You’re Not Crazy, You’re Passionate with Keith Norris

Hello, hello hello and welcome to Episode 126. It is a fabulous day beautiful mavens and I am pumped up this is definitely my new favorite person on this planet. I am introducing you today to a gentleman by the name of Keith Norris. Now if you don’t know who he is, he’s a former athlete military and an elite strength and conditioning expert with over 35 years of experience. He is now a serial entrepreneur in the health and wellness space and owner and co-founder of the largest paleo conference in the world, Paleo FX, as well Keith is a partner and one of the most innovative lines of boutique training studios in the nation called efficient exercise. And we touch on that a little bit in the interview. He’s also a partner in ARX fit training equipment. I don’t even know if I said that right? You can tell I’m not into training equipment because I have no idea and a founding member of ID life in his spare time he authors one of the top fitness blogs in the health and wellness sphere theory to practice and like I said, Keith is one of my new favorite people on this planet. I just really, really adore him and his wife, Michelle, I love their vision, their mission and their passion. And Keith talks a lot about that in this interview, I want you to pay attention to a couple things that I think really are important for you to hear. as a practitioner in the wellness world. So one of the things Keith goes back to a couple of times you’ll hear him talk about is the fact that having a vision and clarity of that vision is really important but to be aware that the vision will constantly change potentially on a daily basis. And I couldn’t agree more. He also gets into his in his story he talks about the struggle on having to shift focus I could really relate relate to that. And I think it’s an important aspect for you to keep in mind as as you know, when you’re first getting started, you have such a very narrow tunnel vision focus. But Keith has a lot of wisdom and looking back and watching how his entrepreneurial journey evolved, I think you can learn through him that the opportunities that will be come knocking on your door are so unpredictable and that there will be a time I can promise you if you’re in this for the long haul that you’ll have to shift focus. And of course, near the end, I love our discussion around vision and passion to develop an entire army of individuals of entrepreneurs who are ready and willing to raise their hand and be leaders within the industry. So sit back relax and enjoy this interview with one of my new favorite people Mr. Keith Norris.

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4:17
All right before we hear from Keith, you know he did a good job talking about the event but I want to give it an extra special plug because I am a new lover of Keith and his wife Michelle and what they are up to Paleo FX is going down in Austin in April so it is like right around the corner. And I cannot say enough about how awesome this event sounds. No, I haven’t been to it. So I can’t speak to it personally, but I’ve heard lots of good things about it. After seeing just the heart soul vision of Keith and really hearing his story, I have no doubt that they’re putting everything in to this event that it’s a high, high high client experience. So I haven’t booked my ticket yet. But it’s on my list for this week, I’m not kidding. And then to find out that they’re doing something extra special. The day before the health entrepreneur FX is your opportunity, if you’re looking for, you know, support around getting affiliates creating a marketing plan, obtaining funding to really scale your business to the next level to go to that seven figure level. I know, you know, some of you are maybe not there, but there’s a lot of people in my audience and may be you listening that’s really looking to do something on a really, really big level. I think health entrepreneur FX would be a perfect spot for you to land at the end of April. All right, now without further ado, let’s hear from Mr. Keith Norris.

6:29
Hey, Keith, welcome to the show.

6:31
Hi, Michelle. How are you doing today?

6:33
You know, I’m really good. I’m really good. Thanks for asking, what about you?

6:37
I am doing fantastic. today. My wife, Michelle, and I just helped our son move into his first apartment with his girlfriend. So this is kind of a monumenous day for us. First of all, we are home alone again in our house for the first time in many months. So yay for that five months. And, and yes, so we’ve got the son and his girlfriend off on their own.

7:04
That’s a big deal. And now I’m talking to you, we could make a whole podcast on that

7:10
Yes, we could make an entire podcast on that.

7:14
So I was doing a little research on you. I’m curious. I know you started in corporate. What was your first life in corporate?

