Why Knowing Your Stuff Matters More Than Your Age | Dan Russell
Episode notes
Early on in his sales career, Dan received a $0 commission check. With a wife and kids at home to take care of, it was a moment that changed him forever…
Dan Russell is VP of National Sales at Trion Solutions, overseeing payroll, HR, and benefits for over a million employees across the globe. But before any of that, he was a mortgage banker trying to do right by his clients in an industry that stopped letting him.
In this episode we tackled:
→ Why Dan walked away from mortgage banking at its peak
→ What a $0 commission check teaches you that success never will
→ How Trion handled an employee dying on a client's floor in real time
→ Why asking for help is the most underrated skill in business
→ What community investment actually looks like when no one's watching
A huge takeaway from my time with Dan was that asking for help isn't a sign you don't have it together… it's how people who actually have it together got there.
Dan, thanks a ton for coming in and being so open about the hard moments. Appreciate you dude!
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction & Welcome
1:00 - What Dan Does at Trion Solutions
1:55 - How Dan's Company Got Acquired
2:49 - The Mortgage Banking Days
4:35 - The $0 Commission Check
5:43 - Why Dan Left Banking and Found PEO
8:20 - Sink or Swim: Learning a Brand New Industry
10:55 - Why You Have to Know Your Product
21:55 - What the Best Business Owners Have in Common
27:48 - When a Client Called About a Dead Employee
34:36 - Community Work: Covenant House and Beyond
38:45 - Homeless Youth and the "Lost Generation"
41:53 - Advice to His Younger Self
46:39 - Stop Trying to Do It Alone
47:07 - Why Starting Matters More Than Being Ready
49:39 - Gratitude as a Practice, Not a Feeling
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