Timing, Synchronicity, and Opportunity: Your Path to Success | OM018

Jim Padilla: 00:00:01

Hey, welcome back to another episode of the opportunity makers podcast. Yes, you found yourself in the right place. Jim Vidia here, and I'm really glad to have you with us. Everything that's going on in the world right now is it just makes it makes the daily conversation around seeking and taking advantage of opportunities, just so it's just a juicy and ripe it's just a very now ever present thing to be talking about. And conversation that we're going to have today is about seeing what is there about understanding that everything you do leads to everything else you do, like nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything is a series of events, a sequence of events, synchronicity, and timing, the right opportunity at the right time, the the entryway that you walk in, that then leads to another doorway, that if you never would have walked in the first door, that doorway would never have appeared. Right. That's what life is about. That's what opportunity making is that's what creating opportunities is about is being able to see what can happen. If you keep your eyes on the high side of the opportunities of the high side of what's going on in the world, you will always see what's coming next. If we stay focused on the things that are broken, the things that aren't working, we will just be lost to the next problem and always be bumping our head against the on the ceilings and the walls was there instead of seeing open doors and open windows to be able to move through or be able to invite people into. And Mitch Russo, who is a good friend of mine and very, very intelligent entrepreneur has been doing this for a long time. And every time I talk to him, I learn more things about the amazing things he's done in his past and his life opportunities that he has taken advantage of and problems he has overcome to create more great things in the world. So Mitch Russo, who started a software company in his garage, sold it for eight figures, and then worked directly with Tony Robbins, and Chet Holmes to build a $25 million business together. He has been twice nominated, Inc, magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, Mitch helps companies scale rapidly. His first book, The Invisible organization, and his second book called Power tries, which is huge traction, and I have both of those on my shelf, right? How certification and explode your business, right? They've helped 1000s of companies scale rapidly. It's great books, he's very good at explaining and sharing things. And you'll see by his demeanor and who he is that he's got great amount of humility, a lot around a knowledge and you're gonna want to learn from this guy. Hey, today, he's here to help coaches solve an age old problem while enhancing results with clients, right using his new coach, practice management called Client folio. And all his information will be in the show notes. Make sure that you rate review and subscribe. Check it out, dive in, see what nuggets you can learn and share them with us. I want to know what you're doing, what you're learning what you're taking away, what more we can bring to you. So go out make great opportunities, make a lot of sales, change people's lives, and let's make some money together. Hey, we'll see you on the next episode. Enjoy this one. All right, here we are. And like I said, you know, you're in for a great conversation. And one of my favorite people, somebody I've gotten to know real well in the last few years. And just the more I know about him, the more I see of them, just somebody that I really enjoy and respect and you will to go Mitch, say hello to the opportunity makers out there.

Mitch Russo: 00:03:28

The opportunity makers, we're here to make some opportunities for you. So let's get started.

Jim Padilla: 00:03:34

For sure, so why don't you tell everybody what's you know, give us your version of who's Mitch and why is this a conversation that you're relevant then?

Mitch Russo: 00:03:42

Sure. Well, like many of our listeners today, Jim, I didn't start from what you'd call stellar. Stellar times or perfect situations or any of that stuff. I basically came, as you might say, from a broken family, I became addicted to hard narcotics. I was shooting heroin in high school. I had to drop out of life and get a rehab and, and it was a hard journey. 18 months of rehab. But what I what I learned in rehab, possibly the hardest thing I ever did, was that I am valuable I have worth and when I was done with rehab, I was clear. I was sober and I was focused on creating a valuable life. And so the first thing I did was I said well, I dropped out of school let's get back to school, got myself back into school and finished up high school at the time and then went on and became enrolled and other other types of schools one school I enrolled in was color television repair school Believe it or not, because I thought maybe that would be my my journey. And after that ended, I was hired by a computer company of all types of companies and I realized that was really where I belong. I belong in the computer industry. And I loved it there. And I made a name for myself, not just in, in being an engineer with computers, but later in selling semiconductors is one of the top salespeople in the country for certain brands. So I realized that that time I had, I had to master the art of selling. And I did that by finding the best salesman in the community, and asking him, how did you learn to sell. And as soon as he told me, I literally left lunch, and went right over to the Dale Carnegie office and signed up for the Dale Carnegie sales program. And that led me to an incredible career as a salesperson, which generated many, many, many millions, over 20 million a year in revenue for the company I was selling for. And so it was there that I became enamored with software and with creating software and, and maybe even creating my own company at the age of 28, I started TimeSlips corporation.

