Loading summary
Transcript226 lines
- [00:00]
Blake Mycoskie
Two years ago, I started waking up at three in the morning and I want to kill myself. Underneath all of it was this belief that I'm not enough. The reason I'm bringing this up is it's the most important thing anyone can do. Who is suffering is.
- [00:15]
Cody
If you think that you don't have mentally what it takes to lead a company, this guest is going to prove you wrong. We're Talking to Blake McCoskey who built Toms, but many you don't know that he started out probably just like you and I. No cash, no credentials, and started not one company, but a ton of them.
- [00:30]
Blake Mycoskie
After I sold Toms, I got super depressed. I built like what I think is the perfect company. I gave 100 million children shoes. I made more money than I ever could imagine, and I felt empty. No matter what I did, no matter how much success I had, I just never felt that I was enough. When you feel enough, you have so much peace because then you can actually just be. In three days, we sold $100,000 worth of laundry services. Boom. Everyone signed up.
- [00:56]
Cody
No big deal. That's wild. How many times do you think you've been rejected?
- [01:00]
Blake Mycoskie
You can think of any celebrity that has had a mental health challenge. I have cold called every single one of them now, and I only have six founding partners.
- [01:08]
Cody
You want to call one of them out publicly? One of my favorite things about you, actually, that I didn't know is what you're not famous for, actually, which is all these other businesses that you started, and a lot of them, you didn't even have a lot of money. Some of them, maybe you have money today, but you don't use money as like the main driver for growth. So I wanted to ask you for somebody listening today who wants to start a business but thinks I don't have the cash to do it. I don't have the credentials to do it. What would you tell that person?
- [01:45]
Blake Mycoskie
I mean, first thing I would say is I often think a startup having money is like a detriment. Yeah. Like, I never have raised money in any business I've started. And I've always felt like if you can bootstrap, it can prove and get customers and make it work, well, then you have, you know, a better chance of success. But I mean, Tom's, the entire company has started $3,000. You know, I mean, my laundry business I started, I started for $500. My online driver's ed company that I started maybe was, I don't know, fifteen hundred dollars. So, like, I've never actually Actually, the one business that I started that didn't work, I spent a couple million dollars, now that I think about it. Yeah. I started a habit formation company called Made for with a good friend of mine, Navy seal. Amazing. We had Andrew Huberman is one of our advisors. Like it was locked and loaded and I put three and a half million dollars in it. Zero today.
- [02:38]
Cody
Yeah, I love that because we bootstrap all of our company.
- [02:41]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [02:41]
Cody
And I kind of think the same thing. It's like you, you know, if you put a bunch of fuel on a fire that's going the wrong direction, it's not very good.
- [02:48]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, yeah.
- [02:48]
Cody
Were there things that you believed back then that now through multiple exits, selling a business for 50% at a 600mil valuation, multiple businesses you started that you're like, that was such a lie that they told me starting out in business. And now I know this to be the truth.
- [03:07]
Blake Mycoskie
I think one of the things is that I don't think that having experience in an industry makes you more likely to have success. Because when you have experience, you kind of know the rules, so you don't have like the courage to break them. And you're limited. You already start with a set of beliefs that are limiting the innovation that you would have. Like I started, you know, a cable television network. No experience in that, driver's ed company, zero experience in that. You know, TOMS obviously had never made a pair of shoes before. I was down in Argentina, you know, enough. I mean now, like, I've never made bracelets and accessories. Like, so I actually think that's one of the biggest lies we're told is small businesses or entrepreneurs is that you need to have experience. And then the second thing I learned, which I learned very much the hard way at toms, is that once you grow and you get to a certain size, you need experts. That's the biggest bunch of bullshit ever. I mean, literally like the number of people that I brought in to Tom's later, like once we were like a couple hundred million dollar business that quote, had like big company expertise did not help. If anything, it affected the culture in a negative way, caused more complexity. They wanted to bring their own systems in their own teams. It created like way more overhead than we ever needed. So a, you don't need a lot of experience to start. And if anything, having experience might limit your innovative thinking. And then if you are lucky enough to build something that really starts scaling, when they start telling you like, oh, you need to bring in this expertise, I don't think it's true. And I think my sister's a great example of that. My sister runs Aviator Nation and she owns 100% of the company, has never brought in, quote, the experts. And she and a small group of really passionate people built an incredible brand.
- [04:56]
Cody
Yeah, what did your parents feed you guys? Why are you both so successful? That's so crazy.
- [05:03]
Blake Mycoskie
And my brother too. My brother has a lot of people know. My brother has this amazing online golf company called My Golf Club, and basically it allows people to get by far the lowest prices of any golf equipment on the Internet and through a membership model. And so he hasn't been as, like, well known in the media, but he's also crushing it.
- [05:21]
Cody
Like, what do you attribute that to? Like, what is it, parenting or genetics?
- [05:25]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, I think our parents were like, always just like, if you can believe it, just go do it. Like, we didn't have a. We didn't have any fear growing up a failure. And I think maybe because, you know, we grew up, my dad was a doctor, my mom was an author. She did very well. He did well. Like, we had a nice safety net. So a lot of people don't have that, you know, A lot of people, you know, don't have the luxury of just going for it. But also, I just think from a psychological perspective, our parents are always instilling confidence in us and always, you know, encouraging us to, like, really go for what we believe in.
- [05:56]
Cody
Can you remember a moment where, like, it was. It really made you who you are as a kid because of what your parents did? Like, were there moments where you, you.
- [06:06]
Blake Mycoskie
Know, My mom basically put my dad through medical school. And then, you know, years later, I think I was 15 at the time. My sister was like 11, my brother was like 7. She decided she wanted to write a cookbook. And she was like, you know what? I have this idea for this cookbook. I think it'll help a lot of people lose weight. It's about cutting the fat out. It's good for your heart, this whole thing. She had, you know, didn't go to college, had no experience writing books. Like, my dad bought her a word processor at Walmart and she wrote this book and it became the number one best selling cookbook in America for three years. And she made millions of dollars.
- [06:40]
Cody
So it's like, just do things.
- [06:42]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, just do things. Just like, if you have an idea, just try it. And what, you know. And so I think that really created that entrepreneurial spirit in my brother and my sister and I. Yeah.
- [06:53]
Cody
You know, and you've told Me, even just our short time hanging out here, a bunch of stories about how you get people to get excited about a product or business without having a bunch of cash, which I love.
- [07:04]
Blake Mycoskie
Yes.
- [07:04]
Cody
So, like, I want to talk about. You were talking about two companies you're interested in right now, and one of them, you're like, you know how we're going to. We're going to get everybody into this. And then you told me your strategy. Will you tell them the strategy for the chair company?
- [07:15]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. Well, I think one of the best things to do or a company is to try to find a way to be integrated into natural conversations. And it's also like. Like, it's also this thing that, like, Seth Godin, the great marketing genius who I love, you know, he writes about the purple cow. And the purple cow is. It's like, if you're driving down the highway and you're looking at cows and then you see a purple one, you're going to stop, you're going to take a picture of it, you're going to tell everyone. So it's got to be remarkable. So, first off, when you're starting a business, like, if. The. More your product itself can be remarkable. But then it's like, how do we naturally integrate it into where conversations are happening? So this chair company is called the Pivot Chair pvot. Okay, so Pivot share. These guys are engineers from Nike. They're there for, like, 30 years, and they realize that sitting is the new smoking. Like, we were way too sedentary, and so they developed a chair that has. It's the only chair in the world, and they have all these patents on it that literally has two access points. So it moves this way and it moves this way. And so when you sit in the Pivot chair, if you're not prepared, you'll fall over. But if you're prepared and you engage your core a little bit, all the pressure goes out of your lower back, and it's like the most amazing experience ever. You can sit in it all day. It's not like it makes you sore, but it engages you enough that it's the. The equivalent of thousands of steps. And everyone's looking to count steps. Right? And so what my idea to them was is I was like, guys, like, because we're getting ready to do an investment round, the company launches in July. And I said, you know, I think the only people we have invest in this next round are podcast hosts, because they sit in a chair a big part of the day, and then their guests sit in the Chair. And so rather than them have to like, do an ad about it, just have the guests sit there and. And for the first five minutes of every conversation, what the fuck am I sitting in? And then naturally going to talk about, like, why this is so good for us. And so that's an example of like, taking something that might be hard to explain. And that's when you need a lots of money for marketing and advertising and just letting someone experience it in an environment that's naturally going to get people talking about it. And so that's. And like, we have no marketing budget for that company. We don't need it because it's just if people sit in it, they want one.
