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Being STRONG is more than just how much weight you can lift.
The Strong New York Podcast is dedicated to inspiring you to become your strongest self- in the gym, in business, in relationships and in life.
Join Kenny as he sits down with his strong as fuck buddies and shoots the shit on what it takes to be strong willed, strong minded and physically strong. Season one features everyone from entrepreneurs and local business owners to doctors and industry leaders in the fitness and wellness space.
With over a decade of experience, Kenny Santucci has made himself known as one of New York City’s top trainers and a thought leader in the health and wellness industry. After transforming his life at 15 years old through fitness, Kenny made it his mission to transform the lives of those around him.
Kenny has trained some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Jon Bon Jovi, Liev Schreiber, and Frank Ocean, and has been tapped as a fitness expert sharing his training approach with Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Runner's World, SHAPE, Well+Good, among other publications.
Kenny is the creator of STRONG New York, NYC's only Health and Fitness Expo. Strong New York is an immersive day of workouts, wellness experiences, panel discussions, and inspiring conversations with the best in-class wellness professionals, industry leaders, and change makers who are sharing their expertise on today's hottest wellness trends and first-hand experiences on how to optimize your overall health and life.
You can find Kenny at The Strength Club, his private training and group strength training facility in the heart of Manhattan located on 28th and 5th Ave in New York City.
No, he's not.
We can't move it.
Baddest mother. No, um, taking commercial real estate, social media by storm, you know, podcaster. We don't even know why he does it. Let's talk about it. One of the top real estate guys in New York and no, no, in, in, in America. Now America just for builder developer, commercial real estate. What's that? I'm going to.
Okay, uh, we're gonna he's gonna Ric Flair this
Ready Check one two check one two It's one two now, but I guarantee you that I scream yell and speak too loud and mess up all of your levels throughout this thing I Let me tell you one thing. We're not gonna have a problem with being too loud Ready? Rock and roll. Let's go. All right. We're back with another episode of the strongest fuck podcast.
I'm your host Kenny Santucci. And today I have a friend of mine in, uh, we met years ago at my old gym. Uh, very handsome man steps through the door starts taking class. Wait, I thought it was on a dating website that we met. Yeah, it was grinder. Now you're talking. Uh, Eric Brody, welcome to the strongest fuck podcast.
Happy to have you here. Um, a couple of months back, I'm looking at social media and your feed just keeps coming up and you're delivering a message that I'm not in the, in the real estate world at all. I don't even want to own real estate. I think a lot of people are like, they think that's the end all be all.
And we'll get into that as far as business goes. Uh, New York real estate is too goddamn expensive. Even New Jersey. Now the two places I'd love to live, um, basically, uh, push me out of owning anything, however, uh, give us a little rundown of who you are. Top real estate broker developer in here in New York city.
Did you just say New York city, the country player, your, your, your vision too low. We got to go big time. We're going national now. Okay. Let me tell you something before we get started into it. I just want to tell you, you know, what you may not know is sort of like the unsung heroes of those of us in New York, right?
We're isolated. You're grinding it out. And every morning when we met, I walk into this gym at 6 a. m. right? And I'm miserable. I don't want to be there and you forget. It's those that help direct you who motivate you to execute that become such important figures in your life. And that's how the friendship begins.
began, but I admire used to roll up and you know, you're, they got that Jersey attitude. It's not like, Hey everyone, let's start fitness. You'd be like, let's go. And then you start playing eighties rock, which I'm still listening to on some of my, uh, like my playlist and always reminds me of you. So you hold a very special place.
Then years later you open up strength club, right? You're on 28th or 29th. And what you don't know is that those that walk in are always going through something. So you always are kind, right? You were. Always kind. You helped me with my back. You communicated with me. And at that time I was at my lowest point, but you still weren't inspiration.
So I just wanted to open this up by just like thanking you. You don't realize what you do and you think everyone's tough and everyone's out there getting it done and killing it. But you still, you impact us each and every day. So you're part of the brotherhood, whether you like it or not. I appreciate that.
Of course. All right. So what do I do? It's better as a quick story. Do you mind? So we were mid market developers in New York. We were building 21 story buildings, 218 units in Williamsburg, and then this little thing called coronavirus hits. And we get rocked because everyone's hiding, everyone's around, and I had developed a building.
Right on 96th street. Okay here in Manhattan here in Manhattan The greatest city ever and until you are in the MMA fight of your life I was just quoted getting the shit kicked out of you. Do you open your horizons? Okay So now all of a sudden you can't pay the interest on a loan, right? We borrow money We take risk and a lender comes and forecloses and wipes me out So I'm supposed to be this pig, tough, externally validating guy, building buildings.
