A Jack Of All Trades Is A Master Of None - Josh Mancuso

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, and welcome to the worst advice I ever got. I'm your host, Sean Taylor, along with my producer, JB, and I'd like to welcome you to the second season of our show. I want to one more time thank all our guests and listeners from season one who have made this show what it is. We've got an incredible group for this season headlined by our first guest, Josh Mancuso. Josh is a film and tv actor as well as a social media comedian specializing in sports, comedy, especially college football. With over 350,000 followers and over 100 million views across social media, Josh has quickly become a fan favorite. We're so excited to have him in the studio with us today. Josh, thanks for joining us. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Sean, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. [00:00:52] Speaker C: So let's dive right in. Tell us the worst advice you ever got. [00:00:56] Speaker B: The worst advice I ever got was someone said to me, a jack of all trades is a master of none. [00:01:02] Speaker C: Okay, I've heard that before. Tell me why it's bad advice for you. [00:01:08] Speaker B: I think it's bad advice for me because I feel like I'm somebody that's good at a lot of things. But I've been told that you really just need to be good at one thing, pick one thing, and go all in on that and be really good at that, and that's all that you do. And I think for me and who I am, I'm more geared to have my hands in multiple things and feel like there's a lot of things I want to do that I'm pretty good at, and I want to be able to do all of those things or most of those things as long as I can do them well. I get the sentiment behind the. Behind the quote. It's a famous quote, but, I mean, I think that what happens is I feel pigeonholed is like, well, you can only do this. [00:01:49] Speaker D: What were you doing when you got the advice? [00:01:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:01:51] Speaker D: Where were you in your career? [00:01:52] Speaker B: I've gotten the advice multiple times, I think. I mean, I think from earnings early in my career when I was kind of trying out different things, I'd worked. I'd done marketing. I'd done some video stuff. I was doing some acting stuff. I was doing some comedy stuff. I was writing. I was doing all kinds of things. And it's like, you got to do. [00:02:11] Speaker D: You got to pick one, man. [00:02:14] Speaker B: And I actually did that for a time. I was a writer at a newspaper because I'm a good writer, and I was like, well, I'm going to write a. So I was writing and I was there about a year, and I was like, I cannot write day in and day out, and this is the only thing I do. You know, I can't do it. And so. But I think over time. Yeah, people will always say, like, you know, okay, I'm gonna go with. I'll go with Ron Swanson from parks recreation. You know, he says, never half ass two things. Whole ass, one thing. Right? So, like, I get the. I get the what the point is. Sure. Absolutely. But, you know, I think that you can do more than one thing well. And I think a lot of people are actually made in a way that they need to do that, rather than being like, I'm only gonna do this one thing, and that's it. [00:03:02] Speaker C: Well, you've been experiencing a lot of success in sort of one area that I don't really wanna pigeonhole you like by saying that. But I've seen your stuff. It's incredibly funny. So I think people are probably telling you, do more of that. [00:03:16] Speaker A: Right? [00:03:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Which I should, and I am. But I think, you know, what is more of that is that I'm known for kind of doing the college mascot videos, right? So only do those right? Or what if I do a different type of comedy? What if it's another topic? Or what if it's all right now, instead of playing all these parts, maybe I've got another person in here with me and I'm doing something with them. Now, can I do both of those things? Well, like, how focused do you have to be in order to listen that advice? [00:03:45] Speaker D: Yeah. What are you even saying? [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah, like, how. Right, so I can only make mascot videos? Well, no, of course not. But those have proven to work, and so I'm definitely. I would be dumb to abandon them, I think. But, you know, I want to add in other things to what I do, so, you know, kind of. Don't. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Right. Mascot videos are how I've got to where I'm at, honestly, which I never thought I would be saying that, like, I'm the college mascot guy, and that's how I've found success. You know, it's wild. There's so many more things I want to do, so I'm just kind of adding more things to what I'm doing. And, yeah, I have a good friend of mine, and he probably knows I'm going to say this on this podcast. I even told him, and he's one that pushes me. Like, you're a comedian. You're funny. Be funny. And I'm like, well, I'm going to do this project over here. And he's like, is it going to be funny? And I'm like, well, it might not be. He's like, you need to do funny stuff. [00:04:36] Speaker D: No. [00:04:37] Speaker B: And I'm like, but I don't want to do that. Like, I want to do this dramatic role over here in this movie playing a 1970s deadbeat dad in some independent film, you know, like, do people want to see you as that? And I'm like, I don't really care. Like, I want to do that, so I'm going to do it. But there has to be balance, right? If I just abandon all this comedy stuff and go over here and try to be, you know, whoever, Shia LaBeouf and some gritty, you know, why did I pick him? And he's the first actor that came in my head. [00:05:06] Speaker D: I actually really was with you, though, when you said Shia LaBeouf. I'm like, no, that tracks. [00:05:10] Speaker B: You felt that, didn't you? Yeah, you were in there. [00:05:11] Speaker C: These two guys are big transformers guys is what it is. [00:05:14] Speaker B: Well, I was thinking about some of his other films. He's done some more, like, indie stuff that's more lesser known and whatnot. But anyways, you know, my buddy, his intentions are pure, and the device is pretty good. This is what's gotten you to where you're at, so don't leave it. But we can dip our toes in over here and try some other stuff. [00:05:34] Speaker C: Well, comedy or the mascot videos has been your thing. That got you noticed, generally gotten you a lot of publicity, right? [00:05:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:43] Speaker C: A lot of successful people who are doing a lot of different things got noticed by one thing, but they didn't. Yeah, they didn't stop there. [00:05:51] Speaker B: And my wife, we were. She and I were talking about this, and, you know, I told her I was going to call her out on the podcast. Cause it's true. You know, she, at one point, I think, said that in not so many words, like, you know, you need to get a real job, right? Like, do one thing. Well, yeah, right, like, so, you know, you're doing this, you're doing that. You get your hands on all these things. And I. For her, she's seen instability. Health insurance. Okay, so, like, practical things that you have to do to take care of a family, which I've always done. I've always taken care of my family. But she's seen how difficult it is on me to do it that way. Well, why don't you just go get a regular job and do the regular thing. [00:06:30] Speaker D: What's that even mean anymore? [00:06:31] Speaker B: I don't know, but I can't do it. [00:06:33] Speaker C: So I can see where someone like your wife would be saying, I like the security. Right? [00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:40] Speaker B: I think a lot of spouses are like that, especially when if you're relying on your other spouse and husband, in this case, to provide for the family. And again, which I have all, I want people to think that I've neglected my family and be like, I'm gonna chase all these sparkly things. I've not done that. And I think that's one reason why my career is where it is now. It could maybe even be further, but I've kind of always chosen the route of, I'm gonna take care of my family first, make sure that we do these things, and if we're gonna be adults, we're gonna be responsible, we're gonna do. We're gonna take care of our kids, and then I'm gonna chase my dream as best I can. On top of that, priorities still matter. [00:07:18] Speaker D: You're still prioritizing things. You don't have to limit your list to just a couple of things. [00:07:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. I don't think you have to limit your list at all. I think, like, I'm a person. I need to throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. [00:07:30] Speaker C: And you said earlier that you tried this, like, for a year, you worked as a writer and a writer, only that was your. So it's not like you didn't attempt to take this advice. [00:07:42] Speaker B: The saying, a jack of all trades is a master of none is meant to say, like, don't spread your focus over too many things, or you won't be good at anything. Right. You'll just be. You'll be an inch deep and a mile wide, which. So I get it. It makes sense. But I think the problem is that we blanket that statement over everybody. So if we look at each individual person, we say, okay, but, yeah, but I need to be doing probably three or four things. Writing my own scripts, I'm shooting my own videos, editing them, I'm acting in them, and I'm doing my own marketing and handling all my stuff. I'm doing all those things and doing it well. [00:08:21] Speaker C: So you're mastering more than one thing, so you're kind of proving the saying wrong. I'm actually having success. Exactly. [00:08:31] Speaker D: Yeah, I knew it. [00:08:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I knew it all along. [00:08:34] Speaker C: Exactly. There are lots of examples out there of people who maybe the world wanted to box into something. Right. You see, I don't know. You pick your performer. Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, musicians who got into acting, or childish gambino, you know? [00:08:50] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:50] Speaker C: Yeah. You use them as examples, right? [00:08:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. And you look at a lot of these major actors. Now. They are acting in films. Now they're producing some films, and now some of them are directing films. Look at Bradley Cooper, guys like that. Now they're also owning businesses. They're owning their. Owning major league soccer teams. They're owning makeup product companies. They're getting their hands into lots of things because they are probably very similar to me in that they need to be doing lots of things. I think a lot of creative people, the right brain folks, we got to have our hands in lots of things to be content and to be satisfied. And that's all right. I think we just need to make sure that people are nothing. Give somebody advice about their life, you know, know the person really well. If you're really gonna be able to give them advice about their career or about their personal life. [00:09:40] Speaker D: That was actually what I was gonna ask next, is I'm sure you're at a place now where people starting to come to you. Josh, what should I do? I wanna do my own thing. What do you say? [00:09:48] Speaker B: I tell em I don't have time. I have too much things I'm doing right now. So go away. No, I'm just kidding. Get out of here. No, I mean, I subscribe to the Gary Vaynerchuk model of taste and see, right. Try lots of things and see what you like. You know, if you look at your life in decades, in your twenties is when you make a bunch of mistakes and screw around and whatever. In your thirties, you get it together, you kind of figure out who you are, start doing some things. In your forties, you perfect your craft, and in your fifties, you make money. [00:10:19] Speaker C: You reap. Yeah. [00:10:19] Speaker B: And you reap what you sow. That's what I've been told, which I think does make sense. [00:10:23] Speaker A: That's true. [00:10:24] Speaker B: But, I mean, I think those numbers are different, you know, for everybody, I think. I think it's okay to always be evolving and trying different things and being involved in different things. So I would tell people, like, keep that taste and see all the way through your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, all the way. I mean, until you're done. [00:10:39] Speaker C: I think it's great advice because I'm 53, so I'm in a little bit different decade of my life than you are and what you just described, you know, the twenties, thirties, forties, fifties. That's exactly what I experienced. And as I sit here today doing a podcast for the first time, I'm a CPA doing a podcast. Taste and see. Good God. People are like, whatever. I wish I had done this 30 years ago. I think your advice is very sage. [00:11:01] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, thanks. Well, and you're doing it now, which is awesome. And there's probably more things you could do. And I think a lot of people. The advice of staying your lane, like, I've heard that a lot of times, especially if my videos, if they comment on something that's either whether it's political or sports or if there's any kind of opinion involved in a video I make, they're like, stay in your lane. I'm like, what is my lane? What is that exactly? [00:11:24] Speaker D: I mean, you know, other people generally define your. What your lane is. And that's why it doesn't. You're like, I don't know what you're talking about. [00:11:30] Speaker B: Right. I think, yeah, I like the idea of carving my own lane. And there's no more tragedy in my mind than somebody working a single job their entire life, just doing their thing, day in, clocking in, clocking out. And, you know, even if they do decently well financially, they retire and then they die. And, like, that process, to me, is just not acceptable. It's, you know, and they die, and they've got it. They have a screenplay on their shelf that they wrote, and it dies with them, or they have a song that they've wanted to write. They have a podcast they wanted to start. They have all these things they wanted to do, and they didn't do them because they were told, stay in your lane. Or they were told, you can only do one thing well at a time. You're an accountant. That's all you do. You're a teacher. That's all you can do. It's not true. I tell people all the time, whatever it is, no matter how small or how big, do it literally. It's cliche, but life is short. There's. I'm not shame. There's nothing wrong with working the same job your entire life. It is. That is respectable, and it is good. But for me, the thought of working in one job for 40 years, retiring at 65, and then dying of a heart attack at 66, is the greatest tragedy of all. Like, that's not. Hopefully, I won't die. Cause I like to live to be 100. But the point being, like, if you're just living for retirement, you may not get to