May 27, 2024 • 51 mins
When Chris Widener, the man who's rubbed shoulders with legends like Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar, steps into the room—or in our case, the podcast—you know you're in for a treat that's both illuminating and transformational. Strap in as Chris takes us from his early days in pastoring to commanding the stage as a beacon of success and leadership. His captivating tales weave through the creation of bestsellers like "12 Pillars", encounters with personal development's elite, and a journey that's imbued with the magic of serendipity as he made his indelible mark in the world of motivation and inspiration.
This episode isn't just about basking in the glory of past achievements; it's a treasure trove of insights into the nuanced dance of personal growth, relationships, and the art of making one's way in life. As we unravel the simplicity and complexity entwined within the path to success, we also embark on a candid exploration behind the velvet curtain of the personal development industry. From international speeches to birthing businesses and a not-for-profit organization, our conversation is a testament to the power of resilience, the value of nurturing connections, and the profound impact they have on both personal fulfillment and professional triumph.
Finally, brace yourself for stories that resonate with the entrepreneurial spirit and the essence of humility. Chris imparts wisdom on embracing our unique strengths, compensating for our weaknesses, and the strategic maneuvers that can lead to success, whether you're dealing with ADHD or starting from scratch in a new city. As we wrap up, we're left with the poignant reminder that being an original voice, rather than an echo, is the truest form of magic we can offer the world. Chris's parting thought is a clarion call to all: share your individual magic and carve out your own space in the tapestry of life's successes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Walt Bayliss (00:02):
ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for
joining me today.
I welcome on the show one of myheroes.
This gentleman came into mylife alongside of a personal
mentor for me, who was jim rowan.
This gentleman has, in fact,led the way in the success field
.
He's a motivational speaker.
In fact, he is in themotivational speakers hall of
fame.
He is an internationalbestseller with over 20 books
(00:25):
that have been published, newYork times bestselling author as
well.
He's made a run in theRepublican race.
He's now running not-for-profitorganizations.
He is a world leader.
He is a success coach.
It is my great honor andprivilege to welcome to the show
Mr Chris Widener.
Chris, thank you so much forjoining us.
Chris Widener (00:45):
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate this.
Walt Bayliss (00:46):
This is great man it is so cool to have you on the
show I mentioned in that littleintro.
You're a hero of mine.
I came across your work withJim, of course, in 12 Pillars.
How did that kind ofcollaboration come into play?
That seems like an incredibleplace to start this conversation
about success and aboutbusiness and about life in front
(01:07):
of us.
How did that collab come with12 Pillars?
Chris Widener (01:11):
Yeah.
So here's what happened.
I was a pastor of a church from1988 till 2002, but I was what
they call a church planter, andthat's just fancy words for go
start a church.
And so I ended up in this townwhere there wasn't one of our
churches and they didn't haveany money to give me.
They just wanted me to go starta church.
So over the course of 11 yearsI started three churches in the
(01:31):
surrounding towns and such, butI didn't.
I had to make some money, so Ihad a really crazy upbringing.
So I decided to go and startspeaking more and then
eventually I was.
I was kind of doing youthspeaking in college and junior
high and high school and thatkind of stuff.
Eventually I ended up startingdoing some more for time
management, leadership, and thenI decided to go and write and
(01:54):
speak full time in 2002.
And over the course of the nextseven years I ended up working
with a guy named John Maxwell,who most people will probably be
familiar with.
I ghost wrote for John and thenwhen I was writing for John,
word kind of got out that I waswriting for John and so they
called me and he asked me if Iwould write with Jim Rohn, and
so I said I will, as long as myname gets to go on it, because
(02:15):
my name didn't get to go on thestuff with John.
So I said I will do it, but Iwant my name to go on it.
So I started working with him.
We wrote a uh, we did a thingtogether called the Jim Rohn one
year success plan, which was 52weeks, uh, weekly emails.
We interviewed, you know, lotsof great people.
Uh, jim wrote some stuff, Iwrote some stuff, uh, that kind
of thing.
And then, uh, so at the sametime is that I had just written
(02:38):
a book called the angel inside.
I fired all my ghostwritingpeople Cause I felt like I was
giving my best ideas away,literally the very first thing I
wrote after I stoppedghostwriting for John, I wrote a
book called the Angel Insideand it ended up we sold 120,000
copies of self-published andthen Random House bought it for
their currency in print.
(02:58):
It became number two on theWall Street Journal, number
seven on the New York Times andit was a fictional little story
about 20, words about a youngman who's on vacation.
It's the last afternoon of histrip to Europe and he's in
Florence, italy, and he meets alittle old man who takes him on
a tour of Florence and heteaches him life lessons from
the life of Michelangelo.
That book was so successful.
(03:21):
I said to Kyle Wilson, who wasthe president of Jim Rohn
International.
I said, you know, we just didthis 12-month Jim Rohn one-year
program.
Why don't we take theprinciples from each month?
Because they were 12 pillars,so every month we did a
different pillar.
I said, why don't I write astory about the 12 pillars, but
we'll put it into story form.
And so I created a storywherein we could insert those
(03:44):
kinds of things and then just tosort of bring full circle.
Shortly after that I got a phonecall from Zig Ziglar and they
asked me to co -host histelevision show.
So when people say, how did youbecome such a big, famous,
internationally known speaker?
I said it's really simple.
It's just a three-step process.
All you have to do is have JohnMaxwell call you and then you
(04:07):
have Jim Rohn call you and thenyou have Zig Ziglar call you,
and that's just.
It's simple.
No, I mean really.
I really believe God justopened some amazing doors and I
was very, very fortunate to workwith them.
12 Pillars is my best-sellingbook, even though we didn't hit
best-selling status because weself-published.
(04:28):
But Jim was big in the networkmarketing world.
I mean, we'd have networkmarketing companies call and buy
10,000 copies at a time Not abad way to get the orders, not a
bad way.
But then the interesting thingis is at the end of the book.
We sold them then into the JimRohn One Year Program.
So At the end of the book wesold them then into the Jim Rohn
One Year Program.
So they were actually payingfor a 20,000 word advertisement
for the Jim Rohn One YearProgram.
Walt Bayliss (04:49):
That was the business model behind that.
Chris Widener (04:52):
So good and I'll tell you what I wrote that from
October 2002 until September2003.
So 21 years ago, I still getroyalties on the Jim Rohn One
Year Program 21 years afterhitting the last keystroke.
Amazing, the Jim Rohn One YearProgram 21 years after hitting
the last keystroke.
Walt Bayliss (05:07):
Amazing.
So such a good business model,the publishing space and, of
course, finding the agent inside, finding the magic inside.
Everybody's got thatopportunity to create something
incredible.
And amazing that you had thatopportunity to ghostwrite for
some of the big names in thespace.
Chris, I did an interview with aguy named John Spence who was a
Fortune 500 CEO and he creditsa lot of his success to personal
(05:27):
development material.
He was a college dropout, youknow, sleeping on his friend's
couch, and his friend gave him abook and said read this.
And he never looked back and hehad a phrase there which was I
said to him how much of adifference did it make?
And he said you know, I wasjust too naive to think that
there was any other way, and Ilove that.
It's like too naive to failright.
And I'm thinking that thematerial that is in the personal
(05:48):
development space and, ofcourse, you know being for
yourself with Success Magazine,you are literally listed as one
of the top 10 Success Magazinespeakers in the world, which is
an incredible endorsement.
How much do you feel thatpeople can pivot their life, can
change their trajectory, basedon the material that's
accessible to them?
chriswidener.
com, through the SuccessMagazine through Entrepreneurcom
(06:09):
, like all of these amazingplaces.
How much do you think peoplecan change their lives really
with this material?
Chris Widener (06:14):
I think anybody can change their life.
In fact, I like to joke thatyou could go into the self-help
section at your local bookstoreand I actually took a guy into.
We were at the bookstore onetime and we were in the
self-help and this is where itsort of initiated.
I said how many differenttitles can you have for a book
that basically says get off yourass and do something?
(06:34):
Because, honestly, success issimple.
It's hard but it's simple.
And you know, gk Chesterton wasa Catholic theologian and he has
a quote about Christianity thatI sort of changed to just be
about life.
Gk Chesterton said it's notthat Christianity has been tried
(06:56):
and found wanting, it's thatit's been found difficult and
left untried.
And I would say the same thingabout about just success.
It's not that success has beentried and found wanting, it's
that success has been founddifficult and left untried.
And so I really do believe that, um, that anybody can do it.
I really believe anybody can dowhat they want to do.
(07:19):
I don't believe in thesuperhuman.
I mean, obviously, you knowthere are people who are great
physical specimens.
You know Shaquille O'Neal.
You know I'm never going todunk on Shaquille O'Neal, right,
because there's some, there'ssome physical limitations and
things like that, but generallyspeaking anybody can do whatever
it is that they want.
Most people just won't learnwhat they need to learn and then
(07:42):
apply what they learned.
But sometimes people say howdid you write 24 books?
You know what my answer is.
If somebody says how did youwrite 24 books?
It's always the same answer,one word at a time.
Walt Bayliss (07:54):
You got it, no other way forward.
I think not only have you beenan incredible success as an
author, as a speaker, but you'velaunched multiple companies as
well.
Just before we hit record, youwere saying to me that you're
you've just created anot-for-profit organization
called sharewriteorg.
Chris Widener (08:10):
So your experience in the, in the
personal development space, hasthen kind of, I guess,
accelerated your, your businessacumen as well right, yeah, and
I'm, I actually do less now inthe personal development world
than than I ever have over thelast 30 years.
I, I, you know, I kind of hitthe pinnacle of it and I kind of
it's like it sort of lost itsluster.
(08:31):
And then there's a lot ofpeople out there and I won't
name names, but I always said, Ialways said, if I wrote a tell
all about the self-help world, alot of kingdoms would fall,
because I mean there are peoplewho have built, uh, built their
entire.
I mean some of the most famousguys, uh, some of the most
famous guys in our industry.
Um, and I and I always want tosay this I'm not talking about
(08:53):
Tony Robbins, so don't, don't go, oh is he telling us about Tony
.
No, I'm talking about otherpeople, but famous people whose
entire resume is built on a lie,whose entire business is built
on a lie, that if anybody everfound out they would disappear
from the world.
You know the success worldbecause people go oh, this is
totally phony.
But you know, I got to thepoint where I was standing on
(09:15):
stages with 25,000 peopletraveling all over the world
Russia, singapore, china, egypt,spain, italy, australia.
I was telling you, I did onetour through Brisbane and Sydney
and another through Melbourne,stages as big as 25,000 people
and selling hundreds ofthousands of dollars worth of
audio programs and all that kindof stuff.
And after a while I don't knowthat I would say I got bored
(09:39):
with it.
But I just thought I want tochallenge myself.
So maybe my transition out ofdoing speeches I still do
speeches, you know, prettyregularly, but it's not my focus
.
I don't ever.
I'm not promoting myself.
I'm not marketing myself.
You know if the phone rings,but I have a lot of fun.
I like to, I like to try newthings and I like to conquer
(09:59):
things and I like to prove bymyself that I can do things.
And so in a way it was kind oflike well, I did that.
I got the Motivational SpeakersHall of Fame.
I got a New York Times and WallStreet Journal bestselling book
.
I spoke on a stage of 25,000people.
I've shared the stage with someof the most incredible people.
I had a television show not onlythe one that I co-hosted with
Zig, but the one that I did onmy own and that I did on my own
(10:26):
and it was kind of like what'snext?
It's kind of like when somebodywants to climb the biggest
mountains, they don't start withMount Everest, they start with
some smaller mountain.
They climb it, you go okay, Igot to the top, what's the next
one?
Well, they want to go tosomething higher.
So that's kind of my and I'mgetting older, I'm 58.
And I probably got another good20 years in me.
But you want to build somethingsignificant.
It takes some, you know, Iprobably got another good 20
(10:47):
years in me.
Walt Bayliss (10:48):
but you know you want to build something
significant.
It takes some time to build it,so ticking those things off,
you're like okay, I've spoken ona stage of 25,000 New York
times bestselling author.
