“I’m a Bad*ss” How Dany Garcia Became A Business Trailblazer & Built a Multi-Billion Dollar Empire

28:16That means I need to evolve. and coming from nothing and having these really, really big ideas that became inherent into my process. So I do think, I do believe in myself that I would have created an empire that is vast. It may have different names attached to it, but the drive and that try in front of me, inside of me, yeah, I believe in myself. What do you think are the tools that unlocked inside of you after the, you know, that, that new you came out after the divorce? What were the things that were born from that? Um, well, definitely never again. Always a good never again. I feel like a healthy never again really helps almost everybody.

28:58You know what? Never again. Um, I also, I have to mention that at that time, one of my, my best friend, one of the greatest women I've ever known came into my life specifically because I was looking to evolve. And she came in as a, a, a life coach and a healer. We began this journey where we weren't best friends. We were close, and she was wonderful, to now, you know, 16 years, 18 years later, the best friend of my life. She was more a coach, teacher for you. Yes, she was. She specifically came in where I was like, look, I need to talk to someone. I do not have any of these tools. And she had tools and beyond, and also is my soul sister.

29:35Wow. So what was unlocked was there was never an idea of therapy or, and you know, it was, that's not very Gen X too. So even growing up, there wasn't this help books. I remember the first. It wasn't talk about your problems. Wasn't talked about, wasn't any of that. It was, I mean, I experienced this improving yourself from Merrill Lynch where they would send their brokers to these incredible training schools. And I was like all of a sudden reading Carnegie Mellon and, you know, and I was and learning all these techniques. So I didn't have access. So what opened up for me was that there was a wealth of knowledge and information that I could put my trying to.

30:20I didn't have to be frustrated. And I happened to have a wonderful, wonderful woman who was helping me and guiding me and working with me weekly and unpacking. And I started to get the tools. And as soon as I got the tools I became voracious because this I could control I could I couldn't control so many of the things out there but I could control who I was every day I could invest invest invest self-investment this is powerful I don't think I've ever heard you talk like this another interview so I'm just getting yeah I'm getting really excited that I do you want to say I am saying I am saying the words that I've never said before so we are talking about things I haven't talked about and it's really delightful I've heard you mentioned tools probably seven times now throughout this conversation.

31:03If you could go back to 13-year-old Danny and you could only give yourself three tools of all the things that you've learned from 13 till now, personally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, that you wish you had then, and that you wish all young women had, what three tools would those be? I would definitely, I would give, I guess someone's advice slash tool, but I would definitely say your uniqueness is the gift of the future. Don't spend another minute worrying about it, being anxious about it, you know, worrying that, you know, you don't have more friends, you don't fit. don't worry about any of that, you know, because it would have quieted my mind.

31:54And that means more of my mind would have gone into creation and creativity. What do I want to do? And what is this idea? And I would have started doing at a much earlier age, things that I started doing later. But you had, what did you have more like anxiety around that? Yeah, it was more like, who am I? I literally, you know, it's always difficult to be very aware as a young person. So being very aware but not having context can be powerful. I remember looking in the mirror and thinking all these incredible aspirations I had and wanted to, you know, build companies and be out there and have these and be influential and guide people and looking in the mirror and being like, okay, this is what I got.

32:34I was a very awkward young 13-year-old, like late bloomer. Oh, I saw photos. Yeah, yeah. We were both awkward. Don't worry. I was like, weird. And I was like, all right, this is what I got. All right. All right. That's all right, because I've got a great personality. I'm really smart. But I still carried that. So that means I carried a fake hurdle, a fake obstacle in my head. So if I could have removed that, it could have moved so much faster. Interesting. Okay. So that's the first thing. That's the first thing. Your uniqueness is the gift of your future. The gift of your future. Right. Don't not look at it with any other lens than that.

33:09The second thing I would say to myself, again, this is a little bit more advice, is read everything you can and understand that not all of it is for you. So gather, gather information. We've talked about it a little bit. When individuals who are not experiencing your life write books on how to do things, they have a whole set of different rules. And those rules actually matter. If you don't, but won't apply to you. So gather the information, gather the tools. And mind you, if you don't have these fake obstacles, you're going to have a little bit more space to have agency and be like, oh, yeah, okay, I like that.

33:54I'm going to put these pieces together. So I would definitely, there's so much in this that is about self-investment. And then the third thing I would say is have greater discipline towards your goals. And I would even translate that. Create the discipline of making yourself the most important thing in your life. Which could sound, right? Catholic, that doesn't sound good. It can sound very vain, can sound all these things. It's a dangerous lesson, right? Make yourself the most important thing in your life. What would that have looked like for you in your teens, early 20s, instead of the path you took?

