12. STU MCLAREN: More Money, More Impact

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcript is AI-generated and may contain errors. Please refer to the episode audio or video for exact quotes.

Stu McLaren: and that’s when inside I went from feeling guilty about making money. I. To realizing that making money is a really honorable thing to do.

Now, for the record, I love making money Universe. I love it. Bring as much as you want because all, all the money does is it just gives us more opportunity to do more good.  

Michael Hyatt: So on today’s show, we’re gonna introduce you to Stu McLaren, who is a very dear friend of ours, somebody we were business partners with. He helped us form Platform University, and he is just one of the most positive, generous people. I’ve ever met and he’s gonna talk about how he gets the double win and why it’s important to him.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Well, the other thing that he talks about, and I think you guys are gonna absolutely love this, is put a new frame around why you need to make as much money as possible. And if you kind of bristled when I said that this episode is for you, because he’s gonna give you a vision for the kind of impact that you can have.

Through your success and the way that actually, I, I jokingly, uh, you know, said in this conversation that this is like the triple win because he’s talking about another level of winning and benefiting others that I think you’re gonna find so inspiring. And if you found yourself a little conflicted about money, this is gonna be a breakthrough for you.

Michael Hyatt: He’s a philanthropist, he’s an entrepreneur, an amazing human. And without further ado, here’s two 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Stu. Welcome to the show.

Stu McLaren: It is a treasure and a treat to be here with you both. Thanks for having me.

Megan Hyatt Miller: is so fun. We have to like, uh, kind of control ourselves a little bit ’cause we just get excited when we get together. We don’t get to see each other that often. And so, you

Stu McLaren: Yeah, Nick. Nick, the producer’s like, uh, stop talking. Get to the episode.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Stop talking talk on the podcast. I know. It’s just so fun to catch up and I am really excited to talk to you about the double win and to talk about kind of your unique spin on that because we were just saying before we started, are things that you’re doing in your life, in your business, and your impact to the world that I think few people are thinking about the way you are.

Or doing at the level that you are, and you’re not just doing it yourself. You’re encouraging so many other people to do it, and empowering them to do that, that I think this is gonna be so inspirational for you guys who are listening. 

Michael Hyatt: I do too. I think we should start with your story though. Mm-Hmm. What got you to here?

Stu McLaren: Wow. Okay. I would say early on when I was growing up, I have two of the most amazing parents, so I wanna make sure that I acknowledge and give them a ton of credit because, uh, they really sacrificed a lot in their lives, uh, in order to provide my sister and I a level of opportunity that. They didn’t have themselves.

And, but with that there were some many subconscious lessons that I was learning from my parents, whether I realized it or not. And one of them was that working harder does not mean you’ll be more financially successful in life. ’cause nobody worked harder than my parents. You know, my dad. When I was growing up, he worked in a high school with people with special needs from nine in the morning till three in the afternoon, and then four nights a week he worked in a group home with people with special needs from eight at night till eight in the morning.

So if you’re doing the math on like the hours that he was working, it was insane. And then in addition to that. He was also at every basketball game and soccer game because it was usually in the, in-between hours. So he was just like dedicated, committed, but he sacrificed a lot of his own personal interests and passions and so forth.

And my mom was very similar. My mom worked, uh, nine in the morning till three in the afternoon and in elementary school with kids with autism. And then the three nights a week that my dad wasn’t working, she worked in a fine dining restaurant. So my parents worked hard, they worked a lot, and yet. What I was seeing was that we weren’t the most financially successful family.

And so early on, right around 12 years old, um, is when I started to clue into this like, you know, working harder does not equal more money. And so I think it was then that I started asking different types of questions and started, you know, exploring different options. And then the other thing that I would say really influenced where I am today as an entrepreneur is that I.

Went through university and got my business degree, but they were really like, they were, they were just, you know, teaching us how to go right into the corporate world and, and get a management job. And, and, and I did all that. You know, I was, did my parents proud and. And I got signed on the dotted line to work at the big company up here in Canada.

And, uh, great pay company, car benefits. My parents were like, yes, like we’ve done it, like he’s set. And I just knew instinctively like that was not the path for me. I didn’t, I didn’t want people telling me. You know that I only had so many days a, a year for vacation. I definitely didn’t wanna wear a suit and tie.

That is like, not my mo, like I wanted flexibility and freedom and I knew that that was not the path. So ultimately that the only other option was to figure out my own path. And that’s what’s led me here to, uh, today, where, you know, I’ve been an entrepreneur for more than 24 years now. And, um, yeah, it’s, I, I, I can’t ever imagine looking back.

Michael Hyatt: What did your parents say when you decided that you weren’t gonna take the conventional path?

Stu McLaren: That was an interesting conversation. Um, so I was, it, I actually, it was an epiphany moment, so I was, um, there’s a backstory, but I had arranged for a good friend of mine and I to go to this creativity conference in Buffalo. I. And we were there like all week and uh, had an amazing time. And there was one particular speaker that I just kept.

I just loved him and I just kept going back and watching all his sessions. And he said to me on the fourth session that I’m sitting dead center front row, he said, Stu, listen. By this time we’re on a first name basis. He said, he said, Stu, I love and appreciate your enthusiasm for my content, but I I, I’m gonna cover a lot of the same stuff and I’d really encourage you to go and check out one of the other sessions.

So by this point, all the other sessions that I wanted to go to were booked. The only one that was available was one on journaling. And I remember my young 20 male ego saying, journaling. Journaling’s for girls. Like, what am I gonna get outta this? Like, this sucks. But it was the only one I could get into.

So I go to this journaling workshop and my buddy actually had to be, uh, he was there in this one as well, and, you know, we’re journaling and they encouraged us to just do a, a brain dump of everything that was on our mind. And at that point. A friend of mine, Jeremy, was thinking about whether he should go out on his own as a web designer and create his own business, or whether he should go into the corporate world.

And so I’m writing about Jeremy and I’m just like, Jeremy’s, he’s so good. He just needs to go out on his own. Like, now is the time to do it. Like if you’re ever gonna go out on your own, now would be it. You don’t have any commitments. You know this, that, blah, blah, blah. And I’m just writing, writing, writing.

And then they pause us in the workshop. And they got us to reflect on what we had wrote. And what I realized was I wasn’t just writing about Jer, I, I was writing about myself and I remember turning to Braden and I said to him, I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m gonna, I’m gonna quit Maple Leaf. He’s like, dude, you haven’t even started.

