Kind: captions
Language: en
hey everybody welcome to another episode
of after impact I am your host Tom Bilu
and I here with none other than agent
Smith Mr Bilu what is up my man how you
doing I'm doing very well thank you very
much you ready to get into this oh I'm
ready to get into this one great epis do
the damn thing so this episode is on
John Paul dejoria it is called the power
of rejection uh for those of you who
haven't seen the episode or don't know
who John Paul Dori is I'm GNA give you a
quick summary of his life he went from
homeless to billionaire he was homeless
two times uh living in his car he's
self-made um if you haven't heard his
name and if you're a child of the 90s
I'm sure you know his likeness which was
all over the commercials on Saturday
morning cartoons because he is the
founder and face of John Paul sorry Paul
Mitchell Systems the hair care line um
that was a wildly successful company he
built into a global Empire billion
dollar company and then he went on to
follow it up with another another
company which you may have heard of
called Patron tequila um which is it's
incredible that he's had two successful
companies among a number of other
Ventures not only that is he's uh done a
lot of philanthropy within his companies
and outside with his own organizations
he's big into giving back and he does
everything with a smile he is just a
positive positive guy no question so
yeah can't wait to get into this episode
thank you for joining us on Facebook
live and just as a reminder this is
after impact this is the show where Tom
and I go deep into the episode of impact
the from Tuesday all right so um John
Paul in this episode he he makes a
remark in the very beginning where he
says um in his generation it was fun to
work and I want to get your thoughts on
that what do you think has changed with
this generation it seems like a lot of
people aren't having fun working anymore
yeah man this is really interesting and
I don't uh I'm kind of tired of the
whole generational thing because he one
Society culture however you want to
Define it is always evolving and
changing it just is what it is so every
generation complains about the one that
came uh comes after them and came before
them quite frankly like oh they've left
us with this big mess and we have to
clean it up and I once heard this quote
and it was like oh man the way kids
dress today is so crazy they're so
disrespectful and outlandish and it was
like you know 46 uh BC and I was like
what so it's like look people it all
sounds the same so I don't like to get
too hung up on that I think the way that
humans are wired you're only impressed
by extraordinary performance so at the
end of the day the people that succeed
are the ones that end up working their
asses off and get really good at
something so I don't know do I think his
entire generation enjoyed working no do
I think maybe they had more of the like
their parents just taught them look it's
head down grind it out more than today's
generation yeah probably you know he was
I he's probably considered baby boomer
so it was like the children of the
greatest Generation as they're known
they went they fought World War II and
they wanted to fight World War II so
this is all preetam pre Watergate this
is before sort of everybody lost that
sense of wonderment of their government
certainly here in America wonderment of
you know this sort of amazing thing that
we're all a part of and you assil one of
us you assil all of us and so there was
some of that baked into the culture and
and those guys you know were sort of at
a macro level maybe a little more prone
to just hard work American dream is real
and because they believed in that
because they had hope because they felt
like if I put in the work I'm going to
get a get a result they were willing to
do it but like anything you'd have hella
lazy people so I think he enjoyed
working and I think he really saw the
value in that and I think that's why he
got ahead and I like to think I speak to
the people that have already clicked
over in their mind and they accept that
only people that are capable of the
extraordinary will go on to succeed and
so they're trying to step into that role
people that disagree with that like I'm
just going to sound like a crazy man to
you so yeah he he clearly has has
enjoyed his life um even during the hard
times and that was something that struck
me from the episode is when he's um
talking about those moments where he was
homeless living out of his car when he
was going and collecting bottles it
didn't I mean maybe this is just because
it's hindsight now but it didn't seem to
really phase him he like yeah this just
what you do you know you just kind of
scrape together what you have and you
keep going on and just very positive had
a very positive outlook on everything
and he considered that one of the main
things anybody has to do it's baked into
his the company culture's positivity he
has three or four Ps I forget but um one
of them positivity people and Planet
perfect so one of the four like the four
sort of core pillars of his world viiew
is positivity and that to me just makes
sense like there's just fundamental
things that people have to accept about
the human condition and positivity gives
you the energy to keep going it's
focusing you on the the the energizing
things the possibilities the things that
might happen and because of that like
you just have the frame of reference to
keep pushing forward to get that next
skill you know and I mean this was a guy
whose wife literally walked out on him
handed him their two or three-year-old
son and or may have been a little bit
older but very very young son and said
peace out like I can't do this anymore
and if in that moment you're woe as me
you're feeling bad for yourself you're
just not taking the positive steps to
move forward and the thing in the
interview that I asked him that he's
talked about before and I didn't quite
get from him what I wanted because he's
got this really great message about um
like first level is survival but then
there are like all these levels Beyond
it and it's like as you get to the as
you get to survival then you need to get
to the next level and the next and the
