Connect with Rhett Power on LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/in/rhettpower

For more information check out his other website:

rhettpower.com

powercoachinggroup.com

Join Russ Johns on LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/in/nextstepnext

Also connect with Russ on his other websites:

russjohns.com

thepiratesyndicate.com

​Russ Johns 0:02
Welcome to the #piratebroadcast, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings where you can expand your connections, your community. #Kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let's get this party started. It's may 5, and there's a couple of events that are probably taking on a little different flavor this year than in the past. However, that's not going to stop the #piratebroadcast from moving forward and bringing #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. I had none other than Rhett Power in the room. delivering on the goods Mic drop on the floor before we even start, Rhett, how are you doing?

Rhett Power 0:50
I'm awesome, man. Good morning to you.

Russ Johns 0:52
Thank you so much for being here.

Rhett Power 0:54
Yeah, it's I'm delighted on Cinco De Mayo.

Russ Johns 1:00
You are currently in Brazil, and you've lived in multiple countries. One of the things that we all have to worry about or not worry about but we're challenged with right now is our living circumstances and how are you holding up? How are you doing? You're doing okay these days?

Rhett Power 1:21
Yeah, man. I am busier than I thought I was going to be asked for sure. I mean, I'm actually the business is actually growing. I mean, people are, they need coaching more than ever, right? They need advisory services more than ever. My business is actually growing. I thought, wow, I'd have a couple months break or even longer. I thought it might even kill the business early on, but it's not I'm busier than than I was, and I actually wish I was spending more time with kids and enjoying the downtime a little bit, but that hadn't happened.

Russ Johns 1:59
Yeah I've talked to several people that are in the same situation, especially in the world that we live in, and you've been mobile, you've been remote you've been able to coach anywhere. The reality is that we have an opportunity to assist others in kind of adapting to this situation, this circumstance. What kind of advice do you first think about delivering to someone that's maybe even struggling with remote work or a change of perspective in what the future might bring or hold or get rid of some of the anxiety that people have experienced recently? I mean, there's so many different things that people are are concerned about.

Rhett Power 2:49
That's a great question and one that seems to be part of the conversation every day, right? How do you get yourself through this and I think that's a very personal sort of thing. I think there's some general, obviously some general things that people can do. I think activity, going for that walk, going for that run doing whatever, not forgetting the sort of take care of yourself first kind of thing that I kind of believe in. When I was struggling in my first business and stuff, I didn't do any of that stuff. You just feel bad, you're not your best self, you're not making great decisions, when you aren't sleeping well, and eating well and doing things that sort of make you who you are. Don't lose that. I mean, there are some things I can't do because I there are things that we can't do that are sort of out of the question right now. You can still go for that walk with your spouse or your significant other right. You can still go for that bike ride with your kids, you can still do Some of those things that bring joy, getting the right sleep, getting in to eat as well as you can right now in some places that's harder than places. I mean, that's harder to do than others. Some of the things that are really important to you. Being healthy, get out of the negative, i don't surround myself with people who are negative all the time.

My attitude through this whole thing has been great, but I've made it a real conscious effort not to call on those people and call those people in my life that just suck that energy out of it, you know, I've intentionally not talk to those people, because I don't need to be negative. That's right. There's no point in that.

Russ Johns 4:48
Yeah. It's really important, I think for everyone to you, especially business owners, entrepreneurs, people in this startup world that you deliver a lot of assistance and support to, I think it's important for us to really dig deep and really stay positive. Put that put that emotion and, almost use it as fuel to power through to the next level because this is a time where we have an opportunity to kind of craft our skill to the next level, use some of that. Like yourself, I'm busy right now I've got a lot of projects going on, I've got a lot of things taking place. I've been expanding the pirate syndicate and I'm excited about things that are taking place and I'm also cautious about the people around me and being exposed to like you said, the toxic environment that some people have allowed themselves to get in and it's like, I don't have time for that. I got I got things to do and It's talking about startups.

Rhett Power 6:02
Uh huh.

Russ Johns 6:03
The startup mindset is and the emotions that go along with it. It's a roller coaster anyway. I suspect that you probably coached a few people through the this, like, Oh, I can't do I suck. It's like, yes, we're winning today. Then it's like, oh, yes, I got a phone call, I got a client. It's just that that emotional roller coaster, that it's a kind of a, almost like his DNA you have to have and not everybody's cut from the same cloth. We kind of got to understand our own abilities and some of the things so what do you recommend for startups that are, I don't know if there's, I don't know if this is the best time to do a startup or the worst time to do a startup. I personally having being a startup. I think it's the best time for me.

Rhett Power 7:02
Yeah.

