Episode 19: F*CK The Haters — Make Sure To Shake The RAS [Featuring Ernesto Segismundo]

Show Notes

Do you notice that the more you create, the more success you have, the more following you begin to develop, the more jealousy and insecurity it creates for other people in your circles?

When you're talking about your wins, your achievements, the places you're traveling to, the lifestyle you're creating, the more people in your circles may start to judge or even resent you. You may start to get emails from people telling you that they'd like you to speak differently, curse less, or why they are unfollowing you.

Ernesto and I talk about how he went from a young Filipino kid growing up in Hawaii, to building an empire in the entrepreneurial world. Ernesto talks about shaking the Reticular Activating System (RAS) to work through insecurities, impostor syndrome, stuckness, etc.

We talk about our neurodivergence (ADHD), overcoming obstacles to create success, not giving up in the face of adversity, and how to handle the negative responses you may get as your brand and reputation grows.

Ernesto talks about growing up with ADHD in a culture that had very high expectations for academia and his struggles to "fit into the mold."

Ernesto is now a motivational speaker, owner of FYLMIT.COM (promotional videos for therapists), a group practice, conference host, entrepreneurial coach, and social media influencer.

🎙️Listen to more episodes of the All Things Private Practice Podcast here
🎙️Spotify
🎙️Apple
🎙️YouTube Music
▶️ YouTube
✈️ Check out available Retreats
🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community
🗨️ Join the free All Things Private Practice FB Community

A Thanks to Our Sponsor!

I would also like to thank Spruce Health for sponsoring this episode.

Spruce Health is a HIPAA compliant app for phone, text, fax, and telehealth.

Their customer service is fantastic, and their staff has the mission of not only making it easier on us as practitioners and practice owners but also easy for our clients to make sure that their communication is protected. I’d highly recommend them as a one-stop-shop to have all your HIPAA compliant communication under one roof.

Visit sprucehealth.com and use code PODCAST 20 at checkout to get 20% OFF your entire first year.

Transcript

PATRICK CASALE: Hey everyone, this is Patrick with the All Things Private Practice podcast. I am joined by my good friend, Ernesto Segismundo. He is an LMFT out of California and an entrepreneur extraordinaire, has a million businesses that are wildly successful, and I'm really just happy to have you on here and talk about where you started and how you got to where you are right now.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Patrick, first of all, thank you so much for that introduction. You know, I got to say the same thing about you, man. Within a few months, you reached out and talked about a few ideas. And next thing you know, I'm turning around, and you got a freaking group practice, and you are a coach, a business coach for therapists. Now you have a damn podcast. What the hell's happening here?

PATRICK CASALE: It's been a wild ride, and I'm still kind of like waiting for it to all come crumbling down. You know, that weird imposter syndrome of like, “This is just luck.” Or, “I just lucked into this.” So, I know you talk about that a lot. And that's definitely an experience on a day-to-day basis. And you and I did coaching together, man, and I can't tell you how helpful that was to have someone who thinks outside of the box, who has someone so creative of like, yes, you can do this stuff. Stop listening to people who tell you that you can't, because I think that's a big part of the therapist culture.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, one of the things that we're going to be talking about today is when you do something big and you step outside of the comfort zone, people are going to start projecting their insecurities onto the things that you're doing, not necessarily to you, but all the things that they're seeing on social media about you. And one thing I forgot is that now you're a damn speaker, you're speaking.

I mean, when you think about all of these things when people look on the outside, you're going to have a target on your back, you know, because when you start doing things that are big, and that are just unnatural for us as clinicians, entrepreneurs, when you see someone doing big things, you start looking at how insecure you feel, how you know, the shoulds, the people telling you, “Look, Patrick, come down. Don't do all those things, because you know why? All the great things that you're doing is reminding me that I can do it, and I'm scared, so knock it off.”

