Digital Social Hour
From Church to CMO: Shocking $1M Loss Sparks Success | Nick Cavuoto DSH #979
Sat, 14 Dec
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From Church to CMO: A jaw-dropping journey of resilience and success! 🚀 Nick shares his incredible story of losing $1M in just 2 days during COVID, only to bounce back stronger than ever. 💪 Discover how Nick's unique path from ministry to marketing shaped his approach to business and life. You'll be inspired by his insights on: • Overcoming adversity and turning setbacks into comebacks • The power of service and genuine connections in business • Navigating traumatic experiences and emerging stronger • Building trust and creating quantum leaps in your career This episode is packed with valuable lessons on resilience, leadership, and the unexpected parallels between ministry and marketing. Don't miss out on Nick's powerful advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders! Tune in now for an eye-opening conversation that will challenge your perspective and inspire you to reach new heights. 🎧 Hit that subscribe button and join the Digital Social Hour community for more game-changing insights! 🔔 #leadgeneration #selfimprovement #digitalmarketing #contentmarketing #discomfortleadstogrowth #emailmarketing #leadgeneration #growthmarketing #marketingfunnel #socialmediamarketing CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - How Nick Started His Career 01:40 - The Trust Equation 05:16 - Giving Without Expectation 06:35 - Encouraging Others 09:58 - Fear of Not Reaching KPIs 12:02 - Judgment in Professional Settings 15:51 - How I Met Adley 18:23 - Importance of Relationships 19:43 - Sabbatical and Art Therapy 22:43 - Overcoming Public Speaking Fear 30:25 - Relationship With Your Father 34:01 - Childhood Near-Death Experience 38:56 - School Shooting Trauma 39:20 - Nick’s Experience in the Shooting 43:27 - Shooter’s Motivation 45:45 - Changes in the School Post-Shooting 49:20 - Another School Shooting Today 49:38 - Supporting Someone in Hard Times 51:55 - Nick’s Final Message APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Nick Cavuoto https://www.instagram.com/nickcavuoto https://www.nickcavuoto.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What inspired Nick's career shift from ministry to marketing?
All right, guys, Nick Cavuto here. We are in Nashville at your spot. Thanks for having me, man. Absolutely, bro. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, dude, I'm super pumped to be here.
Chapter 2: What is the trust equation in business?
It's going to be a good, insightful episode. Former pastor.
Yeah, man. Seven years. Yeah. So when I was 19, I fell out of college for the second time. And so I called my dad and said, dude, what do I need to do? My dad's been my spiritual mentor for my whole life. And he's like, listen, buddy, you got to learn how to serve. Like this is going to be a season for you to learn an important lesson that like you can go through the muck, you know, of life.
But so as long as you're in service to other people, man, everything's going to work out. And so, yeah, man, that's where I started, you know, and it's been a cool journey. I learned a lot about business, a lot about marketing, being in ministry, I think, because if a you have to sell Jesus, that's a complicated issue.
And second, and secondly, when you think about like community and advancing people towards a common goal, you realize like business is very, very similar painting a vision and inviting people into it. whether you're leading a team or whether you're leading a tribe of people towards a common goal. I learned so much in those years and it was a big organization. We had 10,000 people every weekend.
So this is not like grandma's church of 42 people, you know, that's a mega church. It's a mega church. It was a, it was a huge deal. Five services every weekend. I've hosted over a thousand live events. Yeah. Every weekend. It was an operation, man, but I was managing a, you know, an eight figure budget when I was 22. So just got exposed early to like business and stuff. Yeah.
Yeah, you worked your way up from volunteer to second in command, right?
Yeah, dude. So when I started, I just showed up and I interned for two years. I worked there full time. I interned, just slugged it out. No pay? No pay for two years and just showed up every day, you know? And it's interesting because like when you just consistently show up and you do a great job, you don't make excuses. You're a champion of the vision. You get spotted, man.
And so they just saw me and I just grinded it out and they were like, hey, we need someone to step up next to this gentleman who's a public figure. And we need someone to like be number two and help him. And so it was technically in like an executive assistant role.
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Chapter 3: How do relationships influence success in business?
And I started and it very quickly became that I was essentially running the whole operation for him so that he could be talent essentially and be able to show up and love on people and do what he does. But it was a really cherished position. I had a lot of fun doing it. That's impressive, man. A lot of people wouldn't, Do two years of work when they'll pay.
Yeah. You know, I didn't really have a lot of options. And I think that was part of it. And in addition, I was committed because I could see something that was unique about the positioning of where I was. And I think when you have a sense of gratitude and you're establishing something that's so unique and you feel like, man, there's a mission here.
