Tony Triumph on growing up entrepreneurial, moving to NYC with $300 and building incredible relationships

[01:00] Paul: Welcome to The Boundless Podcast. I'm Paul Millerd, and I created this podcast because I'm passionate about making sense of the future of work and having conversations with the innovators, creators, and thought leaders who are carving their path in today's fast-changing world. You can check out the podcast and more on boundlesspod.com. Today I talk with Tony Triumph, who is the founder of the Triumphant Group, and he is a brand marketer, but so, so much more. He has a lot of experiences and we're going to dive into those. His superpower is connecting people, and you can tell from his stories and how he just talks about people that he goes around the world and he just treats people with respect and cultivates relationships.

And that has turned into a lot of value in terms of what he's done. We dig into his story, his early influences, his entrepreneurial grandfathers, his family, how he moved from Baltimore to New York with $300 in his pocket, and just a pretty cool story. He's got a lot of good advice and has a lot of wisdom for someone his age. So I hope you enjoy the podcast today. And have a good day. Tony, I am excited to talk to you today.

[02:21] Tony Triumph: I'm excited as well. How are you?

[02:23] Paul: I'm doing fantastic today. You're involved in a number of things and we're going to dig into your story of how that finally is starting to make sense for you. But really just want to walk through the whole story. I want to go all the way back to just thinking about what were some of your influences early on in your life? How— what shaped the person you are today? And when you think about some of those earliest influences, what are the first things that pop into your head?

[02:51] Tony Triumph: Well, definitely, I mean, I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Some of them didn't know they were entrepreneurs, others did. My grandfather was an entrepreneur on both sides. My mother's father, I mean, he was involved with everything from owning a fish business, he was a merchant seaman. He had a fish business, like I just mentioned, in Baltimore. He was an RVer.

He worked at the post office. The list goes on. He did a number of things. He was an avid traveler. So he was just, he was very much a go-getter and an entrepreneurial type of guy. Now, my father's father, on the other hand, he was like deep into real estate.

He owned tons of properties when he passed on. He left properties for each of his children. He had cars, he had businesses. He ran a cabin company. My family had a, I guess, a nightclub, per se it was. It was on the verge of closing when I was a really young child, and it was a family-owned business.

My mom did the coat check, and my aunt ran the kitchen, and my uncles and my dad were the security guards, and all the wives and girlfriends were like the waitresses and waitstaff and stuff. It was a really cool scenario to grow up around. So just coming from that, and then now just like both of my brothers are entrepreneurs and they do multiple things. One of my brothers owns a barbershop and he's an artist, a painter. Other brother, he's like the, he's one of those like house flippers. He flips houses in every market.

Always involved with, like, back in the day before he knew what he wanted to do, he was always the type that would bring in a new network marketing type of deal, you know, sign up 3 friends, you know, make a million dollars overnight type of thing. You know, everybody's had a friend invite them to one of those network marketing events at some point. So just lo and behold, you know, that's just where a lot of my influences came from. I'm the youngest in my family as well, youngest grandchild and youngest of my siblings, so just being the youngest and seeing so many people just always in business. I mean, my dad's a contractor. He's been a contractor his whole life, entrepreneurial, independent contractor type of situation.

You know, all of those scenarios are what led to me being confident enough to pursue entrepreneurship on my own. And, you know, that was just watching them in general. I didn't know what their struggle was because again, I was a child, so that came on my own and we can dive into that, but just seeing them and their ability to just to know that it was an option because a lot of people don't know that it is entrepreneurship. They say, "Oh, you must just be pursuing that. That just must be a hobby." But I think that was one of the biggest things to see that as a child.

[05:51] Paul: [Speaker:BRANDON] Yeah, that's fascinating. This is a common thread. I've talked to a lot of self-employed people, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and many of them have family role models that they saw an alternative path. I'm wondering, even with that, were you getting advice either from other people that say, okay, they, they did that, or we did this, but perhaps maybe you should take a safer route?

[06:17] Tony Triumph: Um, not really. You know what's funny? It's like when something is done for so long, it's kind of like they you take it for granted. So like, a lot of times, like, I don't remember ever having the conversation about money or entrepreneurship with anybody in my family. It was kind of just like, okay, you see somebody tying their shoes a certain way, that's how you're going to tie your shoes. You see somebody wearing their hat or their clothing a certain way, you're going to do it.

It was just something that I emulated by nature. And I don't even think my family realized what they were doing. You know, I think it was just so ingrained in them as well that they just kind of did it. So it was a lot. It was a good and bad situation because I had to teach myself a lot when I got into entrepreneurship. And you look back and you say, well, wow, I could have— my father could have told me that, or my grandfather could have told me that, or whomever.

