← Digital Social Hour
Digital Social Hour
How Podcasting Can Transform Your Business | Sebastian Rusk DSH #1293
00:43:51
Discover how podcasting can transform your business and life in this electrifying episode of the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🎙️🔥 Join us as we sit down with Sebastian Rusk, a podcasting pioneer and expert in personal branding, to...
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- [00:00]
A
Is your personal brand in perpetuity, is your reputation. And authenticity trumps likability. And always make time for. For people, Sebastian. Always. You're never too busy, you'll never be too popular, you'll never be too big. Make time for people. You never ever forget where you came.
- [00:27]
B
Okay, guys, Sebastian here. Today we are going to talk podcasting, something we both do for a living.
- [00:32]
A
Pot. Talking about podcasts on a podcast. Yeah, One of my favorite pastimes.
- [00:35]
B
I love it, man.
- [00:36]
A
Great to be here, dude.
- [00:37]
B
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for coming. When did you get into podcasting?
- [00:40]
A
About 15 years ago.
- [00:42]
B
Damn.
- [00:42]
A
Blog talk radio.
- [00:43]
B
Oh, gee, I don't know if you remember.
- [00:45]
A
Yeah, I wanted to. I had like six bucks to my name and I wanted to meet guys like Gary Vee and Mari Smith back in the day at a Facebook queen. And I had no way of connecting with these people because, what, I'm brand new and I started a online radio show, blog talk radio, and then figured out that it had an RSS feed that I could throw on SoundCloud.
- [01:06]
B
I remember SoundCloud.
- [01:07]
A
Yeah, man. So I turned that into a podcast and I realized, well, if I submit that to SoundCloud, then I can get on Apple and Spotify came on. I was real inconsistent. I started my first company doing social media and met Gary Vee in 2011. Kind of turned me on to what was going to be happening in this digital landscape and started Social Buzz tv, which was an on air media outlet, but also turned into boot camps and networking events where I really know how I was going to make money. I just had like a burning desire to figure it out. I had lost everything in 2008 and full time single dad moved back to Miami from Orange county and I didn't know what I wanted to do. And in 2010, I just had an awakening moment and I said, I need to go see Tony Robbins. Need to awaken the giant within. So I called a friend of mine that worked for Tony at the time and she kills me on all the details. She's like, it's going to be in Long beach in July, 700 bucks. And I'm like, all right, cool. I got eight bucks to my name. I gotta figure this out. So she calls me back about an hour later. She goes, hey, my. My best friend lives on Miami Beach. I totally forgot to tell you. She's part of Tony's core team of six. Travels the world with them. You should totally link up with her. Not this time, Sean. I'm like, what can I bring to the table? For an individual like this. But she said, hey, it's worth a drink. Hit her up. I'll make the introduction. So she did that. And I met up with that Friday, and we met up on Miami beach for happy hour. And about five minutes into the conversation, she said, so, what's next? And I said, I don't know. And she said, that's a problem. And these are my offended days. So I'm thinking, who's this chick telling me what I'm doing with my life is a problem? When I thought to myself, she works for Tony Robbins, dude, you might want to humble yourself and stay curious. So I said, so what do you mean? And she asked me a question. And this is where everything changed. She said, tell you exactly what I mean. Who's missing out because you're not showing up? And I thought, wow. So spending 2008, 2010 sucking my thumb. Poor woe is me. I lost everything. And then. And then her asking me that question immediately changed my thought process. Go. Wait a second, wait a second. I have a gift. I don't know what my. My gift is a communicator. But I don't know what's next for me. But I've been on social media since MySpace. Yeah, I gotta figure this out. And by that Monday, I had the Social Buzz TV logo, and I started running around town with a bus pass on my skateboard, evangelizing the biggest, baddest social media company, Creating content, going to your events, doing boot camps. And then eventually people would say, hey, can you help me out with your social media or my social media? And I said, sure. And I would, you know, if you had a budget and a checkbook, you were my client. So I launched the agency a year later, and we grew it to a five figure a month business. And it was cool and everything, but it was very labor intensive. You know, I. But at that same time, I had developed my craft as a speaker and wrote my first book and met Gary and became friends with him and was an incredible mentor. And I had honed in a lot of stuff.
- [04:16]
B
Yeah.
- [04:17]
A
And. But podcasting was not my main go to. It was my vehicle. Little did I know it would become my life's work. But not before I would do some deep, deep, deep work on Sebastian to find out who I really am.
- [04:34]
B
Yeah.
- [04:34]
A
And what I. What my purpose was and what my gift really was about. I knew I had a gift, but what is it all about? And what is it going to do for other people? So in the beginning of 2016, I was. I was over it. I was over. I didn't want to. I didn't care about your Facebook page and your content. I was emcee in a lot of events. I had been afforded an opportunity to, to emcee traffic and conversions with Digital Marketer. That was a big one. And that, that opened up a lot of doors for me. And I saw it as their booking the Sebastian Rusk, you know, with his bow tie and the whole deal. And I quickly learned that you're just a hired gun dude. And you're the busy. You're the hardest working guy in the building because you're the first one there. You're the last one to leave. You're not allowed to leave the stage, and you're not the star of the show. And that was a humbling experience. And I am so grateful for that experience that Ryan Deiss gave me. Hit him up on Twitter on DM and he booked me that day.
- [05:34]
B
Cold DM?
- [05:35]
A
Yeah, dude, cold DM in like 2016.
- [05:37]
B
Those still work, by the way, guys.
