Don't Do Nothing

[00:00:00] Tony: If you want something you’ve never had, you’ve gotta do something you’ve never done. I had such a back off and embarrassment about not being able to read and write. Mm-hmm. I would try and hide it. This was the wake-up call for me. Mm. I woke up in hospital, and I was like, “This isn’t the life I signed up for.”

[00:00:15] Tony: You wanna find badasses that are changing life, go and do something proactive, actually helping people. Yeah. 

[00:00:19] Aaron: Mm-hmm. ‘

[00:00:20] Tony: Cause that’s what the able people do. You reach out and help someone- Yeah … that is a beautiful pay in life. Mm-hmm. And I can tell you, my life has gone to heights that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of.

[00:00:30] Tony: All 

[00:00:31] right. Today we have somebody who is incredible. They are so good at making noise. Mm. But the kind of noise that gets you excited because he is from Queensland, Australia, from down under, the wonder from down under. I like that. Okay? This man has led thousands of people in his life, um, if not a lot more, but I’ll say directly under him as the president of American Power and Gas, a multi-hundred million [00:01:00] enterprise.

[00:01:01] Um, fundraiser, massive fundraiser, bringing in boatloads of money into causes that matter, that change lives. 

[00:01:09] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:01:09] He is a former horse jockey. Riding that horse. This man has hobbies that you’ve probably dreamed about, um, but he’s done them So Mr. Tony Toomey, thank you so much for coming onto the show.

[00:01:22] We’re very excited to have you. 

[00:01:23] Tony: Fantastic, boys. It’s an absolute honor to be here. Woo! So thanks for having me. 

[00:01:27] Woo! 

[00:01:27] Tony: Yeah. It’s funny when you introduce, you know, a, a former jockey, and I stand here at six foot tall, and, I don’t know, about 190 pound, and you’re probably sitting at home looking at this going, “Sure,” you know?

[00:01:36] Tony: Right, ‘

[00:01:37] cause we’re supposed to be short and normally we’re supposed to be light. 

[00:01:39] Tony: Yeah. Tiny. 

[00:01:40] Is that why it’s former? Is that why it’s a former or, um- 

[00:01:42] Tony: Absolutely … yeah, okay, 

[00:01:43] okay. 

[00:01:43] Tony: You know, that’s one of those funny things. When I was a kid, like, you know, a two or three year old, I was fascinated with horses.

[00:01:49] Tony: Yeah. I grew up on a farm. 

[00:01:49] Yeah. 

[00:01:50] Tony: I was fascinated with horses, and all I wanted to be was a jockey. It was so weird. My dad was six foot tall. Mum was probably 5’10”. Uh, and we used- we grew up riding horses. But I’d put the [00:02:00] stirrups up on my horse and get over the neck like a jockey when I was, like, you know, eight, nine years of age.

[00:02:04] Tony: Wow. And just loved it. So the opportunity came when I was a kid to, to go and work at stables, and I took it, and I knew that I wasn’t gonna make a long-term career out of it, but I wanted to experience it, and I did. I got to ride, I think, six winners. Wow. Wow. I got to ride, uh, one double, which means I rode two winners in one day.

[00:02:22] Wow. 

[00:02:22] Tony: But I fast-forward and I’m, like, 18- 

[00:02:24] And you say winners because, I mean, technically you won, but it’s really the horse winning. Is that why you say you ride the winner? 

[00:02:29] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:02:29] But you became the winner. You’re the human winner, but the horse is the real winner. Correct. Oh. 

[00:02:33] Brad: Oh, is that- That’s what you’re saying?

[00:02:35] Yeah, he s- yeah, he- she was a champ. 

[00:02:36] Brad: You said you wo- so you run two ra- you won two races in a day, but you didn’t win them, the horse won them. The horse wins them, bro. Yeah, 

[00:02:41] well, the horse wins them. 

[00:02:42] Tony: They’re the one doing the 

[00:02:42] Brad: work, bro. 

[00:02:43] Tony: But in the racing- Oh, wow … in the racing industry, it’s called riding a double, where you ride two winners.

[00:02:48] Tony: Mm-hmm. You know, and that’s a bit of a claim to fame for me, bro. Yeah. Yeah. I rode a double, one double, so I got to ride two winners in one day. But, you know, it was, uh, well, we’re talking out in the bush. We’re not talking big metropolitan. Mm-mm. Out in the bush. I’m not [00:03:00] getting a ride in the Kentucky Derby this year.

[00:03:02] Tony: Yeah, yeah. Put it that way. 

[00:03:03] Brad: There’s, like, zebras next to him. 

[00:03:04] Tony: Totally. Yeah. Just ride them, man. Ride them. Yeah. So, uh, but it was so much fun. I had an absolute blast, and it was just one of those things I wanted to experience, and I got to experience it. Wow. But I gotta tell you, it’s a funny story how it all came to an end.

[00:03:17] Tony: Yeah, 

[00:03:17] yeah. 

[00:03:18] Tony: So I’m working on this, uh, property, like an 80-acre, uh, racing stud, living on the property and- 

[00:03:24] Where is this, by the way? 

[00:03:25] Tony: It was in a place called Mudgee in Australia. Okay. New South Wales. Okay, okay. In the bush. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the… It was a mining town, probably, like, 10, maybe 12,000 people living there.

[00:03:34] Tony: Mm. Oh, wow. Like a small town. But it was a racing district. So, uh, I would have to… By the time I r- I fast-forward, now I’m about 18, 18 and a half, or 18 probably, I’m now growing. I’m starting to go through a growth spurt. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So now making weight was tough. 

[00:03:49] Brad: Mm. 

[00:03:50] Tony: So- You 

[00:03:50] Brad: have to make weight? 

[00:03:51] Tony: Yeah. Jockey, uh, racing is all m- it’s called a handicap.

[00:03:55] Tony: Yeah. You handicap the horse on weight. Anyway, we are deep down a rabbit hole that probably a lot of your audience is [00:04:00] going- … “What the hell are you talking about?” No, it’s fine. 

[00:04:02] No, no, but the point is, if you’re too heavy, then what? You can’t race? 

[00:04:06] Tony: Career… No. No, no. I mean, it is finite down to the pound. 

[00:04:10] Wow.

[00:04:11] Tony: Yeah. Wow. You know, that’s how they handicap. Wow. Like, the good horses carry more weight, but we’re talking pounds, not like- 

[00:04:16] Brad: Yeah … 

[00:04:17] Tony: you know, not six foot tall. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So, but anyway, so I’m 18, and I do, I do like to eat. So, um, I come into the stables. We get up at 4:00 AM, we go and ride 15 to 20 horses a morning.

[00:04:28] Tony: I come in, get changed, and then go off to the races. Mm-hmm. And so I come in, and we had a guest staying in, on the, on the p- on the s- farm. And I walk in, and he’s having rib eye steak for breakfast. 

[00:04:40] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:04:41] Tony: And I’ve starved. I’ve just famished myself. I’ve wasted- Yeah … for, like, four days- Mm-hmm … to make weight.

[00:04:46] Tony: Yeah, 

[00:04:46] Aaron: yeah. 

[00:04:46] Tony: And I walk in, and he sees, and I’m, like, drooling. And he goes, “Do you want a steak?” Well, I e- I had two options there, stab him with the knife that’s sitting on the counter or eat the steak. So I ate the steak, and I [00:05:00] rode. I was a kilo over, which is, like, 2.2 pounds- Wow … over. And it’s like, okay.

[00:05:03] Tony: That’s a big steak. Yeah. That was my, that was my last day at the races. Oh, wow. Last day riding. But anyway, it was one of those experiences. I got to do it. It was epic. 

[00:05:11] Amazing. 

[00:05:12] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:05:12] It’s amazing. 

[00:05:13] Tony: So much fun. 

[00:05:13] It’s a good hobby. Now, one thing that I, a- and I wanna just, like, put it out there, okay? Because from when we’ve spoken, and it was maybe a bit ago, when you told me kinda a little bit of your story.

[00:05:23] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:05:24] But you, when you’re racing at this time, did you know how to read? 

[00:05:29] Tony: No. No … 

[00:05:30] illiterates. You’re 18, you cannot read 

[00:05:33] Tony: Cannot read 

[00:05:34] And, and I just wanna know, like, is that j- how, why did that happen to you? Like, is it common over there? Like, why? Why didn’t you read? 

[00:05:44] Tony: Yeah. You know, it’s a good question.

[00:05:46] Tony: Unfortunately, I’d say in society, literacy is a massive barrier. 

[00:05:50] Mm-hmm. 

[00:05:50] Tony: Like in our company – Mm … we hire a lot of people, and the literacy level coming in from society, I feel their pain. 

[00:05:57] Mm-hmm. 

[00:05:57] Tony: Because I come from completely [00:06:00] illiterate. 

[00:06:00] Mm. 

[00:06:01] Tony: You know, uh, I went to school, I went to school for grade one, we got taken out, we did homeschooling for three years.

[00:06:07] Tony: Mm-hmm. Went to another school for grade five, another school for grade six, and another school for grade seven. Mm. We jumped all over the place. 

[00:06:14] Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:15] Tony: And I would run into the barrier of I didn’t understand- 

[00:06:20] Mm-hmm … 

[00:06:21] Tony: what I was getting taught. I’d- Mm-hmm … it, I just didn’t get it. 

[00:06:24] Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:25] Tony: Put me out in the paddock with a horse, put me on a tractor, put me s- somewhere out in the field, ’cause I grew up on a farm.

[00:06:30] Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:31] Tony: I could get it. I could look at it. I could play with it. I could work it out. 

[00:06:34] Yep. 

[00:06:35] Tony: Put me in front of a book, dude, brutal. 

[00:06:39] Oh. Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:39] Tony: Yeah. So it was actually at 13 years of age when I just… I mean, I would literally almost pass out. Not q- not quite, but, um, like inside. 

[00:06:48] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:48] Tony: Sitting me in front of a book was soul destroying.

[00:06:51] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:51] Tony: Yeah. And I remember there was this one girl when I was in year seven. Now, year seven in Australia is like 12 years of age. Mm-hmm. 

[00:06:57] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:06:57] Tony: And she was so smart. Mm. And I remember [00:07:00] looking at her, the way she would write, and I’m heartbroken. Mm-hmm. I was like, “Oh, one day- 

[00:07:04] Aaron: Mm … 

[00:07:05] Tony: I would need to be able to do that,” you know?

[00:07:07] Tony: Like soul destroying. Mm-hmm. 

[00:07:08] Yeah. 

[00:07:08] Tony: So at the end of grade seven, which is 12 years of age, uh, Mum said, “Oh, we’re gonna homeschool you again.” I was like, “I’m not even interested.” So then this is where the racing took a whole new- Mm. A whole new jump. Yeah Because about a mile and a half from my house was, uh, a breaking in and pre-training stables.

[00:07:27] Tony: Mm. For thoroughbreds, for racehorses. So on a new one, I used to get out on Saturdays and ride. I just loved riding horses. 

[00:07:33] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:07:34] Tony: So I did Mum a deal. I could go to the stables providing I was back at home for 9:00 AM to start school. That lasted about a week. So I would go to the stables. I mean, I’d get up, I’m now 13 years of age.

[00:07:47] Tony: I’d get up alone, 4:00 in the morning, go out, catch my horse, ride a mile and a half, go to the stables. And you know, to be honest, for the first month or two, I’d come back a few days a week. Mm-hmm. But I’d always call Mum and come up with a [00:08:00] great story. “Mum-” We’re going to, we’re going to pick up horses over here, and they need my help, and Mama…”

[00:08:06] Tony: “Okay, no worries. We’re gonna do your homework tonight.” “Yep, we are.” 

[00:08:09] Yeah. 

[00:08:10] Tony: Never did it. And then- … to be honest, couple of months after that she was like, “Do your thing, dude.” So I- 

[00:08:16] So you would stay at the stables? 

[00:08:18] Tony: All day. Yeah. Wow. 

[00:08:19] And all night until, like you slept there too? 

[00:08:20] Tony: Some nights I would. Okay. Mm. Yeah, probably a couple of days a week I’d stay there.

[00:08:23] Tony: It was a family, I loved being in that, that environment. But I would, uh, the days I’d go home, I would literally be up at 4:00 AM. We’re talking a 14, a 13-year-old kid. 

[00:08:32] Discipline. 

[00:08:33] Tony: Up at 4:00 AM. Mm-hmm. And I’d go, and I would literally be riding my pony home at dark. Like massive- Mm-hmm … massive days. We’re talking, you know, 12 plus hour days.

[00:08:44] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:08:45] Tony: Six days a week. 

[00:08:46] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:46] Tony: And I just loved it. 

[00:08:47] Brad: But- And, and was it, was it tire, tiring or fatiguing at all? I mean, uh, physically I’m sure there’s a 

[00:08:52] Tony: toll, but what- Mate, it was a game. 

[00:08:54] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:08:54] Tony: I loved it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then ’cause we’re breaking in horses, you know, you’re trying to get the, the roughest. You know, I [00:09:00] was a kid so they wouldn’t put me on the real wild ones, but if I get on a horse with a bit of spirit and a bit of buck about it, it was like, yeah.

[00:09:07] Tony: Sometimes you’d get pelted and, you know, dust yourself off, but it was just phenomenal. 

[00:09:11] Brad: What does pelt mean? You get thrown? 

[00:09:12] Tony: Yeah, you get thrown. Okay. You get buried into the ground, you know? But that, I did that for 12 months. The work ethic, the responsibility, the commitment that it instilled in me at 13 years of age was a game changer for 

[00:09:27] Brad: me.

[00:09:27] Brad: Mm. Can I ask a question? 

[00:09:28] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:09:29] Brad: What’s the product of somebody breaking in a horse? 

[00:09:31] Tony: So you get a, a horse… Okay, so you 

[00:09:34] Brad: think of- ‘Cause you get a horse that’s just doing whatever the hell it wants. 

[00:09:36] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:09:37] Brad: And that’s not gonna work, ’cause it’s gotta go. 

[00:09:39] Tony: Go. So you gotta get them schooled and educated to have someone on their back.

[00:09:44] Tony: Horses, when you first start, don’t want someone on their back. They get a little bit, they get a little bit jumpy, a bit skittish, you know, a little bit- 

[00:09:50] I don’t generally like someone on my back, you know. I 

[00:09:52] Tony: just- Yeah, 

[00:09:52] yeah. … yeah, not comfortable with it. 

[00:09:53] Tony: Yeah. Especially someone six foot tall, you know, 190 pound.

[00:09:58] Tony: So you, you get them [00:10:00] educated. It, we call it breaking them in. 

[00:10:01] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:10:02] Tony: But really it’s educating, getting them to work with a human on their back. Ah. 

