Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
From Chaos to Podcast Success: Mike C-Roc's Journey of Transformation and Innovation
Tue, 26 Nov 2024
Mike C-Roc, a beacon of resilience and innovation, joins us to unravel his journey from the chaos of a large Italian family to the heights of podcasting success. Facing hurdles like addiction and divorce, Mike's narrative is one of transformation, where personal trials are alchemized into professional triumphs. From his youth in mushroom country to the pressures of a high-stakes restaurant career, Mike's story is a testament to navigating life's twists and turns with grit and grace. Our conversation sheds light on the pivotal life choices that shape our destinies, including Mike's shift from the mortgage industry to a path of global impact through podcasting. It's a tale of leaving behind the comfort of a commoditized career to embrace the uncertain, yet rewarding world of digital media. We explore the transition from traditional media aspirations to digital prominence, highlighting the necessity of building a personal brand in today's ever-evolving landscape. Mike's insights into scaling a podcast agency and the delicate balance between AI integration and human connection offer invaluable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. We also delve into the powerful concept of the "rocket fuel law," where life's adversities become catalysts for success, and how these experiences culminated in Mike's bestselling book. Insightful discussions on parenting with purpose, teaching financial literacy to the next generation, and fostering innate talents round out this rich dialogue. Join us for this episode of "Escaping the Drift," where personal and professional growth is not just a journey but a transformative experience, guided by Mike C-Roc's compelling insights. CHAPTERS (00:00) - Escaping the Drift (03:54) - Life Lessons and Career Paths (15:23) - Global Impact Through Podcasting (25:52) - Scaling a Podcasting Agency Business (36:09) - Rocket Fuel Law (46:17) - Parenting and Philanthropy Balance (51:54) - Building Personal Brand on Social Media 💬 Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Tell us all about it in the comment section below! ☑️ If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford ************* 💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space. ➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company. ➡️ Streamline Home Loans - An independent mortgage bank with more than 100 loan officers. The Simply Group, A national expansion vehicle partnering with large brokers across the country to vertically integrate their real estate brokerages. ************* ✅ Follow John Gafford on social media: Instagram ▶️ / thejohngafford Facebook ▶️ / gafford2 🎧 Stream The Escaping The Drift Podcast with John Gafford Episode here: Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9 Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283 ************* #escapingthedrift #mikecroc #resilience #innovation #italianfamily #podcastingsuccess #addiction #divorce #transformation #mushroomcountry #restaurantcareer #personaltrials #professionaltriumphs #brandbuilding #digitalmedia #traditionalmedia #personalbrand #aiintegration #humanconnection #entrepreneurship #parenting #philanthropy #financialliteracy #rocketfuellaw #parentingwithpurpose #personalbranding #socialmedia #strategicpartnerships #impactfulagencies #buildingpersonalbrand #digitalage #visibility #mailinglist #reviews #shares
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of 'Escaping the Drift'?
And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again, back again for another...
Episode of the show that, like I said in the opening, man, gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And today, ladies and gents, live in the studio. And this is the biggest advantage of being in Vegas because, dude, at some point, all the ballers come rolling through Vegas. And when they do, it's easy for me to get them. I wish I could say these people came just for me. They don't.
They come for F1. They come for these magical events. But, hey, man, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm going to take it. And today in the studio, I got a dude that is – he's probably the foremost expert on building your brand through exactly what I'm doing right now. He is the owner of the brand that that – Podcast, he's a best-selling author.
I'm sorry, that one podcast, he's a best-selling author and is an all-around good dude, and we're lucky to have him here. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mikey C. Rock. Thank you, John.
Hey, listen, I got to tell you, I flew five hours to come just to see you.
just to see me all the other stuff is just like yes it's auxiliary it's auxiliary visiting kill time while i'm waiting to come here yeah that whole sphere thing just kill time check that thing out what are you gonna do it's good dude so no i dude i so appreciate you coming in selling yourself short man i know i'm just listen i'm it's it's self-deprecation i think i think people it makes me more appealing yeah i think when i go self-deprecation i can't just go full ego you know brad's got a bradley my buddy bradley's got a he's got that uh that cornered
That market cornered, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Man, I didn't chew the NeuroGum today. That's showing up easy after a heavy carb lunch, isn't it? Good Lord. So, dude, let's talk about... So, for those people that don't know you, let's talk a little bit about your background. Obviously, you're very, very successful at what you do. Where did you grow up?
Let's talk about this, because I like to get either the, you know, the villain or hero origin story, if you will. Where'd you grow up?
I mean, talk to me about... I grew up outside of Philly, and... In the mushroom country, it's where most mushrooms grow. And I'm talking about the food mushrooms.
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Chapter 2: How did Mike C-Roc grow up?
Yeah, not the Grateful Dead mushrooms.
Nowadays, you got to differentiate, specify. But it was the food mushrooms. And it smells like shit there. And just like a horrible smell when you walk through there because of the manure and fertilizer. But I grew up there in an Italian family and eventually made my way down to Maryland to go to college and play football. What did mom and dad do? My dad was a Mason. He had his own business. Okay.
And my mom worked for DuPont for years and then took early retirement and became a nurse. Okay.
Yeah.
