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Rory Henry [00:00:05]:
Hey, this is Rory Henry. When I’m not screaming my head off at a UCLA or Rams football game or making a fool of myself on stage at an improv theater, I’m listening to John Garrett’s What’s Your “And”?

John Garrett [00:00:17]:
Welcome to episode 621 of What’s Your “And”?. This is John Garrett. And each Wednesday, I interview a professional who, just like me, is known for a hobby or a passion or an interest outside of work. And to put it another way, it’s encouraging people to find their and. Those things above and beyond your skills, the things that actually differentiate you when you’re at work. It’s the answer to the question of who else are you beyond the job title. And if you like what the show’s about, be sure to check out the award-winning book. It’s on Amazon, Indigo, Barnes and Noble bookshop, a few other websites.

John Garrett [00:00:45]:
All the links are at www.WhatsYourAnd.com. The book goes more in-depth with the research behind why these outside-of-work passions are so crucial to our corporate culture. And I can’t say how much it means that everyone’s reading it, running such great reviews on Amazon. Thank you so much for those. And more importantly, changing the cultures where they work because of it. And if you want me to read it to you, that’s right. This voice reading the book. Look for What’s Your “And”? on Audible or wherever you get your audiobooks.

John Garrett [00:01:09]:
And please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast. You don’t miss any of the future episodes. I love sharing such interesting stories each and every week, and this week is no different with my guest, Rory Henry. He’s the director at Arrowroot Family Office out of the LA area and the host of the AFO Wealth Management Forward podcast. And now, he’s with me here today. Rory, thanks so much for taking time to be with me on What’s Your And.

Rory Henry [00:01:32]:
John, thank you so much for having me!

John Garrett [00:01:34]:
This is gonna be a blast. I can already tell. It’s gonna go off the rails in about 30 seconds.

Rory Henry [00:01:39]:
That right?

John Garrett [00:01:39]:
Right? Or a little bit. So, yeah. Let’s just get started. Get to know Rory on a new level here. I’ll get you started here. Do you have a favorite animal? Any animal at all?

Rory Henry [00:01:47]:
I mean, I have a 13 year old lab that I absolutely love. Cool. So Yeah. I’ll I’ll say it’s an easy answer. Theodore.

John Garrett [00:01:53]:
Yeah. Oh, Theodore. Even better. Yeah. Love it. Okay. How about when you were growing up in gym class, did you have a favorite activity?

Rory Henry [00:02:00]:
Oh, gym class. I hated running.

John Garrett [00:02:03]:
Oh, yeah. So so so much. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:02:05]:
Yeah. I would say, like, if let’s go back earlier in elementary school. I love dodgeball. Oh, yes. I was quick, fast, and I had a a pretty good can of an arm for

John Garrett [00:02:13]:
a little guy. There you go. Okay. I like it. There you go. I like it. How about ice cream in a cup or

Rory Henry [00:02:18]:
in a cone? Cup. Well, no. Let’s say Baskin Robbins, those baseball helmets they used to put down. Yes.

John Garrett [00:02:25]:
Remember that? Yes. Totally. Absolutely, man. Those were great because then you got the souvenir to keep Yeah. That just sits on your dresser forever. And then when you’re moving your parents out, you throw it away. And it’s like, why did I have this? It was a fun one. Planes, trains, or

Rory Henry [00:02:40]:
automobiles? Planes. Give me a plane.

John Garrett [00:02:42]:
Planes. Give me the air. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah. How about a favorite number?

Rory Henry [00:02:47]:
7. How about, your first concert? Oh, that’s a good question. It’s either the 4 tops or Sinatra in Vegas. Wow. Yeah. I don’t remember which question. I fell asleep to Frank Sinatra sitting in, like, the 3rd row. When I was a kid, like, you shouldn’t be taking a kid at 6 years old to a Sinatra concert.

Rory Henry [00:03:05]:
Yeah.

John Garrett [00:03:05]:
I mean, it was way past your bedtime. Absolutely. That’s incredible, man. That’s awesome. How about, Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars. Star Wars.

Rory Henry [00:03:14]:
Yeah. I’m a big Mandalorian fan too.

John Garrett [00:03:17]:
Yeah. The new the new stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. How about your computer, more of a PC or a Mac?

Rory Henry [00:03:22]:
Oh my gosh. I’m a PC guy, but I’m an Apple user.

