Alexi Cortopassi

Lamborghinis & Airplanes - with Steve Currington - EP 298

To attract your ideal audience and the kind of people you want to be surrounded with, the key is to be your true self and stop trying to make everyone like you. No matter what you do, there will always be people that have negative things to say, and that can increase as you become more successful. Instead of being the person you think other people want you to be, or copying someone else you see online, build your own personal brand by being yourself and the right people will follow. Steve Currington has a great story of building his personal brand by being true to himself and following the guidance of a great coach.

Steve Currington is a well-known mortgage banker and entrepreneur. He is a VP at CrossCountry Mortgage and has become a prominent figure in the industry. Steve has been recognized as one of the top mortgage originators in the United States. Steve is also known for his philanthropic work in the Tulsa community and has been actively involved in a number of charitable organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Jude, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and has been recognized for his contributions to the community. In addition to his professional and philanthropic work, Steve is also an avid car enthusiast and uses his love of cars to connect with people in the automobile industry. In 2019 Steve took his love of Lamborghini to the internet and created the YouTube channel LambroSteve to highlight his cars and share his experiences outside of the mortgage company he runs.

In this episode of the 365 Driven Podcast, Steve and Tony discuss the true value of hiring a business coach and how to know if you are ready to make that commitment. Steve shares how he got into the mortgage business, how he overcame substance addictions and traded them for Lamborghinis and airplanes, and how he uses them as marketing strategies.

Key highlights:

• The true value of a business coach
• How to become a leader before you are recognized as a leader
• How Steve found his “purple cow”
• Steve’s reasons for having exotic cars and an airplane
• Benefits of having expensive hobbies
• Why Steve decided to utilize social media more, and how he went viral on YouTube
• The Lambo effect

Books mentioned in the episode:

The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
Go for No by Richard Fenton
The Big Short by Michael Lewis
Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Connect with Steve Currington:
Website: stevecurrington.com
Instagram: @lambrosteve
YouTube: youtube.com/@LambroSteve
Facebook: Lambro Steve

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

What Is Your Purpose? - with Jesse Elder - EP 297

Everyone wants to find their purpose and operate from that place, but what if we are chasing our purpose in the wrong way? Purpose is not something you have to achieve, it is what you are. You are either allowing yourself to be who and what you are, or you are restricting who and what you are. Every person has a unique function and by being who you are meant to be, there are amazing byproducts. Jesse Elder helps people dig into who they truly are and live a life that is authentically aligned with that unique purpose and vision.

Jesse Elder is a speaker, mentor, entrepreneur, and all-around lover of life. He has devoted his life to sharing his principles of self-mastery with people all around the world. Through his popular Mind Vitamin videos, online courses, events, and private coaching, Jesse teaches others how to create their own success and fulfillment, reclaim their personal freedom, and master their reality.

In this episode of the 365 Driven podcast, Jesse shares his upbringing of being homeschooled, watching his dad get arrested and go to prison for standing up for his beliefs, and how that shaped his view of the world. Jesse talks about his experience growing up learning martial arts, and how getting into a fight at 19 gave him the reality check that propelled him to question everything he thought he knew. He realized everyone feels like they know the truth, but we all can’t think the same thing about everything. Jesse had been seeking the truth, but he came to realize that he never actually wanted to feel as though he had arrived at the truth. He stopped asking what is true and started asking what is useful. Tune in for more.

Key highlights:

• The purpose of pain
• Our relationship with fear
• The problem with inauthenticity
• How to stay connected to your intuition
• How Jesse helps people connect to their true purpose
• How to be emotionally sovereign
• A simple exercise to get connected to your purpose
• How to create content that people will resonate with

Connect with Jesse Elder:
Website: jesseelder.com
Facebook: Jesse Elder
Instagram: @timepiercer

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

Reinvention Over Rehabilitation - with Angie Manson - EP 295

The definition of rehabilitation is to restore someone to their former condition, but a more helpful and empowering method is reinvention. We always want to be improving and gaining skills that make us better humans, and it is totally possible to completely reinvent ourselves into whatever version we want to be. Today’s guest has an incredible comeback story of going from facing prison time for a felony, to being a successful CEO of Elevate Addiction Services.

