Episode 194

From 300 Pounds to $419 Million: How Mike Fata Built Success Through Health and Community

In this inspiring episode of The Business Development Podcast, host Kelly Kennedy sits down with Mike Fata, a visionary entrepreneur and bestselling author, to explore his incredible journey from personal health struggles to building a $419 million business. Mike shares how losing over 100 pounds sparked his passion for health and wellness, ultimately leading him to co-found Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods in 1998. Over the next two decades, he scaled the company into a market leader before its strategic sale to Tilray in 2019. Through resilience and a commitment to growth, Mike transitioned from CEO to investor, mentor, and author, using his experiences to guide and inspire other entrepreneurs. His book, Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur, encapsulates his unique approach to health, business, and community.

The conversation delves into the power of living your "best day every day," a philosophy Mike developed through his own transformation and challenges. He offers actionable advice on maintaining health, achieving work-life rhythm, and building sustainable success. Mike also shares candid insights into navigating grief and major life transitions, reminding listeners of the importance of resilience and self-care in entrepreneurship. Whether you're looking for inspiration, practical advice, or a fresh perspective on business and life, this episode will leave you motivated to take bold steps toward your goals while embracing personal growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. True success begins with personal health and well-being—invest in yourself first to unlock your full potential.

2. Building resilience through small, consistent wins can transform your mindset and empower long-term success.

3. Life’s toughest challenges, like grief and adversity, can lead to profound personal growth when processed and embraced.

4. Entrepreneurship requires passion and purpose; align your work with something you truly believe in to sustain motivation.

5. Living your "best day every day" means balancing health, meaningful work, and a strong sense of community.

6. Visualization is a powerful tool—mentally rehearsing your goals and actions prepares you for success.

7. Sustainable success requires discipline, consistency, and a willingness to learn and adapt along the way.

8. Authenticity is your greatest strength—embrace who you are and let it shine through in both business and life.

9. Personal branding is essential in today’s world; people want to connect with the individual behind the business.

10. Surround yourself with supportive people, whether it’s mentors, a strong team, or a close-knit community, to navigate challenges and thrive.


Links referenced in this episode:

Order Mike Fata's book Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur


Companies mentioned in this episode:

  • Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods
  • Tilray
  • Nuts for Cheese
  • Midday Squares
  • Capital Business Development


Let’s Build Your Success Together

Are you ready to grow your business and reach your full potential? With nearly two decades of experience, I’ve walked alongside countless entrepreneurs and professionals, helping them overcome challenges and achieve the success they’ve dreamed of. My coaching is more than just strategies—it’s about understanding your unique goals and working together to create a plan that truly works for you.

If you’ve been searching for guidance, encouragement, and practical tools to take your business to the next level, this is your moment. Let’s partner to build something amazing. Start your journey with me today at Capital Business Development Coaching. I can’t wait to help you succeed!

Transcript
Kelly Kennedy:

Welcome to episode 194 of the Business Development Podcast.

Kelly Kennedy:

And on today's expert guest interview, it is my pleasure to welcome Mike Fatah.

Kelly Kennedy:

Best selling author.

Kelly Kennedy:

Sold his business for nine figures and now he helps entrepreneurs everywhere.

Kelly Kennedy:

Not to mention he wants to talk to us about how to live our best day every day.

Kelly Kennedy:

Stick with us.

Kelly Kennedy:

You are not going to want to miss this episode.

Narrator:

The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.

Narrator:

Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

Narrator:

And we couldn't agree more.

Narrator:

This is the Business Development Podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcasting to the world.

Narrator:

You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps.

Narrator:

You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by Capital Business Development capitalbd ca.

Narrator:

Let's do it.

Narrator:

Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.

Narrator:

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy:

Hello.

Kelly Kennedy:

Welcome to episode 194 of the Business Development Podcast and today we have an absolutely exceptional individual to bring for you.

Kelly Kennedy:

Today we're chatting with with Mike Fattah.

Kelly Kennedy:

anitoba Harvest Hemp Foods in:

Kelly Kennedy:

th personal transformation in:

Kelly Kennedy:

Over the past 25 years, Mike has become a bestselling author, keynote speaker and a media fixture, sharing his expertise on natural health, nutrition and sustainable business practices.

Kelly Kennedy:

His leadership and innovation have earned him numerous accolades including Young Entrepreneur of the Year and EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Kelly Kennedy:

Currently, Mike is the CEO of Fata & Associates, Chairman of the Board for Nuts for Cheese and Global Growth Advisor for Midday Squares.

Kelly Kennedy:

He continues to inspire and mentor entrepreneurs through his top ranking podcast Founder to Mentor and his free mentorship program fatalisman.org Mike's latest venture, his bestselling book, 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur encapsulates his ethos of passion, integrity and community.

Kelly Kennedy:

From his humble beginnings to multiple nine figure business exits, Mike Fattah's story is a testament to the power of resilience and innovation in creating lasting impact.

Kelly Kennedy:

Get ready to be inspired by a true pioneer in the world of natural health and entrepreneurship.

Kelly Kennedy:

Mike, it's an absolute honor to have you on the show today.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, thanks Very much.

Mike Fatah:

Thanks for having me, Kelly.

Mike Fatah:

And thanks for the intro.

Kelly Kennedy:

First off, I finished your book Grow, and we talked about this really briefly before the show, but, man, I.

Kelly Kennedy:

You really are, you know, you really are something special.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it was very humanizing.

Kelly Kennedy:

I was really surprised because the book isn't so much just about your journey and what you've done, but about the change in impact that you want to leave in the world.

Kelly Kennedy:

And that was really what I took away from it.

Kelly Kennedy:

It wasn't so much of, look what I did.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's, look what we could do as a community.

Mike Fatah:

I love that.

Mike Fatah:

Look what we could do.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

That's for sure.

Mike Fatah:

My legacy is not what I've done.

Mike Fatah:

It's what I'm inspiring other people to do.

Mike Fatah:

My family, my friends, my community, and then a broader audience.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And obviously, you've accomplished so much.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

Your name precedes you, obviously.

Kelly Kennedy:

Anybody coming to the show probably already has a pretty good idea of who FATA is.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, as a Canadian, you've accomplished more than most.

Kelly Kennedy:

And first off, just let me congratulate you on your success.

Kelly Kennedy:

I know it didn't come easy.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's come with a lot of pain and a lot of sacrifice along the way.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I just want to say, you know, congratulations on your exits, multiple exits.

Mike Fatah:

I appreciate that.

Mike Fatah:

And you know what?

Mike Fatah:

I feel like I'm just getting started, Kelly.

Mike Fatah:

So that's.

Mike Fatah:

That's the.

Mike Fatah:

That's the interesting thing about life and entrepreneurship.

Mike Fatah:

You know, it.

Mike Fatah:

I don't rest on.

Mike Fatah:

On what I've done.

Mike Fatah:

I'm always, you know, what's my next.

Mike Fatah:

What's my next stage of growth?

Mike Fatah:

What's next for me?

Mike Fatah:

And just the mindset I've had.

Mike Fatah:

And I think that is a winning mindset, and I share that with other people, but that's authentically how I see it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Well, yeah, and that's what I gathered as well, is that, like, at this point, you are so dedicated to continuing to help the entrepreneurial community.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I can say from my standpoint, that's what I aim to do as well.

Kelly Kennedy:

So I definitely align with you on that goal.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it sounds like not only can you, but you now have the means to do so however you like.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I think that's a really cool place to be, and I'm really excited to chat with you about that as we go on.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, you know, for the listeners that have come here, maybe they haven't got to the book yet.

Kelly Kennedy:

Who is Mike Fatah?

Kelly Kennedy:

How did you end up on this journey?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, you know, I'M a Canadian based in, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I've been an entrepreneur for over 25 years.

Mike Fatah:

I found my passion for health after losing 100 pounds and diving deep into the world of making myself better.

Mike Fatah:

And that led me to get into, have interest in, and get into the hemp food business, commercializing hemp hearts and some of the first hemp food products in Canada.

Mike Fatah:

And I was just super passionate about, okay, I built my best me that I could be.

Mike Fatah:

Now can I build the best business that I can build?

Mike Fatah:

And, and that's what kind of got me kicked off.

Mike Fatah:

And I've been doing that for 25 years now.

Mike Fatah:

We were successful in growing mansible harvest to $100 million revenue business and then selling it five years ago now.

Mike Fatah:

And over the last five years, I've reinvented myself as an investor, an advisor, a mentor, you know, author, speaker, all really focused on growth and personal and professional growth.

Mike Fatah:

It's.

Mike Fatah:

I can't turn that stuff off.

Mike Fatah:

You know, that's just who I am, man.

Kelly Kennedy:

There's a lot of people, Mike, that would say, like, dude, you sold your business.

Kelly Kennedy:

You walked away with probably a good chunk of change, a lot more than many people do, and yet you still jumped right back into business.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like I always say, entrepreneurship is just a part of who we are.

