Transcript of Reinventing Ross Mandell: Success, Second Chances, and Redemption

How you feel, it really doesn't really matter when you have purpose.

What's your because, man? What's that purpose for you today?

You know what? It's something that's natural for me. I love to teach, to educate, to help.

One of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability.

If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any money.

I love people that talk about mindset a lot, and yes, you do need a mindset, but mindset is just It's not the first piece. It's the action, it's the follow through and execution that mattered the most.

A lot of people, they get the mindset. They're so worried about executing perfectly that they never get off first base. Just jump in the fucking pool, splash around, You'll figure it out. It'll come to you. But in the meantime, don't miss a day. You can't wait till you get something perfect. You got to get in the game. You'll take a few lumps, you'll get hit, you'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real. Welcome to Mic Unplug, where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves, and game-changing conversations. Buckle up. Here's Mic.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mic Unplug, and today we've got an icon and storyteller. From Wall Street Titan to federal inmate, his story is one of the most compelling tales of redemption and reinvention you've ever heard. Now, he's a sought-after speaker and coach, and he's using his journey to teach others about resilience, accountability, and finding purpose and second chances. Get ready to be inspired by the bold, the insightful, the transformative, the original Wolf of Wall Street himself, Mr. Ross Mandel. Ross, how are you doing today, brother?

What's shaking, Mick? I'm so honored to be here as you guys today.

Dude, I am the honored one. Big story, deep story, so many places we could go, man. But I wanted to let you know, as I got to learn your story several years ago, I connected with you, brother, and I wanted to tell you this to your face. So no scripts, no cue cards, no anything, man. I connected with you when I heard about you losing your dad at an early age or at a young age and how the anger fueled your purpose and realizing that you had to put people on your shoulders to make life happen. I so resonated with that, dude. And I just wanted to tell you thank you for giving a voice to that. A lot of people, when they hear people that are fighters and people that just don't give a damn about what you think about them and how you feel. They don't understand that thing that's inside of a lot of us, man. You gave words to that thing for me. So I just wanted to give you appreciation for that, brother.

Bro, thank you so much. I'm a big fan of you, of your podcast and what you're doing. When Stephanie told me that I was going to get to meet you today, I was really excited. I'm on a journey now, much like you, in this new world of media that has exploded It shouldn't be lost on anybody that when President Trump was trying to get his final message out before the election, he didn't go to CBS or BBC or ABC. He went on Joe Rogan's No podcast, no agendas, no corporate influence, no bullshit, no FCC regulation. All this corruption we see in government and all their the NGOs, they call them, non-governmental organizations, but these shadow people that are ruling our lives, which is so wrong. He got 30 million downloads in 12 hours. Never happened before like that. Right. Now we're in that race. We're in that game. I feel like we have a few years to go. The unregulated business, media were able to reach the masses with the truth. I created a company called Raw Media, Because it's raw. I don't have an agenda. I'm going to be raw. I'm going to share with you what I really see, what I really feel, what my experiences are.

No bullshit, no disguises, no secret messages When my dad passed away, I was freaking angry. I was angry at God. God was dead to me. I just fueled. I couldn't handle what I was dealing with. I was taking pills, I was snorting drugs, I was eating drugs, drinking like an animal. For 17 straight years, I was high. When I tell you high every day, at one point, I had viral pneumonia with bronchial respiratory complications, and I'm in the I got an oxygen mask on me and double IVs, and my friend still smuggled me in weed. So I could smoke and put the oxygen mask on me. I look back at that particular incident, it was defining like, What the fuck, man? I went into therapy after I got sober when I was clean a year. Dr. Arthur Knauert, God bless him, he passed away of pancreatic cancer right before I got married. But he said, You have a river of rage right running through you. A river of rage. It's like fire. God created fire, gave man fire. Nature, if you don't believe in God. Fire, the most destructive force in our universe. It could destroy a city, eat you alive.

