The Massimo Show - SoundSage

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Rod Santomassimo walks through the critical performance benchmarks every commercial real estate broker needs to know — and measure. Most brokers track closings and commissions but ignore the upstream activity metrics that actually predict results. In this episode, Rod lays out the full pipeline conversion framework, from first calls to closed deals, with specific targets at each stage.

Key Takeaways

If you're not measuring conversations and meetings, you're flying blind
A weak pitch win rate is almost always a discovery problem, not a closing problem
Your value proposition on the phone determines whether you even get to the meeting
Discipline and execution — not market conditions — drive your conversion rates
Know your numbers at every stage: the broker who tracks wins

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Rod Santomassimo breaks down a counterintuitive framework for handling the toughest objections in commercial real estate — one borrowed from the martial art of Aikido. Instead of pushing back against resistance, the Aikido approach teaches brokers to redirect the energy: acknowledge the objection, validate the prospect's position, and pivot to curiosity. The result is a conversation that never turns adversarial and always moves forward.

Key Takeaways

Objections are not roadblocks — they are redirectable energy
Always acknowledge and validate before pivoting
Questions beat arguments every time — curiosity keeps the conversation alive
Market uncertainty is a prospecting opportunity for brokers who are prepared
Have a scripted, rehearsed response for every common objection before you pick up the phone

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Rod Santomassimo tackles one of the most common — and most mishandled — objections in CRE prospecting: "I already have a broker." Most brokers hear it and hang up. Rod reframes it entirely: this isn't a dead end, it's the beginning of a relationship. He lays out a clear three-step process for turning this objection into a long-term pipeline opportunity.

Key Takeaways

"I already have a broker" is a pipeline opportunity, not a rejection
Asking what they value most reveals gaps and gives you powerful prospect intel
Silence after your question is a feature, not a flaw — let them think
Asking permission to follow up almost always gets a yes
Consistent, relevant follow-up turns today's no into tomorrow's client

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Terri walks through how a background in competitive speech and debate evolved into a 30+ year career helping top performers—CEOs, brokers, sales teams, and even members of Congress—win more often by mastering persuasive communication.

Her foundation is simple but powerful: communication is not about what you say—it's about what the listener hears, processes, and acts on.

She shares how her early career "breaking territory" through cold calling and filling rooms from scratch shaped her philosophy: you must be both scrappy enough to earn attention and skilled enough to convert it.

The core problem she sees today: experienced professionals rely on confidence instead of preparation, while newer professionals lack structure—so both default to "winging it." And that's costing deals.

Her latest book, Presentation Ready, is built on a multi-phase research study identifying the 12 most common mistakes that cause professionals to lose opportunities—based on both self-reflection and buyer feedback.

What You'll Learn (from Terri) Why "winging it" is the silent deal killer – Veterans rely on experience → leads to complacency – Newer professionals lack a repeatable structure – Result: inconsistent messaging and missed outcomes

The real mistake: being informative instead of persuasive – Most professionals "data dump" instead of influencing decisions – Buyers don't reward information—they reward clarity and conviction

The disconnect that's costing you deals – You think you're clear → your audience thinks you're boring – #1 feedback from buyers: "The presentation was boring"

Why recording yourself is non-negotiable – You cannot fix what you don't recognize – Watching yourself exposes verbal habits, weak structure, and lack of impact

The importance of scrimmaging (roleplay) – Top performers don't practice presentations—they rehearse outcomes – Like athletes, drills build specific skills that show up under pressure

Why "scrappy + structured" wins in today's market – Scrappy gets you in the room – Skill gets you the deal

About Terri Sjodin Terri Sjodin is the Founder of Sjodin Communications and one of the leading experts in persuasive presentations and sales communication. She is a New York Times best-selling author, Hall of Fame speaker (National Speakers Association), and has worked with Fortune 500 companies, national sales teams, and government leaders.

Her latest book, Presentation Ready, is based on decades of real-world experience and a multi-phase research study on what actually causes professionals to win—or lose—opportunities.

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Host: Rod Santomassimo Guest: Lev Mavashev (Principal, Alpha Realty, Ney York, NY) Lev Mavashev (Principal, Alpha Realty) walks through how a technical, numbers-driven background (CPA + Deloitte) turned into a long-term career in NYC multifamily brokerage—and why specialization is the reason he's been able to scale, survive disruption, and keep taking market share.

Lev shares how he entered brokerage the old-school way: book + phone + cold calling—and even landed a seller on his first call, then had to ask the team what to do next. The bigger lesson: activity matters, but structure matters more. He explains that two years in, he invested in coaching, learned to value his time based on what he intends to earn (not last year's income), and made a bold move early: hired an assistant on his own dime, which he credits as a major accelerator.

Lev also breaks down why he founded Alpha Realty in 2016, why Alpha is exclusively multifamily, and how he stayed steady through major headwinds—especially NYC's 2019 rent law changes and then COVID—by being the advisor clients could reach when others disappeared.

What You'll Learn (from Lev) * Why specializing (and staying there) beats chasing "whatever deal is available" * How Lev used disruption (2019 rent laws + COVID) to deepen advisory relationships and gain share * The mindset shift: valuing your time based on your goal income—and staffing accordingly * How Alpha scaled to 14 total team members and is now restructuring into micro-specialists inside multifamily products * Where Lev is using AI today: email triage, marketing support, OM/BOV drafts—while still testing the edge of AI calling

Lev's Core Framework "Get on a team + find your niche + stay in your lane." He frames it as being a big fish in a small pond, instead of trying to win the whole ocean.

About: Lev Mavashev

Lev Mavashev is the Founder and Principal of Alpha Realty, a thriving real estate brokerage firm specializing in NYC Multifamily properties. Lev is among the industry's top tier professionals and considered one of the most active brokers and power deal makers in the investment-sales market.

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Host: Rod Santomassimo Guest: Reid Bennett, National Council Chair – SVN Multifamily | Massimo Group Coach | 7-Figure CRE Producer 🎙️ In this milestone episode of The Massimo Show, Rod reconnects with longtime client-turned-coach Reid Bennett to reveal how he went from being a solid multifamily broker to a nationally recognized leader, team-builder, and seven-figure producer. If you're an established commercial real estate professional feeling stuck on the transactional treadmill—or trying to figure out what's next—this one's for you. Reid shares his raw, behind-the-scenes journey from chaos to clarity:

How after 18 years in the business, he still felt like he was guessing on who to call next
Why he finally invested in coaching, despite already being a top producer
The specific systems and cadence he implemented that quadrupled his income
How he broke through inconsistent revenue cycles and built a practice that delivers consistent 7-figure years
His transition from broker to investor and mentor for brokers nationwide PLUS: Rod and Reid break down the power of the "What's New, What's Next, and How Can I Help?" approach—a simple framework that helped Reid land a 440-unit deal during COVID from a cold, dormant lead. 🚀 What You'll Learn in Episode 101:
How top brokers eliminate the income rollercoaster (hint: systems)
Why every high-level broker needs coaching—even the veterans
The secrets to scaling a team while maintaining control and quality
Reid's mindset shift from chasing commissions to building wealth
The ripple effect of coaching: why teaching others sharpens your own skills 🧠 Who This Episode Is For: ✅ CRE brokers earning $300K+ who are stuck and want exponential growth ✅ Team leaders seeking a roadmap to scale without burnout ✅ Multifamily specialists looking to transition into leadership or investment roles ✅ Any broker who wants to dominate their niche and build a business—and life—they love

About Reid Bennett: Reid Bennett is the National Council Chair of SVN's Multifamily Division, overseeing a national network of brokers. With over two decades of experience, Reid transformed his own practice through the Massimo Group's coaching—and now coaches other brokers to do the same. He's an active investor, elite producer, and coach who believes in building wealth with intention and helping others rise.

🎧 Listen now and discover what happens when a broker stops winging it and starts running it like a business.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show What if we told you the road to wealth isn’t lined with apps, funding rounds, or viral ideas… but instead with dust, sweat, and a whole lot of cardboard boxes?

In this eye-opening Episode 97 of The Massimo Show, Rod welcomes one of the most talked-about entrepreneurs on the internet today - Nick Huber, the man behind The Sweaty Startup movement. You’ve seen his tweets, you’ve heard the opinions, and now it’s time to get the full story from Nick himself — raw, unfiltered, and rich with insight.

Nick’s Journey: From Dorm Rooms to Boardrooms Nick didn’t dream of being an entrepreneur — he became one out of necessity and curiosity. Raised in southern Indiana by a middle-class family — his dad in real estate development, his mom a school nurse — Nick learned the value of work early. At Cornell University, he wasn’t reading books on startups or idolizing Silicon Valley founders. Instead, he was hauling boxes, renting trucks, and building Storage Squad, a college student storage company that scaled to 25 campuses nationwide.

That “boring” business was just the beginning. Fast-forward a few years and Nick is now the co-founder of Bolt Storage, a self-storage empire managing over 2 million square feet across 68 locations — with assets valued north of $100 million. Oh, and he's not done yet. He also acquired a controlling stake in Somewhere.com, an online hiring marketplace.

Oh yeah… and he’s got nearly 800,000 social media followers tuning in for his blunt, refreshing takes on business, wealth, and life.

Key Themes Covered in This Episode:

The beauty of boring businesses: Why low-glamour, high-demand services offer more freedom and upside than trend-chasing startups
From sweaty work to scalable systems: How Nick transitioned from hauling boxes to managing hundreds of employees
Momentum is everything: Nick breaks down how small steps (and sweaty ones) led to massive success
Work-life alignment, not balance: His take on how to build a business that supports your life, not consumes it
Social media with a mission: How Nick uses Twitter and podcasting to teach, build brand equity, and source deal flow
Why VC-backed startups aren’t for everyone (or even most people) — and what the mainstream startup culture gets completely wrong
Building a $100M+ portfolio without big capital to start: The true power of leverage, partnerships, and grit
Why young brokers and business owners should skip the sexy ideas and focus on real pain points

Grab Nick’s new book: The Sweaty Startup: How to Get Rich Doing Boring Things — a blueprint for building freedom through simplicity, hard work, and smart systems.

If you’re tired of being reactive, constantly chasing shiny objects, or just stuck on the transactional treadmill — this episode will challenge your thinking and energize your vision. Listen now to learn how to build wealth, impact, and a life you actually love — the boring way.

Want to grow your brokerage business fast? Book a free strategy call at https://massimo-group.com/

www.sweatystartup.com www.nickhuber.com www.sweatystartupbook.com www.somewhere.com/nick www.boltstorage.com www.recostseg.com www.adrhino.com www.spidexx.com www.boldseo.com www.webrun.com www.titanrisk.com www.recruitjet.com www.hubermethod.com www.x.com/sweatystartup www.instagram.com/sweatystartup www.linkedin.com/in/sweatystartup www.youtube.com/sweatystartupwww.tiktok.com/sweatystartup www.threads.net/@sweatystartup.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nick-huber-show/id1576120606 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sweaty-startup/id1445260221 Link to buy the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bLazjW Link to buy the book in the UK: https://bit.ly/422njPW

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On this episode of the Massimo Show In Episode 96 of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down once again with one of the most downloaded guests in show history — Matt McGregor of Colliers International and a Massimo Master Broker.

Matt and Rod go deep into what they call the evolution of cold calling. Spoiler: they don’t believe in “ice cold” calls anymore — and they’ve got the stats to back it up.

They reveal:

Why 92% of calls now go straight to voicemail—and what to do about it
How to turn a cold call into a warm one using tech, timing, and tactics
The specific multi-touch sequences Matt uses (emails, DMs, text, and mailers)
Why bots, AI, and campaign automation are changing the game for prospecting
The launch of WarmCaller, Matt’s new patented tech that ranks and feeds you personalized, real-time prospecting insights
How brokers can finally stop sounding like “just another sales pitch” and start making calls that truly resonate

Rod and Matt even share real conversion stats from their own sales teams — over 5,900+ calls tracked — to expose what works (and what doesn’t) in today’s CRE environment.

If you're still dialing blind and hoping for the best, this episode will shift your mindset and your results.

For more info or to request a demo of WarmCaller, visit warmcaller.com
Want to grow your brokerage business fast? Book a free strategy call at https://massimo-group.com/

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Skylar Romines, founder and owner of ATW Advisors in Orange County, California. Skylar is an expert in commercial real estate insurance with 15 years experience in the insurance industry. She passionately advocates on behalf of business owners, helping them secure better insurance terms and control over their programs.

Skylar described herself as a late bloomer who struggled socially in high school, but found her footing later in life. During college, she started working at Nordstrom, but later transitioned to insurance after receiving advice from a family member. She unexpectedly found success in the insurance industry while earning her psychology degree.

Skylar discusses the challenges and changes within the insurance industry, particularly in the current hard market cycle, where there are fewer options and insurance premiums are increasing significantly. She advises investors to be proactive, working closely with their brokers to avoid pitfalls, such as shopping multiple brokers and delaying insurance considerations.

One of the key points Skylar made was that real estate investors should engage their insurance brokers early during the acquisition process to ensure accurate quotes, avoiding any surprises with coverage costs, and to fully understand any associated risks. Investors should focus on maintaining property conditions, as insurance costs often reflect the risk associated with property age, systems, and geographical factors.

Skylar shared her recent success and expereience using social media platforms, like Twitter and LinkedIn, to connect with professionals and grow her network in the real estate industry. She notes how Twitter (X) can foster a sense of community and engagement across industries, unlike LinkedIn, which is more formal.

Additionally, Skylar mentions her upcoming book relesased this July, So She Did: Stories, Stats & Strategies to Help Women Win, which focuses on the underrepresentation of women in high-paying roles in the insurance and real estate industries. Drawing from dozens of interviews, she shares compelling statistics, actionable advice, and the collective wisdom of women who are challenging norms and inspiring women to claim their own seats at the table of leadership, ownership, and equity. Skyler hopes to empower women to rise, thrive, and lead in their own unique and inspiring ways.

Overall, the episode provides insights into Skylar’s journey from a college student with a side job to a successful commercial insurance expert. It also touches on broader themes in commercial real estate, the state of the insurance industry, and the importance of networking in business.

Note: These highlights are designed to provide an overview of this episode’s content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

At the Massimo Group we have 15 years of experience helping the most dedicated brokers, like you, build the CRE business and life they have always desired. If you’d like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Ken Ashley, CCIM, MCR, SIOR, Executive Director of Cushman & Wakefield and Founder of CREI, Commercial Real Estate Influencer. Ken is a successful Atlanta broker with nearly 30 years experience with tenant representation and sales in the commercial real estate industry.

They discuss the importance of building a personal brand and using social media effectively in the commercial real estate industry. Ken shares his strategies for engaging with prospects, valuing your time, and creating a strong online presence. He emphasizes the need to focus on the other person and provide value in order to build trust and influence. Ken also announces the upcoming CREI Summit, a conference dedicated to helping commercial real estate professionals build their brands and increase their influence.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Ron Koenigsberg, Founder & President at American Investment Properties, a successful Long Island Broker with 30 years experience in the commercial real estate brokerage industry.

As Ron recalled the pathway to his start in commercial real estate he stated that he “[wished] everything was a straight path… but there are lessons to be learned that are probably never in a straight path, and you certainly have to have a little bit of resilience along the way.”

Ron describes his journey from growing up in Long Island and watching his father survey buildings and construction sites, through his time in college, first jobs, and the eventual decision to establish his own firm, American Investment Properties.

Rod goes on to ask Ron what’s the one common thread that allowed him to not only succeed, but thrive during the market cycles over the years? Ron responded that he attributes his success to two factors, his call counts and his coaching from The Massimo Group.

Ron recounts a time in his career when he was scared, he was making a lot of calls, but business had come to a halt. After seeing an advertisement for The Massimo Group, Ron encountered James Nelson and asked him if The Massimo Group was really worth it, since it was expensive!

Ron was a successful broker, “but [he didn’t] know what [he didn’t] know.” After 10 years with The Massimo Group, Ron stated that “It changed my life. Within five years, I went from really losing money or just getting by to… Broker of The Year… and I won the MVP (The Massimo Group’s Most Valuable Producer award) bat on the back of my book.”

Rod then goes on to ask Ron what the foundations to his success are? Ron immediately replied with relationships, daily phone calls, and reaching out to his prospects, especially through face to face communication and active listening. Ron notes that while social media is important, it’s also a double edged sword. 93% of the essential parts of how we communicate, per an FBI study in the 1970s and 1980s, never come through with the use of technology.

Lastly, they discuss Ron’s new book, Power Broker: How to Succeed In Life And Business. This is an essential mindset book for any broker on how to attack everyday, especially if you’re feeling stuck, questioning what to do, or are plateaued. It details 9 skills that Ron believes are essential for making people successful. You can find Ron’s book on Amazon, Audible or at www.RonKoenigsberg.com.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with one of his mentors, Jerry Anderson, a veteran in the commercial real estate brokerage industry with over 50 years of experience. Jerry, currently a Corporate Advisor for eXp Commercial, has successfully run two international brokerage companies and is a pioneer in single point of contact and master franchise brokerage models.

Jerry has succeeded and thrived through at least four economic downturns, otherwise known as inflection points in brokerage, throughout his career, so Rod begins the podcast by asking him about the current state of the market and how it differs from previous downturns he’s experienced. At first glance, Jerry thought this downturn was similar to the 2008 financial crisis, but after watching some activity over the past few months, he said there are several differences, especially where things are heating up in the financial/lending industry, and “not in a good way.”

Jerry elaborates that the central dilemma for US brokers right now is that “Interest rate percentages have really been very, very low, in my opinion, for way too long. We have to reset all that. We have to get people accustomed to higher interest rates. If you own a property…at 3% or 4%, [we have to ask] why would you want to sell?... [and advise] All you're going to do is pay capital gains tax, move on, and have a higher interest rate.” Jerry also points out that interest rates used to be higher, he remembers he “was pretty happy when interest rates [used to be] 12% and I was making money as a broker at 12%.”

With Jerry’s lengthy expertise, Rod asks what advice he would give to brokers saying there’s no velocity in the current market and there’s “nothing I can do.” Jerry suggests that interest rates are relative, brokers have “had it pretty easy for the last 10 years… the habits they gave up, they're going to have to reinsert… You have to be an advisor in this marketplace more than ever before because people don't need you… you have to help them figure out what they do need.” “It's a beautiful time for you as a broker to make calls and say, let me share with you what's happening because we have our thumb on the heartbeat of the market.” Jerry continues to explain that brokers have to refocus, understand where the market is and its impacts, and share that knowledge and awareness with property owners and buyers to put them “in a position to be successful…”

Rod further emphasizes Jerry’s points by adding that The Massimo Group encourages our clients to be an authority in the market versus a commodity, an advisor versus a facilitator. “...This is not a time to take your foot off the pedal. This is the time to jam that pedal to the floor [with] more calls, more effort, more work if you want to just maintain a sliver of market share…”

Lastly, Rod enquires what Jerry feels are some of the greatest inflection points in brokerage history that have changed the way brokers work. Jerry recalled the Tax Reform Act of 1986, technology, particularly software and the internet, and the structure of brokerage companies.

Jerry briefly discusses his white paper The Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Industry Is Broken For Both Brokers and Associates. Rod postulates if he feels brokerage was broken back then and it still is today, how can we fix it? Jerry details the strengths and weaknesses of some prior brokerage models, from the small shop to national and international brokerage companies, franchises, and now virtual models. Jerry believes the current model that eXp is experimenting with is the closest to having it figured out.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Bobbie Mastracci, CCIM, SIOR and Principal of Phoenix West Commercial, LLC, also known as the “Go To Broker” for the West Valley of Phoenix Metro. Bobbie is a successful real estate broker and Massimo coach with 20 years of CRE experience. She works with corporate and small business clients, both locally and nationally, and prides herself on her faith, dedication, and ability to deliver unmatched customer service.

Bobby shares her journey from her first job in high school, to being a hair color platform artist, and then entering the world of commercial real estate. Not to mention relocating from Pennsylvania to Arizona. She discusses the importance of education, setting goals, and having a strong work ethic.

Bobby also addresses the misconception that it is harder for women to succeed in commercial real estate and emphasizes the importance of faith, discipline, persistence, and consistency to achieve success.

Bobby advises, to those considering a career change, to be prepared for a slow start and to find a mentor or coach to guide them. She also talks about the benefits of embracing technology, including AI, in the industry.

Overall, she encourages listeners to have a positive mindset, seek opportunities, and take action to achieve their goals.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Rich Vaaler of Vaaler Commercial Real Estate, a commercial real estate broker with 43 years of experience.

Rich has owned, managed, and developed property throughout his career, a facet that the typical broker may not have to share with their clients. It gives him a perspective to help his clients, especially older people, streamline their portfolio/assets and get rid of the complicated ones to transition into simplified properties. He loves what he does and he’s always trying to get better, always trying to learn more to help his clients.

Rich emphasizes the importance of being good at what you do, finding a niche, and constantly learning and improving. Rich also highlights the significance of having a supportive spouse and the role of AI in his business, particularly in writing content and analyzing data. He encourages brokers to focus on their specific market and consistently work on prospecting and building relationships.

Rich concludes the podcast by expressing his gratitude for the coaching he has received at The Massimo Group and the positive impact it has had on his life and business.

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show Host Rod Santomassimo is joined by 3 guests who are all highly successful and influential figures in the commercial real estate industry: Ken Ashley, Executive Director and Chairman for Cushman & Wakefield's Tenant Advisory Group; Brad Ahrens, President of Concord Development Partners; and Bob Knakal, Head of New York Private Capital Group- JLL. They delve into various aspects of commercial real estate, centering the conversation around their experiences, insights, and strategies that have contributed to their success as top producers. They each offer valuable insights and expert advice taken from and highlighting the information found in Rod's new book, Dominators of Commercial Real Estate Brokerage.

