April 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Stephen Seidel is an Award-Winning Founder, Speaker and Consultant with 15+ years experience building socially conscious brands. Seidel helps established corporations and emerging entrepreneurs grow by delivering impactful branding and marketing, as well as cultivating a culture of positivity. Whether you’re a Forbes 400 company or just starting up, Stephen’s mission is to take you to greatness, while leaving our world a better place. stephenseidel.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
The show is called Extra Connections and why I love
doing the shows because I can find people who fit
the meeting and match what I'm talking about. This person
is a connector of people, a connector of talent, a
connector of ideas, a connector of products. He's a cool
guy just on the middle of all that too. But
he has several companies, but I know mostly because of
(00:24):
his PR agency. But he's a speaker, he's a consultant,
he's a CEO, he's a dad. I'm one of those two.
He's an award winner. He has energy like mine. I
follow my line and mister man is out there all
the time taking care of stuff and his mission is
do good. Let's talk about all that. Help me walk
up to the show Steven and side.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hi Steven, Hey, dude, that was such a great intro.
Can I hire you to do my voicemail message or
what I'm gonna pull that sound by it and put
it on my voicemail message?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yes, do that you can, and then I'll have AI.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'd be like, you can answer my call too. It's
it's an honor to be here because when you talk
about connection, we were connected through a mutual friend of
ours Tony, and I think at the end of the day,
what I usually say is together we achieve more. And
I love that you are, you know, such a special
gentleman that you lead with your heart as opposed to
your head. Too often people are like, well, you know
(01:21):
what's the right thing to do, but if you leave
with your heart, that's all that matters.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It's very sweete and I want that's my opening thing.
I want to talk to you about. Well, when you
give shout to Tony Moore by talker twin we love
Tony is I wouldn't mean his business. Part of the
business was a for Tony war ten years ago. So
I'm celebrating me more. He's great and he's no person
that has a heart too. He's a big heart. Also,
he's very talented. That's when I try to say that
out loud. He's very talented. And yes, you know, he said,
(01:46):
Steven's great, my friend Steve, and he has people you
have all these shows and he's great, your manager, your man.
So I said, O Asser, sure, and he's right. I
want to ask you because Steven won't ask you this question,
because I think I don't think I've ever asked this
question I've done this a thousand, hundre billion times these shows.
When did you realize that you could do good and
(02:09):
have businesses that support that?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So thank you for asking that question. When you started
that question, I got nervous, right, all of a sudden,
You're like, you've never asked this question. I got a
little nervous in my stomach. But then I needed to
come back to the present moment and listen to you
and thank you for asking that question.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
For me, it's.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
About so my slogan is to do good, get back,
make an impact, and it's been a little bit of
a challenge when I first started the A I started
my agency about ten years ago, and this is before
COVID happened, and it was all about, hey, I want
to do socially good, socially conscious campaigns and things that
are giving back. And I think what really tipped the
(02:47):
iceberg from a consumer retail society perspective was when Tom's
really started moving forward and they were like buy one
and give one, and then you know, you started to
see other companies really race the value of authenticity and transparency,
but also you know, giving back towards the greater good.
And so what I was always about, is I try
(03:09):
to figure out a way, like how can we start
with and Simon Sinek, by the way, if you haven't
seen Simon Sinex, start with why. His ted talk is
amazing and it's all about starting with the positive intention.
And so when we build our company, I wanted to
start with mission and then I move into more so
about like your messaging. What is your message? And rob
(03:30):
and roberts from is a long winded answer, but I'm
getting to it. She's the Good Morning America host. She's
a cancer survivor, and I don't know if she coined it,
but she says, make your message to your message. So
starting with your mission making and then your message, then
getting into your marketing or your media. But too often
people flip it and they're like I have this and
I want to blast it out whatever it is personality,
(03:50):
company people. And then finally the real goal is like
building momentum. And so when I started to sort of
piece the piece the puzzle together, it was Simon Sinex
starting with why, and then it was like giving back
buy one, get one, and then there was things like
Taylor Swift and the Swifties or Beyonce's Army, where it's
like doing good and creating a group of individual or
(04:11):
Black Lives Matter or all these individual organizations where it
could be something that you truly love to do or
something that you stand up against. Like Candy Lightner. She
is a woman who started Mothers Against Drunk Driving and
her daughter was killed by a drunk driver and she said,
I'm not going to take this, and so she created
a community called mad which you may remember. It's old school.
(04:33):
I told it to my wife recently. I'm including it
in a talk that I'm talking about, but it's Mother's
Against Drunk Driving and she was like, this isn't cool.
I'm going to commit my life to changing the way
that things work. And so what it really had stried
was during the pandemic because during the pandemic we had
no other options. We had to buy local, and so
(04:54):
it was always about like you know, buying local, growing
global and finding impact at the world. Once it became
more connected with the internet really allowed us the impact
to do good in multiple ways. And there's a really
good app it's called what the heck is the name
of it? I think it's called done Good where they
break down the different categories of ways that you can
(05:16):
get back whether you buy American, whether it's women owned,
it's veteran owned, it's maybe minority owned, or you know,
they have charities that are associated with it. So there's
all these things that you can do good.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, there's like there's a couple of apps like too
what it's called you Good to go where you you
you kind of you buy for this kind of price
from places who are about to close the food places
and you get the extra food go to waste. They'll
just throw it out. You get it, yeah, Yeah, and
they get a part of a charity to do just
the whole thing. It's like, I love I love that
(05:49):
there's places like that. That sounds also like there was
another place that I was a part of years ago
where I would fund somebody in the country the name
of it right now, and they would pay you back
and it's over a bottle of time, but you were
funding them for their crops or whatever. I'm a big farmer,
so I'm like anybody would crops, I want to help
you out. Yeah, So I love stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I would love to hear about that because I'm in
Kentucky now. I was in La where I met Tony
and you're right now. But in Kentucky, winter comes and
it hits, and those farmers, boy, they those farmers. It
doesn't matter if it's zero degrees or if it's one
hundred and fifty degrees. They're out there making sure that
these crops, these animals are out there, and they often
get overlooked. So props to you for you know, giving
(06:33):
them their due.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I'm an old I'm a horse guy, but I don't come.
It's a bunch of us in La where bunch of
we're all equine people. I just can't. I can't up.
