Reinventing Ross Mandell: Success, Second Chances, and Redemption

Hey, it's Cole Swindell, and I want to meet you in Austin at the iHeart Country Festival.

Register now at chumbacasino.com for your chance to win a VIP trip for two to the 2025 iHeart Country Festival.

Thanks to our friends at Chumba Casino, you can win a chance to head to Austin with a friend and meet me backstage.

Plus, see the show with some real VIP treatment. That sounds like a good time.

No purchase necessary. VGW Group.
Voidware prohibited by law.

See terms and conditions. 21+.
Sponsored by Chumba Casino. How you feel really doesn't really matter when you have purpose.
What's your because, man? What's that purpose for you today? You know what? It's something that's natural for me. I love to teach, to educate, to help.
One of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability. If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money.
The firm doesn't make any money. I love people that talk about mindset a lot.
And yes, you do need a mindset. But mindset is just the first piece.
It's the action. It's the follow through and execution that mattered the most.

A lot of people, you know, they get the mindset. They're so worried about executing perfectly

that they never get off first base. Just jump in the fucking pool, splash around.
You'll figure it

out. It'll come to you.
But in the meantime, don't miss a day. You can't wait till you get something

perfect. You got to get in the game.
You'll take a few lumps, you'll get hit, you'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real.
Welcome to Mick Unplugged, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations.
Buckle up, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and today we've got an icon and storyteller.
From Wall Street titan to federal inmate, his story is one of the most compelling tales of redemption and reinvention that you've ever heard. Now he's a sought-after speaker and coach, and he's using his journey to teach others about resilience, accountability, and finding purpose and second chances.
Get ready to be inspired by the bold, the insightful, the transformative, the original Wolf of Wall Street himself, Mr. Ross Mandel.
Ross, how you doing today, brother? What's shaking, Mick? I'm so honored to be here with you guys today.

Dude, I am the honored one. You know, big story, deep story, so many places we could go, man.
But I wanted to let you know, as I got to learn your story several years ago, I connected with you,

brother. And I wanted to tell you this to your face.
So no scripts, no cue cards, no anything,

man. I connected with you when I heard about you losing your dad at an early age or at a young age and how the anger kind of fueled your purpose and realizing that you had to put people on your shoulders to make life happen.
I so resonated with that, dude. And I just wanted to tell you, thank you for giving a voice to that.
Like a lot of people, when they hear people that are fighters and people that just don't give a damn about what you think about them and how you feel, they don't understand that thing that's inside of a lot of us, man. And so you gave words to that thing for me.
So I just wanted to give you appreciation for that, brother. Bro, thank you so much.
You know, I'm a big fan of you, of your podcast and what you're doing. And when Stephanie told me that I was going to get to meet you today, I was really excited.
And, you know, I'm on a journey now, much like you, in this new world of media that has exploded. and it shouldn't be lost on anybody that when President Trump was trying to get his final message out before the election, he didn't go to CBS or BBC or ABC.
He went on Joe Rogan's podcast. No agendas, no corporate influence, no bullshit, no FCC regulation, you know, all this corruption we see in government and in all their sort of the NGOs, they call them, non-governmental organizations, but these shadow people that, you know, are ruling our lives, which is so wrong.
And he got 30 million downloads in 12 hours. Never happened before like that.
And so now we're in that race. We're in that game.
And I feel like we have a few years to go. Unregulated business, media, we're able to reach the masses with the truth.
I created a company called Raw Media because it's raw. I don't have an agenda.
I'm going to be Ross. I'm going to share with you what I really see, what I really feel, what my experiences are.
No bullshit, no disguises, no secret, you know, secret messages. And, you know, my dad passed away.
I was freaking angry. I was angry at God.
God was dead to me. And I became, I just fueled.
I couldn't handle what I was dealing with. I was taking pills.
I was snorting drugs. I was eating drugs, drinking like an animal.
For 17 straight years, I was high. And when I tell you high every day, you know, at one point I was, I had viral pneumonia with bronchial respiratory complications and I'm in the hospital and I got an oxygen mask on me and double IVs and my friend still smuggled me in weed so I could smoke and put the oxygen mask on me.
I mean, I look back at that particular incident. It's like, it was.
Like, what the fuck, man? You know? And I went into therapy after I got sober when I was clean a year. And Dr.
Arthur Knauer, God bless him, he passed away of pancreatic cancer right before I got married. But he said, you have a river of rage running through you.
A river of rage. It's like fire.
You know, God created fire, gave man fire, nature, if you don't believe in God. Fire, the most destructive force in our universe.
It could destroy a city, eat you alive. You see what's happening in LA with the fires? Lightning coming down.
I mean, crazy. And then you have, but if you corral fire, if you manage it, it could light a village.
It could heat a whole city. You use it for cooking.
So, you know, all this abundance of rage, which is akin to a fire, I learned how to sort of manage it and steer it. And it gives me almost like a superpower.
Men like us that have suffered pain, great pain turns into rage. It's fuel.
It allows people, it'll eat you alive and destroy you. Eat you alive and destroy.
But if you understand it, if you can manage it to corral it, you can use it to fuel.

