Richard Kaufman / Comeback Coach. Podcaster. Best Selling Author

Many people feel stuck in adversity, unsure of how to make a comeback after hitting rock bottom.

Envision a path where adversity fuels your growth, leading to a powerful comeback that redefines your journey.

 In this episode, Richard Kaufman shares his remarkable journey and the lessons he's learned on resilience, mental health, and growth. Stick around for practical, inspiring insights on how to make your greatest comeback.

5 Key Takeaways:

• Turning setbacks into comebacks with resilience and determination
• The pivotal impact of 9/11 on Richard’s life
• Overcoming mental health struggles and finding hope
• Why failure is an event, not a person
• Practical steps for making a comeback in life and business

Paul Povolni, the founder of Voppa Creative, has been a creative leader for over 30 years, with clients around the world. He’s led teams in creating award-winning branding and design as well as equipping his clients to lead with Clarity, Creativity and Culture.

Headsmack Website

Transcript

Paul Povolni (05:38.894)
Hey, welcome to the HeadSmack podcast. My name is Paul Pavonni. I am excited to have Richard Kaufman with me today. He is the CEO of a lot of things and doing a lot of things and impacting a lot of people. And he's also gone from dope dealer to hope dealer. And so we're going to have a great conversation on HeadSmack today with a true misfit. And I'm excited to have you here, Richard. Welcome.

Richard Kaufman (06:05.592)
My brother from another mother. Thank you so much for having me. There's just two Italian guys sitting here hanging out having fun today.

Paul Povolni (06:13.902)
This is awesome, man. All right. So, you know, your bio says from dope dealer to hope dealer. So I like to start off by hearing people's origin story. And so even before going even earlier than hope dealer, you know, let's talk about, you know, what led to that point? Like what was some of the origin story, the early days of Richard? And then what was that transition like? When did it turn into a hope dealer?

Richard Kaufman (06:42.136)
All right, I'll just give you a quick down and dirty about who I am. I'm many things, but I'm a walking dichotomy. I'm the guy that your mother told you don't hang out with, but I'm also the guy if you're walking down the street at night, I'm the guy that you want on your side protecting you. I've been divorced twice, married to my beautiful bride now.

Paul Povolni (06:55.15)
Ha ha ha.

Richard Kaufman (07:06.968)
So I'm a lot of different things, but pretty much I'm just a guy that knows a guy. I'm a junkie who got lucky. And my story is, dad left when I was three months old. Mom was an addict. Thank God she's clean over 30 years. She got clean after I got clean. And we moved 13 different places before fifth grade.

Paul Povolni (07:27.31)
That's awesome.

Richard Kaufman (07:34.392)
So I never made a lot of friends. I had severe ADHD. I had dyslexia. So I was called stupid. I was called dumb in school. So I got thrown out of school in high school at ninth grade. So I'm a ninth grade dropout. I don't even have a GED, but I'm a three time top selling author. Even though I haven't even finished high school, but I had my first drink at 11 full blown alcoholic by the age of 13.

Paul Povolni (07:54.574)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Richard Kaufman (08:04.76)
dropped out of school like I said, I joined the military, spent two years there, got thrown out for being an addict, got back in, which nobody ever really does, but I got back in, was about to be thrown out for a second time just for being an idiot. And 9 -11 actually saved my life. I almost went to jail for five years for grand larceny and that's what got me sober.

And then I got back into military and I went from worst soldier of all time to soldier of the year within three years got promoted to be a non -commissioned officer. Ended up doing 20.

Paul Povolni (08:50.126)
So what happened in 9 -11 that changed everything?

Richard Kaufman (08:53.4)
Well, where I'm sitting right now, if I go sit on my front porch, I'm actually standing in the shadows of the Twin Towers where they once stood. So that's where I'm from. I'm 10 minutes from Manhattan. And I knew people that were in the buildings that day. And as I'm watching it live, because when it happened, it was live, there was no editing. You could hear the bodies crashing. You could see the people jumping.

Paul Povolni (09:02.862)
wow.

Paul Povolni (09:09.966)
Hmm.

Paul Povolni (09:15.502)
Right.

Richard Kaufman (09:22.776)
And then when they were pulling bodies out of the Pentagon, that really hit me because as I'm watching everything happen, to the right of the TV is all my stuff that I got to turn in because I'm going to be thrown out for the second time. And that's when I realized, you know, Rich, you wasted 27 years of your life. And these mom and dads, they were going to work and they were planning on coming home and they're not coming home.

Paul Povolni (09:38.03)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (09:50.126)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (09:51.8)
And that's when I literally I wrote that my first book. I literally crumbled into my crap, my couch and I cried out to the Lord said, Lord, give me another chance. Let me help as many people as I can that can help themselves. So when I woke up on 9 -11, I was not the same man that went to bed on 9 -11. So 9 -11 actually turned my whole life around. And like I said, I went from worst to first.

Paul Povolni (10:11.406)
Wow.

Richard Kaufman (10:19.192)
And then after 23 years in the military, I got hurt on duty and lost 60 % of my vision. And you can't see, you can't shoot, we don't need you. So they medically discharged me Labor Day 2012, and that was the day I attempted suicide. Thank God my six -month -old daughter saved my life.

Paul Povolni (10:27.63)
Hmm.

Paul Povolni (10:31.31)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (10:43.352)
And from that day on is when I decided to make a choice to, you know, there's other people out there that are struggling. So let me help other people that are struggling with the same things that I was. And that's how, with a chance meeting, a chance lunch with Gary Vaynerchuk. He's the one that started me on the podcast. He told me to write the book. He came out with the comeback. He came up with the comeback coach. So if it wasn't for Gary Vaynerchuk, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.

And now I'm just having fun trying to change trying to change millions of lives by helping the one person. So in a nutshell, that's it.

Paul Povolni (11:20.558)
Wow, that's amazing. That's awesome. Well, there's a lot, a lot to talk about there. you talked about the second time that you went into the military, that you went from, you know, being terrible, almost getting kicked out to being the best. what changed, what, what changed in you that took you from almost getting kicked out to being the best.

Richard Kaufman (11:40.28)
Well, they gave me my hundredth chance because I was in so much trouble. I was in their offices more than they were in their offices. And when I went in that day on 9 -11, they said they seen something in my eyes that I wasn't the same man that I was previously. And at that moment is when I realized what I'm doing is not working.