And I’m like, I know, but I’m, I’m, I’m quitting. He’s like, well, what are you gonna do? And in that moment, you, you feel so stupid because you have no idea what you’re gonna do. Like, it’s just like, I don’t know. But then when I shared it with my mom who picked me up from Braden’s house after this conference, she said, uh, she’s like, okay, uh, let’s, let’s just, let’s just pause this conversation, uh, and let’s resume it when we get back and we can talk about it with your father.

So in that moment it was, um. I was pretty tender because my dad, I think, I don’t think I know he was, he was really scared for me, and more than anything, he saw the corporate job as a way to avoid the financial struggle that he and my mom had faced all these years. And so he was really scared for me. He didn’t want that to be the case for me, but he said, look.

Your mom and I have talked about this, and we believe in you. And if you want to go down this path of starting your own thing, you can stay in our home rent free for a year. And if at that point you haven’t got things off the ground, then your mom and I are gonna encourage you to go back and get a corporate job.

And so they gave me that start, you know, and I’m so incredibly grateful for it. And uh, that’s where it all began in my parents’ basement.

Megan Hyatt Miller: That’s amazing. Uh, you know, I’ve heard a lot of your stories, but I don’t think I’ve heard that story exactly like that. So that’s, I think that’s so inspiring and a lot of people will be able to relate to that. So let’s fast forward to where you are now. Why. Why memberships, why, I mean, I, I, I know you well enough to know that you wanna give people what you’ve been able to discover on your own, but talk about why communities you feel like are the way to have that freedom and flexibility and abundance that really drove you to wanna go into business yourself for the first time.

Stu McLaren: Well, I would love to say that it was a straight line path to where we are today, but you know, it’s, uh, yeah. Um, you know, when I went out on my own, I, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and it, it took. Different shapes and forms, but eventually led to a business where I was providing consulting services. Uh, and it was a very profitable business.

You know, we were doing, you know, mid six figures, very lean. It was just me, one other person. And, uh, things were rocking and rolling. We had a great clientele, but around this time, Amy and I were, um, had just gotten married and I was starting to realize, like, okay. Now we’re gonna start planning for a family like we had talked about, like having kids.

And this was a turning point for me because, you know, to grow the business up to that point, I was just. Modeling what I knew I was working hard, you know, so like, you know, I was, yes, I, I was, uh, had my own business, so I wasn’t limited by all the things that I didn’t like. But at the same point, to get the business where I was, I was working, you know, early in the morning, late at night, and I had this moment where I just realized like, I can’t keep this pace up, especially if.

I want to be a present husband and eventually a present father. And so I started looking for different business models because the one I had meant the only way to grow was to give more of my time, and I didn’t have any more time to give. And so something had to change. I talked to a mentor of mine. He suggested, Stu, why don’t you look at teaching?

All the things that you’re doing for your clients inside of a membership, there’s no limit on the number of people that can join a membership. And so you can teach once and scale it infinitely, and therefore there’s no limit on how much you can earn. And I really liked that idea. So I started going down that path except.

When I got into it, the technology back then was not what it is today, and I was deep in things like HT access files and server settings. Now Michael would have a field day, he would love that, and he would go down, you know, probably, uh, geek out on all those things. But for me, I was at a point where I was just like, this sucks.

And so I’m complaining to a friend of mine and he said, well, why don’t you, you sound pretty clear on like what you want. Like why don’t you create your own membership solution? And I was like, is he even listening to me? I’m like, dude, I said, no. I am struggling right now with the tech I, there’s, I’m not a programmer.

There’s no way I can program and create my own solution. And so he said, well, why don’t we team up and create something together? I’ve got a great programmer that works with me. We did a month later we had our first beta version of what was, uh, what is now called Wishlist member. And a month after that we started selling it and that thing just took off.

It was like right product, right time, and I. Uh, that very quickly became the primary focus of the business, and then in serving eventually tens of thousands of customers, I started to see what was working and what wasn’t working with people that were growing memberships, and I could see that there was a small group of people that were doing things completely different than.

Everybody else, everybody else either had a membership that took off and plateaued or was on a slow decline or this small group of people they saw like stair step growth. And they grew year after year after year. So I started paying attention to what they were doing and I realized I had just uncovered some of these secret nuances.

And that’s when we started, uh, creating our own memberships. That took off like crazy Platform University. Hello? Back in the day. That was one. Um, but,

uh, yeah, exactly, exactly. But uh, and then I just got so passionate about it because I saw what memberships and the difference they were making in business owners’ lives just creating the stability and the predictability.

And that’s what’s, uh, led me to today. Now I just, I love teaching it and I love sharing it and helping as many entrepreneurs as I can.

Megan Hyatt Miller: so not everybody knows what a membership is like. That may be as a term kind of a, a new idea. So why would a membership be able to create stability and like, what is it just. Just kind of frame it up for us. Give us some examples.

Stu McLaren: Probably the most easy example for everybody to understand is like Netflix. So we pay a monthly fee in order to access a whole bunch of content, right? So that’s a membership. And similarly, anybody can create a membership where people are paying on a monthly basis to. Access, uh, something. Now, there are different types.

There’s a product based membership. This is where you pay monthly to maybe get like earrings of the month or soap of the month, or coffee of the month or whatever it is of the month. But they’ve taken a physical product and instead of hoping that people come back and buy again, they’ve created a membership or subscription.

Another example would be a service-based membership. So. I think of Mary Claire Fette in our community. She’s a massage therapist. Well, again, instead of hoping that clients come back each and every month, she created a membership where they pay every single month and then they get a certain number of massages.

But what that created for her was predictability in terms of cash flow. So instead of seeing like seasons in the business where maybe she’s got a whole bunch of clients and then all of a sudden the clients drop off ’cause it’s summertime and nobody’s around. She has more stable and predictable income coming in.

And then, then there’s information based memberships. These are my favorite. These are where you’re teaching people, uh, a skill or helping solve an ongoing problem. And in the lessons that you’re providing, people, again, are paying on a monthly basis to access. And then the final one is just a community based membership where people are paying every month just to be part of a community around others that have a similar passion and interest.

So the reason these are so powerful for us as business owners is that. Every single month, we are starting the month with the momentum from the previous month. Whereas in a traditional business, you’re starting the month from zero. The only way to generate more sales is you gotta go out and you gotta go make more sales.

But in a membership business, you are starting the month with the momentum from the previous month. So even if you don’t go and make any new sales, you still have income coming in that particular month. That’s what creates the predictability and the stability and it. Creates opportunity for us as entrepreneurs because we’re not having to hustle, hustle, hustle anywhere near as hard.

