Troy Horne On Broadway, Fatherhood, And Starting Over Strong

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

Rich Bennett 0:27
Today's guest has lived one of those lives that reminds you dreams don't come with an expiration date. Troy Horn didn't grow up surrounded by music. Yet somehow he found himself chasing a creative spark all the way to a record deal, star search, NPCs to sing off, opening for major artist and stepping onto the Broadway stage as Tom Collins in Rent. But the twist didn't stop there. A simple father and son project turned into the number 1 youth basketball podcast. One that led him and his son, sit across from legends like Chancey Phillips, Earl Boinkins and even Kobe Bryant. You heard me right, Kobe Bryant. That moment became the spark for his best-selling mental toughness for young athlete series, which has now sold over 300,000 copies and inspired families all around the world. And now, Troy is on a mission to help people over 40 re-write the idea of what middle life looks like. His newest book, Middle Management, Dives in the How to Find Purpose, Clarity and Momentum in the second half of life. And why this chapter might actually be your greatest one yet. So today, we're getting into resilience, reinvention, embracing the unexpected and turn at life's detours into opportunity. Troy's story is full of heart, humor and the kind of wisdom that sticks with you long after the episode ends. So set away and grab your drink because this is one of those conversations that just might give you the nudge you've been waiting for. So Troy, first of all, welcome to the ship I got a bone to pick with you all ready man. 

Troy Horne 2:20
What was that? 

Rich Bennett 2:23
40 middle aged, I mean, come on. I think 50 is the. haven't gone. I'm going to make it to a hundred. 

Troy Horne 2:30
I You know, it's funny because I saw something out there that said that late 30s was the new middle aged. I'm like, oh wow, 

Rich Bennett 2:39
what? 

Troy Horne 2:40
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 2:41
oh hell no. 

Troy Horne 2:43
hey, 

Rich Bennett 2:45
No, no, no. Wait, here's the funny thing because I'm lately you're seeing a lot of these people. Like I think the oldest one I just saw was a hundred and 16. 

Troy Horne 2:57
We 

Rich Bennett 2:58
had a lady on not too long ago, one hundred and one and still writing. And still has a trainer. 

Troy Horne 3:07
That's awesome. 

Rich Bennett 3:08
Look at Dick Van Dyke. 

Troy Horne 3:09
Hey, yeah, he's doing a show or something like that, isn't he? 

Rich Bennett 3:13
Yeah, yeah, 99 or get ready to turn 100 and he's good to do something for us. 

Troy Horne 3:19
Yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:20
These people need to turn over the water to the fountain of youth. 

Troy Horne 3:24
I 

Rich Bennett 3:25
need it, man. I need it. So I want to start with this. So when you actually look back at the younger version of yourself, did you ever imagine your life taking all these different turns? 

Troy Horne 3:42
No, no way, no way. All I knew was that I just wanted to do music and you know, for living and that was it. I had no idea, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:51
So when's the first time that music actually, you know, tapped you on to shoulder me. You think, Okay, this is something I'm supposed to choose. 

Troy Horne 3:59
Yeah. I was like 10 or 11. I was singing around the house because I love singing. My mom said, Hey, you're going to sing in church this Sunday and I was like, No, and she's like, yep, because you know, it was the 80s and there wasn't really much discussion happening. So, so I hopped up there and I was terrified. And I talked to my sisters in the singing with me and we sang. I was nervous is heck 

Rich Bennett 4:28
and we 

Troy Horne 4:29
sang and they gave me a standing ovation. And from that moment on I was like, 

Rich Bennett 4:34
the 

Troy Horne 4:34
okay, 

Rich Bennett 4:34
bug bit you. 

Troy Horne 4:35
This is what I wanted to do. Yeah, like this is it. This is where I want to be. 

Rich Bennett 4:39
So is that music wise? Is that what you grew up with was, you know, going to church and Choirs and Art? there like certain artists that really grab that 

Troy Horne 4:50
Yeah, no, I mean again, it was it was 80s, Texas and we were only doing in the house. It was only gospel music. I think the first time I heard anything that wasn't gospel music was when I went to college. I don't know, no, no, no, no, high school. I 

Rich Bennett 5:05
you. 

Troy Horne 5:06
started kind of branching out 

Rich Bennett 5:06
Wow. 

Troy Horne 5:07
like junior in high school. And then I was able to do some, was it. They'll be the low and some 

Rich Bennett 5:14
Oh, 

Troy Horne 5:14
other. 

Rich Bennett 5:15
yeah, 

Troy Horne 5:15
during that time. And then I got to college and I was introduced to, you know, Nirvana and all that's like my music role is like, I was like, whoa, say anyways, 

Rich Bennett 5:29
culture shock, right? 

Troy Horne 5:30
Hey, man, I love. Yeah, that album for me was like, oh, this is this 

Rich Bennett 5:35
Oh, yeah, 

Troy Horne 5:36
this is fun. 

Rich Bennett 5:37
Oh, yeah, they paved the way for, I want to say they paved the way for a lot of bands. 

Troy Horne 5:43
Yeah, yeah, 

Rich Bennett 5:44
I mean, it just unfortunately, 

Troy Horne 5:47
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 5:47
you know, he passed way way too early, but that's another story there. So with because star search was the first thing right 

Troy Horne 5:57
right 

Rich Bennett 5:57
right right that star search that was one of that Mick 

Troy Horne 6:00
Mann. Yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 6:03
Okay. And that's where it created me for wrong, but I believe that's where Lee and Rimes got her start. 

Troy Horne 6:10
I think so. Yeah, I think so. There it was a big deal. Star search was a man. That was a fun show, man. I 

Rich Bennett 6:17
so how'd you end up on that? 

Troy Horne 6:20
They had, like, 

Rich Bennett 6:22
they had, because I was proud I was back in the 80s, wasn't 

Troy Horne 6:24
it? Yeah, it was like, 89 90 actually, 

Rich Bennett 6:29
oh, that late 

Troy Horne 6:31
was maybe 90, 91 because I graduated. It was my, it was my senior year in high school, I believe. 

Rich Bennett 6:38
I keep forgetting it's 2020, you know, the math has me all screwed up. 

Troy Horne 6:42
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 6:43
80s. I was in the course, so it wasn't then. Yeah, so, so the 90s. So how old were you when you went 

Troy Horne 6:49
on? 17, 18 something like that. 

Rich Bennett 6:52
Okay. And how that come about 

Troy Horne 6:55
so I'm at home and I'm, you know, watching television. I want those big old, you know, the big old piece of 

Rich Bennett 7:01
serious console. 

Troy Horne 7:02
Yes, man. I have the whole deal and commercial comes on and it's like they're doing auditions at some like Houston Center something or other. And I'm like, well, I got to go down there. Of course, everyone's like, oh, it's a scam. Don't do this. It's like they're not going to and I was like, well, I'm going to give it a shot because I don't have much. Any other options. So my mom with me, I go down there and I do my audition. I sing. I just called to say I love you by Stevie Wonder 

Rich Bennett 7:30
he 

Troy Horne 7:30
because 

Rich Bennett 7:30
wonder. 

Troy Horne 7:30
Yeah. Yeah, man. And I do it with this like this little old remember those old brass phones we had back then with the rotary. 

Rich Bennett 7:37
The rotary ones. 

Troy Horne 7:39
Yeah. Yeah. The little models of the. So I took that with me and I did the audition with that. If you're ever out there and you're doing auditions, don't ever do auditions with props, but I was 17. I didn't know. So, so I do it and they and they invited me to do the show. 

Rich Bennett 7:57
Wow. 

Troy Horne 7:58
Yeah. And so I ended up going to Orlando and doing the show with Eric Mann and the whole deal. So. 