You were doing well at that point, because before COVID, I feel like you had a lot of shit going on. We have, you had a lot of shit going on, but New York with the cost, it was getting rough, right? Everyone is perception is in real estate. You must be this monster all the time. And just like you said, very hard to own something.
You need to have enough. To really acquire something to get above the fray, like to get out of the gravitational pull of all of what your costs are to get to a place to really be able to buy something very hard. Yes. And we were doing well. Okay. Like no complaints, but then everything gets taken from me.
Okay. Taken from me. And that's where life sort of begins when you're in that suffering. Right? So now I lose this asset. What are you going to do? So I went with these special forces guys, and you probably hang out with some of these guys from when you grew up, or just some of the people that walk through or do jujitsu with you.
And they're like, well, you're not going to lay down and die. Are you? I'm like, no, they're like, do a report. What went right? And what went wrong? I do this report and there was this analytics that basically said why the F are you developing here? So bank gave me money people gave me money But the data analytics right and what you deal with each day like how much weight right and all the science behind it No one was paying attention into real estate.
What real estate does is I Yeah, this works. Okay, so there's no analytics. That led me on a journey to start researching real estate and technology, started a podcast, raise a venture fund, and then started doing content because when I got on the mic, it felt natural. Kind of like when you get on the mic, right?
So then the question is, well, why are you doing it? Right. What is the application of doing all of this content? So people's perception is me and you just want the attention, right? But it goes to something for you. It's a new client, right? Or you started strong New York to drive a larger top of funnel audience to you for you to figure out how you're going to monetize it.
So we are all marketing companies in this space, making that application to what we do. Now, what do I do? It's called capital advisory and development. Capital advisory is there's a universe of people who need capital for real estate. I know that universe with all of these tech workflows, we match them payday.
And in addition, we've taken over some deals and continue to develop in a nutshell. Hell pretty high in a nutshell. So I think what Why I wanted to have you on and what I started to notice was one, you are very charismatic. You're great on camera. Uh, you know, just like throwing back to when you used to come in the gym pretty early in the morning, you were one of the people that I looked forward to seeing because you changed the environment.
That's the type of person you are. And you're the type of guy, if you're doing real estate, If you're creating content, if you worked at a fucking sandwich shop, people would come there to come see you because you just magnetic like that. Yeah, we are entrepreneurs. Kenny, like, think about your trajectory, and I don't know all of it, but you got into fitness.
Actually, first it was entertainment, right? You're in entertainment. You don't exactly know. You get into fitness, right? So now you become a, if I'm not mistaken, you take the risk and you become a minor partner into a health facility at one point, right? Then you were an entrepreneur. So you had to take the risk to now put the burden on yourself, right?
Yep. It's as if there's some type of trauma there. I'm not sure what that drama is, but I believe you're a fat kid who loves cake. Same. We have this trauma and this desire to improve ourselves. Right. Then, right. Then after that, you're like, Oh, I might as well take more risk and start this massive festival for fitness.
Right. And then you say, you know what? I'm not done there. Cause God forbid I was actually comfortable. I was comfortable. I'm going to do jujitsu. So now you do jujitsu. And in addition, an inspiration to us who are like, all right, I got to, I got to do more. And then, then at the end, like, and then you stayed ripped.
Like, I don't know if people really understand the discipline required to execute on all those levels to be good at it. And yet you started. From nothing like you don't give a shit. You're a white belt, right? Now you're a blue belt like people don't realize that so that's why we're on because we hold These these these realities to be true.
So I know And, you know, I wanted to cover some of this as well. Like, you know, personal life, you know, you, I know you went through some pretty hard shit with your family and stuff. Do you think that you're taking on some of this, uh, you know, the idea of jujitsu? I think a lot of people take it on is because there is that side of you.
I don't do. I've done therapy in the past, not a lot, but the way I feel after I go to jujitsu and I do what I do, or I work out, I feel instantly better. And there was just a podcast that I was listening to, I think it was Diary of a CEO, there was a guy on there, this doctor who was talking about doing things physical is much more powerful.
Then just talking about it for somebody who went through a lot. You went through some, you went through therapy, right? I've done it all. Yeah. You name it. I've done it. And what has helped you the most? All right, so let's first talk about it, but let's first talk about it. So first and foremost, as a human, as a dude, as let's say that you and I are alpha, whether that is the appropriate term anymore, I have no idea, but you and I are going to stand on our own two feet.
We don't change until we step into the abyss and that our daily, daily suffering is so great that you're willing. to change. So like, it sucks, right? About life. But it's like, I wouldn't have changed shit if I was doing really well, unless I had gotten, like I was saying in the MMA fight of my life, getting kicked in the face.
