Elevate Springfield featuring John Geyston: Elevating Through the Power of Purpose, Systems, and Service

Send us Fan Mail

Summary

In this episode, John Geyston shares his inspiring journey from martial arts to building successful businesses, emphasizing the importance of purpose, systems, and community. Discover actionable insights on leadership, growth, and overcoming challenges.

Takeaways

• Having a clear purpose and mission is crucial for sustained success.
• Implementing systems and processes enables scalable growth.
• Building genuine relationships and community enhances leadership.
• Persistence and resilience are key to overcoming doubts and setbacks.
• Sharing stories and experiences inspires others and fosters connection.

Join The Elevate Insider:

https://bigdogbc.com/elevate

Facebook:  @robertferriell   @elevatespringfield

Youtube: @robertferriell

10X Health:  https://10xhealthnetwork.com/BIGDOG

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive
into strategies and stories thathelp you rise to your full
potential.
Each episode, we'll talk abouthow you can take intentional
steps to elevate your life andyour business while making a
meaningful impact on thosearound you.
Along the way, we're going tobring in the change makers from

(00:20):
our community that are alreadyelevating.
We'll bring the actionablestrategies, you bring the
discipline and follow through,and together we can elevate
Springfield.
Alright, let's go, Springfield.
Time to 10X your life, yourbusiness, all of it.
Time to crush those goals, timeto get after it.

(00:42):
Let's go.
You are listening to the ElevateSpringfield Podcast.
Robert Farrell here, certified10x coach, speaker, and mentor
here to bring you actionablestrategies.
You bring the discipline andfollow through.
And together, we're going toElevate Springfield.
We're coming to you again frombeautiful downtown Springfield

(01:02):
in the Big Dog ConstructionStudio.
Hey, we've got so much going onin Springfield right now.
Make sure you are participating.
Get out there, network withfolks, be a part of the
community, support localbusinesses, support local
nonprofits, and let's go.
We can all grow together.

(01:24):
So, hey, another great episodefor you today.
We're gonna get right to ourguest after the break.
Hey Springfield, when it comesto reliable, high-quality
roofing, you don't want to leavethings to chance.
That's why you should reach outto Acosta Angeli Ruffing, your
local roofing expert servingSpringfield and surrounding
communities.

(01:44):
From quick dependable repairs tofull replacement, from
residential to commercial, theyare your trusted pros.
Call them today at 217-993-2748or visit their website to book
your free quote and inspection.
Don't wait.
A little leak now could lead tomajor damage later.

(02:08):
Trust the local experts, protectyour home, and get peace of mind
with Acosta Angeli Roofing.
All right, and we are back.
Hey, joining me in the studionow, John Gaston from Empowered
Martial Arts.
John, how you doing today, man?

SPEAKER_04 (02:22):
I'm good.
I'm good.
It's good to be back home in thecapital city.

SPEAKER_00 (02:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, you're based out ofFlorida now, but back in town
because you still have, ofcourse, empowered everything
here, right?
So we'll talk all about that.
But appreciate you coming down.
Let's just start with a littlebit about you, John.
Tell us about your background,man.

SPEAKER_04 (02:39):
Well, you know, it I'm assuming we'll talk about
the martial arts, but I'll sharea little bit, like personal
wise.
You know, when I was four, mydad was killed in a car
accident.
And I tell you that part of thestory because growing up, I
didn't have like that fatherfigure, male role model, right?

SPEAKER_03 (02:54):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:54):
And it got to the point where even sometimes I was
resentful.
When I'd watch kids playingcatch with their dad, I'm like,
man, kids, I'm mad at that kid,right?
And it was just a weird thing.
And I think for me, martialarts, and there was something
about it.
So I did it when I was nine fora summer, did it when I was 15
for about 18, about a year and ahalf, I would say.
Probably eight.

(03:14):
Yeah, I would say about 18months.
There was something that drew meto it, but it just wasn't
connecting for me.
It was just like, and reallyhonestly, and I always say this
the first two guys that I didlessons with, 1972, 1977, 76,
77, they they were probably fromkarate kid, they probably made
John Creese look like a goodhuman being.
Oh wow.
Yeah, they just weren't goodpeople.

(03:35):
Right.
Right.
So, and I remember telling mymom, I said, You put me in
karate because I'm beingbullied, but the instructor is
meaner than any of the otherkids.
I would rather fight thekingdom.
I would rather fight the threekids.
Right.
Uh so you know, it just, andthen I got back out of Lincoln
Land and I started knowing thekarate group was there, and it
was Doug Dennis had anintramural program out there.
And everybody was my age, andyou know, and I just kept

(03:58):
walking by for about a month.
It was right down the hallway onmy Friday history class that I
had.
Finally, I seen a guy come outin the game.
I start talking to him.
One thing led to another.
I'm doing a class a week later,and I've done it four or five
days ever since that.
So I always say the martial artsfound me.
I'm not certain I found it.
So I start out at Lincoln Land,and you know, as a two-year
college.
The instructor was David Isaacand two-year college.

(04:20):
He's gonna he took a job inTennessee.
Doug Dennis comes to me and JohnPatterson and says, Hey, if you
guys take over the program, I'llgive you free membership to the
main academy.
Heck yeah, right.
Let's go.
You know, and I always jokeabout that.
And I mean, I'm paying my waythrough Lincoln Land, I'm uh
Real Eels Pizza.
I'm driving a powder blue Vegasstation wagon with two different
fender colors and uh in a redjumpsuit delivering pizzas to

(04:42):
get my way through college.
I'm like, I'm in.
And I always joke about thatlater.
I'm like, I was such a goodbusinessman, I negotiated
working 12 hours a week for$52.50 a month.
You know, but that opened thedoor, and I always say he saw
something in me that I didn'tsee in myself.
And you know, at that time itwas never meant to be anything
other than a hobby, and Ienjoyed competing and enjoyed

(05:04):
sharing and teaching and helpingpeople get better and you know,
did that.
And then about a year later,1983, that's 82, 83, I go up to
Williamsville, where I went tojunior high and high school.
The gym owner up there asked meabout it.
So we we start the programthere, and then I move it over
to Athens, Illinois, and Ibought a building for$7,000.

SPEAKER_01 (05:24):
Really?

SPEAKER_04 (05:25):
And ran it out of there for about five, six years
and sold that building for 13.
And I'm like, that was prettycool.
Yeah, absolutely.
I don't know why I didn't keepwith that model.
Right.
But yeah, so no, that was kindof how the whole started.
It wasn't meant to be.
And 1996, I'm working, um, Itaught 14 years part-time.
96, I'm working as a laborrelations with the state, and
then I went to work for theTeamsters.

(05:45):
Just decided you know, onlything I'm that I love doing and
it makes me feel alive is whatI'm teaching martial art.
So I went full time.
I walked away from it in 1996and yeah, walked away from
six-figure income to make$5,000my first year.

SPEAKER_00 (05:59):
Wow.
Yeah.
That's a scary thought for a lotof people taking that leech.
You know?

SPEAKER_04 (06:04):
And the the tempting part was when you're in that
type of struggle and and you'vebeen in business, and so many
people probably listen to this,has been in business.
And I got the Teamsters tryingto get me back.
Now they've offered me 25, thenit was 30,000 more.
And then I had taken the testthree, four years earlier for
state police, they call me, andthen I got DOT calling me,
wanting me to come back and takemy job.

SPEAKER_00 (06:26):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04 (06:26):
And I'm just like, you know, I kept thinking.

SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
All these different arms trying to pull you back.

SPEAKER_04 (06:31):
And it's tempting.
Yeah.
You know, when you're whenyou're only bringing home five
thousand dollars in a year.
So I'm just stuck to it.
I'm really glad I, you know, Ijoked, and but that was that was
the discipline and perseveranceof it, right?
Like, I ain't gonna win anychampionship if I'm not
training.
So let's just stick with this astraining.

SPEAKER_00 (06:47):
Right, right.
So in that 14 years ofpart-time, were you just doing
it on the in the evenings?
Was it mostly with kids, adults?
What was it?

