The Mindset That Took A Shark from Poverty to Millions

There is one main thing that is blocking you from reaching your full potential, and it's all because you're trying to do everything alone.

And that's a big problem because real growth happens when you build a community, when you're in a room full of people who want to see you thrive, who support you, becoming your best self.

And if that's something you're looking for, then make sure to join me at the Summit of Greatness live at the iconic Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, down in Hollywood, September 12th and 13th.

Because this year is a powerful lineup of incredible speakers and performers like Gabby Bernstein, like Dr.

Tara Swart, like Brenda Brouchard, Amy Purdy, and so many more inspiring surprise guests.

You'll experience a couple days of transformation and inspiration and deep connection with a community that actually gets you and wants to see you thrive.

Tickets are selling fast.

So go to lewishouse.com/slash tickets right now to get your seats, bring your friends and family, and I can't wait to see you there at the Summit of Greatness very soon.

Welcome back, my friend, to the School of Greatness.

If you are like me and you love business and entrepreneurship, if you love how to turn creative ideas in your mind into a reality, into the physical world, to be of service to other people, then this is going to be the episode for you.

And for years, years, I have been watching a show called Shark Tank.

And we've interviewed many of the sharks on this podcast over the years.

Some of my friends who we've had on here

who have helped invest in small entrepreneurs and business owners for years on Shark Tank and also just inspired people through educating and informing them how to really grow a business.

And today, I get to interview Robert Hirchovec, who I've always been inspired by.

He's kind of like one of the nicest sharks, it seems like, on Shark Tank.

And I've always been inspired by his insight and his generosity.

And he is a powerful business leader, entrepreneur.

And today we're talking about how to explore the deeper dimensions of building wealth and living a life of purpose.

He's going to share intimate details about his journey, including a powerful story on how hitting rock bottom led him to rediscover his faith and joy.

There are so many moments where Robert had to pause and think and really reflect about the questions in the conversation where we were talking about because he hadn't been asked some of these questions ever.

So it was fun to have this conversation with him where a lot of these individuals who were on TV or doing a lot of interviews usually get asked the same questions.

But as you guys know, I like to go off script a lot and ask things that I'm feeling based on how someone's energy is, how their heart is, and how our connection is before the interview actually starts.

And he reveals game-changing insights about the difference between hard work and smart work, why real wealth requires more than just passion, and how to maintain joy while pursuing ambitious goals.

He shared some, so many cool stories right off the bat that I think you're really going to love.

So make sure to take notes, share this with one friend, just copy and paste the link on Apple or Spotify and share it with a friend.

And again, big thank you to everyone who is just showing up for yourselves as well during these episodes, taking this information in diving in deep sharing with your friends i appreciate you i am grateful for you and you deserve great things in your life without further ado let's dive into this episode with robert hirchavec

creating great content shouldn't mean running into creative hurdles or worrying about costs that's where story blocks comes in storyblocks is a stock media subscription service for creators marketers and video pros who want to save time and enhance their projects one subscription gives you unlimited downloads of 4K and HD videos, music, sound effects, images, and customizable templates for programs like After Effects and Premiere Pro.

Plus, everything is royalty-free and pre-licensed.

Go to storyblocks.com/slash greatness to explore unlimited stock media for one set price.

Introducing the new Dell AI PC powered by the Intel Core Ultra Processor.

It helps do your busy work for you so you can fast-forward through editing images, designing presentations, generating code, debugging debugging code, summarizing meeting notes, finding files, managing your schedule, responding to Nicole's long emails, leaving all the time in the world for the things you actually want to do.

No offense, Nicole.

Get a new Dell AI PC at dell.com slash AI-PC.

How those ahead stay ahead.

Being smart with your money is one of the best ways to invest in yourself and your future.

With State Farm personal price plan, you can create a a competitive price just for you when you choose to bundle your home and auto insurance.

That way, you can keep more of your money focused on your goals.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state.

Coverage options are selected by the customer.

Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

Welcome back, everyone, in the School of Greatness.

I'm very excited about our guests.

We have the inspiring Robert Hirchavek in the house.

So good to see you, sir.

Thank you for having me.

Welcome.

I've watched you for, for, I guess, 15 years now on Shark Tank or 15 plus years.

17.

17 years on Shark Tank.

We have many mutual friends that you're buddies with, that I've had on the show as well.

And you just have an inspiring story and an inspiring life.

And I'm glad we got to connect a little bit before this because

you've been

inspiring.

young and old entrepreneurs for many years to learn about how to grow their business, how to launch a product, how to package and position their product.

And I mean, your story is pretty fascinating because you're an immigrant, you're an immigrant family.

I think you came to Canada when you were eight,

but you didn't have anything.

Your dad didn't have any money.

You guys were living in extreme poverty.

So how do you learn to go from, I guess, a poverty situation and turn it into an abundance mindset?

Like, when does that learn switch for you of like, we're in poverty, whether you knew it or not, but you had a poverty mindset, or maybe you didn't, but you're in experiencing poverty.

When does that switch on to abundance of wealth mindset?

It's a great question.

And that's a great question.

Somebody asked me yesterday because they knew my story.

I went for a medical, and the nurse was like, oh my God, I read about your story, and you came to Canada with nothing.

Blah, blah, blah.

It must have been so hard.

And the truth is, it wasn't.

I mean, it was my mom and dad escaping from a country, coming to Canada on on a boat with one suitcase,

and I'm the only child.

Wow.

So for them,

absolutely horrifically hard.

Didn't speak the language, had no money.

My dad was in jail, could never go back.

The whole nine yards.

Wow.

Comes to a country, doesn't know anybody, doesn't speak the language.

Now, I'm eight years old.

First time on a boat.

It's an adventure.

It's an adventure.

It just means.

Poverty wasn't my mindset.

And I think that's a big difference.

I think people that are born into poverty or encompassed in poverty, it's harder to get out of.

My mindset was joy.

Really?

So I grew up on a small village with my grandma.

Like

the traditional vision of poverty with dirt floors.

We didn't have a phone.

Like it was one of those, like it was a village.

There was one phone.

If you wanted to get a a hold of my grandmother, you called the guy with the phone, right?

And he came on.

But I didn't know we were poor because everybody around me lived like we lived.

So in joy.

Oh, I mean, everyone around you lived the same.

The same.

So it wasn't you were rich, I was poor.

We all lived in a little dirt floor, outhouse.

It was fine.

But as a child, we had animals and it was joy.

I didn't realize that we were poor until we came to Canada.

And when I went to school, I remember this so clearly.

I don't remember the journey.

I don't remember any of it.

My mom thinks I blocked it all out.

But I remember the first day of school and kids picking on me and making fun of me and telling me I'm a poor immigrant.

Wow.

First day of school.

First day of school.

Because you don't speak English either at this point, right?

Maybe.

And there was no English classes.

So they just threw you in.

That must have been kind of terrifying, also of life.

Terrifying.

I don't know if his teacher says kids saying.

Yeah.

And I came from an environment where I was really a lot of fun.

My dad was the youngest of 15,

tons of cousins.