You see what's happening in LA with the fires? Lightning coming down. I mean, crazy. But if you corral fire, if you manage it, it could light a village. It could heat a whole city. They use it for cooking. All this abundance of rage, which is akin to a fire, I learned how to manage it and steer it. It gives me almost like a superpower. Men like us that have suffered pain, great pain, turns into rage. It's fuel. It allows people... It'll eat you alive and destroy you. Eat you alive and destroy. But if you understand it, if you can manage it to corral it, you can use it to fuel. When I went into the stock market, they said, You got to make 300 calls a day. A lot of guys would make 100 and they get fed up, 150. They go out, take a walk, they call their girlfriends, act like they're on the phone. Me, smile and dial, smile and dial. 300? Okay, they told me 300 calls a day to be a millionaire. I made 400 just to be sure. You know what I'm saying? Because I didn't care. What am I going to go home?

I'm broke. Go home and smoke weed and play video games. I said, I might as well just work because I got no money to do anything. Some people said, How much did you make? What was your salary? I said, There's no salary. I'm a commission guy. I never took a salary in my life until I was building companies and we had 100 million in the bank. Then I put myself… My first salary was like two and a half million a year. There you go. I never took money. It's eat what you kill. What does that mean? If I don't do business, I'm in a transaction business on Wall Street. If I don't do a transaction that day, I don't make any money. The firm doesn't make any money. Who's going to pay for your seat? Who's going to pay for your computers? Who's going to pay for your secretary? Who's going to pay for all the statements that they got issued? I quickly learned that I better sit there and I better generate transactions. Buy, sell, opening new accounts, doesn't matter. It's got to be I learned essentially how to kill. You eat what you kill.

I learned how to do business. I learned how to do deals. I learned how to make stuff happen. Now, I got to say, if you're getting a salary, you're not going to get to that point because it took me a minute. I used to wonder how the fuck I was going to eat. I'm not talking about pay rent. How I'm going to eat? I had no money. You're working, you're working, you're working, you're grinding. My work ethic today, I see in this particular arena that we're in is very helpful to me. One of the guys, in fact, you just spoke to him briefly, Johnny said to me, One thing about you, we know you're never going to quit. I just show up, man. That's what I'm doing since I'm a kid. Win lose, draw, broke. Or at my height, I had 150 million personally. I had a real net worth, real capital, liquid money. My company had 200 million, my company's. I was valued at about 450 million at my height. But you got to remember, that's 20 years ago. Today, that's like 4 billion.

Yeah, you're a multi-billionaire. You're a multi-billionaire. The world is very different today with all the things that have happened, with the mismanagement of our economy by government and circumstances, et cetera, COVID, and a lot of different things that have happened and gone on.

But the one thing is clear, I can add a lot of value to the youngsters and to the people. Funny thing is, I have a mastermind program. People get me for 10 hours, personally. We record the sessions, they get the tapes and they get other benefits as well by being on the inside of Ross Mandel right now. It started out a bunch of young kids, like 31-year-old kids, 28-year-old kids, young I shouldn't say kids. The young men, and every one of them has business, every one of them makes some money, but they thought that they could maybe go to the next level. I was able to do that with them. But now all of a sudden, I'm getting men like 56, 58, 63, saying, Listen, I got this, I got that, but can you help me? I've been able to add value to every single one of their lives. Mick, that's really what this is all about. Do you understand?

Absolutely, man. Absolutely. You On our podcast, we talk about your because, that thing that's deeper than your why, that thing that really fuels you. I'm hearing it come out, but I always wanted to ask Ross, what's your because, man? What's that purpose for you today?

You know what? It's something that's natural for me. I love to teach, to educate, to help. That's my personality. I don't know how to explain it. It's not like some great mess to plan or I'm a good person for that. I enjoy it. I mean, it's almost a It was a pleasure. When I was stock brokering, people were attracted to me because I have an energy, but I'm very comfortable sharing. I think that as a man, you have to be very secure to share. I noticed a lot of men in life, business, relationships, they're not generous. If you were to ask me, people have asked me, so who is Ross Mandel? When I was a young guy, I said, Well, I'm a stockbroker. I wear a Rolex. I mean, it's like I drive a Mercedes, I was challenged by people in that psychological arena. No, they said, No, that's what you do. That's what you own. Who are you? I was like, Man, these are tough questions for... You asked me earlier, how am I feeling? I don't even know how I'm feeling. My daughter got it to law school today. We're looking to end my probation today.

