I first met Tony Doherty 10 years old at Doherty’s in Brunswick. Since then, we’ve both grown massively so it’s a real privilege to be able to bring this episode.
If there was a hall of fame for contributors to the Australian Fitness industry, Tony Doherty’s picture would be hanging high on the wall. His opened 6 Dohertys Gyms and created a brand that has a massive following; including its workout apparel that gets worn by the best bodybuilders, elite athletes and celebrities around the world; He is the president of the IFBB Pro League Australia and business partners with perhaps the most recognisable person on the planet, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
At the recent Wolfpack course, I got to interview Tony Doherty, founder of Doherty’s Gym and business partner to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Listening to Tony’s experience and life lessons got the whole Wolfpack Class of 2018 fired up; in fact, we think Tony could set fire to ice! Tony is an amazing speaker, motivator and an outstanding human.
Tony Doherty – Part 1
Tony Doherty – Part 2
Listen on iTunes or Soundcloud:
In the interview, we get into all kinds of treasure coves of truth bombs, funny stories and pearls of wisdom.
Topics include:
- Dealing with setbacks
- Building a world recognisable brand
- Parenting
- Regrets
- Challenging times
- Social media
- What’s in store for the Arnold Classic 19
- Lessons in life and business
Registrations for Wolfpack 2019 have already opened – are you going to be a part of it?
Click here to sign up for the first 5 Wolfpack eClasses for a teaser of what it’s like!
Transcript From Tony Doherty | Better Than Your Previous Best | Wolf’s Den Interview video
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00:00:00 Welcome to the wolf’s den. My name is Margaret terryberry. Today’s guest, if there was a hall of fame for contributions to the health, fitness, and bodybuilding arena, this man would have a picture hanging high on the wall. He is the founder and owner of six gyms, Dodi’s Jim. He’s branded apparel, is worn by bodybuilders, athletes, and celebrities all over the globe. He is the president of the IAF, bb pro league, and he’s the business partner with the one, the only thing and probably the most recognizable man on the planet. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Please give a warm welcome to the team.
00:00:36 Thanks Tony.
00:00:39 We we met 13 years ago and I remember I was a kid. I was 20 years old and I called you up and by sleeve caught up the gym and said, Hey, I want to speak to Tony, and Lo and behold, you go on the coal and I said, my all, I want to compete. Can you coach me? And you said yes. That was 13 years ago. The rest is history. The first time I walked into is gym and we will jump around in this interview a fair bit for the first time I met you, uh, going into the Dodi’s in Brunswick. The only way I can explain it being a 20 year old kid, it was a Disneyland for bodybuilders. And uh, what I want to start with is, was that always your intent to create something that was comparable to the Mecca of bodybuilding, which was previously known as, you know, Gold’s gym in Venice Beach?
00:01:22 Yeah. Pretty much. I went to Gold’s gym in Venice Beach in, I think it was dawn and naughty one Nani, Nani, Nani, Nani, one for the first time. And I still had my gym in Bendigo country of Victoria, which was my first year. Um, and uh, walked in, it was a little bit like you’re walking into Dodi’s for the first was like me walking into this Atlanta and I looked around and saw the, you know, the big guys are send the magazines training and as soon as incredible atmosphere and all these pictures up on the wall, this history. And I thought, hey, you know, we don’t have anything like that in Australia, I don’t want to bring this one down to Australia. So when I sort of have the vision started and, and was even more like I went over there knowing that it was a destination point for all young bodybuilders and he had to hit to go there to experience it was probably even more than I could’ve imagined because you can’t from pitches.
00:02:15 And back then it was just magazines, there was no internet, but from pitches, you can’t quite understand that atmosphere, right? You can look at some guy looks pretty cool because when you’re feeling. I remember when I walked in there for the first time that I took an Australian bodybuilder bothered. I’m Sunny Schmidt. So when I started promoting, he was the first guy that I bought into the fall because he wanted to be a professional. And so they’ll have the tools to get him there, which I did. And um, I took him to his first, uh, first competitions in America. So we went and hung out at Gold’s for court a few weeks. And I started at this place called the Marina Pacific hotel, which was also kind of a destination point and uh, it was more than a could have imagined and because we went in there together and you know, he had a bit of a following and I was coming up this sport, they treated us really well, so we’re going a little bit of sorta sponsorship sort of status and the guy was some clothes and let us try it for free and it was just super cool. So just
00:03:08 on that, I mean, you essentially what you did was you bottled atmosphere in essence, do, you went and you sold the Mecca, you saw the atmosphere and that’s what you wanted to recreate and you looking at that atmosphere, was there something specific that you go, right, that’s the x factor that I need to bottle and bring back to Australia? No.
00:03:24 Um, I wouldn’t say there was anything specific. I would say it was a number of things that might have specific because that makes sense.
00:03:30 Thing that you thought, right? This is you emulated or tried your best to emulate? No,
00:03:36 honestly what I’ve tried to do is to do it better. Oh no, that sounds kind of cocky. But I looked at it and I thought, okay, this is um, this is really good. Um, and it’s, it’s more than I imagined. I guess he went there the first time and thought I was just overwhelmed. Wow. Then the next one went there, like a year later, I thought it was soft loft a little bit. Then I went there two years later and it started to become very corporate and that was probably where our really did bottle. Okay. It was what are sort of 91, 92 was way better than us or in 94 95 and I think if they had to keep going that direction, I could have actually got better at it. Instead they got bought out by a corporate firm and started trying to please the masses and I thought, you know what, I’m going to kick going in the direction that we’re headed in and now probably a year away from achieving what I’d already seen.
00:04:24 And it sounds cocky to go to the greatest dream in the world and tyler can do a better. But I did. And so I come back to build my brand here. And at first, um, I thought about doing Gold’s gym in Australia and a guard that sponsored us over there was the international franchise manager, a guy called Richard [inaudible], who I’m still friends with now. And he offered it to me, but it would have cost about 30,000 bucks or something to bother last syncing and over their heads. But I didn’t have 30 bucks, little unsteady sales dollars I could have imagined. And I looked at world gym, I’ll to powerhouse gym. It’ll totally these big brands because I needed to kind of had to have a brand and I couldn’t have afforded any of them. Maybe I hadn’t given it to them. I couldn’t have paid the first month, you know, but I’d been promoting bodybuilding for a few years. You know, Tony Dodi presents. I thought I’ll put and I’m on time, I’m going to do Dodi’s Jim. And then on that I’d have to play the company line or worry about someone changing direction or I can be me. And once I knew that, I thought right now this is what I’m going to build it on. Had a very clear vision of building what, what I’ve done.
00:05:23 When you talk about doing it better, was this specific example that probably come to mind that you thought, right, well this is where they kind of dropped the ball or was it more the culture that started and then kind of went to the corporate?
00:05:34 It was more that it was more avoiding the sellout. You know, I’m avoiding the, the membership consultants, you know, we’re, we’re, I remember when I went back to day one year, I couldn’t tell you what year. And I put in these little booths where the membership consultants with a frigging body shirts and school shoes. And I thought, that’s not a gym man. That’s never want to do that. I never want to have a call center. I never want to have more people sitting around Tele Marketing and having a dickhead in body shirt. You know? And I hate that because I travel a lot now, like I’m, I’m actually on the road about six months of the year, sometimes more and I’m doing all the animal stuff, so wherever I am, I going to look for gyms and always want to find a gym. You’re not, not a fitness center or a fitness first or whatever, but sometimes that’s the only choice. And whenever I got into one of those kind of gems on my can I try and, you know, he had a million dollars for a casual workout euro or I think it’s like 30 bucks a year or a workup for narrow or didn’t want to.
00:06:33 So just just on that, when, when we first met, it was 13 years ago, uh, to life has certainly changed for me in a big way. I mean, back then I was single. No kids. The only worry that I had in the world was where my next meal was coming from a contrast to youth. Thirteen years ago, I think it was 2015. I’m Ra. I remember briefing catchups that we’ve had. There was something around you bankruptcy almost or or you really had to pull it out and turn things around and to come to see where you’re at now. I mean if someone tapped you on the shoulder back then and said, hey tony, keep working hard back in 2005, you know, mate, you’ll get there. You’ll be, you will achieve everything in your wildest dreams and then some and eventually be business partners with sorts. Negative. I mean, what was going on? First of all, I know that’s quite a big question, but first of all, what was going on for you in 2005?
00:07:20 Right? Onset, but I’ll just finish where I was going because someone was looking straight at me with that question with the corporate scene was what I didn’t like was when I go into gyms, when I’m traveling and have people say before you could even have a workout, we’ll get you a membership consultant and then they just sit down and have a little interview before you can even see the gym and in order, do you have a credit card and a height that sort of the industry so much that I thought I want to be everything that’s not that. I want people to come cover your head. Can I try and 10 bucks go. That’s the end of the conversation. So that’s it. So back to 2005 when we first met, um, from the, from the outside looking in, you’d think, oh, this is starting to go right.
00:07:58 You know, the gym. We’d sort of taken over the whole building where we’re at or not what we’ve got now, but a hall of the building in Western street. We’d been open 24 hours for seven years. Then, um, which everybody said was going to file, it was impossible and there still wasn’t a lot of 24 hour gyms there. Um, but I didn’t have the expos, I didn’t have the other gyms. I’m also doing the speaking tours and all that sort of thing. I hadn’t partnered up with Donald, so it just done my five fourth. I’m pro show. I’m Australian pro, which is now the third longest running show in the world. But back then it was just the one that everyone said would file this one at last.
00:08:40 Yeah. The Olympia is regarding the longest and the Donald Columbus has been going now for 30 years. And, and I’m in my 18th or 19th year with the Australian Australian prior. Yeah. So that’s um, you know, when I started at, look, everything I’ve done, everyone said it was going to file whether it was the first 24 hour gym owner moved to Melbourne to do a bodybuilder that’ll file Maha. Thanks. And do it anyway. And then when I moved into Western Street and went 24 hours and through why the case and said we’re going to be staffed all the time, everyone said that had file, they want to do the private bodybuilding, everyone sit down, did file, they want us to do Fedex and build these fitness expo bigger than anything else in Australia. Of course they would file and then went out old approach approach that we’re going to swap it now into the Arnold Arnold Classic in Indiana Sports Festival.
00:09:24 Again, assign people that can’t work, you know, so you’ve, I’ve really learnt that you’ve got to take advice, but at the same time, stick to your guns and do what you know in your heart and what your passion is and follow it and make it work. And, and one thing I’ve learnt mark, so one of my more famous science until a long time to get my head around this, and we’re digressing a little bit, but it’s. We all have this habit of doing things to prove people wrong, right? Starts with your family, your brother, and she’s got your shit. In a year we’re going to grow your muscles and you’re like, well, I’ll show you, I’ll do it to prove you wrong, or you’re doing really girls, all these sit ups and things. Um, and then it might be appears and it might be a mom, dad, some someone all the time.
00:10:05 One, we worry about what people think, which we shouldn’t do, but two, we kinda want to do things to prove people wrong. And I had this revelation I need the last few years. The way the, the, the essence of it lies is almost there. It’s not that it’s do it to prove yourself. Right? So it was at this thing when people see the conduit, I’m not like, oh, I’m going to prove you wrong. It’s like, Eh, you know what? I know I can do this and appreciate your concern. And a lot of people you hear this, especially with the Internet age reversal or they’ll hightest, they’re not. Most of them love you. They just don’t want to see you get hurt or file or, or experienced loss and sadness and all this kind of thing. So that’s all. Might just take it easy, we’ll just, you know, we just want you to be okay and not to file, but you need to file to, to grow, right?
00:10:50 So always have these advisors and people say you can’t do it. And I wanted to prove them wrong at first. Now No, I know where the truth is. Just doing it to prove yourself right, because I really do hate you and you win and you get it right. They still hate you more. And if you file they’re going to be the first ones go to. I told you so. Right? So why would you want to prove someone like that wrong when they’re done? I’m trying to sway when that doesn’t give a shit about you. Why would you care what I think and this control so many things that we do. Worrying about approval of others. So learn to ignore that. So back to 2005 and yeah, I thought it was going okay. But the problem was, was never a good bookkeeper. Was never good at doing budgets and all that sort of thing.
00:11:34 I thought, oh, the physical, he must be going on here at kite, but we’d gone into an overdraft. I’d still had this debt, so I’m really open about this. I’ll just start lie, which is probably my speaking stuff kind of working because I’m not on a pedestal Saigon better than anyone. We just want to make more mistakes, but whatever they from Bendigo, 1994, I’d mortgage my parents’ house or they had to finance my first gym, which are paid now that I know the industry three times more than what it was actually worth, and I left there with $250,000 debt in 1994. A truckload of broken equipment. I didn’t have a single thing in the world, had a garbage bag of clothes or slept on the couch at the gym for a year. I had three positions, so I had a rice cooker, a couch, not a flesh one, just a couch and a and and a vertical grill.
00:12:21 We know that this little clock a toasted. You put chicken breast into one of them and a garbage bag. Then have a suitcase, garbage bags with clothes in it and I closed the gym at night, wait for everyone to leave and I would hide in the carpark behind a tree because we just before 24 hours and I’ve told you this story before. Then I’d get up in the morning and have a shower or go up to Mcdonald’s because I opened at 5:30 and we open at six. I’ll get a coffee and a newspaper because I had my dad and I didn’t want to tell people always effectively harmless and I slept at the gym every night so we’re going to get a coffee and a paper and walked back to the door without now waiting to get in 6:00 in the open and good morning everyone as if it came from somewhere.
00:13:00 My imaginary harm. I definitely. Yeah, because that’s what sometimes you have to do to make a business work and to not settle for a poor me, you know? So I thought that was the hardest time. Went through then fold one to 2005. I was in more debt and at $250,000, debt had blown out. But what I can tell you, I haven’t told you this is in April this year, or go to coal from our long suffering dead. He’s been with me through all of this. He’s now my, um, he retired. He’s 77. NASA retired at 65. I went full time with one company says hell, see if our accountant, he controls they accountants and so on. And uh, he called me up at night for you guys. Aren’t they never asked me, you know, um, day to day questions about the accounts. He has all this. I just want to transfer this money from the gym, gym, whatever.
