Nathan Daniel: 0:02
Welcome back to be you and be real as we open up the next chapter, which is chapter six, where we're talking to Greg kettner. About the game changer. If you're ready, let's go. All right. I am extremely excited today because I have a very good friend of mine. That we have been. Greg, how long have we been? We've been doing our accountability session.

Greg Kettner: 0:46
Oh, COVID. A Year.

Nathan Daniel: 0:49
Yeah. So anyways, I got to meet Greg kettner in a networking group that were a part of, and all of a sudden, like we said, hey, let's be accountable to each other, and help each other grow and just show up for each other. And so we've been doing that now for over a year through COVID. So I'm excited to have you on man. Welcome to the show. It's good to be here. Thanks for having me, man. Glad to help you out. Yeah. Well, you know what, Greg is one funny, dude. And so before we get into this chapter of your life, I would love for you to tell everybody who is Greg kettner.

Greg Kettner: 1:23
This is me. I My name is Greg Kenner. I work with professional sports organizations, helping them talk about mental health at work, helping them increase the revenue lower their turnover by working happy. So I have a program called the work happy game plan. And that's what I do. And I love what I do. I'm I'm a dad, step kid. And I love to golf.

Nathan Daniel: 1:44
That's right. You love to golf. I always see your little previews in the morning and you're like, hey, like way to start the day, right? Get a couple of holes. So it's good. Most days are good Sunday. Well, Greg, Alright, so let's jump in. And let's hear about this chapter of your life that you titled The game changer. Tell us about it.

Greg Kettner: 2:04
Yeah, I was working for a software company. And we're down in Las Vegas. For our biggest event of the year, it was a sales kickoff 4000 people, we kind of overtook the world famous Bellagio hotel. And every year it was a week long of training, learning, socializing, networking, that sort of thing. But the highlight of the week was the awards banquet. And every year, it was a Wednesday night, they would hire an emcee, bring them in the house band that year was Lenny Kravitz. So it's a pretty big deal. And the number one salesperson, got to go home with a brand new Porsche, they walk in at Porsche dealership, pick up the car and go home. That was just a bonus. So it was a big deal. Because I was in there, I was at the back of the room sitting with 10 other people I hadn't met yet. And seven minutes in to the three hour that the emcee made a horrible derogatory comment about the first presenter. And he got fired seven minutes into three hour program. Well, the lights came on, they cut off the microphone, the band started playing, the room went silent. And I was at the back of the room going wow, sucks to be that dude. Because I've been doing stand up for about six months at that time. So I continue to eat my dinner and had another glass of wine. And about five minutes later, over the PA system. The voice said Ladies and gentlemen, we're so very sorry for what just happened. We want to apologize. But we also want to let you know we're going to be restarting the entire program in 15 minutes. If anyone knows where Greg kettner is, we need to talk to him. Oh, no, that's when I freaked out. Because I looked at my left and there's an exit door. And I looked to the right. Like it looked like a mile down was the stage massive stage. I said nothing. I was like I'm not I thought I was made that I actually thought I was fired. I was like who was I drinking with last night? And how much do I have? Why is the voice of God gonna call or the pieces of my name? So again, five minutes later said seriously, if anyone knows where Greg seated or a cell number is remember, we don't care. And that's when my friend Trevor came running over three tables or was like, do they want you to stand up comedy? was like, no, not here. There's 4000 people in life like I've been doing stand up comedy in pubs like for 20 people telling fart jokes. Yeah. So I was now out in so he's dragged me up to the stage. I get back there. And I said, Hey, I'm Greg, how can I help? They said we saw what just happened. I said, Yeah, I would hate to be that guy. And they said, Well, we need to go up and clean up the mess. We needed to go up to 15 minutes to stand up where you really funny. So we can get our bearings together and restart the program. And I thought you know what, if if I don't take this opportunities once in a lifetime, it is a game changer for me if I don't do it if I don't get up on stage, I'm not gonna have a story to tell my grandkids. I'm not gonna have a story for the be real be real podcast, right? So they're wire me up with a pallet bike, which I never had before. I'm freaking out. I can't remember any jokes or my name. And I was standing backstage is massive royal blue curtain. And the guy walked out to introduce me, said Ladies and gentlemen, again, we're so sorry for what just happened. But lucky for us, one of our very own is a very, very, very, very funny stand up comedian. At that point, I turned around, there was somebody else behind me. So he wanted me to stage I stumbled through this curtain into a standing ovation and blinding lights. I had no idea what I was doing. So I took a deep breath, I found the middle of the stage and I looked up at the audience, I said, Hello, my name is Greg cutter, and I can't do any worse than that guy. For eruption, it was so cool that because everybody's like, Oh my God, this guy's and then he just, I just That's what I said. I got that laugh and everything. You know, Jordan says when he's in the zone, I don't really have an extra 15 minutes. It was just I just started telling stories. So it was getting towards the end of the 15 minutes, I looked down at the prompter. They're like, yeah, three more minutes. So I was in sales. And I had this crazy idea. I had a captive audience. I just helped up the company. But I didn't hit my number for presidents club that year. And presidents will repeat your number with a $10,000 cruise through Turkey, Italy, Greece. So I said you know what? I'm sorry. I didn't hit my number. I apologize. But I'm kind of helping out the company tonight. Is there a way I get on the boat? No, shut up. In the sky for the front row stood up, watch the same shakes. My hand goes kid, you're on the boat. And I go, well, who are you? And he goes, I'm the president of SAP.

