The Ambitious Coach Lab

The Inner Work Behind Elite Coaches with Angelo Sisco

• Season 1 • Episode 25

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0:00 | 52:40

What if the greatest limiter in your coaching practice isn’t strategy or systems, but the version of yourself leading it?

In this episode, Cam sits down with Angelo Sisco to explore the deep connection between personal growth, leadership, and building a meaningful coaching practice. Angelo shares his journey from entrepreneur and CrossFit gym owner to business coach, Vistage Chair, and leadership facilitator, unpacking how emotional intelligence and self-awareness transformed both his businesses and his life. They discuss why business is ultimately a self-actualization exercise, how strong communities accelerate growth, and why the best coaches focus on helping leaders align their health, relationships, and business rather than just improving performance metrics. Angelo also shares how he integrates breathwork, movement, mindset, and facilitation into his practice to help leaders become more grounded, self-aware, and effective.  

Biography

Angelo Sisco is a Vistage Chair, business coach, and leadership facilitator who helps entrepreneurs and leadership teams grow through greater self-awareness, accountability, and operational clarity. A lifelong entrepreneur, Angelo previously built and scaled multiple fitness and coaching businesses before transitioning into leadership development and executive coaching. Through his work with Vistage, BOS Up, Predictive Index, and private coaching clients, he focuses on helping leaders strengthen their businesses by first strengthening themselves.

Links

Connect with Angelo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelosisco/

Learn more about Angelo's work with Vistage: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E00003Nv9ObQAJ/angelo-sisco 

Learn more about Sisco Advisors: https://siscoadvisors.com/

Use code AC20 for 20% off Ninety by clicking here!

Join our free LinkedIn community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/16297012/

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Ambitious Coaching Lab, powered by Nine people. I'm your host, Dr. Pam Long. Each week we explore the real tactics, tough conversations, and breakthrough moments that drive coaching success. Let's jump into today's episode. Well, welcome, friends. I am so excited about this interview. We've got Angelo Sisko with us. He is a vistage chair, a boss-up coach, diving into all the business operating system stuff. So we met back when I was at 90 and sparked off a cool friendship. And I have just been so impressed. I've been challenged. I've been encouraged by Angelo. So I wanted to welcome him on the show as he has launched into a lot of things and seen a lot of success. So we're going to dive into all things vision and mastery. So welcome to the show, man. Excited to have you.

