Michael Parrish Dudell Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast
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Introducing Michael Parrish Dudell
Michael Parrish Dudell is todays guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast interview.
He is a man with many strings to his bow, and literally it seems a midus touch to success in business.
But he wasn’t always driven to be in the entrepreneurial environment, as during college he focused on a very different path……Theatre and Musical Theatre.
This was his passion, his dream, his future.
But what happens to a man who realises that the future he had planned for, and majored in college actually was a future that filled him with dread.
What can he do to start again, when he has no experience, knowledge or connections other than in the world he had frequented previously.
How The Dots Joined Up For Michael
Well, Michael Parrish Dudell went back to basics, but this time focused on the things that could stimulate him in business, marketing and entrepreneurial ventures.
He started on a new path at the age of 24, and is an entrepreneur, international keynote speaker.
He is also the bestselling author of Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business—the official book from ABC’s hit show Shark Tank on how to successfully launch and grow a business from concept to cash.
So with a fascinating story, of one mans struggle to find work that really mattered, let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs with the one and only Michael Parrish Dudell.
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Michael Parrish Dudell such as:
How he once allowed old lady on the underground to believe that he was Matthew Broderick!
How no experiences in life are ever wasted, we can use everything that life throws at us later on!
How going through the dark is often the best way to find the light….the only way is up!
How he once wrote a book in 30 days, which proved to him that he can work under severe pressure and still create something worthwhile!
How he stopped all relationships once he started his entrepreneurial journey, as he knew he was behind the game and needed to catch up!
And lastly…..
How he used to be convinced that he wasn’t smart…which is quite obviously a self-limiting thought!
Michael Parrish Dudell Books
How To Connect With Michael Parrish Dudell
Return To The Top Of Michael Parrish Dudell
If you were inspired by the conversation with Michael Parrish Dudell, then why not check out other motivational and fun conversations with Roz Savage, Jessica Cox, Hal Elrod and Wesley Chapman to name a few.
Every other episode to enjoy and consume can be found at Join Up Dots Podcast Archives
Audio Transcription Of Michael Parrish Dudell Interview
Intro [0:00]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph.
David Ralph [0:26]
Yes, good morning to you. It is me once again. It is the host of Join Up Dots. Yes, it’s David Ralph. I’m still in the back of the garden. And I’m still chasing those dreams. Well, to be honest, I think I found my dream. I am loving this more than I’ve ever done. And it’s not surprising when I get guests like I’ve got today, because he is a man who was made for Join Up Dots. I imagine if you rolled up his sleeves, you will see the tattoo, Join Up Dots all the way down both arms, because he’s a man with such a tail. And it’s a towel of contrast. At the moment if you talk to him, he’s a man with many strings to his bow and literally seems the Midas touch to success in business. But he wasn’t always driven to be in the entrepreneurial environment as during college, he focused on a very different path, theatre and musical theatre. This was his passion, his dream his future. But what happens to a man who realises that the future we had planned for and majored in college actually was a future that started to fit in with dread. What can he do to start again, when he has no experience knowledge or Connexions? Other than in the world he had frequented previously? Well, he went back to basics, but this time focused on the things that could stimulate him in business marketing and entrepreneurial ventures. He started a new path at the age of 24. And he’s an entrepreneur, international keynote speaker and best selling author of shark tank, jumpstart your business, the official book from ABC hit show Shark Tank on how to successfully launch and grow a business from concept to cash. So with a fascinating storey of one man struggled to find work that really mattered. Let’s be on to the show to start Join Up Dots, the one and only Michael Parish. Do del How are you today, Michael?
Michael Parrish Dudell [2:06]
Hey, David. I’m great. Thanks so much for having me.
David Ralph [2:09]
It’s an absolute pleasure to have you answer. And I’ve got to get this out the way I’ve got to get this out of the way before, before it blows my brain. But ever since I knew you was coming on the show. I’ve been thinking he looks like he looks like Matthew Broderick has other people said that to you.
Michael Parrish Dudell [2:26]
Oh, I get that all the time.
David Ralph [2:28]
Cos you do don’tyou? Oh, it’s dead ringer.
Michael Parrish Dudell [2:31]
You know, it’s so funny is that? Yeah, Ferris Bueller. Matthew Broderick? What’s funny is, um, gosh, maybe four or five years ago, I was at a show. And I’m sitting there minding my own business and who sits next to me, but Matthew Broderick. And I almost I didn’t do this. But I almost turned to him and say, does anyone ever tell you that you look just like Michael Parrish Dudell, but I didn’t know if he was in a good mood that night. So I chose not do it would have been great IP. Sarah Jessica Parker got off with you and went away. That would be good. Yeah,
right. I’m not sure if my girlfriend would have liked that. But that would have been a storey to tell that’s for sure.
David Ralph [3:03]
Your girlfriend would have been okay with it gets to that point. But it’s such a fantasy world and live the fantasy. That’s the way I think. Right? When when I was younger, so much younger than today. I used to get called on Hugh Grant all the time. I used to sort of have relatively floppy hair is going it’s going sort of white now. But at that time, and when I was in New York and Los Angeles, Los Angeles was dm the place. People basically used to chase me around thinking I was gone. And I could never really see it. There was a kind of vague resemblance. But the Americans and the particularly the Canadian, the drunk Canadian ladies, absolutely thought I was him. And I never really played up to it. Maybe I should have done DJ. I
Michael Parrish Dudell [3:47]
think that was I think that was a missed opportunity.
David Ralph [3:49]
Yeah, I think my wife would have stopped that as well.
Michael Parrish Dudell [3:52]
You know, it’s funny, I think you were gonna ask Have I ever played up the Matthew Broderick thing before? And that’s a really funny storey one, only once I did, I was in the subway. I think I just moved to the city. And I was actually coming back from the doctor. I wasn’t feeling well. And it was winter. So I had sort of this jacket on and a hood over my head. And I hadn’t shaved for a while. And I think I was wearing sunglasses even. And this old woman came up to me on the train very quietly, and suddenly, and she said, I love doing Ferris Bueller. And I just said, Thank you. And, and I think she probably told everyone back home that she saw Matthew Broderick.
David Ralph [4:24]
And in the way she did vote, didn’t she? You know, it doesn’t matter does it? She’s now got that storey that she can go with for the rest of her life.
