Paul Strobl Reveals How A CEO Peer Group Unlocks Your Business Success And Ideal Life (#72)

[00:00:05] Jeffrey Feldberg: Welcome to the Sell My Business Podcast. I'm your host Jeffrey Feldberg.

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Your liquidity event is the largest and most important financial transaction of your life.

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At the end of this episode, take a moment to hear from business owners, just like you, who went through the Deep Wealth Experience.

Paul Strobl has over two decades of experience working one-on-one with business owners and entrepreneurs to help them design their ideal lives. Paul is a Master Life and Business Coach and speaker and works with top MBA programs in entrepreneurial mindset. His sole focus is to eliminate barriers to success and give clients insights to take action towards a business and life they love.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Paul has owned businesses in North America. South America and Europe, and is fluent in Spanish and holds an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird. As a Growth10 practice leader, Paul facilitates small groups of rapidly scaling business owners to work through challenges, issues, and decisions in a safe, confidential environment during monthly round table sessions

Paul, welcome to the Sell My Business Podcast.

I'm excited for the community today because there's an old saying it's lonely at the top. For most business owners there's really nobody to talk to. You. Can't speak to your employees about the issues that are ongoing and oftentimes you don't even feel comfortable speaking to family or friends. They just don't get it. But you change all of that. I'm getting ahead of myself. So, why don't we start with the story behind the story, Paul, how did you get to where you are today?

[00:02:55] Paul Strobl: The story behind the story it actually is a bit of a tragic one. I had done some different things. I did an MBA at Thunderbird and I had built my own business. Actually, jumped into a couple of different businesses in different industries. And I found myself in a spot where I was working really long hours.

I was working days, nights and weekends, and just not enjoying what I was doing because of the hours that I was working. And most of the tasks I was doing, I didn't have an understanding of how to grow things yet. And I got a phone. I literally got a wake-up call. It was in the morning.

It was my father. He was in hysterics and he's never in hysterics. And my brother had taken his life. And so that was a moment in my life where it just made me stop. It just made me stop and reevaluate and look at my life and ask myself, where do I think this journey is taking me? And how long am I going to keep doing something dedicated to suffering? And that was when I made a lot of big life changes. It wasn't an overnight thing. It was a good two years of understanding what's going on, going to therapy, hiring a business, coach myself and a life coach to figure things out. Getting a personal trainer and getting back in shape since I had gained a bunch of weight while I was working crazy hours. And when all the dust had settled and all the shoulds went away of what I should be and should become and should do it. It was really obvious. I was a coach that helping people is the core of who I am and I need to do more of that. And so that's when I started to coach online. I started in 2008 and I set myself up so that I could be anywhere in the world because I also love exploring cultures and countries. And so that was the start of it.

[00:04:44] Jeffrey Feldberg: Paul firstly, thank you for sharing your story and being vulnerable and just that tragic moment in your life that really changed things. What's interesting is whether you're a coach and you're helping business entrepreneurs, business owners, founders. Really that's what being an entrepreneur or a founder or a business owner, that's really what it's all about.

It's how can we help other people; how can we solve other people's problems or painful problems? We do it in such a way that it's world-class and we help enough people get what they want. So, eventually, we get what we want. And so what I really like about what you do and what your story is all about is you're helping the people that are the movers and shakers.

And let's talk about that. For starters, I imagine that some members of the community may be saying. What does that mean exactly? How do you help me? Is this like a board of advisors that you're doing? Because I hear these board of advisors stories and it's stuffy and it's so corporate and it's very formal. Or is it something different?

[00:05:47] Paul Strobl: it's called peer advisory and peer advisory has been around a very long time and it's had different names. Some people are familiar with the term mastermind and basically what it is you get enough smart people in a room who are dedicated to helping one another and are open to feedback. And when you have it professionally facilitated really good things happen.

And it's all about helping one another grow, but it becomes more than that because when you have your own business when it's a mastermind or a peer advisor group of a bunch of business owners, there's a lot of isolation like you said earlier, it is lonely at the top. And so, when you have this safe space to be able to talk about issues in your business, opportunities that come up, sometimes you're your own business partners you can't talk to you. Can't talk to your suppliers. You can't talk to employees. Your spouse is certainly tired of hearing about the business. So, having people that are interested in your success, magical things happen. The group is greater than the sum of its parts.

