April 30, 2025 • 46 mins
In this episode of Wisdom on the Front Porch, LS Kirkpatrick engages with Greg Bennick in a multifaceted discussion that spans from the art of juggling to writing and public speaking. They delve into the unique journey from juggling to speaking, and the inspiration behind Greg's book "Reclaim the Moment." The conversation touches on personal connections, authenticity, and balancing opportunities. They explore societal changes and the power of shifting mindsets, including the role of walking in entrepreneurship. The episode also covers practical aspects like morning routines, handling technical issues, and the impact of writing a book on business. The episode wraps up with thoughts on communication in entrepreneurship and ways to connect with Greg.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Welcome to I'll start.
Welcome to another episode of Wisdom on theFront Porch.
And on my front porch with Zoom today, we haveGreg.
Greg, how are you?
I'm really, really good.
I'm excited.
I love your intro, and I'm really glad to behere today.
Thanks so much for
having Love the little book you have hangingthere.
(00:25):
It's reclaim the moment.
I'm gonna have to talk to you about how to dothat.
I like that.
Yeah.
It's pretty fun.
You know, I love having it on screen just as areminder for people that whether they're an
entrepreneur, non entrepreneur human being, orwhoever they might be, that, that there's ideas
in that book that might benefit them.
So it's just fun to have it on screen.
Awesome.
Awesome.
(00:45):
Yeah.
I've got my my giving books over here.
Still working on getting number four in apaperback.
It's out there on Kindle, of course, on KP.
And but because this one had had I actually had57 authors.
It says 56, but, well, you know, I don't knowhow to count yet.
And so so there were a lot.
(01:07):
It was a lot in this more than before.
So Amazon wanted me to do things a differentway.
So I've kind of been working with them.
You know?
Once you've got it down just right, everythingchanges.
That's right.
That's right.
But that's okay.
I'm wearing my jacket today.
My husband put their conditioner on becausewe've actually had 84 degree weather here in
My gosh.
Central Texas.
(01:28):
Can you believe it?
And so it was just a little cold today, and andit's like, yeah.
I'm just gonna leave it like it is and just puta jacket on.
Cold.
A little cold as I look out the window of thestudio and see the remnants of snow and last
night's ice.
Yeah.
So, sure, a little cold.
Inside
here.
Air conditioning cold.
No.
(01:48):
I used to live where it was really cold, andwe're talking minus 45 is the normal
temperature.
It's like, nope.
I like this warm weather.
Very nice.
I don't mind snow.
You know?
I like playing in the snow.
I like skiing, things like that, but I likebeing warm.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
(02:09):
But okay.
Enough about chitchat.
But, you know, that's on the front porch.
You talk with each other.
You enjoy each other's company.
I love that.
And I love the format too.
And hearing that it's too cold in the studio orhearing that you're in Texas and it's 84
degrees, it's literally like being on the frontporch.
And really, really charming, and I like it alot.
(02:29):
As a format and as a conversation, I think it'sgreat.
I think it's great.
That's awesome.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Of course.
That's what makes it work.
So for our audience today, whenever they'rewatching this, wherever they are, they're
snuggled up at home or sitting out on theirfront porch.
Let's talk about you and what you do.
(02:50):
Tell us a little bit about your backstory.
Sure.
Well, I I'm a a keynote speaker and an author.
I speak about creating space for possibilityand focus.
And I started out actually in Connecticut whereI grew up, which is also not very warm.
I grew up, in Connecticut, and I started out asa juggler, interestingly enough.
(03:12):
I learned how to juggle entirely by accident,by being placed in the wrong after school mini
course.
I was placed in a juggling mini course, andwhat I really wanted was a coin collecting mini
course.
Coin collecting has been a a fascinationthroughout my life.
And even as an adult, I write for four coinmagazines and sit on the board of four coin or
two coin organizations.
(03:34):
There you go.
Everyone's got their jar, and that's a perfectfront porch conversation, right?
Yeah.
Wanted a coin collecting mini course, but I wasput in a juggling mini course and started
juggling and connecting with people andperforming and making people laugh and that
sort of thing.
And it was an unusual thing to have as a 13year old, was this hobby that I quickly learned
(03:54):
I could actually make money from, meaningperform and make money from.
I was doing yeah, 13 years old.
Yeah, exactly.
And then throughout the course of my life,added in speaking about various ideas, and then
of course writing came later.
But I started out as this young entrepreneur at13 years old with my own juggling business of
(04:16):
all things, and then turned that into a alifelong, certainly, hobby, but also love at
the same time and avocation, vocation, all inone.
That is awesome.
That's pretty
Going going back to the coins, you know, I heldup my coin jar for you for you to see.
It's just a small one.
But, my my dad got us kids interested in coincollecting.
(04:38):
And, usually, Sunday afternoon, he'd empty hispockets.
We'd get the little coin booklets out, and we'dgo through it and and see what fit in there and
what didn't.
And so for my grandkids, I do that for them.
In fact, don't let them know.
So quiet, moms and dads, if
you're listening.
(04:58):
Grandkids, you're watching, shut it off now.
Yeah.
So this year, I thought about it last year, butnow this year, I'm going to give them each
their their you know, they've all chosennumbers.
I numbered everything.
Everybody picked a number.
And so they'll get their coin collections, andthen they can expand on it if they want to.
But it was something fun that we did.
(05:20):
You know, I started doing it with my grandkidsbefore we moved away.
And and so I've kinda carried it on, only Ihaven't let them know that I've done that.
But I've done some fun things with it.
I've actually found some really exciting thingslike like steel pennies.
Okay.
This is amazing.
Yeah.
You know?
So so it's just interesting how one thing willlead to another.
(05:43):
And here you wanted this love of of coins,which you do now.
Right?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Love them still.
Engage them all
the time.
But you got into something else.
You got into juggling.
I cannot juggle to save my life.
If my life depended on it, I would die.
I I do too.
That's it.
Nothing more.
So that's really a skill.
(06:06):
I'm I'm just
And and for listeners listening who don't knowwhat a steel penny is, I'll give a little
background.
In 1942, the United States government realizedthat they needed the metals that were being
used to make pennies for shell casings and andother wartime activities.
So they decided to start looking for anothersubstance that they could use to make pennies
(06:28):
out of so they could use the copper and andwhatnot for shell casings.
I think copper, manganese, whatever it mighthave been.
It was mostly copper, of course, that theyneeded.
The point is that they decided on steel.
So in 1943, in 1943 only, they made sense outof steel.
And, yeah, these are not expensive items, butthey're very cool and very different.
(06:48):
And when you find one, you think, oh, wow.
Wait.
What's that?
It looks fake.
It's very different.
Unusual.
Yeah.
And and and certainly for young collectors, youknow, they're they're fascinated by them, of
course, because they're just so different.
There's some history behind them, and that'swhat makes coins interesting is the stories.
So
yeah.
Oh, Coins were always
interesting to me because of the stories andjuggling was interesting to me just because it
(07:08):
was something unusual that, you know, was wasout of the norm as well, much like those steel
pennies.
So I like that as a theme.
Yeah.
Well, and then you put stories to your jugglingtoo, right?
Is that what I heard?
Yeah.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
Stories in terms of maybe a story that I wastelling, but also stories meaning the wording
(07:29):
that I was using in whatever I was saying thatmade it relevant.
Meaning if I was juggling for a podcaster,would make the juggling pattern be about
communication and connection, sitting on thefront porch, whatever it might be, and that
might be different than the next client.
I've carried that through today.
So I think it's fun approach to take.
That's awesome.
So you wrote your book, Reclaim the Moment.
(07:51):
Why did you write the book?
Why did you feel, oh, I'm going to write a bookjust because everybody else does?
Or why did you write a book?
The circumstances around me writing my bookwere entirely unusual.
I met somebody six years before I got my bookcontract who had said to me in casual
conversation, having just met her, oh, wow.
(08:13):
You're interested in writing a book.
That's interesting.
I used to be in book publishing.
If I ever get back into it, I'll let you know.
Okay.
Fast forward six years.
On my website was my catchphrase, build abetter now, and this person who I had met who
had said casually, if I ever get back into bookpublishing, I'll let you know, in the same way
someone would say, hey.
I'm gonna be in Texas next spring.
(08:35):
Let's have lunch.
And you go, okay.
And you don't really pay it much attention.
Well, this person did what she said she wasgoing to do.
She got back into book publishing.
She got a job at Wiley, a major publisher, andcontacted me and said, hey, I told you that I
would let you know if I got back into books,and here I am.
I saw your catchphrase Build a Better Now, andI was wondering if you'd want to submit a book
(08:57):
proposal about it.
So I did, having no intention to write a bookabout Build a Better Now.
And we batted back and forth a title over thenext couple months and reclaimed the moment,
seven strategies to build a better now was thetitle that we chose.
But yeah, I got signed to Wiley because I metthe right person at the right time and had the
right catchphrase and the right concept.
(09:17):
So it wasn't like I set out to write a book andI'm going get this thing published.
It was more like, yeah, I'm just living mylife, talking to people and connecting with
what I do, and it led to something amazing.
It does.
You know, I am so surprised.
And just, you know, even the short amount oftime I've been in this world of
entrepreneurship and and writing and publishingand all of this podcasting, all the things I
(09:40):
do, so many things.
It's it's just surprising that people I met atthe very beginning, I had no idea who they
were.
Now I've met them later, and we've talkinglater, and we're doing things together.
And it's like, this is really cool because younever know who you've talked to that's gonna
remember you.
Absolutely.
(10:00):
And who you're gonna make an impression upon.
I mean, there had to be some impression for herto remember.
You know?
So that's really cool.
Yeah.
And
and to your point, I mean, you know, just beingyourself in the world is really important.
It sounds so trivial and easy, but it's true.
Meaning I'll remember this podcast because ofbeing on the front porch and talking on the
(10:21):
front porch as a theme.
No one else has that theme.
Right?
And how many coin collecting, keynote speakingauthor jugglers are you gonna meet in the next
week?
Right?
You'll remember me.
That's right.
That's how it goes, you know, through beingourselves.
We we automatically make an impression onpeople's minds.
Oh, definitely.
Definitely.
So I love your background.