My website went down because of some stupid billing issue. Doing a podcast, we had issues with Riverside. It doesn't matter This is really how I feel. I happen to really feel particularly good today. I woke up feeling very good. It's because I'm dieting and I'm going to the gym and I'm taking care of myself. When I do these things, physically, I'm okay. I have some issues and some conditions, but everything's managed and good. But how you feel really doesn't really matter when you have purpose. I have great purpose today. Remember, I was in federal custody for 112 months. Before I went into I was on this journey, podcasting, getting my truth out, sharing. It's amazing what happened in the world while I was away. Donald Trump, 77, 78 years old, a billionaire Builder, ex-president, all of a sudden is indicted on 92 counts after never being arrested in his life in all these different jurisdictions. The scam of the Department of Justice in various district attorneys, the scam of our criminal justice system was on display for the entire world. You understand how government, how people in business utilize, they use politicians Americans, Department of Justice Officials, to further again an end.

I didn't do anything wrong. They came into my place, 40 FBI agents in November of '06. They said, Nobody's getting arrested. Nobody was just see I execute a search warrant. Meanwhile, there's 40 guys with guns with a stock brokerage from an investment bank. I got a congressman in there, a senator, a member of parliament. They come with guns blazing, lockdown. But here's what they also did. They alerted every major news media organization was already in my lobby. In my lobby. The phones are ringing. This is the New York Times. This is AP. This is UPI. The BBC. They're in the lobby while they're executing a search warrant, effectively saying, We're putting you out of business, Judge, jury, and execution. Just serving a while. In the meanwhile, we're a highly regulated business. We have been sharing. They send us a request for documents. We give them everything. What are you kidding? I mean, this is I'm governed by the SEC, the NASD, FINRA, New York Stockings, London Stockings, FSA, eight different regulators, but they felt the need to come in guns heavy. I never really understood how unjust the criminal justice system was, but I'll say this to you.

I've had a lot of friends, African-Americans, I want to get to, Hispanics, that have come to me over the years and told me just how freaking corrupt government is and how corrupt the system is how if you're a young Black man, they could just pull you over just because you're a young Black man, not because you're doing anything wrong, not because you're suspicious, not because they just do it. Until it affects you, you don't really pay it. It's in my mind. I'm a voice of that now. The corruption and the unjust stuff, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't break the law. It took them years, years to indict me, to find a crime. Five-week trial, a complete scam, theater, a show. It's a scam, federal court, the whole system. Let cameras in. No. The judge would start to press the members of the media. I want to see because the media was writing about what a scam the trial was. The witnesses were a lie. The people were laughing. But it's rigged and the system is rigged. It has been. Not until this Donald Trump thing did everybody see how corrupt It's not a matter of me whining about this and that, Mick.

My journey is to be of service today. That's what I want. I'm a father. I was taken away from my young family. My daughters were 14 My young wife, God bless her, she was barely 40 years old when I went in and stuck with two kids. They say, If I had cancer or a stroke, something terrible, the whole community would rally. But when you're indicted by the criminal justice system, you're a villain. People stay away. Now, all of a sudden, people are starting to realize this is a lot of bullshit going on. In 2014, I go away, and I missed a lot of valuable time being a dad. You have kids, Mick? I have three. You know what it is to be a parent, to love unconditional My family, a child. I was forced away from them. I couldn't call them on the phone. They couldn't call me when they needed dad. They suffered greatly. Then I was on American Greed. I'm the finale of Season 9 called The Sky's the Limit. The show, I get a letter while I'm in prison that my case was deemed the most colorful case in the United States in 2012, after I was sentenced.

