Dany Garcia: The Bigger the Loss, The Bigger the Life

24:06Dany Garcia:Oh, that matters? What were the rules I wasn't aware of? And so, yeah, that was a big swing. I got the no. You took a big swing in college too. Yes. You went up and introduced yourself to a guy at a bar. Right. That's true. First of all, you said that you met him in the weight room. Right. And you happen to have met your current husband in the gym. It seems to be a vibe. I've been going to the gym, Danny. That's true. Where is he? He's there. That's so funny. Yeah, that is so funny. My husband and I talk about that all the time. Is your question, where is he? No. Well, yeah, I wish you could answer that one.

24:43But no, my question for you is, how did you have the cojones to go up? Did you give yourself a pep talk or did it seem totally natural to you to just go up and introduce yourself to a man?

24:55Dany Garcia:I didn't give myself a pep talk because I was on the varsity team. He was on a varsity team, another team. We were in the weight room all the time. I'm a senior. I know where I'm going. And I had been an athlete now at a university level, competing as a varsity level. And University of Miami is incredible education. And in addition, when you're an athlete, it's an incredible culture as an athlete. So for me, at that point, I was super comfortable. And I was training strong as well. We trained so hard as crew team. So I was able to do that. And I had been doing this executive business classes. I was supporting the executive education at the dean's office at the school business.

25:36Dany Garcia:So by my junior and senior year, I had all these exposure to CEOs. I was introducing myself. So I felt really like I had all these tools. And so going up to talk to a football player, I was like, hey, by the way, so geeky. I was like, hi, I'm Danny Garcia. I see you all the time. And he's like, oh, hi, nice to meet you. I see you all the time too. He's like, what's your major? I was like, Go international finance and marketing. He's like, what are you going to do when you graduate? I was like, I'm going to work for American Express Latin America. I was just like so comfortable. And then he's like, oh, great.

26:09Dany Garcia:And we were talking and he was like, do you have a phone? I was like, telephone? I was like, I do. I was like, can I call you? I was like, you can. It was funny. The beginning of 38 year friendship. But I was there with my team. The whole crew team was there. We were having a great time. So it didn't feel like a big ask or a big moment. It wasn't right in a room. And if it didn't work out, I was going back. and I had other friends there from the football team. So just that athlete environment, that athlete community can do a lot of great things. So, yeah. So that man ended up being Dwayne The Rock Johnson.

26:40Dany Garcia:That's right. Now I can imagine you tell him at that bar, you know exactly what you're going to do when you graduate and you're so confident. That has to be so infectious for him. I think it was, he speaks about it, that it was a defining moment. I think he had plans afterwards to do other things and he canceled his plans. actually after that moment. And he had not met someone like me before who was like so straight and this is what I'm going to do. Well, he's young, so let's see what everyone's responding to. But he always speaks to my agency, my little college agency that I had. Do you feel like at that time he had big dreams or do you feel like your agency, your big dreams sort of inspired that in him?

27:24Dany Garcia:Oh, DJ has always been a full, complete human. like you know a very special individual even in the weight room I remember seeing him and at that time we had incredible athletes on the University of Miami yeah that was a time it was incredible time but he had so much of an it so he had high expectations for what he was going to do in football and he was just starting that process he was a young individual I was young I think he was 19, 18 when I met him. So it was a matter of an 18-year-old who saw his sort of University of Miami career ahead of him and then his potentially NFL career ahead of him.

28:01Dany Garcia:So he had a great personality. So he had a lot going for him. I don't know that he at that moment was thinking massive global enterprise would be built. I was thinking I'm going to build a massive global enterprise in my head, but I think he could see what was just in front of him, which was pretty big. And you did exactly what you said you were going to do. You started working at Merrill Lynch. Yep. And while you're there, you do the very Danny thing of doing the most. Right. And you develop your own management firm. Right. During that time. I leave Merrill Lynch to start my own wealth management firm.

28:33Oh, I thought it was simultaneous. No.

28:35Dany Garcia:So once I was married and I had my daughter, I was like, I need more flexibility. And so in the Merrill Lynch, you know, which is pretty specific and structured, then I left to begin my own wealth management firm. But I do want to point out something. Merrill Lynch was very similar to me, 13, being like, okay, business, international finance. Merrill Lynch was like, okay, I'm going to learn so much here. Let's go and gather all this information and see what I can learn about the financial markets. Merrill Lynch, oosh, what an education, how to speak to people, how to do financial planning, how to organize your thoughts.

29:09Dany Garcia:They groomed and raised me. They did a lot for me. And that's when you decided, after you started your own firm, that you were going to part-time start managing Joanne's career. Once I left Maryland to start JDM, I was always involved in his career. So I was handling the finances of the household. I was handling all the professional aspects of the household. That's a lot of responsibility. It was a lot of responsibility. There is that work thing again. No boundaries. And so I was involved just naturally. He always invited me into it. And I had an opinion. I mean, when he was playing football, I was watching film and talking to him about performance and how the plays were developing.

29:46Dany Garcia:So that sort of input and that collaboration aspect was always a part of what we were doing. It wasn't later on as our relationship transitioned from being married to not being married. In that year, while we were going through our divorce, that DJ asked me to take over his career fully and architect his career. That is very interesting. So while you were getting divorced, he said, uh-uh. He said, would you mind continuing to manage and build out my career? and architect of my career? And I was like, absolutely. I had already been so invested. There was a lot. I was a partner with him with all these aspects and I enjoyed it so much.