And I like that. And we had the fires we
were fighting out places away because you were forgetting they
were happening at places where they're actually animals, not just
dogs and cats, but also like chickens and sheep. And
we have some farms out here. We have some farms
out here, so we had to So we're pushing that. Yeah, totally, yeah,
(06:58):
but I mean, but but went back to that, like
the second part that question kind of is how do
you how you how does Steven stay authentic and stay
on the mission versus I got big money because I
have children and go to school, I got a house
over here, I got a wife, Like, how do you
how do you stay in that in that space? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So one of the things that happened to me is
in the past ten years, I lost my grandmother and
my dad and my mom, which is part of life,
not you know, that's how. But my my friends said,
you never really amanaged the leisure your dad. And then
I lost my mom and i' I'm actually going to
talk about this next week about the you know, the
power of grief and how grief can help you transform
(07:41):
from grief towards your greater purpose. But I started a
men's community it's called Gent's Journey because I just didn't
have anybody. I moved to Lexington. My friends were busy,
my wife is busy. I was like, man, I need
a group of people. So I reached out. I call
my growth friends, the friends that encourage you so to grow,
whether or it's you know, spiritually, professionally, physically. And then
(08:03):
we created a group. And when I spoke with them,
one of the members his name's Chris, and the group
he says, look, if there's three jobs that we can have,
one is going to pay the bills, right, and then
there's that other job that you know you feel like,
is you know, giving back or helping somebody. And then
the third one is like the icing on the cake.
I would just do it if I could do it,
And so I built my agency. You mentioned connection. That's
(08:25):
really what I try to lean in on is to
connect with our mission, but also connect with other individuals
to create a win win win with the consumer the company,
and then we also create a win win win for
the actual client or whosever I'm partnering with. And that's
how I started the agency. And I saw opportunities where
regardless of what you're doing. So I created this men's group.
(08:48):
I run my company, which is PR it's very similar
to this men's group, and we were like, how can
we find another way that we can impact men besides
ourselves because there's a there's an epidemic right now for
you know, mental health crisis, especially with men, you know,
getting locked in the technology and all sorts of things.
(09:09):
So that's where I'm sort of building this company, which
is more aspirational, but it provides me so much benefit
and fulfillment. I take. We created this card deck, I
go to men's meetings at the Fatherhood initiative and I
sit in a circle starts. It's like it's like the
completion of life. And these men are opening their hearts.
(09:29):
They're in rehab, they're coming out of jail. They you know,
are trying to be better fathers, and they're going through
these questions that we created, like who do you have
to forgive? Like who's who's And this one guy's like, look, man,
I need to forgive myself. And he's breaking, he's got
tatted up, he's been in jail multiple times, and he's like,
I just need to forgive myself. And to see him
crying and coming to terms, that's how I think you
(09:52):
can do good right there, or even just when you
open the door. I teach my daughter anytime you go somewhere,
if somebody's name wearing a name tag, call them by
their name. People want to hear their name James. When
you hear them, it makes them sparks. So even just
doing a small, little micro moment in time can create
a ripple of impact, whether or not or not. So
(10:14):
with your company, obviously you need to do things to
pay the bills. I have a little ben diagram that
I've created when I work with clients. You have your skills,
you have your passion, you have your unique accessibility like
where do you meet in the middle and that bend diagram.
But also just I think the more that you can
focus on those things, it helps. I'm answering these answer
these questions really long. One other video I just watched
(10:36):
was Tony Robbins, who I'm a fan of. But it's
called there's also a book called the Art of Possibility.
But if you look around your room right if you're
listening to this or watching this, like look around your
room right now and look for the color blue, and
now color your eyes. Tell me how many of those
things were red? But if you open your eyes back
up and I say, look at look around your room
(10:57):
and look around and see what's red, you're gonna remember
those red things. But part of that, of what Tony
says as well, is like how many of those things
did you convince yourself that they were read when they
were really like burgundy or crimson or the same thing
happens in life. If we focus on the positives or
things that are working for us instead of to us,
then that actually gives us momentum to do good.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I think it's interesting for folks our age. The gen xers,
I'll just say the gen xers, sure, and some young
baby boomers at this age, we are some elder millennials.
Depends on them too. We are at that age where
we're losing people. I was, I was the young Angenoux
and now I'm like the old crab. I don't know
how that happened.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Somehow, I just had knee surgery. I'm like, dude, I'm
got knee surgery.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Dang, it's crazy. It's like like, how am I old grandpa?
All of a sudden in the family, Like how that happen?
But it does? But no, we are we are losing
our parents and first all of us we have our grandparents,
thank god, we lose them too, or uncles or aunts.
We're not generation. What is one thing that you've bought?
Well that I'm serious, been many things, but just for
(12:05):
sake of this, just what is what are one of
the things you've learned for all that loss?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah, I've learned a lot of things. So I think
one of the most important elements is and this is
something that comes with time, is and I think our
our generation a shifted. Really just the importance of being
present within the moment, and too often we're and I
have a lot of like neuros what do we call
we call like neurospiciness, because I have a lot of
(12:32):
that stuff, whether it's anxiety or who knows what, but
we we think about the past or we get stuck
there or we're thinking about the future. And like my
Michael J. Fox said, if you think about the future
and something crazy happened, your body's going to live through that.
And then if it happens, you do it again. So
why do it twice? Just let it happen. But I
my mom used to say I had the tea shirt
(12:53):
running here somewhere. She used to say, just zen it,
and she was all about like living in the present
moment and and really just realizing that. And it's so cliche,
but as well as the men's group, we tell ourselves
when we're with our family and there's something that's enjoyable,
say it so that everybody can experience it. And they note, like,
this is nice. I really appreciate this moment, you know,
(13:14):
I love you. Pick up the phone call these people.
I don't have that opportunity anymore with specially with my dad.
I don't have any grandparents or my mom and so
like tell them how much they mean to you. And
then there was another side thing that a friend of
mine told me about. He said that his grandfather, and
this is like a fun little grandfather law, spend money
(13:35):
on things that separate you from the ground. And I
was like, oh, And then as I thought about that,
it was more about just elevating you and your positioning.
You know, your mindset or however you are. The tires
that you're driving on right, they're going to have to
stop right before that car that's pushing its brakes. The
bed that you're sleeping on, how important is sleep. Make
sure that you're spending money so you get that rest.
(13:55):
The sneakers that you walk on every single day that
you want to look cool in your Jordan's are awful
for your feet, And like five years later you have
bunions and like you're You're like, man, I wish I
had Hokos or new Balance which I wear now. But yeah,
those types of things I think are very important.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I agree in the moment, I'm all about active listening
and then being in the moment. Those are two things
I've learned as I've gotten older.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
You're a listener. Like I've been on podcast where people
will listen and my wife loves Dax Shepherd and I
cut you off, so I wasn't listening. I'm not a
good listener. But he jumps in and like chairs his
But you're a really good listener, dude.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Laugh Right now, I'm letting you be you. I want
you to be you. That's why I'm not trying to
im just saying I'm good. I'm good. I'm good, I'm good. No,
it's like, but that's those are two things that I've learned.