next until you're like thriving and
doing you know all this amazing stuff
and to me that is the power of John Paul
deoria is he doesn't like get to
surviving and then stop he doesn't get
to thriving and then stop he gets to not
only thriving not only doing amazing
things to get back but then building the
next Empire and the next Empire and just
like constantly trying to have as much
positive impact on the world as he can
and I really think that all stems from
positivity it stems from the belief that
no matter where you are there's more
that you can achieve no matter how much
good you've done there's more that you
can do no matter how much fun you have
you can have more fun it's just like
there's this cycle of like how far can
we push it and it becomes a very
virtuous cycle yeah and so I just think
that's one of those things I'm not
saying you can't succeed by being a
negative kogin but dude you want to talk
about 10x in the level of difficulty
like focus on negative [ __ ] like that
you're just not going to move forward
yeah he says something to the effect of
um positive people just have an easier
time getting along in life which I
thought was really interesting and and
if you know sometimes you meet people
who are just overflowing with positivity
and it just seems like nothing phases
them my thing is dude look at everything
everything from an evolutionary
perspective so if you assume that like
negativity has its evolutionary place
what is that okay it's probably to keep
you safe if you were like too excited to
run off and go to that next hunt then
you might not be thinking about all the
dangers so okay I get it I know why that
exists but then positivity right what is
the evolutionary advantage of positivity
it's you're more likely to go in the
adventure because if you don't go on
some Adventures then you're never going
to get anywhere and it's like um I'm
reading homo deuce and he talks about
the um the monkey that basically is so
timid that it never thinks that it's
worth the risk to go grab that fruit and
so it starves to death and doesn't pass
on its jeans and then you've got the
monkey that's so positive it thinks
every scenario it's going to win and it
either Falls or gets eaten by a lion or
whatever so it's it's the one that like
edges up to taking more risks than the
next but doesn't take so many risks that
it ends up getting eaten and that really
stems from what's that isn't reckless
right exactly and that really stems from
positivity you have to believe that you
can do it and I think that he has that
in Spades and because of that he's while
he's had very difficult times and he was
homeless twice the second time he was
homeless he was 36 so it's not like hey
he was homeless at 14 and again at you
know 21 it's like he was late in his
life the second time that he was
homeless so that really surprised me
when that came up episod well I was
surprised by the age especially cuz he
had a kid at the time right right and
talk about being on your luck and then
just climbing back into it wow no
kidding with the belief it does can
everybody be positive do you think 100%
100% here lean in lean in my friends and
I just had somebody um uh DM me in
Instagram this right before so we posted
yesterday on the impact Theory um
Channel I love it it's such an awesome
quote and it was Conor McGregor and he
says talent doesn't exist and this is
not the result of me being given
something at Birth this is me being
obsessed and putting in the hard work
and so the person wrote and I could sort
of feel the like annoyance in their tone
and they're like do you really believe
that talent doesn't exist do you really
believe that we could his examples were
could anybody become LeBron James or
someone else equally like where we just
look at them and go I we're astonished
by their talent yeah and I said okay
well this deserves a way more nuanced
response than I can give you in
Instagram but the answer is sort of and
what it comes down to the human mind is
so plastic dude we are adaptation
machines that's what makes us great how
did we become the apex predator we
became the apex predator because we are
so good at adopting or adapting to
change like that is a thing like we're
able to take a stressor take a novel
environment take a novel idea take a
novel skill set physical or mental and
rapidly rapidly change the structures of
our brain to become good at that so when
somebody says oh you know could I ever
be LeBron
James you're not necessarily ever going
to be as tall as him you're not
necessarily ever going to be as strong
as him but can you get really [ __ ]
good at basketball yes and look at Spud
Web um there was another guy oh who was
the other really short guy anyway
there's two guys Mugsy
bogs I don't know how you pulled that
one out but thank you basketball fan
really yeah what is happening right now
are you serious yeah all right we got to
get deeper into that all right the
amazing thing about this content I
learned new things about my wife uh
which is unbelievable so that's amazing
I can't believe I didn't know that um so
yes you can become amazingly phenomenal
and the thing is dude to spend your time
if you sit there and say I could never
be LeBron James guess what [ __ ]
you are right and you won't be yeah
LeBron James because you built that
in I so want people to get it Jared I so
want people to get it that just just
believing even if you're absurd even if
you're ridiculous if you set out to be
LeBron James maybe you don't have the
physical gifts and maybe you never get
all the way there and maybe you just
become um a guy that plays on an NBA
team right nobody ever remembers your
name but you are a professional
basketball player you were one of the
greatest players ever if you take the
population of people that ever start
playing basketball and then you as the
person that made that NBA team you're in
0.001% of people that have ever touched
a basketball but there are some people
Jared there are some people that in that
moment go see I told you you can never
be LeBron James right that's so absurd
like I the chills how how does that help
you like that is so crazy and I know
that there are people they they would
feel righteous indignation to be like I
