Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Roberts.
Hi Larry, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I’m often described as a high-energy and charismatic podcaster, keynote speaker, best-selling author, and international top-rated course creator with over 1500 students in 51 countries. I have been in coaching and facilitator roles for more than 25 years from corporate environments to teaching martial arts to online course creation.
Over the last several years, I’ve grown to be one of the most highly sought-after podcasting coaches and content creators in the industry with a feature in Podcast Magazine in April 2020. I am also the editor-in-chief of one of the largest podcast industry newsletters, The Podfest Messenger and I regularly speak at industry events, participate in industry panels and appear on other podcasts.
While I’ve been blessed with these opportunities in recent years, it was all very close to never happening.
November 14, 2013, I sat on my couch after a solid two-week bender crying and watching a tragic scene in one of my favorite movies over and over again when something spoke to me and said “Get help today, or tomorrow isn’t going to happen”. I had already been in the hospital earlier that year for alcohol poisoning and this time I was even beyond my initial “rock bottom moment”. In this moment of clarity, I reached out to my best friend and told him I needed help, or I was going to die.
I woke up several days later in the hospital in McKinney after being admitted to the Enterhealth Ranch in Van Alstyne in very unstable condition. They were unable to stabilize my vitals, and after several failed efforts, an ambulance was called.
After being rehydrated and somewhat stabilized over the course of three days, I was sent back to Enterhealth where I continued my recovery in their detox wing for roughly a week. I spent the following 6 weeks getting sober while going through their program and here I am 8 years later a sober, successful podcaster, content creator, and entrepreneur.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?The road is never smooth. If it’s too smooth, you’re not challenging yourself.
Even though I maintained my sobriety, I had caused significant damage to my nervous system and as a result, I was in constant pain, even to the point of walking with a cane for more than a year.
To combat this chronic pain, I was on a non-opioid cocktail of medications, which at one point was up to 32 pills a day. Over the next several years, I slowly made progress towards getting my pain under control, but a side effect of the medication and inactivity led to a tremendous amount of weight gain, with my peak reaching 326lbs.
After leaving my 21-year corporate career on January 4th of 2021, I managed to take myself off ALL my medications and as of writing this on 12/18/21, I’m down 82lbs to 244lbs. I’ve still got work to do, and it’s been a much larger struggle than I ever imagined, but I’m finally starting to feel like the original Larry Roberts once again.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
During my recovery, I was introduced to the Joe Rogan Podcast. I wasn’t convinced this new media called a podcast was going to be something that interested me, but I gave it a listen as a favor to a friend of mine.
I was immediately blown away at this versatile, innovative, wild west of a medium and I quickly became obsessed with learning how to start my own show. Before I knew what happened, I launched my first podcast with a local comedian and family friend as a co-host.
The show was a hit on a variety of platforms, from the podcast to online radio with Deep Ellum onAir, to a live stage show at Hat Tricks in Lewisville. To this day Hat Tricks continues to host one of the largest comedy open mics outside of a comedy club in the metroplex, and it all spawned from that original show.
Additionally, my co-host, Jamie Gravy now has a residency at the new Sahara hotel in Las Vegas opening for the comedic legend, Eddie Griffin.
The challenge with that show came from the content. Being a comedy podcast, the content was a bit “blue”, or adult-themed. During this time, I was still in a corporate position at a global company that supported me during my alcoholic recovery but did not support me in my professional position within their company and the content that made up the show. So, I had to make the difficult decision to stop producing my first podcast.
Even though I ended that show, I knew podcasting was something that I wanted to be a part of and even leverage to build and grow my own business. Not understanding the critical concept of having a niche, or a focused topic to build an audience around, I launched my new, corporate-friendly show and named it Readily Random, and that is exactly what it was.
The show featured a random selection of guests covering a wide variety of topics that I found interesting. The issue was that it didn’t speak to a particular audience, so I struggled to find listeners and get those coveted downloads that are critical to the success of any podcast.
But, I was determined to make it work, so I doubled down on the name and founded Readily Random Media, LLC which is the company that I own and operate today.
Over the next several years, the podcast has continued to evolve and has found its place in the top 1.5% of all podcasts with a focus on entrepreneurship and self-mastery. With this focus, I recently rebranded the podcast from Readily Random with Larry Roberts to You’re the Boss.
I landed on this name because the phrase “You’re the Boss!” is a mantra for anyone who’s ever had to face their own fears, struggles, and even failures. With this podcast, it’s time to take a deep dive into overcoming limiting beliefs, identifying where our past can shape us rather than define us and build a rock-solid lifestyle and business filled with passion and purposeful leadership!
Each episode of You’re the Boss will bring you experience, proven techniques, and mind shifts that you can leverage to develop the skills needed to achieve your goals and build your best life.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is pretty cliche, but it’s still very dear to me, and that was spending time at my grandma’s house. My grandma, Wilma Roberts was very instrumental in my life and I wouldn’t be anywhere near the person I am today if it wasn’t for her unconditional love and desire to spoil her grandson.
You see, I was born with a birth defect that led to me having life-saving, reconstructive surgery when I was 4 years old. I was born with an inverted sternum, so while my internal organs were growing normally, my chest was growing inward essentially crushing my organs and suffocating me.
My grandma was pivotal in making that surgery happen and then in an effort to keep me protected from a potential post-surgery, life-ending injury, she paid for me to attend a private school. This continued throughout all 12 years of school and I can’t imagine my life without the influence of those teachers and individuals that my grandma allowed to come into my life by paying my tuition all those years.
Contact Info:
- Email: larry@readilyrandom.com
- Website: https://www.readilyrandom.com
- Instagram: @readilyrandom
- Facebook: @larrynroberts
- Twitter: @readilyrandom
Image Credits
Pamela Yarnell Tuckey
