98. Finding Your Passion with Lucas Root

Dana Dowdell  00:05

Hey Russ, 

Russ Harlow  00:06

Dana, how are you today? 

Dana Dowdell  00:08

I'm good. How are you?

Russ Harlow  00:09

Very well, looking forward to our special guest today.

Dana Dowdell  00:12

Yes, I'm very excited. We are joined by speaker, entrepreneur, author, lots of experience in Fortune 500 companies on Wall Street, and is going to add so much value to this conversation. Lucas Root is with us. So welcome, Lucas.

Lucas Root  00:32

Good morning. How are you?

Dana Dowdell  00:34

We are fabulous. Thank you so much for joining us. So you have a ton of experience working with other businesses, and then you are an entrepreneur yourself. So tell us your story. How did you get into entrepreneurship

Lucas Root  00:53

I love it, thank you. If it's possible to say something like I've always been an entrepreneur, and then still tell a story about how I went, went to college and got a good degree and got a job. That's that's the correct story for me, because my parents tell the story to me, it's, it's very funny about when I was five, we, as a family went to the car dealership, and my my parents said, Lucas, which one do you want, and they pointed at all the Chrysler minivans. And I said, Let's get them all dead. And, and they were like, No, we can't get just one. And, and I was like, but they have all of them. Why can't we have all of them? And it never occurred to me that there should be lack in life. I started out right from the very beginning with this idea that if any one person can do everything, then every person can do everything. Why not? And I feel like that's sort of the foundation of entrepreneurship is that whatever it is that I want, I can do that. That's not to say it's going to be easy. Let's not conflate possible with easy here, easy is very different. So I went to school, I gotta do a degree, I went to Wall Street and I worked on Wall Street for 17 years. I was in mergers and acquisitions on the back end, doing like I was the guy that put together the mergers, I call it operational strategy, figuring out how to make this new brand new company of you know, a merger of two other companies figuring out how to make it work. What makes it tick, what is the magic formula out of these two very different cultures, that's going to build some new third culture that's hopefully at least as good if not slightly better than the other two. Because, you know, a lot of people think about mergers and they're like, a whole huge amount of money got paid to some bank or somewhere and that's really cool. And that's all that people think about mergers. But really, it's about to end entities two entirely separate entities that are trying to be better than they were before together. It's very cool. So I'm doing that and everybody in the world still it's still true everybody in the world is saying if you want to be wealthy start a real estate business so I did that I started a real estate business I bought this is a true story. I bought cheap houses in Buffalo New York specifically intending to rent them out to Section Eight renters so I buy these houses I go in I'd spend a bunch of money fixing them up get them like really top of the market for a section eight rental house get a section eight renter who I was hoping was going to stay for a decade and the state now is paying my rent which is great because that means that I never have to worry about whether or not my rent is gonna get paid. Now there are other things you have to worry about with Section Eight renters but it's not whether or not your rent gets paid. And I thought I have made it this is a great business . I'm gonna retire in a decade. This is amazing. After about three years in my my monthly cash flow, cash flow like after expenses, my monthly cash flow was enough to buy and renovate a new house every single month. It was amazing. I mean, really, it was amazing. And that, I hope you guys are enjoying the build up because that was my first major business failure. And what I learned was, you can't try and meet some other people. Maybe you can, but I can't try to buy own and operate a business that I'm not going to be deeply connected with Buffalo New York was a six and a half hour drive away from downtown New York City. And I was in Wall Street, I could not spend thought time on my real estate business during the week. So it was like a, it was like a hobby for me. And, you know, some people make money from their hobbies, and that's awesome. But this particular hobby did not make me any money. Unfortunately, so that was like my first big failure things, things were happening on the ground that if I'd been there, I would have seen them happening, I would have been able to respond to them, I would have been able to set them right. And it was a really profitable opportunity that I ended up not succeeding. But fortunately, it didn't dissuade me that first go around, set me up for recognizing that that's something that's not going to work out well, for me being a distance owner. And so I buckled down on Wall Street, I recovered my losses, in 2012. So a decade ago, now my wife and I were sitting down over dinner for our anniversary, and she looked at me and she said, You look like death? Yeah, yeah, that hit me about as hard then as, as you imagine, and really hit me hard. We're still together. And she said, we, we need to start making some, some changes. We need to launch something that's going to work this time. Bad hit bad hurt. We need a lot something that's going to work this time. And we need to do it soon. Because I'm not going to be the wife of a guy who dies of a heart attack at 40. Like that's that I'm not on that path. And hopefully you're not either. She's saying that to me, which I agree. I don't want to be on that path. Do you want to be on that path? No, right. You're, you're shaking your head for the audience. And so it took us about a year and a half, two years to decide that we were going to build a consulting business. And we thought about the way that I was doing my work on Wall Street. And she was like, You know what, this is something that you can do for other companies to you, you could be an operational excellence. Or you could be like an outsourcing strategist. And I was like, Yeah, I can see how like, the way I put these pieces together now is very similar to like taking services from outside and plugging them in where they're supposed to go. That kind of makes sense. But it wasn't simple. It wasn't simple for me to reformulate my life from that of a guy who has a job into that have a guy who has a service that is packaged and saleable. wasn't simple. I mean, even when we made that decision, it took me another two years to really launch it. It was 2015 when I really launched it. And what does that mean? Well, I opened an LLC, the same LLC that I still have now. So that business actually succeeded. And I started making four phone like cold calls. And over the first six months of 2015, I made 400 cold calls. 400. And that's while I still had a full time job. So when people ask me, What does it take to start a business? I tell them, it takes at least two years of research and development to develop your product. And that's what I did. I took me and my wife as a crazy smart woman took me and my wife two years to rebuild my resume into a saleable product. That's to me that's research and development. And then it takes hundreds and people don't like people don't think about what hundreds mean it takes hundreds of phone calls. The average person knows 200 people, you open up your phone, you look at your Rolodex, there's probably 200 people in there that you really know, if you call they'll probably answer. That's 200 people well, I had to make 400 Cold Calls to sell one one consulting gig 400 phone calls, which means I had to make two full person first level network phone calls like everybody you know, and a separate person who knows none of the same people as me everyone they know. And then finally I got one sale. It's big, like it's a big mountain to climb. Yeah, that's what it took. That's that's the journey

