In this engaging episode of Mic Drop, we are joined by Frankie Russo, a multifaceted entrepreneur, author, and speaker known for his unique approach to business and personal growth. Frankie shares his entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the significance of embracing one's weirdness and authenticity to drive innovation and success. His insights delve into the transformation from achieving financial success to pursuing a deeper, more meaningful impact through keynote speaking. Frankie discusses his methodologies for cultivating authenticity, the critical difference between confidence and conviction, and the power of weirdness as a catalyst for creativity and connection. His perspective challenges listeners to reconsider their approach to personal and professional development, advocating for a life and career built on genuine self-expression and daring innovation.
Frankie Russo is an accomplished entrepreneur, author, and keynote speaker with a track record of launching successful ventures across various sectors, including technology and marketing. As the founder of Russo Capital and the mind behind companies like Potenza Inc. and 360ia, Frankie has demonstrated exceptional skill in driving exponential growth and innovation. Recognized with numerous accolades such as the Inc. 5000 Top 50 Businesses in the Southwest and ABIZ Entrepreneur of the Year, Frankie's entrepreneurial spirit is matched by his commitment to fostering authentic self-expression. Through his best-selling books, "The Art of WHY" and "Breaking WHY," and impactful keynote speeches, Frankie inspires individuals and organizations to harness their unique weirdness to achieve unprecedented success.
Authentic Entrepreneurship: Frankie Russo reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, highlighting the transition from financial success to seeking a deeper, more meaningful impact. He discusses the founding of Potenza Inc., his commitment to creating a brand to be proud of, and the lessons learned from overcoming challenges and embracing authenticity.
Confidence vs. Conviction: Russo explores the distinction between confidence, built through experience and practice, and conviction, derived from a deep personal belief in one's message. He emphasizes the importance of conviction in delivering impactful keynote speeches and connecting with audiences on a profound level.
The Power of Weirdness: Frankie delves into his philosophy of embracing one's weirdness as a source of innovation and authenticity. He shares how loving his weird led to significant personal growth and success and discusses the importance of creating a culture that celebrates individuality for continuous innovation.
Future Directions: Looking ahead, Frankie Russo discusses his commitment to deepening his impact through keynote speaking and sharing his insights on authenticity, imagination, and selflessness. He outlines his approach to refining his content, continually experimenting, and ensuring that his messages resonate with and empower his audiences.
Learn more about Frankie Russo:
Learn more about Josh Linkner:
ABOUT MIC DROP:
Hear from the world’s top thought leaders and experts, sharing tipping point moments, strategies, and approaches that led to their speaking career success. Throughout each episode, host Josh Linkner, #1 Innovation keynote speaker in the world, deconstructs guests’ Mic Drop moments and provides tactical tools and takeaways that can be applied to any speaking business, no matter its starting point. You'll enjoy hearing from some of the top keynote speakers in the industry including: Ryan Estis, Alison Levine, Peter Sheahan, Seth Mattison, Cassandra Worthy, and many more. Mic Drop is sponsored by ImpactEleven.
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ABOUT THE HOST:
Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.
On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (moo-DEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. Josh has been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world. His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh
is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Learn more about Josh: JoshLinkner.com
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Partnering with CXOs, keynote speakers, change makers, and other visionary leaders, Amplify Publishing Group (APG) is a leader in the hybrid publishing space with more than twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books.
Passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard, they're known for launching books that start engaging and timely conversations. At each turn, they have been at the forefront of innovation and have spearheaded a critical disruption of the publishing industry.
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From refining your keynote speaking skills to writing marketing copy, from connecting you with bureaus to boosting your fees, to developing high-quality websites, producing head-turning demo reels, Impact Eleven (formerly 3 Ring Circus) offers a comprehensive and powerful set of services to help speakers land more gigs at higher fees.
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As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits.
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Frankie Russo:
If I would've told myself three years ago, "Drop the why. Don't be little Simon Sinek and just go full weird."