And we can now, uh, plan our business much more predictably because we, uh, know how much money, uh, we’re typically gonna have, uh, coming in each month. We can therefore hire, we can therefore invest in marketing and it creates a lot more stability for the business owner.

Michael Hyatt: I, I love the fact that it becomes service focused. In other words, you’re trying to serve this community of members and make them successful. And I think anytime you do that, you’re gonna be successful too. Just for the fun of it. us two or three examples of outliers of membership sites. ’cause I’ve heard about some of your membership sites and I’m like, what?

That’s a membership site.

Stu McLaren: Yeah, there are so many crazy and wild examples. Like I, I, we have examples in markets like, you know, photography and calligraphy, or fitness and finance, music, art, health dog training, uh, but there’s so many even crazy markets. Like I think of Holly George, you know, she is a mom of, uh, young kids. When she started this membership and her husband was in the military, so he was gone a lot.

So she needed a job, uh, and a career that would provide her flexibility to be able to be at home with her kids, but at the same time, you know, another income source. So one of the things that she was passionate about and really good at was making balloon animals. And so she has a membership site called the Twister Hood.

Uh, and, uh, she has, she has thousands of members and she’s teaching them how to make balloon animals. Like, who would’ve thought, like, that’s a, is so, so fun and crazy. Yeah. And then there’s other examples too, like, um, there’s a woman in our community, uh, named Tamara Bennett and when. I first heard the market she was in, I, I was a little bit confused.

She helps people, uh, create decorative door hangers and I was like. Uh, those are the things like in a hotel, like when you put out like, do not disturb, and she’s like, oh, Stu, clearly you’re not from the south. No. These are the things that people put on their front doors. Like they’re like, big thing. I was like, oh, she, when she launched her membership, welcome more than 400 members right from the get go.

Teaching people how to make decorative door hangers. Like, this is what’s so fun about the membership market. It doesn’t matter what you’re passionate about or what you’re. Skillset is, or what your interests are, there is a way to be able to build a business around it, helping others learn how to do the thing, the skill, or learn how to solve a problem, uh, that, you know, um, and, and so that’s what makes it so fun is like you’re, as you said, Michael, you’re with them on this journey.

And as long as they are experiencing progress and success, they don’t ever wanna leave. Like, in all my years of doing this. Like decades helping tens of thousands of people. I’ve never heard anybody wanting to leave a membership because they’re experiencing too much success. Like nobody’s ever gonna say, you know what?

I have experienced way too much progress in my life. I’m outta here. Like, so as long as we just continue to help people experience progress and success, they’ll stay. And that’s what makes it an amazing business model.

Megan Hyatt Miller: that. You know, one of the things that I feel like I’ve really learned from you over the years, Stu, is just. Having this heart for people, and in particular for the people that you serve. If you can get passionate about their transformation, then it ignites your own passion. And you’ve done such a great job of that.

And I think you inspire so many of us who follow your work and, um, your frameworks to, to do the same thing. And another way I think that you do that is. you know, that is a concept, like how do you use your business to have more impact in the world? You know, as we think about the double win, this might be like the triple win.

You know, we’re thinking about winning at work and succeeding at life, but you have this other piece, which is like helping other people succeed at life. And um, I’d love for you to just talk about the concept of more money, more impact, because I know that a lot of our folks are. High achievers, but they feel a level of conflict about reaching their potential for earning.

You know, if

Stu McLaren: Hmm.

Megan Hyatt Miller: wanna go, you know, go for a promotion or start a business or go to another level in their business, there’s some part of them that feels a little conflicted because they don’t wanna be greedy, they don’t wanna be, make it all about them. They don’t wanna be a narcissistic. So like, how do, how do you think about that?

Stu McLaren: Well, I wrestled with this for a long time. Like I, I mentioned earlier, you know, growing up in the household that I did, money was not something that came in plenty of abundance and so. When my business started earning decent money, like I mentioned, that uh, business, we had gotten the consulting business to like mid six figure level.

That that was more money than I could ever imagine at that point in my life. And I actually struggled on a subconscious level. I didn’t realize this till years later, but what would happen is I’d, I’d get it to like the 400, $500,000 mark and then it was like my subconscious. Just didn’t feel comfortable in the amount of money that I was making.

And what I started to do was I started to do self-sabotaging behaviors. I’d stopped calling clients back, or I’d stopped doing the marketing campaigns that I knew worked. And so my income would come back down to like a, a 250, $300,000 level. And I kept going in this cycle for a few years. And unknowingly I was sabotaging my own success.

And it wasn’t until, uh, a couple years later, I. And I have to give all the credit to my wife, Amy. She is an incredible influence in my life because she’s always had a heart for helping, uh, rural communities in developing countries. And she has traveled a ton. This is where she’s got experience by trade.

She’s a teacher, so she always had a heart for like, you know, kids who wanted to go to school that couldn’t. And she had this crazy idea one day of like starting our own organization and being able to help. You know these communities. And I remember like the first time she ever told me, I’m trying to be the supportive husband.

I’m like, yeah, for sure. Like let’s go for it. Like, you know, when do you wanna do this? And it was in December and she said, I wanna do it over the Christmas holidays. And I was like, what? I’m like, babes, that’s like in two weeks. And she said, yeah. She’s like, I’m the traveler. I’ll figure out the details.

You’re the business guy. You figure out how to raise money. I was like, oh, great. Wow.

So anyways. on that. Yeah, exactly. Let’s, uh, whip it up. So long story short, we ended up, uh, raising a bunch of money and the first, uh, African country, uh, that we went to where we were looking to build our own projects. Uh, we were in Kenya and I was talking to the chairman of this community and we had the idea of potentially building a school, and I had zero.

Experience in building schools. Amy had zero experience in building schools. We didn’t know anything in terms of like how to do it, what to do, the cost, nothing. So I’m talking to the chairman of this community and I asked him, I said, I’m asking him what does this cost, what does that cost? And then I said, what does it cost to fund the full-time salary of a teacher?

And he thought for a moment, and then he said it’s about a hundred dollars a month.

Cross: Wow.

Stu McLaren: was like, in this moment I had this light bulb just flicker on and it was like, well, wait a minute, Stu. I was selling our membership software for a hundred dollars a license, and I thought if I just sell one more license a month, and I just dedicate that to funding the full-time salary of the teacher, imagine the impact that could have and then the real light bulb went off, which was like.

