Summary

In this conversation, Jothy Rosenberg interviews Dave Molenda, discussing topics such as their Midwest roots, the importance of work ethic, and their entrepreneurial journeys. They also talk about the power of mindset and the impact of saying 'I can' versus 'I can't.' Dave shares his experience of starting and selling his first business and the importance of empowering others. They discuss the value of diversity in a team and the need to have different personalities and skill sets. Dave also talks about his podcast, Positive Polarity, and the joy he finds in connecting with and learning from his guests.

Takeaways

The Midwest work ethic is highly valued and sought after in business.

Changing your mindset from 'I can't' to 'I can' can have a profound impact on your success.

Empowering others and building a diverse team are key to business growth and success.

Podcasts are a valuable resource for personal and professional development.

Finding joy and fulfillment in your work is essential for long-term success and happiness.

Sound Bites

"Taking the letter T off of can't. And now I can't."

"If something doesn't work, let's try something different."

"Changing that I can't to I can.”

Links

Dave's Positive Polarity podcast site: https://positivepolarity.com/episode/the-power-of-your-words/

Please leave us a review: https://www.podchaser.com/AdventuresOnTheCanDo

The book Think Like a Startup Founder (early access): https://www.manning.com/books/think-like-a-startup-founder

Jothy’s site for speaking, podcasting, and ruminating: https://jothyrosenberg.com

Jothy’s non-profit foundation The Who Says I Can’t Foundation: https://whosaysicant.org

Jothy’s TEDx talk on why people with a disability over-achieve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNtOawXAx5A

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Midwest Roots

03:11 Entrepreneurial Journey and Owning a Company

07:15 The Importance of Employee Continuity

09:20 The Need for Cross-Pollination in Industries

12:23 The Power of Personality Diversity in a Team

15:18 The Value of Grit and the Midwest Work Ethic

16:36 Starting the Positive Polarity Podcast

25:32 The Source of Grit and Perseverance

28:24 Finding Joy and Staying Active

31:48 Grandchildren and Family

33:39 Final Thoughts and Appreciation

And here's Dave. How are ya?

Good, how are you, Jothi?

I'm good. I'm good. Well, I had so much fun being a guest on your podcast. And now we're, you know, we've turned the tables and, and that's, I'm, you know, I'm a small fry podcaster compared to you, but with your help, maybe I'll start to grow.

Well, I'm honored to be hanging out on your show. And I never know if I should be first the guest or first the, you know, interviewer, because if I did a good job, then you'll do a good job. If I messed you up, then you'll might mess me up. So hopefully, I loved talking about, I can, and I can't with you. It was so inspiring. I'm still working on that. It's a work in progress for me to be saying I can versus I can't. So thank you for being that.

for me, I appreciate that, Jothi. Absolutely. So born and raised in the Midwest, still live in the Midwest in Milwaukee area, Wisconsin, and have recently ventured out and have a house in San Diego.

Well, that's wonderful to hear, nice of you to say. Well, let's start with the basics, which is I like to ask people where they're originally from and where they live now.

So we get to spend some time on the West Coast and some time in the Midwest. So depending on the weather and depending on where the Padres or the Brewers are is kind of dictates our schedule. So, but yeah, so mostly from the Midwest though, I have that Midwest work ethic that most people can appreciate. So thank you again for letting me. Exactly.

Okay.

I certainly appreciate it. I'm from the Midwest too, and in Detroit, and we appreciate, we do appreciate Midwesterners. They're nice, they drive well, and they work hard.

And I look forward to seeing you all on stage at the Western Exhibition.

Well, it's interesting because in California, Jothi, as soon as you talk to business people out on the West Coast, and as soon as they know that you're from the Midwest, they immediately want to hire you. They immediately want to work with you for you because they know that we have been instilled with the right work ethic. So I can totally get it.

Thanks for all the years of the Detroit Lions not doing well. You know, we appreciate that over here on this side of the pond. So thank you.

Yeah, yeah, well, the lions have been, I mean, they've been that way for my entire life.

Hopefully they'll change. We're getting deeper. So hopefully you guys do better.

But don't forget, I'm in Boston and I've been here for the entire time that Tom Brady had his run. So yeah. Okay, so you've had a long and storied entrepreneurial journey. And I think our listeners would love to hear you talk about.

