326 Donny Deutsch on Executing Your Big Idea

"Only sell your business for one reason -- because you're ready to do something else." - Donny Deutsch If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/326 Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 326 with Donny Deutsch.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone to this episode. I am super pumped. We've got the man, the myth, the legend, Donny Deutsch on. I'm going to introduce you to who Donnie is here in just a second because he's a big inspiration to me and I'm super pumped about this interview. Now let me introduce you to our incredible guest today. His name is Donny Deutsch. And he is a TV personality and former CEO of one of the world's leading advertising agencies. He was previously the host of CNBC's talk show, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. And is currently a regular on MSNBC's Morning Joe. He is also an author and wrote and starred in a comedic series that premiered on USA Network called Donnie.

• 1:14Lewis Howes?

  Now, this is a guy that literally was inspiring me when I was on my sister's couch. Many of you who have listened to the School of Greatness for a long time now, you know about my story that I was injured. Professional football player was on my sister's couch and really had no clue what I was going to do for the rest of my life. When I was 23, 24 years old and there was this show on TV called The Big Idea by Donny Deutsch. And it was like the bible for me at the time for business and inspiration and entrepreneurship. I devoured, I couldn't wait each week for this show to come out. It was so inspiring for me. It gave me so much wisdom and I just learned so much from the people he interviewed, his process, his positivity.

• 1:58Lewis Howes?

  And I said, hey, when I do this podcast, I've got to get Donnie on because he's just been a big inspiration for me. And so many people that I've told I am having Donnie on continue to tell me the same thing. Wow, I watched his show all the time and loved his show. You know, it was kind of like pre Shark Tank. It was like the show to watch for anyone who wanted to be an entrepreneur. So I hope you guys enjoy this one. Some of the things we cover today are about the advertising industry and is it relevant today considering all the social media platforms out there? What the biggest fear entrepreneurs face when starting a company? Again, here's a guy who's interviewed everyone who really knows what it's like. He's also sold a company for a quarter of a billion dollars as well.

• 2:41Lewis Howes?

  Why short meetings are the most effective when you're running your business. We also talk about the danger of being wrapped in the pillow of success and what that actually means. The danger of being trapped in the pillow of success. I thought this was really interesting for, for me to listen to when he talked about that. And also why Donnie is fascinated by Donald Trump. Not necessarily agrees with everything he says, but why he is fascinated with Donald Trump. That and so much more on this episode with the one, the only, Donny Deutsch.

• 3:15Lewis Howes?

  Well, I'm here with Donny Deutsch. It's good to meet you. Thanks for being on the show.

• 3:19Speaker 01

  Thanks for having me.

• 3:19Lewis Howes?

  I appreciate it. I want to start off with, I like to start my days with gratitude. So I'm curious, what are you most grateful for today?

• 3:26Speaker 01

  Uh, my family. I know it sounds like a trite answer, but my kids. Uh, I have three amazing daughters.

• 3:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 3:32Speaker 01

  So that's number one by far.

• 3:34Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. And who was the most influential person in your life growing up, would you say?

• 3:38Speaker 01

  Uh, most influential by far was my dad in every way. Just informing me as a person with values. I went to work for him when I was a young man. So I kind of learned my craft under him and just learned how to behave as a man. And he's my hero. I lost him a few years ago, but he was the kind of the best human I've met in my life. You know, it's hard to be objective when it's your own dad. But just if I've met 17,494 humans in my life, he's the best I've met.

• 4:07Lewis Howes?

  Really? What do you think is the characteristic that makes him so?

• 4:10Speaker 01

  He's just selfless, uh, true to his values, honest, hardworking, loving, caring. Just a decent man through and through.

• 4:21Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. Would you ever, would you think, say there was anything missing from him? That you would have liked to seen?

• 4:25Speaker 01

  Um, no.

• 4:27Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 4:27Speaker 01

  No. No, I mean, nobody has everything, you know what I mean? Um, uh, no.

• 4:33Lewis Howes?

  No, okay, cool. Uh, well, I want, before I really dive into this, you know, The Big Idea was a huge inspiration for me.

• 4:39Speaker 01

  Oh, great, thank you.

• 4:40Lewis Howes?

  I started watching it right when I was going to play professional football, and then I got injured. And I didn't know anything about business or entrepreneurship.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  Well, I want to hear about this football, you play college ball?