SPEAKER_04 (06:54):
A little bit, a little bit of both.
Uh I was fortunate, and and Ithink anybody that gets in
business, I just enjoyed doingit.
And uh it was it was a blend ofthat.
I think maybe my peak was 70, 75students, right?
And and I thought, okay, I I Ifeel good with this, I like it.
And again, it wasn't meant to bea business.
And in 96, when I made that bigshift, I realized, okay, I have

(07:15):
I have no clue how to price myprograms.
I have no clue how to schedulefor efficiency for families.
I have no clue how to market.
I have no clue.
So I joined a consulting groupto figure all that out.
Because I'm like, hey, I I knowif I'm gonna make this work, I
got to have some help because Idon't know what I'm doing.
Right.
Because I think all of us thatstart a business, we're we enjoy

(07:35):
what we do, but running abusiness on as an individual is
totally different than running abusiness with systems in place
and processes in place.

SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Completely agree.

SPEAKER_04 (07:44):
Because you got to repeat it.
So right.
And I've been gone, put it if weadvance forward, gone five years
living in Tampa.
Rick Christie is my businesspartner on this school,
operating business partner onthis.
And they've grown the academy.
They continue to grow it, youknow, 15, 20% a year.
And it's just because we havesystems in place.

SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
Right.
So you started in the from themid-90s on there.
How long did it take you to getsome of those systems in place
and really start seeing some ofthat growth?

SPEAKER_04 (08:08):
It you know, really, it once I got in the consulting
group, I think naturally I amwhat you would call reflective
person.
And I'm somebody that I I go bythe model, we never know what we
don't know.
So I'm the perfect student.
I'll put my feet on the dot, sayyes, sir, and you tell me to do
the drill, I'll do the drill.
Sure.
So it that was fairly quick.
I want to say we went from 50,60 students to 180 within

(08:34):
probably nine to ten monthsafter jumping in the consulting
group.

SPEAKER_00 (08:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (08:38):
And then two years later it was 400 members.
And I would have never thought.

SPEAKER_00 (08:42):
That's amazing.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (08:42):
That's huge.
And I still had stuff to learn,but it was just getting over
that first hurdle from you know,I remember going to the banks
and stuff, and and one bankereven laughed at me and uh was
almost to the point of rude.
Like he just shoved it back tome.
He goes, Man, this is a waste ofmy time.

SPEAKER_02 (08:56):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (08:56):
Coming in here with a hobby.
There's no way you can do this.
2011, we're on the cover of MASuccess, which is the Forbes
magazine of the martial artindustry.
Come on.
And I moved back here in old.
I moved away and went to workfor that consulting company.
98, we pretty much went from 96to 98.
We went to 400 members.
I went to work for that companyin United Professionals.

(09:18):
And I went down there and workedfor them for about a year, year
and a half.
Came back when my son was born,started to school in 07 in in
2010.
We were at 725 active membersright out of Springfield.
And I and I say that because Ithink sometimes all of us that
are Midwest small town peoplethink only New York, LA, big
cities are getting at.

(09:38):
No, we beat everybody.
Right.
We were the biggest school, andit was right out of Springfield,
Illinois.
And that the people who didthat, they came in to shoot the
photos and stuff.
And he said that I gotta tellyou, it's even more impressive
because what the hell is thistown?
You know, because they're fromLA.
Sure.
And you you when you're flyingin from St.
Louis and driving up here,you're like fields all the way

(09:59):
up.
100%.
But you know, I'm like, yeah,it's just a small town.
Right.
John Cougar Mellicamp.

SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Right.
Wow.
You know, type of thing.
Well, when you to grow it thatmuch so quickly, what was your
primary marketing on that?
What did you guys do?

SPEAKER_04 (10:11):
I truly believe I always cared.
And in 97, 98, I was asked tospeak to a juvenile detention
center.
And and and I'm sitting thereand it was, and there's maybe
six, seven kids in the group.
And I'll share this storybecause this was the shift for
me.
And I can tell you this was thethis was this wasn't the
transformation happening.
And you know, I'm looking atthese kids, and there's a girl
in the front row, she might be13, 14, and she's looking at me

(10:34):
like I owe her money orsomething.
And I'm thinking, how cansomebody have so much hate at
such a young age for someonethey'd never met?

SPEAKER_02 (10:41):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (10:42):
And it's not more I'm judging her, I'm like, man,
I have no clue what this room isfeeling on the inside.
And I'm trying to do the whole,the past doesn't define our
future.
We learn, right?
You know, we have to expose ourweaknesses.
I'm trying to be on the positiveside.
And a kid in the back, he says,Hey, what's your name again?
And did you ever teach?
And about four questions intoit, he goes, Do you remember a
kid by the name of Peanut?

(11:02):
And I go, Oh, yeah.
I said, Peanut was with me,probably, I want to say.
And I said, Man.
And I start going, I said, he'sa good kid.
I said, he kind of he only didit for a short period of time.
I said, Are you friends withhim?
He goes, That's me, man.
And right immediately I thoughtto myself, the signs were always
there.
He had a dirty gi.
His parents never showed up towatch his class, never showed up
to his tournament, never showedup to his bell promotions.
And then he just disappeared.

(11:24):
Right.
And I start thinking to myself,could I have done something
different to change his outcome?
I didn't take theresponsibility, but I'm like, I
could have done something.

SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
Yeah, what could I have done differently?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (11:33):
And I and I I asked the guy, the guard that was
there, and I said, I can't.
I said, I'm not asking personalinformation.
I said, I would like to be ableto help him when he gets out and
give him just membership.
And he goes, When he hits 17,he'll go away for 10 years.
Wow.
Or 18, whatever the whatever theage was.
Or like he would go to the adultpenitentiary.
Sure.
And I'm like, man.

(11:53):
So I went back immediately and Istarted realizing outside of the
technique, there are people thatneed this to find who they are
and find their potential.
And really that's what we'redoing, right?
But I'm like, we've never lookedat it from the character
development side.
So 9798 is when I made thatshift.
And that's when things startedtaking off.
I thought it was really cleverat the time.
We call it the Mall Paul Group,Martial Art Parent Association.

(12:16):
And we just started doingfundraisers.
We gave away$60,000 to at-riskkids.
Um, started doing theThanksgiving basket brigade for
families that were in need,providing uh baskets for food
for them to have Thanksgivingdinner for up to a family of
four.
And I want to say our last year,now when I moved to Florida, we
stopped that just because Ididn't want to put that burden
on Rick and everybody else.
Because it's an undertaking.
I think we're gonna try to kickthat back in this year.

(12:37):
But no, that that those are thethings.
So I think my theory was thiscould be transformational for
somebody.
And if you know your purpose andyour mission, then you just got
to figure out your processes.
And I was figuring out theprocesses to run the business,
and then it was a reconnectionof why am I doing this?
Right.
You know, I used to say I wantthe mentor that I needed when I
was nine.
And I want to now be the mentorthat Peanut needed when he was

(13:00):
nine, which obviously, andagain, I don't take fault, but
I'm like, I could have helped.
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (13:04):
Right.
Right.
So so with that, I mean, ofcourse, a lot of people are
taking karate because they wantthe self-defense aspect and
everything.
But how do you how do you embedthat mentorship as the leader in
a facility like that?

SPEAKER_04 (13:16):
Yeah.
Well, you and that it was veryinteresting question that you
just asked because the timing onthis, we have five or six new
people.
We have like what we call acoach instructor development
course.
And I just talked with themMonday night.
I spent 90 minutes with them.
And it wasn't on nothing how tocorrect the punch, nothing.
I talked about you have tounderstand.
And I had them tell me theirstory, why they started.

(13:37):
And I said, Why'd you stay?
And they said, Well, the cultureand everybody care.
One guy said, He goes, When Ieverybody was so nice, I kept
thinking, as soon as they get mymoney, I bet you they don't pay
attention to me.
And he goes, and I was wrong.
And I kept thinking, I'm waitingfor the the the past the sales
romance period.
Sure, sure.
And he goes, it never happened.
He goes, to this day, they treathim in the same way they treat
me the first week.