Rich Bennett 8:04
What was it like meeting 

Troy Horne 8:07
Oh, you know it's funny. It was really cool, but the funny thing about life back then, which is why I'm so big on the older stuff that you don't, you don't, you don't know. You're too young to understand 

Rich Bennett 8:20
that big man? Who are 

Troy Horne 8:21
the 

Rich Bennett 8:21
you? 

Troy Horne 8:21
significance of what things that are happening, you know, it's like, 

Rich Bennett 8:23
yeah. 

Troy Horne 8:23
You just think, oh, it's just a man. Okay. It's like, you don't think, you know, 

Rich Bennett 8:28
right? 

Troy Horne 8:28
That's, you know, a man with Johnny Carson. You don't think any of that stuff. 

Rich Bennett 8:32
You think he's the guy delivering the price checks to the houses. 

Troy Horne 8:36
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:38
Wow. 

Troy Horne 8:39
So yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:40
So how far did you make it actually on star search? 

Troy Horne 8:44
This was another lesson. So I got there and I made it only for my one show episode. And what's interesting about that was after I got before we in on to get our three and a quarter stars or three and a half stars. I'll never forget this. One of the producers pulled me to the side and said, 

Rich Bennett 9:02
before you went on. 

Troy Horne 9:03
Before we went on, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:05
Okay. 

Troy Horne 9:05
Yeah. And they said, and she said, no matter what happens, I want you to keep going and keep doing your music. And I'm thinking, okay, why would I not, you know? Yeah. And so I get on there and and the guy gets three and a half or something like that and I get three and a quarter. So I'm but it off. And I was bummed and like, I was just like, but when I went off the stage to like go to the stage doors. I walk out and my mom is standing there with half the audience. They stayed after to, you know, congratulate, which was like, 

Rich Bennett 9:39
oh, wow. 

Troy Horne 9:39
I was like wow they're like you did a great job blah blah so all that to say what I learned in hindsight of that moment was that performing is part what you can do as far as a talent and also part what you can bring to the production by that I mean um I saw that the gentleman that was you know competing against me was from England and so as a production standpoint yes you see where I'm going 

Rich Bennett 10:05
yeah viewers that's what they want 

Troy Horne 10:09
it's like we can both 

Rich Bennett 10:10
you can both sing well if the viewers from the other side 

Troy Horne 10:13
exactly you can both sing well he brings viewers from England 

Rich Bennett 10:18
yeah 

Troy Horne 10:18
we're going this 

Rich Bennett 10:19
and that sucks 

Troy Horne 10:21
but it's but it's but it's great because as a performer throughout life I learned that you know talent and being able to do the job will get you in the 

Rich Bennett 10:30
yeah 

Troy Horne 10:30
door there are other variables that you have to consider if you're going to actually get the job and if you know that then it allows you to take rejection a little lighter it's allows you to 

Rich Bennett 10:41
right 

Troy Horne 10:41
take those a little lighter because you're like we can both do the job but it's like this person brings something that they want for their project 

Rich Bennett 10:49
well and the other thing with that is too if you look at a lot of these reality shows the winners aren't the ones that really made it you know you know it's some of the one I think of you know like Daltree 

Troy Horne 11:03
and 

Rich Bennett 11:05
um and if I'm a big wrestling fan so that you know they had their fate I forget what it was called but a lot of the ones that won are no longer there and the ones that lost are there 

Troy Horne 11:16
right 

Rich Bennett 11:17
yeah it's like there was another de carry underwood sing or was she I mean does she win or I can't 

Troy Horne 11:24
I don't know 

Rich Bennett 11:26
or not 

Troy Horne 11:26
but there are so many that won and lose yeah 

Rich Bennett 11:30
yeah yeah and the sing-off now this are you got to forget me because this one I don't remember what was the sing-off 

Troy Horne 11:37
so that was with NBC and it's like a Agapella um show um we were 

Rich Bennett 11:42
oh okay did I come after pitch perfect I take it 

Troy Horne 11:46
yes it did yeah 

Rich Bennett 11:47
okay okay make sense 

Troy Horne 11:49
yes yes 

Rich Bennett 11:51
all 

Troy Horne 11:51
yes 

Rich Bennett 11:51
right so how'd you do with that 

Troy Horne 11:53
um we got up to so this one uh so I don't know how much you can say you know because you know we signed so many 

Rich Bennett 11:59
right 

Troy Horne 12:00
yeah I know how things but 

Rich Bennett 12:01
in my head 

Troy Horne 12:04
but 

Rich Bennett 12:05
in 

Troy Horne 12:05
we're 

Rich Bennett 12:05
chorus right 

Troy Horne 12:06
I'm just gonna say that we got to third 

Rich Bennett 12:07
man okay 

Troy Horne 12:08
and and even in that even in that in that um this is fun man I think you wrap asking me so even in that process I um saw the same thing I saw on star search 

Rich Bennett 12:19
again 

Troy Horne 12:20
happening 

Rich Bennett 12:20
right 

Troy Horne 12:20
but the guys the people we were all three very talented that were last final three and um obviously penitonics who who want it they're they're phenomenal 

Rich Bennett 12:30
oh 

Troy Horne 12:31
yeah so 

Rich Bennett 12:32
okay so they were I didn't realize they were 

Troy Horne 12:34
on that yeah yeah 

Rich Bennett 12:36
wow I love I love a lot of them groups you get penitonics straight no chaser 

Troy Horne 12:40
yeah 

Rich Bennett 12:41
uh which 

Troy Horne 12:41
yeah 

Rich Bennett 12:42
actually they just performed here not too long ago 

Troy Horne 12:45
my friend uh who's straight no shit my friend um I forget his name he just you just joined them a little while ago anyway yeah 

Rich Bennett 12:53
they're I just don't 

Troy Horne 12:54
they're great 

Rich Bennett 12:54
it's like how in the hell can these acapella groups sound like a whole 

Troy Horne 12:59
band 

Rich Bennett 13:00
freaking 

it's amazing 

Troy Horne 13:03
yeah that's fun 

Rich Bennett 13:04
I try and add a whatever it's 

Troy Horne 13:07
yeah 

Rich Bennett 13:09
hey hey no way in hell I so now you did reality TV well technically it is reality TV 

Troy Horne 13:16
yeah yeah 

Rich Bennett 13:18
but how was that jump into Broadway and not off Broadway you're on freaking Broadway in one of the top top I want to say probably yeah the top one out there rent 

Troy Horne 13:32
yeah you know that was actually before the singing off 

Rich Bennett 13:36
um oh it was okay 

Troy Horne 13:37
and the way that works I was in a situation where this is a lesson in asking for exactly what you want and not being general because I said I want to be a working musician and I was doing that I was a working musician and um but I wasn't seeing my you know my kid who was brandy out of two year old at the 

Rich Bennett 13:53
um 

Troy Horne 13:53
time as much as I wanted to and so I was like how do I fine to do a working musician thing right where I can be home more and you know it's kind of just pin out this energy I want to do something where I can be home more I saw this audition for rent I didn't really know much about the musical at the time um and so I go down and I go to the audition but this is how like life works you know it's like I go to the audition uh and I tell my wife I go before I go in here um I feel like I'm going to get this so would you be willing to move to New York if I get it and she's like you know I'm one of those guys that says unlimited belief things all the time she was like Okay, sure, I'm like no, no, no, I really feel like if I go down here, I'm gonna get this. She's like, okay. I Walk in there and they go great. Can you sing right now? If you're every audition you'll that never happens 

Rich Bennett 14:47
large 

Troy Horne 14:47
for a 

Rich Bennett 14:48
right? There's 

Troy Horne 14:49
always like a long line you sign your name it goes that up and wait and then you come back in 30 40 minutes or an hour or whatever 