And I go into an environment where I literally don't speak the language, and kids are making fun of me.

I really don't know why they're making fun of me.

So I learned poverty and I learned poor

as a situation.

So I never thought I was poor.

I just thought the situation we were in is poor.

And I know it's a very subtle difference, but I think you learn your mindset.

And I think poverty is a learned mindset.

And I think abundance is a learned mindset.

I didn't learn a wealth mindset until later on.

And I always think if I would have learned an abundance mindset sooner, I would be much wealthier today.

Wow.

So what is a poverty or poor mindset versus a wealth or abundance mindset?

What do they both encompass?

The beginning for me is a poverty mindset is when you believe you're poor.

or you believe that you are the cause of the situation you're in.

Or you believe that external circumstances have made you what you are.

I never believed I was poor.

I just believed our current situation was poor.

Really?

So I just, I got to a point where I didn't want to be in that situation anymore.

But there was nothing wrong with me.

My mom loved me.

I was a good human being.

I just had to get out of the situation.

So, how do you learn then to get out of a situation

of, I guess, poverty or not having a lot?

How do you learn

this, is it a skill?

Is it a shift of energy?

Is it a shift in thinking that allows you to get out of that situation?

Is it a shift of, I need to act in a different way?

I need to become something different in order to create abundance?

What does that shift look like?

Yeah, that's a great question, too.

I think.

And how old were you when you were like, okay, I'm not poor personally, but I'm in an environment that isn't thriving?

Probably around 12.

Okay.

Because

it was just such a crappy environment.

And we had no money.

And at that point, I'd been poor in my mind for four years.

And we constantly moved schools.

So, you know, when you're an immigrant, you make a little bit of money.

You live in a crappy apartment.

You make a little bit of money.

you live in a better apartment and so on.

So by 12 I'd gone to like three different high schools.

And my dad worked an unbelievable amount of hours, like two shifts.

Manual labor, I'm assuming.

Yeah, contractor.

Factory, swept floors.

I mean, eventually he became a millwright, taught it himself.

Somebody gave him an opportunity, and you know, they paid off their house, which was you know the immigrant dream.

Right.

But I think at 12,

I'd been living like that for four years.

And we went to a better high school.

And every time we went to a better school, the kids around me had more.

They're richer.

Yeah, yeah.

You're like,

I've got a little more, but they've got a lot more.

So

I'd be in this high school and we'd make a little bit of money.

And I was poor, but the other kids weren't that much better off.

And then we moved to a better house and now the kids were way better off.

And I was just like, wow, this is, I'm never going to get out of this cycle.

How do you get out of this cycle?

Do you feel like you've gotten out of that cycle at this season of your life?

Because now as you start to generate wealth, you're around people that have

million dollars and then $100 million, then

billions.

And you're like,

do you find yourselves kind of still in that at some time?

Very, very true.

You know, there's an, what's the saying?

You are the net result of five people you hang out with.

And I think it's really true.

I think that you are,

it's very, very,

very rare and hard to raise yourself up on your own.

I think if your environment, your parents, your friends are constantly pulling you back,

it's hard to keep going.

Like you think, I think back and I think

none of my friends I grew up with ever made it.

And it would have been so easy to stay there.

But I think as you do more and you get more, your circle influence and your friends becomes wider.

Right.

So when was that switch then for you?

You're 12, you start to become aware that, okay,

we're moving around, but I'm still in this poor environment compared to everyone else around me.

Was it an energy shift, a thinking shift, or an action shift that allowed you to say, I'm now creating abundance in my life?

Yeah, that's a great question.

For me, it was an energy shift.

Now, I've always been pretty high energy, right?

So I've always been like, go, go, go, go.

What I didn't realize at the time was I was looking for external things to make me better.

It took me a long time to realize

I can't take external things to make me better until I become better.

You know, I always say, show me a small business in trouble and I'll show you an entrepreneur in trouble.

Wow.

It's very, very difficult to disassociate a

lazy, unmotivated entrepreneur with a highly successful business.

and vice versa.

And that was me at 12.

I was just pure energy, bouncing off the walls.

You know, like we talked about.

I want to be a detective.

I wanted to join the FBI.

I wanted to be an actor because immigrants think if you're on TV, you're rich.

You're making money, yeah.

Like I just wanted not to be poor, but I didn't know how to be rich.

Interesting.

And I didn't understand that mindset.

And it,

as corny as it sounds, it always starts with you.

It always starts with discipline.

It starts with habit.

It starts with learning.

So what did you start learning to support you from going to poor to abundance mindset?

Sales.

Really?

Yeah.

Sales.

People always think I'm wealthy because I'm really good at computers, and I am.

I'm probably one of a handful of the top cyber people in the world.

But I'm not wealthy because of my knowledge of a task.

I'm wealthy because of my knowledge of sales and

how to sell what I'm doing to other people.

What was the first lesson you learned in sales or the first sale you ever made in life?

You can't force somebody to buy something they fundamentally don't need.

And I was very lucky that way because if I would have been taught to use car salesmen in a schlocky way, I mean, I was just hungry for knowledge.

Like I would have gone any way.

Like, I always think

if somebody would have taken me under their wing and they were like a con man, I would have been.

I'm a con man.

Right.

I was just very lucky, like you and I talked about it.

I got to learn from a guy named Harry Rosen, who was a legend in Canada, owned the biggest men's, and he was just a nice human being.

So I went there to buy a suit.

And it was like, this is a long time ago, it was like $1,200.

And you're like, this is crazy.

And I'm like, oh, my God, I can't afford $1,200.

There's more money than I'll make this month.

Kind of.

Wow.

And the salesman said to me, you know, if you work here,

you get to buy one suit every six months at 50% off.

So I was like, great.

So I got a part-time job there.

And I got a job there.

And the guy who owns the place called Harry Rosa, now it's a multi-billion dollar company, but Harry used to teach on Saturdays.

If you showed up an hour before the store opened, he would teach you how to dress.

That's cool.

You'll love this.

So, like, the guy's a legend.

It was like, even then, it was like the biggest shop in Canada.

And he says, show up at 7:30, because the store opened at 9, and I'll teach you everything you need to know about dressing and how to sell to men.

And I'm like,

I am so excited.

I leave, it was like a Wednesday.

I show up on Saturday.

Nobody there.

Nobody there.

So it's just him and I.

Wow.

No one else shows up.

No one else shows up.

So later in the day, I say to my buddy,

hey,

how come nobody showed up?

You know what he says?

No one's paying me to show up.

Interesting.

Isn't that interesting?

Your friend.

My friend.

Yeah, I guess I'm getting paid.

I go show up at 9 because I get paid at 9.

Yeah,

I don't get paid.

Interesting.

I don't get paid.

What I heard is, I don't get paid.

He said, I don't get paid to learn.

And I always thought,

I don't need to get paid to learn.

I'll learn for free.

I'll pay to learn.

Yeah.

I'm the best.

Like, I thought, I would have paid him to teach me.

It was great.

Whereas he taught me everything.

He taught me everything, how to dress, how to spot someone with money.

