From Projects to Prosperity: Sean Martin's Journey to Purpose

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
At the age of 29, I foundmyself in a prison cell because of
straddling the line betweenright and wrong. Not knowing, not
having that male role modelthat mentor my life to tell me I
was going down the wrong road.So, you know, the job wasn't paying
enough, and I found other waysto make money that were illegal.
And hanging around the wrongpeople, that was the pivotal moment

(00:20):
in my life. It didn't comeuntil I was 29 years old that could
have destroyed me. But earlyon, I was fortunate enough to frame
it as the best thing that everhappened to me. And that's the power
of belief, and that's thepower of shifting your mind. So an
event that's external canshift your life, but you can use
that event to shift your mind,which is more powerful than anything

(00:41):
that could ever happen to you.I had enough of a foundation to understand
that I put myself there, and Iused that time wisely. It was the
first time I was sober for aprolonged period of time. And that's
why I started picking up selfdevelopment books. One of the first
that I remember was TonyRobbins, Awaken the Gian Within.
But in that prison cell, I wasable to manifest what my future would

(01:02):
look like. That was when I was29. I'm now 46, so we're 18 years
removed, more or less. And Igot to tell you, it's real. Planting
those seeds of belief inyourself are real. I just tell people
to have courage, to dream andto dream big, because it's not real
anyway, so why dream small?Why? Why be practical?

(01:23):
Today's guest is Sean Martin.And this is really a story of true
resilience, self reflection,and the power of purpose, which I
guess I say that every timebecause the Life Shift podcast is
really about how we can changefrom a singular moment or a couple
singular moments in our lives.Sean Martin is an entrepreneur. He's
a nonprofit advocate, he's apodcast host, motivational speaker,

(01:46):
all sorts of things. Sean'sjourney really takes us from this
challenging upbringing in theBronx during the crack epidemic to
scaling the heights ofentrepreneurial success, overcoming
addiction, and reallydedicating his life to giving back
to underserved communities. Inthis episode, Sean shares the pivotal
moments that transformed hislife. From turning himself in and

(02:07):
reframing his time in prisonas an opportunity for growth, which
I am so amazed by. And I saidthis before, on an episode with Jonathan
Green. He also talks aboutbattling and ultimately conquering
his alcohol addiction. We talkabout topics like the courage it
takes to face fear the powerof giving back and how finding a

(02:27):
purpose driven mission canunlock exponential growth and fulfillment.
His story is inspiring andit's filled with actionable lessons
for anyone navigating theirown journey of self discovery and
transformation. So withoutfurther ado, here is my conversation
with Sean Martin. I'm MattGilhooley, and this is the Life Shift.
Candid conversations about thepivotal moments that have changed

(02:50):
lives forever. Hello, myfriends. Welcome to the Life Shift
podcast. I'm sitting here withSean. How are you today, Sean?
Fantastic. How are you today, Matt?
You know, sometimes I want tojust say good, but that I think we're

(03:12):
conditioned to say that. Ifeel like we're. We're taught to
just respond with good. Howare you? And today I'm tired. I think
it's like my. My honestresponse is. Is tired.
Fair enough.
You know, and, and I talk to alot of people about this. Kind of
like how me specificallygrowing up felt so conditioned to
responding to adults incertain ways, asking only the questions

(03:34):
that were allowed to be asked.And so this podcasting journey has
been such a weird relief in away because I can ask anything and
people are willing to usuallyanswer them.
Yeah, I'm game for whateverquestions come our way. And hopefully
I can pump some of this energyyour way and get you a little less
tired over the course of the conversation.

(03:56):
I will tell you that comingon, like the podcast is one of my
favorite things to do. And sothe energy comes when we start talking
because, like, you and Iprobably would never bump into each
other in real life. And so theability to have these conversations
through, like, remoterecording is just so fascinating
because now I get to learnfrom you and learn about how you

(04:18):
navigate your life. And I'vetold probably pretty much everyone
on this podcast that everyepisode or every conversation that
I've had has been a part of a.Of my healing journey that I didn't
know I needed.
You read my mind. I wasthinking all the while, I'm like,
this is therapeutic in everysense of the word.
Storytelling. It's sopowerful. So let me just. For anyone

(04:40):
tuning in to hear you, they'relistening to the Life Shift for the
first time. This show. Show.The concept of the show really stems
from my own personalexperience. When I was 8, was visiting
my dad. My parents weredivorced. They lived thousands of
miles apart. And my mom wenton a motorcycle trip with her boyfriend.
And one day, my dad's boss'swife picked me up from summer camp,

(05:02):
brought me to his work, whichwas very weird. And My dad had to
sit me down and tell me thatmy mom had been killed in a motorcycle
accident. And my whole lifewas with my mom. Like she was the
primary parent. I went toschool up there. Everything that
I did was with her. And atthat moment in time, everything that
I had imagined for my life,that my dad had imagined for my life,

(05:23):
that my mom had imagined formy life, was no longer a possibility
in that time period for me. Iwas 8, so I didn't really understand.
But growing up, I assumed thateveryone around me needed to know
that I was okay. So I fakedbeing okay, like for so long. And
behind the scenes I was alwayslike, do other people have these

(05:44):
really singular moments inwhich from one moment to the next,
everything is different? Andso now I'm on this journey of talking
to. I mean, I said, I thinkyou're 177 people about their life.
Shifting moments. And aswildly different as people's stories
are, there's so many commontraits or the way that we feel about

(06:09):
certain things that it's justlike, oh, I'm not weird, like my
journey isn't that strange, orthe way I approach things is not
totally unique. And it's suchlike a healing journey. So thank
you for coming on this journeywith me.
Absolutely. It's my pleasure.
Do you feel that? I mean, Inaively, when I started this show,
I was like, oh yeah, peoplehave this like one life shift moment.

(06:32):
Do you think you have like aton of them?
I think if you only have onelife shift moment. So you, you mentioned
your mom passing and that's amonumental shift in your life that
you had no control over. Andyou were a young child, so you reacted
to it in the way that an 8year old would know best, which is,
you know, a very limitedexperience of the world at that point.

(06:54):
So you shifted. Your life wasnever the same. If that would have
happened to you at 12 or at20, it would be a completely different
trajectory. So branches of atree, as cliche and corny as that
may sound, but we all shareone trunk. I think human beings,
you know, we can only speak asAmericans. We have this huge division

(07:18):
in politics and culture aswell. And I think that if we all
took the time to just get toknow each other on a human level,
we would realize just how muchmore we had in common than we have
apart. And I think that's onlysomething that you can let go of
when you're cognizant of thefact that you're in control of your

(07:40):
own thoughts and your owndestiny. So, you know, there were
things along the way otherthan that dramatic shift in your
life that I'm sure shifted youand made you the man that you are
today. I have some reallypivotal ones that we'll get into,
I'm sure, but they continue. Ihave transformed my life completely,
both intentionally andsometimes through things that were

(08:01):
out of my control which forcedme to shift gears and change direction.
Yeah. You know, and I think tothat point it's like for so long
I didn't know how to likereflect on that moment and how I
could control that, like, andI let it control me for admittedly
decades. And it was really notuntil I was like in my early 30s

(08:24):
where I was like, okay, okayMatt, it's time to like grow up.
And, and I found like a goodtherapist and we kind of worked through
stuff and she was, she justreminded me, which was really another
pivotal moment for me was likeI was, everything I was doing was
with that 8 year old scaredmind that someone else was going
to abandon me if I wasn'tperfect. Because as an eight year

(08:46):
old, someone dying isabandonment. And so I was like, is
my dad going to abandon me ifI'm not perfect? And then I just
did that for 20 years. So Ithink what comes with that is the.
When we're lucky enough to beable to reflect on certain experiences
and how they've changed us andthen learn from that and move forward
with that. And unfortunatelyfor me, it took a long time.