SPEAKER_01

Man, stoked to be here with you, brother. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, yeah, we were we were talking back and forth and I respect your your humility. It was like, hey, is there anything you want me to say as far as like in the intro? And he's like, dude, I don't care. Whatever. I'm not about that. So I love that. So that uh that is very authentic and genuine to who you are as a human. So um, but man, dude, as we kick off, kind of share a little bit of your entrepreneurial journey of how you got to kind of the situation you're in today.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, uh, so I'm 42 today, uh, or not not today, but as it stands, I'm 42 years old and I've been an entrepreneur cam since 17 years old. You know, I've never I've never had a regular job. You know, I it's so interesting to say that that, but I've just owned businesses and started uh part of a pizza place at 17 years old. It was an epic disaster, but it was, you know, I was 17 and I was ready to get in there, put some money in, and start doing stuff. And so I've always had a tolerance for risk, I guess you could say. I was always uh in for that. And when I was 21, this is important, I was 21 years old. I was in a motorcycle accident. I was in a hit and run by a landscaping truck. I was in the hospital for two months and rehab for five months. And the reason why this really matters is after that accident, I sort of went into a depression, I guess you could say. I had another bit, I had a business at the time that was really running itself. And uh, I watched the movie The 300. I got up to about 300 pounds, really overweight during that depression. I was just eating, eating, eating. Got up to 300 pounds, watched the movie 300, and was like, how did these guys get in such great shape? This was like 08, right? And found out that they worked out in a gym in Utah called Jim Jones, and they did this training methodology that was kind of unknown, was called CrossFit. Now here I am on my computer researching CrossFit, and I watched a guy do a CrossFit workout and 300 pounds, sitting on a recliner, and I just said to myself, this is what I want to be able to do with my body. And so I started studying CrossFit January 5th, 2009, resolution style. I started doing CrossFit on my own. That first workout cam, I had to do a fitness test. I had to run a mile, try to do a pull-up. I don't even think I could do a full pull-up at that point, do some push-ups. But at the end of the test, I'll never forget this. I had to do one minute of burpees. And I was so out of shape. My ankle was still like not really flexible. And I wound up being able to only do three burpees in a minute. And I walked home that day from the gym, just absolutely in tears, crying at how like far I've gone with my body. Like it really all hit me at that point. Like, what was up with my body? And I was crying on the way home, and I made a promise to myself that I was gonna figure this out. And seven months later, I lost a hundred pounds.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Completely, completely changed who I was. I found this resolve of like discipline that I never knew I really had. I was the guy carrying food everywhere, didn't care what everyone else was eating, didn't even like want to eat it, just like really strict on myself, lost a hundred pounds. And during that journey, people noticed that I was losing weight, right? I was running outside, people saw this and they wanted my help. And I would work out with people and I didn't think much of it at first. But one day after I worked out with somebody, I was like, man, this feels really good. Like I pay so much attention to where my energy flows. I think when there's something that fills your cup of energy, that's like the divine telling you that that's the thing. Pay attention to it. And so I said, Man, why can't this be this be what I do? You know, and so I took out my palm pilot at the time. So everyone knows what year we were in. I took out my palm pilot and I sent everybody a text message and I was like, Yeah, I'm training people at a park. And I said, if I could get 10 clients in July, this I know that maybe I have something here. Sure enough, I got these clients. I had some bands, some balls, some stuff I would just bring to the park. And then it got cold. It was Chicago. So around September, I walked into this village hall that was across the street from the park because I knew they had racquetball courts and racquetball died. You know, I don't know, I don't know about you, but racquetball doesn't have it's yeah, it's it's pickle pickleball took destroyed, took racquetball and said, uh-uh, you're done. Okay. And so I walked in there and I said, Listen, I noticed no one's in these things. You know, would you rent one to me? And they were like, sure. For 200 bucks a month, I got this little private racquetball courtspace with the key. I laid some flooring down, hung up some pull-up bars, and then I started doing like more training. I would train up to three people at a time and started building a business. And then after around 10 months, I just wanted more autonomy. My thing for me, and it being an entrepreneur, I know uh Mark Abbott talks about the different types of entrepreneurs. I'm a lifestyle entrepreneur. I want freedom. Like that is for me. I want to feel like I could do what I want when I want. And I just felt like I was confined in this space. And so I opened up my first gym, O'Hare CrossFit, November of 2010. And I really didn't have any idea what I was doing, right? Now I'm gonna start doing this group class model and all of this stuff. Around six months into this cam, I saw somebody that was very popular in CrossFit in Connecticut. His name was Jason Leiden, and he owned CrossFit Milford. It was opened up in like 2008, nine, and it was already a very popular gym. And after I watched this video of him, I messaged him on Facebook, you know, because like people were answering Facebook messages back then. Right. And I said, Listen, you know, could you coach me and teach me how to write workouts and all this stuff? And he was like, Yeah. So he would send me workouts, we would get on Skype and we would talk about training, and I would really learn from him. And then one day he invited me to Connecticut. Now, at the time I was broke, I really didn't have much money to like go to Connecticut, but I had enough money to fly to New York and rent a car, and I slept in a rental car to learn from this guy for three days. I would sleep in a little Jetta and a truck stop, and then he'd go, How are you feeling? I go, Oh, I'm great. Do you mind if I use your shower really quick? And he was like, Yeah, it's fine. And he had no idea that I was sleeping in a car because I was embarrassed and I didn't want to like share it at the time. But he would open up everything it was to like run a gym, and I would learn from him, and then I would come back to Chicago with until after I figured it out, I'd go learn the next thing. Took me about a year and a half, two years, and we went from 2,500 square feet to 5,500 square feet. I really learned things, you know. I in in business, I'm a copycat, I'm not afraid to say it. I I think it's how you should do business. You copy until you could make it your own. And I'm not trying to make it my own in the beginning. So we blew up, we're in 5,500 square feet, which was absolutely amazing. Then in 2014 was the first year I didn't have ridiculous growth. And what I mean by ridiculous is like we were growing 83%, 275%. And now me, this foolish kid, thought I was so special and I was gonna be on this run for the next five years and I was gonna retire at 33, like a complete chooch, right? Like, you know, but this is what I thought. Okay. And so we had we had 25% growth in 2014, and I thought 25% was absolutely terrible. I mean, at the time I didn't know, I was in my little silo, and I was like, this is terrible. And and then what wound up happening and why this matters to the story is is I started uh turning into what I realized was a victim, very big victim state. I started blaming my employees for not being as good as I thought they were. I was mad at my clients for not referring the people as much as I thought they were. And I started trying to find anything I can to get back into this growth trajectory. And I was changing my marketing strategy, my sales. I was redoing my coaching, uh coaching program, how they were coaching. And then someone said to me, He said, Angela, you know, you might want to look at emotional intelligence. Maybe that's something you really need to learn. And I was like, What is emotional intelligence? And so I bought the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0. You get the test in the very beginning, and you get tested on self-awareness, uh uh self-management, all of that stuff. I struck out in self-man uh self-awareness, and I was even worse in or self-awareness, self-management, couldn't even regulate myself at that time. I had a really bad temper, and I was like, oh my gosh, a light bulb went off. And I was like, Oh, I'm the problem. You mean everything that happens outside of this world, outside in my reality is a reflection of me? I was like, great, because all I wanted to know what the problem was. And so I started really working on myself, Cam. I would travel, I mean, I would spend retreats like anything to learn about myself, learn about my childhood. Why do I think people should be like me? What is all this? And what wound up happening is I really worked on myself, fixed myself, I guess you could say. 2015 we opened another gym. 2016, I started a nutrition coaching company. And then I had a lot of popularity with