That's awesome.

that journey and owning your own company. And, you know, yeah, let's go with that.

Yeah, so I mean, I started my first business in 1991 and it was just me and there was nobody else there. And when I sold it, I had 22 people on my team and we were doing sales in excess of $10 million. And I sold it and the day that I sold it, it was a fun, it was a Tuesday, it was Tuesday afternoon. And the guy that I sold it to said, so what are you going to do now? And I'm like, wow, you know what? I don't know.

So he wanted to hire me as a consultant and I'm like, yeah, no, I think I'm going to pass on that. So one thing not to do in your world is don't pass by good opportunity of making money when you don't have any money coming in, in your business. So, you know, for anyone listening, if somebody, you know, swallow your pride, swallow your ego and just at least for a little while until you get your feet wet.

What did that first company do, the one that you sold?

we, yeah, we sold construction products. And so I was in the construction world and started there and just kind of built my way up. And we created some new things that people hadn't done before. And, I, since I always was, in, in business in 91, I always had an eye for the customer. I always wanted to build, my company and every decision that we made was based on the customer.

And I think if you do that in today's world, with a true understanding of what your customer needs, Jothi, you're going to be way ahead of, you know, trying to do things for your shareholders, trying to do things for you, you know, for yourself. hopefully the pecking order is always customer first. And, I've had great success while living by that mantra.

Were your customers like contractors? Is that who you sold to? Those were your customers.

Yes, correct. Yep, yep. They were, yep.

And the 22 people, did they all kind of stay with the company when you sold it?

Yeah. yes, they did. A few, about four of them left because they were there because of me, which again, you know, can be good or bad. they, they moved on to other things, but the vast majority of them stayed in the construction world. they stayed in their industry and, you know, they were able to continue success. I always thought about it this way, Jothi. I thought if I could train myself out of a job, this would be the ideal.

You know, a lot of entrepreneurs want to be like the hub where every spoke is, you know, coming in is nothing gets past them. They sign the checks, they approve every purchase order, you know, everything. A lot of people want that power and I'm not saying it's good or bad. I just know that for myself, there would have been no way to have a life. There would have been no way to delegate. There would have been no way to empower my team. If I was there.

making sure that every plate was spinning and making every decision. So I tried to do that early on to empower other people. And I just think that, again, for an entrepreneur listening, if you're trying to grow your business and have the attitude of trying to train yourself out of a business, your business can run successful without you. And that's what happened with me. I was able to sell and it continued on.

Very nice. Nice to have that continuity with the employees. It's good for the new buyer and it's good for them. So.

Yeah. Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. I mean, we spend so much of our day at work that why be in a place you don't want to be? I unfortunately run into a lot of people that are not happy with their jobs. They're not happy with their company. They're not happy with their career. And I try to, you know, gracefully ask them, why are you still there? Or what are your thoughts or what are your plans? You know, and I don't know about you, but like my family,

You know, in the Midwest, my grandpa worked at the same meatpacking company his whole life. You know, that's just what you did back then, right? There wasn't that, it wasn't about me. I just show up every day and do the same thing. And that's not good or bad. I just see like a shift where hopefully people are able to do the job they love to do for the people they love to be with. It just makes for way happier life.

I think that times definitely have changed in most industries and people move around. People don't tend to work 25 years at the same place in most industries. And that to me is good actually, because it does this sort of nice cross -pollination. But I'm spending some time right now as a consultant working for a huge defense contractor that I'm

Yeah.

not going to say the name of because I'm about to say something a little critical, which is that they have tons of people there who got their first job out of college at this defense contractor and had been there for 25 years. And one of the things that they're asking me to do is take a look at problems they have in some of their software development processes.

Sure. Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's like, well, if you had people coming in and then some of your people left, you would have more of the kind of cross -pollination that your counterparts in the commercial world have. And I really am seeing this contrast that worries me a little bit about that particular industry.

Sure, sure.

