[00:00:07] Kris: Welcome to the second episode of our podcast that has no name. [00:00:11] Kris: But it might have a name. [00:00:13] Matt: I wanted Momentum Mimosas, but there's no orange juice. [00:00:18] Kris: We have some sparkly drinks. [00:00:20] Matt: Why are we drinking sparkly drinks, Kris? [00:00:23] Matt: It's the theme of our second episode. [00:00:24] Matt: What is it? [00:00:24] Kris: It is. [00:00:25] Kris: It's just like celebrating authentically. [00:00:28] Kris: And Mike Michalowicz, are you familiar with that author? [00:00:31] Matt: No, I'm not actually. [00:00:32] Kris: So it was one of the first entrepreneurship books that I read. [00:00:35] Kris: I was called Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. [00:00:37] Kris: Came out in like 2010, 2011, something like that. [00:00:41] Kris: And it was all about how to be an entrepreneur with like, you know, without any funding, you know, with using all the tools, the tricks of the trade. [00:00:48] Kris: And he has in the book immutable laws. [00:00:52] Kris: And, you know, there's 10 to 12 of his immutable laws of like that he follows for his businesses. [00:00:58] Kris: And one of the first startups I worked at, this is a long story. [00:01:02] Kris: I'm making it longer. [00:01:03] Matt: Why we have this. [00:01:04] Matt: I have champagne, so you can take as long as you want. [00:01:07] Kris: It was one of the startups, Venly, that I worked at. [00:01:13] Kris: or back in the day was we came up with some of those immutable laws that we should have. [00:01:18] Kris: And I think one of them that I had for myself was celebrate authentically. [00:01:22] Kris: And then I tried to merge into that culture. [00:01:24] Kris: So I just sort of stole the framework from Mike. [00:01:28] Kris: I don't think that was one of his, but I just always thought it was important because even a lot of folks around here at Momentum [00:01:35] Kris: It's like they just achieve a thing and they keep going. [00:01:38] Kris: And there's never this like celebrating with folks that care about it too. [00:01:45] Kris: It's just like moving on. [00:01:46] Matt: I have been really curious about that for you because there's been so much hype around momentum being built. [00:01:50] Matt: I mean all of the – [00:01:52] Matt: all the ribbon cuttings and all the events and all the like. [00:01:55] Matt: But when you say celebrate authentically, do those feel like celebrations to you? [00:02:01] Matt: Because I know how much celebration matters to you. [00:02:03] Matt: Yeah. [00:02:04] Matt: Close friends. [00:02:05] Matt: Right. [00:02:05] Matt: In a smaller setting. [00:02:06] Matt: Yep. [00:02:07] Matt: Do those feel as the entrepreneur of the entrepreneur space? [00:02:10] Matt: Like, do those feel like celebration or does that feel like the show? [00:02:14] Matt: And how do you actually celebrate? [00:02:17] Kris: Yeah, that's oh, man. [00:02:19] Kris: So like having [00:02:21] Kris: So let's say like a ribbon cutting, for example. [00:02:23] Kris: It's like, you know, you should do it. [00:02:26] Kris: It helps with PR. [00:02:27] Kris: It helps with people knowing what's happening. [00:02:31] Kris: A lot of people there you don't know. [00:02:34] Kris: And do they care about the progress and success? [00:02:40] Kris: But I feel like it's the small groups that make it feel more important. [00:02:46] Kris: But that's also harder because you need the people around you to be like, hey, let's go get that drink or let's go have dinner or whatever it is. [00:02:52] Kris: And that's what feels important. [00:02:56] Kris: Because even, let's say, not to self-promote, like last week. [00:03:04] Matt: Yeah. [00:03:05] Matt: When you got your award, what was the title? [00:03:09] Matt: It was the young professional, young business owner, leader, entrepreneur, awesome, grand poobah of the century in the region. [00:03:17] Matt: Got it. [00:03:17] Matt: Okay. [00:03:18] Kris: But even that, I was – do you want to know what I did? [00:03:22] Kris: Please. [00:03:22] Kris: Yeah. [00:03:24] Kris: So I – it didn't get into just an example. [00:03:27] Kris: It's like – so I could have, I think, gone somewhere. [00:03:32] Kris: But I was at home and I ordered Ruth's Kris delivery. [00:03:37] Kris: And it was bad because it was too far away where it was, like, cold. [00:03:41] Kris: It's very bad. [00:03:41] Kris: And so it's like a 30 minute drive. [00:03:43] Kris: Yeah. [00:03:43] Kris: So I would say like that was I felt like that was a fail. [00:03:46] Kris: I feel like that was a failure of celebrate authentically because, A, I was by myself. [00:03:50] Kris: B, it was it wasn't even I was disappointed and I should I should have done something else. [00:03:57] Matt: Yeah. [00:03:58] Matt: OK, but I'm curious, like for you, celebration, does it can do you feel like it's authentic celebration if you initiate it or is it only authentic if somebody else initiates for you? [00:04:09] Kris: I think I can initiate because I would say people, our friend John, you