00:13:50 Because it’s 12 accounts of Brunswick team account. Do you think we can afford to put some money across? He’d been drinking or what are you talking about? He said, oh, it’s $39 and need to transfer Columbia that for you guys because it’s the last payment on that loan and that loan from 1994. I paid off this year. So yeah, you’ve got to be patient. People think it’s an easy role or you know, you’ve got so many gems. Are you traveling in St [inaudible] rolling in money. It’s not always the case in 2005 was a real White Cup tournament when you came in that we thought regarding. I kinda was like, I’m going to do some other stuff. What we’re going to get hit. We’re gonna sink. So that’s when I started to reinvent yourself and reinvent the brand even more and just keep at it. So what were some of the things that you were sprung into?
00:14:37 Action. I thought we’re not doing so well then. What does Tony do in the, in the mind of Tony Art. You said he’s The red light is flashing. What does he do? Well it’s what you do and what you don’t do. So what you do with any business, you have to look at reducing costs with this two things either reduce your cost or you increase your income. So it always do a little bit of both. So some will look like I’m not doing as many hours as well. So as I was, so get back on the books, doing some hours and filling in some gaps at weekends and evenings and things like that. I’m all start, you know, I’m working more on internal promotions to get people to bring their friends into the gym because he still didn’t want to do telemarketing or mainstream, um, uh, advertising that kind of thing and just work on some, some new twists with the brand, some new twists with the closing and just have a good look at everything.
00:15:24 She kind of put everything under the microscope, go on, we’re losing money on this and we’re making money on that, or why don’t we put more energy into that. So if someone tapped you on the shoulder in 2005 and said, Hey Tony, you will one day be the business partners with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Was, was that believable? Beckman? Absolutely. Absolutely. Relates it all my life. It’s, it’s a crazy thing. But when I believe in something, when I get this fixation in my mind that I’m going to do something on an absolutely unbelievable and I always had this thing mark that if got to visualize something and believes that it’s true for it to happen, and you’ve got to dream really big because if you dream small or medium because you’re worried about what people think, well guess what, guess what’s the most you can get. So if you dream of having a cafe with 10 chairs, that’s one dream.
00:16:14 We never going to have 20 chairs in the cafe, right? You’re gonna have attending. It’s going to be satisfied. So voice at the bar really, really stupidly high. I figure if I just do everything on Ken to achieve that and our full a little bit short, but it’s still pretty big, right? Or if I fail and I don’t achieve that dream, at least I have no regrets. I can. And I tried my absolute best. So I’ve always wanted to be like arnold and to now I’ll work with him. And I remember going to the fist. This sounds not. So I’ve had this conversation with Jim [inaudible] who I can tell you that Jim Lorimer, but I met him in August and went to the fifth, Donald and naughty, naughty one. Should it be going for about three years. I went with a few mates from Australia and we walked in and everyone was like, Oh wow, look at all the hot chicks.
00:17:01 Oh Wow. Look at all the free shit. They giving it all. Wow. Look at the bodybuilders. And I walked in and went, wow, I’m going to bring this to Australia one day. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. One day we’re going to have arnold classic try. I’ve done a how when? One day I’m going to do a professional expert and I’ve got to have a minute with Jim larmer who was in the sixties. Then Andy and see if we have time for question guys. One question. What is that? Never met? Unlocking. Got. Oh, one question. Wow. When did you start working on next year’s one? And he goes, Monday morning walked off and I was like a kid. I was probably 25 percent and I’m not. So I think I want to do this, but I knew I wasn’t mature enough to put 365 days straight into something on you that I was not capable of working 100 days straight.
00:17:47 I was still one of those 95 [inaudible] 95, but you know, you have weekends off kind of guys. And it was some years later when I realized, okay, if you really want that dre meetup bought down, stop messing around and commit yourself fully. So what? I started fedex in 2000 was that 2011, um, or I was probably ready in about 2009, but I couldn’t get the venues, like all the things didn’t line up. But I knew what I had to do. I was ready to work harder than they ever had before. And I think during the pressure I taught me that working, producing something with no money, no budget and no hope and still my here at work. So when I went into my first expo, I remember those words from Jim Alarm and saying, you’re gonna have to work for 300 days straight. And I did, you know, and uh, and then as it turned into the Arnold and are good to me, donald liver, the onset was the only thing I can promise them was all just at work, everyone and it always stuck with me, but it will thank you to all to charge something and I’ll do a little bit of mentoring work with younger people, some older people.
00:18:45 And of course they’re all. Yeah. But I missed my chance. Just check this out. Jim lorimer just in October, he’s turning 92 or he started the arnold classic when he was 62. He retired and he been doing promoting some shelves with Donald for few years on and often the head they started to do the arnold classic guys. Oh, I’m ready to go. What about you? I don’t get to keep up and he still goes to work every day, still go to a car and everything. He’s naughty too. So we just had a 30th arnold classic and that’s when it hit me. I’m like, and you’ll naughty something. And you said you started when you were 60 man. You built the biggest multisport festival in the world 10 times bigger than the Olympic Games and started when you were 60, so just keep that in mind. If ever you’re feeling a little bit sorry for yourself or a little bit lucky Mr Chavez.
00:19:34 Never. So they, I don’t classic. For me it was almost like a 20 year game of chest moving. The pace is very strategically and methodically and just go, yeah, and wasting time and going right and seeing that big vision and I think I just wanna make a point on that for those listening and those watching in that, you know, things don’t happen over night. That’s a 20 year example that you’ve got to put your ducks in the row and what you do today will affect the, you know, Dan would stream of, you know, what happens 20 years from now. Absolutely. And beyond that, you’ve got to be ready for your opportunity when it comes. So it’s one thing to have big dreams and ideas and ideals and all this kind of thing, but if you’re not ready and you haven’t done that diligence and put that thousands of hours of thought into something, then you going to get bypassed.
00:20:16 So when I saw, um, to give you an idea of the strategy, when Arnold. I’m finished being governor in 2011, he said, I’m going to take these fitness crusade worldwide. Is it to take to every continent? I went, Ding off this fedex have just started. I’m going to build this. My first thought. I’m going to build this into the biggest and best fitness experts, multisport expert called a mimicking the Donald in the world so that when he looks at Australia, I mean he’s only choice. I’m going to be that garden that matter. What? I’m not going to miss this opportunity. And when I get that call, I’m going to say, I’m ready. I’m so ready. I was born ready. I’ve been waiting for this all my life. Where do I sign up? So I put myself in that position. So he went first from the USA, said my first one’s going to be in Spain and we’re going to do one in Europe.
00:21:02 We’ve chosen spine because he filmed kind of in the barbarian there, which was these bright breakout movie and he had a great affinity to Spain and he lived there for six months. I’m working in southern Missouri. So that was a no brainer. I’m thinking, I wonder what he’s going to do next. He said, Seth America’s annex one, and he’s smart enough or than human. Jim and I decided to, uh, an in by bubbler. Jim’s son was putting all the internationals together and he said, well, we found this couple of these partners in Brazil, but they’ve already got an expo and Donald smartest guy I’ve ever met. He goes, well, it’s a lot easier than doing a startup one. What did we just branded over to Donald Classic and we’ve already got the road. How many people they get the initiative with getting 30,000 now you got use imagined putting more nine to what it can be.
00:21:43 So that turned that into a nano plastic and went from $30,000 50 or $60,000 first year. And when he was there during the Brazil one, someone sent me these Lincoln, him doing your spreadsheet goes, Nick’s constantly we need to do is just drill Ya, boy God, this is finally it, you know. But of course I haven’t heard from, never met them. I don’t even know if they know who I am, but I’ve been putting all the pieces in place with a lot of other things behind the scenes. So I thought, okay, now’s the chance. He said, hold on to the next one is going to be a strategy. Oh Shit, I hope they call me. I’ll been working on my life for it. And I did. But when they did I was ready. So that’s my point. You can have all these dreams in the world and you can and they’ll tell you to dream big and you have to.
00:22:23 But you also got to be ready. Dungeon Sigalo just going to get lucky one day and you get the call and you get all nervous and go, oh no, no, think about it. They’re going to go next, and I say it all the time when I do job interviews for people that come into my organization, they come in under cooked underprepared and lacking confidence or says weakness. Whereas if someone’s studies made like one of the questions I ask when I’m, because I’ve just started getting a little bit more involved in the hiring and firing for the heart at the genes because we got a couple of people in the system I didn’t think really reflected me or my brand. It didn’t represent me well when I wasn’t there. So I said to my managers, listen, when you do this, the next load of interviews that we sit in, one of the first things I said about the these Jim, tell me about my brand and of I haven’t got a clue.
00:23:11 I’m not. You didn’t even fucking Google it. Right? Or they dress the wrong way. They don’t understand it’s a gym. We’re not a. we’re not a health club with other corporate organizations that aren’t coming in, you know, no fence stretched way out today or this one girl came in, she had so much mike up on, she looked like she was coming from a nightclub, potty and high heels and then the next one came in and she was dressed well, but she looked for fitness, no lunch, she just had a workout sweat. But yeah, she had some leg into whatever and uh, gym looking stuff and not too much like she looked like she was going to work in the gym. I’m like, you can start today and the other one have to go home and change, you know, it’s little things like that and we’re all.
00:23:54 We all have the ability to study psychology. That is one thing I think I’ve been really pretty good at working at the temperature in the room, going into a meeting, being able to work out what are, they decide what they need to hear. And so that’s how the whole thing started. It was me being prepared. And then of course I’ve got the call and that’s another story. So going back may 18, 2005, what advice perhaps would you have given yourself? What life lessons have you learned from 13 years that you thought, well funded that back then things would have been easier. You know what, that’s a really hard one mark, because the first thing I’d say with advice would be to, um, just to tell myself to just don’t quit and to remind myself to be patient. That it takes a long time to get good at shit and you’re going to make mistakes and it’s okay.
00:24:41 So I probably wouldn’t change a whole lot of stuff. Yeah, there’s probably things are it, it’s always, it’s always very easy in hindsight to look back on it would have done that different. But if you hadn’t done it different then you probably wouldn’t end up where you were because you wouldn’t have made the mistakes to teach you the life lessons you needed to learn. You know, said it’s a kind of really. To me, that’s a really deep question because I don’t know that I’d change a whole lot of things, but the advice I’d give myself would be to be patient and don’t quit. That’s what I say to people over the time you just summed up so 20 years in the making. Yes. Thirty years to pay off a shitty learned you might’ve been spiked with. Yes. Yeah. Twenty one years is one of the things is soccer.
00:25:21 Say in any business, you’ve got to get your head around 20, 21, 22 years. It really, really takes and and often sighted people now say so look what you’re doing and yeah, it’s pretty lucky. Thirty year apprenticeship, a bit of a slow learner, but I finally got there. Don’t feel like now I’m just getting started. So I think back to that tournament 2005 when I was just learning the tricks that I needed to go forward. I’m probably the one thing I’ve learned about people and staff and hiring and firing is one thing I probably would remind myself back then is to listen to you because there’s quite a lot of times even just recently where I think we’re talking about the other day where I’ve had some people in Baltimore organizations or new had Randy Rice and there are good and they weren’t being honest. They weren’t delivering what I wanted them to deliver and they were telling few lies and this and that and always have this kind of thing that in my life it’s like baseball.
00:26:13 Three strikes you’re out and when you’re at with me, you’re at with don or delete your number with Dun Dun Dun. You ever seen the straight high? But that’s. That’s it. I’m not going to mentor you. Not going to help you out. I’m not going to look at height on there. I’m not going to talk behind your back because then I do that. There’s nothing I wouldn’t say to someone’s behind someone’s back or wooden sides of their face, but when we’re done, we’re done and every time I’ve given someone that fourth opportunity or that one to many, it might be two, three or whatever. That’s that’s every time we’re going to do that for when I already knew we already had the and the feeling and the got on this and let other people influence it and I had one of our ceos and one of my general managers with a particular employee are going to get even one more chance because damage control and this and that.
00:26:56 Now I know this is no good. This is going to hurt. Our organization is got to go and I’ll let them. I’m not blaming them because our louder. I’ll let them talk me back and then three months later, oh, what did I do that for? So going back to 2004, it’s that is knowing when to say no and when to cut people. When they say, you know what brought you from the street? I’ve given you a million opportunities, I’ve given you everything and you’re not ready for this. It’s time to go and it might be, might be a business that you’ve put money into where you just got to know what you’re flogging a dead horse, kill it. It might be, it might be a property investment, might be a relationship you have, might be an employee theme. It’s not just for employees, it’s that gut thing. You’re not supposed to tell myself that. Just listen to your gut because you brought more times you need to know.
00:27:44 Absolutely. That’s definitely good advice on know I have the same thing when, uh, you know, he always listened to your gut. We’re 95 percent of what a neural transmitters, Serotonin at least is made in your gut. So they called the second brain for a reason. And you know that that is more than just a gut feeling. But just kind of switching a little bit, you spoke about Arnold before. When I think about the boyhood dream, the first thing that person that comes to mind is used. So, um, do you want us to taking us through that journey of, you know, I know you saw Arnold on tv before that. Were you training? Were you lifting weights or was it literally was a kid. I was a little kid so I was like 13 or 14.
00:28:22 Right. But this guy came on TV. It was, I think it was Mike Walsh show anyone else old enough to remember that it was like, uh, yeah, here we go. It was like a, it was like a variety. I started coding o’brien or lead them in the Australia division and I think it was him or New York. I don’t remember being at home and my dad was in the room. I can remember brother, sisters, whatever. But I remember seeing this guy and I’m like, what the hell? What is that? Donald? And he was flogging a book promoting a book called the education of a bodybuilder, you know, and uh, he was in Australia doing a tour and I was like, wow, what is that? My Dad’s a hero. He’s a bodybuilder. Listen Up. So listen to the interview. And I saw not just the muscles, I mean I wanted to be him started, I want to have muscles like that.
