Mark J. Silverman on Leadership, Addiction, and Rising Strong

From living out of his truck at 27 to generating over $90 million in tech sales, Mark J. Silverman’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and real leadership. In this powerful episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Mark opens up about addiction, long-term sobriety, ADHD, fear, faith, and what it truly means to lead with presence and humanity.

Mark shares how listening to guidance changed his life, why fear never disappears, and how meditation, structure, and self-awareness have shaped his success as a coach, author, and speaker. He also dives into writing best-selling books with ADHD, navigating leadership as a spiritual practice, and why helping even one person makes it all worth it.

This is an honest, inspiring conversation for leaders, entrepreneurs, creatives, and anyone rebuilding their life with purpose.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Conversations with Rich Bennett
• 1:46 Mark’s background and leadership journey
• 2:28 Living out of a truck and asking for help
• 4:47 Addiction, sobriety, and early recovery
• 7:09 Losing the brother who saved his life
• 9:46 Faith, spirituality, and the 12-step mindset
• 11:12 Debtors Anonymous and financial awakening
• 15:24 Entering tech sales and rapid career growth
• 20:00 ADHD, focus, and writing Only Tens
• 24:48 Coaching senior executives
• 26:01 Launching The Rising Leader Podcast
• 31:29 Meditation and grounded leadership
• 33:08 Writing books with ADHD
• 38:12 What’s next in life and leadership
• 44:33 The biggest myth about success
• 46:10 Advice to his 27-year-old self
• 48:09 Silencing head trash
• 50:42 The core value guiding his life
• 52:00 Closing and sponsor acknowledgments

Transcript

Wendy & Rich 0:01
Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios, Hartford County living presents Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

I love you guys! 

You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're a bad guy! You're good! You're a bad guy! 

Rich Bennett 0:29
Generating over $90 million in sales for high-growth tech startups, Mark J. Silverman's journey is nothing short of extraordinary. But his story isn't just about financial success. It's about resilience, reinvention, and redefining what true leadership looks like. Mark has transformed personal adversity into a mission, helping high achievers become effective grounded leaders who could thrive under pressure without losing sight of their humanity. Today, he's a best-selling author, speaker, executive coach, and host of the rising leader podcast, which you have to listen to, where he equips leaders with tools for clarity, presence, and purpose. His book only tends 2.0 has sold over 75,000 copies and he released the rising leader handbook to take his message even further. So I'm going to let him get on me right away, because before we even started interviewing, I don't know where my mind's at today, but I've been calling him Mike. So, Mark, first of all, I want to apologize and welcome to the show. 

Mark J Silverman 1:46
That's great to hear 

Rich Bennett 1:52
your. I knew you were going to give me back somehow or another. Hey, that's all right. I was, this ain't no lie. This was recent. I had an author on, second time he was on. Good conversation, he's like, thanks a lot, Bob. 

Mark J Silverman 2:08
I'm sorry, this isn't the Tim Ferris podcast. 

Rich Bennett 2:12
Yeah, I wish. All right. So, I want to go back to when you were 27 and live an out of your truck. What was the turning point that shifted you from survival mood to rebuilding your life? 

Mark J Silverman 2:28
Borrowing money from my brother. It was that simple. Someone actually asked me the other day, there was actually a potential client who was going through my, he went through my biography, and he asked me what the catalyst was for each change and the catalyst for every change, every growth that I've had was someone coming into my life and making a suggestion and me grabbing on with both hands. So it was my brother. I was calling my brother and saying, listen, I need, I need some money. I'm like, I got no food. I got no place to stay. Can you wire me some money? And this was 1989. So, there was no vent. Oh, there 

Rich Bennett 3:05
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 3:05
was. So, he's like, sure. Oh, 

Rich Bennett 3:08
good old 

Mark J Silverman 3:08
Western 

Rich Bennett 3:08
Western, 

Mark J Silverman 3:10
you used some money. But why don't you come to Washington DC? I own a bunch of restaurants. I come here and borrow the money and regroup and all that. And I'm like, I can't come to Washington DC. I'm in Seattle. I think I was in either Portland or Seattle when I called him and 

Rich Bennett 3:25
wow. 

Mark J Silverman 3:26
he said, I said, I can't. He says, you've been driving all around the country living in your truck, come to Washington DC. I had driving west. The thing I didn't know was, and we'd need one of us knew is you have to, you can only wire money to a specific when Western Union office. And I can only make phone calls on payphones, call and collect. So we never, I was never able to get the money. So I drove across the 

Rich Bennett 3:51
Oh, 

Mark J Silverman 3:51
country. 

Rich Bennett 3:51
wow. 

Mark J Silverman 3:51
The only money I had was on a Unicol 76 card, which was a gas station. 

Rich Bennett 3:56
Oh, my God. So 

Mark J Silverman 3:57
I got gas and eight at Unicol 76 stations. And came to Washington DC and found my brother's house. And when I landed here, he said, okay, you can stay with me, but you need to go to AA with me and my friends, me, AA and NA and you're going to take college classes and you're going to go to the gym and you're going to run with us. And I'm like, I got no place to go. I got no. And it turned out that my brother was several years sober. And he had a whole sober group of friends because my brother dealt with addiction also. So I got right from the start. I got in the middle of a group of people who had good sobriety and we're putting their lives together. So that was, that was, again, a miracle I had, I wouldn't have thought of any of that for myself. 

Rich Bennett 4:47
Right. A couple of things that, that I picked up on, number one, you did something that a lot of people don't do, especially if they're in addiction. And that was. going in with both hands and listening to that suggestion. Because a lot of people want, a lot of people, I guess they feel like it's their pride or whatever gets in the way, which to me, no, no, no, no, no, that ain't your pride getting in the way. That's because you don't want to, you're scared of something. So I commend you for that. And I didn't realize you were in addiction. Is that what led you to living in the truck? 

Mark J Silverman 5:25
But that ends some, some life choices and getting 

Rich Bennett 5:29
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 5:29
thrown out of where I was living and 

Rich Bennett 5:32
Wow. 

Mark J Silverman 5:32
then losing my jaw. Yeah, so it was a it was a perfect storm of, of, of, of, of, of losership. 

Rich Bennett 5:40
So was it just alcohol or alcohol and drugs? 

Mark J Silverman 5:44
Drugs drugs was a big part of my, my story, but it was alcohol at, you know, at the time. 

Rich Bennett 5:50
At your recovery now? 