• 4:49Lewis Howes?

  I played college ball, I transferred around to a bunch of D3, D2 schools. And then, um, my dream was to play in the NFL.

• 4:55Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 4:55Lewis Howes?

  And I went to the NFL Combine, I did pretty well. I played wide receiver.

• 4:59Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 5:00Lewis Howes?

  But I was a little bit too slow.

• 5:01Speaker 01

  Right.

• 5:02Lewis Howes?

  I ran about 4.640. And as a tall, white guy, it's kind of like, eh, you know, it's like a knock on me.

• 5:06Speaker 01

  You need that 4.4, yeah, yeah.

• 5:07Lewis Howes?

  So, I, uh, I went to play arena football, and then I got injured, and, um, after my, I was sleeping on my sister's couch for two years, recovering from a surgery, and I started really watching The Big Idea.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  Oh, wow.

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  And I had no clue about entrepreneurship or business, but it was like the most inspiring thing.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  Oh, wow, that's true.

• 5:23Lewis Howes?

  Every single week.

• 5:24Speaker 01

  It's wonderful to hear.

• 5:25Lewis Howes?

  And when it canceled, or when it was done, not canceled, when it was done, it was like so depressing for me. Cause I was starving for that information.

• 5:31Speaker 01

  Oh, that's nice to hear. It's, um, that was a fun show.

• 5:34Lewis Howes?

  It was amazing. It was like pre-Entrepreneur Show, pre-part, uh, Shark Tank.

• 5:37Speaker 01

  Yes, it really was.

• 5:38Lewis Howes?

  It was the show.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  It's very interesting. It was, it was actually a little ahead of its time, you know?

• 5:42Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 5:42Speaker 01

  Ended its run at the end of '08, it was on for about four and a half years, because at that point, the economy was falling apart.

• 5:48Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 5:48Speaker 01

  It was very hard to tell people, "Go for your American dream," and the banks aren't lending money.

• 5:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 5:52Speaker 01

  Uh, but yes, it was ahead of its time.

• 5:54Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 5:55Speaker 01

  And particularly, it's interesting, you look at Shark Tank, and we did a whole series on the show of like elevator pitches, where people would pitch products to three people, I mean, it really was the precursor, you know? And, uh, it was interesting, when the show ended, Mark Burnett, uh, called me, he says, "I'm bringing this show to the US, it's called Dragon's Den Around the World, it's Shark Tank."

• 6:14Lewis Howes?

  In Canada, it was big.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, "I want you to be one of the Sharks." And I had just finished The Big Idea, and I kind of didn't want to just stay in that same entrepreneurial, I wanted to go broader. So I passed on it, but they've done a great job with that. But that was, I, uh, one of my great prizes in my life is I'll, I'll walk the streets and somebody will say the very same thing to me, and it was, it was nice.

• 6:31Lewis Howes?

  It was a game changer, man, it was like...

• 6:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you.

• 6:34Lewis Howes?

  Talk about it all week. Because I didn't know anything about entrepreneurship. So you're really speaking to me.

• 6:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, and what was nice was we had everybody from Bill Gates on down to

• 6:42Lewis Howes?

  Jay-Z.

• 6:42Speaker 01

  To women, you know, the great businesses of the world, down to women who were making cookies in their basement, starting a business that way. And, you know, the lessons were all very similar. It was very interesting. You talk to any great entrepreneur and you say, what's the key to success? And they'll say the same three or four things. Find what you're passionate about, you know? Don't be afraid to fail. Keep getting up. Surround yourself with, with great people. And they also say, it's interesting, had they known what they didn't know, they never would've gone into business because it's too overwhelming. So you also need that sense of kind of like naive, you know, jubilance, if you will, to empower you to go because the obstacles, there are so many of them.

• 7:21Lewis Howes?

  Right. Now, why did you want to do that show?

• 7:24Speaker 01

  I, you know, after I sold the agency and I was kind of looking for my next act, I had, was always very visible in the media as an ad guy. I was kind of the go-to ad guy.

• 7:33Lewis Howes?

  You're on TV all the time already.

