Welcome back to the show. My fellow extraordinary Americans.

For today’s guest, I have Phillip Lanos. Phillip is an entrepreneur, consultant, digital marketer, author, and podcaster. He was previously the host of Entrepreneur and Ink Magazine podcast and is also the author of a personal development book called Pushing Past the Norm, which is available on Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

He has done over 2000 podcast interviews with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and ventures capitalist. His expertise and personal branding and podcast consulting, which includes working with notable figures such as Cal Fussman and Emmy Moran, along with his ability to help marketing agencies solve their quality of talent issues in their ranks, solidify his position as a top-tier talent in the industry. He’s also involved with business organizations such as Entrepreneur Organization, which is a global network of elite entrepreneurs with 167 chapters worldwide. 

I’m really honored to have him on the show and I’m grateful that he’s chosen to come interview with us. Hey, Phillip, are you there? 

Yeah, yeah, I’m here. 

Hey Phillip. Thank you so much for coming to this show. I’m really honored to interview you. 

I’m really excited to be here, man. It’s been a long time coming.

Yeah, I know that you’re an entrepreneur, consultant, and podcaster, and you are part of digital marketing. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, your background, and how you got started? 

Should we? Are we talking? We want to go way back. 

The entire whole deal, yeah. 

OK, some important things to know about me. I’m one of 18 children, my older sister being my full sibling, and everyone else being a half-sibling. My father was an immigrant from Mexico. My mother was an American woman. My father got ALS. Full blown, which is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by the time I was eight years old. 

So, he wasn’t really able to care for me much and to make matters worse, he was we were really poor, you know, and my mom wasn’t around because she herself was a runaway and sort of fell into drugs. And you know, she tried. 

There were a few years later when I got a chance to get to know her when I was Like 12 or so from 11 I think up to 14 so like 4 years of my life. But I actually got to get to know her and. She tried really hard, you know, but she had her own problems as she was still dealing with the right, so all that to say that. The odds seem stacked against me.

I spent a lot of my childhood passing from home to home in a way where it was like that’s, you know, it’s another amount to feed. What are we going to do? It’s not our kid. That kind of thing. You know, I’m just watching all this happen. And somewhere around the age of 14, my mom herself told me. And she’s like, yeah, it seems like you just love that other side of your family more than you love our family. And I could hear the pain in her voice. I wasn’t old enough to understand what was going on yet, but she sent me and my older sister on a Greyhound bus, just from another state over back to California. Now I think we were in Texas, San Antonio at the time. 

It was there. That I came across a book called The Four Agreements. When I landed back in Los Angeles just by chance and I read it. And it wasn’t the four agreements per se that helped me sort of let go of some of this anguish and confusion and anger that I was feeling because I just didn’t know why this had to be the way it was. It’s not the worst story in the world, but it’s certainly an interesting story, and it was the kind of story I was using as an excuse to be angry or to hate myself or, you know, hate other people or just be upset. 

It’s not to say that I wasn’t ever… It’s not that I didn’t know how to smile. I just had anger that I knew I had to deal with it, and I just happened to come across this book and the four agreements. We’re interesting… You know and be impeccable with your words. Don’t assume don’t take anything personally, and always do your best. That’s fine. But it was In reading the book, I began to realize what they were talking about. The voice in our head tends to. Shower, guilt, blame, and relive bad experiences. I was like, yeah, I know that really well. And it was like, yeah, well, if you’re the voice inside your head. Who is the person that’s listening?

And at 14 literally rocked my world, I told myself, whoa, wait a minute. That’s true. And when I began to realize I was the one that was listening, it started this chain of events where I started to let go of some of these frustrations that some people use as a chip on their shoulder as they go out into the world. And it creates friction. You know it gets in the way of their goals. And I’m not saying I’m completely cured by it, you know, but it definitely helped me get by a lot better than I was before I was really self-destructive up until that point

That starts happening and that book leads to another book on how to win friends and influence people, so that creates the sort of the nucleus of my identity at that time, really impressionable at 14. And they say when you’re 14, you know, and the science shows that’s really where you start to develop the bulk of your personality. 

So, I had the opportunity to do that. I was pursuing music and these other things at that time. The core of my personality became that right, that level of self-awareness and then that ability to be dynamic when interacting with people. Thanks to Dale Carnegie’s book.

And so, from there, you know, I had trouble relating to kids in high school because suddenly I realized not everybody my age at that time was reading those things and taking them to heart and understanding them. They were more concerned with what outfits they were wearing, who liked whom, who was going to go to the dance with whom, and so to say that it was awkward in high school Is an understatement.

But because I liked music, you know, I was really good at rapping and singing. I went to singing competitions. I was at Telemundo and did a few other things. I try not. To tell people about it, because it’s not. It’s not who I am anymore, but I use that as a social crutch to help me interact with people because it was the only way they could relate to me, and to them. Given how much other, how many other things were on my mind, so high school doesn’t really go that well for me. I don’t have my parents at this time still like I’m already working at a pizza place at 14 and trying to earn my living and taking a bus from East Los Angeles all the way to West LA two hours over 2 hours back. Nobody was making me do this. 

But you know, it’s kind of like the responsible thing too. Do so. That’s what. I did and. It was during that time that I decided. I don’t know if I’m going to go to college. I tried applying and the college told me, hey, until you’re 24, you can’t file separately from your parents. And I asked them, how do I explain this? I don’t have my parent’s information. They’re not really available and they’re like, well, I don’t know what to tell you. You got to wait till you’re 24.

I’m like. OK, so I work. I take jobs, you know, I go into security guards’ jobs, retail coffee shops, background acting, you name it. I took so. I had like 20 jobs by the time I was 24, sometimes holding multiple jobs, and then I learned that doesn’t mean multiple streams of Income. And eventually, I did get a chance. I just decided I was going to pay for college. I was like, oh, I’m making enough money. I’ll do that. 

And this is just before things start going really interesting, right? I signed up for college. I take linguistic anthropology because I’m a language guy and I’m taking acting classes at college, theater, philosophy, and whatever. I kind of failed all the classes except the thing I was most interested in, which was acting and linguistic anthropology, I got straight A’s on all that. 