So what are the successful people doing? And that's when I decided, okay, I got a drill coming up this weekend. Let me get there two hours early before everybody else and scope it out. See who's getting there. And when I got there, there were people there already and I was pissed off. So, and then when everybody, all the other soldiers went home, there were certain people that stayed two hours later.

Paul Povolni (12:28.942)
Ha ha ha.

Richard Kaufman (12:38.936)
And that's when I figured out even like with I'm in recovery for 35 years now. I haven't had a drink since 1989. I realized that the success successful people got to the meetings early, stayed late and and did and served people during the during the meetings. So that's when I decided, OK, success leaves clues.

Paul Povolni (12:47.438)
Congratulations.

Richard Kaufman (13:05.24)
So let me find out what the successful people are doing. And that's what I did. But now here I am. You know, I lost my rank again. I was the E nothing. I had no rank at all. And I'm following these E sevens, E eights, captains, colonels around. I want to know what they're doing. So I was a pain in the ass. But, you know, whatever they asked me to do, they asked me to volunteer. I volunteer for every little thing that I volunteer for.

Paul Povolni (13:24.782)
Ha ha.

Richard Kaufman (13:32.504)
until they got sick of me volunteering and you're like get no more say somebody else but that's when I realized if you want to be successful find out what the successful people are doing and then start implementing it into your life.

Paul Povolni (13:32.75)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (13:37.902)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (13:46.99)
And you said that the next big change for you was you said your daughter changed your life. What happened there?

Richard Kaufman (13:53.24)
Well, I had a six month old daughter. and what happened was Labor Day 2012 is when they decided, well, we're going to medically discharge you. And I knew it was coming, but, I didn't know how I was going to react. And, you know, for 23 years after I was given a second chance, I did everything I could to become the ultimate soldier. And when they long, longer tell you, well, you're no longer Sergeant Kaufman. Well, who am I?

You know, who's Richard? I don't know who Richard is. Everything my whole life is planned around the military. I mean, I got a wife, a beautiful bride. I love my bride. I got beautiful children, but I don't know who I am. And it scared me to death because, and I felt like I failed my family.

Paul Povolni (14:24.014)
Right, right.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (14:36.11)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (14:41.24)
I don't have a career anymore. I don't have vision. I lost 60 % of my vision. I felt like a total failure. And I figured if, because in the military, if you die on duty, your family gets a large sum of money. So I figured if I took myself out, they would be set for a while. And, but like, you know, Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth or you get smacked in the head, you know.

Paul Povolni (14:55.246)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (15:06.958)
Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (15:10.04)
So what happened was I had a brand new Dodge Ram 1500 and I'm like, all right, my goal was to get the truck up to 100 miles an hour, put it on cruise control, turn up the radio, shut my eyes, and I'm going to go off the road eventually. And in New Jersey, if you go off the road, you're going to hit a concrete barrier. So I called my wife. Now, this is the hardest part is when you know you're going to talk to somebody for the last time.

Paul Povolni (15:26.286)
Yeah, wow.

Paul Povolni (15:39.246)
Mmm.

Richard Kaufman (15:39.512)
And I, you know, I was talking to my wife and I just said, I love you. I have always loved you. I love the boys. I love my new book. I love our girl, but I knew I wasn't going to see her again. And so we hung up because we were supposed to be down to shore and I was supposed to meet her down to shore for the weekend. And I got in a truck and I hit the hundred miles an hour and I put it on cruise and I turned the radio on and I can feel the truck.

Paul Povolni (15:52.686)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (16:09.592)
truck is moving and you know on the side of the highway is they have a little reflectors and you can hear click click click click and I knew I was like three seconds from death and I closed my eyes now guys I'm a heavy metal guy I'm a old hip -hop head so I had country music on for some reason and I closed my eyes and I'm listening to the words

Paul Povolni (16:14.094)
Right, right, the little ch ch ch, yeah. Right.

Paul Povolni (16:32.59)
Hahaha.

Richard Kaufman (16:38.328)
And the song came on, it's called Today.

It was a song called I saw God today by Mr. Cren Black and it talks about a man seeing his newborn baby doll for the first time. And I could just picture myself seeing my daughter for the first time. And I was the first one to ever change her diaper, feed her, burp her. I was the first. I never missed a doctor's appointment and that hit me and I'm like.

Paul Povolni (16:48.686)
Hmm... Well...

Richard Kaufman (17:12.92)
I could be a father or husband or I can be a statistic. And at that moment I get my tires actually got into the dirt and I actually jerked the wheel. Thank God there was nobody to my left and I pulled over and I called my wife and. I told her what happened and she was pissed off. But I told her I said, you know. I need help.

Paul Povolni (17:17.614)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (17:27.726)
Yeah, yeah, wow.

Richard Kaufman (17:42.584)
If I don't get help, I'm probably going to go home and blow my brains out." And she said, don't worry, I got you. And they got me into the VA on that Tuesday. And I've been in therapy.

Paul Povolni (17:42.638)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (17:51.246)
Well.

Richard Kaufman (18:02.616)
Ever since so if it wasn't for God putting that song there and my daughter being there I probably wouldn't be there be here today. So that's why I always say that you know, there's certain times in life that you have to listen to that still small voice and you have to listen to it and you have to decide to take make a decision to Not be a statistic like I almost became a statistic So

Paul Povolni (18:04.494)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (18:11.534)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (18:28.814)
Right, right. Well, and then, you know, God, God does have a way of, you know, reaching out and putting those things in our life, you know, and sometimes we miss it. You know, sometimes we, we look for the loud sound. We look for the shout, we look for the fireworks and the, the, the, this is the Lord your God type voice, you know, and sometimes that, that, speaking to us comes from.

A memory, it comes from simply listening to a song and saying, Hey, there's, there's value, in your life. And there's people that care about your existence. And, you know, sometimes we miss that still small voice. And I think it's because a lot of times we don't allow for the silence. You know, we, we liked it. We so fill our lives with noise. We so fill our lives with constantly, we have these devices in our hands now that has.