(10:43):
Is it is it part of your background, or is it,image?
Meaning meaning this?
No.
It's a Yeah.
Oh, nice.
I don't know why.
I mean, brick brick backgrounds are good.
They're multicolors.
It's a it's a, yeah.
It's a brick background.
Yeah.
It's a brick background and a, and a curtain onthis side and, lighting and cameras and the
(11:07):
whole deal here in
this studio.
The lighting's good.
I'm still getting mine figured out, but Ireally need to go get ahold of Janate again.
He was so good at getting everything set up.
In fact, he helped me get it a lot brighterlike it is now.
Nice.
But, this is is your time to talk.
Talk about so many things.
Yeah.
(11:28):
So build a better now.
How do you build a better now?
I mean, we all talk about getting better, but Ilike building it now and making it better now.
Yeah.
The idea behind the book is that we can createspace for possibility and we can dial in our
focus.
Basically, it's not just a book abouteliminating distractions, although it is part
(11:50):
of it.
But I talk about seven strategies and ways tobring us back to center when we've been thrown
off track by the world.
It's easy to be thrown off track by the world.
Oh, By the media, social media, what have you.
If we do things like keeping our eyes on what'smost important to us, if we do things like
establishing relationships or delving into selfconfidence, and I'm saying those things very
(12:12):
simplistically.
In the book, I go into them in far more detailand in a creative way.
Oh, nice.
If we do those things, then we create spaceamidst the chaos for possibility.
So things like, for example, there's a chaptercalled leap into the dark to embrace the
possibility of success.
And the chapter ultimately is about how wesometimes fear success.
Like, what what happens if this podcast goeswell?
(12:34):
Then what do I do?
It's much easier to think, oh, this isn't gonnago well and not try.
But if we delve into things and, you know, thenwe create, again, space for possibility to to
occur.
So the the whole book is about that, and webuild a better now through creating space in
the moment that carves through thedistractions.
So ultimately, these are strategies to help uscarve through those distractions.
(12:56):
Nice.
Yeah.
Because there get to be so many.
One thing I've been talking to a few peopleabout is as you're growing, there are these
opportunities that arise and theseopportunities.
And pretty soon, you've got so manyopportunities, and you kinda feel like I'm not
doing what I wanna do.
(13:17):
These are really great, but I need to get backto my basics.
And and I think as you go on and you get betterand you get more established in what you're
doing, you can do that.
You know, go back to basics because that's whatyou're always going to.
Now for some people, they only have one thingthey do all the time.
(13:39):
For people like me, you know, there's like, Igot 10 fingers.
I'm doing 10 different things just because, youknow, I'm waiting for this one thing to do, so
I'm gonna do something else.
I can't just sit still for very long.
But, but you do.
You have you have to come back.
And it's not always chasing that shiny object.
A lot of people talk about that, you know,following that carrot, going down the rabbit
(14:02):
hole.
But sometimes it's you're trying to buildyourself up.
You're trying this new idea, so you reallyinvest in that.
But sometimes you gotta go right back to, okay.
Where did I start with?
Have I gone too far in this?
It was a good detour, but now do I need to getback on my road?
So this is a really great book.
I'm kind of excited about it.
(14:24):
I'm so glad.
Yeah.
It's a fun read.
You know, I incorporated stories as we talkedearlier about story.
I incorporated stories all throughout.
So rather than coming across like, I'm theguru.
Here's the truth.
Follow my truth.
It's not that at all.
I even say in the book, I'm not a guru.
It's not it's not that kind of self help book,personal develop it's it's personal
(14:44):
development, sure, if you wanna classify it,but ultimately, the whole book is stories,
incredible stories of adventure that I've beenon throughout my life, but I tie those
adventure stories into the ideas.
So Again, it's not even like, I've been onthese amazing adventures and all you've been
doing is sitting on the couch.
It's not at all be like me.
It's like, hey, here's some adventure storiesthat are fun to facilitate some ideas that I
(15:06):
think we can both learn from.
I mean, I wrote the book as a reminder tomyself ultimately to focus on what's most
important and to create space for possibilityin my life.
So the fact that other people are connecting itand it's got all these five star Amazon reviews
is pretty excellent.
It makes me
happy.
Awesome.
So you really should have that on my podcastcalled Reading Between the Words, where we
(15:26):
really delve into the book and your journey andand about this.
So let's talk about you as an entrepreneur.
So you started juggling.
It wasn't what you had intended to do, but youenjoyed it.
You started making life out of it.
So life was just happy go lucky, and you neverhad any problems.
Right?
Well, I mean, if you think about it, when Ilearned how to juggle, I was 12.
(15:48):
So, you know, not many problems at that point.
Right?
There there weren't many bills that I wasconcerned with, or I wasn't, you know,
concerned about job applications quite yet.
So, yeah, I did my first professional shows at13.
I was doing strolling at corporate events andinteracting with some really high end corporate
folks at 15.
And when I say high end, I mean, you know,there's a story in my book about meeting Victor
(16:10):
Cayam, who was the president of Remington,later owned the New England Patriots.
Was 15 and interacted with him.
Yeah.
It's it's quite an
excellent It
was fun.
So, you know, I had a very early education inin interacting with all different types of
people, which has been so valuable.
And and ultimately, I, you know, I can sit hereand talk about my career career and talk about
(16:30):
the book and what have you.
But really, it all came down to connecting withpeople.
It all came down to listening to people andhaving conversations like this one on the front
porch, as it were.
And when you connect with people in that way,amazing opportunities develop.
I mean, and I don't just mean businessopportunities.
Amazing opportunities for connection andpersonal growth also develop.
So, yeah, love having conversations with peopleand just seeing where they lead.
(16:53):
That's really great.
You know, we moved around a lot growing up, soI didn't grow up in one town.
I didn't grow up with one set of ideals becausewe were around people all the time.
We got to know different people.
And then as we were older, we realized peoplethat stayed in town their whole life had this
one idea of what everything else was like.
(17:15):
They really didn't understand how differentpeople are, how things go.
So that's a really valuable lesson right thereis is go out and talk to people.
Find out who they are.
Find out what makes them tick.
You know?
Why do they pursue the passions that theypursue?
And and if they're not happy where they're at,why aren't they happy?
(17:38):
And ask about the challenges they've had.
Because if we only ask about the super reallynice things, we really are only getting a
little bit of the story.
You need the big story.
So that's why I asked, you know, your life isgoing happy go lucky.
You never had any problems, but I heard you saythat you had job applications.
(17:58):
So you went from juggling being your own bossto working for somebody else.
Well, what's funny is that even as I said jobapplications, I thought to myself, I've never
filled out one.
Oh.
Because I never did.
Yeah.
I never did.
I was I've been an entrepreneur my entire lifesince the age of 13.
Wow.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's funny what pops into our mind sometimes,isn't it?
(18:20):
Well, at at 13, you know, what, again, we'rewe're talking about relating to others and
connecting.
And, you know, as as a speaker and performer,I'm always trying to do that.
So, you know, if I said, yeah, you know, mylife was happy go lucky, I didn't have bills
yet, and I wanted another example, I could havesaid, I, you know, didn't need to buy a car
yet.
That would work for as a joke for a thirteenyear old.
But a job application seemed to be apropos fora podcast about, entrepreneurialism and working
(18:45):
with employers out there.
But, no, I've never, I've never done that.
That's interesting.
Why have I filled out a lot of them?
I had had no idea about entrepreneurs.
You know?
I knew that people own their own businesses,but I didn't know who they were.
I didn't you know?
And I met a few of them, but but I was stillcoming out of the era where where kids are
(19:10):
silent.
They don't talk.
That was all changing probably about the time Iwas in high school.
It might have been a little before, but in myworld, it was when I was in high school.
And and people want want to call you by thefirst name.
You don't call them mister.
I mean, when I grew up, everybody said eithermister or missus.
It was a sign of I don't wanna say the wordhonor.
(19:36):
Respecting free.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Respecting your elders.
And and it was actually difficult for me not tocall somebody mister or missus or miss because
I felt like I was being rude and doing them adisservice, but didn't take long.
You know?
Everybody else was, so I finally did too.
(19:56):
But, yeah, whole whole world changed when I wasgrowing up.
So many differences we can do to just do Icould do a couple hour podcast on all the
changes that happened in the last sixty someyears.
For sure.
But oh, well.
But that's really great.
You've been an entrepreneur all your life.
(20:19):
So do people this is curiosity to me.
Do people talk to you different, do you think,than because do they understand what an
entrepreneur is?
Do they just say, oh, you have your ownbusiness.
You've got people working for you.
I mean, I I was it's just, you know, I knowpeople did things on their own, but I didn't
(20:46):
realize, what it really involved, I guess,until I started doing it myself.
And there's a whole shift in mindset.
You know, I I said in one of my other podcasts,I was walking on on the steps to my front
porch, and I stopped.
And I said I said it out loud.
I don't even know why.
(21:07):
But I said, I have to quit thinking like aconsumer and start thinking like a business
person.
And I I don't even know why I thought that, youknow, because I was out doing something else,
and it just popped to my mind.
You know?
You wanna you wanna figure something out, go dosomething completely different from what you're
doing for a few minutes.
And is that what is that what it meant to you?
(21:27):
Meaning when you said I wanna I wanna stopthinking that way and start thinking this way?
What what exactly did that ultimately mean asas it turned out?
It it means there's a whole different way ofthinking when you run a business.
You can't think of it like this cost this muchmoney, and and that's it.
You know?
You have to think about all the strategies, themarketing.
(21:51):
How do people think?
How does the consumer think?
If if you know, for writing books, how to helppeople write their books, what are they really
looking for?
Why haven't they written their book yet?
You know, I have a a this Friday, I've got aworkshop going on.
It's a real condensed version from my my normalthree month workshop.
And and in ninety minutes, we're gonna get abook written.
(22:14):
But what do those people really want?
Why haven't they written their book yet?
Or if they have written it, why is it justsitting in the shelf, in the drawer, on the
computer, on a flash drive, a thumb drive?
Why hasn't it gotten published?
And to start thinking of the ways that,somebody says they don't was it maybe it was
(22:36):
you that just said it.
I've I've had several conversations today thattalked about I don't call them clients or
customers.
