Welcome to the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview with Ross Menghini
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Introducing Ross Menghini
Ross Menghini is my guest today on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast.
He is a man who isn’t just a guest, but I would like to say he is now a friend.
A long distant friend, who is presently living a life that so many of my listeners crave, but feel its unattainable.
So let’s show you all in this episode that its most certainly not unattainable.
With the right mindset, money strategy and vision you can all be doing the very same.
Today’s guest along with his wife Lucy is travelling the world, blogging, podcasting, and working on monetization channels.
He reports all in their fledgling business Life Design Diaries.
Joining The Dots To Today
As he says “Whilst disrupting the work and travel norms, my wife Lucy and I have created a series of adventures.
We are travelling the world whilst building a portfolio of enterprises. We’re documenting the whole experience on our Podcast, LIFE DESIGN DIARIES.”
Life Design is the practice of thinking and actively pursuing the lifestyle you want.
Life is short, we all know that, so why compromise?
We’re married, entrepreneurs, and travelling the world… all at the same time.
There was a moment in our lives when we decided to take action rather than imagine.
A decision that has lead to more freedom and fulfilment than we ever would have achieved in our 9-5’s.
Yes they have had struggles, but they have faced them head on and now share this massive lesson with the world.
They want us all to realise how much control we have in our lives, and to inspire us all to design and pursue the life you want.
So when he was store manager in Sainsburys just a few years ago, did he wander the aisles looking at exotic vegetables thinking “One day I will be picking you from where you grow my friend”?
And what was the first stage they had to prepare for…the leap and trust the process, or working on the nest egg of savings to ease the way to where they are today?
Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Ross Menghini.
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Ross Menghini such as:
Why Ross is so clear that his and his wife are documenting the climb and not the view from the type
Why it is so important to not try to be someone else when you start, even if you look unprofessional. An unprofessional you is better than a professional someone your not.
Ross recalls how his childhood was surrounded by an entrepreneurial spirit from his father, so it was with a surprise that it took him years to start his own path.
and lastly….
Ross shares his feelings of travelling the world with your partner 24/7 and how to gain the need for space in your life.
How To Connect With Ross Menghini
Return To Top Of Ross Menghini
If you are inspired by the conversation with Ross Menghini, then check out the amazing Cameron Brown, Kristin Addis and Dan Lok
If you want our whole collection of shows then jump over to the podcast archives here
Audio Transcription Of Ross Menghini 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 [0:25]
Yes. Good morning. Well, good morning and welcome to a join up dots Yes, the most motivational, inspirational conversation will show on earth today. And thank you for all the countries that are really getting on board. I must admit, I find it amazing, but we’re getting an audience in China. India is coming on board of Finland, countries across the world, I think to myself, why are you listening to me? Why? Why are you listening to my mad ramblings, but I’m so glad that you’re here. So thank you so much for being here. And I’m also so glad Today’s guest is here because he isn’t a man who’s just a guest. No, no, he’s not just a guest. I’d like to say that he’s now a friend, a long distance friend, who is presently living a lie, but so many of my listeners crave, but probably feel in some way is unattainable. So let’s show you all in this episode, but it’s most certainly not unattainable. And with the right mindset, money, strategy and vision, you can all be doing the very same. Now today’s guest along with his wife, Lucy is traveling the world blogging, podcasting and working on monetization channels, internet fledgling business life design diaries, and as he says, was disrupting the work and travel norms. My wife, Lucien and I’ve created a series of adventures. We’re travelling the world was building a portfolio of enterprises, and we’re documenting the whole experience on our podcast, life design diaries. Now life design is a practice of thinking and actively pursuing the lifestyle you want. Life is short, we all know that. So why compromise? We’re married entrepreneurs and traveling the world all at the same time. Now, there was a moment in their lives when they decided to take action rather than just imagine a decision that has led to more freedom and fulfillment than they could have ever achieved in their nine to five. Yes, they’ve had struggles I say, but they faced them head on. And now they share this massive lesson with the world. They want us all to realize how much control we have in our lives and to inspire us to all design and pursue the life you want. So when he was a store manager in Sainsbury’s just a few years ago, did he wander the aisles looking at exotic vegetables, thinking one day, one day, I’ll be picking you from where you grow my friend. And what was the first page I had to prepare for the leap and trust the process or working on the nest egg of savings to ease the way to where they are today? Well, let’s find out as we bring on to the show, to start join up dots with the one and only Mr. Ross Menghini. Good morning. Good morning. How are you, sir?
Ross Menghini [2:51]
Good morning. Thank you very much for having me on the show. What an intro.
David Ralph [2:55]
You deserve a don’t Yeah, I because there are certain people that come into my life. And bye, they come they chat, and then they disappear. But I think Ross, I think we’ve got a friendship going on. I think we’ve got a thing going on. And I’m inspired by you on a daily basis, because what you’re doing is something that I think fundamentally everybody wants, I think fundamentally, people want choices. They want their own decision making time, and they want freedom, would you say?
Ross Menghini [3:24]
Yeah, absolutely. I do. I think a lot of people desire kind of a lifestyle, similar to what we’re living at the moment. But I think one of the reasons why we’re doing what we’re doing is, is also to show that it’s not all rosy, you know, and kind of make it more realistic. Because as you say, I think a lot of people have a sort of a dream or a vision of a type of life. And so I guess we’re trying to give them inspiration, but also show them what it what it’s really like and how to how to potentially get a life like that.
David Ralph [3:55]
And then pass the ball for you. I’m going to jump right to this because I am aware of it with myself. As my show gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and you get more money and you can invest back into it, it becomes sexier looking, which in its way will potentially put off the people that you’re trying to inspire is easy to inspire people when it looks a bit crappy and a bit shambolic and making See, but actually, these people are making a go at it. But once it gets to that point where it becomes a lot more professional, that’s it put people off, or does it inspire people even more? What do you think?