Our podcast begins with an introduction to today's objective: sharing clarity in the chaos that's forming in this market downturn, sharing approaches every broker should be thinking about and considering, and tactics that have worked in the past and continue to generate results, to help us all get through this part of the market cycle.

Ken Ashley shares his journey in commercial real estate and his passion for solving complex real estate problems, emphasizing that the market is always evolving. The discussion moves on to the current state of the office market and how office tenant reps can thrive. Ken highlights the need for adaptation and the changing dynamics of office spaces post-pandemic. He urges tenant reps to focus on building relationships, marketing their brand effectively, and adopting a strategic approach to business development using the A, B, C system.

Brad Ahrens then shares his experiences in managing active projects during the pandemic and how his team adapted to mitigate risks. He discusses the importance of automation, outsourcing, and integrating technology to streamline processes and manage deal flow, leading to increased efficiency and faster decision-making. Overall, allowing him to optimize operations.

The podcast conversation then shifts to social media and its impact on the commercial real estate industry. Ken Ashley emphasizes that social media is a powerful platform to spread one's brand and message, but it requires focus and intentionality. He encourages professionals to adopt a thoughtful approach and provide valuable content to stand out in a crowded digital landscape.

Our guest speakers also explore their tech stacks, communication preferences, and the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in the industry. They agree and emphasize the importance of using technology effectively to streamline processes and improve productivity, but caution that while technology and AI offers many benefits, the human element will always be crucial in commercial real estate. It's the ability to connect, build relationships, and provide personalized expertise that sets professionals apart in this industry.

Next, Bob Knakal, a veteran with 39 years of experience in the New York real estate market, gives a quick introduction to himself and his remarkable achievements in the industry. He then talks about his recent project during the pandemic, where he personally inspected and documented every building under construction in Manhattan, creating a comprehensive and accurate database that sets him apart in the market.

Brad Ahrens, who transitioned from brokerage to real estate investment, discusses the differences between representing investors as a broker and understanding investment deals as an investor. He emphasizes the significance of quantifying information to provide clients with data-backed insights, leading to faster decision-making and building trust.

Ken Ashley highlights the importance of emotional and tactical listening in building trust and strong relationships with clients. He stresses the value of being genuinely interested in others, actively listening, and being confident in oneself while showing vulnerability.

Finally, our podcast concludes with our guests sharing their reasons for remaining passionate and dedicated to the industry, ranging from enjoying the business challenges to wanting to change the world. Leaving us with the idea of embracing an abundance mentality and giving back to the community. They also emphasize the significance of mentorship, surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals, and always striving for growth and improvement in the commercial real estate industry.

Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and lessons from highly successful professionals, giving listeners actionable strategies and a glimpse into the mindset needed to navigate challenges, make informed decisions, continuously evolve and stay relevant, and excel in the world of commercial real estate brokerage and investment. All of this making this episode a must-listen for industry professionals.

Note: These highlights of the key points discussed in the podcast are designed to provide an overview of the episode's content. Listeners are encouraged to tune in to the full episode for a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod talks about what hard feels like, especially when it comes to commercial real estate brokerage and how to handle it in the current markets.

Rod thought it'd be important to address something that's going on right now, the market is shifting and we're seeing less velocity, more challenges than we have before, inflation, increasing interest rates and even bank solvency. It's a fact that you have to work 10 times as hard to produce maybe half the results. Every transaction becomes a fight as the speed of transactions declines, even though you're putting in more time, energy, and even strategic thought. Those benefits may seem like they're dwindling. This is the harsh reality of the current market that we're all working in in trying times. However, don't forget, this also represents a chance for business development, personal development, resilience, and yes, invention. It's the examination of your fortitude, adaptability, and perseverance. It could feel like you're running in place while exerting more effort than ever, but keep in mind, this does not indicate that you've failed. Even the most seasoned brokers must overcome this issue because it's a reflection of the market. It's not a reflection of you. How you react to this market is within your control. Let these trying times spur your development, creativity and innovation. Be proactive in looking for new opportunities and innovative ways to answer the problems that you and your clients are encountering. Encourage yourself to learn more about the market, hone in on a specific subject matter and grow your expertise, or forge closer bonds with some of those prospects and clients you've worked with. Put extra emphasis and attention on developing relationships with your clients and giving them outstanding service. Yes, this is what hard feels like, however, it's also what growth feels like. It's how resilience feels. It's how creativity feels. So accept the challenge, adjust and invent, and keep in mind that this tide is going to eventually shift, and when it does, you'll be better equipped to take advantage of the opportunities because you'll be stronger and wiser. Always remember that in commercial real estate, the market's difficulties are not an accurate representation of your skills. Use this time as a chance to show your resilience, adaptability, and steadfast dedication to your clients, to your craft, and to yourself. So keep moving forward with new ideas and demonstrating that you can succeed in even the most difficult markets.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with The Massimo Group's own Chief Strategy Officer, Mike Gallegos CCIM, MCR, to discuss AI and how it's taking the world by storm. You can either chose to adopt AI or get left behind.

At the Massimo Group we've been helping businesses like yours integrate AI into their everyday business practices. If you'd like to learn more visit https://massimo-group.com/

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On this episode of the Massimo Show

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On this episode of the Massimo Show

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In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Mason Fiascone of Paragon Group in Washington State. Mason will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

Mason is a multifamily advisor serving the middle market in the Inland Northwest. He has built his business from fourplex to 100+ unit property sales in less than 2 years, closing $65M in multifamily as a solo broker at an independent firm in a tertiary market. Honing his prospecting skills, creating a unique offer, and leveraging social media, Mason will make 7-figures, in a tertiary market no less, in as few as 24 months.

Mason will share how he does it, and exhibit some specific approaches anyone, or any level of experience can do as well.

You can learn more about Mason here: https://paragongroupwa.com/mason/

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event...Ever!

What you’ll get:

• 12 Amazing Speakers

• 2 High-End Key Notes

• 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers

• All Service Sectors Represented

• All Product Types Represented

• Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact!

This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show with Rod Santomassimo featuring Guest Speakers for MassimoCon: Rod interviews Robbie Baty, Executive Managing Director at Cushman Wakefield’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. He’s the Office Tenant Representation Leader.

Robbie has helped companies with their headquarters locations for the last 15 years. He specializes in representing office tenants, ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, in site selection, lease and purchase negotiations, build-to-suits and municipal incentives negotiations. Over his career, he has distinguished himself as one of the top tenant representatives in the North Texas market.

A key takeaway from this talk with Robbie: It doesn’t matter if the market is up or down, tenants are always going to be looking for space.

Find out more about Robbie Baty and his career as a world-class tenant rep here: https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/people/robbie-baty

At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Robbie will share just what you need to do differentiate yourself in any market. If you want to hear it all, you have to come to MassimoCon this November!

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever!

What you’ll get:

🔑 11 Speakers

🔑 9– 7&8 Figure Producers

🔑 All service sectors represented

🔑 All product types represented

🔑 2 High-End Key Notes

Plus many other surprises!

GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional.

A limited amount of public tickets are currently available. Secure your seat now. Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

Let's Move Forward!

Rod Santomassimo,

Founder and President, The Massimo Group

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show with Rod Santomassimo featuring Guest Speakers for MassimoCon: Rod interviews Bob Knakal, Chairman of New York City Investment Sales for JLL.

Bob is one of the most successful investment brokers in the world. His record of success includes closing on over $20.4 billion in sales, selling his former brokerage company for a reported $100 million, and being the recipient of more awards and recognition than we could possibly list. He’s aiming to sell his 2222nd building in 2022.

A key takeaway from this talk with Bob: Being a market leader and knowing the market inside and out will propel you to success.

Find out more about Bob Knakal and his extraordinary Commercial Real Estate Career here: https://www.us.jll.com/en/people/bob-knakal

At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Bob will outline exactly how he keeps his fingers on the pulse of the NYC real estate market and then leverages this data to retain his authority position.

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever!

What you’ll get:

🔑 11 Speakers

🔑 9– 7&8 Figure Producers

🔑 All service sectors represented

🔑 All product types represented

🔑 2 High-End Key Notes

Plus many other surprises!

GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional.

A limited amount of public tickets are currently available. Secure your seat now. Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

Let's Move Forward!

Rod Santomassimo,

Founder and President, The Massimo Group

View Details

On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show with Rod Santomassimo featuring Guest Speakers for MassimoCon: Rod interviews Bob Knakal, Chairman of New York City Investment Sales for JLL.

A key takeaway from this talk with Bob: Being a market leader and knowing the market inside and out will propel you to success.

Find out more about Bob Knakal and his extraordinary Commercial Real Estate Career here: https://www.us.jll.com/en/people/bob-knakal

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever!

What you’ll get:

🔑 11 Speakers

🔑 9– 7&8 Figure Producers

🔑 All service sectors represented

🔑 All product types represented

🔑 2 High-End Key Notes

Plus many other surprises!

GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional.

A limited amount of public tickets are currently available. Secure your seat now. Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

Let's Move Forward!

Rod Santomassimo,

Founder and President, The Massimo Group

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In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show: Rod interviews Matt McGregor, Executive Director and Corporate Real Estate Strategist for Colliers. Matt will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

Matt McGregor is Executive Director and Corporate Real Estate Strategist for Colliers and is one of the most recognized and awarded supply chain / logistic brokers in the county, working with some of the most prestigious companies in the world. Real Estate Forum’s Top Industrial Broker for 2017, a SIOR advisor of the year in 2019, Matt earned his Master of Science in Supply Chain from Michigan State University as well as a Logistics and Transportation certificate from Georgia Tech.

Matt specializes in the representation of industrial tenants and landlords in the Seattle area and is a market leader in the dispositions and acquisitions of both owner/user and investment sales. Matt has developed long-term relationships with many clients due to his extensive knowledge of the market and his dedication, professionalism, and commitment to his clients.

Matt will share his team’s 7-Step Prospecting Pursuit Process as well as demonstrate elements of the Technology-Based Marketing Program.

Find out more about Matt McGregor here: https://www.colliers.com/en/experts/matt-mcgregor

About MassimoCon:

The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…Ever!

What you’ll get:

• 12 Amazing Speakers

• 2 High-End Key Notes

• 8 – 7&8 Figure Producers

• All Service Sectors Represented

• All Product Types Represented

• Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact!

Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

Let's Move Forward!

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Matt will share his team’s 7-Step Prospecting Pursuit Process as well as demonstrate elements of the Technology-Based Marketing Program.

Find out more about Matt McGregor here: https://www.colliers.com/en/experts/matt-mcgregor

About MassimoCon:

The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…Ever!

What you’ll get:

• 12 Amazing Speakers

• 2 High-End Key Notes

• 8 – 7&8 Figure Producers

• All Service Sectors Represented

• All Product Types Represented

• Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact!

Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

Let's Move Forward!

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In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Kim Ford, CEO of Rise Pittsburgh. Kim will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX. Kim is a 25-year CRE veteran exclusively representing businesses/tenants, never landlords, in Pittsburgh, and over 200 U.S. markets. Kim has never stopped searching for success and does the same for each and every one of her clients through her 20+ years of experience, market expertise, transparency and strategic positioning. Kim, who is also an FAA, Licensed Unmanned Aircraft Pilot & a writer, speaks in many cities across the country and volunteers at the Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship to mentor entrepreneurs in the Real Estate and Technology industries. Kim will be speaking about how to grow your Commercial Real Estate business by thinking outside of the box. You can learn more about Kim here: https://risepittsburgh.com/team/ About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
Event...Ever!
What you’ll get:
• 12 Amazing Speakers
• 2 High-End Key Notes
• 10 – 7&8 Figure Producers
• All Service Sectors Represented
• All Product Types Represented
• Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact! Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private
booths are available. This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want
to miss! Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-
registration/

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In this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Managing Director for Capstone in
Oklahoma City, OK. David will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

David has over 15 years in the real estate industry, specializing exclusively in the brokerage of multifamily housing projects and multifamily site selection. From being named “Rookie of the Year” in 2007 through today, David has personally been involved in multifamily and land transactions totaling more than $1 billion throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri.

David is a seven figure producer and is 'The Guy' in Oklahoma City for multifamily. When asked, David stated his 3 pillars for success are: offering his clients extensive market knowledge, "I truly think there's nobody in Oklahoma that knows the apartment market better than I do... I know the market inside and out and my client's love that... I can tell them [things] other people don't even know."; hustle and dedication to building his business; and, building relationships with your clients, "We're big believers in a client for Life." David goes beyond the inactive client, his clients are truly part of his life. As such, they've been able to put their trust in David, knowing he can consistently provide them with the results they expect.

At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, David will share how you can create “Clients for Life.”

You can learn more about David here: https://www.capstone-companies.com/team_member_info/david-dirkschneider/

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…Ever!

What you’ll get:

12 Speakers
10 – 7&8 Figure Producers
All service sectors represented
All product types represented
2 High-End Key Notes
Plus many other surprises.
It's GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional.

Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available.

Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews best selling author and motivational speaker, Carrie Wilkerson. Carrie will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

Carrie has been featured on CNN and Fox Business News, in Success and Entrepreneur magazines and named by Forbes as a top small business influencer. She's consulted with Google
and other business thought leaders on growth strategies, productivity and current trends. Carrie usually only speaks at events with massive attendance, but we got her to speak at MassimoCon!

Consistent with Massimo’s mission of having their client’s build the business and life they desire; At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Carrie will present a proven approach for achieving all your personal and professional goals. She loves showing people how to transform their lives, bodies, relationships and bank accounts. A kew takeaway from this talk with Carrie: She's never seen a calendar with "Someday" on it.

Whether you tune in for her tough-love, her hysterical no-filters humor or her big-as-Texas heart, she’ll inspire you and help you make a plan to be more productive and more profitable, without sacrificing your priorities.

Find out more about Carrie Wilkerson here: https://carriewilkerson.com/

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever!

What you’ll get:

12 Speakers
10 – 7&8 Figure Producers
All service sectors represented
All product types represented
2 High-End Key Notes
Plus many other surprises.
It's GUARANTEED to be High Impact for the serious Commercial Real Estate Professional.

A limited amount of public tickets are currently available. Secure your seat now!

Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews Allen Buchanan, SIOR of Lee & Associates Orange out of Southern California. Allen will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

Allen has spent his real estate career in the industrial arena in North Orange and West Riverside County. His specialties include user representation, owner representation, and investment sales. Allen has continually been recognized as a Top Five Producer of the Orange office over the last 32 years and has mastered the art of
prospecting, allowing him to retain his top producer position.

At The Blueprint to Dominate CRE in 2023 Broker Event, Allen will share exactly what he says to secure meetings, along with the plan he has when he meets with prospects helping him achieve an impressive meet to listing conversion ratio.

Find out what Allen’s “Levers to Success” are in this special podcast episode.

You can learn more about Allen here: https://www.lee-associates.com/orange/allenbuchanan/

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event...Ever!

What you’ll get:

12 Amazing Speakers
2 High-End Key Notes
10 - 7&8 Figure Producers
All Service Sectors Represented
All Product Types Represented
Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact

Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available.

This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won’t want to miss!

Secure your seat here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration

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On this Special Episode of the Massimo Show, featuring Speaking Guests for MassimoCon, Rod interviews The Canvassing Queen® Beth Azor. Beth will be one of the featured speakers at the “BUILD A CUSTOMIZED BLUEPRINT TO DOMINATE CRE IN 2023,” Event November 2 and 3, 2022 in Dallas, TX.

Affectionately known as 'The Canvassing Queen™’ Beth Azor is the founder and owner of Azor Advisory Services (AAS), a leading commercial real estate advisory and investment firm based in Southeast Florida. As its principal, Beth currently owns and manages six shopping centers in Florida and travels the country consulting with, brokering deals for and training associates in the commercial real estate industry. A partial list of Beth’s clients include Phillips Edison & Co., Brixmor Properties, The Shopping Center Group, Urban Edge Development and DLC Management Group.

Prior to founding AAS, Beth was the President of Terranova Florida's largest 3rd party asset manager. Beth also has over thirty years of experience in managing, developing, redeveloping and teaching commercial real estate leasing agents all over the country. She has taken it upon herself to guide budding and established retail real estate agents to conquer the market by offering commercial real estate training courses and workshops. Her canvassing workshops are legendary!

Learn more about Beth here: https://www.bethazor.com & https://azoracademy.com

About MassimoCon: The Premier Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Event…ever!

What you’ll get:

12 Speakers
10 - 7&8 Figure Producers
All service sectors represented
All product types represented
2 High-End Key Notes
Plus many other surprises and GUARANTEED to be High Impact

Individual tickets, as well as tickets for private tables, and premier private booths are available.

This is one commercial real estate broker/agent conference you won't want to miss!

Find out more here: https://register.massimo-group.com/public-registration/

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod continues to feature elite commercial real estate brokers, this time sitting down with Nikita Zhitov. Nikita is a different broker with a different approach that has led him to exponential results.

Born and raised in Russia, Nikita immigrated to the United States when he was fourteen. He went from beginning the 9th grade knowing no English to buying his first property, a 16 unit apartment building, 3 years later with $500 in saved up lunch money during his senior year. He was 18.

Nikita soon flipped the property for a $50,000 profit and quickly became “obsessed with the sport of real estate acquisition and creative finance.” He dropped out of a full ride scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill for a full time career as a real estate entrepreneur. With no money, no credit, no resources or connections, Nikita averaged buying about a property per week. When Rod asked how he did it, Nikita simply said “That’s the beauty of real estate…real estate offers thousands of tools to structure deals creatively.”

Rod and Nikita went on to discuss his innate intellectual curiosity, his pursuit of the American Dream and his emphasis on continued learning and development. Nikita implied knowledge is paramount, having learned through research, tools, mentors and programs such as The Massimo Group, “if he can learn one thing…it pays for itself many times over.”

They also discussed the recession, how Nikita lost focus and direction and lost it all at 24 years old. When Rod asked how he started over, Nikita stated “Starting from ground zero is the perfect place to start, you’ve got a clean sheet of paper.” He “had all of this knowledge…how to make money in real estate,” so that’s when he went into commercial real estate brokerage.

Nikita is now the broker in charge of CityPlat Commercial, a brokerage entity in the Raleigh-Durham NC market, with his young team of 20. Listen in to hear his unique approach to running his successful brokerage company.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with 2021 Massimo CRE Elite Member of the year - Mark D. Bratton. Hear how Mark Bratton, SVP of Colliers International, Hawaii, and Massimo CRE Elite member of the year transformed his business from slumlord to yacht owner by applying specific principles to his brokerage practice.

Mark grew up in Westlake Village in Southern California. His neighbors that he used to sail with were architects and he thought this would be a great path for him. He took drafting classes and interned at their firms but “then I kind of looked at the business side of it and said, architects kind of make their money later in life, maybe I want to go more into finance and development. So I switched my major to real estate for the last three years of school” Mark tells Rod.

With this switch to real estate, Mark had charted a new course for himself. Consequently so had his father. At the same time that Mark was going to college at San Diego State, his father had gone from marketing to becoming a real estate developer. He had the pleasure of working during his summers helping clean up after the construction crews and getting first-hand knowledge of the sweat equity that goes into the construction side of things.

Mark got his foot in the door in Hawaii by partnering with a friend of his dad and selling residential real estate at a resort. When this partner retired he knew it was time for him to make the transition to his originally intended market - commercial property.

Mark started out doing retail shopping center leasing. He got a job at the same firm he is with now and on day one they said “See this nice lady Judith, you're going to shadow her for 60 days and then you're going to go out and do it on your own… in the 80s That was training!” Mark jokes with Rod.

Today Mark and his team, Capital Markets Investment Team, sell, consult, and advise on all property types within the state of Hawaii.

Mark and Rod spend the rest of the interview discussing strategy, breakdown of responsibilities on his team, Mark’s evolution as a broker, and why coaching at the Massimo Group is right for him.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with one of two 2021 Massimo CRE Elite Members of the year - Whitney Tharaldson. Whitney is the proud owner of The Tharaldson Group, Inc. which is the premier brokerage company in California catering exclusively to dentists. They specialize in practice sales, medical building sales, leasing, and practice appraisal.

Originally from West Covina in LA County, California Whitney was a high school athlete playing basketball, volleyball, and track. She also loved fashion but overall, “not really school” Whitney admits to Rod. She left High School and headed to Chapman University in Orange, CA to play volleyball. She was originally interested in physical therapy and then devoted her pursuits to pre-dental.

From there Whitney tried her hand at a law office, working at Neiman Marcus, and back to real estate. The truth is she had been answering phones in the office of a family member who worked in real estate at a very young age and no matter what she did she kept coming back to it. It was her passion.

But it wasn’t always easy. Whitney took odd jobs and her passion waned here and there but “after some soul searching and time off piercing other things that I don’t want to do anything else” Whitney tells Rod. The bottom line, her level of commitment changed. She got a coach and put her whole self into her work and has surely seen the results.

In the rest of the podcast, Rod and Whitney discuss her connection to her niche, leveraging social media in the industry, and planning for growth in the coming years. Tune in to hear the whole podcast!

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On this Episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Massimo’s 2021 New to Business Member of the Year - Steve Rowe.

Originally from Connecticut, Steve moved to Mobile Alabama when he was nine years old. His grandfather was the vice president of a grocery store and his father owned a construction company. His intention was to work for his father after school. “So in high school, I never really tried that hard,” Steve tells Rod. As soon as he could, he immediately went to work for his dad. His teachers encouraged him to work on his resume but he didn’t really see that as important since he knew he essentially already had a set career. “It was something that I thought was the right thing for me until I started really getting a better understanding of real estate,” Steve explains. “And that is why I made the transition into doing full-time brokerage because the difference maker for me has been the fact that I love what I do.”