• 7:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, if they wanted comments on the Super Bowl or a celebrity or this, I kind of became one of the faces of the industry. And I, every time I did TV, I loved it. And producers would say, wow, you're good at this, you should do that. And then I started to talk to some people, some agents at William Morris. And one thing led to an next. Then I just kind of got a, we did a pilot at CNBC and then we did kind of like a weekly talk show on Sunday nights for, it was like an eight-week run. And it, McEnroe then had a show at the time that was a nightly show that wasn't doing well. And I kind of somehow ended up in that spot and it happened.

• 8:10Lewis Howes?

  Amazing. What was, what would you say is the most memorable moment from that? I mean, the most memorable interview?

• 8:15Speaker 01

  Uh, wow. I don't know if there's one interview that, that stood out. You know, it was interesting. The, the show had a bunch of different iterations. For a while, we were doing a lot of celebrity interviews, which was fun. I, I mean, the range of people. We got out to CNBC in New Jersey. It was really incredible. Then they wanted us to kind of move it a little more on-brand for CNBC. I still felt it was on-brand because it was a CEO interviewing, you know, tastemakers and six of us. But then we moved it to more the entrepreneurship thing. And, you know, there wasn't one particular...

• 8:49Speaker 01

  Interview that stood out, it was just, the whole experience was great. What would you say is the biggest challenge? Biggest challenge is doing a show every day. We're starting with a blank piece of paper, particularly a show that doesn't have the news to play off. You know, just about every strip show on television. Okay, if you're putting on a show on CNN, or MSNBC, or Fox, or even, you know, a Kelly Ripa-type show, or Today Show, or any show that is a daily show, is playing off Daily Day and Dead Stuff. What happened last night. Whereas, we're starting with a blank piece of paper every day. You know, where you didn't have the news, and today, Donald Trump did this. So, it was very hard to do a nightly show with a blank piece of paper and create 44 minutes of content every single day when you don't have the news.

• 9:33Speaker 01

  Because, basically, when you're producing a daily show, usually what happens is at 10:00 in the morning, "Okay, what's happening in the world? Oh, this is good." You know, we didn't have that, so it was a challenge to do that, but we did it. Right, amazing. Now, I read that you have ADD, is that true? You know, I've never been diagnosed. I'm pretty sure, just about every successful person I know has ADD. Right. You know, all my friends growing up, but we didn't have diagnoses then. Sure, sure, sure. Figured out coping skills, and you know. I know, once I went into business, it was very interesting, is that when people would be presenting to me, they needed to, everybody, they were taught, "Get it out in two minutes, or you're gonna lose it." Because they'd be presenting to me, and I'd go, "Okay, got it, got it, got it." So it's perfect for you. Yeah, so, well, no, I'm just saying, it was, lucky I owned my own company, because if I had to be on the other side of the table. You'd be... Yeah, because I could, I just, I...

• 10:18Speaker 01

  One of the reasons I sold my company was, beyond getting a shitload of money, and I was a little bored with it, but I would go into three-hour meetings, and I knew that I would get in three minutes, and I would have to just sit there for three hours, and my leg would start shaking, and, so I, you know, in this country, we have a tremendous capacity to meet. Whereas, all over corporate America now, there are people sitting in meetings, three-hour meetings that could be done in 20 minutes, and there are 16 people in a meeting, and it could be done in four people.

• 10:47Speaker 01

  Just incredible. It's a waste of time. Yeah, we are a country of meters, you know, and obviously, we need to connect with our coworkers during the day, but I always wonder, when I give speeches about this, you'll see a meeting that's set, okay, meetings from 9:00 to 11:00. If you set that same meeting from 9 to 9:30, same thing would get done.

• 11:03Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 11:04Speaker 01

  And actually would probably get done better.

• 11:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's more about the execution than it is about the meetings all the time, right?

• 11:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:09Lewis Howes?

  What was your dream growing up? Did you want to be this big advertising?

• 11:13Speaker 01

  No, I didn't have a specific. I don't remember as a kid. I mean, I'm sure when I was six, I wanted to be an astronaut or a ball player or something like that. But I didn't remember in high school and college. I knew I wanted to do something that was both creative and business at the same time. I'm not a fine artist. I'm not a, you know, an actor, you know, artiste. And I don't think I could have been happy just being on Wall Street. Or, you know, I needed something that used both sides of the brain. So that's why it was either going to be advertising or television or movies or some content-driven industry that brought commerce and some type of art form together.