What in your life, what haveyou found difficult?
Chris Widener (10:59):
People Tell me about that why.
I always say the best partabout life is people and the
worst part about life is people.
I mean, if you think, about it,if you think about it, the most
beautiful relationships you have.
(11:19):
You know we're men, right?
So having a wife who you'refriends with and you make love
to and you share dinners withand you travel with, the epitome
of the human experience, rightof human connection, is your
spouse and that beauty thatcomes from a good relationship
or a good friend.
(11:41):
I've got two or three friends.
We've been friends for 20 yearsand you get on the phone with
them or you go to lunch withthem and it's just amazing.
I've had a friend for a longtime.
We don't live in the same cityanymore, but he was the
president of a Major LeagueBaseball team and a very good,
dear friend of mine.
I was on the phone with him acouple of days ago but every
(12:02):
Christmas we gave each other abook for Christmas.
We had a Christmas lunch everyChristmas.
I mean we met more than that,we golfed and all that.
But you know, sometimes yougolf and you have fun, but what
we also did to provide meaningand that kind of stuff every
Christmas we did a fancy lunch,we well, he was always in a suit
and tie because he was thepresident of a major league
(12:23):
baseball team I would actuallydress up for the lunch and I
would bring him a wrapped book.
And he would bring me a wrappedbook and I always bought him
like a historical biography orsomething because he loves that
kind of stuff or stuff on theCivil War and things like that.
And he would always probablygive me a political book or a
spiritual book or something likethat.
And the richness of those kindsof friendships are amazing.
(12:49):
But then you have bad businesspartners and you have the
neighbor next door that won'tclean his front yard and you got
you know this, that and peoplewho are complaining about things
and you know all this kind ofstuff.
It got to a point where I hadgotten into some business deals
with people and you know allthis kind of stuff.
It got to a point where I hadgotten into some business deals
with people and and you you knowI'm I'm probably a little too
(13:09):
naive I do business with peoplebecause I expect that they'll be
like me, which is honest anddecent.
About two years ago my son whoturned 34 today we're recording
today it's actually his 34thbirthday About two years ago my
son says to me dad, I said yeah,and he goes.
I think your partner pickersoff All right.
Yeah, I think my partner pickermight be off actually.
(13:32):
So so now I I lean on my wife alot more, because I think women
have a lot of intuition aboutpeople, and sometimes my wife
will say, nah, bad guy, stayaway from that guy.
Bad guy, and I'm like he'sreally good.
No, honey, she's like bad guy.
Stay away from that guy, badguy, and I'm like he's really
good.
No, honey, she's like bad guy.
Well, after, a while.
Walt Bayliss (13:48):
You've got some sort of radar, isn't it?
My wife's the same, she's likeit is.
Chris Widener (13:52):
It's well, they call it women's intuition and I,
I think I think it is.
Plus, our wives are protectiveof us, so they're kind of even
looking for that because becausenot only because they love us,
but because they know that if wehurt we bring it home, and now
they got to put up with all thecrap.
So some of it is justself-preservation for our wives.
Walt Bayliss (14:11):
Yeah, no.
So most amazing part of life ispeople.
Most difficult part of life ispeople.
If you've learned so as you'vegone into this business space
and looking at those challengesand built incredible companies
along the way, could you juststill?
Could you just still thelessons that you've had to learn
in that transition again intopillars?
Like are there a few thingsthat you say, listen, you need
(14:34):
to succeed in business?
There's some things you got totick off, like what would those
things be for you In regard topeople, in regard to business,
in regards to creating somethingamazing as a legacy, as a
company, as in regards to beingan entrepreneur and making
something happen for yourself?
Yeah, like, what are theprinciples for you?
Chris Widener (14:50):
I'll start with one as a segue for people.
So my wife is responsible forabout $600 million a year in
sales for one of the largestcompanies in America, but
actually one of the largestcompanies in the world.
She has a big, big job and runsa very siz runs a, you know, a
(15:13):
very sizable business for for amulti, multi, multi, monthly
tens of billions of dollars ayear.
Um, and one of the first thingsshe taught me was get a
contract.
I have done maybe a hundredhandshake deals and and that has
always been me and I kind ofprided myself in it, but I got
screwed a lot.
I mean, I've had peopleliterally we do a handshake deal
, we do the event, and there'sall this money and they
literally just disappear.
I mean really, truly.
Walt Bayliss (15:34):
And so number one get it in writing.
Chris Widener (15:36):
Number one get it in writing.
But if I were to go back, Iwould say first of all, realize
that life is short.
My dad was the CFO of what isnow one of the largest
architecture firms in the world.
They're probably top 15architecture firms in the world.
(15:56):
He died in 1970.
In 1969, his last full year ofearning, he made $90,000.
And we lived in a house.
That which would be about amillion dollars a year now, and
we lived in a house that mostrecently sold for $3.8 million.
My mom had to sell the housewhen he died, at the age of 41,
(16:16):
because he did not have lifeinsurance.
He had like $30,000 worth oflife insurance, so we moved out
of this house because shecouldn't afford $400 a month in
the mortgage.
So I think the first thing isunderstand that life is short,
because I always say that lifeis precious because it ends and
life is an adventure because younever know when and so you know
(16:41):
.
I think it's important tounderstand you're going to die,
and death is a great motivatorbecause if we were going to live
forever, we could procrastinate.
Oh, I'll get to it in a couplehundred years.
I'm going to spend the nexthundred years doing this and
then I'll get to it a couplehundred years from now.
But you don't get that muchtime and the problem is you
don't know how much time you get.
Most of us maybe get 75 onaverage 75 years average
(17:08):
lifespan of a man in the UnitedStates and so, understanding
that life is short.
Number two let your dreams andyour ambition out.
Let it out, go, do it, try it.
My favorite book, in fact, youmentioned 12 Pillars, if you
remember, in one chapter in 12Pillars it was about being a
lifelong learner and one of thecharacters gives the other
(17:30):
character a book list, but hesays I'm going to give you the
first book, and the first bookhe gives him do, uh, the magic
of thinking big.
The magic of thinking big and Ivery purposely chose that book
to be the one that he gave theyoung guy was the magic of
(17:53):
thinking big, because I reallybelieve that it's just as easy
to think big as it is to thinksmall.
That's probably a quote thatthat I'm most well-known for.
It's just as easy to think bigas it is to think small.
And I'll, I, and I'll tell youone story I learned I was 14
years old.
This is probably how I ended upbecoming one of the top 10
sales speakers in the world.
(18:13):
I was 14 years old and my momwas working at a hospital in
Seattle and I used to go thereafter school and wait and we'd
drive home together and I got toknow this, this guy.
He seemed really old to me atthe time.
He was probably 40 or 45.
And he, he was a records filer.
That's all this guy did, eighthours a day filed medical
(18:36):
records.
Parentheses shoot me now.
I do not want, I mean come on.
Walt Bayliss (18:42):
Well, he wanted more.
He's the reason AI was invented, yeah.
Chris Widener (18:45):
He wanted more for his life, so he borrowed
$7,000.
When I was 14, that would havebeen 1980.
He borrowed $7,000 from a richuncle and he bought the rights
to a self-watering flower pot.
Now this flower pot was twoplastic bowls.
The bottom bowl held the water,the top bowl you sat down into,
(19:05):
the other one held the plant,and then there was a lever on
the side.
From left to right, one gave ita lot more water, pulled a lot
more water out, and on the farright it pulled less water out.
So on the left you'd have anAfrican violet On the right,
you'd have a cactus, you knowright.
So he says to me hey, I justgot the rights to this thing.
(19:27):
How would you like to make somemoney?
I said I'd love to make somemoney.
And he says, well, I'll tellyou what.
If you'll sell them, I'll payyou to sell them.
And I said, okay, what do I get?
And he said I'll give you adollar a pot.
I said done.
Now he thought I was going togo door to door and sell them to
old ladies.
So what I did was I called.
Now this was before the big boxstores like Home Depot and
(19:48):
Lowe's and all those things.
This was back when there were,you know, smaller, regional
things.
And I can't remember I think itwas Pay and Pack.
If I remember right, it doesn'teven exist anymore.
It might've been Pay and Pack,might've been Pay and Save,
might've been Ernst Home Centers.
I don't remember which one itwas.
Might've been Pay and Pack,might've been Pay and Save,
might've been Ernst Home Centers.
I don't remember which one itwas, but I do remember that they
were the biggest chain in thePacific Northwest Alaska,
(20:10):
washington, oregon, Idaho, thatkind of thing.
And so I called them up.
I said I got a self-wateringflower pot I want to sell you.
Can I come in and show yourbuyer?
They said sure.
So I told my mom I got anappointment to go sell these
flower pots.
She goes, what?
So she drags me down to somestore and she buys me khaki
(20:35):
pants and a blue blazer.
Now picture a 14-year-old inkhaki pants and a blue blazer.
None of them fit.
You see a kid nowadays.
He's 14, wearing a blazer neverfits.
So she drops me off on a streetcorner in downtown Seattle.
I walk in, I said I have anappointment with so-and-so and
they looked at me and I'mholding a flower pot.
They look at me, they look atit.
Okay.
I go up the elevator, doors openand there's this man standing
(20:57):
there and the look on his face Icould still see it was
priceless.
He's like huh.
I walk him in.
I go, I got a self-wateringflower pot.
He goes okay, and there was nodirt or plant in the top one.
So I put water in the bottom.
I put the other one in and soyou could see there was no water
in the top one.
I moved the lever and waterappeared.
(21:18):
He goes I'm buyer, I'm a buyer.
And I said okay, what does thatmean?
He goes well, I'll tell youwhat I want to do a one-year
test on this.
So he said I'll tell you what.
I'll take four boxes.
How many in a box?
I said 24.
He said I'll take four boxesfor each of 20 stores for a year
(21:39):
.
So let's call it 25 to a boxbecause it'll make the math a
little bit easier.
He bought 100 pots times 20stores.
He placed an order for 2,000pots every month for a year.
He bought 24,000 pots after afour-minute demonstration.
(22:00):
Now here that's a great lesson,right, it's just as easy to
think big.
It was just as easy, in fact itwas easier for me to call that
guy and say can I come show youthis pot?
Then it would have been for meto go walk down a street for
three hours knocking on doorstrying to get somebody to buy
one, and so.
But here's another great lesson.
I took that order back to thatguy and I said I sold some pots.
(22:29):
And he goes yeah, how many potsdid you sell?
And I said whatever, the mathwas 23,872.
And he, he literally is jawdropped.
And I held the purchase orderup to him and, I kid you not.
He quit.
He called the.
He called the company up.
He said I want my $7,000 back.
And uh, and he sold it back.
He sold the rights back.
(22:49):
He couldn't.
He was terrified, terrified ofsuccess.
So the but, the but.
The irony of it was it was adrop ship deal.
It wasn't like he had to store24,000 pots in his apartment, he
just had to have them drop shipto their distribution center.
But all of a sudden, because ifI was making a dollar a pot,
(23:10):
how much was he making every pot?
So anyway, that's a greatlesson.
There are some people who areterrified of success, but the
real lesson there is is let yourambition dream big, think big.
Jim Rohn always used to say letother people do that, but not
you.
Let other people do that.
Well, let other people thinksmall, but not you.
(23:31):
We have enough small thinkersin the world.
We need people who will thinkbig.
So you know, whatever you'rethinking about doing, think
bigger, think bigger.
I think that's a great lesson.
Walt Bayliss (23:44):
I think it's an amazing lesson because the
time's going to pass anyway,right, like you said, if you're
going to knock doors and sellthree pots in an afternoon,
right, which you know would be agood afternoon if you're
knocking doors right.
Or you make one call and sell25,000.
Like the time's going to passthe same, so you may as well be
big in that time.
You may as well have thatincredible thing.
Chris Widener (24:06):
So first of all, I did another deal in the early
two thousands where a friend ofmine said, hey, what would you
think about putting togetherboxes of audio programs from
professional speakers?
And I said, okay, sure, thatthat's a great idea.