Sure. Yeah. No, I tell you it's, you know, San Diego is a hotspot for defense contracts for aerospace. My dad was in the aerospace industry when he was alive. And, you know, it's, it's all about people. Like you said, software development doesn't develop itself. And so as much as we want to think that it's, there's people behind that. And I think a lot of companies are starting to realize that now, you know, again, my grandpa,

Processed meat and so if he didn't show up there was five people waiting for that job. That's not how it is anymore, right? I mean we need to treat people with respect We need to treat people with empathy so that they feel like they're part of that and they're connected because then they show up engaged and the customers, you know Excited about it. The company's excited. Everybody wins in those types of environments

I wonder if it's possible to, I could be saying the wrong thing here. I wonder if it's possible to love your job if it's meat packing.

I think he can, right? I mean, so here's a prime example. So, and I won't mention names either. There's a large manufacturer that we would tour on a consistent basis and take customers through. And we would fly up to this place. And there was a guy, Jothi, that basically his job consisted of the equivalent of putting a pen cap on a pen. That's all he did all day, all day, every day. And he'd been doing it for a bunch of years.

Maybe.

And I talked to him about it and he loved that job. He felt the security, he felt the safety, he knew what to expect every day. You know, my grandpa was that way too, because I would be able to maybe last until the first break, until I'd be like, I got to get out of here, man. This, are you kidding? This is my life, right? But that's my personality. We do a ton of work with disc and that's how I'm built and they're built different. So,

He enjoyed, I guess, to the best of his ability, you know, what he did. I never, I was too young to ask him that. I'd love to ask him, you know, some of those war stories now. But I just think that there are personalities out there that do enjoy that type of, you know, regimented activity. They just like doing the same thing every day and they're okay with it. And us on the outside looking in going, I don't know how you do that.

Mm -hmm.

and they look at us and they go, I don't know how you do what you do. So, you know, we got to have them both.

You've got a great point. My wife has been a PA, a physician associate her entire career, and she takes care of the homeless population in Boston that is HIV positive. I know, I mean, I and everyone else thinks she's a saint and we're so glad somebody does that, but I could not do that.

Jeez.

No, no, we got to be okay with that. And that's why, again, like I said, we use the personality profile disc because you want to build a team. I remember early in my career, I was thinking to myself, man, if I could just have a team of Daves around, life would be so much better, you know? And then as I realized that, I'm like, man, that's a bad spot to be in. I've run into entrepreneurs. They're like, hire me somebody just like me.

You know.

You know, if I'm involved in coaching or whatever, helping them, I'm like, you don't want somebody just like you. And they're like, well, why not? And I'm like, okay, let's just fast forward the tape. Let's say we're going to do a business, you know, a brainstorming session for your business. And we, I love brainstorming sessions. I would use, there'd be Post -it notes all over the walls.

and we'd get through this brainstorming session and we just would be so exhausted because we just laid out all these great ideas. Well, at the end of the session we'd look at each other. If there's a room full of Dave's, we'd all look at each other and go, great job you guys. And then I would be like, all right, who's going to implement these? And we'd all look at each other, right? And we'd be like, I don't know, I just came up with the idea. Isn't there someone else to implement this? And I think that's the power.

Right? Is we need to have a diverse group of personalities in our company. Otherwise, we're going to have heavy in one area, whatever that one area is. In my case, we'd have a ton of ideas. Jothi, we'd have no shortness of ideas. We would have a shortness of who's going to implement all these ideas that we put in place.

Yeah, I hear you. So as you're saying this, you know, the image is coming into my mind is, I assume you saw the Matrix movies, right? And do you remember the Agent Smith? And then in like the third one or the second one, you get all these agents Smith's coming out from all over the place. And as you're talking about, a company made up of Dave's, I'm thinking, it's like Agent Smith.

Mm -hmm. Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Or from a sports perspective, you know, if we had 10 quarterbacks in addition to the quarterback, if everybody on the team or everybody out in the, you know, out is, were quarterbacks, that team wouldn't win a game. You could have the 10 best quarterbacks in the world and you'd never win a game.

no!

Right, because your offensive line would just get run over.

my gosh, you know, and who would he hand it to? Who would he throw it to, right? I mean, it's just, you know, it would just be a disaster. And so I think.

Yeah.

Especially if they run like Tom Brady.

my God, right. That guy couldn't run at all, but he didn't need to cause he could pass it on a dime. But if he passes it to another quarterback who can't catch because their hands aren't prepared for that, you know what? Yeah. You could have the 10 best guys and they'll never win a game.

death.

