Man Overseas Podcast

Jim Corfield is one of those guys you don't meet everyday. We were chatting at the hotel pool in Playa Del Carmen, MX, but it felt like we were on bar stools in a British pub.

I was drawn to him. It could've been his ability to tell a good story—a rare and underrated skill set. Which too often reminds me of a sense of humor in that everybody thinks they have it. Nonetheless, five minutes of chatting with Jim and I thought I've gotta get this Brit on the pod. He's got "it."

He's a married father of three and an adept risk-taker (my kind of guy). Quick example—six years ago he moved his family from small town Britain to Vancouver. On a whim. Now he's living out his childhood dream, traveling at a break-neck pace and eating it up like he's never had anything but British food.

We talk about getting rich slowly; buying assets in lieu of things that depreciate in value; envy and resentment for success in Britain; similarities in the underclasses of America & Britain; how expensive Vancouver is nowadays; real estate investing; Jim's grand-dad's best advice; Kobe Bryant, Joe Dimaggio & Michael Jordan.

This was one of my Top 3 episodes all-time. Hope you'll see why, and enjoy!

My guest is Alla Bondarenko. She’s an art historian and gemologist from St. Petersburg, Russia. She works remotely for a Russian company in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Her two passions are psychology & travel.

Lucky for us, I'm not interested in gemology, so we mostly discuss travel & psychology. No applause please—it's my job to ensure each episode is worth listening to. But this one, especially, you'll want to copy the link and share with friend(s).

Why?

Because Alla is the smart & opinionated friend, who, if you got her in a room to "pick her brain" (like many people say they want with you over coffee sometime—but you never hear from again), you'd be like: "Holy moley—this girl's been holding out on me."

She doesn't volunteer what she knows, but with a little prodding, you realize the wealth of information in her noggin. In Texas, we'd say, "Look at the big 'ol brain on Alla."

Enter Man O. Perhaps the brightest Christmas light on the tree—at least during the USSR years when Christmas was largely erased from the calendar thanks to anti-religious policies during the Soviet Union years. But we're back! Notice the picture at the bottom of the show notes.

For this episode, I reserved a private room in a co-working space. And the two of us dive-deep into:

• Alla growing up in Russia

• Russia-Ukraine conflict

• masculinity / femininity

• fake Covid vaccine cards

• the years following Soviet Union's implosion

• Alla's opinion of Putin

For those of you with no patience—you're either a bad doctor or lack self-regulation—at around 30:00 minutes in you'll hear a unique opinion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Or maybe you have a 27-minute commute tomorrow morning and want to hear a fearless Russian's take on Putin that'll fire you up for the day. If so, you've come to the right place.

You can catch the rest of this podcast episode on your way home, on a walk, or at the gym. Aren't podcasts the greatest invention since drip coffee? You can listen anytime, anywhere.

When I start asking Alla about the first time she'd heard about "the conflict," she says she didn’t believe it at first. When friends told her the news—she thought she was hearing the product of mass-media manipulation. It took several days for her to finally believe it was in fact true.

We also talk about her troubles working remotely as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For example, since Visa, Mastercard, and all other money-transferring services are now blocked for Russians like her, she says she must be paid in a Russian account—but then she immediately turns her rubles into cryptocurrency.

Since the war began in February 2022, she says the exchange rate of Russian rubles (RUB) has plummeted. Right now, she's taking a 20% pay cut at work. But for many weeks—immediately following the conflict—she suffered what amounted to a 50% pay cut, almost overnight.

We also share our thoughts on topics such as: travel, dating, meditation, and much more.

Having Alla on the podcast was my biggest "score" of '22. Suffice it to say, you'll learn something new. You'll also nearly guaranteed to hear an opinion you haven't heard before.

She's incredibly bright, well-read and possesses that singular trait I value most in a podcast guest—she speaks candidly & without reservation.

No guest will be joining me for this episode. Instead, by popular request, I'm revisiting the blog post I wrote called: 40 Pieces of Life Advice for 20-Year Old Me.

Positive feedback received from the article continues to be overwhelming, in the best way possible, and much appreciated.

Tens of thousands of you have read the piece. And I've been told by dozens of readers that it's been the most helpful article I've written to date.

So let's take a deeper dive, shall we?!

I'll cover points not covered in the first "deep dive" solo episode.

Hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording!

Life advice discussed:

• [#3] Don’t bother telling people what you plan to do—just do it.

• [#5] You don’t need a leadership title to be a leader. If you see potential in someone who doesn’t see it, offer to help them.

• [#13] Words are powerful—none more powerful than, “I love you.”