I know them all.
And so we.
We spent one summer, me and him, smoking cigars and drinking
whiskey on his front porch andcalling professional speakers
(24:27):
and securing the rights to theiraudio programs.
We put them into a box aroundthemes.
Our three biggest skews wereleadership was one, sales
success was another, and theother one was called verbal
power.
It was a communication boxFourteen CDs, one DVD.
Now I could have gone to Joe'slocal bookstore and said, hey,
(24:49):
I'd like to consign these withyou.
Here's 10 of them.
I'll come back in a month andfind out.
We made one phone call.
The very first phone call wecalled was Costco, and within
three or four months we wereselling 50 to 75,000 boxes a
month through Costco and Sam'sclub.
Right, because I thought it'sjust as easy to think big as it
is to think small.
Walt Bayliss (25:10):
Wow, Incredible we were.
Chris Widener (25:11):
We were selling, you know, those 50,000, I think
a MSRP was.
It was just under 30 bucks, socalled a million and a half
dollars a month in audioprograms through Costco and then
and then of course Sam's Clubwanted in on the deal and then
we created a smaller version forBorders and Barnes and Noble
and you know all the the regularbig bookstores Books a Million
(25:31):
and and those kinds of things.
But it really comes down tojust as easy to think big as it
is to think small.
Walt Bayliss (25:36):
I think it's probably one of the most
powerful lessons that you couldever deliver.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
And in terms of in terms ofyour business growth, that
obviously has fueled you.
You've been able to create bigopportunities because you've
seen that I can and therefore Ido, I can and therefore I do.
And look at the incredibleresults.
What are the things like?
(25:57):
If you got a chance to windback the last 30 years, now that
you've been kind of Chris thebusinessman for the last 30
years, what would you dodifferently?
Like how would you?
What lessons have you learnedthat have said Whoa hang on,
hang on Number one.
Chris Widener (26:09):
Get a contract Right, so get it in writing.
Walt Bayliss (26:11):
Think bigger, right, like that.
There we that's, that's beenthe driving thing, but has there
been things that you've like?
Let me ask it a different waywhat's the biggest mistake
you've made and what would youdo as a result of that lesson?
Chris Widener (26:23):
Well, I hate to keep drumming the beat, beating
the drum, but get a contracttrusting people.
No, you know, it's interesting.
My dad died when I was four andmy mom sold real estate and she
was flipping houses before theywere doing it on television.
So I lived in 28 homes and Iwent to 11 different schools and
(26:44):
because my mother was crazy andI was not a really good kid,
she ended up shipping me off tolive with relatives twice and
one of the best things that cameout of that was I am really
good at making quickrelationships and building
rapport very quickly.
You know, because every year,just about I was moving to a
(27:05):
different school and so, youknow, I suppose some kids walk
into a new school every year andthey, they sit by the, you know
, they sit in the corner andthey, you know, whatever, I
walked in and I was like I gotto make friends.
I still have friends literallyfrom the third grade.
I think that's the oldestfriend I have.
I have two guys that I'm stillfriends with that we were best
friends in the third grade.
Wow, and, and, and, and I meanpeople all throughout my life,
(27:30):
moving around and meeting people, building relationships.
So I think.
I think the ability to buildrelationships is probably one of
the keys to success as well,because you really don't do
business with a business.
You do business with the personwho's representing the business
, whether it's the owner or thesalesperson or whatever.
(27:50):
So this ability to be able tobuild quick rapport you know, I
have all these books that I'vewritten.
I have three or four differentpublishers with all my SKUs
across them.
Well, one of my publishersprobably has 10 of my books and
20 of my audio programs orsomething like that, but the
number one book and audio it's abook and an audio that I have
(28:14):
with him With all these SKUs.
When I get my royalties once aquarter, one product is half of
my royalties with this publisherand the title of it is how to
talk to anybody, anytime,anywhere.
And it's a three-step process tobe able to get over the fear.
(28:35):
When you sit down at thatwedding reception and you're
parked at a table and you don'tknow anybody, or you sit down in
your airplane seat for asix-hour flight, or you are
somewhere where you now have totalk to people.
Most people don't know how tocreate that instant rapport, and
I teach people how to createalmost instant rapport because
(28:55):
ultimately, you're selling to aperson.
You're not selling to a company, you're selling to a person.
So the ability to build andmaintain relationships, I think
is really important and gettingalong with people, understanding
how they work, understandingwhat their triggers are and I
mean triggers probably in apositive way Triggered is a
(29:16):
negative term now but the thingsthat will trigger them to
respond and to come closer, bothliterally and figuratively,
those kinds of things and tocome closer both literally and
figuratively, those kinds ofthings.
So, mistakes that I've made I'ma little ADD and a little ADHD,
but as I learned when I wasstudying for my book on
Michelangelo, the Angel Inside,he was too.
(29:38):
In fact, michelangelo left over200 unfinished projects when he
died.
There were over 200 projectsthat he started and didn't
finish.
He started them, got bored,started them, moved on to
somebody else, something else.
So I think, probably to mydetriment, is probably my lack
(30:02):
of focus.
Walt Bayliss (30:05):
I think that's part of the territory of being
an entrepreneur.
Chris Widener (30:08):
Yeah, it really is.
In fact, I have a friend ofmine.
For those of you who have ADHD,you should get this book.
My friend doesn't even know I'mpitching his book now, but my
friend's name is Brad Worthleyand Brad wrote a book called the
Gift of ADHD and the subtitleis If you Don't have it, you
Should Get it.
And the subtitle is if youdon't have it, you should get it
.
And the whole book is aboutthese wildly successful
(30:30):
entrepreneurs who had ADHD,because ADHD or ADD and I've
never been diagnosed and I don'tneed to go get diagnosed but
while you sort of arescatterbrained with a lot of
things, when you finally lock in, you lock in and you are
relentless about getting it.
So I think understandingyourself is probably.
(30:52):
Another real key isunderstanding what your
strengths and weaknesses are.
I am very aware of my strengthsand I use them, and I'm very
aware of my weaknesses and Ihire to cover my weaknesses and
I hire to cover my weaknesses.
So I have a gal that works withme and I call her my right hand
(31:13):
gal, and she used to work for afriend of mine and I called him
up and I said hey, I wasthinking about hiring her and I
said what's her greateststrength?
And he said getting shit done,that's her greatest strength.
And I said she's hired.
Walt Bayliss (31:25):
Because that's really what I need.
Chris Widener (31:28):
I'm a great visionary, but I will miss a lot
of things if I'm in charge ofthose things.
So, having some, but there areother people who are really good
at that, but they need sort ofa visionary partner.
So understanding yourself, Ithink, is another really key,
key thing knowing what you'regood at and hiring to those
things that you aren't Amazing.
Walt Bayliss (31:50):
And again, same same lessons everywhere.
Right, it's like everybody's.
There's gotta be a reason whythe successful people are saying
the same things.
You got to hire you for yourweaknesses.
You got to like it's allamazing stuff.
So, Chris, you were.
You were a church seed, I thinkyou you called it before Like
yeah, they call them churchplanter.
Yeah, church planters.
Right, your self-watering potand now your church planter.
(32:12):
Like, I can see the theme hereas I as I get it going on.
But if I took you right now andI dropped you into a city,
let's say it's in the U?
S where you, you, you didn'thave your business with you, you
didn't have your Rolodex ofcontacts and networks.
Chris Widener (32:28):
What would you do to start something and create
something in that space?
You mean, start a business inthat town.
Walt Bayliss (32:32):
Yeah, absolutely Zero Rolodex.
We were talking just before wejumped on, about Mark Cuban and
I know that somebody else in thespace, grant Cardone, does this
big thing about.
He got dropped in a city andwhatever.
He's got this whole campaignabout that.
But'm thinking more about youbecause of the, the way you
think in terms of think bigger,do stuff with more.
You've started things fromscratch from many, many times
before you understand how peoplethink with the political side
(32:54):
of things, like you've got someskills there that I'd be curious
to know.
Chris Widener (32:58):
Just literally dropped into a city and you've
got well, the hardest part aboutthe scenario you gave me was I
don't have my network Right,because you know it's almost
pithy at this point to hearsomebody say your net worth is
based on your network, and it'sreally true.
Walt Bayliss (33:13):
I actually I asked you that for a very specific
reason, because you've got thatfast connection skill set.
Like I'm really curious now howthat would impact you in that
barren wasteland of geez got tostart everything again.
Impact you in that barrenwasteland of geez, got to start
everything again.
Chris Widener (33:26):
I would probably try to find some business that
I'm interested in that's alreadyestablished, and I would
probably try to find a way toserve the owner of that business
.
I would say what's your biggestproblem and how much would you
pay for me to solve it?
That's probably what I would do.
(33:46):
I would say what's your biggestproblem and how can I solve it.
You know I mentioned Jim Rohnand Zig Ziglar and John Maxwell,
and I think there's a lessonthere.
Like people are like how didyou get that?
And I'll tell you it was veryspecific.
I really believe this.
When somebody meets somebodyelse that is famous or has
achieved something that theywant to achieve, most people ask
(34:09):
the same question.
They say I want to be just likeyou.
Will you help me?
Wrong question.
I said I want to be just likeyou.
How can I help you?
Well, I'm a good writer and sothat's what John Maxwell and Jim
Rohn hired me for was thewriting.
(34:30):
But I always say everybodywants to be first fiddle in the
orchestra, but if you're secondfiddle and first fiddle is a
world renowned violinist you'rein business.
And so I ended up pairingmyself with two of the greatest
legends in John Maxwell and JimRohn by being able to say how
(34:51):
can I help you?
Well, the way you can help,because those guys didn't have
time to go help somebody else.
They needed help, so I helpedthem.
That was the way I flipped ithow can I help you?
And then with Zig Ziglar.
Unfortunately, at the end ofZig's life he got pretty bad
dementia and and I realizedafter the fact that one of the
(35:12):
reasons they asked me to co-hostthe show was because they
needed me to to, to move it,move it through, because by the
end of his life Zig had amazinglong-term.
He could tell you a story from60 years ago down to the perfect
detail.
The problem is is that he hadno short-term memory and as soon
as he was done he'd tell youthe story again.
So it was so I realized while Ihelped John and Jim in the
(35:35):
writing department, the way Iwas brought in was to serve Zig,
was to be that guy that movedit forward to him.
So Zig Ziglar was not asking meto come in.
You know for my grand ideas,although I will tell you this
after about the second or thirdepisode, tom, his son, who was
president of Ziglar Corporation.
Tom came to me and it was funny.
(35:55):
Tom always calls his dad Zig.
He doesn't call him well, hecalls him dad when he's just out
and about, but when they werein a room together he would say
Zig.
And he said to me.
He said, you know, uh, Chris.
He said um, zig asked me if Icould get you to talk more.
And to you know, not just bethe question asker, but and and
(36:16):
and but I.
I was asked, I was invited todo that.
I didn't come in thinking thatthat's what I was going to do.
In fact, when I tell people whatmy job was, you ever been to
like a batting practice for abaseball game, right?
Or the home run derby?
Every year they do the all-stargame and they have a home run
derby and every single one ofthese big, famous, you know home
(36:38):
run Kings.
They all show up but there'ssome dude out on the mound.
Nobody knows who that guy is,nobody cares who the guy is,
nobody wants to know who the guyis.
But his job throw that ballright across the plate so the
famous guy can swat it out ofthe park.
That's truly how I went intobeing Zig Ziglar's co-host.
I thought my job is to throwbatting practice for Zig Ziglar.
(37:00):
So you know, it kind of remindsme of the old biblical thing
where Jesus said when you'reinvited to a banquet, don't go
sit at the head of the table,because somebody more important
than you might come in andthey're going to ask you to move
down and you're going to beembarrassed by it.
Instead, sit at the other endof the table because no matter
how many empty seats there are,they're always going to ask you
(37:20):
to move up the table.
So I think that idea ofhumility is also something that
played into it, but it was aboutserving other people.
So back to your originalquestion.
I would find a business that Ilike, that I'm passionate about,
and I would say how can I helpyou?