There's something I can really buy into about the thing that I'm doing. you just kind of trust the process. And that's always been, I think really my operating system has been rather intuitive of just like feeling things out, trusting the process and then just showing up and executing. Right.
I think we overcomplicate things as humans so much, but when you just give 110% man, and I tell people all the time, like you don't have to, you don't have to give a thousand percent better than the next person. If you give 10% better consistently, predictably over time, you're going to become the most trusted person in the room. Right. And that's the trust equation.
The trust equation is three things. And this is so valuable. It's number one, are you credible? Like, so do you have integrity based on the things that you say? Number two, are you reliable? So can I count on you to show up even in the hard times, even in the good times? Like, are you consistent in the way that you show up? And number three has to do with deep connection.
Most people have one of the first two, but they lack the last one. And that's all over a self-orientation of the person who you're serving alongside of. And so I realized very, very early, the trust equation, be credible, be reliable, and have a deep connection, a deep personal connection to the mission that you're on. And that's a complete unfair advantage.
If people could just get that right, it produces so much quantum leaps in business and life and relationships. It's truly everything. That deep connection is rare to find in people, actually.
It is, man. Because usually, you know, people are just kind of looking out for the moment of what they need. But when people can just take their time, go slow, respond to the invitations of life to see opportunity to make a contribution that's meaningful, you can feel it. It's different. People are smarter now, man. Like the frequency that people are on is just very different than it used to be.
Yeah. Would you say humans are innately selfish and they have to learn how to be more giving?
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Chapter 4: What was Nick's experience during the school shooting?
generosity begets generosity like it's you they've even done studies recently and typically in a year that you give a con like a a charitable gift you earn 1.8 times seven higher than you do a year without wow yeah that's actually crazy yeah and then that's so there's a new site was just released this year i need to look into that that basically proves in karma though Absolutely, man. Absolutely.
You know, it's a simple concept. So very simple. And people will not give even even if you don't have money, there's other ways to give.
Absolutely, man. If people want to change the world, encourage five people a day. The world's starving for a sense of encouragement. You know, when you just drop into somebody on DMS on Instagram and just say, Hey man, I just want you to know you're doing so much better than you think you are. Yeah. I'm cheering you on. I believe in you.
I trust that there's a greater plan for your life and I can see that you're working at it every day. And I just want you to know you're doing so amazing. And I'm proud to be your friend, dude, game changer. People just don't take the time to slow down enough to do that. And that's not, I'm not passing judgment by saying that. I'm just saying our world is not wired.
with intention at that level for most people. But dude, in the hardest times in business for me and COVID, I lost a million dollars in two days. So just completely wiped out two of my businesses. Well, one of the businesses I worked with elective practitioners. So it was a marketing agency that I had long, long time ago. And then one of the other businesses was live events.
So if you remember, 15 days to flatten the curve. So practitioners couldn't practice unless it was like a mandatory procedure, life and death. Elective practitioners got wiped out. And then live events, you couldn't meet with people in person. So you had to cancel an event you were planning on having? Yeah. Well, it was a mastermind that was predicated on a live event. Wow.
So everything got wiped out overnight. And so here I am going like, all right, God, this is your problem because I'm not going to try to solve this in my own strength. And, uh, part of that process was I had a mentor and he said, dude, I don't know what to tell you. This is unprecedented times. This guy runs like a hundred million dollar company.
And he's like, just, just go encourage five people a day. And I did it, Sean. And I did a half a million dollars in sales 35 days later. Wow. No, it's crazy. Out of the 35 people who bought that I ended up doing this half a million dollars in sales with, none of them were the people I encouraged for the 35 days. Wow. Isn't that crazy?
That is nuts. And that is truly an example because the heart of service versus selling, the heart of service is I'm here to make a meaningful contribution. Mm-hmm. So it's not about you and what you can do for them. It's about truly showing up and being present and available and people can feel the difference. They can feel the difference if you're in need or if you're in service.
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Chapter 5: How did Nick overcome the traumatic loss of $1M?
And that's what changed so much for me, man, because it was that lesson when I was 19. My dad said, you just got to show up and learn how to serve. It had a boomerang effect to one of the hardest times in my life as an entrepreneur going like, now what? And I went back to the basics of just go serve. And so that's what I did, man. And it worked. It's crazy.
Because a lot of people don't think in terms of service.