(13:58):
And I said, we have to know whatour passion is, our purpose.
And if we know that, I can showyou the process.
And then I talked about youcan't help anybody until you
build up rapport first and thena relationship.
I said, even trying to correctthe kid's front kick, he's going
to accept that correction betterfrom someone that he knows that
actually has built up arelationship with him and knows

(14:19):
he cares rather than criticizinghis technique.
Yeah, no doubt about it.
And and I really think that, youknow, when people ask me, and it
yes, you have to understandbusiness systems.
You have to understand sales,you have to understand.
And but I think at the end ofthe day, there's people that
have business practices down,but they're not connected to the
purpose and the mission.
So the hundred percent 90minutes of that talk was to

(14:40):
connect everybody emotionally towhy they want to coach.
I said, if you're wanting tocoach because you want to stand
in front and have someone bow toyou and call you sir, never do
that here at Empowered.
We don't we don't have aposition for you.

SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Yeah.
I love that.
No, it's it's service.
It's service over selling apackage.
You know, it's you serving yourpeople there.
So over the years at theSpringfield location here, has
it been primarily kids oradults?

SPEAKER_04 (15:05):
You know, we've always, yeah, it's I would say
kids naturally, that's the oneswho reach out the most.

SPEAKER_00 (15:09):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (15:10):
But we have always done, I would say we're probably
60, 40, 60% kids, 40% adults,which is very high for the
industry.
But we've always had a morereality-based and character, you
know, same thing.
Character development for adult,he needs to be around an
aspiring crowd, stress relieffrom the day, positive thoughts,

(15:30):
direction.
I have a complete thing I callconfidence through competence.
Your parents can tell you you'rebeautiful, you're smart, you can
be anything you want to be inyour life.
But if I have no social proof ofthat, how can I?
They're just words.
Right.
So we need to create anenvironment where someone can
feel a struggle, feel achallenge, maybe fail.
But in an environment wheresomeone's there to support and

(15:51):
say, you got this.
The problem wasn't there.
The problem was 30 secondsbefore.
Let's go back to this and talkabout where your hand should
have been or blah, blah, blah,blah, blah.
Well, now you can start applyingthat in life.
So I think they see thecharacter side for them as well.
You know, I'm not going to buildtheir confidence up the same way
I build up a kid's.
But I think overall, all of us,what is the number one thing?
And you know this from youreducation and 10X with Grant

(16:15):
Cardone's organization.
And self-improvement is thebiggest business that's out
there.
You know, when I was doing thelabor relations for DOT, I
handled everything fromSpringfield to Chicago and from
the West to the East.
And uh, you know, you get tiredof radio after a while.
So Tony Robbins was it.
Yeah.
And I still have that cassetteand DVD set.
That's how, and my my wife wentto throw them out there.

(16:37):
I go, are you nuts?
That isn't that's like throwingout the family album.
That's right.
You don't do that.
No, but I have the original hardcase stuff.
I think I have the DVD set now.
I don't know.
I can't find the cassettes.

SPEAKER_01 (16:49):
That's great, though.
Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 (16:50):
It's it's the one with him when he when he's maybe
30 years old, right?
So, but I kept thinking this isthe part that's missing in the
the physical part.

SPEAKER_00 (16:58):
Yeah.
You know, absolutely.
Okay.
Well, for folks that may nothave ever had anything to do
with martial arts, what is atypical training track?
You know, maybe they've got akid that's 10 years old and they
come in.
What's what's the track looklike for them?

SPEAKER_04 (17:11):
Well, we we start off, we do uh everybody is
eligible for belt testing.
We run everything on quarterlyexams, colorly reviews.
We teach an A, B day split.
So the lesson plan is divided intwo parts Monday, Tuesday is
identical, Wednesday, Thursday,Saturday is identical.
We're always closed on Fridays.
So they do that.
They're gonna progress instripes, and then when they get

(17:31):
the three stripes, if they havethe three stripes in the the 12
weeks, they're eligible to test.
And then they go through atesting process with that.
If they're not, we get them thegood news is there's one in
another 12 weeks.
Right, exactly.
So you can jump back on that.
So we we want to clarify a veryuh it's a visual aspect for them
to see this is my path, myjourney, and we call it the

(17:53):
pathway to success, the blackbelt destination.
So it's very defined for them.
And I think that's anotherthing.
Like, you know, I rememberstarting in jujitsu and uh
myself, I'm just like, you haveno clue when you're gonna get
promoted, right?
No clue when this is gonnahappen.
You have no clue what this andand I don't think that's wrong,
but I think we as a society anda culture want to know.

(18:14):
If I in go to Harvard, I know ifI pass every test and go from
freshman to sophomore to juniorto senior, I'm gonna graduate
with a Harvard degree.
That's not known in ourindustry.
And that was one of the things Imade an adjustment on.
Let's let's clarify this.

SPEAKER_00 (18:29):
We all need targets.
We talk about that in 10x allthe time.
You have to have the target.
That's the first thing.
Set the target, and then we'llcome up with the plan and the
processes, whatever we need todo to get there.
But you got to have a target.

SPEAKER_04 (18:38):
Yeah, and so many people don't.

SPEAKER_00 (18:39):
Yeah.
Right?

SPEAKER_04 (18:39):
So a lot of the adjustments were were like those
were little things that weren'tclear in traditional classic
martial art instruction.
So we uh we clarified that, andI think that that's two
questions.
That's that's your questionthere, but it also goes back to
when you're clarifying that,people are more connected to you
and they understand the process.
When we're gonna quit, oh, Iquit because I don't know you

(19:00):
know when I'm gonna get there.
Or I'm gonna give up because I'mjust not I I don't feel I'm
progressing.
So I think there we need to seeprogress, we need to see the
visual access to it.
But you know, for the Kimple isthe side that we teach on the
martial arts with a blend of MuiThai.
We have two different beltprograms basically.
You can do the martial arts andyou can do the gracie jujitsu.
And uh Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is alittle bit longer, but you

(19:22):
someone can literally, ifthey're there two, three days a
week and they're consistentlystripe testing and moving up,
they they could get their blackbelt in four and a half to five
years.
Uh we have a different beltprogram for four to five year
olds.
There's extra belts and stepsthat they take.

SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Sure.

SPEAKER_04 (19:36):
Because we're not, we don't want an eight-year-old
black belt.
Yeah, they're not ready forthat.
Right.
You know, black belt's maturity.
Some people have a disagreementwith that's perfectly fine.
You know, I always say we don'tknow if our way is the right
way, but it's right for us.
And it's been proven to be rightfor 12,000 students in 44 years
in Springfield.

SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
12,000 students.
12,000 students.

SPEAKER_04 (19:55):
So we we want to be clarified.
We want people to see that Ican't inspect, right?
What we don't understand is toexpect it.
So the same thing, just asmanaging people, how do I they
have to do that?
And I always say we work forthem.
We have to show them this iswhat I'm gonna do for you if
this and thank you for paying meand hiring me at you know XYZ
amile per month.

SPEAKER_00 (20:15):
Right.
Exactly.
So you said those stripes, thoseare those intermediary targets,
essentially, right?
They have to do the they have todo something to earn a stripe to
get the next stripe to getright.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
What what are some of the thingsthat you do to earn a stripe?

SPEAKER_04 (20:28):
Well, they'll they'll go again.
It's tendance is not theindicator, but it is the
benchmark.
Like if you don't have a minimumof 10 classes in, you can't
evaluate for the stripe.
You got to have 10 classes.
Right.
And if you don't have it, well,you're not ready.
Yeah.
And then you got to have thethree to get there.
So, but it's it's reallyreviewing.

(20:49):
We will offer that stripetesting at the fifth week cycle,
right?
So we've done A day, B day.
So now we're into a 10 lessonand then it repeats.
They'll they'll stripe test thenand they stripe test again on
the 10th week.
And then on the 11th week, we donothing but complete review of
the summary of week one through10.

SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
Sure.

SPEAKER_04 (21:10):
And then on the 12th week they test for their belt.
So then they kind of repeat theprocess.
So it's also taking littlequizzes before I take the final
advantage.
Yeah.
Love it.

SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
Yeah.
So cool.
Well, you said 12,000 studentsin Springfield over the course
of these 44 years.
I think it's 44 years.
Yeah.
So how many locations do youhave now?

SPEAKER_04 (21:27):
We did downsize.
We had two locations when Imoved to Florida.
And we we downsized basicallybecause I didn't want to stress
the staff.
Sure.
With me being gone, everybodyhad to step up to the main
thing.
And I said, hey, you know, let'swe can move Rochester, merge
them over.
And there's a lot of people thatare still with us from that.
So now we're just just the onemain school.
I think we're about 400 activemembers at this location.

SPEAKER_00 (21:49):
But don't you have one in Florida too, though?
I do.
That's right.
Yeah, I mean holistically, yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (21:54):
Tam Tampa, we're we're we run a smaller school
down there.
It's uh, I don't want to sayretirement.
Because I never see myselfretired.
But you know, I'm I'll be 64 aweek from this Saturday.
So I'm trying to slow down alittle bit.
So we have focused on like 175members down there.

SPEAKER_02 (22:11):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (22:11):
And it's just a smaller school, easier.
I I'm not wanting to.
Now, if I end up with a staffmember that's gung-ho and wants
to go, hey, let's let's do it.
Well, right now for John, 1665,175 is really good for Tampa.
So I always call that myslowdown school.

SPEAKER_00 (22:28):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 (22:28):
Chill school.

SPEAKER_00 (22:29):
There you go.
So what out of curiosity, whyTampa?
Why'd you choose to move toTampa?

SPEAKER_04 (22:33):
Yeah, uh, we've always talked about that.
When when I went to work forUnited Professionals, they were
based out of uh Cold Springs,Florida.
And by Fort Lauderdale, allright.
And we we lived over there for alittle bit.
And that to us in in 2001 wasfast-paced.
Everybody was from New York, NewJersey.
You know, you're coming fromhere.
Hey, how you doing?
Talking to everybody at a gasstation.
There, if you hold a door forsomebody, I remember holding a

(22:55):
door for like some 80-year-oldwoman.
And, you know, I said, ma'am,good morning.
And she clutched her purse likeI was gonna mug her.
Oh, wow.
Uh it had that big city vibe.
It was not relaxing.
Right.
So I knew East Coast, maybe theGulf Coast will be a little more
Midwestern.
And and we found that in Tampa.
Florida overall is not the samecommunity as Illinois.

SPEAKER_02 (23:15):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (23:15):
I purposefully just wave, hey, how you doing?
How you doing?
Wave at everybody in theneighborhood, and you're lucky
if you get a nod.

SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (23:21):
Right.
But it's it's in, but thenthere'll be somebody else in
that house 12 months frombecause it's so transitional and
everybody's from somewhere else.
So it's just interesting and I'mloving it.
But my kids both went to collegein Florida.
And I'm just like, you know, andit's that was at the 40-year
mark.
Okay.
It'd be five years in September.
And I'm just like, you knowwhat?

(23:41):
Let's just go do it.
I'm not needed here.
I got a great team.
And you know, I'm needing alittle bit of the shift after 40
years.
Most people what retire.
Right.
You know, after what, 25, 30years in a time.

SPEAKER_00 (23:51):
I'm like, you know, I'll just relocate.

SPEAKER_04 (23:52):
Yeah, just make a little shift.

SPEAKER_00 (23:53):
Yeah.
So did you go into Tampathinking that you're going to do
another school or did that comelater?

SPEAKER_04 (23:57):
I did.
I wanted to, I knew I was goingto do that.
And honestly, I was going tofocus possibly on just like
private lessons or going into arec center.
Because I knew I didn't want tobite off all of it myself.
And then I had some people comeforward and they wanted to get
involved.
So I'm like, okay, let's do it.
So, you know, we went big.
And you know, and I'm sittinghere telling you I'm slowing
down, but all at the same time,we're looking at a second

(24:18):
location down there.
So it's going to be a slowdown.
So I don't know if I'm evergoing to slow down.

SPEAKER_00 (24:22):
No, of course.
When you love what you do, younever really slow down.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 (24:25):
When I started, like I always said, Doug saw
something in me that I didn'tsee in myself.
And there's there's a quote, Iam not who I think I am.
I'm not who you think I am.
I am who I think you think I am.
Right.
So Doug saw an instructor in me.
And I never saw myself aninstructor.
And then people started, youknow, being positive about that.
I'm like, oh, you know, I wantto, I'm going to do that.
And when I went in '96, when Iwent full time, I literally, I

(24:48):
knew people who made a careerteaching martial arts.
Doug told me not to do it.
My best friend told me not to doit.
My Kimpo instructor called meand told me not to do it.
And then my mother, who told meI could be anything I wanted to
be my entire life, told me don'tdo it.
And uh I didn't know anybody.
I didn't because they said, no,this is not meant to be a
career.
This is not, this is meant to bean art that we share.

(25:11):
And you know, and and I'm like,okay, you know, Dave Kovar, Bill
Clark, so I got all thesepeople, Sergio von Schmelling,
Tiger Schoeman, Fred Degenberg,they all got multiple schools.
So it could be done.
Why, why would we not want tomake a larger impact if we know
this is a very transformationalpositive thing for people?

(25:33):
Why would I want to do more ofthat?
So now, and I say that becausewhen people come to me now and
they say, I love this stuff, Iwould love to be able to do this
for a career.
How do I get started?

SPEAKER_02 (25:41):
Right.
Let's go.

SPEAKER_04 (25:42):
And I have two people come to me and they go, I
want to do a school under you.
Okay.
So two and three is becausepeople have approached me.
Yeah.
And in my my wife was sitting inthe background when a guy called
me.
I'm painting.
I'm painting the walls in ournew place rather than hiring the
painters to do it because I'mstill little, like, I'll get it.
I can paint.
Paint?
I just can't think.

(26:03):
I can't do electrical.
Right.
You know, so I get a phone callon a guy.
He's been trying to get hold ofme.
So he's a friend, and he's like,Hey, uh, you want to buy my
school and I'll just work foryou.
And I'm like, Oh man, you know,I said, I'm really not in a
position to do that right now.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And then I go, How many studentsyou got?
Yeah.
What's your retention?
What's the attrition rate?
What's the I said, send me yournumbers.
And then she looked at me.
She's like, here we go.

(26:24):
And I go, I'm not doing it.
She goes, No.
When you ask those questions, Iknow exactly where we're going.
Next day I got a guy and I go,hey, he's still interested in
starting a school.
Yeah.
I got one that we can go 50-50.
Here we go.
Come on.
So again, I'm never going toslow down.

SPEAKER_00 (26:37):
Yeah.
So back when you first started,all those folks were telling
you, don't do it.
Yeah.
So how did you push through thatmaybe mental hesitation?
Because there's a lot of peopleout there that would have said,
you know what, maybe it's not agood idea.
All these people are telling meI shouldn't, right?
So how'd you push through that?

SPEAKER_04 (26:51):
Well, and then and it was difficult because then at
the same time, I'm not makingany money.
Right, exactly.
You said you're only making likefive grand or whatever.
Yeah.
So you're and I realize, and I Ihate to use this word because it
sounds like an arrogantstatement, but when someone does
a business, making it scalableis a lot different than being
successful.
Individuals can be successful.
Yeah.
And usually it's because of thepersonality charisma or that the

(27:12):
work ethic of the one person.
But to have a team of five otherpeople that can duplicate and
scalable that is the totallydifferent beast.
It sure is.
So I realized when all thesepeople are calling me and stuff,
I'm just like, okay, this has tobe first, I got to be able to do
it myself.
And then by 97, 98, I'm figuringout how to teach people to do
the exact same thing.