John Garrett [00:03:26]:
Oh, okay. Everything else?

Rory Henry [00:03:27]:
The green text message perturbs me. I’m not gonna lie.

John Garrett [00:03:31]:
That’s me. I’m the Android popping in. Oh, no. Like, it’s a Oh, no. We haven’t texted yet, but that’s why. That’s why we’re still talking. Exactly. But now after this podcast, then we might be done.

John Garrett [00:03:42]:
Oh. This might be it. It’s all over. How about, what’s a typical breakfast?

Rory Henry [00:03:48]:
Just a large iced coffee from Starbucks. I’m skipping breakfast right now.

John Garrett [00:03:52]:
There you go. Nailed it. Yeah. I don’t have that kind of time. That works. How about a favorite color? A Bruin blue. Bruin blue. Very specific.

John Garrett [00:04:01]:
I like it. I like it. How about a least favorite color?

Rory Henry [00:04:04]:
Oh my god. That’s red for like, Trojans. Even though my name means the red king. Right? Yeah. Because I dislike the Trojans. I’ll go

John Garrett [00:04:12]:
with red. Right? Okay. Solid. I like it. Actually, when I was doing my new website, I I was looking at different kinda golds and yellows, and, there was, like, 200 on this page. And I was like, oh, that yellow looks interesting. And it was, yeah, Trojan yellow or whatever the hell. And I was like, well, I can find another one.

John Garrett [00:04:27]:
Yeah. I mean, there’s another 199. It doesn’t have to be that one. So it’s odd. And, there we go. How about a favorite actor or an actress? Oh,

Rory Henry [00:04:36]:
I’m a big Bruce Willis fan. I just saw some social media on him. And, you know, it’s sad what’s going on right now, but, I mean, Die Hard is one of my favorite movies. Or Gene Hackman. Give me Gene Hackman in Hoosiers.

John Garrett [00:04:47]:
Yeah. Yeah. He’s also solid. Yeah. Very good. Good answers. How about talk or text? Let’s talk. Let’s get on the phone.

Rory Henry [00:04:54]:
Go old school and talk.

John Garrett [00:04:55]:
Yeah. Yeah. And then you don’t know if

Rory Henry [00:04:56]:
I have an Android or not. There’s because yeah. Exactly. Text, you can’t tell tone in text. Right? That’s why GIFs or GIFs are so useful, but you can’t really tell what someone’s emoting, right, in in text message.

John Garrett [00:05:07]:
Especially when it’s like humor and sarcasm and Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:05:10]:
I’m a very sarcastic guy. Like Right. Sometimes it doesn’t work out well for

John Garrett [00:05:14]:
me, John. Right. There you go. Couple more. Puzzles, Sudoku crossword, jigsaw puzzle, Wordle.

Rory Henry [00:05:19]:
Yeah. Let’s do Wordle. I’ve got a good streak with Wordle, so

John Garrett [00:05:22]:
I’m gonna go with Wordle. Nice. Okay. I like it. How about

Rory Henry [00:05:25]:
a favorite day of the week? Football Saturday. Nice.

John Garrett [00:05:28]:
In the fall. Yes. In the fall. Nailed it. Exactly. Same. 2 more toilet paper roll over or under? Over.

Rory Henry [00:05:36]:
I mean, who’s who’s the psychopath that does under?

John Garrett [00:05:38]:
Apparently, cat people, I’ve been explaining about. On the show on the show, I’ve had people explain it to me, but I’m still like That’s good. You had

Rory Henry [00:05:45]:
a large enough sample size? It’s now like under in Cat People.

John Garrett [00:05:48]:
Well, I mean, you are episode 600 something, 21 or whatever the hell we are. Yeah. I think so. That works. And the last one, favorite thing you have or the favorite thing you own?

Rory Henry [00:05:58]:
Oh, it’s a good question. I recently bought a Theramind, which are these goggles that you put on that you could start meditating with, and it heats and massages your forehead and face. And I get into a really quick meditative state with my with my AirPods. So let’s say the Theramind.

John Garrett [00:06:14]:
That sounds pretty incredible. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll put the luggage. Yeah. This show is sponsored by Theramind. Theramind. There we go.

John Garrett [00:06:21]:
That’s incredible. I love it. So let’s talk, sports and, you know, the teams that you like to follow. I imagine that Theramind helps out, sometimes. Just had to throw that out there. We’re keeping

Rory Henry [00:06:31]:
that spirits. Right? We have a mutual dislike for the USC Trojans.

