Ep. 1623 – The Good News with Angie – SCOTT MONTGOMERY HOW YOU GO THERE – PHYSICAL & MENTAL SUCCESS / Matt Clunan – More on How AI and Freelancers Will WorkTogether in the Future
Join Angie Austin as she delves into the inspiring journey of Scott Montgomery, whose book ‘How Did You Get Here?’ has now been complemented by a new companion guide. Discover how self-care, both physical and mental, plays a crucial role in achieving success. As Scott shares his insights, the episode explores how fitness routines and personal discipline contribute to better leadership and overall life satisfaction. Unpack the essentials of the companion guide, which is crafted to empower readers to go beyond habitual living and take active steps towards defining and achieving their goals.
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin here with the Good News. Scott Montgomery joining us again. We started talking to him initially about a year ago about his book, How Did You Get Here? Lessons of Unconventional Success. And now he has a companion guide that just came out, How You Go There Companion Guide. And we’re going to talk a little bit about reaching success takes taking good care of yourself, self-care. And that means a healthy body and mind. And that’s what helps you get ahead in life, those things. Hey, welcome back, Scott. Thank you, Angie. It’s always a pleasure. So tell us about this, how you go there, companion guide. How did all this come about with the How Did You Get Here book?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the How Did You Get Here book is as a result of some of the experiences I had in life and how I wanted to pay forward, parlaying some of the experiences to different tactical things people can do to drive their success, habits, goals, communication, And that book is a lot about how I experience those things, but only in a way that then would help the reader map that to maybe similar experiences. But what I’m really excited about is this How You Go There companion guide that I’ve decided is a great way for people then to execute on those chapters of habit and communication and goal setting and others that allow them the exercises that introduce how these concepts could be either missing in their life, or need some enhancement, some encouragement to stay focused. So the companion guide is exactly that to the book, but it’s more about the reader and the exercises they would follow to get in touch with those topics, not the stories of Scott. So I’m really excited to move it off of me and over to the listening community that you have and the workshops that we’re going to be having and those who want to purchase the book and break out into the different topics and do the exercises that are going to be in the workbook. And yeah, we just Just published it. It’s going to be ready for sale at HowYouGoThere.com in just another week. And, you know, right now I’m just debating the paper quality.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, my goodness. That’s so funny.
SPEAKER 05 :
Is it going to be perforated pages or is it going to be heavy, you know, glossy quality? So I’m experimenting with both right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, before we get into the self-care and what you’re doing now to get fit, you know, that obviously helps you be a more successful person in all areas of your life. But give us some, you know, an overview of the companion guide.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so again, the companion guide is broken out by chapter, and it maps very specifically with the book. So the first chapter is partnerships. So the first chapter in the How You Go There companion guide is exercises in how to evaluate and look into your current relationships or partnerships and see how you can improve on those or go find those to support that quadrant of what I have found to be the most successful way of being and that is in partnership or in relationship with somebody else it moves into habits it moves into goals it moves into communication styles does a little introductory on how people communicate as a style preference asks a few questions shares different ways of how people communicate and there’s exercises in there that sort of shine a light on how to receive someone that might communicate differently than you And then there’s the goal setting. We talk a little bit about SMART goals, and then we have some exercises about SMART goals. And so we dive into SMART goals in the book, but the companion guide has the exercises that allow people to really feel it from their perspective, asks questions about their experience with goals. And so that’s kind of its objective in every chapter, and I specifically mapped it to the book.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, when we talk about being the best we can be physically and mentally in that self-care, having those goals, you’re kind of going through that right now. So why don’t you break down how you’re going about doing that and how someone reading your companion guide could go about doing that as well?