Well, Stu, what if you make a whole lot more money and you allocate a whole lot more to the people and causes that you’re passionate about? Imagine the impact you could have, and that’s when inside I went from feeling guilty about making money. I. To realizing that making money is a really honorable thing to do.

Now, for the record, I love making money Universe. I love it. Bring as much as you want because all, all the money does is it just gives us more opportunity to do more good. And there are so many ways to do good. Like, for example, our company. I’m so stinking proud. I’ve got two amazing business partners.

We’ve donated millions of dollars to charity, and a big part of that is every year our company covers the overhead for our nonprofit so that a hundred percent of anything that gets donated to our charity goes directly to the cause. That’s thanks to, you know, our business partners, but there are other things that we do in our business, like we have a quarterly, uh, event and at.

What happens there is everybody can throw their hat in the ring, so to speak, to represent a local charity and three people get picked. They then, during our company meetings, give a five minute presentation about that charity, and then everybody in the company votes. The first place winner gets $10,000 that they get to go and give to their favorite charity.

The other two get $2,500 and that is incredible. We’ve learned so much about our people in terms of the things that they’re passionate about and the things that mean so much to them. And as a result, there is like this electric moment when they get to go to their charity and present that check, like it’s so fun.

So those are some fun ways. But other ways too, like, uh, as a family, we do what we call a super surprise every year. So we pick like a family member or a friend or some loved one, and we create an experience for them that they could never create for themselves. So I’ll give you one quick example. Um, I. and Michael, you both know this, but, uh, our son, Sam, we adopted from South Africa. And, uh, so when he was growing up, when he was, uh, he lived in South Africa till he was one when he then joined our family, but during that first year of his life, he lived in this, uh, foster home. We call it a, a five star foster home because he lived with two grandma like figures.

They were incredible women. And, um, unfortunately one of them, uh, has since passed, but the other one, her name is Sonya, and she, at any one time would have between nine to 15 young babies and kids that she was looking after. 

Cross: Wow. 

Stu McLaren: And, uh, yeah, God bless her. She’s amazing. Um, so long story short, we thought. You know, she’s in her mid seventies and we thought, wouldn’t it be amazing to bring her over to Canada to see all of the kids now, uh, as that they’ve gotten older.

So last year we flew her over to Canada. We hosted an event, uh, at our house. While she was there, there was probably about 75. People with fam, like all the families, she got to see all the kids, got pictures with all the kids, and then we flew her across Canada. She did like a, a Canada wide tour and so she went to like four different locations across Canada and she got to see like all the families and the kids that were across Canada, it was one of the most special moments.

And those that’s. That’s, that’s why we do this, like, to be able to have the financial resources to create memories and to have impact, whether it’s with your favorite charity causes, whether it’s like as a team building thing or whether it’s just people that you love. Uh, so I love making money because of what it enables us to be able to do.

Michael Hyatt: Well, you’re so generous. I mean, you’re one of the most generous people I’ve ever met. Hmm. love that about you. It’s inspiring. When I get around generous people, it makes me wanna be generous, Hmm. thank you for that. And also kind of clearing the path for thinking better about money. I mean, no, no problem with making lots of money, but it’s especially powerful when you can channel that to help other people.

 

Michael Hyatt: go back to this double win idea with you, Stu, usually. There’s a point at which, especially with startups and your, your new membership or your membership company where you have to go all in and work really hard, and how have you dealt with that through your career in those moments when it’s kind of all in and maybe everything else takes second place, how do you keep things in balance?

Stu McLaren: It hard, uh, really hard. Uh, I’m in a season right now where we’re really ramping a whole bunch of things up, but I’m also have two amazing kids. You know, our daughter, Marla, she’s 13. Our son Sam, he’s 10 and they’re at this real tender age because there are so many influences, uh, in their lives right now.

And I read a great book. From a friend of mine named Jim Shields, it’s called, uh, 18 Summers. And the principle is that you only have 18 summers with your kids, so make the most of them. And when I think about that now, like with Marla, I’ve got, I’ve got one hand left, I’ve got five left with her, with Sam, I’ve got, you know, eight left.

That, that puts things into, you know, perspective very, very quickly. So. I’m in a season where we wanna ramp up and we want to go fast and furious, but at the same time, like my kids are priority. And what’s helped me is just to realize that I’m not saying no, that I don’t wanna achieve all these things in my business and in my career, but it’s really about identifying that there’s a.

Season for these different types of things. And that season right now is not, you know, going all in on the business and working a million hours a day. Um, this season is being able to grow the business, but in a sustainable way that gives me time with the kids. And so the other day. We were walk, this was a couple months ago.

We were walking the kids to school. Um, which is one of the things that Amy and I do every day, is we walk our kids to school. And the reason we love that is because it gives time to have great conversation with the kids. There’s no devices, there’s no distractions. Um, it’s just pure quality time. And it’s a two kilometer walk.

So it takes a good, you know, you know, 20, 25 minutes. And one of the questions I asked the kids, uh, on this particular day was. What do you love about having entrepreneurial parents? I was just curious what they, how they would respond to that. And Marla, without hesitation right away, she said, I love that you are home a lot.

Because they’re at this age now where they start seeing friends whose parents are working a lot. They’re, they’re gone before the kids even get up. They sometimes get home after the kids have already gone to bed. They, they very rarely see them during the week. And kids, whether it’s consciously or subconsciously, they start picking up on that.

And when I heard Marla say that, like it really. It really hit home why this period of time is so important and to make it a priority. So I think for me, Michael, uh, we’ve put a few things in place to help keep me on track, you know, some boundaries, so to speak. Like one of them, for example, is when the kids come home workshops off, and that’s their time and, you know.

Secretly, Michael, like I don’t have to completely shut off because they come home, they’re home for like an hour and a bit, and then they’re off to their own activities, whether it’s like dance or skipping or whatever. And so then, then I get like another hour and a bit of time while they’re at those activities if I wanna work a little bit more.

But the key is when they come home, I’m present and there for them. So that’s one rule. Weekends were, or totally off. Uh, I, I don’t do work on weekends. Um, and then the other rule is like, I get asked a lot to speak and I love speaking. Like it’s one of my favorite things to do. But our simple rule is that I’m never gone for more than four days a month.

And if an another opportunity comes, I have a choice. I either have to say no. And keep that commitment to my family or we bring the kids with us. And so we’ve brought the kids with us on many occasions to where they’ve actually come up on stage with me in front of 7,500 people. That was like one of my cherished moments last year.

My son and daughter are, are speaking and introducing, uh, me in front of 7,500 people. Like those opportunities I love and cherish, but those boundaries and rules have kind of helped, uh, keep me in place.