Okay. So now what are you going to do? What's your decision, right? Are you just going to lay over and do nothing? Or you start to think, what are some of the things you've heard about? Alright, so the one, what I loved was that guy, uh, Stutz. You see that, uh, Netflix special with, uh, Jonah Hill and his shrink on it, right?
And the guy goes, don't come talk to me unless you do three things really well, fitness, food, and sleep. If you got problems, and by the way, we're all suffering, okay? Otherwise it wouldn't be something called Buddhism and all the rest of it. You're all trying to find your happiness. So this idea that we can't talk about it or you're not alpha if you actually look into your feelings is bullshit.
Because when you are alpha or you're trying to always change, you're always looking to improve. And looking to improve, right? Carl Jung says, Those who look within realize, those who look without dream. So it's like, you know, you got to look within to this icky part. So we call it healing. I don't call it healing.
I call it like looking at my shadow and be like, all right, that's me too, you know? So the first thing is, you know, if you've always externally validated, you know, like, like you said, handsome, you know, always been, you know, no, I'm just kidding. But if you're always looking and externally validating yourself, like you never learned how to look internally, right?
So it's all these things. So the first thing is fitness. Like you're a hundred percent right. How do you slow your brain down? I wake up like anxiety. I'm freaking out. Might as well work out at 6 a. m. immediately. Takes you down, right? Now you can see what's there. Then people said, uh, now you meditate. And I'm like, oh shit, how am I going to sit?
Do you meditate? Very rarely. Right? So like I try to. I do try to. So then people go, well, meditation. I'm like, I don't want to sit there and breathe. And you're like, that's not what meditation is. Meditation is like, if you didn't meditate and you're saying, and you were to say out loud all the thoughts in your head, you know what we would call you?
Insane. In fucking sane. Right? So, first meditation is like saying, oh shit, look, you don't shut the fuck up. Right? Like, look at all this. So, why don't you figure out how to look at that without reacting to it all the time. By the way, you do that when you get mad. You do that when you get sad. Everything, oh, my life is over.
Uh, well, my life is good. Uh, uh. Like, what about neither? What about just watching you saying, you know, that that happened and that happened. So then I start meditating, right? And then people are like, uh, you know what you should do? You should do affirmations. You ever heard of an affirmationist? Yeah. What do affirmations?
I I think they I think it works. I'm a big i'm a big manifestation guy. I'm a big You know, writing my, when you first heard that, what did you really think? I thought it was bullshit. What am I? A fucking idiot. I'm going to stare in the mirror. I'm going to go today is a good day, you know, today. And what you realize is it's not that right.
It's we all have this voice inside of our head, right? I was saying some of your trauma, you said you were a big guy as a kid, right? Like, what do you think? How did that, did you think that fucked you up as an adult? You know, look how ripped you are, right? Like, so first is like you got to get that little person inside of you, like chill.
Like, so Subconsciously being like, I want to be open to what happens today. Because if I wake up anxiety, anxiety, anxiety, I've never even opened, nothing happened yet. And we only live right now. So now I'm doing affirmations, listening every day. Do you think owning? Wait, wait, no, we have more of a protocol.
Well, there's more, there's more where that came from. So then the last thing is people go journal. Journal. I'm like, journal for what? It's cathartic. You ever journal? Yeah. And what, why do you journal? Uh, it helps me, uh, I have a lot of thoughts, like we said. Uh, and writing some of the good ones down and some of the bad ones kind of empties out the brain a little bit.
So that was like the surface as the reason why. Mm hmm. All right. I journal. Then read 30 days of fucking Kenny Santonucci, right? And Eric Brody on the paper, right? I'm like, ew, you keep bringing up the same fucking thing every day. All the time. Is that the narrative you always want? Like maybe you need to look at that and address that.
So how are you supposed to know what your issues are to write them down every day? And you're like, I always feel this way. I always feel this way. I started reading it. I'm like, ew. It's the same damn thing. So until you even recognize it, right, an experiment doesn't change. And then you put it under a microscope and it changes whether you like it or not, you have to observe it.
And by the way, I'm no Zen master. I deal with this shit every day. These were just reasons how I could address that I had just gotten rocked and had a judgment personally against me and that the bum on the street was worth millions of dollars more than me. And yet each day you got it, you got to figure it out, right?
Cause they say the comeback is better than the downfall. You know, so I totally agree with that. I think when I, when you deal with hard shit, uh, it helps you, it helps you realize how strong you can actually be. And I tell people it's not what happens to you. Right? It's what you do with that, that issue. So I say That's what makes people.