Ross Menghini [4:29]
That’s a really, really interesting question. Because we are, by the way, I must explain with a corner from Chiang Mai Thailand at the moment. So right on the flight path. So you probably have a few airplanes above that kind of adds to the flavor of the podcast, I guess. But yeah, because when we originally launched life design diaries on iTunes, one of the things that we said about it is that, and one of the reasons we wanted to produce it is that we are documenting the climb rather than the view from the top. Because there’s so many podcasts out there, there’s so much material out there and advice from, you know, ultra successful people who Yeah, they are iconic, and you can look up to them. But actually, I think there’s so many gray areas missed when they look right the way back to how they started. And so it’s kind of all those little bits, all those little things that can really help people in that stage. That I guess we’re trying so yeah, you’re dead, right? I mean, as the years go, go on, and things grow as I would hope and want them to it’s it’s an interesting question about how we keep that relevant. I think I think there’s a strong focus on it, though. I think I’m very aware of that in the first place, which will help
David Ralph [5:39]
it because I think I wish I could go back in the podcasts. And you can go back, you can listen to episode zero of join up dots all the way through. And funnily enough, some of my real passionate listeners are coming back to me and going, Oh, I listen to Episode 43 the other day, and I kind of think, do you want to listen to 43? Why don’t you listen to 109 hundreds going to be better than 43. But I don’t think so. Bye. He’s you know, they they like the content. But I wish I could have recorded behind the scenes, when I’m sitting at my desk thinking, I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing here. And I don’t know how to reach out to this person. And I don’t know how to do that. I wish I could go back. That’s the only sort of regret but I was didn’t have the foresight enough to document every single day so people could follow along and see the struggle, because it is a struggle, isn’t it, there’s no getting away from it, you have the idea, you have the passion, and then you plow into a world of upscaling and unknowing. I suppose it is not what you know, it’s what you find you don’t know.
Ross Menghini [6:37]
Exactly, and it is and it is a daily struggle. There’s, you know, there’s problems every single day challenges that that we face that everyone faces when they’re growing businesses. And so you know, no one is important to remember, no one is an overnight success. And these things are just part and parcel of you know, of the process, a piece of advice, which I would, which really struck a chord of me when I heard it is that you should document and not create if you’re trying to if you want to put yourself out there if you want to create content and do something similar to this. But I think a lot of people get caught up on trying to create a masterpiece. And and that actually in the end overwhelms them so much they don’t actually get started because they’re trying to create something really, really good. But if you just completely change the perspective and say, how about you document what you’re doing now, because there’s people in a similar position or maybe slightly behind you that would love to be where you are, that that would be actually really, really valuable to them. So document what you’re doing now be as authentic as you can be. And and don’t worry about the kind of masterpiece to create. And I think that’s a really interesting way to sort of change your perspective on that challenge.
David Ralph [7:47]
I think that’s brilliant, you know, if I was following along with a blog, and I went to the post, and there was like, almost a blank page saying, I don’t know what to write here. So I haven’t written anything. For me, that would be inspiring in its way vain, something really Word Perfect. There’s a lovely lady who was a guest on the show. And I’m kind of supporting her mentoring, trying to sort of push along because she’s doing amazing stuff. And if you’re listening secret lady will call you, Eric in this one. But um, you know who you are. And she is very trying to push us out in out into webcasts and webinars, but she’s frightened to be totally her. And I saw one of our LinkedIn posts the other day, and I said to her, did you really believe that? And she went, Oh, yes, I did. I said, because it seemed too scripted. It seemed to write it seemed too polished. And she said, Well, I did spend a lot of time on it. I said, does that make it better? Is it better for you to just go and get it out there, and then see how it flies, or spend every moment trying to make this Word Perfect? Because for me, it kind of killed it. And I see in so many businesses, there is a I don’t know, a lack of realism. It all looks to we’re back there. And we’re putting it back there when just throw it out and see how it flies. And then you can you can find me afterwards.
Ross Menghini [9:07]
Yeah, exactly. Because I mean, people externally can see that, you know, spot that a mile away, just like you did, if anyone’s trying to trying to be someone that they’re not was that putting any type of content now, you know, you quickly realize that that’s not actually authentic, you can see you can see through it. And also, the other thing to remember is, if you’re looking to pursue a path of a business, or a blog, or anything that you want to grow, and you’re starting out trying to be someone else, then you’re going to find so many all the challenges that you’re going to face along the way, you’re going to be so much harder, because it’s not like built from either a passion that you have, or you know, it’s not authentic to you. Because you can put yourself out there, if it’s real to who you are, you can do that all the time. And when you find these sort of difficult times, you navigate towards the answer, and you find the way out.
David Ralph [10:02]
Right. Okay, so So what are you most passionate about? venrock? So let’s get it to you. Obviously, we were talking before the show about your passion for lady boys and Thailand and all that kind of stuff, and you can’t get away with it. I’m gonna put everything out there, I’m gonna bring you down. So I’m gonna bring you down. And so what is your passion? Is it the freedom? Is it the creation? Or is it looking back and see what you built? You know? Is it the forward creation or the backward creation that really sort of inspires you?
Ross Menghini [10:34]
Well, firstly, let’s add some context to that, because I don’t think I can just leave lady boys. I don’t want any people to get the wrong impression. Obviously, we were talking about the experiences that travel brings. And at the moment, my wife and I are traveling the world was for sort of building various different businesses and documenting the whole thing on the podcast, like we said, and one of the reasons is to just experience different cultures and just meet new people. And that led us just the Saturday compassion because we’re in Thailand to a lady boy show. And I was at the front and naturally got picked on so I got taken on stage. And I don’t really want to repeat what that’s that’s the countries that now that answer your question on what is it I’m passionate about, I think I’ve sort of been searching to try and pin this down to a sentence or a word. And I just think ultimately, it’s fulfilling. If I look back at my, my, my whole career, which has been very progressive, very conventional, I would say, if you go back five, six years, and you know, up the up the corporate ladder, I’ve worked in different roles, I’ve got different promotions, sort of succeeded. Generally, in in all of the things that I’ve I’ve done that I’ve wanted to pursue. But there was always that that one thing missing. And for me, that was as much as I could succeed for someone else, doing a course, which is tied to another big one of that fulfillment, that the ability to say, you know, I’ve done that I’ve built that from scratch. And to kind of do what I really, really want to do from day to day, which is kind of why we’re living the lifestyle that we’ve we’ve designed now,
David Ralph [12:18]
when you say your your history was kind of conventional, was it your convention? Or did you plan it was, were you inspired by it? Or were you just sort of trying to find yourself at that stage.