- [05:39]
A
Yeah, yeah, they totally do. So I went to a gig in Boise, Idaho. If you've ever been to Boise before, but don't ever go there. And it didn't work out well. I wasn't aligned with the guy. I was filling in for a buddy of mine, and I wasn't aligned with the client. And on the long journey back from Boise to Miami, I had a sobering conversation with myself. I said, sebastian, what do you want to do? Like really, what do you want to do, dude? So I want to do three things. I want to do keynotes or do comedy. I want to launch podcasts. If it's not those three things, I'm just not leaving the house. And so as I started to phase the stuff that I my non negotiable was out, there was still a lot going on in here. So if there's a lot going on in here, it's going to affect what's going on out there. But I didn't get that yet. So I decided it was time for a girlfriend. So I hopped on Tinder when Tinder was still a dating site, so don't at me. And I met a girl on March 1, 2016. Met her for a drink at Fort Lauderdale and she said, I'm in a personal development course right now and it's incredible. And I said, huh, Let me tell you about personal development. Tony Robbins watched On Fire twice. What I didn't tell her is I didn't do anything with the training. After I went to them, I was just quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, ego, ego, ego, ego, ego. Well, she got me through the doors of this training, thank God. I'm so grateful for her. Broke up with me in the middle of the training. As if personal development's not hard enough, right? And I went through this eight day training. It was one long weekend and then a five day training. First long weekend is let's just figure out what's going on in the five days, is let's get in there and let's just, let's just rip it out of you and let's set you on a new path so you can start living the life that you were designed to live. So when I got done with that training, I came out of it real clear. I thought I hated what I was doing with Social Buzz and the MC work. I didn't hate the work I was doing. I hated myself. And when you hate yourself, you hate everything around you and in your path. So I learned how to love myself and in addition to that, learned how to be fully accountable for my life, past, present and future. Whatever's happened in my life, whatever is happening in my life, whatever will happen in life is my fault. So I forgave my parents. I stepped into my power, I stepped into my gift, and I got explicitly clear on my non negatiable boundaries on all I'm doing is speaking comedy and launching podcasts. And I, after I got done with that year, I took, you know, unplanned six months off to repair Sebastian. Thank God I did. And I said, let's, let's get back in the game. We got to figure out what's next. Let's phase out social buzz, let's let clients know heart's no longer in it. Let's not renew any contracts. Let's figure out what's next. So I went and rented a co working desk for a couple hundred bucks a month around the corner from my house. And I was leaving that first day, I rented the desk and I ran into an old friend and she had an Internet radio show. And I'm like, what the hell is that? She's like, well, we like, you know, we got these channels. I'm like, I'm already confused, but is it working? She's like, well, I go, yeah, I'm not convinced. You know, you can just start a podcast, right? She goes, I'm headed out, why don't you walk me to my car? And I go, all right, cool. So I walk her to her car and I said, you know, start A podcast. I've done it before. I haven't been as consistent, but I have a podcast. She goes, I don't know how to do that. Why don't you create a solution that helps people start a podcast? Immediate antennas up. And it was like this just, like, total, just God moment. And it was like, hold on a second here. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is everything that I've been asking for all wrapped up into one. So I said, hey, it was great seeing you. I'll be in touch. We're gonna get your podcast started. I ran back upstairs to my. To my rented desk, took out two sheets of paper and a pencil, and I mapped out what would become the podcast launch lab, which is a turnkey podcast launch solution to take you from ID at iTunes in 90 days or less with our proven podcast launch solution. And that was what I started to evangelize everywhere. So we phased out and like, how do you leave the digital world and stay in it? Bingo. Podcasting. So I started to dig a little deeper, and I told the story to a buddy on the golf course right around that time, and I said, I grew up in a radio station. My dad was a DJ for 30 years. I've never had any, like, intention of following in his footsteps, but here I am in the world of podcasting. And he said, man, our genes sure are powerful, aren't they? I said, I don't. I don't know anything about jeans, but my grandfather's name was Gene. Maybe that has something to do with it. So it's kind of funny how it all started to culminate together. But I contribute 90% of it to my own personal healing journey and really being able to step in to who I've was designed to be. I always ask people, are you willing to give up who you've become to be who you are? And that is a very puzzling question for some, but also very sobering for others to go. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think that when we are walking around with a mask on, we are so desperate to take that mask off, but we don't know it.
- [10:55]
B
Yeah.
- [10:55]
A
Until we realize that there's an opportunity to go and do so. And never in a million years, Sean, did I think that podcasting would become my life's work. Not because it. It's a great, profitable business. It is, and I'm grateful for that. But I get to see people experience what I experienced. I get people to get to see people step into a completely different version of themselves because they started a podcast. I get Them to see them grow their business through a conversation on their podcast. I see them get to start having a presence in so on social media because of their podcast. But more importantly, I get to hear the stories of transformation of man.
- [11:35]
B
There's so many wins.
- [11:36]
A
I could have never forgot. I could have never predicted this, Sebastian. And that's. That's my real joy. That's what fills my cup.
- [11:42]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Podcasting changed my life. Has changed yours. I mean, yeah. Let alone the money, just the information you learn from the guests, the networking access. I mean, we got billionaires coming on both of our shows. What kind of access could you get without a podcast? It's really hard.
- [11:56]
A
Kickstarter, it's the ultimate networking tool. Ultimate.
- [11:59]
B
Yeah. Nothing comes close, dude, because I've paid a lot of money to go to events and I've met some good people at these events, but compared to podcasting, where there's little cost. Yeah, it's a game changer.