So when I went into the stock market, you know, they said, you know, got to make 300

calls a day.

And a lot of guys would make 100 and they get fed up, 150.

They go out, take a walk.

They call their girlfriends, act like they're on the phone.

Me, smile and dial, smile and dial.

300, okay.

They told me 300 calls a day to be a millionaire.

I made 400 just to be sure. You know what I'm saying? Because I care right what am I gonna go home I'm broke go home and smoke weed and play uh video games you know I mean I said I might as well just work because I got nothing you know I got no I got no money to do anything and you know they some people said so how much did you make you know what was your salary said there's no salary I'm a commission guy.
I never took a salary of my life till I was, you know, some people said, so how much did you make? You know, what was your salary? I said, there's no salary. I'm a commission guy.
I never took a salary in my life till I was, you know, building companies. And we had, you know, 100 million in the bank.
And I put myself, my first salary was like two and a half million a year. I never took money.
I, you know, it's eat what you kill. What does that mean? If I don't do business, I'm in a transaction business on Wall Street.
If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any money.
Who's going to pay for your seat? Who's going to pay for your computers? Who's going to pay for your secretary? Who's going to pay for all the statements that they got issued? So I quickly learned that I better sit there and I better generate transactions. Buy, sell, opening new accounts, doesn't matter.
It's got to be transactions. And I learned essentially how to kill, like you eat what you kill.
And I learned how to do business. I learned how to do deals.
I learned how to make stuff happen. Now, I got to say, if you get the salary, you're not going to get to that point because you know it took me a

minute i used to wonder how the fuck i was going to eat yeah i'm not talking about pay rent how i'm

going to eat right i had no money i mean you know you're working you're working you're working you're

grinding and my work ethic today i see in this particular arena that we're in is very helpful to

me you know one of the guys in fact you just spoke to him briefly johnny said to me you know

Thank you. today I see in this particular arena that we're in is very helpful to me.
You know, one of the guys, in fact, you just spoke to him briefly, Johnny said to me, you know, one thing about you, we know you're never going to quit. I just show up, man.
That's what I'm doing since I'm a kid. You know, win, lose, or draw.
You know, broke or, you know, at my height, I had150 million personally. I had a real net worth, real capital, you know, liquid money.
And my company had $200 million, my companies. So I was valued at about $450 million at my height.
But you got to remember, that's 20 years ago. Today, that's like $4 billion.
Yeah, you're a multi-billionaire. Yeah.
The world is very different today with the, all the things that have happened with the mismanagement of our economy by, by government and circumstances, et cetera, COVID and a lot of different things that have happened and gone on. But you know, the one thing is clear.
I can add a lot of value to the youngsters and to the people. You know, funny thing is, I have a mastermind program, right? People get me for 10 hours, okay, personally.
And we record the sessions, they get the tapes, and they get other benefits as well by being sort of on the inside of Ross Mandel right now. And it started out a bunch of young kids, like 31-year-old kids, 28-year-old kids, you know, young men.
I shouldn't say kids. The young men and every one of them has business.
Every one of them makes some money, but they thought that they could maybe go to the next level. And I was able to do that with them.
But now all of a sudden I'm getting men like 56, 58, 63 saying, listen, I got this, I got that, but can you help me? And I've been able to add value to every single one of their lives. Did you know that the subcutaneous formulation of Cosentix, Secukinumab, is included on most formularies for privately insured patients? We are committed to making sure your patients can start and stay on Cosentix.
Our dedicated team Thank you. so that your patients can get started on Cosentix quickly and successfully.

Want to know what Cosentix can do for your patients?

Visit cosentixhcp.com to see the data.

Cosentix for subcutaneous use is present on formularies as either a first, second, third, fourth, or fifth line biologic.

Novartis does not guarantee payment or coverage for any product or service. Actual coverage and reimbursement decisions are made by individual payers following the receipt of claims.
Coverage information is subject to change by the relevant payer. Mick, that's really what this is all about.
Do you understand? Absolutely, man. Absolutely.
And, you know, like on our podcast, right, we talk about your because, that thing that's deeper than your why, that thing that really fuels you.

