You’re listening to Danny, on WHAT : DE HEK podcast. This is the place where I share my experience, knowledge and skills.
Transcribed by Otter
Danny de Hek 0:01
Welcome along Michael Heppell. I’ve got your name right. Usually I get people to introduce themselves because they can’t. So we’ve got Michael all the way from the UK. We just had a bit of a chat before we went live. And he said that it’s nice talking to people on the bottom of the earth or hanging on for dear life. We will get straight into it. We got 12 questions they kind of random I know what they are, but I don’t know what the next question is. So the first question is, what was your first job?
Michael Heppell 0:31
I was a roofing contractor, because my dad was a roofing contractor. And he said, when I was nine years old, son, one day this will all be yours. And when you’re nine years old, the prospect of owning two vans and six ladders is quite exciting, Danny. So I was like, Oh, I’m going to be a roofer. So I left school as quickly as I could. I left school when I was 15. And I started to be a roofer. And after about a week, I realised that made a terrible decision. Definitely, definitely should not have decided to be a roofer. So I am so then I did I did the job, but I did it for six years. Didn’t apprenticeship learned how to put roofs on and then started to follow my passion. So that was the first job I was a roofer. Like if you would like somebody to come along, give you a nice job with a roof estimates are always free.
Danny de Hek 1:30
My father, my stepfather was a painter and I finished up being a house painter, the ten years.
Michael Heppell 1:35
There you go.
Danny de Hek 1:36
You have to follow your family instinct sometimes, but for a week well done.
Michael Heppell 1:43
It was a week. It was a week that I before we asked, I didn’t want to do it. But I did it for six years. I was 22 when I stopped.
Danny de Hek 1:52
Oh, any mishaps along the way because
Michael Heppell 1:55
There are loads loads. I had a really bad fall once. I am actually the weird thing was I once fell off a roof that was three storeys high, fell right from the top landed in the garden and there wasn’t anything not a scratch. I looked at I looked at my mates. And they were just all absolutely double up laughing. They thought it was hilarious. I had fallen off. And then another time I felt one story, but I had slates on my shoulder well, late, and I fell and they slashed my hands and my wrists. And I was in a pretty bad way after that one didn’t wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to go back to work. But I did. And I recovered. Or I’ve got all six fingers
Danny de Hek 2:39
All got that problem. Right. Question number two, if you could choose anything to do for a day, what would it be? I’ll just make sure I’ve got that right. If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would it be?
Michael Heppell 2:52
I’d be a rock star. I’ll be onstage at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people being the frontman of a band.
Danny de Hek 3:02
It’s kind of ironic in a way because before the show, I thought I’d do a few searches. And I thought, well, maybe I could replace the background of my picture of one of you and I found this one look like you were a rock star and it had brilliant across it. And all these people there hands up and I thought you were a rock star.
Michael Heppell 3:18
I was in a band. That’s why I’m saying this I bought this was my noise they said could do anything and not be successful, that would have been my thing. And I was in a band and we did okay, but we never quite got there to a point. And the challenge was that the two other guys who were in the band, one of them was a chemist, and one of them worked for a building society in finance. And they never want to quit their jobs. But as you know, I was a roofer so I could quit my job tomorrow. Go back to being a roofer, whereas they have quite important jobs.
Danny de Hek 3:56
it’s important to ask any man on a rainy day roofing is important.
Michael Heppell 4:00
Yeah, well, my job was secure. It was my dad’s business.
Danny de Hek 4:05
I have got a meeting with you right now. My phone just told me. I normally tell people to turn their phones on to silent and there we go. I’ve just stuffed it up myself. Did you hear that ringing in the background?
Michael Heppell 4:15
Um, a little bit. But I mean, honestly, if you hadn’t, there you go. If you hadn’t mentioned it, no one would have noticed.
Danny de Hek 4:23
Yeah. I broke my own rudes. What excites you about business success the most businesses when they say business success
Michael Heppell 4:31
Exites, about business success the most? Oh, isn’t that a boring question.
Danny de Hek 4:38
We had a panel to decide those questions.
