndrome.
Can you just talk about, like,what you see from that regard with
the people you coach and youknow, how you, how you deal with
it.
(28:34):
So imposter syndrome.
I don't think any of us areimmune to it.
And if you really work withpeople that are really successful
that you think would haveovercome it, they're reaching new
levels within themselves andit will still come up as imposter
syndrome.
If you dig deeper, what yourealize is there's an inner critic
in all of us.
(28:55):
And the inner critic knowsexactly what to say because it's
part of your subconscious.
It knows when to say it.
It knows when to say, oh, butyou're not ready for that.
Oh, but you're not enough.
You're not pretty enough,you're not a good enough speaker,
you're not a good enough writer.
You're not a good enough whatever.
And that inner critic is what.
(29:16):
Where the imposter syndrome, Ithink comes from.
And I created some content along time ago, and I didn't ask you
if I can cuss on here, butit's called.
The inner critic is an ass.
Your inner critic is anasshole, because it will stop you
from doing the thing you want.
If you've.
Let's say you've got aninvestment that you want to do, your
inner critic will go, you'renot going to.
(29:38):
You're not worth that.
We all have an inner critic.
It all has a little voiceinside of us that says things that
will stop us.
And if I go back to my career,I talked about running my business.
I had an idea, but I wastrapped by my success.
I was making so much money andso much freedom that I didn't move
(29:59):
forward because my innercritic was saying, but if you don't,
if this doesn't work out,you're going to lose what you have.
And it knew how to stop me,and it did, until I ended up losing
it all and having to rebuild myself.
And so now when I'm workingwith people I listen to, sometimes
it's the words they say.
(30:19):
I'm listening to the patternswhich they have over time.
I'm listening to the energy atwhich they have and the clarity.
And I ask probing questions.
This is what coaches do.
And I've gotten really good.
And I even have created toolsthat I can lean on that accelerate
the success of someone that istrying to grow their business, because
(30:41):
all of us have that innercritic that stops us.
But if we listen to it, you'llnever have the kind of life and success
you want.
But if you know how to riseabove it, you know how to really
get, connect with trusting yourself.
And you can do that throughcoaching or you can do that through,
you know, some people can doit themselves.
I'm not saying that everyonehas to have a coach.
(31:01):
I just know I perform muchmore efficiently and effectively
when I have invested in myself.
And I will.
I will move forward because Iwant to make sure there's an ROI
there through my own coachingthat I invest in.
And so when I take on clients,I mean, that's.
I'm looking for people thatare willing to be that want to be
really, you know, execute atthis higher level.
(31:24):
Not just that kind of want it,but are really committed and have
conviction to.
To growth themselves.
All right, and let's talkabout your new book, how to have
Tough Conversations.
So what.
What made you decide to writethat book.
The.
The short story behind that isI thought I was going to write a
(31:44):
book about values because itcomes up quite a bit on the podcast.
Interviews.
I've done over 800 interviewswith CEOs from the Inc.
5000 fastest growing privatelyheld companies, and they talk about
the importance of values.
And so I've said that for along time, but then I started diving
into the work and it's stillan important work, but I ended up
(32:04):
writing a book on how to turnmanagers into leaders because a lot
of my clients would say, help,I need leaders.
Now I'm trying to hire leaders.
How do I hire leaders?
How do I develop leaders?
And so I wrote a book and Iwanted a very short book.
And so once I wrote this bookwith my wife, Amanda, I stepped back
from it and I was talking tomy coach about it and I said, you
(32:25):
know, finish the first draft.
But I feel like it's too long.
I feel like it's too rambly,it's really shallow on all of the
different aspects of leadership.
And my coach at the time said,which chapter do you feel like is
most important for your work?
I thought about it, he askedme a few more questions, and it came
(32:47):
really clear.
I think it was chapter 18.
And it was about the tough conversations.
Because the number onequestion I tend to ask in my coaching
over the last 10 plus yearshas been, what's the missing conversation
that you haven't had yet withthat person?
(33:08):
Because the CEO will get onhere and rant about someone on their
executive team.
Or maybe it's a director,maybe it's a vp, maybe it's just
someone on the team that's notperforming, not aligned, whatever
it is.
And I will listen to itbecause they don't have anybody to
rant to.
And then I will ask them as aredirection, what's the missing conversation?
That hasn't happened yet.
(33:29):
And I've done this for yearsand years and years, but I didn't
have a way to give them a tool.
I think Radical Candor is anincredible book in this category.
I think Crucial Conversationsis another great book, but both of
those books talk about theproblem, but not real good at how
to do the problem and how tosolve it.
(33:49):
And so when I step back fromthat, I end up writing a book with
Amanda called How to haveTough Conversations to address the
people problems that are soprevalent in our business.
I joke around and say this.
Every business has people problems.
If you have people, you havepeople that are either not Aligned,
not showing up, not givingtheir all.
(34:10):
I was surprised when I heard this.
There's about 40% of the worldthat just doesn't want to work.