Josh Linkner:
Hey friends, Josh Linkner here. Delighted to bring you season three of Mic Drop, the number one podcast for professional speakers and thought leaders. On the show, we connect with experts at the top of the field, unpacking their success to help each of us grow and thrive. From elevating your artistry to booking more gigs, Mic Drop is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to reach the next level. Together, we'll accelerate the path to growth, success, and most importantly, impact.
Speaker 3:
The best keynote start movements and incite change. And when you couple an electrifying speech with a project that fuels audience engagement, the result is lightning in a bottle. What I'm talking about here is a book. That's where our friends at Amplify Publishing Group come in. With 20-plus years of experience and hounded by some of the industry's most renowned veterans, including bestselling author and global superstar Mel Robbins, the team at Amplify knows not only how to produce a fantastic book but how to leverage that book and make it work for you, your brand, and your business.
And Amplify not only knows books, they know the world of keynote speaking and thought leadership. Having published CEOs and executives, they take positioning into consideration at every step of the way. Whether you have a one-line concept or a comprehensive outline, amplify is ready to work with you. Visit amplifypublishing.com/micdrop to schedule an exploratory call and receive an exclusive editorial one-pager tailored to your concept. That's amplifypublishing.com/micdrop.
Josh Linkner:
It's time to meet Frankie Russo, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and real-life Midas. Seriously, everything this guy touches turns to gold. Since 2005, he's been the mastermind behind Russo Capital, dabbling in everything from tech to music and even farming. His tech venture? A rocket ship to success, soaring 60X in just three years and snagging a top spot on the Inc. 500 Frankie's companies are everywhere, the US, India, and serving 121 markets in total around the world. As for awards, he's got them by the truckload. Inc. 5000 Top 50 Businesses in the Southwest, ABIZ Entrepreneur of the Year, and even a top 20 under 40 spot. If there's an award, Frankie's probably already won it.
His companies, Potenza Inc. and 360ia, have been on America's fast-track growth list for eight straight years. That's not just growth that's explosive. But Frank is not all about the boardroom. He's also a bestselling. His books The Art of the WHY and Breaking WHY are kind of like a GPS guide for navigating life's twists and turns. And when he's not writing bestsellers, he's out there sharing his wisdom on book tours and on stages. We're lucky to get some of that wisdom ourselves today on Mic Drop. Frankie's going to show us what authentic entrepreneurship really means, the crucial difference between confidence and conviction, and why your weirdness isn't just okay, but it's your superpower. Frankie Russo, welcome to Mic Drop.
Frankie Russo:
Thank you, Josh. So glad to be on. Always love your show.
Josh Linkner:
Thank you. Well, I'm really looking forward to our conversation because you and I have so many things in common, entrepreneurial background and, of course, speaking. But I'd love, if you wouldn't mind just framing your backstory. Obviously you're a very successful entrepreneur, and you entered the world of speaking. Just maybe take us a quick lap through how you got to this point in time.
Frankie Russo:
Okay, great. See how quick I can go through this. So yeah, been an entrepreneur kind of from, I guess, day one. I always kind of was thought like this because my parents were in inner city mission work with homeless shelters and things like that, so they always were kind of entrepreneurial. But anyway, so I always just thought, "Well, why would I have a job when I could be an entrepreneur?" Now I look back, and I know why not everybody's an entrepreneur. It's definitely you have to have a couple of screws loose and be a little bit crazy to even really do it. And the benefits are not always there. Definitely not the health benefits.
But for me, I went through all kinds of different companies that I started back in the old days. I was in the mortgage business before the mortgage crisis, which is kind of random, but I think a lot of people were. We didn't know what was coming. The mortgage crisis was the first time kind of I got leveled set, lost everything. Actually got sober from drugs and alcohol that same time, which was 15 years ago. And then I kept going down the journey, got into... I started a company with my brother, and I felt like this was my first authentic company. It was called Potenza Inc. It's Italian for Power. And I had one objective, and that was to create a make-believe company.