knew it I knew you could never become
LeBron and it's like but you can't see
that this guy plays professional
basketball like that's so nuts and so
look are maybe you can never become John
Paul dejoria maybe you can never be as
positive as him fine but could you
become so much better than the next
person that there is just a Chasm of
success however you define it between
you and everybody else yes because you
get what you focus on yeah so love it
anyway I could deril on that I mean
we've had guests talk about that too
it's like especially with athletes where
they weren't the most physical or they
didn't have like the natural athleticism
I mean Michael stran right Terell Owens
right even Michael Phelps talks about
that he wasn't destined to be the
greatest swimmer of all time but he put
in the work and he always says the if if
it were easy then everybody would do it
and that's how I got here is I just
worked forever
every day he didn't miss a single day of
training in five years think about that
think about being sick and swimming as a
swimmer that is a tedious monotonous
sport right and it's so brutally painful
I I've done few things that I was like
whoa that is exhausting like you can put
yourself into like lactic acid spasms in
a single lap of a pool it's crazy yeah
we we got to get him on the show that
would be amazing I would do it in a
heartbeat um but can he smoke a bowl
while he's on the show that controversy
just made me laugh I don't understand
and I hate weed but I just people want
something to [ __ ] they do we're off on
a tangent here so let's bring it back uh
let's bring it back with a with a shout
out from Portugal and Tacoma I don't
know who you are but I know you we in
the house oh we got Tacoma in the house
nice H Hometown inde we got get some B
in the house you know what I mean yeah
especially like if you're you're from
Bakersfield and you're watching this
give a shout out out let us know I know
you I see you all right comment from
Mike Burkhart cold calling should be a
college course let's talk about cold
calling or in John Paul's case door to
door sales of encyclopedias had a
question about this so he says that this
is what really built him up um this is a
formative experience for him because it
taught him how to get really good with
rejection y so my question was are there
any what are secrets to getting good at
rejection if you're not going to go out
and do door too sales you need to do
something over and over over and over
and over and over and over and over and
over like the the high degree of
repetition is the key so I've um at
least twice and I bet if I thought about
it I've done it more but I had a job as
a telemarketer which doesn't really
exist anymore but because they can't get
a hold of you like there's no home
phones and if you see a number come up
like I was doing it back before caller
ID so it's like you were answering so
but then they were also pissed like that
you were on the other end of the phone
so I did telemarketing I hated that so
much um business AT&T so trying to get
you to switch like if you were a company
I was trying to get you to switch from
like MCI to AT&T and so we like had all
these things we knew like what stuff
they did on their bill that people would
be like irked by and so it's like hey
pull out your bill and let's go through
it and look for this charge and isn't
that crazy um and then I went from that
to selling Insurance door to door and
that was brutal door to door anything
kind insurance um legal insurance so it
was a company called prepaid legal and
um it it was soul sucking it was so hard
dude no no one wants to see you and it
is so
awward so you're like knock knock buy
this it oh God it's so hateful but I did
that I probably did it only for like
three or four months um but it was my
sole source of income so it was like H
like I have to sell something um but I
just yeah it I won't say I wasn't cut
out for it I will say that it was
painful enough that there were other
things I wanted to do and I had a fixed
mindset if I had had a growth mindset
back then oh man it is it is a a growth
mindset Paradise because it's like one
thing after another after another where
you can adjust learn grow push and see
like what do I need to do to get better
at this and so clearly he approached it
with that because I think he even says
in the episode like it's just a learning
cycle like you try one thing did it work
no adjust try again and that is
incredible but yes I I think that um
finding something with just a massively
High degree of repetition so that you
can trial and error your way through is
the key um and getting over your fear of
rejection is pretty pretty crucial and I
would encourage people to do like if you
suck at public speaking um to do like
Toast Masters something where you can
get out there um did you ever do that I
almost like I had still to this day I
have an alarm that goes off in my phone
reminding me about one of the Toast
Masters groups I was about out to do it
and then I started doing um inside Quest
and so every week I was getting a chance
to like be in front of people and speak
um your Toast Masters was the cafeteria
right in high yeah but this was like so
I did that all the time as a kid and
then had whatever a 15year dry spell
where I did only speaking in like
boardrooms and stuff like that which is
very very different and wanted that like
chance where it's like you were giving a
presentation which was way more anxiety
inducing for me cuz and it's funny in
high school did not trigger anxiety it
made me a little bit nervous but it
didn't trigger trigger anxiety I think
because I was too young and naive to
realize sort of how far out there you
are um and then once my prefrontal
cortex fully developed and I realized
what was at stake it was like okay wait
now now I'm super [ __ ] anxious so um
but yeah that's one way uh shout out on
Facebook to KJ norlander love the energy
coming today nice we also got a shout
out from Curtis rap that's that's a
that's his name awesome name Curtis rap
that is pretty good Curtis rap Spitfire
Tom Bilu church is in session nice all
right let's do it all right so um thanks
for everyone joining us on Facebook live
just reminder we're doing after impact