I mean, my mother is probably the least entrepreneurial person in my family. She's the person that will keep everything together and will say, if the going gets rough, get a job, stay in school. Um, you know, I thank her for my education. Um, but, um, I think that balance was probably the, the segment that put me where I am and has allowed me to stay afloat. Just knowing, I guess, being real, being real and knowing reality. But, um, you know, yeah, my family, they didn't— it was, it's, you— it was kind of taken for granted, you know, that 'Oh, okay, he's just going to know,' you know?

I just don't think they realized it was something that needed to— that could have been strengthened in terms of just a skill that I needed to know.

[07:55] Paul: It almost sounds like it wasn't something different for them, right? It was just what you do. You take care of your stuff, you provide for your family.

[08:05] Tony Triumph: Exactly. Everybody has a hustle. You get a job, you know, you have your community, you find something to sell. My grandfather had his fish business. And my mother worked there with him as a child. And it probably started off as something that, like somebody gave him the hookup on fish 'cause he was a merchant seaman.

So he probably knew somebody down at the docks that had the hookup. And then they started giving him so much fish every day or whatever the case may be. He said, oh, I can sell this. My community doesn't have access to this. And it's the same with my grandfather who was in real estate. He just, I think coming from his hardship, of being, I guess, maybe an African American male in the '70s, and then he passed in the '80s, but he accomplished most of his wealth in the '70s.

I think it was just him, like, I have 6 kids, I have a wife, and I have family members that depend on me. I want my family to be well. So there's just, I guess, a different mindset that you have to credit to it.

[09:10] Paul: So growing up in Baltimore, how did you get to the point thinking about, okay, maybe it's time for me to leave, maybe my journey is taking me elsewhere?

[09:21] Tony Triumph: Interesting. I've always been different. You know, I was, I was the type that was quiet in school, and everybody, you know, they liked me, and I was a cool guy, and I, you know, I wasn't like a nerd or anybody, but I was just always stuck in the middle, you know. And being— coming from such an urban environment, there are a lot— I always tell people, you know, there are a lot of things that I could not involve myself with out of fear of being ridiculed or being not accepted or whatever the case may be. And I slowly tapped into that stuff when I became 18 and I went off to college because the school that I went to was just down the road. It was maybe 40 minutes from my hometown.

So I was still in the vicinity of still the urban city. It was right between DC and Baltimore, the school that I went to. And at that point, things became a lot more accepting, like being a creative artist and things like that and pursuing your path. But there came a point where you grow within everything you do. And as you grow, you realize, well, I'm not gonna be able to scale this in this market. I actually teach on this now a lot, finding your market and going where you'll be able to make your money and setting up shop and then saying, "Peace, it was nice to know you, city of," AKA, some people might be saying that about New York now, hint hint.

But that's what I did. I could not stay in Maryland and pursue my path. It's interesting because I'm here a lot more now and I have friends that are here. It's a catch-22. They're older now and they're starting to, I guess, catch up to, I guess, some of the things that I was able to accomplish earlier on in my career and life as a late teen, in my late teens, early 20s. So it's just a really interesting shift to think about.

I could have waited to pursue my path and potentially my city would have caught up to the market opportunities that are available. Or I could have hustled my way into another city and worked my way from the bottom to the top and accomplished what I needed to accomplish and do all that stuff over a course of 10 years as opposed to waiting for it to progress in my city. So it's just an interesting thing to think about. It's, times have changed, but I don't regret anything.

[11:59] Paul: Yeah, and you've told me you left Baltimore with $300 in your pocket. Take me back to that moment, that week, that time. What was going through your head?

[12:10] Tony Triumph: My brain was scrambled eggs. I just remember having so many things going through my head. I mean, just fighting with my family, like, people in my network, you know, I'd built a really strong community. I'd been in Baltimore for 19 years, and then I'd gone away to college and I started my adult life for 2 years. And so, you know, I had friends, I had relationships, I had cool things going on. I had a part-time job, I was in school full-time, and you know, you just have all these communities, you know, within your network.

And it's like everyone is literally like, huh? What do you mean you're moving to New York? When? Oh, you must be going for the summer and coming back. And I'm like, no, I'm going next week. Yeah.

So in the career that I was pursuing, I had just, I started off as a model and getting into that industry and that career cycle is very, very quick-paced. And everyone kept saying, you gotta do it while you're hot. You gotta do it while you're hot. And I said, well, this is something that's always interested me since I was a kid. I'm gonna run after it. I knew it was gonna be just a stepping stone, but I was like, this can at least get me to New York, and I can do something fun and cool and interesting that I always will feel like I'm not being, I can be myself and whatever the case may be.

So pursuing that and going after that, there was just a lot of needle-nose people, oh, you can't let this new career take over your life, and what's in New York, can you afford it? It was a lot of, concerned. It was a lot of naysayers. It was a lot of, you know, mix of responses. But, you know, essentially it happened, and I guess it was meant to be.