And they do the absolute bare minimum.
And they're, you know, it'sbeyond quiet quitting.
They're just coasting by.
And that's a missingconversation that hasn't happened
(34:30):
yet.
If anybody has that.
Wow, 40%.
It's more than 40% for some,some places.
I.
But the people problems, ifyou, if you step back, do you have
people problems?
I don't know what your teamlooks like.
I'm not going to ask you tocall out anyone in your teams, but
I know that even within myteam, who's small, and I love the
(34:53):
people that are on my team, Ihave to scan through and go, all
right, what's the missingconversation I haven't had with that
person yet?
And sometimes it's about justcommunication, or sometimes it's
about quality, or sometimesit's about hitting their KPIs.
And I know that that onequestion has unlocked an incredible
(35:14):
conversation with my clients.
And then they take action fromthose conversations.
I do Pride myself, in 12 yearsof doing this, I have never told
a client that you need to fire someone.
Now, I've thought it.
I have asked a lot ofquestions around that, you know,
why, why you keep giving them chances.
But I do feel like theplaybook that's in this book, especially
(35:36):
page 35, there's a.
There's a four differentphases of a tough conversation.
And if you don't know what thephases are, then you.
That's.
That's the first place I'dstart with this book is.
Page 35 is just looking at thephases and realizing which one you
gravitate to.
Most people say they don't dothe first two or three phases.
(35:59):
They just let things fester,let them get really bad, and they
get into phase four, which is exit.
And if you're waiting forthings to get better, they usually
don't.
But if you wait till phasefour, it's too far gone.
You're ready just to say, Idon't want to be in this relationship
anymore, whatever it is.
And we.
(36:19):
Hopefully you will see thesetough conversations earlier, you
will have them sooner.
And if you follow theframework that we've laid out in
the book, you will do themmore effectively and you will be
seen as a better leaderbecause you.
Giving feedback to an employeeis absolutely critical for them to
have a good experience atwork, but also for them to provide
the value that, you know, thatthey can and for them to actually
(36:42):
grow while they're with you.
And so this book has changedeverything for my clients in that
perspective.
All right.
All right.
And, Gene, if people want tolearn more about you, your work,
your coaching programs, yourbooks, what's the best way people
can.
Can get in touch with you?
I hate to give anyone a lot ofthings, but the best place is probably
(37:05):
Gene Hammett.com I've been aspeaker there.
That's where I primarily putup information about speaking.
But it connects to thepodcast, it connects to the book.
The core business is core elevation.
That's what I run with Amanda.
And so either one of thosework and the book is, you know, it's
(37:26):
available on Kindles andpaperback and hardcover and Audible.
So if you do want to be abetter leader this year in 2025 and
you're not as comfortable asyou could be with tough conversations,
I would say this is anincredible place for you to start.
And, you know, a book is,what, 10 bucks or 15 bucks or something
like that, Incredible, youknow, tool for you to.
(37:48):
To develop that skill ofcommunication, specifically with
tough conversations.
So that's where I would go.
All right, and we'll link allthat in the show notes for everyone.
All right, well, Jean, thankyou so much for taking the time to
be here.
We greatly appreciate yousharing your story and, and.
And all the work that you'vedone for our listeners.
We thank you so much.
(38:09):
Dave, thanks for having me.
And if there's anything I cando for anyone listening in, make
sure you reach out.
I'm happy to give as much as Ican give away tools, give away anything
I've mentioned, I'll give awayfor free.
I don't.
My clients pay me enough whereI can give away nearly everything
in my business.
All right, and that's.
That's all the time we havefor now.
(38:29):
We will see you next time.
Sa.
Today we're joined by bestselling author, keynote speaker and
renowned executive coach, Gene Hammett.
Having successfully scaled hisown business and helped numerous
CEOs achieve their potential,Gene brings a unique perspective
to the table.
You may know him as the hostof the Growth Think Tank podcast
(00:21):
where he dives deep intoleadership and business growth strategies.
In this episode, Gene shareshis journey from thriving in the
sports travel industry tofacing a devastating business collapse
that led to his transformativecareer shift.
We delve into his passion forentrepreneurship ignited in high
school the importance offinding true purpose and building
(00:44):
a business.
Driven by meaning over mere success.
Gene also opens up aboutrebuilding confidence and the pivotal
role of tough conversations in leadership.
Whether you're navigating yourown entrepreneurial journey or seeking
inspiration to lead withpurpose, this episode is packed with
insights and stories that youwon't want to miss.
(01:07):
As always, if you found valuefrom this content, please like and
subscribe.
Hello everyone and welcome toanother episode of the Beyond Fulfillment
podcast.
I'm your host Dave Gulas, andthis week my guest is bestselling
author, keynote speaker,executive coach and podcast host
(01:27):
Gene Hammett.
Welcome, Gene.
Thanks Dave.
Excited to be here.
Yeah.
Appreciate you taking the timeif you could, for everyone.
Gene, can you just walk usthrough your journey and your backstory
and how you got to where youare today?