Jim Padilla: 00:06:08

So Ty, that's you got you got a lot journey. And so much stuff that I resonate with, I mean, you know, most of the, you know, the audience, people here know, my story and, you know, broken home and tail and growth and life and overcoming. And so I definitely resonate with that. And I don't want to touch on that a little bit, just in terms of what kind of life skills did you gain in that journey that have helped you, you know, not just as an entrepreneur, but as somebody who can thrive in environments that might not be so desirable for others?

Mitch Russo: 00:06:43

Well, I'll tell you, the one thing I learned right away is that there isn't an easy button for most of life. When I ended up in rehab, you know, being so clever, and knowing everything at the age of 16, I figured well, I could probably fake my way through this, that that should be easy. But I found out how long I really was. And I really had to buckle down and get to work. And when I mean get to work, I mean like scrubbing toilets, and baseboards, and really get to work and spend that time really getting back in touch with the physical body that I have, and the work ethic that I never had. And, you know, up until that point, and I learned a lot about that journey. I failed many times throughout, going through the program. And then later in life as we all do, we have to fail and pivot, fail and pivot, which is how we finally find the thing that really resonates with our soul, and takes us to a place where we've only dreamed of going. So for me the journey is was always an exploratory journey of trying and failing, trying, again, adjusting and failing and maybe even trying again and again.

Jim Padilla: 00:07:57

Yeah, you know, it's funny, because you said you were a color television repairman. And I think you just got to chuckle to yourself every time you touch your 65 inch LCD screen that touchscreen. And you know, there's no picture tubes in it or you know, the old stuff though needed today, a big ol box to carry. world has changed so much. And and that's we're in right now. We're in a huge change, huge upheaval, a big transition. You know, what, what do you what have you What do you see in similarities from the growth from the color television that you used to repair to what is existing now? And then what change? Are we in front of that just that can scare a lot of people but create tremendous opportunity as well?

Mitch Russo: 00:08:39

Sure. Well, I mean, this was a course in color television repair. But the last last module was digital electronics in 1970. And we were all confused as students because we were wondering, well, what is this class about? Everyone knows there's no transistors and television sets. So what happened to me is it opened up my eyes to a whole new world of digital electronics. And I took to it really like like a fish does to water. I mean, the professor I had was, I was very lucky to have been matched with this individual. He saw something in me that I didn't see myself. So I had a mentor, maybe a cheerleader. And that teacher called me up at the end of the first week, and gave me a textbook and said I want you to do chapters went in to read them then do the homework. And he worked me through this textbook. No one else in the class, just me. And at the end of that course, I had returned the textbook with all of the lessons complete and he goes, you realize what you just did? I said, No, I have no idea but it was great. I really enjoyed it. He said, Well, you just completed years one and two of the MIT electrical engineering program for digital circuit design. Wow. I said, Holy smokes, that's pretty cool. Then he said to me, remember, now this is in color television repair school, he then said to me, Mitch, you will never fix a color television set for the rest of your life. And the next day, I was recruited into a computer company, and that's that talk about a change, right? Talk about thinking that my life was going to be visiting people's homes and screwing a couple of things in and taking some tubes out playing with the family, dog and leaving. Now all of a sudden, I'm in Massachusetts, of all places, working for a major computer company, and, and basically working on many computers all day long. And it was an incredible change. And it was exciting and challenging, and even breathtaking in some cases.

Jim Padilla: 00:10:51

You know, it's fascinating, because you, you know, you know, everything that goes into how the DEC TV operate, like when you just push the button, what's actually going on behind the buttons to make the screen work the way it does. I just wanted the TV to come on. Right, I spend most of my time, but my to read people to know what makes them work, as opposed to what makes circuitry work inside of, you know, smart, you know, technical systems. But, you know, there's, there's a mindset, there's this perspective here that I want to play on for people. You went through an entire process, learned it in education process that you thought was leading you someplace, instead, it opened the door to something entirely new. Right? Had you not pursued that path? Initially, that door never would have opened? Because you would have never engaged it? Correct? What it was, what is the mindset? what's your takeaway from that, that you see, that benefits people powerfully when moving through life like that?