Ross Menghini [12:31]
But I think it was the the done thing, I think I could typically point it down to following. When I say convention, I mean that conventional path of, you know, getting getting grades, getting good grades, and then going into a job wanting a promotion and seeking a promotion and seeking progression and all of the growth that that brings. But I kind of always knew that I wanted to run things myself at some stage. And but I had that at the time. If I could look back now five years, I said someone or some time, I will do that. Whereas actually, what I should have been thinking about is that that then was the time and I could have done that. Because there’s no, there’s no real reason or anything that was stopping me from doing it then. So I think, yeah, essentially, I think conventional means different things to different people. For me, it was just progressing up the career ladder, and succeeding, and pursuing and trying to succeed at whatever kind of job role I was in.
David Ralph [13:33]
Because I did exactly the same. I just went health and labor into a career in the city. And I don’t think much of it in the 25 years, or whatever I’ve really enjoyed. I think I was just doing what I kind of thought was going to look good. And at the end of it, I now think to myself, who’s good. There was no one judging me. There was no one saying anything. It was just like an internal guessing mechanism that I had, that people will look at this and like they will be impressed. But I don’t think anybody ever said, Yeah, I’m impressed. I think some people said, Oh, it looks like you’re doing all right. But I don’t know what I was working for. But I was certainly working for some kind of validation from others. Were actually more often than not, I don’t care. They’re so busy. But yeah,
Ross Menghini [14:18]
yeah, absolutely. That when when you realize that no one cares. I said, that’s a complete game changer, I think in terms of how you how you approach different things. But I think we differ maybe slightly there because I actually don’t see my story as completely, you know, traditional in the way that I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. I was stuck on the corporate ladder. And now I’m now I’m doing what I want. Actually, I was really happy. And I did I did enjoy it. Absolutely. If
David Ralph [14:46]
you will you really happy? Did you not know any better?
Ross Menghini [14:50]
Yeah, this is an interesting one. Absolutely. I do you think I was happy? I do absolutely think I was happy. Yeah, I mean, if I was to change things, now, I’m going to probably switch it up sooner. And there was probably a period of around three years that I would have wanted to act and you know, pursue what I’m doing now, rather than wait. So I think a bit of time went past where I could have changed things quicker. Because, you know, I absolutely love growing as a person development and experiences. And I think I reached a point, certainly in the role I was in where I’d kind of maximize what I could get for that role. And that’s that’s the time you know, if you’re plateauing is the time when you move on to something new. And I think I overstayed a little bit, which brought me some, you know, some experiences but not not to the level that I would have ideally liked.
David Ralph [15:42]
So So what made you sort of take control? Were you in a pub with Lucy and chatting about what you wanted to do? And she goes, Well, why don’t you do it? or How did you actually get to that point when you realized it was a time because I can recap my story quite well. And most people will had that moment. But he’s bubbling under the surface until he’s undeniable.
Ross Menghini [16:04]
I think, to add a bit of context on on where I was, I mean, you mentioned in the intro that I progressed up the retail ladder to become a store manager at Sainsbury’s, which is a, you know, one of the largest largest retailers in the UK. So that was my kind of corporate The way I see my corporate career career. And I was there for six years. And I think a lot a lot changed for me when I got a different experience of another business. So I know people that still work at the same place now. And a lot of them want move, a lot of them are thinking about moving. And I think as as an absolute easy way to simplify the problem, if you’re thinking about moving is that if you go to a different workplace, even if it’s a sideways move, it doesn’t have to be a completely transformational move, you’ll gain a new perspective and your experience on how other people do that. Now for me, I find it It took me a while like i said i think overstayed my welcome by about three years. But I finally moved to a very different company, I went from a retailer where I had a set role of you know, a defined brief, and I delivered it to a tee. And I went from that to a company that will kind of small to mid sized agency in tech. So all of a sudden, I didn’t have to work weekends, which is a massive thing for me at the time, I could actually start playing football. And just see a company that only employs you know, 50 people, and see how they operate in a brand new industry. And what I learned the biggest learning is that, because I was then sat across the table from the CEO, the founder, whereas when I was back in the corporate world, they were just people in an office somewhere in a different city that I would never get a chance to speak to. And so when I finally made that transition, and I worked for two years in this company, and I headed up the sales team there, I was direct the opposite the CEO, the founder, and one of the things that really kind of opened my eyes is that there was nothing. I mean, they were they were fantastic. And they wanted a very, very good business. And I’m very grateful for what I learned there. And the opportunity they gave me. But there was nothing, you know, fundamentally special about why a person like that can create a multimillion pound turnover business and sit opposite me, there was nothing really in the way from them doing that, and me being employed underneath them. And I think that that was the sort of the start of me thinking, Okay, it’s almost like the growing of the self belief. I kind of knew I was always aimed towards have my own business, but just needed those insights to show me that, you know, it’s achievable, it’s realistic. And then and then I could see that it was that it was time to do it on my own terms and go myself, because that it’s almost like the barrier in between seems considerably less than I first. And it is, you know,
David Ralph [19:00]
I have multiple faceted business, I have an offline business, I have this, I have loads of things going on in join up dots and I sort of jump between between each. Now in the offline business, I see a lot of people who are just basically really scrappy looking really scruffy looking, and you wouldn’t think that I got like five quid in their pocket. And people say to me, do you know he owns half of motor? really does he? And I go, you know, how did they How did he do that. And it all seems to stem from the fact that I I started be they were willing to take a risk. And see when the risks didn’t pan out, they took another risk to make it get back to where they wanted to. And it all just seems to be that there’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, there’s going to be money that goes the right way, money that goes the wrong way. As somebody said to me recently on the show Ross, no matter how bad it is financially in your life, at that moment, somebody has got money, it’s just the tide has flown away from you, you’ve just got to look where the money has gone. And then try to put yourself there. And there are times when you are chasing it, and it seems to be moving around. But it’s never bad across the world. Somebody has always Yeah, that’s so true. If somebody has always got that cash somewhere. What we’re gonna do now is we’re just going to play one of our motivational words. And then we’re going to come back to how you and Lucy have basically transitioned into a sweaty life of sandals and T shirts. But one that sounds amazing. Here we go.
