NIck Cavuoto, CEO at The Cavuoto Company
Nick is a people catalyst, brand strategist, and executive business consultant for today’s most influential brands. In addition to his accomplishments as a business consultant with Fortune 500 Companies like Verizon, Microsoft, and Paychex, Nick serves as an inspirational figure, activating the next generation of global leaders.
Connect with Nick on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
What You’ll Learn In This Episode
- Business, motivation, and success
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Nick Cavuoto with the Cavuoto Company. Welcome, Nick.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:00:42] Thanks so much for having me. Appreciate it, man. Glad to be here.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about the Kabuto company. How are you serving, folks?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:00:51] Yeah. So I work basically in two capacities one as an investor in primary relationships where you have really high performing top one percent of the one percent of entrepreneurs, public figures and leaders in the world, and we serve to fulfill marketing objectives for them. And then outside of that, I coach and mentor entrepreneurs who are highly gifted and motivated to do something great in the world.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:14] So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in this kind of business?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:01:19] Absolutely, man. Well, I actually started my professional career in vocational ministry, so I was a pastor first, which was a cool experience, growing a church from a thousand and ten thousand people every weekend. And it also invited spirituality into then what I believe are now business problems that I solve because it all comes from, I think, a unique place of intent and in the process of growing churches and building public figures. That’s where I learned the knack for number one being in alignment spiritually with what you want to accomplish in the world. But secondarily, it was the concept that was built around personal brands and a lot of my work that I do, it is for individuals who have companies. And so it’s the maximization maximization and also the activation of their greatest gifting. And that was a unique integral part and also where I both developed the confidence and the competence to get out into the world and do my greatest thing and get my greatest gift.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:14] So now do you feel having been around entrepreneurs in business for as long as you have that, having a personal brand is the secret sauce for success for most folks?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:02:28] Undoubtedly, you know, I, you know, I believe that people are the world’s most powerful brands. And, you know, if anybody for a moment disagrees and says no corporation, a corporate brand or logo carries so much more momentum. I mean, I just want you to look at the twenty sixteen presidential election. I mean, that was off of somebody who built their personal brand for 40 years. And Ellen, for example, Tesla would not be where Tesla is today if it wasn’t for Elon’s personal brand or for that of Steve Jobs or for Jeff Bezos, you know. So a lot of leaders truly are the ones who create, you know, momentum and also movement in an organization. And I just find way too many leaders hiding behind their logo, hiding behind their music, hiding behind, you know, truly their frameworks and not getting out in front and actually being that shining light in the world that they can be. And when they do, everything changes. It’s actually pretty incredible.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:21] So when you look back at your career, do you think back to the time of working with pastors and seeing this, this is the original personal brand, right? Every pastor is the brand for their church, for their people. They are the rock stars for their group. Everything kind of trickles back to that, doesn’t it?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:03:43] You know, everything trickles back to human behavior. And I believe that people, you know, trust people more than they do organizations. I mean, if you look at the concept of the oldest book written in history and we go back to the Bible for a second, you know, Jesus was known for who he was and for what he accomplished more than the movement that he created. And so it’s just one of those things in human behavior that we never escape, which is the concept that we trust people we buy from people, we trust people, you know, we find ourselves in most circumstances, you know, opposing, you know, the big ideas of large organizations and in corporate thought, even tribal identity. So it’s all about individualism and the power of a unique idea from from a unique person. And that’s why we create prominence around people like Elon Musk or like Albert Einstein or like Thomas Jefferson or, you know, whoever those influential people have been in history. That’s a lot of times it. I mean, it’s not all the time. It comes from their unique ideas and also the unique things they wanted to do accomplish in the world. And then they create a movement after.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:50] So do you think that if you were just kind of a random person is placed in front of you, could you help them develop a brand that would resonate and would get people catalyzed behind them?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:05:03] Absolutely 100 percent. You know, there’s seven keys to creating a highly profitable and meaningful personal brand that I created, and it starts with your story, your personal story, and it ends with the partnerships that you create in order to catalyze that movement. So, yeah, 100 percent.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:19] So just a random person, even a person may be down on their luck person that doesn’t have any like true business, but you can help them create what it would take for them to elevate themselves out of the situation that they’re in.