How You Can Live Your Life to the Fullest & Create Meaningful Relationships w/ Cameron Hughes

0:00Roger Federer's agent called me and said hey do you want to surprise Roger Federer and I'm like are you Is this a prank call? Bill Gates and Roger Federer on the sidelines in between their exhibition game. And there's a video of Roger and Bill, like school kids, laughing, watching me. Like, look at the guy, you know. He is the king of cheer. Cameron is, for 29 years, cheered on NBA Finals, Wimbledon. He's been at the U.S. Tennis Open, Olympic Games. He's the crazy cheering guy, swinging shirts, ripping them off, surprising the crowd. I was about to start a job and the night before I was supposed to start, I quit.

0:35Something in me believed that this is what I was meant to do. Don't be afraid of being yourself all the time with everyone. Don't change. Part of success is believing in yourself. And Cameron Hughes is the king of believing in yourself. That's what we're going to learn today. So Cameron, how do you, after all the cheering and all this stuff, define success? It's waking up every day knowing I have an opportunity to put a smile, share laughter, and create good vibes and energy with people. And whether it's at an event or just in life, like I've worked a whole life to get to that point. You know, when you look back at your story and you go back to your mom and everything like that, do you think that helped define your success?

1:18Or how did it come to that wanting to help people smile? Wow. Yeah. I mean, I had my mom passed away when I was just turned like when I was 16. And she was all about joy and leading with the heart, Brad. And I know in life, like I think that's a lot of what success is. If you lead with your heart, you know, you're trying hard, you know, you're giving your best, you know, you care. And I care a lot about people. I care a lot about connection. And I think that my success in life has come from people realizing that he's, he's you know it's the biggest buzzword we know but authentic real natural you know that's it's not an act you know when I perform at the big stadiums I genuinely want people to have more fun and laugh and cheer and feel connection to the community is there a point where you think you chose to be successful in life wow I mean I think there's a point where I just completely chose this direction.

2:20So yes, but like, I didn't have a plan B, I was about to start a job at a university at a restaurant. And I had a great connection. I knew the president of the restaurant, it was a Tex-Mex place, big chain in Canada. And the night before I was supposed to start, I quit. I'm like, this is my road. This is what I'm meant to do. And it was a great bad decision, right? I went all in. And I just something, Brad, in me believed that this is what I was meant to do. I had no idea how, right? But I knew there was something in me that I had to choose this path because I'd had some success clues, right? I had some hits.

3:00And the more you get the hits, the more you believe, the more you put yourself out there. You know, it's interesting. A lot of people won't back themselves. They will go for the corporate safe gig. What do you think it was that gave you the confidence to back yourself, to go your own way? I don't say this to be joking, but I didn't have any talent. You know, like I'm right. I'm not like the guy that's like, you know, I'm not like the major numbers guy. I'm not, you know, I'm not an office guy per se that's going to be sitting there and analyzing stuff in a boardroom. That's not my brain. My dad also like worked in the public service in Canada.

3:39I grew up in Ottawa, the capital, and he chose the safe route, right? And so many of us, as you know, we know, model the people that are around us. And I didn't want that route. And I think that was a great reminder. And also on that note, it's also why it took my dad a long time to go, hey, this is a great idea, Cam, you're going to kill it. Right? Hey, Brad, can you imagine that conversation? Hey, dad, I think I'm going to cheer at stadiums for a living. right? No, it doesn't. You know, I know I've got five kids and so when they they're looking for their passion and there's the dad side of me, which is well, you know, and then there's the other side of it.

4:20Yeah, cool. Chase your dreams. Go after it type thing. When you look at your success, because it's easy to be number one in a field if you're the only one doing it, but you're not really the only one doing it right now. What is it? Is there a formula for success that you think, or is there a method or stuff that's involved? You know, I believe the first one for me, I really like strongly, strongly believe it's the showing up concept of like early days of my career, we didn't have the internet like we do now. I was sending VHS copies of my tape to teams and organizations. I'm sure you're familiar with like those moments back in the day.

5:00And the answer was always no, or they wouldn't even respond. So I started to show up at events. I started to show up at the right events not just to perform and show what the value I could bring, which was a big part of my success belief system, was that I also believed that I was bringing value to those teams, right? And eventually, as I started to study it a bit more and realized, like, you know, what solution am I solving for them, right? On a Wednesday night at a sporting event, it's going to be a little quiet. But, hey, do you guys need some extra energy? as opposed to in the early days, I used to say, I'm crazy.

