Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 This is the gig ready podcast.
Speaker 1 00:00:03 <inaudible> this
Speaker 0 00:00:19 Is it. Here we are gig ready. We're back this week, excited for a new conversation, uh, with a gentleman that actually doesn't really, um, live in the AB space at all. Definitely the podcast world, definitely doing a lot of recording and things like that, but, uh, <inaudible> and we're excited to have him here, but first just wanted to remind everybody to let those that are out there that don't know gig ready, tell them about it, let them know what's going on. Subscribe, like tell everybody how they can get in touch and how they can get in contact with us. Because man, we just want to help you become better. Professionals, get as much value in your hands as we can. We're not asking anything. We're not asking money. We're not throwing down ads, anything like that. We're just excited to have you here. So let's jump right in today. We've got Zach Babcock. He is the host of underdog empowerment, quite a story, uh, in terms of his life and, and just how everything has happened. And now he is killing it in the podcast world with some incredible courses and classes and training and growing a brand. And we're just excited to have him here, Zach. Thanks for being here today, man. Yo,
Speaker 2 00:01:30 What's up Jordan man. Thanks for having me, man. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 0 00:01:34 I was, uh, doing a lot of thinking, you know, you, you threw out there that you wanted to be on some podcasts and just do some other stuff and jam with some other people. And I thought that was outstanding. Especially even willing to come on a, a podcast that's way more niche than necessarily your standard, you know? Oh gosh, we got to encourage and keep people going and motivation and all this kind of stuff, but very focused on, uh, the live event industry. And we have a lot of people in the industry that, um, don't come from conventional backgrounds. They come from places of challenge. They've come from, you know, down and out. They've, they've changed. They've changed, not only employers, but they've changed complete industries and careers and everything else. Um, I know guys that, uh, that have been in jail. I know guys that have been in prison. I know guys that have done stuff that in a lot of industries, especially corporate, they are like done. Like nobody's gonna touch them with a 10 foot pole cause they don't want to deal with that. And you have like overcome that tremendously. Um, so why don't you just start real quick, give us a little bit of background and then kind of where all of that took place and then where you began working your way out to realize, wow, I guess I have to do something different.
Speaker 2 00:02:47 Yeah, man. Right on dude. Um, for sure. Uh, I grew up, uh, without a father figure. He died when I was seven and my mom never remarried. And uh, I think, you know, had, uh, you know, it's actually some stuff that I've been, uh, working on a lot lately. It's kind of like healing, like traumas or whatnot, but, uh, I think, uh, you know, cause I lost all my immediate family members, my mom, my sister, my dad at a young age, my dad has seven and my mom and sister and my, and my early twenties. But, um, I think V you know, that loss, like I, I would hold up walls and get the, be scared to get too close to people, uh, essentially. And, um, I didn't have any chief aim in life. Was this doing a bunch of stupid stuff? And I wouldn't go to schools smoking weed, just, just trying to fit in and trying to be accepted by other people probably more than what your average kid does.
Speaker 2 00:03:39 And, uh, that led to a lot of poor decisions. I ended up going to prison. I caught a seven year sentence. I did four years flat. A lot of stuff happened during that time. I got out for about two years and then I went back to prison just 20 days for my twin sons were born. And, um, for me that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. And that's when I was like, Jordan, I was like, dude, I don't care. I'm done. I'm getting out. I'm going to be in my kid's life. I don't know, you know, how that looks like, but I just know I'm going to be there and I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to make it happen. And you know, here we are sober six years later from, from getting out and, uh, you know, a lot's changed and a move moving in the right direction. And I find me
Speaker 0 00:04:20 Well, so really it was the kids that, you know, the kids, the family, that was the catalyst to say, all right, I gotta, I gotta do something different. Like we got to change or we're just going to keep going down this hill for a really, really long time basically until we die at that point.
Speaker 2 00:04:36 Yeah, exactly man. And they, that, uh, it was so super painful for me because I wanted to be a father my whole life, because I didn't have one, you know, I couldn't wait to be a den, uh, coach my kids at football practice. I used to go to football practice and see all my friends dads here and used to wonder how that felt. And so yeah, missing out on their birth, uh, was pretty hard. And I'm grateful though. Cause it brought me to where I'm at today and got me to wake up.