this is the show where Tom and I go deep
into the episode of impact Theory
discussing John Paul deoria today who is
the founder of Paul Mitchell Systems and
Patron tequila among other Ventures um
if you find this content valuable please
share it on Facebook that would help us
grow the community and that's everything
to us right now is growing the community
indeed period all right John Paul says
your product or service um you have to
make sure it's of the highest quality
because you don't want to be in the
selling business you want to be in the
reorder business so I want you to unpack
that for our audience and then also
followup question what do you do if
you're in a company you're working for a
company and you realize that um that
product or service is not of the highest
quality so well let's start with that so
if you're working at a company and the
product is not of the highest quality
then I would see that as a huge
opportunity a very exciting moment in
your career for you to do something
incredible in the company to help them
develop a new vision to help them with
product development whatever the case
may be um hopefully you're working for
people that are humble enough to know
that you can always be better first of
all um and I've I one thing I will say
about today is there's um a lot of
momentum of like work for a company for
a bit like 18 months two years and you
move on that's just statistics right so
I think uh the average Millennial stays
at a company for 18 months and that's a
really that's actually a very effective
strategy for raises because you can
typically get a bigger raise by going to
another company so I don't want to hate
on the strategy from a money perspective
but it's atrocious from building trust
building relationships and doing
something amazing within the company so
so um assuming that the people that
you're working with view the team as
that as a team and that they want ideas
and they want to make the product better
then and this is an opportunity to
really invest and really try to do
something fantastic and help push that
forward um the first part of the
question was I just wanted you to unpack
so everyone understands what he meant by
you don't want to be in the selling
business you want to be in the real make
sure that your product is great so um
this goes back to that whole notion of
so if you think yourself as a human as
the product like to be extraordinary
that's it that's the only path there is
nothing else if you want to do something
great you have to be great you have to
actually be able to out execute people
um think of it as how do you impress
somebody you impress Somebody by doing
something that they've never seen before
that's better than what they've seen um
that's just super important and when you
think about truly a product product then
it really the easiest way in a
hyperconnected hypersociability
they can get other people rallied around
that notion whether they love it or hate
it um the only winning marketing message
is an awesome product and I think people
have to be really really ask themselves
like what's the problem that we solve
and once you understand what's the
problem that we solve then you can get
really really good at solving that
problem but if you're not if you don't
have clarity about what that is like
you're just not going to do the right
things from a business perspective and
one thing that um I will really really
encourage people to do with impact
Theory don't just listen to what we say
watch what we're doing because there are
many things that we do it just doesn't
it wouldn't be interesting for you guys
if we were talking about it but some of
the things that we're doing behind the
scenes to get good at like there's a
real infrastructure play for us because
of this whole notion of if you're
crowdsourcing creative if you're trying
to make money for the creative artist
like what is it that you bring to the
table and that's one of the fundamental
pillars of how we're going to build
impact Theory um the studio bigger than
Disney in a modern context what does
that look like and it's one of the main
things is to empower the artist and I
think whatever Studio controls the love
of the artist is going to get the um
best product which is the creative
product and the way to do that is to
make sure artists have been financially
disempowered for a very long time and so
to create massive economic opportunities
for them what you have to do is get
really really good at the infrastructure
of monetizing merchandise so it's the
one thing that there actually there's
two things that an artist typically is
not good at they're not good at
marketing and they're not good at
merchandising because merchandising is
logistics and infrastructure so that's
one of the things that we're really
looking at getting good at so that we
can help them monetize that we
understand business well enough to solve
those problems for them so it's like
understanding that we get that we get
that that's our value proposition right
so people look at our social content
they think that's it but it's really
like we understand there's like this
underlying thing over here that's our
real business we've identified that we
talk obsessively about it and so
understanding what like what's your real
business your real business isn't your
marketing the cont content is our
marketing the content is not our
business our business is over here I
won't derail us on that but it's like
get good at this okay if you get good at
this if you're extraordinary over here
if you put an insane amount of time and
energy into this and I have another
thought I want to keep derailing but if
you get really good at this then then
like you really don't have to sell you
only have to make sure that people know
it exists like once this exists that
thing that you've built for people then
you've got something there you have it
make your product extraordinary whether
that's yourself or an actual product in
your business yes can I say one more
thing I'm just so interested in this
would you please read homo Deuce right
now I want to talk to you about it like
I I know you and I would have a lot of
fun talking about this book and like
maybe we even do a special episode or
