Ilana

And to me, that is so strong because sometimes we look at people like you and we say, oh, it's all been easy. Their path to success has been all pink and roses. And it looks like it's almost like a born thing. You have to be born an incredible leader. And that's the only people that are successful. And I think one of the...

quotes that you have that just hit me like a brick I think you're kind of at some point you say something along the line like I needed to admit that I'm actually average I don't know exactly how you say that but that to me was hitting home because I think this is what listeners need to hear everybody can do this now the only question is how hard are you going to try when are you going to give up what are you willing to do for success talk to us a little bit what changed for you

Because again, it's uncomfortable as heck and fear can be numbing. It will be numbing. But then again, you go to film school, which is basically, I want to say 180 degrees from where you ended up, but actually you are coming back towards that. But share a little bit, you go to film school, what happened there?

seeing you suddenly that motivated and hustling to make this way, what made you fall off that horse?

And I absolutely love what you just said about the quality of a questions will dictate the level of success that you have, but you need to remember to listen to the data, not the drama that comes with it, right?

And I think one of the things that you say is don't limit yourself to where you are now, which I think is also really important because the lens that we see life in is right now, but it's hard to really connect the dots. After this conversation, horrific experience after film school. You somehow joined kind of at the bottom of a startup, right? Tell me a little bit about what that experience was.

And I think it was a pretty toxic environment as well.

When I read Lisa's book, Radical Confidence, who is your wife, for those who don't know, it literally seemed like it's, almost like within a few days or a day or something. Like you literally are supposed to move out. You're supposed to quit. And instead, you're starting Quest. And in fact, you believe in it so much that you're willing to risk your house, if I'm reading this correctly.

What switched? Can you go back and why Quest? Can you share that a little bit, Tom?

Can you share why Quest?

I love how you explain the team, because I think this is so hard to find. Teams that are from different backgrounds, they all bring a different mix, but they're all passionate about something. It's not easy to find at all. And I love that it's based on a personal thing, right?

Because I think one of the hardest thing and tell me what you noticed in the Tom, but is that in entrepreneurship, there's a lot of what we call the near death experiences. It gets really hard. And I think having that really strong why really, really helps stop. Did you run into that?

between wanting to do something big and actually growing to Inc., you know, second fastest growing company, I told you, I have so much respect because I felt we are growing really fast and you are just like at a whole different level. How do you do that? How do you get started? Because again, it's, there've been other bars before. Yes, they were disgusting, but how do you get in front of people?

And I think a lot of it is what you stated, but it would be great to hear a little more.

That is a mic drop here that I need to also sink in a little bit. And I think that is just so fundamental because there is something about a best product, but there's also a best known product. But what you're saying is sometimes you need to think about what you're actually selling. And in your case, it's not necessarily the game. It's not necessarily the bar. It's the community.

that will advocate for it because that's going to create a real snowball versus trying to acquire one in one, right? That's what's going to make it successful, which is so interesting. As a CEO, as a founder, What makes you so determined? And again, I'm sure a lot of it is experimentation, but there's a lot of noises and there's a team that says that this is not the right way.

What helps you with decision-making? Because I feel like that's a hard one sometimes.

How do you cope with fear, Tom? Because that sounds scary. That is a decision that costs more. Now you need to raise more capital. Like, I don't know, whatever, maybe you didn't. But I'm just saying that is a scary decision. How do you cope with the fear?

Yeah, there's a saying, there's no traffic jam at the extra mile, right? And I think you say it really well. Don't ask what's the minimum I need to do, but ask what's the maximum I need to bear, right? And it's just so exact. So you decide to sell Quest, right?

So you're starting a media production company with Lisa. Yeah, and again, you're not retiring on an island. Why, first of all?