Nathan Daniel: 6:59
Oh, nice.

Greg Kettner: 7:01
Again, another standing ovation. And as I walked off the stage, I learned two lessons that night very valid blessings, which were a game changer for me. Number one always say yes. Even though you don't know what the hell you're gonna do. Yeah. And number two, always bet on yourself. Especially when you're in Vegas. Okay, so that night I was it was an absolute, I went into that banquet hall. You can have a good time, good steak dinner, a couple glasses of wine. And I walked out of there with a new, not a new lease on life, but a new idea that I never even thought I could achieve. Yeah.

Nathan Daniel: 7:35
You took advantage of an opportunity. Yeah, you took advantage of an opportunity. So before we go to the next phase, if you're okay with this, yeah, I'd like to dive a little bit deeper. Right. So you're sitting the back of the room. And all of a sudden you hear Greg getting to the stage, Greg getting to the stage. How did you feel in that moment? Like what? What was going on?

Greg Kettner: 7:59
I was it was fighter flight. I honestly, I saw that the next door that I walked into, I was like, Well, I don't gamble. Or I could go to the stage of gamble. Okay, but so I was sitting there thinking about it, like, what am I going to do? Like, I really love like, a guy doing stand up comedy for anybody who's done stand up or performing arts, like a sold out room where the Grand Ballroom 4000 people? Yeah. Like, I'm never gonna have that opportunity. I never will probably. Yeah. And, you know, it was it was my good friend, Trevor vilius. Who, who, who knew I could do it? Yeah, he had the belief in me, I, I didn't have as much belief as Trevor did. And so I'm thankful to have that he pulled me up on stage.

Nathan Daniel: 8:44
So somebody believed in you enough and said, you're gonna do this. And then you had a choice to make, which was fight or flight, right? You leave or go up on stage. And then of course, you end up going up on stage. But what was that moment? Like, tell me about the moment going through your head when you're like, I'm doing this, like, how did you get to that? That point?

Greg Kettner: 9:04
I you said, you know, it's just it's now or never, I always wanted to be I mean, we, my dad, we used to listen, Bill Cosby records. I mean, that's how old I am records.

Nathan Daniel: 9:15
Hey, they're coming back. I got a record player. It's all good.