30:23Dany Garcia:We had a friendship underneath that. So yeah, so he asked me too and I said, okay. Was there a learning curve at all? Oh, there was two things. Being in that position of leadership, natural for me. Learning and becoming accustomed to the intricacies of Hollywood, learning curve. Yes, that was. And then also getting Hollywood used to Danny Garcia. That was a big learning curve for Hollywood. That's a big part of what I want to jump into. But most people are told, don't work with your family. Don't mix finances and family. Don't mix friends and finances. You actually have love all around you. You built an empire with your brother, your ex-husband.

31:01Your current husband is in the mix.

31:03Dany Garcia:Yeah, absolutely. What do people get wrong about blending family and ambition? Ooh, I don't know. Maybe I can say what I think I got right. I think what we got right is the culture that everyone works very hard in the organization. So there is an aspect of that and there's an aspect of family, especially as you know, in the entertainment industry. It's so, so challenging. And we came so much from the outside into this industry, right? There's nothing traditional. From Dwayne coming from wrestling, myself on the business side, there was an aspect that I believe the intangible of who we were together would be more important than having an outsider come in and try and understand us.

31:46Dany Garcia:No one looked like us. No one had the background like us. But what was formulaic was how Hollywood works. So the hard part is the culture of who we are. So if I have the right family members around me, and I don't have all my family members, but I have the family members who are really excited to be around me working together, we could do special things. We could create special things. And so that's what I think we've done really well. And we also invest in our minds and our professionalism and how we're growing. But that history, I mean, there was a time at the University of Miami. I was there.

32:25Dany Garcia:Dwayne was there. Hiram was there. Hiram was on the field as the drum major. Dwayne was playing football. I was just graduating or have graduated. I mean, that shared history. And then we all have that same ambition together. it's an anchor the hollywood aspect of our industry will spiral you off right will have you lose your footing and our footing i think really sacred there's another element of this and i don't know how to perfectly word it i was in a long-term relationship with somebody and our work overlapped a lot and i understand so deeply being able to put aside the relationship for the sake of a goal because there's almost this like vocabulary you have.

33:10Dany Garcia:Right. Like you guys speak the same language. You have all these stories that you can bring up in meetings that nobody else knows. That's very true. But there's this other aspect that you have to be able to compartmentalize. Right. And do what needs to be done over feeling any of your feelings or dealing with anything. Absolutely. Especially when you work with your ex. Also, I think it's different for men and women. Yes. As a woman, and even though I know you're so tough, you have a soft side. Oh, yes. How did you work that out? How did you do what needs to be done? We both committed to be different people than who we were in the marriage.

33:46Dany Garcia:We had the aspiration and this appetite to build and do great things, but there was the honesty of, like, we can't do that if we are the same people. So if you were to look back now, this Danny versus Danny of 2006, this is a completely different human being. And Duane is a completely different human being. So that commitment, it has to go hand in hand. If you're casual and like, oh no, but we care for each other. We love each other. We're friends. That is just frosting. That is not going to cover it. You really do have to say, okay, am I going to dig the truth? Our marriage failed together. There was room for both of us inside to be like, okay, I want to be a different person.

34:31Dany Garcia:He wants to be a different person. So that was a benefit. All of a sudden, then you have history. So history is great, but history without trust of the human being is just history. But when you have trust of the human being and history, then you have a very powerful combination. But that becomes an agreement, right? That becomes work. And for me, as I talked about every other aspect, there was no way to to be successful in a new relationship unless I had unpacked and changed everything historically that I had done in my previous relationship. So I was benefiting myself all the way around. It was like, okay, I'm going to do this, but actually it's going to color my entire life and just put me in a better position.

35:12Dany Garcia:And do I feel the same way? And then our spouses support that, know that and support that and know that they're in their lanes. They can see us together and be like, Look at those two friends. But there's nothing in our interactions that speak to who we were 18 years ago. And you trusted, because you trusted yourself that you would make the effort to change. And you trusted that he would make the effort? Yes. And I didn't have to trust because he was like, I'm making this effort. He was doing it. But it was where I was like, and if it doesn't, I think I can handle this all. Like, I made the big bet on me.

35:47Dany Garcia:That's why I laugh when we were in our meeting with divorce attorneys where they were like, what are you doing by yourself? Because I took nothing. I just took my last name. And then DJ and I agreed that we would cover our daughter's expenses equally. That was it. Wow. That was it. So the bet was huge. The freedom was everything. And I have bet on myself many times like that. But the payoff has been, I sit here today as that woman, I would never have changed it. Can I ask you something without getting too in your business? Okay, you're in my business. I invite you. Thank you. Yeah, go ahead. Thank you for that.

36:21Yeah. So if you trust that there's this evolution, why not try and make the marriage work?

36:29Dany Garcia:It's actually an excellent, excellent way. Okay. I didn't want to press you. So it's really important. By the time DJ and I had gotten divorced, it was clear we weren't meant to be that way. But the love and the friendship, So I think if it had been like, not talking, then you'd be like, ooh, but the love and the friendship made the transition feel more melancholy and like, oh, appropriate. Like, it's okay. I'm going to make sure you're okay. And he's like, I'm going to make sure you're okay. We're going to make sure our daughter's okay. So it gave permission for that transition to happen smoothly, which was a great thing.