Mark J Silverman 5:52
36 years. 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Really? Well, congratulations. First of all, man, I should have had you on 

Mark J Silverman 6:00
September first, 

Rich Bennett 6:01
in September. We 

Mark J Silverman 6:02
September first, 

Rich Bennett 6:02
hit. 

Mark J Silverman 6:02
1989 was when I got sober. 

Rich Bennett 6:05
Oh, real? Okay. Yeah. We just did a big pod of time for recovery. In, in September, we had, um, to raise money for a local learn profit here to help women and we, 

Mark J Silverman 6:14
oh, amazing. 

Rich Bennett 6:15
So we did 12 days straight talking to 12 different women. Good luck. Well, you know, 12-step program. Um, but yeah, we, God, I, well, I'm sure you know, I mean, you're a living it, but then some of these stories I hear, I, it, you'll, it'll bring tears to your eyes. You'll laugh and you'll, it opens your mind up. And I have to commend, uh, God, you and all these other people that just talk about it because a lot of people are free to and it helps. You're helping others and that's a big thing. 

Mark J Silverman 6:50
You just, you just from 

Rich Bennett 6:51
guess it's, 

Mark J Silverman 6:51
me today. You just, I didn't didn't realize today is the three year anniversary of my brother's death who got me sober. And he died of addiction. He couldn't say, say after 

Rich Bennett 7:02
oh, 

Mark J Silverman 7:02
he got me sober, he couldn't stay sober. And he died three years ago today. Uh, and, 

Rich Bennett 7:09
um, 

Mark J Silverman 7:09
yeah, and the thing that I learned is there, but for the grace of God, go, I write, like, why did I get sober? And he didn't. Uh, 

Rich Bennett 7:17
right. 

Mark J Silverman 7:18
And, you know, and, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a coach. I'm, I'm good at helping people. And I talk to him every single day before I die, 

Rich Bennett 7:26
Mm-hmm. 

Mark J Silverman 7:26
and I still couldn't help him stay sober. He had a great group of friends and all that. So, so yeah, it's, I don't know, I don't know how much of it is your own will and how much of it is grace. I don't know what it is. And I don't really care. I'm just grateful that my kids never saw me drink. 

Rich Bennett 7:44
Right. Now is this your brother that you talked to that brought you out to? 

Mark J Silverman 7:48
Yes, he's the one who got 

Rich Bennett 7:57
it. That's hard. I mean, I lost my older brother who he was my idol and my best friend. And that was, that was one, that was the hardest death I ever 

Mark J Silverman 8:11
with. 

Rich Bennett 8:11
dealt 

Mark J Silverman 8:11
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 8:12
But I know he's still here because there's times where I'll do something wrong and I'll feel him smacking me in the back of the head tell me straight nothing and all that. So, um, God, holy cow. So with, you moved out here, out here. People like people know where I 

Mark J Silverman 8:30
live. 

Rich Bennett 8:31
Ah, so you moved out to the 

Mark J Silverman 8:33
coast. 

Rich Bennett 8:34
Yeah, you moved to the east coast. So you're out here in DC. And what was it when you finally got out of the truck? What was it that you started doing to really help turn you into AA meetings to help turn 

Mark J Silverman 8:46
life on. 

Rich Bennett 8:46
your 

Mark J Silverman 8:46
So I went to AA meetings and AA meetings. All my friends were in recovery. I got it. I got a job at the four seasons in Georgetown. So I waited tables. I was able to get health insurance by working at a hotel, started taking college classes and just, you know, rinse, wash, and repeat. And I did everything I could to be a good, because I, again, I had the self worth of the bottom of 

Rich Bennett 9:08
a shoe. Right. 

Mark J Silverman 9:10
And I kind of wanted, like, I wanted to make up and redeem myself for being such a shit. And so I remember there was a woman in the program and said, you know, Mark, will know I noticed about you, your t-shirts and your sneakers are so white. How do you get them so white? Wow. And that was a metaphor for I was just trying to be good, just be good, just be good, just be good. 

Rich Bennett 9:33
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 9:34
Right. Don't fuck up. Don't fuck up. Don't fuck up. And, and so that, that was my first several years in the program was just doing my best not to screw up. 

Rich Bennett 9:46
Wow. I'll take it or you keep mentioning God. How was your faith before the recovery before you? 

Mark J Silverman 9:57
It was strong. It was actually really, really strong. I had a, a deep personal relationship with all things 

Rich Bennett 10:04
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 10:04
spiritual. And 

Rich Bennett 10:05
Good. 

Mark J Silverman 10:06
then when I got sober, that's changed over the decades. But it's still the number one most important thing in my life is my, you know, I won't call it any denomination. One of my sons is a rabbi, but I don't, like, spiritual spirituality and a connection to some sort of source is the most and that keeps me sane. 

Rich Bennett 10:35
Well, and I mean, that's all, and correct me if I'm wrong, because we still got to do an episode about this, but that's all part of the 12-step program in A-A. And an NA is different. 

Mark J Silverman 10:47
No, NA is narcotics anonymous. Still same, same 12 steps. They're just just a little bit of a different focus. 

Rich Bennett 10:54
That's, I mean, the focus is a 

Mark J Silverman 10:56
different. 

Rich Bennett 10:56
little bit 

Mark J Silverman 10:57
Okay, 

Rich Bennett 10:58
okay, I'm, again, this is something that, because we talk about it a lot, but I don't even know what the program is. And me and my one co-husure, talking about that, it's like that's, that's an episode that we need to, 

Mark J Silverman 11:12
yeah, I went to Deter's Anonymous and got myself out of debt. Like I, I use 12-step programs to learn all kinds of new life skills. 

Rich Bennett 11:21
Wait a minute, there's a 

Mark J Silverman 11:22
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 11:22
debtor's an "A". I'm not 

Mark J Silverman 11:23
debtor's an 

Rich Bennett 11:23
at 

Mark J Silverman 11:23
"A" 

Rich Bennett 11:24
random. 

Mark J Silverman 11:24
debtor's anonymous is a game changer. Nothing, nothing I'll grow you up faster than going to debtor's anonymous. 

Rich Bennett 11:30
I didn't know that was a 

Mark J Silverman 11:31
It's 

Rich Bennett 11:31
thing. 

Mark J Silverman 11:32
totally a thing. 

Rich Bennett 11:33
How did you find out about that? 

Mark J Silverman 11:35
My fiance at the time, we were getting married, my fiance at the time, was going to debtor's anonymous, and she, she found out how much debt I was carrying. She said, you should come to meetings, I'm like, I don't need that. Like that's craziness. And then I went to that because I make you cut up your credit cards. And I... 