Walt Bayliss (37:35):
What can I do?
It's so cool, man.
I think the opportunity of thatquestion how can I best serve
is, for a start, you're nevergoing to be short of opportunity
, right?
You're literally never going tobe short of an opportunity.
If you can be of service, thenyou're always going to have an
opportunity to to shine and tobe second fiddle, to be the
pitcher, to be the guy Like youwill always be valuable If
(37:59):
you're.
If you have that, how can I beof service?
Mentality?
Which actually brings me to your, your current project, which is
your sharerideorg.
You've told the story and Ithink you know, knowing a little
bit from your public history,about your dad and about your
mom and the fact that he wasunder the family, was
underinsured, and thatcompletely changed your life.
(38:21):
I remember hearing you know inone of the success magazine tape
sets that I had you told thatstory specifically because it
created that movement in yourlife.
And now you know you've gotsharewriteorg, which you've
created as a or, you know, beingpart of asa way of helping and
(38:41):
serving other people in thatspace.
You want to tell me a littlebit more about that Because I'm
really fascinated as the journeythat you've gone through with
the entire personal successmantra, with the business
success, with being the top ofthe game and the impact of your
dad at four years old passingaway, your mom being
underinsured, and the journeythat led you on has now put you
(39:01):
in this position, where being ofservice in that space has
created something.
Chris Widener (39:07):
Yeah, the number one thing that families spend
money on is their mortgage.
The second biggest amount ofmoney that they spend every
month is health insurance andthe top five health insurance
companies in America.
I went and looked at how muchtheir CEOs make.
The least that the big fivemake CEO is 18 and a half
(39:31):
million dollars a year.
The most was 25.3 milliondollars a year or something like
that.
So the top five insurancecompanies.
Every year, the first hundredmillion dollars that they bring
in goes to five people.
And then you got thousands ofvice presidents that are making
a million bucks.
And then you got your seniorvice presidents or executive
(39:52):
vice presidents are making500,000.
And because they're all, mostof them are for profit
organizations.
So in the Affordable Care Act ofwhat is more known as Obamacare
, there's a carve out forsomething called health sharing
(40:14):
organizations and they arealways housed in a nonprofit
501c3.
So in America, you know, in theUS, you're not allowed to pay
people outrageous salaries.
That's part of the deal.
We'll give you tax-free, aslong as you know it's not a
for-profit.
There's not somebody pulling amillion bucks out every year or
whatever.
It's not a for-profit.
There's not somebody pulling amillion bucks out every year or
(40:34):
whatever.
So it's very, very inexpensive.
It also has a lot of freedom toit and it also allows you most
health insurance.
You're required to covereverything and the Affordable
Care Act said you have to coverpre-existing conditions Health
sharing you're not required todo that.
So the fact that it's wrappedup in a 501c3 and the fact that
you don't have to pay forpreexisting conditions and
(40:54):
things like that, it can takefamilies that are relatively
healthy and it can give themthat coverage that they need to
be able to have affordablehealth care.
And they call it health sharing.
Functionally, it really worksjust like health insurance.
You go in, you have yourprocedure, you get your bill,
(41:14):
you swipe your card.
It goes to ShareRite.
They negotiate the fees down,they make payment if a payment
is due to the medical provider,or they tell you you know you
still haven't hit your amountthat you have to pay first.
But the very first person that Ishowed this to he was 40 years
old, married with four kidsunder the age of 18.
(41:37):
And I asked him I said how muchdo you pay for health insurance
?
He said I pay $2,800 a month.
Within 30 seconds I pulled upand I'll give you the web
address sharerightorg.
Forward slash pricing.
In less than 30 seconds youwill be able to find out exactly
how much you would pay.
So we put in his birthday he wasborn in 1984.
(41:59):
And we put in how many peoplein his family.
And we only have one, two orthree plus.
So if you have three people, acouple with a kid, or you have a
couple with five kids, sameprice.
So we typed it in five kids,same price.
So we typed it in birthdaythree plus click.
He went from $2,800 a month to$805 a month.
(42:21):
He went from a $16,000deductible to a $2,500 primary
contribution, which we don't useinsurance language it's part of
the deal is the Affordable CareAct.
You can't use the language, sowe don't use deductible.
It's called a primarycontribution amount, a PCA, I
think, is what they call it.
So anyway, if this guy were tohave some health problems in his
(42:41):
family and they hit thatdeductible, he would literally
save $37,000 a year Just gettingaway from his $2,800 a month to
an $805 a month.
It's just shy of $24,000 a yearstraight into his pocket.
So what I realized was we cantake that giant payment that
(43:04):
most people pay and make it intoa fraction, and particularly
with the economy, the way thatit is, with inflation and gas is
up and groceries are up and youknow everything is up it's
going to give people that kindof freedom.
So, it really is great andfunctionally it operates the
same way and better coverage.
(43:26):
We pay our bills within, Ithink our average is 13 days.
It takes us 13 days from themoment we get it to the moment
the decision has been made andeither payment has been made or
notification has been made thatyou still need to make your
payment to meet your primarycontribution 13 days.
So, I'm really excited about itbecause this is the kind of
thing that's going to make adifference, not only for people
(43:50):
who really, really need it, butit also makes a difference for
people who don't need the money.
One of the first guys I talkedto about it.
We pitched it to him.
He sold his company for like500 million and I was talking to
him on the phone and I wastelling him about it and he goes
.
I only got a little bit of timeto talk.
He said I'm getting in my jetand I'm flying to San Francisco.
I'm going to watch the Warriorsplay tonight.
(44:11):
So we did this thing and I saidyou're going to save $15,000 a
year.
I said that's like a tank ofgas for your jet.
He goes dude, that's not even ahalf a tank of gas for my jet.
But he said this.
He said but it's still $15,000a year.
I don't have it there, it isthere, it is there, it is.
So, even the rich guys are likeI can save 15 grand just by
(44:34):
doing the exact same thing, butpaying it to this guy.
Instead of this guy, I'm in.
I'm in, so anyway, I'm excitedabout it because it's going to
make a difference for peoplefinancially.
Walt Bayliss (44:43):
Yeah, and I think I think, like I love the fact
that, um, that story about yourbeginning and foundation and the
hardships that your mom wentthrough and all of that kind of
stuff has come full circle nowinto the opportunity there.
Chris Widener (44:56):
I had never put that together.
You, you put that together.
I've never thought about thatbefore.
You're welcome, man.
You're welcome, thank you.
Walt Bayliss (45:02):
It's.
To me it made logical sense assoon as you told me what.
What was going on.
So, guys, I think you know what, Chris.
I said at the very beginningthat it was an opportunity for
me to jump on and spend sometime with a hero of mine, and
you are the hero that you shouldmeet.
I appreciate you.
I appreciate the work that'shappened in the world as a
(45:23):
legacy that you've actually beena part of to create change in
so many entrepreneurs' lives, inso many people's lives who can
link back to a pillar or who canlink back to a talk or can
relate something in their lifestory to a moment in time that
involved you.
So, again, I want to share thatappreciation with you, and I
(45:46):
think we started to say what arethe lessons that you've learned
?
Getting into business, obviously, being this kind of audience
with our podcast, our podcast,you know, get a contract, be a
fast friend.
Like, learn how to how to be afast friend, think bigger and
then, wrapping that around yourown experiences, do what you're
passionate about that can serveother people and you'll never
(46:08):
have to look for anotheropportunity in life.
And like wrapping this episodewith those kinds of four core
fundamentals.
I think it's just, it'sspectacular.
So, ladies and gentlemen, ChrisWidener, jump in, make sure
that you're following this manon LinkedIn and on all of the
socials that are out there aswell.
Dude, you continue to inspire,you continue to be a leader.
I think that's in your nature,no matter what badge you're
(46:28):
wearing.
So I thank you and appreciateyou for that.
And yeah, ladies and gentlemen,just make sure you tap into
what Chris is doing.
And thank you, Chris.
Appreciate your time, man.
Chris Widener (46:41):
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'd love to connect withpeople on LinkedIn, probably the
best place to connect with me.
I would love to do that, andI'll leave you with one last bit
of advice.
It's the piece of advice that Iwas given when I was 22 years
old, and I'll tell you the story.
Can I take a minute and tellyou the story?
Absolutely, I was at aconference.
It was one of the most eeriethings that ever happened to me.
Now you got to understand, I'm58.
I was 22 when this happened tome.
(47:02):
36 years I've carried this.
I was at a conference and it wasduring a break and there's a
couple hundred people millingaround and I was by myself at
this conference.
And so I turned around and Ibumped into these two women One
was probably 55 and the otherwas probably 30.
And I kind of bumped into herand said, oh, excuse me.
And I and the older womanlooked at me and said, oh, no
(47:24):
problem.
And I looked at the youngerwoman and she was like this and
I don't know if this is a videoor an audio version it will be
doing here she literally wentlike this the younger woman, the
30 year old one, like this.
Her eyes got like saucers andher jaw dropped open and I was
like this is a little awkward.
And her mother looked at herand she looked at me.
(47:45):
She looked at her daughter andshe said is this him?
And I'm like holy cow, am Iabout to get accused of
something?
And the girl still has notspoken a word.
Her mouth's hanging open, hereyes are saucers and she goes
like this.
Walt Bayliss (47:58):
She's nodding silently.
Chris Widener (48:01):
And I'm like, okay, this is just weird.
So the mom says listen, this ismy daughter and we're here at
this conference.
And in the middle of the night,last night, at 2 in the morning
, she sprung out of bed,completely wide awake, and woke
me up and I said, honey, what'swrong, what's going on?
And she said I just had a dreamabout somebody I'm supposed to
(48:23):
give a message to.
And so when she saw you and Isaw the look on her face, my
first thought was to this 2 amthing.
That happened in the middle ofthe night.
So she looks at her daughterand she says well, tell him.
And she said I'm supposed totell you to be a voice, not an
(48:44):
echo.
I don't know who they are, Ididn't get their number, I don't
have their names.
I never saw him again, but for36 years that has been the way I
live my life Be a voice, not anecho.
And there's a lot of people thatjust regurgitate stuff and I
(49:07):
quote people and I love to dothat, but I always quote them.
At least I give credit to them.
I can't tell you how manypeople try to pass off Jim Rohn
quotes as their own.
In fact, it's kind of funnywhen somebody says you know,
here's some advice work harderon yourself, you can do on your
job.
I always comment I love JimRohn quotes.
Those are great, but so, anyway, that's what I would tell
(49:27):
people and I'm a speaker, right,so that that has like a literal
thing for me be a voice, not anecho.
But I would say, even if you'renot a speaker, whatever you're
doing in your life, be original.
Be original, Don't be somebodyelse.
The number one questiontypically that I get is what was
it like working with Jim Rohn?
(49:48):
Or what did you learn workingwith Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar?
And I always say be yourself,which is kind of a weird thing.
Why would you learn that fromworking with Zig Ziglar and Jim
Rohn?
I'll tell you why.
Here are two guys that were atthe pinnacle of that world that
I wanted to be in.
Superstars impacted hundreds ofmillions of people, $100,000 a
speech.
You could not pick two moredifferent human beings than Jim
(50:13):
Rohn and Zig Ziglar.
Zig Ziglar pranced all over thestage.
He would talk and pump his fistand then he'd whisper, and then
he'd kneel on the ground andhe's moving all over.
And then I always, I always saythis about Jim.
He stood behind a lectern andyou always know Jim's getting
excited when he does this andtakes his like that's his power
(50:34):
move.
That's about all you're going toget from Jim Rohn, but what I
realized was they both were thesuperstars that industry
completely different.
I didn't need to be Zig Ziglar.
I didn't need to be Jim Rohn.
I didn't need to be TonyRobbins, didn't need to be John
Maxwell, didn't need to beDennis, didn't need to be Brian
Tracy.
I needed to be Chris Widener.
I needed to be a voice and notan echo, and I think that that's
(50:57):
something that all businesspeople should understand.
Use it, put it whateverlanguage you need into it, but
be the original, not the fake orthe phony or the knockoff.