So I've always been lucky to kind of found that.

Then I worked for Warren Avis, who started Avis Rent a Car.

Wow.

And like, I've just been really fortunate to have great role models who are good human beings.

I mean, those two, I guess, mentors and people you worked for, they both have billion-dollar brands now, right?

Multiple billion-dollar brands?

Yes.

That's kind of rare that when you're in your teens, early 20s, you randomly, how do you, is it a random thing or do you just know oh this guy could be something one day that's pretty I impressive I just

I could have worked anywhere I could have worked anywhere

local restaurant or the barbershop or that wouldn't have been this you know mega billion dollar business but you worked

I

think how did I end up there right because I think back and I think none of my buddies got a job on a men's clairvoy like what

and so if I think about it, what I've always been

good at is not lying to myself.

I think I've always been brutally honest with myself.

Like I told you, I went on my first sales call, I went to see a customer and the customer said to me, you dress like crap.

I've never had an ego for success.

So if somebody said something to me and there was even an ounce of truth to it, I would take it in.

I would leave my ego at the door.

So when somebody said to me, you dress like crap, it wasn't like, oh, I'm so offended.

What are they talking about?

It was like, oh, do I dress like crap?

And then you go home and you look in the mirror and you're like, yeah, I dress like crap.

How do I get better?

And then it just looked up the best men's store.

Wow.

So I've always had an ability, I think, to be honest with myself.

There's a saying that the biggest lies in life we tell are the ones we tell ourselves.

What's been the biggest lie you've been telling yourself lately?

That I'm

the biggest lie I've been telling myself lately is that

I've made it.

I got to a point where I felt like I've kind of made it.

And just in the last few months, I've been thinking, Hang on a sec.

Because you you tend to, you know, like I'm older now, I'm 62, and you you think, oh, I'm kind of at the end of the road.

Because I know a lot of older people who are super successful, and they're like kind of encouraging, and it begins to affect me.

And I kind of went a few months where I'm like, yeah.

And then one day I'm like, hang on a sec.

Like age is a number.

And there's lots of people that...

can start something at this age and I have more capital than I've ever had.

So yeah, I think I can still do it again.

Interesting.

So you've, the lie you've been telling yourselves, yourself is you've made it.

But what is making it?

You know, when have you made it?

If someone looks at you or watches this and they're like, if Robert doesn't think he's made it with all the money he has, all the success from multiple industries, from TV to personal brand to social media, everything you touch.

has blown up.

If he doesn't think he's made it, I have no chance of making it.

That's such a great question because you think about that when you're starting out you always think oh if I had yeah a bigger house yeah like you know you live here and you drive by Bel Air

and you think oh if I had a house over there I made it or you have a I don't know a Corvette you think oh if I had a friar and you think oh if I had a jet and then you have a jet and then you think what if I had a bigger jet

like when I sold my last company in my mind, I had, what did I have?

I had

a G4.

Right.

Right.

And I used to think, I mean, this is how shallow I was.

I used to think, oh, if I had a G6, come on.

Damn.

Then I've made it.

I've made it.

Because my G4, my G5.

And so I sold the business and literally within two weeks, I bought a G6.

And this is a long time ago.

Now I think

I don't think in terms of things

of making it.

I think in terms of potential.

So when I think I haven't made it, I don't think I've reached my potential.

So I don't,

there is no

car I want to buy or no jet I need to buy or no home I need to buy to fulfill me.

What I need is I need to feel like I've drained every part of my potential.

I want to feel like when I'm on my deathbed, that I say,

I couldn't have done more.

Wow.

And whatever that is, because I think it's different for everybody.

Yeah.

So for me right now, it's really about getting super fit.

It's about starting another business.

It's just about taking everything I've learned and applying it.

You have a series on social media that's about the lessons you've learned from billionaires.

And you've been around a lot of billionaires.

And you've, people can go on your Instagram and TikTok and YouTube and watch all these videos.

I think they're really interesting lessons.

But if you could share the top three lessons you've learned from billionaires, what would those three lessons be?

One of the hardest parts about B2B marketing is reaching the right audience.

With LinkedIn ads, you can actually reach the audience you're intending to reach.

On LinkedIn, you can put your message right in front of the exact people who are most likely to say yes.

Whether you want to reach decision makers at Fortune 500 companies, small business owners, or skilled professionals in niche industries, LinkedIn lets you dial in your targeting with precision.

LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals, and that's where it stands apart from other ad buys.

You can target your buyers by job title, industry, company, role, seniority, skills, company revenue, and all that.

All the professionals you need to reach in one place.

So stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads.

LinkedIn will even give you an extra $250 credit on your next campaign so you can try it yourself.

Just go to linkedin.com/slash Lewis.

That's linkedin.com slash L-E-W-I-S.

Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.

You know the feeling of that first crisp fall morning when the air feels fresh and the leaves start turning.

That's exactly the vibe of Native's new limited edition fall getaway collection.

Five incredible scents that smell so good, even Mother Nature would give it a thumbs up.

The scents are unreal.

Native captures the coziness of fall with both their toasted vanilla and honey and vanilla cream and pumpkin fragrances.

They've also got fresh, nature-inspired options like fall citrus and suede, crisp pear, and cashmere, or my favorite sandwood and coastal breeze.

And all of these limited edition fall scents are available as deodorant, body wash, hair care, lotion, and hand soap.

So you can embrace fall throughout your whole routine.

And what I like most about Native is how they keep it simple with clean ingredients.

I love that the deodorant only has nine ingredients and none are aluminum.

And Native's hair care is free of silicone, sulfates, and parabens.

I also have been loving the fall citrus and suede deodorant.

There's just something about this scent that takes me right back to my childhood.

A cool fall afternoon in Ohio on my way to football practice.

I just love it.

Shop the fall getaway collection at nativecoasts.com and use code greatness-fall for 20% off.

That's nativecos.com and use code G-R-E-A-T-N-E-S-S-F-A-L-L.

You ever walk out of the grocery store or fill up your tank and just think, how is everything this expensive?

Feels like prices are going up everywhere.

And how great would it be if just once something actually just went down in price?

Well, at Metro, that's exactly what's happening.

They've lowered their prices and are giving you a five-year price guarantee on talk, text, and data.

One line now 20% lower.

Family plans, also lowered.

Oh, and you also get a free 5G phone, all with no ID required and no activation fees.

Stop by your neighborhood Metro store.

Visit metro by t-mobile.com or call to find out about their amazing offers.

Bring your number, not available if currently at T-Mobile or with Metro in the past 180 days.

Guarantee covers monthly price of on-network talk, text, and 5G data for customers activating on an eligible plan.

Exclusions apply.

Details at metro by t-mobile.com.

Wow, number one, knee-jerk is absolute, obstinate obsession about their skill set.

Not about the world in general, but about that one thing.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, it's not

all the billionaires I know

wouldn't, would struggle on Jeopardy.

Right.

General knowledge doesn't get rewarded.

Interesting.

Specific knowledge.

And so that's the first thing that comes to mind.

