When Bart Berkey asks Matt Uhler what he does that most people don't, his answer is simple: "I keep my word." When he tells someone he will call at a specific time, it weighs on him until he does.

Matt learned that from the people who raised him, and from his grandfather, the superintendent of a brickyard, who once pulled up to a picket line, handed the striking workers horseshoes and games, and then walked through the gate to do his job.

At 17, with no plan for college, his metal shop teacher, Mr. Shermer, told him: you know how to clean, you need a mop and a bucket, why don't you just start a business? Matt built that cleaning company to 40 employees and sold it at 26. Selling it opened a door he didn't know existed, and he has spent nearly 29 years since helping people buy, sell and finance Main Street businesses. Along the way he has owned 40 businesses and still holds an active stake in about 20, which he calls his own mutual fund.

Bart and Matt talk about running away from something versus running toward something, why our identity has to step up to who we really are now, learning to say no with integrity, and why HUMANALITY™ will become even more valuable as so much of business moves to automation.

In this episode:

I keep my word

His grandfather and the brickyard

A mop, a bucket and a business at 17

40 employees, sold at 26

Running away from, then running toward

Identity has to step up to who you are now

His first deal: a $24,000 business

Saying no with integrity

Owning 40 businesses

HUMANALITY™ in an automated world

ABOUT MATT UHLER

Matt Uhler is the founder of Amped Success, an education and training company that teaches people how to buy, sell, finance and partner in businesses, and host of the What's Your Deal? podcast. He has spent nearly 29 years as a business broker working mostly with Main Street businesses.

Most People Don't... But YOU Do! is hosted by Bart Berkey, who spent 16 years as a global executive with The Ritz-Carlton and now builds HUMANALITY™, a system for making people feel cared for, valued, seen and heard rather than processed.

CONNECT WITH BART

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartberkey/

Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.bartaberkey.com/join-the-newsletter

Book me for a keynote presentation: https://www.bartaberkey.com/booking-engagement-page

Listen, subscribe and share: https://www.bartaberkey.com/podcast

When Bart Berkey asks Poonam Bhuchar what she does that most people don't, she doesn't hesitate. "I think most people don't listen. I think most people react, and that is the problem for so many things."

Poonam is a divorce strategist, a coach, a corporate immigration attorney, the author of SAFE from the Pain, and the founder of Kozy Wheels. She and Bart met co-hosting David Meltzer's Office Hours, and in this conversation she explains how she learned to stop reacting: at least an hour every morning checking in with herself, because most people "check their bank accounts before they check in with themselves."

She shares a moment from the week before the recording when she was absolutely correct in why she was reacting, but wrong in the reaction, and the habit that served her when she ran a law firm: telling her staff, "I'm going for a walk," before any major decision. Bart connects it to a story about firefighters and choosing to be kind over being right.

Then Poonam brings it to her work. People spend tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees because they are reacting, so she helps her clients emotionally stabilize before they strategize, and asks them about the life they want to lead rather than the life they did lead. Do you really want the house? Do you really want 100% custody?

In this episode:

Most people don't listen, they react

Checking in with yourself before your bank account

Correct in why, wrong in the reaction

Going for a walk before a big decision

Kind over right

Find what works for you, even ten minutes watching the birds

Emotionally stabilize before you strategize

The life you want to lead, not the life you did lead

The SAFE method

Kozy Wheels: buy two, donate one

ABOUT POONAM BHUCHAR

Divorce strategist, coach and corporate immigration attorney, author of SAFE from the Pain: How to Lead a Happy and Fulfilled Life, and founder of Kozy Wheels, a wheelchair blanket company partnered with the Disabled American Veterans.

Most People Don't... But YOU Do! is hosted by Bart Berkey, who spent 16 years as a global executive with The Ritz-Carlton and now builds HUMANALITY™, a system for making people feel cared for, valued, seen and heard rather than processed.