Kelly Kennedy:

You can't escape it.

Kelly Kennedy:

And so many successful people, people look at them and say, like, dude, you just walked away with, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars, could do anything he wanted, and yet finds himself right back in the business world.

Kelly Kennedy:

Can we talk about that?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I'm a recovering entrepreneur, so I'm not operating a business.

Mike Fatah:

I mean, I operate my, my family holds co an investment company.

Mike Fatah:

But any of the portfolio companies that I'm invested in, I advise the founders.

Mike Fatah:

Sometimes I'm involved on the board as a chairman or a director, helping them with governance and just good business practices.

Mike Fatah:

But I say recovering entrepreneur because I'm not prepared to eat the shit sandwiches every day of actually operating a business again.

Mike Fatah:

And so I use my.

Mike Fatah:

But, you know, I've realized early on that, that I can't do nothing.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I need to be personally and professionally growing, and I want that for everybody else.

Mike Fatah:

And so, you know, nowadays I just feel like I'm time wealthy and the way that I like to spend my time is, is helping other people be their best self and build the best thing that they can build.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And you know, like, health has been something that I have struggled with and many Canadians struggle with.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you know, I was listening to your story and you kind of took both swings.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, you had an eating disorder which led to a lot of weight gain, and then went the complete opposite way and ended up with another eating disorder that led to anorexia.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I was just like, oh, dude, like, I've been there.

Kelly Kennedy:

I get it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I've struggled with my weight since I was 13 years old, man, and I still struggle with my weight to this day.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it is just one of those things that, like, internally, oh, I resonated with that, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

It really looks like now you've got it all together.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, can we talk about that journey a little bit?

Mike Fatah:

Sure, yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I was uneducated about health when I was young and I grew up with a poor single mom.

Mike Fatah:

And so cheap food and fast food was just part of the, part of the program.

Mike Fatah:

It was like the basis of it.

Mike Fatah:

And so I was just never educated about health when I, when I had enough at 18 years old, after weighing 300 pounds and being sick and tired, like all the time, and I was literally sick and tired of being sick and tired, I, I jumped on to the health journey and, you know, I, I didn't know anything about health, and so I had to learn everything.

Mike Fatah:

And.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, so I went through a number of what I would call fad diets.

Mike Fatah:

t was very popular in the mid-:

Mike Fatah:

And so I read the, the book Dr.

Mike Fatah:

Nathan Pritikin and understood, okay, you don't eat fat and then you'll lose your fat.

Mike Fatah:

And, and so I started eating a no fat diet and working out and exercising too.

Mike Fatah:

But then I just, I learned the exercise and the different things that I was doing was great, but the diet that I had chosen that I thought was, was, was the best thing was, was actually not sustainable.

Mike Fatah:

I don't think for anyone, I don't think anyone should be eating a no fat diet.

Mike Fatah:

Essential fatty acids, which weren't that popular then, you know, are now.

Mike Fatah:

People understand omega 3s and good healthy fats.

Mike Fatah:

But that kind of led me down the next stage of my journey and exploring more, you know, more diet protocols and other wellness protocols.

Mike Fatah:

And 25 years later, people see now what it's been for like two decades of stacking that on top of each other.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I do live a really healthy lifestyle.

Mike Fatah:

I'm well educated on health, both from nutrition and diet, but also exercise and healing modalities, natural healing modalities.

Mike Fatah:

And I practice all of that on a regular basis.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And, you know, obviously at this point in your life, you can really just focus on, how can I be the healthiest version of myself possible?

Kelly Kennedy:

And I want to chat a little bit about that because, you know, in a lot of cases, I think people get there when they suffer some type of illness or ailment.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

I guess on a certain level, you kind of did when you were £300, right?

Mike Fatah:

I kind of did.

Mike Fatah:

I did.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I.

Mike Fatah:

And I give people different perspective.

Mike Fatah:

But you're right, there's usually a catalyst that gets someone jumped off on their journey.

Mike Fatah:

Like my little sister, she got cancer when she was 21 years old and thyroid cancer, and then went a full natural lifestyle, natural diet, and thankfully, after some surgeries and stuff, she kicked the cancer, but then became super passionate and went back to school and became a naturopathic doctor.

Mike Fatah:

But that was her aha moment.

Mike Fatah:

My aha moment was, you know, literally when I was £300, I just.

Mike Fatah:

I didn't feel well every single day, you know, and.

Mike Fatah:

And I just had enough.

Mike Fatah:

There was a.

Mike Fatah:

There was a straw that broke the camel's back.

Mike Fatah:

So thankfully, no major illness or disease.

Mike Fatah:

But, like, that.

Mike Fatah:

That situation that my.

Mike Fatah:

That my body was in and where my kind of mind and emotions and even spirit were at was.

Mike Fatah:

Was rock bottom, you know?

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

No, but I look at you now and I just think, like, first off, like, you know, no one can see you, it's a podcast.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, like, you're incredibly fit.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you know, I mean, no one would ever look at Mike and say, Mike was £300.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you completely changed it around.

Kelly Kennedy:

Obviously went through a lot of adversity, like losing 100 pounds, losing 200 pounds, whatever, is a lot of weight to lose.

Kelly Kennedy:

It is not an easy task for anybody.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, can we talk about that journey?

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I imagine the mental resilience that you built from that experience was really the catalyst for starting harvest hemp.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I think a lot of discipline, obviously, but it gets.

Mike Fatah:

It gets easier when you feel shitty and then you start doing things on a daily basis that make you feel better than you want to feel better.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

And I just went down that rabbit hole.

Mike Fatah:

So, yeah, there was a lot of discipline, especially around diet and understanding what I was putting in my mouth, because, let's face it, that's 80% of it for most people.

Mike Fatah:

The human body is an amazing machine.

Mike Fatah:

It can heal itself.

Mike Fatah:

And you can go from obese and illness and disease to athletic.

Mike Fatah:

You just can.

Mike Fatah:

It takes time.

Mike Fatah:

And so, you know, it.

Mike Fatah:

It takes time and discipline.

Mike Fatah:

A lot of People suffer because it's not, there's not all this information that's just that everyone has.

Mike Fatah:

So you have to learn and then practice and experiment on yourself and see what really works for you, for, for a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable, that you're going to do it actually every day.

Kelly Kennedy:

And yo, man, and that, that's obviously like the part that we all struggle with, right?

Kelly Kennedy:

All of us have been on fat diets, all of us have taken that jump.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, I look back to being a young man.

Kelly Kennedy:

I smoked too.

Kelly Kennedy:

You talked about it in the book.

Kelly Kennedy:

I smoked until I was 25.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I remember, just like you, I hit a wall where I was like, I can't do this anymore.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like I can no longer smoke.

Kelly Kennedy:

This is not what I want to do.

Kelly Kennedy:

And dude, like you, like you said you tried to quit like 18 times.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm sure I'm right there with you.

Kelly Kennedy:

I swear to God, dude, it took me like at least 15 to 18 times or more to like quit smoking.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like it was so hard.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I remember the resilience I felt when I knew that I had finally kicked the habit, that it was really a part of my past, that I wasn't going back to that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And dude, I think I owe the person and like the strength I have today and the bravery I have today in a lot of ways to 25 year old Kelly, who kicked smoking, which seems really ridiculous.

Kelly Kennedy:

But it is those, those seemingly minuscule obstacles that give us so much strength.

Mike Fatah:

While quitting smoking tobacco isn't, isn't, isn't a small obstacle.

Mike Fatah:

I mean, people have likened it to harder than quitting like heroin or hard drugs just because of the habitual and chemical addiction to it.

Mike Fatah:

But I think you're right in.

Mike Fatah:

And I talk to people all the time, like if you can, if you could stack up little wins, like if you're in a place that you don't want to be in your life, you're overweight or you're not, your mood's not good, or you're feeling depressed, or you're not in the job that you want, or you don't have the family and the community that you want, the friends group, like any of that, right?

Mike Fatah:

You can take steps to make that.

Mike Fatah:

So you have to have a clear vision of what you want and then, and then take baby steps.

Mike Fatah:

Because when you do start getting these little wins, it brings more confidence.

Mike Fatah:

And then when you have confidence, you can get more little wins and keep stacking those up until you get to a place which I call living your Best day ever, right?

Mike Fatah:

Being in full control of your health, your wellbeing, the work that you're doing, and, you know, doing exceptional work at something that you love, and then having a very strong, robust community, you know, both internal, like with your family and friend group, and then, and then external as well.

Mike Fatah:

And it's all very, very possible.

Mike Fatah:

It's just, you know, you got to get clear that you want that and, and then start working at it, start chipping away at it.

Kelly Kennedy:

I loved your, I loved your concept of best day ever.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm not sure that I've had it yet.

Kelly Kennedy:

I don't think so.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've definitely struggled with balance, Mike.