34:36Yeah, I would have studied harder because I did want to go to Georgetown. I did have people around me who were like, hey, by the way, this is what you got to do. You should be studying. You should be doing this. My family was like, we have a roof over your head. Go to school. Come home. Yes. Do chores. Don't do bad things. And it was so there was so much to what I wanted to accomplish that I didn't have the basic tools of discipline to get to. I had great discipline when it came to work. Like I said, I started working at 12. I never stopped and doing a great job. But carrying that over to myself, discipline for that benefit, Danny Garcia, because even when I worked, I was working in a barn, that discipline was so that the barn was taken care of.

35:25So the horses were taken care of. So Mr. Blanchard, who owned the barn, would come in and be like, whoa, look at how clean this is. Impressed. My horse was taken care of, but it wasn't applied to me. Really? So what would you not do for yourself that you did for others? For everyone, prioritize myself, prioritize my goals, prioritize my happiness, explore what makes me happy, recognize that I'm uncomfortable. That may be a problem. You know, just the continuous, like, how are you feeling? What do you want? Are you today, when you got up today, did you do the things that led you closer to what you want to have happen?

36:05Or did you do the things that led someone else closer to what they want to have happen? And most of the time it was that. Really? It was the latter. Yeah. When was the moment? After my divorce. That's the moment. That started the whole thing. That started it. And then it became very, very, very good. When I said when my husband or he was my boyfriend at the time said hey there's a new division in bodybuilding it's called women's physique you should do it. I said yes I will. Then you had like goals for yourself. Well I had wanted to be a bodybuilder since I was 13. Really? And I didn't start until I was 42.

36:41Come on. No no for real. Wow that's amazing. I know so that was so it started there when I said okay yes I will do that. Wow. Wow so I'm 41 so you're saying there might be something next year for me that I could step into. I turned pro when I was 44, 45. That's incredible. I became a pro, yeah. What did those first, I guess, few years of really going all in on this passion, I don't know if you call it a passion project, but a passion for your life that you had for you, what did you learn about yourself as you started to apply that discipline towards bodybuilding and going after that dream? Yeah.

37:14I am, well, first, sports, and like you, sports has been one of the greatest lessons in my life, right, as athlete in high school and athlete in college. And then that gap until I could start competing again, I learned, first of all, that I won't die. And, you know, especially with my husband training, there was points where he was training me where I was like, I'm going to die. He's like, you're not going to die. I learned how incredibly strong I was physically. And when you diet for nine months, my first competition, I lost 50 pounds. When you diet for nine - 50 you lost? 50 pounds. When you die for nine months straight, you're like, I can do anything, anything.

37:54And that process also, and it's so funny because I started in 40 and I, it's like you learn a lesson, but you almost relearn the lesson, the power of the lesson. Like the first time you were like, oh yeah, that's a good lesson. But then as you start to get clear and evolve, you're like, oh my gosh, the power of that lesson. So that first competition, not only did I see the extraordinary discipline I had, but also I was a full CEO at that time. I did have, I had a production. I had multiple things. Lots of responsibilities. I also started to put the structure around my life so I could do both. So I had to start saying no to that.

38:31Hey, put in systems in place. Basically what I, people have heard me say that I began to remove the people and the elements that would force me to eat chocolate cake. Because you cannot. You can't have a wine. You can't unwind with wine. You can't unwind with food. You can't. So that means you begin to recognize all this friction around you that has been numbed by the food you eat, just not paying attention to it, not being so... Each competition made me very, very aware, and that started to put the idea that, wow, maybe if it is only all for me, everything gets better. Because every time I would come out of competition, you would see this massive escalation in growth in the portfolio.

39:19Really? Why do you think that is? because I would get so disciplined and sharp. And also training would become a very, it would become a deep philosophical experience. I would get all these lessons coming through the process. I'm like, oh, got that, got that. So I would come out sharper, clearer. All the individuals or the people, the processes that created friction were gone and I could just lead. And you would see the company, I mean, almost one to one. It was like, boom, even after my loss, which I do think is close to 2019, XFL. You know, it's like... Right afterwards. Right. That was the next...

40:02In fact, I was like, I purchased the XFL. I was like, you know what? I'm retired from bodybuilding. This is such a huge enormity. I have to put all my physical strength into launching this. But yeah. Do you feel like because you put... When you're in the bodybuilding season of life, because it's such a demanding schedule of every decision has to be scheduled, structured, measured. Yeah. And you've got to create parameters around your life, sleep, when you wake up, when you train, that the window of time you have to make decisions in business shrinks. Right. So do you feel like because it shrank and you didn't have all this time to be like, I can take on more, you just said, no, that doesn't work for the vision I'm going.

40:44So I'm saying no to all these things and just focusing in on these few things. I think that's an, first of all, I think it's an excellent interpretation. And I love that you're interpreting it that way because I've never interpreted it that way. So it's, you know, I don't want to be like, yeah, no, I want to say what you just said. I can look at this history and be like, yes, that's exactly what you took the, you just took the phrase of not chocolate cake and elevated it eloquently and beautifully. But no, that is exactly the, it's amazing how you have to have sharp points in your life to maintain the discipline of sharp focus.