(27:33):
Okay, well, this person, youknow, here's these eight.
And I so I designed eightpillars and then started
teaching.
Well, you I'm gonna do a littlecertification to get you through
pillar one.
Now you understand pillar two,now you understand pillar three.

SPEAKER_02 (27:44):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (27:44):
Uh, but it no, it will, I I don't know.
I think maybe the martial artsside of me as a competitor, and
I and I was I competed heavily.
I think won 179 tournamentsbetween 1981 and 1980.
179.
Wow.
179 tournaments between 81 and96.
Um, and then I started competingin jujitsu at 59.
Uh-huh.

(28:04):
And I've won six, six goldmedals in in jujitsu.
Come on.
So I think there's and and Idon't say that as as error, I
just say that's me.
Right.
You know, my knees are bad.
They're they're 64-year-oldknees.
They might be 80 because theywent through a lot.
But I I still like getting outthere and pushing myself.
So it's not arrogant.
Question.

SPEAKER_00 (28:20):
Yeah, Grant says that Grant says it's it's not
bragging if it's true.

SPEAKER_04 (28:23):
So just you know, I think they're just my emotional
makeup is I like challenges.
And when people are telling methat, I'm like, watch me.
Yeah.
Okay, now, now you're expectingme to lose.
Check this out, you know.
But then again, when you'relooking at bills and you're
like, holy crap.
Right.
Maybe my right.
And I remember telling my mom, Igo, mom, wait a minute.
You have told me all my life Ican be any.

(28:44):
And you, and I don't know if youever had this.
You you have advice fromsomeone, and every mother,
what's every mother gonna tellus?
You're beautiful.
Right, right.
You know, you're you're you'reso smart, you're so and you're
hearing all this stuff, and youcan be anything you want to be.
And then I'm watching my mom andI'm thinking, and I remember
asking her this, and hopefully Isaid it the right.
Mom, if I can be anything I wantto be, are you who you want to

(29:05):
be?
Because I don't see it.
You know, we had financialstruggles, career.
I said, Did you have dreams?
You know?
And then I realized also youlost your husband.
You were a widow with two kidsat 21.

SPEAKER_02 (29:15):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (29:16):
So, and you dropped out of school to have me.
So I always asked that.
And then when she's saying, Igo, Mom, you told me I could be
anything I want to be.
And the one day I tell you whatI want to be, you tell me, don't
do it.
And I go, and I know it's comingfrom your heart because
financially I was probably wherethey never were.

SPEAKER_01 (29:31):
Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 (29:32):
And she didn't want me to be where they were.
And I got that.
And I said, just trust me onthis one, mom.
Right.
I said, trust me, I got this.
And I said, if if I fail, I wentdown swinging.

SPEAKER_02 (29:41):
There you go.

SPEAKER_04 (29:42):
You know, and I said, and and they'll they'll
call.
They'll they keep calling me,you know.
So I think in the back of mymind, I never my boss kept my
job open when I as a leave ofabsence.

SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Did he really?

SPEAKER_04 (29:54):
And I told him, I said, he goes, you know, you
gotta have to leave absence, youcome back.
And he's saying this to me atthe moment that I'm struggling
at.
And I I gotta tell you, therethere was about 36 hours where I
was like, you know, you know, Icould still make an impact
part-time.
Right.
Sure.
You know, I'm starting torationalize it, justify.
And I'm like, no.
And I just told him, I say, willyou do me cancel that?
And he goes, I said, no, no,cancel the whole leave of

(30:15):
absence.
Because I said that I cannotwalk into a room if I have one
foot in the hallway.

SPEAKER_02 (30:20):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (30:20):
And I go, if now that you told me that, part of
my brain's gonna be back there.
So I need you to cancel so Iknow I don't have that option.
Gotta burn the ships.
He goes, dude, that's ballsy.
And I go, yeah, okay.
I said, or stupid or genius.
Right.
The future will determine.

SPEAKER_00 (30:35):
Right, right.
So when was it that you reallyfelt like I got this?
I mean, you knew you had itearly on, but then you saw and
you saw some pretty quickgrowth.
But when was that point whereyou're like, yep, I got this?

SPEAKER_04 (30:46):
And I think I think most success comes in stages,
right?
So we went from I'm not makingit to survival.

SPEAKER_01 (30:52):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (30:53):
Then towards a little bit of abundance.
And then when I'm around theseother people, and I so I I felt
like 98, 99, I had it.
And then I went through divorcein a in a in a personal, you
know, that in emotion, I justthat crashed.
And then I get offered that jobto move to Florida for the same
group that changed my lifein '97.
They want me to uh take thehandling all brand new schools

(31:14):
coming on.
And I'm like, oh, okay, okay,I'll do that.
And then when I got in thatgroup, I realized I wasn't where
I could have been.
Right.
Right.
I'm doing good.
But we again, we don't know whatwe don't know.
And what's the measurement?
Are you and I competing againsteach other?
Okay.
Well, if one of us is belowaverage and the other one is
slightly above, it doesn't meanwe're great.
Right, exactly.
It means that we're both we'reboth average.

(31:35):
Right.
I see people what I callcompeting at the bottom all the
time.
You know, why don't you increaseit by 10, 15, 20% a year?
Absolutely.
You know, even when you'resuccessful, my goal is still,
what could I do?
15 to 20%.
Why would I step back in thering at 60?
That's for most people, that'sdumb.
Right.
And every once in a while, mydoctor asked me if I understand
my age.
But I think it's just that thatmentality.

(31:57):
But so I felt 98, 99, I knew wemade it from where I started.
And I knew I did, I knew thenaysayers who were coming from
their heart.
It wasn't hate.
It wasn't negative hate.
It was care.
I knew that by their standard, Imade it.
And I thought I made it.
And then when I get down toFlorida and I'm starting to
consult them with all the thebig dogs, I'm like, I never knew

(32:17):
that.
Tell me about that.
Right.
You know, tell me about this.
And I think I was always astudent.
I never was, even though I wasthe director of new schools.
Okay.
I'm I'm asking a guy that wentfrom similar deal.
If you went from 50 to 150students, was there five
definite steps that you did?
Right.
Right.
Share those with me.
Let's let's explore themtogether.
Let's unpack that.
Right.

(32:37):
I think that was the momentum tocome back in 07 and go from 07
to 2010 to 725 because I figuredout that.
Right.
That's when I knew I had it.
But I think all businessesroller coaster.
Oh, sure.
Sure.
There's sometimes I wish I wouldhave just been.
Right.
You know, I'm always like,helicopter, helicopter roller
coaster.
And you know, sometimes I thinkthis would have been the safer

(32:58):
way.
Right.
But I don't know if safe is whoI am.

SPEAKER_00 (33:00):
No, no.
And that's I mean, that's whyit's so important to make sure
you have people in your circlethat are striving for bigger and
better things.
And that's what that's what 10Xis so great for me.
I mean, you got people in thesegroups and that are making
hundreds of millions andbillions in their in their
businesses, and it just takesoff those business blinders and
opens up the possibilities ofwhat can be done in all these
different areas.

(33:21):
100%.
So it's great.
But now you're doing some otherstuff now too.
You've got your own podcast.
You did a book, right?
So what else what else you'vebeen doing?

SPEAKER_04 (33:30):
Well, yeah, you know, a lot of stuff.
And I always tell everybody likethat, that all led to different
things.
I wanted to write a book, and Iactually wrote the book 17, 18
years ago.
And I sat on it.
And what what is it?
The the the imposter syndrome.
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (33:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (33:43):
I thought, man, who am I thinking I'm Tony Robbins?
Who am I thinking I'm so-and-so?
So I didn't release it.
And in COVID, when COVID cameout, I'm like, you know what?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna releasethat book.
I'm gonna finish that book.
And I did.
But that book was not the samething I wrote 14 years earlier
because everything, my opinionon this changed, my opinion on
that, my my process on that.
So I wrote the book.

