Escaping the Owner Prison: Richard Walsh on Transforming Business and Mastering Podcasting

What if you could transform your business by escaping the confines of ownership, all while mastering the art of podcasting? Join us as we explore this intriguing possibility with Richard Walsh, a seasoned entrepreneur and best-selling author, who shares his captivating journey from running a gym to becoming a prominent voice in podcasting. With a career spanning over a decade in the podcasting landscape, Richard has engaged with fascinating guests, from NBA coaches to Navy SEALs, and offers a unique perspective on how the medium has evolved. He passionately discusses the technological advancements that have made podcasting more accessible and the exciting opportunities for anyone to create meaningful content and forge connections worldwide.

Richard also opens up about a personal crisis that reshaped his life and business philosophy, leading to the development of his "escaping the owner prison" strategy after the 2008-2009 financial collapse. His experiences underline the importance of achieving a work-life balance while maintaining high-quality output and understanding your Ideal Client Profile (ICP). Through his insights, listeners will discover how to build a business that allows for personal growth and freedom, drawing comparisons between different business models to highlight the significance of knowing your audience. With a nod to Angela Duckworth's "Grit," Richard emphasizes the perseverance needed to achieve excellence, offering invaluable guidance to small business owners and aspiring podcasters alike.

Connect with Richard:

Website:
https://sharpenthespearcoaching.com/

Social Media:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richard.walsh.9231
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-walsh-866ab237/

Chapters

• 0:04 Evolution of Podcasting and Communication
• 9:28 Escape the Owner Prison Strategy
• 21:46 Creating Freedom, Profit, Impact in Business

Transcript

Carl Richards: 0:04

Welcome to Communication Connection Community, the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride. Let's dive into today's episode. I have to say we have had some amazing conversations lately with guests from all different sectors, all of whom have been embracing podcasting from different angles, different perspectives, all kinds of industries, all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, all kinds of experiences. But oh my goodness, we are so thrilled for the opportunity to be chatting with people, and it's mostly in part due to the folks at Podmatch who have made it quite possible for us to get in touch with some amazing podcast guests. And I know that Alex Sanfilippo has been a guest on this podcast. He probably needs to be a guest again to update some of the things that are new in the podcast guesting world and the podcast scheduling world. But man, oh man, are we ever in for a treat today? Because we're talking to a fellow podcaster who's been doing podcasting for quite a while? And man. Does he ever have a story to share with us today?

Carl Richards: 1:27

My guest today is Richard Walsh. Richard is a 30-year seasoned entrepreneur. He's the best-selling author of Escape the Owner Prison, the contractor's new way to scale, regain control and fast-track growth while loving life, a speaker and a podcast host as well. He's a husband and father of six children, a US Marine champion, boxer, black belt and an internationally recognized steel sculptor. His expertise lies in combining both the strategic and the tactical. He's able to deliver immediate problem-solving results tactical along with the strategic, long-term implementation of systemization and scalability. We're going to talk a lot about podcasting. I'm sure some of these other elements will come up. Richard, welcome to the podcast.

Richard Walsh: 2:15

Thanks, carl. I appreciate you having me here, man, looking forward to the conversation.

Carl Richards: 2:19

It's always lots of fun. How did you fall into this world of podcasting? What was the catalyst that got you going With my book.

Richard Walsh: 2:26

I'm like, well, I'm talking to people on how do you reach people, and I had a gym. I owned a gym too and we had started a podcast man back in 2012, maybe Me and one of my trainers just having fun like just a couple of goofs, you know, just having a good time. So that was kind of fun. Then I kind of had that pause so I was scaling some other businesses and then when I get into podcasting, I'm like, well, I can do podcasting. Like what's so hard about it? I just started doing it and also I'm interviewing all these people.

Richard Walsh: 2:54

I ended up interviewing guys like NBA coaches to Navy SEALs, to bestselling authors. It was like the funnest thing I ever did. I love this and there were hour long interviews and just the people were just awesome. Almost all the people were just awesome. You always get a couple that you don't really want to publish. That's really how I got into it because like, well, I'll share what I know, I'll bring people on in the same the business realm and stuff like that, and it really it took off and it was just a lot of fun.