• [#17] True self-confidence is rare because it’s hard to attain and there are no shortcuts.

• [#18] Our world is filled with people who are 1) unaware 2) have no desire for the truth 3) can’t even bear to tell themselves the truth.

• [#28] Interpersonal skills are at an all-time low thanks to 10 years of human screen-addictions.

• [#29] Listen more than you talk, and don’t talk to talkers.

• [#30] You’ll live a more peaceful life expecting incompetence and being pleasantly surprised than the reverse. Unless someone works with you or for you, expect incompetence.

• [#31] Happiness is your responsibility

• [#32] God may have made Hollywood celebrities a thing just to demonstrate that fame & fortune don’t make for a happy life.

• [#34] Two things to study continuously: communication & human nature.

• [#36] Get to acceptance as fast as possible.

• [#40] Invest well. You can’t believe what you can see & do once you get money out of the way.

In this episode, we discuss Mr. Sperier's time during the war. He wanted to be a naval aviation pilot "on the carriers." He recalls how they faked his colorblind test so he could advance to the next round of screening.

It wasn’t until the next physical exam that he was busted. He'd have to give up on his dream of serving in the Naval Air Force and join the Merchant Marine Cadet Corp.

He finished basic training and started his maritime training as a cadet in King’s Point, New York, which he says was "heaven on earth." Why? There were so many women to choose from. Apparently, all the 19-20 year old men were off at war, which meant those men training at King's Point had their choice of young gals.

Mr. Sperier didn't take many trips to Europe—his deployment called for only 3 months of sea duty. Though he does remember fondly the brand new T2 tanker he rode as part of the convoy to Britain.

We also talk about his career after the war ended. He worked as a test engineer at Pratt & Whitney, then got word the United States planned to go to the moon.

He said he had to figure out a way to work on "the moon shot"—a project he definitely wanted to part of. At Chrysler, he helped to build the Saturn rocket that propelled the first man to the moon. The rest, as they say, is history.

My guest is listener-favorite, Jerrard Parfait. Last time he was on the show—it was the most-downloaded episode of the year (2021).

Parfait is someone I respect for his relationship-building skills, parenting style, compartmentalization regarding risk-taking (which is a very underrated skill set btw). Not to mention he's a smart man and great conversationalist.

In this episode, we discuss small talk vs. engaging conversations. Being a good conversationalist is another important skill set. I'm not sure how I personally picked up the ability to have beyond surface-level conversations quickly, but I think it has something to do with where I was raised (South Louisiana). I've always believed people in the Deep South are better conversationalists. And maybe that's because when you're living in a small town, you're sort of forced to have more conversations with people, whereas it's easier to hide and be anonymous in a big city.

We talk a lot about Joe Rogan. And for good reason. He may be the most popular media figure in the country right now. His success has been largely dependent on his ability to have great conversations.

We each share a few of our favorite JRE episodes. I ask Parfait about what he calls “The Joe Rogan Effect,” which is basically when someone hears a thought or opinion on a JRE episode and regurgitates what they've heard as if the opinion were their own.

But we share thoughts on many topics—most of them listed below. Toward the end, we dedicate an entire section to parenting questions & answers. And since Parfait's been on the show before, I give him a new set of fun questions to answer.

Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!

My guest is Tyler Aaron Johnson. He's a former Division I student-athlete at Nicholls State University. He played a big role on a defensive front that led the nation in sacks and tackles for loss in 2017 & 2018. In Taylor's senior season, they won the 2018 Southland Conference Championship!

Tyler & I first met when I was invited to speak to their football team in 2018. Since then, he's become part of my one-on-one coaching program, which he says has provided invaluable insight on his journey to F.I.R.E (Financial Independence, Retire Early).

He's a recent grad of Medical Sales College in Dallas, TX. And in recent weeks, he's landed a job in the cardiac division of an industry-leading company.

How 'bout that? Just landed his first "real-world" job and already he's fully aware of FIRE.

Don’t bet against this dude getting to FIRE. Fast. He’ll continue to keep his expenses low even once big paychecks start rolling in. That's when he'll start saving & investing a large portion of his income.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of "not letting a bad play boil over into a bad day." It’s a quote he got from a good football coach. He said coaches will scold you for a bad play, but they did not want you to let a bad play roll over into the next play.

Tangentially, Tyler says just because you’re not doing well in one aspect of life doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means you have something you need to work on. So keep persisting, be diligent, and compartmentalize.

We also discuss the peace that comes from finding joy (vs. chasing happiness). Tyler says happiness is important, but it’s a fleeting emotion based on where you are and who’s around you at the time.