Kelly Kennedy:

I have.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, like, especially since I became an entrepreneur, I feel like I have, I've gotten out of balance with my own health.

Kelly Kennedy:

There's no question there.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've talked about it on the show plenty of times.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I've struggled with going to the gym and doing my daily workouts and looking after myself and still feeling like I've gotten everything work wise that I wanted to get done in my day.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

And yet.

Kelly Kennedy:

I know, I know.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I've talked to so many people like you who's like, Kelly, get it together.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you gotta figure out how to balance this stuff.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I know I'm not alone, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

I know I'm not.

Mike Fatah:

I don't love the word balance.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I actually just declared a war on the word balance.

Mike Fatah:

Just be.

Mike Fatah:

And balance means something different, everybody.

Mike Fatah:

And I get what you're saying, but I, you know, life's not always balanced, right?

Mike Fatah:

Like, you know, look at, look at it out in the animal kingdom.

Mike Fatah:

And, and when a, when a tiger is like hunting prey and they're just running and running and running and running for the full day or multiple days to catch their prey and then, and that's their work, you know, and then, and then they go into like relax mode, hibernation almost, and just sleep for like, you know, two thirds, three quarters of the day.

Mike Fatah:

Is that balance, you know, or is that just understanding the rhythm of life?

Mike Fatah:

Because as entrepreneurs, like, you have to understand the rhythm and the rhythm needs to be sustainable.

Mike Fatah:

That's why if you're your best self and you take the hour in the morning to do a wellness routine, practice and do some workout, get the, get the body right, you know, or take, take a half an hour in the day to, to shop for good groceries and, and make, you know, get, get a diet going of like whole foods, you know, like healthy whole foods that will make you 10 times more effective in your work.

Mike Fatah:

You know, that'll make you enjoying yourself more and then you could wake up and do that day after day after day.

Mike Fatah:

So I think about that as like, what's the rhythm that you need to take to.

Mike Fatah:

Because I worked multiple, multiple, like years of a hundred hour work weeks, you know, and I wouldn't say that was balanced, but, but I kept.

Mike Fatah:

It was sustainable for me because I had the right rhythm.

Kelly Kennedy:

Sure, sure.

Kelly Kennedy:

What were you like, man?

Kelly Kennedy:

100 hour.

Kelly Kennedy:

Wow, I feel you.

Kelly Kennedy:

That's crazy.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, talk to me a little bit about that.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, obviously, as entrepreneurs in our own organizations, we're very driven to make them successful and we do tend to put in what it takes, and sometimes that's straight to burnout.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you know, I've talked to plenty of entrepreneurs on the show who have worked themselves straight to burnout, ended up hospitalized.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, we do that to ourselves.

Kelly Kennedy:

And, you know, how were you able to, how were you able to do that and still, you know, keep to it?

Kelly Kennedy:

And I know you talked in the book that originally, like, when you eventually left Manitoba Harvest Hemp, you were ready to leave.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, that was.

Kelly Kennedy:

You'd put in the time, you were ready to make that leap.

Kelly Kennedy:

And obviously it took a lot of time.

Kelly Kennedy:

You guys were very successful.

Kelly Kennedy:

It made a lot of sense financially.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, you know, for the young entrepreneurs, the ones who are, maybe they're in their first, second, third, fourth, fifth year and you know, they're, they love what they do, but they're, they're tired, they're struggling, you know.

Kelly Kennedy:

Can we talk a little bit about that, Mike?

Kelly Kennedy:

Fab.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I started Vento Harvest when I was 21.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

And I believe now, and I'm 48 now, and so I believe that in your 20s and even into your 30s is the time that you could take big risks in life and you can push the needle.

Mike Fatah:

You just can.

Mike Fatah:

It gets harder, I think, the older that you get.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

But when you're in your 20s, you could for sure dive into that.

Mike Fatah:

But I go back to health, health, health.

Mike Fatah:

The reason that I could work 100 hour work weeks was because not I was personally taking care of my health.

Mike Fatah:

Even though 100 hour work weeks is very, very stressful.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

That, that part's not one, one wouldn't say that's not taking care of your health, but I'd say, well, look at like professional athletes, you know, someone that is at a national level or even an international level that, you know, the athletes that are going to the Olympics, they're Working their butt off.

Mike Fatah:

You know, they're working their body, their mind, their emotions.

Mike Fatah:

Like they're, they're just going full tilt.

Mike Fatah:

The reason that, that that sustainable is because they eat really clean, they sleep, they hydrate, they have some de stressing exercise, like a meditations, maybe some breath work, right.

Mike Fatah:

Like they do therapies, physical therapy, massage and stuff, Emotional processing therapy.

Mike Fatah:

They have a coach that they talk to like.

Mike Fatah:

And entrepreneurship is very much like being an athlete.

Mike Fatah:

You need to perform your best, learn the new trick of the day, of the week, of the month, perform it excellent and get better at it all the time.

Mike Fatah:

And so the things that you can control about being your best self are really the foundation for setting you up to build your best business.

Mike Fatah:

And even if it does feel kind of stressed and you're doing the work, like it should be sustainable.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it sounds too like, you know, what I got from the book was that it came across very authentic.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you know, with the vibe I got from the book was that Mike is incredibly authentic.

Kelly Kennedy:

He's not afraid to speak his mind.

Kelly Kennedy:

He's not afraid to talk about his challenge.

Kelly Kennedy:

Was that always you or is this, is this a new development as time went on?

Mike Fatah:

I don't think it was always me.

Mike Fatah:

When I was young, I was, I was scared, right, because I.

Mike Fatah:

I wanted people to like me.

Mike Fatah:

And I was, I didn't want to tell people like that I grew up with a broken family and just grew up with my mom or that we were poor, you know.

Mike Fatah:

And then after I chose to drop out of high school.

Mike Fatah:

School, I wasn't so proud to tell people that I dropped out of high school because people said, oh, you're going to be a loser.

Mike Fatah:

They had all this judgment, right?

Mike Fatah:

What I found though, and it was, it was about the time that I started really going to therapy on a.

Mike Fatah:

On a regular basis, which has been like 20 years.

Mike Fatah:

I remember the therapist asking me a question like, what was my biggest fear?

Mike Fatah:

You know, And I, and I responded after kind of like, you know, just having a body moment of my biggest fear is regressing to the person that I was before, you know, like out of, overweight, out of shape, not in control of my emotions and stuff.

Mike Fatah:

And.

Mike Fatah:

And she said, you know, how does that feel?

Mike Fatah:

How does that feel to hear those words come out of your mouth?

Mike Fatah:

And I said, I mean, it sounds ridiculous.

Mike Fatah:

And she's like, exactly.

Mike Fatah:

That's kind of what I thought, you know, but it was speaking those words that were the moment of my worst fear coming to life.

Mike Fatah:

And it's not so bad.

Mike Fatah:

And so then I realized that, and this got intensified as I got into social media here over the last number of years is when I share a piece of myself, like my concern, my fear, something that I.

Mike Fatah:

That was a challeng for me that I got past.

Mike Fatah:

Like, it makes me stronger.

Mike Fatah:

It brings more confidence to me.

Mike Fatah:

I don't.

Mike Fatah:

I don't.

Mike Fatah:

I don't worry about what people are thinking about me, you know, and so I encourage people like, don't.

Mike Fatah:

Don't hide in the shadows of your darkness.

Mike Fatah:

Stand in your light.

Mike Fatah:

You know, even if it's.

Mike Fatah:

Even if it's like, sweeping out the dark stuff from your past or some of the things that you feel are holding you back, like, bring that into the light.

Mike Fatah:

Because we feel best when we're standing in our light, not hiding in the shadows of our darkness.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, no, for sure.

Kelly Kennedy:

For sure.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I've struggled with that, honestly, like, it.

Kelly Kennedy:

People.

Kelly Kennedy:

People hear this show now and they're like, oh, Kelly, you know, you're out there.

Kelly Kennedy:

You're out there in the world's.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you have no idea how challenging it was for me to come out here and start to have these conversations and put myself on the line.

Kelly Kennedy:

I.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm very introverted, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I.

Kelly Kennedy:

I grew up, you know, same.

Kelly Kennedy:

Playing video games, building models.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I was that nerdy kid who liked to work alone and do my own things and kind of live in my own world.

Kelly Kennedy:

And.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I became a lot more extroverted, more so out of necessity when I kind of ended up in the sales world and ended up in business development.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, like, deep down, I'm still very introverted, and there's still parts of me that has a lot of fear with regards to being out there in the world.

Kelly Kennedy:

But what I kind of recognized was that I had to challenge myself.

Kelly Kennedy:

I had to get out there because that's what I needed to do.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it's gotten easier and easier and easier.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, like, I'm one of those people hand up where it's like, I.

Kelly Kennedy:

I still feel nervous sometimes.

Kelly Kennedy:

I still get anxiety.

