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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 1070 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Today on the podcast, a returning returning guest, Chris Rutan is here for his third episode of The Juicebox Podcast. And Chris and I are going to talk about talking, there's going to be so much talking about talking that we'll just talk and talk and talk about talking all during this episode. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan for becoming bold with insulin. Please don't forget to subscribe or follow the podcast and the audio app that you're listening in right now. And if you use the link, drink ag one.com/juice box to get started with ag one. Well, you'll get one full year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs for free with your first order. Drink ag one.com/juicebox And don't forget to check out the diabetes Pro Tip series that begins at episode 1000 and runs to Episode 1026. If you're looking for community find the Juicebox Podcast private Facebook group, I promise you will love it. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by Dexcom dexcom.com/juicebox. Get the same CGM that Arden is wearing at dexcom.com/juicebox. The show is also sponsored today by cozy Earth. And I guess it's not a surprise to anybody at this point. I am wearing cozy Earth clothing right now. And people are texting me that might be a surprise to you. I've got the pullover on and one of the joggers too. I've been sitting here all day making this podcast. I mean, honestly, I've been sitting here for the better part of nine hours doing podcast work. And I've been doing it in my cozy Earth joggers and sweatshirt, it's fantastic. And you can actually do the same thing I did when I bought these. I use the offer code juicebox at checkout, and I save 40% off of my entire order at cozy earth.com. And they have way more than joggers and sweatpants. Go check them out.

Chris Ruden 2:28
Hey guys, my name is Chris Rutan. And I'm a speaker, a speaker with type one diabetes. I've been speaking around the world for years, you might have heard me on other podcast episodes. Also world record holding power lifter, and donut connoisseur. So I'm excited to be on today and talking to you guys about any which way we go.

Scott Benner 2:49
Chris, I think because you've been on so many times. That's kind of where I want to start. Meaning that when I met you, I mean, you and I were doing like similar speaking engagements. And but you really went after it in a different way. And I mean, I don't touch what you do. And I was wondering how you how you kind of built yourself to where people would say, Hey, this is a guy want to have come to my events, I want to know about that whole process.

Chris Ruden 3:20
That's a really good point, though, because we both started and obviously you took a different direction. And I took a different direction. But we will started speaking in the diabetes space. And that's I did 30 Plus events in the diabetes space before I ever touched another event outside of that space. And I think it took a lot for me to understand that diabetes was just the topical thing that I wanted to talk about because diabetes conceptually is you know, it's a problem that we have to solve on a daily basis. And there's no finish line for that solution. It's a day by day process. So I think it's a testament of the fact that you've had me on multiple times. Just like taking insulin multiple times doing these blood sugar checks multiple times. It's not just a one and done type thing, you need consistent commitment to solving the problem. And once you solve the problem, another one does pop up. That's not a negative thing. I just found that with diabetes, that was the catalyst for me to get into speaking. And I was like, Man, if I could talk about diabetes and beating their blood sugar's on a minute by minute basis, and even when you don't beat it, you still beat it because you're learning how to accommodate. What if I took that concept and taught other people to live between the lines, maybe not blood sugar lines, maybe it's their own lines, they have their own factors, whether it's companies or people, so I kind of just questioned it and ran with that question and that developed into a massive business for me and the ability to speak around the world. Yeah, I

Scott Benner 4:46
mean, it's, I don't even know it's laudable. It's not the right word. It's really impressive. Like how you how you went from this, this one specific idea and then realize like my voice like the message I have It applies all over the place.

Chris Ruden 5:01
I think that's vital. That's so important like to understand, you have to understand that like, people box themselves, they're like, Oh, I'm just a diabetic, I don't really have much to say, What do you mean, you don't have much to say you have everything to say you go through something that most people don't go through ever in their life, and you go through it on a minute by minute basis, you have so much to say, and it's your story does matter. And the message behind your story is even more important. So I think a lot of people cut themselves short, when, you know, a lot of people need a message, you might have felt the same way. I'd asked you that back. I know, it's your podcast, but I'm gonna ask you a question. How did you feel when you started your podcast? Like, did you feel unimportant? And how did you manage that shift?

Scott Benner 5:44
Yeah, I think that I knew that what I had to say, worked, because I watched it work in my blog. And I always thought that that's a difficult thing for people to do. Like, I don't I don't think I'm a great writer. Excuse me. Pardon? diabetes. Sorry, I thought my phone was muted. I don't think I'm a great writer. I think I think I write the way I speak. So if you read something that I've written, and then hear me speak later, you'll think, wow, I can definitely tell he wrote that. But I mean, I just, for me, it was a shift in in how the world was working with people just stopped reading. And I was like, Oh, my blogs gonna die. And because I had written a book, and somebody once told me, I was good at speaking to people, I thought, Well, I'll try to make a podcast. And I mean, it was the first diabetes podcasts, like there had been a couple of blog talk radio shows prior to that, that were like, once a week. And if anyone's ever heard them, they were done over like landline phones, they sounded terrible. And it was just the technical while it was the technology that was available at the time. And I think that if I look at why the podcast has grown, a part of me wants to say that I'm just a common sense person. But I apply common sense to diabetes. And at the same time, it's more than that you have the thing to Chris, like, I think if I said to you right now, Oklahoma, grasshoppers, blue sky, Chris, go, you take those three words and turn it into a meaningful 10 minutes. And I think I have that. That's actually

Chris Ruden 7:22
an exercise I do with speakers that I work with. So I'm like working with some speakers. And I give them exercises like that, give me a random word. And we'll build a story about that and pass that will build a story inspiring or sad, or, you know, man, and the whole story or the hero's journey. So that thing you're talking about, obviously, you definitely have, I don't know what it is, you know, is it charisma? Is it commitment to like developing ideas or the creative side? And not everyone has that specific thing, but I would argue that everyone has a thing that they can really lean into. And ours just happen have diabetes as a catalyst for that thing. Yeah.

Scott Benner 8:03
So there's knowledge, right? You have to have some knowledge, obviously, or you have to just be a storyteller. And your topic doesn't need to be knowledgeable. But I find that it's like, when I start talking, it's like opening a rusty faucet. Like I start to go and it drips out. And then there's a moment where I can just crank it all the way open. And my mouth is bypassing my consciousness and going right to what it is I know or feel. I know if that makes sense or not.

Chris Ruden 8:34
No, it does. Because when I speak when I speak, it's the same way. It's like you open your mouth, and you're confident what's going to come out is I mean, it's fueled by passion, and I guess knowledge and prior expertise. But it's really fueled by wanting to help people and believing that what you're saying is helpful.