7:22
Yeah, so my actual first life was in the military. I spent nine years in the military, transitioned out of the military and went right into corporate America in the pharmaceutical industry, which is rather ironic considering what I do now, which is mostly railed against the first industry. That yeah, you know, did the corporate warrior thing for 16 years, 17 years of doing that, you know, doing the thing climbing the ladder moving up higher and higher. And finally got to a point within that is where I was able to kind of take a peek behind the scenes, as it were and started putting two and two together and figuring out that yeah, I mean, I wasn’t naive, I understand in business, the bottom line is the bottom line, every company’s out to make money. And I’m the biggest capitalist you’re ever going to run into. So I’m totally about that. But I am also in the health and wellness industry and I have been my entire life. I’ve been in this fear. And I know there are better ways to make a human body healthy other than pharmaceuticals. And especially when we talk about the treating and the perpetuation of diseases that could be fixed through food and exercise. Yes, when I saw that the, you know, at the at the end of the day, the pharmaceutical in the pharmaceutical industry makes the bulk of their money on, on drugs that don’t fit when they just mitigate the problem. And that was very disheartening for me at that time. And so you know, at that time I my wife and I started making plans to bail.

9:13
What kind of role did you have in corporate?

9:17
So, I started off in many roles, the I came into the pharmaceutical industry on the engineering side of things. So in the drug manufacturing business, so there’s certain things like the highly purified water they’d have to be made. And there’s other there’s other engineering aspects to that business, that I transitioned into a quality control position and that position, we were essentially the intermediary between the FDA and the pharmaceutical manufacturer. So the FDA comes down they want to make sure that the drugs are on the up and up that the manufacturing process is on the up and up and the reciprocal manufacturer is constantly trying to cut corners and I’m not saying that they’re unsafe, but they do. So there’s just constant cat and mouse game. The pharmaceutical industry is trying to save money by cutting corners. And sometimes these, sometimes they come up with very innovative ideas that are very safe. That’s fine. But the FDA is there to put a check on that. So do you think people are somewhat they’re not sure how that quality control process goes, but the FDA doesn’t tell anybody how to manufacture anything. They leave it up to the manufacturer, and they just come in and check the process and say yea or nay on that process? And so you know, it’s kind of in the in the middle between these two groups trying to keep it to the group’s.

10:41
Interesting, I mean, you definitely have the inside scoop. I mean, the reason I was like going with that question, because I was looking at the, basically what I would call an empire that you’ve built as an entrepreneur, very admirable.

10:58
This is what happens when you have a vision and a passion.

11:04
Ooh, tell me more about that.

11:05
So, so both my wife and I, we both have the same mindset. My wife and I came out of corporate at the same time. And we knew there was a number one, there was a better way for us to live. We wanted to live, how can I say we didn’t want to answer to the quote unquote, manny any more, we had our own ideas of how we wanted to do things. We were natural born entrepreneurs who didn’t have a chance to express that in our in our jobs in the corporate world. And there’s a long story as to why we were in that position. I mean, we had, you know, we had the whole thing we had we were in the vortex of big house, big car for kids, and what are you going to do in that situation, but go out and make more money. I mean, it was it was that vortex? Long story short, we were finally put into a position to where our kids were out there were doing their own thing. And we we had this all mapped out. Unfortunately, it happened to be right in the middle of the 2008 housing crisis when we decided to bail on corporate America. And we, during this time, we we lost a daughter in an auto accident, which is another story that’s, you know, that plays into this. All of that is to say that we were, we had the idea to come out and in work our passion as entrepreneurs, and we had every opportunity not to, if we could, if you said housing crisis is an opportunity to not chase our passion, we could have used the passing of our daughter as an excuse not to chase our passion. But we did anyway. And so I think if you have a passion, and you truly want to change your world, which was what Michelle and I wanted to do, you don’t let those obstacles get in the way you find a way through them, and use them as leverage to get you to the other side. And that’s exactly what we did.

12:59
I’m a 2008 fallout too, I left corporate. People thought I was nuts, but somebody else got my job, so yay for them. Um, but I’m always curious, because there’s so many people who don’t take the leap. And exactly like you said, there’s all those excuses that can keep you. So is there? Like, what is that little thing inside of you? Or what was the push over the edge? What advice can you give to somebody who’s in that mindset right now?

13:36
Yeah, well, it’s it boils down to fear, right? People don’t want to move because they are scared of what the outcome may be on the other side, you know, you may fail, you may go bankrupt, your idea may not work all of these things. And yes, that’s totally true. They may not. But I think for Michelle and I, you know, that the passing of our daughter, really made us fearless. We’re like, you know, we have been through these financial struggles. We have been through the passing of a daughter, but what is there to be afraid of, really, at the end of the day? I mean, is bankruptcy really that big of a deal? Really, I mean, it compared to everything else we’ve been through, is that what we’re scared of the possibility of bankruptcy the possibility of, you know, putting ourselves out there and that idea of not taking off? Is that what we’re scared of, and you just have to ask yourself, and for us, it was well, no.

