The more you begin to master you, the more that ideal version of you begins to evolve too. That I think at some point it becomes fully optimized.
The fully optimized version of yourself is who you will catch up with. Oh my gosh. That's good.
Think about how optimized you are as a man today versus when they were born. I had evolved to a place where
being super efficient and using my energy for what I'm only passionate about and having clear goals and vision for life is the foundation that I started with for the family.
By simply pursuing
that sort of core aspect of what gives you energy the most and then build designing a life around that is why I've been able to achieve the level of success
that I have.
Welcome back to Max Out. I'm Ed Mylett, and I'm so excited to bring you the program today. The man to my left is literally one of the most interesting men in the world. And at least for me, I can tell you that for today, it's been something I've been looking forward to for a long time to pick this big brain of his.
You probably recognize his face, and most of you know his name. This is Rob Dyrdek,
and this is a guy who, at 16 years old, dropped out of high school.
He founded a professional skateboarding league. He's been a skateboarder. He's got 21 Guinness World Records. He's a media stud. He's a rock star in the entrepreneurial space.
He's a branding master. But most importantly for me, this is a guy who's a tremendous husband and a great father,
we're and gonna pick his brain about how he's accomplished all of those things here today. So thank you for being here, brother. Thanks for having me. I I you know, I've seen it in video, and now to experience what it's actually like to be here live, it's it's so much more beautiful and remarkable than than I could ever imagine. Thank you, man. I appreciate that. So
let's be honest, man. You've had a pretty interesting life so far. I have. I certainly have. It's it's loaded to say I've lived a lot of lifetimes already. You know? Do you feel that way? I do. Yeah. What do you mean when you say that? Look. You you wanna be a professional athlete. You have this obsession and pursuit and you achieve that, like then
you take that and now like I wanna I wanna expand this and be
take this into television and then you go and live this entire television life,
all these different businesses and different things. You go from athlete to stunt guy to business guy to father to husband,
know. So
each one of those is a is a pretty pretty significant
chunk of life that's completely different than I am today. I wanna figure out how you did that, and I know the audience does too, because they see this guy on TV. Obviously, I think arguably you're the face of MTV, you know. From by the way, what's interesting about that too is for multiple generations too. Yeah. Here I am at my age, you're the face, and then my kids, you're still the face for them. And so the career has just been unbelievable. And I'm fascinated by you because
when I saw you on TV, I kinda had this picture of who you were, which I think is probably accurate to some extent, but then there's these multiple layers of you. Like, there are all people. Yeah. And so what I try to do on the show is get to those other layers. And so let's just start out. How does a dude who drops out of high school at 16? Okay. So there's a lot of people watching this who,
you know, don't have advanced degrees but wanna go win in their life, or maybe they're a parent. They got a child who's struggling in school. Did you drop out because things weren't going well in school? Did you drop out because of the whole skateboarding thing? I'm just curious what Yeah. Look. Know? I I'm
I dropped out because I just was a a professional skateboarder. Right? Like and I
you know, one year in my junior year, I got straight a's for the semester just to show them, like, look. I could it's not even hard for me. It's not even a matter of if I need to do it.
This is my dream, is my passion, I achieved it, I'm now a professional skateboarder,
there's no you know, in that year, in between that year, I had
went to my first pro contest in Munster, Germany and got fourth place in the world championships
and all my signature product had launched that year and, you know, I was like, I don't need
to go to school. It's just not in my path. I'm not gonna go to college. I'm not gonna I'm going to move to California and be a professional skateboarder.
And so even though I don't fully remember this, my mom tells me the story of going in and them all trying to tell me I have to go to school at, like, principals, counselors, everyone, all in one room. And I just, like, convinced sold everybody on, and they were, you know what? He probably doesn't. We should probably just let him go. You're already marketing and closing people. Yeah. And so, you know, it was really the beginning of of just let him he's going to pursue whatever he's gonna do on his own and and you gotta just sort of let him do it and that sort of the process that that that allowed
me to get out of school. And I still had to go and take a night class, so I got enough credits to get a diploma. Got your GED or your diploma. Okay. Yeah. So Is there a difference between a GED and a diploma? Yeah. I think the with the diploma, like you still had enough credits to get your Gotcha. To graduate where a GED would be like a I believe, like a not a formidable
or a formal
diploma. Yeah. So So how do you get there? How do you get from you get you're you're 16. You drop out. How do you were were you making enough money at the time that you could move to California or what happened? Here's the thing.
In December
1991,
I sold one board
and got a check for $2,
know,
I needed that $2, you know, because that was all the money I made that month, and I actually broke that up into quarters and went and bought a bunch of sodas that were at a quarter, uh, Doctor Pepper machine. But Wow. You know, I think, you know, even in that era, I would track all my finances. Right? I would say back then when I was 16, I'm a bro. I gotta treat myself as a business.
And, you know, I want you know, I would got $400
check one month and a 600 and then it was all scattered in that one devastating December where it was like $2 and and in the spring,
you know, the company was, uh, was growing, was ultimately like, hey, if you move to California right now, we'll guarantee you
a thousand dollars a month. Thousand a month? And I was like, you what?
Out of here, man. I felt like I hit the lottery. Like, was just like, what?
Me and a buddy of mine who was who was also about to turn pro, like, jumped in our Honda Civics and shot across the country to
begin our professional skateboarding career in San Diego. That's crazy, man. Yeah. So you get there I'm just curious. As this is happening, I do because people listen to this because I look at you I think some people look at you as the TV guy. I look at you as the entrepreneur guy. Yeah. And, what's awesome about you is
there's so many different marketplaces out there that see different versions of you. Some of you see the athlete. Yeah. Some of them see the branding guy with by the way, the multiple brands you built from alcohol to apparel to, you know, the the food business that you and I are a part of now. All these multiple brands.
And then there's obviously the TV show. There's the producer. There's there's just all these layers to Did you see all this? Like, you're 18. Did you were you already kinda like a business savvy guy or were you a skater, professional skater dude in the Yeah. No. I mean, I was business I was raised by
entrepreneurs.
Right? You you gotta understand, even the company that I turned pro for Mhmm. Was guys that I knew since I was 12 that moved back from California
who started the Alien Workshop, the company I turned pro with, with my,
uh, entrepreneur mentor,
uh, who lived in Dayton, Ohio at the time. They all formed that company together. Got it. And then there was a couple other
guys within that started other multiple companies that I was a part of. This is all that I watched at 14, 15. So in my mind, this is just what I was supposed to do. So even though I treated myself as a business
and, you know, was watching my finances and all this stuff, I started my first soup to nuts, built my first, like, pure brand at 18. Right? Where as soon as I got to California,
I did a partnership with a big manufacturing and distribution company
and started Orion Trucks. I was reading a book at the time called the Orion Prophecy. You know, I was super into conspiracies and aliens and and I was in my teens and like, I was like, man, like, we should name it Orion. I hand drew the logo. It was like the star with an o around it. I put together,
um, you know, five of the literally the most accomplished top level pros in the world which then went and got,
uh, two guys apiece and Orion Trucks when it came out was the literally
the the dream team of skateboarding that I had built for this accessory.