Michael Parrish Dudell [4:32]
That’s what I thought. So I thought I would and I wasn’t feeling well. So I thought it’d be easier to say thank you then explain. You did
David Ralph [4:37]
a good thing you said, let’s start joining up your dots because your town is fascinating. And when I I watched your TEDx speech, which you did an amazing job. And I’m going to put the links to it on on the show notes so people can jump over and watch it on YouTube. But it was fascinating how your your career was so different find until you lost your mojo, as I was saying in the introduction, you were very into the college in the theatre and all that kind of stuff. And it seemed to me it was the Wizard of Oz that killed you off. Is that about right?
Michael Parrish Dudell [5:13]
Yeah, I think that’s the short version. You know, I had been when I was very young, as early as three or four, I was born with a really bad speech impediment. But even with that speech impediment, I was always a really good singer ever since I was a little kid. And it was just something that I naturally did. And that sort of led to I was always very outgoing, as well as I still am, which led to sort of acting and singing together and theatre and musical theatre. And when I was four years old, I did my first show. And really, the rest is history. By the time I graduated from high school, I’d done over well over 100 shows. I went to one of the most sort of competitive conservatories in the country here for theatre, I graduated, I got an agent, I was working all over the place. And I was really unhappy. I was not it was not what I wanted it to be. You know, you’re I reached that point that I think so many people get to. And the point is, when you ask yourself that question, if you’re brave enough to ask yourself that question, am I doing what I’m doing? Because I love it? Or am I doing what I’m doing? Because I’ve always done it? That’s a hard question to ask because it has a very difficult answer. But I eventually asked myself that question, and I realised that, sadly, I was doing what I was doing, because I had done it. And that’s no reason to do anything.
David Ralph [6:25]
It’s a sad state of affairs, though, isn’t it? When when you you put so much energy and effort into it, and you suddenly realise that you are effectively on the wrong path. And so many people will just ignore that and keep on going. So it was a brave decision for you to go now Hang on. Although this environment that I’ve created around me is all I know, is time to create a new one.
Michael Parrish Dudell [6:50]
Yeah, I mean, listen, in the short term, and it’s sad. In the short term, it’s it’s it’s difficult to deal with. But in the long term, I think that generally means that you are asking yourself the right kind of questions, and, and living life in the way that in my opinion, life is supposed to be led. I mean, I don’t know why we think that, that our career in our in our evolution is supposed to be static, right? People think like you go to college, and you get a job, and you work in that one industry, and then you retire, and then you die. Right? That’s that’s the that’s the template. I don’t think we’re static creatures. I think we’re evolutionary creatures. I think that project leads to project leads to project and so I didn’t know that back then. And of course, when I was dealing with that uncertainty, it was the worst thing in the world. It was the biggest identity crisis I had ever gone through. With a little bit of perspective, I was able to recognise that was the smartest question I ever asked myself.
David Ralph [7:45]
But I’ll tell you why. It must be great to go through a crisis like that with showtunes surmounting you.
Michael Parrish Dudell [7:51]
Yeah. I don’t know if it’s better or worse. I might argue that it’s, it’s worse. You don’t wake up in
Unknown Speaker [7:56]
the morning? I am. Well, I am.
Michael Parrish Dudell [8:00]
No, not at all. You know, I have to say I have a habit of going all into something. And then when I feel like it’s time to back away, I back away in a big way. I don’t even go to the theatre very much excluding that time I saw Matthew Broderick I that’s that’s an older part of my life, and I respected but it’s just not a very big part of my life. He’s even as a spectator today.
David Ralph [8:19]
So So what was it that made you you know, we’re not going to focus on the dark side. But it is a key point to people’s lives. And on this show, Join Up Dots. So many people have said that the darkest point of their life, when they look back on it was actually the bit that made them that that was the bit that actually made them take decisions and take action and move to where they are happier than they’ve ever been before. But it isn’t a bang, and it just occurs overnight is a gradual creeping realisation. Was that the case with you?
Michael Parrish Dudell [8:52]
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think to your to your point about the dark being the, the best way to find the light. You know, I think the reason for that is because when you feel like you don’t have much, there’s nowhere else to go but up. And it’s a little bit easier to try new things because you don’t feel like you have anything that you’re really passionate about at the moment or anything tangible that you can latch on to. I forgot your original question. What was your What was your real question? Well,
David Ralph [9:20]
everyone seems to go through that state that it was a Oh, yeah. speak.as. We call it the major dot. But although we phrase it that way, it seems to be hundreds and hundreds of little dots. But when you look back, you kind of grouped into one, one key one,
Michael Parrish Dudell [9:34]
oh, yeah, thousands and millions. You know, for me, it started when I went to college, like I said, I went to a performing arts high school, this was this was my entire identity. I mean, I had done something since I was four years old, nobody in my life knew me, outside of Oh, Michael, as an actor, that was my complete identity. And I started to feel when I went to school for it, that this maybe wasn’t the right choice for a lot of reasons. You know, I liked to perform, I liked to be good at something, you know, when you’re when you’re young, and someone tells you Wow, you’re really great at this. And you hear that every day, every week, every month, you you appreciate it, because you’re good at it, and who doesn’t like to be good at something. And so that was a big piece of it. But I also, you know, I had all these interests and all these ideas and thoughts and, and things I wanted to pursue that, quite frankly, I’d never tried, because I’d spent my entire life doing one thing. And so when I went to school for it, things started to unravel. That was when I was 18. And it took six years of consistently thinking about and evaluating that choice until I was able to walk away. And you’re right, it was the Wizard of Oz that did it. I was on a tour of the show. And I was backstage in Texas. And I found myself wearing this bright green unitard with these little cotton balls glued to the arms and these these fuzzy like, technical eyeballs in the top of my head. And and so what was that in The Wizard of Oz? The jitter. I was a jitterbug and one of the scenes
David Ralph [10:59]
and one I don’t
Michael Parrish Dudell [11:00]
remember that at all. It’s not it’s no, it’s not in the movie. It’s only in the play. Oh, well, it’s this. It’s something in the jungle. Listen, I’m trying to get out of my memory. So I’m not gonna, I’m not going to rehash it here. Remember the monkeys? And that’s the only thing I remember.
Yeah, no, it’s just in the show. So I was sitting backstage, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. And it became all to clear all of a sudden, I said, You know what, this is gone on long enough. I am, I’m done. It’s over. And I called my agent and left and flew back to New York and left the agency and left the business and have never been in an audition room since then.