John Garrett [00:06:35]:
Exactly. Exactly. But yeah. So I mean, how’d you get started? I mean, I were you born into this? I was born into this.

Rory Henry [00:06:41]:
Yes. This is I didn’t have a choice. I joke around that. I wish my parents would’ve just got me into, like, opera. Like, they like, instead of watching NFL Sunday ticket, like, watching opera on Sundays, you could start betting on opera. They had hop on Monday night opera. Like, it would it’s so much more useful for me. But I I I grew up thinking every, everybody’s parents had friends that were professional football players.

Rory Henry [00:07:05]:
We live next door to the hall of fame right tackle, Jackie Slater.

John Garrett [00:07:10]:
Oh my goodness. That’s incredible.

Rory Henry [00:07:11]:
Yeah. He played 20 years for the Rams. Right. Yeah. One of his best friends was Vince Ferragamo, the quarterback for the 1979 Rams in the Super Bowl. So I would go to Rams camp as a kid and mess around and watch football.

John Garrett [00:07:24]:
So I didn’t really

Rory Henry [00:07:24]:
have a choice, and then we would go to the UCLA football games. We had season tickets, and so the whole family would go there. So I’ve been watching football during the fall since I was a little kid. The Rams broke my heart when they went to St. Louis, but I’m now a season tickle holder. I went to the Super Bowl when they won

John Garrett [00:07:41]:
it. Yeah. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:07:42]:
So Jackie Slater actually got me and my brother tickets when they played in the 1st Super Bowl against the Patriots, like, 5 years ago in Atlanta, and we sat next to Jim Everett. Wow. Yeah. He was a former quarterback of the Rams in the 80s. Yeah. Absolutely. It was really cool because he was giving play by play analysis of the Super Bowl and was, like, we’re listening to, like, a commentator or a quarterback. He would spot you know, he would say, hey.

Rory Henry [00:08:04]:
Like, that’s a post route or, like, that DB did well there. I’m, like, oh, this is really cool. So we well, we didn’t watch Super Bowl, and then the next Super Bowl was in SoFi Stadium when they won it all against the Bengals, and we sat next to Jim Everett again. That’s amazing. Yeah. We always joke about, like, every Super Bowl the Rams are in, we gotta have seats next to each other.

John Garrett [00:08:22]:
Yeah. That’s why just don’t call him Chris. That’s all I know. Like, I’ll never forget that. I really Never forget that. Yeah. Like, well, I mean, he deserved it. Not Jim Everett, but the Jim Rome or whatever, whoever it was.

Rory Henry [00:08:32]:
That was Jim Rome’s claim to fame. That’s what put him on the map.

John Garrett [00:08:36]:
Yeah. That’s crazy. But that’s awesome, man. Like, that’s some pretty sweet yeah. I mean, it’s not on accident. Like, I mean, those are cool experiences that yeah. Of course, you’re hooked because you get the you get the red carpet. It’s like I’m at the camp on the sidelines.

John Garrett [00:08:50]:
Like, I’m I’m in these seats that

Rory Henry [00:08:52]:
are And I wrote in Accounting Today a story about the time when I was 12 years old, John, about Jackie Slater, asked my dad to go to the to the Lakers game. It was his 19th year in the pros, and so he didn’t know if he was gonna come back for a 20th year. And my dad couldn’t go to the the Lakers game. My brother couldn’t go to Lakers game. There’s no other neighbor or friend that could go. So he asked my dad if if Rory wanna go. So so, yeah. I’ll go.

Rory Henry [00:09:17]:
I’m 12 years old. So I go to the game, the Lakers game. We have floor seats. They’re walking down. I remember people chanting one more year. One more year. I’m like, like, what’s going on? Like, the playoffs? The lakers? Like, what’s going on? And they’re chanting for him to come back for another year. And it was so funny.

Rory Henry [00:09:34]:
I was 12 years old. All I wanted was David Robinson’s autograph. I had his his team USA jersey I had that I bought in 92. And so they’re putting Spurs, and I’m like, Jackie, can I get his autograph? I was like, yeah. We’ll do our best. So, like, as soon as the game’s over, we’ll go over and meet David. So game ends. David runs off the court.

