Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast
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Introducing Mr Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes
Plum Deluxe founder Andy Hayes is today’s guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots free podcast interview.
He is an entrepreneur and businessman who contacted me to see if I would be interested in his story enough to have on the show…..are you kidding me?
This guy has so many dots in his life, he is almost three quarters Dalmatian.
He is Andy Hayes, and entrepreneur and the owner and founder of Plum Deluxe, whose mission statement is to help us all live a life we love by making time every day for great moments.
It was founded in 2007 as an online community to encourage individuals across the world to create special moments that matter with friends and families.
It could be hosting a dinner party, going to a yoga class, treating themselves to a spa day with a friend, or just optimizing their daily routines to include more self care.
Doing the stuff that we put on the back-burner because we are so busy.
How The Dots Joined Up For Plum Deluxe
“I would to go on a date with you sweetheart, but I have these spreadsheets to go through”….sound familiar?
With so many positive life affirming platforms brought to the world, having an element of tragedy behind it, Plum Deluxe is the same.
Andy Hayes started this company to share the lessons he learned from his mother, who lost her 6 year battle with cancer.
Of course a huge tragedy, but the manner of he farewell was nothing but inspirational
She spent the time from diagnosis to saying goodbye, making sure that she did the things that she loved.
Traveling more, seeing friends, laughing, and being the most positive individual that she could be. She made sure that she was not going to waste a second
So why do we do this people? And I am the same too.
Why do we do things that keep us away from living the life that we want?
Even if its just taking a break to go for a walk in the fresh air for an hour or so?
Well let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs in todays Free podcast, with the one and only Plum Deluxe Mr Andy Hayes
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes such as:
How Americans like nothing more than not taking the annual vacation that is offered to them by their companies….madness!!
How a Boss in his company once sat down with him and gave him the advice “If you don’t leave this job you will die!” Wow that is advice that you should definitely listen to.
Why success is like an image. If you get up really close it is like a billion small dots, but only when you see all the dots come together, then you can see the true image
Why it is so important to realise that in life we have choices…..choices to do something, or choices not. And the result of those choices is down to us.
And lastly……
How you can’t think about the big picture you can only think about the next thing to do to move towards your goal.
How To Connect With Andy Hayes
Return To The Top Of Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes Interview
If you enjoyed this episode of Join Up Dots then why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Lisa Crilley Mallis, Joe De Sena, Lolly Daskal or the amazing Leon Logothetis
Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.
Audio Transcription Of Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes 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, hello there, everybody. Oh, I’m gonna look forward to this one today. I have been recording another wave and tell you this, you don’t care you might have been he might come to the show. 10 years time, but I’m going to tell you anyway, like it’s it’s live. I’ve been recording since eight o’clock this morning. And I this is the last one. And I’m going blind in one. I’ve just discovered that for some reason. I can’t see out one. I don’t know what’s happening. But I’m going to push through. As I said to my guest tonight, I’m a professional, you won’t realise but ya can’t see a move my head one way is totally fuzzy vision. So something’s going on with me. Well, let me tell you about today’s guest. He’s a man who contacted me to see if he would be interested in the storey enough to have on the show. And honestly, I kidding me, this guy has so many dots in his life. He’s almost three quarters Dalmatian. He’s the owner and founder of Plum Deluxe, whose mission statement is to help us all live a life we love. But making time every day for great moments. It was founded in 2007, as an online community to encourage individuals across the world to create special moments that matter with friends and families. It could be hosting a dinner party going to a yoga class treating themselves to a spa day with a friend, or just kind of doing their daily routines better to include more self care, doing the stuff that we put on the back burner, because we’re so busy. Yeah, I’d love to go on a date with you, sweetheart. But I have the spreadsheets to go through. Sound familiar? Well, I’ve been there, I think all of us have been there. With so many positive life affirming platforms brought to the world having an element of tragedy behind it planning that a lot is the same. I’ll get started this company to share the lessons he learned from his mother, who unfortunately lost her six year battle with cancer, of course, a huge tragedy. But the manner of a farewell was nothing but inspirational. She spent the time from diagnosis to saying goodbye, making sure that she did the things that she loved travelling more seeing friends laughing and being the most positive individual that she could be, she made sure that she was not going to waste a second. So why do we do is people what why do we kind of do things that aren’t really important, but we kind of feel that they are? And I’m the same to? Why do we keep the things that keep us away from living the life that we want, even if it’s just taking a break to go for a walk in the fresh air for an hour. So well, let’s find out as we bring on to the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only Mr. Andy Hayes. How are you, Andy?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [2:52]
Hey, good evening. It’s lovely to be here. What an introduction?
David Ralph [2:57]
Well, it is the best I could do with my one good eye Andy.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [3:01]
Well, we’re very appreciative of you, you know, taking one for the team tonight.
David Ralph [3:05]
Yeah, it’s weird. I’ve never realised that I’ve got a problem. But I’ve just discovered I have got some kind of weird problem with my eye. And I’ve spent the last 10 minutes. Once again, I thought what I’m telling you this, putting hands over each I expecting it disorder to improve somewhat, and it’s not doing anything, I just been poking myself in the eye. That’s probably why it hurts really
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [3:28]
free with tonight’s episode an eye exam.
David Ralph [3:31]
That would be perfect. Wouldn’t that be my first sponsor of the show? Yes.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [3:35]
Exactly. Exactly.
David Ralph [3:37]
And check your testicles will be the next one. And we can just keep on going keep on going. And just by showing that those dots join, Join Up. Dots. So you are the owner and founder of Plum Deluxe. And we’re going to talk about that later. But you sort of came through to me and you said, you know, would you mind if I come on the show? And I will? Well what I do I get a lot of these. I’ll be honest, I look at them. And sometimes I go yes, sometimes I go No. And sometimes I go, Max actually a little bit mad. So definitely not. But with you. I kind of went why why would you even ask and why didn’t I know about Andy Hayes? Because you have had a personal journey yourself away from plum Deluxe, which has led you to basically realigning your your standards of living, haven’t you? It’s been as much you as it has, unfortunately, the death of your mother.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [4:30]
Mm hmm. I would definitely say so. You know, they always say that people kind of end up teaching what they need to learn. So I’ve definitely feel like I’ve kind of come to that state myself.