David Ralph [11:37]
blow me. So when you do decide to do something, as you say, you go help deliver, there’s, there’s no, there’s no sort of leaving a foot dragging behind. You just go for four.
Michael Parrish Dudell [11:47]
Right? So that’s my style. But I will say this, I told myself at the time that I was giving myself six months off. I didn’t leave my agency. The next day I came back, I left my contract. I said, I’m going to give myself six months, I’m going to take a break and see how it goes. At the beginning of week two, I called my agency and left that’s how sure I was it took me it took me a second to realise it was the right decision. And I stand by it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
David Ralph [12:10]
But you will still the bomb. And now it’s quite obvious, isn’t it on the mic here? Before we started rolling, I always do a little question to ask what sort of microphone people are using and headphones, you’re prepared. You know what sound needs to sound like, and you are ready to do a performance on you.
Michael Parrish Dudell [12:27]
Yeah, I’ve often said that I’m more of a performer these days, I was even back then, you know, the work I do is is scattered. It’s consulting its media. It’s speaking, it’s all over the place. I just launched a web series actually, we’re launching on Tuesday, called the next crop, which is a video interview series, featuring sort of the next generation of business and media influencers. We launched the trailer and the site on Tuesday. But we have Citrix GoToMeeting as our exclusive season sponsor, we have Forbes as our media partner, which will be launching the episode every tuesday@forbes.com. So it’s really exciting. I’m hosting the thing. And that’s a great example of, of what you just said, You know, I a lot of people, this is the big misnomer. A lot of people think when they’re about to transition or thinking about transitioning, they think that they’re going to throw away everything that they work towards. Yeah, all the time and energy and skill, it’s gone. That couldn’t be further from the truth. What actually ended up happening is I used all of those skills I developed in this new line of work. And that is what gives me a competitive advantage today.
David Ralph [13:29]
No experience is wasted, is it?
Michael Parrish Dudell [13:31]
No, no, not at all. And I didn’t used to believe that. But I learned that the hard way, I guess you could say in that. Or maybe the easy way. Because it’s it’s it plays a role in my life today. What you learn can be translated into a million different careers. And you know, your job, when you’re learning it is not to figure out why you’ll need it, but appreciate the knowledge and to use it in whichever way you see fit at the moment.
David Ralph [13:57]
If I joined up my dots, and I go back in time, when I was 16, I have done a series of bank jobs. And in short, not bank jobs, like I’m robbing the place, but working working in banks and insurance. And I’ve been in sales, I’ve been in training, I’ve been in all of them. And I can actually look back and I can, as you say take something from all of them that I’m using now. And it may not be you know, obvious, but if I take it away, I’m missing it. So it completes the picture somehow. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I do think people because that’s a key thing. Because what you’re talking about there, you’re talking about fear. And you’re talking about people making excuses for confronting that fear by saying, oh, I’ve been in this job too long. Now. It’s all I know, how can I start again? But they can come if I do confront that fear?
Michael Parrish Dudell [14:52]
Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s not an easy thing to do. It’s, it’s, it took me years, it takes a lot of people years, because it’s more listening. In this day and age, what you do is such a big part of who you are, that to walk away from that. It, it’s so much bigger than a career, it’s so much bigger than a job. And you have to be really ready to make that switch to make that transition before you do it. Because it to downplay it and say it’s not a big deal would be silly, it’s it’s a huge deal. That being said, it’s a it’s something that you have to face, you have to be brave enough to to make a move in to make that choice. Otherwise, the alternative is the kind of uncertainty and unhappiness that you’re probably living now.
David Ralph [15:38]
You’re surrounding yourself with entrepreneurial types. Do you see people who are you many years ago? And did you look at them? I think you’re you’re on the wrong path. I can see it, you’re dragging in each morning, you’re spending too much time at Starbucks, trying to get coffee and all those kind of stuff. Do you see those people clearly because you’ve been through that part already.
Michael Parrish Dudell [16:00]
You know, I’m very fortunate I am I’m not sure where you’re at if co working is has exploded there yet. But here in the States, especially in New York, and LA, the CO working scene is is really growing and co working for anyone listening that doesn’t know, essentially a bunch of entrepreneurs, hundreds of them share an office building and they share resources and you rent space. And you have a really great community. And I’m lucky to work from a we work. That’s the name of the company, we work location, that’s the CO working space in the city. So I’m surrounded by really passionate entrepreneurs and founders and startup folks all day long. So I don’t see that in my day to day where I do see that is when I am I consult for a lot of companies. And often when I go into a company, and I meet with employees, and I sit down and I get to know sort of the team members, I do see that not all the time, but certainly enough to be aware of it. And I think that’s really dangerous. I think when you go into a job, and you post every single day, it breeds a kind of apathy that I think is dangerous, because it leaks into every other part of your life. I think I think I honestly think apathy is always the enemy. I’m going to use a C word on here. And it’s a shocking word. Okay, comfort. I think that is the most vile word, but people that are just comfortable. And you say yeah, hosting comfortable, and it’s never too bad. But it’s never too good. And they just float along until the weekend because or the next paycheck comes along. And if you say to them, or you get them worked up about something, what would they most like to do in life, they can really love all these things that they really want to do. But they don’t, because they’re just kind of comfortable. Yeah, I think that’s incredibly dangerous. And on the other side of it, you know, I’m somebody and I think a lot of people are like this, where you feel like, you know, you’re never fully satisfied, I certainly am like that I have a hard time feeling. feeling satisfied, because I tried to be the exact opposite of comfortable ektron. I put myself in scary situations all the time. Because if you’re not doing that, then you’re not testing yourself. You’re not growing. I mean, what a lot of people don’t know, I wrote the book for Shark Tank, which is in the UK called Dragon’s Den. And it’s a it’s a book on how to start a business. When I got the contract from ABC, they only gave me 30 days to write the whole book. Now, that’s an insane amount of work in 30 days, that’s 1900 and 50 words a day, every day without a break. And I had to leave town, I had to go to my hometown of Tampa, Florida, stay at a friend’s house, lock myself in a room for a month and write a book. And that was terrifying. I mean, talk about the opposite of comfortable. But what I learned from that experience, what I was able to gain in confidence and in just just a better sense of who I was, and what I was capable of. That is a gift that will continue to give for the rest of my life.