(09:07):
Yeah, some people get stuck init forever. And you know, it's ironic
that you mentioned that thathappened to you at 8 because within
the last year or so and justdiving into self development and
meeting incredible people, Imet somebody who explained to me
that we're running a programas human beings and that program
for the most part isdownloaded on us from the ages of

(09:28):
0 to 7 and we have no controlover that. So for you to finally
get your program installed andthen have something dramatic like
that happen from the personwho gave you the programming, which
was your mom, who obviouslywas your world, it's understandable
how you would get caught inthat moment. And then furthermore,
I've learned that when thingshappen to us as kids, traumatic experiences,

(09:52):
we for lack of a better term,get frozen in that place mentally.
I grew up without a father andmy mother did the best that she could
and she did a damn good job.But there's something that a father
feels. It's, it's a, you know,there's two energies that. That nature
created. And they're feminineand they're masculine, and I didn't

(10:16):
have that masculine energyother than whatever my mom put into
me. And I didn't realize howimpactful that was until later in
life. I had ran from the ideaof having children myself until my
wife cornered me and pressuredand pressured. I'm teasing. I love
her dearly, and it's the bestgift she's ever forced on me. I say,

(10:36):
joking and lovingly. But Ithink I was running from that because
I never saw a healthy family,a nuclear family, and obviously that
looks completely and wildlydifferent than it did growing up.
And I'm all for it. I justthink it takes a village so it doesn't
have to be a mom and a dad,per se. I grew up in New York City,
so we're very welcoming ofwhatever family structure comes together,

(10:57):
but we are better as communalbeings. And it's just something that
I didn't see growing up. Andsubconsciously, I ran from it for
the longest, and I had to bethrown into the fire and have our
daughter and still fight it. Ifought for five years. You know,
one of the big things in mylife was substance abuse. And until
my son was born more recently,he's now two and a half and my daughter's

(11:20):
seven. I still fought thatdemon. And I think a lot of it had
to do with not having a dad inmy life. It's the most powerful thing
that I've done in all thesuccess, financially and emotionally
and spiritually that I'vefound. The proudest thing, I always
say, is what I've been able toaccomplish as a husband and as a
father, because I created thatout of thin air with the help of

(11:43):
my wife and also the desire.But I needed to be forced into that
corner. And again, I say thatwith all due respect and love, but
my wife was the catalyst forthis. If it was left to me, I'd still
be running around with nochildren, and I probably wouldn't
be my wife, because I was soscared of that commitment, because

(12:03):
it's for life. Raising afamily is the hardest thing you'll
ever do. It is a lifetimecommitment. And obviously we're in
a world where that's notalways the case anymore, but for
me it is, and I'm so committedto it. Because of having no father
or no male structure in mylife, I'm all in. All in. But it

(12:23):
took a while to get there.
Yeah. I mean, fear is sopowerful, and if we let it control
us and not really like, thinkabout it as detailed as we can, or
in the way that your wife waskindly forcing you into growing.
I think growing is a beautifulway of looking at how we can face

(12:44):
our fears in a positive wayand kind of create the life that
we want to create.
The life that you want is onthe other side of conquering that
fear. We've heard it allbefore. If we have a good feed on
our algorithm or we've beendiving into any kind of self development,
and it's so true. The reasonthat we avoid it is because it's

(13:04):
the unknown and it's theunfamiliar. So I'll share with you
my background and my story. Iwas born and raised in Parkside Projects
in the Bronx, New York.Everybody worldwide knows of the
Bronx, which is prettyremarkable, being that it's really
not that great of a place, butit just has so much character and

(13:25):
so much aura to it, and I wasblessed enough to be born into that.
My mother herself was thechild of Dominican immigrants, and
herself was a Dominicanimmigrant. And I say that proudly
because Zoe Saldana just wonthe first Oscar for any Dominican
American the other day, whichwas pretty damn awesome for all of
us as a culture. And herparents came over at the same time

(13:48):
that my grandparents cameover, and they fled persecution over
there because the dictator atthe time had been assassinated. So
we came to America, like mostpeople, looking for a better life.
We didn't find it in ParksideProjects, but here we are, you know,
a generation and a halfremoved. And I was moved to tears
more recently because I was atan event which just caused me to

(14:09):
pinch myself because I hadcome so far from the roots of the
Bronx. And growing up in the1990s during the crack cocaine epidemic
that, you know, pretty muchwiped out an entire generation of
potential fathers, we werequick to lock people up, throw away
the key 25 to life for, youknow, minimal sales of crack cocaine,
which robbed an entire peopleof already limited hope, unfortunately.

(14:33):
And we're still reboundingfrom that as a community. But I say
that to just paint thebackdrop where it wasn't easy, but
my mother always got up everyday, and she worked for a living.
She was a social worker with ahuge heart. And that is the most
valuable gift that she evergave me, was love. That love has
sprouted into the man that Iam becoming. Still not there, but

(14:57):
becoming. But it took a ton ofmistakes, Matt, and one of them was
having graduated high school,having graduated college, having
made six figures, which, whereI come from is, you know, that's
an accomplishment. At the ageof 29, I found myself in a prison
cell because of straddling theline between right and wrong. Not

(15:19):
knowing, not having that malerole model, that mentor in my life
to tell me I was going downthe wrong road. So, you know, the
job wasn't paying enough and Ifound other ways to make money that
were illegal and hangingaround the wrong people, that was
the pivotal moment in my life.There were a lot before then, but
they were small. That was amassive shift in my life and it didn't

(15:41):
come until I was 29 years old.A year prior to that, I was fortunate
enough to be blessed and meetthe now love of my life, my now wife.
We're going on 17 yearstogether and we actually celebrated
our first anniversary two daysafter I turned myself in to do a
two year stint in prison. Thatcould have destroyed me. But early

(16:03):
on, I was fortunate enough toframe it as the best thing that ever
happened to me. And that's thepower of belief and that's the power
of shifting your mind. So anevent that's external can shift your
life, but you can use thatevent to shift your mind, which is
more powerful than anythingthat could ever happen to you. So
if, you know, these terriblethings happened to me at 17 or 18,

