Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thought leader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, and mindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. So welcome back to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm really pleased to have Sebastian Rusk with me today. He's the owner of Podcast Suck. And they only suck because he don't have one. And I'm really privileged to have him. I've actually used him to help launch my podcast. In addition to Podcast Sucks, he's a keynote speaker, a comedian, or so he says. And Sebastian, it's such a great privilege to have you with us today. And I'm sure you're going to bring a lot of impact to our audience to share some of your mindset shifts and some of your journey and your story.

Brett Gallant

Yeah, it's great to be here, Brett. Thanks so much for having me. And I always love to be on the shows that we get the privilege of being a part of making a reality. So, again, great to be here. Great to see you again. And great work. You are officially a podcaster.

Sebastian Rusk

Yes, it's something, Sebastian, that I set out to have been meaning to do for two or three years. And I finally decided to take that leap. As Wayne Gretzky says, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. So I took that shot. Really interesting here, perhaps along your own journey, how you decided to take that shot and do some things where you maybe were holding back and you decided to do.

Brett Gallant

Yeah. I, again, rejection is part of the game.

Yeah.

It's part of the, it is, it is part of the deal. Uh, as I've learned church so brilliantly said, and, um, if you're not ready for rejection, you're probably not ready to be in business or be an entrepreneur. Rejection is part of that process. When I think of, Rejection though, I think of a quote that rejection is God's protection. So are we really being rejected from something? Are we being protected from it on there? So all part of the game. But when, when, when I started to figure out what I wanted to do in the world of podcasting, I kind of stumbled upon it. I had started my business in 2010 as a digital agency. I met a guy by the name of Gary Vaynerchuk right around that time. Yeah, he really, really is. And we had the opportunity to connect early on before the world knew who he was and before he was a worldwide phenomenon. And he really helped me pave the way on building a personal brand in addition to my business brand. He said that your personal brand in perpetuity is your reputation. And I never forgot that. That was something that I held close to me and remembered. Now, fast forward some 15 plus years later, And personal branding is everything because people buy from us. Sure. They associate with our company, but they buy from us. So I created my first company, social buzz TV as an online media platform and digital agency to help people better understand what they need to know about the world of social media, and then also execute on their strategy. I did that for about six years. I wrote my first book. I became a speaker. I did all the things, but, six years into it, I hated the work that I was doing. The last thing I wanted to do every day was manage your Facebook page and help you create content. I just didn't want to do it. I didn't get energy from it. No, not at all. Not at all. It was an energy, you know, vampire, if anything. And I, you know, I wore bow ties and did the whole brand thing. And I was an event MC. And I did all the things that I thought I should be doing, but only to realize I was just trying to emulate everything that was not Sebastian. And one of my favorite quotes ever is, be yourself because everyone else is taken. And it took me a long time. That's a writer downer. Yeah, that definitely is. It definitely is because we live in a world of impersonation and everybody thinks they need to emulate and impersonate someone. But we really own who we are and really step into our power everything starts to happen to the spotlight.

Yeah, correct.

And in 2016, I was desperate to figure out what was next for me. And I had met a desire. I also decided at the same time, it was time for a girlfriend. So I hopped on one of these dating apps and I met a girl, um, shortly thereafter that lived up in Fort Lauderdale, about 45 minutes from me. And we met up, I'll never forget. We met up for a drink on March 1st, 2016. And I was into this transition period of like trying to figure out what was next for me. And we sat down and we're having a beer in downtown Fort Lauderdale. And she said, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm part of this program right now. It's called gratitude training. Have you done any personal development? back then I was still very much ego driven and I said, Oh, personal development. I mean, I'm the guru. I mean, just ask me that Tony Robbins, I've walked on fire, the landmark forum, you name it. What, what I didn't say was that I did all those things, but I would come home and I didn't take any action on them. And you know, taking action on doing these things is so, important. I hadn't done that. Well, this woman was very adamant about getting me involved with this program. And I was very resistant because when we know it's something we need to do, usually the resistance is the highest. And eventually she just signed me up for this program. It was an eight-day program, a long weekend for part one, and then a five-day Wednesday through Sunday for part two. As resistant as I was, This was the catalyst that I didn't even know that I needed. She was clearly there to get me through the door. She broke up with me in the middle of the program as if personal development isn't hard enough. But when I got through that program, a couple of things happened. Number one, I became incredibly accountable for my entire life, past, present, and future. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen to me is all my fault. I also stepped into my power. I forgave my parents. I forgave everybody I'd been blaming for 35 years. And most important, Brett, I learned how to love myself.