A friend of Steve’s - Justin - who started his own SVN franchise lamented that “Man, I'm having a hard time finding anybody.” Steve told him “yeah, you really need somebody like me who's okay making a lot of old calls.” Justin pitched the idea of Steve joining the team and Steve really didn’t see why he couldn’t make that move. So in 2019 he came on full time to the SVN team - before getting his license - and started making calls. He got licensed shortly after that and has been a powerhouse of sales ever since.

Rod and Steve spend the rest of their time together talking about a variety of things that lead to his early success at the start of his brokerage career including:

The importance of being sociable plus the use of systems
becoming a resource and creating a niche in your community
consistency in calling and tracking your pipeline
and what it takes to feel ready to build a team

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with 2021 Massimo CRE Accelerator of the Year - Mason Fiascone. Mason is currently a Local Inland Northwest Multifamily Expert in Eastern Washington State for The Paragon Group.

Mason grew up in the Chicago suburbs north of Chicago and Gurnee, Illinois, and loved all kinds of things: leadership, business, entrepreneurship, “everything I could get my hands on” Mason tells Rod “typical kind of firstborn type A personality” He started a lawn mowing business mowing lawns in the neighborhood, he was the only male babysitter in a roughly five-mile radius and was involved in Catholic leadership through his high school.

After graduating high school in 2012 he went to undergrad where he met his wife, studied marketing and philosophy, and then worked for four years in corporate America at Unilever. Mason did marketing work for big brands like Ben and Jerry's, Dove and Hellman's to name a few. “But I realized that my wings were a little bit clipped being in the corporate world. And so while working a full-time job and living in Charlotte, and New York and San Francisco, I was doing everything I could to learn about real estate” Mason explains to Rod “everything I could to understand how can I get out of the corporate world and into the generating income and providing a life for my family.”

After a year and a half, Mason realized he’d only scraped the surface of real estate and that he needed to get into the business full time. He decided to be a multifamily specialist and saw a lot of opportunity in his market, which is Eastern Washington. He built the business plan, jumped in, and has found a lot of success since then. And that was 15 months ago from today, in January 2020.

Mason and Rod spend the rest of their time together discussing how he read Brokers Who Dominate and then Knowing Isn’t Doing on the recommendation from a friend and absorbed every single piece of information, how he stumbled through his first few deals (including an unwelcome guest in the basement of a four-plex), how his pipeline completely changed after starting coaching with The Massimo Group and what’s happening over on Real Estate Twitter.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Melissa Agnes - Founder and CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute, Melissa Agnes is a recognized leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is the creator of the Crisis Ready® Model and author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World. She is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.

Getting Out of the House and Becoming an Adult

Melissa grew up in Montreal, traveled the world when she grew up, but lived in Montreal her whole life until she moved to New York for work. Melissa describes her passions in high school as “ just trying to figure myself out. And I was very passionate about getting out of the house and becoming an adult and leading my own life.” Something I am sure we can all relate to!

With ambition on her side, Melissa soon found herself working as a brand strategist and entrepreneur with a keen eye for what was coming down the pipeline when it comes to the change that technology was bringing to the world, and what that meant for businesses and potential risk.

“So I saw the risk that social media, the real-time news cycle, and the fact that every single consumer had a voice and could raise that voice against brands. I saw the risk. I didn't understand why people, nobody was talking about it at the time.” Melissa explains to Rod.

“And I also saw how if we confront the risk, if we mitigate the risk, all of a sudden, we have this unprecedented opportunity for connection and communication in times of crisis that can do wonders for the organization and its business, its brand value element.”

In Melissa’s mind, this was revolutionary - and she was right! - but she wasn’t one to jump into something without doing her research. “I started by doing so much homework. Once I kind of had that epiphany, I realized that crisis management was a thing…” Melissa explains.

“And when I realized this, I spent about a year studying everything that I could on the subject, because it just kind of fed the wiring of how I made it really, really resonated with me.”

Melissa continued to get frustrated with the fact that nobody was talking about the way the world is today, not the way that the world was yesterday but her opportunity to prove herself was just around the corner.

“All of a sudden, we had a client, we just launched their website, they became in crisis. They called us because it started on Twitter, and they related Twitter with a website because it was digital and just happened to pick up the phone and call me.” Melissa says.

Within a half an hour Melissa and her team had the clients' investors getting the right information, the media correcting their story, essentially, everything flowing the way that it needed to, even though - - and here’s the real kicker - they needed to basically rewire the communication strategy because the investors and their stakeholders weren't even online yet.

A miscommunication that happened online and had the potential to spread like wildfire had been stamped out before any outlet that would reach key decision-makers ever had a chance to be misinformed.

The president of the company called Melissa the next day and said that not only did the stock price of the company not go down from the day before, but it had actually gone up by a cent.

That was a direct result of how Melissa and her team managed the incident. “That was my, oh my goodness, I can serve. This is what I'm supposed to do.” Melissa tells Rod.

What does one do when they are young and inexperienced but full of ideas and frustration? They start a blog, of course! “I blogged five days a week for several years, it turned into a blog and podcasts and videos and collaborations and amazing clients and a great career,” Melissa explains.

After years of blogging and practicing crisis management for business, Melissa launched the Crisis Ready Institute to help leaders and their teams develop the skills, capabilities, and confidence to successfully navigate and thrive through challenge and adversity. Melissa describes a crisis as “anything that touches bottom line and reputation” and explains that her passion is communication and understanding emotion. This unique and empathic perspective guides her work in every way.

An Issue vs A Crisis

When it comes to being an independent contractor, solopreneurs, or small business owner, it may seem like you are always in crisis. But Melissa suggests that an issue is not a crisis.

Melissa suggests understanding and defining for your organization what an issue is versus what a crisis is. And then defining the criteria or the thresholds that take an incident from issue level to crisis level.

By having those definitions and those understandings and doing a simple exercise, where you can identify your high-risk scenarios - issue versus crisis - and those thresholds, you’ve already alleviated a lot of stress that comes with identifying an issue and its scope.

The second step is to better understand or to seek to better understand your stakeholder groups. Because successful business is built on relationships, Crisis Management is about doing right by those relationships when it matters most. It is important to understand who you serve, how you serve them, and what the relationship is, in your business and in your brand. Consider what their expectations are of you and how a certain specific situation relates to them, and how it impacts them.

What are the questions that they'll have, that if you answer those questions before they come to you with those questions, you can get ahead of the story and own the narrative, and continue to build and foster trust even amidst adversity?

Rod and Melissa spend the rest of the show swapping stories and examples of crisis vs issue, setting up a framework to define a crisis, and how to communicate the difference between a crisis and an issue to your clients and stakeholders. Listen in to hear the rest of this amazing and timely advice!

Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World

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No one ever drifted to the success they wanted - they created a plan and set goals to get there.

The trouble is, though, that achieving big goals isn’t easy because most of us haven’t been taught HOW to properly set goals -- or even WHAT goals to set so that we end up with the results we really want.

There is no reason 2022 can't be your best CRE year yet – Rod Santomassimo walks through his 7 Days to Your Best CRE Year Yet program explaining the goal planning steps to gain clarity, how to set career-changing goals, and how to achieve them to gain greater success in 2022.

A free downloadable workbook is available at https://rodsantomassimo.com/e-68-7-days-to-your-best-year-yet-part-2

This is Part 2 of 2.

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No one ever drifted to the success they wanted - they created a plan and set goals to get there.

A free downloadable workbook is available at https://rodsantomassimo.com/e-67-7-days-to-you-best-year-yet-part-1/. This is Part 1 of 2.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with a Top15 Business Growth Expert, a Top 41 motivational sales speaker, and a Top 10 sales and leadership trainer, Meridith Elliott Powell.

Sales strategist, leadership expert, Certified Speaking Professional, and award-winning author, Meridith Elliott Powell wants today’s businesses to stop viewing uncertainty as something that prevents them from being successful. This is why her virtual programs, leadership coaching, online courses, and keynote presentations leverage her 9 step formula for making uncertainty your company’s strategic advantage™.

A Rocky Road to Real Results

Meridith grew up in a little town called Uniontown, Pennsylvania - in coal mining country. While she didn’t really know what she wanted to do when she grew up she was not afraid of hard work. In fact, she feels she got the majority of her education by working. “I got through college by the skin of my teeth, from Penn State University to the University of South Carolina but I learned sales and leadership far more from waiting tables,” Meredith tells Rod. Her very first job was in public relations for a chamber of commerce and from there she went into banking and healthcare and ultimately launched out on her own.

Meredith has honed her ability to flourish in times of turmoil. She had worked in travel and tourism in the midst of a hurricane, in healthcare when they'd gone through a cutback from the government. When she went into banking and financial services was when regulation was really coming into place. Her passion became a desire to help businesses navigate how they not only go through change but motivate their teams to go through change and actually see changes as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.

To sum up all of her time working with businesses, Meredith has written an incredible book called Thrive.

The Creation of the 9 Steps

“How lucky am I that my passion is helping organizations navigate changes successfully, and we just keep getting changed on another level of steroids,” Meridith tells Rod.

“A couple of years ago, and I can imagine everybody listening to this podcast can relate if you go back to 2018, 2019. I mean, do you remember how good the economy was? You just basically opened your doors and business rolled in? Well, I was asking my clients just like everybody does tell me how businesses are going. And everybody responded the same businesses, good businesses, great. In fact, we are having our best year on record. But oh, this uncertainty, as if we were all relishing how good the economy was, but we were waiting for the ball to drop for the bottom to fall out. And that just got me thinking like, Why does uncertainty always have to be a bad thing? Why does it have to be a negative? What would happen if your business, if you started to see it as an opportunity if you actually believed that uncertainty was the disruption you needed to take your business to the next level.

And that put me on a mission to try to find companies that had done that. And let me tell you, there aren't many.”

Meredith discovered just nine companies (ironically enough) that had been in business since the late 1700s, early 1900s. And they're still in business thriving today. These businesses had come through economic depression, they’d come through World Wars, they’d even survived previous pandemics.

From there, Meredith built a nine-step formula of what it takes to navigate change at any level and see uncertainty catapult your company, and your business, to another level.

The difference between Netflix and Blockbuster

Even the experts, the change gurus, tell us that we need to navigate change, we need to be good at change, we need to react to change. But in an uncertain marketplace, if you are reacting to change, even if you're acting to it flawlessly you're already behind you already lost. So strategy number two is that you need to condition yourself for change.

“Change can be your greatest opportunity if you see it coming. If you wait for change to happen in an uncertain marketplace, it will bury you.” Meredith explains.

And change is like a muscle. The more you work it the more you think about it, the more you talk about it, the better conditioned you are going to be for change. So you have to start to anticipate the changes coming in the marketplace.

Meredith gives us step two in her 9 step process and it’s actually an entire exercise or tool. The tool is called a S.C.E.P.T.I.C. (pronounced skeptic)

Meredith recommends that every quarter, you take 30 minutes to look outside of your business to see what is happening externally that's going to impact your success in an uncertain marketplace.

Society

Competition

Economics

Politics

Technology

Industry

Customers

Brainstorm: What do you see happening outside of your business as it relates to those words? This will help you anticipate the changes that are coming in the marketplace. The goal is to create a team that feels empowered by change, rather than disempowered by it.

“This is the difference between Netflix and Blockbuster.” Meredith recounts. “Blockbuster believed that the only change they had to pay attention to was inside the company. Netflix is a company that keeps looking outside and is changing before they have to condition themselves for change. Start controlling change rather than change control.”

Rod and Meridith round out the podcast by discussing the 5 Ps

Productivity
Prospecting (very interesting approach from Meridith on this one!)
Presence
Partners
Platforms

Listen in for the full story!

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Jon Gordon.

Jon is a husband, father, and author. His best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. He's the author of The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, and his latest The Coffee Bean. Jon believes in keeping his bio short because his past accomplishments, well, they're meaningless. What matters most is that he has something to say today that will inspire you to take action tomorrow.

Usually, Rod starts out the show by asking guests about their teenage years. But this time around he felt like he already knew a bit about Jon because Jon attended Rod’s arch-rival high school! Even though they don’t share the love of the same high school they do both appreciate Long Island NY and lacrosse.

Jon grew up in Long Island, New York, and a Jewish Italian family, “a lot of food, a lot of guilt. A lot of wine, a lot of whining.” Jon tells Rod. Not only did he play lacrosse in Highschool but he went on to play at Cornell University. There he learned about the culture of teamwork and about being a leader in many ways.

Jon struggled and didn't know what I really wanted to do after college. He opened up a restaurant in Buckhead, went to work for a dot com, and even ran for city council! He was young - just 26 - but his opponents were seasoned and knew how to smear the other candidates. Jon didn’t like the negativity and lies that came with the campaigning and decided that wasn’t for him.

After these various upheavals, Jon’s quest for purpose became a little more existential. “What am I born to do? Why am I here?” Eventually, he decided on writing and speaking without much of a solid answer about what his topics would be. At the encouragement of his wife, Jon knew he needed to focus on positivity and he figured there were others out there who needed to as well.

“And so I started to research ways that I could be more positive,” Jon tells Rod. “Start to practice those ideas, start to write about them, start to share them. The next thing you know, people are reading my newsletter. I'm getting an offer to do a book.” That first book didn’t do very well and Jon started feeling negative again. One day, while he was out for a walk the idea for The Energy Bus came to him. “I wrote that book in three and a half weeks. And that book would change my life because so many different NFL teams, NBA teams, corporations and nonprofits and hospitals and you name it started to read this book, and I started to get brought in to speak at these different events and that led to another 22 More books since.”

Listen in as Rod and Jon discuss the premise of The Energy Bus, the science behind being the best version of yourself, the true origin of negative thoughts, and how to get rid of them.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show,

Rod sits down with Wall Street lawyer turned podcast interviewer with an approachable style and knack for securing high-profile guests. His show, The Jordan Harbinger Show was selected as part of Apple’s “Best of 2018.”

Jordan had a lot of thoughts in high school:

“at what point are they going to teach us where we can find jobs and what we should be doing with our lives and all that stuff.”
“am I employable?”
“I have plenty of time to figure this out”

Things I’m sure we all thought about at one point or another. In the meantime, Jordan just kept getting in trouble until his family said, “Hey, you can't just do bad stuff until the end of high school, even if you're getting good grades.” So he went on a foreign exchange to Germany, “which was life-changing, and thank goodness I did because I look back now and I go, holy smokes, I was one year away from getting arrested for sure.” Jordan tells Rod. In high school, Jordan could show up for the test and get a B+, no problem but he quickly realized that you couldn‘t do that in college. Everyone there was smart enough to show up and get a B+ so Jordan put his head down and studied.

Then came law school and Wall Street. Jordan realized these guys were smart enough to show up and get an A on any test, plus they were willing to work seven days a week, 16 hours a day.

Jordan felt like his competitive advantage was gone and the imposter syndrome quickly crept in.

His plan was to work from home (before it was cool) and make himself scarce so that none of the senior partners would know he wasn’t good enough to be there. So he connected with another colleague who was never in the office for a little advice.

“So Dave said, when I asked him, ‘How do you work from home all the time? what's the cheat code here?’ He was like, ‘Oh, I'm not really working from home that much. I mean, here and there. But I'm actually doing a lot more to drive business for the firm’. And I was like, ‘well, what does that mean?’ And he's like, ‘well, you know, I'm doing jujitsu, I'm going with investment bankers. I'm playing racquetball, squash, whatever it was, I'm going with the investment bankers, playing golf, doing it with potential clients, going on a charity dinner, cruise, doing it with potential clients', and I was like, ‘Oh, okay. How do I do that networking thing?’.

And of course, this is where the train stops because he goes 'just be cool, man.”

Clearly, this answer wasn’t going to help. Jordan felt he was the antithesis of cool. So he started learning things about body language, nonverbal communication, persuasion influence, taking Dale Carnegie courses, and sales courses. “But I quickly realized that if I'm going to learn how to pull in multimillion-dollar deals, from Goldman Sachs to my Wall Street law firm, I'm not going to learn it from a guy wearing a sweater vest at the learning annex on Tuesday nights” Jordan explains to Rod.

So he started to go back to first principles and to connect with really great people in the field of sales. He sought out authors who wrote books on influence, he started to read those books and contact a lot of the authors to learn directly from them, “because I just knew there wasn't a class on doing this, which is why those people who can bring in deals for a firm are so valued because there is no book you read a course you take...there's no master class for this stuff.” It become Jordan’s mission to bring in business through networking and relationships and to be indispensable for his company.

But then came 2008 and the housing crisis. Jordan’s firm was heavily leveraged in the real estate, finance, and derivatives and when the crash came they laid off everyone, and then the firm went out of business.

That co-worker, Dave, jumped ship and worked at another law firm as a partner. He was young and had an amazing skill. But it wasn’t that easy for the other older partners. “And I had a front-row seat for that. And I was like, okay, whatever organization I go to, I have to be the Rainmaker” Jordan recalls. So Jordan focused even more on his goal of networking. “It's the only secure position around really, is that the person who has the relationships.

When Jordan realized that he didn’t want to hang his hat in the same world he saw crashing down around him he knew he would have to do something a little outside the box. And from there, his podcast was born. Jordan interviews all kinds of people who rely on networking, relationships, and outward appearance for their success. From Charles Koch to Kobe Bryant. But what he’s really focused on is bringing amazing content to his listeners while avoiding the pitfalls of his position of power at the mic.

Rod and Jordan spend the rest of the podcast discussing the challenges of being a young professional in a world based on long-term relationships, the importance of finding your niche platform, and why building a product that serves his listeners first has lead to years of success.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show

Rod sits down with author, thought leader, and sought-after speaker who teaches people, leaders, and teams to infuse their lives and businesses with authenticity and appreciation: Mike Robbins. As a leadership expert, Mike partners with some of the top organizations in the world helping enhance culture, performance, trust, and belonging.

Early Retirement x2

As a teen living in Oakland, CA Mike’s biggest passion was baseball. Turns out he was very good, good enough to be drafted by the Yankees. But, with his future in mind, he turned down the contract in favor of playing college ball at Stanford, which was only about an hour from where he grew up. He was actually drafted again, after his junior year, by the Kansas City Royals in 1995. As he worked his way up through the minor leagues he experienced every player’s worst fear: an injury “I went out to pitch one night, I threw one pitch, I tore ligaments in my elbow, blew my arm out when I was 23. After starting baseball when I was seven...two years, three surgeries later, I was forced to retire from baseball at the age of 25.” Mike explains to Rod.

Like many kids with pro athlete dreams aside from going to college, Mike hadn’t really put a lot of thought into a true plan B. He spent time in the late 90s working with internet companies, startups and was in sales and business development learning but not really all that interested and passionate about his work. Along came another type of injury: the .dom bubble burst.

“So now I'm, you know, 26 and out of work and don't really know what the heck, but had had this secret sort of fantasy that I barely even talked about out loud, that I wanted to speak and I wanted to write and I wanted to coach and I wanted to inspire people” Mike explains.

As of January 1st, 2021 Mike has been doing just that for 20 years. “...a lot of good fortune, a lot of support, a lot of help, a lot of determination, a lot of trial and error, lots of error. And I've been able to...do this work that I absolutely love,” says Mike.

Finding Freedom in Entrepreneurship

With no job prospects in his field, Mike was feeling absolutely lost. Despite having the dream of being an author and a coach, knowing the path to get there felt impossible. As fate would have it, about two months later Mike met a woman, Michelle, “that ended up being probably the most extraordinary thing that happened in my life” Mike tells Rod. Not only had Mike met his future wife but he also met the first person who ever encouraged him to start a business.

Finding Wings on the Way Down

Early on someone told Mike to deliver 100 free speeches to rotary clubs and high schools and maybe after 100 times he would be getting paid. Well, it only took 12 times. With a well-connected wife and a friend who was the assistant baseball coach at the high school, Mike has plenty of opportunities to speak and hand out his card. “ I met a woman at a workshop that I took and I had my little business cards,” Mike recalls. They said ‘Mike Robbins Motivational Speaker’ and she worked for a company called Sutter Health...she called me like two weeks after the workshop and was like, ‘Oh my god, I'm so glad I got you on the phone. Our CEO from one of our hospitals in Sacramento just called. He's all stressed out because he has a big meeting with all of his managers next week, and their speaker just canceled, but I told him, don't worry, I got a great guy” After that phone call Mike was hired to give a 90-minute presentation on the keys to creating a championship team to 200 managers. After that, he was hooked. He distinctly remembers 3 big takeaways that he still relies on today:

Be yourself.
Connect with the audience, human to human.
Talk about the stuff that you know

But Mike’s main message: Be willing to try. Say yes and find your wings on the way down.

Being Present

At this point, Mike was still only 28 years old and speaking to lots of companies. More importantly, he was finding his niche. He noticed that GenXers were interacting with BAbyBoomers and that creating cultures where people who are different can work together to be successful was important to these companies. Being young himself but having come from a strong team mentality upbringing of baseball he offered a unique perspective.

His time with those younger crowds and junior executives served him well. Despite the social media and TED talks and podcasts Mike still garners a substantial amount of his engagements from good old-fashioned business relationships. “At the end of the day depending on the business that you have, but especially a service-based business like mine, it's about people, it's about relationships, I could have the fanciest video in the world, I could do the best Facebook marketing campaign you've ever seen, I could, you know, whatever. And at the end of the day, it's like, they got to trust me and know me and know that I can come in and actually provide value for them.” Mike tells Rod.

“I would say for what it's worth, my training as an athlete really helped me in that the game is the game, whether you're playing in Little League, or in front of five people, or you're playing in the College World Series in 1995 on national TV as I did. I'd never pitched in front of 25,000 people, I'd never been on national TV, but you know, and I was scared and I couldn't catch my breath. And the first four pitches I threw almost went over the catcher's head because I was so nervous. But once I calmed down, I realized, you know what,

it's still 60 feet six inches from the mound to the plate, it's still 90 feet with the bases, it's still the same game I've been playing since I was a kid, I just have to deal with my emotions about being on this stage.