41:20Because there was no, this is the other thing when you die, your emotionality begins to decrease. You're not soft and warm and fuzzy. And that sharpness actually aids in the distance. So something, it might have been like, oh, we'll see, drag along, maybe, maybe. You're like, no. Yes. yes, no, and then clarity. Yeah, it's easy to say yes and no. Clarity. That is fascinating. Yeah, but that was beautifully said. Oh, yeah, well, I'm just picking up what you're sharing here. I talked to Phil Heath earlier today. You spoke to Phil Heath? Yeah, we've had him on the show. The gift. The gift, man. That guy's talented.

42:02Because I know you guys have a relationship, and he's been working with you for many years. He's a great guy. You guys did a, I still haven't seen it yet, but the documentary movie about him, I'm excited because he's a machine. He's a machine. But he had some beautiful things to say about you. And I'm going to ask one of his questions that he asked me to ask you. Oh my gosh. I'm going to wait until later to ask this. Okay. But he said that a lot of people see your success, but he said that public facing, he doesn't think they see your heart as much the way he sees it behind the scenes. and how amazing you are and how inspiring you are in so many ways and supportive and just there for him, right, and his vision as well.

42:43I'm curious, how have you taken your heart into business? Again, you have so many different companies in your portfolio. How have you learned to bring that as well? Because you do bring a sharpness and an authoritative power to your businesses and your company and your brand. but how do you also bring the heart to it? That's a great question. That is what a great observation from the gift. The gift. The gift. By the way, I've always wanted a nickname. I don't have one. Oh, we've got to come up with it. I was like, man, I wish I had a good name. And the UFL, my CEO of the UFL likes to call me magic because I can pull things off.

43:24All right, all right, all right. But yeah, the gift. You know, my heart hasn't actually, the beginning, if I look back, especially in the last, let's say, 14 years, there wasn't a lot of room for heart with the execution externally. But my execution internally in the strategy, for example, even architecting around DJ as IP, right? Looking at him, which was a new business model I'd created where he was the IP, that was all heart. My million, like I have to create a million, was all heart. It was so I could take care of my family. Wow. The space to have heart, targeting external partners, probably not there.

44:08But one of the reasons I was so, and I still am today, DJ and I were having this conversation, about what's created around him was because I wanted to make sure that wherever he went in life, if he wanted to stop making a film, he had capital structure all around him. What do you mean by that? That means that he could fall back into anything. With his businesses, his IP, his equity. He would never be that person. He didn't have to work to make money. Exactly. He would have something as a legacy for himself, for whatever choice he wanted, his children, his wife, total freedom. I know what this business is like.

44:46I know what wrestling can be like and what happens. And so I was like, and that was all, that was my love language, right? My love language is can I create enterprise and can I create your future? And with Phil, it's so funny that, and Cherie, my, my approach around anyone I worked with was always, okay, can I, yes, I'm going to support you and you mean, and this industry or whatever talent you're going to do, it's going to be hard, but I'm going to take the fiduciary responsibility of, can I create something around you so you are taken care of? So that became, that's sort of how my heart is automatically in strategy as time has gone on.

45:23That's beautiful. Thank you. So the intention, your heart was the intention. Always. But then the analytical driven you was executing. Right, because let's say the environment I was in, you lead with hearts. They're like, what you talking about? I was like, let me just let it here. I have over, you know, and over time and especially as I have created, you know, I'm very, very fortunate that my C-suite at the Garcia Company is the incredible female executives. My sky blue team. You can see my beautiful glam team. Yeah, they're awesome. Heart. So I have now areas that where we drive and we build and we grow from heart.

46:04Who they are and the investment I make in my C-suite executives will always be more important to me than what happens at the end of my balance sheet. Right. You know, that is the journey. And it's maybe because I'm very confident about what's going to happen. But I know that how they live their lives when they're with me is the most important thing. So that is when I buy the purchase of the XFL, ZOA, even GSTQ, every company now has an ultimate purpose. The XFL was to unleash the dreams that football makes possible, right? And as I've gotten more agency and success, I can be very clear about saying any execution we have, we start with a fiduciary responsibility.

46:51And that responsibility is to our team, if it's the UFL, our athletes, my coaches, my partners, my consumers. And let me tell you, that takes your to-do list from$3 ,000 to$2 ,000. Right. But it cannot be any other way for me. So that is where now I get to lead more with heart. This is beautiful. But heart only gets discussed when people ask me about heart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Usually they just want to know, can you tell me about the whole thing? So yes, it's everything. You mentioned that all your businesses and investments have an ultimate purpose. Yes. What would you say is the ultimate purpose of you currently?

