271. Nick Cavuoto Interview: Unlock Your Superpower to Succeed with People Catalyst

Susan Sly 00:00
Hey, what's up Raw and Real Entrepreneurs wherever you are in the world, I hope you're having an amazing day and shout out like, this just popped up. So every week our team is giving me the 411 on our top five countries, and Malaysia, you just popped up at number four. I haven't been to Malaysia since 2001 when I did the Ironman there with a fractured pelvis. It's also the last time I ate at McDonald's on Kelly island. So there you have it, Malaysia shout out to all of you. Love, love, love you. And, you know, with our guest before we started, and I almost forgot to start the show because we were having this huge conversation. So I was like, Oh, we've got to bring this to the listeners. So I hope you are going to get as much out of today's show as I've already gotten in the time we spent before we actually started doing the show. Before we get into the show today, I just want you all to know that whatever is going on, you get to create your own reality. There's a lot of you know, I have so many people in our Raw and Real mentorship group, it's a free invitation only group that I run, there's some fear around the economy, around inflation, around, I just received an email from Malawi where my oldest daughter's from this morning, their Malawian Kwacha has devalued by 25%. I mean, there's so much going on in the world. But when you're in fear, you're not in action. And remember, you get to control that, and my guest and I today are going to talk about that because he is so amazing.

01:33
Welcome to Raw and Real Entrepreneurship, the show that dares to bring the no nonsense insight to those who have the courage to start, grow, and scale a business. Here's your host, entrepreneur, investor, and best selling author Susan Sly.

Susan Sly 01:49
And check this out. He is, I love this, a people catalyst, brand strategist, and executive business consultant for today's most influential brands, I mean, fortune 500 companies like Verizon, Microsoft, Paychecks, and on top of all of this, he has like, check this out, four times serial entrepreneur, over $2 billion US, not Kwachas, by the way, in product management. He's an investor. He's a speaker. He's the host of Mentoring Millions podcast. He's been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Gary Vee, Fox, NBC, CBS, Verizon, HubSpot. He was a marketing executive of a multi billion dollar brand and technology company. And he's the founder and CEO of tenurebrands.com. And so before I bring him out, and I know what you're all thinking, like, oh, my gosh, what are they going to talk about, because you never know, it's Raw and Real Entrepreneurship, I just want all of you to know that this is an episode, you're going to want to stop your car, don't do this while you're in your car, pull out your phone, take notes, whatever it is you're doing. If you're on your treadmill, I love that you're on your treadmill, because you're gonna want to stop the treadmill, and you're gonna want to take notes, because I already know this is going to be an amazing show. So Nick Cavuoto, thanks for being on Raw and Real Entrepreneurship.

Nick Cavuoto 03:03
Thank you for having me, Susan, I'm so pumped to be here, today's gonna be phenomenal. And you're amazing. Thank you for all you do, and just the contribution you make into the world is incredibly meaningful. And I mean that from a really sincere place. So thank you for all you do. And I'm sure that comes on behalf of your audience as well, we really appreciate you.

Susan Sly 03:21
Well, thank you.. Thank you so much for saying that. There's this ongoing debate like Lady Gaga born that way, you know, were you born an entrepreneur? Did you come out of the womb and just be like, yes.

Nick Cavuoto 03:37
You know, I was born a competitor. And I, you know, kind of have the roots of being a really incredible athlete, I had a near death experience when I was a kid. And the combination, I think of that near death experience, in addition to being a fifth generation entrepreneur now, but my dad was a street pharmacist, you know, like, he sold drugs from the time he was 13 Till he was 30. And my grandfather ran franchises. And, you know, he came from a family of farmers. So it's just been in my, mostly in my genetic makeup, and in the generational stories that I've heard, have all been, you know, truly around, never giving up and having perseverance and pushing through. And both on my, on my father's side and my mother's side as well. So I just, you know, I'm sitting in the chair, I'm sitting right now. And it's really heavy, because I have like my grandfather talking some of the time and my dad's talking to the time and I'm talking to the time and then my great grandfather is talking some of the time. So there's just a lot of wisdom, because one of the things I got complimented on early in my life, my dad said, uh, you know Nick, you're a really great listener. And it wasn't that I just did whatever he said, but I really slowed down to contemplate what the lessons were behind the words that were being spoken and what the wisdom was. And that's just something I've carried with me like I really do care. So I pay attention. And I try to integrate those lessons so that I don't necessarily have to go through the same things that someone else already paved the road on so yeah.