14:38
It totally was but I understand people who who don’t have those big obstacles they have to go through and their life is cushy. To voluntarily step away from a cushy life is I get it I mean, that’s, that’s tough to do. I mean, because you have everything set over there on you know about finding everything looks nice and rosy behind door be there’s a, there’s a definite chance you have to take, but it could be so much better. So it’s a personality trait thing, I think. And I would say to that every person who is close to us in our lives was telling us not to do it. You know, just to stay the course stay in corporate. Why are you leaving? Why would you leave this? A you know, cush job and be you’re making by the way, a ton of money? Why do that? Why give that up for this pipe dream that you’ve got? That’s just nuts. Everybody was telling us that. There was I don’t know that there was anybody that said, Oh, yeah, you guys need it. Other than Michelle and I, yeah, everybody was like, I think, you know, maybe you’re a little crazy. I think maybe you need to take some time off, to chill out for a while you’ve been through a lot, don’t do this. But we were determined, and we knew we weren’t crazy. We were passionate. And that was the bottom line. And we couldn’t express that passion to people who don’t have that mindset. That’s very, which is one thing that’s very liberating about what we do, too, is we’re surrounded by other entrepreneurs who get it. And so when you’re with your tribe, when you’re with your people, you really feel like oh, yeah, I’m not crazy. Or maybe I am just a little bit crazy. But I’m more passionate than I am crazy.

16:23
Right? Right. Oh, just a shout out to the importance of surrounding yourself with with the right people.

16:29
Sure. And you know, that’s it. And I often tell this to people that nothing, nothing gets created without some friction, right? I use a metaphor of surfing, you cannot surf on the flat sea, you have to have waves, right? You have to have that friction, you have to have something to work against. In so there is going to be hard. I mean, it is going to be difficult, you’re going to come across obstacles, but those obstacles are what gives you the push and the momentum to keep going forward. That’s what creates are those is that friction in that push? So yeah, I would tell people, you know, if you have a passion, you chase it, it could because you don’t know and you only go around once. I mean, we could get into the metaphysical side of it. But you’re on this big rock one time around. I mean, live a dangerous story. Go do it.

17:24
What one of the things I want to point out about what you said, though, is you had passion, but you also had the vision and how important is the clarity of the vision for your success?

17:34
Yeah, you have to have it, I don’t think you could do it without it. And I think it’s very important to realize that your vision is constantly going to change, right? So it’s kind of like mapping the stars at night, the position of those stars changes due to the seasons, right? And so from an entrepreneur standpoint, you have to you have to align with with whatever your North Star is, but realize that that Northstar is going to change sometimes on the daily. Yeah. But as long as you’re making, you know, a step forward, a step forward, a step forward. Number one, number two, know that Northstar is going to change maybe on the daily, you know what, Michelle, and I started with, you know, what’s been eight, nine years what we started with is what we’re doing now is nowhere close to what we thought we were going to do eight years ago.

18:30
So what was the vision, Paleo FX, what was the vision?

18:35
No, the vision, the vision at that time was I was going to start and partner with a guy who had a very, very innovative training system. I was going to partner with him and we were going to blow that thing up. And Michelle was a trained chef, and she was in she had started a catering company. And so that’s that’s how it started off. And it just, it morphed. I mean that then the Paleo community started to coalesce. We’d been a part of the Paleo community for many, many years, but it started to coalesce. And there they’re became apparent to us that there was a need to have a conference that was a very rubber meets the road conference, right to where we could get people who really knew the ins and outs of what was what was at that time, kind of a new formulation of the Paleo diet and put out the information to where the average person on the street could take that information and utilize it. And there was at that time, there was no like central. I don’t like a tribal meeting, area or zone or event or anything that was really big enough to house all of these people coming in at one time to rub elbows and trade ideas, and there certainly wasn’t any entrepreneurial push within that community. And we just needed this idea that we were very passionate about was really going to take off, there had to be an entrepreneurial underpinning, meaning we had to provide training and an atmosphere and a, an atmosphere, I guess, is the best way that I can explain it for a new entrepreneur to come into this realm and go, yeah, I have a new product, I have a new biohack, I have a new something that I can offer this community. But there was nothing out there that put all those elements together, there was an academic conference that was, you know, on a higher or a higher academic order. Right, then it was a, it still is a straight up academic conference, but there was none of that mainstream type field. And we wanted a mainstream feel to it. And we just put it together. And, it took off surprise of all surprises.