K. And I did all of that for point 5% of sales. So you you have that kinda going, like you get this entrepreneurial fever, you got the skateboarding thing going, and then there's like kind of this time. I just want everyone to hear this because as an entrepreneur and as a man, as a person, I should say, there's just false starts in life. Like you get going and then you don't. You make progress and then you regress. And then I don't think you're ever prepared for every moment. Like, you weren't prepared for the point five. You didn't know to negotiate the right percentage or those things. But right around '24,
there's another kinda, like, defining time for you, at least one of them. Doesn't doesn't your team come to you and go, hey. Look. We think you're kinda toast now. So what tell them about that. Look. In in in that gap now, I've found huge success. Right? Now I've helped launch the DC footwear brand and and moved to California and now become a superstar in skateboarding, and all this stuff's going in in
but it wasn't fulfilling me. Right? Oddly enough, like, the pressure of of being in the streets and being a pro skateboarder just wasn't like like my angst to wanna do bigger things in business and do other things besides skateboarding
became incredibly
problematic. I was launching all these different businesses that I didn't know anything about the industry's record labels and and retail stores and all this stuff with this newfound money that I had helped develop by creating DC shoes and all the royalty money I was making at this time. Getting hammered on life lessons with taxes, you know, when you first make big money, starting all types of dummy companies all over the country trying to, like, put my money in different places, Nevada Corps and whatnot.
Yeah. That's not really No. And
I equate it to this. I lost my way,
and along losing my way,
I lost the belief in myself. Mhmm. Right? Yeah. And and when you're
have had success your whole life where you were a young kid, you played soccer, you became a top soccer player, you decided to pick up karate, you become an amazing taekwondo fighter,
you pick up skateboarding, you path straight to professionalism,
everything's first companies, everything you do you're doing like, so when you grow up
with a deep self belief and everything you do
works thus building this deep foundation
that anything you put your mind to, you can achieve. It's a much more dramatic loss Yeah. When that drifts from you. Right? Because belief becomes a part of your identity Sure. Which
is connected to your ability to achieve, which since that's what you've been doing your whole life, you don't
know any other way. So when that dips from you,
it's a much more painful, more dramatic thing. I think a lot of, you know, big athletes like when When it tends, they struggle, man. Or the ones that were chosen ones from from junior high all the way and they get into their third or fourth year in the league and get hurt or like now,
you don't even understand how to like manage your identity because it's had this trajectory for so long. 100% right. And it was compounded
when
DC basically told me they thought my best years were behind me and that this would be the last contract, you know, and I think that was
and I can I can say it in hindsight
and telling the story so many different times of like really knowing like, no, it was like you lost the belief in yourself? And at the time I sought out a
a I was looking for a hypnotherapist,
right? Just to hypnotize me
to be a better skateboarder, right? Was like hunting all these things, right?
I found Doctor. George Pratt at La Jolla Scripps
and what he did was
this technique that was He wrote a book called Hyper Success and he basically
did this hypnotherapy
to just give your
inner cell your subconscious
the belief that it was meant to have great success. And
whether it was the moment in time, it was like being at the pit, whatever it was, but at that sort of twenty four years, like it was that moment of like, no, you've got to take control of of all of this.
And from that point on, I told them at the time, I said, you know, I don't
at the end of this contract, I'll be a completely different person. And then I rededicated
my life to like skateboarding
and and you know, took all all the way back to like top 10 in the world again and then like all the signature products and all the filming and and image and brand and everything just exploded
basically from that point straight
into television
you know four or five years later. Mananas.
Usually when I interview somebody
you know, they've accomplished something in their sport and we talk about Or they've accomplished something in business and we talk about that. The complexity of what you've done. Yeah. I wonder and it's probably even a good thing that you don't always just step back and go, wow, right? But the complexity of and how many times you've remade yourself. Because that lesson at 24, that lesson at 16, I think there was another lesson when you're preparing yourself, we're gonna talk about later,
for finding someone like Brianna,
that whole thing. See, I had this really weird thing happen. I'll tell you. When Max was six years old, I was at this car wash.
And
there's a really nice guy I'd see there all the time on Saturday, old guy. Turns out he's about my age now, but at the time he was old to me. And just out of niceness, he says to me, goes, hey, enjoy the six year old because when he turns seven, the six year old's gone forever. Yeah. And when he turns seven
or when he turns eight, the seven year old's gone forever. And you've got little kids, you know, man. They just keep becoming these different versions of themselves. Yeah. And I remember saying back to the guy without trying to be disrespectful. I said back to him, said, so when did that stop for you? Yeah. And he just stared at me kind of blankly and he goes,
I don't know. And I said, you should figure that out. And what I respect about you is that you have not settled. The 18 year old version wasn't the same at 24. The 24 year old man
doesn't even resemble the 43 year old or the 44 year old or the 24 year old. Right? Just it shifts all the time. I respect that about you. So that happens, and then you go on from there. We can't document your whole life, but let me say let me say this to that too. Right? Because I think I've heard you say before about how you're you're in pursuit of the vision of of, you know, something to the effect of you're pursuing the vision of the man Yep. That you ex you expect yourself to become. Right? Correct. Something to that effect. And I I
would say when I finally shifted to that, that
at in that pursuit of that individual,
I also
knew that that individual was slowly changing with the experience that I was having pursuing it, right? Yeah. And it's that it's this you're pursuing something that's not attainable,
it's with
experience and knowledge and understanding of yourself because you're on the journey just to master you, that the more you begin to master you, the more that ideal version of you begins to evolve too. So you're in this sort of relentless pursuit that's clear
that I think at some point it becomes fully optimized. The fully optimized version of yourself is who you will catch up with, like, that won't forever be elusive.
And Oh my gosh. That's Right. And and I think
as because we're so similar in that sort of idea,
it's the moment I realized that, no, this growth is actually one of your key attributes. Mhmm. Like, embrace it and and enjoy
what you're able to achieve, but know that that's not part of your makeup. Like, the relentless pursuit is actually your makeup. Oh my gosh, brother. And that changed
it it allows me to not
very difficult to look back and reflect because, I mean, I just enjoy the pursuit so much. You know what I mean? Me too. I've had the I've had you I heard you say about this too. You make me feel really good because although we're a little bit different personality wise, you're probably the most similar person to me that I've met maybe ever. And just that
it's even hard to describe, but we're both just so obsessed with this pursuit of growth and change and experiences
in life. And one of the things I struggle with is my memory.
Yeah. And and I and I know you do So do I. That's right. I know. Like The gift and the curse. It's a gift and the curse. I think I think maybe one of the gifts of it is I don't remember all my failures to just hold me back, and I keep telling all these old stories. Yeah. But I really do have a hard time remembering things. In fact, when I get interviewed, the great gift for me when I'm interviewed is it forces some recall of memories I didn't have before. You have that too. Right? What do you think that is? 100%. What do think? I don't know. But just talking it out, thinking about it Yeah. Right, with somebody else that experiences it,
I think it's more gift than curse. Now, it it comes back to haunt you when you're trying to, like, remember the details, like,
on certain things, and it and it jams you up a lit where it jams me up at this state is I'm taking in and learning so much at a high level, and then it pushes out stuff that I could really use again when I wanna Yeah. Use it for another situation if you will, especially in business.
But I also
it's also made me super conscious
of stuff that I really want to know, that I want to remember and never forget that I tell myself that as I get there. Right? Meaning when a major moment happens. Have to In the engagement,
getting wedding, children,
like, a moment with children. Like, I'll I when I really even just recently taking the helicopter
to Catalina to celebrate
my
three year anniversary, like, I kept telling myself as we're flying over the city and look at the ocean, like, don't like, just feel this. Like like, remember this. Look at this. Remember this. So it's like, I have to practice that and those lock in. Right? Yeah. That's why,
you guys, if I started to try to list for you the amount of moments that he can't remember, but also that have been amazing in his life, some of you you just would literally it is what he said earlier. It's many, many, many, many, many, many, many lives. Right? And so I wanna touch on some of them where there's lessons, but I just I wanna spend most of my time in your brain and in your heart. So but you go all the way from
let's be honest. You go from
Robin Big. You got ridiculousness.