Yeah, I'm going to go quickand then I'll slow down and you can
pause me wherever you want to.
(01:47):
But I feel like I've been anentrepreneur at heart ever since
I was a kid in high school andI didn't have an idea.
So when I graduated fromcollege, I went into consulting because
I felt like that was going togive me the best chance to really
put my skills together.
And so I did strategyconsulting and mergers and acquisitions
for about three years.
(02:09):
I wanted IT experience, so Iwent to a big consulting company
called PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Did consulting there for a fewyears and then the dot com craze.
So I'm a little bit older thanprobably most of you listening, but
I'm 54 right now and I washitting my stride in my professional
career when the Internet wasreally starting, coming on strong
(02:30):
and I said, I got to work inthat space.
I don't want to miss this opportunity.
And that was in 99, 2000, 2001.
So we did e commerce for largebrands and at 911 everything changed.
I guess I got a golden parachute.
It wasn't that big of aparachute, but about $35,000.
(02:52):
I used half of it to getengaged to my wife.
And then I used the other halfis about $17,000 to start a business
in 2001.
And I scaled that up very quickly.
Every year was better than thelast, and every year I got up to
about 7 million.
I'll pause right there,because that's kind of the quick
(03:12):
view of where my business wasbefore I actually became the version
I am today.
So you mentioned too, you.
You felt you wanted to be anentrepreneur ever since you were
a kid in high school, like, at heart.
Yeah.
What.
What was it aboutentrepreneurship that.
(03:33):
That attracted to you.
You to it?
I don't really know.
I think it was just natural,if you will.
I.
I was into making money.
I had my own lawn service.
I sold candy as a kid.
I mean, you know, probablyeveryone has similar type of stories.
I just enjoyed being my ownboss and making the money, but I
didn't have the idea.
(03:53):
So I worked for others.
And when I look back at it, itwas very strategic that I was putting
skills together that wouldprepare me to run my company when
I did launch it, which was in 2001.
Okay, all right.
And you said that was aroundthe dot com craze, right?
Yeah.
I mean, you know, you'reyounger than me, Dave, but I.
(04:16):
It was similar to now with AI.
Like, everyone was like, isthis for real?
You know, is this going to last?
I mean, a lot of peoplethought that it wouldn't last.
And we look back now and go, go.
You know, it certainly changedthe way we.
We operate, the way we buythings, the way we research things.
You know, I have a son who's17, and he doesn't know what looking
up something at the library isand how easy it is today.
(04:40):
But I look back at that timeas it prepared me for this, and then
I will kind of pick up thestory just a little bit, just so
the audience gets theunderstanding of who I am.
I ran that businesssuccessfully for about nine years.
And I say that because at theheight of that message or that time,
I was doing sports tours.
(05:03):
So I was doing.
Selling tickets and hotels andflights and whatnot to the largest
sporting events in the world.
My biggest event ever was inthe Beijing Olympics 2002.
I did 8,500 people to Beijing.
I'm not going to say we didn'thave any problems, but it was a very
successful event.
I made over a million dollarsin profit in about six weeks.
And it was an incredible ridethat I was.
(05:26):
I was getting burned out on alittle bit, but I was so good at
it and had created such alifestyle business that I wasn't
sure I'd ever quit.
Even though I didn't like whatI was doing.
I was just making good moneyand I was traveling the world and
who doesn't want to do that?
But then everything fell apart.
I don't know if you know mybackground, Dave, but I, I, I ran
(05:48):
my business successfully fornine years until it one day it wasn't
successful.
It completely fell apart rightin before my eyes.
All because I made the wrong decision.
I, I trusted my, my, my friendand partner.
I signed a contract, I paidhim $3 million.
I expected inventory for thatfor the Vancouver Olympics.
That was 2010 and he was notable to deliver.
(06:13):
In fact, that, that it wasn'tjust not able to, it was, it was
a malicious attack on me andmy business and my money.
And he had all of it and I hadnone of it.
And I was not just losing mybusiness, but I lost my house.
I lost my sense of confidence,my sense of my identity with who
I was.
Everything changed in 2010 forme and that's when I started searching
(06:37):
internally to decide what wasmy next move.
Being an entrepreneur, I knewI'd get back on my feet, but I wanted
to really help others.
I really wanted to make a difference.
And in 2010 is when I decidedto become a coach.
And that's what I've beendoing as my primary income since
(06:58):
2012.
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Wow.
So a whole lot to unpack therefor the audience.
I just want to go back in thestory just a little bit.
So you mentioned somethingthat I, I thought is profound.
So you had this lifestylebusiness as you call it, and you're
(08:06):
making very good money and youwere very good at it, but you weren't
Happy?
Yeah.
Can you just explain, like, it was.
A combination of things, Dave?
I.
I'm not really that much of asports person.
I like to go into a game everyonce in a while, but I'm not going
to watch, you know, six hoursof football on a Sunday or, you know,
(08:26):
watch every baseball game orbasketball game.