[00:06:48] Jeffrey Feldberg: Paul that is well said. And it's a page right out of what we do here at Deep Wealth, you call it a CEO peer group or a peer group, or a mastermind. In the Deep Wealth Experience at the heart of it in our nine-step roadmap, we call it a mastermind group, which is you're saying also a peer advisory group.

And I would love the audience to hear in your words the benefits of what happens when you get into a room with people who aren't your competitor but are from different industries and they're successful in their own, right? Why you can expect the magic to happen because you can use the word magic, you can use the word the art of a successful business.

It's really all one and the same. It's not just facts and numbers on a spreadsheet and some complicated formula. There is an art to running a business. So, what can I expect in your peer advisory group in that service if I've never been a part of a peer advisory group, what should I be thinking in terms of what do I need to be putting into it and what can I expect to get out of it?

[00:07:51] Paul Strobl: What you put into it is all of your experience? The right group has a diversity of experiences, a diversity of industries so that you're not getting the same perspective over and over again. And there's certainly some benefit in getting with other people in your industry.

But I would say the diversity of industries is where a really good peer group gets the most benefit from the knowledge in the room. You're going to have people that they're going to think outside the box about your business because they're not in your business. The other thing is for sure it's a safe space.

People say safety and safe space and maybe a lot of ideas come up, but Google did a study many years ago that they wanted to know why people stayed at Google or what's good about an organization? How can you retain talent? And the top of the list that came out of that, the researchers were actually surprised was what is called psychological safety. A place where you can voice your opinion and be heard and listened to. And this exchange happens between you and coworkers and in this case and people above you and below you, and there's this respect and you're not afraid to say something. And as a business owner, when you're so isolated and you're, so in your own world having this place where you can voice your opinion or talk about what's going on and it could just be things happening outside your business.

A peer group isn't just about growing your business. Obviously, that's the main goal and the number one benefit, but anybody that has been part of a CEO peer group for a number of years will tell you, we're preaching to the choir. They love it.

They've been in it for years and years. Some of their best friends in the world came out of these groups because they've been able to talk about what's really on their minds. And sometimes they felt like they can't.

[00:09:47] Jeffrey Feldberg: It's so true with what Paul is saying, and for our listeners out there, let me validate for you and give you my own experience. I've been part of a CEO peer group now for many years. And Paul, everything that you're saying is spot on. Some of the best innovations from my business came from other business owners in a different industry.

And why that happened was I didn't have that group think, you know, you speak to everyone who's in the same industry. You're all talking the same way, you’re thinking the same way. And to create a market disruption you can't do that. You don't want to do that. You need innovation. And if it worked in another industry, take that, make it your own and run with it.

And for myself, that was a large part of the success of having access to really smart people. And I'm sure you find this with your groups. I don't want to be the smartest guy in the room. I want other people there. I checked my ego at the door. I want other people there who are smarter than me because I want to learn from them.

And I know in certain areas I'm going to be able to give back because I'm really good in certain areas that they're not. So, it all balances out. You're definitely a visionary doing things online, back in the mid-two thousand was way ahead of your time.

Right now, today, people are beginning to take that for granted with the pandemic and having all kinds of virtual meetings. But talk to us about for your CEO advisory group. What does that look like in terms of the mechanics? It's virtual? How long is it? How often is it? And what does that mean for me as a business owner who's thinking about something like this?

[00:11:18] Paul Strobl: The mechanics are pretty straightforward. It's a three and a half-hour meeting once a month. And in each meeting, everybody will get a check-in. There'll be a very brief, hey, this is how things are going for my business, personally, overall, and also a kind of accountability happens as well.

So, whatever was talked about last month and the actions that you told the group you're going to take and different people, had received advice and they said they were going to implement something. There is a moment to be able to share what happened, what worked, how did it work? And because everybody's worked on your issue, everybody's really interested in how it turned out?

Everybody invested some time out of their day to help you work on it. Then there are three issues. Usually about 35 minutes for each issue. So, one member will have one issue that they will present to the group. All nine other members it's called growth 10 so we're talking about a group of 10 people. All nine other members will have an opportunity to ask questions, to get clarification on what the issue is exactly, and ask some questions about different angles. All nine people will be able to offer their advice, their expertise and really say, hey, you know what? I think this would work or, hey, you should talk to this person. Then they can probably help you with this main problem. They helped me. And so, at the end of that, you basically say what you're going to do. You're going to have to share that the next time. So, there's this accountability that happens in these groups that's important and the structure and the way it's run is really important. It's one thing getting the right people in the room, but having a properly facilitated and having the right structure to get the best out of each individual that's a key part of making these things work as effectively as possible. Because everybody's investing. Everybody's a busy entrepreneur and they're investing three and a half hours of their day. And once a month. And that's huge. So, that's a huge investment.

