The Secret to Wealth in Podcasting

Watch the episode here

Rick on Lou’s show

The Binge Factor – Rick

The Binge Factor – Lou

Kindra Hall

Shiggi Pakter Part 1

Shiggi Pakter Part 2

 

Episode Topics:

• Nobody listens to your first episode 
• Building a podcast for success
• Where Speakeasy came from
• Building your podcast audience
• Don’t start a podcast for the wrong reasons

 

Rick Jordan:

What’s shakin’? I’m pumped because today we’re going on with an amazing guest of mine that if you take a look, I was just on his incredible show. This show’s about 300 episodes. Are you ready for this? His show is 800 episodes. Freaking incredible, Right? You need to check this out. Thrive Loud is the podcast and the host is Lou Diamond, which is here with me right now. What’s shaken Lou? 

Lou Diamond:

Oh man. We get to get to do the other half of the home and home unless there’s just to be prepared. We know each other already. Where I even knew what outfit to award for this particular episode. As you can tell, we matched up on black t-shirts. All I’m missing is neon purple in the background and, uh, much better hair. 

 

Rick Jordan:

You’ve got the lime green though, which I like. I 

Lou Diamond:

Do. Well it’s, it’s, we call it the Thrive Green or is more, more of late. We’ve called it the Speakeasy Green cuz you know, there’s the easy for the new book that came out. So yeah, so we’re, we’re, we’re kind of focused on all, all that 

 

Rick Jordan:

Stuff. <laugh> man, 

Lou Diamond:

You know, you know, we got a branding thing going on here 

 

Rick Jordan:

For sure. What I’m excited about is because, you know, I, uh, this is the, the reverse right, the flip flop of when I was just on your show, which again, thank you for having me on. It was such an awesome convo. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah, it was awesome. And you, you br you brought the energy. Great story. And I have not looked at a Best Buy the same since. 

 

Rick Jordan:

I bet, man. <laugh>. That’s good. They’re very different these days. I really don’t like walking into ’em anymore. I two I twitch a little. Yes. Yeah. 

Lou Diamond:

It gets a little nervous. Ting. Yeah. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Right. <laugh>. But I’m excited to talk to you about, about your show, about your book, you know, and those are a couple things because I mean, first of course, 800 episodes is just huge, you know, and Yeah. How many years now 

Lou Diamond:

<laugh>? It’s so funny you say that. Uh, we’re we’re, we’re in the fifth year of this show and it started off like, you know, most podcast shows do one show a week and it gained some popularity really quickly. And yeah. And then we went to two shows a week and then, and then what was still happening was there was such demand for people to want to come on the program and promote themselves. I got really tired of getting on the show with somebody in April and saying, Hey, this is great. This will be coming out during Christmas, uh, because we’re queued up for every single week. And I felt that for some reason, three was the right number. Uh, we came up with a formula, I think you and I maybe even talked about how we market the show for certain targets. 

Lou Diamond:

And, and, and a lot of my clients have been on. If you would’ve told me though, that the show would have over 800 episodes, I would’ve hosted several other podcast programs that are out there in the podcast sphere and inside the walls of large corporations where I’m either executive producing or hosting the show. The number of podcast episodes that I’ve produced is close to 2000 <laugh>. Oh my God. That’s the number that’ll be there. So for five plus years, it has grown into, uh, something that my wife says, either it’s an obsession and a hobby or a passion and a pretty thriving business. So I I’m hoping it’s more of the latter than the 

 

Rick Jordan:

Former <laugh>. It could be both, you know, cuz it is a little bit about that. Yeah. Which is what it’s supposed to be. Right? And it, there’s a, there was one time a, uh, a former mentor of mine and there’s a reason that this one is a former mentor once told me that, you know, you, you can never run a, a super successful large business and impact a lot of people in their spirit and in their soul. Wow. You know, and it was really around like church and ministry and that kind of stuff. And I was just like, in that moment it’s like, you know, flipping ’em off. You know, watch me. That was really what it was. You know, which is how it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be a combo of both of those things, Man. 

Lou Diamond:

I I also think it also sets something up really important. And I think you, and, and kudos to you as well. This platform is awesome and your show is great. And I think something you and I both love about what this forum enables us to do, and that is, it enables us to connect through incredible conversations with great people. Yeah. And, and that’s kind of the work that I do. And that’s literally everything all meshed together. And that’s why I love having the opportunity to meet and connect and have these great conversations. And so much happens not just in the conversation with the individual I’m speaking with. I’ve had listeners send me messages about an episode inquiring about the guest that was on and asking, Can I connect with that guest? Or, I love the message that you talked about and, and the opposite saying, I love where you went. I felt like I wanted to ask the next question when you were asking those things. So that, you’re getting a community of people that are taking the content that you’re bringing to the world. And what Thrive Loud is about are those that are thriving in their lives, their businesses, and their passions, which is why Rick is a perfect person who lives and breathes. It’s his 

 

Rick Jordan:

Thank you 

Lou Diamond:

Brother. Technology security and all these multiple hats that he has. And whenever there’s a, you know, a technical cyber breakthrough, every network is calling him up. He’s showing up on News Nation and he is everywhere. And they’re like, he’s, he’s the only one not wearing a suit. I mean, all, all of that stuff is real, is really important because you’ve become, you’ve made this a brand and it’s helped to extend your brand on top of that, you’re putting great content out on the world. And all of that is what makes in my mind a connected culture of why podcasting is so much fun and so great. So I have to give applause to you and everyone else. Thank you, brother. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. 