[00:10:06] Brad: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:10:06] Tony: And it- 

[00:10:07] Brad: Yeah … 

[00:10:07] Tony: it’s a lot of fun. Yeah. 

[00:10:10] Okay, so then you did that. I mean, that’s 13. 

[00:10:12] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:10:13] And then, like, how does that develop? Good, you have your last race at 18.

[00:10:17] So now you haven’t learned how to read. Yeah. You’ve done all things with horses, but horses can’t be around because you’re too heavy for it. 

[00:10:23] Tony: That’s right. 

[00:10:23] So now, like, like what, where- The evolution … where do you go? What, what’s next? 

[00:10:27] Tony: So I then moved back home and my brother’s got a concreting company. It was really him, and he’d get a couple of guys in when he needed them, doing domestic concreting, like driveways, colored concrete, that kind of stuff.

[00:10:38] Tony: He’s like, “I’ll give you a job.” So I think I’m balling, you know? I’m earning like, I think it was like 100 bucks a day. Mm-hmm. Right? Woo-hoo-hoo. Yeah. Killing it. 

[00:10:47] Australian, of course. 

[00:10:48] Tony: Yeah, yeah, correct. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Which is about 25 American. But anyway. Oh. Oh. No, not quite. No. It’s, it’s almost pesos. Mm-hmm. No, it’s not that bad.

[00:10:56] Tony: But, um, so I do that, and I do that for about six or eight [00:11:00] months, you know, in the concrete, and that was great experience. And then we go and visit a guy, um, that I… My brother’s mate, that I had actually met him when I was 13. His name was Robbo. Uh, and Robbo was a superintendent in big civil construction projects.

[00:11:17] Tony: Mm. So we’re visiting Robbo. It’s about 10 hours drive away. Uh, we’re visiting Robbo. We’re staying at his house this weekend, him and his family, beautiful family, and he says, “Hey, do you wanna make some real money?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” You know, here I am balling. I’m probably making, you know, on a, you know, average probably 400 bucks a week, right?

[00:11:35] Tony: Mm-hmm. Wow. And he goes, “Yeah.” I say, “Yeah, I wanna make some money.” He goes, “Good. So I’ll give you a job on this construction site.” I went from that to bringing in, after tax, like 17, 1,800 bucks a week. 

[00:11:46] Oh, 

[00:11:47] Tony: wow. Mm. Being a laborer on a big construction project. Wow. Like a laborer, digging holes, greasing machines, whatever was needed- 

[00:11:55] Mm-hmm, 

[00:11:56] Tony: mm-hmm

[00:11:56] Tony: uh, in a big mining project. 

[00:11:57] Yeah. 

[00:11:58] Tony: So I did that. [00:12:00] And, um, you know, that got me into a different range on my income. Mm-hmm. But also hooked me up with a really capable badass guy- Mm-hmm … which was Robbo. Yeah. And, you know, I had- didn’t think of that, but he’s gonna come up a few times today. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Right?

[00:12:14] Tony: Because, yeah, at 13 years old, I met him when I was 13. Mm-hmm. And he was a guy that saw something in me. 

[00:12:22] Mm. 

[00:12:23] Tony: And he was a guy that spent time educating me. 

[00:12:26] Mm-hmm. 

[00:12:26] Tony: And I, my career, he, I actually put him down as my mentor that actually got me to where I am now. 

[00:12:32] Wow. ‘

[00:12:32] Tony: Cause I did- Wow … multiple projects with him over my career, and then I kept going up the food chain with Robbo and, um, the guy is phenomenal.

[00:12:41] Tony: He’s a machine when it comes to run- his biggest project was, like, $6 billion that he ran and over 5,000, like, tradesmen. 

[00:12:49] And that guy- Wow … sees you and he goes, “Hey.” 

[00:12:52] Tony: At 13. “

[00:12:52] Make you some real money, boy.” 

[00:12:54] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:12:54] Yeah, yeah, 

[00:12:54] Tony: yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I’m like, “I’m in.” You know? Wow. Anyway, that’s, uh, so [00:13:00] I go into that, and I’m doing that, and then long story short, that project’s come to an end.

[00:13:05] Tony: Mm-hmm. Now I’m, like, 20, 21. Mm-hmm. Something like that. And that project comes to an end, and I’m I’m interested in a young lady in town. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I’m like, “I wanna stay in town.” So I just go job site to job site to job site asking, “Are you looking for anyone?” And then I get this guy, and he goes, “Yeah, I am looking for someone.”

[00:13:26] Tony: I go, “What do you need?” He says, “I need someone to do surveying.” I go, “Really?” “Yeah.” I go, “That’s what I was doing down the road.” 

[00:13:32] Mm-hmm. 

[00:13:33] Tony: Never done it. Yeah, 

[00:13:34] yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:13:36] Tony: Actually, when I first went to the racing stables- Mm-hmm … I mean, as a kid, we were breaking in horses. We weren’t racing them.

[00:13:43] Tony: The first day at the racing stables, you get up in the pad, and they said, “Have you ever done track work?” I’m like, “Yeah.” Never had. 

[00:13:50] Oh my 

[00:13:51] Tony: God. Right? But I’d ridden, so I’m like, “It’s a horse. It’s a stirrups are short.” Yeah, yeah. I did it when I was nine, you know what I mean? Yeah. So we get there, so I go, I, I, I [00:14:00] have the job interview on the job site, and he goes, “Oh, you did surveying.”

[00:14:04] Tony: “Yeah.” “Who did you report to?” “I reported to Robbo.” And he goes, “Okay. You know, I know who that is.” You know, this guy is well known. Yeah. So I leave the job site, and I call him. I go, “Robbo, just to let you know, you’re gonna get a phone call, and this is what I did for you.” He laughs, right? He calls me the next day, and he goes, “So you got the job.”

[00:14:22] Tony: I go, “Really?” He goes, “Yeah.” He goes, “So you better come back,” ’cause the job was over and they were just wrapping it up. “I’m gonna put you through a day hire company, day labor, and, um, you’re gonna spend a week with the engineers and learn how to survey.” And I go, “Sweet.” Wow. And that was the next train- that was the next progress.

[00:14:41] Wow. 

[00:14:42] Tony: So, uh, 

[00:14:43] at- And survey, this is checking out, like, the size of land and stuff like that? That’s kind of the surveying? 

[00:14:48] Tony: Yeah, yeah. This is- So 

[00:14:49] you don’t need to, you don’t need to write anything, do anything. You’re just measuring? But don’t you have to… You have to do something, no? 

[00:14:54] Tony: Math. Math. Yeah. Yeah. I was good at math.

[00:14:57] Okay. 

[00:14:57] Tony: Because what do you do when you’re in a, a bookie’s, a [00:15:00] bookie’s ring at the racetrack? 

[00:15:01] Oh, betting. 

[00:15:02] Tony: What? My math went to a whole new height when I was in the racing game. Are you serious? ‘

[00:15:07] Cause everybody’s betting. The whole- Went to everyone to betting … dude, horse is all about betting. It’s all about odds, chances, money.

[00:15:10] Betting, and with odds too. Multiplying two times return, three times return. Wow. 20% chance. Da-da. Six times… 

[00:15:14] Brad: No, 20. It can be 20 times return. 

[00:15:17] Tony: It can be, yeah. 

[00:15:17] If you got the loser, or not the loser, but, like, the, the underdog. The underdog. Yeah. The long 

[00:15:20] Tony: shot. The long shot. 

[00:15:22] Long shot. Long 

[00:15:22] Tony: shot. Yeah. So my math, because of my time in the, on the racing- Mm

[00:15:27] Tony: game- Yeah … my math was really good. 

[00:15:28] Brad: Yeah. Oh, wow. 

[00:15:29] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which it wasn’t before I got into racing- Right … but you’re starting to play with your own money. 

[00:15:34] Yeah. Right. And you lose it all and you… 

[00:15:36] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, this is where… This- I was a bit of a sucker, ’cause if I got to the end of the race day and I was behind, I’d be looking at the odds on what I thought was gonna win, and I’d be like, I wouldn’t look at it and say, “I’ll have 10 bucks or 20 bucks on it.”

[00:15:51] Tony: I’d be like, “I am this far down. That horse is gonna win that odds. I need to put that on to break even Which is a mug’s game. [00:16:00] But- 

[00:16:00] Wow. 

[00:16:00] Brad: What does that mean, a mug’s game? Like that’s a losing- Or a mob 

[00:16:02] Tony: game. It’s a dumbass way to look at it. But it made sense to me as a kid, you know? Right, right, yeah, yeah. And I’d be like…

[00:16:09] Tony: So anyway, my math- They 

[00:16:10] teach you enough math- 

[00:16:11] Tony: Yeah … 

[00:16:11] to waste a lot of money. 

[00:16:13] Tony: Correct. 

[00:16:13] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. 

[00:16:14] Tony: Correct, correct. Oh, wow. So, uh, so anyway, I, um, I show up at this job site, and it was an Irishman that I was working for, an Irish company. I was the only Aussie on the job. And, uh, so I show up at this job site, and day one he puts me in the truck, and I’m thinking we’re going out to look at the survey and look at the, the, you know, the project.

[00:16:33] Tony: And he… We pull up at this concreting crew. And the concreting crew in a mine site are doing these big V drains. Mm-hmm. Like storm water drains. Big, like the size of this room. 

[00:16:43] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:16:43] Tony: Right? And very steep banks. We call them batters, right? Mm-hmm. And we’re putting, like four to six inches of concrete over it so that the storm water doesn’t wash them out.

[00:16:53] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:16:53] Tony: And he gives me a pair of rubber boots. He goes, “You’re on this crew.” 

[00:16:57] Brad: Hmm. 

[00:16:57] Tony: And I’m like, “Where’s my freaking survey [00:17:00] equipment,” right? Mm-hmm. In my head. But, you know, bitch and moan. Yeah. I just get in there. 

[00:17:03] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:17:03] Tony: Yeah. For six weeks I shovel concrete, right? Working for this Irishman. Yeah. I never ask him, I never complain, I just turn up.

[00:17:10] Aaron: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:17:11] Tony: And, you know, that was 10, 11-hour days. Yeah. Shoveling concrete. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And long story short, the next project, blah, blah, blah, I do go and up on the survey equipment six weeks later. 

[00:17:22] Okay. 

[00:17:22] Tony: Yeah. Mm. But we’re about now about six or eight months into working for this Irishman, and he comes to me and offers me a foreman’s job.

[00:17:31] Oh. 

[00:17:32] Tony: Because there’s one thing I’ve always prided myself in, I’m gonna outwork anyone around me. Yep. Yeah. But then if I’m outworking you, you’re gonna hear from me about why the hell I’m outworking 

[00:17:46] you. Yeah. 

[00:17:46] Tony: And I didn’t do it sanely. Mm-hmm. It wasn’t very pleasant. Mm-hmm. That’s what I did. ‘Cause I’d be like, “You-” You’d just be like, “You’re 

[00:17:52] sitting around.

[00:17:52] What are you doing?” This is before you were foreman or when you became a foreman? 

[00:17:54] Tony: Before. 

[00:17:54] Oh. Yeah. 

[00:17:56] Tony: So- You’re 

[00:17:56] getting people to move their butts … 

[00:17:58] Tony: move your… Yeah, I’d be like, “Why the [00:18:00] hell am I running double around you?” 

[00:18:01] Yeah. 

[00:18:02] Tony: You, you know, whatever. Did, uh, did people like… 

[00:18:04] Did, did your coworkers like that? 

[00:18:06] Tony: Not really.

[00:18:07] Tony: No, 

[00:18:08] come on. Just curious. But the boss liked it clearly if you- Yeah … if you were offered a foreman thing. 

[00:18:11] Tony: And I wasn’t even trying to do that. That was just how I worked, right? So then this foreman, Seamus, he’s a Paddy, uh, c- the owner of the company comes to me and says, “Hey, I want you to be a foreman.” And I said, “Oh no, it’s all right.

[00:18:23] Tony: I’ll, I’ll, I’ll let that go.” And he’s like, “Yeah.” And then a couple of weeks later, he asked me again and I said, “No.” And he says Do you have a, are you not wanting to take the job because of your reading and writing skills? And I’m like, “Yeah.” 

[00:18:39] Mm. 

[00:18:40] Tony: And he goes, “Why?” I said, “I can’t write a daily report. I can’t… If there’s an incident, I can’t write an incident report.”

[00:18:46] Tony: Um, I mean, even to build something, an engineer would come out and walk me through the plans- Yeah … and explain it to me. Yeah. And once he did that, I could go and build it. 

[00:18:53] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:18:54] Tony: Um, but I said, “Yeah.” And he goes, “That’s what we have engineers for.” [00:19:00] He said, “I can hire an engineer. I can’t hire your drive.” Mm. “So I want you to take it, and if you gotta write something, go to the engineer, he’s your, he’s your man, and tell him what you wanna communicate.”

[00:19:12] Aaron: Hm. 

[00:19:12] Tony: I was like, “Done.” So that was my first foreman’s job. Wow. And I think I was 20, maybe 21 by now. 

[00:19:18] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:19:18] Tony: Yeah. And that was just the next evolution. 

[00:19:21] Aaron: Wow. 

[00:19:22] Tony: Yeah. But it was that… I had such a back off and embarrassment about not being able to read and write. Mm-hmm. I would try and hide it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like, I wasn’t open about it.

[00:19:32] Tony: Mm-hmm. I wasn’t like, “Yeah, I can’t do that.” I just, I would- 

[00:19:35] Never mind. I don’t need, I don’t need a foreman. I don’t need to be a foreman. I’ll just run everybody for the same pay- Yeah … for the 

[00:19:39] Tony: same pay, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I’m like, “I’m good. I’m good. You know, responsibility, blah,” you know? But- 

[00:19:44] How do you think he knew that you couldn’t- 

[00:19:48] Tony: Um, you know, there’d be times you’d have to scribble something or, you know, do paperwork or sign something.

[00:19:54] Tony: Mm. It was pretty obvious that my literacy was poor. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like poor. 

[00:19:59] Yeah. [00:20:00] Yeah. 

[00:20:00] Tony: But, and now he, again, the guy that saw something in me and pushed me. 

[00:20:05] Yep. 

[00:20:05] Tony: You know, you gotta people around that push you- Yeah … out of your comfort zone. 

[00:20:09] That’s what you do now all the time. Correct. Yeah. All day. All day. 

[00:20:11] Tony: All day.

[00:20:13] Tony: It’s literally your full, full-time gig. Full-time job. Yeah. That’s what I do. What, what was your, what was your ethics level back then? What did that, what did that part of your life- Dude, I was horrific. Horrific. Horrific. You know, um, when I was 14 years of age, I was hanging out with my older brother and his mates, and they were all smoking dope.

[00:20:31] Brad: Mm. 