5:38I'm funny. I'm nuts. I'm going to, it's like, no, wait a minute. What, what are you helping them with? My whole career changed when I found that path to asking better questions. I was too, I was too excited. I was like, Hey, look at me, look what I can do. Right. That probably doesn't surprise you about knowing me, but like, and then I started to see that teams needed more fun. They needed more energy. They needed a crowd to be more involved. I started to look at what teams needed, companies needed, organizations needed. And that's really helped me ask better questions. Yeah. Yeah. So along the way of learning all of those things, what were some of the, like, I guess, mistakes or failures?

6:22And how did that lead to your success? Well, yeah, I mean, it comes back to being too enthusiastic. You know, I would just call teams and they'd call me and I'd call them right back and go, hey, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. And I didn't take a deep breath to go like, wait a minute, what is it you're providing? And then the other big thing for me was like, what's your value? Like, you can't give it away. Right. And you know, we know as creative people, like in speaking, it's like, you get so excited. You're like, oh, I'll put your hand up. I'll do it. And there was definitely times where I had to just do the I'll do it because I knew it was going to lead to something.

6:56But I had to like, I had to really refine how I approached and maintain my own excitement for these opportunities. And then I had to get in there and had to be professional. Because when you're selling yourself as a guy that's adding energy and crazy and t shirts and twirling, you've got to have the other side of you that's professional, right? It's, you know, and we all know the expression, like, take what you do seriously, but not yourself. And the third thing is very, very important. And I've been living it, you know, every event I do is be easy to work with, right? Don't be, you know, I go on set when I used to host a lot of TV and I'd go, hey, everyone, before the shoot, I want you to all call me diva.

7:37And it would immediately break the ice, right? It would immediately people would be like, oh, okay. You're that guy. Yeah, yeah. He's a drug for fun, you know? And yeah, and those are things that I've really tried to, you know, have consistency on in my career to have this type of longevity. I think there's one other thing that you discount on yourself is that you add more value than you're asked to add. Is that something you consciously do or like you just seem to do way more than you're asked to do? That's like, A, thank you for saying that. And you do recognize that. And the humble Canadian and would say, oh, you know.

8:20But I think that there's two parts to that. There's the big moment, like where we first met with a big powwow where everyone sees the moment. And then there's the behind the scenes, right, where you give that kid, that fan, that extra 10 seconds as you're going back up the stairs to connect, as you're in the hallway, after the game, on social media. And that's what gets you hired back. That's what helps you build a community, right? It's not just the TikTok reel that blows up. That just gets you noticed. But what gets you hired is that extra connection, that extra value there. And look, at the end of the day, they're hiring me to give energy.

9:00And when you get going and you get it back from the fans and the crowd, it's hard not to give it everything, right? Yeah. Yeah, I know. You've given it everything so many times. I've seen you break bones, falling off things, do all that craziness. when when you look at it though your success you defined yourself and you branded yourself is there any like what's the the magic to branding yourself when you're so different to everything else that people see well i mean i think it's uh i mean that's the million dollar question of like no there's a lot of acts doing fun stuff at nba games at the wnba game last night and there's the halftime shows, there's music, there's DJs, there's all that, right?

9:44I mean, for me, it's the trust factor that that team knows on Friday night at a whatever it was, a Toronto Blue Jay game with 30 ,000 people, they know that Cameron Hughes is going to bring his show, his experience, his fandom, and he's going to create insane energy, win or lose, right? And if you're a halftime act that comes out to the NBA game, WNBA game, you've got six minutes on the court, you're out. I'm full game. You got me for the whole game, right? And I think that that's been what's been really good for my career and also challenging health wise to give that much energy, right? But you built a niche, right?

10:28It didn't exist before you. Is there something that you've consciously done to build that niche or do you think it's just something that naturally happened? Yeah. I think it naturally happened. I mean, I got lucky by lucky. Obviously, you know, I'm sure we have lots of different variations of that word. I got lucky breaks, which is true, right? The scoreboard fell in Buffalo, and it was on the ice, and they didn't have anything to entertain the fans. So my first US gig, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres called me and said, we need you because of this. So he knew the value, right? We need his energy.

