The Happiness Practices with Phil Gerbyshak

Time for some truth: I hate being pitched to be on my podcast. Almost always I say no. Except in the case of Louie La Vella. Louie cold emailed me and asked to be on my show, and he was so nice, and so genuine in his pitch, I said yes. I am so glad I did. Louie is a delightful human being. Smart, funny and helpful, with a dash of brash, I like Louie a lot. And I know you will too! Louie gave Lady...

Having a podcast means I get to meet a lot of amazing people. Some I connect with - and they connect with me - and some not so much. When interviewing Keenan, and talking to him on the phone, it became quickly clear to me we would be lifelong connections. Keenan's straight forward approach likely rankles some C-suite executives, but his advice is spot on, and his intentions are crystal clear: to g...

You I'm so excited to share this episode with you. Eric Dodge is an amazing musician, terrific speaker, and really wonderful human being. I met him several years ago at a national speaker's association event, and we've been friends ever since. Why Not Today is one of his best songs, but it isn't just a song, it's Eric's mantra. His way of being. He explains why this means so much to him, and how w...

I heard Victor Antonio at Full Throttle Experience last year. He delivered an inspiring program - about personal finance. Yep, he spoke about personal finance, and he kept my attention and earned a standing ovation - talking about personal finance. To say that was unexpected is an understatement. I asked Vic if he'd have a conversation with me after he came off the stage, and I'm delighted he said...

  To say Jill Schiefelbein is an outstanding communications professional would be doing her a disservice. She knows communications better than anyone I know - and I know a lot of smart people. Jill makes sense of the nonsense and offers straight forward advice for communicating more effectively. I learn a lot from Jill often. She is one of my favorite people, and I am glad to have her on speed dia...

Many years ago, I met Chuck Frey because he had an innovation blog and I came upon his blog. I commented on his blog a few times, and we exchanged emails. Then I realized he lived near me in Milwaukee. We had dinner, and we've become great friends. I learned he's a family guy, with a wonderful wife with 2 daughters and a son with autism and also a mind mapping lover, and a content marketing expert...

Michele Payn and I go back nearly 5 years, when I first met her in a hotel meeting room outside of Chicago for a speaker mastermind session. Immediately I loved her style, energy and passion for all things - especially for food. No, it's not that Michele loves to eat as much as I do (few people do) it's that she is passionate about sharing the truth about food, and in helping people eat the right...

I got to know Brad Szollose when I was looking for a few generational stats to use in a presentation. We're part of a group of speakers who helps each other, and Brad stepped right up to say this was his expertise. I thanked him for the stats, used them in my presentation (with full credit of course) and then started researching him. HOLY COW! Brad is a generational expert! He wrote the book on th...

Is there a perfect close, or just 50 ways to leave your lover, I mean 50 ways to manipulate buyers that don't want to be sold to buy? Best-selling author James Muir believes there is a perfect close - and it's just 2 questions, zero pressure, and is 95% effective. WOW! James and I talk about the perfect close, how he got started as an accidental salesman, and how he was mentored by some of the bes...

Many years ago I started reading business books. I remember reading First Break All The Rules, Good to Great, Who Moved My Cheese, Love is the Killer App, Radical Leap, and many other great books. I knew there had to be a faster way to get just the highlights of the books I wanted to read, but I really didn't like a lot of the offerings that were out there, so I would try one, and then not use it....

As a member of the National Speakers Association, I get to meet many interesting speakers, authors and thought leaders from around the world. Some are very experienced, some are not very experienced, and some just stand out as soon as you come in contact with them. Scott McKain is the latter, and is someone once you meet, or even see on video, you never forget. Scott was gracious enough to spend a...

Several years ago I answered a question about why someone should join the National Speakers Association. I answered briefly, then invited that person to call me if he had further questions. We spoke for over an hour and became fast friends. Since then, I've learned a lot about leadership, especially on leading myself, from Ricardo González, the founder of Bilingual America.  Ricardo Gonzalez is a...

Kathi Kruse is one of the most fun marketing strategists I've encountered, and that's saying something. She works in the "car biz," a predominantly male industry, and she kicks butt at it - while a big smile! She's the founder and CEO of Kruse Control Inc. and is the author of " Automotive Social Business 2.0- How to Captivate Your Customers, Sell More Cars & Be Generally Remarkable on Social...