• 11:47Lewis Howes?

  And were you working with your dad right after college?

• 11:50Speaker 01

  No, I went first out of college. I went and worked for Ogwame, a large agency, for about a year. I kind of sucked at it. Would not have done well in a big corporate structure. I remember I was assistant account executive on Maxwell House Coffee. And I was in the bullpen. I would sit, it was one of those little partition offices. And I'd stand on my chair and look out at everybody over the, you know, because I just felt so contained. And did that for a year, then kicked around for a year or two, and then went to work for my dad.

• 12:18Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. And then how long was it until you started working with your dad, until you took over the company?

• 12:23Speaker 01

  It was probably about six or seven years.

• 12:27Lewis Howes?

  Six or seven years.

• 12:28Speaker 01

  I'd say.

• 12:28Lewis Howes?

  So you were pretty young.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was in my early 30s.

• 12:31Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's a pretty big responsibility.

• 12:33Speaker 01

  Which is why I did a lot of stupid things. You know, it was interesting, in my old days in the ad business, I was known as kind of like a bad boy of advertising. And I would say these outrageous things and be very provocative. And it actually worked for our business. And part of it is because I was just a young guy running a company. When you're a young guy, you say stupid, you know, you're fearless.

• 12:51Lewis Howes?

  He goes out there.

• 12:52Speaker 01

  I was going through, we talked about my dad earlier. I was going through a bunch, he, I didn't know this, where he saved every press clipping we ever had. And I was going through some of these old press clippings and shit that I used to do. I just was, what the hell, what was wrong? You know, and it ended up working, but, you know. It is ignorance is bliss and you kind of don't, you know, you're fearless and you're, you know.

• 13:15Lewis Howes?

  You're getting clients, you're not worried about it.

• 13:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, you look, you know, I would say outrageous things and I would piss people off and I, you know, where that's what happens when you're in your 30s running a company.

• 13:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Now, do you feel like advertising is still relevant today with all the social media?

• 13:30Speaker 01

  Of course it is. You know, it, look, the, the game of, okay, you know, I got a beer to sell. Or I got a car to sell and you're a consumer, you're going to consume it is never changing. You know, we are a capitalistic system, we consume products. So the game of wherever the eyeballs are, how do I pay to be a part of that? Get it in front of that eyeball. So whether it is, you know, now on a mobile phone, you know, now a smartphone versus a TV screen versus a billboard versus, so that try, that game of consumer, content provider, somebody selling shit, that triangle is never going to go away. It's just going to take different forms. So, you know, when my 12-year-old daughter,

• 14:14Speaker 01

  you know, was sitting at breakfast this morning and she's got, you know, her iPhone and she's got her iPad and she's going from.

• 14:20Lewis Howes?

  The TV's on and.

• 14:21Speaker 01

  The TV's on, no, the TV's not even on. And she's going from Snapchat to Instagram to texting her friends to this and, you know, there will be, and there already are, obviously, you know, ads showing up there and that's the way she'll be sold to. So that's not changing. You know, call it what you want, you know, but it's never changing. Advertising as we tend to think of it, we still think of it as a TV commercial and, you know, so, you know, obviously that's changing and, you know, so it's, but the overall game is not changing, just the way the pieces are moved around.

• 14:54Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. When you're coming up with an idea to pitch an ad to a brand, what's the process about? Is it always coming back to the story and the heart of things? Or is it different for every brand?

• 15:06Speaker 01

  Well, every, every situation is different, but what's similar? What the right way to approach things are is, first of all, somebody is selling, somebody has a product, a brand, and you have to look at the authenticity of that brand, understand what is the value system of that brand. Every brand stands for a core set of values, that's what a brand is, and say, okay. How do I unearth that and attach it to a value system of an audience that's going to connect it? And what can I plug and play into there? And that's and put a great anthemic overall feeling to a brand that can connect with human beings in a very human, real way. And that doesn't change. You know, that's the kind of essence of great advertising.

• 15:47Lewis Howes?

  What's the best ad you've ever that you're most proud of?

• 15:50Speaker 01

  You know, the overall thing I was associated with was probably working on the Clinton campaign in 92. You know, just being a part of that was so exciting. Overall, the work we did over the years for IKEA. Because, look, when you're doing advertising, your job is to create shareholder value and sell shit. It's a commerce. But when you can kind of somehow move a moral imperative forward, and we did this campaign in the early 90s for IKEA, where we showed all these alternative lifestyles buying furniture. We showed two gay guys. This is 1993.