11:04We don't have a video board. So that was like a wake up call for me. Wait a minute. Look what the value you're providing these teams. And that's when I started to charge to realize like you got to charge more. You know, I have a quick funny story about that. When I was starting my career, I didn't know what to charge. Like back to I didn't know how to. and I remember the first gig I ever got paid was$250. And then I got some national attention in the media world. And I came back to Ottawa after being in Toronto, you know, the Canadian media. And this team asked me to come and do the game, a game.

11:38And I go, yeah, thousand dollars per game. And the guy laughed so hard, my ears hurt. And he goes, Brad, he goes, you're never going to make that in your career. And five years later, like about five years ago, I'm on the sidelines with that same very guy. And I was like, how do you like me now? And it wasn't a show-off thing. It was a believe in yourself thing and believe in your belief. You're on the Big Success Podcast. We're going to be back. And Cameron's going to talk to us about social media or about cheering on yourself and believing in yourself. In 30 minutes a day for 30 days, 30X Business will take you through the exact hard-won business principles that Brad Sugars has personally developed over the past 30 years as an entrepreneur, investor, and business advisor.

12:24Join Brad and his team and 100 other entrepreneurs who want to start building a successful business today. And you're back. Make sure you're on subscription with us. Cameron, you've got to do some amazingly fun things. Olympic Games. Let's start there. How do you get an Olympic Games jazzed up? I mean, you just look at the, I go into the audience for a game and I sit in an empty arena and I either have my headphones on or not. And I watch an empty crowd, empty stadium. And I realize like, oh, this is going to be full soon. You have an opportunity to make their night extra special. Right. And that is an incredible way to start.

13:05Like, and then I change my state. I get the energy going and I go, all right. Like, even though there's like at the NBA finals or the Olympics or any of these cool places, like they still need energy. You know, you've been to tons of sport events. You can't make the fans can't maintain that energy. Right. So I come in and say, hey, let's find a way to balance that out and for me to be there at the right time. Yeah. When you were doing, I know you did Roger's special event, but when you first did it with Roger Federer and he started looking and cheering and pointing to the T-shirt dancing guy, how did, like, because that brand took you to get asked to do those things.

13:47Is there some special secret to that or is it just doing the best you can get you back? Well, I mean, the U.S. Open, I reached out to them through a friend and said, hey, you know, I think I can bring you value. And they were looking for. Here's the really important thing, I believe, is the USTA, Brad, in 2010. I didn't know this. Right. They were looking to do something different for their fans, for their audience, for their customers. OK, so right there, the door is a bit open. Right. But I sent them my video and my tape, and they were like, well, not really what we had in mind. But I convinced them to give me a chance.

14:22And for$1, I went and performed at 25 ,000 people. The McEnroe brothers come in from the ESPN break, talk about me. So I gave it to them. I had done the Olympics the same year. I was doing the NBA. But I knew that I had to get in the door. So sometimes it's not about the money. It's about the opportunity. Eight years later, I've done the U.S. Open. And then Roger Federer's agent called me and said, hey, do you want to surprise Roger Federer? And I'm like, are you? Is this a prank call? Like, what are you talking about? Right. What do you say? Yeah, that's I think I'm available. So I'm literally at his charity event in Seattle.

14:59Bill Gates and Roger Federer on the sidelines in between their exhibition game. I get up and do my bit. I'm twirling shirts. And there's a video of Roger and Bill, like school kids laughing, watching me going, look at the guy, you know. So when he came to my locker after and I never met him, but he said, I love watching you at the U.S. Open. And Brad, I was like, well, Roger, I love watching you, too. Right. And he looked at me. He said something to me. He looked at me and his agent, I donated my time to be there. It's a charity. Right. And his agent told Roger, he looked at me in the eyes and I've never forgotten the look of one of the most famous athletes giving me that respect, that time, that gentlemanly approach to that real connection.

15:48And I've learned so much about that extra, just give it a bit more, right? Not because you're forcing it, because it's the right thing to do, right? and then last year you know as you know i performed at his last match and rafa nadal and him are watching me going it's the u.s open guy and then roger goes i hope he doesn't take his last shirt off and rafa's like i don't think he will you know but you know you've that is a benefit of your business you've chosen a job a business a career where you get to do what you love but you also get to go to like the cleveland cavaliers you're with them forever the vegas golden knights forever.