- [12:09]
A
Yeah.
- [12:10]
B
Yeah. But launching one's hard. So what you're providing is. Is a good solution.
- [12:13]
A
And the crazy part is that everybody in the space and you, you know, you're in the space. None of my peers want to do what I do.
- [12:18]
B
Yeah, I mean, it's. You're putting yourself out there, man. You know, it's. It's not a comfortable position at first. You know, I was really nervous at first, exposing a lot of my history, went through some trauma and stuff, but now it feels really liberating.
- [12:31]
A
Well, I. Like I told, I met a girl yesterday at lunch at conference here, and she's a widow and she's now a grief counselor, and she used to run marathons around the world with her husband, and now she continues to do that to keep his legacy alive. She says, I'm writing a book, and what do you do? I said, I help people start a podcast so they can radically change their life in their business. She goes, wow, kind of thought about that. So we exchanged information. She texted me this morning and said, I can't stop thinking about our conversation yesterday, and I need a little bit more selling on the idea of starting a podcast. I said, I don't think you do. She said, what do you mean? I said, I think that your story is going to be someone's survival guide and your mechanism to be able to get that survival guide to people that you don't even know yet are through your message and your book and your talks and your podcast and your ability to network and connect with people. You're not starting a podcast just to Start a podcast. We have plenty. Yeah, a lot of cast out there. And it's interesting to see where these conversations go because I'm not here to sell anybody on anything. I'm here to remind you who you are and help you step into the version that you were designed to be and experience some of the incredible things that I've been able to experience, realizing these things and realizing that. In fact, she said this quote to me yesterday, and I live my life by it. The only way out is through. We live in a world full of vices and escaping and trying to get away from it all, but if we go in, we find a way out. And it's so unique for people to find that path. And I. It seems so normal to me now because I know when. When life gets hectic, it's time for me to jump on my yoga mat, light some sage, put some meditation music on, and just go in for a minute and just go. Everything we need is inside us. Every single thing that we are desperate to. To want to know and have the answers. And I'm a man of faith. I believe God, our gut feeling is God's whisper that allows us to navigate through our live and lives and be able to figure out what those answers are. And that still small voice is there if we can silence our noise enough to be able to go and hear it.
- [14:59]
B
Yeah, I love that. Why do you think so many podcasts fail? Because you see these stats on, like, what percentage make it to episode 10 episode. It's super low, right?
- [15:06]
A
Yeah, I. People give up. We live in an instantaneous, instant gratification world. We want everything yesterday when it right now not gonna. Why, why, why go to in and out. We can Uber eats it. Well, I don't think they Uber eats, but bad example.
- [15:20]
B
I wish they did, actually.
- [15:24]
A
I. And I think that people's level of commitment isn't where they think that it is when they first get started. And I am adamant about making sure people stick to what they said they're gonna do.
- [15:37]
B
Right?
- [15:38]
A
Because the shows that have the biggest success happen to be my most successful and wealthiest clients. And that's not because they have money and because they're successful, they have sustainability. It's no wonder they're successful. It's no wonder that they're in business and they're doing the things that they're doing because they stay the course.
- [15:56]
B
Right?
- [15:56]
A
And they're willing to get in there. And they know that it just takes one conversation to change it all. And with that consistency and sustainability, that's where the magic happens. But people get in and they're like, hey, you know, it doesn't work. And I think in addition to that, even more important than that, Sean, it's when you try to do it all on your own.
- [16:14]
B
Yeah.
- [16:15]
A
Let's record some episodes. Let's see what AI tools are out there. Let's. I got a cousin that used to edit stuff. I think he can help me out. I. I think it's taking it all on your own. If you don't hire a professional, at least have a freelancer, a va. Somebody to come in and take the. The content, edit it. That doesn't happen a lot either. Just record something and throw it on the Internet. But I think those are the two main things. Consistency. They give up and then trying to do it on your own.
- [16:45]
B
Yeah. Yeah. People ask me every day, and I'm sure you get asked this too, how to grow the show. And it's like they expect some magic answer. Yeah, but I'm posting 20 times a day on my Instagram. Like, I'm posting every Single Day on YouTube. It's just consistency. And I've done that for two years straight.
- [16:59]
A
Yeah.
- [17:00]
B
That's how we're pulling numbers.
- [17:01]
A
Right.
- [17:01]
B
But they expect me to give them some magic formula. It's crazy, right?
- [17:04]
A
Exactly. There is no magic number. It's time and patience and consistency.
- [17:09]
B
Yeah.
- [17:09]
A
And being able to go and do it and, you know, and not trying to do everything yourself and realizing I don't know what's on the other side of this, but I know there's something there for me, so I'm willing to stay consistent with it.
- [17:19]
B
Yeah. I like what you said about hiring because the editors, for me, absolute game changer. If I tried doing the clips myself, there's no way.
- [17:26]
A
I would rather wake up in the morning, punch myself in the face, and eat my pillow, then added a podcast. But I have a whole team that loves their work, and I'm grateful for that. And we have an entire assembly line and we do incredible work. The client records their stuff, uploads their content, moves on with their day.
- [17:43]
B
Yeah. They get clips in their inbox the next day.
- [17:45]
A
Right?
- [17:45]
B
Yeah. The clips are important these days. I see attention spans drop. I think the short form is going to be more and more important.