Rich Bennett 14:56
Wow, 

Troy Horne 14:57
and she was like can you come in right now? And I was like no, I need to go warm up warm up You know whatever so I go the car warm up And then I come back and I do the audition. They say thank you very much About a week later they call me and say hey, we'd love for you to do the the tour and I remember telling yeah, I remember telling Beth like I can't do the by said I can't do the tour Because that means I'm gonna be on the road and I have a new you know a two-year-old and right but I'll do something if we can do something that sits down somewhere That's something it she goes well the only thing we have that sits down is the Broadway show and I'm like great So if somebody opens up there, I would love to do that right 

Rich Bennett 15:40
Wow, 

Troy Horne 15:41
But but if not then no, she's like okay Long story short because I knew you know, I let go everyone was like you ruined it That was your only chance to get in you got to go through this and blah blah A month later she calls maybe like three weeks later. She calls me and goes the producers like to see you in New York I fight in New York with no money. This is back when Southwest wasn't so nice 

Right you know what I'm talking about With Southwest Southwest like the Southwest we remember and And 

and I do this audition and You know it was a moment of figure it out. Man. It was like I was in the I wasn't the best singer 

Rich Bennett 16:30
right 

Troy Horne 16:31
in there but again, I could hear the notes they were giving the other guys the other guys were a Phenomenal singer they were like singing all these riffs and doing all this stuff and I heard the producer say Yes, but you just lost your partner like I want to feel that you're sad I want to feel that and they just were back to the vocal acrobatics so I was like well hell 

This is easy for me because my family's at home and if I don't get this job, it's not gonna be pretty so I used that emotion and gave them what they wanted and you know a month from that other audition I'm standing on a Broadway stage and Wow Yeah, that 

Rich Bennett 17:10
I 

Troy Horne 17:10
was cool. 

Rich Bennett 17:11
Something you mentioned there about you've Taking those emotions in 

Troy Horne 17:16
and I 

Rich Bennett 17:16
I've had actors on I've had you know People of Broadway and all that but I never asked this because when you're singing that's one thing You're you have to take classes you got to learn you gotta your voice is your instrument 

Troy Horne 17:31
right? 

Rich Bennett 17:32
But what you just said there did you take acting lessons as well? 

Troy Horne 17:36
I had some you know from being in college and stuff like that but 

Rich Bennett 17:43
Cos I 

Troy Horne 17:44
you know. I seem 

Rich Bennett 17:44
good to do 

Troy Horne 17:45
well the biggest thing I think that gave me that that connection was being a performer and doing you know Because I'd a record deal before and I was 

Rich Bennett 17:52
Okay, 

Troy Horne 17:52
writing for music that I actually experienced and lived so I was connected to the music I was writing and singing about and Even from a young age, it was very important for me to connect with the audience and people that I'm that was the whole thing that I loved up music was the human connection so Yeah 

Rich Bennett 18:11
So how long we actually on Broadway for 

Troy Horne 18:14
For about a year maybe a year and a half 

Rich Bennett 18:18
and your wife and the kids or your son your wife and son moved up there 

Troy Horne 18:21
Yes, yeah, yeah, we were living in New Jersey 

Rich Bennett 18:25
What part? 

Troy Horne 18:26
We were living in oh my gosh. I see you today when I'm a my Claire 

Rich Bennett 18:31
okay. 

Troy Horne 18:32
Yes, 

Rich Bennett 18:32
Okay, why now and where'd you guys move from 

Troy Horne 18:35
we moved from LA, yeah 

Rich Bennett 18:37
Holy crap, man 

Troy Horne 18:38
Yeah 

Rich Bennett 18:40
That's that's a hell of a move 

Troy Horne 18:42
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah 

Rich Bennett 18:44
That now's your wife from LA originally it or both of you from LA from that area 

Troy Horne 18:49
No, she's from Denver and I'm from Houston. So we went to 

Rich Bennett 18:52
LA to kind of how 

Troy Horne 18:53
We went to LA to kind of this to do the music art acting thing. Yeah 

Rich Bennett 18:58
Oh, so she does music and acting as well. 

Troy Horne 19:01
Yeah, yeah 

Rich Bennett 19:02
Wow, okay, and your son didn't fall into that 

Troy Horne 19:06
You know that's When he that's why when basketball came up, I was like what is this because it's like this was not you I was not the person I was like all you got to you know play 

Rich Bennett 19:18
right. 

Troy Horne 19:18
all that's 

Rich Bennett 19:19
Let him do what he wants 

Troy Horne 19:20
He was in choir, you know. 

Rich Bennett 19:23
Oh Wow 

Troy Horne 19:24
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 19:24
all right, I had done go ahead 

Troy Horne 19:27
And it is elementary teacher came up to us and actually said you should probably look at to getting him into basketball. It seems to have aptitude for it. And we were like, basketball. What? So that started that journey. 

Rich Bennett 19:41
I take a you never played sports. 

Troy Horne 19:44
I played, I mean, I grew up in Houston. So I play some football like, 

Rich Bennett 19:47
okay. 

Troy Horne 19:48
In middle school. And then right around high school, you know, high school football in Houston, Texas. is, is just like the Friday night lights. And I was like, I don't love it that much. I 

Rich Bennett 20:01
Okay, 

Troy Horne 20:01
was like, yeah, so. 

Rich Bennett 20:04
I have to ask you this because we. We've talked about this before I had my son co-host and we had a musician on and songs can take different meanings. And they could the meaning can change over time. And I was thinking about this when you said your son was two years old and how hard it was for you. What song? Is there a certain song that just went through your mind? And there's always one that went through my mind when my son was younger, cause I only had him every other weekend. 

Troy Horne 20:37
And 

Rich Bennett 20:38
that's why I asked 

Troy Horne 20:43
this. Is there a song? Is there a song that kind of goes. 

Rich Bennett 20:45
Yeah, is there a song that went through your mind at that time? Just a certain song that is like, you heard that song. It just made you think of you and your son. 

Troy Horne 20:55
Ooh, you know, because that was like the beginning of, I was at before, before I, you know, got married. There's a song. Yeah, as soon as you said it probably my mind is a 

new young man, 

Rich Bennett 21:10
old man. Oh, wow. 

Troy Horne 21:12
You know that song. 

Rich Bennett 21:13
Okay. Yeah. 

Troy Horne 21:13
Oh man, look at my life. 

Rich Bennett 21:15
Uh huh. 

Troy Horne 21:16
I'm a lot like you were. 

Rich Bennett 21:19
Okay. 

Troy Horne 21:19
Tom. 

Rich Bennett 21:20
Damn. Oh, wow. 

Troy Horne 21:23
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:23
I'd never even thought about that. 

Troy Horne 21:26
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 21:26
never thought about that. Yeah. Cause the wind had always went through my mind with a catch Stevens wild warm. 

Troy Horne 21:33
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 21:34
Yeah. But you think about it. Oh, man, it's almost the meaning is the same. 

Troy Horne 21:39
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:40
You 

Troy Horne 21:40
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 21:40
don't want him growing up like, oh, wow. Holy cow. 

Troy Horne 21:43
It's like man, and it's funny because you, you, you, Woo. 

Right. You start to get it. You like when you get older, like, oh, that's up my mom. That's what my dad. 

Rich Bennett 21:55
Uh huh. 

Troy Horne 21:56
That's up my uncle. Man. It's like, who's Lord. 

Rich Bennett 22:00
Oh. 

Troy Horne 22:01
Heine site is. 

Rich Bennett 22:03
Oh, 

Troy Horne 22:03
yeah. Winnie. 

Rich Bennett 22:04
I wanted to jump ahead to the 

Troy Horne 22:05
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 22:05
yeah. The podcast was you were in your son. 

Troy Horne 22:08
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 22:08
What brought that on? It went and actually when did that happen? Because the penalty on the year a lot of people may not have known what podcasting was. 

Troy Horne 22:18
Yeah. So it was brand, podcasting was brand new. And like there weren't a lot of people doing it. And, and so I just thought, hey, how can I get you to have these conversations with these people and get the messages of like mindset and how to navigate this path and mental toughness and all that stuff from the person. And podcasts was still a thing where people like sure, I'll hop on the phone with you and do it. And, um, chancy and all those guys lived in Denver at the time. So it was like, 

Rich Bennett 22:48
oh, okay. 