Just saying that, that's something that I've learned which has
served me well during interviews obviously, right, but also when
I teach. When I speak, I do speak, engage, all
the kind of Stuffi's taught me a lot. But I
didn't care you my mom. I had to be in
(14:55):
the present every moment of every second of every day.
I couldn't think about the future, I couldn't think about
my asked. I had attend to her every minute of
what that was. And that taught me a lot. But
that taught me a lot. So just going back and
front of this on mats love that so I know
for a fact, folks, I've had so much people you
see them here on this on this on this channel.
(15:16):
So is talent and your talent does match your your
servants because these are people who are trying to affect
positive change in the world. When you look to represent
talent or pr talent whatever, is there a process you
go through the valid area. So kind of you have
you are you looking for certain things out of people
to work with them.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
So when working with anybody, I think there needs just
to be that I like, I start from a place
of connection, and so I want to know reconnected? Do
we share similar or value system? You know, what is
our outlook on life?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Is this?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
I think at the end of the day we work
with anybody, is this somebody you can have a beer with?
Like I don't drink beer anymore, but you know I
drink not alcoholic beer taste just as good. Like can
you hang out like you and I are doing right
now and just shoot the breeze. So that's kind of
the first thing. That's more of like the gut check
and really and trusting your intuition. And then secondly, what
are the dreams of the aspirations? I'd like to think
(16:09):
that I want to be a visionaire. I want to
be an innovator. I want to leave this world a
better place, and so there needs to be that collective
consciousness where we envision that we can actually do something positive.
And I think at the end of the day there
with talent or if they're working with me, from partnership perspective,
I want to have more of a ying versus yang.
You know, when it gets into like the nuts and
(16:29):
bolts and management and operations and all of that, sometimes
I get a little overwhelmed. And that's where somebody who's
more financially meant financially sound like my wife's great at finances,
so she's great.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
At all of that.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
But I'm more of like just running businesses and things.
But when I'm working with talent or a company or
an organization, I really just want to know, you know,
what is your goal, where do you see the world
in the next five years, but also understanding that you
have a plan and you're committed to doing the work.
A lot of people say yeah, like there was Timothy
who we talked about. I mean, I believe it's like
(17:00):
I've met with so many people and I'll give them
a couple of tools and steps to deliver it, and
he'll come back the next day with fifteen different things,
you know, branding, marketplace ideas. You know, this is what
I want to deliver and show that initiative. And I
have had an analogy. We talked about being good, but
actually I like to sometimes go from good to great.
(17:21):
And the five things that I think are the most
important part about being great or being grateful, Being reflective,
being able to understand, you know, where the land, Being
ethical so that what you're doing is of right, you know,
sound in mind that you're delivering good karma. Being accountable
so that you say what you do, do what you say.
And the last thing is being transformational. And that's essentially
(17:41):
like you don't have to go to work, you don't
have to work with me. You get you get to
work with me. We're born in the America, in the
United States, so we're blessed in that own right, you know.
And something doesn't happen to you, it happens for you.
These are all opportunities that open the door for us.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Well. I also believe kind of piggyback off for that
at surrounding yourself with people who are good at what
they do you know it helps you. Also, It's like
it's one of those things where my friend always says win,
we all win.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, and like that talent, that talent piece is so vital.
It's like if they may think that they need me,
but I need them just me. It's a symbiotic relationship
and the delegation of that is crucial. Like when working
with clients, there's three things that we're either going to
do it and like I'm I'm a hustler, you're a hustler.
(18:31):
We're gonna get out there, we're gonna do it. We're
going to delegate it. I need to be better at
that and that's what I'm working on. Or we need
to delete it. I also need to be better at
that as well. I'm a recovering people pleaser, So yeah,
they come in my inbox and I'm like, yeah, I'll
do it. Or I texted somebody yesterday asked them to
do something. He said that doesn't work for me, thanks
(18:53):
for the offer, or something like that. I was like, wow,
that is amazing. If that were me, I want to
give it them a paragraph on all the things that
I have had to do or why I couldn't do it. It
felt like I was you know, it was just like
sorry that. And I worked with a coach as well
about like being the CEO of my own life and
just taking accountability and setting those boundaries, and that's something
that's you know, it takes time, but I'm still.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Working on I'm learning. I've learned that no is a
complete sentence. Yeah, that was a complete sentence. I mean
that's I don't need to give you anything more. I
don't want to like, that's it. I bet you.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And this one guy that I met recently too, we
were talking about your self made man. I'm self made man.
You know, started like I came from nothing. But he's like,
I'd like to challenge that point. I don't think there
is such thing as a self made ban. It's like
there were so many people along the way that helped
you in that process. And I was like, dude, you're
right like one hundred percent. And there's this thing that
I used. I was like trying to write a book
(19:48):
about it for years and years, was calling it the
anonymous gatekeeper. But there are so many anonymous gatekeepers that
are vital and so to say, oh, I'm going to
get you in the X Y z room. No, it
doesn't work like that. That's why connection and you know
that collective, collective hole is what really rises the tide.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, it's it's just it's we're all swimming upstream. We're
all trying to upstream, and so some people a little faster.
Some people can push you forward up the stream sometimes
to flop around for a while. You know, it's one
spot that's kind of And I just I think as
I've gotten older, I have a birthday in a couple
of months, and it's not a milestone birthday by any means,
but I'm reaching post to sixty and I just and
(20:27):
for me, well you know why, Steven.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yeah, you don't got to say we all know it,
audience and feel that phrasing that you've heard so many times.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I mean, no serious, I just drink out of the
water too, folks like that's the water. No, no, but no,
But in all serious is as I know, as I'm
getting older and the longer I've been in this business,
which can be crazy. It's entertainment, it can be crazy. Actually,
my resolve has gotten stronger into wanted to do what
I want to do now because I'm looking at the
(20:58):
other side now I'm looking at the golden so to speak.
Not saying not to look more, but I'm saying I have,
if God willing, I probably have less years than I
have than I have behind me coming here, Henry. So
now I'm purposely staying in my purpose. It's not like
you're kind of similar problem, You're like, by similar, you're
trying to stay in purpose too.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, one hundred percent. And that's where you know. I
love working with clients, and as I move forward, I
want to work more one on one with individuals that
I know can empower an entire community. So like working
with a company, great, you have a product of service,
we can benefit people. I really enjoy that. Don't get
me wrong, but I love to see the transformation of
an actual individual because the potential that they have the
(21:37):
impact is beyond if you have a tangible product, that
tangible product you know can help people. Don't get me wrong,
but I just love to see people light up, especially
like my alma mater at Penn State. And as I
go to the doctor and I get it like a
reporter or this is out of the alignment in your blood,
I'm like, man, it's just like all these moments are like,
snap into it. Okay, great, what are you going to
(21:57):
do right now to leave this world a better place?