Russ Johns 7:03
I've been working on this project for years, developing some of the things that are taking place right now. What are your thoughts on that? I'd love to hear some of the feedback from from your side.

Rhett Power 7:15
I started a company in 2007 co founded a company 2007. Then a few months later, the recession hit, right.

Russ Johns 7:24
Yeah.

Rhett Power 7:25
For me times, like this is a time of real opportunity. I mean, you think about what came out of the recession, and in the great recession in 2008. I mean, we had doober, we had Airbnb, we had all these really game changing companies. In my own company, if I actually hadn't had that recession, I don't think we would have survived. I mean, we were just getting we were struggling and struggling. The in the recession actually gave us an opportunity in an intro into businesses because they were suffering so much. They were are willing to take a chance on a new product. Whereas, for the first six, almost a first year and a half a year or so that business, I got the door slammed in my face every day. We don't need you. We don't need a new product, we're doing just fine. To me, like this is the time of opportunity. I mean, think about the small businesses that need need are going to need capital, they're going to need new ownership because they're going to go out of business. Think about the places that are going to be available for new restaurants, new storefronts, new, whatever it is you want to do, right?

Russ Johns 8:37
Yeah.

Rhett Power 8:38
There's going to be a real opportunity for Acquisition entrepreneurship coming up. I look at it as a great time of opportunity. Sad. I mean definitely I mean, the loss of life in the law businesses is not great. I don't want an Applebee's. corner. I don't want to Chili's on every corner, right? I don't want I don't want that to be the only thing that's out there. I have business and and medium sized business give us variety. They give us, you know, great product. I think that's important. I say, look, if you're a small if you're a startup right now, look at this as an opportunity to really understand, to get open new markets, new opportunities, new ways of doing things, maybe the business. Maybe your business is going to be completely remote. Now, maybe you don't need that huge office space that you were thinking you might need when you scale up, right? Maybe an opportunity to think about your business in a different way. Then go after people. I mean, we've got what 30 million people now probably more who are going to be unemployed than me. This is a great time to grow to get talent.

Russ Johns 9:55
Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

Rhett Power 9:58
To bring people into your organization. That you've been that you know, you need. I think for operative for money, I mean, I think there's going to be still money out there for for opportunity for entrepreneurs, I think if you have a good idea, you have a good plan, you have the team to execute on that plan. I think there's going to be still money available to you help start up.

Russ Johns 10:21
Well, you bring up a great point, right. I think that there's for the people that are willing to put in the time and the creativity. I think that's just like you mentioned in the last recession we had where Uber showed up, Airbnb, some of these creative, these creative outcomes. That really changed the industry. I think what I see is a lot more relationship building, and a lot more community building around ideas and concepts. If you take a couple hundred years ago, there you had smaller communities, you had crafts people providing everything in the in the local community. I was talking to Lorraine in Ireland. She's doing organic farming where she's delivering from farm to table in a delivery mode. I love that idea. Those kinds of concepts where it's, you don't necessarily have to be the next Uber or Airbnb or Facebook or Google, you can have a very good community based system. Like you said, If you got the systems in place, you've got the ideas in place, you got the people in place, the money will find you it'll rise to the top and I think people don't need to become discouraged about what they don't have. They need to become encouraged about what they could have.

Rhett Power 11:57
Right focus on you're now where you are today. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't mean you don't dream big, it doesn't mean that you don't have. I mean, I always, we had a sign over our door that said be significant in our toy company. Right. We didn't start out as a significant player in the toy industry. Right? We didn't start out with ad products in 100, you know, 35 countries, we started out in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with a bunch of beach stores in one product and basically a garage. It's okay to have dream big, but focus on your now and whether that's in your community and a lifestyle business. That's okay.

Russ Johns 12:36
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it at all. I want to learn more about what you're doing now in terms of you're abroad you've been living in multiple countries, what are some of the things that are very similar that are universal in the world that people can relate to? I believe that people are people anywhere you go it's not necessarily that another country is like completely different you could be walking across the countryside and it could be just exactly like another piece of the country and so people are very similar so when you're coaching individuals. I'm sure there's some local community culture differences however it's not substantial in my opinion, and I just kind of want to get your feedback in real time. Kind of ideas and thoughts about that.

Rhett Power 13:35
Yeah. I coach people all over the world. Most of my coaching client list is in western, in Europe and in the United States. I my practice is based out of Washington DC but because of a family situation we do live all over the world and then early on I was working with USA ID on USA ID projects and stuff. I think we're on country number nine or 10, I can't remember. You're right, people are all the same. I mean, whether you're in business and in Yugoslavia or the former Soviet republics, or Africa, the United States, businesses face the same problem, I mean face the same problems, I mean, money management product and supply chain and good management or bad management. However, you look at it.

