Alec Mountain

Ben BeeriWhat's up everyone? Welcome to the Authentic Journey. I'm really excited to introduce our next guest today, Alec Mountain. Alec is an event strategist, author, community builder who helps entrepreneurs turn real connection into real momentum, both in business and in life. He's the force behind many fast growing entrepreneurial communities across The United States and the author of Fill the Room, a step by step playbook on how coaches, consultants, and experts can turn local events into clients, influence, and real momentum.

Alex story runs deeper than strategy. It started with a hunger for alignment purposes, presence, and something real, a life and business that actually felt like him along the way. He's built everything through experimentation, intuition, and a willingness to keep showing up, especially when things were uncertain and uncomfortable. His journey is ultimately one of becoming learning to trust the inner signal, take bold steps without guarantees and build not just a brand, but a life rooted in meaning, integrity and frequency while helping many others do the same.

Really excited to have you here today, Alex. Yeah, thanks. And, uh, amazing intro. Absolutely. Absolutely. So you just came out with this book, Call the Room. First of all, congratulations. Thank you. And then, what is the process like for you to have gotten to a spot where you wanted to write a book, you wanted to share that with the world?

Alec MountainYeah, I know it's a a the book hasn't even been an idea for that long. It was sort of like I was having a conversation with a friend, a really good friend, and he said, You should write a book. I said, I was kind of in a slump, and I was like, I want a better way to tell my story and find a way to get clients in a more efficient way on a national level than what I'm currently doing. Cause a lot of my marketing strategies thus far have been around doing my own events as a way to get clients. And, after the events, I, you know, I've pitched the concept of, hey, if you want to do events like this as a way to grow your own business, we can potentially work together. And I've gotten a lot of clients through my own events and other people's events.

However, I wanted to really figure out a way to get more clients on a national level and grow my customer base without having to do events in all these other areas. Because that's what I've proven is, yeah, I can get clients from in person events, but I want to work with people in different countries and other places in The United States without having to necessarily do events there. A friend recommended that I should write a book as a way to really put myself out there. And I thought it was really the right time, and it just felt like I knew the system really well.

And I knew how I've gotten myself results. I know how I've helped other people get results wherever they are in The United States to help them build their own entrepreneur communities and the clients that I have gotten nationally. I just felt like my expertise was there and my stuff is really on point to the point where I could come out with my own book, and it would do things for me that other marketing assets weren't able to do. About a year ago, a little over a year ago, maybe eighteen months ago, not quite eighteen months ago, I created a video course on how people could really do their own events as a way to grow their client base like I had been able to do in Southern California, and I created a video course.

And that video course took a lot of work in order to do. However, that was really the basis of what a book would be. So it's really just about, as we spoke about, converting that video course into a book, and before I knew it, like, I had a real streamlined way that I could put this out there, and now the book is here, and I'm really excited about it.

Ben BeeriThat's awesome. That's awesome. I'm excited for you. Thank you. And why entrepreneur communities? Like, why did you gravitate towards building all these communities across The United States with all these different entrepreneurs? Yeah.

Alec MountainSo when I moved to Southern California, okay, let's backtrack. I started my first like legit business about seven and a half years ago, and really it's been a combination of a lot of different marketing services for a lot of different companies. A lot of us, when we start building like an advertising agency or a marketing agency, we kind of do everything for everyone. And that's really how I got my footing in the business world. However, without talking about myself for like half an hour, because sometimes I can do that just going into my story for so long, about a few years ago, I moved to Southern California, because that's a place that I felt I aligned with, and it's where I ultimately wanted to be.

At that time though, I had failed multiple other businesses. Outside of running the agency, that's always been my bread and butter, but I started a couple other businesses, other passion projects that ultimately didn't work out. And while focusing on those other businesses, I kind of let my marketing agency go. And here I am in Southern California, knowing anybody and thinking, wow, I got to make some money again. I got to get my income back, you know, and let's just start building my marketing agency again. Cause that's what I knew what I was good at and how I knew I could make money.

The thing is that I didn't know anybody. And I thought what would be a great way to meet people? Cause ultimately who is my customer at the time? Entrepreneurs, people that want to grow and scale their business, that's why they hire marketing agencies. So I thought, why don't I just host entrepreneur focused events as a way to grow my brand and meet people in a place where nobody really knows me whatsoever? Because at the end of the day, relationships, I really do believe, are the strongest currency, and if you can get in the room with the right people, you can really do some great things, especially if you've built the room, and everyone is there because it's your event. It can really give you a strong sense of authority. And I've done events in the past prior to moving to Southern California, but never in a really consistent way.

So with this, I thought, Hey, I think I know how I can build a how I can fill the room. I know how I can put together these events based on everything that I know about marketing and, you know, my own expertise around how to put events together. So I started doing my first events in Orange County, and it all just started with an ad campaign. And it worked really well from the get go. And everything that I spent on ads was covered with ticket sales. Plus, I was able to get clients from the event and from each event, and it was just it just turned into a really great way for me to ultimately put myself out there, build my personal brand while

Ben Beeribuilding a profitable business again. For those of you who don't for those people who don't know or not aware, can you take us through the experience of an elevated Alec Mountain event?

Alec MountainYeah, absolutely. So I would say it kind of starts with an ad. So most of my events that I've done have been larger networking events for entrepreneurs. So in order to build up that community, the ads have looked something like, what's a video ad of me on camera? I say, Hey, Orange County, if you're an entrepreneur looking to grow your network, meet like minded people and expand your knowledge, sign up for my events list. Like I have this member, I've said it so many times. I'm hosting amazing events in the area, to connect like minded people and being a part of these events will just create more opportunity in all areas of your life. If you're interested, go to the website, submit your contact information, and I'll let you know when the next event happens.

So they see a video out on Facebook or Instagram, they go to my landing page, they read a little bit more about it, and they submit their contact information to be notified of when the next event is. So that's really how all of the traction is built. That ad isn't promoting any specific event. It's just this is my community, basically join the list to be notified of when future events happen. It's like building a waitlist that never really stops. And then whenever I have a new event coming up, I just promote to that growing list of people.

