Transcript
Speaker: The voice of growth, mastering the mind and market, timeless wisdom, proven strategies, and the deep work that creates lasting success. Like and subscribe to stay aligned with what truly drives results.
Speaker: Oftentimes we are bombarded with messages on social media, which are like cotton candy. They're they're great at the moment, but they don't actually sustain you. When things are hard, that is the exact path you should be taking.
Speaker: The real magic is the flow state. Not tolerate your fate. Not be okay with your fate. Amor fateh, love your fate.
Speaker: Innovation takes intent. Innovation takes desire. Innovation takes curiosity. Steve Jobs is really good at understanding what people wanted, but he was a genius at understanding what people didn't know they wanted. You got to get out there and try. You got to make mistakes.
Speaker: You know, in 200 years, no one will remember you. Every morning, we if we wake up, be thankful for that. And then it's like, what does life have to bring me? Bring it on.
Speaker: But when it hits close to home, it really gives you a chance to pause and be grateful that we get to be on this earth and experience things as we do.
Speaker: The beauty is we get to do this. Welcome to the Voice of Growth podcast. My name is Regan Fornstrom, and I'm your executive producer.
Speaker: Today is a very special milestone as we reach 100 episodes of the Voice of Growth podcast. To celebrate this milestone, we have decided that I will be in front of the camera as we have a very special guest, Manny Tehran.
Speaker: We also have a bonus milestone today as it's your birthday. So I'm very excited to be here with you Thank you very much. When you first started this podcast, why did you decide to bring this message to your audience?
Speaker: And has it changed over the last 100 episodes or has it stayed the same? It's great question. I think that The vision that I talk about in my podcast and having a clear vision is also important for me to drink my own Kool-Aid.
Speaker: The vision that I started with is essentially the same as what is currently in place. And that is to provide value to my audience.
Speaker: But in doing so, I also provide value to myself. And it's kind of a recursive circular thing. I believe that the audience that is listening and watching this podcast can take nuggets, can take experiences that I've had, experiences that our guests have had, and apply those to their life.
Speaker: Oftentimes we are bombarded with messages on social media, which are like cotton candy. They're they're great at the moment, but they don't actually sustain you. One of the the visions of this podcast is to provide a sustaining nourishment for your professional and personal growth.
Speaker: And it continues to do so. How it's evolved from the beginning till now I think we've learned a lot. There's been a lot of experiences, a lot of conversations, a lot of heartache, a lot of success.
Speaker: And the beauty is we we get to do this. This is a blessing to to have the ability to share the message of not only business growth, in part stoicism, in part my experiences, in part your experiences and those of all of our guests.
Speaker: It's also a an opportunity to just have a conversation. When I have a conversation with somebody at a networking event or the airport and I talk about the podcast, it gets them thinking about their own life and what they're doing in their own business.
Speaker: Yes. As part of the podcast, I know you mentioned stoicism. Is there a specific stoic principle that really resonates with you more than the rest?
Speaker: There are so many lessons to be learned in stoicism. That's why part of the podcast talks about that. Of recent late, it's been a lot, but it's not everything. i think there's two that kind of operate together and the obstacle is the way.
Speaker: And the second one is amor fati. So love your fate. Those two things for me are my guiding principles for being able to just power through things, recognizing that sometimes when things are hard, that is the exact path you should be taking.
Speaker: People are always like, well, if it's too hard, that shouldn't be the way. I find it the exact opposite. A plane takes off against a wind. It's all about the obstacle and what is hard for you is likely good for you.
Speaker: Now, of course, everything in good measure and you've got to be smart about it. But otherwise, I firmly believe that. And of course, the other one is love your fate. Not tolerate your fate. Not be okay with your fate.
Speaker: Amor fateh. Love your fate. And that's a hard one to do, especially when life gives you really, really hard lessons. I learned this week of a A good friend of mine that got diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. um He's just a few years older than me, and it really brought things and into perspective.
Speaker: And these are all things that happen, right? to Thousands of people every day are dealing with this. But when it hits close to home, it really gives you a chance to pause and be grateful that we get to be on this earth and experience things as we do.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. That's what's really unique about stoicism, in my opinion, is that the most important time is when you're right in the moment of it. You have to have that positivity. You get to have that positivity.
Speaker: And it's right there in the moment when you're facing a challenge. Yeah, precisely. It's... um If everything was always roses and unicorns and, you know, daisies, it'd be it'd be one story. But the life is full of thorns and weeds and everything else. And that's that's part of the excitement as well. You know, why do you think that betting and gambling and all those things are exciting? Because it it is leaning on that uncertainty.