[14:00] Paul: Bring up an interesting point. I've done a lot of coaching with people that, let's say, they've gone to top business schools, and one of the things I go through with them is, okay, what if you were designing a life where You wouldn't have to worry about people saying, "Well, somebody with a degree from here shouldn't be doing that." It's like thinking past what you're supposed to do. I think what holds people back a lot of times is basically just being afraid that people are going to say, "Oh, you're either wasting what you've done or somebody like you isn't supposed to do that." It's fascinating how those stories can hold us back from what we're doing.

[14:45] Tony Triumph: Definitely. I mean, those stories, I mean, it's, I say this generously, it's a, it's an even mix of naysayers mixed with general concern. Obviously my family was generally concerned, but a lot of people were just sharing their opinion. Sometimes people will lay things on you based on what they're feeling about themselves, and you really can't, you can't follow it because you'll, if, oh my goodness, it, you know, this is really an interesting conversation or topic rather because I, I really think moving into, you know, this next chapter in my life, literally like within the past year, I've just gotten to the point where I stopped— I don't want to say stop caring, but I've, I've learned how to, um, eat the fish and spit out the bones, per se.

You know, people will always tell you what they want to say to you, what they want you to hear, um, but they, they, they don't understand the girth excuse me, the girth of what you're going through. So, or the girth of the process, you know. I think people just get so caught up in what they want you to do that they really don't understand that what they're saying is doing you more harm than good. And sometimes they may want to do you more harm than good, but even if they don't, a lot of times people just kind of need to let you pursue your path and figure things out on your own, right?

[16:08] Paul: So age 19, early 20s, you're doing modeling, you're getting involved in a number of different things, you take different jobs. How are you making sense of it all? Like you've said, it's starting to make sense now, but how are you thinking about it back then? Were you just going after different opportunities? Were you following your energy? How are you thinking about it?

[16:31] Tony Triumph: That is the perfect point. You said it, you hit it on the nail. I was following my energy because, Paul, I had no idea what I was doing.

[16:39] Paul: Did you know it at the time, or is that just looking back how you think about it?

[16:43] Tony Triumph: I knew it at the time. I probably didn't know how to put it in the context that you just did, but I just knew something within me was like, no, you cannot stop. Like, you— and I don't— I mean, it's just, I guess I would always hear those sayings where people say, oh, you have to fail to make it, and I didn't even necessarily feel like I was failing. I just didn't feel like I was progressing. And so I guess me not being in New York or like, because it was so many times where I could have left New York and just gone back home, start, finish my life and continue where I left off. But it was just one of those moments where you, multiple moments actually, where I just was saying to myself, no, you can't leave, you can't leave.

And I never said this publicly. It was an internal voice. You cannot leave. I would literally be down to no food, down to my last $10, not even enough to make a withdrawal out of the ATM machine, and I would just stay in New York and just keep hustling and keep hustling. Like you said, working odd jobs, doing all these different things, even doing internships sometimes, having no idea why I was doing that internship, but realizing that, looking back, definitely, what that did to me. I mean, one of the internships that I got fired from, That woman, she stayed in my network for 5 years.

We had no communication and then I suddenly reached out to her when I started my business early. I've been in business for 5 years and this was 5 years ago. When I started my business 5 years ago, I reached out to her and I said, "Hey, I see you're doing events now. You're in the event venue space." We just kind of scheduled a coffee and then she turned into a client. And then from her being a client, that led to referrals. You know, that was supposed to happen because I look at some of the people that she's connected me to and it was not supposed to— I would not have connected with that person any other way.

And those people, you look at partnerships and relationships and you just, you really sometimes you have to connect the dots. You say, how did I meet you? And then how have you helped me? And then you just look at it all comes back to these moments like we were talking about where you were at the start of your journey and you literally had no idea what you were doing, but some kind of way you ended up working for someone or meeting someone And it just, 10 years later, it all turns around and it just makes perfect sense.

[19:04] Paul: And that's fascinating. She wasn't the person that fired you, was she?

[19:08] Tony Triumph: She was. She was the person that fired me.

[19:10] Paul: So what was, what was that conversation like the first time you guys reconnected?

[19:14] Tony Triumph: It was a little awkward. I think she— I feel as though it was awkward and she almost kind of acted like she didn't remember that I worked for her. She said, "Oh, I think you used to work for me." And I'm like, "Well, you know, I worked with you for 2 weeks and I got fired." And it was one of those moments where you knew you weren't really cracking up to what they wanted you to do. But it was, you know, she told me when I started, she said, "Oh, you're just bored. You want something to do." And I'm like, "No, I didn't say that." But really, I'm like, "I really just want an experience to work in production and see what it's like." I was, how old was I? I think I was 20, it was the year Obama got sworn in.

So I think I was—

[20:01] Paul: '09.

[20:02] Tony Triumph: Yeah, it was '09. So I was probably about 21 going on 22. And it literally, I started the day of his inauguration and I got fired 2 weeks later. And it was really interesting. It wasn't really like a bad, like, oh, we don't like what you're doing. It was just kind of like, oh, we're going in a different direction.