And so when you're in sportstours, you know, a lot of your life
depends on who's going to, youknow, be in the super bowl or who's
going to be in the NationalChampionship or who's going to be
in the World Series orwhatever it may be.
And I.
I didn't watch tv.
You know, I watched.
I paid attention to what wasgoing on because that was business.
(08:48):
But it wasn't a natural partof my life.
I look at my peers and theylove sports.
It was just, you know, muchmore ingrained in their life.
And so I was doing somethingthat I was good at, but it wasn't
a part of who I was.
And part of me was missing outon the fact that I was just selling
tickets to sporting events.
(09:08):
I mean, one of my biggestevents ever was the Masters Sports
Golf tournament.
Familiar with golf?
I used to take 1200 people tothe Masters.
And so we.
I was very good at it, but itjust wasn't.
It wasn't really fueling thepurpose in my life.
It was.
It was.
I was making money, I hadfreedom, but it wasn't.
(09:30):
I was missing something.
And that's what kind of allowed.
When it.
When everything fell apart, Idecided to be intentional about rebuilding
a life and a business based onpurpose, not just what I'm good at.
And another question, too,because you hit on a topic that I
think is so prevalent for somany people.
(09:51):
Like, so often you hear aboutpeople wanting to get into entrepreneurship
for the money, or, you know, it's.
So the success side of it isglamorized with the cars, the houses
and all that kind of stuff.
And here you had the money,you were making very good money.
You had a lifestyle businesswhere you had freedom, but yet you
(10:12):
were missing that true purposeand fulfillment of your life.
And maybe for someone whodoesn't have the money or who is
struggling, it's hard toimagine that.
But here you have all these material.
These signs of materialsuccess, but yet you weren't happy.
Yeah, you probably don't know.
I've published two books.
The most recent one we'll talkabout in a few minutes.
(10:32):
But my first book is, if youcan see the title in the video, the
Trap of success.
And in essence, when I lookback on where my business was and
where I was as a person, I wasso successful with the money and
the freedom that when I hadthe next level idea, I talked about
(10:52):
it, but I wouldn't take actionon it.
I wasn't living from a placeof courage.
I was living basically in fearof losing what I had created.
Even though I didn't like itthat much because it was paying the
bills and it was giving me thelifestyle and all of the things that
we've already talked about.
But when I look back at it, Iwasn't evolving.
(11:14):
And that was part of mydownside into the business fell apart.
Yes.
By some other source, whatnot.
But I trusted him way too much.
I'm not going to blame him forwhat happened, even though it was
very malicious and he's doing17 to life right now, or 17 a half
years in prison.
(11:34):
All that said, I, I really, Ilook back that that is the worst
thing that ever happened tome, but it's also the best because
it woke me up.
It woke me up to living a lifethat's more aligned with who I am,
my identity, the purpose,making a difference in the world.
Because I love what I do right now.
(11:54):
I love the clients I have.
I love seeing them win, seeingthem grow their businesses.
Most of my clients are.
They're not small, but they'renot huge corporations.
My average client right nowis, is 10 to 30 million in revenue.
And I'm a CEO coach for them.
And I just, I love seeing themwin and create more stable businesses
(12:15):
and businesses where people are.
Are leading, not just them.
And that's, that's what I lovedoing right now.
And that's what I'm.
I'm actually, I feel like I'mworld class at that aspect of business
at this point.
And that just gives me apassion for what I do.
Okay, and we'll get into thecoaching here in a second.
Just one more piece of the story.
(12:36):
So your friend and partner whoyou trusted basically stole $3 million
from you.
Is that one way to put it?
Y.
You lost, I mean, from someonethat had worked very hard and, and
built up the successfulbusiness and had financial success
and security.
To lose everything so quickly.
(12:57):
Like, what was that like?
It's hard to even describe thedoubt that came into me because when
we say quickly, I'll paint thepicture for you.
On January 15, 2010, was thedate written in the contract that
he was supposed to deliver theinventory for the Vancouver Olympics,
(13:17):
which was three weeks away.
It was in early February 2010.
And everything in my life goesaround these events.
So I know I've been to, youknow, seven Olympics and in multiple
World Cups and, you know,probably 20 Super Bowls and whatnot
over my lifetime.
But this one event, everythingwas supposed to happen on January
(13:37):
15th, and it didn't.
Now, it took a few days tounravel, but that was the moment
where I knew there was anincredible, you know, shitstorm,
if you will, about to hit me.
And I didn't.
I didn't immediately believethat my friend was doing something
(13:58):
dishonest to me.
In fact, I protected him.
And I protected him to mylawyers, I protected him to my wife,
and I said, no, it's just a misunderstanding.
He's going through a tough time.
We're going to work this out.
And, you know, the optimismthat entrepreneurs have, I still
had it, even though it lookedreally bad.
But then as I started pullingon the story that he gave me and
(14:22):
some of the things just didn'tstart to add up and everything.
