The Red Hat Guy - Larry Roberts

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Larry Roberts with Red Hat Media, and I am the guest today on the Inspiring Influencers Show. Welcome to the Inspiring Influencers Show, Paul and Jennifer Hansel host interviews with inspiring thought leaders, storytellers, entrepreneurs, and legacy builders just like you learn from experts about finding your voice.

[00:00:20] Mastering your mindset and creating movements with your message. Enjoy uplifting stories and powerful strategies. Get ready to transcend to new levels of success, happiness, and joy. So we are so excited to have Larry as our guest today. Now he is known for his red hat. Larry is best described as high energy, fun, and charism.

[00:00:45] He is a podcaster, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and international top rated course creator. Larry Roberts has been in coaching and facilitator roles for more than 25 years now. Over the last several years, he has [00:01:00] grown to be one of the most highly sought after podcasting coaches and content creators in the industry.

[00:01:07] Recently named to podcast magazine's, top 40 over 40. Larry is also the editor in. In one of the largest podcast industry newsletters, the podcast Fest Messenger. You can find him regularly speaking at industry events, participating in industry panels, and appearing on other podcasts. Larry is basically everywhere.

[00:01:31] Thank you so much for joining us today, Larry. Thanks so much for having me, man. This is great. I've been looking forward. You know, I think back to podcast Fest when we met and yeah, man, that, that was an exciting time. We had a blast. And to, to be able to be here today with you is awesome. Yeah, we'd loved Orlando in meeting you.

[00:01:48] And I do wanna say you were one of the funnest dudes we've ever met. And uh, thanks Ben. I appreciate that. It's just, we could always tell where you were, so that's [00:02:00] awesome. And we'll kind of get into that a little bit later. So, um, now I wanna ask. Kinda, you know, reading a little more about you, you have quite the adversity story and quite the journey that you've gone through to turn things around.

[00:02:18] So could you please share that story and, and how you flipped it around into like, really that tragedy to triumph? Yeah, man, it's, it's kind of interesting cuz uh, th this entire life has been a bit of, a bit of a challenge, you know? Uh, I was born initially with a birth defect back in 1972 when I, uh, was, was brought into this world.

[00:02:40] I was born with an inverted sternum. So my sternum, instead of being con vex and growing outwards, my sternum was growing in, like towards my spine while my organs were growing. So by the age of four, I had to have major reconstructive lifesaving surgery just to make it so that I could kind of hang around for a [00:03:00] while.

[00:03:00] So, uh, that in and of itself, I mean, coming right outta the gate was adversity, you know? Um, yeah. So it's, it's not something that I'm unaccustomed to, but I mean, the story that most people know these days is back in 2013, uh, I went into rehab for alcohol. And, uh, I had, I had had, uh, I'd already been in, in the hospital once that year.

[00:03:21] I believe it was back in July of 2013, I'd gone into the hospital for alcohol poisoning, cuz I had just drank myself into, into that stupor. Uh, and it was a, it was such a weird experience that night, back in July of 13 because literally it felt like just outta the blue. I say outta the blue. Of course I was drinking, uh, but it felt like my body was on fire.

[00:03:42] I mean, like literally my hope. My, my tips of my hair to my tips of my toes just felt like it was on fire and it would not stop. And eventually my wife had to call the ambulance and they swept me away and, and, and then that was it. I had alcohol poisoning, but. Wow. Um, we, we kind of played that off as, [00:04:00] uh, I think we played it off as food poisoning or, or something along those lines so that it didn't get back to the office.

[00:04:05] And everybody know that Larry's on the downward spiral here and, uh, he, he's, he's really in, in desperate need of help, but we weren't as smooth as we thought we were. Cuz the vice president of, uh, the IT department that I worked in at the time at this company, uh, he called me into his offices cuz we're we're close personal friends as well.

[00:04:23] And he said, Hey man, you might have everybody else, fool. Let's just be honest. I know exactly why you were there and what's happening, and, uh, if it happens again, you're either gonna get help or you can pack your stuff and leave the company. It's your choice. So, of course, I was scared sober from that point forward, uh, for, well, for a couple of months, and then probably September-ish.

[00:04:45] Um, maybe October-ish I started drinking again, and this time just, I just went nuts and just was drinking myself literally to death. Uh, and it all culminated, uh, probably right there at that, that that first week of [00:05:00] November is when it really started culminating and I didn't go back to the office I was calling in sick.