00:29:09 I’m dead. How do you get locked out? And you guys probably need to work out and you’ve been tubby. You probably want to learn about nutrition and you know, find out, but there’s no way you can’t google it. Back then it was like, Yo, they go to the library, whatever. I said, well, pardon me, my birthday or Christmas is coming up. Can I get that book? In fact, I don’t want anything else in the world. I just want that book. But all the other money, whatever you got into the other kids, just please. Or I’ll go find it where he. The book for birthday or Christmas where, because my birthday’s in November, Christmas, December, persona was around that. Anyway, all I wanted was that book. But when I get there, what’s that things in his arms. And he goes, oh, their vines about wow. Because he had these paper thin skin and it was arnold, the late seventies.
00:29:50 He was just as good as he got. I was like, wow. But it wasn’t just the muscles that impressed this young, impressionable boy and this little country town. It was his confidence and his charisma and the fact that he’d left Australia and taken on America. I’m not going to get out of this town are new or was. It was amazing to me looking back because I always knew I didn’t want to be the same as everyone else. What else? A little kid. I never bought what they were selling with education university qualifications. Always knew I didn’t want to work nine to five or work in a thing with fluorescent law to those little shelves. I saw a picture of that one as a kid number. You serious into your whole life doing that? All the money in the world. No, I’m smarter than that. I knew, but I didn’t know what it was was that guy just went off and I’m like, I’m going to be a bodybuilder and a promoter and a gym owner.
00:30:38 That’s it. And my poor parents are, you know, we’ve gone with that so you could go to university. I said, that’s nice. You got three other kids, but all the money into them. I don’t even want pocket money anymore. I’m going to hustle. I’m going to work this shit out. Gave me the book. And it’s funny because you bring them office yourself, collected everything from a whole lot except for that book because I’ve read it so many times to it fell to pieces and I ended up, I wish I hadn’t thrown it out because we book because it felt it was in so many, but it didn’t just fall place that fell on 100 pieces, you know. And uh, it was just life changing for me. So I had to sing from the first time I saw our, I’m going to be like him and then know did that escalate.
00:31:15 And so I want to make to God one day I read a book or did bodybuilders got all jacked up and you know, became a giraffe. I’d love to meet Donald. So that first time went to the arnold classic and Naughty one. You could probably an extra 50 bucks and get the vrp experience to have a picture with him. And I’ve still got the picture itself from a gym somewhere, if I’m meeting him. That wasn’t very memorable for him because I was in a queue and they score it, pushed me. I still remember he catches you and he goes, hey, you’re doing fantastic. Click and he pushes you again. So what else catches you? And back then there was no digital. So the guy passes the polaroid picture to the guard that pushes you out the door as you go though. The original big black guy who was the size of the door, gave me a picture frame, is cardboard pizza five and in one hand and go to frame the other hand I’ve got.
00:32:03 They see I’m shaking like mad, hoping that the pitcher is going to turn out. And it did Donald. Whoa. I’ll put it in a little folder in the overland to have back in. It was my most cherished possession. So then of course you want more. I’m like, well be cool to actually meeting, you know. And for us to know, you know, I think the next ambition was just to know who I was. Just a one day he said, Hey Tony, or what that with next level, not even a friendship. Just that acknowledgement of, okay, this is next, so all my life had I want to, you want to get a picture with him, I want him, I want to get to know him. And then that happened and you know, and it escalated bit more. And then when we became business partners, we would love to be friends and I’d like to smoke a cigar with him and go to restaurants and travel the world with him. And that’s what happened. He said it all started from just as a little kid with a big dream.
00:32:52 Amazing. Absolutely amazing. You touched on something there about growing up in Bendigo now. Um, we’ve spoken about parenting before. You’ve got four kids growing up in the suburbs and you grew up in Bendigo, which is probably a very different and also at the time, a very different upbringing than what most kids possibly we’re watching. This might be, you know, comfortable in their suburbian kind of homey and suburby in life. What impact did growing up in a small country town? In, what was it, 1970 or
00:33:23 so? Yeah, it was fall of [inaudible] 64. So it sort of grew up in the seventies I guess, you know. And uh, so what’s the question?
00:33:31 So what impact did growing up on you, what, what do you feel that, what impact did it have on you growing up in that town and is there something out of that that you feel kids today and missing? I mean, is it, is it a contributing factor for that? You know, that famous Tony Dodi, Ian will, you know, uh, has, how has it changed your houses are developed? You know, I don’t think so.
00:33:50 We just always had it. If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. Or if you make a decision to be, that person would be obsessed and to chase your dreams. You’ve got it with kids today or back then growing up in a country town, all that did was make me want to get the hell out of. There might be, you know, I’d see everyone when I was a kid, I’d see I’m on a black and white tv and I’d see pictures of New York. I remember the start of Disneyland because it was like we had two channels. We didn’t have seven, a nine, 10 in the ABC in the country. Tangy had the IBC, and then this hybrid of the other three commercial stations. So we had la Disney land, um, the Gilligan’s island, these kind of shows, you know, there was no. Fox was no digital, nothing, no internet.
00:34:31 So I’d see pictures of the USA as a kid. I want to just want to get to see pitches in New York City and pitchers of Paris and London on TV and all I wanted to do was to get out of this country town and to see the great cities of the world. I just always knew, but I think I’ve had a grown up in the city than I would’ve just probably not had to have got ahead of anywhere, but I probably would have turned out the same. And I think, I don’t think kids today, my kids miss out so much and growing up in the country because yeah, we lived in a house. We didn’t live on a farm. We lived in a regular straight. I’m in a suburban thing, but I think what the kids don’t have today is the freedoms that we had, you know, like we ride our bikes to school.
00:35:08 I’ve never had a car and never ever once in my life got dropped off at school and uh, and uh, one of the work from a really early age. So I think when I was 11 I had a paper run. So my push popular 4:30 in the morning, go and pick up the newspapers, pack them into those little saddlebags you have any bar and get them delivered papers before school. Then I’ll go to school. Then the guy who cleaned the local butcher shop or something in order to work in the hardware’s always wanting to work for them. I’m sorry. I think I got my first actual job after the pipe around lot when I was 13, 14. And when we weren’t working and trying to make some Mikes inbox because mom and dad didn’t have a lot of money. We’d play on the street and I think that’s what the kids miss dot on today.
00:35:48 And when I do my talk now about the fitness crew side, which is what Donald’s got me doing worldwide, is that, you know, we’d play football or cricket depending on what time of the year it was on the street until dark until mom, which I did as ready. And she’d be yelling and screaming, you know, and you’d be waiting for that last little bit. We hit the ball and you think, shit, we’re not going to fire. That bullet actually is dark, you know, it’s the last. Remember, remember that people who grew up like that, there’s nothing on tv, there’s no phones or anything and, and you ride your bike everywhere. So it was free. You know, I used to have a slug gun and I’ll put that on my little drags to bark and run around with a gun. You’re not knowing any better at all.
00:36:26 The guy shoots some birds or something or targets and then come home, you know. And, and, and growing up I’m locked. That was the ultimate freedom because, you know, the adults went, I’m terrified of the stranger danger and all this sort of thing. There wasn’t this age of just become such a safe society and I think that’s what kids have missed out on you and just print out to be kids. They’re just forced to grow up so fast and have these adult understandings that old values. But my kids telling me stuff in number 10 year old know stuff that had, he denies that, Oh, you’re not too much, but she’s got an ipad and I don’t hold back with that stuff with my kids are Baltimore finds as soon as I could work out how to use it, why not? And then teach them how to use it responsibly rather than demon or something.
00:37:11 And I’ve always had reversed psychology with parenting because my parents were very, very straight laced and don’t do this, don’t do that, you know. And uh, it was all about control and, and, and that was it. That was half our board up. They didn’t know any different. Didn’t mean they wanted the best first. But in doing that and having a rebellious kind of addictive, obsessed nature, I wanted to do everything that they told me not to do. I’m not, that must be good if you tell me not to do it or I said it was. My kids have had a complete opposite approach and if you want to talk about education of kids would guarantee a little riverbed about that because they’ve got a really strong views about that and working. Having James Right now, you guys know being the industry you meet people from all walks of life.
00:37:52 I study psychology like it’s like a song so I’ve never been to school or got thrown out of school at 16 but I never went to university or not, but I could probably help mine with my psychologist that I’ve met and interviewed because I asked a lot of questions. I’m very curious and I learn as much as I can about behavior of people, so education is one of them are little ticks or watch and I’m not a big believer in pushing kids to the university and in the US for example, they say, you know, if you’re going to go to college, you got nothing. If you don’t get those letters, often 90 to nothing to fall back on, you not going to be anything. You look at all the people that are deleted to the biggest organizations in the world. Most of them are dropouts or self educated or whatever, and then you look at what’s available to the kids today.
00:38:36 It’s every. Whereas here, look at this. Every library in the world is in your pocket. This is amazing. I just love. I’m almost envious of my kids because if I wanted to find shit out when I was a kid, man, it was an effort. You have to go to the library or get a magazine and do some Milo thing and wait for it to come to get the book to find out what you wanted or they google it. One of our girls is the most unbelievable research person I’ve ever met. I say one word to her. She’s got fat fingers opening times, prices, branches be looking for some, some of the body shop. She goes, oh, such and such. One, two suburbs. White closes at six. They’ve got three in your size and if we get there, leave now will be there in 14 minutes.
00:39:18 The traffic’s good. Okay. My pain, I can’t even do that. I mean, it’s crazy. So I’m back to the education thing. I think that we’ve pushed kids so hard and made them feel like they’re loser or whether there are dropped if they don’t. Um, and I had this enormous pressure from my family saying, you know, we’ve saved up for you to go to uni. I’m on, I need that. Um, and I did one of the best for me because I didn’t have those opportunities, but I think it’s gone too far the other way. So watch people all the time and I would just say to my kids, I want you to find something you love doing the passionate about. Right now we’re working hard to make a living out of it. Is that involved going to uni or becky? Older white. But if that’s not for you all back here all the way, whatever, or they’ve at least one family.
00:40:03 I watched their nail biting and family and watch these kids grow up. We had a sharp and I lived next door. Anyway, long story short, that was really well mannered. Kids, the dad, it might a lot of money. I’ve done her hat don’t, doesn’t matter, but he had properties and stuff. I’ve never seen him work with Yoncha. Couple of pubs and he’s got buildings and properties everywhere. So he said to his three sons, he goes, you know what? Don’t work of putting enough money, right? Whatever. When you turn, I didn’t know volume inside of these Benz that hang out, meet chicks, have fun party, got a place with your mates. Travel. Say well at whatever they were at school and I think he was using reverse psychology. He’s just like, Becca, better. He goes, if you want to do that, do it, but there’s no pressure to turn it in.
00:40:46 They get a Mercedes Benz. So the first one we took that and he goes, dad, I wouldn’t want to go to uni. I didn’t want to do law. Now he’s a corporate lawyer. The second one is an engineer and the third one is an architect and I’ve never seen kids with less pressure. Then got my for sick kids in the university and two of them are doing rehab. One’s dead, you know, because they were under so much pressure. They just turned to drugs and one overdose because he was just going so hard because he rebelled so badly against what he’s family forced him to do. And you stop and think that there’s something in that you’re so obsessed with pushing our kids, this American white disciples with the greatest country in the world. We want to Mike, hey, you’re going to make it right and if you’re obsessed with doing something, you’re gonna, you’re gonna be obsessed.
00:41:29 You’re going to make it work. So I’ve got conduct and I don’t know if I’m right. I’m just know that I’ve seen a lot of shit and the majority of kids I’ve seen forced into private schools and forcing the university have grown up to be failures and loses. And even the guys I went to school with a really brainy ones who had just had this academic pathway and went to a school reunion a couple of years ago. I’m really trying to judge, but Louis is one guy. I remember he was genius. He went to, uh, went to the school I went to. Right. Then he went to teachers college. Did he go to Joel Beck at the school? He still there. We haven’t fucking left. Oh,
00:42:07 do you have any parenting models or is that in the summary?
00:42:11 What do you mean by mottos? Like little saying.
00:42:12 Yeah. Little sayings or things that you live by. It’s like you said, you know, you’ve pretty free with the ipads and stuff like this.
00:42:17 Oh Man, I’m just free. I don’t lie to them. You have the girls. I’ve got one son, three daughters. The son. I’m probably a little bit more truthful than the girls because it’s stuff I don’t want to tell them, but I’m really honest with you. I don’t pretend that the world’s a beautiful place. I don’t sugarcoat things or don’t. Um, you know, Marley them, wrap them in cotton wool or anything else. I encourage them to play outside, encourage them to make good decisions. I encourage them to to communicate and have open channels with me and Mike, them my understanding can tell me absolutely anything voice called to Sydney to see if it comes from you. You’re telling me something. If you screw up, if it comes from me, I want you. I can’t get in trouble, but it’s a school calls or the police knock on the door and you haven’t taught me would it be problem. So that’s Kinda kept the. The channels open. So that’s an evolving thing and I look. So you also got a kitchen. I said Hi.
00:43:06 Do you think in a way that kids are going back to where you are in Bendigo? Very isolated, very just you focused. This is the gold, this is the part have to get out every day. I think he’s a more distracted today with the iphones and the IPADS. I mean it’s a double edge sword, right? They can research anything they want, but at the same time they get distracted and kind of pulled in different directions possibly from the calling of what they, they they really want to be doing.
