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Audio digitally transcribed by Otter.ai

Introduction 0:01
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.

Russ Johns 0:19
And I'm super excited excited about the pirate today in the #PirateBroadcast™, because we have Ryan in the room and Ryan is a pirate number one, he actually owns a sailing yacht. So, Ryan, good morning, how are you doing?

Ryan Foland 0:34
Good morning. This is bingo right here. This is my pirate ship. This is if I'm not speaking, this is where I want to be sailing right here. Catalina Island.

Russ Johns 0:45
Well, this year, you can go speaking out on the deck and and access people and make sure that people have access to you as well.

Ryan Foland 0:55
Absolutely. You know, what's funny is that I always try to find things that I enjoy and overlap them. And so there have been many podcasts which I've been asked to be on. And a typical question and response is, do you mind if I am on a boat during this podcast? And they're like, what? And so I created what I call the boat cast. And I basically hook up my phone to streaming take the boat out for a little harbor cruise. And I've done quite a few podcasts in a boat cast format. So yes, taking full advantage.

Russ Johns 1:26
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And that's kind of the theme of what I want to talk about today with you because you wrote a book, you know, stop the act.

Ryan Foland 1:36
Ditch the Act.

Russ Johns 1:37
Ditch the Act.So ditch the act. And I love this because we're actually we connected actually on Twitter. And I liked the idea of this, this philosophy that you have, just be yourself, you know, if you're on a boat, and that's what you love to do, work it into your life, you know, minimize the things that are going to be noisy and cause a lot of grief and concern and allow yourself just to be who you are and what you're doing. And so talk about how you got there, and what was the journey for you, Ryan and in terms of discovery and minimizing and maximizing your pleasure.

Ryan Foland 2:16
Well, sometimes we find the the destination by going in the wrong direction. And that's exactly what I did. I, I knew where I wanted to go, right, I wanted to become a professional speaker, and I still work in higher education and fortunately, I was transparent with them in my professional goals. And so they supported that. So as I was working in higher education, I was also trying to get more speaking opportunities. So I did everything that you think you should do, which is, you know, find platforms post on social media, you know, make sure that you're writing and all these different things. Well, nobody seemed to care about my tweets. nobody seemed to read any of my blogs, I wrote 50 over one summer actually, was super intense, and like, the more the better, right. And the reality is that I tried to present myself as something that I wasn't, I faked it, thinking I would make it and it really didn't work. However much you think that it's gonna work, it does not work. And so serendipitously, I met somebody, at a party that I accidentally got a ticket to, and it was with Keith ferrazzi, who's an epic, you know, one of the most famous sort of networking marketers, and not like not like MLM, but actually the person who would bring people over to set whose house for wine parties, he's got, like books, never eat alone, and who's got your back and is eating without authority. So I had this chance, and I was like, surrounded by all these successful entrepreneurs felt like an imposter there, but had my bow tie on was there to sort of like, show up. And he brought us all into one of his one of his rooms, this house in the Hollywood Hills, it was amazing. There's also somebody dressed in a cloud suit, playing the oboe, so it was like very Hollywood. And he tells everybody says, Okay, everybody, probably 50-60 people and said, everybody put your phones away, I want to talk to you real quick. So everybody puts their phones away. And then he proceeded to share some things that keeps him up at night. Some things that he's dealing with, personally. And this is the guy that I had read his books, I had him on this platter, this pedestal. And here, he was just being super real and like deep with us, and you could just feel the room be like, Is he really? Wow. And he's like, this isn't gonna be your normal party. This is a party where you're gonna like you're obviously all here and you're ready to show your A game. But when you get separated into dinner tables, and each plate had a different number. It was very kind of like randomized and each table had a facilitator. You had to go around the room and explain what was not going right. This is crazy, this really came out of....

Russ Johns 5:02
Vulnerability.