Dana Dowdell  09:59

and you're good resulting company is still existing. And you're at capacity. Right? Yeah. Yes. Which is, I mean, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. And you clearly worked very hard to get there. I have a couple of questions about your story.

Lucas Root  10:18

Only a couple, only a couple,

Dana Dowdell  10:20

it will be a very short episode. So we talked to someone else that worked on Wall Street, I can't remember who it was. But they had this a similar story where they basically watched a friend of theirs have a heart attack, I think on the train coming back from Wall Street, just from the stress. You know, this is obviously Wall Street as a, you know, put earnings potential is huge. And experience, right? You've got mergers and acquisitions is really cool, unique experience, you could change management as a whole. You know, that's what it is. That's how I look at it from an HR perspective. It's change management. Like, did they warn you before you go to work on Wall Street about like, it is not? rainbows and roses, and you are gonna work your butt

Lucas Root  11:12

off? Yeah, yes. But you don't believe it? They do warn you, but you don't believe it? You're like, Yeah, whatever. Everybody says that. People told me college was going to be hard. And you know, I did that.

Dana Dowdell  11:26

I my second question is, was your wife or is your wife an entrepreneur as well? She is, she is okay. So she looked at,

Lucas Root  11:33
like me, she, she, she went to college, got a good degree got a job. Yeah. But, but like me, she, she now is, you know, she's, she's on the whole, I'm gonna fall on my face path.