- [17:52]
A
It is. And I. You know, we're always gonna get that question a lot. Aren't there already too many podcasts out there? And I immediately respond, are there too many books out there? People going to stop writing them? Probably not. People will always start writing Books, stop writing books. Some finish them, some don't. Same thing's going to happen with podcasting. I think that with the onset of AI, it's cute and everything that you can have a AI co host. That's adorable. But I don't think that we are trying to expedite the process of lacking or shortening the opportunity for human connection. I don't think that that's. That we're not going to try and diminish that. I think we are going to crave that at a level that we don't even understand right now, because the robots are entering, have entered the room and are here to make life easier, to make life better. I think it's going to be one of the most exciting times in our entire life since the dot com era, since the onset of the Internet. But I don't think that it's going. We're already seeing that with. With what happened with COVID We were locked up in our house for a year. We just couldn't wait to hug somebody again. We couldn't wait to have a meal. We couldn't wait to be back in person. I mean, as a speaker and a communicator to, like, do gigs on Zoom. It wasn't the same.
- [19:11]
B
No. That's why I don't do pods on Zoom.
- [19:13]
A
Yeah.
- [19:13]
B
Doesn't hit the same.
- [19:14]
A
No.
- [19:15]
B
Like, unless they can't do it in person for some reason. I've only done one virtual, but in person.
- [19:19]
A
Just one only.
- [19:20]
B
And he was banned from the US So that's why I did it. Yeah. Shout out to that guy, Santos Bonacci.
- [19:26]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [19:26]
B
Banned from the US And I didn't feel like going to Mexico, so I was like, you're the one guy I'll do it for. Other than that, you're coming to Vegas or I'm coming to you.
- [19:34]
A
Yeah.
- [19:35]
B
You know, it just doesn't feel the same.
- [19:37]
A
No.
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B
That's why with events, too. I only go to events in person. I don't really like the virtual ones.
- [19:41]
A
Yeah, no, I don't either. I mean, I'll do them. There's nothing better than, you know, being able to be in my, you know, shorts and flip flops and. And deliver a talk. And it was cool for a little while, but I like to look people in the eye. Not the Zoom screen eye.
- [19:55]
B
Yeah.
- [19:56]
A
Make that connection. And when I'm landing a point, that ability, that eye contact is so vital from the platform to the audience and being able to make sure that you're resonating because people come up to you after. And I feel like you were talking to me. I was.
- [20:10]
B
What's the biggest stage you've spoken at?
- [20:12]
A
I would say that traffic and conversions, even though I wasn't necessarily a keynote.
- [20:20]
B
Yeah.
- [20:20]
A
Being on stage for three days in front of, you know, 5 to 7,000 people.
- [20:25]
B
And those are high level people, too.
- [20:27]
A
Right. And that's where, you know, comedy started to come into play, was because I could go hit a large stage, deliver a talk, whatever it may be, and no problem. But when it came to comedy, I'm like, I'm not gonna go to a bar, make 50 drunk people laugh. I'm out. So I had my buddy Manny Garavito, who started the Miami comedy scene on my show a couple years ago. 2021, I think. Not a couple years ago. Several years ago. And I shared that story. And he's like, dude, you're like that social buzz guy, right? He's like, I've been following you. Like, there's no way that you're scared of comedy. I go, oh, no, I am. He goes, well, listen, we're doing a show in Doral next week. It's an open mic. You should come out. It's five minutes. You bring your notes. Very informal. I'm like, all right, cool. Well, at the time, I had been writing. I'd been writing for, like, two years. And a buddy of mine that I went to high school with is a brilliant writer, would never do comedy, Was a brilliant writer. So we had been writing like crazy. I just need to be unleash. And I needed to get out of my own way, and I needed to, you know, the. Just the guts to actually go and do it. So I'm like, all right, we're doing this. It's five minutes. I got this, and I ended up writing a whole bit about dating a Venezuelan girl that fed me empanadas. And the area of Miami in Doral is very much populated with Venezuelans, and the place was packed with Venezuelan girls. So I. I get there, and he says, all right, you're third up. And I said on the open mic, right? He goes, no, no, you're in the showcase, like, with. With the five comics.
- [21:59]
B
Oh, wow.
- [21:59]
A
So don't bomb.
- [22:01]
B
And it's like a competition.
- [22:02]
A
Not really. It's a comedy show.
- [22:04]
B
Yeah.
- [22:04]
A
So there's like. Like five comics. And then the open mic starts after the show. So I was third up in the show. Packed brewery people everywhere.
- [22:14]
B
Yeah.
- [22:14]
A
My knees are, like, knocking my, like, nerves. And I got up there and did seven and a Half minutes. And the place was just rolling. Damn. And I'm like, I got this.
- [22:25]
B
Well done.
- [22:25]
A
Yeah. And then I started doing, like, other open mics with them. But Miami is like an upand cominging scene. So Manny does comedy shows at, like, unconventional spaces, like bars.
- [22:37]
B
Yeah.
- [22:38]
A
So, like, ride a passage with comedies that laughs. In Miami, it's getting people to shut up so you can make them so drunk. Right. And. And it's loud. They just don't care. So I was like, okay, we. We got to continue to, like, unravel this comedy thing. So part of Ryan Stuman's mastermind, Apex in Dallas, and he bought a building a couple years ago where the headquarters is at and gutted the first floor. And it's the theater where we do all of our meetups quarterly. So I hit him up, like, last year and said, hey, man, after the night, one of our meetup, I want to turn the theater into a studio or into a comedy theater, and I want to invite, like, all my Dallas friends. And of course, everybody's already in Apex as well. He dabbles in some comedy. I want you to do it. My daughter lives in Dallas. She's gonna open up for me. We've got our MC that does our meetups. Anyway. He's got a puppet, Danny. He can be the host. So I rented the theater out and did a. I did a 45 minute set. So that was like. It was like this proven to Sebastian. Yeah, can I really do it? But so my daughter opened up for me. Stuman did 10 minutes.