getting people to go to the CrossFit games and compete in CrossFit. So I started an online programming company with a friend of mine to sell workouts. And so here I am now. After I started working on myself, I got four businesses instead of just that one. And we were rocking, all of it was another level. Had a good team, was finally able to trust people, let go of all that stuff. And that popularity got me a lot of people asking me for help in business. Now, at the time, like I, because I was an entrepreneur, I knew what EOS was very early on in my journey. I knew how to structure a company. And a lot of people that own these gyms, they were just great athletes or jocks, and they wanted to help people, but they had no idea that there was a business component to running a business. And so they started reaching out to me for business help. And I was like, man, maybe this could be another business. And so I hooked up with a very popular podcast at the time called Barbell Business. And I said, Listen, you guys have the audience, and I I want to be a coach and I could get all these coaches to help me. And they said, Yeah, let's do it. And within a year, I had 400 gyms around the world that we were coaching inside of this company. And so I here I am just like rocking in my life. First time I have some money, some freedom, and everything like that. It was a great, great time. Fast forward to 2019. I wake up one day and I just start not liking the fitness business as much as I as I did. I really was I could feel myself being pulled to the coaching aspect of businesses because I just thought that okay, so one person comes to my gym, I teach them how to be healthy and happy, that's great. But if I could help a gym owner, the impact of that is immeasurable. Like I will never know the ripple effects of helping this one person. And so I just wanted to work on businesses, and so I set up all the other businesses for sale in 2019. What wound up being great is this thing came along called COVID, but no one knew what it was when I was negotiating these deals. We just thought this was some virus in China. Yeah, this was still early on when we thought this was this thing in China. Good luck, guys. Hope you figure it out. Take some penicillin. We we were going on with our lives, and then all of a sudden it was like on us, and we started figuring out. But March of 2020, I sold my last business, and then we went into lockdown, and then we found out everything. So it wound up being a blessing in disguise that this hunch that I didn't love this industry. And then people know who were in the fitness industry, some of them never even recovered or are still recovering from that time. So I sold everything in March of 2020. Come home, Cam. I got a nine-month-old son, and I always wanted to live somewhere else. I always wanted to explore. I'm that person in my family. I think every person's family has like one person like that wants to leave and thinks it's all a Bruce Springsteen's song, and they got to get the hell out of their town, right? That's how I was. My sister, I have a sister, never thought of leaving, right? And I'm the guy that's like, get me out of here. I can't believe it's a world.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And so it packed up my wife, and I told her, you know, we love this little beach town in San Clemente. And I had I was coaching businesses online at this point, so I knew I had flexibility. And I said, let's go kick it by the beach. Why are we sitting here for COVID? And so we moved to a little beach town called San Clemente in 2020. And it was great for my family because they just got to go to the beach every day and there was no lockdown there, and they got to have a great time. But for me, I got to meet some incredible entrepreneurs that I wound up working with. You know, in Southern California, you could throw a rock and hit an entrepreneur that's running a $20 or $30 million business. They're everywhere. And I wound up hooking up with this one CPG brand called Vive Organic, and their investor saw the work that I was doing with them. His name is Mark Rampola. And Mark Rampola runs Ground Force Capital. He's the guy that found Zico and sold it to Coca-Cola for a hundred million bucks and cashed out. He's that guy. And I wound up being able to work with companies like LifeAid and Ithaca and all these brands inside of this portfolio. He kept connecting me with, and it wound up being like an MBA school for me because until that point, anything, you know, nothing really above eight figures that I ever work with. And now all of a sudden I'm working with 50, 60, 70 million dollar companies. And I learned what that was like and what that really goes into making that work. And we were there for a couple of years, and then my wife and I just decided that it was time to come back to Chicago. We missed our family, and maybe this is just Italian childhood guilt, but I felt really terrible not letting my mother be a grandmother to her children, to the to my children. So we came back in June of 2022 and uh started helping out some businesses with operating system. And I also do predictive index. I'm really big on PI for the people side of things. And then I found Scott Abbott, my man from Boss Up, and he was like, I'm starting this program. This was still very early in Boss Up, you know, there was nothing really there, but I really understood it because I stumbled on 90 long before it. And I was like, Yeah, this just makes sense because I used to do an operating system and you got your Google Sheets and your Google Docs, and you are spread out five different ways. When you have a meeting, you got 12 tabs open and it's a mess. It's a mess. No one knows how to put in numbers and all of that stuff. So when Scott called me, I was like, Yeah, I could jump on board with this. And so I jumped on board with Boss Up and just continue to grow this wonderful practice that I have. I do probably around 40 sessions a year, uh, quarterlies and annuals and all of that good stuff right now. And then last I uh oh, when I came back to Chicago in 22, I joined a vistage group because I wanted to be around some great people and really learn. And Dave Galowicz is my chair, uh, who is my Buddha. And one day last year, around this time, we were having dinner, and he said, I think you'd be a wonderful vista chair. And at first, you know, my thought of a vista chair is you have to be 60. You know, you're an old man or an old woman. You know, it's the old people chair club, you know, like I have some experience behind you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I was like, Dave, you know, I'm 42 years old. I'm not, he goes, I still think you'll be great. And so I I shadowed his group for a while. Like I just sat in there an extra day out of the month and would learn how to issue process and learn how to run meetings. And after a few months, I was like, Yeah, I could do this. You know, I like doing this, I love getting people together. Anytime there's some sort of facilitation, which is a really for me about channeling what the energy in the group is giving you and trying to take them on a journey. I tell people I'm a Sherpa, I'm not really a coach, I'm just taking you somewhere and you're trusting me to go on the ride. And and so I went to Chair Academy in September, got to work and launched my group in December. And now I have, like you said, I'm a boss-up coach, I do predictive index, I do vistage, and I have some one-on-one coaching, and that's what makes my practice.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, that's my life. That I love that. That's so cool. I didn't even know I've known you for quite a couple years now, and I don't even know if I knew all that story. So that's awesome. I mean, one thing that strikes me, um, that's a thread that runs through all of this is this clear idea of vision that you have of your why. And I think you you elaborated on that throughout your time as you started to kind of like dive into that. It sounds like 2019 is kind of when you were like, hey, maybe this specific industry isn't necessarily the right thing. But when we were talking before this, one of the things that you mentioned is you are a coach. That's just in your DNA, right? And I see that in your journey. I mean, you've always been that way. You've got that entrepreneurial itch, and then you've gone in, but you've always been coaching other people. So can you talk a little bit about kind of how it all weaves together from this overall vision? Because you even have, even going forward into the future, a vision for how all of these things kind of go together of the emotional side from the business acumen side to the personal side. Like you had this overarching, crystal clear idea of what the future looks like, and you're going headfirst into it with everything that you have.