BIO: Bryan Kramer is a renowned business strategist, global keynote speaker, executive trainer and coach, investor, two-time bestselling author, and Forbes contributor.
STORY: Bryan decided to expand his business, but the growth snowballed out of control to the point where he traveled 200 days a year and missed out on family time. Being on the road too much also saw him develop type two diabetes. Only after his 11-year-old son pointed out the horrible life he was living did Bryan decide to quit it all.
LEARNING: Relationships carry us through the highs, the mid-levels, and the lows. First, look at what you need today and then how you can serve others.
“Relationships, I believe, is the thing that carries us through the highs, the mid-levels, and lows. I will never stop being a fight for relationships and being human, especially right now.”
Bryan Kramer
Guest profile
Bryan Kramer is a renowned business strategist, global keynote speaker, executive trainer and coach, investor, two-time bestselling author, and Forbes contributor.
As President and co-owner of PureMatter, a Silicon Valley global marketing agency since 2001, and CEO of H2H Companies, he sparked the Human-to-Human “H2H” global movement that sets out to humanize business through simpler communication, empathy, and celebrating our imperfections.
His TED Talk featured a TED “first” – allowing mobile devices during the event to illustrate his belief that even a small inspirational share holds the power to change the world for the better.
Bryan has spoken all over the world, over 200 times at global companies including Mastercard, L‘oreal Paris, NASA, GoDaddy, Harvard University, Charles Schwab, SXSW, International Culinary Institute, Verizon, Dell, NFL, and Hawaii Lodging & Tourism, to name a few.
Worst investment ever
Bryan decided to expand his business to more than 10 people and then expanded into a 6,000-square-foot space and later to a 10,000-square-foot space. He continued to increase his employees and hired around the United States. Bryan was looking at fame and power from speaking, keynoting, creating a bigger business, more money, and more clients. It was just a never-ending process, and it got to the point where Bryan was speaking on the road. He’d written two best-selling books, given a TED talk, and was speaking on the road. Bryan was traveling for 200 days a year, eating food around the world because it was so good. But he blew up and became morbidly obese. All of a sudden, he got type two diabetes. His business growth had snowballed into something I had no control over anymore.
The worst part was missing out on family time. Bryan had two young kids at the time. One day, he went home, and his 11-year-old son complained about not seeing him anymore, complained about his drinking, and called him fat. This hit Bryan right in the heart. A week later, when he returned from another trip, he told his wife he wanted to reverse everything. So, he walked out of the business and consolidated everything between them over the next six months.
Lessons learned
- Relationships carry us through the highs, the mid-levels, and the lows.
- Look around for people you can be in a relationship with that will help you create more of what you need right now.
- We have to take care of ourselves first and then care for everyone else.
- First, consider what you need today, then how you can serve others.
Andrew’s takeaways
- Figure out what you need to fix and how to start fixing it today.
Actionable advice
Ask yourself what will this make possible when things don’t work out or when things do work out. Be okay and be present with what you have. Look at the next challenge as an opportunity.
Bryan’s recommendations
Bryan recommends subscribing to his newsletter. He writes a letter every two weeks discussing leadership, self-development, and growth. Bryan also recommends reading The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. The book speaks volumes about how to stay connected and unconnected at the same time with your true self. It also teaches how to remain unattached to the things you don’t need to be attached to that aren’t serving you.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Bryan’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to finish his third book about trust. The book will tackle what, how, why, when, and where we trust and how to rebuild it.
Parting words
“Remember that being human is now your competitive advantage. That’s what’s going to help you stand out. Andrew, thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me on the show, and I’m honored to have the alumni status.”
Bryan Kramer
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