Right? You got
all of the moments that happened on all of these shows too. Right? Fantasy Factory, like, all of these different things. It's just it's it's bananas. And so
gonna keep in mind, Fantasy Factory was basically a moment generator.
You know what I mean? From being attacked by a shark to jockeying a horse for a race to like flipping a car for a Super Bowl commercial, breaking a world record jumping a car backwards, like Yeah. Getting towed into a giant wave and almost dying, like all these crazy
crazy crazy highlight reel that no human being on the planet Earth has. Correct. Right? Is Did you just hear what he said, by the way? Just just slow that down just a second. Okay? A mauled by a tiger,
bit attacked by a shark. You kissed a bear on the lips, I think. I kissed a bear. Right? And then That's an easier one. What so let me just stay on it just for a second because, like, those are once in a lifetime moments you've had over and over and over again. Right? So Yeah. Stay on that just for a sec. Meanwhile, kicking ass in business,
meanwhile, founding a skateboarding it's just it's it's like man, you make me feel small, which is awesome. Right? So And keep in mind too Yeah.
They are fully intertwined.
What do you mean? Like, how is that? I'm negotiating a deal a five year,
like, multimillion dollar mega deal with Nike right before, like, I gotta hang up the phone and break a world record for jumping a car ramp to ramp 90 feet backwards. Right? For a giant Chevy integration deal that Chevy's going to do a deal for
being a part of our league while launching
a complete new company. It's like you're taking phone calls in between this sort of chaos and sort of all aspects of your life. That was that was a six or seven year run of doing all this insanity while doing all of your business and normal stuff inside it. So that's maxing out these different areas. The pun is intended. Right? But, like so there are people out here who use the
complexity of their lives as an excuse not to succeed in any one of them. Right? So, oh god. I'm a dad, and I've got my business, and I got my, you know, soccer league or whatever it is. How did you do that? So if you were to say, here's one of the reasons how I can compartmentalize
and win in different areas, what would be one of the keys? Just
sheer drive
and and relentless
pursuit
of success. Now the problem with that was is here you are,
you know, someone
that can do anything. Mhmm. You
you end up
you have the ability to do anything, so you end up doing everything,
then you end up kinda standing for nothing. Right? So you end up meaning
so much to so many different people. You you're not even sure what you stand for. Like, are are is your passion business? Do you wanna do stunts? Are you a TV guy? Like, do you wanna be the commissioner of your league? Do you like skateboard? Like, what is like, I had to stop
and
realize that because my hope was if I just kept doing all this stuff, one of them would show me the way. Right?
So and as someone that's so driven
and whose gift is execution, the moment you decide to do something, you're gonna do it. I'm gonna do a cartoon and a toy line like, okay, I got a cartoon on Nickelodeon and a toy line in Walmart. I got attacked by a shark to launch it. I'm gonna do a new television show. I got this I've read an article with Vinny DiBona. I'm gonna do this clip video show. It's gonna be the biggest thing ever. Like like,
you end up doing all of these things and you basically,
uh, behind that, there's 20 of them that aren't working that you're putting that same energy of running into the wall with. Right? And and furthermore,
it's not leading anywhere since you're hoping one will determine what your future is. Right? And I stopped and
and
yes, I I would look at myself as this highly conditioned stress athlete where you could you could put yourself under the deepest pressure and
and,
you know, take on 50 or 60 things at a time and operate smooth and happy.
And
but it wasn't until I
looked deep within myself and decided what type of life do you actually want. It's easier to do when you're sort of in the midst of failure Totally. Externally,
but you did it in the midst of success. Totally. And so this is what it does, right?
It when I finally
transition
to the the
the next level, right, or the or the designed version, right, which I'm on my way, right, I would say I'm exactly two and one half years into,
then I'll speak about it and it'll be what I'm known for and what we talk about, right? Because since I'm in the middle of transitioning
in it, when you look at at my body of work, it is like so all over the place. You don't even it's so hard to like land on what it is because the stunt aspect is is really interesting. You know what I mean? And being a professional athlete and then like, oh, you jump up and and now you're doing all these businesses. We're partners together in this super innovative amazing brand like Yeah. Like oh, but then, no, you're still
shooting nine episodes of television a week. You know And, what I like, you're still,
you know, entering your
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth season on on
ridiculousness,
putting you at ten years and twenty five seasons and 500 episodes of television on MTV,
like,
it's
hard to put down, like, what does he really what would he be known for Mhmm. When really,
you would know me primarily
for NPV if you know business or you've had a conversation, then you're like, Okay, this guy's tuned But
my goal
is to be known for the life that I created, the life that I lived and
the way that I systematized it and built it
that ultimately people could replicate in their own lives Yeah. In the
The example's gonna be bananas. I actually admire the diversity of your success.
It makes It's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's like Brother. Come on. Mean And I'll tell you another moment too, man. When I After I got attacked by that shark. Right? Yeah. Because I'm like, this is so dumb.
This isn't even this isn't even gonna be good. Like, why am I doing this? That's every stunt. Every stunt. It's like, this isn't even that. This is so dumb. And afterwards,
no one in the world. No one in world. Alright. But I remember swimming up off of
the looking down on the on that boat and stopping as I was swimming up, and there's, like, 50 sharks swimming around telling myself, just look and and soak this into your mind because you will never be back here again. You know? And and I have that
to go along with the great photo of that, like, shark on my arm. You know what I mean? Like but that For all the achievers, though, and for me, like, I just want you to know something. You take
you mentioned it, but I gotta be honest with you. It's one the things you're supposed to say to me. I don't think I personally and I'm an achiever and I enjoy my life and I you know, people come to me for advice on how to live better, but I think I could do a better job of telling myself, hey, man. Stop.
Yeah. What you've said, the flight to Catalina, the shark thing, stop. I think achievers have to do that once a while. Stop.
Appreciate
this moment for a second, man. It's not coming back again. Yeah. And I you and I were talking about your kids at their ages and
it made me think, did I appreciate all those moments when they were two, when they were infants, when they were three, when they were eight and 10 and I didn't. And I wish I could go back in those moments again. Think about it too though.
Think about how optimized you are as a man today versus when they were born. True.
And the lucky thing for me is I
had evolved to a place where
being super efficient and using my energy for what I'm only passionate about and having clear
goals and vision for life is the foundation that I started with for the family. So I've never missed a pediatrician appointment.
I've rarely, I've never missed waking them up, very rarely when I'm gone or putting them to bed, right? And that's by design. That's by moving out of a fantasy factory in downtown and living in Hollywood to a home in Beverly Hills and an office in Beverly Hills and being
super close as you're
developing this life and creating a plan
for my how I use my time and my schedule. You know what I mean? I everything is systematized
around full balance. I take my first meeting at
11AM,
my last one at five. It never changes. I don't compromise
my schedule
and my time with my family and wife
in my pursuit. Right? I fit it inside it. You know? Woah. So say something about that. So we're gonna I wanna get into this life thing now because I love the word about optimizing your life. Since the second we talked, the first time we talked was gonna be five minutes. It's turned into a really long phone call. We actually together talked about these things. Yeah. Like these very topics are what you and I discussed when we first connected.
Of all those stunts you had though, I'm just curious
because it leads to life. We're gonna go into life stuff now.