[00:20:31] Tony: Now, I knew smoking dope was not the right thing to do. 

[00:20:34] Brad: Yeah. But I- Weed, weed, marijuana … 

[00:20:35] Tony: yeah. Yeah. Weed. But I knew, I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but I so wanted to fit in. 

[00:20:42] Brad: Mm. ‘

[00:20:42] Tony: Cause they were the cool cats. It was my big brother. I looked up to him. He was my bit of a role model. Mm-hmm. You know? And then all these cool cats were all getting stoned.

[00:20:51] Tony: So at 14, I, knowing the first time I’ll never remember, I’ll never forget it. I was like, “I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t.” Boom, [00:21:00] I’m now smoking dope. Mm-hmm. But I was wanting to fit in. Mm-hmm. You know? Um, so by the time we fast-forward to this point, um, I was smart enough at just before my 17th birthday to know that marijuana was not- a pro survival thing to do.

[00:21:16] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

[00:21:17] Tony: Like I went from this hustler, uh, you know, getting up at 4:00 AM- Yep, yep … and doing, and this, and at 17, you know, as a kid, at a 14 year old, I had enough money to buy a dirt bike. I wanted dirt bikes. I might’ve been 13 when I bought my first dirt bike. Really? A KX80, the first of the water cools.

[00:21:33] Tony: Single radiator on the side. If you’re a dirt biker, you know what I’m talking about. It’s like, wow. And I bought it with my own money. 

[00:21:40] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:21:42] Tony: At 16, uh, well at 14, at 13 I bought my first one. At 15 I’m upgrading it to a KX 125 dual fin radiators, the racing machine, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. At 16 I’m selling it to fund my destruction in drugs.

[00:21:57] Tony: Mm. 

[00:21:58] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:21:59] Tony: Wow. [00:22:00] So, um, I’m smart enough to, at, just before my 17th birthday, to say, “This isn’t for me.” Mm. I actually, uh, got badly beaten with my brother, uh, one night and hospitalized, and I woke up in hospital. This was the wake up call for me. Mm. 

[00:22:14] Mm. 

[00:22:15] Tony: I woke up in hospital and I was like, “This isn’t the life I signed up for.”

[00:22:19] Tony: And everything- Wow … that I was doing was connected to drugs and druggies. 

[00:22:23] Wow. 

[00:22:23] Tony: Yeah, no, I was working and doing all that, but, you know, I was a criminal. 

[00:22:28] Mm-hmm. 

[00:22:29] Tony: You know? Mm. So we fast-forward, now I’m now 21 working construction. Yeah. I replaced it with alcohol. Ah. 

[00:22:35] Mm. 

[00:22:36] Tony: You know? So that for me was a step up. Mm.

[00:22:38] Tony: Yeah. And truly, you know- 

[00:22:39] Yeah, yeah … 

[00:22:40] Tony: I’d moved on, but my- Yeah … ethics were, were terrible. 

[00:22:42] Yeah. 

[00:22:43] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:22:43] Yeah. 

[00:22:44] Tony: Yep, yep. 

[00:22:44] In some ways. 

[00:22:45] Tony: In some ways. Yeah. In 

[00:22:46] Brad: some ways. 

[00:22:46] Tony: My discipline at work has always been right on point. 

[00:22:51] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:22:51] Tony: But my discipline on personal life and other areas of life was very poor. 

[00:22:57] Brad: Mm-hmm. And, and were you able to keep those like, [00:23:00] like part the Red Sea and, and hold those apart?

[00:23:03] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:23:04] Brad: Really? Wow. 

[00:23:05] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:23:05] Brad: Wow. 

[00:23:06] Tony: Yeah. I, I never missed, I was- Yeah … never one to call out from work, “Oh, I’m not feeling well today.” Dude, that’s 

[00:23:11] Brad: amazing. 

[00:23:11] Tony: Ever. 

[00:23:12] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:23:12] Tony: Would show up. 

[00:23:13] Brad: Wow. That’s, that’s incredible and that’s, it’s almost like, um, it can almost be like for some- for someone who hears that who maybe is in the part where they’re like drinking heavily, going out on the weekend- 

[00:23:23] Tony: Yeah

[00:23:23] Brad: they, they, you’re a very rare case where you have the int- uh, intention and ability level to hold them apart. Most people who go into that- Slip … they just 

[00:23:33] Tony: And it all collapses 

[00:23:34] Brad: Becomes a mess 

[00:23:34] Tony: Yeah 

[00:23:35] Brad: Yeah Demical I, people who work for… I mean, I’m sure people who work for you it happens. Like, people works for, who work for me in construction- 

[00:23:41] Tony: Yeah

[00:23:42] Brad: I’ve seen that from time to time It happens. Yeah. 

[00:23:44] Tony: Yeah. It happens. 

[00:23:44] Brad: Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately. 

[00:23:45] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:23:46] Brad: Wow, that’s incredible. 

[00:23:46] Tony: Yeah. So, uh, so now while I’m working with that company, I think I worked for that company for about, uh, I think four years. 

[00:23:54] Brad: Mm. 

[00:23:54] Tony: So, um, so I’m now foreman and I’m running projects. Wait, 

[00:23:58] Brad: whatever happened to the [00:24:00] surveying thing?

[00:24:01] Brad: Oh, the 

[00:24:01] Tony: surveying thing. He did, 

[00:24:02] Brad: he did. I thought he did it. No, no, go. 

[00:24:03] Tony: I did it. 

[00:24:03] Brad: You did it? 

[00:24:04] Tony: Yeah. Oh, 

[00:24:04] Brad: okay. 

[00:24:05] Tony: Yeah. I did it for months. And to answer your question, which I didn’t quite get to ’cause we jumped, but the surveying I did, when you’re doing big earthworks, and when we’re talking big equipment moving lots of dirt, you gotta take the, the survey, the height from here to here.

[00:24:20] Tony: It’s all on design. Mm-hmm. The water’s gotta flow. It’s gotta do this. So my job, I had, like, a laborer working for me. I’d drive around in the truck, and we’d go, “We’re moving this dirt. We need to get the heights.” So I would then set up the m- the machine. Back then you’d look through it. 

[00:24:33] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:34] Tony: Uh, you know, we didn’t have the big lasers back then.

[00:24:36] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:36] Tony: Uh, and I would be there looking through it, and I’d be writing down that height there, and then, “Go over there.” And I’d be calculating it and going, “Well, that’s gotta come up another half a meter, down another half a meter.” That was what I did. I thought I’d made it. Mm. I drive around in the air-conditioned truck.

[00:24:51] Tony: I’m out of the concrete. You know, I’m like, “Man, this is living.” You know? Uh, anyway, it was fun. 

[00:24:58] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:24:58] Tony: Yeah. So, uh, [00:25:00] but anyway, so I’m now fast-forward. I’m, you know, foreman, I’m running these jobs. And, um, you know, I’m from a family of nine kids. 

[00:25:07] Wow. 

[00:25:08] Tony: So I go home to the farm for Christmas. 

[00:25:10] Mm-hmm. 

[00:25:10] Tony: And, uh, I see my then, I think he was, like, 18-year-old brother.

[00:25:15] Tony: He might’ve been a bit younger. And he is in the same position I was at 17. Mm. He’s stoned out of his brain, he’s got no hope, he’s got, um, you know, no drive. He’s got a girlfriend on his lines that was, like, pulling him down and just destroying him. Mm-hmm. Like, eating him from the inside- Mm. Mm … that he was in love with, and I’m like, “Bro.”

[00:25:39] Tony: Um, now as a kids, we were arch enemies. We did not get on. He- 

[00:25:43] Brad: You and your younger brother. 

[00:25:44] Tony: The one just below me. The 

[00:25:45] Brad: one just below you. 

[00:25:45] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did not get on. But I see him and I’m like, I’m heartbroken. I’m like, now, I don’t know what I was, probably 20, 22 or something. Mm-hmm. And I see this… He’s my bro, and for the first time I’ve got [00:26:00] massive empathy for him.

[00:26:01] Tony: I’m like, “This is not okay.” 

[00:26:03] Wow. 

[00:26:03] Tony: I got on the other side of drugs in my life, never looked back. So I’m like, “Dude, what’s going on?” And he tells me, “I got this going on, I got that going on,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I said, “Do you wanna do something about it?” 

[00:26:15] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:26:15] Tony: He goes, “Yep.” “It’s good. Do you wanna come to Sydney and work?”

[00:26:19] Tony: ‘Cause we’re up in Queensland. He goes, “Yeah.” I go, “This is the rule. You’ll live with me. I got a company truck. You’ll drive… You’ll go back and forth on the project with me.” 

[00:26:30] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. “

[00:26:30] Tony: When we’re at work, I am the boss. When we’re at home, you can do what you want, except there’s no drugs in my environment.”

[00:26:37] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:26:38] Tony: You know, 22, 23. Wow. Oh, yeah. 

[00:26:40] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, 

[00:26:40] Tony: mm-hmm. I was ruthless on that. Mm-hmm. From, uh, from… Once I’d realized what it was – 

[00:26:45] Aaron: Yeah … 

[00:26:46] Tony: I was ruthless. No drugs in my environment. Um, and I’m like, it was a roll of the dice. We were… never got on. So two weeks later, he arrives at my house, little pickup truck loaded up with all his , and, [00:27:00] um- From that day on, we never fought.

[00:27:03] Tony: Wow. 

[00:27:03] Wow. Wow. 

[00:27:05] Tony: It was, um- 

[00:27:06] That’s 

[00:27:06] Tony: beautiful … best mates. Best mates. He never touched drugs again. Um, and we were inseparable. 

[00:27:13] Mm. 

[00:27:13] Tony: Like inseparable. Wow. Um, and it was phenomenal. And I gotta tell you, one of the, one of the coolest stories I’ve got of remembering him, right, there was two, funny. We’re in a, in the pickup truck one day, and he, he was into music, right?

[00:27:28] Tony: And, um, he mentioned something about this Garth Brooks song. I go, “How does it go?” So we turned the radio off, and he teaches me, um, the dance. If you’re at home and you haven’t heard it, you gotta do Garth Brooks, The Dance. And it goes, “Looking back on the memories of,” um, “Looking back on the memories of the chance we…”

[00:27:48] Tony: Anyway, I can’t right remember the lyrics. But it says… But anyway, uh, it’s like he loses the love of his life. 

[00:27:55] Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:55] Tony: But he goes, “If I’d only known, would he have changed it?” [00:28:00] Mm. And the song goes, “I wouldn’t have changed it.” Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. ‘Cause we had that dance, right? So- Oh, that’s nice … that was one of the most amazing stories, right?

[00:28:07] Tony: And we’re singing it in the truck, and I remember it, right? And then that’s, that was one really cool story. One other funny story was he wasn’t very aggressive. I was a little bit aggressive. 

[00:28:18] Mm. 

[00:28:19] Tony: So we’re out at a pub. And he comes, right, he comes up to the boys and his nose is bleeding across the bridge of his nose.

[00:28:26] Tony: I’m like, “Dude, what happened?” He goes, “Someone hit me.” I’m ready to kill. I’m like, “Who?” You know, like ready to let loose. And he’s not telling me, not telling me. I’m like, “Matt,” his name’s Matty, “Matty, Matty, who did it?” Like, I’m gonna kill him. He goes, “Oh, God,” in front of all the boys, “I fell on the stairs.”

[00:28:46] Tony: So that was just hilarious. So then we just took the, the mickey out of that for, like s- months and months and months, you know? But, um, but anyway, I lost him on a job site. He, he died in a construction accident. [00:29:00] So we had, throughout this time we’d made a decision we were gonna be a construction company. He was- Yeah

[00:29:06] Tony: he was literate, he was smart. He could- Yeah … read and understand. I could run on the ground. You could run , yeah. I could run out on the project. Mm-hmm. He was gonna learn the game, come up the ranks, uh, you know, learn how to quote jobs and all that, and I was gonna run them, and we were gonna be ballers. Mm-hmm.

[00:29:24] Tony: You know? Toomey Constructions. Wow. Right? Two Toomeys. I don’t know. Could’ve gone anywhere. Wow. Right? So anyway, I lose him on a construction job site, and I went from loving construction. I love, like, construction, right? I went from loving construction to I would walk onto a job site and something would occur.

[00:29:43] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:29:44] Tony: I don’t know what it… I didn’t know what it was. 

[00:29:46] Aaron: Mm. Mm-hmm. 

[00:29:47] Tony: Something would occur. This grief, this- 

[00:29:50] Aaron: Mm-hmm … 

[00:29:50] Tony: pressure, this anxiety, this stress would just kick in. 

[00:29:56] Mm. 

[00:29:56] Tony: Every day. So I stepped back from being a foreman and I went [00:30:00] driving excavators, like big machines on tracks. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. ‘Cause I’d sit in the cab, I wouldn’t have to confront anybody.

[00:30:05] Tony: I could just- Yeah … sit in that machine and just… But every day it would just be like, whoa, every time I walked on the job site. And then, um, um- 

[00:30:15] Did, could you… I just- I just felt like asking, like what, what happened? 

[00:30:21] Tony: So, uh, him and another guy, they were digging for footings along a big brick wall. 

[00:30:28] What’s a footing?

[00:30:29] Like a- 

[00:30:30] Tony: Uh, so, uh, for where you put steel- Okay … and then concrete to build walls on top of. 

[00:30:35] Okay. 

[00:30:35] Tony: Like a footing. Under every building is a footing. Okay, okay. You know the big trench you put all the concrete in? 

[00:30:40] Brad: You’re gonna see it 

[00:30:40] in Melbourne. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. 

[00:30:41] Tony: Yeah. Okay. So they’re digging a footing alongside this big brick wall, and they didn’t prop the wall up ’cause they thought the wall was connected to something big.

[00:30:51] Tony: Mm. Like four meter, four, you know, 12, 14 foot wall. And they’re down there digging, and as they went under the wall or beside [00:31:00] the wall- Yeah … the wall just collapsed and it took two of them out. Yeah. Brutal. Brutal. That was rough. Mm. That was rough. The grief, uh, the pain. 

[00:31:12] Were you, were you there s- did you see that?

[00:31:15] Tony: No. 

[00:31:15] Okay. 

[00:31:16] Tony: I was on another job. 

[00:31:17] Okay. 

[00:31:17] Tony: Um, someone else was running that job. But dude, the, um, the emotional- Man … rollercoaster I went through was brutal. 

[00:31:26] Mm-hmm. 

[00:31:27] Tony: And that actually lasted for some years. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was, that was quite a while. 

[00:31:30] Mm-hmm. 

[00:31:30] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:31:31] Tony: Yeah. And then I felt mega responsible. Mm-hmm. I went down this road of shame, blame and regret.

[00:31:36] Yep. Mm. 