- [09:30]
Cody
How do you come up with ideas like this that don't take money, but just creativity? Like, do you have a creative process?
- [09:36]
Blake Mycoskie
I think the creative process is I just love people. I love talking to people. I love meeting strangers. I love asking people what you think. I love playing pranks on people. Like, I mean, it just, like, just anything to do with people. And I feel like the more I'm around people, the more ideas get generated. What doesn't work for me is like, sitting in, you know, in an office, trying to figure it out, or like having endless zoom calls, you know, because everyone's posturing, whatever. Like, it's actually like, let's just get out there and mess with it. Like, for instance, when I launched the Enough bracelet, what I did was I just started giving them to people, you know, and saying, look, like, I really struggled not feeling enough. And for many years, and this has been like a daily reminder for me, and I'd just love for you to have one and just see what happens or ask people, like, who in your life helps you really feel enough? And they start opening up. My mom. Okay, here's one for you. And go give one your mom, you know, so like, and then we had all these ideas about that, and then that leads to, well, what if every person that receives one now has a little code on their, on the packaging where they can scan it and send one to someone else? So what a great marketing idea, right? Like, everyone that wears a bracelet is also a giver of a bracelet. And now it just goes on forever. But that wouldn't have come had I not been like, on the street, like, passing out bracelets, talking to people.
- [10:52]
Cody
It's such a good point because I think in this age of AI, everybody's really worried about their job and what's going to happen and will somebody take this away from me?
- [11:01]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [11:01]
Cody
And One of the things that I think lasts is something you talk about a lot, which is really taste and creativity, Right?
- [11:07]
Blake Mycoskie
Yes.
- [11:07]
Cody
And so, like, you're obviously a guy with taste. You're like, cool dressed.
- [11:11]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [11:12]
Cody
You got all this stuff. Stuff. Toms was like, you know, one of the first cool shoe companies I remember.
- [11:17]
Blake Mycoskie
Thank you.
- [11:18]
Cody
And so I guess my question for you there is like, does everybody have taste? Can you develop taste as an entrepreneur? Can you hire people with taste?
- [11:29]
Blake Mycoskie
I definitely think you can hire people with taste. Like, I feel like when I'm meeting with someone, I kind of know if they've got it or they don't.
- [11:37]
Cody
How can you tell?
- [11:38]
Blake Mycoskie
Just their personal style choices, their. Their attention to details, their Instagram. I mean, as silly as that sounds like, even to that, to some degree, I mean, it's gotten a little bit harder because everyone's so hyper focused and everyone kind of follows what everyone else is doing. But, but originally, early day Instagram, like back when, like, I was running toms, you know, 10 plus years ago, Instagram was a great way to see, like when we were hiring people, like, because it's, it's interesting. Like they say, like, if you really want to know someone, you know, look at their camera roll, you know, it's like, what are they actually taking pictures of? And if they're taking pictures of like, cool architecture or like a really cool restaurant or whatever, even if they're not posting it, it's like that's how you can kind of see what is someone thinking about, you know? And I think a lot of taste is also about curiosity. Like, taste. I don't necessarily think actually I would change this. I care more about someone having a sense of style than taste. And I don't care if it's my style or not. Like, they could be hardcore cowboy, great, but if they lean into it and like, that's them, I respect that, you know, or they're really into, you know, vintage cameras and, like, that's their thing. And they've got this camera and they tell you exactly about it and why they had this leather strap and what this viewfinder does. Like, that's a sense of style. Whereas taste can be a little bit kind of like following whatever's cool in the moment. But I'm more interested in style because that tells me independent thinking, that tells me curiosity, that tells me confidence. They don't care if everyone else has their style, you know, So I think that's something that's a little bit more interesting to look at when you're looking to hire someone. Because if someone has a specific sense of style, I think that that can be applied to other styles. So, like, if they're very specific in their personal style, then they can figure out, like, what is the right style of how we want to merchandise or stack these bracelets.
- [13:31]
Cody
Yeah, it's a good point. Yeah. It's funny, I was actually talking to David, my podcast producer, because I was like, I got to get a little bit more swag. I was too serious because I'm ex finance and he is known for. Hopefully I can say this publicly. Sometimes you'll paint your nails. Now the Internet knows.
- [13:47]
Blake Mycoskie
And he's like, yeah, I painted my nails before.
- [13:50]
Cody
See, I was like, david, I don't know about that. I was like, I don't know if that's what we. And he was like, listen, bud, you got to get. You got to cool. You got to get on my level.
- [13:58]
Blake Mycoskie
I painted my. The reason I did it is for years, I was trying to stop biting my fingernails.
- [14:04]
Cody
Okay, that's reasonable.
- [14:05]
Blake Mycoskie
And so I thought if I paint them pink and green and all these random colors, then it, like, brings, like, a conscious attention to them, and if I have attention to them, I'm not going to want to hurt them.
- [14:13]
Cody
Yeah. Did it work?
- [14:14]
Blake Mycoskie
That didn't really work as well, but. But it did make my kids think I was, like, super embarrassing. Which ultimately, that's why stopped doing it, because my daughter thought it was cool when she was like 4 and 5 and we went to get manicures. Now that she's 8, it's like, if I painted nails, I'm not invited to any school assemblies.
- [14:31]
Cody
We're talking about all these incredible things you do with business and these big businesses you've started, but there are a bunch of businesses nobody, I don't think knows that you started. And so I want to talk about them in a couple different ways. One, I want to talk about Easy Laundry, which you first.
- [14:44]
Blake Mycoskie
Business.
- [14:44]
Cody
Yeah, tell me about the business. How much money did you start it with and what happened?
- [14:49]
Blake Mycoskie
500 bucks. I broke my. Well, not broke. I tore my Achilles tendon. I was a tennis player in college. I was on crutches. So all of a sudden, I couldn't carry my laundry to the laundry facility, which is in the bottom of the dormitory. So my laundry is piling up. I can't carry him down. My roommate's kind of giving me a hard time. We go home for Thanksgiving. His dad was an entrepreneur. I didn't know what the word entrepreneur was at this point. Right. My dad's a doctor. My grandfather's a doctor, my uncle's a doctor, My aunt's a nurse. Like, there. My whole family's medical. And his dad. We were talking about the fact that I couldn't do my laundry. And he said, well, you should just have someone, you know, come and pick it up. And I was like, I looked in the yellow Pages, and this is how old I am, right? So I looked in the yellow pages.
- [15:30]
Cody
Which, by the way, was a directory of listings, like the Internet back in the day.
- [15:35]
Blake Mycoskie
Remember that? For anyone who doesn't know what it is, it's basically, imagine if Google was printed. But local, local. So as I told him, I was like, I looked in the Yellow pages. There's no fucking people to pick up my lottery. No one will do it. He's like, that sounds like a business opportunity. I'm like, a what? He's like, because I'm a jock, I'm just a pure tennis player. It's all I do. And he's like, I think you guys should start a laundry business. And I was like. He's like, yeah, people. Sure, people. I went to a school, SMU in Dallas. A lot of rich kids. And so he's like, I think you charge a lot of money for this. So literally, we go back, we buy a FedEx truck for $500. An old. I mean, like, literally doesn't work. We had to get the engine replaced. But, like, the shell of an old FedEx truck at, like, a junkyard, $500. We paint on the side E Z Laundry red and blue, and we decide to start going around to fraternities and sororities and, like, pitching our services. Now, I've never even done my own laundry. I mean, I grew up very sheltered. My mom was like, Ms. Homemaker. So, like, I'm, like, now figuring out how to, like, hire people to do laundry in the middle of the night at these places. And we just figured it out. It's amazing. I was like, 17, 18 years old.