37:07Dany Garcia:I think that's the gift of how we transitioned out of our relationship. It was clear. We were like, ah, I see. He's starting to talk about it a little bit more. And he recently said he was really going through it during your divorce. Yes. What were you going through? Same thing. A little bit different, though, actually, I believe he spoke about being depressed. I went right into my try mode. Took the big L. What am I unpacking? What am I learning? And if you also remember, or you may not remember, but I was still in that architecture space. So like guided the divorce, guided how the documents were, looking over Simone, how is the household running, what is happening with the finances.

37:46Dany Garcia:So there was a lot to keep my plate busy. And at the same time, I was working with an individual who has become my soul sister, my best friend, moving myself forward through my belief system. So I had started doing that. So it was a little easier for me because I was like, okay. And every week I'd be like, oh, great. All right. Yeah, I cleared that. I understand that belief system. I took care of that. What's next? And that helped me to just move forward. Do you look back on that time and think, like, man, Danny really had a lot on her shoulders? Or do you look back with pride? First of all, I love the narratives that come out because you know it was still a mess, right?

38:24Dany Garcia:You know, there were nights that you were like crying. You're like, oh my God. But I look back at that time and it reminds me that I can still trust myself. Because I still wake up every day and be like, okay, what are we going to do? Part of me felt like when I was putting the pieces back in hindsight, that struggle was preparing you for what was next. I think that's right. I love that observation. That struggle, which was an emotional struggle, it also shaped standards inside of me. Like expectations, you know, what I want in my life, how I want things to feel. It was some of my greatest work was during that period, I would say.

39:05Dany Garcia:Really, it started in 2006 up into 2010 when I met my husband, who would be my boyfriend at that time. It was, whoosh, my DNA was transformed. Yeah. Yeah.

39:28so you start taking meetings to level up his career yes and i read that in those meetings duane would pitch an idea and then he'd leave the room and quite literally pass the ball to you if we're talking athletic terms what were those early boardroom conversations like and what went

39:46Dany Garcia:well what went wrong like can you paint a picture for me i think with later on he'd be like you got this but actually we took so many meetings together you know and at that time sort of his profile was who is this incredibly massive man popular wrestler and you know what's going on here so he would start the meeting and then i would start talking and then people are like okay who's she oh wait she's in the next life you couldn't hold anyone's attention and in fact i started telling my agents, please prepare everyone that I am his ex-wife and I'm managing him. We're working together. Make sure, just talk to them a few times because it would become this thing where we would lose them for the first five to 10 minutes until I was speaking enough.

40:29Dany Garcia:And then I started talking about, okay, well, let's look at this film. What's the return on investment? What's the scope? Well, here's the salary. This is what we're thinking. And as you began to get deeply into the conversations, then the executives on the other side were hearing a conversation that was 100 % beneficial to them and they had not heard before. So I think it took like years, literally, for people to understand. Did you feel like you weren't being taken seriously? Were you frustrated? I wasn't frustrated because when you speak value, it eventually clicks. It was just a matter of like, keep talking.

41:03Dany Garcia:They're almost done. This guy's almost done. He's right now thinking about how much he hates his ex-wife how is this woman here and then soon I'd be like click and then I'd see the click and they'd be like oh so wait what you're saying is this is I'm like yeah and then we would get there so yeah I learned patience but at the same time I was like oh my god look at these rooms I mean I was in new spaces and it was really fun it's not like I expected to be treated in one way or the other I had never been in those rooms before but I could understand human nature and as Duane and I especially in these first number of years I would sort of begin to drop some philosophical concepts as far as whether it's social media and how's Duane showing up.

41:40Dany Garcia:The room would get quiet. It would stop. And I would just sit back. And then Duane would be like, yes. So isn't that incredible? And they'd be like, yes. Oh my God, you're right. He would have to come and do the second beat to get people to be like, move your brain forward. Catch it. Think, think, think. So he was such a great partner. But it did take Hollywood a little bit of time. It's so funny. We've always had this narrative of Hollywood making room for Dwayne. It's later on in life that we've all began to understand that Hollywood had to make a lot of room for me as well. And I appreciate that.

42:13Well, you made it undeniable and that's exhausting on your end. And I know you're so gracious and humble that you wouldn't say it, but I deal with stuff on such a small scale compared to you and the amount of tears and frustration. and can you believe behind the scenes to my girlfriends? I can't imagine how you were feeling. Like all these men not getting what you saw so clearly because you guys architected this. I mean, you did it with Henry Cavill right after Dwayne. So like you proved that this sort of new era, new age, your idea worked.

42:50Dany Garcia:Yeah. And you proved it once again. It seems like you must've dealt with a lot. I dealt with a number of things, right? I dealt with a lot of my ideas being taken and spoken by other people. That was probably most frustrating, that I would see my strategies. And I used to say my thoughts are gold, right? My words are my currency. And people were stealing my currency, which is a sign of like, what is it? Imitation is the highest form of flattery. I guess so is plagiarism. But I had people who were speaking all the knowledge I would drop. But the thing that they weren't doing is they were never bringing it back to me.