 

Rick Jordan:

I love how you’re hitting on a lot of these points because I start to think of, you know, the last two years and how there were so many different podcasts that were started, right? Because everybody wanted to, everybody was locked in their house. And I I I was like, cool, this is awesome. And at the same time, on the, at the back of my head, I’m like, let’s see how many actually last past, past seven episodes, A 

Lou Diamond:

Lot, a lot of people Pod fade is that term. Right? You know, the pod fading effect. They start like six, seven episodes and then they go, Wow, this is a lot of work. 

 

Rick Jordan:

<laugh>. Yep, For sure. But I give, I give kudos to those who, who actually try it, Right. And at least the ones anyways, because they could figure out that it’s a lot of work. And it is a lot of work. I mean, there’s a lot, there’s, there’s a lot of resources that go into it too. I mean, as I’m sure you have, a great team that does things. I have a team that goes into this show too, you know, all the way down to a publicist that puts this out there to where news anchors listen to my show now, you know, which is mind blowing to me that it’s come this far. And at the same time, I think back to how you’re talking, you were describing like a passion and a pretty thriving business. And for anyone looking at this, it’s like, if that’s not your motivation, if you’re just, I’m gonna make a million dollars this year starting a podcast, that’s the wrong intention right out of the gate. Right? 

Lou Diamond:

Well, well that’s a great lesson. And in fact, uh, I’m often called in and I bet you are too. I wouldn’t be surprised, uh, people who are looking to start a podcast or they’ve just started a podcast and they don’t, they haven’t seen the revenue or the op, they haven’t seen the brand of the podcast turn into the dollars that they initially hoped for. Or maybe some production company had told them that this is where they could head to. And, and I wanna have a message to all these people. One, have a little patience. Yeah. I think it took me about 150 episodes until I could figure out, wait a minute, I know how to make money in this thing now. Or I know how to utilize this to promote my own brand and my own message. And a lot of people are trying to, there’s a great expression, um, don’t compare someone else’s middle with your beginning. 

 

Rick Jordan:

And, and I think that that’s a really important thing when you’re starting something new. Whether you’re a first time book publisher, a new podcaster, an entrepreneur, there’s a lot of glitz and sexiness that you see. And, social media will only amplify it even more if you have a passion for something. Try as hard as you can to put blinders on and focus on what you do and work on that and, and specialize and hone in on that craft. And then you’ll be able to see the success. No one ever sees the earlier episodes of Thrive Loud where I lost recordings because they were technical difficulties. <laugh>, or I interviewed Jackie, the joke man Martin in his home in Long Island, and there was a lawn mower outside and I was freaking out because nobody would ever hear the episode. Didn’t really matter. 

Lou Diamond:

But that’s hilarious. The general, Yeah, the general point is that it’s really important to understand in this journey that there is for everybody a right lane and a right focus. And if you stick with something that you love and you’re really good with it, uh, it, it can turn into something. Not only that is that passion project that turned into a business, which this has for me, but it turned into something else which I didn’t ever expect. Uh, and, and if the one gift that podcasting has given me is one, it’s really what is the engine behind where speakeasy came from? Because 800 plus Summit episodes and Thrive Loud and thousands of other conversations, I became this expert conversationalist and I decoded how you can connect in every conversation. And that came from the things that you and I are doing. And a lot of the lessons that great conversationalists, great interviewers and great communicators have is the ability to utilize the center of where every connection in our lives begins. And that’s at a conversation and in a conversation. So this skill set, which was to promote my speaking business and to promote my consulting work that I do, I’m a sales and marketing consultant by day and I speak and write about connecting. Nice. 

 

Rick Jordan:

That’s so sexy by the way. Thanks, isn’t it? 

Lou Diamond:

Right? 

 

Rick Jordan:

I know sales and marketing consultants <laugh> by day. 

Lou Diamond:

Yes. It’s so sexy. But the but the but the real 

 

Rick Jordan:

Work can. 

Lou Diamond:

Exactly. You know, Please come now. You know, the other problem is, I mean, I joke about this, you and I have the same thing. You could look if you go search, how many people have the word speaker in their title in LinkedIn? Uh, and I wanna make it clear that, that, that that is a way that I make my living. So it is difficult. You can’t quite take it off. Uh, but I feel proud, and this will bring this whole conversation to this point of the conversation to a head. I feel proud to say that I’m a podcaster. And, and before I probably didn’t because I can legitimately validate that not only I’m a podcaster, but I’ve actually utilized this medium to create great content that is helping others grow their business, connect, engage and win in everything they do. So I’m literally using this vehicle on both sides of the microphone in a way to help others thrive. And that, and that’s kind of exciting for me. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Dude, you put it so eloquently, all of it for real. Thank you for Thank you. So 150 episodes. And I’ve caught that, you know, when you said don’t compare it, which by the way, I’m gonna use that forever. Don’t compare someone’s middle to your start or your beginning. And 150 episodes in is when you actually figured out how to make money on it. Right. How, how far were you along? Cause I know speakeasy is relatively new, right? Yeah. When do you think I’m gonna make it, I’m gonna write a book about what I’m doing. 