Yeah. And even if they do, it's the giving and the getting thing, right? It's not give and then the more you're given. And a lot of people say like in different circles, like, well, God won't give you more than you can handle. I say it's total bullshit. He won't give you more than you can manage. So the question is, can you manage the abundance that can be poured into your hands?
Like, cause if you can't, you're going to lose it. And I don't know about you, but if you're like, have a money manager and you're like, all right, I'm going to give you a million dollars to manage and they blow it. And then you end up with zero. Do you think they're going to give you more? No, absolutely not.
So the reality is when you can manage what you have, even if it's slow and predictable, money is a currency. It's a current, it likes to move and it likes to have a transactional type of pattern in its relationship with people. And
other things so what's neat is like when you're starting to focus on like this whole idea of contribution and giving and maximizing potential and opportunity i've just noticed in my life like that's that's how it functions man i want my current to be generosity i want it to be of service i want it to be a meaningful contribution i love when i have to make sure that like on our teams and the people that we serve with knowing that like i'm championing making sure that their family is good that their opportunities continue to get better every single day
It used to be scary. And now I've learned like it's actually what an honor. It's a completely different perspective. That's a great shift because a lot of CMOs do have that fear of not reaching certain KPIs and goals, right?
Yeah. I mean, I built my whole career predicated on results. I just don't know anything different. So that's, it's like the good part of it. I never believed in brand awareness. I never believed in just, well, we got you 200 leads. What the heck happened? Because I know how everything attaches to the next thing. So it's always been about results.
And since I ever have been in marketing and business, I always said the only KPI is ROI. If we're not creating a return on investment for you and every company that I've had, I always say, if we can't two to five extra revenue in the next 90 days, we'll fire ourselves. Wow. Absolutely. Because dude, you and I know, right?
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Chapter 6: What role does service play in business success?
And with your help, I'm going to hold this thing and manage it the best way that I can. So like failure is not an option. It's just not even on the radar. It's just, if I commit to doing it, I will find a way. That's how I've always been wired. When you were half the age, did you feel a lot of judgment coming your way in that culture?
Um, not really. I mean, I broke a ton of records in the organization and that was fun. I think honestly, and you know, in the corporate speed, it's just very slow. A lot of people, I say like they sink in their chairs every year. It just gets like that divot in the seat gets lower and lower.
Um, and so I felt excited to be able to create some breakthroughs and I think to show that there's a new way of doing things. I'm an innovator at heart. That's what I love to do. Um, but yeah, there was, there were certain moments of where I was like, y'all don't even understand like what's happening here. Like how no one's asked me how I got the results.
It's just like, can you take on more and do more? Yeah. Um, but I, I figured out very early, like it was gonna, I'm a fifth generation entrepreneur. I mean, my dad was a street pharmacist, but, um, He was, you guys, you know, put the two things together.
But what's neat is like, um, I've always had that wiring that like, if I can exceed whatever the container is that I'm in, then I'll be like a fish and jump out. Do you believe entrepreneurship is something you're born with or you could learn it?
I think the willingness to win is something you're born with or you're not. And to be an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to win and sacrifice more than you could ever imagine. It's death by toothpick. That's how it feels. There's an intensity around entrepreneurship, like true entrepreneurship of really burning the boats and being able to, pull it all in and call it all in.
Um, that is an innate thing that I think people who cross that chasm of just survival into connection, into building something meaningful that they have. But, um, you know, I've, I've mentored over 500 entrepreneurs. I've interviewed thousands of entrepreneurs. What I've noticed over and over, they have the greatest untold stories. Um, The things that they've had to give up.
The entrepreneurs who have had to go to jail for their kids just to have visitation rights. I mean, I could go on and on about the stories of how they've overcome hardship through, you know, I had one client, she's 14 years old, had an abortion, and she's been carrying this thing her whole life.
What's so interesting about entrepreneurship is I truly believe that it is the best spiritual experience that we have on earth. Because you have to defeat the previous version of yourself so many times in order to ascend, to make that contribution that you have in your heart, that you know that's possible for you to do, you have to fall on your sword a thousand times.
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Chapter 7: How can you build trust and authenticity in relationships?
So I try to make sure that I stick around 95%. Yeah, if someone was perfect, that wouldn't make sense to me. Yeah, absolutely. Even AI isn't perfect. And that's robot. How'd you meet Adley?