47:31I would say my ultimate purpose, it was such a good one. I was going to, I always have to share the one from the Garcia company because I'm so proud of it, which is that we invest to inspire. And my chief brand officer created it and she's here. No one has beaten those three words just yet. But I have always been here. Early on, you mentioned something. So I think you relate to this. I'm here to advance the human experience. I'm here so that anything I create and touch, and this goes back to that young girl being like, okay money money off my family they probably needed other things loving caring you know therapy whatever it was but it it all so that if I brush against you or you brush against my companies or my athletes or my tequila or drink my zoa that afterwards you have something more I can't take I will never take for granted that we had an interaction and you consumed or felt or had something of mine that I created and it should be like, okay, how can your consumer not be sacred?

48:42Unless you're just making widgets, which I don't, you agree immediately to have a relationship with the person on the other side of that transaction. That's how I look at business, that I'm having a relationship with this person. And that's sacred. And maybe because I didn't have a lot of relationships when I was in. I don't know, but I know that that's sacred. And I know that if I can impact someone and because of a little brush with me, they have something more or had an experience that was delightful, that's a life well lived. Yeah. I'm grateful for this brush with you right now. This idea of fiduciary responsibility that you have with all of your businesses.

49:21Yeah. Can I ask you about how people can understand money differently? Sure. Because you grew up, you know, lower middle class, let's say, in your words. Then you went to school. You learned some in school, but then you went on to be in the financial services. Had massive debt. Made$18 ,000 a year. Sold all my CDs to pay bills. Right? I mean, you're up and down financially until you really started to learn and hit your stride. Yeah. But now you've created an incredible amount of financial abundance for yourself. Correct. How can someone, maybe a young woman in her career right now watching or listening, or a young man, have a different relationship with money based on the knowledge that you have and the experience you've had from where you were in your 20s and 30s to where you are now financially?

50:14What is your relationship with money and how did you start to look at it in a way where you could manifest, create, attract more of it to you? What was the process for alchemizing financial abundance more for you? Great. I think it's an excellent question. And I think it's really interesting now for millennials and Gen Z who have sort of a different relationship with wealth and money. And almost starting, I think it's actually safer for them to now look at that relationship because they're starting from a place of like, hey, life balance and I need to have happiness. And soon they're going to be like, oh, wait, but I might need financial.

50:53But to be so grounded in balance and quality of life first as compared to my generation, the generation before me where it was like, it is about the dollars and who knows what the hell's happening at home, this is a safe space. And so when I talk about a fiduciary responsibility, you can almost apply that. You can apply that to yourself, right? A fiduciary responsibility, first of all, requires agency, and it requires a commitment to what's right and what's wrong, but also what's really of value, right? So if now these individuals will look at these two generations, and they begin to look at money in one way, they can start with the small steps.

51:38We didn't have credit cards that would take two cents and five cents and invest it. You can still be comfortable with interacting or deciding how to build wealth without the shame of what it's going to turn you into. And if you start with that, the great thing is, now we're talking about simple investing. The great thing is, you know,$10 a month,$20 a month,$50 a month, automated, your life has changed. Now let's talk about big things though. What I did believe in, and I would say the big change came for me, is when I understood that wealth can be symptomatic. What do you mean by that? What I mean is that I can start with an ultimate purpose, which creates guide rails and guidelines for people to operate in.

52:26I could then put best systems in place of having smart people who understand finances, sticking to P &Ls, paying attention to all those things. But having this ultimate purpose of the why of what we were doing, all of a sudden made the connection with the consumer, the connection with the partners who were creating whatever we were creating, it's almost like it elevated the attractor pattern, the energy vibration. And the success became, the financial portion became symptomatic. I didn't look at, and this is very, very rare. Most people look at business plans, they will create how many spreadsheets?

53:06I'm sure you've seen them over and over and over. Nothing has happened. And you'll be like, I will bump this up. We'll take this down. Okay, look, we'll go cash flow positive in three years. We'll project this. Nothing has happened. You have not done one thing. You're literally doing things to make yourself feel comfortable to get started, right? If you start with all of these tenets about who, first of all, you're going to have a relationship with the consumer. You're going to honor that relationship. What comes next? What is the ultimate purpose? You begin to put pieces in place. What I have found is that the steps flow and the connection happens.

53:41So I decided that, yes, I will always honor a P &L and I will honor the best practices, But I will overlay on top of it the way I want business to be run, how I want it to feel. The, you know, moving it away from the story of, you know, the, you know, worthless capitalism. We're driving for the dollars and this is war. And it's, you know, just putting that all away and approaching it with heart. And so I think there's not enough examples. I actually, I would say I absolutely know there's not enough examples for young people to say, well, I can achieve that and be human. I can achieve that and care about the people around me.

54:23I can achieve that and actually be really, really, really proud. I hope that I get to represent capitalism that's evolved. You know, my execution should create full sustainability. And that's, I would say, as you and I talked about, what's the next step? But the next step is business models where there is full sustainability on the execution. We have a restaurant that sells fish and then we support all the fishermen and then we tell them. It's just like, what is that full, full? And those are our clients and how taking that very simplistic model and actually applying it to everything. So maybe I haven't given one advice.

