Episode 40: Andy Storch – How new habits can transform your life and career
Beyond 6 Seconds
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Full episode transcript -

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today on beyond six seconds.

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At the end of the day, we all have 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. We all have time really to do whatever we want. It's about how we prioritize that time that determines what we end up doing. So if you're saying you'd like to try meditation or get to the gym, but you don't have time, what you really mean is I haven't been making that a priority because I'd rather work or do what the other things are that you're doing.

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Welcome to Beyond Six Seconds the podcast that goes beyond the six second first impression to share the extraordinary stories and achievements of everyday people. I'm your host, Caroline Keel. On today's episode, I'm speaking with Andy Storch, India's a consultant coach and facilitators specializing in helping clients turn strategy into action and helping people do the best work of their lives. And he works with companies to accelerate leadership, development, strategy, alignment, business acumen and sales training. He also coaches individuals to help them improve their performance and achieve their goals, and he is also the host of to podcasts, including Thea Entrepreneur Hot seat where he has interviewed over 100 CEOs and entrepreneurs and the talent development Hot seat where he interviews interesting talent development leaders about their experience. Andy, Welcome. I'm thrilled to have you on the podcast today. So tell me, how did you get the inspiration to start your own business? Well, I have

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been interested in intrigued in entrepreneurship since really about the time I graduated from college. Before that, I had no experience for the entrepreneurship at all. My parents were both teachers and school administrators, and I don't think there were any contributions to my family, But it probably started right after college. And I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which is, uh, sort of, I think, a catalyst for a lot of entrepreneurs out there. Sure in the world. And I started. I joined some start ups and started a couple companies out of the l A. When I moved there back in 2003 nothing that really worked out.

And I went into the corporate world for a long time. I got an M b a Ah, and then I joined a really great consulting company called BTS back of the end of 2010. And BTS is fantastic company. That gave me a lot of great experience developing and delivering leadership, development, strategy, alignment workshops all over the world, working with big companies and executives across different industries all around the globe. And it was a great job and a great company that gave me a fantastic experience. But something was still pulling at me that I wanted to get back and try being a little bit more entrepreneurial, doing things my way again. And I got a great opportunity about a year and 1/2 ago when I reconnected with a friend I had made eight years ago, uh, who was doing something similar, but in independent capacity.

And he invited me to come over and partner with him in his business with a company that we, our affiliate, was called Advantage Performance Group, where we get to act as independent agents, essentially selling and running, training and development, working with different up partners. And it's actually a really nice bridge, too. Be able to run your own business, act as a non sure, but also have support and partnerships with different thought partners around the industry, and so I wouldn't say I'm completely on my own. But the thing I love about it is that I get to run the business, how I like, build my own personal brand and not really have to worry about what other people think about what I'm doing. And so I've been doing that for just about a year now, and it's been a fantastic experience so far. I've been having a really great

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time. Wow, that's awesome. Yeah, I know it's, Ah, big change to, uh, make the plunge and even though you're not completely on your own, but it sounds like you now enjoy that freedom to maybe pick who you work with and just get more exposure to different companies and have more opportunities to try different types of things.

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Yeah, absolutely. It's It's been, ah, really fun so far, and I'm just just building the business now and looking forward to, ah you know, strong 2019 and beyond that, And I'm doing a lot of things to build for the long term.

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Well, that's fantastic. Can you tell me a little bit more about the type of work that you're doing now with advantage performance group?

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Sure, Yeah. When what we d'oh. Essentially, we connect Talyn development leaders and big companies with really awesome experiential learning programs to help them turn strategy into action and get their people doing the best work of their lives. And we run programs in areas like strategy, alignment, business acumen, leadership development and sales training. And the beauty of it is that we work with a lot of different partners who have these different solutions, and we can really be kind of solution agnostic, really unbiased in our approach. When we come to work with a client who's looking to put a new program together, we can make recommendations based on exactly what they're trying to achieve and save them time, because they don't have to go out and do a ton of research and talk with a lot of different solution providers because we've got them all right here. And they're all vetted programs we've been using for many years. So,

you know, almost were like independent agents or a sales channel, if you will for, ah lot of different solution providers, and it allows me to you really prevent a lot of value to my client's focus heavily on relationships and not as much on creating things, because I know I've already got that content available to me, and it's all been vetted and used many times