Many times, it's not the financial investment in the group. It's really the time. It's really making that time and being fully present for your group members. What you would expect from them when you're talking about your issue. There's this mutual understanding of that.

Everybody is really taking some time to be fully present and listen to the issues and try to help you as best they can.

[00:13:39] Jeffrey Feldberg: Paul you've mentioned two key concepts and let's start with the first concept and then the second concept. So, the first concept that you started with is a professional facilitator, which in this case is you who's overseeing that the meetings or other trained professionals that you have in your organization.

And so for our listeners out there, they might be thinking, okay how effective is this really going to be? You get a bunch of business, people around the table, and what they're just talking about anything? How do you make sure that you get value out of that conversation, even with that structure that you put in place because you know how Type-A personalities are?

So, how does that work, Paul, on the facilitator part, how do you get the gold out of the conversation and the meeting?

[00:14:21] Paul Strobl: There's a bit of a learning curve for everybody. Every individual member gets a little bit of training on how to ask questions in the most effective way. If they don't already know. Some people are already great communicators and they understand that asking a how or what question is much more effective than saying have you done this? That's not an effective way when you're talking about an issue to get people to really think about it. So, everybody learns how to tap into everybody else's creativity in the most effective way.

The other thing is also presenting the issue. If somebody is talking about an issue and it takes a half-hour just to understand what the real issue is that's not an effective use of everyone's time. So, each person has to have an understanding or go through a process to really be able to present their issue in the most efficient way so that everybody in the room is going to get it. So, that comes down to time really and being effective in every single way.

We've all been in meetings that we spent a ton of time and we feel like we've got nothing done. So, the facilitation is really that. Somebody who's keeping an eye on the clock, but also somebody who is a bit flexible. It's not like the super strict thing, because you could just put a clock on the screen and everybody follows it.

The things that come up, for example, it could be somebody comes to the group and the group is very close and they just say, look, I'm having a hard time because my brother passed away. And if you let the group, just go into that you're losing a bunch of time.

You're not being effective. So, you want to acknowledge that person and say, wow that's really tough. That's really a hard thing. It's something that I've been through. Let's make sure that we're effective for the rest of our meeting and let's save some time at the end so we can all share and give you the support that you need. So, it's really about keeping the whole thing together, keeping everybody on task. But you're also working with a bunch of humans. And so there has to be a little bit of flexibility and the right amount of empathy with the right amount of structure. I like the idea of, bamboo or soft front, strong back to where there's the softness to a good facilitator, but also a firmness in the back of them to where they don't get bowled over. Like you said, if there's a bunch of Type-A personalities, how do you do that? There's a little bit of give and take. And I think an experienced facilitator can make the big difference in how that group goes and how each meeting goes.

[00:16:53] Jeffrey Feldberg: Paul, thank you for that explanation that really puts it out there in terms of the mechanics of it and how the facilitator really is the person who has things moving forward. And having the right conversation for the right amount of time. Now, speaking of time. And that was the second part of what I want to circle back to.

I know there are some business owners out there that are saying what you want me to spend three and a half hours? Let's just call that half a day. Forget three and a half hours. I don't have 20 minutes. How do you expect me to spend three and a half hours? Half of my day, to come to this mastermind group, however frequently it is when my business is going crazy and it needs me and I'm just going to be feeling so stressed when I'm in this meeting? What would you say to that person?

[00:17:40] Paul Strobl: The first thing I would say is the time flies by, and when it's super engaging and again, properly facilitated, you don't even notice that the time flies by. The other part is it's an investment, just like it's an investment in yourself and the things you want for your business. It's really an investment into your business of being able to step out and get some objectivity. Most of us, we don't do that enough. That there's an old saying about meditation, they say if you're busy, find the time to meditate for a half-hour. If you're really busy, meditate for an hour. And it really is that is how do you think all of these things and all these moving parts are actually going to start to make sense and fall into some order if you don't step out? If you don't step out for a little bit and get some objectivity.

