John Brucato with Team Ignite

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Trisha Stetzel here, bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I’m so excited about the guest I have on today. He was born and raised in new Jersey, but he got to Texas as fast as he could. He’s a new dad. He and I have known each other for many, many years, and the beginning of that story is I drove all the way across town to catch him for coffee, and we continue to connect and help each other grow our businesses. John Brucato, welcome to the show.

John Brucato : Trisha, how are you doing? I’m so glad I’m here. Thank you for having me.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m fantastic. I would love to dive into a little bit of the personal side, if that’s okay with you. And, um. Really tell us, why did you get into business for yourself in the first place?

John Brucato : Yeah. So I, um, you know, my family has a history of being employees, right? And my dad had tried to start a business, you know, and things didn’t work out. Same thing with my mom. But, you know, they they really largely made their careers, you know, and as employees and, you know, that was good. And in terms of, you know, they had a little bit of stability, you know, but at the same time, they missed a lot of things. Right. And I don’t hold that against them. They had to do what they could for my sister and I, you know. But, you know, I landed my dream job when I was in college, right? So people don’t even sometimes don’t even find their dream job after college. Right. And I had it, and I loved what I was doing, but I did not like having a boss. He was the kind of boss. And I’m sure, I’m sure you can relate to this that, um, took credit for everything that I did, um, you know, made as much money as he could off of the work that I was doing paid me very little and then treated me very poorly. You know, and what ended up happening was I wanted to, you know, visit my family for Christmas holidays. This was a couple of years ago. Um, you know, they’re still up here in new Jersey. You know, where I am physically right now. And I hadn’t seen them in about 18 months, you know, and the Skype back then, it was Skype, right? Skype calls and phone calls wasn’t doing it anymore. And so I wanted to go see him.

John Brucato : I bought tickets, I didn’t tell him I was coming, I was going to surprise him. You know, the December 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, you know, that was when I was going to go. And, you know, we don’t normally work those days at the job that I had. And so I went to my boss and said, hey, hey, Jack, listen, um, I just want to let you know I’m taking the trip these days. I’m going straight over the Christmas holiday when I’m supposed to be here. Anyway, um, just giving you a heads up, because, John, that sounds great. But I said, okay. He goes, John, listen, we’re having a multi-million dollar client come in. The only time he can meet is on Christmas Eve. And I need you here because this is what he said, Trisha. This is what he said. He said if you work really hard on Christmas Eve, I’ll take my wife on a cruise for New Year’s Eve. That’s. That. That. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I thought he was like. I thought he was joking. I almost started to smile. He was dead serious. If, John, if you work really hard, I’ll take my. I’m like, really? Okay. And something in me shifted at that moment and said, all right, I, I’m not doing this for the next 40 years. And I got a, I became a fanatic about finding something else I could do. You know, I got into sales part time and eventually got into running my own deal. And it’s been a, you know, an amazing experience the last seven years.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. And I’ve known you almost that long, almost that long. And since then and along the way, you’ve gotten married to a beautiful woman, Erin, and you’ve had a beautiful daughter, Gianna, who’s going to be a year or just turned a year, actually a year. How has that changed the way you think about being a business owner?

John Brucato : Yeah. So I had, um, gotten maybe I was in business about a year or so, year and a half before I met Aaron. And, you know, I, you know, you could say, you know, I was I was, you know, single living life, but I, I really wasn’t I was so driven to, to be in business for myself. Right. Because, you know, you hear stories of people that, that, you know, they sacrificed the first couple of years and they build something. And then when they do have families, they can take their foot off the gas if they want to. They can enjoy some of that stuff. Right. And so that that was very motivating to me. I had just gotten out of a really long relationship, so I wasn’t really looking for something else. I just got married to my business, you know, I stopped dating and got married to my business, you know, and then. Yeah. And then when I, when I met Aaron, by the way, she’s the, she’s the hottest teacher in Katy ISD. Uh, and I know someone. Katy’s going to hear this, and that’s okay. You can be wrong. I’m going to be right. So that’s the jersey in me, right? Um, but no, um, I’ll tell you when we’re not on recording, I’ll tell you a really funny story about that later. But, um, anyway, when I met her and she we were.