Dana Dowdell  11:48

As every business owner experiences.

Lucas Root  11:54

It's so true, I'm gonna fall on my face. That's kind of like what you sign up for, like, I'm gonna just go fall on my face for a while?

Russ Harlow  12:01

Well, the truth of it is, I mean, that's life. And you can either look for ways to not fail and look for the easy path, which many people do. Or you could go into business, you can become an entrepreneur, and you can just embrace the suck, and really drive on. So I'm curious, what were the biggest things you've learned from your failures? And how did that move you forward into kind of what you're focusing on now?

Lucas Root  12:28

Yeah, the two biggest lessons I learned were, don't don't try to do something that you're not deeply passionate about. Don't get me wrong, I want to make all the money that I thought I was going to make out of that real estate business and, and right up until it fell apart. It was on track for the kind of success I was hoping for, and I could have gotten lucky. And that's great. Getting Lucky is awesome. But business isn't about getting lucky. It's about creating consistent, replicable success. It's about finding a path that you can walk over and over and over again, and, and build success upon success upon success. And if I had succeeded in that business, I would have just gotten lucky. Now I didn't, I didn't think that when I got into it, that's not what I was looking for. But in hindsight, that is exactly what I had signed up for it. If I had succeeded, it would have been getting lucky. I wish I'd gotten lucky. I really do. But that's not the way it worked out. And the second thing is so so don't chase something that's that's shiny and exciting. Because it's shiny and exciting. Go after things that you're passionate about. Go after things that you're going to be deep into the details on because you just can't help yourself, because it's so awesome. And you just live and breathe this stuff. And you're going to keep living and breathing it even when it sucks. But that's not what real estate was for me. And the second piece is don't chase dollars. Don't chase the dollars, they're gonna find you. You don't have to chase them do the thing. That's awesome.

Dana Dowdell  14:10

Thinking back to your time doing that real estate experience. You mentioned one of your biggest mistakes was that you were not the distance the proximity right? It was hard to manage those being so far away. Was there anything else? You know for someone who is truly passionate about real estate and building that portfolio and getting into real estate investment? Is there anything else that you regret or wish you had done differently? Or wish you had known before you started doing that?

Lucas Root  14:45

Oh, yeah, great question. Absolutely. You're I had a hard time get I even I even now have a hard time with this particular thing. One of my one of my property managers was stealing from me and I knew but I didn't care because the business was making so much friggin money. I just didn't care. You can't you cannot not care about things like that. He he, I had to fire. And I didn't and not firing him ended up being one of the reasons why that toppled. Now I take 100% responsibility. The only important reason that business failed is because I wasn't there because I wasn't passionate about it, because I wasn't deep in the details all the time. him stealing money and the business tanking as a result of the actions he took are just symptoms. They're just symptoms. Yes, I was bleeding. And that's how you see I was bleeding, but I was bleeding because I cut myself. It's all me. And that's hard. Like, you know, you got a great think about this from a different perspective, I one of the businesses I own now is a retail flooring sales business. Think about a great salesman who has the worst attitude and just brings down the rest of your business. I'm gonna be like, listen to me, trust me, when I say this, you have to get rid of that person. If they're bringing down your business, it does not matter how good they are, you will fail. If you keep them around, you will fail if you keep them around, because you're gonna stop being passionate and motivated to show up. And you're going to miss the little things that you're catching when you are passionate and motivated to show up. Because that salesperson is going to drive you out. And the same thing is true for all of their colleagues, your other employees, your managers, that salesperson is going to drive the passion out of them. And for a while, you're not going to notice. But eventually, little things are going to mount up into something that just topples your business. You got to get rid of somebody that is toxic in your business. You have to and I didn't. I didn't see that. I didn't know that. And I may not have been ready to do that. You know, even you're like, Wait, you're a Wall Street exec and you're not ready to fire somebody? Yeah, I may not have been ready.