And I think the same is true when I'm speaking on the stage, literally in front of I haven't been on a stage in months, of course, but in front of 1000s of people, it's noticeably different than when I'm speaking in a room of 20 people just energetically but it's still the same. I'm still communicating a message to a group of people and wanting to engage them. It's just the stakes sometimes change or the size changes but the story in our head that is more intimidating than the actuality of what we're doing.”

Rod and Mike close out the show by talking about his Coaches, Mentors, and the value of being vulnerable.

Visit mikerobbins.com to learn more about Mike, his books, his podcast, and how to bring him to a zoom screen near you!

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On this episode of The Masimo Show, we continue our conversation with the award-winning author - Andy Andrews.

In part two of the conversation, you will hear about his work with presidents, how he worked with major sports figures, and his emphasis on creating measurable results.

Good Question vs Bad Question

Andy used to tell people which presidents he’d been to the white house to meet but in this day and age when people ask him which presidents he answers “the four that asked me.” Very clever.

Despite having been to the white house multiple times, the biggest turning point in his speaking career was when he was capped out by his speaker's bureau. He remembers them saying “This is as much as people like you make.” He didn’t have a gold medal or Superbowl ring. He didn’t have a television show and he wasn’t the hero of some national disaster “And so I knew what they said was correct. It was true. I just didn't know if it was the truth.” Andy recalls.

He began to search for the answer. “It took me a while,” Andy says “because I've always believed that the quality of our answers can be determined by the quality of our questions.”

You can ask yourself “Why am I so fat?” and your subconscious will come up with all kinds of self-degrading responses. But if you ask yourself a question directing it towards a solution such as “How can I regain the shape I had when I was 30?” and then let your subconscious do the work, you’ll be surprised at how much better the response is.

In search of a good question to the problem of his speaker’s cap, Andy thought “Why do people book speakers? Why do companies book speakers? Why does somebody get a consultant? Why does somebody bring somebody in for their convention?”

And one morning, he woke up with the answer, and “it scared me to death because I knew it was the truth.”

Most companies booked speakers for their events because they always have.

Creating Measurable Results

If they had 10k to spend they booked a speaker for 10k if they had 20, maybe two speakers. Andy asked his speakers bureau if any company had ever gone from booking 10k speakers to 50k speakers and the simple response was no. And when pressed as to why he was told it was because they didn't have the budget to do so.

And there we go again - thought Andy - was something that was true, but not the truth.

Because in reality, the truth is the reason a company that was booking a 10k speaker was never ever going to consider a 50k. Speaker is because they never got a return on their investment with a 10k speaker.

Andy realized he needed to find a way to help people get a return on their investment. More specifically: how to create measurable results (a term Andy has actually trademarked).

Andy went on to work with professionals in football, golf, Olympic shooters, and even in the mortgage industry.

Rod and Andy go on to outline his success in doubling the revenue of a mortgage company, the details behind his new book Just Jones, the importance of community and personal peace, and what it means to win with culture.

Tune in to this amazing conclusion to the two-part podcast with Andy Andrews and let us know your biggest takeaway!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, we’ll explore the first in a two-part series with author Andy Andrews.

Hailed by a New York Times reporter as “someone who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America,” Andy Andrews is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including The Traveler’s Gift and The Noticer. He is also an in-demand speaker, coach, and consultant for the world’s largest organizations.

Andy has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents, worked extensively with the Department of Defense, and regularly addresses the world’s largest corporations. Arguably, there is no single person on the planet better at weaving subtle yet life-changing lessons into riveting tales of adventure and intrigue—both on paper and on stage.

In this interview, Rod and Andy talk about Andy’s history, the origins of his beloved (and real-life) character, Jones, and the origin of the seven principles that changed the course of Andy’s life.

From Bad to Worse

Andy recounts that he led a pretty normal life until he was 19 when he lost both of his parents.

His mother from cancer, and his father in a car accident.

With the loss of his role models at such a defining time in his young life you can imagine that the choices Andy made shortly after were motivated by a mountain of grief. After a series of poor decisions, Andy found himself homeless.

“You know, nobody 35 years ago was talking about homeless people,” Andy explains to Rod. “But I was living under a pier on the Gulf Coast and in and out of garages and it was just not safe or smart. But I did.”

Meeting Jones

While living under his pier Andy came to know an old drifter. He didn’t know where he was from or where he went when he wasn’t there or really anything about him but he struck up a kind of friendship with him. “We called him Jones, not Mr. Jones, just Jones and he was a very wise man,” Andy tells Rod. One of the biggest takeaways Andy got from his friendship with Jones was something that he told him: “‘Hey, remember, you can't believe everything you think.’”

This opened up a whole new world of thought for Andy. So much so that it became one of the grounding ideas of the work that he would become well known for in the corporate world and Jones himself became the main character of his book series.

The other takeaway that Jones gave Andy was the gift of escapism. And not into tv or movies or Instagram that way we often do today but in a much more tangible way - the escape into the past. More specifically, biographies.

“I'd always been a sports illustrated field and stream kind of guy” Andy recalls; “and he started me reading biographies. And I said, ‘Ah, biographies…’ I didn't know what else to say. He said, ‘No, no, these are adventure stories. These are mysteries and romances and thrillers, and they're all true.’”

Andy went on to read over 200 biographies. But reading books didn’t put money in your pockets or a roof over your head so Andy had to figure out a way to make a living.

Making a Living

Andy was living on the beach but he was no beach bum. He was washing boats as well as selling fish and bait. He would introduce himself to out-of-towners who had money and a boat but no fishing skills and offer to be their guides for the day. “Back then I'd take people for $100 a day and if you don't catch fish, you don't pay me. It was like a fortune to me. But I worked. But I always wanted to speak, I always wanted to communicate, I wanted to be a speaker, I just didn't have anything to say. And that'll kill a speaking career, as you know” Andy tells Rod.

The Noticer is Born

During this time Jones was a constant for Andy. “You read 200 biographies, you got to notice something, and Jones called himself a noticer,” Andy says. “He would say ‘when they were passing around the talents, I didn't get the good ones. I can't run fast, I can't sing great. But I notice little things that make a difference for people.’”

Like Jones, Andy began to notice some striking similarities in the subjects of the biographies he was reading.

It turned out there were seven principles that Andy saw in each of these remarkable people. He wasn’t sure if George Washington Carver or Winston Churchill knew enough about themselves to know they had these principles but it was clear to Andy that they were there.

Andy began to form some bigger questions in his mind:

What if someone knew about these seven principles and better yet what if they taught them to their own children?
Could someone get a hold of this knowledge and change their lives? Or was life a lottery and you had to be born with these traits?

“Were these people in this book, were they born this way? Or did they do something? Because if they were born this way, I knew I was out of luck. But if they did something, what did they do? And how long did it take them to do it?” Andy muses.

The Seven Principles...Kind of

I know you’re chomping at the bit to get the seven principles and - better yet - start implementing them but Andy explains that “one definition of wisdom is a deeper understanding of the principle. Right? And so if the definition was a deep understanding of the principle, well, that's a target you can hit. Okay, but...where do you go from there? Well, deeper, I guess.” and the truth is that that can’t be done in a 3 minute TV segment and it can't be done in a podcast write-up - but it can be done in a book. You should read it.

Ok, we’ll do one...

Responsibility. The idea and the notion is everywhere - especially today.

There seem to be two extremes about responsibility in our world today. One is that people need to accept and own their responsibilities outright and the other is that the notion of responsibility has to be taken with a grain of salt due to one’s upbringing and background.

“But see, here's the thing,” Andy explains “Responsibility has nothing to do with blaming somebody about what they've done, or making somebody feel bad about where they're from. Responsibility is about hope and control. And who doesn't want to have hope for a greater future they can control.”

Maybe it’s your mom or your neighbor or the weather or COVID or the president or your wife - the bottom line is you can’t control any of those things.

“And so the opposite of that is if I can look in the mirror, and I can say, you know what, I've had some crazy things happen in my life. And I couldn't control any of them. But I made choices, in response to those crazy things that have led me down a path to a place that I like, and if I can understand and believe that I can make choices that will lead me to a place I don't like, then it just makes logical sense that I could make choices that would lead me to a place I do, like” Andy says...

“and so the game becomes, make better choices. And that's what the other six principles are about helping people do, understanding how to make those choices.”

From the Boat to the Stage

Rod and Andy finish out this episode and discuss Andy’s rise from living under a pier to standing on top of a stage. Listen to the remainder of this episode and stay tuned for the second half of this amazing interview in two weeks!

Just Jones: Sometimes a Thing Is Impossible . . . Until It Is Actually Done (A Noticer Book)

Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success

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On this episode of The Massimo Show special guest, Mike Gallegos sits down with Massimo Founder and President, Rod Santomassimo, to discuss the six key trends that are facing the commercial real estate industry today.

Number 1: Prospect Sequencing, not cadence, but sequencing, think about structuring sequences. It's just not being on Twitter, folks, that doesn't give you …

Number 2: OmniPresence. You immerse your audience, with your knowledge, with your skills, and…

Number 3: Your move to Independence. Yes, think about how you can become more independent? And with your independence you can become…

Number 4: The Advisor or the Consultant and not simply a transactor. The quicker you get to that position, the more money you're going to earn, and possibly as you earn more you will consider…

Number 5: The Restructuring of Big Brokerage houses. It's happening, it's happening every single day. And more and more of these low-cost, high-fee infrastructures will continue to grow. This brings us to …

Number 6: Your Personal Diversification of Income. This is what you need to be thinking about right now. In addition to growing your commissions, grow revenue through other ways.

Think of this now, while also focusing on getting deals done for your clients, for you, and your family. Will you adapt to these new trends and position yourself as an advisor, a consultant, versus simply a facilitator of deals? Transactors are commodities. Commodities have little value.

Consider how you can apply these lessons today to your practice. How much will these changes impact your income growth? How can you start building the business and the life you've always desired?

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with speaker, author, business savant, and leader of B2B sales approach and consultancy, Anthony Iannarino.

Anthony was raised by a single mom, who was raised by a single mom and what he liked to do most in high school was not be there. He spent a lot of energy trying to get out of school and when he got to high school, he had an experience that shaped his life.

“We were very poor. We ate mac and cheese, hamburger helper or fish sticks” Anthony tells Rod. Foods Anthony would never eat again. At 13, A friend of his got him a job washing dishes at Villa Milanos. Anthony would put in 40-50 hours a week. “They would feed me lasagna, prime rib and chocolate mousse” he recalls. “Joey Milano's mother would come around and say ‘you are so skinny you need to eat more!’”. That’s when Anthony fell in love with work...and good food! He was floored by the idea that they would pay him to work and feed him and if he needed a reason to skip school before he’d certainly found it now.

But work and food weren’t Anthony’s only passions. He also loved music. He started a band that went though a few members and name changes but eventually they were in LA. Despite his love for his metal band LA is not a cheap town and Anthony had to get a job.

Anthony found himself in an outside sales role out selling all of the other sales guys and feeling as though he was really helping people. With a good job and a band on the rise he was feeling great. But he learned that things change quickly.

A change of...Brain One day Anthony had a grand mal seizure walking to his apartment. He was taken to UCLA where they found a giant spot on the front right lobe of his brain. They told him he had cancer and he needed a lobectomy but he asked for a second opinion.

“They said it could be an Arteriovenous Malformation. That is a congenital disease where arteries and veins grow into a knot.” Anthony explains to Rod. After testing, it turned out Anthony had the largest AVM they had seen. He had several long surgeries that resulted in a small part of his brain being damaged and removed.

At 25 he was considered brain damaged, with no college degree and no real plan for recovery.

But after surgery, Anthony recognized it was like his brain was on fire, in a good way. He was easily reading a book a day and felt like he was making more neural connections. “My neurologist said we have no evidence that is true, you are freaking out because we cut a piece of your brain off.” Anthony tells Rod. But it turns out the doctors were wrong. There is a lot of plasticity in the brain and we now know a trauma like this can create new neuroconnections.

That is when Anthony went to college. He completed a 4 year degree in three years working full time and went on to take the LSAT scoring in the top 15%. He got the Dean’s academic scholarship to law school but after receiving his law degree, he decided business was a better place for him. Anthony was fortunate enough to go back into the family business and attended Harvard Business school, graduating with his OPM in 2005. The family business was temporary staffing.

When Anthony took over the family business and became the sales leader he had to figure out how to transfer his knowledge to other people who may not have the character traits or skills. “It took me a while to figure out how to help people recognize they had assumptions that were out of line with reality.” Anthony tells Rod. “My job is to teach them what reality requires of them and then have difficult conversations to make sure they could make decisions even if they weren’t happy about it.” When Antony first started at the company the revenue was at 3M. It grew to 50M.

“What you are really doing when you are selling is helping facilitate a decision for your client about what and how they need to do it.”

Putting Pen to Paper

The very first publisher that contacted Anthony about writing a book asked him for a manuscript, and he delivered 17 Elements: The Periodic Table of Sales Success. It included the idea that Mindset and skill sets are what one needs to succeed in sales. Character traits dominate the skills and the acquisition and willingness of the skill to be able to try new things. Anthony defined some of the elements as:

Discipline
Optimism
Caring
Competitiveness
Resourcefulness
Determination
Initiatives
Communication
Accountability

Over twenty-five years, Anthony has boiled down everything he's learned and tested into one convenient book, The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need that explains what all successful sellers, regardless of industry or organization, share: a mind-set of powerful beliefs and a skill-set of key actions.

Listen in as Rod and Anthony talk about being optimistic about the future and still doing what needs to be done.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with author, speaker, entrepreneur, corporate guru and so much more…Lisa Copeland

Lisa was a cheerleader and on the drill team in Arlington, Texas - where football and cheering are a way of life. But Lisa admits she didn’t have a lot of ambition in high school. “I wanted to chase boys and go to fashion college.” Lisa tells Rod

An accidental change of direction

While in fashion college, she did something that changed the course of her entire life: she wrecked her car. “My parents would send me money for insurance, and I did not pay my insurance. I had a totaled car and no job.” Lisa recalls. After the wreck she went to her dad and he said ‘I gave you a car, paid for college, your car Insurance - you screwed up; figure it out.’ There was no public transportation in Dallas so Lisa got creative. She got a job selling cars because they would give her a demo car off the lot.

But it wasn’t as easy as walking in for a job and walking out with a car. At first, the car dealership did not want to hire her at all. In fact. the managers were dead set against hiring her. Lisa called her parents to tell them she had figured it out, “I am going to sell cars and they will give you a car.” she told them. Her parents started to back peddle saying ‘no no we will get you a car’ but it was too late. Lisa’s first big sale was herself. “I talked my way into a job” she explains. Turns out she was really great at sales.

Lisa had never even been in a car dealership before applying for the job but like a lot of us, she learned that you can fake it until you make it. Despite not wanting to hire her and the general lack of support from the management there was one gentleman, Ernie Bays, who took Lisa under his wing and was her mentor. “He showed me the ropes and made sure the rest of the men were nice to me.”

After college, Lisa was doing really well at the car dealership and was promoted to finance for a few years. She then became the finance platform director. “I stayed in the car business for 12 years.” Lisa says.

After her second child the nights and weekends were too much. She was able to transition to the mortgage business because of her finance background. She did so well in the mortgage business that within 2 years she had started her own mortgage company that is still in business today.

Car Buying, Her Way.

Lisa travels the country speaking to small businesses, associations and large corporations teaching methods that got her to the top of her field and made her highly sought after.

Lisa’s first book Crushing Mediocrity - 10 ways to rise above the status quo was co-authored with Rene Banglesdorf who is the CEO of Charlie Bravo Aviation.

If you have a mediocre mind set you will fail as an entrepreneur. There are ten aspects that will help you rise above. The one I start with is:

Do you believe what you do matters?
What is your purpose?

Taking her sales presence to the stage

Lisa’s speaking took off after her team broke the world sales record. In sales you must know how to push through mediocre days. If you get stuck the organization gets stuck. I get brought in to help sales organizations get unstuck.

Listen in for all the details of Lisa’s inspiring story!

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On today’s episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with experienced keynote speaker and author, Alan Stein.

At his core, Alan is a performance coach with a passion for helping others change behaviors. He spent 15+ years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet (including NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant). Through his customized programs, he transfers his unique expertise to maximize both individual and organizational performance with clients such as American Express, Pepsi, Sabra, Starbucks, Charles Schwab, and Penn State Football, and many more.

An Early Love Alan grew up in Washington DC and when he was 4 his parents signed him up for his first basketball team. “Basketball was my first identifiable passion, the first thing I fell in love with.” Alan tells Rod. 40 years later basketball is still a major pillar in Alan’s life. “I am grateful that I have been able to make a life and a living around something I love, something I am passionate about, and something I have always had an affinity for.” Even though he now does corporate keynote speaking and writing, it is all done through the lens of someone who spent his entire career around the game of basketball.

In addition to playing basketball Alan also played “every sport under the sun”; football, volleyball, baseball, hockey as well as martial arts, skateboarding and BMX. But he always came back to basketball. He was a good high school player, and even played on scholarship at Elon College. While at Elon, he was developing an equal love for performance training - Strength training, conditioning for fitness as well as becoming more powerful and more fit. When he graduated college and realized his formal basketball playing days were over he decided to pursue a career where he could combine his love of basketball with his new found love of performance training. “I became a basketball performance coach right out of college for almost 20 years and I had an opportunity to work with some remarkable players and coaches.” Alan reminises.

From the Court to Corporate 4 years ago Alan decided to take what I learned from the game of basketball and show folks how to apply those same principles, mindsets and habits into business.

Many of these ideas stem from what Alan calls performance training. When Alan first started he referred to it as strength and conditioning with the goal being to get players to be stronger so they would be resilient to injury to get them in great shape to be able to be as fresh in the 4th quarter as they were at the start of the game. Over time, the title was confining. What Alan was really doing with these players was more than strength and conditioning. “We worked on the physical side: flexibility and mobility, hand eye coordination and balance but also the mental side: mindset and habits.” Over time Alan morphed that title to performance and he addressed everything except the skills of the game. How to eat well, how to take care of their bodies, how to improve their athleticism, how to have a winning mindset and how to develop an environment and habits to support all of those things. “I do the same thing in the corporate space, just to a different audience.” Alan tells Rod.

Mastering the Basics “You have to master the fundamentals”. Alan explains. As a performance coach in basketball you have to create the soundest foundation possible so that when an athlete learns the skills of the game they would be the best player they could be. Alan does the same thing in the corporate space. Alan works with a lot of sales professionals and instead of teaching them a sales philosophy or protocol he creates their foundation so when they apply their sales philosophy they are as effective as possible.

“The life changing lesson that I learned from Kobe Bryant was that the secret to his success was to never get bored with the basics. He had a strong appreciation and respect for the fundamentals and he knew he needed to constantly work to master those. He did that because he respected the game and the process. I bring that to the corporate world.”

After leading a workshop one of the first things Alan does is help people to gain clarity on what their basics are. To Alan, it doesn’t matter if they are an executive, in sales or HR, they need to know what their fundamentals are. The one that works universally is Listening. If you want to improve your influence or impact as a leader, improve your active listening skills.

Master your Mindset and W.I.N. Mindset is the #1 limiting element. It can make or break anyone in any walk of life. Your Foundation has to be solid.

3 pillars to Growth:

Foundation
Skillset
Mindset

Alan describes Mindset as your self awareness, your emotional intelligence, your ability to recognize and process your own emotions. “What I learned in 2020 was that our emotions are designed to inform us, not direct us.” Alan recalls. To him, this is important if you are in a position of leadership. It is important that your emotions are not dictating your behavior. Having an elite mindset is having your emotions and not allowing them to dictate your performance.

Another component of an elite mindset is saying I am going to do the best I can with what I have where I am. There will be no excuse, no blame and no complaining.

The next part of mindset is to learn how to be in the present moment: WIN

What’s

Important

Now

Effort and attitude are two things Alan has control over. He focuses on giving the best effort and attitude in everything he does. “Part of that attitude is my response to what is going on around me. How I choose to respond with what’s going on around me will dictate what tomorrow looks like.”

Are the habits you have today on par with the dreams you have for tomorrow?

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with Dave DesRochers.

Dave is a former offensive lineman who was a 12th round pick in the 1987 draft and played in the Seattle Seahawks organization for a couple of years. After his football career, he got into acting and worked on various television shows, movies, and commercials. After moving on from acting he owned a financial investment firm for about 20 years. Today he is the Vice President of PATH2HappiSuccess which is a company that helps lead students to better college experiences and assists them in finding lifelong careers that will lead to their happiness.

Early Years In High school, Dave was a basketball player - tall and lanky. He was good enough to make it to the final cut for the Olympic development team and get scholarship offers at small universities. The football coach approached him in his junior year and asked if he was going to play. “I said ‘no, I am a basketball player and I have some scholarships.’” Dave recalls. Despite Dave’s protests the coach encouraged him to come and play football and promised him even better scholarship opportunities. Dave remembers telling the coach “I’m not very good. I like football, and I want to be, but I’m not.” The coach said he’d help him but 3 practices in he pulled Dave aside and said “you know you’re not very good. You really need to work on your footwork” and handed Dave a jump rope.

Despite his skepticism, Dave took the jump rope home and worked until he was proficient at it. “The jump roping gave me confidence,” Dave tells Rod “and I did fairly well that year.” Dave was offered scholarships to CAL, U of A, Hawaii, Fullerton on a dual scholarship and the school he chose, San Diego State.