[00:31:36] Tony: Yep. I got him the job with the company, you know? Yeah. And up until that point it was so successful. I got him off drugs. Mm-hmm. I got him a career. We’re gonna have the company. You know, we were out having fun. We were, you know, young boys. He was better looking than me, you know, but, you know. I’d leverage that.

[00:31:55] Tony: So, uh, um, and then I lose him. 

[00:31:59] Yep. 

[00:31:59] Tony: Yeah. [00:32:00] And then, um, so then I go through this, “Which construction? What am I gonna do? I’ve just lost my partner.” Mm-hmm. “I’ve lost my teammate.” And, um, so I decide I need to get out of, I need to get out of construction Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, um, anyway, so I would take my little cheap-ass, um, $100 suit in the truck, and I’d do a day on the job site, and I’d go to the bathroom on the job site, wash up, go out to the truck, put on my cheap suit, and I went for all these interviews.

[00:32:27] Tony: Dozens and dozens of interviews, sales interviews, trying to get a job. 

[00:32:30] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:32:31] Tony: But I was literally illiterate. 

[00:32:33] Brad: Yeah. Wow. 

[00:32:34] Tony: But it wouldn’t stop me showing up. 

[00:32:35] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:32:36] Tony: Um, I never got any of the jobs, right? But I’d show up. 

[00:32:40] And, and is that ’cause they were like, “Okay, good, call this person,” you c- you know, like- Can’t read the script or the-

[00:32:45] partly ’cause of the reading or what? Oh, yeah, script or what, what, what? 

[00:32:47] Tony: You know, I was dating a girl who had her own little recruitment headhunting business. 

[00:32:52] Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:32:53] Tony: So she would punt me in. She’d, she’d, like, push me into these interviews. Mm-hmm. So that’s how I actually got into the interviews. Oh. [00:33:00] Right?

[00:33:00] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:33:00] Tony: But I remember going into Sydney, into this massive high-rise, like, you know, I’m a country kid. I’m, I’m, I’m the equivalent of a, an Australian redneck. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Right? Yeah, yeah. And I’m rough around the edges at this age. So, uh, I go into this high-rise building, and I remember going up to, like, the 20-something floor, and I’m like, “Whoa, this is unbelievable,” right?

[00:33:21] Tony: And I sat in front of this guy, big mahogany desk, and he had an IT company, some software, right? Um, I didn’t have a computer. I didn’t have an email address. Mm. Seriously, dude. And, uh, and he’s like, “Tell me about yourself.” And I’m, and I remember him sitting back in his chair, this big chair, and he folds his arms, and he’s just bamboozled.

[00:33:40] Tony: He says- How did this guy even get in this interview? I’m like, “What the hell 

[00:33:46] are you 

[00:33:48] Tony: doing here?” Serious. Serious. And he’s like, um- Oh, my God … he goes, “I don’t know what to do with you.” And I’m like, “Okay, w- why is that?” And he goes, “You’ve got everything that I want, [00:34:00] except the knowledge and experience with our product”-

[00:34:03] Tony: which was software. 

[00:34:04] Yeah. 

[00:34:04] Tony: And, but I remember the confusion, ’cause I’m in there having a conversation, telling him about my drive, how I- Yeah … went up the food chain into construction, how I wanted to make a future in sales. 

[00:34:14] Brad: And he can see, he’s like, “Oh my God, this guy can sell.” 

[00:34:16] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:34:17] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:34:17] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:34:18] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:34:18] Tony: Didn’t get that job either.

[00:34:19] Tony: But, but this is where the game changer happened. So it wasn’t long after that, a few months after that, I’m still driving machinery, going to the job site, and getting this overwhelming sadness- Mm-hmm … every day I walked onto the job site. Every day. Every day. 

[00:34:37] Brad: Did it, did it get better when you would leave at the end of the day?

[00:34:39] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:34:40] Brad: Oh. 

[00:34:40] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But when I was in there- 

[00:34:42] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:34:43] Tony: Mm-hmm … it was real. 

[00:34:45] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:34:45] Tony: It 

[00:34:45] Brad: was real. But it’s a no-go at that… You’re, you’re just miserable at your job at that point. 

[00:34:49] Tony: Terrible. 

[00:34:49] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:34:50] Tony: Yeah. That’s why I wanted to be in the machine. Mm-hmm. Mm. Close the cab. You know, I don’t wanna be having to be responsible for what 20 or 30 other people do.

[00:34:58] Tony: Close the cab, let me sit in my [00:35:00] air-conditioned- Mm … machine and listen to the radio. 

[00:35:02] Brad: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Did, uh, so question on that. One- You’re, you’re really good at doing what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Did that- Yeah … kind of l- leave at that point? Like, you, you were doing something but you were mentally somewhere else at that point in your life?

[00:35:16] Tony: Yeah, really good question. Um, 100%. 

[00:35:18] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:35:19] Tony: Yeah. I’d be there, but I wouldn’t be there. 

[00:35:21] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:35:21] Tony: Uh, I would just zone out, drift away. My attention definitely wasn’t on- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm … what I was doing. 

[00:35:27] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:35:28] Tony: Which is probably a big reason I’m pulling back from running a crew. Right. ‘Cause how can you be- run a production if you don’t have your attention?

[00:35:34] Tony: Yeah. You know? It was in- You gotta be- It was in, it was out. Mm-hmm. It was like, “What did I do? Why’d I get him a job?” You know, “Would he still be here?” Man. You know, all the shame- No, no, no, no … blaming regret that you can muster. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. 

[00:35:47] Yeah. Okay, so then there came a turning point is what you were alluding to, no?

[00:35:49] Tony: Turning point. Yeah. So, um, I’m at home, uh, on a Saturday after work, and my- another brother’s… One of nine kids. There’s plenty of them. [00:36:00] Another brother’s visiting me, right? And I said to him, you know, “Mate, I’m getting out of the construction game. I’m gonna get into sales.” And he goes, “Oh, that’s great. Yeah, yeah.

[00:36:09] Tony: Good, good.” And I go, “So I’m researching night schools so I can learn how to read and write. I’m 25 years of age.” Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. And he, he looks me dead in the eye. I’m laying back in my big recliner, and he looks me dead in the eye and he says, “That’s what Scientology does.” 

[00:36:26] Oh. 

[00:36:26] Tony: I sit up. Like, I sit up, ’cause I’m an atheist.

[00:36:31] Yeah. 

[00:36:31] Tony: I sit up and I go, “Bro, that’s a religion.” And he goes, “Yep.”

[00:36:42] Tony: Like I was shocked, 

[00:36:44] right? Yeah. 

[00:36:45] Tony: And he goes, “Yep.” And he said, “But they got a thing called study tech.” 

[00:36:49] Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:52] Tony: I’m like, “What is study tech?” 

[00:36:53] Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:54] Tony: He goes, “It’s study technology.” I’m like, “Yeah, yeah, what is it?” 

[00:36:57] Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:58] Tony: And he goes, “It is the tool [00:37:00] that’ll help you understand what you run into when you try to read the written word.”

[00:37:06] Tony: He goes, “It’s really simple. There’s certain barriers you run into, and when you understand them and have the tools to be able to break it down so that you can duplicate it, you’ll be able to read and write.” 

[00:37:18] Brad: Yep. 

[00:37:18] Tony: And I’m like, “Where do I do it?” 

[00:37:20] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:37:20] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:37:20] Brad: And 

[00:37:21] Tony: that was the changing point. That was, for me, that was the first- 

[00:37:25] Brad: Wow

[00:37:25] Tony: hope. That was the first solution. And I’m telling you, it, the lights went on. I just knew. Wow. I knew. I knew nothing about it. Um, now I didn’t go into Scientology looking for a religious experience. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That wasn’t the purpose. Mm-hmm. 

[00:37:42] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:37:43] Tony: I wasn’t going, “Oh, I’m gonna find my spirituality.” No, I’m gonna go and learn how to read and write.

[00:37:49] Yep. Yeah. 

[00:37:52] Tony: Did 

[00:37:52] that- So, so, yeah … oh, yeah. It’s so Ralph, so- So then… All right, all right, so then you went like, what? What… So let’s go… What, what happened? 

[00:37:58] Tony: So I said to [00:38:00] him, “Where do I do it?” Yeah. And he said, “You can do it here in Sydney. There’s three places in Sydney, or the best place you can do it at is Clearwater, Florida.”

[00:38:09] Tony: And I’m like- 

[00:38:09] Which is where we are 

[00:38:10] Tony: now. I’m like, I’m a u- I, I’m uneducated. I’m like, he, he said Clearwater, right? It’s in Clearwater. I said, “Where the, where the hell is Clearwater?” You know, “It’s in Florida.” “Where’s Florida?” He’s like, “It’s in America.” Ahh. Like, I’m telling you, mate, I wasn’t read. Right. I wasn’t, 

[00:38:30] you know- Yeah

[00:38:30] Tony: um, could ride a horse, could drive a machine. Yeah. You know what I mean? 

[00:38:33] Yeah. 

[00:38:34] Tony: So, so six weeks later, um, I don’t ask him any more questions. I’m in. Mm-hmm. I’m like, “Yep, study technology. That is what I’m gonna do.” 

[00:38:43] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:38:44] Tony: I’m determined. I’m getting out of construction, and I’m gonna be a professional. Mm-hmm. I am gonna be a salesman.

[00:38:49] Brad: Where was he doing services at that time? 

[00:38:51] Tony: Um, you know, right then, I don’t know if he was actually on, to be honest. 

[00:38:56] Brad: Yeah. Yeah. But where, where… You’re in Sydney. 

[00:38:58] Tony: I’m in Sydney. 

[00:38:59] Brad: Was there a, [00:39:00] like a church or a mission in Sydney at that time? 

[00:39:01] Tony: Yeah, yeah. There was a couple of churches, and at that point, a couple of missions.

[00:39:05] Brad: Mm-hmm. Oh, 

[00:39:05] Tony: wow. There was three or four places I could’ve gone. 

[00:39:08] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:09] Tony: Oh, 

[00:39:09] Brad: wow. 

[00:39:09] Tony: Yeah. But 

[00:39:09] Brad: you said Clearwater. 

[00:39:10] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:39:11] Come on. Sorry, 

[00:39:11] Tony: sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. If I’m gonna do something, if I’m gonna do… And I’ve always done it this way. Yeah. If I’m gonna do something, I always wanna know where’s the best, who’s the best.

[00:39:21] Mm. 

[00:39:21] Tony: I just wanna, I wanna know who’s the best. Mm-hmm. You’re gonna work under construction, you’re gonna work for Robbo. 

[00:39:25] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:25] Tony: Yeah. Yeah? You’re gonna learn, you wanna do, you know, mixed martial arts? Who’s the killer? 

[00:39:32] Aaron: Yeah. Yeah, 

[00:39:33] Tony: yeah, yeah. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who’s gonna drive me to be my best? I’ve always operated that way.

[00:39:37] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:39:37] Tony: So then, um, he goes Clearwater, Florida. I’m like, “How do I get there?” He goes, “I got a mate, I got a buddy. I’ll hook you up.” So we stay up that night talking, um, and he hooks me up, puts me onto the phone with his, his mate, and his mate says, “Yeah, come over.” It wasn’t like, you know, “What are we gonna do?”

[00:39:55] Tony: He’s like, “Yeah, come over.” Mm-hmm. Six weeks later, I’d quit my job. I had, [00:40:00] uh, I had two cars and a motorcycle. I sold one car for a bit of cash, put everything into storage. Six weeks later I arrived in Clearwater. Whoa. 

[00:40:08] Mm. 

[00:40:09] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:40:10] And you didn’t… Did you go to any of the things in, in Australia? You went to nothing there.

[00:40:12] You didn’t go to the church there. 

[00:40:14] Tony: Nope. 

[00:40:14] You just wrapped- What? You just finished up the stuff and you just flew out. 

[00:40:16] Tony: Yep. 

[00:40:17] Okay. 

[00:40:17] Tony: And I couldn’t read, so I wasn’t going on Google and researching it. 

[00:40:19] Brad: That’s such a wild- Yeah. That’s such a wild, uh, amazing but wild man train. I mean, you’re a w- you’re a wild man.

[00:40:26] Brad: But- He’s a jockey. That’s such a wild train of thought. It’s like, “Hey, there’s one, what? 20 minutes from where I live.” Yep. “But I’m gonna go around the globe to the top-” 

[00:40:35] Tony: Top … 

[00:40:35] Brad: place.” 

[00:40:36] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:40:37] Brad: That’s badass though. I’m 

[00:40:38] Tony: gonna do it. Yeah. Yeah. I’m gonna do it. 

[00:40:39] Brad: Yeah, that is badass. 

[00:40:40] Tony: So then I arrive here, and he’s telling me, “Oh, you know, the study tech isn’t really what you need.

[00:40:48] Tony: You need a thing called auditing,” which means, uh, you know, you sit down and you work with someone to work through the areas of your life where there’s, you’ve got hardships. Mm-hmm. Right? 

[00:40:58] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:40:59] Tony: And I was like, [00:41:00] “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.” Never heard of it. Didn’t know. I’m here. If that’s what I need, let’s go.

[00:41:08] Okay … 

[00:41:09] Tony: I’m like, “Whatever.” So then we walk in, and he walks me into the, the, the front of the, the little mission, which was, uh, here. And then they walk me up, he introduces me, they leave. I watch this little 15-minute video, you know, “Welcome, here we are.” Good. And then the girl walks me over to this bookstore, the, the, this, uh, bookshelf, and she goes…

[00:41:29] Tony: Oh, she shows me a book called Dianetics. 

[00:41:31] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:31] Tony: Um, you know, Dianetics means through the mind, right? Mm-hmm. So, and she shows me this book, Dianetics. She goes, “This, what you’re about to learn and experience here is all based on that book. And there’s this little book down low, and that’s 15 bucks, and there’s a big book up, but big, and it’s like leather and it’s hard.”

[00:41:48] Tony: And I’m like, “What’s the difference? That’s 80 bucks.” 

[00:41:50] Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:51] Tony: She goes, “It’s the same book, that’s just the nicer one.” “Oh, I’ll take the nicer one.” I don’t mind buying it, I can’t read 

[00:41:57] it. 

[00:41:57] Tony: All right? So I buy the book, 80 bucks, that’s my [00:42:00] book. 

[00:42:00] Yeah. 

[00:42:00] Tony: But I do this course called Success Through Communications. Mm.

[00:42:06] Tony: Because they said, “Before we get in and start addressing it, you know, you gotta learn the communication so that we can help you work through it.” 

[00:42:14] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:15] Tony: I’m like, “No worries. I can’t read it.” 

[00:42:18] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:19] Tony: So they give me a person. 

[00:42:21] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:42:21] Tony: Another person sits with me, opposite me, with the same book. 