Rich Bennett 11:53
Oh, oh, 

Mark J Silverman 11:54
Credit cards, credit cards were my, you know, I was homeless, credit cards were my safety. And when 

Rich Bennett 12:00
right. 

Mark J Silverman 12:00
I cut up my credit cards, that's when my adult life began. 

Rich Bennett 12:05
Interesting. 

Wow. Are explained to everybody because there are especially younger people that probably don't understand, but why... I'm just going to say it. I've got to feel like I'm watching Bobby Boucher in "The Water Boy" here, but explain why credit cards are the devil. 

Mark J Silverman 12:29
The credit cards aren't the devil, but again, 

Rich Bennett 12:32
It can't 

Mark J Silverman 12:32
everything 

Rich Bennett 12:33
be. 

Mark J Silverman 12:34
has a dark side. 

Rich Bennett 12:36
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 12:37
And, you know, be paying, you know, throwing out your card, and not knowing what's coming at the end of the month, and not seeing it. Like I go to the farmers market every Saturday morning. And there's certain things that I purchase at the farmers market, and they tell me how much it was. And I say, do not tell me how much those chicken breasts were that were raised on your farm. I do not want to know how much I'm spending on those chicken breasts because, again, unconsciousness is my friend here. Now, I can afford it so that that's the difference. But, you know, having that that I guess it's like that that codependent parent that can bail you out at any time, just that backdrop that you can have now and not later. It's that whole study where they said where the kid they leave a kid sitting there with a piece of candy, and say if you can if you can not eat that candy for five minutes when we walk out of the room, you'll have two pieces of candy when we come back. And they, you know, later in life, the people who were more successful where the people who could wait get two pieces of candy versus the kid who's under the candy now. I'm the kid who wants the candy now. I'm still the kind of person, you know, people tell me they can't buy anything for me because I'm still the person who buys whatever I want for myself. I was homeless. I had no 

Rich Bennett 14:01
right. 

Mark J Silverman 14:01
If I want something, I buy it. And and gets me, it gets me into trouble because, you know, I had a business coach go over my business, he goes, you make so much money. Where is it? And I was like, I don't know. And again, I had it, you know, it's 63. I had to get conscious again. Right? 

Rich Bennett 14:20
Yeah. 

Mark J Silverman 14:21
So that's the trap that credit cards and lines of credit do. And and unfortunately, society, you know, you and I were talking beforehand. I don't think society is evil. But I do think society has an agenda and this society has an agenda that they want. It wants our attention. It doesn't want our attention on what we want it on. It wants our attention on what they want it on. It wants us spend money. The society works because we spend money. They give us seductive reasons to buy a new iPhone. I was at the, I, I don't need a new iPhone. I was at the iPhone store visiting the iPhone 17 pro three times and walked out. That's how I know I'm an adult. I didn't buy it. But it's so seductive because I need the A tox zoom for some strange reason. you can put it on a credit card, or you can finance it, uh, again, have now pay later. It's 

Rich Bennett 15:21
more, 

Mark J Silverman 15:21
always 

Rich Bennett 15:21
right? 

Mark J Silverman 15:22
Then doing the work now. 

Rich Bennett 15:24
How did you go from, 'cause you were, you said at the four seasons in Georgetown, right? 

Mark J Silverman 15:29
Uh huh. 

Rich Bennett 15:30
So how is it you started working with these tech startups? You were doing sales, right? 

Mark J Silverman 15:35
Uh, yeah, so what happened was I went and did I, I went to, and did a test, uh, at the, oh, it was a Scientologist. I was walking past a Scientologist's church. And the Scientologist, uh, gives you these tests. And they, and one of the tests was what vocation you should have. The other tests was, are you, you know, contaminated by aliens, but one of the tests was, honest to God, they said to me, 

Rich Bennett 16:02
'I, I believe it'. 

Mark J Silverman 16:04
So the test said I should either be a writer or a lawyer. And I'm like, 'I don't, I haven't, I'm not even, I don't even have an associate's degree yet. I'm doing my best here, and I'm in my 30's like, I don't know what to do with that.' And so, and I, I, I write it up at a fifth grade level, that's not happening. Turns out they were right about the writer thing though. But, um, but and they also said, and you really need to come back to clear out the alien DNA and all that stuff. And I was like, yeah, I was already in a cult. I'm not coming, you know, part of my story is being in a cult, right? I'm like, I can smell that a mile away. I got to go. Uh, but then, uh, they said you can also be a salesman. And I, and I was like, oh, so I, I started looking at sales jobs. Uh, and, and I would go to the sales jobs where they hire 10 people, throw them against the wall, see who sticks, right? It's no, no salary, it's all commission. And maybe 

Rich Bennett 16:58
Yep. 

Mark J Silverman 16:58
one or two people stick, you know, a month or something like that. And I, and I tried a couple things, and I got a job selling computer training. And you also have to remember, uh, I won Best Bartender award in New Haven, Connecticut, by the newspaper because I was such a great bartender. Then I quit drinking and got fired because I was no longer fun. And 

Rich Bennett 17:23
you shouldn't be drinking as a bartender. I mean, you shouldn't be drinking while you're 10, 10 bar. 

Mark J Silverman 17:27
Well, cocaine in the bathroom. It was the 80s, dude. 

Rich Bennett 17:30
Oh, okay. You're right. Never my, oh 

Mark J Silverman 17:31
yeah, I was, I was fun. Um, 

Rich Bennett 17:34
yeah. 

Mark J Silverman 17:35
But, uh, but after I stopped drinking, I became much more, I would keep an introvert, and I don't like to bother people. So, uh, what I learned selling, I was, I was about to get fired from this computer training class. And I learned that if I got people to get to know me, if I, if I built a relationship with people, they would buy. And, uh, and that was my superpower. I went from about to be fired to the number one sales guy. Uh, then I saw another product at a trade show. I talked them into giving me a job. I was super successful at that. And I, so I went from $26, 000 a year to $50, 000 a year to $100, 000 a year to, uh, $125, 000 a year to $200, 000 like every year I just kept. And my wife at the time was like, what is happening here? Because when she married me, I said to her, I may never be anything other than a waiter. You have to be okay with that. And she was okay with, uh, with marrying me. Next thing you know, I'm driving a, uh, an accurate TL and you know, we're moving into a million dollar house. And then well, a friend of mine who worked at a tech company, uh, said to me and I had knew him from AA. He said, you know, you're not learning how to be your real sales guy in these small companies. Come work here and we'll teach you how to do actual tech sales. And that's what, that's when my career started and I went, uh, from startup to startup, uh, uh, just building, building a career 

Rich Bennett 19:04
where they tech companies here in the, in this area 

Mark J Silverman 19:07
the Maryland and DC. 