Michael Heppell 4:41
Do you know what I would do? Let’s Let’s help you with this question. Because that question is so obvious. And so unlike you, Danny, I mean, this is WHAT DE HEK isn’t it? So? The question more exciting or less fun? Yeah, exactly. The third most exciting thing about business that’s a nice one, isn’t it?
Danny de Hek 5:05
I’m not answering the question.
Michael Heppell 5:07
The third, so let’s do the third one. Because the first one is going to be, you’re being successful with your business and all that type of stuff. The second one is, is getting recognition for what you do. Everybody wants recognition. But the third thing, all the unexpected bonuses.
Danny de Hek 5:22
Yep, opportunities arise.
Michael Heppell 5:24
So let me just give you an example. My best friend in the world used to be a client. I still as a client, actually. But yeah, he became my best friend. Yeah, I think that’s brilliant. I would never have met that man. If it hadn’t been for the fact that we went to do some work with this company. Isn’t that a great thing? and loads of my friends and I look through my top 100 friends, but I hadn’t I had my 50th birthday party, and two and a half years ago. And I looked around the room. We had about 200 people there. And I bet 150 of those people I met through work.
Danny de Hek 6:01
Well, yeah. I like travelling Michael quite a lot, which you probably don’t know. And I always have this thing. I travelled down a road. I don’t like going back the way I came. And people and I found myself in the most amazing places. And but the opportunities that come along the way are why I travel.
Michael Heppell 6:19
Certainly, absolutely. But you know what, Danny, you’ve got to put it out there. You can’t you can’t keep it in. You have to put it out first, say people say to me, or you sit and make friends really quickly. You know why? Cuz I put it out there. Chatting with people. Your’e Approachable. Oh, yeah, I want to, I want to make them feel really good. I want to laugh at their jokes. I want to, I want to do something for them. And then hopefully, if I’m lucky and fortunate, I might find a new person who I enjoy hanging out with.
Danny de Hek 6:51
Hey, I’ve got a question. Not on the question to ask, because I watched your webinar the other day. And you said you had five power cuts within like 45 minutes. And then you started a webinar?
Michael Heppell 7:04
I’ll tell you what it was that the reason what happened was, it was our dishwasher, we’ve narrowed it down in the end to the dishwasher. Because the dishwasher was on an automatic programme, we reset that reset everything. And then suddenly it would start up again. And then that would cut everything off. And we could not get our heads around what it was. I’m trying to think right. Okay, but it’s big webinar. We’re launching a new programme. I had like, I think like 300 people registered, and I was absolutely terrified. And then the funny thing was, in the end, what happened was it switched, it flipped just a circuit. Yeah, not the whole, I was just one circuit. And my brilliant, wonderful, amazing, beautiful wife just sat at the other end of the house in the dark. Oh, no TV, no sound, no music, nothing at all. Because she knew if she tried to flip it back on, it could knock the whole lot out. Right. So she, she just sat for an hour and a half.
Danny de Hek 8:09
Well done. Okay, we need you the happiest, which is, remember, I’ve made all these questions. When have you been the happiest? Well, when are you the happiest?
Michael Heppell 8:16
What you know, I’m a grandfather now. Look at me, my my grandfather. Can you believe that?
Danny de Hek 8:23
Well, I’m 50. So I’m probably about two years behind you. Yeah. So yeah,
Michael Heppell 8:29
Are you are your grandfather? No. Exactly. I tell you what, at the moment, when I’m at my happiest is when I get a chance to see my granddaughter that it’s unreal. It’s the strangest feeling where you have this little person who is a kind of a part of you. Hmm. But they are obviously so tiny and vulnerable. And she was born, you know, in March. So it’s kind of been a very unusual time. So that’s happy. And also I’m very happy when I’m doing Lego. I love the model.
Danny de Hek 9:06
That would do my head in.