(16:25):
I would have probably not beenable to rebound. But I had enough
of a foundation to understandthat I put myself there. And I used
that time wisely. It was thefirst time I was sober for a prolonged
period of time. And that's whyI started picking up self development
books. One of the first that Iremember was Tony Awaken the Giant
Within. And I was blessedenough to be in a room and have a

(16:47):
personal conversation with himjust last week, because I'm part
of this super exclusive groupwhere again, I just pinch myself.
But in that prison cell, I wasable to manifest what my future would
look like. That was when I was29. I'm now 46, so we're 18 years
removed, more or less. And Igotta tell you, it's real. Planting

(17:11):
those seeds of belief inyourself are real. And I just tell
people to have courage todream and to dream big because it's
not real anyway, so why dreamsmall? Why? Why be practical? How
many times do we say, well,what's your fallback? Let's be realistic,
you know, how am I going toattain this? Doesn't matter. I wrote

(17:34):
things in that book that Icould only have dreamt of and they've
all come true and then some.And some of them are still on the
table. And I know they'regoing to come true. But if I didn't
have the courage and thebelief to even write it down or start
to believe it, there's no waythat I would have gotten there. Life
doesn't happen by mistake.External things happen that you can't
control, but you can controlhow you react to them.

(17:56):
That's a huge lesson andprobably something that's really
hard to get to. I mean, I'mthinking back to the idea that you
one had to take ownership ofthe things that you did and turn
yourself in, which is a.That's a huge thing. I've talked
to someone else who also didthe same, like, ran from across the
country, from the police, anddecided, okay, I can't do this. I

(18:19):
have to go back and turnmyself in and. And do what I need
to do. So that's a big thing.And interestingly enough, also, while
in his prison cell, he chose,like you did, to better himself,
to find ways to. When I'm donewith this part of my life, I can
go out there and do somethingelse. So I'll ask you the same question

(18:42):
I asked him. How did you findthe fortitude when sitting in a place
where there are other peoplethat maybe are, and this is my assumptions
here, maybe are trying to getyou to misbehave even more or whatever
that may be. Maybe this isjust television in my head thinking
of what that's like. How doyou. How did you find the fortitude
to be like, no, I need to makethis a good experience as much as

(19:05):
I can while I'm in here?
Well, the bad guys can onlyturn you if you don't have some kind
of foundation. And I wasfortunate enough to have a foundation.
So a lot of people that getsucked into gang life, they're young,
they're impressionable, theydon't have a support system. I had
my now wife that I could callevery day. I had friends that were
right to me. I had $55, whichwas the maximum you could have every

(19:29):
two weeks to go spend at thecommissary store. And there were
guys there that were living onborrowed favors, Literally. Stamps
are currency in prison just toput things in perspective. And I
think they were only 29 or 30cents way back then. I was fortunate
to have legs to stand on. If Iwas in that situation younger, my

(19:50):
life would be wildlydifferent. But what gave me the fortitude
wasn't even in that prisoncell. It was as a child, my mother.
She had taught me that if youthink you can, you can, and if you
think you can't, you can't.And either way, you're right. I jokingly
say. I think Henry Ford is theone who said that. And the Little
Engine that Could is the bookthat reinforced that for me at a

(20:13):
very young age. And it juststuck. It just stuck. So as a young
college student, you'reidealistic. The world's not fair.
The rich people, you know,they're taking advantage of poor
people. There should be moreequality in the world and equity.
And again, these are allthings that are sensitive topics,
but the reason I say them isthat we shift as people, as we live

(20:37):
our lives and as we experiencedifferent things. And the younger
you are, the less experiencethat you have, the older, hopefully
the wiser you get. But that'snot true for everybody. You've got
to be a student of life. And Imade that time work for me because
I didn't blame anybody else.There are people in there that will

(20:59):
blame anyone, anything andeverybody for why they're there.
And I fucked up. I fucked upbig time.
Did you know at the time thatyou were making bad choices or were
you just, like, justifying them?
I was in a cloud of drugs,alcohol, partying. I knew I wasn't

(21:19):
making great decisions, but itwas fun. It's a lot of fun. I always
say that the streets are sexy.When you come from the streets or
you even navigate in thosecircles, there's a bit of danger
to it and there's a bit ofallure to it. I don't know if you're
someone who appreciates a goodrush, but if you're on a jet ski

(21:40):
or a motorcycle or if you flyor you do anything exciting, you're
not living until you're almostdying. And the streets provide that
excitement in a different kindof way for people. There is an allure
to that street life. I was notall the way in, but I got my foot
caught in the door because Ihad an education. So I was able to

(22:01):
navigate both worlds. I was abit of a chameleon, but I chose to
make money illegally and bearound people that saw that duality
as weakness. So you can't haveit both ways in the street. You're
either all in or don't touchthem. And I was trying to have it
both ways and eventually gotcaught up. But it was really just

(22:24):
the my fault thing. So one ofthe guys that I follow online, and
he's very popular, is AlexHormozy. So I'll Credit him with
saying poverty will keep youthere as long as it takes for you
to learn the lessons. And thebiggest one that I think people in
poverty and people from humblebeginnings suffer with is the inability
to look inward and say, myfault. What role am I playing in

(22:47):
this? So you can play thevictim or you can choose to get help.
And it took you decades to getthe help. You needed to get over
the fact that you weresuffering from a trauma that happened
to you at 8 years old, butsomething shifted in you and you
chose to get the help. But ifyou choose to stay in that mode or
in that place, that is yourfault. You know, what happened to

(23:09):
you is not your fault. But ifyou choose to relive that every day
of your life and continue toblame what happened to you, that
is your fault. And I thinkwe're seeing a lot of that in today's
society. We deem it a mentalhealth crisis. And I believe there
truly is mental health issuesin the world. But I think the reason
that it's so huge today isbecause we have this beautiful device

(23:36):
here which traps us in a worldof, if I believe something, it'll
feed me that. And it's easy tostay stuck in that place.
I was gonna say it is much.
Easier than to get out of it.And I think we're gonna see a continued
trip down that road. I don'tthink it's gonna get any better,
unfortunately.
Yeah, I would agree it is. Inmy own experiences, like when I was

(24:00):
felt depressed, you know, as ateenager or whatever it was, it was
far easier to stay in thatmood, that feeling that whatever
it was at that particular timethan it was to take whatever action.
And I think some of thataligns with what we were saying before
is the fear that we don't knowfor sure that the steps that we're

(24:20):
going to take are going to getus out of it. What if it gets worse?
What if, you know, like, whatif I try something and it's worse
and then I fail and then I be.And it becomes a snowball effect
of. Of where we stay. And Ithink it takes a different type of
person or maybe a differentupbringing or maybe influence or
whatever it is around us tohave the confidence to take those

(24:43):
steps, whether they're goingto work out or not. Because that's
kind of where the learningcomes from. That's where, you know,
like when I. When I took theopportunity to try to get myself
out of the spiral that I wasin of some sort, I went to a therapist
that didn't work. And then Iwent to another therapist that didn't
work for me. And it took mefive people to find the one that