And I'm hearing it come out, but I always wanted to ask Ross, like, what's your because, man?

Like, what's that purpose for you today?

You know what?

It's something that's natural for me.

I love to teach, to educate, to help.

I just, that's my personality.

I don't know how to explain it.

It's not like some great master plan or, you know, I'm a good person for that. I enjoy it.
I mean, it's almost a selfish pleasure. When I was stockbrokering, people were attracted to me because I have an energy, but I'm very comfortable sharing.
And I think that as a man, you have to be very secure to share. I noticed a lot of men in life, business, relationships, they're not generous.

If you were to ask me, like people have asked me, so who is Ross Mandel? So when I was a young guy, I said, well, I'm a stockbroker. You know, I wear a Rolex.
I mean, you know, it's like I drive a Mercedes and I was challenged by people in that sort of psychological arena. No, they said, no, know, that's what you do.
That's what you own. Who are you? And I was like, man, that's like, these are tough questions for, like you asked me earlier, how am I feeling? I don't even know how I'm feeling.
I'm so, you know, my daughter got into law school today. We're looking to end my probation today.
My website went down because of some stupid, you know, stupid billing issue. Doing a podcast, we had issues with Riverside, you know.
So like, it doesn't matter really how I feel. I happen to really feel particularly good today.
I woke up feeling very good. And because I'm dieting and I'm going to the gym and I'm taking care of myself.
And when I do these things physically, I'm okay. I have some issues and some conditions, but everything's managed and good.
But how you feel really doesn't really matter when you have purpose.

I have great purpose today.

Remember, I was in federal custody for 112 months.

And before I went into custody, I was on this journey, podcasting, getting my truth out,