So let's talk about your Positive Polarity podcast, which is you got to say it slowly, right? You can't say it too fast. So how and why did you start it?

Yeah.

I know, right? That's the idea, yo.

Yeah, absolutely. It was funny because it was like, it was May of, it was actually April of 2020. And the world had shut down unless you were deemed, you know, whatever the word was necessary. some of my clients, were still necessary. So we were busier than ever, but you know, what was missing Jothi was that connection, not seeing people, not being able to connect. And I loved to connect with people. I still do.

and talk with them. Maybe I know them, maybe I don't, but I want to keep that connection. And I'm like, well, as long as I'm doing that, there's this little button on the bottom that just says record. I might as well record it because if something positive comes out of this, I want to remember this. And so I'm like, well, as long as I'm going to record it, maybe somebody else is going to want to hear what this guest or this person's saying.

So then I'm like, well, let me just record it and then I'll just put it on my website. And I'm like, wow, that's kind of what a podcast is. And so that's how it was started. And it's been awesome because I mean, we've had, you know, some really awesome people on our show. You know, we've had people, we've had a shark tank contestant. That was fun. Somebody that was trying to sell the sharks granola recipe.

We've had NFL football players. We've had a Monte ball from the Wisconsin Badgers and he's in a college football hall of fame. You know, we've had all these people, somebody that climb Mount Everest. I mean, we've had somebody that turned a startup into a hundred million dollar company, just all these great people, throughout the 200 and some episodes. And so it just turned into that. Once I realized that I love that connection.

and just still enjoy doing it to this day.

And you're good at it, by the way.

Well, thank you. And I've had you on too. I mean, my gosh, everybody, you know, I mean, a two time cancer survivor. And I remember when you started telling them the story about you can versus you can't as a little kid. And I'm just like, my gosh, you know, this is, this is what people need to hear is some little tidbit to improve their day. It's not going to be a huge course correction. It's literally taking the letter T off of can't. And now I can't.

Yeah.

So as little as that looks, it's just so, it can be so huge down the road. So again, I greatly appreciate the wisdom that you've shared with me.

It's fun. One of the things that I do a fair amount is it turns out that right around fifth grade, they're just the right age to hear the message. And they're old enough, the first time they're old enough to really incorporate it. And they drive their parents crazy, however, with, no, no, stop saying can't daddy. And they just are.

Yeah, exactly.

are just, you know, so, also you've done over 200 episodes and, and I know you can't remember all of them, but is there one or two that are like really, you know, memorable good or memorable bad, in that bunch?

track.

Yeah. Yeah, that's great. So a couple of funny ones, not funny, one funny and one really helpful one. so our 200th episode, we had Monte Ball who ended up playing for, the Badgers, Wisconsin Badgers. He set a bunch of records and then he ended up playing for, the Denver Broncos for a few years. And he ended up, I believe on the Patriots, practice squad.

But he was very open in his discussion with me about what caused his demise. And it was so interesting because it wouldn't be what you think. And for him, it was alcohol. And he would talk about how in the, he talked about how he would show up intoxicated three or four days a week to football practice. And I'm just thinking to myself, I'm like,

You know, man, number one, you're putting yourself at risk to begin with, but then to elevate that risk that you're going to get pummeled by some guy like twice as big as you and you're intoxicated. It was just like, yeah, talking through that with him was just so powerful. I'm blessed that I don't have an alcohol issue. My issues are other issues. We all have them.

He just, he was open with it and he then made a connection of alcoholism and mental health. And it was just a great episode, you know, with that. So that was fun. the funny one was, being with a NFL football player, he's, we're on the call and we're not live, but you know, it's like this where we're taping and his phone rings while he's on this. And he's like, my gosh, I'm sorry.

He looks at it and he's like, I gotta take this. So I'm thinking like something like family emergency, right? Whatever. And he forgets to mute his mic and he starts talking and somebody owed him money. And so I quick hit the stop record button, but he's going into it with this guy. Somebody owed him money. I didn't know what was going on. I tried really hard to just kind of back off, but it was the only time that I've ever had like to stop.

my god.

the episode because somebody's trying to collect a bill. It was so funny to just listen. He's like, my gosh, I'm so sorry. Where were we? But it's been fun. You know, we're in the top two and a half percent of all podcasts in the world right now, according to ListenNotes .com. And it's because we had these awesome guests that have this idea about how to improve their business, how to improve personally.