43:29Dany Garcia:So I would then end up, let's say, going into an agency. And people are like, oh, wait, what do you do? And I was like, I know that you guys just had a meeting. And you literally heard all my strategy. So that I found to be really frustrating. At the same time, we were experiencing a success that I had never seen before. So there was in me this idea and hope that maybe my time is coming. It was such a different thing to be developing. For example, the idea of human IP and building an entire corporate ecosystem around them. We got to be the first. We changed the entire industry. The Kardashians came after us.

44:06Dany Garcia:Everyone came after us. And any major entertainment actor is looking at this model. And I get the satisfaction of knowing I was that first case study. The personal. I don't know if everyone knows that. But I get my satisfaction. So I think if the success wasn't as big, then maybe trying to handle the pain would have been a lot. But it was this incredible success and this belief that my time will come. And then a number of years ago, I realized my time is never going to come. Whoa, tell me about that. So I had a moment where I realized the individuals or the people who I thought were like, okay, now it's your turn.

44:47Dany Garcia:the systems weren't ever built for that moment to happen if that happened it would literally detract from team members and so I had this incredible heartbreaking moment where I was like oh my god I had built all this and this underlying hope that my architecture my strategy my philosophy the world would know was never going to happen I call that my third death and in that came the ideas of, okay, are you ready now to be in front of the camera? You have to be your own voice. And in your own voice, you will not take from anything that you've built. Hollywood is about, if I get power, I'm taking it from you.

45:32Dany Garcia:I needed to create a system where influence and power could be created, but it didn't detract from anything that I had built. And that was a whole new mindset that came out. How'd you do that? Slowly. First of all, there was a lot of tears. Pretty much, I think about almost a week of depression of just like being so sad and trying to understand. I do so much writing and journaling and I took the time to look at what I had written in the past, who I was in the past. And all of a sudden I realized all of that philosophy wasn't wasted. I just had to become the client. I had to be the one. I had to take it and do it myself.

46:13Dany Garcia:By the way much harder than it sounds but I had to be that person. So you know the ideas that came out of Donnymas, the way the organization was changing, the way I started showing up, what I was doing with the XFL which became the UFL, all these things started to build. That was such a big moment for you. I was probably one of the purest examples of a Danny Garcia move purely for Danny Garcia and the love that Danny Garcia has for something. Man, isn't that been a payoff? So yeah, that changed everything. An investment in a system that said someone's going to pull me up, I realized was never going to happen.

46:56You created this mini doc and there's this moment in it that I loved where one of the players was like, who is that? Who is that? And you're like, I'm the owner.

47:07Dany Garcia:Oh, it was that little key skill. Are you a movie star? Are you a singer? And I was like, no, I own the league. And they were like, oh. It was like such a good mic drop moment. It was so fun. But it felt like a culmination. Yeah. Because I feel like everything you had ever done, all your skills really could all be used so well. It's true. For the XFL. And then you're like, no, I'm the owner. It was so fun. UFL is a master class for me of everything, of a sport that is breathing every day, of the enormity of having 500 athletes, you know, 400 plus in season, waiting to hear that all the planes have landed and everyone's back in Arlington because they're up there.

47:58Dany Garcia:the budget, looking at ticketing. It has been incredible. Last year, we had a new partner come in, Mike Rapoli, who owns Noble and Body Armor, et cetera. And he was taking a big position. And even working with a new partner, this sport, it just keeps giving. Like, it is fantastic. And it was a great place for me to recognize that my value, I could put it anywhere. Like, it walks. whether I'm talking to my coaches, whether I'm helping one of my players who just hurt his ankle into the locker room to get taped, whether I'm in the conditioning room, in the strength room, looking at the equipment, trying it out, feeling it.

48:42Dany Garcia:It is so much fun. It is so big. Talk about advancing the human experience. It is. And it is a purest expression of advancing the human experience because it's my athletes, it's my coaches, it's the team, it's my co-owners, It's, you know, the fans. You're trying to impact everyone. So, yeah, it's been phenomenal. I love it so much. I can tell. When you talk about it, you get amped. I'm so, yeah. It's cool to hear you talk about it as an experience, too. Yes. Like, one of the things I learned from learning from you, from researching, was you think of everything as this 360 experience. Right. And now the UFL is an embodiment of that.

49:25Dany Garcia:Yeah. I would always say, you know, there's a convergence between the film or the sport or the consumer product and the consumer. And what I love to focus and manage is what I call the confluence. What happens when they come together, which is actually quite challenging. It's very nuanced because you have this, you have that. It's like, what are you influencing? So when it comes together, because when it comes together, that's where the magic is created and that's where history is. It's hard to get it right. It's incredibly hard to get it. And if you have a number of athletes throwing a ball around, they're just bodies throwing a ball around on a field.

50:02Dany Garcia:You need these fans. And when this comes, the experience that they have together, what people go home about is what they remember. It's what makes a difference. And so, yeah, the UFL is absolutely a place for that. I mean, it happens with film. It happens with Taramana, Zoa, but really happens in sports. I mean, speaking of sports, it's a piece of your identity, which is athleticism. Yeah. I was really excited to learn that you didn't become a bodybuilder until you were 42 years old. That's correct. Right. So what did becoming a bodybuilder in your 40s give you that it wouldn't have given you in your 20s?