20:57
So it wasn’t quite the plan to be a major events, organizer, and really, now a leader in that community. But that’s isn’t so interesting. How when the opportunity presents itself or if you just start taking action in that direction?

21:17
Yes. And it’s obviously, our North Stars changed immensely within a couple of years. And I tell everybody, I sometimes wake up and I’m like, am I really doing what I’m doing? Because you know, even seven years ago, I would have laughed at the notion that I would be doing what I’m doing now. I, my thought process at that time was I would have, by this time, a franchised gym system that was nationwide. Yeah, that was my Northstar at that point. And I’m still very passionate about that system, that training, I’m still very passionate about it. But I’m more passionate about what I’m doing now. Because I feel like I can affect more people now. And so I’ve just shifted over. And you know, that’s the part about being opportunistic, keeping your eyes on the prize, and pivoting which we all entrepreneurs love that word pivoting. But really, that’s what it is, when that were started changes location, you just shift right along with it and keep moving forward.

22:27
Was that difficult, though? Because, like you, it feels like it would almost be the same type of decision as making the leap, you know, from corporate is like, is this the right thing to do? How to like, and as you’re an entrepreneur, and you’re already somewhat successful? You know, the fear kicks in again, it’s the same issue all over fear of success, will I be as successful the whole thing, so? Oh, totally.

22:52
How did you do it? And like, what were the nitty gritty?

22:58
Yeah, it’s, uh, you know, for me, it has been, it has been a struggle, because that still is a passion of mine, that I right now am not able to pursue it. And that’s a wonderful problem to have, I have to back up and say, there are many entrepreneurs out there who are super, super passionate, whose business maybe the most fantastic idea ever at the wrong time. I mean, there’s all of these elements. And I’m someone who’s going I’ve got two passions, I could chase equally and, and be be okay chasing either one. I realized how lucky I am. But it’s still it’s, it’s still leaves a little bit of hole in my soul, because I do love that other thing. And I’ve just had to shift, I’ve had to shift focus. And finally, you just have to ask yourself, you have to you have to dig down. Okay, my passion is helping truly is to make people healthy. And to change lives. How am I best able to pull that off? And that’s finally what I had to read. Okay. Right now, this is the vehicle to do that. It may not always be that way. It may you know, it may change. But right now, this is the vehicle. And so I’ve got to be all in and run with this. And yeah, it is hard. But But you know, we know there are no easy decisions and entrepreneurship, there’s none. There’s no easy day.

24:27
You know, before you even said it, and just obviously I’m able to see you and watching you I just saw like as you’re talking about your journey, like so much gratitude is the word that came to me inside of you. What role does that play for you?

24:40
Yeah, you know what gratitude is everything because nobody can do this on their own. I mean, even even in startup culture, which is huge and Austin and I love off in for that mentality. There is no I’m going to do this by myself. It It just takes a team, it takes it, even if that team is one other person, that’s going to change quickly to be able to scale, you’re gonna have to bring on more people than that, but you just can’t do this alone. So I have been blessed by having first and foremost my wife, Michelle, to be able to, to go on this journey with but just the entire right now Paleo FX team is just so special, we could not, we could not manifest our vision without this team of people. It’s just, it just couldn’t be. And so yes, I feel very, very blessed to be surrounded by by people like this, who are supportive, and who get the passion, who get the message, who get what we’re trying to do, and they are fully in, they fully bought in. On the flip side of that, it’s very hard to leave a business where that same passion, and I’m talking about the gym, that same passion is there. And to have to separate from that, you know, that just again, this is one of these tough entrepreneurial decisions. But it’s, that’s, that’s a tough thing, right? It’s like, I’m gonna have to let that baby go to take care of this, this other baby that that’s got more needs, and it is taking off, and it’s able to change more people’s lives.

26:20
So, so funny, like you call it your baby, because it really feels like that. You know, I mean, it’s like, but they’re your heart and soul, right? Your body, or your heart and soul.