Ryan Foland 5:03
Yeah. So I was like, uh, honestly, I want to be a speaker, but nobody takes me seriously. And I don't understand social media. I had like 200 collective followers at that point across all platforms. Everybody goes around the room. And this other gentleman goes, Well, I've got 10 million reads, my social media is blowing up. But I can't really connect with people in person, and I just broke up with my girlfriend. So afterwards, I went up to him, I'm like, Hey, I can help you, if you can help me. And all transparency. You help me how to write and build my platform and gain traction on social media. And I'll help you, you know, with these personal interactions and become speaker and get you a girl. And at that moment, that's where I met, who was my co author, and come full circle, he was really good at helping me with things and I was helped, I was good at helping him with things. But the changing point where the wind changed in my direction, was just adjusting my sails and being like, yeah, my boats a mess. It's a little bit dirty. But I'm passionate about going in this direction. And so ditching the act is, is not only being authentic and being vulnerable, but just being like real and flubbing along the way. And I like to tell people that it's not, people don't hire you for your expertise, they hire you for your experience. So here it was hiding all of the shitty things that happened in my past. I mean, I've had a lot of ups and a lot of downs and including things that you would Google and find me and be scared of. But when you drag those skeleton bones out in front, and you're like, this is it, and let me explain. And here's how I've grown, then all of a sudden, people are like, cool, I don't judge you, I don't look at you differently. And so that was really what the Genesis was of this book. And in all transparency, my partnership with my, with the co author, it didn't work out. But that's okay. Because it's the reality. And so people change, and he's doing great things, and I'm doing great things. But it's like, the fact that I was able to research and understand the power of the book is the same thing that is helping me work through a partnership that didn't work. And we all have partnerships, you know, work, we all have friendships that come and go.

Russ Johns 7:22
Sometimes, though, Ryan and I just want to point this out to everyone is, there are times where the worst experience is the best catalyst for change.

Ryan Foland 7:34
I would say most of the time,

Introduction 7:36
Almost all the time, it's almost exclusive. However, those moments do pass, and you know, a relationship, a business, you know, contract or whatever it happens to be that moment in time. It evolves and it changes and you know, you lose people in your life, you gain people in your life, you have experiences that add to the fabric of who you become. And that's really what it's about. And, and if you're not being open and honest with yourself, who can you be honest with?

Ryan Foland 8:14
Absolutely, you know, that I try to I have found in my own life, and you know, I can only share my experience, but people didn't care about my story of success. They still don't, right? If you're out there going like, Hey, this is amazing. This happened to me people like it. But it's when people see themselves in your story, when they've gone through a situation that's similar when they've had a struggle, that's, that's similar. That's when that's when they connect with you. So building a powerful brand is, is more about convincing people that you're a lot more like them than you think. And that really like I don't want to say lowers the bar, but just removes the bar. And now you're able to be yourself and when you're yourself, life just feels better. You know, we I think we put on these facades or one way with one person or one way with another group, especially at work, you know, like I have a full time job. And my professional speaking career is off. It's running. It's cut off at the knees, but I'm still hobbling along. And so transparency, candor, vulnerability, like for me, those are, those are the secrets behind the guests that have kept me going.

Introduction 9:22
Well, and I think that a lot of individuals need to understand that. We're all standing in line. You know, there's this thing called life we're all standing in line and some people are ahead of us and some people are behind us, that's gonna always be the case. And if you can help the people behind you get to where you are. You don't need to be all the way at the front of the line before you can help someone else in line. You know, it's it's really an opportunity that you can share your information. what you've learned in the last year will help a lot of people in your like in your career. You know, there's a lot of speakers that You're struggling, you could actually talk about the challenges you've had in the last year and, and help a lot of people, you know, right when, when

Ryan Foland 10:07
initially you might think people will judge you on on what's not going right. And I'd love your opinion on this. I think social media pre 2020 very much supported the shiny things like being an influencer, everything's gonna be great, bigger, better, more followers. And I think 2020 actually slapped us all in the face. And I believe I feel like people came to social media to commiserate and take all the hate and craziness out of it, right. Like, I see that as a separate anomaly. But I think people really use social to come together. And that's where, when people talk with me about what content do I create? I don't know what to tweet, I don't know. It's like, what would you share with your friends? What do you share in conversations like? So I'm curious the difference between what social was as far as supporting shiny objects only. And I think 2020 was something that has changed fundamentally, and opened up the opportunity for people to just be more themselves instead of trying to pretend that there's somebody else I don't know.