Like I don't know a single billionaire that isn't a world-class expert at a very narrow singular task.

I think the second one would be curiosity.

It's hard to be abundant if you're not curious.

Like I love to learn.

I love to,

you know,

how did you start the podcast?

How did you, like, I'm fascinated.

And I think that comes into because

people of great wealth tend to be problem solvers.

You know, we tend to like problems.

And I think the third one would be

discipline

now

discipline is different right like discipline to me is

fit body fit mind fit business but I have billionaire friends who are slops

sloppy right yeah you know they're they don't they eat like crap they're overweight they don't care but they're extremely disciplined about their business Like, I think the discipline applies to who you are, and everybody can be different.

I think those are the three.

Here's a question for you that I think a lot of people, because I have a lot of fit people in my audience, a lot of fitness professionals and people in the health and wellness industry who struggle at making money.

They're really good at taking care of their health and they're jacked or they're fit or they eat all the right foods, but they haven't unlocked how to create financial abundance.

So if someone is healthy physically, emotionally, spiritually, but financially hasn't cracked that code yet, what is missing from them to create that financial abundance?

It's a great question.

I think it's the same

reason why people who are wealthy aren't fit.

What is that reason?

They look at the superficial, easy ways to do it.

So people that have a lot of wealth think that they can get fit by taking a drug

or

surgery or they look for placebo type band-aids.

I think anything hard is

discipline and habit.

So people that are super fit have discipline and habit, but they're like me when I was a teen.

They don't know where to apply it.

You know, interesting story for you, years ago, because I've always been a pretty fit guy.

So years ago, the the Army Rangers reached out to me and asked if I'd like to go to a training camp.

And, you know, I think I'm pretty fit.

And so I was like, yeah, raw.

Anyway,

long story, I went, completely kicked my ass, huge amount of respect for people in the military, the discipline.

When it was done, I sat down with the guy who ran the training program.

And he kind of did an analysis of over the last couple of weeks, what you did well, what you didn't.

And I said to him, people in the military must be great at business.

Because think about it, discipline, habit, like

no one has that more

than Army Rangers or most people in the military.

He said something very interesting, which was, it's very rare that people in the military do well in business.

Why is that?

Why do you think?

I think because they're used to be following the rules and taking orders probably and saying, what do I need to do to make sure that my boss is happy?

And staying in line with the team.

That's part of it.

And that was my answer.

And because you can't break the military mold of how things are done.

This is the way it's done.

We're not going to change because you have a different opinion about how to run our unit.

So I said the same thing.

Okay.

And that's part of it.

But he said there's a bigger reason.

Tell me, yeah.

And the bigger reason is purpose.

People join the military because they have a need to do something greater than themselves.

Think about that.

You're joining the military.

You're willing to lay your life down

for our country.

Like, think about that commitment.

Like, that's not a, gee, do I, you know, am I kind of into it or not?

Like, that is an all-in...

passionate commitment.

I am willing to die

for my cause.

So then they leave the military, they get a job in sales, and their boss says, if you don't make your number, we're not going to make it for the quarter.

And they struggle with that.

They're void of purpose.

When you have that great a purpose and that leaves you,

It's very hard to replace it with a different purpose.

You would think they could, but he said that was the reason.

Wow.

And so I think it's

both.

Yeah, yeah.

Right?

Like, I think people with great wealth don't have a purpose to get fit, and people that are super fit,

really, at the core, show me somebody who's done great things, and I'll show you somebody with unbelievable purpose.

Interesting.

Have you ever had a point in your life where you tied your self-worth with your net worth?

Wow.

Yeah, probably in my 20s,

to admit it.

Yeah,

I was very superficial because my understanding of wealth was very external.

It was everything that I saw other people.

So my definition of wealth was how other people spent it, what kind of car they had, what kind of a house I had.

Because I never really met anybody who had great wealth.

You know, I always say there's superficial wealth, which is you live for the way you think

you should.

You buy a nicer car, you get a bigger lease, you get a bigger mortgage because you think those are the things that you need in order to be successful.

And I think once you really achieve great success, you begin to realize I don't actually need another car.

I don't need these things to fulfill me.

But yeah, I think in my 20s, I was very.

How does someone today not

tie their self-worth with their net worth?

Maybe they're not making a lot of money right now.

How do they not let it affect their identity or their core of who they are and the way they feel about themselves because they're not making 100,000 or millions or you know these things?

Well,

I think

your net worth is not a reflection of your value.

Poverty and wealth are situational.

So somebody listening to this could be making 50 grand a year, but they're a high power, high value individual.

Everybody's at a different stage of their journey.

You just got to believe that you're learning the skill set in order to get there one day.

And you've got to have a greater purpose in order to get there.

So

I

never

thought

I was going to end up where I was.

You never thought you'd end up where you are now.

Well, I never thought I'd end up like I am now, but even when I was poor, I never thought I'd stay there.

Got you.

I seriously.

It's just that the scope of my dreams wasn't big enough.

My dream in my 20s was to make $1,000

for my age.

So when I'm 50, to make 50 grand,

to buy a house and pay it off in my lifetime.

Wow.

And to buy a Corvette.

That was your dream.

That was my dream.

That was my, like that was the, that was my vision board dream.

Like that was my like knock it out of the ballpark dream.

Because we didn't

know anybody

who had done those.

Wow.

How did you begin to expand your mind to shatter that limit?

Again, super curious, super honest with myself.

So, you know,

when I bought a used Ferrari and I moved into my house, I was so proud of it.

It was a 1986 Ferrari Testerosa, and it was used, and there weren't that much money at the time.

And I brought it over to my garage, and I put it in.

And this was my superficial stage.

So I moved into this neighborhood, and I see my neighbor across the street.

And his name is Richard, still a friend of mine.

So I go over and I'm like, hey,

blah, blah, blah.

Oh, by the way, look at my garage.

Do you want to Ferrari?

So he comes over, I open the garage, and I'm so proud of it.

I've never been arrogant, like, like, let me show you why I'm better.

I was just so happy.

So I show him my Ferrari, and he's like, oh, my gosh, that's amazing.

I love that year.

He says, come to my garage.

So we go across the street to his garage.

He opens up the garage and he has two Porsches.

And, you know, it's those moments in life that something happens.

You're ready to learn it, but you don't know what you need to learn.

And then something comes in, and those two things fit, and it's an aha moment.

And I remember it so clearly.

Hilton's the garage, there's two Porsches.

And I worked my ass off to buy a used Ferrari.

It took everything I knew

to get that car.

And it wasn't like it was one of many.

It was

that.

And I walked across the street and that guy has two.

And I couldn't fathom how that could happen.

Like, I was like, how could he do that?

Interesting.

And so I walk back and I was thinking, there's something I need to be better at because the road I'm going, I'm never going to get there.

Really?

Because you're like, I've worked as hard as I can work and this is what I got.

Every piece of knowledge, every bit of hard work, every bit of discipline I had got me one Ferrari.

Now here's an interesting thing I think everyone needs to pay attention to and

be mindful of what you're about to say.