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for Wow, that's That's really, really great. You know, when we were talking a little bit before the show, you said around the time that you were thinking of our making that decision to go off on your own and doom or independent consulting that you read a book called Miracle Morning by How Well, Rod, which actually I hadn't heard of. I went to look it up after you mentioned it, and you said that that really had a big impact on your life and helped you, Ah, make that decision and make that big change. Can you tell me a little bit about kind of how you found out about the book and how it transformed your life and

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career? Yeah, absolutely. The Miracle Morning, as you said, is a book by Howell Rod, and it is probably the number one book that has absolutely changed my life, and I read a lot of books back in 20. Uh, think there's January 2016 when I first discovered the book. I was, you know, from outside perspective, very successful, right? I've got married, got one child,

another one on the way and a six figure consulting job. But I was still feeling a little bit unfulfilled, like I had the potential to do more, and I didn't know what to do with that. And I had never done anything in the personal developments face before. I had never read any, you know, self health, personal development type books. And I thought, maybe I want to try to get a real estate investing. I was like, you know, looking for something. And I was listening to actually real estate investing podcast when I heard how well Rod come on there because I think one of the host was a big fan of his, like, I am now a totally a super fan

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of how the run

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and, ah, I heard him talking about this morning routine that he had created. Essentially, he had been in sales and then become a coach, and when he was in the depths of despair, he went out and research. What are the things that all the most successful people do? Any gathered the six most common habits and started doing them every morning, getting up early every morning and then coaching his clients to do the same thing and started telling friends about it. And eventually he wrote a book, and so I heard it, and I knew I just had to get that book. And so I bought the book, and I remember the next morning I got up at 4 30 in the morning. I was so excited and started reading this book and did my first miracle morning. I think that was January 29th 2016 and,

ah, for those that are unfamiliar. The Miracle Morning, the six practices that he calls his savers our meditation, affirmations, visualization, reading, writing and exercise on. I started doing those things every single day, and I knew I needed to keep doing them to really form a habit. And so I ended up doing them 200 days in a row before I missed one, and from then on, I just kind of kept doing it every day and still do every day right up to today. I you know, I got about five o'clock this morning to meditate, to read to write and to go to the gym,

and I find that doing these things have made me so successful. Successful is a relative term, but they've allowed me to go out and do a lot more to chase my dreams and my goals, to take more chances to learn more, because I'm reading a lot more to improve my health and my wellness. And just every aspect of my life has improved because of the different things I've done that have gone back to kind of all started with that miracle morning into the pretending House conference. We're just called best year ever event, which he does every at the end of every year in San Diego and then started joining different groups, mastermind groups and other groups where I've just met so many fantastic people made really great friends who have supported me on this journey, and it all kind of goes back to reading

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that book. Wow, that's really interesting. It's funny. I talked with a lot of very busy people who are successful in high powered and sometimes you know, people will have the thought that you know they don't have time for meditation or their mind is just too busy and they can't do it. It's interesting, you know, I've gotten on and off the meditation wagon a little bit. But, you know, for a while I did have a habit of that. And, you know, it's like a muscle. It's honestly like exercising, I've found,

is that you really do have to practise it. And it's not always about silencing the thoughts. It's more to sort of being aware and letting them kind of pass you by so that you don't become them. Is that sort of how the Europe meditation practice is? Oh,

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yeah, I mean, there's a few things I'd love to address. Their number one is that they call it meditation practice. Not perfect for a reason, right? So I have been meditating for two and 1/2 years on a daily basis, and in fact, I use I use an app called Calm. There's a lot of other great APS out there which tracks my meditations, and I've as of today, I think I've meditated 552 days in a row, and the last week before that was 300 or something like that. So I've been doing it a lot, and I certainly struggle with trying to clear my mind every day because I have a lot of things going on. It's it's very common. I talked to other friends who meditate regularly as well,

and we're all working on getting better. But the point is that you practice it, that you do it, you make the attempt. And like you said, it's like a muscle that you know, you continually work on. You're going to get better. You know, the first few times or even the 1st 100 times you go to the gym. You're not going to be as good at working out lifting weights as the person that's been there 700 times, especially if you're not really paying attention to technique and trying to learn how to get better. So you know it takes a lot of practice, and it also requires that you make time for it, just like working out, and I find I think it's funny.