Russ Harlow  17:26

Do you find that that mostly comes from a place of fear? Because when we have that, say it's a great salesman, and he's bringing in great revenue. And we say, well, how are we going to replace our revenue? Or maybe it's, you know, in my business, it could be a great project manager or technician who, you know, runs so many different things. If he's gone, how are we going to replace that person and what they do? It could it comes from a place of fear. And I think people can beat that fear by putting in systems and processes so that all of their knowledge isn't just in their head. It's on paper, it's in a system that's repeatable. But for those of us who don't have systems and processes in place, and we're afraid to let that person go, I mean, how do we overcome that?

Lucas Root  18:16

Yeah, and yes, I agree. It 100% comes from a place of fear he this guy was the top property manager in the Buffalo area. So yeah, I mean, that's a perfect definitely came from fear. How am I going to replace him? I can't get rid of him. He's stealing Oh, well, it's just a cost that I'm gonna have to accept. But, but you don't have to accept it. You're 100% Rice, right? Rest that everything that he did, could have been systematized everything that he did could have been built into processes. In fact, why in the world didn't I do that? That's actually something I do professionally, even then. And if I had been passionate about the business, if I'd been deep in the details up to my eyeballs and breathing and living it because I can't help myself, I would have done that.

Dana Dowdell  19:07

And that same mindset be applied to toxic clients.

Lucas Root  19:15

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a question that hits you hard, doesn't it? Same thing. 100% Same thing. If it's not just toxic clients, it's toxic food. It's toxic clothing and environments, anything that impinges your capacity to be so passionate, that you need to be dragged away from your desk not because you have to get your work done, but because that's where you want to be right now. Like that deep, like boiling passion that just keeps you coming back to your desk that keeps you or whatever it is, wherever it is that you do your place of work, but that that drives you back back there over and over and over hours and hours and hours that you stopped doing 16 hour days, not because you just can't stand anymore, but because people are grabbing you by your tie and walking you out of the room. That's the kind of passion that creates success in any business all the time. And anything that cuts into that anything that chips away from that needs to be taken out of your life anything.

Dana Dowdell  20:26

I am going to ask a really big question. How does one find that passion? How does one discover why that deep, deep passion is? Outside of just making money, right?

Lucas Root  20:47

Making money wasn't it for me. You know, I love what I can do with money. But it wasn't it turns out, I mean, I was making a lot of money in my real estate business. And it did not drive that passion in me. There are lots of ways in this world to make money. And it doesn't have to be something you're responsible for. Weirdly, it's a weird thing to say, right? You can go get a job, a good job that pays you well and do a good job from nine to five, to fuel your capacity to drive into your passion to dive into your passion. It's make an and maybe that sort of that logic loop existed in my brain when I was like a young adult, and, and a young entrepreneur and I was like, Yeah, this is making money, but I can make money elsewhere too. And so that didn't like key in grabbed my passion. Maybe I didn't understand what I could do with the money at that time, you know, I was in my 20s Like, you can only buy so much beer. But there's a limit to how much beer you can buy. Like, maybe I didn't really understand it's possible. It's possible that other people in their 20s can be deeply passionate about their business because they do understand what they can do with that money. Maybe. But money wasn't the thing for me. And I look around at lots of entrepreneurs. And I see that pattern repeated over and over and over again, money is not the thing. For entrepreneurs, it's something else. And usually it's something specific to the business that they're in. My wife and I got really, really sick from mold in a house that we bought. And that's part of the reason why I now sell floors. The business that makes most of my money is consulting. And I love it. I love my consulting, I am passionate about my consulting. And also, I'm passionate about helping make sure that people live in safe, healthy environments that aren't plagued by mold or VOCs, you know, volatile compounds that are off gassed out of their floor because the construction industry doesn't care about you. It doesn't, but I do because I've been through that. That's right there. That kind of passion that I've been through that I've been deeply sick. I've been to the point where I couldn't put to get like I'm a thoughtful, logical guy. I'm capable of putting together huge billion dollar companies on Wall Street, I've been to the point where I couldn't put together thoughts. Like, I almost needed to be reminded how to make my morning coffee.