And I realized. Wow, I really am not good at School, you know, and I’m also paying for this. I have no interest in it. Right. So, I left that and started on a journey of trying to find a way to make things work. And this was still around. I was like 18, still at the time. My cousin tells me. Hey man, so my girl and I are going to move in together. So, you’re going to have to figure something else out. I’m like, oh, OK, would have been good to know instead of the last minute. 

So, I ended up just sleeping in my car for like 2 weeks till I got my next paycheck. And then I got an apartment and I’m like, OK. You know what, I never really gave the music a shot. Like all in. So, I gathered some friends. We started a rock band, you know, and I’m going all in. But I’m older than them. They had just come out of high school a year after. But I’m older than them in terms of what I was already thinking. Right. So, I had to struggle with the fact that they still wanted to go out and drink and, you know, hang out and party. 

And so, it became a thing where eventually their parents were like, hey, by the way, if you guys want to keep doing this Music thing. You’re either going to move out or you’re going to stay here and Go to college so that dream sunk in really fast. I tried it with another group of friends. Eventually, I just realized the people around me Were not there yet where I was mentally. And it’s not that I was better. That’s not what I’m saying at all. They just had other issues and other things. They were priorities as opposed to the dream of being music and the sacrifice it takes wasn’t going to work, right? 

So, I’m like, how am I going to do? I tried acting for a while and that doesn’t seem to pan out either. I can’t seem to go to get a good enough. Agent all the agents that I took on were kind of like, you know, I found them in, like, the Internet somewhere. And even though they were SAG franchise agents, which is important, they didn’t have a great reputation. 

So it’s either that or I just wasn’t good enough. I like to believe that I’m pretty articulate with the craft I studied it. I paid for singing lessons. Acting lessons. You know, I went all in because I said I don’t want failure. I don’t want my failure to be because of a lack of effort. But it just didn’t seem to pan out for me. It’s not what life wanted. I would go back to then. Cameras weren’t ubiquitous. They weren’t everywhere. You couldn’t just buy a camera. It was expensive. 

So, I went to go pay someone to help me make an audition tape and some kind of real. I could pass around and as I’m talking to him the way I’m to you now, he looks up from the camera and his name was. Neil Lahiri. And he goes, hey, man, why do you want to be an actor? I was like, what you mean is because I want to be an actor, man. You know it looks like fun. Probably helps solve a lot of my poverty problems. For my background, he’s like hey, but I feel like you have more to offer than being an actor. Man, I was like. Hmm, interesting. Well, I paid you. So, let’s finish this. 

And so, whatever you send me home with the CDs and I’m just thinking about that, you know, at the time I ended up landing a job at a jewelry store because the owner of the jewelry store was a mentor to my sister and her security guard had left. 

So, I became a security guard. And she sees me with all the Books that I’m reading. Thinking and growing rich, you know, there were a few other books I was reading at the time, probably not as popular. And she goes, you know, you’re always reading instead of being a security guard, how would you like to be the store manager? Like, what do you mean? I’m the youngest. I’m the only male and I don’t have a gemology degree. She’s like, don’t worry about that. You go with people you know, you get a nice smile, you’re polite and you’re educated. You know, I was like, OK, so I took that up. 

I’m doing that and I started realizing, you know, business. So, you know, making money. She sends me to the meetings at the mall and I’m starting to see ohh people with a lot of money act a lot differently, not just In terms of like you know how they carry themselves with some of the values if they come from money like generations after they also treat people who don’t come from money differently. And I mean, I already knew it, but it’s really ugly to see it in person, especially in jewelry stores, you know? 

So eventually her store had to close down because of this. The Grove, which was the name of the mall in Los Angeles, was really expensive to be in and the customers just weren’t coming in like they used to. So that closed up. And then I’m sitting there. Like, oh, what am I going to do? It felt just like when I was unemployed. I mean, when I was homeless before I got my apartment when I was living in my car. Except for this time, I was unemployed. I had some savings. 

I had to figure something out. The music thing isn’t working. The acting isn’t working. I can’t seem to get a job that lasts longer because it’s always with some Startup kind of thing, and corporations don’t want to hire me because I’ve had so many jobs and they wanted it. It’s always something I’m like, man, what’s going on here at school…work… everything? It’s just it. I don’t want to jinx myself, but it definitely felt like it was never easy for some reason. You know, I just wish it was easier, but it just isn’t the. 

So, I go to coffee shops every day and I’m applying and while this is happening, I get the news that my dad actually had been fighting like an ALS like Eric’s disease for like 20 years unheard of, but because he’s always a Mexican immigrant, science didn’t take an interest in him, they just kind of. You know, we just had like, like people who weren’t nurses looking after him, and he just kept fighting because he wanted to see his kids grow up. 

But eventually, it’s like a toll, and they didn’t even tell him my dad died. What happened was right. What happened is like 2015 at the time they tell me, hey, you need to come to see your dad. So, I show up and I’m like. What’s going on? And there’s a sheet over my dad’s face and I’m not told anything. I’m like, hey, Dad, what’s going? I’m like, whoa. That’s how I find out my dad died. 

And I’m. Like, oh God, OK. You know, I’m like, all right. So now I have to deal with this. I don’t have time to sit there and process it, cause as far as they’re concerned, they’re like, well, it is what it is. You know, it really sucks, you know, and this is like, my stepmom. But you could tell after 20 years of looking after him that she didn’t have her own life because she tried to look after him and that he was a lady that he was with not my actual mom, but you know. I call, I’ll call her mom because it’s the right thing to do, you know, and I and I have two half-brothers and sisters with her. You could tell she was in her own pain, you know, and she’s done enough. 

So, I’m like, all right, I can’t take any of this personally. I was like, OK, start calling, I get that taken care of. I learned all about how even though I’m the one reporting it, I’m still up for investigation. Like, what do you mean? This guy died, right? Are you sure? We need to find out. It’s not like you killed him or there’s some, like. OK, you know? And so, yeah, that’s just how it goes. They’re like, you’re the one they’re like.

That is, that is wow. 

You’re reporting it. So, you know, we got to get the coroner there and found out it wasn’t something I was like… Look at my dad’s body. You’ll see that he’s decayed over time. You know, it’s called atrophy. It comes from the body. It’s. You know, you’ll look it up. You’ll see it. 

So, I’m dealing with that eventually. They have me on hold like they have me waiting on location even though they took the body already. Until the coroner shows up to ask me questions, the corner number never shows up. 

