Kind: captions
Language: en
welcome to a very special episode of
after impact I'm your host Tom Bilu I'm
here with agent Smith Mr Bilu what is up
in the background in agent Smith camera
you will notice that we have some
Madness going on literally at the second
that we were supposed to press go uh
part of our set fell apart so we are
repairing that as we speak and as agent
Smith said we hold for nothing yeah and
we got the impact Theory intern Army on
it indeed indeed Army
IIM back there making magic happen I
think will might be stuffed in there as
well somewhere uh so yeah let's rock and
roll right we're talking about Gerard
Adams Gerard Adams so welcome everyone
on Facebook live this is after impact
this is the show where Tom and I go deep
into the episode of impact Theory
discuss it pull it apart unpack it
answer your questions about it as well
so thank you for joining us we're
talking about Gerard Adams today the
episode is called defining the
entrepreneur of tomorrow which is
something he is set on a mission to do
if you don't know who he is he is known
as the millennial mentor and the voice
of Generation Y uh he's an entrepreneur
has had several businesses he's a
marketer um he originally founded
stockpot which was worth $10 million in
2008 before the stock market crashed and
then he lost everything then he went on
and founded Elite Daily which is an
online publication um catering to a
millennial audience which he sold to the
Daily Mail for $50 million so had a big
payday there and now he's doing some
something called Founders that's f o w n
d RS correct which is a social
Enterprise startup accelerator in New
York New Jersey um really cool stuff and
to top it all off he has a great head of
hair R Adams so I had to say it yes um
does what an interview what an interview
and what a guy really really uh fond of
him he's amazing yeah really cool so I
want to kick it off with
um you know something he said about his
parents so he told a story about when he
lost everything and he um wasn't sure
what to do and he didn't know how to be
vulnerable and his mom came to him and
told this beautiful story about when she
was growing up and their house or their
apartment bur burnt down they lost
everything and they had to start over
and I think it was that that's what
really drove him to pick things back up
pick himself back up and and work hard
to build something again so I want to
ask um what what do you think you should
do when you don't have that kind of role
model as
parents um there's so many stories out
there you know there I love the quote a
fool never learns a smart man learns
from his mistakes and a wise man learns
from the mistakes of others it doesn't
just apply to mistakes like there are
plenty of people that have amazing
Stories they've overcome massive
adversity and to be able to tap into
that and to read books like in fact one
of the things that we talked about in
the episode by the way did they ever get
there so we in the episode I said look
we're going to send you
100 copies of Victor frankl's Man's
Search for meaning which is one of the
most important books I've ever read and
I think anybody should read that and
it's about a neuroscientist of all
people that ended up in a concentration
camp during World War II I actually
traveled I believe between five
different ones and ultimately uh was
freed from aitz and he talks about like
what that process looks like and how you
stay motivated even in something that
horrific and I've extracted so much
value from that book and his story and
I've extracted value from you know
countless other people including Gerard
that have had obviously much uh less
adversity but nonetheless like just
really incredible stories that you can
leverage in those moments so you don't
need Gerard's mom to be there in your
own life when Gerard is out there
telling a story and countless other
people are telling their stories of how
they've overcome hardship how they've
doubled back down how they've refocused
um how they developed tenacity all that
to overcome nice um so the other part of
his story is that he was a bit of a
troublemaker he described himself I was
a little surprised by that yeah getting
into fights and then of course he opened
up on this episode which he said he
hadn't talked about much about how he
for a brief time got into selling weed
for a little bit and had this moment
where he knew that was you know he had
this flash of insight that this is the
wrong path yeah the cops banging on his
car window gives you said flash of
insight exactly so again if you um
haven't seen the episode you got to go
check that out it's it's a great story
but I wanted to ask why do you think and
this is sort of a a stereotype of a lot
of um successful entrepreneurs is that
they're um troublemakers why do you
think so many of them have gone on to
become successful um well so I think
that's survivorship bias right so I
think the vast majority of troublemakers
go on to do nothing productive and they
continue to be troublemakers in a very
diffuse Unum focused way and I don't
think it is
naturally advantageous I think that
there is a very small minority of people
who have that inclination to be a
troublemaker to question authority to
always push back and they realize at
some point that that instinct can serve
them well when it's focused in a way
that's like pushing back against the
rules not accepting what other people
tell you that they're like they're just
less likely to slip into the sort of
societal pressures of you should be this
way and because of that they're able to
act in ways that are outside the box
that are different that are unique and
in doing that they're going to be able
to carve A New Path and it's it's that
sort of even just intellectual or social
Innovation that allows them to then
build something because they're moving
into an uncrowded space just because
nobody else has done it before um but I
don't think that um while I think it's a
necessary Behavior to learn as an
entrepreneur I don't think that all
troublemakers Translate into
entrepreneurs I think you'd find it's a
it's a of all the troublemakers in the
world it's a very small percentage that
go to be successful correlation is not
causation exactly fair enough uh we got
a question here from Daniel breeze on
Facebook what's up Daniel live like
right now in the moment yes or is this
wow we're already getting rolling in
says hi guys I have a question about
leadership a good leader should take
full responsibility for his team so if a
teammate or employee is not doing a good
job that means the leader did not
explain things properly or create the
right environment but where is the line
when is it finally time to say I have to
let you go well so uh that is the magic
question and I don't think uh yeah I've
never met anybody that I felt like yeah
you really know the perfect moment and I
will very much include myself in that
and especially when you're going for um
culture like that's really big and you
want like here's here's where it gets
hard so I want everyone here to feel
safe meaning like that you're you don't
constantly feel like oh God like I'm
going to lose my job like you really
want to know I can [ __ ] up and I can
[ __ ] up pretty bad and as long as like
everyone knew my intentions were right
and I was like really working my ass off
that I'm going to be given that safe
space to learn from that grow and
develop that that to me is so important
and in that you're going to also create