- [16:43]
Cody
How'd you sell it?
- [16:44]
Blake Mycoskie
It sucks doing your laundry. And, like. And so, you know, if you pay us this, we'll come pick it up every week. But here's the whole thing. And this is such. And I really hope if someone takes from this podcast, this is, like, such an. One of my first, most important lessons of marketing. So we had this great service for, you know, I don't know how much. It was like, say, 20 bucks a week. We'll do all your laundry for you. Okay? No one signs up. I mean, I don't think we had one customer. We went to fraternities. So first off, the sororities are like, we're not giving you our panties bake. Like, this is the last thing you could do. I mean, they all knew.
- [17:16]
Cody
Not this.
- [17:16]
Blake Mycoskie
They're like, exactly. Not this way. You know, but. So the sororities are like, this is just. No way. And then the guys like, what are you doing? Like, why are you playing golf or goofing around drinking beer? Like, you're doing people's laundry. Like, I mean, just the kids. The kids who needed it didn't. Weren't the customers. But who was a customer? Their parents. And the parents who were the most. The customer was the incoming freshmen. So we sold no laundry services for a semester. We go home this summer. We're thinking about basically quitting. It's just not working. And then we get a booth at orientation for the next year. In three days, we sold $100,000 worth of laundry services because the parents assumed when they got there, you buy the books, you sign up for the laundry, you get the meal plan. Boom. Everyone signed up. They even questioned the price.
- [18:05]
Cody
It was nuts.
- [18:06]
Blake Mycoskie
I dropped out of college, never went back because of this moment in my life.
- [18:09]
Cody
Because of laundry.
- [18:09]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. I literally. It was the craziest thing. Like, literally, we just were in that. We just had the right pitch to the right customer. So sometimes you have the best idea. You're just selling the wrong person.
- [18:21]
Cody
Yeah.
- [18:21]
Blake Mycoskie
And it wasn't the kids. Even though the kids are the ones who are benefiting from. I don't know why they weren't the ones that were thinking they want to spend $20 on it when they only have so much money for beer or whatever. But their parents, who are thinking, my kid has maybe never done their own laundry, or if they have, they don't do a great job. And I just bought the books for, you know, $900. Might as well spend $500 a semester to make sure they don't ruin their clothes. And boom, $100,000 in sales. Three days. Next day, I call my dad, drop out of college, never go back.
- [18:50]
Cody
That's so smart. Well, it's true, because these days, I feel like people overcomplicate marketing so much, they're like the demographic, the avatar, the analysis. Right.
- [18:59]
Blake Mycoskie
People hate when I say that, too. I just. Just made some real enemies already. I know. I put this on. I put this on Instagram the other day, and, like, four people that worked for me, Tom's roof down. Like, really, really, Like, I hate you. Build a 600 billion million dollar business. You hate marketing. Come on.
- [19:16]
Cody
But it's true.
- [19:17]
Blake Mycoskie
Because it's like, I just don't like the, the formal concept of marketing. I think when you're trying to like concoct a way to convince or manipulate someone to buy something, it's just, this is not what I, what I'm about. Like, it's like, no, like we were giving something great. We just once again, right place, right time, right goes back to the chair. Like the chair, if we get the right people to sit in it in an environment where a lot of people see their amazing kind of remarkable experience, it'll spread like wildfire.
- [19:44]
Cody
What do you call that? Like, have you named that? Is that like trigger point marketing? Is it like. Because I think that's a really useful framework for people to think as opposed to, you know, oh, I spend X percentage of my revenue on PPC with Zuckerberg.
- [19:59]
Blake Mycoskie
You know, I think it's like showing the utility. I mean, even with the enough bracelet, what's been really fun is, and I know I keep referencing it, eventually we'll have to talk about it. But, but, but the thing is, is like, it's really about the utility of like. So it's, it's not even the fashion of it or it's not even like that we'll raise a bunch of money for mental health charities. It's like, what does this actually do for someone? And so, yeah, so anyway, so I've just launched this and it came from my own, my own journey. After I sold toms, I got super depressed. And actually even before I sold toms, I started to get depressed. But it got much worse when I sold it because I thought, okay, once I sold it, I have all this money, all this freedom, I could live in the mountains. I'm going to be so happy. And then I wasn't. And then I was like, oh, shit, now what do I do? Like, I built like what I think is the perfect company. I gave 100 million children's shoes. Like, you know, I made more money than I ever could imagine.
- [20:55]
Cody
You're friends with all the celebrities.
- [20:57]
Blake Mycoskie
Everyone is, you know, every single thing. I mean, covers of every magazine for a while. Yeah, like, and I felt empty and I felt like I didn't really, like, know like, what the second half of my life would be like. And the depression got worse and worse over seven years as we talked about. It got really, really bad a couple of years ago. And in part of my healing journey, my therapist really helped me see that underneath all of it was this fear, this. This belief that I'm not enough. And it started when I was young and I tried to feel enough by winning tennis matches. Then I tried to feel enough by starting businesses, then starting a business that would help people. But no matter what I did, no matter how much success I had, I just never felt that I was enough. And then after I did everything that the world tells you will make you feel enough, and I still didn't feel enough, that's when the depression, because it was like I didn't know where else to turn, which ultimately forced me to go inward and learned me and helped me really realize and heal this idea that I'm enough, you're enough, we're all enough. But our culture lies to us all the time and tells us we're not enough. And if in social media is great, it's showing you and making you feel comparison to everyone else and that you're not enough. And so I decided after I started feeling better about a year ago that I wanted to help people feel enough. And my best friend told me to make a bracelet because he's like, I have all these tattoos, right? So they all have these different sayings. Like, one says, be present. One says, do the work, speak the truth, enjoy the ride, carpe diem. And so he's like, instead of getting an I am enough tattoo, which I can see that's what you're getting ready to do, he's like, most people aren't going to get that tattoo. So why don't you create something that everyone can participate in? And you like bracelets. Why don't you make a bracelet? So went to India, got these bracelets. They're handmade by women in India. And the idea is it's just a daily reminder just to look down and kind of be like, I'm enough. I've always been enough. And like, fuck everyone that tells me that I'm not enough, you know, because so much of that pressure is coming from all around us. And when you feel enough, you have so much peace because then you can actually just be and you can be present and you can be connected. And so the utility of this for me is, you know, that it helps remind me. But the utility of this for someone else could be different. So, for instance, we 100% of the profits from enough goes to mental health organizations. So a lot of people I know that are wearing the bracelet now are wearing it because just they want to raise money for mental health the same way like the Livestrong bracelet raised money for cancer, right? They're like, no, I know someone that struggled, maybe they lost someone to suicide. You know, I mean, and they're like, I'm going to wear this in honor of them or to raise money. And, and that's why they wear it. But it's, we're giving the utility. And so, you know, yes, I talk to my story and I, and I share other people's enough stories. But also I show that like there's utility this and then the other thing, which at the end I'm going to give you one is you have, I'll show you right now, a little teaser is we only sell them in pairs. So when you buy one for yourself or you're given one, you get to wear the first one. But then you get to think, who do you want? Who in your life do you want to give the second one to? And so that's utility. So in terms of this, I would call it utility marketing. Like, I really think that's the thing is like, what utility does the enough bracelet do for people besides raise money for charity? What utility does the pivot chair do for someone who's sitting all day, who might have back pain and who wants to live a more active life? What utility did the laundry business do for those parents? The utility wasn't even the clean clothes. Utility was the peace of mind we gave them.
- [24:31]
Cody
It's so true.
- [24:32]
Blake Mycoskie
So think about utility.