And for people that want to get better, that's, I think, one of the best things of podcasts. I mean, you know, listening to your show, you're able to find ways to get better. And just our time together on my show, I was able to really be cognizant of how often I was using the word I can't. And even now, I try now even saying I won't is like, dude, that's not any better. So.

trying to find little ways out of it. And I'm like, dude, just say you can, you can and you will.

Definitely do not use the word I won't when you're talking to your wife.

Yes, my gosh, right? It's yes dear. Those are the famous, best, easiest words for me to say yes dear. But yeah, I just, from a business perspective, Jothi, it's crazy to try to have to do this alone. There's so much out there and podcasts are just such a great way to get help along the way.

Well, the theme that I really have for this show is that, you know, I wrote a book and it's about to come out. It's going to come out at the end of June. And I, and it's called think like a startup founder and it's got a collection of useful stories. And I think of it as sort of, you know, it's like, it's like, here's this space that's, that's this big and it's my stories, but each guest that comes on you and everyone else has.

Awesome.

Sure, yep.

a different set of stories. And so over time, we're going to have this wonderful collection of great things for people to look at or listen to that have suggestions, advice, things that went well, things that didn't go well for them in their thinking about, do I want to do a startup or am I already doing one and could I do better?

Great.

Right.

Right.

Well, so we all, I think we all agree that people that do startups, people that start things like, you know, you with your business, you sold it. That's awesome. You started a podcast really early in the days of podcasts and those kinds of things take grit. You know, you probably, I do, I know sometimes take it for granted, but

You know, grit isn't something you should take for granted. And can you describe where you think your grit comes from other than the fact that you're a Midwestern and every Midwestern has some grit?

Right? No, I think that's a great question. And I probably have a really different answer than probably your average person listening right now. I think a lot of it really comes down to your personality. I really think that you're built with it because I know for myself that, you know, in my assessment, it just says that you will do what it takes to get it done.

So I'm 12 years in, so I'm in the minority that I'm able to, you know, still be in business because two out of the three businesses fail within the first 10 years. Now, why is a whole separate discussion? I think about it where there's some people that just don't have that grit that you're talking about. They're not built with it. They've exhausted their ideas. Maybe they had a horrible idea to begin with, but most

companies that last seven, eight, nine years, you know, are generally you're thinking they've arrived, right? They're going to make it. But there's just something in me that it's like, if that doesn't work, let's try something different. I love thinking outside the box. I love, like I said, that's why I started, you know, I wrote my book, my Amazon number one bestselling book. I did the podcast. I coach, I speak around the country.

Those are things that for me, I love to do. And so it's easy to have grit when you love what you do. And it's built in me. I just couldn't imagine doing anything else. A couple of times a year I drive by Walmart and I see the cart boy and I'm envious of him. Like man, it would be fun to just be a cart boy and not have to have all this other stuff going on. But it's only a couple of times a year. So.

But I just think that grit comes from my personality. I believe I was built with it. I was created with it and it just is there. And I don't even imagine myself doing anything else. So that's kind of where I come from on it.

Mm -hmm.

Well, so maybe I have a related question. So other than the fact that you are doing something you love with your work, what else do you do for fun that's not that?

Well, I tell you, I love being active. I can't sit when, so it's interesting when my parents were alive and I'm younger than them, but when they were my age, they, you could see they were starting to, wind down their career. And I feel like when somebody winds down their career, and if they're not going to wind up something else, they're going to really start, to spend less time being active. And so for me,

I have four grand boys that keep me active. I love that. I still play racquetball three, four times a week. I love doing that. My kids get me into pickleball now, so I'm enjoying that. We love hanging out in the yard, doing yard work. I don't want to pay people for stuff that I can do, even though I could if I wanted. I just feel like if I start paying people to do stuff for me, Jothi, it's going to go downhill quick. So.