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Great question. So in 20 during that journey in California, I started working with someone, and one day he referred to me as a mensch. And I he's he's Jewish, his culture is Jewish, and he called me a mensch, and I said, you know, I'm Italian, I don't know what a mensch is. And he goes, look it up, you know. And what a mensch basically is, is someone that is a person of honor and integrity. And when I think about vision in a practice like I have, like a solarpreneur coach practice, I think the vision starts with the identity that you are going to embody, not the impact or anything. To me, it's like, okay, if I become this person, I will do that. I believe be do have. Who am I being? And then the vision and doing comes naturally. And so I said, okay, if I was a mensch, I'm gonna be a mensch. Who do I need to be to be a mensch? Well, okay, honor and integrity. I have to do what I say I'm gonna do. I have to have discipline, I have to have these certain values and virtues, I have to embody them in order for me to have the chance to embody them on other people. I really believe that my job is to instill proper virtues inside of people, and then success takes care of itself. And success usually comes from discipline, work ethic, and delayed gratification. If I can embody that and teach other people to embody that, they have a good chance of being successful. All I'm trying to do is increase the probability, like counting cards. I just trying to stack the deck in my favor and then let the deck play itself out. And so that was the very beginning is this idea that I am the mensch of the Midwest. Really, I tell it to myself every morning. It's how I embody this and how I look at this. And then what would I look like? What would that look like from a sales process perspective? What would that look like from a delivery perspective? How would I prepare for meetings? What are the things that I would focus on in my meetings if I am a mensch? And so I just started building everything about from there. And so so much of my practice is about connection, building trust, giving first without asking. You know, I really believe in that those cosmic laws. If you just give, you'll get it from somewhere somehow. And that is what's really built this practice that I have today.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's so good. Cause we we talk a lot on this show of the competencies of being a good coach. We just call it a coach because I didn't want it to be the ambitious coach, consultant, chair, you know, fractional executive. We just went like coach, right? Right. Um, but one of the things we talk about is vision is the first competency. And it's very intentional of the reason we put that first, because if you don't have that clarity, how in the world are you gonna be able to package an offering, which is the second one? How are you gonna go do sell it in business development? And then once you have that, how are you gonna maintain that through practice management? Like they're all, it's not necessarily a linear thing as far as like, oh, I have to get this one before I get this one, but there is a level of I need to think through vision before I can package it in an offering and then go sell it. And so I love that clarity that you get, and even to the point of your almost affirming that in yourself on a daily basis of this is my this is my stake in the ground. Because I mean, in Chicago, it's a big market. I would imagine you are probably not the only vistage group in Chicago. And so, like, how have you leaned in from your vision and your calling and your why into how you have gone out, both I mean, from the coaching side of it to the vistage side. I mean, all of those things, how have you kind of put your stake in the ground and differentiated yourself from the in the sales and offering kind of motions?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, wow, what a great question. So, this idea for me, this is my thesis on business and where I coach from and where I do everything from is I really believe that business is a group one big self-actualization exercise. It is really all about you. And back to my journey, that's what I learned, right? That that was the the golden goose that I figured out is that it's all about me. I am the limiter of everything in my life. And that goes beyond business. But business to me was the first commitment that I had that was greater than myself, right? You now there's other things like marriage and being a parent. I I agree, those are all journeys in that same way. But for someone like me, this ultra masculine dude that came from Chicago, you did anything to make your business better. It was very easy to trade for that. And so I believe that business is one great self-actual and actualization exercise. And as your journey as a CEO or founder, that is the limiter of your business, of what you are and how you could really show up. And I think that all these other things, like a business operating system and predictive index, is all there to aid in this one journey that we are really going on and really making sure that a CEO or a founder is taking care of themselves, is understanding themselves, is being more empathetic to themselves because that will reflect in all of their leadership and how they really show up. And that's my stance on this business world. And I think that that like would be my what makes me unique and stand out is I really believe that this is there. And the thing that I'm the most grateful for is in this newer generation of CEOs, taking care of yourself, taking care of your mind, your body, and your spirit, these conversations are much easier. I begin every session, I begin with breath work. We do some sort of breath work to get in the room and get here now. And if I knew 10 years ago I tried to make people do that, people would look at me like I'm crazy. But now it's becoming more accepted. And every single session, like I said, we pause and we breathe and we get in the room. And I talk about these things all the time. And I do a lot of sessions with CEOs where we just go for walks, we go for rucks, we take saunas, just like things that I know that they need to take care of themselves, that maybe they're not giving themselves. I'm gonna make it a point when we're working together. I'm gonna turn on my little AI recorder and we're gonna go figure it out, and you're gonna take care of yourself and not neglect those sort of things. And so that's really where I stand on this journey is about removing self-limiting beliefs, taking care of yourself and being an amazing person. And then the money and the business is just a byproduct of that.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, that's so good. Because I mean, I will say I've been in a visage group for a while now. And, you know, yes, you're gonna go in, we're gonna talk, and we're gonna learn things about how to better, you know, a specific framework or whatever in the business, but there is a level of the group members that I'm a part of, you develop this rapport and this deeper connection with them, and you're growing in all facets of your life. I mean, even on the check-ins, and I think this is probably a standard thing, but I mean, you're checking in professionally, personally, and your health. Like, how are we doing on a scale of one to 10 in those areas? And if someone's putting a low thing on a personal or a health side, we're gonna dive into that because you cannot be at your best. You might put a nine for your person or your professional, but I mean, really? Like it all bleeds into one another. So I do love that approach because I think a lot of, especially younger leaders, are looking for that. It's like, man, this is not, I can't just lean into this one thing. I need to be balanced in my entire approach. And so when you're going out, I mean, it takes, you know, some time to get a vista group off of the, you know, off the ground, right? So, but you already had kind of a big network through, sounds like even in the in the fitness industry, did you kind of tap into that of finding members? Or what was your reverse engineering strategy to kind of get your group off the ground?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So after about if you want to give your secrets away. No, I'll give it away. I'll I'll tell everyone how I do it. Okay. So, you know, after about three months of of shadowing Dave's group and learning that I wanted to be a chair, I knew that I was going to be a chair and I was already selling, talking to people about being in my group. I went to chair academy with one member already committed. They just didn't have the papers to sign because I didn't have access to them yet. Right. I was already talking about it. And and for me, you know, when you go to the chair academy, they give you a bunch of ways to build your group. But I really believe that when it comes down to your sales and marketing, you have to pick what's authentic to you. And for me, I am about being in with people. I will, I want to talk with people, I want to be in front of them, I want to engage and connect. And also, too, I thought from being a vistage member and watching these groups, vistage is something that you need to experience. You can't, I can't talk you into the experience. Right. And so I got out of academy in September and I started having meetings in October with four or five people. And we would meet for three hours. We'd process one issue, I would teach them some concept about leadership. And those five people that came in October, all five signed up. I said, Great, I know how I'm gonna business develop for Vistage. And so one month out of Academy, I had five signed up members. I started another meeting in November. I had three more people come. Two out of those three signed up. I found one more member the first week of December and I signed them up right away because I knew I had the group and we pushed it across the goal line. And that was how I did it. And I just I don't mind asking people for help. You know, I think everybody in their life develops a question they ask when they have a problem. Some people ask, what do I need to do? How can I do this? And for me, it's who? Who could help me? Who could help me? If I get a problem across me, the first thing I'm doing is looking at my phone and wondering who I can bring this to to help answer this problem for me. Because I'm a big believer that problems are only big problems when you're alone.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