And this is the exact strategies that I talk about in this book right here. And there has been so many other people that have built communities similar to mine, but wherever they live in the world, and also what type of market in person they're trying to meet. So anyway, what the events are is that it's just bringing people together. A lot of these have been larger mixer formats, because really with these ads, with the emails, I'm really preaching values, connectedness, inclusion. Be around people who think the way that you think and are open.

Entrepreneurs, people that are growth minded. So it's like if we can just get all those people in the room, especially if they've paid to be there, what shows that they're serious, these events can pretty much just run themselves because everybody in the room wants to meet each other. And this hasn't just been the case with me, like this has been case with like all of my clients as well. Because when you build a community around strong values, growth minded people wanting to better our lives, you just get an excellent group of people.

So a lot of these events are just purely mixer formatted. And then in the middle, I'll talk a little bit about the community. What is my community, Orange County Startups and Growth? Because that's the name of my community in Orange County. Why am I inspired to put on these events? What do I want you as the audience to get out of it? And then there might be some sponsors who I'll talk about who might have pitched in to cover some of the costs. Then ultimately for about five or ten minutes, I'll give a pitch around my own services, which is basically, Hey, who here found this event through an ad? Everybody raises their hand. Well, I'm actually really good at running these ads.

And this is what I help people do, is fill rooms just like this as a way to grow their business. And I walked through several client examples and all of that, and I say, Hey, this isn't for everyone, because it's not for everyone. It's much easier to come to an event than it is to want to host your own, for sure. And if I say, Hey, if you feel called to this, book a strategy session with me, book a one on one session, we can talk about what it looks like to work together. And then after that, we just resume networking for the rest of the night. And sometimes what I'll do is I'll give a lengthier presentation, I might go into marketing strategy a little bit, I'll give what we call like a value presentation, and then get into my offer, But really the core of the system is just get the right people in the room and have everybody make really great connections, put on a great time, and then once you have your target audience in a room, make some kind of offer to them and those that want that support. Cause everybody that comes to an entrepreneur networking event, they all want to grow their business. That's why they're there. That's why they're paying to meet other people, right?

So if you're able to position your services in a way where the people that want that extra support can get it, that's cool, and that's also what just makes the model sustainable. But yeah, it's really just bringing people together, and those that want your further support and helping them grow their business, or whatever it is that you sell, they can take you up on that. But that's essentially the model.

Ben BeeriYou talk about bringing people together and you talk about community, and sure business is one thing, but so many people are out there seeking community, seeking friendship, seeking other people. What does it mean to you to actually be able to bring people together into such a tight knit community?

Alec MountainI think it means everything to me. And what I mean by that is like, for me, like the connections that I've made are everything. And one connection has changed my life so many times. I don't know about you Ben, but everybody, every great friend, every connection that I have in Orange County somehow originated from an event. Because as entrepreneurs, we're not meeting people in college because we're not in school, we're not meeting people at work, you know, so the 3,000,000 people in Orange County, it's spread out.

How are we going to find our people? So I think in person curated networking events, or just events in general, where you can find people that are aligned with your interests, you're going be much more likely to find your people, and finding your people really can impact the trajectory of your life.

Ben BeeriAnd you talk about finding your people, I mean from a health standpoint, mean there's plenty of studies that have come out that it's like you literally live longer the more connection you have with people, and how important that is. Yeah. And us as entrepreneurs, you get into a spot where it's like you don't necessarily have at times coworkers, colleagues, people that you see on a day to day basis. Yeah. At the office type of thing. Yeah. You end up in situations where it's like the people that you really network with or people at other companies or other executives or founders, that kind of becomes your network. They kind of become your friends. Yeah. You've got a specific personal interest or hobbies or other communities that you're a part of.

What do you say to people that are kind of looking for their community?

Alec MountainThat are looking for their community. I think it really just starts with a very practical approach, would be making a list. A lot of people, they talk about, Oh, if you want to find your life partner, like your future spouse or whatever it might be, make a list of everything that you want in that person. So that way you kind of know what to look for. And you have a lot of clarity as to what you want in that person, right? I don't think it's any different with your friends. Who do I want to surround myself with? What are the types of things that I'm looking for in a community, in my next five best friends?

What do they believe in? What are their values? Maybe what types of industries do they work in? Who are they as people? Can put that down on a list or formulate it in your head. And then the next step is find experiences and events where those types of people hang out. And for everyone that's different, Ben, I know you, we've spoken about this, you like events that are more expensive because they're more curated, Like the types of people that you're gonna meet at a $50 networking event are gonna be different than the types of people you meet at a $500 networking event.

So in a lot of ways, yeah, get clear about what you want, but also know that barrier to entry is important, because when you can find people that are at an experience where you, you guys, you all share the same sort of interests and values, and you both invested a certain amount of money to be there. That's a super intentional crowd. And that's why things like the dinner club that I'm doing now are like really impactful because like you met Nick Nick Bravo at my last dinner, you know, and now you guys just went on your helicopter trip, mastermind, you know.

So I think the majority of the people watching this are going to be entrepreneurs, and I would just be, whether it's in business or life, make a list of all the things that you're interested in and attend events where those people are.

Ben BeeriI go attending events, attending events and attending experiences. Yeah. What are some life experiences you've had that have kind of led you down towards your entrepreneurial journey?

Alec MountainI became an entrepreneur because I couldn't get a job that I wanted. I graduated college really young, and I thought I was going to get a nine to five job and work in corporate. However, I wanted to find a career in a company that I was aligned with, and I just couldn't get it for whatever reason. Had a lot of experience, had a lot of skills, just couldn't land an opportunity that felt like what I wanted. It was it was just a struggle. So that experience led to me starting my marketing agency. That's what really led me to being an entrepreneur, and that self belief in myself that like, yeah, can do this.

If I can't get a job working for somebody else, I can create my own, And I just trust that everything is going to work out.

Ben BeeriWhere where did that belief come in for you?