Russ Johns 11:11
Well, and it's interesting, and I was talking to somebody the other day that we're talking about how actually, business for myself, you know, I've been a remote worker for over a decade. And there's a lot of good things that have evolved for me in business this year. You know, it's not necessarily everything has been great. However, my business has grown, my opportunities have grown and expanded. And I think it's because of just being out there, and being open and honest, and people slowing down long enough to pay attention to what's really going on. And what's really important. And I think a lot of relationships are built on, just Hey, just be real. Just let me know what you're doing. Let me know you're okay.

Ryan Foland 11:56
I liked what you said about paying attention. And I think that inherently in that phrase, there's an exchange, you're actually paying with your attention while you're paying attention. All of our lives impacted I think we all have a bit more empathy with with others. And so that I think gives us a chance to pay more attention, because somebody's just rattling off a bunch of what they think you want to hear. It doesn't necessarily resonate.

Russ Johns 12:26
Well, we jumped on, we jumped on that topic before we were we're broadcasting and the idea that you don't need to explain every detail of what you do you you need to make sure that you understand, am I the right person to help you? Am I even are we even in the ballpark? What is your primary? What is it that really is bothering you? What is keeping you up at night, right now? What's the thing that can keep you and change you and make a difference in your life right now?

Ryan Foland 12:57
Yeah. And whether you ask that or whether you know how to answer that. Those are two key components.

Russ Johns 13:02
Yeah, it's absolutely true. Hey, Ryan, I want to I want to jump in. There's quite a few people in the chat session here that we're coming back and forth. Laurie J. Scott, Good morning. Morning. Michael Baker. Mike Michael Baker in Florida and silver. Darlene in from Florida. Thank you so much. Morning pirate community. Howard Kaufman right here from sunny AZ is great point on the power and impact of effective genuine storytelling, which I want to get back to in a minute Ryan but and then experience strength and hope is another comment from Michael. And then we got the infamous pirate Jeff Young got to agree for me brand means be real and never doubt. Namaste. That's great.

Ryan Foland 13:54
You're welcome on this pirate ship.

Russ Johns 13:56
Yeah, Jeff's been on here and he inspired me to a couple of posts this week. So authenticity, Authenticity, transparency, and accountability. So Jenny Gold says Good morning, Russ and Ryan.

Ryan Foland 14:10
Ahoy, Jenny. I've officially replaced Hello with Ahoy. That's my word. I answer the phone I'm like, Ahoy.

Russ Johns 14:20
What? Is this Ryan?

Ryan Foland 14:24
Yeah, you learn pretty quick

Russ Johns 14:26
Welcome to being a pirate Ryan Foland.

Ryan Foland 14:30
It's Captain Ryan, Jeff, and as I was sharing with Russ a good life motto to live by is to work like a pirate, I'm sorry work like a captain, play like a pirate because I love captain's hold a lot of responsibility. But at the same time, you know, it's okay to to let loose and just enjoy life a little bit.

Introduction 14:53
You know, we have an obligation I think right now more than any other time in history because technology allows everyone To be the media, and it's really important for us to actually share some of these stories, you know, from where we are, what's going on, because that really makes an impact in, in our lives. And also, I think, right now, mental health issues are at a peak, you know, a lot of people are feel isolated, they feel out of touch, they feel vulnerable, in not necessarily the most positive way. Some people lost their jobs, you know, they're working to survive. And if people can share some of their other stories and relate and, and feel like they can have a conversation with somebody, that's going to make a difference in somebody's life. And I just believe that to my core,