To me, being alone as a human being is the worst thing that you could be. No shame on anybody, but to me, that is the worst condition for humans humans. And so I just started connecting with people, sharing the vision for the group, what I'm gonna do and the type of group that I'm building and what we're gonna be about. And it's about being better humans. I call it the trifecta of success. You have your health, you have your wealth and your relationships, and you need to be winning in all of them, and you need to be winning in all of them to be successful. If one is really successful and the other two went to shit, I think you are not successful. You could any of them, any of the ways, health, wealth, or relationship. If they're all one is great and the two are neglected, to me, you drop the ball.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And so that's really resonated with people building in this group because a lot of them are younger and they're in their they have young kids and they're starting their families. They know that they have to take care of their bodies, and off we went.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's so true. And I think in the uh increasingly digital age, you know, we're starting to see a lot more isolation where people are struggling with their health, wealth, or relationships alone. And that is a tough spot to be. And I think, especially in the business world, which is ironic because, you know, but I think sometimes when you are especially an entrepreneur or a CEO or a founder, and you're you're trying to like make it work, and you are the one that everyone goes to in your organization, and you don't have that support structure outside of that, and you are always the dude or the girl in leadership, and people look to you, and it's like, oh man, who are you leaning on where you can go in someone who is in similar, you know, position as you, and you can start to tap into and have that trusted circle that you can go in and share with. I think in 2026, to me, and I will put my stake in the ground and claim this, that community is the way forward. I think we are communal creatures by nature. All of our documented human history is us being in communities. And digital stuff is kind of, yeah, there's communities on the digital world, but like it's not the same as being in a group. So I think we're gonna see a much bigger push towards groups like this. And then that's what I love about your vision, and one of the reasons we wanted, I really wanted to have this conversation because you're so crystal clear on that. Like, that's how it goes. I mean, you say, Oh, we're gonna, you know, have sauna conversations or we're gonna go on a walk. Like you have literally orchestrated all of that into just who you are as a human. And that is exactly what we need in this world. So props to you, man. I I think that's just it. We need more coaches and consultants and chairs that are like that think like this, where it's this holistic thing and not in a crunchy holistic way, but you know, truly factoring in the entire part of someone's being.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. There's uh two things I want to touch on with that if you're cool. Uh my job is to provide community, permission, and accountability. That's what they need. They need a community of people, they need to give themselves permission to do what they want to do, and they need accountability to follow through. If they have those three things, they are fine. That's that's that. And I go really deep into this. Like my retreat for my Vista's group this year is actually gonna be a couples retreat because I I really believe that the a CEO's job is to make great decisions. That is the number one job. Make great decisions, and there is no bigger decision that you are gonna make in your life than who you mate with. And so I'm gonna have a full-blown couples retreat for two and a half days this year, and I'm putting it on with them connection exercises, I'm bringing in speakers, how to relate better with each other, create a vision for your marriage, all of that stuff. Because I think it just plays such a big deal, and it's so easy to feel like it's on the back burner, and especially for a spouse that has a husband or or a wife that is a CEO knows that they are getting the scraps by nature. You are getting the scraps, you're working 50, 60 hours a week, you are getting the scraps, but if we can make the scraps as best as they possibly could be, I'm happy for that. I want them to be intentional, and so I work on all that stuff. Yeah, no, no conversations off the table, buddy.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, that's so good. And so on that note, I mean, there so the fifth competency on the other side of vision, right, is mastery. Like once you've gotten to a point, you have to continue to level yourself up, and you are such an incredible example of this. I mean, you are a learning animal. But how would you say, I mean, from your coaching with the fitness side of things into business coaching and then into facilitating a vista group? I mean, what does mastery look like to you in that? Because they're all interrelated. I mean, you're working with human energy in a room where you're facilitating. It may look a little different in certain situations, but can you kind of talk to what mastery means to you specifically?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So it's funny you say about learning. So on Strakefinder, that is my number one thing is learning. No way. Yeah, so learner is my number number one. I spend a ridiculous amount of time preparing for every meeting. I don't care if it's an hour-long meeting or a full-day meeting. I really try to study a person and understand, I think, where they're at energetically, where things are for them, what they really need, and what would really benefit them. And that goes into even where I have the meetings. Like I said to you, like if I see that someone isn't really great at taking care of themselves, making time for themselves, well, then our meeting is gonna be a meeting where we're taking care of ourselves. And we could talk about anything you want, but that setting is going to be in a sauna or going on a ruck or just going for a walk, getting movement in their life. Like I break it down from how am I gonna shape the container that we are gonna be in besides what we're gonna talk about? Because I believe that if the more regulated that person is that I'm talking to, the better the conversation is gonna go.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