Mike Fatah:

That's natural.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I think here's.

Mike Fatah:

Here's my learning on that, because I do as well, right?

Mike Fatah:

Like, feelings are just an emotional response.

Mike Fatah:

So it's.

Mike Fatah:

It's.

Mike Fatah:

It's very possible for us to feel things, but then, you know, we're not our feelings, right?

Mike Fatah:

And.

Mike Fatah:

And we're not even our.

Mike Fatah:

Our brain or our body, right?

Mike Fatah:

We're.

Mike Fatah:

We're.

Mike Fatah:

We're.

Mike Fatah:

We're the being.

Mike Fatah:

And so what does that being have the ability to do?

Mike Fatah:

It has the ability to witness those feelings and even those thoughts.

Mike Fatah:

And if you create that separation and a little bit of gap, then, yeah, hey, I go on stage and I'm talking to 500 people.

Mike Fatah:

The butterflies in my stomach, so to speak, or the nervousness before used to paralyze me when I was just first starting out.

Mike Fatah:

Now I've been able to.

Mike Fatah:

I have kind of a pre.

Mike Fatah:

Routine for anything new and stressful that I'm doing.

Mike Fatah:

A couple breaths and just get myself in the right mind space.

Mike Fatah:

And then I can feel the.

Mike Fatah:

I could feel the pressure still, but I witnessed that pressure.

Mike Fatah:

And so I have a separation from it.

Mike Fatah:

So it doesn't.

Mike Fatah:

It doesn't, you know, it doesn't throw me off my game.

Mike Fatah:

And again, I like.

Mike Fatah:

I love analogies that, you know, bringing other parts so that people can.

Mike Fatah:

Can think about it.

Mike Fatah:

Like sports.

Mike Fatah:

When you hear that professional golfers, okay, when they're taking a very serious putt to get the.

Mike Fatah:

To.

Mike Fatah:

To.

Mike Fatah:

To win a championship or to win a round or even to win a certain hole, their heart rate can be up at like 140 or 150 beats a minute, which is like, you know, they're running a marathon kind of pace, you know, And.

Mike Fatah:

And because your body has that ability to kick up into high gear, really for the benefit so that you're on your point, you're on your game, you're sharp, you're focused.

Mike Fatah:

And so it's best to, like, let those feelings happen, but just practice being a witness to it.

Mike Fatah:

And when I say practice, I'm getting at the, like, key thing there.

Mike Fatah:

It's all about repetitions and repetitions and repetitions.

Mike Fatah:

You know, put yourself out in those situations where you're going to get more chances to try whatever you're intimidated by, man.

Kelly Kennedy:

Okay, I want to spend some time on this with you because you have a lot of public speaking experience.

Kelly Kennedy:

You've been in front of big crowds, you know, big company full of people.

Kelly Kennedy:

Oh, man, so many people, like you said, get debilitatingly anxious about that scenario.

Kelly Kennedy:

I look at myself and like, I'm almost a little bit embarrassed to admit it, Mike, but, like, as a kid, sometimes I'd be going to job interviews and same thing, I'd be like, pouring sweat.

Kelly Kennedy:

I like nervous as could be, like, to the point of like, almost not being able to talk.

Kelly Kennedy:

Talk to me a little bit about, like, how do you overcome that?

Kelly Kennedy:

Because it's a physiological response.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like some people, I would say in those moments I didn't have control, or at least I felt like I had no control over how I was feeling.

Kelly Kennedy:

How have you been able to overcome that?

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, I talk to public speakers a lot, and that's one of the questions I always want to know.

Kelly Kennedy:

Because when it feels out of control, how do you take control back?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, Well, I think that it's.

Mike Fatah:

It's in preparation, right?

Mike Fatah:

Is the, is the key thing.

Mike Fatah:

And the best thing we could do to prepare for my experience is visualize what we want the outcome to be.

Mike Fatah:

So visualization exercises, I've learned a lot about them over the years.

Mike Fatah:

I practice it on the, on a regular basis.

Mike Fatah:

I practice my days.

Mike Fatah:

You know, what I'm visualizing, my days, what I want them to be.

Mike Fatah:

But for sure, if I'm in a new circumstance, I want to spend some time visualizing what I want the outcome to be.

Mike Fatah:

If I'm talking to someone, a mentor, a friend that's done whatever I'm trying to do before, I will even ask them what good looks like, what would they want out of it so that I can even visualize that even clear.

Mike Fatah:

Because I believe if, you know, we can't do.

Mike Fatah:

There's no dress rehearsals in life.

Mike Fatah:

But visualization is the closest thing to a dress rehearsal.

Mike Fatah:

And I put a post out on LinkedIn the other day about it because one of my favorite quotes, Sean White, snowboarder.

Mike Fatah:

was the first person to do a:

Mike Fatah:

Which is like three rotations on the board.

Mike Fatah:

And this is many years ago, but he said he visualized himself doing that trick successfully over a thousand times in his mind before he actually landed it the first time.

Mike Fatah:

And so you could do that, you know, like, before you walk into the meeting, be prepared with, like, what do you think you're going to say?

Mike Fatah:

What do you think they're going to say?

Mike Fatah:

What are you going to say back to them?

Mike Fatah:

And, like, have that storyboard play a little bit.

Mike Fatah:

If you're going to go into a public speaking event, doesn't matter if it's like five people or 500 people, like, visualize what it's going to feel like on stage and obviously what you're going to say.

Mike Fatah:

But, like, it becomes, those are, those are ways to do repetitions without actually stepping into the circumstance yet.

Kelly Kennedy:

Do you, do you rehearse every one of your speeches or do you go by talking points?

Mike Fatah:

A little bit of both.

Mike Fatah:

I mean, I've been, it's been 20 years of me talking corporately right.

Mike Fatah:

To.

Mike Fatah:

On promoting our business to our customers, to consumers, to government.

Mike Fatah:

And so, you know, a lot of it is a mix of storytelling and marketing.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

When it came to the business, you know, my own personal story, it's very obviously very familiar to me.

Mike Fatah:

So I think about the preparation for a speech is usually with the organizer.

Mike Fatah:

What are they trying to.

Mike Fatah:

What.

Mike Fatah:

What do they want?

Mike Fatah:

Like, I have a.

Mike Fatah:

We could talk about, you know, growing a business or, or pieces of the business.

Mike Fatah:

How do you build culture in your organization?

Mike Fatah:

You know, how.

Mike Fatah:

How do you.

Mike Fatah:

How do you bring on new customers or innovation of product?

Mike Fatah:

But a lot of times if I'm, if I'm talking about my journey from a high school dropout to $100 million CEO and now an investor, author, speaker, you know, it's just ingrained in me.

Mike Fatah:

So I prep only on kind of the chapters that I'm going to share, you know, and not so much like, what are the words?

Mike Fatah:

I think what I've seen from other people and I've experienced it myself.

Mike Fatah:

If you're going to give a talk is if you write the talk out and you try to go.

Mike Fatah:

The memorization approach usually fails, right?

Mike Fatah:

Because it's really hard to.

Mike Fatah:

It's really hard to memorize.

Mike Fatah:

Whereas if you're giving the same talk and you just give yourself like 10 bullet words, and the bullet word reminds you of what you're going to jump off and say for that portion of the talk works much, much better.

Kelly Kennedy:

Awesome.

Kelly Kennedy:

Okay.

Kelly Kennedy:

Awesome.

Kelly Kennedy:

I really appreciate that because I actually had an interview a while ago with Carmen LaBelle, so ex news anchor, who she now teaches public speaking.

Kelly Kennedy:

And she does recommend that you rehearse the whole speech.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I was like, carmen, I don't know if I can do that.

Mike Fatah:

Well, you can.

Mike Fatah:

No, don't get me wrong.

Mike Fatah:

Like rehearse the speech, but.

Mike Fatah:

But the speech doesn't have to be the same every time.

Mike Fatah:

Memorization, Memorized speeches are the worst, you know, because it sounds robotic and everyone listening to it goes.

Mike Fatah:

It doesn't feel like it's, you know, it's really real.

Mike Fatah:

But I'm not saying don't practice your speech.

Mike Fatah:

I actually like.

Mike Fatah:

I like practicing just to shoot video and watch myself on video.

Mike Fatah:

And it's more so for, you know.

Mike Fatah:

Yes, you'll understand.

Mike Fatah:

Did I bring the most emotion to that statement that I wanted to share?

Mike Fatah:

Did I have my hands in my pocket?

Mike Fatah:

How's my posture?

Mike Fatah:

You know, those kind of things that just watching, watching video and whatever you're doing, whether it's, whether it's public speaking, or you're playing a sport, or, you know, it's just very helpful to again, witness yourself in third person.

Kelly Kennedy:

Amazing.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm happy you took it to that, because I wanted to chat about that, because you're right, you have amazing videos.

Kelly Kennedy:

I really love your videos, by the way, and I do watch them all the time.