I love it.
Walt Bayliss (51:10):
I love it and for those of you who are watching on
our video version, you havemagic in you.
That's the sign that it's inthe back of my video here,
because that's so true Each ofyou has something special that
the world needs and I love thatmessage, man I got.
I got goosebumps, just as youwere telling me that story, guys
.
Thank you so much again, Chris.
I'm I'm bowing to you Amazingto connect with you, man.
Chris Widener (51:31):
Thank you so much for having me on.
No, it's incredible, Incredible.
Walt Bayliss (51:34):
And do pop back in and let us know what's going on
and you know, keep in touch.
And again, ladies and gentlemen, Chris Widenham, Chris, thank
you so much man.
Chris Widener (51:41):
Thank you.
ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for
joining me today.
I welcome on the show one of myheroes.
This gentleman came into mylife alongside of a personal
mentor for me, who was jim rowan.
This gentleman has, in fact,led the way in the success field
.
He's a motivational speaker.
In fact, he is in themotivational speakers hall of
fame.
He is an internationalbestseller with over 20 books
(00:25):
that have been published, newYork times bestselling author as
well.
He's made a run in theRepublican race.
He's now running not-for-profitorganizations.
He is a world leader.
He is a success coach.
It is my great honor andprivilege to welcome to the show
Mr Chris Widener.
Chris, thank you so much forjoining us.
Chris Widener (00:45):
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate this.
Walt Bayliss (00:46):
This is great man it is so cool to have you on the
show I mentioned in that littleintro.
You're a hero of mine.
I came across your work withJim, of course, in 12 Pillars.
How did that kind ofcollaboration come into play?
That seems like an incredibleplace to start this conversation
about success and aboutbusiness and about life in front
(01:07):
of us.
How did that collab come with12 Pillars?
Chris Widener (01:11):
Yeah.
So here's what happened.
I was a pastor of a church from1988 till 2002, but I was what
they call a church planter, andthat's just fancy words for go
start a church.
And so I ended up in this townwhere there wasn't one of our
churches and they didn't haveany money to give me.
They just wanted me to go starta church.
So over the course of 11 yearsI started three churches in the
(01:31):
surrounding towns and such, butI didn't.
I had to make some money, so Ihad a really crazy upbringing.
So I decided to go and startspeaking more and then
eventually I was.
I was kind of doing youthspeaking in college and junior
high and high school and thatkind of stuff.
Eventually I ended up startingdoing some more for time
management, leadership, and thenI decided to go and write and
(01:54):
speak full time in 2002.
And over the course of the nextseven years I ended up working
with a guy named John Maxwell,who most people will probably be
familiar with.
I ghost wrote for John and thenwhen I was writing for John,
word kind of got out that I waswriting for John and so they
called me and he asked me if Iwould write with Jim Rohn, and
so I said I will, as long as myname gets to go on it, because
(02:15):
my name didn't get to go on thestuff with John.
So I said I will do it, but Iwant my name to go on it.
So I started working with him.
We wrote a uh, we did a thingtogether called the Jim Rohn one
year success plan, which was 52weeks, uh, weekly emails.
We interviewed, you know, lotsof great people.
Uh, jim wrote some stuff, Iwrote some stuff, uh, that kind
of thing.
And then, uh, so at the sametime is that I had just written
(02:38):
a book called the angel inside.
I fired all my ghostwritingpeople Cause I felt like I was
giving my best ideas away,literally the very first thing I
wrote after I stoppedghostwriting for John, I wrote a
book called the Angel Insideand it ended up we sold 120,000
copies of self-published andthen Random House bought it for
their currency in print.
(02:58):
It became number two on theWall Street Journal, number
seven on the New York Times andit was a fictional little story
about 20, words about a youngman who's on vacation.
It's the last afternoon of histrip to Europe and he's in
Florence, italy, and he meets alittle old man who takes him on
a tour of Florence and heteaches him life lessons from
the life of Michelangelo.
That book was so successful.
(03:21):
I said to Kyle Wilson, who wasthe president of Jim Rohn
International.
I said, you know, we just didthis 12-month Jim Rohn one-year
program.
Why don't we take theprinciples from each month?
Because they were 12 pillars,so every month we did a
different pillar.
I said, why don't I write astory about the 12 pillars, but
we'll put it into story form.
And so I created a storywherein we could insert those
(03:44):
kinds of things and then just tosort of bring full circle.
Shortly after that I got a phonecall from Zig Ziglar and they
asked me to co -host histelevision show.
So when people say, how did youbecome such a big, famous,
internationally known speaker?
I said it's really simple.
It's just a three-step process.
All you have to do is have JohnMaxwell call you and then you
(04:07):
have Jim Rohn call you and thenyou have Zig Ziglar call you,
and that's just.
It's simple.
No, I mean really.
I really believe God justopened some amazing doors and I
was very, very fortunate to workwith them.
12 Pillars is my best-sellingbook, even though we didn't hit
best-selling status because weself-published.
(04:28):
But Jim was big in the networkmarketing world.
I mean, we'd have networkmarketing companies call and buy
10,000 copies at a time Not abad way to get the orders, not a
bad way.
But then the interesting thingis is at the end of the book.
We sold them then into the JimRohn One Year Program.
So At the end of the book wesold them then into the Jim Rohn
One Year Program.
So they were actually payingfor a 20,000 word advertisement
for the Jim Rohn One YearProgram.
Walt Bayliss (04:49):
That was the business model behind that.
Chris Widener (04:52):
So good and I'll tell you what I wrote that from
October 2002 until September2003.
So 21 years ago, I still getroyalties on the Jim Rohn One
Year Program 21 years afterhitting the last keystroke.
Amazing, the Jim Rohn One YearProgram 21 years after hitting
the last keystroke.
Walt Bayliss (05:07):
Amazing.
So such a good business model,the publishing space and, of
course, finding the agent inside, finding the magic inside.
Everybody's got thatopportunity to create something
incredible.
And amazing that you had thatopportunity to ghostwrite for
some of the big names in thespace.
Chris, I did an interview with aguy named John Spence who was a
Fortune 500 CEO and he creditsa lot of his success to personal
(05:27):
development material.
He was a college dropout, youknow, sleeping on his friend's
couch, and his friend gave him abook and said read this.
And he never looked back and hehad a phrase there which was I
said to him how much of adifference did it make?
And he said you know, I wasjust too naive to think that
there was any other way, and Ilove that.
It's like too naive to failright.
And I'm thinking that thematerial that is in the personal
(05:48):
development space and, ofcourse, you know being for
yourself with Success Magazine,you are literally listed as one
of the top 10 Success Magazinespeakers in the world, which is
an incredible endorsement.
How much do you feel thatpeople can pivot their life, can
change their trajectory, basedon the material that's
accessible to them?
chriswidener.
com, through the SuccessMagazine through Entrepreneurcom
(06:09):
, like all of these amazingplaces.
How much do you think peoplecan change their lives really
with this material?
Chris Widener (06:14):
I think anybody can change their life.
In fact, I like to joke thatyou could go into the self-help
section at your local bookstoreand I actually took a guy into.
We were at the bookstore onetime and we were in the
self-help and this is where itsort of initiated.
I said how many differenttitles can you have for a book
that basically says get off yourass and do something?
(06:34):
Because, honestly, success issimple.
It's hard but it's simple.
And you know, gk Chesterton wasa Catholic theologian and he has
a quote about Christianity thatI sort of changed to just be
about life.
Gk Chesterton said it's notthat Christianity has been tried
(06:56):
and found wanting, it's thatit's been found difficult and
left untried.
And I would say the same thingabout about just success.
It's not that success has beentried and found wanting, it's
that success has been founddifficult and left untried.
And so I really do believe that, um, that anybody can do it.
I really believe anybody can dowhat they want to do.
(07:19):
I don't believe in thesuperhuman.
I mean, obviously, you knowthere are people who are great
physical specimens.
You know Shaquille O'Neal.
You know I'm never going todunk on Shaquille O'Neal, right,
because there's some, there'ssome physical limitations and
things like that, but generallyspeaking anybody can do whatever
it is that they want.
Most people just won't learnwhat they need to learn and then
(07:42):
apply what they learned.
But sometimes people say howdid you write 24 books?
You know what my answer is.
If somebody says how did youwrite 24 books?
It's always the same answer,one word at a time.
Walt Bayliss (07:54):
You got it, no other way forward.
I think not only have you beenan incredible success as an
author, as a speaker, but you'velaunched multiple companies as
well.
Just before we hit record, youwere saying to me that you're
you've just created anot-for-profit organization
called sharewriteorg.
Chris Widener (08:10):
So your experience in the, in the
personal development space, hasthen kind of, I guess,
accelerated your, your businessacumen as well right, yeah, and
I'm, I actually do less now inthe personal development world
than than I ever have over thelast 30 years.
I, I, you know, I kind of hitthe pinnacle of it and I kind of
it's like it sort of lost itsluster.
(08:31):
And then there's a lot ofpeople out there and I won't
name names, but I always said, Ialways said, if I wrote a tell
all about the self-help world, alot of kingdoms would fall,
because I mean there are peoplewho have built, uh, built their
entire.
I mean some of the most famousguys, uh, some of the most
famous guys in our industry.
Um, and I and I always want tosay this I'm not talking about
(08:53):
Tony Robbins, so don't, don't go, oh is he telling us about Tony
.
No, I'm talking about otherpeople, but famous people whose
entire resume is built on a lie,whose entire business is built
on a lie, that if anybody everfound out they would disappear
from the world.
You know the success worldbecause people go oh, this is
totally phony.
But you know, I got to thepoint where I was standing on
(09:15):
stages with 25,000 peopletraveling all over the world
Russia, singapore, china, egypt,spain, italy, australia.
I was telling you, I did onetour through Brisbane and Sydney
and another through Melbourne,stages as big as 25,000 people
and selling hundreds ofthousands of dollars worth of
audio programs and all that kindof stuff.
And after a while I don't knowthat I would say I got bored
(09:39):
with it.
But I just thought I want tochallenge myself.
So maybe my transition out ofdoing speeches I still do
speeches, you know, prettyregularly, but it's not my focus
.
I don't ever.
I'm not promoting myself.
I'm not marketing myself.
You know if the phone rings,but I have a lot of fun.
I like to, I like to try newthings and I like to conquer
(09:59):
things and I like to prove bymyself that I can do things.
And so in a way it was kind oflike well, I did that.
I got the Motivational SpeakersHall of Fame.
I got a New York Times and WallStreet Journal bestselling book
.
I spoke on a stage of 25,000people.
I've shared the stage with someof the most incredible people.
I had a television show not onlythe one that I co-hosted with
Zig, but the one that I did onmy own and that I did on my own
(10:26):
and it was kind of like what'snext?
It's kind of like when somebodywants to climb the biggest
mountains, they don't start withMount Everest, they start with
some smaller mountain.
They climb it, you go okay, Igot to the top, what's the next
one?
Well, they want to go tosomething higher.
So that's kind of my and I'mgetting older, I'm 58.
And I probably got another good20 years in me.
But you want to build somethingsignificant.
It takes some, you know, Iprobably got another good 20
(10:47):
years in me.
Walt Bayliss (10:48):
but you know you want to build something
significant.
It takes some time to build it,so ticking those things off,
you're like okay, I've spoken ona stage of 25,000 New York
times bestselling author.
What in your life, what haveyou found difficult?
Chris Widener (10:59):
People Tell me about that why.
I always say the best partabout life is people and the
worst part about life is people.
I mean, if you think, about it,if you think about it, the most
beautiful relationships you have.
(11:19):
You know we're men, right?
So having a wife who you'refriends with and you make love
to and you share dinners withand you travel with, the epitome
of the human experience, rightof human connection, is your
spouse and that beauty thatcomes from a good relationship
or a good friend.
(11:41):
I've got two or three friends.
We've been friends for 20 yearsand you get on the phone with
them or you go to lunch withthem and it's just amazing.
I've had a friend for a longtime.
