Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh

Eventually Is Now: Pete De La Torre on Ruthless Honesty, Ownership & the Courage to Execute

• Grant McGaugh CEO 5 STAR BDM • Season 1 • Episode 21

Share episode

Send us a text

What if a single wake-up call could reorder your entire life—and finally align your work with what you value most? That’s the spark behind this conversation with Peter Delatorre, who turned a prostate cancer diagnosis into a purpose-driven platform centered on authenticity, accountability, and the power of a no-excuses culture. We unpack how ruthless honesty—starting with yourself—becomes the foundation for leadership people trust and brands that actually keep their promises.

We dig into the threads that ran through Peter’s five-industry career—teaching and speaking—and how he rebuilt his platform to focus on keynote talks and corporate training that help teams grow stronger through challenge. You’ll hear practical tools for emotional resilience, from naming your non-negotiable core values to eliminating the “blaming virus” and replacing “yes, but” with “I have decided.” We break down how to think bigger without drifting into fluff: belief expands vision, ownership eliminates excuses, and small, consistent steps beat perfect plans every time. If you’ve struggled to balance transparency with authority, Peter’s approach shows how real stories, clear standards, and shared ownership strengthen credibility instead of weakening it.

This episode is for leaders and creators who want to move beyond inspiration into action: converting wishes into decisions, building a daily reset for mindset and focus, and curating a circle that matches your next chapter. You’ll leave with a simple playbook: tell the truth, choose your train, set your next stop, and invite the right people aboard. Someone is climbing the mountain you already crossed—share your map.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a push, and leave a quick review so more people can find these conversations. Want to bring Peter to your team? Visit peterdelatorre.com and reach out through the contact form.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates, visit 5starbdm.com
.

And don’t miss Grant McGaugh’s new book, First Light — a powerful guide to igniting your purpose and building a BRAVE brand that stands out in a changing world. - https://5starbdm.com/brave-masterclass/

See you next time on Follow The Brand!

SPEAKER_00:

Well, welcome everybody to the Follow Brand Podcast. This is your host, Grant McGall. I'm gonna take it all the way down to South Florida to one of my favorite individuals who joined me, I think it was two, maybe even three years ago on this very show when I was first coming out with the Follow Brand TV series. He was one of my first guests that came on, Pete Delator. I'm telling you, if you don't know Pete Delator, he is historic, alleged in his own time. Oh, geez, man. I'm telling you, he might not have been people that know Pete, they know who I'm talking about. We want to have a conversation because the last time we spoke, you were coming out with your book, right? Proof of Sonic. I mean, that was right behind me here. There it is. People on audio don't see that, but the people on video, you know what we're referring to.

SPEAKER_01:

It's there.

SPEAKER_00:

And you've gone you're doing some newer things now, as a couple years later. You've got a whole platform out there. Tell us more about yourself and what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, uh, again, a pleasure to be on your podcast again, my friend. Uh um, congratulations for the great work that you're doing. Congratulations on your book, uh First Light. I can't wait to read it. And uh, I think we have some similarities there and and in your in your topic and your focus. So congratulations, buddy. Well-deserved uh feat. I know it's not easy to write a book. I know what that's all about.

SPEAKER_00:

It is, and it's a it's a labor of love, but uh, you know, once you've got it finished, and actually you see it, when you actually see the publication in your hand, you're like, here's your baby, you know, that's something that you made.

SPEAKER_01:

And I know for me it was like, did I write that? Did that come out of me? You know, and and and uh and I still say it when I look at it. So uh yeah, your question is is a great one. Um, when we last uh spoke, it was uh two, two and a half years ago, I had just come out with my book, Connecting uh Connect with Ruthless Honesty. That book was inspired by an encounter that I had with prostate cancer uh a little bit over four years ago. Uh it was pretty aggressive, uh, but thank God we caught it on time. And I had surgery. And as I am speaking to you today and the audience, I'm 100% cancer free, thank God. So uh absolutely. And and I don't take that uh for granted. Uh every day I get up, uh, I say, thank you, God, for another day.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so what what happened uh it was against me, but then it turned out to be for me. Uh the cancer ordeal. It woke me up. It gave me what I like to say is the wake-up call of wake-up calls. And uh when you first hear the news, it's why me, why now? And then when you get through it, you ask that question again, why me, why now? How was I able to get through this when so many uh are not fortunate enough to get to the other side? So the message for me was that God had more plans for me, He had a different purpose for me, and I had to pay attention to what that was. Uh so I began a process uh which I like to call a lifelong transformation, because your transformation doesn't happen in one day. You know, we are not one-hit wonders. We we we want longevity and life is a marathon. So it began that process where I could I could now really be the person I was meant to be and and pursue the things that meant the most to me, uh, that connected with me. I have done many things professionally through my years. I've been in five different industries, financial services, international business. I was in media, as you know, for a long time, doing radio and um uh ran an economic development organization in South Florida. So I had a lot of uh experience there. One thing that was a common denominator through the years was the fact that I was teaching and I was speaking. And I have been blessed with uh the ability to be able to teach and and and and help others learning uh something that is important to them and their growth. And also speaking. And it's funny because I I discovered speaking skills when I was 14 years old. When I was asked to speak in front of a group of guys that were, you know, 30 guys in a room were all about 14 years old. And I had it was a speech, I can't remember what it was, but I did a speech in sportsmanship, and I'll never forget because I copied the whole speech word by word from the World Book Encyclopedia. Remember those inside those.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I remember way back, way back, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So I I took that and I said and I did the speech, and the teacher looked at me and she goes, That was phenomenal. I want you to do that speech at the end of year pepper alley. Funny story. I freaked out. I go, I'm gonna get in front of my friends here, they're gonna mock me, and that's that. And and I and I told her that I lost the speech, and I never did it. So it was one of those moments that I discovered that skill, but I was kind of embarrassed to share it. Fast forward in everything I've done professionally, I have been speaking and I have been teaching. So as a result, I believe, of writing this book and what I learned from the whole experience, is at this point in my life, I needed to pursue what I believe God has always intended me to do, which is to teach, which is to uh do corporate training and to be a keynote speaker. So today, and I just went through this uh re-uh purposing of my platform a couple months ago, testing a uh a keynote that was well received by a small group of folks, and then accelerating, rebranding myself with a new website, with a new purpose. And so today, uh and moving forward for the rest of my life because I really believe that I have arrived to what I was always meant to do, which is to be that speaker and to be that teacher or that trainer uh to help others grow and get to that next level.

SPEAKER_00:

This is so important, what you're talking about, especially when you go through pivots and transitions. And one of the things I talk about uh about in branding, right, is that you've got to first take a good look at yourself and understand what were you doing five years ago, 10 years ago, what were the pivotal moments in your origin story that now define you even today? And what does that look like there? And what you stated. Now you've built authority over five industries, over 36 years of leadership that you've already accomplished, and and now you're putting this into your personal brand and how you evolve through these transitions and how you can give back to other individuals who may be now taking on lessons, they may now be leaders on their journey and what they're doing. And in your book, you know, connect with ruthless honesty. And I remember this, you challenge people to show up with full clarity. Full clarity. My question for you is this how do you see honesty as a cornerstone of building a trusted brand in today's marketplace?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, part of what I believe you've written in your book is the word authenticity.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And today, uh I think, and if you ask most people out there in any walk of life, what they're looking for in in leaders or what they're looking for in in life and who they want to be hanging out with, they want authenticity. They want what is real. Okay. And um they're tired. They're tired of the two-faced uh society that we're living in. They're tired of folks that are misleading, that are saying one thing and doing something else. Um as a speaker, I have never been trained, for instance, to speak. It's come natural to me. And uh I have seen and I've been part of different presentations, and I've dabbled a little bit here and there, the, you know, done a course here and read this book and seen a lot of videos to see styles and and approaches by by speakers and and people in in that field. And uh a lot of them are good, but I have seen that there are way too many folks that are mechanical and they're not come speaking from the heart. So when I came out at this point in my life, you know, I'm not a youngster anymore. And so I'm not someone who's that new rising star. I I'm I'm out wherever I am at right now, and I have a lot of gray hairs to prove to everybody that I have lived a life with a lot of ups and downs and a lot of things. And what I wanted, I want to share with everyone is the real deal, the real story, my story. I don't claim to be an expert in in different things. All I can do is share my story and and share a real story. Yeah, and I believe that people are looking for authenticity. They're looking that, you know, that that this person is speaking from the heart, this speak, this person is speaking the truth, and they'll pick up on that and they'll connect with that. So I get that up and uh up there and talk and speak. I want to be myself. I don't want to be perfect when I speak. I don't, I don't want to get up there and have everything choreographed. You know, there is a process we all follow. But in it, and this has always been my uh, especially now with this, this, this outlook, I don't want to speak to people. I want to speak with people. I love that. And when I when I train, when I speak, is that you know, I'm just like you, man. I'm a regular guy, I'm a regular person. I'm not this this high-level person. It's a multimillionaire or billionaire, which everybody aspires to be. I'm gonna I want to talk to you on a one-to-one basis, on the same level, just sharing my story and what I've learned through the years. And hopefully that'll make a difference in their lives. 100%.