a safe space for people to um be
careless and Reckless and I think it's
better to protect that environment so
the people that really have good
intentions can make those mistakes
knowing that I'm going to drag along
some people that I probably should have
let go to make sure that the right
people have that safety but it it you do
get both and so I don't I have yet to
find the perfect answer to knowing when
someone is being sincere and the the
mistake was you know good intentioned
and they're really trying to push so um
some of it is trust your instinct and
what I really look for are people that
dis lynchpin behaviors if you display
lynchpin behaviors then I'm all about it
it's very easy to see that when you're a
small group it gets very difficult when
you get bigger and so you really have to
trust the people that are working
directly with them um and one question
that I ask is does this person
contribute to the environment which is
very difficult to pin down but asking
the question is this workspace more
productive um more emotionally safe and
harder charging cuz I am looking for
people that are really going to push and
in fact I'm going to rat you out for a
second you said something yesterday and
I actually loved it and it was a like it
was harsh I've never seen you be like so
like cut and dry but um somebody
couldn't uh be here yesterday CU they
had something to take care of and they
were actually them proving to be hard to
get a hold of on the phone to be part of
the call and you said I'm not
accommodating this again if you want to
be a part of this meeting you've got to
be here and I was like my man because
there do there has to be standards right
and so you've got got to draw a line
like you're I've I think you're one of
the greatest managers I've ever
encountered in my life like you're so
thoughtful about like the team and like
what's their path and like how do we
help them and grow them I think you've
got a strength there where I have a real
weakness so I really value it um but
seeing you draw a line was also very
meaningful to me so there's all that
Nuance right of where you have to be
encouraging welcoming uh but at the same
time like there's got to be a a
behavioral standard and I think the
group has to pounce on people that don't
meet that behavioral standard and when
the group says this environment is not
being made better by this person then
they have to go yeah so I have a
followup question to that so as a
manager um and thinking about this a lot
like when do you you know one of my
goals and I think a goal for any good
manager is to set your employees up for
Success right do whatever you can to
make sure that they can be successful
and that could mean training them giving
them more training giving them more
guidance advising them um showing them a
path if they need it but when when do it
become a point where you're just
propping someone up and how do you tell
the difference it's I really really
believe you could write it down and you
could say okay here are the things and
they rate a seven here and an eight here
and a 10 here but a three here I I think
it's gut right it's gut of how how does
this like my your subconscious processes
data so much more rapidly and so they
say faster and faster so the
subconscious can take in just a massive
amount of information process it and
then it feeds you in Emotion so that
emotion is literally the subconscious
processes that are running about every
interaction you've had with that person
accumulative over time the times that
they showed up and played the times that
they didn't and I think really trusting
your subconscious to feed you an
accurate emotion is is a very good idea
and the employees that slowly became
toxic for me
um always before I acted consciously my
feeling about them began to change over
time and it be it started they would
show up in my office and I would just
have an uneasy feeling right and then
that uneasy feeling would turn into oh
God like I I don't want to see them I
don't want to interact and like once you
begin to trust yourself that that's the
subconscious saying look on in total
like I've taken all the interactions
this is this is gone now to a place it's
not good it's not happy um you should
trust that and act on it so if you've
spent the time to train your instincts
by having a CO that you live by by
articulating to people what your
expectations are um by really
reassessing like what's going on in the
organization are we moving in the right
direction by asking yourself okay I felt
a weird twinge there what is that and
analyzing it you will get to the point
where just knowing that ooh my feelings
are changing here and I've tried like
I've gone through my my uh belief system
so like I see how you work with people
and trying to set them up for Success so
if you can honestly answer I've
literally done everything in my my power
to set them up for success and I accept
that that you know going back to the
initial question like this is my fault
fine but given my current limitations I
can no longer be of service to this
person now they're dragging the
organization down it's time to cut them
out so the the short answer is literally
trusting the emotion that your
subconscious pushes forth and then what
do you do to hone that because I I find
that it's difficult to go from you have
that gut instinct but then like
articulating that in a way that you can
actually provide the feedback to that
person and communicate to them why
you're perceiving them that way I think
it's better to um so I'm going to set
aside what you actually just asked me
for a second and I'm going to answer the
harder question which is what do you do
when you you can't articulate it but
your gut is screaming at you this person
is damaging the environment meaning the
environment of the company right so I
feel the burden is on you to still
communicate something meaningful back to
them about why you're making that
decision and so let's say that you Tred
and now we're at the edge of your
ability you've tried everything you can
like every of what you know how to do
you have done and it is still not worked
at that point even if you can't
articulate you have to part ways like
you've this is like you've got to
protect the overall organism um because
it becomes so toxic so fast and then all
the other like sort of healthy tissue if
you will is looking at you going you're
letting this happen you're letting the
Gang Green spread and that then begins
to erode your ability to lead and to
manage because people are losing faith
in your ability to do the hard thing
which is all right we get it you're
human you have limitations you're not
the perfect manager you're not the
perfect leader but we have a problem and
you're not addressing it and I have
fallen prey to that so many times
because I really really feel it is my
obligation and it's a failing on my part
to help that person become who they need
to be to thrive and what I've had to
realize is way better to accept I'm
currently Limited I cannot succeed with
this person one of us like either the
organism has to be thrown out or they
have to go and sure this is entirely my
fault but I can't help you be successful
here thank you so much I you know
assuming they're not like out to really
harm the organization I wish you well
and I will help you find somewhere else
and I will help make this transition as
seamless as possible and because I
really do accept a ton of the
responsibility I would be nothing but