David Ralph [18:52]
So so what you practice, where was the classic? Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law? I’m sure you have. Yeah, absolutely. And and for the listeners out there, I’m I’m a big proponent of Parkinson’s Law, especially with my kids doing their homework. And my kids will take a 20 minute homework and stretch it out to six weeks. And I always say to them, you know, if you set a timer and you focus in and only get the time to do it in that timer, then you still get it done, don’t you, and it may not be absolutely perfect, but it’s good enough. So you looking yourself in that room with that fear with that panic with that focus, really did send out that signal to you that hang on, I can work under pressure, it wasn’t as scary as I made it out to be to begin with, and you able to grow?
Michael Parrish Dudell [19:39]
Yeah, it really is at the time, you know, it’s difficult. But when you look back at it, when you’re able to reflect on it, it is such a good skill to have, and, and not the skill to be able to necessarily do the work. But luckily, I was able to produce the book, the skill to be able to allow yourself to be in those situations, because that is the first part of the puzzle. You know, if if they had called and said, We want you to write this book, oh, by the way, you have 30 days, and I had said well Oh, it’s impossible, I can’t do it. That That would have been the dangerous thing to say not finishing the manuscript, but actually not allowing myself to be in that situation. And to find out what I made of it similar to I used to work for Seth Godin, the domino project, which is a publishing company, he started that was powered by Amazon. And when I had applied for that they’re about 1000 people that applied for this. And he called the 12 of us into the office 12 people for a group interview. So we all go to set this office. And of course, I knew a lot about sets work and I was a big fan and very excited about the project. And we go in and we’re in front of all of our peers. And he has us do a tonne of different little exercises and, and weigh in and ideas and all this stuff. And one of the exercises he gives us is he gives us all paper and pens and pencils, and all of this and and i think markers. And he said, Okay, I want you to think of the last book that you read, that you really enjoyed. And he’s and now none of our books are going to have traditional covers. So all of the information is going to have to be on the back cover. So right now in this room in front of all your peers, I want you to sit down and I want you to design the back cover of the last book you read as though we’re publishing it. And you have four minutes and four minutes. We had to design have a strategy, design something and then presented to the group. And I think that tested a lot of things about who we were. But one of the things that tested was, can this person, step out of the resistance step out of the that those voices you have in your head that said, I can’t I can’t, I can’t and just throw yourself into something blindly. Because that’s a big part of being successful today.
David Ralph [21:40]
It’s a total part is the old screw it let’s do it thing that Richard Branson talks about all the time, you know, he’s more likely to say yes to an opportunity. And then things how the hell are we going to do this afterwards, Ban pass up on the opportunity in the first place. But that does come with competence, doesn’t it? You know, it’s always somebody like yourself, who is successful has got so many strings to their bows. But somebody who is waiting to take that first step, they’re unlikely to grasp that opportunity. And it’s possibly too big for them. How could they kick start themselves? If I had never done anything like that before? And it’s the first go for them?
Michael Parrish Dudell [22:21]
Yeah, you know, it’s all about establishing proof points along the way. You know, I’m not that old, I just turned 31. Recently, I had the career shift when I was 24. So let’s call it six and a half or seven years ago, and I have a very clear memory of sitting in my therapist office when I was just about 24, maybe 25. And saying, talking about all these things I wanted to do. And I at the time, I just gotten this job in media, and I really wanted to grow that and, and I sat there and I said the only problem is that I’m just not a really smart person. I really believe that. I said, I’m talented, I can sing. I’m funny. I can get along with people very well. But I don’t have a lot of I’m just not smart. I’m just not smart.
David Ralph [23:02]
Once again, can I just jump in? Why do you think Yeah, well,
Michael Parrish Dudell [23:05]
because my whole life, I had done one thing, I had gone to a High School of Performing Arts High School that put talent over everything else, I was able to quickly go through my classes and not pay much effort to that, and focused on my arts. And then I went to this university, where we didn’t have to take math, we didn’t have to take science, I took the easiest classes of every possible choice, just so I could spend all my time working on my craft and working on my arts because I thought that was important. So my whole life, I had been able to coast by without much of a education because people said, Oh, well, this guy is going to be talent, this guy’s talent, he’s gonna be famous, he’s going to be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so what happens when you do that the time you think you’re getting away with something, you think, aha, I have tricked them all. And I’m doing exactly what I want to do. But when you have moments, like the moment I had, when I was 24 years old, all of a sudden, the only, the only Bank of knowledge you have to pull from is your life experiences. And when your life says in your experience, say you never really tried that hard in school, and I never took a writing class. I never took a business class like this was all I didn’t have any of that. And so for me, it was about small proof points, creating these, these these opportunities where I could be tested a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more. And I’ll tell you a this is a good storey a storey that happened almost almost exactly like a week after that day. Like I said, I had just started writing for this site called eco Razzi calm, which eventually grew and was sold. And I became the senior editor and ran it for a while. But at the time, I just started. And I covered all of the events in New York City. And the first event they sent me to, you have to remember I’d never, I wasn’t a journalist I didn’t, I never gone to an event as press. And so I show up. And everyone’s very nice. And, you know, they they are very accommodating, because they want you to write a good storey, and the PR woman comes over. And she says to me, you know, feel free to just get comfortable, you know, whatever she goes, and just so you know, minis ready for you whenever I said, Okay, yeah, absolutely. And I thought to myself, Mini is ready for me whenever What does that mean? What does that mean? And I walked around the place, I didn’t know what that meant. And I hadn’t been briefed at all. And I look at a sign from the organisation. And it said, with special celebrity guest Minnie Driver. And I thought, Oh, my God, I have to have to interview Minnie Driver. I never interviewed a celebrity. I’ve never interviewed anyone. And so I went to the bathroom. And I got on my Blackberry. And I googled how to do an interview. And I googled Minnie Driver. And I started writing notes on toilet paper in the bathroom. So I knew what to do. And then I said, Absolutely, I’m ready to go. And we went downstairs and I gave Minnie Driver, the first interview that ever delivered. And so I and then that I walked away from that, and I said, Oh my god, that worked. And then the storey did really well. And I got a promotion because of that. And I said, Wait a second, I can go and do that I can do the next thing. And I tested myself with the next thing and the next thing. And before you know it, you have a a body of experiences that allow you to not only feel like maybe you can do it, but that assure you that in fact you can deliver. It reminded me
David Ralph [26:13]
as she was saying that I was thinking what film is that? What film is that? But it reminded me of, um, Notting Hill with Hugh Grant, when he had to interview Julia Roberts about a film that he had no idea about.