16:26Like you, you've got to go to all the things that you love too. I want to, people don't believe that you can create a career doing what you love and get to travel and do what gave you the knowledge that you could do that. Or is it just something you had to learn and believe in? I think it's a good combination, right? I, it's a combination of not having a plan B, um, back to, you know, repeating myself, but believing the value. And I just like, I have something in me. I don't know what it is, like the resilience, persistence, elegant persistence I have. Even a team that you've worked with for 10 years, and this will probably hit true to you with a lot of your customers and clients.

17:06They are so busy making other decisions. They're not thinking we got to hire Cameron Hughes or get that DJ for that game. But I found a way in my career to work the room, to network, to build important relationships. and you know i had a zoom for my birthday a couple years ago and the people that showed up i mean i could cry telling you they they showed up because not just think i added value to their their career and their game and made them look good but because we created a real friendships you know and that keeps the longevity going that keeps the showing up in this new cities going and and then it leads to a lot of other cool stuff right i mean as you know as we know yeah i want to get back to how you build great relationships later, but I want to focus in on one thing you've done exceptionally well, and that is leverage the media, leverage the TV, the social media.

18:02What are some of the absolute must-dos to succeed, first of all, with social media side? Post the real thing. I don't over-edit it. Sometimes I don't even edit it. I'll give you a great example. I did the Atlanta Falcons game. I mean, that just gave me goosebumps. 75 ,000 people on all I want is that aisle to be empty. They're paying me a lot of money to fly there to give 90 seconds. And the entire aisle is packed with people. It's a gong show, man. It's like, people ask, do I get nervous? I go, I get nervous if there's going to be anyone in the aisle, if the video is going to come to me and if the music is going to play the right song.

18:45And I posted that video and had 16 million views, 16, because it wasn't me trying to create something that wasn't real or didn't happen. So that to me is number one. Number two, I am very proud of myself for responding to 95 % of people. 90-ish, probably 95. I try, whether it's a DM, whether it's a comment, whether, look, at some point it's impossible, right? There's some videos that have had more traction. I take pride in that. And the other thing, man, you get lucky. I really believe this. You do get lucky with some of the videos that people decide to share. And the one video of me in Vegas, you were probably at that game.

19:33But with Billy Idol, six years ago, that video has 450 million views. And I have the receipts. and people are like the comments, their comments are unbelievable, you know? And I think, and they're not post tagging me. A lot of them aren't, right? So it's not necessarily building my brand all the time. And when they do tag me, you know, you get thousands more Mel Robbins tagged me once and I got like thousands of new followers. But so I think that social media and the media thing is like, there's a, because I'm a surprise factor, right? so that's a really interesting point that's a big part of my value proposition we're going to surprise your fans or when i go to speak at an event they're not going to tell them that i'm coming and so i have to play that off a bit with uh how i promote myself um but then i like i said you get lucky with the videos and then the media picks up on it because they haven't seen a guy my age size dancing that badly before in public yeah you know it's it's one of those things.

20:39I remember the first time ever I saw you doing the dance thing and I'm going, this guy's crazy. This guy's nuts. And then the second or third game I worked out, huh, I've actually bought him here. He's not just a fan, even though you are a crazy fan, but that whole thing. When you look to the media side of it, not just the social side, but the media side of it, are there any things that you do that make sure you get the media and keep getting us back on media? Well, I mean, it's a balance because it's like, you know, I was on the Today Show at the Olympics and I was so prepared. That's the other thing.

21:20I was so ready for some reason. It was one of the best interviews I've ever done to this day. All five of the co-anchors, me at like 4.30 in the morning because of the East Coast time, that they asked me back on the Friday to come back for their wrap-up show. And then suddenly that creates a relationship with their producers. Hey, I'm in New York for the US Open. What's up? They didn't bring me in for the Today Show, but you know what they did? They took the clip from me at the US Open, right? So there's not always the big bang, so to speak, but there's the credibility. There's the, oh, we know that guy.

21:54Oh, he's a nice guy, right? And I think that that sort of equity that you have in delivering fun and laughter and cheer as you know what i do people want to be part of it and i think that especially these days they just want that you know i'll tell you that real quick i had someone a data analyst studied what the three key words were most used words in one of my biggest posts take a wild guess what they were three words uh fun laugh happy energy fun and love i was close all right i got one it was pretty good right and so that's what i'm delivering and all these media outlets want more of that so you know i mean at the right place at the right time it happens and you're you know when i launched my book what did everyone want during covid they wanted laughter energy fun and love love it big success cameron's going to teach us more about relationships and managing them and using them to grow your belief in you for 30 years cameron hughes has ignited crowds at events across the globe.