26:31
They are and you know, my Michelle, my wife has had a difficult time with this because this, this was her. How can I say this was something that she birthed. Right. And he and you really look at that at? And I think, I think especially women entrepreneurs really have that identification more so with their business than guys do. And it’s, you know, maybe, maybe it is that, right? You know, males have have this degree of separation between their kids that say they don’t love them, but they do have that degree of separation. It seems to me that female entrepreneurs, there is no degree of separation that is their baby. Right and interesting, very hard for them to let it go and let other people run it. Right. And we say now that you know, paleo FX is this unruly teenager? Yeah, we’re having to, we’re having to kind of let it run and find its way and and let it you know, hit against walls and make mistakes. But we’re having to do that. That’s hard. I mean, that’s, that’s watching your baby grow up.

27:35
Yeah. And then go out on their own?

27:38
Yes.

27:41
Um, did it when you first launched the event, was it I just I was laughing, asking him the question, but like, did it go swimmingly smooth? Was it a hit out of the gate?

27:50
You know, it was, it was a success in many, many areas. So it was a fundamental success. Everyone who came together had a great time positive feedback. The speakers were fantastic. Everything. It didn’t have flaws. Oh, of course. I mean, it was looking back on it. It was duct tape patched together kind of put out. But but it went off. And it happened. And it created a momentum and a surge in a a kind of a love within the community and an expectation that it would continue on. Yeah. So it was a fundamental success in that way. Financially, it was a train wreck. Yeah, it was a train wreck that we backed off from, and we’re like, oh, wow. Okay, so fundamental success, but train wreck financially. What are we going to do about this? Are we going to roll the dice again? You know, are we going to go back for another, another round of this and potentially double the losses after all this work? Or can we dig ourselves out of the hole, so you know, kind of hold up, you know, we knew what mistakes we made, or we had, you know, at least some, some idea that the mistakes we made to where we could turn a better profit and kind of recoup or our you know, losses. And we rolled it rolled the dice again. Second year brought us back up to to the null point. So, you know, some two years of extremely hard work and zero money in the bank to show for it so and that, isn’t that the entrepreneurial story? That is that’s the way the first couple years and it’s a I would say having been in the business now for this is seven years. Going on eight years. Seven years. Yeah. Hey, yeah, yeah. Wow. Math is hard today. It’s not an easy business to be in. There’s so many moving parts, so many variables. So many, so many things that can go wrong, I think is Yeah, it because you don’t, you just don’t know when you start planning for the next season. If the community as a whole is gonna be to see through, you don’t know, your tastes change, ideas change you just don’t know. And paleo effects is only a reflection of the Paleo community itself. Yeah, it’s that community grows and gets stronger, we grow and get stronger. Yeah. And we’d like to think that we have a hand in that, and we certainly do. But if something happens in that community starts to go off the skids and drifts off somewhere else.

30:27
You’re affected, we’re affected. Yeah.

30:30
And it’s just, you know, the business cycle of an event is something that’s very, very tough to juggle. Yeah, you know, you have a massive influx of money, one like it this part of the year for us, we’re, what I would say is flushes wherever gonna be, but then that money dwindles quickly throughout the year, when you start stroking checks, you’ve got bills to pay, and, you know, so you have to plan accordingly. And there’s no blueprint for that, I think was the other thing was that nobody was doing this. We didn’t have a blueprint, go to anybody and ask, you know, how are you guys doing it? Because yeah, one was doing it the way we were doing it. You know, you talk to people at South by Southwest. And are they an event? Yes. Is it a big event? Yes. But they  have so many other variables. So every event is unique to itself. Hmm. So that was tough to navigate. And we’ve since added portions within paleo FX like we’ve got, we’ve got smaller events, the entrepreneurial event health entrepreneur, FX, which is which is great. And we’ve also done an online summit now kind of, you know, testing the waters there, that went great. So we have these other elements that we can now bring in and kind of smooth out that financial rollercoaster that is the nature of events. So that’s, that’s been good over the last two years.

31:48
But I think just in some of my research, I got a real sense that you are not just orchestrating an event, you’re orchestrating a very high customer experience event?

32:00
Is that true? It is true. We want everyone who comes here to just be absolutely blown away, that our goal is when they come in. for that event for the three days, we want them to leave just we want them to have to have another three days just to recover from it. That’s, that’s the goal. We want them wowed bowled over just peppered with information. And we want them to recover and go back out and change the world in their small way. So that we just the vision is just to see the nation with all of these people who come out of paleo FX to go back to their communities and grow. Yeah, and that’s so we go out of our way. And Michelle right now is in the last stages of putting together this schedule, which I can’t even I don’t know how she does it. I don’t know how it is a Rubik’s Cube, like you can’t even imagine trying to put the schedule together, you’ve got over 100 speakers in eight potential spots for those speakers to be and panels on top of that. And you can’t double park anybody, obviously. So this is just a massive Rubik’s cube that has to be figured out. So there’s a lot of work that goes into it. But we are very, very passionate about really, really under promising and over delivering. That’s really what we want to do. And I think we accomplish it. Every year, if you talk to the people who come they are the one complaint we always get is there is just so much going on. We can’t see it all.