David Ralph [4:41]
So when did you kind of start finding yourself? When did the idea of hang on we’re just doing the wrong things in life. We’re we’re spending time looking at these spreadsheets, we’re sending emails, we’re doing all this kind of stuff. And then we just plop ourselves on the sofa exhausted, where we we should be going. Yeah, I had a great day today because I did this and this. And I’ve spent time looking after myself or being present with people. And I think that’s the key word. Isn’t it being present, even if you’re with people, half the time we’re not we’re kind of half or half thinking about what we should be doing. Exactly,
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [5:19]
exactly. Do you know it started when I was living in Britain actually. I lived in Edinburgh for five years. The step before that I was living in the Netherlands and I had a great life. Actually, I had a really fun life and a lot of fun living there. I had a great job paid really well. I had eight weeks of vacation. I took them all. I think there’s it’s it’s law, you have to take vacation. just mind boggling to Americans and
David Ralph [5:47]
do American great vacation then
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [5:49]
know that I was just seeing something in the Atlantic yesterday about how America is now the no vacation nation. People don’t take them because they’re they’re like they’re so there’s like trained their mind washed. They have to work every living second.
David Ralph [6:04]
Well, so even when you get medication, and I say you’ve got two weeks, you don’t go away for two weeks. And nothing
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [6:11]
Yeah, people don’t do that. People don’t do that.
David Ralph [6:13]
That’s bad.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [6:13]
That’s by this man. Exactly. Exactly. I think people don’t appreciate that. stepping away from your work at you know, and going away for a bit can actually bring you back to an even better place. Go. Just kind of grinding it out there in the UK. As soon as we get vacation. We’re like the Road Runner. We we’re we’re off
David Ralph [6:35]
beep, beep and away we’ve gone. I don’t
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [6:37]
know, right bank holiday like by like nobody’s here. Yeah, absolutely.
David Ralph [6:40]
I think that is one of those things that Well, I’ve learned something there. Because I knew that the Americans don’t get as many bank holidays as we do, or national holidays. But certainly I can’t imagine working for a company when they go. You’ve got five weeks holiday and I don’t take every single moment about five weeks holiday.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [7:01]
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It should be people should have to take time off. It’s just you need balance in your life. And if all you do is work, and this is a hard thing to say to entrepreneurs, because I feel you you know, there’s a lot of work that has to get done. That you really need to take a break because you just are not built. We are bodies, our brain they’re not built to just work entirely every single day. 365 days a year, you’re just gonna combust into flames quite possibly, literally. And that would be a bad thing. I think. Well,
David Ralph [7:34]
yeah, I think any kind of spontaneous combustion. Unless you’ve got no heating in the house. And that would that would be quite nice. But yeah, just the thought of bursting into flames is at the top of my list. I’ll be honest.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [7:46]
Yeah, yeah. So So speaking of work, so Okay, so I had this great job, great life in the Netherlands. And I was in technology, but my client is a pyromaniac. So I was working for a bank, I got wrapped up in the European banking crisis that happened, you know, 2005, something like that. 2006. And I ended up moving to Edinburgh, and it was my choice, but I had, it was kind of one of those, you know, you should move to Edinburgh, or you don’t know what you’re going to face, you know, like you have this option. Or you can kind of hang out and see what happens. It could be good, it can be bad. So my team and I chose we’d all move and move down and bright, be great, be fun. Here’s one of them, Edinburgh, it’s beautiful. So I moved, and I end up into a job that really sucked a lot of stress, I had a lot of stress issues, a lot of people were just really, really strung out stressed for management’s, you know, just a lot of really negativity in the environment about the work that we were doing people doing work that they weren’t really good at, or were really supposed to do. And of course, this whole, you know, companies, mining companies, there’s a little there can be a rift and you know, aggravation that are just, you know, a part of that process. And I ended up developing a lot of psychosomatic health issues. So I even pass on a bus once, because I was so stressed out from this job, which is not something I would recommend,
David Ralph [9:07]
will you will you standing up or
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [9:11]
what happened I was I was standing up holding onto the little thing, and I kind of fell into someone’s lap. Those are really embarrassing. I, it took me years to tell the storey because I was so embarrassed of what happened was a lady or a man
David Ralph [9:21]
you fell on.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [9:23]
matter. It was a man but
David Ralph [9:26]
it doesn’t matter.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [9:28]
It was a man. And if you’re listening, I’m sorry, it was stressed.
David Ralph [9:33]
Nobody. has nobody ever asked you who you fell.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [9:37]
No, no, you’re the first. So congratulations.
David Ralph [9:40]
There you go. We get the exclusives on this show.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [9:44]
So, so one day, after all this kind of started happening. And I was very unaware at the time, you know, we talked about it, we have what am I saying you talk about on this show, you know, things are very clear. In hindsight. At the time, I was very unclear that this is all happening, how bad things were really, really worked for me. But I had a project manager that was part of my department, sit me down for coffee, and he said, You need to leave this job before it kills you. And I said, you know, like, that’s, yeah, like, what else would I be doing? You know that I’ve done this for years. I don’t know what else I would do. And he was like, No, I mean that you need to leave this job before it kills you find something else to do in your life, I know you can do more. And turns out that that was very good advice. So it was one of those things where you know that it was just a crack, you know, someone cracked open the ceiling, and I realised you know that there was a lot more opportunity for me than where I was. And it didn’t take me very long before I left, you know, kind of once someone’s makes you realise how you ended up somewhere, I said, I gotta get out of here. I can’t be this stressed out and upset and sad. And in you know, and of course, at this point, when when you’re in a work situation, that’s that bad. It’s it’s affecting your personal life, you know, so my whole weekend, I would not be enjoying myself because I would be so upset and worried about going to work on Monday. That’s not a good thing. That’s not a good way to live.
David Ralph [11:11]
So I love it. So many people are like that, oh, man D as well. And they are like, I get to Sunday afternoon or Sunday lunchtime in that and being suddenly buried. Oh, my God, I gotta go back again tomorrow.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [11:22]
And yeah, and I understand that sometimes we can be in places that are, you know, little tricky. But if that’s like a chronic permanent state for you, then that’s not a good thing. And just because you’re around a bunch of people all week who feel the same does not mean you need to stay there. That’s just it’s not okay. So I think that’s, you know, kind of a wake up call. That’s how you feel it’s not a good time. So I got out of there. And I was lucky enough that I had had a little bit of cash cushion, that I didn’t need to have a plan because I certainly left without any net. There was no net to be seen. I just jumped ship. And I thought what what as on the other side, it could could not be worse. And that was a good thing and a bad thing. I think I learned a lot from leaping into you know, self employment, people have told me for years, that I should be self employed, because I was so good at managing my time focused, creative, you know, people kept saying, Oh, you know, make so much money being independent. And I always said, Oh, that’s way too risky. I could never do that. I could never do that. Well, this job showed me that you know that there are plenty of things out there that were more risky than being self employed.