They did an hour show. It called The Sky's the Limit, American greed. People are very... A lot of the haters come out on social media because they're cowards. It's like Hamas. They wear masks. If you really feel something, say it, show your face. Okay, take a position. I'm like, That's the guy I am. You know what I mean? But there's a lot of people that suffer from coward us and from hate. My family really had a rough time. This morning, I got a call. My daughter got into law school, her first choice. I feel like I got into law school. My whole family feels like we all got into law school.

What school did she get into, by the way?

She's going to Nova in Miami. She lives in Fort Lauderdale. It's just such a big event for us, having been through what we've been through. She had no intention of being an attorney. She went to University of Florida, great school, finished in three years with a four-year degree, a degree in psychology. Then we had a lot of fatherly talks, and I like to say that. I said, Look, I don't care if you lawyer for one day. Lawyering is maybe not for you, but whatever business you want to go into, I promise you, when you walk in as an attorney into that office, people will look at you very differently than if you just walk in as a college graduate. You understand it gives you access to any business that you decide, entertainment, securities, intellectual, whatever enterprise you're interested in making, podcasting, whatever industry you're interested in being a part of, you can walk in as an attorney and you are valued. You're six-figure automatically off the rip, and people look you differently. That message resonated with her. I will tell you, I did everything I could. If I ever made a good sale, it was this.

I'm so proud as a dad. My other daughter is killing it. She's a technology recruiter. One of the things, Mick, that I know, I just know intuitively, having followed you now and watched some of your stuff, you're a good guy. We want to positively influence people. That's the reason we do this. To bring a positive message, to be of service, to help, to influence positively. There's so much... When I got sober, I stood up in a room. I was in Manhattan, 33 years old, 1990. They said, My name is Ross. I'm an alcohol addict and a drug addict. I don't know any sober people in New York City. If I could get some numbers from some of you If I have a rough spot, I can give you a call, and maybe you could help me with advice, I'd be grateful. Fifteen people ran over to me. It's funny because I had no idea there were so many good people in this world. What I've learned is if you're looking for bad, you're going to find that. If you're looking for trouble, you're going to find trouble. Easy. It's easy. I used to go into cities all around this country, and within an hour of being in the city, I knew where to get drugs.

I knew where the best bars were. You know what I'm saying? I knew where the action was, that underground action. But then you know what? As a grown up, as a newly sober guy, I learned where all the good AA meetings are in East town. I learned where the good people were, where they went, where the people that I was interested, helpful people, people that were interested in being a part of a movement that helps in a positive way. I learned God is funny and the world is funny. You will seek and you shall find. They say that in the New Testament, right? The doors will be open to you. You have to decide who you want to be and what you want to be in this world. Then you just reverse engineer it and figure out the steps you have to go. I teach this. I teach young men and even young women now, I'm mentoring. It's a wonderful thing. We have a course called the Wealth Formula. Okay. Go to my website or click on any of the training links in my bios and social media. It'll take you through a funnel to Lightspeed, Bradley, L-E-A, Lightspeed virtual training in Henderson, Nevada, right outside of Vegas.

Brilliant, brilliant guy. That's one of my guys. We have a course. My store is right next to Grant Cardone and Damon John and Robert Kiyosaki, the Rich Dad, Poor Dad guy. I'm very proud of all that. We're doing a new course, a stock market course, just so you know. We're going to teach people what the stock market is and how to navigate the market, how to trade, how to build wealth, one brick at a time. There is no course out there that's legitimate. Teaching young men, middle-aged men, Older men, housewives, young women that want to learn about the stock market. It's a daunting thing. You have all these guys on Telegram and Discord with these scammy little groups that are trying to recommend options on futures of some tertiary currency. I mean, it's a scam. It's the first big downturn that's all going to be revealed. I want to be there to help everybody navigate the world of the stock markets because it affects pretty much everybody today. Everybody on the planet, really. Everybody that's involved should have at least a legitimate understanding of what it is and how to play. We're going to show you the rules of the game.