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, thanks. No, thanks, Angie. And it’s funny because I’ve learned in nothing in my old age that fitness is a journey, not a resolve. In other words, The last few years, I have sort of fallen off the radar again, and sure as anything, the 25 pounds starts to creep up, and the chips taste really good, and the vegetables elude me, and I start to walk in that mud physically, and I start to feel a little eh, which then doesn’t have me working at peak performance on projects, in my relationships. or focused on my goals or how I’m communicating, and it weighs me down like the physical weight is also. And that’s a battle I think we all face ongoing, and sometimes we’re really good and virile and sprite, and then other times we’re sort of like where I am right now. It’s like, yeah, I’ll have another Dove chocolate bar and a beer. Sure. And so those things don’t always work well. So right now I’m back into working out. My energy is higher. I’ve got a little bit of a kick in my step and that sort of perpetuates with my teams. It perpetuates in how I’m received with my clients. And quite frankly, I feel very, very light and better already. And again, it was pretty good about this two or three years ago. And then it sort of fell off. My back started getting bothersome and little torques here and there at my old age. And Now that I’m getting back into it, I’m getting stronger, it feels great. And I think it’s really important that we tell listeners and folks out there to evaluate that for themselves as a way to make sure you’re also looking at working at peak performance and exercising your leadership capabilities in whatever it is you’re trying to lead.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, and it’s not it’s not easy to be that disciplined. You know, I did notice that when I went back to it, we do family gym night, you know, but that my husband trains my girls pretty hard. I’m not my son anymore because he’s up at school, but he used to train him, but they butt heads. So they finally just threw in the towel. They couldn’t work together, the two of them. But with the girls, he also is, he’s like a drill sergeant, you know, so it’s not easy, but they work with him to try to, I mean, believe me, I mean, he is hard. And so I do my own thing because I’m definitely not going to work out with him. He still thinks that we’re like 25. And I’m like, no, I don’t do that anymore. You know, I don’t do like the gauntlet for an hour and then do, you know, deadlifts or something. It’s like, oh my gosh, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER 05 :
Come on, Angie, you can do it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, no, he’s way more into it than I am. But, you know, I walk and I use the resistance bands and I’ll use some of the machines for lifting. But anyway, I noticed a lot of people were in there and I could barely get around the track because I love to go around the track, the indoor track. And I don’t like being packed in on there. It’s like I don’t like crowds. Like, you know, when you go to the airport and you’re all like smashed in there trying to get onto like a Southwest flight, like a cattle call, like, oh, I hate that. So when I’m on the when I’m on the walking on the track, I don’t like people all around me. And so I was like, oh, I hate this. Well, it’s already thinning out. Right. Of course, I want people to be fit. But I knew that it would kind of fall off to some degree or maybe they’d find some other exercise they wanted to do. So it’s not easy to stay that disciplined, certainly. But you just, I think, tackle your life at a higher level when you’re physically and mentally at your peak or at least 80 or 90 percent rather than 20 or 30 percent where you’re You’re overweight, you’re lethargic, you want to take a nap. After lunch, you can barely keep your eyes open. You fall asleep in the car during part of your lunch hour. You’re late to work because you can barely get out of bed. You can’t wait to get out the door because you don’t feel well. You get home and you fall asleep in front of the TV and you heat up a horrible TV dinner or whatever and then have some, oh, I bought it for my husband last night, Chubby Hubby, because he’s been eating the Ben and Jerry’s. I’m like, look at the label on that. He goes, Chubby Hubby. I’m like, there you go. So but he works out so he gets to have his little treats. But, you know, the quality of life is so different. But of course, the quality of success is going to be at a higher level, I believe, if you’re doing the right things.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and the quality of leadership. Right. So you’re leading people that you’re impacted with. You’re leading your relationships. You’re leading with your communication. And so, right. It’s not even about success as much as it’s about the influence you have around those. You said that so well, I thought just a second ago. about if you’re not at peak performance, it’s not going to work out. And I totally agree with you on that. It’s a big deal, and I think it’s timely we have this conversation in light of the fact that the gym is starting to thin out. People’s goals are starting to wane, and they’re probably starting to wane and not being invited back in because you’re not feeling great, because you’re not doing those things that have you working at peak performance and working at your best self and at your top level. I forget the exact word you just used, but the top performance. And it perpetuates. It perpetuates in the negative.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. So what are some of the things that you think are important? How do you go about this process? Because I think I’m a little more like willy-nilly. Like I am doing my five minutes of exercise nine times a day again, and it’s pretty hard to stay regimented with that. I was doing it for a medical study to prevent diabetes. Oh, cool. yeah because it keeps your blood sugar level to exercise that many times but it easily gets away from you like yesterday i did it five times well i’d like to do it nine you know and i did walk in addition to that like maybe three miles throughout the day but these little segments of burst exercise are the what really is supposed to work and i find it easy in one sense that it’s just five minutes even though you’re really out of breath in five minutes and my legs are sore today but But you’ve got to somehow like set alarms or do whatever or you will forget. You have to have a plan.
