Core Values, Strategies, and Personal Growth with Bill Himmelstein

[00:00:00] John Morris: There’s a strong chance you’re not that far off from winning in business and at the game of life. It just takes one idea, but you gotta have unwavering belief and burning desire. If you can couple that with a lockdown strategy that’s fueled by heart, hustle, and muscle, you got a shot at winning. There’s one thing that all champions have in common.

[00:00:22] They get shit done. So welcome to the Get Shit Done Experience.

[00:00:29] look at us. We are back at it again. We are in studio today. Welcome to the get shit done experience. This is also the GSD X podcast, which you can go online and check us out at www. gsdxpodcast. com. Hey, I want to thank everybody so far. We just crossed 400, 000. Brand impressions as it relates to content driven from this podcast that’s across all platforms So brand impressions that’s views that’s likes that’s comments if you’re in the branding and marketing space and content creation, you understand that means something.

[00:01:05] We’re only 11 episodes in, as far as release we’re recording today. I can’t thank you enough for the support. Our YouTube channel has generated 45, 000 views. Of the, long form podcasts, but as we all know, the short form clips are always going to be what dominates because the attention span of human beings, you probably already turned off the podcast at this point, because your attention span is terrible and your kids are pulling at you and you want to go hit golf balls and you’re making coffee and everything else, but 45, 000.

[00:01:38] can’t do that without you. So thank you so much. I hope that you are finding tremendous value in the content that we are creating. So I just had to get that out of the way. I’m very grateful to be the host. I’m very grateful to create this content. I’m going to look right. Where’s my camera? Hi. I’m going to look right in the camera and say thank you very much.

[00:01:54] So we just crossed that barrier. We are here today with a Chicago legend. Let’s call him. He’s not going to think that he is, but all the cool people in the Chicagoland area. Yeah. No, Mr. Bill Himmelstein. This gentleman is all about the commercial real estate market and helping businesses to build their brand, expand, grow, get into the right situation and to create a phenomenal employee experience because you’re building creates a better experience for your staff.

[00:02:27] CEO. Founder the name of the company is tenant advisory group. You have to check them out. Fantastic website that we’re looking at here Which is tag commercial broker dot com and please follow bill on linkedin He was posting like crazy post this morning and i’m sitting there watching i’m thinking this guy knows how to work a camera bill Welcome to the show 

[00:02:46] Bill Himmelstein: great to be here.

[00:02:47] John. I appreciate the opportunity and congratulations to you guys Thank 

[00:02:51] John Morris: you 

[00:02:51] Bill Himmelstein: an incredible Talk to you know, accomplishment just with all the views and the, the attention you’re getting, but it’s well deserved. So congratulations very 

[00:03:00] John Morris: much. By the way, I just want to tell you build it. You in fact have won the award for best dress, so far.

[00:03:08] So I got some on our episodes. I don’t know if any, I think now the gig is up because people are going to see this episode. They’re like, man, I gotta spice it up a little bit here, but you look fantastic. 

[00:03:19] Bill Himmelstein: I appreciate that. It’s, all about the custom customization, right? It’s all about the flair.

[00:03:23] That’s very nice of you, but yeah, that’s something my, my, my father always told me, if you can’t be the part, at least look the part. 

[00:03:31] John Morris: I love that. So 

[00:03:31] Bill Himmelstein: earlier in my career, when I didn’t know anything, I was at least a sharp dress guy. So I had that going for me and I. Kept it going the rest of my 

[00:03:39] John Morris: mom told my older brother when he was going on the first interview this is back in the 80s.

[00:03:44] He was going to get a sales job I think he was interviewing with rr donnelly and to get into their sales thing that’s if you’re in sales, you probably like IBM or rr donnelly probably in some way have touched your sales skills But he called up my mom. He’s like I don’t have clothes that are like super nice.

[00:04:02] She goes. How do your shoes look? He’s Oh, they look good. She goes, polish them again. If the shoes are good, everything else will come together and then you can work on making some sales and getting the suit. But you had mentioned your father, what’s some great advice that your father gave you?

[00:04:16] Clearly great advice as it relates to, all right, let’s get into that. So 

[00:04:20] Bill Himmelstein: he was a big time entrepreneur as well. And a lot of things he taught me were never burn a bridge, right? Cause you never know if you’re going to need that person or that person might come back to you at some point. It we talked to me really the tenant advisory groups, three core values Predominantly come from my father.

[00:04:41] It’s do what you say you’re going to do, which is simple You just set proper expectations and then meet or exceed them always put your client’s best interests first and be responsive simple stuff We’re not reinventing the wheel here, but I learned that type of stuff from my mom and dad Treat people with respect, You Call them back, return phone calls, return emails.

[00:05:05] and then do what you say you’re going to do. Cause that’s how you build trust. And when you build trust, You can build a business. 

[00:05:14] John Morris: There’s always savings, but it’s about way more than savings alone. Total technology solutions group redefines managed print services. Excellence is the minimum standard.

[00:05:23] TTSG managed print service provider, deeply understanding your technology and business goals. Your business is unique. Our solutions are tailored to your current and future business goals. Our customer first approach empowers and delights. TTSG can ensure your technology environment will scale as your business does.

[00:05:41] So as. Navigate business and constant change partner with TTSG for premium advisement and seamless implementation of your technology goals. We set the bar high. Your people deserve it. Peace of mind, powerful innovation, TTSG. com. Okay. So I just want to touch on this and I don’t want this to be lost on you.

[00:06:01] And I certainly want our listeners to pick this up. This is a CEO and founder of an organization who just listed off the core values of the organization. If you want your employees. To follow your core values. You better be able to speak them. You better be able to explain them and you better be able to Give the origin story behind why they’re so important to you So what great advice that your father gave you that you’ve taken now and you’re impacting other generations How has that played out in the way that your staff?

[00:06:30] Members are impacting your customers. 

[00:06:33] Bill Himmelstein: Yeah, john great question. it’s all about consistency, right? It’s just like mcdonald’s you want to get the same hamburger the same fries everywhere you go Okay I want everyone in my organization to be creating the same output, to be providing a similar experience to our customers and our clients.

[00:06:49] And so the fact that we talk about them regularly, we repeat them, we burn them into our teammates heads that this is who we are. This is what we stand for. And I am also pretty clear that if you can’t follow these three values, this isn’t the right place for you. 

[00:07:08] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:07:10] Bill Himmelstein: Obviously, there’s been times where my team members have not lived up to those values.

[00:07:15] They’re no longer team members. But what ends up happening is when the people that do follow those values, career path every exactly. And, so they’ve got upward mobility. All of our clients get that similar exceptional experience and they get treated like they’re valuable, like they’re important to us, which 

[00:07:34] John Morris: they are.

[00:07:34] And by the way, that’s what they remember. They remember the feeling, look, the fact that you’re placing people in amazing situations, You’re doing it at a great price and they’re getting a great impact and all those things. Those are fantastic How you make them feel? 

[00:07:47] Bill Himmelstein: Along 

[00:07:47] John Morris: the way that’s the thing. They remember 

[00:07:49] Bill Himmelstein: that’s what they remember is how you made them feel not what you did and I think you know a really good way to put this into perspective john in terms of how we Tenant advisory group compares to our competitors and i’m talking cb richard ellis jones lang lasalle Newmark, big corporations, Cushman and Wakefield combined those three, four firms I just mentioned may have a total of around 20 reviews on Google.

[00:08:18] Why is that? And they’re positive and negative, right? But the reason why they have so few is because they don’t make their customers feel any different. Yeah. 

[00:08:26] John Morris: They’re moving them through the system. 

[00:08:28] Bill Himmelstein: Boom. Exactly. 

[00:08:29] John Morris: Yeah. That’s it. That’s it. 

[00:08:30] Bill Himmelstein: Tenet advisory group, much smaller company around for a much shorter time for 

[00:08:34] John Morris: speed man bill for speed, right?

[00:08:38] Bill Himmelstein: We have over 100 reviews all five stars. All of them have a detailed description Of what we did and how we made them feel 

[00:08:49] John Morris: so it’s not your aunt Sarah from Connecticut, hey bill I’ll help you out. All right Yeah, these are folks that actually are going into detail and giving a real explanation as to the experience you created That’s fantastic.

[00:09:00] Bill Himmelstein: It’s interesting that you mentioned that because I’ve looked into my competitors reviews Half of their positive reviews They have the same name as the 

[00:09:10] John Morris: CEO, 

[00:09:11] Bill Himmelstein: strange, right? Yeah, or they’ll have the same last name as other people in the car or it’ll be their own employees saying we’re great 

[00:09:17] John Morris: Yeah, 

[00:09:18] Bill Himmelstein: that’s not a testimonial.

[00:09:19] John Morris: Yeah 

[00:09:21] Bill Himmelstein: so these are all people that we’ve worked with and they’re sharing their experience and it’s Overall incredibly positive, but that’s what we’re going for. 

[00:09:30] John Morris: Yeah, we’re not 

[00:09:31] Bill Himmelstein: we’re not striving for mediocrity striving for excellence. And I think a big part of that, it’s just, it’s that foundation of those three core values.

[00:09:40] If we can do those, if everyone in Teddy advisory group can do those day in and day out, we’re going to deliver incredible. So here’s 

[00:09:47] John Morris: the difference, right? A lot of larger corporations have core values, but what they really are is virtue signaling. So it’s a, a, tagline or a slogan they’re throwing out, but they’re not living it.

[00:10:00] A core value means it’s something that you actually live daily. It’s, your North star. It’s your guiding light. It’s the foundation. It’s what you always go back to. So the very interesting point that you made, and I’ve seen this, the opposite of it, the complete opposite of it. And I’ve seen it work in action, the way that you describe, which is, Hey, look, if we have an employee that is not effective, they’re not performing, what we do is we go back to the three core values and we go, which one of those or all of them are they not doing?

[00:10:33] And then from an HR standpoint, when you’re saying, Hey, look, we’re going to part as friends, we’re going to part ways. You’re just simply saying you’re not living up to these core values that we live up to on the same token. When you’re giving a promotion, you’re re instilling it into that person because you’re saying, Hey, look, the reason you’re getting promoted.

[00:10:51] Is you carry out these three core values with power and passion, and we want other people to follow suit. 

[00:10:58] Bill Himmelstein: They’re spot on, John. it’s really, it all comes back to that. And it has to because otherwise we don’t have an identity, right? When you’re a small firm, you’ve got to build that brand.