Megan Hyatt Miller: You know, I was just thinking as you were talking, love the outcome, the picture that you’ve created of what the double win can look like. And of course it looks different for everybody. It does. But I, but I love having this vivid picture. And is there anything else that you’re doing when you think about how you approach work?

Like how are you able to grow your business, for example? you know, a more limited schedule. You’re not working all the time, you know, you’re, you’re shutting off when the kids come home. Like, how does that work?

Stu McLaren: Well, I think. Um, a couple things that I would kind of speak to that one. I think communication’s really important, like communicating what’s, uh, what your priorities are and what’s important. I’ll give you an example. So years ago, I. We had done a big promotion for our signature course and we had thousands and thousands of people, uh, coming into the program.

There’s a lot of excitement and energy, and, and with that, you kind of get like, swept up in it. Like you just, uh, I, I wanted to, you know, talk to everybody, welcome everybody, like, and, and support everybody and, um. What I realized though, was it was starting to creep into the weekends and, you know, I was starting to check my email.

I was starting to, to check the discussion areas. And Amy, again, amazing, incredible woman. She, she kind of gave me the reality check. She’s like, Hey, I am, I’m, I’m noticing that you’re not as present. And she was right. So we talked about it and then what I decided to do was communicate that to our community.

And I said, you know, this is important for me to, to have this, uh, to be present with my family on the weekends. And so with that, I. Uh, don’t, please don’t expect immediate responses during the weekends. Uh, and I don’t expect, uh, I would, I would encourage you, you know, to use the time as well to be present, you know, with the people that matter most in, in your life.

And, uh, we created that boundary and we created it not only for myself, but also for the team. You know, that expectation that our team wasn’t gonna be as present during the weekends. And I was, wasn’t sure how it would be received, but what was interesting was. There was like this rallying cry, like, yes, thank you.

And it was just like people, like we had given people permission themselves to let go during the weekend. And so I think, you know, holding onto it. Megan is, is really about communicating, communicating with those that you serve, your customers, your, your people, communicating the, the priorities and the, and the values that you have.

And then, you know, people then, uh, understand your behavior. If, if you don’t communicate it, they may just think that you’re avoiding talking to them on the weekend or that you just don’t like them or you’re not responsive, and it’s none of those things. It’s just that there’s a priority that has been set.

And once they’re, uh, clear about that. Then you don’t mismanage expectations. And so I think that that really helps.

Michael Hyatt: You know what I love about this is that this whole thing of creating boundaries is not a one and done thing. No. like the conversation that you had with Amy, I literally just had that conversation with Gail three weeks ago Hmm. on this for two decades and I still slip into, and what happened to me was I was sitting in the den on my laptop in the evening and she said, why are you doing that?

Stu McLaren: Hmm.

Michael Hyatt: supposed to be our time. And I, and I gave some flimsy excuse like, well, we’re in the middle of this thing and you know, whatever. And she said, you’re kinda always in the middle of something.

Stu McLaren: Hmm.

Michael Hyatt: you’re right. And so I just purposed that I was gonna leave my laptop in my office, which is behind the house, and just not bring it in at night.

And that’s been so great. But I just become un unconsciously, you know, or just. Unaware of what’s happening Mm-Hmm. And slip into those old patterns. So I think we’ve gotta constantly be vigilant.

Stu McLaren: Yeah. You know, it’s interesting, this particular week, both the kids are at, uh, an overnight camp and. Amy is away in Kenya, so I’m home alone, which I was just like, as an introvert, I was like, this is amazing. Mm-Hmm I bring this up because you do slip back into old patterns so quickly and what I’ve noticed is like with Amy not there, I’m going to bed.

Way later than I normally would. My eating patterns have gone out the door, like a bag of popcorn for dinner is like a home run win for me. And then like, you know, I, and I’m burning myself out. The exercise, I wasn’t exercising anywhere near as much. And I had this moment, like legit last night. I was just like, whoa, I haven’t even taken the dog for a walk.

I like, I let her outside and that’s it. I’m like. Dude. And so I went for a run, took the dog with me and it felt a million, uh, like a million bucks afterwards. But it is so easy to be able to very quickly slip back into old habits. And it’s something I think you gotta work on all the time. And it is, but it is easier when you have somebody holding you accountable.

So I know you’re grateful for Gail to hold you accountable. I’m super grateful for, uh, Amy to hold me accountable. And I would probably say the same for, uh, you, Megan, with Joel as well. Like, I think. A marriage is all about, you know, keeping the priorities in front, front, and center for each other.

Megan Hyatt Miller: And it’s easy to just kind of resent that other person. You know, I think we, we hear that sometimes from our clients and we probably all have that experience of your first impulse can just be like, why are you on my case? But it’s such a gift, whether it’s your spouse or a business partner or a friend, like when somebody calls you on that, it just like you establishing that boundary for yourself in front of your community.

It’s like. It gives other people permission, and Hmm. in a position of leadership, maybe you’re not the business owner, but maybe you have somebody reporting to you or a whole bunch of people. Whatever you do is what they think they’ve gotta do. And so if you care about your people, they’re not gonna be present with their families if they think you’re on all the time.

Like that just becomes the defacto standard, 

Michael Hyatt: like the Well. effect. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah.

Stu McLaren: I, I wanna take a moment and acknowledge both of you. Like the work that you’re doing with the Double Win is bringing and surfacing that whole idea to the surface, and it’s creating that awareness. I think so many of us operate on a subconscious level where we’re just doing the things subconsciously because that’s how they’ve always been done or that.

The way that we’ve always done them. But what you’re doing is you’re creating a conscious awareness that you can have this double win, but you gotta be intentional about it. You gotta put the work in, you gotta think about it. And so I just wanna take a moment and acknowledge you both because this podcast is a perfect example of that, of making it an option for people where now they start to realize they have a choice.

Every day we have a choice and uh, it’s up to us in terms of what we decide to choose.

Michael Hyatt: Well, there’s so many entrepreneurs out there, and thankfully less than there ever have been, I think. But advocating for this hustle culture, you know Hmm. work 80 hours a week, but I’m hearing all kinds of people talking about. that’s not sustainable. Mm-Hmm. So I recently heard, you know, Brendan Burchard’s been preaching that even Gary Vaynerchuk, who was, you know, talking about working so many hours before.

And it’s just beautiful to see this become kind of a movement. Mm-Hmm. Where people are saying like, I don’t wanna compromise on my success. I wanna be successful and fulfilled at work, but at the same time. I can’t compromise my most important priorities, sort of on the altar of my own ambition.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Right.