Michael Heppell 9:08
Yeah. And I’m also today, I live in the north of England in a place called Northumberland, which is a bit like New Zealand. It’s kind of that has that lovely earthiness about it. And today, my wife and I went out for a big hike. And we stopped and it was quite cold. And we sat on a tree stump and we had a flask and a little miniature bottle of whiskey and a sandwich and a bit of beef lamb. And we ate that looked at the view. Oh my goodness.
Danny de Hek 9:40
I like it hiking as well, yeah. Good on ya, So have you been to New Zealand?
Michael Heppell 9:48
No, but my son, who is the father of my granddaughter has an ambition to move that that’s what he wants, because he spent he spent the year in Australia and New Zealand and he said That Australia was good. And New Zealand was brilliant. He said, New Zealand is what Australia wants to be. Isn’t that great?
Danny de Hek 10:13
My partner I, we still got travel, obviously. But we get away from micro weekends. And we just yesterday come back from the west coast of. And it’s just a coastline of waves smashing into rocks. And we try to stay as close as we can to the the ocean. And we finished up finding this caravan. And all night long a storm come in and we hear the ocean fell like we’re on a ship. But I’m so nice to be able to just drive down the road, you know, and be able to do that sort of thing.
Michael Heppell 10:40
But you know, Danny, that’s one of those things that I mean, New Zealand has that. Absolutely. in spades, my I’ve got three, three cousins, who all live in Australia and New Zealand. And they are always saying when you come back to Australia next because then you can come to New Zealand. And I was like, we need to stop thinking like that. We need to think I’m going to come to New Zealand and then maybe go to Australia.
Danny de Hek 11:06
Yeah, that’s it
Michael Heppell 11:07
I think that’s the way to think about it.
Danny de Hek 11:10
We’re so lucky at the moment with the world conditions and the like. I mean, honestly, we are missing and missing going to Australia. Australia is just like a weekend getaway for us sometimes. But the people say nice as well. And it’s a beautiful country and it’s the climates. Great.
Michael Heppell 11:25
So I want to take How long does it take you to get to Australia?
Danny de Hek 11:29
About three and a half hours and cost wise. You can normally get returned flights for about $600 or $700. So it’s it’s relatively cheap. Yeah, yeah. And then combinations $150 a night and you get the standard sort of a nice apartment and then Melbourne, Melbourne is my favourite.
Michael Heppell 11:47
I do love Melbourne that’s really cool. He got one of my one of my best mates I grew up with still lives in Sydney. And he’s got this great story where he moved to Australia to go work for a one of the big, big TV studios and entertainment studios. And he got there. And his job. Imagine this for a job, you know, when bands tour the world. They finished in Australia. World tour to finish in Australia, his job for this huge company. I can’t name them, because you’ll see why in a moment was to make sure that the bands got whatever they needed to make sure they stayed on stage. Also, he lived he lived in an apartment on Bondi Beach overlooking the beach. Well, his next his next door neighbour was Jason Donovan. Yeah. It was just he said this, this whole lifestyle was amazing. And then he discovered cocaine.
Danny de Hek 12:45
Oh,
Michael Heppell 12:47
That was the absolute end. And it just was like, he had everything going on and then discovered coke. And then was I just all felt like a house of cards over about six months.
Danny de Hek 12:58
Well
Michael Heppell 12:59
Like having the greatest job in the world to having nothing.
Danny de Hek 13:03
Yeah. Yeah, never tried them.
Michael Heppell 13:07
Drug don’t work Danny the drugs don’t work.
Danny de Hek 13:10
I know, I know I never done any drugs.
Michael Heppell 13:17
Story for another day. Okay.
Danny de Hek 13:19
What’s the story of how you got? I have to read this carefully. What’s the story of how you got to where you are and where you want to go? So there’s two questions in the same one, really?
Michael Heppell 13:31
Extreme luck.
Danny de Hek 13:34
I don’t believe that will make your own luck
Michael Heppell 13:37
How I got to now. Well, why don’t we get to hopefully the look continues.
Danny de Hek 13:42
Yeah. Yeah.