50:41Dany Garcia:I think it would have given it to me in my 20s. Because I wanted to be a bodybuilder since I was like 13. Might have been 14. We have to look at the notes. Could be 15. Let's say. Since you were a young girl. Yeah, I opened up a magazine and I saw Miss Olympia. And I was like, the strength and the physique. I had no idea a woman could look and be that strong. I have a lot of bodybuilding friends who say that they remember that moment where it went, where it just turned on the bodybuilding light. And so really, I was an athlete who was just always trying to get in the weight room. I ran track, but I was out there doing leg extensions in the gym.

51:14Dany Garcia:And I didn't need to do that running track. I just didn't have access to it. And also, I was taking care of my family. So it didn't seem to be there. But then all of a sudden, my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, opened up a door. And I was like, yes. And my daughter was older. And I was like, now is the time to finally live the dream, to shape my muscles, to step on stage, to be a bodybuilder. To look at that magazine and be like, wow, Danny Garcia is going to be that image and bring it into my life. Was that part of you being front and center? For me, it was less about that and more about a dream.

51:54Dany Garcia:Like the dream that I had since I was such a young person. Because being like, all right, I need to be a millionaire to take care of my family. Those were responsibilities that I knew could impact lives. Looking to become a bodybuilder, nobody understood that. That was just me going, oh, and wanting that. And then everything else was like, okay, make sure. It's important. I love my family. And that was the dream, the Danny Garcia dream that just kept holding until it was the time. And then it was time. And it was great. It was so hard. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God. I can only imagine. It was so hard.

52:28Dany Garcia:It was. The amount of protein you had to eat. Just the, it was the space of you could not use food for anything else other than fuel. Because you can't have a glass of wine. You can't have a slice of chocolate cake. It all comes down to your diet and your training. And diet is 85 % of it. So, you know, the nine months of prep, after I did that, I knew I could do anything. I literally knew I could do anything. Yeah. That's the feeling. Yeah. I trained for a triathlon after a breakup. Yes. And the thing I got out of it was that. Yes. It was that actually my mind would give up before my body would.

53:04And if I could get over that.

53:05Dany Garcia:Yes. And I was like, oh, I'm the only one stopping me. Right. You know what? But you just identified the biggest gate that many women have not gone through. The experience that says, if I do that, I can do anything. I can tell you there is a handful of people who have not been given that gift. But once an individual has that gift, their lives are completely different than anyone else. Because you carry it inside you. It's that calmness of like, oh yeah, I can do anything. I think I remember when my husband was training me, there were a few times where I was like, am I going to die? He's like, I don't think so.

53:41Dany Garcia:I think you are going to recover fine. I was like, because it was like such a workout. And I was like, I think I'm going to die. He's like, you're not going to die. You may feel really terrible right now. And I had a number of that. It was so hard. Did you want to cry sometimes? It was so hard. I didn't want to cry from the hard because God, I loved it so much. But I was like, this isn't so incredibly hard. And at the same time, I was still running a massive portfolio. So the juggling of both. But no, it was so great, though. It's the gift of athletics. It's the gift of athletics, yeah. I'm not sure if you came across this, but I'm excited to share it with you.

54:18Dany Garcia:One of the great things about being an athlete is this idea that you learn without any emotion that no one's going to give you the win. It is so fundamental. That's why we train. That's why we compete. other teams not gonna be like here you go love you you get the win right and it is this gift where you don't even think about so of course you prepare and you have no emotional drag that oh you have to do this you need recovery you got to rest because you know you have to take all these steps so that you can win you may also go around being like dude we're totally gonna win but you don't say it without knowing you're gonna do all these things to get the win and that transition

55:13You were just named on the Hollywood Reporter's list of 100 most powerful women in entertainment last year. If you can answer this without any humility, what's one thing that you do better than the other 99?

55:24Dany Garcia:Oh my goodness. Or different. Or different. I will say, I think I do this better than the other 99. I don't even know who the other are. So bless you. I'm going to assume in my mind, I can go into any room and talk to any leader, any executive, anyone, male or female, and not think about, oh, who are they? Do I have to do this? Do I need to prove this, et cetera, especially after our glorious dynamite. But when it comes to executives, business leaders, world leaders, I can go into any room and get the job done. And I can do it in a way that actually gets the job done and have the difficult conversations.

56:03Dany Garcia:I can just look at another person and treat them like a human being and move things along. I do that really well. It seems like that's always been your superpower, like the way you went up to Dwayne at the bar. You know, maybe it wasn't. I didn't even realize it because I do it comfortably. People ask me all the time, how do you do that? You know, when the XFL was starting, they called me Mariano Rivera. I was the closer, the Sandman, because if we were getting a coach, we were getting inside, they would send me in to close the deal. But I was so confident because in the end, I never closed a deal.

56:32Dany Garcia:I just shared with them what I hope to accomplish. And there is a thing about who is saying the words and the authenticity of it makes a safe space for things to happen. And I've done so much that I have a really big safe space. And that allows me to be the closer. You are the closer. That's such a good title. I read someone refer to the way you've sculpted your business with seven book productions in the Garcia companies and all of its attracted brands that you approach it as if you're tending to a muscle in your body. I thought that was very cool. Who said that? That is fascinating. I think that's really correct.