I first met Robert Caruso as part of a group of social media masterminds Keri Jaehnig setup years ago. He was hustling his face off to build a spectacular piece of software that he eventually sold off. But Robert wasn't done. Not by a long shot! Now he's running a social agency called Fondalo, and he's still hustling his face off, but with more balance.  Now Robert is a married dad and while he's...

Adam Toporek is a customer service expert. Not only does he do keynotes and training on customer service, but he has lived it, and grew his family's and his own businesses by delivering great customer service. He gets customer service! I met Adam last year at a National Speakers Association meeting, and we've been friends ever since. His common sense approach to customer service is refreshing for...

For those who don't know my background, I grew up in Crivitz, Wisconsin, a rural town of 996 people in northeastern Wisconsin. I wasn't the fastest kid, or the smartest kid, or the most athletic kid. In 7th grade, I was one of the worst basketball players on the team. I had generic shoes the other kids called "G-Didas" for generic Adidas shoes. They were Win Streaks, and they were all we could aff...

David Boutin is one of the first people I met when I moved to Tampa. I noticed him on Twitter, and reached out to him. He hesitantly agreed to meet with me, and we've been friends ever since.  David is a Georgia Bulldog football fan, a husband, and a Twitter chat guru. I learn a lot from David's writing, and from watching what he does on Twitter. Recently David co-authored the book Twitter Marketi...

  One might wonder what chicken wings, sports announcing, nursing, parenting, entrepreneurship, and admissions have in common. If you don't know, then you haven't met Brandon Elliott. I met Brandon several years ago at a speaking engagement I had, and we have been connected ever since. In this conversation, Brandon and I talk about being a male nurse, how he's overcome discrimination in his work a...

Does posting about things like politics that polarize people make business sense? Sam Richter certainly has an opinion on this - and he has proof to back it up based on conversations he's had with event planners. Sam Richter is an expert in sales intelligence and reputation management - so not only does he have anecdotal evidence on this - he's done the research to make this work.  In this convers...

One of my favorite things to do is karaoke. I'm not a good singer, but I'm very enthusiastic. Some of my best conference memories are of doing karaoke, and I've even done live band karaoke. So much fun! As I've done this so many times, I've seen good hosts, and bad hosts. I have a ton of respect for those who are really good at being the karaoke meister, the person who helps everyone have fun and...

Charles Lerette aka Hugh Briss is a social media pioneer. He was the first person I remember making social media graphics, nearly 10 years ago now. He's still the first person I look to for guidance on for the right way to use imagery for social media. With my recent move to Florida, I actually got to spend a day with Hugh, and learned he is even smarter than I realized - and that's saying somethi...

Scott Monty and I first "met" as a contributors to The Age of Conversation series in which hundreds of bloggers wrote a page or two about marketing, compiled it into a book, and gave the proceeds to charity, many years ago. In 2015, Scott and I got to solidify our friendship by meeting at a Social Media Club event in Dallas. In between, Scott worked with Ford to take them from recession to relevan...

I met Amy Franko on now defunct #SocialLeader Twitter chat and was impressed by her ability to quickly synthesize leadership topics into tweets. We decided to swap our leadership and sales thoughts in a few Skype conversations. I quickly realized Amy had a lot of useful information to share that could benefit you, so I finally recorded one of our conversations.  More about Amy Franko Amy Franko dr...

Mark Hunter is known as The Sales Hunter. Yes, Hunter is his real last name, and sales is really his game. I learn so much from Mark every time we connect, every time I read his articles, and especially when I read his books. His latest is called High Profit Prospecting and if you're in sales, you won't want to miss it. In this conversation, Mark and I laugh a lot as we share insights on sales and...

This episode, I get to talk to someone who I love, have great respect for, and who makes me laugh, all while teaching me something new about life and leadership. It's none other than Chip Lutz , the Unconventional Leader. I met Chip several years back at the National Speakers Association chapter in Wisconsin, and we have been friends ever since. We've shared a room at convention, he's gotten his c...