Michael Parrish Dudell [26:24]
I haven’t seen that movie, now. You have
David Ralph [26:26]
to sit down watch it, because that will have resonance with you. So it is it’s a point of just testing yourself out, testing yourself out, testing yourself out and chipping away at those barriers that will will keep you stuck.
Michael Parrish Dudell [26:40]
Absolutely. I mean, that’s, that’s the only thing you can do. Right? I mean, there’s no way that if you haven’t, maybe you’re in a really comfortable position now and you want to get out and you’re not happy, there’s no way that tomorrow, you’re going to go and maybe write a book in 30 days or something silly that someone else did that you get to that place. But and and and, and I will say again, at 30 years years old, I recognise that I am still very young. And that I will listen to interviews like this when I’m 40. And I will probably say oh my gosh, if I’d only known and so I don’t pretend to be an expert, I I think that we are living in an age of self proclaimed experts that quite frankly, scare me. And I don’t try to be I can talk about what I know. And I can talk about a vision I have. But outside of that, you know, it’s really a personal thing for somebody.
David Ralph [27:25]
But that’s the power isn’t it? When you when you talk about things, you know, and there’s a passion, there’s a vision behind it. That is what is inspiring. That is why this show at the moment is is going nut balls, I can’t believe the amount of listeners that is happening because when I started it, it was just me doing something because I didn’t know what else to do, quite honestly. And now. It’s just like, it’s a tsunami, and it’s absolutely tsunami. And a chap said to me on one of the episodes, he said, You know, this is going to go big time and I went well, I’d like it to go. But you know, he said, this is going to go big time and I went on was bad. He said because you’re selling hope. By having all these storeys of people that have overcome challenges, people will be inspired. And I get emails all the time, but those same things. And we’re not saying anything, you know, that could be written down in stone. We’re just giving our opinions and we’re giving our knowledge, as you say, and we’re giving a vision of what is possible. And that is the power of what you’re saying, Michael?
Michael Parrish Dudell [28:26]
Yeah, absolutely. You know, we all have different experiences. And I see a lot of these online, you on Twitter, and you see sort of these blanket like the five things you need to know to be a successful person. I that’s just not true. There’s there’s not five things you need to know it’s it’s different for different people. And I think it’s it’s more about not the five quick, easy things, but a new way of thinking and a new way of acting. And that is something that takes time and effort and continuous attention to growth. And, and I work on that every day. And I hope that people who want to sort of go to the next level except that and are willing to work on a two.
David Ralph [29:02]
But I’m going to tell you something now, which I’ve just started playing in some of the shows probably from the sort of the 70s onwards. And this is a tiny little snippet from a speech by Jim Carrey, I don’t know if you heard this recently, that he stood up in a university and did this 26 minute speech. And now I didn’t. It’s brilliant, is really brilliant. And most of it is for laughs. But then there’s this bit in the middle, which I’ve now taken. And I thought this has got to go on the show. And before then I’ve only played the words of Steve Jobs, which I will do as well, because they are vitally important as well. But you listen to this. And this is Jim Carrey. So the comedian, you don’t expect such such death. But this is this, this is a Whammy, Michael, you sit back and listen.
Unknown Speaker [29:44]
My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to serve. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
David Ralph [30:11]
Is that breathing? Oh, well.
Michael Parrish Dudell [30:13]
Absolutely. I mean, there’s no safe job anymore. There’s no safe job. And what I think that speaks to is something that I think is crucial. And it’s a commitment to not only the short term, your short term goals, but your long term goals. I think we live in a very short term world right now, everything’s quick and fast. And, you know, people are looking to achieve things in a record amount of time. And that’s great and wonderful. And technologies allowed us to do that. But we have to sit back and we have to think about what are those long term goals? And are we on the path to achieving those things that take a little bit more time. So I think that’s a brilliant, that was brilliant from Jim.
David Ralph [30:50]
Yeah. And I like the way that your first name basis, I called in heavy but yes, Jim.
Michael Parrish Dudell [30:57]
Jim, good old Jim,
David Ralph [30:59]
hey, somebody’s bow bow is once again, he’s a classic person who has persevered. And he’s taken his career from, from, you know, the depths of dodgy little clubs in LA to bigger clubs to Saturday Night Live and all the way up to sort of a Lister. And he is, once again, he’s a benchmark of somebody that knows his path, and goes for it.
Michael Parrish Dudell [31:23]
Yeah, and, and that’s all you can do. That’s all you can do. I mean, there’s so many things we can’t control. And, you know, you can talk about luck, or you can talk about location, or vocation or whatever you want to discuss at the end of the day, all that you can control is the effort that you put in the preparation you put in and the action that you take. And outside of that, there’s not much more you could do. You know, it’s interesting, when I was an actor, there’s this idea about type. And the idea is you should know your type and what type you are and certain types play different roles. And I had a teacher once that said, we were talking about type and she said shut up about type type, isn’t it your business type is the casting directors business, your business is to do the work. And it’s interesting is that something that has played a role in my life and a lot of different ways. When I say to myself, Oh, I can’t do that, oh, I this Oh, someone’s better. I hear that in my head. And I say, you know what, shut up about that. That’s not your business, your business is to sit down and do the work, and what will happen will happen. And it’s worked for me so far.
David Ralph [32:21]
So what does hold you back? Is there anything when they come up with an idea or something you think No, actually, that’s that’s beyond me? Or is it just when you think No, actually, that’s not really what I would be focused in on?
Michael Parrish Dudell [32:34]
Oh, that’s a good question. What holds me back? Um, I mean, I’m certainly not somebody who’s fearless in any way. You know, for me, it’s really interesting for me, I have to stability is really important to me, which is funny because I chose to go from an actor to a writer to an entrepreneur. So you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t think that looking at it. But in fact, stability, and patterns and scheduling, and I am someone who can be be creative, unless there is unless there are certain frameworks in place. And so for me, what holds me back is when I feel like something is a little too dangerous. For instance, if it’s if it requires a massive investment, or if it requires me to do something that might completely destruct some sort of framework that I built, then I get a little bit like a because I know myself, and I know that I need to have a baseline of stability in order to be successful. And so it’s not that I’m risk adverse. It’s that I am sensitive to risk if it jeopardises The thing I know, I need to be a stable, normal functioning person.