00:43:27 No, no, I don’t think there’s always going to be. Temptation is always going to be you’re going to get led astray with or without technology. I think that the kids is, they use it properly. Fantastic. What does concern me is kids are inactive is where this fitness crew side comes into play and what I’m getting finally in front of government agencies and visit Victoria and sport and recreation and we were addressing on Monday, 41 different sporting ladies are coming to hear me talk about fitness crusade and here we can change lives. And what concerns me is that kids are more inactive than they’ve ever been before or preserve their phones and their ipads and their playstations they’re not. So you don’t see kids riding their bike, you don’t see them playing on the street and it’s not just a safety thing, you know, their engagement in sport and doing something to be fit is at an all time low.
00:44:15 And I basically just an all time high and I think that’s why worse than seeing some bad shit on the IPAD. Um, and they’ve got netflix. I can watch someone getting a head cut off if they get on the right channel, you know, they’re not as insulated as they were, but there’s different. So when I was a kid, you know, we were asking this vandals, thieves, you know, we’d shoot things, we’d sit far to things, we’d steal things and you know, kids aren’t doing that. They’re doing dumb shit online. Just dumb shit. Either way kids do dumb shit, right? So you got to try and help them to understand the consequences of dumb, dumb shit and to make good choices. And, and, and to not be that one who was on the edge all the time, you know. So I think that there’s more good than bad with technology because they’ve got the world at their feet, you know, like I’ve always had this thing about traveling. I think she had mentioned when I was a kid, if I could have actually researched some of these places, I was afraid nothing. 60 countries, I probably would have been to 100 bar now that had access to that stuff, you know, because I had to wait for it to come on tv, but you know what I mean, so you can look at it, the white, but I don’t think an of these just started in the world. Everything evolves and kids of all kids and wife smarter than we were. Kids are so smart, man.
00:45:27 Yeah, absolutely. Switching gears a tiny bit, what’s been your biggest or most challenging business moment? Did you want to quit and how do you get through it? Because I mean businesses and always obviously smooth sailing. What? I’ve got a
00:45:40 most challenging moment. I find that question really hard to answer. What’s your most challenging moment? Because I don’t know or there’s been a city all day. Not One hundred challenging moments. I’ve never told anyone. There’s so many, but did I ever want to quit? This is something you’ll need to know and anyone listening needs to hear is that we all feel like quitting. Every single one of us has days where you just don’t want to leave the house. You just got to deal with anyone. I don’t want to have to fight that problem. I don’t want to have to deal with the stress. I don’t want to have to see that person. I don’t want to have that confrontation for all of us every single day, but are just never did quit. And I think anyone says on our, I never wanted to quit bullshit. You know, we all have tough days and uh, it’s, it’s how you deal with it.
00:46:28 It’s kind of defined your success in life. It’s probably baseline. No matter what I’m going to show up. I’ll take the punches, I’ll take the hits, I’ll take the hard days. And I looked back and I’ve had so many hard days. I did it, paste, have done and just said, well, I probably wouldn’t change it because it’s made me tougher and stronger and let me to know me and my brand and what I’m good at, what I’m not good at, what I found out of learn from and so on. And it’s all okay. You know, but, but, uh, the lowest point in business, whenever you lose a shitload of money and other people suffer, that’s, that’s a, that’s a lie. I remember early on one of the shows and it was 2004 in fact, have a bit of a rain man with details and numbers and names and times.
00:47:07 And it’s good for names because I remember everyone’s name. So someone comes into the gym after 15 years. This Guy Kevin, sir, I’m like, well, I haven’t been there since 2005 or 2006. And then. So we had nine. I don’t remember that. So I’ve always had this thing with a little something wrong with memory. And um, so it was 2004. We had the Australian pro bodybuilding and it was like Chris called me a dexter Jackson Marcus rural, um, fantastic king, Kamali, criteo’s artists in this lineup is the best line that we’d ever had. Another broke even or lost money on it every year. It’s just a little story just to understand. Sometimes you get kicked in, you know, where it hurts. And um, it was the best line I’ve ever and the, if you google the prejudging of that shower, it’s one of the most watched videos of him because this Guy Kamali and todd is hated each other’s guts and the Internet just become probably remember those forums, the body building forums and now we’re going on these forums, giving each other death threats and everything right.
00:48:04 And it gets funnier because when they’re on the white here taught us left from Vegas and, and Kamala lift from New Jersey in Newark in New Jersey to La from Vegas to La. And it was united flight Uri Naughty for I think coming into Melbourne. And Kamali was on the plane first. Titus flew in from Vegas, was running like he walks down the aisle of the plane with these ticket 29, see 29, see the plane’s full. It turns this one seat left the next to commodity and his wife and had to sit together for 48 hours. And these guys were like, you know, restraining orders, death threats, everything. So it was fantastic. You not done this postcard of them facing off with each other Kamali versus versus todd is, you know, uh, you know, sort of death and all this stuff and taught us end up going to jail for murder.
00:48:55 So he was a genuine nutcase. He’s doing 56 years. True Story. Anyway, that one. So after the show I’d finally made some money. I’d might like 25 grand or something. I’m like, wow. And I was married at the time, had two, two little kids. I said to Amanda, um, after the show, you know, keeps going with that for so long, we just bought a house and so I said, we’re going to go on a holiday. When we got on that fee jail, somebody looked at and have a break and write some money. Finally. And there’s two vans of athletes went to the airport. I was driving the second one because back then I used to sell the tickets, cut up the popcorn, drove the van, sit up next to it, everything I’m still do to a point, but not as bad as that, but it was everything.
00:49:37 So I was driving one of the vans, so we’re good there behind the other one. I walked in the airport, you don’t want to just get a bad feeling. Something’s wrong. And I went to the counter. No, still standing. I’m thinking why aren’t they applying? There’s something wrong. So I said, what’s up did with a lady wouldn’t let us on the plane. Long story short, their ticket, that particular gun, which was the cheapest ticket said that had to be in Australia for five nights and they’d only been there three or four nights and one of the wives had been extremely rude to the lady at the counter top Dantians American sometimes do and it had been very confrontational. And the lighter you go to your backup and she goes, you don’t want. I just looked at the conditions on your ticket, you know, getting on that plane today.
00:50:17 Oh, okay. I talked to her, Mr. Charming, psychologist, all this shit. Excuse me ma’am, or apologize for anyone that’s spoken badly tubes, this group of people that hard for you guys, whatever. I said, she goes, um, yeah, our brains with that, with that rude lady. Um, they’re not getting on the plane tonight. Check your ticket. Well, yeah, but is there something we can do really? So she goes, Yep. What you can do is if you want to get them on a flight today, they seven or eight of them. What if it was you buy seven or eight one way tickets to ally on your credit card. You go to 15 minutes. Who Will? Whoa, please, ma’am. Anyway, so call a travel agent. He’s like, I’m going. Oh No. The, the delighted that runs all of you nodded. Oh, Cola. So it calls her. She’s at a barbecue.
00:51:01 Had David Cole made the weekend. I’ve already had a call from my operative at your root group squared. Done. Guy’s brother. I think we’ve got a big problem. Anyway, I went back to the caring place, said I’m begging. It’s something we can do. She goes, nothing we do. And I put my hand. I still remember putting my hand up on the thing and that there was a strip of our medium that it was really shocked at. Told my finger at them fighting like, hell, I’m going to go. I won’t even see you about your folding Canada. You just helped me. The purpose goes, I’m good. First I get a bandaid, whatever it next. Oh, we’ve gone anyway. I got down under seven minutes, five minutes, three minutes. She goes, it’s kind of tight. Me At least three minutes to process those cards. You want them on applying.
00:51:40 This is it. So I pulled out my credit card to hate using an abort seven one yet is to outline the across it and thousand dollars. So there’s family holiday, the successful event, the best promoter in the free world just to these balls at the last moment. So it was, that was a, I remember driving back. Go, Hey, uh, trip, new. No, go on a, it was a hard one. But you know, I’ve still got the same travel agent because he ended up sending me half because he, um, he accepted that he’d made a mistake and we both rolled the dice and uh, you know, spend over a million bucks with him since, because of his loyalty in that situation. So learning something about a good person and I learned something about how to deal with Shit, but I’ve got 100 stories thought that well, bigger, better, worse.
00:52:29 The fitness industry has changed quite considerably if you go back to the 19 eighties, you know, the Hay Day of the Frank Columbia as Arnold Schwarzenegger pumping line. That whole movement were just kind of had a different feel to it to today we kind of say, yeah, Lycra and, you know, fluor colors in the gym and who knows what instagram people on their phones, social media glute exercises and who know what else, what, what a correct. Um, I mean, apart from those, has it been any other observations that you’ve made? And also on that, how has it affected the dove brand? Well, first for the fitness industry, I’ll try and see the positive in everything. It’s not unknown sort of sickness or anything. It’s great, you know, because back then you look at pro bodybuilding. Back then there was only 10 pro body builders in the world. Now we’ve got 10 categories with thousands of pros.
00:53:19 They’ve got an opportunity to make a living and see the world and promote themselves. And as much as it sucks to see people with the Jim’s doing their selfies and having five or 10 minute sets between a rest between sets, that’s a trip. You know, I bet there’s a whole lot more people doing fitness and every before there’s a whole lot more excitement in fitness. People have become connor celebrities in the real world because they’re working out and their bodies and the instagram followings and you know, probably going back, when I first started doing the x prize, I was like, who the dickheads, you know, these famous people. And I’m like, Shit, I sell a lot of tickets here. Can we get next? You know, I’ve just embraced them. Just look, man, it is what it is. You know, there is, if I’m working out and someone’s on a bench, I’m playing on their phone, on instagram and taking selfies and not do an exercise, don’t want the bench that pisses me off.
00:54:09 But being the abrupt kind of upfront person, I’m a normally politely side of them looking at, do you think I’m not going to take your bath, epic, can you sit over there and do it or finish a set? Um, but I, I think, I think there’s more good than bad in all in all of it because, you know, we’ve got an opportunity now to have more people interested in fitness. There’s all you guys in making livings just trying to. That it wouldn’t have before if it wasn’t for the popularity in internet net side of it. So you got to take the good with the bad. And I think for the most part, um, yeah, that was kind of a golden age of, in bodybuilding specifically. But I think of, I don’t know if, talked to him a lot about this, about his fitness crew site.
00:54:47 And when he started in 50 years ago, um, they started traveling to promote these books that I saw on TV and then lighter entrepreneur, he’s courses and then he’s competitions and then to promote these movies and no one promoted better than him because he learned his lessons from bodybuilding. So when we went to promote movies, it was the first movie star to go to every single state. You got a 52 states for an opening and for promotion and to meet the people. And he still does. He and his work ethic is ridiculous, which is why he’s had the success that he’s had. And Simon was politics, everything’s, he’s detecting sprint. So obsessive about it. But he’s had great success. And he talks to me about the early days, you know, where he couldn’t find a single gym in a city with gym equipment, even a pull down machine.
00:55:31 And he says, look at it now, every single hotel in the world’s got dumbbells and treadmills. Every fire station police station in the US has got their own gym. Every hospital, every university has got facilities. Loved my Brunswick, Jim, look, you know, you’ve seen the squat racks and the whole set of everything in every school in the world and there’s no way you can go now. Can’t not find a gym. And that’s happened during his fitness crew side and, and, and, and him starting that whole pumping thing and bodybuilding market popular with these TV has contributed to that enormously. But now everything that the instagram is doing is also contributing to it. So everyone’s making a buck. You know, there’s more studios is more personal training, but there’s more people training. I think the bottom line is there’s more people getting fit than ever before and we got a chance to impact them.
00:56:17 But my passion now is to influence the kids to want to be fit and feel good about themselves. And all this political correctness of all you don’t have ever got a good body to feel bad about yourself. It’s okay to be fat now. It’s not, you know, it’s, it’s not okay to feel bad about yourself and, and, and a small percentage probably think it’s great to be morbidly obese or fat and walk around. And the rest of the, but for the most of the kids growing up that aren’t being given the license to feel good about themselves, it concerns me. So want to see kids get active and play more sport and get them into the gyms and all that. So long answer. But I think it’s all good.
00:56:52 Yeah. So I suppose in terms of the brand, because it seems that the brand has absorbed, I suppose part of that, that culture. Because if you can contrast that to say the 19 eighties Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of mainly a male centric, a gym environment. Now you’ve got a lot more females in the gym. So realized was the bottom line is, is bigger turnovers for, for Jim’s really good.
00:57:12 How it’s impacted dirties is that the social media and the people taking selfies in my gym that tagged my gym, make it more popular. More people come, you will get more women coming in every before we got more kids, more older people come from more mainstream. People come because we can’t. And this is youtube market can’t just knock it and go. You have it all these instagram because we both use it as a tool, so I can’t say I hate that part of it because I love it, man. I, I’m all over social media. We are these fantastic and we’ve been able to use certain hashtags in, in, in social media to um, to break down some conceptions or misconceptions better at brand because one of the things is just for meatheads and you’re going to be super muscular to walk in there. So we started this Hashtag home away from home, you know, fitness for everyone, this kind of thing.
00:58:01 And it’s, it’s broken down some barriers with more people are comfortable to walk in the door, so console, hyperbole, doing selfies, but I’m going to use it to promote, you know, so I’ll just try and find the positive in it. Jack, I will. How can we use that to our advantage? How can we embrace that, that kind of technology and might get popular and say, okay, well here, can you Hashtag Conway from home? Australian Mecca, little hashtags we’ve told people to do and it’s just, I think it’s great. So it’s impacted the brand in a good way
00:58:27 on social media. What platforms are you on personally versus like [inaudible] do you split it up? Do you have an ad agency for say God
00:58:33 never had an ad agency for anything in my whole life. I’ve got a publicist for the Ama over the fulltime, Australia’s best publicist, Max Markson works for me full time, three months of the year and I’ve got him on a retainer the rest of the time. But as far as ad agencies are going to know what the heck, what are you doing
00:58:50 terms of your promotions for dot Dodi’s? So in terms of the content that comes out of side of Tony Dodi pages on instagram and
00:58:57 that’s all you. Well mostly instagram. Just back to that. I had to use facebook at all. Um, I’ll transfer some stuff from instagram just to keep it alive. The truth of it is there’s so much more interaction on instagram. When I talked to the young people, all the people that work for me and the kids and you know, people that are really active on Instagram, instagram is just kicking back really is. Um, I still use the other stuff. I need to draw people to the instagram page. Really. Um, so I, my personal brand, I do a lot of instagram stuff. I’ll do that all myself. I’m a done planets. Just spontaneous. I’m going to do a thing every day, most days called real talk. We’ll just blow that, those 15 second things about life and it’s about um, if I do it daily for travel, drops off a little bit.
