This episode of #TBNE features the Author of Jolt!, my friend and Keynote Speaker on mindset, leadership, and motivation, Larry Long Jr. Larry just published his first book and we talk about the “fear” of putting yourself out there in written form, the fear of stepping into the unknown, and the power in serving others. We talk about how it is important to remember “I can do anything, but I can’t do everything” and what that means to us.Larry drops some exciting updates about his upcoming Kids Book for Jolt! and his upcoming tour with Becc Holland’s “Flip the Script” road trip. Larry is always full of energy and passion, and yes the gold and platinum “rose gold” mic make their appearance. You can check out Larry’s backstory in Episode 5: The Power of a Positive Mindset with Chief Energy Officer, Keynote Speaker, and Entrepreneur Larry Long Jr. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review.
Show Summary
This episode of #TBNE features the Author of Jolt!, my friend and Keynote Speaker on mindset, leadership, and motivation, Larry Long Jr.
Larry just published his first book and we talk about the “fear” of putting yourself out there in written form, the fear of stepping into the unknown, and the power in serving others. We talk about how it is important to remember “I can do anything, but I can’t do everything” and what that means to us.
Larry drops some exciting updates about his upcoming Kids Book for Jolt! and his upcoming tour with Becc Holland’s “Flip the Script” road trip. Larry is always full of energy and passion, and yes the gold and platinum “rose gold” mic make their appearance.
You can check out Larry’s backstory in Episode 5: The Power of a Positive Mindset with Chief Energy Officer, Keynote Speaker, and Entrepreneur Larry Long Jr.
Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review.
Connect with Larry Long Jr:
Connect with Rob:
Show Produced by: Niranjan Deshpande (Nick), Broken Frames Studio, www.brokenframesstudio.com
Creative Director: Maxim Sokolov, www.maximsokolov.com
Special offer for #BearNation listeners interested in trying Brilliantly Warm (https://www.brilliantly.co/), use this 10% off discount code WELCOME10.
We have teamed up with Phin, a social impact company, to give back for each episode to the communities we serve. To learn more or get involved with Phin for your company, visit:
EPISODE 72:
LARRY LONG JR
INTRO
00;00;19;27 - 00;00;31;15
Rob Napoli
you are the champ my man. Larry Long Jr. The infamous gold and rose gold mikes in his hands showing up and showing our Larry how is he doing brother?
00;00;32;18 - 00;00;40;19
Larry Long Jr.
Oh, man. Doing great, Rob. Happy to be here. The bear necessities of entrepreneurship. Happy to be here, Rob. Thank you, man.
00;00;40;23 - 00;01;05;21
Rob Napoli
You bet and I'm and I'm really excited to kind of catch up with you. You know, we had you on the pod back in season one, back in the early days, like episode 16. Now we're on episode 70 something here a year later. And, you know, I'm really excited because and I'll make sure if you hadn't, if you've not heard the episode with Larry or don't know his story, which most of you should have.
00;01;05;29 - 00;01;33;12
Rob Napoli
I'll link the first episode in the show notes, but at that time you are still the director of Collegiate Athletic Sales for Team Works and your side hustling as a speaker. And since then and now you've made the leap and you're now running your own company. You have a book which we'll be talking about. You've been traveling all over speaking and shining on stages.
MAIN VIDEO
00;01;33;13 - 00;01;53;17
Rob Napoli
So tell me, what was what was that moment? What was that like for you when you finally took that full step like, hey, I'm back on my own again because you talked about your failed first entrepreneur venture back with, you know, the batting cages and stuff back in the day. Talk to me topic quickly. What was that? What was that moment like for you?
00;01;53;17 - 00;01;58;09
Rob Napoli
And you made that jump back into, Hey, I'm going out of my own.
00;01;58;15 - 00;02;19;10
Larry Long Jr.
Rob It was scary. Who am I kidding? It was scary. I was nervous. I still am nervous, but I'm I'm living the dream. I'm living the dream every day I get to wake up and I really get to step into my gifting. I get to serve. I get to help. I get to speak. I mean, you can't beat that, but entrepreneurship, it can be scary.
00;02;19;10 - 00;02;42;10
Larry Long Jr.
You can be lonely. But I've really been fortunate, man. I've built a team. You're included on that team of just a support network to help me, to support other people. And it's amazing. I mean, it's been since the last time we talked the amount of learnings that I've had and the amount of learnings that I've learned on my own as well as from others has been.
00;02;42;10 - 00;02;52;12
Larry Long Jr.