[00:11:10] You’ve got to have an identity. And for me, that’s just where it all starts. 

[00:11:15] John Morris: we talked about your father a little bit, but, coming up, what was the, did you get into real estate like right out of college? Was that your thing? 

[00:11:22] Bill Himmelstein: I’ve been in real estate my entire career. Yeah. out of college. And 

[00:11:26] John Morris: so did you know, like in college or this is where I’m going?

[00:11:29] This is where the money’s at. 

[00:11:30] Bill Himmelstein: Not exactly, but there were some tips as I was going up. for example, when I was a young child, one of my earliest memories is going with my father to an apartment building that he owned. We’d go there on Saturday or Sunday and we’d empty the washer and dryers of the quarters.

[00:11:47] And I’d say, Dad, we’re rich. we got this huge bag of quarters. What are we going to spend it on? What are we going to purchase? He’s I’m going to show you, son. Come with me. He takes me to the bank, and we deposit the quarters. And he says, Bill, this bank is going to pay us to hold on to our money each month.

[00:12:06] And every month after they paid us, the next month, they’re going to pay us on top of what they’ve already paid us. teaches me about compounded interest. Blew my mind, so exciting. And then, later, the next lesson Does your dad 

[00:12:17] John Morris: want to adopt by chance? I’m a free agent right now, man. 

[00:12:22] Bill Himmelstein: He’s open to it. He’s got some great lessons.

[00:12:24] Really good, head on his shoulders. So then the next lesson, he says, Bill, you know how much I paid for this building? I said, I have no idea, no, let’s say just for argument’s sake, it was a hundred, a million dollars, right? He goes, this building cost a million dollars. Guess how much I paid for it? And I said, I don’t know, 900, 000.

[00:12:44] He goes, I paid 200, 000 and the bank paid the rest. 

[00:12:49] John Morris: Using other people’s money, 

[00:12:51] Bill Himmelstein: OPM. You got it. And so talking to me also about leverage, about how, yeah, he still has a mortgage payment for that 800, 000 loan on the million dollar property. The tenants that are paying rent, they’re the ones that are paying the mortgage.

[00:13:07] They’re the ones that are paying the taxes. They’re the ones that are paying, all the expenses, the upkeep on the property. And he goes, and guess what, Bill, if all goes as planned, we got a little money left over. He goes, you want to know what I’m going to do with that? I go, take us on vacation, repeat, no, 

[00:13:22] John Morris: repeat, 

[00:13:23] Bill Himmelstein: do it all over again.

[00:13:26] So really, I’ve learned, I’ve been very fortunate, Growing up, under in a loving household. Where I had all of my needs taken care of. Clothes, food, shelter, education. And then above and beyond that, I was just fortunate. You were 

[00:13:42] John Morris: taught core values. 

[00:13:43] Bill Himmelstein: Exactly. Exactly. 

[00:13:45] John Morris: And principles. the podcast is over because I’m quitting podcasting.

[00:13:50] Now I’m getting into real estate after that. it’s it makes it so much sense. the way that you just articulated that it’s so simple, but it’s also extremely complicated for the everyday person. You just put it in a very simple term. So as you’re coming up, what are some of the, who, are some of the other people maybe that, that played a part in your maturation process and help you to get to the level that you’re at?

[00:14:15] Yeah, 

[00:14:15] Bill Himmelstein: that’s a really good question. I think one of the best mentors I had in the business was this woman, Stacey Berndorf. When I was at Cushman and Wakefield, now she’s at Transwestern, I believe. And she really taught me a lot about time management, discipline. whatever it is you’re doing, there’s gotta be discipline to it.

[00:14:34] There’s gotta be that focus, that, to form habits, right? We gotta be doing this on a regular basis. Whether it’s saving money, whether it’s investing, whether it’s treating clients appropriately, whether it’s delivering a great service, there’s got to be discipline. And Stacey Berndorf was incredibly helpful in teaching me about Time management, staying on tasks, staying focused, doing the activities that will generate revenue.

[00:15:03] and then there’s one other person that I really want to mention who’s been incredibly helpful in my career. his name’s Maury Elstein. And I’ve nicknamed him the godfather of networking. people tell me all the time, Bill, everybody, and I like to correct him saying, I know all.

[00:15:20] My potential clients. 

[00:15:21] John Morris: Yeah, 

[00:15:22] Bill Himmelstein: those are the people I know 

[00:15:22] John Morris: there you go 

[00:15:23] Bill Himmelstein: And I know the great the best service providers to for those clients what I’m trying to create is this ecosystem of Top service providers that can be there to support my clients because when my clients get great support They’re gonna grow and when they are gonna grow They’re going to need my services again.

[00:15:43] But so what Maury taught me is really about that givers gain philosophy, the way to support others. And so a lot of people will talk about, no expectation of return. I disagree wholeheartedly because when people advertise, especially, large corporations, they’re not just throwing. Marketing and advertising out there.

[00:16:08] No, they’re seeking their target market, their target audience and mark spending money directly. They don’t spend 

[00:16:14] John Morris: any money on something that isn’t going to bring money back. 

[00:16:17] Bill Himmelstein: Exactly. So why is it inappropriate for someone like myself who has a way smaller budget than say GE or IBM? why is it inappropriate for me to seek out people that I think could be my potential clients?

[00:16:33] But then my marketing is just. Do what I can to support the growth of their business. 

[00:16:37] John Morris: So you’re a multiplier, right? That’s the that’s a thought process I learned at a late age Maybe I knew how to do it. Maybe I had it ingrained in me I’m not sure but I’ve always been somebody who wanted to bring people together and make people smile and laugh and all That stuff but I don’t know that I recognized it Until a few years ago, and I was having a conversation with a leader talking about, Hey, one of the things that we want to do is we want to be multipliers.

[00:17:04] And the way that you grow a company effectively and build a brand is you be a multiplier, but then you train people and teach people how to become multipliers. And when they become multipliers, it just keeps going. It’s like the, rule of. what is it? The rule of 78, compounding interest, right?

[00:17:22] It’s the multiplier effect. So if you’re, a, have a great attitude, you’re super positive and you’re teaching those core values and you’re instilling the blocking and tackling into people, they’re going to emulate that and then it’s going to grow. So you’re networking efforts. Are done with intention.

[00:17:40] You’re not just networking for the sake of having a whole bunch of people know you, you’re trying to get the right people in the room that, you can positively impact, whether it’s directly through your business or referring them to another person who’s phenomenal in the room that might be able to impact them.

[00:17:54] And then the benefit comes back to you. So talk about this givers gain, approach a little bit more. 

[00:18:02] Bill Himmelstein: You touched on something really interesting there. Cause a lot of times people will say to me, bill, I see you’re everywhere, man. I see you. All over the place. I go, number one, you’re, you’re seeing what I put out there, but number two, what’s really important is not where I am and what I’m doing, but who I’m with, who I’m surrounding myself with is what I’m really proud of.

[00:18:23] I love putting out there these posts where I’m surrounded by a dozen or two dozen other business owners that could all be Clients of mine, to me, that’s meaningful. That’s valuable. But the reason the way that I get them to show up, it is that givers gain approach. It’s, I’m trying to offer them an opportunity for them to meet new clients and to meet the decision makers.

[00:18:47] I’m not talking about salespeople, vice presidents, even partners. That’s the problem 

[00:18:52] John Morris: with so many networking events. Is there’s a hundred people in the networking event and 90 of them are salespeople. salespeople don’t buy from salespeople 

[00:19:00] Bill Himmelstein: now Not at all 

[00:19:01] John Morris: like 

[00:19:02] Bill Himmelstein: not at all 

[00:19:02] John Morris: You’re getting the right people in the room that are decision makers that actually can effectuate change 

[00:19:07] Bill Himmelstein: That’s exactly and that’s what i’m really proud of It’s not just that i’m at a bulls game or on a boat or playing golf.

[00:19:14] It’s who i’m with 

[00:19:16] John Morris: with Yes, 

[00:19:17] Bill Himmelstein: i’m doing fun things and I enjoy it. I’m having a wonderful time But I’m growing my business while doing it because I’m surrounding myself with great people and I’m trying to Bring them value and it’s not about selling them my product or service It’s about doing what I can to support the growth of their business 

[00:19:35] John Morris: and spark conversations and You know what’s really cool From the research I was doing preparing for this which mainly was going on and looking at your linkedin and the marketing that you’re doing You’re creating a lot of brand experiences that are human experiences You clearly believe in creating fun and entertainment and using that as the vehicle to spark conversations with the right people.

[00:19:59] So talk a little bit about some of the coolest events that you’ve put on. 

[00:20:03] Bill Himmelstein: So Jeff Pieda is a member of the Joliet Racetrack. So that was NASCAR, 

[00:20:09] John Morris: right? NASCAR type stuff down there. 

[00:20:11] Bill Himmelstein: It is similar. Yes, you’re exactly right. And it’s, basically you’re, you get to speed around the track in these cars and there’s such an adrenaline rush, but having that experience with a group of potential clients.

[00:20:23] And I can think back to some of the folks at that event, Michael Mance and the guys at Lakeshore recycling. those are memorable experiences. And as you said, to your point, I’m, also, it’s not just about fun and a great time, but it’s oh, hey, you’re doing this. This other person is doing something very similar, which might be a good person for you to talk to and just bringing these people together to have conversations.

[00:20:51] And it’s, we’re not talking at my events about the bears and the cubs and the weather. No, you’re 

[00:20:57] John Morris: getting down and dirty, 

[00:20:58] Bill Himmelstein: right? It’s Hey, I just had a experience with an employee. How would you handle that? 

[00:21:04] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:21:05] Bill Himmelstein: Or, we’ve got a marketing challenge. We’re not getting in front of the right people.

[00:21:09] What would you do? And so just having those types of conversations in my mind is a little bit more meaningful than just the tertiary. How’s the weather? 

[00:21:19] John Morris: Yeah. Which a lot of those events turn into, it just becomes a social gathering. It’s like a reason to get out on a Wednesday night and go have a drink.

[00:21:26] And you might chat with people, you get two business cards, you feel like you’re fulfilled, but really nothing got done. So you’re really making rain 

[00:21:33] Bill Himmelstein: with your business card. How many business cards did you give out? Oh, 20 must’ve been productive. 