Speaker 0 00:04:59 Yeah, man. That's awesome. I mean, there's a lot of people out there that need to wake up and understand that life can be way better than it is. And uh, you know, w where, where was your thought process? The second time you went back and you're sitting there realizing, wow, okay, I've got to do this. I've got to change. I have to make an adjustment. Did you say all right, I have to do this on my own. Or I got a bunch of people that I need to find and grab and do this. Was it just a, I'm going to pull up my pants and just rock, go for it. Or did you spend some time sitting down thinking about it, calculating how you were going to actually approach the whole thing?
Speaker 2 00:05:40 Yeah, I did a lot of thinking, uh, leading up to getting out. Cause I ended up just doing eight months that second time, even though that felt a hundred times longer than that four years that I did prior, but, uh, um, really, it was like an instant shift man. I woke up and uh, you know, the pain and the, and the reality settled in and it was super painful and it was just like, man, but at the same time, I visualize what my life was going to be. Like if I kept doing the same, same thing and it was going to be in and out of prison my entire life or in there for the rest of my life or did, uh, but none of those three options were going to be in my kid's life. So, you know, that's where I was just like, I'm done. And it was just like an instant shift.
Speaker 0 00:06:25 That's awesome. So now you're changing your ma okay. Eight months you get out, um, what were, what were kind of, what was the next year or two years like where you just spending time trying to figure out, okay, what am I going to do now that, you know, I'm a felon, I have a record. Like there's only minimal things that I can, you know, cause in, in our industry, you know, a lot of people are contractors, so there's no, there's no employment requirements or people that are going to say, oh, well, we're not going to hire felons or we're not going to hire this or that. You know, they're not looking at our records. They're not looking at that sort of stuff. They're saying, are you good at what you do? Can you deliver in a, in a structure of high intensity, hard work, like making sure that you're 100% ready to go there he is Joe Mack,
Speaker 3 00:07:11 What's up, dude,
Speaker 0 00:07:14 He's connecting. Um, but through that, I mean, what, um, w what was that process like for you trying to navigate that whole thing?
Speaker 2 00:07:26 Um, yeah, when I got out, uh, dude, I, uh, became an entrepreneur and, uh, because I, you know, couldn't, uh, I put myself in the position that I did and didn't have a lot of opportunity, uh, and other places, uh, which I'm grateful for. But, um, I got laughed at, for the next three and a half years, uh, for trying to be an entrepreneur, uh, figuring it out. I, for the first two years, uh, I was getting laughed at, but I was actually being somewhat successful while I was being successful. I was in network marketing for those two years and I built up almost $2,000 a month, residual income. Uh, you know, it was funny. Cause at that time I didn't even know what network marketing was. So you can even scare me off with the word pyramid scheme. It was just an opportunity for me, man, and I was hungry. So I made the most of it, but, um, I ended up losing my passion for it and wanted to do my own thing. And, uh, and then I, I left, uh, there in the beginning of 2017 and I didn't have any success for the next, the next year and a half was getting laughed at plus just failing miserably. And, uh, it was pretty rough, but, uh, all that built a strength of character, a metaphor to two that I'm grateful for. I, yeah,
Speaker 0 00:08:41 The strength of character, the fortitude is critical. And especially in what we do, um, a lot of what we do tends to be long days, late nights. I mean, we're talking like problems that nobody else faces. And you're like, how do I figure this out? Um, and under like that resilience is incredibly crucial to, to what we do when you are getting, you know, whether it's laughed at, or, you know, people saying, what are you doing, man? Why don't you just go and figure something else out, go work for somebody else, whatever. Um, what was driving, what was driving you through that process of, I gotta do entrepreneur. I gotta be, I gotta be my own man, et cetera.