We don't live in the same cityanymore, but he was the
president of a Major LeagueBaseball team and a very good,
dear friend of mine.
I was on the phone with him acouple of days ago but every
(12:02):
Christmas we gave each other abook for Christmas.
We had a Christmas lunch everyChristmas.
I mean we met more than that,we golfed and all that.
But you know, sometimes yougolf and you have fun, but what
we also did to provide meaningand that kind of stuff every
Christmas we did a fancy lunch,we well, he was always in a suit
and tie because he was thepresident of a major league
(12:23):
baseball team I would actuallydress up for the lunch and I
would bring him a wrapped book.
And he would bring me a wrappedbook and I always bought him
like a historical biography orsomething because he loves that
kind of stuff or stuff on theCivil War and things like that.
And he would always probablygive me a political book or a
spiritual book or something likethat.
And the richness of those kindsof friendships are amazing.
(12:49):
But then you have bad businesspartners and you have the
neighbor next door that won'tclean his front yard and you got
you know this, that and peoplewho are complaining about things
and you know all this kind ofstuff.
It got to a point where I hadgotten into some business deals
with people and you know allthis kind of stuff.
It got to a point where I hadgotten into some business deals
with people and and you you knowI'm I'm probably a little too
(13:09):
naive I do business with peoplebecause I expect that they'll be
like me, which is honest anddecent.
About two years ago my son whoturned 34 today we're recording
today it's actually his 34thbirthday About two years ago my
son says to me dad, I said yeah,and he goes.
I think your partner pickersoff All right.
Yeah, I think my partner pickermight be off actually.
(13:32):
So so now I I lean on my wife alot more, because I think women
have a lot of intuition aboutpeople, and sometimes my wife
will say, nah, bad guy, stayaway from that guy.
Bad guy, and I'm like he'sreally good.
No, honey, she's like bad guy.
Stay away from that guy, badguy, and I'm like he's really
good.
No, honey, she's like bad guy.
Well, after, a while.
Walt Bayliss (13:48):
You've got some sort of radar, isn't it?
My wife's the same, she's likeit is.
Chris Widener (13:52):
It's well, they call it women's intuition and I,
I think I think it is.
Plus, our wives are protectiveof us, so they're kind of even
looking for that because becausenot only because they love us,
but because they know that if wehurt we bring it home, and now
they got to put up with all thecrap.
So some of it is justself-preservation for our wives.
Walt Bayliss (14:11):
Yeah, no.
So most amazing part of life ispeople.
Most difficult part of life ispeople.
If you've learned so as you'vegone into this business space
and looking at those challengesand built incredible companies
along the way, could you juststill?
Could you just still thelessons that you've had to learn
in that transition again intopillars?
Like are there a few thingsthat you say, listen, you need
(14:34):
to succeed in business?
There's some things you got totick off, like what would those
things be for you In regard topeople, in regard to business,
in regards to creating somethingamazing as a legacy, as a
company, as in regards to beingan entrepreneur and making
something happen for yourself?
Yeah, like, what are theprinciples for you?
Chris Widener (14:50):
I'll start with one as a segue for people.
So my wife is responsible forabout $600 million a year in
sales for one of the largestcompanies in America, but
actually one of the largestcompanies in the world.
She has a big, big job and runsa very siz runs a, you know, a
(15:13):
very sizable business for for amulti, multi, multi, monthly
tens of billions of dollars ayear.
Um, and one of the first thingsshe taught me was get a
contract.
I have done maybe a hundredhandshake deals and and that has
always been me and I kind ofprided myself in it, but I got
screwed a lot.
I mean, I've had peopleliterally we do a handshake deal
, we do the event, and there'sall this money and they
literally just disappear.
I mean really, truly.
Walt Bayliss (15:34):
And so number one get it in writing.
Chris Widener (15:36):
Number one get it in writing.
But if I were to go back, Iwould say first of all, realize
that life is short.
My dad was the CFO of what isnow one of the largest
architecture firms in the world.
They're probably top 15architecture firms in the world.
(15:56):
He died in 1970.
In 1969, his last full year ofearning, he made $90,000.
And we lived in a house.
That which would be about amillion dollars a year now, and
we lived in a house that mostrecently sold for $3.8 million.
My mom had to sell the housewhen he died, at the age of 41,
(16:16):
because he did not have lifeinsurance.
He had like $30,000 worth oflife insurance, so we moved out
of this house because shecouldn't afford $400 a month in
the mortgage.
So I think the first thing isunderstand that life is short,
because I always say that lifeis precious because it ends and
life is an adventure because younever know when and so you know
(16:41):
.
I think it's important tounderstand you're going to die,
and death is a great motivatorbecause if we were going to live
forever, we could procrastinate.
Oh, I'll get to it in a couplehundred years.
I'm going to spend the nexthundred years doing this and
then I'll get to it a couplehundred years from now.
But you don't get that muchtime and the problem is you
don't know how much time you get.
Most of us maybe get 75 onaverage 75 years average
(17:08):
lifespan of a man in the UnitedStates and so, understanding
that life is short.
Number two let your dreams andyour ambition out.
Let it out, go, do it, try it.
My favorite book, in fact, youmentioned 12 Pillars, if you
remember, in one chapter in 12Pillars it was about being a
lifelong learner and one of thecharacters gives the other
(17:30):
character a book list, but hesays I'm going to give you the
first book, and the first bookhe gives him do, uh, the magic
of thinking big.
The magic of thinking big and Ivery purposely chose that book
to be the one that he gave theyoung guy was the magic of
(17:53):
thinking big, because I reallybelieve that it's just as easy
to think big as it is to thinksmall.
That's probably a quote thatthat I'm most well-known for.
It's just as easy to think bigas it is to think small.
And I'll, I, and I'll tell youone story I learned I was 14
years old.
This is probably how I ended upbecoming one of the top 10
sales speakers in the world.
(18:13):
I was 14 years old and my momwas working at a hospital in
Seattle and I used to go thereafter school and wait and we'd
drive home together and I got toknow this, this guy.
He seemed really old to me atthe time.
He was probably 40 or 45.
And he, he was a records filer.
That's all this guy did, eighthours a day filed medical
(18:36):
records.
Parentheses shoot me now.
I do not want, I mean come on.
Walt Bayliss (18:42):
Well, he wanted more.
He's the reason AI was invented, yeah.
Chris Widener (18:45):
He wanted more for his life, so he borrowed
$7,000.
When I was 14, that would havebeen 1980.
He borrowed $7,000 from a richuncle and he bought the rights
to a self-watering flower pot.
Now this flower pot was twoplastic bowls.
The bottom bowl held the water,the top bowl you sat down into,
(19:05):
the other one held the plant,and then there was a lever on
the side.
From left to right, one gave ita lot more water, pulled a lot
more water out, and on the farright it pulled less water out.
So on the left you'd have anAfrican violet On the right,
you'd have a cactus, you knowright.
So he says to me hey, I justgot the rights to this thing.
(19:27):
How would you like to make somemoney?
I said I'd love to make somemoney.
And he says, well, I'll tellyou what.
If you'll sell them, I'll payyou to sell them.
And I said, okay, what do I get?
And he said I'll give you adollar a pot.
I said done.
Now he thought I was going togo door to door and sell them to
old ladies.
So what I did was I called.
Now this was before the big boxstores like Home Depot and
(19:48):
Lowe's and all those things.
This was back when there were,you know, smaller, regional
things.
And I can't remember I think itwas Pay and Pack.
If I remember right, it doesn'teven exist anymore.
It might've been Pay and Pack,might've been Pay and Save,
might've been Ernst Home Centers.
I don't remember which one itwas.
Might've been Pay and Pack,might've been Pay and Save,
might've been Ernst Home Centers.
I don't remember which one itwas, but I do remember that they
were the biggest chain in thePacific Northwest Alaska,
(20:10):
washington, oregon, Idaho, thatkind of thing.
And so I called them up.
I said I got a self-wateringflower pot I want to sell you.
Can I come in and show yourbuyer?
They said sure.
So I told my mom I got anappointment to go sell these
flower pots.
She goes, what?
So she drags me down to somestore and she buys me khaki
(20:35):
pants and a blue blazer.
Now picture a 14-year-old inkhaki pants and a blue blazer.
None of them fit.
You see a kid nowadays.
He's 14, wearing a blazer neverfits.
So she drops me off on a streetcorner in downtown Seattle.
I walk in, I said I have anappointment with so-and-so and
they looked at me and I'mholding a flower pot.
They look at me, they look atit.
Okay.
I go up the elevator, doors openand there's this man standing
(20:57):
there and the look on his face Icould still see it was
priceless.
He's like huh.
I walk him in.
I go, I got a self-wateringflower pot.
He goes okay, and there was nodirt or plant in the top one.
So I put water in the bottom.
I put the other one in and soyou could see there was no water
in the top one.
I moved the lever and waterappeared.
(21:18):
He goes I'm buyer, I'm a buyer.
And I said okay, what does thatmean?
He goes well, I'll tell youwhat I want to do a one-year
test on this.
So he said I'll tell you what.
I'll take four boxes.
How many in a box?
I said 24.
He said I'll take four boxesfor each of 20 stores for a year
(21:39):
.
So let's call it 25 to a boxbecause it'll make the math a
little bit easier.
He bought 100 pots times 20stores.
He placed an order for 2,000pots every month for a year.
He bought 24,000 pots after afour-minute demonstration.
(22:00):
Now here that's a great lesson,right, it's just as easy to
think big.
It was just as easy, in fact itwas easier for me to call that
guy and say can I come show youthis pot?
Then it would have been for meto go walk down a street for
three hours knocking on doorstrying to get somebody to buy
one, and so.
But here's another great lesson.
I took that order back to thatguy and I said I sold some pots.
(22:29):
And he goes yeah, how many potsdid you sell?
And I said whatever, the mathwas 23,872.
And he, he literally is jawdropped.
And I held the purchase orderup to him and, I kid you not.
He quit.
He called the.
He called the company up.
He said I want my $7,000 back.
And uh, and he sold it back.
He sold the rights back.
(22:49):
He couldn't.
He was terrified, terrified ofsuccess.
So the but, the but.
The irony of it was it was adrop ship deal.
It wasn't like he had to store24,000 pots in his apartment, he
just had to have them drop shipto their distribution center.
But all of a sudden, because ifI was making a dollar a pot,
(23:10):
how much was he making every pot?
So anyway, that's a greatlesson.
There are some people who areterrified of success, but the
real lesson there is is let yourambition dream big, think big.
Jim Rohn always used to say letother people do that, but not
you.
Let other people do that.
Well, let other people thinksmall, but not you.
(23:31):
We have enough small thinkersin the world.
We need people who will thinkbig.
So you know, whatever you'rethinking about doing, think
bigger, think bigger.
I think that's a great lesson.
Walt Bayliss (23:44):
I think it's an amazing lesson because the
time's going to pass anyway,right, like you said, if you're
going to knock doors and sellthree pots in an afternoon,
right, which you know would be agood afternoon if you're
knocking doors right.
Or you make one call and sell25,000.
Like the time's going to passthe same, so you may as well be
big in that time.
You may as well have thatincredible thing.
Chris Widener (24:06):
So first of all, I did another deal in the early
two thousands where a friend ofmine said, hey, what would you
think about putting togetherboxes of audio programs from
professional speakers?
And I said, okay, sure, thatthat's a great idea.
I know them all.
And so we.
We spent one summer, me and him, smoking cigars and drinking
whiskey on his front porch andcalling professional speakers
(24:27):
and securing the rights to theiraudio programs.
We put them into a box aroundthemes.
Our three biggest skews wereleadership was one, sales
success was another, and theother one was called verbal
power.
It was a communication boxFourteen CDs, one DVD.
Now I could have gone to Joe'slocal bookstore and said, hey,
(24:49):
I'd like to consign these withyou.
Here's 10 of them.
I'll come back in a month andfind out.
We made one phone call.
The very first phone call wecalled was Costco, and within
three or four months we wereselling 50 to 75,000 boxes a
month through Costco and Sam'sclub.
Right, because I thought it'sjust as easy to think big as it
is to think small.