57:10What's a business muscle that people forget to strengthen, you think?

57:14Dany Garcia:If you really are going to training and you're looking at that, you're looking at quality of repetition, but you're also looking at quality of life, right? So a great physique requires great food, great rest, knowing how you're training, great environment, greatness and shape come from a great environment. So as I look at our brands and our portfolio, it's extremely important to me, how is the culture? Are our team members growing? I've invested in so much so that they are different people, right? My responsibility, and this is very much bodybuilding, my responsibility is not just the work they do for me, but the life they are living while they're doing this work for me.

57:59Dany Garcia:It's that 360. You can't beat the crap out of your muscles. You can't be like, grow, look great, if you're not giving it the respect and taking a fiduciary responsibility. Do you have any rituals before meetings? Is there anything that you do either to open or close that you found has really worked? I had a mentor one time say you always have to take a breath before you walk in because your breath is what regulates you. So good. Let me think. I don't have rituals before, not right before, but I do really enjoy like diving into the universe of the person I'm going to meet before I go in. Not so much from a strategic, but just like the joy of the person.

58:44Dany Garcia:I'm so excited. My PR team knows this. I'm like, what did they write? Send me their articles. I want to see the things. Usually there's not time for me to bring it up because we have like 20 minutes, but I'm always fascinated by the world. What is the context? If it's a studio exec, Like, what's their slate? What is going on? I'm never looking to sell or close. I'm looking to see if we can create together. And that makes it very rich when I have context about the people and what's going on. But I love the breath thing. It's actually very good, very smart. I love etymology, like the root of words.

59:18Yeah. And conspire has sort of a negative connotation. But in Latin, it actually means to breathe together. And so I kind of think like breathe and let's breathe. I always think about that before I walk into a room. Like let's do this together. Right. Let's get on the same page. I don't know. It's beautiful.

59:35Dany Garcia:It's pretty good that you like it because you're a journalist too. Smart. Yeah, I'm a word nerd. Love that. When you walk into a room, do you clock the exit, people, snacks, energy? What are you clocking first? When I walk into a room, if I know there's people there that I know, I'm looking for them because usually I have to hug and kiss everyone. And you're very warm. You're a good hugger. I usually do that. But I will tell you, once I walked into a room, I will clock exits. It's so funny that you say, I will clock exits for myself and for everyone. So I do continuously. That's the mama bear.

1:00:12Yeah.

1:00:13Dany Garcia:When my daughter was born, later on in life, I took hand-to-hand combat fighting. Whoa. Because I did not want to put the responsibility of just protecting my daughter on my daddy or security. So I was like, let me get this down so they can run with Simone if anything happens. And so it's part of my fiduciary. Like it's a little the darker side of sort of this fiduciary role that I take. Yeah. You do have to think of everything. You have to think about everything. Yeah. How has your definition of success changed as you've gotten more responsibility? Definitely. When I was young, it would have been monetary success.

1:00:49Dany Garcia:Now it doesn't have a completion. So it's more tied to what is the holistic health of what I'm doing, the sustainability, the frictionlessness. Like, did we get from point A to point B in two steps or did we smash against the side of the bumper rails? And if I can get the teams or the executions down the road as easy as possible, and everyone's feeling great, and the morale is great, and the culture is great, then I find that as success. Because what happens after that has really become symptomatic. Whether it's sales, whether it's revenue, whether it's success at the box office, it is symptomatic to what's happening right at the current start trying to manage that.

1:01:34I love that you said you fire and promote yourself all the time. And I know that you do that. I'm my worst boss. Part of that you said was because you were trying to create more time.

1:01:43Dany Garcia:Yes. Which I understand that. What would it take for you to fire yourself from everything and just sit in Hawaii or sit somewhere? I don't know because if I sat in Hawaii, I'd be like, what does Hawaii need? So much of my career in the portfolio are actual natural expressions of the fun I have. They're really like, oh, what are we going to do today? God Save the Queen is such an expression of that. Yeah, that's a good one. First of all, the hilarity of being like, I had no idea the United Kingdom national anthem was called God Save the Queen. This is amazing. Talk about small town girl and sick of sun.

1:02:18Dany Garcia:But I was like, what a great title. It is. It should be the title of your book. I was like, oh, and I just love the idea that the Lord and everyone was like, please, God, save this queen. I was like, oh, I'm taking that with me. We're all here for this moment. So you're remarried now. We've talked about your husband, Dave, a little bit. I didn't know that he trained you, which is very cool. How do you feel different in this marriage versus your last marriage? Oh, goodness. This is the marriage that I didn't know this was what marriage was like. I always say with my husband, if I knew I could dream as big, I would have dreamt him.

1:02:53Dany Garcia:Like, I didn't know that I could dream that. Like, I didn't know. I had no idea. That makes me want to cry. That makes me want to cry, too. but he's just an incredible human. And he has so much solid strength. You have that. So it's so nice that you met someone who has that. I'm so lucky. But let's just say I'm not a glass of water. I'm more of a spicy margarita. You don't walk into a relationship like I'm not that easy. The life is loud. Who's your ex-husband? And my husband was unbothered through it all. So sweet. So strong. Yeah, he is my soulmate. Did you know right away? I was just overcome with how different.