sharing. It's amazing what happened in the world while I was away.
Donald Trump, 77, 78 years old, a billionaire, builder, ex-president, all of a sudden is indicted on 92 counts after never being arrested in his life in all these different jurisdictions. So the scam of the Department of Justice and various district attorneys, the scam of our criminal justice system was on display for the entire world.
You understand how government, how people in business utilize, they use politicians, Department of Justice officials to further again an end. I didn't do anything wrong.
They came into my place, 40 FBI agents in November of 06. They said, nobody's getting arrested.
Nobody, we're just here to execute a search warrant. Meanwhile, there's 40 guys with guns.
We're stockbroker from an investment bank. I got a congressman in there, a senator, a member of parliament.
They come with guns blazing, lockdown. But here's what they also did.
They alerted every major news media organization was already in my lobby. In my lobby.
So the phones are ringing. This is the New York Times.
This is AP. This is UPI.
I mean, the BBC. They're in the lobby while they're executing a search warrant, effectively saying we're putting you out of business.
Judge, jury, and execution. Just serving.
In the meanwhile, we're a highly regulated business. We have been sharing.
They send us requests for documents. We give them everything.
What are you kidding? I mean, this is I I'm governed by the SEC, the NASD, FINRA, New York's documents, London's documents, FSA, eight different regulators. But they felt the need to come in, guns heavy.
And, you know, I never really understood how unjust the criminal justice system was. But I'll say this to you.
I've had a lot of friends, African-icans sort of uh i want to get hispanics that have come to me over the years and told me just how freaking corrupt government is and how corrupt uh the system is how you know if you're a young black man they could just pull you over just because you're a young black man not because you're doing anything wrong not because she's suspicious not because they just do it. And I never really, until it affects you, you don't really pay its mind.
Right. And, you know, I'm a voice of that now.
The corruption and the unjust stuff. I didn't do anything wrong.
I didn't break the law. It took them years, years to indict me.
To find a crime. Five-week trial, a complete scam, theater, a show.
It's a scam, federal court, the whole system. Let cameras in.
No. The judge would start to impress the members of the media.
I want to see because the media was writing about what a scam the trial was. And the witnesses were all liars.
The jury were laughing. But it's rigged and the system is rigged it has been and not until this Donald Trump thing did everybody see how corrupt so you know it's not a matter of me whining about this and that make my journey is to be of service today that's what I want I'm a.
I was taken away from my young family. My daughters were 14 and 11.
My young wife, you know, God bless her, you know, she was barely 40 years old when I went in and stuck with two kids. And like they say, like, if I had cancer or a stroke, something terrible, the whole community would rally, right? Right.
But when you're indicted by the criminal justice system, you're a villain. People would stay away.
Now, all of a sudden, people are starting to realize there's a lot of bullshit going on. So in 2014, I go away, and I missed a lot of valuable time being a dad.
You have kids, Mick? I have three. So you know what it is to be a parent, to love unconditionally a child.
And I was forced away from them. I couldn't call them on the phone.
They couldn't call me when they needed dad. They suffered greatly, okay? And then, you know, I was on American Greed.
I'm the finale of season nine called The Sky's the Limit. You know, the show, I get a letter while I'm in prison that my case was deemed the most colorful case in the United States in 2011, 2012, after I was sentenced.
And they did an hour show called The Sky's the Limit, American Greed. And, you know, people are very, a lot of the haters come out on social media because they're cowards.
It's like Hamas. They wear masks.
You know, if you really feel something, say it. Show your face.
Okay, take a position. I'm like, that's the kind of guy I am.
You know what I mean? And there's a lot of people that suffer from cowardice and from hate. And so my family was really had a rough time.
And this morning I got a call. My daughter got into law school, her first choice.
And, you know, so I feel like I got into law school. My whole family feels like we all got into law school.
What school did she get into? She's going to Nova in Miami. Yeah.
And, you know, she lives in Fort Lauderdale and it's just such a big event for us having been through what we've been through. She had no intention of being an attorney.
She went to a university of Florida, great school, finished in three years with a four-year degree, a degree in psychology. And then, you know, we had a lot of fatherly talks.
And I like to say that I said, look, I don't care if you lawyer for one day. Lawyering is maybe not for you, but whatever business you want to go into, I promise you when you walk in as an attorney into that office, people will look at you very differently than if you just walk in as a college graduate.
Yeah. You understand it gives you access to any business that you decide, entertainment, securities, intellectual product, whatever enterprise you're interested in making, what industry, you know, podcasting, whatever industry you're interested in being a part of, you can walk in as an attorney and you are valued.
You're six figure automatically off the rip and people look at you differently. So that message resonated with her.
I will tell you, I did everything I could to, you know, if I ever made a good sale, it was this. And I'm so proud as a dad and my other daughter's killing it.
She's a technology recruiter. And you know, one of the things Mick that I know, I just know intuitively having followed you now and watch some of your stuff, you're a good guy and we want to positively influence people.
That's the reason we do this. To bring a positive message, to be of service, to help, to influence positively.
There's so much, you know, when I got sober, I stood up in a room and I was in Manhattan, 32 years, 33 years old, 1990. And they said, my name is Ross.
I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict. I don't know any sober people in New York City.
If I could get some numbers from some of you. So if I have a rough spot, I can give you a call and maybe you could help me with advice.
I'd be grateful. 15 people ran over to me.
And it's funny because I had no idea there was so many good people in this world. And what I've learned is if you're looking for bad, you're going to find bad.
If you're looking for trouble, you're going to find trouble. Easy.
It's easy. I used to go into cities all around this country and within an hour of being in the city, I knew where to get drugs.
I knew where the best bars were. You know what I'm saying? I knew where the action was, that sort of that underground action.
But then you know what? As a grownup, as a newly sober guy, I learned where all the good AA meetings are in each town. I learned where the good people were, where they went, where the people that I was interested, the helpful people, people that were interested in being a part of a movement that helps in a positive way so you know i learned god is funny and the world is funny you will you know seek and you shall find they say that in the new testament right right and the doors will be open to you so you have to decide who you want to be and what you want to be in this world and then you just reverse engineer it and figure out the steps you have to go.
I teach this. I teach young men and even young women now mentoring.
And it's a wonderful thing. We have a course called The Wealth Formula.
Go to my website or click on any of the training links in my bios and social media. It'll take you through a funnel to Lightspeed, Bradley, L-E-A, Lightspeed Virtual Training in Henderson, Nevada, right outside of Vegas.
Brilliant, brilliant guy. We have- That's one of my guys.
Yeah. We have a course.
My store is right next to Grant Cardone and Damon John and Robert Kiyosaki, the rich dad, poor dad guy. I'm very proud of all that.
And we're doing a new course, a stock market course, just so you know. We're going to teach people what the stock market is and how to navigate the market, how to trade, how to build wealth, you know, one brick at a time.
And there is no course out there that's legitimate. Teaching young men, middle-aged men, older men, housewives, young women that want to learn about the stock market.
It's a daunting thing. You have all these guys on Telegram and Discord with these scammy little groups that are trying to recommend options on futures of some sort of tertiary currency.
I mean, it's a scam. It's the first big downturn that's all going to be revealed.
Hey, it's Cole Swindell, and I want to meet you in Austin at the iHeart Country Festival. Register now at chumbacasino.com for your chance to win a VIP trip for two to the 2025 iHeart Country Festival.
Thanks to our friends at Chumba Casino, you can win a chance to head to Austin with a friend and meet me backstage. Plus, see the show with some real VIP treatment.
That sounds like a good time. No purchase necessary.
VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law.
See terms and conditions. 21 Plus.
Sponsored by Chumba Casino. I want to be there to help everybody navigate the world of the stock markets because it affects pretty much everybody today.
Everybody on the planet, really. And so everybody that's involved should have at least a legitimate understanding of what it is and how to play.
We're going to show you the rules of the game. I love it, man.
Yeah. I love it.
Now, one other thing I'm involved in, I really want to share this with you. Yes, sir.
You know, I did time with a guy named Lawrence Hartman. He was my celly.
And he has an incredible story.