John Brucato : We’re on our first date, and she asked, so what do you what do you do? You know, work wise? I said, well, you know, I help people with this, this, this and this. And she goes, great, you know, or I’ve never, you know, met somebody that’s a business owner before other than some, some of my family members. She says, are you you’re making money. I said, I’m making enough right now. I’m not really, you know, profitable, but I’m keeping the lights on, right. And we’re working through it. And she just bought into my vision. Day one. We weren’t even like we had our first date. And she was like, cool. This is this is great. I have no doubt, you know, you’re going to have success, you know, and and, you know, a year and change later. A year and a half later, we were engaged, you know. And you know, she doesn’t work alongside me in the business, really. You know, she does some, you know, back end things every once in a while. But she’s been my biggest cheerleader from the moment we met, you know, and and you know, we had talked about how, you know, 3 to 5 years, you know, we you know, we start our family, you know, and that’s that’s what happened. We got married.

John Brucato : And, you know, three years later we have or two and two in a, you know, three, three fourths later we have our daughter. And let me tell you something, when I when Gianna was born, I looked at my business. I said, you know what? I’m definitely not where I want to be. Thank God I’m not where I was, because I wouldn’t be able to do half the stuff that I’ve been doing. Listen, I took the whole week off before she came and like, and like three weeks after she was born, I did not work, didn’t make a single phone call, text whatever, didn’t do none of that stuff. I just got to hang out with with Aaron and my newborn daughter, and I couldn’t do that as a job. There’s no way. Um, I know there’s some places that do. Well, what do you. Um. Paternity leave. But that’s a new thing, right? And most places don’t do that. She had her maternity, you know, but there was no way I could have stayed there and did everything that I did if I had a job. Still, it was that that alone, even though our business is not exactly where we wanted it to be, that alone was priceless, you know. And. And, Trisha, you’ve known me for a long time. So you know how I work. You know I like to get after it.

John Brucato : Yeah. I haven’t worked half as hard. Honestly. It’s funny. My income has grown, but I haven’t worked. That’s not an income claim, but my income has grown. But but I haven’t. I haven’t even worked half as hard as I did before she was born. And I. I get to enjoy every. I’m the first person she sees every morning I wake her up, every single morning I wake her up and and, you know, we hang out together for a little while, you know, and then in the evening, Almost every night. Almost every night. I’m the one that puts her to bed. And you’re going to get a kick out of this. I have negative self-talk and how to Avoid It by doctor Shad Helmstetter. It’s like this thick is a small book, but it’s in her, um, her little bookcase in her nursery. I read that to her when I put her to bed. Um, because I’m going to be. I’m talking positivity into her life. No, I’m talking positivity into her life. Because think about how many times a week we get negativity, even as adults. Imagine that as kids you hear no no no no no no no no no no. I’m going to tell her yes yes yes yes yes yes yes until I have to tell her no. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: So you got to open up the possibilities for your kiddos, right? Just like you did for yourself. And you’re such a driven person. And I think that’s what, um, attracts people to you. And they want to be part of your team, and they want to be part of your room, if you will. You know who’s in your room? Who are you hanging out with because you are so driven? But I have to tell you, my heart grew like ten times when you said you took three weeks off, I was like, wow, John, I just got goosebumps. Like, you did it. You’re a dad and you get to be your best self for your daughter. And I know that Gianna will appreciate what you’ve given to her and her first year, and even into her second, third and all.

John Brucato : The forces me to get better every day. Let me tell you. Let me tell you already. She forces me to get better every day. I’ve really learned patience in the last, you know, Aaron Aaron said that. She said. She said this was, I think, about a month ago or so. She says. You have learned so much humility, so much kindness. And she’s like she said, because she didn’t want to want to, you know, like, get me angry or something. She’s like, you’re so soft, not soft, like weak, but so soft, you know, with with her and everything like that. So it’s it’s been great. Like I’m going to be the dad. Listen, I’m going to be the dad with my nails painted in a tutu with probably some of my hair cut off or in bows and ribbons and stuff. Whatever it is, I don’t care. Whatever she wants to do, we’re doing it.

Trisha Stetzel: Totally see it. Well, and just as a sneak peek to what John said about his beautiful wife and her being the hottest teacher in Katy ISD. It’s in his bio, so please take a look at John’s bio. You’ll get the full story there. Or at least part of it. Uh, so we’ve talked a lot about business ownership and the freedom that that brings. And, um, kind of the why you left the job. The job went into business for yourself. But that why oftentimes is deeper. So is your why still the same now as it was seven years ago?