Sometimes when people say I don't have time to work out or I don't have time to meditate or do the other things that they may be want to d'oh because at the end of the day. We all have 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. We all have time, really to do whatever we want. It's about how we prioritize that time that determines what we end up doing. So if you're saying you'd like to try meditation or get to the gym, but you don't have time, what you really mean is I haven't been making that a priority because I'd rather work or do what the other things are that you're doing. So you got to really start to examine that. And then there's also I've heard many successful people say that you know, you should meditate 10 minutes a day, and if you say you don't have time, that means you should meditate 20 minutes a day, so

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right because

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you're too busy, right? So you would be surprised and amazed, though I mean, people comment all the time on how productive I am, and I think the meditation is part of that. It gives me more energy, gives me more focused throughout the day, So the more you dedicate time to it, the more it gives back throughout the day for getting more stuff done.

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Yeah, I mean, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, those principles in how rods book sounds really comprehensive. I would say they really cover a lot of different things, and they all kind of sound like different. It's almost like different muscles to build. So am exercises the obvious one. I think there's a lot of, ah, agreement that it's really important to have physical activity and exercise. And I think I read a statistic once that I don't know if it's like 90% or maybe close to 100% of Fortune 500 CEOs or high powered CEO is the one thing they all have in common is that they have a daily exercise routine. So clearly that's, ah, pretty important for, you know,

having that physical health and, you know, translates to mental and emotional wellness as well. And you also mentioned reading and writing, which I think are really interesting and those you know, almost like exercise and meditation or things that you have to practice too. You know, I love to read, but trying to build a ah writing practice. Sometimes you you just get the writer's block and it's hard to start out, but I'm curious to know How was your experience building your writing practice through

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that? Well, when I say writing, I really mean journaling. I haven't been writing per se in terms of like a blogger a book yet, but I do know host to podcasting. I do some, you know, post a lot of social media, and I will take time to craft things that I want to put out there. But mostly it's about The Daily Journal writing down what I'm grateful for every morning. One of the things that I want to get done that day and reflecting on the day of learning from the experience is not to mention recording all the ideas that come up because I'm like most people. I get a lot of ideas, but unless I write them down, you know, I always think, Oh,

I'll remember that later. And then, of course, they disappear. So it's a good practice to get into write these things down so that I do have them later. If I do want to write a book or it was something on social media or, you know, follow up on with a client or whatever it may be and going back to the reading, I think that's been really important and what I've found. You know, if you look around at most people, you know, the average American, even with a college degree, is probably reading 1 to 2 books a year. And that used to be me as well as you'd say, Well, I don't really have time And then I'll open a book at night when I go to bed and do a little reading then. But typically I would read one or two pages and then I'd fall asleep. And so how long did it take to get through a book and take six

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months? Right, right.

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But it's one of those things again where you say, like, Well, I don't really have time. I'm so busy. But then, you know you mentioned CEO is exercising. I think they also say that you know, leaders are readers. The average CEO reads like 50 bucks a year. Wait a minute. The CEO of a publicly traded company, which you know their time is probably in much more demand than yours, no matter how important you think you are. And yet they're finding time to read books. Well, how is that?

It's because they're making time to do it. So when I made the shift from the book being an afterthought the end of the night to getting up early and dedicating 20 to 30 minutes every morning to reading books all of a sudden now I'm reading two books a month, and I read 30 books last year and 30 books the year before that. And it's just a huge shift now, learning all these things, you know, putting some different things into practice that I never would have been able to do before before I started making that time or dedicating that time in the morning for reading in for writing in the journal

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as well. Yeah, and I think journaling is also great because, you know, as you said, you have ideas, and if you don't write them down, you may not remember them. But it's also interesting to go back. If you've been journaling consistently to go back and read three months ago, what were you thinking? Or a year ago, what were you thinking and saying? And a lot of times, a lot of though the problems you were struggling with or some of the thoughts you were having. It's somebody's amazing Thio, remember how it was and see how far you've come.