Rich Bennett 19:07
in 

Mark J Silverman 19:07
No, they were all Silicon Valley based. 

Rich Bennett 19:10
Oh, okay. 

Mark J Silverman 19:11
My, my, my, my, my, my resume, my resume is is just crazy with the fast household name tech companies. 

Rich Bennett 19:21
Oh wow. Do you miss that at all? 

Mark J Silverman 19:24
No. 

Rich Bennett 19:27
Either do 

Mark J Silverman 19:27
I, I do. I do miss someone else paying my American Express. I don't, you know, be 

Rich Bennett 19:31
well 

Mark J Silverman 19:31
on, being a 

Rich Bennett 19:31
yeah, 

Mark J Silverman 19:31
solo for, 

Rich Bennett 19:31
that, that's always nice. 

Mark J Silverman 19:32
Pay my own American Express. That's not as fun as when I could go to the, you know, to, uh, the Capitol Grill and just expense everything because everybody was my friends. You know, I'd take everybody to a suite at that a national scheme and, uh, that would, you know, that would be fun. Now it's all on me. 

Rich Bennett 19:48
You know, the funny thing is if they're, what do they call it? Multi, the multiverse, parallel universes 

Mark J Silverman 19:54
whatever. 

Rich Bennett 19:54
or I think we're the same person because I was a bartender. I was in the IT, while I went into car sales, radio sales, and then the IT field. And that, here I am, professional podcast, or, you know, your pie, it's like 

Mark J Silverman 20:10
the same, the same person. 

Rich Bennett 20:12
And we're, and we're the 

Mark J Silverman 20:13
and 

Rich Bennett 20:13
same 

Mark J Silverman 20:13
if I let my beard grow it be all white. 

Rich Bennett 20:16
Well, eh, it comes off after Christmas, so I play Santa Claus. That's the only reason I've grown it. I said I'll grow the beard, but I'm not growing the belly anymore. I lost that, I'm gonna let it keep... 

Mark J Silverman 20:41
I'm not ready or willing to write a memo yet. I-I-I-I don't know that I ever will be, but I, you know, again, the only time I write is when that-when something really has to be written and, you know, like it just wants to come out and if it's gonna-if it's going to serve. So-so, you know, like again, most-most books don't sell, but a couple hundred copies. So it's a big endeavor, a big expense, uh, for not a lot of payoff. I just happen to be lucky that, you know, my-the rising leader handbook is, you know, almost two years old and it's still on the leadership charts. So-so, I'm very fortunate with that. Uh, so yeah, write this book for a little while longer. 

Rich Bennett 21:24
And it's your second or third book? 

Mark J Silverman 21:27
I've-I've been part of-I've been part of five books. Uh, this-this 

Rich Bennett 21:31
Good lord. 

Mark J Silverman 21:32
is my-uh, this is my-kind of my third book. 

Rich Bennett 21:36
Alright, so what was the first book you 

Mark J Silverman 21:38
I wrote... 

Rich Bennett 21:39
wrote on your-on 

Mark J Silverman 21:39
your own? Uh, on-uh, so I wrote Only Tens. 

Rich Bennett 21:42
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 21:43
then-and 

Rich Bennett 21:43
And 

Mark J Silverman 21:43
then at the five-year anniversary, they asked me to rewrite it and republish So I consider that a completely new book because it's a-it's a-it's a bit of a different book. Only Tens two point 

Rich Bennett 21:52
it. 

Mark J Silverman 21:52
out. 

Rich Bennett 21:52
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 21:53
And then the rising leader handbook. And then there's a couple compilation books that I've contributed to. 

Rich Bennett 21:58
Alright, so what is Only Tens 

Mark J Silverman 22:00
So 

Rich Bennett 22:00
about? 

Mark J Silverman 22:00
that was me have-you know, it's one of the things I learned late in life after we were testing my son for learning disability, is that I have severe ADHD. And that-that... Just told me everything I needed to know about why I wasn't addict, about why I couldn't pay attention. Uh, I had the part of your brain that has executive function is dark on my-on my scans. I don't have executive function, so I don't-I don't have a-we were talking about credit crimes. I don't have a-let's buy something and know I have to pay it back later. I don't have that cause 

Rich Bennett 22:34
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 22:34
and response. Uh, so the fact again, the fact that I'm sober and haven't-haven destroyed myself is a miracle. Um, so Only Tens was me grappling with, uh, being an under-uh-soloprenor, because it was when I left tech, uh, and I was sitting in my office at home, going, oh, what should I do? Uh, I have five thousand different ideas, uh, you know, how do I focus on what I need to do to get where I want to go? And that was my-my-and people found that really useful, and people started giving it to executives on how to prioritize, and they use my system for ADD for all kinds of prioritization. And it's just been-that changed my life and changed my career. 

Rich Bennett 23:17
Wait, that's what 

Mark J Silverman 23:18
about. 

Rich Bennett 23:18
that book's 

Mark J Silverman 23:18
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 23:20
Oh, I got to get that. I got-cuz I- 

Mark J Silverman 23:23
uh, send you a-uh, send you a copy after we get off, and by the way, your listeners can go to my website. I-I give that book away for free. They can get a hard copy or-or, or a PDF of the book for free from my website. 

Rich Bennett 23:36
Yeah, your website is very hard to remember. Those of you listening, it's Mark, not Mike, Mark J. Just a letter J. Silver Man, or Silver Man, but silver spelled out man.com. So make sure you go there and purchase his books, listen to the podcast, get him as a coach, hire him as a speaker. You-you can 

Mark J Silverman 24:03
give the 

Rich Bennett 24:03
basically-uh, 

Mark J Silverman 24:03
poor guys some work. 

Rich Bennett 24:05
Yeah, give him some work. I mean, God, yeah, this is-this is amazing because I, uh, I just had somebody else on talker, and she wrote a book about ADHD, uh, for adults, and I-I've-I've never been tested before. I swear I've been downed and I have it because I just cannot- I-I just get so many ideas 

Mark J Silverman 24:26
hmm, 

Rich Bennett 24:27
going through my head, and it's hard to focus on one. Except for this. I love doing this. So-all right. So you had that and then what was the second book? 