optimistic you know and and positive
about all things that I've seen you do
that are great when trying to help you
you know be a reference for you um but
they got to go fair enough but that was
a rabbit HOV that was really good nice
thank you for sure um thank you Daniel
Breeze for that question that kicked us
off um I'm not getting any more
questions right now but thank you uh
Facebook live audience just want to
remind everyone we're here on after
impact this is the show where we dive
deep into the episode of impact Theory
and today we're talking about Gerard
Adams aka the millennial mentor um I got
a question
so Gerard had the opportunity this is
something you talk about in the episode
to retire in Miami live the good life
never work again and then at the last
moment he pulls out he goes back to New
Jersey sets up Founders and starts
putting in the work again to build
something is there any better drug than
progress I think it really might be one
of the most fundamental building blocks
to happiness so
not really I mean there's like I I would
probably use slightly different wording
like progress is so
critical but progress in what I think
matters so progress in self-development
and having a vision of who you can
become and making progress towards that
I think is wildly intoxicating um but
there's like all of this stuff is
nuanced right so it's also um progress
in like what are the goals that I've set
out for myself the worldly goals like
people have worldly goals and are you
making progress in that um progress in
being able to close your eyes imagine
World open them and execute are you
making progress in that um progress in
like getting good at things that that
just make you happy right are you making
progress in that so there's like you
could sort of boil that down to just
progress in general but I think that
would be unfair I don't think all
progress is created equal mhm um so yeah
that's a big one all right cool um
there's one subject you guys talk about
and you asked Gerard do you identify as
a born entrepreneur um and I want to get
your take on Do You Believe In Born
entrepreneurs oh for sure I think there
are born entrepreneurs um I think that
so we are all wired okay so while the
human so here's the critical thing to
understand about how I think and how I
think everyone should
think we are not entirely blank slats
okay I think we can all admit that there
are some people who just aren't that
bright and then there's Ein
right so there's just the ability to
process raw data like we differ in that
there are some people who um you know I
use uh H usainbolt usainbolt I've never
exactly Usain Bolt whatever uh I'm going
to guess that just on a um physiological
level he can relax his hamstrings faster
not because he's worked at it just as a
kid he just could um that's just how
he's
built but like even though we all start
with like different gifts and stuff like
that there's so much like unintentional
environmental impact on that and then
there's intentional like deliberate
practice that you can do later in life
so humans have become the apex predator
because we are the absolute best at
adaptation so and and I mean that way
more on a
neurophysiological level than I mean
even on a physiological level that we
can do both but I think that our minds
are and and I want people to imagine IM
it as as physically changing so we can
our neurophysiology can rewire itself
through a process called M Nation so
incredibly well that the where you start
is so less important than how hard
you're willing to work via the process
of marination so discipline practice to
really get good at
something the amount that you can change
is so dramatic that I would say like
don't like I'm not a born entreprene rur
and Gerard did not succeed because he's
a born entrepreneur he layered on top of
his skills as a born entrepreneur to
maybe get some early wins and that's
probably why he's farther ahead like
he's he's had a level of success much
younger than I did and that's probably
because he was a born entrepreneur and
then that was intentionally or
unintentionally reinforced by his
parents being immigrants and like really
pushing work ethic in him and I wasn't a
born entrepreneur my parents were't born
entrepreneurs so that like unintentional
was instilled into me to be a good
employee to live for the weekends you
know head down do as little work as
possible avoid punishment at all costs
like that's all the things that that I
learned right um and so but I trained my
way out of that so I think it would be
foolish to say there are no born
entrepreneurs but people who say you
either are or you aren't that is so
like I'm going to be offensive for a
second it's so ignorant to The Human
Condition the way that humans actually
work that I'm surprised that people will
say that it's binary so unless people
are willing to admit the gray of you can
get better at anything the question is
how great can you get I think it's
pretty damn great so you would say then
that everyone is born
something I I'll say that everyone is
born wired a certain way mhm and how
does that early wiring and then
reinforced by a family that may have
similar wiring um push you like way down
a path before you realize this is water
and so this is all hitting me right now
in real time so this is where I think
the whole notion of this is water is so
important your parents are probably
stuck and they don't realize they're in
water yet so all the their value system
their belief system um that you know the
man is holding you back or the system is
working against you or whatever that
belief system is is reinforced by their
sort of predisposition so it feels so
true because let's say maybe they're not
a risk taker maybe they're a rule
follower and so falling in line with the
system just feels right to them it feels
good like think about somebody who they
they love so much being an a student
getting praise from the teachers for
following the rules so for them to hear
people say the education system is
broken it doesn't make sense they're
like what like that wouldn't compute for
them because it's been so emotionally
rewarding so this is water for them they
they don't realize that all of that is
okay they had a starting point that
happened to match up to their parent
starting point which happens to match up
to the way that the world is so
everything like they're actually
enjoying themselves and having a good
time so there is nothing that sort of
startles them out of that that makes
them go whoa I'm I am enveloped in a
belief system that does not feel right
to me and therefore I'm going to reject
it right so if you take the Matrix for a
second they said we created this Utopia
where everyone was happy and we lost
entire crops because you reject it like
there was something hardwired into you
to question the Perfection of that
existence and I don't think there's
anything necessarily Universal like that
but I think that we all have that thing
right so I have a real hard time with
authority nobody told me to have a hard
time with authority I just always did
and so I was always pushing back against
my parents so the moment that like
ideologies came in and the first
ideology that I found that really like
mess with my parents was dosm and so
that was the first I went really hard on
dosm around like 15 16 and partly
because it was like pushing back against
going to Sunday school and like all that
and it just felt so much more right to
me and and it fed into like me pushing