Scott Benner 8:49
Yeah, I spoke somewhere, two weekends ago, a place by the way that you've spoken at the past, they were very excited when I said I knew you. And I went second on the first day. So it was a three day event. And I went second, I was standing off to the side while this guy was doing a great job. And he was finishing up. And I stand in there. And I'm thinking like, I wonder how I'm going to start talking about this. And I'm not kidding you like two minutes prior to me getting up on stage and somebody's going, this is the guy he's going to talk now. I didn't really know how it was gonna start. Were exactly what I was gonna say. And I heard something in the room. And I thought, well, I'll lean into that to start. I jumped up there. And I was just very honest. And I said, two minutes ago, I didn't know how I was going to start this, but I heard this out in the audience. And I think this is a great place for us to begin. And as I started speaking, they had trouble with the the the IT stuff, so I didn't have a slide show. And everyone's like, Well wait for the slideshow. I'm like, I don't need that slideshow. Like that's, that's for you. I can talk about this, you know, in my sleep. And I don't know how that happens like even on the pod gasps when will I think I'm the best on the podcast? I don't know that I'm not a tiny bit unconscious while I'm talking, if that makes sense. So, oh,

Chris Ruden 10:08
I get that. No, I get that. And it's, you're on kind of like, the best version of autopilot. Because it's not you're not known, you're very much present. But it's just, the confidence exudes out because you believe in what you're doing. And it's just happens to be your like natural skill. I would argue that not everyone is a talented storyteller. by happenstance. You know, even when you get into storytelling, or speaking, you have to learn kind of the art of speaking and how to craft a message, there's a lot of knowledge that you do have to have to properly tell a story effectively. But some people have an actual gift of just speaking and crafting a creative story. Some people are much more logical and will just be matter of fact, and I think both serve their purpose. And having a mix of both is super important, like you said, knowledge but also the thing, that creative thing. I think, if you can have both, you know, especially as a diabetic, it's like, why not use that to your advantage to not only help other people, but to help yourself and your life and everything you're doing past the blood sugars? Yeah,

Scott Benner 11:15
I. So I mentioned a book I wrote earlier, not because I want to tell people that I wrote a book, but because I did it very much by mistake. Somebody in the diabetes space had written a book, it's a popular book, and I wrote a sidebar on it. The author asked me could you write 1000 words on the topic? And I did. And then the publisher came to me and said, we really liked your 1000 words, would you write a book, and I swear to you, Chris, like to say that I was a poor student in high school is, is a vast understatement. And to say that I'm not 100% sure where commas go and sentences is really accurate. But I don't know where that belief. I really, I don't know where belief itself comes from. But they offered it to me and I said, No, I don't want to write a book about diabetes, I want to write about this topic. Here's what I think the book would be about. And anyway, I did it. And after I handed in the manuscript, and the publisher came back to me and said, you know, we could have hired a writer, they wouldn't have done what you did. And it's like, I know you and I'm in your, I feel like I'm in your head, and I can hear you speaking. And it's just wonderful stories. And how did you do this? That's like, I have no idea. I was like, I just did the only thing that occurred to me. It was during those conversations with the publisher, where they said, Why don't you could do some media for the book. And then I started doing that. And they started getting back to me after the interviews and saying, Wow, we're so pleased with this night. I, of course, was the neophyte, I didn't know what I was doing. And so I'm like, I don't understand why you're so like, pleased. And they said, a lot of writers are not good speakers. And I was like, Whoa, that's crazy. I had no idea that somebody could have such a good grasp of something, but not be able to say it out loud. And then I started thinking backwards to people I knew in the diabetes community, like really knowledgeable people who, back in the day companies would like pay to like stand at their tables at events and stuff like that. And I would hear back from the companies, like what a lovely person but stood there like a, like a statue, like, you know, couldn't interact when once it came to be having people in front of them. And I realized that it was somewhat special, to have knowledge of something and to be able to stand up and talk about it. And I thought like, well, if I did this with the book, I wonder if I couldn't do this with diabetes as well. And maybe isn't that what people diabetes need is maybe more storytelling and less bullet points. Do you know what I mean? Now let's talk about the Dexcom g7. The Dexcom g7 is a small and wearable continuous glucose monitoring system. It sends real time glucose readings, to your Dexcom g7 app, or the Dexcom receiver. Use my link dexcom.com forward slash juicebox. To learn more and get started today, you will be able to effortlessly see your glucose levels and where they're headed. This way you'll be able to make better decisions about food, insulin and activity. Once you're able to see the impact that those variables have on blood sugar, you'll begin to make more purposeful decisions and have better outcomes. My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom My daughter has been wearing a Dexcom product for so many years. I don't even remember when she started. But today she wears the Dexcom G seven and it is small and easy. And oh my goodness, are you going to love it dexcom.com forward slash juice box. You can head there now and click on the button that will get you your free benefits check or just hit that other button that says Get Started. When you use my links, you're supporting the production of the podcast dexcom.com forward slash juice But I may have a problem I may have with the Colaco a monkey on my back. I'm now buying cozy Earth clothing at an alarming rate. Honestly, I think any money I'm making off the ad I'm just sending right back to him. This is probably they're probably laughing their heads off over there right now. But anyway, cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 40%. And to help me pay for my sweatpants, I guess. Whether you're looking for sheets, towels, clothing, scrunchies, or anything in between G socks like you've just go look cozy earth.com Head over there and start your own. I mean, I don't want to call it I have an addiction, but start your own cart full of stuff and save 40% off of it with the offer code juicebox at checkout.

Chris Ruden 15:48
Yes, yes. Oh, man. So like that. That is such a big aspect of when I first started speaking in the diabetes space, and I still have a soft spot for diabetes based events. I still work with some companies, but to be able to tell more of the stories that the human side of things, you know, we have so many good, incredible doctors and diabetes educators, people like Gary shiner, incredible. Like, it's so good. It's so good. But we're still missing the human component A lot of the times and a lot of the companies are missing that human component of how do we draw people in from patient to patient or patient to provider? Like, how do we show that we're human? How do we tell stories because that's what we're missing. And I see that with a lot of major companies and organizations. They're missing the storytelling aspect, which, as humans, as people we have always gathered around a campfire or something to tell stories to connect, and that connection is missing. But people think that they can just hire someone who is pretty or famous, and that will falsely establish the connection. But they quickly learned that is not the case.

Scott Benner 16:59
Yeah, I saw people miss that. A couple of years ago, they started thinking that like Instagram likes were actual influence, and they started paying people to like, pimp stuff. And I was like, that's not gonna work. You know, like, I mean, that person is very attractive. And I'm sure that's why people are clicking on that photo. But I don't know what that's got to do with using like XYZ, you know, for their diabetes. And I think they've gotten away from it. I started funny,

Chris Ruden 17:24
like marketing thing where they're talking about like, oh, you know, there used to be streakers. And they would run through games, and they'd have like marketing messages on their body, they would like write it. So I guess these companies back in the day used to pay people to do wild stuff like that. And what they realized is they had no uptick in conversions are no uptick in views. And they realized that people were were more drawn to the act itself, not what they thought was happening like billboards. It's nice and all but like, there's no connection. Yeah, there is no If anything, it's a distraction from what you thought you were doing. And I saw a big shift in company perspective and messaging after that. I know exactly what you're talking about.

Scott Benner 18:06
Yeah, I spoke at Omni pods national sales meeting one time and I'll comp all companies do this, they bring their salespeople in to one location where they can all get together. And you know, it's a it's a nice event, and they talk business, and I was supposed to speak at the end of it. And there were over 500 people is a big auditorium is probably the most like well produced thing I've ever spoken out. So it was like well lit almost to the point where I couldn't see everybody out in the audit, like when you hear comedians talk about like, I can't see the back row like, yeah, you know, and the idea was to come in, because everybody that works at the company doesn't have diabetes. And can you talk a little bit about why their job is so important. So I did I mean, I flew in I Krishna is like, sometimes you don't get the state places very long. You You feel very, like you're flying your rest up, you try not to look too tired, you go up on stage, you do the thing, and sometimes they dig, put your right leg on a plane again. And anyway, I'm up there, and I'm talking about about 20 minutes into the conversation, I looked down and I recognize that a vast amount of people are crying. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm like, I stopped and I looked down. I'm like, are you okay? And she and this woman, she says she's just like, it just hit me what I'm doing. Like the thing I'm selling like, it never kind of occurred to her before. Like it was just the thing is she was selling widgets in her mind. You know what I mean? Like, we make a thing, I sell a thing. This is my job, you know, and to watch her have that connection back to diabetes and to understand more about this widget and what it did. I don't know meant a lot. And I I agree with you. I think it's I think it's a big deal I had I had a management company reach out to me recently. And I don't know if it's ever going to like come together or not these things. I know people sound think that's exciting, but I probably get like 150 emails a year. That sounds really exciting in the first two weeks and then You know, a handful of them kind of flush out, but they were talking about me doing more, less specific speaking specifically about diabetes. And I was wondering how how did you make that leap? Like? So I guess for people who don't know, Chris, like, how would you describe? I don't even know how to put it like, you you have at birth, right you were born with? How do you describe your arm?