He's an attorney, Ivy League attorney.

He became an international fugitive.

He was on Interpol's most wanted list.

There was a red notice issued for him.

He eventually got arrested sneaking into Nicaragua with a fake identity.

It's a crazy story.

You know, online sports.

He was a brilliant attorney, Ivy League law School. And it's about his journey.
And Raw Media has agreed to represent him. He has a book, a screenplay, and Michael Capon has just agreed to star in, to produce and direct, C-O-P-O-N.
He was one of the original Power Rangers. He's won an Emmy.
He was in five films last year. He's been in the business for over 20 years.
Check him out on IMDb. We're about to start announcing this on social media.
And he's going to start doing interviews in the trades, like Variety, Hollywood Reporter, et cetera. But I wanted Mick Unplugged to get this first today because we just made the agreement in the

last couple of days it's being papered now but i wanted to give you a little bit of something that nobody else has mick i appreciate that ross anytime we can break news and have exclusives i love it brother that's the first time it's been mentioned publicly and uh you got it so it's going to be a great clip and your people will get to see it and it's called Blind Greed. Blind Greed.
From Ivy League to International Fugitive starring the story of Lawrence Hartman starring Michael Capon, C-O-P-O-N and we're looking to just so you know produce it in the Philippines. Okay.
And there's a whole variety of good reasons for that, which I don't want to

take up the time, but it's a very exciting thing to be in this industry and this business. I'm very determined to build a media company, sort of like Mick Unplugged.
Just killing it, bro, right? We spoke about some good things prior to the broadcast. And I'm like so proud of you, man.

Dude,

like following in the things that you've done,

man.

Like I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I, about some good things prior to the broadcast. And I'm like, so proud of you, man.
Dude, like following in the things that you've done, man, like I totally believe in mentorship, whether it's virtual, whether it's through learning and reading, whether it's through research, like mentorship is so powerful. But here's the key.
And I want to talk to you about this too. Having mentors is awesome.
But sometimes you have to, or not sometimes, all the time you have to take the action though, right? Ross could give me the most amazing advice ever. If I don't put action behind it, it doesn't go anywhere.
It doesn't mean anything. And so one of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability, right? Like going back, I took a bunch of notes, right? The, hey, if you tell me I can be a millionaire by making 300 calls, I'm going to do 400 just to make sure.
That's accountability. When you talk about, hey, I don't know anyone in New York City that's not a drug addict.
I need help. Will you be there for me? That's accountability.
That's action. You talk about the coursework that you're doing with Bradley and Lightspeed.
Ross doesn't have to do that. That's accountability, right? And now your cellmate, the blind greed, that's all accountability and action.
How important to Ross Mandel, because that's what I picked up following you and your story in the research is accountability and action. How important has that been for your journey, brother? I am, like you said, you asked me how I feel and I can't even answer you really because I haven't thought about it.
I'm too busy doing. I'm not so busy feeling.
You know, Andrew Tate talks about these things and he's a very controversial character. But I dig him.
I dig the Tate brothers. I want to say it publicly.
You know, they're going through a lot of shit with the bullshit legal stuff that they're being brought into because they made a lot of money. He's very brash.
He's very outspoken. But a lot of the things he says, I agree.
Being a man means being accountable. It means being accountable.
You want to be successful, you better take action. I can't stand negative people.
I can't have it in my life. You know, they even tell you, you know, a younger man is going to a cancer journey and he's going to all these different doctors and he's getting all this advice.
And I'm like, the number one thing is you can't be negative. The body is a self-healing mechanism.
I believe God wants good for us. I believe that.
And the thing is that we can't allow negativity or doubt to creep in. If I was feeling all so much, I might have doubt.
I have made a decision. I've got some goals down.
One is to build a successful media company, a successful podcast, to build an educational platform where I could truly help people get into business, build and create wealth, understand the stock market. There are specific things that I have, I'm uniquely knowledgeable about.
I have literally tens of years of grinding and making moves and success and accomplishment and failure. Patrick Mahomes will learn more from what happened last Sunday in New Orleans, right? From failing than he ever will from all his victories.
Trust me, the Kansas City Chiefs learned. They got beat down, okay? They're going to reorganize and reshuffle the deck because that's what winners do.
It's not just about winning and accomplishing. It's about maintaining, okay? You know, it's a great thing.
If you're not aggressive, you're never going to make money. But if you're not defensive, you're never going to keep money.
These are really important nuggets of wisdom. And if not for mentorship, you know, when I was a young man on Wall Street, I would be in the, like call it the bullpen, right? A boardroom.
I'm making $40,000 a month. And I share a computer and a desk and a secretary.
I'm making 40, 45,000 a month. The guys in the offices are making $100,000 a month.
And I couldn't figure it out. I would knock on door.
Michael Cavanaugh, I want to give you a shout out. Oppenheimer Company, 1985.
I would knock on his door and say, Michael, would you mind if I come in and just sit in the corner and listen? I want to take some notes. I promise you I won't make a sound.
And he says, sure, Ross. And I used to go in and he would like put on a show.
You know, he was, he's real, a real guy. And he could get on the phone and, and talk to a guy that he doesn't, never met, maybe spoke to once before, twice, qualified him, got a lead, sent him, you know, an introductory package and get him to commit to a hundred thousand dollar transaction.
Called on the phone. There's a guy that earned a hundred thousand dollars a month.
He used to drive down to Wall Street from Midtown Manhattan in a convertible Rolls Royce in 1985. You know what I'm saying? You know, we admire him.
You know, Rolls-Royce leaves no doubt.