Otherwise, what’s it for? 

Michael Hyatt: Yeah. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: And it, you end up actually undermining your own success. You end up undermining your impact, all 

Stu McLaren: Hold it 

Megan Hyatt Miller: If it’s not sustainable, you know 

what? 

Stu McLaren: well. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: anyway?

Stu McLaren: Well, I had a, uh, a period of time, uh, in 2020 when Covid hit. That was a really crazy. Time because there was so much uncertainty. Nobody knew how the impact of the pandemic would, uh, affect all of our businesses. And, you know, for us in the online space, it actually became this incredible opportunity because everybody was home.

Everybody was online. And so our business saw our best year ever, you know, and so we rode that wave. And, you know, it was, uh, great and I’m grateful for it. I wouldn’t want the pandemic again, you know, for the record. Like, I’m not grateful for the pandemic. But, you know, I’m grateful for the opportunity, uh, of everybody being at home.

But, um, about a year later, I, as a business owner started to realize that. I was running a million miles a minute because of that uncertainty. And in Canada, the pandemic actually extended much longer because, uh, there was still lockdowns. You still couldn’t do a lot of things. So I was still very isolated.

And in August of 2021, I started to know consciously that something was wrong because I would walk the kids to school with Amy. I’d come home, I’d jump on the Peloton and I’d ride like crazy. I’d shower and then I’d sit in this chair in our house and I would literally just stare out the window for hours not doing anything.

And I knew I was in a funk. I had never been in a funk like that. Like, you know, years ago when you guys encouraged me to take the strengths finders test positivity was like number one on my list. So I’ve never ever like. Been in a funk like this, but I knew I was in a funk, but I didn’t know how to get out of it.

And so day after day would go by and I would have the same routine and, and Amy would come and she’d, uh, check in on me and I’d have my computer there. So it quote looked like I was worried I wasn’t doing anything and I. I started to feel this heavy sense of embarrassment, so much so that I, I didn’t even feel comfortable talking to Amy about it.

I definitely didn’t talk to my team about it. And so I was alone in this and, and I, I just could see my, I could feel myself spiraling, like going down, down, down. And I, I had no idea how to, how to get out of it. And, um, fortunately for me. The one thing that I was doing was riding the Peloton, and the reason I was riding the Peloton a lot was I had signed up for this challenge called 29 0 2 9, and essentially you climb the equivalent of Mount Everest in 36 hours or less.

And so I had signed up for this challenge, so I was training for this thing, and so this rolls around in October and it was the first time that Amy and I would be leaving. Uh, Canada since the pandemic hit, and it was actually the first time that I would be around other people since the pandemic hit. And so I get to this event and I just get swept up in the positive energy.

And I realize like, even though I’m an introvert and I enjoy the alone time, like I get energy from people that bring good energy. And, and so I started to like, you know. It started to snap out of it a little bit. Then, then I finally shared with Amy like what I was going through and, and she had an instinct that, you know, something wasn’t right, and we talked about it and we, and we started to collaborate on what we could do to shift gears.

And then I, I started like reprogramming myself because the world at the time was doom and gloom. The news. Anytime is doom and gloom. It’s always focused on the, uh, bad and the negative. And, and when you’re in a bad place and you’re fueling more bad information, it just, it compounds and it gets worse. So I knew I had to get that junk out and I started going old school.

I started listening to. People like Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar and Tony Robinson and Louise Hayo. And I was just like, trying to infuse my brain with positivity and, and personal development. And then, uh, another friend of mine, Dean Graziosi, he invited me to come down and consult with, uh, for him and his, uh, membership that he has with Tony Robbins.

And I went down to Arizona and I, I started to realize, again, the importance of getting around incredible people and. I share all this because as business owners sometimes we’re fighting that solo fight, and because we’ve always been maybe the high achiever, maybe we’ve always been the provider, maybe we’ve always, you know, lifted that weight ourselves.

We, we feel bad talking to anybody about. Things when they are tough or that they are challenging or that we may be struggling with. And, and I know for me personally, like I felt very much embarrassed by this situation, but want to share with other entrepreneurs, like in those moments, you’re gonna have those moments.

You’re gonna have those moments of self-doubt. You’re gonna have those moments of challenge. You’re gonna have those moments when you don’t. Want to continue moving forward. And the crazy thought does enter your mind of like, well, maybe I just pack it all in, like, forget it. And, and I’ll just, you know, for me it was like, maybe I’ll just go get another job.

Like it’ll just simplify life and like those thoughts that, you know, don’t align with like. Who you are and what you wanna do, they will creep into your mind. This is why I just think, like it’s so important for us as entrepreneurs to surround ourselves with other people who can also keep us on track, who can also hold us accountable, can also check in with us, and, and have that relationship with us so that you’re not fighting these fights by yourself.

And so I know you guys have, uh, an incredible mastermind. Each of you do. Uh, I thi I just think it’s. For entrepreneurs or business owners or people in business, it’s just so important to get around others because there will be challenges and you just don’t wanna fight those fights alone.

Michael Hyatt: I think so much of that, and I do a lot of private coaching of entrepreneurs in addition to the masterminds, but I feel like I spend so much of my time trying to normalize their experience. Mm-Hmm. Hmm. Just assure them that they’re not alone, that this is normal. But when they get around to other people that are in a similar situation, they can draw life and encouragement from that because Hmm feeling of being isolated, like you’re all alone and you start thinking, there must be something wrong with me.

No, this is normal. Hmm. broken. You know, you just probably need to get around other people. Uh, that can be an encouragement to you. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah.

Stu McLaren: Yeah, for sure.

Megan Hyatt Miller: you know, Stu. I’m in your mastermind, which I mentioned in the intro and that’s exactly why I joined that group. You know, obviously I knew you going into it.

Um, and I also knew the kind of people that you bring together and I thought that’s a really important part of my life that I’m missing right now. And I need other people who are doing what I’m doing who can encourage me. And I think, you know, that’s why we talk about, when we talk about the double win.

Community is one of the life domains. And whether it’s in your personal life or your professional life, you need people who can help you, you know, reach your potential and can help you when things are hard and when things are good. And I think otherwise, you know, we just find ourselves in a place of loneliness that undermines our best efforts and intentions.

So thank you for sharing that story. That’s a really vulnerable story to share, and I think it’ll be encouraging to people.