Mitch Russo: 00:11:51

Well, you know, I think is, you know, your your family of origin helps you set up your goals for the future, sometimes in a bad way, sometimes in a good way. So I had a tough time. And obviously, you did to Jim growing up, you know, clearly I got myself into the wrong crowd. And that's how I ended up getting involved in drugs. And my mom was very loving and caring investors, she could be while trying to manage a house by herself and not having the money to do it. So one of the things that struck me is I never, ever want to go to a place where I'm poor, or I can't afford the necessities of life. And in the beginning, that was a big motivator. And I it's not a great motivator to be honest, because it's a negative motivator. I don't want to be poor as a negative motivator. I want to be rich as a positive motivator, but also somewhat narrow. Because what you are left with after you have money is basically an empty soul if you've done nothing else. And so once I started TimeSlips Corp, and once we surpassed our first year at a million dollars, which was very quickly, for us, I realized that money would probably never be a problem for me, ever again. And that's when my my vision for who I could be elevated yet again. And that vision was I want to go to a place where I can contribute, or I could change the lives and help others. And I could do that either through employing them and training them, or helping them start their own business, or, or basically help them get educated and find what their solid piece of gold is inside of them. So for me, it was always a process of wanting something and pursuing it.

Jim Padilla: 00:13:44

Yeah, and, you know, I really wanted to encourage everybody to have that takeaway as well focus on being a contributor, not as a consumer, somebody who's creating because in you can be both you can be on a path of learning and growing, even if you have a job, just a normal nine to five of some kind, you can still be a creator, that is solving problems for people and attracting people into your world and leading them on a path. Because most people just need it to be led. Even if it's just in a certain area. Like you know, people can pretty much have seemingly great control of all areas of their life, except the area that you're an expert in. That's right. And then we need to be led there, they need to be shown that there's a path.

Mitch Russo: 00:14:27

That's right. And that's why we all get to master one or two things, and then help others with those skills. And that's part of what you do is part of what I do and and I think it's it's not you know everyone is different. Everyone has a gift but those those gifts are like raw diamonds. You might never know what your gift is if you've never tried to develop it. And even if you find it it's probably not much of a gift until you spend the hours and time and dedication necessary to evolve it and perfect it and polish it So what are

Jim Padilla: 00:15:01

you working on right now? What are you polishing and perfecting today?

Mitch Russo: 00:15:04

Well, I mean, as, as you probably know, I, I've been building certification programs, just like the one I built for TimeSlips corporation 30 years ago, I've been helping other clients do that, as well. And, and of course, my book power tribes is the blueprint for how I do that. And when I work with a client, what we're trying to do is we're trying to go from one place to another, we're trying to take something that has enormous potential, and set it up in such a way, so that it enables many others to take advantage of that potential as well. So certification is not about getting a certificate and putting it on a wall. Certification is about creating a business opportunity for your best clients, who would love to do what you do and go out there into the world and share their gifts through the processes that you've created, and at the same time, have a fairly secure and fairly repeatable income from that process. So I've been building power tribes now for a long time and coaching clients on how to accelerate their revenue. And as you saw, when I presented at VA, I'm somewhat of an expert at finding recurring revenue and companies. And I'd love to dive into companies and search for those levers. And most of the time, I find certainly more than one and, and we set those up relatively quickly and take advantage of them. Those are a few of the things I'm doing right now.

Jim Padilla: 00:16:31

And what how would you guide people listening right now, that if they if they are not able to talk to you, or take advantage of your services, what's what's some simple steps that they can implement right now and just to start opening their eyes to the additional revenue that's already lying inside of the walls of their

Mitch Russo: 00:16:46

business? Well, I would say to open their eyes and open your eyes and look around. I mean, when I tell you a quick story about opening my eyes. So back in Massachusetts, many years ago, I decided to take a yoga class, and I signed up for a yoga class, and I'm a very awkward, physically awkward person sometimes. And so I didn't do very well, but the teacher was so adorable. I just had to keep going back over and over again. And I started to get friendly with her. And I asked her, I said to her, Look, I notice you drive a new BMW, and you have this beautiful yoga studio. But you charge I think it was $12 for a yoga class. I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me how do you do that? I mean, you can't possibly make enough for your lifestyle to support this business on $12 yoga classes. And she laughed, and she said, Of course not. The yoga classes a loss leader, I said, Really? What do you mean? She says, Well, every single month, we do yoga certification for all the housewives in the area that wants to become yoga instructors. And we charge $2,500 for that, and I typically have anywhere from eight to 12 people every month coming in for a certification. And all of a sudden, it was like a light bulb went off in my mind. And I said, wow, there's that's so cool. I never even thought of that before. And so it's literally opening your eyes, being curious, and watching and thinking about how things are done. When you see how a company operates, or you see what they're doing. Don't be afraid to go over to the manager of a store or the owner of the of the company and say, Hey, I really love what you're doing. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions, because that, frankly, is how you learn.