Troy Horne 22:49
So it was like, this is easy. He played for some of their team. So it was like, this is great. I can just walk up to a matter of practice and ask. And they're like sure. And so, um, that's how it began. And then because you know, we had those guys on like, well, then of course, you know, then other NBA guys were like, well, you had, you know, Charlotteson, you own Earl, sure. You know, we'll hop on too. 

Rich Bennett 23:10
Right. 

Troy Horne 23:11
It really became a blessing. And those guys were so generous with their time and their, um, and their, their input about life. It was definitely like catching lightning, lighting a bottle. It was a once in a lifetime thing that 

Rich Bennett 23:27
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 23:27
I think, you know, you just, we were really blessed to be in the right place, the right time with that 

Rich Bennett 23:33
How 

Troy Horne 23:33
definitely. 

Rich Bennett 23:34
old was your son at this time when you guys were doing it? 

Troy Horne 23:36
Uh, I want to say he was 10, 11, maybe, 

Rich Bennett 23:41
what? 

Troy Horne 23:42
Yeah, 11, 12 somewhere in there. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 23:44
He had to be star struck. 

Troy Horne 23:47
Yeah. Yeah. Well, actually, I don't think it was because again. 

Rich Bennett 23:52
Oh, like the Ed McMahon thing. 

Troy Horne 23:55
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 23:55
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 23:56
Like, oh, it's just, you know, it's just a coach that are just the, you know what I mean? You don't. 

Rich Bennett 24:01
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 24:02
Even with Kobe Bryant, I was like, when we were interviewing him I was like, he was like, oh, yeah, this is cool. I'm like, bro, what? No, like, what's happening right now? No, they don't 

Rich Bennett 24:14
know. 

Troy Horne 24:14
know. They don't 

Rich Bennett 24:14
Wow. How long did you guys do that for? 

Troy Horne 24:17
Yeah, we did about a hundred episodes. We 

Rich Bennett 24:20
Okay. 

Troy Horne 24:21
weren't like you. We weren't like you, like you've done like bonus out of the water, but it's like we did about a hundred episodes. 

Rich Bennett 24:27
Put back down a lot of people didn't know what podcast it was 

Troy Horne 24:30
either. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 24:31
Yeah, I mean, you had people back then, you could just, well, no, take that back. They really weren't doing that then. They started doing it after coming, just recording on their phone. No, 

Troy Horne 24:41
Yeah. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 24:41
people weren't doing it back then, I think. 

Troy Horne 24:43
Yeah, we had, we were doing it through Skype and some other thing. 

Rich Bennett 24:47
Oh, oh, wow. 

Troy Horne 24:48
Yeah, man. 

Rich Bennett 24:50
Well, yeah, these things like Squawk case and all weren't around, yeah, I think. 

Troy Horne 24:53
Right, no, 

Rich Bennett 24:54
no. I don't even think Zoom was 

Troy Horne 24:56
a thing yet. Was it? Oh, it wasn't. 

Rich Bennett 24:57
Wow. 

Troy Horne 24:59
Not. 

Rich Bennett 25:00
All right, so here's a deep question, then. Doing that podcast with your son. 

Troy Horne 25:07
What 

Rich Bennett 25:09
did a teacher about being a dad? 

Troy Horne 25:12
Oh, man. The biggest thing, you know, man. You got to be like, trip all this stuff. You 

Rich Bennett 25:19
That's 

Troy Horne 25:19
know. 

Rich Bennett 25:19
all right. That's fun. 

Troy Horne 25:20
I got to hold this together. The biggest thing that I learn is, wow. Okay, I'm here we go. The biggest is connection, man. It's like, 

Rich Bennett 25:31
yeah, 

Troy Horne 25:32
the connection with them the time. Anytime that you get, it's really the thing that they want the most is your attention and your time. It's like, the rest is great, but for me, it's like attention and time is is 

Rich Bennett 25:47
great. 

Troy Horne 25:48
It's the gold. 

Rich Bennett 25:50
Yeah. Yeah. One of the, my son used to DJ with me like he started when he was 13. 

Troy Horne 25:55
Nice. 

Rich Bennett 25:56
I think it was just a couple of years ago. Yeah, maybe about two years ago, we did our last wedding. Because now he's a, well, he's 30. 

Troy Horne 26:05
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:06
Yeah. But I mean, that's 20 years I got with him DJ together. And those were some of the great, and he was better than me. I went to school for that shit. 

Troy Horne 26:20
Yes, yes. 

Rich Bennett 26:24
But you know, he's in the union. He's an electrician. 

Troy Horne 26:27
Nice. 

Rich Bennett 26:28
That's fine. Keep doing what you're 

Troy Horne 26:30
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:30
doing. But I guess with basketball, 'cause were you coaching? 

Troy Horne 26:38
No, no. I was a dad and I was just trying to help him figure he had coaches that were not me. I thought about doing, you know, coaching at one point, but it's like, I just, you know, I wanted him to have other people kind of direct him in. And so I was just being a dad and kind of helping him, you know, during his journey that way. 

Rich Bennett 26:56
Well, so what sparked the mental toughness for young athletes series? 

Troy Horne 27:01
So that 

Rich Bennett 27:02
there is a box right? 

Troy Horne 27:03
Yeah, yeah. So that started because, you know, when you make an end of every pain, that knows this. When you go from the recreational, you know, YMCA, we're playing. You know, we get our jerseys when we show up. Everyone's some kids are playing in street shoes and slippers. 

Rich Bennett 27:20
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 27:21
You know, when you go from that to okay, now we're being competitive. There's like this, you know, mindset thing that can get a lot of kids in any sport. And so pulling from talking with the with the guys about how they work on their mindset, we wrote it down because I wanted to have something actually the way it worked was I was using the stuff with him. And it was helping him, you know, find his own mental fortitude and confidence during the game. And the people are like, how are you doing this? Because we saw him go from, you know, the place of kind of worrying about it to, you know, not worrying about him playing confidently. And so I'll find myself after game, just kind of telling people some of the things that, you know, you were doing, we were using. And after every game, I was like, I can't do this after every game. So I said, I'm going to write it down. I'm going to put it in a book, you know, based on what I've learned from, you know, NFL guys, NBA guys, college 

Rich Bennett 28:16
Right. 

Troy Horne 28:17
guys. Guys, whatever. And we put it down the exercises that they taught us to use. And that began the book series. And then people started getting it and help using it and help their kids. And they started telling other people and it was understandable for the kids because I wrote it with Moses, kind of talking about like, is this how you feel? Is what you think in these moments? And so I think that's why kids really resonate with, with the writing because it was like from his perspective as opposed to me saying, here's what you need to do there, you know, fought, you know, it's like, you know, this is what the kid is going through from a 

Rich Bennett 28:52
Right. 

Troy Horne 28:52
kid going through it. And here's how we can navigate through this thing. 

Rich Bennett 28:56
All right. Now here's a scary question, Troy. You're listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Troy Horne 30:32
There are three in that one, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 30:34
Plus, you got this new book, Edward, or any books in between? 

Troy Horne 30:37
There were. There was one, actually, before, called about the AU basketball Bible. There was one about being a father. The first time I'm having this from me. Man, you know. I was like, "With coming home with that kid, you're like, 

Rich Bennett 30:50
'Yeah, 

Troy Horne 30:51
you're gonna let me leave by myself with this baby, 

Rich Bennett 30:56
with.'" It's scary! 

Troy Horne 30:58
No instructions, like, 

Rich Bennett 31:03
every kid should come with an instruction book, man. 

Troy Horne 31:07
Right? You're not gonna give me a pamphlet that says, "Hey, when they do this, this is the problem." 