Carl Richards: 3:20

What are some of the changes that you've noticed? I mean, you mentioned 2012 when you got into it. I got in in 2019. I've seen changes since then, but since 2012,. What are some of the top changes that you've noted in the podcasting space?

Richard Walsh: 3:34

Well, for one, a big one is platforms to get guests to get on to be a guest. Like people are really developing some awesome stuff. Because before when you go, you put a post on Facebook who wants to be on my podcast? You know it's like I didn't know where to go. You just like put it out there. Then, oh, I read this book, let me try to contact this guy. You know like it was a lot of work to get quality guests, let alone guest guests. You know, just a plain old yes. So that's a huge shift and that's really just been the last couple of years. And then things like Buzzsprout, right Ways to get out of where it just goes to everything. It's just a one push and they've done stuff like that in your recording platforms, your Riverside, your Squadcast, your Zoom, all this stuff. So those are the big changes and they've gotten so good with noise canceling and everything else, even like Zoom and stuff your microphones so inexpensive for dynamic microphones and things like that.

Richard Walsh: 4:33

It's like, wow, man, you could. This used to be cost prohibitive, right. Just like video was right. You never you weren't on the news. Like to get someone to listen for 35 minutes an hour to listen to you. You couldn't buy that time. That was unpurchasable back in the day, right, and now we can sit there and have these conversations and meet these incredible people like it's and then who am I? But it's just awesome. So that's a bunch of ones that I've really seen.

Carl Richards: 4:55

Yeah, it certainly is a lot of fun, but you're right, it's taken this thing that when 2000 or 2002, when it was created, and at that time it was an audio only platform Well, now it's audio, it's video, but everyone has those tools. I mean you. You pick up this device that we carry around in our pocket. Remember in 2012, even how big these were, then probably had the it's it's basically a computer in your pocket. Now is is is the point I'm trying to make.

Richard Walsh: 5:26

Yeah, even in 2012, we were like you still had to have the mixer, you had to plug in, you had to have. It was like it is. It's no effort now it's, it's, it's zero to be able to do anything. You know, like really the I'd say a four-year-old could do it, but that's they probably do a lot more than I can anyways, but I'm not a 60-year-old could even do it. Now, how about that? It's something else. It's impressive, do you?

Carl Richards: 5:48

think it's in your expertise, though do you think it's watered it down a little bit? The quality aspect of it?

Richard Walsh: 5:54

I don't think so. I truly think blackheads is still in its infancy stage. As many as there are right, as big as it is, I think there's so much more to come down the pike that's going to elevate this. So I don't think it's watered it down. What it's done is give.

Richard Walsh: 6:08

I like things, because first you have this high barrier to entry right. You've got to have the certain tools and this and video camera. I go back right. We used to have to use Super 8 cameras. There was no video right. Then you had the $3,000 video camera. You had to walk around as big as your torso just to get video. And now it's in our pocket, right.

Richard Walsh: 6:28

But I think what it's doing now is really giving people an opportunity to get a platform, create a voice. There's good ones and bad ones, like anything. There's good doctors and bad doctors, good teachers and bad teachers that's all the thing. So it's really who's going to embrace it and go into it and make something of it. Some people do it for fun, Some want to make a business out of it, Some people just want to connect. So I don't think it's watered down. I think what it's going to do is shore up and all things happen, Carl. You know what they do they weed out the weak. So eventually, these people you know they start a podcast, they do three episodes and they never do another one. Okay, so those guys, eventually those would go away. It doesn't matter, Right? So the cream will rise to the top and if you want to be there, you have an opportunity to be there.

Carl Richards: 7:11

It's funny that you mentioned that, because I know people that have been in that space, where they did three episodes, said this is too hard, for whatever reason. They didn't go into the strategy. They thought it would be fun or less work or whatever it is, and I think that eventually we'll see those. I think they're still hanging in I think what they call podgatory right when all podcasts go to dock. I think they're still hanging in there right now, but I think eventually we'll see them sort of fade into the sunset and then we'll see some new growth from podcasters coming in today and their ideas of what a podcast should be about. You must have seen a shift too in just the content and the types of content, the value in the content, all of that too.

Richard Walsh: 7:55

Yeah, because people start realizing, so you'll get experts who start to embrace it. A lot of experts in my experience, tend to be exclusionary because they're so good and they know everything and they're the expert and they're not big on sharing. Ok, now some do right because they want to, because they they understand there's a business involved. Others and I call them more the academic elite don't really want to do that because they want their captive audience and whatever, and so that can be a little bit different.