John Brucato : Yeah. So I you know, I’ve been really mulling over that for the last, you know, last 12 months since Gianna was born. You know, we you know, me and and Robert, you know, a mutual friend of ours. We talk a lot about that to some people that were in business with about, you know, your why has got to be important. What’s your why. What’s your why. What’s your why. And and I think that’s a commonality amongst all business owners for the most part. Right. But the root of my my, why really was that? I wanted to be the one in my family that became the go to person, right? You know where if mom needs a check, I can write the check. If if you know, if dad can’t do it anymore, great. I’ll hire five people to go out to the lawn and cut the lawn and do the plant and take care of the house. Right. You know, if if my grandma and grandpa need, need staying care, maybe, you know, I want to be the one that writes the check for that stuff, right? Um, you know, where you know Aaron and and, you know, now, Gianna and I can just pick up and go and do whatever we want to do when we want to do it and still have money coming in, right? I want it to be the go to person.

John Brucato : And I wanted to have that. And so I was thinking about has my why really changed? I don’t think the why has changed, but the people in the why have just grown. Does that make more sense? Like because that was I didn’t even have a relationship when I got started, right? So I didn’t have a life that I was thinking about or a daughter. Um, but so the why is the why is the same. But the people in the why I think have have grown tremendously even even some of my friends that I know, you know, go through hard times. You know, I, you know, it’s that I didn’t have when I got into business for myself. Those they just got, they just the why got bigger. I don’t think it changed. But the people in the why uh, grew.

Trisha Stetzel: That makes so much sense. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve never heard anyone really articulate their why that way, but I think that’s true for many of us. It’s not that your why changes. It may shift or take on a different name, uh, with the people that are growing in your life. So you you’re a goals guy, you’re a growth guy. You’re all in, whether it’s family or work. And like, you’re just so driven. I want to circle back to the mindset that you were talking about reading this book with Gianna. Right? You’re already giving her this growth mindset or this positive mindset at a year old. So John, what do you do to keep yourself in that positive mindset of growing and reaching your goals and getting better every day?

John Brucato : Yeah, well, the truth, Trisha, is that and this is just me again, being a business owner, it’s not perfect. All day, every day. Like I wake up in the morning, I’m fired up. I’m excited. I’m like, I’m gonna make this day, you know? My, you know what? I’m gonna I’m gonna I’m gonna kill it today. And then about the time I look at my phone, I’m like, oh, those are a lot of fires I got to put out. And this is not good thing. The ship is. The ship is sinking. And then an hour later, something awesome happens. I’m like, I’m on the top of the world. This is amazing, I love it. And then three hours later, something really bad happens. I’m like, why does this happen to me? This doesn’t happen to people that have jobs. It’s only a business thing. And then and then, you know, an hour or two later, I’m I’m realizing, wait a minute, I can just leave when I want to go surprise my wife for lunch. Thank God I can do that. I can bring you some Starbucks. Um, I can, I can, you know, hang out with some people at her school and then I, you know, when I, when I get halfway there, I’m like, oh, problem came up and, you know, so every second of the day I’m not that way. Right. And I don’t think most people are that way.

John Brucato : Even some of the most positive people I don’t think are that way. But what really helps me is the bookends of my day, uh, the way you start the day and the way you end the day. Um, I’m really, really, really intentional about starting my day. Positive. I don’t always look, I don’t, and Robert’s going to yell at me for this, but I don’t always because I know he’ll listen to this. I don’t always write out my affirmations or write out my goals. I have a notepad by my my nightstand, but I don’t always do it. Sometimes Joanna wakes up, she’s crying, and I don’t remember to get back to do that right. But I always start the day off with, Thank God I’m here, and thank God I’ve got my wife and my daughter and thank God I have a I have the ability to to run my own deal, you know, so I start off with that positivity every every morning. Even if I know that there is fires waiting for me. Um, I just start off with that attitude of gratitude because I could be going to the journey of the broke. You know, I could be. I could be a slave to my 9 to 5. I could be in that in those shackles. And I’m not right. And I think that’s what keeps me so driven is because if I’m not, that’s where I’m going to end up.