[00:21:38] John Morris: Yeah, 

[00:21:38] no, 

[00:21:39] I’d rather give out like none and have three conversations that you follow up with a brilliant email.

[00:21:47] and then make an introduction email to somebody and give them something. Yes. And spark it that way. That’s 

[00:21:53] Bill Himmelstein: it. 

[00:21:53] John Morris: I love it. So how fast did you get the car going? 

[00:21:57] Bill Himmelstein: the guy I was with, I was, partnered with, Dennis Neville of CoreFX, wonderful human being, just expanded his business tremendously by buying a competitor of his.

[00:22:11] he was really into cars, really driving. I let him drive the whole time, but we got up above a hundred miles an hour. 

[00:22:17] John Morris: Nice. I did have to change the track. 

[00:22:19] Bill Himmelstein: I had to change my pants afterwards. But yeah, we got up over a hundred miles an hour. We were driving some BMW with a bunch of letters and numbers.

[00:22:27] It was fast as all get up. But, yeah, it was a great experience. These guys are remembering that and associating me with that experience. But again, they’re also meeting exceptional people that can be beneficial for their business. 

[00:22:43] John Morris: So we’re here folks with Bill Hemelstein, Stein, excuse me. And, the name of the company is tenant advisory group.

[00:22:52] So please check it out. So let’s talk a little bit about what you specialize in because it’s commercial. So talk a little bit about some of the coolest projects you’ve had the benefit of working on. 

[00:23:01] Bill Himmelstein: Yeah. so we represent what I describe as the end user of commercial real estate. So the business, we represent the business owner.

[00:23:08] Whether they need office space, industrial or warehouse, medical space, we do a little of retail, a little bit in the cannabis, but it’s predominantly office, industrial, warehouse and medical. whether it’s tenant representation, buy and sell side. One of the things I’m, one of the transactions I’m most proud of, which was actually pretty recently is.

[00:23:28] There was a, a motor manufacturing business, the small motors for like fans and industrial fans, up in Racine, Wisconsin. They were struggling financially. Their banker would not give them any more money. He said, sorry, you’re tapped out. The way your balance sheet looks, we can’t give any more money.

[00:23:48] However, I know this guy, Bill Himmelstein, and he might be able to do a sale lease back. You own your building. There’s a lot of, equity built up in there. Maybe we can unlock that equity. You can sell the property, lease it back from the investor. And then you’ve just got all this capital. 

[00:24:06] John Morris: This is super cool.

[00:24:07] So so he owns a building. You buy the building back and then lease it back to them. So that you give them a little bit of first off. He got the immediate bump of cash flow Cuz what he bought it for verse what he sold it for. Hopefully was a nice. Oh, yeah They 

[00:24:24] Bill Himmelstein: barely I don’t think they have any debt on their building.

[00:24:27] So that was 2. 9 million dollars. So not a huge Deal, but for that company, they had all these accounts payables. They had, they wanted to buy a new equipment so they can stay up with the time you made them financeable 

[00:24:41] John Morris: again. A 

[00:24:42] Bill Himmelstein: hundred percent. 

[00:24:43] John Morris: Cause now he’s got working capital cash position.

[00:24:46] He’s showing that he’s flush. The accounts receivable came down, right? Accounts payable came down. All right. Or accounts receivable might’ve gone up accounts payable come down. So all of a sudden He’s, now more presentable to a bank, which now allows them to grow the company and eventually buy it back, which means 

[00:25:04] Bill Himmelstein: there is a provision in this deal for this client of mine to buy it back down the road.

[00:25:10] John Morris: So that’s real value. You didn’t just make a transaction and sell a building. this is real value. You saved a, you potentially saved a business. 

[00:25:18] Bill Himmelstein: That’s how we feel. And that’s what the client has said. I don’t know if he’s blowing smoke, but We really there, this guy has been with the company for over 40 years.

[00:25:28] These are his family, these other people. And if something didn’t change, the business was over and everybody loses their jobs, but now it’s a whole different story. Now they’re on the upswing. They’re able to reinvest in their business and they’re growing and they’re doing great. And my assumption is that in that five to seven year window, They will be able to buy it back if they want to.

[00:25:50] Best 

[00:25:50] John Morris: part of the story though, is that you didn’t pick up a phone and call the banker said, you got to call bill. that immediately is comforting to the person. Cause it’s like, Hey, look, I know this guy and I’ve interacted. He’s worked with folks that are customers of mine. previously that is, that’s a real power.

[00:26:11] Statement 

[00:26:12] Bill Himmelstein: so that’s really where most of our business comes from is referrals and introductions, earlier in my career I had to Network with a lot of service providers professional service providers to get introductions to their clients and I would do the same In the last eight to ten years or so i’ve done what I refer to as leveling up is now my networking’s done business owner to business owner And i’m talking with them about you know Here’s the things I can do to support the growth of your business And oh, by the way, here’s four or five people from my that I found in your linkedin that i’d like to meet They are all too happy to open to make 

[00:26:48] John Morris: the introduction Because they know it’s going to come back because you’re going to you’re going to do the same in kind you’re 

[00:26:53] Bill Himmelstein: spot on 

[00:26:53] John Morris: That’s awesome.

[00:26:54] All right, you’re having an impact on your customers, but let’s talk about the impact you’re having on your employees. You got some superstars coming up. 

[00:27:04] Bill Himmelstein: it’s interesting, and we might, I might be jumping the gun here, but earlier in starting my business, I started it, July of 2008.

[00:27:12] So 16 years ago. 

[00:27:13] John Morris: Great time to start a business. Beautiful 

[00:27:15] Bill Himmelstein: time. The credit markets were shit. it was off 

[00:27:19] John Morris: the only other time you could have picked would have been like, maybe April 1st of 2020 would have been a great time, right? 

[00:27:26] Bill Himmelstein: Exactly. So anyway, at the beginning of my career there, we were, I was trying to do everything myself, right?

[00:27:38] the curse of the entrepreneur is we think we know everything. 

[00:27:41] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:27:42] Bill Himmelstein: And I think it’s until you can get out of your own way. That’s when things really took off for me. And number one, one thing that I did by getting out of my own way was not thinking that I could source great talent. What did I do? I went to the professionals whose sole job and career is to source talent for companies.

[00:28:03] When I went to them and said, Hey, this is the type of person I’m looking for. These are the types of activities I need them to do. You do it now. Did it cost me a little bit of money? Yeah. But In reality, it has saved me a tremendous amount of money and made me a lot of money because, yeah, because 

[00:28:21] John Morris: you now they’re, they know what you do 

[00:28:24] Bill Himmelstein: and I’ve got great people that, like this one, the one of the people I can think of is Tina c Sekovich, now Kearney.

[00:28:31] She’s been with me for nearly eight years. She worked with a couple of real estate firms prior, and at our, one of our recent events, she said something to me that was so moving. She’s not a very, emotional person. very stoic. And she said to me, Bill, I just want to tell you, I love working with you.

[00:28:51] I’m really happy here. I’m excited about the direction we’re going and what my opportunities are with your company. So thank you for having me. 

[00:29:00] John Morris: So that your, when your heart was done melting, what happened, did you have to ice down your heart? that’s pretty, especially from somebody who’s stoic, right?

[00:29:08] Yeah. that’s. 

[00:29:10] Bill Himmelstein: It was just such a meaningful experience where it was again, it was another I guess roadmap saying I’m on the right, I’m going, I’m doing the right things. I’m on the right direction. 

[00:29:22] John Morris: Sometimes I think that we, lose sight of the fact that, for an entrepreneur, likely they’re a technical expert and a doer, right?

[00:29:31] And then they start something and they have, it’s becoming a CEO is a learned quality. You don’t wake up. It’s not taught. And by the way, the folk, unless it’s a CEO teaching it, it’s not taught. It’s probably can’t be taught, right? it’s not something you go, there’s no CEO class at university, right? So it’s something that you have to, really.

[00:29:54] I would imagine, never been a CEO, I would imagine it’s something that you have to learn and you really have to find people in that circle that you can count on to give you the truth. 

[00:30:05] Bill Himmelstein: You’re, spot on, it’s, and, trust me, I made many mistakes. I’m still making mistakes.

[00:30:11] But I think the key is learning from those mistakes, but learning from others that have been there, done that, my buddy and I call it BTDT been there, done that. I’ve never understood coaches or business consultants, at these big firms, I got all these children, they’ve got kids that are just out of college.

[00:30:31] Telling major corporations how to run their business. 

[00:30:33] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:30:34] Bill Himmelstein: but what have you done? You played intramural soccer at school. What does that qualify? Yeah, I personally like my 

[00:30:40] John Morris: consultants to be like 30 years older than me. 

[00:30:43] Bill Himmelstein: You’re right. You’ve 

[00:30:46] John Morris: been around 

[00:30:47] Bill Himmelstein: the block a bit, but, for me, it was the first gosh, eight years or so at minimum, and I’m still doing it today, but it’s all about Picking the brain of other CEOs.

[00:30:59] And that’s another selfish reason why I host these events. 

[00:31:02] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:31:03] Bill Himmelstein: Cause I bring this trust 

[00:31:05] John Morris: to stealing knowledge, man. Yeah. License to steal baby. 

[00:31:09] Bill Himmelstein: They don’t even know it. 

[00:31:10] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:31:11] Bill Himmelstein: but no, that’s a great opportunity for me to ask them questions, they’re comfortable. They’ve had a drink or two, the old saying in vino veritas and wine, there is truth, which is basically in alcohol.

[00:31:21] There is truth. So I get them a couple of drinks. Yeah. Everyone’s having a good time or laugh. Tell me about how you run your business in this aspect, you’re 

[00:31:31] John Morris: like Writing notepad comes out. Hold on. Let me say that into this phone 

[00:31:37] Bill Himmelstein: I’ll just be recording. You don’t 

[00:31:39] John Morris: mind. I’m just gonna flip the camera on That’s great The other thing that you’re doing is you’re deifying them because one of the best ways to get somebody to really engage with you and pay attention to you from the standpoint of business development Is to compliment them by asking them expert level questions.

[00:31:57] So as an expert, explain to me how you do this. Now you’re gaining the knowledge, but you’re also putting them in a position where they go, this person really admires me and sees value in me. Which always will open somebody up to go. Okay. let’s talk about that. Likely they’ll come back to you and go tell me more about what you do.