something like this book has captured my
imagination in ways that I can't tell
you okay so here's what's fascinating
about this book I know this has nothing
to do with the episode we're going to
have to do a separate impact books on
this we're going to have to because okay
reading the book super random reading
the book it really shows me if you stop
and just think deeply about a topic it
will change the course of your life the
way that a rock can change the course of
a River's life like it
is when you see what he's doing like
this isn't um a researcher going in and
dissecting like this is the state of the
science this is a guy who's looking back
at the way Humanity acts Humanity okay
the human animal in a collective how
does it act what drives Its Behavior
what are all these things that cause
cultures and societies to move because
they do move and I thought this is
literally just him in like a bedroom
somewhere thinking about [ __ ] it is so
well articulated all the connections and
taking this fascinating macro view if
people start taking that macro View view
of like their own life what product
they're working on what they're trying
to accomplish which actually JP does an
amazing job of like that's when you get
really extraordinary and if you listen
to the way that he talks about business
at a macro level like to don't be in the
sales game being the reorder game the
way you need to treat your people like
all of that stuff it's him like
conceptualizing it at a macro level and
he's just thought long and really hard
and really deeply about how things
interconnect and the truth that
underlies things like you're in the
people business if you're in business
let me tell you right now the real game
you're playing is psychology period
that's it that's the game and until you
understand that and psychology of the
customer psychology of the employee
psychology of yourself getting control
of your own emotions that's the game
think deeply about [ __ ] think deeply
stop it reminds me of uh the nerd writer
episode which if you haven't seen it's
kind of a sleeper episode it's I didn't
listen to it for a while cuz I actually
wasn't there I think when we filmed that
and when I finally listened to it I
thought it was amazing and when he talks
about how to construct a worldview like
you have to create that foundation and
then that's what you use to test
everything incoming against and then you
pull pieces out and change it and keep
building it that's I mean clearly JP has
done that right he has his worldview and
you're right about the nerd writer his
mind is he has a beautiful mind yes no
two ways about it indeed uh we have an
awesome question here from Laura defrain
Laura defrain in the house as always by
the way welcome always in the comments
love that uh fantastic episode I'm
loving the growth mindset theme of
accepting failure as part of life that
is popping up in so many episodes how
can we Harden ourselves to failure
especially when it's visible to others
how do we maintain credibility while
failing and
learning take a Long View like this is
one of my mantras never ever ever ever
ever under any circumstance view you
view yourself through the lens of a
moment so if you think that today is the
part of your life that's after the equal
sign in a math equation like my past
plus yesterday equals today it's like
that just isn't it you are in the middle
of an equation you're in the middle of a
journey like H I actually hate that word
Journey it sounds so cheesy but you're
in the middle of something yeah and so
if you believe that you are the end
result and that like and I think this is
how people view their lives uh prior to
to say 1819 I was growing and making
mistakes and learning was okay and post
that I'm a product post that I'm done
I'm a finished good first of all let's
talk about the fact that the brain
doesn't even stop developing till you're
25 in my case maybe a little bit later
and that's when the real game begins and
then if we accept that we are adaptation
machines that myelination and Brain
Change Is Real the brain has a high
degree of plasticity like that the name
of the game is the evolution of the
person that that's happening through
experiences intellectually physically
and emotionally every every day then
it's like okay now I'm just the today's
failure is a learning opportunity I
don't care because here's the thing if
you're asking me how to get people to
stop from judging you you can't they're
going to judge you and they're everyone
who judges you is wasting their [ __ ]
time and on a long enough timeline you
will leave them behind because you're
not wasting time with that least of all
judging yourself so once you understand
awesome this failure is going to teach
me something I'm going to go beyond it
that by the way it is going to suck you
are going to feel like a fool you're
going to be horribly embarrassed when it
happens and your goal is just to get
beyond that as quickly as you can that's
why I tell people to focus on learning
to get control of your
emotions mind control is about
controlling your own mind why do I want
to be a Jedi so I can control my own
mind so that is the whole idea get
control of your emotions so that when
you fail and people are
laughing yes I remember I'll just give
you a perfect example of skateboarding
this is is back I had no game with women
zero was skateboarding in USC and I hit
a rock you ever seen what happens when a
skateboard hits a rock oh I felt what
happens when the skateboard hits a rock
skateboard stops dead in his [ __ ]
tracks you keep going yep and I
tumble and stop and I'm looking up and
of course two beautiful girls looking
down at me and they're laughing and I
thought I thought yeah yep here it is
and so I literally was just like hey
ladies and just I thought I'm not going
to waste time being embarrassed by this
like it just doesn't make sense it was
funny I bet from their perspective it is
legitimately hilarious what just
happened I'm not injured
so you just get up and keep going and it
like it's not fancier than that it's
just understanding that that moment
doesn't Define your life and then let's
make it a really extravagant failure
which I'm sure we have all had where