Michael Heppell 13:46
Again, this is one of those things. You know, I had, if you would go back sliding doors moments. Yeah, we have that moment where somebody saw something in me that I didn’t see in me. And it’s a guy called Alan Percival. And I used to be a volunteer for a youth organisation called the boys brigade. And it was, you know, basically it was he was the scout before the scouts. So the boys brigade came first. Baden Powell was a member of the boys brigade. And he wanted to and then he created the scouts afterwards. So anyway, they they were a bit more successful than the Boston buddy, I loved it. I was really really enjoyed it a lot. I used to volunteer as a youth worker. And this amazing guy called Alan Percival could see something in me that other people couldn’t. And he offered me a job, a one year project, to work with the boys brigade and do youth work and to do a special project managing a charity centre. All these different charities come together. How we got into it. I’ll tell you another day. Yep. And I was like, Oh my goodness, he’s offering me this opportunity. Like, what does he see in me? It’s crazy, Mickey Heppell. Why would he do that? And I remember sent to my dad. But I want to do this. It’s gonna be one year and then I’ll come back and my dad said, Son, you’ll never come back. You’ll never come back to doing the roofing. Because this is this is your heart Your hearts gonna be in this was that I will see we’ll see. I tell you what, what a what an incredible opportunity and everything from that moment that was the sliding doors point when it went that way. And then after that my whole life’s gone that way.
Danny de Hek 15:24
What age were you then 22?
My best years were around 23 funny enough, a major life event and then all of a sudden, because I took a new path. Everything changed. And you know it? Oh, here’s a good one for you. Do you click do anything?
Michael Heppell 15:45
Yeah, I do I collect Lego models.
Danny de Hek 15:48
Do you build big things?
Michael Heppell 15:50
Yeah. Wait and see what the background? Oh, right. On that that’s that there is encrypt. That is a great bit of kit. This has got em. six different motors in it. Oh, and all work. It all works from your mobile phone. So digger can move around, you can pick stuff up and do all sorts of so yes, I collect Lego models. I’m a magician. So I would collect magic tricks. Not as much anymore. But the main thing I collect are books. I’ve got about one and a half thousand books around me. So that’s not a green screen behind him. Yeah, behind me. I mean, this thing. This is a set of eyes, you know, kind of go right up to the top and Oh,
Danny de Hek 16:39
Yeah. Come on pull one out. Pull one. Yeah, I
Michael Heppell 16:43
I can do that one there.
Danny de Hek 16:48
Oh, that’s this green screen
Michael Heppell 16:51
Is it Flip It in?
Danny de Hek 16:54
Oh, yeah. Had a bad experience when I bought an audio book called fish. And it’s all in French. And I can’t find the English version to it. In Audio. Does my fish. You can definitely get fish. Not in Audio. Can you not know and as me to be an awesome book and I just can’t get it and I have to learn French to listen to it. I can’t even learn English.
Michael Heppell 17:21
That is my must be able to get fish.
Danny de Hek 17:24
I don’t have a New Zealand store because some of our stuff we can’t get for America. So I don’t know. Or so maybe
Michael Heppell 17:32
I’ll be honestly it’ll be there’ll be somebody doing an illegal download somewhere.
Danny de Hek 17:36
We’ve got more questions. We’ll keep them going because we can pass them up.
Michael Heppell 17:40
Okay, speed. Might take them too long.
Danny de Hek 17:42
It doesn’t matter, man. We got all day. It’s you who’s got to get the sleep. I’ve got like morning over here in New Zealand. That’s probably about 9:30pm at night over there is it? Yeah. Yeah. So when you fall asleep?
Michael Heppell 17:54
Okay, let’s do it. Let’s go.
Danny de Hek 17:56
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
Michael Heppell 17:59
My wife,
Danny de Hek 18:00
okay.
Michael Heppell 18:03
Because Because she wakes up and she The first thing she does. I hear a given she just gratitude out loud. Oh, it says thank you. Thank you for being alive. And thank you for the wonderful life. She has that type of stuff. And I listened to that. And I think oh my goodness, get up and do that. Okay, I’m not a morning person. All these people who kind of think, you know, those who try to do the job. And I do. They should all be, you know, motivational no Tony Robbins and all that type of stuff. And but 4:30am and I got to do this. I could be better on mornings.