Yeah, so Nick Lauer, who's a buddy of mine, I've invested in his business short form empire. You know, it's interesting, I spoke at an event, my buddy, Sean Kaplan had an event. And I went and spoke about my story of how my kids survived a school shooting. And I talked about, you know, internal belief systems and how that impacted our family. And we'll talk more about that. But
Um, I spoke at an event, Nick came up to me after and he said, Hey man, I know it's kind of out of the box, but one of the things you mentioned was during COVID in that time, 21, like just thereafter, I started a short form content agency. We got to 125 clients in four months. Absolutely exploded. It was amazing. And he was like, I'm on the come up. He's 18 years old at that time.
And he's like, I'm just trying to figure it out. Will you mentor me? It takes so much courage to like walk up to somebody. He was like, you know what made it easy? We had the same name. So I had an easy point of connection with you to have the conversation. And when he came to me again, generosity begets generosity. So I just flow with it. Right.
I'm like, dude, I would love to absolutely whatever you need, man. I'm here for you. And so we met and he said, I would love your help. And I said, great. And in the first 30 days, we doubled his business. And then just quantum leap after quantum leap, it just kept growing and growing and growing.
We started adjusting his offer a little bit and getting him with more high performers and less out of just editing in short form and more into like in-person shooting. And, uh, yeah, so we became business partners back in, uh, in March of 24 and, um, yeah, now we're absolutely crushing dominating.
And so what was interesting is in the growth pattern for Nick, I posted one of the videos of me speaking at least on an Instagram and said, I got to talk to this dude who's been coaching you and, and mentoring you. And so they brought me in and, uh, And that's how I met Adley and just said, hey, like, I'm just, my hands are open.
This is my position whenever I walk anywhere, like into opportunities, into business, into friendships. I have open hands. Better is an open hand than a closed fist. A closed fist is a fighting position. And I'm not trying to fight anybody. So what is this? Well, it's an energy conduit because that's how you can give and receive.
That's how you can give and be given more is by opening your hands and holding a posture of what service? How can I support? How can I help? And that's just what always has worked for me. So I shadowed for four hours, you know, on like a random Wednesday. And at least I really think we can use your help. And so then I talked with her and her husband, Blake, and here we are. The rest is history.
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Chapter 8: What lessons did Nick learn from his sabbatical?
yeah dude it unlocks parts of your brain right absolutely does yeah it creates neural pathways that that cross over that normally wouldn't and so it allows you to start thinking differently and uh yeah and i think it's good to do hard things a lot of people shy away from things because you know we're wired for survival primarily and so we don't want to do hard things that are uncomfortable but when you force yourself to do especially early you start training your brain that like yeah we're going to experience struggle right um
and suffering is guaranteed struggles guaranteed. And so it's the golden elixir of life. I'm like, bring it. I've learned how to be in that position and bring it. Yeah. Embrace it. I love it. Yeah. I try not to run away from my fears anymore. I think it's important to address them as, as you identify them. Yeah, absolutely, man. Public speaking was a big one for me. Was it really?
Yeah. Now I'm a podcaster. Dude, good for you, man. Yeah. That was a, that's a big one for a lot of people. I think. Yeah. Were you struggling with that too?
Dude, so I grew up in church. Like from the moment I was born, you know, my dad was Holy Ghost, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, shout him down. You know, that's the environment that I grew up in. So I grew up around professional communicators, inspirational people for my whole career, which when I ended up getting into marketing and then personal branding and then working with
you know millionaires billionaires celebrities athletes epic and you know elite entrepreneurs it was very natural for me because that's who i spent my whole life around um so i never had a fear of speaking but my father did my dad was a drug dealer who found jesus as simple as it is that was his story he lived a life of a lot of contrast um he just one day just walked away from it and it was done um but what's fascinating is my dad has an eighth grade education because he dropped out of school middle school to sell drugs at 13.
So he always had this interpretation when he would go to speak. Cause I watched him my whole life when he'd go to communicate. So he was a minister and stuff in church and I would watch him just be petrified. And dude, he'd create those three ring binders and just like everything's highlighted and it's gotta be perfect.
And there was always a moment every time that he was communicating publicly to thousands of people, he just would take the thing and just shut it. And as soon as he did that, dude, magic. It was like everything that poured out of him was so powerful, but sticking to the script, man, it's suffocated him. And I realized in my life, I'm like, I want to help that version of my father.
Cause it's Dr. Jordan Peterson talks about it all the time. Rescuing your father from the belly of the whale. There's a part of us as men, certainly, um, that wants to redeem the illness and, or the, uh, You know, the afflictions that our father brought on himself or others or us. And so it's a natural thing that we want to do. So I wanted to redeem that part.
And so when I got a chance to speak, when I was in ministry, this here's a crazy thing about this. I never spoke one time. Really? I was always behind the scenes running everything. Wow.
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