Alec MountainI didn't think I had another option. I was like, okay, I have like no money whatsoever. Like, I'm leaving out my parents. Like, this just sucks. Like sending my resume into these job portals, maybe getting some interviews, but nothing landing. I was like, there's definitely, based on my current network, I have some marketable skills. I think I could reach out to my friends and my family, and at least get some clients to pay some amount of money. I'm not sure if I looked at entrepreneurship as a long term thing at that point, but I definitely knew it was something that gave me a better chance of getting to where I wanted to be in a faster amount of time than continuing to play with the job market.

Ben BeeriYeah. And looking at how things have gone over the last few years for you, what excites you about the next few years? I don't know what's going to happen then.

Alec MountainI kind of just take one day at a time. A few years ago, September 2022, I'm not even sure if the idea of events were even in my mind, you know? So if you would have asked me then what I would have been doing three years down the road, a few years down the road, I might have been able to give you an answer, but it could have been very different than what actually happened, right? So I think what excites me about the next few years is that the past few years, I was actually journaling about this this morning, which is I've just grown so much as a person.

I've gone through so many life experiences, I've really put myself out there, Ben. You know, I've hosted a lot of events, I've met thousands of people, I've sold a good amount of my services, I've gone through a lot of trials and tribulations and doubt and moments of failure and picking myself up and meeting really great people. I'm just excited to see what I can make out of my life based on everything that I've learned thus far. I can't give you a specific thing like, Oh, in three years, I'm gonna do blah blah blah blah blah.

It's like, I plan the best that I can, but at the end of the day, I don't know what's ultimately gonna happen. So I'm just excited that I can wake up and do what I want every day and be around great people. Yeah, shit happens and shit always comes up. Things are gonna throw us off balance, but I feel like compared to a few years ago, I'm going in a direction that I feel more confident in.

Ben BeeriThat's amazing. Thanks. And you mentioned a couple of words that a lot of people really fear, and that's doubts and failure. Mm Can you talk a little bit and speak to the crowd of people that are afraid of doubting themselves and they are afraid of failure? What do you say to those people?

Alec MountainI don't believe in the word failure as in the typical sense. I think it's either we ultimately win or we learn. But even if we learn, we're still winning. And the things that might have happened that we've learned from, that could have prepared us to not have a crazy failure down the road. I think it's all about perspective. Life is all about trying new things. Ultimately, we are going to fall, and things are going to happen, but if you continue to try, and you continue to have faith, and pick yourself up, and I think what's been really helpful for me is this concept of not being attached.

Because when we are attached to things and we really want for things to happen in a certain way, we're only creating more separation, and it makes it more difficult to get what we want because we're always stressing and worrying. So I think it's great to have a mission and go after things, but a really great analogy is like, in life, for example, I really want to get this book out to more people, right? And I can't be too attached to that. For me, it's like I'm gonna go, it's like going to the grocery store and getting the paper.

I'm gonna have intent, but I'm not gonna stress about it, I'm not gonna worry about it, but I am gonna take deliberate action, and I'm gonna see what happens. So I think it's just about in life, like to get to where you want to go, you're going have to do things that are uncomfortable. But things are always just feelings. And we say fear is false evidence appearing real. It's like it's just things that you fear based on maybe what other people are thinking about you. News flash, everybody is too worried about themselves to care about what you're doing.

And even if they do care about what you're doing, then that's a problem with them. Because like, why not just focus on yourself? Those aren't even people that should be in your world anyway. Right. So the battle is just you against yourself. But all these things, the doubt, the fear, they're all just feelings and those feelings aren't real. Listen to your heart and keep going. Listen to your heart and keep going. I love that.

Ben BeeriAnd you're talking about these feelings and there's all these different feelings. There's the ups, there's the downs of the whole entrepreneurship journey, not just the entrepreneurship journey, the journey of life. What are some of the feelings that you've had recently that are just like, hey, this is keeping me going or this is kind of knocking me down? And like, what have been some things that are very they've been very impactful on your journey as of late?

Alec MountainYeah. I think with every positive, well, I know this is a fact. With every positive, there's a negative. And with every negative, there's a positive. It's just like the way the world works. If you look at the hardest moments in your life, there's also really great things that came out of it, and you could have thought about your biggest accomplishments, and if you really look, there's also probably some negatives as well. So life is always a balance, and here's what I'll tell you for sure Ben, is that everybody is going through internal battles. Everybody, and this is the problem with social media, because people project this life, because social media is a highlight reel. Hey, look at all the great things, Alec just came out with this book, or Ben just did blah, blah, blah, he went on this vacation to Greece, his life is so awesome.

But what you got to recognize is that social media is meant to impress, not confess. And no matter how successful somebody is, everybody is going through something, and you just don't know it. But I know a lot of successful people, I've built my life around being around successful people, people that are much more successful than I am, and everybody is going through something. It might not be financial, but it might be health related, it might be emotional, it might have something to do with their family. So the first thing is just to recognize, is to have some perspective and know that if you are going through something difficult, this is very normal. Everybody goes through difficult things.

Me in particular, over the last several months, it's really been a journey of even prior to this book. Prior to this book, I was like, yeah, events are awesome. This really works. But I would get down about myself and be like, this is so like, why isn't my business growing faster? Why aren't these things working? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something like that? Or why did this particular scenario happen? Why did I get into this personal relationship with somebody, and this had to happen?

I don't know if I want to go into extreme detail, but like I've had things happen financially, in my health, emotionally with other people that nobody sees on social media that I've gone through. And it's just for me, it's all about grounding myself. And I've dealt with this. I feel like a lot of this is just through perspective. And I think one of the most foundational things that can help somebody during a time when they're feeling really down is gratitude. 100%. Because you might feel like, oh, I don't have the money, or I don't have the relationship, or I don't have the health, but you have so many things.

Even though you don't have the money, you might have the health, you might have the relationships. However, even if you have, but if you don't have the health, you don't have the relationships, you might have the money. So there's so many, it's really about taking an account of everything that you do have. And if you like where you live, that's a huge win. If you have a connection with your family, that's a huge win. If your health is good, that's massive, you know, and especially young people take that for granted.