Danny de Hek 18:36
How many hours sleep do you need to get each night?
Michael Heppell 18:39
It at least Eight, min Eight Yeah, yeah. Five Well, well, I hope I hope that’s as good for you in your later age. because let me tell you, Danny, you need more than that. Yeah, you don’t. But you need more.
Danny de Hek 18:54
I don’t doubt it for a minute. I just seem to get away with it. My brain still active.
Michael Heppell 18:59
You know what you’re getting away, let me talked about this right. are literally getting away with it. And it will catch up with you. So let me name two people who needed five hours sleep a night, Margaret Thatcher. Ronald Reagan. Oh, what are they both have in common?
Danny de Hek 19:20
They run a country.
Michael Heppell 19:21
Alzheimer’s, there’s a massive link with degenerative brain disease and lack of sleep.
Danny de Hek 19:31
Well, there’s a topic for a new book.
Michael Heppell 19:33
I don’t I don’t need to write a book. It’s already been written.
Danny de Hek 19:36
Yeah.
Michael Heppell 19:36
So why we sleep, read the book, why we sleep or listen to the book, why we sleep. And you will I guarantee after listening to that book because you want audiobooks. I know. If you’ve listened to that book. You will be like, Oh shit, I need a lot more sleep. I’m gonna find more sleep. Ironically. That was Danny. Yeah, a
Danny de Hek 19:56
Couple of years ago, I decided that I just kept drinking a miss for 12 hours. And I did that. And then this year after coming back from where do I go China, Bangladesh and India, I decided or my partner said, We’re going vegetarian. So we’ve, I said, well, let’s go vegan. So I’ve been a vegan for the last 11 months. And I’m actually every year I adopt something new. That’s radical. So hey might be sleep.
Michael Heppell 20:22
So have you have you started drinking again? Yeah,
Danny de Hek 20:25
I have. But yeah, I had, but now Yeah, I do really that not? I don’t like habits.
Michael Heppell 20:32
And I, would you when you consider after you’ve, after your 12 months, would you start to eat meat again?
Danny de Hek 20:39
No, no, I listened to the game changer. And I loved the plant based diet. And now when we even go into the West Coast, which their cafes are very good, finding food at a cafe that you can eat is always one thing on the menu. In so it’s kind of like, I think you I think it was you you were on one of your books. You talked about how you went to a couldn’t be that wrong? You went to a Chinese shop and order number 37.
Michael Heppell 21:04
Yeah. that was my dad.
Danny de Hek 21:05
Yeah. It was brilliant. Because I like trying new things. Every time I go to a restaurant, I always try to pick something on the menu. I haven’t heard this. That’s obviously from you. Yeah,
Michael Heppell 21:18
That’s good. Thanks for that. So I hope you’re feeling good on not having meat. That’s great. That’s a really positive thing to do. Not just for yourself, but for the world,
Danny de Hek 21:33
It’s not really doing it for those reasons. But there’s always a an outcome when you go down a path is you know, the conversations you have other people. You know, like funny enough yesterday, we ordered nachos when you order nachos, there’s no cheese on them, of course. And the lady who delivered them, I put them in, in our brilliant. So I went back and said can we order another set of nachos? And then when she delivered them I said oh, normally we don’t go to town on ordering in case the meals no good. And so she got chatting to us in finishes up that she’s an author. And I do a bit of travel writing. So big saying she’s because we’ve had that conversation with her. She bought her book. And we basically got to meet everyone. And Blackball and it was just such. But you know, just because you do things different, it creates opportunities. And here we are talking to a lady who looked like the waitress. And she’s actually the owner of the complex. And now she shows a book and we have an A great and deep story with her. So that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Michael Heppell 22:36
Love it?
Danny de Hek 22:37
Interesting question. Are you an extrovert? Or introvert?
Michael Heppell 22:43
Absolutely an introvert.