- [23:45]
B
Stuman did some comments.
- [23:46]
A
Yeah, dude. Yeah. Like, off the cuff. Like, he doesn't write anything. He's just like a. A loose cannon. But he's funny. So I was like. I mean, I'm like, you own the joint. What do I tell you? No. Yeah. But yeah, so after that, like, after being able to do, like, 45 minutes, I was like, all right, we got this. And comedy's not. I'm not. I'm not pursuing this for a Netflix special and to, like, pursue a comedy career, I'm doing it to bring it back to the keynote stage. I'm doing it to bring it back to the podcasting world. Because if I have an event booker looking at a speaker and a speaker and a comedian, I'm getting the gig every time.
- [24:22]
B
Two in one, right?
- [24:24]
A
Because also, it's like, hey, deliver a keynote during the day. Roast our attendees before the cocktail party. Like, I did a gig in Cancun. They were taking us to Circus Olay that night. I did the gig on the tour bus, on the 45 minute ride there. So I got a tour bus flow like all the attendees.
- [24:41]
B
Funny.
- [24:42]
A
Have you ever been Cancun before on those tour buses? Those guys drive like lunatics, so. So it's just those unique experiences of being able to. Plus adding comedian to your resume. It just is. What do you do? I'm a speaker, comedian, a podcast are all terrible career choices, but I got lucky statistically. Yeah, right, Exactly. And I just love the world of comedy, you know, being able to. If you can, impact someone's life through your message and what you have to do in your life and how you show up and you can make them laugh. I mean, come on.
- [25:13]
B
Some of my favorite pods are comedy podcasts.
- [25:15]
A
Yeah, dude.
- [25:15]
B
Theo Vaughn.
- [25:16]
A
He's brilliant.
- [25:17]
B
It's hard to make me laugh, I'm not gonna lie. But his show is just so funny.
- [25:21]
A
He doesn't even try. Yeah, that's the best part about Theo. It's my favorite one right now by far.
- [25:26]
B
Yeah. Him and Schultz. Schultz is pretty funny. I mean, he has a lot of yes men on the show, just laughing at all his jokes. But other than that, it's a pretty good show.
- [25:33]
A
Yeah. I mean, Bethel would just come out of nowhere. He. He's like, you know, you do cocaine one night and you'll. You'll. You'll start giving your email address to a dolphin, you know?
- [25:43]
B
And it's like, he said that to Trump too. Like, it don't matter who the guest is.
- [25:47]
A
Yeah. Get you feeling like a mechanic. Yeah.
- [25:50]
B
That's why I love it, though, because he's the same on every guest.
- [25:52]
A
He was on Road Rules back in the day on mtv. I told you.
- [25:56]
B
I didn't know that.
- [25:56]
A
Yeah, I didn't either. Somebody had mentioned it. I was like, dude, I knew I had seen him somewhere. Wow. And it was Road Rules where they would go in an rv. It was kind of like the real world back in the day, but in an rv, it's called Road Rules. And I think that was his first TV experience, but he's definitely. People ask me a lot. Who's your favorite comic? I'm like, right now. Theo.
- [26:14]
B
Yeah. Yeah. He could be the goat if he continues this career trajectory.
- [26:18]
A
Yeah, he's killing it.
- [26:19]
B
I mean, he's pulling serious numbers.
- [26:20]
A
Yeah, he is.
- [26:21]
B
What's the idea behind podcasts suck?
- [26:23]
A
So my first book was Social media sucks if you don't know what you're doing. And I wanted to call it, like, how to use social media. And I was working. I Was working with my branding. My friend Michelle Villalobos, brilliant branding expert. And I was having a meeting with her. I was telling her about the book idea, I told her about the name, and she goes, it's not gonna work for your personality. You have this, like, in your face, like, over the top personality, and you're gonna write a book called how do you use social media? Not gonna work. So I'm like, sitting facing the walls. We're having this conversation because I'm thinking, and I spun my chair around, I go, how about social media sucks? She goes, that's it. So when I had the opportunity on the idea for the second book, it had been seven years since I wrote a book about the first one in 2013, podcast suck in 2020. I'm like, let's keep the whole sucks thing going because it's a. It's a tongue in cheek. It gets. It gets attention. It fits my personality. So that's kind of where it came to fruition was let's follow the. The trend of sucks. But it doesn't. And this one has caught a little bit more traction because people are like, podcasts suck, but you're a. Oh, if you don't have one. And then I launched the show a couple years ago because I'm a firm believer that if you know something that someone else doesn't know, it's your responsibility to share it. So if you can't afford to hire me, read my book, go to my YouTube channel, watch my YouTube, watch my. Watch my YouTube channel, listen to my podcast, read my book, and you can do it. Like, I give you all my secrets. And I think that there's nothing in this day and age, age of transparency is so important. And making sure that we get our message out to as many people as possible.
- [28:00]
B
Yeah, that's where Gary Vee crushed it. He made everything free.
- [28:03]
A
Yeah.
- [28:03]
B
You know, I used to watch all his videos when I was first starting on my journey. Shout out to him.
- [28:07]
A
Yeah.
- [28:08]
B
You built a relationship with him.