- [24:34]
Cody
Speaking of insane marketing ideas, did I ever tell you one of my favorites? I actually started my entire business with a newsletter, literally sending emails. Built my entire business from zero to nine figures in four years, which is wild. So if I could recommend you one thing, it would be to start a newsletter. Write about anything in the world that you're curious about. Your business, your customers, your ideas. And my friend Tim Ferriss is on Beehive and he writes an email each Friday, literally only about his five favorite things. I actually switch all of my newsletters to Beehive because I wanted to grow. And so they helped me see where my audience comes from, who reads how to send stupid simple but like beautiful emails. And then the growth tools are all totally built in, which works for me. So it recommends my newsletter in front of other people's audiences. So I'm finding readers I never even would have reached. Now I'm obsessed with this team. The founder Tyler is literally the most relentless, mission driven founder. Just like Blake, actually, he's the most relentless one I've ever worked with. It's fascinating to watch their team. They ship product and features and Solve every issue that I have come up. In fact, these little wizards just spun up a new landing page for me in two days because my other one was terrible. So if you want to share your ideas with the world and make money on it, go to beehive.comcody and use code CODY30. You'll get 30 off three months. That's beehive.comcody for code CODY30. Also, drop your newsletters on Beehive when you start them in the comments. I want to see what you guys are writing. I'm looking for new ideas and brilliant people, and I'm hoping more people like you get into this game of newsletters, because it very simply changed my entire life. Again, that's Beehive with two E's, Two eyes. No third E. What? You guys will figure this out. You'll remember Beehive, won't you? You know what we should do? Somebody's listening right now. And you have your business, but you don't have your utility marketing.
- [26:24]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [26:25]
Cody
Why don't you comment for us and I'll pick one and send it to you, and then we can give them a response.
- [26:30]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [26:31]
Cody
Oh, that'd be.
- [26:31]
Blake Mycoskie
I love making videos.
- [26:32]
Cody
Okay.
- [26:33]
Blake Mycoskie
So my team, all the time, it's like, you want to get a hold of someone? Just let me make a video. Like, the other day is so funny. Our PR person was trying when we were launching Enough. You know, he was like. He was like, talking about how everyone to launch it. And then Gayle King came up, and I was like, I was on the CBS show with Gayle King like a decade ago. Let me just make a video. And he's like. I'm like, trust me. Hey, Gail, it's Blake. Ten years ago, you helped me launch toms. I'm launching Enough. I would love to come on the show. What do you think? Sure enough, we launched it with Gayle King. Like, sometimes the simplest thing is just, like, just make the video. You know, ask the person to buy it. Like, I mean, just, like, it's simple things.
- [27:08]
Cody
Yeah. I mean, we definitely don't ask enough. That is for sure.
- [27:11]
Blake Mycoskie
And I think something to that.
- [27:12]
Cody
I would love that.
- [27:13]
Blake Mycoskie
No, because this is something that I feel so grateful for in my life right now. So when I was building toms, you talked about celebrities involved. We had a lot of celebrities, a lot of people supporting toms, But I felt so much pressure whenever I would go to a meeting or pitch someone, like, will you wear our shoes? Or whatever, because my personal identity was tied to whether they said yes or no. So every rejection, which you're gonna get a lot of rejections as an entrepreneur was, like, personally painful. So it caused me stress, anxiety, all these things now, because I really do feel I'm enough. Whether you like the bracelet, whether they like the bracelet, whether anyone likes the bracelet, I know that there's someone that this is really gonna reach and is gonna touch them. That now I have no problem asking anyone anything, because if they say no, it's no big deal, because it's not. My personal identity is whether they like it or they say yes or whatever. And so that's coming. That's been so fun for me, because now as I'm going out to different, you know, Kid Cudi is one of my partners. I cold called him.
- [28:14]
Cody
No big deal. That's wild.
- [28:15]
Blake Mycoskie
Cold called him. You know, I mean, literally, I had a friend that knew his manager, and I had read about how his. He had really struggled with mental health and had suicidal ideation, like, a lot of the same shit that I went through. And he just seemed like a real, like, genuine guy. And so I talked to her, and she's like, I can get it in front of him. She got in front of him a day later, he's like, hey, can I do a zoom with Blake? All of a sudden, zooming with Kid Cudi. And then a week later, he's one of our founding partners of Enough. Yeah, that's. But if he would have said no, I wouldn't even thought 10 seconds about it. I would have been on to the next.
- [28:47]
Cody
Well, you know what else is cool? I don't think. I mean, I just learned this. Like, you can go to IMDb, sign up for their premium thing, and see every single agent's. Every single famous person's agent.
- [28:56]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. That means they hate this.
- [28:57]
Cody
Yeah. They're gonna, like, delete this part. Yeah, whatever. That's your job. That's why you get paid the 10 to 20%. Go with it.
- [29:03]
Blake Mycoskie
Ex.
- [29:04]
Cody
But I think the cool part is, and what I hope people take away is that even though you've had this huge career and you've built all these big businesses, these are actually little micro things that anybody in the world could do.
- [29:14]
Blake Mycoskie
Oh.
- [29:14]
Cody
Cause, I mean, how many times do you think you've been rejected in your.
- [29:18]
Blake Mycoskie
Life just with enough. I'm not gonna put some celebrities and athletes on or their agents, but, like, you can think of any mental health celebrity, any celebrity that has had a mental health challenge that has talked publicly about it, or any Olympic athlete that has a huge platform about mental Health. I have cold called every single one of them now, and I only have six founding partners. There's hundreds of them. So that means that I'm still waiting to hear back from agents of hundreds of these people who say mental health is the most important thing in their life. And I'm saying you can help us raise tens of millions of dollars by just wearing the damn bracelet. Nothing.
- [29:55]
Cody
You want to call one of them out publicly, That is. Yeah. But that's the game.
- [30:03]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. So I think you know what I'd like to do? I'm gonna give you a list and in the show notes, because I don't wanna call them out. But I'm saying this is my top dream. 30 people to be ambassadors of enough. So if anyone is watching or knows their manager or knows them, because all these people, it's not like I'm asking them to do something they're not already doing. You're already saying, I really care about mental health. I got through this. I want to help other people. So in the show notes, I'm gonna give you my list of my top 30, and hopefully someone can get us to one of them and we'll have a new founding partner.
- [30:33]
Cody
I love that. That'll be huge. All right, let's go. YouTube. I like this. Okay. I also wanna talk about. You seem to have this, like, Yeah, I don't care. You know, fuck all these people. Fuck whatever they think. But you have had numerous, like, what my dad would call dark nights of the soul.
- [30:48]
Blake Mycoskie
Yes.
- [30:48]
Cody
Where you have, like, looked at the darkness in the face that I think all of us have felt either just as a fucking human, but also as an entrepreneur.
- [30:56]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [30:57]
Cody
And I think it'd be interesting. I don't know which one you want to share, but, like, I'd love to hear about a night where you just head in hands, didn't know what to do next. And then how you got through that for maybe the person that's listening right now with their head in their hands.
- [31:11]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. I mean, I think the scariest thing for me was when I started getting depressed and then it got worse and I started trying to do all these external things to, you know, built the dream house, moved my family to Costa Rica, you know, got divorced, got remarried, got divorced again. Like, I did a lot of things to mess up my life. And there was a time, and in doing that, I, you know, had an. You know, I didn't have as close a connection with my kids. And I then went to a psychiatrist who told me I was bipolar. And then I Got put on all these meds and I mean, like, my journey got went from bad to worse to worse to worse to. Two years ago, I started waking up at three in the morning and I want to kill myself. And it was so scary because I knew logically I would never do that to my kids. Like, I knew, like, but I couldn't stop thinking, like, go to your boat. You know, that you lived on when you started Toms. That was your happy place. Do it there. They'll never find you someone else. I mean, like, that's the level of detail. And I was dealing with this every single day, and I was keeping it. I was so ashamed because, like, look, I have money, I have a wife at the time, I have kids. Like, like, what? Who am I to, like, want to leave this earth? And so I wasn't telling anyone. And the thing I did, which I'm. The reason I'm bringing this up is it's the most important thing anyone can do who is suffering is tell your friends. Just like, there's never judgment, you know, I think mental health has had a lot of stigma. I think it's getting less and less. But just find at least one person today to be like, it's this bad, and don't hold anything back. Like, literally be like, this is what I'm thinking. This is what I'm feeling. This is what I'm planning. Because I believe what happens with people who become suicidal, or at least for me, my experience and others I've talked to and some that I've lost, is that it's like the brain's broken, you know, I mean, literally, it's no different than like a huge car accident, but it's invisible to everyone. And so think about it, like, how are you ever going to go to the hospital? How are you ever going to get the surgery? How are you ever going to get the PT if people don't see you mangled on the street? But if you're in. In that dark of a place, you are ma. Your brain is mangled. The neurons are not firing because it's. Because it is not normal for us not to want to live. You know, and especially me. I had tons of friends. I. You know, I mean, all these reasons, but the most important thing I did and the most important thing anyone can do is just reach out for help. And yes, there's great crisis text signs and there's all this mental health, you know, Project Healthy Minds is one of my amazing partners with enough. They have all these resources on their website, but I Still think the most important thing is tell someone really close to you. I told my friends, I told my mom. Now, I hated that I was putting this on my mom, but I was also like, I just need to get through the next six months. And over time, they helped me make some very important decisions in my life. Helped me get off all the pharmaceuticals, help me go to a treatment facility. My journey really was largely supported by the people that I shared. And also, it's something about just talking about it, you know, kind of takes the pressure away from it. It takes a little of the energy out of it.