[00:42:24] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:25] Tony: And I’m like, “Uh, uh,” and they go, “Great.”

[00:42:28] Tony: And they work with me one-on-one- 

[00:42:30] Aaron: Mm-hmm … 

[00:42:31] Tony: to get me through this book. 

[00:42:32] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:33] Tony: Now, this book s- literally, I don’t know if it was 50 bucks or 100 bucks, but it was pennies- 

[00:42:38] Aaron: Mm-hmm … 

[00:42:39] Tony: in relation to what I got out of that book. 

[00:42:41] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:42] Tony: Yeah. Like, I didn’t think I had a problem communicating. 

[00:42:46] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:42:47] Tony: I had no freaking idea.

[00:42:49] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:49] Tony: So I get this book, the course, and I’m going through it, and it takes us, like almost a week. People get through this course in a day and a half, two days. I’m on [00:43:00] it, like, a week. And then we get to the practicals, and I’m doing this practical drill on this communication And that is when I realized I’m a spiritual immortal being.

[00:43:14] Mm. 

[00:43:15] Tony: And it just hit me, and I was like, “Wow.” Oh, it wasn’t real to me. 

[00:43:19] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:43:20] Tony: I was like, “What is that?” But I’m finding myself through this communication. 

[00:43:26] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:43:27] Tony: But that course, that like, I don’t know, what was it? Let’s call it 100 bucks. Top dollar, 100 bucks, right? That course taught me the communication formulas.

[00:43:37] Yeah. 

[00:43:38] Tony: Now, when I went and started applying that to life, dude, that’s when life took off. 

[00:43:44] Mm. Yeah. 

[00:43:45] Tony: That is when I built a future. 

[00:43:48] Yeah. 

[00:43:49] Tony: Yeah. Epic. Yeah. Epic. That was the turning point. Wow. 

[00:43:52] Brad: Wow. 

[00:43:54] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:43:54] Brad: Okay. I love… I, I, I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt you, but I, I wanna [00:44:00] just r- rewind just a little bit to- Yeah

[00:44:04] Brad: you said, “I came… I basically, I was interested in Scientology ’cause I wanted to learn to read and write.” 

[00:44:10] Yeah. 

[00:44:11] Brad: That’s so– I feel like, um, you know, like, if people think of Scientology, it’s, it could be like spiritual freedom or handling- Yeah … past upsets or handling the mind. But you’re like, “Hey, I just wanna read and write.”

[00:44:25] Yep. 

[00:44:25] Brad: I just wanna be able to participate in the game of, of life at the level that everybody around here seems to be doing. I, what, what… Here’s my question, I guess. 

[00:44:33] Yeah. 

[00:44:34] Brad: What would you say to somebody who, uh- I guess maybe is coming across us and they’re like, “Well, I’m 30 and I don’t know how to read and write, honestly.”

[00:44:44] Brad: Yeah. They’re like, they just are kinda hobbling through making it go right somehow. Yeah. Scratching out words. 

[00:44:48] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:44:48] Brad: But they’re spelling them wrong. 

[00:44:50] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:44:50] Brad: Right? Afraid to go apply for a good job. 

[00:44:53] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:44:53] Brad: What would you say to that person? 

[00:44:56] Tony: I would say you deserve [00:45:00] to find happiness in life, and happiness in life means you finding you.

[00:45:08] Tony: Because that’s what I found on that course. I found me. 

[00:45:11] Aaron: Mm. 

[00:45:11] Tony: It was a course on communication, but I found me. And, um, life has never been the same. You know? What I would say to that person, that 30-year-old- 

[00:45:21] Aaron: Yeah … 

[00:45:22] Tony: is you can be, do, and have more. 

[00:45:25] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:45:26] Tony: You can. It’s up to you. 

[00:45:29] Brad: Yeah. And I’d 

[00:45:29] Tony: say go for it. 

[00:45:32] Brad: He’d say something that rhymes with bucket.

[00:45:34] Brad: Bucket. Um, so 

[00:45:35] I

[00:45:40] never heard of someone like, “Hey, let me read this to you.” Or I guess you were learning… So you were also learning to read, I guess then, if someone’s… You’re reading it- Yeah … and someone’s gonna help you through it, you kinda make out some of these things. 

[00:45:49] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:45:49] So is that like, did you then ever get to the study technology you, uh, you came across the world for?

[00:45:55] You’re like, “Forget it, I’m here.” Not 

[00:45:56] Tony: on that trip. Not on that j- Not on that trip. [00:46:00] 

[00:46:00] Brad: Um- Oh, so you went back, so you went back. Dude, I was thinking this whole time you came to Clearwater and you’ve been here ever since. 

[00:46:04] Tony: No. No, no, no. I, uh, I, I came here and now th- there’s multiple places in Clearwater that you can experience services.

[00:46:14] Tony: I was in one of the tiniest, smallest ones. I wasn’t in the, the, the… 

[00:46:21] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:46:21] Tony: I wasn’t in the ideal scene. Mm-hmm. I was in this tiny little scene, right? Yeah. But it was fine. I get through that course, and I’m telling you, life-changing experience. Like knowledge. Knowledge. 

[00:46:34] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:46:35] Tony: Okay? There’s a thing in that, in that book, I’ll just break it down, right?

[00:46:39] Tony: It’s called the ARC triangle. 

[00:46:42] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:46:43] Tony: It’s a triangle. And on that triangle, it’s three points. A stands for affinity. 

[00:46:48] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:46:49] Tony: Right? R stands for reality, and C stands for communication. Now, look how simple this is. Communication [00:47:00] Consists of all three 

[00:47:01] Mm-hmm 

[00:47:02] Tony: All right? We are communicating, right? Mm-hmm. And as we’re communicating, we are building an affinity.

[00:47:07] Tony: An affinity is a desire, a willingness, a level of love- Mm-hmm … that we’re willing to be in each other’s space. That’s an affinity, right? 

[00:47:14] Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:47:14] Tony: And then from that, we’re getting reality. 

[00:47:16] Mm-hmm. 

[00:47:17] Tony: We’re talking construction. Mm-hmm. We’re talking about footings. We’ve got reality, right? Mm-hmm. Now, the triangle grows on each point that you strengthen.

[00:47:26] Mm-hmm. 

[00:47:27] Tony: So you find someone in life and you go, “Wow, do I have a reality point with that person?” Communicate about it. 

[00:47:33] Mm-hmm. 

[00:47:33] Tony: And then you communicate about it, and next minute your affinity’s going up. You’re going, “I wanna hang out with that dude more.” Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right? Triangle grows. Now you cut any one of them, and the triangle will shrink.

[00:47:45] Tony: That, learning that concept, changed my life. Yeah. Because I wanted to get into sales. So how do I get into sales? 

[00:47:53] Oh, you gotta communicate. 

[00:47:55] Tony: Yeah. Find a reality. Oh. Increase the affinity. Yeah. And get more [00:48:00] communication. Oh. 

[00:48:01] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:48:02] Tony: That triangle took me from a construction worker that couldn’t read and write- 

[00:48:08] Brad: And Tony, what does the triangle add up to?

[00:48:12] Tony: The, the ARC Tell us 

[00:48:15] Brad: Together. Understanding 

[00:48:17] Tony: Understanding. And what 

[00:48:18] Brad: is the purpose of communication? 

[00:48:19] Tony: To bring about understanding. That’s 

[00:48:21] Brad: right. 

[00:48:22] Tony: Bingo. Mm-hmm. There you go. 

[00:48:23] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[00:48:23] Tony: But that triangle, right, just that knowledge- 

[00:48:26] Brad: Mm-hmm … 

[00:48:27] Tony: I still didn’t handle my literacy. I couldn’t read on my own, right? But that took me from a construction worker, I went home, I got a job in sales.

[00:48:38] Tony: From sales- How 

[00:48:39] was that interview? That was an epic interview. Were you, like… You were just like, “Well, everything I was missing.” Like, what, how… Like, what’d you do? Did you just start, what, what… Dude, I wanna know. What, you went back home- Yeah. How did you- … and you were like, “Okay, I got Scientology. I’m gonna use it.”

[00:48:50] Like, now what? You’re like, “

[00:48:51] Tony: Listen, I still can’t 

[00:48:51] read- 

[00:48:52] Tony: Yeah … or 

[00:48:52] write.” 

[00:48:53] Tony: Yeah, yeah. However… Yeah. So, okay, there’s one bit before that, right? Okay, okay, 

[00:48:58] okay. 

[00:48:58] Tony: So I finish that [00:49:00] course, and it, I mean, it’s an epic course, right? Takes me about a week, week and a half, and I’m like, I’m like, “Wow, I have a future.” 

[00:49:08] Mm-hmm.

[00:49:08] Tony: Like, this is incredible. 

[00:49:10] Mm-hmm. 

[00:49:10] Tony: Right? Um, they put me on the next course, but then I tried to do it on my own, and it was just too s- way out gradient. 

[00:49:19] Mm-hmm. 

[00:49:19] Tony: You know, I went from punch- 

[00:49:20] Too hard. It’s too difficult. 

[00:49:21] Tony: Yeah. I went from punching the punching bag to stepping in the ring with Mike Tyson- Mm-hmm

[00:49:25] Tony: nothing in between. And I got destroyed. So I, um, I pissed off to Austria and went snowboarding for the season. To Austria? Yes. 

[00:49:33] Oh my God. 

[00:49:34] Tony: So then I go back from Austria. 

[00:49:36] Not Australia, Austria. 

[00:49:38] Tony: Okay, good. Austria. Okay, okay. ‘Cause I wanted to snowboard. Yeah. So I went to Austria. Anyway, that’s a whole adventure.

[00:49:42] Tony: But, um, so much fun. 

[00:49:44] Yeah. 

[00:49:45] Tony: So, um, I go back to Australia and I get a job. First thing I do, ’cause I’m, I’m now out of money. I’ve been in Austria snowboarding for, I think I spent 11 weeks in Austria. 

[00:49:55] Geez. 

[00:49:55] Tony: So I go back home. Yeah. If you wanna do something, just go and [00:50:00] freaking do it. Don’t, don’t worry about working it out.

[00:50:04] Tony: Oh my God. Don’t worry about the rules. Just go and freaking do it, right? Um, so anyway, so I come back from Austria, and now I’m broke ’cause all my cash is gone, right? Yeah. So I get a job driving a machine. And then I’m at this dinner, um, and there was these two guys that own this software company. We’re back to software.

[00:50:22] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:50:23] Tony: So the two owners, and it’s a good company. They’re doing well, right? So, you know, I don’t know why, but he wanted to get away from the group. We’re over at the bar. It’s his company. It’s all his staff. We’re over at the bar, little redneck town. I’m there having a beer with him. I go, “How’s business going?”

[00:50:40] Tony: ARC 

[00:50:41] Yeah 

[00:50:41] Tony: Right? 

[00:50:41] Yeah, 

[00:50:41] Tony: yeah. Now, how’s business going? He goes, “Going good, going good.” I go, “Great. And your expansion, what’s your plans? Where you going with it?” He goes, “Ah, having troubles on the sales.” And I’m like, “What are you having troubles with?” 

[00:50:54] Uh-huh. 

[00:50:54] Tony: And he goes, “I’ve got these great salespeople, if they can get in front of someone, but they can’t get in front of people.”[00:51:00] 

[00:51:00] Aaron: Hmm. Oh, 

[00:51:00] Tony: my God. I go, “How do they get in front of people?” He says, “Well, they’re supposed to call them, book appointments, and go and see them.” 

[00:51:06] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:51:06] Tony: I said, “What, what trouble is there having with the calls?” He goes, “I really don’t know. It’s just not happening.” And I’m like, “Well, what do they do?” And I’m now question, question.

[00:51:18] Tony: Yeah, yeah, 

[00:51:18] Aaron: yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. ‘

[00:51:20] Tony: Cause I need to understand- 

[00:51:21] Aaron: Yeah … 

[00:51:22] Tony: his pain point. 

[00:51:23] Aaron: Yep. 

[00:51:23] Tony: Right? 

[00:51:24] Mm-hmm. 

[00:51:26] Tony: So he says, you know… He explains a cold call, and I’m like, “I’ll do it for you.” He laughs, like belly laughs. Like that.

[00:51:38] Tony: And he goes, “You can’t do it.” I said, “Yes, I can.” He goes, “No, you can’t.” I go, “Dude, I can.” So it takes about another 20 minutes where I get him to talk more about the pain. 

[00:51:49] Yeah. 

[00:51:50] Tony: And I’m like, “I promise you I can do it.” 

[00:51:53] Mm-hmm. 

[00:51:54] Tony: And he goes, “Fine. I’m not gonna give you a job. I’ll put you on the equivalent of a 1099.

[00:51:58] Tony: That way you can fire my ass [00:52:00] easily.” Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. “And I’ll pay you for every hour you work, but there’s no salary, there’s nothing.” Yeah. I go, “No worries.” So I, um, they gave me a list, name and phone number, right? And maybe the company name, and these are the, the positions, you know, the CIO or the CEO if it’s his size and that.

[00:52:19] Tony: These are the people that can make decisions. Make decisions, 

[00:52:21] yeah, yeah. 

[00:52:21] Tony: I’m like, “Sweet.” And I’m working from home ’cause I don’t have a job. 

[00:52:25] Yeah. 

[00:52:25] Tony: Yeah. Right? Yeah. But I’m like, “I’m gonna be a salesman.” 

[00:52:27] Yeah, yeah. 

[00:52:28] Tony: Yeah. So I have this, uh, I’d get these printouts and I’d go, “Right. Good. Okay. Call-” Try to get to that person.

[00:52:37] Tony: Now, I was smart enough to work out, I was, I, I loved gatekeepers. 

[00:52:41] Mm. 

[00:52:42] Tony: I can make them like putty in my hands. Ah. Smarten the lead, smarten the lead. Let it sit for a week or two, come back. I’d call up, say, “Hey, this is Tone for Aaron. Thanks.” Or, “Hi Mary, this is Tony for Aaron. Thank you.” They just think I’m his mate.

[00:52:58] Tony: Yeah. Next minute I’ve got the- Yeah … [00:53:00] someone who two weeks ago I couldn’t get to. Yeah. Next minute I’ve got Aaron on the phone. “Hey, Aaron.” Boom. “I’m Tony from blah, blah, blah,” right? This is what I do. I would say to them, “Hey, I’m calling up about this area of your software. You know, what systems have you got?”

[00:53:14] Tony: Blah, blah, blah. Get them talking. And then I go, “What would you change or improve about your software if you had a chance?” 

[00:53:22] Mm. 

[00:53:23] Tony: Talking. Mm-hmm. Get them talking. 

[00:53:25] Mm-hmm. 