I agree with you, and I always was like, um, That's so cliche and fucking stupid, right? Like, ah, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And then you go through it, right? And if you had this perception, right? Like, why do you and I train martial arts? Well, many want to be able to protect themselves. You know, I have an inkling it's because we fear that we aren't as strong as we are.
So we might as well know how to roll and then if anyone tried to rob us, we'd be able to, you know, tie them up in a knot and choke them out, right? But I think I did martial arts my whole life because when I was a kid and I got robbed by a gun or a knife in Brooklyn, I was screaming like a little bitch.
But at the end of the day, like, What were you supposed to do? You were going to drop kick him in the face, right? So now my, my insecurities, oh, I don't know how to fight. So now you and I know how to fight, right? Like in your, like we know, but really the reality is it's just to stay calm under pressure, right?
And all of these things. And that's why, you know, these are the things that help you and I to, you know, deal with this shit. Obviously fitness. I think Doing some of these hard things, jujitsu and, uh, getting physically tortured in a way, right? You get choked out or you jump in a cold plunge. All these things help you deal with a lot of the things that are going on in your head.
As well, you know, there's a lot of times I deal with some business stuff where i'm like, all right I really want to choke the shit out of somebody right now, but it's better. I don't and that's how you you know, because I think there's a lot of people i'm not sympathizing when anybody who Shoots up a school or does something drastic pushes somebody on a subway car I think all these people are obviously mentally ill, but they also don't have the tools or the outlets to do that To as men, because you're never hearing about women doing any of this shit.
It's always men who were just at their, their breaking point and they do something drastic and it's only because one, they don't have. the, the outlet to, to get it out. A hundred percent. So there's two things. One, if there's sadism and masochism, okay, you and I like to work out and get choked out. Well, we lead towards, we'd rather suffer versus watching others suffer.
I'd rather take the burden. I'd rather take the burden, right? Where there's other people who rather watch the world burn. Yeah, of course. So you and I, you know, that's just sort of a part of our DNA. The second thing is, You know, we were taught and I know my demographic like talking about your feelings or, you know, uh, delving into yourself was always considered weak, you know, be a man, man up, right?
So, I was like, all right, you know, that was my perception. Be tough, right? The rest of it. And it's like, it's not disparate things. Being tough has nothing to do with addressing, you know, what's going on inside you. And I didn't learn that until I went hunting with special force operators who had come back from overseas and were like, we have to address like that.
We were human killers. You know what I'm saying? And they're like, these are the strategies we did to come to terms with that. And I'm like, if those motherfuckers can handle that. I think that we can handle sort of what we go through. And obviously it's always, you know, to ourselves, that's relevant, but it's like, yo, if, if they're doing it, like what's wrong with you doing it?
Yeah, no. And I think a lot of younger guys nowadays need to have those. If you don't have a father figure in your life, which I think is a whole other issue that people are dealing with nowadays. If you don't have that strong male or even female figure in your life that you could, that you look up to, that you're like, Oh, okay.
It is okay to cry. It is okay to. Deal with your feelings. You know, when I was younger, I remember being like seven, eight years old, coming home from school and crying about something. My father was like, Hey, you don't cry. I'm like, all right, I guess I don't cry. By the way, it's so funny you said that. And I'm telling you, that's why it was like, just so interesting to be here.
There was a time at like 10 or 11, I said, I'm never going to cry again. Yeah, that stunts your emotional growth. You know that right there? You just, you just fucked up a whole thing. Like you, we had this crying. No one said you need to get in a beef and then start crying. Okay? On the street. You're a man, right?
You may carry a weapon. You're a human killer. I will choke you out on the street, right? That does not mean that you can't have an emotion in the appropriate place, right? And I think we just didn't have a crew of humans or I call my brotherhood that you're like that dude's a human killer and we're going to talk about our feelings because those are not, it's not the same thing.
You can be both and you are still the dopest man and a father figure and whatever you need and you can still, yes, tear. And I think there is a spectrum there, right? Like, cause I remember the spectrum. Don't worry. We know you're on the spectrum. We got you. Last night I was watching. Instagram and there was this girl who's got like 2 million or 3 million followers and the first like five videos on her page Were of her crying and I'm like listen when you're filming yourself crying.
That's a Other fucking you know bag of nuts, but you know for me I remember when my dad passed away in 2019 and I was at the hospital with my mom It's like all I wanted to do was cry, but she was so Bent out of shape that I'm like, all right, I don't want to make it worse for her. Let me try to keep this together so that, you know, she sees me not cry.
She'll feel a little bit better. She'll feel a little bit stronger. I don't know why I think like that. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I think me like holding it back. And then when I got in the car and I was by myself, I'm like, I got to let this the fuck out. Well, there's two things to that, right?