- [34:35]
Cody
So were you falsely diagnosed, bipolar?
- [34:37]
Blake Mycoskie
I think so. I mean, some people might. Who knows? Who knows? This is one of my favorite tattoos. So if you can see this one, this is my. Who knows? This is my partner in toms. Okay. Right. And so for those who are just listening, I remember not everyone's watching this. Then you should. Maybe we'll post a picture of this. But this is Alejo. He started TOMS with me. He's wearing a beret. What's that?
- [35:03]
Cody
Is he wearing a beret?
- [35:04]
Blake Mycoskie
All these Argentine gauchos wear this hat. It's like a gaucho.
- [35:07]
Cody
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [35:07]
Blake Mycoskie
But anyways, he. In a very funny way, I won't tell the whole story because it'll take another half an hour, but he basically spoke for 20 minutes with certainty about all the things in his life that he saw through this vision and this whole thing after some psychedelics. And then he looked at me and goes, but who knows?
- [35:28]
Cody
Is he Argentinian?
- [35:29]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, that is a very Argentinian. And the thing is, the reason I tattooed it on my forearm is I think it's like one of the. Like, it's literally like the Buddha talking to me. It was like so smart because I was like, we don't know. I don't know why I got depressed, but I know that it led to my next purpose. You know, I don't know why I was in this relationship, but it led to me having kids, you know, like, who knows if it's good or bad, you know? And so for me, I don't know, I just. I really look at life with just a marvel now and to not be. And that also goes for people's journeys. Like someone difficult in your life, or maybe someone's not treating you well or whatever. Like, who knows?
- [36:10]
Cody
Why do you think it's hard to be in a relationship with a founder?
- [36:16]
Blake Mycoskie
I think it's a hard to be in relationship with me. Do you? Maybe not so anymore. I think at different periods of my life. It was. I mean, I. I think it was very hard be in a relationship with me when I was building and growing Toms, because it was my first love, you know, I mean, it really was. I mean, there's just, you know, we were traveling around the world, we were giving shoes to kids. I was. I was getting the external validation that someone who never feels enough needed. So I was getting it constantly, you know, and so, you know, it's hard to be in a relationship because in a relationship, you mess up, you forget to take the garbage out, you're late for dinner. Like, you're not exactly getting external validation every time you come home. But if you're getting it outside as a founder, especially if you have success, it's really hard. But then the interesting thing now is I'm in an incredible relationship with an amazing woman. And, you know, she's been part of the whole enough, you know, building all enough, and it's going great. So I think a lot of it is. I wouldn't say it's a founder. I'd say maybe first time founder. You know, I don't know. But I do think that there are sacrifices, but I think the person knows that going in, and they're either in for that ride or they're not. And that's why you got to make sure that you have the same vision for, you know, what you're doing. Because right now, helping people feel enough and raising money for mental health is outside of my kids, like, the most important thing going on. And if I was with someone that didn't also share that passion, it probably wouldn't work out very well.
- [37:45]
Cody
So now when you get into a relationship, do you set it up different?
- [37:49]
Blake Mycoskie
Like, I think I just got incredibly. I think God threw me a bone on Naquin. I mean, she's so amazing.
- [37:55]
Cody
You sound insane. Is she here?
- [37:57]
Blake Mycoskie
Is she listening? She is here.
- [37:58]
Cody
Oh, yeah. No, she's. You're doing this and she's not even listening. We'll have to send it to her later.
- [38:02]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, that's how independent she is. She's just like, I'm doing my thing. You're doing your thing.
- [38:06]
Cody
No, but. But I'm curious. Like, I think we have a lot of people who ask questions about relationships, my husband and I.
- [38:12]
Blake Mycoskie
No, I like it. I've watched some of your videos on Instagram about it.
- [38:14]
Cody
Yeah, well, I don't. I'm always like, I have no fucking idea. Talk to you when I'm 80. Who knows, right?
- [38:19]
Blake Mycoskie
Who knows?
- [38:20]
Cody
Who knows? But I was Curious, like for entrepreneurs or somebody going into a relationship or trying to find their person.
- [38:27]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [38:28]
Cody
Like what. What would you fess up with somebody that you are in a relationship with now? What questions would you ask, you know, the person, what would you tell them?
- [38:36]
Blake Mycoskie
Well, I think the first thing is, is just being radically honest about what your priorities are. You know, the hard thing is, especially for someone who didn't feel enough to that, is that you kind of tell people what they want to hear so they'll love you. Right. Versus, like, what. Who you really are and what you're really about. And I think so I was kind of doomed, and I think my romantic partners are doomed because I never felt that I was enough. So in a sense, I was looking for them to tell me that I'm enough or to fill this hole that only I can fill. Right. And so maybe I'm not leading with how important my business is or my purpose is because I want to say whatever it takes so that they're going to tell me I'm enough. Once I healed this, then I was able to, I think, attract a relationship and be really honest about, hey, my kids are my number one priority right now. I spend half my time with them. Next to that. I am on a mission to literally change the world's mental health. Like, I want to raise more money for mental health through enough than anyone in the history of the world. Like, I'm not. Like, that's how big of a goal I have. And that's going to require me to go on a bunch of podcasts, to travel the world, to do speaking, to do all these things. And so most of our days are going to be living in a suitcase. And when I'm not in a suitcase, I want to surf. And I met a woman from Hawaii that surfs.
- [40:00]
Cody
Oh, it's perfect.
- [40:01]
Blake Mycoskie
But. But it was, like, very clear. Like, when I'm not doing that, I really want to be surfing. And if you really like the idea of either surfing or being in a beach town and also traveling around the world on this crazy, you know, enough. Enough ride, then great. And that's such a good. But it was. But it was so much easier to be clear and honest. Honest. Because I wasn't looking for the external validation anymore. I was getting it for myself. I was really believing I am enough, whether this woman is excited about being on this ride with me or not. And then therefore, I also attracted someone who they felt they were enough, and so they were able to be honest about what's important to them and what Their needs are. And so I think it's hard being with a founder. Being with an entrepreneur is. Is. Is not for everybody, everyone. But I also think it's really hard if you struggle with what I've struggled with and your founder, to not really kind of sell a vision of a life that's really not what you want.
- [40:59]
Cody
Yeah, well, that's.
- [41:00]
Blake Mycoskie
Sorry. That's also what causes depression. I mean, I'm convinced that one of the largest causes of depression is just not living in integrity with yourself. You know, for so many years, I was living the life that I thought everyone else wanted me to live, and I wasn't living the life I wanted to live. And I think. So that's what catches up to us, is we make all these little compromises. Largely, I did it so that I would receive love. And then you wake up and you're living a whole compromised life and that you don't want to live. And that's your soul's like, well, I'm going to get depressed and feel horrible until you make major decisions to get back in alignment. And then you get back in alignment and everything feels at peace again.
- [41:40]
Cody
So true. I also think the universe doesn't give you things when you're unclear. So, you know, if you're like, no, I'll take whatever love I can get, if that's not actually what you mean, then things go sideways. And so it's so important. Even the way you set goals is really interesting to listen to because you're like, I wanted this woman that here are these things that are really important to me, and so they can decide one way or the other and the way you set goals. You know, my husband and I were talking the other day about how we were looking at, like, the greatest men of all time. You know, if you look throughout history and not one of the best looking.