Ryan Foland 15:54
You know, one way that I encourage people to practice ditching the act, is what I call going first. Now, when you join a zoom, or you connect with somebody before you go live, there's this there's this opportunity to sort of connect, and the typical questions are, Hey, how are you doing? What's going on? And we think, well, I have what's really going on, which is kind of heavy, or all this stuff that's like crappy. Or I could just say, I'm doing fine, Russ, how are you? Go 2020. Yay. And so there's that one single opportunity, whoever goes first will sort of lead the tone. And so if you ask me, how's it going? I'm like, Oh, it's going great. It's great, great, great. And he'd be like, Oh, it's going great. Good. Good. All right. Let's go into the show. Yeah. But you asked me and I told you something that was that was sort of devastating. That happened over the last few weeks. And then you shared something with me. That was also devastating. And so just because I went first, it gives the other person permission to go second, when secretly, that's that's how we connect. So when somebody asks you, how are you doing? Just try to be honest, it's not a pity party, but it's like I had bad dreams last night like that could start a conversation, somebody else would go, I did, too. And that's where you can bond. So as soon as you go first, being authentic or being a bit vulnerable, it gives the other person permission to meet you where you're at. So that's a really good way to just the small talk is a great way to be honest. Otherwise, it sort of skip over it.

Russ Johns 17:32
And stay relatable. Yes, don't put this Instagram face up on saying, hey, my life is beautiful, you know, look at the unicorns and the rainbows in the back here. It's beautiful. It's not all beautiful. And there are days where we, we have to admit to ourselves as as much as anyone else that, hey, this is not the best day of my life. And I know that. And I know that it's temporary.

Ryan Foland 17:58
Yeah. And that gives people the chance to actually help you and support you and, and share a relatable story or be there for you. A second way you can really practice this idea of authenticity, because it sounds weird, like, this guy's talking to us about being authentic, which doesn't seem authentic. Okay. But taking an essential situation where you're in an interview, because there's a lot of people that are looking for jobs or in transitions. And there's there's a lot of I hear a lot of chatter about like interviews, it's very important. We tend to think that we should answer questions with our resume. How is your leadership? Well, let me tell you about this. And here, I'm going to give you all the stats and year over year this and everything, right? I believe the better way to connect and be more relatable in an interview or even with people answer with a story of something that did not go right. And then share how that has changed your perspective or change your view. So you asked me about my leadership, I'll be like, Well, let me actually tell you a story. When I realized I wasn't the best leader. It was this one time here. It was kind of a fun, entertaining story. But because of that, I actually now look at things in this way. And that's why I have this experience. So in the book, we talk about an exposure resume, which is everything that you have omitted from your resume. It's all the things that have gone wrong. And when you take those, and you think of the lessons and how it relates to who you are, you have what we call this exposure bank, like literally a bank account of stories that you haven't shared, that you can pull out and help reinforce who you are in a way that showcases your experience authentically because they're your stories. Nobody else has your stories, but everybody else sounds like they're doing the year over year growth and all these other key buzzy buzz Einstein words.

Russ Johns 19:51
I've been on the roller coaster my entire life and it's not necessarily it's like I've had ups and I've had downs.

Ryan Foland 20:00
The open seas, I've been in some seas that make me as a captain queasy, but you gotta you gotta push on.

Russ Johns 20:07
Yeah, you got to push on. And it's, it's, it's not like you can get off the ship in the middle of the storm. I'm sorry, you might get tossed off the ship, but you're not going to get off the ship. So I know that this is a huge topic, and I and I understand that 2021 is going to continue to be a little bit rocky for a lot of people. So what are some what are some other tips or some strategies that you have, from your book and from your studies in your, your research that people can at least start to feel comfortable about being open and authentic?