Walt Bayliss (25:10):
Wow, Incredible we were.
Chris Widener (25:11):
We were selling, you know, those 50,000, I think
a MSRP was.
It was just under 30 bucks, socalled a million and a half
dollars a month in audioprograms through Costco and then
and then of course Sam's Clubwanted in on the deal and then
we created a smaller version forBorders and Barnes and Noble
and you know all the the regularbig bookstores Books a Million
(25:31):
and and those kinds of things.
But it really comes down tojust as easy to think big as it
is to think small.
Walt Bayliss (25:36):
I think it's probably one of the most
powerful lessons that you couldever deliver.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
And in terms of in terms ofyour business growth, that
obviously has fueled you.
You've been able to create bigopportunities because you've
seen that I can and therefore Ido, I can and therefore I do.
And look at the incredibleresults.
What are the things like?
(25:57):
If you got a chance to windback the last 30 years, now that
you've been kind of Chris thebusinessman for the last 30
years, what would you dodifferently?
Like how would you?
What lessons have you learnedthat have said Whoa hang on,
hang on Number one.
Chris Widener (26:09):
Get a contract Right, so get it in writing.
Walt Bayliss (26:11):
Think bigger, right, like that.
There we that's, that's beenthe driving thing, but has there
been things that you've like?
Let me ask it a different waywhat's the biggest mistake
you've made and what would youdo as a result of that lesson?
Chris Widener (26:23):
Well, I hate to keep drumming the beat, beating
the drum, but get a contracttrusting people.
No, you know, it's interesting.
My dad died when I was four andmy mom sold real estate and she
was flipping houses before theywere doing it on television.
So I lived in 28 homes and Iwent to 11 different schools and
(26:44):
because my mother was crazy andI was not a really good kid,
she ended up shipping me off tolive with relatives twice and
one of the best things that cameout of that was I am really
good at making quickrelationships and building
rapport very quickly.
You know, because every year,just about I was moving to a
(27:05):
different school and so, youknow, I suppose some kids walk
into a new school every year andthey, they sit by the, you know
, they sit in the corner andthey, you know, whatever, I
walked in and I was like I gotto make friends.
I still have friends literallyfrom the third grade.
I think that's the oldestfriend I have.
I have two guys that I'm stillfriends with that we were best
friends in the third grade.
Wow, and, and, and, and I meanpeople all throughout my life,
(27:30):
moving around and meeting people, building relationships.
So I think.
I think the ability to buildrelationships is probably one of
the keys to success as well,because you really don't do
business with a business.
You do business with the personwho's representing the business
, whether it's the owner or thesalesperson or whatever.
(27:50):
So this ability to be able tobuild quick rapport you know, I
have all these books that I'vewritten.
I have three or four differentpublishers with all my SKUs
across them.
Well, one of my publishersprobably has 10 of my books and
20 of my audio programs orsomething like that, but the
number one book and audio it's abook and an audio that I have
(28:14):
with him With all these SKUs.
When I get my royalties once aquarter, one product is half of
my royalties with this publisherand the title of it is how to
talk to anybody, anytime,anywhere.
And it's a three-step process tobe able to get over the fear.
(28:35):
When you sit down at thatwedding reception and you're
parked at a table and you don'tknow anybody, or you sit down in
your airplane seat for asix-hour flight, or you are
somewhere where you now have totalk to people.
Most people don't know how tocreate that instant rapport, and
I teach people how to createalmost instant rapport because
(28:55):
ultimately, you're selling to aperson.
You're not selling to a company, you're selling to a person.
So the ability to build andmaintain relationships, I think
is really important and gettingalong with people, understanding
how they work, understandingwhat their triggers are and I
mean triggers probably in apositive way Triggered is a
(29:16):
negative term now but the thingsthat will trigger them to
respond and to come closer, bothliterally and figuratively,
those kinds of things and tocome closer both literally and
figuratively, those kinds ofthings.
So, mistakes that I've made I'ma little ADD and a little ADHD,
but as I learned when I wasstudying for my book on
Michelangelo, the Angel Inside,he was too.
(29:38):
In fact, michelangelo left over200 unfinished projects when he
died.
There were over 200 projectsthat he started and didn't
finish.
He started them, got bored,started them, moved on to
somebody else, something else.
So I think, probably to mydetriment, is probably my lack
(30:02):
of focus.
Walt Bayliss (30:05):
I think that's part of the territory of being
an entrepreneur.
Chris Widener (30:08):
Yeah, it really is.
In fact, I have a friend ofmine.
For those of you who have ADHD,you should get this book.
My friend doesn't even know I'mpitching his book now, but my
friend's name is Brad Worthleyand Brad wrote a book called the
Gift of ADHD and the subtitleis If you Don't have it, you
Should Get it.
And the subtitle is if youdon't have it, you should get it
.
And the whole book is aboutthese wildly successful
(30:30):
entrepreneurs who had ADHD,because ADHD or ADD and I've
never been diagnosed and I don'tneed to go get diagnosed but
while you sort of arescatterbrained with a lot of
things, when you finally lock in, you lock in and you are
relentless about getting it.
So I think understandingyourself is probably.
(30:52):
Another real key isunderstanding what your
strengths and weaknesses are.
I am very aware of my strengthsand I use them, and I'm very
aware of my weaknesses and Ihire to cover my weaknesses and
I hire to cover my weaknesses.
So I have a gal that works withme and I call her my right hand
(31:13):
gal, and she used to work for afriend of mine and I called him
up and I said hey, I wasthinking about hiring her and I
said what's her greateststrength?
And he said getting shit done,that's her greatest strength.
And I said she's hired.
Walt Bayliss (31:25):
Because that's really what I need.
Chris Widener (31:28):
I'm a great visionary, but I will miss a lot
of things if I'm in charge ofthose things.
So, having some, but there areother people who are really good
at that, but they need sort ofa visionary partner.
So understanding yourself, Ithink, is another really key,
key thing knowing what you'regood at and hiring to those
things that you aren't Amazing.
Walt Bayliss (31:50):
And again, same same lessons everywhere.
Right, it's like everybody's.
There's gotta be a reason whythe successful people are saying
the same things.
You got to hire you for yourweaknesses.
You got to like it's allamazing stuff.
So, Chris, you were.
You were a church seed, I thinkyou you called it before Like
yeah, they call them churchplanter.
Yeah, church planters.
Right, your self-watering potand now your church planter.
(32:12):
Like, I can see the theme hereas I as I get it going on.
But if I took you right now andI dropped you into a city,
let's say it's in the U?
S where you, you, you didn'thave your business with you, you
didn't have your Rolodex ofcontacts and networks.
Chris Widener (32:28):
What would you do to start something and create
something in that space?
You mean, start a business inthat town.
Walt Bayliss (32:32):
Yeah, absolutely Zero Rolodex.
We were talking just before wejumped on, about Mark Cuban and
I know that somebody else in thespace, grant Cardone, does this
big thing about.
He got dropped in a city andwhatever.
He's got this whole campaignabout that.
But'm thinking more about youbecause of the, the way you
think in terms of think bigger,do stuff with more.
You've started things fromscratch from many, many times
before you understand how peoplethink with the political side
(32:54):
of things, like you've got someskills there that I'd be curious
to know.
Chris Widener (32:58):
Just literally dropped into a city and you've
got well, the hardest part aboutthe scenario you gave me was I
don't have my network Right,because you know it's almost
pithy at this point to hearsomebody say your net worth is
based on your network, and it'sreally true.
Walt Bayliss (33:13):
I actually I asked you that for a very specific
reason, because you've got thatfast connection skill set.
Like I'm really curious now howthat would impact you in that
barren wasteland of geez got tostart everything again.
Impact you in that barrenwasteland of geez, got to start
everything again.
Chris Widener (33:26):
I would probably try to find some business that
I'm interested in that's alreadyestablished, and I would
probably try to find a way toserve the owner of that business
.
I would say what's your biggestproblem and how much would you
pay for me to solve it?
That's probably what I would do.
(33:46):
I would say what's your biggestproblem and how can I solve it.
You know I mentioned Jim Rohnand Zig Ziglar and John Maxwell,
and I think there's a lessonthere.
Like people are like how didyou get that?
And I'll tell you it was veryspecific.
I really believe this.
When somebody meets somebodyelse that is famous or has
achieved something that theywant to achieve, most people ask
(34:09):
the same question.
They say I want to be just likeyou.
Will you help me?
Wrong question.
I said I want to be just likeyou.
How can I help you?
Well, I'm a good writer and sothat's what John Maxwell and Jim
Rohn hired me for was thewriting.
(34:30):
But I always say everybodywants to be first fiddle in the
orchestra, but if you're secondfiddle and first fiddle is a
world renowned violinist you'rein business.
And so I ended up pairingmyself with two of the greatest
legends in John Maxwell and JimRohn by being able to say how
(34:51):
can I help you?
Well, the way you can help,because those guys didn't have
time to go help somebody else.
They needed help, so I helpedthem.
That was the way I flipped ithow can I help you?
And then with Zig Ziglar.
Unfortunately, at the end ofZig's life he got pretty bad
dementia and and I realizedafter the fact that one of the
(35:12):
reasons they asked me to co-hostthe show was because they
needed me to to, to move it,move it through, because by the
end of his life Zig had amazinglong-term.
He could tell you a story from60 years ago down to the perfect
detail.
The problem is is that he hadno short-term memory and as soon
as he was done he'd tell youthe story again.
So it was so I realized while Ihelped John and Jim in the
(35:35):
writing department, the way Iwas brought in was to serve Zig,
was to be that guy that movedit forward to him.
So Zig Ziglar was not asking meto come in.
You know for my grand ideas,although I will tell you this
after about the second or thirdepisode, tom, his son, who was
president of Ziglar Corporation.
Tom came to me and it was funny.
(35:55):
Tom always calls his dad Zig.
He doesn't call him well, hecalls him dad when he's just out
and about, but when they werein a room together he would say
Zig.
And he said to me.
He said, you know, uh, Chris.
He said um, zig asked me if Icould get you to talk more.
And to you know, not just bethe question asker, but and and
(36:16):
and but I.
I was asked, I was invited todo that.
I didn't come in thinking thatthat's what I was going to do.
In fact, when I tell people whatmy job was, you ever been to
like a batting practice for abaseball game, right?
Or the home run derby?
Every year they do the all-stargame and they have a home run
derby and every single one ofthese big, famous, you know home
(36:38):
run Kings.
They all show up but there'ssome dude out on the mound.
Nobody knows who that guy is,nobody cares who the guy is,
nobody wants to know who the guyis.
But his job throw that ballright across the plate so the
famous guy can swat it out ofthe park.
That's truly how I went intobeing Zig Ziglar's co-host.
I thought my job is to throwbatting practice for Zig Ziglar.
(37:00):
So you know, it kind of remindsme of the old biblical thing
where Jesus said when you'reinvited to a banquet, don't go
sit at the head of the table,because somebody more important
than you might come in andthey're going to ask you to move
down and you're going to beembarrassed by it.
Instead, sit at the other endof the table because no matter
how many empty seats there are,they're always going to ask you
(37:20):
to move up the table.
So I think that idea ofhumility is also something that
played into it, but it was aboutserving other people.
So back to your originalquestion.
I would find a business that Ilike, that I'm passionate about,
and I would say how can I helpyou?
Walt Bayliss (37:35):
What can I do?
It's so cool, man.
I think the opportunity of thatquestion how can I best serve
is, for a start, you're nevergoing to be short of opportunity
, right?
You're literally never going tobe short of an opportunity.
If you can be of service, thenyou're always going to have an
opportunity to to shine and tobe second fiddle, to be the
pitcher, to be the guy Like youwill always be valuable If
(37:59):
you're.
If you have that, how can I beof service?
Mentality?
Which actually brings me to your, your current project, which is
your sharerideorg.
You've told the story and Ithink you know, knowing a little
bit from your public history,about your dad and about your
mom and the fact that he wasunder the family, was
underinsured, and thatcompletely changed your life.