[00:32:17] It’s like they give you permission to set to pitch. 

[00:32:20] Bill Himmelstein: See, these are these social and eq things that someone like yourself Understands. I think a lot of people don’t and that’s i’m not knocking anybody I’m, just saying to understand something like that where when you can get them to a nice event That’s step one and then it’s getting them to a have a good time You B, meet some other people that might be beneficial to them, but C, if I can abstract, extract, excuse me, some valuable information, now it’s become even more of a productive time.

[00:32:51] Everyone’s getting 

[00:32:52] John Morris: value. Yeah. So you’ve got this team of people, they’re, buying in, things are, going, and the brand is, growing, what are, okay, so we’re all flipping on the news now. The world’s crazy right now. I would, imagine you’re talking to a lot of people are like, Oh God, this is not the time.

[00:33:15] we might be going to this war is happening. This thing’s going on true or false. Is there ever a bad time to buy? is it just modifying the way that you do it? Because we always hear in bad markets, that’s when the most millionaires are created. And in good markets, we hear that’s where people who take advantage of all the proper steps really scale as well.

[00:33:42] So in any market people win. 

[00:33:46] Bill Himmelstein: So first of all, Warren Buffett always said, when others are being fearful, be greedy. And when others are being greedy, be fearful. 

[00:33:54] John Morris: Interesting. 

[00:33:55] Bill Himmelstein: I don’t, I understand where he’s coming from in terms of investing in the marketplace. But to your point, it’s rare a time when I’ve said, I don’t think you should buy this right now.

[00:34:09] especially when it relates to industrial or warehouse space because in over time, industrial and warehouse space appreciates between three and 5 percent a year since the pandemic, it’s been about an average of 8 percent a year. So I’ve got clients coming to me saying, bill prices are going up and up Should I buy? And I say, yeah, you should because there’s a lot of great wealth building tools that are involved in. Real estate ownership. there’s deductions with your taxes and interest payments. there’s different ways where if you’ve got owner occupied real estate, you can charge yourself.

[00:34:44] What I would argue is an exorbitant, but provable, market rental rate. therefore you’re reducing the profit of your business, but that rent that’s coming in a, it’s going to pay down your debt. pay the taxes, pay the upkeep, and then any profits, on real estate are taxed as capital gains. So what you’re saying is, probably 

[00:35:09] John Morris: a good idea to hire a tax attorney as well, so that you understand what is there like 80, 000 words in the IRS tax code or something?

[00:35:15] It’s something crazy. It’s 10 times the size of the Bible or something like that. It’s, absolutely ridiculous. And this is the reason why You know, it’s so important that somebody who’s, owns and operates a business has a fantastic CPA tax attorney and so on, because what you just talked about is, essentially utilizing the articles of incorporation to your advantage.

[00:35:36] A lot of people set up as a C corporate S corporate, and they just go, I don’t know why I’m that. but you probably want to dig deep into that and understand why you’re doing it and then to use the credits that exist Within the iris tax code to protect your assets and you should push that to the nth degree to the max level of legality Like touching the edge.

[00:35:56] We don’t have 

[00:35:57] Bill Himmelstein: to break the law, but utilizing the current tax code to your advantage Can really be a huge value add Here’s what I would say in terms of, is there ever a time not to buy? I’ve never been a huge fan of owning your office space. office space is a bit more volatile than a warehouse.

[00:36:22] it’s also a lot more specific. I feel like of a product to have certain types of business in that space. And if you need to change it, it’s far more costly to rearrange an office space. Than it is an industrial space industrial. Really? You’re just moving racks around or changing the racking systems.

[00:36:40] But i’m not a huge fan of owning your office Especially because a lot of those professional service type firms, they’re changing over time they’re growing they’re contracting all over the place but a lot of times some of these manufacturers and warehousers It can be relatively steady. I’m not saying that’s all the time, but my point is when you buy an office space, things are going to change for your business that it’s not going to render that space effective and useful at some point.

[00:37:09] And it’s a tough exit. there’s not as much demand to own office space. so I don’t always push owning the office space, but when you’re talking about industrial warehouse, medical. You’re pretty much always better off. 

[00:37:27] John Morris: those, people can’t work remote. So you can’t have a remote forklift driver last night.

[00:37:34] If you can, like you need to come on the podcast. I want to understand this completely, but you can have a sales team that is remote that’s traveling around. that is pure, logic, but it’s also fantastic advisement because I think that’s, there’s depth to that people probably don’t think about.

[00:37:54] Like you think about, if I’m going to buy a building, I’m going to buy the office space and the warehouse. I’m just going to get the whole kid caboodle on it. That might not make sense, especially if you’re going to a hybrid, hybrid situation or a fully remote. I want to ask you that too.

[00:38:10] Hybrid, remote in office. What are the pros and cons? What do you believe in? Is the world crazy right now? Do we need to get back in the office or is the world crazy that we need to see value in people having. the cost of living has gone up. We have multiple people in the household working. It makes it more difficult to get literally Johnny to the baseball game.

[00:38:33] You need to have a little bit more freedom, like which one in your opinion. 

[00:38:37] Bill Himmelstein: So I’m going to preface this by saying you’re going to be able to find information online that supports either. Either one, right? Even you can find anything you want to find online saying, that you have hair and I don’t.

[00:38:51] Yeah. 

[00:38:51] John Morris: You can make the data say whatever you want it to say. 

[00:38:57] Bill Himmelstein: And from my experience and from speaking with thousands of business owners, I would say 98 percent of those business owners would prefer their people to be in the office more. 

[00:39:14] John Morris: So I’m 

[00:39:14] Bill Himmelstein: not saying back to five days a week, not 

[00:39:16] John Morris: always, but more, I 

[00:39:17] Bill Himmelstein: don’t, I think always might be, I don’t think we’re ever going back to that other than the Amazons and the chase, JP, JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon.

[00:39:26] And, but, the reason why business owners want their people in more is. It’s far better for your culture. Oh, 

[00:39:35] John Morris: thank you. 

[00:39:37] Bill Himmelstein: It’s far better for collaboration. And. 

[00:39:41] John Morris: Creativity. 

[00:39:42] Bill Himmelstein: Creativity, 100%. There’s just, there’s so many benefits. And I would argue as well. Now, again, you’re going to see research on both sides.

[00:39:52] That productivity is greater when people come in, sit down, do their work, chat with their buddies on break, see that 

[00:40:02] John Morris: your buddy is more productive than you today and you’re competitive with them. And you go, if that’s not how I’m going home with that dude beat me, 

[00:40:08] Bill Himmelstein: yeah, 

[00:40:08] John Morris: right. You’re spot on. And 

[00:40:10] Bill Himmelstein: but we’re, and working remote.

[00:40:12] The way that I view remote employees is that they’re mercenaries. They’re paid to do a job and the second somebody comes along and says, I’ll pay you more. 

[00:40:24] John Morris: They’re gone because they have no attachment to the culture. 

[00:40:28] Bill Himmelstein: Spot on. 

[00:40:29] John Morris: It’s tough as it’s a tough thing, but now you’ve got more people who are like, they won’t even look at a job unless it’s, a remote.

[00:40:36] Bill Himmelstein: So I think there’s one man, In the United States that has the most control over in person versus remote work. The man’s name is Jerome Powell. He’s the Fed chairman, determines the interest rates. And the reason why that’s important is that the higher he keeps interest rates, the less investment businesses make into themselves, which means they need less people.

[00:41:04] and leading into the pandemic where everybody went home, jobs were falling out of trees. They were all over the place. And if you didn’t like your current job, you could go to the next one for a 10, 20 percent raise 

[00:41:16] John Morris: and the place that we were scaling to, like we like, cause the talent was, it was like you hired somebody.

[00:41:23] It was like, Oh my gosh, this dude already hit quota in four months. Like they’re, wow. Okay. if you put a dollar in and a dollar 50 comes out every time, go keep, putting dollars in me, just going and making it rain and then it hit and it changed everything, right? 

[00:41:39] Bill Himmelstein: A hundred percent. And with, when these employees have options, they have the leverage, they have the desire, they have the opportunity to say, you know what?

[00:41:49] I’m not going to come in. I’m going to, I’m going to stay remote. And if you have a problem with that, I won’t be working for you anymore. That’s slowly starting to change as some of the tech companies start to right size a bit. they really overhired it during the way out of their skis, so they’re pulling back.

[00:42:08] yeah. And I think there’s some other examples as well about companies tightening the belt a little bit, waiting for the election to see what’s going to happen and who’s going to start a war with who. by the way, I’ve never believed in waiting to see what else is happening for you. It’s do you want to be successful or not?

[00:42:25] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:42:26] Bill Himmelstein: Yeah, you do. You want to make money. Get shit done. Go do it. 

[00:42:29] John Morris: I’m not gonna quit smoking until January 1st. Like it’s just freaking quit man, 

[00:42:35] Bill Himmelstein: and you’re not gonna do it January 1st. I promise you won’t But if you want to quit smoking, you will get shit done and do it now. You’ll do what you need to do and that’s my belief with socioeconomic factors outside of your business and your industry letting dictate what your decisions are.

[00:42:53] I get it in some Instances, of course, it makes a little bit of sense, but in general If you want to grow, take the steps to grow. You want to be more profitable, take the steps to be more profitable. Don’t worry about, there’s always going to be noise. There’s always going to be stuff going on.

[00:43:08] John Morris: There’s always things going on. So I, came up in sales for a long time. One of the favorite questions I was taught was, when is the best time to learn? And the prospect would always go, now, okay, great. All I’m asking to do is to meet with you. So you can learn about who we are, what we do and what the benefits are when you decide to actually take that information, implement it, or whether or not you so choose to do it with us, that’s a different timing based decision, but when is the best time to learn is always now, the best time to change is typically now.

[00:43:43] but we know that there’s other things going on. And I rarely got somebody when I said, what is, when is the best time to change? Be like, all right, January 1st, I’ve never got that. They were like, but you could tell, you could feel them like begrudgingly okay, that’s a checkmate question.

[00:43:59] They were like, no, it’s like, all right, we’re meeting tomorrow. So it is, as you referenced, this is the get shit done experience. You are clearly getting shit done. What are the principles? We went over core values, but you as a man, as a human being. Father 

[00:44:17] Bill Himmelstein: of two. 

[00:44:18] John Morris: Father of two. Husband, right? I try to be a good one.