Unknown: 9:18
So I always thought as a kid, I was like, man, if there's any way that I could make a living making people laugh. And, and it was at that moment, you know, Trevor's, like you got this. He goes, who cares? Who cares what you say? Who cares at the end? It's the fact that I took that leap of faith. And I I, and I don't know where it came from. I mean, it was definitely from Trevor. And I've just always had that. Alright, let's do it. What What, what else can happen? Like, you can't get any worse? What would the other guy had done? And so even when I walked out there, I said, I can't do any worse than that guy. I had the crowd the palm of my hand. I just started chatting with him. It was it was so effortless.

Nathan Daniel: 10:00
Effortless and instant,and you got to cruise out of the deal. So yeah. Like don't go into detail. But how is the cruise?

Unknown: 10:07
It was amazing. And then I got to perform. They go, well, we'll let you on the boat, but you have to do a real show. We want real jokes and everything. So I had about three months to plan for it. So every night I was going to the clubs and work on these jokes. And yeah, and some of them would land in some of the one because I was trying to write about the company. Yeah. And so I was going to perform, there was 800 seat theater, which was packed. And they said now opening for Joss Stone, Greg kettner. And Joss Stone is a Grammy Award winning singer. So here I am on the stage, I can still hear the band setting up behind the curtain and everything. And I looked down at the teleprompter again. Now there's other cruise ships somewhere in the middle Mediterranean. I said it's my clever privilege and pleasure to welcome Joss Stone to the stage. And then we partied with the band all night long. He was he was amazing evening.

Nathan Daniel: 11:01
That's awesome. So Well, what I took away from that is be willing to step out there, take your shots, right when that one shot open, opens itself up, take it and the power of one laugh cuz I think in that moment, that's kind of what I took away right then is just the power of one laugh and making the crowd you're like, you gotta you got him in that moment. So I love that. Alright, so if you're just tuning in, make sure you check this guy out. His name is Greg kettner. And we're opening a chapter with him and it's called the game changer. So, Greg, let's move on to the next phase of after that, right because something else happens, right? You got to meet somebody?

Unknown: 11:37
Yeah. Uh, so I got back from the cruise. I'm like, Okay, I got this. I'm going to be a millionaire within a month. Didn't happen. But I was doing an open mic. And this is when I really believed in myself that I could do it that Robin Williams said something to me. And I was like, Okay, I've got this. And that's when I stopped doing sales and started doing stand up comedy for the next six, seven years. But we're doing an open mic at this pub in Vancouver and Vancouver. They do a lot of films up there because of the dollar. The diversity and everything. Yeah. So there was two shows. It was a Tuesday night in Durban. Well. Seven o'clock show, which I was on was for the rookies, the nine o'clock was for the veterans. But they would take they would vote on who had the best show of the rookies, and they get open at the nine o'clock show. So we're always trying to do better and better. So I was halfway through my five minute set, tell him fart poop jokes on the door opened up and walk my hero rob the lines. In my head. I'm like, Oh, my God, that's often Williams. He sat down, ordered a beer and he laughed at my jokes. And I was like, I this is just amazing. So as I walked offstage, I thought, how am I going to be different than anybody else? That's walked up to rob lives and asked him for an autograph or asked for pictures and you're my favorite comedian. So I decided that I was going to pretend that I had no idea who he was. Oh, no. Okay, so I went and got a beer and I went, sat down beside him at the bar and kind of looked over me like Hey, man, how's it going? Totally. Like I had no idea. And where he from? He's like, odd from San Francisco. I'm just up here. Working on a movie. I was like, well, that's that's cool. Are you the sound guy? You do catering. He kind of looked at me like heckling john Goodman has no idea who I told. I said, Yeah, no, no, don't. He goes goodwill hunting Mrs. Doubtfire? Like not still nothing? Because Are you sure? Like, oh, you know, I just I'm totally messing with you. Do I know who you are. I'm a huge fan. I just want to see how you make you laugh. He said what he did. He goes, you're funny. And he goes, keep on doing what you do. Because you'll never know the difference you make in someone's life. You may never hear it again. You may never see them again. But one laugh can change someone's life. And I heard those words that night, but I didn't understand them. So after the show, it was time for nine o'clock show. And the guy running the room said, Hey, Rob, do you want to do some time? He said sure. He went up. He did two and a half hours. Wow. So when I was up there doing my five minutes, there were seven people in the bar, the bartender, the waitress and five comics. Yeah, no charge to get in. And now it's 250 people. The bouncers are charging 20 bucks to get in his line about the window. It was it was an amazing night and he just did two and a half hours of gold material. Wow. So after that, he said, Hey, thanks for making me laugh. And thanks for treating me like a regular person. I appreciate it. He goes where you want. I said I'd love to get a picture man. And he said, I appreciate Greg, I'll see you around. And that was it. Nice, but his belief for me, combined with the fact that I just finished Vegas like three or four months before going I can do this so like, you pray young guys that now quit my job and start doing stand up.