55:05I've given a philosophical viewpoint. Mm-hmm. But to open your mind to say, okay, the journey to money can begin from a whole different platform. I think changes so much of the friction. There was a word that you added in this conversation, and you said shame. Mm-hmm. Did you ever feel shameful about not having money, about having money, or was that ever a part of the journey that you had to overcome? You know, I didn't have access. So I knew my parents were working very hard. I didn't have access to sort of what the balance sheets were until I was, I remember I was in high school and then I came across my dad's checkbook.

55:46Sure. And I saw that it must have been either a second merger because he was able to go negative in the check and then he would come up once he had his paycheck. And that's when I was like, okay, is anyone living to this reality? Is he the only one carrying this reality? Is he the only one who's actually in charge of this family with three kids who knows this? Actually, I kept to tell you, I'm glad you asked me. This is a huge turning point in my life, really. When I saw this responsibility that he carried, I had forgotten that it was so pivotal. It is one of the reasons why I was like, I will always work.

56:25And I will be completely accountable to myself. And I will never put on my partner this responsibility of being it. And actually, as a business partner, I take on a lot of this fiduciary. It probably stems from that moment where I was like, okay, I am never going to create a system where one thing is dependent upon one person and they have to carry this entire weight. What life is that? So I would say that was the shame moment. And the shame, because I didn't know, the shame that that was the execution, the idea, and I didn't have a conversation with my dad about it, so he could be like, hey, no, this is actually very strategic.

57:05Sure, sure, sure. But in my mind, he was the only one who was carrying the responsibility of family with awareness and knowing what the balance sheet looked like. Wow. That's interesting. I'm so fascinated by all this wisdom you have. You had mentioned something a little earlier about, I don't know if this is a nickname for you, but being the mastermind really behind DJ as IP, not just as a, I guess, a personality or, you know, in the WWE or movie star, whatever, but as IP. Where did that vision come from? And how did you learn to execute it without having prior experience in building someone as IP?

57:50Well, it came from a few things. One of the, the WWE, one of the things that, or they were WWF at that time, covering WWE, one of the great things they do is they know how to take talent and then they license the heck out of talent. So, you know, Dwayne was very successful in the WWE, continues to be. And then at the same time, I was deep within Merrill Lynch. So I was looking at balance sheets. I was looking at all these corporations. And I saw this gap. I was like, first of all, why can't the professionalism that lives within a corporate structure apply to someone? And specifically, it can apply to everyone.

58:32You have to be a very specific talent because you've got to work your butt off. apply to an individual who consumers have already, they're used to seeing and they're used to consuming. They buy his dolls, they buy, you know, they buy all his things, they buy all his dishes, they buy tickets. It's not like an actor. It's very hard when an actor and Phil tries to turn into something where they're monetizing outside of a film. It's like a step down and that's a really hard bridge. but you know Dwayne within the WWE was in your home five times a week four or five times in your kitchen with your kids etc between all the shows so that connectivity was so so personal and tight which is again another challenge actors have because you see them in film different now today because you can stream them but back then so as I was I was always involved in his career and he started to transition a little bit more he was you know doing uh more things in Hollywood which was it was so appropriate.

59:31I started having these conversations with his agents and his agents would come back to me and say, you know, there's only so many spokes in the wheel. And I would say, I don't think so. I think I would like to do this, but I was hitting so much resistance. So we had to move to find the right people. And when we found the right agency, I was able to clearly articulate, I want this around him, this around him, this around him, this around this. right Dwayne is one of a kind and he is so consumable on so many different levels you know doesn't look like anyone else he has this incredible personality let's begin to build this team wow and Dwayne is I think what I said uh you know Dwayne is like the iPhone right he is that and we're gonna bring all these elements around him and it was the first time that was done and WME did a fantastic job of letting me push and delivering the best that they're like, okay, do you think it's this?

1:00:31Do you think it's that? Do you think it's this? And we were able to start executing and now it's a model that hundreds, and I mean, talent goes into agencies expecting to do this. So yeah, I'm really, really proud that I was able to sort of, it was a white space, right? it was happening here but not happening there with individuals. And then you overlay social media with that where now you have an absence of maybe Dwayne not being on your TV and in your house five times a week, but he was on your phone and you. Yes, social media. So that connectivity. So we, yeah, it was just starting. This is like 2008, 2009 around there, right?

1:01:16Yeah, it was right after he and I divorced and he asked me to take over and it's just started it just started taking it so i had that tool wow and he loves connecting with fans that's another thing so you have to be a very specific type of person but you you weren't the danny garcia that you are now yeah 14 years ago right right or 16 years ago you weren't like the authority figure i mean you were respected obviously but they were like powerhouse yes that's like with all the answers and all the success they were like what do you mean you can't do these things right so how did you enroll a massive agency agencies production companies business leaders yeah in this vision that had never been done before how did you yeah danny garcia 16 years ago enroll people from that place without all the experience you have now the um the because the vision was true once i articulated it and i'm like here is this individual look at what we've done and i started to put the pieces together and but you had to have the right people once i had the right people they're like i see what you're saying they didn't need to know how to do it they just knew that i knew how to do it wow and they believed in me and uh and which is funny because i was very similar to the xfl where i was the one speaking to the vision to the XFL, to Fox, to Disney, to TNT.