David Ralph [33:41]
Does that make sense? It makes total sense. And as he was talking, I was thinking, does that make the Uber successful people? Are they people that are willing to break what they’ve created for the ability to get even bigger?
Michael Parrish Dudell [33:55]
I think maybe I also think that certain types of quote unquote, isms play out in different ways. So for me, you know, I’m not somebody who will ever risk his business so that he doesn’t have any money in his bank account. I because honestly, I wouldn’t be a good, good person, that way, I wouldn’t be a good entrepreneur, now, can I have I taken my bank account very low, to put something on the line absolutely lower than I would like, absolutely. But I’m not somebody who’s not going to know how he’s going to pay rent next month, ever. Because that’s just if I if I had to wake up in the morning, and say, I don’t know how I’m going to write my rent check. In 15 days, I wouldn’t be able to do anything all day long, except think about that challenge. And that would put me out of the game. So I think sometimes that can hurt me. But most of the time it served me if that makes any sense. It makes total sense.
David Ralph [34:45]
And as you as you talk, I’m reflecting on myself, because I’m now I don’t like the phrase entrepreneurial, because I don’t think I am in any shape or form. I’m doing this and nothing more. But what I have developed big time, and I never had it before was what I call a hustle muscle. And the ability to be able to create this from nothing. And I am incredibly proud of this little show that is starting to find traction in the world. Because it was my dream. And it was my ability to join up the dots and make something of it. But you you’re not just doing one little thing, you’re doing loads of things, aren’t you? And it’s that that’s why I I’m fascinated it. But the there’s an ability for you to go, yes, I’m going to do this. And then next week, I’m going to write a book. And then I’m going to create my own little TV, online video series or whatever you’re doing and all that kind of stuff that would move so many people in the same spot, because they like to play to the strengths that they know they’ve already done previously.
Michael Parrish Dudell [35:47]
Yeah, I mean, I think that the projects I do, even though they are vast, maybe in platform, they all come down to the same thing. And it’s just communication, what I do better than anything else, which is why I probably won’t ever be the CEO of a company, by the way. I love business. And I love to talk about business. But my skill is communication. And whether that’s writing a book, whether that’s doing a series, whether that’s walking into an organisation and helping them solve big problems by communicating what’s going on, and solutions that can help them whether that’s doing a speech, at the root of it, it’s actually the same thing articulated in different ways. And so, you know, for me, it makes sense it lines up because it plays to the strengths that I have. But there are certainly strengths I don’t have. And when it comes to those areas, I just don’t pay a lot of attention to them.
David Ralph [36:35]
But you don’t have to do you have you have you done strength? finders? 2.0 by Tom Rafe.
Michael Parrish Dudell [36:40]
No. Oh, I think I’m trying to think No, I don’t think I’ve it’s a book. Yes. Yeah. There’s a white book with red with red with red. Right? Yeah, absolutely. And is it?
David Ralph [36:48]
Yeah, test at the end. And it’s the premise of it is, if you focus enough in these strengths, your weaknesses can take care of themselves, it really doesn’t matter. And the chap who wrote the book, he’s done his test at the end, we talked about it quite a line is about 170 questions, and you have about 15 seconds each to answer these questions. And at the end of it, you get this printout that comes out with your five key strengths. And he basically says, you know, to a man and a woman, we always focus in on the things that we aren’t very good at. So when you go through school, you come back with your report, you say to your mom, oh, I’m I’m doing well, here, I’m doing well, there. I’m doing well there. And she sort of goes yeah, but you’re not doing well there, we need to sort of focus in on that bit. And this chap scientists, why do we need to level of all our strengths, it’s just lunacy, what we need to do is know what we do really well do it better than anybody else, and play in environments where those strengths will flourish. And that is exactly what you’re doing. So your weaknesses can go out the window, can they really because you don’t need to tackle something but you know Buddha,
Michael Parrish Dudell [37:56]
exactly. And and, and I know my strengths, and I know my weaknesses, and I am not shy or scared to admit them. And by knowing that I’m able to focus on the stuff that I am good at. And be that I like,
David Ralph [38:09]
is that realisation what has made you successful as well, because you can say, I know my weaknesses, I know my strengths. And you’ve already put them in compartments in your mind.
Michael Parrish Dudell [38:20]
It’s probably a piece of it. But I if I had to boil down what’s helped me the most, it’s it’s what you said, it’s the hustle. You know, I am not the smartest guy in the room, I am not the most talented guy in the room. I am not the whatever guy in the room, but I will tell you what I can out hustle just about anyone, I will work until my little hands can’t work anymore, I will go to any event talk to me, I’ll put in 50 times more effort than most people will. And that has been what has helped me. And I don’t know where you learn that. But I learned it early. And I learned that it works I think I learned from my father, actually, I think I learned from him is that you go 20% harder than everyone else all of the time. And you’re the guy that they I want to work with. And I practice that as much as I can. That’s the thing that to me.
David Ralph [39:04]
I agree with that I used to go to work. And I used to come home and then play with the kids and do the sort of fatherly things. And now I’m doing this, I am working three times as hard as I was previously, half of it is the fact that I absolutely love it. And the other half of it is the realisation. But unless I do that, then people that are just working hard, are going to be ahead of the game, I’ve got to work doubly hard to win the game.
Michael Parrish Dudell [39:32]
So wouldn’t you Yeah, and if you like the game you enjoy doing it. The thing is that it can be stressful at times, it can be, you know, overwhelming at times. But ultimately, I know what I’m trying to build. And so in order to build what it is that I want to build, I have to do that I don’t have a choice. You know, when I left theatre when I was 24. For five years, I said I would not be in a relationship I dated you know, whatever. But I said no relationships, I said absolutely nothing that is not this new career. And the reason why I said that was because I knew that I was already years behind everyone else, to switch a career at 24 years old, and to try to be at the top of your game. at best. I was two years behind everyone. At worst, I was five or six. And so all I did was I read a business book a week, I went to every class, I went to every conference, I talked to anyone that would talk to me. And for the better part of five years. All I did was focus on my work. And that might seem a little crazy. But when I was 30, I was able to go Okay, you’ve actually built something now you can switch focus, and you can think about you know, some other introducing other elements into your life. Oh, I don’t think I could have cut
David Ralph [40:37]
out relationships.