Stu McLaren: Yeah, I just think that there’s also strength in sharing the struggle, you know? Um, and I think. The more we can normalize the fact that, you know, even though you’re a high achiever, you will experience challenge at some point. Yeah, experiencing challenges right now. You know, yesterday a gentleman that I’ve known for years who was on vacation with his family just suddenly, uh, collapsed and they couldn’t revive him, and he, he passed away.

And I remember, I, I, like yesterday, I legit just read that post and, and my heart just dropped. And I just thought, golly, you know, we just, you just never know. You just never know what can and will happen. And I just, I share all this because

we gotta make the most of the time that we’ve got and, uh.

We just can’t, we just can’t struggle by ourselves. And uh,

Cross: Yeah.

Stu McLaren: and I just think that the more that we can normalize the fact that we all experience struggles and, and that you have somebody that you can just reach out to and say, Hey, I. Things are tough right now. I just need somebody to talk to about it or I just need to, uh, brainstorm or mastermind a little bit a around this or, um, hey, I, I don’t, I don’t need any advice.

I just, I just wanna get this off my chest. Um, the more that we can normalize that, that’s okay and that, like, that’s a normal thing even for high achievers, especially for high achievers. Um, I just think the, the more success we will experience because when you fight that fight alone, you go into a very dark place.

And, and then like I said, things just seem to spiral. Uh, and so you just gotta break the cycle. And I think conversation and, uh, talking about it openly is a, is a, is a strength and we wanna encourage it.

Megan Hyatt Miller: it’s really true. It’s why we talk about anxiety. 

Michael Hyatt: Yeah. It’s 

Megan Hyatt Miller: why we talk about it. Both of us have a therapist on speed dial, you know, I’m going this afternoon. 

Stu McLaren: Hmm. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Um, I just think that’s so important. Like you’ve gotta have support systems and you’ve gotta just expect, if you’re outta your comfort zone doing big things all the time, you’re gonna experience seasons of uncertainty of anxiety, totally depression, whatever.

And, and it’s just about like, do you have some supports ready to go? 

Michael Hyatt: You know, I may have told you this story before Stu, but um, when I became the CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers that very day. I got this call from John Maxwell and he congratulated me. And then he said, you know, you’ve heard that it’s lonely at the top.

And I said, yes. And I just sort of assumed that that was the case, that I was gonna be lonely at the top. And he said, well, I want you to know that’s a choice.

Stu McLaren: Hmm.

Michael Hyatt: And that was like one of the most revolutionary things any leader has ever said to me. I realized that was a choice and that I could build community.

And I always haven’t been perfect at it. ’cause I can be a lone ranger, but Hmm. I like running in a pack. It’s so much better. 

Cross: Mm-Hmm.

Stu McLaren: Yeah, I really do. And I, you know, that’s amazing to hear, uh, the words that John, you know, was speaking into, because I think like. Uh, that’s true leadership. You know, he’s known for leadership, but that’s true Leadership in action because it’s like recognizing that moment and how important it is and that you’ve gotten to the top.

You’re the CEO of this incredible company, but also recognizing that it comes with its own challenges. And I think that that. You know, uh, I think of a, a, a phrase and a saying that I first heard from one of my good friends, Barry Baumgartner. She said, you know, new level, new devil. So it doesn’t matter like what level of success you get to, you’re still gonna experience challenges, right?

We just, as we grow, we just become better equipped to manage and handle them. But at the same time, like you just don’t know the kinds of challenges that you’re facing, uh, when you get to that new level of success. But having. People that you can, you know, tap, uh, and chat with I, I think is really important.

And, you know, that’s a great, uh, I just love hearing that from John. That’s giving me an idea of like e even proactively being able to reach out to, to other people, just to let them know that you’re there. I think it’s really powerful.

 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Stu, we could just talk, you know, all day to you because I think there’s so much wisdom that you have and you’ve learned so many lessons, um, we have so much history together. Yeah. We just have so much history together and I, I just love this conversation. But running outta time and I can’t let you go without asking, are three questions that we ask all of our guests at the end.

So are you ready for

Stu McLaren: Okay, let’s

go for it. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: of a lightning round, but like it’s a lightning round with deep questions. So just, you know, prepare your heart on that. 

Stu McLaren: okay, 

Megan Hyatt Miller: okay, so the first one is, what is your biggest obstacle in getting the double win right now?

Stu McLaren: Uh, my desire for achievement, you know, like, um, as I said, we’re really ramping up as a company and I’m just so stinking excited about what we’re doing. So it’s like this balance of like excitement for work. Like I genuinely love. What we’re doing. I love the impact that we’re having, the people we get to serve, um, but also balancing the, I’m also loving this season as a father.

You know, my son Sam, he, uh, compete, uh, competes at a really high level in competitive skipping. He’s a national champion and he’s now wanting to learn how to do like back hand springs and back flips, and, and I just cherish the time, like night after night. I’m literally s. Spotting him like with hundreds of back handsprings, you know, to help him get this.

Like, and I love that time or like the other night, um, before Marla went away, uh, to camp, she, uh, and I had a, a night together and I just love that, you know, I. She felt comfortable. We were, uh, sitting on and snuggling on the couch watching a movie and like, I just cherish that time. And so that to me is probably the biggest struggle, is like both the excitement and desire to achieve.

And I love what we’re doing and I could drop into that in a heartbeat, in contrast with my passion and my love for my family and my kids and my amazing wife, Amy, and, and really wanting to balance that. So yeah, that’s probably the biggest challenge right now for sure.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Makes a lot of sense. Sense. Okay. How do you know that you personally have the double win? You know, like today, like I got the double win today. Like how do you know that?

Stu McLaren: Um, I think for me it is about being present and, you I don’t know that I’ve won it every day. Like I, I wish that there was a scoreboard, ’cause the achiever in me would always be wanting to win that, that game every day. And I, I don’t know that, um, I have one every single day, but there are practices that I try to weave into the day every day for me, exercise is, is one of them, and I track it.

So, and that tracking is public, you know, and that holds me accountable. And I have a goal of exercising on average an hour a day. Some days it’s more, some days it’s less, but the average across the year is 60 minutes of exercise. And so that I love, you know, that’s, uh, I can measure that. Um, sleep. Amy keeps me accountable on that.

You know, she, uh, we go to bed at the same time and, uh, I get a good night’s sleep. Sleep when we do that, when I’m by myself, that’s where I need help. Um, but you know.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Joel are the same. Joel 

Stu McLaren: Yeah, 

Megan Hyatt Miller: up all night. I’m like, what’s happening here when I go town?