know, he would say that I initiate for him a lot, you know, in those circumstances. [00:04:22] Kris: And I think I don't mind. [00:04:24] Kris: I think it feels a little stranger if you're doing it for yourself. [00:04:28] Kris: Like, hey, guys, let's go celebrate me. [00:04:31] Kris: Yeah. [00:04:33] Kris: Look at how amazing I am. [00:04:34] Kris: Bring the champagne. [00:04:37] Kris: But it is – like even now, every time we get a new tenant or get a new member or that sort of stuff, it's like – [00:04:47] Kris: It became old hat too quickly. [00:04:50] Kris: From my perspective of just, you know, it's like, what milestone should we be celebrating now? [00:04:58] Kris: And I feel like they aren't happening. [00:04:59] Kris: The celebrations aren't happening. [00:05:00] Kris: The milestones are happening. [00:05:01] Kris: The celebrations aren't happening. [00:05:03] Kris: And it goes back to... [00:05:07] Kris: An example I've used when talking with John on our other podcast of when we talk about celebrations of, you know, at one time, this was a long time ago. [00:05:18] Kris: There's an idea of having this like Russian roulette of shots and some were water and some were vodka. [00:05:26] Kris: And then. [00:05:27] Kris: That didn't last very long. [00:05:28] Kris: We were doing it at 10 a.m. in the morning. [00:05:30] Kris: And it just wasn't the right culture. [00:05:32] Kris: We were just trying to put something in for fun when we got sales. [00:05:36] Kris: Every time we got a certain amount of sales, it lasted twice, and then they kind of got shot down, which I don't blame it. [00:05:43] Kris: But as a 20-whatever-year-old, and you're trying to create some fun and culture, startup culture, that was the fun thing. [00:05:49] Kris: So is it ringing the bell, whatever that is? [00:05:52] Kris: Even here, we've been trying to say, let's have that wind wall, because... [00:05:57] Kris: I want to do that for other people and make them feel like, hey, let's all gather around and toast. [00:06:06] Kris: That was an idea that I had four or six months ago is on Mondays, Momentum Mondays, we should go toast down there, whatever someone's win might have been in the last month. [00:06:16] Kris: We've not ever done that. [00:06:17] Kris: That's cool. [00:06:18] Kris: But to have champagne, and I even chatted with the bar before the bar was open, I'm saying, I want to do that, so let's make sure we have champagne. [00:06:28] Kris: Now, champagne's been chilling for six months now because we've never done it. [00:06:32] Kris: We're ready. [00:06:33] Kris: We have Vuv. [00:06:33] Kris: We have Cristal. [00:06:34] Kris: I hear Monday. [00:06:37] Matt: Anybody listening to this is Monday. [00:06:40] Matt: I didn't even know that, right? [00:06:41] Matt: Like I've been a member for months and I didn't know. [00:06:43] Matt: Like I know member Mondays, but I just thought that was like the hangout for members. [00:06:46] Matt: I didn't know. [00:06:47] Matt: It was like, no, the purpose of that is like the champagne will be opened at 4.15. [00:06:50] Matt: But no one tells me their wins. [00:06:53] Matt: Got it. [00:06:54] Matt: Yeah. [00:06:55] Matt: Well, OK, but I think that's that's interesting that you mentioned like once you start winning, then like what are you choosing to celebrate? [00:07:02] Matt: Right. [00:07:02] Matt: Like when you and John like we're just the first couple of sales you celebrate, but then you start making sales and then you celebrate every single one. [00:07:10] Matt: Yeah. [00:07:10] Matt: Like if you don't stop and pick your milestone. [00:07:12] Matt: Yeah. [00:07:13] Matt: Like you just get so many awards that no one thought. [00:07:16] Matt: No one thought like, oh, this this is the one that we need to celebrate. [00:07:20] Matt: You just got a lot of them. [00:07:22] Kris: Yeah, I don't know. [00:07:23] Kris: And it's I think it's it's what what also gets hard is I don't know if you if you feel like I know you've had some good like closings, right? [00:07:33] Kris: Like lately, which is awesome. [00:07:36] Kris: And, you know, does it? [00:07:39] Kris: I think sometimes you could feel a little bit of an imposter. [00:07:42] Kris: And I feel like you'd also think you're always chasing. [00:07:47] Kris: I don't know if you ever feel like always chasing, but like, oh, yeah, of of OK, we did this. [00:07:51] Kris: Now what? [00:07:52] Kris: Yeah. [00:07:53] Kris: And like the next that entrepreneurial feeling is just like, OK, [00:07:59] Kris: You're never complacent? [00:08:01] Kris: Is complacent the right word? [00:08:04] Kris: Satisfied. [00:08:05] Matt: I think this honestly, I didn't think about this when you poured the champagne. [00:08:10] Matt: I think this is one way that I don't take my own medicine well for all the leaders that I work with. [00:08:17] Matt: All the corner offices, all the middle managers that we coach and that we support. [00:08:21] Matt: I talk about often the gap and the gain. [00:08:23] Matt: The Dan Sullivan book, the whole concept that [00:08:28] Matt: And leaders and entrepreneurs are problem solvers by nature, right? [00:08:30] Matt: And so you're always looking at the gap between you and where you want to be. [00:08:34] Matt: But then you can't measure winning on the gap. [00:08:36] Matt: You have to stop and look at the gain to measure the win. [00:08:39] Matt: I coach that all the time and I am terrible at it, like really bad. [00:08:44] Matt: Like I think I can do it in the small scopes, right? [00:08:47] Matt: Like at the end of every day. [00:08:48] Matt: But like I'm not good at stopping and saying, wow, this – we just blew by three milestones in the past two months and like – [00:08:55] Matt: Josh and I, like, my business partner and I haven't even, like, we haven't, like, done anything, right? [00:09:00] Matt: Like, you just get in the groove and you're riding the inertia waves. [00:09:04] Matt: You're like, oh, well, when the wave stops on the beach, you're like, I'll stop and I'll, like, wow, cool. [00:09:08] Matt: But you don't. [00:09:08] Matt: Like, you just pick one wave after another. [00:09:10] Matt: So, yeah, I'm really bad at that, honestly. [00:09:13] Kris: Yeah, and, like – I think that's the – [00:09:17] Matt: That's what I'm curious about then. [00:09:18] Matt: How do you decide ahead of time? [00:09:21] Matt: We're going to celebrate when this thing happens. [00:09:24] Matt: Is it just better planning? [00:09:26] Matt: What's the next thing you're going to celebrate? [00:09:28] Matt: This thing is up. [00:09:29] Matt: It's running. [00:09:29] Matt: Momentum is moving. [00:09:30] Matt: It's successful. [00:09:32] Matt: More people are coming in. [00:09:33] Matt: Do you know what your next big celebration marker is? [00:09:38] Kris: I don't know if I know the marker, like, you know, we were in a meeting this morning, we talked about a lot of different ideas, right? [00:09:44] Kris: And, you know, one of those things is talking about how do we launch some more programming efforts, right? [00:09:51] Kris: To help you. [00:09:53] Kris: founders, entrepreneurs get more skills, whether it be marketing, sales, valuations, you know, pitching, all those sorts of things. [00:10:02] Kris: And in my mind, I'm like, Well, we can find funding, raise some funds, launch that program like that. [00:10:07] Kris: That seems really great. [00:10:09] Kris: But the same token, [00:10:11] Kris: So the other question we had in there was fundraising, you know, and sponsors and those sorts of things. [00:10:15] Kris: Like, should we not be celebrating those? [00:10:17] Kris: So even if we didn't have the the let's say accelerator thing yet, but we but we find some funds to help us move some things forward. [00:10:25] Kris: Yeah. [00:10:25] Kris: It seems momentous. [00:10:27] Kris: Yeah. [00:10:27] Kris: Right. [00:10:28] Kris: Or. [00:10:30] Kris: Yeah, it's a strange place to be. [00:10:35] Matt: It's almost like – I wonder if, like, as part of the project plan, right? [00:10:38] Matt: The project map. [00:10:39] Matt: Like, all right, if we're going to go to this big point where we have this much funds raised, like, when we get our first funder, this is how we're going to celebrate. [00:10:47] Matt: When we get to this mark. [00:10:48] Matt: But – [00:10:50] Matt: I feel like you're more of a spontaneous celebrator than a planned celebrator. [00:10:53] Matt: Is that right? [00:10:53] Kris: Yeah, yeah. [00:10:55] Matt: The idea of having pre-planned your next four celebrations, like here's exactly. [00:10:59] Kris: Yeah, I wouldn't do that. [00:10:59] Kris: It wouldn't be fun. [00:11:00] Kris: It wouldn't be fun. [00:11:01] Kris: Because I like to stop at, I'm just thinking of, John's going to get a lot of promotion or shout outs on this. [00:11:11] Kris: He's our one friend. [00:11:12] Matt: Yeah, yeah. [00:11:15] Kris: When we say my friend, what I mean is John. [00:11:17] Kris: I'm thinking if we go to celebrate at his house, I am happy to stop on the way. [00:11:24] Kris: When I think about it, I'm like, oh, I'm going to stop on the way to the liquor store, as an example, and pick up a thing to do that because I want to do it. [00:11:33] Kris: I don't necessarily have it ordered or chilled beforehand and planned it out. [00:11:37] Kris: It's more of, oh, we should do that because I know people appreciate it and enjoy it. [00:11:42] Kris: Yeah. [00:11:44] Kris: Yeah. [00:11:46] Kris: Do you sell it, like, so, like, age things? [00:11:52] Kris: What do you mean age things? [00:11:54] Kris: Like milestones. [00:11:55] Kris: So if you turn 25 or 30 or 40, is that a thing for you? [00:11:59] Matt: I mean for the kids, right? [00:12:01] Matt: I've got the four kids, and we have for each year to keep it consistent with the kids. [00:12:06] Matt: Each year, the birthday is the same thing, right? [00:12:09] Matt: Every kid knows exactly what's going to happen when they turn 8, 9, 10, 12, right? [00:12:12] Kris: But for me, no. [00:12:13] Kris: Yeah. [00:12:15] Kris: I only ask because I struggle with that now of – [00:12:18] Kris: Do