your family is worried about you they're
actually concerned I've had so many
panic calls from my poor mother who's
just convinced that you know I'm going a
and that the world is crumbling down
around me and it's like in those moments
you have to remind yourself this is a
I'm going to learn from this um B it's
I'm in the middle of something so I'll
just keep going I'll keep getting better
I trust in brain plasticity I trust in
my willingness to continue pushing and
learning yeah and if you believe that
failure will ultimately lead to success
which it will over time people may be
laughing at you you but then over time
they're going to just be impressed by
you cuz you're going to win or or they
may hate on you forever and that's why I
say be be motivated by Beauty and rage
and there's just no two ways about it
the people that want me to
fail what a gift yeah what a gift
because in the 20% of my time that I
allow myself to spend on the dark side I
I am so spurred by that because I will
not let them be right yeah and I love
knowing that while I'm struggling they
think W like that they've won that
they've got it but anyone who
underestimates my
resolve I will laugh hardest in the end
that's just the way that it is I only
spend 20% of my time there don't panic
but like dipping into that and being
like yeah please I need some doubters I
need some people who want me to fail
because in the moments where like the
positivity the beauty it's just for
whatever reason in that moment it's not
giving you that f that you need to push
through that's when I dip in and I'm
like oh that's right like those people
think I'm a fool those people want me to
fail and in those moments like yeah I'm
not going to let that happen you and
many of the guests we've had on the show
I feel like that's a light motif of
everyone who's been on here um I think
Lila Ali talks about that who's going to
be in the episode next week watch out
for that most definitely uh we got shout
outs from Vancouver and Cape Town Who
Going Global indeed what's up guys going
to need name Nam though uh
Chase going to need names I'd love to
personalize it but I'll just say to the
beautiful cities of Vancouver and Cape
Town what's up what's
happening interns in the house everybody
um all right we got a question from
Ibrahim ibraim what's up ibraim always
always nice to see you my friend he's a
he's a he's a gentleman great guy met
him yesterday why do you think other
businesses haven't been able to
replicate his unprecedented turnover
rate and can you talk about the turnover
rate pie l okay so the guy is lost and
this he's pretty careful to say at John
Paul Mitchell Systems I think it's
either John Paul I think it's John Paul
it must be because it was over like an
absurd like 30 years or something so um
I'm sure in maybe some of his other
businesses maybe where he's not involved
it may be worse but um at John Paul
Mitchell Systems they they've had
turnover of less than 70 people in 30 35
years that's crazy I I'm not mad enough
like I I just wow that is so impressive
it's so impressive so and how big is
John Paul Mitchell Systems um I think,
1500 no no I think it's less than that
so but let's several hundred several
hundred so over 35 years it that's just
nuts that means that people are
essentially working their entire career
there I mean that in today's age like
that's crazy so um I I will postulate
but because I do not have as good of a
ratio like honestly I have no [ __ ]
idea like so here's my gut instinct you
are working in a business that is even
kill growth so that cuz dude high growth
is stressful as [ __ ] and you're going to
like it's it's so like Topsy Turvy
um and you're just growing so rapidly so
he's got to have time to hire really
really well there can't ever be a time
where you're like a little unsure but
you hire somebody because you need
somebody okay I've made a lot of
mistakes there um you because the growth
isn't so crazy it's like people know
what to expect it's like a nice calm
work environment he really really cares
about people and he's able to put into
the systems of the company that and so
that was a hard lesson that I learned at
Quest is when you're grown
at any time you are what you write
down unless you're good at knowing how
to create systems that make people feel
cared for that let people know you
actually give a [ __ ] like it is so easy
right now I like to think for you guys
to know how much I actually care because
you're you're right next to me all day
so it's easy to see like my actions to
see how I treat you as people as much as
employees or teammates um when you get
bigger that gets really really hard so
becomes only what you write down and so
getting really good at that making sure
that your HR team is not the typical HR
team CU here's how people think of HR HR
is meant to protect the company from the
employee that is so dangerous like
fundamentally the the biggest piece of
advice that I will give anybody out
there starting a company HR should be
there to make sure that the employees
feel good that they feel that they they
have a path to fulfillment within the
company
fulfillment and that when you lead with
that from an H our perspective you've
really got a shot when you lead with I
don't want the company to be sued you
are [ __ ] I promise you like you're in
such danger because it makes people feel
like this and if the game we're playing
is psychology and you don't understand
how people get when they feel that
you're trying to keep them at arms
length there's nothing worse than trying
to go to HR for fulfillment or to help
you with a problem and it feels like
they're not on your side 100% it's the
worst feeling no question and like it
it's this really subtle thing that like
creeps oh man it it it is hard it is
hard that entire industry like they're
trained generation after generation that
their job is to protect the company so
you you get this super weird vibe where
it's like they present like hey I'm on
your side but it it's much like an
investor has a fiduciary responsibility
to give you advice that's good for your
you and your money
truly most not all most HR professionals
believe they have whatever the
equivalent of a fiduciary responsibility
is to the company it is not to the