Dave was taken on a scholarship with potential. What he came to find out is potential is a nice way of telling somebody “you are not good”. For Dave, it was the same thing with the NFL as well. He was a 12th round draft pick - meaning he was decent and picked based on his potential. Dave credits this mostly to the fact that, unlike many other players, he was in excellent condition. Furthermore, he did things to take care of himself and work hard that most big guys don’t want to have to worry about. What Dave learned is that if you do the little things other people aren’t willing to do, you will succeed. You will put yourself above everyone else in the room.

Life After Football In 1992 he stopped playing football and became a financial advisor. “My first year I made $5,000,” Dave tells Rod. “The first thing my ex-wife asked was, ‘are you sure you should be doing this?’” The entry-level for the job consisted of cold calling. Dave was handed a phone book and asked to call 25-30 people, speak to 10 and set 2 appointments a day for his advisor. He would have to speak to complete strangers, get them to listen to him, and then get them to come into these appointments. “Most people would dread that” Dave says “I dreaded it, but that was my job.” He would call 100 people and set a goal of setting 5 appointments a day. Dave always doubled what was expected of him and in 2 months, senior management was having him give presentations to all other junior representatives on how to cold call. Within 4 months he was given his own branch, and in 3 ½ years, he was vice president of the bank. “It was like the jump rope, I did something no one wanted to do. I took it and did more, better and quicker. I put myself above everybody else which put me on the fast track to succeed.”

Pivoting, Before it was Cool Four years ago, Dave was talking with his fiance’s uncle about a program he came up with that would help students solve the problems surrounding changing their major, taking 6 years to graduate, and student loan debt. He was writing his book: Career Happiness and Success: A Definitive Path to Determine Your Best Career. As he was researching college statistics he found 70% of college students change their major once, 33% change it twice or more. He started looking at the career assessments and came up with a program that he thought would be a solution to this problem. He asked Dave to take the program and tell him what he thought. Dave did all parts of the assessment, it took him 3 days, but he realized that this was a program that could help so many more people. Dave went to work with him on this project.

Dave’s Description of the Program Our program starts with 2 general assessments, we have to know what you are going to love. What that doesn’t say if you will be good at what you love. Being good at something is your aptitude. So we have an aptitude assessment. This is where we begin. We take what you are going to love and what you are good at along with general vocation categories. We use the US dept of labor data of all careers. We have you pull up specific careers in all categories. As you look at them it will show you how much education you will need, how much money you can earn, and the job growth rate.

Listen in to hear Rod and Dave talk about what equates to talent, potential, and the path to happiness.

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Listen in to hear Rod share his latest lessons as he navigates through his most recent challenge.

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On this episode of The Massimo show, Rod sat down with Brand Architect, Speaker, and Certified Go-Giver Coach Bill Ellis.

Bill Ellis is a master at unlocking the fearless potential in others. A veteran of corporate brand management for more than 25 years at global beverage giant Anheuser-Busch, Bill has come to learn and deliver his true value in the past decade as a public speaker, certified coach, and brand architect for individuals and businesses.

Untraditional roles require Untraditional paths As with most people in less traditional jobs Bill didn’t start out knowing he would be working with companies and individuals to build their brands. Bill was the 4th out of 5 children in a military family who moved around a lot. Despite their constant relocation, Bill found a sense of identity in the fact that both of his parents were from New Orleans. “My influence was around moving around, military life, and Louisiana culture,” Bill tells Rod. Adding to his love for NOLA Bill attended high school in New Orleans. “What I was focused on during that time was being able to stay in one place for some time. I could make friends that I wasn’t going to leave in a year. Beyond that I did not have big dreams or big ideas.” Bill recalls.

His first professional job was working for National Supermarkets. As with most first forays into work for pay Bill felt he learned the most in those first few roles. From stock work to overnight clerk to customer service desk to cleaning out the incinerators, Bill cultivated a sense of self-motivation and work ethic. In the end, he knew he didn’t want to be working at a supermarket for the rest of his life and decided to go to college. After graduating from college Bill thought his path would be in the financial world and he went to work for The Bank oF New Orleans. There he met his first wife and eventually decided he didn’t enjoy banking as a career. He found himself working in sales for one of 12 Anheuser Busch-owned distributors. “I worked in New Orleans in sales for 3 years. During that time I traveled to St Louis and was able to contribute to marketing. That led me to a job offer in St Louis working in the marketing department” Bill explains. “We moved from New Orleans to St Louis where I started a career in Brand Management which is the heart and soul of marketing at Anheuser Busch.” Bill admits that this was not a path that he had anticipated but, it was the one that connected him to what he does today.

Branding is not the logo …. It is more the value a product has.

According to Bill, the first step to creating a well-thought-out brand is to identify what your value is and what service you are going to provide. Pro Tip: It should be something you and other people believe in. While a logo is critical in branding it is not something pretty or arbitrary - people need to understand what value they get from your company when looking at the logo.

If you provide a service instead of a physical product branding is still important!

When trying to suss out your branding start with “What’s the point?” Does this speak to the purpose of your service? Does that purpose have relevance to anyone else out there? If yes then ask what’s the point to them (prospect or customer). How does our service differentiate from someone else? Who is providing the same service? These questions will help you identify your own brand and set you apart from others in your industry.

Rod and Bill finish out the podcast by discussing Bill’s 3 Ps (Passion, Purpose, Persistence) and as well as the 5 Pillars of Branding (Leadership, Behavior, Communication, Influence, Team).

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with CEO David Horsager.

David is a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author of the national bestseller, The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line and his new release, The Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars That Drive Results. Additionally, David is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and a global authority on helping leaders and organizations become THE most trusted in their industry. David’s work has been featured everywhere from Forbes to The Wall Street Journal. He has taken the platform to 6 continents and advised everyone from IBM, Toyota, and global governments to the New York Yankees and FedEx.

Learning from the best David grew up on a 1500 acres bean farm. 8 miles from the nearest town of 500 people. He grew up loving all sports and working on the farm. David became All-State in football under the winningest coach in the state of Minnesota. “Working on a farm taught us how to work. I learned a lot about trust and leadership by working under who I think is the best leader of all time - my dad” David tells Rod.

David didn’t leave his love of sports back in high school. Out of college, he went to work for the biggest Christian sports camp in the country. He then became director of a youth and family organization building some of his leadership curriculum along the way. In 1999, David and his wife moved back to Minnesota and started their first business. David spent a lot of time speaking to youth and was even given the opportunity to teach at the Coast Guard Academy.

While He was doing graduate work, He had an epiphany about trust. David realized all that time he had been working on the leadership curriculum there was a nagging feeling that the core issue wasn’t a leadership issue at all - it was a trust issue. “My graduate work was based on the lack of trust being the biggest cost to an organization’s bottom line,” David explains “Twenty years ago, no one was talking about trust in organizations. It was unique for me to prove that a lack of trust in an organization was their biggest cost. Trust changed me - my parenting, being a better husband, friend, that is why I am even more passionate about it today.”

Trust and your Small Business How does trust work for a small business owner? The first thing to do is to see trust as the cause. Increase trust in the message. Then you move to the 8 pillars of trust.

Trust impacts the bottom line. If a boss doesn’t trust you he is going double-check your work and that takes time. Ultimately there is a massive cost - mental and monetary - to a lack of trust in any business. If we take a look at the metric of the most successful leaders, brands, and organizations we can see that every time trust increased, attrition went down - retention went up the cost went down and efficiency sped up. The question isn’t if but how do you increase trust with key people to further success in your business?

Listen in as David and Rod catalog the 8 pillars of trust and how to implement them in your own business.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with one of the top 5 leadership experts in the world. Mark Sanborn is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab for leadership development. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, he has presented over 2,600 speeches and seminars in every state and fourteen countries. His latest book is The Potential Principle. Mark is the Expert in Residence at High Point University located in High Point, NC and his client list includes Costco, FedEx, ESPN, IBM, and St Jude’s.

As with the best of leaders, Mark came from humble beginnings. He grew up on a farm in Ohio, was an average high school guy, and attended Ohio State University. There he studied agricultural economics. “Economics was the most philosophical construct in my life,” Mark tells Rod. “Economics is the allocation of scarce resources for maximum return. Our scarce resources are our time, energy, and expertise. We all want to get the most out of life.” Mark never practiced as an agricultural economist but went into agricultural sales. It forced him to engage in a business where he was a manager. After a short stint in sales and marketing, he is now in his 33rd year as a professional author, speaker, and advisor.

From the age of 10, Mark was giving free speeches focused on patriotism and agricultural. Mark heard a lot of professional speakers, but it wasn’t until Mark was 16 when he heard someone else speak that it dawned on him that person was getting paid a lot of money to tell their story.

The spirit of free enterprise set in. The only thing better than giving speeches, in Mark’s mind, was having someone pay you to do it. As a freshman at OSU and because Mark had been involved in Future Farms of America as a state officer, he started getting invited to speak at commencement exercises and at after-dinner speeches. One day Mark got an invitation and he told them he charged $150 and they accepted. That was his first paid speech at the age of 19. From there he kept building.

The Three Resources a Leader Has Are: 1) Time

2) Expertise

3) Time and Expertise of their team

Mark alleges that right now finding people that have true expertise is difficult. “We are overwhelmed with information” he explains to Rod “ The ability to access information is good, the ability to access its validity is harder than it’s ever been. One of the hardest jobs for leadership is doing your due diligence to make sure the decisions you’re are making and the practices you are using are solid and credible. It is important to learn from practice.”

You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader Mark explains that your skillset makes you a leader, not your title. You can be given a title, but you can’t be given a skillset. A skillset has to be learned and developed. The real test of leadership is if you did not have a title, and you could not reward or punish people for things they did or did not do what you asked - would they still do it?

Bad managers get compliance but good leaders get a commitment. Commitment is getting people to do it because they are sold on it, they want to do it, they know it will benefit them and the greater good. True Leadership always benefits the greater good whether it is the colleague, vendor, customer, or community. Today too many people look at leadership as a tool to get what they want instead of the real use of leadership which is to help everyone to get what they need.

The Concept of the FRED Factor Fred was a Postal service employee who delivered my mail. He had a simple job of putting mail in a box, but he made it artistry through the things that he did. The quality of his service and the friendships he made. Mark was so impressed with it that he wrote a book about it. The Fred Factor is the ability to continually create value for the people you live and work with through 3 things you can control.

1) passion

2) creativity

3) commitment

Being extraordinary is a choice. Many of the most successful people Mark knows were extraordinary not because of the way they were brought up or circumstances but in spite of. “We learn a lot more through failure than we do from success.” Mark says.

What made Fred so special? When Mark first moved into a house in Colorado, there was a knock at his door and it was Fred introducing himself. Fred was more worried about Mark’s mail than he was. He was a professional. A professional is more worried about the solution to your problems their product or service solves than you are. There were dozens of other examples of where Fred, without a title and just a commitment to do an extraordinary job - you can be extraordinary. Fred does it because he believes that excellence is the right thing to do.

The Gift of Time The only thing people want more than disposable income is time. We don’t have enough time and we are always too busy. Covid has killed the excuse you don’t have time. With Covid, everyone is adapting. A surfer interacts with the wave to get the outcome they desire. We need to learn to develop those skills. First, stop looking for the new normal. “I never liked the phrase the new normal,” Mark tells Rod. Through necessity we are going to say it’s the new abnormal. Every day is going to be a little different. By thinking about the abnormal we never get complacent we become more vigilant and more agile.

Tune in to hear Mark talk more in-depth concerning leadership and the new abnormal.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with author, keynote speaker, strategic business coach, and global event promoter Tony Rubleski. Tony is the president of the Mind Capture Group and has been highlighted on the Detroit press, Fox TV network, ABC and CNN radio. He is the creator of the mind capture book series, as well as the authors of Trailblazers: Leadership Lessons from 12 Pioneers Who Beat the Odds & Influenced Millions and he is about to release a new book: So You Want to Write a Book. His core expertise and message is designed to help people ‘Capture’ more minds and profits.

No Stranger to the Stage Tony spent his younger years in catholic school but eventually transitioned to a public high school. He refers to himself as a curious soul who pondered the priesthood for about six months but ultimately played football and baseball in high school as well as played in a heavy metal band. In his senior year of high school his band, The Creed, opened up for Green Day. For Tony, music was an extension of creativity and joy.

Once he got through college he began to understand the reality of having to get a job. Today his creative extension comes in the form of writing books instead of music.

At 19 Tony was cold-calling and door to door selling for Telecom. “I was having fun but didn’t know what I was doing.” Tony tells Rod. “I enjoyed going door to door, was young and naïve.” At 20 Tony came across Tony Robbins and he says it changed his destiny. This led him to study Dan Kenndey and Jay Abraham. “My marketing classes in college, we weren’t learning about setting goals. I would go to my marketing classes after studying Jay Abraham and ask the strangest questions. The professors would be like what planet is he on.” Tony jokes with Rod. His inquisitive curiosity and his appetite for the subject matter led him to seek out Tony Robbins, Jay Abraham, and Dan Kennedy a couple years later. “Looking back, there are moments that change your destiny. Being around those guys in my early 20s was impactful.” Tony says.

Making People Take Notice Over time Tony began to gradually transition from telecom sales to being a thought leader in his field of marketing. Tony met with and worked for Dan Kennedy by age 23. “I was able to get the CEO's to call me back by using direct mail grabbers such as scratch off tickets, money bags with fake money.” Tony reveals to Rod. “I had no fear of embarrassment to mail the CEO of a bank a bank bag with a funny note. When you do different things, you may ruffle some feathers, but you sure do stand out.”

Tony learned from Dan Kenned that when you are cold calling you are an uninvited pest. As opposed to someone reaching out to you - that is a welcome guest. It is about positioning. Today, Tony teaches referral marketing around the world to big companies. Through the evolution of working with Dan Kennedy, Bob Burg, Jay Abraham, and Ivan Meiser, he will often name drop to give credit to those who taught him and reference his source materials. “I don’t have all the knowledge. Universal knowledge runs through many teachers and masters. And Then I teach it in my style or mind capture way.” Tony says. At Telecom Tony used successful direct marketing principles. He recalls how a lot of Jay Abraham teaching came into effect. “was selling phone service, the most hated and boring service. You had to be motivated. It was Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglars who came in to motivate me to keep doing this.”

Mind Capture

About 17 years ago, Tony was still in Telecom sales and he would have agents he recruited come to him and say “you need to write a book. You are a great teacher who does these crazy marketing things!” But people kept prodding him asking when his book would be done. At the time, Tony lied and said he was working on it but eventually that prodding pushed him to write a manuscript. “When the manuscript was completed, I was the VP of Sales at an Ad Agency. I was looking at my bookshelf one night and saw a Jay Abraham seminar called Mind Capture. That is when I thought, that is what I am trying to convey. A year later I met Jay Ahrahmam in Detroit at an event. I gave him a signed copy of my book and told him you were the inspiration for the title of my company.” Tony recalls. Tony describes Mind Capture as a battle we all face in business and doesn’t hesitate to give Jay Abrham credit for the brand and the source for what he now teaches around the world.

Mind Capture is the ability to stand out and get attention in a world with too many choices and demands placed on our time. Since Tony’s first book, attention spans have gotten shorter. We are trained and addicted to our phones. Tony recommends that the best way to get attention is through referrals and introductions. Still today, Word of mouth is still the most powerful.

Build relationships and not transactions.

How do we grab attention? What is your story? What is your uniqueness? Uniqueness captures attention. In the 9 second world we live in you have to fight for attention at all costs. Get a client and you do such a great job providing exceptional service they want to refer you. They send you more people via introduction. Word of mouth accelerates, and you keep repeating the process.

During this lockdown time everyone is doing soul reflection. People are doing business reflection, life reflection. It’s a good time to reach out to your current clients and referral partners and check in. How do you do it? Right now, Tony is doing more webinars and zoom interviews training for large groups because everyone is at home. “I am not charging for that. I am doing that as a value added to thank core clients. I am here to serve them not sell them.” Tony says “ These are unpaid auditions for the right target groups.”

Tony has written 6 books. His latest book: So you Want To Write a Book is available via e-book. “This is the time to put this book out. We put out our E-book first. Most people are home right now.” According to a recent survey 81% of Americans want to write a book before they die. “The numbers are huge. That means there are potentially 260 M people in the US that would like to write a book someday. If you put a book out at the right time, it should fall at a better audience. I didn’t see a pandemic or lockdown. We rushed and pivoted to what was happening.” Tony explains.

Tony and Rod end the show with Tony’s two best tips for success in business. Tune in to hear the full interview.

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On this episode of the Massimo show Rod sits down with a ghost writer and (his own) writing coach Wally Bock. Wally is an authority on the issues of supervision, leadership, and management and has the various career endeavors to prove it. More recently he has spent his time helping others lean into and expound upon their own leadership qualities by helping them write about them.

Wally was born in New York City in 1946 to a Lutheran Pastor and his wife. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated from there in 1963. He was a bright kid with scholarship opportunities for college as well. But one day his father told him about a relative who had gone off to a major university with their family paying the way. But this relative didn’t go and study.

They avoided going to classes for a year and a half, before their father found out. “I thought about that a lot. I realized that however bright I was, if I went to college right then I’d probably do pretty much the same thing.” Wally tells Rod.

Instead of potentially wasting his money and scholarships Wally decided to pursue a lifelong interest - the military. He joined the Marines and served from 1963 to 1968 and it was here that he learned a lot about courage and leadership and principles and about how your capacity is more than you ever imagined.

Why Books? Wally’s first book was called Budgeting for First Line Supervisors. This was his first book because when he got out of the Marines he was teaching for a government program called Model Cities helping small businesses. He started writing articles around that. An acquisition editor at a publishing company heard some of his speeches, read a couple of his articles and offered him the opportunity to do four books.

A couple of years after that, Wally moved on from the multinational to a non-profit, where he was the Business Manager at a graduate school. He got the numbers right and they improved on every measurable performance indicator. But he messed up in other ways and got fired. “That is when I figured out the only person who would keep me hired was me. That is when I started my own business.” Wally remembers. He established his consulting firm in 1982 and for the next several years, he had a fairly conventional practice where he did business consulting as well as speaking, training, and writing on leadership issues.

“I was good at finding the story a business had to sell and turning that into something that helped them get business.” Wally tells Rod “ It is a dynamite skill to have, however it takes time to get the info out of the person who has the business.” Wally had a skill of understanding the story behind the business. It is the story that attracts the sales.

Mixing the old and the new

Wally is an excellent example of the merging of two very important skills: connection and progress. When asked how he marketed his books he simply says: Letters. “I wrote letters to people. That and the yellow pages. Letters are more important than ever today. It is more important than email, twitter. I am all for those, but I am for writing letters.” Additionally Wally was one of the first wave of people who engaged in e-commerce to sell his books.

Wally was writing for speakers, trainers and consultants for a report called Cyberpowers. A publisher came to him and asked him to write a book about “Taking on the Super Information Highway”. That book came out in 1995 and resulted in 2 more large book contracts. That was when he went from small to big. The market warranted it and he was ready.

Why Coaching?

Wally was speaking across the globe and traveling all the time for business and then

911 happened. After 911 travel was harder to travel. “I was going to come off the road and needed to figure out something else to do.” Wally says. “Up until that time, all the books I had written were by myself but I wrote CyberPower for Business with Jeff Sonea and discovered I really liked working with somebody else.” The idea of ghost writing came to him and it took off - that was over 20 years ago.

Wally and Rod talk about the types of ghostwriters, how the pandemic has forced people to shift in their businesses and the value of writing your story. Tune in to listen to the full podcast!

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with one of his own coaches - NYT best-selling author and world renowned hall of fame speaker Chris Widener.

Early Life

Chris was born in Seattle, Washington. His father was the CFO of an architecture firm called NBBJ and was making almost 100K in the late 1960’s. Unfortunately, he was severely underinsured and when died at 41 years old (when Chirs was just 4) he only had 30K in life insurance. Chris’ brother was 13 years older than him and left home after the death of their father and married a girl who did not like their mother. Alone with a young child, Chris’ mother had to sell the house we were living in because she couldn’t afford the $400 mortgage payment. Chris pinpoints this tragic event as the beginning of his downward spiral.

Chris experienced an avalanche of instability in his formative years. After living in 28 homes, attending 11 different schools, being shipped off to live with relatives twice - once in 4th grade and once in 9th grade it may not come as a surprise that he started doing drugs in the 5th and 6th grade. Even smoking opium by 8th grade. With limited supervision and the lack of strong parental figure. Chris spent most of my time growing up scalping tickets to the seahawks and mariners games outside the Kingdome and betting on the ponies at Longacres Horse Track.

“I was headed in the wrong direction.” Chris recalls. “The year before my senior year of high school I got invited to sleep at one of my big pot smoking friends' houses. It was a Saturday night and we probably spent the night getting high.” The next day Sunday, his mother opened the door at 8am and said get up we are going to Sunday school. “I had no clue what Sunday school was because I had no religious upbringing.” Chris tells Rod.

Finding a Father

The youth minister was from Helena, Montana and he had 2 things that I needed in my life at that point. First of all, he had size 11 cowboy boots. This was good for me because I never had a male role model. I didn't know my grandfathers, my father had died when I was 4. This pastor became Chris’ role model and taught him about God, purpose, having a vision in your life, and knowing that life is bigger than YOU. Additionally he inspired Chris to go into ministry where he discovered and honed his gift for public speaking. “If you want to become a world class speaker, spending time in the ministry is good because you need to come up with 3 new speeches a week.” Chris explains. “ I started speaking to summer camps, high schools, colleges about overcoming a crazy youth. As I got older, I transitioned talking to adults focusing on leadership. I got a few lucky breaks in the early 2000’s.”