I want to be a celebratory person? [00:12:21] Kris: I'm a somewhat private person. [00:12:24] Kris: I thought you were going to tell us your age right there. [00:12:28] Kris: I want it on camera. [00:12:30] Kris: And I'm like, oh. [00:12:34] Kris: There's this balance between... [00:12:38] Kris: like Gatsby, you know, like, do you, have you seen that movie? [00:12:42] Kris: Yeah. [00:12:43] Kris: Yeah. [00:12:43] Kris: And read the book or whatever, but it's like that. [00:12:46] Kris: And I, and I want to be the host of that party. [00:12:49] Kris: Yeah. [00:12:49] Kris: But I also want to know and to actually know who I am. [00:12:53] Kris: They're like, oh, who is this guy that everyone's going to his house and having these elaborate like soirees. [00:13:00] Kris: I feel like Gatsby is your spirit animal. [00:13:03] Matt: No one actually knows him, but he throws the best parties. [00:13:07] Kris: Like to me, I'm like, oh, that would be super fun. [00:13:09] Kris: And I can just go to bed like whenever I get tired and everyone else can continue to like. [00:13:14] Kris: So like we were hosting a cocktail hour tonight. [00:13:18] Kris: And one of the questions that came in from the folks we invited was, so what time do you want us to leave? [00:13:23] Kris: And I was like, well, I don't – leave whenever you want. [00:13:26] Kris: Like I'll go home. [00:13:27] Kris: The bar is open. [00:13:28] Kris: Like I might sneak out and not say goodbye to anybody. [00:13:33] Kris: That is your M.O. [00:13:34] Kris: And then you guys just keep – that happened like yesterday on something. [00:13:37] Kris: Totally your M.O. [00:13:38] Kris: I just like snuck out. [00:13:41] Kris: right on um what uh you know as you've been here not to bring it to like momentum but you know that's the name of the game these days um have you seen so we we started talking way more like 12 14 months ago right and so um have you seen like a shift in like even your own work and like [00:14:08] Kris: I would say I've seen like I wouldn't know how to pinpoint it for you, but I would say you look having you said at one point, like, I don't need an office, I don't need a physical space. [00:14:16] Kris: Like, right. [00:14:17] Kris: We're doing fine. [00:14:18] Kris: Correct. [00:14:19] Kris: You know, would you say that this has kind of shifted your mind thinking or even just like on your growth of like what you can become? [00:14:28] Matt: Yes, 100%. [00:14:29] Matt: I thought an office or a coworking space was just a place to post up, right? [00:14:32] Matt: Like it's a place to plug in a computer. [00:14:34] Matt: It's a monitor. [00:14:35] Kris: Regis before. [00:14:36] Kris: No. [00:14:37] Matt: Okay. [00:14:37] Matt: Just curious. [00:14:38] Matt: No. [00:14:38] Matt: Because I didn't think I was going to be an entrepreneur. [00:14:41] Matt: I used to tell people I would never be an entrepreneur. [00:14:44] Matt: So we can talk about that in episode 45, right? [00:14:48] Matt: But I didn't – I underestimated the ripples. [00:14:55] Matt: It's like that kinesthetic energy that comes from being around other people who are also cranking, right? [00:14:59] Matt: So the – [00:15:01] Matt: I didn't – I wouldn't have said four or five months ago that Josh and I had plateaued in the business because it didn't feel like it was plateauing. [00:15:08] Matt: It felt like there was still blue sky. [00:15:10] Matt: We were getting better. [00:15:11] Matt: We still were excited about it. [00:15:13] Matt: But there was a significant shift that when I started coming here and plugging in here and then quickly moving from coworking to office here, like there is – [00:15:23] Matt: energy that comes from being around other people who are crushing it right like when people if you are if you're with a group of people that even if you all separate businesses even if they're not even like complimentary per se even if they're all separate and distinct like you walk in that guy she's cranking he's cranking she's cranking like everybody's just like crushing their work and they're friendly and high and whatever and come together for pizza or drinks whatever but like everybody's here to like make it work and so like walking into the office like [00:15:48] Matt: There's no time waste. [00:15:50] Matt: There's no temptation to be like, ah, I'm going to – no. [00:15:53] Matt: You step in and you crank it out. [00:15:55] Kris: Yeah, and I know that there's the adage of the people you're surrounding yourself with, you're leveling up to those folks. [00:16:02] Kris: And I even feel like that in various circumstances of who am I surrounding myself with to level myself up and to get to where I want to be. [00:16:11] Kris: And it's – [00:16:15] Kris: Yeah, yeah. [00:16:15] Kris: So I don't know. [00:16:16] Kris: I agree with the sentiment, and I feel it. [00:16:18] Kris: I think sometimes it's finding who that group is at any given time and the growth. [00:16:24] Matt: Even the mentality, like the old adage of, like, you dress for success, right? [00:16:29] Matt: Mm-hmm. [00:16:30] Kris: There's no— Well, I would say everyone would argue that I need to have a little more executive presence. [00:16:36] Matt: I was not going to say that. [00:16:38] Matt: You and your gym pants. [00:16:39] Matt: I wasn't going to say— [00:16:41] Matt: Like polo and gym pants. [00:16:42] Kris: If we talked about all the, what the tenants say about me and I take it, I'm just like, I think Chad has said the king of joggers. [00:16:50] Kris: Oh, that's funny. [00:16:51] Matt: I like that. [00:16:53] Matt: But like, even in that, like I'm, I come to the office every day. [00:16:56] Matt: I mean, when I'm not with clients, I'm at the office. [00:16:58] Matt: Yeah. [00:16:59] Matt: I will. [00:16:59] Matt: at least throw a collared something. [00:17:01] Matt: I don't know, quarter zips, not, like, dressed up. [00:17:02] Matt: Yeah, yeah. [00:17:03] Kris: Yeah, because you're a quarter zip matcha. [00:17:07] Kris: Is that what it's called? [00:17:07] Kris: I don't know. [00:17:08] Matt: I don't know. [00:17:08] Matt: I am not trendy enough to know what that means. [00:17:11] Matt: But it's the boots, because you don't know who you're going to run into. [00:17:15] Kris: I agree. [00:17:15] Kris: You don't know who's going to be here. [00:17:17] Kris: And today I ran into somebody, and I'm like, oh, I'm glad I had a collar on today, right? [00:17:20] Kris: Yeah, there have been, I would say, less than half a dozen. [00:17:25] Kris: But there have definitely been... [00:17:27] Kris: those instances where I was in my nicest zip-up hoodie, and I was just like, ugh, I wish I would've worn something else, because I either forgot that I had this other thing to do, and I know business owners will say, yeah, that's why you bring, you always have in the closet, at the office, something to change into. [00:17:45] Kris: I just never have done that. [00:17:48] Kris: And it was even recently I was like, oh, man, like I went to the thing anyway. [00:17:52] Kris: And I was like, it is what it is. [00:17:54] Kris: I wanted to be at the thing. [00:17:55] Kris: Right. [00:17:56] Kris: But I felt for a little at the being a little uncomfortable. [00:18:00] Kris: But it was also like this is this is me. [00:18:05] Kris: But also I like to be respectful of the people that are around. [00:18:08] Kris: And I think like the the. [00:18:10] Kris: A friend of mine and I who were working on a company that, like, maybe in 2019, we had, like, our goal was to have, like, literally one of the mantras was, yeah, we want to have a company that we can work joggers every day. [00:18:25] Kris: Like, that was, like, it wasn't even about the idea. [00:18:29] Kris: It was, like, that was the. [00:18:31] Kris: That's a business goal. [00:18:32] Kris: Yeah. [00:18:32] Speaker: Oh, my God. [00:18:34] Matt: But it's what you said. [00:18:36] Matt: It's not about the attire. [00:18:37] Matt: Wear what you want. [00:18:38] Matt: Be comfortable. [00:18:39] Matt: Be you. [00:18:40] Matt: Yes, it's about the mentality that goes with it. [00:18:43] Matt: I'm going to a place where people are doing their absolute best to create a business, to serve the community, whatever their thing is, whatever their mission is of the business. [00:18:52] Matt: They're raising my bar that I am inspired to do well in part because the people around me are doing well. [00:19:00] Matt: And it is an elevating social experience that goes into the work that you're doing. [00:19:05] Matt: I was not... [00:19:07] Matt: I was not prepared for that. [00:19:07] Matt: I did not – I didn't know that was an aspect. [00:19:10] Matt: So I'm now a fanboy of – not just this space but any space. [00:19:14] Matt: Like wherever your community is, if you can get your – if you can surround yourself with people who want to do great things, do that. [00:19:21] Matt: Like get yourself surrounded. [00:19:22] Matt: I think that does go back to the idea of celebrating, right? [00:19:25] Matt: Because I have things to celebrate in my business. [00:19:28] Matt: So do you. [00:19:29] Matt: But my friends that I've had for years – [00:19:33] Matt: Not all of them are in the same kind of grind, right? [00:19:36] Matt: And that's okay. [00:19:37] Matt: We're in different places. [00:19:38] Matt: But surround yourself with people that also are eager to celebrate and drive. [00:19:43] Kris: Yeah. [00:19:44] Kris: So of thinking through going from corporate job to being a business owner entrepreneur, do you have any learnings that you didn't expect that was super hard or just – [00:19:58] Kris: Anything that was, like – because one of the things I thought about with this and having these conversations, like, what is the hardest thing? [00:20:05] Kris: Now, you don't have to give that because, like, I don't know that I would say that necessarily right now or divulge that yet. [00:20:10] Kris: But, like, because it could be genuinely, like, either personal or, like – but do you have any of those that you didn't expect that is, like, oh, like, I didn't know this was going to be that