Because I think what you're about to say from this question I ask you is going to break everyone's minds open.

Because a lot of people are thinking, I work 15, 18, 20 hour days already and for years I've been working hard at a job and I'm not getting the exponential growth I'd like.

Barely making incremental growth and I don't see a way I can't work any harder to create more wealth for myself.

What is the thing that you learned then in that moment about hard work versus creating wealth?

Because yes, you need to work hard, but what is the thing that broke you open from saying,

I'm going to work a different way that's going to unlock wealth.

That's such a great question.

My dad worked in a factory his whole life, two shifts, paid off his house in his lifetime.

Super successful guy in his world.

I will never work a day in my life harder than my dad worked.

Ever.

That man was the hardest working human being I'd ever come across.

Just because you'll work hard though though, doesn't mean you'll be rich.

Oh man.

What it means is you won't be poor.

And there's a fundamental difference between the blue collar poverty mindset and the wealth abundance mindset.

And what I learned in that moment is

I

literally friggin couldn't give more.

I was sleeping four hours a day.

I was great at my task.

I was was driving my company as hard as I possibly could.

And he gave me one Ferrari.

It's still cool, but yeah.

Super cool.

Nothing wrong with that.

But you didn't see how you could get more.

Yeah.

And the first part was, did I want more?

Did I, was that important to me?

And people misunderstand that.

They're like, oh yeah, I'd like more Ferraris.

It was never about more Ferraris.

It was just about how do I get more how do I get more value more worth how do I get a better life

and so I said yes I definitely want more why not why not me

and so

that was the first part

big lesson for me though is you have to pivot Hard work is absolutely foundational,

but smart work

is pivoting.

So what did you learn from going to hard work to smart work to create more financial abundance?

Value.

What I learned is

markets and people will pay for value, not for time.

People will pay you for your knowledge,

not

for how long you've been doing it or the amount of hours you're going to spend on it or those kind of things.

And what I realized is I I wasn't creating enough value.

Really?

For your customers or your clients, or for my customers, for my customers.

And for me, I wasn't learning enough.

And it's funny.

I actually ended up going to a Tony Robbins seminar,

which was really eye-opening because I'd never experienced that.

And I thought I was a

pretty motivated, high-functioning guy.

And then I went to a so interesting story.

How old are you then?

26.

Okay, I want to hear this story because I have a similar story.

And so, I write about this Tony Robbins.

I mean, this is the early Tony Robbins when he was like, you know, bigger than life.

And he was coming to Toronto.

And me and four buddies went to buy tickets.

Only one of us bought a ticket and showed up.

Wow.

Wow.

All my buddies were like, oh, it's a waste of time.

So I go there and I bought like the super expensive ticket, right?

Like the one.

And Tony walks in.

And it's like,

boom.

And I was like,

wow.

Like, I'm high energy.

That guy is transformational energy.

Wow.

What I realized was all my energy was internal.

I was doing a great job of influencing me, of making me better.

I saw Tony and I realized I need to make other people better.

So I need to make my employees better.

I need to make the people I work with, like I need to make them

that.

And then I need to bring transformation to my customers.

And

what started for me was a

Outward transformation of my energy.

Before that, I was highly motivated on my own, but if you met me, you wouldn't have walked away and said, oh my god, that guy's like, boom.

After that, if you met me, you would have said, that guy's full of joy.

And I started...

I started changing our sales pitch to our customers away from product focus

to a subconscious focus.

I started thinking about why people buy and not what they're buying.

And so many people watching are so focused on product features.

Why is my product better?

We said,

those things are important.

But until we engage people, until we open their minds, they're really not going to listen to us.

So we started in our sales calls, why did they say that?

How did they say it?

How were they sitting?

What did you say?

All those things.

And none of our competitors, like keep in mind, we're in a very, very technical field.

And we're out talking to people about how they feel.

Interesting.

In order to sell them really technical stuff.

Can you give an example of what that slogan or

line of marketing material might look like or if someone's speaking about it to a potential customer?

You're not selling tech or cyber technology, right?

Or cybersecurity software or tech.

What are you then selling?

We're selling comfort and we're selling safety.

You know, there's a good salespeople sell features, great salespeople sell outcomes.

And

really great salespeople sell feelings.

So

we, I pivoted our company and I said, if the only thing you get out of the sales call is that the customer feels better,

we've achieved something.

Because that gives you the opportunity for another call.

And, you know, I didn't come up with the same, but the saying is, people never remember what you say.

They remember how you make them feel.

And when I sold my first company to AT ⁇ T, interesting story.

So everything I've learned about business, I learned on my own.

I don't have a business degree, I have a degree in classical English literature.

So I sold my first company to ATT for, I think, $32 million.

More money than I could have imagined.

I was a long time ago.

How old are you then, roughly?

35, 34.

Yeah.

I mean, 32 million for a kid that wanted to make

50 grand for a lot of money.

A lot of money.

So ATT does the due diligence on the business.

They hire an external company.

Anyway, long story, they bring me in and they say to me, we have a problem.

I'm like, what's the problem?

They say, well, you know, we hired this external company.

We looked at your systems.

We looked at the way you do ticketing, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And we measured it with all your customer response and it's not great.

And so I'm thinking, oh my God, I'm not going to get the $32 million.

So I'm scrambling and I'm like, hey, did you ask those customers if they would buy from me again?

And they're like, yeah, actually, we did.

So they flipped to the last page.

And they said, 97% of your customers said they would buy from you again, despite all of these things.

And I said, did you ask them why?

And they said, yes.

And they said, two reasons.

One, you made them happy.

And two, they believed if they had an issue, you would take care of it.

Wow.

And so you think about how many people are starting a business, how many people have a product

that

doesn't emotionally connect with their customers.

That's beautiful.

This back to school season, spend less on your kids with Amazon.

Remember those days begging your parents for new shoes only to outgrow them by October?

And now that my wife Martha and I are expecting, I can already picture the chaos of future back-to-school shopping sprees.

We're beyond excited to have kids, but let's be honest, they're expensive.

Thankfully, Amazon makes back to school season smooth and you can grab all the essentials, headphones, lunch boxes, uniforms, snacks, and supplies, all at low prices.

Whether your kids growing fast or trying out every new sport, Amazon helps you stretch your budget without the stress.

My best friend Matt and I were remembering how back in the old days, we'd have to physically walk through all the aisles of multiple different stores to find everything on the school supply list.

Now, he and his wife just need to do a quick search on Amazon and they find exactly what their kids need and more, which gives them more time to soak up the last moments of summer break.

So, remember, with Amazon's low back-to-school prices, just spend less on your kids because every dollar you don't spend on them is a dollar you haven't spent on them.

Shop back to school at Amazon and spend less on your kids.

From personal growth to overcoming setbacks, we all need a little help being human.

Whether it's managing stress, finding purpose, or just trying to stay grounded, LifeKit from NPR is here to help.

It's a show that offers thoughtful guidance on how to live better with strategies that help you make meaningful, sustainable changes in your everyday life.

Life doesn't come with a manual, but every day you're faced with choices, some big, some small, that shape the direction you're headed.