employee and yet that's how they project
themselves so it becomes like the
employee feels like weird like you're
saying you really care about me but like
your actions and your policies don't
reflect that right and I am not saying
that's easy oh dear God have I made
mistakes in that Arena but it's like
looking back on my very embarrassing
going back to embarrassing mistakes and
how do you keep credibility you keep
trying like you try anything and
everything and that to me is a key and I
once had an employee um pulled me aside
and was like I just want you to know
like I can feel you like you're groping
but at least you're trying to find like
a solution to as the Behemoth is getting
bigger and bigger like how do we manage
all this so um intent matters and I
think JP has awesome intent I think that
guy's I think he's a good dude I think
he's just a good dude I think he wants
good things from people I think likes to
see other people be happy I don't think
he's ashamed of his success which some
people are he is not ashamed of his
success he wants even more success but
he wants to do amazing things for other
people he does profit sharing I think
that's a big deal um in fact I'm kneee
in contracts now for like how do we make
sure that's an ongoing thing here at
impact Theory so like that kind of stuff
is I think why he's had the obscenely
low turnover and then I'm sure he was
very very involved in the business and
in doing that he put into the DNA of the
company um that
like here is a truth humans are capable
of immense good and immense evil and the
group think will determine which way it
expresses itself so if you create a
group where it's okay to belittle rumor
ridicule judge um laugh at all of that
think of high school then it will be
completely acceptable if you create an
environment where that [ __ ] is not
tolerated that um money isn't
prioritized over people that um people
are treated like a part of the team and
like if that's really baked into the
culture then it's like you can remove JP
in this equation you could remove him
from the company but it's so a part of
the culture now that it's like well
people just aren't going to tolerate
that so they're going to make sure that
people are taking care of they're going
to make all those decisions and so then
that becomes self-perpetuating but if he
had come in and been Cutthroat and whip
people and all that then when you remove
yourself it's going to be you know 10x
Sinister yeah hearing him talk about
that reminded me of you know Simon s and
a lot of his theories and when he talked
about it on inside Quest he said that
successful companies um their leaders
are responsible for the people who are
responsible for the people who are then
in turn responsible for the customers
right and by creating a culture like
that you create trust um and people just
perform better over time and uh I just
felt like I I bet you know John Paul
Mitchell Systems is is a case study
would be a case study for s in kind of
analyzing those types of companies who
do it well do it successfully I think
you were right on the money all right we
got some names for our shout outs so
lean SME from Cape Town what's up Leanne
what is up Yanik Ethier from Vancouver
what's up Yanik that's a cool name yeah
uh I'm going to butcher this name but
it's uh a from Denmark do you think
there's a show in Denmark where they're
like God I'm going to butcher this
Jed yes but most of them speak English I
know so um they yeah so much one up on
us and then uh I feel like American
names have a lot less letters at least
that the English language ridiculous
there's only five letters here I'm just
butchering it that bad totally
butchering it um and then Tanja tun Tuna
from uh Tanja tuna you serious tuna I
think Tanja tuna I'm probably butchering
Tanja tuna that is one of the greatest
names I've ever heard in my life that's
like a poem tanuna it's really nice
sounding she says say that Chow from
tusky Italy Chow right back that is
Tanja tuna that's awesome Tuscan is a
beautiful place I was just there you
were indeed really nice and uh cnre from
uh Norway as well nice man we are we
really are Global today love it all
right uh just want to reminder everyone
we're on Facebook live doing after
impact the show where Tom and I go deep
into the episode of impact Theory and
yesterday's episode was John Paul Doria
um if you find this content valuable
please share it on Facebook with your
friends and family and let them know
about impact Theory because we are
trying to grow our community let's have
a question from Sha Delany I was a huge
fan of this episode it was little things
that JP did that showed how much he
cared about his employees it's
fascinating has been able to maintain
the low turnover rate again low turnover
question um and he said what do you
think has been able to sustain that we
already answered that question go but
hey definitely a um an interesting piece
of the the episode for people here's one
from Brandon when it comes to being
unique and standing out do you lean
towards being different by bringing
something entirely new to the table or
towards outdoing everyone at what
they're
doing if we're talking about building a
business is that the frame of the
question
it sounds more in personal so you guys
are you guys are odd I'll go I'll go
with both then let's answer it both ways
um so from a business perspective you
need to be solving a problem so find a
hole in the market and solve that
problem uh if there's not a hole in the
market to solve then I think we should
probably do something else um just
because it's going to be an uphill
battle so because people AR going to
want to buy it because there's already
Solutions out there um when it comes
from from a personal perspective dude
find out who you are and be more of that
um so you'll see that this show is
uniquely this in fact let let's talk
about what makes impact Theory impact
Theory um one I am an excitable person
and so I let my excitement shine through
that has a big impact on the guest that
usually allows them to let their guard
down because they can see like I'm dude
I want you to [ __ ] shine like I'm
super and like I was researching you and
I was freaking out like and that's why