back like everything in my little pocket
of Tacoma like that wasm like that was
not exactly a thing that people were
into so it it fed into my um my desire
to push back and rebel against Authority
part of the reason that I hate yard work
so so much is because that was like in
my house you always had to do chores and
like yard work was one of those chores
and I had to chop wood and carry wood
and mow the lawn and I hated it so much
partly because someone had got to tell
me what to do and I didn't like that um
that that's like carried on this sort of
lingering effect so how rapidly you
break out of this is water I think has
to do with how you're wired early
upbringing and like if that if if those
two align I think you can stay trapped
in water for a very long time if there's
a misalignment like the example from The
Matrix you begin to question and that
questioning is the beginning of really
taking control of who you want to become
love it awesome all right let's go to a
question from
Facebook um this is
from let's find a good one
here dead air dead
air um this is from Francisco varara he
says hi guys how do you feel about
aggressively promoting a growth mindset
in the midst of disadvantaged community
communities EG the ghetto I am involved
in an ambitious educational project
along those lines in South America and
could use some
insights um yes I think that people
should be aggressively promoting it but
the question is you're promoting the
mindset but how are you helping
facilitate the actual exit from the
ghetto um and that's something that you
know I'm really trying to answer with
impact theory is how do you create uh an
invisible curriculum that people don't
realize they're being educated that
allows them to apply it in any direction
they want to go so because not everybody
wants to be an entrepreneur not
everybody wants to start their own
company and in fact I will say that it's
like the math of it all there's no way
for everyone to be a leader okay so if
we know that not like literally not
everyone can start their own company
otherwise like the fabric of society
would break apart and I don't think that
that feeds into people's natural
inclinations so how do you not only
teach entrepreneurship in whatever form
guys that comes in but maybe more
importantly and this is becoming more
and more interesting to me how do you
teach people to be lynchpin employees to
where they are striving for greatness
but they want to be in an organization
they don't necessarily want to be out
front they don't want to be the one
taking all the risk they aren't
necessarily a risk taker they're not
somebody who views the world like that
um so they're much better as the
connective tissue of the organization
but really really understanding uh brain
plasticity the pursuit of greatness and
how they can maximize their own
potential at least be on a lifelong
pursuit to do that um so you have to
give them those touch points where they
can have that success really taste it
and what does that look like in a world
that I don't think currently um on the
the come up does not value a lynchpin
employee and I think lynchpin employees
have to overcome a lot of resistance
because what what happens is the person
who owns the company runs the company
they are so desperate for Lynch pin
employees they can't see straight
because their life is on the line right
their house like everything is on the
line and they're hungry for that but
then below them are people
that they're not um incentivized to have
somebody make them sweat and I think
that's where a lot of this breaks down
is you get somebody who comes in so
let's say you've got like a middle
manager right and they're maybe 15 20
years into their career and they've
gotten into a comfortable place they've
accepted their rhythm in life and now
somebody comes along that threatens to
take their job and to outshine them and
make them look bad like the physics of
the human mind says that person is not
going to be rewarded by the people sort
of nearly above them right cuz those
you're going to make them sweat so now
you've got to get really nuanced at like
how do you help them win as well but all
the while not being afraid to pass them
up I almost kind a fist F fight one time
with somebody this was back when I was
just an employee and almost got in a
fist fight and it was the whole you've
changed because we came into the same
time and I just wasn't happy staying
there and I wanted to work my way up and
so I was working like 90 hour weeks
sometimes more they literally had to
tell me and so this is how it went I was
working so many hours and I was getting
paid hourly that I was making more money
than other people above me and I
remember they came and said you you
can't keep doing that because now like
um like that just doesn't like suit well
for that person like it it feels icky
for them because they're on salary and
and so I was like what like I'm clocking
so many hours but then I thought my goal
here is to ascend right so fine I'll
clock me out at whatever time you want
but I'm going to deliver an insane
amount of value and so I would stay with
this because this is back when I was
teaching I would stay with the students
until like 10 11:00 at night if they cuz
I was the one that could keep the open
so it was like if they needed to stay
and work like I would just stay stay
stay and like that to me like finding a
way to deal with that and still like
Ascend is is a super critical skill so
helping people going back to the initial
question helping people like understand
how to play that game so I'm a big
believer like I'm not interested in
changing the system I'm interested in
looking at the system and going okay
this is the way the world works right
now awesome now I'm going to succeed
within that that's why dude when I saw
people occupying Wall Street I was like
uh what like you're putting your energy
into trying to break the system the
quote if you want to build something new
don't spend any of your time trying to
tear down the old spend all of your time
trying to build the new like that that's
just like my life philosophy so yeah I'm
getting really far a field this is a
very interesting topic but I will end it
there you touched on something that I
wanted to discuss and um you know Gerard
didn't come from parents who were
entrepreneurs um but they worked really
hard and he said that I think his mom
was a bookkeeper if I'm not uh I don't
think so his dad worked in an insurance
company and his mom it sounded like
worked in a grocery store okay I'm not
sure what she did but he did say that
she went to work every day she liked her
job she um uh she you know dressed
nicely she had a lot of pride in her
work and I wanted to ask what role does
pride play for lynchpins
I think pride is critical for everybody
I think that um Pride becoming one of
the seven deadly sins um there is
something in
there that like it can get Icky like
when in security and pride are wound
tightly together and so someone is I've
never had to articulate this when you
have a fixed mindset and you're proud of
something that holds you and others back
that's when pride is a Fool's errand but
you need Pride you have to feel good
about yourself you need to have really
strong self-esteem and so it becomes
really critical what you build your
self-esteem around and that is totally
malleable you can just decide I'm going
to be I'm going to build my self-esteem
around being smart I'm going to build my
self-esteem around being right like