LifeKit brings in real stories, expert advice, and actionable tips to help you meet those moments with more clarity and confidence.

The conversations explore both the emotional and practical sides of life, from personal wellness to parenting, finances, and more.

And the best part, it's not overwhelming.

The episodes are quick, useful, and designed to help you feel a little more together one step at a time.

Listen now to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.

Yeah, and especially like in a whole tech world, like how can you humanize it or make a feeling come from that type of a product or a service where it may not seem like it's supposed to make it?

It's not even just tech, though.

It's like

you look at retail today.

I just did an

interview with Forbes or somebody about this.

And the reporter said to me, they think retail is dead.

And I don't think it is.

I think we're going to see a resurgence in retail, but not, I don't think people are going to go to the mall to look around.

You know, like, oh, I'm here.

What shops are here?

I think people that depend on location to survive are going to be in trouble.

But I think brands that have an emotional connection, like I will drive to a mall to buy Lululemon.

I will drive to a mall to buy canned goose.

Because those brands speak to me.

So I think it's in everything.

I think it's in tech.

I think it's in fashion.

We see it on Shark Tank.

Yeah.

There's a few questions.

This has been fascinating, Robert.

I'm so glad you're opening up.

I've got a handful of questions left for you.

There's so many things I would like to talk about, but there's a few things I want to make sure we get to.

One is

faith.

How much has

faith in

God or in religion or in the universe played in your life from childhood to now?

And

how much do you put awareness around your faith

and also

into what you're going to create for the future of your life?

Yeah, great question.

So I've really struggled with my faith in my lifetime.

Started out very religious, altar boy for many years.

Became very cynical about it,

became a

superficial Christian,

meaning

I believed in my God and my faith when it was convenient for me.

And then went through a horrific

time

and found my faith again.

I kind of left cynical,

cynical,

believed that I didn't need need God or faith or anything else in my life.

Believed I was in control of my own destiny.

And we are,

but there's a greater plan.

What was this season of time where you were feeling that was a rough season for you?

2014.

I was going through a really, really difficult time.

Like, I mean, like to the point I didn't think the sun would rise again.

And.

Like, suicidal thinking?

Yeah, yeah.

Like,

contemplated suicide

came close.

Like, it was.

And, you know, I mean, you know me a little bit now.

I've always been a happy guy.

And I've always believed like I was Superman.

Wow.

And I lost it all.

Like, I realized I had kryptonite.

and I was just like downward, downward, downward.

And a good friend of mine, John, saw me spiraling.

Like, like I was a shell of what I was.

Is this emotionally?

Is this like alcohol or drugs?

Or is this just like, you know, panic attacks?

Is this

anxiety, depression?

Just emotional.

I was going through a horrible divorce and

just family stuff and like

just

horrible.

And

John, thank God,

he's a priest, he said to me,

I need you to go somewhere and

you have to have faith in me

to trust me to go here.

And so I did.

I flew to Seattle on my super fancy plane

and got off the plane and I met one of his friends who was a pastor in Seattle and he took me to a homeless mission and I spent the next month or so there.

I spent the first couple of weeks at the mission, then I got a hotel and it was

absolutely transformational.

Wow.

Yeah.

Being in service for a month to the homeless in that city.

Well, I think the first thing,

as horrible as this is going to sound,

I felt so sorry for myself

that seeing people who were worse off than me was just a bit of a wake-up call.

Sure.

Like, of course,

perspective.

Like, I'm going there on my jet,

have thought about suicide.

contemplated suicide, didn't think I had any value left to give in the world.

Flying on my jet,

meeting a guy who literally has nothing.

Not nothing

because he doesn't know if his life has meaning, like, literally has nothing.

And Union Gospel Mission is a Christian, like, you have to go there for a year.

It's for homeless, addicts, and so on.

So, I think that was the first thing: is like, I just like, wow, these, like,

what am I complaining about kind of thing

then the second part of it was just

getting

back to purpose

if you don't love yourself and you feel like you have nothing to give you can't give to anyone else interesting and I was void of me

Going there was a wake-up call and getting back to my faith,

getting back to seeing value in me.

Like I went there broken and I left there like, whoo!

And people have a funny,

because I meet a lot of people with faith who believe in God and other things and they always think,

how can you be so motivated and have so much faith?

And people just don't understand that

faith doesn't mean that you give up control of your life

to someone else.

Like I hate when people say that, oh, my life is in God's hands.

And I'm like,

yeah,

but you got to do something.

Like I think we were given this opportunity in life and we've got to make the most of it.

And I think that was the greatest thing I got out of that month is just the feeling of back to joy.

How does someone

learn to know they are valuable?

Like you got to a place where you were broken, right?

You were broken, but you had, I don't know, hundreds of millions of dollars, private jet, you had success, you had you're on TV, you're doing these things that people would dream of having.

How does someone learn to know that they are valuable, whether they have lots of money or don't have lots of money?

Such a great question because I always think about that.

Like, I think about

how

arrogant was I

to

all this stuff

and

feel so sorry for myself.

Like, why couldn't I have on my own figure that out?

Like why couldn't I have used some of my wealth

to do good?

Like how shallow was I to focus on my own misery?

It took the misery of others

for me to realize that.

And I always think, how arrogant and shallow is that?

But

I think it's hard.

I think it's really hard to ask for help

when you feel you're in control of your own destiny.

I think powerful people and strong people have a hard time asking for help.

And I just needed help.

I mean, it could have been anything.

what do you ask God for today

peace

I mean I

I pray for peace I pray for joy I just want my family to feel fulfilled right

and I think about

I also think I was just talking to somebody about this, they said,

do you worry about your legacy?

And I think, no,

because once I'm gone, I'm gone.

But what do I want my kids to remember about me?

And I want them to remember the joy and the love.

That's beautiful.

I mean, I think that's what every human being wants, love,

joy, peace.

And I would also add financial success.

Because I think

those aren't separate.

I think if you live in North America, you have to make a certain amount of money to take care of your family.

I mean that's just reality.

And that's one of the things I worry about America in the last few years.

It's become becoming wealthy almost became like a dirty word.

It's one of the things I love about Shark Tank is you have six of us self-made relatively nice people

and we show people every week that anybody can do it.

Yeah.

Why do you think so many people tie wealthy people with stingy,

mean

people?

And why do they, you know, a lot of people will say, you know, they want wealth, but they're also afraid of wealth because they've seen how some people who are super wealthy maybe treat people poorly or are angry or whatever it might be or stingy, not generous with their wealth.

Yeah, it's a great question.

It's like sales.

If you ask most people about sales, they would say to you, oh, I don't want to be be a sales rep because they think use car salesman.

But I'm sure with your experience, the greatest salespeople you've met are probably super nice and super helpful, right?

Sales is the ability to help someone, not to get them to buy something they don't need.

And it's the same thing with wealth.

Wealth is not the creation or the subjugation.

What's the quote I read a long time ago?

Power is not the subjugation of the weak.

Power is the ability

to

get the powerful to see your vision.

And I think it's true.