So, I’m like, OK, so I waited for nothing. Now that they take the body. And now I got to cause they’re like doing whatever biopsy or Whatever autopsy. It’s called. Now I have got to go with my stepmom to figure out what we’re going to do. We’re going to bury him. It was $20,000. OK, I don’t have that. What are the options? You can cremate them. That’s three thousand. 

OK, even I don’t have that at the time. Right. I just. I just don’t. And none of my dad’s brothers, you know, they all just. Pray to God that one-day things would get better. One day he’ll be healed, and nobody really saved any money, you know. 

And so, it turns to a thing where I have to go to a go fund me, you know? And it was embarrassing, but it helped. It did, you know.

And then later a bunch of the neighbors and everyone who’s ever known my dad when he was. Healthy shows up and they all donate a couple of dollars too. And then there’s like this. I’m not traditionally religious or anything, nor do I have anything against it. But suddenly they’re like we have to pray for seven days, and I don’t know why and I’m just doing my best to, like, be polite and engage in everyone’s need to heal and how they do it before I process my own grief.

And then we secure the church, right? We secure the money necessary for the cremation. We do the viewing and then that’s when I find out the church is like, OK, well, your hours are up. I don’t care. You guys got to clean up here like it’s like, very like next. Next dead body. Know it’s like I was like, wow, everything’s business. You. You know, then my aunts and uncles are like, hey, Phillip, you tell him, you know, we haven’t even got a chance to see him. 

Like, hey, at this point. Honestly, I think I’ve done my job here. You guys can handle the rest, you know? And that’s what it was. And it may not have been the nicest thing, but I needed my own space and time. So now I’m trying to figure out what to do with my life. I’m like, I guess I don’t have any more problems other than money because that was really my only weight on my shoulder. 

And so, I’m like driving. I’m like, you know, I’m going to try doing kids’ parties with DJs, cause the lady who ran the jewelry store was like, hey, I’ve got a lot of moms that, you know, I have my own kid now. Maybe I’ll introduce you to them and you can start deejaying for their parties. 

So, I tried it out. I bought some equipment, and it was going fine. I mean, turns out moms can. Being pretty strong-willed is, I think, the nicest way to say it when they’re running their kids. Parties and want things in exactly a certain way. And I just realized I don’t know if this is for me specifically. I mean you. Now being like hey, kids. You know, that’s fun and I could do that all day, you know, whatever. But there’s just something about the dynamics I wasn’t a fan of, and also, I was just a DJ to them, and I was like, I don’t like that feeling. I mean, I might as well work anywhere else and deal with that and not have to also be awesome the entire time I’m there. 

So, I’m walking away from that, and I remember parking my car and I’m like, all right, maybe I should take a second to really think. About what just happened in my life? And so, you know, I meditate and fall asleep in my meditation. And when I wake up, I’m like I go get something to eat. I went outside and my car was stolen, and I hadn’t taken my equipment out of there. So, I was like ohhhhhh man, what’s going on? 

The car got stolen. 

Yeah, it was just the neighborhood I was in. So, I was like, all right. Got to stay positive. You know, I borrowed from my cousin. 

It’s just it was just. 

Like 1 bad thing after another. 

Yeah. Yeah. So, I borrowed my cousin’s bicycle and I’m using it. I took it to a cafe. I’m going to deal with, you know, some work on the laptop. Figure something out outside of the house and then when I come back out from when I’m done, someone steals the bicycle that I had. I had it chained Up, but someone stole it. I was like, wow. And just after that, the next day, I’m like, you know, I’m like, wow, I could really use some good news. Someone I was making music with, still trying to keep things running, hits me with news like, hey man, you know, like, I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell you, man. I got a kid. I got to do things more seriously. It seems like you’re just having fun with music and you’re not serious about it. I was like,

OK, I just put my name down on the lease for a music studio. All right, I guess that’s not serious enough for you. And he’s like, yeah, he starts avoiding me. I’m like, all right, I can’t take any more of this. Right, so I’m like, here’s the key to you know, I want the keys for me. Here’s your key. We’re going to. I just want to walk away from all this. I’m going to wait until this lease breaks and then I’m going to go. You know, but I don’t want anyone to come into the studio. What I didn’t know is he had made copies and given them to like his friends and his cousins. And they started coming in, you know, and at that point, I was already on my way out. I was thinking of leaving LA. 

So, I already broke my lease with my apartment. I was like, I’ll stay in the office that way. I lower my cost since now I’m the only one paying. It didn’t work out because then people started coming in while I’m trying to sleep and I was like, oh ****, excuse my language, you know. And I’m like, oh man, this is really, this is not looking good for me. 

So, I got a call from my cousin shortly somewhere around that time and he tells Me. Hey, man. I just moved to New York. And I, you know, I know you know that I’ve been out here for a while and my girl’s going to go back to Russia for a bit to visit her family for like 3 months. We Have that extra room if you want. To get away, I heard all the News you can come out here. Man, I was like dude, I’m so down. I’ll no, no, no to New York. 

New York. 

He was in New York. His girl decided to go to Russia, right? I’m like, dude, I’m down. You know, I’ve never even left LA. I don’t even want a passport. I was like, but I need to get the hell out of here, you know, I’ll get a job right away. I’ll pay the rent. He’s like, hey, dude. Just, just, just. Just get over here, right? 

So, I showed up and as I promised right away. I go down to this office called Central Casting. It’s background acting. You’re just the person with the backpack walking across the high school scene in a movie or something. Do you know what I mean? But it Paid money, right? 

So, I’m sitting there and I’m just looking around. I’m like, there’s no way I’m going to be able to afford to live in this city doing this work, this job. So, I look around and I see all the advertisements. And I realize there’s money in ads. These companies have money they got To have money to hire people. So, I do a little bit of reading on general practices of marketing, digital marketing, SEO, you know. 

And so, I learned the vernacular like any good actor does and I just started applying. And I had my experience as a store manager on top of that so when I go in for a couple of interviews for internships, one of those interviews starts with a job. They’re like, hey, forget the internship. Let’s get you a job and I get, and I get that call while I’m on set for orange is the new black is like the person crossing the street or whatever. And I’m like, I’m so down. 