Ryan Foland 20:47
Yeah, so I would say that actually going through the first process of this exposure resume, right, it's outlined in the book, but you can imagine how, how it feels, all the things that have gone wrong, start to track those, start to remember those, and then identify the learning lessons that you've had from it. And then consider including that in your content. So whether it's a video, whether it's a blog, whether it's a podcast, these are all opportunities to share these little these these little, sort of real moments in your life. We also talked about how you can't just like what I'm not saying is don't come out and just emotionally vomit on everyone, and expect like them to be like, Oh, I love you now relatability. It comes with trust. And so we talked about five levels of exposure. So there's a little tiny, stupid stuff. For example, when I picked up my picture of my sailboat, right here, bingo, and I dropped it, I dropped it on my foot. And my foots been aching this whole time. For the first five minutes, I was like, Oh, my foot, my foot. Stupid. But that happened in real time. That would be like a level one. And so look for these really small opportunities, like spilling your coffee losing things, start small, and then you can start to build, you know, trust with your community as you do that. And when it comes to content creation, creating content is not hard. It takes time. So we mistake it for being difficult. I encourage people to focus on creating content that they wait for it. actually enjoy creating. Okay, that's where you should start. If you like to speak, try to get on podcasts if you like to write, write, but I find that people try to create content for content sake. But the reality is that if you start with a type of content that you enjoy, you can cross pollinate and syndicated across. And for those people who want to create content, and they do the stuff that they enjoy, but they still are fearful of sharing it, create it and don't share it. Right? I have so many people that want to make videos, but they're too afraid to publish them so they never make the videos. But the best way to get your videos is making videos is waiting for writers to write more.

Russ Johns 23:15
Yeah, well, in the analogy I always use Ryan is a great pianists are great. Musicians didn't start by playing the great songs they're playing today. The first time they played it.

Ryan Foland 23:32
No. And they probably did in their basement for years. And nobody ever heard them.

Russ Johns 23:36
Yeah. So getting started is really key and also allowing yourself to believe that your people are gonna judge you, regardless of what you say or do. That's just the way life is, you know, it may be a positive thing. You know, it can be a positive thing. People say, hey, Ryan's cool, he's got a ship. He's got a boat. He dropped it on his foot.

Ryan Foland 24:05
Like, landed on my foot, by the way, first time.

Introduction 24:12
But that's relatable. That's, right. And it's like, you know, go out messy practice until you're comfortable doing it. Even if it's not perfect. In your own mind's eye. It will be more than adequate. It'll be the message that resonates with a lot of people long before you feel comfortable. I mean, I've been doing hundreds of episodes this I've got over 700 videos on YouTube. And the fact remains is there some days that it's like, I still enjoy it. I still love having conversations just like this because I know two things. It helps me. It helps me and helps someone else.

Ryan Foland 24:56
Totally. So two things to touch on real quick. He said everybody's judging us. And that's true, we are always judging. So I talked about pieces of content as what I call brand crumbs, just like bread crumbs, but the bread crumbs. And so people are gonna judge you no matter what. But if you don't give them brand crumbs to help them judge you in the way that you want to be judged or seen, then you're not taking any participation in your narrative. And so think of that little pieces of content, as, Hey, I know, you're gonna judge me, but check this out. This is what I'm all about. So if you think of it like that, like judge me, Google me, right? But when you participate in that content, it gives them a chance/

Russ Johns 25:43
Well, it's just like your story of, oh, man, I really failed at this. And the lesson I learned, led me to the outcome of being better,

Ryan Foland 25:53
Right. And there's value in that story. Now that everyone knows that you failed, it's tied to who you are today. And I feel like, especially in the startup world, when you fail, you try to cover it up and you try to hide it. You're the guy that is in this and then the other.

Russ Johns 26:11
At least it wasn't. Yeah, at least it wasn't an anchor.

Ryan Foland 26:15
Oh, my gosh, speaking of which, I just took 180 feet of five sixteenths chain to get galvanized. And yeah, things are so heavy sometimes, like when you're pulling 180 feet of chain. Yeah, I had to detach the anchor. So thank you for...

Russ Johns 26:32
we got we got so many great comments here. I just wanted to fall out. Welcome being a pirate Ryan.

Ryan Foland 26:45
I've always been a pirate, but it's good to be official. Good, I guess.

Russ Johns 26:48
Open and honest conversation, mutual understanding of loving this conversation, changes are huge, lots of opportunities be flexible, heart driven. And yes, yes. Be present, be present in the moment and opened opportunities. Like Good morning pirates, Tracie. She's, she's the producer of the show. So thanks for being here.

Ryan Foland 27:14
Is that a pirate-ducer? A pirate-ducer maybe?

Introduction 27:17
Yeah, Pirate-ducer. Want to be a pirate for sure. These are all and thank you so much, everyone for being here. And being in the comments today and Ryan, I don't want to close up or I don't want to run away today without asking about future projects and things that you have that might be on the horizon. Targeting for your next adventure.