Richard Walsh: 8:24

I think what's also going to happen, carl, is, you know, the people with the few episodes and all that. I think they're going to be literally forced out, like they'll be deleted because of like space and it'll become the new thing. Well, if you haven't done this, you can't participate, right? So it's not going to be that you can come and take up space with three episodes and never do another one. Take up space for with three episodes and never do another one, they're going to delete you, like you can't be on here, you're not using the platform. So I I believe it'll come to that, because they're going to have to weed people out somehow who aren't producing, because it's like google, right, if you're not giving value if you're not bringing value to their people. Searching and everything else right, guess what.

Carl Richards: 8:59

You don't get found, right you get pushed to the very last page on google, which no one ever goes to unless they're really bored on a Sunday afternoon and it's raining.

Richard Walsh: 9:09

You'll be embarrassed to tell someone you had a podcast, exactly so that'll just not be a part of your life anymore.

Carl Richards: 9:17

Yeah, for sure. One of the things you mentioned is that one of the catalysts that got you into the podcasting space was the book. And let's talk a little about what you do, because I think what you do is very important. So, escaping the owner prison, what made you decide to put pen to paper?

Richard Walsh: 9:34

For the first 20 years of my business, my water feature. I had a custom water feature business did steel sculpture super successful, best in the country at doing what I did. Quite the artist I don't look like an artist, but I'm an artist and that was amazing. 08, 09 hit a financial crunch. My business like evaporated overnight, like in one day. I lost half a million dollars, ok, and it just kept snowballing from there and it was because, obviously, people didn't have to have a water feature at that time. They could wait it's a luxury item and they did and they weren't wrong to hold on to the money. If you were around then you know. You know the drill. But the problem I realized was well, ok, I can blame it on the economy, but it really was things that I didn't do in my business. Making money was never a problem. I do tell people making money in business is the easiest part of business. It's everything else that's difficult. And you take someone like me 20 years in. How can even an economic collapse, how could it really take me out? Okay, and there's a lot of factors to that.

Richard Walsh: 10:32

So what happened was I started to connect. I lost everything. I have six kids under four years old, my wife lost her house. It closed everything down, relocate all this stuff, start over. Okay, not a pleasant time, okay, but it's a challenge to me. It's like it didn't really phase me. I really learned like, okay, I'm going to do things different. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm going to do things different. So when I started getting back into creating businesses again, I took it and thought, well, one thing I didn't want to do was I didn't want to get consumed by my business, where it becomes my identity. So if I'm not wearing my shirt and for my company, my work crowd company, I'm nobody. Ok, I'm that. So I stopped that because I realized my children, as they're growing up, all they cared about. Like I come home at seven o'clock at night, whatever I'm working, they run and attack me Right, four or three years old, ok, cool.

Carl Richards: 11:17

When.

Richard Walsh: 11:17

I leave one time time my son is chasing my truck down the driveway crying and screaming. And take a look in the rear view mirror at that sometime and see if it doesn't affect you, right? I'm like they don't care what I drive, they don't care where we live, they don't care how many trucks I have in my business, they don't care. All they wanted was me to be around, right? So I'm like, okay, well, how do I build a business? Because I love business, I love it, I love working, I love scaling, but still be there for my family. Like, how do we create the balance, the work-life balance? I hate that term, but people use it, you know they get it. But there's a whole different way to balance. So that was my mission. Let me get that figured out. Let me build a business and still be around my kids. And we homeschooled my kids all the way through high school. You know all six of them, everything else. So that's how it started really working and people started asking me like, how'd you do that? I started helping them. Of course, coaching was kind of birthed in for me doing that. So you know, I should write a book, I should tell the story, because this is pretty traumatic.

Richard Walsh: 12:13

At one time, you know, I did a lot of stuff. I started with a wheelbarrow and a shovel in the back of my Jeep, you know whatever 30 years ago. And here I am today. So I wrote the book and I realized the biggest problem with small businesses. All the small business owners I knew were all trapped in their business. If they didn't open the door, you say, the business didn't run. If they weren't wearing nine hats, things didn't get finished. So from a book writing standpoint, carl, I had 27 working titles for my book. Okay At 27,. I'm like okay, I think I'm down to a couple of, and I always tell people I went with the 28th one, okay, escape the owner prison Cause. None of those were working, you know. So I figured that one out, like cool.