SPEAKER 05 :
There’s nothing more to say. You have to have a plan. You have to forgive yourself for having to hit reset when you missed on your plan, which is what I was saying about the delays that sort of perpetuate themselves. But every day is a journey, right? Every day is a new start. But the plan is key. And when you were starting to ask what I do, I set the alarm quite literally for 6 a.m. And I go into the gym, and I do the workouts that are appropriate for the body parts that I’m working out that day. I do a little bit of socializing with the morning crew that I know there. I sit in the sauna and do the things that they say are healthy there for a half hour, shower, and go to work. And I have a kick in my step. I eat something healthy right after that because why would you throw junk food in on top of feeling like that? And it perpetuates the positivity. And I would also like to just commend you on recognizing your age band and how we’re going to push on this. Because one of the reasons I was out for a year was because I was pushing the weights like a 25-year-old. I was benching 255. I was trying to do more leg squats. And I threw my back out. And it took a year to recover from.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think, yes. And that, you know, grandpa, I find sometimes he forgets his age and he does things that he used to do that he shouldn’t be doing anymore. And so I, yes, age appropriate and not expecting, I’m not expecting as much of ourselves as when we were younger. I remember I used to work at a Gold’s gym in Venice, California, where I was, like, riding the bike next to Hulk Hogan one day, and you’ve got, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in there, and a lot of the bodybuilders, like, of the day were still coming in there. Anyway, I remember doing an hour of cardio, like, so you’re just, like, you’ve been… He splashed like soaked in water and a big bucket of water because you’re you sweat so much in that hour. And I remember somebody in like her 40s being like, oh, my gosh, like that way you do your cardio like that’s hardcore. Like that’s because you’re young. And I’m like, oh, no, it’s not because I’m young. You know, I could do this when I’m older. Oh, no way. Oh my gosh. The way I worked out when I was in my twenties is like so different from the way I work out now. And I’m, I’m sure there are some people like I’ve seen some older women are still into like power lifting and I really admire them that they can lift that kind of weight and be that as strong as they are. But I guess knowing our own bodies and what we can handle. Yeah. Cause you injured yourself. You said, right?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I injured myself and know thyself. Right. So that’s, and so I was giving permission to the concept that even part of the self-care topic is includes now that I schedule and set the alarm, if you will, quote-unquote, for my 7 p.m. Monday night yin surrender yoga classes. And I get off the couch, and I go meditate, and I do the stretching of the fascia, and I get into my breathing, and I do some mental self-care that also helps physically that isn’t a rigorous sweat fest. It is a stretch. It is a meditative. It is an age-appropriate, calm-the-mind meditation. setting me up for success for my Tuesday morning workout and my Tuesday at the office.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and for people that don’t know Scott, he didn’t follow the typical path towards the success he has now when he runs into people from his younger years. They’re like, how did you get here? So that perfect title for your first book, how did you get here? So I want to make sure people can find you and your companion guide. I know you’ve got a podcast coming up soon. So what’s the best way to reach you?
SPEAKER 05 :
www.howyougothere.com. www.howyougothere.com. And the reason I tripped up is because it also spells www.howyougothere.com.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, my gosh. That’s so funny.
SPEAKER 05 :
That is really funny. I love it.
SPEAKER 03 :
You can buy the book.
SPEAKER 05 :
You can buy the companion guide. You can buy materials. You can engage with me in conversation. We can talk about coaching or any workshops we’ve got coming out. And, you know, I’m trying to build the community through that website. So it’s all it’s all there and it’s all expanding. I love it.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Thanks, friend. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 01 :
Elizabeth is dialed in to the mighty 670.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey there, friend. Welcome back to The Good News with Angie Austin. Angie here. Well, since the rise of generative AI, many freelancers have expressed concerns about, you know, their jobs, their income, their work, their creative ideas to these AI tools. Well, joining us with some insight on all of this is Matt Clunan, VP of Global Brand Marketing with Fiverr. Welcome, Matt.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for having me, Angie.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, so this is fascinating to me. I’ve got three teenagers and they’re in high school and college. And so I know about this AI and I’ve actually even started to use it recently. I have a couple of the apps. So I can see why people are concerned. So will you explain the concern that freelancers have, why they’re threatened by AI?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I think AI is this kind of new, big, exciting, scary thing. And I think, you know, it’s kind of consuming the conversation in kind of everywhere, you know, and I think it’s relative to, you know, all professionals, but I think uniquely to freelancers, you know, there is a fear that AI is kind of harvesting creative work without really compensating or kind of crediting the original creators of that work. So there’s these large language models that are kind of the base of a lot of these AI tools, and it has to be trained in kind of educated on everything. And so where is it getting that information and how is it kind of crediting back, I think, is this kind of murky area. So I think that coupled with the fact that AI has kind of emerged so quickly and advanced so quickly just has people a little bit freaked out of where it’s going to go six weeks from now, six months from now, six years from now. But ultimately, I think the other side of this is a big opportunity. These tools are really powerful and can do amazing things with them already. So how can freelancers or all of us take advantage of them to be more successful?