That really begins the education of, like, where all my digital marketing and understanding of everything works with the company, Ajax Union CEO at the time was Joe Applebaum. Still is and you know it’s because of him a lot of like what I started to become took place. You know I’m there. I’m learning. I’m watching what he’s doing. I’m watching what the company is doing. There were a few changes in leadership, but overall, those people were like family to me at that point because they really took care of me. You know, they took an interest in my life story. What I was doing. They made sure I was OK.

And then eventually, when they offered me a promotion that was really hard to pass up, I had already in my heart been like if I could do this for this company, I could probably do this for myself, self-employed. And so, I’m honest about things like that. And I told him that. And he Was like ah all right. And this is like, you know, 3-4 years later I’m trying to save us the time here. And he’s like, oh, that. Really sucks, man. We, you know, we have a lot of hope for you, I was Like I know, but if I’m being honest. This is what’s in my heart. It’s all right man, if you feel like going out on your own, let me know how I can help. I appreciate you letting me know. will you help us just make the transition? of course. Make the transition and I get the crazy idea that I’m not just going to stop working there, but I’m going to move back to Los Angeles. Right, no plan, just the same way I moved to New York. I’m moving and like it was way more affordable in Los Angeles anyways. 

It’s not easy to just move from one city to another. I mean, I know I’ve. Done it myself, but yeah. 

That’s because I’m not smart, that’s why so. 

You’re pretty smart. 

So, I showed up and you know, I inconvenienced another cousin of mine as little as I possibly could. I told him, hey, I just need to find an apartment. Again, right. And I didn’t want to stay there much longer than I had to, and I couldn’t find an apartment I could afford. So, I ended up getting an office somewhere downtown in a really bad area in the jewelry district, and I was just living in like. Like a box with no windows and an office supposed to be an office. But you know, I got the gift of gab. 

So I went in. There was a bathroom down the hall, but it was like it smelled like straight hookah everywhere. It wasn’t clean. I would never take anyone there, right? And I had a lot of respect for the Jewelers. So, I was like, whatever, man, I was like, it is what it is. I’m paying my dues. I’m starting a business or whatever. I showered at the gym, down the street, and then I got a coworking space and I got a call from Joe. And he’s like, hey, man, how’s it going? I’m like, not good. Yeah, that’s. I mean. It’s not going to be easy, man. Otherwise, everybody would be doing it, I said. Yeah, but like, what do I do, man? I can’t seem to get customers. He’s like I’m going to make some introductions for you, and you’re going to get these calls terribly wrong. 

But I want you to know why you got them wrong. As you try to pursue the act of convincing them to give you money for your services, right and so sure enough, I got it wrong. I did a lot of like back and forth role-play with him on the phone as well like what a customer would say yes or no to and he didn’t take it. Easy on me but. It was all well worth it because eventually, I was talking to CEO. He’s like, all right, now you’re ready. 

So, he makes 1 introduction to a couple of people. At the Entrepreneur organization telling them I’m going to help them launch their podcast. And I didn’t know it at the time, but they were like all. I can, you know, he’s an upstart. I’ll give him some money, you know? Definitely cheaper than I would pay for a whole agency to take care of me. But he could use the experience. I could use the cheap labor and yeah, it’s an entrepreneur world that he, he’ll learn a lot from this. 

So, I’m doing that, but I do it so well, they introduce me to more people with their global chapters. And so then what ends up happening is that once I get introduced to the global chapters, they start telling me about their ambitions to like a higher quality production of things. 

And I’m like, OK, so you want it like how I built this by NPR, but you they put out one episode a month, and it’s highly produced. You record, like multiple episodes, and put out multiple episodes a week. Unless you have the production budget for it, it’s not going well. But you can do it right. Even though I had done a lot of episodes for them already, and even helped them launch their podcast in Mexico, helping them with edits. 

But at the end of the day, they had a vision that didn’t match their budget, and at some point, I couldn’t. Keep a sustainable living doing what they were doing for what they were paying me, doing what I was doing for them, for what they were paying me. Great people, they just had their own hands tied, right? And I’m still in touch with many of them. It just didn’t make sense, you know, but a great organization. I mean, you need to have like, $1.2 million in annual revenue. Alone to be able to join the group. It’s a great group of entrepreneurs, very, very similar to some of the organizations that with what the organization I met you through right bellwether very similar in its structure. 

So, you have to earn like 100,000. Per month to be part of this organization. 

And that’s because, you know, there’s a lot of benefits to being part of the organization and you don’t want someone in there who’s like all they’re doing is trying to sell you and ask you like to help them. And unfortunately, it’s just the way the world works there, right? And they have a certain quality to that of the organization they were trying to run. 

Again, I took nothing personally and I knew why they were using me, you know? Like, just like I was using them to build experience. You know, so I got lucky. It was a good show, you know, and I learned a lot from that. And I met a lot of people through that, and I had work to show, to move forward, you know, from there I started launching websites et cetera. I was doing gigs at wholesale as if you will. 

And somewhere along the way there I got in contact with someone on Twitter letting them know that they were like, hey, I’m looking for A podcast host. I’m like, I do that I usually only do the editing or whatever, but I could do that and so I respond to this. On every social platform possible, just in case he missed my message and he’s like,

OK, I got you, man. He jumps on a call and he’s like, there were like two other people. I was going to talk to you. But I get a good feeling about you, man. This guy’s name is Andrew Metal. And so, he brings me on to the show that he has on Entrepreneur magazine, which is called Action and Ambition. And this show is awesome, man. I mean, I’m talking to, I’m talking to really successful entrepreneurs. Like beyond, like just because you make 1.2 million doesn’t necessarily mean you also have the clout that comes with being successful. Like there are plenty of people who make a lot of money, and nobody knows who they are, right? 

But these people had some clout, and they were in the magazine. I was meeting at a PR agency. Fees and eventually people started asking for specifically me to interview them instead of him or anybody else who might be doing it, and then the PR agents wanted to sit in on my calls. And I was like, oh, we don’t usually let people sit in and they’re like, no, I mean, I hope you don’t mind. I’ll turn off my camera on my mic. I started realizing I’m doing something different. I don’t know what it is. But I’m doing something different. 

And everyone walks away. Wow, it is the best interview I ever had. I’m like, really, you know, you. Do you mean that? No, seriously, you also helped me really understand how I’ve been on a couple of other shows where I show up. And it’s like there are specific questions are going to ask and then if I answer something that they were going to ask like ohh. You answered the question I was going to ask. And can we just start? Over, you know, like really. Awkward feeling on the show. 