David Ralph [12:32]
Because you you are spreading the nuggets of gold, big time on there. And I’ll be honest, I was professional. I didn’t laugh out loud. When the chap said, I’m laughing now. Because I’m thinking about it. You got to leave this job, because it’s going to kill you. And you said that’s quite good advice. That’s brilliant advice. Is that is that not the best advice you could ever have? This job is going to kill you. And you kind of think Oh, yeah, yeah, it probably will. So when you look back on that it was it. You know, with hindsight again, was it one of those delusional moments where you just didn’t want to allow the company to think that you weren’t strong enough to do the job, because I’ve been in situations where I had really gone beyond anything, because I thought, if I showed any weaknesses, vain, they’re going to see me badly. But really what I was doing was shooting myself in the foot, I should have just put my hand up and say, But hang on, I can’t do this. There’s too much work, blah, blah, blah. So did you feel that at that time when when he said that, was it a relief that somebody had taken that decision away from you? Or did you feel like, No, actually, I can do this? I can do this?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [13:37]
No, I wouldn’t say it was the it was the first one and every leaf, every leaf that someone said what I knew deep inside, and I think I was kind of listening to thinking while you were talking. I felt like there was a lot of pressure. I think a lot of people in that company knew knew that they were kind of tormentors, they knew that they were these Taipei aggressive, you know, five times that they were fighting for. And so I know that they knew they push people too hard. And I think that made it hard for people to make, you know, good decisions like that. I think I’d be I’d like I for example, I think before this leading up to this conversation, I would have been afraid to leave afraid, afraid to actually say like, I gotta leave, I gotta quit. I was afraid to sell somebody like that. Because then they wouldn’t yell at me like, Oh, my God, like what are you thinking, and that’s unbelievable, you have to stay are so important. So it was a relief to have someone who was definitely in the know. And he was appear and who would also a longtime professional colleague to say, you know, like, you’re on the wrong spot. You got to get up and move right now.
David Ralph [14:46]
You need people like that in your life, don’t you I remember losing my job up in the City of London. And leading up to losing my job. I used to dread every second of the day, I really did. The people that I work with would dreadful. It was a tiny little office. And the stress, you could basically feel the stress as you walked in in the morning, it was just tangible. And it was like stomach ulcers and psoriasis and just pressure over time. And when they said to me, unfortunately, you’re losing your job, I always kind of half loved half burst into tears. And it was kind of like thank god decisions been taken away from me. But I couldn’t have left that even though it was an absolutely toxic environment. It’s a strange how we allow ourselves to stay in bed, and I get so many emails from people through the show. When I say to me, I hate what I’m doing. And then others say, I don’t really like what I’m doing. And then others say I’m bored with what I’m doing. And I kind of go well, the board ones you can do something about. And the kind of you don’t really like it, you can kind of do something, hey, just get out of it. Just get out of it. That is our job. So you could work in McDonald’s for a while before somebody else comes along. You don’t have to work in toxic environment. It’s just bad for you. But once again, people do don’t end.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [16:07]
Yeah, and I don’t know why. Well, first of all, why are there so many toxic environments? She’s like, let’s work on that. But yeah, it seems to me as I’m trying to really reflect on this experience. And to me, you know, I think maybe we land in a place and it’s so new that we we kind of gloss over some of the the warning signs. And then it becomes that, you know, the frog stays in the boiling water because the temperature goes up slowly. I think maybe we just get a tune and we start getting attuned to, well, you know, work isn’t always that great. And then we start telling ourselves over and over again, like, Well, you know, people don’t really like work. And people don’t really like their jobs. And oh, you know, people usually feel a little upset on Sunday night. So they have to go back to work. That’s what everybody feels. That’s what they joke about on the telly. That’s how life is. Well, that’s how it can be if that’s what you want. But maybe you should raise your standards. But I think,
David Ralph [17:01]
did you have a totally different view on that now, and we’re going to come into where you are now. Because obviously it’s a totally different ballgame. But if you look at those that that kind of situation that you existed in? Would you kind of go? No, absolutely not. There’s, there is a different way of living.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [17:19]
I feel that way now. Definitely. I didn’t. I was too stuck in it to know how far stuck and I was. That makes any sense?
David Ralph [17:28]
No, it makes perfect sense. And is that because you’re more in control? Now, because you are building plum Deluxe, you are building something that’s built around your passions? Or is it that you’re just not in that environment, you could be quite happy as an employee in a different company, it was just that one.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [17:47]
Um, I like control. You know, I like having control for sure, but definitely has something to do with it. But control, you know, you notice the things I get to control, I get to work at home most of the time. And I really enjoyed that I got to control my hour. So I can work out when I like I can meditate when I like, I can start you know, I’m a I’m a night owl. So you know, I don’t start early, and I can work late. And that’s totally okay. So the control is definitely the big bonus. And it’s not controls, and I’m a control freak, and I’m trying to control everything, it’s just that I can set myself up for success, which is good. And I could still do that. And another work environment, you know, I could definitely look for a job, per se that kind of ticked all the boxes, especially now it feels like this is kind of an we’re kind of entering in into an era where people employers are really flexible, at least here in the on the west coast of the US. But you could find that, too. I just have chosen to create because I have it, I seem to have had success with it.