Career Success

Chris was asked to ghost write for John Maxwell where he spent 18 months writing for him on his national syndicated column. From there he was asked by Jim Roan to write with him. “I wrote the Jim Roan 1 program as well as his last book the 12 Pillars of Success. And then there was a television show in Dallas who wanted Zig Ziglar to do a show and he didn’t want to do it by himself, so they asked me to co-host his TV show.” Chris says.

When people ask how do you build a successful speaking career. I say it’s easy. Three step process:

1) Have John Maxwell call you

2) Have Jim Roan call you

3) Have Zig Ziglar call you

Once that happens it’s all easy from there.

All joking aside, Chris recommends that when opportunity presents itself you need to be able to walk through that door. Preparation may look like working for others but you are also curating your own skills. Be ready to use them!

Principles to create a lasting legacy:

1) Understand you don’t know the impact you are leaving. You need to trust.

2) Take advantage of opportunities and be prepared.

3) What to do when you thought was going to happen doesn’t happen.

Listen in to the full podcast to hear more from Chris including information about his latest book!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Tom Ziglar, son of Zig, CEO of Ziglar, and key collaborator on his father’s 30th book, Born to Win. Tom Ziglar carries on the organization’s “profoundly simple” philosophy “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

“You have got to be ready or sick and tired of the way things are going.” - Tom Ziglar

Growing up in Dallas, TX Tom played golf with his dad and fell in love with it. So much so that he ended up going to college playing golf. But in the long run he was mistakenly called to help others in the same way his father had. Prior to being named CEO, Tom began his career in retail and direct sales. He joined the Zig Ziglar Corporation in 1987, learning every aspect of the business as he climbed from working in the warehouse, to sales, to seminar promotion, to sales management and then on to leadership.

Learning the Ropes from a Legend

“Zig Ziglar would always say to people, I have walked in your shoes.” Tom explains to Rod. “What he is telling the audience is ‘Hey, I struggled like you.’”

Born in Alabama, Zig grew up in Mississippi. His dad died when he was 5 in the heart of the great depression. Raised by his mom (who had a 5th grade education) and the 10th of 12 kids Zig used to explain to his son that they were “the second poorest family in the city.” He never did well in school and joined the Navy at the end of WWII. Zig tried his hand at college but school still wasn’t for him and he ended up dropping out. He got married and got a sales job. For 2 and a half years he didn’t sell anything. A man PC Merrell, a man Zig respected, pulled him aside at a convention and said

“Zig, in all my years I have never seen such a waste, but if you believed in yourself and went to work on a regular schedule you could be a champion.”

That was the first time that anyone in the position of authority had told Zig he could be a champion. That was the day he went to work to try and figure out what it meant to believe in yourself and he made the commitment to start work every day at the same time. It was that year that he finished #2 out of 7000 salespeople. In the prior 2 and a half years prior he hadn’t even broken the top 5000. “So when he would tell people I walked in your shoes what he was saying was ‘I have had my car repossessed, my lights turned off and struggled.’” Tom continues. Zig’s mission became to help people understand that they have these gifts and amazing abilities in them already.

Choose to win - you can transform your life one choice at a time.

The fastest way to success is to replace a bad habit with a good habit but every success starts with a choice. Why do we want to make the choice? What Is the big reason that propels us? Once people answer these questions, then the different areas that we need to focus on become clear. “At Ziglar we teach balanced success.” Tom explains. “What is the point if you have tons of money but no health or family? The choice we speak about in the book encompasses every area of life.”

What do you want the result to be?

Listen to the rest of the podcast to learn more about Tom’s book!

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On this episode of the Masimo Show we get a special message straight from our founder, Rod Santomassimo.

Let’s focus on you, the end of 2020, and look forward to where we are moving too. Every year we provide an outline of a road map to allow you to craft a plan that is right for you. This year we’ve updated our plan- the 7 step plan we call The Seven Days to your Best Year Yet plan. This plan outlines the 7 steps you should take to put yourself (with our help of course) in a position to make 2021 your best year yet.

Step 1. Transactional Review

Look at what you worked on and the results of those transactions

Step 2. Activity Review

Taking a qualitative looks at your activity from last year

Step 3: Reflection

Looking back over last year, your way forward should start to come into focus

Step 4: Restriction Phase.

Ask yourself why you didn’t meet certain goals

Step 5: Reposition.

Now that you have given yourself an audit, let’s move forward

Step 6: Reaffirmation.

Look at what you set your plan for 2021 look like?

Step 7: Refinement.

Let’s make sure we do what we need to do to achieve the goals you set!

Remember to start small to build winning streaks to move forward to achieve those goals!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with highschool basketball coach and motivational speaker, Jim Johnson.

Based on what transpired in a few short moments in early 2006, Coach Jim Johnson is now an authority on the subject of realizing your dreams. In his many public-speaking appearances, the Rochester, New York resident relates his role in a basketball game that got Hollywood calling. He also emphasizes the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship, delivering his talks with a heartfelt style that has brought audiences to their feet.

Coach Johnson has developed winning high-school basketball teams for 30 years, taking over three losing varsity programs and turning them into winners in short periods of time. Of his 428 career victories, one in particular will surely never be duplicated.

On Feb. 15, 2006, Coach Johnson made the kindhearted gesture of inserting his autistic manager, Jason McElwain, now known to the world as J-Mac into Greece Athena High School’s final home game, which the Trojans won 79-43. J-Mac scored 20 points in just over four minutes, including six three-point baskets, to become an instant national celebrity. Coach Johnson, also, was featured in major news outlets around the country.

To make the Hollywood ending complete, Greece Athena captured the first Section V title of Coach Johnson’s career a few weeks later.

Jim Johnson grew up in a large family, the eldest of 6 (3 brothers and 2 sisters). His dad was a PE teacher and was his high school basketball coach. Jim’s father was a key role in his life. “He gave me the real passion to want to coach.” Jim recalls.

Jim played a lot of sports while he was young, but in middle school basketball became his passion. He was lucky to play for his dad in high school and when he went to college and was cut from the team after his second year he knew his dream of playing in the NBA was not going to manifest. After college, Jim wanted to be a teacher and a high school basketball coach. He worked for 3 years as an assistant coach in Greece, NY where he had grown up. At 25, he got a break to be a head coach about 25 minutes from where he grew up. “My first year coaching, I wanted to take them from the outhouse to the penthouse! I led that team to 17 consecutive losses.” Jim laughs. Ultimately he was let go from the position and his own loss became a great motivator for him to become a better coach. After that Jim started to read and study a lot about being a better leader.

One of the books Jim picked up was The Seven Habits by Dr. Covey. “He talked about the Seven habits, but also talked about having a Why in your life.” Jim tells Rod. Now, Jim focuses on pushing people to find and understand their “Why”. Exploring your personal mission and leading yourself first became hallmarks of Jim’s life and his coaching style. “My personal mission is to be an outstanding role model that makes a positive difference in the world by helping others make their dreams come true.” Jim says.

Leadership traits that are consistently found in good leaders:

1) Lead by example. Come in with a positive attitude everyday

2) Have a service mindset.

Watching his Why become a Reality

Jim had been coaching for over 20 years and had never won a sectional championship. But this year, he had a strong team. Jason McElway was the team manager and was on the autism spectrum. What was unique about Jason was his passion for basketball. “I have coached for thirty years and rarely would have someone keep trying out if they hadn’t made the team the previous year.” Jim says. Jason didn’t make the team for 3 straight years. His senior year, he was so committed to the program that Jim wanted him to suit him up to play. “It was senior night, I wanted to get Jason in so he could score. We had a great crowd that night.” With just over 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Jason was put in to play. When he went in the student body gave him a standing ovation, the parents stood up with a head shot of Jason on a paint stick, and the emotions Jim felt were overwhelming. Jim’s team was 20 points up when Jason entered the game. The first time he had the ball, he had a 3 point shot and missed. The next possession he had a 10 footer that he missed but he was getting closer. The third possession with just over three minutes, Jason was in the spot for another 3 pointer and he made the shot. At that point, Jim was elated. The team kept passing him the ball. He made a shot from the arc, almost an NBA 3 and Jim was thinking oh no Jason that is way too far. He launches and swish it goes in! The crowd ran out on the floor along with the team. “At this point I have no idea how many points he scored, and the public announcer comes on and says the leading scorer was J Mac with 20 points. The greatest moment in my coaching career.”

But the excitement for Jason didn’t stop in that high school gym. A student who videoed the game put it on the internet and it went viral. Jason’s speech pathologist called the news station and said you need to see this. From there, it was sent out nationally. Jim got invited to go on the Oprah Show with Jason and and his parents.

Despite the national attention, Jim and his team had more games to play. They had never got to a semifinals but this year they won and were on the way to the finals. The place was sold out. They were down 14-3 just 4 minutes into the game. But they came back to win it. “That was the first win for a sectional championship for us.” Jim tells Rod. “ Later that night as we ate, We watched highlights of our sectional win on ESPN. We won the next year as well. The last nine years, Jason came back to help coach and we won 4 more sectional championships.”

To this day the only thing Jim wishes we could have changed about his life and his career is finding his “Why” earlier in my life.

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with Steve Rizzo.

An American motivational speaker, author, and former stand-up comedian, Steve is notable for his humorous style of motivational speaking and writing. Rizzo is a member of the National Speakers Association and an inductee of its Council of Peers Award for Excellence Speaker Hall of Fame. At one time Steve was sharing the marquis with folks like Ellen DeGeneres, Rodney Dangerfield, Eddie Murphy and Jerry Seinfeld; a showtime comedy all-star. At the peak of his career he decided to go in a different direction.

Steve was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised by what he calls “good people” but from an early age they instilled what could casually be called a sense of impending doom. Life outside the home wasn’t much more supportive. In middle school Steve was having difficulties and challenges in school and was told by a counselor that he “didn’t have what it takes” to go to college. That seemingly small comment made a huge impact on the rest of his schooling. In high school Steve was nominated for the “least likely to succeed”. He took those beliefs that I wasn’t smart enough, good enough, or worthy enough into his adult life. “My philosophy was don’t try and you won’t fail.” Steve recalls. As a result, he hung out with a tough crowd. Most are dead or in prison. It wasn’t until 5 years after high school when his brother, a disabled Vietnam War Veteran, totally turned his life around and went to college. “He literally took me by the hand and took me with him to college to sit with him in class for 2 weeks. He then said, I am glad you did this, now I am signing you up.” Steve tells Rod. Despite being petrified to go do something he was specially told he would never be able to do Steve got straight A’s. He graduated with a degree in Education-English and a minor is Psych. “ I went back to the school that nominated me least likely to succeed and I was counselor for kids with behavioral problems and an English teacher for 2 years.” Steve says.

Success and the Shift

Steve realized that the universe opens up when you start following your heart. But despite having obtained a degree and a coveted teaching position he quickly learned he wasn’t done mastering new things. Through a series of “right place, right time, right people” Steve started doing stand-up part time in clubs on Long Island, NY. He was so good and so taken with it that he quit the second year of teaching to go into the world of stand-up comedy. “I didn’t even take a leave of absence. I just quit.” says Steve. Shortly after he was headlining comedy clubs across the country.

But Steve still wasn’t done shifting into the perfect role.

“What I realized was my opening acts, Drew Carey, Rosie O’Donnell and Chris Rock and they were getting the big breaks and I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t. Why was opportunity knocking on their door? I realized that opportunity was knocking, I was afraid to open the door.”

Steve eventually let the worry about stand-up go and by the time the industry was begging him to hit the big time he had already decided what was next for him.

“It was at a Tony Robbins seminar that I realized what I should be doing. I wrote

1) I should be doing this

2) I could be doing this

3) I will do this

I made the shift. Everyone thought I was crazy. I was living in LA, flew home to NY and told my wife, who was supportive. I did stand up in the tri-state area to supplement income and in between I started investing my time and energy in how I could break into the speaking business. Everything started falling into place at a fast pace. When you follow your heart and you are doing what you are supposed to be doing with your life serendipitous events take place that will blow your mind.”

Steve’s Style

What Steve offers his clients are the common-sense success strategies that will take them to a better place in life and career. The strategies are based on these 3 principles:

1) You are the creator of your success and happiness

2) You are the only problem you will ever have and somewhere within you is a solution waiting to be discovered

3) Whenever you are confronted with a challenge or problem of any kind it’s never a matter of managing the situation, it is a matter of how you manage your mind.

Your thoughts, along with your beliefs and attitude feed off of each other will eventually create the actions you take. The actions you take lead you to the outcome. That is why some people are successful and some people fail.

A Final Tip:

If you find yourself in a negative rampage, at that moment you need to stop and become aware you need to hear “who do you think you are?” In that state all the negativity stops because your brain cannot focus on 2 things at once. In that moment of awareness, you can turn it around.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with webinar coach, webinar consultant, webinar expert, and online marketing advisor Jon Schumacher.

Today Jon is a client acquisition strategist, a webinar specialist and an online marketing advisor to consultants and service providers but he hasn’t always been working in the digital world.

Finding Online Marketing:

Jon grew up in rural Idaho on a horse farm. Like many farmers, he would get up and feed

horses, buck hay and do his chores. He remembers it as a great place to grow up, but always wanted to leave the small town life behind to see what was out there. He left at 18 and toured around the US.

For Jon his passion was sports and then the human body. “Before I got into marketing, I got my MBA in physical therapy. I practiced for several years.” Jon tells Rod. But like many aspiring entrepreneurs Jon fell out of love with the idea of working for someone else. He was looking for other ways to generate income and create financial freedom.

He briefly entertained the idea of opening his own PT practice but he didn’t want the small business overhead. He turned to the internet. In 2010 he was the first of his kind in publishing PT info on YouTube. “I was selling content like how to fix your back, e-books and video courses. That was how I fell in love with the online world.” Jon recalls.

The adventure began as a part-time hobby and like many, Jon was hesitant to leave his full time job. Eventually, he built up a year's worth of salary before and at the advice of a mentor, struck out on his own. With a buffer of cash and the support of his new wife he had what he needed to help with the transition.

Jon started out in google hangouts software when it was really popular. By the time he

went full time, he was a guru on google hangout marketing. He even had a self-published book and a course he sold on joint venture webinars. Back then, it was a big deal to live stream

from your computer. There was no Facebook or YouTube live . It was the first economically free live stream platform. He committed to the process and became the self educator of the time.

“I started teaching people google hangout and webinars. I pivoted into webinar more broadly.” Jon explains to Rod. “I hosted the webinar mastery summit which was a virtual summit program that generated 8000 subscribers. From there I started offering training programs which led me into the consulting world.”

The Power of a Webinar:

A virtual tool to reach as many people as you can. A consultant that has a database of people and wants to reach them more consistently might send an email saying you are having a training. At the end of that training you will have a percentage of those people who will want to talk to you.

But the “build it and they will come” mentality doesn’t always apply in the digital world. Once you’ve mastered the nuts and bolts of webinar hosting the real question becomes: How do you leverage marketing strategies to secure higher quality prospects and transition them to clients? That’s where Jon comes in!

Listen as Jon and Rod discuss tips, tools, and best practices for turing webinar attendees into paying clients!

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with decorated former US Army Black Hawk Helicopter pilot and Motivational Speaker, Elizabeth McCormick.

Elizabeth flew command and control, air assault, rappelling, top-secret intelligence missions, and also transported high level government VIPs including the Secretary of Defense. She has received many awards in the army, and supported United Nations peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal for her excellence in service. In 2011, Elizabeth was awarded the US Congressional Veteran.

Elizabeth grew up in rural Michigan and went to an agricultural school with less than 50 students. “I was a geek, shy just starting to play sports and trying to find out who I was.” Elizabeth recalls during her talk with Rod. “My mom worked 2 jobs and because I was playing sports, I would sometimes have to walk home 7 miles after practice. At home, I would do my homework and read until early morning.” Because her school was so small, they needed people for almost every sport and Elizabeth stepped up where she was needed.

After being offered a volleyball scholarship for a D3 college - Siena Heights in Michigan- Elizabeth, an aspiring architect, went on to double major in art and math with an associates in engineering. Eventually she had to stop playing volleyball because it interfered with her studies and subsequently gave up her scholarship as well.

In the last year of college Elizabeth met what she refers to as her “starter husband” a well-intentioned army bound young man whom she married in her final year of college. She followed him to small town Louisiana and found herself working in a pizza place. “That made me pissed off,” Elizabeth recalls candidly, “five years of college with student loans knocking at the door. I realized I couldn’t change my circumstances so I had to look at what I could change. I realized if my husband could go in the military, so could I.”

Everything she went through after that decision was a matter of self-motivation. “If I don’t believe in me no one else is going to believe in me.” Elizabeth tells Rod. What seemed like a simple decision ended up being an extremely difficult life change. From the recruiter who didn’t know how to do the paperwork, to the flight doctor who called her a “little girl”, to the crew at the MEPS station who told her the test was going to be difficult, she faced adversity at every turn. It wasn’t until she got through the process and went through basic training to candidate school that she learned there were only 2 spots in the nation! “If I had known that, I might not have been as confident.” she recalls. Despite her shy demeanor she was determined. “My mission to be who I wanted to be was more important than being shy... It is these situations that make you realize how much you have within you.”

Elizabeth notes that she was then and is often now driven by four distinct words:

Do you want this? If you don’t believe this is going to happen, no one is going to.

Life Lessons Learned from Piloting:

Every year as a pilot you have to prove yourself and show you are skilled in what you do. After two years of flying you go to the pilot in command for a promotion. After my second year in Germany I was up for this promotion. What you have to do is fly the map of the earth. The instructor got lost. I pushed myself because I realized you can’t depend on other people. You are in the pilot seat. No matter what role you are in there is no autopilot. We have to lead instead of follow.

5 truths to Leading yourself in Life

Potential
Implementation
Leadership (Communicate Aviate Navigate)
Optimal Performance
Tenacity

Business after the Military

I would have still been in the military however, I was injured and offered a medical retirement and got out of the military right before 9/11. This is when I got my first corporate job working as a warehouse inventory accounting and worked my way up to purchasing manager. My last job I was a commodity and international contract negotiator. I was broken. I came out of the military physically and emotionally broken. I was not ready to speak. It was the community who found out I was a helicopter pilot that would ask me to speak at school or church events. At every event I would speak at after I would get 5 more calls to speak elsewhere. At this time, I am still working a corporate job so I am turning a lot of them down. It wasn’t until someone said we will pay you. In 2009, I was laid off. And that is when I realized what I was supposed to be doing.

Rod and Elizabeth round out the interview talking about the meaning of “SOAR” and how setbacks in life can lead to your greatest accomplishments in business ownership.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with former NFL player turned motivational speaker JJ BIrden.

Born and raised in Portland Oregon, JJ went to the University of Oregon where he was a two sport star in Football and Track and Field. A 5’10”, 157-pound wide receiver, JJ was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 1988 NFL Draft and played nine seasons (Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons). He played two years with Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana. He certainly was not the biggest, strongest, or fastest guy on the field, but he knew how to seize his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and maximize his success through dedication and hard work.

JJ’s ultimate passion was to be successful at something. Raised in the inner cities of Portland, JJ and his family knew what real struggle was and he was determined to break that cycle for himself one way or another. Unlike other kids his age JJ didn’t play a team sport until his sophomore year in High School but he showed true talent and drive and quickly became an integral part of his teams. The first success was learning how to manage his time and prioritize early on in his life.

Becoming a Pro

JJ wasn’t sure where he was headed when he qualified for the 1988 Olympic trials for the long jump and was the #1 high school wide receiver in Oregon. He thought it would be track and field when he didn’t receive a single D1 scholarship offer.

After receiving a scholarship to the University of Oregon for track & field, JJ earned a walk-on spot with the football team his sophomore year. He was at the bottom of the depth chart and nowhere near seeing actual playing time on the field, but his coaches and teammates didn’t know how hard he was willing to work. It didn’t take long for them to find out: JJ became a starter the next season, his junior year.

But like all long-shot stories and underdog tales, JJ’s trials were just beginning. The remainder of his college career was plagued with injuries and unimpressive stats. Still, JJ’s speed and toughness were enough to earn him an invite to the NFL Combine, a yearly gathering of the top 300 college prospects in the nation. Unsurprising to his teammates, coaches, and fans, JJ dominated the Combine. His performance earned him the 216th pick in the 8th round of the 1988 NFL Draft. That’s when the going got really tough.

“My first setback was tearing my ACL at the Cleveland Browns Rookie camp” JJ remembers. “The bright side was I was drafted and I got to sit on IR with the Browns and see what happens. The first year, there was no pressure. It was a learning curve.”

Eventually he got back on the field. Having always excelled in athletics he was convinced he would continue to do so in the pros but he quickly learned there is a reason why they called it the professionals. “I remember I was grabbed by my pads and thrown to the ground” ‘Rookie- this is the NFL and every day is game day. You better do better than that.’ I got a quick wake-up call that It doesn’t matter what I have done in the past, these guys bring their best every day. I better figure this out.” JJ recalls. JJ learned a valuable lesson that he continues to apply to business: Every day is game day and you can’t take days off.

As a motivational speaker JJ Shares principles from the point of view of the underdog and what it takes to leverage where you are to be successful. The truth is, JJ felt like an underdog his whole life but he was also convinced that stats didn’t matter. “When opportunities knock, you don’t’ answer the door, you rip the door off the hinges and make opportunities and do what it takes.” he says.

FASCO

An acronym: Failures Adversities SetBacks Challenges and Obstacles = The thing that is trying to stop you from achieving your goal. What does it look like to be outworking others? There is a thin line that separates you from your competitor and you have to make small incremental changes to continue to improve your game. What is your competitive advantage? What is the little extra thing that you bring to the table?

Your Why Factor

Understanding your “why” is the key to what you are doing. If the why is strong enough the process to get there is not a challenge. You will do whatever it takes. You need to ask yourself, what inspires you, motivates you, what gets you excited? That is what is going to take you to those good days and support you through the bad.