experience that retirement. Like, I'd rather live now. And that's do lots of things. [00:12:56] Speaker D: Yeah. Living for retirement. I think that's kind of that point there. [00:13:00] Speaker C: I agree. [00:13:00] Speaker B: You should still save money for retirement, though. Yes. I'm not a financial advisor, but make. [00:13:04] Speaker D: Sure you save money for Chris Farley method. We're not saying just go hard. [00:13:08] Speaker C: We're the financial advisors, so we'll help you. Remind you of that. [00:13:11] Speaker B: Yes, I'm calling Smith and Howard after this. [00:13:14] Speaker C: How do you try to go deeper on all these different things you're trying to do? Because you mentioned earlier, I have this pull to want to try different things, but you also, I'm sensing, have this pool to be really good at whatever you do. [00:13:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:29] Speaker C: How do you address that? How do you balance that? [00:13:32] Speaker B: Well, and I think the main way is that at some point you do have to involve other people. What do I need? So I've kind of reassessed. I've kind of, kind of backed off of everything and kind of brought myself inward and said, okay, where are we going to go? What are we going to do? And so it's been good because it's allowed me clarity of thought to kind of plan this stuff out. Now I'm kind of ready to take next steps. Okay, we want to go here. We want to go here. We want to go here. We got three or four things we want to do. We want to do them well. So I'm going to get people on board to help those things come along. So I think adding people to the team, that doesn't mean hiring employees necessarily just means like, getting people involved in those areas to help you accomplish the vision that you have set forth. [00:14:09] Speaker C: To be able to do a lot of different things and have success in them, you have to have subject matter experts who would likely only do that one thing as a part of your advisor or part of your team. Right. So it's very interesting. [00:14:24] Speaker D: We talked about that a little bit with surgery. I don't need my brain surgeon to also be like, man, I wish I was doing a podcast. Like, nah, man, focus up. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Just do that. Do that. Well, yeah. [00:14:35] Speaker C: Especially today while I'm on your table. [00:14:37] Speaker B: That's right. Which is ironic cause doctors have a tendency to want to do lots of stuff. I have doctor friends and I'm like, they are always. One of them owns this other business. One of them is always hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. Like, they're always going, especially like ER doctors or surgeons. So they usually have their hands in other things, metaphorically, hopefully, just their actual hands are on your body during the surgery. Everybody's got their skill sets. And I think, again, you can't just take my advice of, like, do lots of things and just willy nilly go out there and be like, I'm going to be a lifeguard and I'm going to be a professor, and I'm going to be. No, no, no. That's not what I mean. I mean, like, you know, there are some guardrails we need to put up here. Like, let's try to stay in some kind of field that, you know, that makes sense. You know, I mean, there are people. I mean, my wife is a great example. She's like, she's a nurse. And, like, if you look at her through school, right, it's science, it's biology, it's, you know, and then she into nursing a BSN. And so she loves to take care of patients. She loves that. And she's, like, right there, all in. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to do anything else. She went through nursing school as an adult with three kids and married to this and did it successfully. And I was like, you should write a book or do a course on how you did that. She's like, that's a great idea. I don't want to do that. [00:15:58] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:15:58] Speaker B: You know, like, I just want to do this. [00:16:01] Speaker C: What's the number one challenge for you to be able to do the things you want to do? What's. What's holding you back? [00:16:07] Speaker B: Oh, man. Time. [00:16:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:10] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:10] Speaker C: Just being able to try to do it all. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:13] Speaker C: So, yeah. So for you, that's a challenge. Right. I want to do so many things, but there's only 24 hours in a day. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:20] Speaker C: So how are you picking right now? [00:16:21] Speaker B: Well, I think I'm not naturally an overly disciplined person, but I have to be extra disciplined in order to do those things. So I had a friend of mine one time that told me when you're managing, even just your day, your week, your month, your priorities, whatever, you're trying to fit a bunch of rocks into a jar. You may have heard this before, but you got a couple big rocks, then you have some medium sized rocks, then you have some gravel. Right. People wanted to tend to do the gravel first because it goes in there. It's easier and quicker, but then by the time you get the medium and the big one, you can't get the big one in. Right. Put the big one in first and fill in with the medium and fill in with the gravel. Now you're able to get the whole thing done. So I think the more stuff you do, the more. You have to think about it like that. You really have to have a structured day and a disciplined mindset to be able to do that. Saying no a lot is important. Contradicting the jack of all trades piece, because I'm still saying yes to a lot, but it's no to the things that are not going to get you where you want to go. Say yes to those things, but not to the other stuff. [00:17:28] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. [00:17:29] Speaker A: I'm sure this podcast today was a. [00:17:30] Speaker C: Little rock that just fit in with the big rock that you were doing, right? [00:17:33] Speaker D: I just kept emailing him until he emailed him back. [00:17:36] Speaker B: This is a huge. This is the rock for today. [00:17:40] Speaker C: It's exactly right. Josh. I think that this whole podcast is about advice, what we got. But of course, obviously, to JB's point, people are seeking you now, probably for advice. How are you using your experience, your experiences to give advice to others? [00:17:54] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, I think that is a big part of the responsibility of success, even no matter how much success you have. A little bit or a lot, is to invest in people coming behind you. Younger folks, even if they're not younger, just people who are career wise are coming behind you. And I've been fortunate to have some of those people in my life. And so I think it's very important to do that. And I think, you know, a couple ways that I'm trying to do that is one. I mean, being on podcasts like this, trying to spend some time meeting with people and sharing what little bit of knowledge I have to others. Another thing is, you know, when I get requests, especially when it, when it's around college students. So I've been to a couple colleges and spoken to classes, and I, whether it's social media classes or marketing classes and just kind of dumps as much knowledge as I can on them. [00:18:47] Speaker D: In a social media class, do you say try a bunch of other things, or are you like, here's how it works. Here's my strategy. [00:18:53] Speaker B: You know, I tell them to try a bunch of things first, throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what works. And then when it works, kind of pick your niche and go with it. Of course, my niche has been college athletics, so that's been my niche, but doesn't mean I can't do other stuff the same for them. So, yeah, I tell them to one, it sounds so corny, but, like, chase your dreams. Like, honestly, like, chase your dreams. Like the things that you want to do, there's like the what, the circles that you can draw us, like, find you know what? You can do what you're good at. Right. Or you can do what you love, or you can do what makes you money. [00:19:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:29] Speaker B: Right. And the goal is to have all. [00:19:30] Speaker C: Where they intersect, right. [00:19:32] Speaker B: The goal is where all three intersect. Right. So you can either. You can either, you know, you can love what you do and be good at it. You'll be happy and broke, or you can do what you're good at and make money, but you'll be wealthy and unhappy. So how can you find all those things together and do them at one time? And I think that's my advice to a lot of them, is to do that. You got to do a lot of stuff. [00:19:55] Speaker C: How does this affect you or just anyone? As we grow older, does our opportunity diminish to be able to try to do a lot of different things? How are you looking at where you are in ten years from now, for example? [00:20:07] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good question. I have, and I kind of have some things scripted out from, like a year, three years, ten year goals. Right. A lot of people do that. And I think that, you know, I'm making a living talking to myself on social media, playing these different characters. Now, obviously, that's like it. The whole intention there is because I'm an actor and I live in northeast Tennessee, and I'm trying to make a name for myself and I'm trying to get myself out there. And the best way to do that is to make your own stuff. Right? So that's what I'm doing it, and it works. But, like, how do I want to be 50 years old still doing that? Probably not. So I want to kind of move on to the next thing. I think the good thing about taking the jack of all trades mentality with you as you go older is that you have options. That's how I see myself. I say, okay, stand up comedy is not really where I want to go, but I'm going to keep doing a little bit of it, because what if Netflix calls one day and like, hey, once you