Rich Bennett 31:11
Right! And they need a new one when they become a teenager. 

Troy Horne 31:15
Right. 

Right? 

Rich Bennett 31:18
Oh, I'm sorry. 

Troy Horne 31:19
God. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 31:21
Wow. 

Troy Horne 31:22
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 31:23
So, 

Troy Horne 31:25
I'm 

Rich Bennett 31:26
sorry, I'll just think it, and girls are even harder. Yeah. 

Troy Horne 31:34
And yes, yes. 

Rich Bennett 31:37
Oh, yes. I say from music, and podcasting, "How did the author part come along?" 

Troy Horne 31:47
know, again, I just wanted to write down these things because there were things that I wish I would have had access to. I wish I could have found a book, you know, that spoke to the struggles or the things that I was going through. And I couldn't find one. And I think it's somebody, less brown, zig-zagler, something like that. 

Rich Bennett 32:08
You 

Troy Horne 32:08
or like, if you can't find the thing you're looking for, it's because you are supposed to create it, or you're supposed to write it. And I was like, "Okay, well, let's figure this out and let's write it." So, 

Rich Bennett 32:21
so that's what you're doing now. It's just writing? 

Troy Horne 32:24
Yeah. And that took me a long time. If you're for anyone out there, it took me a long time to actually say that that's what I'm doing. So, yeah. Even after like doing it and having, I think we have like, I think I've written maybe 10 or 11 books now. 

Rich Bennett 32:43
Wow. 

Troy Horne 32:43
All right. But even in that, it's like, that's why, this is why I always say, man, it's like, we got to stop telling kids anything about limiting beliefs of any... 

Rich Bennett 32:52
Right. 

Troy Horne 32:54
Because you know this, it rings in your "I am 50 years old." And it's still ringing in my head. The, "Oh it's hard to, it's impossible to, you know the 

Rich Bennett 33:05
Nothing's 

Troy Horne 33:05
statistic?" 

Rich Bennett 33:06
impossible. 

Troy Horne 33:07
Still. 

Rich Bennett 33:08
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm with 

Troy Horne 33:13
you. That stuff is like, they don't have to, they don't have to fight that stuff when they get older. 

Rich Bennett 33:17
Yeah. Yeah. Then I, with all the books you've written, have you done a "Children's Book"? 

Troy Horne 33:23
I have. Yeah, I've done... 

Rich Bennett 33:25
Oh, come on now. Are you serious? 

Troy Horne 33:28
May you make me feel good? I'm going to do this like... I'm just gonna get everyone, I'm just like, "Hey." 

Rich Bennett 33:34
Wow. That is... No, I'm sorry. What's the "Children's Book" called? 

Troy Horne 33:39
So I wrote some about like just about the red tails, which is like a history book I wrote written some... 

Rich Bennett 33:46
oh... 

Troy Horne 33:46
About uh, bass reels and stuff like that. So yeah, man, it's like, I've started writing one about a mischievous cat because I love Garfield. But I didn't... 

Rich Bennett 33:57
Oh yeah. 

Troy Horne 33:58
Yeah. So... 

Rich Bennett 33:59
Well, finish it, man. 

Troy Horne 34:01
I know. I got 

Rich Bennett 34:02
it. Here's the, I love to, I love talking to children's 

Troy Horne 34:05
read 

Rich Bennett 34:06
authors and you, and I'm sure with all the other books you've written, your children's books can probably teach adults something as well. And to me that's a good children's book. 

Troy Horne 34:18
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 34:18
If adults can learn from it, 

Troy Horne 34:22
know... 

Rich Bennett 34:22
they you Right. 

Troy Horne 34:24
I like that. I like that idea. Hey! 

Rich Bennett 34:51
And, if I learn from it, then I know the kids are going to, 

Troy Horne 34:56
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 34:57
and 

you're right. Especially if you're reading to the kids, 

Troy Horne 35:02
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 35:03
and you can put, it's a lot easier to put feeling into a book that you're reading to a kid. If you're learning something, then is saying, saying reading one fish, two fish, red 

Troy Horne 35:14
fish. Ha! Ha! 

Rich Bennett 35:15
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Yeah, or something like that, you know? 

Troy Horne 35:17
Yes! 

Rich Bennett 35:18
Just now you're trying to make a sound like a song. 

Troy Horne 35:20
Yes! 

Rich Bennett 35:21
Ha! Ha! 

Troy Horne 35:22
Ha! 

Rich Bennett 35:22
Ha! 

Troy Horne 35:22
More of the, uh, older places you will go kind of books, like, 

Rich Bennett 35:25
Yeah! 

Troy Horne 35:26
right? Yes! 

Rich Bennett 35:26
Alright, so, now I want to talk about the newer, the newest one, alright. This is the newest one, management, right? 

Troy Horne 35:34
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 35:34
Yeah. Alright, so, what inspired you to write this and correct me if I'm wrong? 

Troy Horne 35:43
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 35:43
I don't, I can't think of any other books like this for middle-aged people. 

Troy Horne 35:50
it? 

Rich Bennett 35:50
Or is 

Troy Horne 35:51
Yeah. So, here's what inspired me to write it. And it's exactly what you're saying. It's like, all of the ones that I was finding, and maybe there's one out there that isn't, but all the ones that I was finding, all the books that I was finding about midlife are like, now's the time to, you know, accept your decline and, and 

Rich Bennett 36:09
what? 

Troy Horne 36:10
That's what I was finding. to, and I was like, this can't be the only video there. 

Rich Bennett 36:16
It's time 

Troy Horne 36:17
So, 

Rich Bennett 36:17
living, 

Troy Horne 36:18
right? Because, like I said, like, now's the time, it's like we went through the school of life, and we, we've graduated, we've, we're like, we're graduate students. We're like, doctor, degree, in the school of life. And you graduate. You now, you're now just not going to use all that stuff you learned. Now, you're just not going to, you're just going to put it on like, no. Come on. 

Rich Bennett 36:42
I, I'm living my best life now, I believe. And I started, I'm 62 now, I started this 10 years 

Troy Horne 36:49
ago. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 36:50
And I love, I love doing this better than when I was in radio. 

Troy Horne 36:54
Yeah. It's like we're Jedi masters now. It's like you don't tell a Jedi master who knows all the stuff to, to not, it's like, 

Rich Bennett 37:02
nah. 

Troy Horne 37:03
I don't have to, like, it's like the kid walks in, you know, and they've got what's that? The Indiana Jones thing where the guy walks in, 

Rich Bennett 37:09
so they're like, uh-huh, 

Troy Horne 37:10
doing all this stuff. And Indiana goes, 

Rich Bennett 37:14
it's 

Troy Horne 37:15
like, we now know the one finger punch, you know, it's like, 

Rich Bennett 37:20
oh yeah, 

Troy Horne 37:20
all this stuff is like, anyway. 

Rich Bennett 37:23
Well, and you think about it. Look at many people. They're, really, their careers, their life didn't start. Some of them, they toy after 50, some time, 

Troy Horne 37:33
some of them done, right, 

Rich Bennett 37:34
they're 60, 

Troy Horne 37:35
right. 

Rich Bennett 37:35
You know, I look a lot, a lot of these celebrities, especially chefs. 

Troy Horne 37:39
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 37:40
You know, any, 

Troy Horne 37:41
yes, 

Rich Bennett 37:41
kids, 

Troy Horne 37:43
yes. Because now you know what to do. It's like, 

Rich Bennett 37:46
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 37:47
you know, you're a master at now. It's like, now's the perfect time to do whatever it is, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:55
I was talking to somebody not too long ago and they were telling me they just went and saw Billy Idle in concert. 

Troy Horne 38:03
Oh, wow. 

Rich Bennett 38:03
Billy Idle's got a, he's got to be in his 60s. He's maybe, 

Troy Horne 38:07
he's got to be, yeah, yeah, 

Rich Bennett 38:08
yeah, yeah. And the guy said, he sounds better now. 