So you had to deal with the
tiger chasing you down and mauling you. That to me, even for me, don't know why, that's even scarier than the shark thing for me. Yeah. Seeing that sucker run after you, dude, like Right. They're trained. I don't give a crap. Sharks in the ocean on it, but he was biting my neck, and they kept saying, put it down. Dude. Put it down. Because I was the it. You know what I mean? I'm like, Is this guy supposed to be doing this?
Dude, they're a millimeter away from some artery. Dude, they're just come on, man. That's I'll tell you the scariest thing of all of them was jockeying a horse for a race. Like, that was the scariest of all of them. Because the car stuff, you're in a cage. Like,
you're covered in the mesh here, train tiger.
Like, when you're on the back of a horse going 40 miles an hour, like, if you when you can barely if you get shot off that thing, you're basically in a, like, a car wreck Yeah. With no car. Right? Like Oh, my. That was the scariest Are you thing hearing what we're saying to each other right now? Yeah. Like, you know what was scarier than getting bit by a shark? It wasn't the tiger. Was right in the earth. But then for me And it feels good to be able to say it. You know I mean? Like It feels good. It's like, I don't think about it so often,
but then just even talking about comparing them and thinking about it and the fact that I own that as a highlight forever brother. It makes me happy. Yeah. And it's also like hey, man. Look. Being on TV all that long for some people would be scary. Staying at the top that long can be scary. You know? Not wanting to fall off the the the totem pole you've climbed up, the flagpole, all those things. But wanna ask you about one of the stunts you did because I think, like, at least for me, it would cause me to do a little reflection.
So of all of them you did, the one that captured my heart the most
was the one where Laird drags you on the I think it's Laird on on the Sea Doo into riding the wave. Yeah. Okay. And so you ride this wave and you crash, and you thought you were gonna die. Yeah. Of all of them, is that the one that you were the most sure you were gonna die in the middle of? I'm curious. No. I mean, it's the only time in my life that I was dying.
So tell tell me about what happened there and what it did to you. I'm
you know, the trippiest thing about it too is, like, it was pouring rain, and I swear the moment I stepped in the water to do it Mhmm. The it stopped raining, and a rainbow went right over it. Right? And I'm like, what's
what?
Like, it was freaky enough, we're like, what is going on? Like, it was just this freaky
sort of moment in time. So it like already had this like weird tone and if you can imagine,
like, and then like, some of the local Hawaiian guys were, like, asked where I was doing getting towed in, and they were, oh, it's real sharky out there. Right? So I'm, like Sharky? Yeah. Was this after the shark thing or before? Yeah. Like, this is this is way after. Okay. It doesn't when you're doing, like, you know, go getting a
Bahamas reef shark with a metal thing, like, it's super controlled. When you're laying on your back in the deep ocean and all you can think of is, like, sharks coming up from underneath to get you. I didn't even I wasn't worried about what was gonna happen
in that wave. I just wanted to get up so that I don't be attacked by a shark. Right? And and if you can imagine this,
you know, I've grinded a 20 stair handrail and flipped a car ramp to ramp and and done all these crazy stunts and you face them. You face the danger. On getting towed into a giant wave, it's behind you. So like you like I'd never surfed before. It's literally the only time I'd ever surfed in my life. You had never surfed before. Never surfed before. And it was like the first wave I ever surfed was like 18 feet. Right? And so
it's the most peaceful,
amazing,
like, you know, because you can't see it and like you're like, woah. You know what I mean? Like, what do we And and then it's like a house crashes on you. And you don't like, you can feel something coming. You can start to hear it and then just wham. And now you're in like this fight.
Everything in you to just get to the surface. Right? So
I was like, you know, it's really weird management of emotions and experiences as it as it's related to when you get into kill mode for its stunts. Right? Because you have to shift into a mindset of like where you basically,
you get to a deeply calm place because you literally nothing else matters and you understand that that
for this moment in time,
you have to put everything you have into making sure that that you do everything for this to work. It's a different different level of mindset. Right? Because you're it's a it's it's your life is on the line for this moment. And it's so so much easier when you're facing it and you go go go go, you know, and in this one,
so as I did it and and fought back up and then I wanna get out of the water, I wanna get back up, you know, all this.
It wasn't as bad. Right? So it was like it was like, okay. It got up pretty good. Like, that didn't, you know, like, it's still water. You know, I got spun around, but it wasn't too bad. Okay. Let's let's try to get a bigger one. Right? Like, so you get into that zone. And
now the problem was
I got a bigger one and one right behind it. Oh, gosh. So not only did I get annihilated,
but then as I was, like, trying to find the surface, another one came down. And now I'm so deep
and have no idea where the surface is.
And, you know, believe it or not, this is a viciously vivid memory
just out of death. Right? Wasn't trying hey. You gotta remember this. Yeah. You're not lying. You wanna remember You
what I mean? No. No. This is like you was like like, eye like, eyes open, spinning. It was just all white, and I just remember kept trying to push to what I thought was the surface, and I kept going nowhere, and the light kept changing,
and I kept trying to find what I think was the surface,
and it all kept looking the same regardless of where I went, and I was could not no more breath, no more breath, no more breath. Like, as far as you can hold, as far as you can hold, as far you can, far as you can, if you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't.
And right as I like had to like pass out to take the breath like I popped right up. And
then he come flying and he was so freaked out, right? Because it's all fun and games. You're Laird Hamilton, you're gnarly,
you literally don't even have the the gene like Yeah. To even be scared of like water. You're like literally Aquaman.
So you're like, of course you could do it Rob. Like he just looks at me and is like, you're a stunt guy. You can do this stuff easy.
He thought I died for sure. And he just, we are done. He ripped me out of that, threw me on the back, we are done. Like he was so freaked out, you know. Brother.
And you know, of course we made that whole episode, we wrote that episode around testing your man level. Yeah. And we had decided I had reached it. Yeah. You reached it. And That's bananas. The joke was like, man, you don't you don't wanna get to the edge of your man level because you really you really lose some layers of your man level if if Lair's gotta give you mouth to mouth. Oh, god. Yeah. Right. Right.
But, yeah, that that was I think if people rewound that and they were listening to your description of what it was like during that time, some people feel like their life's in that place right now, man. Like, they're just everything looks the same. They can't get out of it. Can't get out it. Really, what you eventually is you just kinda surrendered.
Right? And then,
thank god you popped up. Yeah. I I
that's my favorite story, by way, of all the stunts is to think that you that was the one where you thought you were dead. I mean, that's that's insane.
I wanna ask you a couple things you said because I think that they're worthy of covering. You said earlier about your habits and routines and your rituals, and I've heard you talk about how that actually creates freedom for you. People usually think the reverse. They're like, hey, if I have all these rituals and habits and I've got no real freedom in my life, you you would say that that's completely opposite. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Well, look, I'm I'm
the more I'm I'm People call it habits, rituals,
think it's systems. Right? The more systematized, the less you have to think of, the more freedom you have to think about other things. Like
like when you're optimized,
you know you know you feel the best when you're the best version of yourself. Yep. So the more like it is a machine and systematized for you to do it,
and it's based around you. It's based around what
are the things that ultimately help you
and
you can you can actually do. You know? And I would equate meditation
to it. Okay. Everybody will tell you meditation is is great. Meditation for me is impossible. K. You can't quiet yourself, you mean? Can't quiet myself. I'll never be able to get there.
It is it is,
you know, even if it's great for the mindset,
like, uh, but I knew that eventually I needed to. Right? Mhmm. And I eventually found a meditation machine.