do a comedy special, am I going to say, no, no? Yeah, let's do it. [00:21:01] Speaker C: Done. [00:21:02] Speaker B: But, you know, but, but my main goal is over here doing acting, doing calm and doing this, you know, but if, you know, Tarantino calls and says, hey, I'm shooting for the stars here with these requests, by the way. Tarantino calls and says, you know, we. You want to be in this movie? And I'm like, sure, right. So I think it's having options and it's being able to pivot in your life and do it successfully. You can't do 15 things, but if you've got three or four, you've got some options here of how you can kind of move to that next stage of your life. And that's kind of. That's how I'm seeing it, is that this is a journey I'm just going to. I set a goal for myself that by the time I was 50, I would be at the Academy Awards. [00:21:43] Speaker A: Nice. [00:21:44] Speaker B: I'm 43, so that's my goal. Now, I might be a seat filler at the Academy Awards, but my goal is I'm, you know, is to be at that level. I don't really care about the Oscars themselves, but I want to be at that level by then. And if I'm not, it's okay. But, I mean, I want to be there, but. And then, you know, when I'm 60, something else. You just kind of keep growing and keep going as you. As you age, give yourself options. [00:22:08] Speaker C: Is it ever too late to try something new? [00:22:12] Speaker B: No. In fact, to borrow from the financial world, you know, the old saying of the best time to invest in the stock market is 20 years ago, but the second best time is now. Right. So what are we waiting for? Like, if you're thinking, well, it's too late, it's really never too late. It's just later than what you wanted to do. But, I mean, the time is just now. Like, it's now. Like, don't. [00:22:36] Speaker C: Don't let age, don't let your point in life stop you from trying something. [00:22:39] Speaker B: No, absolutely not. But you got to do the hard work to get to the result. Now, the people are out there that should be doing these things, turning their passions and their hobbies into more than just simply dreams and hopes, like, let's put them into action. It's not too late to make for 40, 50, 60, 80. Just do it. [00:22:58] Speaker C: Well, Josh, I can't thank you enough for joining us today. And I think you're doing a great job on mastering a lot of different trades. You're very entertaining, you're very influential, and spending time with us today, I think, is going to really enhance the lives of other people, sharing your worst advice you ever got. So thanks for joining us. [00:23:18] Speaker B: Thanks. I hope so. Thanks for having me. And you're doing a great job on this podcast. It's very cool. Keep it going and maybe start another one, right? I would do, like, four to five podcasts if I were you. Just keep starting stuff, you know, jack of all trades is what I would I would do. [00:23:31] Speaker C: I will take that advice. [00:23:33] Speaker B: I'm just kidding. I'm sorry. [00:23:34] Speaker D: No, no, I want it. I'm leaving. [00:23:36] Speaker B: I love it. I'm just kidding. Thank you guys very much. It was very cool. Love it. [00:23:38] Speaker C: Thank you, JB. [00:23:41] Speaker A: Josh is incredibly relatable and easy to talk to. He's funny, he's engaged, he's smart. What a great first episode guest for us to have. [00:23:49] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. No, no surprise to me that he's. He's doing as well as he is. Just even in our just first initial conversation about being on the show, you could tell he just a genuine dude. [00:23:59] Speaker A: With, like, without a doubt, just. [00:24:00] Speaker D: You like him right away. You hear him talk, you're like, I like him. [00:24:04] Speaker A: Yeah. I, of course, seen a lot of his product on Instagram and stuff over the years, and, you know, it becomes more and more popular and you wonder, you know, can you relate to somebody like that? Completely relatable. Like, I was totally comfortable with him from the moment he stepped into the studio. And I love what he said about trying something new. He said, you know, don't let trying to be the best at everything you do hold you back from getting going on something new. The hardest part is just getting started, and it's never too late to try something new. [00:24:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:32] Speaker D: The same thing he brought up with the tragedy of a person who worked for the same place for 45 years, retires and they die or they've got a painting that they never finished or all these different things that they just never got to. And he's like, that's just like, that can't be me. [00:24:48] Speaker A: Well, once again, great episode to kick off season two. I can't thank Josh enough for joining us today. And for those of you who are just tuning in to us for the first time, we're happy that you've come along. For our returning guests and listeners, we're extremely happy that you've come back for season two. Tune in next Friday for another episode of the worst advice I ever got.