I just call them people I work with becausethat's really what they are.
They're they're more than just someone whocomes in retail sales, somewhere someone comes
in, buys something, and then leaves because youreally build a relationship with them.
(23:00):
So, yeah, there's a a whole different way of ofthinking.
I've found it talking with millionaires.
They have a whole different way of thinkingthan you do when you're just starting out.
You have a different way of thinking whenyou're a thousand heirs.
You know?
It's it's just this and it's not that it's it'sa bad thinking or the right thinking or the
(23:23):
wrong thinking.
It's just a different level, a
different approach.
Yes.
And and it's just been really eye opening forme.
Mind opening for me maybe is the way to put it.
Mhmm.
That's great.
That's wonderful.
I love the different perspective shifts.
It's fantastic.
That's very cool that you had that sort ofepiphany.
And you said you had that epiphany on yourfront porch?
(23:45):
I did before I even knew I was gonna do this.
I'm walking on there.
I'm I am right there Got the handle, and I andI just blurted out.
Like, it had to get out of my out of my mouthso I could make it real or something.
I don't know.
Maybe I need to do that more often with otherthings.
Keep walking up and down the steps of the frontporch.
(24:07):
You're gonna have all these epiphanies, andyou'll have all
the That's right.
Yeah.
And there is.
I I fully admit there is something aboutgetting outside and walking around.
This thought just came into my head.
My grandfather now my grandma and grandpa hadlittle two acre place in Idaho, and and the
(24:30):
house was here.
The driveway, you know, was was kind of in themiddle.
Driveway was on one side, and he would bewalking along the driveway.
And his arms sometimes would go up, and he'djust be muttering to himself.
And my grandma, who usually outside, we were, Idon't know, peeling potatoes or hanging up
close or something.
And she'd go, what's that, paw?
(24:51):
Because they called each other paw and paw.
And and he just kinda looked, and then he'dkeep talking.
She'd snicker.
She goes and I said, thought it was funny.
And I said, what is he doing, grandma?
She goes, well, he's just sorting things out.
He's talking to himself.
She said sometimes he's talking to God, buthe's just figuring things out.
(25:16):
And and whatever is on his mind, he's takingthat walk, and and he's talking out loud.
And and I thought, oh, that's kind of a coolthing to do.
Yeah.
I do it now.
Absolutely.
But but she thought it was kind of funnybecause she knows sometimes that's all he's
doing.
She my grandma was very funny and competitive.
(25:40):
Oh my goodness.
You played games with her.
She played to win, so look out.
Yeah.
Look out.
Look out, grandma.
Yep.
She was great.
But, yeah, get outside, walk around, talk itout loud.
I've I've been hearing lately, I do a mindsetevery morning with a few people.
(26:02):
And some of the speakers on there, I neverheard before.
I never heard about Jim Rohn.
I never heard about T.
Harb Eker.
Now I have his book, and and I went to his,mindset on on the weekend just through Zoom
because it was in Germany, and I didn't reallywanna go there this winter.
But but, yeah, talking things out loud and notjust whispering them, talking them out like
(26:28):
we're talking.
And when you're doing this this where you're Idon't know if it's affirmations or something,
but you say it really out loud so that youemphasize it at the end.
And it's like, okay.
I'll give it a try.
But but it's amazing how when you were sayingit out loud, all of a sudden things starts
(26:50):
changing.
And and I think that's really great.
Now what are some of the things you do?
Do you have a morning routine?
You know, on my best days, do.
And for example, this morning, I didn't, butusually I like to I really like in the morning
starting out with a bit of meditation.
And it doesn't have to be formal.
It doesn't have to be in any traditionalapproach, but just sitting quietly and
reflecting or just sitting, you know, justsitting calmly in a space that's, you know,
(27:14):
that's set aside for that so I can kinda clearmy mind from yesterday and just prepare for
today.
Didn't have a chance this morning or ratherdidn't make a chance this morning.
There you go.
I also like doing, some yoga in the morning toojust because yoga is a is a really great way to
stretch and get grounded.
It's really, really good.
So I I like both of those things.
(27:34):
And also the gym, which is where I'll beheading after our podcast today.
I'm actually going to the gym and ride aPeloton bike for half an hour or an hour, which
is kind of, something I do to get the bloodflowing and get moving in in the day.
And that's always a good thing to do to startis just do something physical in the morning so
that we don't have to make excuses why wedidn't do it later in the afternoon.
There you go.
(27:54):
There you go.
Yeah.
This morning, it was kinda tough to get goingand and then had some Internet issues.
So, I was at meetings, but I had to be offcamera.
I don't know what it was.
My phone has been doing weird things.
Yesterday, someone sent me a text at 04:00.
I didn't get it till after 06:30.
And
then then I see someone else sent me a a textat 07:00 last night.
(28:20):
I did not get it until this morning.
Really?
And it's like, okay.
I don't know what's going on.
Either I need to reset my phone or Yeah.
Something's happening up by the satellites.
I don't know.
Because we live out in Boonee, so, you know,things just weird things happen.
But, yeah, it's just that was kind of unusual.
(28:40):
I've never had anything like that happenbefore.
So I'll have my IT guy look at it when he getshome today.
Good.
Yeah.
The IT guy.
Have your IT guy look at it.
Yeah.
It's like it's like he walks in the door.
It's like, help.
He goes, what now?
But, yeah, at least I'm learning some things Ican do now.
(29:02):
Good.
I'm glad.
That's important to be self reliant when itcomes to technology.
I mean, I think that we all struggle with someelement of it sometimes.
I know that there's Oh, yeah.
There's definitely been times where I've, youknow, have everything set up perfectly.
The studio's running great.
Everything's fantastic.
And then all of a sudden, for some reason, youknow, a computer issue, whatever it might be.
But, you know, typically, restarting a videoswitcher, restarting a computer, restarting
(29:26):
Yes.
Usually helps.
So that's a good frontline to to tech issues.
Restart and see what happens next.
Yep.
Yeah.
We we used to have the running joke.
Is it plugged in?
Okay.
Did you turn it on?
A %.
It's like yeah.
A %?
Oh, yeah.
Viewers can't see right off screen.
Right about there is a shotgun microphonepointing right at my face.
(29:49):
There have definitely been times where I'vecome into the studio and I'm standing here and
everything looks great.
The lighting's perfect.
You know, video switcher on, camera's on, this,that, check this, check that, start recording
something and realize that I did not flick theswitch on that, shotgun mic.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It happens.
You know?
Make sure everything's on.
And then if everything's on, doesn't work, turnit off, turn it on again, restart it.
(30:12):
So There
you go.
Yeah.
When when I, before I went on to the platform Ihad before this, I had a a very special guest
come on to my show to talk, and and I can'thear him.
Can't hear him for nothing.
And it was different, computer than I have now.
Yeah.
(30:33):
And I didn't have the volume on.
Somehow I had hit mute.
And so after that, I put a little sticky notethere.
That's it.
Turn the volume on.
Have a I have a note somewhere around here thatsays the same thing.
It says mic on, mic off after the debacle withthe mic.
Yeah.
Case in point, I can't find the note now, so Ihope I don't
Yeah.
(30:53):
People are fun, aren't they?
Yep.
We are.
And you gotta laugh.
That's the other thing.
You know, you have to laugh at yourself.
You have to laugh when things aren't goingright.
I mean, sometimes they just get so frustrating.
He just stop and go, okay.
That's it.
Reset me and keep going on.
(31:16):
There's a chapter in the book about Oh, good.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
There's a chapter in the book about laughter.
So yeah.
And how important it
Yeah.
So so tell me, if I was to come to you
Mhmm.
And and seeking your help, who would I be andwhat help would I be looking for?
That's great.
I typically have people come to me who areindividuals who typically individuals who need
(31:39):
help with speaking and focus because they havean important presentation to give, life and
death, mission critical, know, do or die typeof thing.
I'm a speaking coach for TEDx Perth Australia.
Individuals will come to me for speakingcoaching.
Organizations will come to me for help withwith focus and intention.
So organizations will come saying, you know, weneed our people to be dialed in.
(32:00):
We need our people to be motivated and excited,but specifically about what we do and why we do
it.
So those are the circumstances people come tome and the problem solving that I do.
But with individuals, when they come to me andI'm doing speaking coaching, it's usually folks
who have really important speeches to give, Ihelp them dial in what's important, how to use
as few words with the highest impact possible,how to calm one's nerves, how to get over that
(32:24):
fear of public speaking, but more importantly,how to drive forward an idea so that it comes
across to an audience in a clear way.
And organizationally, when organizations cometo me, I make sure that the keynotes that I do
are fun and engaging and focused andcustomized, so that when people leave, they
know what they need to do and why in order tohave their focus and increase their intensity,
(32:44):
for lack of a better word, around what is mostimportant to them.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
There's and, you know, it's interesting becauseyou you might have you know, every once in
while, I get someone who's who's a a TEDxcoach, and they'll they'll contact me.
And, you know, there's so many out there, buteverybody has a different way of looking at it.
(33:08):
They have different ways of doing things.
You bring on a different way of approaching it,and you approach, you know, companies.
It's not just, oh, I only do TEDx talks.
You know?
Type thing toward maybe that's all they do isTEDx, and and good for them.
You know?
Everybody has a different way of doing it,which brings me to say that it doesn't matter
(33:30):
if you're doing something and now you didn'tknow anybody else was doing it, and now you
find 50 other people that are doing it.
Everybody's doing it differently.
And out of almost 9,000,000 people in theworld, there's enough to go around.
It's just Even even billion people in theworld.
Yeah.
I think you said million people.
Did I no.
Sorry.
I meant billion.
Yes.
Thank you.
(33:51):
Thank you for correcting me.
Unless something terrible goes through
overnight.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, it's just incredible.
Yep.
Excuse me.
But Yeah.
Wow.
That's that's that's a tough thing.
I mean, sometimes we we get out of focus.
(34:11):
I kinda touched on that earlier.
Sometimes we get out of focus.
We keep keep going and going, and maybe we needto just adjust things a little bit because
we've hit this target forward so many times,and we wanna keep going there.
But in order to get to that next level, we haveto adjust that perspective, get that focus a
(34:33):
little different from where it was.