(34:04):
Now, the reason I wrote the bookwas personal first.
When I was a freshman in highschool, I get called down the
principal's office.
And by the way, I was nostranger to the principal's
office.
You know, I wasn't a bad, badkid, but I was a mischievous
active kid.
Sure.
Right?
So I get called down.
I'm thinking.
I'm scanning my brain for whathave I done in the last three
hours that would have got mecalled to the office.

(34:25):
And superintendents down there,my English teacher, another
lady, and my mom.
And they tell me I have a sixthgrade reading level as a
freshman.
And they want to put me in aspecial class, right?
That's what I heard.
Yeah.
They didn't use that, but I'mlike, well, as a freshman,
that's the lowest, lowest stepyou are in a high school of the
big dogs.
And Williamsville at this timestarted a brand new open.

(34:46):
I was the first group to do fouryears in the brand new high
school, which was an open roomconcept.
So there was no front walls.
They were all open.
And so I'd go hide out in abathroom till everybody was on
peek to see if everybody was intheir classroom and then run to
that.
And they put us in thejanitorial closet.
There were three of us.
You know?
And I'm just like, I don't wantto be seen.
Right.
And and I would like to say itwas maybe a week later, but it

(35:08):
could have been a day or twolater.
And the the and then I would askto, you know, I'd go in late.
And then I would always say,Hey, ma'am, I gotta go to the
bathroom.
Can I go to the bathroom?
She goes, the bell's gonna ring.
I know I gotta go right now.
And I'd go hide out.
And then one day she says to me,Her David's business buffet.
She goes, John, can I ask whyyou always have to go to the why
you're late?
And then why do you always haveto go to the bathroom?
And she knew.
And I go, I just gotta go to thebathroom.

(35:30):
She goes, she goes, sit with mefor a minute.
She goes, I'm talking with you.
I care about you.
What's going on?
I go, I don't want people seeingme coming in and out of here
because I'm stupid.
She goes, You're not stupid.
You have a you have a readinglevel that needs to be brought
up.
That's it.

SPEAKER_02 (35:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (35:44):
She goes, your other grades are fine.
So and I always say she was thefirst teacher that talked with
me and not at me.
Or at least the first one Irecognized.
I'm not saying the other onesdidn't.
Huge transformation.
I bet.
Right?
Yeah.
So writing the book for me, likewhen I got to, you know, by
junior year, I was a straight Astudent.
By senior year, I was highhonors.
College, I wrote all my paperswere A's.

(36:05):
So, okay, I overcame thisobstacle.
So writing the book for me andto be a published author was
like, you know, again.
So cool.
Yeah.
Hey, naysayers.
I did it.
You know?
And I started writing a book,and it was really my message
that I teach for characterdevelopment in my schools, but
how do I expand it beyond myfour walls?
So the purpose I want to writeand overcome this deficiency
that I had.

SPEAKER_00 (36:25):
That was probably pretty interesting, though, to
be to start it 14 years priorand then the perspective you
have on it 14 years later andhow you re rewrote and went
through that again.
That was probably prettyinteresting.

SPEAKER_04 (36:35):
Yeah.
And you know what?
And again, pensive,introspective, reflective
person, I think I've alwaysbeen.
And I think again, my childhoodprobably developed me into that
person, right?
And when that happened, I'mlike, this makes sense to me.
I'm not the same fighter I was15 years ago either.
Right.
You know?
So it makes perfect sense.
And and I always, if I run itparallel to martial arts,

(36:58):
ranking, and movement andprogress and steps, then I can
find other things that runparallel to that in life.
So, no, 100%.
I'm just like, okay, this is agood thing.
This means you have developed.
Right.
You have developed to anotherlevel.
That book became a bestseller.
Nice.
And uh I had no clue what I wasdoing with it.
And I always say, by the way,divine intervention.
People would say, How'd youfigure this out?

(37:19):
Divine intervention, because Iwas too stupid to do it on my
own.
But I just felt like people, theright people were always in my
life.
And it goes, What's the ZigZiggler saying?
If you help other people getwhat they want, you can get what
you want.
And we've always had aservice-based mentality.

SPEAKER_02 (37:33):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (37:33):
I've always said, God puts the right people in my
life in the right circumstances.
For me to get go through aterrible divorce and then get
offered a job from one of themost genius men in the business.
I didn't ask for a job.
It just came, you know.
So things just align with that.
But yeah, I'm looking back atthat, I'm like, I don't know
what I'm doing.
And the guy that I hired to helpme do the book, I think I paid

(37:54):
five grand.
He designed my cover, hedesigned my editing, he's
showing the process.
He left the company two weeksbefore my book released.
Oh, really?
And I couldn't talk to him nomore because he had a
non-compete.
And nobody in the company knewanything about my book or
anything.
No way.
So I just researched some stuff,threw it out there, went to my
own, you know, I did a six,seven email campaign to my

(38:17):
people.
Yeah.
You know, my followers, mystudents.
And yeah, I think we've soldover 3,000 copies of that book.
And I don't know what the e youknow, the ebook version is, but
yeah, it's it's it's again, itwasn't meant to like, it wasn't
a business project.
It was a service and a overcomeuh weakness and deficiency type

(38:38):
thing.
And so then I wrote a anotherbook for four to seven-year-olds
based on a chapter of that book.
Right.
And then I made it a character,Coach John helping Ricky.
Okay.
And there's two voices in yourhead, you know.
Yeah.
The ones that says I can't, theone that says I can't.
And uh it's kind of the sameprocess.
And a lot of that I drew from mychildhood in in 1996, when five

(39:00):
people who care about you calland say, Don't do it.
Right.
You know, and we do buildingblocks off of the don't do it in
how we get to our goals.
And then I've got a faith-basedone coming out called Chosen, a
child of God's journey togrowth, faith, and confidence.
Very cool.
And that'll be released probablySeptember, October.

SPEAKER_00 (39:17):
So what are the names of the first two?

SPEAKER_04 (39:18):
Embrace your awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (39:20):
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (39:20):
And then The Power Inside You, and then Chosen.
And then people then startedasking, Hey, you want to I'd
love you to speak to our groupand tell them how you got
started.
Of course.
Okay.
And I'd always been speaking onthe uh since 97.
Well, then we went to I thinkStevenson Drive, 1996.
I go full time, and I thinkthere's a little tiny grocery
store.
It used to be Prehop, DryCleaner, and then something

(39:42):
else, and then uh a hardwarestore, coast to coast, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 (39:45):
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (39:46):
We were in it, and I mean, I want to say it was 1,400
square foot, everything.
I had 225 members in there.
And then we went down the streetto uh Lake Town Plaza, and then
it was 3,000 square foot, 4,000square feet.
So it just all this stuff kindof aligns and and just keeps
growing and moving.
And uh, you know, I startedspeaking to groups because they

(40:06):
brought me in for that.
And then someone says, Hey,would you speak to my business
group on customer service?

SPEAKER_01 (40:13):
Right.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (40:14):
And then I'm like, okay.
And then a guy's like, dude, youneed to be speaking.
You know, I'm like, I had a guythe other day on a podcast say
to me, He goes, Hey, dude, wereyou in radio or TV?
And I go, dude, I'm neither.
Neither one of those things.
And he goes, dude, you have thatvoice.
And I said, Really?
I said, because I wanted tospeak when I worked at DLT.
I and and my boss told me, youdon't enunciate your words, and
you're probably the worstspeaker I've ever heard.

(40:35):
So really?
Yeah.
Wow.
And I, and then I went, okay.
And again, I don't think Ididn't do anything to learn how
to speak.
I just, you know, I think whenthe thing that misses in today's
world, especially in businesspeople, authenticity and truth.
That's huge.
Nobody, I don't think half thepeople are who they say they
are.
And I sadly enough, I know Iknow three multimillionaires

(40:57):
that they're a different personevery five months.
And I'm like, money doesn't makethem happy.
And until you know who you are,how can you reach your
potential?
So I think that's the firstpart, right?
Absolutely.
So I think with me, just gettingup and sharing made me a better
speaker.
It wasn't that I went and Ilearned some techniques.