[00:44:21] There you go. we’ll verify that. We’ll have the, we’ll have that in the show notes. We’re gonna. She’s still 

[00:44:26] Bill Himmelstein: with me. Yeah, I believe her. 

[00:44:29] John Morris: So what’s, the formula to get shit done? 

[00:44:33] Bill Himmelstein: It’s, I think it’s about positive habits, good productive habits. And I think for me, we were talking about this right before the show, first, what’s the thing you do first thing in the morning?

[00:44:44] And, for me, it’s exercising. I know that the way my ADHD brain works is it’s on overdrive. It’s always we’re sprinting 

[00:44:53] and I’m, I’ve got a lot of energy. I wake up, I pop up out of bed. I’m so excited. I’m like another day, let’s do this. Let’s go. I need. To get some of that energy out in a positive, productive way.

[00:45:08] and so I go right to the gym, we got some equipment in our basement, it’s nothing fancy, but I run for a 30 minutes, get my little three mile jaunt in there. And, I come away from that just feeling ready for the day. My, my brain has dialed it down slightly. So I’m in control.

[00:45:32] But for me, that’s, really one of the biggest things. I think being around my family really helps, to keep things grounded and focused because, on a show like this, you’re, you said you got 40, 000 listeners. So I’m gonna have 40, 000 people listening to this. At home, I have zero people listening to what I have to say.

[00:45:53] that’s grounding. Wait a 

[00:45:54] John Morris: minute, you live at my house? Yeah, it’s Nobody cares. Hello! Is this thing on, right? A lot of those moments. It’s a really 

[00:46:02] Bill Himmelstein: humbling, experience that helps me dismantle my ego. but I love being around them. I love, both my wife and my, children, just Making sure that they know they’re the center of my world.

[00:46:15] Yeah, 

[00:46:15] John Morris: they don’t care what you do. No, 

[00:46:17] Bill Himmelstein: they don’t. 

[00:46:21] John Morris: IT Decision Makers, this might sting. Frustrated with IT issues, security threats, and the stress of your technology infrastructure? Your technology should blend seamlessly with your business objectives. Technology infrastructure management with limited resources can be exhausting and counterproductive.

[00:46:37] Do you have an MSP, but still have problems and technical hiccups? GSD’s advisement, proactive maintenance, cutting edge, cybersecurity, cloud solutions, data backup, and local 24 seven help desk can change the game. Your technology should outpace your business operations to allow for growth and proactive strategies should prevent issues before they arise.

[00:46:59] Get back your time and your money with GSD. Drive business forward. Leave the technology to GSD. GSDnow. com. The advice that your father gave you, you’ll eventually start to, that’ll bleed in and then they’ll be in a podcast 20 years from now and they’ll be talking about you and you’ll hear that and you’ll be like, yes, but at the end of the day, the only care that they know that, they love you and you’re, loving them back.

[00:47:23] That’s all that matters. The rest of the stuff, but the world, yeah. The world needs to know that you’re getting shit done. A hundred percent. Because if you are, then I wanna be around you. Law of attraction, the multiplier mentality. 

[00:47:35] Bill Himmelstein: I, I can tell you one challenge I have is, and it’s a part of my A DHD and who I am.

[00:47:42] And it’s staying on task and staying focused. ’cause I’ll be working away and it’s, this morning’s a perfect example. When I get focused, I’m locked in. Go. Yeah, I’m lasered in and I’m cranking and I missed an appointment. Now, thankfully it wasn’t with a client or potential client, but that’s not who I want to be.

[00:48:02] I don’t want to be the guy that’s flaking on people. So there’s an example of where who I am as a person, some, still needs work, 

[00:48:11] John Morris: right? 

[00:48:11] Bill Himmelstein: I still need to find systems and processes that can prevent something like that from happening. but one of the things I like about what I do, and I would say that not just the business, but the lifestyle that I’ve created for myself is that.

[00:48:26] I really can do whatever it is that I would like to be doing at that time, because we talked earlier about how people, great people at your company is liberating. It’s so freeing for you. It helps you power growth. But knowing that I can trust my team members to get shit done, really allows me to focus on.

[00:48:50] Working on the business instead of in the business, 

[00:48:52] John Morris: which was going to ultimately help them get more 

[00:48:54] Bill Himmelstein: shit done. Very true. There you go. Exactly. but I think, for me it’s that exercise at the beginning of the day and then later in the day when, the, work is done, kids get home from school.

[00:49:09] I need to stop. Like I remember when I first started my company and my friends, I’d be out with my friends and they’d go, Oh, you don’t have anything to do. I’m like, no, you don’t understand there’s, it never ends, 

[00:49:19] John Morris: but 

[00:49:19] Bill Himmelstein: I’m turning it off. I’m choosing to spend time with you, my friends, rather than sit behind my desk and do work or go to a networking event and meet people.

[00:49:28] I’m choosing this. It’s, there’s never, there’s, you don’t catch up. You don’t like, oh, gosh, what do I do 

[00:49:34] John Morris: now? 

[00:49:35] Bill Himmelstein: but at the end of the day, for me, I stop, because my children get home. They, once they finish their homework, it’s like, it’s family time. I lock in with that. 

[00:49:47] John Morris: I love it. I, I had the benefit early on in my career of working for, an ultra successful human being.

[00:49:58] we could have a conversation about how principled this human being was, but ultra successful, best salesperson I’ve ever heard in my life. Like crazy. but I asked him one time, I said, he had asked me like what my definition of success was. And I gave some 20 something answer. I had, I got one too, by 

[00:50:15] Bill Himmelstein: the way.

[00:50:16] John Morris: And I said, what is your definition of success? He said, to control your own destiny. And that’s what you just described. and, when I thought about that, I was like, control your own destiny. what is this, Star Wars? what does this mean? What does that mean?

[00:50:33] Essentially what, he elaborated on is if I want to go to Aruba tomorrow, I go to Aruba tomorrow. If I want to shut everything down and take my kids to California to a Dodgers game. I go to a Dodgers game. If I want to, for 48 hours straight, close the door and not talk to a single human being and get this project done, I get the project done.

[00:50:59] That’s what you just described. It’s controlling your own destiny. What is, what’s your definition? Yeah, 

[00:51:04] Bill Himmelstein: it’s very similar. I was just talking to my father about this recently, about how I believe the ultimate To being successful is affording yourself the time to do what you want to 

[00:51:13] John Morris: do. 

[00:51:15] Bill Himmelstein: and I do feel very, I see, here’s a good example.

[00:51:18] I was in EO for entrepreneurs organization, and they talk about having two different types of businesses, growth business, right? You, you, grind away, you take every dollar you make, put it back into the business to grow one day you sell, and that’s when you have the time be with your family and do what you want to do.

[00:51:36] The other one is a lifestyle business. And the way they describe that. Is you’re earning money from the business, right? You’re not pouring it back into growth and looking to sell that, but you’re living off what the business makes you. And I’ve always had a lifestyle business. I like to, I don’t spend more than I make.

[00:51:55] I try to invest a lot. You’d be surprised to know that I try to buy as much real estate as I can. 

[00:52:01] John Morris: but who advises you? I 

[00:52:02] Bill Himmelstein: got a great 

[00:52:04] John Morris: guy. I got a guy. I got a guy. 

[00:52:06] Bill Himmelstein: But to me, it’s, what I’m really proud of. And I would say men in general, we tend to judge ourselves. The scorecard is how much money you 

[00:52:15] John Morris: got.

[00:52:16] How many birdies did I make? 

[00:52:19] Bill Himmelstein: I made none yesterday. That was very disheartening. I 

[00:52:22] John Morris: around without a birdie, at least one. It’s like I’m playing tomorrow, like I gotta get back, like I gotta get, 

[00:52:29] Bill Himmelstein: well, the worst part is, I had my chances. I had plenty of chances and I just 

[00:52:33] John Morris: couldn’t make that 10 footer.

[00:52:35] But 

[00:52:35] Bill Himmelstein: that’s on me. I’ll work on that. so having that time to do, to, do what you choose to do. And it doesn’t always have to involve spending a ton of money. It could just be, I love going on bike rides with my kids, right? going on walks with my wife. Love that. 

[00:52:54] John Morris: Just read something before you came in, that is one of the secret tricks to a fantastic marriage, is to go on walks with your spouse.

[00:53:04] because you’re getting really positive energy, you’re taking in a lot of quality air, you’re getting vitamin D, sunlight, And you’re 

[00:53:10] Bill Himmelstein: communicating. 

[00:53:11] John Morris: You’re communicating because there’s nothing else going on in that moment. You’re communicating. And then when you bump into a neighbor, you’re collaborating.

[00:53:18] Cause now you’re having a conversation with that neighbor together. I was like, wow, that’s really interesting. That’s really, so 

[00:53:26] Bill Himmelstein: we’ve done that pre children. We would take walks almost every night, post children. It’s a little more spotty, but we still strive to do it. But I think, as long as men, I don’t, I understand how we judge ourselves by what’s in our bank account, how much money we have.

[00:53:46] I think it might be. healthier to judge ourselves by our level of happiness and contentment. 

[00:53:53] John Morris: I can validate that 1000%. I went through a really, tough mental type of situation last couple of years. And one of the things that I really had to work on and I worked on it with not only faith, but my sister is absolutely phenomenal.

[00:54:10] And one of the quotes that she sent me, she said, you need to live. In the world, but not of the world. So you have no choice but to be on this planet doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to Fit into whatever the social construct is or the belief system is so you need to live You need to live in the world, but not of the world.

[00:54:32] The other thing that I read a lot about was there’s two Ways of thinking there’s the hour. There’s two worlds. There’s the outer world and there’s the inner world The outer world is all of the temptation the fast car the beautiful big house how much money you have What’s your stuff? What stuff do you have?

[00:54:52] And the more you focus on that part the less you focus on that inner part Which is what you’re talking about, which it took me a long time to get to Which is what are my purpose? What’s my purpose? What are my principles? Am I here? Was I chosen to be here? To be a multi millionaire? Maybe I wasn’t.

[00:55:10] Maybe I was chosen, and that’s okay. Because maybe I was actually chosen just to put a lot of smiles on faces. And that’s my mission here. And there’s 

[00:55:17] Bill Himmelstein: a lot of value in that. 

[00:55:18] John Morris: Yeah. 