- [28:09]
A
He's amazing. Dude. That's one of the most humble human beings I've ever met.
- [28:12]
B
He's in town, right? He was speaking on something.
- [28:13]
A
He was. Yeah. I haven't seen him in, like five years now. We just run into each other because we first met in 20. When we connect. Right When I write. Why? So the story was, my buddy called me in 2010 and said, hey, you gotta meet this guy, Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm like, who? Because you gotta read his book. Crush it, but get the audio version I'm like, dude, I don't have any money. He's like, here, log into my account, download it, put on your ipod. I just dated myself. So I did that and I started reading it and I immediately resonate with him. So I reached out via email, started asking some questions and I think one of the first things I ever emailed him when I was starting social buzz was like, hey man, I'm starting to do this, but like, I just want to give up. And he replied, do it, give up. And I'm like, I'm not giving up. Little reverse psychology. So like, I think two years later the second book came out. Thank you. Economy. And I connected with his right hand at the time. Team was small, it was like two or three. Guy named Phil Toronto was his right hand at the time. Phil went on to run his venture capital firm. President's venture capital firm. Him now. So shout out to Phil. But Phil got the interview on the calendar for I. I found out that his bookshop was going to be around the corner from my house in Miami, had a local bookstore. So I reached out like, hey Phil, I'd love to do like a, like an interview, like hallway, you know, quick little before the book signing. And he's like, yeah, Gary said he's down to do it, so just meet him there at book signings at seven, meet him at six and we can make it happen. I go, cool. Well, day later I get a phone call from I, a video production company. They're like, hey man, we've seen your work and we want to work with you. And I'm like, like year like two, social buzz. I'm like, my work. Well, yeah, my work, absolutely. Like, like, we'd love to work with you. Like, cool. What are you guys doing Tuesday night? Next Tuesday they go, we're wide open actually. I go, cool. I have a book signing for my buddy Gary Vaynerchuk. You don't know him yet, but you will. Book school. Thank you. Economy goes, oh, this is perfect. We just did Russell Simmons book signing last month. There I was like, done. So Gary rolls up, I meet him, walks up street. First time we met in person. Film crew rolls in.
- [30:20]
B
Drock.
- [30:21]
A
Yeah, no, this was right before Drock. No, no, Drock had just started with him, but Drock wasn't with him. So my film crew that had called me was like, hey, want to work? They showed up, full blown setup, lights, cameras, mics online. So Gary and I spent like an hour sitting down. I thought it was like a hallway interview. We spent like an hour, full blown conversation. My story, like, full circle. I executed on the Crush it blueprint. And we kept everybody waiting for the book signing, like, way longer than I had expected. And after that, I became an emcee. And he, his speaking career was really, I mean, crushing from, from the get. And every time we'd see each other again, I'd be MC in the event, he'd be keynote. And I love it.
- [31:01]
B
And now he charges a quarter million to speak.
- [31:03]
A
Yeah, he's up to like 350 now. Damn. Yeah, it's nuts. So it was like. And he'd always be on his way back to Miami because he's good friends with Coach Spo for the Heat.
- [31:11]
B
Yeah.
- [31:12]
A
So it'd be like Philly or New York or traffic and conversions was, was one of them. It was funny that I had. He did traffic and conversions, and he got there that afternoon. And part of the whole deal is like, you're gonna book Gary. Like, you get FaceTime with the guy that books you. Yeah, guy who's throwing the event. So him and Ryan Dice are chatting in the green rooms, like, only two of them. And, and I, and I just walked into, like, grab a water. And, and Gary's like, give me a second. And like, gets up from the conversation. Ryan's like, what's going on here? And I, I didn't mean to disrupt the conversation. I, I, I know how the whole program works, but we got a chance to, like, have a conversation and, hey, how you doing, man? How's everything? And Ryan's like, are you done yet? Are you done with my MC yet? Like, can we get back to the conversation as well? And, and I told Ryan like, hey, man, I didn't mean to, like, he was like, no, I didn't know you, like, knew him. Knew him. I'm like, yeah, I, I'm not. And there's another clout chaser here.
- [32:02]
B
Like, when you provide value, you know, people notice. People come up to you.
- [32:06]
A
Yeah, yeah. And that's, that's been the beautiful part of, of the journey. Even though I don't see Gary a lot, I, he did an event in Miami in 2018 called Agent 2021 at Dalvin Stadium, and I hit him up. I'm like, hey, man, I'd love to be there. And, you know, once. He's like, hey, this is my boy. Wants to cover the event. So there was like, in the media room, there wasn't a bunch of media there, so we spent the whole day together.
- [32:27]
B
Damn, I love that.
- [32:28]
A
And his mom was there his family was there. It was. It was super do. And I was doing a lot of emcee stuff and we walked down to the stage together and I didn't even think to ask him, who's introducing you? And sure enough, it was the AV guy. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the Stage chairman of VaynerMedia. Had I asked him, he would have done it. But I'm sitting there and he's. During his talk and I was walking, I got up and I was like walking across. I made eye contact with him real quick and he's like, for all the Sebastians and Carlos isn't Jessica's that are out there like doubling down on content. And I got the clip. So that was the last time we got a chance to spend some time together. But he's gone on to be a.
- [33:11]
B
Worldwide phenomenon, literally, with the book too.
- [33:14]
A
Yes.
- [33:15]
B
That was a good book. I read that one.
- [33:16]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [33:17]
B
His. His philosophy on content changed my life. How you repurposed every single platform. Now I'm posting everywhere.