[00:53:25] Tony: Reality. Yeah. Get the communication going. Now, they would talk and they may as well be talking German to me. 

[00:53:32] Mm-hmm. 

[00:53:33] Tony: Mm-hmm. I didn’t understand it.

[00:53:35] Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:53:37] Tony: I didn’t understand it. Yeah. It’s like software. Yeah. I don’t own a computer- Mm-hmm … at this point, right? And I’m like, “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” This is so beautiful. Then I’d get off the phone and I’d call into the office and I’d be like, “He’s talking about something about, uh, you know what?

[00:53:53] Tony: F- it, I don’t know.” So this is in my first week. 

[00:53:59] Yeah, [00:54:00] yeah. 

[00:54:00] Tony: So then I go to the equivalent of Best Buy, and I’m saying to this guy, “I need to be able to record my phone call.” Oh. Oh. So we get a little dictaphone with the tape. It’s the tape reel. 

[00:54:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:54:11] Tony: Just imagine. We’re going back. Yeah, I, I don’t look it, but I am that age.

[00:54:14] Tony: All right? So I buy this little dictaphone, and I get this cable that plugs in, and it goes up onto the phone, and you lick it, and it sticks onto the phone piece. So then the next day, I go in, sit down at home, boom. Tell me what would you change or improve? Yeah. Wait, wait. Do 

[00:54:30] Brad: you actually lick it? 

[00:54:31] Tony: Yeah. Oh. To stick.

[00:54:32] Tony: Is there… Well, how else would it… Come on. It’s a suction cup. 

[00:54:34] Brad: Oh, okay. 

[00:54:35] Tony: Well, it’s for good luck, for good luck, for good luck. 

[00:54:36] Brad: I was thinking like an envelope or… Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:54:37] Tony: Okay. A suction 

[00:54:38] Brad: cup. I got 

[00:54:39] Tony: it. Yeah. So, and it sticks on the phone. I’m like, “So what would you change or improve?” And they start talking.

[00:54:44] Tony: And then I just ask questions, right? I’ll be like, “What impact does that have on your business?” 

[00:54:49] Mm. 

[00:54:49] Tony: Okay. If you could fix it, what would it do to your, your revenue or your ability to deliver? 

[00:54:54] Mm-hmm. 

[00:54:55] Tony: What’s the pain points? And I just get them talking. But I learnt, in the [00:55:00] success through communications, how to control that conversation.

[00:55:03] Tony: Ah. 

[00:55:04] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:55:04] Tony: Mm-hmm. I’d be like, “Wow. Okay, good. Tell me about that.” 

[00:55:07] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[00:55:08] Tony: What would that be revenue-wise? What would it be then? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What could you do with your staff? Blah, blah, blah. And then when I’d ask all the questions that I could even come up with… Now, keep in mind, everything they’re saying, I don’t understand.

[00:55:19] Yeah, yeah. This is a trip. This is a trip. 

[00:55:21] Tony: I’m just going, “Uh-huh. Yep. Good. Go on. Tell me.” 

[00:55:25] Mm-hmm. 

[00:55:26] Tony: And, yeah. And then at the end I’d say, “Look, I’m not an expert in this, but if we can have a solution for you, would you be willing to see one of our guys?” Mate, I’d swear to God, 80% of them would say, “Yep.” Yeah. 

[00:55:38] Wow. 

[00:55:38] Tony: I go, “I’ll call you back.”

[00:55:40] Tony: So then I’d call into the office, get the dictaphone- 

[00:55:44] Play 

[00:55:44] Tony: it … play it and go, “Can we do this?” And they go, “Yep.” 

[00:55:49] Yeah. “

[00:55:50] Tony: Good. Call back. Aaron, mate, I just spoke to our tech guys. We got a solution. They tell me they can absolutely help you. What day next week suits you?” [00:56:00] 

[00:56:00] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:56:01] Tony: And then I just started getting all these appointments.

[00:56:03] Tony: You’re just stacking up appointments. Wow. Yeah. Stacking up appointments. And then the owner, the cool cat’s like, “We’re gonna turn you into a legit salesman.” So then he starts having me go out on the appointments, the first appointments, ’cause now I’m the person- Mm-hmm … over the phone. Yeah. And I’d sit in these meetings with my white shirt-

[00:56:19] Tony: and a tie, and I still didn’t know what they were talking about. Yeah, yeah. I’m like, “Uh-huh. Yep. Mm-hmm.” And then I’d be looking at the tech guy. “Yeah, Brad. Yep. So, Brad, uh-huh.” ‘Cause I’m, they think I’m the person. 

[00:56:31] Right, right. 

[00:56:33] Tony: I don’t understand what they’re talking about. Mm-hmm. Anyway, that, uh, that got me into sales, but I crushed it- Yeah

[00:56:39] Tony: on the appointment setting, the cold calling appointment setting. Brilliant. Anyway, that’s how I got into sales. 

[00:56:45] So the guy was laughing at you, and you just said, “All right. I got you. I can do it.” Yeah. Yeah. You turned a skeptic into a believer. 

[00:56:51] Tony: Yep. And I closed it. Yeah. And 

[00:56:52] then you showed him. 

[00:56:53] Tony: I closed him, and then crushed it.

[00:56:56] Tony: Wow. Crushed it. 

[00:56:57] Yeah. So were you making more then than, like, construction? 

[00:56:59] Tony: [00:57:00] No. 

[00:57:00] No? Okay. 

[00:57:00] Tony: No, the money was

[00:57:04] Tony: But you’ve got to invest. Right. That’s true, that’s true, yeah. If you want something you’ve never had, you gotta do some- Mm … you’ve never done. 

[00:57:10] Brad: Mm. 

[00:57:11] Tony: If you’ve got- Wait, 

[00:57:11] Brad: say it again. Say it again. Say 

[00:57:12] Tony: it again. If you want something you’ve never had- 

[00:57:15] Brad: Yeah … 

[00:57:15] Tony: you’ve gotta do something you’ve never done. 

[00:57:18] Brad: Oh. Oh, that’s- 

[00:57:19] Tony: Yeah

[00:57:19] Tony: that’s 

[00:57:20] Brad: so good 

[00:57:20] Tony: Like, I wanted to learn how to read and write. That’s what Scientology does. I don’t know, I hadn’t done it. 

[00:57:26] Brad: Yeah. 

[00:57:28] Tony: Go and do it. Mm-hmm. I’d never done it. I still didn’t have what I had wanted. 

[00:57:31] Yeah. 

[00:57:32] Tony: So go and do something, you know? If, yeah, if you want something you never had, do something you’ve never done.

[00:57:39] Bam. Man, that’s strong. Yeah. Yeah, and the thing, you’re building up through the sales. In construction, you were at the top. 

[00:57:44] Tony: Correct. 

[00:57:45] And in sales, you’re at the bottom. 

[00:57:46] Tony: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a pathway. Yeah. Yep. 

[00:57:48] And 

[00:57:50] Tony: I earned a lot less money, but it was an apprenticeship. 

[00:57:53] Mm. 

[00:57:54] Tony: You gotta in- I, you know, I was investing in myself.

[00:57:56] Yeah. 

[00:57:57] Tony: Yeah. I was getting my skills up, you know? Yeah. I was [00:58:00] getting, I was building my future. 

[00:58:01] Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:58:02] Tony: Epic. And at this stage, I’m about, like, 25, maybe 26 at this stage, and just like- And then 

[00:58:08] eventually, and, uh, I mean, instead of the road bike, when did you say like, “Man, I’m gonna get myself a computer”? 

[00:58:14] Tony: I got a- 

[00:58:15] Or you still don’t own one today, or, uh, like, uh 

[00:58:19] Tony: Now, you know what?

[00:58:20] Tony: My wife laughs at me- Yeah … because I’m still not overly techy, but I’m a geek- Yeah … on toys. Yeah, yeah. Like, I got- Yeah … iPad for this and phone for that, and I got- … a MacBook on the desk for that. Yeah. And then I got a headset for this and a Bluetooth for that. And she’s just like, like, “For someone who’s not tech, you got a lot of

[00:58:39] Tony: I love it. I love it. 

[00:58:41] Oh, 

[00:58:41] Tony: man. Yeah, I really enjoy it. But, um, you know, that, that taken, you know… You know what? In looking at it, I’ve always had self-belief. 

[00:58:51] Hm. 

[00:58:52] Tony: And I don’t look… I can go into something, I don’t look at- failure the way [00:59:00] other people look at failure. Yeah. ‘Cause I would go into areas and I would screw some up, but I never looked at it and went, “I failed.”

[00:59:07] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

[00:59:08] Tony: Ever. I’d be like, “Damn, that hurt.” And I’d withdraw, get a bit more knowledge, go back in. Like I got to tell you, sales wasn’t always easy. 

[00:59:17] Aaron: Yeah. 

[00:59:17] Tony: You know? But man, I’m going that direction, and I might have to deviate around or go around the barrier or work out the barrier or climb over the barrier, but I’m going in that direction.

[00:59:28] Tony: Yeah. You know? 

[00:59:30] What I, what I find, I mean, this is a bit fast-forward, but now you’re running a team of, you know, 400 plus people. 

[00:59:34] Tony: Yep. 

[00:59:35] Uh, you’re making massive amount of- 

[00:59:37] Tony: Mo- mo- mostly salespeople. Yeah, we got about, uh, on any given day- Yeah … about 100, 120 people legit salespeople. Yeah. And then the appointments that are closing?

[00:59:44] Tony: And about 50 odd in sales training. 

[00:59:46] Yeah, okay. 

[00:59:47] Tony: Yeah. 

[00:59:48] So it’s, like, a lot of people, but you’ve walked the walk. I mean, not just in sales, doing calls where everyone’s hanging up on you, the gatekeepers, this, but you’ve been doing these roads for 12 [01:00:00] hours, for 14 hours, the hor- I mean, it’s just like never stop.

[01:00:03] Brad: Nah. ‘

[01:00:04] Cause that’s what, that’s what it takes, and I just think, like, how has it been, this nonstop thing that you had in labor, in construction, and that, has, did that lay a foundation for this, like, foreman of sales sort of job? 

[01:00:18] Tony: Yeah. 100%. Foreman 

[01:00:20] Brad: of sales. 100%. You 

[01:00:21] Tony: know, it doesn’t matter what the job is. 

[01:00:24] Brad: Dude, I’m gonna create a position in my company called sales foreman.

[01:00:27] Brad: There 

[01:00:27] you 

[01:00:27] Brad: go. 

[01:00:27] Yeah, 

[01:00:27] Tony: yeah, 

[01:00:27] Brad: yeah. That’s a great idea. 

[01:00:29] Tony: In your game, it’s actually really fitting. 

[01:00:31] Brad: Absolutely. 

[01:00:32] Tony: Yeah, yeah. It’s great. Yeah. But it doesn’t matter what area you do. You know, you’re both CEOs and run incredible businesses. To get to where you have gotten, and I know your story, to getting where you’re going, it’s taken dedication.

[01:00:47] Tony: Mm-hmm. It’s taken persistence on that given course. I could sit down with both of you, you can tell me for hours about the failures you had. 

[01:00:56] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:00:56] Tony: But it didn’t stop you. 

[01:00:57] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:00:58] Tony: You know? Um, [01:01:00] and that early working for me instilled that in me, and no doubt you guys would have your story. Yeah. Like, what instilled your work ethic in you?

[01:01:09] Um, most recently, my wife. 

[01:01:11] Tony: Yeah. That’ll 

[01:01:13] do it. It’s actually true. I mean, it really was. Really? I mean, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That’s a, that’s a whole story, but, um. Yeah, 

[01:01:17] Tony: yeah. 

[01:01:18] But yeah, I mean, I, I was, I wasn’t working at all. My wife was paying for my bills, and eventually she’s like, “We’re gonna have a baby,” and I’m like, “Ooh, I guess, I, I guess, uh, what, what do you mean?”

[01:01:28] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:01:29] And, uh, and then eventually I realized that I gotta work, and she was… 

[01:01:33] Tony: Wow. 

[01:01:33] I mean, that was the most recent. 

[01:01:34] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah, 

[01:01:35] yeah. Yeah, that was the most, like the big change. I mean, other than that- The catalyst … I’ve had other times when I, yeah, I was working a lot or doing things, but, like, that started a, a, a thing, and I think from that, there’s been phases, but that kind of was, like, the last big change.

[01:01:46] Tony: Yep. 

[01:01:47] I mean, for real. 

[01:01:48] Tony: Yeah, 

[01:01:48] yeah. Having a… I mean, I’m telling you, like, having that baby- 

[01:01:51] Tony: Yeah … you 

[01:01:51] know, you had it before you had any babies, then you didn’t, you know? Mm-hmm. I mean, but, like- I think I needed that fire for me Yeah. It was kinda like a, a, a catalyst, right? So- [01:02:00] 

[01:02:00] Tony: Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. How many kids you got now?

[01:02:02] Four. 

[01:02:02] Tony: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Man. 

[01:02:04] Yeah. 

[01:02:05] Tony: You got a fire burning in that valley. 

[01:02:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah, 

[01:02:07] Tony: yeah. Yeah. Light the future for them. Yeah. Light the future for them. Yeah. That’s awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. 

[01:02:12] But, so I, I, I really How did you finally… The reading part, we kind of didn’t get to that. Like- 

[01:02:19] Tony: Yeah … 

[01:02:19] when did you get into, like, solving the reading thing, and was there a specific program that you did or a tutor or anything?

[01:02:24] Yeah. Like, how’d you get into that finally? 

[01:02:26] Tony: Yeah. Uh, so we fast-forward, um, because I was going into different, uh, churches of Scientology, and I’d be like, “I need to handle my literacy,” right? 

[01:02:38] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:02:39] Tony: And it, I just wasn’t finding it. 

[01:02:41] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:02:42] Tony: I even went to separate tutors, and I just wasn’t finding it. Mm-hmm. I wasn’t clicking.

[01:02:46] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:02:47] Tony: But this is the interesting thing. I went to a tutor, uh, um, once, and I went in, and it was 25 bucks an hour, and I did a couple of appointments with her, and it just wasn’t gelling for me, right? Mm-hmm. And I was like, “Pssh.” I went [01:03:00] out, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, and there’s, uh, a technology based on Mr. L. Ron Hubbard’s work called Applied Scholastics.

[01:03:07] Tony: Mm-hmm. Yeah. All right? And so I found an Applied Scholastics tutor. Now, I had some challenges and some barriers connected to the written word. 

[01:03:18] Mm-hmm. 

[01:03:18] Tony: Like, it would, it would like… It was a barrier that I just couldn’t push through- Mm-hmm … at that time. 

[01:03:24] Mm-hmm. 

[01:03:24] Tony: So we fast-forward, and I’ve done all kinds of crazy activities, and we can go back if you want on any questions.