Danny de Hek 22:44
Yeah,
Michael Heppell 22:45
I’m famous for my. Yeah, that’s Yeah. What do you think? I mean, come on my job. I’m a speaker. I stand on stage all over the world. And get people to be brilliant. I am a total extrovert. Absolute extrovert.
Danny de Hek 23:02
Yeah. But I sometimes say people are introverts, but when they need to, they be an extrovert.
Michael Heppell 23:08
No, I’m an extrovert. So complete show off. I’m absolutely. So you see, I have to stop myself all the time.
Danny de Hek 23:17
Good stuff.
Michael Heppell 23:18
So I if we have. So we have a group of six of us, and we’re called the super supper six. And it was six of us used to live next to each other, we no longer do. And now most recently, we’ve been in super supper six on zoom. So I sit there and everybody eats the same thing at the same time. And we try to recreate a dinner party as best as possible. And I have to sit and bite my tongue not to go I’ve got a good story about that. Or here’s an idea. It stores your thought about that. And I can feel my wife kicking me sometimes when I start, because I am a terrible show off. I’m an extrovert.
Danny de Hek 23:57
Well, the next question is per female, how would your friends describe you?
Michael Heppell 24:01
Extrovert!
Danny de Hek 24:04
Too easy, too easy.
Michael Heppell 24:06
You know, I would like to think that they would describe me as a generous person. I really do believe that the secret of living is giving some always wanting to do something for people. And I would hope you think that they were described me as a fun person. Because I do enjoy having a laugh. And I would also like to think that my friends would consider me to be reliable because I do have a real strong belief that if you say you’re going to do something for somebody, you follow through you do it no matter what. Yeah, no matter what.
Danny de Hek 24:44
I reckon that is the key thing. I own a business networking company, right. And I get people along and the amount of people who think they are professionals who say but don’t do, blows me away, and it just I just go why do that.
Michael Heppell 25:00
Because you know why? It’s because it’s so easy to say it’s your ego says it. Hmm. And then it’s your heart that completes it. And some people don’t have bigger hearts.
Danny de Hek 25:13
Two more questions. Three more questions.
Michael Heppell 25:15
Yeah, let’s do it.
Danny de Hek 25:16
Did I not count these? What did you want to be when you were small.
Michael Heppell 25:21
And I was well I am still small, what I want to be when I was young, I think the pop star thing from probably about the age of 13. My first band was called the obnoxious goblins. I thought we were going to be brilliant. There was only one problem, which is that we were shit. Really, really, really bad. The obnoxious goblins had nothing gone from other than the name and an image. And, and then in the band that I did quite well, and I realised that actually have to work hard. Yeah, you need talent.
Danny de Hek 26:05
And what do you what do you do? You’re a singer, what would you do?
Michael Heppell 26:08
I owned a keyboard. Didn’t we? I could play it. Well, I only keep one of the things I learned how to do. Danny was that, like the Pet Shop Boys?
Danny de Hek 26:19
Yeah, at the time. They were amazing.
Michael Heppell 26:21
Everybody, like everyone likes the Pet Shop Boys. Yeah, one of the brilliant things the Pet Shop Boys would do would be to programme keyboards. So you can if you know how a sequence works, if you know how, to what a baseline should sound like, you can programme it, and then just press play. And then once you press play, you can just entertain people. So the keyboard player was often like the really boring person stood behind the by doing all that type of stuff, Blinky, Blinky Blinky, whereas is just press playing, go around the stage play the tambourine. And like, you know, vertigo, mic stand out, but all that sort of stuff. And that’s what I would do. And that’s, that’s why I thought I wanted to be a pop star couldn’t sing.
Danny de Hek 27:02
I haven’t got a musical bone in my body. Alright, I’ll ask you a couple of other informal questions after this, but where do you want to travel to in the world next? Are you a traveller?
