Well, folks, this is the read method, insider podcast, uh episode, 68, and we are absolutely live in the house with our very special guest today who believes in entrepreneurship at 19.
He built and then sold a biotech software company at 22.
He was a venture capitalist helping to raise 500 000 to 15 million dollars.
He now runs the biggest youtube channel for entrepreneurs.
I mean with 2.
4, almost 2.
4 million subscribers, of which i won wrote.
Four books speaks globally and wants to solve the world’s biggest problem.
He set two world records using a trampoline and a stand-up desk, which is standing up right now, owns canada’s largest salsa dancing student and has a giant dorito bag, always in his office, reminding him that he’s stronger than the ah there.
It is too there’s the toronto.
Is his home, as is mine, uh he’s a husband, father, tsm fan, and it is a privilege to welcome to the read method insider mr evan carmichael.
Thank you for the love appreciate the energy.
This is great awesome awesome.
I love having you on the show.
Now.
Let me tell you you and i have spent your videos and i have spent a lot of time cooking in the kitchen.
Okay, we’ve uh it’s one of the past times, one of the times, i’m always there and i’m consuming content, and i this is how i came to discover you because i’m always you know consuming personal development and success content, and you know there you kept popping up And delivering the goods to me.
So one of the first questions i want to talk to you about is what was your driving force that contributed to you becoming the number one youtube entrepreneurship leader right now? So i think your purpose comes from your pain.
I think, whatever you went through, that you struggled a lot through in your life, where you felt the lowest as a human being is the thing you want to help other people solve, because there’s lots of people who currently are, who you used to be, and so For me, it was being a 19 year old entrepreneur struggling not making any money not having any success, feeling like a total failure and internalizing that too my business isn’t working.
So i’m a failure, not just my business as a failure me personally evan carmichael sucks as a human being yeah um, that’s what i came from and eventually you know we got through and we can dive into that store if you want.
But now what i want to do is help other entrepreneurs not struggle as much as i did, and so i’m a visual learner.
I would rather see something than than hear it or then read it, and so i started making content on youtube, because that’s how i would want to learn and how i still do learn by the way, like i’m still watching my videos as well.
I make them for me and then share them with you and also what i love about what you said.
There was um being the combined tasks together, like combining a physical task with a mental task is something that more people should do like you’re, cooking and saying: hey, i’m cooking anyway.
Why don’t i use that my brain isn’t as active as it could be.
How about i use that time for personal development yeah, and you know, i’m honored, that you chose my videos as as that outlet, but if you’re going for walks or doing workouts or anything physical cleaning up the condo or your home, putting on things that will make You better um, you don’t have to just sit down and carve out an hour of your day every day to just sit and watch videos every day like you do it, while you’re doing something else yeah.
So as tony robbins says using that net time.
No extra time – and i do it while i’m jogging in the gym, while i’m driving i’m listening to audiobooks and when i’m doing certain things, i’m definitely consuming uh video content, so the personal development, space and and success space is where i spend a lot of time.
Myself and i speak and teach and my my book, the sales mindset principle is about um success principles as well, and this is how i discovered you, because i was always consuming this content.
So you’ve been uh this you know you could have done chosen airplanes and cars to you know to to build a youtube channel on and i’m a fan of both of those too.
Why did you choose the entrepreneurship and success the personal development space? I it’s because what it’s what i needed most you know right.
Your purpose comes from your pain, that’s what i needed.
I needed to believe in myself more when i was starting up as an entrepreneur.
Absolutely if, if i had issues growing up around cars or planes – or that was my dream – i’m sure that’s what i’d be doing right now, but that’s what i struggled through and um yeah.
Your purpose comes from your pain.
You want to help people who are like who you used to be so when you started the the channel and – and you decided this purpose, you know and there’s so many thought, leaders and influencers and success folks out there.
How did you build up the connections? The contacts where you know, or how did you even choose, which ones to start with and why so at the very beginning, when i started on youtube youtube, wasn’t what it is now youtube was not an educational platform.
Youtube was a place where people were showing.
You know maine falls down the sidewalk or you know, here’s my lunch or like just it.
Wasn’t it wasn’t educational content, so long-form videos teaching people was not the thing to do.