Kelly Kennedy:

And one of the things that I wanted to chat with you about is I get very nervous in front of camera.

Kelly Kennedy:

I have my whole life, I'm just like that.

Kelly Kennedy:

So I'm learning that.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm recognizing that for me, that's a weak point of Kelly, and that's a part where I need to work on my own.

Kelly Kennedy:

It has nothing to do with what I'm going to say.

Kelly Kennedy:

It has so much to do with me as a person feeling uncomfortable about that situation, and I've kind of stayed out of it.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, I've done a.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've done a show for, like, two years at this point, by the time the show comes out.

Kelly Kennedy:

And most of the shows have been audio more so because that's what I believe a podcast should be.

Kelly Kennedy:

But two, because I've been a little nervous behind the camera, and I'm starting to realize that I need to do more on that front.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've had amazing guests who are like, kelly, why don't you.

Kelly Kennedy:

Why don't you like YouTube or LinkedIn all the time putting out videos?

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm like, I just.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm uncomfortable with it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Can we talk about that?

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, what was it like for you?

Kelly Kennedy:

Was that the same experience for you and you had to work on that, or were you just immediately good to go?

Mike Fatah:

No, I'm not a natural at anything I do.

Mike Fatah:

If I'm a natural, I have a natural finance mind.

Mike Fatah:

I think.

Mike Fatah:

My mom was an accountant, and numbers come easy to me.

Mike Fatah:

So that part of business is more natural.

Mike Fatah:

Everything from a sales and marketing, putting myself out there is all practiced.

Mike Fatah:

It's just more and more repetitions.

Mike Fatah:

But I think, Listen, I think about it this way.

Mike Fatah:

Our brain's job is to keep us safe generally.

Mike Fatah:

So your brain's really smart and will do everything it possibly can to keep you safe.

Mike Fatah:

And if that means after you shoot the first video that you start running thoughts through your head.

Mike Fatah:

Oh, Kelly, you know, you didn't have enough energy there.

Mike Fatah:

Oh, I don't like the way you look.

Mike Fatah:

Like, all those thoughts, whatever they are, will cut, will play in our mind so that we don't do it again.

Mike Fatah:

Right?

Mike Fatah:

And then we're safe, you know, and.

Mike Fatah:

And so you have to overcome that.

Mike Fatah:

And again, go back to like, yeah, you could think it or feel it, but just, you're going to do another 10 reps anyway, you know?

Mike Fatah:

And because think about it this way.

Mike Fatah:

If you're out of shape, you're.

Mike Fatah:

You're a.

Mike Fatah:

You're either overweight or you're a small skinny guy or gal, and you walk into the gym and you want to start working out and get into better shape, well, after one day or two days or three days a week, two weeks, whatever, you're not going to have any results, right?

Mike Fatah:

But you're going to have a lot of opportunity for your brain to tell you, oh, I don't fit here, I don't belong.

Mike Fatah:

We should just not go there, you know?

Mike Fatah:

And so I bring that to every exercise I'm doing in life.

Mike Fatah:

And media is no different.

Mike Fatah:

Like, four years ago, I wasn't on social media, right?

Mike Fatah:

I wasn't telling my story.

Mike Fatah:

Like, up until like a year, a year and a half ago, I wasn't doing any video.

Mike Fatah:

Now I have multiple shows and sharing a bunch of pieces, and I feel like I've done so many repetitions so far of it that I don't have to really prep.

Mike Fatah:

I just.

Mike Fatah:

I can show up.

Mike Fatah:

And I know, okay, I'm ready to play now, you know?

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I get that because that's how I feel about podcasts now.

Kelly Kennedy:

And in the beginning, it wasn't like that.

Mike Fatah:

Dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

Episode three was just about the end of the show.

Mike Fatah:

When I first got my studio, all the pieces of my studio, I was so.

Mike Fatah:

I was so like, how do all these things work?

Mike Fatah:

You know, and.

Mike Fatah:

Because it's a lot to learn, lighting, camera, whatever, and.

Mike Fatah:

And those can all just be distractions, too.

Mike Fatah:

And so when I think about something and, you know, I launched 60 second pitch is my latest show where I'm.

Mike Fatah:

Where I'm profiling entrepreneurs.

Mike Fatah:

And I told myself when I did that, that I was going to do 100 of those episodes before I really, really said, hey, is this working or not working?

Mike Fatah:

Do I enjoy this?

Mike Fatah:

Because that would give me enough time.

Mike Fatah:

And that's like, probably two years worth, right?

Mike Fatah:

A year and a half or two years worth.

Mike Fatah:

And now we're like episode 20 or 20, 22.

Mike Fatah:

And I'm already like, okay.

Mike Fatah:

And we're advancing it and making changes and stuff, but I just know that that's the best way to.

Mike Fatah:

And I don't think it's just tricking myself that way.

Mike Fatah:

I think.

Mike Fatah:

I think that's a.

Mike Fatah:

That's a good place to put the carrot for a number of people if they're.

Mike Fatah:

If they're starting out on something new that think is totally foreign to them.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And, you know, there was something about COVID that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And, you know, obviously Covid changed a lot, but I think there was something that.

Kelly Kennedy:

That Covid changed with regards to how business is going to be done, how.

Kelly Kennedy:

How.

Kelly Kennedy:

How important personal branding is.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's like, I feel like there wasn't a big spotlight, and then Covid happened, and now it was like, you need to figure out how you are going to be you in the world.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's no longer just about the company that you have.

Kelly Kennedy:

People want to know, who are you?

Kelly Kennedy:

Who's the person behind the company?

Kelly Kennedy:

And so it was:

Kelly Kennedy:

And I love podcasts.

Kelly Kennedy:

I listen to them all the time.

Kelly Kennedy:

So for me, it was like, okay, I'm going to try that.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm going to see how that goes.

Kelly Kennedy:

I could have picked YouTube.

Kelly Kennedy:

It was on the list of things that I was thinking about.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I loved podcasts, and so that's why I started this.

Kelly Kennedy:

And thank God, because I apparently have a voice for it.

Kelly Kennedy:

But, yeah, it's one of those.

Mike Fatah:

So, I mean, I felt again, I wasn't into social media and my personal brand because when I was working and when I was.

Mike Fatah:

When I wasn't working, I wanted to be home with my family.

Mike Fatah:

And I just.

Mike Fatah:

It.

Mike Fatah:

That changed for me after.

Mike Fatah:

And the pandemic was a driver for that.

Mike Fatah:

Like, when our trade shows got canceled that spring, I was, how am I going to see all my friends and check out new products and stuff?

Mike Fatah:

And so I took to LinkedIn.

Mike Fatah:

But I think you're right.

Mike Fatah:

I think what the Pandemic did, and especially the times of lockdown were give you a view into everybody's home, so to speak.

Mike Fatah:

And that's where you know, the people's interest in the, you know, of other authentic people.

Mike Fatah:

Like, Sally likes cats.

Mike Fatah:

She has cats.

Mike Fatah:

You could see the cats in the background in her videos.

Mike Fatah:

Okay, well, that's cool.

Mike Fatah:

That's not a weird thing.

Mike Fatah:

Like, hey, 10, 20 years ago in business, people thought you had to wear a suit and tie and you had to look a certain way.

Mike Fatah:

And obviously there's still industries that do that.

Mike Fatah:

But more of the world is just changing to, it's not casual Friday.

Mike Fatah:

It's be yourself every day.

Mike Fatah:

You know, be appropriate, of course, for business, but like, be yourself every day.

Mike Fatah:

Because us being our authentic self is our superpower.

Mike Fatah:

That's what really what we bring to businesses and bring to opportunities.

Mike Fatah:

And, and I just felt that the more that I'm myself, like I declared to the world, like, I wear board shorts, you know, every day of my life.

Mike Fatah:

It doesn't matter.

Mike Fatah:

Summer, winter, hopefully more sometimes on the beach in the, in the winter.

Mike Fatah:

But like, you know, I just, it's.

Mike Fatah:

It's comfortable for me.

Mike Fatah:

And, and, and I've realized the more that I'm.

Mike Fatah:

And that's one little example.

Mike Fatah:

But the more that I'm myself, the world, the more that the world accepts me.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Because when we try to, to mask ourself or try to be somebody else, that's when we're not being authentic and people can just smell inauthenticity like a mile away.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Especially nowadays.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yes.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I look at, like, I look at being a kid and it was hide who you were.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know what I mean?

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, we.

Kelly Kennedy:

Me and you, like, you're 10 years older than me.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm 35.

Kelly Kennedy:

I guess you're 48.

Kelly Kennedy:

So we're like, we're right in there.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I was like a little kid when you launched your first company.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I feel like I spent so much of my life trying to be someone else, you know, and it's so weird because it's like, you're right.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's kind of like a light switch has flipped.

