From Halfpipes to High Stakes in Business | Philip Meranto

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Episode Topics:

• Learn how Michelangelo scaled his fitness business to $600K+ a year organically.
• Discover the power of branding and consistent content creation on social media.
• Gain insights into navigating social media algorithms for maximum reach.
• Michelangelo’s journey from a college dorm to a thriving online empire is truly inspiring.
• Practical tips for anyone looking to grow their business organically without relying on ads.

 

Rick Jordan  

Hey, what’s shakin, hey, I’m Rick Jordan today. We’re going all in. All right, I’m reading in front of me life coach, mindset coach, business coach, keynote speaker. In my notes, it also said cybersecurity, which is like me, right? And then I see former pro skateboarder and poker player. I was like, holy cow, this guy is like me, except because I can list off like a filmmaker and all these other eclectic things, right, former pastor. But today, we’re gonna talk about some cool stuff, you know, because it, it’s an interesting life that we lead, and how we start to dabble in a lot of these things. And I can’t wait to hear his story and how he got involved in all of these things. Phillip Mirando Welcome to the show.

 

Philip Meranto  

Thank you, man. Appreciate for having me. 

 

Rick Jordan  

But did I pronounce your last name? Right?

 

Philip Meranto  

I should have checked the branch. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Okay, I did yay. Awesome. I’m usually really frickin spot on. It’s, it’s rare that I messed that up, dude. I mean, I love all this stuff. Right? It’s, uh, would you classify yourself? Really, as an athlete? The term business? Would that be accurate? Yeah,

 

Philip Meranto  

I mean, I kind of had two lives. And definitely with the athletic life on one side, and then the business life on the side. But it was easier to paint the picture with the skateboarding stuff, because of the coverage and all that, yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

right on I talked with like Austin Eckler a friend of mine, right? And he just got signed to DC yesterday, which is, which is cool. But he’s getting into the, you know, one of the best running backs in the NFL, and he’s, he’s starting to get into the business side, too. You know, it’s cool to see pro athletes. You know, there’s several others I’ve talked to, over the course of the last couple of years that will start in a national league or something like that, or in some other kind of pro sport and then just branch in the business. You know, like Michael della Grange from, I met him at a bar and an event a top golf and he’s talking about how, you know, he’s got the big old frickin championship ring on, and all that, but then the guy built like an insurance Empire after the league. Yeah. So it’s like, this is so cool, because so many, I’m sure you’ve seen this, like, how many of your buddies right, you were skateboarding with? I just kind of like fell off the financial bandwagon. After that stopped for them?

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, a lot of buddies. I mean, definitely. I mean, I know, a lot of industries are can be difficult. And so but yeah, there’s finances can be difficult. In the skateboarding side, there’s only a few percentage of people who are actually making some decent amount of money.

 

Rick Jordan  

For sure. And does do you see many people actually, a plan for life after?

 

Philip Meranto  

To be honest, no, they kind of just get caught in the cycle of life. And wherever life throws then they kind of just go that direction,

 

Rick Jordan  

Like Taco Bell. I mean, I’m not being facetious. Like some probably, like, hit rock bottom too, don’t they? Yeah,

 

Philip Meranto  

I mean, it was actually sad. I just saw a video yesterday of like, old school professional skateboarder kind of homeless in LA right now looking for a job and stuff like that. And you I’m sure, you know, that. California is a very expensive place to and that’s kind of where the whole of Mecca is. But um, yeah, it’s, it’s sad to see him. And it’s kind of like, you don’t really have no guidance. It’s not like they’re being taught that. I mean, definitely. Today, we’re seeing a little bit more people like Rob Dyrdek some of the bigger people that used to skateboard. So that’s kind of opened up some people’s eyes. Definitely. But yeah, you don’t hear too much business talk. And I kind of saw it as like growing up, going in like distributions, getting free clothes and stuff like that. It’s like, I was always just so fascinated with the business, like how they’re operating and stuff like that. And most people are just on for the ride Oh, whatever they can get out of it and stuff. And I just always loved the business side of things. 

