How'd it Happen?

Ever wondered what it takes to build a multi-billion-dollar company from scratch? Settle in as Mike chats with Jonathan Cronstedt, better known as JCron. JCron is the force behind Kajabi, a company that has revolutionized the knowledge commerce industry. JCron unpacks his entrepreneurial journey, from the inception of the company, the trials and tribulations, the strategies that led to its success, to his life post-exit. He shares ...

In this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike Malatesta shares the inspiring story of Joe Polish, a recovering addict turned marketing genius. Mike discusses four key takeaways from Joe's book, “What's In It for Them,” that can benefit leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

Despite a challenging start as a carpet cleaner with no money or experience, Joe's commitment to learning and connecting with others led him to b...

Join Mike for a profound conversation with his special guest, Paul Hutchinson, a true liberator of humanity. Known for leading over 70 undercover rescue missions, Paul shares his journey from aspiring brain surgeon to becoming the founder of the Child Liberation Foundation and Liberate Humanity. You will get a firsthand account of his daring infiltrations into trafficking networks, his work with retired US service personnel, and fe...

In this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike shares nine reasons why Jay Leno has more meaning than money. From his humility to his hard work, Jay’s qualities are explored in depth. A lot of wealthy people and celebrities have the opposite where they have more money than meaning, and end up feeling very unfulfilled in their lives.

Join Mike as he delves into the topic and reflects on the importance of having more meaning in ...

We all probably think that we know the difference between right and wrong and wouldn’t get caught up in something we aren’t supposed to be doing, but according to Kelly Richmond Pope, it can be a slippery slope. Some people get into legal trouble by starting small or by not speaking up when someone sneakily gets them involved. On this episode of the How’d It Happen Podcast, Mike and Kelly discuss the three categories of fraud perpe...

Who doesn’t love receiving a gift from another person? It doesn’t have to be an actual physical gift in order to be special. In fact, the best gifts humans can give cannot be bought. In this solo episode, Mike talks about the best gifts that humans can give to one another. 

He was inspired to do this by an American journalist and novelist named Oren Arnold. Mr. Arnold wrote a piece on the best gives to give, so Mike puts h...

As a high performer that may be running a business or calling the shots for a company, you have a lot of decisions to make. It is easy to get overwhelmed and experience decision fatigue, or struggle with indecisiveness, not knowing what is truly the best option. This episode is for you if you want to learn how to make quicker and better decisions in any area of your life. Hasard Lee is a former fighter pilot who has spent years mak...

Do you want to know what it takes to create something truly magical from absolutely nothing? Building a remarkable business from the ground up requires focusing on being better than what is already out there. But here is the key: you can’t just be slightly better than your competition. You need to go all in on being 10 times better than what is currently already being done. This is the mindset that Kevin Gibbon operates from and it...

We all have cool things about ourselves, but how often do you take the time to list out the cool things about yourself? Chances are, it’s probably not very often, but after listening to a podcast with Dean Graziosi, Mike felt inspired to reflect on the cool things about himself. In Dean’s podcast episode, he talked about an exercise that he called “10 Cool Things About Me” and he listed them. It is really easy to forget what's...

You might be thinking what do all these rhyming words mean together? Snap, nap, tap, clap, recap is a powerful 5-step system for improved vitality created by successful well-being expert David Lindsay. Each step serves an important purpose in building a strong mind and body and being present and resilient no matter what life throws at you.

David Lindsay has changed the lives of 10s of thousands of people throughout the world. He has...

Today’s solo episode of the How’d It Happen podcast was inspired by Jordan Peterson and his book, titled “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. After reading this book, Mike felt drawn to create his own 12 rules of life, and in this episode, he breaks down his 12.5 rules of life. Those rules are:

1. Hold doors open, look people in the eye, say hello, and smile.
2. Words matter.
3. Surround yourself with people you like and who care abou...

What exactly does it mean to live an “agile life?” Let’s start with the definition of “agile” which means “marked by ready ability to move with quick easy grace.” That sounds like something that all entrepreneurs strive to be. We want to be agile in the way that we can move quickly to meet our customers' demands and recognize when it’s time to shift directions or processes. Simon Severino is the author of the book “Strategy Sp...

Brett Johnson is a former US most wanted cyber criminal turned good guy. The United States Secret Service called Brett “The Original Internet Godfather.” Brett’s fascinating story is one you don’t want to miss as you’ll hear about his role in refining modern financial cybercrime, being convicted of 39 felonies, escaping prison, and how he built the first organized cybercrime community. This community called “Shadow Crew” laid the w...

In this solo episode, Mike channels Celeste Headlee’s TED talk called “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation.” Mike puts his own spin on them by using his experience of releasing over 300 podcast episodes and interviewing many amazing people along the way. There are certain habits and questions that take a conversation to the next level by eliciting interesting topics and showing others that you are invested in what they have to sa...

Brett Johnson is a former US most wanted cyber criminal turned good guy. The United States Secret Service called Brett “The Original Internet Godfather.” Brett’s rollercoaster of a story is one you don’t want to miss as you’ll hear about his role in refining modern financial cybercrime, being convicted of 39 felonies, escaping prison, and how he built the first organized cyber crime community. This community called “Shadow Crew” la...

In this solo episode, Mike channels Celeste Headlee’s TED talk called “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation.” Mike puts his own spin on them by using his experience of releasing over 300 podcast episodes and interviewing many amazing people along the way. There are certain habits and questions that take a conversation to the next level by eliciting interesting topics and showing others that you are invested in what they have to sa...

All of us have been through challenges that no one else has been through, and those circumstances give you a license to speak to people that have been through challenges as well. It gives you an opportunity to help people while already having the credibility and experience to do so. Pain can be a gift if we allow it to, so today’s guest encourages us to turn our pain into purpose and use it to help others. Your pain gives you a lic...

In the world of modern marketing, there are many things that can be analyzed and optimized for your business goals. Just following what you see someone else doing online might not work for you, so take it from a marketing expert and pay attention to your data and dive into what is working and what isn’t. Dennis Yu is committed to bringing marketing strategies to everyday businesses, especially the types that are not very skilled in...

Leaders have a great deal of responsibility not only in just leading, instructing, and delegating, but also in setting the tone for their team and being an example for those that they are leading. Whether you’re leading a company, coaching a team, or even leading your family, there are 4 very important qualities of effective leaders.

This solo episode was inspired by a webinar by coach Nick Saban, who is the head football ...