John Brucato : And that’s not an option for me. Right. And then on the back end of my day, it’s like, I think, I think I want to give the right credit where credit was due. I think it was Alex Hormozi who said this, um, and that your day really wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. It? It could be chaos. It could be the most unbelievably bad experience you could have ever had in your life. But your day still wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. And when we get to the end and we put our head down on the pillow. Hey, I made it another day, I made it another. I get to put my head down on the pillow tonight. I still have that. And then. And then tomorrow I get to wake up and get back after it. So my bookends are really what keeps me going, you know, because I can choose how I start the day, how I end the day. I can’t control always what happens during the day, but I can control the start and I can control the finish. Um, you know, and then I like to read, I like to listen to podcasts. And sometimes when I’m having a bad moment, I don’t have bad days, I have bad moments. I’ll pop it, pop on some art Williams, and he lights a fire under my butt.

John Brucato : Um, you know, I love listening to Art Williams. Um, if I, if I want to get if I want to have an aggressive conversation with myself, I’ll put on some David Goggins and realize I’m just being a little. You know, I’m not going to say his expletives. I mean, I normally would, but I want to respect your show. Right. Um, you know, but I I’ll plug in to what I need to plug in to, to keep me moving through the day. But it’s really controlling your bookends. The start and the end of your day really help me stay in that, in that, that mindset. Um, and I think one last thing about that. Trisha and Robert and I have been really, really conscious about this. He I mean, he’s been this way for for a couple of years now. Only me, I want to I don’t even want to embellish. I think the last, last month, maybe I’ve been catching myself speaking things and then I will outloud say, wait, that’s not what I’m thinking. That is not what I believe. I don’t accept that. I rebuke that, and I’ll even I even check my people, um, when they say, hey, you don’t you don’t believe that that is not true about you. Um, don’t wear that. That’s not yours to wear. Um, those little catching, those little things.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that, John. I love the bookends. I think that’s fantastic. And I love the idea of of going to bed with the, the thought of it wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. Right? It’s not as bad as you thought it was. It’s also important that we realize when we go below the line. So I like to refer to it as a victim. Right. So in the middle of the day, I start my day as a victor, and then at some point I fall below the line and I become the victim. But when I realize it, I got to figure a way out. Right. I, like you said, it’s not minutes, it’s moments. It’s not hours. It’s moments when you realize you got to pull yourself out of that. So as we get to the back end of our conversation today, your story is amazing. You’re so driven. It’s all about growth. It’s all about family. You’re the family. You come from, the family that you’re building. But I know that you connect so many people and you work with so many people. Do you have a favorite story that you can share?

John Brucato : Ooh. That’s good. Um, you know what? It actually, it actually involves you, so. Yeah, yeah, I do, um, because thinking back to not the immediate origin of my business, but I want to say about about two years in so I, you know, you know, Aaron and I had had maybe we had been dating maybe six months, and you and I had met relatively recently and, um, at a at a networking event. And, you know, I had heard your, your commercial and I, you know, you know, you had mentioned just just, um, I don’t remember the specifics, but you had mentioned this and about dealing with people, and I flagged you down afterwards and say, hey, I’ve got a big problem, okay? And I want to talk to you about it. And at the time, I had an associate, you know, and her and I were absolute best friends before business. And even in the, in the early part of, of the business, we were really, really, really, really close friends. And something happened where, you know, she has a strong personality. I’ve got a very strong personality. And like little things started to pile up and we were really butting heads, really, really butting heads. And, um, it caused caused a huge rift, I would say, in our in our business. And when I had met with you, you had talked about different personality types. And that was really the first time I heard anything like that. I mean, I understand that I would always say, okay, that’s your problem, not my problem, right? I am who I am, right? And that’s so wrong.

John Brucato : I am who I am. And yes, you’re a problem that you don’t like me, right? And and, um, you know, just just by you and I talking together, I learned about the different personality types, and I learned, wow, I should probably communicate this way to this type of person, and that might either defuze or repair a situation. And you gave me some great advice. You said, look, it’s you know, one relationship can make or break your business. You just say, hey, it’s not worth losing your business. No, no, no, I’m paraphrasing, but it’s pretty close to, um. You can either lose your pride or lose your business. It was one of one of those, more or less. That’s what you said. And I and I really thought about it for a second because this person was was pivotal at that time in my business and said, you know what, I’m going to throw the olive branch out there. And and it took us some time and we repaired that relationship and we’re now best friends. But the reason why I bring that up is because before we had that falling out, Trisha, um, when I got in business for myself, I was looking to do some hiring, and through a mutual friend of her and I, he introduced us again. I knew who she was.