That's what my daughter says.

You know, Mercedes, everybody's got a Mercedes today.

But Rolls-Royce, you're making a statement now, right?

It's no joke.

And I would sit and take notes.

But forgetting the notes, I watched.

I'm a very big monkey see, monkey do guy.

I see Joe Rogan. I see Joe Rogan.
I see Patrick Bet-David I see Brad Lee I see Mick Hunt I say if you could do it I could do it maybe not as well maybe not the same but if I understand the game I can do it but if I don't attempt to understand what it is you're doing how you're doing it then I'm in the blind so I would knock on doors of guys that were better than me and more than me and say would you mind uh if I ask you a question that's how I got in the stock market. You know, it was the disco days, New York City,

Studio 54, 1979, 1980, right?

Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta, right?

And I used to go to these clubs, Studio 54,

Zenon, Magic, you know, the underground.

These are famous places in Manhattan.

I'll be 68 in March.

And we used to see guys pull up

literally at Studio 54

and West 54 Street

and it had to be a thousand people on the street

a thousand

and there would be these velvet ropes

and everybody trying to get into this place

it was the most famous club in the world

hands down right

they made movies about it

and shows

you know the Broadway show

and there would be guys

that would pull up in expensive cars

Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes

Rolls Royce, Bentley

Thank you. you know the broadway show right and there would be guys that would pull up in expensive cars porsche lamborghini mercedes rolls royce bentley and a guy would literally come out from nowhere and they give him the keys and out of the car would be this you know one of the hottest the most beautiful women you could see and they would walk through the ropes then when i eventually got into the place i would see them sitting at like the best table with bottles of best champagne.
And I would go right up to them and I'd say, excuse me, who are you? I mean, how do you, you know, why is this woman with you? How did you, I saw you pull up, you got in. I mean, what do you do? I'm a stockbroker.
I'm an investment banker. I'm a trader.
I work at Goldman Sachs. I work at J.P.
Morgan. It was all these financial guys.
And so that's what led myself and my closest friends. We didn't know anything about the stock market.
But we saw people that had what we wanted. So we emulated them.
It's that simple. You know, I mean, it's nothing more than that.
And we didn't have cell phones in those days, computers. We didn't have social media.
We didn't have Google. Right.
Guy says he's in the best manner. You know what that, I said, what does that mean? I'm staring at his girlfriend.
Right. I'm like, you know, if you don't mind me saying, you're not that great looking.
She's stunning. Like, how did you get this woman? You know, that's who I am.
I talk, I'm very, but you know what? Most people appreciate me like that. They start laughing.
And they love talking, people love talking about themselves. You know, guys used to come up to me and say, is that your wife or your nanny? I would check into hotels.
They, you know, one place, it was the Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico. Jay-Z and Beyonce were checking in.
This is, you know, back in like 2006 or so, 2005. And it was a holiday weekend.
And I was at VIP and it was like, you know, gambled at big lines of credit, all these different things. And we check into VIP.
And so Beyonce and Jay-Z, they put us ahead of them. I was very cool.
I had my whole family there, my wife, my wife's sister, her kids kids my wife's hanging around so the the host looks at me he goes is mrs mandel going to be joining you staring at my wife thought she was my nanny right because she was much younger and super gorgeous you know and uh so the things that i wanted when i was a younger guy in my 20s, I willed it to happen by taking action. And, you know, one of the things about mentorship, my mastermind program, just so you know, you go to info at RossMandel.com if you're interested.
I hold you accountable. Hey, it's Cole Swindell, and I want to meet you in Austin at the I Heart Country Festival.
Register now at chumbacasino.com for your chance to win a VIP trip for two to the 2025 iHeart Country Festival.