Russ Harlow  23:38

I'd like to say that that's not an exaggeration. Because not that I knew you then or anything, but we my company deals with mold remediation, we do resolution. And brain fog in chronic illness is one of the things we see and help people recover from. And it is not a joke. And so yes, I can empathize because I have to empathize. I see it all the time in our business. And I can understand where that passion comes from. Because the people who really understand it are really passionate. But I want to also ask too, I was thinking some of the passion you were talking about almost signs like it borders on obsession, too. And we can become obsessed with some things as well. So and that isn't always healthy. I think there's a safe, safe point of obsession. But how do we balance that? I guess is my question, right?

Lucas Root  24:39

Well, that's an awesome question. I have a couple of different people in my life, who helped me balance my obsessions, and obsession is exactly the right word. I use exactly the right word. I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you, Ross. I have some people in my life that helped me balance my upset Shouldn't my wife obviously she, she's like, You know what, you're spending too much time on this, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta give me more time. And that's like, that's a trigger for me like the good kind of trigger that's the like, oh yeah, I do have to give her like that my commitment to her is really important to me like, and being honest, maybe I could be more obsessed with that, and maybe that would be unhealthy, too, right. And she's like, you gotta, you gotta give me more time. Or sometimes she's like, Hey, you know what, you're, you're not spending enough time on your flooring business, right? Now you need to, you need to go, like dig in on that a little bit more. That's, that's something that's important to you, and you need to get in, like, get into that. She does. I have about four different people in my life. Like that my wife is one of them are there, they're just like, you're you might, you might want to rebalance your, your approach to life, you're, you're spending more time on this and less time on that, and you need to balance them a little bit better. And I, I've given them the level of trust, where when they say something like that, to me, I really let it in. And I really let it settle into my brain, like really let it affect me, I've given them power to affect me.

Russ Harlow  26:31

You really do need people like that in your life, and they don't come along. Often. You know, and so you really need to have that balance. It's a confidant, it's, it's that grabbing you by the back of the shirt going, hey, hey, you're not going to take another step until we have a conversation. And to have that level of trust. And whether it be a partner or a best friend or business, you know, whatever it is, you know, you got to have at least one person like that in your life, that has the strength, to not worry about you being offended, and to loves you enough cares about you enough to not want you to step off that cliff that you just didn't see. You know, so it's really great to have that in your life. And I mean, they say the years you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, who you spend your time with, is vitally important. So how do you? I mean, obviously, your wife you found there's a lot of different reasons she's in your life. What are some of the How to other some of those other people come into your life? And how do you keep them there?

Lucas Root  27:39

Hmm, great question. Yeah. They've all knocked on my door, in some way, shape, or form. One of them is, and oh, here you go. The language that they use when they knock on my door, again, knocking on your door is metaphorical. Because nobody does that these days. That'd be weird. The language that they use when they knock on my door is language of partnership. And I mean, real partnership language of collaboration. And I mean, like real collaboration, not like you go sell for me, and I'll pay you for it. But not that version of partnership. But more like, let's find a way to play together. One of them I met at a conference, I don't know nine years ago, and he has been off and on a client of mine, and we've become very, very good friends. I don't, I don't, I don't want him to be a client again. Because the way that he serves my life right now is so much more powerful than sharing profit. Right? Then creating profit opportunity. Like he helps me keep my head on straight like that is way more valuable to me than paying me a little bit of money. Or even paying me a lot of money again, don't chase them on me like chase the passion. Another one was a gaming friend. Truly. Yeah, it sounds weird. But yes. And he would call me up after we would do stuff gaming, call me up and we talk about it. And he you know, one day, you know, it sort of grew and he said, Hey, let's meet we did. And then we started meeting more often. And then we became really good friends. And then he was like that, you know, I'm doing this thing. And he's a business owner as well. I'm doing this thing. I'd really like to talk to you about it. Get your input. And if it turns out that this is something that you need to charge me for, we'll talk about that too. And we talked about it, I didn't charge him and then he did it again. And so we had this relationship As friends, and then we started having this relationship with me as an advisor to him, and then I reciprocated. And I said, I'm doing this thing, and I'd like to talk to you about it. And it grew. And now he's one of those people that as you said, Ross, you can grab my shirt and say, Hey, you're not taking another step until we have a conversation. And I, I, I don't just love that. I would, I would fall off the cliff, I would fall on my face, and maybe not get back up again. If not, for those people in my life.