(38:21):
I remember hearing you know inone of the success magazine tape
sets that I had you told thatstory specifically because it
created that movement in yourlife.
And now you know you've gotsharewriteorg, which you've
created as a or, you know, beingpart of asa way of helping and
(38:41):
serving other people in thatspace.
You want to tell me a littlebit more about that Because I'm
really fascinated as the journeythat you've gone through with
the entire personal successmantra, with the business
success, with being the top ofthe game and the impact of your
dad at four years old passingaway, your mom being
underinsured, and the journeythat led you on has now put you
(39:01):
in this position, where being ofservice in that space has
created something.
Chris Widener (39:07):
Yeah, the number one thing that families spend
money on is their mortgage.
The second biggest amount ofmoney that they spend every
month is health insurance andthe top five health insurance
companies in America.
I went and looked at how muchtheir CEOs make.
The least that the big fivemake CEO is 18 and a half
(39:31):
million dollars a year.
The most was 25.3 milliondollars a year or something like
that.
So the top five insurancecompanies.
Every year, the first hundredmillion dollars that they bring
in goes to five people.
And then you got thousands ofvice presidents that are making
a million bucks.
And then you got your seniorvice presidents or executive
(39:52):
vice presidents are making500,000.
And because they're all, mostof them are for profit
organizations.
So in the Affordable Care Act ofwhat is more known as Obamacare
, there's a carve out forsomething called health sharing
(40:14):
organizations and they arealways housed in a nonprofit
501c3.
So in America, you know, in theUS, you're not allowed to pay
people outrageous salaries.
That's part of the deal.
We'll give you tax-free, aslong as you know it's not a
for-profit.
There's not somebody pulling amillion bucks out every year or
whatever.
It's not a for-profit.
There's not somebody pulling amillion bucks out every year or
(40:34):
whatever.
So it's very, very inexpensive.
It also has a lot of freedom toit and it also allows you most
health insurance.
You're required to covereverything and the Affordable
Care Act said you have to coverpre-existing conditions Health
sharing you're not required todo that.
So the fact that it's wrappedup in a 501c3 and the fact that
you don't have to pay forpreexisting conditions and
(40:54):
things like that, it can takefamilies that are relatively
healthy and it can give themthat coverage that they need to
be able to have affordablehealth care.
And they call it health sharing.
Functionally, it really worksjust like health insurance.
You go in, you have yourprocedure, you get your bill,
(41:14):
you swipe your card.
It goes to ShareRite.
They negotiate the fees down,they make payment if a payment
is due to the medical provider,or they tell you you know you
still haven't hit your amountthat you have to pay first.
But the very first person that Ishowed this to he was 40 years
old, married with four kidsunder the age of 18.
(41:37):
And I asked him I said how muchdo you pay for health insurance
?
He said I pay $2,800 a month.
Within 30 seconds I pulled upand I'll give you the web
address sharerightorg.
Forward slash pricing.
In less than 30 seconds youwill be able to find out exactly
how much you would pay.
So we put in his birthday he wasborn in 1984.
(41:59):
And we put in how many peoplein his family.
And we only have one, two orthree plus.
So if you have three people, acouple with a kid, or you have a
couple with five kids, sameprice.
So we typed it in five kids,same price.
So we typed it in birthdaythree plus click.
He went from $2,800 a month to$805 a month.
(42:21):
He went from a $16,000deductible to a $2,500 primary
contribution, which we don't useinsurance language it's part of
the deal is the Affordable CareAct.
You can't use the language, sowe don't use deductible.
It's called a primarycontribution amount, a PCA, I
think, is what they call it.
So anyway, if this guy were tohave some health problems in his
(42:41):
family and they hit thatdeductible, he would literally
save $37,000 a year Just gettingaway from his $2,800 a month to
an $805 a month.
It's just shy of $24,000 a yearstraight into his pocket.
So what I realized was we cantake that giant payment that
(43:04):
most people pay and make it intoa fraction, and particularly
with the economy, the way thatit is, with inflation and gas is
up and groceries are up and youknow everything is up it's
going to give people that kindof freedom.
So, it really is great andfunctionally it operates the
same way and better coverage.
(43:26):
We pay our bills within, Ithink our average is 13 days.
It takes us 13 days from themoment we get it to the moment
the decision has been made andeither payment has been made or
notification has been made thatyou still need to make your
payment to meet your primarycontribution 13 days.
So, I'm really excited about itbecause this is the kind of
thing that's going to make adifference, not only for people
(43:50):
who really, really need it, butit also makes a difference for
people who don't need the money.
One of the first guys I talkedto about it.
We pitched it to him.
He sold his company for like500 million and I was talking to
him on the phone and I wastelling him about it and he goes
.
I only got a little bit of timeto talk.
He said I'm getting in my jetand I'm flying to San Francisco.
I'm going to watch the Warriorsplay tonight.
(44:11):
So we did this thing and I saidyou're going to save $15,000 a
year.
I said that's like a tank ofgas for your jet.
He goes dude, that's not even ahalf a tank of gas for my jet.
But he said this.
He said but it's still $15,000a year.
I don't have it there, it isthere, it is there, it is.
So, even the rich guys are likeI can save 15 grand just by
(44:34):
doing the exact same thing, butpaying it to this guy.
Instead of this guy, I'm in.
I'm in, so anyway, I'm excitedabout it because it's going to
make a difference for peoplefinancially.
Walt Bayliss (44:43):
Yeah, and I think I think, like I love the fact
that, um, that story about yourbeginning and foundation and the
hardships that your mom wentthrough and all of that kind of
stuff has come full circle nowinto the opportunity there.
Chris Widener (44:56):
I had never put that together.
You, you put that together.
I've never thought about thatbefore.
You're welcome, man.
You're welcome, thank you.
Walt Bayliss (45:02):
It's.
To me it made logical sense assoon as you told me what.
What was going on.
So, guys, I think you know what, Chris.
I said at the very beginningthat it was an opportunity for
me to jump on and spend sometime with a hero of mine, and
you are the hero that you shouldmeet.
I appreciate you.
I appreciate the work that'shappened in the world as a
(45:23):
legacy that you've actually beena part of to create change in
so many entrepreneurs' lives, inso many people's lives who can
link back to a pillar or who canlink back to a talk or can
relate something in their lifestory to a moment in time that
involved you.
So, again, I want to share thatappreciation with you, and I
(45:46):
think we started to say what arethe lessons that you've learned
?
Getting into business, obviously, being this kind of audience
with our podcast, our podcast,you know, get a contract, be a
fast friend.
Like, learn how to how to be afast friend, think bigger and
then, wrapping that around yourown experiences, do what you're
passionate about that can serveother people and you'll never
(46:08):
have to look for anotheropportunity in life.
And like wrapping this episodewith those kinds of four core
fundamentals.
I think it's just, it'sspectacular.
So, ladies and gentlemen, ChrisWidener, jump in, make sure
that you're following this manon LinkedIn and on all of the
socials that are out there aswell.
Dude, you continue to inspire,you continue to be a leader.
I think that's in your nature,no matter what badge you're
(46:28):
wearing.
So I thank you and appreciateyou for that.
And yeah, ladies and gentlemen,just make sure you tap into
what Chris is doing.
And thank you, Chris.
Appreciate your time, man.
Chris Widener (46:41):
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'd love to connect withpeople on LinkedIn, probably the
best place to connect with me.
I would love to do that, andI'll leave you with one last bit
of advice.
It's the piece of advice that Iwas given when I was 22 years
old, and I'll tell you the story.
Can I take a minute and tellyou the story?
Absolutely, I was at aconference.
It was one of the most eeriethings that ever happened to me.
Now you got to understand, I'm58.
I was 22 when this happened tome.
(47:02):
36 years I've carried this.
I was at a conference and it wasduring a break and there's a
couple hundred people millingaround and I was by myself at
this conference.
And so I turned around and Ibumped into these two women One
was probably 55 and the otherwas probably 30.
And I kind of bumped into herand said, oh, excuse me.
And I and the older womanlooked at me and said, oh, no
(47:24):
problem.
And I looked at the youngerwoman and she was like this and
I don't know if this is a videoor an audio version it will be
doing here she literally wentlike this the younger woman, the
30 year old one, like this.
Her eyes got like saucers andher jaw dropped open and I was
like this is a little awkward.
And her mother looked at herand she looked at me.
(47:45):
She looked at her daughter andshe said is this him?
And I'm like holy cow, am Iabout to get accused of
something?
And the girl still has notspoken a word.
Her mouth's hanging open, hereyes are saucers and she goes
like this.
Walt Bayliss (47:58):
She's nodding silently.
Chris Widener (48:01):
And I'm like, okay, this is just weird.
So the mom says listen, this ismy daughter and we're here at
this conference.
And in the middle of the night,last night, at 2 in the morning
, she sprung out of bed,completely wide awake, and woke
me up and I said, honey, what'swrong, what's going on?
And she said I just had a dreamabout somebody I'm supposed to
(48:23):
give a message to.
And so when she saw you and Isaw the look on her face, my
first thought was to this 2 amthing.
That happened in the middle ofthe night.
So she looks at her daughterand she says well, tell him.
And she said I'm supposed totell you to be a voice, not an
(48:44):
echo.
I don't know who they are, Ididn't get their number, I don't
have their names.
I never saw him again, but for36 years that has been the way I
live my life Be a voice, not anecho.
And there's a lot of people thatjust regurgitate stuff and I
(49:07):
quote people and I love to dothat, but I always quote them.
At least I give credit to them.
I can't tell you how manypeople try to pass off Jim Rohn
quotes as their own.
In fact, it's kind of funnywhen somebody says you know,
here's some advice work harderon yourself, you can do on your
job.
I always comment I love JimRohn quotes.
Those are great, but so, anyway, that's what I would tell
(49:27):
people and I'm a speaker, right,so that that has like a literal
thing for me be a voice, not anecho.
But I would say, even if you'renot a speaker, whatever you're
doing in your life, be original.
Be original, Don't be somebodyelse.
The number one questiontypically that I get is what was
it like working with Jim Rohn?
(49:48):
Or what did you learn workingwith Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar?
And I always say be yourself,which is kind of a weird thing.
Why would you learn that fromworking with Zig Ziglar and Jim
Rohn?
I'll tell you why.
Here are two guys that were atthe pinnacle of that world that
I wanted to be in.
Superstars impacted hundreds ofmillions of people, $100,000 a
speech.
You could not pick two moredifferent human beings than Jim
(50:13):
Rohn and Zig Ziglar.
Zig Ziglar pranced all over thestage.
He would talk and pump his fistand then he'd whisper, and then
he'd kneel on the ground andhe's moving all over.
And then I always, I always saythis about Jim.
He stood behind a lectern andyou always know Jim's getting
excited when he does this andtakes his like that's his power
(50:34):
move.
That's about all you're going toget from Jim Rohn, but what I
realized was they both were thesuperstars that industry
completely different.
I didn't need to be Zig Ziglar.
I didn't need to be Jim Rohn.
I didn't need to be TonyRobbins, didn't need to be John
Maxwell, didn't need to beDennis, didn't need to be Brian
Tracy.
I needed to be Chris Widener.
I needed to be a voice and notan echo, and I think that that's
(50:57):
something that all businesspeople should understand.
Use it, put it whateverlanguage you need into it, but
be the original, not the fake orthe phony or the knockoff.
I love it.
Walt Bayliss (51:10):
I love it and for those of you who are watching on
our video version, you havemagic in you.
That's the sign that it's inthe back of my video here,
because that's so true Each ofyou has something special that
the world needs and I love thatmessage, man I got.
I got goosebumps, just as youwere telling me that story, guys
.
Thank you so much again, Chris.
I'm I'm bowing to you Amazingto connect with you, man.
Chris Widener (51:31):
Thank you so much for having me on.
No, it's incredible, Incredible.
Walt Bayliss (51:34):
And do pop back in and let us know what's going on
and you know, keep in touch.
And again, ladies and gentlemen, Chris Widenham, Chris, thank
you so much man.
Chris Widener (51:41):
Thank you.
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