And so if you've been neglecting your health and I have you take care of your health, you're gonna feel much different than if we were just sitting in your office.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm just constantly learning about these things. I and I love to learn from people that are not in business. Uh, don't get me wrong, I have people that are in business, but I will go and have a conversation with a woman that I had it yesterday who heals inner child trauma. And just like, hey, tell me what you notice when you're talking to somebody for that. I have somebody that is a uh a doctor that works on healing lifelong trauma. Great, tell me something about that, you know. And I try to bring in all these different facets because I think like we're the first AI, right? And you take a bunch of that and you swirl it around my brain with my experiences and what I know about people, and then I get something that's just really authentic to me because no one's had my journey and these outside learnings. And so I'm constantly trying to look outside of just the business world because I don't think people just necessarily need, oh, this is the framework or this is that. And I just think that it's about meeting a person where they're at and understanding what their framework should look like, right? The way I do it is the way I do it, but not everybody should wake up at 5 a.m. and work out and do what I do. I think you got to find out what you what fits you and really works well with you and not just thinking that it should be what everyone else does. And I that journey is kind of ugly because it takes time to figure that out. But that's what I'm trying to do is how do I can I take someone and optimize their life the best way they can so that they could perform the best they can in all the areas of their life.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. And I'm so glad you said all that because I was literally having a conversation, I think it was yesterday, with a friend of mine. We were um talking about how easy it is to like lean into, oh, AI, help me think through this and give me this framework, give me this thing. But what you have done is actually, I think, the right way. It's the most natural and organic way, but you're surrounding yourself with people that are experts in their field and you're learning from them through conversation. It's so easy for us, and I see that where, and I I want to make sure coaches hear this and understand this, and other chairs and consultants, that it can be so easy to like just lean into, okay, I need to be the expert in everything. In theory, you need to be the connector to everyone. Hey, I know so-and-so. If you're really dealing with something that's a deep inner child trauma, you have that resource that you can go to someone. Now you're gonna learn enough to be able to carry on conversation, but I think you have surrounded yourself so well. And the best ones go in and do that. They have this trusted, I would call it almost partner circle where it's like, hey, I got somebody for you that can come help you. Because I think it's just we can feel that we have answers at our fingertips with AI and Google and all these things, and they're incredible tools. But sometimes we need to just talk to somebody that is an expert in their field, and that is such a benefit. And you can learn from that, but also not rely on this technical thing, which I think then inevitably pushes to isolation because then it's just an isolated experience and you don't have that connection with other people.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed. And and on top of that, too, Cam, like I really think that this is part magic too. Like there, I think in in this coaching, mentioning uh world that there is a root, like I am just channeling an energy to help this person. I am not the helper. And I think a lot of times it's about me reflecting and sitting and thinking about someone and just man, like I look up people's astrology. I look up anything to try to give me a hint of where they're at, or even if like um someone's coming to me, and like, you know, when you really break it down, when someone comes to me, they're out of energetic balance in one of three ways, right? Someone is very masculine dominant, and this is not gender. I think a lot of times when I say masculine, it's this, but just a masculine energy is like logical driving energy. There's feminine energy, which is creative and abundant and very flowing. And the downside of this one, the masculine one, is you could be a control freak or wound up too tight. And the downside of the feminine one is you could lack structure and discipline. And then there's this, this like what I call divine energy, but just also just trusting, patience, allowing things to unfold as they should and not trying to force yourself on there. And when I meet someone, that's the first thing I'm just trying to figure out is where are they out of harmony? Because that's the biggest issue is, you know, if someone is this dominating control freak and they're grinding and working all the time, I'm telling them to go do something artistic. You like anything artistic? Oh, I like to, I used to like to play the guitar. Great. I want you to play the guitar this week for me and like channel that. And then the person that's over here that's maybe a little more feminine and all of that, they need a little more structure and discipline. I'm just like forcing them to make strong commitments, very specific, non-ambiguous commitments and keep them. Or I'm telling them to go into an ice bath for a day and see what it's like to feel that, you know? And just really, and then the divine is a lot of story work for me, stuff in your head. Write that down. Why do you think you think that thought? Just write that down. Why do I believe that so-and-so is lazy? And just write it out and like come to terms with how you came to this thought. Because is it because of them, or is it because of that one person you hired five years ago, and you're just putting that picture on that face because they have symptoms like that? And and like just getting them to really come to terms with where they are in any of these energetic places, and then trying to go, okay, we need to make sure that we're not too far in one or the other. I think the greatest problem with America is that we are so divided because we're so much, it has to be this way or this way, but it's never that way. It's always an influx of what's needed at the time. And so that's such a big part of my practice. I know it could sound a little woo-woo and all this stuff, but this is just where I believe if your nervous system's in check, your energy is in check, everything else takes care of itself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I could tell you without a doubt, if I bring some kind of personal conflict into the business world, like it's gonna bleed out into. And if I haven't dealt with that or regulated the emotions from that, like, yeah, I'm gonna probably be not at least at my best, you know. And so there's the yeah, it's totally interrelated. On that note, I'm curious about this, whether it's coaching or being a chair, I mean, it would whatever perspective, I mean, kind of morph it together if you want. But the when you're dealing with strong personalities, because I mean, you're dealing with, you know, CEO level C-suite figures that that are the best in their craft, right? They're put in that position for a reason. So you got big personalities off in. How do you manage that in the context of like even in a in a chair group where you have lots of strong personalities and maybe some not as strong? Like, how do you navigate the facilitation aspect of that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Wow, what a great question. You know, it obviously depends on the person and the situation. Uh, but I am I bring humor into my practice. I think a lot of this needs to stay light so we could figure it out. I think problems become real problems when you make them so severe. And so I a lot of times in my group we laugh and like I'm very much into humor. I have a laughing Buddha up in my my mantle over there, and just always remembering that like the things that we are worried about are also uh you know first world problems. Right. Like you know what I mean? Like this problem that you have, I know it sucks, and all of this, and what your profit's gonna be 15% instead of 20%. No one's dying.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Like, let's take a breath here. You're not starving, no one's starving. Like always bringing down to the level of like severity they believe that problem is, and and bringing humor into that context. And then, like, like I mentioned, like if someone is that hard driving person, then our one-to-one is going to be a non-hard driving situation and just letting them loosen up a little bit, loosen up that grip of things and letting it be that way and asking them really thought-provoking questions, like, well, what would it be like if you just let this problem stay here and you ignored it? What would it be like besides your inner tension? What would it, what what effect would it have on the business? And a lot of times, too, these little things that we're dealing with, if you just ignore them, they're not a big problem to deal with anyway. I think we get in the especially a CEO who's really good at solving problems, you don't need to solve every problem. Every problem, it doesn't need to be solved. Sometimes things just work themselves out naturally, just let it unfold.