And that company was going to have make-believe in two ways. One, we were going to make clients believe that we were a worthwhile company to give you... give us your money. And then, we were going to make the community believe the same thing about our clients to give... for the community to give our clients their money for their product. Fast-forward, it's basically just another way of looking at branding, but it was a really fun way, and it was the beginning of my journey of starting to look at business more than just money because when you're in the mortgage business, it's hard to be driven by much more than that. Although it is great connections, and I'm not knocking the mortgage business.
There's beautiful things that I now have helped people unlock in that. But at the time, it was just about money for me, which, of course, usually doesn't last. And for me, it didn't. So, and this time, I was like, "Man, I just want to create a great name that we can be proud of." And that was really the beginning of my true, authentic entrepreneur journey. And we went through all kinds of difficult times. We made it onto the Inc. 5000 list the first time in 2013 and then continued to do that for eight years, which was exciting, but at the same time also taught me a lot because one thing that you don't realize in that is that that award is only measured by top-line growth.
So behind... So one layer below the Inc. 500 awards is a lot of chaos and sometimes losing money, a lot of people burn out, burning cash. And so that's the story you don't always hear. And so I try to be authentic about that as I talk to young entrepreneurs like, "Yeah, it's pretty now I'm 42, sold my company to a Fortune 500, done the entrepreneur dream, got the accolades, yada, yada, yada, wrote some books." And so now it seems like, "Oh, well, easy for you to say." So it's always important to remember those days that were really, really difficult and almost impossible during that journey.
So anyway, today, as you know, my highest calling is to be a keynote speaker, to take the things I've learned specifically around this idea of authenticity, imagination, and selflessness, which are the three highest things that have probably changed my life, both in business and personal and to share that at scale. So that's what I've been talk... speaking for about nine years. But while I was still running my companies because from Potenza, we got into 360ia, which was a software automation company, and that was the one that really grew at a rate that was beyond what we thought was possible. And we can double-click on that later, but that's the short story. I don't know how short that was, but there you have it. That's how I got to where we are today.
Josh Linkner:
Well, I love so many things about what you said. One of them is this notion of make-believe. I've never framed it that way, and I just really appreciate that you are making people believe in you and making people believe in your clients. As you are now in this next chapter of life and business as a rapidly scaling keynote speaker, what do you have to make yourself believe to do this type of work? And then subsequently, when you're out on stage, what are you trying to help audiences believe?
Frankie Russo:
Okay, so first off, I have been on this journey recently, Josh, of... It's actually there was at one of our boot camps one of the speakers mentioned this idea of confidence versus conviction. She's a bureau person. I forget what her name was. I should know this. But anyway, it really hit me that day I started to really think about what is the difference between confidence and conviction. And what I've essentially come up with for myself is this idea that because conviction is that that's the level of what we're all working towards as keynote speakers.
Because when you bring an hour of conviction, and not... that doesn't mean it has to be loud, as we know. But there's a level of conviction where people are able to really receive this energy and the message from you. Conviction only comes from being... having had an experience with it. Okay. So you asked how do you make sure that you believe in yourself? I think that was kind of what you asked when you're doing keynotes. So, for me, what's helped me is, one, you have to do a lot of reps first of all. You have to do reps. So in the early years, it's, "Yes, what was the question" when it comes to the speech.
Okay. Now you, as quickly as possible, refine that to find what it is you're going to talk about. But early on, you just have to do reps. Reps will give you confidence, but they're not going to give you conviction. And the conviction is so important. For people that are listening that are out there, they're trying to figure out, "What is the problem I solve or why would people listen to me? Or what transformation am I even bringing?" My encouragement is to keep going deeper to look at what have you experienced that is uniquely yours. You own it. It's not a case study.