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s a good position, brother. I mean, I commend you for that, too. Because, I mean, if you look at that’s also like, even if you look at the music industry, you know, take a look at Taylor Swift, right? I mean, she’s like, she could probably swing the election this year if she wanted to. She’s that popular. But the reason she’s that popular is that she started understanding the business of music, rather than just doing and creating the music itself because you still see a lot of talented musicians do like you go to Nashville or something like that. They’re just playing on the side of the road, man. Because they don’t think about the business aspect of what they’re doing, or the life after that number one hits, you know, it’s literally like the one-hit wonders, you know, so that’s good, dude. It’s like, what would you I mean, your mindset coach now and a life coach, Business Coach, what would you say to your buddies? You know, first off, let’s be real, like because of your buddies. Right? It’s like our closest friends are the ones who probably listen to us the least. is very true. Yeah, you found that out, too.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, I mean, to some of the Buddies is actually something I ever did in my life was just being more intentional, where I want to go kind of, I was definitely a little naive, especially getting into some masterminds and getting more on the coaching side of the visualize visualization of things. But that’s all we do in skateboarding, we visualize a trick and we go execute it. 

 

Rick Jordan  

So I’m gonna start thinking so it’s like, yeah, firstly, I don’t mean to cut you off, but that you caught me with that, you know, so you’re like, seeing it in your head first, and then you go out and do it.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, and that’s why I’m like me. I’ve personally looked at things from a lot of angles. So it’s like when I’m looking, I feel like kind of familiar. But it’s like I used to do more the street skating where I’d hop on handrails, jump downstairs gaps, and stuff. And it’s like, you kind of visualize everything that like can go wrong, too, right? And you start to stare it up in your head, and then you just go straight into action, and see what happens.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s kind of like business, right? Row. Exact for real, it’s like, I will try it, let’s see it, you know, fall flat on my face, whatever, you know.

 

Philip Meranto  

And there’s just so many lessons when you try things. And that’s what I would like to see some more people it’s kind of zooming out and seeing a 510 20-year playing kind of just making little different things of understanding where they can go and the life they can create. And kind of like I mentioned, this being more intentional and stuff really helped me never realize how we just get caught in cycles and stuff and blink the eye. And that goes a year, two years, five years, even a decade, sometimes

 

Rick Jordan  

Surreal man and I mean, it’s it doesn’t even just apply to pro sports either. Because it’s like the, you know, it’s like, I saw this quote one time, it’s like, You’re not meant to just go to work, pay bills and die. You know, and that’s, that’s the cycle. So I can see that even with, with pro athletes to where it’s like, that’s the season that they’re in. And it’s like, when life stops like, well, I guess it’s literally life stops. When Yeah, when their time is done in the sport. Because that isn’t that is a fixed amount of time in any pro sport, dude, it’s a fixed amount of time. Yeah,

 

Philip Meranto  

exactly. So like, there’s that short window and stuff. And sometimes, you know, I mean, a lot of athletes that deal with the identity crisis coming off their career. I mean, sometimes it’s crazy, even with me, like doing something that for 25 years, and then just, it’s out the window, and you got to try to do something new. It’s like, Man, this is kind of how I’ve basically built myself in some ways. It’s all it’s all I know. So it can definitely be difficult coming off something you’ve done your whole life, for sure,

 

Rick Jordan  

Brother, what would you say to your buddies now that you know, I mean, even like young ones coming up in the sport or any sport, it’s like, outside of being intentional, you know? Like, what? What’s tactical? You know, how do you I guess, how do you pull them from the matrix to be like, Listen, this is going to come to an end, and then you’re gonna have a whole nother season in life.

 

Philip Meranto  

What kind of like you mentioned a little bit earlier with artists and stuff, I feel the same thing with skateboarding is now everything’s coming personal branding. And if people can build up that personal brand and stuff that can turn into a lot more opportunities, like even me, I mean, I don’t mention too much. But I got out on a couple. I was like a stunt coordinator for actually Macaulay Culkin his brother. Oh, stuff, like, yeah, it was, I did, it was a movie called Electric Children. But it’s just super cool. So it’s like those things, you can start to look at different avenues and what skating can do for you and stuff. And just taking those skill sets and characteristics and trying to do something else. But then just kind of like, seeing what it like you enjoy. You know, I mean, I like to sometimes get caught up in so much for making money. It’s like, well, what about the process of enjoying it. And just like me being born out here in Vegas, there’s a lot of money coming in and out of this town. And some of these buddies, man, they make a lot of money, but they’re just so stressed out and stuff like that. So for me, I mean, I can only hope that people don’t have too many limiting beliefs and anything they really can create, as long as they’re willing to put in the work. I think they could achieve it.