SPEAKER_00:

And I want the audience to really lean in what you just said. It's so important to understand that your story matters, that what you've been through will be a benefit to someone else, but it will only be a benefit to someone else if you share it. When I talk about personal branding, I remember one of the experts that I tuned into, and then he said this, and it was so important in how he said it. He said, You are an expert to the person that you were five years ago, even ten years ago, and what you've already accomplished. There's somebody about to go up that mountain that you already went across. Say if I had just now got diagnosed with prostate cancer, I'm gonna go through a plethora of emotions and all kinds of different things. You've already gone through that mountain, you've already been on the other side of that mountain. I would want to contact you and say, Pete, tell me, tell me, tell me what I'm about to go through. And you, because you've been through it, you said, Rent, it's gonna be like this, this, this, and this. That's what's important. Your story matters. So many people in this world have great stories, but they never get told. To your point, when you're talking about as a young child, that you had an opportunity, your your teacher was encouraging you, but you took a different route. But then it came back around, and then you said, you know what? I'm going to listen to this inner voice that's telling me I need to share, and you you made a career out of that over time. I think that's about for me, it's about resilience. And in your story, you've overcome adversity, you've resonated deeply with a lot of different audiences because of that authentic story that you have. I want you to also tell us if you can, within your like you were speaking to a team, training them, you know, with technical, especially what you call, and I like how you frame this emotional resilience techniques. How do you help leaders not only recover from challenges but also grow stronger through them?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's it's it's it's I think it's very, very simple is that you've you've got this whole idea of connect with ruthless honesty and and to have as the tagline says, the freedom to succeed in life and business. Yeah, all success in life starts by uh knowing yourself and being honest with yourself and not to be as yourself, okay? Um, and understanding what is really important to you. What are those non-negotiable core values that are ingrained inside of you that many for many, many years you ignored them, you you just didn't pay attention to them. And then it comes to a point in your life that you're taking a hard look at everything and you're saying, you know, this is who I am. This this is who I need to be consistently. I I share this story when I when I open up my keynote, is and and and and I ask a favor of the audience. I go, if any of you are a member of the most people club, I'm gonna ask you to cancel that membership today. And what I mean by that is, you know, we've heard the saying for many, many years, there are way too many chiefs and not enough Indians, right? Yeah. In today's world, it's actually flipped. Today, there are one too many Indians and not enough chiefs. We have a major void in real authentic leadership. Individuals that live and work and abide by their non-negotiable core values, and they lead themselves. So this is a long-winded answer, uh, Grant, but it starts with you and knowing and being ruthless honest with yourself. That is a starting point to everything and anything in life. And in the sense of business, it's it's to be once you're honest with yourself, then you start to transcend that honesty to the people that that you work with, your colleagues, and then your the marketplace, and then the clients, you know, in that process, who you're going to do business with and who you're not going to do business with. Sure. You know, because you want to have you want to have that that that environment where you're all basically on that same level. And and forget about all these great strategies and skill sets. If you can come from that place moving forward, all of these other things will fall into place.