Yeah, I think we all could learn from that.

And when you do all that, you start to realize, wait a second. did I hate the work that I was doing? Did I hate myself? And it was the latter. You know, I, I decided that, you know, the, you know, the, the jig was up for myself. Yes. It was time to get up, dust myself off and get back in the game. And now that I've started to figure out Sebastian repair me as much as I needed to, it was time to get business back in order. I, I did not enjoy the work that I was doing. And yep. Shortly after, I went through this course. It was probably a majority of 2016. I got up, dusted myself off at the end of that summer and went and rented a desk and a coworking space and ran into an old friend of mine who had an internet radio show. And I was like, what the hell is that? She was like, uh, well, uh, she couldn't tell me really what an internet radio show was or if it was effective. And I'm like, you know, you can just start a podcast. She's like, I don't know how to do that. can you help me start a podcast? And Brett, when I say the antennas went up in that very moment, I said, actually. I can, cause I mean, how the hell do you leave the digital marketing world and social media world, but still stay in it? I mean, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. It's a podcast. So I walked her down to her car that afternoon, went back up to my rented desk and a coworking space. And I mapped out what would be the podcast launch lab.com, which is a turnkey podcast launch solution to help people go from idea to iTunes in 90 days or less with a proven podcast launch solution. And that was, eight plus years ago, and I literally have not moved, uh, have not looked back since. And, um, you know, the, the, the, it's been a wild ride. It's been exciting. It's been full of rejection. It's been full of resistance, but I've started to really position myself as the go-to source when it comes to, I want to start a podcast. I don't know what the heck to do. We'll call Sebastian. So,

Oh yeah, you're an accelerant. Some people could get there, but I was saying to somebody recently, when you have somebody that show up in various different aspects of your life, if you want to get to a place faster, you leverage the tools in your network to help you get to where you ultimately want to be. In my case, I contacted you and it's been a wild ride. But also in other aspects, I've used a coach for for business and coach for sales and these tools are there and that's why it's so important that people leverage experts like yourself. Not only for what you do, I've followed your podcast and what you share on your podcast is very inspiring. There was one keynote that you had recorded that I still remember you say, who's missing out because you're not showing up?

You know, that's a great story of how that came about. I didn't just make that term up. And thank you, by the way, for all the kind words. It's been a privilege to work with you and now call you a friend and start to connect you with other people that are in my ecosystem as well. It was funny, as I joined Dan Martell's program, you talk about an extreme amount of resistance. I was in a season of uncertainty. It was a little bit of a wild ride at the end of last year with it being an election here in the States. I joined the program, and then you and I connected shortly thereafter. And I sat there and laughed, and I thought, what were you even hesitating or resistant about? When we make a decision to choose us and what's next for us and the right people show up in our life, everything starts to fall into place. And yeah, it's been exciting. But back to Who's Missing Out? Because you're not showing up. That may very well be the title of my next book. I was, it was 2010 and I was beyond defeated. I had lost everything in 2008, left California, moved back to Miami with my daughter and a duffel bag and literally started over. And from 2008, 2010, I kind of just felt sorry for myself and, you know, drank beer all day and just, you know, poor me. Yeah. And one day I had an awakening moment. I said, I need to go see Tony Robbins. I had met his son about a year prior and I'd been a Tony fan since I knew about him. Yeah. And I called a friend. He's amazing. I met, I called a friend that was working for him at the time. She gives me all the details. on how to get to unleash the power within in Long Beach, California. I had like six bucks to my name. So I didn't know I was going to pull that off, but at least I had the details. And she calls me back an hour later and she says, Oh my God, I totally forgot. My best friend lives on Miami beach. And she actually is part of Tony's core team of six. She travels the world with him. You should connect while at this time, I have, I have like zero confidence. So I'm like, what the hell can I possibly bring to the table for this individual?

Yeah.