I was early um, but but not like i prognosticated.
This would be the place.
I’m not that smart, i just got lucky to be in the right spot um.
It took me five years to get the 7 000 subscribers on my channel wow.
Now i didn’t take it as seriously.
I wasn’t posting every day, um i sucked you can go back and watch my first videos and how bad they were they’re.
Still there you can see.
April 2009 was my first video um.
I was just posting things that i wish that i had seen.
So i was, i was posting stories about walt disney and harley davidson and people, companies that i had learned from, and i was trying to research their story and how they got started and try to share some of those lessons um.
I think what people would know me more for now there’s very few people who are in those first 7 000 subscribers in the first five years.
People know me now for the top 10 rules of success and those kinds of videos that i put together and the first top 10.
I did.
I never had visions of doing this um.
I did a top 10 rules on kanye west.
It was on my wall right here behind me, um, a friend of mine mark made this blog post about kanye and the whole taylor swift thing that happened and uh.
You know years after it and it it bothers me um when people don’t see potential, so you might not like kanye west.
You might find all these reasons.
Why he’s a xyz? Whatever you know insult you might want to throw, but you could also learn from him.
Like he’s had a lot of success yeah, he has he’s won more grammy awards than anybody at his age in history.
When people have success, it’s worth paying attention to the things that you want to learn from them right.
You can ignore 89 or 98 of what kanye says, but if that two percent can make you better, you should pay attention to two percent instead of piling on the negativity yeah.
So i made my first top 10 video on kanye west, just from my friend mark geez.
This was not supposed to be some big thing right.
It was just supposed to be uh mark.
My friend go watch this video and we had stores in there like um john, you know john legend yeah, okay, john legend’s name is not john legend.
His name is john stevens, ah good night, and him and kanye are friends which already seems weird, because john legend seems to be like the nicest human of all time like how are they friends already? It seems a little weird, but they were in a bar in chicago when john stevens was getting his start and he tells his friend kanye, i feel like i’m.
I’ve got an old soul.
I feel like i’m not from this era.
I’m from like the sinatra era.
That’s more my voice and my style and kanye says you should call yourself the legend wow and john stephen says i can’t do that because what, if i don’t make it i’m just getting started, i’m going to call myself a legend when i’m just at the beginning Of my career and kanye convinced him to change his stage name to john legend um now, even if you hate, kanye and think he’s a terrible human awesome, are you as good a friend to your friends as kanye is like? Can you learn from that story, and so that’s what i wanted to do just to show it to my friend mark to say you might hate kanye, but you should learn from him and here’s how you can learn from him and um.
It was supposed to be just this one-off video.
It wasn’t supposed to be this giant series, 6.
200 videos later exactly right and people like that and said: hey we love this.
Can you do one on jeff bezos dame dash? You know that just kept throwing off names – and i said, okay yeah – why not i like that? That was fun to put together um and that’s that’s the evolution of you know my channel uh, but what i’ve always tried to do with everything i make is always show the positive right.
It’s not the top 10 stupidest things kanye west has said or done, which might even have blown up bigger than the rules for success um, but everything i do is always trying to have that positive uh bend to it.
So you know five years in.
I think that video itself is maybe is maybe four years old or so um, five years old, and so the first five years was seven thousand subscribers.
The next five years went from seven thousand to uh almost two million subscribers and now we’re over two million uh yeah outstanding.
As of today, it was it’s almost close to 4 million and almost 6 300 videos, and i do remember you in those videos saying yeah tell us you know what subject or who you’d like me to talk about, and, and you would do it and so, while Putting those videos together, uh evan, is there one person or a subject while researching that literally stopped you dead in your tracks? And you said: oh, my god.
This is crazy um.
This has been a few like kanye wine.
I didn’t even know if we could do that.
One yeah, but the john legend story is a crazy one right.
I didn’t yeah that resonates with me and that was kind of my next question and you kind of almost answered it already yeah.
So but there’s been lots of those kinds of things so one from people who, like kanye, that would have been one that i didn’t i didn’t expect right.
I didn’t know that story i assumed there was some stuff out there.
He he is a really talented guy.
That you should learn from, but i didn’t know what i would uncover when i pulled on the story: um another one like that was denzel washington.