CHAPTERS00:00 Cold open: most people don't listen, they react00:43 Welcome, Poonam Bhuchar02:15 What Poonam does that Most People Don't02:53 Checking in with yourself every morning05:02 Correct in why, wrong in the reaction05:46 I'm going for a walk06:30 Kind over right: the firefighter video09:54 Find what works for you11:45 Ten minutes watching the birds12:15 How she became a divorce strategist14:38 Emotionally stabilize before you strategize15:04 The life you want to lead15:27 Do you really want the house?15:48 HUMANALITY™ in divorce18:01 The SAFE method18:41 Most People Don't, four times over19:25 Kozy Wheels21:46 What Bart is taking away22:46 Where to find Poonam

CONNECT WITH BART

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartberkey/

Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.bartaberkey.com/join-the-newsletter

Book me for a keynote presentation: https://www.bartaberkey.com/booking-engagement-page

Listen, subscribe and share: https://www.bartaberkey.com/podcast

Teri Pruitt was dragged to a fall play audition in high school, didn't get cast, and said yes when the director asked if she wanted to do props. She had no idea what she had just agreed to. That yes turned into more than 30 years in the theatrical process, more than 25 years on Broadway, and two decades as a dresser on Wicked.

When Bart Berkey asks what she does that most people don't, Teri says she says yes and starts without knowing what to do or how to do it. She also admits that for years her pride kept her from asking for help, and that she was inventing wheels that had already been invented.

Today, as the founder of Open the Aperture, Teri brings the lessons of Broadway into businesses. She and Bart talk about the director's umbrella that keeps a whole company working toward one vision, her three E's of entertain, educate and enlighten, and how Bart sees them through 16 years at The Ritz-Carlton. Then Bart asks the question every leader wants answered: how do you deliver excellence night after night, for 20 years, on the same show?

Teri closes with a lesson from her dad. There are only three things required to be a professional: hello, goodbye, and work-related information.

In this episode:

Say yes and start without knowing how

Let go of your pride and ask for help

Is Broadway really cutthroat?

The director's umbrella

Entertain, educate and enlighten

Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen

Delivering excellence when you don't feel like it

Never the same group of people twice

Hello, goodbye, and work-related information

ABOUT TERI PRUITT

Teri Pruitt has spent more than 25 years on Broadway, including two decades as a dresser on Wicked, and holds a master's degree in costume design and technology from Illinois State University. She is the founder of Open the Aperture, bringing the lessons of the theatrical process to businesses through keynotes, workshops and conversations.

Most People Don't... But YOU Do! is hosted by Bart Berkey, who spent 16 years as a global executive with The Ritz-Carlton and now builds HUMANALITY™, a system for making people feel cared for, valued, seen and heard rather than processed.

00:00 Cold open: it is my job to do my job

00:36 Welcome to Most People Don't

01:01 Most Gorillas Don't, the new children's book

02:00 Meet Teri Pruitt

03:11 Dragged to the fall play audition

04:51 I got bit, man

05:43 Many roads to Broadway

06:35 Saying yes, and a road to Damascus moment

07:55 Letters to New York

08:22 What Teri does that Most People Don't

08:56 Pride, and learning to ask for help

10:06 Is theater really cutthroat?

12:46 A dresser on Wicked

13:59 The best part of the job is people

15:07 A stage door story

16:41 Fame is different in New York

18:04 Bringing talented people together

18:27 Line up at The Ritz-Carlton

20:13 The director's umbrella

20:44 The three E's: entertain, educate, enlighten

23:07 The three E's in hospitality

25:08 Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen

27:31 The Pendry, and the scent of enlightenment

28:24 23 years of Wicked, 20 of them for Teri

29:09 Delivering excellence night after night

29:30 Never the same group twice

30:21 That's where the joy is

32:21 Hello, goodbye, and work-related information

33:39 Bart adds one more: thank you

34:26 They're there for a reason

35:02 Where to find Teri

CONNECT WITH BART

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartberkey/

Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.bartaberkey.com/join-the-newsletter

Book me for a keynote presentation: https://www.bartaberkey.com/booking-engagement-page

Listen, subscribe and share: https://www.bartaberkey.com/podcast