00:59:43 But um, I’ve been back for two months now and it’s built right out, but I’m getting 4,000 views on my story every day and I’m going to do 20 stories. They’ll will get three and a half to four and a half thousand views a day. Um, which is about 10 percent of the people that follow me, which is really high. Um, interacted. Indirection. Right. And what’s the gems and with the Arnold and with some other stuff that are due. I think there’s about eight different instagram pages that we control. Um, so I have someone, um, I’ve got a film goer lock you do that does my video stuff for my personal one and for the animals and for the, for the Saudis, and then I’ve got a couple of people that are allowed to post but I’m really, really careful with it because if you get the wrong person posting the wrong message or the wrong image of the brand and can just undo years of working in minutes literally.
01:00:30 So I’m still kind of controlling with that sort of stuff. But we have reading some once a week where we plan what we’re going to do for the next week or two and then if I got Michigan last year for the plan, but we’ve just got so thousands, hundreds of thousands of pitches and farmers have pivoted of trying to over the years and stories and testimonials and stuff like that. So we’re just kinda sad. Okay. What, what, why are we doing it? The toys, the question which the social media stuff is it to get more meatheads? If that’s the case, we’ll put up more pictures of Ronnie Coleman or someone trying to the gym is it to get more regular people than we do interviews with regular people talking about regular things. And so in fact, we just did a series a funding to a couple of them where we had, um, we interviewed 15 members that had been there for more than 20 years.
01:01:16 Can you mention that? I’m in every new writer that gym or they’re in Brunswick’s over 70 percent. The industry runs on 15 percent. That’s pretty good, Huh? And that’s because we look after pope becomes part of their law. When you interview someone about what the gym is meant to their life over 20 years, it’s moving. It’s unbelievably amazing because this has become the most stable thing in their life where marriage is a file with parents of kids have dropped out, falling off the wagon, whatever. Where there’s one guy I interviewed and he’d been through a really rugged divorce. He came to the gym because he wanted to kill himself. He said, I’ve got to do something for me. So got mad. It moved back in with his mom and dad at 40 kids everything and he really lost his mind and he come and join the gym and I didn’t know this whole story until recently and that become part of his loves and he met his second wife.
01:02:05 His kids grew up. He’s now a grandfather. He’s got a very successful business. He travels. He’s followed all these places. They’ll tell them to go do and so on, but it’s been the most stable thing of his life, so now I’m using it to try and sighted people. Most people don’t go to the gyms to change their bodies or to get in shape. That’s part of it, but they were there. Jim. It’s different with transformation and stuff, but with that gym they go there to cope and it becomes such an important part of people’s life where you know, I think years ago people had churches before TV and social media. That’s why religion was properly. They’re not because of the God factor. That’s part of it, but most of it was the socialization and just the fact that they had some way to congregate. Debate. Now we’ll got groups, you know, and Apps, but gyms, gyms are really, really magic place.
01:02:49 Noma Gym Guy Unashamedly are hanging out at my gym. Can’t wait to get there every day. I’ll get excited when I talk about it and I think that shines through. So then I guess the long answer is that’s kind of the message we try and get it with their social media that it’s for everyone. You know, you haven’t got to come and be Mr Olympia, but if you want we can take you there, but if you just want to come to get away from me, crazy law for to cope, it’s a big part of it. They’ll do a podcast, his wife on on mental health and the importance of exercise for mental health. It’s the greatest cure for depression. You know, that people are doing it really, really hard to. They could just exercise every day and clear their minds on a difference at Mike’s. We all know it, right? Know when you’re done trying for wall and the air and I miss it. It’s when you started getting, you go, oh, I didn’t realize how much I missed it. It’s one of those things. So I’ll give you brain in shape and you get fat trel. It’s not nothing. Then he started getting in shape. You’re going to go off. Had ever let myself go. You know, it’s a funny thing. You don’t even notice it on the way back to the circle,
01:03:47 back to what you’re talking about before about the real talk. So they just, for those who don’t know and add in anything that I missed, but they just, those 15 second holding the instagram down and saying, saying to the camera and just doing a sequence of those. Is that, is that how you do and what effect would you say that has been doing that regularly has had on, you know, either entries and into Jodi’s gym. It’s just my personal shit. This is more to do with getting more speaking engagements like this and impacting more people with more relentless momentum movement as turned into now a movie and a book and a whole lot of other things I’m doing with it. So, um, that’s not the devotees gym thing, the real talks, just Tony Dodi thing. So that’s not having a direct impact on a memberships or anything like that, just because that’s your personal crusade kind of thing. Is there, is there anything that you’re doing for Dodi’s that’s similar to that? Or is it just more, um, well, I’m using Dr Simon Film. I kinda do some of this stuff,
01:04:40 Dr. testimonials from the 20 year members that study stuff, but the psychology of that is just to break down the barriers a little bit and just make her understand that it’s for everyone, you know, because we, you know, the worst thing was with more gyms is a good pivot will come in and get to know them off the wall and they go, oh, they ain’t going to come here for like a year or two years or 10 years. I mean, what happened? Oh, it’s a bit overweight. I wasn’t really fit and I thought your gene was just for people. So went and joined good life for you or snap fitness around the corner to get myself fit to come to Dodi’s. So it’s almost become like a university where going to graduate to get there now as good from a service point of view because most people that come to our dreams don’t native program.
01:05:18 They’re already well versed in how to try and see, just come and do their thing. We’ve always had that one place you can just go and just be left alone. Yeah. When I did it was the only 24 slash seven gym in Australia and we were the only one. I’m staffed for a long, long time where um, so the first open 24 hours a day. I’ve told you this or through the ks away. Because if I, if I need a plan B, I’m not serious about this. So through why the case? Significant to close those doors. Again, I’ll figure it out if I’ve got the keys is always a little way out. We’ll just close down one night. Never. Ain’t no shit, no matter what my him, natural disasters, whatever the world’s visor, me, I’ll never ever shut the doors. And then I’ll never have. It was 20 years in April. Yeah. Stuffed every minute. Paid staff every single minute, you know, there’s no time, there’s no case, and when we opened up in the city and went 24 hours, I throw them into the Yarra, into the river, you know, this whole thing.
01:06:16 Yeah. I hope you’ve been enjoying this. Interview will be right back after a short break. Stay tuned to our youtube where there’s going to be more great parts and episodes coming up from the wolf sten. See you soon. Welcome back to the wolf’s den. My name is [inaudible] and my guest today is Tony Dody. We’re gonna pick back up from where we left off. Tony, can you tell me about what the differences are between running Dodi’s versus running the Arnold Classic?
01:06:45 Well, major differences because they’re completely different companies, different budgets, different realities. Yeah, completely different. There’s no, in fact, there’s no similarities at all.
01:06:55 So how does one go from running six gems to then just being launched into the event space? I mean, are they similar skills and tools that you’ve accumulated? What, how, how did you just run such a big event? I mean it’d be like learning a whole different group. Mostly,
01:07:11 you know, and I think that’s what people have to realize. You don’t just go and run a huge gym and you don’t just go out and run a huge event like Donald Sports Festival, um, that, you know, I started running bodybuilding shows back in the late eighties. I’m net gross, are early into running the first time ever. Australia as pressure and the neck grew into a program and then that grew into a small experiment. Spoiling. Spoke, grew into a bigger expo. So I’ll just learn along the way, develop the skills that are needed. Um, but then when it went from bringing Fedex sport and fitness expo into the Arnold sports expo, it changed dramatically because there was so many more factors with publicity and where he was the world’s most famous person. And then personally, the way it affected me the most is probably with the travel because before I could go away once a year and still be successful as a bodybuilding or expert promoter.
01:07:59 But now I travel with Donald at least six times a year, sometimes more. Plus, um, for me to do my research, a printed every fitness expert in the world from fever to a body power around the world to show us in India and China and everywhere. So it was the last five. The biggest thing that’s changed is the travel, but comparing the gym, Indiana, it’s completely different. I do have a couple of staff that swing between the two with graphics and um, my it guy, more graphics girl, both sort of working on both businesses but the others just worlds apart. So you used to run Dodi’s or do you have someone run? Majority of donors. Is that kind of, you know, a handful. Um, when I started run it, I’m still kind of hands on. Um, so basically I manage my managers. I’ve got one particular guy, Andrew scandal who runs effectively three of them as a manager, you guys two days a week at each one of the three.
01:08:52 And um, I met with him two, three times a week for a good hour. We sit down and go through a little bit of planning, a little bit of strategy. Mostly for me it’s yes, and it’s encouragement, but then if I feel that they got in the wrong way with the brand, whether they understood no, that’s not the way I want to go. And this is why, um, and then just with the hiring as a said earlier, obviously getting a little bit more hands on, on who we allow into the organization because you’ve got to understand what we are and what we do. Um, and then with the growth of the business, I’m looking to bring someone on next, um, to help me to expand the license and franchise side of it because that’s a different person than someone that’s hands on running a gym. But uh, um, so I’m still pretty hands on or don’t get ran to all of them as much as I’d like and a pool.
01:09:37 So what would you like if you wished for one more thing? It’d be like 28 hours in a day and eight days in a week because I was just can’t. The Shit in this is the biggest problem of God. I’ll never have a day off. I just go, go, go, go, go. And discussing the structure of your teams or how big is the team? Fidelity’s versus the team for the Arnold Classic? Well, you can’t compare it because each of the Jim’s got about 10 employees and seven GMC is like 70 or 80 with the pot thomas with the Arnold team b six. So it’s a very tight knit team, but they do an extraordinary job because we don’t have the budget. Some of the big experts have Sarah comparable expo. I’m in Australia. Might have 20 people working on it full time. We’ve got six. So they’re, they’re really committed.
01:10:18 They’re really married to the job. Um, but it’s, it’s, it’s a good role. And I think what a profound with the popularity of more brands with both of them as if I advertised the position of a line, a mile long of people wanting to be part of it and they want you to sift through them and work out who’s in it for the right reason. Then you’ve got the law in half a mile long, you know, so we do get to sort of hand pick the people that come in and we’re getting better at that all the time. But that’s, that’s also something you don’t just get good at, you’re going to feel. So the hardest thing about, I suppose running the arnolds is the travel personally, but I suppose on a professional it’s not the hottest thing at all. No. What do you think the hardest thing is on a meeting? The budget, because it costs this year will be two point 4 million to put on. We’re not funded at all, so I’ll start with a blank slate. They’re just shit, how are we going to do that every year? I’m like, Oh, it’s a nightmare because the convention center for example, cost me $700,000
01:11:14 to rent for a weekend and you get four fucking walls and the roof and that’s it. There’s no carpet, there’s no power. They’re so rude. They turned the power meter on. That charged me an extra 10 percent and then the pair out of the extra 10 percent can be the balance back. So you don’t even get power. Seven hundred grand. It’s just hideous. Did. If I want to sell food day, I have a loss of revenue fee was say you’re affecting at canteen. I was going to give us another 20, 32. It’s crazy. It’s about as one sided thing in the world. Like last year on carpet squares to higher capital spent $60,000 on capital area in general. No, you always complete that stage that it built, you know, that’s nearly $50,000 to rent the stage and lights and the rigging to do that. And I’ve got three stages, you know.
01:12:11 And then the strongman area where have the grand stands up. Both sides is $17,000. Each side you know to rent and no one could say this. No one could say what? What goes into it? So this is the biggest challenge is the budget. No Shit, you, I’m going to sell all that spice in Riceville the sponsorship money and, and get the tickets on, on sale. And thank God for the VIP ticket people because they buy their tickets early and really helped me to put the deposit down on the venue. But even that’s a fight because when you hire a venue locked up from a government agency, they want 30 percent upfront. So I’ll put it up and sell tickets. Okay. We’re renting to someone else. So it’s, that’s, that’s the challenge. So putting it out in the risk that people are going to come in and spend money when they.
01:12:51 When. Yeah, he does. It’s Brittany is honestly, I haven’t drawn away from it weren’t for 365 days straight and not got renumerated one cent. So it’s not, it’s not like I do it for the money so I love it. But the hardest thing is my hand work. Making it fit and the is, it gets bigger and smaller. So just what? I’ve got to figure it out. I’ll change it. So it’s, Oh man, you don’t want to be in here sometimes I tell you, you don’t want to be in there. Some days I would just go, what the Hell is wrong with you? What have you done, man, you know, and, and so just want to get it right. A reinvented. Great. So this year [inaudible] 58. We’ve completely redundant floor plan. So I’ve moved everything around. I’ve come up with our think it’s genius, it’s gonna work, but you know like at work.
01:13:41 So that’s the hardest bit. The travel was the best fit and I love it. I mean getting to travel with your idol and, and go to some of the most amazing places in the world and eat at the best restaurants and to do some of the most incredible things. I mean some of the experiences I’ve had with Donald, the first year we had the arnold, he was on the same weekend as a grand prix and the same politicians that won’t give us a cent towards it or recognize the fact I wouldn’t have an economic impact study done. I’m hoping that would open some doors and it is now five years later and we put $23 dollars in Victoria’s economy in one weekend. Proven an audited well. And there’s events that they fund that put half that much in that they lose money on and they don’t want even wouldn’t even talk to her.
