Speaker 1 00:00:05 Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt in required, where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years, and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to up my influence. Com and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Also, don't forget the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to up my influence. Com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you. With us right now it's Dennis. Frank, Dennis, you are the founder and partner of Bright Matter Advisors. You're on the web at Brite Matter Advisors. Com. Dennis, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 2 00:01:18 My pleasure. Thanks so much. Josh.

Speaker 1 00:01:20 Yeah. So give us an overview of the work that you do. What do you do with Bright Matters?

Speaker 2 00:01:24 So what I do with Bright Matter Advisors is it was born out of some personal experience of mine where, you know, I was been a CEO for almost 20 years. A few years ago, I had a severe kind of burnout experience, but it had been building for years, and I had kind of missed all the little signs. And basically, around 2022, I decided to take six months off and I went away and I really focused on myself. I did a lot of healing. I stayed off the grid, did a lot of work on myself because I felt like I was losing who I was as a as a leader and as a family man and other things like that. And what I try to do now is now that I've stepped into the chairman's role at my old, that my ad agency that I used to run, I'm now focused on helping executives come to a better understanding of who they are, their relationship to their careers and their businesses, and ultimately what they want to be known for.

Speaker 2 00:02:25 I think a lot of executives and high performing people get caught up in all the day to day, and they get weighed down by a lot of expectations, and they get a lot of things thrown at them, and they lose themselves along the way. And I've seen this happen to hundreds of executives that I've worked with, and my job is to try to help them reset without having to leave for six months and throw their phone in the trash, so to speak.

Speaker 1 00:02:51 Yeah. were you to do it over again? what do you think? Now that you have hindsight and you know, the experience and the wisdom, were you to look back at your own personal journey and think about the things that that contributed to the burnout. What things would you change? What things would you have changed? Even though you know there's always that no, no, I wouldn't change anything because it's made me who I am today and now I'm a better person for it. But still, I suspect that there are many other people that may be in a similar situation to what you were experience what you experienced.

Speaker 1 00:03:24 So maybe what might be some of those things? Or you're like, yep, this is a guardrail that I do today based on some of that learning.

Speaker 2 00:03:32 Yeah, that's a great question Josh, I use it. I liken this whole I kind of use an analogy or metaphor. Imagine you're you are your life and you are like a giant fuse box and all the little circuit breaker started, started tripping on me. And I didn't recognize that they were tripping until the whole box blew up. And it started with little things. It started with me, working longer hours than I had ever done, and it was because of the pressure of the growth of my company. but then we would go on vacations and I would be in my emails all the time. I'd be on my phone and the kids were at Disney World and they're going, dad, get on the ride, and I'm on calls. and then, like, I was just so afraid to fail that I felt like if I took one minute off of work, I was never going to be successful.

Speaker 2 00:04:28 And I didn't even really know what success meant at that time. So I just kept working harder and harder. And eventually I reached the state where I started doing things that were out of character for me, skipping meetings that I used to go to all the time. I started, not caring about status reports that people would give me. I would basically not read emails, you know, because I just was too exhausted to look at 500 emails a day, you know, and I still at the time, you know, didn't even have an executive assistant because I want to do everything myself, right? Oh, God.

Speaker 1 00:05:11 Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:05:12 So I learned, right?

Speaker 1 00:05:14 Can I can I ask you, So. Because I think you bring up a good point. How do we know? Or what is the question that we could ask ourselves whether we are setting an appropriate boundary versus what I think I hear you describing as kind of more of an avoidance behavior. Is that accurate?

Speaker 2 00:05:35 Well, it was it was it was a combination of things.

Speaker 2 00:05:38 It started with this overall feeling of just me getting on a hamster wheel every day, getting up in the morning, going into the office, you know, caring a lot less than I used to, and coming home and rinse and repeat every day. And instead of avoidance, what I did is I started other companies. So I'm like around 2019. My agency is doing well. I had put together a really nice transition plan for like my leadership team and everything. What I didn't subconsciously realize, as I was looking at it as an excuse to really step back when, which I found this, I found a passion in ice hockey through my son. So I started a hockey club, which then grew into a residential academy. And the next thing you know, it's a multi-million dollar business. And now I've got two of these things running at the same time. I'm not doing either one of them very well. And it was all to escape some of the pain that was going on inside me. My marriage was was failing slightly, and there was just a lot of things going on that I hadn't paid attention to, and it was all subconscious until 2022.

Speaker 2 00:06:56 I had a, suicide of a player that was in that hockey program, in my residential program. My marriage was definitely on the rocks and I was ineffective as a leader and I decided, I can't go on like this anymore.

Speaker 3 00:07:12 Yeah.

Speaker 1 00:07:14 You know, it's really interesting. I'm Dennis, I love your take on this. you know, I remember this described to me once, I think the kind of the principles of what you're talking about, and it's kind of like, you know, you know, the universe or life will just send us messages. And initially, it's kind of like going out in outside during the winter, and there's like a gentle snow that's like falling on our shoulders. And you can either look and go, oh, hey, snow, or you can ignore it. And then all of a sudden now it's sleeting and now it's harder and heavier, and then all of a sudden it's a nice big fluffy snowball in the face. And if you don't pay attention to that soon, it's going to be an ice pack snowball with sticks and rocks in it.