Chris Ruden 20:26
Yeah, so I was born with I just say, a physical disability. And I was born with two fingers on my left hand and a shorter left arm. So a congenital birth defect, and I got diabetes at 19. So the majority of my life I, you know, grew up being different, looking different and obviously, feeling different. So that's, that was my situation, I guess you could say. And I think a lot of people think, Oh, the only reason you're doing so well speaking is because you know, this and that it's kind of a cop out. You know, a lot of people have either condition, or a lot of people have something. But we all share the same story. And this is something I share with a lot of my speakers to you, Scott have the exact same story as me. And everyone listening to this has the exact same story as us. You went through some crap, you get over some crap, and there's some more crap coming. That is everyone's story to a tee. Everyone has the exact same story. The question is, how do you tell it in a way that isn't about you, but it's about what people get from your story? Yeah, you know, my first ever mentor, he told me, tell me your story. And I told him this whole sob story. And at the end of it, most people would be like crying or like, Oh, my God, you know, that's amazing. He literally said, so what? And that was like, I've never heard that before. And he said, so what? No one cares about your story. They care about your message. He's like, What is your message? People care about what you can get what they can get from their story. So like, when you do this podcast, it's not just you talking about how good of a podcaster you are. It's literally you interviewing people, and delivering value to people, whether it's education, entertainment, a mix of the two, which usually is people are getting something so the best storytellers in the world, give something they don't just talk about themselves. And I know you know what I'm talking about, especially in the diabetes space, when there's people who just accomplished the feat, and they talk about the feat that they accomplished. And that's it. And that's nice and all but I can't associate with anyone who has done crazy feats. Just like you, Scott probably can't associate with me, or, you know, level with me, I looked at 675 pounds, but you can live with me and understanding the adversity of building something, the struggle, and then coming out on top of that, because you did certain things to make it work. So, conceptually, I took it from diabetes, to okay, how can we deconstruct this and make this into a message? If you had to break down your message? In one sentence or one word? What would it be? I speak on three topics, overcoming adversity, diversity and inclusion and change management. None of those are diabetes. But all of them involve diabetes.

Scott Benner 23:02
Yeah. No, no, I will. So I was just, I kind of brought up your arm because I was impressed when you moved into like, I've seen you speaking to kids with prosthetics before. I guess this is my my story. And I opened up a video one time on your Instagram that made me cry. And I was like, by myself sitting at this desk and just taking a break from editing the podcast for a minute. And I don't know what it was I maybe it's because I know you like like, maybe that was it. But you were having such a, you were just surrounded by these kids. And then just it seemed like there was such a connection. And they seemed so thrilled to see you. And I don't know it just it touched me in a way that I can't I don't know what you said there that day or what you did with them or anything but like this short little clip like really? I thought, well, look at Kristen,

Chris Ruden 23:52
I remember what you're talking about. Because you actually wrote you wrote me that day. Yeah. And it was a kid who had no legs. And I put them on a box. And we're doing everyone else was doing deadlifts. And he was sad because he couldn't do deadlifts because he didn't have legs. So he's kind of like, somber in the corner. I said, What are you doing, man? I was like, why aren't you dead lifting? He's like, I can't I was like, What do you mean? Like, don't you ever say that. And I literally put him on a box. And I attached some hooks to his hands because he had some issues with grabbing. And I taught him how to do pretty much an upper body deadlift. And it started as that. And then it built to this room for the people surrounding this kid hyping him up. And just to watch the kid go from like, knowing he couldn't do something to proving himself wrong. Like that is what I did my entire life. Yeah, you know, so I watched this kid, go through the transformation that took me 17 years, you know, 17 years of hiding my disability. It took diabetes to kind of stop doing that. But I watched him do that. But I was able to take my 17 years and do that and 17 seconds for this Good,

Scott Benner 25:00
I just think to about all the people in the room, and what they take out of it as well. I mean, I sometimes I, I, sometimes I joke and I tell the people that like, my, my job is really to trick you into taking care of yourself. Like, that's sometimes how I think. So, because it's easy to tell people what's right. I mean, I'm a listen, Chris, I'm a person, I know what's right, I can't always accomplish it, right. And so like, diabetes is more immediate, it's, it's not like we're trying to, like, make a big change for ourselves. And it's okay, if it takes five years, like, it's your health, and I want you to get to it quickly. And so I sort of mix the conversations with a little bit of humor, a lot of details, and hopefully, kind of just leave it there for you. So that what you take from it isn't the answer. But it's, it's enough of the answer that you can go home and work on it yourself. And that's kind of guess how it hit me watching the video of you. Like, I kept thinking there are other people there. And they're witnessing this, and they're gonna go home and think, yeah, I mean, that kid did that thing. This guy did this stuff. And there are things I don't do, I bet you I could do them as well. And that because it just spreads so much more quickly. That way. It really does inspire

Chris Ruden 26:21
like it, it causes people to question and this is, you actually were talking about doing a national sales meeting for like, where do you sit on me, but I think I right before I left, because I'm currently on vacation right before I left, I did a national sales meeting for ever since the implantable CGM company, and they, they had all their employees come in, and they pretty much hired me to do a talk on change management, which pretty much has nothing to do with diabetes. But it has everything to do with diabetes, because like we have to monitor and manage how we change throughout the day, blood sugars, moods, everything, you know. And it's crazy to see the ideas that get sparked from being in the room and having the right conversations at the right time, you know, and people take away so much just by being a spectator, in what's going on, whether they're helping another person or whether they're seeing someone be helped. That catalyst for change is something that people listen to as podcasts. And they get from all the time, you're tricking people into taking care of themselves, but you're also motivating them to take care of themselves, you're you're positioning them to make better choices on their own. Because you know, you can't force people to make better choices. You can't do that. But what you can do is put them in a position to listen, you can't sell an empty seat. You can't give someone an idea if their ears are closed, you know, but you invite people to open their ears, you invite people to listen. And you invite people to make the change they know they already want. And now they feel a connection instead of being forced and being defensive. And that's what I do as a

Scott Benner 27:54
speaker. The way I see it is the diabetes is not something that you would I don't care how much you're struggling, or or anything like it just how do you give over like your free time to listening to someone talk about diabetes? Like I don't I can't imagine it right. So instead, I make a podcast that I would listen to. And we talk about diabetes mixed into it. And that way, that's the trick. The trick is that I tricky to actually listening because I mean, who would otherwise who would listen to this. Like it just doesn't make any sense to me. Like I, I have issues. So

Chris Ruden 28:31
it's funny when you say that, though, when you say that I'm like, okay, that's exactly how I connected with those kids over the years, especially in diabetes, when I used to speak like specifically to kids, parents would be Oh, can you connect with my kid, they're really struggling with this. And, you know, I always recommend, obviously, mental health therapy is like extremely important, but they think they think I'm just gonna go talk to their kid about blood sugar, you shouldn't take your insulin, you shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that. They think I'm gonna be a secondary parent. But what they don't understand is I'm doing exactly what you're saying. I'm like, Hey, what's up, man? What's up? How are you? You know, like, how's your day going? I'm, I'm treating you like a human, not like a patient. I'm literally treating you like a person. We're talking. And we weave in some diabetes stuff here and there. But the most important thing is to understand that like, diabetes is a part of who you are. It's not who you actually are. So why is it that we're pretending that like, everything should be around our common range, and we're so numbers driven that we lose the person happy to gain the perfection and blood sugar that doesn't exist anyways, you know? So I definitely I really identify with what you just said,