1:02:45We did those calls, and I would be speaking to this vision, and then we were able to get the buy-in. So that's finding the right partners. And then I happen to have that. Dwayne is IP. Dwayne Johnson is one in a lifetime. I mean, the amount of work and the tenacity and his appetite for more and greatness and his number one commitment, which was to always the audience. It was perfect. Yeah, and we became a case study. Did a few things. Yeah, we did a few things, and we're a case study, so I'm really excited. What is the thing, what is the two questions here? What is the biggest thing you learned that she taught you when you were married versus the biggest thing you've learned from him since the divorce?

1:03:37Those are great. He, I have the before, let's see. Okay. So I have the after and let me jump to the before. I would say the before was, oh, he taught me a lesson that he may not have known he taught me. So this would be nice. He may not have listened to this. He showed me, he showed me the magic that lives between being human and being spectacular. so if he would go back to the 90s and you know dj when he first came out some difficulty they put him as a baby face it wasn't working then he turned heel then he turned into the rock um and then he would go out and then he would hit that ring and the difference between here and here when he threw his arm up and he was performing was electrifying i had not witnessed that and to be able to witness that up close that there is a sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth year in a human being is is an incredible scientific experiment to not only witness um and so I saw that and I was like oh yeah magic is real you know it was just like amazing and people have seen it over and over again you know when you know he'll go and the his music hits and it's just like amazing and the audience goes crazy so he taught me that and i was like that is you know it was an honor to witness and to witness up close right because if you didn't know duane you're just seeing it you're like wow that guy's amazing but if you're with duane and you see how he is normally which is he's a human being he's a human being yeah incredible high eq uh highly personable really charming but that difference you can't appreciate that difference so i thought i was like that's amazing and then the second thing is um he always would say protect the thing that allows you to do only what you can do and i think you might say that if you do but it was basically protect the thing that allows you to do what you do every day that one thing that only you can do protect that thing um and those were two like they're very very excellent that's beautiful That's beautiful.

1:05:57I hear him talking about you often. In his content, he seems like he's always referencing you as the co-owner, the leader, the executive, all these different things, the visionary, the mastermind behind the brands, the business, all these different things. What do you think, if you had to guess, would be the biggest lesson you've taught him? Okay. Because he has such high, it seems like he has, unless it's an act. Right. He shows such high respect for you, such high appreciation and gratitude and love in a - Gosh, I could not take that leap. I think somebody thinks he would be like, don't do that.

1:06:35Right, right, right, right. You would have to ask him. All right, I'll ask him one day. I'll ask him one day. He's truly a scholar, and he absorbs so much information from leaders. I'd be really curious to know. Oh, I'll ask him one day. You'll ask him. I'm curious about, and by the way, I told you before we started that I probably wouldn't ask you any of the questions that I had prepared. And I haven't looked once at it because I'm just, one question leads to the next one. But this has been beautiful. I've got a few more questions for you if that's okay. You know, you talk about support system and having the right people in your life.

1:07:09And when you have the right people in your life, you can do extraordinary things. That's correct. your husband when I'm curious and I've seen content of him online you know I've seen him be your coach be your husband be you know Dwayne's trainer at different times all these different things right but what is the thing that you love the most about him and why do you feel he has been so supportive in helping you step into exactly who you need to be to have a lot but a lot of the success that you can do? Oh, that's such a great question. I will always say, you know, I used to, I couldn't say this actually, and Dave knows this, I could never say Dave was a dream come true because I never dreamt that big.

1:07:52Really? That is who my husband is. I just got the chills hearing that. Wow. If I could have dreamt that big. Wow. So I could never honestly say because I had no idea dreams could go that way. My husband is the greatest man in my life. He is like, he is so steady and compassionate. And I am not a symbol.

1:08:21That was a kind thing for a Latina to say.

1:08:28So one of the greatest attributes is enormous capacity of steady, you know, to hold a partner that has, who wakes every day and like, today I shall be, you know. And he's like, I got you. I got you. And he sees, I don't think I could have had that conversation with him where I said, do you accept who I am today? Because I have been now, I have changed a million times since then. But I could have said to him, do you see my soul and do you accept that? And he would have said, yes, I see your soul. Oh my gosh, that's beautiful. And I accept that. Wow. Incredibly steady, a beautiful artist, an incredible athlete, and so good.