SPEAKER 03 :
I love the perfect description, scary and exciting, like a roller coaster, scary and exciting. But yeah, it is like it was kind of fun for me to work with it. And I have worked in the news business for 35 years from Los Angeles to Denver, all over. So I’m sitting with one of my former co-anchors this last week and we were doing blogs and she’d never used some of this before. And so I was kind of introducing her to AI, but explaining that we can’t just use AI because it’s not our terminology. And it isn’t necessarily going to be the blog we want, you know, but it might give us like an outline that we like or a couple of ideas like maybe we wouldn’t have thought of. And so… Anyway, we were just kind of playing around with it really for her the first time ever. And for me, I was using a new app I’d never used. But I never thought about what you just said. And of course, for freelancers, you mentioned them AI harvesting their ideas, like taking their work, their terminology, their blogs, their info, and kind of gleaning through it and picking out bits of it and using it for free and not crediting them. I didn’t think of that aspect. That’s huge.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and I think that’s kind of at the heart of how Fiverr and us are thinking about what do we do with AI and how do we kind of really use our platform and build tools to really empower and kind of protect our freelancers. So I think ownership being at the heart of it, Fiverr launched recently Fiverr Go. And what Fiverr Go is, it’s a personalized set of AI tools for freelancers. It’s split into two parts. One is the personal AI assistant. And what that basically is is exactly kind of what it sounds like. It’s an AI assistant, but it will learn how a seller communicates with clients in the past based on past conversations. It understands what they’re selling on the platform and provides them with business insights on how they can be more successful on the platform and handling the conversations with a lot of potential clients. So really becoming a true business partner to freelancers. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, no, you.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. The second thing that we launched as part of Fiverr Go is the creation model. And what this is, is it’s a model that is unique to individual freelancers. So say you’re a graphic designer, you have a unique style, you have a portfolio of work that you’ve created in the past. That work can be analyzed by Fiverr Go and and it will generate a model exclusive to you based on your work. That model can then be sold to clients and prospective businesses, and it will remain unique to you. It’s not anonymized. It’s not kind of generic output, but it has your specific style tied to it. It also provides the benefit of a freelancer being involved in that transaction, whereas If it spits out something that is 90% of the way there, but it’s not quite perfect, that freelancer is available to kind of finish that project, tweak some things, edit some things, which is kind of a challenge that the other AI tools today have right now.
SPEAKER 03 :
So let’s say my style, my graphic design style was kind of like graffiti artist style or something, then I could have that style in an AI tool that people could use?
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. They could come by directly from you and they could say, hey, you know, I love Angie’s style. I want Angie to draw me a graffiti drawing of, I don’t know, a car driving over a bridge. But it would be unique to the way that you’ve created other works in the past.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s interesting because that’s one thing that I found AI, at least in my personal experience, does not do well. I was trying to work out a graphic for my son’s business, a new logo, I should say, and they were horrible. Everything I sent him was like, Oh, that is – the way he explained his feelings towards what I submitted to him was not complimentary. And so he ended up getting a freelancer to do his logo because that’s something I think they have not perfected yet. Like we were doing something on thrift because he has a thrift business. And so he gave me a sewing machine. I’m like, a sewing machine? And I know you can – keep working through it. But once you get to like 40 or 50 different tries, you’re like, oh, you’re still not getting it. You know, it’s nothing like I would want. So that I still feel like the human does better than AI, in my opinion.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. And I think, you know, it’s powerful in which AI can do. And I think it’s a great starting point a lot of times, and it’s really effective. But I think the keeping the human kind of involved in these things, whether it’s small tasks or big tasks, I think is ultimately important to deliver, you know, really unique and, you know, great work. So, you know, these AI tools will develop in advance to get better, but I think, you know, there will still be tools for humans to use. So I think, you know, keeping a human at the center of it and kind of, you know, driving things is going to be, you know, crucial for, you know, success.