It Wasn’t intuitive, it was like being on the floor and kind of like that, right?

And so, I was like, OK, I started paying attention and I start. Talking to the PR agencies about like, hey, why don’t I work with you to onboard your clients? So, when they show up on a podcast like Entrepreneur magazine? They’re not ill-prepared and they can just come out the gate looking awesome and sounding awesome. 

OK, so I started doing that deal. And then Andrew Meadows, like, hey man, we got an opportunity with Ink magazine. I want you to launch the podcast here. I’m like sure, and my agreement with him, you know, is it was a handshake. So, it wasn’t like it was written down or anything. At that point, I Find a number of episodes and I helped launch this one. We did like 20 episodes for the show. My face wasn’t on anything, and my name wasn’t on. 

So, it was like he was the one that did all the interviews, you know? And that’s my own fault for not, like, getting a better contract, but basically. You know what ended up happening was Ink Magazine had a change of CEO just as the show launched. And when they saw that, like the person doing the interviews, isn’t the person who’s on the thing on the, you know, on the cover art and the one that’s saying is hosting the show. What’s going on? That sort of causes all kinds of problems for him. And you know. 

We should have given you the Credit. I mean, come on. 

But some, it’s not like he didn’t, but he also. He’s like it just kind of just omitted that. Right. So, but it is what it is, it’s OK because you know he paid me money. So, whatever, you know, not a lot of money. But he paid me money and my expectation was that I was going. We would have conversations about how my name would be on the articles when they’re published, or this or that. I can’t. I don’t take any offense to it. I have to learn that when it comes to business and for anybody listening who’s an upstart, you have to be able to set your conditions as early as possible and not do any work until those conditions have been met, and that’s something that I’ve it’s a bad habit of mine. 

You know, my heart goes out. I’d like also I’m trusting and I’m like, yeah, we’ll get it started and I’ll go all in. I’ll need to find it later. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we’ll do the thing. So always have your conditions in place. That’s what happens when you’re naive and inexperienced. You know it is what it is. What are you going to do? You know, in business? In capitalism, if you can get the better side of a deal, you should. I’m not saying. 

I never did it, but. 

It’s not saying it’s right. It’s not saying it’s right. 

But in circles. That we run in like there’s this. There’s an honor thing, you know. Like just because you can just. 

Sure, sure. 

Cause you can do something that doesn’t mean. That you should. So, like, yeah, just because it wasn’t written in the contract doesn’t mean that that person could have like had like some sort of Fair. 

I mean, I think for them it was like, well, you know, you’re expanding your network. I’m paying you some money, you know, and you’re doing something for fun like you’re hosting. I can imagine the story went something like that and it wasn’t malicious. It is just what it is. That’s what I should do. I should have struck a better deal. But I did expand my network, you know, and even. And everyone knew that it was me that interviewed them. You know, at least those companies and those people that I interviewed. 

So it’s not Like I lost anything. You know it’s how you look at it. Could it have been nice SEO and branding for me to actually have my name on all those things? But I’m also not crying about it, you know, like eventually he got a bunch of other hosts like 6 more, and great… Good for him. You know, he’s an entrepreneur. He’s building other things. And he’s delegating his labor, you know. And he can do that. He’s got it like that. 

So, I’m not mad at that. And I’m very grateful for the opportunity to take you. Know I really am. And it’s it. It took me to the next level. And with that, I started working with the PR agencies really closely. And working with their people. And this is around the time when I had met Jason on the on-process Jason Miller was part of Bellwether here to do some podcasting. He was in Entrepreneur magazine. I interviewed him and then he reached out to me and was like, hey man. Can I interview you on my show? I was like, oh, you have a show. He did 36 episodes in like, 2 weeks just to, like, have a history to show that he was serious I was. Like, damn, you execute. He’s like, oh, yeah. I do that and 

So, he interviews me and then at the end of the interview, he’s like, so I kind of only started this show because I was hoping you’d do the show with me. I was like, really, it’s like, yeah, man, why not? What do you get to lose? And, you know, I started telling my story. He’s like, we’re going to make something happen, man. Little did I know he was part of Bellwether and this and that, you know. And uh, good man, good man. 

He kept his promise in nine months, we built this strategic Advisor Board podcast to like 140,000 downloads per episode. But we were doing like 10 episodes, like a day like, it was insane. At some point we were like, we couldn’t keep doing this. We started getting other people to be hosts of the same very similar model, you know, eventually, I had some help. 

Phillip 10 episode the date is. I don’t know how you I. Don’t know how you’re doing, man. That is. That is an insane work ethic. 

Practice. Practice.

I know I’m a podcaster. And I’m doing like I’m doing a once-weekly show. But ten episodes a day? Wow, that’s. 

So, it was. It was intense, to say the least, man. But again, this is all like the condensed version. I’m trying to be mindful and respectful of the experience here, but I learned a lot through this process, you know, and there are a lot of moments that I left out, but there were a lot of moments of doubt, fear and, there still are, you know, and it’s human to feel that way. But I’m also seeing things for the first time in a different light about Some of the mistakes I made in business, and I feel like someone smarter would have learned sooner. You know how to set conditions in a certain way, certain boundaries and someone who has more business and acts probably would have made more money doing what I was doing with the opportunities that I had. 

But one thing is for sure. Being able to tell the story this way, having the moments and the feelings that I had, I think that that’s the experience uniquely out of myself and my own naivete. Right. It’s only because I experienced it the way that I did that I could tell the story the way that I did and that I wanted. I want the listener to know, like, you have to take exactly what happened to you. Learn what of it is valuable, right? Because I could have told you all the little things that happened in between. But that’s not valuable. There’s no thread there. You’re not going to take anything from it, right?

And so, I want you because I do personal branding and things of that nature. I want you as a business owner or entrepreneur or whatever, if you’re listening, or even you as the host. To really take stock, take the time to narrate what you’ve gone through, and then pick out the biggest moments, the most consequential moments and find out that thread leads to the work that you do today. 

And that’s your first version. Of your story that you tell on a show and it’s going to be compelling because you don’t have to lie. You’re not making something up, it’s just your story. All I did was tell my story. I wasn’t dropping insightful knowledge of this or that, but because experience breeds insight. All you have to do is share your genuine experience and we’ll be able to learn from that as the most valuable thing someone can do is open up their heart and mind their soul and share it with you. 