I started hearing about thelies and about the things that were
inconsistent, and then I wouldtalk to him about things.
In the early days of this,very quickly, though, I sued him,
he sued me, and it got to be alawyer thing.
But that.
It really crushed me, and Iwent into a dark place.
(14:45):
I cried for days on end.
I was not allowed to live inmy house because I was afraid of
people attacking me.
And I spent about four plusyears in doubt that maybe he would
take some of the money that hegave me, hire a hitman.
And if I walked out of myneighborhood and went for a run,
that I would be taken out.
(15:07):
And I know that's no place, noway to live, but that's the way I
lived for four plus years.
Wow.
Okay.
So everything unravels,business falls apart.
You lose everything, you loseyour house.
You're having to start over,basically, and deal with this emotional
(15:29):
nightmare.
Yeah.
That you just described.
And then what happens next?
I really did some internal searching.
As an entrepreneur, I knew Ineeded to have a pathway forward.
I need to have some clarity.
But.
But I was broken.
I had.
I was still living in myhouse, and we affectionately call
it the big house because itwas like 5,500 square feet.
(15:51):
And that's, you know, that'sthe lifestyle we created.
And we had to move out of it.
We had to, you know, I had tofind a job.
And, you know, one of thethings that.
That I went to my wife and Iwas discussing, you know, my path
Forward.
My first coach, her name wasLinda, my first ever business coach
or anything like that.
(16:12):
She was actually pretty new tocoaching at the time.
And this was in 2002.
She helped me get to a milliondollars in the business.
It wasn't her, you know, thatwasn't her claim.
There was, you know, backthen, you didn't have to make the
claims that we make today orpeople make in their marketing, but
she just helped me get clarityaround who I was, what I was going
to do next.
(16:33):
And the best way I candescribe it is Linda and I would
have a conversation where Iwas about 70, 80% sure of what to
do next.
After the conversation, I was100% sure I would get off the phone
call with her and I would justgo do it every time.
And when I did that over andover and over, that created success
in my business.
(16:53):
It created a sense ofconfidence and clarity.
And those things were exactlywhat I remembered.
When it was dark days for me,I wanted to be that person for someone
else.
And so I started thinkingabout being a coach.
I started looking at coaching programs.
Most coaches today are not certified.
I didn't know that, but Iwanted to get certified.
(17:16):
And I actually, if I, youknow, really being honest with you,
Dave, I was broken becausewhat happened to me, and I went through
a coaching program that was sointrinsic to who I was and my identity
and rebuilding myself that itwas able to rebuild me even when
I didn't believe in myself.
And I knew that was the skillsthat I wanted to work with for the
(17:38):
rest of my life and bring tothe, to the world and do what Linda
did for me, I wanted to do for others.
And so I became, I gotcertified as a coach.
I did get a job.
I had to do the things I hadto do to pay the bills.
But after 2012, I was on my own.
And I've been a full timecoach, speaker, author, podcaster
(18:00):
ever since then.
Okay, all right, so you're onthis new journey now and you.
So you're a coach and you gotcertified, you start building your
business and just.
Can, can you talk about howthe other aspect, it came about,
like the speaking, thewriting, the books, the podcast,
(18:20):
all that.
I'll also tell you this too.
I mean, when I was broken, andI know I've said that a few times,
but my confidence level wasjust shot.
Like, I just, I had just been successful.
I'd never really beenchallenged in my business career.
Everything had just worked outfor me.
But losing it all wrecked me.
And when I Look back at that.
I was carrying a lot of thatinto my coaching.
(18:41):
So my value for, you know,what I would ask for per hour in
the early days of coaching wasridiculously low because I had no
confidence.
But as I started working withothers, I started hiring some more
coaches to help me refine thisand get to the norms.
My first real client came in.
(19:04):
I was charging 500 bucks a month.
And I was able to.
To.
To.
I don't know how I paid thebills at 500 bucks a month because
I had probably three, four,five clients.
I raised my prices a littlebit here and there, but the first
six years of me building acoaching business was nowhere like
me building my sports tour business.
(19:24):
The sports tour business tookoff immediately and I was making
tremendous amount of moneywithin two years.
It took me six to seven yearsto get my foundation to get even.
I think to even get more thana hundred thousand in revenue, which
after paying your team andwhatnot, I still wasn't making that
much.
And I live in Atlanta, so it's really.
It was really hard.
(19:44):
And it was me, my wife and myson and none of us.
I was the one that wasproviding for everything.
So my wife didn't have a jobto kind of stabilize us.
She was a speaker as well.
So I go back to the strugglebecause I get it and I've been through
it and I've helped others do it.
I totally lived this for years.
But as I started running mybusiness, the one thing that worked
(20:08):
for me was when I would givesmall speeches for free, small networking
events.
Could be a chamber ofcommerce, it could be a user group
of some sort.
I met them on meetup.
I think that's still a thing.
Meetup.com I think.
But I started speaking and Istarted getting clients and I was
(20:29):
able to grow my business from that.