So I think it's really just about journaling and saying, hey, and it can be hard. Oh my gosh, I just lost out on this blah, blah, blah, or this situation happened, and you ruminate about it, and you tear yourself down, and it can be hard to journal about gratitude when something is really bugging you, but if you can get yourself to do it, it can really make a huge difference in your internal state. Reading books is also really important as well. I have three main practices that I live by, that I try to do every single day: meditate, get my head clear, journal, get my thoughts out on paper, which is really useful for me, and also reading, because reading gives me reading nonfiction gives me so much perspective.

Because a lot of us are just kind of stuck in our own programs, and we need to get ourselves out of those programs.

Ben BeeriWell, it's funny. We end up getting programed a certain way when we're younger. We go to school, we get taught certain things. Many people that go through their entrepreneurial journeys start out at a very young age and kind of know that they're not really set or fit for school the way it's being taught to you. You're not fit to be in a class with 20 other students that are being taught the exact same thing. Yeah. You learn a little bit differently. You think a little bit differently. Yeah. Maybe you ask certain questions that teachers may not be prepared for or don't want to answer or just don't want to have to put up with. And if that does happen, uh, you're viewed as potentially disruptive to the rest of the students that are there. Yeah.

And so it's really interesting as you continue to go through your processes, like what systems do work for you. Mhmm. And how do you lean further into those systems? Yeah. And what can you almost undo as far as the programming that you were given? Yeah. When you were younger, because you're like, hey, I learned this when I was in first grade. I realize now that once I unlearn this, I now can get rid of this self limiting belief that I've had for the last twenty years. Yeah. And once I get rid of this self limiting belief I've had for the last twenty years, I can now flourish and elevate to the next level that I've been looking to get to. Yeah. So I I think it's really interesting that you mentioned about how we're programmed and how to unprogram.

Mhmm. And another thing that I think is important when you talk about different routines is like not only your mental health and reading and journaling and meditating, but also your physical. Yeah, yeah. I left that part out, but I exercise constantly. Yeah, exercising constantly. And you've got your challenges, your your your fitness challenges you've been working on lately, right? With your pull ups and everything. Yeah. You want to tell us a little bit about that? Yeah.

Alec MountainYeah. So right now I'm training for an endurance calisthenics competition. And essentially what that is, is calisthenics. For those that don't know, it's body weight related. So it's a lot of pull ups, dips, muscle ups, push ups, squats. And something that's been really motivating me is to compete in a calisthenics endurance competition just because I had been working out for so many years, but I never really felt like I was working towards something in particular, some kind of like end goal or milestone to work towards, you know.

So I've watched a lot of calisthenics videos on YouTube and I saw these battles that they do where it's basically like, let's say it's me versus you, and you go through a routine, so it might be like 10 muscle ups, and 20 pull ups, and 50 dips, and 50 push ups, then 100 squats, and whoever can complete that first wins. It's kind of like a tournament, and that's something that I want to compete in at a really high level, so that's something that I've been training for.

Ben BeeriThat's awesome. What does training regimen look like? Like how many times a week, how long are you doing it, how often?

Alec MountainYeah, so I train about six times a week right now. Okay. And it just what I'm training just kind of depends on what muscle group I'm working. So a lot of the times it's today is my back day and the next day is chest and arms, I kind of just go back and forth and I throw legs in there as well. So for example, with a back day, it could be 100 pull ups as fast as I can do. Right now, I can do 100 pull ups in about eleven minutes. And then after pull ups, I'll do more like assisted pull ups in a way. And then I'll do scapula pull ups.

And then there's a bunch of different pull up variations. And then. For like my chest and arms day. So really, what I'm doing now, I'm just practicing the main movements that are going to be in competition, and the main movements are going to be muscle ups, pull ups, dips, push ups, squats, and I might be missing one or two more, but there's like five to seven core exercises. So all I really do at the gym is just practice the seven core exercises, but I do them very hardcore. Like if I'm going to do pull ups, I'm going to see how fast I can do 100 pull ups, if I do 100 dips, I'm going try to improve my time every time, because I'm competing for a calisthenics competition, endurance, you know. So it's really just getting exceptionally good at the basics and doing a lot in a short amount of time. That's all it is.

Ben BeeriNo, that makes sense. It makes sense. And you're talking about working towards something. Mhmm. So many of us go and we work on something, but we're really not working towards something. We just go and we work out of almost this feeling that we need to just, hey, we're gonna work on something, but there's no real actual goal. Mhmm. Can you speak to about the importance of actually setting a specific goal or working towards something or coming in every day and making progress towards something that you're working on? Yeah.

Alec MountainI think it's kinda like a good analogy for this will be like bowling, for example, which would be you gotta you gotta know where the pins are. I haven't thought about this analogy in a while. What was it? I'm trying to think about what it was, we can cut this. So a good analogy would be like bowling, which is, if we don't know exactly where the pins are, how are you gonna throw the ball accordingly, and throw it in the right lane at the right spot? So I think it just all starts with, hey, if you want to accomplish something great, you gotta know what you're ultimately working towards. You gotta have some kind of goal in mind so that you can properly direct that bowling ball in the right direction, right?

I know that bowling is a straight line, but life is not a straight line. So we really got to know where the pins are. And there's a lot of different directions that the ball can go. So it's like a lot of us, think I'm motivated, I'm not attached to the goals, but like most people, I don't even say like most people, I would say like with most people that are highly intentional, they know where they want to go. Like the people that achieve great things, they've thought about the thing a lot, they've created a plan of action about how they're going to get there.

So it's like, you've got a goal in mind, like in order to achieve something great, you've got to be very clear about what you want to get and why. And ultimately, why you're inspired to do that. But then there's also, like, you got to make sure you're climbing up the right mountain. No pun intended because my last name is Mountain. But a lot of people that are working towards goals that might not even feel authentic to them, and they're just working towards those goals because that might have been what they were pressured to do by their family, their friends, or some of these outside forces. So they might put in all that work, get up to the top of the mountain and be like, Oh crap, I climbed the wrong mountain.

So I feel like even more than just having a goal, you've to find something that you're ultimately aligned with. Because if you're not aligned with something and you work on something for ten to twenty years, it's pretty depressing because life moves fast, and you can't get those years back. So I think instead of people just trying to rush and hurry and get somewhere to amass this wealth or this influence, which can be quite hollow, I think people got to think about what do they ultimately want and why, regardless of outside influences.