I love it, man. Now, one other thing I'm involved in, I really want to share with you. Yes, sir. I did time with a guy named Lawrence Hartman, who's my celly, and he has an incredible story. He's an attorney, Ivy League attorney. He became an international fugitive. He was on Interpol's most wanted list. It was a red notice issued for him. He eventually got arrested, sneaking into Nicaragua with a fake identity. It's a crazy story. Online sports, he was a brilliant attorney, Ivy League law school. It's about his journey. And raw media has agreed to represent him. He has a book, a screenplay, and Michael Kippon has just agreed to star in, to produce and direct C-O-P-O-N. He was one of the original Power Ranges. He's won an Emmy. He was in five films last year. He's been in the business for over 20 years. Check him out on IMDb. We're about to start announcing this on social media, and he's going to start doing interviews in the trades like variety, Journaling Report, et cetera. But I wanted Mick Unplug to get this first today because we just made the agreement in the last couple of days.

It's being papered now, but I wanted to give you a little bit of something that nobody else has Mick.

I appreciate that, Ross. Anytime we can break news and have exclusives, I love it, brother.

That's the first time it's been mentioned publicly, and you got it. It's going to be a great clip, and your people will get to see it. It's called Blind Greed. Blind Greed. From Ivy League to International Fugitive, the story of Lawrence Hartman, starring Michael Kippon, C-O-P-O-N. We're looking to, just so you know, produce it in the Philippines. There's a whole variety of good reasons for that, which I don't want to take up the time, but it's a very exciting thing to be in this industry and this business. I'm very determined to build a media company, like Mick Unplug, just killing it, bro. We spoke about some good things prior to the broadcast. I'm so proud of you, man.

Dude, following in the things that you've done, man. I totally believe in mentorship, whether it's virtual, whether it's through learning and reading, whether it's through research. Mentorship is so powerful. But here's the key, and I want to talk to you about this, too. Having mentors is awesome. But sometimes you have to, or not sometimes, all the time, you have to take the action, Correct. Ross could give me the most amazing advice ever. If I don't put action behind it, it doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't mean anything. One of the things that I truly, truly adore Ross Mandel about is the word accountability. Going back, I took a bunch of notes. Hey, if you tell me I can be a millionaire by making 300 calls, I'm going to do 400 just to make sure. That's accountability. Correct. When you talk about, Hey, I don't know anyone in New York City that's not a drug addict. I need help. Will you be there for me? That's accountability. That's action. You talk about the coursework that you're doing with Bradley and Lightspeed. Ross doesn't have to do that. That's accountability. Now your cellmate, the blind I agree. That's all accountability and action.

How important to Ross Mandel, because that's what I picked up following you and your story in the research, is accountability and action. How important has that been for your journey, brother?

I am. Like you said, you asked me how I feel, and I can't even answer you, really, because I haven't thought about it. I'm too busy doing. I'm not so busy feeling. Andrew Tate talks about these things, and he's a very controversial character, but I dig him. I dig the Tate brothers. I want to say it publicly. They're going through a lot of shit with the bullshit legal stuff that they're being brought into because they made a lot of money. He's very brash, he's very outspoken. But a lot of the things he says, I agree. Being a man means being accountable. It It means being accountable. You want to be successful, you better take action. I can't stand negative people. I can't have it in my life. They even tell you a younger man is going to a cancer journey, and he's going to all these different doctors and he's getting all this advice, and I'm like, The number one thing is you can't be negative. The body is a self-healing mechanism. I believe God wants good for us. I believe that. The thing is that we can't allow negativity or doubt to creep in.