Speaker: And ah every morning, we if we wake up, be thankful for that. And then it's like, what does life have to bring me? Bring it on. Mm-hmm. Do you remember when Stoicism really entered your life or when you were first exposed to it?
Speaker: I've heard of it for a long time, but it really began to take form for me right around 2017, 2018.
Speaker: I was closing a chapter of a company that I started, Estera, and there was a lot of turmoil at the moment. There was, i was in the middle of selling my building. i had let most of my people go.
Speaker: we had lost major contracts. Things were really going downhill quickly. And I was in a recent, in a new relationship at the time, and she introduced me to more mindfulness and meditation.
Speaker: And that was the the gateway that brought me to Stoicism because even though they're not directly related, there they there are some commonalities, especially with the mindfulness side of things.
Speaker: So that was the beginning of that process. And as things got more difficult, because they did, I needed to hang my my hat on something. Even though i do believe in God, there's also a lot of internal work that needs to to happen. And so that for me was the moment.
Speaker: And then later on, probably around the pandemic timeframe, 2021-ish, 2020, is when started being bombarded on social media by ro Ryan Holiday and others talking about stoicism.
Speaker: And that's kind of when I dove in around 2021. And as Tara, that was your engineering business. Was that your first entrepreneurial venture or what venture was the first one that you can remember? Oh my goodness. I have so many entrepreneurial ventures. It is just, I've got dozens and dozens and dozens.
Speaker: And these are all pieces of of ah growth along the way that have shaped me for who I am now. I think my first endeavor was me as a kid selling, selling things and, um or even mowing lawns. I did have a ah business that was um like house sitting and doing like random things for people in the neighborhood. My first official job was, I was 11. was a busboy at my grandmother's restaurant.
Speaker: So I, I've been sort of at it for a while and I enjoy, I enjoy work. I'm not afraid of hard work. Growing up in a particular culture on the border, ah there was one sentiment that was, is like the worst thing you can call me.
Speaker: The idea of a lazy Mexican. Because back in my day, that was the the term, even though it seems ridiculous now, because we've realized that Mexicans are typically very lazy at all.
Speaker: But for me, whenever I started feeling lazy or like, oh, I'm just kind of bumbling around, that that thing sticks in my brain and reactivates me. So, um so yeah, that was a long winded answer to probably like ram things around the the neighborhood was my first company.
Speaker: But I've had companies doing web design. I've had a solar panel cleaning technology company. i had Aztera. I've been part of dozens of startups and helping even been part of them or helped to build them or as a coach to the founders and so forth.
Speaker: During all of your business ventures, is there someone who has been a role model for you and has really helped you grow into the person that you are today?
Speaker: There are a few notable ones that I'll mention. My grandmother and my mother being two of those, both ah accomplished business people in their own domain, but others have been just part. That's one of the reasons why this podcast is so important for me is I give I give it my all because I believe that I have something to share and then my guests have something to share.
Speaker: You know, my audience for the podcast is me in 2013, 2014, 2015, as I was building my company, struggling, sort of feeling lost.
Speaker: I had to write personal checks to cover payroll. I had to sort of fumble through it. And so my audience is a version of me. and so You know, we don't really have the same kind of mentorship that I've read about or have seen in the past where you're with a mentor throughout your career.
Speaker: For me, it's been bits and pieces. And so I'd love to create a community where there's more direct long-term mentorship, not just a transactional, hey, tell me about your pitch. Tell me about your startup. Here's some feedback.
Speaker: Good luck. No, I like to have long-term activity. And so I haven't had that and I'd like to create more of that. Mm-hmm. It's wonderful to be around other business owners, business leaders, and really have all of the different perspectives that make up a community like that. It's really cool that we're building that here. Yeah, for sure. The voice of growth.
Speaker: Yes. So along those same lines, do you feel that this podcast is your purpose? Hmm, my purpose. I think that this podcast is part of my purpose.
Speaker: I don't necessarily believe that there's a singular purpose for me at least. Maybe others might have that or that might see differently. I believe that just like an orchestra has the different, the woodwinds and the brass and the percussion, the different pieces that come together, that's how I see it.
Speaker: I am a CEO of a company, Infrared Labs. That is my main thing. That is my my day in, day out. The podcast is part of that and helps me become a better CEO.