David Ralph [18:54]
I think once you go to the other side, I think you know too much. I don’t think you can,
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [19:01]
you know, I think
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [19:02]
you’re right, I think you’re right, it really is it’s like a door
David Ralph [19:05]
with a with a handle on one side and you go through it. And that’s it, you can’t go back, there’s no way that I could work for someone now, I just couldn’t. And although you do work three times as hard when you’re an entrepreneur, when you’re building something. It’s yours, isn’t it? It’s yours. And every decision is yours. And it’s it’s like doing an amazing jigsaw puzzle that you you don’t know what, how it’s going to turn out. But it starts coming together. And as it comes together, it becomes easier because you can see the picture. And then you reap the rewards. But at the beginning, even with the effort that’s involved, I couldn’t go back, I couldn’t work in there and thing, I can’t, I’ve got to stay here till five o’clock, I’ve got to stay here till six o’clock, even though it gets quiet from fall, I can’t just go is madness to do that?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [19:56]
Do you think that’s because starting your own businesses such as personal growth journey, at the beginning of starting a company, you have to work on yourself a lot. And people will demand all sorts of things from you and the universe will demand all sorts of things for you. So I think going through that process, it just makes you so strong and knowing yourself that makes it hard to go back to that
David Ralph [20:21]
door. I think you can’t go back. I think there is only one handle on that door. But I do take what you’re saying, but I’m still working on myself. And I thought I think when I when I quit my nine to five job, I really thought that was it, it was going to be freedom of time I was going to float around doing whatever I wanted. And,
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [20:44]
and and and that was
David Ralph [20:47]
completely naive point of view. And the effort involved to build something is beyond anything that I imagined the beginning. But the difference is, and I’m going to play the words of Jim heavy now. I’ve got a passion for it. And I love it. Missy Jim Carrey,
Jim Carrey [21:04]
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 survive. 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 [21:31]
And that is really the message isn’t it. But we we should get out to everyone. And I know there’s a certain amount of people that are probably too far down the line. Now they’ve been employees for too long, and they they’ve got the gold watch coming up and all that kind of stuff. But certainly for our children coming up. I think that’s the message that we should get out to them that they don’t have to settle for employment, which is soul destroying by can take a risk and create something that will light them up inside. What do you think?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [22:02]
I agree, I want to applaud right after that clip. But I held back. I agree. I agree. And if you really can’t, if you’re not ready to be a business owner, that’s okay. Why don’t you find a business that you really want to support you really want to be part of you want to be an employee of as opposed to whomever happens to be hiring, you know, a lackey right now, you know, like, set you’re saying earlier, I’ll say it again, set your standards a little higher for yourself,
David Ralph [22:31]
that that’s a brilliant point, you know, I’ve in 200 episodes, that’s the first time anyone said that, because I always say, you know, not everyone is made to be entrepreneurial, but that’s a given. And a lot of people they like going in and doing a nine to five and coming home. But what you’re saying is an improvement on that statement of you can be an employee in a company you love, you don’t just have to be an employee. So if you don’t want to be entrepreneurial, but you love, you know, dogs, for example, Van How about working in a in a kennels or, or doing something like that, but that plays to your enjoyment and your passion. That’s a brilliant way of thinking of it.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [23:12]
Yeah, you know, an example, I think about a guy that works for me, and he does a lot of data entry, what sounds really boring, but she loves it, because she just likes being a technician, she likes sitting down, working through problems getting through the piles of things to be done. She’s just really good at that. And I’m not really good at that. So she makes a great employee because she her strength, she feels great, going through all those things, making, you know, our article, looking nice working with the photos, editing all that, but she doesn’t talk to anyone, she does have to go out and sell sponsor, she doesn’t have to go meet with clients. So we’re all playing our strengths. And so we all are much happier than if she was just off, you know, stacking shelves at night at the grocery store or something.
David Ralph [23:53]
So So what are your strengths? And are they different from when you had the leap? And you had to make it up as you go along? You found that you’ve got different strengths now to what you might have thought at that time?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [24:06]
Hmm, well, one person told me my main gift in life is that I know how to put the parts together. So I’m, she called me a producer, you know, like I’m, we have movie producers, I used to call myself a producer actually knowing how to put all the pieces together. Which makes you think of an Ikea furniture kit, which is maybe not exactly the same thing. And I do see that as kind of a red thread between my you know, my previous career in technology where I was pulling in people and resources to kind of make things happen figure out a result. But I see that now to it as a business is a CEO position that had on I’m, I’m pretty good at looking at all these pieces and figuring out what is the best configuration to make money to engage users to change people’s lives. So I do feel like that is a skill set, you know, way down inside that is still there. And I use it a lot.
David Ralph [25:05]
And did you used to when he was a small child like the Lego and all that kind of stuff? Because Is it the construction part that you like?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [25:15]
Well, when I was a kid, I used to cut a piece of paper and stapled them together and make little books and magazines. So I was destined to be in publishing somehow. So that’s not a surprise. That’s fascinating,
David Ralph [25:26]
though, isn’t it? But yeah, I see it time and time again. But the the thing that you love doing when you were little is the thing that we should be doing. I pretty much say that every single show, really, if you want to find your passion. Think back to what you were doing as a kid I used to. And I got busy until I found this box of cassette tapes which you don’t see anymore. I used to do little interview shows with my my friends. And I love a little tape deck. And we used to do funny voices. And yeah, the summer after summer, we never got fed up with get microphones out and doing that. And then I went around my mom’s house and she said, Oh, you got to clear out the garbage. There’s loads of your stuff out there. And I went I’ll just throw it away. And she said you don’t know if you need it. So I go and have a look. And when I looked at it, there was these tapes. And I thought that’s interesting. And I actually used to go around with a microphone. And I don’t know how I even did this. And I’d forgotten I did this and make arrangements to interview the bank manager live. And the the biker and the butcher and all that kind of stuff. And I used to go around shops saying Can I interview you please and record them. And there was all these kind of weird conversations I was having with vicars and abasement and strange things. It’s really, it’s really uncanny. When you look back and you kind of go, I’m like, God, that’s what I should have been doing. That’s what I
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [26:48]
love doing. I should be doing that now. Isn’t that fascinating? That’s a great storey. Wow. Yeah, I didn’t remember the magazine thing until, you know, three or four years ago, and I was like, Oh,
David Ralph [27:00]
why didn’t I think about that? It’s like, so obvious. You just write it off. Because what what does a little kid know what a little kid doesn’t know all the things that the TV and the media and the newspaper tells them about how horrible your life should be. So they do know that thing. So yeah, if if people can find out their parents are still around. It’s a good conversation to have. It really is it does open doors in your mind and you kind of you reconnect, you reconnect, and the tagline of the show is connecting our past to build our future. And there’s a great strength to look back and think of the things that you would do, just for doing it. Not that you had any money involved in it, not that you thought it was going to be a career, just for the things that you love doing. And I’m sure people would be able to find their passions quicker. So so when you when you did the leap, obviously, it was kind of forced on you if you didn’t leave that company, you were going to die, which is you know, everybody would leap in. And you will a classic example of moving away from you know, pain really is either away from pain or towards pleasure. So you were getting away from the painful position as quickly as possible. Did you go straight into plum Deluxe? Or did you kind of, you know, play around for a while. Try different things lie on the sofa watching daytime TV? How did it go?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [28:25]
Yeah, laying on the sofa. Sounds really nice. No, there were more dots. There were more dots. The Dalmatian as you so kindly put it, well, well, I didn’t I lied a little bit, there wasn’t a net that appeared. So when I quit, I ended up just sort of a synchronous Stickley meeting someone at a coffee date, who was looking for someone who could do some consulting and training, who knew a little bit about websites knew about Facebook pages, which were really kind of new then. And he was part of some tourism groups, and then the northeast of England and solid Scotland. And I said, Oh, sure, I’ll do that, you know, like, what do I know? You know, say said yes to the invitation. And so I ended up that kind of bought me a year or two of income, you know, I was consulting for them, just training them on how to use websites, I it was a lot of the same skills that I used my corporate job, just in a totally different industry. So that so the core skill didn’t matter as much. So then on the back burner, I was very intent that like, there was this thing I wanted to build. So so I was doing this work, you know, the pay the bills, have some money coming in, not use all my savings right away, while still spending time getting some coaching for myself, trying to figure out this thing that I wanted to build. And by golly, it took me a long time to get to pump, pump Deluxe, the name of it, we actually renamed it two years ago and change the format. So only. And that’s really when it started to take off. So and I’m almost in your eight. So it took me what four years to figure it out.