Jim Padilla: 00:18:37

And I'm always, always, you know, it's interesting. So I'm not surprised by that, that story. Because the more success that I've had, and the more people that I've worked with who are like you, and you know, millionaires and billionaires, and people have just done great things in business. Everybody I know wants to help. That's right. And we want to help. So you know, sometimes it's paid knowledge for a client for an opportunity. Other times, it's just let me just share some wisdom with you. The key is though, guys, listen, if you're paying attention to pause, pause the treadmill, pull the side of the road, dude, listen to this. If somebody you approach is willing to give you some wisdom, you damn well better act on what they tell you. Otherwise, you won't get any more.

Mitch Russo: 00:19:22

Exactly. Well, you know, it's funny. I was hired as a day worker, when I was just about 16 years old, and I was driven to a warehouse where our job was to unload trucks and put the boxes on shelves. And there was a lot of trucks. It was a Saturday and the trucks had basically from all week where they're stacked up, ready to be unpacked. So we were working all day long, and we were hired for eight hours and it came to be about six o'clock and everybody had basically the second it hits six o'clock everyone His left and my truck was still had boxes in them. So I just kept unloading the boxes. And finally, 15 minutes later I finished I said, Okay, now I'm going to leave. And a man walked up to me and says, you know, everybody's gone. And, you know, you don't have a ride. What are you going to do? I said, Oh, I don't know. I'll figure it out. There's got to be a subway nearby or something like that. And he says, Well, I'm leaving now. Can I give you a ride? And I said, Sure. And I said to him, you work here. And he goes, in a way yes, I do work here. I'm the president of the company. I said, Oh, my God, this is your company. He says, Well, it was my grandfather's company, and it was in our family. And now I run it. And I said, Well, that's amazing. And do you mind if I ask you a few questions? And and I did. And I was able to pick his brain. For almost four, he actually decided to drive me home, which was 45 minutes from the factory, because he enjoyed me talking with him and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge and wisdom with me. Turns out he was the president of the Hoover vacuum company. Wow. And I got to ask him his keys to success of which I never forgot.

Jim Padilla: 00:21:20

Or if that's great, now I love that stuff, synchronicity and I can't even think of all the words right now but it just is really good that you know those things line up they just they happen they happen when you show up when people see you. I you know, I serif high school basketball, high school and college and high school basketball officials are always trying to get picked up to go to college like you have to get you don't just apply like you have to get invited and and during the summer, they stopped using kids to referee Junior High games they started that became our offseason regimen was referencing high school summer, our junior high summer wall. So we're reference sixth grade kids, even whether they're good or not, doesn't matter. Just some very, very, not the most best basketball. And I had a friend of mine that I was we were we were working a game with. And I always prided myself on having good mechanics and good effort. And I was doing good. Maybe wasn't my best game though. But my friend Tom was sold out. Everything he was doing like it was a High School Championship, pop in his call doing everything right hustling everywhere. After the game gentleman comes down from the stance, gives him a card, shakes both of our hands, gives him a card invites him to the college camp like how do you bring you up to a camp so they can evaluate you. And it was because he it was his sixth sixth grade daughter's game that he was there watching. And you just never know what happens when you show up and do what you're supposed to do.

Mitch Russo: 00:22:47

Never know. And that's the beauty of life sometimes. You know, and for me, I always look for the synchronicities. I learned many years ago, that a bus moving through the street with a word on the side might be the key to you unlocking your next great idea. So pay attention to your environment, always be watching and taking in what's there. Because it might be the most meaningful experience ever that you might miss if you're not paying attention. So it's important.

Jim Padilla: 00:23:19

Can cannot agree more? What is what's what's something that you see as an opportunity coming that maybe a lot of other people are not seeing right now.