I think most people that don't have wealth

want an easy answer as to why they're not doing it.

Yeah.

If you could go back

a year before 2014.

A decade back, but a year before you're about to go through your darkness.

The sadness, the depression, the divorce,

the horrible feelings you were feeling.

And if you were who you are now, and you can speak to that younger version of you 11 years earlier and only give him three pieces of advice with everything you know he was about to go through,

what three things would you say to that version of you right before you went to your darkest times?

The sun always rises tomorrow.

tomorrow.

I think the reason I went there is,

you know, and not just personally, but in business, I tended to have these horrific like, oh my gosh, if we get this one deal, the world will change, good or bad.

So I think that's the first thing I would say is the sun always rises.

Like, don't make mistakes that'll kill you.

Don't bet it all on one thing kind of thing.

I think the second thing I would say is

the world is your oyster.

Like it really like you think about like

somebody owns this building

and sure they may have inherited it, but let's go back to the first like somebody bought this land, built this building, somebody created it.

The world is incredible.

like the things we can do and I think the third thing is

you are all powerful

you are all powerful there is nothing we cannot achieve if we believe and we're willing to work hard enough that's beautiful

Again, there's a lot of things I'd love to ask you, but I want to be respectful of our time, Robert.

I have two final questions for you.

Before I ask them, I want people to follow you on all of our social media and your YouTube because you in the last few months have been starting to share these stories that I don't feel like people have been able to see unless they watch Shark Tank.

And they edit that stuff down into 30-second moments and there's six of you and so they don't get all of you.

But the wisdom you're sharing here, I feel like it's just scratching the surface about what you've been sharing online.

So I want people to follow you on YouTube.

I want people to follow you on Instagram.

It's your name.

We'll have it all linked up.

But how else can we be of service or support to you today?

You know that old saying, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

I think that goes for how we live too.

It's not just what we do, it's the energy, the intention, the presence we bring.

And that's exactly what the Range Rover Sport brings to the road.

The Range Rover Sport is built to take on roads anywhere without any unnecessary details.

It combines a dynamic sporting personality with elegance and agility and delivers an instinctive drive.

Its assertive stance hints at an equally refined driving performance.

Defining true modern luxury, the Range Rover Sport features the latest innovations in comfort and convenience.

The cabin air purification system, alongside the active noise cancellation, creates a new level of quality, comfort, and control.

Terrain Response 2 offers seven terrain models to choose from, fine-tuning the vehicle for any challenging roads ahead.

A force inside and out, the Range Rover Sport is available with a choice of powerful engines, including a plug-in hybrid with an estimated range of 48 miles.

Build your Range Rover sport at rangerover.com slash US slash sport.

Sometimes it feels like staying healthy is a full-time job.

Getting enough exercise, relaxation, water, and nutrients every day, plus balancing all of life's other responsibilities is a constant challenge.

That's why Nature's Bounty has been a total game changer for me.

It's the life hack we've all been needing.

Nature's Bounty has a bounty of solutions to supplement your health and wellness.

Their new Superfoods Plus energy packs nutrients from a blend of 23 fruits and veggies into just one capsule a day.

Plus, it has B vitamins from organic quinoa that helps promote cellular energy.

And since I started supplementing my day with nature's bounty, Superfoods Plus Energy, I've noticed how easy it is to optimize your energy and get the nutrients your body needs, all in one simple capsule.

It's a straightforward way to support your daily routine and free up time for what matters most to you.

And if you're looking to relax your mood, their anxiety and stress relief tablets feature clinically studied Ashwagandha KSM66 designed to support occasional stress and anxiety.

Nature's Bounty, it's in your nature.

Learn more at naturesbounty.com.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

No, I think this was great.

I mean, I'm a big fan.

You've had some amazing guests on here.

I appreciate you having me in that same company.

I think this is great.

Cool.

This question I ask everyone, there's two final questions.

This one is called the three truths.

Imagine you get to live as long as you want to live in this world, but it's your last day eventually in the future.

And you get to create and accomplish all of your dreams from this moment until that last day.

But on this last day, for whatever reason, hypothetically, you've got to take all of your content with you.

So all of your social media content, this interview, your books that you've written, it's all gone.

So no one has access to your information anymore.

But on the last day, you get to leave behind three truths.

Three things you know to be true, kind of the three lessons you'd leave behind for everyone, and that's all we would have to remember your content by.

What would those three truths be for you?

Number one, my family, because

they are, especially my kids, they're the embodiment of,

I hope they're the embodiment of what I am.

Number two is joy.

Yes.

Without joy, there is no life.

Like there is no misery in,

you know, there is no wealth in misery.

How many successful people are miserable, right?

And I think you can spike to success, but if you don't have joy, it fades.

And how many successful people commit suicide and drugs and alcohol?

Joy is everlasting.

And I think the

third one

is

empowerment.

I think if

you would hope that

when you leave, that you've empowered somebody in their life

to do something better.

It's one of the great things about Shark Tank.

Where was I just the other day and

somebody gave me a card and thanked me for being on the show and how much it affected them and their family.

And I think, how great is that to be on a show that inspires so many people for 21 years?

Millions of people, millions of people.

Before I ask the final question, Robert, I want to acknowledge you for the joy you you've brought today.

You and Jean.

I think there's,

you know,

I think a lot of people can learn from you, not from the lessons you share, but by the energy you bring.

And I've heard the word joy and written it down and highlighted it multiple times from this conversation.

And for me, that's what I feel like what you embody is joy.

And I...

I believe it's probably one of the main reasons you've been successful in your TV career, in your business career, is because you've brought the joy consistently.

Maybe I need to be more miserable because Mark is pretty miserable and he's worth more money than I am.

Doctor.

Yeah.

But is he living a fulfilled life as you are, you know?

Probably.

You're like, dang it.

He can wear whatever he wants.

Yeah.

But I want to acknowledge you for,

you know, overcoming the pain and creating great perspective.

And I feel like you're living a life of extreme purpose by sharing your knowledge now in a bigger way.

I know we talked off camera about how, you know, is is it even worth doing this social media stuff?

And it's like, I can't really quantify like, is there money here?

You know, is there opportunities for business?

But

you never know how much of an impact you can make on someone when you share a story.

And you are incredible at sharing stories, whether it be on TV, here, but also in your social media.

And the people will remember the feeling of the stories you share for a long time.

And so I acknowledge you for diving into this chapter, whether you do it for years or a few more months of social media.

but sharing your knowledge for free is an incredible gift that you're giving to the world and I acknowledge you for that and I acknowledge you for bringing the joy when you share thank you of course my final question Robert what's your definition of greatness

Wow

geez that's such a great question because

my dad was a great man

and

my mom was a great person.

And

my definition of greatness would be

fulfillment of potential.

So

my dad never made any real money.

But I think

considering the pain and life he had,

that man wrung every moment of his life.

So

if I did nothing but what my dad did, that wouldn't have been greatness because I was given more.

Those that are given more need to do more.

Those that have

been given more need to find greater purpose.

So I never think that

it just wasn't enough.