Lou Diamond:

True. So, so let’s, I’ll rewind here and I’ll, and I’ll bring you up to speed and it’s a pretty cool story and I’ll, and I’ll do the best I can. Uh, I worked on Wall Street, uh, for many years and before that in consulting and professional services for a very long time, my career had always been as strange as this. Be 

 

Rick Jordan:

Still good with them on LinkedIn. Yes. <laugh> Yes. Go. 

Lou Diamond:

Thank you. 

 

Rick Jordan:

In sales and market LinkedIn bios. Yeah, I know 

Lou Diamond:

LinkedIn bios, you could go look it up. Go 

 

Rick Jordan:

Connect up former Wall Street Connect, you’ll 

Lou Diamond:

See all this stuff. You’ll see Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which was funny cuz I know you, you had done some, uh, server business with them and, and I’ve always been that professional services person and I felt I was missing out on something. Uh, I became really, really good and did really, really well in what I did on Wall Street, but it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t just about the money. It is, the money and the money was hard to come by, even though I’m not gonna complain cuz at times it was very, very good. Uh, and so I was very successful in that space, but I wasn’t happy and I didn’t know why. And part of it was that I don’t think I was really living my passion. I was doing what I, what I did, which was one of the things that I was really good at, was helping those around me become better salespeople, become better marketers. I had this ability to connect with people in a different way. That wasn’t the way that we had been taught to sell or taught to market. Yeah, it was a whole different way with, in a long story short, and maybe even through an episode of trying to figure out what I wanted to do next, I ended up helping out a friend. I went to a trade show with him. He invited me to come out. Basically I was boom lighting, which is what I’m saying unofficially here. It’s not on my 

 

Rick Jordan:

LinkedIn’s. 

Lou Diamond:

And when I did 

 

Rick Jordan:

It, Moonlighter not in your bio, 

Lou Diamond:

My bio. And when I did it Rick, I helped this guy close an incredible amount of business in one trade show, which led to like seven deals being done in 30 days. Two at the trade show, five later. And he handed me a piece of paper and a pen on a plane and said, You need to tell the world what it is you do, because I don’t think that you think Lou Diamond, what you do is unique and I’m letting you know it is. And you need to share it with everyone. That became my first book Rick called Master The Art of Connecting. Hmm. And the irony of it was I wrote a book, it got picked up and I was doing TV spots and all the marketing that you would do. And I, this new thing called podcasting came out and I started going on all these podcasts and some of them were cool, some of them were not. And I went on this one particular show and this guy literally handed to me a script of questions that he wanted me to type out before the show. And then there was a rehearsal to practice reading what I wrote in those responses. <laugh> what? And that was what we were going to record on the podcast. And in the rehearsal session, I adlib from what I wrote because I am a speaker. And I didn’t think that that was what was so important. And it didn’t sound authentic. 

 

Rick Jordan:

She’s smacking you or like, Dude, you’re 

Lou Diamond:

Not reading. In the third, in the third sentence of the fourth paragraph, you said the word the, and there’s an uh, I mean like that was the level of detail. It was like reading my, my audio book had less scrutiny than this one. So I said to the guy, You know what, do me a favor. Cancel the interview with this guest. I’m outta here. There’s no way in the world I want this version of me to ever show up anywhere. And I left and I called this guy who had said to me, You have a great name, you have a really good voice. You should host your own podcast show. Do you have an idea what you’d wanna do? And at that point it clicked that I was going to create a show that was the exact opposite of what that guy’s show was about. 

Lou Diamond:

Everything that was authentic, pulling genuineness, realness, amazing people that I’m connected to. I wanna understand and decode, not have them pre-plan it on the air, on the fly as conversational as possible. Learn what makes incredible people tick. And that’s what, that’s what I did Rick. I created that program. And, who the heck would know that I did that also was a chance to market my book and market my business and all of the stuff that I did. And I was doing it and it was getting a lot of attention and everybody loved this freaking show. And I’m sitting there going, Wow. I go, What am I doing? What, what is, what am I doing in this show? And as the show started to grow and I started to recognize that it was something unique, the uniqueness didn’t come out until very recently. The thing that did come out was that there were opportunities through podcasting for me to speak, for me to work and do some of that consulting and marketing work with some of the people I had on the show. And it gave me an opportunity to work on a craft that you and I do every day. And that is to learn through asking incredible questions. 

Lou Diamond:

So cool. I state this, I state this Rick. And, and, and that was the bell that went off after a certain amount of time had transferred. And I was then getting hired to speak about podcasting professionally. Think about how ironic this was. I went on the podcast to start this so that I can market my own book and talk about my connection, which is what I speak about. But here I’m getting hired to talk about podcasting and getting paid to do so, which is mind blowing because I’m like, that wasn’t the plan. And to everybody out there, the plan isn’t always the plan that you think, Right. It’s really, really hard. Cuz sometimes you could be so good at something that you don’t even know that you’re so good at it. And it’s that level of talent that gets you the notoriety, in notoriety that you’re looking for. 