hard and, like, anything behind that? [00:20:24] Matt: I mean – [00:20:26] Matt: completely unintentionally it feels really related to what we've talked about already which is like the it is lonely to start something like even though it was me and Josh like even though it was a partnership right it was 50-50 like we would pour hours and hours into fine-tuning like the wording on this or how this was built or the website this or the service that and just really dial in and it would be like it would feel exhilarating to like wow yeah this is what we want it to be and no one cares oh [00:20:55] Matt: Nobody – like my mom doesn't care. [00:20:58] Matt: My wife doesn't care. [00:20:59] Matt: Like they care, right? [00:21:00] Matt: Yeah. [00:21:00] Matt: Like they see me like caring about something and they care because I care. [00:21:04] Matt: But they don't understand all the way, right? [00:21:07] Matt: And no one will. [00:21:09] Matt: And I think that's – I wasn't prepared for that – like that kind – that flavor of loneliness. [00:21:14] Matt: Yeah. [00:21:15] Matt: Right? [00:21:15] Matt: That like it's – it is – [00:21:18] Matt: Again, I've got kids. [00:21:19] Matt: Like, it is creating something that, like, you love. [00:21:23] Matt: Like, you love this thing. [00:21:24] Matt: You're passionate about this thing. [00:21:25] Matt: You understand this thing. [00:21:26] Matt: You know the nuances of this thing. [00:21:27] Matt: Like, when this thing shifts and changes, you feel it and you need to adapt to it and make sure, like, and you want other people to like this thing too. [00:21:33] Matt: And I know that's, like, part of the whole, like, the growing up as a business person of, like, well, don't get married to the business. [00:21:39] Matt: Like, it's just a thing you created. [00:21:40] Matt: Don't get personal with it. [00:21:41] Matt: But, like, whatever. [00:21:42] Matt: No, man, it's personal to me. [00:21:43] Matt: Like what I do and how I serve people is personal to me because it's people related. [00:21:49] Matt: And I really, really want the people I'm working with to win. [00:21:51] Matt: Right. [00:21:52] Matt: So it feels personal. [00:21:55] Matt: And if somebody doesn't really get what I'm doing, I'm like, oh, man. [00:21:58] Kris: Yeah. [00:21:58] Kris: I think the question you don't answer this question, but I'd like the rhetorical questions like thinking about like. [00:22:08] Kris: Here we go. [00:22:09] Kris: Yeah. [00:22:10] Kris: How many times have you cried alone at night? [00:22:15] Matt: Or... Or drink a bottle of champagne on yourself. [00:22:18] Matt: Yeah, yeah. [00:22:18] Matt: Or how about... Or to Ruth's Kris with no one around. [00:22:20] Kris: How bad has your stomach ever hurt? [00:22:23] Kris: Like, not because of something you hate. [00:22:25] Kris: And I think, like, I don't know. [00:22:28] Kris: I mean, I don't... Everyone has their own, like, journey to things and, like, what stresses them out. [00:22:32] Kris: And... [00:22:34] Kris: I think depending on what age you started at, like the the things who may be more stressful because if you're 25 and you have you run into this problem, it could be a way bigger problem versus if you're 35, then you've seen a little bit more. [00:22:48] Kris: So you understand, like, OK, I can overcome this. [00:22:50] Kris: Like, it's so stressful, but I can overcome it a little quicker. [00:22:54] Matt: Yeah, I don't know. [00:22:55] Matt: How many times have you cried yourself to sleep? [00:22:57] Matt: And it's different. [00:23:00] Matt: Like you said, it's different for each. [00:23:02] Matt: For me, it was never visceral in that way as much as it felt overwhelming at times. [00:23:08] Matt: But I think you are – I think you're right that depending on what your experience has been with business, either on your own or inside of one, it really is just – [00:23:22] Matt: refusing to stop right and I'm not saying like beyond all ridiculousness like no if something's done it's done but like all right well what what can you control what can't you control and then focus on what you can control and keep it moving forward like there's a level of grit and tenacity that maybe it's maturity but also like just just keep going and circle yourself with friends and [00:23:42] Matt: figure it out. [00:23:43] Kris: Yeah. [00:23:43] Kris: So this was a question that I that I think about with people who have, let's say, seen some success with their business or whatever. [00:23:54] Kris: And I don't know. [00:23:56] Kris: I'll just say I was I was I was curious to ask John the same question. [00:24:00] Kris: Our one friend. [00:24:01] Kris: Yeah. [00:24:02] Kris: And, you know, is there something that you haven't done yet that you're like that you that you're wanting to do with the business? [00:24:11] Kris: I think so. [00:24:12] Kris: I don't know exactly how it doesn't have to be because it's like we're all doing this thing that feels like now it's been decently accomplished, whatever the thing is. [00:24:22] Kris: Right. [00:24:22] Kris: I'm just saying generically. [00:24:23] Kris: And it's like, man, like we've done a lot of stuff. [00:24:27] Kris: And so what keeps what keeps us motivated and what keeps us like going of because I think there's this never ending. [00:24:37] Kris: And I talked and this was a long time ago. [00:24:38] Kris: Talk about that. [00:24:39] Kris: a therapist talked to me about this, of like, you know, it's never going to be enough. [00:24:44] Kris: I don't know, like Andrew Wilkinson, who I like to listen to his stuff, people can have, I know people have different opinions of him, has a book like Never Enough. [00:24:50] Kris: Now, I read a decent amount of the book. [00:24:53] Kris: It's okay, but I feel like that title resonates with me because it's more of that drive of like never feeling, ah. [00:25:02] Matt: Yeah. [00:25:04] Matt: I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is something that we talked about [00:25:07] Matt: Earlier this morning, actually, there are all different kinds of entrepreneurs and the kind of businesses people are creating, right? [00:25:12] Matt: And so complete and wild respect for people who found an idea to solve a problem and they're growing that idea to the point that they can then sell that company, right? [00:25:22] Matt: Like you start it, you scale it, you sell it. [00:25:24] Matt: Like fantastic. [00:25:27] Matt: Remember, I don't want to be an entrepreneur. [00:25:28] Matt: Like I did not plan on that. [00:25:31] Matt: I told people for years I would not. [00:25:33] Matt: And so I – [00:25:35] Matt: Josh and I just happen to create a business that allows us to do the work that we love to do most. [00:25:42] Matt: Until I die, I will be doing this kind of work in some form or fashion. [00:25:47] Matt: So I don't necessarily have a business goal to get to a certain size or hire a certain staff or work with a certain size client. [00:25:55] Matt: The people I get to work with, I really like them. [00:25:58] Matt: I want their companies to win. [00:26:00] Matt: I like the conversations I get to have and the way I get to help. [00:26:03] Matt: And [00:26:04] Matt: Once I help them do what they want to do and they don't need me anymore, I hope I can find other people to help, right? [00:26:09] Matt: So I'll always be – so I think it really does make me think of Simon Sinek's like infinite game mentality, right? [00:26:14] Matt: Like I just want to keep playing the game. [00:26:17] Matt: And as long as I can play the game, I'm thrilled because I really, really like this game. [00:26:22] Matt: And I haven't always been able to say that about jobs I've had. [00:26:25] Kris: Yeah, because it's not about – the end of the means is not just making money. [00:26:29] Kris: And so you're not getting burned out by like, oh, I'm just – [00:26:34] Kris: It's not just repetition of the same thing. [00:26:36] Kris: Yeah. [00:26:37] Kris: I understand. [00:26:37] Matt: Well, again, I got kids. [00:26:38] Matt: I got to pay the bills, right? [00:26:40] Matt: Like I got to put food on the table. [00:26:41] Matt: But fortunately – Yeah. [00:26:43] Matt: Because – and maybe it is because Josh and I didn't start this business until we were mid-30s, late-30s, right? [00:26:48] Matt: Like both of us already had a pretty good idea of who we are, what we like, what we're passionate about, what we're good at. [00:26:54] Matt: And so we weren't just trying to – we weren't figuring ourselves out and figuring out a business at the same time. [00:26:59] Matt: I have – [00:27:00] Matt: no envy of like people starting companies in their early twenties. [00:27:03] Matt: I'm like, I didn't, I have no, I didn't know who I was until like 35. [00:27:08] Matt: Right. [00:27:08] Matt: So I can be confident to say, I know what I'm good at. [00:27:12] Matt: I know where I fit best because I failed at a lot of other things before I got here. [00:27:15] Matt: And it makes it really fun to say, yeah, I will be doing this until somebody says I'm too old to do it anymore. [00:27:22] Kris: I don't think that's even possible, yeah. [00:27:24] Matt: I don't know. [00:27:25] Matt: What about you with momentum? [00:27:27] Matt: Are there any, like, all right. [00:27:29] Matt: Because I know, you are an entrepreneur. [00:27:32] Matt: You have entrepreneur DNA. [00:27:34] Matt: This thing is built. [00:27:37] Matt: Is it hard for you to maintain? [00:27:40] Matt: I feel like you always want to be at the point of the spear on something else. [00:27:43] Kris: Yeah, and it's – some of the thoughts and ideas I have are probably not yet ready for, like, primetime to share. [00:27:53] Kris: We're on primetime? [00:27:54] Kris: Yeah. [00:27:56] Matt: Our friend John is the only one watching, just so you know. [00:27:58] Kris: Yeah. [00:27:59] Kris: But I think, you know, getting – [00:28:03] Kris: getting this programing, this education up, like there is, as from this morning's discussion, like there is a gap there that no one is filling. [00:28:10] Kris: And I'm like, okay, cool. [00:28:13] Kris: Like