SPEAKER_00:

But it starts with you. Non-negotiables. You've got to know what your non-negotiables are, uh, or you you follow any type of path. As you said, you've got to understand what path to go down, what path not to go down, who is your client, and who is not your client. And it's okay. And that starts 100% what you said of knowing yourself. And you've got to do honest self-assessment of who you are and what you're truly about. Now, I know in your world, you you do a lot about claiming ownership and leading with accountability and purpose. I think that's so big because in this world, as we know this, everybody comes across friction. They have resistance. It's not a perfect path. You're you're gonna have ups, you're gonna have downs, but if you don't tell the whole story, you only tell, hey, this is how I achieved this, this, and this, is all successful and it did this. It's really that's not a real story. There's going to be a lot of variants along the way. Any sporting event you go to, there's moments where you're losing, there's moments that you're winning, there's moments that you don't know if you're gonna win, you don't know if you're gonna lose. But then there's something that's so you dig deep and you find that inner part of yourself that finds confidence, and you just follow through. And I think a lot of that comes from fear of vulnerability. I want to know from you how do you coach executives to balance that transparency with authority without losing their credibility?

SPEAKER_01:

Great question. Um, you know that five years ago we experienced the coronavirus, COVID-19. Remember that? Yeah, um well, out of that, there was a lot of mutations for the coronavirus. One of them was the political virus, the economic virus, but there's one that's still lingering today that I think is the worst of all of them. It's called the blaming virus. Uh-huh. Where we blame someone else for you know the lack of happiness or the or success we've had in our lives. And this is something I tell my audience, whether I'm speaking or I'm doing training, I always bring this to them is wherever any of us is at in our lives right now, you grant, myself, the audience watching and listening here, wherever we're at in our lives, we are 100% responsible. We are accountable at wherever we're at in our lives. Really good, mediocre, not so good, right? So we can't blame anyone else because we haven't hit the mark that we didn't that haven't hit the level. Okay. We need to, and and I say this to everybody, our lives are not a rental. We own them. God gifted us this life. We got one shot at it, right? So what do we do with it? We have to take care of it. We have to grab onto the owner who says, All right, I know my values, I'm gonna live by them. I'm gonna get on my train, not someone else's train. Yeah, and knowing that life is a marathon, life has many stops along the way. Well, if you're on your train and there's someone on board your train that's not connecting with you, they need to get off on the next stop. Yeah. To allow for others that will align with you to get on that train. And so I just, you know, we we need to be ruthlessly honest and say, you know, we are accountable. We own our lives. And it's up to us whether we succeed or not. And and there's something else that's real important in you, and you mentioned it there about failure and people or you know, the reason folks don't take the action, because at the end of the day, you're gonna have all the greatest plans and goals and dreams and strategies in place, and it's like, okay, this feels really good right now. There's one little step left. It's called implement and execute. Right. And the reason a lot of people today, and and I catch myself sometimes too, believe me, I'm not I'm not perfect here. The reason we don't do that, because we are afraid that the outcome is not gonna be what we desire it's going to be, right? Well, we need to understand that we don't control the outcomes, the results. The only thing we control are the steps that we take. If we don't take any steps, guess what the results are gonna be? Zero. If we take those steps, we're setting ourselves for a higher probability of hitting some of the goals that we want in our lives. So we don't take that steps because we're afraid of what might happen, but more than anything else, what may not occur, what what what we may not attain.

SPEAKER_00:

And what you're saying there, like if you don't even start the journey, you've already got what you wanted, which is none. Once you start that journey, no matter what it is, as far as the outcome, it's gonna be different. It's going to be different, and it's going to be a journey, and it's going to be an it's going to be episodic, right? The drama begins. You know, the drum roll, no one really knows the exact outcome. But if you don't even take the journey itself, you don't crack open the book, you don't go through the process, you gain nothing. And what you said earlier, Ball, who needs to be on your trade and then off the trade. As you are progressing, and I've noticed this as you grow, when you're growing into your true self, you're becoming your true potential of who you are, you're gonna have a new network of people around you. There's nothing wrong with the old people, it's just they you associate with them at a certain level. You're no longer at that level. You're no longer, let's say if you're in grade school, you're not in fifth grade anymore, you're in tenth grade, or you're not in 10th grade anymore, you're in an advanced learning in college and in physics. You you've moved on. Those other people they're doing their thing and what they're learning, but you have moved on. You've got other people now in your circle that you're interacting with because you're growing and you're and you're moving in in a way that's different. Now, one of your five core I call leadership principles is the create your vision, which I love that how you say that create your vision about thinking bigger and thinking about your sacred rules. And then for those, and I want you to answer this for those leaders that are stuck in limiting mindsets, like you can limit yourself, kind of we talked about earlier, limiting yourself. What is your go-to strategy to expand their sense of possibility?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, my friend, it's it's a good question, and and and I gotta answer in a very simple way, man. It all starts with belief. It starts in believing in yourself, knowing who you are, knowing who you're not. Um, and when I talk about vision and thinking bigger, um I I by the way, let me start by saying that that we're all visionaries. You know, you hear talk about you know, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, whatever the case, those are great visionaries. We're all great, we're all visionaries. We're always thinking about the future. Now, what we're thinking about could be different. You know, we can think about, you know, uh, you know, bad things happening or or good things happening or whatever. But we limit ourselves. The qu the reason I say think bigger, if you look, you come down to Miami, you go down Brickle Avenue in downtown Miami, and you see the skyscrapers going up and the buildings going up. Someone had to think about that at some point. They had a vision and they made it happen. Why? Because they believed it. We as human beings put limitations on ourselves from whatever it is, childhood or whatever. Did I call that fake news? That's fake news. Don't get suckered into that. That's not true. If the next person can think big and do big, why can't you? I like for someone to to answer to prove me wrong and say, we we can only think on a limited basis. And give me a good uh uh explanation of what that means and why. And why do you say that? Okay, so it it's it's it's again, it's not magic. It's just getting it to the point saying, well, wait a second. You know, I've got very strong things about myself here that I can bring and add to the table to help others. But again, you got to take responsibility. Once you claim ownership, then that confidence grows from there. And and as leaders today, um, it's not about shouting out the next orders or you trying to hold someone else accountable. It's you telling the other person it's up to them. They got to take ownership, they are accountable. You gotta tell Mazalia, I don't hold that power. I don't have that power to hold you accountable. If you believe I do, then we got a problem.

SPEAKER_00:

That is so true. You've got to take responsibility, accountability. Our conversations around that. We've been talking about that, you've been talking about that. I think this is why you're you've rebranded yourself in this area because you push leaders, make a decision, take action. You you stress creating that no excuses culture, right? Right. You've got to take that first step. You've got to hardwire it in that you can make it happen. Yes, you you you acquire the resources around you, the assets that you need, because you can't all do it by yourself to get to that next level. You've got to have that dream, you've got to have that understanding. I want to know from you you had a dream, you kind of alluded to it, but what made you right now said, I'm rebranding, I'm getting out in front, I'm getting on this stage. Is it because of what you're saying? It's like, I think the world needs my voice. What were you thinking?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh uh, I believe that after this encounter with cancer, I always kind of knew it, it was there, but I wasn't quite, didn't have that push, that um that I needed. This did it to me and for me. And I remember late last year, uh and and I talk about this is a third of the the five key elements is is make decisions. Not just any decisions, intentional decisions. Late last year I sat down and I looked into my 2025. What do I want to do? And and and and I said, uh, I want to do this and I'd like to do this. And I came over for 14, 15, 16 different things here. And and I and I caught myself repeating a pattern of having all these, not even goals, these were wishes. And I and I would tell myself, then I look at it, I go, okay, this one's good, but eventually I get to that, and eventually I get to this one. I it just hit me. Eventually is now. So if now is what's important, what are the three to four most important things that I believe I want to do and need to do in 2025? So what I did was I just said, I have decided to do this. I have decided. So I made a commitment to myself and I wrote it out. I have decided to right and that's been my mantra this year. And there's some and I look back at the last 10 months. 10 months? Yeah, 10 months, nine months. And I said, you know, look at what I've accomplished this year, because I was bold in that commitment to myself. Um so it is up to all of us and any of us is to make decisions, but with intention, that they mean something. Eventually it's now for me.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so important to understand and I I've seen people do this, I've done it. My father was big on this. He would have these great ideas, great ideas, you know. But then when it came to what you said earlier, implementation, the execution, making it come into visibility. He was more of a visionary guy, but he wasn't an operational guy. How do you operationalize the vision that you have so that you can live in the reality that you are giving life to? And it's full circle because you can get distracted. There's so many distractions in life that you have the full attention. Everybody knows the beginning of the year, everybody has their you know, we need New Year's revel resolution, right? And then by most likely either February 1st, if you're lucky, you you know, that's out of the window, and you're on to something else because life is always going to be pushing you one way or another. Because we're just in this collective that we have, and there's distractions that always gonna come your way. When you can say, This is my priority, this is my commitment, you can then I use a football analogy, you know, just kind of forearm those things out of the way. Like that is not aligned with my priority. That is not a part of my commitment. I am not going to spend energy and cycles on those things. I'm going to spend energies and cycles on these things. But it comes with a decision and a commitment, which you just said. Sometimes you've got to put down that phone. Sometimes you've got to turn off that television. Sometimes you're like, no, I'm not going to go out and do this or that because I'm focused on this. And if it's not aligned with that, I had to do that myself. I have I moved from Miami, Florida, South Florida to the Midwest. I now dwell in Omaha, Nebraska. Look at that, my friend. I just did that about six months ago. My parents were getting older. I had to start looking at my own situation in life. What was the best track going forward for me? And it meant I needed to, and this is where I grew up. I grew up in Oha, Nebraska. People did not know that. Haven't lived here in 35 years. And for me, it's like a whole new experience because when you haven't been somewhere in a very long time, not I've been back but not lived there. It's it's different. It feels like I'm living in the past, the present, and the future all at the same time. And yet I still hate, you know, have my relationships in South Florida, also St. Court Virgin Islands that are growing. And it is allowed me to be become the full person that I could do. To your point, I had to listen to that voice of what is the right path for me right now.