So absolutely so that's really great. Okay, so you're reading, writing, exercise, meditation And what were the other two

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affirmations and visualization? So affirmations are those things where you know you're writing down essentially the person you want to be and the goals that you want to achieve, and you're reminding yourself of that every morning. And it's not just telling yourself something. That's not necessarily true. I think people that haven't had any experience with affirmations, which I hadn't before a couple of years ago think of the Ah Stuart Smalley character on starting at live many years back. I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. Gosh, turn it. People like me. Hey, but even those I find can be sometimes helpful. But I use them to really remind myself of who I am, what I am doing, the goals I'm working on and what I'm going to do to go out to achieve those goals.

And I find that having that he'd be more focused on the things I'm trying to achieve, and then the visualization. I probably used as much as I could or should. But it's really helpful when you've got a day full of meetings or an important sales meeting or a presentation or a conversation that you wanna have to actually spend some time visualizing what your day is gonna look like, what that presentation might look like, as well as what your future looks like and how you might want to achieve it. And I think a lot of people this don't really take too much time to do that. But the more you do, it's almost like getting practice before you go in there and have toe face the day or whatever it is.

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Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Wow. So all of these six principles were things that you started practicing on a regular basis after reading this book, and you said that it kind of helped you make that shift in your career. So how did that shift happen, or what did you start to notice as you practice these more and more,

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first of all, helped me to start learn a lot more things right because I was reading these books and it You know, I almost want to say it kind of. It put me in touch more with my inner thoughts and my feelings and allowed me to really investigate who I was and who I wanted to be and really start to think again about this idea of entrepreneurship, which I had put aside for many years that I really wanted to do something with that. And I started listening to more podcasts around the subject, podcast like years where I could hear you know, transformative stories and hear what people are up to and get tips and advice and ideas and read different books about how to become a better father about her husband and especially better in business and look for different ideas. I discovered coaching and, you know, I didn't know that was a thing before that I could actually, you know, do a job or make money by helping other people which already loved to dio. And so that was amazing so I wouldn't get certified as a coach and started working with a few clients on the side. And then I just kept investigating this more, and it was just kind of the catalyst. You know,

as I mentioned the writing, you get to write down ideas and all the things that might want to do for me to discover these different things. I started my first podcast about almost two years ago. You mentioned the entrepreneur hot seat because I knew I loved entrepreneurship and I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wasn't doing it at the time, But I thought, If I go out and interview other entrepreneurs, kind of like what you're doing, then I can learn a lot more about it, make connections. And it has been, you know, fantastic experience for that. Because I did. You know, I just recorded just published episode 100 of that podcast of interviewed,

you know, 100 entrepreneurs and had really great conversations. And I've learned so much. And it was really helpful for me to make that jump. And, you know, for most of that time I was also working a full time job, which meant I needed to be really productive and organized with my time, which is where all of this, you know, the morning routine comes in the books I've read, including someone Productivity, to help me really get really good at time management to be able to manage my life. Better to get more stuff done and be able to help other people do the same thing. So it all kind of tied in and started back with the Miracle morning in that morning routine, which allowed me to start really thinking more,

reading, learning, thinking more about what I really wanted to do. Writing down goals, pursuing those goals, connecting with different people. I started joining mastermind groups and surrounding myself with really great people who could push me and support me and hold me accountable. And, ah, it's just all of it has been life changing and really helped me get to where I am today.

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Wow. Yeah, that's great. It's amazing how changing your thinking and building some new healthy habits can really kick start a whole transformation. So that's amazing.

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Absolutely. It really is. I mean, it all comes down to What do you want to achieve? And are you going to prioritize those things and create the behaviors that are gonna allow you to do that?

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Yeah, absolutely. So in the work that you've been doing now, as a consultant, have you had any sort of particularly memorable or very meaningful success stories with a client that you'd like to share that you've had so far.