It's not research other than your case study and your research because that's the stuff that makes the difference. And I think for me, that's what I've kind of come to is that I've gotten to this place now if I don't have conviction and there's a slide up or there's a point in the talk, if I don't have conviction on it, I don't have my own experience with it's out. It's out. If I'm just telling stories about other people and I can't immediately relate to what... how this affected my life positively, it's out.
And so that's been a big thing for me and for helping other people when they're trying to figure out, "Man, how do I believe that I could be worthy of this?" And the truth is that it is from the inside and from the experience and leaning into that as it relates to the largest number of other people that lives could be transformed as a result of applying that same principle or action or conviction.
Josh Linkner:
It's very cool. It's a strong belief and even more so a conviction. Love it. One of the things I wanted to ask you. You're a hypergrowth guy. I was reading about that you grew your company 60X, not 60%, but 60 times-
Frankie Russo:
Yeah.
Josh Linkner:
... in-
Frankie Russo:
I believe [inaudible 00:11:20]-
Josh Linkner:
... just three years, which is insane. How does a hypergrowth leader think and act compared to, say, a normal growth leader and one of the factors that drive such remarkable growth?
Frankie Russo:
Okay, a couple of things. First of all, that growth came on the backbone of my previous company, Potenza Inc. So the company that's 60X is called 360ia. First and foremost, I started that company in 2015 for the sole purpose of having a scalable product. Up until then, I'd always been in some sort of service business. So first of all, I had to invent a product that we owned the IP on, and it needed to be scalable in a way where they could be onboarded, and people could be a part of it, companies, at a much higher adoption rate than if you were hiring a service company.
So that's the first thing it had. It has to be something that is uniquely your IP and something that you invent. And to that point of this invention mindset, I looked at every single company, especially 360ia, as an experiment. To this day, I look at every thing as an experiment. Now, that may seem kind of scary, especially if I am hired for your keynote next year and you're listening right now, don't be alarmed. I don't plan on making your event an experiment per se, but it will still be one because if we're honest with ourselves, that's the mentality because with an experiment, you expect to have a lot of repeating, right.
So our core thing was, one, we needed to have an actual product that was unique and we owned that was scalable. We needed to look at everything as an experiment so that we could rapidly shift, change, and adapt that product. And then, last but not least, we had to be all aligned in the same direction to be able to pull it off, and we were. Everyone was aligned in where we were going and what it was that we uniquely offer to our user base. And that was how, in three years, we 60X that company. Now, obviously, there's a ton of other details, but I'm trying to keep the answer short.
Josh Linkner:
Well, it's pretty cool because you're doing something similar now with your speaking practice. It's not... Doesn't have quite the same attributes obviously that you just mentioned, but you're kind of now saying, "How can I apply what I learn hypergrowthing a company-
Frankie Russo:
Yes.
Josh Linkner:
... to hypergrowthing your own speaking practice?" And I know you've been really ramping significantly over the last couple of years. You're scaling at a very fast rate. I'm not surprised at all. What are some of the key learnings as you've scaled over these last couple of years in speaking, and also any key stumbles or challenges that you've run across?
Frankie Russo:
So the funny thing is, as you're asking that question, I realize it's almost the exact same answer as the last question, which is interesting because with the product now is the talk or the multiple programs that unfold from the talk. So that's the product, that's the IP, and I'm constantly refining it to make sure that it is uniquely something that we can give to the world from our organization with this, right. So it's got the same IP. It's still a product if you will. So productizing that has been a big part of what's made the difference.
Before, the only thing I had really productized around my thought leadership was my books, right. And so my second book was I had published through Amplify, which you and I are partners on. And what was interesting is that it wasn't until I put out this second book that I had this epiphany. So like yourself, I was a musician. And one thing about being a musician is that even if you are really, really talented unless your song is on Grey's Anatomy or something, you got to be on tour to make money, right.