33:37
I’ll get some coming back for more hopefully,

33:41
It really does. And I think it It shows them that there is so much more to paleo than just a diet. And I think that’s a big thing that that people who come into Austin and coming to paleo FX thinking it’s going to be an all diet conference are really in there. Like how can a diet conference be that big I don’t get it in the reason is is because it’s not just the diet. It is an all encompassing lifestyle. So we have we cover topics, from strengthen conditioning, to financial health to emotional health, to relational well being, we even have garb that would optimize a human being. That’s what we do. And that’s what we put on. And on top of that we have vendors that cover all of those aspects as well.

34:34
Wow, I had no idea.

34:37
It’s it is a full on paleo circus for three days.

34:44
Yes, if we do it right, you’ll need three days to recover from it all.

34:50
Now that’s awesome because you know, there is a big difference, a huge, huge difference between a high touch client experience and then just an event. You know?

35:01
Yeah, yeah. And we really take it seriously. And we go to other events to do a little scouting and see how we’re doing against. Like good entrepreneurs. Yep. I don’t we don’t ever call any anybody’s baby ugly, but we just think ours is a little cuter.

35:22
Yeah, good, good, good. That’s what I should be. So one of the things I was interested to learn that listeners might want to hear even more about is the health entrepreneur FX event tagged on to the back end.

35:34
It’s down to the front end, the front ends. Eight, over three days to health entrepreneur FX is more of a mastermind. It’s very intimate. At participants, eight or so, speakers, facilitators, and it is set up as a mastermind. It’s a one day intensive mastermind. And it’s people who are in the health and wellness space who have quote, unquote, made it, they figure it out, they figured out the formula, either, you know, the intellectual property plus the online marketing plus whatever it was that they did to put their idea out, and then they’re talking about it, and the participants will be able to, in a mastermind setting be able to protect that information. So it’s it’s even more so a hands on high touch event. And yes, that’s the that takes place a day before paleo effects.

36:37
Awesome. And you still have spots open for that. And for paleo FX, we do.

36:44
I don’t know how long we will have spots for health entrepreneur FX is that always sells out. So this is my greasy car salesman pitch. But I would say if you’re interested sooner rather than later. And there isn’t an application process for this. So just anybody buying it, we don’t want, how can I put this, we don’t want just somebody having the financial resources available to be able to get in, we really want the participants to have a passion involved to so we go over these applications to make sure that even the participants are someone we want within a mastermind group. So yeah, there’s that. And I think that, you know, when you pair both of these in, let me just back up for a second and say, why did we create the entrepreneur, entrepreneurs side of this? And why are we so big on the entrepreneur side of it, it’s because our belief is that we can Rage Against the Machine, we can really, you know, we can we can hit on the pharmaceutical industry, we can hit on big AG, we can hit on all these entities to change. But if we don’t have a, an entrepreneurial army to come in behind to offer services and products that that take place, and that fill the void after the old regime has toppled, then we’re no better off than when we started. So this has got it, you know, if you’d like to have been both my entire life, I’ve been very, very interested in regime changes in the know what happens when power vacuums are created. What does it take to create a movement? Like what what created the civil rights movement? Right? how did how did all of these ideas coalesce and push both from the grassroots and from the government down? You know, a two pronged effort to create a monumental change like that, what what was it? Yeah, and you know, I study that we look at this, and we try to take pieces of it that apply to us and emulate that. And we’re doing the same thing. So there’s a ground, there’s a groundswell push from underneath. There’s also a push on the government. But we do know that we have to have an entrepreneurial army that’s providing services and products when the old regime topples. Yeah, so that’s, that’s, that’s the long play for us.

39:07
Now, you’re talking my language? Totally. Because I think that there’s right now, there’s a demand. There’s a huge, huge demand, there’s more than enough demand in the wellness industry for as many people that want to take a stand and be successful. But unfortunately, yes, I, oh, my god, they’re struggling, and we have the lack of leadership. And what else do you have to say about that?