Troy Horne 38:13
Then 

Rich Bennett 38:13
when he was younger, 

Troy Horne 38:15
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:15
And I the same about Pat Benetar. This 

Troy Horne 38:18
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:18
Pat Benetar and her husband, Neil's Rotterga are touring. 

Troy Horne 38:21
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:21
And it's like, they don't stop. And you think about it. When we were younger, you know, you heard of like somebody like the Rolling Stones, you hear about that touring and they're, people would say, oh, they're too old. Why are they doing that? And my first thought was always BB 

Troy Horne 38:38
King. 

Rich Bennett 38:39
King was still playing the dimmin. People think it's the style of music that you should quit when you're a certain age. 

Troy Horne 38:46
Right. 

Rich Bennett 38:46
I say bullshit. Keep going, man. I mean, hell, if it's making Keith Richards still live and he's got to be what? 150. Oh, man. 

Troy Horne 38:58
I 

Rich Bennett 39:01
think, love this because I do believe that a lot of people. And you're right. The other books that are out there. 

You know, you hear it, well, it's time to retire. 

Troy Horne 39:13
Right. Right. 

Rich Bennett 39:15
People do, they think their life is declining. 

Troy Horne 39:19
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 39:19
And it's I now, man. 

Troy Horne 39:22
It's like, 'No, no! Now's the time. The perfect time'. 

Rich Bennett 39:26
Alright, so is this like a guidebook? Or is it stories or what? 

Troy Horne 39:30
Yes so it's a guidebook and it follows the steps that I took to kind of get clarity to the point where I can say, 'Hey, I'm writing. This is what I'm doing'. And it's a guidebook of the steps that I took to get there. And so, uhm, I kind of share, like, how I, you know, like, the first one is walking meditation. So that means 

Rich Bennett 39:52
Hmm. 

Troy Horne 39:52
for me, and I love this for everyone. It's like, you have to, for an extended period of time, there's no, like, set amount of time. Turn everything off when you're, like, when we were, when we were kids, we were driving and we turned the radio off and you could hear the car and nothing, you could hear, like, 'All the turn everything off so that you can learn to To hear your own voice and your own thoughts. 

Rich Bennett 40:17
I love that. Yeah. Yeah, and too many people don't do that. Give it to the phone, turn the TV off, and do, and go outside and walk. 

Troy Horne 40:26
Yes! And sit with yourself and sit with your own voice. 

Rich Bennett 40:30
Yes. 

Troy Horne 40:31
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 40:31
Oh, man. I love, alright. So, and how many steps, you said four? 

Troy Horne 40:35
They're eight. 

Rich Bennett 40:37
Eight steps. 

Troy Horne 40:38
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:38
Alright, so that's the first step. Alright, now, I don't want to give, I don't want you to give all 

Troy Horne 40:42
I'll 

Rich Bennett 40:42
the, 

Troy Horne 40:42
give you some, I'll 

Rich Bennett 40:43
of the book, 

Troy Horne 40:43
give you a 

Rich Bennett 40:44
couple of the steps. 

Troy Horne 40:45
It's about service. So, like, I'll give you another one. The, the another one is, um. Really giving yourself permission to try the things like list instead of going, okay, it's got to be. This is the thing. Give yourself permission to list like three or four things that you want to do. That you've always wanted to do in your life and give yourself four to five to six months to go all in on it. To try it, because, you know, then once you do that, you know, like this is the thing, or it's not. And then once you get done with that one, try the next one and I'll also say number, um, three or four something like that. Don't tell anybody what you're doing because people love to go, oh, you're not doing that. No more. You're doing this now? Oh, you're doing that now. What happened to the, you don't need more of ways is telling you. That it's wrong to switch up or wrong to try or experiment. You need this. The first part needs to be your own journey by yourself. And then after that, we go into, um, finding your tribe and finding the people that are on your scene journey. 

Rich Bennett 41:48
Key thing you said there, and I don't think enough people do it. Give 

Troy Horne 41:52
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 41:52
yourself permission. because I do believe if you give yourself permission, you're going to, you're, you're going to keep going 

Troy Horne 42:01
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 42:01
and finish that goal. 

Troy Horne 42:03
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 42:03
if you just say, Oh, no, I'm just going to do this. Man, I like that. Damn. Wow. 

Troy Horne 42:10
You know, we find that the biggest people standing in our way most of time is ourselves. 

Rich Bennett 42:15
Exactly. You're right. 

Troy Horne 42:17
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:17
You're right. And the thing is, and we learned I learned this when I used to do sales, you know, the first thing they tell you is. Ignore the know. 

Troy Horne 42:28
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 42:28
because you're going to get several no's until you hear a yes a no's just an objection. Or they, you didn't make yourself, you didn't provide them with enough knowledge. 

Troy Horne 42:37
Right, right. 

Rich Bennett 42:39
And and that's the thing you just yeah, keep going. 

Troy Horne 42:42
Keep 

Rich Bennett 42:42
Yeah, 

Troy Horne 42:42
going. 

Rich Bennett 42:42
eventually yeah, they may, they may tell you to, you know, get the hell out and call secure they really meant no, 

Troy Horne 42:49
because 

Rich Bennett 42:50
but you learned from it. Just like, I mean, I'm going back to basketball, I think of Michael Jordan. You know, how many I think it was in high school day, he never made a team. He kept failing 

Troy Horne 43:02
and failing, failing. Right, right. 

Rich Bennett 43:03
But he didn't stop. You know, I always tell people in order to succeed, you have to fail. 

Troy Horne 43:09
You have to 

Rich Bennett 43:10
learn from your mistakes. 

Troy Horne 43:11
Right. You have to fail. 

Rich Bennett 43:13
Oh 

Troy Horne 43:13
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
man, did I this and this just came out what November? 

Troy Horne 43:18
Yeah, yeah, just can't know. 

Rich Bennett 43:19
So those of you listening were recording December 4th, man, this OK, holy cow. I'm already, I'm already sold. 

Troy Horne 43:31
All right, 

Rich Bennett 43:32
one more step, one more step. 

Troy Horne 43:34
OK, the one more thing that I would say is give yourself permission to go all in and and by that I mean it's like, not like you're going to, you're going to seem like you're a crazy person to everyone else and almost like if you if you, if you, if you, if people aren't saying you're doing too much, you're probably not doing enough. Um, I mean, because here's the thing, we think the reason why I think we procrastinate or we take our time or we, you know, don't take action and is because we think we have time. We think, I always tell people we think we have next week tomorrow, next five minutes or whatever, when we realize. that we don't know and we're in the, we've got gray in our bears like we're in the time 

Rich Bennett 44:24
that this is go time. Yeah. 

Troy Horne 44:25
So we don't have time to doubt ourselves. We don't have time to weigh out. We have to go. It's time to go. What's that that brought me brought me where book is says the top five regrets the dying or something. Number one is I wish I would have lived the life true to myself instead of the life true what I thought other people wanted. 

Rich Bennett 44:50
Yeah. 

Troy Horne 44:51
That's number one. We don't have time to not try all this stuff and to go for it. So go all in. And if again, if they don't think you're like doing too much, you're not doing enough is what I would say. 

Rich Bennett 45:03
You got to please yourself. Don't worry about pleasing other people. Please yourself first. 

Troy Horne 45:08
Right. You got it. Where's it? You can't please everyone. Let's have song. You got plea just. 

Rich Bennett 45:13
Oh, 

Troy Horne 45:14
Oh anyway. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:18
Yeah. Yeah. Damn. Now I'm gonna. Okay. What? Why you got to bring up another music reference? No, this is going to bug the hell out of me. I'm gonna. Wait, was that a stone or something? 

Troy Horne 45:26
I think it was something. No, I think it was like a Crosby stills a Nash or something like that. 