Ryan Foland 27:45
So from a sailing perspective, I'm still working on putting my engine together, I'm getting that property tuned. And I have a rigging project that's on the sailing side. on the business side, I've decided on my next book, my publisher is interested. And it is called ditch the pitch. It's the act is all about getting rid of the stuff that's not yourself. So you can really shine. The pitch is about stop pitching people and just have a conversation with them. Because the more you talk, the less people listen. And the less you talk, the more people ask questions. And a good pitch is a conversation. So I've got this 3-1-3 method, I've got a podcast called the three on three challenge, so much traction around helping people say less, so that the person or people they're talking with, can engage more. So I'm excited about it's the pitch as a sequel to ditch the act.

Russ Johns 28:42
I love that I love that. And so many people right now need and understand that, you know, business is going to continue to evolve and change in 2021. You know, it's not like a light switch where everything changes and goes back to a certain state. Once it's been, you know, it's just not that way. And so, as we learn and jump and gain experience in these adventures, working together, being open, having conversations making connections are so important. So Ryan, like how do you like people to out you know, reach out and connect with you?

Ryan Foland 29:23
My website is a good place to start, which is Ryan.online. And my favorite platform to be on is Twitter. That's where we met and that's just @RyanFoland. And so if you want to check out the book, it's ditchtheact.com. I've got a podcast for core messaging and a podcast for professional speakers, but I'm not going to confuse you with that. I'll point you to one spot. The compass course heading to find more about me is Ryan.online. That that's all you need to know if you're interested.

Russ Johns 29:55
Go to Ryan.online. And just for everyone, just to recap this podcast, this promotion is posts, all of this information will be landing on RussJohns.com. And in all of the hundreds of other interviews that are here are all on Russ Johns. And I would love the opportunity to have you help me grow my youtube channel as well. So I'm growing YouTube this year, and I'm going to be adding some more courses and some training videos over there as well.

Ryan Foland 30:32
I am curious about YouTube as well. And you now have a new subscriber, I will subscribe and I will check it out, I will fit on the boat and see what's happening.

Russ Johns 30:41
Yeah, check it out. And I just love the fact that we had this conversation we were able to connect, you know, we have an opportunity right now in this world to make it a lot smaller and a lot more accessible to everyone. So please reach out, make those connections, tell them you're a pirate and you want to make make the connection.

Ryan Foland 31:01
And I just saw that real quick. I mean, I just I saw that you had a #PirateBroadcast™. I was like, this looks cool. And I just reached out to you. So there's a lot of mystery behind how to get on podcasts. Sometimes it's just like actually asking. So if you're here and you're a pirate and you want to find your way onto another podcast ship or this ship, just reach out, right, what's the worst they're gonna say?

Russ Johns 31:22
Yeah, it's like, the worst answer in the world is no, which actually means not yet. Not yet.

Ryan Foland 31:30
It's good, because then you can move on to the next, right?

Russ Johns 31:34
So you don't have to think about it. It's like, Okay, well, it's awesome to meet and greet and have a great conversation. Ryan, thank you so much for sharing with the Pirate community. And I look forward to more adventures in the future. And as always, you're welcome back anytime.

Ryan Foland 31:49
Oh, that was fun. I'd love to come back. So before we go, I want to ask you a serious question about pirates and test your pirate knowledge. Yeah. What is a pirate's favorite letter?

Russ Johns 32:02
Arggghhh.

Ryan Foland 32:03
No it's not. They always choose to see.

Russ Johns 32:08
They always choose to see. Yes, I love the ATM me. All right. Thank you so much, Ryan. It's been a pleasure. It's been an awesome day and have a wonderful Wednesday, a fantastic Friday and an amazing weekend. Pitch the act everyone. Pitch the act.

Ryan Foland 32:31
Goodbye for ditch the pitch coming soon.

Russ Johns 32:34
All right. And as always, everyone, thank you so much for being here because #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree and I want you to #enjoytheday. Don't go away.

Exit 32:47
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