I agree.
I absolutely agree.
It's essential, and and your operative wordthere is a little bit.
Sometimes a shift of focus doesn't have to be aa dramatic shift, a dramatic change, a dramatic
altering.
It could be something that's just a a slightshift a little bit.
Nice.
And all of sudden, it has a dramatic effect.
Yes.
(34:54):
Yeah.
It was like talking I was talking about words.
I don't know.
I might have dreamed it too.
Tell you, I I work in my sleep.
It's just crazy.
But but sometimes just hearing a word I knowwho it was.
(35:16):
I think it was Alethia this morning on theConnected Leaders Academy call.
Yes.
Was talking about this summit or somethingshe's doing about words and how one word can
change your whole direction.
Absolutely.
And that and I never thought about that.
(35:36):
I was just, yeah, that was pretty incredible tothink about that.
And how one word will mean have differentemotions or feelings or meanings to somebody
else, completely different from another person.
I think we noticed this in our relationshipsand our marriages where we say something that's
(35:57):
no big deal to us, but for some reason, it'striggered to somebody else.
And it's like, I had no idea.
That isn't how I intended it at all.
So, you know, we need to check ourselves.
Something triggers us to find out.
Is it because of them, the way they said it,what they said, or is it something that really
just specifically has to do with me?
That's right.
(36:18):
So, yeah, that's that's interesting that thatit's just that little thing can do something
like that.
A word, a shift.
You know, like I said, in the morning, having aroutine that's, you know, yoga to stretch you
out a little bit makes you approach your daydifferently, and then everything changes from
there.
So, absolutely, all these things can help.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Definitely.
(36:38):
Wow.
So do you have any events?
I mean, do you do yearly events or or workshopsor things yourself?
Yeah.
Well, you know, I've I've thought of recentlythat in starting in the late spring twenty
twenty five that I would start doing Build ABetter Now themed online virtual events in a
regular series of the chapters of the book.
But typically, I'm at the events of otherpeople rather than doing my own, which is just
(37:00):
a choice that I made.
That doing my own events is just something thatI haven't done around the book yet, but I'm
excited to do it.
And it's just a function of my travel scheduleis pretty full.
So I want to be able to be here and be focusedon the people who would sign up for such a
thing rather than just say, yeah, I'm gonna fityou in wherever I can.
It's not my style.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I I plan to do my own events at some point.
(37:21):
That'd be really great.
Even if they're virtual and even if they'rejust a small group of people like a cohort, I
think that'd be a really fun approach.
So I hear you talk refer back to your bookquite often.
Mhmm.
So I have to ask you, has writing a book reallychanged how you do business or how you look at
(37:42):
things?
Oh, writing a book absolutely has changed how Ido business and how I look at things.
Yeah?
I mean,
the book.
Absolutely.
Having the book in in tangible form is isincredible.
I mean, it's not only a testament to a lifelived enough that I could fill the pages of a
book with content that's valuable, but it alsois it's a confidence boost for sure.
(38:02):
And also it serves as an incredible businesscard to be able to say, Hey, read my book and
let's talk about it.
So all these are really important ideas andmeaning all the ideas in the book are important
ideas, but the things we're talking about areimportant too.
That having the book definitely changes thegame.
I mean, I could reach out to people now andsay, hey, read my book and let's talk.
And it's just a different approach than I'vegot some ideas that no one's ever believed in
(38:25):
and I can't prove that they're valuable.
I mean, I can prove these are valuable.
Somebody decided to put them in a hardcoverbook that's available all over the world.
That's pretty cool.
That's awesome.
Be fun.
I like that.
Yeah.
You know, some, one thing I've heard for for acouple of years is your book is your business
card now because it not only introduces you,but it introduces people to your mind, to how
(38:52):
you think, to how you do things.
And they get a a deeper sense of, is thisperson gonna be right for me?
And it's like, I like what they're saying here,and I like this.
Maybe we can talk about this.
And, hey.
This is really gonna fit with our company.
So it's it's, it's more than just a biographymore than a business card.
(39:15):
It brings a whole different realm to the personYeah.
It really does.
It really does.
It's it's it's excellent to have a book.
It's quite excellent, and especially to haveone, you know, that's on Wiley and and able for
distribution everywhere.
It's really wonderful.
I had a friend in Reykjavik, Iceland who wentinto a bookstore and asked about my book and
(39:36):
was able to get the book in Reykjavik, Iceland.
It's quite incredible.
That's crazy.
That would be so much fun.
I would love to go to another country and pickup one of my friend's books and say That's it.
Oh, look here.
Yep.
Here it is.
I'm gonna do that.
That would be fun to see my books there.
(39:57):
But, you know, get my ego here a little bit.
There you go.
I like that.
Yeah.
It's it's yeah.
It's just incredible.
So how can people find you?
You've probably said, but let's say it again.
Oh, absolutely.
Just my name, greg bennick dot com, g r e g b en n I c k dot com.
There's, you know, video there, and there's,you know, videos about, you know, ideas in the
(40:20):
book and things about the book.
And and not only just the book, but you can gothere and get in touch.
And then, of course, you know, everything elseyou'd expect.
LinkedIn, Instagram, what have you, all underGreg Bennick, g r e g b e n n I c k.
That's awesome.
I do have another question.
You know, sometimes entrepreneur entrepreneursdo not have big, huge business.
Maybe they don't even have any employees yet.
(40:42):
Maybe they've just finally gotten a couple ofVAs or something, but they still have to know
how to communicate together.
So so are you the person called to communicatewith the other employees?
Are you there just to, get us focused on wherewe need to go to help us learn where we need to
(41:03):
go?
Meaning, is it my role to help peoplecommunicate with their employees better?
Yeah.
Is that something that you do?
Absolutely.
That's totally part of it.
I mean, comes up in the book, certainly.
Communication, teamwork, connection, andleadership, under the idea of being more
accessible to people and more open with peopleand more willing to connect with people and
willing to reverberate with people.
(41:24):
I think that all of those ideas are essentialand they're all in the book as well.
But I think that, yeah, when people come to meand ask me about communication and whatnot,
that definitely is part of what I've offered tofolks in the past, whether it's keynotes or
workshops or trainings, that sort of thing.
Corporations, associations, small companies,businesses, what have you.
Absolutely.
People come to me with that from time to time.
It's a mix, right?
(41:45):
Sometimes it's teamwork, leadership, and thetraditional ideas, but then other times ideas
like the reverberation effect from my book orthings that people have had me speak about.
So I'd say, yeah, absolutely.
Communication and connection comes up all thetime.
It's all throughout the book, certainly, in thestories that I tell and the ideas that I offer.
Yeah.
So some people think, okay.
And and I've heard people say this, I'll justget the book, then I don't have to, you know,
(42:09):
do anything else.
But you know, which is is kind of interesting.
Mhmm.
It
is.
So I get the book.
I read it.
I implement it.
And where do you come into the picture?
Is it after I've read the book?
Is it before I finished reading the book?
(42:29):
What where do you fit in with this?
Yeah.
Tell I tell people in the book not to give awaythe end, but I tell people in the book, get in
touch with me with what you do with the spacethat you create now that you've read the book.
Right?
The book is about creating space forpossibilities.
So what are the possibilities you've steppedinto as a result of reading the Let me know.
And people get in touch with me all the timeand say, I read the book, now I'm thinking
this.
I read this chapter, now I'm feeling this.
(42:50):
I read this book, now I'm experiencing this.
So I think it's a gateway.
People get in touch with me all throughout.
And then, of course, you know, businesses willcontact me and say, hey.
We'd love to have you come speak about theseideas or do a training about these ideas.
Yeah.
And go to greg bennock dot com.
They find out more about me, and then we workout a a, you know, a deal in a situation that
allows me to interact with their folks.
(43:11):
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It's it is because I know there's times thatI've read a book.
It's like, well, I'd really like to get aholdof this person.
Sometimes it's really hard to find them, but,you know, you've got everything right there.
And, of course, now the world's a littledifferent than it was before COVID and stuff.
So everything's changed.
(43:32):
Not that it's a bad change, but it is has justchanged.
You know?
Life changes.
Think of life like a river.
The river goes through all these differentthings.
It's always flowing, but sometimes it's onshallow.
Sometimes it's waterfalls.
Sometimes it's it's rapids.
You know?
It's just things are changing all the time.
Sometimes it picks up a lot of silt.
(43:52):
Sometimes it dumps it out.
So That's right.
Yeah.
Right.
That's right.
So get ahold of Greg.
Find out about these these moments that youhave.
Find out what's going on.
If you want to get your own book written, youcan get ahold of me, and we'll talk about that
too.
It's tiny.
Yeah.
Wonderful.
Somebody said to me the other day, this is thefifth year I've gone by, and I still haven't
(44:16):
written my book.
And I really want to get it done.
Get your book written.
Get ahold of me.
That's that's what I'm here for is to help youand guide you and find out why you haven't done
it yet.
What is holding you back?
Let's get into the real root of it and get thatdone.
There is nothing like the feeling of havingyour words printed and out there for everybody
(44:40):
to see.
And and even if you don't want it foreverybody, some people are just happy to sell
10 books.
You know?
Absolutely.
They are.
Absolutely.
I agree.
I agree.
Yep.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you, Greg, so much for being here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you, our audience, for being here.
Sure to go to Wisdom on the Front Porch whereyou can subscribe to the magazine and find out,
(45:01):
where more podcasts are and if we're on yourfavorite podcast platform.
And if we're not, then send us a message.
You can also send in comments for what you likeor didn't like, for what you'd like to see in
future episodes.
But get ahold of us.
This is all about conversation, and that's whatwe like.
So, Greg, thank you again for being here.
(45:23):
You so much.
I appreciate you.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah.
Definitely.
And we'll see you all next time or hear us nexttime on wisdom on the front porch.
Thank you for joining us today on wisdom on thefront porch with your host, Ellis Kirkpatrick.
You can find us on our website,wisdomonthefrontporch.com, see previous
episodes of the podcast, and view issues of themagazine.
(45:45):
Did you know you can submit questions, leavereviews, or suggest topics?
You can also tell us where your favorite frontporch location is and what it means to you.
We hope you gain value and insight from today'sor previous talks.