we're so hardcore about who we bring
bring on because I want to be able to
get excited like that um I am super
worried about not delivering value like
that's a thing that I put on myself and
that fear of wanting to make sure that I
deliver value is one of the reasons that
I do as much research as I do I didn't
want to embarrass myself I didn't want
to come out like I one of the recurring
nightmares I had long before this show
came along long before the show came
along in fact there's only two recurring
nightmares I've ever had three uh one
where I was in this weird go-kart thing
no idea what that's about the other I'm
in a barn and this owl keeps swooping
down on me and as it swoops down on me I
become the owl looking at me no idea
what that one is recurring and then the
third one is um showing up for something
and they're like are you ready to go on
stage and I'm like what are you talking
about and I have no idea what I'm
supposed to do and I'm like woful
unprepared or I'm about to take a test
oh my God I haven't studied like not
being ready is like one of my like
fundamental phobias so that's why I just
prepare prepare prepare so you take all
those things that are uniquely you and
somewhere around episode 6 or seven of
inside Quest I realize I'm going to be
me if I find something amazing like I'm
going to just say [ __ ] that's amazing if
I'm like I don't understand at all what
you're saying I'm just GNA I don't I
don't understand that or if I don't know
the word I'm going be like can you
define that for me I was just like what
don't try to look cool like that was my
Mantra don't try to look cool because I
think I am woefully horrible at looking
cool ever in my life so by not trying to
look cool by acknowledging the things
are free me out by allowing myself to be
excited bringing guests on like
neuroscientists are just going to happen
like they're going to be on my show CU
I'm obsessed with Neuroscience so and at
the same time like I am moved by Art I'm
wildly moved by music and movies and
comic books and it's so it's like all
those things that are uniquely me coales
into that stuff and then with every
passing day this company becomes a
fingerprint of the founding team so
everyone 's bringing their unique
personalities and I think the company
would be fundamentally different if you
removed any one person um so be you be
more you every day don't be afraid to
acknowledge the truth of who you are and
what you find interesting and that's
that there you go I love it um I want to
get a chance to talk about the philanth
uh the philanthropy that John Paul does
and also just you guys got into a
discussion about um you know doing
working on social causes helping people
out versus entrepreneurship and I want
to know what you think about um working
on social causes or starting sort of a
foundation do you think that's a good
Proving Ground for entrepreneurship if
maybe you're not ready to start a
business no no I really don't I think
it's a beautiful thing and I think for
anybody that feels moved to do that um
it can be great my thing with that is
there's a reason markets exist and
people are saying that hey this thing is
valuable it's so valuable that I'm
willing to pay for it and that when you
remove that from the
equation it can't self- sustain and so
now you have to go out and beg for money
let's call it spade a spade so you have
to go out and beg for money so the
question is how do you address failures
of the market um which is xris's whole
thing it's one of the reasons that I got
involved with them but the thing that
I'm pushing them to do is guys it's not
enough to solve for the failure in the
marketplace
meaning um for whatever reason the way
that incentives work what people are
willing to pay for this like cleaning
the ocean it's one of the X
prices the market just isn't going to
get behind it so okay awesome I I agree
this is a problem that needs to be
solved so it's not going to be solved by
the market so now we're going to create
something that can deal with this but
what are the applications for that thing
that can become self-sustaining after
the fact so you use a prize model which
isn't the only model but you use a prize
model to get people in s vised to come
and solve this problem but then once you
have solved it you need to in my opinion
make a self-sustaining economic vehicle
out of the technology and so if you look
at a company like NASA they create
things all the time they're governmental
agencies so their game isn't necessarily
to monetized but what they'll do is
they'll say hey we made this thing right
like velcro I think came out of NASA and
uh a bunch of other stuff I I can't
remember all of it but they're they
actually give their patents they make
them available so that you can license
them and for very nominal um licensing
fees you can go build the next Empire
which by the way there are websites out
there I forget the names of them we
should really put a resources list
together because this is fascinating
actually considered this as a business
model all these research institutes that
make stuff they don't know what to do
with it so they make the patents
available so you go and the way that a
license works is you only pay it if you
sell something so hey if my velcro works
then I pay you whatever a penny for
everything that I sell so maybe your
profit is 30 cents on that you owe them
a penny you got2 9 cents of profit I
it's absolutely incredible and so
they're pumping out all this amazing
technology for other people to come
along and license it um how did I get on
to that uh we were talking about social
entrepreneurship yeah so it's not often
that I totally blank there are SOL
blanking so I think it all needs to come
back to something that's self-sustaining
so even if it's like a NASA velcro model
um you need things to keep going
otherwise you're just begging for money
and there are massive massive massive
inefficiency
in um that in the overhead and things to
so that your charitable donations a lot
of times like ungodly percentages of it
are eaten up um so I just come from the
bent of find a way to make it valuable
enough for people to pay for and I'm
very very grateful to be a part of an
organization like X pr