It's just been off the charts. Every day is just a spectacular blessing. I, I can't I got to pinch myself. I can't believe that this is what I get to do for my career.
00;02;52;28 - 00;03;11;23
Rob Napoli
You know, I know that feeling when I, when I took the leap, you know, the first time I did it with a co-founder. Right. And then we sold that company early this year with the second time when I did it all on my own, you know, as I got this, like I've done this once before, but it was even scarier the second time I was like, Oh, the second time should be easier.
00;03;11;23 - 00;03;31;03
Rob Napoli
It's like, Yeah. But the first time was easier because I had a co-founder, like I had a partner in crime. This one I don't. And it's really important to build your team like you talk about and surround yourself with others to lean on, to give you guidance, but also to, you know, to keep you motivated, keep you honest and keep you driven.
00;03;31;03 - 00;03;53;28
Rob Napoli
And I know, you know, that team also includes includes a lot of your family who's been a big of a driving force behind that. So I'm excited for you. Before I get into the book, though, you know, I've seen you speak at a lot of really cool places. What's been the what's been your best and your worst and why over the last year of speaking.
00;03;54;29 - 00;04;17;20
Larry Long Jr.
Is kind of like kids. I can't pick my best. I can tell you one of my most memorable December of last year, I got the emcee an event at Salesforce at their studios in San Francisco. And I got I had the pleasure of introducing Neon Deion Sanders, which I don't know if you know this poster. Yeah, prime time.
00;04;17;20 - 00;04;37;28
Larry Long Jr.
I had a poster of prime time. This is back in the nineties in my college dorm room. So that was just surreal. Arson Venga of the English Premier League, Ryan Sarhan of Million Dollar Listing New York. It was just unbelievable. They had a makeup artist. I said, If you can get this mug looking good, you must be a magician.
00;04;38;03 - 00;04;59;09
Larry Long Jr.
And she had me tightened up. I said, Wow, this is a dream. Larry Long Jr, you're done with Hollywood. Good. So that was one of my most memorable in terms of the worst. I haven't had a worst. I mean, either you're you're you're living, you're learning, you're loving. Any time I had the opportunity to touch just one person, it's an awesome opportunity.
00;04;59;09 - 00;05;28;25
Larry Long Jr.
So I've had some that have been a little bit area. I went out to North Dakota, I said, What am I doing out here? It's freezing. It's -11 up. I wasn't built for tough, but that was memorable in its own right. And I don't know. You know, there's Rob, I'm about to go out on a 12 city 18 day tour with Beck Hollin, Keenan and my man Geham from from France Ploigof Franca we're about to flip the script coming to a city by you come check us out
00;05;28;25 - 00;05;45;17
Rob Napoli
I'm excited. I remember you saying something about it in passing and that's really I mean it's fucking amazing one because to I know back last time she went on the road she came to New York City. So it's New York City on your list. Are you coming through New York City to shoot.
00;05;45;17 - 00;05;57;14
Larry Long Jr.
About 1,000%? You know, there's no better place to kick off the tour than New York. New York. I'm I'm taking a bite out of that big green apple will be in New York in late October. Can't wait to see you there
00;05;57;14 - 00;06;13;17
Rob Napoli
Dude. I am super, super stoked. I will definitely be there. I'll be be I'll be the first one in the door is like I mean, you do realize I'm going to give you the biggest bear hug because of that first time we get to see each other in real life, it's going to be like, holy shit, three years in the making.
00;06;14;02 - 00;06;34;29
Rob Napoli
Like, Yeah, man, I can't wait. It's going be fun. That's exciting. That, that the tour is going to be awesome for those that don't know about it, Beck Hollin and our crew has been amazing in a way. They offer to flip the script on sales and putting out there and going on the road and really delivering a lot of value and have you be a part of that.
00;06;35;12 - 00;06;50;05
Rob Napoli
It's going to be amazing. Also, you know, you're a part of JB Sale's content house experience. What was that like? That was like way too much fun. And obviously when you have talent like James Buckley, Morgan and the whole crew down there, like what was that experience like?
00;06;50;05 - 00;07;21;07
Larry Long Jr.
It's unbelievable. I mean, this when I look at this year, really the past 365 days, life has been a whirlwind of just amazing this to be able to chop it up with Leslie Doggett, Douglas, Devin Reed, Morgan, Jay Ingram, James. I mean, the list goes on and on. John Barrow was coming on through. It was absolutely amazing. It's one of those bucket list items that I'll never forget and I can't wait to do it again.
00;07;21;07 - 00;07;31;13
Larry Long Jr.