[00:05:04] Wasn't just wasn't showing up, wasn't calling it at all. Yeah. But what I was doing was literally drinking 24 7, I mean, just 24 7. Uh, I would drink myself till I passed out, wake up, do two or three more shots till I passed out again, wake, and it was just repetitive. And I did this for about two weeks until, uh, November 13th and.

[00:05:25] Although it shouldn't have happened, uh, somehow I was sitting on the end of my couch, covered in my own filth, uh, and I had a moment of clarity. You can call it an intervention, a, a spiritual intervention. You can call it whatever. I, I don't know what to call it, but yeah. Uh, something simply said that if I didn't get help today, as I sat right there, that tomorrow wasn't going to be here.

[00:05:44] It wasn't happening. There would be no. And it was so clear. I mean, literally just as I said, it was like just literally a voice in my head. Yeah. And it was, it was crazy. So I, I managed to get over to my cell phone. I called my best Good Pal. I said, Hey, dude, I, I need help. [00:06:00] And next thing you know, they leap into action.

[00:06:02] My best friend and my wife, they all, we all worked at the same company, so he left his office, went and grabbed my wife, said Larry just called. He's asking for help. We gotta do something. They went back over to the VP of the department, uh, that I worked in, told him, said, Hey man, Larry's called. We need help.

[00:06:16] All three of them jumped into action, and then a few hours later, they, they got here at the house and swept me off to a, uh, a facility. In Texas, that's one of the, the top facilities in, actually one of the top facilities in the country. Um, and uh, the irony there is, is that I should not have been able to afford to go to a facility of this caliber.

[00:06:38] But ironically enough, my grandmother, she passed away back in 2009. And I was the sole heir to her estate, and it wasn't much. She had just a, a small, small home in Denison, Texas. Wasn't worth a ton of money. Yeah. But she also had oil royalties that I wasn't overly familiar with. I mean, I'd seen a check here or there, and it was like [00:07:00] 15, 20 bucks a month or something.

[00:07:01] Nothing significant. Yeah. But earlier that year, in 2013, I'd gotten a phone. And it was from, uh, an oil company out in West Texas. They said, Hey, we're looking for Wilma Roberts. That was my grandmother. I informed, informed them that she passed away and I was a sole heir. And once I provided letters testamentary and proof of the will and that sort of thing, uh, they released some funds to me that were not massive, but they were significant.

[00:07:29] Um, And it's those funds that I received earlier in 2013. Mm-hmm. are what allowed me to even go to this facility later on that year. Had that not happened, had those funds, not miraculously just appeared. And granted, they, they weren't miraculous, but the timing felt very miraculous. If those funds hadn't been there, um, I would've not been able to go to this.

[00:07:55] Now granted, there's other facilities that I could have gone to. Maybe I would've had success there, but this [00:08:00] particular spot is known throughout the country. Uh, it's called InterHealth, by the way, if anybody li is listening and you're in the state of Texas and you've got you yourself, or a family member or someone that you love that needs help, I highly recommend InterHealth.

[00:08:13] Uh, they have offices here in Dallas and then they have the ranch, which is the recovery center out in a small town called Van Aine. And it's, it's an amazing facility with highly qualified individuals running it, and they turned my life around. So I went to Inter Health for six weeks, was the original schedule.

[00:08:30] Um, when I got there, the, after my wife and friend came by and took me to the facility, they got me there. They couldn't stabilize me. They couldn't stabilize my vitals, so, oh, wow. Even at the rehab facility, they had to call the ambulance to come get me because I was on my way out. You know, I was, it was, it, was it, I'd gone too far.

[00:08:50] Um, but they whisked me away to the hospital where I spent a few days in the hospital there in a recovery wing, a detox wing, and, uh, after three, [00:09:00] I think it was three or four days, uh, I managed to get out of there. And really the only memory I have of most of this even happening is I remember trying to get outta the hospital cuz no one likes to be in the hospital.

[00:09:10] Right. Uh, but I remember before they'd even released me back to the rehab facility, I had to make a lap of the floor that I was on of the hospital. So I remember looking down and seeing those 12 inch white square tiles that we typically see in hospitals and you can see the seams where those tiles come together.