So one is that's great. You are, you're supposed to have manned up in that position and be the strong person for her, right? Yeah. The question then becomes what we don't realize. And by the way, I struggle with this shit. I think I'm on the spectrum too, is you have to have grief, right? Your dad passed away, right?
Like regardless, even if he was rough on you, not rough on you, whatever it was, we don't know how to grieve. We weren't taught because you had eight and nine said, I'm not crying. We just shut down that we're going to have an emotional response. And then we're shoving deep down inside, like all of our feelings.
We don't even know. Like it took forever to be like. That hurt me. I'm going to address that. Right. And then what are you making that mean? And on and on, you know, just to go back to like what this is about by addressing these things by deep and in getting involved and not taking everything as a criticism or rage when someone disagreed with me has made the comeback of my business.
So ridiculously stronger and greater than what I actually It was like back in the day, I was pushing sand uphill, but I would just fucking grit it and just do it. I still have that same mentality, but my business is exponentially growing more by being vulnerable. Even though people know you're a tough guy, like no one's denying it.
You know, like, so this fear is like you remove that billionaires are talking to me No one wants to know that you're perfect and that everything you did was like Midas's touch and springs out of your ass of gold Well, I don't think anybody ever really cares to hear that story and I talk about that a lot, you know People want to hear the come up story.
No one ever is like, oh my god You hear the story about the kid who had everything who made a million dollars and just kept making more and more and more There's no real, like, nobody can relate to that. Agreed. You want to hear the story of the guy who ate shit as much as people hate him. I'm not condoning what he says or does or anything.
But, for the longest time, I remember being a kid and reading Donald Trump's book. How dare you. Kenneth, please, Christy. Be careful, , how you edit this because I'll get hung if I say I, at one point I admired Donald Trump. Oh, I thought you were gonna say Bloodsport. And it was Jean Claude Van Dam, or, uh, bone and the Barbarian when he came.
You know, I thought that's who we grew up on. . No, I mean, I love all those movies and that's why I am the man. I am , why I wear shirts like this. Um, but he had famously said the, the. The quote, he, he's like, well, I rather hire the guy who has lost and won than the guy who's always won, because at least when you lose, you know, the pitfalls, you understand how to come back up, you know, how to recover again.
And just like you're saying, you feel. Like you could do everything now because you've hit rock bottom. There was a point 2012 was a very shit year for me. It was Basically rock bottom for me. I had lost everything and anything and i'm like and I had the same situation, right? You had you had gotten can't I got pre canceled, right?
Like I, so whatever you had built up all of a sudden legs taken out, right? I got canceled. I tore my shoulder. I broke up with my girlfriend. I didn't have an apartment. I was sleeping in my car. It like enough shit couldn't go wrong in my life. Within a six month period and I'm like why the fuck is this happening to me?
And there was a point where I went in my medicine cabinet. I lived with a buddy of mine at the time I went in the medicine cabinet. I'm like, I'm just gonna take all this shit and hopefully I don't wake up and then I'm like or I could go outside And this is when I truly believe like, but long before that, when I was heavy and I'd work out, I felt so much better.
People treating me different exercise and fitness has always saved my life. I go, if I just go outside now, my arms in a sling, I just, you know, had a surgery and stuff. I'm like, if I just go outside and go for a run or go for a walk or something, I'll feel better. And that's what I did. Jumped on a bike.
Wait, let's stop there for a second. People came up to you, right? And they're like, Oh, we feel so bad for you, Kenny, right? I'm like, No one did. No one did. All right. Well, people came up to me, right? And then and then and then you think about self pity, right? Self pity, right? Like I think you're going through something different.
It doesn't matter. People, they say what they say. But let's say self pity. I look at it and I go, what does nature do when you're injured? What happens to an animal in nature when it's injured, right? Because we're humans, we're animals. What do they do when they look at you and they feel you're weak? What happens in nature?
They attack you. They eat you from your ass out, rip your intestines out and on the floor. So this idea of self pity of what was me, right? Like, yeah, I'm going to take these pills and the pain, like no one gives a fuck. I know. It's FYI. I know the power is from within. Cause if you look externally, maybe a mother, if she's, you know, we'll help you.
Maybe your father, will your sister, other than that. Everyone looks at you like they wanna tear you apart. Right? And I don't mean that to be like, they smell blood in the water. They mean they smell blood. They want to eat you up. So know that that's the truth. Yeah. Right? So, fuck, self pity. Mm-Hmm, . And, and that was the thing.