[00:18:28] Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, Paul, I would say, and this is something that really resonates with us at Deep Wealth and it's part of our nine-step roadmap in step number two, we talk about X-Factors to insanely increase your value.

And one of those X-Factors is when a business has the right management team to run without the business owner. And so if you're a business owner and you're saying, you know what I don't have three and a half hours. What kind of business do you have? And are you going to have a business if your business is so dependent on you? So, this could be a wake-up call for you. If you can't spend three and a half hours to invest in yourself to invest in your business, it would appear that you have bigger issues on the horizon.

[00:19:08] Paul Strobl: Much bigger issues. Yeah, that's a great point. The way I would ask usually is when a business owner says that they're super overwhelmed or they're too busy for things, is what would happen if you took a vacation for a month? And what would you need in place for that to actually happen and the business continuing to not just run but to thrive? What are the seats that need to be filled?

We're definitely preaching to the choir, both of us, but it's it is important to know how the business would run without you. And yeah, I agree. If you can't take three and a half hours out of one day a month, then you've got much bigger problems.

[00:19:43] Jeffrey Feldberg: Paul, one of the things that I like your thoughts on, in the Deep Wealth experience, and this is one of my favorite steps, step eight of the nine-step roadmap. We call it skeletons and Rembrandts. And what we mean by that is when you were preparing your business for a liquidity event and you are thoughtful enough to begin this well in advance often years before your liquidity event your preparation helps you find those hidden skeletons in the closet. Some people call them blind spots. Whatever you'd like to call them. Those hidden skeletons are costing your business more ways than you know. And I'd be curious, how can a CEO peer group help a business owner find those blind spots, find those skeletons that behind the scenes is it's like a thief in the night is robbing you of success, which may be profits, which may be your longevity in the marketplace. How do you go through that kind of process with the members in your CEO peer group?

[00:20:39] Paul Strobl: That's a great question, and it's something I see happening right in front of me all the time in these groups is somebody brings an issue that they want to work on. And that is not the issue. Once everybody starts to ask questions and get clarification, sometimes it becomes evident to them immediately.

And sometimes it takes a little bit more digging, but you just see this look on their face change and its wow, no I've got work to do, or I have to get rid of this partner or, whatever it is, there's this big change that has to happen. And again, it happened because you had this diversity in the room and these people asking questions from different angles and it's definitely one of those magic moments that I mentioned before when somebody goes, wow, okay. Yeah. This really needs to change.

[00:21:31] Jeffrey Feldberg: And Paul, as you talk about your process, it reminds me of that story how do you become a better tennis player? Do you play with someone who's at your level or below you, or do you find another tennis player who's actually better than you? And it's the same thing with a CEO peer group.

When you're in the CEO peer group, you're in with people who are successful, like you possibly in different areas, different ways, maybe even more successful than you. And that would be terrific that the successful business owners they have this insight. I've been there. I've gone through that.

You're not seeing it, but it's screaming at me and I need to make you aware of that. So, here's what I think you should be thinking about. And so, let's talk now, Paul, about the other side of step eight in the nine-step roadmap. And those are the hidden Rembrandts in the attic. And for us, a hidden Rembrandt is something that a business is world-class in. But here's the thing. The irony is most business owners think they're not world-class that their competitors are doing this. Everyone is doing this and there's nothing special about what they're doing.

How can a CEO peer group and with some of the activities that you do help a business owner, find those Rembrandts in the attic that are no longer going to be Rembrandts in the attic they're going to be Rembrandt's out for public display?

[00:22:45] Paul Strobl: I think it's just as true for individuals as it is for a business that we don't recognize how good we are at something because if we're really good at it, it's easy. So, it's something we do over and over again, because it's easy we just go, oh, everybody should be able to do the same thing or get the same result.

But it really does take other people look at it and to point it out, to say, wow, this is really impressive. But the way you go about this thing is not the same as everybody else. It is something special. Not everybody can do it. It requires an outsider many times to your industry to be able to point that out.

[00:23:29] Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, then that's interesting because really, we're talking about vulnerable points both personally, and from a business side of these blind spots or skeletons or the secret sauce, the Rembrandts, how does it work with confidentiality? Because I imagine for someone who has been part of a CEO peer group, this person might be thinking wait a minute.