Susan Sly 05:02
Love that. Being a great listener I think is is huge, especially in relationship building, right? And I was, one of my friends, he's the head of business development for Nvidia global. And he's also a very spiritual person. And so he had posted something on LinkedIn this morning just talking about this concept of relationships, right? And how can you build relationships if you aren't a good listener. Because you're not a good listener, you're hearing what it is someone's not just saying, but what they're saying beneath the surface. So five generations of entrepreneurs, I'm sure it encouraged you very early on to start a business. What was that first business that you started?

Nick Cavuoto 05:46
Well, well, the first thing I want to do is be in the NBA, but that didn't work out. So the first business that I got into, I was more accidental in this part of my life, because I was actually a pastor for the first seven years of my career. So from 21, to, or 20, roughly, to about 27, I worked in ministry, and I built a church from 1000 to 10,000 people. Every single weekend, butts in seats, and was really focused on this, the superpower that I carry is the understanding of human beings and understand how people operate. I just did life in reverse, most people get to that point of where they're in connection and contribution, after they've had all the rewards of life and the success of life, the accolades. I started there, so it kind of went in a reverse angle, but I kept contribution and connection at the top. And then everything else just came really easily. So, you know, first client ever worked with coming out of, you know, ministry was a primary competitor to Invisalign. And I just brought leadership to problems. And I just navigated the people problems really, really well, and just built the allies that were required. And when I really had to die in a mountain, you know, I took the risk to do that. And it was a startup and absolutely blew that company up. And they were wildly successful in the first 18 months of our collaboration. And that's what got me in the door to working with Fortune 500 companies. So it was like, nearly instant. I mean, I couldn't have planned the path. But I realized, you know, when I did leave ministry, I wanted to go to the next step. And the gentleman who was the CEO, basically, he was like, You're not going anywhere. And I'm like, Whoa, wait a second. Like this is, this is a decision that I needed to make, but I had kind of carried sonship in a way. And he kind of put a sword in front of me like, you're not going anywhere. And I was like, that's not going to work for me. That's a no for me, dog, you know. So I made the decision to go like, well, then I'll start over. And I think that's where the grit kicked in to be an entrepreneur, was actually on the backside of someone telling me no, you cannot pursue what you want. That's a really, really bad strategy with my DNA and makeup. So-

Susan Sly 07:57
Brother, I need to back up, okay? Like pastor to entrepreneur, like we just have to like, it isn't just like, you know, people listening, and shouts out to one of, one of the pastors in our church, Todd Boffo, who's good friend of mine. You know, like, there are a lot of pastors who want to be entrepreneurs. Um, but you just kind of be like, Yeah, but I left the church that I became an entrepreneur, no, like, was there a moment that you woke up or even a reckoning with you and God, or was like, Hey, I have a different calling. But how did that happen? How did you go from pastor to entrepreneur?

Nick Cavuoto 08:37
Confidence and competence. Those were my best friends. You know, at that time, I hadn't even graduated college yet, like my, the lifespan of like, those middle years happened so, they were so rapid. When I left ministry, I stopped going to school when I was in ministry, and because I wanted to go all in. So I went all in. I waited on the school thing, I got done in 2013, 2014 with ministry. I went back to school, I started a business, I had a kid and I had gotten married the year before. All that happened at the same time. So we're talking a decade's worth of things that were accomplished in 18 months. So essentially, like the pathway was just the level of responsibility was raised. And because I didn't have a degree at that time, and I did end up going back to school and finishing everything, but because I didn't, I had to hinge on a relationship to get a gig that put me into marketing, right? And it's funny, because right before I left, I went from number two in the organization and they chose to put me over marketing. So without that title before leaving ministry, I wouldn't have had the tie in to the next position. And I was just like, Dude, I need you to hook me up. Like I called one of my buddies, and I was like, I just, find a way you know, that's because that's what I do. So I just assume that's easy for everybody, just figure it out. So anyway, he got me an interview. I crushed the interview that got me in and I mean, absolutely explode the company. So at that point, there were things that I knew that I didn't have, I guess, in the practical sense that I was counting on a relationship and my presentation of my interview to kind of compensate for it. Take a chance on me was kind of the conversation. Then I went back to school and finished. And before I was even done at that company, I had finished my degree. I tested out of my whole senior year of college with straight A's, because I just stepped into a different reality of what I knew that I knew. Because I had the practical knowledge of running, you know, almost a nine figure organization from the time I was 22. It's just, that's just not, this is so not normal. So yeah, that's the transition point. It was like, confidence and competence were the two things that allowed me to actually champion my mind and give me the ability to just burst through walls and have audacious faith. Some of it was probably young buck, faith, you know, just believing, you know, ignorance is bliss, because I didn't see all the obstacles. But I am neurodiverse. And, you know, there's certain things about the way my mind works that's very different than most people. And so I have less industriousness but way more of a, let's call it a spiritual intelligence to try to solve problems in a unique way that most people would never think of. And that's really where the magic is.