Right? So,
um, what it now allows me to do is meditate every single day at five in the morning. I couldn't do it if I was just gonna sit there and try quiet. But when I jump into my soma dome, which is basically like a giant egg with like lights and and sound and guided meditation,
it now has become an essential part of my life Woah. Because I needed
to find a something like that because that's what I needed to actually apply that to. It's about your system to And
so, you know, for me,
if you can imagine, you're up in the morning at five in the morning, irregardless of how you feel,
you're gonna feel a lot of different ways when you wake up. And
I go into that machine for mindset only. It is like I just think about everything I want to achieve and how it looks when it happens and
every single layer and level and you pop out of that thing and you are you're just in a different energy. Right? Of all the people I've had on the show, you've maxed out the most areas. And so I know people are listening to like, hey. What how does this person think? Like, this is the guy that is on Ridiculous. This is the the Robin Big guy. This is the Yeah. You know? And now, you're like, nah. I remember we had a mutual friend. I won't say who it is. He was a very well known dude. This was a long time ago too. And your show was on in the background when I was at his house. I'm like, this dude's hilarious. And the guy checked me. He goes, just so you know, he's not just hilarious. This dude's special. This dude's like a freak. He's like a super, super successful guy. He's a business guy. I'm like, yeah, right. Then I started to research. I'm like, oh my god. Now,
having the conversation, I like, I get it. You know, I understand why. Let's talk about Brianna for a second, though. Sure. So
you said something, man, that's just, like, blew me away because I think it's true in business, it's true in family, it's true in fitness and everything. You said that you were kind of one kind of a dude, living a certain way,
and that you knew that you needed to become a certain version of you in order to attract
the spouse, the mate, the life partner that you wanted in your life. And I think that's true, like, in business. We have to become that person too. So tell them about how you did that and what you were thinking. You know, I I would I would almost equate it the same way that I was saying earlier where I
was just doing all of this, like, different stuff thinking that one was gonna show me the way. I I would think that I I was
thinking like
eventually I would find the right woman that would make the right man, you know, like Make you the right man. Right. You know what I Like that sort of idea
and
I I just knew that that the same time of sort of this this revolution of mindset of like, no, you need to start
to be the person
that you want to be. And and I think that ultimately,
it allowed me
to to create the narrative and and the storyline
of like this,
if the
perfect woman for me should love the way that I am, not wish that I could change to be the way they wish I was, if you will. Right? And to me, I tried to be
to create that
in all aspects of life. So when I did finally found her because God brought her right to me. You know what I'm saying? It was like, man, I'm not it was like like, I did a year
of like really in this like deep mindset, kept telling every one of my friends you have got to you have got to be like this if you want to find great love you've got to prepare yourself for great love which I mean I was like preaching it and they were just so when she showed up they were like it worked it wasn't like it wasn't like,
oh, Rob, like, he's a I preached it so loud and so pure to like every single one of them on how they needed to act and if you really wanted to,
and it was
it was I kid you not. Every single one of my friends, I had preached it so much that when,
like, I I would introduce her as it it happened. You know what I mean? Like, I like, it really like like Can
you believe it? Like And
I and and the trippiest thing about it is,
you know, you
there's all these expectations
and thoughts and excitement that comes into, like, thinking you met the one. Right? Mhmm. Now, let reality set in. Right? Like, oh, it's this and imagine now the opposite is the reality of your love and life is actually 10 times better
than you could have ever envisioned
when you laid out the most perfect scenario. You're such a good guy too. You know, the other thing you won't say about yourself, everybody that knows you that knows me, it's just the first thing they don't tell me is about your brilliance or your success. It's not the first thing they tell me. Say he's just such a good man. He cares about people so much, and that's why this is so real. And which is ultimately,
you want that. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, you also like
like,
you want that to be part of your reputation Mhmm. Ultimately,
why people respect you. I mean, I want to be respected for
like
being like the man, the father, the husband, the family man, like someone working. I want like to be respected for the way that I live life and the type person I am as opposed to
what I simply achieve. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I think you are. I think you're becoming that, and
I'm proud of you, and we're just getting to know each I
want you to do one thing for me, I want them to know this about you. I think all people should be I think people matter, things don't. Right? I have that philosophy. And I think you're amazing at, like, creating moments. And I'm not talking about, like, shark attacks and jockeying a horse or anything. I'm talking about, like, life moments. Like, you're conscious of creating moments. So within this structure of your life, which you are, like, in your businesses, you're very systematized. You're very you need that. You you want that. Yet, you have this complete freedom to have all these magic moments. So, like, just real quick, I wanna go through a couple with you that I just know about. Like Sure. Your first date Brianna wasn't even normal. Didn't you, like, go rescue
puppies or something on a first date? Like, is that right? Or Yeah. Look. So, look. I mean You take this this for granted. That's not a normal first date. Look. No. You don't no. That wasn't it wasn't intended to be that way.
It was, you know, just just taking a shot. Right? Yeah. And we had we had
we met via DM on Twitter. Right?
The modern way that love formed.
And
she was posting
about like these like,
you know, big thing that had been going on is like this kennel was getting youth they're euthanizing all the dogs in in Bakersfield.
And so,
you know, I
was texting her and,
um, you know, asking her, you know, would you like to hang out this this weekend, know, what do you have in mind to do? And so I I was thinking it was in Ontario or somewhere close. I was thinking, let's go rescue these puppies. We can drive out there And I'm like, it's like six hours away, but I still you know
I was thinking we take a helicopter
to to Bakersfield,
rescue these puppies. You know what mean? Just being all like, you know, slick and funny. He's so funny.
And,
like, a half hour later, she was like, sure. And I know she was like, perfect. And I'm like, what?
I'm like, that was kind of a joke. And I gotta can somebody get me a helicopter? My gosh. And
we never spoke on the phone, anything like, you know, first time we met was like, you know, like picked her up and drove straight to
airport and jumped in a helicopter and got to know each other
by flying to Bakersfield to rescue some puppies. And there's And and look, and I was so deep. And now we're in a moment. Okay? Yeah. Now we're in a moment and and throughout that flight, I was like, not even a question. This is who I meant to marry and spend the rest of my life. So it's instant for me. So I'm like, since this is so instantaneous,
I'm like, we gotta get a puppy to remember this by, but it's still like first date, like, still wanna try to get this puppy into this helicopter right now. Like like, the fact that we did not actually
rescue a puppy that day is So you did not get a puppy that day? Did not. But then, you repeat this, like, these moments. Like and by the way, there's dudes listening, oh, I can't afford a helicopter. Just do something special, man. Yeah. Just find a way to make a moment. Make a memory. Right? Take a walk. Yeah. You know, do something. I mean, look. I went yeah. I You just took another helicopter ride on your anniversary, though. Yeah. Much sketchier one that she was not happy with, like, when we get in this tiny where I was like I didn't even, think about the first one. We was such a long trip. It was a more sizable manageable one. We get in this like somebody's
backyard copter.
Woah. Take over there. But look, again,
it's
let's go have fun. Yes. Right? Like, I am am
my success is not
predicated
on trying to achieve
some sort of
financial
milestone that I can
do anything other than live an amazing life. And being able to surprise her with a helicopter trip to Catalina,
know, having the kids
taken care of and like she doesn't know what it is and then like, oh, then this super unique adventure where we land on the top of a mountain. Don't know if you've ever been there but you gotta land at an airport in the sky, 100 feet, then take a forty minute drive down a sketchy road to get to the town. Super weird and driving by bison because they did a movie in the twenties and left all these bison over there. It was just this It's Catalina. Right? Yeah. Yeah. It's like have you ever have you ever been to the okay. I've been helicopter over. Look. I've never been there. Didn't even know what it what but for us,
that should be what life's about. Yeah. It's like go on. Go experience
just a a twelve hour adventure. You know what I mean? We left at four, came back at eight the next morning, had to take our daughter to the pediatrician. I had go do meetings all day. Right? Like, That's amazing still how you navigate these different spaces.