And so it came to me about two years ago, which was good timing because I had just sold my company, that if I wanted to really scale this to the next level for keynotes, I needed to be aligned and focused on it. I needed to have unique IP, and I needed to make sure that I saw every opportunity as an experiment to get better. So ironically, those things go very hand in hand, but I realized that if I want to make money in the thought leadership space as an author, I got to go on tour. And the tour is the keynote speeches.
Josh Linkner:
It's very cool. It's a fascinating correlation. So staying in your speaking business for a second, you talked about bringing sort of IP and a message, and recently, you spent a lot of time, well, getting a little weird.
Frankie Russo:
Yes.
Josh Linkner:
And you developed this content around this idea of weird, Love Your Weird, and give us a little preview of what does that mean? What can we learn from it? How have you gotten a little weird? What's it all about, and why should we get weird?
Frankie Russo:
Yeah. So, Love Your Weird has been a big journey for me over the last six, seven years. I did something a little bit different. I had this moment of clarity when I was going through my divorce actually and realized that I had spent so much energy, and it was part of why I went through a divorce hiding my weird kid. Okay, so Love Your Weird essentially comes from this idea that when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut, a TV preacher, an inventor, and a what else, a cowboy all at the same time, which is kind of weird for most people and a little bit kind of like, "I don't know how to take this guy." So I was that. I was always getting that kind of treatment. Like, "I don't know how to take you. You're weird." I went through some bullying phases. And so, over time, I started to suppress that.
And what happened as an adult is I hid the pain of not wanting to show my weird in a business suit, right. And a lot of us do that, right. And so I also hid the pain of not ever wanting to be poor in a business suit. So that was my march forward, and I didn't even know I was doing it until about six, seven years ago when you go through something traumatic like a divorce. And so, in that moment, I went and did this work at this place called Onsite, and I had this epiphany moment of clarity, whatever you want to call it, about this idea that I was not loving my weird, but that the next chapter of my life and the real unlock that I'm seeking was inside of this concept of loving my weird. Now, the irony of where it comes full circle today is that what I've realized is that loving your weird goes beyond just some sort of self-improvement, self-help, self-therapy, inner child work.
It actually has a very big application in the corporate space. What I realized was that because in the last years, when I started to love my weird, guess what, I invented a product, and we experimented with that, and we were cowboys about it, and we were willing to take it to the moon. And I was really... I'm not a TV preacher, but I'm a keynote speaker. I feel like capitalism is kind of the new religion. So ipso facto, whatever. But here we are, and here's what I realized. Love Your Weird is more... First of all, it's wildly helpful for us as individuals and as a cultural standpoint. If you think about plugging Love Your Weird into your culture from a belonging standpoint, or a mattering standpoint, or building trust and authenticity, it's massive, right.
But it goes even bigger than that because what I've learned is that the organizations that individually and collectively create a culture where loving your weird is not only accepted but celebrated, rewarded, you essentially have created a culture where the most important ingredient that everyone is so desperately for, looking for, and you know this more than anyone, and that is continuous innovation. Continuous innovation is what all companies that are facing disruption that are stuck, that are stagnant, that don't know how they're going to unlock growth, let alone survive. That's the piece that I've realized is the common denominator, which is very kind of unsuspecting. It's definitely fun, and I think everyone is desperate to find a community where they can do that. And for me, ironically, ImpactEleven was a big part of that.
Josh Linkner:
That's awesome.
Frankie Russo:
I found a space where it was very welcomed and celebrated.
Speaker 3:
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As the only speaker training and development community run by current high-level speakers at the top of the field, they'll boost your probability of success and help you get there faster. That's why nearly every major speaker bureau endorses and actively participates in ImpactEleven. The ImpactEleven community provides you unparalleled access to the people, relationships, coaching, and accountability that compresses your time to success. To learn more about the ImpactEleven community, schedule a free strategy session today by visiting impacteleven.com/connect. That's impactE-L-E-V-E-N.com/connect.