Yes, who um we’ve done a lot of actors in the past and it’s really hard to get a good set of rules for actors typically, because in their interviews, they’re only asked about the movie and they’re not doing a lot of or or their questions are about.
Gossip who’s dating who and not stuff that is inspiring or that i can use for content um.
So we got the denzel i kind of just lumped them into the same.
Okay, it’s gon na be a little rough, but let’s try to find some spots, but denzel is a beast.
If you don’t know denzel’s stuff, he he uh, if his backup plan from being an actor, was a preacher.
Yes, i’ve.
I’ve read that uh yeah so yeah as soon as we started, researching denzel’s, like he’s at a he’s out of high school talking to these kids in a gym and he’s just like he’s pouring it out he’s like man.
This guy is awesome, yeah, um and just uh, totally unexpected um, and so there’s a bunch of people that i’ve learned stuff from that.
I didn’t expect to because you kind of think of them as a you lump them in while he’s just an actor like no, but this guy’s extra, special um and then there’s been people who i’ve never heard of who? Who now you know have created great influences for me, i look at naveen, jane uh, priyanka chopra, who are indian entrepreneurs.
Yes, i just never really knew, but because of my audience, i’m not even that worldly or that smart people just kept saying hey, you got to do.
Naveen jean.
You got an interviewing jean.
You got okay, who’s, naveen jane and we go look him up right, um and so we’ve tried to do a bunch of you know: entrepreneurs not just not just americans, not just yeah like steve jobs or the mark cube, and you know in those times yeah and Learning from them um and so that’s been super fun for me, because i don’t really pay attention to the news.
I don’t really watch what’s happening, so i get my education from the research that i’m doing and then for my audience who say: hey you should try.
Looking at this guy, oh outstanding, so when you started the channel, did you have certain expectations and goals and, as you know, because i’m doing the same thing, you are i’m nowhere near 2.
4 million anything for fans right now, but have you exceeded those exp has what You’ve done or accomplished so far expectation.
If so, why so, like i said at the beginning, i i just wanted to create content to help some entrepreneurs who might be visual learners like me and feel like they’re struggling um, i had youtube was a side project.
I had a website that had 100 000 pages of content and we worked with a lot of the thought leaders to create tons of content.
I don’t know 5 000 people writing content for the website or something um youtube was just a little side experiment.
So i didn’t have, i didn’t know it was going to take off youtube.
Also wasn’t that kind of platform like we talked about it? Wasn’t the place now youtube if you’re a thought leader an expert such as yourself who’s who can make video content? You have to be on youtube like it’s the place that everybody is going and consuming video content, especially long form like an advantage for someone like you who has a you’ve, got a deep well of knowledge.
It’s not like you’re just getting started talking about this stuff, so instagram you’re, making one minute videos youtube you’re, making 10 to 60 minute videos.
A lot of people can’t make a long video because they don’t know what they’re talking about.
They don’t have enough depth of experience and they just repeat the same thing: eight times you could make 100 videos and not repeat the same stories ever because of the experience you’ve got so you know logically, that’s the place you should be when i was starting youtube.
Wasn’t that place, and so it was just a little fun experiment.
That’s why it took five years to get the 7000 subscribers uh, but it’s evolved into a very different animal.
Now, oh, absolutely, and – and i’m definitely taking this because initially my team has already started to edit some new videos, a whole bunch of videos that we’ve done in the past that are really nowhere.
No one even knows about and youtube is where they’re coming folks.
So stay tuned for that all right, evan says so, and that’s what we did let’s go.
So what would you say are three things that resonates the most with that you’ve seen after you’ve collected all this data, you know there’s 6 200 videos, i’m not sure how many you know, success folks or thought leaders or actors, whoever what are three things that resonates With you most about these successful people that you kept here and over and over you kept discovering over and over, so the message of believe definitely comes through everybody like whether you believe you can you can’t you’re right.
That’s anybody.
Who’s had success believed in their ability to go off and do it even though they may not have the most natural talent.
They may not be the best at it.
They just believed in their belief in their idea and believed their ability to figure it out when other more talented people just convince themselves that they couldn’t do it um.
It’s one of the lessons that i’ve learned the most like there’s dummies, who are winning off of your idea, but they just started.