• 16:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:19Speaker 01

  I mean, I remember some advertisers got lauded a year ago, in the year 2016 or 15. And we were doing this, I mean, it was insane that we did this and the client was so brave. We just showed two dudes shopping for furniture. You know, nothing, you know, they were just two guys. We never even said, oh, these are gay guys.

• 16:36Lewis Howes?

  Were they holding hands or anything like that?

• 16:37Speaker 01

  No, they were gay guys, and they were talking, starting a life together and looking for furniture, just two dudes. And, you know, the letters, the love letters and hate letters we got. But, you know, and we showed an interracial couple, a couple trying to adopt a baby and having a hard time. Things that you just didn't see at the time, very inclusionary, because that was IKEA's brand, were for everyone. So, you know, when you can sell stuff and obviously meet the client's business objective, but at the same time move the needle culturally, morally, as our society moves forward, that's very rewarding.

• 17:08Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. What do you think is the biggest challenge that most entrepreneurs face when they're starting to launch something? Is it just the fear of failure? Is it the fear of looking bad? Is it they don't build the right teams?

• 17:18Speaker 01

  Well, you can't have a fear of failure, because failure is going to be part of any component. You know, I think the fear is more of the unknown. You know, and you're, you know, by definition, every stage you get to, you're not Properly prepared for because the perfect example. Let's say you're billing an agency and to get from zero in billings to a hundred million needs a certain type of creative work, needs a certain team. And chances are to get from a hundred million to a billion needs different type of work. No, so it's staying true to your core values, but being able to evolve and grow. So you take up Mark Zuckerberg and obviously it started with him just having a great idea. We've all seen the movie, you know where it started, but then now it's a completely different skill set as he's, you know, the CEO of, you know, the fourth largest company in the world.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  Yet still he's got to maintain those same core values. Very interesting as we talk, you're seeing for the first time, Apple, you know, have some backward, you know, movement, if you will, is the first time they haven't grown. No coincidence, you know, it's been, I always say it takes five to seven years when a core management team changes or the founder is lifted out for it to show. So now it's however many years later, the jobs is going and all of a sudden, maybe there aren't those new products in the pipeline anymore. That's what always drove that company. It's not cost cutting and it's not so, you know, as big as the company gets, it still needs that same core value that got them out, but at the same time evolving and changing.

• 18:42Lewis Howes?

  Right. Where are you headed next? I mean, you've done so much in your career.

• 18:47Speaker 01

  I don't fucking know. You know, that's it. It's, you know, part of the exciting part, but also the very challenging part of my life, you know, when you have a job, when you're building a company, you're CEO, you come to work every day, you do this and you, you know, and that's one of the reasons I sold my company is I got wrapped in what I call the pillow of success.

• 19:06Lewis Howes?

  Pillow of success.

• 19:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, when you're successful and you're one of the one tenth of one percent of people that get self-actualized, you make a lot of money and you, you, you love what you do and you're, there's no margin of error anymore. It's just degrees of success. Do we grow nine percent? Do I do this? And to me, the exciting part is the unknown. So I keep trying to recreate the mountain and so whether it's doing the big idea or I just finished doing, writing and creating a scripted show. And it's like, you know, is it coming back? I don't know. And so that kind of. is exciting, keeps me fresh. It's new math, it's new marbles, I can fail. And that's exciting, it keeps me young, but on the other hand, it's more challenging because it's not a straight line. So if my USA show doesn't come back, okay, what's next?

• 19:52Speaker 01

  And you gotta keep topping it. And so it's a blessing and a curse at the same time. I mean, I call Steph and I go, "Okay, what the [__] am I doing now?"

• 20:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, because it's kind of like when you've reached this level of success, it's like, how do you stay motivated to keep going?

• 20:04Speaker 01

  That's it.

• 20:05Lewis Howes?

  Well, I've got everything I need.

• 20:06Speaker 01

  But that's it.

• 20:07Lewis Howes?

  Created everything, you know.

• 20:09Speaker 01

  Like, I get up this morning, and if I don't have my next project in front of me that I'm pumped about, I'm [__] depressed. I don't look around and go, "Oh, I made a lot of money," or "I did all these things." That's in the past.