Josh Linkner:
Well, as a fellow misfit, I can really appreciate it, and I actually think there's probably more of us misfits than fit-ins, even though we all feel like-
Frankie Russo:
Yes.
Josh Linkner:
... we're weird. I guess I love that you're celebrating something that maybe people would ordinarily be ashamed about and bringing out their authentic weirdness, which that's what makes people fun and spicy. Who wants vanilla when you can have weird?
Frankie Russo:
Yes.
Josh Linkner:
How can speakers embrace it? You talk a lot about not only weirdness but authenticity. What's the lesson for speakers at any stage of their career? How can they embrace their weird and bring more of their authentic self forward? And sometimes, people are afraid to do that, but in your case, it's really been a catalyst for growth and success. Help us connect those dots.
Frankie Russo:
Absolutely. First of all, I would argue that, in every person that has achieved greatness, it was their catalyst. So I would argue that think about weirdos like Einstein, right. Everybody's obsessed with this idea that knowledge is power, and yet he came out and said, imagination is more powerful than knowledge. So you think about that for a minute, right, and then you think about what is imagination? Imagination is the ability to hope and go for strive towards something that is not visible. You have to imagine it. That's a powerful part of the human piece.
So first and foremost, Love Your Weird what it does it doesn't directly unlock continuous innovation as a speaker, right. What it's going to do is it's going to unlock the three ingredients that will get you that innovation you need to be a great speaker, great thought leader, and those ingredients are authenticity, imagination, and selflessness. You see, those three ingredients are really what it's all about. Loving your weird, loving the child within, looking back at who was I when I was five before everybody told me I was supposed to be something else. Everyone or not everyone, but as you know, there's some studies, 98%.
So whether you believe this study or not, I think it's fairly practical to say that most children, or most of us when we were children, had that genius level of imagination, right. And so that's important because you have to have... be able to, once you get honest about what problem you need to solve for yourself or have solved, and you get honest about who you are as a person, then it becomes this idea of like, "Okay, so what am I going to create?" And those have to come from that sequence. I have to first be honest with who I am before I can get to the creation. See, people look at these guys like, "Man, how did you come up with Find A Way?" Right.
So you have Find A Way as your new brand. It's incredible. You've got it all [inaudible 00:23:06] down. If I listen to you do a speech, I'm like, "Man, what just happened? How did he get to that?" And you know this as well as I do, you get to that from continually being passionate about who am I. What do I have to say? What is my conviction based on, and what am I willing to allow myself to imagine and then act on it? And who am I willing to give this away to?
And so when you align yourself and from that framework, Love Your Weird is non-negotiable in my mind for all of us as thought leaders because, otherwise, why you? Everybody's trying to answer that question, "Why me? Why should hire them, or why should I call them?" And first of all, I need to at least be able to answer that before anybody else is going to answer that. And if you're wondering why you and you're a speaker, it's like start with what is the weird thing that you're not willing to share with the world readily I'm doing right now? And triple-click on that bad boy. Go past the double click.
Josh Linkner:
It's so good, right. People are distinctive, and they're hired, and they win not because of why they're the same as everyone else but because why? Because of their differences. And so you're talking about being authentic and getting a little weird, and it sounds good, but it also might feel a little risky for someone. [inaudible 00:24:24] take-
Frankie Russo:
Absolutely.
Josh Linkner:
... personal risk. What's the downside of it? And I wanted to ask you this, Frankie. You're an entrepreneur, you're an investor, you're a speaker and thought leader, an author, and a business builder, and each of those has elements of risk. So how do you think about balancing risk and reward when you embark on something new, or even in your speaking practice, how do you think about risk as it relates to weird?