Susan Sly 11:21
A neuro diverse. I love it.

Nick Cavuoto 11:24
Yeah. I mean, I could put like, you know, that— yeah, go ahead. I could put like 30 letters of the back of what a clinical psychologist would say about the way that my mind structure works. But I just, that you know, I think the most highly gifted, highly sensitive, highly creative people in the world are different by design. It's not an accident. You're not a rare breed on accident. You know, you were absolutely, to your point about born this way, people are wired to be different to solve unique problems in the world. And I think that a lot of times we find ourselves as like, NPCs, just going with the flow. And not in the spiritual sense but in the practical sense of just like, allowing the autopilot to kick into our life. I just see so many people are so talented that have given up on themselves because there wasn't someone behind them going, like, that's not going to happen, that's not going to be your story. And I think that's the people who I champion, are those rare breeds who struggle with doubt and a lack of belief, but I can see something in them different.

Susan Sly 12:27
Yeah. It's something you mentioned that because I was in, all the listeners know, you know, my morning is like, it's not five minutes of meditation. It's like almost an hour of prayer, meditation, listening. And so I decided to open up this free community for listeners of the show. And I wasn't even going to do it until 2023. But sometimes you have to execute before you're ready. And I was like traveling a ton, Nick, and you know, doing all this stuff. And plus, I'm finishing MIT. So July, everyone shouts out, I'm going to be graduating from MIT. Actually at MIT with Dr. Peter Hirst, we're doing a little ceremony, it's fun. But you know, Nick, I'm kind of like, sometimes we're called to do something, and we're not ready. But we have to do it anyway. So we had the the first kind of gathering of the group and, you know, just sharing and interacting. And almost everyone who showed up the first night, and it was only 25 people invited, like it's very, very small, was over 60. And here's the, here's the interesting thing, because what we're seeing in the economy is people are retiring into poverty. We're seeing, you know, Social Security, they're saying, What is it, 2030 it's gonna run out, sometimes it's 2032. You know, really, it's simple math, like, I'm sure they could figure it out. But you know, that then, you know, we have record inflation, the highest inflation in 40 years, we have a very interesting climate. And then, you know, big companies like Tesla, and you know, all these different ones are saying, No, we're doing a hiring freeze, or we're laying off 10% of our workforce. And we have this whole group of people in their 60s who are saying, wait a minute, I'm not done. And so it was, it was interesting to me who actually showed up or who was put in front of me, this community, and I'm here as their cheerleader and their mentor, and you know, hey, go out and start a business, have that encore career. It's never too late, right? It's never too late. It's never too early. So you just saying that and saying, Yeah, we all need that person who kicks us in the butt and says, Hey, there's more to you than the life you're living and the results you're giving.

Nick Cavuoto 14:42
Absolutely

Susan Sly 14:42
Actually that you know, that could be a t shirt.

Nick Cavuoto 14:48
Do it, I love it.

Susan Sly 14:50
Yeah. The pastor at our church, and shouts out to Impact Church, AZ. We have a YouTube channel but he is also the chaplain for the Phoenix Suns. Um, you know, and sadly our Suns didn't progress this year. And the Arizona Cardinals, which there's hope it's the new season of NFL coming up, but he always likes the, anything that rhymes is going to be good. Let me ask you speaking of the economy, you're an investor, I'm an investor, one of the things we were talking about before we got into the show was, Are you pulling back on investing this year? Or are you still investing? If so, what are you investing in?