David Ralph [30:01]
So So what was it called before?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [30:04]
It was a travel blog, it was mostly travel, sharing travel experiences.
David Ralph [30:10]
So it was based around your your mother’s kind of free spirit? And I assume was it?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [30:18]
Well, I think originally it was more about the things that you learn about yourself when you get away from home.
David Ralph [30:26]
So so it was really about you more than anything.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [30:30]
Um, I still had people write for me and I still had other contributors. So So yes, in a way, but not entirely. I still, I think even I think back then I was trying to hide from the spotlight, I didn’t want to like shine too brightly, you know, I want to create a conversation, not like dominate the conversation, where now I definitely take the lead, I want people to make up their own minds as to what living a good life means to them or, or what kind of job is good for them. I can’t tell you those you have to decide. But I take the lead in the conversation now as opposed to trying just to create the environment for people to have the conversation and let lead them to their own devices. And I think that was the missing piece with the travel side was, you know, people don’t travel especially well, we just said Americans never travel. Apparently they just sit home at work. But, you know, people don’t travel all the time. You know, but we eat and drink every day. And we kind of have these conversations every day. So plum Deluxe really shifting into a place about how do we deal with every day because that’s what that’s where we change our behaviour is our attitude. Our mindset is in what we do every day, not just when we go away for a holiday and you know, drink too much. And then you know, like having an epiphany. I think that was the real shift in philosophy.
David Ralph [31:46]
So So it’s about sort of creating habits is it
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [31:51]
I think it’s about mindset. You know, when I think about the people that I’m trying to reach in the world, the thing that they’re they really create is a connexion. I think people really crave a connexion. we’re so busy at work. And we have this kind of weird relationship with colleagues like are they our friends are they are were we just are they colleagues. And as adults as we get older, it’s really hard to make friends. So we are real stimulus is the media and like what we learn new things as we grow older as the media and we need things like plum Deluxe, like Join Up Dots to tell us different storeys positive storey. So for me, it’s really about a mindset about positivity, a mindset about being aware of your connexion to the world and what you want. Not just, you know, what recipe to make for dinner tonight, you know, like the real root is deeper, I think
David Ralph [32:47]
he’s Interesting, isn’t it really, because I wasn’t that connected to anything really, before I created this show. And now I realised that the more you do connect, the more you do do provide value to the world, the more that things come your way. And for years and years and years, I couldn’t see about I think I was a one way street, it was very much about I would work, work, work, work and grab what I could because I had to sort of pay the bills and all that kind of stuff. But there is a mindset shift isn’t there, once you realise but actually is not about you. It’s about them. It’s about building those Connexions. And that is when people naturally start coming towards you, you you kind of create a funnel, but people are quite willing to walk into somehow.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [33:35]
That’s a lot. That’s kind of what you’re saying the law of attraction, you know, like, getting really clear about what you want, and setting the intention that that’s kind of the types of people and experiences that you want to have around you. And if you set those intentions, those kind of things will start to appear, I think,
David Ralph [33:52]
did you do have those intentions Do you have because we don’t really touch on the law of attraction. But quite a lot of times people half mentioned it. And the reason we don’t touch on it is because it’s very sort of contentious. Some people think it’s amazing. Some people don’t, I am somebody that kind of leans more towards it, but believes that it’s more about working incredibly hard to make the opportunities but you’ve kind of set up I don’t believe for a moment by sitting on your sofa watching Telly everyday, things are just going to miraculously turn up, you’ve got to go out and you got to flex your hustle muscle. So do you have things like vision boards? Do you have targets that you work towards? And and I suppose strange things happen, but only because you have made the effort to make them happen.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [34:40]
I do I do have those things. So here’s my opinion of it. And I do have a strong opinion of it. So I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about what the law of attraction really is. So I’ll tell you my opinion, and everyone can make up their own mind. But I don’t really think that if you set the intention that I will get a client who pay me $100,000 here to do X, and then you sit on the sofa and kind of everyday chant, I will find this client who will bring you $100,000 a year and doing x, I don’t really think the likelihood of that is going to happen. Because if you’re laying on the sofa kind of is telling, you know, whatever the universe, that you’re not really all that interested about them showing up. But if you set the intention, I want to find a client who’s going to pay me $100,000 a year to do X, and you’re kind of out looking for them thinking about what where they might be producing maybe what you know, I don’t crazy example like white papers or you know, doing some public speaking that you might bump into them. I think that’s kind of setting the intention really seriously that that’s really what you want. And here’s the crux is people don’t really often know what they want. That’s the problem. When people say to me, I think, Oh, you know law of attraction what a bunch of hooey. Well, you know, you can decide whatever you want about the law. I think that if you want to be successful in life, no matter what you believe about the law of attraction, you need to know what you want.
David Ralph [36:04]
Yeah, totally. I was so impressed by what you were saying. I was just, I was reflecting on my own life there for a moment. I know, I agree with you. Totally. I absolutely agree with you totally. You know, I think there is a lot of wooliness about that. But I also think that if you go, right, I want VAT, and I want to do it in five years time, how am I going to do it and start chipping away at things and connecting with people, then I don’t see how you’re not going to get it, you know, I but that’s that’s a mindset shift. And my mindset shift was linked very much to the thinking Grow Rich book, when I seen it so many times over years and years and years and never never bought it. And then one day I was on Amazon and I saw it for like nine pound or something quite cheap, and if an hour by bit and see what it is. And I picked it up, and it’s very old sort of school writing and stuff. But Ariel’s school, very old school. And there was there was one chapter about sort of 1890s politics or something which I
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [37:10]
was slightly misogynistic.