And that was about eight years ago.
Again, I wasn't charging forspeaking, but I would speak for free
and I would get a client or two.
And I did that ten times a year.
And I started built mybusiness, started scaling, started
writing books as I gotcomfortable with the rear view mirror
(20:50):
of what I experienced.
The Trap of Success being myfirst book, that was a hard one to
get out because it was veryemotional to me to look back at what
I had done and overcame.
And then I wrote this recentbook this past year with my wife,
who's in my business as well,or we do this together.
And it's just been anincredible journey.
(21:12):
It hasn't been easy, but doingit together has been Very special.
Let me just ask you anotherquestion along that same line, because
so often, you know, the spouseof an entrepreneur is, you know,
kind of goes through the samepain, right, with the journey and
the struggle and having toreally, you know, be there through
(21:34):
all the dark times.
I mean, sounds like she waswith you kind of all the way up through
to the mountaintop.
And then when everything camecrashing down and through the, the
whole post, post, you know,nightmare struggle and all that,
like how, how important wasyour, your wife and her support to.
To help this whole situation?
(21:56):
I probably couldn't stress howimportant it is.
I mean, we all have heard those.
I, I guess they call themcliches and whatnot, but it's really
not a cliche.
But the most importantdecision you'll make is who you decide
to, to do life with.
And I got married in 2002, soI've been married 23 years this year.
It'll be an incredible.
(22:17):
Just been an incrediblesupportive partner now.
Not, not easy, I will tell you.
I mean, there were times whereshe thought one way and I thought
another way.
And in the sportswearbusiness, I kind of ran things and
I made decisions.
She told me not to do the dealwhere everything fell apart multiple
times.
And I overruled her in air quotes.
(22:40):
But since then, wheneverything fell apart, she was right
there beside me.
She was holding my hand.
I was the one that was beingaccused of whatever was going on
because there was missingmoney, right?
Missing inventory.
I tried to shield her as muchas I could, but as soon as we got
past that and we got into thecoaching world, she kept her separate
(23:02):
business for a while.
She was speaking to young highschool students and some college
kids, using her skills of speaking.
And she wrote a book therecalled Faceplant because, you know,
kids.
Different kind of a differentkind of angle for that.
But she, in the last fouryears, she's been very integral to
(23:24):
this coaching business.
Actually, when I sell clients,I'm not just selling me, ideally,
I'm selling her as a coach.
And I have other coaches thatwork on our team that coach managers
into leaders.
And she was my co author onthe book.
You can see in the bottomthere, Amanda Hemet, very much an
equal partner and what we're doing.
And she's got a differentskill set.
(23:46):
She is incredible with whatshe does, and I do what I do, and
it has worked.
It's also not easy to write abook with your wife, if you can think
about it, because it's, it's,you know, it's a lot of time together
that we've got to make decisions.
And we just, we just wrappedup a couple's retreat.
First time we've ever done this.
We did a three day kind ofstaycation in Atlanta and we really
(24:10):
reflected back on what's goingon in our life.
Next year we'll be empty nesters.
Our son's going off to college.
And so we looked at our, youknow, how far we've come.
We talked specifically aboutlast year, the things that we did,
we got right, the things thatwe want to improve on.
And then we made intentionsand goals for 2025.
(24:31):
I would recommend that for anyone.
We had a bunch of questions.
We used to help us throughthat and happy to give them away
if anybody's interested.
But just an incredible partnerin the journey.
And I wouldn't be assuccessful and happy if we were doing
this separately or if shewere, you know, kind of not here.
(24:53):
All right, and so youmentioned too, right, Going through
the whole trauma of thebusiness debacle and your confidence
really took a hit and foryears you were struggling.
You weren't charging reallywhat you are worth.
And it took a while to getover that.
I mean, how looking back at itnow, right, because you're, you're,
you know, clearly you've comea long way since then.
(25:16):
Like how important do youthink that was in terms of building
your character to, to reallysustain, you know, success in coaching
long term?
I think in any entrepreneurialbusiness there's two things that
are absolutely required.
You've got to have courage and confidence.
(25:36):
The courage to make the tough decisions.
Like I jumped in both feetwith the sports tour business.
I continue to invest in thebusiness, invested in myself as a
coaching.
I really jumped in and hadcourage to do that.
And a lot of that gave meconfidence to move forward.
Now when I lost everything, Ihad to rebuild it and it took time
(26:00):
for me to do that.
My coaches helped me, my wifehelped me.
Just getting some repetitionwith my clients and their successes
all help build the confidence.
But if you don't understandhow confidence plays into your business,
then you're probably playingsafe because it takes a lot of trust
in yourself to charge moremoney to make bigger, bolder offers
(26:24):
to work with bigger clientsthat have got different kind of problems.
Every, not every one of myclients is exactly the same.
In fact, some people, I'llgive you an example, I've never had
a board.
I've worked with a lot of.
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
I've got lots of different businesses.