To lead the lasting legacy for your children and to
inspire future generations because time is a ticking in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Find all about all the Penn State and all stuff.
All right, So this is this is five years. Five
years is when the pandemic basically for us and I
lay the lockdown started for a lot of stuffs started.
When you reflect back on it, now we're looking back
on the last five years and it was a pandemic.
(22:27):
Out of the pandemic business wise, what is one takeaway
that you have that you that you had to learn
during a pandemic that you're using now?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Oh man, there were so many. So when I first
started my agency, I so they I did not imitating,
say imitation is the highest form of flattery? Is that
is that the phrase?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yes? Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
So there's an amazing agency they're called Hawk Media, and
I was like, man, these guys are doing some really
cool things. I started my agency and they were they're
called like your Outside you know, or something like that.
I was like, oh man, I want to be like them,
but a little bit different and so when I first started,
I was more from a marketing perspective. I started as
your virtual CMO, and then so I was doing things
virtually because I just couldn't get the people. But now
(23:13):
I'm in Kentucky and I really can't get the people.
When I was in LA it was like, well, but
like my time was short because I had a baby.
But now it's like, I'm really in the I don't
want to sit in middle of nowhere, but in the
middle of the country, her access is limited. And to
see the rise of Zoom and some of those things,
it was very interesting to see that it felt like
(23:33):
we were more connected from a technologicalctive perspective, but a
lot more disconnected from an emotional perspective. And so one
of the things I remember my mom, like I mentioned,
she got sick. We were living in a town home
and I was running my business out of my bedroom
and she came and she was sick. I was like,
come on in. So then I was running Zoom Calls
(23:54):
out of my laundry room and I was like my
logo over my shoulder and nobody could tell it was
a maz But it was through all of that that
I really learned like you talked about, it's like what
is really my purpose? And why am I here? And
you know, we're all given gift whoever you think, God
or Buddha or whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And I'm in.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Another groups it's like a group, I mean and say,
be the whole in the flute that the Christ's breath
flows through, Like how are you going to make your music?
And so as I came through the pandemic, it was
more about, you know, not trying to be transactional and
help people with like you know, Facebook ads, but really,
(24:33):
how can we elevate your purpose so that we can
impact people, like to come full circle to do good
in this world. And so if I'm going to work
with a client because I need the money or whatever
and it's not something that I feel is beneficial, I'm
just going to say no, and I'm going to trust
that the universe or whatever brings something that's more in
(24:54):
alignment with my purpose. And so fortunately a lot of
that has happened. I'm getting ready to do this Ted
talk about grief and going through my mom and I'm
hoping that that will allow me additional opportunities to work
with people that to essentially and I think this is
it for everyone? Turn your pain into purpose and once
you find that there's there's no holding back, that becomes
(25:14):
your compass. So when somebody asks you to do something,
is it in alignment with my purpose? Is it alignment
with my mission or my wife? It's not that you
just have to say no. And so for so long,
having been an actor or an entertainer, I was saying
yes to everything. But now it's just being more clear,
having more intention, and having more clarity.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
That's it. Good. I agree with you completely, folks. Here's
your piece of connection today, me and Steven Sideel. So
you have to follow him. Go online, he's everywhere, of course,
and follow him. Stephen, thanks for being on the show.
I talked to you forever, but you know I didn't
five hour podcasts. You have to come back.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Thank you. I would love to come back, and I did.
I appreciate the opportunity to platform, but more so, I
just appreciate the humanity that you have. If you've been
so kind of me. Some of my other friends and colleagues,
and I say this a lot, is you know it's
important for us to play the cards that we've been
dealt in the lead with love instead of folding with
fear and you've been doing that. So thank you so much,
(26:13):
thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I appreciate you. Uh where can they find you? If
they want to find your business or anything or find
you or find you, but anyway I'll find you.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Yeah, you can find uh, you know, eating a slice
of that good fellas in Lexington, Kentucky. Or if you
want to find me online, you can check out the
Sidel Agency. My last name is Ess and Sam e
is and Edward as in Igloo Diaz and David is
in Electric ellas in Lightning Agency dot com. So that's
(26:41):
the Sidell Agency dot com or Steven with a pH
S T E P H E N Siddel dot com
or same usernames across social I'm gonna leave you with this. Uh,
can I ask you one of my questions from my
card deck?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I love it? Yes? Please? Do I love this? Yes?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Okay, tell me when to stop?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Stop? Oh?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
This one good. So what's what's one question or piece
of advice you would give to your younger self? And why?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Oh it's a it's a good one because everything about
this recently because again my birthday's coming up, it's TH's
coming from that I always give introspective.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, your thirteen year old self before with all of
his big sisters and brothers.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Oh yeah, Thursday. I was a middle child too, who
I was always like me, me, me, Okay, here we go.
I would tell this is a great question, I would
tell I would tell my younger self I was Jamie.
Then little Jamie, you will survive and you will find
a way to thrive, which is even more important than
just surviving, because I went through a lot after age thirteen,
(27:52):
and just do life. You go through a lot of stuff.
And now you know my fifties. When I was a kid,
I was gonna survive anything. I think I was gonna
make it. I just I was like, I'm just not
gonna make it. Plus society for Blackmas, I mean, there's
a whole thing in there. But I would tell say,
little Jamie, you will survive, but more importantly, you will
thrive on top of that or in spite of it.
(28:14):
And you will, You'll make it. And and I'll tell
myself you'll have some fun along the way too.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yes you will, little Jamie. I love that. When you
go back to your childhood nicknames, that's another great question.
That's where it really just unlocks it and you're doing
a great job.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Thank you for answering that and having me on.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
It's my pleasure. I'm James lo Junior, Folks. Extra Connections
on Facebook, I'm everywhere, James Like Juniors are sold at
James Lott Junior on all social media. Plow all of them, kids,
all of them. They're very easy for you and I
always challenge people I want to do these shows. Try
to find a connection with somebody. I don't care who
it is even Just leave the house and go to Starbucks.
Say hi to somebody I don't know, just whatever, say
(28:51):
hi to the Maarisa, asks and how they're doing. People
a lot of times just want to be asked how
are they or hi, like you said, say their names,
like these little simple questions that I get a lot,
I get a lot done, I get a lot of
stuff to by when I asked, well, how they're doing
with what's going on and actually listening to them, so
I said, I saw, I challenge everyone to do that.