Mark J Silverman 24:34
Yeah, it goes only tends to .0, which is what-what I'm giving away, and then-and then the rising leader handbook is the current book, because what I do for a living, what I do every day is coach senior executives in corporate America. 

Rich Bennett 24:48
Only senior executives? 

Mark J Silverman 24:50
Oh, God, pretty much. Those-those are the only people who will pay me. 

Rich Bennett 24:53
Oh! 

All right. Well, that makes sense. All right. So when did you start doing the speaking then? 

Mark J Silverman 25:02
Uh, speaking started with only tens, actually. You know, I used to speak-I used to speak about my story. People always, you know, like, again, people have me on their podcast, people have me on their stage. Because my story is colorful. It's the short Jewish Tony Robbins version of that kind of thing, right? Um, 

Rich Bennett 25:20
I 

Mark J Silverman 25:20
But 

Rich Bennett 25:20
love it. 

Mark J Silverman 25:22
with the only tens, I started speaking about prioritization. I started speaking about how to pay attention and how that helps you in business and did workshops all around the world with those. And now it's speaking about leadership because it's basically what I do all day every day. It's why I wrote the book. A friend of mine said, you know, you don't have anything in the world that actually talks about what you do with your clients. So reading the rising leader handbook is like having a coaching engagement, a six month coaching engagement with me. 

Rich Bennett 25:54
So with the rising leader, the book, did the book come before the 

Mark J Silverman 26:00
time. 

Rich Bennett 26:00
podcast? 

Mark J Silverman 26:01
Same time. I changed, 

Rich Bennett 26:02
Same 

Mark J Silverman 26:02
I changed the name of my podcast, my first podcast was Mastering Midlife, how to thrive with the world. Ask the most of you. That I turned 60 and was like, you know, I'm going to leave Mastering Midlife to the younger folk and that it was mastering overwhelm, which was the only ten stuff. And then when we released the book, it became the rising leader hand, the rising leader podcast because it was much more in line with what I do for a living. 

Rich Bennett 26:29
Right. So was it your plan to actually start the podcast or did somebody else put that thought? 

Mark J Silverman 26:36
Having, having a podcast was the furthest thing from my mind. I feel you, I hear my voice and I think I sound like a male friend, Dresher, the man, the 

Rich Bennett 26:45
man. 

Mark J Silverman 26:46
can't stand the sound of my voice and thank God, podcast, Mike, you know, deepening it a little 

Rich Bennett 26:51
I 

Mark J Silverman 26:51
bit and I was sitting on my meditation cushion. And the voice while I was meditating said, start a podcast. Well, I don't want to start a podcast. Next day, start a podcast, I don't want to start a podcast. Next day, Mark, start a I'm like, I'm not starting a podcast. And then I was coaching a client of mine and he just talked about how he had just purchased a podcast production company. I said, funny, you should say that I was thinking, maybe I should start a podcast. He's like, absolutely, I will set you up with a producer and all this stuff and next thing I know I'm doing three episodes a week. 

Rich Bennett 27:28
So you're still going through any through the production 

Mark J Silverman 27:31
My production company has been like a light switch to me. Again, with ADHD, if I had to wait for me to edit things and me to do, you know, burberry and whatever places they need to be, 

Rich Bennett 27:44
company? 

Mark J Silverman 27:45
not going to happen. So I have a light switch, taking care of that stuff. That's one of the secrets for me of running a successful business is I hire people to do the important things that I know I won't get to. So again, I have a bookkeeper. It's expensive to have a bookkeeper. But I will tell you, I never miss a quarterly tax payment ever since I've had a bookkeeper. I have money in the bank because I have a bookkeeper. So I hire the thing, I hire people to do the things I know are important for my business that I will just keep putting off. 

Rich Bennett 28:21
That's smart. I mean, you know, get some of the greatest minds out there, like Henry Ford and all. That's what they did. 

they didn't know what they were doing. They hired people that knew what they were doing. They just, they had the vision. 

Mark J Silverman 28:35
And they, 

Rich Bennett 28:35
And that's that's how you do it. That's how you're 

Mark J Silverman 28:38
It 

Rich Bennett 28:38
successful. 

Mark J Silverman 28:38
was something I learned when I was a sales salesman. You know, I would rack, I would rack up so many expenses, it was several thousand dollars a month in expenses at the level of sales that I was doing and entertaining and all the things I was doing, and I wouldn't put my expenses in but every six months if that and my 

Rich Bennett 28:57
Oh, why? 

Mark J Silverman 28:57
company would be sending me emails and they would call me and they would say, "Where's your expenses? You know, we're not going to pay your expenses," and all that. And I finally realized, I, I, there was an admin who worked there who was doing somebody else's expenses and she charged 10%. So, so I asked her to do my expenses. She took 10% of what I got reimbursed. And I realized I lost more than 10% of my receipts over time. I do, you know, 

Rich Bennett 29:25
Oh, why? 

Mark J Silverman 29:26
so she was worth her weight and gold. I would just give her all my receipts and she would put everything in. It took her five minutes. It took me again, with ADD, if you know this, I'm going to do my expenses so I got to get a good, I got to get a drink, I got to get the good lighting, I got a sharpen my pencils, what music do I want to listen to? Maybe I'll get to my expenses and she would just knock it right out. So I learned that early, like higher people who are good at things to do them and you do, what you only you can do. 

Rich Bennett 29:56
So, for six months, you weren't, so that means you weren't turning in like anything for a mileage 

Mark J Silverman 30:02
I 

Rich Bennett 30:02
or? 

Mark J Silverman 30:02
would, I would be in the hall like 10,000, 10,000 bucks and I, my, my, my, my now ex wife would say she's be like, when are you going to put in your expenses? I'm like, it's a savings account. Like we, we get a big check every six, every six months. And she's like, "No, you're 

Rich Bennett 30:17
Wow. 

Mark J Silverman 30:17
losing money." And she loved the fact that I hired someone to do a funny thing. 

Rich Bennett 30:21
Alright, so with, with the ADHD and as successful as you are and you I'm sure you've heard it before there are some people out there to say, oh, well, you'll never amount to anything because of that. What do you say to those people? 

Mark J Silverman 30:52
Brilliant, it's just again, we all have skills, we all have places where we were not that good at stuff and if we can identify those things and then find the people to augment almost every CEO that I work with has some flavor of ADHD or ADD. And if they don't have implementers, if they don't have people who are, uh, adept at getting their ideas concrete into the world, they just starve. So, so it's always important to have the complimentary disciplines and complimentary talents. 