But as I started my business and I've had to let people go and things like that, I get it. You know, so it was just an experience, but I guess that's another motto. You always maintain relationships with people, good relationships, and stay connected no matter what, as long as things didn't go like completely sour and it's just you don't ever want to deal with this person again because they've just like offended you for life. But yeah, it was one of those moments, you know.

[20:46] Paul: Evolving in New York, you were involved in many different things, and I know having lived in New York, there's just so many things you can get involved in. How did you think about building your tribe?

[20:57] Tony Triumph: It was, it was a strategy towards it, but it didn't feel like a strategy at first. It felt like common sense. I would say things to— especially when I started as a model, like, I'd be on set and I'd meet a makeup artist, or I'd meet a, a photographer, or a producer, or whoever, or an editor. That was just the perfect example, um, because I always knew that I wanted to merge into being a writer and do journalism stuff eventually, even outside of being an entrepreneur, you know. I just, I had all these different branches. And of course, in my head, you mention things to people as you're growing up, and some of them say, "You'll never do that, hahaha." Those are some of the motivating things that are going through your head as you have these opportunities come through your life.

But I would be on set, or I'd be at an event, or heck, I might even be working as a waiter, you know, doing an odd job off behind the scenes because I need to pay rent, you know. You meet someone and that person, I always tuck them in, I've always had a Rolodex, and I'll tuck that person away in my Rolodex and I'll say, okay, you're someone that I want to stay in touch with. I might not talk to you for 2 or 3 years, but I'm going to stay connected to you on all social medias. That's been a golden thing. I mean, social media blew up at the start of my career. I guess most millennials can say that, that social media has played a big part in just their career advancement.

In general, digital media. So, you know, just that connectivity and maintain, like, literally everyone that I met that I felt a connection with or felt was valuable, I stayed in touch with them. And I say it was common sense, but it wasn't because a lot of people would work with so many top people. And I'd say, "Oh, you met such and such." And they'd say, "Oh, I don't know them in that way." But I'm like, "Well, how? You spent 8 hours on set with them." Like, I would at least have their something, something, something. So people weren't in my lane that I started in, in that path.

They were not really responsible or responsive to networking. And it was just super, super natural to me, super organic. And so I think that has been one of the main things as like, you know, I invited an editor to an event that I did for a client last year and he was just like, man, you're all grown up now. And I'm like, well, wow, yeah. He said, "Yeah, I'd love to stay in touch." And it's really interesting to have those conversations because literally it's a shift in power as well. Now that doesn't do anything for my ego, but it's just a really interesting thing to notice, the shift in power.

Someone that used to book you is now kind of, the tables have turned. You're kind of inviting them and booking them for their services. So I think that's been one of the main interesting things. It's just wearing so many hats and then realizing the shifts in power and like with even with the internship that I told you about and then the situation with the editor coming to my event, things like that. Those are probably one of those, those are the golden moments where you're just like, wow, like I've really done a lot and it's really paid off.

[24:05] Paul: When did the pieces start to make sense, at least a little bit?

[24:10] Tony Triumph: The pieces started to make sense, I remember I have, I don't really have any family in New York, but I do have a god sister that moved there the same time as I did. And I used to stay on her couch so much when I would be in between. Like when I would travel, I would give up my place, put everything in storage, and let's say I moved to Paris or London for like a quarter, like a couple months. So I'd move to LA or something just 'cause I wanna try out a new market. And this is that 21 to 25-year-old stage where you're, it's like the meat of your career. It's like the bones of your experience and everything you're going through doesn't make sense, but it's gonna pay off the most.

These are the years where you're just like scrambling for money and you're trying to— you're going broke chasing your dreams and all that type of stuff. So in between that, I would stay on her couch. And I remember I did my first big project where I was paid a large sum of money. It was like my first time somebody had written me a check more than $10,000 to do a job for them. And I was putting together the event and I was responsible for everything. And I remember her walking in and saying, she stared at me, she said, "Wow, Tony, it's finally starting to make sense to me.

Like, I get your journey." And like, I could have, I didn't know, I wanted to cry, I wanted to hug her, I wanted to scream, I wanted to jump for joy. I just, it was a moment and I'll never forget that for someone to acknowledge that because For a long time, it didn't even make sense to me. And I'm just still at that point, this was probably 3 or 4 years ago. And at that point, I'm still kind of halfway on the treadmill, halfway off where I can see the progress coming in and paying off. And that was one of the shifting points. It wasn't her just saying that, but it was when I started to feel it as well.

And I started seeing fruits of my labor come together, but just her comment was just very symbolic to that time. So probably 3, 4 years ago, it was when it finally just, you know, all the hats that I've worn, all the jobs that I've done, and being an editor, being a model, being in front of the camera, pursuing public relations at one point, being in marketing and brand ambassadorship for so many years, and, you know, my schooling and just taking the promotional marketing jobs in New York and just every industry that you could think of, all the internships. It just, it, it was finally coming full circle, and I was just, I said, wow, wow, this is, this is the moment. This is, this is my time. I have a company, and everything that I've done, all these working for other people, it's finally paid off. I had no idea how it was going to happen, but it's happened.