Angie Manson began drinking and using drugs at just 11 years old, was arrested and went to rehab at 16, and faced 10 years in prison at 21 years old. Due to a compassionate judge, Angie was sentenced to treatment instead. A couple of months in, she started working and giving back and realized her true purpose was to help others overcome the struggles she once faced. After completing 3-years of probation and working full-time in treatment, that same Judge erased all of Angie’s criminal record and gave her a completely clean slate. Angie used the opportunity to turn her life around and reinvent herself. Angie has now worked in alcohol and drug rehabilitation full-time for 28 years and empowers individuals to stay sober and reach their true potential with her unique and copyrighted method.

In this episode, Angie shares her story of what led to her addiction early in her life, and emphasizes the importance of parents having those tough, but very necessary conversations about drugs and alcohol with their children sooner rather than later. With the current opioid overdose crisis in our country, largely due to accidental Fentanyl ingestion, it has become even more important for parents to be aware of the hazards and prevention. Angie also dives into the topic of how to be an effective leader of an organization, personal branding, scaling, and using criticism to your benefit.

Key highlights:

• Angie’s comeback story of being addicted to drugs and alcohol, facing prison time, and eventually completely reinventing herself as a successful CEO
• Angie’s advice to parents to look at clues that their kids may be getting into substance abuse
• What people need to know about the Fentanyl crisis
• Why Angie’s approach to overcoming addiction works and changes lives
• How Angie grew her company from a small team to one of 100 team members currently
• Why EQ matters more than IQ when it comes to running a company
• Qualities of a great leader
• Growing pains Angie saw as a business owner
• Angie’s advice to business owners in hiring team members
• Personal branding and owning your uniqueness
• How to handle haters and critics and use criticism to your benefit

Connect with Angie Manson:

• Website: angiemanson.com
• Elevate Addictions Services: elevaterehab.org
• Instagram: @goingrogue_podcast
• Facebook: Angie Manson
• Twitter: @AngieGoingRogue
• TikTok: @angie_going_rogue

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

Manufacturing Influence - with Ulyses Osuna - EP 294

With people paying for blue check marks and seeking quick ways to get known in their industry, more people want to know how they can fast-track their influence. While it is true that slowly and steadily building that know, like, and trust factor will greatly benefit you, we have seen that the universe loves speed. It is also true that there are unethical and frowned-upon ways to gain an audience, but there are always routes to manufacture influence with integrity and honesty if you want to establish trust and authority faster.

Ulyses Osuna is here on the 365 Driven Podcast to talk all things media, PR, and everything you need to know to get known in the industry. Ulyses is the CEO of Influencer Press where he manages publicity for clients and helps them get known quicker. He has been featured in Forbes, and contributed to Entrerour.com, Success.com, Huffpost.com, and Business.com. With Ulyses’ help, his clients have gotten 13 million views, and thousands of articles published.

In this episode, Ulyses shares why he got interested in PR at only 17 years old, and the very hard lessons he had to learn about the industry. As a young entrepreneur that wanted to reach the limelight as fast as possible, Ulyses knows that people are looking for someone to guide them to fast, yet honest strategies to increase their influence. With a lot of dishonesty in the media, the importance of building your influence with honesty is key to making yourself stand out in the crowd and building a loyal following that will carry over for decades. Ulyses covers how he helps his clients control what people think about them, the importance of personal branding, and his opinion on paying to get verified online.

Key highlights:

• The hard lessons Ulyses learned when getting into the industry
• The importance of being honest on social media
• The problems with cancel culture
• Where Ulyses’ passion came from
• Why media and PR are so alluring
• How to win in any industry
• Ulyses' opinion on paying to be featured in articles or for verification on social media
• How Ulyses works with clients to control what people see and think about them
• The PR snowball system
• Using podcast guesting as a PR pitch deck
• What do paid events look like?
• Why is personal branding important?
• Why should someone hire an agency and look to build their influence?

Episode resources:
Book: Trust Me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday

Connect with Ulyses:
Website: ulysesosuna.com
Instagram: @ulyses

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

My First Million - with Tony Whatley - EP 291

Tony’s journey to his first million involved a combination of an engineering career, a couple of side hustle businesses, and long hours of putting in the work to get to where he is today. Through this journey, there have been countless important lessons that all business owners need to know. Although your business may be totally different in terms of your services or products, the takeaways remain the same and apply across the board to all types of businesses.