1:03:34Dany Garcia:We were friends, really good friends. And then we started to get serious. Once we started to get serious, I think I loved him within four to five weeks. You have to really love him for him to train you and for you guys not to get in fights. Oh, yes. You know, later on, he did stop training me, which was good. Once I got really knowledgeable, I'd be like, okay, I'm going to take it from here. But he was masterful. training is like a really unique relationship for a husband or wife to do it it's really hard we don't train at the same time now we train at different times but you know at that point he was training me as a mentor I mean he really was so incredibly knowledge about body and the physique and his discipline and execution is insane and so yeah he was a great conduit he presented me with the opportunity to fulfill my dream and then he took me through that was a gift it is very cool to because you had been fulfilling so many other people's dreams that you met this man and he said do this for you yeah it was your dream it wasn't for anybody else like he really saw you yeah oh thank you for saying that it's so nice i feel so validating that's very much true that's what he did yeah for someone who exudes so much strength when do you feel most vulnerable again big swings come with great vulnerability it's hand in hand they don't tell you that on the sheet so So I would say commonly now, as I'm negotiating this physique as what I call a civilian, a non-competitor, and a woman who's in her second half of her 50s going through these hormonal changes and seeing things in my body and trying to manage them and not getting the same results, my physique and my strength have been so much of me.

1:05:19Dany Garcia:it's fascinating to understand that I have to rewrite an entire book and it's taking time. So it's almost like I leaned on my strength as like the easy, like I'm strong, I'm physically strong. Now that strength has to be more so internally strong so that I can rebuild my physique with all of the variables that change when you're in menopause or heading post-menopause. So yeah, that was something I never thought about. I was just like, yeah, you see that? Now it's like, oh, wait, okay, I need a little more of this. And so that does give me a little bit of a chink. And that's daily. But the gift of it is I'm writing, I'm cracking new codes.

1:06:01Dany Garcia:At some point, I'm going to be able to tell other women, this is how I did it. Yeah. We need a book. We need a book from you. I need to read it. Other women need to read it. As soon as I get this physique thing down, I feel like I'm a year away, maybe 12 months away. Really? Yeah, it really is a transitional thing. I want to talk about your daughter. Yes. Because when you write about her on Instagram, you gush. I do. I do gush. Like it's the only time that I really see you write with just exuberance. You guys seem like you have such a special bond. We do. She's taught me so much. And she's just joining the Garcia company.

1:06:39Dany Garcia:She is? Yes. Next week. Because she stopped wrestling. She did. How did you feel about that decision? I was really excited for her. You know, she had known she was signed when she was 18. And she was doing this thing where she was at the WWE NXT and going to college at the same time. And she was like, Mom, I can't do both. I'm never going to accelerate to get on television. She was, I think, 20, 21 when she told me that. I was like, I trust you're an adult. So she had a plan. She was like, I'm going to do this for about seven years. She goes, and then I want to see what's next. So she got to her period of time.

1:07:10Dany Garcia:And she's like, OK, time for the second chapter. And I was telling her, I was like, baby, you crushed us all. We were not making the money you made at 18, 19, 20. She was the youngest professional athlete in our family. Now I'm so excited to see what this next chapter is for her. And she's bringing us her insights and who she is. And yeah, it's going to be great. So is she going to be working with you day to day? She's going to be working, not with me. I'm smart enough to have other executives be her boss, my president, and my chief content officer will be overseeing her. So we know to just give her a little bit of space.

1:07:44Dany Garcia:But yeah, she's going to be great. The word stewardship kept coming up for me when I looked at your portfolio. I know you said every company that you're looking to advance the human experience. It's so clear that you require greatness from yourself, from those around you, from your daughter. And you give it. It is a fair exchange. What do you think stops people from their greatness, from reaching their highest potential? First of all, I do want to acknowledge that asking for greatness and expecting greatness, it's challenging. it's not a natural state of human state so I give great respect and honor and love to my teammates to everyone who surrounds me and says okay we agree that tomorrow we're going to be better than we were today yeah many people are like I don't agree to that and it's totally fine but I think first of all if you've never had an experience where you're like oh I can do anything greatness can be very difficult I think also greatness the definition has been hijacked by people I'm so lucky that people are like, you achieve greatness and you strive for greatness.

1:08:48Dany Garcia:But the simplicity is I just try every day. So there's a big narrative to something that's very quiet and simple and maybe sounds like something that comes from somebody who lost or is a loser in life. I'm just going to try and be better tomorrow. You know, there's a lot of influencers or public voices are like, are you going to try? Are you going to do? I'm like, dude, I'm going to track and that'll get to the do and I think asking someone maybe even framing it that way I'm very human and I'm human person with a lot of insecurities who had to get over a lot of things and had to grow and all I did was try so when I speak to someone and I'm like hey will you join us this is what I'm going to ask is I'm going to ask you to try every day with my Donnie Moss team members I was very clear.

1:09:37Dany Garcia:They're wonderful executives. And I said, I want you for the 25 % you haven't accomplished. I honor you for the 100 % of what you've done, but it's the 25 % that you haven't done that's going to change the world for me. You speak so beautifully to people. Thank you. That's very rare. Thank you. I've seen that. I appreciate that. Yeah. I take that as a high compliment coming from you. I was like thinking, I can't even imagine a boss speaking to me that That's so cool. I honor what you have done and I want you for the 25 % you have. It feels like you invested in me. Yes. The investment is real. That's so cool.