Michael Heppell 27:15
Yeah, I mean, I travel all the time. Last year, we were away from home 158 nights out of the year. I promised my wife I said in 2020, we will travel a lot less I promise you. And I tell you what, Danny, I have been true to my word, travelled a lot less. But where we’re going to go to an AMA, I probably got the places where I just feel so comfortable Ibiza. We got to play a little islands just off Ibiza called Formentera, which not many people know. But it’s like Ibiza that was in the 70s. Right. And it’s amazing. So we spent a lot of time there. We travel around Europe, we try. We love travelling by train. So we travel around train, violin. Because of what’s happened in America. We will now go back to America. We wouldn’t visit America while Trump was president. That was a principal of ours. Why so? Is president? Yeah, he still is. Yeah. When’s this going out? This is going out in February, Michael Oh, shit. Well, so this is this is south. I’ll go back to America now. But you know, where I haven’t been, which I really want to go to is Canada. Yeah. And our daughter has just started to work for a Canadian company. Awesome. So she went over to Canada for three weeks as part of her induction. Yes, I you, Mom, Dad, you’ve got to come to Canada. It’s, it’s beautiful. It’s amazing.
Danny de Hek 28:42
Yeah, I went from America to Canada. And on the way I went from New York through to Niagara. And I remember going through customs and the Canadian people said, Oh, welcome to Canada and enjoy your stay and, and I thought, Wow, it really freindly, man. This is great. And then on the way back into America, I got like, interrogated by the Americans. You know, just couldn’t believe the difference. And if you’re really close, but you’re so far away.
Michael Heppell 29:09
America is a brilliant country, though. I mean, that’s the thing America, the people are, I mean, half of them are complete fruit loops, we know that and but the other half are the most incredible people. I run these groups online and the and we have these amazing American members. And they put so much in I mean, they are constantly give, give give, what can I do for you? You know, they really believe it. They chop them in half and it’s hospitality right through. And I was great. I love all that.
Danny de Hek 29:44
Every night I go to bed and I listen to CNN news, and I just can’t It’s like watching a movie unfold and I just can’t get over. You know what watch.
Michael Heppell 29:54
Why? Why not?
Danny de Hek 29:57
I think the human psychology behind it. I mean It’s like they’re in a movie they can’t see themselves. You know, and the news is always the same.
Michael Heppell 30:05
Danny, when you watch that, have you ever heard of something called mean world syndrome?
Danny de Hek 30:12
Educational me
Michael Heppell 30:12
World syndrome is when you, you look out at the world and you see meanness, because that’s what the news reports, they’re going to point out all the things that are wrong. They’re going to say, all the bad stuff. So I listened to the news and listen to the don’t watch it or listen to it once a day. And I listened to it in the morning. And it’s I get out the shower, and I turn set in my phone and not saying the words now. Fire up and do it. But I go, Hey, give me Yeah. BBC news headlines. I like the BBC News Headlines takes about six minutes and that’s all I need for the day.
Danny de Hek 30:53
Oh, my goodness.
Michael Heppell 30:54
You’ve done it. You’ve set it away.
Danny de Hek 30:58
I usually I do Alexa the same deal. I say, tell me the news quite good way of doing it. You’re right, though. I mean, you do there’s what you kind of get yourself in a bit of a trance and you routine sometimes. You know, I think I’m strong enough last question, but doesn’t mean we have to shut off is to describe the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business. Probably Yeah.
Michael Heppell 31:18
The biggest lesson I’ve learned in business is that you are better than you think. And the way I learned that lesson was because I went into a partnership with two of the guys and and I lost my company. I was the minority shareholder. I we ended up employing about 80 people we did every type of training you can imagine we end up owning a Outward Bound centre. We did leadership stuff with health and safety, everything you could imagine but the money came in from the Michael Heppell events
Danny de Hek 31:53
Right
Michael Heppell 31:53
So if Michael Hart was doing an event we’ve got the big money and and I was left with 12.5 percent of the profit Yeah, and all the other stuff which I was working hard at helping and developing and putting out there just basically paid the bills and I had no problem opposite of a tiny bit with that. Yeah, and I signed that over and then I had to buy my own company back when it all started to fall apart and it was always going to buy my own business back imagine that by the company was called Michael Heppell Limited. And Michael Heppell had to buy Michael Heppell Limited from two other people who didn’t own it, and all the IP and everything that went with that. And we had to remortgage our house and we had to do everything. And you know what, at the end of it, my coach said to me, he said, Michael, you know what, you’re better than you think. Hmm. And it’s the most people out there a lot better than they think. So just remember that.