Dana Dowdell  30:33

Isn't it funny that the universe gives you what you need. Right? They knock on your door, and they give you what you need. You it sounds like you've turned that community or that those relationships into a podcast in a way. So you have a podcast called elements of community podcast, and I would love for our listeners to hear a little bit about the podcast and the value that it brings to listeners.

Lucas Root  31:05

Thank you, I appreciate a good tee up. And that was a great one. Community means it community is such a deeply powerful thing. And I think that most people have no idea really what community means and how it can be deeply powerful, which is horrible. I mean, that's horrible. I want everyone to know how powerful community is. You know, Tony Robbins, has this quote, I am only where I am because I stand on the shoulder of giants. And I'd like to read a take that takes the words of a great man saying something as powerful as that I am where I am, because I stand on the shoulder of giants and reframe it. But every single one of us has the capacity has the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants, every single one of us does. And most of us don't have any idea, we have no idea that we could be standing on the shoulders of giants, that there are giants standing right next to us right now, inviting us to get up on their shoulders to see further to be able to do more and do it better, inviting us that would be delighted to be the support structure that those people need. That's what community is to me. Now, if you think about that, from a just an individual perspective, just a consumer perspective, the worst outcome that you get when you have giants that are inviting you to stand on their shoulder is that you get to see further I mean, who doesn't like to hike to the top of a mountain and enjoy the view. That's the worst that you're going to get here. Now think about it as a business owner. If you build a community of people that are deeply passionate about you, that are deeply passionate, like you are about your service, you're not just going to see further. That's, not the way this is going to play out. You're all going to succeed together. They're passionate about you and your service, because you're helping them live a better life. They're not just customers. And this isn't just a world of transaction. You if you take the time to, offer to invite them into community with you. They're going to, they're going to love it, they're going to love you and it's going to be better for you in every way.

Russ Harlow  33:50

So is this kind of the newer passion, the elements of community? Kind of where you're focused your energy right now. And can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Lucas Root  34:02

It's becoming that Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, when I was on Wall Street, I made a lot of money and had a lot of fun and I was really lonely. I'd like to invite people to to reframe that story of the guy who had a heart attack right next to the other one on the train. Would that have happened if they both deeply loved each other would distress have landed differently with the challenge of being alive been different enough that his heart wouldn't have just given up? What do you think?

Russ Harlow  34:48

I think it's definitely worth thinking about.

Dana Dowdell  34:51

That's, a big thought.

Russ Harlow  34:53

I don't know if I can give you an answer.