Speaker 2 00:09:21 Well, um, there was a bunch of things, honestly. Um, number one was, was, you know, for my, for me and to be, be in my kid's life. So, uh, yeah, it was for my kids, but it was more so for me to be in my kid's life, you know, I mean, uh, and then, uh, you know, for my kids as well. So I had all the internal reasons and then I had a bunch of external reasons. Like, dude, I'm gonna prove these, prove these people wrong. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to show him, you know, I'm a competitor, man. I am a competitor, I'm a competitor, my entire life. It's super ultra, highly competitive. And so all this was for me, you know, and I, and I'm not saying this to sound arrogant in any way, shape or form, but I mean, after going through prison, man, this entrepreneurship stuff is like a walking apart compared to, to that stuff. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, you know, there ain't much else you could throw it. And
Speaker 0 00:10:21 I, as I say, I can't understand what you're saying at all, really. I mean, never having experienced anything like that. I can only take your word for it. And I believe it wholeheartedly. Um, I mean, what, what, what of that, you know, what, from prison really makes you look at this and say, gosh, why is this so mean? This is easy in comparison. Like what, what, what
Speaker 2 00:10:43 Is that? Yeah. And, and, and just before we go on and, uh, I'll, I'll clarify too, not, I'm not saying that's peership is easy, cause it's consistent. It's been, it's been, uh, it's been a, it's been a go, I'll tell you what, but, uh, but, um, yeah, I definitely faced way more adversity, uh, going through the, through the prison system. So I draw on those adversities for power and strength man. And what I mean by that, like, I there's lessons that I learned, like when my sister died, uh, while I was in prison, I was in the hole and I found out about it while I was in the hole. And, uh, um, you know, and, and I was like, literally in the holes, which you're, you're in a cell by yourself. It's like eight by 10. So no, very little to no human interaction.
Speaker 2 00:11:33 And I found out that she's dead. My mom found her dead on the floor. If a needle in her arm, in the bathroom, I got a 32nd phone call to my mom were bawling her eyes out, all this stuff. And then the phone hangs up and then I'm backing myself in the next 60 days. And, um, I'm in, uh, you know, on the third day, you know, all I did was cry for three days straight and he didn't even get out of bed. So user use the restroom. But on that third day I woke up and I was like, no, God, I don't know why I'm alive, but there's gotta be a reason cause I'm still here. What do I got to do to find happiness, happiness, and peace. And um, that question led me to figuring out what I could do inside of the eight by 10 cell to find happiness and peace and I'll spare the details.
Speaker 2 00:12:13 But I went through this whole process of cleaning every single day at the same time, putting everything exactly in the same spot when I'm done with it, working out same time, writing letters, it's this whole routine. And, uh, that show taught me two great lessons. One, the quality of questions that you ask yourself will term will determine the quality of life you have. You know, if you ask bad questions, you get bad answers. If you ask good questions to get good ones, uh, and number two, uh, it doesn't doesn't matter what happens, uh, are what your circumstances you've got complete control of your life. Um, because nobody can control how you respond to it. Like, yeah, I couldn't control that. I couldn't get out of that prison so that my sister died not changing that, but I did get to decide how I chose to respond to that. That's my choice. Can't nobody make me respond a certain way only I can. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:13:06 A hundred percent. Um, wow. You said something there schedule, you created your own schedule. So basically you began that process even before you, I guess, realized you started the process, understanding like schedule and how that actually makes things better. That's something I've always struggled with is schedule. Um, what have you done in the last five to six years to better kind of work schedule, work consistency, create an environment where you're, you're succeeding because our, you know, in our world, it's, you know, I always joke with people that there's three types of days in the world. There's a show day, a non show day, and then there's Christmas. And so it's, it's one of those three. Um, and through all of that schedule is critically important, but because there's diff each, you know, different day, a show day is going to be, you might have an 8:00 AM call time. Well, but tomorrow it's a 6:00 AM call time. So creating that schedule is incredibly difficult. Um, what did you do to help create yourself as a schedule or create the schedule, but then also adapt it as things change and as things move and as day-to-day goes,
Speaker 2 00:14:20 Yes. Oh man, that's a great question right there. And, um, it's definitely evolved and grown over the years. Um, I started actually writing down my goals shortly after I got out of prison. When I joined network marketing. It's one of the best things about network marketing was me to introduce me to personal development and taught me a lot through that. But, uh, I started doing goals there and, you know, it was way more effective than doing no goals, but it was so much less effective than what it is now. And I don't remember exactly like all the different changes I made along the way, but I can kind of just run through my little process very quickly to give you what it looks like today. But, uh, it's, I, I, I do this I, every 90 days I set the intention for the next 90 days, uh, where we're, where we're going and all areas of life, mind, body, soul, relationships, finance.