[00:09:28] And I remember staring down and just telling myself, follow the line. Follow the line, follow the line. Cause I wanted out there so bad and it was tough, man. Even after three or four days, I still had a hard time even staying upright. It was, it was, it was difficult. But they released me from there and I went back to the rehab facility where I spent a week and a half, two weeks in their recovery wing as.

[00:09:49] Before they released me out to, uh, uh, the rest of the ranch. And I had my own cabin there at the ranch. But uh, I was originally scheduled to stay six weeks. Yeah. At the end of that six weeks and being [00:10:00] sober for six weeks, I wasn't quite sure. How to reacclimate myself with society and just doing day-to-day activities.

[00:10:08] You know, my wife came, she picked me up. We went to lunch, uh, in, in a small town here in, in North Texas. And it was a little overwhelming to be honest with you. So we got back to the facility after lunch cause they gave me like a two hour pass and we had a discussion. I decided to stay one more. So I stayed another week and then left the facility and never looked back at that point.

[00:10:31] So, um, I, I, I didn't continue any sort of therapy or treatment for me, and I know this isn't for everybody, so, but for, this is just my personal story. For me, once that seven weeks was up, yeah, it was over. and I didn't wanna look back on that time of my life. I wanted to learn from that time of my life, but I didn't wanna live in it or identify as that being who I am.

[00:10:57] Uh, ongoing, you know, there's, there's certain [00:11:00] organizations out there that regardless of how long you're sober, each time you go to this meeting, you have to announce yourself as an alcoholic. And for me personally, and I stress that once again, I'm not an alcoholic. I. But I'm not. Now I've recovered and I've let that part of me go.

[00:11:17] So that, that worked for me from, from my, from my perspective. Granted, that doesn't work for everybody, and I respect whatever anybody else needs to do to manage their own sobriety, but that's just my path. Wow. But I did do a lot of damage and, and while I didn't continue from, uh, an alcohol counseling perspective, uh, I walked with a cane after that for about a year and a half to two years.

[00:11:40] I had done so much nerve damage to my body that my body wanted to shut down. And I, I mean, I still have the cane. It's in my o my office in there where I, I do most of my work. It's, it's attached to the wall as somewhat as a. You know, but I always, I, I kept it there, uh, because it was very convenient. I would sit at my desk and do my work and then I would use my cane to move around the [00:12:00] house and move everywhere, literally.

[00:12:01] Yeah. Um, and, and, and I was on a regimen of, of a ton of painkillers and, and, and antipsychotic meds and just a whole lot of stuff to reintroduce me back at the peak time of my, my medication, I was taking 33 pills a day, 33. I mean, that is a, that's a lot. That is a ton of medication. Mm-hmm. , but it was just a function.

[00:12:24] A lot of it was just a function. But the cool thing too was that even after I got outta rehab, the company that I worked for, they supported me 100%. Uh, I mean, it never even made its way to hr and I was gone for months. So I I, I didn't have to take a leave of absence. They didn't dock me any pay, I didn't lose any of my salary or standing within the company to a degree.

[00:12:46] I mean, you, you. You build a reputation here. So from that perspective, my reputation was complete garbage at this point. But the company themselves, they stood behind me and supported me. And for that, I'm, I'm forever grateful, uh, because I was able to go back to work and I [00:13:00] was able to go back and put my life together.

[00:13:02] But I also knew at the same time that this wasn't gonna be something I could continue doing and be happy, because again, I had ruined my reputation, you know, that I was the alcoholic. I went to rehab. And there's always that. So while I still had a job, I didn't necessarily have a career or a career path anymore.

[00:13:22] I, I, I could stay there, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going up any further progressing or moving roles or anything along those lines. So I stumbled into podcasting and uh, it was, uh, early in 2014, I started a podcast. Uh, I, I heard an episode of Joe Rogan and was blown away at the content that I heard cuz there was a couple of comedians on there.

[00:13:44] Yeah. And the, the jokes they were telling and the, the colorful we'll put it language that they were using was very reminiscent of the comedians of the eighties, the Sam Kennons and the dice clays and the Robin Williams, uh, which is what I grew up. And when I [00:14:00] heard that you can tell these jokes and say these words on a podcast and not get in trouble, I knew I was in, I was like, this is something I have to do.