Richard Walsh: 12:51

Then we came, then that was the hardest part of the whole book, next to the subtitle Okay, the contracts. And we had scale, regain, control and fast track growth while loving life. I had to figure that one out too. And then the book went and it just kind of really hit a nerve. It really resonated with people because that's where they're stuck. If you're a business doing $1 to $10 billion a year, most likely you're stuck in there. You're in the prison okay, you're not present. When you're home, the phone's ringing, you're taking calls. You're at the dinner table oh, you're taking calls. You know you're at the dinner table, I can take this call and you walk away. Got to get up early, go to bed last. You know the whole thing. So that's what really spurred on the book.

Richard Walsh: 13:27

And when I put the book of my story then the things to do as a contractor or service or trade business, it was like let's build value and we'll build profit. And it just started taking them through those steps and it was unbelievably rewarding. I'm turning these business. I'm going to say I'm going to call it turning them around, but I took them from. I'll give you one example they're doing 12 jobs at a time. Okay, doing what? 2 million a year, 12 jobs at one time, not making any money okay.

Richard Walsh: 13:55

Came in and said okay let's go through the escape donor prison process. Let's go through the Sharpen the Spirit thing. A year later, a year and a half later. Now they're doing $3 million a year and doing a third of the work, but they're getting what they deserve to be paid. Right now they get rid of all that. He has a life, as a matter of fact, the same guy he just headed off for the beach today with his wife and five kids. Business is humming and everything's going. Yeah, we're heading out. I do a quick estimate of what I'm going. We're heading there for the weekend or something you can do. All that now. Other ones they hadn't had a vacation in eight years and these people now are taking multiple. And there's just. That's the joy I get for what I do from being a business coach. When I can do that for a company and give someone back their freedom because no one gets serving the business, that's totally backwards. Your business should serve you and that's really what it's all about.

Carl Richards: 14:45

Wow, phenomenal. And congratulations on figuring that out, too, for yourself. From what I've been told from various coaches, ceo doesn't stand for chief everything officer. At some point you need to delegate or know that the business will run, or set it up so it runs when you're not there. There's three things.

Richard Walsh: 15:05

Automate, delegate, eliminate, automate, delegate, eliminate, automate. Whatever you can, whether that's your books or you've got a virtual assistant or you have everything systemized. Delegate, put people in charge and give them authority, truly give them authority, have them do things, hold them accountable. Then eliminate Obviously, eliminate redundancies, eliminate inefficiencies. But you know what you really need to eliminate you. You need to eliminate you from the picture here. You should be working on 5% of the business that only you can do. Everything else, automate and delegate. You're focused on vision, growth, market capture, stuff. That, like, really gets you jacked. You know that's why you got in business with it. You didn't get in the business to do accounting. You didn't even get in business to do sales. You may have done them for a while.

Carl Richards: 15:51

You know you didn't get in business to keep swinging a hammer right, we got to be part of the elimination part, even if it's something you'd like to do, because I, again, I come from a radio background world where I used to edit, you know, interviews and all that stuff every single day. It was just something that you did. You're on air, you're editing on the fly, so to speak, but I don't edit podcasts anymore. I have a team that does that for me because, to your point, I should be working on that 5% or 8% or whatever it is that I should be doing, and it's not editing and it's not doing social posts and it's not. I still do sales and marketing, so I still do some of that, but I'm already seeing the not the writing on the wall, but I'm, but I'm, I'm forecasting. Okay, at some point I need to be focusing on the speaking and being the face and the voice of the business, but somebody else needs to be doing the sales piece.

Richard Walsh: 16:41

Yeah, absolutely. You really have to understand time. Money is replenishable. I can lose it all I did and then I made it all back. It's replenishable. I can make more money tomorrow, the next day, the next day. I can't. I miss my kid's soccer game. He scores a goal. Looks in the stands for the kid's soccer game, he scores a goal. Looks in the stands for the and I'm not there to get that. I never get that back, gone forever. All of us, as small business owners, have been in that situation. Okay, we've all missed those times and it's you can't get it back.

