Mentorship + Risk + Bourbon = Mike McBride

Some people change your career. Some people change your life. And then there are the people who saw who you could become long before you had any freaking idea yourself.That is Mike McBride for me.I met Mike when I was about 19 years old and became the nanny for his family. At the time, I was convinced I was going to have some fabulous career in marketing. Mike, however, had other plans.“You belong in sales.”No, I don't.“Yes, you do.”Nope.This went on for YEARS.Thankfully, his persistence eventually outlasted my stubbornness—which, if you know me, is quite an accomplishment.Nearly 30 years later, Mike has been my mentor, my friend, my older brother, my de facto father after losing my own, my career advisor, my occasional bourbon accomplice, and one of the people who has had the greatest impact on who I am today.And this episode? It's not really an interview.It's two people who have known each other for almost three decades sitting down with microphones and going wherever the conversation takes us.We talk about Mike growing up in a tiny Ohio farm town, entrepreneurship, building and losing businesses, getting fired, reinventing yourself, sales, rejection, leadership, risk, mentorship and what he calls the “valley of despair.”We also somehow get into bourbon, Christmas, my days as the family nanny, his children—who will forever be “my littles”—and the infamous Florida boating incident when Mike nearly killed his entire family AND me.Mike maintains that I exaggerate this story.I maintain that he is wrong.But underneath all the ridiculous stories is something that means more to me than I can explain: the power of having someone in your life who sees something in you before you can see it yourself—and loves you enough to keep pushing until you finally see it too.At the end, I asked Mike for one last piece of advice about finding your own Ferocious Ambition.His answer was perfect:Be curious. Take the risk.And maybe don't let Mike drive the boat.CONNECT WITH MIKE:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mcbride-11a81a/MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The Bourbon Biblehttps://a.co/d/0flWDApu