[00:14:09] So I ran out and bought the absolute worst possible mic that you can buy. I bought a A A A Yeti, A Blue Yeti snowball. And, and it's a round microphone. It literally, it's white. It looks like a snowball, and it's just not an ideal microphone for podcasting. But that was the first mic that I ever owned and I started my very first comedy podcast and Nice.

[00:14:30] I was off to the races, man. So that's, that's pretty much the story of how I got into podcasting and of, of course my, my adversity moment. That's by far the biggest, uh, the, the most adversity that I've experienced in my life. But it was, Quite a bit. . Yeah. Well, no kidding. I mean, there's a lot of kind of similarities in both of our stories.

[00:14:50] Like, you know, different things happened to us, but kind of similarities around that. Now you mentioned like when that was happening to you, was [00:15:00] it like just a switch that went off, like I just can't. Go back there. You know, I'm gonna die if I go back there. I, I just have to do everything I can, not knowing exactly what that path looks like, but do everything I can to move forward.

[00:15:14] Yeah, I mean, it really was somewhat of a switch. And, and I don't know why it took seven weeks as compared to six weeks, but at that six week point, I just wasn't quite there. And, um, maybe it was the additional therapy, maybe it was additional time to recover and, and really get sober. But it's, it's really interesting because my wife, she drank heavily.

[00:15:35] As well. She didn't get nearly as bad as she got bad, but she didn't get to the point that I was, I mean, we both got to the point. Let me put it in perspective for you, where near the end there, we were both, we would both get off work, we'd come, cause we worked together as I mentioned before. So we'd come home and the first thing we would do, we kept our gin because gin was our drink of choice.

[00:15:54] We kept the gin in the freezer. And we were so quick, we wanted that, that buzz. We [00:16:00] wanted that, that, you know, that alcohol haze, uh, to hit so quick that the very first thing we would do as soon as we walk in the door was put our stuff down, head straight for the freezer, open it up, grab that bottle of gin, and we wouldn't sip gin.

[00:16:12] We would do gin shots. So we'd pour ourselves a shot and we would stand, both of us would stand. We have a dual sink in the. We would stand one of us on each side of that sink because we knew that the first shot was coming right back up. We knew our bodies would reject that first shot. Wow. And sometimes the body would reject the second shot.

[00:16:38] But typically that, not typically the first shot always came back up at the end of the day, but we knew that, so we stood over the sea. That's how bad we both were. It's just ridiculous that we didn't have the, the, the, the mental fortitude or whatever it takes to stop ourselves. But I think that's also a, a demonstration of how powerful addiction can be, because you would think if you just use common sense, Hey man, if you're [00:17:00] standing over the sink, because you know, That your body is going to reject this, why would you put it in your body?

[00:17:05] Yeah. And that's a question that I just can't answer, but the power of addiction is so strong. So that's how bad we both were. And I got even beyond that. I got worse than that. Thankfully she did not. But while I was away at a facility, she got sober at home on her own. Wow. No therapy, no medication, no nothing.

[00:17:29] She's got. So that posed some interesting conversations after the fact too, because she did it without spending tens of thousands of dollars and blowing some savings. Right. She did it on her own. So she's super, super strong and I commend her for that. She is mind-blowingly strong, strongest woman I ever met.

[00:17:49] Strongest person, honestly, that I've ever met in my life. Nice. So seeing her do that, yeah. Was also an inspiration for me to do that as well. [00:18:00] But, and, and at the end of that seven weeks, it, it was, it was like, it was just, it was just done. Granted, there's still recovery to be made. Yeah. Cause as I mentioned, I've done so much damage, but from the alcohol perspective, it was just done.

[00:18:11] It was literally like the, the switch was flipped and my wife and I, we dis we've discussed it many times over the years and it almost seems like it was just the pattern interrupt that did, that was the most effective, you know? Yeah. Because throughout those years leading up, There would be days or weeks where she'd go, you know what?

[00:18:31] I don't wanna drink anymore. I'm done, but I wouldn't be ready. So I would still drink. Then we'd have the opposite. There'd be weeks where I'd go, man, I am so done with this. I'm not drinking anymore. But she wasn't ready, so she would keep drinking. And of course, if only one person in the household is trying to get sober, that's never ever going to work.