SPEAKER_01:

You've went full circle.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, as you were talking, there's a couple of different things that that that people say without even noticing they're saying it. Um and it's it's like poison to them in their psyche and their advancement of moving forward. Um for instance, when they're presented with an opportunity, um they'll look at it and go, it sounds interesting. Um, but what if it doesn't work?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

What if it doesn't work? I I I'll flip that and I'll say, what if it does? What if it does work? Because we have a tendency to go at, you know, I I don't believe. So and there's two other and another another phrase which it's two words to it that's a killer.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

When when when when opportunities come up as well, is that we say, you know, it sounds good, but you know, yes, but yes, but yeah, yeah. It's like it depends on someone someone else. And we do these and say these things, and and we don't know the danger that we're doing to ourselves. So we have to words are also very, very important there.

SPEAKER_00:

So um and and understanding in our world, you like when you wake, typically when you wake up in the morning, sometimes, and as you go through life, you're already in what I call a your resting state is usually a negative state, meaning you're already thinking about the status quo of what you normally do, your habits and whatnot. You're thinking about certain biases that you have, you have certain status quo that's out there, and then your critical mindset. The critical mindset is a major thing that rests right in front of you, right when you wake up in the morning. It takes energy, it takes intentionality, as you said, positivity to then get above that frame of mind. I say some people they do prayer in the morning, some people do contemplation in the morning, they do meditation, because you've got to be intentional about like you're um uh starting that engine in a positive mind frame. Because if you don't, and you stay almost unconscious as you wait awaken, you're gonna say that negative frame. And it and it's just it's just there. But until you get intentional about all right, I need to look at and be, and I know I do it every morning. It's like, all right, what positive, what positive event happened yesterday? What positive event happened two days ago? And focus on those things. Because if I start carrying yesterday's news into my mindset and and all the, like you said, all the self-limiting beliefs, like, oh my god, I gotta get because you get up kind of tired most of the time. I don't wake up and boom, I'm ready to go, but I have to rev up to that point. Well, we're gonna rev up. I've done this, rev up my mental state, my emotional state to get back into my frame of mind and then remembering my North Star and the purpose that I'm setting out for this day to accomplish, that I'm aligned with that purpose. So as the distractions come and they always will come, things happen, but then you can get back in line, get back on course to do what you need. I think you've gotten back on course, and you're doing you're you're talking about me coming full circle. That story you told in the very beginning about you know going to the encyclopedia and doing this great, great speech, and then you had an opportunity, and you look at you now, you've come completely full circle, and you know how to I've gotten a little bit older since then. Yeah, just a little bit, but you you bring all of that to the table. I know I find let's say I was starting out in radio, I want to listen to you. What is that like? You're starting out in economic development. Well, you know, Pete, tell me about your experiences because you've lived those lived experiences, a lot of the fundamentals and principles are still the same. There's there's a lot of change, and you probably heard this uh in in life. Nothing new under the sun. It may be new to you, but it's not new to someone else. You just have to find that out. And to your point, like you don't want you say, hey, what if I do this and it doesn't work out? Well, for somebody did it did work out, but are you putting yourself in their mindset? Are you finding out maybe potentially from them or someone else who actually had that success and learning from them so that you won't make the mistake? So when it does come up, you just stop. You don't have the resilience, no, you're not ready yet. You can't can't um withstand the the headwinds that are gonna come toward you. So you gotta find those things that can push you forward. I I luck how you I see you pushing forward even today. You didn't stop, you know, your self-pity, like, yeah, I have cancer, stop me. I'm I'm I'm done. I just uh I'm checking out right now. You are punching in your clock every day, and you're you you've been punching in for a long time and you're bringing forth, and you reached out to me and said, Grant, I want to be on your show again. Let's do it. I got some things I'm doing new. I I I've got a new website, I've rebranded, I'm a keynote speaker. I'm like, look at I'm very impressed with you, Pete.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, man.