If I was feeling all so much, I might have doubt. I have made a decision. I've got some goals down. I want us to build a successful media company, a successful podcast to build an educational platform where I could truly help people get into business, build and create wealth, understand the stock market. There are specific things that I have. I'm uniquely knowledgeable about. I have literally tens of years of grinding and making moves and success and accomplishment and failure. Patrick Mahomes will learn more from what happened last Sunday in New Orleans, right? From failing than he ever will from all his victories. Trust me, the Kansas City Chiefs learned they got beat down. They're going to reorganize and reshuffle the deck because that's what winners do. It's It's not just about winning and accomplishing, it's about maintaining. It's a great thing. If you're not aggressive, you're never going to make money. But if you're not defensive, you're never going to keep money. These are really important nuggets of wisdom. If not for mentorship, when I was a young man on Wall Street, I would be in the, call it the bullpen, a boardroom. I'm making $40,000 a month, and I share a computer A doctor and a desk and a secretary.

I'm making $40,000, $45,000 a month. The guys in the offices are making $100,000 a month, and I couldn't figure it out. I would knock on door. Michael Cavenagh, I want to give you a shout out. Oppenheimer Company 1985, I would knock on his door and say, Michael, would you mind if I come in and just sit in the corner and listen? I want to take some notes. I promise you I won't make a sound. He said, Sure, Ross. I used to go in and he would put on a shelf He's real. He's a real guy. He could get on the phone and talk to a guy that he never met, maybe spoke to once before, twice, qualified him, got a lead, sent him an introductory package, and get him to commit to a $100,000 transaction, called on the phone. He's a guy that earned $100,000 a month. He used to drive down to Wall Street from Midtown Manhattan in the convertible Rolls-Royce in 1985. You know what I'm saying? We still admire him. Rolls-royce leaves no doubt. That's what my daughter says. Mercedes, everybody's got a Mercedes today. Rolls-royce, you're making a statement now, right?

It's no joke. I would sit and take notes, but forgetting the notes, I watched. I'm a very big monkey see, monkey do guy. I see Joe Rogan. I see Joe Rogan. I see Patrick Bedd-David. I see Brad Lee. I see Mcunt. I say, If you could do it, I could do it. Maybe not as well, maybe not the same, but if I understand the game, I I do it. But if I don't attempt to understand what it is you're doing, how you're doing it, then I'm in the blind. I would knock on doors of guys that were better than me and more than me and say, Would Do you mind if I ask you a question? That's how I got in the stock market. It was the disco days, New York City, Studio 54, 1979, 1980, right? Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta, right? I used to go to these clubs, Studio 54, on Majik, the Underground. These are famous places in Manhattan. I'll be 68 in March. We used to see guys pull up. It'd be literally Studio 54, West 54 Street, Manhattan. There'd be a thousand people on the street, a thousand. There would be these velvet ropes and everybody trying to get into this place.

It was the most famous club in the world, hands down. They made movies about it and shows. I hope they had the Broadway show. There would be guys that would pull up in expensive cars, Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Bentley. A guy would literally come out from nowhere and they'd give him the keys, and out of the car would be one of the hottest, the most beautiful women you could see. They would walk through Then when I eventually got into the place, I would see them sitting at the best table with bottles of the best champagne, and I would go right up to them and I'd say, Excuse me, who are you? Why is this woman What do you do with you? How did you... I saw you pull up, you got in. I mean, what do you do? I'm a stockbroker. I'm an investment banker. I'm a trader. I work at Goldman Sachs. I work at J. P. Morgan. It was all these financial guys. That's what led myself and my We're closest friends. We didn't know anything about the stock market, but we saw people that had what we wanted. So we emulated them.

It's that simple. It's nothing more than that. We didn't have cell phones in those days, computers. We don't have social media. We didn't have Google. Guys says he's in the best of my life. You know what that means? I said, What does that mean? He went, I'm staring at his girlfriend. I'm like, If you don't mind me saying, you're not that great-looking. She's stunning. How did you get this woman? That's who I am. But you know what? Most people appreciate me like that. They start laughing. People love talking about themselves. Guys used to come up to me and say, Is that your wife or your nanny, I would check into hotels. One place was the Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico. Jay-z and Beyoncé were checking in. This is back in 2006 or so, 2005. It was a holiday weekend. I was at VIP because I gabbled that big lines of credit, all these different things. We check into VIP. Beyoncé and Jay-Z, they put us ahead of them. I was very cool. I had my whole family there, my wife's sister, Her kids. My wife's sister, her kids, my wife's hanging around, so the host looks at me, he goes, Is Mrs. Mandel going to be joining you?