 

Rick Jordan  

So a sort of cool phrase there, man limiting belief. You know, it’s something I’ve used over and over again. Can you dive into that a little bit? Like what what does that mean to you? 

 

Philip Meranto  

Well, the crazy thing is like growing up, to be honest, when I heard the word belief, I actually thought more about religion. Yeah, and like now starting to realize everything, the way we operate, the way we see things comes from a belief or a meaning we’re giving it so to me, it was just starting to understand what I even believe and why they’re like, getting kind of deeper in the way I act, do the things I do. Things. I like the way I beat and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean, limiting beliefs are everything. Once we start to realize everything we’re operating is from a belief you start to kind of peel those layers apart and start to get a little more. Why do you even believe in these things? Because even me, it’s like, I did so many other things, but skateboarding I really believe in them. And just the joy brought me the fulfillment and stuff like that I truly do. Also with the crazy life, I was kind of raised, I truly, truly believe skateboarding also saved my life in some ways.

 

Rick Jordan  

Oh, yeah. How’s that? Yeah.

 

Philip Meranto  

So I mean,

 

Rick Jordan  

Like, I look at you, and it’s just intuition, right? And it’s kind of like an I almost feel like you’ve seen a lot of stuff. You know, I had some rough stuff.

 

Philip Meranto  

Definitely. My father had me out. 47. So coming into his life, at that age, I was always around a lot of older people. My brothers are in their 50s. So and then kind of growing up a lot of my buddies. I was that guy like, not being told to go home at 1211 I was out till 1230 or 12. One in the morning with older buddies. Always gotten them in trouble with the delinquency of minors and tickets like that and stuff, but I’ve always learned from older people to be honest. So skateboarding to me brought out Um, a lot of fulfillment in a lot of ways. But then it’s like, I feel like if I was fully on the business life and all this stuff I was kind of raised around. I can only imagine, I don’t know where I’d be today. So I truly believe that skateboarding gave me that balance, got to travel and meet a lot of people, which is cool. Lots of different types of life. And just traveling and stuff. So it was really cool and stuff. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

it sounds like from what you’re saying that it gave you structure. You know, because it seemed like prior to that, you know, with what your dad was that and everything is 47. It’s like, you didn’t have a lot of structure growing up.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, exactly. And then, as much as it was poker brought a lot of structure in my life. I was. Yeah, yeah. Like I was the guy selling fake IDs as a young kid out here in Las Vegas and sneaking into casinos, playing high cash limit games, very young. But just even seeing that industry changed from the early 2000s, to where it’s at today, seeing a lot more younger people. Same thing in skateboarding. Girls are amazing. Today didn’t see too many girls growing up skating. Now they’re in the Olympics. So it’s just super cool to see how much it’s expanded over the years realistically,

 

Rick Jordan  

Once the WNBA gonna take off. You know,

 

Philip Meranto  

I know we actually our team last year won it, I guess in Vegas. That’s awesome.

 

Rick Jordan  

I’d take a look at that. Because there’s a lot of cool sports that women are getting into, right, and they’re starting to get recognition around all those things. But it’s like the statement is like, I don’t think the WNBA is really growing. It’s like, what, what’s what’s going on with that? You know, whereas it’s like all these awesome other sports like the non-traditional you know, not that skateboarding is like that. Nobody knows about it, but it’s something that, you know, it’s not really televised on, you know, like, ESPN One ESPN Eight, or something like that. Oh, my God. I think back to Have you ever seen dodgeball? I have. Yeah, he’s still there. Yeah, exactly.