From humble beginnings, Tony learned early on the value of working hard for what he wanted. Having started working at 15 years old, each job along the way revealed a valuable lesson that would carry into life and entrepreneurship. One theme remains the same: relationships are incredibly valuable and can reap rewards for decades, so make sure to do right by others. Your first million is possible, but you need to invest in the skills that will get you there and learn from all the lessons along the way.

Key highlights:

• Tony shares his upbringing, lessons from his parents, and his first job
• How Tony got into the entrepreneur world
• Tony’s tips for getting more people into your group or website
• The difference between a community leader and an influencer
• The importance of building relationships with integrity
• Being proactive and not reactive when dealing with common customer complaints
• How do you get recognized in your industry?
• What is vertical integration?

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

Forged Through Adversity - with Marcus Aurelius Anderson - EP 290

Adversity is the catalyst or litmus test of why we do what we do because it makes us question whether we are doing things for the right reasons. We know that adversity and hardship make us better, but some people hope it doesn’t have to be that way because they want to take the easy or quick route to their goals. If you feel like you haven’t faced much adversity in your life, the hard truth is that chances are, you have been living in mediocrity and need to seek adversity or else you will continue to stay stuck. Marcus Aurelius Anderson viewed his adversity as a gift and used it to inspire and teach others how to use hardships to create a meaningful and fulfilled life.

Marcus Aurelius Anderson is back on the 365 Driven podcast, and you can check out episode 23 with Marcus in the episode resources. Marcus is a proud veteran, author of “The Gift of Adversity”, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker, and High-Performance Mindset Coach. He is the creator of the Acta Non Verba movement and host of the Acta Non Verba podcast. While preparing to deploy with the U.S. Army, Marcus suffered a severe spinal injury that left him paralyzed, and his life was turned upside down. In an instant, he went from preparing for war on the battlefield to a war within his own body and mind. After dying on the operating table twice, the surgeons saved his life but told him he’d never walk again. Having no other option, Marcus started doing some in-depth soul-searching, looking for the lesson to be learned from his injury. Once he started seeing his adversity as a gift instead of a curse, everything changed.

In this episode, Marcus is real and honest about why people fail to move toward their goals and purpose in life. We are either moving closer to our goals, or moving further away, so it becomes essential to put ourselves in situations in which we are uncomfortable and lean into that feeling because that is where growth happens. Creating adversity can look like pushing yourself in the gym, or hiring a coach that will call you out on your excuses and push you to do what needs to be done to get the results you want. 

Quote from the episode: 

“Be careful that what you're doing right now to escape your adversity isn't creating more down the line, because it will be waiting for you.” - Marcus Aurelius Anderson 

Key highlights:

• What keeps people stuck?
• The concept of aggressive patience
• The difference between stupidity and ignorance 
• How do we get people to break the cycle of thinking they need to just get to the finish line instead see that it needs to be an acceleration through the finish line? 
• How can we create adversity for ourselves?
• The importance of boundaries and saying “no” to what isn’t aligned with your goals
• Why you need to put yourself first above everyone else 
• The problem with the “must be nice” mentality
• Why you shouldn’t overshare on social media
• The 2 ways to deal with adversity: correctly or again

Episode resources:

Listen to episode 23 with Marcus: Gain Gratitude for Your Adversity 

Connect with Marcus:
Website: marcusaureliusanderson.com
Instagram: @marcusaureliusanderson
LinkedIn: Marcus Aurelius Anderson
Facebook: Marcus Aurelius Anderson

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

Build Unconventional Wealth - with Pejman Ghadimi - EP 289

In today’s world of social media and instant gratification, people are looking for shortcuts to wealth and want that influence and the ability to buy fancy cars. They see people on social media with flashy cars and expensive watches, but oftentimes, they are not thinking of what it took to get there. Maybe that person is just faking the influence and wealth as we have discussed in other episodes, or maybe they truly have built the wealth to get there, but it is probably a longer, more challenging path than people realize. Pejman Ghadimi is back on the 365 Driven podcast to demystify what it takes to get on the path to wealth, how that can be done by unconventional means, and since Tony and Pejman are both car guys, they also dive into a little about exotic cars.