Rory Henry [00:09:53]:
Security guard goes, no, Jackie. Can’t let you on. I’m like, oh, heartbroken. So I didn’t get David Robinson’s autograph and I want it so bad. The funny part of the story, John, is we’re walking up and we’re going to the Forum Bar Lounge and Jackie stops and there’s this tall guy and he says, hey, Rory, I want you to meet somebody. He says, this is Jerry. I go, Jerry, nice to meet you. He’s like, do you know who that is? That’s the logo.

Rory Henry [00:10:20]:
I’m like, oh, nice. He’s like, do you want his autograph? I go, no. Jerry, can you give me David Robinson’s autograph?

John Garrett [00:10:26]:
There you go. There you go. So That’s awesome. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:10:30]:
That was my experience.

John Garrett [00:10:32]:
Yeah. Jerry West. That’s incredible, man. That’s awesome. So cool. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:10:36]:
So much yeah. Sports is ingrained in my Yeah.

John Garrett [00:10:38]:
And that’s why you don’t like basketball and I get it. Yeah. Me too. Like, me too. But that’s awesome, man. And what cool experiences. That’s just incredible. And then

Rory Henry [00:10:46]:
But I’m not a great athlete, John. I don’t like not you. I’m an okay golfer or I’m okay at basketball. But, you know, I enjoy watching it.

John Garrett [00:10:52]:
I wish I was a better athlete. Yeah. But watching it is maybe better. You know? Like, I mean, there’s It’s heartbreaking. Less pressure and all that. It is heartbreaking. But it gets joyous. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:11:03]:
So it’s like it’s that double edged sword.

John Garrett [00:11:06]:
Well, it’s it’s reality TV but actually real in the moment and you never know what’s gonna happen and the joy is so high and the low is so low that, yeah, you question everything at times. It’s crazy. And I I love college sports especially college football. And, man, it’s it’s amazing. And and to be there in person with, I mean, 80, 90, a 100000 people plus, What an experience. It’s wild.

Rory Henry [00:11:32]:
Well, I sent you that video. I was at that UCLA SC game.

John Garrett [00:11:36]:
Yes. Yes. And that was a joyous

Rory Henry [00:11:38]:
occasion for the Bruins. We beat the Absolutely. It was so rewarding. I actually videotaped the fans who were not too happy with me. Right?

John Garrett [00:11:47]:
And you were just trying to video your buddies 20 rows up, but there’s Yeah. There’s 20 rows of USC fans in the middle. They’re not happy about it. And, yeah. That’s incredible, man. And so do you feel like there’s a a skill set or something that you bring to work from being a sports fan and all these experiences?

Rory Henry [00:12:05]:
Oh my gosh. That’s a good question. I don’t know, John.

John Garrett [00:12:10]:
Yeah. No. That’s fair. I mean, I would imagine it. At the very least, there’s a relatability. Yeah. You know, if if you meet someone who’s also a Bruin, you meet someone who’s also, you know, maybe a Trojan, and it’s like, well, automatically, we have a thing. A common bond.

Rory Henry [00:12:24]:
And I think that’s what sports does. It brings people together. You’re rooting, you know, for your team. It’s your tribe. It brings our family together, you know, going to ramp. Our parents have season tickets. Me and my brother have season tickets, so it brings our family together. I think it’s really community.

Rory Henry [00:12:38]:
Right? It’s bringing together people around a shared event that they can start cheering for their team. Right? I think, that’s probably what it is.

John Garrett [00:12:47]:
No. No. No. That’s great. Of course, I mean, you know, it it definitely is and and it’s just a a human condition. Work can just beat us down and and turn us into automatrons, you know, like the the Chuck E. Cheese robot person, you know, like that’s up there playing a fake guitar, you know, or whatever. And we’re we’re going through the motions, just doing the work that we’re supposed to do and just being 1% better than the person who used to have this job and then we look like a rock star.

John Garrett [00:13:14]:
And this is something that actually there’s feelings and there’s emotions and there’s there’s humanness to it that I think comes out, and then and then that’s how connections happen. And I think it’s great. I think it’s awesome.

Rory Henry [00:13:26]:
And it’s how we’re connecting. Right? That’s how we relate. We’re relating to each other. We both enjoy college sports. Like, that’s a common bond that you and I have together.