Where is that, not just that heart alignment, but also that heart and mind alignment, right? Because the heart knows what wants, and the mind can help create some structure, so it's all about having that heart and mind coherence, which is really important, but also takes a lot of skill in order to work on and master, but as long as you do your best to act within your own authenticity and do what you want and try to be in alignment, like, you'll start to figure things out.

Ben BeeriIt's so interesting. I mean, you talk about being in your own authenticity and what your heart wants versus what your mind wants. And it's really interesting because you sit there and you think of those like in a way they can be opposite forces at times. It's like, what does your heart want versus what does your mind want? What do you think versus what do you feel? What do you desire versus what is your discipline, right? And can you fall into your discipline And does that outweigh your desire? Or is your desire stronger than your discipline and you kind of lose out on that? Right? It's like you could go and like you're wanting to train six days a week for your competition. It's like you've got to be pretty disciplined to get something. You got to love it.

And you've got to have it be not only love it, but it's got to be authentic to you. You have to be inspired to do it. Has to be something that you want to work towards and want to achieve. So, yeah, interesting. Interesting that you mentioned that and like what makes you want to achieve that? What makes you want to enter into this competition and work on climbing this proverbial mountain?

Alec MountainWell, I think I can. What's coming to mind is I think I have a gift. I'm already really good at this, and I enjoy the training. Like, I really enjoy it, and I'm really good at it. So I think it's the fact that I really enjoy the training. Like, I look forward to training every day, and like today, I'm not going to train, I'm just going to stretch, but like, I want to train, you know, so it's the fact that like I'm passionate about the process. There we go. That makes a huge difference. I'm passionate about the process of becoming great, and I feel like I have the capability to be really great. So I think it's one, I really like it, and two is I believe I have an ability to really excel.

And I would say that's the same, like that's just really great career advice in general, which is if you really enjoy the process of something, regardless of the outcome, you just like it for the sake of doing it, and you have confidence that you can be really great at something, do it. Like if you really enjoy something and are passionate about it, you can likely become really, really great at it. That's how I feel about the gym. That's how I feel about my business. All these kind of things. So yeah, I think it's a combination of I just thoroughly enjoy the process.

And on top of that, I feel like I have the capability to be really great at it. That's awesome. That's awesome. And you have those synchronicities

Ben Beeriof heart and mind and you actually genuinely enjoy something. It's like it makes you want

Alec Mountainto go for it. It makes you want to do it. It's like do what you love. I know it might sound cliche, but it's so true. It's like when you ultimately do things that you're really passionate about, everything becomes easier. It becomes easier to put in the effort. You could be putting in all these hours of effort that might look like work to other people, but it's play for you, and that gives you a huge competitive advantage over anybody else. Yeah. No. I mean, hey, it sounds fun. I mean, just going out, going to the gym and not only not only training and doing the stuff that looks fun or feels fun, you're now the person that's capable of,

Ben Beerihey, pull up bar right there. I mean, you could be at some random place, any place in the world. Oh, yeah. Some bar, and you could just go, hey. I got and say, let's bust out a quick 10, quick 20, whatever. Yeah. And it just it becomes not only healthy for you because it helps you work out. Mhmm. But it's fun. You're just playing and it's like and you get to get that child Yeah. Like state of

Alec MountainAnd the goal is to find that for everything. Obviously you're not going be passionate about everything, but try to find that play in your work, in your life. That's what life is all about, man. It's about waking up and being excited about what's ahead. That's like the true wealth. If you can wake up and be excited about what you're doing today, regardless of anything else that has happened in the past, but you like the direction that you're going, you have a sense of gratitude, and you thoroughly enjoy what you're doing and who you're around, regardless of the level of financial success you've achieved so far, that's what life is all about. Because even if you aren't rich yet, but you really like what you're doing and you're surrounded by the really and you're surrounded by really great people, you will get there.

Ben BeeriAnd when you talk about rich, you're speaking about financial success. And I mean, there's so many other ways to be rich. You could be, I mean, rich in friends, rich in community, rich in family, rich in health. Yeah. And it's like and it's almost like I don't want to downplay the importance of finances because it does help you get into certain rooms and help you do certain things. Mm But it's the other stuff that really seems to be on a much higher level of importance. If you don't have health, you have nothing. If you don't have family, you have nothing. If you don't have friends, you have nothing. You don't have community.

That's true. Nothing. Yeah. And it's like and we seem to when we have the option to be willing to trade finances for any of those things at any given time. Mm

Alec MountainJust about every time. Yeah, it's really interesting because we live in a very developed world, especially The U. S. Is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, or not number one in happiness. You know, we talk about the the people that live a really long time, I've been watching like the Blue Zones documentary, and there are certain areas of like Costa Rica that are like super poor, but the people there live a really long time, because they have really good health and have really solid relationships and they're just happier overall.

So for sure, finances, having financial stability is a component, but 100% it's not everything. Because you might have heard this quote, especially but when it comes to health. When you have great health, you have a million wishes. When you have poor health, you only have one wish. Yep. Well,

Ben Beeriit's true. I mean, I think I don't remember who it was that said it, but it's like you go and you work and you essentially start off your life by trading. I mean, some people on this entrepreneurial journey, especially you start off basically by trading your health to go and get money. And you go and you trade whatever money you've accumulated to try to get health.

Alec MountainYeah.

Ben BeeriIt's a lot harder to get back your health. Yeah. So you may as well start focusing on your health to begin with. Yeah. And work on leveling that aspect, both physically and mentally. Yeah, absolutely.

Alec MountainI just tell myself to give myself love and do the best I can every day and not be too attached. However, that takes a lifetime. It could take a lifetime to learn, but I work on it every day. Well, it's interesting, the concept of giving yourself love, because so many of us don't.