01:14:22 So the first year, so the premier, Daniel Andrews, John Aaron, the Minister for Sport, the promise to old there to grand prayed the same guys that wouldn’t talk to me, trying to get a selfie with Donald. Right? And we went into the race directors were worded map. You guys said you guys are the ones that won’t even answer these emails. And it was fantastic. But one of the best memories, we went out to the start of the rice and, and you know, the older cars are getting onto the grid and the rice director, whose name is Pasquale who worked for a Eggleston, comes out and he goes, you guys just white there, right to the premier, the Minister of Sport, Prime Minister Otto, Tony. Couple million, excuse me. And we went onto the grid and with then when they started the engines of the car and they bring out the dry ice to put onto the engine so the cars don’t explode.
01:15:06 And we met, um, uh, you know, Ricardo and the, that one, the rice and Donald was up on the podium during the speeches are there on the podium next to them. And uh, we met Nicky Louder, who’s the Austrian guy that caught fire in the famous, in the ids and had selfies with all this kind of thing. And I was just for integrity and uh, and, and TV interview with crazy, you know, big broadcast to 400 million people around the world. I’m on the podium with the and pray I couldn’t have thought this shit up. And then conversely, there’ll be one of my greatest experience also this year we’re in Africa and we went to the Arnold, a youth festival in a, in a part of Johannesburg called Alexandra, which is so in Brazil we have for violence. You know what? Diana slums in India, the cold slums in Africa, they’re called townships, says a place, let’s say the size of Richmond was one point 1 million people living in these little tin checks for half of them have kids.
01:16:01 So we put on this activation. I’m called the Donald Use festival where we got 16 sports to do free sport for kids to come and try and we’ve got some facilities right next to the township and they were doing soccer and rugby and baseball, netball and basketball and martial arts and we had another room with 300 kids playing chess, all these different things. And the deal was if you’re a kid from the township and we’re trying to get into sport and away from drugs and gangs because massive violent problem there. Um, did. If you come and try a sport, you get afraid. Donald t shirt and a free bottle of water and a free meal. We had 14,000 kids show up. Can you imagine? 14,000 little black kids with hope in their eyes. And you look down half of not wearing any shoes? No, because of the way that because they haven’t gotten these shoes, you know.
01:16:50 And I said, well they went to two and a half hours for the meal because we run out of food. In fact we hit the share it between the five ladies in the community that did catering. Because if one of them had to go to the other ones, might have killed them, no shit, so we have to. There was all the politics of that to their partners had to navigate and then they had these five stations where they can come and get was like a big issue and the cop was mice because it’s is too expensive. My like a cornstarch thing with this Jew, what was in it or these kids lined up to three hours and when I got to the bottom of it is because most of them have never had two meals in one day and their whole life they once a diet and they got no shoes and they rock up here.
01:17:31 The frayed tissue is good, but wow, we’re free food. You know? It was one of the most heart wrenching in the most amazing and emotional things ever been involved with. Just as good as bringing in a helicopter or being on a grid of grown pray because you looked into these little kids who are trying support perhaps for the first time whose parents had never going to push them into that. Who might you just do the numbers, you know, if 10 percent of them get through that 1400 lively change, if one percent get for that 240 kids that might have a good law because we were there, you know, so these kinds of things that sometimes the highlights, it’s not, it’s not always a flush it, you know, um, so the, the familiar travel mark, I’ll get to talk to you about travel and places all day long.
01:18:16 It’s really, really impacted me and changed my point of view and it’s helped me to look a lot of time with my real top person. Where do you get all this stuff from? I could because I’ve seen stuff that we haven’t seen here. We live in this land of opportunity to see these sense of entitlement we have here where people have this ability to be sad and depressed and feeling bad to understand. Some people get clinical depression. That’s terrible. Most people get situational depression because I feel sorry for themselves and not overthink shit. You get born in China or India? Let’s go to India. I wouldn’t do a slum in Mumbai. My Garden was much loft Chinese years ago I had this drawing, a seven star hotel. You anything you want to say? Temples or the Shit? Okay. Can we get into a slum? I just want to, if not want to be offended because.
01:18:59 Yeah, he gets. There’s a really good start. I’m just reading the code. Anyway, long story short, those people in slums when it’s 30 or and they get pulled out of school and say, hey mark, we got you a job. You’re going to work in a factory. It’s only two hours from here, or three hours from here, seven days a week. No, four weeks holiday, no holiday pay. Nice Shit. Brand new. I should not bullshit. You go and show up for work every single day. I never have a sickie you can eat for the next 50 years. That’s your life. That’s your choice. There’s no way out. And I said to my job, he said, don’t live in a slum bet. Forty minutes from here. It’s a really good start. We’ve got running water, we got power, and I said, how many rooms in your thing is one, three kids?
01:19:41 And he said, you’ve got a good job at a seven star hotel if you, um, it was at the Taj Palace and said if you. And he was immaculate, he’s groves with water scrub and they’re doing this in the gardens and shit. Anyway, I said, if, you know, I looked at his worst building I’ve ever seen in my life. Okay, if you save up really well, you’re gonna get 100 dollar tip today or can you live in a place like that? One night he just broke out laughing. Gas, no, nothing. 10 lifetimes. You guys. My parents lived in Islam. I’m going to send. My kids will always live in the slum. We could never get out of there. But because it works out hard, my kids get to go to a better school and he lit up like this and he told me the story of his three little boys, seven, eight and nine water.
01:20:21 Half an hour to get to the dirt road to get on the bus to go two and a half hours on a basketball that day, mom, no four wheel drive at the front of the scoop beep, beep, you know, and into an office to come home on the bus. So they go on like 12, 14, 15 hours a day to go to a better school, to have an opportunity, not even to get it out of Islam, but to get a better job than driving cow working in the factory. See what I’m saying? That don’t have a choice. So we all can say that you guys believe in yourself. Make a plan, have a vision. You can do it. You get born in a shithole. Dream all you want. You fact, and this is what travels told me, I’ve been to places in China where people come in from the villages and being bused in in cities in China where they built cities, the city as a city, not far from Shanghai. They built for 5 million people. It’s not even open yet. It’s got hospitals and schools and factories in supermarkets and it’s got a fence around it. So the, when Shanghai finally spills over, they’re just going to get 5 million people and go, you don’t live there anymore. You live here. And they’ll get bused there. And that’s that. You know what? I see these stuff and I see these poor little kids who, who all they’ve got. Hope I don’t come back here. You’re gonna. Feel phone run out of batteries.
01:21:38 What, what, uh, what are three places that you would say, you know, absolutely. You know, anyone who’s watching this, if you go there, you won’t come back. The same person that had been like real special lessons that you think
01:21:51 depends what you’re going for. If it’s for experienced in food and culture and richness and a contrast outside Brazil because Brazil, you’ve got the for vowels, but you get some of the best food in the world to get the most beautiful people with amazing character and personality and drive. And we’re, if they work hard, they can get it. And one of the hottest working racist in the world. So inside Brazil, beyond right up there, um, you know, a lot of people, a lot of my business partners approach, I’ve done like India, they, oh, it’s terrible. So every time I’m pregnant about four or five times, every time I’ve come back really enriched, you’re not because you just see stuff. When I went into a slump milestone event in Mumbai, the thing I took it as they’re happy, the most miserable. They’re the kind of honored that I went in there.
01:22:37 I just want to make friends and small and the kids were happy. Kids had this thing, the size of your gym on a dirt thing and admire, have cricket bowl at a type and had a stick. And that was it. That was all their toys put together and then applying to seeing no happy and they’re laughing and I appreciated what the head. And so I think in India is really enriching place to visit, just to try trying to look. Third one. Oh Man, uh, I love history and I love nature. I just love every, you know, I’m really fortunate because I say the good at or find something good in everything. There’s not one single place in the world of Brendan. I didn’t like here, but they’ve got this. It’s a shit hole. But they got that. I said always find something so I don’t know man.
01:23:19 I’m going to think the US is amazing, but it’s sort of 50 different countries is so big. It was like Australia and more because you got to go three days to see something like that there, but this whole lot of states in between and of course Europe, you know the history of the old castles and you’re saying things a thousand years old and understand that these cars were building these incredible architectural miracles a thousand years before computers were invented or anything digital that we couldn’t build today that is still standing. So I love that kind of thing. It was in Prague last year, what I’m saying? No, she. Portugal and Spain and Holland and really been fortunate to go to so many places. I’ve done theater. I can pick a third one, but I think it a strange. We don’t know enough about South America because in school we learned about us.
01:24:06 We learned about Europe, started learning a little bit about Asia, but South America. Well, there is a South America. Okay. That’s just so rich history and. Oh Man, I don’t know. I don’t even think I’ll give you my top 10. Sketch out a lovely go see the world. I’m going to back pay tell you. Just get travel, let’s say. Well, every chance you get seriously. I’ve had calls where there’s opportunity to do something in Shanghai, but you got to be there this weekend. Our discovery there. I am not going to get there. I just get to your anonymous, done it to be a couple of times once was for a movie premiere for a genesis terminated in Shanghai for the Asian premier. I didn’t know what to even. Why you want to be there. We went to look at some venues, but it turned out to be. That was a great opportunity.
01:24:46 We had a fantastic time. You don’t know. I’ve had times where you talk about the, um, putting yourself in the right position to succeed where someone said to me, hey, this is happening in the bodybuilding world, but you need to be a meeting in Pittsburgh or in Las Vegas or in Atlanta next weekend, enough flying for single meeting. I flew to have many once with them for an hour to ally to have a meeting and came home again and tell anyone just wit baby, whatever it takes wit, whatever it takes can stop, go on. But that doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense. Sorry.
01:25:23 No, it’s just going to get inside the head of tiny Dodie a little scar. So you poured out for now 20 years. The best strong men, the best bodybuilders. Basically celebrities. It, it’s quite the crown to wear as promoter. I mean, I imagine there’s amazing pressure to get it right from the athletes involved, but also amazing pressure to get it right from the fans who demand their money’s worth. How does one handle that pressure? How does one handle that without getting overwhelmed and wanting to rip out their hair?
01:25:53 You do your best, you know, and I think anyone that knows me and followers might seeing already kind of fans have developed over the years. Just now I’m all in or I’m not in at all, so I’ll give it my 100 percent best. And what’s
01:26:04 the show? Some years have been better than other years and whenever pull on up, I don’t work any less. If I had to work harder, just for example, this year is Donald. It was unbelievable because it was the 30th year anniversary in Columbus. We’re awake, light up. We couldn’t file with the baseline of pivot the year before was shit was terrible. So then I’ll just find an angle. Fond White, so that particularly here I thought okay, well we weren’t going to get the best guys in the world so we’ll double the amount of figure girls with double d, Amanda Bikini Girls will double the stroman and bringing more people will bring some celebrities we wouldn’t have got, you know, and just find a why you just find, you know, it’s breaking through a wall. If you just stand there and just try and go through the same spot, you just going to get a headache but you just hit a brick wall and you get on the buses up with my head and just do the same thing every day.
01:26:51 Do you think in a buster? No, of course not. But if you guys saw advise, you got to lift. You gotta write. You got left you. I wrote to you find a crack in any dig in. He stopped scratching in any creative spice and you pull a brick at your wife was locked up with promoting. You just don’t stop man. You’re just. If, if you try as hard as you can and if something doesn’t come up with, okay, what now and you think laterally and think big and you think, okay, but what else can I do? My wife find a way. So I love the pressure an unfilled, like there’s incredible pressure because our now I give it my all, you know, I think it be worse if I knew that I was half assed about something or a file because I was lazy or file because I didn’t work a hundred days straight or a file because you know, when partying all the time.
01:27:33 No, Nah man, I’ll just work. So I’ll just give it my. All the athletes have got so much credibility that it could have dreamed up with the professional athletes in a number of sports across the world have been a huge influence. Narrow in the direction of pro bodybuilding around the world. I’m, you know, in that upper echelon of the sport. And um, as far as donald is concerned, that’s the biggest pressure because he always says Human Jim lorimer very one, very specific, um, uh, demand better than the previous best. You know, he can’t sit still, you can’t just go to dish that up again. No. So that, that’s probably the pressure is just to keep doing better. And especially when you do well, you go, okay, well now it’s going to be hard to break because we had a bit of a lucky year. United Stated kind of just look at the athletes you get, you’re look at the big picture of how many people get and how much publicity you get, how many lives you affect, how many different experiences, how many sports you add.
01:28:27 You know, this year for example with the animals sports festival, we got in front of the um, the charity was rural children’s hospital, Good Friday appeal, which got me in front of the run for the kids and it had like 25,000 people doing a fun run on the Sunday of the Arnold so know Fort Lauderdale to get a meeting with them or go to meeting with him. And I said, you can come under our umbrella and be one of our activities were done window going under anyone we’re to ever. I said, no, that would have been to tell you how to run for kids, wouldn’t tell you where to start and stopping what clauses to do and nothing on. So all your athletes
01:29:02 after the rice can come into the animal for free, I’ll give him a wristband and I’ll bring on, we’ll just stop the rice and follow the horn or the pistol or whatever it is if you become part of us because it’s a fitness crew side and we want to say we had so many tens of thousands of people involved in activity in Melbourne for the weekend and if you work with us you can be a part of that and you can join him with publicity that we get. Nor the cameras. I’ll bring everyone to the rice because Donald’s going to be there. So good. My publicists in front of them and he said this is gonna be amazing. And we got more publicity for the advice and if ever ever had which raised and more money for the children’s hospital. So it’s just fun to white. But we added that, you know.
01:29:36 So I just think it’d be an opportunist. Yeah, man, just don’t stop thinking. It’s funny, I’m just going to digress, but just a lot with my real talk and I’ll try and help people inspire people and one of the questions we’ll get all the time is a bit lost and some of us are. All of you are. Everyone is right, but some of them were lost than others. Uh, you know, I really want more out of my life, but I didn’t know what it is. I haven’t found my thing yet. How do you know when you found your thing? And it’s a really simple answer when you find something that keeps you awake at night and white shoe up in the morning and makes you forget to eat and makes you obsessed and crazy. You found your thing while it’s on one of those people who found their thing.