John Garrett [00:13:35]:
Yeah. Absolutely. No. I mean, it’s it’s definitely a thing. And then, I mean, we also have I mean, you’ve dabbled in the improv comedy. You’re not dabbled. Like, you’ve straight up done. So yeah.

John Garrett [00:13:44]:
So I mean, that’s for and like, how did that even get going?

Rory Henry [00:13:47]:
I had a fear of public speaking and I needed to go over that fear.

John Garrett [00:13:51]:
Well, that’s the pretty quick way to do it. Immersion. Right?

Rory Henry [00:13:55]:
Become a creature of discomfort. Yeah. I went through the West Side Comedy Theater here in Santa Monica. I did the 101 class, and I was so bad, John. It was, like, it was cringeworthy, the performance I put on. You’re not actually supposed to use any props. And I had a $2 I had a $2 bill in my wallet, and I actually in the first performance, I like, the cardinal rules, like, you don’t use anything. I pulled out a $2 bill and gave it to my scene partner.

Rory Henry [00:14:20]:
I was like, oh my god.

John Garrett [00:14:21]:
It’s so so bad. What? I know. I’m so mad. Like, you broke all the rules.

Rory Henry [00:14:28]:
Broke all the rules.

John Garrett [00:14:29]:
But, you know, actually, that in in like an Andy Kaufman sort of way, it’s actually probably hilarious. Yeah. Like, that that you just act like you did it on purpose and then people will be like, that guy’s genius.

Rory Henry [00:14:39]:
Yeah. That’s amazing. Break the 4th wall or whatever it is. Right? Right.

John Garrett [00:14:43]:
4. I I break all 8. I break all 8. I’m all

Rory Henry [00:14:45]:
walls. I am the wall.

John Garrett [00:14:47]:
I am the wall. There it is. There you go. But I put

Rory Henry [00:14:51]:
I pushed through and went and went to the the level 2, which was characters. I’m horrible at accents, John. I can’t do a British or Australian accent. I just saw Clayton notes, though. I like Clayton notes.

John Garrett [00:15:01]:
Oh, Clayton’s amazing. He’s amazing. Right? Yeah. Don’t give him a hug, though. I’ll tell you that much.

Rory Henry [00:15:05]:
Don’t give him a hug. Right? He’s a hugger.

John Garrett [00:15:08]:
I broke a rib or 2, I think, but, whatever.

Rory Henry [00:15:10]:
He’s a strong hugger. But I saw Clayton Notes, and he’s like I was like, oh, can I do an Australian accent? And I’m just so horrible at accents. Like, yeah. Like, my Clayton Notes accent, like, yeah. Clear skies out in front in there. Just kind of get down the lane, like

John Garrett [00:15:23]:
like, that’s my Australian accent. It’s like a little bit of Kennedy and a little bit of Australia. It’s like it’s like a little bit of everything.

Rory Henry [00:15:30]:
Little bit of everything. Right?

John Garrett [00:15:31]:
So but you make a fool

Rory Henry [00:15:32]:
of yourself. You you’re you gotta be okay with failing. Right? You’re gonna look stupid up there, and that can translate to all aspects of life. Right? Being okay without failing. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:15:42]:
I mean, that’s that’s the whole purpose. And so, I mean, at work or with clients or, like, is is whether it’s the sports or, you know, the improv, is that something that comes up in conversation or do we keep this to the side?

Rory Henry [00:15:53]:
No. Yeah. I talk about improv as much as I can with people. I not on first meeting. Like, hey. Guess what I do? I’m an improv. Hey. Let’s do an improv scene.

John Garrett [00:16:00]:
It’s on your LinkedIn profile, though. You’re right.

Rory Henry [00:16:02]:
I know. Right?

John Garrett [00:16:03]:
Which is awesome. Like, it’s straight there, like, as, you know, performer.

Rory Henry [00:16:06]:
I was actually at a wealth management conference, and they had this, like, speed dating. So they what they did is they paired up people Before the conference, you would, like, see people on a list of invitees, and you would say you wanna meet them. So they paired up, like, 18 meetings with people. And what ended up happening is, like, you start seeing, oh, how how can we collaborate or connect? What I end up doing was improv games. So I did mind meld. Mind know where you pick 2 words. Right? And you try to come up with what the word in the middle is, and it was a absolute hit. Like, it crushed.