Kelly Kennedy:

And it's like I was always this tough kid who did what I needed to do, and I sucked up my feelings and I wasn't very authentic.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's a really weird thing to recognize now that it's like we have this free past to be who we were, but yet we've lived so much of our life hiding it.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

I think that's why, again, I think that's why therapy is good.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I.

Mike Fatah:

I've learned that the, the best.

Mike Fatah:

The best athletes and entrepreneurs and executives and artists in the world have.

Mike Fatah:

Have coaches.

Mike Fatah:

Right?

Mike Fatah:

Performance coaches.

Mike Fatah:

If people like the term performance coach over a therapist, then let's make it a.

Mike Fatah:

But let's make it about performance coaches.

Mike Fatah:

Right?

Mike Fatah:

But performance coaches or therapists can.

Mike Fatah:

Can bring us to a place of healing and growth that we're not going to get to ourselves.

Mike Fatah:

That's why a big fan of it.

Mike Fatah:

And the more that we heal ourself and we feel proud about ourselves, the easier it is to be our authentic self.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

And so the journey for many is really going to start with healing your emotional child and, and becoming really, really comfortable with who you are as an individual, and then shine that out to the world.

Mike Fatah:

Shine that light, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

I went to therapy for the first time during COVID I'd never been to therapy in my entire life.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I remember feeling man, I was nervous.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like I was like, I don't need therapy.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

Brain trying to protect you again.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

Well, everyone, everyone, I share a lot about it obviously because make a big impact in my life.

Mike Fatah:

But people saying that they don't need therapy are usually full of.

Mike Fatah:

That's like saying you don't need to go to the gym.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

And, and people realize that generally too late in life when they, when or, or later than they, then they, they would choose and when they're out of shape physically or they have a, a mental or emotional problem or, or even breakdown.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

But it is, it's, it's scary because there's nowhere to hide with a good therapist.

Mike Fatah:

You're going to be working through your own stuff, you know?

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah, no, I, I did end up enjoying the experience.

Kelly Kennedy:

So for those of you who are on the fence about therapy, just go.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's, it's not as bad as you think and it doesn't make you weak.

Kelly Kennedy:

If anything, it makes for sure when.

Mike Fatah:

Now we're living the time of knowing that.

Mike Fatah:

But yeah, or reframe it as.

Mike Fatah:

Reframe it as going to visit your performance coach and who doesn't want to perform better in all aspects of their life.

Kelly Kennedy:

Totally.

Kelly Kennedy:

I know there's a lot of people, Mike, that are listening to this show.

Kelly Kennedy:

They've searched you and they're like, this dude has done amazing things.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like he couldn't have suffered through that much adversity.

Kelly Kennedy:

And yet in the book there's an eight week period of your life.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I don't mean to like make.

Kelly Kennedy:

This has been such a great conversation.

Kelly Kennedy:

I don't want to take it to a downer, but I think that there's a, there's lessons to be learned here for a lot of people.

Kelly Kennedy:

You had an eight week portion of your life where you lost your mother, you were going through a divorce and you were, I believe you were selling your company or the deal had closed.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

Call it the triple grieving effect.

Mike Fatah:

You know, and a lot of entrepreneurs don't realize that.

Mike Fatah:

You know, when they sell a business, not only is it positive, like you have money in the bank, but there's a hardship, there's a grieving process because that portion of life is dead.

Mike Fatah:

You know, like literally after we sold the company the next day, I couldn't go and show up at the office anymore.

Mike Fatah:

And talk to my team of team members that I built over 20 years to relationships together.

Mike Fatah:

And it just so happened that yeah, within the two months my ex and I of 15 years decided it was time to separate and be co parents to our kids.

Mike Fatah:

And my mom passed away unexpectedly.

Mike Fatah:

And so I kind of hit the triple grieving where you know, I couldn't show up to, to the office because I wasn't welcome there anymore.

Mike Fatah:

I didn't have my kids every other week and so I couldn't be a dad.

Mike Fatah:

I couldn't even have my dad hat on at those times.

Mike Fatah:

And I could no longer go and talk to my mom.

Mike Fatah:

And I didn't feel like I got closure there because it, it was, it was sudden her passing and yeah, it was a really, really challenging time in life and I'm thankful that I had enough, I had done enough work on myself over the years, you know, workshops and therapy and health practices and all that, that I knew what I had to do.

Mike Fatah:

And what I ended up doing was going into monk mode, which for people aren't familiar with that, you can google it.

Mike Fatah:

Like monk mode is a real thing where you just intensely focus on your health and being your best self and you know, making sure you're sleeping good and you're eating good and you're hydrating and you're working out and all these things that I knew.

Mike Fatah:

But like really, really that was my focus for, for a number of months until I felt like I had processed all the grieving, you know, because for the days and then the weeks even, I was just an emotional mess.

Mike Fatah:

You know, every, every, every thought that I turned to had a dead end and it was no longer.

Mike Fatah:

And so yeah, now I, I tell people about the journey of building your, your best day ever.

Mike Fatah:

Like building your, your, your practices to become your best self and do your best work and build your best community.

Mike Fatah:

Because not only is that unlimited amount of upside, but it's also downside protection too, that when you do find yourselves in, in times of challenges or times of grief or what I would say you're, you know, you're in the valley chopping wood and carrying water instead of being on the peak.

Mike Fatah:

Like those practices and those habits that you formed are really, really important.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

Well, let me just say first off, I'm, I'm, I'm really sorry about the loss of your mother.

Kelly Kennedy:

I think any one of us can relate to how horrible and painful that is.

Kelly Kennedy:

Regardless of how you're doing in life, that is not an experience anybody wants to have happen and obviously the loss of your relationship, which would have also been devastating at that point.

Kelly Kennedy:

And yeah, dude, like, I just want to say, like, person to person, I am very sorry about that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I think that you've done amazing things and came out the other side and have a positive.

Kelly Kennedy:

Have took something that is incredibly painful and used it to inspire other people.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I just want to say that was a part of the book that when I read it, I, I felt for you.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I just wanted to say I do.

Kelly Kennedy:

I am sorry.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, no, I appreciate it.

Mike Fatah:

And really, you know what?

Mike Fatah:

I don't have any hard feelings over it.

Mike Fatah:

This is the thing about grief is if you take the time and it's different for everybody, so acknowledge that.

Mike Fatah:

But you put some process to grief and grieving.

Mike Fatah:

You can feel all those feelings, have all those thoughts, and your body can process it and then ultimately get to a place where you let yesterday die.

Mike Fatah:

But the opposite is, it can be scary where people like, are grieving, but they push it down and they bottle it up, you know, and they, and they don't process and they don't talk about it.

Mike Fatah:

And that can, that can be with you negatively for the rest of your life.

Mike Fatah:

So, you know, I took the time to actually go through and properly grieve and heal in that way.

Mike Fatah:

And so I don't have any negative attachment to it anymore.

Mike Fatah:

I just, I feel like I did the work that I was supposed to do.

Kelly Kennedy:

Amazing.

Kelly Kennedy:

Well, and now you use it to inspire the world.

Kelly Kennedy:

And so what a positive spin on a, on a, on a bad situation, I guess, eh?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, well, everyone's gonna, everyone's gonna experience it, you know, I say, yeah, none of us are coming out alive, you know, so.

Kelly Kennedy:

That's right.

Kelly Kennedy:

Mike, I, I gotta ask you, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, I come from a lower middle class family.

Kelly Kennedy:

Same thing.

Kelly Kennedy:

My parents were divorced when I was 12, so, you know, lived in a single mom household as well.

Kelly Kennedy:

So very like, relatable to that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And, you know, always had the dreams of what would I do if I had, you know, unlimited money to do what I wanted to do.

Kelly Kennedy:

I just gotta ask you, like, are you living the life you thought you would live, like, or that you dreamed of?

Kelly Kennedy:

Is it really, like, what is it like to have enough money to do anything that you want to do almost any day that you want to do it?

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, talk to us.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, you're talking to a lot of entrepreneurs who are dreamers.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, that's what we are all dreaming of.

Kelly Kennedy:

You've accomplished it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Was it everything you hoped for?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

I think I'm a simple guy.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Like in part of it's because I did grow up poor and you know, we just didn't, we didn't, it was the simple things.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

We didn't have good food to eat.

Mike Fatah:

I had hand me down clothes, especially when I was overweight, I couldn't buy new clothes.

Mike Fatah:

And so you know, after I created success and you know, we've had multiple exits of success now, but even the first time that we sold the business, the majority of the business, you know, I just, I paid off my house and I could buy whatever clothes I wanted to and I could buy as much healthy food as I wanted to.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Sounds very simple.

Mike Fatah:

But that's what I wanted and, but it was a big stress reliever where I realized how much stress we live in when we owe someone something, you know, owe the bank the mortgage or like, you know, owe someone your time just so that you can, you can buy that next healthy meal.

Mike Fatah:

But that's really was it in the kind of the simplest form when we sold the business again.