(29:11):
Extra Connections is all social media, I mean everywhere, just everywhere,
and it's on YouTube at JLJ Media my company. Talk
to you guys next time.
The show is called Extra Connections and why I love
doing the shows because I can find people who fit
the meeting and match what I'm talking about. This person
is a connector of people, a connector of talent, a
connector of ideas, a connector of products. He's a cool
guy just on the middle of all that too. But
he has several companies, but I know mostly because of
(00:24):
his PR agency. But he's a speaker, he's a consultant,
he's a CEO, he's a dad. I'm one of those two.
He's an award winner. He has energy like mine. I
follow my line and mister man is out there all
the time taking care of stuff and his mission is
do good. Let's talk about all that. Help me walk
up to the show Steven and side.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hi Steven, Hey, dude, that was such a great intro.
Can I hire you to do my voicemail message or
what I'm gonna pull that sound by it and put
it on my voicemail message?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yes, do that you can, and then I'll have AI.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'd be like, you can answer my call too. It's
it's an honor to be here because when you talk
about connection, we were connected through a mutual friend of
ours Tony, and I think at the end of the day,
what I usually say is together we achieve more. And
I love that you are, you know, such a special
gentleman that you lead with your heart as opposed to
your head. Too often people are like, well, you know
(01:21):
what's the right thing to do, but if you leave
with your heart, that's all that matters.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It's very sweete and I want that's my opening thing.
I want to talk to you about. Well, when you
give shout to Tony Moore by talker twin we love
Tony is I wouldn't mean his business. Part of the
business was a for Tony war ten years ago. So
I'm celebrating me more. He's great and he's no person
that has a heart too. He's a big heart. Also,
he's very talented. That's when I try to say that
out loud. He's very talented. And yes, you know, he said,
(01:46):
Steven's great, my friend Steve, and he has people you
have all these shows and he's great, your manager, your man.
So I said, O Asser, sure, and he's right. I
want to ask you because Steven won't ask you this question,
because I think I don't think I've ever asked this
question I've done this a thousand, hundre billion times these shows.
When did you realize that you could do good and
(02:09):
have businesses that support that?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So thank you for asking that question. When you started
that question, I got nervous, right, all of a sudden,
You're like, you've never asked this question. I got a
little nervous in my stomach. But then I needed to
come back to the present moment and listen to you
and thank you for asking that question.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
For me, it's.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
About so my slogan is to do good, get back,
make an impact, and it's been a little bit of
a challenge when I first started the A I started
my agency about ten years ago, and this is before
COVID happened, and it was all about, hey, I want
to do socially good, socially conscious campaigns and things that
are giving back. And I think what really tipped the
(02:47):
iceberg from a consumer retail society perspective was when Tom's
really started moving forward and they were like buy one
and give one, and then you know, you started to
see other companies really race the value of authenticity and transparency,
but also you know, giving back towards the greater good.
And so what I was always about, is I try
(03:09):
to figure out a way, like how can we start
with and Simon Sinek, by the way, if you haven't
seen Simon Sinex, start with why. His ted talk is
amazing and it's all about starting with the positive intention.
And so when we build our company, I wanted to
start with mission and then I move into more so
about like your messaging. What is your message? And rob
(03:30):
and roberts from is a long winded answer, but I'm
getting to it. She's the Good Morning America host. She's
a cancer survivor, and I don't know if she coined it,
but she says, make your message to your message. So
starting with your mission making and then your message, then
getting into your marketing or your media. But too often
people flip it and they're like I have this and
I want to blast it out whatever it is personality,
(03:50):
company people. And then finally the real goal is like
building momentum. And so when I started to sort of
piece the piece the puzzle together, it was Simon Sinex
starting with why, and then it was like giving back
buy one, get one, and then there was things like
Taylor Swift and the Swifties or Beyonce's Army, where it's
like doing good and creating a group of individual or
(04:11):
Black Lives Matter or all these individual organizations where it
could be something that you truly love to do or
something that you stand up against. Like Candy Lightner. She
is a woman who started Mothers Against Drunk Driving and
her daughter was killed by a drunk driver and she said,
I'm not going to take this, and so she created
a community called mad which you may remember. It's old school.
(04:33):
I told it to my wife recently. I'm including it
in a talk that I'm talking about, but it's Mother's
Against Drunk Driving and she was like, this isn't cool.
I'm going to commit my life to changing the way
that things work. And so what it really had stried
was during the pandemic because during the pandemic we had
no other options. We had to buy local, and so
(04:54):
it was always about like you know, buying local, growing
global and finding impact at the world. Once it became
more connected with the internet really allowed us the impact
to do good in multiple ways. And there's a really
good app it's called what the heck is the name
of it? I think it's called done Good where they
break down the different categories of ways that you can
(05:16):
get back whether you buy American, whether it's women owned,
it's veteran owned, it's maybe minority owned, or you know,
they have charities that are associated with it. So there's
all these things that you can do good.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, there's like there's a couple of apps like too
what it's called you Good to go where you you
you kind of you buy for this kind of price
from places who are about to close the food places
and you get the extra food go to waste. They'll
just throw it out. You get it, yeah, Yeah, and
they get a part of a charity to do just
the whole thing. It's like, I love I love that
(05:49):
there's places like that. That sounds also like there was
another place that I was a part of years ago
where I would fund somebody in the country the name
of it right now, and they would pay you back
and it's over a bottle of time, but you were
funding them for their crops or whatever. I'm a big farmer,
so I'm like anybody would crops, I want to help
you out. Yeah, So I love stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I would love to hear about that because I'm in
Kentucky now. I was in La where I met Tony
and you're right now. But in Kentucky, winter comes and
it hits, and those farmers, boy, they those farmers. It
doesn't matter if it's zero degrees or if it's one
hundred and fifty degrees. They're out there making sure that
these crops, these animals are out there, and they often
get overlooked. So props to you for you know, giving
(06:33):
them their due.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I'm an old I'm a horse guy, but I don't come.
It's a bunch of us in La where bunch of
we're all equine people. I just can't. I can't up.