Thanks to our friends at Chumba Casino, you can win a chance to head to Austin with a friend and meet me backstage.

Plus, see the show with some real VIP treatment.

That sounds like a good time.

No purchase necessary. VGW Group.
Voidware prohibited by law.

See terms and conditions.

21 Plus.

Sponsored by Chumba Casino.

So I have a new mentee.

He's in his 50s.

He's very successful.

I mean, he makes several hundred thousand a year.

But he wants more from life.

And every Friday we meet online. It's taped.
You know, Google meets. And I hold him accountable.
But I also hold myself accountable. Right.
With friends. It's not like it's just me advised.
I learned from everybody, man. I learned from you today.
I learned from what a listener you are. Taking notes like that was amazing.
I mean, that's why you're so successful right now. And that's why people are chasing you with, you know, seven-figure deals, bro.
I mean, because you're worthy. Whatever you've done, whatever you've done to get to this point indicates to me that you're worthy.
A lot of times we look at the financial reward being an indication of someone worthy or not. I believe that in the podcasting business now, that's a true indicator.
Like I tell you, on social media, I don't pay for anything. I refuse.
A lot of guys, you know, you see these numbers, a million, five million, three million, 200,000. They buy these followers.
And I was advised early, and if you do that, the algorithm knows. You're not fooling anybody.
Maybe you're fooling some kids, but who cares? But the business of social media, the algorithm knows exactly how you got those followers, organically or artificially. Right.
I just broke 50,000 on Super Bowl Sunday of followers on Instagram, all organic. And now the algorithm is working for me.
Now I get a thing from Instagram. We're promoting this real because we believe you'll get more followers.
Like the algorithm is telling me. So I just posted a story.
It's about these fires in L.A. and how Gavin Newsom has just destroyed.
The governor of this state of California is destroying this state.

You know, bad leadership, Mick, bad leadership.

It's terrible.

I mean, California, if it was a country, would be the sixth most prosperous country in the world.

And they're broke and they're in debt.

I mean, what is that?

What is that?

People are leaving bad leadership.

So, you know, he's got to be fired and you got to move on. But accountability is really important and understanding the game that you're attempting to be in.
You know, I meet people all the time and they come to me and ask me, there's a lot of men. And I see they're in a particular industry and they've never really evolved.
They don't really understand the game of the industry. You know, they're good workers and, you know, they put in their hours and they don't understand the big picture.
And it's not that difficult, but you have to want to. You can't be afraid.
You can't be afraid to ask questions. You can't be afraid to explore and understand.
I mean i it's stunning to me that a guy could spend 20 30 years in an industry and not really understand the industry that he's in that's something that wall street gifted me we would as young brokers we would be told here's what here's the deal we're pitching uh this is a conglomerate di Diageo, that represents all these brands of alcohol. So you become like an expert in alcohol and the business of alcohol and the business of Diageo and all that.
Next thing you know, we're doing a banking deal with this company. You know, this company is involved in defense technology.
You know, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, whatever. You become like an expert and you start to understand from the top down.
Yep. And you understand how the industry, how the game is played within the industry.
I always look to identify an industry leader, right? So in the podcast world, I say it's got to be Joe Rogan. Yep.
Right? They paid him what? Spotify paid him $250 million six years ago. Now for three years, $200 million.

Now he's getting $250 million for three years.

Yep.

And Joe Rogan is great.

I love him.

I listen to him.

I watch fights.

He makes the UFC fights exciting.

I used to watch him on Fear Factor, right? He himself was a little karate champion out of New Jersey.