Michael Parrish Dudell [40:40]
Most people couldn’t. But I I knew I know how I you know, I’m in a relationship now. And I and I love my girlfriend. And she’s a very important part of my life. And because of that, I consider her and my choices. And I knew that at that major growth period, I could not consider anybody else except myself. I didn’t have any other choice. And I’m happy I made it was hard. But I’m happy I made that choice. It was it was crucial to what I’m doing today.
David Ralph [41:03]
Oh, I love a bit of Hanky Panky, Michael I only
Michael Parrish Dudell [41:06]
I didn’t say no dating. I said no real I didn’t I said no real.
David Ralph [41:13]
You’ve gone from this monk like character to
Michael Parrish Dudell [41:16]
No, no, no, no monk, like simply no real commitment, because the only commitment that I could have at that time was to myself, and I wasn’t going to try and bring somebody else into that because that’s not the right thing to do. And so I was, you know, forthcoming with that information. And, and I feel like it served me, I think he did as well.
David Ralph [41:35]
Well, I’m going to do now is I’m going to bring in the other bit of speech that we always play on this show. And this is the theme to the whole show this is Join Up Dots. And this is the speech that Steve Jobs made back in 2005. And as I said, one of the beginning, I think your your life really sort of ties up to this. But strangely, it’s almost it ties up to it twice, it seems to have a Join Up Dots connexion to a certain point. And Ben another point. So I’m going to play this and then I want to get your flavour on the validity of these words.
Steve Jobs [42:03]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
David Ralph [42:38]
Well, Steve Jobs is talking about 10 years looking back now yours is about sort of eight or whatever, since you made that leap. Can you join up your thoughts? Can you see a path? Like he says,
Michael Parrish Dudell [42:50]
Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, it’s actually crazy. When you look back and you and you put everything in line and you say, Wow, I can’t believe that this led to that, that led to this led to that I do this speech on relationships and how to build better relationships. And one of the things I do in this talk is I say I actually have a deck that goes through all of this. And I start with major relationships in my life that have been the most helpful as far as professionally. And I backtrack, and I explain how I met that person. And I’m at the other person and back and back and back and back. And I actually do a life cycle of how I met the person that I have sort of super connected me. And it’s really interesting, because that’s exactly what he’s talking about is that at the time, you don’t know the relationships, you’re building, the work you’re doing, the ideas you’re having, you don’t know what they’re going to turn into. But in fact, you know, when you look back, it starts to all you start to see it through line.
David Ralph [43:38]
I’ve found that even in this show, I’ve had some guests on which I can tell you, Michael, because they’re probably not listening. I didn’t have a clue who they were. And they’d kind of come through to me and in the early days, because I was getting off the ground, I would have had anyone I would have had my wife doing city voices, six episodes, just so that I could get it off the ground. But right somebody the guests that I’ve had on, they have now become such champions to well, like clay a bear who put you on to me, you know? Yeah, been amazing for me. And he was connected to me. Fortunately, we connected and we we did a good show, but then you really don’t know those Connexions those relationships that are gonna put Rocky power over you do
Michael Parrish Dudell [44:22]
it? No, you don’t and and that’s why every relationships important, you know, I think the burning a bridge is the worst thing you can do I, to me, and honestly, when it comes to relationships, you know, a lot of people think that networking and relationships and all that stuff is dirty. And it feels like you know, salesy, and to me good, quote, unquote, networking is honestly just about serving. And as cheesy as that sounds, you know, when I go to a conference, I don’t walk around and say, ooh, you know, what do I need from this person? I do the opposite. I meet people. And if I think they’re interesting, I say, what value can I add to their life? And that ends up being a better way of meeting someone because you develop that trust, that generosity, and you develop a relationship that is long lasting and honest.
David Ralph [45:02]
Do you want to be liked?
Michael Parrish Dudell [45:06]
I think we all want to be liked. I don’t. I’ll tell you what, I never mind being the bad guy. So maybe, maybe the answer to that is a definite note. I am not afraid to say the unpopular thing. You know, I think that’s, that’s a unique part of, of what I do is that as a consultant, I often have to say, the unpopular thing. And no, I’m not afraid to be to be disliked. Because when you growing up,
David Ralph [45:30]
I’m thinking about theatre. And then there must be a lot of going through the theatre world where you have to get people to like you so that they can picture you in certain roles and think that you’re going to be a good part for that. And I was wondering how much that was your, your sort of unique self and how much when you was in theatre world, you were playing a role to get those parts compared to your life. Now.
Michael Parrish Dudell [45:53]
I’m not sure if you have to get people to like you, when you’re in theatre, I think you have to get people to believe in you. And I think that’s a little different. Know, you don’t have to like me to believe in me, you don’t have to want to hang out with me every day to be inspired by what I’m doing. That’s it, I think they’re two different things. And so yes, I had to get people to believe in, in who I was, and what I did. At the root of it, I guess there’s a piece of that, that’s liking that you have to get someone to like you. Um, I think that if you can be, I’m using too many buzzwords, but if you can be authentically yourself, and not worry so much about what everyone else is doing. I think that’s the best way to get people to like you. Because whether they want to spend, you know, a dinner with you, or whether they respect you. The fact is, they’re going to leave that interaction feeling better about being close to you, because you’re being yourself. And I think we missed that today, I think and in this world, a lot of people see what other people are doing, and try to do exactly that. And I think that’s always the most dangerous thing to do, because that’s their thing. You have to bring something else to the table every time.
David Ralph [46:55]
I think that buzzword is is absolutely spot on Bo authentic yourself. I think that that is the key part of everyone’s success, isn’t it? You could say it’s playing to their strengths. But you could say it’s finding their path, but it is being authentically themselves. You can do that day after day after day, you can do that for 17 hours straight. But it’s very hard to play a part and still keep it going and be successful. You got to be authentic. I mean,
Michael Parrish Dudell [47:24]
yeah, I mean, you do but that’s not always easy. That’s not and it’s confusing. And again, it’s not always in the short term, the the easiest choice to make, because, you know, again, you see what’s happening in the market, and you say, Oh, well, this is working, I’m going to go do that. So you invest yourself all your time, all your energy into doing something that maybe isn’t that authentic for you, and it works and you start to see returns, but then all of a sudden, it doesn’t work. And you’re more lost than you were before. So yes, I think I think being authentic, whatever that means. And however you get there is a crucial part of being a not only an interesting worker from a professional sense, but being an interesting person.