Frankie Russo:
Unbelievably closely related. So it is risky to step out into the weird because the risk is what most of us fear. At the core of most of us as humans, our biggest fears that someone will find out that I'm not enough, or that I'm a fraud, or that I'm not who I'm supposed to be. That is most people's deepest fear. It is risky to step into fear, but for those of us who have stepped into fear in the past, we know that on the other side of it, and not that far on the other side of it, is a level of freedom that comes with it. So same thing with entrepreneurship. Yes, is there risk? Sure, there is. But there's just as much risk as getting fired at your regular job. There's just as much risk at the world falling apart, which it did. You know what I mean?
The possibilities of what could go wrong even in your safe little world that you think it is. Just look at the pandemic. That got weird quick. All right. Weird's going to happen, so you can either get weird or weird's going to happen to you. I used to say this thing about break your why. Break your why, or it's going to break you. One way or the other, the river's going to win. And so you're better off not trying to run from who you are. Instead, run towards it instead of trying to fight the river, let the river take you, and let's see what happens. Because when that happens, freedom is on the other side of it. And that freedom is the ability to go out into the world and share what it is that you came here to share. As some of our friends say, "What did you come here to do or come here to say?"
It's like when you have the freedom unlocked, that's attractive. That's what people want to buy. So let's just talk about the business for a minute. What are they buying? If I'm going to spend 10, 20, 30, 50, $100,000 for you to come talk to me for one hour, like what? Okay, I could buy some rent houses for that or do something. Buy a new car. What are you do? What's going to happen? And so yeah, you got to be in touch with this stuff. If I'm not... Because you're not going to get to the level of conviction if you're not going full weird, whatever that means for you. Weird's different for everybody.
Josh Linkner:
Well, that's a really good point because, to a degree, we think getting weird is risky or being authentic is risky, but there's actually a real risk in not doing that. And the risk is that, first of all, it might hurt your business, and second of all, even if it doesn't, you're restricting yourself. If you say if weirdness leads to freedom, what's the opposite of freedom is oppression.
And so what's the risk of that? So I think it's really so well stated. I want to ask you another question, Frankie. As I mentioned, you've been really rocking on the speaking front the last couple of years, and there's no doubt that that arc is going to continue. I mean, you're really just on a tear. What would you... What is something that now that you wish you knew a few years back in your speaking practice, what would you tell your three-year-old, three-year-ago self today that you've learned over these last few years?
Frankie Russo:
This is an easy one because you and Sarah and all my friends, Ivy, have helped me unlock this, and that is the point and focus of my work and my marketing and my journey, and my talk it only has to do with me as much as it gets me in the room to help the people. So what I mean by that is that what I would tell myself is focus more on what transformation you're going to do for them then who you are and why you're so special. I mean, I would say that's the number one thing I would tell myself three years ago is like, "Look, there's a lot of special people out there."
In fact, if I'm... Because first off, I would've told myself three years ago, "Drop the why, don't be little Simon Sinek and just go full weird." So that's the first thing I would tell. If you are, then it's like, "Okay, cool. Everybody's special. I'm literally promoting that everybody's special. So let's make it less about how special I am or all the things I've done, which, unfortunately, in the world we live in, you sometimes have to have some of that. But what I've realized is that, dude, the stuff I've accomplished in business, for example, that is just for the permission to get in the room, but that's not what I'm coming to talk about. That's not the beauty of it.
I mean, yeah, it's great. It's cool. Listen, some people care about that. But the real guts of it is what can I do to really help these people and these organizations unlock the guts of what they need to get out from underneath this disruption or this stagnation, and it's all about them. It has so little to do with me, and I didn't see that three years ago. I didn't. And even though I was already a keynote speaker, and that's been a big part of what's unlocked it for me.
Josh Linkner:
So good. I mean, the truth is the hero of a great keynote isn't the speaker. The hero is the audience.
Frankie Russo:
Yes.
Josh Linkner:
And when you orient your perspective to service instead of being braggish, that changes everything. And obviously you've done a beautiful job with that. And so, as you continue to grow your speaking practice and continue to make a big impact in the world, continue to help people get weird, what's next for you? What do the next couple of years look like in your mind?