They're all the same. I mean, yes, governments are saying different and regulations are different. All in all, I think you see the same kind of problems over and over again, and a lot of that stems from leadership and it stems from management, and whether that And there are all kinds of elements to that. Right. But, the biggest difference for me is getting used to working in different time zones and,

Russ Johns 15:12
yeah, and stuff.

Rhett Power 15:13
That's all. But in general we faced the same problems that we face face the same issues, and there's not a lot of difference. In that, I mean, there are cultural barriers. I remember as a toy company, I tried to work here in Brazil, where we are now, we tried to get interested into this market, it was really tough because of the tariffs and import tariffs. We actually failed to get into Brazil because of the cost of doing. So there are barriers. I mean, we all face different barriers to what we're trying to do.

Russ Johns 15:51
Yeah I want to kind of shift gears a little bit and I just want to acknowledge a few people that are in the room Gabriel's here and Jason Hear today. Darren, thank you so much for being here, Vicki big companies resulting in the 2008 recession, inspires people and it's possible make a difference. It's important to look at why these companies started, and the problems they were solving over was so simple. This is some of the information that we can actually look toward and think about the creativity, and ultimately, around the world. I think you probably talk about this for a long time is solving the problem and delivering the results is going to be the most important part of the equation. That's usually the thing that's going to be really important for us to think about when we're starting a business is what problem are we solving what value are we bringing to the table? What gets you excited about solving problems or bring value or producing results? What inspires you to get up in the morning and make a phone call to a client or talk to somebody or take action on something? What is it that really provides you with the fuel that provides you with daily goals?

Rhett Power 17:15
I think a couple things I love to help people I realized. I quit my job when I was 29 years old, and I joined the Peace Corps and I learned and I went overseas and I was a college teacher. I learned that I really love teaching and I loved helping and and people.Well, I like seeing that light bulb go off and people's, mind and helping them find the solutions. Sorry, we have a loudspeaker coming through the neighborhood here. You can probably hear that as your Portuguese lesson today.

I like that, thatt gets me up in the morning. I also like to win. When I see my clients when I take a little bit of that victory, because I helped them get there, and so that gives me a lot of satisfaction but most importantly, I like to see people get what they want, right I help I like helping them get early to go and I that gives me a lot of joy. It's why I do what I do now is why I'm a coach because I've I figured out a few years ago that I really enjoy I really the those moments where they get what they want, they get where they want to go and and I've helped them do that, that it gives me a lot of satisfaction. I've kind of found my second career my second calling my the thing I'm supposed to be doing, When you when you find that it's not work. We were talking before we came on about how business We both are right.

Russ Johns 19:01
Yeah.

Rhett Power 19:03
I love it like I, the last couple months has been kind of invigorating. Right?

Russ Johns 19:10
Yeah.

Rhett Power 19:13
This I mean, when you help somebody through this kind of crisis and think through their strategy, and think the problem and come out on the other side of that stronger and more confident and actually focused on where they need to go, and that's very satisfying.

Russ Johns 19:31
Absolutely, absolutely. I hadn't thought of it in quite that perspective. However, I do admire and appreciate and love the teaching aspect. It's been it's been a thread throughout my life in and also, something that I've truly enjoyed, and helping people solve problems. It's like this navigation through uncharted waters where you're thinking, Okay, I've seen Before this looks like something we should pay attention to. When you could help someone navigate through that process, it's so satisfactory, and it's so satisfying. It's really a powerful thing. I want to talk a little bit about you the power lunch live that you created in some of the things that they kind of bring that to life. The live streaming, for me right now is kind of what I'm really focused in. I've been building the pirate broadcast and the pirate community and kind of eating my own dog food and testing these systems out and producing results and doing that QA and analysis and bring it to others. It's really, to me, it's like this. It's a live experiment and it's ability and opportunity to kind of experiment through this process and So talk about the power lunch live and what that brings to the table.

Rhett Power 21:07
We're almost a year old. I mean, we started with LinkedIn live and I hadn't really done a live. I hadn't been doing Facebook Live or any of that before I got on LinkedIn live almost a year, actually, a year ago,

Russ Johns 21:21
Oh wow

Rhett Power 21:23
Have our year anniversary. So and I think we've done almost 200 interviews. Now, it's been great. I mean, I I did not think of it. When I came on to the platform. I didn't think of it in the context of a year down the road. I didn't think of it in the context of what this would mean for building thought leadership and building a presence on on on LinkedIn itself.