Staring at my wife. Thought she was my nanny because she was much younger and super gorgeous. The things that I wanted when I was a younger guy in my 20s, I willed it to happen by taking action. One of the things about mentorship, my mastermind program, just so you know, you go to info@rossmandell. Com if you're interested. I hold you accountable. I have a new mentee. He's in his 50s. He's very successful. He makes several hundred thousand a year, but he wants more from life. Every Friday we meet online. It's taped. Google meets, and I hold him accountable. But I also hold myself accountable. We're friends. It's not like it's just me advised. I learned from everybody that I learned from you today. I learned from what a listener you are. Taking notes like that was amazing. I mean, that's why you're so successful right now, and that's why people chasing you with seven-figure deals, bro. I mean, because you're worthy. Whatever you've done, whatever you've done to get to this point, indicates to me that you're worthy. A lot of times we look at the financial reward being an indication of someone worthy or not.

I believe that in the podcasting business now, that's a true indicator. I tell you, on social media, I don't pay for anything. I refuse. A lot of Guys, you see these numbers, a million, 5 million, 3 million, 200. They buy these followers. I was advised, Erwan, if you do that, the algorithm knows. You're not fool anybody. Maybe you're fooling some kids, who cares? But the business of social media, the algorithm knows exactly how you got those followers, organically or artificially. I just broke 50,000 on Super Bowl Sunday of followers on Instagram, all organic. Now the algorithm is working for me. Now I get a thing from Instagram where promoting this real because we believe you'll get more followers. The algorithm is telling me. I just posted a story. It's about these fires in LA and how Gavin Newsom has just destroyed. The governor of this state of California is destroying the state. Bad leadership, Mick. Bad leadership. It's terrible. I mean, California, if it was a country, it would be the sixth most prosperous country in the world, and they're broke and they're in debt. I mean,What is that? Leadership. What is that? Leadership. People are leaving bad leadership.

He's got to be fired and you got to move on. But accountability is really important in understanding the game you're attempting to be in. I meet people all the time and they come to me and ask me, there's a lot of men, and I see they're in a particular industry and they've never really evolved. They don't really understand the game of the industry. They're good workers and they put in their hours, and they don't understand the big picture. It's not that difficult, but you have to want to. You can't be afraid. You can't be afraid to ask questions. You can't be afraid to explore and understand. It's stunning to me that a guy could spend 20, 30 years in an industry and not really understand the industry that he's in. That's something that Wall Street gifted me. We would, as young brokers, we would be told, Here's the deal we're pitching. This is a conglomerate, Diageo, that represents all these brands of alcohol. You become like an expert in alcohol and the business of alcohol and the business of Diageo and all that. Next thing you know, we're doing a banking deal with this company.

This company is involved in defense technology, Wakeed Martin, Raytheon, whatever. You become like an expert, and you start to understand from the top down, and you understand how the industry, how the game is played within the industry. I always look to identify an industry leader. In the podcast world, I say it's got to be Joe Rogan. Spotify paid him 250 million six years ago. Now, for three years, 200 million. Now he's getting 250 million for three years. Joe Rogan is great. I love him. I listen to him. I watch fight. He makes the UFC fights exciting. I used to watch him on Fear Factor. He himself was a little karate champion out of New Jersey. But I dig. I look to understand the industry, how people monetize, what makes something interesting or not interesting, so forth and so on. I'm sure just like you do, I'm sure this is what you've been doing, right?