We tour up Hotlanta, and I can't wait until we do it again domestically or even internationally. Watch out, world. We're coming.
00;07;31;13 - 00;07;56;19
Rob Napoli
I love it. I love it, man. I can't I can't tell you how, you know, this is something. Because, you know, I do a lot of work with Europe, a lot of I'm like I say, a majority of my clientele is is in Europe. And we have over 67 countries that tune into this podcast right now. And so, yeah, so many things I've realized is that the language of sales and not just sales, right?
00;07;56;19 - 00;08;15;21
Rob Napoli
Because, you know, you're you're a seller at heart, that's your background. But the work you've been doing also really has focused more into motivation, inspiration and transformation. And what we mean by that is how do we make the most out of every damn day? Right. And not every day is good, you know, not every day I know. You always joke how you pinch yourself every day, but not every day.
00;08;15;21 - 00;08;52;15
Rob Napoli
We wake up and feel like I'm excited. I heard I'm tired. But with the right mindset, the right the way that you attack each day, you can wake up and be like, Hey, look, we can overcome this and we can get through today with a level of positivity and that's a sliding scale, right? So as you've kind of like taken the sales side of you into this next journey, tell me a little about like what what's the big push from moving Larry Long Jr as a sales trainer, coach, speaker to like Larry Long Jr the motivator and why is that such a big inflection point for you?
00;08;53;23 - 00;09;20;00
Larry Long Jr.
Yeah, well, sales is service and I think I was put on this earth to serve and to help others believe in their greatness. And that's the whole thing. Rob, it doesn't matter what you do, you've got greatness inside of you. Now, your greatness is probably different from mine. It's different from the next person. I'm here to help you tap into your greatness.
00;09;20;00 - 00;09;42;26
Larry Long Jr.
So sales, that's just the natural transition of kind of tech sales. That's the world that I lived in. And in addition to sales, business professionals, entrepreneurs, folks that are in all walks of life, they need to hear that message, which is what I'm on a mission for the book. That's just the tipping point. That's just we're scratching the surface right now.
00;09;42;28 - 00;10;12;11
Larry Long Jr.
Don't tell nobody else. You heard it here first. My family, we're working on a children's book, Jolt, for kids, we're going to help kids uncover their inner greatness. We're going to help kids to understand that it's about your choices, the decisions that you made, the cop who got me all choked up. I'm so excited. The company that you keep the the includes in making sure that you welcome anybody and everybody because we all need that togetherness.
00;10;12;11 - 00;10;22;14
Larry Long Jr.
So the future is bright. I think someone said, hey, Larry, you might have a little streaming series come out. Don't tell nobody else but work. We're working on it now.
00;10;22;17 - 00;10;30;07
Rob Napoli
Dude. Let's let's go. When does when are you start have you started the process for the book? Are you going to be starting.
00;10;31;16 - 00;10;46;10
Larry Long Jr.
Every night at dinner? We're cooked. We're cooking up some ideas. I love it me my son Trey. Trey, my daughter Lucy, my wife Maria. We're cooking some stuff up. It's in the oven. It's going in the oven. We got it cooking up.
00;10;46;24 - 00;11;08;08
Rob Napoli
I love it. I just started the process of turning my book into a children's book. It should be hopefully this fall as well. So I've been working with Timmy Bauer Dinosaur House I'm making this making this thing happen. And I talked about it in an episode a couple of weeks ago. It's such an amazing thing. Well, I'll take a step back, because this had been a great feeling for you.
00;11;08;08 - 00;11;33;09
Rob Napoli
Right? So one of the things that I loved about Jolt is you talk a lot about one of my favorite words, right? And even in my title of my book, Intentionality, right? Talk about being intentional. Let's talk about like the inner greatness that you're talking about. So what was the what was the launching point when you when when was it like, I'm going to write a book because I know how hard it is to write a book.
00;11;33;09 - 00;11;45;27
Rob Napoli
It's fucking hard. So when you made that decision, what was that like? And just talk me through the kind of high level version of like what was that process like of going through and writing this book?
00;11;45;27 - 00;12;08;27
Larry Long Jr.
I was very reluctant. I was reluctant Robb. I was the reluctant author. I met a ghost writer and a book consultant who said, Larry, you got to tell your story. I said, Every Wednesday I tell my story on my mid-week midday motivational minute. And she said, Survey says, nerd, you need to tell your story in writing. I said, Well, Larry Long Junior doesn't write very well.
00;12;09;02 - 00;12;24;23
Larry Long Jr.