PATRICK CASALE: Right, yeah, absolutely. And it sounds like you're probably experiencing a lot of the same considering the empire that you've created even since COVID started because I remember watching you start these recordings, right? Like, I'm going to teach therapists how to use Zoom to sell their platforms or sell their businesses. And I took one of those, and I was like, blown away by the fact that you use your ADHD energy, and creativity, and being stuck in the home to transform your businesses. It's been unbelievable to watch.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: It's been really… one of the things that [INDISCERNIBLE 00:02:47] with my journey, you know, many of us are [INDISCERNIBLE 00:02:50] we have this way of perceiving the world, right? It's not a secret that I struggle with depression, I struggle with ADHD. And what many folks don't know about ADHD is that if you don't exercise your creativity, and if you don't allow your body to move a certain way, so I have the mixed. I've got the inattention and the hyperactivity. Now, if you stunt the growth, or actually the activities of the inattention, and also the activity, depression is actually what comes along. 

So, for those of you who work with clients who struggle with ADHD know that depression is actually very, very common. And so, the way that I address my depression is by movement, is by being creative. That's why I do promotional videos. And throughout my high school time and middle school in the Filipino culture, pathology did not exist, does not exist in their minds. In the Filipino culture, it's mental health. We don't even have words for depression in my culture. And so growing up, there was no understanding of this. And imagine a lot of kids who grew up in BIPOC communities, especially in indigenous cultures, we don't have these words. So as I'm growing up, I've been told to be put in a box, you know? Stay still, focus, stay on one thing, do this, do that, do this, and that, thinking that, that is my path to success. 

But the way that I work now is that I look at the world in a possibility aspect. So what that means is, I have an idea, I have a thought, let me go after it. If I hit a wall, let me move behind that wall, let me adjust, and go towards it. Because if I really want to go towards something that I've been thinking about, I'm going to go after it, you know? And the thing is, with a shame-based culture, no matter what culture in, when you fail, you have fingers wagging at you. Like I told you, you should have focused, you should have been strategic about this, you should have followed the rules, and then we get scared, right? 

So, I want to help other creative individuals to be like, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to go after this, I'm going to get coaching and support from someone who will encourage me towards it, and who will not shame me if I hit a wall?

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely. Well said, man, and growing up like that, you know, in the Filipino culture, and in Hawaii, and you've talked about your childhood a lot and your experiences, what was it like? Like, what did that do to you when you were put in a box or told this is how you have to behave or interact and react? How did you kind of handle that?

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: You know, in the Filipino culture, you were told that education was a big thing and making money was also a big thing, but there was a lot of contradictory things going on there. In my education, I had to get up to a certain level like A's, B's were good. So if you're a C student, that means you have, you know, a 20% chance of being successful in the future. Lo and behold, fast forward, I have three different businesses, and I'm about to have 25 clinicians working for me who are licensed.

PATRICK CASALE: Holy shit. 

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: So basically, that type of mindset does not work anymore, that doesn't comply. And I brag about not being an A student. I actually brag about being a D, C student.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I mean, I think that sends a message of hope, right? Like, you don't have to do things a certain way to be successful.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: No, absolutely not, absolutely not. So growing up, there was certain things, right, to look at, hey, here's the level, just graduate high school, just graduate high school, and just work, that's it, then you'll be considered successful. But what that does is that it traps many of our people into a certain level. Once you reach that, it's like, “Oh, I reached it, so what else is there?” Right?

For me, luckily, I was surrounded by really strong women. My sisters were entrepreneurs, they were independent, they were creating businesses out of nowhere. My dad was a hard worker, my mom, as well, too. And I also had people around me that thought bigger, that wanted to go to college, wanted to do things, right? So, I saw them working, but they also did not have the strategy and the money mindset, the money pods, the entrepreneurial savviness that I had to develop on my own, but I knew deep down that there was something much more for me. Still, I went to college, and then I went to higher education, and then, I went into a professorship.

Now, people in my culture look at that and go, “Holy shit.” Because I don't follow it, right? Sure. A lot of us growing up, and no matter what race you are, we grew up in certain types of cultures that makes you believe that, “Look, once you get to this level then you're good to go.” But not very many cultures tell you, “Look, that's the level but aim higher.” 

 I don't know, for those of you who saw the movie, Shang-Chi, one of the things that was said in there was, “If you don't aim at something, you aim for nothing.” I think that's what it says. But I will get actually to the actual term for it. But basically, we are sometimes told to not aim, not go for something, and so you're not going to get anywhere. 

PATRICK CASALE: [INDISCERNIBLE 00:08:04].