And I like that. And we had the fires we
were fighting out places away because you were forgetting they
were happening at places where they're actually animals, not just
dogs and cats, but also like chickens and sheep. And
we have some farms out here. We have some farms
out here, so we had to So we're pushing that. Yeah, totally, yeah,
(06:58):
but I mean, but but went back to that, like
the second part that question kind of is how do
you how you how does Steven stay authentic and stay
on the mission versus I got big money because I
have children and go to school, I got a house
over here, I got a wife, Like, how do you
how do you stay in that in that space? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So one of the things that happened to me is
in the past ten years, I lost my grandmother and
my dad and my mom, which is part of life,
not you know, that's how. But my my friends said,
you never really amanaged the leisure your dad. And then
I lost my mom and i' I'm actually going to
talk about this next week about the you know, the
power of grief and how grief can help you transform
(07:41):
from grief towards your greater purpose. But I started a
men's community it's called Gent's Journey because I just didn't
have anybody. I moved to Lexington. My friends were busy,
my wife is busy. I was like, man, I need
a group of people. So I reached out. I call
my growth friends, the friends that encourage you so to grow,
whether or it's you know, spiritually, professionally, physically. And then
(08:03):
we created a group. And when I spoke with them,
one of the members his name's Chris, and the group
he says, look, if there's three jobs that we can have,
one is going to pay the bills, right, and then
there's that other job that you know you feel like,
is you know, giving back or helping somebody. And then
the third one is like the icing on the cake.
I would just do it if I could do it,
And so I built my agency. You mentioned connection. That's
(08:25):
really what I try to lean in on is to
connect with our mission, but also connect with other individuals
to create a win win win with the consumer the company,
and then we also create a win win win for
the actual client or whosever I'm partnering with. And that's
how I started the agency. And I saw opportunities where
regardless of what you're doing. So I created this men's group.
(08:48):
I run my company, which is PR it's very similar
to this men's group, and we were like, how can
we find another way that we can impact men besides
ourselves because there's a there's an epidemic right now for
you know, mental health crisis, especially with men, you know,
getting locked in the technology and all sorts of things.
(09:09):
So that's where I'm sort of building this company, which
is more aspirational, but it provides me so much benefit
and fulfillment. I take. We created this card deck, I
go to men's meetings at the Fatherhood initiative and I
sit in a circle starts. It's like it's like the
completion of life. And these men are opening their hearts.
(09:29):
They're in rehab, they're coming out of jail. They you know,
are trying to be better fathers, and they're going through
these questions that we created, like who do you have
to forgive? Like who's who's And this one guy's like, look, man,
I need to forgive myself. And he's breaking, he's got
tatted up, he's been in jail multiple times, and he's like,
I just need to forgive myself. And to see him
crying and coming to terms, that's how I think you
(09:52):
can do good right there, or even just when you
open the door. I teach my daughter anytime you go somewhere,
if somebody's name wearing a name tag, call them by
their name. People want to hear their name James. When
you hear them, it makes them sparks. So even just
doing a small, little micro moment in time can create
a ripple of impact, whether or not or not. So
(10:14):
with your company, obviously you need to do things to
pay the bills. I have a little ben diagram that
I've created when I work with clients. You have your skills,
you have your passion, you have your unique accessibility like
where do you meet in the middle and that bend diagram.
But also just I think the more that you can
focus on those things, it helps. I'm answering these answer
these questions really long. One other video I just watched
(10:36):
was Tony Robbins, who I'm a fan of. But it's
called there's also a book called the Art of Possibility.
But if you look around your room right if you're
listening to this or watching this, like look around your
room right now and look for the color blue, and
now color your eyes. Tell me how many of those
things were red? But if you open your eyes back
up and I say, look at look around your room
(10:57):
and look around and see what's red, you're gonna remember
those red things. But part of that, of what Tony
says as well, is like how many of those things
did you convince yourself that they were read when they
were really like burgundy or crimson or the same thing
happens in life. If we focus on the positives or
things that are working for us instead of to us,
then that actually gives us momentum to do good.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I think it's interesting for folks our age. The gen xers,
I'll just say the gen xers, sure, and some young
baby boomers at this age, we are some elder millennials.
Depends on them too. We are at that age where
we're losing people. I was, I was the young Angenoux
and now I'm like the old crab. I don't know
how that happened.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Somehow, I just had knee surgery. I'm like, dude, I'm
got knee surgery.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Dang, it's crazy. It's like like, how am I old grandpa?
All of a sudden in the family, Like how that happen?
But it does? But no, we are we are losing
our parents and first all of us we have our grandparents,
thank god, we lose them too, or uncles or aunts.
We're not generation. What is one thing that you've bought?
Well that I'm serious, been many things, but just for
(12:05):
sake of this, just what is what are one of
the things you've learned for all that loss?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah, I've learned a lot of things. So I think
one of the most important elements is and this is
something that comes with time, is and I think our
our generation a shifted. Really just the importance of being
present within the moment, and too often we're and I
have a lot of like neuros what do we call
we call like neurospiciness, because I have a lot of
(12:32):
that stuff, whether it's anxiety or who knows what, but
we we think about the past or we get stuck
there or we're thinking about the future. And like my
Michael J. Fox said, if you think about the future
and something crazy happened, your body's going to live through that.
And then if it happens, you do it again. So
why do it twice? Just let it happen. But I
my mom used to say I had the tea shirt
(12:53):
running here somewhere. She used to say, just zen it,
and she was all about like living in the present
moment and and really just realizing that. And it's so cliche,
but as well as the men's group, we tell ourselves
when we're with our family and there's something that's enjoyable,
say it so that everybody can experience it. And they note, like,
this is nice. I really appreciate this moment, you know,
(13:14):
I love you. Pick up the phone call these people.
I don't have that opportunity anymore with specially with my dad.
I don't have any grandparents or my mom and so
like tell them how much they mean to you. And
then there was another side thing that a friend of
mine told me about. He said that his grandfather, and
this is like a fun little grandfather law, spend money
(13:35):
on things that separate you from the ground. And I
was like, oh, And then as I thought about that,
it was more about just elevating you and your positioning.
You know, your mindset or however you are. The tires
that you're driving on right, they're going to have to
stop right before that car that's pushing its brakes. The
bed that you're sleeping on, how important is sleep. Make
sure that you're spending money so you get that rest.
(13:55):
The sneakers that you walk on every single day that
you want to look cool in your Jordan's are awful
for your feet, And like five years later you have
bunions and like you're You're like, man, I wish I
had Hokos or new Balance which I wear now. But yeah,
those types of things I think are very important.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I agree in the moment, I'm all about active listening
and then being in the moment. Those are two things
I've learned as I've gotten older.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
You're a listener. Like I've been on podcast where people
will listen and my wife loves Dax Shepherd and I
cut you off, so I wasn't listening. I'm not a
good listener. But he jumps in and like chairs his
But you're a really good listener, dude.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Laugh Right now, I'm letting you be you. I want
you to be you. That's why I'm not trying to
im just saying I'm good. I'm good. I'm good, I'm good. No,
it's like, but that's those are two things that I've learned.