Unknown Speaker [20:31]
My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. 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 [20:57]
Now, probably that speech most shows, and some times it doesn’t quite fit. But on this one, I can imagine that there was going to be a conversation where Mr. Ross goes back to mommy Ross and dad Ross, because there’s a certain stage in your life that even though we’re adults, and we’re moving on, our parents still kind of controlled us to a point, hey, you know, I’m 48 years old. And my mom’s deal says, Man, I don’t know what you’re doing. You had a good job up in the city. Why did you fry? Or, you know, she still says these things. They understand. But you wanted to throw in your management career and actually create something? Did they give you some speech about, you know, work until retirement? And Ben, do it all? How did it operate? When you started to get that feeling of creating the life design diaries? You know,
Ross Menghini [21:44]
I’ve got the most supportive parents. And they they did, they absolutely got it, I think they were kind of waiting for me to understand that. And I think one of the reasons why is because my dad was self employed. So you know, in way you could say, This is quite a late lesson for me and actually, with the, with the with him always being self employed, retired very early, you know, and grew to a very successful, you know, career that actually I should have, I should have realized this earlier, but I don’t think they were they were kind of letting me find my own way, you know, which is, which is really good. So they they did get it, get it and they backed me to the hills. But the interesting thing is, when I go into the specific businesses, that’s then a different story. Because, you know, for anyone that listens to some of the early and we’ve only done, you know, 1213 when this report when this goes out podcast episodes now, and we’re seeing some good growth week by week. But right at the start knowing was brilliant. We
David Ralph [22:45]
just jumped in number nine,
Ross Menghini [22:47]
number nine was the absolute highlight. I
David Ralph [22:51]
don’t know, but he sounded good. He did sound good.
Ross Menghini [22:57]
So yeah, the start, we were really documenting where we were at the time we were in Bali, you know, new to recording the podcast, some of the businesses was earlier on. And we wanted to show like I said, we wanted to show the struggles. So we really opened up, you know, you talked about being authentic, we were vulnerable. We were We were delving into some of the depths of you know, our inner beliefs. And we were actually saying how difficult this week has been or how difficult work this challenge has been within a certain business. And straight away not just from parents, but the extended family, it was all Are you sure you want to do this? You know, what, why are you giving that to the world? Why are you being so vulnerable? I’m worried for you. And so we got so much more in a circle. And so it’s kind of like the back to me to the hills. But when when there’s always when there’s a new idea I have, it’s like, no, that’s not going to work, or I just can’t see that happening. And we definitely saw that with the podcast. But you know, we were we stuck to our guns. And we knew that authenticity. And we wanted to share that because we knew that would be even more helpful than someone that’s kind of dressing up the best way that you know, highlights of everything. So yeah, I think the lesson there is absolutely to be authentic and everything you do.
David Ralph [24:15]
Now one of the things in the introduction that was it jumps out to me and hopefully be listeners it jumped out as well is that you are looking at creating different enterprises or portfolio of enterprises. Now I see so many people eggs in one basket scenario, and think to themselves, right, I’m going to create this business and maybe just doing that one thing now I’ll be totally transparent. I’ve got about six online and offline businesses now, where when one isn’t doing very well, and they all go up and down, then the other one sort of chips in, so I don’t really care. And certain times I can take a month off from doing one thing, because I know the money’s gonna come in in a different room, it just kind of it makes it easier. Was that a vision that you had of not having all your eggs in one basket so that when things go bad, which they do, they always do as you’re growing it, it wasn’t too much of a screaming session?
Ross Menghini [25:14]
Well, I’ve got a really interesting story here, because in my last role, when I like I said, I headed up a sales team, a mobile app, the leading the UK is leading mobile app development company. And so they, they worked with many global brands, you know, creating really, really good apps that millions of people use. So that was like, the highlight for me. But also, on a day to day basis. I consulted loads different people that came in with an app idea, because everyone’s got an idea for an app for it. And so I saw so many different people come in and talk about their app. And I would be, I would just be thinking to myself, why is that your idea? I would just, I mean, I had some fantastic ideas. But some people would say, let me come in, they’ve got a career, they’ve got a business. And I would say, I’ve got it, I’ve got a comparison app for the stakes, so that you can on your app, have a look at the best steak around based on your location, which is good. And then you know, it may be Well, one thing I learned is you can never judge an idea. Who knows what’s going to be good, who knows that the Facebook is going to take off or not, you know, there was a lot of critics at that stage. So you can never judge an idea and say that’s a bad one. Because who knows the market is the only people that can really, you know, judge that. However, what I did think is why not like what’s made you decide that you want to spend 10s, or hundreds of thousands of pounds on an app, which makes a steak comparison app. And I toyed with that for ages, I would come home each day and talk to Lucy and say, You won’t believe that the idea I buy them and but what I really, really learned is the reason I was doing that is because I falsely believed that there had to be one idea. And I falsely believe that they were putting their eggs in their basket with that idea. And absolutely. Now I know that that could just be one of many things they do. And you know, a fundamental part of living, the lifestyle that we’re doing is to have multiple revenue streams. And so kind of constructing different ways of earning money is not only exciting and interesting, like, like you say, when one’s that one’s down, so they kind of they’re all okay. It’s like de risking, but But yeah, you you don’t need to have that one idea. And I think approaching it like that, again, the hardest thing for me is starting was starting. And you said that what of all successful people got in common, they all started at some stage or those CEOs, they started at some stage. And so I love changing the perspective and helping people change their perspective towards some of these issues, because I think it enables them to get started. And if you suddenly realize that you don’t need the one killer idea that takes a lot of pressure off yourself. And actually, you start saying to yourself, Well, how about I just go with this? Let’s let’s do some action. Let’s go with this. If it feels right, let’s try it. Why not? Let’s do a little experiment. Let’s time box it. Let’s do it for one month, three months and see what happens. And it completely changes your rate of action, as opposed to just overthinking and never actually getting started.
