Justin Guarini, Singer, Coach, Speaker, Author, Profit Under Pressure LLC
Justin Guarini is a sought-after coach, best selling author, and speaker. As the creator of the Unshakeable "Core" Confidence method and CEO/Founder of Profit Under Pressure LLC, he serves an ever-growing list of coaches, leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs who come to him seeking brand development, confidence coaching, and the next level of achievement and success in their businesses.
In addition to his work with business leaders, Justin has spent almost 30-years on the international stages and screens, including The first season of American Idol, where he performed in front of 30 million live television viewers week in and week out; starring roles in 6 Broadway productions; as well as his wildly popular character "Lil' Sweet" as seen on national Diet Dr Pepper commercials in America.
Justin's work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Live! with Kelly & Ryan, Good Morning America, and shared the stage with some of today's biggest names in business, coaching, and marketing.
What types of things do you think contribute to success or failure?
I think one of the biggest things that will contribute to either your success or your failure is knowing yourself, being able to be open, and vulnerable, and honest with yourself. Without the foundation of truth in your life, in the relationship you have with yourself, I feel like there can't be any success without it. A person who is willing, to be honest with themselves about their weaknesses, as well as their strengths, is a person who can overcome anything.
And so in a world today that offers us an infinite number of opportunities to disconnect from ourselves, to disconnect from a vision of the future, to disconnect from our truth, those of us who can sit back and be honest with ourselves stand the best chance of creating success and avoiding the kind of failure that we've had in the past and that many of the people who have the shiny social media pages tend to fall into overtime.
What is something that a mentor said to you that stayed with you and made a difference in your life?
One of my greatest mentors, a man by the name of Myron Golden, said to me, "When you recognize that everyone you come in contact with sees you not through their eyes, but they see you through your eyes, you'll realize how important having confidence is, how important trusting yourself is, how important a vision of yourself that is healthy and whole is". That completely changed my life. Because I realized, "oh my goodness, I am the author of my own story". And I'm the author of the story that other people see and read in me.
What is something that you do in order to take care of yourself?
I have a morning routine. That is one of the greatest assets in my life is a morning routine. Most people go to work, or to school, or to their lives outside of their home, seeking victory. When you have a morning routine, you claim your own victory before you go out into the world. So you don't need to seek out a victory. You claim your own victory; you set yourself up for success. Everything else that happens outside of that is just icing on the cake.
What are some of the methodologies and practices you use to relax, unwind, and maintain your mental wellness?
The first thing I have to tell myself is that I am not a machine. I cannot work 24/7. My brain likes to go 24/7. But I must make time to unplug, and to rest and to relax, first and foremost. Part of my morning routine is meditation. I do a 15-minute guided meditation. I know that I am the ablest when I give myself time to recharge and refill. And that might just be simple as spending a little bit of time alone, taking a little walk, playing a video game, doing anything other than serve, serve, serve, go, go, go, go, give, give, give, do, do, do, right?
That's really it. It's just making time, daily. And I'm not perfect about it. Making time daily! Where I say, "I need. This is my time, the 30 minutes, whatever it is. This is my time and my space." And if anybody encroaches on that space, to politely make it clear that I cannot be, this is it. This is my walled garden, and don't step in here. Having two dogs, three children could be a challenge, right? But, yeah. That really helps the most. And I'm lucky that I have an office here that's right down the street from my house because I haven't been here in almost two weeks.
What do you think has helped you through some of the most mentally challenging situations you've been in?
A vision that was bigger than me. And the recognition that, instead of asking God to do it for me, asking God to do it through me. And to ask to be a vessel. How can I be a vessel for your grace? I don't know if I have consciously asked for those things. I do now. But I think consciously asking, learning how to consciously ask to be a vessel for his grace. Because asking that question leads me to answers that serve not only me but serve my family, serve my people, my tribe, people that I want to serve. And leads me to make better choices in general.
How can I be a vessel for your grace? It automatically says, how can I make myself more worthy, to literally become. How can I become worth more? That's it. That's the question. That's the question that's got me. How can I be worth more in my physical body? How can I be worth more in my relationships and supportive to my wife, my children, my family? How can I be worth more, spiritually, by again delving into how it is that I can become a vessel for his grace? And how it is that I can undo the knots and the blocks and the barriers and turn my face more towards Him? And then, how can I be worth more, financially, by making better choices? How can I be worth more in terms of giving of my time and my energy? How can I be worth more when it comes to making, keeping, growing, and giving money? And those are not easy questions to answer. That, in of itself, can create some mental challenges. But I think that. And it's interesting that you asked me that question because I've never answered that question before. But that really is the essence at the heart of it, of what has gotten me through all of it.
What do you say to men about maintaining their mental wellness, especially those concerned that it could make them appear to be weak? How do we encourage them to take care of themselves?