Danny de Hek 32:47
I think you’re gonna believe yourself. I lost my way a while ago, and, and that’s why I’m doing everything under my own brand. Now when? And I think 20 years ago, I’m talking. And I wish I didn’t. Because I’ll probably be somebody yes now. But I still believe in myself.
Michael Heppell 33:03
Yeah, absolutely. But Danny, I mean, if you’re 50, you are no age.
Danny de Hek 33:07
Hey, I know. That’s great. It’s a start. Now, people will be listening to this probably figured out who what you do. But tell us a bit about yourself. There’s your opportunity to answer those questions, people wondering who you are. I know you’re an author, you’ve inspired me a lot more than you probably realise with Flip It the first book I listened to that you’ve wrote.
Michael Heppell 33:29
So yes, I’m Michael hepple. I’m a speaker, author, and teacher and coach. So I’m very, very fortunate that my main job is I stand on stage and I present my second job is that I write books. I’m an author. I’ve written eight books now of which seven have been a six have been bestsellers, one’s been a Sunday Times number one best seller, let’s Flip It to the one that you’re talking about. And I’m, I am so so fortunate that I do something where every single day, I kind of pinch myself and think of people actually paying me to do this or want me to do something I would do for free. And they’re gonna pay me for it. So that’s my job.
Danny de Hek 34:17
Yeah, that’s the trick though, isn’t it? You find something you’re passionate about. And do that for a living? Yeah, you don’t feel like you work.
Michael Heppell 34:26
Absolutely
Danny de Hek 34:27
Yeah. And you’re obviously under lockdown at the moment. You said you went out hiking earlier on so you can actually do physical stuff. I think the physical fitness is actually really important. You know, to be able to do that.
Michael Heppell 34:43
You know, there’s something so movement in the air and you know, going out and it’s like it’s cold here at the moment. Now we were like 44 degrees today walking and we live in the north of England. So we live in the cold part. And but you know something is just getting wrapped up and get out there and, and breathing and enjoying. We live in a beautiful part of the world. There’s no doubt at all about that. And people are sat there watching Netflix and doing box sets. And I’m thinking, you know, it’s each to their own. I mean, whatever people want to do, people should do their own thing. You know, it’s some people Zig some people zag, that’s fine. But yeah, I love what I do
Danny de Hek 35:25
I really appreciate your time and also coming on to the show. And I look forward to actually following you. And I want to come along to have more of your Webinars
Michael Heppell 35:35
Can I just say Danny one of the things that I’ve that I did before locked out in about a month and a half before the whole COVID things started up. But what really made it massive was the worldwide COVID thing was I have a Facebook group called “How To Be Brilliant“. And I set that up because I wrote a book called how to be brought in a lot of people know me for how to be brilliant. And I, to be honest, I thought of 100 people get involved with this. And they just share good news and positive stuff. And they’re there for each other. What, that’d be great. And then the COVID thing started and now we have 2900 members. Hmm, and it is the beacon of positivity. So anybody who’s watching or listening, come and join us on “How To Be Brilliant“, and just have a look at what humankind can do and how people are there for each other. And there’s stuff this share and the passion and the enthusiasm. It really is. It’s heartwarming, it’s brilliant, you should do it.
Danny de Hek 36:38
And I really believe that I think it’s the time to look after each other and ask that question who you are and actually wait for a response. Hmm. People in listen more than talk, you know, because you really have to
Michael Heppell 36:54
Couldn’t agree more.
Danny de Hek 36:55
All right. Well, thank you for coming along, as I said and have we all have this online very soon. And we can both watch each other and see how well we did.
Michael Heppell 37:04
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you inviting me Danny and keep up doing your amazing work. People are loving it and people need more of you, sharing your great stuff and good night.
Danny de Hek 37:15
Thank you
Transcribed by Otter
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