those are dangerous and will get you
into horrific positions but you can
build your self-esteem around being the
learner being willing to admit when
you're wrong I identifying the right
answer like those things are antifragile
so you have to be very very careful so
more than I would say that pride in and
of itself is critical for lynchman
building your self-esteem around
something that is antifragile and moves
you towards your goals is critical for a
Lynch pin nice all right let's go over
to our Facebook live Community again uh
I'm not sure who's giving me questions
now I'm getting questions both from
Cindy and Chase nice um let's see buy
Chase's about to throw down I think it's
from J
our friend janii in the house yeah he
says I appreciated hearing Gerard's
father giving him tough love um and this
is in response to his father finding out
that Gerard was selling weed at the time
so many successful men have been loved
by their mother and have had an absent
father how do you think the absence or
presence of a Father's Love plays into a
man's success or failure you know that's
a really good question I don't feel that
I'm necessarily um qualified to answer
that so I was very fortunate to grow up
with both parents um and my gut instinct
is that one just masculine energy for a
guy is going to be important but
feminine energy I think is also
important and getting both of those
whenever possible in whatever way
possible so if you don't have a father
but you have a father figure like that
probably works just as well um I think
that from what I've seen read people
I've gotten to know very well that grew
up with a father um very much there is a
an anger to that a lot of times and that
chip on the shoulder can serve or
destroy so it really comes down to how
that person internalizes that and how it
drives them and all that um and and I'll
stop there just because I don't I don't
feel that that's particularly something
I understand well fair enough um we got
confirmation from our audience our
wonderful Facebook audience that she was
indeed a bookkeeper oh thank you Daniel
there we go um and I just want to say
thanks again for everyone showing up and
and share that we do have merch in the
store if you want to go check it out we
got shirts we have mugs momentum matter
shirt Tom is wearing um and we're going
to be constantly updating that and
putting out new designs and we want to
hear your feedback what do you like what
do you don't like what do you want to
see on a shirt what kinds of things
would inspire you that you would be
inspired to wear um we want to know so
we can go out and create them and we're
going to be taking designs um Casey and
I who I believe I see walking hi Casey
uh we are working work on getting the
terms of service so people know exactly
like how it pays out and all that stuff
um so uh we'll all just pressure Casey a
little bit to to get us a lawyer to
draft that up and get it on the website
hopefully we can do that in the next say
10 to 14 days um and then we can start
accepting designs and get crazy cool
very cool all right here is
a this is a long one let's see if I can
um shorten it a little bit but it's from
Margaret Rose she has a question about
Millennials and organizational culture
so we have a blend of early early career
Millennials and established mature folks
in our company and yet we are trying to
that was a very py way of saying it um
in our company and yet we are trying to
establish an one overall culture these
different demographics come at
challenges from a different place um we
have a bit of a culture clash and are
having trouble transcending it any ideas
about how to blend energy passion and
change the world idealism of early
career folks into a more established
regimented environment without asking
them to conform to our old ways or
losing what makes them so
special yeah so uh this is where you
there are things at the macro level
about Millennials that I think are
important to be aware of and then there
are things at the macro level of um what
am I Gen X of Gen X that's also
important to understand but at the end
of the day you've really got to dig into
this spefic specifics of what is the
company culture are we conveying that
right from the beginning and then what
are the physics of human beings so yes
at a macro level I think um Millennials
have a different perspective and Simon s
summed it up so wonderfully in the
interview that we did that went insanely
viral and if you haven't seen it go to
impact theory.com uh you can
watchblog and you can see the millennial
question being answered um just
amazingly well by Simon s um
but at the same time like the physics of
being a human apply way more radically
so um dig into Vanessa van Edwards um
who's on the show coming out in probably
three or four weeks and I think that's
way more important to understand like
what what is that person motivated by um
what are
they what's their language of um praise
that they understand understanding what
they want like what are they trying to
be and then making sure that you
communicate the culture of the company
what what's acceptable what's not
acceptable um what are we trying to
achieve having a Grand Vision as a
company I think that's very important
making sure that that's communicated
looking at your onboarding process so
people really understand like what's
acceptable what's not acceptable and
then not segregating people by age
making sure that you're getting people
together in the mix with respect and you
know this is where it comes down to the
individuals if the Gen xers and above
don't respect the Millennials you're
going to have a problem and if the
Millennials don't respect the other
people you're going to have a problem
and that comes down to how everybody
treats everybody if everybody has a
growth mind set um is open to new ideas
and runs everything through the filter
of okay here's our company Mission whose
idea is actually going to move us
towards that company Mission and then
holding yourselves accountable to that
and let the best idea win like when I
think back to Quest and you know when we
we were big
and it be like in the early days it
wasn't hard to manage the generation
gaps as we got bigger it was like does
everybody understand what we're trying
to do as a company does everybody
actually believe in it and is everybody
operating with a growth mindset like if
we bake that into the onboarding process
if we bake that into like the company
culture like are those things real
enough that everybody is holding each
other to that standard because I think
if you're doing that then it doesn't
really matter like I don't have a hard
time I don't I certainly don't have a
hard time with any one person I'll back
up this is a much easier way to explain
it when I was working the line
and actually making protein bars every
day it was me and a bunch of Millennials
and Millennials are supposedly lazy
they're supposedly entitled but if
you're around me [ __ ] that noise like we
are trying like here's our goal for the
day we're going to produce this many
bars and you're going to see what hard
work looks like because I'm going to set
the bar and then people want to impress
me they want to be on my team they want
to be like a part of it so now they're
trying to work as hard as me and then
when somebody's being lazy and that's
[ __ ] everybody else up I'm like what
the [ __ ] like this is the standard look
at like how hard I'm work my hands were
cramping clothes last night it had me