I actually have to trust these people to share some of the most intimate things about my business. How do I know it's not going to be out on the street or that my competitors aren't going to find out, or it just becomes general knowledge? How do you deal with that?

[00:24:03] Paul Strobl: There are two ways to deal with it. Number one there's this trust that develops, and it's an unspoken thing. When people are mutually sharing vulnerable things, I think it's a natural thing that happens that you're not going to run out and go start a new business on the side or something like that.

And the other part is the legal part. You signed the agreements in the beginning of the group. And you're not going to, or if you're not that comfortable not every group will have that. Most group members will be happy to sign an NDA or whatever you want to sign, just to make sure that there's nothing that's going to hold somebody back from being vulnerable because the group is only going to work if everybody's vulnerable. As soon as somebody is holding back, they're not making their full contribution to the group.

[00:24:44] Jeffrey Feldberg: So, in your CEO peer group, it sounds like there's some kind of nondisclosure agreement or some kind of legal agreement that binds everybody to secrecy. And what's said in the room stays in the room and that's how you can be assured that you have that safe room where you can really put everything on the table.

So, Paul, over the years, when you've worked with different business owners, I'm sure you've seen harmful painful mistakes that cost the business, either profits or maybe the existence of the business, whatever it may be. And I would imagine that some of these mistakes are going to be common from one business to another, from one industry to another. Are there a top three or five hit list of common mistakes that you can share with the audience of mistakes that they might be making, but not even know about?

[00:25:29] Paul Strobl: Wow. I've got a big list, but I'll narrow it down to four or five here. And I would break it down by types of entrepreneurs. And the types of entrepreneurs, the way I'm going to describe them is described by Joe Abraham in Entrepreneurial DNA. I use the BOSI BMA Assessment quite a bit and I use it with Rice University's MBA program, as well as some other MBA programs use it in their entrepreneurship classes to get insights on themselves.

And so the first is a builder. So, BOSI is B O S I so the builder is really good at infrastructure, and they're really good at scaling something and their Achilles heel is people. And so, the same mind that is really good at looking at something and making it grow really fast are the same people who tend to have a bit of narcissism.

They tend to be overly confident in things and they want their way or the highway many times. And as that doesn't work very long or they have some people around them that kind of duck out of the way when that person comes into the room. So, that limits them because they can't keep talented people.

They keep drawing talented people into the organization because it's a successful business and it keeps growing, but it would grow so much better if that leader got more self-awareness and understood when to step down, off of his, or her own ego. So, that's one. The other one would be the "O", the opportunist is somebody who comes from a sales background, probably a dealmaker, and then starts a business.

And then they become CEO. Their main problem is the business is a mess organizationally. They don't view finance as a driver. They don't have the right systems in place. They go out and get more deals or they hire the right salespeople and they think more money is going to fix it. They think a few more deals is going to fix all of their issues internally and they usually also overestimate what their business is worth.

They look at the industry standards and say, oh, hey, I should be able to get this much when I sell it. If somebody can't walk in and you can hand them the keys and they can understand what's going on, then nobody wants to buy that business. They're going to lowball you pretty good for good reason.

There are Specialists, which are people who tend to stay in the same industry. And they probably have a lot of letters after their name. And they've been in the same industry, their whole life. And they built something. Their main issue is business development. So, what they do is they don't want to look salesy, so they hesitate a lot in their marketing and outreach. And so they're plateaued at a certain spot and rather than continuing to grow, what they're best at, they add ancillary things, other lines of business to get it from the same clients that they already have a relationship with rather than continuing down this one line, which is what they're best at.

And so, they end up with breadth, but not a lot of depth in their business. And again, when it comes to something like you work with Deep Wealth it's hard to sell a business that's doing 10 things. It's not that clear and if that person leaves the business, it'll be very difficult for it to continue. And then the other one is the Innovator, the "I" of BOSI. And Innovators they are, brilliant people who create, who have come up with all these amazing out-of-the-box ideas, but they tend to be so mission-driven that they hire the wrong people. They hire other people that are on board for the mission, but not the people that are talented enough to really take that mission to the next level.

Those are like four that I would say that I see over and over again. It's so obvious when I have somebody contact me, they want to be part of a group or they want one-on-one coaching. And I already start hearing the things they're saying about, hey, I was a sales guy and then I decided I can just do this myself. I already know the issue. The guy's hitting the glass ceiling on revenue and probably plateaued because everything's a disaster. His warehouse is a mess. And so he needs more structure and he needs to have some systems that are put in place.