1:10:15So at the end of your documentary, you actually talk about this trying.

1:10:18Dany Garcia:Yes. And I know it's one of your superpowers. What will you try next? What I am trying next, I'm actually in the middle of trying it right now, is to be the creative director on my fashion brand. to really design, to actually have, this is what I want the clothes to look like. Not just like, okay, let's have this style, but to actually pen and paper and say, I want these designs to flow. This is what I want to see. I'm really excited about that. Me too. I'm excited about it too. Especially because I can't draw. But I'm going to pull it together. I'm going to find a way. You will find someone who draws.

1:10:52Dany Garcia:Yes. And I will pull pictures and I will do it. I can see it. And it's amazing to be in a space where I have an opportunity to just be an artist, like create purely and trust that who I am as a human, I don't have to consumer test it, but just be purely raw in the creation of a piece and then say, here, I made this. I hope all of you consumers love it and just go for that experience. So I'm pretty excited about that. Well, it's that word experience, right? You're handing them not just a piece of clothing, a whole experience. That's very true. Okay, I have some rapid fire for you. Okay, I'm ready.

1:11:29The last thing you bought for under seven bucks.

1:11:32Dany Garcia:Oh, I'm obsessed with this little game that I play on my phone. This highway game. And I literally had to buy some coins for like$4.99. I think it was yesterday. That's really funny. Yeah. A business you wish you had thought of. Oh, let's see. I wish I'd owned the Women's Hockey League. It's a professional hockey league. I wish that was mine. So bad. Maybe it can't be. I know it's a single lead to ownership, but man, there's always a way. A movie that makes you cry. If I know a movie is going to make me cry, I try not to watch it. I'm highly empathetic. So when someone's uncomfortable in a film, I'm like deeply uncomfortable.

1:12:11Dany Garcia:Oh, it's the worst. I have to like sort of monitor myself. This is so funny and this is not sophisticated at all because people can talk about Hamnet and you know, there's incredible movies. I'm still torn up about Bruce Willis dying in Armageddon. And that just destroyed me. I so get that. Right? Yes. I was like, it's been a long time, but I still will zip past that scene. And I'm like, did we really need that payoff? Did we need to lose him? Did we? I agree. Yeah. Was it emotional for you to watch Dwayne in the last movie? Because he had emotional scenes. Yeah. Boy, that was incredible. It was a lot of unpacking.

1:12:46Dany Garcia:You know, when we had the screening, I was talking to DJ. But for the grace of God, there was so much dysfunction in that. I was like, that was us as kids. That was the 22-year-old Danny, the 19-year-old Dwayne. Like, I could see it. And also the early wrestling when he wasn't with the WWE, but he was like going around town. And even though he wasn't involved in drugs, he didn't have a drug problem. But there was aspects to that life that reminded me so much. And then just the codependency, the unhealthiness. It was quite a bit. And then knowing his father, knowing the challenges his father had and what he was drawing from to play those roles.

1:13:24Dany Garcia:So it was interesting to watch it as a woman who was deeply involved in his history from 18 years on. I couldn't watch it as a producer. I watched it as like someone who had known him since he was 18. It was different for you. Yeah, it was a lot. Who's the family member that wins a bench press contest? It's going to be Dave. Really? Yeah, my husband is like... Go Dave. He is strong like a tank. What's your go-to comfort food? Cuban food, black beans, rice. Palomilla, cafe con leche. That is deep comfort food. And then ice cream. I love ice cream. Me too. Yeah, deeply. What in your life humbles you the fastest?

1:14:03Dany Garcia:My daughter. Easily. What is one thing every woman should try once? They should try something where they're like, wow, now I can do anything. Or I would love women to try something that maybe historically looks like something a man does. Just to give it a try and be like, oh, I can do that. I can drive around the track at NASCAR. Maybe learn how to break someone's neck. Okay, maybe not. You know what I'm saying? Like just these traditions. Break it down. Break somebody's neck. Yeah, break. That was my training. Break it down for a second and try that role that maybe no one expected you to do. What is a book you've read that changed your life?

1:14:40Something you think everybody should read?

1:14:42Dany Garcia:There's a book by Dr. David Hawkins called Power Versus Force. That book changed my life. That book just broke down attractor patterns and energy in a way that I was like, I feel this. I read it from 2007 on when I was going through my divorce. And DJ read it as well. It was really incredible. I haven't heard that one. I'm going to add it to my list. Yeah, add it. It has a very specific philosophy, but there's a sensibility to it. And it's really great. Will you grab the question everything card game next to you? Yes. Feel free to shuffle whatever you want, pick whichever one calls to you. It's this one.

1:15:18Dany Garcia:Okay. Shaboom. Ooh, what ordinary moment throughout your day brings you great joy? Well, that's easy. It's whenever I turn the corner in my house and I see my husband. Like literally, I'm always like, there's my husband. He gives you great joy. You have so much to share with the world. And I'm so grateful that you shared your time with me. Thank you. Oh, you're so welcome. I received that. And what an honor. That is so great. Oh, I'm so tickled. You do such great work. Keep going. more you, better for the world. Thanks. I see it. Thank you.

1:15:55Okay, you know what time it is. Today's a good day to have a good day. I'll see you next week.

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