• 20:18Lewis Howes?

  You start dying slowly if you're not doing it.

• 20:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, that's the past. It doesn't, and it just, it's... And what's interesting also, if you're fortunate, and you've had some really neat successes like I've had, the bar gets raised.

• 20:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:30Speaker 01

  In your own mind.

• 20:31Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  It's not in nobody else's mind, nobody gives a [__] what you're doing, you know? But in your own mind. So I'm a prisoner now, that I just did to me what was the pinnacle of, brought everything together, writing and creating a scripted series based on a faux version of my life that brought all my skills together. Creative, business, advertising, you know, and it's okay, where do I go from there? How do I top that?

• 20:54Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 20:54Speaker 01

  And it's a challenge. It's a real... But I'll get there.

• 20:58Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Do you do investing for young startup entrepreneurs?

• 21:02Speaker 01

  I invest money. Investing money doesn't turn me on. Like, it's like, by the way, I could be investing companies, and I could be making... Like, I need a toy. I need a thing that I'm building, that I'm putting new sticks into, and that's what gets me pumped when I get up in the morning. Not that, "Oh, wow, I invested in that company, I got a 37% return."

• 21:20Lewis Howes?

  There's more money.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, look, I want to do well financially and stay, you know, financially healthy.

• 21:27Lewis Howes?

  But it doesn't excite you as much.

• 21:28Speaker 01

  That's not going to fill my day.

• 21:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 21:30Speaker 01

  That's what I always say to people. Only sell your business for one reason. Because you're ready to do something else. Because you can't go visit your money every day. "Wow, this person got 1.6 billion dollars. Great." Okay, and now you buy your two houses and your car, whatever you want to do with that money, and then you're financially secure, which is amazing. But you can't go visit, and what are you doing today? "I'm going to the bank and look at my money," and, you know what I mean? You can't, so you gotta be able to fill up that space.

• 21:56Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What would you say you're most proud of that most people don't know about you? Maybe something small that you've not really announced.

• 22:03Speaker 01

  I mean, I think, and I, of course, I got the playbook from my dad. I think I'm a really great dad. You know, it's a kind of weird thing to say, but I think I'm really good at, I mean, I love my kids my life, but I think I'm good at the actual skill set. I mean, you know, I've talked a lot about this, that I want to write a book or an article called Little People Management, that same things that work in business, motivation, structure, incentive, discipline, consequence, work with raising little kids. Now, it all starts with love, obviously, unconditionally, and all this, it's from the heart. But I never understand parents that can't control a seven-year-old kid. I mean, just like an employee, not to call them employees, but a person can get, basically, you know, demoted.

• 22:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  You know, I can take my kids' playdate away, they can't take my playdate away. It's very simple.

• 22:48Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 22:49Speaker 01

  And kids are narcissists, and just like employees, understanding their, what motivates them and what is important to them. It's the same thing with kids, and kids, you know, it's not hard.

• 22:58Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 22:59Speaker 01

  And I'm good at the skill set of it, and I just, we have a lot of fun together, I have three girls. So, I think that that's probably, no, I'm not saying not, no, and I wouldn't, you know, nobody would know if they didn't really know me. And the other thing is, and this is ironic, because my public persona, going back to my ad days, is brash, and, you know, arrogant, and whatever. And I'm actually a very kind, nice person, and have lifelong friends, and, uh, that would not be, like, it's a stupid thing to say out loud.

• 23:31Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 23:31Speaker 01

  But, and that was part of why I did my show, to kind of make fun of a public persona of kind of this New York, you know, well-to-do asshole, you know. Whereas, I'm actually a very kind man, and that does not always, shame on me, that doesn't always show.

• 23:50Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 23:50Speaker 01

  Those are the things.

• 23:52Lewis Howes?

  Final few questions I have for you. Who is inspiring you in the world right now, either a man or woman, that you're like, I just really admire what they're doing in life, in business, in, you know, the world?

• 24:02Speaker 01

  Right now, it's gonna be a weird answer, is Trump. I mean, it's a very loaded, I know Donald for a long time, I mean...

• 24:08Lewis Howes?

  Stephanie's like, whatever.