01:30:18 So every single day, even with that, the analyst I’ve even with that, the experts, I get to go to the gym everyday. I’m a gym guy. I love it. Every single morning they was married, she’d say he can’t wait to get to the gym kit or how white. I love it. How does the inflammation to leave at night? Wow. I’ll go in a minute. Oh, sounds. I’ve walked in because it’s my passion and I think in life you’ve got to find three things. Passion, vision, action, passion made something that keeps you awake at night. Rather this one, passion and vision action. The three keywords mark of this to you before, so important. You can’t have econ succeeded with at least three things. Passion means that thing right where it gives you butterflies makes you crazy. It keeps you awake at night, wakes you up in the morning. There’s passion, but vision means you’ve got to be a little realistic and you go to Sockeye will.
01:31:09 How’s this gonna work and what’s my plan and what’s. What’s my point of difference and what’s my vision to make this? Because whoever almost started a studio or a personal trainer, but they’ve got no idea. For example, I say to people, Imagine I had a passion for Marta Casa, so I’m going to be the next big thing after Tesla. I’m going to bring out a car brand or a better. Have a vision for that because they got billions in our diet so you can go hand. We’re going to re invent cows with nobody. Well, I’d say you can be crazy about cost, but you’re probably not going to be that guy. So visually it’s just harnessing that back a little bit and working there and action means when are you going to take action? Doesn’t mean when you get to open your studio, when are you going to take on the world?
01:31:45 When are you going to become an actor? I mean, what are you willing to do to date? If you serious about your passionate and vision and what your action, your action is 18 hours a day that you’re a white rice people work. It might be 10 hours of you pushing yourself that eight hours to do what I said before to get your phone out and Google Shit and study things and watch successful people and go to seminars and to learn and to read and to study and to do your investigation. Do your, your, your due diligence, due diligence of that industry you want to get into, and this is why, for example, I’ve become obsessed with instagram. I study it more than I started in the school. If I’m gonna travel offsite, if we’re going to do a fitness expert, I learned so much more about it.
01:32:28 What I need to know, so I’m in a position to win, right? And posts are action in our comstock thing because I don’t have the money or the spice. The time. Okay, so sit around and watch movies and play on your phone and gossip. You know, what’s the Kardashians that’s going to get your head instead? What’s Gary v or what? Someone who just got some answers and some inspiring shit and some great messages. So that’s what I mean by active. If you guys are serious about doing something for yourself, go home and start tonight. They go Monday morning, I’ll stop my daughter while you’re gonna. Go with chips like it’s crazy when you break it down and understand the psychology of what we do to self sabotage. It’s much bigger will file.
01:33:11 That’s actually a great segue into what I want to talk about next, which was when you do start on that path and and I, I certainly have copped a fair bit as I’m sure you have as well, but when you do that on that path and you’ve got that idea and you start building it and you become even a little bit successful at it, it does attract a certain amount of negativity and haters and this is the thing that I find and it used to affect me a lot more than obviously it does now. Now it’s just water off a duck’s back, but in consulting with a lot of trainers from all over at one of their biggest problems and their biggest hurdles to overcome is once they put themselves out out there, they’d become successful. Is the cheap shots and I think. I don’t want to say it’s obviously it’s only the fitness industry, this kind of thing, but I think the fitness industry in a way has a certain way of doing it to their own. That is probably a little bit unique than other industries. We seem to be very good as the fitness industry to tear each other down rather than build each other up. What’s been your experience, and I suppose, how do you handle it?
01:34:04 My experience has been it’s all industries, the automotive industry, and they spray paint is no tearing of the spray paint is down. It’s, it’s universal. It’s just we’re in this. We think it’s all about us. It’s not um, so how do I deal about it? And it’s not to put you down, it’s just to say, just open your mind up as a universal thing. It’s just mad. Just people what they can’t. They don’t want what they can’t have, you know, and they see someone else being successful. So their fallback is to fall. He got lucky or he’s a, he’s a smart ass or whatever. So how do I deal with it? I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. I don’t respond to anyone. Never ever should you not do something because of what somebody else thinks. This is what it breaks down to. These three things will stop you from succeeding.
01:34:46 Self doubt, fear of failure and the big one, worrying about what people think. Now, if people taking cheap shots at you, it means you’re doing something right. It make everyone happy and the people that you worry about that taking cheap shots don’t like you. They want you to file and when you do, I said earlier, they’re going to say [inaudible] told you so and when you when they’re going to go all year, but he got lucky. It’s only because he made Donald. It’s funny because he made tiny Ajani because they went to wolf pack. You know, people will like that. Why would you respond to their opinion or let alone adjust your path because of what somebody else thinks so cheap shot to me is kind of the lowest form of flattery because you bother talking about me. You’re obsessed with me dot. He’ll watch my page and then leave some dumb comment more white if watching all that follow anyone that I done like that’s retarded.
01:35:41 Why would you? Why would you follow someone who don’t live in white fear moment? They give them a cheap shot. Fuck. What’d you do that in real life? Would you come up and say that, oh, you’re as tough as your phone. You know, it’s crazy. Excuse me for swearing, but you need to sometimes because this is the sort of behavior that we’re conditioned to believe is important. It’s not so I’m going to go beyond anything we saw on it’s water off a duck’s back. Don’t give them oxygen, don’t respond. If I got a dumb coming, delete block. If it’s weird, block. If it’s just dumb, delete. Don’t respond because once you respond and once even if somebody texted me, you start shooting back at them, sending messages, throwing bombs back at them, and then just assignments him. And the thing about if someone who doesn’t like you or someone who doesn’t want to see succeed as the most hurtful thing is to not give them any oxygen.
01:36:32 It’s just pretend that doesn’t exist, right? No oxygen means no response. Someone says, oh, what about sound stuff? So hold on, doing anything next. Don’t even talk about them. Give them nothing. It drives them nuts, right? But then don’t do stuff to prove people wrong. It to prove yourself wrong because I don’t can anyway, so my have become better and better and better at it or used to be yellow or wanted to fight everyone. Now I’m just like, you know, what kind of sad for them. When did you transition from that? When did you go from fighting tiny fisticuffs to then like Tony? Uh, it’s been, it’s been a work in progress, you know, certainly when, when the anility happened on you, I had to become a very responsible adult and not put myself in a position where it could be in any kind of trouble.
01:37:21 Um, probably there’s not really one map. I guess having kids to quiet me down a lot as a kid started going up with what, you know, I don’t want to be setting a bad example and it’s not always super violent, but yeah, back in the early days with the gyms, it was a pretty tough so to spice and people would test me out and respond effectively. Um, you know, and then start putting cameras in and everything’s online. We’ve got. So yeah, things have changed, but um, I’m a lot more zen person now because I think the travel is done it just accepting the world as it is and they are accepted. If someone’s got a problem with me, that’s their problem. It’s not my problem. And caring about this, this is what I’ve got to get to. You understand? Um, why would you care about what somebody else thinks?
01:38:04 Because it’s nothing to do with you. It’s actually none of your business. If somebody focusing on you and sending hateful message of saying dumb shit or whatever about you, that’s got nothing to do with you unless you asked who, who, who, they don’t care. They’re not going to come here and spend money. They aren’t going to come here and support you and your business. We can have a bar drink. So what would you care what they think? I care what my customers say. Okay, well my family is okay with the people who I love. Thank you. Know if I heard one of them is a different story, but if it’s just someone who’s just thrown bombs from a five guy next. Yeah. And what our family is a funny thing since I’ve sort of become more well known or little bit celebrity status or whatever with the animal stuff.
01:38:48 I’ve had people that have supported me all through my life. If then jumped off and became look enemies, look, wow. So you’re happy for me to be this big, but anything above that is actually hurtful to you. And now you’re going to become this absolutely obsessed incentive with making refile. I’ve had some of that. Okay, I’m not going to stop. I’m really care. You know, all my life people told me that I should calm down or don’t do this. But if I saw Europe obsessed, how are we add? I’ve met some really successful people is meeting and working with Donald and some of the celebrities and actors and, and uh, an elite athlete to the meant guess what, guess what they were working. They, they’re all obsessed. A highly successful person that hasn’t got a bathroom for the takes and just were told you that’s sensitive. No Shit.
01:39:45 So on, on that. Um, so I was just in the moment processing what you’re saying, just a process, you know, we have some shoes in the room and students watching, they start a business. They again become successful. The down the road they might have one to a couple of staff members working for them. You’ve got six James, you’ve got onward Swartz, undergrads, you have your business partner, you’ve got the IFB pro league. Uh, you know, they get overwhelmed with managing to staff in their sessions. There’s a lot of noise I’d imagine in your life. People literally pulling you in every direction that you could probably and all over the globe physically as well. Not just mentally. What tips would you give to those who are getting overwhelmed and find themselves, you know, pulling out their hair, man.
01:40:26 Just don’t overthink it. Just live in the moment. Just do what you do. Sometimes we’ll get like a film crew following me or someone will like want to me for a day and kids kept following me around and that’s when I feel it. When I see somebody else getting men in combat being Medicare, you’re okay. You put it all directions you got. Yeah. You know, look, it was um, two days ago, three days ago, I had meetings every single hour and I did a podcast was going, I didn’t even know him. How do I say Yes to podcasts? You know what a mater of fact, one guy who was doing a program on mental health is a really nice young man. And uh, he got into personal training because he watched my tv show called Muscle TV and I’d been lucky idle all these years. I didn’t know that when he reached out.
01:41:08 So this was a monumental moment for him to come and do this podcast and it was all a bit, um, exercise in wwe for mental health and stuff. I don’t get so much out of it. United bought giving and uh, and because that one I didn’t get to eat and then I had another meeting, another meeting to go my food to work. It was like 3:00. I’m like, shit, I’ll try it on an empty stomach. This morning I had a bowl of oatmeal and I’ve had nine meetings in a podcast. It’s 3:00 and I’m actually lot headed and that’s, you know, anyone watching them to go, that’s crazy, but this is just a normal diet and and when you strive for things and you take on more and more tasks, why don’t you go to get more organized off? Just put on a Pii for the first time ever.
01:41:46 But my dad buy a. can they rent from us? You need to get an assistant like you’re crazy because I’ll say yes, I’ll say not what I need to say no, but if someone just did a chop it, I’m like, you call, Hey, can I come over and see you at 10:00? Just come, no, not. I brought it down and then someone says, oh, can he be some technical to Samsung compliant? And then three people rock up at once and the person that discovered this, three people also go to a 10:00 appointment. You got to pray and she’s amazing. She does runs more diarrhea more than anything else. So you do that. Be organized, but I’m. You’ve got to choose what you want to do, so what I’m doing now, I’m finding as I get busier and busier, so now I’ve got three or four other projects and my general manager who runs all the animal stuff and a little bit with the teams who was formerly my producer for the TV show.
01:42:33 He’s known me for a long, long time and he’s identified my strengths and weaknesses very, very well, so it’s been very helpful to have an objective person, you know, the sort of point that out and the. And he said to me, fees are you guys. You’re not good unless you’ve got some many impossible challenge in front of you as you achieve one thing. You’re looking for another mad long enough. The thing, and I know that some are okay. That’s cool. That’s one of the adults being good for it because it’s so massive every year. It curbs it for them. Doing some of the gyms and the pro league stuff, so other competitions around Australia thing. I’m running over 20 shows this year around Australia. I’m an opposing clinics and all that sort of thing as a whole and that’s another team of stuff I’ve got working full time on that and then there’s my personal stuff.
01:43:16 So with Marvin, relentless momentum talks and I’m writing a sideshow to so you’ve been to the relentless, the early studies have faced to or that’s going to be a bigger thing and what we’re doing a little bit about what you’re doing earlier and we’re going to go to a bigger audience. It’s going to cost them less but take it to messages. So I’m working on that and I’m working on a book and I’m working on a docker and a couple of other things and a new podcast upstanding. So I’ve turned 15, a 10 businesses into 15 new challenges and spreading myself thin. And Tina, I just figured, you know, I wouldn’t if I couldn’t, if it wasn’t capable of doing, I wouldn’t have thought it up in the first place. So to anyone out there that’s struggling with balancing all that, just find something you love doing it.
01:43:59 It’s not a chat. It’s nothing to me. Said, I just wish I had 20 ideas in a day and I wish there was a pill you take on an operation you could have never had to sleep again. I’ll be the first one, man. Art, do you want to start with me? So I want to give the audience as much of you as possible in the way I do that is to play the one word game. So if you’re not familiar with one word game, basically I’m going to give you a word and you’re going to give me a one max. Maybe two to three word responsive. For example, James, I the same legs. Someone might say swats, right? So it’s a word association game. So you ready? Did you play? Ready? Alright. Australian bodybuilders go to the next one. So it was already a Dodi’s brand. I’m away from home on the weekends. No such thing. The greatest bodybuilder of all time. Ronnie Coleman, greatest sportsperson of all time. Muhammad Ali, millennials. Give him a chance. Big Box gyms. Nothing. Not My world. Biggest supplement lie. Take this and you’ll look like me. Bodybuilding, magazines, dead. Finished. Goodbye. The fitness industry. Amazing. Wonderful. Growing personal trainers,
01:45:27 good and bad. Favorite color? Couldn’t give a far.
01:45:35 I was expecting like black or what? We’ll go with that on camera, right?
01:45:44 Little guy to have her favorite color is a respected colleague. Olympia.
01:45:51 Speak to a colleague or peer? Jim Mangon. Favorite motorcycle chopper.
01:45:59 Something that pisses you off. Who the chew loudly, not one of those in class at the moment yet? Something that you love?
01:46:13 Life. Favorite pastime?