Rich Bennett 45:32
Oh yeah, you might be right. Holy cow, man. Damn. All right, dude, you got to come down Maryland and get one of these music panels that we that we're gonna start doing. This could be a lot of fun. All right, so how I actually just came up by how her book sales going so far. 

Troy Horne 45:50
Oh, they're going well. It's like we have I may have done like maybe 10 or 15 of them right now, but we just launched and so this is a book that I want to make number one on Amph all of Amazon because 

Rich Bennett 46:05
yes. 

Troy Horne 46:05
Why not. And I remember and here's the thing I remember, and I want to share this with authors out there. And I didn't know this until someone ran the numbers on the book that sold over the book series that sold over 300,000. The first year of sales were not amazing. And I didn't know this until someone like did the what's the reverse calculations or looking at the data sales numbers from the past, because they can do that, I guess, with Amazon tools or something like that. Like the first year was building and sharing and telling people. So we're in the first year of getting the message out and sharing and telling people. And so this year for me is like, how many people can I hopefully help with this message? Because that's the whole point. So I would say we're probably in like 10 to 15 to 20 sales right now. So we're just. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:01
I'm glad you said that. Because one of the things and I don't know why a lot of authors do this. Well, let me ask you this, do you still pitch the first books? Actually, you probably don't even need to anymore. 

Troy Horne 47:19
Yes. I do. And let me tell you why. And let me hear the thing. Here's a thing that I also glad you asked that because honestly, I'm sick because I've been struggling with that idea for a long time of like telling people or talking about it or selling or whatever, the thing that I received from that was from over the last few years, doing this the process in the book. You owe it to there is someone out there needs this resource that you created, whether it's a fiction story, a nonfiction, someone needs to read your book. And it is your obligation. It's not about can I sell and get somebody to buy whatever. It's like, I have to reach as many people 

Rich Bennett 48:06
who 

Troy Horne 48:06
that I can with this resource to help them not have a bad experience. And that's what the whole thing is with, you know, talking about it, selling it or whatever it's like, are you that person that I need to reach? And if are you, if not, are you it's like, I need to reach all the people who need this so that they don't struggle. And that's our job. 

Rich Bennett 48:29
That's one thing I I don't understand with a lot of authors is because there's thought well, I did it with you asking you about your other books, but I've had authors on and they're like, they don't want to talk about their other books. It's like, why, your author, Pernort, this is your business. You cannot rely on just selling your newest 

Troy Horne 48:48
book. 

Rich Bennett 48:49
Yeah, sell them all key. The only ones I know of that I've seen pitch them are, well, well, like you did with your first book are the ones that write novels and it's a series. Which makes sense because you want to read that first book in the series. And all. But yeah, yeah, well, it can. 

Troy Horne 49:09
I think it's I think it's because we think it's a we've we've been you know, you're in sales, everyone's been told that sales is bad for some reason. Like it's like it's 

Rich Bennett 49:19
like everybody's 

Troy Horne 49:19
like it's 

Rich Bennett 49:20
a salesperson. 

Troy Horne 49:21
Was that 

Rich Bennett 49:22
everybody is a sales person, whether Exactly not 

Troy Horne 49:26
exactly and so we as creators we think oh, I don't want to push it's like no you like with any product You have or any service you have it's not pushing you're helping that person avoid pain 

Rich Bennett 49:40
Yes, 

Troy Horne 49:40
so it's like you're you're helping you're not pushing and so I think that's the switch we have to make 

Rich Bennett 49:45
Have you thought about Starting to and if you tell me that you're already doing this. I'm just gonna be forward starting a business where you help other authors 

Uh-oh You're already doing it 

Troy Horne 49:59
No, I okay Hey you know today. I am making the videos for that. 

Rich Bennett 50:06
Oh come on man 

Troy Horne 50:08
That's why I'm laughing that's why I was 

Rich Bennett 50:09
laughing 

Troy Horne 50:10
It was like I I write these books because I struggle with the same. It's like who am I to tell it's like who are you not to 

Rich Bennett 50:18
are 

Troy Horne 50:19
Who 

Rich Bennett 50:19
right? 

Troy Horne 50:20
information that can help someone else and not go out there and try to help as many people So answer question. I am after we get off today. I'm recording videos for it. It's called a best serving author I have a YouTube channel best serving instead of selling the best serving author And I'm 

Rich Bennett 50:38
Love that Have 

Troy Horne 50:39
going to you start running ads to help other authors This week is the I'm shooting the videos today. So thank 

Rich Bennett 50:47
you. Wow 

Troy Horne 50:48
Thank you for Yeah 

man 

Rich Bennett 50:52
That all right and no Those of you listening we do not know each 

Troy Horne 50:57
No 

Rich Bennett 50:58
other. Just met today. I don't have telepathic power 

Troy Horne 51:03
It's I mean it's just confirmation that yeah And I appreciate that so much. So thank you. 

Rich Bennett 51:10
Yeah. Oh, that's awesome because yeah there and here's the thing um 

It and There are a lot of authors that do need help 

Troy Horne 51:20
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 51:20
You don't know where to find it 

Troy Horne 51:22
right 

Rich Bennett 51:23
right 

Troy Horne 51:23
right 

Rich Bennett 51:23
the and the other thing is to and you'll hear this people say well I only want to talk to you the experts That's what those experts weren't experts when they started 

Troy Horne 51:33
Thank you 

Rich Bennett 51:34
You know you have to And what makes an expert an expert because let me tell you something. Yeah, 

Troy Horne 51:40
thank you 

Rich Bennett 51:41
I've seen this when it comes to podcast and these so-called podcast experts are not so expert 

Troy Horne 51:49
Say it loud 

Rich Bennett 51:49
I 

Troy Horne 51:49
for the people 

Rich Bennett 51:53
mean, oh god, but that's oh 

Troy Horne 51:56
haha exactly 

Rich Bennett 51:58
all right 

All right, so Troy 

Troy Horne 52:03
Yes, sir 

Rich Bennett 52:05
Big question here how could people get in touch 

Troy Horne 52:08
with oh well, you know, I made it easy you can go to Troy horn.com That's my website. Um, that's contacted 

Rich Bennett 52:14
horn with an 

Troy Horne 52:16
E with an e. Yeah, t/r/y H-l-r-n-e.com 

Rich Bennett 52:19
Because the e is because you're 

Troy Horne 52:22
right hey 

Rich Bennett 52:22
extraordinary 

Troy Horne 52:24
I'll take 

Rich Bennett 52:25
e? 

Troy Horne 52:25
it I have I have never heard that but from now on that is my tagline the e 

Rich Bennett 52:30
Get a put get a put on a shirt man. 

Troy Horne 52:33
Yes That is great Oh 

Rich Bennett 52:36
Now you're already working on the next book 

Troy Horne 52:40
as well. No right now. I'm working Right now. I'm working on stepping into that calling of helping authors and also helping people Over 40 kind of step into their greater yet to be those are my two things right now 

Rich Bennett 52:54
Well, I think you have a follow-up already for the book for the you know middle-aged people You know about being grateful 

Troy Horne 53:03
I 

Rich Bennett 53:03
do think a lot of people forget how to be grateful 

Troy Horne 53:06
Mm-hmm. Yeah Yeah 

Rich Bennett 53:10
they're on that damn decline bullshit start going back up 

Troy Horne 53:14
Because 

Rich Bennett 53:14
the hill start living 

Troy Horne 53:16
Right, oh 

Rich Bennett 53:17
Man 

Troy Horne 53:17
my god Good 

Rich Bennett 53:20
All right, so those of you listening Actually, where's the best place to purchase your books just 

Troy Horne 53:26
Um, 

Rich Bennett 53:26
off 

Troy Horne 53:26
Amazon, yeah, you can just google Troy horn amazon and uh E with it to horn with an E 

Rich Bennett 53:33
because he's 

Troy Horne 53:33
With that's where extraordinary. Yeah, I love this. That's so great so you And all the books still come up on my author page, so 

Rich Bennett 53:44
I 

Troy Horne 53:44
that's 

Rich Bennett 53:44
All right, so those of you listening when you purchase his box Yeah Read that make sure you leave a full review Hey 

Troy Horne 53:53
Yes 

Rich Bennett 53:55
reads barn Genoa whatever you can leave reviews and then purchase copies for other people that you think Would benefit from this 

Troy Horne 54:06
Good 

Rich Bennett 54:06
you know what a matter of fact look I think especially if this new book This would be great gifts for Father's Day 

Troy Horne 54:15
Yeah 

Rich Bennett 54:15
mothers to any holiday Yeah Veter, oh my God. Veterence Day? 