Richard Kaufman (19:17.368)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (19:22.638)
access to the world's knowledge and entertainment and distraction, right? And so we don't really have a lot of time for pauses, for gaps in the stimulation, you know, and we miss that still small voice. And in your case, you know, you were listening to loud country music, but there was a voice in that, that literally saved your life as it, as it flooded back those memories and those thoughts about your daughter and your family. That's amazing, man. And so that, that was...

you know, a pretty major turning point for you. And you mentioned, you'd met with Gary V. At what point did that happen after this event? Like what was your entrepreneurial journey like from that point on?

Richard Kaufman (20:03.512)
Well, what happened is in the military before they medically discharge you, they send you into something called a warrior transition unit. And sometimes it takes eight, you know, 12 to 18 months to medically discharge you. And the first weekend I got there, you know, everybody's playing poker and chess and cause you got nothing to do all day. But my ADD brain, I'm like, yeah, I can't do this. now, like I said, I'm a ninth grade dropout, but.

Paul Povolni (20:24.974)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (20:32.366)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (20:33.24)
I've read over 6 ,000 books. I have 18 books I'm reading right now plus two audio books and taking courses on LinkedIn. So I'm like, I can't just sit here. So I started, the first book I picked up was, and I interviewed the authors was Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Iesaki and Sharon Lecter. And then I started picking up books by Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss.

Paul Povolni (20:40.654)
Ha ha.

Paul Povolni (20:46.862)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (21:01.048)
And I got deep into the whole personal development space and then I heard Gary Vaynerchuk name be mentioned. I don't remember where. So I took a deep dive into Gary and for the first year or two, my wife hated Gary Vaynerchuk because that's all I had on my phone. That's all I was listening to. I was watching it on YouTube and on my phone. And then I found out that his dad has a liquor store.

Paul Povolni (21:18.51)
Hahaha

Paul Povolni (21:24.846)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (21:28.28)
like 20 minutes from my house in Springfield, New Jersey. And I don't know where I came up with the idea. And I called his dad. I'm like, because I was with GNC at this time. And I'm like, hey, when is Gary going to be there? This is Rich from GNC. I want to have a business meeting. He's like, he's going to be here today. So I showed up. And Gary's like, what business meeting? I'm like, I just wanted to get in front of you. I just wanted to pick your brains.

Paul Povolni (21:31.79)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (21:57.518)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (21:58.296)
And I showed up with all his books and he's like, I got nothing. So thank you. Thank you. He was so gracious. So he actually signed all my books. He took my wounded warrior hat and it was actually hanging up in his office and some of the older videos you'll actually see my wounded warrior hat actually hanging up. And he gave me 30 minutes of his time to pick his brain.

Paul Povolni (22:20.142)
That's amazing.

Richard Kaufman (22:23.672)
So without him, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today. So all the best to Gary.

Paul Povolni (22:29.678)
So from some of these, from some of those books that you read up to that point, what were some of the things that really started rewiring your brain that really started taking you from that point of, you know, feeling like there's nothing left to suddenly seeing hope and seeing, you know, potential and kind of setting you on a new path. what were some of the things that stood out to you or do you feel that most impacted you from reading the Tony Robbins and the

Rich Dad, Poor Dad and all of that.

Richard Kaufman (23:00.376)
because sometimes we get so bogged down in our life, we don't realize the big, big picture. And like I was with GNC and I think we did like, we went from 300 ,000 to 1 .4 million in three years once I started working there. But then I had to interview, I went to meet somebody and they were doing a million dollars a month. And that's when my mind went, there's a bigger picture out there.

Paul Povolni (23:24.462)
Wow.

Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (23:28.472)
And that's when I realized, you know, I can speak at an AA meeting to 50 men. But if I start a podcast, I can reach millions with that same message. And that's what, you know, Gary said, you need to write a book. And I'm like, I moved to New Jersey. I had, I knew nobody but my wife and my cousin. That was it. I had two friends on Facebook. I had no social media presence. And he's like, write a book. And I'm like,

Paul Povolni (23:39.566)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (23:51.886)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (23:59.608)
I don't know anybody, I don't have an audience. He's like, don't worry, the audience will show. I don't start a podcast. What are you talking about? I have nothing to say. He's like, your backstory is more important than your front story. So start a podcast and people eventually will show up if you're adding enough value. So that's how it all started. And I'm just grateful for what I do today.

Paul Povolni (24:01.354)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (24:21.422)
Yeah. What was that first book about?

Richard Kaufman (24:23.8)
My first book is called A Hero's Journey from Darkness to Light. Actually, I just gave out like a hundred free copies. I was speaking this, I was at a speaking event this week with the kid that was in the movies, the TV show Sopranos, The Bronx Tale, and we were talking about resilience and recovery. So I gave out like a hundred copies.

Paul Povolni (24:38.766)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Kaufman (24:44.76)
Free copies. The book isn't called a hero's journey from darkness to light. It's my story at the end of each chapter. It tells you what not to do Stuff that I did it teaches you what not to do and the last few chapters are what does addiction look like?

Paul Povolni (24:54.318)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (25:00.728)
It's not what you think it looks like and what does depression, anxiety and suicidal ideations look like. It's not what you think it looks like. So it's also a teaching book and it's hit number one twice now. So, and I'm grateful for that. And I've never made a penny off of it. Everything I've made off of it has gone back to help people struggling. So I don't make any money off. I don't make any money off my t -shirts, my hats, my coffee, anything like that. Everything goes back to paying it forward.

Paul Povolni (25:18.286)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (25:30.414)
Wow. That's amazing. And from that, from that first book, from the people that have read it, you know, you said it's been a number one bestseller. What are some of the things that people are coming to you as they've read it or as they've contacted you and said, this is, this is what really impacted me, or this is the, the head smack moments that I had from your book. Do you get a lot of those? Do you hear a lot of people give you feedback?

Richard Kaufman (25:51.384)
Yeah, well, guys, now, if anybody knows me, knows I'm a low tech redneck. So I actually wrote the book on yellow copy paper. I just found the yellow copy paper. I found it this week. And then I literally typed everything into the computer. So and like I said, I'm a ninth grade dropout. So, you know, it comes to grammar. I'm asking my wife, what is I before he mean? What does it go here? I still do that to this day.