We appreciate your support for us so we cancontinue to provide value and expertise to you
and others.
Subscribe to Wisdom on the Front Porch magazineand join in next week when we bring you another
(46:09):
great insight into the world of entrepreneurculture and lifestyle.
Make today a great day.
Always believe that something wonderful isgoing to happen.
Welcome to I'll start.
Welcome to another episode of Wisdom on theFront Porch.
And on my front porch with Zoom today, we haveGreg.
Greg, how are you?
I'm really, really good.
I'm excited.
I love your intro, and I'm really glad to behere today.
Thanks so much for
having Love the little book you have hangingthere.
(00:25):
It's reclaim the moment.
I'm gonna have to talk to you about how to dothat.
I like that.
Yeah.
It's pretty fun.
You know, I love having it on screen just as areminder for people that whether they're an
entrepreneur, non entrepreneur human being, orwhoever they might be, that, that there's ideas
in that book that might benefit them.
So it's just fun to have it on screen.
Awesome.
Awesome.
(00:45):
Yeah.
I've got my my giving books over here.
Still working on getting number four in apaperback.
It's out there on Kindle, of course, on KP.
And but because this one had had I actually had57 authors.
It says 56, but, well, you know, I don't knowhow to count yet.
And so so there were a lot.
(01:07):
It was a lot in this more than before.
So Amazon wanted me to do things a differentway.
So I've kind of been working with them.
You know?
Once you've got it down just right, everythingchanges.
That's right.
That's right.
But that's okay.
I'm wearing my jacket today.
My husband put their conditioner on becausewe've actually had 84 degree weather here in
My gosh.
Central Texas.
(01:28):
Can you believe it?
And so it was just a little cold today, and andit's like, yeah.
I'm just gonna leave it like it is and just puta jacket on.
Cold.
A little cold as I look out the window of thestudio and see the remnants of snow and last
night's ice.
Yeah.
So, sure, a little cold.
Inside
here.
Air conditioning cold.
No.
(01:48):
I used to live where it was really cold, andwe're talking minus 45 is the normal
temperature.
It's like, nope.
I like this warm weather.
Very nice.
I don't mind snow.
You know?
I like playing in the snow.
I like skiing, things like that, but I likebeing warm.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
(02:09):
But okay.
Enough about chitchat.
But, you know, that's on the front porch.
You talk with each other.
You enjoy each other's company.
I love that.
And I love the format too.
And hearing that it's too cold in the studio orhearing that you're in Texas and it's 84
degrees, it's literally like being on the frontporch.
And really, really charming, and I like it alot.
(02:29):
As a format and as a conversation, I think it'sgreat.
I think it's great.
That's awesome.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Of course.
That's what makes it work.
So for our audience today, whenever they'rewatching this, wherever they are, they're
snuggled up at home or sitting out on theirfront porch.
Let's talk about you and what you do.
(02:50):
Tell us a little bit about your backstory.
Sure.
Well, I I'm a a keynote speaker and an author.
I speak about creating space for possibilityand focus.
And I started out actually in Connecticut whereI grew up, which is also not very warm.
I grew up, in Connecticut, and I started out asa juggler, interestingly enough.
(03:12):
I learned how to juggle entirely by accident,by being placed in the wrong after school mini
course.
I was placed in a juggling mini course, andwhat I really wanted was a coin collecting mini
course.
Coin collecting has been a a fascinationthroughout my life.
And even as an adult, I write for four coinmagazines and sit on the board of four coin or
two coin organizations.
(03:34):
There you go.
Everyone's got their jar, and that's a perfectfront porch conversation, right?
Yeah.
Wanted a coin collecting mini course, but I wasput in a juggling mini course and started
juggling and connecting with people andperforming and making people laugh and that
sort of thing.
And it was an unusual thing to have as a 13year old, was this hobby that I quickly learned
(03:54):
I could actually make money from, meaningperform and make money from.
I was doing yeah, 13 years old.
Yeah, exactly.
And then throughout the course of my life,added in speaking about various ideas, and then
of course writing came later.
But I started out as this young entrepreneur at13 years old with my own juggling business of
(04:16):
all things, and then turned that into a alifelong, certainly, hobby, but also love at
the same time and avocation, vocation, all inone.
That is awesome.
That's pretty
Going going back to the coins, you know, I heldup my coin jar for you for you to see.
It's just a small one.
But, my my dad got us kids interested in coincollecting.
(04:38):
And, usually, Sunday afternoon, he'd empty hispockets.
We'd get the little coin booklets out, and we'dgo through it and and see what fit in there and
what didn't.
And so for my grandkids, I do that for them.
In fact, don't let them know.
So quiet, moms and dads, if
you're listening.
(04:58):
Grandkids, you're watching, shut it off now.
Yeah.
So this year, I thought about it last year, butnow this year, I'm going to give them each
their their you know, they've all chosennumbers.
I numbered everything.
Everybody picked a number.
And so they'll get their coin collections, andthen they can expand on it if they want to.
But it was something fun that we did.
(05:20):
You know, I started doing it with my grandkidsbefore we moved away.
And and so I've kinda carried it on, only Ihaven't let them know that I've done that.
But I've done some fun things with it.
I've actually found some really exciting thingslike like steel pennies.
Okay.
This is amazing.
Yeah.
You know?
So so it's just interesting how one thing willlead to another.
(05:43):
And here you wanted this love of of coins,which you do now.
Right?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Love them still.
Engage them all
the time.
But you got into something else.
You got into juggling.
I cannot juggle to save my life.
If my life depended on it, I would die.
I I do too.
That's it.
Nothing more.
So that's really a skill.
(06:06):
I'm I'm just
And and for listeners listening who don't knowwhat a steel penny is, I'll give a little
background.
In 1942, the United States government realizedthat they needed the metals that were being
used to make pennies for shell casings and andother wartime activities.
So they decided to start looking for anothersubstance that they could use to make pennies
(06:28):
out of so they could use the copper and andwhatnot for shell casings.
I think copper, manganese, whatever it mighthave been.
It was mostly copper, of course, that theyneeded.
The point is that they decided on steel.
So in 1943, in 1943 only, they made sense outof steel.
And, yeah, these are not expensive items, butthey're very cool and very different.
(06:48):
And when you find one, you think, oh, wow.
Wait.
What's that?
It looks fake.
It's very different.
Unusual.
Yeah.
And and and certainly for young collectors, youknow, they're they're fascinated by them, of
course, because they're just so different.
There's some history behind them, and that'swhat makes coins interesting is the stories.
So
yeah.
Oh, Coins were always
interesting to me because of the stories andjuggling was interesting to me just because it
(07:08):
was something unusual that, you know, was wasout of the norm as well, much like those steel
pennies.
So I like that as a theme.
Yeah.
Well, and then you put stories to your jugglingtoo, right?
Is that what I heard?
Yeah.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
Stories in terms of maybe a story that I wastelling, but also stories meaning the wording
(07:29):
that I was using in whatever I was saying thatmade it relevant.
Meaning if I was juggling for a podcaster,would make the juggling pattern be about
communication and connection, sitting on thefront porch, whatever it might be, and that
might be different than the next client.
I've carried that through today.
So I think it's fun approach to take.
That's awesome.
So you wrote your book, Reclaim the Moment.
(07:51):
Why did you write the book?
Why did you feel, oh, I'm going to write a bookjust because everybody else does?
Or why did you write a book?
The circumstances around me writing my bookwere entirely unusual.
I met somebody six years before I got my bookcontract who had said to me in casual
conversation, having just met her, oh, wow.
(08:13):
You're interested in writing a book.
That's interesting.
I used to be in book publishing.
If I ever get back into it, I'll let you know.
Okay.
Fast forward six years.
On my website was my catchphrase, build abetter now, and this person who I had met who
had said casually, if I ever get back into bookpublishing, I'll let you know, in the same way
someone would say, hey.
I'm gonna be in Texas next spring.
(08:35):
Let's have lunch.
And you go, okay.
And you don't really pay it much attention.
Well, this person did what she said she wasgoing to do.
She got back into book publishing.
She got a job at Wiley, a major publisher, andcontacted me and said, hey, I told you that I
would let you know if I got back into books,and here I am.
I saw your catchphrase Build a Better Now, andI was wondering if you'd want to submit a book
(08:57):
proposal about it.
So I did, having no intention to write a bookabout Build a Better Now.
And we batted back and forth a title over thenext couple months and reclaimed the moment,
seven strategies to build a better now was thetitle that we chose.
But yeah, I got signed to Wiley because I metthe right person at the right time and had the
right catchphrase and the right concept.
(09:17):
So it wasn't like I set out to write a book andI'm going get this thing published.
It was more like, yeah, I'm just living mylife, talking to people and connecting with
what I do, and it led to something amazing.
It does.
You know, I am so surprised.
And just, you know, even the short amount oftime I've been in this world of
entrepreneurship and and writing and publishingand all of this podcasting, all the things I
(09:40):
do, so many things.
It's it's just surprising that people I met atthe very beginning, I had no idea who they
were.
Now I've met them later, and we've talkinglater, and we're doing things together.
And it's like, this is really cool because younever know who you've talked to that's gonna
remember you.
Absolutely.
(10:00):
And who you're gonna make an impression upon.
I mean, there had to be some impression for herto remember.
You know?
So that's really cool.
Yeah.
And
and to your point, I mean, you know, just beingyourself in the world is really important.
It sounds so trivial and easy, but it's true.
Meaning I'll remember this podcast because ofbeing on the front porch and talking on the
(10:21):
front porch as a theme.
No one else has that theme.
Right?
And how many coin collecting, keynote speakingauthor jugglers are you gonna meet in the next
week?
Right?
You'll remember me.
That's right.
That's how it goes, you know, through beingourselves.
We we automatically make an impression onpeople's minds.
Oh, definitely.
Definitely.
So I love your background.
(10:43):
Is it is it part of your background, or is it,image?
Meaning meaning this?
No.
It's a Yeah.
Oh, nice.
I don't know why.
I mean, brick brick backgrounds are good.
They're multicolors.
It's a it's a, yeah.
It's a brick background.
Yeah.
It's a brick background and a, and a curtain onthis side and, lighting and cameras and the
(11:07):
whole deal here in
this studio.