I was raised by a generation of men who were taught, trained, and educated that emotions equal weakness. Emotions equal indecision. And those men were in turn raised by men who were sent to war, who were taught, trained and educated that emotions would get you killed. And those showing emotions, and emotional life, was a weakness. Now here we are in 2021, and with all the changes that have happened in the past 20 months, much less virtually, eighty-five years since my father was born. A Black man in the South, by the way. I've come to recognize that pain shared is pain divided. And instead of emotional life, instead of emotions being a weakness, now emotions are the keys to our freedom. Like I said, pain shared is pain divided. And when we come to recognize that pain is a necessary part of life, however, suffering is optional.
Pain is necessary. And not just human life, but the pain in terms of the seed that is planted into the ground; it must crack open, and it must dig its way down, and it must then dig its way up and struggle and strain and painfully find the sun; painfully go towards the nutrients. Yet, suffering is optional. So, pain is this thing that happens in life. Suffering comes from how we deal with the things that have happened in life. And so when we recognize that men of a certain generation were forced to be stuck into this pain and suffering karmic loop, of pain and suffering, pain and suffering. I will have pain, and because I cannot share that pain, I will suffer, and I will suffer so much that it brings me right back around to make choices that cause me more pain, which then catches me in this loop of pain and suffering, pain and suffering, pain and suffering, pain and suffering. But, when we realize that suffering is optional and that pain shared is pain divided, then we see an outlet. And we see now that pain gives us the opportunity via a vulnerability, via mental health and wellness techniques and initiatives, that pain does not become something that leads to suffering; it becomes something that leads to purpose.
And if you think about the most successful people on the planet, they all felt pain, and they all chose to allow that pain to guide them to their purpose. Oprah was told she was too fat to be on television. She allowed that pain to guide her to live a more purpose-driven life. Martin Luther King, the pain of watching his people and our people, strung up to trees, allowed him to seek out a purpose. But it doesn't stop there. Because that pain leads to our purpose, which then leads us down the path to the promise of our lives. So I think, as I'm just kind of thinking of this and doing it as we speak. When we can see the larger picture, instead of the cyclical nature of pain and suffering, and pain and suffering, when we see that pain actually leads us to the promise that we have been promised for our lives. Then that bigger picture allows us to say, "oh, instead of being caught in the cyclical nature of pain and suffering, I can take my pain and bridge suffering through mental wellness, through meditation, through prayer, through treatment and talk therapy, through just sharing my emotions and my feelings with the people that I love in a way that is vulnerable and open".
Because that leads me to understand the purpose because pain happens, it happens for a reason. But that pain drives us towards our purpose if we know how to leverage it. And that purpose then, that purpose-driven life, drives us down the path to the promise of our lives. Because each of us is here for a reason, to fulfil a promise. It meant to be a facet of His grace, ultimately, right? I believe it. That each of us serves a purpose, and that purpose is part of His promise to us that we will continue to grow and to have that life everlasting.
You know, that sort of story, life afterlife. But, life is the continuation of, and, ultimately, hopefully, the breaking of, the generational curses that plague so many men, especially men of a certain age or colour. And it's how we overcome a lot of the failures of the past, right? But, again, it's that formula. And I know I've gone on here, and God bless you for transmogrifying all of this. But it's that pain leading to the purpose which then leads you down the path to the promise. Ultimately, the formula, if we can get more people to understand that and dig into that and find their own algebra inside of it, I think it will go a long way towards overcoming a lot of the old world mentality of pain and suffering, being caught in the loop of pain and suffering. That's it. (With laughter).
What do you say to our teenagers out there about what "mental wellness" is and why they need to start thinking about it, even in their teens?
I think teenagers know exactly what "mental wellness" is. I think teenagers now are more intelligent, more equipped, and more able than at any other time in history. I have so much faith in my teenager, who's 16, and her friends. They are far and away ahead of anything I could have ever dreamed of being as a teenager, and many of the people that I know could have dreamed of being. And in that wonderful situation, there is an inherent danger, though. And it's the danger of not recognizing the power that they truly have.
Just the phone in their hands, alone, has the power to completely change the world. Each individual who owns a smartphone has the power to influence and change the world. That's not an exaggeration. My question would be, how are you using that power for good today? It's easy to get on there and show your fanny and dance to some things, and that has its place; no judgements. It's also very easy to get on there and to tear another person down or another group of people down. But my question is, with the power you are given, the immense power you are given, just with a phone and access to social media, what's one thing you can do every day to help support not only your mental health and wellness but the mental health and wellness of your community?
Do the TikTok dances. Do all that. Great. Lovely. There's nothing wrong with being born with a cellphone in your hand and being born into social media, and being born into the desire for viral exposure. Good for you. But, is there a way that you can continue to support the conversation of mental wellness? A gift! That you are given. The understanding of, in mass quantity, so much more than we were. Is there a way that you can integrate that into your daily desire for world dominance? (laughter)
What's your fondest memory of your teenage years?