Scott Benner 29:37
Yeah, I have a text here from someone, just from today. And he says, Do you have? Do you have specific episodes for people to listen to if they're going to send their kids away, like to an overnight situation or a camp? And I said, No, I don't because for the same thing you just said like because what he thinks is people will have to send their kids to an overnight camp. Maybe he doesn't think this but what they think is, and there's like some sort of an answer, like, I can listen to a story that will tell me step one, step two, step three, and then that'll get me through this situation. But I don't think that's how that works. So what I responded back was, I would start them depending on where they are with their diabetes with the Pro Tip series or the beginning series, so they can understand how to manage their type one, so that when their kid goes away, it's not an issue. Like there's no magic answer for overnights it's, it's pre planning. I love that. Yeah, so and

Chris Ruden 30:33
that's, there is no universal fix to an individual problem. And the problem is people want the shortcut to their specific problem. They want the shortcut to that. And of course, we all do I still serve. But that's what I use Google for, you know, I will Google the most specific problem and solution that I can. But when I want the true answer, it's a concept. Because once you learn a concept off your podcast, from me on stage, or on social media, whatever it is, from your doctor, once you learn the concept, you can apply it to all situations. So instead of saying, How do I best manage blood sugars overnight, when they leave, saying how do I best manage blood sugars in general, and then apply that to everything you do in your life, versus looking for the most specific solution that will only work in a very specific case, and the likelihood of that applying to you is slim to none.

Scott Benner 31:25
This double edged sword, people always want to hear from athletes who have type one. But I find generally speaking, they're sometimes the worst people to ask. And they're having some success, but they don't really know why. It just works for them. And you start asking them about their management. They go I mean, I don't know. Like, I've been fairly famous people on here, who I asked about how they take care of their diabetes, and they don't know how they take care of their diabetes. But then you get a guy like Chris Freeman, who is the guy who says there are no light switch answers, like you can't pop a pill for diabetes, you have to do the work in the beginning, you have to set yourself up for success. And there, there's a great example, there's a guy who's an athlete who actually understands how to put things in order, so that when the time comes, he doesn't have a problem. And if a problem should arise, he's also prepared for that. And that's just uncommon. Like it's hard to find people who can who have the nerve to say to you,

Chris Ruden 32:26
there's no quick fix. Yeah, because it makes people kind of mad. It makes people mad, because you're like, you're in this position of power or notoriety? And you don't have the answer, you know, but I feel like there's so much knowledge and trust and saying, I just I truly don't know, or you have to go to the concept. There is no one answer. Everything has to be qualified. Actually, the only true absolute answer is it depends. You know,

Scott Benner 32:53
it's, it's fantastic. It's also why I enjoyed having you on over the years, too, because you're you're very when you talk about diabetes, you are very much like Chris, you're very much, or excuse me, very much like Chris Freeman, in that you. You're like, look, there's no quick fix here. There's no There's answers, but you need to understand what they are. And there's work to be put in and that kind of stuff. So that attitude I appreciate in general.

Chris Ruden 33:15
And that's the same with YouTube, because you're not you're not very dogmatic about like specific approaches, like so many people can have different approaches high carb, low carb, anything in between, like, what regardless of the type of food or anything, it's the question is like, conceptually, do you know how to manage the lifestyle that you want? That's what I'm going to ask. I have like three basic rules, can you manage it without ruining your life? does it actually work for you? And can you sustain it? Those are my three questions. If you can get all three of those questions answered. Yes. I'm happy with what you're doing. You know, if not, then you just need to tweak some things.

Scott Benner 33:48
I couldn't possibly agree more. Okay, so you so how do you transition to like, what you're doing now? Like, how do you start from I'm acting like, I'm like, How do I do this, but I don't think I want to do this, but I honestly don't think I could do what you do and make the podcast at the same time. I don't know that I could be accomplished all that. But it is interesting that you like Does somebody recognize what you're doing? Do you seek out management? Is that like, how do you like us mentioned a mentor? How do you build your, your business?

Chris Ruden 34:19
So that is definitely it's always a weird question. When someone asked what do I do for a living? It's I say, keynote speaker or speaker and people have these ideas. Like maybe they think I'm doing like Tony Robbins seminars, having people walk on cool. Maybe they think I'm just lecturing at like colleges, but I speak at all kinds of like corporations and nonprofits associations. I've spoken for companies like the American pyrotechnics Association, just like a fireworks convention, all of this stuff, but basically I started in recognizing that I loved speaking on stages. I love telling stories. My first ever talk was for a nonprofit for diabetes, and I fell in love with it. But I knew I could do better. Maybe you had that with your first like podcast and like, you know, it was great. But I think with practice, this can get even better, I can build this, I can optimize this. And I did that I went to like some speaking classes like Toastmasters. And that's all around the world. And I learned the art of speaking. Then I learned the art of storytelling, I started looking up YouTube videos, then I just started like reverse engineering, what are people doing as speakers to make a career like an actual career. And I was like, oh, man, this person is doing that. And this person is charging this much. And this person is talking about a topic that I'm very confident in, I can do that. So I started emulating that. And over the years, I started doing all the work myself. And even to this point, the majority of the work is myself. Now I'm at the point where a lot of leads are inbound. So people want to have me speak, I built myself as like a D list celebrity, just getting press and trying to do as much good as I can, which was luckily recognized. And I established my business from a 360 degree perspective. So as a I hate the word influencer, and we've talked about that before, but having followers on social media, having a solid story, being able to tell it being charismatic, and then giving as much value away, that has built me into when you search my name, you know who I am, what I do. And if you are looking for a speaker, I'm high on your list from a company's perspective.

Scott Benner 36:26
Wow, that's brilliant, actually, how long do you think it took you to accomplish that?

Chris Ruden 36:31
I think it took about three and a half, four years to get to the point where the last two years have been like, astronomically like levels of growth. So if you look at like a chart, you know, it's pretty linear. If not, it dips down a little bit, because you're like, I hate this, this isn't working, this is terrible. It's never gonna work. It's all those like negative things, you tell yourself in your head. And it was pretty linear and low until a certain point, it just like skyrocketed. And all of the work, you know, the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. And that is so true. Because I definitely, um, eating the fruit now is great, but I had to put in the work. And that was tough, I did a lot of things, less optimal than I should have. I talked for free a lot, because it was like, Well, my story isn't worth anything, my message isn't worth anything. And until I established my value, I wasn't able to set a boundary on what I was worth, you know. And once I did that, that kind of changed the game for me. But now it's to the point where I'm in the bigger leagues with people. And I speak a lot less frequently. But when I leave an event, the confidence these companies have, they're like we we made the right decision with the speaker, that was the best part. That's one of the most like, genuine compliments I get at events is your talk was the best part of our event. And that is, it's great as an ego boost, yes, but it lets me know what I'm doing is a value, what what I'm giving is recognized and nothing beats that.

Scott Benner 38:01
I had an experience recently where I was at something and there was another person speaking and I watched the room get disinterested with their talk. And that kills. Yeah, people started doing other things getting up to get drinks like that. That

Chris Ruden 38:20
sort of stuff. SPEAKER That's the worst thing ever. Yeah. Horrible, right?