And she said, hey, it's definitely worth a connection and a cocktail. You should definitely go meet up with her. I said, all right, cool. So I go meet up with her that Friday. We had had a phone call prior to it and hit it off. High energy individual definitely cut from the Tony thread. And I'll never forget, we met up on South Beach. at TJI Fridays on Ocean Drive. I figured that was the most affordable, economical option for me for Miami Beach at that point in time. And we're sitting on Ocean Drive outside. And she looked at me and she said, so what's next for you? And I said, I don't know. And she looked at me dead in the eyes. I'd known her for five minutes. And she said, that is a fucking problem. And I'm now, these are my offended days. So I'm like, wait a second. Who is this lady telling me what I'm doing with my life is a problem. So my internal voice said, Hey, do you want to shut up? Cause she works for Tony. You don't, you've got about $6 and 15 cents to your name. Why don't you stay curious and ask her what she means? And I said, so, so, so what do you mean by that? She says, I'll tell you exactly what I mean. Let me ask you a question. With all the talent that you withhold and your energy and how you get, you draw people in just by being who you are. Let me ask you a question. Who's missing out. Cause you're not showing up. Yeah.

Wow.

Holy jumping Hannah and another light bulb moment, Brett antennas went up. And that Monday I had got a freelancer to create the logo for social buzz TV, conceptualize the logo, printed up some shirts, opened up a bank account. And I was running around town evangelizing social buzz TV has become in the biggest, baddest social media company out there. Yeah. Help you just start and better understand social media, set it up for your business. And within about six to 12 months, I had started to monetize it, and it became a reality. And I am forever grateful for that individual. I finally made it to unleash the power within a few years later. Right as I get to the firewalk that first evening of the event, she's standing at the fire lane next to me. And Tony is standing two people in front of me. We talk about a full circle moment. I've tried to thank her profusely. I've told the story in my first book, Social Media Sucks. And sometimes we have certain people that come into our life that radically change it and we'll never, ever, ever take credit for it. And she's one of those people.

Well, and she doesn't realize like that. You've, there's so many people that have likely used that phrase that because they heard that from you. I know I dropped that. I was on stage in San Diego in front of other cybersecurity experts, part of a panel with other people that have done public speaking. And I did a mic drop moment and I shared that and amongst other things, but that message resonates with me. Yep.

I'm glad you're able to do that. I mean, that's the idea is listen, you hear something, share it. It's our responsibility.

Oh, it's so impactful. And, and so what she shared with you impacted your life. You've shared it, impacted some people's lives. I've shared it has impacted people's life to take action. Obviously, because what I do, I help, I help small medium businesses manage their cyber risks. So if I'm not showing up and telling people what they need to hear, Maybe not what they want to hear, who wants to hear about they got to manage their risk. But if I don't show up and have that conversation that's necessary, then they're missing out. And I'm not even to share this lovely conversation with you that I'm having with you to others, then people are missing out because there's so much inside this episode so far that is just packed with so many great takeaways that can motivate people to take action and be their best self and show up.

I heard a quote about, we've all heard about the ripple effect and what the ripple effect can do. But I heard a quote one time that said, ripples create, ripples become waves. And I'm here to not only create ripples, but also make sure those ripples turn into waves. And the only way they turn into waves is if people are out there sharing the message and the truth that I've discovered with their tribe and with their community.

Yeah, you speak about tribes. I was thinking about that my recent trip to San Diego. I formed my own little tribes while I was there and I shared some of that. Even I got up every morning and went to the gym at 5 a.m. and I made that tribe and then I made the tribe with the hotel staff and the people in the networking community, the event, the other business owners I was with made that tribe and sharing you know, phrases like what I heard from you and inspiring people. We all have this gift. in all of us that we must share, we must impact people. And when we do that, not only do we enrich our own lives, we enrich the lives of others and a triple effect to their families and to other ones around them. We really underestimate how powerful our lives are sometimes and how impactful we can really impact people and make a difference.

We never really know. I can just take one thing. I mean, I've made it a point to be able to Try and do that with any person that I get the opportunity to connect with. I don't care if I'm in an Uber, on an airport, on a stage, in a mastermind group, online. You never really know how different you can lead people.