The lighting's good.
I'm still getting mine figured out, but Ireally need to go get ahold of Janate again.
He was so good at getting everything set up.
In fact, he helped me get it a lot brighterlike it is now.
Nice.
But, this is is your time to talk.
Talk about so many things.
Yeah.
(11:28):
So build a better now.
How do you build a better now?
I mean, we all talk about getting better, but Ilike building it now and making it better now.
Yeah.
The idea behind the book is that we can createspace for possibility and we can dial in our
focus.
Basically, it's not just a book abouteliminating distractions, although it is part
(11:50):
of it.
But I talk about seven strategies and ways tobring us back to center when we've been thrown
off track by the world.
It's easy to be thrown off track by the world.
Oh, By the media, social media, what have you.
If we do things like keeping our eyes on what'smost important to us, if we do things like
establishing relationships or delving into selfconfidence, and I'm saying those things very
(12:12):
simplistically.
In the book, I go into them in far more detailand in a creative way.
Oh, nice.
If we do those things, then we create spaceamidst the chaos for possibility.
So things like, for example, there's a chaptercalled leap into the dark to embrace the
possibility of success.
And the chapter ultimately is about how wesometimes fear success.
Like, what what happens if this podcast goeswell?
(12:34):
Then what do I do?
It's much easier to think, oh, this isn't gonnago well and not try.
But if we delve into things and, you know, thenwe create, again, space for possibility to to
occur.
So the the whole book is about that, and webuild a better now through creating space in
the moment that carves through thedistractions.
So ultimately, these are strategies to help uscarve through those distractions.
(12:56):
Nice.
Yeah.
Because there get to be so many.
One thing I've been talking to a few peopleabout is as you're growing, there are these
opportunities that arise and theseopportunities.
And pretty soon, you've got so manyopportunities, and you kinda feel like I'm not
doing what I wanna do.
(13:17):
These are really great, but I need to get backto my basics.
And and I think as you go on and you get betterand you get more established in what you're
doing, you can do that.
You know, go back to basics because that's whatyou're always going to.
Now for some people, they only have one thingthey do all the time.
(13:39):
For people like me, you know, there's like, Igot 10 fingers.
I'm doing 10 different things just because, youknow, I'm waiting for this one thing to do, so
I'm gonna do something else.
I can't just sit still for very long.
But, but you do.
You have you have to come back.
And it's not always chasing that shiny object.
A lot of people talk about that, you know,following that carrot, going down the rabbit
(14:02):
hole.
But sometimes it's you're trying to buildyourself up.
You're trying this new idea, so you reallyinvest in that.
But sometimes you gotta go right back to, okay.
Where did I start with?
Have I gone too far in this?
It was a good detour, but now do I need to getback on my road?
So this is a really great book.
I'm kind of excited about it.
(14:24):
I'm so glad.
Yeah.
It's a fun read.
You know, I incorporated stories as we talkedearlier about story.
I incorporated stories all throughout.
So rather than coming across like, I'm theguru.
Here's the truth.
Follow my truth.
It's not that at all.
I even say in the book, I'm not a guru.
It's not it's not that kind of self help book,personal develop it's it's personal
(14:44):
development, sure, if you wanna classify it,but ultimately, the whole book is stories,
incredible stories of adventure that I've beenon throughout my life, but I tie those
adventure stories into the ideas.
So Again, it's not even like, I've been onthese amazing adventures and all you've been
doing is sitting on the couch.
It's not at all be like me.
It's like, hey, here's some adventure storiesthat are fun to facilitate some ideas that I
(15:06):
think we can both learn from.
I mean, I wrote the book as a reminder tomyself ultimately to focus on what's most
important and to create space for possibilityin my life.
So the fact that other people are connecting itand it's got all these five star Amazon reviews
is pretty excellent.
It makes me
happy.
Awesome.
So you really should have that on my podcastcalled Reading Between the Words, where we
(15:26):
really delve into the book and your journey andand about this.
So let's talk about you as an entrepreneur.
So you started juggling.
It wasn't what you had intended to do, but youenjoyed it.
You started making life out of it.
So life was just happy go lucky, and you neverhad any problems.
Right?
Well, I mean, if you think about it, when Ilearned how to juggle, I was 12.
(15:48):
So, you know, not many problems at that point.
Right?
There there weren't many bills that I wasconcerned with, or I wasn't, you know,
concerned about job applications quite yet.
So, yeah, I did my first professional shows at13.
I was doing strolling at corporate events andinteracting with some really high end corporate
folks at 15.
And when I say high end, I mean, you know,there's a story in my book about meeting Victor
(16:10):
Cayam, who was the president of Remington,later owned the New England Patriots.
Was 15 and interacted with him.
Yeah.
It's it's quite an
excellent It
was fun.
So, you know, I had a very early education inin interacting with all different types of
people, which has been so valuable.
And and ultimately, I, you know, I can sit hereand talk about my career career and talk about
(16:30):
the book and what have you.
But really, it all came down to connecting withpeople.
It all came down to listening to people andhaving conversations like this one on the front
porch, as it were.
And when you connect with people in that way,amazing opportunities develop.
I mean, and I don't just mean businessopportunities.
Amazing opportunities for connection andpersonal growth also develop.
So, yeah, love having conversations with peopleand just seeing where they lead.
(16:53):
That's really great.
You know, we moved around a lot growing up, soI didn't grow up in one town.
I didn't grow up with one set of ideals becausewe were around people all the time.
We got to know different people.
And then as we were older, we realized peoplethat stayed in town their whole life had this
one idea of what everything else was like.
(17:15):
They really didn't understand how differentpeople are, how things go.
So that's a really valuable lesson right thereis is go out and talk to people.
Find out who they are.
Find out what makes them tick.
You know?
Why do they pursue the passions that theypursue?
And and if they're not happy where they're at,why aren't they happy?
(17:38):
And ask about the challenges they've had.
Because if we only ask about the super reallynice things, we really are only getting a
little bit of the story.
You need the big story.
So that's why I asked, you know, your life isgoing happy go lucky.
You never had any problems, but I heard you saythat you had job applications.
(17:58):
So you went from juggling being your own bossto working for somebody else.
Well, what's funny is that even as I said jobapplications, I thought to myself, I've never
filled out one.
Oh.
Because I never did.
Yeah.
I never did.
I was I've been an entrepreneur my entire lifesince the age of 13.
Wow.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's funny what pops into our mind sometimes,isn't it?
(18:20):
Well, at at 13, you know, what, again, we'rewe're talking about relating to others and
connecting.
And, you know, as as a speaker and performer,I'm always trying to do that.
So, you know, if I said, yeah, you know, mylife was happy go lucky, I didn't have bills
yet, and I wanted another example, I could havesaid, I, you know, didn't need to buy a car
yet.
That would work for as a joke for a thirteenyear old.
But a job application seemed to be apropos fora podcast about, entrepreneurialism and working
(18:45):
with employers out there.
But, no, I've never, I've never done that.
That's interesting.
Why have I filled out a lot of them?
I had had no idea about entrepreneurs.
You know?
I knew that people own their own businesses,but I didn't know who they were.
I didn't you know?
And I met a few of them, but but I was stillcoming out of the era where where kids are
(19:10):
silent.
They don't talk.
That was all changing probably about the time Iwas in high school.
It might have been a little before, but in myworld, it was when I was in high school.
And and people want want to call you by thefirst name.
You don't call them mister.
I mean, when I grew up, everybody said eithermister or missus.
It was a sign of I don't wanna say the wordhonor.
(19:36):
Respecting free.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Respecting your elders.
And and it was actually difficult for me not tocall somebody mister or missus or miss because
I felt like I was being rude and doing them adisservice, but didn't take long.
You know?
Everybody else was, so I finally did too.
(19:56):
But, yeah, whole whole world changed when I wasgrowing up.
So many differences we can do to just do Icould do a couple hour podcast on all the
changes that happened in the last sixty someyears.
For sure.
But oh, well.
But that's really great.
You've been an entrepreneur all your life.
(20:19):
So do people this is curiosity to me.
Do people talk to you different, do you think,than because do they understand what an
entrepreneur is?
Do they just say, oh, you have your ownbusiness.
You've got people working for you.
I mean, I I was it's just, you know, I knowpeople did things on their own, but I didn't
(20:46):
realize, what it really involved, I guess,until I started doing it myself.
And there's a whole shift in mindset.
You know, I I said in one of my other podcasts,I was walking on on the steps to my front
porch, and I stopped.
And I said I said it out loud.
I don't even know why.
(21:07):
But I said, I have to quit thinking like aconsumer and start thinking like a business
person.
And I I don't even know why I thought that, youknow, because I was out doing something else,
and it just popped to my mind.
You know?
You wanna you wanna figure something out, go dosomething completely different from what you're
doing for a few minutes.
And is that what is that what it meant to you?
(21:27):
Meaning when you said I wanna I wanna stopthinking that way and start thinking this way?
What what exactly did that ultimately mean asas it turned out?
It it means there's a whole different way ofthinking when you run a business.
You can't think of it like this cost this muchmoney, and and that's it.
You know?
You have to think about all the strategies, themarketing.
(21:51):
How do people think?
How does the consumer think?
If if you know, for writing books, how to helppeople write their books, what are they really
looking for?
Why haven't they written their book yet?
You know, I have a a this Friday, I've got aworkshop going on.
It's a real condensed version from my my normalthree month workshop.
And and in ninety minutes, we're gonna get abook written.
(22:14):
But what do those people really want?
Why haven't they written their book yet?
Or if they have written it, why is it justsitting in the shelf, in the drawer, on the
computer, on a flash drive, a thumb drive?
Why hasn't it gotten published?
And to start thinking of the ways that,somebody says they don't was it maybe it was
(22:36):
you that just said it.
I've I've had several conversations today thattalked about I don't call them clients or
customers.
I just call them people I work with becausethat's really what they are.
They're they're more than just someone whocomes in retail sales, somewhere someone comes
in, buys something, and then leaves because youreally build a relationship with them.
(23:00):
So, yeah, there's a a whole different way of ofthinking.
I've found it talking with millionaires.
They have a whole different way of thinkingthan you do when you're just starting out.