Richard Walsh: 17:17

That's what the freedom part is about. Do what I want when I want. That's what I want. I want to have a great business. I want to scale. I want it to run itself. I love it, I love being in it. But man, I need my family needs me. I need to have real balance. I call it the five Fs, so it's going to be faith, family, finances, fitness and friendships. I need to be balancing those things. Do I have all five of those things in my life? You know, outside my business, if I'm just counting dollars, that's my only scorecard is my gross revenue. It's miserable at the top and lonely. You'll be sitting on a big pile of money, but nobody's sharing it and the dollars and cents is important.

Carl Richards: 17:51

I mean, otherwise it's a hobby, right. But yeah, and it's funny how in business, a lot of especially solopreneurs they say oh well, I'm self-employed, I have so much freedom. Yeah, you've given up a 40-hour work week to work a 100-hour work week and you have no freedom because you're absorbed with all that extra tasks.

Richard Walsh: 18:12

Exactly Because here's the thing when you create the business properly automate, delegate, eliminate guess what it does? It makes a lot more money without you. Money is incredibly important. How are we going to do great things without money? How are we going to help people without money? How are we going to make impact with our business? If we're broke or we go under, we can't help anybody. So it's critical.

Richard Walsh: 18:34

But it's funny, carl, in my coaching that's not like the money focus isn't kind of even on the radar. It's systemization, it's strategy, it's scalability, it's performance. It's like how do we do this so that you can have the freedom, the profit begins to rise and you can make the impact? I go. It just happens I don't have to focus on making money. If you run it right, you can't help it. It's a byproduct Increased profit and real profit. So I do talk about real net profit and there's gross revenue.

Richard Walsh: 19:03

There's a great saying I learned years ago from a mentor of mine. People say, oh, I'm doing 10 million a year, I'm doing 20 million a year and I'll ask well, how much are you taking home? Oh, I did 100,000 last year. I'm like wait a minute, you're doing 10 million gross revenue, you're taking home 100. There's people working in the government making more than you. Okay, I said so. Something's broken here. So the great saying was gross revenue feeds the ego, profit feeds the family. That is, just put that in your head and go oh yeah, that's kind of important, isn't it? You know, it's what you keep, it's not what you make, it's what you keep. Same reason we have tax strategy and everything else. We want to give as little as possible to those who just want to take.

Carl Richards: 19:41

I like that because that's very true, and I think that it's one of the traps that entrepreneurs get in when they're first getting into business. They go I'm bringing in all this money. Great, you might be bringing that in, but how much are you keeping? And it's not because you're absconding with it, it's because, okay, you have to pay your taxes, that's a given. But you're looking at the fact that you yeah, you have to pay people, and how much are you actually keeping?

Richard Walsh: 20:08

You have a bucket with a lot of holes in it. That's what you have. You're running and gunning but your expenses and you're not paying attention to what you're actually paying for materials and this and this and this. And all of a sudden it's just why am I at a 2% margin? Only Coca-Cola can work at that margin, not the plumber down the street, you can't do it.

Carl Richards: 20:28

I think some of the other things too that factor into play are I know for myself in business it's been I'm pricing myself too low for my services, and I think that I'm pricing myself too low, I'm doing people a favor, when really what I'm doing is I'm undervaluing my services, where if I raise my prices and I've heard so many people say this you raise your prices, guess what? And more money will come in, not just because you raised your prices, but because now you're attracting different clientele altogether.

Richard Walsh: 20:58

That's 100% right and it's always about building value, like people have perceived value. If I buy a car and I look at it and it's $30,000, they have the car and they go oh man, I love this car, I'm not buying it because if it was $30,200, that's too much, I'm not going to spend that. It's worth more than $30,000 to me, whether that's image, function, whatever. It is right. I never had air conditioning. Now I have air conditioning okay, I'll pay whatever for it, but I'm like people don't buy it for the price.

Richard Walsh: 21:30

If you're going to have that race to the bottom and it's a low bidder, that's the first thing I attack when I work with the company. Where is your pricing? What do you get for your pricing? Like we, we, and that's why they work a third, they do a third of the jobs now and make double the money. Because and now and there's a caveat with this, carl you have to do great work. You can't be schlock and expect a top dollar. Okay, like, stay at the bottom and then go with the few, the bottom feeders, and chase that stuff. Go after Walmart Okay, go go, follow Walmart around. But don't be, you want to chart. You got to be that person you have to be. You have to deliver above and beyond what they're paying for.