[00:18:50] And there would still be times too where both of us would be like, okay, cool. We're gonna do this. We're we're, we're not drinking. And we'd go a day, maybe two. But I wanna reiterate that we [00:19:00] both worked together. So we both knew all the drama at the office, and we both knew all the managers and how mean some of the managers were and how crappy some of this was, or that was, we always knew the drama.

[00:19:10] So we'd get in the car to go home, and of course we're just talking about the drama. And you'd go, we'd go, you know what? Let's just get a small bottle. We'll just get one small bottle. It's been a crappy day. Let's just get one small bottle just for tonight. And then of course, that small bottle. It goes to a bigger bottle and then goes to a bigger bottle and then goes to the the handle or the 750 milliliter bottle, and we were going through four to 5, 750 milliliter bottles a a week.

[00:19:38] Wow. Not to mention a caser to a cold beer as well, so not that we would drink much beer, but we always had to have the, the beer is kind of just, I don't know if it was like a security blanket or whatever, whatever it was. So leading back to the pattern interrupt, it seemed like that was the most influential aspect for both.

[00:19:55] Because it broke that pattern. We were apart for seven weeks. My wife and I were never [00:20:00] apart. We met at the office. Yeah, we worked together for 13 years leading up to me going to rehab. So we were together 24 7, 7 days a week. Now we had this pattern interrupt where we weren't together and she only came and saw me.

[00:20:15] I wanna say three times while I was at the facility. It may have only been twice over that seven week span. Cause I remember we also got into a, an argument there at one point and she didn't come see me for Christmas, so that kind of sucked. And I was mad at her , so she was very mad at me. She'd have to be very mad not to come see me for the holidays.

[00:20:32] But, but you know, you're going through all this drama, you're going through all this recovery, you're trying to find yourself. She's going sober. I'm, it is just, of course we gotta into a fight. It's, it's really inevitable. But, uh, the, the bottom line is we came back together and both of us, neither one have faltered, uh, since coming, uh, since, since going through that and coming back together.

[00:20:52] And honestly, it's not even, it's never even been a discussion or it's never even been a, a [00:21:00] temptation. You know, coming out of there, I was doing comedy, I was doing standup, I was doing open mics, and I performed with the Edison Improv here in Dallas and comedy or comedy clubs are designed to do really two things.

[00:21:13] People laugh and sell alcohol. That's, that's really it, man. That's, that's what they're there to do. And never once was I tempted to drink or felt the need to drink. Uh, it just, it just never crossed our minds from that point forward, neither one of us. It's, it's, it's really amazing. I, and I don't know if it's just a, a testament of will or we saw how close we got to really ending not just our relationship, but our.

[00:21:41] Yeah, well, I mean, I was right there, so, yeah, I, I wish I could tell you exactly what it was, because could be, could be a combination of a few, but I'm just really glad that, you know, you both had the strength and the will, um, you know, determination to lean on each other and get through this. Yeah, yeah, [00:22:00] yeah.

[00:22:00] Kind of, kind of sounds like you really found your purpose when you found podcasting, and so I want to get into that. I, I first wanna talk just a little bit about your Red Hat . Now, dude, you have done a brilliant job of taking a simple concept and using that to brand, brand yourself. So we were at the conference look around, but we could always find Larry, there's Larry.

[00:22:28] Cause we could see your red Hat in the crowd. Um, so tell us how you came up with that and how others can stand out in the crowd. Just like using a simple concept like that and, you know, and then I'll ask you, um, you know, kind of main tips what you have for our audience after that. Sure, sure. Well, the Red Hat came around because I was, I was trying to.

[00:22:51] Connect with a younger audience. I think I mentioned maybe before we started recording, or we maybe have been recording at the time. I just turned 50 back in August. So knowing that [00:23:00] I'm an older cat in this younger cat's media frenzy that we're here with social media and podcasting and content creation and video and all that fun stuff, I wanted to make sure that I could communicate with a younger generation as well.

[00:23:12] So I, I bought a branded hat, it was called The Brand Is. And all those wacky kids were buying Supreme these days, or they were a year or so ago, and it's an expensive hat. I paid like 150 bucks for this hat, and all it says is Supreme on it, and it was red. So I was actually at Pod Fest Origins. It was in November of, I wanna say 20, we're in 22 right now, so I think it was 20.