[00:55:18] Bill Himmelstein: I want to share something with you. You brought up, such an important component about mental health. And I remember, it reminds me of a time right after, in the beginning of the pandemic, there was three ways I identified myself.

[00:55:33] I think of Bill Himmelstein. I’m a business owner. I’m a father and I’m in shape, like active. Yeah. 

[00:55:42] John Morris: All right. Fine. You’re handsome. You’re handsome, dude. Just say it. That’s not where I was going. Just get it out. 

[00:55:47] Bill Himmelstein: So These three ways I identify myself. Number one, my business was in the tank. Nobody wanted office space.

[00:55:54] And that’s where we had predominantly focused at the time. So out of 38 clients, 36 of them said, stop, don’t do anything. So I’ve got zero revenue coming in. So I’m thinking like I’m a failure. I keep hearing from my kids, teachers that they’re struggling. So now I’m a failure as a parent. And then I broke my leg playing paddle tennis.

[00:56:14] John Morris: I’m 

[00:56:14] Bill Himmelstein: no longer active. And my wife has to. Bring food to me and take care of me and I’m no longer capable So I got the three ways that I identify myself, but I’m in the dumps feeling horrible about myself as a person and thank God That I sought out a therapist and I do this pretty regularly, especially when it comes to parenting just getting parenting tips and coaching and Really just a attaboy.

[00:56:42] Keep going. Keep you keep fighting the good center 

[00:56:44] John Morris: you and by the way, the Strength is asking for help, not thinking you can do it yourself. because you just perpetuated in that. So God bless. Thank God that you, said, Hey, look, this doesn’t feel right. And I’m not going to go in this spiral.

[00:57:02] And that was my challenge, right? I didn’t feel right. I knew it didn’t feel right, but I just let the spire keep going. Cause I’m a man. I’ll get through this. I don’t need help a deal with it. And it just kept, then it got to a point where it was like, Oh no, I can’t deal with this. So if you are having those feelings, like you were the fact that you were banned enough to go, Hey, I need some help.

[00:57:22] Good for you. I’m so 

[00:57:23] Bill Himmelstein: happy I did because she helped me. This therapist helped me retrain the way that I view myself is not by what I do, but who I am as a person, what my values are. So we back up and we talk about, we ended up listing out in order my, top values. Number one was family. Number two was friends and number three was fun.

[00:57:47] I’m like, I can be present for my family. I may not, my kids might be, we might be getting calls from their teachers. It doesn’t mean that they’re bad kids and I love them and they love me and we’re, I’m providing for their home and love and whatever. I still was maintaining my friendships and then just, I like having fun.

[00:58:08] That’s what I want to do. And so that’s, with a lot of the, events that I host, it’s commented earlier. It’s about fun. And so if I can bring that part of my value system into My business dealings so people can see who is Bill Himmelstein. He’s not just some Guy trying to bring in clients and execute transactions and move on He’s trying to build relationships and he wants to have fun with those around him So that really those therapy sessions just helped me retrain that I am not I’m not what my net worth is.

[00:58:43] That’s not Bill Himmelstein. I am what I give back to the community. I am the type of father and husband that I want to be. I am someone that’s there for my friends and I’m there. I’m a, guy that’s going to want to have fun. We’re going to have a good time with. My family and friends. 

[00:59:01] John Morris: So you, absolutely found that, that magic spot that I found too.

[00:59:05] it’s, it’s who you are, not what you do. And, man, when you find that what’s amazing is what you do gets better. Cause you, it’s liberating. Like you, you free yourself of this, this scar tissue, if you will. That’s just like keeping you from feeling 

[00:59:24] Bill Himmelstein: pretty cool. I think. Those that are going after the dollar and that’s what their goal is, to me, they’re in the rat race.

[00:59:32] People talk about the rat race, you get up, 

[00:59:34] John Morris: go in, 

[00:59:35] Bill Himmelstein: bust your ass. and I’ve, For me, do I want to make money? Of course. I’m not, I don’t want to mislead anybody. I’m trying to make money and be successful from that perspective. But really what I’m going for in life is to enjoy myself, make sure those around me are enjoying themselves.

[01:00:00] And just be a good human, uplift those in my community and, have fun. 

[01:00:06] John Morris: I don’t care what anyone else says, Bill. I think it’s fantastic. So you heard it here first, and I’m trying to do the same damn thing. So I’m glad that I have something in common with somebody who clearly gets a lot of shit done.

[01:00:16] I’m going to start a new segment here today with you. We’re going to call it quick hits. Okay. Okay. And, so I’m just going to rifle off seven questions at you and this is get to know bill on a deeper level questions. Although we just did really have a deep, we got deep, but this is going to be more fun deep.

[01:00:33] Okay. Okay. So we’re going to call it quick hits. Are you ready for question number one? let’s 

[01:00:37] Bill Himmelstein: do 

[01:00:38] John Morris: it. 

[01:00:38] Bill Himmelstein: Why not? 

[01:00:38] John Morris: All right. What is your favorite movie of all time? 

[01:00:41] Bill Himmelstein: Oh gosh. I’m, I like the comedies. So anything with will Ferrell or, Shoot. Like Tommy Boy. Who was the actor? Chris Farley. Chris Farley.

[01:00:52] Yeah. Those guys make me laugh. 

[01:00:54] John Morris: Yep. 

[01:00:54] Bill Himmelstein: I don’t know if I’ve got a specific one, but really it’s just about comedies. I want to laugh. I love it. Laugh is such, laughter is such great medicine, just makes you feel so good. 

[01:01:04] John Morris: People who go to scary movies, I’ve never understood that. if I go to a movie, I want to be inspired, or I want to laugh.

[01:01:11] If I could do both, that’s really, a great two hour investment. But to 

[01:01:15] Bill Himmelstein: walk away scared shitless, is that a benefit? 

[01:01:18] John Morris: Did I just pay 12 for popcorn so that I could have night terrors? what the hell was that? All right. Quick hit number two. What is the greatest sporting event that you’ve ever attended?

[01:01:33] Bill Himmelstein: I can tell you I’m O for two in, going to see Lionel Messi play. I’ve got messy lists games. 

[01:01:43] John Morris: so you went to a game to see him and then he was on the injured reserve or something like that. 

[01:01:47] Bill Himmelstein: I’m O for two. here’s what I’ll tell you. I, again, I was very fortunate as a child. My dad took me to a lot of Royals games, a lot of Chiefs games.

[01:01:58] So you were a Kansas City KC boy. 

[01:02:00] John Morris: Nice. Oh, you’re so lucky right now. You got Mahomes. Jeez. Come on. And the 

[01:02:04] Bill Himmelstein: Royals just beat the O’s to move on to the ALDS against the Yankees. We’ll take them down. Yeah. 

[01:02:10] John Morris: Bobby Witt, right? Bobby Witt. Is he 

[01:02:12] Bill Himmelstein: still? Bobby Baseball, man. Fastest dude on Earth, I think. He’s the only shortstop in history to have two 30 for 30 years and he’s only 24 years old.

[01:02:20] Yeah, 

[01:02:21] John Morris: he’s just a rocket. 

[01:02:23] Bill Himmelstein: I think for me, it’s, I think that’s a great question. And maybe if I had prepared for this, I could have thought a little harder, but I would just remember going to baseball games with my dad. He’d have this old, even back then he had this old radio. He’d be keeping score, keeping peanuts all over the place, everywhere.

[01:02:45] And I was just so proud of my dad. I’m like, that’s my dad. That’s how we do baseball. 

[01:02:49] John Morris: That’s how we do it. 

[01:02:50] Bill Himmelstein: And just watching the Royals. It was really fun. So 

[01:02:54] John Morris: you’re watching George Brett, 

[01:02:55] Bill Himmelstein: George Brett met him recently out in Napa two months ago. He’s still a jerk, but I love you, George. If you’re listening, I wanted to ask him about what hemorrhoids are like, but I decided not to.

[01:03:10] Now, George has never been super nice to fans and that’s not just a Bill Himmelstein experience, but he was a heck of a baseball player and he brought us a world series in 85 and I got to go to some playoff games and world series games in 2014 and 15 when the Royals were making a run. Those were pretty memorable.

[01:03:32] I’m a big Jayhawks fan. So just, but really for me, it’s been about spending time with my father and having him take me to these games. I just thought it was so great that he would do that. And that’s something that I’ve always, Is strove a word? I’ve strove to do that or striven 

[01:03:49] John Morris: striven. Is it?

[01:03:50] Are we inventing words now? Why not? This is a great segment. Talk 

[01:03:53] Bill Himmelstein: about getting shit done. We’re making up words. Striving, 

[01:03:55] John Morris: striven, geesing, goosing.

[01:04:02] Bill Himmelstein: But I want to bring that experience to my children as well. So I, I also enjoy bringing them to a bulls game, a Cubs game, a Chicago fire game. black. I just 

[01:04:14] John Morris: have him look at you and go, that’s my dad. Yeah. 

[01:04:17] Bill Himmelstein: Now it’s probably beers. My dad 

[01:04:21] John Morris: is hammered. What the hell just happened? We need an Uber.

[01:04:25] My wife will drive. I’m actually embarrassed of my dad. Maybe get some peanuts next time pops. How about that? 

[01:04:32] Bill Himmelstein: My next therapy session? I’m going to 

[01:04:34] John Morris: drop a reference on you. Willie Wilson. I was a fan. I love that guy. Willie Wilson fan. I had his baseball card growing up. I was like, Willie, Wilson.

[01:04:43] I’m 

[01:04:43] Bill Himmelstein: from here, 

[01:04:44] John Morris: man. Okay. But I baseball. Baseball kid, right? I just grew up 

[01:04:47] Bill Himmelstein: with WGN. It’s all about the thing. Like 

[01:04:50] John Morris: for some reason I caught the Royals a lot The Royals Cardinals World Series I can like seed in my mind. I had a babysitter that night We were playing Legos and I can see the Willie McGee down the line, I think it bounced over the fence.

[01:05:05] I think ozzy smith and one of the games hit a ball home run, but I just recall willie wilson who always stood out to me. He was for some reason Yeah, 

[01:05:13] Bill Himmelstein: he’s I believe he’s now in politics in kansas. Yeah, I think so Willie wilson signs every election season whenever i’m there, but yeah, daryl motley was one of my favorite he had The largest behind of any person i’ve ever seen and he was fat.