Rich Bennett 31:29
It's something else you mentioned earlier, and I think this is very important for people to do. And I know it, it helps me a lot. I do it every day. How often do you meditate? 

Mark J Silverman 31:40
every day. 

Rich Bennett 31:42
I mean, during the day, how, how, how long do you meditate? 

Mark J Silverman 31:45
It's been, it's been an hour every day. 

Rich Bennett 31:49
Wow, 

Mark J Silverman 31:50
but I've been in some programs to deepen that because that's become my focus over the last year, actually, since I become 60, it was over the last three and a half years, I've been really focusing on deepening that connection and bringing that to as I do. But, you know, a morning routine. I tell everybody I meet. You know, a morning routine. The ability to sit with a cup of coffee without your phone for five minutes is a game changer. If you do, if you can do journaling. And there's so many you're just just you just Google on YouTube journaling and you'll get five different journaling methods by journal with prompts. Anything you can do to be contemplative to get out of that monkey mind, to get out of that automatic thinking and get 

Rich Bennett 32:39
people, 

Mark J Silverman 32:39
present will be the game changer. I have a saying that's in the rising letter. Ambo is the person who's grounded and centered in a meeting has the power because most people are just up in their heads. And most people are just reacting to childhood wounds in every boardroom I've ever been in trying to get it word in trying to get seen trying all that stuff. And if you can be grounded and centered, you can navigate those conversations in such a masterful fashion. 

Rich Bennett 33:08
So with the books with both of them, especially you know with the ADHD, how long did it take you to two part question? How long did it take you to write on? And what was the most challenging part of writing them? 

Mark J Silverman 33:24
So I wrote the only tens and 90 days because I joined a program of 90 you know 90 days from ideas to a book. 

Rich Bennett 33:33
Wow. 

Mark J Silverman 33:33
then I had you know I had a coach who you know had the frameworks for me again she had she was like all right let's start with chapter one and I couldn't start with chapter one chapter two. 

Rich Bennett 33:45
And 

Mark J Silverman 33:45
Right, whatever was was there. I have to write books quickly because I get bored of the topic real quick. The rising leader took a little bit longer took me less than 90 days to write the book. But then I didn't like it my publisher thought it was ready. I didn't like it. I didn't like it. I didn't like it and I didn't know what to do about it. It just didn't make it didn't make sense to me. And then one day I sat down I went through the entire book I rewrote everything I wanted to rewrite and then it made sense to me. Then it was ready to go out. 

Rich Bennett 34:20
In a day. It 

Mark J Silverman 34:21
took me a couple days to do that. But like one day one day I didn't know what was wrong. I didn't know it was wrong and then it's typical 80 day. I knew exactly what was wrong and went through the entire thing and got it done. 

Rich Bennett 34:33
Now what did your publisher say when you sent that copy to 

Mark J Silverman 34:36
you? Right. This is much more coherent was great. She said it was great before. This is much more coherent. 

Rich Bennett 34:44
That was the same publisher for. 

Mark J Silverman 34:46
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 34:48
So you're not self-published. 

Mark J Silverman 34:49
Basically self-published I 

Rich Bennett 34:52
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 34:52
have I have I have you know there's so many people who will help you edit the. 

Rich Bennett 34:57
Yes. 

Mark J Silverman 34:57
I they'll coach you through the book. They'll they'll publish the book for you. So I'm you know again it's published through her publishing company but it's basically self published I own the rights. 

Rich Bennett 35:09
You need to write a book on. And how to write a book. With 

Mark J Silverman 35:15
I help I help so many people write books. 

Rich Bennett 35:18
Do you really? 

Mark J Silverman 35:18
I basically, I get them to write, I get them to write it. But, you know, there's, there's, there's so many. The way people are writing books now is if they're writing it AI assisted. So they're, they're, they're speaking their ideas into AI, they're writing their ideas and AI and then letting AI kind of complete that thought. And that's the way almost everybody's writing their new books. 

Rich Bennett 35:41
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 35:41
If I do write another book, I won't write it that way. 

Rich Bennett 35:45
Yeah, and you don't want AI to edit it either. 

Mark J Silverman 35:47
Yeah, I can't. I can't, you know, I have my newsletter here and there and every once every once a while I let it do a little too much and someone will send me a note saying, was this AI? I'm like, oh, okay, I went a little, I let it, I let it have a little too much free reign. 

Rich Bennett 36:03
Wow. So what's the next book? 

Mark J Silverman 36:06
I think the next book is going to be about how to basically live life. I've, you know, I've, again, I live life from my perspective. I'm a guy who has a lot of demons, who has a lot of, a lot of distractions that will take me off my game. And in order for me to build a life, there's a lot of things I have to put into my life, in order to create, you know, to raise children who are functional and happy and loving people, that I have to have a great relationship with my ex why I have to have my current relationship work. To have my business work. There's a, you know, I've done every, I've read every self-help book. I read almost every spiritual book on the planet over the years. I've gone to all these workshops, I've done medicine journeys, I've done all this stuff. And I've written a lot of things about my journey. And to put them in, the thing that's starting to come to me is, is to put it into a 365 day journal kind of thing like, like one a day or one a week or something like that because I have so much writing and so many, so many insights. And again, like, would be anybody be interested. I don't know, but that one person because sometimes I'll get a note, you know, from a newsletter or something like that. And someone will just write back to me. This is exactly what I need to hear today. And it's worth it. Right. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter thousands or millions of people. It's that one person gets impacted. 

Rich Bennett 37:40
Yep. 

Mark J Silverman 37:40
It's not up to me, you know, it's up to me to do the work. It's not up to me who gets impacted by 

Rich Bennett 37:47
it. Yeah. If you could change one person's life for the better, then you did, you did what was meant to do or what you were meant to do. Yeah, that's one of the reasons I do this. You know, if, if I, if, if that message gets across even one person and it helps them, then it was successful. Yeah, I look at it. So what's the next big thing for Mark Silverman? 

Mark J Silverman 38:12
Mark Silverman is in the hallway right now. I don't know. I just, I just married off. I just married off my rabbi son, my youngest son, my other son, 

Rich Bennett 38:21
Oh, wow. 

Mark J Silverman 38:21
my older son just got engaged and he's getting married pretty quickly. And all of a sudden, I woke up after the engagement party, I woke up feeling like today would be a good day to retire. Now I'm not going to retire. But I, but it just felt like today would be a good day to retire. And from I guess it meant for me is like, oh, the world's my oyster. What do I want to do? I'm always going to coach. I love my clients. I love what I do. 