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Yeah, yeah, and therapists are risk-averse anyway. And so the more you perpetuate that, the more you're not going to get anywhere. So throughout time, as I build my businesses, as I experiment with certain types of businesses, I have some people that's like, “Okay, be careful. Don't do this. Don't go there. You shouldn't do that. You shouldn't be ethical. You shouldn't be this and that.” And it's like, “Holy shit, calm down.”

PATRICK CASALE: It's notorious and in the therapeutic culture, right, for therapists to almost be telling other therapists what they think they should or shouldn't do.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely. And, you know, the thing is, my thought is this, Patrick, when you start doing things that are bigger, and outside of the box, a lot of people's insecurities are going to be activated and projected onto you, and not necessarily on to you, but the things that you are doing, because it reminds them of their potential, but it scares the shit out of them to actually follow through with that. 

So, you know, you have a lot of people who talk the talk, right? But they're not necessarily walking it. They're not necessarily going after it, you know? “I want to make a million dollars.” But okay, what are you doing to get to that phase?

PATRICK CASALE: Sure. Yeah, absolutely. There's no plan of action, and there's no ability to step into that fear or risk either and to hold themselves back by telling that narrative of, you can't be successful, you can't do this. This is not going to work.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely, and you know, one of the things that I talk about a lot is movement, right? There's a part of the brain called the RAS and you've heard me talk about this before and the RAS, actually, it is a part of the brain that says, this sounds familiar, this looks familiar, and I will focus on that fate, right? So, this is where the concept of what you focus on expands. So, if you focus on something that is going to not work, your body will respond to it, your brain will actually look for things to sabotage that which you're trying to obtain. That's what the brain does. 

But if your brain is positioned to go, “You know what? This is going to be hard, but I'm going to go after it.” And then, as you do it, the next time you do something like that the brain goes, “Remember when you did that last thing that was really difficult, but actually it happened? Maybe, just maybe this is going to happen again, so go ahead and do it.” And the more you succeed in that it starts looking for ways to find loopholes to get to your goal. That's what the brain does, you know? And that's also called resilience as well, too. You keep going, you keep going, you keep going, and your brain starts understanding that it can and be creative to find ways.

People ask me all the time, “You have three different businesses.” And if I was honest, there's actually four or five, but we're just going to keep it on the side, right? But they go, “How do you do it?” It's because my brain is triggered to find ways to make everything succeed and to actually follow through. And if I come up with a block, my brain is going to find a way to get to that spot.

PATRICK CASALE: If you're in private practice like me, and you don't know what the hell you're doing when you start out, you probably don't know that you should be having a HIPAA compliant phone system. A lot of us use Google Voice, a lot of us use our regular old phone number. Some of us even go and get a second line at our cellphone carrier. None of those are recommended. I learned that the hard way. HIPAA compliant phone systems are really important in private practices. You want to protect your client information, you want to protect yourself. 

I've been using Spruce Health for almost four years now. I don't ever represent services that I don't believe in because I believe that's my reputation as well. Spruce Health is just a wonderful resource for private practice clinicians, group practices, medical practices. It's a wonderful resource to be able to have a HIPAA compliant phone, text, fax and telehealth. The faxing is wonderful to have, the telehealth quality is fantastic. You can schedule send messages, you can save auto responses, you can even charge clients via Stripe. It's really easy. They’re a wonderful little company out in San Francisco. Their customer service is fantastic, staff had the mission of not only making it easier for us as practice owners, but easy on the clients and making sure that their communication is protected. You can use a code that we've created called podcast20, and you can get 20% off your entire first year. Go to sprucehealth.com, I highly recommend it. 

What do you think the difference is for people with that ability to say there's a barrier or an obstacle, but I'm going to think creatively to work through it or around it compared to the people who get to the barrier and are like they wave the white flag and are like, “No more, can't do it. This isn't going to work.”

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Yeah, and that's a very, very good question because there's also a sense of always achieving to be better, right? Always achieving to want to know more.  So, let me give an example of what this looks like from my perspective. 

I knew that there was more to this world and to my gifts to the things that I was doing with two different experiences. One experience and many folks have heard me talk about this was in my mom's passing. My mom passed away in 2014 [INDISCERNIBLE 00:13:00]. That's one pivotal moment when I knew there was much more. During that time I was working a lot, and my mom was asking me a lot to come home during that time. But I was so focused on building a business empire that,  that was just my single focus. Then my mom passed away and in her death, I actually found how to live, because I was putting all of my thoughts and my energy on to building something. But in the long run, I was like, “What the heck is this? There's much more to this.” And I lost my ability to go home to be with my mom who has been asking and all of that stuff, and suddenly, I'm burying her. So in her death, I found life. So, that's one instance. 