Mike Fatah:

And then we've had the third nine figure exit.

Mike Fatah:

It's given me enough resources where, you know, I can invest in other people, I can invest in other entrepreneurs and help them grow their business and it's not going to affect my personal lifestyle.

Mike Fatah:

So you know, I'm not someone that's, that aspires to fly on private jets and live on the yacht and have fancy watches and stuff and nothing against anyone.

Mike Fatah:

That is what interests them.

Mike Fatah:

That just doesn't interest me.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I could be, I could still be out in nature at the beach or in the woods or at the lake with nothing and just some sunshine and water and some healthy food and I am just fine.

Mike Fatah:

You know, so I'm used to living that simple life.

Mike Fatah:

But, but I'm grateful for all the, you know, health practices and all the healthy things that I can afford and have in my life every day.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I guess like for me I look at it as if I was you and I'd accomplished as a mate, like what you've accomplished.

Kelly Kennedy:

I would be seriously.

Kelly Kennedy:

And you know, it sounds so stupid.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's like I should be caring right now about my long term health.

Kelly Kennedy:

But I see that as being like, when you achieve that, that is the next thing.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's like, how do I look after myself?

Kelly Kennedy:

As good as possible.

Kelly Kennedy:

What are some of the things that you've learned since then that have really changed your life?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, well, I wouldn't wait on that.

Mike Fatah:

I could tell you that, you know, nowadays, hey, I have a, I've been into the health practice for 30 years, right?

Mike Fatah:

Since I lost the hundred pounds.

Mike Fatah:

It's all health for me.

Mike Fatah:

You know, nowadays I have like two and a half hours or three hours of a health routine every morning where, you know, I get up and I have my coffee moment and I do some breath work and some stretching.

Mike Fatah:

Then I, then I work out and I have a gym at home, but I work out or I do some cardio, some biking or swimming and then I go into the massage, into the sauna and into cold plunge, like doing some hot and cold therapy.

Mike Fatah:

And by the end of all that, it's like two and a half or three hours, right?

Mike Fatah:

But I've had that routine for like 25 years.

Mike Fatah:

I just didn't always have three hours.

Mike Fatah:

Sometimes I had one hour, sometimes I had 45 minutes.

Mike Fatah:

Sometimes I was getting up for a couple of years there at like 5:00 in the morning or 5:30 in the morning instead of like 6:30 or my normal time now, you know, to make sure that I put that wellness routine in.

Mike Fatah:

But I would just tell people, don't sleep on your wellness routine.

Mike Fatah:

It's a trap, you know, it's a trap to think that you're, you're, you're taking the extra time to work on your business or you're working your business together, like you will not enjoy it.

Mike Fatah:

If we're healthy, we could be focused on a thousand things, right?

Mike Fatah:

If we're not healthy, we can only focus on one.

Mike Fatah:

It doesn't matter how much money you have, how much time you have and stuff.

Mike Fatah:

So it's just not, it's not worth it.

Mike Fatah:

I wouldn't wait until after one created success to start focusing on being your best self.

Mike Fatah:

Be your best self first and always and that will help you become more successful in the work that you're doing, whatever that work is.

Mike Fatah:

If you're working for somebody else, if you're becoming an entrepreneur, like being the best at your, your craft.

Kelly Kennedy:

I love that.

Kelly Kennedy:

I love that.

Kelly Kennedy:

I think, I think we all just struggle with it though, because we all feel a little bit invincible at a certain level, right?

Kelly Kennedy:

It's like we're not.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's a dumb thing to think, but I think at a certain level I know I've caught myself where it's like, oh well, you know, I could go to the gym, but I also want to finish these show notes or I want to do this or I like, I think what it is, Mike, is that, you know, just Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I'm very busy.

Kelly Kennedy:

I do more than one thing.

Kelly Kennedy:

This podcast is something I love to do, but it doesn't pay all the bills.

Kelly Kennedy:

And there's other things I have to do in business development world to do that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I'm sure, like, we're getting there.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, the reality is that there will come a point where this podcast does pay the bills, but it takes effort to get there.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I think for me, I've just kind of like relinquished.

Kelly Kennedy:

I know I'm not alone in this.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've just kind of said, like, look, this is what I have to do in this moment.

Kelly Kennedy:

But what you're saying is, look, it's, it's not going to matter for sure.

Mike Fatah:

Both.

Mike Fatah:

It's not going to matter if you're successful and your health is shitty and you could look to the, to the most successful people in the world that had poor health and then died.

Mike Fatah:

And that was everything that they communicated in their last words, you know.

Mike Fatah:

But also, that is a trap that your mind puts you in, right?

Mike Fatah:

Because the reality is of you taking, I don't care if it's 20 minutes in the morning to do a little hiit workout and do some jumping jacks and some push ups and, and stretch and then, and then, you know, like, get yourself into some, maybe some breath work.

Mike Fatah:

Like, get yourself into a good spot.

Mike Fatah:

Takes no time.

Mike Fatah:

It's not the time.

Mike Fatah:

You know, if anything, it'll add back time to your day.

Mike Fatah:

But yeah, it's easy to say, oh, I have to do this.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I have to check off these 10 things on, on my, on my business to do list.

Mike Fatah:

And those are all, those are all things, Kelly, that I think about is like, that's working in your business instead of working on your business or just, or just living your life instead of working on your life.

Mike Fatah:

Right?

Mike Fatah:

We have to work, work on our business and we have to work on ourselves, on our life, which is having a solid plan.

Mike Fatah:

Like, and then you just don't break that plan.

Mike Fatah:

If, if you, if you're going to work out five days a week, make that a plan.

Mike Fatah:

And then that there's not a, oh, I'm going to sacrifice, I'm going to sacrifice that for work.

Mike Fatah:

No, that's just, that's part of the, that's part of the playbook.

Mike Fatah:

You have to, you have to check them all off for the day, for the week, you know, much healthier way to think about it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, I love that.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm doing a lot better.

Kelly Kennedy:

I'm doing a Lot better at trying to, like, be more present in my life because I have felt that way.

Kelly Kennedy:

I've felt like, okay, the time that I need to sacrifice and I have not been living in, in my life.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, like, it's a very weird thing to say because it's like, of course you're living your life.

Kelly Kennedy:

But no, Mike's right.

Kelly Kennedy:

That's exactly what happens.

Kelly Kennedy:

You end up in this, like, weird circle where you're not really living.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's hard to.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's hard to explain.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You're not maximizing what's, what's, what's possible.

Mike Fatah:

So.

Mike Fatah:

And then again, this.

Mike Fatah:

Hey, my mom worked as a single mom 42 years of her life.

Mike Fatah:

I'm glad that I got to work with her for.

Mike Fatah:

You know, I hired her at Mandible Harvest for the last seven years, but the day after we sold the business, she retired at 65, and.

Mike Fatah:

And three weeks later, she, she had a heart attack and died.

Mike Fatah:

And so her saving up was saving up for her retirement.

Mike Fatah:

Like, oh, I'm gonna.

Mike Fatah:

Now I'm gonna be able to go and do these things and that.

Mike Fatah:

And that the, the, the message there is that that doesn't always come right for a number of people.

Mike Fatah:

So you have to live in a sustainable fashion.

Mike Fatah:

And the number one important piece of living in a sustainable fashion is working on your health.

Mike Fatah:

Like, every single day.

Kelly Kennedy:

Your best day.

Kelly Kennedy:

Every day.

Mike Fatah:

Best.

Mike Fatah:

Every day.

Mike Fatah:

Best day.

Mike Fatah:

Every day simplified.

Mike Fatah:

Being your best self, doing your best work and building your best community.

Mike Fatah:

Those three things.

Mike Fatah:

If you, if you, if you like, work on those aspects of your life and have a plan for it, you're going to get to your best day ever.

Mike Fatah:

If you just silo yourself in one thing and say, like, hey, I'm going to sit at this desk for 14 hours a day.

Mike Fatah:

You know, it's, it's, it's not going to be as, as fulsome and enjoyable as you think it's going to be.

Mike Fatah:

The outcome is going to be negative.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, no, that's amazing, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

This has been a, this has been a really great conversation.

Kelly Kennedy:

I really appreciated your time.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, so obviously, Mike, we're talking to a lot of entrepreneurs right now.

Kelly Kennedy:

Some of them, maybe they haven't even taken that jump.

Kelly Kennedy:

Maybe they are still working in their job, but they have that great idea.

Kelly Kennedy:

They're you a very long time ago, and it's time to take that leap.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, what type of advice might you give those people who are on the fence?

Mike Fatah:

You know, I think sometimes you need to take the moment in time to really weigh the odds.

Mike Fatah:

And a lot of people are maybe rushing into the decision or not giving themselves enough time to think about it.

Mike Fatah:

So I like scheduled thinking time where you say, and some people, like, you know, again, there's some greats that formalize this, like, go away by yourself, you know, for one day and bring a journal and a notebook with you and then reflect on what you're thinking right now from the job that you like.