[01:05:29] I’m, just like I love this dude There’s 

[01:05:30] John Morris: a difference between a bot and a baseball player, but they are they’re a different There’s a different thing like when you see some of those relief pitchers coming in You’re like dude, don’t ever wear bike shorts around me. Please what is that thing? all right question number three, let’s do it.

[01:05:46] All right question number three. Here we go quick hits question number three is What is the choice you would make if you could be in a rock band, if you could be in, any rock band, what rock band would it be? You’re just kicking that person out. You’re going to take their role. All right. Would you be lead singer or lead guitarist?

[01:06:07] So what rock band and what role are you taking in that rock band? Let’s go. 

[01:06:12] Bill Himmelstein: led zeppelin because I think they’re the greatest band of all time and I’m talking about Individually each band member. Yeah cross the board probably top five. 

[01:06:22] John Morris: John bottom 

[01:06:23] Bill Himmelstein: one of the greatest drummers of all time.

[01:06:24] John paul jones had his bass and keyboard going 

[01:06:27] John Morris: and he’s got a cool name John paul jones pretty cool. It’s a badass 

[01:06:30] Bill Himmelstein: name jimmy page on guitar one of the greatest guitar players of all time 

[01:06:34] John Morris: Sounded like three people were playing guitar on some of the songs. It’s just a lot of 

[01:06:38] Bill Himmelstein: times he had multiple Yeah, he was just 

[01:06:40] John Morris: like playing two guitars at once 

[01:06:42] Bill Himmelstein: And then I would want to be that front man, that lead band Robert Planet, I think.

[01:06:45] Yeah. 

[01:06:46] John Morris: Yeah. 

[01:06:46] Bill Himmelstein: Now obviously no one’s gonna be able to replicate his voice. That was just spectacular. but I would want to be the front man. I’d have my shirt off like he did. Oh yeah. On every I don’t pants, leather pants. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That are low. The low cut leather pants know. So pretty much 

[01:07:00] John Morris: what you wore to Thanksgiving, the other last year.

[01:07:03] So I talked to a buddy of mine. He goes, yeah, I’m going out to see a band tonight. I go, cool. What band are you going to see? He goes, I don’t know the name, but they’re a Led Zeppelin cover band. And I go, I just thought to myself, I’m like, what kind of a crazy mutant is covering Robert Plant? Like, how do you for an hour and a half, like he’s got a day job, right?

[01:07:22] So he’s like an accountant or whatever. And then he’s got to go Sound like Robert Plant right here, what kind of tight underwear is that dude wearing to get to that note? Oh my gosh! in my car I could do some Robert Plant, and then you turn the volume down and you’re like, not even close. Not even close.

[01:07:43] Bill Himmelstein: No, I’m not saying that I could can you use it? But what I, can do is just stand up there and dance and have a good time and scream belt out some lyrics. It’s going to sound like crap. I’m widely known as the worst singer in my family, cool. but I embrace it. I still love singing. I’m just, Probably not going to do it.

[01:08:04] John Morris: You own those terrible vocal cords. You own that. That’s your thing. You go do that All right, so I was asked this question. What is my favorite? type of food italian mexican so quick hit what’s your favorite style of cuisine? 

[01:08:23] Bill Himmelstein: So That’s a good question. The style would be Italian, but if I had to pick one dish to have for the rest of my life, burritos.

[01:08:32] I would eat burritos every day. It’s 

[01:08:35] John Morris: got protein and a salad in it. Plus condiments. 

[01:08:40] Bill Himmelstein: Yes, it’s pretty much very similar to a salad. But now I love burritos. But if I had to, if it was the genre of food, it’s Italian food. I’m a pasta guy. I love the garlic. And, when we go out, my wife’s not a huge fan of Mexican food.

[01:08:56] She’s a huge fan of margaritas. She’s never met a margarita. She didn’t like, 

[01:09:00] John Morris: I’m starting to see something happening here in the family. Can’t go to a baseball game. 

[01:09:06] Bill Himmelstein: Can’t go to a Mexican restaurant. 

[01:09:09] John Morris: Might have to do a second episode here. 

[01:09:12] Bill Himmelstein: Follow up. No, but that’s, burritos and my boys know it too.

[01:09:16] They’re like, dad, you want to go get burritos? I’m like, yes, I do. 

[01:09:22] John Morris: Thank you. Okay. So let’s see if we can get a burrito sponsor. What’s the best burrito in the Chicago area? 

[01:09:27] Bill Himmelstein: No, no question. I hate having to go with the, the chain. But in my mind for the value, cause that’s also part of it, the value there.

[01:09:36] And they treat me like a King. And by that, I get rewards. I get points and I was I get a free one every so often, which I so thankful for, but, 

[01:09:46] John Morris: the free one that you actually bought from the 12 other times and overpaid for the, yeah, 

[01:09:52] Bill Himmelstein: but no, that’s that Cordova is my jam. My brother and I fight.

[01:09:55] He’s a, he’s a Chipotle guy. I’m like, what is wrong with you, man? That’s. you can’t be brothers. We can’t, be of the same elk, but, Yeah, I’m a huge fan of Qudo because here’s why they don’t charge you extra for guac now granted you’re already paying for it Oh, yeah, it’s already you know, it’s wrapped in there so you can get the guac without feeling like there’s no charge 

[01:10:17] John Morris: Yeah, 

[01:10:17] Bill Himmelstein: I really like that.

[01:10:18] John Morris: It’s like CarMax there’s no haggling cuz we already got you No matter what We already won come on in take the guac. 

[01:10:28] Bill Himmelstein: You already paid for it. 

[01:10:29] John Morris: So quick hits bill Where would we find you if we didn’t find you with your family and working where what’s the hobby? What would you be doing? Like when you’re going to have a bill moment?

[01:10:37] You’re like this is the thing I love to do and I have to do it What’s the thing you have to do, 

[01:10:46] Bill Himmelstein: I really enjoy Golf, i’m not good But I am getting better and that’s the trick is like I went from last year Last summer at the beginning, I was like a 23, 24 handicap, just awful.

[01:10:59] Now I’m an 18. 

[01:11:00] John Morris: Good for you. 

[01:11:01] Bill Himmelstein: Still shitty. 

[01:11:02] John Morris: Yeah, 

[01:11:02] Bill Himmelstein: but it’s not shitty better. 

[01:11:04] John Morris: Yeah. if you’re breaking a hundred, you’re doing better than like 96 percent of the world. I 

[01:11:08] Bill Himmelstein: haven’t, I haven’t, not broken a hundred this, golf season, but I, what I really enjoy about golf is you’re outside. 

[01:11:15] John Morris: Yes. 

[01:11:16] Bill Himmelstein: There’s green grass.

[01:11:17] there’s not a lot of green in Chicago. I live in the city and you don’t get to see a lot of grass. and then I’m usually with wonderful people. I play golf with Tim, Ward a lot, and just wonderful people that it doesn’t really matter what I’m shooting. It matters that I’m outside. I’m not working at a desk and I’m with exceptional people.

[01:11:41] John Morris: You’re consistent. Yeah. You’re staying consistent with what you’ve talked about. Okay. So bill taking the family on vacation Where are we going 

[01:11:50] Bill Himmelstein: beach? 

[01:11:51] John Morris: Okay, what beach? 

[01:11:53] Bill Himmelstein: so my family has a timeshare in cancun We’ve been going there since I was seven. That’s 40 years. Nice. All right We’ve been going there for 40 years and I don’t care That it’s the same place every time it’s just a beautiful place People are friendly and warm and I just, interestingly enough, we actually, we would spend most of the time at the pool rather than the beach, but for us, it’s just about a warm weather.

[01:12:22] Yeah, sunlight, man, getting that vitamin D burritos, having a burrito, maybe my wife can have a margarita, 

[01:12:31] John Morris: maybe you go golfing, 

[01:12:32] Bill Himmelstein: maybe I go golfing, maybe 

[01:12:34] John Morris: they have karaoke night and you are Robert plant after a few margaritas, I 

[01:12:38] Bill Himmelstein: can, Just horrify all these people in the audience. no, I’m, people ask, why don’t you take your family skiing?

[01:12:48] I’m like, we get enough snow. I’m cold at least half the year here in Chicago. If I have an opportunity to leave Chicago and go somewhere of my choosing, it’s going to be somewhere warm. 

[01:13:00] John Morris: Plus I suck at skiing. I’m, at the sledding level, like a saucer sled. Being pulled behind a Buick. That’s about the level of skill.

[01:13:08] That’s still fun. Sure. Yeah, that’s good. Okay. you’re obviously in a fantastic situation. You love what you do. You’ve got the DNA and pedigree as well, because you were trained at an early age to emulate your father and you followed in the footsteps and have tried to take it to your version of it and the next level.

[01:13:28] but if you weren’t doing that dream job, what would you be doing? It could be anything, Bill. We’re talking about like you could be, you want to be Boris Yeltsin. I don’t care. You do what you want to do. What’s the dream job. 

[01:13:40] Bill Himmelstein: So I’m going to tell you what my dream job is, which is also one of the biggest mistakes I think I ever made in my life.

[01:13:48] Okay. 

[01:13:48] John Morris: This is going to get good. 

[01:13:51] Bill Himmelstein: my father had a commercial flooring business. Okay. carpet, hardwood floors for, apartment buildings and large buildings coming out of school. He said, Bill. You want to join the business? 

[01:14:06] John Morris: And 

[01:14:08] Bill Himmelstein: I said, no, for a couple of reasons. Number one, as I’ve mentioned a few times, I was very fortunate in my upbringing.

[01:14:16] I wanted to take all these advantages, all these gifts that I had been given, food, shelter, loving family, anything that I, whatever, all my needs were met. and I wanted to go somewhere where the Himmelstein name didn’t mean anything. I’m not saying that the Himmelstein name in Kansas City is wrong.

[01:14:37] Is this holy grail like, Oh, yeah, you, take whatever 

[01:14:42] John Morris: your dad was dabbling in a bunch of businesses. 

[01:14:45] Bill Himmelstein: he was a, is a wonderful man. we, I was just recently in Kansas city, him and my mother were the sponsoring family for this, organization that helps take care of, under the underserved community, right?

[01:15:01] Pays their rent if they need it, pays their electric bill, make sure they have groceries. Just, it’s really a. A wonderful thing for the community and I went in to watch them be honored as the sponsoring family I’ve never been so proud Of my mother and father in my life But I just wonder what would have been right if I stayed in kansas city Worked with my father for a little while Took over that business I can tell you it would have been a lot easier, but that was what I was trying to get.