[27:00] Paul: And there's so many different pieces there. So I heard editing, marketing, modeling. You're behind the camera, in front of it. You're bringing people together and producing all that stuff. And at some point, you're, you're no longer actually competing with anyone else, right? Because you have such a unique combination of skills and experiences, you're actually just battling against how do you bring those together better.

So how are you thinking about that today?

[27:27] Tony Triumph: Interesting. Um, I mean, that's where I just had this conversation earlier. That's kind of where the Triumphant Group comes into play. Someone asked me, what do you see your business in 5 years? I say, I see my business being a platform. A platform, a business that serves as a playground for a creative entrepreneur that always has a ton of ideas up his sleeve.

My dream would be to have a killer team that I can just delegate all my projects and goals and visions to. And we can just run with them collectively. The traditional agency model has taken a really interesting turn for the worse. I mean, just from the time that I started the Triumphant Group, I was attempting to run it as a traditional agency, going after clients every quarter, things like that, bidding on projects. And I started noticing agencies that weren't in the branding space or branding agencies that weren't in the creative space building these one-stop-shop powerhouses. And I was just completely turned off and I said, you know what, this is not the direction I want to go in.

So, you know, my vision now is to just, for the Triumphant Group to encompass being a platform, you know, for everything, resources for people to build their brands and a platform for me to, push out my creative endeavors, whether it be a new product or a new idea or a new service that I put on automation. That is where I see myself waking up and then just going to work as this awesome playground where I have my team just ready and willing to just run after everything that I'm interested in doing.

Of course, every team member would have their specific duty and strong point, even if it was to say, "No, Tony, that's not something that we can do right now because we have this to focus on." I've served as that person for people before, especially if I get contracted to be in a biz dev role for 6 months and it's like, I remember a CEO telling me, "The main thing I need you to do is tell me what I shouldn't be doing." I said, "Wow, that's really interesting." That gives me so much clarity as an entrepreneur that I'm not alone with just coming up with all these ideas. Ideas that I need to personally lay down and be strategic with and put into a program so that they're just not floating around and that the company still maintains itself. That would be essentially where, how I pull everything together.

[30:20] Paul: When you work with people, what do people say that they would reflect back and say, Tony is just the one person to go to for this?

[30:33] Tony Triumph: I like to say I'm a great connector.

[30:35] Paul: Yeah, but would your clients say that?

[30:40] Tony Triumph: Yes, they definitely would. They definitely would. That is my strong point.

[30:46] Paul: And what's— do you have something that stands out? Just like, here is the types of value you add, like here's an example of a connection. I made that was just something that couldn't be done otherwise?

[31:01] Tony Triumph: Yeah, I see it goes back to one of those points where you feel like something is common sense, but it's really not. So when I— the way I calculate my network, it's very, very organized mentally and physically. So of course I have everything and, you know, CRM tools and all that stuff. And I have great mailing lists set up and organized. But Also in my head, you know, when I meet someone, I'm instantly, it just flashes in my head, oh, I need to connect you with this person so that, because she's working on this project and you're working on this project and you guys will complement each other. And I was doing that for so long that I didn't realize that there was, you know, that people actually paid.

So going back to my travels and just living overseas and things like that, For the first couple of years in business, I don't think I mentioned this, 70% of my clients were overseas, and it was because I had so many connections in New York City that they could benefit from. And I, it was so, it was so like interesting to me that people would actually pay someone just for an introduction or pay someone just, hey, I need to meet 3 people in this sector and 3 people in this sector and then 1 person in this sector, and I'll pay you this amount of money. That was a huge business model for me and it's something that I'm actually looking to move into. I mentioned producing automated services just a minute ago, if you have a question.

I think that is one of the strongest and most interesting points where people would say to me like, "Hey, if you want to continue doing this, I'll put you on retainer just to do this every quarter because this has been very beneficial for me." Just because you're in the market, again, taking everything for granted, I'm assuming that have access to New York because it's such a global international city, direct flights in and out every day. But people, I mean, time is money, you know, and as I've matured as a person, I've realized that people will pay for convenience. So if I'm in a market and I'm able to provide you, you know, this service, even if it's such an elementary service that people will say, hey, I can do it on my own, they'll pay for it. So I think that's probably the strongest thing that I could think of that people like now.

If that's the thing that I want to be known for, probably not. I want to be known for being the brand game changer, the guy that was so innovative that he was able to take this brand from point A to point B because he implemented something that they had no idea about internally. But most people will say Tony is the connector. I used to be called that from my first year in New York just because I was It would be people that were in the game 10, 20 years longer than me, and I'd say, "Oh, I know this person. You should meet them." And these people would be intersecting and gigs would commence and new opportunities, and some of these people are still friends to this day. So that's definitely always been my strong point, just being a people connector.