(25:06):
worked. But damn, was it scaryto go, oh, shit, this, this one didn't
work. Like, I need to trysomething else. Is that one going
to work? You know, and so toyour point, it's. Something switches
where you're like, okay, nowit's time. Like, I need to do something.
But it gets incrementallyharder sometimes if it's not working
out.
The pain for you must havegotten so deep and you were just

(25:27):
tired of it. You just gottired of it. And the only thing that
separated your journey is youdidn't quit. You didn't quit on the
first therapist. You didn'tsay, all this shit doesn't work.
This therapy is a. It's ascam. These people, they're just
taking my money. Because howmany people go to a therapist and
expect an instant result? Howmany people go to the gym and want
to lose weight in a week? Itis a long and boring and arduous

(25:52):
process to success, but it isalso a long and debilitating process
and journey to depression andsadness. It does not happen overnight.
You are reinforcing theweakness muscles versus reinforcing
the strengthening muscles. Soliterally, what happens to you in
the gym? And you know, I sithere as someone who presents, as

(26:14):
someone who's in shape andtakes care of themselves, but I have
been £350 not once but twicein my life. And when I speak, I tell
people that I've gained andlost over a ton in my life. If you
add it all up, and what wasgoing on there subconsciously was
the fat kid was still pullingme every time I would lose weight,

(26:35):
massive amounts, I would gainit all back and then some because
I hadn't shifted my identity.And the same thing will happen in
depression and in sadness andin mental health. You will always
be pulled back to the personyou truly identify as. But it's,
it's not for a fault of yourown. It's. It's. We just don't understand
how this works. We don'tunderstand that we've got to dedicate

(26:58):
time, energy, and vision tocreating the person we want to be.
But if we're just gettingthrough the day, that's a tough,
it's, it's fucking toughproposition to, to tell somebody
to dream big when they're justpaying their bills and paying their
rent. As someone who comesfrom humble beginnings but had a
working class mom we nevermade over 50 grand a year. She worked
for the city of New York allher life. You know, we were bookended

(27:21):
by welfare recipients for themost part. But there were also working
people in the projects, butthey were usually single moms. So
without that second income,you were stuck. It was rare that
you had two working people inthe projects and a nuclear family
with two working class peoplebecause they would have probably
earned enough to get out. Now,there were instances of that, but
they were the minority. It's aprocess, man. And unfortunately,

(27:44):
we live in an age where peopledon't understand that it's just going
to take time. And when I speakto young kids and even young adults,
people in their 20s, I justtell them, listen, there's something
that nobody's ever going totell you. And it's the most underrated
superpower, patience. Patienceis truly, truly a superpower.
Well, and society is notreally conditioning any of us to

(28:08):
have that patience. Right.Because I think it's always this
next get rich quick scheme orlose weight quick scheme or whatever
it may be. So it's always,we're always looking for the next
quickest thing to get to thenext place. When your story is proof
of your weight loss, evenstory is proof that, like, it's not.

(28:29):
It's. It has to be a lifestylechange, it has to be an ownership,
it has to be a my fault. Ithas to be all these pieces that align
now to the newer version ofyou so that you can live in whatever
you're going to be. I mean,like whatever you want to be, you
can be kind of mentality.
You'Re the only one who canchange your life. The first step
in that process is truly justdesire. You have to want to change

(28:52):
your life. And then you haveto take stock and see what role you
play and why you are in theplace that you are. And I just hope
that you look in the mirrorfirst. It's so easy these days to
just point the finger at someelected official and say, well, they're
the reason that we're here.And it's, you know, we just, you

(29:12):
know, tonight we're gonnainstall these tariffs here and you
know, in the states againstour bordering neighbors, Mexico and
Canada. Whether I agree ordisagree is irrelevant. This is just
the reality. But I couldchoose to focus on that or I could
just choose to put my headdown, which I do personally, and
just go about my business.Because I've never had the belief

(29:34):
that any president or governoror mayor is going to change my life
more than I am, and I just tryto implore people of that. I think
we saw an exponential beliefthat government was either good or
evil during COVID It dependswhat side of the fence you were on.
You really decided to go downthat road. For the most part, so

(29:54):
many people got swallowed upin the politics of COVID that I just
think it's something that'sgoing to take us a long time, if
we can even recover from thatas a culture. And I think that was
worldwide. But I can onlyspeak from the American experience,
and even more so just from theexperience here in New York. And
just to kind of build on that,and obviously not to get political,

(30:14):
I could care less. But it is afactor. It's an external factor.
You know, my reactions to ithaven't changed. I tease my buddies
that send me all theconspiracy theories, and so many
of them turned out to be true.I'm like, okay, dude, you were right.
Now what? How many hours andhours did you waste of your life?
And if you added that up,probably days, weeks and months,

(30:36):
that you could have beenbettering yourself, but you're in
the same exact position youwere. And now you can scream from
the rooftops that you wereright about this or you were right
about that, and I was wrongabout this and I was wrong about
that. But all the while, mylife has continued to get better.
And all the while, you werewasting that energy on something
beyond your control. And Ithink that is a testament to life.

(30:59):
I think there's so manydistractions, but you're the only
player in this life that cangive you the fulfillment that you
truly seek as a human being.But we don't have those tools, brother.
And that's why, you know,you're on this mission, and we talked
about it off camera, that thisis therapeutic for you. And I host
the podcast, and it'stherapeutic for me because you get

(31:19):
to remind yourself that we areall much similar, much more similar
than we are different. Itconnects you to your fellow human,
and people are your greatestresource. So use them.
Yeah. You know, it's. So. It'ssome of these things that you're
saying, I think, for so manypeople are logical, right? But I

(31:40):
think where people get stuckis the practicality of doing it.
Right? Like, it doesn't.They're like, I don't know how to
do that, but it makes sensethat I should be doing that, but
I don't know how to do that.And, you know, you think to your
story of like, and I. And Idon't Know, like it sounds like you
were. Your mom instilled a lotof good things into you, so maybe

(32:02):
you were already thinking thatway and just kind of got sucked into
the. The lure of. Of thestreets. But do you feel like turning
yourself in or being in prisonor reading that particular book?
Do you think something shiftedin you then, or did you always kind
of bring that along with you?
I think I always had it in me,which was desire for more. I always

(32:23):
knew I was meant for more. Ialways believed I could accomplish
great things. But much to whatyou just said is I didn't know how
to go about it, let alone havepeople in my sphere that I could
be like. I want to be likethat guy, or I want to accomplish
what she did. And that's whythese last two years of my life have
been dedicated to improvingmyself. And another huge life shift

(32:49):
for me was when my son wasborn. I was still drinking heavily.
I told you, my daughter wasborn. And I was still holding on
to that. Families don't work.I've never seen it work. And I chose
to do the thing which made mefeel comfortable, which was to drink.
And I did it excessively, andI did it daily. And I was highly

(33:09):
functional, you know,alcoholic. I would go to work. I
ran a business, I started abusiness. All while I had these bad
habits. And alcohol was partof the journey for me and entertaining
my potential clients and goingout and eating dinner three to five
nights a week and never hadtwo. I'll have the third one here
and I can go home and have anightcap. I mean, it was a problem