Ben BeeriLike, we're our own worst enemy. Like, all of us are. Like, we we really, like, we're our own worst critic. Like, we're the first ones to say, hey, like, you fucked up Mhmm. To ourselves, and sometimes other people don't even notice. And we tell ourselves that we can't accomplish something. We tell ourselves that we're not capable. We have all these different self limiting beliefs. Yeah. And sometimes we just need to take a couple steps back and realize that, hey, like, nobody else is judging me this hard. Yeah. If I judge somebody else this hard, they wouldn't wanna even speak to me anymore.

Yeah. And it's like, so it kind of tells you to show yourself a little bit more love and just give yourself a little bit more grace and allow yourself to kind of shine. Allow yourself to show yourself, allow yourself to try to climb whatever mountain you're wanting to climb and to achieve anything that you want to achieve. Yeah, that's why I'm so big on reading is because just to get that perspective, you know, because as you mentioned,

Alec Mountaingrowing up, we've learned a lot of things that have maybe made people like you and I ambitious and high achievers, but it can come with a lot of downsides as well. It's like with every positive, there's a negative, right? So I think a big part of unlearning and learning to give ourselves grace and love is remembering who we ultimately are as a person, and I think that comes from just reading the right books and being consistent about that. It's like garbage in, garbage out. I was just thinking, like, if I spent the two or three hours a day that I spend on YouTube and Instagram reading books, I'd probably be a completely different person.

Ben BeeriI mean, concept of a book is really interesting because the people who are writing books are typically and this goes for like non fiction books are typically experts in a specific subject. They've had a significant amount of experience doing what they're writing about. They've experienced a lot of it. Now they're sharing their experience. So now you as a person who has no knowledge in a field at all can go and absorb somebody's twenty years of experience doing something that they put into a book that takes you five hours to read. Yeah. And all of a sudden, you don't acquire the same level of expertise that they do, but you acquire a level of expertise that puts you far above average in a certain field and you get to apply that to your own skill set and ultimately get to grow from it. Yeah,

Alec MountainI agree. The ROI on a book is massive.

Ben BeeriThat's one thing I wish I understood at a younger age. Not that I have any regret specifically, but I feel like when I was younger, reading books was something that was forced on you in school. Develop a different relationship with it. Right? For me, I was like, okay, a teacher is telling me to do this. I'm going to rebel against this. You want me to read a book? Okay. I'm now not going to read any books because I don't want to be like whoever the teacher is. I'm not going to read whatever books are telling me to read. Yeah. And so I was basically boycotting reading books. I don't think I read my first book as an adult until

Alec Mountainlike 27 years old. How old are you now?

Ben Beeri29. About to turn 30 in a few months. And I remember reading my first book and going, Oh my God, I really need to start doing more of this. And I went on a binge. I probably read like 25 books in the next, like, three to four months. Mhmm. And I'm like, my entire life, I've just been missing out on all this amazing knowledge just because I wanted to basically say, hey, teacher, I'm not reading because you used to tell me I should read, and I didn't want to end up like you. Mhmm. So I didn't read. Mhmm. And I was really only punishing myself by not reading. Yeah. But I didn't get it. So it was really interesting to think. It's like if we had like like, what do we choose when we have the freedom of choice to choose?

And it's interesting because when you're younger and you're in school, you're just doing whatever the teachers assign you to do for work. But once you reach an autonomous stage and you're getting to choose something for yourself, it's like, do you choose to read? Do you choose to not read? Do you choose to exercise? Do you choose to not exercise? Do you choose to journal? Do you choose to not journal? And it's like all these decisions come up. Yeah. It really says a lot about your character as to what you choose to do.

Alec MountainYeah. Entrepreneurship is especially a lonely journey, you know, like, yeah, that's that's a great point. When I was in middle school and high school, like my days were laid out, like oftentimes in a very specific way. Now I wake up in the morning and think, Oh, I have sixteen hours to decide what I'm going to do today. Which is exciting, but it's also like, how do I know if I'm making the right decisions? But what I do know is that I can definitely make time to read, journal, meditate the rest of the day.

God, guide me in the right direction. But at least I have a pretty firm stance of knowing what I should do and that I can make time for and what I shouldn't do. Yeah, it's really it's one of the again, it's pros and cons of entrepreneurship. The pros is that, wow, I have the whole day to do what I want. The cons is like, oh, I'm actually kind of by myself and I got to hopefully I'm doing the right thing.

Ben BeeriYeah. It's also the other part of it is the balance of between, hey, what makes me feel happy and fulfilled versus what makes me feel productive? And then there is this kind of bias as entrepreneurs that we have to feel productive. And if we don't feel productive, we can't feel happy and fulfilled. So the question is is, at times, can we pull ourselves out of a state of production and go and do things that it's like, hey. Like, I need to have Ben time. Like, you need to have Alex. Yeah. Like, what can you kind of go and do that kind of

Alec Mountainrefills your cup so you can go out and get into that productive state again? I feel like as long as I meet the metrics that I wanna meet, I can cut myself some slack. However, if I'm not where I want to be, for whatever reason, then I'm naturally going to want to work harder. But I do feel like no matter where I'm at in my business, I give myself time to relax, and take time for myself, and exercise, and walk, and read, and have entertainment, like watch YouTube videos and stuff like that, because I can't work all day every day, it's impossible.

I can maybe work like eight to ten hours max. But there comes a point where it's like if you're working too much, like, the quality of your work will be less, and you're not gonna be able to get so much done. So I'm more free flowing in my days. I kinda enjoy that, but yeah, I try to give myself enough balance throughout the day, but I will naturally want to work harder if there are certain metrics that I want to hit that I have not hit. But if I hit my metrics, I'm like, whatever.

Ben BeeriAnd you got to go set new metrics.

Alec MountainYeah. And then it's like, are we setting goals based on what we want or what we think other people will approve of us for?

Ben BeeriThat's true, right? I mean, you sit there and you think about like, why are we actually chasing X goal? Right. And it's like, do we want to achieve it or do others or do we think that others will think more positively of us

Alec Mountainif we achieve? I don't think anybody really gives a shit. I really don't think like and if they do care, like, why should we care what they think? I think we ultimately have to do what we want to do and what we're inspired to accomplish. Like at least for me, family will support me no matter what. My friends will support me no matter what. They know I'm ambitious, whatever direction I take, like, Hey, Alec, if that feels aligned with you, you should go out and do it. Even no matter what I accomplish, let's say I just don't even like flexing or putting things on social media that make me look above anybody else.