Scott Benner 38:23
And you can see the person feels it's it's deteriorating on them. And I went outside, I snuck out aside so nobody could see me go to call my wife and she's like, how's it gonna go? I'm on next. Just how's the room and I was like, uh, they didn't, they kind of didn't hold on for the last speaker. But my goal is just that just that like, nobody gets up. Nobody, you know, people are interested and engaged in it actually revved me up because I took it as a personal challenge. I'm like, because these people are already now there. Now they kind of have the feeling like maybe this isn't something I'm interested in. And now I'm the second talk. So I went up there with a ton of energy, I was like you like are not going to take your eyes off of what we're doing right now. I got such great feedback afterwards, you know, blending humor into something that nobody sees anything fun about, you know, keeping us engaged, like I got a lot of people stopped me and said, Thank you for making it interesting. And I didn't have the nerve to tell them like you guys made it interesting, because I was like, I turned myself way up when I saw that happening because that's terrible. Like, like you said, like, it's not even ego. It's just, if you're up there and used to look down and people aren't looking. It's it's hard to keep going. You know, you stop trusting. Yeah.

Chris Ruden 39:41
It's not it because your goal to be there is to give something and if they're not in a position to be receiving, like what are you doing up there and as an audience member one you don't want to see the speaker flop because that's uncomfortable for you. You never want to watch someone like struggle. But, you know, the audience is sitting there and they probably been there for a few hours, maybe you know they have a long event ahead of them or they have already had a long event, each chance to talk from a speaker is the chance to reignite them kind of like, give them something. And the one thing that is a non negotiable, for me is effort. As a speaker, as a storyteller, as anyone, if you're doing anything in your life, like, just give the effort when you're doing it, you don't have to give 100% effort all the time to everything you do, like you're making coffee with 100% effort. When you're doing something like that value, giving value 100% effort, nothing less, because people see that and they respond to that, like you turned up your charisma, like you put in the effort that you had to give. Now, luckily, you can probably operate at 90% That's most people's, you know, 150%. But not everyone has that, that luxury, but giving 100% effort is a minimum when you're doing something like

Scott Benner 40:56
that. Yeah. Do you ever wonder if it translates to anything else? Like you're a young guy still like Do you ever think like, what do I do next? Like if this runs its course, what do I do next? I worry about that all the time. Oh,

Chris Ruden 41:09
so that is definitely that's funny that you said that because I've had that midlife crisis like 400 times over, you know, worrying about, oh my god, if the speaker market dries up, we'll COVID The speaker market did dry up. And I had to completely change my direction offering virtual events and all this. But I realized that I've leaned into this storytelling and building a speaker business that's not only lucrative, but very fulfilling that I can teach other people to do this. Now. I have people who are interested in messaging me out of nowhere, saying, Hey, how did you become a speaker? Like, how did you do this? Like, you can actually make money. And when they see that there's like a real career there. Less fulfillment? Like how could you deny that, you know, so now, if the speaker thing ever didn't work, I would teach other people, which I'm already doing now, teaching other people to speak. But that translates to communication and jobs, whether it's communication, relationships, jobs, salesmen, anything, the art of storytelling, the art of communication is priceless. You know, and that's, that is a very evergreen concept and career. Yeah,

Scott Benner 42:17
it's great that it doesn't rest totally on the shoulders of having social media, too, because that's the part of it I least enjoy it. But the part I do enjoy it, you just said it, too. It's so interesting, the parallels. I never imagined I would do something that I'd be good at. And that I would enjoy that would help people. Like it just seems very lucky, like ultra lucky to be in that position. Oh, yeah, you don't I mean, like three, those three

Chris Ruden 42:47
intersecting is very, very slim to none. But I feel like we're in our day and age, we're very lucky that we're in this position to have, you know, technology that allows us to do things like podcast, or speak virtually, or connect virtually. So that the job is like extremely fulfilling, and it's amazing. But a lot of people can start making shifts towards that not everything's going to be a podcast or a stage. You know, storytelling can process many channels and many avenues. You know, the question is, if that's something you want to get into, what is your version of storytelling look like? Because a doctor very much can be a great storyteller. You know, a receptionist can be a great storyteller. A lot of people this, this skill that you have, this skill that I have from stage is transferable to so many avenues of life.

Scott Benner 43:40
Now, there was a time before technology, I was just the I was just the most interesting person at a credit union. And it is, but I don't know that I was doing anything different than I'm doing now. You know, like, at its base level, like I just, when I see people, I'm like, oh, we'll talk. And then you start talking and you like even, you can see, like, what engages people like what did they like? What did they not like? What did they rub up against, but ultimately was valuable for them? Like that's I find a skill two is to know that there are some things that need to be said, that aren't going to be initially received well, but if you deliver it, well, they'll listen to it, and then they'll consider it and then they kind of come back. And I learned a lot of that face to face with people and even honed it for diabetes by helping people one on one. When I just had a blog, like I would let people call me on the phone. I've preferred as many podcasts as I have. I have a couple 100 More that nobody recorded, which were just phone calls with people trying to figure out their life with diabetes. And I remember on one of the calls one time I you know, I hung up and I said to my wife, I'm like, I bet you people would have enjoyed listening to that conversation. And that was kind of one of the first times I thought like maybe I should record them Anyway, it's just and then all the hard work. That's the part I think no one, like, like, could possibly understand. Like, I know this stuff all seems like it just happens like crystal doc, but like, You're a handsome man, Chris, you're in good shape. You stand up in front of people that go, there's a handsome guy, he's good at speaking, he gets to be a speaker. It's not like that. Like,

Chris Ruden 45:21
if only that was it, you know, it's, I

Scott Benner 45:24
remember a time where I was like, I think Chris is like, like, I thought you were hustling. Like, for a while, like, I was like, I don't know, you know, you well enough to be proud of you. But you put irons in every fire, you could find at one point in your life, you're like, I'm gonna make one of these things work for me. And, yeah, it's impressive. It's

Chris Ruden 45:41
one of those things like I was committed to making something work. I'm like, I tell it in my talks, and a few of the talks that I do, I say, like, there has to be more to life than just being disabled, a diabetic, like, there has to be something and like, I say that it hits but like, I really feel it felt that way. I was like, whether it's fitness, which I had a great fitness career, speaking, and the next route will be in addition, like coaching, maybe, I guess, but like, wherever it goes, there is more to life than been the problem, you know, the obstacle, and I read the book by Ryan Holiday called the obstacle is the way and it's about stoic philosophy and stuff. But basically, it's just talking about, like, the obstacle in the way becomes the way. And maybe, you know, I talked too much in school, and I got in trouble for that. Now, that's what I happen to get paid for. So it's crazy how things kind of turn around. Yeah,

Scott Benner 46:32
my dad used to say to me, like, someone's gonna smack you right in the mouth one day, and I was like, I don't think so. I think I could talk my way out of it.

Chris Ruden 46:40
That's fantastic. Oh, my gosh. Okay,

Scott Benner 46:45
so you're doing all this different stuff now. And we're having this conversation today, like people are like, I'm never going to be a public speaker. Like, if you're thinking I'm never going to be a public speaker. Why do I care about this? I think you're missing the point. Like, I think the way to help yourself with your diabetes, or honestly, in a lot of ways is in Chris's and my story about how we ended up in this position, like you can do these things in your everyday life, you don't have to have the goal of being a public speaker or making a podcast, like your your goals are, can be very, very personal, and still very valuable.

Chris Ruden 47:20
We can tie this, we can completely tie this into everything, you know, yeah, you don't have to be a public speaker, you don't have to be a podcaster. Step one is believing that there's possibilities outside of just being sick. There is a life outside of just being diabetic. You know, there is the reclaiming of like WHO YOU ARE WE you're not just, you know, a father of someone with type one, type one, you know, I'm not just a person with type one. I'm Chris, you know, so that's step one. Step two is, I would argue that storytelling and speaking is very important, whether it's in a roomful of one person, you know, like your family, or your friends, or your boss, or anything you want to do, or it's in front of a work meeting, or a nonprofit that you wanted to start or be a part of, or a church group or whatever you're into, the art of communication is extremely important. Let's take that one step further. Storytelling internally kills people. The story you tell yourself about the current situation, either kills you, or helps you survive or helps you thrive? Let's take a blood sugar. You know, Scott, when you hear the number 378, what are some feelings that come up?