Speaker 2 00:15:18 And then after I make those 90 day goals, uh, then I go after it and how I do that. And then I get clear on that identity of who I am first and then what I want and then why is what I want important to who I am. And so I go through that process and that's, I get the site set. Then I go through and I set my weekly goals and, uh, and how I do it as I do them on Sundays. Cause I do a journal exercise every single day. And then on Sundays, I read all my journal exercises from that week and review my goals and think about how my week went. And then I'll write another journal entry based on that. And then I'll set my goals and sites for the next week based on my 90 day goals. And then I set them in a sediment of play. And then that's where I set the goals. Then I go to my Google calendar and then I block everything off time blocks of when I'm going to work on each goal. And that's how I stay two. It's not the perfect model, but it works for me. Um,
Speaker 0 00:16:13 And that's what matters. I mean, to win your way to, to succeed the way you want to succeed and get what you want, you have to do what works for you. Um, w and that's critical. So on the, on the pond, on the, one of your podcasts, I was listening to, I was exercising this week. Um, you were talking about defining what you want in terms of how your, like, your wins defining what winning, what success looks like to you. And I think in our industry, that's really hard because most of the time everyone says, I just want a gig as much as possible and make as much money as I can, because we're in a feast or famine industry. It's like either you're working a ton or you're probably not working at all. And so it's this binge purge, binge purge back and forth kind of thing. Um, but to create a more consistent lifestyle through it, um, I really agree that you have to define what winning looks like to you. And I even struggle with that. Like, I actually haven't fully, I have like this number of, oh, I want to build a company that's this big, but that really truly isn't me defining what winning looks like to me. Um, how, how do you define, like, what do you define with that and how did you actually, you know, come up? Like what, how, what was that process like for you?
Speaker 2 00:17:33 Yeah, man, I love that. You're asking me this because the, I feel like this is some of the most important thing, probably the most important thing to do as an entrepreneur or as a human being for that, for that one of the most important things. But, uh, it really is man. You about it. It's crazy. Right? So a lot of us entrepreneurs, we make fun of the nine to fibers and say like, you know, you know, they're just, they're, they're going through the motions or doing stuff that they hate doing. They're living for the weekend. How do you, how to get all this and that. But in a lot of ways, a lot of entrepreneurs do the same, same shit, man. They're doing, they're doing, they're doing stuff that they don't want to do to impress people that they don't even like. And, um, and, and they, and their hustle and hustle and grow and grow and growing just to grow, just to grow.
Speaker 2 00:18:29 There's no like real reason behind it. And they can't wait to get the Lamborghini or whatever, and all this stuff. And some people, they don't even care about Lamborghinis. They just want to get it to them, crest people, they don't like. And I'm like, you know, like what successes to me probably would not make you happy. You know what I'm saying? And vice versa, you know? And so you gotta get, you gotta get clear on what's going to make you happy. And what winning looks like to you cause he can't win a race that you don't want to be in. Nope. And so for me, man, um, you know, I, I, I changed my life because I want it to be a father and wouldn't be a, my kid's life. And then I got out and did this entrepreneurship thing got sucked into the whole, oh, I want time and financial freedom.
Speaker 2 00:19:12 So I'm going to slave away now and sacrifice everything now to get it. And so I started sacrificing my mind, body, soul relationship, everything, but the business. And, uh, and I realized, man, that here I am, you know, in the beginning of January or beginning of 20, 21 in January, uh, at the end of January. And, and I'm like, dude, I'm working a bit for the last few years. I've been working 16 to 18 hour days, five to seven days a week and barely hang out with my kids at all. You know what I'm saying? Like, and so I made hard changes in January man and said, man, this came about through many, many, many journal exercises, meditations thinking. Uh, but for me, man, I'm not going to just go all in a business. I'm going to, I want to have it all. And I have this little exercise called, can I have it all on right down? Can I have it all? And then I'm like, what does all mean to me? And then I start writing down and then I do what's my best week ever. What does that look like? And I write everything that happens through that week of what my ideal life looks like. And that's how I get clear on what I want, who I am, what I want and why that's important to me.