David Ralph [37:12]
Yeah, I struggled to get through that bit. But it was it was the first time ever, but I thought to myself, my God, I could be a millionaire, it’s up to me to go and make it happen. And I’ve never had that thought before. And since I’ve had that thought, I’ve gone out and made things happen. And pretty much whatever you try to make happen,
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [37:35]
you kind of
David Ralph [37:37]
achieve it or you come very close. And sometimes you you kind of start to realise that you didn’t actually want to achieve it anyway. And what you get to is kind of a better place is just that you hadn’t kind of imagined that in the first place. But it was it was a kind of mindset action. And that’s, that’s what I want the listeners out there to think you know, but if I have an idea in their head, ideas never just going to pop out, you know, it’s going to take action and everything that they look at around them. Somebody has made and somebody has become wealthy on it. And you’re sitting there on a Yeti mic, somebody created that. And I’m sitting on a chair somebody created, but it’s all right, having these visions, it’s the action takers, but actually achieve, isn’t it? Mm hmm.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [38:24]
And I think you know that if if you look at the mechanics of that, when you set a really clear intention, people want to help this is kind of where some where in our brains, we’re hardware, do we want to help people? So when you sit down with a fellow entrepreneur or a friend, and they say, oh, like, what are you working on, you know, your intention is really clear in the so you’re able to tell everyone the same thing, this is what I’m trying to work on. And so now you’ve kind of recruited this whole force around you of people who are looking for what you are looking for. And then when you’re writing copy for your website, or designing that blog post you’re going to do or what kind of marketing you’re going to perform. It’s like the intention is like up there rolling around, and it’s going to guide you to the right things. That’s how I think it all kind of hangs together and how it works, because it’s driving you in the right direction. But you do have to be sitting behind the wheel, you can’t be on the sofa with the bonbons I think so eloquently put
David Ralph [39:16]
people buy into your belief, don’t buy that that’s that’s the key thing at the beginning. It’s your belief and your belief only and you will be surrounded by naysayers and people who will pretty much try to anchor you to their reality. But as you move through, you start finding other people that will support you because they believe in it. And I’m finding now and I’ll be interested to see if you have had the same thing with your success. But my journey has been about six years, really maybe five and a half years to get to where I am today. And I’ve had some quite remarkable successes recently. And people will say to me, you know, well, how did that happen? Like, it’s it’s suddenly, you know, I give them an a4 sheet and I five steps. I mean, you can have the same thing. I find that with success. People don’t really perceive the amount of work that’s gone into it, that there’s always an angle of there must be a quick route, there must be I press this button on a press that button and I get the same thing. Do you find that with people with yourself and the success of Plum Deluxe?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [40:22]
Oh, absolutely. You know, I think people over overlook your failures. It’s easy to overlook how many failures there are, especially things that never made it to Day of, you know, light of day, you know, there’s plenty of things that we do that it’s like, oh, like that really didn’t pan out even before I got off the starting line.
So so it’s easy to overlook those things.
Yeah, so I was kind of just thinking through my own personal experiences. Yeah, it’s just so complicated about how, you know, success comes together. And I think a lot of times as a business owner, we don’t even realise ourselves, like how that works. You know, I’m sure you’ve had that too. Like where something happens. And it’s like, well, if someone asked me how I made that work, there’s parts of it that I really don’t know, or there was just like luck. And, you know, of course, that’s the worst thing anyone wants to hear when they’re trying to start a business. It’s like, well, you got to have a little luck. But you do and you know, just getting out there and having that clear intention of what you’re looking for what you want, can help them happen. But it just takes time to
David Ralph [41:24]
I had a conversation with a chap, and His name’s Dave Baggett, Episode 181. And he he created a company and he sold it to Google for about 700 million or something. So he’s a very wealthy man. But one day, he was sitting at a conference next to somebody who is beyond wealthy, and he didn’t tell me whose name is and I’ve mentioned this storey a few times in the shows, but it it kind of emphasises what you were saying. And he said to this person who is one of the big cheese’s in the internet world, so is one of the guys that we use their products. So you probably narrow it down to about three or four, really. And he said to this billionaire, he said, Look, how did you actually get to that level of success? How did you do that. And the bloke kind of looked at him and said, Dave, we kind of tried a lot of stuff, and something worked. And we just kind of find yourself in the right place. So it’s exactly what you were saying even this, then the most Uber successful people have that element of not really sure how it happened, because you’re trying stuff on you’re trying base, you’re trying that you you you get a bit of momentum, and then you on a plateau for a while, and then you get another bit of full speed forward. And it’s it’s, it’s that journey, it’s the journey. And it’s only when you do look and join the dots, you can actually connect it, but at the time, you’re just in that sort of maelstrom of trying things. And that’s what people don’t perceive. And that’s what I want everyone to perceive is pretty much a journey that you make up as you go along. But you will have successes and you will have failures. And ultimately, if you get past enough failures, you will have the big success seems like that to me.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [43:07]
Yeah, I was you were saying Maelstrom I was kind of picturing. You know, people think the Join Up Dots are you started and you were successful. At but if you’d kind of drill in I picture like zooming in like on a Google map, you see more dots. And those dots are required to get the line all the way to the success. And then if you zoom in more, there’s more dots. And so the the thing you have to appreciate is that everyone’s journey, even if on the surface, it appears like there weren’t many of those little dots there. Are you just not seeing them.
David Ralph [43:38]
That’s brilliant. I like that. It’s like yeah, as you’re saying, it’s like getting really close to an image and you can’t see anything other than dots. But as you pan out and pan and pan out that the image becomes clear, but you don’t realise that it’s made up of thousands and millions of other little things. Oh, you’re good. Andy, you’re good. You’re taking this conversation in areas I couldn’t believe leave. So let’s I don’t want to dwell on your your your mother, but I do want to dwell on her positive outlook to life because when I was reading it that it brought to mind an old film. Do you remember that old film with Tom Hanks Joe versus the volcano? Have you ever seen that one?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [44:19]
I have found long time. So refresh,
David Ralph [44:22]
refresh it. But Tom Hanks is in a really rubbishy job and he feels really rough. And every day, he’s just coughing and splattering, and he’s under neon lights, and everything’s rubbish in his life. And everybody in this whole organisation, just kind of like zombies walk in and walk out. And then one day that he gets a knock on the door, and a doctor sort of turns up, and he says, Look, I have got your report, and you have got a brain cloud, you’re going to die. And so he says, but what I can do, I’ve got a millionaire, who wants to pay you everything you can possibly want, though, six months, at the end of it, you’ve got a jump into a volcano, and this volcano of peace, the gods on this island, and this millionaire will get the jewels that’s on there. But he needs to use to make computers or something like that. And so
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [45:12]
Wow, that’s quite a
David Ralph [45:14]
plot line. He said, Good plot line, it’s a good plot line. And so Tom Hanks kind of goes, well got nothing to lose, I’m gonna die anyway, I might as well take his money and, and live a life. And in that six months, he becomes healthy. And he’s out in the sort of country and he’s on boats. And he falls in love with Meg Ryan. And everything goes well in his life. And he gets to this point at the end, when he has to sort of jump into this volcano and basically end his life, even though he’s happier than he’s ever been. And when I was reading your mom’s storey, I was thinking about that film, because what that said to me was we waste so much time in our life, doing stuff that isn’t important. And when you know that you’ve got X amount of time, and you’ve got that ability to do everything. Is it actually better than having time? that stretches out forever? But you just don’t know how much you’ve got? Is it better to condense it down? And your mom obviously did so much before she passed away? Did she do that? Did she do a Joe versus the volcano? Was that a different mom? Or was that just an extension of your mom?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [46:24]
That’s a good question. Here’s my opinion. I wish I could ask her. But maybe you know, we’ll have to try another time. When I was young, I remember her being very fun. And I specifically remember that she used to bake cakes as a side gig. And I always thought this was because she thought it was fun. I’m sure she did think it was fun. But I think it was for extra money. And like we didn’t have enough money. But to me as the child, I felt the side of like how fun we get to make these cool cakes, and we get to deliver it to people who are celebrating, you know, like very, very important occasions. This is cool, you know, like, I get to lick the batter and eat the extra minutes. And it was very fun, very exciting. So I remember that. And then you know, you kind of dip into something that’s a little more mundane. And then we come out the other side. And it’s kind of back to that, like, hey, let’s do fun stuff. Let’s have a lot of fun. Let’s you know, be creative. Let’s hang out with our friends. So I think it was there. And maybe it was just kind of disappeared for a little while. But I think the difference between the movie and her was she kept the assumption that she was going to make it she assumed there was no volcano that she would she would make it. And I don’t even actually think she really thought. I mean, of course when you’re in that kind of situation you want to you don’t want to think about that. But I think she didn’t really think that that was even a possibility until probably two three weeks out. Because that is when she called me and said, Do you want to go with me to Paris? And I and I symbol sure when you’re going and she said I’m like leaving tonight? And I was like well, well can’t really make it. It’s a little short notice that you think and I think ship Paris was our favourite place in the world, by the way. And she lived in the state. So it’s kind of you know, not like, you know, train ride or something. So I thought that was really interesting. In hindsight, of course, I didn’t know at the time. I think that’s when she knew him was like, Okay, last hurrah. Like, here we go. We’re going to go to Paris, and we’re going to rock it out. So, so yeah, I think it was there. In the beginning. It disappeared and it came back. Would you go now if your mom made that phone call to you now? would you go? Yeah, I’m going to cancel everything will be on that plane with you. Yes, it would be great. But I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have any regrets.