Scott Benner 48:27
So for me, they I just go right to we're going to hydrate we're going to correct we're going to maybe try to move around a little bit. Yeah, I go to like, how do you fix solution based

Chris Ruden 48:38
solution based? Yeah. What are what are some of the people that listen to your podcasts? What do you think they feel? Failure?

Scott Benner 48:43
I think failure hits. Yeah, yeah. Okay,

Chris Ruden 48:47
so let's, let's take that 377. What happens if I put the word puppies after that? Do you feel those same things? You don't feel failure, you don't feel anything? You don't feel? You know, you're happy now. Everything, the number changed perspective, and you completely told yourself a different story. So it was never the number itself. It was the story you told yourself about the number that the number was not only bad, but failing. The number was not only bad, but something that is just catastrophic, when in reality, diabetes isn't good. diabetes isn't bad. diabetes just is. And the rest of it is the story you tell yourself. Because then you have a high blood sugar, you just need to take insulin. In reality, that's all you need to do. You don't need to, you know, when you have a flat tire, you don't set the car on fire. You don't need to ruin your entire day your entire life because of a blood sugar that has no emotion aside from the one you attach it.

Scott Benner 49:44
You do live the life you make for yourself. You do f 100% And the way I've boiled it down on the podcast is I tried to tell people you get what you expect. And it's just that there's a million different ways of saying you You know, you're you're in, you're in a situation, the situation isn't your reality. And you have to just Yeah, I love the idea of like, you just tell yourself the right story. And then that's what ends up being. But how do you just class

Chris Ruden 50:15
people? I'm like, Are you? Are you telling yourself a story that predicts you as the winner? Maybe it doesn't have to be personified as a hero. But are you at least telling yourself a story that puts you in a good position? Because if not, you're actively telling yourself a story that puts you in a losing position. Like, you can't be mad at anyone else. But yourself.

Scott Benner 50:36
Right? I, I had an experience last month in April. So not everybody would know this. Because your your business or what you do doesn't like hinge on this. But the internet ebbs and flows. It slows down sometimes. And it picks up sometimes. And it's not always the same every year. It's not, you know, but in April, there was almost and I don't know why people's minds work, like like how this happens, like, but at the beginning of April, I started watching the podcast trend backwards. And it never trends backwards. So it threw me off. And I started, like, looking at it. I was like, like, the first thing that that wanted to enter my mind was, well, this is it. You did it, you kept this thing going for almost nine years. And this is it. It's over like this, you know, six months from now, almost like I was at a casino pulling on a slot machine, I blink, I know, I'm going to lose this money, but I'm just going to pull and pull and eventually it'll all be gone. That was my first thought like, Oh, God, this is it. It's over. And I immediately stopped myself. I was like, that's not the case. Like there's something happening. And it turns out like good weather popped up, right as Easter came. And so people just probably went outside a little more, probably stopped downloading things at the same clip. Now, by the way, I'm down like 10%. And I know people would like laugh at that. But I was in a panic, because this all means so much to me. And then I started, I just refocused myself, I pulled myself out. And I told myself a different story. Like, instead of telling myself like, this thing's over, it's failing. And I'll spiral along with it. I just found a story that worked for me to stay positive. And I said to myself yesterday, Scott, there were more downloads for this podcast than the first year of the podcast, you're fine. This is fine. Even if at all, even if it dropped off 10% and never went back up again. It's still reaching so many people, it's completely

Chris Ruden 52:33
fine. And that's that concept is what everyone needs to understand is the only difference between you spiraling, like you said you started to, to you just carrying on was the story you told yourself. Yeah. And that's what happens, people have this sugar or this situation. And they will literally tell themselves the spiraling Doom story. It's because we tie our success and our happiness to a finite metric of like success or a finish line of success. Like for you, maybe it's a doubt downloads, you know, if your podcast went down 20% I would argue that the success was there, because each episode is a success for what it does for the people who need to hear it. You know, your metric is not total, it is definitely a metric. But the main metric to be proud of is to understand that there are families that are they're better off now, in their personal and just in their lives because of the information they've heard on your podcast, the one that they're not fazed by 10%. Down there, they're in there loving you, because of what you've done for them. You know, it's the same thing with with my stuff. I used to base it off social media likes when I was big into social media, I don't post too much anymore. I used to base it off these like markers of like, if I'm not there, this conditional happiness of if I'm not the best speaker, if I'm not making X amount of money, if if if if if in the second I started to remove those markers and more so say like, okay, when I give this talk, am I doing 100% when I'm when I'm doing this, am I giving my effort, and in my embracing like what I'm doing in the moment, that one paid off so much more in terms of fulfillment. But that's when I saw my success truly go up, is when I took away the stressors of those finite, like finish lines. The

Scott Benner 54:21
other thing I did was I supported myself. So because I I really mean it like it, it hit me hard. First of all, I do know how many people the podcast helps. And if I'm doing a poor job of spreading it, then it feels like Oh, I'm gonna eventually lose this thing. So I recognize this isn't the case, by the way. Like this is an anomaly. I'm okay, so I snap myself out of it a little bit. First thing I do is I go to the private Facebook group and I just scroll through it to see all the people that are doing well because of the Facebook group and because of the podcasts I go, Okay, I'm still having a good impact on people. And then I surrounded myself with like, a couple of people like loved ones like I went to my wife, and I said, I'm very worried about this. And she's like, Scott, don't worry about it like, and she gave her reasons. And Isabel, who helps me with the Facebook group, she's she supported me too. She's like this is it's just, you know, it's just a momentary thing. Anyway, a couple of weeks later, I was intersecting with somebody who I do business with. And I said, Can I ask you a question? Were your numbers down in April. And it's a different business, but still, like, it still needs people coming through the internet. And she goes, yeah, like by 15%, we couldn't figure it out. I said, I saw a dip, too. I think it was just April, like, let's wait and see. And then the first week of May, I did. The podcast was, like, stunningly popular the first week of May. And I thought all these people, they're back. Like, here they are, you know, like, they went off and did something. And now it's growing again. And I don't know that I get through it if I don't change the story. And if I don't surround myself with positivity, and find some support, those are the things I did so and it got me and by the way, I know it sounds like a silly thing. Like oh, Scott's podcast didn't get clicked on as much. But it means more than that to me, for for everybody listening. And by the way, I pay for my kids college with it, and like my electric bill, and things like that. So there's a lot riding on it for people and for me. So it's not just a not just to click on a picture, you know what I mean? Anyway, it's, uh, yeah, it's

Chris Ruden 56:34
what it's what and that's the thing to recognize is, everyone has what's important to them personally, whether it's like you do art or you saying, or you're a CPA or your podcast, or you know, it, we don't knock people for what they value, and you just have to embrace it. But if that's something you value, put all your effort towards and do that. And the whole reason this podcast exists is if we're able to manage our diabetes appropriately, and optimally, we position ourselves to focus on the things that we love with the people, you know,