Mike Fatah:

You know, do you like the job that you're.

Mike Fatah:

That you're doing?

Mike Fatah:

Or maybe you want to change careers.

Mike Fatah:

That's a major transition.

Mike Fatah:

Maybe you want.

Mike Fatah:

Do want to start that business.

Mike Fatah:

But that time to reflect and turn that reflection into a plan is the most important thing you could do.

Mike Fatah:

It's kind of what we talked about earlier.

Mike Fatah:

You know, have a vision and then turn that vision into a plan and then.

Mike Fatah:

And then act that plan.

Mike Fatah:

That.

Mike Fatah:

That's.

Mike Fatah:

That's the most sustainable thing you could do.

Mike Fatah:

And.

Mike Fatah:

And there's less risk that way, you know, so that's.

Mike Fatah:

That's.

Mike Fatah:

That's what I would.

Mike Fatah:

You know, that's another example of working on your life and.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Instead of just.

Mike Fatah:

And just working in your life or working on your business even before you start it.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's like, you know, what we end up in is like autopilot, right?

Kelly Kennedy:

Where it's just like, I'm doing the thing that I do every day, and we call it success or we call it, this is, you know, what I have to do.

Kelly Kennedy:

But on some levels, we're kind of just hiding behind it, aren't we?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

You know, your brain is gridded.

Mike Fatah:

Autopilot.

Mike Fatah:

Everyone has that feeling.

Mike Fatah:

Like, you know, those days, you just.

Mike Fatah:

You wake up in the morning and you.

Mike Fatah:

You get ready and you get in a car and you drive yourself to the office, and all of a sudden you're like, whoa, how did I get here?

Mike Fatah:

I don't even remember that whole first part.

Mike Fatah:

That could happen over and over and over and over again where if you schedule a time to really reflect how your life's going.

Mike Fatah:

I'm a big believer in an annual plan.

Mike Fatah:

Well, my annual plan and my growth plan is not only for our business, but it's also for my personal life, like, me personally, and then.

Mike Fatah:

And then my community, which includes my family, and then.

Mike Fatah:

And then extended community.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

Having a plan of, like, what am I trying to accomplish?

Mike Fatah:

And.

Mike Fatah:

And especially if there's, like, major transition stuff in life, like, I would say now I've become more of an expert in Transition, because I've had so much of this transition, I could see it when other people are thinking about transition, like thinking about changing their job or their career, thinking about starting that business, thinking about, oh, my God, I have to wind down my business that I started and then go back to work for someone else or start another business.

Mike Fatah:

Like, some of these things that are major transitions, like it's.

Mike Fatah:

You want to be well practiced in reflection and having a plan, even if it's a very simple plan, you know, so I'm a big believer in have a plan and then live the plan and then check and readjust your plan and then.

Mike Fatah:

And then live your plan again is not only in business, but in life.

Mike Fatah:

That's a way to develop great success.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yes.

Kelly Kennedy:

You know, one of the things that I've noticed is that it's really hard to see the future.

Kelly Kennedy:

Right.

Kelly Kennedy:

I can tell you I've planned for plenty of things, both in my personal life, in my entrepreneurial life, and amazing things have happened, but usually not in the order or the timeline that I thought they would.

Kelly Kennedy:

How much of entrepreneurship is just being prepared to do something new or to try something you've never tried before before to take that opportunity as it presents itself versus planning for the whole thing?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

I'd sum it up to say, you know, entrepreneurs are.

Mike Fatah:

We're making something out of nothing.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

So it's about as close to a magician as you possibly can.

Mike Fatah:

And I don't, I don't think you could, you could, you want to be prepared, but I don't think you could ultimately be prepared for every instance, every obstacle, which is why it's like, it's, it's why you have to be athletic.

Mike Fatah:

It's.

Mike Fatah:

It's a, it's a context sport.

Mike Fatah:

You're going to get.

Mike Fatah:

You're going to get punched in the face, and what do you do?

Mike Fatah:

Do you stay down or do you get back up?

Mike Fatah:

And I think highly successful entrepreneurs just keep getting back up over and over again.

Mike Fatah:

Right.

Mike Fatah:

And why I think you should.

Mike Fatah:

It's why you need to really enjoy what you're doing.

Mike Fatah:

Like overall, the theme of what you're doing, I think you need to enjoy it because there is going to be plenty of hurdles, plenty of barriers, and even brick walls in front of you as you grow your businesses.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's definitely not easy.

Kelly Kennedy:

I would say that entrepreneurship is not the easiest path taken by any means, but it has been the most rewarding path I could have ever imagined.

Kelly Kennedy:

Has it been?

Kelly Kennedy:

Would you, would you say the same thing?

Kelly Kennedy:

Yeah, yeah.

Kelly Kennedy:

Amazing Mike.

Kelly Kennedy:

That takes us to the end of our show today.

Kelly Kennedy:

But before we do, I know that there's a lot of people listening right now who are like, okay, could I hire Mike as a coach?

Kelly Kennedy:

And I think the answer to that is yes.

Kelly Kennedy:

Are you still doing coaching, Mike?

Mike Fatah:

I have a couple hours of coaching a week on my calendar, which it was a request from.

Mike Fatah:

I did a number of years of mentorship and then I got all these requests for mentorship and I literally don't have enough time in the day or the week for mentorship.

Mike Fatah:

And so I do have a couple hours a week on my calendar for coaching and it's self serve.

Mike Fatah:

You can go onto my website and book an hour and.

Mike Fatah:

And it's really a growth coaching, like helping people figure out the next step of growth for their business or their business and their personal life.

Mike Fatah:

And so that is available for anyone that wants it.

Mike Fatah:

MikeFatta CA Amazing.

Kelly Kennedy:

And then you also are not just doing that, not just paid services, but you have a whole bunch of free services that are amazing.

Kelly Kennedy:

Can we chat a little bit about that?

Mike Fatah:

Yeah.

Mike Fatah:

I think from my, I'll call them tools of mass mentorship.

Mike Fatah:

Whether it's, you know, connecting on, on social media, on LinkedIn, my newsletter, my podcast, and then fatal fleischmann.org which is a toolbox of basically over a thousand forms and tools and templates that I've used to start and grow my business with my friend Greg Fleischmann.

Mike Fatah:

We put out all those out for free.

Mike Fatah:

You can go and sign up for a free account@ Fatal Fleischman.org and utilize all the tools.

Mike Fatah:

It's, there's thousands of entrepreneurs that use it on a regular basis.

Mike Fatah:

And it's just a great resource, dude.

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, one of the hardest challenges when I started my company was what forms do I need and how do I get them?

Kelly Kennedy:

Like, amazing.

Kelly Kennedy:

Thank you for doing that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And I will be sharing the crap out of that on all these posts because I know so many entrepreneurs are spending thousands of dollars having the same legal documents or whatever else drafted up by lawyers over and over and over again.

Mike Fatah:

How to start a business, you know, how to incorporate your company, how to, you know, templates for running your first budget, HR documents like interview questions and employment agreements, and you name it across all departments in the, in the business.

Mike Fatah:

And I don't believe that those, you know, these are all things that I would have wanted when I was a younger entrepreneur.

Mike Fatah:

And so it was my give back, Greg and I's give back to, to make them available for free.

Kelly Kennedy:

Amazing, Mike.

Kelly Kennedy:

No, that's.

Kelly Kennedy:

That's really great.

Kelly Kennedy:

And thank you for doing that.

Kelly Kennedy:

And obviously, you know, we've been talking to Mike Fatah.

Kelly Kennedy:

We've talked a little bit about his book.

Kelly Kennedy:

But.

Kelly Kennedy:

But guys, just get it.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's an amazing book.

Kelly Kennedy:

I picked it up on Audible.

Kelly Kennedy:

I imagine it'll be available on Amazon and I will be sharing the link along with this show.

Kelly Kennedy:

So come on over to LinkedIn.

Kelly Kennedy:

You'll be able to find it there.

Kelly Kennedy:

And the book is called Grow 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur.

Kelly Kennedy:

It is not just about Mike's story, which is an amazing story, but it's about inspiration.

Kelly Kennedy:

It's about changing the world and it will motivate you guys.

Kelly Kennedy:

It really is a great book.

Kelly Kennedy:

Mike and I loved it a lot.

Kelly Kennedy:

So thank you for writing it and thank you for coming on with me today.

Mike Fatah:

Yeah, thanks again for having me.

Kelly Kennedy:

Until next time, this has been the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.

Narrator:

This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.

Narrator:

business development firm in:

Narrator:

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.

Narrator:

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.

Narrator:

For more, we invite you to the website at www.capitalb.

Narrator:

see you next time on the Business development Podcast.

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The Business Development Podcast is an award-winning show dedicated to entrepreneurs, executives, sales, and business development specialists.

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