awake at 4 in the morning did I come in
here and [ __ ] or did I come in here
with a smile like ready to [ __ ] work
and also having shown so much respect
giving credit to people like when
somebody did something outstanding like
really going over the top like oh my God
like you're crushing it it's amazing and
really um letting everybody know what
the culture is how to uplift everybody
that we're a team that you need to
celebrate people's victories you need to
give them a safe space to grow and
develop not to punish mistakes but that
we don't [ __ ] tolerate laziness under
any circumstance and so it was like they
knew like before the 25 bullet points
got written they knew what they were
like we talked about it it was part of
the onboarding process it was part of
like our everyday life and because of
that like you may have been the laziest
most entitled most stereotypical
Millennial the day before you started
working with me but the day after like
you wanted to fit into the community and
so the the group there was so much group
pressure to be a certain way and that
was goal oriented growth-minded
hardworking team oriented and it was
just I can't tell you the amount of
cultural pressure that there was to
conform to that and so
literally literally we had Bloods and
Crips on the same line wow there was
just no room for that like we were
working so hard and it was so clear what
we were trying to accomplish that just
it was never a problem that's amazing if
I were to sum that up I would I would
say and correct me if I'm wrong that
it's you establish Culture by um from
the top and you do it by
example primarily I mean you have to
have the messaging and and you grow then
it's like so take us for instance right
now we're super small so everybody
literally can hear me now they see my
work ethic so like just very easily
everyone has slipped into that same
routine everybody busts ass everyone
here works really hard believes in the
mission all that but now project out
five years and we've got 150 employees
or 250 employees suddenly if the
management structure has not totally
bought in to what we're doing what our
work ethic is all that
like it begins to fall apart oh and and
it's so brutal and look I'm not saying
it's easy this was the thing I struggled
with the most at Quest and felt like wow
like we grew so fast that I didn't
really have my arms around it um it's
it's not easy but it is exactly what has
to happen like there's no substitute and
do you screen for people when you're
interviewing who you think can adapt to
that culture or I try but drive is the
one thing um in fact I think Gerard I
talked about this drive is the one thing
I don't know how to identify in an
interview I literally don't and the only
way is to work side by side with
somebody like if um I could grab David
gogin that person and myself and like go
out and do the damn thing and like
really suffer and um let them see the
standard that I hold myself to and then
see like hey do I want to play like that
would work you know if you could go do a
hard week with somebody and let them see
like what we're really expecting and I
remember I used to um um I really really
tried to say you had to come work for us
for a week before we would hire you it's
very hard obviously for people to take
that week off A and B we were hiring so
fast that like it just wasn't realistic
um but every step away from doing that
is a mistake and you end up with people
that they're just not they don't value
it and so I won't even ask them to
believe that it's the right way to live
it is but I won't ask them to believe it
um but if they don't value that like
that that is the problem it's not like
the millennial like and um like the
different generational stuff I promise
will will go by the wayside when
everyone is bought into the mission and
the work ethic nice all right a couple
shout outs here on Facebook from Chris
Barry in Springfield Illinois Chris
Barry in the house he says nice beard
agent Smith a heavy beard a heavy beard
this is getting a little long it's
getting a little out of control I'm
going to I'm going to second that notion
yeah um it'll probably come off this
week uh but thank you Chris uh manua
from Austria hello Lauren Taylor in
Denver what's up LT and Joshua Martell
in virtual reality nice what's up Josh
our man with a plan um okay let's do
another question from let's do a
question from Josh actually Joshua I had
parents that love me very much but never
pushed me to progress everyone is really
interested in this uh parents shaping
identity topic and allowed me to give up
every time there I met a resistance um I
only learned to push myself after coming
in contact with inside Quest Tom where
who do you think you would be if your
mom didn't push you to get out even
though she she expected you to fail you
think your laziness would have won
without that
push man that is a hard question to
answer so my life would be very
different if she hadn't pushed me to go
to that school cuz I don't think I ever
would have ended up in La um which is a
little
scary but
but and I have to really think about
like so in my household it was straight
A's were the only thing that were
acceptable and now that trained me to be
very clever I won't say that it trained
me to actually work hard it trained me
to get smart about how I got my grades
um so I built really strong
relationships with very smart friends
who helped me often times just by like
here's my homework copy it um and other
times tutoring me if it was um cuz I
won't say that like I didn't have an
inherent desire to cheat like I didn't
want to cheat I would much rather have
learned it and so there were things that
I really did learn um but at the same
time like when two things were in
Conflict like if there was a girl that I
wanted to talk to and that meant that I
was going to have less time to do my
homework and then I found it harder than
expected and so I wasn't able to finish
everything I would just know in the back
of my mind oh okay well I'm still going
to get the a I'm still going to like you
know get my friend to help me um get
through but in my house like A's were it
that was it and so that was good that
pressure was awesome and then you were
going to college like it was never like
a oh like well do you think you'll go
like you were going to college and so
that was my water right I didn't even
see it like I remember when one of my
friends was like yeah I'm not going to
go to college I was like you can not go
to college it literally I remember
thinking it was like this dumbfounding
moment where I was like it never
occurred to me that I could not go to
college um so that kind of like
Excellence is the only answer there's no
question that like filtered into my
system somehow but like the one thing
that I have a really hard time like
pinpointing who gave me this thing was
when I went to college I said because
this is this is my passion and the thing
that I supposedly want to learn and I'm
um going to walk away with debt ARF sink
or swim I'm not going to cheat I need to
learn this I don't know what what made
me finally go actually getting good is
the only thing that matters I don't
remember where I picked that up so that
and and I don't like that because I want
to believe that you can learn anything I
don't want to think that anything was
like there was just some part of my
brain that was pre-wired for that so I
wish I actually could remember having
read it in a book or something um but