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Sure, Yeah, I've had a few. I mean, it's only been a year since I went out on my own. I mean, working consulting for much longer than that. But one of the things that's really important to me is networking in relationships. I think everything in life for the most part comes back to relationships. All the jobs I've ever found, all the business opportunities that have come to me have been through building relationships, you know, including the business I'm in now. And so I said, from the get go, I've got to find a way to cut through the noise because all of my potential clients are getting, you know,

cold e mails and calls all day long from other independent consultants and and solution providers like me. And so I was looking for some ways to really cut through that and their two things that I decided on number one. I would start going to, you know, I would invest a lot of money and time and start going to conferences to meet people and number two. As I decided I was gonna start a second podcast, which is the talent development hot seat do you mentioned earlier? And, um, I went to a conference. One of the first ones I went to was ah, Leadership Development Conference in Dallas last December. And it was at that conference I met someone at a large organization called N O V, who introduced me Thio, a couple ladies who would be my future clients. And now they are my largest client.

And ah, it all came back to going to that conference meeting the right people and then, you know, connecting with them at the right time because everything in this business has to be the right time to go in and and build something. But it would almost just seem so fortuitous for both of us that we were able to connect because they're in the oil and gas industry. They're coming out of a downturn, starting to hire and promote and develop their people again, looking towards a more plentiful future after really having to lay off half of their work force back in 2014 and looking for ways to build out a new development program, and I actually met with them. We talked about what they were trying to achieve, brought in one of my biggest solution partners, BTS, where I used to work, actually, and we built a robust business simulation as the centerpiece of their new executive development program that they're now running for their top 500 leaders across the globe across the organization to help them understand not only company strategy and how the company works, but understanding the finances and business acumen and how the financial statements work and really give them the capabilities to be the future business and segment leaders for the company.

And, uh, it's been so great working with them because they've been so involved and really collaborative and really an ideal client. And I think we both feel pretty lucky that we're able to connect and meat of that conference. So that's been a big success story, and we are. We piloted that program in the summer of this year 2018 and we're making plans for a big world out in 2019 and then the other success story is that talent development podcast I mentioned which you're going to be a guest on very soon. And ah, that has allowed me to really connect, build my network and connect with a lot of great talent development professionals across every industry and also put valuable content out there so that I'm helping people, adding value and being seen as an authority, as someone that is helpful and valuable and is allowing we make connections that will hopefully lead to business opportunities one day when there's come up.

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Yeah, and I'm really looking forward to being on your podcast, the talent development hotsy. I think it's an amazing way to meet people, and I think what both of those things have in common meeting people at conferences and talking with them on the podcast is it's a really good way to have that voice to voice contact and start building those relationships even before you need them, because I would imagine if you don't, you know you have to get people at the right time. As you said, so it's it's a good way for them to know you. They've talked with you and you understand a little bit more about what their needs are from a business standpoint, So yeah,

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yeah, and I'm and I. It's a long in this business I'm in. It's a typically a very long sale cycle, if you will, or in a relationship, you know you might meet someone, and they may not have an opportunity. Men now have an opportunity to work with them for 18 months or even longer, and so I'm not naturally a patient person. But I pretend to be one working in this business. And so all of this is about building relationships. The one with N. O. V. I mentioned the company in Houston moved pretty fast, but for everything else, I've been going to conferences and doing the podcast in just meeting people in building relationships, knowing that they may not have worked for me right now, but they hopefully will down the line. And I'm

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not going anywhere. Yeah, sure. And for your podcast be entrepreneur Hot seat and the talent development hot seat. Do you mainly interview people who you already have existing relationships with, or do you reach out to brand new people that you care about and invite them on? What's the mix

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of that? Essentially a question. Yeah, it's quite a mix for the entrepreneur hot seat because it was more of a hobby. I was originally I started reaching out to people I wanted to interview, and then I had started being a lot of connections and people that I would meet. And I would get a lot of cold outreach from other, you know, sort of entrepreneurs and gurus that wanted to be on the show. And I accepted some of them and I started turning them away and just saying, I'm I'm only going to interview people that I have relationships with. I go back and forth a little bit on that because I've interviewed some of those people that have reached out speak old. They've been really great. So I'm not sure what the future will hold for that, because I guess I just published Episode 101 actually changing the podcast starting in a week or so. I don't know when that will be compared when you hear this, but I'm switching things up in launching the Andy storage show,