I treat everything like a business, man. I heard from Deion Sanders, If everybody played football for free, he would, too. But when you can make money, then go make the most you can. That's how I looked at podcasting. I didn't know unless your name was Joe Rogan. I thought everyone was doing it for free. And then when I realized, oh, there's a formula, there's a path to success, and it can become a business, that's what I did, and that's what I do. And again, learning from people like you that put action behind everything, have It's not a plan, but action is what makes it happen. I love people that talk about mindset a lot, and yes, you do need a mindset, but mindset is just the first piece. It's the action, it's the follow through and execution that mattered the most. And I got that from my guy Ross Mandel.

Thank you, my man. A lot of people, they get the mindset. They're so worried about executing perfectly that they never get off first base. Just jump in the fucking pool, splash around. You'll figure it out. It'll come to you. But in the meantime, don't miss a day. You can't wait till you get something perfect. You got to get in the game. You'll take a few lumps, you'll get hit, you'll make a few mistakes. Guess what? That's how you learn for real, not by studying. That's how you learn about yourself. Right? Right. Yeah. I Listen, I'll never forget, we were young boys in the neighborhood, and somebody would get their hands on a Playboy magazine. This is before the internet. This is before cell phones. All the young boys in the neighborhood would go to this guy's house and he would look at boy, and it was so exciting. We talk about kissing girls and touching girls, and every young boy is fascinating. It's fascinating. We see these young women in our lives who were so excited. One day, we went up to Girlfriends, we would hold their hands and touch You feel, and you could study it all you want.

You could watch pornography, you could read books and magazines. But until you're actually with a woman, you have no idea what it is. You have no idea. So get in there. Don't be afraid. Stop studying. I use that as an example for men because all men can understand that. Until you actually get your pants down, you don't know what the hell is going on. It's a great experience, right? You You don't have to get it perfect and you don't have to get it right. Get in there, practice. I like to use real-life examples that are relatable. You know what I'm saying? Because sometimes you look in books and academia and they come up with this shit. What the fuck are you talking about? I like to keep things simple because at the end of the day, people convolute things. People dress things up. To go back for a second, anything worth doing, Mick, anything is worth doing for money. Yes, sir. That's something they teach you on Wall Street. It's an axiom. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money. Once money is involved, now you understand the difference between doing it wrong, doing it so-so, and doing it right.

In podcasting, doing it right, you might get 250 million from Spotify. Do it right. You don't know what the fuck you're doing. You're doing it for free. It's costing you money. That's it. These are the two, the beginning road and the end road, in theory. Now, let's figure out how to get to that 250 million for three years.

Let's go get it.

It's exactly what it is, bro. People make it so complicated. Turn the fucking camera on, give me the microphone and let's go. That's it. We'll figure it out.

We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Ladies and gentlemen, we got a lot of wisdom, and I'm calling it wisdom from my guy, Ross Mandel. Ross, brother, I appreciate you more than you know. This meant the world to me that you would spend some time just having a conversation, man. That means the world to me, brother.

For you, anytime, Mick. Anytime. Now I have your numbers, so I'm going to bother you once in a while. Let's do it. I'm going to hit you up, bro. I'm going to hit you up. That's what I'm here for. I want you on my podcast soon.

Done deal. We already talked this stuff. It's happening. I love it.

It's happening. Yeah, boy, she's on it, boy. She's doing great. I love it. Thank you for having me today. You got it. I really appreciate I appreciate it.

No, I appreciate you. We will make sure that links to everything you're doing, so the website, your social links, the courses, the mastermind, everything we're going to have available. People, if you're watching or listening, do me a favor. Don't just follow Ross. You can see his story. Connect with Ross. We appreciate the connections. Follows are great. Connect with Ross because you're going to get wisdom. You're going to get wisdom. Join the mastermind minds, take the courses. You're going to learn more about you than you ever have because that's the way Ross teaches. He's not going to just give you answers. He's going to challenge you, and you're going to learn who you are if you accept this challenge.

100%, and I thank you so much, Migger. I'm humbled by you today. Thank you.

I appreciate you, brother. For all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Thank you for tuning in to Micca Unplug. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose, and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay Unstoppable.