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:05:32] Well, absolutely, because everything that I do inside of personal branding comes down to the concepts of psychology and human behavior. Well, it’s one of the things I figured out when I was in marketing doing, you know, a ton of work for Fortune 500 companies. I mean, my late 20s, I was at executive tables that, you know, I was a quarter, if not maybe half the age that the most of the people in the room. I mean, some of these corporations have people, you know, who are pushing 85, 90 years old inside the organization. And there I was, you know, bringing in these new concepts and ideas that were actually old ideas and old concepts because my grandfather is one who taught me business. And when you look at the ethics approach of an individual and how people make purchasing decisions, it always comes back to the person. So I believe that everyone has a unique and identified purpose and they have unique ideas, and I truly believe that you can learn from anyone and everyone. So if someone is looking to build a business or to create a movement off of their unique experiences or their unique perspective on the world? Absolutely. I will say this, though, because I think it’s really important. You can’t do epic things with basic people. So if someone is not complaining and or agitated because they want to do something great in the world and they’re just like, Hey, just help me do what I need to do, but I don’t want to do the work, then I just can’t help that person. You can’t help the unhelpful, but someone who’s up to something who wants to do something great. That’s raw talent I can work with, no doubt.
Lee Kantor: [00:06:54] So the desire has to be there and the ability to take action, not somebody that just whines and complains.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:07:02] Absolutely. And it comes from a parable, you know, for me of the pool of Bethesda, you know, where a man was laying on his mat feeling like, you know, for 38 years, he was told that he could receive help and people sold them snake oil and made promises that they couldn’t keep and try to perform miracles. They were not capable of performing. And yet he met somebody who said, you know, just pick up your mat and walk. And that was the freedom was just honestly the the prompting, but also the courage for someone who could actually make that promise to say, just get up and walk. I think there’s a lot of times in life where people, especially right now, are dealing with the psychological weight and the emotional weight and pressure of carrying the world on their shoulders like Atlas. And, you know, whether it’s to get up and walk or to set down the world and to just find yourself going like, what’s the next right step? I can absolutely, undoubtedly work with that. You bet, man.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:54] Now how do you find that this line of thinking works generationally because you have older folks who might be more humble and might think that they aren’t worthy of this influence? And then you have young people who believe that they are worthy and almost to a person that they deserve everything that they can dream of. How do you kind of work across generationally?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:08:22] Yeah, you know, most of my friends and the circles of influence that I’m in are are usually 20 years older than me, which is interesting because I’m kind of like the whiz kid who brings a new idea and concept. But I have the conversational tonality, and I’ve built the trust of the receipts that I can show on my success that allow people who maybe are in those later stages in life to to have the trust. But also, I have the lifestyle that, you know, people looking up to me who are maybe millennials going, I want to have a life like that. I also tell them the good stories, the stories of failure and the stories of challenge, as well as the ones of overcoming. But I think that it’s, you know, if you have two hands and you open them, why do you have the ability to give and also receive? And I think the messenger, you know, has to be responsible with the influence that they carry. And so for me, for somebody who’s young and entitled, the conversation is pretty simple. You know, in order to achieve the things that you want to achieve, you have to understand that generosity is the pathway and you will fail more times, even if you think right now I’m going to fall a thousand times. Multiply it times 10. And that’s the reality of the entrepreneur’s journey. And you have to be able to have the chutzpah and or the the gut strength to be able to persevere through really difficult circumstances and situations. I tell the story of how I lost a million dollars in two days when COVID hit. And you know, that usually is earthshaking for them, but it also gives them the encouragement and support on the other side of it to say you can accomplish anything you want as long as you don’t quit, but you’re entitled to nothing except for maybe the air you breathe, things that have been given through nature.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:09:53] God himself for you. Those are the things. You have gifts. You have abilities, you have talents, you know, but your success is not guaranteed and it’s certainly not entitled. And for those who are in the older generation, I think that the spin off comes that, like your best years are, are right now. You know that old saying, you know the best is yet to come. I don’t ever say that because I think the best is right now. Your best is right now, and it’s a decision making point to not say, Oh, poor me, right? The poor me story of, well, I’ve arrived to a certain level or I have achieved a certain amount of things. And who am I? It’s that’s just honestly rooted in the thoughts and opinions and judgments of other people. In fact, the conversations that I have with folks who are in there, maybe golden years of life or more seasoned in their experiences is to actually ask yourself the deep question that maybe you haven’t yet, which is what do you want another way to say that would be? You know what? Something that would be really good for me to have or to do. It’s another way to reframe the question. And I think that that’s one of the golden rules that I live by is to to treat yourself like someone you’re responsible for helping and not just helping the world. But what would a good life, a powerful life look like for you?