1:09:22So one of the interesting things about Dave, when you meet Dave, he's calm, he's quiet. And Dave is like this book that you continue to unpack. And we start working with people who have to work with Dave and I together. and I'll say, I know you're very happy to meet me. I go, but in two weeks, you're going to love my husband more. And then he just brings people. That's cool. He really is so much so he's been an incredible stepfather to Simone. He came into our lives when Simone was 10 and basically has raised her with me from that point on. And seamlessly fit in to be a game changer for Dwayne.

1:10:04Dwayne's physique before Dave and after Dave, and for a man who needs to train, and that is his anchor to his life, it's, you know, so he is the gift that keeps on giving. So he gives you the gift, your daughter the gift, and Dwayne the gift. His physique has transformed with his teaching and knowledge and coaching. He does his training programs, his diet, he's he's and he cares about him as first as the human being who he is and so dave is always very that very human first um and so yeah those are a lot of words i could say well that's beautiful that's beautiful um and as a mom how do you i think you've been asked this before but i'm just curious how do you navigate world domination in every business that you operate and the evolution of you as a, you know, an owner, a leader and authority, and also continue to be taking care of your, your daughter?

1:11:06Like, how does that, I'm sure, I guess the question is how can moms be driven to be entrepreneurial and want success for themselves, but also be a great mom at the same time? Probably by starting first and saying, and knowing that I intend to be a great mom, I may not be a great mom today or tomorrow. But the mom aspect, one of the things I was able to put down quickly with this idea of, okay, great mom does this, this, this, this. A great mom shows up and loves and seeks to be a great mom and a better mom. I hope the only one who can say I'm a great mom will be Simone. She is the only judge of that.

1:11:53My job is to be a mom and to work as hard as possible at being as good a mom as possible. And that required, you know, one of the things which I did do early on, which was to give her a voice. And when she's like, no, to say, okay, you may be right. This might be a no situation. And to not override and just because I say so and to, and maybe it's because so much of her personality, to try and individualize with her. The other thing I had to recognize, which was truth, was that if I wasn't being an entrepreneur, I would be miserable. And there was unhappiness in my family growing up. And no one is spared when the mom is unhappy or the dad's.

1:12:39You can pretend, but it seeks. So instead, I was very, very fortunate where I had wonderful women who were helping me to raise Simone. Sure. So you didn't try to do it all on your own? No. And I was fortunate enough. Again, some people are not as fortunate that I could afford to have. And, you know, these women were with me since Simone was early and once when Simone was four, who's still with me today and runs, you know, helps me manage the house in Orlando, just like a sister. But it was just that try, not putting it down and just every day consistently. And then also looking for opportunities to intermingle my family.

1:13:19So Simone's been on set and she has a voice. Simone has told me yay and nay. And I'm like, what do you think of this? And I actually, you know, we talked that I'm going to execute on a new business strategy in a few months, which I'm teasing with you. You'll tell me later. But I spoke to Simone yesterday to say, literally yesterday, Simone, I want to do this, this, this, this. Does this align with you? And she's like, it does, Mom. And just watch out for this, this, and this. I was like, fantastic. Oh, it's beautiful. So if we put down archetypes of what it looks like to be a mom from the 90s, 2000s, or the 80s, and instead say, let me build my journey of what it's like to be a mom, you'll find more success.

1:14:09Yes, because you'll remove those supposed obstacles that you're failing at that maybe are not applicable today, and you'll create new pathways that are best for you and your child. So it's permission, permission, permission. You just said the word alignment, and it brought up another question for me to ask you. When we, I mentioned before that we had seen it, well, I'd seen you at a place we were both staying at. I won't say where. Place that will not be mentioned. I won't say where, but about a year ago. And when I was there, I was actually doing an interview with Matthew McConaughey as well.

1:14:45And the famous speech that he gave about chasing his hero, which is himself, 10 years ahead, came to me, as you were saying, alignment with your daughter. And I'm curious if you could go 10 years ahead. I don't know if you know the speech I'm talking about, his award speech, the Oscar award speech. Yes, and I only caught little glimpses. Yeah, yeah. Anyways, he says like in the award speech that someone asked him who his hero was, Matthew McConaughey. And he said, myself 10 years away. And then 10 years later, that same person asked him, are you your hero now, 10 years later? He said, no, my hero is 10 years away from me now.

1:15:24I'm always chasing my hero 10 years out from now. And he's trying to create alignment with the vision of himself that he has 10 years away. Right. And that's where this triggered for me, this question. You mentioned alignment with your daughter and all these different things. And you've mentioned the word tools throughout this conversation and learning and unlearning things and making sure you're stepping into your ultimate purpose. If you can imagine 10 years out, and I can, you know, after the last 10 years of what you created in your life is fascinating. Not only personally, professionally, all these different things, but if you can imagine 10 years out, if you were able to hypothetically have a conversation with yourself today as a 10-year wiser individual.