(33:32):
for me personally. It wasn'ttill I eliminated that where my life
started to take off. So we allhave these governors on our life,
which we're completely unawareof, and they stem back to our fears.
From that downloaded programwe talked about from the ages of
0 to 7. Our parents, ourcaretakers, they're downloading their

(33:52):
own life belief systems on us.And we continue to run that program.
But depending how good of aprogram they installed, it can hinder
us or it can elevate us. Andthat's not to blame them. People
do the best that they can withwhat they know how. And my life was
not all good. My mother hadher issues, and there was plenty

(34:14):
of dysfunction. And there wasalcohol and there was drugs. It was
the 80s, it was new York City.So I've seen it all. I've seen things
I wasn't supposed to see. I'veheard things I wasn't supposed to
hear. I Grew up a lot fasterthan I was supposed to, faster than
my kids are ever going to growup, that's for sure. If you're going
to blame them for the negativestuff, you better blame them for

(34:35):
the good stuff. But what youchoose to focus on is where you're
going to start to move. And Ichoose to focus on the good stuff
that I learned from my mom. SoI always say it's like there were
plenty of good things and badthings that I learned, but as an
adult, you make the choice totrim the fat. If I want to keep blaming
for the negative, thenegativity, or the dysfunction in

(34:56):
my life growing up, I'd bestuck in that place. But I chose
to just take the good lessonsI learned. Trim the fat. And then
I started to surround myselfwith people that would elevate me.
So a couple years ago, Idecided to get sober on the advice
of my wife, who said somethingvery simple to me. And I tell the
story all the time. Onemorning, get ready to go out for

(35:19):
work. Gave her a kiss. Yourbreath smells like alcohol. I didn't
fight her. I initially waslike, no, I just Listerine. I just
mouse rinse my mouth outbecause I wasn't a daytime drinker.
But if you've ever knownanybody or you yourself have drank
too much, it starts to just.Your breath starts to. It lingers.

(35:40):
It gets your teeth,everything. It's just. It's part
of your. Your, Your. Yoursmell. I say that with a smile and
a joke now, but, you know,there's nothing to be, you know,
joked about because so manypeople suffer from something like
that and they're just notaware or don't want to take responsibility
for it. But at that point,again, it was. I knew I was meant

(36:01):
for more. I didn't know I wasgoing to get there, but I knew this
thing was holding me back. Andon that comment, I didn't fight her.
After that Listerine thing, Iwas like, you know what? I was embarrassed.
I checked myself into rehab amonth later. I was only there for
three days because it was adetox thing I had tried to kick on
my own. And I remember themoment that I had to wake up one

(36:22):
night. I never had the shakes.This is my story. I'm not trying
to minimize mine or elevateanybody else's story. This is mine,
and I'm sharing itauthentically. Never had the shakes.
I was a professional drinker,and I'm a big dude, so I could hang
with the best of them, but Iwould get Those butterflies where.
Three or four days into notdrinking, I just couldn't sleep.
I mean, it was torture,torture. And that's the withdrawal,

(36:46):
which can actually kill you ifyou're far enough down the line.
Alcohol is the only substancethat can kill you through withdrawal.
Unbeknownst to me of howsevere the problem was becoming,
I got up one night and I hadto take a shot of vodka at around
one in the morning just so Icould go to sleep. Do you know the
pain and the embarrassment andthe shame that that causes somebody

(37:08):
who knows when they're pouringthe drink that they don't want to
do this anymore, but theycan't stop themselves? It's that
cycle we talked about earlier,and you're spiraling down, and you're
spiraling down. And my wife'slittle comment was the catalyst.
And my son being born a fewmonths before was what I needed to
check myself in. I came homethree days later, refused any kind

(37:32):
of heavy medication. I waslike, I just need something to sleep.
They gave me a strong allergypill, and I was out in three days,
much to the surprise of thenurses there. But that's when my
life shifted. Even more sothan coming out of that prison cell,
because I was able to use thatprison experience to create this
life that I had now reachedthe peak. I had accomplished all

(37:53):
those things for the mostpart, and I was lost again. I was
just kind of spinning mywheels in life. And I had my daughter,
and I wasn't appreciative ofit. I had a great wife. I wasn't
appreciative of it. But whenmy son came around and that comment,
and now I'm sober, and then mywife tells me, hey, Tony Robbins
is having a seminar down inPalm Beach. You should go check it
out. And that was one of thegoals on my, you know, my list in

(38:17):
these composition notebookswhere I structured my life in that
prison cell? It was to go toone of his seminars and. And walk
over hot coals. And I was justtalking to him one on one the other
day. So, I mean, I pinchmyself, brother, because you need
to go through the fire, youneed to go through the pain. And
to anybody listening rightnow, you don't have to have a fucking

(38:38):
clue how you're going to getto the place you want to go, but
you've got to set theintention to want to get there. And
then you've got to be honestwith yourself. You've got to start
to put together just one dayat a time. You'll slide down every
once in a while. No big deal.Don't beat yourself up. Just get
up, keep trying, keep showingup and be patient because again,
it's been two and a half yearssince I got sober and my life has

(39:00):
gotten incrementally betterevery day. And looking back, I can
put together and say, oh, twoand a half years, it's been amazing.
But if I'm comparing myself ona day to day basis, expecting huge
results, it's a foolishperspective or approach to take.
You know, give yourself time.But I set the intention that I want
it to be better. And then, youknow, for anybody suffering with

(39:21):
any kind of substance abuse,you know it in your heart. And if
you're not honest withyourself, you're going to continue
to live the nightmare that youinadvertently have become so comfortable
living that you're just goingto keep repeating it. And you know,
that is insanity. But I don'tjudge anybody because I've been there
and I've done that. And now Ilive a life where I'm just not a

(39:42):
drinker. If anybody asked me,I have no desire to drink. And it's
just, it's a powerful feeling.It's just so powerful to have conquered
that and use that pain asmotivation and fuel to be where I
am today.
How long were you, were youaddicted? I guess to alcohol? How
long were you an alcoholic?
Yeah, I was probably drinkingmore than I should have since my

(40:04):
early 20s. So we're talking20, 20 plus years of drinking. You
know, various drugs, weed,MDMA and all that other good stuff
that came along with the 2000sparty scene. You know, this is something
I suffered with for decades.And just to show everybody, just
like you, didn't give up onthat first therapist, second therapist,

(40:26):
fourth therapist, and thefifth one stuck. I went back into
my notes from college and Ihad discovered that way back when
in college, I had written downwhat would my life look like without
drugs and alcohol. To see thatafter getting sober was so powerful
because it spoke to the realdesire in my heart. And I already

(40:49):
knew. And so many of youalready know what you want, but you're
just afraid to go for it. Iwas afraid to get sober because I
didn't know what my life wouldlook like on the other side of it.
I didn't lose my friends. Ijust don't spend as much time with
them anymore. I love myfriends, but if we're not drinking,
they really don't want to hangout with me, you know what I mean?