Rory Henry [00:16:37]:
Like, people messaged me afterwards, like, Rory, I’m so glad I play the improv game or I play the improv game with my family. Like, I’m gonna take this into my workplace. So, yeah,

John Garrett [00:16:45]:
I use it in sometimes in work settings. That’s awesome. I love all that so much because it’s, you know, it’s just bringing who you are to all of what you do. You know, like, if I were to ask you to leave the sports fan Rory out No chance. That’s over 50% of who you are. I mean, easy. Easy. Like, that’s a majority of me.

John Garrett [00:17:05]:
It’s like, what are you talking about? Like, my heart outside? Like, why? And it’s crazy that organizations were that way and some still are, which is alarming to me, honestly.

Rory Henry [00:17:16]:
Yeah. And we talked about our when you came on my podcast, John, about having those cards. And I I think you’re working on, like, having a card that’s just like a baseball card, right, or a football card. Like, talk about those hobbies. Like, let’s have, like, that on someone’s door at work if you are returning to work. Right? Like, let’s have that profile. That person really loves Harry Potter. Right? Or loves hang gliding.

Rory Henry [00:17:38]:
Right? Like, let’s have that as part of it. Like, people can identify. It opens up conversations. It does that icebreaker.

John Garrett [00:17:43]:
Yeah. And, I mean, that’s the stuff that I’m gonna remember about you. It’s also stuff that you’re gonna remember about you later in life. You know? And that that’s the stuff that lights you up on a deeper level. Yeah. It’s funny because when I meet people and they’re like, oh, I’m really passionate about whatever their job is. And I’m like, oh, well, will you do that for me for free? Yeah. And they’re like, no.

John Garrett [00:18:03]:
Are you crazy? And I was like, well, then it doesn’t sound like you’re very passionate about it. You know? Like, I mean I

Rory Henry [00:18:08]:
mean, all too bad improv for you for free all day, John.

John Garrett [00:18:12]:
Amen. That’s what this whole show is pretty much. But, like, it’s all good. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:18:16]:
I’ll talk UCLA Sports, recruiting all day with you, John, if you want. Right?

John Garrett [00:18:21]:
What high school this kid went to? Everything. I know all that stuff. I know all that stuff. Yeah. Dante Moore, how you guys got him. I don’t know either. But, like, good for you. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:18:28]:
You wanna talk transfer portal? We can talk transfer portal. Right.

John Garrett [00:18:31]:
Well, that’s crazy town. But I I think it’s great, man, and I I think it’s awesome. And how much do you feel like it is on an organization to create that space for people to not only explore their hands, but to share them? And how much is it on the individual just to be like, hey, this is what I’m doing?

Rory Henry [00:18:45]:
We talked about this, you know, on our podcast. I think the more and more people get comfortable about talking about their and, I think it becomes infectious. Like, after our episode, people heard our podcast, and we started talking about what they’re passionate about. So, you know, I think it’s on the individual, but also from the organizational level, like, that’s easy to implement if the leaders are doing that themselves. And then it becomes infectious that way. So it’s both a bottom up and a top down approach that we can take. It’s an everybody approach. Right? Right? Starts to live in this philosophy and and start, you know, being more open about what you’re passionate about, what your purpose is in life.

Rory Henry [00:19:22]:
And I talk about behavioral finance a lot in the work I do and the human sign of advice in talking about not just our financial well-being, but our intellectual well-being, our emotional, our spiritual, our social. Like, those are the the components of our overall well-being. And we need to take a look at that and not just focus on our business or our work or how we make income or our our worth is our net worth. You know, we gotta look at all our aspects of our life and the rewards we get from going to college football. It’s right. Yes. The rewards we get from going to improv practice with some wonderful people who are the salts of the earth that brings so much joy to my life. Like, let’s talk about those things and quantify those aspects of our life.

Rory Henry [00:20:07]:
So it’s not just about the financial, your KPIs, your metrics, or what you’re hitting. It’s about those qualitative measures about overall well-being in all aspects of our life.

John Garrett [00:20:17]:
Yeah. No. You you’re exactly right. And and so many organizations are so worried about trying to measure these metrics or or put values to them in number that that dehumanizes it a little bit. And also some things you don’t even need to like, if you have a spouse or you’re dating someone, you don’t have to give them a survey to see how pissed off they are. Like, I can tell it’s not good. You know, on a one to 10, how like, it doesn’t matter. Noelle, I was a 5 and now I’m an 8 because we had to ask.