Paul Povolni (25:57.422)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (26:18.254)
hahahaha

Richard Kaufman (26:21.272)
But when they read it, they're like, you know what? The grammar is horrible. It sounds like it reads like a third grader wrote it, but it's real and it's raw. And it's you. So when people read it, you're like, it sounds exactly like you. I'm like, because I wrote it. So a lot of people say, I'm just glad that you were real and raw about it and you're not hiding anything. You're putting everything out there. That's why when I, before we got on the show.

Paul Povolni (26:30.99)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (26:36.43)
Hehehehehe

Paul Povolni (26:41.518)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (26:46.968)
I'm listening to the soundtrack to lose yourself by Eminem because that's what Gary said. He said, I want you to write everything you've all the shit you've ever done and I want you to put it out into public so nobody can ever say anything against you that you haven't already said. So like when somebody says, you know, rich, you know, you're you were a drug addict and alcoholic. Yeah, but I'm clean 35 years or somebody could say, you know what?

Paul Povolni (26:57.934)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:04.27)
Wow.

Richard Kaufman (27:12.568)
You were eating out of garbage cans and you were eating dog food. I'm like, yeah, but when I go out now, I'm eating Sir Top Sirloin and I'm eating lobster. You know, so I already put everything, all the dirty shit I've already done out there. So you can't say anything about me. I haven't already said. So there's no surprises. You get, I am who I am and you get what you get.

Paul Povolni (27:22.062)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (27:29.294)
There were no surprises, no surprises. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I think I heard a famous comedian say that, the thing that's going to get him canceled or in trouble, he's probably already said, but it's just not the time for people to bring that up, but he's probably already said it. He's probably already done it. and so you've put all of these, all of your stuff out there in your first book. Now, you know, you, what, where were, so as you moved into, into further into entrepreneurship and into.

business and into speaking and writing books. What was the next book and how far was that between that and the first book?

Richard Kaufman (28:09.068)
2012 so it's been 10 years about yeah about 10 years since and my new book just dropped yesterday so it's been 10 years my podcast has been six years now 1240 54 episodes with millionaires billionaires authors athletes

Paul Povolni (28:16.238)
Okay.

Paul Povolni (28:20.878)
Alright.

Richard Kaufman (28:34.36)
So I don't and I tell everybody I'm a ninth grade dropout. So I'm not bringing anything new to the table. I'm just taking what everything that I've learned and breaking it down Barney style. Because, honestly, you know, I'm just standing on the shoulders of giants because realizing we have a really, we don't really come up with anything new. We're just take what other people have taught us melding it into our own.

Paul Povolni (28:47.022)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (28:52.878)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (28:58.542)
Right.

Richard Kaufman (29:03.224)
and then disseminating in our way. Because I can't be Gary Vee. I can't be Ed Mylad. But I can take what works for them and then put my personality into it. And that's my goal.

Paul Povolni (29:05.806)
Right.

Paul Povolni (29:14.606)
Yeah. Well, and I think, I think that's the way it is. Yeah. I think that's the way it is for a lot of people, you know, there's so much out there. you know, I, and we see it in, in the marketplace, we see it online where somebody comes up with a new idea and it's like, this is exactly the same idea as I heard 10 years ago. It's just coming through a different vehicle or it's set in a new way.

It's kind of like the air fryer is, you know, it's a convection oven. It's, you know, we've had those for years. It was just rebranded and recreated and restructured for a new generation. And so, you know, a lot of what you're sharing and the experiences that you've had, you know, you're, you're taking what, you know, even if somebody else has said it in some sort of a way or a similar way, you're taking it through your filter and your experiences and your personality.

And you're going to attract a different level of person than they will. And so I think, you know, having the same message go out through different people is still super valuable because there's going to be people that would be turned off to a Tony Robbins, people that are going to be turned off to a Gary V that need to hear a message that you bring in your own unique way, you know, with your own history, with your own backstory.

And so, you know, with being a hope dealer, how do you help people with hope?

Richard Kaufman (30:40.44)
Well, for me, and I wanted to bring this up, you know, like I said, I've read over 6000 books. I got 18 going right now, two audio books. So sometimes I don't remember where I heard the quotes. So sometimes I feel bad because I'll say something and I'll be like, I wish I remember who said that. And I wish I can give them proper credit because, you know, any time that I go speak, I try to give credit to the people that have gotten to me there. And I think some...

Paul Povolni (30:56.11)
Heheheheh

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (31:06.99)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (31:08.696)
famous people have kind of caught caught jammed up because they're putting quotes and then just putting their name under it and knowing they so like a lot of times I'll write a quote and I'll just and I'll write don't remember who wrote it. I just want I don't want to be that guy that steals all the quotes and you know doesn't give proper credit to the people that got me there. That's why I'm always giving credit to Gary Vaynerchuk, Ed Mylett,

Paul Povolni (31:16.686)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (31:23.118)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (31:28.206)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (31:38.168)
Tony Robbins, Patrick Bette David, John Lee Dumas. Without them, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. And I always try to give the credit to who it belongs to. And I think it lends to the credibility. Because if somebody quotes me, I'm like, great, but give me the credit, at least. Yeah.

Paul Povolni (31:57.966)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's good that you want to get, give credit. And I think, I think sometimes for a lot of people, I know for creatives, especially for me, like for me, I absorb so much stuff and it's kind of like being a sponge. And so you absorb from all these different resources and you know, you look at a menu, you know, for me, I'm a, I'm a designer, I'm a creative, I, I do that kind of stuff. And so I'm, I'm absorbing from everywhere. And then when it comes time for me to create.

It's like a sponge and you squeeze that sponge and something unique and different comes out. But it's a, it's a culmination of all these influences and stuff. And so, yeah, there are many times that even I say stuff and I'm like, you know, I'm not sure if this is an original thought or if I read it or absorbed it in some random thing that I saw one time, one place, one area, you know, so, so I think we all kind of all had that, that challenge of.

We want to be faithful. We want to be honorable and all of that to people that have said stuff, but sometimes it's tough to keep track of it all. And so...

Richard Kaufman (32:58.008)
Even in my book, I even wrote in the acknowledgments, I'm like, guys, I'm gonna forget people, I'm gonna forget who said what, so I'm apologizing in advance before you even read this.

Paul Povolni (33:11.47)
And so, so with, with your latest book that you said just dropped, tell me a little bit about that and tell me a little bit about how you're helping people and teaching them about resilience. And so your book is the podcasting blueprint, mastering purpose, power, and profit. And so, a book that just launched and we'll share at the end of the podcast on where you can get a copy of it.