- [33:23]
A
Yeah.
- [33:23]
B
I mean, that was just a game changer.
- [33:25]
A
Yeah.
- [33:25]
B
And it's such a cost effective method of gaining attention.
- [33:28]
A
Yeah. Like, his humility is. I think people mistake it based on his energy level.
- [33:33]
B
Yeah.
- [33:34]
A
And how he shows up. He's highly engaged. When you're talking to him, like, you feel like you're the only person in the room.
- [33:40]
B
That's cool.
- [33:41]
A
One of the first things I ever learned from him was your personal brand in perpetuity is your reputation. And authenticity trumps likability. And always make time for. For people, Sebastian, always. You're never too busy. You'll never be too popular. You'll never be too big. You make time for people. You never, ever forget where you came from. And I've never forgot that.
- [34:06]
B
Can't get too big time, man, because they'll come back to bite you.
- [34:09]
A
Yeah. I'm sure you experienced this a lot with the level that you've been able to grow the show and the people you have conversations with and the people that probably hit you up too. I mean, yeah, egos are on, like, high alert. And I think that there's a shift happening right now where when you show up with your ego through the roof, it's less attractive and less appealing to people to go, you know what? I want to be around that guy 100. But when someone shows up and goes, dude, I. I put my pants on just like you do every day, one leg at a time. You know, I think that's what resonates with people. And that's who I'm trying to be. I'm trying to be someone where, you know what, I. I'm a better person because I know Sebastian Rusk.
- [34:49]
B
Yeah. Yeah. I'm constantly checking my ego. I'm evaluating conversations I had throughout the day, reflecting on them, how I could have, you know, talked better. If anything, it's important.
- [34:57]
A
It really is how we show up and check on ourselves, because it does matter. It's like I was talking to the Uber driver on the way over here at the studio on Wednesday and he's like, man, you know, I work over at Caesars. I do this part time work over at Caesars and work in the mechanical department, man. And these guys mindset is just terrible. You know, they're always talking about, you know, must be nice to do this and must be nice today. I said, yeah, man, scarcity mindset will get you, you know. He said, you know, I woke up this morning in my head. I said, oh, man, you got to get out of your head. I go, the great Mel Robbins says, if you're in your head, you're behind enemy lines. I said, the only way to get out of your head, to get into your heart, you got to ask yourself, you know, you're in your head, somebody's missing out on you. He said, man, I got to tell you, I. I've been looking for some answers all day and I didn't know I was going to get it on an Uber fair on the way over here.
- [35:51]
B
I love that.
- [35:52]
A
Thank you. And I said, I didn't know I was going to be able to bless you on the way over here, you know, but I'm just trying to shine my light as bright as possible everywhere I go. I don't care. Sometimes it's the stage, sometimes it's a podcast, sometimes it's at a grocery store in the back of an Uber. I don't care where it is. I just want to leave people different.
- [36:09]
B
Shout out to Mel. I'm reading her new book right now. Let them, Let Them. Yeah, it's pretty good.
- [36:13]
A
Yeah.
- [36:14]
B
It's important to have that mindset as you get more and more attention to very much.
- [36:18]
A
So humility goes a long, long way. And I'm so. It's been 15 years since Gary and I met and that's like, what's your one takeaway? I was like, humility, because life will humble you constantly. Real quick and constantly. Yeah. So why not keep it in check and realize that, you know, we're all fighting a battle, some bigger than others, but gratitude and humility will combat a majority of life's battles if we're willing to just take a deep breath, take a step back, and realize the power between reacting versus responding.
- [36:57]
B
I love that.
- [36:59]
A
Lately I've been telling myself, like, you have a choice, Sebastian. Like, I know that you absolutely want to light this guy up right now, but you have a choice, and he's got a battle that he's fighting that you don't know nothing about. And if you respond with grace, you may be able to help him through that battle.
- [37:17]
B
I mean, you're seeing that with Breco versus Cardone right now. These guys just want to light each other up, but it's like, it's kind of making them both look bad in a way. You know, I thought about that.
- [37:25]
A
I thought about that when I saw the post last week.
- [37:27]
B
Yeah.
- [37:28]
A
I thought, this is the best way.
- [37:30]
B
Public Beef is like, it. I've done it before, and I'll never do it again. I'll say that. Because even though I got scammed, basically, and I blasted the guy, nothing good came out of that. I lost friendships. I never got the money back. It wasn't even worth it. So I'm never going to do Public Beef again.
- [37:47]
A
I think that learned a long time ago that if we can waive our desire to be right, we can open up so much freedom for ourselves, because we live in a world that we just want to be right, just to be right. Because it's that quick hit. I want to be right. It's kind of like getting pissed. You snap. It only feels good. Why you're snapping after that. You got to go cleanup mode.
- [38:13]
B
Yeah. You regret it. Yeah. That's so true. Yeah. A lot of people want to prove themselves right.
- [38:18]
A
I don't need to be right. I just don't at all. You can be right. You. You got it.
- [38:24]
B
You won the argument.
- [38:27]
A
You'd be surprised how many times you can diffuse a conversation by saying, you know what? You're right.
- [38:32]
B
Most conversations, probably.
- [38:33]
A
Yeah.
- [38:35]
B
You still out there in Miami?
- [38:36]
A
Yeah. It's gotten crazy. It's not the same Miami I grew up in.
- [38:39]
B
What's changed?
- [38:40]
A
Everyone moved there. New York ruined it. Shout out to New York.