I've never had a formal board,but I've had some of my CEOs that
are running 20 and 30 milliondollar companies that have trouble
(26:45):
with their board.
And I get to coach in areaswhere I have no domain of expertise
and experience.
Now, that's scary.
But it took courage and tookconfidence and just being able to
listen and support them.
And I did.
I think looking back at it,fantastic job helping each one of
those clients navigate those challenges.
(27:08):
And so when you're anentrepreneur, you've got to have
courage and confidence.
And it builds every year.
Even, even when you thinkyou've got enough, you look back
and you go, I've grown just inthis past year.
I've been in business.
I've been doing this coachingthing for 12 years.
I've grown in this past year.
I can see it, I can feel it.
(27:28):
I know what it takes.
I have my own coaches.
I had two this past year.
Made huge investments in myself.
And that's what I think ittakes to really be successful in
today's ever changing world.
And especially in terms of leadership.
Because most people I'mtalking to, they're building businesses
that are bigger than they'veever run before.
And every time they hit newchallenges, they doubt themselves.
(27:51):
And having me to talk toactually helps them get clarity and
confidence to move forward theway I described what Linda did for
me.
And so I'm living the dreamthat I set out to when I was trying
to put my life back together.
All right, and another thingyou just brought up there.
So you said as, asentrepreneurs continue to grow and
(28:13):
progress and reach new levels,they doubt themselves.
And something we hear about somuch today especially is imposter
syndrome.
Can you just talk about, like,what you see from that regard with
the people you coach and youknow, how you, how you deal with
it.
(28:34):
So imposter syndrome.
I don't think any of us areimmune to it.
And if you really work withpeople that are really successful
that you think would haveovercome it, they're reaching new
levels within themselves andit will still come up as imposter
syndrome.
If you dig deeper, what yourealize is there's an inner critic
in all of us.
(28:55):
And the inner critic knowsexactly what to say because it's
part of your subconscious.
It knows when to say it.
It knows when to say, oh, butyou're not ready for that.
Oh, but you're not enough.
You're not pretty enough,you're not a good enough speaker,
you're not a good enough writer.
You're not a good enough whatever.
And that inner critic is what.
(29:16):
Where the imposter syndrome, Ithink comes from.
And I created some content along time ago, and I didn't ask you
if I can cuss on here, butit's called.
The inner critic is an ass.
Your inner critic is anasshole, because it will stop you
from doing the thing you want.
If you've.
Let's say you've got aninvestment that you want to do, your
inner critic will go, you'renot going to.
(29:38):
You're not worth that.
We all have an inner critic.
It all has a little voiceinside of us that says things that
will stop us.
And if I go back to my career,I talked about running my business.
I had an idea, but I wastrapped by my success.
I was making so much money andso much freedom that I didn't move
(29:59):
forward because my innercritic was saying, but if you don't,
if this doesn't work out,you're going to lose what you have.
And it knew how to stop me,and it did, until I ended up losing
it all and having to rebuild myself.
And so now when I'm workingwith people I listen to, sometimes
it's the words they say.
(30:19):
I'm listening to the patternswhich they have over time.
I'm listening to the energy atwhich they have and the clarity.
And I ask probing questions.
This is what coaches do.
And I've gotten really good.
And I even have created toolsthat I can lean on that accelerate
the success of someone that istrying to grow their business, because
(30:41):
all of us have that innercritic that stops us.
But if we listen to it, you'llnever have the kind of life and success
you want.
But if you know how to riseabove it, you know how to really
get, connect with trusting yourself.
And you can do that throughcoaching or you can do that through,
you know, some people can doit themselves.
I'm not saying that everyonehas to have a coach.
(31:01):
I just know I perform muchmore efficiently and effectively
when I have invested in myself.
And I will.
I will move forward because Iwant to make sure there's an ROI
there through my own coachingthat I invest in.
And so when I take on clients,I mean, that's.
I'm looking for people thatare willing to be that want to be
really, you know, execute atthis higher level.
(31:24):
Not just that kind of want it,but are really committed and have
conviction to.
To growth themselves.
All right, and let's talkabout your new book, how to have
Tough Conversations.
So what.
What made you decide to writethat book.
The.
The short story behind that isI thought I was going to write a
(31:44):
book about values because itcomes up quite a bit on the podcast.
Interviews.
I've done over 800 interviewswith CEOs from the Inc.
5000 fastest growing privatelyheld companies, and they talk about
the importance of values.
And so I've said that for along time, but then I started diving
into the work and it's stillan important work, but I ended up
(32:04):
writing a book on how to turnmanagers into leaders because a lot
of my clients would say, help,I need leaders.
Now I'm trying to hire leaders.
How do I hire leaders?
How do I develop leaders?
And so I wrote a book and Iwanted a very short book.
And so once I wrote this bookwith my wife, Amanda, I stepped back
from it and I was talking tomy coach about it and I said, you
(32:25):
know, finish the first draft.
But I feel like it's too long.
I feel like it's too rambly,it's really shallow on all of the
different aspects of leadership.