that's the one thing the one like sort
of swing that everything in my life
hinged on that moment clicking over
finally and saying I'm just going to
work and when I hear other people's
stories of college they're so foreign to
me I didn't go um I wasn't in a
fraternity I didn't go to parties ever I
didn't uh date at all I didn't have a
single drop of alcohol like L for four
years all I did was work and that Set uh
a stage of willingness to suffer delay
gratification obsession with gold
um getting great because I was in film
school like there was a real scarcity
mindset like only so many people are
going to go out into the real world and
get to direct so being great here in
school is like absolutely critical so
that notion of wanting to be the best
and all of that like those four years
were like this hardcore transition it
was the first time in my life I lost a
lot of weight like most people put on
weight I lost like 35 lbs my freshman
year was crazy I came home my mom was
like you're looks sick it was like but I
was like what are you talking about like
I'm so into this this is amazing I'll
stop there and do you think it was
because because in high school we know
you weren't that way not at all you
didn't work hard correct um but did I
ever tell you my cross country story so
amazing didn't so I was in Cross Country
for four years but I did it for a girl
at least the first year all four years
no sort of so this is how it went really
fast first year I literally did it cuz I
wanted to be on the same team with her
uh but she was a senior and I was a
freshman it was my sister one of my
sister's friends and so she graduates
and so I quit I'm like yep I'm done no
more cross country I [ __ ] hated it
and if it wasn't for her never and but I
had sort of become the team mascot so I
dude I'm telling you I'm wired I love
seeing other people win so I would cheer
people on so much of these races that it
became like this thing like the whole
team would come with me because I would
just be so over the top come on you and
so even though I was the slowest person
in the league not on my team my friend
in the league um when I said I wasn't
coming back the next year one of the
coaches was like I don't think you
understand how much you inspire people
on the team like you got to come back
because even though you're the slowest
you always show up and you do it now
what he didn't know was like I would
hide in the bushes till the rest of the
team had run by and go get donuts that's
actually a terrifying but true story um
but he was like you really inspire
people and so I ended up staying the
rest of the four years because that
meant something to me to like cheer
people on and
help them be successful but what I was
going to ask is do you think the change
over in college had something to do with
the fact that when when you got to USC
you saw that you had an actual shot but
it was a very small window and so you
said I have to go hard on this that's
the only way I can get it um maybe the
pursuit of Excellence but no that's not
true what actually happened there were a
few key moments so this is where a
beauty and rage began to develop so I
didn't get accepted into film school at
first so that I didn't even know know
that you had to apply separately that's
how ignorant I was okay my parents
didn't help me with that process I had
to do it all on my own which meant I did
not understand any of it and I did the
least amount of work humanly possible
and if my friends hadn't been like
giving me random pieces of information
like you know there are applications you
have to fill out you know there are
deadlines for those applications right
so um I had to do all of that and um so
I get into USC but I didn't get into USC
film school cuz I didn't even apply and
there's only two windows to get into
film school as an incoming freshman and
as an incoming Junior so you're applying
basically your junior or senior in high
school I don't remember when they do it
um or your uh sophomore year in college
and so I came in as a freshman now I
started acting like I'd already been
accepted into Film School it was the
only thing that makes sense to me I was
just so convinced I was going to make it
happen and you then start encountering
people that have been accepted they look
at you like you are a [ __ ] that you're
not already in film school they look
down on you like there I it was like
discrimination but like in the most
offensive way like oh you haven't been
accepted I can't tell you how gross and
icky it was and that made me so angry it
was
like I would just sit in my room I'm
going to [ __ ] Crush all these people
like I'm I am going to dominate these
[ __ ] and I was so angry at the
way that they look down at me and I just
I couldn't take it man I could not I was
determined to show them and that served
me me and that's where like I just
learned like hey beauty does a lot of
great things but sometimes you just need
to be so mad that you're not going to
tolerate that you're going to win and so
it really and I can actually remember
the people I won't rat them out but I
can remember the people where I was when
they were treating me like that like
yeah so okay fair enough that was part
of it I won't say that was all of it
yeah uh let's try to get a couple more
questions in from our Facebook live
audience because they're being very
active today thank you for showing up
thank you
guys um oh here's a shout out uh Alex
kovar rubius is in the feed are you
serious Alex kovar rubius everybody
that's in the feed right now and anybody
watching this Alex kovar rubius is one
of the most extraordinary human beings
I've ever met in my life and many of the
stories that I tell about being on the
line and working like this this guy is a
Lynch pin like he is one of the ways
that we kept the Crips and the Bloods
from like going after each other he's an
amazing I have never seen human
transformation as profound as this guy I
would tell you so much more of his story
if it was mine to tell it is his story
to tell but holy Lord and I don't think
he does anything socially so there's not
even anything for you to do with that
information but I feel compelled to
point that out all right so Alex I love
you like a brother my friend it is good
to have you in the feed I was just
thinking about you like today we got to
hang out bat you got to come to the
house in fact text me immediately you
can text me now and that'll remind me to
ping you after this um but yeah text me
there it is what's up all right here's a
question from Vinnie brigin her uh
question is hi Tom I love the concept of
anti fragility yeah would you be willing
to share one of your favorite ways to
apply this concept to your life and one
of the biggest impacts it has made yeah
so antifragile what you build your
self-esteem around it is the most
critical place to um Implement that
system it changed my life it is the
reason that I um was successful and
generated wealth just know two ways
about it um you need to build your
self-esteem around being the learner
always being willing to admit that
you're wrong and identifying the right
answer as fast as humanly possible and
then putting energy behind it those are
all antifragile because if you're the
learner and somebody tells you that
you're stupid because remember something
that's antifragile means not that it is
resilient not that it is tough those are
still things that are defined by their
breaking point that the more you attack
it the stronger it gets so if you build