My fondest memory of my teenage years was being outside a lot and playing sports. I spend so much of my time inside now, whether that's inside a theatre or inside my office or inside on a stage. I really loved playing sports outside. That was my favourite thing. So I just try as much as I can to get outside, and play, and stay active, and to do crazy things like obstacle course races and things that push my body, right? Because, I mean, I'm 42. But I don't feel like I'm 42. And I certainly don't act like it. And so, I just want to get outside and play as much as possible. (Laughter).
What does confidence mean to you, and why are you so passionate about it?
Yep. The root word of confidence is confiding, which means to trust. And so, when we don't have self-confidence, it means we don't trust ourselves. And so, my aim, my desire, my goal is to help people to learn how to trust themselves again. And trust themselves more deeply and more profoundly than they ever have in their life. Because, when you recognize that everyone who comes into your life doesn't see you through their eyes, they see you through your eyes, you'll realize that when you don't have confidence, aka self-trust, you're literally telling everyone you come in contact with that they can't trust you!
But, what's the cost? Business. If you don't have confidence, you are literally telling the people you're trying to get into business with that they can't trust you. And you'll eventually show them. If you don't have confidence, AKA self-trust, you're literally telling someone you're trying to have an intimate relationship with that they can't trust you. When you don't trust yourself, you make bad food choices, and you make bad fitness choices. When you don't trust yourself, you make bad money choices because you don't trust yourself to do the right thing with the money, and you don't even trust the right thing is going to work.
That is why confidence is so vital, especially now since the entire globe has been tilted on its axis. We have learned, been taught, trained, and educated that we can't even trust the air we breathe. So, trust, for me, is a huge component to helping us not only get back to where we were before the world completely tilted on its axis. But to help us all get beyond, as a society of human beings, to go beyond the places that have and the challenges that have held us back, when it comes to not trusting ourselves when it comes to making bold decisions when it comes to achieving that next level of our lives and serving at the highest level.
And so, I am so excited to be writing a book right now called "Unbreakable Confidence", and uh, I've developed a framework, uh, around that where its four "C's" applied to the four "keys" of life. And so, inside this book, there's going to be that formula. There's going to be a way to work through and to go deeper into that formula and understanding for your life. And I'm just; I'm super excited. I'm almost done.
I'm getting there. I'm getting there. It's just been such an interesting journey for me. And I realize that everything that I've done that I do in my mentorship and my coaching has boiled down to people's confidence. And helping them either find it in themselves or take what confidence they have and develop it further and take it to the next level, so that they can achieve the things that they want so that they can fulfil the promise of their lives.
What do you say to the young people out there who are dreaming of having an album or performing on Broadway? How do they do what Justin does?
Now more than ever, there are more opportunities to get your message out there. In the palm of our hands, we have access to the world via social media, via platforms that will allow us to get our voices and our message and our image out to the world for free! Or for a very, very, very small investment. But, before we do that, I always love to take a step back and say to aspiring singers, aspiring artists, aspiring entertainers: look, the more you have the end vision, your vision, the end goal in mind, the easier your journey will be.
So, for example, a thing I love to say is, if I were a record executive and you wanted to be a singer, and I just came up to you on the street and said, "kid, you got it. I want to give you a $1,000,000 record contract. But, first, you need to tell me what clothes you're going to wear. Well, before that, who's your audience? How old are they? Where do they shop? What kind of other artists do they listen to? What do they hang out on social media? And then you, what's your story? Why should anyone care about your story?" Because look at the big names, right? They've all got a back story. They all came from somewhere, went through some challenges.
It's a formula, and it works, right? I'm not saying it has to be fake. But why should anyone care about your story? What is your story? Do you know your story? Could you tell people where you came from, the struggles you've been through? Why do you sing the songs you sing? What do they mean to you? What is your message that you're trying to get out to people? Great. Good. What clothes are you going to wear? What is your social media going to look like? Right? So, the more that you understand the end goal, the vision, and the package, and the more that you understand marketing and advertising and business.
Because guess what, it's not "show" friendship; it's not "show handout", it's not "show good time", it's not "show they'll do it for you", it's "show business". So, the more you understand the business of "show" and then understand yourself as a business, the more equipped you will be to "ROCK IT" past the million other people who are trying to do what it is that you're trying to do. Right? And so, really, that's it.
I come to the answer inside of the actual answer of the question. But, really, it's just understanding yourself as a business and understanding the business of "show". And that is a lifelong pursuit. The younger you can start with the mentality of "I am a business. And I must run myself, accordingly and educate myself, accordingly". Man, people who get that will skyrocket past the 999,999 other people who think that they are just going to get discovered.