 

Rick Jordan  

I don’t know whether like ESPN eight, the old show. The weird crap that pops into my head. Anyways, yeah, dude, I, I can I can see what you’re saying there. Because I mean, regardless of like, whether it’s Poker, whether it’s, you know, skateboarding, I think, if people, you know, in your mindset coach, I think if people can find the structure in a structuralist world that will help them focus in a direction that’s towards their dreams and their visions. 

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, definitely. And then just also understanding the way the structure of our brain works has helped me out tremendously. I mean, we’re not really taught these things. And a lot of things that we’ve learned in the last 20 years have been a lot faster than 100 years previous and stuff. So a lot of things. I mean, I was really raised, can’t teach old dogs new tricks. And this is the life that shows us with my father and stuff like that. And kind of now just changing the whole structure of that and the beliefs I used to give it the meaning I used to give it and that’s why I’m like it. I’ve always been on the consulting side, but the coaching has just been a way different approach and stuff, especially when you’re getting like deep with someone one on one, creating a desired outcome for them or like a blueprint for their desired outcomes and stuff. So it’s, it’s been fun man. I really love it. I really enjoy it. I mean, resume coaching with like skateboarding and stuff like that. And I’ve always been like a person people came to for advice. Same thing with my father watching him a lot of people coming to him for relationships, advice business. So that’s kind of a lot of that’s why I’m like, I really didn’t watch my dad go to like a nine to five or nothing. He’s always been an entrepreneur, always a businessman. And it kind of was the complete opposite with my mother. So it’s like got to see a little bit of both sides and stuff. But yeah, like one thing I do appreciate with my father a lot was just looking at stuff outside the box. Yeah, it’s been really cool. Yeah, a lot of different angles when some people are just so stuck in one lane. It’s, I can look at things a lot a lot of different views and very short period of time. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah. From the way you talk about your dad. It sounds like you still really hold them in high regard. 

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, no, I mean, it sucks because when you look back, it’s usually a lot of the pain we focus on and a lot of things I did go through but I wouldn’t change it, and like there were so many great things I did learn from him. It’s just what I was raised in and it kind of didn’t make me the person I am today but I just don’t feel like it when it comes to the abuse physically and emotionally. Just being around violence drugs, crime, all those things and at a younger age I mean, no kid should really witness those types of things my opinion, but it also made me grow up pretty fast and because I was already on my own by the age of 16 got homeschooled was already teaching myself and was making a decent amount of money very young. So that was a little bit different from like the crypto days where we’ve seen nowadays like teenagers making hundreds of 1000s millions of dollars stages 1520 years ago was it kind of like crazy to hear that like oh man, you’re making six figures before he even got out of school and I’m just like.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, no joke. I am listening. When did you first start skateboarding obviously in your hands right or even younger? 

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, so baby I mean, in the beginning, I felt like the if you remember that show Rocket Power. I felt like a rocket power kid. Yeah, just like Snowball or was more like I got in like deep to mountain biking, doing all these sports playing baseball, but skateboarding, one of the things I really enjoy, because I did enjoy baseball and some other things, but like baseball, bike riding, those are some things you actually don’t need a team. So it’s actually your buyers. Yeah, you’re doing it by yourself. And sometimes it was just me and my bored in the world and just going off, but I want to say right around age nine and 10 because I was like rollerblading at first, and then got really into skateboarding. But luckily, how small the world was there was actually a professional skateboarder. His name was Kenny Anderson, he lived in my neighborhood. So kind of seeing him and then like, the way he built out a life, it kind of showed me like, Dan, this is very possible, I can do this to actually make a career and a living out of it. Back in the day, when I as much as I love mountain biking. There wasn’t really a career in it. There weren’t too many sponsors wasn’t too many competitions. And I remember I broke my collarbone on my mountain bike, and I was like, you know, anything I’m gonna break. It’s gonna be on my skateboard. Now I need to do everything. So that’s when I tripled down on skateboarding. And kind of like I mentioned, I started traveling, I was already kind of winning contests at the age of 13. So it was pretty cool. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s like you’re in my brain. Because I was just thinking, I’m like, I wonder if you broke anything and how bad it was like, I’m sure you did. Yeah,

 

Philip Meranto  

I mean, compared I mean, I’m gonna have no wood around me, but like, luckily, cuz like for how long I did skateboard. I didn’t have some in the way I beat on my body of a body, of course, was bad, but I didn’t have injuries, like some of my buddies all restructured knees and torn ACLs and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean, I’ve definitely I’m in the best shape of my life, but I’ve definitely messed up my body. It’s not the same.