Because when you're building a personal brand, you wanna create connectedness, not separation. And I just don't feel like, Even if I did have millions of dollars to spend and was on all these lavish experiences, I probably wouldn't even post about them. You know, I don't really feel like I have anything to prove to anybody. And the thing is, that has nothing to do with the amount of money that's in your bank account. That just comes from a knowingness of I am enough as I am as a person, and those that like me for who I am, these are the people that I want in my world, and the people that don't, they're not going to like me no matter what, so why even cater to them? So I don't think this is a competition, I don't think life is necessarily, yeah, in business we have competitors, but what I'm motivated by is not, hey, can I accumulate this or accumulate that? I do have aspirations to travel to more places and do things in business that I currently don't necessarily have the capability of doing, but really what I'm motivated by is just being better than I am yesterday,

and being kinder to myself, and being in a more positive mindset, so that overall I am ultimately more in a flow state, and I can do more and be more, and express myself fully for who I am as a person.

Ben BeeriI love that. Thanks. Actually, I really love that because so many times we find ourselves in situations where it's like we look at other people to see it's like, hey, will this person think that what I'm doing is okay or up to their standards? Or can I go and make a post on Instagram? And maybe if I get a couple likes, people will think I'm cool. And if people think I'm cool, I'll think I'm cool. And it really ultimately comes down to it's like what is up to your standards of what you want to do.

And the only person that you really need to please in your life is yourself because you are with yourself from the moment you are born until the moment you pass away. And if you get a significant other in life, unless you guys, God forbid, perish together in some kind of car or plane or whatever accident, at some point, you guys will separate as well. Mhmm. Till death do you part. Mhmm. And you really ultimately only get to spend the bulk of your life with yourself. And the thought that other people actually care or think about what we're doing, like most people, they really just don't care. Everybody's focused. Worried about themselves. Yeah.

Everyone's just got to worry about themselves. And it's like, so looking at what you're doing, it's like, can you be as authentic to yourself as you can be? And I really think it's it's a powerful message that you've got to people is just do your thing, satisfy yourself.

Alec MountainAnd not everybody's going to like you. That's the fact of the matter. But a lot of business people are watching this and your personal brand, think about the people that have the biggest personal brands. They're raw, they're honest, they are who they are. And why do you love them? Because they are who they are. They are who they are. And there's certain quirks about these types of people that a lot of other people don't agree with, but they're so honest about who they are at a deep level that they can connect with those people, a lot of other people, and be on that same frequency, and that's really how you grow a tribe of people that really love you, is because you're doing what you enjoy, you're putting yourself out there, and you're not afraid to say what's on your mind.

There's some lines I won't cross, such as political, but I don't really feel a desire to express my opinion politically anyway. My brand is more about growth, personal development, being a better person. I will have some contradictory beliefs about routines and ways of living and stuff like that, that some people might not agree with. But a lot of people will. And to be very successful in business, all you need is just a tribe of people that really love and respect you. You know, it's not by being liked by the most people, it's just about putting yourself out there and attracting the same people on your frequency.

And that's not forced, that's just through

Ben Beeriexpression. Yeah. No. And it's true. I mean, you sit there and you look. I mean, like, um, we just I look in front of us. We got Taylor Swift on the wall. We got Kobe Bryant on the wall. We got Post Malone on the wall. And all those three people, like something that those three people have in common is they are themselves, like extremely themselves. And it's like people may like Taylor Swift's music. Mm But they're really buying into her. Mm People may think Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player, but they're buying into him. Mm And the work ethic. Yeah. Like the extreme work ethic of the I will be better tomorrow than I will be today. And not only will I be better tomorrow than I am today when I woke up, I'll be better today than I was today when I woke up. Yeah. That work ethic. You look at a guy like Post Malone, he's just like, right off the bat, he's like, I do not care what people think of me or my appearance.

I just want to spread music and joy and happiness and be myself. And do I have to be the healthiest person in the world? Not necessarily. And I just want to be me.

Alec MountainI'll tell you a story. There's a lot of client success stories and stuff in this book, Fill the Room. And a lot of the people that I've worked with weren't even thinking about doing events until I approached them and pitched them the idea, and I'll say for a lot of these people, the reason they decided to work with me, because there's a lot of other ways that they can grow their business, a big reason they worked with me is not just because they believed in the strategy, but they just really liked me as a person.

And that's a very important part of building your brand, is it's ethos, pathos, and logos, and how we relate this, that's from like Aristotle, but we can actually relate this to business as well. So ethos is they got to really like who you are as a person. Pathos is they got to really like your strategy and how you get people results or solve the problem that you do in the marketplace, and logos is they got to like your offer. So if somebody likes your offer, and they like your strategy, but they're not sold on you as a person, they won't work with you.

But if they're sold on you as a person, it makes it a lot easier for them to be sold on the other things as well.

Ben BeeriThat's true. And it's like, I mean, there's times where for us, it's like we've got the opportunity to work with somebody and it's like, the first thing we look for is the character of the person, the level of integrity of the person. And you can't know that character unless somebody authentically puts themselves out there, whether it's in person, online or both. It's like, no, and even like, I mean, you sit there and it's like, I mean, you're working through different situations. It's like, you carry your character with you everywhere you go, like no matter what you do. And it's like, you cannot avoid it. Like, you're ordering a coffee at a local coffee place. Like, the way you treat the person who you're ordering your coffee from says something about you. You go to, like, you, you have the opportunity to hold the door open for somebody.

Says a lot about you. At the grocery store, you're putting your cart away, says something about you. Mhmm. And just how you treat people in common interactions. Are you looking to give to somebody? Are you looking to take from them? Yeah. And it's like that becomes very apparent very quickly. It's like some people how they approach situations. It's like this person is really not looking for me to be better. This person is looking from, hey, what can I get out of this situation? And it's like it's almost like goes saying, it's like, what do you want for someone rather than what do you want from someone? Mhmm. And if somebody wants something from you rather than for you Mhmm. It's like that says a lot about them in, like, certain situations.