John Brucato : I just didn’t think, wow, this person should come work with me. I didn’t even think that. And he reintroduced us, hired her. We started building our business together. And, um, you know, in, in the fact that we became really good friends, she pushed me and pushed me and pushed me and pushed me to start dating again when I was not ready to do it, per se. But she was being coachable to me in business. So I said, all right, I’ll be coachable to you somewhere else, right? And, you know, through push and shove, it’s that’s how I met her. I would never have I would never have met Aaron if I didn’t listen, if I wasn’t coachable to her in that area of my life and, um, even after things had fallen out, if if I had never listened to you, if I had never met you and listened to you and tried to repair that relationship, a she would have exited the business, probably, and that would have been a disaster on its own. But here’s, here’s here’s the trickle effect from that. Um, she found her spouse a week and a half after you and I had that conversation, and her and I started to make amends. And her spouse is in our business. So if she had exited the business, she would not have met her spouse, who she’s now married to. And just a week ago, they announced that they were expecting.

Speaker4: Oh my God. Yeah. And what are you saying?

John Brucato : And when Aaron and I found out we were pregnant, they were the first people that knew about it. You know, they were with us. They were the first people, other than immediate family to come check on us and meet Gianna. Um, you know, her and I have risen to great heights together as friends and and business partners. And so coming full circle, if I didn’t trust my friend Robert, who’s also your friend, enough to come, you know, meet some of his friends you and I never would have met.

Speaker4: That’s absolutely true.

John Brucato : Yeah. And if I didn’t trust my friend from college enough, I never would have reached out to her and then given her a shot in business. And if I, you know, didn’t trust you enough, I never would have repaired that relationship. And if I never had repaired that relationship, a, you know, she would have exited business and not had the income and the life that she already has. She would never have met her spouse. This this baby wouldn’t be the blessing that it is. You know, I don’t even know if Aaron and I would have worked out because she’s played guidance counselor multiple times and we had our discussions of purpose, right? Or intense fellowship. Right? Um, so many things happened from that one that that one relationship, you know, so many things and thinking about clients that have been helped. Thinking about everything you and I have done together. Thinking about all the people that that you’ve introduced me to. I’ve introduced you to think about the the domino effect of that relationship. You know, thinking about this coming full circle, how you and I both know our good friend Tony. And how did that happen? Right. It’s because you’re involved in one area. I’m involved in another. And we we we we have that mutual friend. Right? Um, you know, just think about the connections for a second. People don’t understand that. I don’t really I really believe people don’t understand the value of a relationship. And when when I say to you, you never know how your one decision to connect with the person could change their life. Your life and then everyone in your contacts fears lives too. It’s huge that just that alone. I get goosebumps about, you know. So, Trisha, I don’t know if that answers your question, but. Oh, yeah. I want to say I feel like the most, the most notable thing.

Trisha Stetzel: I feel like I paid you to make me feel good today, John. I’m kidding.

John Brucato : No, no, no, but but, Trisha, it’s so true. I referenced that moment when I talk about pivotal moments in business and relationships. I talk about that story between the two of us all the time. When people ask me what was the what was a decisive moment in your business? What was a pivotal moment in your business? And we were sitting in a Kroger, Starbucks. We were having a conversation and you gave me the little disk sheet and we talked about it. That was a pivotal moment. It’s not just because it’s I’m interviewing here with you. That was a pivotal moment of connection in my business, where if I had never met you and never had that conversation, I don’t know that I would still be in business the way I am now. I don’t know that I’d I’d have the relationship with my spouse or even my daughter that I have now. I don’t know that, you know, my, my, my other associate would have the same like I just I don’t know if you know how special that moment was to all of us, and we’re very grateful for that.

Speaker4: Thank you. I appreciate that so much, John.

Trisha Stetzel: And, um, I appreciate all of the connections that you’ve made for me over the years. And I like to think of it as and when you were talking about it reminded me of the pebble on the pond and the ripple effect that that one connection or that one stone into the water can make and all of those ripple effects. And it’s not just about business. It’s about the people in the business and their families and their families and the effect that we can have. I just got goosebumps all over. John, thank you so much for being on the show today. I’m so grateful that you took the time. I look forward to coming and talking to you and Robert soon. Uh, and having that conversation as well. I will put all of your contact information that you provided in the show notes. So if folks want to reach out and get in touch with you. And by the way, if you’re listening, uh, check out the show notes because Jon’s full bio is in there. And so is the little story about his gorgeous wife, Aaron. Um, thank you, John, again.

John Brucato : I appreciate you very much, Trisha. I’m honored. I’m humbled, and I’m privileged to be here. Thank you so much.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.