23:02His relentless optimism, infectious cheering, and unvital dancing have delighted and energized unsuspecting crowds, lodging Cameron's indelible spirit in over 30 million memory banks. To learn more about Cameron Hughes, please visit CameronHughes.tv. I went back. Cameron, I got to ask, one of the fundamentals I know about you is that you're phenomenal at building relationships. What are the top two, three, five things that you do to build great relationships? Don't be afraid of being yourself all the time with everyone. Don't change. Be yourself consistently with all of the executives, whether they're the owner of a team, Brad, or the VP or the intern you're working with.

23:45I've worked with teams where, you know, I have the intern's number, I have the owner's number, I have the VP's number. Treat them all the same. That's my first gut reaction to your question. Be grateful for the relationships. um remember stuff about them because you care and i do i look i've done this at 1600 events i don't pretend to have a relationship with everyone i've ever performed with right but you know me that i have certain relationships that are you know really valuable i send thank yous i am uh i i get i i get like a migraine if i forget to do that like within a month because I just believe that someone gave me an opportunity to create that thing from 25 years ago when I was going, can I make a business out of this?

24:34Should I go get that job back at the restaurant? Right? So thank you for giving me that shot. And can I just add something there, Brian? Back to that idea, the fundamental idea of taking the shot, which is, are we doing something different for our customers, our audience, our fans? So whether it's me or the guy with the dog, the juggler, whatever it is, what are you doing, right? And so when someone gives me a shot to, I love it. Look how lucky I am, right? Well, hey there, and thanks for listening. I've noticed that 78 % of you are brand new, which means you haven't hit the subscribe button yet.

25:14By subscribing, you help us bring on even better guests, better quality content, and serve you better with even more podcasts. So please hit that subscribe button. and it only takes a second. It makes a huge difference. If you support us, we're going to support your success and help you achieve big success together. Yeah. You know, when I see one thing you do that I'm not sure you even notice is that you reach out a lot in relationships. Is that a conscious thing? How do you plan it? What do you do with that, that you're always reaching out to people? I love connection. It's like this. it's um i don't do it because it's like hey it's thursday you should reach out to tracy i do it because i'm like hey how's tracy you know uh or i just did this cool event and i thought of her or i saw a picture send it to them i'll take the extra time and go hey like i thought of you you know and i i mean man i i'll tell you and it's it's real it's deep it's true.

26:16I love people, man. That's it. I love people. And I can I just I with this girl wanted to date me and she's like, I'm not into sports. I go, don't worry. I like people.

26:27When you look at cheering for yourself, and I think that because, you know, you're a cheer leader per se for crowds and bringing the energy and that sort of stuff. What does it take to be a cheerleader for you? You know, I repeating it, but it's good. It's like believing in what you're doing. How do you do that though, Cameron? Like it's easy to say, I believe in what I'm doing. Is there a structure to that? Is there something you got to, how do you get to believe in it at that level? Yeah, I mean, that's my second book, I think. But no, I mean, it's such a powerful question. I think it's like, I think it's like, maybe this is Hallmark, but I'll go there.

27:11Maybe it's just opening your heart a bit more to possibility and not being afraid of the failure, not being afraid of the no. Like, man, I moved to Hollywood to become an actor and a performer to this. And everyone's like, hey, man, sorry, you don't have the Ryan Seacrest abs or the white teeth or the body. And then how many teams have rejected me? But like I had to open my heart a bit more to the no, right? And so every time I got the yes, I had to look at it and go, how did you get the yes, Cam? And that helped me believe in myself, you know, and that helped me believe that I was doing something good.

27:47And then I was getting money for it. Like, what are you talking about? You know, and that became a muscle. And I completely agree with you. A friend of mine said to me, I called him on his birthday and he spent the whole thing talking about how he's like, Cam, I can't, I don't, I can't believe how much you put yourself out there. You're just constantly putting yourself out there. And there are times when you're like, I don't know if I can do it, but I do it when I want, not because I have to do it because when I want to. And I think that that's helped me fundamentally be consistent with who I am as a person, not trying to be someone else.