[00:29:42] Jeffrey Feldberg: So, key what you've just shared and for our listeners, I really hope you were listening. I know I was identified in the BOSI model, some things that were standing out for me. Oh, Jeffrey, I see that in you and for all of us, there may be one or more characteristics that you talking about that lead to these mistakes.

And again, knowledge is power, but only if you know what it is and what you can be doing. There's a wonderful saying that came out of the sports world that I apply to what we do at Deep Wealth and the liquidity event. And that is when the team works the dream works. And as a business owner, you are the head of the team.

And even though the business, when you're doing it right, does run without you. You're still overseeing your management team, you're a large part of the culture. Your influence is immense. And so if you want to have your business just fire on all cylinders and just break those records and increase your EBITDA and get more growth and become that world-class industry leader look in the mirror, it all starts with you and it ends with you.

And so, Paul, with that in mind, it's a general, broad sweeping question, but let me ask you this. How do you find over the years that a CEO peer group makes somebody a better leader?

[00:31:02] Paul Strobl: I'd say it happens on a couple of different levels, obviously. Being able to grow your business and feeling that you're getting the support to really take your business to the next level is great. That's obviously the main objective of the technical thing of, hey, we're all here to help each other grow.

And so harnessing that knowledge and those experiences and moving it forward is one part. The other part is in a group like this you start learning where those blind spots are and getting out of your own way and really learning to step down off of your own ego that might be getting in the way as well. It's the reminder of why are we all in business in the first place? Is it just a get to this place of illiquidity event or is it really more about who we touch in our lives and who we make better?

And where do we leave a mark? That's where I think a peer group is a catalyst for that it's it might be somewhere you get it's better not to get it when you're sometime on your death bed, looking back and say, man, I should have done these things. I think a peer advisory group really helps us to get there faster.

[00:32:13] Jeffrey Feldberg: And timing is everything. You want to be on the earlier side of that than the later side soldier.

Paul, what have you seen the impact for business leaders that you've been dealing with in your world of what's been happening to them both as people also as business leaders and some lessons learned coming out of this pandemic?

[00:32:32] Paul Strobl: Well, I'm probably a crazy optimist because I always look for the opportunity when something changes. But I will say that a lot of business leaders have seen number one, we don't know. We think we have control and we think we know what's happening. And so, what I said earlier about stepping down off your own ego, I think this pandemic has done that in a way. And the other thing is it's really pushed our creativity. And I've seen this in a lot of leaders and the way that some of them have pivoted and the way that some of them have really set the example of, okay, this has the new context. What's next? How do we do this differently?

Because we can't do it the old way. So, there's been a percentage of business leaders that have just taken it in stride and said, okay, we've got this. We're not going to ride it out. We're going to, we're going to change a little bit, how we do things.

And for the ones who said let's just hold tight and see what happens and that they're watching their revenue drop. It was great to have those two people in the same room. So, you had one person who just felt more like a victim. Like they got blindsided by this whole thing and they wanted to ride it out and they didn't know how long it was going to last. And then seeing these other people just go for it. It's been great. It's really been great to see how somebody just bounces off of it and makes things better. Maybe they're not super successful in it, but at least they're giving it a go in there and they're not looking at this as oh, this just destroyed my business.

[00:34:02] Jeffrey Feldberg: Oh, absolutely. And it's interesting in times like this when there are so many unknowns and it's really a new day, literally. There is strength in numbers. When you can be around the table with other successful business leaders who are going through the same challenges, the same fears. How am I going to get through this? All those kinds of questions, but you can do that together as opposed to on your own.

There's zero doubt that you're so much better off in that kind of environment than doing things on your own. And I would imagine Paul with the CEO peer group, particularly now during the pandemic, that the value that you add to people's lives is going above and beyond giving some peace of mind, both personally, but also professionally.

[00:34:48] Paul Strobl: And really that's why I'm in it. It's for the ripple effect. It's when you're working with leaders, you're changing organizations when those leaders are open to making those changes and getting out of their own way, you have this amazing ripple effect that goes through the entire organization that affects the employees.