Joy, on the other hand, is a state of being. It’s knowing your good days are going to be better than your bad days. He believes living with this disposition comes from God, and says other people call it "zen," adding, "It’s something you can definitely work toward."

Excellent discussion with a young guest I’m proud to mentor. Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!

Brandon Ruttley married about as well as a man can (I've known his wife since we were 10 years old). He's also the father of three beautiful girls, ages 10,7 & 3.

Affectionately known as "Ruttley," or just "Rutt," in recent years he's more than quadrupled his income.

Nowadays, we'd call a man of Rutt's calibre a "dude" (we used to call them "studs").

And I haven't even mentioned—Ruttley is a former 5'9" walk-on Division I basketball player of a Caucasian persuasion.

"Walk-ons" have a different mentality from the rest. Ruttley now sells commercial insurance, where I'm told, "he kills it—everyday."

Prior to his role in insurance, Ruttley spent seven years in athletics' administration as the #2 at Nicholls State University.

His position as Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs at Nicholls State (2010-2016) meant overseeing all fundraising, ticket sales, sponsorships, marketing, football scheduling, and facility planning initiatives for the athletics' programs.

When his own plan to become Athletic Director didn't pan out, he wasted no time using connections he'd made over the years to quickly find another opportunity.

One thing I admire about Ruttley. He's a master relationship-builder. In fact, he believes, "relationships rule the world," adding, "without strong relationships—we never unlock our full potential."

In this episode, he shares his secrets to building strong relationships. Secrets which have helped him become a "Peak Producer" for his management of several large accounts—not just in Louisiana—but all across the country.

In this episode, we talk about how he became a fan of the Man Overseas podcast. He explains how the show has helped him to become financially prepared.

For example, he's set up Roth IRAs for he & wife, Georgia. He now has 529 plans for his daughters. Enrolled in a 401K plan for himself and setup taxable brokerage accounts—all over the past six months.

He also reveals that he'd never read a single book about personal finance before listening to the podcast, but has now read several. (All of this is music to my ears, of course!)

We also discuss the book Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Meg Meeker, M.D., which Brandon generously sent me in the mail last summer.

One of the key takeaways from the book is the importance of improving your communication skills. People often think of communication skills as being more articulate or having an extensive vocabulary, but it's so much more than that.

The author talks about how you say something is as important as anything you say. She uses this example. Asking your daughter: "I just can't imagine being your age—what's it like being a 13-year old girl right now?"

Genius. It's open-ended. It demonstrates empathy and compassion. And most importantly, it's likely to get your daughter talking without feeling threatened.

My copy of Strong Fathers, Strong Daugthers has as many highlights as any other book I own. Ruttley and I have a chapter-by-chapter discussion that would benefit any #girldad too busy to read an entire book.

There's a reason Ruttley & I have become better friends through the years. It's the elevated quality of our conversations and the desire to get better every day. In this episode, we have a tremendous chat that I'll cherish for a long time. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I’ve wanted Kurt Kristynik as a guest on the podcast for a long time. Interestingly, as Vice President of Buffaloe Floors, Kurt runs a 3rd generation family business—a bit of a black swan considering America's startup craze.

Thinking back. I've respected Kurt's business acumen since the day I invited him to speak at our real estate organization almost 20 years ago. A presentation he nailed, by the way, due to his effective communication skills, humility and relatability.

Kurt is also Director of Rake City Cypress Baseball, an organization he started from scratch in Spring 2017. The program, located in Cypress, Texas, is where he and wife, Marti, raise their son, Cole, and daughter, Chance.

In his spare time, Kurt likes to deer hunt, fish and bar-b-que with friends & fam. In addition to his role as Director of Rake City Cypress Baseball, he operates three high school travel teams every fall and summer.

Yet none of that is why I wanted Kurt on the podcast. Don't get me wrong. Operating & growing a family business is no small feat. Nor is building an elite baseball program or raising a beautiful family.

But for me, you sit beside Kurt, talking baseball, drinking beers—with or without respect for an arbitrary twenty-one number—or have him pull you "under his giant wing" to remind you the importance of where you came from.

Of tradition.

Of why relationships don't die, they deepen.

Of keeping in contact—regardless where you happen to be in the world.

Most importantly, it's Kurt's presence. His way of being that elevates those around him.

It's a presence that's always conveyed to me: "You go be you, 'lil bro,' I trust you. Together, we'll get this thing figured out."

By the way, Rake City isn't a place, although Alex Bregman may beg to differ. He and several teammates started calling Albuquerque, New Mexico, "Rake City," due to the amount of hitters his hometown produced.

