work stuff.

We’re going to talk about work stuff.

Some people don’t want to talk about work stuff, but I do.

So let’s talk about work stuff.

There may be other stuff.

I don’t know.

Your daily Lex.

So, uh, when I launched this consultancy that I call Lex Friedman consulting, cause that is my name and its name.

Uh, but when I launched it, or when I was planning it, uh, last year, um, my assumption was I wouldn’t be able to work on anything podcasting related.

Uh, I’ve had multiple non-competes in my life, all of them theoretically enforceable.

They say that when you have a non-compete that comes as part of a, an acquisition where you’re a beneficiary in the acquisition, that those are the enforceable non-competes.

And so when, uh, when we sold mid rolls to the company, EW scripts, they gave me a five year non-compete and I would talk to lawyer friends who were like five years, that seems ridiculous.

And then when I talked to like employment attorney people, they were like, yeah, no, they can enforce that because they bought you.

Um, and it sucked.

Uh, and then eventually I went to art 19 because, um, I got scripts to agree that it didn’t violate my non-compete, but there were limits on what I could do there.

And so there had to be a whole separate company spun up at our 19 that I wasn’t a part of with its own slack and its own email addresses and its own decision making that I couldn’t be privy to.

And it was insane.

It’s not, uh, then I are 19 got acquired by Amazon and I got a brand new, fresh and I could be.

And, uh, so when I was planning to depart into to launch Lex Friedman consulting, I knew I wouldn’t be able to work with any podcast companies.

But then as I was conversing with Amazon and ending things as amicably as possible, Amazon was like, we really hope you’ll consult for us.

We’d like you to consult for wondering and Amazon.

And I said, well, my non-compete technically says I can’t do so.

It says that, um, I can’t work for any podcasting company after I leave for a period of X years.

And they’re like, Oh, well we could loosen some of that.

And so while there are still some companies I cannot work with until the non-compete expires, uh, which is its own question mark.

Um, there are, uh, uh, the vast majority of my non-compete was lucid, right?

So I have worked with now a bunch of podcasting companies in my consultancy.

Some of them are companies that make podcasts.

Some are ones that sell ads for podcasts.

Some make tools for podcasts.

Some make branded podcasts.

Like I work with a bunch of different kinds of companies.

Some help grow podcasts.

So technology companies in podcasting, podcasts, creative companies, the whole gamut in ad sales companies.

And that’s been great.

But when I was building the consultancy, my expectation was I wouldn’t have any of those clients.

So when I was building the consultancy initially and I was, um, prepping things and getting ready to go, I was like, Hey, I am going to do this.

And this was so part of what had pushed me over the edge to decide, yes, I am going to launch.

This was wonder he had actually brought in a consultant.

We had an offsite for the ad sales team.

And although I wasn’t on the sales team, they asked me to come to that offsite and they brought in this guy and I was annoyed they were bringing in this guy, but he, it’s great presentation.

He, he gave a great talk.

He had everybody engaged and excited interacting with him.

And then, uh, he did some breakout sessions or he had everybody working groups and do stuff.

And then a breakout session with some of the sales team.

And like, I was like, man, I want to do what this guy does.

But it was an onsite visit with a keynote and then interactivity and all these things.

And I was like, man, I want to do this.

I want to do these workshops.

I want to run these things.

And eventually I even reached out to that consultant beforehand, uh, made the decision.

He’s like, Oh no, you should absolutely do this.

I could tell from the session I was doing that you could have run that session.

Like you should of course do this.

Uh, so anyway, I want to do those workshops.

I have a couple of clients where I have done like half day things or I’ve done, uh, uh, uh, keynote talks for them at their like quarterly business reviews or whatever.

Uh, but I haven’t really made, um, a lot of clients where I’m doing onsite visits to do these kinds of half day, whole day, multi-day sessions of, uh, trainings and interactivity and workshops and all that stuff, which is like I said, what I thought my focus would be.

Um, and I’m trying to figure out why haven’t I booked more of those clients.

And I think it might have to do something with not doing anything to actively pursue those clients.

I think that might be a key part of it.

So I’ve made a resolution.

I’ve said it to friends and I was saying it to all of you, my podcast listening friends, that this is a focus for the rest of the year.

Not that I’ll necessarily book them for the end of the year, but I want to book them even if they’re for next year.

I want to book them by the end of the year.

I want to book, I have a specific number in mind of these workshops that I want to book.

And I was talking to my buddy Marco, uh, who’s a great entrepreneur in Canada and a granola maker and a vlogger and a marketer.

He’s a genius.

And he’s had lots of feedback for me on my landing page for this thing for doing these workshops and also for my LinkedIn posts.

And we’ve gone back and forth and sometimes I don’t like his advice or I don’t agree with it.

And he’s like, Hmm, I liked you.

You disagreed with, you rejected my advice.

He said, I like your reject my advice sandwich, which was a very funny comment from him.

Um, but he had some comment he wanted me to share on your daily life.

So I’m scrolling through, uh, to see if I can find when he said it so that I can reference it.

Oh my gosh, I can’t find it.

Uh, stall, stall, stall, stall, stall, stall.

I found it.

He was expressing concern about, um, the name of something with his business because he didn’t originate the name.

It came from a trusted friend.

Uh, and could he use it?

And I was like, look, my parents named me Lex, but I’m, I’m still Lex without them.

And he thought mistakenly that I was making a pun.

Like I’m less without them or I’m not less without them or something.

He’s like, I thought you were saying, this is what he actually said was that he thought I was saying, uh, I’m not Lex without them.

And that I was using my name as a pun.

Uh, and he was like, how I’ve interviewed that before.

And like, it wasn’t a joke.

And then we had to explain what was and wasn’t the joke.

And it was the whole thing.

Uh, Mark wanted it in the podcast and he helps me all the time.

So there you go, Marco for you, Lex is more Lex.