You have a different way of thinking whenyou're a thousand heirs.
You know?
It's it's just this and it's not that it's it'sa bad thinking or the right thinking or the
(23:23):
wrong thinking.
It's just a different level, a
different approach.
Yes.
And and it's just been really eye opening forme.
Mind opening for me maybe is the way to put it.
Mhmm.
That's great.
That's wonderful.
I love the different perspective shifts.
It's fantastic.
That's very cool that you had that sort ofepiphany.
And you said you had that epiphany on yourfront porch?
(23:45):
I did before I even knew I was gonna do this.
I'm walking on there.
I'm I am right there Got the handle, and I andI just blurted out.
Like, it had to get out of my out of my mouthso I could make it real or something.
I don't know.
Maybe I need to do that more often with otherthings.
Keep walking up and down the steps of the frontporch.
(24:07):
You're gonna have all these epiphanies, andyou'll have all
the That's right.
Yeah.
And there is.
I I fully admit there is something aboutgetting outside and walking around.
This thought just came into my head.
My grandfather now my grandma and grandpa hadlittle two acre place in Idaho, and and the
(24:30):
house was here.
The driveway, you know, was was kind of in themiddle.
Driveway was on one side, and he would bewalking along the driveway.
And his arms sometimes would go up, and he'djust be muttering to himself.
And my grandma, who usually outside, we were, Idon't know, peeling potatoes or hanging up
close or something.
And she'd go, what's that, paw?
(24:51):
Because they called each other paw and paw.
And and he just kinda looked, and then he'dkeep talking.
She'd snicker.
She goes and I said, thought it was funny.
And I said, what is he doing, grandma?
She goes, well, he's just sorting things out.
He's talking to himself.
She said sometimes he's talking to God, buthe's just figuring things out.
(25:16):
And and whatever is on his mind, he's takingthat walk, and and he's talking out loud.
And and I thought, oh, that's kind of a coolthing to do.
Yeah.
I do it now.
Absolutely.
But but she thought it was kind of funnybecause she knows sometimes that's all he's
doing.
She my grandma was very funny and competitive.
(25:40):
Oh my goodness.
You played games with her.
She played to win, so look out.
Yeah.
Look out.
Look out, grandma.
Yep.
She was great.
But, yeah, get outside, walk around, talk itout loud.
I've I've been hearing lately, I do a mindsetevery morning with a few people.
(26:02):
And some of the speakers on there, I neverheard before.
I never heard about Jim Rohn.
I never heard about T.
Harb Eker.
Now I have his book, and and I went to his,mindset on on the weekend just through Zoom
because it was in Germany, and I didn't reallywanna go there this winter.
But but, yeah, talking things out loud and notjust whispering them, talking them out like
(26:28):
we're talking.
And when you're doing this this where you're Idon't know if it's affirmations or something,
but you say it really out loud so that youemphasize it at the end.
And it's like, okay.
I'll give it a try.
But but it's amazing how when you were sayingit out loud, all of a sudden things starts
(26:50):
changing.
And and I think that's really great.
Now what are some of the things you do?
Do you have a morning routine?
You know, on my best days, do.
And for example, this morning, I didn't, butusually I like to I really like in the morning
starting out with a bit of meditation.
And it doesn't have to be formal.
It doesn't have to be in any traditionalapproach, but just sitting quietly and
reflecting or just sitting, you know, justsitting calmly in a space that's, you know,
(27:14):
that's set aside for that so I can kinda clearmy mind from yesterday and just prepare for
today.
Didn't have a chance this morning or ratherdidn't make a chance this morning.
There you go.
I also like doing, some yoga in the morning toojust because yoga is a is a really great way to
stretch and get grounded.
It's really, really good.
So I I like both of those things.
(27:34):
And also the gym, which is where I'll beheading after our podcast today.
I'm actually going to the gym and ride aPeloton bike for half an hour or an hour, which
is kind of, something I do to get the bloodflowing and get moving in in the day.
And that's always a good thing to do to startis just do something physical in the morning so
that we don't have to make excuses why wedidn't do it later in the afternoon.
There you go.
(27:54):
There you go.
Yeah.
This morning, it was kinda tough to get goingand and then had some Internet issues.
So, I was at meetings, but I had to be offcamera.
I don't know what it was.
My phone has been doing weird things.
Yesterday, someone sent me a text at 04:00.
I didn't get it till after 06:30.
And
then then I see someone else sent me a a textat 07:00 last night.
(28:20):
I did not get it until this morning.
Really?
And it's like, okay.
I don't know what's going on.
Either I need to reset my phone or Yeah.
Something's happening up by the satellites.
I don't know.
Because we live out in Boonee, so, you know,things just weird things happen.
But, yeah, it's just that was kind of unusual.
(28:40):
I've never had anything like that happenbefore.
So I'll have my IT guy look at it when he getshome today.
Good.
Yeah.
The IT guy.
Have your IT guy look at it.
Yeah.
It's like it's like he walks in the door.
It's like, help.
He goes, what now?
But, yeah, at least I'm learning some things Ican do now.
(29:02):
Good.
I'm glad.
That's important to be self reliant when itcomes to technology.
I mean, I think that we all struggle with someelement of it sometimes.
I know that there's Oh, yeah.
There's definitely been times where I've, youknow, have everything set up perfectly.
The studio's running great.
Everything's fantastic.
And then all of a sudden, for some reason, youknow, a computer issue, whatever it might be.
But, you know, typically, restarting a videoswitcher, restarting a computer, restarting
(29:26):
Yes.
Usually helps.
So that's a good frontline to to tech issues.
Restart and see what happens next.
Yep.
Yeah.
We we used to have the running joke.
Is it plugged in?
Okay.
Did you turn it on?
A %.
It's like yeah.
A %?
Oh, yeah.
Viewers can't see right off screen.
Right about there is a shotgun microphonepointing right at my face.
(29:49):
There have definitely been times where I'vecome into the studio and I'm standing here and
everything looks great.
The lighting's perfect.
You know, video switcher on, camera's on, this,that, check this, check that, start recording
something and realize that I did not flick theswitch on that, shotgun mic.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It happens.
You know?
Make sure everything's on.
And then if everything's on, doesn't work, turnit off, turn it on again, restart it.
(30:12):
So There
you go.
Yeah.
When when I, before I went on to the platform Ihad before this, I had a a very special guest
come on to my show to talk, and and I can'thear him.
Can't hear him for nothing.
And it was different, computer than I have now.
Yeah.
(30:33):
And I didn't have the volume on.
Somehow I had hit mute.
And so after that, I put a little sticky notethere.
That's it.
Turn the volume on.
Have a I have a note somewhere around here thatsays the same thing.
It says mic on, mic off after the debacle withthe mic.
Yeah.
Case in point, I can't find the note now, so Ihope I don't
Yeah.
(30:53):
People are fun, aren't they?
Yep.
We are.
And you gotta laugh.
That's the other thing.
You know, you have to laugh at yourself.
You have to laugh when things aren't goingright.
I mean, sometimes they just get so frustrating.
He just stop and go, okay.
That's it.
Reset me and keep going on.
(31:16):
There's a chapter in the book about Oh, good.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
There's a chapter in the book about laughter.
So yeah.
And how important it
Yeah.
So so tell me, if I was to come to you
Mhmm.
And and seeking your help, who would I be andwhat help would I be looking for?
That's great.
I typically have people come to me who areindividuals who typically individuals who need
(31:39):
help with speaking and focus because they havean important presentation to give, life and
death, mission critical, know, do or die typeof thing.
I'm a speaking coach for TEDx Perth Australia.
Individuals will come to me for speakingcoaching.
Organizations will come to me for help withwith focus and intention.
So organizations will come saying, you know, weneed our people to be dialed in.
(32:00):
We need our people to be motivated and excited,but specifically about what we do and why we do
it.
So those are the circumstances people come tome and the problem solving that I do.
But with individuals, when they come to me andI'm doing speaking coaching, it's usually folks
who have really important speeches to give, Ihelp them dial in what's important, how to use
as few words with the highest impact possible,how to calm one's nerves, how to get over that
(32:24):
fear of public speaking, but more importantly,how to drive forward an idea so that it comes
across to an audience in a clear way.
And organizationally, when organizations cometo me, I make sure that the keynotes that I do
are fun and engaging and focused andcustomized, so that when people leave, they
know what they need to do and why in order tohave their focus and increase their intensity,
(32:44):
for lack of a better word, around what is mostimportant to them.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
There's and, you know, it's interesting becauseyou you might have you know, every once in
while, I get someone who's who's a a TEDxcoach, and they'll they'll contact me.
And, you know, there's so many out there, buteverybody has a different way of looking at it.
(33:08):
They have different ways of doing things.
You bring on a different way of approaching it,and you approach, you know, companies.
It's not just, oh, I only do TEDx talks.
You know?
Type thing toward maybe that's all they do isTEDx, and and good for them.
You know?
Everybody has a different way of doing it,which brings me to say that it doesn't matter
(33:30):
if you're doing something and now you didn'tknow anybody else was doing it, and now you
find 50 other people that are doing it.
Everybody's doing it differently.
And out of almost 9,000,000 people in theworld, there's enough to go around.
It's just Even even billion people in theworld.
Yeah.
I think you said million people.
Did I no.
Sorry.
I meant billion.
Yes.
Thank you.
(33:51):
Thank you for correcting me.
Unless something terrible goes through
overnight.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, it's just incredible.
Yep.
Excuse me.
But Yeah.
Wow.
That's that's that's a tough thing.
I mean, sometimes we we get out of focus.
(34:11):
I kinda touched on that earlier.
Sometimes we get out of focus.
We keep keep going and going, and maybe we needto just adjust things a little bit because
we've hit this target forward so many times,and we wanna keep going there.
But in order to get to that next level, we haveto adjust that perspective, get that focus a
(34:33):
little different from where it was.
I agree.
I absolutely agree.
It's essential, and and your operative wordthere is a little bit.
Sometimes a shift of focus doesn't have to be aa dramatic shift, a dramatic change, a dramatic
altering.
It could be something that's just a a slightshift a little bit.
Nice.
And all of sudden, it has a dramatic effect.
Yes.