[00:23:37] And I gave a presentation and Alex San Felipo, who I'm sure you know Alex as well. Yep. Uh, he, I came off stage and we were giving each other a hard time, just making fun of each other. Cause that's what we do. We're just friends giving each other a hard time. And he goes, Hey bro, what are you doing? Wearing that supreme hat?

[00:23:52] I said, why are you giving Supreme all this love and attention? Are they sponsoring you? I said, no, of course Supreme's not sponsoring me. I'm not their demographic. There's no way they'd [00:24:00] sponsor me. He goes, then stop giving them the attention. He says, you're branding yourself not branding Supreme. So he said, if you want the Red Hat, cool cuz it stands out.

[00:24:11] But why have a branded Red Hat? And I mean, it was just an amazing light bulb. So I went home, I took off the Supreme hat, I went on Amazon. I grabbed a $6 unbranded red hat, and I started wearing that. And, and I'll tell you the impact that it's had has been . It sounds so simple, but yeah, like you mentioned, I can't go anywhere without people, especially in our industry and our niche and podcasting, uh, without 'em knowing who I.

[00:24:42] Without 'em recognizing with, without, without. If we're walking down a, a hallway at a hotel, someone a hundred yards away down the hall is like, Hey, red Hat guy. And I've become the Red Hat guy, not just at Podcast Fest, but at podcast movement, at pod stock, at, uh, outlier Podcast festival. People in the [00:25:00] podcasting niche know me as the Red Hat guy , and it's just been an amazing transformation.

[00:25:06] Uh, so much so that I'm, I, I rename my. I, I, I, I took my company from Readily Random Media, which was a name of a, a podcast that I had back in the day, which was a dumb name for a podcast, by the way, and an equally dumb name for a company. But I was married to it, so I kept it. So I'm going from readily random media to Red Hat Media, because the Red Hat is, is where it's at.

[00:25:27] It's just, it's, it's unreal. I've landed speaking gigs because of the Red Hat. Yeah. I've gotten customers because of the Red Hat. It just opens so many doors and it's so. Simple and so obvious. I think that's why it, it just didn't jump out at me. Maybe it was just too obvious and I missed it. Yeah. So what are, what are the main things other people can do to, you know, to kind of grab onto something to recognize that run with it?

[00:25:52] Yeah, I mean, we see other people that use fashion for, to stand out as well. Uh, I, I, I saw people at, at podcast movement, I saw a guy in a [00:26:00] full orange, um, uh, suit. I mean, it was like a three piece suit that was just bright orange, almost like hazard orange. So people do things like that as well. But it doesn't have to be a, a, a fashion item or, or anything.

[00:26:10] The hat, I mean, I'm just a hat guy. I, I wear hats. I, I, even when I was still in corporate America, I was allowed to wear a hat to work cause I worked in it. So like it was a little more casual. I've always worn hats. So hats just naturally fit into who I am. It's always been part of my persona. So something that you could do to stand out is, is tap into who you really are and let that be.

[00:26:34] I mean, you're a testament to that. I saw you on the dance floor at Pod Fest you. You were having a blast. You were tapping into exactly who you are, and people knew when that dance floor was open, you're gonna be out there and you're gonna be dancing. It's just going to happen. So that's what we need to do.

[00:26:49] We need to tap into our authentic selves no matter what that is. Don't be ashamed of it. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid of being judged for what it is. You know, I get some [00:27:00] negative feedback on the Red Hat because, well, there's a certain politician out there that became somewhat synonymous with a Red Hat as well.

[00:27:08] So people go, oh, is that a Trump hat? And no, it has nothing to do with being a Trump hat. And anybody that knows me knows I'm not political in the slightest. So if they assume that, great, whatever, man, that's their thing. But it's definitely not my thing. My point in even bringing that up is to don't let somebody else's opinion influence how you brand yourself and how you show up as your authentic self.

[00:27:30] Tap into it, nice. Accept it, believe in it, and then just live it. Love that. Great advice. So now, If you could share, you know, some tips for our listeners on really what helped you gain clarity in your life and business and how others can do the same. Well, I think sobriety was the first step from towards finding that clarity.

[00:27:56] Yeah. But even after that, I, I didn't, I didn't really know.

[00:28:00] Uh, and, and I gotta be honest, I, it's still evolving to this day. I mean, I just mentioned I'm changing my company name, you know? Yeah. So my identity and some of the steps that we take, they evolve over time. And I think we have to be open-minded enough to allow ourselves to evolve as well.