Speaker 0 00:20:16 Yeah. That's awesome. Um, I mean, knowing those things is, is incredibly crucial. Um, you know, one of the things that a lot of people do in our industries, they'll jump at every opportunity that comes their way, no matter how much money you can make, whether it's tiny or a ton, uh, because of that whole feast or famine mentality. So it's really tough sometimes to pick and choose, um, I'm going to do this because this is what I should do to go in the direction I want to go. Um, instead they're like, well, I got to do this, I got to grab this, I got to grab this. I got to grab because if I don't grab all of it, then I'll, I won't get any of it. Um, but it sounds to me as if you've really started to perfect that idea of, okay, here are the things that are most important to me. Here's what I'm going to do to get there. And I'm only going to do these things. Um, does that sound similar to kind of what the direction you're, you're trying to go?
Speaker 2 00:21:08 Oh yeah, absolutely. And um, I mean, I, I, I still struggle with what you're talking about too, man. I'd be like every, I think every person does to an extent, man, because when you're inside the bottle, you can't read the label on the outside. So you get distracted by busy work or shiny objects. And, um, it's always good to have a set of eyeballs. That's not in it to be able to kind of, you know, and so it's also good to be able to get away from it yourself and look at it. You know what I'm saying? And, uh, we, we just went through that recently. Um, we had to w we, uh, sorta run the profit first system. Uh, if you're not familiar with it, I'm not, you should definitely man. Uh, and anybody listening, you should go pick up a copy of it today.
Speaker 2 00:22:00 It changed the game for, uh, so much, uh, it's called profit first by Michael McCalla, Wix. I don't know how to spell his last name, but man, it's such a simple concept that works in tandem with human nature. Okay. Unlike a lot of counting formulas, uh, and, and, you know, the basic accounting formula is, uh, gross minus expenses equals profit, but it shouldn't be that it should be, uh, uh, gross minus profit equals expenses. You gotta pay yourself first, so you can't be in business if you don't profit. And so, uh, you know, I was guilty of this for so long, but it is anyways, I'm going down a tangent bro, not due
Speaker 0 00:22:48 To talk about. It's fine. I mean, so here's the thing. We're our industry is, is very different. We have a lot of small operators, little guys that, you know, they own a couple of bits of gear. They own a bunch of stuff that is, um, works for them and in that moment, but there are a lot of people that would love to be able to grow and scale and create more opportunity for themselves, but they don't know how. And so this is one of those key metrics that says, okay, how can we actually grow a business and create something that's more than just, I go out and I do my gig and I bring my gear with me and I make a few extra dollars and I feel good about it. But instead I want to begin to create momentum that leads me down the path of, of success so that maybe I don't have to work myself 225 days a year.
Speaker 0 00:23:42 You know, I used to travel like physically travel 200 plus days a year to do what I do. I mean all over the country and all over the world, running all over the place. And it's tiresome. I mean, after a while, you kind of look at it and while it's fun and it's great, you know, you're getting calls from your kids at, you know, two o'clock in the morning in, in Singapore because they haven't seen you for a week and you're talking to them, but you're dead tired and you gotta be up at 6:00 AM that morning to be ready to go for the next show, et cetera. Um, you know, and you look at that and you think, wow, like there, this can be better. And I know we can do stuff different. So learning in that profit first things that are great is all stuff that we want to learn to create more opportunity for us, just like anybody else does. There's a lot of entrepreneurial mindset and in our world. So, um, I think that makes sense. So the idea then pay yourself first and then figure out how much you can afford later after that, is that the idea with the expenses and things like that?
Speaker 2 00:24:48 Yeah. Um, it's about like the profit first. So like, yeah. W w here's the simplest way I can explain it. Um, before prop first, I used to, uh, just open my account, look at my bank and I'm like, oh, we got money. Yes. We can make that investment or whatever. And you know, this go like that. And then there'll be times where I get in the cashflow crunch because you can't just look at it, your account and everything. And I'm like, oh, I'm cool. And then, because there's so many hidden costs opportunity, like whatever, there's a lot of, yeah. A lot of moving parts. And so, uh, w w w after in what would happen as a result is I would hustle, hustle, hustle, grow, and then make all these investments to keep growing and hire these people below. And my business turned into a cash eating machine, and I never paid myself barely anything.