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Jeb Blount is a best selling author including Fanatical Prospecting, Sales EQ, Objections and most recently Virtual Selling. He's published hundreds of articles and is among the world’s most respected thought leaders on sales, leadership, and customer experience. He is the leader and CEO of Sales Gravy. Sales Gravy is the #1 most trafficked website in the world.

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This week on The Massimo Show Rod sat down with an internationally recognized client-acquisition expert, author, and speaker - Bill Cates.

Bill has delivered his business-growth message to over 300,000 professionals, small business owners, and salespeople across 5 continents; helping them increase revenue without increasing their marketing budget.

Bill is the author of four popular books: Get More Referrals Now, Don’t Keep Me a Secret, Beyond Referrals, and Radical Relevance.

Bill Cates’ client-acquisition system has been featured in such publications as Success Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Selling Power, the Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. His own business’s success has been featured in Money Magazine.

Bill was born and Raised in Silver Springs, Maryland just outside of Washington, DC. While attending the University of Maryland he was a drummer in a rock n roll band who turned professional after college, even touring the country after he finished graduate school. While they were fairly successful Bill knew enough to realize he didn't want to play at Holiday Inns for the rest of his life. After working for American Airlines in customer service he got the itch to own his own business.

A woman was selling her cookbook at a "pick your own strawberry" farms. She stole all his ideas and he was not compensated for it. He thought “I could do better than this” so he identified 1500 pick your own strawberry farms around the county and got an offer to write a cookbook and sell it to the farmers. The first year he sold 15000 copies of the book. He moved on to an apple and honey cookbook. It was a niche for the farmers. Bill was selling around 80000 copies of his cookbooks a year. He started selling in kitchen stores, gourmet shops, and grocery stores. He then moved on to writing specialty cookbooks for equipment manufacturers. He wrote for Weber grills, a smoker company, a cookie cookbook for American Greeting Cards. He created this niche of smaller cookbooks. He built the business until it was saleable and publishing his cookbooks was going great.

They say liberal arts majors make good entrepreneurs because they learn how to learn and teach. Bil sold several businesses and was looking for the next thing to do. A friend of his said “you should be a professional speaker” so he started hanging out at the National Speaker Association.

After trying his hand at running a book publishing company he discovered his passion for speaking and teaching other entrepreneurs.

It didn’t matter if Bill was getting gigs for his band, soothing ruffled feathers of airline clients, or connecting with farmers over a great recipe - he was learning to make real connections. This led to Bill’s niche - referral marketing. Bill believes in the power of multiplying your best clients.

“It doesn’t cost money to do that,” Bill notes. “What I learned is not only about referrals but about introductions. Make sure you are getting introduced to the people who will give you referrals. Referrals and introductions work because of borrowed trust. Make sure to have a Value Check-in. This is when you check-in in along the way so your client knows the value we are bringing. To see that we are exceeding their expectation because most businesses don’t check in enough. When you check-in and ask how do you think we are doing? When you bring that openness to checking in on a regular basis, that is the beginning step for asking for an introduction. It solidifies the connection.”

Rod and Bill go on to discuss the delegation of 5 things that will free you up to do the things that need to be done:

The sales division is handled by a referral network and reputation.
Marketing by speaking in key conferences, newsletters, blogs. Reputation building and maintenance. Run by his team.
Personnel- marketing run by his team.
Operations use CRM.
Finance has an accounting team and book-keeping service

Bill and Rod end with some helpful information on how to multiply your best clients in five steps and more about Bill’s books Beyond Referrals and Radical Relevance

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Joe Calloway

Joe Calloway helps leaders, owners, and entrepreneurs make great companies even better. He helps organizations focus on what is truly important, inspires new thinking about challenges and opportunities, and motivates people to immediate action.

Joe is the Executive In Residence at Belmont University's Center For Entrepreneurship. He is a business author, consultant and speaker whose client list reads like an international Who’s Who in business, ranging from Coca Cola and Verizon to Cadillac and American Express. Joe also works with small to mid-sized business groups including franchisees, medical practices, law firms, and a range of professional services groups.

Joe is the author of Be the Best at What Matters Most and five other ground-breaking business books including Becoming A Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity And Defy Comparison, which received rave reviews from The New York Times, Retailing Today, Publishers Weekly, and many others.

His newest book is Magnetic: The Art of Attracting Business.

Joe's business experience includes having owned a restaurant in Nashville, and he is currently serving as Advisor on Business Development with Gilson Boards, a snowboard design and manufacturing company based in Pennsylvania.

Joe grew up in a rural community in Tennessee where he focused mainly on his passion for rock and roll bands such as Rolling Stones, The Who, Doors, and the Beatles. He started off as a drummer and eventually became the frontman!

Joe also had a passion for all things political and after college, he worked in the House of Representatives representing the state of Tennessee. Eventually, Joe changed directions because he was becoming tired of the political scene.

From there he went to work with his Brother in law in Real Estate taking a big leap and leaving his home town to move to Washington State. He became the General Manager of his brother in law’s company where there were about 10 agents.

“My job was to help the agents become more successful. I was paid based on the company revenue. I got intrigued by coming up with ideas to help the agents become better at what they do. That is when I left the Real Estate business to go off on my own to seminars and workshops for some real estate companies, banks, all different areas from time management and sales programs. That evolved into people asking for me to do a speech at a trade association and that grew to speak at big conventions being the keynote speaker.”

Joe’s roles continued to evolve over the years from customer service, to building your brand with your people, to eventually transitioning into leadership speaking engagements working with smaller groups.

Joe and Rod discuss what it takes to be a successful leader. Joe remarks that:

“There are a lot of things, but there is no set answer. What comes to mind is Clarity. No one wonders what is going on. It is clear. This who we are, this is what we value, here is what is important. Here is the way we treat people. And clarity on where we are going. Our vision for the organization and how to get there.”

Joe and Rod close out the show with Five Factors in Five Minutes where they cover Prospecting, Marketing, Productivity, CRMs, and how Joe is handling his team during COVID.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with David Newman certified speaking professional marketing expert and founder of Do it! Marketing.

David is the creator of the Speaker Profit Formula seminar and mentoring program.

He has worked with over 600 executives and entrepreneurs to monetize their message including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Qvc, Merrill lynch and more. His podcast is the #1 podcast for

experts who want to speak more profitably and his new book Do it! Speaking is a must for anyone to read regardless if you are a speaker or not.

David grew up in Northern New Jersey with dreams of being a doctor like his godfather. He went to college for pre-med and failed out but that didn’t deter him. He changed his major to drama and graduated with an undergraduate drama degree and went on to graduate school to receive his MFA in stage directing from the City University of New York. After school he worked in professional theatre - directing, stage managing, and assistant directing for 4 years in NY.

Eventually a friend said “you are teaching at graduate school to pay the bills, you could do that with companies and that is called corporate training” and David took his advice.

Over the next 10 years he had three corporate training or corporate consulting jobs in management and Human Resources. David worked for Microsoft, doing internal training, trainer to trainer, client based training on technology and HR management topics. “When you are an internal consultant at a big firm, you are doing a big portfolio of things. You are given a binder of things to learn. You are flying all over the country teaching at different locations. You have to be flexible and versatile.” David said. “I was teaching anything to anyone, I began to think how hard could this be to go out on your own? I know what I am doing. I learn anything and go out and teach it the next day. Let me go out on my own as an entrepreneurial speaking consultant.”

David found out quickly how hard it could be. He learned that it’s not about doing the work, it’s about getting the work. “It took me 3 years to figure out how to get clarity, focus and momentum. It took me a while to be able to answer questions outside the binder.” he said. David invested in sales training and sales coaching and came to the conclusion that he should focus on sales and marketing. He launched Do it! Marketing.

Methodology “When I had alignment of what I was doing who I was doing it for and what I was saying about

my business, That is when the flood gates opened.”

The 4 greatest foundational decisions you can make are:

Who you are
Who you not
Who your clients are
Who your clients are not

Pricing You are either Timex or Rolex. If you are selling “cheap” you are going to

attract cheap people. If you are selling “premium” you will attract premium people. Low fees lead to low attention. Low attention leads to low respect. Low respect means low implementation of your ideas and thus, low results. When you undercut your price you are doing your clients a disservice. They don’t take you as seriously, they don’t follow your advice. They don’t show up on calls or follow through on your recommendation. They start looking at other places for results. Pricing is positioning.

David and Rod spend the remainder of the podcast discussing Influence, engagement, and speaking. They touch on Podcasting and the importance of leveraging other people in your own business to add value to your audience!

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Joe was born and raised in Seymour, Wisconsin just outside of Green Bay. As a kid he loved sports, all sports. His mother would have to call him in at night because he was always outside playing until the sun went down. But there was just one problem - Joe was not a very good athlete. At some point, someone said to him “with your love of sports and your big mouth you ought to put those two together and become a sports broadcaster”. From the age of 14 on he dreamt of being a TV Sports Broadcaster. With a lot of luck and a little work he’s done just that.He’s reached his goal to get into a major sports market where all sports are covered, and it was a great place to raise a family too!

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On this episode of The Masimo Show, Rod sits down with two-time memory champion, Ron White, as they discuss how to mastery your memory.

Ron is best known for winning the USA Memory Championship in 2009 and 2010 and held the record for the fastest to memorize a deck of shuffled cards in only 1 minute and 27 seconds. But Ron isn’t interested in showing off how great his memory is, he is on a quest to help others have trained memories as well.

Ron recalls that he was a good student and definitely an introvert growing up. Like so many others, he and his lifelong friend Brian made the decision to join the military after 9/11 but before they were soldiers Ron had had his fair share of real-world experience.

At 18, Brian asked Ron if he wanted a job working as a telemarketer for a chimney cleaning business. In his first two weeks, he made a call to a guy who said “I do not want my chimney cleaned, but you are a great telemarketer - will you come work for me? I sell memory seminars and I will pay you more than you are making.” Ron worked for him for a year and then started his own company and was in the business for 8 or 9 years.

Needless to say, If you ask Ron, he will tell you that if he’d known then what he knows now about what it takes to start a business, he wouldn’t have done it. “It was so much harder than going down to the courthouse, registering a company name, taking that paper to the back to set up an account” he recalls. He never anticipated going broke, living in his car, waking up and owing IRS $150K, and having $150 in his bank account.

“When I was 24 years old, I thought I was a Rockafeller,” Ron said. “I was telling a guy I met in a bar that I made 20k this month and I am only 24. The guy listened and then shared he was a multi-millionaire, owned restaurants across the country, and friends with higher-ups in Microsoft.” Unfortunately, that turned out to be a lie. This guy was a high-level con artist but it was too late, Ron had given him control to run his business because he had no confidence in himself. Ron gave him total control of the business and his bank account and the next thing he knew, the guy took his money and left. After that Ron learned to trust himself.

In the late 90s, Ron contacted Billy Burdon, a competitor who owned a company called Memory Masters. He was 25, had been in the business for 6 years, and was asking for advice. The biggest piece of advice Billy gave him was to create a cassette program with a call to action for people to purchase at the end of speeches. He created a cassette course in 1998 and that opened up so many doors. Duplicating himself and having a product changed his business and his mindset.

Like so many other patriots, Ron and his lifelong friend Brian made the decision to join the military after 9/11. Brian joined the Army and Ron joined the Navy where he served for 8 years as a reservist. Brian still was a high school teacher and Ron was a memory expert. In 2005 Brian was deployed to Afghanistan and came back, and in 2007, Ron was deployed to Afghanistan. They both retired from the military in 2010.

During his time in Afghanistan Ron was looking at a website and saw a news article about a memory tournament. He realized that in his speeches he was referring to himself as of the experts in the world but he had done nothing to prove that. Tournaments started in 2005. “I needed to compete with the guys that were winning the memory tournaments and win or take out from my bio,” he recalls. In 2008, he competed in his first tournament. He had been back from Afghanistan for about 8 weeks and came in 4th place. He resolved to train much more seriously for the next one—2009 would be his year, and it was. As was 2010.

Never Forget and Patriotism “After breaking records, I was thinking what is next?” Ron says. “And then someone said how long would it take you to memorize the Vietnam wall?” Ron thought, “I served In Afghanistan, why not do those who served in Afghanistan instead?” As a tribute to the fallen, Ron has memorized the names of more than 2,300 American service members killed in Afghanistan. He travels the USA writing the names on a 52-foot long wall from memory. It took 10 months to memorize the 7,000+ words.

Ron encourages listeners to look into getting their “black belt in memory” with his courses!

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Rod sits down with Tremendous Tracey Jones.

Author of eight books and counting, Dr. Tracey C. Jones is a motivational speaker, business leadership resource, and president of Tremendous Leadership - a company that offers you the very best books, resources and programs to cultivate your professional and personal development.

Tracy’s story is really the beginning of a beautiful love story. Her Father and mentor, motivational speaker Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, always talked about how he hit the trifecta when he met her mother, got involved in the insurance industry and found Christ. His love for his family and his work provided Tracy with a lifelong example of great leadership which she strives to uphold to this day. Tracy describes her childhood as a cross between bootcamp and a sitcom. Her father was an incredibly driven individual with a great sense of humor. For him, everything had a purpose and more than that, it had to be fun! She grew up believing work was a vacation because if you love what you do your work is a joy. She recalls that her vacations often consisted of packing up in an RV and going around to speaking engagements for her father. If they weren’t on the road traveling to speaking engagements, there were many other things to do such as get a job, work in the yard or play. Watching TV was not an option because they were locked up in the attic!

Tracy grew up listening to other great mentors as well. Zig Zigler, Ted Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale all influenced her and so many others in her industry because they bring value to the table and their stories are triumphant. Listening to these stories and those of her father taught her life was never easy. Tracy’s father taught self-efficacy, resilience, tenacity, and adaptive capacity. He encouraged her to “go out and earn [her] stripes” and often reminded her that “Life is great, but it is what you make of it” and “It doesn’t matter what life throws at you it is how you respond to it”.

With these ideals in mind Tracey decided she wanted to serve her country. She went into the Airforce academy and graduated as a Lieutenant who then got trained to work on fighter jets- F15 & 16s.

After the military Tracey moved to Austin, Texas to work in the high tech field. She worked for a Fortune 100 company with a great leadership but after a couple of years, she realized that everything is the same. Even though she was out of the bureaucracy of the government, so many of the same people, problems, and processes hadn’t changed. She was looking for something more. Tracey moved to St Louis to work in defense contracting. She was excited to blend her Fortune 100 edge with her love for the military. Two years into it, the same issues arose. She knew she needed to make a change and do something that was going to make a difference.

Tracey always knew there was something more for her. Growing up around entrepreneurs she knew that someday she would love to do her own thing. Her father always told her you have two choices: work for yourself or work for someone else. As long as you work for someone else there will always be the bureaucratic side to things. It wasn’t until her father’s failing health that she told him she was going to come back and run the family business.

After the break Rod and Tracey discuss how you sell yourself and business. Hint: Repeat business and ask for referrals!

Rod and Tracey close out the show with a bonus section talking about her new book - Igniting the greatness within - SPARK. Singularity Persistence Advocate Resource Knowledge. Don’t miss it!

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On today's episode of The Massimo Show, Rod sits down with Jessica Magoch.

When you think about art, whether that be painting, music or your favorite art, you may think about something that has moved or changed you. Sales is about moving people to take action. To show someone a different way of looking at things that they haven’t seen before. Sales is creating a story of helping people move from where they are to where they want to be.

Jessica Magoch, JPM partners founder is a professional sales manager and trainer. Leveraging a great mentor positioned her for sales success. After graduating from acting school, Jessica Magoch learned about the craft of selling from the ultimate mentor, her father. She has since grown to lead a multi-million-dollar sales teams and is an adjunct professor at the Wharton School of Business, teaching in their Start-Up Accelerator programs focusing on teaching entrepreneur’s how to sell.

The only sales experience Jessica had was selling girls scout cookies, she was more into theatre, singing, and dancing. Jessica had no interest in going into the family business, however, her father and mentor presented an opportunity she could not pass up after graduating from acting school. She moved to New York to work in sales and her father would teach her everything he knew. This is where she learned to do sales and grow a business. She hit the ground running and built up a $100 million-dollar sales team. With her own office space and 30 sales reps, this is where she learned how to build a business within a business.

Jessica shares how she works out of her house creating work-life balance with her family and started an amazing company within the last five years. She shared her sales funnel and how to market and leverage talent across the globe. These lessons will help anyone grow their business.

Rod and Jessica closed out the show by reviewing her 5 factors of success focused on helping people sell more.

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Betty started her life in Columbia, South America, and wanted for nothing. Despite having everything she could have asked for; life was not as perfect as it seemed in her house. Although she had a loving millionaire father his demons often got the best of him when it came to alcohol. By the time Betty was 12 her mother had had it and she wanted to leave her husband and move to America. Betty was given the choice to stay or to leave and even though she loved her father and was often referred to as “Daddy’s little girl” she was old enough to recognize what was happening and she decided to move to America with just the belongings she had in her luggage. Betty regards this as the first value-based decision she made as a young woman and that idea became the basis for her book and her great success.

But like any great success story, this one took time. Betty was what we would refer to as a serial entrepreneur. Although she had a kind of love-hate relationship with him her father was an amazing businessman and she believes her spirit for business was in her blood. When she was young her dad took her to visit clients and employees and, although she didn’t realize it at the time, he was teaching her how to be an entrepreneur. He took care of his family and his aunt and made lots of value-based decisions when it came to his business. Those were the parts of her father Betty wanted to keep and carry on in her own businesses.

Her first entrepreneurial venture was in engineering and manufacturing and made pieces of a surgical light in her garage. She was working as a secretary for an engineering company and took a course about free enterprise and how to pay people by the piece instead of the hour. She thought “I have a garage; we can do this!” and with a great idea and an even better drive for success, she was up and running.

By the time Betty went to get her doctorate, she had performed many turnarounds in the finical services industry. She was focused on entrepreneurs and could walk into a business and tell them what to do to increase their revenue. In this line of work and at that time, she started to notice a trend. She was seeing a lot of people who were meeting their downfall and she noticed the common thread was that what they said they stood for and how they were behaving did not align; their decisions were not value-based. But people also want to be successful, so she knew that merging the two ideas was key. She wanted to teach companies how they could create bottom line unprecedented results if they followed their core values. This idea became her first book!

Rod and Betty talk about her first executive position, her values of leadership, and what’s next for Dr. Betty.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with top producer, Matt McGregor.

Matt grew up in a suburb north of Seattle and his passion was certainly sales from the very beginning. He had always envisioned himself in corporate America and had a passion for entrepreneurship. When it came to school Matt struggled from dyslexia and recalls loving school for the social aspect but that what he really looked forward to was going to work. He had a job from about the age of 10 on and one of his first jobs was selling stereo equipment. He also had a mentor that had given him cassette tapes of different sales books and because of his dyslexia those were a big game-changer for him.

Matt became a nationally ranked top salesperson for a food distributer by his early 20s but hit a roadblock when they offered him an international position but it came to light that he hadn’t graduated from college. He recalls this being an embarrassing and awkward moment for him but instead of letting it ruin his dreams he buckled down and started going to night school. He eventually ended up with a college degree, an MBA, a certificate in commercial real estate, and a master’s degree.

He and Rod discuss the importance of listening to your mentors, joining masterminds, and how to build a powerful team.

They close the show with Matt’s 5 Factors for Success.

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On this episode of the Massimo show

Rod sits down with James Nelson – James is Principal and Head of Avison Young’s Tri-State Investment Sales group where he leads a group of three dozen professionals in the sale of multi-family, office, development, and retail properties. In the past, he served as Vice Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield and was a partner and top producer for Massey Knakal for six of their last eight years and was named the company’s youngest partner in 2004.

As a high schooler, James had no idea what his future held for him. He was eventually shipped off to boarding school but he recalls it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. He spent his college years at Colgate University when he was graduating and all his friends we getting jobs with investment banks he thought he might try his had out west at something like scriptwriting. He counselors reminded him he was going to need money to make that happen and that came from getting a job. He saw a posting for a position and applied that day. He was the second of two candidates and even though the other guy was their first pick he fondly remembers Bob Knakal deciding he could use a second associate and James was the guy! He also loves to remind Bob that that other guy fizzled out pretty quickly and look where James is today!

James attributes his 20 + years of success in the industry his mind sent his discipline, and the unique business model Bob and Paul created.

He makes a strong case for an apprenticeship when he notes that he spent the first 5 years of his career sitting in the room with Bob, which was better than an MBA! And his best advice for those looking to excel in their industry can be summed up in just a few key points:

Specialize
Offer a different value prop
Become the expert
Have great mentors

Rod and James discuss his family history of tenacity and hard work, the highs and lows of sales-driven jobs, and close the show with his 5 Factors in minutes which include some tips you are not going to want to miss!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show

Rod sits down with Beau Beery and jumps right into what he is seeing and doing as COVID is impacting his business and the businesses of his clients.

The truth is that the vast majority of folks are undecided and don’t understand what is happening and so the natural reaction is to take a pause and see how these things play out. But, according to Beau, as a broker, you can’t chill. The only choice between fight and flight is to fight for your business.

Investors go to the best of the best brokers in a time of crisis. Hopefully, if you have been building your relationships, this is the time where those people will be coming to you as a resource and it’s important to position yourself to help them. For Beau, this includes lots of phone calls, checking in on people, and sharing ideas with others.