 

Rick Jordan  

For real. What’s one of the worst that you had?

 

Philip Meranto  

I’m really nothing like crazy, like I said, with my buddies, but I mean, just like always, like broken fingers. hyperextended elbow. Yeah, my hips, like, so I have heel spurs the planet, patients fishy. I don’t even know how to pronounce it. And when it’s something to do with the tissue and your heels. All my steps are just like, I always feel like I’m burning when I’m walking. So I have a lot of tissue damage. I don’t have too much tissue on my hips anymore from all like the landing and rolling. And then I wish I mean, that’s, I mean, I’ve been my head a few times, like concussions and stuff like that. But yes, nothing too crazy. Like I said, some of my buddies, they’ve gone through some crazy surgeries and stuff like that. So I’ve been pretty blessed.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s awesome, brother, when you started transitioning out of skateboarding, right? Because we talked about that fixed time, you know, what do you think? What were you thinking? Or what was the thought process? Like, I want to help people, I want to coach people.

 

Philip Meranto  

So really kind of got me in the coaching actually. So like, right around 25 to 27, I was actually being told I was too old to pursue my skateboarding career. And it kind of started hitting me off guard. And I did kind of fall into that loop of demise. It’s younger kid comes up quickly, doesn’t it? Yeah. And that’s why I’m like we kind of went through that transition of, they would push people really hard because there’s like an amateur. And then there’s a professional and it’s kind of similar other than the contracts and maybe having your name on like a skateboard and shoe. But there are amateurs out here who are sometimes making more than professionals. And there was like, the whole transition of YouTube like skateboarding used to make a lot of manual money through video sales, and then YouTube came through. Yeah, so there was all these like, and then they started to realize is you mean with social media and stuff, some of these kids are with all the big followings. So like this next day, now they’re turning 1617-year-old pros because that’s how they’re going to make money off them and stuff, but really wasn’t too much of that. I mean, skating was a big part of it. But from 24 to 28, I just I a lot of business deals of skateboarding, and a lot of things that I was involved with started falling apart, I lost my mom, and my grandma, and my dad passed away. So there’s just a lot of things I kind of got caught in a bad trajectory. In my opinion, I was kind of going down the wrong path. And luckily, I caught myself right around 28. That’s when I started to really look into personal development a little bit into therapy. I tried a little bit into therapy, but to be honest, the way it was going, they aren’t trying to put me on drugs. And I was kind of explained to them like, Hey, I do I know I can be messed up and I have lived a pretty crazy life, especially like going through life and death situations, overcoming drugs, in situations like that, but really piqued my interest is once I did it for myself, and of course, I think it’s going to be something I’ll be working on until the day I die. But I did two years of just fully engaging in myself just wanting to become the best person. And then kind of once I seen the change in myself, I started to realize I’m like man, this is something I missed and a lot of business I was involved in a lot of meetings and never really seen like the structure people talking like anything about personal development guys never really talking about emotions, although most of our decisions come from an emotional standpoint of view. So then when I looked into the industry of coaching seemed to be a lot more girl-dominated. And, when I started to look at like a lot of categories, everything was at its highest, and not down-talk anyone because there are some amazing people that I’ve learned from and there are great people out there. But I just kind of looked at all the numbers when I’ve seen everything at the highest depression, anxiety, obesity, PTSD, everything. I was like, you can’t tell me these people are doing a good job. Yeah. And so that’s something I’m like,

 

Rick Jordan  

I love your perspective.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yes, just like I was just like, man, like, it’s, it’s more coaches than ever.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah. And then there’s a lot of people preaching what they’re not doing behind closed doors and stuff. But um, that’s kind of was like after I kind of went through that I was just like, man, like, I really have always had a passion. And now kind of going through that I think that’s more of My mission today is to help some people and just overcome and then tie the curriculum. So a lot of my experiences have really helped on like, the coaching side, just because there’s a lot of things I didn’t know, you know, I mean, how to approach people. I mean, sure, I used to be pretty blind, and just kind of say what was on my mind. But now it’s more listening and not just saying what I think kind of doing it more from a coaching and more interested point of view with people and stuff. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Do you love your passion to bloom and get that out of you for other people? 