Nathan Daniel: 15:06
Yeah. Well what an exciting opportunity, right? Like, all of a sudden your hero walks in the back door. Now you could see him on stage like from stage you saw? Yeah, I can totally see. I would have had like a total freeze moment, like, totally wrong or something. But okay, so then you sit down with him, you have this great conversation, and you kind of mess with him a little bit. But I love I love what, what he said to you and what kind of what I took away from this as you never know how laughter can change your life. Yeah, you know, and I know he was such a funny guy. And I've heard so many stories about him and everything, but I always remember I can't remember the name of the movie right now. It just bounced off my head, but whatever. He's the doctor, right? Oh, yeah. Patch Adams, Patch Adams. Yeah. And just the whole the whole Patch Adams thing like, make somebody laugh. laughter is contagious. And it's it actually helps. So that's so cool. Yeah.

Greg Kettner: 16:03
As a gracious human being, it's sad, you know, that he had, he started to lose his team this as well. Right. Yeah. And it's just it's sad that someone that carrying in that kind died that way. But he was here the light to many people. And he gave me the confidence to I mean, yeah, sure, Vegas was was a big boost. But it's different. When you're here says, You know what, you're funny. Keep doing what you're doing. Oh, for sure.

Nathan Daniel: 16:28
I mean, somebody at that level, right, the genie. I mean, come on. Now. The genie looks at you and says keep doing what you're doing. tells you to do something even better. Alright, so so let's let's go on. There's one more element to this game changer. Chapter. Yeah. So let's, let's touch on this last piece. And I want everybody to stick around and listen to this, because this is good.

Greg Kettner: 16:52
Yeah, no. So again, that night, I heard what he said, I keep making people laugh, because you never know the difference you make. But about a year and a half later, I understood what he meant. And I was doing a show I was it was my own show was in the hotel lobby bar. So it was every Thursday night. And I was emceeing the show. So when the emcee do the first five or 10 minutes, the ring, five guys up HD five, and the headline goes a half hour. So after the first guy, I brought him up, I saw this father and son walk and they sat down in the front row, cross their arms, ordered a beer, or not smiling, put their feet on the stage, just not good body light. And so I talked to him a little bit that they seem kind of frumpy, grumpy, whatever. And, and in my head, I thought, you know what, instead of getting laughs, I'm going to give laughs I'm going to make these do whatever I have to do. I'm going to make these guys laugh. That's legal. And so, you know, I started talking a little bit then at one point, I said, Hey, bartender, can you get these two guys another round of beers and put her on their tab? Which got a chuckle out of them. Right that, finally that we got it? We got to hold it down? Yeah. Well, the time the headliner got up there laughing and having a good time, throw their head back laughing in a regular part of the show. So afterwards, I always like to go to the audience and talk to them where they come from, how they hear about it. They have fun, blah, blah, blah. So I started talking to these two guys. I said, Hey, how'd you hear about the show? And they said, Well, this is the first time we've come. We've been living in a hotel for the past eight weeks. I said, Oh, are you like, Okay, are you moving here? And they said, No. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. And so my son and I've been staying in the hotel, she's been in the hospital across the street. And we've been meaning to come. But every day we go to the doctor appointments, we visit with her and we're so drained, we come home, we fall in the bed. And I said, Well, thanks for coming out tonight. I said how how's your mom doing? And the kid looked at me had with tears in his eyes. He said, mom passed away this morning, man, and my heart just stopped. I, here's two strangers. I'm starting to tear up. And three dudes, after coffee Sure, stand around drinking a beer and crying because this kid's mom and his wife had died. So finally, the dad said, You know what, Greg, thank you so much for making us laugh tonight, because it's the first time in eight weeks that me and my son have almost felt normal. And that's when it hit me. Robin once told me a year and a half earlier. You'll never know the difference you make in someone's life. Because he made him laugh. And I've I've kept that. And that's what fuels me. And now every day, I built my business around making people happy. Happy at work, happy at home, because there's nothing better than if we're laughing and having a good time but we're not always going to be happy. I mean, happy A utopia, right but being fulfilled when the more happy you are, the more film that we have, the more we can share with her family and friends and to me, but yeah, those three stories and kind of all interconnected, and the power of one laugh, right?