SPEAKER_00

That's so true. I mean, it's, you know, it can get to where we're hyper focused because a lot of times that is in the personalities that go in, it's just laser focused, and that's why they're good at what they do, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But it can be when we take the emotion out of it. And I think that's why there's such a benefit to having a third party, and especially in like a peer group type thing, where you have people that can see and they're not in the emotion of that. And it's like, hey, let's pull you out of that, pull you out of the weeds a little bit, and like, oh, okay, yeah, that is. And then you can think critically about it and then regulate yourself to where then you can make the right decision, which you probably already know, but you're so caught up in the emotion of it, you're not thinking clearly. So, yes, I mean that's that's great. I appreciate you sharing that. Anything else on like for I mean, from how you it sounds like you get up on a very, you know, specific time, you work out like how do you regulate yourself to be in a place that you're at the best of your game, whether you're chairing, whether you're coaching, whatever it looks like.

SPEAKER_01

Right now in my life, Cam, I'm 42. I have this thriving business and I have a family that's growing, my third child is due in less than two weeks. And so I know automatically that my life, where I'm at right now, my energy needs to be more masculine dominant. My wife is stays home. I have to be in this state of get up and take care of business. And so I put things in my life that gear me more towards that. I wake up every day, I work out from six to seven. I do a meditation practice called transcendental meditation. It's twice a day, it's a mantra meditation. I do that right after I work out. I like to read for about 15 to 20 minutes and then I get to work. That's like my morning flow, and that feels good for me. I feel like I've touched all the bases that I've got. I need to do that. But then I also am aware that I am in this more masculine state. And so what do I like to do to loosen up? And my favorite thing to do is dance. I love to put on house music and have a dance party at my house, go out dancing with my friends. And so every two months I have something on the books to go let loose and be a disco queen. And that's what feels good to me. Like, you know, I just know what I need, you know? And so I just put things in the in that world where I could loosen up the grip, access creativity, maybe do some art projects with my kids and we're painting that day. And just know that I'm touching into that world, not only to meet and do something fun with my kids, but to loosen up my grip and not have to think about what do I need to do and what needs to get done. Because that to me is that masculine sense. And it's great, but then sometimes it just goes too far and not everything needs to get done. And so how can I harmonize myself with that? And that's I kind of play the controls with myself and anything that I need. And just over the years, I've learned to give myself permission to give myself what I need.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's so good. I I needed to hear that today because I I feel like the pendulum had swung so far into just like logic, you know, I mean just like building stuff and like there's nothing wrong with that. And I think that's a good thing. But I felt that tension in my own home getting home where it's like that doesn't just shift out, you know, like you have to regulate that and give yourself permission. Like for me, like it is guitar. Like, I can't tell you the last time that I've just sat down and like worked on a song and like played guitar to like unwind all that, like, you know, tension, if you will. And so that's a really I mean I appreciate you sharing that just for my sake, but I think many people could tap into that, whichever side you're falling on. Um, it can be easy to tap into that. But dude, well, thank you so much for for coming on. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. I knew I would, uh, but it's always fun once you get in it. But I always like to ask guests two questions on kind of conclusion, right? So, first one is if you could look back to rookie Angelo just starting out, right? And you can take this from the chair, you can take this from coaching, however you want to take this. But say you're looking back, you have all the knowledge and experience and passion that you have now. What advice would you give yourself?