we have the expertise, the people, the buy-in to fill that gap. [00:28:16] Kris: So I'm like, let's shift my focus to doing that because it's a new problem. [00:28:20] Kris: We've solved the problem of getting a thing opened. [00:28:23] Kris: And then it's like, okay, are there new things that need to get opened? [00:28:27] Kris: I think that's where, you know, it's like, oh, like this gave me a little bit of confidence that like, [00:28:33] Kris: I can do this. [00:28:34] Kris: Yeah. [00:28:35] Kris: Now we picked a big project to have the first go around. [00:28:38] Kris: Right. [00:28:39] Kris: But it does give like [00:28:41] Kris: to doing it again and not to doing the same thing, but to doing a complicated project that has to include a lot of different entities, buy-ins, and is not a straightforward build from scratch or repurpose. [00:28:56] Kris: There was nothing easy about this. [00:28:58] Kris: There was nothing on paper easy about this project. [00:29:01] Kris: And that is always fascinates me. [00:29:05] Kris: And I think what makes me go [00:29:09] Kris: to appeals. [00:29:10] Kris: But at the same time, I sometimes go like, Well, why can't I just like retire, be like, relax, and you relax, do whatever I do, whatever I want to do, I still do whatever I want to do now. [00:29:22] Kris: But you know, like, I get torn in both of those directions of, let me be like all those people I watch on Instagram, that's like, you know, fake of, like, just going to casino and whatever it's hosting, but [00:29:37] Matt: That's my new bucket list thing. [00:29:39] Matt: I want you to take me to the casino at some point. [00:29:41] Kris: That's my new... No, you would not like that. [00:29:44] Kris: We casino very differently. [00:29:46] Kris: Yes. [00:29:47] Kris: Yeah, we've talked about that. [00:29:49] Matt: But I do like... [00:29:50] Matt: Okay, I like what you're saying, though, that you are a point-of-the-spear guy. [00:29:54] Matt: You like complex issues that require creation, ideation, and pulling people together, right? [00:29:58] Matt: Like, I now... [00:30:00] Matt: If somebody says, what's it like working with Kris? [00:30:02] Matt: Cause I've worked with Kris. [00:30:03] Matt: Like, no, he's a point of the spear guy. [00:30:05] Matt: Kris will function at his best and the collective will win if you let him be at the point of the spear. [00:30:10] Matt: So anytime you're not there, I'm sure it doesn't feel as good for you. [00:30:14] Matt: It's not as fun. [00:30:15] Matt: It's not as like tapped into who you are. [00:30:17] Matt: Right. [00:30:17] Matt: Like, so how do you make sure? [00:30:19] Matt: And then my, my version of that is humans. [00:30:23] Matt: Like give me people to talk with and work with and problem solve and collaborate and harmonize. [00:30:27] Matt: Like, [00:30:28] Matt: I'm a real happy. [00:30:29] Matt: Yeah. [00:30:30] Matt: So how do you, I guess that's for like, I'm thinking about people in this space then. [00:30:34] Matt: So the people we have that we get to work with here at momentum, do they know where they fit best and what makes them the happiest? [00:30:42] Matt: And if they're a solo entrepreneur or maybe a small team, like as their companies grow, how do you and I, as we hang out together, like how can we help them make sure like, yeah, know where you fit in this growth thing. [00:30:53] Matt: Yeah. [00:30:53] Matt: And yeah, [00:30:55] Kris: bring people along that can compliment you yeah i think the like with some of this with the space here this is totally diverging but of there are like you know three to five people that um we're aware of that i feel like we can really impact and keep and help them be successful and i think like that's you know it's uh [00:31:18] Kris: we're low, that's low numbers. [00:31:20] Kris: We're not trying to impact like a hundred, you know, or a hundred people or a thousand people, but it's like, can we just do like five and make it a positive outcome? [00:31:28] Kris: So it helps the region helps. [00:31:30] Kris: It helps everything. [00:31:31] Kris: And I think that's where those are slower to see, but also like, I don't know, like it's, it feels more, uh, what's interesting. [00:31:42] Matt: Yeah. [00:31:43] Kris: Do we have anything else to share with the listeners today? [00:31:46] Kris: Well, if they haven't already, they should definitely like and subscribe. [00:31:50] Kris: That is my – Is that still a thing? [00:31:54] Kris: I think it is. [00:31:54] Matt: When you create content, you still have to ask for that? [00:31:58] Kris: We need to help the algorithm. [00:32:01] Kris: So episode two, hope you like it, and we'll see you next time. [00:32:05] Kris: Thanks for the show, man. [00:32:05] Kris: Oh, we didn't even introduce ourselves. [00:32:08] Kris: Okay, well, we can retell. [00:32:11] Kris: At the end. [00:32:12] Kris: So, as you know, I'm Kris Priemer and Matt Metzger. [00:32:18] Matt: Cheers, friend. [00:32:19] Kris: Cheers, cheers, cheers. [00:32:20] Matt: For all the celebrations we've missed.