(41:10):
So you have to getuncomfortable if you want to grow,
if you're not losing friends,you're not making progress. And I
think so many of us just wantto stay in what we know, that we
don't take the risk or thechance to explore what's on the other
side of it.
Yeah. Do you think a lot ofus. And maybe, maybe you do this
as well? Like you kind ofcreate those roadblocks for yourself

(41:33):
because of the fear too oflike what that other side?
Yeah.
You're like, I know Ishouldn't be drinking, I know I shouldn't
be doing these drugs, but if Ido it, it kind of like subconsciously
blocks me from the possibilities.
Correct. It numbs you. Itnumbs you. But I mean, there's things
I have to do pertaining to mynew website in order to get it up
and running and I've beenavoiding it for a week and a half

(41:56):
because there's still fear ofwhat's on the other side. I have
a successful business andmedical supplies. I'm now starting
a coaching business and I havevery high level people that do it
at the highest level who arenow in my sphere of influence that
I could just ask them what todo. And I'm still avoiding it. So

(42:16):
we're human. So knowing allthese things does not mean that you
are not going to suffer fromthe same thing. It just means that
you have to get uncomfortableagain and again and again. There's
really no destination, there'sno finish line. You mentioned you're
a type A personality offcamera. And I'm the same way. We
will never be satisfied.Never. And I think most people are

(42:40):
like that. But they find thethings that keep them happy with
where they are. Now, everybodycan't be a leader, everybody can't
be a business owner. Otherwisethere will be nobody to work. And
there's no shame in whateverrole that you're playing. But if
you have a gut feeling andyou're not answering the call, you

(43:01):
are suffering. And I believethat truly. I don't think that everybody
desires more, but I think manyof us, if not the majority of us,
want more. But because wedon't know how to go about it, we
create these roadblocks, thesesubconscious belief systems. We're

(43:24):
telling ourselves a story. Butmuch like every book behind me or
every book you've everwritten, there was an author. Your
life is no different. And it'slike writer's block, which ironically
you have behind you the storythat you want to live. You might
just be suffering fromwriter's block. You may not understand

(43:44):
that you're writing thatstory, but you are. So you've got
to get around people. You'vegot to pick up books, you've got
to eliminate Netflix andchill. You've got to put down the
phone. You've got to deletethe app that's keeping you from that.
It may not be alcohol anddrugs. It may be the Internet. It
may be Instagram, it may beTikTok. You know, I jokingly say
I don't have TikTok on myphone because that was where I drew

(44:05):
the line. But my Instagramtime is not good, for sure. But that's
the app I like, you know, ButI don't gravitate to Facebook. I
love Instagram. If I couldeliminate Instagram, I buy back about
45 minutes, maybe an hour anda half of my life every day that
I could be doing somethingmore productive with. So, again,
I am not immune.

(44:26):
I think of your story, and itkind of relates to what I did, but
not exactly it. I was livingmy life on some kind of checklist
that I assumed that I wassupposed to do that would lead me
to happiness, which. And thereason why I equate it to something
like when you got out ofprison and you kind of were being

(44:48):
successful, but you were stilldrinking and doing those other things,
you're like, well, I'm stillhitting all the marks, right? Like,
so therefore I'm successful.Like, I've done what I'm supposed
to do. And I. I felt like Iwas just chasing that, like, society's
checklist. I was like, highschool, college, master's degree,
house, you know, like, doingall the things I'm like, when is
the happiness? When does thatcome? And it was all that external,

(45:12):
like, validation that I wasapparently looking for when really,
you know, finding somethinglike, as simple as this podcast is
something that is. Feelsdifferent than the two master's degrees
that I have on my. On my wall.Like, those really didn't mean much.
Whereas I can have aconversation like this and I feel

(45:32):
fulfilled. So it's. It's. It'sone of those things where I'm like,
for so long, I was chasing.And I think a lot of people do that.
They think the next promotionis where they're going to be happy
or the next dollar mark thatthey hit in whatever. When it's really
taking this ownership of. Ofthe dreams that you want for yourself
or the direction that you wantto go is probably where that fulfillment

(45:54):
or that happiness might lie.
Yeah, it's enjoying thejourney. But if you're on the journey
that someone else outlined foryou and you didn't outline for yourself,
then you're just going throughthe motions. So while I did outline
that journey for myself inthose notebooks in a prison cell
and I was chasing them down,it wasn't what I was truly designed

(46:18):
and put here on this planet todo. I have a unique gift of connection
with people from all walks oflife and all backgrounds. And I wasn't
utilizing it when I tell youthat even in prison, I was okay.
I was comfortable. Not that itdidn't have its obvious challenges.
I can go anywhere and be justfine. That's my gift. And I can connect

(46:40):
with people and make peoplefeel good, and I can add value to
people's lives. So what I'vechosen to do now that I've gotten
clear and I've gotten soberand I've started to invest in myself,
is I've started to give, andI've started to do it without the
thought of getting in return.Just today, someone asked me for
a donation to a largecorporate nonprofit. I donated a

(47:06):
considerable amount of money,not because of the organization,
but because of the connectionI have with this person. And can
I tell you that I have anonprofit that I am the president
and co chair of. And I askednot too long ago for all my brothers
in that small group on a text,you know, to support the organization,
and only one did with a smallamount. So I'd be dishonest if I

(47:30):
didn't say that when I donatedthat money, it didn't cross my mind
to say, damn, why am I givingthis person this much money when
they didn't give me a pennytowards something that I personally
have a stake in? Because I amthe president of this nonprofit.
They're just representing acorporate nonprofit so they can look
good. But then I put that tobed and I said, that's not who you

(47:50):
are. You are not someone whois transactional. Whether or not
that person is transactionalis on them. I will not let the world
or anyone in it change who Iam. But that's only because my roots
are firmly planted and I knowwho I am now. But that's because
I went through all this stuff.Even now, I'm looking at you on a

(48:11):
dual screen. My camera's infront of me, but I'm looking at you
in the eyes as if you wereright here in front of me, brother.
Because that's who I am as aperson. That's who Sean is as a person.
But I only know this becauseI've fallen on my face so many times
to get back up and not quitthat I know firmly who I am and what
I'm about. And I'm abouthelping as many people in this lifetime

(48:32):
as I can. I think life has alot of pressure. It puts a lot of
pressure on people to succeed.We're in America. I heard the other
day, if you make $60,000 ayear, you are in the top 1% the world,
not America, the world. Whydon't we look at life that way? Because
we're comparing ourselves tothe 1% here, which is half a million

(48:54):
dollars or more, something inthat arena. And if you look at yourself
as the 1% of the 1%, that goesfrom a few hundred thousand dollars
a year to a few billiondollars. So it is all perspective.
The truth is, we all have morethan enough of what we need. But
we're looking at it from alens of, I'm not checking off all
the boxes. Like you said, I'mnot doing what society's told me

(49:17):
to do. So I implore anybodywho's struggling right now and doesn't
know what to do to go out,find something close to your heart,
whether it be a charity. Youknow, soup kitchen is kind of cliche,
but if homelessness issomething single moms, kids, mentorship,
whatever it is that moves you,go dedicate a couple of hours of
your life to that just everymonth, and see how that makes you