And it's such a fun, great experience. And I think not only do I set the precedent for it
in our in our life,
and I'm you know, whether it's, like, every
every occasion I try to to put that level in You do it every morning. Into it. You do it every morning with your little ones. Right? And like, and I wanna add those experiences
long term for the kids too. You know Like, what I so that there are moments that they can look back and and that, you know, their dad is,
you know, I'm not a normal dad. You know? I'm a little bit nutty, you know, and and that
how that ultimate know, I'm pretty disciplined and militant with with the children from a structure standpoint, which
does include full fledged,
full scale singing every single morning at like the highest level.
Dancing. Sometimes I'll make him just, like, dance before he gets out of bed, you know, like and hit him with the positive reinforcement
of, like, been drilling in his head over and over. He's happy. I'm happy.
Strong, strong. Smart, smart. Healthy, healthy.
And just self belief. Right? Of just, you can do anything because you believe in you. Say, I believe in me. I believe in me. Right? It's
It's amazing. It's, let's give this them this beautiful house of love and peacefulness
and then just try to And believe though. To to have belief in themselves and and help nourish that. Because at the end of the day,
it's the only way you ever do anything. Right? Yeah. It's like even when people call it experience, experience is just gaining knowledge to believe that you can go achieve something at a higher level. Right? Yeah. And
and you're only your pursuit,
why you stay in lanes that you fully understand because you believe you can do it because you understand it well enough. Right? And when you take that step out to
learn something new,
you you have to be, uh, sitting there with with some doubt on whether or not you could do it because you've never done it before. You don't have a foundation of belief. But if
your life is about,
uh, taking risks and you believe that you can figure anything out along the way, you take that leap into that new thing in a system of how you create belief to
make sure that you can irregardless
of whatever that may be. That's what make people watching this, two of the more
successful entrepreneurs under the age of 50
in a room together.
And then, like, you know, what do you do with your families? He gets up every morning and sings with his.
I dance with my daughter every morning. I show her a move in the nineties every morning. I told you And you do your sayings with your kids and mine with my son as you're a leader, you're a gladiator,
you're the greatest of all time. He's been hearing that since he was a little My daughter is that she's a superstar and she can do anything, hugs not drugs. I do these sayings. Everyone there you know, they're at the age where they roll their eyes now. Right? But the fact is we both do these things where we Yeah. Do this wacky crap with our kids. And but what I wanna talk about because I I there's so much, so I'm a go longer, if you're okay with that. Right? Yeah. So you you also have been successful because you do this for other people too. And so there's this great story that I think there's so many lessons in about the deaf couple
that
I want everyone to hear this story because what you did with it is, one, were trying to help people, and then you repurposed a mess Yeah. And made it an unbelievable
change for your own family. And so the lesson before he tells you the story, because I want you listening for the right stuff, is one, his heart and what he wanted to do, that sometimes there's shocking events that take place, but then the most important thing is you repurposed this mess and did one of the most spectacular things
you could ever do for your own family through it. So tell them this stuff, Man, you're you're digging deep right now.
Man, so
super fans, right? Stalker level, Right? Everything that I would do, this this this deaf couple would show up to. Right? And I you know, I've I've always been a big fan of embracing stalkers. Right? Where, like You embrace stalkers. Okay. You know, it's just, like, you you humanize yourself, like Mhmm.
When you
when you're just a normal person like a stalker puts you on like a pedestal till they talk to you then like what this is just like a normal
person now
these guys were just so sweet right just the like greatest couple and
and I had a public birthday party at a club
and of course he shows up and
I know these guys don't have that much money. He presents me with a Yacht Master
Rolex, Right? Didn't know it. And I'm like, dude, I'm not you you have heart. You have heart. You know, I'm like, dude, I am not take I wouldn't even take this from one of my friends unless they were super rich. Right. Right. Right? But no. No. Like, take this. Go give this to somebody. Right? Like, go take this back. Like, Spenditide says, I'm not gonna take this. Then he handed me a note saying, will you help us
get engaged?
Right? Mhmm. And and so I thought, you know, they they're they're such a great couple, all this stuff. So and they're such huge fans so I wrote the whole episode around them coming to the Fantasy Factory
and then I got ordained as a minister and was gonna do the the entire thing
and
went through the whole thing, surprised her, put her on the zip line, sent her down on the bottom, said, Will you marry me? You know, I learned sign language. I was like, you know, love, you know, whatever it is. And she literally said, no.
And I was like
I was like, like, I mean,
none of us anticipated that. We're like, why would he allow this to happen if there was even a shadow of doubt? And she was like,
absolutely
no. Like and we're like, what?
And then it was like and look, we had all of us hidden behind, like, world's biggest skateboard with, like, confetti and all this stuff. And then finally, he was like, please for TV. And she was like, okay. Yes.
And then like, we like, like, shot it. And then was like, okay. And and so,
you know, there we have it. It's over. Right? So
and you can call this an incredible moment. I still feel a little bit guilty about by driving someone's destiny.
But
my sister had been dating her boyfriend
for a while and it was pretty serious and I
called my mom and said, man, do you think that
they would be willing to get married
on TV?
She's like, oh, they said they were just gonna go to
you know, I asked them, have they talked about getting married? You know, would they oh, they're just gonna go down to the courthouse. So I thought it was like a a thing. So I called her. I said,
totally crazy idea here, but
if you guys are down to get married in the next three months, I'll pay for everything and do everything and we'll do a show and she's
you know, I felt I felt guilty after I talked to my mom. So I'm like, I can't be like manipulating. What if they have, you know, whatever. So it ends up they never even spoke about marriage. The first time they talked about it was like, Rob just called and said he'd throw if we wanna get married in the next three months, he would pay for everything. So I called him. I'm like like and so she calls me. He's like, oh, I've never even
we've never even talked about it. And when I said it to him, he just walked out of the room. Right? And I'm like, oh my god. Here. I'm like, what? I'm drink like, ruining people's lives trying to make TV. I called him, said, look, man. I'm not like I don't wanna, like, mess with your life. This is your life. But, like, on some real shit, man, if you wanna do it, we'll make you an amazing wedding if you wanna do this. You know? And they committed to doing it. And imagine
we're talking about moments. I don't even even as you were even as you were, like, bringing up, I'm like, what's he talking about? Right? Like and this is you became a minister.
You built a basically a giant
church in your fantasy factory, brought everyone in your family, and fully
presided over a wedding to marry your sister on your television show. You know what I mean? Which is
so buried deep in the back of the memories, like, and as I'm even saying it and now I'm thinking about myself, like, walking down the aisle with, like, them singing and, like, my parents crying and, like, it act like, actually doing it
is is a remarkable thing. And think about it too is, like, I have one sister. I only have one sibling. So it's, like, for it to
not only be such an amazing moment for our family, but then them having
my nephew and and all of this
and me feeling guilty of like manipulating
like their reality ultimately ended up being this incredible thing that we as a family have forever.