Like I couldn't have achieved any level of greatness if I just simply did what my parents did.

And I think a lot of people listening, it's the same thing is you've got to find your own purpose.

Yeah.

Right.

That's beautiful.

What's your definition of greatness?

I'm trying to see if it's different than what I had a couple years ago.

For me, it is to

discover your unique talents and gifts that you've been given

and pursue those gifts to live your dreams and in the pursuit of those dreams make the maximum impact on the people around you.

Wow.

Yeah.

Because we've all been given different talents and gifts that we need to learn to cultivate.

And then we are, I think we're given

cues, feelings of what dreams we might have.

There's a curiosity, there's something that pulls us into an idea for a potential dream, something,

whether it's God or an intuition or a feeling that's pulling us or making us think about something.

I'd like to create that, I'd like to build that, I'd like to overcome that, I'd like to help this thing, I'd like to make this thing.

Something that pulls us.

And then we are, we need to cultivate the talents and gifts within us to pursue that dream.

And in that pursuit, I think it doesn't have to to be changing the world, but it needs to be changing the world around you.

Impacting the world in a positive way around you.

And if that's five people, your family, that's beautiful.

Sounds like that, which is what your mom and dad did.

They impacted you and the people in their community because that was their reach.

And you've been given different gifts and talents that you've cultivated and maximized to this level.

And you feel like you've got to maximize more to the next level.

And in that pursuit of the new dream, how will you impact people around you?

The people closest to you, but also the platform you've been building.

How will you impact those individuals as well?

So well said, because I think it goes back to God and faith.

I think that

there's no one external that's going to do it for you,

but the signs are there.

And you never know how the dots connect until you look back.

That's true.

When

When Kevin and I first got on Shark Tank, we started in Canada and we started a show called Dragon's Dead.

And the very first day they put me in a room

just to see how you'd react on TV like this.

Sure, sure.

And they threw these fire questions like, tell me what Ebidai is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But they were random questions.

And one of the questions was, why do you want to be famous?

What did you say?

Just to see what you'd say.

What I said is, so I can can get on Dancing with the Star.

Shut up.

You did not.

And everybody laughed.

I did, 100%.

Everybody laughed and thought that was a funny.

What people didn't see was 10 years before that,

my mom's favorite show was Dancing with the Star.

Wow.

So imagine little Eastern European immigrant woman,

horrible life.

watching this beautiful show with these beautiful dancers.

Like if you called my house on a Monday when the show was on, my mom would like to answer the phone and go, Why you called?

You know, I watched the show.

My mom ended up getting ovarian cancer.

And she went to the hospital and she was there for a year.

And every Monday, I would go to the hospital with the other women who had ovarian cancer, and we'd all watch dancing.

Wow.

And one day,

my mom says to me,

Robbie, you're so beautiful.

Why not you, Biancho?

And I say, without thinking about it, if they ever ask me, I'll do it for you.

Wow.

And my mom passes away.

Ten years

before

I even had an inkling of being on TV.

Fast forward 10 years later, I'm sitting in a room.

They throw that question at me.

First thing that comes to my mind.

Fast forward another 10 years,

I'm going through this horrible time.

I come out of it, fix myself, finally begin to think I have value in life again.

Three days later, the producers of Dancing with the Stars ask me to be on the show.

Oh my gosh.

Like, before they're finished asking me, I say yes.

Oh, my gosh.

I walk in,

meet the woman I'm going to marry.

And today I have this unbelievable life.

I didn't create those dots.

I believe life or a greater force or God,

whatever your faith is, created those things.

But it was up to me to connect the dots.

And I think for anybody watching or listening,

you have the power to connect those dots.

Wow.

You have to have enough faith to believe it all connects, but

you still got to get up every day, work your ass off, and make it happen.

I mean, we have some similarities in life.

I mean, obviously you're much more successful than me, but when I was sleeping on my sister's couch, I would watch that show.

Dancing with the Stargate.

And I was like, I was living in Columbus, Ohio.

And I was like broke.

And I was like, but I loved to salsa dance.

I started learning how to salsa dance after our,

you know, when I was on my sister's couch.

This is one of the things I was talking about beforehand.

I learned public speaking and salsa dancing because they were big fears of mine.

That's funny.

And so I'd watch this show.

And I traveled the world eventually salsa dancing in clubs, like social salsa dancing, not ballroom.

Not joking you.

For like 18 years, I've been traveling the world.

You must be the biggest salsa dancer.

Biggest gringo gringo salsa dancer ever, right?

And I remember thinking, gosh, wouldn't it be amazing to be on this show one day?

I wasn't famous.

You know, I had no money, but I was like, you need to become famous in order to get on this show.

And that was like,

since I've been in LA for 12 years, I've always wanted to be on that show.

It's a great thing.

I've always wanted to be on the show.

So maybe one day I'll fulfill that as well.

I'll introduce you to their producers.

Do the cats, right?

Yeah, exactly.

I've done better.

I've tried to pitch and stuff.

Myself, yeah, I'm there.

Many years I've tried.

I mean, obviously, the greatest experience I'm sure.

I've never had.

And the hardest experience.

I can imagine.

But people don't realize how hard.

Eight hours a day of training and the whole thing.

And yeah.

I know a lot of the dancers as well.

And yeah, they're friends of mine.

I love the show.

It's a great experience.

But one day, maybe I'll be, if it's still on air, maybe I'll make it blogging.

It's good to have a dream.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Robert, this has been powerful.

I appreciate you so much for coming.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Amazing.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode.

If you enjoyed this and if you found value, make sure to share this with one friend.

Just copy and paste the link and text a friend where you feel would be truly inspired by this episode as well.

And also, make sure to click the follow button on Apple or Spotify, wherever you're listening to this episode, because we have a massive episode coming up next that I do not want you to miss.

So make sure to follow this and be on the lookout for the next episode coming with some massive content and guests.

Also, I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy.

And if you are looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life, and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy.

I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward.

We have some big guests and content coming up.

Make sure you're following and stay tuned to the next episode on the school of greatness.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness.

Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links.

And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well.

Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review.

I really love hearing feedback from you, and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward.

And I want to remind you: if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.

And now it's time to go out there and do something

great.

Now's the time to start your next adventure behind the wheel of an exciting new Toyota hybrid.

With the largest lineup of hybrid, plug-in, hybrid, and electrified vehicles to choose from, Toyota has the one for you.

Every new Toyota hybrid comes with Toyota Care, two-year complementary scheduled maintenance, an exclusive hybrid battery warranty, and Toyota's legendary quality and reliability.

Visit your local Toyota dealer today, Toyota, Let's Go Places.

See your local Toyota dealer for hybrid battery warranty details.

You might associate oil and natural gas with running a car or heating a home, but these resources go beyond fuel.

More than 6,000 everyday products are made using oil and gas, from soap to toothpaste, bed sheets to contact lenses, and so much more.

Oil and gas are an essential part of your world.

People rely on oil and gas and on energy transfer to safely deliver it through an underground system of pipelines across the country.

Learn more at energytransfer.com.