Richard Walsh: 22:08

You know it just has to be a principle in your business, like we never cut corners, we always deliver the highest caliber we possibly can. And my clients are like that, and that's why we can change what they do. I don't go in. If someone does really trashy work, I won't take them on as a client, unless they bought a business that does bad work and they want to do good work, okay, we can work with that. But if they're going to insist on delivering a subpar product or service, I'm not going to work with them. I don't Because my reputation is on the line too. I don't want to be attached to that, yeah, 100%.

Carl Richards: 22:39

And it's also knowing who is your client, Because, let's face it, there is a place in the world for fast food restaurants. You need a quick meal. You're on the go. It's not necessarily the healthiest, but it's probably the quickest. You can go to any of those chains and it's there for you. You want a good steak. You're probably not going to go to that same restaurant. You're going to go to a Keens in New York City or something like that, where it's an experience and you know what you're getting is to your point. It's that quality and it better be good quality, otherwise it's not going to keep you in business very long.

Richard Walsh: 23:13

Consistently good quality. The word is consistent, right? If I go to Ruth Chris or Morton's everyone I go to I'm going to get the same experience. Okay, they're a franchise, but they're a high-end franchise. I took my whole when I got married. Everyone at the wedding we went to Ruth Chris, got a room upstairs and everyone just ordered off the menu. Okay, forget the catering, all that nonsense. We're going to a system in Chicago. We're going down to Ruth Chris and order whatever you want. We're going to have an amazing time. It was awesome. But yeah, to your point on that, it's really important. Again, go back to fast food. Mcdonald's is not good food, it's fast and cheap. That's what they are. That's their client.

Richard Walsh: 23:51

So we call it ICP, right? Ideal Client Profile. So whether you're a podcaster, you know you're a tradesman. Whatever you're doing, you have to know who you're going to serve. Like you're saying that ICP and I give people multiple page worksheets on figuring that out. I mean, you know them better than you know. What's the average house income, right? Or the median income? Where do they live? Where do they live? Where income? Where do they live? What do they live? What do they drive? How many cars, how many kids? What do they do? What do they do online, offline? You got to do all that research on your ideal client Because when you know that, you know exactly how to serve them and then you don't waste time on the others.

Richard Walsh: 24:25

So your marketing is narrowed, you're saving dollars on marketing but the close rate goes up right In your sales because you know you're speaking to like equals. You know what I mean. You know them so well. They feel like they're sitting across their best friend, not some guy who's carrying 19 sample boards and they're going to show them something. No, it's not the brush salesman or something or whatever it is.

Richard Walsh: 24:47

I used to tell my roofing guys like, don't bring samples to the door ever. We go in, you have a table, we do a really cool presentation, we have satellite imagery. We do all this stuff when they want to see it. After you close the deal, then we bring in those samples from the truck, then I'll show them when we pick colors and install dates and everything else. But there's always a process, right, you got to know your clients and know how to serve them. So anyone like I said, anyone, I don't care if you're a podcaster, especially right, you have to know your market. Who are you talking to? Yes, I know anybody can listen, right, anyone can click play, but they're not gonna, or they might go. What do I? Oh wait, I'm on the wrong one and they'll turn that off and you're getting nothing right.

Carl Richards: 25:23

So that's a key element. You hit the nail right on the head there too. About in the podcasting space and I think there are a lot of podcasters out there going back to some of our original discussion who started a show just for the sake of starting a show, not knowing who their audience is, who they're speaking to, what the goal is for their show and the consistency which is why they only did three episodes or five episodes, or quit after their first season or whatever it is, because they weren't getting the results, because there was inconsistency with what they were doing.

Richard Walsh: 25:50

Yeah, it's so critical. There's a great book out I just read. A friend of mine recommended it to me. It's called grit. Have you read it, angela Duckworth? No, so I just recommend to. You want to understand, like, what it really takes to succeed. I mean, I'm talking research. This is something with an idea. This woman has researched and talked to the best. You know people you think are just the greatest in their field, right? Well, she finds out what it took to get there, go read and go. Oh, you know people you think are just the greatest in their field, right? Well, she finds out what it took to get there, go read and go. Oh, you know, they say every overnight success only took 10 years.