- [42:11]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, exactly. You and your husband sitting around, I think he's hot.
- [42:14]
Cody
Chris would not like that. He would not be interested in that. He's like you.
- [42:18]
Blake Mycoskie
He's an.
- [42:18]
Cody
He's an ex Navy seal surfer. Okay, but. So he's a dude's dude. But we were like, none of these men have actually achieved their goals fully. Like, you know, if you go to Napoleon, if you look back, you know, throughout history and you look at the biggest leaders in the world, they never achieved their goal. And yours is interesting because your goal was not, well, I want to sell a million bracelets. You know, it's. I want to do more for mental health than anybody's ever done. I want to raise more money than ever. Do you think about goals a specific way? Is there, like, a right way or a wrong way to set goals for Blake?
- [42:48]
Blake Mycoskie
I would definitely. Now, I'm glad you brought this up. So in the same sense, I'll say, I hope that enough these bracelets, you know, every person on the planet wears one, and we raise more money than anyone in the history of mental health. And if I just help one dad tell his teenage daughter that she's enough and read the poem that's in there to her, and that creates a tighter bond, We've had success. Like, I literally both goals. This actually, the dad daughter one's more important. And that sounds like a great thing to say on a podcast or in a press thing or whatever, but I actually believe it. And the thing is, already we've only been doing this for, like, two weeks now. We've gotten the most incredible stories of, you know, teenage girls giving it to each other, and it's like their new friendship bracelet. You know, one had been really struggling with depression. She's like, hey, I want you to know I always got you and you are enough. Or, I did hear about this dad and daughter. I heard about this son that gave it to his dad, who said, I recognize that my dad's been depressed probably for, like, most of my adult life. He's a guy in his 30s. He's like. But I never knew how to ask him about it or talk to him. And I gave him the bracelet, and it opened up a whole conversation. And now my dad's going to therapy. Therapy. Like, I mean, it's like, so. So when I say goals I can have, you can. I believe you can set goals that are, you know, not mutually exclusive. Like, I hope that this becomes huge, but if it doesn't, even if we touch a few people and create some interesting conversations and important healing, we've had success. I think there's been talk about, like, you set a goal and then you hold onto it very lightly. That's like, so you don't have the pressure of the goal. Like, goals are great. Because I do believe what you put out into the universe is often what you get back. So if you don't, like you said, if you don't tell the universe what you want, how the hell are you going to get it? How's it going to give it to you? And if you put pressure of, like, oh, I'm only going to feel this project was successful if we raise a hundred million dollars. Well, that's just a silly thing, but A lot of people do that, and a lot of founders do that. I mean, they didn't set goals financially, like, oh, I need to sell my company for 40 million or 50 million, or I need to do this or I need to do that. But really, the ones that build the great businesses are 100% focused on something that is not necessarily measurable and more cultural.
- [45:01]
Cody
Big goals loosely held.
- [45:03]
Blake Mycoskie
I love that. Big goals loosely held.
- [45:04]
Cody
So good. Also, I think, you know, I think about that a lot with everything we do, and it's one of my favorite things about the businesses you've built before. But, you know, we started the beginning of the podcast with me saying, you know, I try to always think about, like, one person specifically who listens to this. Cause if you think about it, you hold something precious in your hands. When you're taking somebody's attention, that's their life, right? That's. That's lifespan. That's very precious. We don't get very many of those. And so if you imagine that we get millions of views a month across all the social channels, what a travesty. If you and I don't give them something really worth spending their life on, like, that would hurt me a little bit.
- [45:40]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [45:41]
Cody
And so I remember, like, we. We haven't had very many, but we had two podcasts we had to kill because I was like, ah, I got stuff out of it. Thank you so much for coming. But, like, a million hours on this, it's not enough. It's not good enough. And so I think one other thing I want to talk about, which is, like, why we put up the tree. We were struggling beforehand with this. You know, if you guys are watching us, you're like, why is there this giant tree that looks so beautiful behind us? And we're struggling with what it was supposed to be. And then you told a story about wisdom and the Buddha that this reminded you of. Will you tell us that story?
- [46:14]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. So when I started toms, we grew beyond shoes into eyewear, and we started selling sunglasses. And then we made a deal where we said, okay, if you buy a pair of our sunglasses, we'll pay for a cataract surgery to someone who's blind. We found out that the greatest cataract surgeons in the world are at this hospital in India, in Lundini. And we decided to go there and watch people get their eyesight back. I mean, it was literally one of the greatest experiences of my life. I mean, literally, I saw grandparents that had never seen their grandkids and see them for the first Time because of a surgery that someone got. Because someone bought a pair of sunglasses on. On, you know, toms.com or something.
- [46:50]
Cody
I mean, it's crazy. And how much does that surgery cost then?
- [46:52]
Blake Mycoskie
It cost, like, $16 back then. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, yeah.
- [46:57]
Cody
So with one pair of shoes, you're able to cure eye cycle?
- [47:00]
Blake Mycoskie
Well, no, with eyewear, we just saw eyewear for 100, 115 bucks.
- [47:03]
Cody
That makes sense.
- [47:04]
Blake Mycoskie
And $16 of it was. Went to paying the surgery. So, anyway, so we go to Lindini, and they didn't tell me this until we got there, but also, Lindini is the birthplace of the Buddha. And I looked over and they're like, that's the tree. Now, whether that was a tree or not, who knows? But it was a tree that looks just like this. And I have a photo. I have to find it. Probably we can get it for the show of me sitting underneath the tree. And I remember sitting there, and this was before I got depressed. This is like when Tom's was really taking off. I was in my flow. I was very connected to it for all the right reasons. I wasn't putting all the external pressure. And I just remember thinking, like, if this is it, if there's nothing else that happens with this, this. This idea, like, and I'd just seen some eye surgeries. I was like, that's all that matters. And I think that's, like, the way I want to live my life. Each day, each week, each month, going back to goals. Like, at the end of the day, I kind of be like, okay, if that's the last one, I'm okay with it, you know, and after the week or after the month, if that's it, I'm okay with it. Because that's, again, about living in alignment, you know? And for me, having gone through such a scary time where for days I thought it was going to end very soon, I just feel like I have, like, this. You know, they say new lease on life. Like, I feel like this. I get this, like, second chance. And so that's why I'm spending all my time trying to help others not feel the way I felt and really connect people. Because at the end of the day, I mean, that's all we have are relationships and our own mental health. Because if we don't have mental health, it doesn't matter what physical health you have.
- [48:39]
Cody
Yeah. So what do you do now? Like, if you're feeling down, not even going all the way back, but if you're feeling down or you want to feel re. Inspired what do you turn to? What activities, what books, what readings, what quotes?
- [48:51]
Blake Mycoskie
So, okay, this is silly, but one of the things I'm doing right now, it's not silly, it's just. It's just. I don't know, I don't know how people respond to this. Okay, I like this. Yeah, I know you're gonna like this. So about two months ago, I started using AI therapy. Now a lot of people ask Chad, gdp, mental health stuff. But there's this app called Sonia Sonia AI and I met the founder at a mental health conference and he was giving a presentation and explaining how it works and how it's, you know, built on the LLMs. But they've basically taken, you know, every therapist, every case study, every book ever written, put it in there and tried to design. And they call it emotional support. I think for legal reasons they call it emotional support instead of AI therapy, but it's AI therapy. And so, and so anyways, I was like, well, I've done a lot of therapy. I mean, I mean, if anyone's done therapy, I mean, I've done a lot of therapy. And one of the things that's really a bummer with therapy is if I have a panic attack, it doesn't happen at 2 o' clock on a Thursday, 2 o' clock on a Thursday. It happens at 4 in the morning. And my therapist, I don't care how much money you have, no therapist is answering your call at 4:00 in the morning. And so I was like, wow, I could. Because I've still struggled with anxiety. I still have these issues that come up and especially with like, launches of new things and, you know, just, am I always thinking, am I being enough, good enough, dad? And all these things. I wake up and I have stress about, oh my gosh, I didn't do this or that. And so now it's like, boom, it's right there at 4 in the morning. And I don't have to do a whole hour session. I could do it for 5 minutes, 10 minutes.