And so, if you can do the same, you can impact people the way you’re possibly feeling. Now you know. 

No, totally I think that everything is ultimately a story like a human experience, right? We’re all going through our own individual stories and ultimately, it’s all coming down to, everything having an ultimate beginning and an ultimate end. But we’re ultimately going on our own journey, learning our own lessons, and that is ultimately what life is about. We think that it’s all about status, fame, making money, there’s that. No, but it’s the, it’s the journey that ultimately is the real story. That’s where we get all our lessons and like, know more about ourselves.

 So that’s at least my perspective on it. 

Absolutely, I agree.

That yeah. But like you, you interviewed, like, more than 2000, entrepreneurs that they like. What is the common pattern that you saw amongst all of them, like the common story or theme that you noticed in all of these interviews that you did?

So one thing that I learned really clearly as I started paying attention to that was that a good leader, a good CEO, a good entrepreneur, Is capable of a couple of things. 

In particular, they’re transparent in how they come to decisions and what. What do I mean by that? They’re able to earn the trust of their team. When I hear that, I think back to the stories of companies that really got their team to do incredible things. It was because they were able to explain the thinking behind why they would make decisions as a leader of the company.

so, if they were to let someone go, they would actually address what the whole team, hey, look. Regardless of what my lawyers are telling me, I want to have some transparency and let you guys know we’re thinking of this as a reason. It’s not a mystery that this, but this person already knows. We already spoke with them, but we’re thinking of doing this. I personally want to hear from you if there’s anything I’m overlooking. That would change that decision. Do you feel like this is not a good decision, right? 

And you have got to be careful with that because your lawyers won’t let you do that. But this with. The CEO found. A way these CEOs found a way to communicate not exactly those words, but to communicate in that way so that their team was always on the same page, right that there was a level of clarity between communication, whether it was establishing a new cultural norm in the office. It’s like, look, I want the office to feel more like this because and actually sharing that because not… Ladies and gents, today we’re changing it to this and all right. See you tomorrow. Right. 

That’s different. That’s a different style of leadership. And it’s important to be able to… That’s the best example. It’s not the only example, but that’s the best example of how important it is to be able to communicate the thinking behind your decision-making as a leader, right? 

The other is all of them had said that the best decision they ever made in business was the partner they chose. So, who would you choose to spend? Not even just like your actual business partner, but like your life partner, right? That makes a big difference in the way you are able to interact with your own business, cause if you have the wrong partner there like why you always spend so much time away or you name it, you can insert X complaint. It’s there. Right, as opposed to someone who understands and goes; Yes, I understand or maybe am also a businessperson and can enhance the process the thinking, the advantage point, and the insight. So that was the other thing that they said, right?

Another one that they added was that also at the same. Token those entrepreneurs, and CEOs made it. And non-negotiable that they took care of that relationship with their life partner beyond just like, oh, we have kids. And so, we’re partners. No, they made sure to nurture that relationship and kept the flame alive. And that was important for a number of reasons. Obviously, if there’s trouble at home, there’s trouble in business. Just like if your employee is having trouble at home. There’s trouble at work, right? 

And so, it’s an entrepreneur. These leaders, these successful ones, have a really holistic view of how their life integrates. It’s impossible for them to be like businesses, business personals, or personal. The really good ones have a way of doing all that Work together.

It’s all holistic. It’s interesting you say that because I’ve had a lot of people say you can never mix business with your home or mix business pleasure. It’s all you compartmentalize it. But here you’re saying that it’s holistic. 

So, I mean, you don’t want to have Problems that are irrelevant to the House home, right, like you can’t like. Oh, I had a bad Day at Work, so I’m goanna. That’s obvious. You know that and no one needs to hear a lecture on that. It’s not necessarily compartmentalizing. It’s just knowing that it’s not your Family’s fault, you. Know it’s not your partner’s fault, right? That’s different. 

There’s a company Wistia that I just saw an article out on LinkedIn about 2 days ago. Basically, what they did with their culture. Because, you know, the pandemic made everything remote. They set up this thing called coffee with the founders and every two weeks it rotates a number of like 20 of their employees. Pretty big company. And they just Randomly show up on a Zoom call. And start talking to just having coffee. No agenda, promise. No agenda, no ulterior motive. Just getting to know some of the team because it’s such a big company. You know the company you start with 10 people with isn’t the same team that you’re going to have when you hit 100 employees. It’s just not. That’s just the way things go, right?

Their whole thinking behind that and they’re explaining this right on LinkedIn and other videos that they’re doing is people complained that when work went remote. There was no more opportunity for the serendipitous water cooler running into and having an amazing chat with someone and getting to know someone new in the company they said you can still have that, but you have to be intentional. 

So, you see how they’re explaining the thinking you have to intend to randomly meet someone at your company, so they set up a system and a process for that. Right. 

But again, it’s a fact that they can even communicate. That is transparent. That is what makes them good leaders, because now you’re like, oh, Wistia I’m going to look them up. They sound like an interesting company. What an interesting culture that They have, right? 

So, if you want your team to feel the same way about your own company, have that level of transparency, and let them in on why you’re thinking what you’re thinking and doing what you’re doing. Sure, there are things that are not relevant to the graphic designer. That is relevant to only the C-Suite, but wherever it is relevant, wherever it can be made relevant, you should seek to close that gap, that distance between you and them so that they have just as much a reason to protect the company as you do.

That is very interesting. You say that actually like the next question I wanted to ask you, but which is connected to this question and it’s about like you interviewed all these people, they’re telling you these things, but it’s also combined with your own story about like you being an immigrant, your dad being an immigrant. And then you also being an entrepreneur. 

You know, the American identity is based on Immigration and entrepreneurship is also about the self-actualization of a self-transformation process. For Americans in general. what is your Perspective? After interviewing all these 2000 people and also your own life as somebody that went through hardships on how Americans can basically attain their identity as Americans being immigrants and entrepreneurs, and also realize the American dream. 