To wrap it up they discuss the 15 principles Beau lives by and applies to how he runs his businesses. Listen in to hear him and Rod break them down and tell you exactly how to implement them today!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show

Rod sits down with CRE professional Beth Azor. Beth grew up in a small beach town in Florida and came by the business naturally with a father in CRE. At first, she was determined to do anything EXCEPT real estate and it was easy to see she could do anything she put her mind to. Young Beth enjoyed all kinds of extracurriculars from cheerleading to editor of the school paper and when Dad opened his own firm and bought a hotel and she worked cleaning houses and hotel rooms.

She attended FSU and continued to be involved in school and an RA, joining a sorority, and fundraising for causes she believed in.

It’s no surprise to hear that Beth’s childhood dreams were ambitious! Her dream job was wanting to run the Olympics and loved the logistics of events. She combined her love for logistics and fundraising and was soon work for the Heart Association.

She had had her real estate license since she was 18 to help out in the family business and was doing open houses of weekends to increase her income but it was plain to her boss that she was built for something much bigger than her current role. So much so that her boss flat out said: “Your ambition exceeds us – go do the real estate thing full time and be on our board” And so she did. But the traditional route made her unhappy and bored until someone told her about leasing in the CRE world.

She recalls immediately recognizing the idea that this role was a Transformation of a job into a service and she jumped in with two feet!

Luckily, the company she had been referred to, Terranova, had a leasing agent training program ran by her sorority sister and her rise from intern to President began.

Now Beth describes herself as a single mom of two teenage boys with 6 shopping centers in South Florida. She continues to transform her job into a service by traveling around the country teaching retail leasing agents how to fill vacancies in shopping centers.

Beth and Rod answer the questions: Is Retail Dead? What is the future of brick and mortar? And give some great tips for CRE pros on how to fill your pipeline just by giving great customer service. The round out the podcast with Beth’s 5 factors of success – listen in to hear what she has to say!

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With all the fear-mongering out there… It’s time for some much needed “courage mongering”.

So Rod sat down with Hall of Fame Speaker, NY Times best-selling author, and combat veteran Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman to give you the flight plan to succeed during turbulent times.

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with “The Millionaire Maker” Loral Langemeier. Loral is a money expert, sought after speaker, entrepreneurial thought leader, and best-selling author of five books who is on a relentless mission to change the conversation about money and empower people around the world to become millionaires. Loral discusses being an entrepreneur from a very young age. She started a personal training and aerobics program from scratch to make money to pay for college and by 24 years old she was a seasoned business owner with a finance degree and a master's in exercise physiology. She was looking to combine these degrees and soon enough she dove into the world of corporate wellness by accepting a position with the task of creating 270 fitness centers on offshore oil rigs for Chevron.

She credits her success to her willingness to try the next thing. Loral reminds us that there are “Yes Moments” all the time in your life and when an opportunity comes the average person will talk themselves out of it but not Loral! “I may not be able to do it but I’m going to put a team together who can,” she says. She goes on to remind listeners that “you’re not going to do it all. you don’t have enough skill sets” but that when it comes to a team and even that mentor you really want to work with “If you want someone to help you, go ask”.

Loral goes on to talk about more well-known aspects of her life and career including how she transitioned back to the finance space, her first millionaire year, and the birth of her son.

Rod offers his take on where people are in this pandemic (Panic, Petrified, or Productive) and Loral offers a multitude of tips and tools to get you from where you are to the most productive point you could be at this time in history!

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A conversation with Rod's tax strategist Kevin Bassett, CPA where they discuss the Corona Virus Stimulus Package and what it means to you and your clients.

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People are either scared, stuck, or proactive - which are you?

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with a top broker and former professional hockey player Joe Rullier from Montreal to discuss his transition from hockey to commercial real estate and how life hasn’t changed all that much!

Life moves quickly for a talented young hockey player and Joe is a great example of this fact. At the age of just 15, he went to go play Junior hockey. He was drafted to the AHL when he was 17 and moved to the states at age 20.

Joe is unique in that in addition to having a great talent for hockey he also has a great head for business. He remembers that his father was never a big fan of stocks but believed you should have your money where you could see it - such as brick and mortar. So, it was not a surprise that at age 19, with his first bonus from a hockey contract, Joe invested in 32 apartments back home in Montreal.

Joe’s father explained to him that “you now have 32 people going to work to pay your mortgage” and that stuck with him as he continued to serve his market, his clients, and his tenants. He now owns over 300 apartments and continues to run a successful brokerage.

He describes both of the areas of his professional life as being very similar. In hockey as in CRE you are just as good as your last game or deal, there are a lot of people who want to take your job or clients and overall, they are both incredibly competitive games.

Joe credits a lot of his success, both on and off the ice, to having great coaches and reminds us that the best coach in the world won’t work if you don’t have faith in the process! The best coaches have a passion for what they do and are always able to mentor you through different situations. In CRE as in hockey, having the perspective of someone who can see the bigger picture is always an advantage.

Joe and Rod end the interview discussing Joe’s best habits to be successful in the business including what he’s reading and what how he’s approaching continuing education in his field!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Chris Hurn of Fountainhead Commercial to discuss his life, business, and how his team is ramping up to help small business owners fight the economic destruction caused by Covid-19.

Chris Hurn was born to be an entrepreneur. He is fast-paced and always thinking big so it’s no surprise that at every turn in his career he was able to look around and clearly decide what came next. Over the years he’s faced major life events that initiated and then expand his entrepreneurial success.

Chris is a people person and an advocate for small businesses. He was voted CEO of the year in Orlando twice and both of his companies were voted top places to work for. He may have laser focus these days but as a teen Chris admits he was more focused on chasing girls than business! But honestly, he was your average teen with lots of responsibilities including playing sports, going to school, and helping his mom get her real estate license. He recollects he had lots of plates in the air and it hasn’t stopped since!

At age 13 his parents divorced after a long separation and Chris remembers helping his mom study real estate. Back then he loved the finical side of it and he carried that fascination into his adulthood and became the CFO of a commercial real estate company. By that time in his life, Chris had already worked with hi-tech start-ups, taught himself marketing skills, and been recruited into large lending companies.

But a series of life-altering world events changed his professional trajectory. After the dot com crash, he worked as a management consultant, a job that required some travel. But due to the birth of his daughter, he skipped his meeting in New York in early September and was not in the Twin Towers on 9/11. This became a turning point in his life, and he decided he didn’t want to work for big cooperation anymore.

He knew a lot about SBA 504 loans (specifically for small to mid-size businesses to purchase their buildings) and felt that not a lot of other people who could benefit from them did and thus a new company was born. Mercantile grew quickly and was going to convert itself into a national bank but that was put on hold when Lehman Brothers crumbled in 2009. He sold the company and eventually moved on and started Fountainhead Commercial. After all that he has faced in his personal and professional life he is now running a successful lending firm with 35 employees and two locations and they are just getting started.

Rod and Chris Address Current events and business:

As of this episode in mid-March 2020 covid-19 is wreaking havoc on the health of the nation and, as Chris puts it, has become an economic pandemic. The business of America is business and that has come to a grinding halt which is sure to have ripple effects across the economic landscape. Legislation to support small to mid-sized businesses has been rolled out in these unprecedented times and many people who are being impacted are turning to their lenders for guidance. Chris and his team hope to bring lawyers and financial planners and others who are looking at reduced hours of their own onboard to be trained to process these much-needed loans and help people maintain their livelihood. He and Rod encourage people to be the resource in these times of uncertainty.

Rod and Chris end the show with an insightful round of Five in Five about him and his business. Listen in to learn something new to incorporate into your day!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with top Producer Eric West.

Eric came to the real estate market in an interesting way. As a teen living outside of Washington DC in Bethesda Maryland Eric grew up with two entrepreneurial parents. His father owned his own law firm and hired Eric as a courier for his company to help him learn about the city and its demographics. But the grooming didn’t stop there. He then worked with the real estate arm of his father’s firm and learned about the closing process. To round out his education he spent a summer working for a construction company, which he admits was not his best skill.

Being an entrepreneur and finding a great niche in any market came naturally to Eric. In his junior year at Tulane, he and a classmate realized that one person’s family-owned several restaurants and the other’s leased restaurant equipment. From there they pooled their shared family history of restaurateurs and knowledge of how the leasing process worked to create a national database to compare lenders for leasing restaurant equipment. It was very successful, yet after about a year of traveling to support the company the tax codes changed and purchasing equipment became the norm. The two sold their database to a local lender and Eric moved on to join a local real estate company.

Although Eric felt he was destined to become a commercial broker and had studied several aspects of the job, it was at this first firm that Eric really learned the mechanics of doing business in a way no internship could have prepared him for.

When he moved back to the DC area Eric took his knowledge of the city, his talent for finding a niche market, and his keen eye for doing business and developed relationships and a strong reputation in the nonprofit side of real estate. He and his team continued to create a bespoke brokerage where relationships and reputations were key factors in the success of his firm.

Rod and Eric close out the show with Eric’s 5 Key Factors to Success and you won’t want to miss them!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show, Rod sits down with former FBI negotiator and author of Just Listen – Dr. Mark Goulston. Dr. Mark Goulson hacks people. He is a confidante, advisor, and coach to founders, CEOs and high potential rising stars. He is also one of the world's foremost authorities on empathetic listening.

As a teenager living outside Boston, MA, Dr. Goulston was aware of anger and unhappiness in the world and began to wonder why it existed. He felt powerless against it and, as he would later learn, succumbed to it himself in the form of depression. Dr. Goulton will openly tell you that aside from a 40+ year marriage and raising children of his own his largest personal accomplishment was dropping out of medical school twice, and still finishing. The school referred him to the Dean of Students (who cared about students, mind you). He told Mark point blank “you didn’t mess up, but you are messed up” and if he would be willing to get “un-messed up” the school would be happy to give him another chance. He went on to say that even if he didn’t become a doctor he would still be glad to know him because he saw something of value in him. Something that was not based on what Mark could or had done but on who he was as a person.

It was this idea that people have intrinsic value just by being people that led Mark to become a suicide specialist and in 25 years on the floor not one of his patients took their own lives. A true testament to the fact that they felt seen and understood in a tremendous way. He credits letting go of his own agenda and allowing people to learn into you as a powerful listening tool. In his talk called “Want to be more impactful?” he discusses what people are listening to versus what people were listening for. This disruptive form of communication was a different way to get results from the people interact with causing them to feel felt and seen. This leads to the most powerful sales question you will ever come up with. Listen to find out!

At the end of the day your best sales the technique is to get your client to open up to you about the true problem or pain point they are experiencing and once they have done so let them trust you to solve it. Dr. Goulston discusses the importance of trust, confidence in you, and earning respect as well as what he calls “The 5 Reallys” to get to the bottom of your potential client’s problem so that you alone have the insight to solve it for them.

Rod and Dr. Goulston end the show with the story, message, and power behind WMYST a national and international movement geared towards sparking joy and true human connection.

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On this episode of the Masimo Group, we welcome Mathew Laborde of Elifin Realty. Mathew has demonstrated you don’t need years of experience to leverage new approaches. You need to look at things differently, leverage new approaches and ultimately believe in yourself.

Mathew began his career in Commercial Real Estate at a large firm in Louisiana. He was young, hungry, and willing to sleep at the office to get things done. But change was happening in the industry. Even though a lot of brokerages were laying off staff and the advent of the internet was making going down to the clerk of courts for information a thing of the past Mathew had no intention of breaking away to start his own firm. That all changed when someone who knew took him to lunch one day and told him “God told me to take you to lunch and tell you to start your own company”. Mathew admits to being a religious guy but even this amount of specificity took him by surprise. Low and behold a month later and after a few other nudges he was on his way to starting Elifin. Side note: the name is a combination of the words “Elite” and “Financial”!

On day one Mathew hired an office manager and has been growing his team ever since. He knew he wanted to be successful, but he was going about things without a lot of thought until he found The Massimo Group. Mathew stresses that all the content in the world wouldn’t have helped if The Massimo Group coaching didn’t keep him focused on implementation! After all, Knowing Isn’t Doing.

Mathew hopes to continue to grow his company in a direct focused manner as he strives to be a leading figure in the world of Commercial Real Estate!

Rod finishes off the interview with a few lightning rounds of great questions about Mathew’s personal life and his secrets to being successful. Don’t miss the answer to questions about his favorite suit and tie and his tips about CRE in social media!

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On this episode of the Massimo Show Rod sits down with Brand Factory Inc owner Doc Williams. Doc is a self-described content solution architect and, according to his family, a literal born salesman. Doc grew up in the suburbs outside of DC and by the age of 8 owned his own candy and trading card company complete with business cards. After selling a Pokémon card for $100 it was clear to Doc that he would make his way in the world by owning his own business. By the age of 12, he was diversifying his portfolio of offerings by being a DJ at weddings and getting his sisters to pay him $5 per Coca Cola that he would get them from the store down the street. Like most teens, Doc wasn't happy with his self-image but armed with a growth spurt and a bet from the boyfriend of one of his sisters he began working out and was published as a “before and after” picture in Muscle and Fitness Magazine. With sales experience and the desire to be his own boss, he decided to go to Community College to be a massage therapist at just 18 years old. But 2008 held different ideas for most of America's workforce and Doc was forced to transition to be a physical therapist assistant. He had developed a fondness for fitness, and he was bored at his job so at 23 Doc finally realized his dream of being a business owner and opened his own CrossFit gym. Soon thereafter Doc learned the first lesson in building a brand - niching down on your market. He built a parkour gym for a guy who was training to be an American Ninja Warrior and expanded his offerings as a trainer. As a small business owner, you are forced to do all of the things your company needs to grow including writing your own copy for websites and blogs. Doc realized he was a talented writer, especially for the content side of the fitness world. He soon found himself with a job writing for ESPN where he was meeting and interviewing athletes. Once he had access to these athletes, he could pitch him his idea to write content for them and their personal brands or products they wanted to sell. During all this, Doc found himself on the reality show America’s Next Great Trainer with Arnold Schwarzenegger! Eventually, It became overwhelming to decipher which athletes or influencers we're really committed to their products or brands and who was in it for the long haul so in order to better serve his ideal client Doc built a course to teach people to write their own copy and Brand Factory Inc. was born! This site and its method include a unique series of systems and flowcharts to help clients create their own messaging and communicate with their ideal clients and achieve their marketing goals. At age 32 years old Doc Williams and his team are helping people communicate in truly authentic ways. If you’re interested in learning more visit https://brandfactoryinc.com/ and learn how what to say to the people who want to hear from you. Bonus section: Doc and Rod brainstorm about The Massimo Group! Don’t miss it!

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On this episode of The Massimo Show Rod sits down with top Commercial Real Estate producer Anthony Provenzano to talk about his early life, his biggest wins, and his secret to success.

Anthony was an active, self-motivated kid with 2 black belts and a love for baseball when at just 14 he and his younger brother lost their father to an illness.

Orphaned and alone, Anthony Provenzano attending high school by day and finding odd jobs at night. He went from working construction to running his own screen-printing business to getting a degree in finance and real estate all on his own. And if that weren’t enough of an accomplishment at age 21, he sold cars on the side to make enough money to get in front of a judge and request guardianship of his younger brother who was still in the foster care system.

Anthony interned with a CRE company right out of college and his favorite part was that he was always learning and that he got out what he put in. He continued to collect contacts and business cards from everyone he met and made an impressive database. But his big breakthrough came when he was taken under the wing of a real mentor.

After a number of years in the industry and with the help of his mentor, Anthony was ready to build his own team. Things were rocky, but soon he met someone from his alma mater who was passionate about CRE. He was so impressed by their drive he brought them aboard and he has been growing his team ever since.

Another big stride forward came when Anthony went from a boutique-style firm to a national one. Much like all the other opportunities in his life, he was determined to leverage this to his advantage and continue to build that database of connections. He planned one of his famous trips and met with each top producer along the west coast from Seattle to San Diego with the intention of making genuine connections and solidifying himself as the go-to agent in his market.

It’s no surprise to anyone who has met Anthony and knows of his drive to succeed but after just one full year in his new brokerage, he hit number one in 2019. He feels more motivated today as he is responsible for team members, his wife, and his new child. He credits his motivation and success to rigorous goal-setting, his ability to truly value time, and his passion for teaching others.

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On this episode of the Massimo Podcast:
After a string of unfulfilling roles and one ridiculous boss, Mike McCormick of Insurance Soup was feeling the urge to be an entrepreneur! Today he's providing something much more than just insurance. Join Rod and Mike as they chat about filling the needs of his fellow insurance agents though resources and community as well as how you can leverage your captive audience through social media.

Episode Two: In part two of this episode, Mike and Rod drill deeper into how Mike is leveraging his 10% market share captive audience and social media to connect with his ideal agents. One of the unique aspects of Mike’s social media is that he is 100% himself! He shares personal aspects of his life and while he knows this does contribute to his “Know, Like, Trust” factor his intent (and if you ask him, his only option) is to be authentic with his audience and himself. Transparency doesn’t stop at social media for the owner of Insurance Soup. Mike explains a little about his core mastermind: The Career Agent Concept. This educational resource is full of over 100 hours of educational content including marketing materials for agents and referral partners alike. The goal of this course is to help agents build a business in the digital age on social media.

If you are an agent or know an agent who could benefit from Mike and his team’s resources visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/insurancesoup/ or visit www.theinsurancesoup.com (don’t forget the “The”!)

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Episode One:
Mike joins Rod to talk about much more than the fact that both have strong ties to Stony Brook, NY! After being in a few jobs including mortgage and corporate banking Mike finally found his home in insurance. He quickly made a few great friends across the US and while they came from different companies and served different clients there was no denying that they were having similar issues with vendors, carriers, and marketing teams. This inspired Mike to break people out of their silos of company, location, or clientele and create the hive mind that is The Insurance Soup. Starting with just a few hundred agents Mike immediately began to serve his community of like-minded individuals with courses focused on what they were struggling with and brought forward solutions to their most common issues. With an emphasis on creative and quality content, Mike strives to be the “amazon of the insurance industry” as he creates a go-to resource for agents and companies looking to solve problems and serve their clients well.

Part 1 of 2

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Bob Burg, one of today’s top influential leaders, shares how a subtle shift in focus is not only a more uplifting and fulfilling way of conducting business but also the most financially profitable way. Known for his book Endless Referrals, Bob explains the 5 principles in his business parable, The Go-Giver, on the show today.

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Maxwell Finn, President and Founder of Unicorn Innovations and a friend of mine, hits on one of the most perplexing problems facing business owners today – Facebook! Max shares crucial insight on what to do, how to do it and when to spend money on Facebook ads. Max tells us why we shouldn’t sweat their changing algorithms and what to do instead.

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Be prepared to be completely entertained and mesmerized by the one and only Wes Schaeffer – The Sales Whisperer. He’s a self-described “pigheaded entrepreneur” who rehabilitates salespeople and trains their managers. A highly-regarded speaker, marketing automation aficionado and author of “2.5 books,” Wes has helped 5,400 of the world’s top speakers, authors, coaches, and sales professionals achieve nearly miraculous growth and shares his wisdom with us today. This is Part 2 of 2.

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Serial-entrepreneur, owner of multiple businesses, mom, stepmom, wife, author and podcast host Summer Felix-Mulder shares why she does what she does, what she’s learned along the way and the trick she uses to make it all happen.

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No one ever drifted to the success they wanted - they created a plan and set goals to get there. The trouble is, though, that achieving big goals isn’t easy because most of us haven’t been taught HOW to properly set goals -- or even WHAT goals to set so that we end up with the results we really want. There is no reason 2020 can't be your best CRE year yet – Rod Santomassimo walks through his 7 Days to Your Best CRE Year Yet program explaining the goal planning steps to gain clarity, how to set career-changing goals, and how to achieve them to gain greater success in 2020. A free downloadable workbook is available at www.massimo-group.com. This is Part 2 of 2.

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My real estate broker created a game-changing app! Leigh Mullins has got her head in the game from sports to investments to residential real estate and now inventing and developing an app - the "Uber of Real Estate" app, Zuhaus. Leigh's story offers inspiration and a little kick-in-the-butt for all of us as she offers insight on her journey and advice from the Wyoming girl who is making her dreams come true.

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WSJ bestselling author and speaker David Long is back for Part II of our interview to talk about the book club that is key to his company’s culture, how he is able to take a minimum of 24 weeks of vacation a year and his book Built to Lead: 7 Management R.E.W.A.R.D.S. Principles for Becoming a Top 10% Manager.

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WSJ bestselling author and speaker David Long shares his painful story of losing everything before creating MyEmployees, a hugely successful business, and offers a strategy for employing family members, and for recruiting and retaining the best in Part I of our interview.

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Network Marketing Pro Gary Vaynerchuk spends some time answering my specific questions about which direction to choose in marketing the Massimo Group.

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Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker, NYTimes Bestselling Author, decorated Fighter Pilot and Your Wingman, Lt. Col. Robert "Waldo" Waldman, joins me again today for Part 2 of our conversation and shares a particularly powerful personal story on when quitting can get you back into the cockpit of your mission and how to quit with honor.

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Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker, New York Times Bestselling Author, decorated Fighter Pilot and Your Wingman, Lt. Col. Robert "Waldo" Waldman, joins me today to share his fantastic story about how he overcame his fear of heights in order to attain his higher goal and how it applies to you.

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Coach, speaker, writer and thought-leader Dr. Jim Karrh talks with me about not only why our message is important, but how to craft and manage our own personal and professional message

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I thought it was only appropriate that I produce our first Massimo Show with our guest Bob Knakal, Chairman of NY Investments for JLL. Bob is one of the top producers in the world, and I've known him for several years. When I first met Bob, he was struggling with getting more margin in his life. His goal was simple: Make the same amount of money but in less time. He wanted to spend more time with his wife and daughter. Here's the story behind Bob Knakal, one of the top producers in the world, and how he found that margin, had more time for his family and made more money along the way. So, welcome to this first episode of The Massimo Show.

The Massimo Show: Recent Episodes

Rod Santomassimo