Just saying that, that's something that I've learned which has
served me well during interviews obviously, right, but also when
I teach. When I speak, I do speak, engage, all
the kind of Stuffi's taught me a lot. But I
didn't care you my mom. I had to be in
(14:55):
the present every moment of every second of every day.
I couldn't think about the future, I couldn't think about
my asked. I had attend to her every minute of
what that was. And that taught me a lot. But
that taught me a lot. So just going back and
front of this on mats love that so I know
for a fact, folks, I've had so much people you
see them here on this on this on this channel.
(15:16):
So is talent and your talent does match your your
servants because these are people who are trying to affect
positive change in the world. When you look to represent
talent or pr talent whatever, is there a process you
go through the valid area. So kind of you have
you are you looking for certain things out of people
to work with them.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
So when working with anybody, I think there needs just
to be that I like, I start from a place
of connection, and so I want to know reconnected? Do
we share similar or value system? You know, what is
our outlook on life?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Is this?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
I think at the end of the day we work
with anybody, is this somebody you can have a beer with?
Like I don't drink beer anymore, but you know I
drink not alcoholic beer taste just as good. Like can
you hang out like you and I are doing right
now and just shoot the breeze. So that's kind of
the first thing. That's more of like the gut check
and really and trusting your intuition. And then secondly, what
are the dreams of the aspirations? I'd like to think
(16:09):
that I want to be a visionaire. I want to
be an innovator. I want to leave this world a
better place, and so there needs to be that collective
consciousness where we envision that we can actually do something positive.
And I think at the end of the day there
with talent or if they're working with me, from partnership perspective,
I want to have more of a ying versus yang.
You know, when it gets into like the nuts and
(16:29):
bolts and management and operations and all of that, sometimes
I get a little overwhelmed. And that's where somebody who's
more financially meant financially sound like my wife's great at finances,
so she's great.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
At all of that.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
But I'm more of like just running businesses and things.
But when I'm working with talent or a company or
an organization, I really just want to know, you know,
what is your goal, where do you see the world
in the next five years, but also understanding that you
have a plan and you're committed to doing the work.
A lot of people say yeah, like there was Timothy
who we talked about. I mean, I believe it's like
(17:00):
I've met with so many people and I'll give them
a couple of tools and steps to deliver it, and
he'll come back the next day with fifteen different things,
you know, branding, marketplace ideas. You know, this is what
I want to deliver and show that initiative. And I
have had an analogy. We talked about being good, but
actually I like to sometimes go from good to great.
(17:21):
And the five things that I think are the most
important part about being great or being grateful, Being reflective,
being able to understand, you know, where the land, Being
ethical so that what you're doing is of right, you know,
sound in mind that you're delivering good karma. Being accountable
so that you say what you do, do what you say.
And the last thing is being transformational. And that's essentially
(17:41):
like you don't have to go to work, you don't
have to work with me. You get you get to
work with me. We're born in the America, in the
United States, so we're blessed in that own right, you know.
And something doesn't happen to you, it happens for you.
These are all opportunities that open the door for us.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Well. I also believe kind of piggyback off for that
at surrounding yourself with people who are good at what
they do you know it helps you. Also, It's like
it's one of those things where my friend always says win,
we all win.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, and like that talent, that talent piece is so vital.
It's like if they may think that they need me,
but I need them just me. It's a symbiotic relationship
and the delegation of that is crucial. Like when working
with clients, there's three things that we're either going to
do it and like I'm I'm a hustler, you're a hustler.
(18:31):
We're gonna get out there, we're gonna do it. We're
going to delegate it. I need to be better at
that and that's what I'm working on. Or we need
to delete it. I also need to be better at
that as well. I'm a recovering people pleaser, So yeah,
they come in my inbox and I'm like, yeah, I'll
do it. Or I texted somebody yesterday asked them to
do something. He said that doesn't work for me, thanks
(18:53):
for the offer, or something like that. I was like, wow,
that is amazing. If that were me, I want to
give it them a paragraph on all the things that
I have had to do or why I couldn't do it. It
felt like I was you know, it was just like
sorry that. And I worked with a coach as well
about like being the CEO of my own life and
just taking accountability and setting those boundaries, and that's something
that's you know, it takes time, but I'm still.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Working on I'm learning. I've learned that no is a
complete sentence. Yeah, that was a complete sentence. I mean
that's I don't need to give you anything more. I
don't want to like, that's it. I bet you.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
And this one guy that I met recently too, we
were talking about your self made man. I'm self made man.
You know, started like I came from nothing. But he's like,
I'd like to challenge that point. I don't think there
is such thing as a self made ban. It's like
there were so many people along the way that helped
you in that process. And I was like, dude, you're
right like one hundred percent. And there's this thing that
I used. I was like trying to write a book
(19:48):
about it for years and years, was calling it the
anonymous gatekeeper. But there are so many anonymous gatekeepers that
are vital and so to say, oh, I'm going to
get you in the X Y z room. No, it
doesn't work like that. That's why connection and you know
that collective, collective hole is what really rises the tide.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, it's it's just it's we're all swimming upstream. We're
all trying to upstream, and so some people a little faster.
Some people can push you forward up the stream sometimes
to flop around for a while. You know, it's one
spot that's kind of And I just I think as
I've gotten older, I have a birthday in a couple
of months, and it's not a milestone birthday by any means,
but I'm reaching post to sixty and I just and
(20:27):
for me, well you know why, Steven.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yeah, you don't got to say we all know it,
audience and feel that phrasing that you've heard so many times.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
I mean, no serious, I just drink out of the
water too, folks like that's the water. No, no, but no,
But in all serious is as I know, as I'm
getting older and the longer I've been in this business,
which can be crazy. It's entertainment, it can be crazy. Actually,
my resolve has gotten stronger into wanted to do what
I want to do now because I'm looking at the
(20:58):
other side now I'm looking at the golden so to speak.
Not saying not to look more, but I'm saying I have,
if God willing, I probably have less years than I
have than I have behind me coming here, Henry. So
now I'm purposely staying in my purpose. It's not like
you're kind of similar problem, You're like, by similar, you're
trying to stay in purpose too.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, one hundred percent. And that's where you know. I
love working with clients, and as I move forward, I
want to work more one on one with individuals that
I know can empower an entire community. So like working
with a company, great, you have a product of service,
we can benefit people. I really enjoy that. Don't get
me wrong, but I love to see the transformation of
an actual individual because the potential that they have the
(21:37):
impact is beyond if you have a tangible product, that
tangible product you know can help people. Don't get me wrong,
but I just love to see people light up, especially
like my alma mater at Penn State. And as I
go to the doctor and I get it like a
reporter or this is out of the alignment in your blood,
I'm like, man, it's just like all these moments are like,
snap into it. Okay, great, what are you going to
(21:57):
do right now to leave this world a better place?