[01:03:30] Tony: But we’re now 2012, and I come back to Clearwater, Florida. 

[01:03:34] Oh, 

[01:03:35] Tony: yeah. 

[01:03:35] Mm. 

[01:03:36] Tony: Yeah. And now I don’t go to the little place down the road. I go to the, it’s called the Flag Land Base. 

[01:03:43] Yeah. Yep. 

[01:03:44] Tony: And that is just the most epic, standard, workable technology that can change an individual’s life- 

[01:03:51] Mm-hmm … 

[01:03:52] Tony: and put you on the road to whatever goals, aspirations, or targets you set for yourself.

[01:03:57] Brad: Mm-hmm. It’s Mecca for Scientologists. 

[01:03:59] Tony: Bingo. [01:04:00] Mm-hmm. So, um, I get there, and they say, “Well, now we’re gonna address your study problem.” 

[01:04:06] Mm. Hmm. 

[01:04:08] Tony: And I’m like, “Okay, I’m 13 years into this, many different places.” And I’m like, “Pssh, here we go.” Mm-hmm. But, you know, I’m here for, you know… So I’m like, “Let’s go.” 

[01:04:18] Mm-hmm. 

[01:04:19] Tony: Mate, we went in, and we did this program.

[01:04:22] Mm-hmm. 

[01:04:23] Tony: And I s- looking at it, if I put all the hours together, I would say it was probably somewhere around eight, maybe nine hours- Mm-hmm … of work. And I spot and remove the barrier that I put there on my study. 

[01:04:40] Hmm. 

[01:04:41] Tony: It was a barrier I had created. 

[01:04:44] Yeah. 

[01:04:44] Tony: I put it there, and I spot it when working with this individual.

[01:04:49] Tony: And I, I literally, I like, it era- I eradicated it. 

[01:04:53] Hmm. Yeah. 

[01:04:54] Tony: I… Man, I just took that barrier and removed it. I did. Wow. [01:05:00] 

[01:05:00] Wow. 

[01:05:00] Tony: And I come out of that last, um, session in there working on that, and I’m like, “Whoa.” Incredible. And again, life opened up. There’s tiers. There’s like, um- Yeah … of, of living. There’s tiers of abilities.

[01:05:17] Tony: Mm-hmm. There’s, like, levels and there’s so much more. As 

[01:05:19] Brad: the kids say, there’s levels to this . 

[01:05:21] Tony: Yeah. So that, now that removed the barrier, but now I had to get, now I had to get the skill. 

[01:05:29] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:05:30] Tony: Right? ‘Cause removing the barrier is one thing. Mm-hmm. Okay, great. There’s no barrier. 

[01:05:34] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:05:34] Tony: I still- now I’ve gotta get educated.

[01:05:36] Tony: So I went back to Australia and I found an Applied Scholastics tutor. Mm-hmm. Right? And I got her. She was epic. I, I met her through her mom. I knew her mom through my philanthropic work. 

[01:05:48] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:05:48] Tony: And I said to her mom, who was… She built s- a school down there, Applied Scholastics. I said, “I need a tutor.” And she goes, “My daughter, Sarah.

[01:05:55] Tony: And if you’re watching this, you freaking rockstar.” So, so, [01:06:00] um, her, her mom said, uh, you know, “We’ll set it up in the evenings. I’ll babysit.” She had a, you know, a little girl at that time. “And, um, we’ll do tutoring.” And I did tutoring with her one-on-one. Now, we go way back. Like, this is back to the beginning.

[01:06:15] Tony: Mm-hmm. I’m at the front door of my education. Mm-hmm. I’m at a four-year-old, five-year-old education. Mm-hmm. And I learned the alphabet. 

[01:06:22] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:06:22] Tony: As a part of the Applied Scholastics educational program. 

[01:06:27] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:06:27] Tony: Yeah. And you can imagine now at this stage, I’m, um, I don’t know, late 30s. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Wow. And I’m learning the freaking alphabet.

[01:06:36] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:06:36] Tony: I’m learning the sounds of the alphabet. There’s 26 letters, but there’s like 42 or 43 sounds of 26 letters, and I’m learning the sounds. Yeah. And it’s, it has an element of embarrassment. 

[01:06:48] Aaron: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ‘

[01:06:48] Tony: Cause here I am as a grown-ass man doing something that a four-year-old, five-year-old kid would learn.

[01:06:52] Mm-hmm. 

[01:06:53] Tony: But, and I just did it, and I did it intensely. I did it hardcore. Um, and then I learned- If you’re 

[01:06:59] [01:07:00] gonna do something- 

[01:07:01] Tony: Gonna do it 

[01:07:01] right … you gotta do it r- 

[01:07:03] Tony: And that is when it just took off. That’s when it took off. And it just, I’d put in the work, and I continued to work on it. And, and then there’s been layers of doing that.

[01:07:14] Tony: And then, you know, we fast-forward, that happened, and then a few years later, there’s the next step, right? Now we’re getting into the, we’re putting a bit of weight on the bar. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. We’re gonna build a bit of more resistance. There’s another, uh, study materials called Student Hat. 

[01:07:31] Mm.

[01:07:31] Unbelievable. 

[01:07:32] Tony: Yeah. Whoa. This guy’s so 

[01:07:32] good. 

[01:07:33] Tony: Whoa. So good. Man, I did that- My game changer. 

[01:07:39] Yeah. 

[01:07:39] Tony: Now, it was hard work- Mm-hmm … ’cause I was- Yep … still coming up. Mm-hmm. I see other people come in and pick up that thing and go through it in a few weeks and go, “Dude, that was epic.” I’m still, like, getting educated.

[01:07:49] Tony: Mm-hmm. 

[01:07:49] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:07:50] Tony: But that, another game changer. 

[01:07:53] Aaron: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

[01:07:53] Tony: And I did that before my big promotion in my current organization. 

[01:07:57] Brad: Mm. Oh, wow. 

[01:07:58] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, [01:08:00] yeah. But that enabled me to do all kinds of stuff. 

[01:08:02] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:08:03] Tony: Like go into countries with other language. I went into Italy and set up in a, uh, uh, an energy company in Italy.

[01:08:09] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:08:09] Tony: Yeah. Because when you know the study technology- Yeah … when you know your student hat, you can learn anything. Mm-hmm. I, as a kid that couldn’t read, was learning energy rules and regulations in freaking Italy. Yeah. 

[01:08:22] Aaron: Mm. 

[01:08:22] Tony: Using Google Translate. Yeah. We didn’t even have 

[01:08:25] Brad: AI. Yep. Epic. We didn’t even have AI.

[01:08:28] Brad: That’s gonna be like the new thing. 

[01:08:29] Tony: Yeah. “But we 

[01:08:30] didn’t even have AI to do this.” 

[01:08:32] Tony: Yeah. You know, you see those video clips where people say, “In the ’80s I rode my bike without a helmet.” Yeah. Business people are saying, “We didn’t have AI.” Yeah. You cheating little bast- I made 

[01:08:41] Brad: a million dollars without AI. 

[01:08:42] Tony: Right.

[01:08:42] Tony: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[01:08:44] Oh, 

[01:08:45] Tony: no. So, but that’s- Oh … that’s where my study really took off, but it was that, it was that program I did here in Clearwater at Flye- Mm-hmm … to address the barrier I created. Mm. Mm. Because, you know, there’s no barrier that is stopping [01:09:00] me in my life that I didn’t create. 

[01:09:01] Brad: Right. 

[01:09:02] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:09:02] Brad: 100%.

[01:09:03] Tony: Beautiful thing. 

[01:09:04] Brad: Can, can, can we talk about the, the fundraising piece? Yeah. ‘Cause in the background of all this, you, and, and up till now, um, there’s, there’s… I mean, you’re an incredible fundraiser. I- Thank you, 

[01:09:17] Tony: mate. 

[01:09:18] Brad: You know, been to things, helped with it, you know, whatever. I’ve s- I’ve seen you in action.

[01:09:22] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:09:22] Brad: It’s amazing. How, uh, how would you describe, like, your… How did you get into that and what’s your, what’s your philosophy with fundraising? Yeah, yeah. I just wanna know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it. I think it’s such, such a unique thing. A great question. It’s a great question. How many people do you even get to ask that to?

[01:09:37] Brad: You know what I mean? Yeah. There’s very few fundraisers on earth who actually just really just, boom, they actually produce. 

[01:09:44] Tony: Yep. 

[01:09:45] Brad: Yeah, yeah. I’m not talking, I’m not talking you make 10 gr- No, no … you get 10 grand for a charity in a year. 

[01:09:49] Tony: Yeah, yeah. 

[01:09:49] Brad: Okay? 

[01:09:50] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:09:50] Brad: Maybe a second. 

[01:09:51] Tony: Yeah. Maybe 15. 

[01:09:52] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:09:53] Tony: Yeah. Per 

[01:09:54] Brad: s- per second.

[01:09:55] Tony: So, so, uh, how I got into that element of it, that [01:10:00] Success Through Communications course changed my life. 

[01:10:02] Aaron: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. 

[01:10:02] Tony: Now, that was in 1999. We fast-forward to 2005, and there’s a guy working in the Church of Scientology in Melbourne. He was a staff member there, and that guy saw something in me. 

[01:10:19] Aaron: Hmm. 

[01:10:20] Tony: His name’s Julian, Julian Bassett.

[01:10:22] Tony: If you walk into Church of Scientology Melbourne, ask for Julian Bassett. He is your man. Uh, and I would be in there trying to study, and I would disappear. I’d be gone for a month or two, and he’d call me up, “Tone, what’s going on? Come and see me.” And I’d go into the church just to have a coffee with Julian- Mm-hmm

[01:10:38] Tony: ’cause he was my bro. Like, he cared. 

[01:10:40] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:10:40] Tony: The dude- Yeah … wanted me to win. 

[01:10:42] Aaron: Mm. Yeah. 

[01:10:43] Tony: And he just persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. And- Me making in Scientology is a big result of that boy. 

[01:10:54] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:10:54] Tony: You know, you get someone in your li- in your life that wants to be in your corner, that will have your back, that can [01:11:00] see something in you that you haven’t seen yet, you wanna back that dude to the hilt.

[01:11:05] Tony: Mm-hmm. That guy, that girl, they’re your teammate. 

[01:11:07] Mm-hmm. 

[01:11:08] Tony: So Julian rings me up one day, and I’d been off… I love dirt bikes, right? We’d been up in the mountains in Victoria riding dirt bikes for, like, a three-day weekend. We get back, cell service just kicks in. I get a phone call, and Julian says, “Hey, bro, we’re doing a fundraiser.

[01:11:25] Tony: Will you help?” Mm. And I’m like, “Yeah, absolutely.” Now, at this point, I am actually hosting a motorcycle TV show. 

[01:11:34] Brad: Oh, I was so hoping you would bring 

[01:11:35] Tony: this up. Oh, we 

[01:11:35] Brad: forgot about this one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was so hoping you would bring this up. Uh, Kuby, we can f- I have a clip- 

[01:11:41] Tony: Yeah … 

[01:11:41] Brad: of this that we can actually put in the- Oh, 

[01:11:43] Tony: good, good, good

[01:11:44] Brad: in the notes. 

[01:11:45] Tony: Do you? 

[01:11:45] Brad: Yes, absolutely. 

[01:11:46] Tony: Awesome. Awesome. 

[01:11:47] Brad: You, you don’t know there’s clips of you on YouTube d- from the motorcycle show. 

[01:11:50] Tony: Yeah, I had one of my mates upload a bunch of stuff there. Yeah. Yeah. 

[01:11:53] Brad: I’ve seen it. 

[01:11:54] Tony: Yeah. We didn’t have AI back then. Yeah. Um, but, uh, it’s some good stuff. 

[01:11:59] Brad: [01:12:00] Yeah. 

[01:12:00] Tony: Yeah. So I was hosting a TV show, and a motorcycle show, and so I was used to working in front of a live audience.

[01:12:06] Tony: And, and he’s like, you know, “Mate, will you help?” Instantly, no delay, I’m like, “Yeah, absolutely.” I’m thinking he’s gonna want me to be, like, a waiter or an usher or something. You know? And, um, and he says to me, um, “No, no. I want you to do an auction.” I said, “I’ve never done an auction.” He says, “Yeah, but do you want to?”

[01:12:28] Tony: And I’m like, “yeah.” I mean, I grew up on a farm. We used to, you know, see cattle and horses getting auctioned. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? I’m like, “I can do that shit.” So… So we do- 

[01:12:43] Brad: Sold to the man in the 10-gallon hat. 

[01:12:45] Tony: Correct. 

[01:12:46] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:12:46] Tony: So we do… I, I turn up to the first night, and, uh, I said to him, “I need, I need two things for me to do this, right?

[01:12:53] Tony: I need someone who knows the people that are gonna be at the dinner on stage with me so they [01:13:00] can get a proper acknowledgement.” You’ll learn that in Success Through Communications. Oh. 

[01:13:05] Brad: Right? 

[01:13:06] Tony: I need someone up there ’cause I don’t know them. I don’t know the- Mm-hmm … the parishioners- Mm-hmm … of that area. 

[01:13:11] Aaron: Mm-hmm.

[01:13:11] Tony: Right? Um, I need that, but I also need someone, if we’re gonna read a reference or refer to somebody, I need someone who can read, that they, they do the reading. I’ll do the talking, they do the reading. 

[01:13:21] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:13:22] Tony: And there was a woman down there by the name of Glenda Walsh, beautiful lady, um, an artist, a singer, the most gorgeous voice, right?

[01:13:31] Tony: So Glenda and I did the first one together, and we had a blast. We made $15,000 and we were like, “We’re heroes.” You know? Uh, but then I did the second one a few weeks later, and then about a month or so after that I did another one, where a guy is up on, on, uh, briefing us about what we’re building in relation to the expansion of the church.

[01:13:51] Aaron: Mm-hmm. ‘

[01:13:51] Tony: Cause there’s a lot of reach, a lot of people wanting to- Mm-hmm … to learn about Scientology. Our building wasn’t big enough. 

[01:13:57] Aaron: Yep. 

[01:13:57] Tony: Right? Now, at this [01:14:00] point, I am showing up to help the staff member that helped me I have this theory in life or this strategy in life where I flow power to power. 

[01:14:09] Aaron: Mm-hmm.

[01:14:10] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:14:10] Tony: That guy put so much power into me- 

[01:14:14] Aaron: Mm-hmm … 

[01:14:14] Tony: to make sure I showed up, to make sure I succeeded, to make sure I moved forward, I would flow power back to him. 

[01:14:21] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:14:22] Tony: And if the truth be known, my mentor Robbo was the same. That guy gave me so much power- 

[01:14:27] Aaron: Yeah … 

[01:14:27] Tony: that whenever he asked for something, I’m like, “Dude, you got it.”