I'm like, I got this. You know, a kid comes by, you want me to cut your grass sir? I'm like, no, I got this, you know. So I just love to do physical activity as much as we possibly can.

So you have four grand boys. I have five grand boys and no girls on the horizon.

I do, yes. Yup.

None. Yeah, we're done. Yep. Our four. Yep. So we're done. So it's good. It kept the name going, but my wife's like, where in the world is a girl for me to love up on? So I'm like, I don't know, get a dog, you know, do something like that because I got four boys. They're continuing the name forward, which is awesome. they're, you know, it's, it's tough. Do you have that issue in your family? Were they wishing there were girls around?

We're done too, actually.

I don't think any, maybe, but quietly without being spoken.

Yeah. Yeah. My wife's outspoken. So she's already made it perfectly clear from to my kids. Hey, why don't you guys have some more daughter? I mean, some more kids, you know, so. Yeah. Yup.

Well, that ship has definitely sailed for our three kids that produce these. There's at least one from each of the kids, and then one of them has produced three boys. What is the age range on year four?

10 and down to four. yeah.

that's a perfect age range for my children's book. I'm going to send it to you.

there you go. Love it. Yeah, for sure. Cool.

I mean, I'm already sending you a copy of the Think Like a Startup Founder when it comes out, but I'm going to say, are you, like, by any chance, are the grand boys near you? They live near you?

Thank you. Awesome.

Yeah. Yep. To do and to live up in Minneapolis. So, yep. And we see them all the time. Actually, yeah, we see them pretty often. So it's, it's pretty cool.

Okay, well, it's called so the book is called Adventures on the Can Do Trail. And, and it it's it's all about who says I can't it's each animal that's in this on this trail that this human boy is going on has some physical challenge. And then and they start saying, I can't reach the leaves on the tree. I'm a giraffe and I'm supposed to be able to but I can't.

Okay. great.

awesome.

free.

And then the next page you turn it and the boy has helped him make some stilts and he's up high and he goes, who says I can't reach the leaves on the tree?

Wow, well, why do I have to give that to my grand boys? I think I'll keep it for myself. That sounds like a pretty, it's about my age range for understandings. that's awesome.

Right, right, right, right. Well, this has been great. I think it's just a real pleasure to have you on. Do you have anything you'd like to add before we sign off for the listeners?

No, I appreciate again all that you're doing. And I think again, it's just a simple message, but it can be so revolutionary. Like you mentioned, changing that I can't to I can. And you know, for anyone listening, I would just challenge you to watch yourself. We do a ton of work with blind spots and I realized it's a big blind spot for me.

to say I can't because I don't even know that I'm saying it and that's usually a blind spot. It's known to other people, but it's not known to you. So I just encourage you to grab a copy of Jothi's book when it comes available and really challenge yourself because it's been a huge help for me noticing that. And unfortunately, my wife got wind of it. So she's on board saying, Dave, what did you just say? I'm just like, really?

So I don't know if you told her or not, but if you have, stop it. Cause it's, you know what? Yeah. I'm kidding. So she just probably listened to the episode and is doing the same. So again, thank you for your message and I appreciate all you're doing.

It did not. I have no connection to your Wi -Fi.

Well, thanks for your positivity messages. And we're just this mutual appreciation kind of group we got going.

Sure, absolutely. Hey, nine grand boys between the both of us, so, you know.

Somebody out there has got nine grand girls. So because.

Right? Yeah. Yeah. Don't call. We're not ready for, we're not ready to date yet. There are only 10 and four. So what do you agree? You have Jothi.

You

1 to 22.

Holy cow, so you had that kid when you were like nine, so nice job.

I know, I have a 22 year old grandson. It's...

So we had that son when we were young, and then he had his son when he was really young, and it magnified. But now the other kids, yeah, they just had one that's only one. So that's the youngest.

Sure. Yeah.

Wow. Well, you're going to see a four generation picture here in the near future, I'm guessing.

I know. I hope not too soon, actually. Yeah, no, the 22 year old's not ready.

Right? I remember I was like a little kid in that. I was a little kid in that for generation. Now I'm like the older one in the four generations. So I don't know where time went, but

Yeah, yeah. All right, well, thank you so much for taking some time to be on here. I really appreciate it.

Absolutely. Thank you.