- [38:43]
B
Wow. I thought you're gonna say Cali ruined it.
- [38:46]
A
Yeah, both of them did. Yeah. It's just become like a Vegas, you know, Just party central. It's the only fans capital.
- [38:54]
B
Yeah. Only fans in crypto.
- [38:56]
A
Yeah. It's how I started my Only fans Toes account. Yeah. It was crazy. That's a whole nother conversation.
- [39:00]
B
You're on foot finder. Yeah. Miami is nuts. Man, dating must be tough out there these days.
- [39:06]
A
Yeah. It's comparable to walking cats. Yeah, it is a less than pleasurable experience. I write a lot. A lot of majority of my comedy materials written around in my dating life.
- [39:18]
B
Yeah, I bet you got stories for days on that.
- [39:20]
A
It's just. Yeah. I told a story of meeting a girl and asking her what her love language was and she said Spanish.
- [39:28]
B
I was like, you had to learn Spanish out there, didn't you?
- [39:31]
A
I still haven't. I grew up there.
- [39:33]
B
You still don't know it?
- [39:34]
A
No.
- [39:34]
B
That's like half the woman out there. You gotta be able to picked them up in multiple languages.
- [39:39]
A
Yeah, I was talking. I wrote a bit about. I was watching the World Cup a couple years ago. One of the bartenders went up to go get a beer. She's like, she looked like that actress. People tell me I look like Michael Keaton a lot. A younger Michael Keaton. Don't. At me. And so I go. She goes, you look like that actor. And I go, wait, don't tell me. Michael Keaton. She goes, no, Beetlejuice.
- [40:05]
B
What? Isn't that the girl?
- [40:06]
A
Well, it was. He was Michael Keaton back in the day. But I was like, can I get Batman? Come on. So yeah, it's. It's definitely a challenge to communicate down there if they're not bilingual. But I'm in a different. I'm gonna, you know, I'm in a different space in life. I'm 46 years old. I feel. I feel 26. I'm an empty nester. Spent 20 years raising my daughter on my own.
- [40:32]
B
Damn.
- [40:32]
A
Set her off to college out here in Phoenix. She graduated with a psych major.
- [40:37]
B
Nice.
- [40:38]
A
Moved to Dallas with her boyfriend. Finishing the master's program right now completely self sufficient. So check plus on raising a well done contributing. Thank you, man. Contributing member to society. She is my greatest accomplishment. She is a great human being. We have an incredible, incredible father, daughter, adult relationship. Now I'm in thanks to Stuman's group, apex for allowing me to be in Dallas almost quarterly, sometimes more than that. My daughter lives about 30 minutes from Suman's office.
- [41:09]
B
That worked out well.
- [41:10]
A
It worked out real well. So I fly in a day early, we do a little daughter daddy day, and then I go do my thing with my APEX fam and it just. Dallas become my second home. So I really just enjoy the freedom. Like I've been like people mode all week here, conferences even, whether I'm speaking or I'm attending or whatever it may be. It's still I'm an, I'm an extrovert, but I recharge by being an introvert. So I am changed my flight to go home on an earlier flight today.
- [41:36]
B
Yeah, I've done that before too.
- [41:37]
A
Yeah. Just to get home to complete silence for the next two days and not think, not talk.
- [41:43]
B
I feel more drained from conferences than playing sports. Like I'd rather play sports at the sauna and I'd feel better than a conference sometimes. Yeah, because people are just yapping at you all the.
- [41:53]
A
I did, I did back to back talks last week at a gig in Miami and by 4 o'clock I couldn't keep my eyes open. And I was stoked that that happened. Sean. I went home, literally went to a shower, ate dinner, like went to bed at 5:00. I don't care. Shut all the shades down, blackout shades and just time to recharge. And I. That let me know that I left everything on the field on those stages and that's what it's all about. If I'm not doing that, then I'm doing my job wrong. I'm in the wrong place or on the wrong stage on there. But I was like, why? Dude, it's 4:30. Like I can't even keep my eyes open. But yeah, there's highs and lows of the, of the speaking game, but I'm grateful for it all.
- [42:33]
B
Yeah, I think it's more of a net positive in the long run. You'll always have those weirdos, but you need some great people at events like that.
- [42:39]
A
Yeah, you really do. Yeah, I mean it's more of the impact is that ripple effect. You know, ripples become waves and you never know, you just never know whose life is going to be radically changed and who needs to hear that word. And sometimes like I didn't even mean to say what I said and someone took that and took the ball and ran with it. Changed their life. Like what?
- [43:00]
B
I love that. Sebastian. Where can people find you? Where could people become a client and keep up to date with you, man?
- [43:05]
A
Yeah, podcast suck. It's podcast plural, on Instagram at podcast suck. Sebastian Rusk on Facebook, on LinkedIn. You've been thinking about starting a podcast to change your life in your business. All my links are in my Instagram profile. You can book a call with me. Not somebody on my team, me.
- [43:22]
B
Not AI.
- [43:23]
A
No. I want to talk to you. I want to get to know you. I want to find out if you're a fit. Not everyone's a fit, but all I usually know in the first 32 seconds whether or not you're serious about changing your life and your business by being able to do it. So really look forward to. To seeing what's possible.
- [43:38]
B
Awesome.
- [43:38]
A
I really appreciate this opportunity, Sean.
- [43:40]
B
Yeah, thanks for coming on, man. I'll see you in Miami.
- [43:41]
A
Yeah, dude, let's do it.
- [43:42]
B
All right. Check them out, guys. See you next time.