Nathan Daniel: 20:14
You never know. You never know well, and that that's just what I took away from that when you never know the impact that you'll make in somebody else's life. And I love what you said, and you flipped it instead of getting laughs You were giving laughs and it was your mission that night to give them a laugh no matter what, you know, to take them from sitting back in their chair with their arms crossed all of a sudden they're engaged. Yeah. And laughing. Yeah. You know, and give them a little bit of peace, because I'm sure it was an extremely rough period of time in their life. And yeah, that's, that's, that's good. But you never know. Right?

Greg Kettner: 20:48
I mean, you never know. And, you know, some days when I'm having a rough day, I think back to that, right. Yeah. I mean, what's it been like for them? But how good I felt. Not because I gave last but because we connected on a whole different level. Yeah. Well,

Nathan Daniel: 21:01
I mean, I think back to like, at the end of that story, at the end of that particular part of this chapter, where all of a sudden you're up there and they tell you that Oh, yeah. She just passed away. Like, in that moment, was there like panic? Or was there like, like, how did you respond?

Greg Kettner: 21:19
I just, I'm so sorry. And I felt guilty because, you know, when they weren't laugh at beginning, like, what are these two guys sitting here? Drinking an orphan. But you know, we never we never know the other person's story. And that's what I love about what you're doing with a be you be real. If we don't share stories, nobody's gonna know.

Nathan Daniel: 21:36
That's it. You know, that's exactly it. So don't judge other people just because they're not they're not as in the state of mind that you expect everybody to be. You can't judge a book by its cover. Oh, yeah. There's a whole chapter on that. Yeah. Well, this is awesome. Like, Greg, thank you so much for being on the show. This has been an amazing, amazing chapter. If you're if you're just tuning in here at the end, we've been talking to Greg kettner. And we've been talking about his chapter that he is titled, The Game changer. So Greg, thank you for being on the show. If somebody wants to connect with you best way to do it on your website,

Unknown: 22:12
website, or my email is Greg@GregKettner.com but also to Nathan, thank you so much for this past year. It's great to have a guy successful like you a great mentor, holding me accountable and we hold each other accountable. And, and we've had happy days we've had happy conversations we've had what the hell conversation? Yeah. But overall, the continuum, right, it's it. Oh, what you're doing with a Be You and Be Real is is amazing. And everybody needs more of it.

Nathan Daniel: 22:39
Yeah. Well, thank you for being on the show. Thank you for your friendship. And thank you. Thank you for the laughs All right, yeah. Awesome. We'll catch you later, Greg. Alright. Thanks, David. Well, everybody you've been tuning in, we talked to Greg Kepner and chapter six talking about the game changer. And so my challenge to you this week after hearing Greg's story, go make somebody laugh. All right. Always remember as we go into the next chapter, we'll see on the next episode, but be you and be real. We'll catch you later.