David Ralph [28:28]
Because I’m always interesting when you say the hardest thing is starting because for me, I didn’t find that the starting thing hard at all. I just thought what this sounds good. This sounds fine. I’m going to do it. The hardest thing for me was when I was into it, realizing, actually, there’s a lot more to this, but I thought it’s not just doing this, the upscaling has been the killer for me more than the starting and keeping going. I have got start. I basically have a gun down my train is that just goes up all the time. I’m on starting position. So you only have to give me an idea. And I think that sounds good. Let’s do it. Just Just go for it. Yeah, I’m off interested. persistence. Absolutely no problem with persistence. I can just keep on going chipping away chipping away. For example. Last night, my son couldn’t get his x box to work. So I said are coming up a look at it. And we couldn’t get Netflix to upload and it was error messages. Now, after four hours he was going, I didn’t know it was going to take so long. I’ve wasted a whole evening. And I was like, Well, we’ve taken four hours. If we take 10 hours, let’s just get it sorted. Oh, he was you know, moan and groan. I can just keep on going and going. So persistence is great. But it’s the apps killing it. The apps getting every time you go to do something and you think I don’t know this. I don’t know about webinars. I don’t know about sales funnels. I don’t know about WordPress. I don’t know about Google AdWords, I don’t know LinkedIn marketing, I don’t know all these kind of things. That was my killer. And I say to everyone, for me, not starting was a breeze. But it was the finding out but I didn’t know what I didn’t know that was the killer.
Ross Menghini [30:05]
Interesting. Interesting. Yeah, I mean, I probably should slightly rephrase it. And what I kind of mean by the hardest bit is starting is at the start, the hardest bit is starting. And I just recognize just how crucial that is. Because I know a lot of I just know so many people, so many people that listen to my podcast, probably listen to this podcast, I’m sure that really want to get started and are looking for inspiration to get started. And therefore, you know, if they want something and they haven’t yet done it, then I what I draw from that is that’s the hardest bit for them at that point in time. And so I try to change their perspective on how they can actually get going. You’re dead right? Once you get started, there’s a whole host of problems then. But that’s what you’re signing up to, isn’t it? That is absolutely what you’re signing up to. I think entrepreneurship is kind of over glorified across the world now and there’s so many high flying people that we can all point to are on the front page of magazines that are just making so much money living the dream. But you know, the the reality of it is every entrepreneur is signing up for that is signing up for daily challenges, daily problems upscaling on everything. But that, to me, comes back to that fulfillment part. Because when you look back, you can say, wow, I can do this. Now I did that, that took me to this place. You know, there’s just so many more stories experiences, everything that comes with actually pursuing that path than not doing it. You know,
David Ralph [31:31]
if you rearrange the words of entrepreneur, it actually comes out. I haven’t got a clue. But that’s okay. It doesn’t in KC people are sitting there, hang on, hang on, he’s gone mad. He’s dyslexic. But that, to me, that’s what an entrepreneur is. He says somebody going there. I’m going to try this. And if it doesn’t work, I’m going to ask somebody to help me. And if it doesn’t work, I’m going to try and find something else. And just keep them going. Just keep them going. There’s no Rocket Power, there’s, there’s nothing, I always put my hand up inside, I’ve been having the ability to talk. That was the only thing that I had at the beginning. And that was fine tuned over 20 years of doing other stuff, you know, but only opening my mouth and, and saying stuff, which hopefully people like to listen to. That’s the only thing that I had everything else I was just a complete idiot complete idiot didn’t know what I was doing. And still, in many regards, you never know what you’re doing. Because you’re always moving through to that next stage. So so with you and, and Lucy and Lucy is lovely. I’d have to say you are lucky man, sir. You’ve done very well for yourself in that regard. That she has she you’re young and your Yang, when Ross is laying in bed go, Oh, it’s rubbish. Oh, it’s never going to work. I don’t know why we’re even bothering does she sort of a burst into happy mode? And is there sort of a swing between the two of you to support each other in that way?
Ross Menghini [32:52]
Yeah, I definitely think there is an element of that, you know, we both have our ups and our downs, and more. So now in the last six months, Bob swats of interest in the world, it’s you know, it’s completely different, all of a sudden, you are with each other every single day. And so, you know, you’re not, you’re not having the same interaction that they used to do when used to go out and see different people or, you know, we’re in social groups here, but it is definitely a completely different. So when you’re, you know, in one stable location. Yeah. But I think having that person there that can support during those down times is is very important. Yeah. And that’s kind of the role that we we both play, we both know, I mean, she’s exactly the same, you know, she’s got a couple of businesses herself, and she’s obviously, the other half of life design diaries podcast. And we both kind of, I think we’ve got a pretty clear picture of where we want to go. Like, like in our lives, where is I think that’s real. I knew going to ask that. Well, we haven’t pinpointed it down to you know, I want to live here and I want to have this house, I want to, but I know that we’re both on the same path of exploring, of learning and growing together with relationship and business. So I feel like because we are both very progressive in our thinking in that way. We, we support each other, and we understand that we’re going to change you’re going to have crazy ideas, you’re gonna have bad ideas. And we just kind of balance each other out really.
David Ralph [34:25]
So it’s not clear at all your your vision for the future is not clear. You’re just basically saying, Oh, we know the direction we know the direction and we know what we it’s more of a life
Ross Menghini [34:35]
plan. I guess I guess it’s more I guess it’s more we’re on the same page. Yeah, I apps, I absolutely have goals written down that I want for myself that I actually think is really important to keep your goals internal. Because I think when you share I mean, I I don’t feel like sharing all my goals. Now. They probably are some that I’ve talked about on my podcast. But one
David Ralph [34:57]
of the further away from Lucy, did you do have that? Yes. Yeah. 24. Seven, it’s driving me mad.