SPEAKER_01

Never stop making and committing to make making and creating good relationships. Like there is never an ending to this. If there's anything that I have saw in the coaching community that I think that gets stopped, is once you get your client load the way you want, you stop business development. And I just think that once that happens, you lose a couple clients, and all of a sudden you got to restart this wheel, and it's super hard. You are always making new connections. When someone mentions, hey, I should connect you with that guy. No, you go, great, let's go. Put that email together, put that text together. I want to meet him. You're always having windows where you are meeting new people, when you are connecting, and that you are helping other people, money or not. Like there that's always happening in your life. And I wish I remembered that because there have been times when I did business development until I got my client load up, and then the clients left, and then there was no business development, and then you got to restart it from scratch. But if it's already in your ecosystem, it's really easy to keep that moving.

SPEAKER_00

That is so easy to do. Just kind of push the gas when you need to. And then that flywheel, once it catches, it's running on its own. So if you keep it going and keep that momentum, when you tap into it, because you can always refer out of, hey, you know, I'm at capacity right now, but my so-and-so over here can 100% take care of you. And that's just continuing to put good into the world, which then comes back to you. So that's good, man. I appreciate you sharing that. And then, second question that I always like to ask is what is a lesson that you are in the middle of learning right now in this current moment?

SPEAKER_01

This idea of what patience really is. You know, I grew up, I was uh my my father was away for a long time. When I was five to sixteen, he was in prison, and my mother took care of us, and my grandmother took care of us. And I grew up the youngest Italian boy, and anyone knows Italian culture. I'm the prince. You know, I'm the spoiled baby that got whatever I wanted the minute I wanted it. And there was not a lot of talk about patience, and you know, and if there was, it was just kind of framed as this word of waiting, you know, patience is waiting, you know, and I never enjoyed it that way. And I this is the thing that I've just been working on is patience for me is learning to remove the idea of time altogether. Move the remove the construct of time. That's the problem with with your patience, is you think that you should play God and have a timeline for things, but you're out of your skis. Or Angelo, I am out of my skis. And things happen when they're supposed to happen, when you've done the right things, and not when you just think they should. And that is the dance for me is allowing this to happen and not feel like I'm falling behind or I'm behind or it's not enough, or any of that stuff that happens when impatience sets in. And so that's the biggest lesson for me that I'm dancing with.

SPEAKER_00

Man, I that's I appreciate you sharing. That's that's deep. Um, so I appreciate your vulnerability to share that because that is something that it's it's challenging. I mean, it's so, you know, especially when you are in that, you know, I mean, just go get it. I mean, it's like, ah, come on. Like, and then it can lead to a lot of of un you know tapped emotions that lead to. I I think there is playing God is such a great way to put that. And that perspective is is healthy to have of hey, I'm actually stepping out over what I need to here. And so I I appreciate you sharing that. That's good. Um, let's say someone wants to get in touch with you. Maybe they want to learn more about your your vestige group or you know, the coaching aspect or just wants to pick your brain on something. What's the best place to get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I would, you know, it's so funny. I think a few years ago I would say my website first, but honestly, I think LinkedIn, you know, there's this, you know, I've been posting regularly on LinkedIn now for the last year and a half, and I think that it gives people such an idea of what I'm thinking about, especially at that time, what's really what I'm doing and the people that I'm serving. And that gives you a better snapshot because there's so much there to look at. And so LinkedIn, I would say first, and then my website, siscoadvisors.com, second. I mean, it's there, but LinkedIn is an ongoing conversation that I think is just more relevant.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I'll put all that in the show notes for people to make it easy for them. But yeah, LinkedIn's one of those days. It's been fun to like look back, even sometimes some of the historicals of my posting, even some friends. It's like, oh yeah, I was definitely in that part of my journey during that time. You know, when I was talking about that, which is kind of fun. But yeah, it's it's a living, breathing community, which is really cool. So, um, but man, thank you for coming on. This has been great. I have enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for being the human that you are, the leader that you are, and challenging and encouraging everyone around you. Every time I have a conversation with you, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, every time I have a conversation with you, I leave challenged, encouraged, motivated to dive into whatever the next thing is. So you have that natural charisma, if you want to call it, whatever it is, but you have that impact on people. So please don't ever change because it has challenged me in a good way. So honored.

SPEAKER_01

Honored to be here with you, buddy. Appreciate you. Thank you so much for seeing me how I wish to be seen.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, absolutely, man. Well, thank you for watching and tuning in, and uh, we'll see you on the next one. That's it for today's episode of the Ambitious Coach Lab. My hope is that something here helps you sharpen your craft and keep building a coaching practice you're proud of. Before we wrap, a quick thank you to our sponsor, 90. If you're coaching leadership teams, having your clients run their entire world in 90 truly elevates your work. Vision, rocks, scorecards, issues, it all lives in one centralized place. The clarity keeps your clients aligned between sections and makes every conversation you have with them more focused and more impactful. I've used 90 with over 500 leadership teams, and I can tell you it makes great companies better and great coaches even more effective. Feel free to use promo code AC20 for 20% off. Again, that's AC20 for 20% off. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I'm Cam. Cheering you on as you grow your ambitious coaching practice. We'll see you next time.