It may sound super duper easy, but it's not. It's like being a recruiter. I guess, like, you're not going to connect everyone to everyone, but to know everything from personality types to culture, cultural differences, personality types, what this person's working on versus what this person is working on, I mean, it's an art to it, and it comes by nature, so.

[34:35] Paul: That's amazing. You touched on travel. What are some of the impactful experiences or reflections you've had while being in different countries, different places?

[34:47] Tony Triumph: I would say, I think moving to London and Paris were probably the biggest game changers for my career. When I moved to London, I was, I mean, I'd always dreamed of living in Europe, even from my first year as a model, people were saying, oh, you should be in Europe, you know, you're so edgy, you're tall and skinny, da da da da. You know, I said, all right, I'm going to London, I'm gonna try this out. Nothing happened the way that it was supposed to. Like, I got to London again. I don't know how I survived London with $3,000 for 2 months, 2 and a half months, and a missed flight, you know, living off of pounds for 2 and a half months.

But it worked out. And, you know, it was really interesting because, again, connected to so many people that most people would have just let fly by the wayside. You meet somebody at a coffee shop or a bar, and then that person, you allow that person to become your mentor, and then that person just happens to be the whatever at a bank, you know, and then, okay, totally irrelevant to me as a creative, but 10 years later in your entrepreneurial journey, this person could become an investor for one of your clients. You know, so, you know, just being able to travel the globe and then you stay in touch with people and then someone says, okay, oh, I see you're doing this 10 years later. Oh, I have a friend in this space and they're, you know, birds of a feather flock together.

So this is, you know, act— this is a really good exercise and, you know, being able to source through leads by who refers them to you, you know. So if you are, you know, if you know somebody has been in your network for a long time and and this is the person that you put a lot of value on, you know that if they're referring a lead to you, then this person is coming correct and it's not someone that you really have to, you know, really spend a lot of time sourcing through. So I think meeting those quality people and traveling, and one of my mentors even said this, Tony. She said, Tony, if you ever are somewhere on business, don't be so segregated where you can't blend in with the locals. Go to a coffee shop, go to a hotel, just sit in the lobby, have drinks with people, meet them, stay connected.

You have to build those relationships globally because when it comes time to doing business internationally, you'll be able to have such a strong selling point of saying, "Hey, I know this person in XYZ country that has a boutique that would love to carry your fashion brand," or, "I'm going to this place and I need a driver," you know, and whatever the case may be. I get emails all the time, "Hey man, I haven't talked to you in 3 years, but we connected on social media." I see you went to Paris. I'm going there just for the day because I have a 24-hour layover. Is there someone that you could connect me to? And then because I connected this guy to a driver and I put some money in his pocket, that was a free ride airport transfer for me on my next— when I went to Paris and, you know, a few months after that.

So, you know, you just want to maintain these business relationships, you know, globally, A, because they they bring value to you. It's a million reasons why people may not want to talk to you, but when you show value, it could be traveling globally, it could be being the connector, it just brings so much out of it. You don't want to take a conversation for granted. I may plug someone to something and a week later they'll just be telling me thank you, and then that little thank you will spark a conversation, and then we found another way to work together, or you've— out of that conversation, you've sent me another lead or another referral for my business. So, you know, you just, you really just want to keep— I feel that whenever I travel globally, it's just always something positive comes out of it. Like, somebody sees it.

It just seems so— I, I, you know, again, naive. I feel like everybody's traveling, everybody is always on a flight, but for some reason, every time I travel It just, it brings something out of it.

[39:02] Paul: So, you know, I mean, even just interacting with you the couple times we've interacted, it definitely feels genuine when you're connecting with people. I feel, and the way you're describing a lot of your stories, is there's an optimism and a belief in people. Like, okay, where does that come from? And does that resonate?

[39:22] Tony Triumph: It does resonate. Um, and when I, you know, that was very confirming when you just said that. Yeah, I mean, I genuinely want people to do well. I think because I come from a space of just love. This may sound ushy-gushy, but I just come from a space of love. And when that love is given, you know, especially young— not saying that I had a perfect life, but it just— I genuinely just want people to do well.

And it also comes from just I guess being a visionary, like I'm a builder by nature. So, you know, everything that I've done, as you can see, has come from literally flatland. I didn't fall into any of this. Nothing was given to me. I had to, even if it came from a connection, I had to express some type of interest in it or some type of like girth or, you know, things of that nature. So it comes genuinely, you know, it's really not something that, I feel like I need to have my hand out all the time for, and it's really interesting that we have this conversation because Oprah says it all the time, you know, when you don't focus on money, it comes to you.