Richard Kaufman (33:22.072)
Thank you.

Paul Povolni (33:40.366)
Tell me a little bit about, before we go into the book, about resilience in life and business. How do you help people with that? And what do you share with them about those moments that they need that help?

Richard Kaufman (33:51.672)
Well, you know, and you know, I try not to curse, but sometimes it is warranted. You know, we're all going through the same shit. Whether you're the CEO or you're the janitor, we're all going through some stuff.

Paul Povolni (34:04.174)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (34:09.208)
And CEOs just have bigger, more expensive problems, but we're all going through the same stuff. So I teach people, you know, if you're struggling with mental health, physical health, spiritual health, I can help you. If you're struggling with your business, I can help you because like I said, some of my closest friends are millionaires and billionaires. And like I know I can just pick up the phone, call David Meltzer, he's got a $20 billion business. I'm like, Dave.

Paul Povolni (34:22.638)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (34:37.112)
My brother's struggling. What advice would you give him? So for me, you know, and in writing this book, I've spent over now up to over $70 ,000 on courses, on going to events, on talking to people, going to masterminds. And I've spent over 11 ,000 hours.

studying resiliency. So I'm just taking what I've been taught and teaching others in my own way. It all comes down to the same thing, you know, and, but like I said, you know, the CEO and the janitor, they're all dealing with the same mental stuff. And sometimes the CEO was struggling more than the janitor because the CEO is the top dog and he's got nobody to go to.

Paul Povolni (35:07.31)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (35:30.446)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (35:30.84)
And a lot of times the CEO, you know, when the buck stops with you and you don't really have anybody to talk to, you know, CEOs and entrepreneurs have a very high suicide rate. There's a reason why.

Paul Povolni (35:43.854)
Yeah. Well, and you said it all comes down to the same stuff. What is that same stuff?

Richard Kaufman (35:48.344)
Well, a lot of it and I was dealing with this yesterday and this morning, you know, being on your show and then I'm going to be on another show and a half and an hour, hour and a half. And then yesterday, two people I interviewed. One was worth eight figures. Another the other young lady I talked to was a three time bestselling author, a millionaire. She's she.

She a mountain climber that climbed the five tallest mountains in the world. And I'm thinking, you know, why am I talking to you? You know, imposter syndrome is a bitch. So, you know, a lot of people deal with imposter syndrome. A lot of people, they don't realize that failure is an event. It's not a person. And just because they fail.

Paul Povolni (36:30.19)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (36:34.062)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (36:44.27)
Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (36:47.672)
If you learn from it, it wasn't a failure. And, you know, and if you fail, make sure you fail forward. Because, you know, the average multimillionaire has lost up to seven businesses. So, you know, so, you know, a lot of people are dealing and they're thinking about, I failed at this. And, you know, even Edison, I mean, look how many times he failed until he figured it out. So, so, you know, we're all dealing with the same stuff. It's just.

Paul Povolni (36:55.086)
Right. Right.

Paul Povolni (37:01.038)
Wow. Wow.

Paul Povolni (37:12.686)
I'm Ryan.

Richard Kaufman (37:16.6)
A lot of people are afraid to talk about what they're dealing with in their struggles. And I tell them, listen, if I can do this, anybody can do this. I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if I can do this, anybody can do it. And that's where the hope comes in.

Paul Povolni (37:28.334)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (37:34.99)
Yeah. Yeah. And so when it comes to dealing with resilience and especially with imposter syndrome, you know, how, how do you help people and how do you, deal with that yourself?

Richard Kaufman (37:49.08)
Well, my first thing is, and I'm right as we were before we even got on, I'm writing an article for LinkedIn and then entrepreneur magazine talking about, you know, you got to know where you're at before you can know where you're going. So I'll, I usually delve because they call me even on my show, they call me the male Oprah or the GI Joe Rogan. So I go deep. So I go deep and I get to know the person and then I'm like, all right.

Paul Povolni (38:12.11)
GI Joe Rokin.

Richard Kaufman (38:19.544)
Tell me your failures, but also show me your wins. And because like Gary, something Gary Vee that always says on, and like I said, forgive me for the cursing, but he said, you know, triple down on what you're good at and fuck what you're not good at. So what I'll do is I'll go back and even in my mind, if I'm struggling, I'm going to, I'll go back and I'm like, wait a minute. You're one soldier of the year.

Paul Povolni (38:37.71)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (38:46.585)
you become you know you're on the set you sometimes you rank above Gary Vee, Ed Mylett, Tim Ferriss on the rankings. So when I'm feeling down I'm like all right what are my wins you know like James Clear wrote in his amazing book Atomic Habits make sure you stack your wins and a lot of people remember their losses more than they remember their wins so I kind of you know even like Michael Jordan said you know he's missed over 9000 shots.

Paul Povolni (38:52.11)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (39:07.438)
Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (39:15.416)
He's missed the game winner 300 times, but he's got six titles and he's the goat. So I think sometimes you have to think when you're having a bad game, all right, remember the game that I did win? Remember when I was holding the title? And that can get you back into the winning mindset.

Paul Povolni (39:15.63)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (39:19.214)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (39:32.238)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. And I think that setting up those memorials, I mean, it's biblical. I mean, in the Bible, they talked about setting up the landmarks and the milestones and things as so when children asked, what are those stones mean, you can tell the story. And so I think setting up those kind of memorial stones in our own lives, remembering the stories, remembering the things that made you

you know, overcome something, the things that change your life, the things that impacted you, the things that you're good at, the victories, the things worth remembering and remembering those stories and documenting those I think is pretty powerful. You know, one of the other things that you had mentioned, you know, you went from dope dealer to hope dealer. Why is hope so important?

Richard Kaufman (40:23.352)
Because that's what we need more than ever. We need hope. Because we're in such a world where everything is doom and gloom. And for me, I've been on a news diet for the last three years. I haven't watched the news in three years. Because I protect my reticulator activating system. Because I know my RAS system, guys, if you know an RAS system, you need to check it out.

I know that, and I learned it from Tim Ferriss, Ed Mylett, and Tony Robbins, that my brain or our brain is kind of like our social media feeds. Whatever you look at, whatever you like, and whatever you heart is what they're going to show more of. And the brain is the same way. So if I'm looking for positives, I'm going to find positives.