39:34
Well, this is what I’ve seen I’ve seen and this is similar in people who are very, very passionate about fitness say or people who are very, very passionate about food. These are two great examples that I that I know firsthand. Yeah, these people are very, very passionate about their about what it is they do but they don’t have a good business underpinning right so they so they jump in and they they start a rescue other fabulous chefs start a restaurant, fabulous trainer, open a gym. But you at the end of the day, you either have to have the knowledge on your own or you have to partner with somebody who’s got some, some business chops. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, this is a business, right, you have to be able to make it profitable. And I think that’s where people hit roadblocks, right? They’re like, well, I don’t know where to get the knowledge, and I can guarantee if you go to school, you’re not getting the business school. God bless you for doing that. But you don’t have the street savvy that it takes to run a real business. And there’s a total difference there. Yeah, right. So you either have to know it, or you’re gonna have to partners with somebody who knows it and get that straight up. And in this field changes so fast. I mean, it changes week to week, which is another reason why we love this mastermind idea, because these people are in the trenches. It’s not they haven’t made it and they’ve checked out to the coconut farm and they’re writing a book, they’re still in the mix. And we choose facilitators who are still in the mix. That’s exactly what we want. I don’t want somebody who is sold their business, and they’ve been out of business for 10 years. God bless you for that. But the landscape has changed in 10 years, the landscape has changed since last year. So we need people who are in the mix it or who are actually doing it to give this information, though. Yeah.

41:30
Well, Keith, thank you so much for being on the show. Where do people go to find out more and sign up and join you?

41:36
Yeah, so the easiest place to go is www.paleo.com. That’s the easiest place to find us. And from that site, you can get information on the health entrepreneur FX events as well. The event paleo FX takes place this year 2018, April 27, through the 29th. And it’s at the Palmer Events Center. And we occupy the entire Palmer Events Center. Like I say it’s a paleo circus for three days, that, you know, there, it’s it’s fabulous. The health entrepreneur FX event is the 26th of April the day before, and that will take place at the Paleo FX offices, which is at South Congress, he saved him up that slipped my mind for a second.

42:22
It will be a test.

42:27
Thank you so much for being on the show. Make sure all that gets in the show notes. as well.

42:31
I thank you so much for having me.

—

Was that an awesome interview or what Maven I particularly loved, loved loved hearing from Keith around just shifting focus and how he he kept going back to it a couple of times too. So I knew it was really hard for him. But you know, he had to choose between two business opportunities that he was really enjoying really in love with and really the importance of making sure that he was not spreading himself too thin and really focusing on where he could best serve. And that just like brought up it stirred up all the energy in me around my transition, of course, but the thing was, I wasn’t loving on my business any more like I was definitely when I had the clinics, I was definitely rundown, I was definitely exhausted, I was definitely not in love with that business model anymore. I think I’ve talked about the fact that very successful go creating a clinic and I thought I was gonna scale it, maybe franchise it. But it just wasn’t the type of business model that lit me up or match the lifestyle that I wanted, and then having to really shift my focus and begin to create something different, you know, begin to use my talents in a way that get me out of bed every day in a way that lights me up, which is coaching and consulting for you. So if you’re feeling that way, I mean, what am I musing on here? If you’re feeling that way, you know, Keith reminded me that that’s just a normal part of the entrepreneurial journey. And I think that it’s okay, it’s okay one to have two loves, you know, maybe you’ve got a couple different aspects going on, or a couple different businesses going on. But what I heard loud and clear from Keith is that that’s a very dangerous game. And you really need to be focusing on one thing at a time. And then maybe if you’re more in a situation like I was where, you know, I had something very successful, but I wasn’t in love with it too much anymore. And I actually had felt bad I had internally felt bad for quite some time. I didn’t talk about it, but I really didn’t want that business for a while and I was afraid to tell people because what would they think like how could I want more you know, who am I and so if that’s the situation you’re in, know that it’s, it’s also okay that that it’s normal for your passions to change, it’s normal for you to evolve, it’s normal for your visions to change and that you’re going to have to change with it. And that might mean shifting your focus. Alright, don’t forget if you’re interested in learning more about I mean, just Keith and Michelle and what they’re up to, you can the easy links to get details on them, get details on their events, etc, etc. Alright, beautiful Maven. Until next week, we will talk to you soon