Lou Diamond:

And that’s kind of what happened. And it then led to, I know that there’s a message here that I have to pun intended to connect what I’m doing, Bond podcasting and the lessons I learn in connecting. And that’s where speakeasy came to be. And that I figured out how we can connect in every single conversation that we have in our lives. And there’s a way not, there’s something, there’s nothing you need to say and there’s nothing you need to do, but what you and I know, it’s how you need to be. And if you own that and learn how to speak easy, that’s gonna be the gift that’s gonna get you the business deal. It’s gonna get you the girl, it’s going to get you the relationship you’re looking for. It’s gonna get you the money that you’re looking for investors. It’s gonna get your attention on the air when you’re out there and you get to be on the freaking Rick Jordan show All In Baby. I am psyched about it. And that’s the way you need to be when you can step in. So that’s kind of how it all came together. A nice way of 

 

Rick Jordan:

Amazing you, you pulled me in for real. Just absolutely incredible. And this is an <laugh>, you know me, I’m authentic as hell. You know that that’s not, that’s, I mean that because just the direction that you took these things and as you were talking about this, I was thinking back to how I started my show, right? And, and I, I was on a show maybe a year and a half ago called the Binge Factor. And I don’t know if you’ve heard of 

Lou Diamond:

That with with what’s her name I love 

 

Rick Jordan:

With Tracy Hazard. 

Lou Diamond:

Tracy Hazard. Great. 

 

Rick Jordan:

She’s awesome. She’s like, you’re so, so bingeable and everything. And she asked me the question that it’s like, how did you start, you know, what made you decide you wanted a podcast? And I’m like, I hired a branding agency and they told me to do a podcast <laugh>. She’s like, There’s nothing more. I’m like, Nope. <laugh>. 

Lou Diamond:

So, so, so you know what’s really funny, and this is a good question and, and it, there are a lot of people, this is a good message for people. Like, you know, everyone’s like, Wow, look at Lou. Wow. Look at Rick, look at all these, you know, over 1100 episodes between the two of them on two platforms. Should I, should I start a show? And, and I, and I always say to people, the most important thing about not starting the show is that, is this the, a podcast something that you can see yourself doing first? And do you think what you would make the show about is in line with your business? With your brand? Yeah. Those are the first two questions. And, and by the way, you don’t necessarily need to have the answer immediately. You may need to do some research to understand it, but a lot of people will jump too fast and say, I need one because like the marketer told me to do it and it doesn’t fit. 

Lou Diamond:

Uh, there’s a, there’s a wonderful professional speaker who I, who’s I, I bow down to because she’s one of the best storytellers I’ve ever heard on stage, uh, Kindra Hall. Oh yeah. In Kendra. Kendra got hired to do an amazing podcast show for, uh, Success magazine for, it felt like it was like two years or, or something like that. But it was a limited series and she was really good at it, but she’s a better storyteller and a better speaker. And I remember when it was done, she’s like, Okay, that’s done with, I did the podcast and it’s off and it wasn’t a good fit into her platform. And there’s a bunch of people who’ve had that and they knew that it wasn’t the right fit, but they gave it a go and gave it a try. Which is to your point, what all those people in the pandemic did. And I think it’s pretty awesome that you should try and see. But going with that plan, could it be part of your brand and your business and is it something you could see yourself doing? 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yeah, that’s great advice, man, because it’s, there is a little bit of the, of the wow factor, you know, cuz you, you can look at a, like a Joe Rogan or you know, or now it’s Megan Markle, I guess both 

Lou Diamond:

Of them. Both of them are, I mean they’re incredible. Both. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yeah, exactly. It was just funny because you see the media, you know, trying to trash Joe just because it’s like, oh, do you know Joe’s no longer in the number one spot, Megan Markle, you know, to take over whatever just because she launched. But you look at them and there is a little bit of an allure, you know, to something like this, you know, just like there is to an actor or an actress, you know, because it, there’s that draw. And that wasn’t in me even saying like, why I started mine and why you started yours. That wasn’t even there for us, you know, is it taking a look at, at others and being like, Oh, I want to be that. You 

Lou Diamond:

Know? Yeah. We didn’t even know what that was. There was no that. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yeah. Right. Well, well 

Lou Diamond:

The, there were a couple, like, I think I, you know, like Tim Ferris at the time was I, he was the one that was doing a show and talk about a difference of a podcast for those of you who’ve ever listened to some of the earlier Tim Ferris, uh, interviews, They’re epically long. And, and by the way, it’s about 40 minutes worth of commercials until you actually get to the actual content <laugh>, you’re hitting the 15 second button, like, like your fingers getting tired to get to the content of the interview. I apologize to all the sponsors who sponsor his program. Uh, but I remembered at the time, I’m like, Wow, this guy, this guy’s got something. And these are all famous Hollywood folks and really impressive people that we love to listen to. And I thought that was cool. Uh, but I also found something really interesting. I’m sure you found this to be the case too. The famous people that you’ve had on your program are pretty good guests. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Oh yeah. 