uh, which was strongly suggested and pushed on me by some friends who are supportive and it's it's going to be a lot more about personal development as well as entrepreneurship. But all facets of helping people really chase down their dreams and achieve their true potential, which is something I've been on a mission to do as well. And then the talent development hot seat. Most of my yes, I have pursued them, you know, to come find someone that looks like there'll be a great guest and invited them on the show, at least in the beginning. But then I'm finding as I have guests on, I typically ask them who they would recommend to be a guest on the podcast, and almost all of them have made introductions. And they're just kind of snowballs. Right? Is I keep getting all these introductions.

Then my counter kind of gets booked up, but I don't really have toe pursue it as much. So it's It's a mix. I still, you know, look for people like you and I connected. I think I'm linked in and invited you on the podcast. And ah, I do a lot of that as well. So it just depends

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on the situation. Right? Fantastic. So, Josh, so you've got your podcast is really evolving. And you've got this new business that you're working with as a consultant. What goals do you have? Your consulting And what goals do you have for your podcast? And are they related? Yeah, well,

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everything kind of relates in intertwines. But the business. I want to build a great business that is providing me, you know, more than enough income from my family that allows me to be very selective and work with only the clients that I want to work with, the people that I really get along with. I want to be friends with all of my clients. That's my ideals. The area Lavery relationship, heavy based person if you can't tell. So I want to be able to run a business where I'm making a difference for companies that I'm working with, that I'm have a great relationship with all my clients that, like I said, making enough money more than enough money for me and my family that also supports my other goals, which in that with the new podcast and all the stuff I'm doing on social media is all about building a personal brand that will allow me to ultimately be Ah, you're from a sought after a speaker and coach who can help a lot of people live their life intentionally and really love the life that they have. And I see myself as a mission being on a mission to really help thousands of other people.

Thio again, you know, pursue their dreams, live life more intentionally and really love the life that they have. And I know I have the capabilities to go out and do that. So this business is a foundation to allow me to go and do those things. And so I'm just out there learning as much as I can connect you with a lot of people and trying a lot of different things to help me achieve those goals.

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Wow, that's great and sounds like you're well on your way. You've got a lot of really great things underway, and a lot of these things are really helping you meet new people, and I think that's really great. I think it's all about building connections, and I know as a podcast toast myself. One of my favorite things is just learning about different people who have different experiences, and sometimes you, ah, you realize just how much you have in common. So

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Yeah, it's true. It's

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great. Cool, cool. So how can people get in touch with you to either Lorna Boer about your work at Advantage Performance Group or to find your podcasts?

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Well, I'm very active on social media. Linked in is the primary. So of course I'd love for you to come and connect with me and follow me on LinkedIn and I have a website as well. Andy storage dot com and the podcast you mentioned again are the entrepreneur hot seat, soon turning into the Andy storage show and the talent development hot seat. So if you're in talent development at all, I'd love for you to check out the podcast on the town development hot seat. And we'll have a link to that on my website as well.

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That's awesome. And I'll put all of those links in the show notes of the podcast so that people can find them. They're cool. Great. Thank you, Andy. So much for being a guest on my show. As we close out. Is there anything else that you'd like our listeners to know or anything else that they can help or support

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you with? Well, thank you again for the opportunity. Caroline. It's been really great talking with you and being on your podcast, but an honor and the only thing I else I would say for your listeners is as far as helping me. Just go and examine your life and try to live life more intentionally. Think about the things that you want to achieve, right those goals down. Think about how you're spending your time and are you spending in the areas where you really want to spend it. If you have been saying you want to work out, but you haven't really been doing that or meditate or pursue a nosh for mineral dream, whatever that is, start to write those things down, make a plan, figure out how you're spending your time, maybe talk to people, ask for more help. I'll find that all those things have been so helpful for me, and I'd love to see more people doing that. And I want to inspire more people to do those

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things. That's fantastic. Great way to close out. Well, thanks again. And it was great talking with you, and I'm looking forward to being a guest on the talent development hot seat myself and thank you

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again. Can't wait. All right. Thanks, Carolyn.

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