Two separate careers. Cool. Lots of brothers and sisters in the house? Yeah. I'm the oldest of eight with broken family. Oh, my gosh. Broken family, though. So, like, it was never any more than four in a house. Oh, wow. So...
question you obviously had to become if you're the oldest you you immediately went into sort of caregiver mode of your younger your younger siblings i'm assuming right yeah so at what point would you say if you had to put an age on it were you forced to grow up
Well, early because I don't remember my parents ever together. So I came from a lot of brokenness, like a lot, like drug addicts, alcoholic, anxiety, depression, divorce, child support, custody battles. And you had step parents into the mix and their agendas, not getting along with people and just witnessing and watching all this stuff as a kid.
I mean, ever since I can remember, I thought it was normal. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, like... I can tell you, eight years old, I was a really keen observer of human beings and human behavior. And so I've always been known as being pretty grown up and mature.
Yeah. So sports obviously became an outlet for you then. Oh, yeah. And you got pretty good at it because you got a college scholarship to play ball.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Mike face in his early life?
Okay. God bless. I mean, you know, it's so funny. Let me ask you a question about that while we're talking about that. So is that something you regret? You look back, does that, does that always had a grinded on you forever?
Uh, there's more, I'll go through seasons where I'll, I'll regret it. But at the end of the day now, um, when I got to college, I was playing football, but I realized that, That it like, I wasn't going to go anywhere after college with football. Yeah. So then I saw parties. I saw parties I'd never seen before coming from a small town.
I say outside of Philly, but when I went to high school, it was a small suburban, like not suburban, even rural town in Maryland, actually. And when I got to college, I saw like girls, the types of girls that were there at the parties. And it's just, that's what caught my attention. Yeah. And so I went down that road, that road of parties. And that was the chase. I was on chase for the good time.
College and courses on that, that was always easy to me. What was the hustle? I was bored by it.
Were you hustling in college? What was the hustle?
No, not until I dropped out. I got in the restaurant business while I was in college. That was when Cocktail came out. Were you a flair bartender? Not a flair bartender.
I did work as a bartender and waiter.
I had a vision of start my own restaurant and all this. And then when you're in the restaurant business and you start to party to cash business late nights after you're done at the bar, two thirty three o'clock, you're going to a party and then just, you know, it's just not a good place to be. But that's where I ended up, brother.
I commiserate with you on all of that. So first off, like my college outing story, like it was one of those things where I never told people I didn't finish school. Like I never announced that. I just let people assume, right? They knew that I was at this, you know, I went to school, I was there, but they never like knew that I didn't finish and I never brought it up.
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Chapter 4: How did Mike transition from the mortgage industry to podcasting?
Chapter 5: What is the 'rocket fuel law' and how does it apply to success?
They're thinking about themselves a hundred percent. And then the, and then the restaurant thing, dude, I, at 28 years old, I, I was involved with several restaurants and bars and I went to the doctor at 28 bleeding ulcers. Oh my God. Doctor's like, well, what do you do? I'm like restaurant bar business. He's like, uh, how many hours you work? I'm like 120. He's like, what's your diet?
I'm like maker's market cigarettes. He's like, you need a life change, not a job. You need a fucking life change or you're just going to eat your life. And I was done. That was the end of it, man. I got out of everything that I had at that time and was done. Learned how to sell, man.
I had a great time. I got to tell you, there were some great times, but there was also, like, it ends up in darkness, man. Yeah. Dark times. Heavy, like... Yeah.
7 a.m. around somebody's kitchen table.
Yeah. And then all your friends that are in college leave go on their mission that they're going on. And you're just like you're left with everybody else. It's just not on a mission. Yeah. Except for the next party. And it's just like miserable.
Yeah. No, no, no. And misery loves company. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
So that business and that's people talk about what the hardest thing about Las Vegas is. Right. Or they want to know, like, why is Nevada so shitty with education?
and the truth of it is is because when i first moved here it's like everything you think is is normal in the world is exactly upside down here when i moved here i met my wife she's why i moved here my wife when i met her had a master's degree in hospitality from unlv which is one of the best hospitality schools in the country right so what was she doing with her master's degree in hospitality
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Chapter 6: How important is personal branding in today's digital world?
Chapter 7: What are Mike's insights on parenting and teaching financial literacy?
Chapter 8: How can adversity be transformed into success?
They're thinking about themselves a hundred percent. And then the, and then the restaurant thing, dude, I, at 28 years old, I, I was involved with several restaurants and bars and I went to the doctor at 28 bleeding ulcers. Oh my God. Doctor's like, well, what do you do? I'm like restaurant bar business. He's like, uh, how many hours you work? I'm like 120. He's like, what's your diet?
I'm like maker's market cigarettes. He's like, you need a life change, not a job. You need a fucking life change or you're just going to eat your life. And I was done. That was the end of it, man. I got out of everything that I had at that time and was done. Learned how to sell, man.
I had a great time. I got to tell you, there were some great times, but there was also, like, it ends up in darkness, man. Yeah. Dark times. Heavy, like... Yeah.
7 a.m. around somebody's kitchen table.
Yeah. And then all your friends that are in college leave go on their mission that they're going on. And you're just like you're left with everybody else. It's just not on a mission. Yeah. Except for the next party. And it's just like miserable.
Yeah. No, no, no. And misery loves company. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
So that business and that's people talk about what the hardest thing about Las Vegas is. Right. Or they want to know, like, why is Nevada so shitty with education?
and the truth of it is is because when i first moved here it's like everything you think is is normal in the world is exactly upside down here when i moved here i met my wife she's why i moved here my wife when i met her had a master's degree in hospitality from unlv which is one of the best hospitality schools in the country right so what was she doing with her master's degree in hospitality
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