Speaker 2 00:25:44 You know what I'm saying? If anything, it's a very common theme for, uh, for business owners. And so what profit first teaches you is you pay yourself first, no matter what, and this is how you do it. And you can set up more than five accounts, but here's the five foundational accounts. So you have an account and you label it income. And that's where every single dollar that you transact goes to that, that account. Then you have the next account, which is OPEX operating expenses. And that's where you pay everything out. All of your materials, contractors, subcontractors, what are all of the expenses get paid out of that? Then you got your tax account where you put money away for taxes. So uncle Sam doesn't want that, but at the end of the year, because trust me guys, you don't want to go to prison. I've been there. It's not cool.
Speaker 2 00:26:38 And then, uh, you have your profit account and then, uh, you know, you, you, you allocate towards profit and then you also have your owner's compensation account. And that's, you know, by law, you're, you're legally bound by law to, you have to pay yourself a salary. If you're an equity owner and you work inside the business. And so at the head of those, then you set the percentages. You know, it's like we put 15% of every single dollar that we transact away for taxes. We put up 45% of every dollar that we transact for operating expenses and so on, you know, and then every single, uh, we do it on the 10th and the 25th, twice a month, we allocate whatever hit the income account. And we, based on those percentages, we put it in the different accounts. So it separates it. And then bam, you're paid no matter what.
Speaker 2 00:27:29 And I'll tell you what, uh, you may be thinking like, well, I gotta grow. I gotta grow. Why are you growing? Because you, cause you probably started for a reason to, it started to be time and financial freedom for whatever reasons were tied to that. But those were probably the two things. And why not? Why don't you have financial freedom right now? You can literally, if you're at a six figure mark, you should be financially free in your business and still be able to operate it. Um, so yeah, man, it's changed the game for us for sure. That's
Speaker 0 00:27:59 Awesome, dude. What, um, so going backwards a little bit, kind of thinking about where you've come from, you know, you said the first two years you did the network marketing, um, were there a couple of other things in between that network marketing and then, you know what you're doing now with the podcasting and the brand building and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 00:28:20 Yeah. Um, so w we said, was there something in between the numbers? What
Speaker 0 00:28:24 Did you do it? Yeah. So two years of network marketing, that was six years, you know, four years ago, I guess, at that point where you finished that, what, what kinda came in between all of that with, you know, your network marketing and then you moved into what's, what was the kind of the next steps as you look to grow and then getting you to where you are now?
Speaker 2 00:28:44 Yeah, so before podcasting and right after network marketing, uh, I, uh, I left network marketing, become, um, my own business and, uh, I wanted to be a life coach and a speaker. And dude, I didn't make any money or help anybody as a life coach because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I mean, I could probably help people from like a personal development standpoint, but I didn't know anything about business or marketing or anything. And so it was just, man, it was just a bunch of repeated failure over and over and over again, trying to figure this stuff out. Um, and then I moved on from that because, uh, a lot of people kept telling me that most entrepreneurs don't want, you know, don't really care about the person moment they want, they want something that's going to help them make money.
Speaker 2 00:29:34 And so I was like, all right, I'll become a business coach. But I was like, man, I can't become a business coach, man. I don't, I'm not successful. So, uh, and then long story short, there's this guy that reached out after I launched the podcast and you know, I was having success in my brain, but still wasn't making a lot of money and he reached out and he's like, dude, I got this program. It's about lead generation customer acquisition and scaling a business. Uh, I've ran it before. I've had, uh, a thousand successful graduates over 20 million and revenue on how I want to repurpose it with you, with you being the face of it. And we put it out to your audience. I was like, and you're going to run it with me. He's like, yeah. And I was like, okay, let's do it. And then I was doing it.