Speaker: The lessons I learned being a CEO are then come to the podcast and are titrated and put out in a different way. And then my guests are part of that action as well. So it's kind of like an ecosystem that I believe is more than a singular purpose.
Speaker: As part of your role IR Labs, as well as the podcast, both the Voice of Growth and the previous podcast that you had, innovation is a big theme for all of those different roles.
Speaker: Tell me about innovation and the daily habits that you practice so that you can continue to innovate. Innovation is giving people what they want in new and better ways, right? The customer.
Speaker: And it sounds like it could be technology, but it's not technology not necessarily technology. There's innovations out there that are not technology. They're just a business idea.
Speaker: If you think about Uber, yeah, it's there's an app there, but it's not really that fancy of an app. It's like a glorified dating app, right? You have somebody that has something, somebody needs something, you connect, you have a little bit of insurance and business on the top and you're done.
Speaker: You know, you provide this sort of like trust. And so innovation for me became a very clear message and goal when I started working with Adam Hartung at Spark Partners.
Speaker: Before that, i kind of knew it. i kind We all hear that word. We kind of like, okay, innovation, its a fancy word, whatever. And we we believe we're servicing our customers because we're giving them what they want.
Speaker: But innovation takes, is a few levels above that. Innovation takes intent. Innovation takes desire. Innovation takes curiosity. And that curiosity is not just a seeking to learn, but seeking to understand from your customers.
Speaker: The customers are the market. The customers will will tell you if things are working or not. And so my daily ritual, if you will, has to do with being curious. And I'm constantly online, if I'm not doing emails or on the phone, I'm constantly online doing research on demographics or what are emerging trends.
Speaker: And I'm constantly That's another thing I learned with with Adam at Spark Partners is the power of these megatrends. What's happening in the world, what's happening with AI, demographics, the economy, and you know, all these elements, you've got to be on point.
Speaker: And Steve Jobs is really good at understanding what people wanted, but he was a genius at understanding what people didn't know they wanted. And that I, but they didn't want, they didn't even know they wanted it. But now like the iPhone, right, is, is pervasive.
Speaker: And the idea of what he did, there was other people people doing, other groups doing phones at the same time, but he recognized the missing, the missing elements and he put them together. So when the market was ready, the product was there.
Speaker: Brilliant. Mm-hmm. Very brilliant. Do you think your formal education as an engineer gives you an advantage in the innovation space?
Speaker: i Yes, I believe so. Advantage, less of a word, perspective, a better word for me. I know people that are not technically engineers, but they have an engineering mindset.
Speaker: And engineering mindset is how do things work I love thinking about how things work. How do they build things? I look around the studio, I look at this coffee cup or this recorder or whatever, i and I can imagine how they're being made.
Speaker: So that helps me understand when there's new things being created in the marketplace. But i I believe that you can be that way without having a formal engineering degree.
Speaker: i'm um I'm glad I got an engineering degree. it opened lots of doors and it's a bit of a card you can carry around saying, hey, I'm a mechanical engineer and i love being handy. I love fixing stuff.
Speaker: But you don't have to have a formal career or a formal education for that. You could just be very curious and have discipline to go out and learn and have a really good fortitude built in so that when you fail, you get back up and you do it again.
Speaker: no The word curiosity made me think about engineering and in that sense. And I think what engineering does is it teaches you the process behind problem solving. You don't need to necessarily be formally taught that, but to have a a method or a procedure in order to fail and iterate and prototype and iterate, that's what is really cool about engineering.
Speaker: In your career, you've had dozens and dozens of entrepreneurial ventures. Was there one specific moment that really changed the trajectory of your career?
Speaker: There are so many quote unquote specific moments. i'll talk the I've talked about the butterfly effect many times in my podcast. How little tiny decisions have set the direction and placement of my life today.
Speaker: a flyer that that I had that I went to this engineering event and XYZ and that launched this whole career, this whole friend group, this whole, it like just one flyer or one Zoom call that came up or one this or one phone call, one meeting, a I'm about to leave for a networking event.
Speaker: I catch somebody at the water cooler one last time, we connect and also we're in business together. So I think that it's, you gotta just remain open for those sort of things that to come in and and help you out, you know, give you more ah sense of just being ready at any time to jump in and and get things done. Probably kind of a weird way to answer the question, but.
Speaker: It makes a lot of sense. So as we reflect back on the last hundred episodes and we look forward to the next hundred episodes, what are you most excited for?
Speaker: Well, let me let me say this. There's a parallel that that i that I can draw with the first hundred and the next hundred, the next thousand.