Lee Kantor: [00:11:09] And then how do you help them balance that dream with enough is enough, like when is enough enough?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:11:18] Well, I think for high performers, they don’t ever think enough is enough, it’s like kids on Halloween, like how do you tell a kid when you have enough candy, you have some kids who walk around with these, you know, the little, you know, jack o’ lantern style, you know, buckets to fill their candy with. And then you have other children who walk around with sleeping bags or with pillowcases, and they want to fill it all the way to the top. I think enough is when you reach a level, as Les Brown said of where you live a life and at the end you have exhausted all of your effort. You’ve left it all on the field that you actually find your final years being empty, not only empty of your the amount of effort you put in the world, but empty of regret so that you don’t sit there and say, I wish I could have you know and leave for me. I just imagine that one day in my latest years, my final day that I have to meet the version of me that would have had the courage to do the impossible. And so I try to live out every day knowing that I’m going to have to meet that person one day and hopefully it’s the same person.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:18] Now if there is someone out there that wants to learn more about the programs, maybe have you speak or maybe become part of your groups? I know you run mastermind and mentor mine groups. Can you talk about them? First of all and then how people can get involved?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:12:36] Absolutely. Absolutely. So Mentor Mine is a mash up between a mastermind and the mentorship program of where essentially I assemble 12 very powerful, high performing entrepreneurs, put them in a group and let them spur on valuable conversation, help let them help each other solve problems, allow the opportunity for them to bring in referral opportunities for different members in the group and on every call. It’s incredible because there’s over a million dollars worth of value dropped on every call. I’ve been doing this for years. And a lot of times people will buy a course to learn something or they’ll hire a coach. But a lot of times the coach has an isolated perspective or a consultant who uses their mind, but not their hands. Entrepreneurs are gritty. They want people who are willing to get in the mud with them and create something and or create an opportunity to give them a hand up and to help them to the next level. So I built it on the whole thesis that relationships are rocket ships. It truly matters to the people that you’re around. And also the energy that those people carry. It’s not just about the breakthroughs and the brilliant ideas, but it’s about the energy that can carry you from a challenging position and give you the inertia and momentum to solve 80 percent of the problems that you might face on a daily basis. So, yeah, if there’s any entrepreneurs out there who are a looking to be around other powerful people with a million dollars worth of value on every call, I mean, are you kidding me that most people can never afford a coach that seven figures, but you can through this program? And I would say secondarily, who want to build a business that’s based on their core identity and that’s based on their big ideas, their thoughts and want to build their personal brand in order to achieve what I believe a rocketship results. Then, yeah, visit Nick Cavuto, e-commerce mentor mind, and you can find more information.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:16] And is this something that it’s any industry b to C, B to B? It doesn’t matter as long as a personal brand is behind it.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:14:24] Absolutely. It can be in any industry and I do silo the groups out so that you’re never going to be in a group with someone who’s in the same vertical as you, because it’s my goal to create this as the unfair advantage for your business. I’ve had way too many people join the group and say, Is it bad that I don’t want to tell anyone about this? Because this is like my hidden secret advantage, and I said, Absolutely, you need to become more generous. It’s one of our rules. So share it with the world. And at the same time, you know, I do ensure, of course, that these are small, intimate groups of people who have diverse experience. Because I know the entrepreneurs, they solve problems better than anybody in the world. So if I can have you around other people who can help you solve your problems and unique challenges while at the same time not having the judgment, I’m telling you it’ll be one of the best decisions that you’ve ever made in business.