And that's one of the main ways that I make money through my business is connecting people, and it's just super duper organic. I don't, sometimes I feel crazy invoicing people for that service, and it's just like, I love it. I would do it regardless. But thank you. So yeah, it's just— I genuinely— I can't— I don't know if you've experienced this, but sometimes you get something and it rises up in you and you can't hold it in, right? Like sometimes as a consultant, I'll meet people and they'll just— it's supposed to be a 15-minute coffee intro meeting and we'll end up sitting for an hour and a half because I just can't stop consulting them, you know?

I just— if I see it and it's beautiful and I want you to do well, I I'm just going to blurt it out. I can't help it sometimes. I have mentors and colleagues that get on me all the time, "Tony, stop giving people so much of your time." I can't not hold it in.

[41:30] Paul: No, that totally resonates. I think especially even the people I've talked to who are self-employed, that's almost the only sane way to approach it because you're not getting paid just to show up to the same thing over and over again. You actually need to find things that energize you. And the things that energize you, you're going to want to give naturally, right? That's creating, that's art, that's the gifts of what we can offer. And I mean, that totally resonates with me.

So many things I've done in my coaching business, I've transferred to a gift economy approach because I just love it so much. And a lot of the transacting kind of took power away from it. I'm still experimenting with it. Definitely resonates, and it's nourishing just to have those conversations too.

[42:21] Tony Triumph: Most definitely.

[42:23] Paul: So definitely would love to talk about slowing down, and I'm gonna quote something I stumbled across that you wrote. And you said, I think this is the end of 2016, you said, in the jungle, or in other words, our cities, it's so easy to lose track, lose ourselves, lose our minds. All things fade and now move faster than ever. What does that mean to you? Where were you when you were writing that and how are you thinking about that now?

[42:53] Tony Triumph: I was at a place where I was ready for life to slow down. I felt like a lot of opportunities were coming my way and they— a lot of opportunities were coming my way and I just didn't know how to handle them all. Oh man, it was just one of those things where I just needed to slow down in life. I was missing opportunities by trying to chase everything. So it's one of those moments where you realize like, okay, hey, you have 10 things on your plate, excuse me, you have 10 things on your plate that are coming to your life. And you have 10 things on your plate that are coming in your life and you can't pursue all 10 because all 10 don't serve you, A, and if you try to pursue all 10, you're gonna kill half of them trying to pursue all of them.

So it was just one of those moments where you really needed to just like, I needed rather to pull back and just say, hey, you know what, Tony, focus on what's important and cut all the other small stuff out and just let life, let things serve you. If something's not serving you, put it— I just talked about giving, giving, giving, giving. That serves me as well. I don't feel like something is pulling away from me, pulling anything away from me like a vampire, because it's energizing me. You know, but if you're trying to pursue all these different things, just kind of just have to step back, you know.

[44:37] Paul: And how are you creating space now in your life?

[44:42] Tony Triumph: Man, I am prioritizing. It really comes a point where you just have to prioritize. Prioritizing is probably the most important thing that you could do. And I read a lot of business books now. I'm in a business book club and I do They do a lot of, they just put a lot of things from articles to books on our radar, and nearly all of the business books say something, or articles say something about prioritizing your time. There's this one book I read called No Excuses, it's by a guy named Brian Tracy, and he has this approach where it's like you number your priorities, and A is like everything, you can only put 3, A1, A2, A3.

And you focus on that and you get those things done and you knock it out. And then you get B1, B2, B3. And once you finish the A priorities, A priorities are usually like small subtasks that you can knock out quickly that are going to lead you to the completion of a bigger project or task. And then the B1, B2, B3 is, you know, important tasks, but, you know, not as important as A1, A2, A3. And then C1, C2, C3. C1, C2, C3 rather are the projects that if you don't get to them today, it won't kill your productivity, but at least you know the next day those are there, you know.

Just following that prioritizing method, it's helped me so much, you know. I can get so much more things done on my plate, off my plate rather in a day, and it feels good. You know, that's amazing.

[46:20] Paul: So feeling this is a good point to transition out, and I want to give you a question that you actually asked Deepak Chopra. And you don't have to give me 5 things, but you asked him, what are 5 key things that we can do to change our lives now? What would— I know it's a big question, but what, what would you leave us with?

[46:41] Tony Triumph: Okay. Um, So number 1 would be to tell yourself that success is owed to you. Success is totally owed to you, you know, and don't feel guilty about seeking success. There's a quote, I don't know who to credit it to, I found it, the supermodel Iman, she had it quoted. I don't know if she was quoting someone else, but but it goes, the secret to success is being like a good lover, not always available. So just know that success is owed to you.

There was a point in my life where I felt guilty about being successful. Another one is focus, which breaks down to follow one course until you're successful. And this is something that hits near and dear to me because I felt as though, as I, you know, I don't have any regrets, many, I feel like everything that I've gone through has led me to where I am. But if I could have focused, narrowed in on a little bit more on each of the things that I wanted to accomplish, I probably could have accomplished them a lot sooner. So, definitely focus. Do what you love.