Pejman Ghadimi is a self-made entrepreneur, philosopher, author, and the creator of the wealth transfer methodology. Over the last 20 years, Pejman has built several businesses ranging from a one-of-a-kind investment firm that focuses on alternative asset management known as 1 OFF Investments, to a series of online education businesses including Secret Entourage, Exotic Car Hacks, and Watch Trading Academy. These platforms have forced people to rethink their understanding of business, luxury assets, and money management. Pejman's companies have grossed well over $420,000,000.00 in combined revenue. Pejman is an example of how resourcefulness and self-education are the two most powerful keys to success. He was also featured on Netflix’s Fastest Car Season 2.

In this episode, Pejman explains that having a path to wealth comes from having a path as a human and acquiring skills along the way no matter what types of jobs you start out in. Very successful people rarely share about their first job and the 10-20 years of struggling and lessons that it took to get them to where they are because oftentimes people don’t want to hear about that. It’s a very important piece of the journey that people need to realize and research for themselves. Listening and talking to people that have what you want can help shortcut the learning, but not the result, so starting to build that wealth now is going to be key.

Key highlights:

• For someone that thinks that they do not have a path to wealth, how do they start?
• People don’t understand the path to success and they think it’s not possible due to having a fixed mindset around it
• Acquiring skills and knowledge to get to that next level
• What do you need to know to buy an exotic car? What do you need to assess?
• As a society, we focus on the wrong things: fear and negativity
• Greatness will always be in demand because it is in short supply
• If you find someone that will share how they got there, pay attention to what they say
• Real success is having a choice and living life through your own value system

Connect with Pejman Ghadimi:
Website: pejmanghadimi.com | learnfrompj.com
Instagram: @icreatemillionaires

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi

Planning, Productivity, and People - with Emily Frisella - EP 288

So many people struggle with proper planning and claim that they don’t have enough time to do what will move the needle forward in either their business, fitness, relationships, or personal development. Those of us that are 365 driven are always aiming to reach the next level in various aspects of life while learning how to balance it all. Some people are really disciplined in their business, but struggle to prioritize in other areas. The hard truth is that they just aren’t doing it right, and today’s guest is here to share the hacks we need to be a better planner, maximize productivity, and prioritize the relationships that matter most.

Emily Frisella is a multi-passionate entrepreneur who started her first brick-and-mortar business at the age of 20. She is the Founder of The Paper & Plan Co., A twice published best-selling cookbook author, Co-host of Curious Me Podcast, Founder of The Women in Business Workshop, COO of 44Seven Media & the Arete Syndicate, a Business Coach, and a speaker. Emily’s latest book “Relationships First: People, Passion, and Profit” explains the importance of nurturing relationships for both personal and professional success. As a business owner of several businesses, Emily has planning and productivity down to a science and she shares her best tips in this episode.

With so many distractions around, such as social media and people demanding our time and attention, learning to balance it all to focus on what needs to get done, can be very overwhelming. Emily explains that so many people overestimate their brain power and ability to remember every single thing that needs to get done, and also may struggle with setting boundaries with others when it comes to protecting their time. In order to be productive in all areas when it comes to business, fitness, and personal life, learning to plan in a way that works best for you (not what someone else says is the “perfect” schedule) is going to be key.

Key highlights:

• Why do people struggle with planning?
• How to set and achieve goals
• How planning makes you a better boss/manager
• Emily’s tip: “Do first what you do not want to do most”
• Emily’s productivity tools and hacks
• How to set boundaries and protect your time
• How Emily prioritizes all her tasks
• Emily explains her “dungeon days”
• Making a schedule that works best for you
• Being mindful of ways to pour into people in all aspects of your life
• Relationship advice if you always feel like you need to be the problem solver

Connect with Emily Frisella:
Website: emilyfrisella.com
Instagram: @emilyfrisella

Connect with Tony Whatley:
Instagram: @365driven
Facebook: 365 Driven
LinkedIn: Tony Whatley

by Alexi Cortopassi