Speaker: Yes. Very much like personal and professional growth. You grow in two directions. You grow like ah like a tree. You grow down with the roots and then you grow grow up with the trunk and the branches.
Speaker: In much the same way, the first 100 episodes have been an exploration of what does the message look like? How can we refine the vision? How can we fix the branding? I mean, we went through the Perfectory podcast. We transitioned to the Voice of Growth podcast. ah Some of the elements from where we record, now we're in the studio. Like all these things have been part of that process.
Speaker: The questions, the nature of the questions, how deep I go and what I want to tease out from the guests. Those have all been fully, and not fully explored, but those have been areas of exploration in the first 100. The next 100 will offer even more in-depth interviews with people that are very notable,
Speaker: We're talking about CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, former and current. We're talking about very prolific ah people in government that have a word to say. And I'm going to stay away from the politics per se.
Speaker: um and um I want to understand the person. Because just like business are is led by people ultimately that make decisions and they're aligned with their values and, and um you know, i won't get into the politics of it, but sometimes people think that the the almighty dollar is really at more at play.
Speaker: Same in business, right? But in in government, same thing. it's just It's people. It's people that are making decisions, that are that are sticking their neck out there, that are campaigning and all that and promises and broken promises and fake news and real news and there's so much there. So there's going to be a lot of guests.
Speaker: I want to get the the studio on the road. You know, we're sitting here in Alfie. It's a 40 foot motor coach. um That's our studio. I want to start going out to locations.
Speaker: San Diego, Las Vegas, ah going around the Horn to Albuquerque and maybe even Denver, maybe even Paso, spending time on the road to get to go to where these people are. Because as you know, when we do interviews on Riverside, a little bit is lost.
Speaker: ah a little bit of that that person-to-person essence that comes out. And so we want to take this on the road. We also want to do more in-person events, maybe a Q&A, maybe some workshops. I'm going to be doing more keynotes, more speaking events.
Speaker: So those are all things to look forward to in the next 100 episodes. I recently was telling someone about the podcast studio and they asked me, is that common for podcast hosts to have a mobile studio? And I told them, no, I don't know anyone else who has a podcast studio that can drive across the country. And it's going to be really cool to have guests that we can go and see their office space, see their company, meet their teams. It's
Speaker: really unique to be able to meet people where they're at. So I'm excited for that as well. Should be a lot of fun. Sure. as we wrap up this hundredth episode, is there anything else you want to share with the audience?
Speaker: Well, I think having 100th episode and the fact that it's my birthday and all that I've learned, all the conversations I've had the excitement be behind what is being built for the future, just the message of getting out there and doing it.
Speaker: I think talk is talk and there's ah there's a place for that. But I think for entrepreneurs, you gotta stick your neck out. And I've said this many times, life is a full contact sport.
Speaker: So is business. You gotta get out there and try. You gotta make mistakes. You know, in 200 years, no one will remember you. In 100 years, you know, the people that remember your voice will be will be gone.
Speaker: So, you know, these are things that, it sounds morbid, but it goes back to the memento mori side of of stoicism in that you shouldn't be afraid. It's not meant to be something that brings you down. It should actually build you up.
Speaker: When you're sitting on that fence and you're like, well, should I do this? Should I say something? Should I just do it? I mean, go back to Nike. Let's do it. I think it's really important for people to just to go out there and make it happen.
Speaker: Yes. Have a bias for action because confidence and proficiency are built through the reps, not necessarily something that you can read about or listen to podcasts.
Speaker: podcasts and how to do it unless you actually go out there and do it yourself. So it's been great to have the insights from this podcast. And even me being here today, I'm never in front of the camera. So it's very exciting for me to start to learn how to do that. And it's a challenge. So it's it's really exciting. it is a challenge. And I think that the more you do it, the more familiar you get with it.
Speaker: And the real magic is the flow state. Sometimes when I'm here interviewing people, 45 minutes an hour goes by and I didn't even, as I think I blinked and it was gone.
Speaker: And I mean to say that flow state is really important because when you start to have the confidence in yourself, like you said, when you start to have the, the sheer raw strength or talent, which comes from experience and failure, come together with a little bit of magic and luck.
Speaker: There's nothing better to have that in in your daily life. Well, thank you for being here today, Manny. Thank you very much. It's so exciting to celebrate and I'm excited for the next one hundred, thousand and hopefully more episodes. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: che Cheers. Cheers.