The other is when I went to Florence and I went to visit the Duomo [CROSSTALK 00:13:45].

PATRICK CASALE: Beautiful place. 

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Oh my gosh, if you have ever been to the Duomo, Florence, you have to because it's just an incredible place. So, I saw the David and I stood in front of the David, and the David is actually all in the back, and all the sculptures that was done had other flaws, big hands, big head, big torso, is all on display. So, when you're walking through the hallways, you see all the flaws, but you see the David, the beautiful David, and one thing that I didn't know was the marble that was used for the David needed to have a certain type of vein in it. And I didn't know marbles had veins, but it has veins in it. And so it just needed that, so it was perfect in nature. And I thought to myself, I'm like, “Wow, the creation of this thing just in front of me is just awe-inspiring.” And knowing how he was made, where it went, what type of marble, where they got the marble, and how they transported the marble, this thing, here, I was just lured. 

And so, those are some of the two aspects that came up for me and my experience in Rome when I had communion in the Vatican and did all of these things because, you know, that's my faith as well too. And I was just lured with all of these things that was going on. So, when you look at it from a perspective of entrepreneurialship, you come back to a place where, when they get to that place, and they waive their white flag, so let me give an example about this white flag is, some people have that goal of a million, right? They make the million and they go, “What's next?” And these-

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: But the thing is, entrepreneurship is not about that one million, it's about experiencing life with that million. What is that million going to be doing for you to experience life?

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely. I was going to say entrepreneurialship is about freedom, right? Like about autonomy, the ability to be a movement, to be creating, to be experiencing life, like otherwise, we're just recreating our corporate 45, 50 hour a week job, and kind of like just grinding all the fucking time.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Yep, exactly. So, one of the things I appreciate about you is, you understand the value of travel, because travel gives you the experience, right? So, I've never been to Ironman, I've never been to parts of Europe that you've been to, I've never seen volcanoes in, where did you go? Europe?

PATRICK CASALE: Iceland.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Iceland.  When I see stuff like that, and literally, I'm going to Travelocity and Delta, and I'm going, “Okay, when did he go?” I love that. I love it when people post places where they’ve been. A colleague of mine was posting about Turkey. Next thing you know, I bought a plane ticket to Istanbul the other day.

PATRICK CASALE: Nice. That's amazing. I know how much you love travel, so it's just always exciting, because you and I met that way. Like, you were like, “Hey, I might go to Estes Park, Colorado. Want to come.” I was like, “Yeah, let's fucking do this.” And like, traveling to me is where I find my most creative self, because you're immersed in experience, culture, food. And for people who are neurodivergent, I think taking in all those senses, it's really incredible. It's really empowering to me.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely. So sometimes when I scroll past like posts that are not interesting to me, what's interesting to me is when people post their food, when people post their trips in places, and I'm like, “Oh, that's pretty interesting.” That's what Instagram and social media is all about, anyway. It's like making you feel like, “Oh, there's much more to what we're doing in life.” Right?

And so, there's a lot of unfortunate things that happened in the COVID era, but there's also really fortunate things in the context of online businesses. And so, it allows us to be in a certain place, but still fulfill our roles. And now it's tax write off for a lot of things, right? You know, your  [INDISCERNIBLE 00:17:28] Ironman and you know for a fact that, that's going to be a tax write off, because you're doing research for your retreats.

PATRICK CASALE: Right, absolutely. And I've seen you do the same for your retreats in Hawaii, and your Not Your Typical Psychotherapist Summits and like everything you're doing, and man, give yourself some credit, because you're a big cheerleader for a lot of people. You started all of these things during COVID. Like your Zoom webinars to teach therapists how to use Zoom translated into coaching, translated into more speaking engagements, more retreats, like building, building, building. And do you think when people are scrolling through your posts about building, building, building, that's when the comparison trap comes up, that's when the insecurity comes up, that you're experiencing as well?