(49:39):
feel. You will never go brokefrom giving. And someone wise told
me that just the other day, onmy part, it was, you will never go
broke from giving. And it's sotrue, because it's the most selfish
thing you can do to makeyourself connect with other human
beings and also put inperspective all the things that you
have that you're not taking anappreciation of. So you will soon

(50:02):
see how much you have. Whenyou start to compare yourself to
someone who has nothing. Butwe're always comparing ourselves
to someone who has the thingthat we want, the real balance. And
the trick is to be happy withwhat you have while you strive for
the thing that you want. Andit is not an overnight thing, and
it is not something that isalways going to be there. Happiness

(50:22):
is the moments when you hitthe highs. So it's about fulfillment.
You mentioned fulfillment. Andfulfillment only comes from doing
something that lights you up.And chances are that's something
that's adding value to someoneelse's life more so than your own.
Yeah, no. And I think in thesame vein, of giving back or helping
other people also, listeningto other people, listening to their

(50:45):
stories, connecting with themlike you do. You know, like I try
to do on this show is like,hear these other stories that are
not like mine, because I thinkthat draws us together more. I think
we're able to learn from eachother in that way as well. In addition,
that person might never belistened to by someone else in their
life. So you might be givingthem the gift of just, like, hearing

(51:08):
them and allowing them toshare their story in that way, too.
So, I mean, I agree, but also that.
Yeah, and I mean, just bekind. You know, you mentioned when
we started, you're like, I'mtired. And I don't see that right
now because you're sharingwith another human being. You're
connecting with another humanbeing who's pouring into you and
you're pouring into me. Andthat's what it's all about. It's

(51:29):
that simple. It doesn't haveto be that complex. When you're out
in the morning, say thank you,Say, please hold the door open for
somebody that will make yourday. And then you just start to stack
up those little things. I hadthe people in my bank today just
kind of just say, weappreciate you so much. And that

(51:49):
lit me up because, you know, Icame in with my dog. I was working
from home today. Everybody metthe dog. I'm, like, fully domesticated.
I jokingly say, a kid from theprojects. I live in the suburbs.
I've got a golden doodle. Isaid, the only thing missing now
is the Christmas card thatpeople throw away when you send it
to them in the mail. And shetook the time to just say, we appreciate

(52:11):
you. And that was because ofhow I made them feel. I'm kind. I'm
not pushy. I'm veryappreciative of that. You know, nobody's
just doing their job. But Ithink that freedom came from me being
able to get the chip off myshoulder. And if we reverse engineer

(52:31):
that, me being able to get thechip off my shoulder came from being
financially successful. Now,yes, I am doing well. I'm doing better
than a lot of people. I'm notdoing as good as I want to be or
as good as some other people.But I'm not comparing myself to anybody.
So what I always tell people,particularly kids when I speak to
them from impoverishedbackgrounds or kids that are in trouble

(52:53):
with the law, is it's achoice. So go out and get that money.
Find a way to make money,because then and only then, Will
you realize that it won't makeyou happy? So what money will buy
you is freedom. What youchoose to do with said freedom is
on you. And I truly believe inentrepreneurship. And I think that

(53:14):
is the one great thing thatcapitalism has gotten right, hands
down. It is the ability tocreate, and create with the intention
of solving a problem andadding value. We look at it from
dollars and cents, butcapitalism, entrepreneurship has

(53:34):
made the world a better place.It has solved a lot of its problems.
Granted, it's created a lot ofproblems and left a lot of people
in its dust, too. So I'm notspeaking ignorantly here, but as
someone who's created abusiness, multiple businesses that
have found success, and I'mgoing to continue doing that. It's
the only space where I seepeople that feel this way. Because

(53:56):
unless you're doing somethingat a high level that lights you up
in a profession where you gotto clock in and clock out, it's rare
to have the feeling that I'mblessed enough to have. It's only
come to me throughentrepreneurship where I've been
able to buy freedom. I've beenable to buy time with my family.
I can jump on a plane. I cango wherever I want. I can call out

(54:18):
tomorrow. I can cancel ameeting. I could take it from here,
Take it from there. We are notmeant to be in a fucking cubicle.
We are not meant to be in anoffice. So again, I don't knock anybody,
but anybody that has thatfeeling. Start getting a side hustle.
Start doing something outsideof what society told you you should

(54:39):
do with those degrees. BecauseI have an associate's and I have
a bachelor's, and I startedthe GMAT process to go for my business
degree. And I said, screwthat. I already saw right there in
the preparation for the test.This is not where I'm going. And
I was fortunate enough to findmy path in entrepreneurship. I think
that's the way to fulfillment.If you're doing a job you don't like,

(55:02):
have the courage to shiftgears and do something more on your
speed, maybe it takes a paycut where you could get up every
day with a smile. And maybeyou own less or you waste less, but
you.
But maybe it doesn't work, butyou also learn. Right? I feel like
that's part of the journeytoo. And then you learn to make the
next attempt better or make itwork in that way.
Yeah, it's scary as fuck. Youbuild a lifestyle. I'm not going

(55:24):
to pull the rug from under meso I can Go get another job. And
then we get trapped. And weknow we're suffering, but we don't
know how to get out of it.
It's much easier to stay.
It takes courage, brother. Ittakes courage. So if.
If 2025 Sean could tell thatyounger version of you that was doing
things that maybe you knewwere wrong, and maybe you would get

(55:46):
in trouble someday, is thereanything you want to tell him? Or
would you let him kind of rideit out and let him do.
Exactly what he did? Becausewithout old Sean, there's no 2025
Sean. That's my story. I don'tlive life and regret. There's obviously
things looking back I wouldhave done differently, but that is,
you know, the flux capacitornever came to fruition. We can't

(56:08):
travel back, you know. Yeah,that we know of. The government probably
has time machine. We don't.
Ask your friends.
Yeah, right. Yeah. I wouldn'tgo back in time. What I would tell
myself is, look in the mirrorand tell yourself, what part are
you playing in this spiral, inthis continuous cycle that you're

(56:31):
going through? That's the onlything I would tell anybody. Young
coming up. Focus on yourself.And another thing I would say, actually,
now it comes to me, Matt, youare the best investment that you
can ever make in yourself. Soyou mentioned having two master's
degrees. How much did thatcost you? I can tell you four or

(56:53):
five different mastermindprograms that I'm a part of now.
That would have been a farbetter investment. And it's not a
knock on you. It's just aknock on the belief that we think
that the traditional form ofeducation is the way to go. And I
think that is being challengednow more than ever, and I'm glad
to see it. My kids are 7 and2, and I'm not sure that I'm going

(57:13):
to encourage them to go tocollege. I think there's better avenues
for our young people. I thinkthere's people that are good with
their hands. There's peoplethat are doing well in the trades.
There's all kinds of thingsyou could be doing. And school isn't
going to be the answer foryou. It's just another thing that
society tells us we need to doto be successful. And listen, we're

(57:33):
all guilty. And I live in thesuburbs now, and it's a pissing contest
what school your kids go to.To me, it's laughable.
To be fair, my MBA was free,and so I was only 22, so I didn't
know what I was Learninganyway. So it doesn't really like.
It's. It's just. It'sliterally a piece of paper right
here on my wall, and I'm sure.
It'S added some value and it'sshowing you some things and some
places maybe. I don't know,maybe not as much as other things,

(57:56):
but again, we can go back intime, right?
No. And that's always a weirdthing for me, having this external
force that really changed mylife, because, you know, if I ask
myself the same question, if Icould go back in time and change
that event, that's a hardanswer now, because I know I wouldn't
be this version of me had Inot had that tragedy when I was 8.