And for my parents,
you know, now
we have this,
you know, both of us have kids and it's like
this great
for all holidays, how incredible it is to be together and have all these kids. But, again, another memory
taking me down memory lane that I But
there's all these lessons. There's the lesson of, first, you're trying to do a good thing for this couple. Yeah. Then you repurpose the mess.
Then you do this thing for your sister. If they end up in a home that you get for them too and they end up with their family there, you're being humble about that. Yeah. And then the other part of it is Yeah. On top of that is that you've built this great platform so that you can do great things for your family. There's all these ancillary benefits to becoming successful Yeah. That people forget about. So And and look. And when it comes to that, I'm
to me, it's taking care of my family at, like,
on all levels. Right? Like, and when you find success like
that's
really is one of the greatest things that you can do. Right? And and I don't talk about it like very often but it's it's really
I know what peace they have because of it. You got And it's like it's not that much for me to put them in a position to where they don't ever have to stress ever again and I know
how much of a release that is and how what that can potentially do to their health long term, their just mindset long term, their self worth long term, know, so There's all these benefits to becoming successful that you don't think about when you're becoming successful is the bottom line and you're doing that.
And we I wanna talk about success because we're running out of time. Sure.
You have invested in a lot of businesses that have worked and you've started a lot of Rob and I are partners
in in a business called Outstanding Foods that we're both excited Right?
And how
do you evaluate a business? I curate the individual first
and then the idea. Right? Like, the idea has to have some unique value proposition
for a clearly targeted consumer,
um, and all of that has to ultimately triangulate
to
decide whether or not it goes through my system
to systematically
build it into a successful business that can be sustainable and profitable. Right? Like I
I just love creating
ideas with other individuals as opposed to investing myself. Right? And and
long term,
you
know, my
legacy I want to be is the 100 50 to a 100 build businesses that I help create, launch,
and drive to an exit or to profitable sustainability.
Right? And that's through the Dyrdek factory. Dyrdek machine. Yeah. The machine. So you call it the Dyrdek machine. So listen to this, you guys. You said something earlier about these doer dyers. Can I read your quote on there? Sure. I think this is telling. He says, doer dyers are the ones who have the fortitude, work ethic, grit, determination, and unwavering self belief to turn their passions into reality. They see it, plan it, believe it, then do it. And you talk a lot about belief. Mhmm. How important is belief do you think just like in life and in business? I I mean, it's everything. Right? It's everything. It's everything because,
you know, and I've I've said this before where I feel like you only quit when you lose belief because when you don't Mhmm. You just keep, like, adjusting and moving and moving around, and what can you do? And and even in business,
it is so essential
because you're gonna start with a plan,
but that's not gonna be the plan you end up doing. It just doesn't work out that way. Now, there's gonna be tons of little things that,
uh, you adjust along the way Yeah. But it has to still believe in the first milestone you're trying to hit. Right? And
and really, you know, business, know, people you've all I know you've seen the, you know, successes like this.
You know, people think it's this, but it's really like this. But really, it's 10 of those things and it's the chaos in between each one. Right? Like, because the milestones are real and the end goal is. Right? It's just how you get to those milestones
is what changes.
And and to me,
you don't wanna get into you
when you build a business with someone, especially if you have built a business,
you know that there is so many layers deep you could never plan for, you could never even like talk through or ever think about, you have to deal with them as they happen
and it's only people I've
I really,
you know, I have six sort of core values of the doer, dier, and I used to think relentlessly consistent was the most important. You build trust
in everyone around you when you're super consistent. You
you're executing at a high level,
but I I'm really leaning into, like, perpetually optimizing
where you're always getting better and seeing seeing how things can be better is
is really one of the most important attributes to finding success in a business because you everything is changing constantly and you have to constantly,
even when it's working, be looking at how could it be working better or else you're going to get left behind. Right? And so to me,
um, all of that,
uh, against a great idea, great unit economics,
high growth
industry and opportunity,
and all this all this different stuff
does not work if there's not a single individual that's filling in all the holes as as the entire process is happening.
And and ultimately
that requires
somebody that that
believes in the vision
and believes in themselves to execute it irregardless
of how heavy it may get at times, right? Because we have been referring to it as the valley of death, right? I did
I kept three businesses when I launched the machine in 2016
and I've launched 18 builds, right? Wow. And that two and a half years and
there's this pure constant.
Almost every single one of these businesses, whether it's protein,
uh, outstanding foods,
alcohol,
uh, luxury accessories,
jewelry,
like, whatever the the business is,
all of them needed around
the same amount of capital in the valley of death to survive. Right? So it costs a little bit of money to come up and test an idea, get to your minimum viable product, but then
that first year and a half where you find the customer and can find sales and and really,
it is the most treacherous
waters and
it is where they all die. Right? And so to me, what I'm what I'm what I'm learning above all is make sure you got enough capital in the Valley Of Death. I I equate it to,
you know, I would I've launched a couple businesses with lean capital going into the Valley Of Death and it's like Rob with like two water bottles like, let's go. We got this. Trust me. Trust me. I know it's straight shot. Yeah. And we're over here dying like we're out of water. Yeah. Versus like, you know, someone like Outstanding Foods and Bill, he's got he's so sweet. He's got like three or four umbrellas. Like, he's got he's pulling up like a full water tank behind him. He's like, know what mean? It's the the the difference, but every single one of these businesses
experiencing
the same sort of chaos that it takes to get something off the ground and
it's this
beautiful thing for me. Right? Now, don't I don't I don't wanna go through that fire because
I enjoy being a guide. I like to say I'm your Sherpa through the valley of death. Right? Yeah. But I because I
I wanna be there for you and help create this, but it's still on you to to to get us to the to the to the green lands. Right? So but
it's I I enjoy
being there with them and guiding them through experience
and and being a part of it, and that's the
the life's mastery and the clarity of like, of how I even,
uh, look at business as a whole. I had to realize, like, because I operated a lot of businesses
and I had to like, when I when I really did a deep dive on what types of businesses do I wanna do and what experience,
what do I love doing the most in business, I had to realize like, god, you actually hate operating it. Like, you love creating it, but as it gets going, you don't wanna have you just wanna, like, advise it and be a part of it, and really sometimes you just want it to go on without you. You just like being there in the beginning when it's so exciting,
and I had to basically build a business that does that. And the beauty of that is it gives you all the reward
of being the co founder. You get to shape the idea and come up with the name and be there on what it is, then you get to see the product for the first time. Then
when you like start getting sales, it's like, like,
it is the the most thrilling and exciting part of business that I want to be my life's mastery, but
I will be judged
by the liquid dollars that I create. I will be judged by the IRR.
Right? And and to me,
um, I want to look at the amount of capital I invest,
what is my return over what time, the people that come along with me that invest along with me, what is their return over what time, because at the end of the day, I want all my business friends,
uh, I want our success in Outstanding Foods to be equated to a single return number that you're like, dang, we did You got it. 87%
IRR over the last five years. Like, I want that to be my marker
for other entrepreneurs and business people of what that success is, and then,
um,
it is a goal. I keep a billion dollar bill in my wallet. Right?
And
it is I would like to create a billion dollars in liquidity
by creating
50 to a 100 businesses
that when they exit, I make 10 to $20,000,000
off of. That is a
clear
clear as day path
to
creating a billion dollars in liquidity. Right? For you. For me. You're reporting on it. Me. Right? And so, like, that,
you know,
it allows me now to have
principles
of when I go into a business. Yes. Right? So now it's like, okay, I need to own this certain amount of it. I need Gotcha. To know that in order to get it off the ground, I can create the minimal viable product for between $103,100,000.