[01:14:31] Tony: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I’d give the power back. 

[01:14:33] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:14:33] Tony: You know? And some call paying it forward or whatever, but I flow power to power. 

[01:14:37] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:14:37] Tony: I find people that are doing good stuff, helping others, and that’s power. I’m gonna push power to them. Mm-hmm. 

[01:14:43] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:14:43] Tony: So I’m like, “Julian, man, I’m there.” We do the second event.

[01:14:47] Tony: It’s great. It’s fun. We do the third event, and this guy is explaining what this, the flow lines of the new Church of Scientology in Melbourne’s gonna be. Okay. And it’s so much bigger. I mean, we were like five [01:15:00] or six X-ing- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm … the size of it and the delivery. And when someone come in, this is what they’re going to experience.

[01:15:06] Tony: ‘Cause I had get, br- brought people in to do different courses, but they, none of them had the, the experience I had on my communications course. So I’m sitting in that room that night, this is like maybe March 2005. Mm-hmm. And I see it and I go, “That is a game changer.” 

[01:15:25] Aaron: Mm. “

[01:15:25] Tony: And I’m gonna have an impact on building this church-” 

[01:15:29] Aaron: Yeah

[01:15:30] Tony: in 2005 in Melbourne. And that, and my, and I just kicked into gear. But it started from me flowing power to power to Julian, but what Scientology gave me at that point, still couldn’t read. Mm-hmm. If I wanted to read something, I would, I would have someone sit with me- Mm-hmm … and work me through it. Mm-hmm. I would get educated in there, but not like I do now.

[01:15:51] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:15:51] Tony: Yeah. Now I show up and sit down and chew through a book. 

[01:15:53] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:15:53] Tony: And I go, “Yeah, that’s a tool.” Yeah. But back then I’d read a paragraph in two hours- Mm-hmm … with someone helping me. 

[01:15:59] Aaron: Mm-hmm. [01:16:00] 

[01:16:00] Tony: I’d come back, you know, the next night, in two hours I’d read another paragraph with someone helping me. 

[01:16:04] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:16:05] Tony: Um- I had to flow power back to that, and that’s what I was doing.

[01:16:10] Tony: But when I spotted it and I go, “That, that building, that Scientology layout, that’s a game changer for every man, woman and child- Mm-hmm … who actually wants to have more, be more, do more in life.” 

[01:16:25] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:16:25] Tony: And that is when I locked in on that. I went, “I’m gonna pay that forward.” My life completely changed from that Sex Success Through Communications course.

[01:16:32] Tony: Wow. And I wanted to pay it forward and make sure it was there for everyone. 

[01:16:36] Wow. 

[01:16:37] Tony: That’s where my philanthropic work started in 2005. 

[01:16:40] Wow. 

[01:16:40] Tony: And it has not stopped. 

[01:16:41] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:16:43] Tony: Still going. 

[01:16:43] Amazing. That’s incredible. 

[01:16:44] Tony: Yeah. Thank you. But incredible stuff. Incredible stuff. 

[01:16:48] Yeah. 

[01:16:48] Tony: But that put me on all kinds of connections and, you know, lines that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.

[01:16:54] Tony: Totally. ‘Cause I’m out, I’m out there, you know, doing very pro-survival activities. Mm-hmm. And, you [01:17:00] know, you wanna find other… You wanna find badasses that are changing life, go and do something proactive, actually helping people. 

[01:17:05] Yeah. Mm-hmm. ‘

[01:17:06] Tony: Cause that’s what the able people do. Yeah. And the people you’ll meet, it’s how we met.

[01:17:11] Yeah. Yep. 

[01:17:12] Tony: That’s 

[01:17:15] right. That’s where you- 

[01:17:15] Tony: That’s true. That’s true … that’s where you meet the badasses. 100%. 100%. Where you meet the badasses. That’s true. ‘Cause they’re out there helping, you know? 

[01:17:18] That’s where you find teammates too. Like, we’re both doing so- you both- That, I, that’s one thing about, like, clubs.

[01:17:23] You know in school there’s, like, clubs and they do, like, these little things and, like … But, uh, they’re like these little clubs, dude. Yeah. You, you’re really just going to school, and you’re going to school because you have to go to school, and this, whatever. But, like, afterwards, dude, who are doing the things that you wanna do.

[01:17:36] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:17:36] And, like, putting a future there, helping with the illiteracy, helping with the drugs, doing the- Yeah. It’s like, dude, that’s, that’s a crew. 

[01:17:43] Tony: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

[01:17:43] That’s a crew. 

[01:17:44] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:17:44] And so thank you for putting that there, ’cause that was done. 

[01:17:46] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:17:47] That happened. 

[01:17:48] Tony: It happened. Yeah. It’s good. But life-changing for me.

[01:17:51] Yeah. 

[01:17:51] Tony: Because there’s a beautiful thing. When you get out and help the more people … That I’ve experienced, the more people I’ve helped in life, the better my life has [01:18:00] become. 

[01:18:00] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:18:00] Tony: The better quality of people that I find myself surrounded by, working with, being helped by, helping with. It’s just, like, it’s a whole different level of survival.

[01:18:11] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[01:18:11] Tony: Mm-hmm. You know? It’s epic. Yeah. It’s the game, man. It’s the game. 

[01:18:14] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:18:14] Tony: But that’s where the philanthropic kicked in. 

[01:18:16] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:18:16] Tony: And I was like, “Man, I’m gonna make a difference on this game.” 

[01:18:19] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:18:19] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:18:20] Brad: And you have. 

[01:18:20] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:18:21] Brad: So for, if somebody watching this is a fundraiser- Yeah … Scientologist or not- 

[01:18:25] Tony: Yep … 

[01:18:26] Brad: what advice would you give them to be effective as a fundraiser?

[01:18:29] Brad: ‘Cause you’re a damn, you’re a damn effective fundraiser, bro. Thank you, mate. 

[01:18:31] Tony: Yeah. Thank you, mate. Yeah. You know, there’s so many amazing charities. So many amazing charities. I’ve helped a couple of different ones, but, um, you know, if you’re looking to raise funds for something philanthropic, you gotta really understand the purpose of it.

[01:18:44] Tony: Like, what is the product of this philanthropic or this charitable activity? And you look at that, and you look at the difference it makes. 

[01:18:52] Mm-hmm. 

[01:18:52] Tony: You know, it could be, you know, educating kids. It could be taking, uh, dogs. In this country it’s a massive thing where, [01:19:00] where dogs, uh, are bought as gifts and people just dump them, and there’s charities out there that take dogs and find them homes.

[01:19:05] Tony: Mm. You know, what is the purpose of the charity? 

[01:19:09] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:19:09] Tony: You know? And then really understand that. And when you’re working with people, we are surrounded on planet Earth with amazing people. 

[01:19:17] Brad: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:19:17] Tony: Like, amazing people- Mm … that wanna help. Mm. 

[01:19:19] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:19:20] Tony: So you get, you understand what that charitable work does and how it helps, and then you find people with that same purpose.

[01:19:26] Tony: It’s, it comes down to purpose. 

[01:19:28] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:19:28] Tony: It’s never about the money. 

[01:19:30] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:19:31] Tony: I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the money, except we need the money to exchange with something in the … Like a building. 

[01:19:39] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:19:40] Tony: Or a dog kennel, you know what I mean? But that’s the only purpose of money is to take it and exchange it.

[01:19:45] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:19:46] Tony: You know? It’s the… So it’s not… The purpose isn’t the money. The purpose is, what are the actions, what is it changing, who am I helping? 

[01:19:54] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:19:54] Tony: And you get that, find like-minded people, and then have fun. You just gotta have fun. It should [01:20:00] be called fun, not fund- … raising, you know? Funraising. Just have fun with it, man.

[01:20:04] Tony: It’s a game. It’s a game. 

[01:20:06] Yeah. 

[01:20:07] Tony: Yeah. And you get to change a lot of people’s lives. Yeah. And I’ve- You know, I’ve, I’ve had a lot of fun with that. 

[01:20:15] Yeah. 

[01:20:15] Tony: Yeah. For instance, I was in a, one of my sales jobs working in the construction industry supplying equipment, there was this, um, superintendent on this job and he’s telling me, “Oh, can you buy some raffles?”

[01:20:26] Tony: I’m like, “What are you, what are you selling raffles for?” “Well, one of the girls that works in the office has a, a, a child, like a six-month-old, that was born with this, um, debilitating disease, and they need to buy this machine.” I’m like, “How much is the machine?” And he goes like, “Uh, it’s $25,000.” 

[01:20:42] Mm-hmm. 

[01:20:42] Tony: And I’m like, “Great.

[01:20:43] Tony: Okay. How long have you been fundraising for?” And he’s like, you know, I think the baby might’ve been 8 or 10 months at this stage. He goes like, “Nearly six months.” I go, “How much have you got?” He goes, “12,000 bucks.” I go, “Well done. Well done.” 

[01:20:56] Mm-hmm. “

[01:20:57] Tony: So what… Tell me about it.” And I’m like, “When’s your [01:21:00] next gathering?”

[01:21:01] Tony: And he goes, “This Friday night. We get the boys together, we have some pizzas, we sell some raffle tickets.” And I go, “Would you allow me to help you?” He says, “What are you gonna do to help?” I said, “Get some items and we’ll auction them. You know, whatever you wanna sell the tickets, instead of selling the tickets, I’ll auction them.”

[01:21:15] Brad: Yeah. 

[01:21:16] Tony: And he goes, “Righto.” So I show up that Friday night- Mm-hmm … after work. They’re all, they’re all sitting around their fluros. These are construction workers. Now, construction workers make good money. Yeah. And these boys aren’t short of a quid. Mm-hmm. 

[01:21:28] Brad: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:21:28] Tony: So we got a room full of construction workers.

[01:21:31] Tony: Um, and I get up there. Now this girl’s got her little baby. So I get the baby and I bring her up, and I have a chat with her and about the baby, and we talk about what the baby’s experience is, what this machine will do for the baby’s life, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we start auctioning. We only make, I don’t know, $3,000 or $4,000 through the auction, and we’re out of items.

[01:21:53] Tony: And I go, “Right. Now, next thing we’re gonna do, guys, we’re gonna finish off this last 12 or $12,500 so [01:22:00] this,” whatever the kid’s name, I can’t remember, “we’re gonna get this machine tonight.” And we left that room, fluro shirts and all, with $25,000 raised. Wow. Done it in one night. They’d been working on it six months.

[01:22:13] Tony: We just did six months’ worth of work on one night. 

[01:22:15] Mm-hmm. 

[01:22:15] Tony: For one reason. They understood what they were doing to help, and they all wanted to help. 

[01:22:22] Mm-hmm. 

[01:22:23] Tony: And that baby, I, I didn’t follow up to see what happened, but they definitely bought that machine, and I’m sure it made a big difference. 

[01:22:29] Aaron: Yeah. 

[01:22:29] Tony: Yeah. And it was epic.

[01:22:31] Tony: But you know, I… You know, there’s one thing I do in life, right? I, I always look where I can better something. 

[01:22:39] Mm-hmm. 

[01:22:39] Tony: That was an opportunity for me to better something, you know? Here’s a kid that- Little 

[01:22:43] did you know that you were gonna 

[01:22:49] Tony: get- Little did you know. 

[01:22:50] Little did you know. 

[01:22:50] Tony: But you know, I always look for it, and I never go past the opportunity, you know?

[01:22:54] Tony: You could say there was nothing in it for me. 

[01:22:57] Aaron: Mm-hmm. 

[01:22:58] Tony: But you reach out and [01:23:00] help someone- 

[01:23:00] Aaron: Yeah … 

[01:23:01] Tony: that is a beautiful pay in life. Mm-hmm. Yeah. To see that mother crying- 

[01:23:08] Brad: Wow. 

[01:23:08] Tony: At the end of that night- Do 

[01:23:09] Brad: you think anybody got out of, more out of that than you? 

[01:23:12] Tony: Oh, yeah. Uh, uh, did 

[01:23:15] Brad: they get more? No, do you think anybody got more out of it than you?

[01:23:16] Tony: No, not, no, no, no. I was a wealthy man that night. Yeah, that’s right. I left there full of wealth. 

[01:23:21] Brad: Mm-hmm. 

[01:23:21] Tony: Yeah. Full of love, looking at that mother going, “We…” That group of men that I hadn’t met except one of them- 

[01:23:27] Brad: Mm-hmm … 

[01:23:28] Tony: we just changed that mother’s life. Mm-hmm. It’s epic. 

[01:23:31] Mm-hmm. 

[01:23:31] Tony: It’s epic. It doesn’t matter what it is.

[01:23:33] Tony: You go out there and find someone who needs help, help them. Man, you walk away 10 foot tall and bulletproof. That’s right. It’s epic. 

[01:23:38] Yeah. 

[01:23:39] Tony: And I live my life that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s cool. 

[01:23:43] Incredible. 

[01:23:43] Tony: Yeah. And I, I practice that with our staff, you know? We got a lot of staff. We help a lot of, a lot of our staff, a lot.

[01:23:49] Tony: We help them, you know? 

[01:23:51] Okay, so I have a question now. 

[01:23:52] Tony: Tell me. 

[01:23:54] In your own words- Yeah … what is Scientology?[01:24:00] 

[01:24:01] Wow. It is, it is the, the tools of life. It is the tech of living

[01:24:15] Is the ability to help It’s, um, the ability to remove any barrier that an in– 

[01:24:28] Tony: any individual has in their life, that’s Scientology. Because you can be, do, and have anything you want, and the things that are stopping you going after your dreams, your ambitions, your goals, and your targets can be known about and it can be removed And that’s what Scientology is, man.

[01:24:51] Tony: It is, it’s a new life. 

[01:24:53] Mm. 

[01:24:54] Tony: It is freedom to live. It is freedom to be. It is freedom to do, and it is freedom to [01:25:00] have. And I’m telling you, I, in my 51 years of life, have never experienced anything like it in anything I’ve ever done. And I can tell you my life has gone to heights that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of as, as a kid, as a teenager, as early 20s.

[01:25:19] Tony: I just– It’s taken me to places and experiences beyond my wildest dreams. That’s Scientology, because I found me. 

[01:25:28] Amazing. 

[01:25:29] Tony: Yeah. 

[01:25:30] Thank you. 

[01:25:30] Tony: Thanks, mate. 

[01:25:31] Yeah, dude. 

[01:25:32] Tony: Good catching up, boys. Yes, 

[01:25:34] absolutely, brother. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, bro, thank you for coming on. 

[01:25:37] Tony: Pleasure. 

[01:25:37] And, uh, we’ll see everybody next time.

[01:25:40] Brad: Remember, don’t do nothing