Troy Horne 54:23
Wow. 

Rich Bennett 54:23
Matter of fact, here's, I'm gonna challenge all you people out there listening to that own a business. 

Troy Horne 54:30
hmm, 

Rich Bennett 54:31
purchase a, like a case of these books. 

Troy Horne 54:36
Hey! 

Rich Bennett 54:37
Seriously, purchase a case of the middle management, finding meaning, clarity, and success in the second half of life by Troy Horn, and donate them to a local American Legion or 

Troy Horne 54:50
Oh, wow. 

Rich Bennett 54:50
VFW or even to the V, eh, like a VA hospital. 

Troy Horne 54:54
Yeah man. 

Rich Bennett 54:55
Because a lot of them veterans, you know, they, middle-aged, they just, especially if they're already retired. 

Troy Horne 55:02
Mm. 

Rich Bennett 55:02
They don't what to do. And this, this would definitely help 

Troy Horne 55:06
Oh, I might do that myself, dude. Yeah, good grief. I don't know why someone's taking them 

Rich Bennett 55:11
them. 

Troy Horne 55:11
itself. 

Rich Bennett 55:11
I mean, it's, 

Troy Horne 55:14
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 55:15
Yeah. This is, this is a book that a lot of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, even 70s, and 80s, even need because, you know, and I, I think of, I'm gonna call my friend out. I think of my good friend Ron Philly, 

Troy Horne 55:30
who was, eh, 

Rich Bennett 55:31
from the automotive 

Troy Horne 55:33
industry. Okay. 

Rich Bennett 55:34
I want to say he's in his early 70s. That man is busier now than he retired. 

Troy Horne 55:40
Mm. 

Rich Bennett 55:41
He is living life right now. He, and is he working? No. Well, yes, but not for money because he's volunteering his time everywhere. Boy, I shit you not man. That man is busy all the time. And he's just, he's awesome. 

Troy Horne 56:02
Man. That is awesome. 

Rich Bennett 56:03
To me, he is a mentor to, to wait to what you should be doing after your retire. You're living. 

Troy Horne 56:11
what 

Rich Bennett 56:11
And 

Troy Horne 56:12
it. 

Rich Bennett 56:12
that's 

Troy Horne 56:12
Yeah, live. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 56:14
Big time. All right. So is there anything you would like to add before I get to my last question? 

Troy Horne 56:19
You know, one thing I would like to add is matter where you are in your life, if you have this vision or an idea of something you want to do, no matter how crazy it sounds, no matter how out unrealistic it sounds, you can have it. I know it sounds a cliche or whatever, whatever, but it's like I am a kid who moved to LA with $1, 500 to my name, didn't know anybody, didn't, hadn't written any songs. I had never put a band together and ended up doing, you know, all the things that I wanted to do with all the odds against me. So if I can do it, I am not super excited. I am extraordinary with a knee, but, but it's like anybody can do it. And I know, yes. So If you have a dream, go for it. Please go for it. You owe 

Rich Bennett 57:10
definitely 

Troy Horne 57:10
it to 

Rich Bennett 57:11
go 

Troy Horne 57:11
yourself. 

Rich Bennett 57:11
for it. And 

Troy Horne 57:12
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 57:12
it doesn't matter how old 

Troy Horne 57:14
are. 

Rich Bennett 57:14
you 

Troy Horne 57:14
No, 

Rich Bennett 57:15
hell, I still get dreams all the time of stuff I want to do. 

Troy Horne 57:19
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 57:19
And I go ahead and do them. All right. So Troy, 

Troy Horne 57:23
yes, sir, 

Rich Bennett 57:24
pick a number between one and 100. 

Troy Horne 57:27
Oh, okay. I got 47 for some reason. 

Rich Bennett 57:33
Oh, thank God you didn't a load number. All right, 40s. Oh, I like this question. If you could create a new holiday, what would it celebrate? And how would people observe it? 

Troy Horne 57:49
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 57:50
it's kind of a deep question. 

Troy Horne 57:52
It would celebrate human connection. And people would celebrate it by turning everything off and going outside and having a huge, global, picnic fare where we walk around and talk to each other. 

Rich Bennett 58:09
I love that. 

Troy Horne 58:10
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 58:11
Could be a movement, almost like the hands across America thing. 

Troy Horne 58:14
Hey. 

Rich Bennett 58:16
Actually, I don't know if you remember that, because I was back and I was, 

Troy Horne 58:18
come on, man. Of course I do. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 58:21
Well, you, I mean, you had to be, wait a minute. Okay. Never before that. Yeah. You remember. 

Troy Horne 58:27
Yeah. No, I remember has cost America. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 58:30
I'm just, I'll just sit there thinking it's like, wait a minute, because I was only a kid and then it hit me. No, we in the nightclub at the time. So I was not a kid. 

Troy Horne 58:38
my. 

Rich Bennett 58:38
I was in Geez. 

Troy Horne 58:40
Hey, so there you go. Yeah. I know, man. 

Rich Bennett 58:43
I'm telling you, man, it's got me all mess. I keep thinking the eighties were like 20 years ago. 

I still can't, you know, when somebody says, that's oldies music, I want to slap them. But it is. 

Troy Horne 58:58
It is. 

Rich Bennett 58:59
Yeah. Do 

Troy Horne 58:59
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 58:59
you ever think you would hear the day when Nirvana is considered oldies? 

Troy Horne 59:08
But it's still so good. There's still, like, there's, there's like that music man. There's nothing like it. 

Rich Bennett 59:15
Now. 

Troy Horne 59:16
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 59:16
Wait a minute, man. Alright, Troy. First of all, the oldies, oldies, like the 50s and 60s. That stuff was good, too. 

Troy Horne 59:22
It was good. That's good. But. 

Rich Bennett 59:26
It 

Troy Horne 59:27
wasn't. It wasn't Kurt Cobain. 

Rich Bennett 59:29
What are you? Yeah. 

Troy Horne 59:31
It 

Rich Bennett 59:31
This. 

Troy Horne 59:31
was good, though. It was good. I liked it. 

Rich Bennett 59:35
That's where the ocarpella group started. 

Troy Horne 59:37
Hey, exactly. Yes, 

Rich Bennett 59:39
yes. I'm sorry they were considered 

Troy Horne 59:41
do up do up? Yes. Yes. Yes. So. 

Rich Bennett 59:46
Oh, yeah, I'm not even going to try that. Troy. Thanks a lot, man. 

Troy Horne 59:53
It's 

Rich Bennett 59:53
been it's been an honor and the door is open anytime. Well, you have to come back on for the other books and the business and all that. 

Troy Horne 1:00:00
I would love that. I would love to. This has been so much 

Rich Bennett 1:00:03
fun. Oh, thanks, man. We'll definitely stay in touch. Thanks a lot. 

Troy Horne 1:00:07
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:08
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learn 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 a 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 conversations with rich Bennett dot 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 sponsor's helped 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, so your photography, live in the moment, they'll capture it. Visit them at sincerely so you're calm. The job of town lines club serving the community since 1965 visit them at jopatown lines club dot org, and don't forget the E at the end of jopatown because they're extraordinary.