Scott Benner 57:06
what the other thing I see too, from interviewing, there's a one interview I've done that just sticks in my head over and over again, it's a, like a 28 year old type one. And she'd had it since she was a teen. And she, she reached out, she said, I just I'm a big fan, I want to come on and tell people how much the podcast has helped me. So she and I are having the, you know, a conversation. And I keep thinking, like, we're gonna get to the part at some point where she talks about how like, you know, the podcast taught her to, I don't know, do something with her insulin. And finally, we were having such a good time. We just didn't get to it. And I said, Can you tell me you know, why, how the podcast was helpful to you? And she said, yeah, the community, like, like listening to other people with type one, talk and tell their stories and hearing you interact with them. It's, it really helps me I'm like, Oh, I'm sorry. I said, I thought you were going to come on here to tell me about how you like changed your management, because I don't know. She's like, I know all that stuff. And I was like, but you weren't having success earlier? And she said, Yeah, I knew what to do. I just didn't do it. And I said, why not? And she goes, I don't know. She was I don't know why I didn't do the things that I was that I knew to do that I knew would work. She gets better. What I can tell you is that listening to this podcast every week makes me do it. And I'm like, why? And she was I don't know, I think I just hear other people taking care of themselves. And I want to do the same. It's just, I it floored me, Chris, I have all the things I thought the podcast would do, or hoped it would do. I didn't expect that, you know,

Chris Ruden 58:39
I think that's the best thing to see is like sometimes, what you want originally develops into something like the best monster on its own. We didn't even know the ways that this this helps people. And similar to like my business. I think I'm telling a message. And that's what I want to get across is that message, but some people, there's one word or one sentence that clicks in their head for something that they've been battling with. And now it just gave them a solution. But that's what I love is you're not giving people's answers. You're positioning them to make a change. When you have a job that positions people to make the change. And that's where the fulfillment comes into play. You know, the you are the people, you surround yourself with type stuff. She just started surrounding herself, virtually, with people who were wanting to take better care of themselves, which position her to be in a better mindset to do the stuff she already knew she needed to do. And I love that that's a testament to like, you know, we're, we don't need to just hear the data. It's all that's good stuff. You know, but a lot of us know exactly what we need to do. We just need to be around people who are also doing

Scott Benner 59:48
it. Yeah. No, you need people to step up and to do it. Like you have to. You have to want I don't know how to put this exactly. I go back to the thing the publisher said that a lot of all author's aren't good speakers. And I thought, well, if I am, and I understand this diabetes thing, then the way I told my wife when I started doing it, because she was like, it's, you know, is this going to be okay? Like, you're just sharing how you help Barton with their diabetes, like publicly? And I said, I, yeah, I think it'll be fine when she seemed worried. And I was like, but honestly, like, it just seems wrong, doesn't it? Doesn't it seem wrong to know this? And know how to tell it and not do it? You know, like, not that she was trying to keep me from doing but you have to understand, like, sharing your, like, when I started making this podcast, people in the diabetes committee came after me. They were like, you can't Oh, yeah, I remember. I got jumped. And like, you know, like, you can't do this, you can't tell me about Chris, I got a note the other day, it's nine years later, and I even emailed, it's like, you're gonna kill people sharing how you help your daughter, like, well, I don't think I am. But okay. And, like, so like, so that's still but by the way, if that email comes at the wrong time, it might stop me. So you need people like me who are like AF, and like, just just kind of keep going, you know, yeah. And it's just very valuable. So anybody out there that has that, and you see it now to in different ways, like as the technology changes, and all of a sudden, the other people on Tiktok talking about their diabetes, I'm not going to be on Tiktok curse, you don't it means so good. So if there's a person who figured out how to use Tiktok, to help somebody with diabetes, they're helping a group of people, I was never going to intersect with one way or the other. And so I think that's terrific. And a lot of people try and it doesn't work out for them, I still want more people to try. Like it, you know, like, I just you have to keep finding people where they are. And that's a cliche, right, but you have to find people where they are to help them. You can't drag them into a place, they're not comfortable. I

Chris Ruden 1:01:50
think it starts with your intention to so if you're if your intention is truly just like, I want to be x famous, you know, I want to be Tiktok famous, I want to be podcast famous, I want to be Speaker famous anything, if your goal is to hang out at the finish line without running the race, you just want the medals and you don't want like the process that shows and it shows in the work that you do. And it shows in the the failure rate of these people who start podcasts or start speaking or start whatever they start. And they don't stick to it. Because their intention originally didn't align with what they truly wanted. It was just like a topical, like, I want to be seen as this, I don't want to do that, you know, a lot of people want to be seen as a podcaster. They just don't want to actually do it. And that's understandable. I've had that feeling all the time. You know, like, undoubtedly, I might do something in the future around speaking. But I know my true passion, what I act on is speaking, and that's, that's what I do. And if a million people lined up and said, That's stupid, this isn't gonna work, you should stop, I wouldn't listen. Because I know I have the full belief in that one thing. That's my thing.

Scott Benner 1:02:59
And the people who are disingenuous about it, they make my job harder. And and I'll tell you, one way that happens is that I have had to make rules to make my life manageable, and to keep hucksters off the podcast. But those rules end up sometimes eliminating people who would be really good guests on the podcast. But I'm just I'm here by myself making this whole thing. So I have like, Look, if you're, if you're a coach, like a health coach, I can't have you on because you're in the end, you're selling yourself, if you're, like that kind of stuff. So I get an But meanwhile, I know there are some people who are making their living coaching people about their health, who would be great on the podcast. And it's just, it's difficult for me to figure out who's who. And that's, you know, and then people are like, Well, I'm not like that. I'm like, I don't know how to believe that, like, I get stuck in that situation. So I get that

Chris Ruden 1:03:55
completely. I mean, you have to protect like what you're doing because you're helping these people and you're not creating a platform to advertise from the people you are interviewing, you know, you have a business model to send your kid to college, you know, and you have to protect this endeavor in this endeavor helps lots and lots of people. So this is not a billboard, you know, this is not an opportunity to sell a service. This is an opportunity to share a story. Yeah, that has impact.

Scott Benner 1:04:21
I think of the people listening to the podcast, I'm like, very, I'm very protective of them. So, you know, I take ads, because I mean, I take ads, I try really hard to make sure that I'm advertising for things that I genuinely believe will be helpful to you if you need them. For people who would come in from the outside and see these people is like fish in a barrel, which is what you become, if like if people just start coming on and selling, selling selling all the time. Well, first of all, it wouldn't be interesting and stop listening. But the other thing is that I would be scared that people would be losing their money on stuff like that. Oh, yeah, the model I set up for the podcast. is rooted in the idea that I don't think people should have to pay for good health. And so I get my money from somewhere else, not from the listeners. And that's the I don't know, that's important to me. And so anyway, I love that. Yeah, it just it means a lot to me like you shouldn't, it shouldn't cost you $600 to learn how to Pre-Bolus your meal. You don't I mean, Chris, of course, yes, absolutely. kind of silly. You know, now if you have real trouble with it, and you need somebody to hold your hand through it. And I don't mean that pejoratively. But if you need step by step help, well, then that very well may be worth the $600. But I don't know who's who. And it's, it's just a difficult position to be in. Anyway, why are you on the podcast an hour into it? Why did you come? Are we supposed to talk about something? Or did I? Are we okay?

Chris Ruden 1:05:49
I think I think that's the the main thing, man, it's like, just, I came on this podcast, knowing that our natural conversation just gives people like gems to think about. And when I, when I text you, you're like, oh, just kind of talk about what you talk about on stage. And I was thinking about it. I'm like, Yeah, talk about, you know, change management, and talk about overcoming adversity. And all of that applies to diabetes, but more, there's more to life. You know, diabetes applies to life, but so much more applies to it. So the question is, like, how do you manage that change? How do you manage, you know, developing a life that you find fulfilling with a condition we didn't ask for? And I think we answered that question. You know, you put effort into it, and you stop those limiting beliefs, you change the narrative, you tell yourself a better story, and whether that leads to you becoming a brilliant podcaster, or a speaker, or just a great parent, or a great person with the condition, you know, stories matter. So make sure you're telling yourself the right story.