[00:28:17] You know, I mentioned my first podcast was a comedy podcast and it was a very, very blue podcast, and if you don't understand what the term blue means, it means there was some colorful language and colorful topics that were in that had I maintained the path of that comedy podcast, odds are I wouldn't be sitting here with you having this discussion right now.

[00:28:36] Now that podcast was experiencing its own level of success, and I loved every minute of it, but also at the same time I was still in corporate America. So some of the subject matter wasn't necessarily acceptable for a salaried employee who represents the company 24 7. I shouldn't have been carrying on some of those conversations per certain members of management.

[00:28:58] And we still have an issue together, by the way, [00:29:00] but , but the show was, was great. We took it to a live stage show, we took it to a radio show. Uh, to this day, the show, even though I had to kill the podcast, that show turned into an open mic here in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. And even as I sit here right now, every Monday here in Dallas Fort Worth, it's the largest open mic for comedians outside of a comedy.

[00:29:21] So that show had a massive. But again, on that path, I probably wouldn't have this conversation with you. You probably wouldn't see me as one of the top 40 influencers over 40 in Podcast Magazine. You wouldn't see me as the editor-in-chief of the podcast Fest Messenger. I wouldn't be in this forward facing position in the podcasting niche.

[00:29:40] I'd be in a totally different position. So, yeah, that's right. We have to be able to accept the fact that we need to be able to evolve. And look for those opportunities and network with other individuals and accept opportunities as they come and be flexible enough to make the changes when the changes are necessary.

[00:29:57] Love it. That's great. [00:30:00] Okay. Uh, quick speed round. Now I'm gonna ask you, uh, three quick questions. Fire off briefly. What comes to your head? Uh, what do you do for fun? What do I do? I play video games and I watch fights. Okay. Uh, do you have a favorite. Oh man, uh uh. There's so many. Um, you stumped me on this one.

[00:30:25] I, I don't off the top of my head. Okay. You know, honestly when I, when I just said that we have to be flexible, I thought of that Bruce Lee quote where he said, be like water. Okay. That's what popped in my head. So for the moment, I'm gonna go with that cuz that's the first quote that popped in my head. I like it.

[00:30:40] And who has inspired you the most? Who has inspired me the most? There's a wow. I, and he'd be blown away that I'm even gonna say it's him. Uh, but there's a gentleman by the name of Rick Arnold and, uh, wow. I might even, it gets [00:31:00] me a little emotional to think about it when I, when I, when I dial it back, you could probably see on care of him.

[00:31:03] My face is getting flushed. Yeah. I'm getting a little red. Um, I'm a lifelong martial artist and. I didn't really understand what it meant to be a fighter until I met Rick Arnold. Hmm. And I don't just mean kicking and punching physical fighter. Yeah. Um, I mean, the intestinal fortitude, I mean the self-discipline, I mean the focus, the, the mentality, the, the, the mental side of what being a fighter is Until I.

[00:31:35] Rick and, and he influenced me tremendously. He took me, I mean, I was already a black belt when I met Rick, but I wasn't a fighter and I didn't understand the difference, and he gave me that knowledge and yeah, I mean, he, he really helped the, the vast majority of the principles that I live my life by right now, were originally influenced by Rick Arnold [00:32:00] when I was about 23 years old.

[00:32:04] Yeah. Wow. It's, uh, I, I would probably have to say Rick Arnold was the biggest influence of my life. Great. I love how, I just don't tell him I said that. . Yeah. Well, I I love how you kind of explain fighter and kind of how you looked at that, like two ways. Yeah. Um, so the last thing I wanna ask you is how can people listening connect with you further?

[00:32:27] What do you, what do you got for. Yeah, man. If you would reach out to me on Instagram, uh, I am the Larry Roberts on Instagram. Please follow me over there. I give a ton of podcasting and content creation tips. I create a ton of reels that can give you some insight into my thought process and, and some of the processes I use for my clients.

[00:32:44] And then if you wanted to spend some time with me, head over to meet. Larry roberts.com and you can jump on my calendar for a free 30 minute introduction call. We can kinda get to know each other, talk about what some of your goals are, and figure out what the best path is for you to achieve those goals.[00:33:00]

[00:33:00] Awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, man.