It affects the families of the employees. And it's really a good feeling leading these peer groups. And it's really a good feeling, being a part of them even, as a member as well. It's very gratifying knowing that you're having an impact in everybody in the room.

[00:35:23] Jeffrey Feldberg: Well, as the old saying goes, the person that gives often receives more than the person who's receiving, just from that learning that you're doing. And that wonderful feeling of actually making a difference in helping people.

Paul, as we begin to wrap up this interview, there's one question. My favorite question that I ask every guest. And the question is this. When you think about the movie Back to the Future, In the movie, there's the DeLorean car, that magical car that goes back in time.

So, Paula, imagine that tomorrow morning, you wake up, you look outside the window and the DeLorean car is there. The door is open. It's waiting for you. And you can go back to any point in time of your choosing, perhaps it's Paul, as a young child, Paul, as a teenager, an adult, whatever it may be. What would you do in terms of giving yourself advice, lessons learned, life wisdom, don't do this, do that? What would you tell your younger self?

[00:36:19] Paul Strobl: I would tell my younger self don't listen to the shoulds. I think many of us, we grow up, whether it's from our family or from our community, our society, create these shades of what we should be and should do and should become. And most of the time it never actually came from a person. It came from ourselves.

So, I would say don't listen to the shoulds do the things that you are compelled to do that inspire you and take the risk. It's always worth it.

[00:36:53] Jeffrey Feldberg: Wonderful life advice. And Paul, as we wrap things up here if somebody would like to find you online, where we're the best place be to reach out and say hello, or learn more about what you do.

[00:37:05] Paul Strobl: can find me where they've always found me for a very long time. ConfideCoaching.com

[00:37:10] Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. That will be in the show notes. And Paul, as we wrap this up now, thank you so much for taking part of your day to be with us. Really appreciate that. You could've been doing other things, but you're here with the Deep Wealth community. So, grateful for that. And please stay healthy and safe.

[00:37:26] Paul Strobl: Thank you very much. It's been a blast man. Thank you.

[00:37:29] Sharon S.: The Deep Wealth Experience was definitely a game-changer for me.

[00:37:32] Lyn M.: This course is one of the best investments you will ever make because you will get an ROI of a hundred times that. Anybody who doesn't go through it will lose millions.

[00:37:42] Kam H.: If you don't have time for this program, you'll never have time for a successful liquidity

[00:37:47] Sharon S.: It was the best value of any business course I've ever taken. The money was very well spent.

[00:37:53] Lyn M.: Compared to when we first began, today I feel better prepared, but in some respects, may be less prepared, not because of the course, but because the course brought to light so many things that I thought we were on top of that we need to fix.

[00:38:09] Kam H.: I 100% believe there's never a great time for a business owner to allocate extra hours into his or her week or day. So, it's an investment that will yield results today. I thought I will reap the benefit of this program in three to five years down the road. But as soon as I stepped forward into the program, my mind changed immediately.

[00:38:31] Sharon S.: There was so much value in the experience that the time I invested paid back so much for the energy that was expended.

[00:38:42] Lyn M.: The Deep Wealth Experience compared to other programs is the top. What we learned is very practical. Sometimes you learn stuff that it's great to learn, but you never use it. The stuff we learned from Deep Wealth Experience, I believe it's going to benefit us a boatload.

[00:38:55] Kam H.: I've done an executive MBA. I've worked for billion-dollar companies before. I've worked for smaller companies before I started my business. I've been running my business successfully now for getting close to a decade. We're on a growth trajectory. Reflecting back on the Deep Wealth, I knew less than 10% of what I know now, maybe close to 1% even.

[00:39:13] Sharon S.: Hands down the best program in which I've ever participated. And we've done a lot of different things over the years. We've been in other mastermind groups, gone to many seminars, workshops, conferences, retreats, read books. This was so different. I haven't had an experience that's anything close to this in all the years that we've been at this.

It's five-star, A-plus.

[00:39:40] Kam H.: I would highly recommend it to any super busy business owner out there.

Deep Wealth is an accurate name for it. This program leads to deeper wealth and happier wealth, not just deeper wealth. I don't think there's a dollar value that could be associated with such an experience and knowledge that could be applied today and forever.

[00:39:59] Jeffrey Feldberg: Are you leaving millions on the table?

Please visit www.deepwealth.com/success to learn more.

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As we close out this episode, a heartfelt thank you for your time. And as always, please stay healthy and safe.