They believed in themselves, and you didn’t you’re still thinking about that plan.
You had five years ago.
This is too much of the problem.
Entrepreneurs fall into so the belief.
Definitely um, second, is the willingness to then act on it.
The willingness to start a lot of people.
A lot of people do listen to shows like mine in the kitchen, while they’re cooking, but then they don’t do anything about it.
Right, like listening to the videos and reading the books is not enough in itself.
It’s a great education, but there’s lots of educated people who never do anything yeah right, uh.
So it’s about then taking action and all the successful people uh that are profiled.
They all like they go, they do it, they take action, um and then number three is just sticking with it: the number of bumps and bruises and pains and suffering that you have along the way like nobody wins out of the gate.
Nobody wins out of the gate and then they just keep sticking with it and then eventually they win.
Um yeah go ahead, outstanding and and you’re right i mean famous jim rohn uh quote it’s uh, it’s not good to be smart and broke uh, and i know you’re featured jim rohn and many others like him as well um.
So what would you say so you’ve mentioned conor kanios, you’ve mentioned denzel, which i can certainly relate to, and i can totally appreciate them both both in two different spheres.
But is there an is there a quote-unquote entrepreneur, uh business person? That, literally, you know blew your mind not not necessarily based on their accomplishments, but based on the the person.
What you you know what you discovered about the person um, i would say especially recently brendan burchard, if you know brendan yes, i’m all over brandon stuff.
So so brendan um, i had never, i knew of through the content, and you know in my space it’s my job to know guys like brendan, at least no of them in their content um, i got invited by dean, graziosi who’s his business partner.
In a couple of ventures to speak at one of their events, um growth, which was in arizona so a couple thousand people showed up, and i was there to speak – and i don’t know brenda’s never met me.
You know he knows of my channel, but we’ve never met in person and so we’re backstage.
I show up on the first day and he he says evan he’s got just just tons of energy, what you see on the camera and if you ever join his live events he’s like that as a human you know he’s like just always.
It’s not just a show he’s, always not an act.
Yeah he’s just always like that, and what i loved about him was he uh he.
He told me on day one okay, when you do your speech, i’m about to go into my uh, an interview right now, but i’m gon na make sure that i end it so that i can come and hear you speak on stage.
Wow uh, as if i didn’t have enough pressure already, i’m talking to 2 000 people and now brendon burchard’s gon na end this interview to come and if you look at the, if you’re, ever kind of behind the scenes in the in the green room or back Room, all the speakers are just kind of doing their own thing.
They’re, not really paying attention what’s happening on the stage yeah and then you know 15 minutes before you go live.
The speaker is just kind of by themselves backstage uh, just kind of getting ready.
So the fact that he was gon na end his interview to come and listen uh was was a you know, big honor, a lot of pressure at his own event he’s got a million other things to do hosting 2000 people.
I love his authenticity.
I mean that’s what i picked up from watching him already yeah he’s pretty down he’s pretty authentic and i value a lot of what he does for sure and his emotion – and you know i certainly value what you’re doing and which is one of it was one Of those goals for me to always have influential thought, leaders or experts in the field to show who are doing it well, to show the us to show me and the rest of the audience uh how how to do it better, you know and how to act And i love you know taking action, it’s action that led me to start this podcast and to say you know what i i can talk to les brown.
I i can talk to you, know everyone and let’s, let’s go for those guys who are you know who who can help us and show us the way so uh.
First off: that’s like the fact that you said les brown and evan is crazy for me, because les young les brown is my hero from a speaker.
I think young les brown is the greatest speaker of all time.
Yeah uh – and i like les brown now, but he’s got this like grandfather, kind of joke, of course yeah, but young les brown.
I know man that was a georgia dome with 80 000 people.
Oh man, like nobody, touches him in my view, so you know i’m super humble to well.
You know he’s thankfully been on my show three times and uh we communicate uh.
You know every once in a while, and i appreciate him very much as i as much as i appreciate you so so tell us evan a couple of minutes to go um the time that we’re in right now you know the pandemic and and everything there are People out there who would say you know how can we, you know, focus on being successful um.
You know there’s so much distraction in the world right now.