SPEAKER_00 (41:12):
Correct.
It's just getting out there andputting in the reps.

SPEAKER_04 (41:14):
100%, right?
Same thing that you're doing,right?
Yeah.

unknown (41:17):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (41:18):
So no, that's you know, we've had this, I think
we're up to about 300 episodesnow.
So putting reps.

SPEAKER_04 (41:23):
You're a veteran compared to me.
I think I think I've onlyreleased 53, 54.
We filmed 70, close to 80, maybenow.
I'd have to look in the queuethere to see what we have.
But what's the name of thepodcast?
Embrace your awesome.
Okay.
I love that.
And again, I didn't, it was justsomeone said you should do it.
And I go, What would I call it?
They go, do it off your firstbook.
So originally I was just goingto do like talk about subjects

(41:45):
off the book.
And then it was someone go, heyman, I'd like to be on your
podcast.
I wasn't thinking about guests,but let's talk about that.
Right.
So now the podcast Monday is anepisode with someone.
I'd love to have you on.
Yeah, absolutely.
And where I bring on guests,it's just somebody who has
overcome something, because somany people are out there
doubting themselves.
And if I can share a story thathelps that.

(42:05):
So I've had, and again, divineintervention.
I'm a New York Yankees baseballfan.
Two people call me and said,Hey, you know Ronnie.
Ronnie's brother-in-law is thedirector of scouting for the New
York Yankees, and he lives inTampa.

SPEAKER_01 (42:18):
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (42:19):
And Ronnie asked him and he said he'll be on your
show.

SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
There you go.

SPEAKER_04 (42:22):
So I have that guy on my show.
Thank you.
And then I'm like, what's ittake for a 10-year-old who
thinks he's going to make it?
You know, and we just talkedabout that.
And we talked about 19-year-oldswho put their whole life, whole
childhood, and their dreams arecut out from underneath them at
19.
Where do you go?
Well, the director of scoutingwas that guy.
And he goes, I knew I didn'twant to leave baseball.
So then they had me go out andlook at talent.
And he goes, and then it justled to the next thing.

(42:44):
Right.
So I those type of stories frompeople with sexual abuse, people
that overcome stuff.
So we do that on Mondays.
And then on Thursdays, if I'mhaving a subject like you and I
have a talk, and if it thinks itsticks in my head for 24, 36
hours and I'm reflective on allright, this is the next topic.
Right.
Let's unpack it and build it up.
And I'll do like a 15, 20minute.

(43:05):
So those are out on Thursdaysand then Mondays I have the
guests.

SPEAKER_00 (43:08):
So nothing really martial arts related.
It's all on the development sideand storytelling.

SPEAKER_04 (43:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm trying to expand that alittle bit.
And obviously none of thisexists without that.
Without martial arts, I don'tknow where I would have ended
up.

SPEAKER_01 (43:21):
Sure.

SPEAKER_04 (43:21):
I think I would have been good, you know, as in my
career in labor, labornegotiations and relations.
I know I was.
I was good at it, or theywouldn't have kept calling me,
right?

SPEAKER_02 (43:31):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (43:31):
You know, they begged me not to leave.
You don't do that to somebodywho's below average.
Right.
So I'm confident that I wouldhave done good at whatever I
wanted to do.
But the thing that did that mademe and created me was martial
arts.
And everything I've done is anextension off of that person.
So when I tell people I'm notleaving the martial arts, I'm
building off what the martialarts gave me.
Right.
And it's just it's it'sinteresting.

(43:52):
It really truly is.
Just to be at a different levelbecause I would have never you
know, I d again, I didn't writethe book to make money because
as Authors really don't makemoney.
They really don't.
Public companies do.
Right.
They do.
Authors do.
So the podcast, I like learning.
I just like talking to people,learning about people, and
sharing stories.
And I'm like, okay, well, thisis this is a great thing.

(44:14):
Cause it when would I have eversat down for an hour with the
director of New York Yankees oruh Mike Stone, who was the
legendary karate guy?
Most people who don't knowkarate know him as the as the
man that Priscilla Presley leftElvis for.

SPEAKER_01 (44:29):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (44:30):
Now he and I are friends.
And this was my childhood hero.
Yeah.
And now he's sending me emailsand he sends me his books.
And I'm like, and it was justfor me.
I'm like, oh my God, I get tospend an hour and a half with
Mike Stone.
How awesome is this?
So it's just fun.

SPEAKER_00 (44:44):
No, and that's that's the same with me.
The the intent behind thispodcast, the Elevate Springfield
Podcast, when I originallystarted it, it was hey, there's
so many great people herelocally, so many great people
doing great things in ourcommunity, running phenomenal
businesses.
I want to tell their stories,help tell their stories, and I
want to learn from it.
So let's let's put thistogether.
Let's give actionable strategiesto folks so they can learn from

(45:06):
it as well.
And it's all going to elevateSpringfield on the whole.

SPEAKER_04 (45:09):
No, and I agree.
And you know, and I think somany people don't understand the
potential within themselves, butthey also don't understand that
Springfield has a lot of greatpeople.
If you know mellow cream,donuts, family video, brand
fertilizer.
I mean, and then this kid whostarted teaching karate in a
hallway is on MA Success Covermagazine in 2010, 2011.

(45:30):
I mean, how's that?
And it's this little talent.

SPEAKER_02 (45:32):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (45:33):
And when you and I were coming up to the studio, I
think I told you, I'm not one ofthose guys that moved away
because I dislike Springfield.
I moved away to follow my kidsand just like, okay.
Yeah.
And I don't like winnersanymore.
I don't.
Right.
I'm up here every neither do I,quite frankly.
I'm up here about every 10weeks, but they and already it
was fun.
It's interesting because I teacha lot of private lessons when

(45:55):
I'm in town.
And I'll teach nine privatelessons between yesterday and
today.
And people are already booking.
And I go, okay.
I said, All right, I'll be herein October.
And they go, I'm gonna bewinner.
And I go, I think it's thisdate, but we need to check with
Rick.
And then they're like, okay.
And I go, then it's not tillMarch because I don't come back
when it's cold.
And we know after Halloweenthings start to shift.
Yes, they do.

(46:15):
You know.
And I got stuck in Dallas, Texaslast year.
And they had the first time theyever had like a major blizzard.
And I'm there to speak andteach.
And I'm like, okay, this wasn'tsupposed to happen.
This is this is God gonna bestill right here.
And it was crazy.
And I just avoided it and Ihated it.
I mean, I couldn't warm up.
You know, I'm just like, yeah,nobody was in the hotel, and it

(46:38):
was this old hotel.
And I swear I sent a picture ofit to my family, and it looked
like the shining hallway.
And I said, I'm checking into myroom and I've seen these two
girls at the end of the hallway.
So just winters, man, justaren't my thing.

SPEAKER_00 (46:51):
Yeah.
No, me neither.
Me neither.

SPEAKER_04 (46:53):
So that's the only downside of Springfield for me.
Right.
Is from November to March, Idon't really want to be here.
But this year, I remember beingup here May, and I didn't have
enough warm clothes.
Right.
I had to go buy a couplehoodies.

SPEAKER_00 (47:05):
It's shifted a little bit.
It's like it's like it's shiftedby about a month and a half when
the cold really startshappening.

SPEAKER_04 (47:11):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (47:11):
Yeah.
So well, John, you've been verysuccessful over the years.
I've I know a lot of people thatlisten to the show here locally
or entrepreneurs, and hey, maybethey're five years or less into
their business.
What's a piece of advice youwould give them today?

SPEAKER_04 (47:24):
Man, I don't know if there's one because everybody's
story is different, right?
But I would say if anything, ifanything from my story is I
always tell people, I tell thisto my students, if I can get
black belt, you can.
Because there's nothing I neverconsider myself naturally
talented.
I worked for everything.
You know, I went to atournament, I kicked a guy, and
someone goes, You got a greatkick.
So I developed that.
I started throwing 500 kicksevery other day.