Ross Menghini [35:05]
is amazing how much No, I enjoyed the Jim was I didn’t work
David Ralph [35:13]
with her Does she? Does she accept that? But you have to get away at sometimes, you know, joking aside, Are there times about the two of you go? Yeah, I just need a morning away.
Ross Menghini [35:22]
Ya know, and I think that’s been an acceptance right from the start. I mean, we’re married. Now we’ve been together for 11 years. And from the very, very start, you know, we’ve both understood that we need time away, because that’s just healthy. You know, when we were kids, I would be very, very happy when she’s going out with her girlfriends for an eye out. Because that to me just means she’s having fun on her, you know, she’s having fun with herself with her friends. And I didn’t have to be the only source of her fun. And I just think that’s so fundamental, that kind of principle, to understand that to be in a healthy relationship, each individual needs to understand and prioritize, it’s almost like they need to prioritize themselves, you know, they need to have their own well being first and understand what they need before, before the other one comes into the picture. And and if you do that, then you give each other space and you understand that, that that’s the dynamic that that needs to happen. So yeah, she’s absolutely fine. When I go to the gym, I’m sure she enjoys the hour or two to herself, as well,
David Ralph [36:25]
as me and my wife, we’ve got nothing in common, absolutely nothing in common. And you were so polar opposites, but it works. So if she’s gonna put a TV program, for example, she loves binge watching, I hate binge watching. You know, if I look at these box sets, and it’s 157 episodes, she’ll go right, let’s start there. I couldn’t even fathom to start. But if it’s more than free, I don’t I don’t want to get into it, you know,
Ross Menghini [36:51]
commitment, isn’t it?
David Ralph [36:52]
Oh, it’s such a commitment. I say to somebody better than watching programs about people being killed and disposing of the bodies. And it’s when she’s making notes. That’s what worries me Ross, but I think she’s planning she’s planning to get a new patio outside our house, and, and do away with me. But I know that with our relationship, we are much stronger because of the time away. Absolutely. And so I do a lot of road trips and stuff with my son, he’s very much into football. So we go away for weekends, and we go off and get a hotel and, you know, have a Carrey in the evening and see them play away and all that kind of stuff. And you just come back. Yeah, it’s not just important for the relationship. I think it’s important for the business. And I think a lot of times, people struggle because they don’t allow their brain to rest. They’re just sitting in front of their computer screen screen trying to create, when actually you need to walk away from it to create. And I know that Yeah, well, I didn’t at the beginning, I used to just sit here all the time thinking it’s going to be worthwhile every single day is got to be worthwhile, but most of it was crap, to be honest.
Ross Menghini [37:57]
Yeah, yeah. Because it comes to a point where you just don’t getting output anymore. And you’re just fighting against a brick wall. It is that I must admit, that is so difficult even for me to walk away, especially when there’s a specific challenge that you’re looking to overcome. And you are, you know, you’re in a bad place in the way that you just cannot get it. You’re frustrated. It’s just so difficult then to walk away. But yeah, doing that going to the gym. For us. I mean, we’ve got a lot of perks, obviously of living on the road like this. And I can pinpoint two times in the last month where, you know, we took proper day excursions out one day, we went snorkeling for the whole day, the next day, we went and went to bed, some elephants, you know, which is really, really unbelievable experience. And you just come back so refreshed at the end of that a lot, though, is it two days? Way more? Oh, no. Well, we have time off as well, that’s not the answer that that’s like a, that’s a full day out, you know, screens away completely off the grid, which I think is just really, really important to do, is there’s all I mean, we go out for meals every night here, because that’s just the culture. So that’s nice. But actually to have a full day completely away. When you take your mind off it, I find it really, really helpful.
David Ralph [39:09]
So so with your platform, because I know so many people, we’ve been talking about the struggles and the mindset, and that’s all vitally important when you’re starting a business. But did you have a nest egg that supported you? Did you go? Well, for the first six months, we’re covered? While we get this off the ground? Did you start getting it off the ground before you started traveling? Because I think that is a fear that people have that they’re going to get out somewhere, and then they’re going to run out of money.
Ross Menghini [39:35]
Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s really important to discuss the financial aspect, because that is probably the number one concern for people, isn’t it when they want to do something on their own, but it means leaving their their comfortable job? Yeah, I did. And I had the finances in order, I have always saved quite well, from a young age. So I saved well, but then what I did the the biggest learning and the biggest financial gain was understanding and learning a lot about investing. So the financial education aspect that we don’t really get taught in our younger years of school, understanding and learning that and for me, that was then putting money into property, real estate. That that was like the the kind of fundamental platform, I guess that that sort of de risked taking the step, I felt like a pretty solid property portfolio. Now in the UK, which provides a nice passive income, whilst we’re doing this, which you know, really supports the sort of more risky, fledgling things we’re doing with our businesses.
David Ralph [40:42]
So So how long could you take off and do nothing on the live design diaries with this passive income? And I won’t ask you how much you’re getting in. But can does it give you a month? Does it can be two months?
Ross Menghini [40:54]
I think it gives you I mean, it depends on your, of course, it all depends on your living standards out here. Absolutely, we could live here forever, probably, with the amount that we get through from the properties alone, because the living costs are so cheap out here. So you know, be very different if I was living in in London, or where I’m from Manchester. But here, you know, a long time. I would say, though, that if people don’t have that kind of nest egg, then you know, we did have savings in cash as well. And we we definitely looked at it like that we did, we kind of gave ourselves a six month period of time, even though when we knew that we were quite covered from from the the sort of investments that we’ve made. But we wanted to look into it and taking a step away and you know, dropping pretty decent salary. We looked at it in terms of a six month time window. That’s that’s what we did. But for us, it wasn’t a case of it’s that time and we go back, it was we always knew we had a bit more, but I like to look at things, you know, cautiously, instead of imagine a scenario where we did only have six months, because I could just that just drives the urgency.