[01:15:31] I had an easy life. Are you 

[01:15:33] John Morris: wondering if you would have done like the Gary Vaynerchuk, right? Gary Vaynerchuk, his father owned like a liquor store that did 500, 000 a year in sales. He then joins the company and in his twenties, he starts doing the wine tasting and the subscriptions type stuff, takes it to about 3 million.

[01:15:50] Then he starts creating content. Next thing you know, he’s getting on, he’s doing all these little things. Then he becomes a speaker. Now he’s a billionaire. the wine store is like a mega, 

[01:16:01] Bill Himmelstein: I know about Gary. I did not know that was his, Oh yeah. So 

[01:16:05] John Morris: he’s a first generation Russian and his father opened up a liquor store, like a community of small, time liquor store.

[01:16:13] I think I want to say in New Jersey. And, just your basic liquor store. And he essentially came in and said, dad, we got us, we got, to do some stuff here. So he changed some systems around, but the big thing was he, figured out technology and e commerce and how to do the subscriptions and wine testings.

[01:16:29] And then he figured out social media. Now he’s got, now he’s, blown it up them into multiple things. It sounds like that’s what you’re talking about. It’s like your dad had gotten it to an amazing point, but if you went and brought it. Maybe some, different innovation and, some of your skill set, could you have taken it to a job?

[01:16:48] Bill Himmelstein: yes, I think that’s part of it, but really it would have been for me more about spending more time with my father Even better and that’s my one of my regrets was all come to Chicago after college then you didn’t come home And I never yeah, I just planted roots, right? I started a business. I got married and children It’s I’m a Chicago and now 

[01:17:08] John Morris: yeah, 

[01:17:08] Bill Himmelstein: and I love going back to KC You Love seeing my family.

[01:17:13] but I think that’s probably 

[01:17:15] John Morris: See bill. You’re just a good dude. That’s a good answer You’re a good egg, man, because you could have said I want to be jerry jones I would have you know what I mean? You could have said that but the fact that you’re saying hey look You know, I came to Chicago, I regret a little bit that I didn’t stay and spend more time with my dad.

[01:17:34] But at the same time, if you did that, maybe you don’t meet your wife. Maybe the kids aren’t. So 

[01:17:38] Bill Himmelstein: no, exactly. I don’t, I don’t look back and say, damn it, I should have done this, Yeah. If I had to do it over again, I still not sure if I would have done that. 

[01:17:49] John Morris: Yeah. 

[01:17:49] Bill Himmelstein: But that is probably my biggest regret is, that’s, so that’s the thing.

[01:17:54] I would have still made the same choices, but that’s my biggest regret. Does that add up? 

[01:17:59] John Morris: It adds up. Yeah, adds up. it does. Yeah, it adds up. Guess what? It’s your answer. You can make it add up however you want. 

[01:18:05] Bill Himmelstein: Then it adds up. 

[01:18:06] John Morris: Quick hit. Final quick hit. Are you ready? Final quick hit. So any football team of your choosing, you pick the team.

[01:18:13] Would you rather be the owner of the team? Now this is a, championship team, right? So any, team, doesn’t matter the sport even, would you rather be the owner of the team? Probably. The head coach of the team? No way. Or the star player of the team? 

[01:18:27] Bill Himmelstein: Oh boy. I think for me it’d be real easy. I want to be the owner.

[01:18:34] that’s where you’re going to get all the Equity, that these, or these sport franchises are appreciating incredibly fast. They’re great wealth generators. And again, I know that’s not necessarily my guiding light is money. but I think being that star player, I don’t know if I would necessarily want the fame part of things, quick 

[01:18:59] John Morris: hit.

[01:19:00] Bill Himmelstein: You’re done. Yeah, you’re done. It’s like 

[01:19:02] John Morris: eight years of eight years of everyone in your business. And then you’re like, Hey, where did everyone go? 

[01:19:08] Bill Himmelstein: Remember me? No, it’s a new 

[01:19:10] John Morris: guy. Now I, now, I’m doing commercials for a car dealership. You know what I mean? Whoa. 

[01:19:16] Bill Himmelstein: Another thing is the, when we were children and George Brett was, an all star as he gained, he named all those guys, there was no cell phones.

[01:19:25] Nothing got recorded. 

[01:19:27] John Morris: Yeah. 

[01:19:28] Bill Himmelstein: I. 

[01:19:29] John Morris: Now you can’t say anything or you 

[01:19:31] Bill Himmelstein: can’t say or do anything that’s outside of the brand or you’re canceled or you got problems, and so a nice story right now, actually, I remember Kareem Hunt was a great running back for the Chiefs two years back and he got caught on tape doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.

[01:19:50] And so he was exiled from the Chiefs and he lied about it a 

[01:19:52] John Morris: Yeah. 

[01:19:58] Bill Himmelstein: What’s cool about this story of Kareem Hunt is it’s redemption time. He’s back with the Chiefs. They signed him back, 

[01:20:03] John Morris: yeah. 

[01:20:04] Bill Himmelstein: and he’s a better human being now. he, understands the missteps that he took. and I love that he’s getting a second chance.

[01:20:13] But I just think an athlete, I would rather sit in the, suite watching my team, I think, than be the guy on the field that’s doing all the heavy lifting and getting banged up. And probably, I think a lot of these athletes Might have challenging times just getting around in their, in the elder years, but, of course, maybe we all do, but, the ownership you’re behind the scenes, a 

[01:20:38] John Morris: much longer shelf life, 

[01:20:39] Bill Himmelstein: much longer shelf life.

[01:20:40] And I think you’re, you’re really gonna just build a ton of equity. 

[01:20:46] John Morris: Yeah, I think being the star player, is the most enticing. I think being that the, head coach would make you feel like you’re the mad scientist behind all the things. But I think I agree with you in that being the owner is like, you get to share in all of those things, but then you get to do it again when those two are gone.

[01:21:10] You’re still there to try and repeat it again and again Unless 

[01:21:14] Bill Himmelstein: you’re David Sterling. Or right. Is that his name? You can’t get fired. The guy from, the Clippers, 

[01:21:19] John Morris: he got fired by, how do you get fired from owning your own company? I guess the league has to tell you that you’re no longer 

[01:21:24] Bill Himmelstein: kicked him out.

[01:21:25] But, and I’m not whatever that maybe that was the right call. My point is, you’re there for as long as you want to be. and you’re probably making tremendous money while doing it. I would definitely opt for, ownership, but those other two, I think coaches have such a short shelf life, shorter than an hour 

[01:21:46] John Morris: player.

[01:21:46] Bill Himmelstein: Yeah, it’s crazy. And then the star player and we all get older. No one has beat father time yet. Father time is undefeated. And so that, that star player, I imagine that’s gotta be a tough psychological transition to go from being a star. Everybody thinks you’re just God’s gift. And then all of a sudden you retire.

[01:22:06] You don’t you know, you’re not like a decade 

[01:22:08] John Morris: of brilliant than a decade of holding on than a decade of hey I’m still here. do I get to come back for the ring of honors? It’s like decades of what the hell happened, it just seems like 

[01:22:21] Bill Himmelstein: a lot to have to deal with In my opinion, but 

[01:22:25] John Morris: if I can win a Super Bowl for the Bears, though, as a quarterback, I’d probably make that sacrifice of you don’t own the thing.

[01:22:31] Oh, you don’t like it’s shocking to me. The Jim McMahon is not more, but the 85 defense was so amazing that they over, but like the quarterback of a Super Bowl winning team in Chicago. Is I mean you could be like, hey, I want that building. They’d be like, okay You must have this building caleb So bill that was quick hits.

[01:22:56] What’d you think? I thought it was fun. It’s pretty fun I love it little segment some clippy type stuff we can put together. So let’s wrap this show up first off. Thank you so much for coming on. It’s been absolutely fantastic. Nice. By the 

[01:23:09] Bill Himmelstein: way, your setup here is incredibly professional. I’ve been on two dozen podcasts before this is by far and away the most well run, produced.

[01:23:19] You got the setup, everything. This is, really top 

[01:23:21] John Morris: notch. Thank you very much. You know how to kick a guy right in the heart in a good way. I appreciate that very much. Let’s, let’s wrap this up, put a nice bow on it, by again, very successful as a father, a husband and a business leader.

[01:23:37] Fantastic at networking. Fantastic at bringing people together and being a multiplier. Take care. and an amazing advisor who understands his craft very, well. clearly getting shit done. So let’s wrap it up a little inspiration. What do you want to tell our audience? What’s the, thought that you would want to give to them?

[01:23:56] If there’s somebody out there that’s wavering, that is, is maybe just needs to hear something to get them over the top. What’s that thing? What’s that inspiration you want to share with the world? 

[01:24:07] Bill Himmelstein: I think every day, if you can just try and be a little better and try and especially be a little bit better and nicer to those around you, I think we’re going to have We would have such a better world if everyone was just a little bit kinder to those around us, a little bit more caring and try to just be better yourself.

[01:24:26] And, I heard this morning, I was in, Rosh Hashanah services and that’s what the rabbi was talking about this story about, kids doing bad things and what if everyone did that? But one kid flipped it around and said, what if I can be a little bit better? Every day, just try and do something nice for other people.

[01:24:46] And what if everyone did that? So that’s what my thought process is today is just trying to Be a better person and how nice would it be if we all can do 

[01:24:57] John Morris: that? Fantastic thought happy rush shana. Thank you and Bill, I do want to remind you sir. You got shit done 

[01:25:04] Bill Himmelstein: All right. 

[01:25:04] John Morris: Congrats. Thanks for coming on.

[01:25:05] Bill Himmelstein: Thanks for having me. This is great. 

[01:25:06] John Morris: Be well.

[01:25:18] Can your business handle 15 percent growth? If yes, you have to engage with 20Twenty Design. They fuse data and creativity to stop the scroll, break through the noise, and grab the attention of your future customers. 20Twenty Design will create competitive, click worthy campaigns, design and build custom websites, spark your social media presence, and structure email campaigns that get right to your audience.

[01:25:44] The decision maker. Let’s boost attention and awareness, which allows you to convert more sales. Check them out at 2020design. com. That’s the number 20twentydesign.com.