But I dig, I dig the, I understand,

I look to understand the industry,

how people monetize, what makes, you know, something interesting or not interesting, so forth and so on. I'm sure just like you do, you know, I'm sure this is what you've been doing, right? I treat everything like a business, man.
Like I heard from Deion Sanders, if everybody played football for free, he would too. But when you can make money, then go make the most you can.
And so that's how I looked at podcasting. I didn't know unless your name was Joe Rogan.
I thought everyone was doing it for free. And then when I realized, oh, there's a formula, there's a path to success and it can become a business, that's what I did.
And that's what I do. And again, learning from people like you that put action behind everything, have a plan, but action is what makes it happen.

Right. Like I love people that talk about mindset a lot.
And yes, you do need a mindset. But my sense, just the first piece is the action is the follow through an execution that mattered the most.
And I got that from my guy, Ross Mandel. Thank you, my man.
A lot of people, you know, they get the mindset. They're so worried about executing perfectly that they never get off first base.
Right. Just jump in the fucking pool.
Splash around. You'll figure it out.
It'll come to you. But in the meantime, don't miss a day.
You can't wait till you get something perfect. You got to get in the game.
You'll take a few lumps. You'll get hit.
You'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real.
Not by studying. That right yeah right right i mean listen i'll never forget you know we were young boys in the neighborhood and somebody would get their hands on a playboy magazine no this is before the internet you know this is before cell phones and all the young boys in the neighborhood would go you know to this guy's house and he would look at Playboy.
And it was so exciting. And we'd talk about kissing girls and touching girls.
And every young boy is fascinating. You know, it's fascinating.
We see these young women in our lives who were like so excited. One day we would have girlfriends.
We would hold hands and touch and feel. And, you know, you could study it all you want.
You could watch pornography. You could read books and magazines.
But until you're actually with a woman, you have no idea what it is. You have no idea.
So get in there. Don't be afraid.
Stop studying. I use that as an example for men because all men can understand that.
Until you actually get your pants down, you don't know what the hell's going on. And it's a great experience, right? And you don't have to get it perfect and you don't have to get it right.
Get in there. Practice.
And, you know, I like to use real life examples that are relatable. You know what I'm saying? Because sometimes you look in books and academia and they come up with this shit that,

what the fuck are you talking about?

I like to keep things simple, you know, because at the end of the day, people convolute things.

People dress things up.

And to go back for a second, anything worth doing, Mick,

anything is worth doing for money.

Yes, sir.

That's something they teach you on Wall Street. It's an axiom.
Anything worth doing is worth doing for money. Yes, sir.
That's something they teach you on Wall Street. It's an axiom.
Anything worth doing is worth doing for money. And, you know, once money's involved, now you understand the difference between doing it wrong, doing it so-so, and doing it right.
In podcasting, doing it right, you might get $250 million from Spotify. Do it right.
You know, you don't know what the fuck you're doing you're doing it for free it's costing you money that's it so you know these are the two the beginning road and the end road you know in theory right now let's figure out how to get to that 250 million for three years let's go get it it's exactly what it is bro you know you don't make it people make it so complicated turn the fucking camera on give me the microphone Let's go. That's it bro.
People make it so complicated.

Turn the fucking camera on.

Give me the microphone and let's go.

That's it.

We'll figure it out.

We'll figure it out.

We'll figure it out.

Ladies and gentlemen, we got a lot of wisdom.

And I'm calling it wisdom from my guy, Ross Mandel.

Ross, brother, I appreciate you more than you know. This meant the world to me that you would spend some time just having a conversation man like that that means the world to me brother for you anytime mick anytime and now I have your numbers so I'm gonna bother you once in a while let's do it hit you up bro I'm gonna hit you up that's what I'm here for I want you on my podcast soon done deal we already talked to stuff it's happening I love it yeah boy she she's on it, boy.
She's doing great. I love it.
And thank you for having

me today. I really appreciate it.
No, I appreciate you. We will make sure that

links to everything you're doing. So the website, your social links, the courses,

the mastermind, everything we're going to have available. People, if you're watching or listening,

do me a favor. Don't just follow Ross, right? You can see his story.
Connect with Ross, right? We appreciate the connections. Follows are great.
Connect with Ross because you're going to get wisdom, right? You're going to get wisdom. Join the masterminds.
Take the courses. You're going to learn more about you than you ever have, because that's

the way Ross teaches. He's not going to just give you answers.
He's going to challenge you.

And you're going to learn who you are if you accept his challenge.

100%. And I thank you so much, Micah.
You know, I'm humbled by you today. Thank you.

I appreciate you, brother. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember,

your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Thank you for tuning in to Mick Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose and chasing greatness.
Until next time, stay unstoppable.