Mitch Russo: 00:23:29

So you mean listen, you you opened my eyes to AI a couple of weeks ago when you ran a class. Thank you so much for that. It just lit me on fire. I have been I think I use chat GPT now every single day. And I just I just had been on a tear rewriting my sales pages and my website copy and creating things I didn't have time to create before. And now I've been kicking courses and downloading guides on how to create prompts for for chat GPT as well to get even more out of it. There are people now that have the belief that chat GPT and its future iterations will do away with programmers. Because it is so powerful in generating code. Now I don't I'm not a programmer anymore. Many, many years ago I was so I wouldn't use it for that. But what I but I but I am now seeing it being used in areas. I never thought the other day. My mom was in assisted living and there was a particular person that this place that had an issue. And I passed by the desk and I noticed chat GPT was open on the desk of the manager of the area and I said what are you doing to we were just chatting. He knows me. I've been there. Now over and over. He says oh we having some difficulty with a patient. I just figured it out. chat GPT with how to solve the problem. And it literally provide an instant diagnosis based on the symptoms that this person had experienced. I don't think we have even begun to tap the potential of AI and how it will be used for good and for bad. So, I mean, is there going to be, you know, a fleet of killer robots unleashed on society by AI? I don't think so. It's cool story, there's been movies as you know, about it, but I just don't think we're gonna see Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, walking through the speed shooting robots anytime soon, I just don't, what I do see is I see an enormous shift of the need for people to understand AI and not so much to create it, but to utilize it. So they say, well, a lot of jobs will be gone, because of chat, GPT and other AI tools. And I think a lot of new jobs, many more will come to take its place. So to be on the lookout for lookout right now for AI technology, it's very important to be on the lookout. Look, I'm sorry, look out right now, for technology, as it relates to human condition is important right now to the extension of our human bodies, the health of our bodies, I think is starting to accelerate now at a faster pace than ever before. It's really a great time to be alive.

Jim Padilla: 00:26:33

It is a great time to be alive. And just I'm hoping you're hearing headset, all of the problems around you that you might be concerned about. The challenges that you're being concerned with are nothing but opportunity, staring you in the face, waiting for you to leap in. And I know Mitch is a modest guy. And, you know, I've shared some of, you know, his his accolades in the introduction. He's done so many things as, as all the people that I've been bringing to and interviewing you. And you have, you've done stuff that you haven't even given yourself credit for. And you need to make sure that you're seeing the legacy that you have left behind you. And how do you leverage that as you're moving forward to solve new opportunities, and bring your solutions to the marketplace who desperately needs you? They're looking for solutions. They're looking for leaders, and you can be one. Mitch, how do people connect with you? What do you have going on on that people can take advantage of? Sure. Do

Mitch Russo: 00:27:26

you mind if I offer one more suggestion before we do, please do. So if everyone listening to this were to go to Google and just Google Hero's Journey story format. And you'll notice there's 12 steps, it's a formula that has been used to write every major motion picture and hit novels, probably since the 1930s, including Gone With the Wind, I'd like for you to understand that formula. And I'd like you to write your own Hero's Journey story. And if you do this, you will be able to prove to the world your value and who you are. By looking at you from a completely different perspective. If you get that story out there, people will come to know you like you and trust you much faster than they would if you just pitch them your your stuff. So tell them about you use that amazing formula to tell your story in this world. You can even create content, you can even release it on social media one piece at a time, maybe 1/12 of it each step at a time, and really involve people in your story, then they will want to know more about you and maybe even want to work with you as well. So thank you for letting me share that tip.

Jim Padilla: 00:28:39

Yeah, definitely useful. In some so Yeah, what else you what else you got? How was compete? What are you doing, that people can engage you with?

Mitch Russo: 00:28:47

Well, right now if, if you're a coach, I have some coaching software that you can have that you'll love. It's called Client folio. And if you go to get client folio.com, you'll be able to try it out for $1 and see if you like it. I designed it. I built it from my own practice because I believe that nothing simple, easy to use, inexpensive and powerful was out there. So I had a creative entrepreneurs mission is to find problems that exist and solve them. That's what I did. And I hope you love it. Awesome.

Jim Padilla: 00:29:24

So definitely take advantage that the links will be in the show notes so you guys can get there. Also, make sure you sync up and connect with Mr. Mitch Russo on his social media platforms, whichever one works best for you. You can also get them at Mitch Russo, three sixty.com All of that stuff will be in the show notes. But I want to encourage you to engage him. He's somebody who's very, very knowledgeable. Again, just this His presence is very subtle and informed. You know, he doesn't come off as this titan of industry or anything until he starts talking. And when he's around you he's just somebody you want to be around you want to learn from even if you're just following him and picking up on the crumbs that he's leaving. Oh yeah, I highly recommend that you do that. Take advantage of it and check out his his new software because pretty much the things that Mitch is a part of, and to do well, so make sure you're taking advantage of that. And as always, we appreciate your time and attention and trusting us to be part of your success team because we know that you could have been anywhere else on the planet besides here, but you chose to be here. And if you're still here, thank you. Let us know what you're thinking. Make sure you rate review and subscribe and and share this with anybody who is that you see it being beneficial. And then let us know what you think. And then when you connect with Mitch, tell me what's going on. Make sure you tell me we sent you. And then let us know how things are going. We want to make sure that we're bringing you stuff that you're implementing, acting on and taking advantage of. Mitch, always a pleasure, man. I look forward to talking to you more and sharing more of you with the opportunity makers audience. Thank you, Jim.