SPEAKER 03 :
So Fiverr is, you know, embracing AI. They’re not putting their head under a rock, but they’re still in there working to protect freelancers as well. Then am I getting this right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. Yeah. Cause I think, you know, their success is our success. You know, Fiverr is a platform that’s built on, you know, freelance talent and, you know, we want them to succeed and we want to put them in a position to be as successful as they can be. So I think building these tools and kind of opening these up to our freelancers You know, we believe it’s genuinely in the best interest of freelancers and kind of our business to really grow both of them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, in terms of your freelancers, I know that it can be a pretty lucrative freelancing business, that it can become basically a full-time job with different gigs and can pay them well. So how will all of this benefit them? Is there anything new that you’re doing? Because I’m sure, like we mentioned, many of them are afraid about losing their income. So are you offering equity that will benefit them?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So in addition to kind of these AI tools that we just launched, still kind of within the theme of ownership, Fiverr also announced the Freelancer Equity Program last week. And what the Freelancer Equity Program is, is it’s an opportunity for freelancers on the platform to earn equity in Fiverr. Fiverr being a public company, top earners and top kind of growing sellers on the platform could be eligible to win kind of Fiverr shares. They’re responsible for the success of our company and we felt like providing them with real ownership of the actual company was an important step to take. So we’re excited to offer it to our freelancers and we’re excited to see kind of the reaction to that.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s huge because that’s something you normally get when you go in nine to five and work for a company that they might offer that to you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. And so we think our freelancers will be excited about it and we’re excited.
SPEAKER 03 :
So I’m very – I don’t know. I’m interested. I think it’s just a cool platform. And I love when I interview people to talk about their passion for the work they do. What got you involved in all of this with Fiverr and then what you do currently?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So before working at Fiverr, I was at another kind of marketplace, more in the ticketing space for live events and stuff there. Then I saw Fiverr as – you know, another marketplace, a two-sided marketplace. But I felt like it was just such a cool concept of how, you know, it’s connecting businesses with freelancers all over the world. And I think, you know, Fiverr’s mission is to change how the world works together. And I’ve been here about six years. And candidly, when I joined six years ago, I was like, all right, you know, it sounds like a bit big from a mission, but then just seeing kind of how much the platform has grown and the transitions that we’ve gone through and kind of the world of work you see that fiber is playing an active role in shaping the future of work. So I think it’s been really exciting to see what’s changed over the last few years and really excited about the next few years on how work will evolve.
SPEAKER 03 :
So when you say, you know, people getting people in the marketplace all over the world, you can put in different price points that you might want to pay for a project. You could find someone that’s maybe new and take a chance on them and pay a lot less or go for the really established person that’s got, you know, lots of recommendations because I’m assuming once you’ve been on the platform for a while, you can, you know, raise your prices as you get more and more clients and get more and more credibility.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, exactly. So Fiverr offers, you know, kind of a global base of freelancers across everywhere, really, and a variety of different skill sets. So everything from graphic design to web development, all of that. And within that, there’s different kind of price points and skill levels there. So if it is something that isn’t crucial to your business and you’re not looking to spend a lot of money, there’s a low price point option on most services. But then if there is something that you need the highest quality and you need it to be perfect, there’s going to be sellers that are even more skilled and more experienced and will charge a little bit more.
SPEAKER 03 :
So if somebody’s listening right now, I guess two different groups I’m thinking of, the business person that might use Fiverr that’s never hired freelancers before, and then the person with the skill sets that might be applicable to offering on Fiverr. Give us some of the ideas of some of the things you do. You mentioned a few. Give us some ideas of the things that you guys supply in terms of work.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So I think for, you know, businesses, really there’s something to offer for everyone. But I think, you know, Fiverr has kind of evolved from the, you know, one-off task of, hey, I just need something today, or I need something small, to really being kind of a reliable solution for businesses for large and complex projects. So say you need someone to manage your business’s social media accounts, and it’s not just creating an individual social post, but it’s defining your social media strategy and developing content on a weekly basis that you’ll be sharing, you could find a freelancer to help with that. Say you wanted to develop an entirely new website to help sell for your e-com business, there’s a web developer or designer that could help you build that from start to finish there. So yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
I love it. And I’ve actually looked at it a couple times myself and been a little bit intimidated, like, oh, gosh, do I have the right skills or whatever? What’s the easiest way to start?
SPEAKER 04 :
So, yeah, so anyone can sign up to start selling on Fiverr. And freelancers can check out the website at Fiverr.com, and that’s F-I-V-E-R-R.com. And, yeah, anyone can start selling there. And I think there’s a lot of educational resources and materials there. across Fiverr’s blog. There’s the Fiverr resources. And then there’s a lot of content on Fiverr social media channels just talking about how other freelancers have been successful and then how businesses have been successful leveraging freelance talent.
SPEAKER 03 :
Excellent. Well, thank you, Matt. A lot of great info. And again, that’s Fiverr, F-I-V-E-R-R.com. Thank you, Matt. Thank you so much, Angie. You bet.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