Lou Diamond:

But they aren’t great guests. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Right 

Lou Diamond:

On. They aren’t the ones that you uncover like, Wow, holy cow, look what this guy’s bringing to the table or how, Look what she had to say. Uh, it’s the ones who have, who you uncover and find something really unique about someone that you don’t know that it is, it isn’t just the same story. Because you know, when you have somebody famous, a lot of people know their stories and, and, and where they’re gonna drill down on might be a project that they’re working on or they’re on a promotional tour as opposed to decoding Exactly what makes that person tick. Yeah. And that’s the stuff that kind of gets me and that that’s the stuff I love. And I’m, I sometimes will get ’em off from someone I don’t know that came on the show. I’m like, how did I not know about this person? And I’m glad I have this person on 

 

Rick Jordan:

For sure. I remember one of my guests, her name was Shiggi Pakter

, and as far as I know, she still listens to. She Hello Shiggi. Yeah. She, she engages with my content on social and it’s just absolutely one of my favorite guests because not known at all anywhere. Right. And I don’t even know how my team found her. I, I don’t remember, you know, cuz I have a team that goes out and tries to find great guests and that turned into a two parter. It could have been like a, like a Joe Rogan staff. It was all in one because we could have kept going and at the end of an hour, really like an hour and 10 minutes on the, on the first one, it, it was any within. And then I tried to commit suicide. It was like, whoa, you know, <laugh>, I mean it was good like going through. Yeah. But the, the story was just absolutely incredible and so relatable to literally everybody, you know. And the way she articulated herself too was just absolutely incredible. Still to this day, one of my absolute favorite guests, she’s amazing. A lover Shaggy, if you’re listening, I’m giving you a shout out right now cuz it’s a But that’s the thing is she was completely authentic man. When she came on with everything just amazing. Sucked me in. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. And that’s, that’s what you want. I I think to the the competitive spa. It is a competitive space. Let’s make it clear. Oh yeah. We don’t have this, My, my big problem now in the competitive space is what to watch on streaming. Uh, my wife and I have this conversation constantly, like, okay, what show or what movie do we wanna watch? Because we are just bombarded with content and of course none of us know what channel it’s on. Right? It used to be, Oh, that’s on hbo. Oh, that’s on, you know, whatever. Now it’s, is it on Netflix? Is it on Prime? Is it on Paramount? Is it on? 

 

Rick Jordan:

Can keep track. Yeah. Find me, You know, when you’re talking to Sir <laugh>. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. And now you, now you just speak it into a remote control and you don’t even care. It’s like, you remember the important days when you used to have to know telephone numbers? Oh yeah. You remember that, like, it was really important. Like, Oh, I know that that girl’s number or I know his number or I, you know, I memorized this 

 

Rick Jordan:

Stuff. I still remember some girl’s phone numbers from when I was a teen dude. Just, 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. There was some girl who there was written on our phone number on the, the boys’ that probably should turnt talk about then the boys’ bathroom in 

 

Rick Jordan:

High school. No one was a lot of, I, I don’t know my mom’s number <laugh> no joke is it. But, but, 

Lou Diamond:

But I mean, like, who Mom, we used to have to remember that stuff and now today we, we literally don’t need to waste our time. Right. It’ll just come right up and we’ll find it. And that’s, but I think that’s what makes it hard. So from a podcasting point of view, there is so much great content out there and it is hard to find a lot of shows. And, that actually bringing that back to why we ended up increasing the amount of shows over these last five 60 years has been what we wanted to, we recognize that not every single guest is for everybody. Not every piece of content connects with everyone. And what we wanted to do is try to find the myriad of different interests on our program to offer like, you know, a menu item. Like we’re trying to give the menu for the listeners to say, Hey, wow, this is somebody who started up a company. 

Lou Diamond:

This is someone who has a cause that they did. Here’s someone who overcame something. Yeah. And is a brilliant person in resilience. I think we learn from each other the best things about people when they’ve had trouble and had to overcome something. I use this expression all the time. We love to connect with people that are fearless. And by fearless I mean not void of fear, but they’ve moved through a certain fear or moved through an unfortunate circumstance into a place of courage. Hmm. And they use that as their launchpad or their message. And I think there’s a level of respect. I think there’s a level of, uh, I would say there, there’s a level of wow in, in ourselves to say that’s an, an awesomeness factor that we hear from someone. Like the guests that you have Go Shaggy and all these other people that we can connect to who have these great stories. 

Lou Diamond:

And we look at them and say to ourselves, This is what we will do. How can I connect with that person so I can be a part of someone’s world like that? Or how can I find my own story? And that’s the inspirational component of every single podcast that connects with great people. And that’s what I love to do is to find that story or that moment that people will love and people will want to draw out. Because that’s what I do in every conversation I have, Rick. Yeah. Doesn’t matter if I’m the guest on the show. It’s in real life too. I wanna learn what someone’s superpower is. I wanna learn what makes them unique. I wanna learn how I can do business with that person and why they would wanna do business with me. And, how we can help each other. That’s what happens in business, right? We want to connect in conversation. That’s exactly, 

 

Rick Jordan:

See 

Lou Diamond:

These lessons, these lessons are where we can practice them and, and really put them on display for others to learn too. 