Any of my English teacher will tell you there's no way that dude wrote a book. But she said, I'm here to help. I'm here to serve you and support you to make sure that we get this on print. And it was a year and a half process. There were plenty of times where I was ready to tap out.
00;12;24;23 - 00;12;48;01
Larry Long Jr.
I was ready to give up. But then working with my coach, what's up? Coach Kristen Frade We went back to my why my vision, my goal of touching as many people and there are some people that will never hear me speak. But now this provides an avenue for them to hear my words in the written form. So it's it's one of my greatest accomplishments.
00;12;48;07 - 00;13;04;00
Larry Long Jr.
It's one of those where I never would have thunk it. I mean, think of that an author that used the word thunk. How does that happen? But it's just been an amazing journey, adventure and sometimes misadventure. You know how that goes, Rob.
00;13;04;00 - 00;13;32;26
Rob Napoli
They're very, very enmeshed. So, you know, one of the things I remembered when I wrote and launched my book and I kind of joke about this, I had a writing coach and an amazing publisher and Jared Rosen and Juliet Clark, who helped me through a lot getting this book ready. But I remember and I had a deep imposter syndrome fear when we were about to be like, Hey, this is like Done, we're shipping out.
00;13;32;26 - 00;13;47;00
Rob Napoli
Did you have that moment? Did you have that kind of like, am I really ready for this? Am I ready for this to be out or are you like in your power at that time and back. Let's let's go.
00;13;47;00 - 00;14;11;22
Larry Long Jr.
Come on, Cletus. I still have that voice, that thud, not Elmer Fudd, but that fear, uncertainty and doubt. And working with my coach, we've we put a name, the name is Cletus and it says, see, I got a brush Cletus off my shoulder because he talks a whole bunch of trash. You're not worthy. You're not good enough. Cletus tells me all the things that I can't do when inside.
00;14;11;22 - 00;14;37;22
Larry Long Jr.
I know that I can do anything. I think Kevin Garnett said it when the Celtics won the championship. Anything is possible. And that's the voice that I'm trying to amplify, not just for myself, but for everyone else that needs to hear that. Because imposter syndrome, it's ah, it's kind of like the droplets of COVID is contagious. And a lot of people suffer from it unnecessarily.
00;14;37;29 - 00;14;50;23
Larry Long Jr.
And sometimes you just need the ear, that voice that's encouraging you, Hercules. Hercules, that you can do it. If Larry Long Jr can do it, anyone can do it. You can go ahead, Soulja Boy, tell it.
00;14;52;24 - 00;15;20;07
Rob Napoli
The amount of movie references that you just had. And about a 22nd clip was probably the most favourite thing. Like obviously winning to Eddie with the donkey of the llama and Hercules like that Hercules like immediately going to like those things. Like I can see the movie that you're talking through, I love this. And you know, you talk, you said I can do anything.
00;15;20;07 - 00;15;42;14
Rob Napoli
I love it. You brought this up in one of my favorite quotes that my coach gave me about six months ago. That has changed a lot for me, and I have it written right here on my desk, like eye level, just the right. Cause whenever I'm thinking, whenever I need to, like take a minute to formulate a response, I do that thing where sometimes I don't I my mouth works faster than my brain processes.
00;15;42;14 - 00;15;58;06
Rob Napoli
So I'll say things before I totally process. So I look, I have to look off and I and I have it right here because I always look at it, says I can do anything but I can't do everything. And you've been on an amazing journey the last 365 days. You also had a goal to play golf in all these places.
00;15;59;07 - 00;16;24;24
Rob Napoli
You know, you you and your son, your family, your son was in a Little League World Series and almost made the women's sport like you have been doing so many things. So how does Larry Long Jr author, speak or coach, father, friend, you know, son, all these things. How does Larry Long Jr balance out time, energy and effort to keep this level of intentionality and positivity?
00;16;25;01 - 00;16;43;21
Rob Napoli
Because that's something that inspires me. Like, I answer that question, I have to say this you inspire me every damn day. And I love I don't always catch the midweek motivational minute live, but I always go back and look. And you and I have a lot of similarities. We've talked a lot and every time I like, I need that jolt.
00;16;43;23 - 00;16;53;15
Rob Napoli
Like, literally I need that jolt. I just I just go to your Instagram page. So how do you keep that high level all the time?
00;16;54;04 - 00;17;25;20
Larry Long Jr.
Yeah, barely, to be honest with you. And Rob, I've got I've got a staff of three that work for me, me, myself and I, which I love that quote. I can do anything, but I can't do everything. And I've been noodling. I'm just going to be honest with all the entrepreneurs out there, all the listeners. I've been noodling about hiring a virtual professional, but I've been scared and I suffer from fear of the unknown and fear of letting go.