Well, the good news is that being American is not a qualifier for being an awesome entrepreneur, right? So that’s the good news. After having interviewed over 2,500 people from all parts of the world, I mean there are places I wish I could go visit. Whether it’s Bali, you know, somewhere in Australia, you know, somewhere in London. You know plenty of people in the States, of course Here in America, people in Mexico believe it or not, Chile, you know, you can name any part of the world. You know, there are even people out in, like we’re talking Portugal or people in Poland, whatever it is, no matter where it was, all of them Had the same thing. They had a vision, right? They had a drive they wanted to achieve something, and they were willing to do whatever it took to get it. 

Obviously, these are basics, but also most importantly their vision was compelling enough for them to commit to it for 10 years. Right. Wow, now often people will sit here and look. I need this advice as much as anybody else. I’m not by any stretch of the imagination successful, but I’ve talked to a lot of successful people, and I can tell you this much. The ones that really did change the game for themselves, especially coming from somewhere else and coming to America and achieving that American dream. They knew that they were going to commit to this for like 10 years. There was a guy and, you know, pardon me for 

Most people, most people don’t commit for 10 months. Forget about 10 years.

Exactly, exactly. But that’s, but that’s what it takes, right? Because the person who does have the commitment for those ten years because they chose right, they were like, this is exactly what I want from me, right? That person has a competitive advantage because they’re not going to get tired. They already know it’s. A10 year game. Other people were. Like I made six calls, and you know one of them didn’t. Yeah, it’s not working. I don’t know. And then you just drop the ball and go. Somewhere else, like I’m like. 

So, what are you saying? What are you saying? Is it that they have to have a marathon mentality versus a Sprint mentality? Like they got to. They got to see it as a long-distance race versus like 100-meter Sprint or something like that. 

And it’s the, it’s just the unfortunate truth and you might get lucky and blow up, right? But don’t bet on that. It’s like I always err on the side of caution in the sense that I never believe I’m the exception to any rule. Often people tell me about Phillip. You’re an exceptional person, I say that’s nice, but I’m just getting lucky. You know. I mean to be quite honest with you, I am definitely not the exception to the rule. No matter what you tell me, I err on that side, but I’m also ready and willing to do whatever I got to take and go deeper into things right now. 

Don’t get me wrong, just like anybody else, and especially me, I’m very impatient. So that kind of advice and that kind of knowledge sitting in my head drives Me crazy if I’m not 10 years. I’m like, I’m going to try this for six months, and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work right. I’ve been there. I’m that person. 

OK, so I need that advice just as much as any. Right, but that’s, that’s what somebody who has that it’s a competitive advantage. They know that they’re going to be here for the long haul 10 years at least. And if you can’t see yourself doing this for 10 years then pick something that you will. Right. And that’s what I saw. 

Well, I’ve just got to be honest. Most people don’t even see each other for a month. 

I know. 

Forget about 10 years but yeah. 

It’s especially hard when you don’t have money to come in to see anything beyond the day. I get that. I do. 

So, a compelling vision with a 10-year, compelling vision combined with the stamina to get it done, and humility from what you’re telling me because. You just said … 

100% humility, and let’s define that right. It’s not like ohh, is there anything else I can do for you? It’s not that kind of humility, being humble and no, it’s OK. There are some keys on my keyboard I’ve never used. I don’t even know what they do. 

Flip the rock over and see what happens. See what it does. Have the humility to know that you don’t know what that is and go out there and figure it out. That’s the kind of humility I’m talking about. Active humility, yeah. 

The irony is, Phillip, its common sense, but a lot of people don’t apply that like, that’s what it takes to succeed. You have to try things out. Have to its kind. Of like a. Feedback loop, right? And then you have got to go ahead and continue doing it. But for most people, their ego gets hurt if they get through rejection or they fail the first time. It’s just these basics that lead to success, but they don’t… They’re not stressed enough, to be honest.

Well, it’s because it’s way easier to complain than it is to get results, right? So, there’s a book called, Change your questions, change your life by Merrilee Adams and you know the book is a great book. I think one of the most important things I got from it, though, and it doesn’t say it specifically, but if you if you’re asking a. The question like why is this happening to me? How come this never works? Whatever answer you get from that question, is it going to be useful to you? Likely not… right, 

But if you ask really productive questions like OK, well, what do I want? Well, I want this business to work. OK, what are you willing to do about it? The same thing could be said about relationships. Oh my. Why is my reality? Why is my partner acting like this? Why do they do this to me? OK, even if you got the answer to that, how is that going to do anything for you? It’s not. That’s a useless question, right? Forgive the quality of my tone, but that’s what It is so. What would be a more useful question? 

OK, well, what do I want from this relationship? I want it to work out. What are you willing to do about it? I’m willing to have an awkward, uncomfortable conversation about my needs. And my boundaries. Do you see what I’m saying? But I’m also going to be willing to understand their needs and their boundaries and see if. We can actually make this thing work so. 

What do you want? What are you willing to do for it? Sometimes it helps to ask other users questions, like who is this for? What is this for?

But the point is you’re either actively accepting something, actively rejecting something, or actively confused, and if you find that you are confused, ask a relevant question. And if you don’t know what question is relevant, ask a bunch of questions until you see one that you can actually do something with.

No, I mean. Yeah, he’s asking questions. To help you get to that point where you can make that change. Right. But Phillip, I know you wrote this book called pushing past the Norm and it’s a self-development book and we’re talking about self-development. Like, can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about the premise of that book and what it’s about?

This book was totally a bucket list item, right? Like, my whole life, everyone. It’s ironic because I have a lot of my own problems, you know, and by no means am I successful, at least in my own opinion. A lot of people always come to me for advice, and I tend to give better advice to others than I do myself, and it’s a curse.

I mean, a lot of people are saying a lot of people say that when it comes to others. They’ll give advice like they give advice, but… 

Right… And I’m lucky enough that people actually trust me enough to share their problems with me, and they actually appreciate and act on some of the things that I said. So, they will always say the same. The thing to me, you should write a book. So, after so many years of someone telling me that I actually. I did it. And it was. I wrote it just before the pandemic happened. It was like 2019. 

Phillip, if I interviewed 2,000 people like I would write a book as well, you know. 

So, this was before I interviewed 2,000 people. Believe it or not, I’m working on it. I’m working on it. I’m going to call it conversational power. I think we’ll see. We’ll see where it goes, but. 

Now you need to write a second book. 