Speaker 1 00:07:56 It's just like, you know, it's and it's the longer we and some of these things, I think just it's it's more uncomfortable sometimes for us to get to that level of introspection like that is the pain or the comfort that keeps us, that keeps us from the willingness to investigate and say, you know what, maybe I'm contributing to some of the things that I'm experiencing around around me, or at least my lack of proactivity is leading toward some of these things just ultimately make life a little bit harder. Is that do you think that's a part of this era?

Speaker 2 00:08:38 No. I'm so glad that you said that, Josh, because the number one thing that caused me during my during my essentially time away, I saw I saw Ted talk by Brené Brown and vulnerable. If anybody has never seen that, take 15 minutes and go to YouTube and watch Bernie Brown's Ted talk on vulnerability, because we as executives, we can't be vulnerable. We have to be on all the time. People look at us like we're always got it together.

Speaker 2 00:09:10 And I was afraid to be vulnerable with people that were close to me to say, I'm not feeling right here, I. I need some help. And I never did that because I was afraid that I would look weak or I would come across as is not a good leader. And I have to work very hard with executives in the first consultation to start to feel like they can be vulnerable with me. I've sat in that CEO chair for over 20 years. I know what it feels like. I know the pressures. I know what people expect of you. I know it feels lonely, so I try to relate to them on a human level so they can just open up and say, this is what's been going on with me, and I'm glad I'm here before it's too late. And they always end up saying that because, I for me, it was too late, you know, it just had I asked for help and been honored. Had I been vulnerable with somebody to say, I'm not feeling right, I could have avoided a lot of pain for myself.

Speaker 2 00:10:09 I lost my marriage, you know, and that's a consequence of of of what happened to me. And I will do anything in my power to help others from having the same experience.

Speaker 1 00:10:23 Yeah. How do you fulfill or. So how do you work with Bright Matter Advisors? What does that look like? Who do you serve?

Speaker 2 00:10:28 Yeah. So what I do is I work with with high performing professionals, executives, and we do I do one on ones, we do group. We do, a lot of workshopping and I take them through a program. So we start with them. Right. And that program lasts typically about a month to six weeks, where we really focus on them as individuals and who they are to really understand kind of what drives them. And it's it's not therapy or anything like that. It's it's it's coaching, but also helping them start to feel safe to let me know what's going on with them. Right? And I get to know them really well as a person. And I share my experiences and it's and it's it's where we build the bond.

Speaker 2 00:11:16 And then once I know them as a person, we go to the next phase, which is the next six weeks, which is about how we how that person interacts with their business and their career. Right. What's the relationship to them and their career, their business? What are the challenges they're facing? And that's where they lean in on me a lot. For a lot of my experience as a CEO, like, because, you know, they've opened up, there are certain things they're very good at and there's certain things that they've they're not good at, and they end up not interacting in a healthy way with either their strengths or weaknesses, and things start to go off kilter. Then once we've got that, we do the most important work, which is about why are you getting up every day? Why? What do you want to be known for when you leave this earth and stop working, right? It's about purpose. It's about giving them. Because this is the number one thing. This is the answer to the whole homework.

Speaker 2 00:12:19 If you're not doing something with purpose, then you're just getting on that hamster wheel every day, so I help them find their purpose. You would be surprised how many executives are just out there CEOs, CXOs, entrepreneurs? I work with a lot of them too, and up and coming professionals. They don't know what their purpose is. They're like, I just want to make a lot of money, and I want to be cool and go to Burning Man and do all that kind of stuff, but that's not purpose. So once I help them find their purpose, it's about legacy. What do you want to be remembered for? In mind, I'm going to help any executive. I can not blow up their life like I almost did. That's the legacy I want to leave and that gets me up every day. And that's the same lens that I run all my businesses through. Am I doing something with purpose and positive impact to help others? It took me 55 years to find that.

Speaker 1 00:13:19 Yeah, you know what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 00:13:22 I think, you know, nearly every leader I know surrounds themselves with advisors and coaches because they recognize that how they show up in front of their team, their organization, their audience, their partners, their clients like it. It really has a major impact, not just on those people, but I think, you know how we feel about ourselves. And and I think a lot of us as leaders or CEOs, I know I can speak for myself like, you know, I've got a bit of that perfectionist streak in me, right? I have a very, very high standard for myself and sometimes very unfairly so. You know, I love this concept of, you know, allowing ourselves grace now. And, you know, I want to caveat that because, again, grace doesn't mean like what you were talking about earlier. Like, we know when we're off our game, like we've like there's got to be that sort of I don't mean to kind of keep going back to this initial issue, but I really love this conversation.