Scott Benner 1:06:52
Yeah, that's perfect. I really do. I appreciate you coming on, especially while you're away on vacation. I know I don't make it easy to get on this. Yeah,

Chris Ruden 1:06:59
of course, man. Like that was this is, this was definitely not a not an option. So I had set aside time in my vacation and make sure we get any sort of little message out. And the whole episode is not supposed to be like, Oh, my God, this is just an entire fortune cookie of tidbits, you know, that the people who need to hear this and get something from it, I hope that they get what they need. And I hope that they understand that like, this is just opening the door for you to take the step we use got me, we're not taking steps for people, we just position people to take better steps. You

Scott Benner 1:07:35
spoke earlier about like having like the taking classes about like to get to where you want to be. I don't think I've ever said on here before, but I listened to like other podcasts. And sometimes it doesn't matter what the people are, like, I know it's like it can, it can seem like low grade. So there's a guy speaking and a guy podcast and talking to each other about how they made like their way through this thing. At face value, you might think like that wouldn't help you. But I've been taught so much just by listening to two comedians talk about coming up through comedy, or, you know, like an author talking about how they found their way to a publisher, you know, regular person talking about how they got through their adversity or scale their wall that they needed to get over. And I take something from all those conversations even though like, specifically, they have nothing to do with me. Yet their story is, like you said earlier, it's really no different than anybody else's.

Chris Ruden 1:08:33
There's so many tie backs to what we said earlier, you know, you said you people aren't asking you a specific question, like they want a specific answer. But you always give the concept. You know, like, it really depends. And that's, if you look at what we talked about today, you would say I'm not a speaker podcaster, this doesn't apply to me. If that is the case, you have your nose against the wall, and you can't see the bigger picture, because you're too zoomed in. Now he's zoom out, if you back up, and you can see the whole picture, you'll understand that two people, you know, battled the condition in different ways, but have different ways of overcoming that kind of situation and dealing with it on a day to day basis. And it puts you in the position to ask better questions, to tell yourself a better story. That's what I want people to get from this, you know, yes, we're very specific and what we talked about our careers but the concept the overarching concept, look for concepts, not situations

Scott Benner 1:09:30
well in for people listening to the podcast, don't maybe heard what you just said about your nose being against the wall. And it will remind them of when I say sometimes you have to look at your diabetes macro. And sometimes you have to be micro like sometimes you need to be real close to it to see specifically what happened. And sometimes you've got to step back. Yes. See the bigger picture. Oh, that's something

Chris Ruden 1:09:50
I can share. That is the thing that I love that you said that because that's something that was in my last keynote that I gave and I was talking about zooming out but you added to that In the big word you said it's sometimes, because a lot of people will be stuck, zoomed out or stuck zoomed in. Yeah. And you have to understand the vantage point should not be a fixed position. If you have a fixed position, vantage point you are going to miss out on so much in life, whether it's diabetes or not, because you're stuck from one angle, you're only seeing everything from one angle, you put a person on one side of a six and one side to the other six. They'll argue all day, whether it's a nine or a six, you know, it's like, don't argue semantics, just change your vantage point know when to zoom in and know when to zoom out.

Scott Benner 1:10:40
Yeah, actually, it's not a thing I understood until speaking with people about their graphs. And they'll bring you like a three hour Dexcom graph, they'll be like, right here at seven o'clock. What happened? And finally, one day, I was like, I don't know, like, I need to see the 24 hour graph, we don't need to see that, like, the rest of the day was okay. I'm like, Well, you think it was but I might see something different. Like, let's literally zoom out, like, let's look at the last 24 hours. And then that led me to tell people, you know, the macro micro thing, but it also led me to understand better, that what happened before is most likely the culprit for what's happening now, like so infrequently. Yes, the thing that you're watching happen right now. So when frequently that's the problem, like the problem usually came before, which then led me to say to people like insulin you use now is for later, but when you're trying to figure out what went wrong, you think about it that way, but a little backwards, instead of saying, you know, insulin for now is later you say insulin from before is what's happening now. So when you're trying to figure out what happened, it's what happened before. And when you're trying to get ready to stop a problem. It's now is for later, and that is heavy, until you listen to somebody speak about it. And you go oh, no, I understand. That makes sense. It just and I learned that it's just and but even the pulling it all back around thing like I'll pat us both on the back. I don't know, like many people don't get to have conversations like this. But like you and I are basically playing a slow game of tennis right now. Like I'm saying something Oh, yeah. And I give you the ball. And while it's floating towards you, you think, Alright, that's what he said. That makes a lot of sense. I'm gonna say this now. And then we're just we've just been doing that back and forth for the last hour and 15 minutes. Yeah,

Chris Ruden 1:12:25
that's, that's the art of communication. You

Scott Benner 1:12:29
got to listen to what other people are saying, by the way, and not for nothing. But most of your problems, are you you're bad at communicating. I see it online, I see. people's personal relationships. Everywhere else. I'm not great at it personally. Like I I'm much better communicator on this podcast than I am in my real life. And it's, it's because I'm forced to listen because I spend so much time interviewing people I don't know. So if I wasn't really listening to them, I couldn't I couldn't Shepherd a conversation forward. Because I really, I couldn't just like you can't just throw things out and let someone talk and then say the next disjointed thing like it has to be back and forth. Oh, you'd be surprised

Chris Ruden 1:13:11
many people do that among many podcasts. And there's some that I'm just like, you didn't you don't even need me here for this.

Scott Benner 1:13:17
I say the thing I think and then I let you talk and then I say the thing I think and yeah, yeah, that's it. Yeah, I'm not into that. I'd prefer I'd prefer that an hour have three gyms in it, then, you know, me just pontificating and and saying the like, you know, here's the steps from the podcast. I was like, I'm not always selling like, I just, I don't feel that way. Yeah. And I love that. I really love that. Alright, man, I can't thank you enough for doing this. You're you're getting up there on the bid on the podcast, a lot of times list. I appreciate it. Yeah,

Chris Ruden 1:13:49
I appreciate you having me, man. I'm always excited to be a part of it. Because like, every time you'd grown, and every time I know, you're reaching more people, which is great. I'm not selling anything except for an idea of, you know, today, we talked about telling yourself a better story, who knows what it might be in the future. But this concept is evergreen. So this will always be a value this will always be of use. So there's no use and having perfect blood sugars if you don't have great communication inwardly and outwardly. So just keep that in mind for anyone who's listening.

Scott Benner 1:14:20
Thank you. I appreciate it. Chris pulled off for me. Thanks. Yep.

Hope you enjoyed my conversation with Chris Rutan. He is a three time guest on the Juicebox Podcast. We love him every time. I want to thank him and remind you that you can find him at Chris rudan.com. Let's also thank Dexcom makers of the Dexcom G six and Dexcom G seven continuous glucose monitoring systems. dexcom.com/juicebox Get started today. And of course cosy Eat earth.com For all of your comfortables Do not forget to use the offer code juice box at checkout, because you will save 40% When you do. And I don't want to show off but 40% is only 10% away from half off. And 10% is like thinking about money like $1 It's 10 cents, right? But 40% is 40 cents. So every time you spend $1 You save 40 cents when you use the offer code juice box at checkout. I've now spoken past the music. I apologize for that. What's left to say? Check out juicebox podcast.com. Don't forget to subscribe in your podcast apps. Don't please don't forget to check out the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, I'm on the Instagram if you care, etc, and so on. Go find Chris. He's got socials as well. And then this is the last bit. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.