What would you say to people from a personal development and from a success perspective, and you know who have goals, who have aspiration and dreams? What would you say to them right now in this time ask the same question just change the intention.
Your question was: how can i, how can i stay focused with all of this crazy happening right now, ask yourself: how can i stay focused with all of this crazy happening right now? The difference is hope and belief that it’s possible, if you just feel like it’s totally out of control, you have no, you have no say nothing can happen.
That’s going to shift.
It then great, like whether you believe you can you can’t you’re right, but if you shifted that to say, okay, crazy is happening right now.
How can i stay focused? How can i prioritize my business? How can i use this opportunity right now to to build my company right? I mean my speaking business right now is zero mine too nobody’s hiring speakers right now.
Right i mean everything i had on.
The calendar is cancelled.
My flights can’t like i don’t even know.
I don’t even know when it’s gon na pick up again right yeah.
We have some things tentative for next year, but but i don’t know yeah we’re both in that same boat.
I could remember the last time i was on a stage talking to people or on a plane everything just totally wiped out.
So my speaking business went to zero right now, yeah, but my youtube channel has has we we 4x the number of daily subscribers on the channel wow? Why? Because i’m home and all i’m doing is focused on making content and growing the business that i can grow right.
So yes is chaos and and craziness happening right now, um watching the news and keeping track of how many what the death toll is in your state or province 18 times a day is not serving you right, i mean being informed, is one thing, but just being Paranoid isn’t, and how can you use the time that you do have right now with the resources you do have right now to build something that is going to create the impact that you want to have it’s just changing that question the intonation, like the same words? Yes, most people approach it with hopelessness that they can’t do it.
I just want you to approach with hope and belief that it’s possible and if you shifted to say this is possible les brown that’s itself.
It’s it’s possible right, trying a little bit of les brown um you’ll you’re.
Actually, i think i think your audience is actually smart enough to figure it out.
You just have to believe that it’s possible.
Well, you know this show has been amazing uh.
It’s been an amazing 25 minutes with evan carmichael on the read method: insider podcast, it’s episode, 68 and evan.
You recently published uh a book, your latest book um.
Why don’t you tell us the audience a little bit about that and uh before you wrap up today? Yeah, it’s called build to serve.
I mean it’s right here, um, the idea is humans are built to serve that if you’re not happy in your life right now is because you’re not serving other people either serving the world chances.
Are your audience has a bigger mission.
They want to serve the world but um, otherwise, just serving the 25 closest people to you, it’s hard wired into you.
It hits the same serving others hits the same part of your brain as having food and having sex.
So if you’re not happy it’s because you’re not having food you’re, not having sex or you’re not serving or some combination of the yeah yeah, hopefully not all three then you’re really unhappy.
Then you got problems yeah but uh, but but how do you serve? Whom do you serve? How do you turn that into a business to then go off and serve so it’s full-time for you not just serving in the evenings and weekends, and you have some job that you hate to pay the bills um! That’s what i dive in into the book! Well, evan.
I want to thank you very much for uh the time today and um.
You know the audience knows now.
We can definitely find you on youtube.
It’s evan carmichael and where else i mean uh you’re on linkedin, we are on instagram together, uh.
Any last words you want to share before we head out uh, i mean if you want to find me on any of the platforms you can get the book on amazon, but otherwise all the platforms i’m evan carmichael to share, i would just say, if you’ve taken Any inspiration from episode number 68.
Yes, sir uh, to do something.
I i have a thing called the pillow test where, before i hit my head on the pillow every night, i want to ask myself: am i proud of the effort that i put in today? I love it if you’ve taken any energy from this and you’ve decided to start a podcast, you decide to start a youtube channel or you want to write a book or be a speaker, whatever energy you’ve taken from this.
That is today that tomorrow, tomorrow is something else tomorrow might as well be next decade, like you still got hours left today today today, today, some kind of momentum has to be built to make your dreams come true.
Well, thank you very much evan.
This has been powerful and sweet and swift to the point, and i learned a lot already in 25 minutes.
So i very much appreciate your time on the show today and look forward to uh.
You know getting together again soon appreciate the love man.
Thank you for having me okay, my pleasure.
Take care, guys, cheers , you .