If I'm looking for negatives, I'm going to find negatives. And I read the book, thinking girl rich by Mr. Napoleon Hill. And then I wonder, well, who did he learn from? And he learned from Mr. Carnegie and something that, you know, Mr. Carnegie said his book was like 15 hours audio version. but the one thing I got out of it, he said, your obsessions become your possessions. So whatever you think about.

Paul Povolni (41:40.238)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (41:46.094)
wow.

Richard Kaufman (41:48.28)
is what's going to come and we're just using the RAS system. So when I tell anybody, you know, if you want to change your life, you know, watch what you're listening to and watch what you're watching, it'll change your life. You can change your whole life in 30 days if you just use the Facebook method. For 30 days, if you just heart and like everything that's positive and swipe everything that's negative, in 30 days, your life is different, totally different because your mind's going to find whatever you're looking for.

Whether it's happiness or whether it's sadness, you're going to find it.

Paul Povolni (42:23.342)
That's amazing. I love that. I love that. That example of, the algorithm, you know, changing the algorithm of your mind, you know, is, you know, like and heart the right stuff and you'll see more of that stuff. That's powerful. I think for somebody that, that alone is going to be a pretty big head smack moment because they've probably found themselves scrolling through the negatives, you know, you know, there are some social platforms now, that.

You know, an extremely negative, they're very unfiltered, they're very negative. And there's people that spend a lot of time there and they lose hope. I think, and I think that's such a, you know, hope is such a critical thing that, you know, you can go without food and water for a, for a while, you know, you'll, you know, but you lose hope. that'll, that'll end you sooner than pretty much anything else is once you have no hope that there is, there isn't a better future. There isn't a.

change coming, there isn't something on the other side of this pain. When you lose hope, that's the worst thing you can lose. And so,

Richard Kaufman (43:28.504)
Let me just think about, you know, why did the Jews walk 40 years in the desert? If they didn't have the hope that there was something good at the end, then why walk? It's kind of like even any faith you have, if you don't have faith that there's something good, better at the end of your life, what's worth living today? So you got to have hope. And I'm the hope guy.

Paul Povolni (43:39.31)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (43:48.11)
Right.

Paul Povolni (43:51.886)
Right.

Richard Kaufman (43:54.04)
You know, if somebody says, well, my glass is half full and mine, I'm like, listen, if my glass is half full with liquid, the other half is full with air. So my glass is still full. And if my glass is empty, I'm going to sell it. So either way, I'm going to win no matter what. So I'm the hope. I am the guy that I have. I look at everything as an optimist. I'm definitely not a pessimist whatsoever.

Paul Povolni (44:04.014)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (44:14.574)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (44:23.406)
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. What, what does, you know, when it comes to, to hope, what are some of the other things that you've found? you know, I love the idea of the swiping and the algorithm. what are some other things that you've found that, has drained people's hope?

Richard Kaufman (44:40.344)
Guys, listen, it's probably the people that you live with in your own house. Because a lot of times, like I love my bride. She's my everything, my best friend for the last 40 years. But she doesn't walk the journey with me that I'm on.

And that's okay because she hates podcasts. She will not listen to podcasts. She's like, I hate it. I'm not going to listen to it. I don't even listen to your episodes. So I'm not going to listen to anybody else. But if I, if, if I stopped my journey because it doesn't jive with hers, you know, that's sometimes we just, we get so bogged down listening to other people taking their advice or we take advice from people that haven't done what we want to do.

Paul Povolni (45:03.246)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Paul Povolni (45:21.614)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (45:26.904)
You know, I, if, you know, if you come to me and you're 18 years old and you tell me you're a life coach, I'm probably not going to listen or if you're 18 years old and have abs, I'm probably not going to say, Hey, you know, can you give me some fitness advice? But you know, a lot of times we try to take advice from people who haven't even done what we want. So somebody can say, you know, you know, why, why should you be a bestselling author? You know, you can't, you didn't finish school.

Paul Povolni (45:27.15)
Right.

Paul Povolni (45:49.166)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (45:57.048)
But you know, if I would have listened to that, I wouldn't be. And I think we get so bogged down and worried about what other people say. And the bottom line is, when we die and we meet our maker, we're the only ones going. Nobody around us is going with us. So, you know, sometimes as long as you're doing the right thing and not hurting anybody, you know, you're on your own journey. So make sure that you're enjoying the journey as you're going through it.

Paul Povolni (46:13.294)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (46:26.936)
And it might not be for everybody, and that's OK. Their journey is not yours, and your journey is not theirs.

Paul Povolni (46:26.958)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (46:33.774)
Yeah, so what gives you hope?

Richard Kaufman (46:38.52)
Well, I am a man of faith. I give my honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But, and I was talking about this on the show yesterday, I write my obituary every year and I keep it in my wallet. And I make sure that if I say in my obituary that I'm going to be a great husband,

I need to be a great husband. If I say I'm going to be a great father, I need to be present. I need to be there, take care of my kids. So for me, I have to live up to my obituary. And I have a lot of hope because that's the man that I'm not there yet, but that's the man I want to be. But I also have, as I'm living, I have a vision board.

Paul Povolni (47:22.35)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (47:26.808)
And on my phone, I have the beach house we're going to be getting. I have the boat, the picture of the boat. I got the picture of the truck. And on my vision board, I've had it for 10 years. Things are finally coming into fruition. Like I've always wanted to go to Atlantis in the Bahamas. I wiped out of the blue and said, hey, we're going on a cruise to Atlantis.

Paul Povolni (47:46.414)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (47:51.32)
So it's been on my vision board for 10 years that it's really coming true. So sometimes, you know, you have hope, just don't give up that hope because it may not be the time yet, but the time will come as long as you're putting it into your RAS system and you're looking for it to come true.

Paul Povolni (47:52.942)
Yeah, wow. Wow.

Paul Povolni (48:10.126)
Yeah, that's amazing. And yeah, definitely having a, a something that, you know, you're praying for, you're pushing for, you're driving for that's motivating you, and attainable. I mean, you, you know, if it's, if it's unattainable, sometimes you could lose hope as, as you don't see the progress, but having these, even these, these attainable things that can start building the hope and then you start dreaming bigger and bigger and bigger.