And you know, later on, you know, covid, and that was, wait, but, so what happens? So 2012, you take this walk. I go for, I go for it. I go for a walk, and then I jumped on a bike. I had a bike at the time in my old apartment. Went for a ride. I came back and I'm like, all right, I'm thinking more clearly. I said to myself, I need to start racking up little wins, right?
That walk, that run was my first little win. Then I'm like, all right, I could eat better. Now I need to wait just to do that. I say the same shit. Life is in every day. Yeah. Right. You say little wins. Okay. That's how you describe it. Habits. But it's just that fucking day. Right. And then it becomes another day.
We think a week and a month and two years. You're like, all you had was that moment. That's what the suffering teaches you. It's like, it sucked. Now I'm going to work out. Now, and at the time there was no social media. I mean, Twitter was like the only thing, and I was getting my ass chewed out because of all the bullshit that I dealt with on, on television stuff.
So I'm like, all right, I'm dealing with that. I need to like turn that off. So get rid of that out of my life and just start becoming better at my craft. So I did everything I could to become a better trainer, to become a better business owner. I was taking courses. I was reading books. I'm like, okay, these are now yeah.
Flipping the script for me now. I'm no longer feeling better for myself. I'm like, oh, okay. I did that now I could do this Signed up for an Ironman that year. Did you watch this documentary to do an Ironman that year? You're one sick puppy, and I remember watching this documentary about a guy who we just had speak at strong this guy Matt long and he Instead of feeling bad for himself, he was a fireman here in New York, gets hit by a bus, drags 65 surgeries later, runs a New York City marathon, and then goes and runs the Lake Placid Ironman.
Uh, there's an awesome documentary on him. I remember hitting him up on Twitter and being like, I'm gonna run an Ironman because I would just watch that video on you. He's like, get after it. Because I had already done a marathon. I'm like, I could do a fucking marathon. An iron man's where it's at. Oh yeah.
All right. So no problem. Okay. But it was one had to wake up and work out. You're fucking doing iron man. No problem. So I w I just want, like, it was one of those forms of, which one did you do? I did the Louisville iron man. It was the only one still open. It was 900. I was broke at the time. I was going through a lawsuit with, you know, my gym and everything.
It was a hundred things were going wrong. And I go, you know what? I'm just going to sign up for this. Iron man. I spent 2, 000 on a bike, I spent, I was putting everything on credit cards, I spent 1, 000 to sign up for the race. How much did you put on like the Vaseline for like your nipples so they don't start bleeding?
Oh my god, you gotta lube the shit out of me. Your, your crotch, you know, your armpits, your, your nipples, everything, your neck because if you have like a high collar. Um, Because you're out there. I mean, it took me 15 hours. So then what, so you, you used fitness. Yeah, but I remember, I remember crossing that finish line feeling like basically a dead body.
I was completely drained, but I'm like, if I could do that to myself physically. Everything else, business is easy. Relationships are easier. Like if you could, so for me, when I go, when I go to jujitsu, like even last night I was there and this monster of a guy's like, yo, you want to go? I go, fuck. Yeah. Beat the shit out of me because I'm ready for it.
Like I want to, I never want to be the smartest guy in the room. I never want to be the richest guy in the room. I never want to be the, the. Most successful person in the room. I always want to be in a room where I'm the worst one because that's the room I agree to be in so this guy Frederick Nietzsche.
We've all heard of him He always said if you have a why you figure out the how so I'm just I'm just curious. I know my why Yeah, why I keep going what's your why? I want, I always want to be able to take care of everybody around me. I just, I don't know why. I mean, it's that, do you call it an alpha mentality?
I don't know what it is, but I've always had this idea in my head that everybody that I care about, which, you know, I just had a situation with a, a, a employee. I genuinely just wanted to take care of her. I wanted to help her out Because I know if I could get her to become better And this is the whole idea behind my event if I could get her To live a better life then that enriches my life because now this is someone around me That's living a better happier life, which makes my circle just a little bit stronger and I guess she didn't appreciate that No, no, no, you can't change everyone.
You can't change But like I want to make everyone around me Happier and better because that enriches my life because every day you never know when you're your tickets gonna be punched You never know what's gonna be all over and I I was just saying this on another podcast I had done I don't think about the I try to think about the past as little as possible Obviously it creeps back into your head every once a while and I don't like to think too far into the future It was like so what's your plan?
You're gonna open up a bunch of gyms. I'm like, I don't fucking know and If an opportunity comes up and it happens, like everyone's like, why'd you go to Caldwell? I'm like, well, my family's there so I could spend more time with them, but an opportunity to come up last year This time this woman hits me up.