Oprah says this all the time. Do what you love and let the finances catch up with your life. If you come into, if you're coming into a career path just for money, it's not gonna work out for you. Chase the opportunity, chase the vision, but don't chase the money. And the next one would be stop making life so difficult. Make things easy for yourself.

And that could break down to when, Sometimes we just create more things, more challenges for ourself than are actually there. I think you touched on this earlier. It's really not about, once you get to the point where you're in your own lane and you're not really competing with anyone else, you start to compete with yourself. So it becomes, you become the problem for yourself. So don't do that. Stop making life so difficult.

Do you, but don't make doing you more difficult than it should be. And what would be a fourth one? Definitely your network. Like I touched on network a lot today. Let it inspire you, let it motivate you, and let it promote you. Don't be afraid of your network.

Your network is your net worth. Took me, it seems like it wouldn't have taken me a long time to learn that, It actually did because I had this big network, but I was afraid to monetize it. Like I mentioned, I didn't think it was something that people, I didn't think it was an opportunity to monetize your network. So, it just was something that passed me. But you really have to let it promote you. And then also, I meet people sometimes, just another quick story, I meet people, and I would be afraid to reach out to them.

But now I meet people, I've met CEOs, I've met top execs at places like HBO, CEOs and founders that have sold their companies for millions of dollars. And I meet them and they give me their card and I'm like, it was the same thing with Arianna Huffington. I reached, she gave me her email address, I said, she's not gonna respond. She responded. I met another guy, He responded, you know, scheduled a call with him. You know, it's just one of those things, you know.

You just have to go for it. These are people and don't be afraid to approach. And, you know, if you want to meet someone, "Hey, can you mentor me?" "Oh, I'm too busy." "Oh, maybe we could just do one call a season," or something like that. Just don't be afraid to be a go-getter. These are people, go after it. The least they could do is say no, but the best they can do is help you out.

Even if it's not in a way everybody thinks it's going to be financial or money or they're going to give you a job or invest in your business or something. No, knowledge is the best thing that they can give you, advice. So that's that, those are my 5 tidbits.

[51:14] Paul: I love it, you did it. And where can people find out more about you, where do you want to direct people if they want to tap into your super connector network?

[51:27] Tony Triumph: Definitely, you can reach out to me, Tony, I'm Tony, TonyTriumph.com of course, or TheTriumphantGroup.com. We have a resource section launching this week, I have one of my team members working on, we'll be doing amazing brand building blog posts every week, I have an amazing book coming out I can't drop the name yet, but it's still going through all the trademark and stuff. But I have an amazing book that will be coming out that will help, that will be the premier guide to helping you launch, build, grow your brand at whatever stage it's in. We have some amazing advice from top CEOs, top brand builders, top agencies. So it's, it's going to be good. I'm really excited about that project coming for this fall.

So definitely look out for that. We'll have all the information on the triumphagroup.com coming up in the next few weeks, by end of summer at the latest. But I'm really, really excited about that. And yeah, if anybody wants to connect with me with social media, you can just type in my name, Tony Triumph. On Instagram, I'm Tony Triumph Official. On Twitter, I'm Tony Triumph 10.

Yeah, I'm happy to connect with anyone that's interested. I'm a very approachable guy, very people person.

[52:48] Paul: Fantastic. Well, I really appreciate you sharing the story today and being so open.

[52:56] Tony Triumph: Thank you, Paul. It was my pleasure to join.

[53:05] Paul: Thank you for listening to the podcast. This has been an incredibly fun experiment for me, and I'm loving talking to such incredible guests. I've received some awesome feedback and I appreciate all the suggestions and just the praise. I'm kind of blown away. Uh, it's just so amazing to have such positive support. I hate asking for further support, but would love if you could share or recommend the podcast to one friend.

If you are inclined to support more, I've actually set up a Patreon page, which I am experimenting with. And potentially going to release some exclusive content and with the goal of building a community of people who are passionate of making sense of the future of work and enabling people to do work that matters to them. To learn more, you can check that out at bondlesspod.com. Again, thanks for the support. And if you have ideas, questions you want me to answer on a future Q&A podcast, or just suggestions We'd love to hear them all. Please email me at paul@think-boundless.com.

Thanks for listening to The Pathless Path podcast. I really appreciate you listening and spending time with my show. If you want to support my work further, you can do that first and foremost by checking out my books, The Pathless Path and recently published Good Work. Good Work, you can find that at paulmillerd.com/goodwork. And you can also check out links to my book, Pathless Path, there as well. In addition, if you're somebody that is on a weird path, on a pathless path, or even just wants to meet people outside of your bubble, you might enjoy The Pathless Path community.

It's an emerging group of over 300 people from around the world who are sharing ideas about how to fit work into their lives in different ways. You can also find that on pathlesspath.com or in links in my newsletter or in the links in the show notes below. Thank you for listening and have a fantastic day.