David Ralph [48:01]
Before I put you on the Sermon on the mic, and we transport you back, like a young Marty McFly, to have a one on one with your younger self. Where do you see yourself in five to 10 years, you’re busy building something at the moment, and you’re very focused on what you want to build? What is going to be your mark, when when you depart this land, Michael, and you sort of look back? What What would you like to have left? on earth? Yes, you bet you’ve been here?
Michael Parrish Dudell [48:26]
It’s a tough question. And I’m pretty much guaranteed to get it wrong. Because every projection I’ve made about my life, five or 10 years out is completely incorrect. So I’ll go on record, but with the caveat that it’s it probably will be different. Um, I you know, right now, what’s what’s really interesting to me is media, and how media is changing, constantly changing, and how media is influencing business and how businesses influencing media. And like I said, prior to this question, you know, I don’t think I’m necessarily going to be the CEO, I think I’m going to be the person, you know, I think there’s a really interesting question that we have to ask ourselves. And the question is, and this is a much bigger, broader question, but it works for this. The question is, do I want to be the person who’s asking the questions? Or do I want to be the person who’s answering the questions? And I’ve asked that question of a lot of people over the years very successful people. And most of the time, people say, I want to be the person answering the questions, as it turns out, probably like you, I want to be the person who’s asking the question. Absolutely. Right. That seems like the obvious choice to me. But most 90% of people say I want to be the guy who’s answering the questions, which is good for guys like us. But I want to be the person who is facilitating the conversation, who’s commenting on the conversation, who is interested in invested and is sharing the conversation with other people. And so all of that to say that right now, small business is is very important to me. And I’m in the small business world. And I have so much respect for small business owners, and I know the struggle that they go through. And so, you know, in a perfect world, I get to be the Oprah small business. But But what does that mean anymore? All I know is that what I’m trying to build is a media empire, if you will, based on some of these core beliefs that I have about business, about the world. Maybe one day about politics, whatever it is, I’m probably going to be in front of a microphone in some way.
David Ralph [50:18]
You do realise that you’ve just written the headline to your show notes.
Michael Parrish Dudell [50:24]
For my obituary, one,
David Ralph [50:26]
small business,
Michael Parrish Dudell [50:28]
Yeah, that’ll come back to bite me if anything. I mean, it will. But you know, what, honestly, like, it’s just as likely that I’m a realist, I’m a I’m pragmatic, you know, like I and I, and I recognise that, again, I just spoke earlier in the show about the power of living project, a project and evolutionary and yes, I have a long term goal. But I recognise that where I’m at today, if you would ask me this question, five years ago, you would have gotten such a different answer. And so today, you know, whatever the date is that this will air in 2014. Yes, I am variant trusted, and I have been for many years and building sort of this small business empire, but that might change. And if it does, and if it’s the right change, then I’m open to that. And, you know, I’ve, I’ve learned better than to say, I’ll never do that, or I definitely will do that, or to make those kind of rules in my life just never seems to work. So I’m open, you’ve given
David Ralph [51:18]
the secret away that I don’t record on the day you see Michael. Like they think it’s all live, I now know,
Unknown Speaker [51:26]
behind the curtain, well, we were actually laying on a beach in Bora Bora.
David Ralph [51:31]
He’s all gone.
Michael Parrish Dudell [51:32]
We recorded this in 2012. We did when we were young man.
David Ralph [51:36]
And we could we could keep keeping our passion going. Right, just before I say goodbye to you, and I really don’t want to say goodbye to you, because it’s such a fascinating journey that you’ve been on, I want to send you on a fascinating journey of yours, or be alone. And this is the bit we call the Sermon on the mic. And this is when I play the theme tune. And as it’s playing, you’re transported back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And always fascinated to know what a younger Michael, you would choose. So this is the Sermon on the mic.
With the best of the show. This
Michael Parrish Dudell [52:28]
so I guess first I’ll just say that both of my parents are therapists. So the fact that I’m having some strange conversation with a with an inner child seems appropriate and a little bit terrifying.
You know, I would probably choose
a high school age, let’s call it 14, because that’s when I was a freshman in high school. And, you know, I think that it’s easy to, to make some big decisions about who you are, and what you value and who you will become, and then to live your life based on those. And as you just heard, in my storey, I made some choices that I thought were going to be definite and turned out not to be. And because of that, I wasn’t always as open to learning and I wasn’t as always as open to building and creating and seeing the world around me. So I would go back to myself. And I would say that tunnel vision is most of the time dangerous. And that Be careful how much of your life you live with those glasses on. Because if you just see what you want to see. And if you just see what you think you’re going to see, you’re not open to the rest of the world and to the rest of life. And while tunnel vision has served me very well at certain points in my life, I believe that to be successful, you have to know when to use it, and when to be open to what’s around you. And so I would go back to the younger Michael 14 1516. And I would say take the classes that you think are not relevant. Talk to the people that may not be in your nearest social group, do the things that are what you believe to be out of character. Because the fact is, you don’t really know your character your characters developed as you develop and an important piece of that is having the courage to do the things that maybe you don’t think are particularly relevant at that point in your life that’s what I would say and you’re not going to say when a lady on the underground things your Matthew Broderick Be honest. Now I think I’ll leave that I maybe Matthew Broderick and I will meet at some point I can tell him all these funny storeys, it’d be perfect.
David Ralph [54:26]
Michael How can people connect with you?
Michael Parrish Dudell [54:30]
Yeah, well, you can find me on my site of course I have a long name so if you Google it I’m the only one in the world with it. It’s Michael parish. Dude l that’s parish with two hours. That’s a funny storey to have I use all three. I’ll have to tell you that the next time. You can also find me on Twitter at notorious and PD and if you want to watch the next crop which airs it will air probably when this does it’s going to be on for all the summer we will we start actually we end that the very end of September. So if you’re listening to this before then that’s at the next crop.com and we have some incredible guests there. And then of course you know I’m around Google me
David Ralph [55:07]
always around my always around absolute delight having you on the show. So thank you so much for spending time with us today. Join Up Dots. I was desperate to get a show to you now. Have you ever I think episode left it too late now. But next time you come on, please bring this show tunes with you because you have got more dots to join up. And I’d be fascinated to see how your life has progressed. And I suppose the tagline is how to finish it. I believe that by joining those dots and connecting our past, it really is the best way to build our futures. Michael, thank you so much.
Michael Parrish Dudell [55:38]
It was a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.
Outro [55:41]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up Dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.