Rich Bennett 38:49
Yeah. 

Mark J Silverman 38:51
wanna talk about on stage and I, you know, for me, I think I think it's leadership for spirituality. You know, 

Rich Bennett 38:58
I 

Mark J Silverman 38:59
bringing, you know, bringing, you know, there's a, there's, you know, so this guy just interviewed Scott Bitten, who's, what to look about ambition for personal growth, you know, the spirituality of ambition. I really like to find the spirituality in leadership. And 

Rich Bennett 39:20
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 39:20
you know, for, because again, every time you have to show up for someone, every time you have to humble yourself to a, to a superior, every time you have to work with a team of other leaders, every, all of that is spiritual growth, all of that is practical, spiritual growth. And I think that's what I want, I want to talk about from stage. 

Rich Bennett 39:41
I like that. And you I was on your website too. You got a lot of great books that 

Mark J Silverman 39:48
recommend. 

Rich Bennett 39:48
you A lot of great. I think you read them all. I mean, it's talking about, you know, whether it's spiritual books, self-help books, you can find it on Mark's website. Definitely go there and check it out. So with your podcast, the rising leader handbook, and you already mentioned it, so you are talking to different guests. Now, is that for every episode or it's just like every other 

Mark J Silverman 40:18
No, 

Rich Bennett 40:18
episode? 

Mark J Silverman 40:19
the deal I have with it with the production companies that I do a solo episode at least every other week because she likes my solo episodes. So yeah, every other week is an interview every other week is a solo episode. I like to talk to leaders who've been in the trenches, who've learned something who can teach. 

Rich Bennett 40:36
Right. So for those people that want to get into podcasting and you've been doing it for a while. 

Mark J Silverman 40:43
6 years. 

Rich Bennett 40:44
What's what's been the hardest part about podcast for you. 

Mark J Silverman 40:50
Turning people down for the podcast. 

Rich Bennett 40:53
That is hard. 

Mark J Silverman 40:54
So hard to tell people you know you're wonderful. You're not right. 

That's just really hard. 

Rich Bennett 41:03
I have a hard time doing that still. The thing is because I with me like I said September for those of you listening where recording October 3rd. So September it was talking to people in in addiction recovery. So when I had people contacted me said, hey, yeah, I'm a musician like to come on. Well, yeah, not this, not this, but looking to November. Maybe we can put it down. It's hard to say no. But but those of you getting into podcasting, you have to learn how to do it 

Mark J Silverman 41:42
because yeah, you have to know what you have to know what you're trying to bring to your audience. And you have to you have to make sure you guard that because it's a it's a it's a pack you make between you and your audience that they're going to show up and they're going to hear what they're hoping to hear. 

Rich Bennett 41:59
Oh, yeah. And all right, so how many because we talked about this with your books. And I'm sure it's happy with the podcast. How many times have listeners actually reached out to you and thanked you for an episode. 

Mark J Silverman 42:13
Oh, I think that happens. That happens weekly 

Rich Bennett 42:17
feels great. 

Mark J Silverman 42:17
That that's that's that's the wonderful. When someone sends you a link to the podcast they listen to. And they say, when you said this or when your guest said this, that's that's just that's just you know, fuel for living. 

Rich Bennett 42:31
Uh-huh. Now, how long have you been guesting on podcast 

Mark J Silverman 42:35
probably before since before I was on a podcast. Yeah. My 

Rich Bennett 42:40
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 42:42
friend had me on his podcast to talk about my story. And I didn't have a mic or anything I heard my heard my voice on the thing and it was just it was just that's what scared me from podcasting and and 

Rich Bennett 42:54
that 

Mark J Silverman 42:54
was the first time I was on and then, you know, now, now I'm on quite a few. 

Rich Bennett 43:00
I was going to say, do you know how many you've been on 

Mark J Silverman 43:03
200 

Rich Bennett 43:05
really. 

Mark J Silverman 43:05
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 43:06
Wow. And it's helped with book sales and everything else. 

Mark J Silverman 43:10
don't know. Really. I actually really don't know. I've gotten a few clients from being on podcast. 

Rich Bennett 43:15
Okay. 

Mark J Silverman 43:16
Again, 90% of my 98% of my clients come from referral. Don't they don't come from my books. They don't come from my podcast. They don't come from my speaking. They come from referral. Which 

Rich Bennett 43:28
Right. 

Mark J Silverman 43:28
is, but, but I do know when people are referred to me they like, yeah, listen to your podcast or yeah, I went on YouTube and saw some of your videos. So I know that people are checking me out, but almost always it's someone says you have to talk to mark about this specific thing. 

Rich Bennett 43:45
I 

Mark J Silverman 43:45
And that's the easy, those are the easiest to close and 

Rich Bennett 43:50
have 

Mark J Silverman 43:50
you have my. 

Rich Bennett 43:53
Alright. So with everything you've been doing, I guess you could say your king mightest because it seems like everything you're touching, it's turning into gold. 

Mark J Silverman 44:02
Everything that people see. 

It has quite a few things. 

Rich Bennett 44:08
All right. Let's say business wise. Well, the IT field, yes, some of them could have turned to shit too. So it's hard to say, 

Mark J Silverman 44:16
didn't not go well. 

Rich Bennett 44:17
Yeah. Oh god. Let y'all, mergers. I hate. I never mind. That's, that's a whole other one. What's probably the biggest misconception that people have about success? 

Mark J Silverman 44:33
The people who are successful aren't scared. 

I look, I know, I know how I come across to the world. And I always have to remind people, I am scared every time I show up on a podcast, I am scared every time I show up on a stage. I'm scared when I show up with a new client. 

Rich Bennett 44:57
And that's a good 

Mark J Silverman 44:58
thing. I have been scared my whole life, every single thing I've done in life, I've done scared. And when you really get to know people who are super successful, I mean, and I've talking, I've spoken to the CEOs of, you know, multi-billion dollar corporations. And some single person is human and has the same feelings you do. They're just able to step over the door, you know, the the ledge and and take an action. That terror. 

Rich Bennett 45:30
That's one of the things I'll never forget. When I was DJing for years, every time I had to do a wedding, I think I had more butterflies than the bride and groom. I was a nervous wreck because it has to be perfect. You can't have any mishaps or anything. And anytime you're working with electronics or even computers, anything, anything can happen and it has unfortunately. But that's why you have backups. All right, so Mark, if you could go back and talk to that 27-year-old version of yourself, what would you say? 