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Yeah, absolutely. And so, what I try to do as much as possible is balance that out with how difficult it is for me to get here. Many folks do things on social media, and it's like, “Hey, I did this, I did that.” But I know for a fact what you've been through to get there. Because there is no way you're going to be doing all of those things that you're doing, and you're just sitting around not experiencing some sort of a suffering or heartache. You know what I mean? Or else you're really good at faking it. I don't know, or really privileged enough to execute that without any difficulty. 

But for me, no. Having a group practice I have sleepless nights, at times going, “What do I do in this context? How do I take care of this? Oh my gosh, I got another email for this.” It's a thing.

PATRICK CASALE: That is the thing, you're so right. And I think people scroll through social media, it's a powerful tool, right? In good and bad ways, and they see these things and they're like, from the outside looking in this is easy. I see so many people say, “How do I create passive income? How do I create you know, stuff that I don't have to work so hard for.” And it's like, because you have to fucking work, and struggle, and fail sometimes in order to get to a place where that revenue starts generating too. And I had the same sleepless nights, man. I was actually having one about my group practice the other day. Like, oh my god, we don't have a discharge letter. I need to get up and like maybe write that right now while it's in my mind, and was like, “No, no, no. It can wait. Just put it in your schedule send for tomorrow.” Right? I saw you post about schedule sending texts and I was like, “Yeah, schedule send. I will do it tomorrow, but I need to get it out of my brain right now because it's going to consume me.”

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Exactly. And so, you know, I balance that out with the reality. Yes, and especially with my summits. People are like, “Oh my gosh, you make that look easy.” Hold on, it's not okay. I got to negotiate. They cost thousands of dollars, and you've got people who are unhappy sometimes about the cost. Okay, I'm not going to rag on emails like this, but I got an email stating that, “Oh, there's a registration for your Kona summit includes…”  And the registration is 675, okay, when you get everything, 675. “…does that include freaking airfare and lodging?” Man,  add that in there, after 18 years old if you don't ask questions like that, because first of all, if you travel there’s an excuse for you to know that it costs money to travel. Let [INDISCERNIBLE 00:20:34] actual pluck.

PATRICK CASALE: Someone actually asked you that? I believe it, because I've seen the emails that you've showed me before. But that's fucking ridiculous. Like, the cost itself is so cheap for a summit anyway, in Hawaii. And then you got to think yeah, that's ridiculous. 

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Well, you know, it's one of those things where like, you have to take a deep breath, and you do send, you know, a scheduled email, because you want to be able to look at your email and go, “Okay, I hope that's not a mean email.” But at the same time, you're like, “Wait a minute, I can understand if a 15 year old who hasn't traveled asked that question. “ But, you know what I mean, it's like, “What is going…” So, you know, when you look at it from a certain perspective, all of the things that I'm doing right now there lies a struggle. And I think when we go through the success, when we do all these things, people will project their stuff onto it, you know? They're going to look at you like you're doing it so easily, so I'm really open about my depression, about my own struggles as an entrepreneur, and some of the target that's on my back, you know? People will talk shit, and I don't know, I'm a nice guy, right?

PATRICK CASALE: You are a nice guy and support everyone that you've come in contact with. So, I hear you, the target on your back, right? Like people are saying, “Ernesto’s doing too much, Ernesto’s only posting pictures of life is easy or situations like that.” But the fact of the matter is, I've seen the behind-the-scenes Ernesto. Like, you care so deeply about the experiences people have, especially the connection piece. I think all of your businesses are about connection. And I've seen you running around the Hawaii Summit, like doing A, B and C, and doing a bunch of different tasks to make sure like people are having a good experience, and it obviously matters very much to you. And people from the outside looking in don't see the work that goes into that.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: And the thing is they shouldn't, but at the same time, it's like, just don't be me. You know what I mean? Just don't be me. And it's got me thinking about, you know, the way that I handle situations like this. And sometimes I have to say, I'm open about on social media, you know, these little mini jabs to the haters, to the naysayers, to those who threw out their ethical word like it's freaking candy, you know? I'm open about those things because I know for a fact that I'm not the only one. And in my coaching, sometimes when people text me or email me, it's like, “Oh, my gosh, I went through some of those things.” Yeah, I know, it's a thing. 