But having these attainable hope things that you could reach for, I think, is pretty important.

Richard Kaufman (48:46.584)
You know, but I also want, you know, you have to, you have to become emotionally involved or like I had a friend, he's a high earner and he's like, bro, I want to buy a Lambo. And I'm like, okay. And I'm like, I'm going to pick you up in an hour. I picked him up in an hour. We went to the Lambo dealer. We got in the car. He smelled the leather.

Paul Povolni (48:51.918)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (49:10.904)
Took it for a test drive, smelled the leather, had to, you know, the wind going through his hair, smelled the oil and the engines. Within six months, he bought the car because now he was emotionally, there was emotional attachment to it. Like I have the beach house. I have it right on my phone. It's the beach house that I want. It's the boat that I want. I've actually walked on the boat already. When we go to the Bahamas, I'm actually looking at some houses I'm going to walk through. I want to smell the wood. I want to look at the paint.

Paul Povolni (49:11.246)
Ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (49:21.614)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (49:25.614)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (49:32.066)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (49:40.91)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Richard Kaufman (49:40.952)
So I'm emotionally involved. If you just have a goal, I want to be a millionaire, but you don't have any emotion involved in it, it's not going to happen.

Paul Povolni (49:48.814)
Yeah, that's really, really good. That's really, really good. And so I want to talk about, you know, in our time here, as well as, you know, you held up the book, you just released it. I want to talk a little bit about what got you to the point of writing the book and tell us a little bit about the book as well.

Richard Kaufman (50:07.384)
Well, the book and actually the whole back, the whole back cover is written by Mr. John Lee Dumas and he's my, my teacher, my mentor, and he gets over a hundred million downloads a month and, he's, I think he's making over 250 ,000 a month on his podcast. So he taught me and, he's my mentor and I give him all the credit. I give him all the credit.

Paul Povolni (50:28.718)
Wow.

Richard Kaufman (50:35.448)
But for me, when I started podcasting, I had to listen to Gary Vee. I had to go here. I had to take, you know, spend $11 ,000, 11 ,000 hours and $70 ,000 in courses. I just wanted to put it together to create one book that's 54 pages to where, and some of my friend Brandon actually, I use his quote. He said, you can buy the book.

Paul Povolni (50:56.974)
Mm -hmm.

Richard Kaufman (51:03.608)
at breakfast time and have a podcast by dinner. I just wanted to be like a podcast in a box. So all you gotta do is if you buy the book version or if you buy the e -version, you can actually just click everything and you can have a podcast up and running within a couple hours. So that's why I wanted to do that. This way I can give something to somebody that I didn't have.

Paul Povolni (51:06.99)
Nice.

Nice.

Paul Povolni (51:22.222)
Nice. Nice. I love that.

Paul Povolni (51:30.446)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (51:31.704)
And everything in both books, they're all clickable. And there's ways you can get in touch with John Lee. There's ways you can start an affiliate program. There's ways you can join Lisbon or whatever. So everything is clickable. So all you have to do is say, I want to join Spotify. Let me click here. I want to join Apple. Let me click here. So it's kind of like I'm a big fan of the For Dummies book. It's kind of like a book.

Paul Povolni (51:51.534)
Yeah, nice.

Paul Povolni (51:59.438)
Ha ha ha.

Richard Kaufman (52:01.656)
dummies. Okay this is how to do it. You know you want it you want to get it done just do this. Do this, do this, do this and you can go from thought to profit in less than eight weeks.

Paul Povolni (52:03.118)
Yeah, yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:10.414)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:16.942)
That's amazing. And so with your podcast, you know, you've had that for, for quite a while. How many episodes do you have at this point?

Richard Kaufman (52:24.984)
1254, we're six years in and I think we're over, I think we're approaching 3 million downloads somewhere around there. And I'm still going, I'm still enjoying the process. I did six interviews yesterday and I'm just having fun, enjoying life. And when you find your purpose, everything else is off the table when you're having fun.

Paul Povolni (52:27.566)
Ha ha.

Paul Povolni (52:35.95)
That's amazing.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:42.254)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (52:50.862)
Yeah, well, I'm absolutely having fun doing this podcast. I mean, I just launched it. you know, I've got a series of interviews that I've already done. absolutely enjoying doing this. And so podcasting is definitely a way to, kind of find, find your tribe and find your vibe of what you like doing and stuff. And so what's tell people the name of your podcast and what it's about who, who's it for, who, who's going to benefit most from it and, share a little bit about it, from your point of view.

Richard Kaufman (53:17.336)
Well, first of all, guys, I am the worst podcaster ever. And I mean ever. So when I tell you that you're going to be like, yeah, he is the worst. I had a podcast. My first podcast was called Success Your Why Powers Your How. I had 300 recorded and released episodes before I realized it was never even on iTunes.

Paul Povolni (53:22.03)
Ha ha ha ha ha!

Paul Povolni (53:27.886)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (53:43.79)
wow.

Richard Kaufman (53:45.592)
And I called the guys at Apple and I wanted to put it on. They're like, yeah, no. You know, you have over like 400 hours. We're not going to put it on. So I started over again with a vertical momentum podcast with no guests, no audience. But I started off because I already had the experience. Now I just had to figure out what I did wrong and improve it.

Paul Povolni (53:58.35)
Wow.

Richard Kaufman (54:13.88)
And then I figured, okay, having, you know, success your Y powers or how is cool, but how am I going to put that on a t -shirt? How am I going to put that on a hat? How am I going to put that on swag or coffee? So now we have all of those things, but you know, I took my failure. I made it better and now I'm helping others do that, but it's called vertical momentum.

Paul Povolni (54:14.382)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (54:21.71)
Hahaha.

Paul Povolni (54:26.574)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (54:38.392)
I did not come up with the name with it, by the way, my friend Daniel Fowles came up with the name of it. So I want to give him honor and credit. And it's all about anybody that's struggling in life or business, because sometimes people, you know, once you hit, I'm 55 now and a lot of people want to hit my age. You're like, it's over. I'm in the second half of my life. I'm just want to settle down and retire. And I'm like, not me. I'm just ramping up.

Because I realized, you know, I was at a funeral yesterday that you average five years after somebody they after after they retire, they expire. So for me, I'm not ready. I got a lot of shit I want to do. I'm just ramping up. And that's what the podcast is about is it's giving hope and let people know, you know, just because your past doesn't dictate your future. So even if you're.