David Ralph [42:06]
I gave myself a grasp what we’re doing. Yeah, I gave myself five years, I thought to be where I wanted to be, I’m going to give myself five years. And I went at it like a rocket I really did. And I got into health issues. And I really did. And then I went through a stage of really hitting a plateau when I was so worried about going back into the health issues of over hustle, I kind of didn’t do enough, I was just taking over. So it went sort of just for a plateau for about a year didn’t really grow. Now I’ve got laser focus. I know the right things to do. And it’s going really well. But um, yeah, at the beginning, I said why I’m going to be doing this because the thing that I think Ross and I don’t know if you agree with this, hopefully you do. But if you’re going to be a podcaster, for example, just using that you could be a blogger, you could be a YouTuber, you could be whatever. If it’s your thing, you’ve got to keep on doing it. So when I got up to say, 500 episodes, and people were saying, Ah, that’s amazing. You’ve done 500 episodes, I was thinking is nothing, I’m going to be doing 10,000 episodes, I’ve got to be doing 20,000 episodes, I’ve got you know what? 500? Nothing. So why are people saying that’s a big thing. And I just see that, that once you find your thing, and that the thing that you love, and hopefully the world loves you to do, you shouldn’t be looking at six months, you shouldn’t be looking at a year, you should be looking at the rest of your life, because this thing is going to go where it goes. And so that’s what I did.
Ross Menghini [43:33]
Yeah, I agree. And I think you need to back yourself. And again, another way of looking at it is every day if if you’re sort of a career driven person and you do your best when you go into work, then you know you are you’re figuring out these problems. So yes, you still have problems every day, you still have challenges, you still upscaling that you talked about, you know, that all exists within employment. So people are going to their workplace and going through a lot of those, those challenges. And so it really, the thing is that once you’re doing that it’s quite a caps potential earnings, really, you know, there’s obviously promotions and if you’re in sales, there’s commission, things like that, but it’s pretty capped. So what I was dead interested to get into is going through similar things, similar challenges, similar, upscaling all of that learning, except this time, there’s no, there’s no cap on your earnings, you know, and that could be a direct output from the work you’re doing. And yes, it’s more stressful. Yes, it’s harder. But again, I think that’s all part of it. I think that’s what we we live and breathe and we really want. But there’s just that, you know, you were kind of people are kind of doing it anyway already just for someone else. So if they just do it for themselves, you just need to back yourself and know that you will, you will find that answer. And as you said, if you’re doing your thing, then you know, that’s fundamental, that’s what you absolutely need to do
David Ralph [44:52]
is I can actually earn more in a day now when I used to earn in a month, which which blows my mind, it blows my mind. But you can’t get back overnight. Because obviously I’ve now got a hit global show. I’ve got hundreds of thousands of people coming to it each month. That is information. That’s knowledge. You know, I give away free podcast course 15 part video course when I will teach everyone how to podcast. And people more often than not say to me, Why are you giving this away for nothing. And I go, because that makes no difference. But knowledge is what occurs once you start doing it. You know, I can teach you how to drive. But it’s going to take you a while to become a Lewis Hamilton. And I think that’s the problem that people have they think that I can start that first thing. And then that’s your business? And of course it’s not, you know, so um, yeah, once once you’ve got that knowledge, you’ve got that experience, you’ve got that profile, you’ve got that social track history, then the sky’s the limit, really, as long as you get out your own way.
Ross Menghini [45:53]
Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. And you just need to understand that you’re going to fail many, many times, I recorded an episode, recently, and the guest said, fell 200 times a day, you know, that was his number one piece of advice to fail 200 times every single day, because the faster you fail, the faster you progress. And so you just need to understand that that is it’s a natural part that everyone goes through. And so you there’s no point getting overdramatic about it. When you go through a failure and you don’t get emotional about it. Once you start understanding it, you kind of detach it, you always have a an out of body experience. Because, you know, especially if you have a particular day when a lot of things seem to be going wrong, you can just rationalize it, if you understand that that’s all part of the process.
David Ralph [46:39]
Yeah, signed up for I find the financial failures that they’re difficult when I’ve invested into some kind of marketing or whatever. And it comes out and I get like two leads, and it’s cost me 300 quid, that that’s the one. I know, there’s learning behind it, but they’re the ones I think, Oh, God,
Ross Menghini [46:55]
yeah, would you know, it’s, um, I genuinely set myself the challenge last year to fail more that was that was like my number one goal is to fail more. And I actually wanted to, as weird as it sounds, I wanted to lose some money. Because I didn’t want to lose loads. I don’t wanna go broke. But I wanted to, I couldn’t pinpoint many things that I’ve financially gone for, and then it not come off. And I saw I almost hadn’t experienced that downside of financially failing. And I wanted to do something like that. So I invested some money. And I it’s not a failure yet, but it could. But I actually wanted to go through that experience, just because it’s it. There are lessons to learn off the back of that. And people do lose money as well when they fell for all of these different things. So yeah, I know they’re, they’re, they’re definitely harder to take.
David Ralph [47:48]
Well, let’s play the words now from a guy who certainly did have his baby is he lost a ton of money, he regained it, he lost it back, he’s he’s left his legacy Steve Jobs
Unknown Speaker [47:58]
Of course, it wasn’t possible 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. You know,
David Ralph [48:34]
three words, there was jumped out at me. And I’ve heard that speech 1000 million times. And it just I reflected on it there. 10 years later, he was saying, but you look back 10 years later, you can see the dots join up. It is a journey, isn’t it? It’s not overnight, there’s no overnight success, as you say it is a journey. But you’ve got to have the trust, the belief that faith to keep moving forward?
Ross Menghini [48:57]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It, it just cannot happen quick. I mean, but this, I think is the problem. Again, know that in the media, it’s it appears that way, you know, if you if you don’t delve into these and listen to podcast like this, and really try and uncover what it’s like, then you absolutely see the front covers of someone that’s literally just made an app, and it’s gone boom. And then they’re like billionaires, or they’ve invested in Bitcoin, or you know, all of these things. You just read them. So I do think there’s, people are stuck in a bit of a trap. And you know that they’re being told the wrong things just so that obviously the media can sell papers, etc. Because it is a process and it’s long, it is not quick.