Stu McLaren: I know. Legit. I the okay. Self confession. The other night I was up till three in the morning. I’m like, it came like three. I’m like, three in the morning, Stu.

I’m like, Michael’s, Michael’s getting up at an hour. Get to bed. You know, like,

um. two, three o’clock. 

Cross: Oh Yeah. gosh. That’s hilarious.

Stu McLaren: Um, but I think, yeah, like I, I think measuring it, uh, public accountability for me has been helpful on the exercise side of things. Um, and then, and then, yeah, just, uh, accountability at home. But I would say the, the biggest way that I know that I’m winning was that conversation with our kids.

You know, like when we asked them and, and they were the ones that said, uh, that they loved because we’re always home and present like that, that that tells me right there that we’re doing something right.

Megan Hyatt Miller: that’s, I love that story. Okay, last question. What is one ritual or routine that you rely on to do what you do successfully? 

Michael Hyatt: Beyond what you just gave? Yeah. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Beyond what you just gave.

Stu McLaren: Yeah. Okay. One that we’ve gotten into now is I always had really good intentions of creating a whole lot of content to drive our business. Really good intentions, intentions. Don’t mean squat. You have to actually do the stuff. You can intend to do it all you want, but if you don’t actually do it, it doesn’t count.

So I had really good intentions, but nothing was getting done. And so what has helped me fix that is we just have regular rhythms now where my team just shows up at my house now when they show up at my house. Like, you know, I have Kyle over here who is our video producer. When he just knocks on the door, I know that we’re gonna be recording content.

Now, I might not be ready when he walks in, which is often the case, and then I gotta go shower and come out. But by that time, like I know that we are recording content. So one of the things that has really helped me is. Is involving other people so that no matter what the activity will get done ’cause somebody else is showing up.

And it’s the same principle if you think about like why so many people hire a personal trainer versus just going to the gym themselves. It’s not that they don’t know how to do the exercises or don’t know what to do. It’s that there’s a, a baked in level of accountability. And so I think the more you can bake that into, you know, your everyday activities, then the more.

Habits you can begin to form that are those positive habits that are gonna continue to move you forward?

Michael Hyatt: So true. It’s 

Megan Hyatt Miller: basically like anywhere you don’t have to use your willpower, you

Stu McLaren: Yeah.

Megan Hyatt Miller: it for the things you’ve really gotta have it for.

Stu McLaren: Yeah. And like, you know, Michael, you were just talking about like, uh, moving the computer, uh, uh, away from the, you know, the home that it’s about setting up your environment, right? Like this is a perfect example of it. And, and I can, you know, uh, say the same. It’s about like deleting the apps that, you know, are distractions, uh, on your phone or, you know.

Blocking the websites that, you know, you end up going down a rabbit hole as you begin to read different articles like blocking them, uh, and deleting them. It creates an environment that helps you avoid the things that are the biggest distractions for you. So, yeah, I, I love it.

Michael Hyatt: Stu, as Megan said, we could talk all day, but thank you so much for joining us for this conversation. I just, it delights my heart to see you and Amy and the kids prospering getting so much time together. I mean, the way that you’re shaping them, they’re gonna do even bigger and more important things than you’ve done, and you’ve done a tremendous amount.

So it’s gonna be fun to watch their Mm-Hmm, their journey and the ripple effect of this through eternity. So thanks for dropping by.

Stu McLaren: Well, thank you both so much. I have so much, uh, admiration and respect for you both. And like I said, I just love that you’re bringing this conversation to the forefront and the more that we can tap into the double win, the more everybody wins. So thank you so much guys. I appreciate you.

Cross: Thank you. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Thank you. 

Michael Hyatt: So like I fully expected, that was a great conversation. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: So fun. I mean, we, we were like forcing ourselves to stop talking because we really could have done like a day long episode. 

Michael Hyatt: Yeah. And unless you’re watching the video, what you probably couldn’t see. Was Stu choked up. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah. 

Michael Hyatt: And um, I almost always, when I have an extended period of time with him, 

Megan Hyatt Miller: yeah, 

Michael Hyatt: he chokes up.

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah. 

Michael Hyatt: Because he’s a guy with a giant heart. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah. He’s just so tender and I think that he cares so deeply. I think he’s such a great example. And you heard this in the conversation of somebody who. Isn’t just about making money like that wouldn’t be satisfying to him. He’s really into serving and he’s serving the people That are, that are in his community, you know, in terms of the membership community that he has. But he’s also using that as a leverage point to serve so many other people with the schools that he and his wife Amy, are building in developing countries, specifically in Kenya. And you know, he just lives it like that.

That is his why. And I think what a powerful example of he is, he is accomplishing his why and his purpose by helping other people accomplish theirs. And I think, I think that’s inspiring. 

Michael Hyatt: I do too. You know, we didn’t really get into the details of this, but Amy’s organization is called Village Impact and Stu is the one that raises the money for that.

But we’ve helped him raise money and a lot of other entrepreneurs have too. Yeah. We’ve built ourselves two schools in partnership with Village Impact and, uh, I don’t know, they built dozens of these schools by now. Yeah. And they’re transforming Kenya, uh, through education and it’s just so. Awesome to see.

Megan Hyatt Miller: What I love about the way they’ve done that, by the way, is, um, they really partner with the local community. Yes. They don’t just come in like with big hero capes and, you know, drop their school in the middle of some community and leave like they, it’s really. Honoring to the community that they’re serving and it’s really empowering and that that’s their, their vision.

And I love that. That just, it’s huge. 

Michael Hyatt: You know, another takeaway for me was just how intentional he is with his kids. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah. And he is, 

Michael Hyatt: oh, he’s super intentional and he, you should follow him on Instagram for sure, Facebook, because you’ll see this how he takes his kids with him and lets them experience all this stuff and.

I know that there are gonna be a powerful force as they get older because they’ve been seeing this from the inside out. They’ve been, they don’t know anything else. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Yeah, well, we need examples of people who are doing business and doing good and those are, in his case, exactly the same thing and also live in the double win.

And I think he is a powerful 3D picture of what this can look like. 

Michael Hyatt: I will always leave inspired when I talk to him. Me too. Well guys, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Do us a favor, go out and rate it. Give us a five star rating if you possibly can, give us a review. That’ll help us get the word out, and we’ll see you next week for another episode. 

Megan Hyatt Miller: Stu, we could just talk, you know, all day to you because I think there’s so much wisdom that you have and you’ve learned so many lessons, um, we have so much history together. Yeah. We just have so