• 24:10Speaker 01

  Well, I'll tell you why. I mean, it's just, forget... I disagree with most of his political views. I like him personally because he's a good dad and we've known each other. His employees are very loyal to him. I mean, obviously, things he, you know, he said about Muslims and the wall. And I don't get why he's saying those things. I, you know, obviously, there's... But the fact, the hubris, the ability, the brilliance, to just, all of a sudden, now be the Republican, is just stunning.

• 24:41Lewis Howes?

  It's unbelievable.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  Which just really shows you, anybody can do anything. Uh, which, and it, I just marvel at it. So, you know, I don't know if the word is right. I'm just, that right now, I am so taken with. That the guy has got, has been able to do this and has somehow morphed into this bulletproof brand.

• 25:03Lewis Howes?

  That's unreal.

• 25:04Speaker 01

  That he can't, that no matter what he does, helps him. Because even when it's stupid or ridiculous, well, at least he says it like it is. It's just, it's this amalgam of things that have come together to this now Donald Trump running for president show, that is just stunning. So, that is, I don't want to say it has inspired me, but it is kind of, just has caught my attention to just everything that is incredible and [__] up in this world right now. You know, it's hard to find something that matches that right now.

• 25:33Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure. Um, since we were talking about tattoos beforehand, you don't have any tattoos.

• 25:38Speaker 01

  I don't, I would, you know, it's interestingly enough, because this is embarrassing to say. When I go on vaca, this is so lame. When I go on vacation with my kids to Florida, I always, there's a guy on the beach that always comes up with these henna tattoos.

• 25:49Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 25:49Speaker 01

  And I always get a fake tattoo for a week, like a loser. Like, the biggest loser thing anybody can do, and my kids, you know. And I just think it's so cool. I never would do it, because I would look like such a cheeseball.

• 25:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:00Speaker 01

  You know, 58-year-old Jewish guy.

• 26:01Lewis Howes?

  That's cool for a week.

• 26:02Speaker 01

  Getting a tattoo, like, but it's cool, you know. But I, I, I personally, this, I'm gonna say one horribly sexist thing. I don't like tattoos on women.

• 26:11Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 26:11Speaker 01

  Just me.

• 26:12Lewis Howes?

  No matter what it is.

• 26:13Speaker 01

  Personally, just don't like it. Uh, my daughters will be officially disowned if they ever attempt to do that. Not really, but we'll, we'll work very hard to keep their body ain't free.

• 26:23Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  Why do you want to know about tattoos?

• 26:24Lewis Howes?

  Uh, well, I'm curious, if you had to have a tattoo on your forehead, if it was a word or a saying that was reversed, so every time you went into a mirror, only you could read it. What would that be? What would that be that you'd see to yourself every single day?

• 26:38Speaker 01

  One word?

• 26:38Lewis Howes?

  A word or a sentence or a phrase? You look in the mirror every morning. What is it?

• 26:43Speaker 01

  Keep going.

• 26:44Lewis Howes?

  Keep going.

• 26:45Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 26:46Lewis Howes?

  There's a question I use at the end. It's called the three truths.

• 26:48Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 26:50Lewis Howes?

  Now, let's say in many, many years from now, it's your last day.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 26:54Lewis Howes?

  And the books you've written, the shows you've done, the movies you've produced, whatever you've created ever has been erased from time. And everyone's there, everyone's happy, but it's your last day. And you have a piece of paper and they say, "We want you to write down three truths." The three things that you know to be true about everything you learned that would be what you'd be giving to us, since we don't have anything else

• 27:14Speaker 01

  Interesting.

• 27:15Lewis Howes?

  of yours to watch, to read.

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Three truths about me as a person or just lessons about life?

• 27:20Lewis Howes?

  Three lessons, three things that you know to be true about your life and experience that you would pass on.

• 27:24Speaker 01

  About life or my life?

• 27:26Lewis Howes?

  About life.

• 27:26Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 27:29Lewis Howes?

  Your three truths.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  Be the best person you can be.

• 27:34Speaker 01

  Nobody knows fuck about fuck.

• 27:39Speaker 01

  And have fun.

• 27:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Before I ask the final question, where should we be sending people to? Where do you hang out with? Uh, where do you hang out online the most? Or what should we be watching of yours?

• 27:51Speaker 01

  Like porn sites I go to?

• 27:52Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, yeah. No, your, your social media.