David Ralph [48:44]
That’s a good place to be, isn’t it? That is a good place to be. And and you’ve gone on to such positive statements in the world. But your mom would, I’m sure be very proud of you. I think so many people are proud of you. Because you know, not just in your personal life, okay, you know, you’ve been in a crappy job. And now you’re taking control of your life. But it’s the way you’re doing it and you’re connecting positivity across the world, you must feel good about yourself.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [49:10]
I do I do. I struggled with my business, I struggled in my job. I struggled with myself, but I I pulled through. And you know, I am proud of it. And I’m proud of what we do at plum Deluxe. And it’s what you know, gets me up in the morning with makes me really excited as it conversations like this. And so I’m just really grateful. I’m really grateful for all of it. I’m grateful for the things that sucked. I’m grateful for the things that were hard. And I’m grateful for the successes because it’s all part of the mix. So yeah, I am. Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate you saying that. Absolutely. So
David Ralph [49:39]
So why is it called plum Deluxe? I’ve been trying to work out?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [49:43]
And that’s a great question that people always ask me.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [49:47]
I think that, you know, creating a lifestyle brand, lifestyle movement, I don’t know what you want to call this a community, the name is really important. And I clearly had a crappy name before. So I was like, Okay, I’m going to get those rights. I actually got help. And what I wanted to do specifically was to use it to create a name that kind of signified something about luxury, you know, like, luxurious care. Without it saying luxury, you know, because people kind of get triggered when someone says, you know, like, luxury. And I think, Oh, I can’t have that I can’t afford that. That’s not for me. But I wanted to create something that that made you think like, Oh, I want to learn more, I am curious, maybe like this for me. So that that’s where the deluxe came in. Because that’s kind of implies like a upgrade upward, you know, something bigger, more interesting. And I knew that I was kind of drawn to a colour I wanted to brand the head of colour in it, because I you know, knew from my years of working in marketing and tech and stuff that colours are very emotive, so. So they’re a good way to express emotion. So, so I kind of had those components. And that’s how all the things came together. Palm specifically because it’s something different on the end side that appears to be on the outside, you know, plums are dark purple, and then you kind of open them up and they’re orange ish. inside. plums have a lot of significance in ancient cultures, you know, the Chinese that they were good lucks, and carrying them around. And then, you know, there’s an old saying some things like plum, you know, it’s like, kind of it’s a good thing. It’s like kind of not good luck. But you know, it’s kind of how opportunity, you know, that’s plum. So this is like, there’s so many things. Certainly not and I was like I like That’s it. That’s it. It doesn’t hurt the.com was available, the trademark was available, etc. but but it just yeah, it was kind of creating that scenario of things I wanted and, and searching until I found that two words that worked.
David Ralph [51:49]
I couldn’t get Join Up Dots, Twitter, that’s the annoying one. I bought a URL. I did Facebook, I did everything. I got down to Twitter, and I’m Join Up Dots. Which kind of
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [52:01]
Ah,
David Ralph [52:02]
yeah, and I always ask people, whether they know whether you can kind of buy a Twitter name back, or is it just kind of gone? Is it out there? I don’t know. I don’t know if that works. But yeah, Join Up Dots. Is the Twitter last. Yes. Last? Yes. So just just before I play the words of Steve Jobs, because we have been talking about the journey that you’re on? What What is the one thing that you would put as a special moment that you haven’t done, but you would like to do in your own personal life?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [52:32]
Hmm, good question. What have I not done that I would like to do.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [52:40]
You know, I have a dream of I live in Oregon. I live in Portland, Oregon. And my dream is to have a house on the ocean. So that I can wake up in the morning and just walk out onto my own patio and drink coffee and watch the ocean in the morning.
David Ralph [52:57]
vision board put it on the visible and we’re being tension. He’s been there.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [53:02]
Yeah, yeah. And it’s really silly, isn’t it? It’s only so that I can get up and sit in front of the ocean in the morning. But I’m sure I would use it for many other things. That but and in my place a place I can make my own you know, where I can be very comfortable. That’s my
David Ralph [53:17]
Well, you did well yeah, I almost said you know mine. But Why the hell would you know mine. But my my one is even more stupid than that my my kind of vision of intend is back on like a Tuesday morning, I can go to the movies where the no one else is there and see a film, just because I’ve got the time freedom to do it. You know, that that is just kind of one of my things. And I’ve never got to that point yet. But I always think to myself, that’s what I’d like to do just be able to go, yeah, I’m going to do that today. Because I fancy and go off and watch a film on my own and then sort of come back and do a bit of work. So it’s not as grand as the house on the sea. But it’s something that I’m working towards as well. So let’s let’s play the words of Steve Jobs, because he did say it so beautifully about life is a journey, and we have to have faith and trust in ourselves. And I’m always fascinated whether the guest finds value in these words, and whether they they resonate with them. So visit Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs [54:11]
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 leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference. I’m a true to you, Andy.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [54:48]
Absolutely, absolutely. Do you know what his quote reminds me of I you play it every show. And I really love it. And I could just listen to it over and over again. It reminds me of Oprah who I find this a personal icon just as you know, we’re in similar businesses, but you know, just she’s gone through so much. And people have hated on her and loved on her. And she’s just kind of been so steadfast. And there’s a clip from her, I don’t even know what it’s from, I just know it. And she’s kind of interrupts everyone. And she says. So the thing is, when you’re trying to build something important, you can get all kind of freaked out, trying to picture all the pieces and all these big moving things, and you can get overwhelmed. And you can even, you know, kind of almost talk yourself out of it. And she says the only job you have to do right now is to figure out what is the next right step. You take that step and your job again, is only to figure out the next right step. So whenever I feel kind of like, Oh, you know, like, why isn’t there a map? Why doesn’t someone is something Why isn’t there someone who can just tell me what to do? I think about what she said that like what is the next right step right now? All you need to work on right now.