Speaker 2 00:30:16 We were bringing people in, but man, I just felt shading. Yes. They'll sign me like a scumbag, like an imposter, all these things. Cause I'm sitting here trying to achieve what I'm teaching people by teaching it. And, um, it was just backwards to me. And so, uh, I couldn't do it anymore. Doesn't align with my core values. And so I pulled the plug on it and I called myself out on Facebook on Christmas day of 2018 and said, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm just continuing doing this affiliate, marketing this podcast. And we go back to the drawing board when I have something that's legit, I'll come back to the marketplace, uh, when I'm ready. And um, I ended up coming back about six months later or three months later, uh, with podcasts. Uh, cause I ended up discovering that uh, people wanted to pay for that. And I had a lot of skills in podcasting. Yeah. So that's crazy. That's
Speaker 0 00:31:08 That's awesome, dude. A couple of steps. Uh, I mean I think that's, that is the way it goes for most people is you try one thing and you figure out does it, or doesn't it work. And then you move on to the next. And I really appreciate as an entrepreneur hearing you say that, you know, feeling like you were selling something that you weren't really an expert yet at, like it wasn't like your, you know, you weren't there yet. Um, is, is I love that. I'm always, I'm very much the person that's like, I don't want to teach somebody how to do something that I have not mastered yet myself. Um, because I don't feel as if I have the capability, I haven't earned the credit, I guess, to be able to do that. Um, but now you have, and you have a fantastic podcast you're, you're growing, you've got, you know, the, the, the underdog family is really a bunch of people that are looking to grow and get better at what they do. Um, what is from a podcasting standpoint, talk a little bit about where you see podcasting going and then do you think that people should, you know, is it somewhere, is it too oversaturated or is there really a lot of opportunity still left there?
Speaker 2 00:32:21 Yeah, man. Um, you do, I think it's a going away. No, not at all. It's just now entering its golden age, honestly. Um, but, uh, and do I think it's over saturated? Not at all either. I mean, dude, this is per nielsen.com uh, stats and facts. Uh, there's, there's less than a million active podcasts out right now, less than a million bedding, nothing, dude, you know, how many active YouTube channels are? I have no idea. Hundreds and hundreds of millions, like, well, I know last time I looked at, at that, uh, at the YouTube, uh, this was back in 2018, they had over 350 million, uh, are over 300 million. I can't remember the exact number. It's a lot, a lot. Yeah. And there's not even a million podcasts out. I mean, think about how many Instagram pages or how many tic-tac channels, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2 00:33:24 Uh, and there's not even a million podcasts yet. And the reason why is because it's hard to podcasts, it's hard. There's a lot more resistance in, in, I mean, you know, you gotta get micro, you gotta learn how to use the microphone and connected into your computer and any other equipment that comes along with it, you gotta learn how to, how to record your episodes and edit them and then get them published on your hosting service. You gotta learn how to use your hosting service. You gotta learn how to get your podcasts from your hosting service out to all the platforms like apple, Spotify. Oh. So there's just, it's just so much, uh, harder to run a podcast and then any other social media platform. And that's why most people don't do it because a lot of people don't like to do hard stuff cause people are soft, but, uh, sorry, I'm just keeping a real,
Speaker 3 00:34:12 But uh that's all right.
Speaker 2 00:34:15 So, uh, yeah, no, I don't think it's going anywhere, man. And uh, yeah, there's definitely still a lot of opportunity out there.
Speaker 0 00:34:20 That's awesome. What, uh, if somebody wanted to start a podcast, what should they do? Where do they start? I mean, podcast powertrain is probably the best place to go, but uh, what, uh, let's talk a little bit about that. What if somebody wants to start even something that's very niche if they think, oh man, I don't have anything to talk about. I don't have a expertise or anything that I can share with other people. Uh, where do they start?
Speaker 2 00:34:43 Um, start off by going to my YouTube channels. It's named after me, Zach babka. And then, uh, right there, the, the featured video on my channel, uh, it shows you how to dial in your podcast marketing message, which is the most important thing you're going to do whenever you launch podcasts. And then, uh, and then once you get your marketing message down and figure out the concept and whatnot of your, of your show, then go back to my channel and watch the playlist I have on how to start a podcast. And it shows you exactly how to get it up, uh, launched.
Speaker 0 00:35:18 Awesome. I'll have to go watch that. Probably get helped me, help me get a little bit better. You know, we're only 40 episodes in, but we can always improve and make things better. Um, that's awesome. What, uh, uh, oh, darn my, it just left my brain. Um, podcast learning growth is tough and when you're trying to learn something new, your brain wants to like, like I always get, my brain just gets weary when I'm learning something new. What do you do to combat that? If as you grow, as you're growing your podcast or growing your business, you're doing all of that stuff. What do you do to, um, restart your brain when it starts to get mushy from decision fatigue and all the learning and trying to like process all this stuff all the time?