- [50:27]
Cody
And it works.
- [50:27]
Blake Mycoskie
It works. Unbelievable. And literally use it.
- [50:29]
Cody
If you go, I'm panicking.
- [50:30]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. So literally, so, you know, you go in and you get to choose. Like, I like to be talked to. Like, like, I like a therapist that is like really direct or I like one that's more like light or one this and like you get, you kind of fine tune. It takes like 10 minutes. And then of course, as memory, so never forgets anything and you tell them what's going on. And like, I started off Saying, like, this is my core wound. I never felt that I was enough. And so this is what I've done. This is what helped me. I had this mantra based meditation. I do these things. And so I taught it that. And then I teach it, you know, like, okay, you know, one of my biggest sources of stress is this in my personal life or this. And so it starts figuring all this out. And so then when I say I'm having a panic attack this morning, it knows what to check in about, you know, well, how did you sleep? For instance? One of the things that I have is like, I have a really high, like, focus on sleep. And if I don't get good night's sleep, I can feel off. And it feels almost like. Like if I ever have jet lag, it almost feels like depression. Like they kind of feel the same to me. And so it'll check in on my sleep and then I'll be like, okay, well, like, one of the things that we've recognized, we like me. And it's so funny how it talks to you is like that, you know, you really have a trouble when things get too performative. So when you're having to out there sell or do too much press or too much of that, like, that's the old Blake and it will call it, like, that's the. I mean, we've talked enough where it's like, that's the Blake before all the, all the growth. The new Blake likes connection. So are you having enough connection and this week, what are you doing this week to have more connection? That's great.
- [52:01]
Cody
So it doesn't just do what like ChatGPT does. It's like, oh, you're great, you're perfect.
- [52:06]
Blake Mycoskie
No, no, no, no. It's like so specific. And then it will be. And then if I say, you know, what I'm doing on Thursday this week to have more connection, I'm going to commit to, you know, going on a run with my friend Pat. It'll send me a text message Thursday morning and say, hey, are you doing the run with Pat today?
- [52:23]
Cody
Are we investing in this company?
- [52:24]
Blake Mycoskie
What's happening? I want to. I want to. I mean, literally right now, I literally just working with the founders, I'm. One of the things I'm also trying to do a lot now is mentor young entrepreneurs, especially if they're building businesses that can help people with their mental health. And so when I met these guys, I was like, hey, like, I don't know. I get. First off, I just wanted to try myself. And then it was working so well. And then they know the Tom story. And then I presented at the mental health conference and they're like, hey, like, can you help us some? And so I've been mentoring them, so I might invest. We'll see. But I mean, who knows where this is going? I don't even know if it's going to be legal. But right now it's free at Sonia AI. So you can do it. Right now it's legal and it's free. I don't know if it will be forever, but yeah, what about our. But that's really helping me. And, and I guess the point I bring that up is, is I think what helps me the most is to have a dependable tool and every tool that works for someone else. So some of my friends, one of my friends who's recovering alcoholic, still deals with a lot of anxiety, starts to get you know, out of sorts of cold plunge, you know, a cold shower. That's his tool. Just boom. He doesn't, he won't even like allow himself to call someone or talk to a therapist until he does that first. You know, right now this Sonia thing is my tool. And you know, everyone has a tool. But I think that's the thing I would say is if someone's struggling, find a tool that can interrupt the rumination, the negative thinking, the, you know, all that stuff. And so that's, that's really a big tool for me. And then my other tool is my bracelet. You know, I just have it, I wear it, I talk about it, I, you know, give it out to people all the time. Like tools are important.
- [53:58]
Cody
It's a good point. It's a pattern interrupt.
- [54:00]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah, that's what we need. Because I think when we get out of sorts, you know, when we start feeling negative thoughts, when we start ruminating, when we, you know, you know, it's all just a pattern. It's just our brain like, you know, it's just like the brain is sending. I mean, for years, for 40 something years, my brain told me I wasn't enough. And so what I did for 40 days is I did a mantra based meditation, 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes in the evening, where I simply just said, I'm enough, I've always been enough. And I'd like laugh because it was so silly and it felt stupid for the first couple weeks. And then it started working. I started feeling it, but all I did was just change that pattern.
- [54:33]
Cody
I love that. Yeah, I just had Tony Robbins on the podcast.
- [54:36]
Blake Mycoskie
Oh, great. I love that. You know, We've met briefly once. We've never spent any time together. I want to have him on my podcast. Oh, you should, because he talks a lot about feeling enough.
- [54:45]
Cody
Oh, yeah. And he has one of, I think, like, the most intense presences of anybody that I've met. And so I was at his house, and we spent a good amount of time with him. And I remember, like, when he walked in the room, I was like, whoa. Like, that is big guy, right? But we've had a lot of big. You know, there's a lot of big guys. But what really took me away is, like, that man is locked in. I was like, oh, fuck, he knows what's going on in here. He is, like, so locked in. And then kind of similar to you, he was like. It was a lot of curiosity, which you seem to have the same thing, like, why are you this way? Why am I this way? And then once I figure it out, how do I put a tool in place to figure out the solution? Which I think is really interesting. But he would be great for your podcast. One of the other things I wanted to ask you about now, it's so interesting to me that you could have ever been in this dark place, because the way you come off is so much joy to be so much big, huge energy for life.
- [55:39]
Blake Mycoskie
That's crazy.
- [55:40]
Cody
And so I was wondering, like, today, what has you so excited? Obviously, this. But, like, when you wake up in the morning, is it that you're gonna go surf that day? Is it that you get to build again?
- [55:56]
Blake Mycoskie
I think what has me most excited about life right now is service. It's like. It's just like, I'm getting to help people again. You've always. I know right now, this podcast, there's a thousand percent chance that there's someone listening who's really in a tough place. There's also probably people that feeling stuck, feeling uninspired, feeling insecure, like, I. I felt those things. I mean, for years, I didn't have one business idea. For seven years, for two years, I was a shell of myself. My friends say. Literally, they look in my eyes and there was no one there. I mean, I didn't. I couldn't even raise my voice to this octave for two years. And so, because I felt that way and it was so scary and it was so recent that I think I wake up now and I'm kind of like.
- [56:47]
Cody
How do you engineer your life? Like, it almost seems like you've adventured your entire career. That's one of the things I struggle with.
- [56:52]
Blake Mycoskie
Adventure.
- [56:53]
Cody
Yeah.
- [56:54]
Blake Mycoskie
Oh, yeah, I do. I always make time for adventure.
- [56:56]
Cody
But, like, so in my business, we were just talking about this and I'm like, man, when I'm in my little entrepreneurship grind, it's kind of all I do. Like, I'm so deep in it. I talk to a lot of people. It's the same. They're just like, they grind every single day. And you seem like a type of person who has always integrated sort of the rest of life into it.
- [57:14]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah.
- [57:15]
Cody
How do you do that?
- [57:16]
Blake Mycoskie
Two things. One is I really schedule joy. So I believe that, like, a lot of people hope for joy or awe or these big moments that come to them. Like, I put it on the calendar the same way you have a board meeting. Like, I'm like, for one week a month, I'm going surfing now. I'll still. You can't surf all day long, so I'll surf from 5 in the morning till 10, get my joy. I'll do Zoom calls from 10 to 4, and me and my lady will go for a walk on the beach. We'll have a nice dinner. We'll do, you know, a sunset. And that's my day. And that is like as important as the press week in New York last week. And so I really, really schedule that. And that's, you know, that's nice that I can go somewhere, say, where they're surf or whatever. Not every person can do that. But what is that for you? Like, what is that joy? Is it taking guitar lessons? Is it learning something new on YouTube? Like, what is that thing? Because if you don't schedule that, then, like, what's the purpose? You know, what's the point?
- [58:14]
Cody
Because do you do it every day too?