01:46:22 Favorite? Five point four. Five. That’s a good question. Training, training as a business. You like shopping at
01:46:30 off? None.
01:46:32 Oh, okay. There’s this one shop. So long story short, quick answer. It’s a men’s clothing shop from London that’s in South Africa. And one of our go there. I’ll get enough clothes for a year. Suits or no? No, no. I’ve got a suit maker. Um, no it’s just like, you know, just cool. Ship a book to Schumpeter around
01:46:52 five. And finally a favorite arnold movie. Terminator two. Oh, nice one. Um, they say that just to, I suppose wrap up a couple more questions. Three more questions, but they say that the, you, you become the product of the five closest people to you now it really doesn’t get much bigger than arnold swartz. Nigga, I’m in terms of that. So one a is that, is that saying true? And two, how has your relationship with Arnold affected you? On a personal level?
01:47:25 It, it’s true to a point, um, when you’ve got so many worlds colliding, like I do have this not really five people, five people in each world. It was 10 worlds going on, but Deonald world as it has impacted me enormously. Um, being someone who always had a lot of self belief and big dreams to start with when that comes to fruition and your auto becomes your friend that, that started the biggest injection of confidence and belief that you could ever have. So that’s affected me enormously. It’s my me even more believable, I can do anything and be anything. And personally he’s been such a great mentor, um, with business, with life, with dealing with shit, with personal stuff. Um, and just say how, how to act at that next level. So when you’ve just got like a GMO or working in a shop or something, it can be one way and then as you become more of a lady become a certain way.
01:48:28 So when I say the greatest leader that I’ve ever met, then that rubs off on me and I start seeing traits in him. I think, okay, I need to be more of that. So he’s taught me without trying to be a teacher. He’s taught me so much just by being in his presence like he’s the most curious person you could ever meet. So when we ask people questions, I can be a driver, can be a chef, can be in an uber and a genuinely ask people, where are you from, what’s your background? How did you get here? And then remembers it and tells the story later on that night or whatever. And I thought, wow, you know, it’s really great to might feel people feel important. But as you become more famous or more you rise in your world, that importance means even more to someone.
01:49:12 So it’s made me realize, you know, don’t just be a dick. We’re focusing on, hey, can I get a Selfie, make sure you ask them a question and give a little back because people have done that to me and helped me to elevate since Monday. We want to give back a lot more, you know, when he talks about these six elements of success and he says, give back. I thought that was about giving money to charity or something. It’s not, it’s giving back to the human rights. So I think um, he’s might be honestly made me a much better person, much better leader, but presented me adult as far as just being in that moment of, of giving you know, long answer. But that’s, I hadn’t really thought about it, but that’s usually where you get your best answers, right? Or what
01:49:52 to do now is open up to wolf pack for questions that you have for Tony. So who would like to pop up their hand and ask Tony a question? Yes. Ellen, turning off to hear you speak this morning, it’s clay that damn you remain if a contribution and what you really value, what fitness brings to society and you’re not clearly just an entrepreneur for the sake of it. You actually really do believe in what fitness can bring. So with so many things going on, um, and you know, in your life and all these different businesses, how do you prioritize things like, not for me for instance, I’ve come, you have to an opportunity where I can work with adolescents and victims of crime and bringing fitness to them. Um, I value also also value what fitness brings to to people and mental health and stuff, but it may not be the best for my business and in relation to income and stuff like that, how do you prioritize and how have you prioritized things like that where you feel like you’d get that connection in that fulfillment from it, but you’re juggling with, like I said, income and all that kind of stuff.
01:51:03 I’m just basically know choosing the right path and what to chase. Yeah.
01:51:09 My Age. I’ve never been driven by money, which is probably where I’m sure that some of the things I do lot with gyms and expose of protocol made more money if I was more financially conscious. So maybe the wrong person to answer this because I think that if passion is your number one thing, that money will come at some stage. And for example, the first public speaking over did was to a group and under remember this because I do the sharing the lumber theater in Bendigo few weeks ago, which was the old Bendigo jail and they’re just spending these millions of dollars and turn it into this beautiful theater. And um, my first ever public speaking thing, I was 19. I was working with gym and it was a prison guard to said, can you come out and talk about health and fitness to the prisoners? Because they’re a bit lost and they need someone like you.
01:51:52 And I was really jacked up for a young girl. You know, it’s going to come and talk about bodybuilding and fitness. And I didn’t stop and think I’ll have to cancel a client or take the time off work. I thought what a great opportunity. And I went and did that and that opened up a world of public speaking. Never had, have gone on for what a baptist $20 an hour. I just lost. I never would have gone, you know. And there’s been times where I’ve gone and worked on, for example, a next week, three weeks time or, or backstage that Mr Olympia doing all the interviews. I’ve never asked him should I get paid for that because what that does from our profile and look on bodybuilding kid, man from a little country town, I’ll get to stand there. Phil Heath whites for me, this is crazy.
01:52:34 I couldn’t have thought that shit up because I’ve never been worried about about that. So I think when you get an opportunity you should take it and not even care about the money. And if you can’t pay your bills and you’re to go, okay, I need to back off on the giving a little bit and work more on getting my bills paid. But you never know what opportunity might open up. You know, when I, when I talked about muscle TV, so when, when I had an opportunity, I wanted to be a TV presenter all my life, always wanted to be on TV. I still want to be an action movie star. So my secret dream, I never tell anyone and I don’t know if it’s too late or not, but I’m just keeping it open just in case because it looked like a bad ass.
01:53:09 Right? And it might be, I sit down when you do the next expendables, think about it. And I’ve been drinking with randy couture, who’s also in, randy mentioned a lot and I still own a manhole Kogelo hey, you need this. So I’m telling all of them and, or maybe with a rock next month. So it was a brother Rela. Anyway, beyond that, we also with that, uh, with muscle TV. So they needed a host and I didn’t have any budget and I said a Micronesia, I’ll do it for free. What I gotta do it for free. And I did a whole season for free and took up so much time at the time, my staff and my. And what are you doing that for you? You don’t know what you going to have Tom. We’re going to get someone into the Canada. I’ve got to be.
01:53:53 You’re going to put everyone in dod shirts and background. I’m going to brand and gonna. I’m to get something out of it, but short term, don’t worry about the money because I want it to be a TV presenter and I couldn’t afford at the time to go to if there was a school or a university for TV presenters, I would. I couldn’t afford it to to rent the space, couldn’t afford to park my car if I had a car, let alone be a TV presenter. So did it for free and then the next stage and come again, I will do it for free again. And it became very successful and they gave me a little bit of money, but it was never a whole lot of money. Then I became the whites coaches, the football club, which I loved all my life and the pay was terrible and I had to go there three times a week, take time off from the gym, and it was when the club was and have a big budget, you know, we’re going to lose 10 grand in new guard coming after us and go 300 because money be happy, whatever.
01:54:41 I never did it for the money, but what that did for my profile and what that did for my media and what that did for me, running onto the MCG with the players, you know, some stuff I never could have imagined. So outside men take your opportunities. Don’t ever say no to anything. They’re not late to the native. It’s costing you money back off. But there’s a good answer. Can you just repeat what your favorite book Shantaram was? Barley. I, I’m Gregory. David. Robert. To think you know, the JDA is about an Australian girl who was a heroin addict bank robber who broke out of prison and went to India and reinvented himself and became like a medic in the slums in Mumbai. And it’s an incredible story if it’s a very spiritual book, um, were you guys into the hills and Afghanistan as a freedom fraud artists?
01:55:33 Just crazy story to mostly true story. And the why he writes, he talks about the lessons he learned from the elders and the hills and the people in the slums probably gave me a fascination of travel and some Indian stuff and all that. You read it by, Huh? What a story man. What a trip. It’s just a really good book. I was going to say out, don’t those progress with those too cliche. But um, as a book, never read. I’ve never read a fiction book in my whole life. That one’s probably a little bit of fiction, but it’s scars biography. And it was a Melbourne boy skype from pentridge. Yeah. Shantaram S H I n t a r I am. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. One more question if we have it.
01:56:18 When you’re talking about when you were doing. I’m speaking for free on bustle TV and then looking at putting Dodi shirts and so forth in the background. So forth, uh, combining the run for the kids with the Arnold Classic, how do you find that way of lateral thinking, where you, where you find that opportunity where a lot of us would just be focused solely on that event or getting that specific thing running. How do you have that? I don’t, I don’t want to call it foresight, but that thought of lateral thinking to that. Yeah.
01:56:51 Mostly. I don’t know how I’ve got it. I’ve never thought about it, but I’m thinking all the time or don’t stop and last just told me what else is there. You know, it’s, it’s just a way of thinking. It’s why I’ve lost it. I’ve never been any different, you know, voice, just thinking beyond the square and the voice thinking psychology, something. I kind of doing this for free, but is there an angle? Is there something we could do to promote or to get the message to more people? Even when I did my real talk, even though it’s spontaneous and it’s action and there’s so much psychology goes into it, even when I do this stuff, if you want to do a talk, um, I’m thinking about a housing scrub so it’s not really handle. I think I’ll just say if you don’t think that I’ve always just, just look beyond, don’t be driven just by the money and the aspect of, okay, if I’m in this space, what else can I do?
01:57:44 Like when I travel, for example, and I might be in Brazil, so I wouldn’t just go to all the top restaurants that we’re eating it or find it where the locals eat and fondant with the locals do and I’ll get a die to myself and our buzzer off somewhere else. So it was just always just think what else? What else? What else is there? Yeah. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I don’t know. I’d probably have to be examined by a psychologist to find that out. He mentioned that the poor poor person doing that interview. Um, yeah man. But I just think you’ve got to be. Look, I’ve always been more of an opportunity in a planner. I think that’s probably the best answer to some people. They just plan and plan and plan will last going to kick you in the balls to go upside down.
01:58:24 So don’t over plan anything because you don’t know. But if you’re an opportunist and you’ve ready for every opportunity to live in the moment, then you can just be free. Just to think of what else, you know, funnel faults, tiny blood for example. He’s one. How many of you guys done follow me on instagram? Tony Dirty. Oh, zero. There you go. Just got 10 new followers. You know, just little things like that. So, um, final thoughts? Oh Man, I could talk. This is the thing, the, everyone’s got something they can do. I’ve always, I was seeing about driving across here and I was gonna do a little story and then I didn’t. So I shouldn’t do stories while drawing because it always gets some ambulance driver or something. Mr Are, you shouldn’t be doing that with the drawing. I just had a really good thought. Anyway, um, I was thinking driving over here that, you know, you’ve got to use what you’ve got, you’ve got to work at your point of difference and what your skill is, you know, like you hear about famous boxes I see here.
01:59:19 My Fis dropped me out of this situation. I was in my fist, took me somewhere or a great soccer player and my feet took me to great heights or my ball skills or my grief flexes. For me, it’s been my voice, the voice had disability to talk and to translate and to, even now I’m like the, I’m one of the conscientious of people if people have a fallout or can put them back together if you haven’t spoken for years. And I’ve done this with people in the bodybuilding organization to bring them together and to build bridges and just to be able to talk and have some psychology of speech. Um, so thinking about it today that you’ve got to kind of find out what your thing is. I didn’t get even better at it and to use it, someone’s always just been able to relate to people and to talk.
02:00:02 And to now what the temperature is in the room and to go into, you don’t have to execute or to back off or just to know that. So I think I’m back to your question. I think if you’re in that space and you know who you are and what you’ve got, then you can just say more opportunities in anyone else might do a final thoughts mark. I’m getting back to what I talked about earlier. Just done that other people, Ryan on your shit and unlocked. If you’ve got an idea and an ideal and a vision and a passion to do something, please, please don’t let other people talk you down or talk you out of it because you’re just going to end up like them. And people often say, when I’ve done my relentless talks in question is, um, what’s your greatest fear? Or why are you the way you are?
02:00:54 And I’ve had to really think about that. And I’ll tell you what it is. The only fear I have is regret. I fear of God is getting old and we’re all gonna die one day. And when you’re on your deathbed or having suddenly whatever it height to think, Gee, I wish I had, have tried a bit harder ahead of back myself. Had I had more self belief, had, have taken a risk. That to me, that’s the scariest thought in the world is to know that you’re wasting your life because of not, uh, uh, is there anything else after. I don’t Scott religious, I don’t want to get religious about it, but if there’s nothing else that means you got one life and, and, and, and one of are real tokes supposed to walk through a graveyard. And I always say, look at all these people, they’re all dead and everybody he had died.
02:01:38 But how many really lived? And I suggest it’s, it’s, it’s in the single digits as a percentage. You know, most people will just fall into the trap of complacency. They play it safe because that’s what society tells them they should do, have security, have safety, you know, just be normal. And if that’s not for you, then keep fighting. Otherwise you’re just going to get old and look back and go, oh yeah. I had my shot and I didn’t take it. Take your chances, you know, files doesn’t, doesn’t matter because let’s you go lisa, Lisa, I know, you know, so I think that don’t hold back and don’t be, don’t be a control by other people’s thoughts and fears and inadequacies because they’re everywhere. And where can people continue to follow you on instagram? So easiest Tony Dodi. Oh, oh, zero. Tony Devotee. One word. I was. And um, and, and you can message me there.
02:02:35 Don’t message me on facebook. I told you that because they’ll get messages on snapchat, instagram, text, email, phone, text and Mrs and Insta. And I’ll try and answer. But for some reason messenger on facebook pisses me off. I don’t know why. I believe the lady it off my phone actually instagram is the easiest way to find me and if, if I’m not like if we’re not connected it goes into another folder. But once a week I’ll check that and get back to everyone. So yeah, I’ll just, I’m pretty easy to find. I’m very public, open person. But, um, he had appreciate you following that and if you enjoy it, spread the word, but there’d be something there for everyone and it’s free. Amazing interview there with Tony [inaudible]. Hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of the wharf, Stan, with Tony. Do Him Matt on Instagram. Let’s give Tony. Okay.
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