John Garrett [00:20:44]:
You know, like and so that’s the same thing with organizations is they’re they’re always trying to, you know, put numbers to these things, and you can just walk around and feel it. You can just tell. I mean, organizations that I’ve worked with, like the leadership, they’re like, it’s a totally different vibe, different building, different group. I mean, it’s the same people. It’s just you just unlock the human and, man, magic happens. It’s it’s just it’s always good. It’s always good. I mean, unless they say they’re a USC fan.

Rory Henry [00:21:09]:
Then it’s like, woah. Well.

John Garrett [00:21:11]:
You gotta have something else.

Rory Henry [00:21:12]:
Let’s talk about

John Garrett [00:21:12]:
those KPIs. Yeah. Right. Exactly. No. I I love that so much, man. That’s you’re so spot on. And so do you have any words of encouragement to anyone listening that Well,

Rory Henry [00:21:22]:
let’s I mean, going back to the improv discussion, like, having a yes and approach. You know, one of the main tenets of improv is that yes and

John Garrett [00:21:30]:
Absolutely. Unless you’re Rory and you break all the rules, then like pull out

Rory Henry [00:21:34]:
a 2 dollar bill.

John Garrett [00:21:35]:
Right? Yes. And I have a

Rory Henry [00:21:36]:
$2 bill. Yeah. Right? Exactly. I actually usually get a $2 bill, John, at the bank, like, maybe once or twice a month. I would hand them out to people because it was memorable. Like, I’d be going to the restaurants. Yeah. I think it’s fake.

Rory Henry [00:21:48]:
I go to restaurants and people like, oh my gosh. Thank you so much. And my saying was, $2 bills are good luck. Good luck is nothing but hard work meets opportunity. So if you continue to work hard in life and take chances, put yourself out there, and the universe will reward you. And that’s what you kinda do in improv. You’re taking chances. Like, you are gonna fail.

Rory Henry [00:22:09]:
But it’s the fact that you took a chance and you lean to that fear. Like, a scene could be great or could not be great. But, like, the fact that you went out there and overcame what most people would avoid. They avoid it more so than death. Right? Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. That is growth.

Rory Henry [00:22:28]:
That’s where growth happens.

John Garrett [00:22:29]:
No. I love it so much. And you and you’re right. I mean, the yes, and and I think a lot of people mix up what’s your and with they think it’s an improv yes, and play. It’s a totally different thing, completely unrelated, both good by all means. But but, yeah, yes, and is just don’t put a a hard stop to the conversation, to how things are flowing. And, you know, and that has to play out into just life and work and and

Rory Henry [00:22:52]:
That’s where the magic happens. Saying yes to the date, saying yes to that meeting. Right? Going to that conference. Like, look. I had a great experience at the QuickBooks Connect conference, the serendipitous moment. I had a great conversation with Clayton Notes about life. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Rory Henry [00:23:06]:
And so I wouldn’t have had that if I didn’t take the night flight out to Vegas for a night just to see people and make those connections. So it’s saying yes and to those opportunities in life that can open up doors, you know, for great progress.

John Garrett [00:23:18]:
Yeah. Or just as in life. So I love that, man. That’s so so awesome. Well, I feel like it’s only fair that since I rudely peppered you with all those questions at the beginning that we turn the tables and you’re an old pro, but we’ll make it actually the Rory Henry podcast. So, let’s get you some like love like on the tin there. Oh my gosh. So I’m all yours.

John Garrett [00:23:38]:
I’m in the hot seat. What do you got?

Rory Henry [00:23:39]:
Alright. Let’s go with favorite eighties movie. Oh, wow.

John Garrett [00:23:44]:
You know, I feel like Back to the Future is just a top of mind for some reason.

Rory Henry [00:23:49]:
I love Back to it’s my actually, one of my favorite movies, that and Rocky.

John Garrett [00:23:53]:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Rocky’s good too. Yeah. But Back to the Future, I feel like and, I’ve done so many shows stand up with Tom Wilson who was Biff in Back to the Future. And he’s great, super awesome guy, so nice. I mean, he’s hilarious. And so it’s so much fun hanging out with him.

John Garrett [00:24:08]:
And but, yeah, I feel like Back to the Future, for some reason, just popped into my head.