00;17;25;20 - 00;17;45;10
Larry Long Jr.
Because right now it's I do everything and I realize that if I want to continue to grow, I can't do everything. So it's really that piece of my heart that I got to let go, a piece of my business and trust someone else. It makes me break out in the sweat. But my energy, that's something that we all control.
00;17;45;19 - 00;18;08;25
Larry Long Jr.
And you talked about intentionality being intentional. When I wake up, I ask myself this question is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing to help others? So if I can answer that at the end of each day, Larry, what did you do today to actually positively impact someone else's life?
00;18;08;25 - 00;18;24;13
Larry Long Jr.
It only takes one to make the day a success, to be fulfilled. Now, hopefully it's more than one, but that's really what I try to live, kind of my guiding principle. What am I doing to serve someone else to help lift them up?
00;18;26;09 - 00;18;50;08
Rob Napoli
I love that. So much because I'm right there with you. I Enneagram seven. I very much love to love to serve and love to be a part of things and I know that struggle where it's both a success, but it's also a double edged sword because sometimes you want to give so much of yourself, and sometimes you do it at the cost of your relationships, your health, your money, time, all these things.
00;18;50;27 - 00;19;19;23
Rob Napoli
So, so I love that you bring that up and that you're really vulnerable about it. And, you know, I first I mean, who has a virtual support staff person? I have. I had to now I have three game changer, absolute game changer in the fact that there are times where I know that I don't know and I can lean on them and I say, Hey, this is what you're doing.
00;19;19;23 - 00;19;31;10
Rob Napoli
This is what I have you for. Make the executive decision because I can always go and change it. I can like delete it, but having that person there to like help me is huge. So I would definitely say you should check that out.
00;19;32;03 - 00;19;54;02
Larry Long Jr.
Hey, Rob, I absolutely love what you shared in terms of bringing on assistance. Bring it on help. We all need it. There's a great quote that says, if you want to go fast, go alone, go solo, row all by yourself. But if you want to go far, you got to do it together. I think they say teamwork really makes the dream work and it does.
00;19;54;08 - 00;20;17;04
Larry Long Jr.
So I absolutely love you sharing that. Rob, you talked about me being an inspiration to you. I hope you know you're an inspiration to me. I look up to you. I appreciate you. I appreciate all your support. Your encouragement. Can't stop. Won't stop. I love what you're doing. You stay focused on helping serving others here domestically as well as internationally.
00;20;17;10 - 00;20;39;09
Larry Long Jr.
Keep doing what you're doing. I got to say thank you for hosting me, for bringing me on the bear necessities of entrepreneurship. Always a privilege and a pleasure to be on your show, and please let your listeners know there's anything I can do to help serve, support them, to reach out to me. The best way to find me is on LinkedIn.
00;20;39;09 - 00;20;59;14
Larry Long Jr.
Larry Long Jr. I got the smile for a mile. I've got the gold. Mike You might find me dropping the platinum. Mike I think it's pink rose gold close enough and I'm color blind and matches my bat. I guess you could say it matches my shirt. Maybe not, but hey, we're trying to get it done. And if you want to check out my website, it's Larry Long Jr.
00;20;59;14 - 00;21;15;11
Larry Long Jr.
That's J.R. dot com. Please reach out. Let me know what I can do to serve you. Rob, thank you so much for hosting me. Thank you for always supporting me. I wish you all the best and continued success. Bye for now.
00;21;17;09 - 00;21;44;02
Rob Napoli
Hey, I just wanted to shoot a quick little ending segment as we had a little bit of issues there. Larry closed out really, really strong. And I just wanted to come back on and say, if you don't know about Larry or if you haven't checked him out, please do so. Larry Long Junior dot com. Pick up a copy of his book Jolt now I'll make sure to link it in the show notes.
00;21;44;02 - 00;22;07;16
Rob Napoli
It is a wonderfully easy read, a lot of great actual tips and tricks, so make sure you go check my guy out. Give him some love bias book. If you are looking for a dynamic keynote speaker anywhere around the globe and you want to bring passion and energy and fire, let Larry know, get a hold of him. I promise you will not be disappointed bear nations
00;22;07;16 - 00;22;11;26
Rob Napoli
Thank you again for tuning in. Until next time, stay well and rise up.
OUTRO
00;22;14;29 - 00;22;24;13
Rob Napoli
Bear nation. Thanks for listening to the bear necessities of entrepreneurship. We enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe and leave us a review.