your self-esteem around being the
learner and somebody says hey you're
really stupid
um then the only question is in what way
cuz if you tell me in what way I'm
stupid now I identify a blind spot and I
can go good at that and so I'm going to
get stronger um as a result that that is
antifragile right there um and once you
make that switch because the world will
try to attack you some percentage not
all of it um there are many amazing
people in your life but once you have an
antifragile personality like nobody can
hurt you because as they throw those
bricks at you you realize you can build
a house with those bricks um you just
have to be willing to you know take the
shot to the face and then start building
so that is the most profound way that
anti fragility will serve you nice um I
want to hear a little bit more before we
go about your experience going to
Founders um especially in relation to
your mission to end generational poverty
yeah so Founders is amazing and I really
really really please if you were in this
community uh no matter when you're
seeing this contact Gerard go there see
it for yourself it's
unbelievable so this is a guy that could
be right now living on Miami Beach in a
penthouse overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
the most beautiful part of the Atlantic
Ocean imaginable and instead of doing
that he decides he's going to move into
the ghetto and it's straight up the
ghetto like when you're there I was a
little uncomfortable and I was like uh
this is gnarly and he would walk you
from like Founders own building building
like there they've taken over like
multiple buildings in in this part of
this neighborhood and he said he
literally went to the worst part of
nework and started buying these
buildings and turning them into amazing
things so they've got an art gallery
with local artists and some of the art
is amazing man I was literally like what
the hell like it was so cool and then
like seeing the entrepreneurs in the
founders building where they have live
workpace so I don't know what you have
to do to qualify to be one of the people
and I think they have like like 20 units
so one of the people that live in the
building um but they also have like a
cafe so that they can get healthy food
to these people I just unbelievable and
so um like I was saying in the episode I
was just randomly scheduled to give a a
lecture to Ruckers and so when he pinged
me I said hey if you have space for me
to do the lecture for Ruckers and
anybody in your group wants to like hear
it um then then we can make this work
it's like oh my God that'd be amazing so
imagine me like at the front of a
classroom and he brings all his
entrepreneurs in and I give this talk
over Skype to Ruckers but I happen to be
in a crowd of whatever there were 30
people or something um there in the room
with me from Founders and the it was one
of the most fun talks I've ever given
because their energy was
unbelievable and the only way I can
explain it is having worked in the inner
cities I'm telling you when you give
someone hope who has never experienced
hope like most of the people watching
this can't imagine that but there are
people right now growing up who like
this is my life right like have you ever
seen the Reddit um r/ this is my life
now or whatever or maybe it's just memes
I don't remember but uh they come across
my feed and I find them absolutely
hilarious so it'll be like a dog and
there's like eight cats like pinning him
down and like licking him and it's like
this is my life now uh that's a funny
version of people sell drugs in my
street corner my friends get shot and
this is my life and there's no sense of
oh I can get out of this yeah so you're
just stuck and this is my life and I
remember one of the kids
um crying because he was like you care
more about my future than my own mother
um I've I for the first time in my life
have hope and I remember when he said
that I had never realized that PE that
that these people that I was working
with every day had no hope I didn't
didn't even this is water right like my
life is always been filled with hope and
optimism and all I had no idea that they
were showing up every day like walking
into a world unlike anything they knew
yeah and so I'm like you can be anything
you want like what are you talking about
and then to hear him say like this is
the first time in my life where I've had
hope I thought whoa that's the vibe at
Founders you've got this this Army of
people who Gerard has given hope to for
the first time and they're building real
businesses and they're like some of them
are way far down the path they've got
branding they've got packaging these
aren't like information products they're
physical goods and I was just freaking
out because to be in a group of that
many people in the middle of such a
gnarly area and for them to have hope
for the first time and be building
things it was just it's unreal and for
you guys to go there and give your
support and document it and encourage
them and just I want the word to get out
about what Gerard is doing because it's
it's important so Gerard and I have
taken two different approaches to the
same problem I believe the most scalable
answer is narrative mhm Gerard has has
said okay maybe it this isn't the most
scalable answer but I'm going to
franchise this and I'm going to go into
the heart of these places and give like
a physical space where people can go and
so think of it as probiotics and
prebiotics right so probiotics are the
actual bacteria so think of Gerard as
that right like he's the actual colony
of amazing bacteria that's going to make
um those neighborhoods healthy again and
then I'm trying to be the Prebiotic that
feeds that and so when I walked in I
realized wow this is such a necessary
part of what I'm trying to do like
somebody has to be doing what he's doing
so the fact that he's doing it is is
unbelievable that's awesome it's great
to hear all right well uh I think we can
wrap it up I'll thank everyone on
Facebook live and also give uh my three
takeaways which I haven't done in a
while so these are my three takeaways
from the episode which if you haven't
checked out please do it's really good
um one is even when you lose it all you
can build it back up again and that has
been clear in Gerard's life he's
demonstrated that so never forget that
financial success is nothing without
fulfillment which he talks about um very
eloquently in the episode and then the
last one is and this is toward the end
of the episode which we didn't get to
discuss here but I really liked how he
said take the time to find out who you
are and he actually gives examples of
how he went through that process himself
was meditating he was writing a lot and
he was reflecting and that was key to
him creating Founders and understanding
that this is really what he wanted to do
in the world so through those are are my
three takeaways thank you Facebook live
for joining us and if you um if you want
to check out our store you can uh we got
new shirts up there so go check them out
we got posters too and sign up to our
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we're going to be doing some interesting
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we'll do giveaways Etc so go sign up at
impec theory.com and uh yeah thank you
there it is all right guys thank you so
much if you haven't already be sure to
subscribe this is a weekly show and
until next time my friends be legendary
take care