She's like, hey, I have this gym. I'm not gonna use it anymore Do you want to take over the lease? I went out there I'm kind of weighing out my options and like day to day if something Had happened differently than I wouldn't be opening up, you know There's another opportunity here in the city that if it presents itself and it makes sense fine But there's no real plan anytime.
I I plan to be on television that fell apart I plan to have my first gym that fell apart. I plan to work at my other gym That fell apart. Anytime I've had a plan where I'm like, I'm setting my feet in this where I'm going to be for five years, it never fucking works out. Well, you said two things I think are super relevant.
So the first one, what's my why? And my why is I want to make those around me better. Now, that could be normally an excuse, right? If I make you better, I don't have to make myself better. Well, that's not true. In your respect, you first start with I'm going to make me better so that when you say I tried to make you better and they didn't appreciate it, which is by the way, you can never worry about how what you say is going to impact others.
You only can worry about your own feelings. That's no matter what. The second thing I always tell people when they come to me, they're like, you're successful or you're doing all these things. I say, okay. R O C. And I'm like, it's not Jay Z in the rock. You know, he's getting canceled. Anyway, responsibility equals opportunity equals choice, right?
What you're saying is I'll be responsible and we'll see what opportunities there that I'll choose for me. I do have a direction as to where I want to go. But people said, are you a podcaster? I'm like, I don't know. They're like, are you a venture capitalist? I'm like, I don't know. Do you do TV shows now?
Are you like a TV shows? I'm like, I don't know. It didn't need to make sense yet. I knew that there would be clarity. Okay. Yeah, you don't always have to know, but you do need to know that the ship is directed in a certain way, right? And I think the easiest way to figure out where you want that ship to go is when you operate With yourself and everyone else in mind if you're looking at Fuck people over and cut corners.
I don't it. It boggles my mind How many contractors I work with where i'm like, dude, you're you're you're trying to fuck me here How well do you think this is going to work out for either of us now? You're screwing me over and now Any referral business that I could have gotten you later on you're now gonna get so now you're fucking bolted What is your end game here for me?
I'm like, all right, how could I make my clients better? How can I make my staff better? how could I enrich everyone's life around me and anytime and she gets pissed at me sometimes because She's like you overextend yourself for everybody because I genuinely want to see people do better because I know that comes back So on a daily basis, I make the choices that I feel will impact me You And everyone around me or anybody who's near me in a positive way.
And if I continue to do that, it's just going to snowball. And five years from now, I don't have to make choices because they'll be around me. Well, look, two things on that. So one is a hundred percent, right? You're probably overextend yourself, right? It's just who you're going to be. But the second thing is.
And this goes back to business. There's a bestseller that came out called automate your work. Okay. 2023, you should read it. Everyone should read it. Because those of us that are too busy, by the way, I'm way too busy, right? What you do is you track what you do for two weeks, three weeks, track your shit where you're wasting time, where you're not.
And you just get more efficiency meaning. Yeah. You're always going to do too damn much. It's just kind of your style. But when are you doing, when are you fucking around? You know? Mm-Hmm. . So for me, I'm like now like looking at it scientifically like, do this, do this. You know, 7:00 AM to to 10:00 AM is like focus time.
No more fucking phone calls. Nobody's bothering me just to get more efficient because you're right. You've created such opportunities for yourself that you can choose, but something you and I have to be is Machiavellian. Right. And Machiavelli would say. The effective truth, which is don't judge me by my words, judge me by results of my actions.
You and I can't say something that we don't then come through with, otherwise we're never going to be effective. So yo, if I just hooked that guy up, you should send me a fucking referral fee because this is going to everyone. We're going viral. I hope so. Um, no, I, I try to, I try to operate, um, You know, with that mentality on a daily basis, and I encourage other people to do the same.
I go, I don't know what works for everyone, but for me, that has been pretty successful. When we do the events, my end game is to make sure that every vendor and every person who steps through that door has the best experience. And I said, I go, if we didn't live up to our expectations, please, I'll give you your money back.
Cause at the end of the day, 20, I've had it. I've lost it. It doesn't really fucking change my day, you know, and people are gonna be all i'm I don't live. I just said I I can't afford a place to live. I don't own anything I literally own nothing but a bunch of llcs. That's all I have. Um, no, don't we all i'll tell you what though Strategically, which is totally different conversation.
You need to have visionaries like you You just have to insulate with your people who are going to do that dirty work because it's obvious you're not right So you got to Look at where you're, you accelerate and then get the other people to cut everyone's face off when they try to play you, which is different.
That's just business. I'm not talking about the spirituality of it, which is great and it's noble and it's true. You just got to get now the cutthroats to make sure they protect your back because people will abuse that and or people really want to back you as a result of that. But they'll just give you the guy to go beat the shit out of everybody.