Speaker 2 00:36:12 Yeah. Um, you know, it's, uh, it's crazy. But, um, when I first was starting off, uh, as an entrepreneur, like, um, I had a lot more time and so I was able to dedicate it more to, uh, to like dive in into courses and honing and mastering skills and developing stuff. And now, uh, I still spend my time, uh, developing skills, uh, as much as I can. I just don't have as much of the time as I used to. Cause, you know, I got a business running and a million other things going on, but, uh, I just, uh, I just always try to continue to, to, uh, learn and grow. Um, whether it's reading a book, whatever something everyday where I'm just constantly sharpening that ax because, uh, the moment you stopped doing that, you know, the next guy that's hungrier than you that's, you know, down below is gonna gonna kind of pass you up. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:37:11 If you're not, if you are not growing, you're dying in one way, shape or form or another. So we've got to keep going forward. Um, through that growth though, when you're, when you're, when your actual physical mind is overwhelmed, what do you do to bring yourself back to that center when you're like, oh my gosh, there's all this stuff I got to learn. There's all these things I gotta do. You know? It's like if they watch your video about how to create a podcast, I'm sure there's so much information in there that they're going to say, wow, how am I going to do all of this? Um, you know, and then I work with a coach that always says, well, it's not a problem. It's just things that need to be done. But how do you, how do you shift your mind to, to get out of that overwhelmed state and bring the focus to what needs to be done one step at a time?
Speaker 2 00:38:01 Yeah, it's a great, great question. And the answer's gonna be funny because it's kinda goes with that, but uh, ask great questions. So, uh, um, what I do is I literally asked myself, I say, what's the most important thing that I could be doing right now to move us closer to our vision, to our, to our 90 day targets, you know, um, that question and sometimes I'll get the answer right away or sometimes, you know, I have to keep on asking it with intensity and, um, but you know, it all, I always figure it out by asking the right questions. And I know it sounds so simple, but dude, you do that. And then you journal about it or you write some stuff down, you think about it or you go to sleep on it, whatever you're going to get the answers. Eventually if you ask it with enough certainty of getting that answer and, uh, that, that's how I, how I usually come about it.
Speaker 0 00:38:58 That's awesome, dude. That's super profound. I've never thought about it like that. That's, that's huge asking questions to get yourself out of that circular cycle of like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm like, cause that, I know I get into that. I'm like, there's this and this and this. And I'm counting all these things that need to get done. Um, and, and one of my favorite books of all time, one of the things he talks about is slow it down. Um, it's a book about negotiation. It's never split the difference, but I think that that is a, that is a critical portion of life in general is slow it down, bring it back. And like you said, ask the questions. What are those? What is the most critical thing that I could be doing right now to push the needle just a little bit closer to what this next goal is that we're working on.
Speaker 0 00:39:42 We'll do thank you so much. I mean, tons of information, uh, I mean your, your history, your story, I know we didn't get a ton into it, but understanding that you can go from really, truly, I mean, honestly at zero, you CA you get out of prison. I mean, that's a complete restart of your life. I can't even imagine what that would be like, but, uh, that shows that there is such resilience there and being able to grow that. So thanks man, for one, working so hard and then being willing to share with people what it takes to go from, from a place like that, to where you are now with such a beautiful family and grow in and helping people see that it is possible. And when you're down and out, it doesn't mean that you are, or you have to stay there, but instead you can go and climb back up that ladder and really, truly see the life that you want to see. So thanks man, for taking the time today. Talk to us a little bit about that,
Speaker 2 00:40:41 Dude. I appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me. You're welcome, dude.
Speaker 0 00:40:44 Well, Hey man, thanks so much. Um, I hope you have a great time, a great rest of your week and uh, we will talk to you next time, much love man. Your life is solely up to you. Don't let anyone else tell you how to live your life, but instead go out there and do it exactly the way that you want to. Here's the great thing about being an event professional. We can define our destiny in more ways than most people ever get the opportunity to. So don't waste it. Remember here at gig, ready, we're here to help you become a better professional to get better at what you do and to be the absolute, most incredible individual that is possibly out there. So jump in, tell others about gig, ready, let them know how they can become better professionals too. And we'll see you next time.