Mhmm. I always want to finance that myself because then I want to,
uh, be the co founder, get co founding shares, finance that, so now I have a huge equity position,
then make sure it's capitalized the right way in in the seed stage,
and if I participate in that again, I'm I'm gaining that much more equity, but make sure it has the proper capital to get to growth capital to create a return. Right? So
this now,
and then every business that I I do, I wanted to be able to two years of runway by raising,
uh, 1,500,000
to $2,000,000
and the burn can be 75,000
to 150,000
a month. It can get the sustainability within eighteen months.
God, that that tightens a box up real quick. Right? And then I have founders that want to, uh, build the sale at a clear number. We start in the end on what that number will be and and doesn't mean you gotta do it there, but at least everybody now is fully aligned with what the return potential of the opportunity is. Because
even though I love creating and being a part of it, it's still
I wanna be judged
by the scorecard
of the return. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's interesting when I watch you. There's two things that energize you, like complete
shift in you. Yeah. Yeah.
Family
Yeah. And this topic right here. It's not and I'm not it's not that the other things in your life, I don't see passion Yeah. In front of the camera, behind the camera, all that. Yeah. You're literally a different dude Yeah. When you shift into family mode in this mode right here. Like, to me, now we're in the go zone for you. That's what it feels like. Am I right about that? No. You can feel it. You feel it. Can feel it. Because I get all fired up. Well, that was a master because I'm just like, that was that was a master class in how to be an entrepreneur, how to invest in a business. By the way, also, how you should be pitching your business and what savvy investors are looking for if they're gonna capitalize you. And so and it's it's also knowing your lane too. It's like there's not 800 different types of businesses. You know the type, the amount of capital, and so you're not gonna put $50,000,000
into one, and I love that right there. And it I learned that when you and I talked. Yeah. And just so you know, he's so and I wouldn't call it persuasive.
I I believe so much in what he's saying that
after about
fifteen minute phone call in one of these businesses,
I made the decision that I wanted to be involved with you because I believe so deeply in what your machine is creating and what these principles and systems are, and, you know, and that includes you. So we're running out of time. Like, brother, like, I don't know how long we've been going. Don't really care because, like, there's so much in here. I want to ask you a basic question. Yeah. Because I kinda get it. I got it. I got this massive heart in front of me. That's what I see. I see this guy with this massive heart, heart of a champion. I don't mean that hokey either. Like, this dude just wins. I'm winning when I'm 16. I'm winning when I'm 18. I may fall down when I'm 24 for a bit. I'm gonna win again, then I'm gonna make myself again. I'm gonna win in TV. I'm gonna pitch shows. I'm gonna be the talent on the show. I'm gonna have these experiences.
I'm gonna start businesses. I'm gonna start a family. I'm just gonna fucking win. Right? And, like Good. Feels good. That's what I love. Right? That's what I love. I and it's like and I still don't feel like I've refined it, and now I'm gonna show you how to optimize your life. Right? Yeah. So that's my version. Yeah. But if someone was just to ask you I'm just curious. This is a hard question, man. But, like, someone said,
why are you successful?
Yeah. Like, just why are you successful? Like, how the hell are you this way? Like, do you know yet? Do you have have you touched on some of it? Why are you successful
to the extent that you have been so far? But and look. I I'm
I think there's a couple things. Right? K. I'm
Think of the foundation
of what I was built on, right? And I think a lot of people
find
drive
in early
trauma
life circumstances and things that kind of build the engine, right? And
I think is
for me,
the engine was built off of finding early success in a foundation. It's very different, right? So
your,
um,
it embeds
in your core that this is how you're meant to do it and then ultimately,
the effort and everything that you put into
your life is
based off of mastering you. And I wasn't in denial of I I got caught early on and people saying like, when's enough enough?
Right? Like, when is like like, you know, like, why do you gotta do all this stuff? Like, what is and and
and by not listening to that, but but taking it as, like, what are what can you do
to just be happiest? Right? And my pursuit was simply energy. I started first with like, what are the things that you actually love to do and give you the most energy? That energy shift, when I got into that, like, that's real, like, because that's really what I love to do. Right? That energy shift with the family because it's like
it is like those two pieces are really what the future of my existence is and what it is. And and I think
by simply pursuing
that sort of core aspect of what gives you energy the most and then build designing a life around that is
why I've been able to achieve the level of success
that I have.
And it's also
man, there's some luck in there, man. You know what I mean? Like, I I am not
I work really hard, constantly learn,
and super grateful, but but man, if I didn't like, you know, how planet Earth was built and the chaos of this solar system, like, there's only one in here that's that's
nice and protected, that's got oxygen, that's making liquid water right in
the the Goldilocks zone, right? Like, I
still think there's a a ton of that for me
that
I've never
I think I probably,
like,
took for granted in 2324
that led to that zone and and now I just never have again and it's it's the idea that you know, the harder you work and the more prepared
and the more your mindset is leaning into
you deserve
to be successful and you will be successful,
things really start to happen for you that are are are hard to explain, you know. But again, it goes back to to belief.
I will and I deserve,
you know. And and when you
it's how I feel at my core. Yeah. I you do. I don't like like that I'm
that unwavering self belief is like really like there's highs and lows with the pursuit,
but the pursuit is clear and gets clearer every day and
and although it's not clear how exactly it's gonna happen, no doubt in me that it's going to happen, you know.
Man, I don't want this to end because it's so good for me. It confirms things about me, and I I think that your answers are so
deep. They're so profound.
I just consider you unbelievably interesting, And the thing I probably admire the most about you is you're so self aware. The people I like the most are really self aware. Like, there's it's really interesting. You have this unbelievable balance. I just wanna acknowledge this in you. You have this unbelievable balance of real confidence and no ego. Yeah. It's it's There's an ego in there. Yeah. But, well, there's there's a confident well, I don't know. I mean, I I feel like I'm rooting for you. Usually, when a guy's a big ego, kinda like, I don't know. Like, I feel like I root for you, and I know audience felt this way too. Feel like we haven't finished everything I want, and so we're gonna continue this. I have an idea for a roundtable with you and me and a couple other people, but I'm really grateful for our new friendship Yeah. No. Because you because you inspire me. Yeah. Look. And I'm I'm grateful to be here. This is an inspiring location. Thank you. It takes it's like like I said, getting to Orange County is like going to Mars.
But it was well worth the trip, and I I knew it'd be a great conversation. And And ultimately, I do think there's so much of us that's aligned from a mentality and a
personal
lifelong optimization
that
we will be sharing stories of growth together for the rest of our lives. I believe that too, man. I really believe that. Thank you so much today, brother. Appreciate you, man. Enjoyed it so much. Hey, everybody. I tell you that on this program, I'm gonna bring you people who have maxed out certain areas of their lives. I probably never brought you somebody who's maxed out more areas of their life than today, and I hope you've enjoyed. If you have, please spread the word about the program. Make sure you subscribe. If you're listening to this on iTunes, subscribe to the YouTube channel, leave some comments, And also remember, every day on Instagram, I run the two minute drill because I wanna engage with our community. And on every single day, when I make a post within the first two minutes of my main feed, if you just make a comment within the first two minutes, hashtag max out. We pick a daily winner. You get max out gear. Am I wearing a max out hat? I am. Max out gear. My book signed, maybe sometimes a coaching call with me, some of my guests, and so please make sure you do that. If you miss the first two minutes, just make a comment every day. We pick a winner of the week who just comments on everything. So make sure you do that. I hope you enjoyed today's program. God bless you, and max out.