 

Rick Jordan:

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You know, and I would challenge everyone, cuz if you’re gonna start a podcast, maybe go into a Starbucks and sit down next to a stranger and just try to track our conversation for real <laugh>. 

Lou Diamond:

So I was gonna ask that question. You do everything in the studio, as do I? Yeah. Have you ever had a situation where you were quote unquote off campus and you’ve done like onsite interviews? Have 

 

Rick Jordan:

You done I have also remote shows in a, like a, a hotel, you know, this happened. Oh my gosh. Cuz it’s a, it’s, it was the, the tightness of my schedule in the moments. And I’ve done that right to where it’s just been, Hey, let’s set it up right here. We’ve got one camera over there. Okay. We brought it with us, it’s a 4K so we can zoom in on each individual. You know, you try to work through the equipment stuff, but then it just becomes the hotel’s like, screw it, we’re just gonna do it. You know, cuz I mean the production of the show, there’s a lot that goes into this, Right. But I remember, I remember the days when the branding agency, when I was with them using them and they’re like, You need to have a podcast. And I’m like, Okay. Yes, yes. Miss. You know, so, so I did it, but that was in their studio. Right. But then when the pandemic hit and you weren’t going anywhere, I’m sitting here with a Blue Yeti, you know, no studio, you know, and just like threw up a TV behind me somewhere. <laugh>. Yeah. There it is. Right, right. 

Lou Diamond:

I got my blue, I got my Blue Yeti in retirement up here. I put it up there. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yeah. That was, uh, that was like a six month stint of this show. And, it just worked. You know, it literally just worked for that moment. 

Lou Diamond:

I had two interviews off campus that, um, I, I’ll do in reverse order. One was with a famous person and one’s with somebody who should be a guest on your show because she’s absolutely awesome. Uh, the first was with the comedian Lisa Lampinelli. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Oh, awesome. 

Lou Diamond:

And we actually, we actually did that on the Caroline Stage, which is where she got her start in New York City. Oh, sweet. And that was 

 

Rick Jordan:

There, I got up on that stage. Oh 

Lou Diamond:

Amazing. Cause you know, it’s like right by Broadway on 50th Street. Yep. And actually Caroline was there in the audience and was just a, it was, um, ironically the other woman, Jill Shuffle mine, who, who was the guest on the show, um, who I said we’ll talk about in a minute. She was filming it for me on my iPhone. Literally. That’s how we recruited it. Got really good by the way. Yeah. And we, and we had some, uh, and most of the audio equipment I bought, which was like this cool digital recorder and we did it on the stage and we filmed some of it. Her little dog was with us at the time and, and she was telling her whole journey and her story and it was fun to do it in person. The video was even more engaging and funny. But the one that I did, uh, with Jill Shuffle Mine, when I first started doing podcasts, like in the Ear in the first hundred episodes we did in a restaurant, uh, in New York City, cuz we wanted that clinking and clanking in the background. 

Lou Diamond:

Like we wanted to make it like it was a conversation over a meal, which it was by the way. And the hardest thing was there were these absolutely delicious french fries that the waitress put right in front of us. And it was like our, our candy, our our, our nugget at the end of the interview that we would get to. And that’s all we kept talking about was how good the french fries were smelling <laugh>. But I will, I will tell you I’ve re-listened to that episode. It was, it was engaging because you had to listen a little harder. It wasn’t as sanitized as what you and I can produce and put together today. Yes. But there was some cool indie factor of it that made the conversation even more fun and, uh, real in the moment, I guess. But that wasn’t our lively show. It was a lot easier to do it the way we do 

 

Rick Jordan:

It’s today. Yeah, no joke. Well, I mean, to that aspect, you know, everybody likes raw as well and Yeah. You know, there is something engaging. Uh, I was listening to, uh, it was a Rogan show the other day and you know, cuz those are three hours long, but it was about maybe an hour and 15 minutes into it they were having some technical issues, but they just kept recording, you know? Yeah. So you hear ’em working through with the producer that’s there. It’s like then she’ll say, Oh, okay, we good now, we good? Yeah. Okay, we’re good. And this was <laugh>, like, like three minutes of this. And they didn’t edit it out at all. They just kept up. And that inspired me too. You know, it’s like we produce this amazing, gorgeous piece of heavy <laugh>, heavily sanitized, I like that word product by the time it’s done, you know, to where it sounds just amazing. And yet here’s, you know, the dude that’s got 11 million downloads per episode that’s just like, Oh, whatever, <laugh>. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. It doesn’t work. They’ll know with you and my sponsors won’t care now. They’ll listen to it more. And by the way, here we are talking about their fair point. Right. <laugh>, I’ll, I’ll, before we bounce off, I guess the topic of pods, and we’ll talk about, I guess connecting, The last thing I’ll say is to all of those who are starting their podcasts or listening to this and have a show and are thinking about doing one, Can I share the secret of podcasting? 

 

Rick Jordan:

Bring it. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. The secret of podcasts. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Cause I don’t, please, I wanna know it. 