PATRICK CASALE: You've told me before that with success you attract and repel. And you say that a lot. And I agree wholeheartedly. And I think with more success comes more people who obviously, like you've said, are going to be jealous, resentful, insecure, haters, so to speak, because they're kind of seeing this and saying, “Why can't this happen for me? Why is this not my experience?” Right? Like, we get so caught up in that comparison trap. And it's unfortunate, man, because it really does happen to everyone. And you told me when I started getting emails from people saying like, “You shouldn't curse it makes you unprofessional and lazy.” It's like, well, I guess I've arrived, it's because I'm getting hater emails.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: All people correcting your freaking grammar on a damp email, like, for real? Do I have to throw out my Hawaiian keynote card where we don't look at grammar the way that Western societies do? You know, like [INDISCERNIBLE 00:23:50].

PATRICK CASALE: But you handle those gracefully, because you asked me that in Colorado, like, “Hey, how would you handle this email about grammar?” And I was like, “I would tell him to fuck off.” And you're like, “No, no, no, that's not how you should handle this. Like, I'm going to respond gracefully. But I'm also going to be firm and like, ‘Hey, if you don't like it, you don't have to follow me. You can hit unsubscribe. You don't need to tell me this.’”

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely, and you know, it's just one of those things where when I do things, I do it for the people that respond, right? I throw jabs, yes, at people who insist to get shit to me. But I don't react to it. But I mostly do these funny things, these things that I post, hey, you know, I bought a new car. I did this, I did that. I do it for the people, you know that has aspirations, and it makes them possible. I post a lot of my group practice because it's possible. When I posted the post about offering health insurance to my full-time clinicians, I got so many emails about that, because it's freaking possible, you know? It is possible.

PATRICK CASALE: Yes, because it comes back to wanting to take care of the people who help you create success, right? Like, you and I have talked about this. I remember being in Colorado and you were gift shopping for your staff, because you were like, “I want them to know that I appreciate them.” And that mentality creates abundance, right? Like, your success equates to my success, and then we can build each other up and recommend each other and support one another, and we don't have to be competitors, because everyone's personality types are so different that we're going to attract and repel.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely, and you make a very good point, and maybe this is a topic for next time. But taking care of the people that took care of you is huge for me. And right now, we have another office space here in Fullerton, California. And we landed an 8 office suite, and instead of me stressing myself out to decorate every single room, what I did was, you know what? You guys worked so hard for me, you guys did a lot of things for me, why don't we just go ahead and shop for your office space, or your furniture? And holy crap, people were like, “What?” Like, “Yeah, pick it out. Like, don't look at the numbers, just go in and pick it out.” There's that idea of taking care of others who take good care of you. And it really stems from my upbringing as well, too. That's the Filipino culture. We take care of each other. But at the same time, what I'm doing with my clinicians is that you worked so hard for me, let me go ahead and give you that environment to do it.

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely. You're showing appreciation, and I think that creates and fosters leadership within your group practice, I imagine. It allows people to feel appreciated. I imagine they feel even more loyal to the business because they're like, “This is a fantastic place to work.” And I've taken the same mentality with my group practice of like, I want to pay these people while they do all the work. Like, I might help them bring the clients in, but they're the ones listening, and absorbing, and supporting all these people, so they need to be compensated well, they need to be taken care of. And I need to show them appreciation, because they're helping me step away from being a therapist.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Absolutely, and my clinical staff know that once I'm free doing some other things, I do marketing for them, I start doing other things. And you know what happens? Some of them also starts defending me, and start saying some things about me that's like, “This is his character, this is what he does.” And when they say, “Well, you know, does Ernesto really give that much? Does he really?” It’s like, “Yeah, even much more.” 

You know, so I like that kind of stuff. And plus, I mean, that's just part of being a good human to those who helped you and grow your empire. That's just the thing, say, going back to our original conversation, when you start doing all of these other things, you are going to inspire people by the things that you're just doing, and you're also going to repel those people that are not supposed to be in your circle anyway, and who are just chomping at the bit to see you hit a wall, right?