(34:54):
Yeah.
It was like talking I was talking about words.
I don't know.
I might have dreamed it too.
Tell you, I I work in my sleep.
It's just crazy.
But but sometimes just hearing a word I knowwho it was.
(35:16):
I think it was Alethia this morning on theConnected Leaders Academy call.
Yes.
Was talking about this summit or somethingshe's doing about words and how one word can
change your whole direction.
Absolutely.
And that and I never thought about that.
(35:36):
I was just, yeah, that was pretty incredible tothink about that.
And how one word will mean have differentemotions or feelings or meanings to somebody
else, completely different from another person.
I think we noticed this in our relationshipsand our marriages where we say something that's
(35:57):
no big deal to us, but for some reason, it'striggered to somebody else.
And it's like, I had no idea.
That isn't how I intended it at all.
So, you know, we need to check ourselves.
Something triggers us to find out.
Is it because of them, the way they said it,what they said, or is it something that really
just specifically has to do with me?
That's right.
(36:18):
So, yeah, that's that's interesting that thatit's just that little thing can do something
like that.
A word, a shift.
You know, like I said, in the morning, having aroutine that's, you know, yoga to stretch you
out a little bit makes you approach your daydifferently, and then everything changes from
there.
So, absolutely, all these things can help.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Definitely.
(36:38):
Wow.
So do you have any events?
I mean, do you do yearly events or or workshopsor things yourself?
Yeah.
Well, you know, I've I've thought of recentlythat in starting in the late spring twenty
twenty five that I would start doing Build ABetter Now themed online virtual events in a
regular series of the chapters of the book.
But typically, I'm at the events of otherpeople rather than doing my own, which is just
(37:00):
a choice that I made.
That doing my own events is just something thatI haven't done around the book yet, but I'm
excited to do it.
And it's just a function of my travel scheduleis pretty full.
So I want to be able to be here and be focusedon the people who would sign up for such a
thing rather than just say, yeah, I'm gonna fityou in wherever I can.
It's not my style.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I I plan to do my own events at some point.
(37:21):
That'd be really great.
Even if they're virtual and even if they'rejust a small group of people like a cohort, I
think that'd be a really fun approach.
So I hear you talk refer back to your bookquite often.
Mhmm.
So I have to ask you, has writing a book reallychanged how you do business or how you look at
(37:42):
things?
Oh, writing a book absolutely has changed how Ido business and how I look at things.
Yeah?
I mean,
the book.
Absolutely.
Having the book in in tangible form is isincredible.
I mean, it's not only a testament to a lifelived enough that I could fill the pages of a
book with content that's valuable, but it alsois it's a confidence boost for sure.
(38:02):
And also it serves as an incredible businesscard to be able to say, Hey, read my book and
let's talk about it.
So all these are really important ideas andmeaning all the ideas in the book are important
ideas, but the things we're talking about areimportant too.
That having the book definitely changes thegame.
I mean, I could reach out to people now andsay, hey, read my book and let's talk.
And it's just a different approach than I'vegot some ideas that no one's ever believed in
(38:25):
and I can't prove that they're valuable.
I mean, I can prove these are valuable.
Somebody decided to put them in a hardcoverbook that's available all over the world.
That's pretty cool.
That's awesome.
Be fun.
I like that.
Yeah.
You know, some, one thing I've heard for for acouple of years is your book is your business
card now because it not only introduces you,but it introduces people to your mind, to how
(38:52):
you think, to how you do things.
And they get a a deeper sense of, is thisperson gonna be right for me?
And it's like, I like what they're saying here,and I like this.
Maybe we can talk about this.
And, hey.
This is really gonna fit with our company.
So it's it's, it's more than just a biographymore than a business card.
(39:15):
It brings a whole different realm to the personYeah.
It really does.
It really does.
It's it's it's excellent to have a book.
It's quite excellent, and especially to haveone, you know, that's on Wiley and and able for
distribution everywhere.
It's really wonderful.
I had a friend in Reykjavik, Iceland who wentinto a bookstore and asked about my book and
(39:36):
was able to get the book in Reykjavik, Iceland.
It's quite incredible.
That's crazy.
That would be so much fun.
I would love to go to another country and pickup one of my friend's books and say That's it.
Oh, look here.
Yep.
Here it is.
I'm gonna do that.
That would be fun to see my books there.
(39:57):
But, you know, get my ego here a little bit.
There you go.
I like that.
Yeah.
It's it's yeah.
It's just incredible.
So how can people find you?
You've probably said, but let's say it again.
Oh, absolutely.
Just my name, greg bennick dot com, g r e g b en n I c k dot com.
There's, you know, video there, and there's,you know, videos about, you know, ideas in the
(40:20):
book and things about the book.
And and not only just the book, but you can gothere and get in touch.
And then, of course, you know, everything elseyou'd expect.
LinkedIn, Instagram, what have you, all underGreg Bennick, g r e g b e n n I c k.
That's awesome.
I do have another question.
You know, sometimes entrepreneur entrepreneursdo not have big, huge business.
Maybe they don't even have any employees yet.
(40:42):
Maybe they've just finally gotten a couple ofVAs or something, but they still have to know
how to communicate together.
So so are you the person called to communicatewith the other employees?
Are you there just to, get us focused on wherewe need to go to help us learn where we need to
(41:03):
go?
Meaning, is it my role to help peoplecommunicate with their employees better?
Yeah.
Is that something that you do?
Absolutely.
That's totally part of it.
I mean, comes up in the book, certainly.
Communication, teamwork, connection, andleadership, under the idea of being more
accessible to people and more open with peopleand more willing to connect with people and
willing to reverberate with people.
(41:24):
I think that all of those ideas are essentialand they're all in the book as well.
But I think that, yeah, when people come to meand ask me about communication and whatnot,
that definitely is part of what I've offered tofolks in the past, whether it's keynotes or
workshops or trainings, that sort of thing.
Corporations, associations, small companies,businesses, what have you.
Absolutely.
People come to me with that from time to time.
It's a mix, right?
(41:45):
Sometimes it's teamwork, leadership, and thetraditional ideas, but then other times ideas
like the reverberation effect from my book orthings that people have had me speak about.
So I'd say, yeah, absolutely.
Communication and connection comes up all thetime.
It's all throughout the book, certainly, in thestories that I tell and the ideas that I offer.
Yeah.
So some people think, okay.
And and I've heard people say this, I'll justget the book, then I don't have to, you know,
(42:09):
do anything else.
But you know, which is is kind of interesting.
Mhmm.
It
is.
So I get the book.
I read it.
I implement it.
And where do you come into the picture?
Is it after I've read the book?
Is it before I finished reading the book?
(42:29):
What where do you fit in with this?
Yeah.
Tell I tell people in the book not to give awaythe end, but I tell people in the book, get in
touch with me with what you do with the spacethat you create now that you've read the book.
Right?
The book is about creating space forpossibilities.
So what are the possibilities you've steppedinto as a result of reading the Let me know.
And people get in touch with me all the timeand say, I read the book, now I'm thinking
this.
I read this chapter, now I'm feeling this.
(42:50):
I read this book, now I'm experiencing this.
So I think it's a gateway.
People get in touch with me all throughout.
And then, of course, you know, businesses willcontact me and say, hey.
We'd love to have you come speak about theseideas or do a training about these ideas.
Yeah.
And go to greg bennock dot com.
They find out more about me, and then we workout a a, you know, a deal in a situation that
allows me to interact with their folks.
(43:11):
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It's it is because I know there's times thatI've read a book.
It's like, well, I'd really like to get aholdof this person.
Sometimes it's really hard to find them, but,you know, you've got everything right there.
And, of course, now the world's a littledifferent than it was before COVID and stuff.
So everything's changed.
(43:32):
Not that it's a bad change, but it is has justchanged.
You know?
Life changes.
Think of life like a river.
The river goes through all these differentthings.
It's always flowing, but sometimes it's onshallow.
Sometimes it's waterfalls.
Sometimes it's it's rapids.
You know?
It's just things are changing all the time.
Sometimes it picks up a lot of silt.
(43:52):
Sometimes it dumps it out.
So That's right.
Yeah.
Right.
That's right.
So get ahold of Greg.
Find out about these these moments that youhave.
Find out what's going on.
If you want to get your own book written, youcan get ahold of me, and we'll talk about that
too.
It's tiny.
Yeah.
Wonderful.
Somebody said to me the other day, this is thefifth year I've gone by, and I still haven't
(44:16):
written my book.
And I really want to get it done.
Get your book written.
Get ahold of me.
That's that's what I'm here for is to help youand guide you and find out why you haven't done
it yet.
What is holding you back?
Let's get into the real root of it and get thatdone.
There is nothing like the feeling of havingyour words printed and out there for everybody
(44:40):
to see.
And and even if you don't want it foreverybody, some people are just happy to sell
10 books.
You know?
Absolutely.
They are.
Absolutely.
I agree.
I agree.
Yep.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you, Greg, so much for being here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you, our audience, for being here.
Sure to go to Wisdom on the Front Porch whereyou can subscribe to the magazine and find out,
(45:01):
where more podcasts are and if we're on yourfavorite podcast platform.
And if we're not, then send us a message.
You can also send in comments for what you likeor didn't like, for what you'd like to see in
future episodes.
But get ahold of us.
This is all about conversation, and that's whatwe like.
So, Greg, thank you again for being here.
(45:23):
You so much.
I appreciate you.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah.
Definitely.
And we'll see you all next time or hear us nexttime on wisdom on the front porch.
Thank you for joining us today on wisdom on thefront porch with your host, Ellis Kirkpatrick.
You can find us on our website,wisdomonthefrontporch.com, see previous
episodes of the podcast, and view issues of themagazine.
(45:45):
Did you know you can submit questions, leavereviews, or suggest topics?
You can also tell us where your favorite frontporch location is and what it means to you.
We hope you gain value and insight from today'sor previous talks.
We appreciate your support for us so we cancontinue to provide value and expertise to you
and others.
Subscribe to Wisdom on the Front Porch magazineand join in next week when we bring you another
(46:09):
great insight into the world of entrepreneurculture and lifestyle.
Make today a great day.
Always believe that something wonderful isgoing to happen.
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