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:10] Now, can you share a story? Don’t name the name, but an example of somebody who was a part of this group that was able to join and then take their business to a new level?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:15:20] Absolutely. I had a gentleman who ran an AI company and it was a lead generation company based on AI, and he was hiding behind the logo. You know, he created a glass ceiling for himself. You know, there’s a lot of personal conversation because in business, it’s personal and professional. Sometimes we need to work on our marketing, and the reality is we need to work on our marriage and if we improve our communication, is that interesting that both sides reward or receive the reward of the benefit? And so this gentleman was really struggling to communicate clearly to his audience and so got him around incredibly powerful people who all had shared experiences of unique challenges in different stages of growth. But we broke through the glass ceiling that he created for himself, and by doing so, he went from doing 30k a month to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a month in his business in 90 days. And that was through the process of unlocking him. And that’s the unique benefit is a lot of times when we spend most amount, the most amount of time on problems that don’t exist. People think they needed a better brand. They need a different logo. They need to improve their messaging.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:16:23] And all of those things can be true. But I go off the philosophy that the target is never the problem. Whatever you want, your growth to be in your company, that is not the issue. You create problems that are not attached to that because when you see how much work it is to actually go solve that problem, you’re like, I don’t know if I’m up for the challenge. So I always say the target is not the problem. And so we focus on the ancillary elements of where there’s fractures that are in your consciousness. And then we say, OK, how do we handle some of those? And then magically, it seems that the glass ceiling is shattered and new opportunities come. So by allowing him really to unlock some of the challenges he was having in his personal life, all of a sudden his business started catalytic growing. He was starting to get more referrals. And that all came from what I believe are universal principles of the way that the world operates and had a lot. Less to do with the fact that he just needed to update his messaging. It was a part of it, but let’s say five percent, not ninety five percent.
Lee Kantor: [00:17:17] So what is something that’s actionable a person could take right now to unlock some of the things that are holding them back?
Nick Cavuoto: [00:17:26] I think the the first thing that comes to mind for me is to start comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, and don’t compare yourself to someone else that you think that you want to ascend, to be like or to look like or to sound like. I think that marginal growth, if you can make a one percent shift day after day in 90 days, you can have a completely new reality. And a lot of the times we want things from people who want the lifestyle that we have or the business that we have. And here we are trying to map to what they have. And people end up building a fake reality on a fake life, on a fake purpose of someone else. They don’t even realize it. So if you just focus on yourself and you’re not, you know, self-centered, you’re just self focused. It’s very interesting how you’ll start counting your wins and also start noticing your blind spots. So compare yourself to who you were yesterday. Nothing else. Nobody else. And just focus on that incremental growth.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:21] Well, Nick, thank you so much for sharing your story today.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:18:24] You’re so welcome and absolutely. Thanks for having me
Lee Kantor: [00:18:26] And the website. One more time.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:18:28] Nick Dotcom, Nick Cave. Like victory, you, Otto.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:34] Well, you’re doing important work and we appreciate you.
Nick Cavuoto: [00:18:37] Thank you, brother. All right, thank you. Thanks.
Lee Kantor: [00:18:39] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Coach the Coach radio.
This transcript is machine transcribed by 