PATRICK CASALE: It is unfortunate. I've noticed that the more success that I've had the sheer I've gotten a lot of unfriending, I've gotten a lot of unfollowing, I've gotten a lot of people putting jabs in like, “Hey, you're doing too much, you're in workaholism mode, like this is capitalistic, you can't turn it off.” And I'm like, this is just me being creative. You know, like at the end of the day, this is where my creativity comes out, this is when I feel really energized. And I get the sense for most entrepreneurs that we have some ADHD traits or qualities, and that's where our creativity flows, and the people who become very successful don't do it alone. And I think that we don't do that by alienating, and comparing, and, you know, essentially downgrading other people who are doing whatever they want, and living their lives, and creating their visions.

And your vision’s amazing, man. Like, I've always been almost like a fan boy, you know, from the moment I saw you posting about Not Your Typical Psychotherapist in Anaheim several years ago. I was like, “Holy shit, this is so cool.” But in my mind, I was like, “But I can't go to that because I don't have anything to offer.” And it's been crazy over the last couple-

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Now you’re a speaker, that's freaking hilarious.

PATRICK CASALE: I don't even know if I can take that in yet. Like, I don't think that's going to feel like a reality until it happens, and I'll probably like go into a panic attack mode and just be like, “I don't even remember what I just said for the last hour.” But I love your story because you've been so open about it, your mom passing, you know, your culture, moving to California on your own, and just taking that leap of faith and kind of breaking the mold, right? Like, “I'm going to go to college. I'm going to pursue higher education. I'm going to do all of these things.” And I love the drive, and I love how you move in the world with all of this stuff. And you've told me about how you started just doing some recorded videos here and there and getting good at it. And then all of a sudden that's become an empire in itself. Like, traveling all over the world to film promotional videos for therapists to help them with their video marketing. I love that. The one we did here in Asheville was fucking awesome. I hope the ones that you're able to do in Ireland in March are fucking amazing, and you don't lose any drones in the process.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Even if I do that's an experience, right? Even if I do-

PATRICK CASALE: Landed on top of a castle in Ireland and you know, that’s a good story to tell.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: I know. Getting arrested trying not get the drone off of this ancient ruin. Oh my gosh!

PATRICK CASALE: I'm just inspired by what you do, man. And I hope you know how many people appreciate what you bring to the table of psychotherapy, how you try to break the mold. The Not Your Typical Psychotherapist movement is huge right now. It's just really a fantastic thing that you've created. And I just applaud your success and your new business in Hawaii, by the way, with your sisters.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate that. And you know, I think there's a lot of us who move through the world through the lens of creativity. And I just tell people, just be creative. You will not ever hear a no from me. It's like, all right, how do we get there? What's the avenue? What's the block? Let's get there, you know? Or you want to shift? Let's shift but we need to keep moving.

PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely, and that is true, everyone. I've done coaching with him. I've become friends. I see it all the time. If you're looking for someone who's always going to be telling you yes, you can do this, he's your guy. And Ernesto, you have so much coming up. Tell everyone who's listening what you've got coming up and how they can find it or how they can find you.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Yeah, first of all, I just want to let you all know that Patrick is going to be one of my speakers at the Not Your Typical Psychotherapist Summit in Nashville. And I encourage you all to go there because it's going to be a lot of fun to see Patrick there. He will also have a booth to talk about his coaching, all that other stuff, so lots of fun. You can get on my email list or follow me on Facebook and Instagram. And I'll go ahead and send you all that information, Patrick, if you want to send that out to folks, but you know, it's not hard to find me especially on social media. I post my lifestyle on there. I post things, good.

PATRICK CASALE: His shoe game all the time, his shoes.

ERNESTO SEGISMUNDO: Oh my gosh, my shoe game, yeah. So that's the stuff that's coming up. I've got a few things coming up as well in Hawaii. You'll also get that through email. But there's a lot of really cool things going on in our world for the Not Your Typical Psychotherapist world next year. And so we'd love for all of you to see all of that unfold.

PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, and I will supply everyone who's listening and following with all of the links to Ernesto’s stuff, his coaching, his promotional videos, his Not Your Typical Psychotherapist conference in Nashville during Memorial Day weekend of 2022, his Connection Summit in Kona, Hawaii in August, and everything else that he's doing right now, so follow him on Facebook, follow him on Instagram, and just really start to get involved with the Not Your Typical Psychotherapy movement. It's been a pleasure having you on, man, and it always is good to connect. 

Everyone who's listening thanks for tuning in to the All Things Private Practice podcast. Download, share, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and we will see you next Monday.