Frankie Russo:
Gosh, what do they look like? The old fortune tell. The next couple of years for me are just continuing to go deeper and deeper into how I can maximize or scale my calling. One of the things that has uniquely qualified me to do what I do, because I'm not a Ph.D. in therapy or emotional intelligence. Okay. But I have gone in these hundreds of journeys with drug addicts and alcoholics after getting sober that between that and then having teams and being an entrepreneur and all these different things, and obviously a father of six now married twice, I have some interesting, unique perspectives and experience to be able to share when you kind of put that into what we call down in the South a gumbo.
And I plan on continuing to sell out to my calling, and I'm super excited about the journey because it's inevitable that it's going to happen. It's inevitable now because I no longer wonder how I'm going to get there. I know exactly how I'm going to get there, and that's going to be one day at a time using the conviction I know can change lives and just continue to reinvest it into my business, just continue to reinvest into my content. I just got off the road after being on the road doing talks every week for 10 weeks, which is kind of our season. And so, from now until I see you in Scottsdale, I'm tripling back down. I had a bureau agent call me the other day, and she really liked my website.
Well, I decided to spend this month making a new website, which I thought was interesting, and it was a good reminder. Actually, I'm really glad she told me that because like the temptation is just to scrap everything and make it all fresh. But I'm like, "Okay, let me make sure I don't miss some of the stuff that is still good." But anyway, my point of that is that the second I'm off the road, it's doubling down. [inaudible 00:32:03] website, I've got a new reel coming out, photo shoot, I'm doing the video thing in Scottsdale. Where can we continue to evolve, continue to adapt, and essentially do exactly what I'm telling my audience to do? It's like if I'm... whatever I'm speaking about, I better make darn sure that I'm doing it and that I'm living it.
Josh Linkner:
Well, that would be... I mean, you obviously speak on authenticity, and you are one of the most authentic people I know. So I mean, what a beautiful place to leave the conversation, Frankie. Appreciate your authenticity. I appreciate you getting us a little weird. I appreciate the giving us a big dose of conviction and wishing you continued success.
Although you don't need our luck because you're a professional, you double down on things, you continue to reinvent and reimagine, and there's no question in my mind you will continue to soar. So thanks for sharing some gumbo with us, my friend-
Frankie Russo:
That's it.
Josh Linkner:
... and again, wishing you a tremendous success in the future.
Frankie Russo:
Thank you, Josh. Wonderful being on.
Josh Linkner:
What a rapid-fire blast of inspiration and insights we had with Frankie. And as we bring this episode to a close, here's what stands out to me. Frankie's journey with Potenza Inc. is a testament to what true authentic entrepreneurship is all about. It's not just about financial success. It's about creating a brand and a legacy that you can be proud of. Frankie also opened up about the often unseen challenges behind entrepreneurial success. He reminds us that the accolades like the Inc. 500 award can mask underlying hardships such as financial strain and operational chaos.
His honesty about those realities offer us an invaluable lesson really for anyone who's on the entrepreneurial path. I was also struck by his exploration of the difference between confidence and conviction. Frankie really described how confidence is built through experience and practice, but conviction, that comes from a deeper place, a personal connection, and a belief in what you're sharing. It's a powerful reminder for us all. And, of course, we can't forget his compelling advocacy for embracing our weirdness. Frankie's philosophy of celebrating our unique traits as a source of innovation and authenticity that's a game changer.
It's not just about accepting who we are. It's also about leveraging our individuality as a strength in both personal and professional realms. Thanks so much for joining us this week. And remember, in the immortal words of Frankie Russo, "Embrace the weird." Thanks so much for joining me on another episode of Mic Drop. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. If you love the show, please share it with your friends, and don't forget to give us a five-star review. For show transcripts and show notes, visit micdroppodcast.com. I'm your host, Josh Linkner. Thanks so much for listening, and here's to your next Mic Drop moment.