- [58:16]
Blake Mycoskie
No, I wish. I wish. I mean, if I'm really, really like operating a 10 out of 10, then I'm like, making sure I protect a couple hours, you know, early in the morning to, you know, usually it's physical activity or it's playing golf, like nine holes at sunset, you know, with my son or with my friends or whatever.
- [58:34]
Cody
Yeah.
- [58:35]
Blake Mycoskie
So.
- [58:35]
Cody
But it's at least once a month.
- [58:36]
Blake Mycoskie
So once a month. I try to schedule a month. Now I always get a week. No. But I definitely get at least a four day. Four days. There's. There's not a month that goes by that I don't have four days where I'm just like, see ya.
- [58:48]
Cody
And do you always do something weird like. Like going to India or like, surf? It's not just like, it seems like they're.
- [58:58]
Blake Mycoskie
That's more my personality than I think what I would share. Like going back to how do we help the person who's listening to this and focusing on them? Like, yes, I do a lot of just crazy adventures because that's just always how I've been like, you know, I've always been, you know, racing cars or climbing mountains or. I mean, I just, I like the adrenaline of those things. But also I think you can schedule this. You know, if someone's just like, I love reading and I'm going to schedule four days where I go. It could be like the, you know, you go camping could cost nothing. And I'm just going to sit and read the books that I've been wanting to read for two years, you know, or I'm going to go. And just like one thing I did that was, I guess it was a little bit out there, but very simple was I hiked the Camino Trail for a week with Alejo this summer. So we just walked for a week. We didn't run a big walker. Yeah, we just walked. We got up, walked, ate, walked. Like it was the most boring thing I've ever done and one of the most profound because my whole nervous system reset and I was able to process the depression and all the things I went through and the pain I caused others and the pain others caused me. And I was able to forgive them and forgive myself. And I was like, man, this is better than any therapy retreat I've ever been to. And all I did for a week was walk.
- [60:13]
Cody
I love that.
- [60:14]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. And so. So I think it could be. I could have. I did that in Spain, but I could have done that, you know, in Marin, where I live, you know. Yeah, so. So I. I think that actually I.
- [60:24]
Cody
Yeah, I just looked up. This is so funny. But my hobby this year is literally more walking because I like thinking a lot while walking. But you know that there are 52 trails in the US where you can do more than a seven day walk that are supposed to be seen as highly scenic and you can camp along them. So, like, if you chatgpt it right now, Anybody listening? Totally free. Maybe 712 bucks to camp and then you can go for a walk. Maybe we can start walking all around the country and having beautiful ideas while you do it and not being sedentary. Like your chair.
- [60:55]
Blake Mycoskie
Exactly.
- [60:55]
Cody
So that we can get all our steps in.
- [60:57]
Blake Mycoskie
Sitting is the new smoking.
- [60:58]
Cody
Who knew? Blake walking episode.
- [61:01]
Blake Mycoskie
Here's the slogan I'm pitching. We're talking to the chair company. I'll see what you think. As a Business person, really simple. Never still.
- [61:08]
Cody
Oh, God, that's true. Plus, I'm into that. I don't like being still.
- [61:11]
Blake Mycoskie
Yeah. So now when you're sick, they're thinking about the chair thing. Not to make this all about that, but they're going to love this guy here. So they thought it was to help, you know, with. Get people, you know, not being still, you know, help with the back pain, help with, you know. But what they found, like, the biggest hack is people have adhd, because what happens. Do you. So, okay, so you know how, like, when you. If you really focus on something, you kind of need to be doing something else?
- [61:35]
Cody
Oh, totally.
- [61:36]
Blake Mycoskie
You like to fidget. You, like, doodle, you ring. So they've shown that you can really focus. Well, we've done all this research to show that by sitting in this chair, your body is just doing this kind of. You can barely see it, and it allows you to hyper focus on whatever you're doing. So I sold. Yeah, you're getting one for sure.
- [61:52]
Cody
I'm totally sold.
- [61:53]
Blake Mycoskie
And hopefully all your guests will be sitting in one.
- [61:55]
Cody
Okay, so I want to leave the person listening here that, like, just needs to listen to Blake today, like, your parting words. So, like, there's that person out there, you know, you have something to imbue to them. What comes to you first. What do you want to leave the listener?
- [62:12]
Blake Mycoskie
I just think that what I want to say is that it will pass, you know, no matter what you're going through, no matter how hard it is, like, just. It will get better. It always does. If you just hang on and you take the steps to do the things. So go out for the walk, you know. You know, reach out to a friend, you know, journal for. For 30 seconds, 95 minutes. Just. Just 30 seconds of something that you're appreciative of. But no matter how hard it is, it will pass. I didn't think it was going to pass. I thought I was trapped. I thought I'd made too many mistakes. I had too much shame, and that's why I had such dark thoughts. But looking back now, I'm like, it was always gonna pass. I just had to hold on. I just had to start doing one thing at a time. I just had McConaughey on my podcast, and he talks about one in a row. Just get one in a row today. And so that would be. My advice is, like, knowing like. Or not even advice. Just, like, just. I want you to hear that it will pass and it will get better, but you gotta do the work you gotta put it in, Blake.
- [63:25]
Cody
Who would've thought? Least interesting thing about you is that you sold your company for 600 million bucks. Least interesting. Thank you so much for being here today.
- [63:32]
Blake Mycoskie
I'm so gotta give you a bracelet before we're done. Oh, we're gonna do it right now. So here we go. So we take one out. This one's for you, and it says. So you gotta make sure I do this right. Yep. So open your palm.
- [63:45]
Cody
Okay.
- [63:45]
Blake Mycoskie
Okay. And for those who are listening, I'm putting enough bracelets.
- [63:50]
Cody
Matches my outfit today. Didn't even wear great on purpose.
- [63:53]
Blake Mycoskie
And I'm gonna read you something, okay? Okay. So this is a little poem. Do you know the poet nq? So he's an amazing poet friend of mine. And I said, how do I share this with someone besides just giving it to him? Like, if I really want them to feel this, this, then what can we say? So here it is. So, Cody, I see you, the you behind the you. Not for anything you've done or anything you're going to do. I don't stop to say it enough, but I believe in you. And if you could see yourself from my view, you'd believe it too. That's why I'm giving you the gift that I'm receiving, too. A message to remind you when you're lost or feeling blue. A mantra to repeat when times are tough. Because no matter who we are, we are always enough. It's a silent prayer I'm sending for the world's mental health. I wear the symbol for myself and now as a bond to someone else. It's a blessing and a gentle push to never give up. Because no matter who you are, you are enough.
- [65:02]
Cody
So good. Beautiful. Also, while you're a marketing legend, Blake, thank you so much for being here today.
- [65:08]
Blake Mycoskie
Thank you for having me.
- [65:09]
Cody
Where can people go to find you?
- [65:11]
Blake Mycoskie
WeAreEnough Co is the website for enough. And then I'm on Instagram at. At Blake Mikoski and the pivot chair pvot.
- [65:21]
Cody
Yeah, we'll put all the links down.
- [65:23]
Blake Mycoskie
Below and the 30 people that I would love to be our ambassadors. I'm looking to your community to help me get to them.
- [65:29]
Cody
I like it.
- [65:29]
Blake Mycoskie
I love this idea.
- [65:30]
Cody
And we'll ping somebody your brilliant marketing ideas too and help them find this. What did we call it? We called it utility marketing.
- [65:38]
Blake Mycoskie
Utility marketing.
- [65:38]
Cody
We got a little trademark.
- [65:39]
Blake Mycoskie
Blake said once Do 10 people. Whoa, 10 people.
- [65:42]
Cody
I love it.
- [65:43]
Blake Mycoskie
10 people. Tell us what you need help with. Utility marketing. What are they going to comment so.
- [65:48]
Cody
They'Re going to comment on YouTube. Basically, just tell us what your product.
- [65:50]
Blake Mycoskie
Is, and then I'll just make them a video of my idea.
- [65:53]
Cody
Ah, I love this idea.
- [65:54]
Blake Mycoskie
All right.
- [65:55]
Cody
You're the man.
- [65:55]
Blake Mycoskie
Thank you.
- [65:56]
Cody
This is so great.