Lou Diamond:

<laugh> The secret of podcasting specifically when you’re starting out is initially, it doesn’t matter if they listen to the podcast or not, they just need to know that the podcast happened. I had a pretty famous guest that’ll leave his name out just for posterity at this point. And it was one of the early episodes of Thrive Loud. And when I interviewed him, I was so pumped about it because it was a pretty cool name to have. And I, it was the first time I had ever promoted this particular episode on my own personal social media before. Um, we do this regularly on every single form of YouTube and Instagram and TikTok and all the crazy stuff that we put everything out on God, by the way, the fact that I have a TikTok count, my kids make fun of me. But that’s 

 

Rick Jordan:

All other stories <laugh>. Um, we’re like pri age for those in their forties and fifties. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah, I know. We we’re, we’re perfect for it. Yeah. Because we can go like this, our physical activity is swiping up and down. Uh, so, so we end up putting the, uh, the episode out on my personal stuff and people are coming up to me and saying the following, Hey, I saw you had So And So on your guest on your program. I’m like, What did you think? I haven’t listened to it yet, but, but I’m gonna get to it. And then they’d walk off. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yep. 

Lou Diamond:

And, and I remembered Rick, my head was like, they’re not listening to the podcast and I could see the numbers and how many downloads and listens and all that. And I knew that it wasn’t like, you know, a 11 million downloaded show like Rogan or, or Megan Markel’s, 15 million, whatever it is. But what I learned was that they knew about it. Yeah. And that eventually they would listen to it. And then we said, we have to market it even more and let people know about it. And how true is that even on television today, Right. Um, you may not see late night television, but when you’re watching the local news before you go to sleep, you’re gonna learn, Hey, this particular guest is on this show tonight and Megan Markle is gonna be on Jimmy Fallon or whatever it might be. Right. You hear it and you know it, and then you’ll, maybe you’ll check it out on YouTube the next morning, or maybe you’ll check it out down the road and get the feed wherever it is. That was the secret. And that’s the whole thing. So all the podcasters who were looking at all the listens in the downloads, that means nothing. It just means that you have to work on the awareness and the marketing of it because that is where people will learn about it. And then they’ll eventually get to it and listen to it. And when they hear how great the show is, then they’ll keep coming back. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Yeah. Right on. That’s amazing. That’s an amazing point. But the same thing with tv, by the way, when you start doing tv, it didn’t matter that my first appearance ever was on NBC in Albuquerque, New Mexico <laugh>. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. Just for the record, I saw you, you were wonderful. 

 

Rick Jordan:

No thanks. Yeah. But I mean that’s right. You look back at that and this is the thing, it’s like if your first try doesn’t embarrass you, you, you <laugh> you waited too long. But I look back at that, it’s like, God, I sucked. But it was, it was okay cuz it was a version of myself, but at the same time it was Albuquerque, New Mexico. But 

Lou Diamond:

By the way, you’re famous there now, you know? Yeah.

 

Rick Jordan:

I must, must be. Yeah. Me 

Lou Diamond:

And you and the, the you and the entire Breaking Bad camp. 

 

Rick Jordan:

I was just thinking about that. Yeah. Like me and Walter White. Yep. <laugh>, which they have statues there, by the way. I don’t know if you saw that from a few, Are you serious? Few ago. Yeah. Yeah. Sony Pictures somehow worked because it was Sony. Right. I think that worked with them that, uh, erected statues in downtown Albuquerque because of how much the show did for that town, for tourism. 

Lou Diamond:

Oh my God. For 

 

Rick Jordan:

Tourism. Yeah. And no joke, I mean, when I went there, this was like four and a half years ago for my first TV appearance ever. Right. On NBC and Albuquerque. I checked out some of the Breaking Bad locations, <laugh>, you know, just to drive. 

Lou Diamond:

I would go do 

 

Rick Jordan:

It is too. I know. It’s like, hey, there’s the house. But anyways, it’s the same principle, you know, cuz it didn’t matter. It just mattered. It’s like, hey, I was just on nbc. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. 

Lou Diamond:

That was it. When, when, uh, this book tour for speakeasy, I was, I was in a lot of different networks. Abc, nbc, cbs, Louisville, um, just think of the towns. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah. Michigan. Michigan. It turns out there’s a new station there that’s a nine N 10, there’s two channels up in there. It’s like, you know, you probably know this more. And, uh, so, so I’m on a bunch of these shows. And similar to versus being on for two and a half minutes on a national you would wanna be on the Today Show or Yeah. Kelly and what Kelly and whoever Ryan, uh, one of those shows where they’re literally talking about your book and that’s it. And you’re seen by millions of people. These local shows obviously have a low number of viewers. But the conversations you have with some of these hosts are awesome. They’re awesome because a lot of them have been there for a while. Yeah. They’re wonderful people. I’m going back to do a whole how to have better conversations during Thanksgiving. That’s coming up by the way. Awesome. Um, in the next, in a couple of weeks. So we can talk about making the conversations a little bit more palatable and how you can connect through family members. Even though we have conversations about certain topics, they’re very sticky these days. Uh, they wanna talk about the speakeasy. Thanksgiving is a lot of the topics we’re, we’re marketing and pitching. So you’ll see me in your local smaller network and who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to be in 

 

Rick Jordan:

Albuquerque. In Albuquerque. Yeah. <laugh>. I still know the anchor from back then too. She’s not there anymore, but I’ll connect you with maybe she’s doing something fun now. But you mentioned as you talk about your book, you know, cuz that’s awesome, right? Speakeasy at Thanksgiving. Maybe that’s a segment. I don’t know. Maybe it is <laugh>, maybe they’re gonna Yeah, that’d be great. Include your book. Was there a correlation there between like a, a bar 

Lou Diamond:

<laugh>? Yeah. Yeah. So, so the, the great question. So, um, in the book, there actually is a bartender that navigates you through the speakeasy. For those who aren’t familiar about a hundred years ago, uh, the speakeasies were called that because the proprietors, it was during prohibition, you probably were serving things you weren’t allowed to serve at that particular point. And everyone in the bars needed to speak easy. So the cops couldn’t hear where that certain secret location was. Usually they were behind storefronts or they were, you know, in back hidden halls in different places. By the way, I’m pretty sure the cops knew where they were, but that’s, Of 

 

Rick Jordan:

Course they did. Yep. 

Lou Diamond:

So that’s where the speakeasy name came from. And that was kind of the concept that we wanted with a little bit of a punt on the name. And that is that we wanted to let people into this secret club so that they know how they can connect with these conversations. That there’s a group of people like yourself and me and other great conversationalists around the world who are using a lot of the skills and tips and techniques that we have in our speakeasy that we mix together into really cool concoctions that you can use as a playbook so that you can have great conversations too. So yes, we not only use the speakeasy name, there is a special bark cart section at the end of the book, which is filled with conversational flights, Rick Jordan. And those conversational flights are certain unique menu items of conversations that we all have that are a little bit hard to mix together. 

Lou Diamond:

And we give you the ingredients of what you need to bring to the table. Remember I said it’s how you need to be. So let’s just use our favorite drink on the menu as the 800 pound gorilla. That’s the uncomfortable conversation. How do you deal with, you know, maybe having to let somebody go or talking about some, someone personal, It’s a difficult conversation. Well, you might need to bring a shot of gumption, a dash, a nerve, a little splash of passion and four cup, four cup chaser to deal with it <laugh>, because that’s probably the thing that you need to do right then and there. Yep. So that’s what we put together into the speakeasy mix. So it’s, it’s flavored throughout the pun, within it. Not overdone too much, just enough so that I love it. You get the same message with it 

 

Rick Jordan:

And the bartender’s name is 

Lou Diamond:

There. It’s, it’s actually this hidden bartender we don’t give a name to. Oh, okay. But if I would give one, it probably would’ve been like, um, Lucky Macd Diamonds, because that’s the name I use on St. Patrick’s Day, because that’s the day that everybody becomes Irish. And, and you know, I actually spent many, uh, I lived in Chicago for two years, so I spent, well, at least two, Well, one St. Patrick’s Day that I can remember. Another one that I believe I was there and not exactly sure what happened might have ended up in the green water of the Chicago River. It’s possible. Happened mid 

 

Rick Jordan:

Nineties. This is fantastic. 

Lou Diamond:

This is pre phone and before TikTok, 

 

Rick Jordan:

Hopefully Right on. Nobody knows now. 

Lou Diamond:

<laugh>. 

 

Rick Jordan:

Nobody could. Nobody could. That’s beautiful, man. I love the concept of the book. You know, it’s, uh, it’s one that’s inau for me right now, or ob Yeah, it’s on, it’s on my list. I’m waiting for another credit. 

Lou Diamond:

And and you’re gonna, you, you personally are gonna love the end of it. I know you’re in Chicago and we talked about this, that, uh, Adrian Banker who is on News Nation. Yeah, I know you’re, you’re on there often and been interviewed by Garcia. She is brilliant. And I, yeah. Oh, she’s, she’s, she’s such an incredible soul and we have a great conversation about conversations and it’s a little, uh, and it’s an, it’s an after dinner aite if you would, on the Speak Easy audiobook. So we’ll 

 

Rick Jordan:

Enjoy it. That’s beautiful. Thrive loud.com. That’s where everybody can go and thrive loud on Instagram and drive loud everywhere. Thrive Loud everywhere. Speakeasy is available on Amazon and I’m assuming everywhere. 

Lou Diamond:

Yeah, you can go to speakeasy book.com. It is available everywhere we sell your books. So 

 

Rick Jordan:

Lou, amazing conversation, my man. I appreciate you. I 

Lou Diamond:

Think I did too much of the talking. I don’t know, maybe next time I’ll do a little more listening. Oh wait, we did that was your 

 

Rick Jordan:

Episode. Exactly. I was just gonna say, that was just a couple weeks ago. Right. 

Lou Diamond:

<laugh>, we should just mix the two together and make it into one super thing. But no, on a, on a serious note to your listeners, thank you for having me. Uh, you continued success to you man. Uh, you’ll be at 800 before you know it and at that point I’ll either be on the ground or they’ll be 1600 episodes or something like 

 

Rick Jordan:

That. Same brother. Thanks Lou for coming on my man. You’re awesome. You 

Lou Diamond:

Got it. Thanks for having me. Me.