And that's so true. Is that I think a lot of people mistake the kindness for weakness. Well, they really need to know if they really hurt you, you might choke them out. Like this is a reality, right? At this point, dude, it's the blue belt. Like, by the way, you didn't pay. I really like you, but i'm gonna need to and that's it.
I'll tell you. I mean, I haven't been this mad in a long time the friday before strong this year. I had two people just Fucking working on the last nerve that I have and I'm normally a cool calm collective. I'm like, listen, I'll make up for I'll eat The money I don't give a shit but I had two people just fuck with me to a point where I was About to kill somebody my mother's like you gotta come down.
I'm like fuck that I'll kill them on the streets of New York and I'll go to fucking jail. I'll be in Rikers Island tonight. I got to tell you, it's so funny you said that. I have this whole other side to kind of what occurred to me personally. And I went to this event and I just saw two of the dudes who like sat down at dinner, broke bread with me.
And then they do that whole like high school, like we don't talk to him anymore. You know that bullshit, right? Like, I met you a hundred times. What's your name again, sir? I'm like, all right. Yeah. Quash my ego. All I want to tell you is I wanted to jump kick and take my foot bone right in their Why do you think that bothers us both so much?
Because I, honestly, there's, there's a girl who works in the fitness industry who has done that to me 50 times, every time I say, Oh, what's your name? I go, shut up and you know, like I always, I, because she'll tell you, I do it all the time. People will come to me and they'll be like, Kenny, I'm like, Oh my God, how are you?
Bubba? I never, I have fucking zero clue who they are. I'll be like, who the fuck was that? But I never want them to feel like I'm too good. So, so the bottom line is it's our issue. Okay. If it's our trigger that I want to literally, I want to use every martial arts I ever did. And just, and then I'm thinking maybe I feel better.
I just. Fucking punch you once in the head. You knock you out. I'm like, I'm so sorry. I maybe I even give them like ice. I'm like, I'm my bad that I broke your jaw. Right. But it's us. You have to say to yourself, what am I making it mean that she keeps saying that I don't know you or this guy being a punk, you know, like, what am I making it mean that like, I'm not important.
I know I'm important in it. It's their issue, by the way. It's not ours. So, and I think that same thing, like I don't know. For instance, the guy who sold me the flooring for my new gym, I'm about to kill this motherfucker. Um, but anyway, we, uh, I said, I go, I'm getting so worked up over this and this, what are you, what are you ripping me off for four grand, five grand?
What are you making off this? I go, now I'm frustrated. I go, At the end of the day like what do you really get out of it or somebody who gets really upset? Like you see somebody on the street who's fired up. I'm like, I don't even know you enough to be mad at you Right, listen, that's also because you're a killer now, you know, then you know that until someone steps into your space They're not really a threat other people don't realize that but at the end of the day with the flooring guy And what we forget when it comes to these situations is we don't know what they're going through That guy may have a bill or whatever it is.
So you just have empathy, but you protect yourself Yeah, yeah, because you don't want to get a roll Oh, you don't wanna get ripped off too much, but hey listen, I know you gotta roll, but we should do this again. I would love to. You got a lot of wisdom in you. I appreciate it. Wait, don't I get to fucking promote all my shit?
Of course you do. eCore Brody on Insta Real Tech Talk. YouTube, Eric Brody, LinkedIn. Make sure you follow Kenny These's The Man and the Reason I'm here. And, uh, always support his shit. I know I do. Alright? I appreciate it. You too, brother. And where do you go to do jujitsu now? So I met, um, uh, uh, uh, Royce Chen and Daniel Polino have a spot in LIC called City Jiu Jitsu.
That's the spot, baby. Those are my boys. Like love those guys jujitsu is amazing. Everyone should do it. But I also am like a little bougie I don't want it to be like smell like feet, right? So they have a beautiful brand new spot with actually good air circulation. So you feel like the shit dries I keep going to these spots in miami and elsewhere and i'm like this fungus growing from the walls I don't want this shit You can't have two better guys.
I love Danny. I love Royce. Those are like the first two guys are really connected with over at Henzo's and they have a beautiful space. So if you get a chance, by the way, and also I talk so much shit to them. Like, remember, I'm a white belt. Well, Royce, you can't do shit. And he's like, Eric, I'm gonna fuck you up.
And I'm like, you're not gonna do it. Damn, then he chokes me out. Yeah, nobody. Nobody talks more shit than Royce. But the guy, he's an absolute savage. Savage. But thanks a million, bro. Hey, thank you for coming on the show, bud.