• 27:54Speaker 01

  Like Pornhub? That's probably my favorite.

• 27:57Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool.

• 27:58Speaker 01

  That's where I hang out.

• 27:58Lewis Howes?

  But where should we be connecting with you?

• 27:59Speaker 01

  Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I thought, where do I spend most of my time?

• 28:04Lewis Howes?

  He's still got it. He's still got it.

• 28:05Speaker 01

  Publicist, he didn't just say that.

• 28:09Speaker 01

  I do a, by the way, I do a call-in show on Sirius where people, women call in and talk about their problems and the issues. I give them guy advice and, you know, a woman calls up, "My husband watches porn." I'm like, "And?"

• 28:23Speaker 01

  I said, "Men watch porn, it's okay."

• 28:25Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure. When is that show?

• 28:26Speaker 01

  It's, uh, noon, uh, eastern time on Wednesdays on Sirius 109.

• 28:31Lewis Howes?

  Sirius 109.

• 28:32Speaker 01

  Dialing Donny.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  Where would you connect online with? Uh, Instagram?

• 28:36Lewis Howes?

  Your Instagram, you do the most, or Twitter, or where do people?

• 28:39Speaker 01

  Instagram, Donny J Deutsch, um, one word, J Y, Twitter, those are the two places.

• 28:47Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. Uh, before I ask the final question, Donny, I want to acknowledge you for a moment.

• 28:51Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 28:51Lewis Howes?

  For being true to yourself.

• 28:54Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 28:54Lewis Howes?

  For inspiring so many people.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  Oh, that's very kind of you.

• 28:56Lewis Howes?

  With everything you've done. I mean, again, you inspired me when I was down and out.

• 29:00Speaker 01

  Made my day.

• 29:01Lewis Howes?

  And, um, just, you're a great example of what's possible.

• 29:04Speaker 01

  That's very kind of you.

• 29:05Lewis Howes?

  You're a great symbol of inspiration.

• 29:06Speaker 01

  I've been very, very, very lucky. That's the other thing. You also have to appreciate any, any successful person, if they got their head straight, we'll say luck plays a real part in it also.

• 29:14Lewis Howes?

  Um, final question is, what's your definition of greatness?

• 29:18Speaker 01

  Greatness, well, is fearlessly trying to make a difference without worrying about consequences.

• 29:28Lewis Howes?

  Donny, no, just thanks for pointing out.

• 29:30Speaker 01

  Pleasure, man. Appreciate it.

• 29:33Lewis Howes?

  There you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode with Donny. I had an incredible time connecting with him and special shout out and thanks to Stephanie Jones for helping me facilitate that introduction, who's an incredible publicist out of New York City and who's been working with Donny for a number of years. I think she said 10 to 15 years. She's the one who facilitated that intro, so a big thank you to you, Stephanie, for all of your support in making this happen. Also, we're doing a lot more on YouTube, guys. We hit over 54,000 subscribers, I think. We're just pumping out incredible, inspiring interviews and content over on YouTube. I'm gonna be doing a lot more business and entrepreneurship content myself because so

• 30:14Lewis Howes?

  many of you are asking me to do more information by me, just solo. Uh, not only interview great people, but also come on and share my wisdom. So I'm gonna be doing more content there. If you want to see behind the scenes of what it's like to be a lifestyle entrepreneur, if you want to see how my day to day looks like, how I run my business, my team, how I'm working out, how I'm training for the USA National Handball Team, uh, building my business, traveling the world, giving speeches, writing books, all the things that I'm doing, running my podcast. Doing the interviews with people. If you want to see what that's like, go over to Snapchat and follow me on Snapchat. Lewis underscore Howes. I'm posting pretty much daily over there. All behind the scenes stuff. I'm only trying to show you some of the best stuff.

• 30:58Lewis Howes?

  Um, but check it out there. I'm spending a lot more time there and people seem to love it. So I'm going to be posting more there. And also on YouTube. So I love you guys. Again, please share this out. Sign up for the summit at summit of greatness.com. Let me know what you guys think and I'm super grateful that you're here each and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We release new episodes and I'm only bringing the goods to you. We've got Stacy London coming up next. One of my new friends who's been an incredible person and big supporter of everything I'm doing. She's coming up next on the podcast. So stay tuned for that and you guys know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.