Nick Cavuoto 15:26
Yeah, so definitely still investing. You know, there's kind of, there's two lateral, you know, turns that I think are corrections. I, you know, I don't, I don't like to play into all the hoopla and use the words they use in the media. So I just call it a correction, which is actually a good thing. Corrections are great, it puts the money in the hands of the right people and takes it out of the hands of the wrong people in a lot of ways. And so for me in this season, right now, I'm looking at it also post COVID. While traditionally there have been a lot of different industries, whether marketing, tech, housing, and real estate, and other, other kind of facets within that, within that arena, I'm looking at a lot of salt of the earth type of businesses. And you haven't followed him very close. But Dan Pena, you know, QLA, a lot of the methodologies are around, you know, baby boomers who are exiting. And this is something we've known for a long time. But what really got me was, my best friend is an M&A attorney at Baker Hahn in Cleveland, it's a top 10 firm, and he's a partner there. And I just was starting to really understand what the M&A world looks like right now. And, and also starting to understand, you know, some of the different complexities and opportunities that COVID created. And I met with Vision Source, which is the largest marketing group for optometrists. And they shared some information around, I'm just kind of working through disclosure here in my brain, around a lot of PE groups that are, that are pursuing the optometry offices, that it's been rather disruptive actually. So I think there's a lot of truth in things that in the post COVID world aren't that are a little bit more reliable, practical, salt of the earth type of businesses, franchise opportunities that are, you know, much more consistent, reliable, and hiring the right entrepreneur. I think that empowering factor for me is what feels right right now versus you know, giving up a lot and through a spat or something, and then driving that through where my money gets tied up or something. And, you know, there, it's just really being consciously aware of where the money is gonna go and how the return is going to happen. And again, my decision making processes weigh more on my gut, weigh less on anything more than a practical assessment, like I don't read into it too far. But I just believe that there's kind of multiple industries, within health and also within, you know, kind of the everyday things like restoration companies, for example, are extremely profitable. You can really empower, you know, an entrepreneur to be a founder in a way and you could be an investor. And I want to bet on people. There's something just I don't know, it's gritty about me that I want to bet on individuals that want to start and get their, get their entrepreneur, you know, guns firing in a way, and that just excites me in a different way. But it feels like the right timing for that. So that's where I'm at. How about you?

Susan Sly 18:27
That's, that's how you would say that. Yeah, I'm happy to talk about that. The, because I hadn't really been thinking about businesses there, you know, targeting a rapidly aging population. And I think that's, that's a really interesting come from. So I'm being definitely more cautious this year, not so much because of the economy because I firmly believe we make our own economy, we adapt, adapt to our terrain, whatever is going on. So my biggest investment right now is a company called BlocPal. And so they, speaking of people, so I've known one of the co founders, Rob Stewart for like, almost 20 years. And he's, he is a lovely human, amazing person, but he will not lose. He is like the person you want if you're backed in a corner in a street fight, you don't want to fight but you know, it's going to end up in a fight, you want Rob, he's very scrappy. And so they're providing crypto payments in the developing world and going back to the Malawian Kwacha, I think this is the only episode in almost 300 shows where I've said kwacha now four times. Anyway, I still have some, I've been to Malawi, so many times I have Kwachas at home in my wallet. Anyway, so you know, we're seeing what's happening with the Turkish Lira. We're seeing what's happening in a lot of these countries, and they, because they're not stabilizing against, say, a gold standard, so the currencies in some of the countries are run by dictators. They don't have that stability. So they're facilitating payments for people and the company is growing like wildfire in India, in Mexico, and so they're only a few years old. And already in Q1 of this year, I believe they facilitated a billion US in payments. So, that one is one I'm super bullish on and they're, you know, they're just doing great things for their investors. For me, I look at the founding team. So have you had success, it doesn't have to be in the same vertical, because look at Adam Neumann, WeWork. They just gave him $70 million. And dude is like, you know, if you watch the documentary, we crash, right? It's like, dude is like, you know, but Silicon Valley's like, here have a bunch of money, right? Oh, my gosh. So I'm looking at 10 founder get an ROI on that company. Can we get an EBITA that is going to be strong for investors where we can have like a 10x or 20x, multiple, what is that exit timeline? How long am I going to tie my money up? And then I also, I like to invest where I have a say. I'm not trying to micromanage, but I do have a wealth of experience. So I don't just necessarily want to be a sideline investor. In my incubator, Fem Boss, we're gonna do a pitch-athon in July. And so we just accepted one co founder team, and I've known these gals for over 10 years. And they have made millions and millions of dollars in a whole other sector. So do you think they're going to be capable to do it in a new sector, Yes. So that's what I look for personally, like you said, it's really about the team. Now, let's talk about, still on the topic of the economy. If you lost everything today, like everything, what would you do in this economy? What would your first steps be?