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, and then kind of what you mentioned earlier, sort of zooming out, kind of like what we mentioned, like what I would tell some of my buddies is started looking at my life, like, how do I want my late 30s and 40s. To be, you know, I mean, I hope to have a kid one day, I don’t know if I will, but I hope to do and I just want to make sure that I just never bring a kid into a life that I was in and stuff like that. And sometimes we want a lot of change. But when you’re doing the same shit, your kids just going to be a reflection of you. Like I literally was just a modernized version of my father, I used to look at it. I used to kind of tell him, I’m the better version of him.

 

Rick Jordan  

It’s great. That’s cool, brother. I’m thinking back. It’s like if I were to like summarize our Convo today, it’s like, I think I think everything in life has a season. You know, whether it’s in pro sports or whatever else, it’s like, you’re never gonna have something that lasts your entire life. Any kind of involvement in anything, you know, because I mean, how many people you know, actually, like, get pensions these days, you know, stay 30 years somewhere? Yeah, like, the average individual is going to have I think, like, 21 jobs or something like that in their life,

 

Philip Meranto  

Or that my father kind of was used to like, it’s crazy, because like, even going younger in school, like I told people, I’m not going to college, I’d be the person to open up a college before I go to college, and just always had that mindset. And even with my father, it’s like, you really care about a pension if you had $20 million, $30 million? So I’ve always had that. Yeah, the outside view of like, okay, maybe what we’re told is not sometimes the right or no one says that, but it’s just looking different direction and what fits for you for sure.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah. I mean, I think of government employees these days, too. It’s like, they’re going for that pension. It’s like 3 million, as you said, you know, like, yeah, what really is 3 million? You know, because I’m thinking it’s like if I’m 44, you know, or even, let’s say 5 million, you know, 20 years from now when I’m 21 years from now when I’m 65. What does 5 million actually give me? Yeah, that’s pretty much because I mean, over like 20 years, you know, let’s, let’s pretend I live until 85. It’s like 5 million ends up becoming like, $200,000 a year or something like that, you know, but yeah, and that’s how I’ve always looked at things too. But it’s like, 200k Today, you know, we’re looking at it that way on an annual basis is really like 100k 20 years from now with how inflation happens and everything. It’s like 5 million is not a lot of money to have a way for any kind of retirement fund.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, no, it’s so true. And also, it’s like, even if people touch that 5 million, a lot of them don’t know what to do with it, or how to make it work for them. Right. It’s definitely three things the money, you gotta make it, keep it, and then duplicate it. Bingo.

 

Rick Jordan  

Is that a perfect spot to end for? Because that’s brilliant. That’s like a mic-drop moment. Make it keep it and what was the last? duplicated duplicated? Yeah, I love it, brother. I can see because I mean, it’s like, I didn’t even get to like the part on your sheet here that says like, You’re known for your grit, obviously, you know, but then it goes into, like your charm. And it’s like, that’s one of the things that I see about you. And it’s like, when I could see you, you can see a lot of calm. You know, and I bet you that wasn’t always the case, go on what you went through. So you can tell the work that you put in you’re like a testament to what you’re teaching other people. It’s pretty cool.

 

Philip Meranto  

And I greatly appreciate that. Yeah. When you’re raising chaos, you’re always looking for the columns. Right up, my man. Well, thank you, brother. 

 

Rick Jordan  

Everybody can find you at the people’s life coach and then the people’s life. coach.com Phillip, you’re an amazing dude. I appreciate you coming on man.

 

Philip Meranto  

I like everything more. I’ve read in everything I’ve read about you too, man. I am looking forward to connecting more with you down the road. Just want to say thank you for everything. 

 

Rick Jordan  

You bet, man. Thanks for coming on.

 

Philip Meranto  

Yeah, no problem.