SPEAKER_00:

I want to again tell our audience, number one, they gotta know where are you speaking next? How can we book you? What what how do we get in the Pete Delator world?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it's an open book, open door anytime. Uh reach out to me. Uh, I think one of the best ways to do it, more efficient ways, to go to my website, which is Peter Delatory. I added the R as a little bit of a rebranding uh uh thing twist that I did there. I've been known as Pete, and I've I added the R so I can talk about you. See, I I've rebranded. I've added, you know, a lot of people call me uh Peter as well. So it's peterdelatory.com. And it uh the website was developed with a lot of years of of hits and misses, things that I've learned, but also putting in there what I believe um uh the information I believe people need to have in order to at least get a taste of what I do and who I am. Um there is uh there's uh home page, obviously, but there's also a page for my speaking, just uh some uh videos that I put there, there's different keynotes that I do, there's some testimonials that I've been blessed with on my training page, the same thing. Um and if you are interested in talking with me on either from a speaking perspective or training, um, there's a contact sheet. You can put your information on there and reach out to me and I will get back to you and we can talk it through.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. Now I got one more question. I've got to ask you this, Pete. Now you've like I said, you've been in radio a long time. You've been you've been interviewed a lot a lot, especially you know when your book came out. You you talked a lot of this is the second time you've interviewed with me on the Follow Brand show. How do you feel about this experience?

SPEAKER_01:

It's been fantastic because my friend, you are you are enthusiastic in terms of engaging with your uh guest. Uh you come from a really good place, uh an authentic place. Uh you've made me uh you know feel at ease, comfortable at home and our and in our talk. You know, you're you're you're just you're just engaging. We're just having a conversation here. You're not trying to drill me or put me on the spot or or have any uh got you questions or anything like that. And it's uh it's important and and it's uh important to your mission in terms of engaging and talking to the folks that uh you believe bring value to your platform, and and hopefully uh uh I haven't disappointed.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, without questioning, I would not have had you back on if I felt any kind of disappointment, or he's gonna embarrass myself in my show and what I did. There's no way because Pete Dallas, I'm telling you, and I and the courage audience to really need their due diligence and their research. Man, you've done a lot for this community. You've helped a lot of small business people to grow their business. There's probably a lot of people like, wow, I know because I got this information for Pete, I was able to do X. And then maybe they never told you we should get some testimonies and some emails out there. Make sure our audience, our audience, and our community wraps their arms around you and what you have done for us, and that you poured into us and we want to pour back into you. I want to thank you again for being on the show. I want to your audience as well as mine to make sure that you're going to five-star video that's beat for brand, beepfordevelopment, informaster.com. There's over 250 people that have poured out what they feel is important to them and why they do it in different categories that really will resonate with you to get you to that next level. So I want to thank you, my friend, again for being on the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, my brother. Really appreciate it. A lot of fun. Let's do it again.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, of course.