I wrote that because I had to like to raise myself practically and stay away from drugs and gangs and all the opportunities that I had to do things that would have taken my life in a completely different direction. I figured it would have been easier if someone could have been there to actually help me understand those things, and since I didn’t have my parents, I felt like writing this book. That would sort of paint that picture and hell and I try to share my story to lend weight to the fact that, like, look, I had just as much reason as anybody else to say life is not fair. There, you know, and give up and go the wrong way, but I didn’t. 

I don’t know why I didn’t, but here’s what I’ve learned from taking that path, you know. Here’s what I learned. About the difference between puppy love and someone that actually cares about you, you know, you being infatuated with someone and someone not returning that energy, right? 

Here’s what I learned about being resourceful with the people that you know. Here’s what I learned about work ethics and what it means to have a job and what it is really like. What you can actually take away from it, regardless of what you do for a living, all the things that are they are important for you to learn as you come of age. Right. 

And so, I wrote that and I’m like, great, I started. I had a list of all the Boys and Girls Club. I was going to send the book to you. I was hoping to speak to them, and then the pandemic happened, and I got caught up in it, trying to survive as a freelancer. Like the flurry of that and the book was published, but nothing ever really happened with it. You know, my friends, a few friends, and family bought it. I think I sold like 65 Copies in total. I now have a chance. I recently ran into somebody who does speak with the Boys and Girls Club, and I did have one. I gave them the audiobook version of my book and they’re like, dude, we got to share this with kids. 

So, the good news for me is that. That’s still going to happen a lot later than I anticipated, but that’s still going to happen. And I don’t care if I don’t make any money from my main goal is to help kids who come from a similar background to mine, or people who are having a hard time adjusting to the growing pains of life. Hopefully, arm them with tools and their actual frameworks for how to face the oncoming traffic that is the obstacle Life, you know?

No, that’s awesome. Yeah, like when I hear the word pushing the phrase pushing past the norm, I’m like, I think of breaking societal conventions or just pushing past the limit, going the extra mile. That was something that was really important to me when. I when? I read this book by Napoleon Hill and wrote a second book. Or something in the first chapter. Was going the extra mile. And that usually leads to success. 

And that’s really. You know, it’s funny. I crowdsourced the entire making of the book. I asked everyone. Hey, which cover do you like better? Here are the names I’m thinking of. Which one do you like better over time? And everybody was gung-ho about it. On social media, Instagram in particular, everybody was excited. I was like you all told me to write a book. You’re going to help me make this happen. 

So, they all chose that name. I had a bunch of different names, but that’s the one that they chose. And when I looked at it, it’s, you know, the normal thing to do is to react to life. So, pushing past it would mean taking a step back for a second and choosing how you’re going to react to it. And this book has a framework for every occasion you could think of in your life. As you’re growing up. 

That’s awesome, Phillip. So, Phillip is there. Like is there any work or project that you’re working on right now that you’d want the audience to get a glimpse of? 

So aside from the fact that I’m still doing that podcast with Jason, you know, every so often when we get an interesting guess now, we don’t have to do whatever 10 episodes anymore. So, if you’re an awesome, interesting person and you’re looking to get your story told, I’d love to have you on just like, just like, I’m here with Cosmo, right? Like, I just love to just Get to know you. 

Aside from that though. I’m working with Shelby Joe Long on the Strategic Advisor board. We’re launching a new program. And I’ve been putting together a webinar to break down the inner workings of how to develop your personal brand. People don’t like the word brand, don’t like it. 

No, let me correct myself. People don’t like spending money on anything with the word brand in it, OK? And I understand that. I do. It’s what it really is. But another way of looking at is thought leadership. And I can help you get all your ducks in a row for your thought leadership. And this webinar was going to sort of give some insights into that. And Shelby is amazing. She’s got a whole team that will help deliver on that. So, it’s not just me doing all the work all the time now, but I will still be the strategic arm of that thing, helping push that. 

And so, we’re launching that pretty soon. It’s waiting on me, I’ll be honest. But we’re going to be launching that pretty soon, so please hit me up on LinkedIn and get in touch and sign up for that. Because if you’re doing anything in business, it’s going to be relevant for you, for your narrative. You’re positioning. It’s all the stuff that I use when I’m working with a PR agent. It’s even the way I think. While I’m listening to someone’s story on a podcast, I can help regurgitate what they just said in a way that’s concise and helps the listener reinforce the importance of whatever lesson just took place. Right. 

So, a lot of those tools are going to be turned into a framework that you yourself can use on yourself or you can work with us, and we’ll help you with it. 

Also, how can our Audiences like to connect with you? So that you are so. That they can get to know more about. You and your work. 

So again, I’m actually active on LinkedIn, it’s the one network I actually spend a lot of time on. I’m sometimes on Instagram, sometimes on Twitter, just to like to spend some time, but then I’m like, oh, what am I doing on here? I don’t want to be here anymore, you know? 

So, I jump back on LinkedIn like I’m supposed to, but I follow me on there, connect with me. I think you have to actually hit the three buttons instead of the following. You can follow me, but you can connect with me by hitting the three buttons and expanding the menu options and I should be there with you. Connect and I actually respond. It might take me a while. Ever since I started podcasting, it’s been a lot of TM’s and connection requests, mostly from people trying to sell me video and audio editing for a podcaster.

But you know it’s the real thing, right? But I do actually actively look through it and I’d love to connect with you there because that is where I will make the announcement. For the sign-up for the webinar. If not, you can still add me on all the other platforms such as Phillip Lanos and that’s 2L’s and Phillip PHILLIPLANOS everywhere on social media. Or you can go to PhillipLanos.Com and it should have a link to anything that’s relevant about me anywhere there. 

That is awesome, Phillip. I’m really glad that you took the time to come to the show. And I really enjoyed interviewing you today, and you’re basically an extraordinary American. And I would love to have you back in the show at a later time.

Yeah, man. Are you kidding me? Anytime again, I really appreciate you inviting me. I think the most valuable things. The biggest compliment. Someone could pay another person is spending time with them because we don’t get time back. 

Right. So, with that said, I appreciate the compliments you paid me as well. 

No, I appreciate you too, Phillip. And I want to conclude this show by telling my fellow extraordinary Americans that hey, there’s an extraordinary within each and every one of us. And it’s our Duty to awaken it and unleash it. 

So, until next time, bye for now.