David Ralph [56:02]
That’s usually Pap, oh, isn’t it? I know exactly what she’s saying there. He, when you start something, you just kind of want to start it. But it’s that point when it suddenly starts becoming successful, but you start thinking about the possibilities. And that is when it freaks you out. I’ve had that. And I think most people have had that where you suddenly think why I come at this point, I’ve got to push it forward. But it’s bigger than you at that stage. And you can’t quite see how your vision can come true. But you can just take that next step Can you and the next step and whether that vision takes another six years, or it comes together in six months, all those incremental gains those steps, those successes will ultimately lead you back. I think that’s a very powerful statement. I think she’s a wise woman.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [56:48]
I think she has to, and I think there’s something in it. That’s really important. Let’s this the guy you were mentioning earlier, who sold a startup for 700 million to Google or whoever was, you know, if he started out doing some, you know, like, on day one, he was working on some code, you know, he was just sitting around, like, you know, what’s our current core concept here, and he knew that he would be selling for 700 million, he would probably be freaked out, and you probably would, would not be able to focus. So I think there there’s something to be said for not knowing all the details up front, not knowing all the dots are playing out because it enables you to focus on what you need to learn and do it right now, as opposed to all this other stuff. That’s way out there. And you know, don’t need to worry about that yet.
David Ralph [57:36]
Yeah, I think what, what we need to get across at? Well, this is the way I think of it, is that I like to have a goal a target, but I don’t actually know how I’m going to get there. And then once I actually is like you know that you’re going to come from here to Portland, Oregon. And I would know right? Okay, how am I gonna do that? I need to get to Heathrow Airport, how do I get to Heathrow Airport, okay, man, and and that kind of, you ultimately achieve your aim. But it’s the getting there, which is, is the freedom, it’s the ability to allow for creativity in your life. And that is where you have most of your successes, because you can’t, you can’t decide on the successes, you can’t see the successes beforehand. It’s the ones that actually come to you because you are doing all those little things
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [58:22]
do you think so? I do, I do I do. It’s on hold, I’m enjoying enjoying the journey. Not just a destination.
David Ralph [58:31]
Absolutely enjoying up a few dots as we go. And we’re going to join up your dots now because this is the end of the show. And this is when I send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time, like the young Marty McFly, what age would you choose? And what advice would you give the young nd where we’re going to find out now because I’m going to play the music Europe, this is the Sermon on the mic.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [59:01]
With the best bit of the show.
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [59:17]
Well, young Andy, this is your future self. And I hope you found yourself comfortable and relaxed in your new home in Amsterdam, it’s going to be a lot of fun there. I have some advice for you. And you’ll probably only take half of it because I know how you are. But that’s okay. It’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready. I really want you to take a second and really appreciate, you know what you have right now. Lives pretty good. And it’s good bound to get better for a while. So just take a second and look around and say wow, like this is this is good stuff like, this is really nice. You know, even though life in Europe is so relaxed, and especially where you live, it’s you know, really opportunity to slow down, you know, have a coffee drink in the cafe, relax, just take one of those moments to appreciate what’s around you and what’s available to you. And let’s talk specifically about business. Because you know that I know that’s important to you. You’ve been on a track for quite some time with your technology career. And what I want you to know right now is that that a lot of the strength that you have in that career will propel you forward. But they’ll also enable you to do even bigger and better things. So what you need to know no matter what happens ahead, is that you don’t have to worry, don’t worry, it always works out. That’s really important. Don’t worry, it will always work out. But specifically, just think of things as stepping stones as dots on a map along a trail. And what you’re going to want to do is just know that you’ll find the next stop, you’ll find that next point, you know, think of it maybe as you’re on a train, you know, and the rails will guide you will be guided, you will find the right next point. So don’t worry about that so much as opposed to I think maybe spending a little more time aware that you are on a journey, and that there is a destination. And what would you like that to look like? What would you like that to feel like? Because we don’t want to miss you know, the opportunity to enjoy the journey along the way to take a second and take stock of the lessons learned and the kind of experiences that you’re having. There’s a great joy to be had and learning. Who doesn’t love to learn? You know, I know you love love learning. So whenever you encounter difficult situations or people that you don’t like, take a second and and and think about well what would be better, what would be the they made doesn’t have to be the opposite. Just what would you change in this situation. And what you may find is often you can influence the outcome of those situations, too, your advantage to, to your benefit. And just to close because I think of life as a treasure hunt. And it’s always good to feel as though you know, there’s always something to look forward to something exciting on the horizon. And you don’t have all the details yet. Just like a vacation. You know, we don’t want to know everything right? Right off the bat. It’s kind of fun to explore and stumble upon something new. I will just say I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favourite people, one of your favourite people, of course, Oprah Winfrey. And she says, Listen, I think it’s really apt for the conversation we’ve just had today, which is the biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.
David Ralph [1:03:05]
Well said, just just before I do say goodbye to you, Andy, do you? Do you think that everyone out there listening can have a kick ass life?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [1:03:15]
Absolutely. If they want to. You have to choose, it’s your choice. And if you choose to do so then you can? Perfect.
David Ralph [1:03:23]
How can our audience connect with you, sir?
Plum Deluxe Andy Hayes [1:03:26]
Well, I would love for you to all come say hello over at plum Deluxe. com, our handles everywhere Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Or plum Deluxe. If you have a question for me about something that we’ve talked about today, you can tweet me at my handle is Andrew G. Hayes sounds very official, but I hang out there all the time. And I’m very nice. Or I’m plum Deluxe, you can just use the contact form and send an email I they all go to me. So you can say hi there too. If you want to talk privately.
David Ralph [1:03:54]
We will have all the links on the show notes. Andy, thank you so much for spending time with us today. Join ending up those dots. And please come back again when you have more dots to join up. Because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Andy Hayes, thank you so much. You’re very welcome. Thank you.
Outro [1:04:15]
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.