Richard Walsh: 26:21

Okay, that's more like 20 actually right these guys are like so my buddy's a big entrepreneur, you know multiple business, all super successfully. He texts me this and he goes have you read this, because this is about you? So I go say I start reading it. I go, okay, it's like 300 pages. No one's writing 300 pages about me, there's not enough. He goes but there is, there is, and I read it and you take a test to see where your percentile is for grit. I'm a 97% grit guy, okay. So it's like okay, well, I get it now, but I just recommend, if you want to read it, it really helps.

Richard Walsh: 26:52

If you're looking to say you're launching your podcast, if you just call it consistency, that's what it's about. If you're going to do once a week every Wednesday at six o'clock, it's got to be every Wednesday at six o'clock. You can't. You know. You got to understand that, be prepared to endure. We call it discipline, diligence and determination. You got to have those things. It's like you got to be disciplined to do it, diligent to make sure it happens again and again and again, and you got to just be determined to get to the goal right and make it happen. So really it's a really good point.

Carl Richards: 27:21

Wow, Richard, this is some phenomenal conversation we're having. We can keep this going for the rest of the day, but I think we should probably give you the opportunity to talk about sharpening the spear and what you do with the coaching.

Richard Walsh: 27:32

And so sharpen the spear. Coaching is it is about working with businesses, right. So what I want to do is create freedom, profit, impact. My big movement is to help 10,000 business owners create that freedom, profit and impact. Right, because when they do that and here's the cool thing about it, carl, think of it. What I do is, when people talk about it, I go it isn't some crazy. Serve yourself as an owner. It's changing the culture of your business. So you're not just creating freedom for yourself, but it's also for the people who work with you. Make them better as people, not just competent workers. Once you do that and they're improving as people, where do they go with that? They go home, right to the families, and that gets shared with the families. And where do the families go Into the communities? Right, and they influence that.

Richard Walsh: 28:14

So think about 10 000 business. You're like, okay, well, there's 32 million in the us, there's 10 000, but now you're affecting families and communities. You have the potential of millions, right, affecting millions of people. Understand there's a different way to do business, where it's not all business, nothing else, it's creating real balance. So that's our drive and I'll tell you I that's our drive and I'll tell you. I just kind of our ideal client. I'll tell you what mine is briefly, okay. It's people in business five to 15 years. They have five to 50 employees. They're doing about a million gross a year Okay, and probably between a million and 10 million is a sweet spot. And we go in and we just look at their business. We spend a year and we get this perfected, we free them, we take those chains off of them, get that business operating itself and it's a beautiful thing.

Carl Richards: 29:00

Starpeningthespearcoachingcom is the website. We'll make sure that that link is in the show notes as well. As if you want to connect with Richard socially social handles rather Well socially too, I guess if you meet him at home for a beverage of some kind, we'll make sure that that's all in the show notes as well. Before I turn you loose Richard to go and help business owners become better at what they do and more efficient, I'll leave you with the final thought, since we're talking about grit.

Richard Walsh: 29:27

We're talking about discipline and determination and diligence. I'm going to share my favorite quote for the last since, like 95 when I first read it, and it goes like this it's a dedication to a goal that never wavers Resolution. This is the basic principle in the life of every truly great character. He who resolves upon any great and good end has, by that very resolution, clothed himself in power and has scaled the chief barrier to it. Now I'm going to credit that to Steve Ilg. He wrote a book called Outdoor Athlete, didn't put his name on it, he didn't put it on known. I'm just thinking he wrote that and it was so brilliant I memorized it right there. I've been quick, I've headed to my gym walls. I just love it. But that to me is like that's kind of me too. So you guys can grab ahold of that. You can do whatever you want to do. You just got to hang in there and get it done.

Carl Richards: 30:15

Richard, I think we'll leave it right there. Thank you so much for being my guest today.

Carl Richards: 30:19

Thank you, carl. Appreciate it, loved it,

Carl Richards: 30:20

And thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, Dom Carrillo, our music guru, Nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, Stephanie Gaffor..

Carl Richards: 30:34

If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review, and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space because, after all, we're Podcast Solutions Made Simple. We'll catch you next time.