For the uninitiated, "rake," in baseball parlance, means frequently barreling that MF! If you need help there, this episode isn't for you. Rake City "prided themselves on playing the game the right way, producing great teammates and young men who are going to be ready for the next levels of baseball and life."

Four guests join me for this important episode: Matthew Ory, Preston Hayes, Barry Sartin Jr., and David Ardoin. All are highly-respected civil & criminal attorneys who offer litigation services to individuals and businesses.

Matt Ory & David Ardoin have been working together for 10 years at AMO Trial Lawyers. Their practice areas are: criminal defense, medical malpractice, and personal injury.

Preston Hayes & Barry Sartin Jr. are partners at HMS Law Firm, where they help clients primarily with business litigation, construction law, personal injury and trial presentation.

In this episode, we focus the first hour on Hurricane Ida: the recovery, price gouging, importance of keeping a paper copy of your insurance policy—which Matt believes is the most simplistic lesson learned from this recent storm to hit Louisiana). Why is that? Reason is your homeowners' policy will be needed when contacting an insurance adjuster following a major storm.

My guests also give recommendations on what you should do before & after a hurricane. For example, when should you give proper notice to your insurance agent or broker that you've experienced a loss you believe to be covered by insurance.

We discuss the importance of documentation when building an insurance claim. Since you’ll have to prove damages you've incurred—it is most crucial that you take photographs and videos. That's because the more information you can provide to your insurance provider, the better they're able to help you.

But this episode isn't all serious business. No, in fact, this episode resembles a mullet—all business in the front and a ton of fun on the back end.

Per usual, we finish with Fun Questions. but then we try something new. I ask Final Jeopardy questions, most of which are Dream Team-related. Whether that means Johnny Cochran and Kim & Chloe's dad, or Michael Jordan in Barcelona, you'll have to tune in to find out.

This was a very informative episode. Way I see it. Anytime you can get this much brain-power in one room you turn yourself into a sponge—ask as many questions as you can and get out of the way. If you were at all negatively impacted by Hurricane Ida, or think you might be affected by a natural disaster in the future—this is an episode you don't want to miss.

I learned a lot, hope you do too.

My guest is HUGE in Korea! He's also fast-becoming famous here in the US.

Dr. Chris Yandle can thank his 8th-grade daughter, Addison, for worldwide fame and adulation. If not for her letting Dad know how much she enjoyed #DadLunchNotes, he might've stopped writing them.

As it were, the day Chris didn't slip a note into Addison's lunch, she asked what was up. That let Chris know she was not only reading his notes but enjoying them.

Following appearances on The Today Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and more recently, People magazine, Chris' book, Lucky Enough, is starting to sell like kimchi in Korea.

It's an incredible story.

Let's go back to August 2017. Chris was bummed about a job loss and thought writing an encouraging note to Addison might elevate his own mood (as well as encourage his daughter).

Regular listeners know I've long been a fan of handwritten personal-notes. Together with my recently becoming a #GirlDad, it's no wonder I bought Lucky Enough as soon I heard of it.

The book reminds me of How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie (read my review and other book recommendations here), which ironically has been the most-recommended book on the podcast. Both books—Lucky Enough & "How to Win Friends"—make you want to serve others.

On this episode, we discuss high rates of anxiety & depression among teen girls. The numbers are staggering. After 2013, the percentage of adolescent girls suffering from mental health disorders jumped 250% (source: The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt). With this in mind, Chris & I discuss how parents can navigate today's hyper-connected online environment.

Chris is a native of South Louisiana. In a past-life, he was a college athletics administrator at "The U" (University of Miami), Georgia Tech & Baylor. I ask him how common it was to see high-profile alumni on campus. Guys like Jimmy Graham, Michael Vilma, Michael Irvin, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Edgerin James. And whether having them hanging around the facilities helped with recruiting.

We also talk about NCAA’s new "name, image, and likeness" (NIL) policy. Chris believes one of the reasons he was pushed out of college athletics is because he didn’t like how student-athletes were treated. After all, coaches were making millions of dollars, while young men and women got nothing. But now, thanks to the new NIL rule, every NCAA athlete is given the opportunity to profit off their name, image, and likeness.

Chris is a strong advocate for higher education. He said he's always believed: you’ll get somewhere in life based on your education. In fact, he recalls a pivotal moment in high school when his teacher said to him, "You'll never amount to anything in life until jackasses learn how to fly."

His teacher's words left a mark. But by taking those words personally, they also inspired him. He found himself newly-motivated to get better grades. He earned a PhD.

Now 39 years old, Chris recently moved his family home to Louisiana. He said he's enjoying re-connecting with his daughter.

This conversation was the highlight of my week. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!