(47:47):
And so everybody's like, Oh,your kicks are really great,
right?
So how'd you get there?
I put the work in because Idon't have talent.
But in the rips.
So when I started, I realized mydeficiency, my weakness was to
make a living teaching wasbeyond charisma and beyond being
the best, best kicker or thebest competitor.
I had to figure out how toservice people.
So I think my advice wouldalways be know why you're doing

(48:10):
what you're doing.
And because I think when themoments of doubt, if you have a
moment of doubt of who you areand why you're doing it, that's
when it sets.
Nobody could disturb my peace,even only making$5,000 for the
first drop months, right?
Nobody could disturb that peacebecause I knew who I was and
what I wanted to do.
So I think anything is justremember why you started and you

(48:30):
didn't come this far to onlycome this far.

SPEAKER_00 (48:33):
Love it.
Well, John, is there anything wecan all do to help elevate all
of us here in Springfield andthe surrounding community?

SPEAKER_04 (48:39):
I reached out to you because a mutual friend said,
Hey, have you ever seen us?
You guys should connect.
And I think what you're doing isthis.
I mean, that that's exactly it.
It's we there's networking andrapport and relationships.
It really is.
Build build them up and get outthere.
And I think I think you're doingit, and I think the city's doing
it, and people just gotta stayconnected.
There's so many opportunities.

(49:00):
Um was it local first where Ispoke?

SPEAKER_00 (49:03):
Yeah, you spoke local first a little over a year
ago.
Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 (49:06):
And uh with Colton, and I that's an amazing group,
you know.
And and honestly, I didn't knowwhat to say to that group.
I kept telling, like, Colton,how do I tell a martial arts
story to the uh what fit club orhow do I tell the CEO of LRS how
to be successful?
So I'm like, well, you know, sobut man, I I enjoyed when it was
over just talking to people.

(49:27):
Yeah, it wasn't like, okay, I'llshare.
Because I never look at it likeI'm on stage.
I look at like, oh, okay, I'llshare my story, and then I want
to get out here and hear whatyour guys' stories are.

SPEAKER_02 (49:34):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (49:35):
So I I love those type of groups.
And and I I would recommend toeverybody get involved with
local first better businessbureau.
You've got the the smallbusiness clubs, ABC Club.
I think there's so many greatthings.
Yeah.
And the problem is we don'tconnect with people.
I had a podcast guest on, HugoMaynard, and I'll share this
real quick on the power ofnetworking.
And I really just liked hisstory.

(49:55):
And he was an Olympian for theUSA basketball team.
And then he moved into speakingand stuff like that.
And we were supposed to do acollaboration call to see if,
you know, it was a follow-up.
And he writes me, he says,Johnny, do you live in Tampa?
And I said, Yeah.
He goes, Are you in Tampa?
And I said, Yeah.
And he goes, How long are youhere?
And I go, I live here.
He goes, I swore to God you saidyou were from.
I go, I am from Springfield,Illinois.
Abe Blinken, home of AbeBlinken.

(50:16):
And uh he goes, I just didn'tknow.
He goes, I flew into St.
Pete.
I'm speaking at a business eventtomorrow.
And I go, Are we still on forour 11 o'clock call?
And he goes, Yeah.
And I said, No, we're not.
I said, now it's lunch.

SPEAKER_00 (50:25):
It's yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 (50:26):
And we we met for three and a half hours, and that
guy helped me overcome so manylittle things in my head.
So I share that because here's aguy never met, flew in.
We hang out for three hours,three and a half hours.
And more people need to do whatyou and I are doing and get out
there to lunch today.
And if you want to know whatsomebody like Miles Copeland's
doing at Green Toyota, ask himto go to lunch.

(50:47):
Right.
Yeah.
Buy his lunch.
Ask him if he's got 10 minutes.
And if he can't meet you inperson, see if he'll call you.
Or, you know, I've asked acouple people, hey, I got a new
book coming out who arefaith-based like pastors.
Yeah.
Would you, if I sent you four orfive chapters, I don't want you
to read the book.
Would you be willing to read it?
And if you like it, would yougive me a review?
Yeah.
You know?
Absolutely.
Yeah, John.
Let's do that.

(51:07):
And I don't think enough peoplelean on each other.
Just lean on each other.
Because we're better as a teamthan we are as individuals.

SPEAKER_00 (51:14):
No doubt about it.
Communities grow together whenwe work together.
No doubt about it.
So well, John, so much greatstuff today.
Had a phenomenal time with you.

SPEAKER_04 (51:21):
Yeah, no, it's been fun.
I feel like it, you know, justlike we're sitting in the living
room talking.

SPEAKER_00 (51:25):
Yeah, I think we could sit and talk here for like
four hours if we want to.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 (51:28):
My wife will she'll always say, like, when people
come to my house, she'll go, goto bed, because she knows if
it's a karate guy or businessguy or a speaker, right?
We're going to be in thatkitchen until about 2 a.m.
Okay, you know, if we if we'reif we're here for a reason.
That's right.

SPEAKER_00 (51:43):
I love it.
So well, John, remind everybodyabout the books, about
empowered, where they can findout all the information.

SPEAKER_04 (51:49):
The best way is my name, johngayston.com, J-O-H-N,
G-E-Y-S-T-O-N dot com.
And everything's on there.
The the speaking, collaboratingwith groups and the books and
the podcast, and everything isright there.
Love it.
Well, John, thanks again forjoining us in here in sunny
Springfield while you're backhere.
Yeah, no, and I I love it.
I love summers up here.
And thank you.

(52:10):
It truly was.
It's great to uh to connect on abetter than just a handshake and
a walking through a crowd andget to know each other more and
keep doing what you're doingbecause I love what you're
doing.
I'm watching it from Tampa, so Ilove it.
And I love to see things inSpringfield just take off.

SPEAKER_00 (52:23):
I do too.
That's what we're doing it for.
Yeah.
Appreciate it, John.
Thank you.
Well, we're gonna let John getback to elevating Springfield
and Tampa for that matter.
But for the rest of y'all, we'llbe right back.
Looking for expert tree carewith hometown integrity, look no
further than Sangamon TreeService.
They're your trusted local pros,delivering quality workmanship,
exceptional customer service,and fair, honest pricing every

(52:47):
time.
Whether it's trimming, removal,or storm cleanup, their team
brings professionalism and careto every job, big or small.
Call the name your neighbor'strust, Sangaman Tree Service, or
visit them today atSangmanTreeService.com.
Sangaman Tree Service, rooted inquality, built on trust.

(53:08):
Looking for personalizedinsurance with hometown care,
David Hilst, American FamilyInsurance Agent's here to help

you protect what matters most: your family, your home, and your (53:14):
undefined
dreams.
Whether it's auto, home, life,business, David and his team are
proud to serve the Springfieldcommunity with trusted advice
and reliable coverage.
Local service, realrelationships, peace of mind.
Call today or stop by theiroffice.

(53:35):
They can build your dreamprotection plan together.
Call 217-726-633.
Well, thank you for joining ustoday, everybody.
Appreciate you making us a partof your day.
Hey, don't forget while you'reout on social, check ours out.
You can check my personal oneout at RobertFarrell at
everywhere.

(53:56):
Check out those ElevateSpringfield pages, those big dog
business coaching pages as well.
Check us out over on YouTube.
Give us a subscribe, give us alike or a follow on any of those
channels.
We would certainly appreciateit.
So, hey, take what you learnedtoday.
You bring the discipline andfollow through and together.

(54:17):
That's right, y'all.
We're gonna elevate Springfield.
Be great.

SPEAKER_05 (54:21):
When I first walked into Shudokan Karate Club, I was
just looking for a way to getstronger.
But what I found was so muchmore.
Here we train in traditionalkarate, the real stuff.
Passed down through generations.
Every punch, every kata haspurpose.
I've learned self-discipline,confidence, and how to protect
myself.
Not just in class, but in reallife.

(54:42):
It's not about being aggressive,it's about being prepared.
This is more than a club, it's away of life.
Join us at Shudo Khan.
Traditional, powerful, real.