Nick Cavuoto 21:58
Well, I did lose a lot when COVID hit. And it was primarily cash flow. So then I had to rely on you know, investment in order to close the gap. So I think the primary thing I would focus on, if I was to lose everything today, would be truly looking at what's the most realistic, beneficial way for me to generate consistent and growing cash flow. Because when the correction happens, and you have things that are tied up, and either opportunity markets, or they're tied up in real estate, or whatever, you know, I think liquidation was like, if someone, for example's in housing, Zillow started selling all their properties 12, 18 months ago. Like that, to me was the signal that like, this is happening. May have been nine to 12 months ago at this point. But I saw that wave coming. So even some, you know, decisions in my world, were switching around of like, you know, you don't want to sell when that bell curve tips in the opposite direction. And I think it was, I think it's a good time because of the length of the run of the real estate growth. And it's been rather extreme, as we all know, but that's what I would, that's what I would position. I would I would liquidate what I can, I would reinvest it into cash, cash flow generated opportunities, and I would just build a mound of cash and bet on entrepreneurs who, who I have relationship with. And then I'd make some really smart investments when it comes to something that has high growth, you know. People gotta make sure they don't forget that in 2008 to 2010, you know, that's like when Venmo was created. And you know, Instacart and, like Uber. So like, the best things are definitely right here in this market correction. And so that's just what my gut says right now. It would be leaning into high cash flow opportunities. And I think that would put me in a cash position to start investing towards the talent of that, you know, this, this 18 month to two year cycle, and then I would just, I'd bet really hard. Really, really, really hard.

Susan Sly 24:03
I absolutely, and when Zillow started selling off the properties that was one for me. The other thing was looking at the student loan crisis, and when the freeze was going to end on evictions and student loan repayment and everything else, and then I was saying to my team, I'm like, listen, we never operate from fear, we operate from facts but if you, if you look at how things are charting, and then there were, there were things like Ukraine, right? That was just you know, another factor in this whole equation that was inevitable anyway. So taking a cash position, and I know many friends who advise a lot of people and they had their people putting 25% of their portfolio in cash toward Q4 of last year, right? So being, if you're in a cash position, you're in a great position. And that's, there's always that, you know that come from. So if you had a crystal ball, and you were given one of the gifts of Corinthians and you could prophesize the future, how long do you think in your humble opinion that, you know, only 1000s of people are listening to you right now, but how long do you think we're gonna be in this economic cycle?

Nick Cavuoto 25:22
Yeah, I think, you know, I look, I look at it, I would say 18 to 24 months at the most, but I think 18. You look at the timing of what's happening with midterms right now, which I think are not going to turn out too well for the established party. And I think that they are going to have to do something, you know, within the next 18 to 24 months before we're hitting a point of where there's a presidential election. So a lot of those optics are almost like I know, in marketing, the most amount of money is spent in the least amount of time in politics. So it's kind of like, we know there's going to be a lot of cash expenditure happening there, there's gonna be a lot of lobbying, there's a lot of things, a lot of people trying to get their bite of the apple, and they're gonna have to do something. You know, in recent polls, Biden's numbers are at about 53%, for COVID response, but they're 20 to 23% when it comes to inflation, and also when it comes to the gas prices, and what's affecting the, you know, everyday consumer, and, you know, middle America, and everything else is lower than 35%. So, the confidence scale, like they've got to tip that and the other direction if they want to win, which will require some policy changes. Here's the thing I'm looking at, though, with the inflation part. And I know that there's plenty of probably on both sides, but plenty of conservatives who are like, they're using it as a talking piece to say, What is he doing? What is Biden doing? What is the administration doing? I don't think there's heavy action being taken at all. At the same time, I don't know if there should be. These corrections are actually really beneficial for people who do the right thing. Just like anything in life, you know, where there's not a void, there's not a need. And so wehre this creates a void, it's going to create a need for everything to rise back up. And I think that's part of the entrepreneurial spirit. So while I'm rather moderate in my own views, I think that, uh, you know, I love our economy booming, I predicted six to $7, you know, gas prices two years before it happened. But I could see the, I could see the change happening, and I could see some of those challenges. So that's my prediction. 18, I think 18 ish months. And they're gonna have to do something simply because there's another election coming. That's it.