And it's like, oftentimes, it's just you have to say, hey, you know, I recognize that you've got this to offer and this to offer. Yeah. But you're coming at me with an energy of wanting something. Yeah. For me. Because of that, it's like we're not going to be able to work together. We're just not a fit. Like, seem like a great person. You seem like you've got a great offering, but you seem like you're coming from a place of wanting to take something from me. And it's like people can feel that. Yeah, absolutely. Because all

Alec Mountainof life is an exchange, you know, but it's really about the energy behind it, which is what you're talking about. And I kind of, I think a word that encapsulates a lot of this is frequency. I've been around enough people to know when somebody's on my frequency versus when somebody is not. And I think that's something you learn just through talking with a lot of people and having a lot of experience as an entrepreneur, and just really, even in personal life, just seeing what people's intentions are.

Is this a person that I can trust? Do I recognize the patterns, whether this is somebody that I think is the right fit versus somebody that's not, and it can take a long time to learn that.

Ben BeeriYeah, it's interesting. I mean, you look at somebody's frequency and how high they vibrate or how not so high they vibrate, it's like you and I were talking about with events and different like entry points of price points and stuff like that for the events. Right? It's like the larger demographic of people, like the the less the barrier to entry, the lower the level of vibration, the more the barrier to entry, the higher the level of vibration, the higher somebody's frequency. It depends.

Alec MountainLike at a strip club, people spend a lot of money, but that doesn't mean that they're operating at a high frequency. That's a fair point. Yeah, I know people that attend really expensive business masterminds, things that cost hundreds of dollars, they're still assholes that show up. Yeah. So I think money helps weed out certain people that have achieved a certain level of financial success, but just because somebody spends a certain amount of money does not go into guarantee that they're a warm, loving person or something like that.

I think if anything, you wanna lead with the right values, which is the most important thing, and then what more money can do is it can get people that are able to invest more and are at a certain financial level, but I mean you can also just meet a lot of amazing people in areas that aren't even, you know, ticketed events. You can meet them in common areas or something like that. But yeah, I will say that the barrier to entry

Ben Beerican play a factor, but it's not everything. It's certainly not. And I would agree with you on that. You see a lot. I will say that you see a lot more of it when there is a lower bear like when you go. So, yeah, you're saying so when there's okay, when there's no money involved. Yeah, that's the purest. Yes. When you go into a situation where you're like, you're at the park, you're playing with your dog, you're throwing a Frisbee around, you're just going and you're chilling, you're going for a walk, you're going for a run, and there's no ticket, anything involved.

Alec MountainEverything's pure because everybody's on the same plane. I love taking a class together. Unless it's a free networking event, then it could be chaos. If it's a free networking event, so I guess it's real with a networking event.

Ben BeeriOf a sudden, you've got a $10 networking event, and it's like, man, I've got, like, nine business cards trying to sell me a truce today.

Alec MountainAnd it's like, yeah, it's like,

Ben BeeriI didn't come here wanting to buy insurance. Like, I already have insurance. Yeah. So it's one so it's one of those things where no. It does become interesting. And I think

Alec MountainBut there's there's a nuance here. Let's say it's only $10 for a ticket. But in order to come, let's say I host an event that was $10 a ticket, but only 10 people could come. And I really vetted that room. That's not normally how it is. Sure. But I'm just saying there's there's different ways to frame things. But, yeah, I get it. I get it. And going to that point is

Ben Beeriit's not about the financial stuff. It's about the other things. It's about the intangible stuff. And it's like the purest interactions that you'll have are going to be with people that are taking part in a common activity that you are, and that really don't have anything to do with the money or the get in or the ticket or whatever it's like. But it can actually, because if you attend event and you're aligned on those interests, let's say it's spirituality

Alec Mountainand everybody paid $100 Okay, because you can be spiritual people on the beach. Yeah. But if you spend $100 to spend a spiritual like even like like David Guillaume, the David Guillaume thing you went to. Yeah. Right. Because of that price point, that's a very intentional crowd, you know? So like this isn't a debate. I just like really depends.

Ben BeeriWell, there's a lot of situations depend. I think David does a great job with his events in curating a crowd that comes to the event because it's built around his brand ethos.

Alec MountainYes, that helps. Like my dinners are built around my brand ethos, you know, so it really depends on the the ethos of the person running it. Yeah, and

Ben Beerithat's going back to what I said, the intangibles of the stuff that can't be bought, right? It's like who's hosting the event, where are they coming from? What are they actually looking to achieve by hosting the event? And it's very it's very evident that when you attend something Mhmm. And you can kind of tell it's like what somebody looking to accomplish with a group of people that you're they're curating together. Mhmm. So it's really interesting to see that. I'm really proud of the journey that you've taken and kind of how far you've come along with. Oh, thank you. You've done with events and publishing your book and everything that you've been able to kind of create in the communities that you've been able to create.

Alec MountainYeah.

Ben BeeriAnd I'm glad that you're in it and you've gotten value out of it and you've met some cool people, too, because that's what life is all about, man. Absolutely. I mean, it's who you meet, the experiences you can have with them, the conversations we can share. I'm really grateful for the conversation that we're able to have here today. Alec, where can our audience connect with you further? Where can they find your book? Where can they? Yeah. Where can they reach you? Yeah. So Instagram is probably the best place on social media, such as AlecMountain.

Alec MountainAnd then if they want to get the book, it's free. Just pay shipping and handling. And that's at filltheroom.com.

Ben BeeriAwesome. Awesome. Well, hey, we just had a great conversation here with Alec Mountain. Really enjoyed everything we talked about. Me too, man. We'll have to do this again sometime for sure. Cool. Uh, we really appreciate everybody for tuning in to The Authentic Journey Podcast. We're on Instagram at theauthenticjourneypod. If anything today resonated with you, we'd love for you to give us a like, a review, a comment on any of our podcast episodes. Uh, if you could share this with your friends, that'll be great. I'm your host, Ben Beeri. You can find me on Instagram at benbeeri, b e n b e e r I.

And we'll see you here on the next episode of The Authentic Journey.