Paul Povolni (55:07.694)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:20.014)
Wow.

Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:35.342)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (55:36.344)
over 50, you have a whole nother half of your life. Well, what are you going to do now? What's next? And so that we teach you how to become resilient and, and how to live your best life now and not say when I retire, I'm going to be able to enjoy life. No, you got to retire. You got to enjoy your life now. And that's what the podcast is about.

Paul Povolni (55:43.054)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (55:54.798)
Yeah, yeah, I launched this podcast on my 55th birthday. So, so yeah, it's, it's not over when you're, when you hit your fifties, that's for sure. Especially in, in 2024, I think 50 is a very different 50 than it used to be. And so, you know, well done in what you're doing with the podcast. And so, you know, for people that want to get ahold of you, people that want to be a part of your world, people that want to get a hold of your book, what's the best way to do that?

Richard Kaufman (56:20.792)
the new book is available. It's called, you know, the podcasting blueprint. But what I'm off what I'm offering is it ended April 1st. But for you, you and your audience, I'm going to keep it. If you buy the book, the book is 30 bucks. You get an autographed copy. You get an hour to spend with me to help out with whatever I can help you out with your podcast. I'll have you come on my show.

I'll promote your business and give you over a thousand dollars in bonuses for spending 30 bucks. And I also do have one -on -one coaching, but it's very limited. I think I have one slot left where I'll actually work with you for eight weeks to get your podcast from thought to profit in eight weeks. And I got two of my clients, their podcasts are dropping next week and they're already have sponsors before their podcast even drops.

Paul Povolni (56:56.462)
That's awesome.

Paul Povolni (57:14.702)
Nice.

Paul Povolni (57:20.174)
Wow. Now I've heard people say not to, not to think about getting sponsors until you've hit a certain amount of downloads or a certain amount of episodes. And you're saying to immediately get sponsors as you launch into it.

Richard Kaufman (57:20.728)
So, you know.

Richard Kaufman (57:32.952)
It's kind of like saying, okay, you know, I was going to put out that TV show, but I don't want sponsors yet.

Really? I'm like, you know, a lot of us, and the reason why the average podcast lasts 13 episodes is because number one, they don't have a purpose. It's just, I want to start a podcast because everybody else starts a podcast. Number two is they don't have a powerful podcast. If you don't have a powerful podcast, nobody's going to listen. Third of all, if your process, your podcast is not profitable and making money and you're taking everything out of your pocket.

Paul Povolni (57:43.246)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (57:56.462)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (58:03.022)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (58:09.976)
Eventually you're gonna be like it's not worth it So why not start off right out of the gate? making money so you can invest in Hiring a team like I have a team that does my my my Facebook it does my YouTube that does my graphics it So if you're all coming out of your pocket, you're not gonna last long

Paul Povolni (58:13.07)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (58:30.414)
Yeah. Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (58:32.056)
So that's what I teach people. Listen, start off on the get would have in sponsors, you know, having, having your, your podcast, like our podcast is on 35 different platforms. So, you know, and we teach that, you know, why start off in the hole? If somebody would say, okay, you know, we're going to start, we're going to give you a business. Either you can start in a hole or I can give you a hundred grand, which one do you want?

Paul Povolni (58:43.726)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (58:49.038)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (58:59.608)
You're probably going to stay in business if you have capital. If you don't have capital, you're probably going to be out of business. And the average podcast lasts 13 episodes. There's 3 million podcasts out there, but only 500 ,000 have released an episode in the last six months.

Paul Povolni (59:00.298)
Right, right.

Paul Povolni (59:15.854)
Wow. Wow. Well, this, that sounds amazing. And I do encourage you, if you're thinking of starting a podcast, so definitely reach out to Richard and get a copy of the book and then all the amazing bonuses that come along with it. the best way to get a hold of the book is to reach out through your website, or is it through.

Richard Kaufman (59:32.248)
Well, actually, and somebody and I didn't realize this the other day, somebody says, what's your biggest flex? And I'm like, I don't know what that means. He's like, well, you know what, you know, because a lot of times you're like, somebody says, do this or do that. And I'm like, Google me. And he's like, what? And I'm like, if you Google the vertical momentum podcast, we're on the first six pages of Google.

Paul Povolni (59:43.182)
Ha ha ha ha.

Paul Povolni (59:50.222)
Yeah.

Richard Kaufman (59:57.784)
So all you gotta do is Google me and direct message me on any platform. It's always me. I don't have a virtual assistant answering my messages. So if you ever reach out, it's always me. So you can reach out to me, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, TikTok, anywhere, but it's always me, it's nobody else.

Paul Povolni (01:00:06.158)
Yeah.

Paul Povolni (01:00:19.542)
That's amazing, man. Well, Richard, this has been a great conversation. I really do appreciate you coming on and sharing your heart, sharing your story, sharing those powerful head smack moments that you had along the way. And then just talking about hope and just that way of looking at hope and what you absorb is just amazing. And I think it's really going to impact people. I think it's going to give them some things to think about, to reflect on.

And honestly, I like to tell people that, you know, if you just take one idea and execute it well, it can change your destiny. And I think, you know, simply even just executing today, that idea of what are you liking? What are you pausing on? What thoughts in your thought life and making sure that it's the right thing, because whatever you think about, you're going to get more of, and you're going to see it in everything and you're going to see it in the world. And so making sure that you just.

Swipe in a way the stuff that doesn't need to make a nest in your brain. And so thank you, Richard, so much for those thoughts and appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.

Richard Kaufman (01:01:24.92)
Can I just add one thing before we go? I want to personally invite you to come on the Vertical Momentum podcast. I want you to be my special guest. And I also want to ask guys, if you're listening to this episode, make sure you subscribe. Make sure you leave a five -star written review for Paul. Every five -star written review is equal to 10 regular star reviews. So make sure you do that. He's not asking for payment, but that's a great way to help Paul pay for it.

Paul Povolni (01:01:50.574)
Wow.

Paul Povolni (01:01:55.662)
All right, thank you, man. Appreciate that so much.

Richard Kaufman (01:01:59.224)
Thank you so much for having me and keep up the head smack.

Paul Povolni (01:02:00.334)
You have a good one.

We'll do man, take care.