Lucas Root  34:56

Yeah, I made a lot of money. I was really lonely. Um, when my wife said to me, you look like that. We didn't just talk about building a business we talked about, we didn't have this language that I use now about community, but we talked about community, we looked around at the people that were a part of our, quote, unquote, family, they're in New York, if we could count them on one hand, on one hand, the number of people that would show up no matter what for us. And, you know, we were like, this is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, it's full of fun, there are so many opportunities to create connection. And yet here we are surrounded by people who don't know us and don't care about us who won't notice if we're not here. And, frankly, there's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can do to change that for most of the people that are around us. Our neighbors, they didn't know us they didn't care about us they would never come by and say hey, we didn't see you out at the bus stop this morning. Never Never. We didn't have community. And to some degree, that's a piece of what was killing me. That's a piece of what made me look like death. Yeah, it's becoming a passion, kind of like Ross kind of like mold. I went through the SOC. And on the other side, it took me longer to realize that community is something that all humans need to be deeply passionate about need to understand need to dig into, get elbows deep in. It was less obvious to me. And that's part of what is driving that passion today is that it was less obvious to me. Because if it's not obvious to somebody who's gone through the SOC, then how's it going to be obvious to people who aren't?

Russ Harlow  37:04

So you have a podcast that's kind of around this within the business community, right elements of community you've been doing? And you started that this year? Can you tell us a little bit more about how that's kind of developing your passion and how that's helping people?

Lucas Root  37:18

Yeah. My focus right now is on helping business owners see the value of communities. And the way that you're going to see the value, of course is by hearing the stories of other business owners who have built that community and created success around it. So I'm, I'm bringing people on, I'm talking to them about this approach to community, not just like online Facebook groups, that's not community. But like real community where you're standing on the shoulders of giants, and you've been invited to be there. It's, it's fun, it's an amazing interview, we talk about what community means to them, what community leadership means. And then typically, we'll dive into a specific element of community, that the elements of community I have fairly well defined. So that, again, the people that listened to it will really understand what community is and what it means to me so that they can sort of engage with that in their own lives. It's amazing, I'm loving it. The people that are using this information in this approach are starting to see that they have an opportunity to invite the people around them to be those giants help them stand up. And again, the worst that can happen is you get a great view.

Dana Dowdell  38:44

We'll make sure that the podcast is linked in the show notes. We're about to wrap up but I want to ask you a couple of rapid fire questions that we ask all of our guests now. So the first one is what is one thing that you wish you had known before starting a business?

Lucas Root  39:04

I mentioned it you got to find the things that are killing your passion and cut them out I don't think I would have even understood that

Dana Dowdell  39:16

being honest, what about the favorite way to market your business?

Lucas Root  39:22

Right now it's to get a small group of people who absolutely love my service and I mean love it there is a passionate about it as I am to talk about so it sounds kind of like network marketing, but it's not. It's that's the power of community.

Dana Dowdell  39:40

I was gonna say it's called Community Marketing. Tag tag that tag it. What is one business platform that has changed your life? 

Lucas Root  39:53

Hmm. That's a tough one. You know what, you know what? I'm gonna be honest. Microsoft 365? Yeah.

Dana Dowdell  40:09

Tried and True. Yeah, um, last question is, when did you feel like you had made it?

Lucas Root  40:17

I remember the moment. It was, it was 2017. So two years after I launched my consulting, I had quit Wall Street. And I had just brought on my second client, so hundreds more cold calls. And it was the first time that my income from consulting exceeded my bills. So I mean, it took me a while. And I, my wife and I, we went out to dinner. And I was like, we, we did it like, this is a thing that I can do again, I've made hundreds of cold calls, and it didn't kill me. And I can do it again. And it won't kill me. And we're, we're good. It's hard, but we made it. 

Dana Dowdell  41:04

That's awesome. Lucas, where can listeners find you?

Lucas Root  41:10

LucasRoot.com and my podcasts elementsofcommunity.us.

Russ Harlow  41:20

I liked that you said us and not US. Because I think that helps develop that idea of community. I want to welcome you to our community. And thank you for sharing with our listeners. Thanks for coming by today and bring in your passion. I want to thank our listeners for being here. And I hope that you've been inspired, that you are thinking about something you are passionate about and want to borderline on obsession, because sometimes you gotta push the limits in business and in life. And if you've gotten anything out of this, I want you to like it and share it leave us a great review. I don't know leave us some constructive criticism either. You know, that's fine, too. It's not personal. It's just business.