(58:19):
And I kind of like what'shappening now. So it's like, how
do I say that out loud? I havemany times on this podcast, but at
the same time, it's a reallyhard question because we are a product
of all the choices and all thethings that have happened to us and
the way that we've reacted tothem, and. And if we like where we
are, then you can't really change.
How old are you?

(58:40):
I'm 44 as of a couple of weeks ago.
So happy belated.
Well, thank you.
By a couple of years.
Yeah.
And I only say that to saythat you're just getting started.
I feel like it.
It is a fact that you aregoing to make more money and find
more fulfillment in the next15 years of your life than you ever
have at any other point inyour life. So the best is yet to
come, my friend.
Yeah, I mean, I know. I know.I know what I want. I know what I.

(59:03):
What. What I like, and I knowwhat I can take chances with now,
where I fe. Like for so long,I didn't. Because I was trapped in
that cycle of using my mom'sdeath as a crutch, and. And just.
It was just a mess. So, youknow, I. I love your story, and I
love that you took whatprobably could have knocked anyone
in your position way offtrack, and you chose to design your

(59:27):
life in the way that youwanted to. Sure, you had more bumps.
Sure, you had your addictionsand. And all those things, and now
you found this newer versionof yourself through choices that
you've made. I mean, I justlove that there. It just shows that
you take the steps. Thingswill happen in the way that you want
them to. So thank you forsharing your story in this way. I

(59:48):
know you have a lot of stuffgoing on is how do we get in Your
circle, Like, how do weconnect with you? What?
Sure.
What do you want us to do?
My big platform is the SeanMartin T H E S C A N M A R T I N
on Instagram. And I also hostmy own podcast called the Real Mentors
Podcast, where I aim to shinea light on people within the communities

(01:00:10):
of color in the inner cities,like New York City right now, soon
to be the entire country, andjust shine a light on the good work
that they're doing in theircommunities, give them a platform,
hope to cast a wider net fortheir message. And then the other
approach as part of thepodcast is to have entrepreneurs
like myself on who can addvalue and also testify to the power

(01:00:34):
of entrepreneurship foranybody who is looking to get out
of that cycle that they knowthey don't belong in. And that could
be a young person. It can besomeone in their 20s, or it could
be someone who's just findingtheir stride in their 40s, like us
soon to be old guys, you know,but it's all about adding value to
other people. I know how tomake money. I trust that process.

(01:00:58):
So now it's about the nextchapter being about how I can serve
the people that can benefitfrom all the wisdom and all those
bumps and bruises that Isuffer from. So it has been an honor
and a privilege to sit downwith you and share your story as
well.
Well, I appreciate it. Itmakes me think of, like, what you're
doing now. Makes me think ofyour story of kind of running away

(01:01:21):
from being a father for solong, of, like, you didn't see the
possibilities, like, in yourown life, and now what you're doing
is you're offering others thepossibilities of seeing that, like
Zoe Saldana, the. The youstarted with, like, that's going
to open doors because she'sthe first, Right. She shouldn't be
the first. Like, it feels likeit should have happened a long time

(01:01:41):
ago, but here we are, right?And now other people will be like,
oh, it's possible. Like, I cando this. You know, the first time
we have a. A woman president,it's going to be like, little girls
can now be, like, so long.Exactly. And now they can see it's
possible.
Yeah, we took a step back fromthat happening, unfortunately. But
I do have total faith thatthat's going to happen in the not
too distant future. And likeyou said, I ran from the thing I

(01:02:05):
was meant to be. I'm a leader.I wasn't a born leader. I was the
reluctant leader. And I was soafraid of Building a family. I think
as far as being a man, itstarts at home. It starts with leading
your family. If you have thecourage and you have what it takes,
you can go out there and servea greater community, whether it be

(01:02:27):
locally or even some of ourgreat leaders who lead nationally
or lead tremendousorganizations for change. I think
all of us have a leader inthis. But we need to go through the
trials, the tribulation, weneed to be battle tested in order
to get to that position. Andwe need to build that internal confidence.
So for the longest, I ran fromjust being a dad, and now here I

(01:02:49):
am, you know, pseudo dad to,you know, anyone who comes across
my path. I'm willing to sharethe wisdom that's been imparted on
me through all the mistakesthat I've made. And I see the power
in that and it's exponential.It just happens so fast. Because
once you start to believe inyourself and you have that confidence,

(01:03:10):
it's exponential the progressthat you begin to make inside and
then the impact that you canmake externally. And if you're fortunate
enough to find a purposedriven mission and even more so,
your unique purpose and whatyou believe you will put on this
earth. For if you believe in ahigher power, I always say God rolls
the red carpet out for you.They always put the people in your

(01:03:34):
path, they always put theopportunity in your path. You know,
they say luck is whenpreparation meets opportunity. That's
what going on a purpose drivenmission is all about. Once you start
to take chances on yourself,God rolls out that red carpet for
you because he knows thatyou're out there and you're doing
it unselfishly, whatever thatmay be, no matter how small or hard

(01:03:54):
grand.
I thank you from the world forwhat you're putting into the world
and the energy that you'reputting into the world. You can feel
your passion for this andhelping others through your own journey.
So thank you for that, Ithink. I don't know, it sounds really
like I'm placating you, butI'm not. I'm serious. It's like,
it's, it's what we all need tohear. And, and you're just doing

(01:04:17):
this naturally. Like it just.You can tell you're not putting it
on, I guess, is what I'msaying. You know, it's. It is who
you are and, and the peoplethat will encounter you in whatever
way that is through yourpodcast, through the bank, through
whatever it is, they're goingto be changed by, by what you offer
to the world. So thank you forjust coming on the Life Shift and,
and sharing your story in thisway and going down the avenues that

(01:04:39):
we went down. It's just quitean honor. So, yeah, thank you.
Thank you for having me. Iappreciate you.
And if if someone's listeningnow and you, like, are inspired by
this story and you want toreach out to Sean, please do that.
But even better, if there'ssomeone in your life that you think
needs to hear thisconversation, we would love it if
you share that with them,because now you're introducing Sean
to someone else in the worldand, and hopefully changing some

(01:05:02):
lives. So thank you for that.Thank you for listening. And I will
be back next week with a brandnew episode of Life Shift podcast.
Thanks again, Sean. For moreinformation, please visit www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}From Projects to Prosperity: Sean Martin's Journey to Purpose