Oh, yeah. When I was leaving the conference, I had this wonderful conversation with a man that was the shuttle driver. This guy knew Jim Rohn. He used to make his tapes. His boss knew him, and he told the story about how he was inspired. And that just lit me up hearing that. that this man had this great story of his mentor and meeting Jim Rohn and being inspired and showing up and being the best version of him. So along the way with your business, Have you had any incredible mindset shifts that have helped you overcome some beliefs that perhaps you could inspire others besides what you've already shared? Any success or horror stories or things that you know that you'd look back, hey, I could do that differently. There's so much, like something you give to the audience as a takeaway to inspire them.

One of my favorite, and we share a lot of quotes here, but quotes are what make the world go round here, but they also motivate us and talk about mindset can help shift them. One of the ones I got, I got hanging in my kitchen in a frame that my sister gave me actually for Christmas from my A friend, Hugh McLeod, whose artist name is Gaping Void, he made Inspirational Entrepreneur Art, and it always had a message with it. And this one says, you can't read the label of the jar that you're in. So if you're listening to this right now and you've got this inner critic that we've all got running rampant and living rent free in your head, you've got to realize that whatever you think about you, whatever you see about you is not what other people see or hear. So. Oh man, that's so true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Give yourself some grace. You know, I always say grace given, grace received. And it is, it is a very much reciprocal thing when it comes to that, but giving ourselves that grace and, and, and, and being able to realize that believing in ourselves is a form of self love. It really, really is. But you know, and then, and then in addition to that, I, you know, I want to leave you with, with the thought that, not only is someone missing out because you're not showing up in some area of your life, but there's also like an area of that where you're missing out. Yes. By not being able to show up fully.

Well, I can relate to that. And by the way, thank you for that. Cause that impacted me so, so much. Had I not started this podcast, I would not have had the privilege to meet you. or the other lovely guests I've interviewed so far, and the other people that have shown up into my world because of this. So I took that courageous step, and I'm so thankful I have. And so often our own perception of ourselves, other people have a different viewpoint, and that was really impactful, Sebastian. Thank you for that. I may have, I'm going to listen to my own podcast again to hear that. So I love doing that.

I love doing that actually.

Yeah. Um, so before we wrap up, I would love to have you again. Um, is there anything else that you'd like to share or anything, uh, along the, that, that you can say to our audience to perhaps they're starting a podcast or, or something they've been meaning to do that they're holding off that you can encourage them to look at things from another perspective.

Uh, sure. If you've had that inclination, that gut feeling, that w that whisper, the sign, someone told you, you can't stop thinking about it. It keeps you up at night. If you've been having that for, I don't know, starting a podcast, whatever it is doing your thing, the time is right now. We are all we there, there's a clock ticking that none of us can see.

Yeah.

And we don't stop to think about that as much as we absolutely need to. So now is the time, right now, there is never going to be a perfect time. You are never gonna be ready. One day doesn't exist. Someday doesn't exist. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, I'm gonna, it's on the list. We're doing Q2, Q3, scratch all the BS and just be ready. get started, find the resources, dig in. We live in a very, very information rich world with the power of the internet and the connections that we have. We have everything at our disposal, but most of us just refuse to take that most important aspect, which is the first step and just get started. I am living proof of just taking imperfect action, leaning in, showing up and just knowing it's going to work out because you said it is make that declaration and see what happens.

Speak your truth into existence. And I, you know, I almost wish you would have taken that mic and dropped it because that was a mic drop moment.

That'd be an expensive mic drop.

Well, I'm thankful you didn't drop it because we need that mic around. Sebastian, it was a real pleasure and we'll have notes in the show notes for how to find, but how do people find you on Instagram and LinkedIn?

Yep. My handle is a podcast suck. That's plural podcast. So two S at podcast suck. And then LinkedIn and Facebook are some other places I hang out. Just find me under Sebastian Ross. But like you said, make sure we get those LinkedIn, the show notes, make it easy for your listeners.

Yeah, and folks, you do want to follow him, follow his Instagram and his podcast. Even if you're not looking at starting a podcast, there's always an impactful message there that I've known that I've always gotten some big takeaways and value out of. So please, please check him out. And Sebastian, thank you again. This was a privilege.

Thanks again, Brent. It was my privilege as well.

Thank you. Thanks for tuning into the Adaptive Mindset. If you found value in today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age. Stay secure, stay adaptable, and I'll see you next time.