1:16:16Right. So the 10-year wiser person is talking to me today. Got it. What do you think, and this hypothetical question, I know, this wasn't in the pre-play questions, Danny, I apologize. I can't wait for it to land. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. What do you think would be the one or two things that your future self would tell you today that you get to continue to step into or let go of to support your growth? Ah. I would imagine, I would like to think my 10-year-old self would say, hey, don't worry, we're still jacked. So that would be important. We're still shredding. Still keep working out. But I think what I would hope that 10-year-old Danny would be telling me, you are right about your success, your success for yourself, that you're passionate about changing the world.

1:17:09So stay on that self-investment, self-investment. And every time you begin to fall into have faith, because it is faith, you are worthy to have success that will impact the world. That's what I hope. That would be great. That is beautiful. I really appreciate that. If you could come tonight in my dreams, that would be great. Well, your future self is speaking to you and you're doing it. So this has been incredibly beautiful, Danny. I'm so grateful for this conversation. I want to wrap it up because I know your team's probably saying we got to finalize this. But I want people to follow you online because they can see all of your success and your moves behind the scenes.

1:17:51I think you're just like a mastermind. Every time I see you post something, I'm like, there's another move. I like that. But they can follow you on social media. Instagram is where a lot of your content is. Danny Garcia, co on Instagram. Where else should people follow you or stay in contact or just be aware of what you're up to? You have a plethora of businesses. Where can people check out the portfolio? And how can we best serve you today? Oh, well, thank you for that. Everyone should watch the UFL and come to the games. But really, social media, LinkedIn, I'm enjoying that platform. I get to use more language there.

1:18:32I get to go on the written word, which is, I love the written word. You know, I show up in all my companies. So, you know, whether it's Seven Bucks Productions or GSTQ or, you know, you'll see pieces of me everywhere. But the website of the Garcia companies is pretty quiet. We should be very low key. But I think if they follow me digitally, they'll begin to see more and more. More and more. Because I'll continue to emerge. I have committed to being more forward facing. I love it. Which has led me to this year. I know. I'm excited. So it's been a great experience. This is a side of you. I don't think anyone has seen based on your content.

1:19:11I've followed your content for years. You don't do many long-form interviews that I've seen, maybe one or two. And I haven't seen you talk about the soul and the heart of your life in this way. So I'm very grateful. This is two final questions for you that we're wrapping it up, I promise you. Before I ask the two final questions, Danny, I want to acknowledge you again for opening up, for your heart, for sharing so many behind-the-scenes stories that I don't think a lot of people have heard. No, you unpacked it all. And for going with me on this journey of discovery, I really appreciate it. And for also just sharing more of who you are behind the successful, powerful, world-dominating mastermind.

1:19:55I don't know if that's the nickname that you're going to have, but the mastermind is feeling good to me right now for my nickname for you. but just yeah the love that you bring and I can feel it with your team I can feel it with your energy that you brought into the space I really acknowledge you for that and I'm grateful for you I received that thinking this question I ask everyone at the end of my interviews so this is the I think the only question that I sent you beforehand that I'm asking you so I apologize but this is called the three truths okay great another hypothetical scenario it's your last day on earth many years away yeah you get to live as long as you want I appreciate that you're like and you can live as long as you want you want but it's the final day and you've gotten to create the exact life you want from this moment until then the businesses the impact the success the love the family all this stuff it happens but for whatever reason on the last day you've got to take all of your work with you so the content this conversation anything you create in the future for whatever reason no one has access to your message anymore.

1:21:03But you get to leave behind three final truths about your life experience and what you've learned and experienced. Three final lessons that you would share, and this is all we have of your content. What would those three truths be for you? Okay. Here we go. Let's try. The first one is going to be, you transform yourself, you transform the world. That would absolutely be that. Not transform the world. You transform yourself, you will transform. That's beautiful. That's gonna be the first. The second one, oh my gosh, it comes from Antonio Machado's Spanish poem and it's been written all the time, which is, you know, there, it's something to the effect of traveler, there is no path.

1:21:50Every step is the path. And the reminder that As much as we look for systems and processes to create comfort in the journey we're going to, those are false. The best path is the first step you take. And I think that's really, really important. There's so much individualization in that. And the magic of people being individual creates greater community as compared to being fully cohesive, following steps. I think it would be that. And the third one is going to go back to health. It's going to be like, if you're not clanging and banging, you're dying. It would really be something similar to, you know, your body is not separate from your soul and your mind.

1:22:42It is all one. Move them forward together. Absolutely. Yeah. Health is wealth. Health is wealth. Clang and bang to the end. Clang and bang all the way. Build that muscle. Let's go. Again, I'm so grateful for you, Danny. And I have one final question. It's what is your definition of greatness? Oh, that's a great one. You know what? It's so funny. I saw that and I was driving. I was like, what is my definition of greatness? I will say this. My definition of greatness is going to be the sense of satisfaction you feel in the moment. I will always go back to an internalized sense of greatness. There is no sort of measure of greatness because we have accomplished things and been like, it's always going to be the level of satisfaction you can have in that.

1:23:35That'll be victory and greatness. Danny Garcia, thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.