Russ Johns 21:53
Yeah

Rhett Power 21:55
Man has it just really transformed. My sort of Content Strategy and my thought leadership strategy completely. Before I was writing for ink and I was writing for Forbes and writing articles and a couple books and all that was great. What LinkedIn live did with the power lunch live did was sort of bring all of that together as one sort of cohesive strategy. I look at it as it's not only the live broadcast, but, it turns it these things turn these live broadcasts turned into articles on Forbes and Inc and other platforms. They turn into podcast episodes, they turn, and so, and using the articles on those other platforms ti, I do a book review for Forbes and so having the author's from those book reviews on the program to talk about, you're the best selling books or it is sort of just made my my content strategy sort of cohesive? It's been a lot of fun. I mean, work with David prior to release.

Russ Johns 23:12
Yeah.

Rhett Power 23:13
The first music videos on

Russ Johns 23:16
I love David's stuff.

Rhett Power 23:18
A lot of me have done some great leadership broadcast around Coronavirus with panels. Just was just helping with a small business effort and having a live show with Brian Schulman on on small business stuff. I mean, the call the cooperation I mean, I'm on your show now. I hope you're gonna come on mine. It just like the people that I've gotten to meet,

Russ Johns 23:49
yeah,

Rhett Power 23:51
I just wouldn't have had those opportunities to have those conversations without being on this platform. I think it's been fantastic. I mean to me It's been really remarkable and a lot of fun. I booked gigs, because I went to last year went to Europe twice. Because of it. I was supposed to go to Spain in a couple of weeks to do web it live from webinar on LinkedIn. It's been great. I'm having a blast with it.

Russ Johns 24:27
It's almost like it's opening up a president, you don't really know what it is, and you can't really discover it until you've been there a while? It's like, oh, it's almost the same thing as a startup where you're not really you kind of create what direction you want to take it. It's almost How big do I want to grow? How much do I want to spend and how much to how much time do I want to invest in it? I mean, I'm fully invested in it because I've been doing this I used to live stream five years ago, when technology wasn't really ready for it,

Rhett Power 25:07
right

Russ Johns 25:08
You're used to seeing it. It's like, okay, I've been podcasting, broadcasting and all these things. Now I'm just so excited about seeing people like yourself that are thought leaders and doing things, Brian's another one, he's going to be on the show, Dave is going to be on the show these connections, and these conversations are, I think, are so important right now in this point in time, that we can actually get involved and engaged and find other ways to share information that is, is relevant to today right now.

Rhett Power 25:39
Yeah.

Russ Johns 25:41
What's ironic now, and unfortunate is that the newscasters are doing the exact same thing. It's like in our platform, well, I used to have an organization called the future media Association, and I used to talk about all of these new technologies and, train people on how to use them. Not everybody understood that, hey, you are the media, you are the opportunity to share your message, your gift, to be seen, be heard and be talked about. That's the whole thing is, you know anyone that wants to step up and learn the technology and put themselves out there and share their ideas. I think two things happen to is one, you start to almost improve your thought process and what you want to say because you're saying it's like, practicing an instrument. My thoughts become clear because I have to be on point. Then I have I have to articulate these ideas in a way that people can understand and appreciate. I have to bring guests on that people are going to get excited about.

Rhett Power 26:53
That's right.

Russ Johns 26:53
So here we are.

Rhett Power 26:57
I agree, man, it's it is fantastic. It's a great new. I just think we're in this really fascinating time. Right and the ability to do this and to get your message out there if you've got something really important to say, you have a mechanism to get it out there now, right now, it's work. I mean, no, there's no illusion about it. I mean, it's work.

Russ Johns 27:24
Yeah, it does work. It does take effort. So

Rhett Power 27:27
yeah, you can grow your audience.

Russ Johns 27:30
You can grow your audience. You can, it doesn't. I mean, if we're impacting a few people every day, it's still an impact, right? It still matters. You've got business as a result of this. You've got clients, you've got connections, you've had conversations that you wouldn't normally have. Just stay in the game. Just Just be consistent in and go out and play every day. So that's, you know, make it happen

Rhett Power 27:57
Amen to that brother. Amen to that.

Russ Johns 27:59
Yeah. Well, I really truly appreciate you stopping and taking time to do this in and sharing your gifts with the world and loved happy to be on the power live launch in power lunch live. Let's keep in collaboration I know that we don't have as much time today as I'd like to spend with you. Let's get together and stay in touch and I look forward to the next opportunity.

Rhett Power 28:27
All right, and let's do that.

Russ Johns 28:29
Thank you so much. As you know, #kindnessiscool. #smilesarefree, and you #enjoytheday.

Thank you for joining the #piratebroadcast. If you found this content valuable. Please like comment and share it across your social media channels. I would love the opportunity to help others grow in their business. #Thepiratesyndicate is a platform where you show up we produce the show it's that easy. If you want to be seen be heard and be talked about, join #thepiratesyndicate today.

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