Speaker 1 00:14:27 I and I wish we had more time. Dennis. But I do want to get to just because we have a couple minutes left. to our friend that's been listening to us. I mean, we've just barely started scratching the surface on this topic. I suspect you have resources. I suspect again, you're accessible in some way. Do you mind maybe sharing to our friend who wants a little bit more after this conversation, where they might go and what they might do?

Speaker 2 00:14:50 Absolutely. I think the number one thing is, is reach out to me at Brite Matter advisors.com. My phone number is there. My email is there. You can reach me on LinkedIn. Dennis Franz. I'm starting to do some content on Instagram. Dennis at Brite Matter, which is really starting to give people tips and and bits of information on how to just things to look for. Good and bad. But the number one thing I can say for those that are that are just going, yeah, I could really use a chat because I'm not feeling 100% myself.

Speaker 2 00:15:25 Just pick up the phone and have a conversation with me. It's not costing you a thing. And maybe I can give you some help so you can feel safe to talk to somebody.

Speaker 1 00:15:37 Yeah. your website, Dennis, is brite matter advisors. Com, what should they click on? Where do they when they go to their website or your website? What should they do? write.

Speaker 2 00:15:48 To the contact page. And then there's information about me on my bio page and everything that with links and some other podcasts that I've been on and things like that. So I got a speaking as well. So I go into companies. I work a lot with the HR departments on culture, building things like that, because that helps executives perform better when their whole company is aligned behind their personal values.

Speaker 1 00:16:14 Yeah. you know, one thing. Final thing I wanted to ask you about just because I have an interest in this. I started deejaying when I was in eighth grade, and I had a mentor, Dan Agni, who was part of the, he was one of the dads at the church that I was attending at the time.

Speaker 1 00:16:30 It was just a small town Presbyterian church, but he had a DJ system and he mentored me and he allowed me to help him. You know, it's just all volunteer stuff. He was volunteering, but it was a skill that I wanted to learn. And as an eighth grader, I just, you know, that was so, so cool. And, and and what was just what I love about deejaying is it's so much about, in my experience, being aware, like being aware of what's going on in the room, what's going on with this community of people. So as a DJ, you're trained to constantly scan the room and kind of get the vibe of what's going on and then try to anticipate, you know, how we can move the energy in that, in that room. I and so I want to have you just, you know, kind of in our last minute here. Have you talked about deejays for a cause? Because this is cool.

Speaker 2 00:17:31 So DJs for a cause really has come about about my as a result of my journey.

Speaker 2 00:17:36 Because what I wanted, everything I do now, I want to have positive impact. So about four months ago, I was doing a set and this young boy came up and it was clear he was nonverbal, autistic, and he was standing next to me during half the performance. And the father said, came up and and introduced him to me and said, This is Colbie. And he only can communicate through music. He learned English through music. Everything is done through beats and and music. He has a little mixer at home and drums and, I said, do you want to learn to play with me? And he stepped in and I showed him how to use the mixing board, and he drew in a perfect mix. And I stayed in touch with that, young man. And I said, what if I took my DJ talents and my business and networking talents and brought together DJs from all over the world? And we started partnering with foundations and organizations to run meaningful events that help them raise more money for their constituents.

Speaker 2 00:18:37 So we partnered with the Doug Flutie Foundation for autism, which is very big here in New England for our first two events, and we've got a number of events. We've got events coming up in New York, Los Angeles. We're going to be doing some in Miami, and we're going to be drawing on DJs from from all over the world. It's a community of DJs who want to use some of their time and energy to help make an impact to others through the power of music. That's what DJs for cause is all about.

Speaker 1 00:19:08 Yeah. Do you have a list for someone that might be interested? Do you have? Where can find someone? Find more information about that.

Speaker 2 00:19:16 O J's for a cause. Org nice website and on our our Instagram is at DJ's for a cause. And, if you're running a nonprofit or you're running. I just did it. We did an event at a hospital. anything that's in helping others were were here to help you.

Speaker 1 00:19:36 I would love this. This is actually really cool.

Speaker 1 00:19:39 So, you know, and I think there's a lot of us, like, look, we got our bills paid. We don't need. Like, if we enjoy, we loved, like, I love deejaying. Just, you know, kind of what I was talking about. Like, it just feels good to do that. I don't need money from it. Like, I'm good, like, so I may as well, like, you know, use my superpowers for a little bit of good. Goodness knows, I'm not getting any gigs with my bass guitar.

Speaker 2 00:20:01 Yeah, we'd love to.

Speaker 1 00:20:02 Have an urge to get out and perform, and there's probably ample opportunities where you can do this pro bono, make the world a better place. You know, it's you know, chances are, anyway, I just want to say thank you, Dennis. It's been a great conversation. Thank you. Yeah, again, your websites, DJ, DJs for Korg, and of course Brite Matter advisors.com. again, Dennis Brunswick, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 2 00:20:27 Thank you Josh.

Speaker 1 00:20:34 Thanks for listening to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit up my influence. Com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt in or email required, where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies.

Speaker 1 00:21:39 Just head to up my influence comm and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning. That's right, seven days a week you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes every single day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur movement.