Susan Sly 27:34
I think there's gonna be a wave of, and I saw this during the last recession, there was a wave of middle class, middle income people who were professionals. They were attorneys, they were chiropractors, they were engineers, they started looking at side hustles that were not, I mean, back in those days, we weren't DoorDash, driving DoorDash and Uber and stuff. And these aren't people that were looking to add five to 100 to 1000 a month to their bottom line. They're already living very high consumer lifestyles. They have two cars, they have car payments, they have kids and the you know, whether it's hockey camp, I'm from Canada, so it just had, but that was, it came out of my mouth. Whether it's you know, hockey camp, soccer camp, whatever it was, all of the mortgage. So they were looking for ways to add an additional four to $5,000 to their bottom line. So I think we're going to see a wave of people who look at whether it's affiliate marketing or whether it's some form of way that in, or Astra consulting, even we're going to start to see this cohort of people, and I was one, wanting to add money. And that I believe is going to, is starting right now and back in, and what a lot of people maybe, depending where you live, you might not remember, but back in '08, '09 we had a SARS pandemic. And so in Canada, we, a lot of the, a lot of the things they did when it came to COVID were based on the failures in SARS, right? So we had an economic downturn, we had a massive recession, we had a pandemic, and tell me when it's not sounding all familiar. So what I've been saying for the past two years is it's just inevitable because everything goes in cycles. Where do you want to be in this cycle? And I think if we had time, we could even riff off about during COVID where 40% of Americans who didn't need to, pull money out of their 401 K at the highest tax rates, because they were afraid. And I think my my message is, don't panic. Just work harder.

Nick Cavuoto 29:41
It's true. It's so true. Yeah. And, you know, I think that's what's, you have the inflation, you have the housing market that has really boomed then you have the inflation on top of that. I mean, I'm in Denver. We've lived in this house for almost three years and it has doubled in value. And it's over tripled what happened in the first house it built in 2010. So in the first like, I don't know, nine years, it's tripled that growth just in the last two. So like, that's actually what we chose to do, because I'm predicting these things that are happening and looking at the market. So we'll be 100% liquid from anything, no doubt, and 100% liquid, our house is, you know, in the process of being sold right now. So all that timing and just hitting those moments correctly, heavy cash position, exited all the right things at the right time. Like when I saw the thing with evey cars pop, like I sold the Tesla for like, a couple $1,000 less than I paid for it three years ago. So I just monitor these things on the gut level by just understanding how these cycles are changing. And that's just the same reason of why I'm really good at understanding human behavior and people. Like I use that same gut responsive, If This Then That, Deductive reasoning, risk tolerance. And a lot of that comes from growing up as a kid and, you know, having to understand what the temperament in the house was going to be when you know, when dad got home. And you've learned a lot of lessons around, How's this situation gonna play out? And I can do it very quickly in my mind of what's the risk? What's the reward? What's the response? And I do the same thing with markets, I do the same thing with, you know, analyzing opportunities. And yeah, so I just, I think people let your, your intuition is your compass and your intellect is your calculator, just use the right tool for the job. And I think a lot of people are trying to calculate what's going to happen. Let me just nose dive into the data. No, the data is good. It doesn't lie. It's there. But what does your gut say? Because that's how billionaires make decisions. They're relationally driven and they base everything off of their intuition. And that's the superpower.