Mark J Silverman 46:10
Don't buy so many cars. 

I've wasted so many, so much money on new cars. Oh, and don't sell Apple stock to finance your life. Because, 

Rich Bennett 46:26
no, 

Mark J Silverman 46:26
don't. 

Rich Bennett 46:26
you 

Mark J Silverman 46:26
Yeah, I sold my Tesla, Google and Apple stock when I got divorced to finance my life. 

Rich Bennett 46:34
Wow. 

Mark J Silverman 46:34
Yeah, that's a couple million dollars, just not in the world. 

Again, that lack of executive function, future consequences. 

Rich Bennett 46:48
Holy yeah, yeah, yeah, if you ever write your memoir, then that is going to be a best seller. I can see that now or you could just write a book or learn on your why you shouldn't sell these stocks. Oh my god. That's, 

Mark J Silverman 47:06
I am up 400 percent on my Bitcoin. There 

Rich Bennett 47:10
That's still one thing I haven't learned 

Mark J Silverman 47:12
we 

Rich Bennett 47:12
about 

Mark J Silverman 47:12
go. 

Rich Bennett 47:12
is Bitcoin. I guess I should, I think that's where 

Mark J Silverman 47:17
but 

Rich Bennett 47:17
it's 

Mark J Silverman 47:18
if the truth is, if I was to go back to talk to any 27-year-old, is do the thing you're scared to do. If you're pulled to do it and you want to do it, turn the fear into excitement, get the support you need and go do it. Because every single thing that happened my life from my children to my career is something I was terrified to do. And they are the most important things. 

Rich Bennett 47:41
But you're always, you know, you listen to suggestions and you would reach out with both hands and take the bowl by the horns, I guess you could say. 

Mark J Silverman 47:50
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:51
As long as it wasn't that stock market bowl that you had never. All right, so Mark, before I get to my last question, which I have no idea what it's going to be, is there anything you would like to add? 

Mark J Silverman 48:09
Well, the most important thing I people to know is that head trash, the crap that you hear in your head about you is not true. It is, you know, it is just automatic negative thoughts as they call them. And they will steal more of your life than anything else. And I know it because I have it in my head right now. That's a stupid thing to say, Mark. Like just just constant, it's relentless and you don't have to listen to it. 

Rich Bennett 48:49
It reminds me of a book that really helped her my life around. And actually, it's not on your resources. The secret by round to burn. 

Mark J Silverman 48:58
Have 

Rich Bennett 48:59
you heard of that one? 

Mark J Silverman 49:00
The thing I don't like about the secret 

Rich Bennett 49:03
is 

Mark J Silverman 49:03
that people don't read it all the way to the end. 

Rich Bennett 49:07
They don't even watch the movie. 

Mark J Silverman 49:09
If you, if you don't get to the end, you don't know that it isn't just visualizing and hoping something will show up. Every person in the secret, every, every thing in the secret is, I had a vision and then I worked my ass off to get it. So that's why I don't recommend the secret because people don't, you know, again, it's like Joseph Campbell says, follow your bliss. But then he's like, follow your bliss and work your ass off. Like 

Rich Bennett 49:40
Yeah. 

Mark J Silverman 49:41
there's always there's always more to 

Rich Bennett 49:45
people don't like the catch, don't like to hear the catch. 

Mark J Silverman 49:48
I don't like to hear the 

Rich Bennett 49:49
I 

Mark J Silverman 49:49
catch. 

Rich Bennett 49:49
guess 

Mark J Silverman 49:49
I'm, 

Rich Bennett 49:49
you could 

Mark J Silverman 49:50
I'm 

Rich Bennett 49:50
say. 

Mark J Silverman 49:50
one of, 

Rich Bennett 49:50
Yes. All right, so Mark, give me a number between one and one hundred. That's going to determine my last question. 

42. 42. Come on. Sirius, 

Mark J Silverman 50:10
you sit between one and one hundred, right? 

Rich Bennett 50:12
Yeah, yeah. Okay. 42, never mind because the, the guess I had on earlier was he was, he was about to say 42 and he said, no, no, no, 43. So why number 

Mark J Silverman 50:23
I don't 

Rich Bennett 50:23
42? 

Mark J Silverman 50:23
know. I was telling my next appointment. Then we'll be five minutes late and you've got to pick a number. 

Rich Bennett 50:28
Oh, well, this is a great question. So what's the value that guides most of your decisions? And I think I knew the answer. 

Mark J Silverman 50:42
Is it loving? 

Rich Bennett 50:46
Oh, okay. I was not 

expecting. Wow. Okay. That's why, why'd you say that? 

Mark J Silverman 51:00
My one thing in life is everybody who meets me is to feel loved, accepted, and seen. 

Rich Bennett 51:09
Man, I love you. 

Mark J Silverman 51:10
I so, so unconditional love and forgiveness, I'm still working on it, but that's my, that's my one thing. 

Rich Bennett 51:19
I love that. Mark, I want to thank you so much. It's been an honor and you can't come back on when that memoir comes out. 

Mark J Silverman 51:28
Okay. Deal. 

Rich Bennett 51:30
Those, those of you listening, don't forget, go to markj-sulverman.com, purchase his books, after you purchase his books, make sure you leave a full review, whether it be on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes, and wherever you can leave reviews. Listen to his podcast as well. You gotta listen to it 'cause it's great, the rise and leader with Mark J. Silverman and make sure you leave a review about that as well. Mark, thanks a lot. 

Mark J Silverman 51:58
--I appreciate you. --This was fun. 

Rich Bennett 52:00
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media, or visit our website at conversationswithrich Bennett.com for updates, giveaways and more. Until next time, take care, be kind, and keep the conversations going. You know, it takes a lot to put a podcast together, together, and my sponsors help add a lot, but I also have some supporters that actually help me when it comes to the editing software, the hosting, and so forth. There's a lot that goes into putting this together. So I want to thank them, and if you can please, please visit their websites, visit their businesses, support them however you can. So please visit the following full circle boards, nobody does charcuterie like full circle boards. Visit them at fullcircleboards.com Sincerely, Sincerely Live in the moment, they'll capture it. Visit them at sincerelysoyer.com. The "Joppatown Lines Club", serve in the community since 1965. Visit them at www. JoppatownLinesClub. org, and don't forget to e at the end of "Joppatown" because they're extraordinary.