And my coach at the time said,which chapter do you feel like is
most important for your work?
I thought about it, he askedme a few more questions, and it came
(32:47):
really clear.
I think it was chapter 18.
And it was about the tough conversations.
Because the number onequestion I tend to ask in my coaching
over the last 10 plus yearshas been, what's the missing conversation
that you haven't had yet withthat person?
(33:08):
Because the CEO will get onhere and rant about someone on their
executive team.
Or maybe it's a director,maybe it's a vp, maybe it's just
someone on the team that's notperforming, not aligned, whatever
it is.
And I will listen to itbecause they don't have anybody to
rant to.
And then I will ask them as aredirection, what's the missing conversation?
That hasn't happened yet.
(33:29):
And I've done this for yearsand years and years, but I didn't
have a way to give them a tool.
I think Radical Candor is anincredible book in this category.
I think Crucial Conversationsis another great book, but both of
those books talk about theproblem, but not real good at how
to do the problem and how tosolve it.
(33:49):
And so when I step back fromthat, I end up writing a book with
Amanda called How to haveTough Conversations to address the
people problems that are soprevalent in our business.
I joke around and say this.
Every business has people problems.
If you have people, you havepeople that are either not Aligned,
not showing up, not givingtheir all.
(34:10):
I was surprised when I heard this.
There's about 40% of the worldthat just doesn't want to work.
And they do the absolute bare minimum.
And they're, you know, it'sbeyond quiet quitting.
They're just coasting by.
And that's a missingconversation that hasn't happened
(34:30):
yet.
If anybody has that.
Wow, 40%.
It's more than 40% for some,some places.
I.
But the people problems, ifyou, if you step back, do you have
people problems?
I don't know what your teamlooks like.
I'm not going to ask you tocall out anyone in your teams, but
I know that even within myteam, who's small, and I love the
(34:53):
people that are on my team, Ihave to scan through and go, all
right, what's the missingconversation I haven't had with that
person yet?
And sometimes it's about justcommunication, or sometimes it's
about quality, or sometimesit's about hitting their KPIs.
And I know that that onequestion has unlocked an incredible
(35:14):
conversation with my clients.
And then they take action fromthose conversations.
I do Pride myself, in 12 yearsof doing this, I have never told
a client that you need to fire someone.
Now, I've thought it.
I have asked a lot ofquestions around that, you know,
why, why you keep giving them chances.
But I do feel like theplaybook that's in this book, especially
(35:36):
page 35, there's a.
There's a four differentphases of a tough conversation.
And if you don't know what thephases are, then you.
That's.
That's the first place I'dstart with this book is.
Page 35 is just looking at thephases and realizing which one you
gravitate to.
Most people say they don't dothe first two or three phases.
(35:59):
They just let things fester,let them get really bad, and they
get into phase four, which is exit.
And if you're waiting forthings to get better, they usually
don't.
But if you wait till phasefour, it's too far gone.
You're ready just to say, Idon't want to be in this relationship
anymore, whatever it is.
And we.
(36:19):
Hopefully you will see thesetough conversations earlier, you
will have them sooner.
And if you follow theframework that we've laid out in
the book, you will do themmore effectively and you will be
seen as a better leaderbecause you.
Giving feedback to an employeeis absolutely critical for them to
have a good experience atwork, but also for them to provide
the value that, you know, thatthey can and for them to actually
(36:42):
grow while they're with you.
And so this book has changedeverything for my clients in that
perspective.
All right.
All right.
And, Gene, if people want tolearn more about you, your work,
your coaching programs, yourbooks, what's the best way people
can.
Can get in touch with you?
I hate to give anyone a lot ofthings, but the best place is probably
(37:05):
Gene Hammett.com I've been aspeaker there.
That's where I primarily putup information about speaking.
But it connects to thepodcast, it connects to the book.
The core business is core elevation.
That's what I run with Amanda.
And so either one of thosework and the book is, you know, it's
(37:26):
available on Kindles andpaperback and hardcover and Audible.
So if you do want to be abetter leader this year in 2025 and
you're not as comfortable asyou could be with tough conversations,
I would say this is anincredible place for you to start.
And, you know, a book is,what, 10 bucks or 15 bucks or something
like that, Incredible, youknow, tool for you to.
(37:48):
To develop that skill ofcommunication, specifically with
tough conversations.
So that's where I would go.
All right, and we'll link allthat in the show notes for everyone.
All right, well, Jean, thankyou so much for taking the time to
be here.
We greatly appreciate yousharing your story and, and.
And all the work that you'vedone for our listeners.
We thank you so much.
(38:09):
Dave, thanks for having me.
And if there's anything I cando for anyone listening in, make
sure you reach out.
I'm happy to give as much as Ican give away tools, give away anything
I've mentioned, I'll give awayfor free.
I don't.
My clients pay me enough whereI can give away nearly everything
in my business.
All right, and that's.
That's all the time we havefor now.
(38:29):
We will see you next time.
Sa.
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