David Ralph [49:37]
Just before we started recording, I was reading a story about this guy who designed an app for spike comparisons. billionaire, he’s a billionaire. Now. He may be a
Unknown Speaker [49:51]
judge it,
David Ralph [49:52]
you can’t judge it. So what is your big story? When you look back over everything to where you are? Now most of us will have that moment in that situation that realization, but this is it, I’ve got one.
Unknown Speaker [50:06]
I think
Ross Menghini [50:08]
the realization was kind of the uncovering of self belief, I always knew that I wanted to pursue a lifestyle similar to what I’m doing now. And I always knew I wanted to work for myself. But I kind of went down a certain path. And I think it was a there’s actually not a single moment. But what I think is is a progression of many different factors, learning, digging deeper listening to many podcasts, I found one of the reason I’m doing a podcast is because podcasts are such a good resource to hear insights of actually what it’s like. And so I listened to many, many podcasts, which kind of changed my perspective, reading books. And I think all of that kind of combines together. It’s just as long process to get this your certainty mindset you’re in your head, where you can actually decide to make that change. And for me, that was, yeah, okay, I’m going to go for it. Now I’m going to do what I like now’s the time it was it was a it was more of a an urgency. Like I said, I kind of always knew I would be heading somewhere. But it was about now as opposed to some day.
David Ralph [51:19]
Yeah, I know what you mean. And now I’m going to do something that I do every single day. And we’re going to take you on a journey. This is the part of the show where we’re going to send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time and speak to the young Ross, what age would you choose? And what advice would you give him? Well, we’re going to find out because I’m going to play the theme. And when it fades up, sir, you’re up. This is the Sermon on the mic.
Ross Menghini [52:08]
Okay, so I am 19. I am one year into the my corporate career towards being a store manager in a supermarket. As I said, I’ve just been promoted. So I’ve kind of felt the ropes, I’ve learned their ways of working. And I’ve I’ve experienced what it’s like to have the pride of a new badge, a new promotion. But the The advice I would tell myself is that there are no set rules to the way that I should now continue is no set rules to how I should progress. And despite thinking that the next promotion is probably the best way to go forward. There’s actually no set rules to them. And it was particularly clear in retail, because for anyone that’s worked in retail, or most corporate roles, there are many, many roles. You know, there’s different ways that you should talk to people, there’s different ways that management reviews happen, there’s different ways that the product should be displayed. However, if I look back now, and I see many of the people that progressed quicker, it’s actually because they took their own take on things they actually stood out. So it’s that fundamental understanding that to, to be anyone to be progressive to get to where you want to get, you need to stand out amongst the masses, amongst the masses in the crowd. And to do that you have to have different ways of thinking you have to act differently. And so you can pursue that lifestyle, and whatever, whatever you want to do. There’s a way that you can do it, which isn’t conventional. If you want to get a new job in a certain company, that your your dream job, where you don’t have to follow the rules and just apply online. There’s different ways in which you can get in front of that person. If you want to live a lifestyle like this, where you travel the world and and you earn money remotely, well, then you can do that. Yeah, there’s no rules to it. There’s no one set way to do it. So you can essentially design exactly what you want out of life, and then go and pursue that.
David Ralph [54:22]
Oh, I was expecting you to keep on going. I was listening deeply. Right. Okay, Ross Menghini. So what’s the number one? Say it was the number one best way that our audience can connect with you.
Ross Menghini [54:36]
So we’ve mentioned the podcast is life design diaries on iTunes. We’ve got life design diaries calm, where we put all of our podcasts on there, all of the show notes, etc. and on Instagram as well. So we’re showing the whole journey on Instagram. It’s at life design diaries, where we kind of capture everything that we do, you know, you get the day to day stories on Instagram, which are really, really insightful. And then on the podcast, we generally do about one to two recordings a week and we also interview other successful nomadic entrepreneurs that are doing similar things to us living lives that they’ve designed to really inspire people and help them see how how they can actually design and live a life that they want.
David Ralph [55:20]
Episode Number nine was episode number nine.
Ross Menghini [55:23]
Definitely check out Episode Number nine
Unknown Speaker [55:26]
is a good one is a
David Ralph [55:28]
good one. I’m not gonna tell anybody. It’s a surprise. But I think I think it’s possibly my favorite podcast you’ve ever done was I don’t know why. But I just feel it. I feel it in my water is a great show, honestly, that there’s so many podcasts out there. There’s so many that coming out and a lot of them are quite frankly rubbish. They really are. This is one but you actually feel like two people are telling you the truth. And their stories about accidents and days out in hospitals and if you feel like you’re living but life with Roxanne Lucy, I started on one episode. I haven’t listened to all of them. But I think I’ve listened to about five of them. I’ve done half of them Ross, which is pretty impressive for me because I’m not a great podcast listener. Which is why as I was talking to you today in this show, I kept on having this feeling of deja vu thinking after I’ve already done this. I’ve been on calls. I’ve been listening to you constantly for about the last three weeks. So I’m it’s it’s blowing my mind. But until next time last thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining up those dots and please come back again when you got 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. Ross Menghini Thank you so much.
Ross Menghini [56:43]
Thank you very much been a pleasure.
David Ralph [56:47]
Mr. Ross Menghini, dodging lady boys and ping pong balls across the world self defense event Japan see getting out there and creating a life where you can travel the world with freedom and fulfillment and just throw away the nine to five. He’s done it. And he’s done it by finding passive income different income streams and building something gradually. But as he said, and he really jumped out at me, if you move to a place that is very low lifestyle costs, you don’t need an awful lot to change your life dramatically. You know, if you’re living in London, for example, and you’re paying X amount just to live bear, and Ben, think about where you can live for a lot cheaper. And of course, across the world, there’s places that you can live the peanuts, so it’s really really doable, but you just need to start as always, until next time, thank you so much for being here on join up dots thank you for all the countries that are getting involved, that everyone is leaving ratings and reviews. It’s the only way that we can really grow the show. But I really appreciate your just just being here with us. Until next time, thank you so much. We’ll see you again. Bye bye David
Unknown Speaker [57:53]
doesn’t want you to become a fated 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.