To lead the lasting legacy for your children and to
inspire future generations because time is a ticking in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Find all about all the Penn State and all stuff.
All right, So this is this is five years. Five
years is when the pandemic basically for us and I
lay the lockdown started for a lot of stuffs started.
When you reflect back on it, now we're looking back
on the last five years and it was a pandemic.
(22:27):
Out of the pandemic business wise, what is one takeaway
that you have that you that you had to learn
during a pandemic that you're using now?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Oh man, there were so many. So when I first
started my agency, I so they I did not imitating,
say imitation is the highest form of flattery? Is that
is that the phrase?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yes? Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
So there's an amazing agency they're called Hawk Media, and
I was like, man, these guys are doing some really
cool things. I started my agency and they were they're
called like your Outside you know, or something like that.
I was like, oh man, I want to be like them,
but a little bit different and so when I first started,
I was more from a marketing perspective. I started as
your virtual CMO, and then so I was doing things
virtually because I just couldn't get the people. But now
(23:13):
I'm in Kentucky and I really can't get the people.
When I was in LA it was like, well, but
like my time was short because I had a baby.
But now it's like, I'm really in the I don't
want to sit in middle of nowhere, but in the
middle of the country, her access is limited. And to
see the rise of Zoom and some of those things,
it was very interesting to see that it felt like
(23:33):
we were more connected from a technologicalctive perspective, but a
lot more disconnected from an emotional perspective. And so one
of the things I remember my mom, like I mentioned,
she got sick. We were living in a town home
and I was running my business out of my bedroom
and she came and she was sick. I was like,
come on in. So then I was running Zoom Calls
(23:54):
out of my laundry room and I was like my
logo over my shoulder and nobody could tell it was
a maz But it was through all of that that
I really learned like you talked about, it's like what
is really my purpose? And why am I here? And
you know, we're all given gift whoever you think, God
or Buddha or whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
And I'm in.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Another groups it's like a group, I mean and say,
be the whole in the flute that the Christ's breath
flows through, Like how are you going to make your music?
And so as I came through the pandemic, it was
more about, you know, not trying to be transactional and
help people with like you know, Facebook ads, but really,
(24:33):
how can we elevate your purpose so that we can
impact people, like to come full circle to do good
in this world. And so if I'm going to work
with a client because I need the money or whatever
and it's not something that I feel is beneficial, I'm
just going to say no, and I'm going to trust
that the universe or whatever brings something that's more in
(24:54):
alignment with my purpose. And so fortunately a lot of
that has happened. I'm getting ready to do this Ted
talk about grief and going through my mom and I'm
hoping that that will allow me additional opportunities to work
with people that to essentially and I think this is
it for everyone? Turn your pain into purpose and once
you find that there's there's no holding back, that becomes
(25:14):
your compass. So when somebody asks you to do something,
is it in alignment with my purpose? Is it alignment
with my mission or my wife? It's not that you
just have to say no. And so for so long,
having been an actor or an entertainer, I was saying
yes to everything. But now it's just being more clear,
having more intention, and having more clarity.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
That's it. Good. I agree with you completely, folks. Here's
your piece of connection today, me and Steven Sideel. So
you have to follow him. Go online, he's everywhere, of course,
and follow him. Stephen, thanks for being on the show.
I talked to you forever, but you know I didn't
five hour podcasts. You have to come back.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Thank you. I would love to come back, and I did.
I appreciate the opportunity to platform, but more so, I
just appreciate the humanity that you have. If you've been
so kind of me. Some of my other friends and colleagues,
and I say this a lot, is you know it's
important for us to play the cards that we've been
dealt in the lead with love instead of folding with
fear and you've been doing that. So thank you so much,
(26:13):
thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I appreciate you. Uh where can they find you? If
they want to find your business or anything or find
you or find you, but anyway I'll find you.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Yeah, you can find uh, you know, eating a slice
of that good fellas in Lexington, Kentucky. Or if you
want to find me online, you can check out the
Sidel Agency. My last name is Ess and Sam e
is and Edward as in Igloo Diaz and David is
in Electric ellas in Lightning Agency dot com. So that's
(26:41):
the Sidell Agency dot com or Steven with a pH
S T E P H E N Siddel dot com
or same usernames across social I'm gonna leave you with this. Uh,
can I ask you one of my questions from my
card deck?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I love it? Yes? Please? Do I love this? Yes?
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Okay, tell me when to stop?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Stop? Oh?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
This one good. So what's what's one question or piece
of advice you would give to your younger self? And why?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Oh it's a it's a good one because everything about
this recently because again my birthday's coming up, it's TH's
coming from that I always give introspective.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, your thirteen year old self before with all of
his big sisters and brothers.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Oh yeah, Thursday. I was a middle child too, who
I was always like me, me, me, Okay, here we go.
I would tell this is a great question, I would
tell I would tell my younger self I was Jamie.
Then little Jamie, you will survive and you will find
a way to thrive, which is even more important than
just surviving, because I went through a lot after age thirteen,
(27:52):
and just do life. You go through a lot of stuff.
And now you know my fifties. When I was a kid,
I was gonna survive anything. I think I was gonna
make it. I just I was like, I'm just not
gonna make it. Plus society for Blackmas, I mean, there's
a whole thing in there. But I would tell say,
little Jamie, you will survive, but more importantly, you will
thrive on top of that or in spite of it.
(28:14):
And you will, You'll make it. And and I'll tell
myself you'll have some fun along the way too.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yes you will, little Jamie. I love that. When you
go back to your childhood nicknames, that's another great question.
That's where it really just unlocks it and you're doing
a great job.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Thank you for answering that and having me on.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
It's my pleasure. I'm James lo Junior, Folks. Extra Connections
on Facebook, I'm everywhere, James Like Juniors are sold at
James Lott Junior on all social media. Plow all of them, kids,
all of them. They're very easy for you and I
always challenge people I want to do these shows. Try
to find a connection with somebody. I don't care who
it is even Just leave the house and go to Starbucks.
Say hi to somebody I don't know, just whatever, say
(28:51):
hi to the Maarisa, asks and how they're doing. People
a lot of times just want to be asked how
are they or hi, like you said, say their names,
like these little simple questions that I get a lot,
I get a lot done, I get a lot of
stuff to by when I asked, well, how they're doing
with what's going on and actually listening to them, so
I said, I saw, I challenge everyone to do that.
(29:11):
Extra Connections is all social media, I mean everywhere, just everywhere,
and it's on YouTube at JLJ Media my company. Talk
to you guys next time.
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