Susan Sly 29:47
I was doing a talk and it was like being simulcast like all over the world. 1000s 1000s. And just out of the blue, I'm like, I believe in two things, God and Math. Like, it's just like, I believe in God and Math. And like, that's the bottom line. Right? And, you know, like you said, the billionaires are making, they're looking at charts, they're making calculated decisions, but then they've got the wisdom of the gut. And this brings me to my last question for you. So we were talking before the show about this concept of redemption. And there are people listening to the show right now. And they're like, you know, I've had so many highs and lows, and maybe I can think of one of our listeners, I know who's going through a cancer battle right now. And many of the listeners are friends. And they were just, you know, they they send me messages, would you pray for me, you know, and they're going through a cancer rattle, and they had started a business, and then suddenly, they're sidelined, you know, by focusing on surviving, not thriving. And we were talking about this concept of redemption. And this, you know, so often, we want to talk about, oh, you know, all these starters, or so and so raised money or whatever. But what about redemption? Yeah, I'd love for you to speak to that person going through cancer right now, very positive, listens to every single show. What do you say to them?

Nick Cavuoto 33:21
This too, shall pass is a very important concept of just remembering. And the analytical part of me says that, you know, death is required before rebirth. And that might be to an old idea and old paradigm, an old way of, of being. It might be to an old version of your physical body. And this will invite in a new form of your physical body that is undefeated, you know, and that is looking towards the future in a beautiful way. And with a story of overcoming. I've always been for the underdog. I've always been the type of person who has always championed people who are wildly different, who are rare breeds, who have unique things about them that most people would never understand. And that was the bridge of acceptance. And so I've walked the line with a lot of people and a lot of unique situations, and those who certainly who have found physical ailment to be a challenge, whether it's sickness, or whether it's just the way that they were born, and maybe they're different. And so I think it's an acceptance that our awareness can increase and we can ask what is our responsibility in this. You champion your responsibility, and then you allow your story of redemption to be the thing that actually pulls you into the future of what that looks like. And so I just remember, I'm just remembering, and this is just like a, this is my dialect. So roll with me. But I was just remembering yesterday the story of the Israelites going into the promised land. And so for that person who is struggling, you're about to go into your promised land because I know that right when you feel like you need to give up, you're right around the corner from the breakthrough that God has for you. And so just stay the course, stay the line. I remember as a kid drowning going, like if I can just last like five more seconds. Hopefully someone will come get me. And it did, it happened. And I thank God that my dad did. But I'm just asking you to hold on because here's the thing, when the Israelites were crossing over from the, from the desert into the promised land, you know, first the priests went in with the Ark of the Covenant, which is just really the representation of having God on their side. As they walked through the water, it started to part and at the bottom of the sea, it became dry, and every tribe of Israel, so there's 12, that walked through the bottom of the sea grabbed the stone. And when they got into the promised land, and they were getting ready to face the Giants, they stack the stones on top of one another. And they looked back and remembered every great thing that God did for them, that literally he parted the sea, parted an ocean, if you will, so they could grab a dry stone from the bottom of the frickin Earth. And if he can do that, what else can he do in the season of trial that you're in right now? So people who are trying and you may be tired, but you're trying. My encouragement to you is to allow your strength to just be found in the reflection of your past. I think redemption has a lot more to do with reflection than just blind faith. So that's my encouragement. If God did it once he can do it again

Susan Sly 36:27
I just wrote that down, redemption has a lot to do with reflection. And on social, so all of you know our team makes quote cards, that is going to be a quote card. That is like, Nick Cavuoto, that is the quote card, like seriously. And it doesn't, you know, like Nick and I are obviously believers, but it doesn't matter where you're at, but you've got to believe that there is a higher power out there that is benevolent and can work miracles because that, miracles have been worked for billions of people throughout history. And so why not you? Nick, I love that. So Nick and I are going to be new best friends and I encourage you to go to his website nickcavuoto.com. Nick, I definitely want to have you back because I think there was so many things that we could have spoken about that we just didn't. But for all of the, you know I love it. I love it when you guys go to susansly.com drop me a note. I actually read the notes for all the shows, I read all the reviews. If you're, wherever you are iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, wherever it is, iHeart Radio, just go drop a review. I read them all. And just, if this show has touched you, please let us know and share it on social. Tag Nick and I because that's the whole goal of the show is just to spread all over the world with this message that if it's possible for one person it is 100% possible for you. So Nick, thank you so much for being here.

Nick Cavuoto 38:02
You're welcome. Thank you for having me. It was an absolute joy. So I appreciate you so much. Thanks again.

Susan Sly 38:08
Well, thank you. And with that everyone this has been another episode of Raw and Real Entrepreneurship. God bless, go rock your day, and I will see you in the next episode.