Rory Henry [00:24:11]:
Yeah. So one of my favorite Back to the Futures was Back to the Future 2, but only the first half of the movie before

John Garrett [00:24:18]:
it gets really dark real dark. Yeah. It it certainly takes a twist. It it kinda had the similar to, Star Wars where the Empire Strikes Back, like the bad guys like, there’s gotta be a dark twist in there and then, you know, the third one first. Yeah. And in the Wild West one, that was kinda wacky. It was kinda wacky. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:24:33]:
I’m I’m kind of an OG on most movies, kinda just one. I just need the the original.

Rory Henry [00:24:38]:
Yeah. On, the Apple show still, it was Michael j Fox, the the documentary they did on him. It was so funny. He thought it was gonna be an absolute bomb of a movie. Like, he got the call from his agent, and he’s like, oh, how bad is it? And because what happened was they hired Eric, I forget the actor. Anyways, and they re had to recast it because it was so bad. And Michael j Fox was doing Family Ties during the day. And at night, he would go film Back to the Future.

Rory Henry [00:25:09]:
You gotta see still. It’s a really excellent movie on on Apple TV. Yeah. Yeah. It’s pretty interesting. So when he got the call from the agent when it was released, he’s like, no. This is gonna be the biggest hit in America. He’s like, oh my gosh.

Rory Henry [00:25:21]:
I thought it was gonna be horrible.

John Garrett [00:25:22]:
Yeah. That’s amazing. That’s funny. So if you could star in any movie in the past, what would it be? Who would you star in? Oh, wow. That’s pretty cool question. I feel like it’s some kinda like some action movies where I get to do stuff that I would never ever do in normal life. Yeah. I don’t even know like a, I don’t know, some crazy like one of those like born movies or, you know, something like that.

John Garrett [00:25:48]:
So it’s like, you know, jumping out of a plane or doing some crazy something. Yeah. That I know that they have stung people, but I would do my own stunts because in this scenario, I come out just fine. So I would I do it. I probably have a little bit of little bit of bathroom in my pants because it’s a little scary. But other than that, I would be fine. Get you out of diaper. Little little bit of tinkle little bit of tinkle never hurts, but, that means you’re doing it right.

John Garrett [00:26:14]:
Like, it’s I like it. I like it.

Rory Henry [00:26:16]:
Alright. Last question. This is more serious. If it was your 90th birthday and you’re looking back on your life, what are three things you’d like to be able to say that you achieved?

John Garrett [00:26:30]:
I was in the stands when Notre Dame beat USC in the national championship by like a 100. I like it. That would be 1. And to counter your seriousness, I think it’s just that I made a difference in people’s lives. And it’s kinda cool with the job that I have because I don’t always know what happens. I speak at a conference and then I go home, and then I don’t know what happens, you know. And then I hear stories years later of people making changes or doing things or and it’s like, holy cow. That’s incredible.

John Garrett [00:27:04]:
You know? And I don’t need credit. I don’t need to know. I don’t need all that. But then it’s just cool to know that that’s happening, that you’re a positive ripple Yeah. Going out that way, you know, and I I think that’s it. And then I think of that it’s, that I just I I mean, it’d be incredible. Just no regrets. Like, you know, you just I lived life.

John Garrett [00:27:25]:
Like, there’s people that live and there’s people that exist. You lived life. Yeah. I lived life and, maybe part of it is being in my own action movie. I don’t know. I love that. We’ll see how it all plays out. But so, yeah, that’s a great question though.

John Garrett [00:27:39]:
And now my brain hurts because you made me think that I’m gonna have to go get one of those Theramind. Mind massages. This show

Rory Henry [00:27:45]:
has been sponsored by Theramind. Yeah. Theramind.

John Garrett [00:27:47]:
That’s what it is. See, I don’t even know. That’s how much I love it. And so, no. That’s that’s really good stuff, man. Well, thank you so much for being a part of What’s Your Android? This is super fun. John, thank you so much. Yeah.

John Garrett [00:28:01]:
And everybody listening, if you wanna see some pictures of Rory in action, on stage, at a stadium, going crazy, or maybe connect with him on social media, check out the link to the podcast. You can go to what’s your and, everything’s there. And while you’re on the page, please click that big button, do the anonymous research survey about corporate culture, and don’t forget to check out the book. So thanks again for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever app you use and for sharing this with your friends, so they get the message that we’re all trying to spread, that who you are is so much more than what you do.